Tallmadge Town Square Historic District

HON. SIDNEY EDGf]RTON, lawyer, Akron, Ohio, is a son of Amos and Zervia (Cxraham) Edgerton, and was born Aug. 17, 1819, in Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y. His father died when he was but two years oltl, and, having been blind for some tiraci, left his ftxmih' in actual proverty. His widow moved with her family to Ontario Co., N. Y., where he (subject) lived until he was 8 A^ears old, when he started iu life for himself, and by his own indomitable energy managed to educate himself out of his wages, and at the age of 16 set in to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner with his brother. At 17 he began teaching, and, at 18, entered Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y.; after remaining two terms, he was emplo3'ed as teacher. In April, 18-14, he came to Akron a stranger, and with but $3 in money ; after being here a few days, he began the study of law with Judge Rufus P. Spaulding, and, in 1846, graduated from the Cincinnati Law School, and was admitted to the bar in that cit}'. He opened an office here in 1846, and was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1852, serving four years; in 1858, he was elected to Congress, and re-elected in 1860, the second Republican elected from this district ; assisted in organizing the Republican party at Pittsburgh, in 1856. His term expired in Congress in 1863, when he was appointed Chief Justice of Idaho by President Lincoln, and took his family from Omaha to Bannock Cit}^ in wagons ; in January, 1864, he came on horseback from there to Salt Lake City, sleeping on the ground during the trip, and via coach to IMississippi River ; proceeding to Washington, he succeeded in having Montana organized, the bill for which he prepared himself After its passage, he set out to return home, and upon his arrival at Salt Lake City, he found that he had been appointed Governor of Montana by President Lincoln ; this position he held until Feb. 23, 1865, when he resigned, his resignation being accepted in July, 1865. He returned to Akron in Januar}', 1866, overland, and has been in active practice here since. In April, 1849, he married Miss Mar}' Wright, of Tallmadge.

Passage source: History of Summit County, with an Outline Sketch of Ohio, published 1881.

Norton was subsequently adopted." Peter Norton, the father of our subject, was a farmer, and, in 1806, moved to Smithfield, Trumbull Co., Ohio, where he worked for his uncle, Luther Thompson, who settled there four years previous. In 1809, Mr. Norton moved to Tallmadge. Summit Co., and purchased fifty acres of timber land, on which he settled and lived for several years. In 1812, he was drafted, but, owing to family affairs, his son Almeron went in his place, serving a short term. In 1813, the family settled on the place where Thomas (subject) now lives, Mr. N. having bought 200 acres of wild land, upon which he lived until his death, Aug. 23, 1822. He was Treasurer of Tallmadge Township for many years. Mrs. Norton afterward married Elisha Farnam, and died Nov. 24, 1844. The subject lived with his mother until her death, and remained on the place, which now belonged to his brother Almeron. In 1851, his brother died, and subject bought out his brother's heirs, thus becoming the owner of the old homestead. He has always followed farming. He was married, Jan. 10, 1847, to Miss Hannah M. Coney, a native of Stark Co., Ohio, who was born April 13, 1812, and is a daughter of James and Nancy (Hamlin) Coney, he a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Stark Co. a young man, and she a native of Virginia, who came to the same county with her parents. Subject has one child - Martha M. (now Mrs. Theodore Johns, boot and shoe dealer, Des Moines, Iowa). Theodore Johns was born in Middlebury, Summit Co., Ohio, March 23, 1845, and is a son of John and Nancy (Grant) Johns, he having been born on the line between Delaware and Maryland, and she in New Jersey. They were married in Philadelphia, and lived in New Jersey until about the 3'ear 1832, when they came to Middleburj', where he carried on shoemaking. About the year 1852 he moved to Akron, and, in 1855, to Des Moines, Iowa. He there opened the shoe business, which he conducted until 1874, when he retired, and his son Theodore took his place, continuing with the old firm name. He (Theodore) was married to Martha M. Norton (daughter of Thomas Norton) June 2, 1873. They have had two children, one of whom is living, viz., Nettie.

Passage source: History of Summit County, with an Outline Sketch of Ohio, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

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