Lorain City (part 76 of 77)

Edward Houghton, of the third generation, was born in 1705 and died March 17, 1777. His wife, Abigail Coye, died February 6, 1822. Until after his marriage his home was at Laneaster. and he then lived at Pomfret and Uniontown, Connecticut. At Uniontown he built the first mill in that section.

Nehemiah, of the fourth generation, was born March 23, 1728. and married Eunice Curtice. After his marriage he settled in Winchester, New Hampshire, and lived there until his death, having reared a.family of ten children. He was a farmer by occupation. held various local offices, and during the war of the Revolution was a lieutenant and captain in the Continental forces.

The fifth generation is represented hy Nehemiah Houghton. Jr., who was born August 9, 1767, and died in 1854. He married Lydia Dodge. who was born August 30, 1764. In the southeast corner of the state of Vermont at Vernon he settled on a farm which remained his home the rest of his life. He was a man of great energy and thrift. and though his opportunities were limited he sueceeded in acquiring a competence. He was a director of one of the earliest hanks at Brattleboro, and held that post until late in life. It is remarkable that every one of his ten children developed strong and worthy characters and filled henorable places in society.

Doctor Houghton's father was Asa Houghton. representing the sixth generation. Asa was born in Vernon, Vermont. September 1, 1795, and died at Wellington, Ohio, September 10. 1875. In younger vears he was a noted athlete. He was a natural mechanic. and in pioneer days when the nearest village was twenty miles away and roads only trails he became his own shoemaker, blacksmith. carpenter and joiner, eabinetmaker, brick and stonemason, and it is said that he could fahrieate or do almost anything that needed to be done in a new country. This was a skill and variety of accomplishment that stood him and his neighbors in good stead when he moved to Northern Ohio more than eighty years ago. He was in his element when working with machinery and constructed several labor-saving devices. While practical in many ways, he was also a great reader, and works of theology, philosophy, astronomy and poetry furnished him his greatest pleasure. Though possessing little more than a common school education, he gained knowledge far beyond the ordinary, had taught in his vouth. became a farmer at Batavia, New York, and in twenty-two vears had put himself in comfortable circumstances for that day and generation. After selling out he bought a large tract of heavily timbered land in Northern Ohio, and settled in the middle of a section a mile and a half from neighbors, with no roads in any direction, and a second time started to hew his way out of the woods. Asa Houghton had come to Ohio and invested in raw land with a purpose to make homes for his children about him that they might not be separated from parents and one another as he had been. He was a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in pioneer times, and retained that relation to the end. In politics he was a whig until the republican party was born, and thereafter affiliated with that organization. He was reserved and modest to excess, and avoided all public places of responsibility. However, his nature and sound convictions made him a reformer. and he kept in active sympathy with human progress. Intolerance and bigotry found no place in his genial soul. With every opportunity to do so he never allowed himself to lapse into indolent ease. His brave and noble

«Asa Houghton was first married May 16, 1816, to Tamzin Bigelow, of Batavia, New York. She died September 17, 1829, the mother of four sons and two daughters, all of whom lived to a ripe age and had not only physical vigor but intellectual and moral powers that made them quite the equal of those of their day and opportunities. For his second wife Asa Houghton married Clarissa Cole. She was born August 27, 1798, and died March 17, 1881. As the mother of Doctor Houghton it will be proper to trace her American lineage briefly to the first ancestor in this country.

James Cole, born in Highgate, a suburb of London, and married in 1624, Mary Lobel. In 1632 he came to Saco, Maine, and in 1633 located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He bought land on which rests the famous Plymouth Rock, and soon afterwards opened the first public house in Plymouth, if not the first in all New England. The second generation from James was represented by Hugh Cole, who was born in 1627, and married Mary Foxwell. He was a surveyor, a shipwright, civil engineer, a man of great prominence and influence, served as representative from 1673 to 1689, and was active in the war against King Philip. The third generation is also represented by Hugh, who was born March 8, 1658, and died February 17, 1738. He married Deborah Buckland. Their son, Hugh, of the fourth generation, was born May 30, 1683, and died June 14, 1753. He was married December 13, 1705, to Martha Luther, and his home was at Swansea, Massachusetts. In the fifth generation was another Hugh, who was born September 19, 1706, and was married August 13, 1730, to Jane Sisson. He lived at Swansea. In the sixth generation was Sisson, who was born June 20, 1746, in Rhode Island, and died in Richfield, New York, March 28, 1845. Sisson Cole was a soldier in the Revolution. He married Elizabeth Hunter, who was born January 18, 1746, and died November 12, 1842. James Cole, of the seventh generation, was born February 16, 1778, in Rhode Island, and died in 1873 in the State of Michigan. He married Lydia Paine. He was an active member of the Free Will Baptist Church from its organization, was a pronounced anti-slavery man, and as a farmer and business man succeeded well.

Clarissa Cole. of the eighth generation, and-the wife of Asa Houghton, was a woman of great energy. She was proficient in all the arts of the pioneer housewife, including the skill to card wool by hand, spinning, weaving cloth for men's clothing and woolen sheets for bedding, and working up linen made from the raw flax. From girlhood she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In her long line of ancestry were many who were distinguished in law, medicine, religion, art and science. Clarissa Houghton had a remarkable memory for names, dates and events. and retained her mental faculties to the last.

A son of Asa and Clarissa (Cole) Houghton, Dr. John W. was only a child when he came with his parents to Northern Ohio. Up to about twenty he lived on a farm for the most part, and gained his early education in common schools that were far below the standard of the equipment and facilities found in schools of the same grade of the present time. Like others of the family his horizon and outlook were never hounded hy immediate circumstances and necessity. After completing the freshmen year in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, he taught for a short time, then entered Baldwin University at Berea, Ohio, and on June 13, 1860, was graduated A. B., and in 1863, the same institution awarded him his master's degree. In the meantime he had carried along with his literary studies work in medicine and received his

In the year of his graduation Doctor Houghton settled at Wellington, and has thus been identified with that community fully fifty-five years. He took up the practice of medicine, and served a large and appreciative clientage for about fifteen years. On account of frail health he then gave up active practice and engaged in the drug and book trade, which was continued to the spring of 1909. Since that year he has only been engaged in the practice of optometry, which he had practiced along with his drug business. From 1876 to 1885 Doctor Houghton owned, edited and published the Wellington Enterprise.

In polities he has been a republican since the party was organized in 1856. However, his voting has not been entirely confined to one party, and in later years he has been actively engaged in temperance reform. His public service has been as a member of the town council, school board, as president of the school board, as mayor, and as justice of the peace. Since he was eighteen years of age he has heen a member of the Methodist Church, has served on the official board of the Wellington Church in various capacities continuously since 13866. and had charge of the building of the present Methodist Church and was largely in charge of the addition for the Sabbath school. He is president of the board of trustees.

November 26, 1861, Doctor Houghton married Mary E. Seymour. She was born April 138, 1839, in Rochester, New York, and died September 6, 1873. Her parents were Henry and Clarissa (Whitney) Seymour, of Tallmadge, Ohio. Her father was a draughtsiman and carriage builder, had a leading part in the Methodist Church. and held various township offices at Tallmadge. Mrs. Houghton gained a somewhat limited education at Baldwin University in Berea. and taught school for several terms before her marriage. She is remembered as a woman of great dignity and strength of character, and one who combined with intelligence a remarkable fortitude and courage.

On October 22, 1874, Doctor Houghton married Mary E. Hayes. She was born March 26, 1837, in Penfield, Ohio, daughter cf William L. and Aurilla (Lindsley) Hayes. Her father was a pioneer in that township and an active and prominent leader in ¢ivil, religious and educational enterprises. In Mrs. Houghton's ancestry were many distinguished persons, a record of whom has been kept in continuous line from their first coming to America. Mrs. Houghton varly in life manifested a passionate fondness for literature, read widely and well, developed unusual clearness. force and elegance of diction as a writer, and for nine years was associate editor and the chief contributor to the -olumns of the Wellington Enterprise. She also contributed to the columns of various other newspapers and periodicals. She is a member of the Cleveland Woman's Press Club, which was the Ohio Woman's Press Club until that of Cleveland withdrew, taking its present name. She is also a member of the oldest literary club of Wellington. is an honorary life member of the Ohio Womans Christian Temperance Union and of the Woman's Missionary Society. both home and foreign.

The children of Doctor Houghton, all by his first wife. were three in number. Elmer Seymour Houghton, born September 11, 1862. is a zraduate of the Wellington High School. was a student in Oberlin Col- Jege, and all his life has been a reader of literary and scientific work and a forcible writer. Since school days he has been a compositor on the Cleveland Leader and Plain Dealer. and since 1903 has operated a linoivpe machine in the Plain Dealer composing room, and it is said that he has scarcely ever lose a day from his duties and has a record that is a model of faithfulness, energy and conscientiousness. Elmer S. Houghton married Ellen Miller, of Cleveland, who was born February 10, 1860, and died February 3, 1892. For his second wife he married Mary Johnson, on December 24, 1894. She was born November 8, 1869.

The second child of Doctor Houghton was Flora Ellen, who was born April 19, 1864, and died February 7, 1879. His daughter Mary Josephine, born February 10, 1872, was handicapped from early childhood by an attack of cerebro-spinal meningitis. Notwithstanding she has acquired an unusual literary culture and her memory of historical events, names and dates is almost unexampled. She has fairly mastered the use of the typewriter and prepared for the press the principal part of the genealogical history of the Houghtons in America, lately published. She is also active in church work, and is still at home with her parents at Wellington.

While only the briefest outline of Doctor Houghton's activities has been attempted, it will be appropriate in conclusion to express an estimate of his character and activities from the viewpoint and largely with the words of a friend and associate. He is a man of decided opinions, keen moral sense, admitting of no prevarications, and almost entirely lacks those instincts of policy that safeguard self interest. In fact he is liberal to prodigality in dealing with his fellow men, and is charitable to everyone's faults and weaknesses but his own. His pronounced literary tastes are in the realm of the philosophic and logical rather than the imaginative or descriptive. He is disposed to get to the foundation of things and always requires proof or good reasons for conclusions, To study in his company is not to find easy reading. To engage his time or attention a piece of writing must be worth while. At the same time this seriousness in his reading pursuits does not preclude his hearty enjoyment of humor and social life. He has always been a contributor as well as a participant in the genial companionship and friendship with his equals. His friends are not hastily chosen but once in the enclosure of his confidence are likely to abide there. His domestic virtues dominate all others. He is known as a liberal in theology and takes into his fellowship all of whatever name or doctrine who are trying to ''deal justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God."'

Water E. Brooxs. In the management of large business affairs Elyria has had no more conspicuous figure during the last forty-five years than Walter EK. Brooks. With an inheritance of the rugged New England stock which peopled Northern Ohio in pioneer times, with a vigorous training from the country districts of Lorain County, Walter E. Brooks first became a figure in commercial affairs at Elyria in 1870. Since then his name has been associated with some of the largest companies and industrial and business affairs in the city.

Born in Avon Township, Lorain County, August 13, 1846, he is a son of James E. and Elizabeth (Sweet) Brooks. The paternal grandparents were Joshua and Polly Brooks, who were natives of Vermont and were among the early settlers of Avon Township, where his grandfather cleared a home from the wilderness and was an influential figure as long as he lived. The maternal grandparents also came from Vermont, and the names of Waterman and Amy Sweet are also to be numbered among those found in the early history of Avon Township. James E. Brooks, the father of Walter E., came when a boy from Vermont to Ohio, and for many years conducted a typical country store in Avon Township. He also held the office of justice of the peace while living there, but after 1870 lived in Elyria until his death. ' himself with the City of Elyria. In the meantime he had attended country schools, and had gained considerable knowledge of business in his father's store and elsewhere.. On moving to Elyria he engaged in the agricultural implement and hardware business, and he laid the foundation for his larger success by eighteen years as a merchant. For many years one of _ his distinctions in business affairs has been as president and active head of the prominent local firm of Topliff & Ely Manufacturing Company. He first became interested in this concern in 1888, and afterwards acquired most of its stock.

The range of his business interests has been very extended. From 1890 to 1895 he supphed the capital and enterprise for the drilling of many oil wells in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and he also carried on extensive operations in the Ohio oil fields. Mr. Brooks for a number of vears has served as president of the American Construction & Trading Company, a million dollar corporation with headquarters at Elyria, Ohio. For the past ten years he has also been prominent in the construction and extensidn of telephone service both in this and other states. In 1905 he hecame president of the Elyria Telephone Company, and likewise was president of the Elyria Southern Telephone & Telegraph Company. He took an active part in a number of companies that built telephone exchanges in various sections of New York State. Mr. Brooks is a director of the Elyria National Bank and his property interests include real estate at Elyria and Lorain and in cities outside Lorain County.

As a business man he has never failed to live up to his obligations as a citizen. For four years he was president of the Elyria City Council. The public spirited movements which have been undertaken and carried out under the auspices of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce have always had his hearty support and approval. He is a member of the Country Club, is a thirty-second degree Mason, and has served as exalted ruler of Elvria Lodge No. 456, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was initiated April 27, 1868, into King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons: into Fellow Craft, December 28, 1868; and was made a Master Mason March 8, 1869. He and his family attend the Congregational Church. :

In 1877 Mr. Brooks married Fannie Topliff, daughter of the late John A. and Caroline (Beers) Topliff. At her death in 1893 Mrs. Brooks left two children: Margaret B., who married Theodore E. Faxon; and John Prentice. In 1902 Mr. Brooks married Marella Davis, daughter of Professor Noah K. Davis, formerly of the University of Virginia.

Daviw A. Wittiams. The career of David A. Williams is a noble illustration of what independence, self-faith and persistency can accomplish in America. He is a self-made man in the most significant sense of the word, for no one helped him in a financial way and he is practically self-educated. As a young man he was vigorous and self-reliant : he trusted in his own ability and did things single-handed and alone. Today he commands esteem as a successful business man and a loyal and public-spirited citizen. Much of his time has been devoted to his business as foreman of the Thew Automatic Shovel Company.

A native son of the Buckeye State, David A. Williams was born in Norwalk, Ohio, January 21, 1870, and he is a son of David O. and Cornelia Ann (Spoors) Williams, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born in Ohio and the mother in Pennsylvania. their marriage having been solemnized in the former state. Mr, Williams was an engineer on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad during the greater part of his active career and he met with death by accident at the railroad ercssing in Jackson, Michigan, while on duty, at which time he Was but thirty-eight years of age. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company G, Twenty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served as corporal until he was promoted to the office of captain in Company A, that regiment. He received the latter distinction for recapturing the flag which had been taken by the enemy. This flag is now on exhibition at Columbus, where Mr. and Mrs. David A. Williams saw it while on a visit recently. Mrs. Williams, mother of the subject, passed to the life eternal at Norwalk, in 1914, aged eighty-nine years. There were ten children in the Williams family - five boys and five girls, of whom five are living at the present time, in 1915, as follows: William Henry is a resident of Norwalk, Ohio; Ellis O. is a passenger conductor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and resides at Galesburg, Illinois; Phoeba Ann is the widow of Thomas Cherry and makes her home at Norwalk; Addie is the wife of Joseph Lillard, of Gilroy, California; and David <A. is he whose name forms the caption for this review.

After the demise of his father David A. Williams lived at Bowling Green, Ohio, with his aunt, Adafna Slinker, and in that place received his early schooling. Subsequently he began to work in a grocery store and at the age of sixteen years he returned to Norwalk and entered the shops of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, where he learned the trade of forger. After twelve years' experience in those shops he accepted a position in the Wheeling & Lake Erie shops at Norwalk, remaining there for fifteen months. Thence he went to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, where he worked at the trade of forger in an automobile shop for a time. In 1901 he came to Elyria, Ohio, and here he has since resided. His first position in this place was as a forger for the Thew Automatic Shovel Company and he has been with this concern during the past eleven years, during most of which time he has served as foreman.

At the time of the inception of the Spanish-American war, in 1898, Mr. Williams enlisted in Company G, Fifth Ohio Volunteer Regiment, as a sergeant and he subsequently served as sergeant-major in the Third Battalion. He did not see active service in the war, however, but went as far as Tampa, Florida. Prior to the outbreak of the war he was a member of the Ohio National Guard.

In political allegiance Mr. Williams is a stalwart republican and he has recently become actively interested in local politics. In the primary results of August 10, 1915, he was nominated on the republican ticket for the office of president of the city council of Elyria, winning over his opponent, J. A. Rawson, by a vote of 691 to 467. In his campaign for the nomination he announced himself in favor of a municipal lighting plant and of other public utilities as conditions might warrant, and was elected at the November election and made president of that body. He considers the sidewalks of as much importance as the streets and believes in considering the interests of the property holder in establishing new

: In a fraternal way Mr. Williams is a member of Elyria Lodge, No. 103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is now past noble grand; and he is likewise affiliated with the time-honored Masonic fraternity, being a member of King Solomon Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons: Marshal Chapter, No. 47, Royal Arch Masons; Elyria Council, No. 86, Roval and Select Masters, of which he is present conductor ; and Elvria Commandery, No. 60, Knights Templars, of which he is past eminent commander. He and his wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star and he is likewise connected with the Yeomen.

October 11, 1899, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Williams to Miss Sarah Gladys Tough, a daughter of Samuel C. and Mary Ellen (Kile) Tough, who are residents of Townsend Center, Ohio, where Mr. Vol, II--30

Tough is engaged in the grocery business. Mrs. Williams was born at Norwalk, Ohio, and she completed her educational training at Collins, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have one daughter, Ethel Bernice, a pupil in the graded schools of Elyria. The Williams family occupy a beautiful residence at No. 627 East River Street, directly opposite the beautiful grounds of the Elyria Memorial Hospital, and the same is the scene of many attractive social gatherings. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Williams are devout members of the Congregational Church, to whose good works they are liberal contributors. Mr. Williams is a progressive citizen, a splendid business man and a great lover of the home fireside.

J. H. Cauxins. For about three-quarters of a century the Calkins family has been substantially identified with Lorain County. They have been known as energetic and successful farmers, as loyal and public spirited citizens, and as people who have carried more than their individual burdens in the affairs of the community. Of the second generation in Lorain County is J. H. Calkins, whose fine home and farm is located near Kipton in Camden Township.

He was born in Huntington Township of Lorain County, April 5, 1866, a son of Nathan and Sarah (Cook) Calkins, and a grandson on the paternal side of Archer Calkins, who died soon after he brought his family to Lorain County from New York State, and on the maternal side a grandson of William W. Cook. William W. Cook. a native of New York State, came to Camden Township in Lorain County in 1832 and was one of the pioneers, only two or three families having preceded him to that locahty. He acquired his land direct from the government, and spent his life as a practical farmer. He cleared up with his own labor a large acreage, and built and hved for a number of years in a log house.

Nathan Calkins was born in New York State in 1516 and died in 1897. He was married in Lorain County in 1858 to Miss Cook. who was born in Camden Township in 1837 and died in 1911. Nathan Calkins was twenty-one years of age when he came to Lorain County in 1837. He had been educated in New York State, and on arriving in Lorain County assumed the heavy responsibilities of a pioneer farmer. Ue started out in the midst of the wilderness, bought a tract of land, and finished clearing it up and developing it before he left it. His home for twenty-five years was in Huntingten Township, after which he moved to Camden Township and after about eighteen months of retirement bought a farm and started over again the work of improvement and develcpment. He burned brick on his own land. and that brick was molded into the structure of a beautiful two-story home which is still standing and for years has been one of the model farm houses of Camden Township. Nathan Calkins before his death had acquired the ownership of 517 acres of land, and all of it was the direct result of his labor and intelligent management. While regarded as one of the wealthiest men of the township he was equally noted for his kindly interest in the community and his progressive spirit. He was a republican and his wife was a member of the Baptist Church. To their union were born seven children, and the five now living are: Nathan Webster. who is unmarried and lives on a farm in Camden Township; J. H. Calkins; William W.. a farmer in Camden Township; Reuben, who is unmarried and is a Camden Township farmer; and Frank J., a farmer in Camden Township.

J. H. Calkins grew up in a home of plenty and of liberalizing influences and high ideals. He secured an education in the township schools and was trained to a life of industry on his father's farm. He remained with his father an active assistant in the management of the farm until twenty-five years of age. For a few years he rented land, and in 1899 bought his present estate, a place of ninety-five acres, which he devotes to general farming. He has a farm which has well repaid all his energies, and shows in every corner an efficiency and system which might well be studied by less progressive agriculturists. On December 24, 1890, Mr. Calkins married Miss Sarah E. Freeman, a daughter of George and Caroline (Coydendall) Freeman. Her father was a native of England and for many years was an active farmer in Lorain County. Mr. and Mrs. Calkins have two daughters, Mabel B. and Elsie A. The daughter Mabel is the wife of Vernie Taylor of Pittsfield Township. Mrs. Calkins is an active member of the Baptist Church. In politics he is a republican and is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. Having always taken an active interest in public affairs, and his work in his own interests having won the confidence of his fellow citizens, he was honored in 1913 by election as township trustee, and his first term was given a vote of confidence by reelection in 1915. LeRoy Peter Burcerr. A member of the young generation of business men of Lorain who is winning success because of the knowledge and mastery of a useful trade, is LeRoy Peter Burgett, who is connected with the well known contracting and building firm of L. A. Burgett & Company. He is a native son of Lorain, a product of its public schools, and received his training here, and his entire career has been passed within its limits. Mr. Burgett was born at Lorain, November 10, 1892, and is a son of Lawrence Anthony and Josephine B. (Miller) Burgett. LeRoy Peter Burgett attended the public schools of Lorain, following which he further prepared himself for his career by attending a commercial college at Lorain, in which he completed a business course. At that time he was apprenticed to the trade of bricklaying, a vocation which had honorably been followed by his father and grandfather before him, and after serving four years as an apprentice, became a journeyman bricklayer. In this line he secured one vear's further experience, and in January, 1913, joined the forces of the concern of L. A. Burgett & Company, with which he has continued to be connected. Mr. Burgett is a master of business singularly adapted to his inclinations and abilities, and the fact that his work is congenial adds not a little to his possibilities of continued advancement. He is unmarried. With the other members of the family, Mr. Burgett attends Saint Marvy's Catholic Church, and is a valued and popular member of the Knights of Columbus.

James L. Epwarps. A prominent and old established real estate man of Oberlin, James L. Edwards has been identified with this city in a successful and public-spirited manner for thirty-five vears, and is numbered among those who have been instrumental in helping to promote many projects for the upbuilding and progress of the community. His present position of prosperity and influence is the more notable for the fact that he early became dependent upon his own efforts to advance himself in the world and has really had an active business career since early boyhood.

He was born in Gorham: New York, April 25, 1862, a son of Thomas and Rachel (Morgan)) Edwards. Both parents were horn in Wales, where their respective families had resided for generations. Thomas Edwards was born in 1823 and died in 1914, and the mother was born in 1824 and is still living though past ninety-two years of age. Thev were married in England, and in 1860 emigrated to America and settled in New York State. Thomas Edwards was a carpenter and contractor.

and kept at his work until a year before his death, which occurred when he was ninety. In 1873 he removed to Elyria, followed his trade there for a time, and afterwards at Cleveland, and about 1904 established his home in Oberlin, where he spent the rest of his years. Thomas Edwards had the gift of song, like so many Welshmen, and took a prominent part in the musical activities of his church and also in the early days taught a great number of singing classes. Though not a citizen of the United States at the time, he enlisted for service toward the close of the Civil war and served as a carpenter in the army. There were seven children in the family, and the five now living are: Sarah, who lives.-in Oberlin ; W. G., who lives at Oberlin and was for eleven years in the hardware business; James L.; M. F., in the advertising business at Chicago; and Thomas L.. a mail carrier at Cleveland.

James L. Edwards finished his education in the high school at Elyria. When only thirteen years of age he gained his first experience as cash boy in a store. For five vears he was employed as a clerk by Henry Brush of Elvria and he then went on the road and sold the goods of the Henry Brunt Pottery Company at East Liverpool, Ohio. He did that work for about six months and in 1881 arrived at Oberlin, where he spent three years with the Johnson & Whitney dry goods store. On account of failing health he was compelled to go to the open prairies of Dakota, and he spent about two vears there. In 1891 he established himself in the grocery business at Oberlin and after three vears sold out his stock. and has since been in business as a real estate man. Mr. Edwards is one of the reliable dealers in real estate, and his transactions have covered the entire State of Ohio and he occasionally handles lands outside the state limits.

In 1890 he married Ella Crittenden, of Ruggles Township, Ashland County, Ohio. Mrs. Edwards was educated in the Academy and the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin. They have one child. Gertrude, wife of R. L. Curtis of Saginaw, Michigan.

The family are members of the Second Congregational Church at Oberlin. Myr. Edwards is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Securit. and in polities is a republican.

For a time Mr. Edwards served as village assessor, has been president of the local Board of Commerce, has been secretary and is a director of the State Savings Bank, and for fully twenty vears has been very active in the Lorain County Agricultural Association, of which he is serving his second term as vice president. In fact, everything that concerns his community is a matter of concern to Mr. Edwards himself. In addition to his regular business he represents the Studebaker automobile with agency covering three townships. He resides in a beautiful home in the suburbs of Oberlin, and owns a tract of twenty acres surrounding it.

Henry Oris FIrieELtp. It is given to few men to round out such a life of varied service as that of Henry Otis Fifield, the veteran editor and well known citizen of Wellington. He ean properly claim to he one of the oldest printer-editors in the State of Ohio. and is still using his pencil or typewriter and making copy every working day. At this writing in the spring of 1916 he enjovs the best of health at the age of seventy-four, and his friends join with him in hoping to celebrate his seventy-fifth birthday.

His interesting career began at Corrina. Maine, August 7, 1841. At an early age his parents moved to Bangor. where they resided several years. He is a son of Samuel Stillman and Naomi (Pease) Fifield. His mother died in 1848. Tn 1863 Samuel S. Fifield, Sr.. together with his two sons. Samuel S., Jr.. and Henry O., went west and loeated in Pres-

In 1858 at the age of seventeen Henry O. Fifield left school and entered the printing office to learn the ''art preservative of all arts,'' and with the exception of three years' service in the Union army during the Civil war has since been engaged in the newspaper business in various parts of the country.

April 19, 1861, he enlisted in the famous First Minnesota Regiment, which was the first regiment accepted by Mr. Lincoln for three months' service. The command was sent south in May, arriving in Washington in time to take part in the first battle of Bull Run, where it lost 182 men and retired from the field in good order. For that act the regiment was recognized as one of the best in the service at that time, and during the entire war it kept up its record for bravery and gallant performance of duty. At Antietam, September 17, 1862, the regiment lost 147 men and stood its ground to the end of the battle. At Gettysburg it again distinguished itself sustaining the greatest loss of any regiment in the war - 83 per cent. This act of almost unprecedented heroism came on the evening of the second day of Gettysburg at 7 o'clock. The regiment was ordered by General Hancock to charge against four times its numbers at an important place in the line, where there existed a gap between the third corps and the main line of the second corps extending to the cemetery. In responding to this command the colors fell seven times and of the 264 officers and men who made the charge only 47 came out alive, while 17 out of the 23 officers lay dead and wounded upon the field. And historical critics say that not a man skulked or was missing.

Up to date Mr. Fifield has been in the printing business upwards of fifty-seven years and in the early days he helped carry the influence of the printing press to the bounds of civilization on the frontier. In 1869-72 he conducted the Bayfield Press on Lake Superior, moving the plant from that place to Ashland in 1872. He was the pioneer printer there. In fact the town existed only on paper when he began the publication of his paper in the primeval forest, where there were more Chippewas than white men. However, Ashland was the lake terminus of the Wisconsin Central Railroad, now known as the ''Soo road'' and within a few years it became a prosperous city and one of the great iron shipping ports on Lake Superior. After he left Ashland in 1873 he worked on the Stillwater Lumberman and also the Gazette of the same city. In 1879 he bought the Menominee (Mich.) Herald, and for twenty-three years issued that sheet, both as a daily and weekly.

In 1902 Mr. Fifield removed to Wellington, Ohio, where he has since resided, owning and editing the Wellington Enterprise. In polities he has been a republican since that party was born ''under the oaks at Jackson, Michigan,'' and has the honor of being a stalwart all these ears. 4 September 25, 1866, at Osceola Mills, Wisconsin, he married Miss Emma L. Walker. They had one son who died at the age of twentynine, and his daughter is now living with her grandparents, Mr. and

Joun Paterson. <A native of bonnie old Seotland, where he was reared and educated, a scion of fine old Seottish stock, Mr. Paterson possesses in marked degree the sterling traits of character that have always designated the sturdy race from which he is sprung. _ About one year after his arrival in the United States he established his home at Lorain, and here he has become one of the representative and especially successful contractors and builders of Lorain County, in the domain of brick, stone and concrete construction. His fine technical ability as a brick and stone mason is supplemented by energy, ambitious purpose and inarked executive and business ability and thus he has been able to develop an extensive and prosperous enterprise as a contractor, in which connection he has been identified with the construction of virtually all important buildings of the more elaborate order in Lorain County within the last decade, his interposition having been sought in the providing and installing of the high grade cut stone work on many fine buildings that in this respect stand as enduring monuments to his skill. His character and achievement have gained him secure place in popular esteem and he is one of the well known and influential business men of the younger generation in Lorain.

Picturesquely situated on the River Tay, in Perthshire, Scotland, is the Village. of Errol, which figures as the native place of Mr. Paterson, his birth having there occurred on the 20th of September. 1879, and that village being still the home of his honored parents, Thomas and Margaret (Watson) Paterson, his father being a stone mason by trade and vocation.

Mr. Paterson duly availed himself of the advantages afforded in the schools of his native land and as a boy he gained his initial knowledge of the stonemason's trade under the effective direction of his father. He served a thorough apprenticeship and in due time became a skilled workman. especially in cut stone architectural work. In 1903, when -about twenty-four years of age, Mr. Paterson severed the gracious ties that hound him to home and native land and, amply fortified in ambition and in practical knowledge of a trade which ever offers excellent opportunities for the expert artisan and faithful worker, he immigrated to the United States. He passed the first year in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then came to Ohio and established his permanent residence in the City of Lorain, his good judgment in taking this action having heen effectually demonstrated by the large and worthy success he has here achieved. Mr. Paterson is a voung man of vigorous and huovant nature and greatly enjoys outdoor sports. especially football. He is actively affiliated with the Masonie fraternity, in which his maximum prestige is represented by his membership in the Lorain commandery of Knights Templars. This popular young Scotsman, who has entered fully into the spirit of American customs and institutions, still permits his name to remain enrolled on the list of eligible bachelors in Lorain County.

CHARLES MANNING IRISH. During a period of nearly thirty vears Charles Manning Irish has been identified with the business and financial interests of Lorain. and while he now gives the greater part of his attention to hanking matters, in his capacity of secretary and treasurer of the Lorain Banking Company. he is still interested in the general merchandise store which he opened on first coming to Lorain and of which he is half owner. It has been his fortune to have contributed to the making of financial and commercial history here during several decades, and in this time he has always maintained a high reputation for strict fidelity and integrity which has made him the repository of a number of public trusts.

Mr. Irish was horn September 14. 1862, at Pittsfield. Lorain County, Ohio, and is a son of Charles and Jane (Ware) Irish, his father heing a blacksmith and farmer. The public schools of his native community supplied him with his early educational training. and as a youth he adopted the vocation of farming. an occupation which he followed for some seven or eight years, or until coming to Lorain, in 1886. Here he joined the business colony as the proprietor of a small general store.

which proved successful from the start, the young merchant seeming to possess Just those attributes and characteristics which attract prosperity in any line. Courteous, enterprising, ambitious and industrious, he built up an excellent trade. Having succeeded so well in his initial venture, Mr. Irish was encouraged to enter a different line, and accordingly opened a grocery store, in which he now owns a half interest.

The Lorain Banking Company was organized in September, 1905, with a capital of $125,000, its first officers being: Capt. Richard Thew, president; Orville Root, first vice president; L. M. Moore, second vice president; and E. M. Pierce, secretary and treasurer. Its officers in 1915 are the same. with the exception of Charles M. Irish, secretary and treasurer, with Irven Roth as assistant secretary and treasurer. The capital remains as $125,000, but the institution at this time has surplus and undivided profits of $10,000, and deposits of $500,000. The new banking house is a handsome three-story brick edifice, 28 by 120 feet, including the hanking rooms, offices and apartments, and the institution, which pays 4 per cent on savings, is considered one of the strong, substantial and conservative concerns of northern Ohio.

Mr. Irish is a director of the National Bank of Commerce of Lorain and is variously interested in other ventures. As a citizen he has taken an active part in public affairs, having been elected county treasurer in 1905 and serving two terms beginning from 1906. He has been a member of the city council for a long period, and for fifteen years a member of the school board. and in the latter body served four years as president, until his resignation. His public life has been characterized by the same fidelity to duty and unswerving integrity that have made notable and suecessful his personal affairs. Fraternally, Mr. Irish is a thirtysecond degree Mason and belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees and the Knights of Pythias.

On February 9, 1887, Mr. Irish was united in marriage with Miss Florence Baker, of Kipton, Lorain County, Ohio, and to this union there have heen born four children: Blanche Irene, Ruth Marie, Glenn Marion and Warren Baker.

Narnin Mituer. Of those farm homes in Wellington Township which represent the last word in improvement, cultivation, fertility and skillful management, the Nathan Miller farm is one of especial interest, not onlv because it represents those various qualities enumerated, but also hecause it is the home of one of the sterling citizens of Lorain County.

Born in Medina County, Ohio, June 29, 1849, Nathan-Miller is a son of Silas and Lydia (Branch) Miller. The family are of New England stock. His grandfather, Ephraim Miller, was born in Massachusetts, and came out to Ohio at the advanced age of eighty-six, and lived to be ninetv-three. The maternal grandfather, Nathan Branch, was a native of New York State, lived for a number of years in Ohio, but finally moved to Michigan, where he died. Nathan Branch was both a farmer and physician. Silas Miller was born in Massachusetts, April 2, 1802, and died June 1, 1883. He came from Medina County, Ohio, in 1839, took up a farm. afterwards sold it and moved to Russia Township in Lorain County in 1851, where he acquired land at $10 an acre. After two years he sold his farm for $25 an acre and his next home was on a farm in Amherst, and in 1864 he moved to Wellington Township, where he established his permanent home on a farm of 174 acres and lived there until his death. Silas Miller married for his first wife, Cynthia Holeomb, and they were the parents of three children, one of whom is still living. He was married in Medina County to Lydia Branch, who was born in 1809 and died in April, 1886. By that union there were five children, and the two now living are Lucinda Whitehead, wife of a gardener in Penfield Township of Lorain County; and Mr. Nathan Miller. Both parents were members of the Congregational Church, and Silas Miller was a republican in polities.

Nathan Miller acquired his early education in the district schools at Amherst and at Wellington. He grew up on a farm, took to that vovation naturally, and though he started out on a modest scale he has acquired a prosperity that speaks well of his persistent industry and his good judgment. He now owns 475 acres of land, including his father's old homestead. He bought out the other heirs to this place for $8,150 and for many years has conducted his farming operations on a broad and extensive scale. While engaged in general farming he also conducts a dairy of about forty cows, and has altogether some eighty-five head of cattle. He specializes in the thoroughbred Holstein. In the course of his many years of residence in Wellington Township Mr. Miller has effected numerous improvements, and he and his family now reside ini a very fine country home.

In 1883 he married Miss Elizabeth Dute, a daughter of Casper Dute, who was born in Germany, but spent his active career as a farmer in Amherst Township. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had nine children: Herbert C., who lives on his father's farm, married Blanche Myers. and they have three children, Grace, Harold and Harriet E.; Laura, wife of Don Barber, who is employed in the postoffice at Wellington. and they have one child, Robert; Minerva, who is a typist and makes her home with her father; Rollin, at home; Lida, widow of A. L. Bacon. reference to whom is made on other pages; Clara, who married William Warren, has one child, Ralph, and lves on a farm in Russia Township; Archie, at home; Wesley, at home; and L. G., who is still attending school. The family are members of the Baptist Church and in politics Mr. Miller is a republican.

Otis E. PEaBopy. One of the factors in the mercantile enterprise of Oberlin is Otis E. Peabody, who belongs to some of the staneh agricultural stock of Lorain County, and who about fifteen vears ago engaged in business in the college town as a dealer in implements and farm hardware. He gives his best energies and time to the management of this flourishing business, and has been very successful.

The family represented by this merchant has been identified with Lorain County for more than seventy vears. Otis E. Peabody was horn on a farm in Lorain County October 6, 1871. a son of Harvey M. and Martha (Petty) Peabody. The Peabodys are of old New England stock. Grandfather David Peabody was born in Vermont July 10, 1812, and settled in Lorain County in the year 1843, when the inhabitants still were living in the midst of comparative pioneer conditions and had a heavy task to perform in clearing up the country. David Peabody lived to be ninety-three years of age. He was a very saintly ian and the esteem felt for him was not confined to one locality. The maternal grandfather was Thomas Petty, who was an Englishman and brought his family over to America in a sailing vessel, locating in Lorain County about 1840.

Harvey M. Peabody was born in Vermont October 20, 1837, and was only six or seven vears of age when he came to Lorain County. His career was spent as a farmer until 1897, at which date he retired and moved into Oberlin. He owned a fine farm, and was quite prosperous. He died March 25, 1914. In politics he was a republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife was horn in Lorain County in

1842, and is still living. The parents were married in 1863. Their five children were: William H., a farmer living at Elyria; Clayton D., a Lorain County farmer ; Otis E.; Mattie B., wife of Harry I. Squire, a coal dealer at' Oberlin; and Ethel B., wife of Homer Worcester, a contractor at Youngstown, Ohio. j

Otis E. Peabody grew up on a farm. His education came from the district schools, with one year in city grammar school and with a course in the Oberlin Business College. He and a brother managed the home farm for their father for a number of years, but in 1902 Mr. Peabody came to Oberlin and set up a business as a dealer in implements and farm hardware. He was the only dealer in that line when he first began and has since extended his trade over a wide radius of country.

In 1893 Mr. Peabody married Laura Wellman, a native of Lorain County. They have two children, Doris W. and Lois L., both attending school. Mrs. Peabody died November 5, 1910. She was a devout member of the First Baptist Church. On July 24, 1918, he married Louetta Siemens. She was also born in Lorain County, and is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, while Mr. Peabody is a Methodist.

In politics he has been identified with the republican organization since casting his first vote, and his work and influence have not been without substantial benefit to his community. He served as township assessor eight years and is now in his third successive term as a member of the city council of Oberlin. Mr. Peabody recently completed a splendid new home at Oberlin, equipped with all the modern comforts and conveniences.

A. W. Mircuetu. One of the thrifty, honorable and highly esteemed citizens of Rochester Township, A. W. Mitchell several years ago reached that fortunate point in life where he was able to retire from the heavier responsibilities of business, and is now enjoying the comforts supplied by his many years of capable work as a farmer. Mr. Mitchell is one of the surviving veterans of thé great Civil war, and besides his military service rendered in the critica] days of the '60s, he has made his influence count for value in various local offices in his home county.

He was born in Rochester Township of Lorain County, December 10, 1846, and is now approaching the seventieth milestone on life's journey. His parents were Peter and Catherine (Conklin) Mitchell. His father was born in the North of Ireland in 1790, came to the United States when young, and was married in New York State to Miss Conklin, who was born near Kenyon, New York, in 1815, and died in 1904. They came to Lorain County and settled in Rochester Township in 1844, where Peter Mitchell died in 1853. When he came to Ohio he brought with him twenty oxen and one horse and wagon, and was a rather successful man for his time. He cleared up a tract of land in Lorain County. and owned 165 acres at the time of his death. He was a whig in politics, and adhered to the abolitionist cause and afterwards was a loyal republican. His wife was a member of the Baptist Church. They had a large family of sixteen children, three of whom are still living: Sidney, a farmer in South Dakota: Frank, a farmer in Rochester Township; and A. W. Mitchell, who is the youngest of the family. Several of the sons served as soldiers in the Civil war. George was a soldier, and was murdered shortly after his return home. Sidney was in the army from 1861 until his honorable discharge in 1865. and was in all the engagements in which the Third Ohio Cavalry participated.

A. W. Mitchell was not yet fifteen years old when the war broke out, and after restraining his patriotism several vears he enlisted August 13, 1864, in Company F of the Third Ohio Cavalry and was with that. regiment until the close of hostilities. He took part in practically all the campaigns from Chattanooga to Atlanta and thus participated in one of the severest campaigns of the entire war. At Peachtree Creek he was wounded and he still carries the bullet in his body.

Prior to entering the army he had attended the district schools and afterwards he learned the blacksmith's trade and followed it steadily at Rochester for twenty-six years. He then bought on credit his father's old homestead, paid for it after a number of years of hard work and good management and finally sold out and retired. Mr. Mitchell still owns a nice place of fifteen acres in Rochester, and his means are such that he is under no necessity to perform hard labor any longer...

He first married Dora Vosburg, who died in 1885, leaving one daughter, Rena, now the wife of Charles Call, a worker in the foundry at New London. In 1887 Mr. Mitchell married Rachel Curry, who was born at Troy, Ohio, but came to Lorain County with her parents when a small girl. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell attend the Baptist Church, he is a member of the Grand Army Post, and in politics is a republican. For seven years he acted as marshal of Rochester and was a member of the village council seventeen years.

PERRY MENNELL, farmer and dairyman whose homestead is on Island Road in Eaton Township, near Grafton Postoffice, was born on the old family homestead in Grafton Township May 29, 1844, and is a son of Crispin, better known as Duke, and Mary (Hardy) Mennell. The history of the Mennell family is given on other pages.

He grew up as a farmer boy, lived with his father until twenty-one, and then started farming on a place of fifty acres given him by his father. He also spent some time in his early life in Kansas and Nebraska.

April 10, 1887, he married in Grafton Township, Miss Mary Mole, who was born in Eaton Township a daughter of Henry and Ann (Gardner) Mole, natives of England. Her parents after marriage came to Lorain County, and her father lived on a farm in Eaton and afterwards in Grafton townships. Mr. Mennell since his marriage has accumulated property and made a striking success as a farmer. He now owns 172 acres in Grafton Township, and'in 1897 bought his present home place.

He and his wife are the parents of four children: Louis M., born in Grafton Township, married Treva Benton, and they have one chiid; their home is on a farm in Grafton Township. The son Harry died at the age of seven years. Thena is now a sophomore in the Elyria High School. Alton is also in the sophomore class of the Elyria High School. Mr. Mennell is independent in politics, and he and his wife attend the Disciples Church at Eaton. j

L. F. Crirrorp of Wellington Township, is one of the oldest living native sons of that locality in Lorain County. He is now eighty-two vears of age. and he represents a family which has been identified with Wellington Township since the first settler broke open trails into that then wilderness. That was nearly 100 vears ago. L. F. Clifford on his farm home has some interesting relics of pioneer times in this township. in the shape of a frame barn which was the first frame building erected in Wellington.

Ilis ereat-grandfather was a native of Germany and came to America in time to serve in the Revolutionary war. In the archives at Washington is a record of his honorable discharge. His wife, the greatvrandnother. lived to be ninety-three vears of age, and passed away December 9, 1844.

The pioneer in Lorain County of this family was John Clifford. the orandfather of L. F. Clifford. John Clifford was born in 1777. while the revolution was still in progress, at Providence, Rhode Island. He

It was in 1818 that John Clifford came to Ohio, accompanied by four men, making the journey during the dead of winter and driving a horse and cutter. The other four, who should also be remembered as the first pioneers of Wellington Township, were Ephraim Wilcox, William Welling, Joseph Wilson and Charles Sweet. Having selected a suitable tract of land on the bank of Wellington Creek about half a mile from the present Town of Wellington, John Clifford returned east for his family. Then with wife and ten children he arrived at his new home in March, 1820, and a week later had cut the timber and erected a log house. This first home of the Cliffords in Wellington Township was a place of much historic interest. It served as the first schoolhouse, the first meeting house and the first tavern, and it was the first point that a traveler would reach on coming into the settlement. It was in that humble home that the first sermon was preached by Presiding Elder McMahon, a Methodist, and at that meeting Adam Poe received his license to preach. John Clifford was proverbial for his industry and thrift, and while clearing up a farm he also followed his trade as shoemaker, and for many years supplied his neighbors with all the footwear. When John Clifford died Septemher 17, 1869, he possessed 79 grandchildren, 97 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great-grandchild - 188 in all.

Daniel C. Clifford, father of L. F. Clifford, was born February 7, 1799, at Tvringham, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and was about twenty-one years of age when he came to Wellington Township of Lorain County. There he spent the rest of his life as an active and prosperous farmer. On March 13, 1825, he was married in Lorain County to Sarah P. Hall, who was born in Connecticut in 1802. They became the parents of twelve children, and the four still living are: Christopher, of Medina County; L. F. Clifford; A. J. Clifford, who lives near Toledo; and C. T. Clifford, who lives with his son at Ypsilanti, Michigan. On March 13, 1875. Daniel C. Clifford and wife celebrated their golden wedding. Both survived past their sixtieth wedding anniversary. Daniel Clifford died January 31, 1886, after having lived on one farm for sixty-six years. He was a man of industry and encountered all the difficulties of pioneer existence. He was a member of the First Methodist Church in Wellington Township. His widow passed away January 23, 1887. She should also he remembered as one of the remarkable pioneer women, full of energy. with a courage equal to all difficulties of existence in an unsettled country. and always cheerful and happy in every circumstance. She was widely known and loved as '' Aunt Sarah.''

A son of these honored parents, L. F. Clifford was born in Wellington Township, April 18, 1834. He has a keen recollection of the primitive circumstances and environment of his early boyhood, and for an education he attended one of the subscription schools in his home township. His schooling was confined to a few months each winter. For half a century or more he was one of the active and prosperous farmers of

Wellington Township, and he still carries on his farming and keeps a dairy herd of thoroughbred Jerseys. His farm now comprises seventy acres, and is well improved and a valuable place. Mr. Clifford also served as township trustee twelve years and as town assessor four years. He is a republican and a member of the Methodist Church.

In 1866 Mr. Clifford married: Mrs. Alice (Houghton) Drake. She was born in Medina County, a daughter of Edwin Halpin. To their union were born two children: Paul Carlton, born August 18. 1870, was educated in the Wellington High School, and now actively managing his father's farm. He married Elsie Mitcheli, and their three children are Pauline, Albert and Merritt. Robert Houghton, born December 28, 1872, is a graduate of the Wellington High School and of the Case School of Applied Science at Cleveland, and is now a civil engineer at Tiffin, Ohio. He married Ella Warren, but they have no children. The mother of these sons died in 1900.

FRANK FannInG JEWETT. A scholar and author who has attained national and international recognition, Frank Fanning Jewett has been a resident of Oberlin for thirty-five years, and during the greater part of that time, until recently, held the chair of chemistry and mineralogy in Oberlin College.

The Jewett family in America was founded by Edward Jewett. who came from Lincolnshire, England. in 1638 and settled at Rowley, Massachusetts. His grandson, Eleazar, moved to Griswold. Connecticut, and founded Jewett City. Mr. Jewett's grandfather was Joseph Jewett, who was born in 1762 and died in 1832, having spent all his life in Connecticut as a farmer. Charles Jewett. father of Professor Jewett, was born at Lisbon, Connecticut, in 1807 and died in 1879. He became a practicing physician at Providence, Rhode Island, but finally gave up that profession in order to become one of the early adyvovates and promoters of the temperance cause and followed it steadily until his death. In the early days he went out to Minnesota, and while living there he took up a claim and also served as a member of the State Legislature. In polities he was a republican. Two of his sons. Charles and Richard H. L., also proved up claims in the Northwest, and hoth were soldiers in the Civil war. R. H. L. Jewett was badly wounded in one of the battles in which he was engaged. 'These brothers were identified with the first colored regiment to enter the service of the Union army from Massachusetts. The other brother, John, was killed in Chickamauga. The mother of Professor Jewett was Luey <A. Tracy, who was also born in Lisbon. Connecticut. in 1811, and died at Norwich in that state December 13, 1898. The parents were married in 1830. Both were very active members of the Congregational Church, Of their thirteen children Professor Jewett is the only one now living,

Frank Fanning Jewett was born at Newton Corner. Massachusetts, January 8, 1844. He inherited the hest traditions of New England life and it is noteworthy that his maternal grandfather, Fanning Tracy, after graduating as valedictorian of his class at Yale in 1796 spent nearly all his career as a teacher. Professor Jewett acquired his early education in several schools and institutions. and prepared for college at Norwich Academy in Connecticut. He attended Yale University and is now the oldest living member of the class of 1870. He graduated A. B. and in 1873 was awarded the degree A. M. During his freshman vear he was a member of the Gamma Nu, later, in his junior year, became a member of Alpha Delta Phi, and received admittance to the honorary scholarship fraternity Phi Beta Kappa at his graduation.

in the Norwich Free Academy. He returned to New Haven to pursue graduate studies in chemistry and mineralogy in the Sheffield Scientific School and for one year was abroad as a student of chemistry in the University of Goettingen. On his return he was invited by Dr. Wolcott Gibbs of Harvard University to become his private assistant. From 1875 to 1880 he was professor of chemistry in the Imperial University at Tokio, remaining there nearly four years. Then in 1880 he accepted the chair of professor of chemistry and mineralogy at Oberlin College.

The credit must be given to Professor Jewett for organizing and establishing on a permanent basis the chemistry department of Oberlin College. He built it right up from the beginning and in recent years there have been few institutions of the country that offered a more complete and thorough course of this science than Oberlin. After serving fifteen consecutive years as professor and the last year as dean of the college. he went abroad for another year of study under Professor Lieberman of Berlin. Germany. He then resumed his work at Oberlin and continued his active professorship until 1912, when he retired on the Carnegie Foundation.

He has been a member of a number of scientific societies. He is a member of the American Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Seience, and the Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft. He is author of 'Tables of Qualitative Chemical Analysis,'' 1883; ''Laboratory Manual of Inorganic Chemistry,'' 1885.

He has also taken an active part in public affairs at Oberlin. For eight years he was a member of the town council and is now president of the board of trustees of public affairs, and has served as president of the Oberlin waterworks and as a member of the board of health. He. and his wife are both active in the Second Congregational Church and also in Sunday school affairs. Professor Jewett was at one time clerk and has been a deacon in the church for a number of years. He has served as trustee and treasurer of the Oberlin Missionary Home Association.

At Tokio, Japan, on July 30, 1880, Professor Jewett married Frances Gulick, who was also teaching in Japan at that time. The only child of their marriage. Charles, died in infancy.

Mrs. Frances Gulick Jewett is one of the distinguished women of Ohio. She was born at Ponape, Micronesian Islands, October 13, 1854, a daughter of Luther Halsey (M. D., D. D.) and Louise (Lewis) Gulick. Her father was a distinguished physician and was for several years agent for the American Bible Society in Japan and China. Mrs. Jewett is a sister of Luther Halsey and Sidney Lewis Gulick, the former distinguished as a physician, educator and author, and the latter as a missionary whose work has identified him largely with Japan. Mrs. Jewett was educated in the seminary at Painesville, Ohio, and by private tutors and with a special course at Berlin in 1894-96. She is a member of the Ohio Woman's Press Club. In literary circles she is known as the author of the following works: ''Luther Halsey Gulick, Missionary,'' 1895; author of five books of the Gulick hygiene series: ''Good Health,'' 1906; ''Town and City,'' 1906; ''The Body at Work,'' 1908; '"Control of Body and Mind,'"' 1908; ''The Body and Its Defenses,' 1909; ''The Next Generation," 1914.

Jesse E. Forp, a resident of Lorain County since 1908, owns a farm of seventy-five acres in Russia Township, and has devoted his time to general agriculture and dairy farming.

he was born in Chautauqua County December 7, 1874, a son of John H. and Helen U. (Brightman) Ford. His father was born in Chautauqua County in 1833, and his mother at Brookfield in Madison County, New York, October 4, 1838. The paternal ancestry in America goes back to Joseph Ford, who came from England in colonial days. From him the line descends through Nathanial, Amos, Nathaniel to Stephen Ford, the father of John H. Ford. Stephen Ford was one ct the early settlers of Chautauqua County, New York. John H. Ford during his active 'career was a farmer in New York State, and had his home in Chautauqua County until 1916, since which time he has lived with his son, Jesse E. Ford, in Lorain County. He is an active supporter of prohibition, is a member of the Grange, belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife, who died May 24, 1901, in Chautauqua County, was also a member. January 29, 1856, occurred the wedding of John il. Ford and Helen U. Brightman. She was a daughter of Joseph Brightman, who was born in Madison County, New York, and afterwards became a farmer in Chautauqua County. Members of the Brightman family were soldiers in the War of the Revolution. John H. Ford and wife had three children. The two older are: Arthur, a farmer in North Dakota; and George, a fruit grower near Tacoma, Washington.

Jesse E. Ford spent his early life on the old homestead in New York State, attended the district schools and also the high school at Mayville, the county seat of Chautauqua County. After reaching his majority he bought a farm in Chautauqua County and remained there for a number of years. Selling out he came to Lorain County March 17, 1908, and at that time bought his present farm. He has introduced a number of improvements, and has a substantial residence and other farm buildings. Most of his time is taken up with dairy business, and his dairy products are sold in the City of Cleveland. His farm is situated half a mile south of Oberlin.

Mr. Ford joined the progressive party in the national campaign of 1912 and is thoroughly in aceord with the principles of its platform. He is a member of the local Grange of the Patrons of Hushandry, while he and his wife are members of the Second Congregational Chureh of Oberlin.

On April 18, 1900, he married Clara Abigail Hewes. a daughter of Jared and Lorilla (Weir) Hewes of Chautauqua County. New York, where her father was born in 1848, and where he still resides. Her mother, who was born in Washington County. New York. in 1846. died in April, 1915. Jared Hewes is a public spirited farmer and secretary of the Chautauqua County Patrons Fire Relief Association. His father, Daniel Hawks Hewes, was born at Richfield Springs. Otsego County, New York, November 15, 1819, and died February 12. 1915. Robert Hewes, father of Daniel, was a native of New York State. and a son of George Robert Twelves Hewes. who was a soldier throughout the Revolution and was a member of the Boston Tea Party and at his death the last survivor. He was one hundred nine vears of age when he died, and on his hundredth birthday the women of the City of Boston tendered him a reception to honor him for his service to his country. Another ancestor of Mrs. Ford was Mehitable Wing, wife of William Prendergast and daughter of Jedediah, who was the fourth great-grandfather of hoth Mr. and Mrs. Ford. William Prendergast was a colonist who led an uprising to oppose the impositions of unjust taxation Jevied hy the English government, and when the Colonists were defeated by the King's soldiers. was sentenced hy King George to. be hanged. but eseaped the penalty owing to the bravery of his wife. Their son, Mathew. was one of the first white children born in Chautauqua County, New York.

Lillius Prendergast, daughter of Mathew, became the wife of Jared Irwin, a pioneer of Chautauqua County,~-and their daughter, Abigail, became the wife of Daniel Hawks Hewes. Hiram Weir, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Ford, was born and reared in Washington County, New York, but in 1865 moved to Chautauqua County. Mrs. Ford was born and reared in Chautauqua County, attended the public schools, including the Mayville High School, and afterwards took a course in Pratt Institute at Brooklyn, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Ford have two children: Helen Lorilla, born June 15, 1902, and now a student in the public schools of Oberlin, and Jared Hewes, born June 14, 1911.

Perry 8S. Witiiams. Of the editors and newspaper publishers who now control the destinies of the Lorain County press the name of Perry S. Williams has longer been prominent than any other, Mr. Williams having since 1896 been identified with the publications of The Republiean Printing Company. These now include The Elyria Republican, the oldest journal of the county, and The Evening Telegram, the most widely read daily publication between Cleveland and Toledo. During Mr. Williams' administration the company has also taken over The Lorain County Reporter, daily and weekly, and The Elyria Democrat, weekly, merging them with the publications of his company, of which he has been the general manager and editorial head since 1900.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, and a son of R. H. and Lucy (Stearns) Williams, Perry Williams has spent most of his life in Elyria. His father was of Welsh descent and his mother belonged to the Stearns family, originally represented in Vermont, and also identified with the pioneer settlement of Lorain and Cuyahoga counties, Ohio.

Since graduating from the Elyria High School with the class of 1895, Mr. Williams has been almost continuously identified with newspaper work in some form or other. In 1900 he became editor and manager of: the Elyria Republican which was founded in 1829 and is now one of the oldest papers in the Western Reserve. A few years later Mr. Williams became the instrument in effecting one of the most important consolidations in the history of the Lorain County press. In March, 1907, the Elyria Reporter, the principal competitor of the Republican, went into the hands of a receiver. Mr. Williams, acting for his company, bought the property at the receiver's sale, and combined the Weekly Reporter with the Republican, continuing the daily issue under the new name of the Evening Telegram. In 1916 the subscription list and good will of the Elyria Democrat were also taken over by Mr. Williams and merged with his above mentioned publications. The company also operates the largest commercial printing business in the county.

For many years Mr. Williams has identified himself with the important affairs of Lorain County particularly politically, but always as a side line incident to his publishing enterprises. He has never sought or accepted any office or commission which would take his whole time and attention to the exclusion of his newspaper work. His political activities began in 1900 when he was president of the First Voters Club of Elyria at that time the only active republican club in the city. Later he became secretary of the Republican County Executive Committee, serving two terms. He was elected city treasurer in May, 1902, and twice re-elected, serving for seven years in all, and holding that office until January 1, 1910, at which date President Taft commissioned him as supervisor of census for the Thirteenth Ohio District, comprising seven counties. ; oe

L034 History Of Lorain County

Theodore Roosevelt for president. From August, 1913, to August, 1915, he was Lorain County License Commissioner, acting as chairman of the board for the troublous first year of its operations when it put seventy Lorain County saloons out of business to meet the requirements of the new Ohio law.

In 1914 Willams was chosen chairman of the Lorain County Progressive Executive and Central Committees and in 1916 was again named a representative to the National Progressive Convention at Chicago.

Mr. Williams is affiliated with King Solomon's Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, with Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Proteetive Order of Elks, Elyria Lodge Fraternal Order of Eagles, Sons of Veterans, Young Men's Christian Association. Elyria Chamber of Commerce, Elyria Country Club, and other local organizations.

M. G. Brown represents a very old family in Ohio, one which has been identified with this state for upwards of a century. Mr. Brown's home has been on a fine farm in Henrietta Township for the past twenty years, and he is well known in Lorain County.

Tle was born in Freedom, Portage County, Ohio, October 19, 1842, a son of D. A. and Minerva (Sherman) Brown. His paternal grandfather. Daniel Brown, was born in Massachusetts and came to Portage County. Ohio. in 1820, and spent the rest of his days there. The maternal grandfather was Pardon Sherman, a native of Connecticut and was also a pioneer farmer in Portage County. D. A. Brown was horn in Massachusetts in 1812. came to Ohio at the age of eight, finished his education in this state and after many years spent in practical farming moved with his wife to Oberlin, where he died in 1886. His wife was born in Connecticut in 1815 and she also died at Oberlin in 1887. They were married in Portage County. She was a member of the Baptist Chureh, while D. A. Brown, though a member of no denomination was a good moral Christian, a worthy citizen, was affiliated with the whigs and afterwards with the republicans. and for a number of years served as justice of the peace. He was also a Knight Templar Mason. Of six children the two now living are M. G. Brown and D. R. Brown. The latter resides in Portage County and has been quite successful in conducting a plant for the manufacture of horseradish.

M. G. Brown was brought to Lorain County at the age of four years by his parents and grew up and received his education in Camden Township. He lived there until he was thirty years of age, then spent fifteen years in Huron County, and in 1896 returned to Henrietta Township.

Tn 1864 Mr. Brown married Addie Kingsberry, a native of Lorain County. She died in 1875, and her one son, Fred Brown, is now in the ice business at Newark, New Jersey. In 1882 Mr. Brown married Hannah Cook, daughter of C. M. Cook, who was an early settler in Henrietta Township and after clearing up a farm from the wilderness spent the rest of his life there.

M. G. Brown is a member of the Masonie Order at Wakeman in Huron County. and in politics is a democrat. For a number of years he has devoted his time and attention to the improvement and eultivation of his eighty-five-acre farm in Henrietta Township. and ke also owns another place of fifty acres.

Rey. Josepn G. SHEFFIELD, who has devoted all the strength and resources of his life to the service of the Catholic Church, is pastor of St. Joseph's at Amherst. His work as a priest has been characterized not only hy spiritual leadership but also by constructive ability of a

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, August 8, 1872, a son of John Bernard and Christine (King) Sheffield. His grandfather, John Sheftield, was born in Alsace Lorain, and on coming to the United States settled in Baltimore. He was the father of six sons and three daughters, and one of these sons, John T. Sheffield, was for a number of years a beloved priest of the Catholic Church in Elyria. The maternal grandfather was August King, also a native of Alsace Lorain, who on coming to America settled in Baltimore. Father Sheffield's parents were both natives of Baltimore. His father was born in 1839 and died in 1885 and his mother, who was born in 1835 is still living at the venerable age of eighty-one. They were married in Baltimore and had three children of their own besides two adopted: John T. for the past three years has been pastor of St. Michael's Church at Cleveland, the largest church in that city, and was graduated in 1880 from Canisius College at Buffalo; the second in age is Father Joseph G.; Albert J. is now assistant superintendent of the Consolidated Electric Railway at Cleveland; Charles J., an adopted son, is transient manager of a lyceum bureau; and Sarah, now deceased. 'The father of these children was a very prominent architect and builder. Immediately after the Civil war, in which he served with a creditable record, he located in Cleveland and followed his profession there for many years. The most substantial buildings of the early days still standing were erected by him. He was a very active republican in politics. During the war he enlisted at Baltimore in the Fifty-sixth Maryland Volunteers and was in service throughout, participating in the battles of Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge and many others marking the progress of the Union armies through Eastern Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas. He was twice captured but made his escape both times, once from Knoxville.

Father Sheffield as a boy attended the St. Ignatius Jesuit College in Cleveland and went abroad for his university course in the Royal Imperial University at Innsbrueck, Austria, where he spent six years. He was ordained a priest in 1896 and his first charge as pastor was at Payne, Ohio, where he built a church. The next twelve years were spent in St. Augustus Church at Barberton, Ohio, and while there he erected a church school, a home for the sisters and a priest's house. He was connected with St. Michael's Parish in Cleveland during its period of reconstruction, and on December 16, 1915, was called to St. Joseph's Church in Amherst. Already he has formulated plans for important constructive work, including the erection of a new church building. Father Sheffield presides over a parish of 116 families and is not only popular in his church but is a very broad minded and public spirited citizen. He is a member of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce and helongs to the Knights of Columbus.

WELLS A. CHAMBERLAIN, now living retired at his farm home in Grafton Township at the age of seventy-one, has had a quiet and unpretentious career, but nevertheless one of worthy activity and broad usefulness to his community. He is an honored veteran of the Civil war and has made farming his principal vocation. For nearly half a century he and his wife have lived in Grafton Township, and they have reared a family of children who do them credit and honor.

The Chamberlain home is 214 miles south of Grafton on Rural Route No. 3, and comprises an estate of fifty-three acres, while Mr. Chamberlain owns another farm of eighty acres in the same township. He was born at Virgil, Cortland County, New York, March 7, 1845, a son of John and Amy (Perkins) Chamberlain. His father was born on a farm near Burlington, Otsego County, New York, and in the same locality the mother was also a native. They grew to maturity there, were married, and a few years later, in 1850, came to Lorain County, settling in Grafton Township a mile south of where Wells A. Chamberlain now has his home. There the father acquired thirty acres of land, which had been improved to the extent of some clearing of the forest and had a log cabin on it. About a year later the father died there, and his widow was left with ten children, several of whom were grown and married, and she kept the younger children together and did a worthy part by them.

Wells A. Chamberlain grew to manhood on the old home farm, and gained a country school education. He was only sixteen years old when the war broke out and two years later he went to Cleveland and on October 19, 1863, enlisted as a private and was assigned to Company F of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry. He spent some time drilling in camp at Cleveland and on Johnson's Island, and later was at Camp Dennison. From there his regiment was sent south to Nashville, later to Lexington, Kentucky, and finally went into Eastern Kentucky to cut off General Morgan's raiders at Mount Sterling, and many of the regiment were killed though Mr. Chamberlain came through safe. He was hit by a spent bullet, but it struck a package of hardtack in his pocket, and that saved him from a hip wound. In the same battle he captured the red sash of a Confederate major and he still has that trophy in his possession. From there his command followed Morgan to Lexington and at Cynthjana, Kentucky, took part in a battle in which Morgan's troopers were completely routed. The following is the list of battles in which Mr. Chamberlain participated, together with the locality, date and officers:

Colonel Prentice; Federal commanders, General Burbridge and Major Herrick; Salisbury, North Carolina; April 12, 1865; Confederate commanders, Pemberton and Graham; Federal commanders, General Stoneman and Lieutenant Colonel Bently; Dallas, North Carolina; April, 1865; Confederate commanders, Vann and Duke; Federal commander, Maj. EK. C. Modwell; Catawba Bridge, South Carolina; April 18, 1865; Confederate commanders, Vann and Duke; Federal commander, Maj. k. C. Modwell. Mr. Chamberlain's command rode sixty-eight days without drawing a ration from the Government.

After considerable service in the Mississippi Valley the war closed, and on November 21, 1865, he received his honorable discharge and returned to his mother's home. On February 7,.1867, he was married in Grafton 'Township to Miss Cynthia A. Aldrich. She was born on a farm in Grafton Township, Lorain County, May 21, 1849, a daughter of James L. and Harriet (Clark) Aldrich. She was well educated and before her marriage had taught three terms of school. She was married when only seventeen years of age. The thirty acres of the old home farm fell to Mr. Chamberlain as his inheritance, but after a short time he sold that and bought the eighty acres in Grafton Township which he still owns. For several years he and his wife lived on the farm of the latter's father until 1873, and they then acquired the homestead which they have continuously occupied for more than forty years.

Mr. Chamberlain's father was a democrat but the son soon adopted the principles of the new republican party and cast his first. presidential ballot while in the army for Abraham Lincoln. Besides looking after the duties of his farm he has at various times filled posts of responsibility in the local government. He served two terms as trustee and afterwards as assessor for Grafton Township. He was then elected justice of the peace, an office he filled for eight years and it is noteworthy that only one appeal was ever taken from his decisions, and his decision in that case was sustained by the higher court. During its existence he was an active member of the Grand Army Post at LaGrange, and has attended many of the national reunions, being accompanied by his wite. He was reared in the Baptist faith and both he and his wife are active members of the church at LaGrange, in which he is a deacon, while his wife was formerly a teacher in the Sunday school. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain have three children, and a' brief record of each will conclude this article on one of Lorain's most respected citizens.

The daughter Lucia, who was born in Grafton Township, was given a liberal education, having taken a course in the New York State Normal School at Cortland, where she graduated, and after teaching one year in New York she returned to Lorain County and taught a year in the high school at Elyria. She then married Calvin P. Wilcox, who was at that time night editor of the Cleveland Leader. By this marriage there is one child, Kathryn, who was born in Cleveland and is now a student in the high school of that city. After a few years of happy married life Mr. Wilcox died, and Mrs. Wilcox then resumed her profession as a teacher and is now principal of the Gordon School at Cleveland.

Clark W. Chamberlain, the older son, was born at Litchfield in Medina County, Ohio, where his father was at that time a renting farmer. From the country schools he continued his education in Doane Academy at Granville in Licking County, and then entered Dennison College, where he was graduated, spent three years as a teacher at Hudson, Ohio, and then entered the University of Chicago and afterwards Columbia University at New York, from which institution he has the degree Doctor of Philosophy. As a scholar he has already made his mark in scientific lines, and has invented several instruments of value in scientific research. He was married in Norwalk, Ohio, to Miss Jessie Husted, of Norwalk, daughter of Daniel Husted. Doctor and Mrs. Chamberlain have four children: John H., Margaret, Stewart and' Elizabeth. Doctor Chamberlain is now president of Dennison College, a school in which he was once a student. For five years he was an instructor in Vassar College, and while there he continued his education in Columbia University and was granted his Ph. D. degree.

John A. Chamberlain, the youngest child, was born in Grafton Township of Lorain County, attended the same academy and college as his older brother, and then entered the Western Reserve University. Law School, where he was graduated LL. B. He began the practice of law and is now a member of the well known firm of Stearns, Chamberlain and Rogan at Cleveland. He is also a well known author and contributor to legal literature. He is author of '' Principles of Business Law,'' published in 1908, and of another work on commercial law which was published in 1910 and has been adopted as a text book by the American School of Correspondence at Chicago. He was one of the leading workers in closing the saloons on Sunday and at midnight in Cleveland, Ohio. John Aldrich Chamberlain was married at Cuyahoga Falls to Miss Frances Hind. They have one child, Mary Louise.

I'. M. SponseLuer, M.D. For the past six years Doctor Sponseller has quietly and efficiently performed his duties as a physician and surgeon in the community of Wellington. There is no profession which presents greater opportunities for usefulness to humanity than that of medicine, and Doctor Sponseller, though young, has already become recognized as one who has accepted every opportunity for faithful performance of duty and through his extended practice has gained an esteem which is not less satisfying than the other material accompaniments of a successful career.

A native of Seneca County, Ohio, where he was born June 4, 1879, Doctor Sponseller is a son of David P. and Eleanor (Moore) Sponseller. His people were of moderate circumstances but of great intrinsic worth, and he inherited from his ancestors some very valuable qualities in his own makeup. His grandfather, Frederick Sponseller, was born in Stark County, Ohio, moved from there to Seneca County, and died on his farm there. Grandfather Moore was a native of Wood County, Ohio, and was killed in a railway accident. David P. Sponseller was born in Bloomville, Ohio, in July, 1850, and died in October, 1914. His wife was born in Wood County, Ohio, in 1853, and is still living. They were married at Bloomville. Of the ten children born to them seven are still living. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the father was a democrat. He followed farming until about a year before his death. when he rented his farm and moved to the little town of Melmore. By hard work he accumulated a small competency, and he and his wife sacrificed much in order to give their children educational advantages.

The third in the family of children, Doctor Sponseller, grew up on the farm in Seneca County, attended the country schools, and in 1903 graduated hachelor of science from Heidelberg College at Tiffin. From there he entered the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, where he was graduated M. D. in 1907. With a thorough literary and scientific training, Doctor Sponseller entered upon the practice of his profession at Sycamore, Ohio, but after three years moved to Wellington in 1910. Considering the brief time he has lived in that community h» has acquired a really remarkable patronage, and has more than his time and strength permit him to attend. He is a member of the Lorain County

On September 11, 1904, Doctor Sponseller married Bertha Wilson of Tiffin, Ohio. Their three children are William H., Marian Maude and Fred M., Jr. The two older children are already in school. Doctor and Mrs. Sponseller are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and take much part in church affairs. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees and the Tribe of Ben Hur, and is medical examiner for both the local lodges. Politically he is a democrat.

Cyrus W. Haw.ey has spent all his life in Lorain County, received his education in the local schools, and by much hard work and good management has acquired a gratifying success. He bought his present farm from his father, and now owns eighty-two acres. Most of its improvements represent his individual labor and supervision and he is cultivating it to general crops.

He was born in Huntington Township of Lorain County, April 11, 1861, a son of Myron and Emily (Haley) Hawley. Both the Haley and Hawley families were New England people and came to Ohio in early times. Grandfather Hawley first settled in Cleveland when it was a small village and from there moved to Lorain County and afterwards went to Michigan, where he died. Myron Hawley was born July 20, 1824, and died June 20, 1890. His wife was born February 24, 1828, and died November 15, 1881. They were married in Huntington Township of Lorain County. Of their twelve children four are living: Cyrus W.: Charles L., a farmer in Huntington Township; C. C. Hawley, a retired farmer at Sullivan, Ohio; and Lillie, widow of Oliver Sprinkle of Huntington Township. Myron Hawley was a democrat in politics, and filled the offices of township trustee and township assessor. He was a very progressive and prosperous man, and acquired 330 acres of land in Huntington Township, and also operated an extensive dairy.