OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 793 Today's Topics: #1 Fw: Bio - 1885 - Portage co, OH, R ["Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <03a901bf342d$b8872320$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Bio - 1885 - Portage co, OH, Ravenna #1 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Betty Ralph To: Sent: Saturday, November 20, 1999 3:27 PM Bios: Alcorn, Baldwin, Batterson, Beebe - Portage County, Ohio, from "History of Portage County, Ohio" published by Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885 Copyright C 1999 by Betty Ralph. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. bralph@hiwaay.net ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************ DR. A.W. ALCORN, Ravenna, was born on the 23d day of May. A.D. 1835. He was the seventh of eight children, six of whom were boys. His father was of Scotch-Irish, and his mother of English and German descent. His parents were farmers, and the first and only farm they owned they cleared up from wild woods in Armstrong County, Penn. The trees, saplings and brush had to be cut down and grubbed out to make room for the first log cabin. His parents were Old School Presbyterians, and were one of three families who met together for social prayer, from which grew the Concord Presbyterian Church, about one mile from his father's farm. Before the church building was secured his father and mother would attend church at Glade Run, a distance of seven miles, and most of this distance was made along a path through the woods; but any difficulty in the way was alleviated by their going on foot. Sometimes a babe was carried in their arms so that the distance need not be made in haste. On this farm the Doctor began his education. The school year in his boyhood consisted of three months in the winter. This was improved. At this school his second, third and fourth reader was the New Testament, and the fifth and sixth reader was the Bible or Old Testament. When he was eighteen years old, at the urgent solicitation of an older brother, Dr. J.P. Alcorn (now deceased), who had left the farm and by his own energy and self-support had graduated at one of the best medical colleges in the United States, he left home for the first time to enter the Glade Run (Penn.) Academy in 1853; the next year he entered the Eldersridge (Indiana County, Penn.) Academy. This institution was the creation of Rev. Alexander Donaldson, D.D., a noted educator of young men in western Pennsylvania, who, at an old age, is still Principal of the academy. In this academy the Doctor was fitted for the junior class in college. At this time his health broke down and he was obliged to leave school. After a few months' rest he entered the office of his brother, who had built up a large practice in Ravenna, Ohio, for the purpose of studying medicine. His medical education was secured at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., and the Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich. He had the benefit of the private and practical instructions of his brother for five years. In 1804 he served four months in the Union Army, was a "squirrel hunter," and volunteered his services at the battle of Gettysburg for the care of the sick and wounded. He married Miss Christina, eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Fletcher, of Ravenna, Ohio, February 20, 1884. He is a member of the Congregational Church. He first united with the Presbyterian Church in 1852. He is a member of the Board of Education, and has served as such for nine years. He is in hearty sympathy will all reform measures that tend to lift men up to a sober and religious life. His chief desire is to be worthy the name physician and Christian. He never used tobacco in any form, nor alcoholic drinks as a beverage. He considers the habitual use of tobacco and ardent spirits as the chief obstacles in the way to temporal and spiritual prosperity. ANDRUS T. BALDWIN, hardware merchant, Ravenna, was born September 10, 1820, in Palmyra, this county, where his father, Alva Baldwin, now resides. He commenced traveling at eleven years of age, and spent about thirty-five years visiting all the Southern and Western States. November 5, 1839, he married Miss Samantha Daniels, a native of Massachusetts. She died February 2, 1861. Their son, Alva V., was a graduated of the Medical College at Cleveland, Ohio, and practiced his chosen profession, medicine, in that city six years, after which he returned to Palmyra, where he died February 17, 1881. He married Miss Eliza Merwin, and left three children: Ida S., Gustave W. and Clayton R. Our subject, June 17, 1873, next married Mrs. Ella Baldwin, widow of Marquis Baldwin and daughter of Bazaleel Olmstead, of Palmyra, this county, and to this union were born two children: John D. and Minnie S. Mr. Baldwin was engaged in the hardware business in Medina, Ohio, in 1873-74, and then established in Ravenna. In addition to his business he owns a finely improved farm of 138 acres in Palmyra Township, this county. DARIUS BALDWIN, manufacturer, Ravenna, was born February 6, 1828, in Atwater Township, this county, where his parents, Ranson and Worthy Baldwin, now reside. Our subject was brought up on his father's farm and began working at the carpenter's trade while a young man, and this he followed continuously until 1878. He was married, October 26, 1853, to Miss Letitia Ferrell, a native of Monongahela County, Va., born October 15, 1829, and who came to this county in 1850. Our subject and wife settled in Ravenna, Ohio, immediately after their marriage. Their children are Charles R.; Aurelia O., wife of H. Eatinger; Hattie W. and Minnie T. In March, 1879, Mr. Baldwin and his son purchased the planing-mill which they now operate under the firm name of D.L. Baldwin & Son. They do a large business as a custom mill, supplying the home market for planing and general ornamental work. They also do an extensive business in contracting and building houses and public structures. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are adherents of the Disciples Church. He cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. Winfield Scott as a Whig, and has ever since been a stanch Republican. HARMON BATTERSON, farmer, P.O. Ravenna, was born March 29, 1819, in Ravenna Township, this county. His father, William Batterson, of Litchfield County, Conn., married Miss Matilda Iles, and moved to this county about 1816. Soon after the grandfather, William Batterson, Sr., came, and he and his wife resided here until their death. Harmon's mother died when he was about seven years of age, and his father married a second time and moved to Williams County, Ohio, where he lived the remainder of his days. William Batterson, our subject's father, was the pioneer cooper of Ravenna, and people came far and near to him for barrels, tubs, pails, well buckets, and gallon bottles for carrying water and whisky in. Whisky stills were numerous at that time, and a good deal of cooper work was needed. Our subject lived for a time with a Rev. Ebenezer Williams, then with Perry and Ethan A. Babcock, near Ravenna, and after he was fourteen years of age he worked by the month summers, and did chores nights and mornings for his board winters, going also to school; in fact, Mr. Batterson avers, he always found plenty of good folks to take him into their families to live in return for what they could get out of him. At twenty-two years of age he learned the cooper's trade which he followed for many years. He married, October 6, 1847, Miss Mary Hull, born in Edinburg Township, this county, March 27, 1820. Her parents, Gilbert and Abigail (Harris) Hull, of Ontario County, N.Y., came to this county in 1819, and settled in Edinburg Township same year, where they resided until his death, which occurred December 16, 1880, at the age of eighty-six. Mr. Gilbert was a skillful mechanic. He erected many of the buildings in that township. His widow, who is eighty-four years of age, resides with her daughter, Mrs. Batterson. To Mr. and Mrs. Batterson have been born three children: Ellen A., Mrs. Emily M. Robinson and Clinton R. Our subject and wife paid about ten months' visit to Williams County, Ohio, but with the exception of that trip have always resided in Ravenna Township. About 1853 they purchased the place where they now live, and where they own a fine farm of seventy-four and a half acres, besides another farm of forty acres in the same township. Mr. Batterson is a life-long Democrat. HORACE Y. BEEBE, retired, Ravenna, was born is Middletown, Conn., September 14, 1816; son of Oliver D. and Phebe H. (Holt) Beebe. Our subject came to Ohio in 1834, locating at Cuyahoga Falls; two years later he removed to this county, and for some two years he was Deputy Clerk under George Kirkum, and for seven years was with William Coolman, in the Clerk's office, as Deputy. In 1845 he was appointed Clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas and Supreme Court, serving until 1852. The following year he accepted the position of Cashier in the banking house of Robinson, King & Co., and so remained until succeeded by his son, William H., present Cashier of the Second National Bank. In 1860 he was elected a Delegate to the Republican Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln, and in 1862 was by the latter appointed Provost-Marshal of this county, in which capacity he served during the war. Our subject was on intimate terms with President Garfield and other distinguished Republicans. Upon his resignation as Cashier and Bookkeeper of the Diamond Glass Company (which position he held some sixteen years), Mr. Beebe retired permanently from active business. He was twice married, first in April, 1838, to Augusta, daughter of William Coolman, who died June 15, 1879, leaving two children: Mary B. and William H., both now living. Our subject then married, in 1881, Mrs. Hannah D. Wells, widow of Benjamin J. Wells, of Ravenna. Mr. Beebe is a Republican in politics. Since the organization of the Universalist Church, he has been connected financially with its growth. In June, 1883 he was appointed by the Commissioners of the county a director of the County Infirmary, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Capt. F.W. Coffin, and in the fall of the same year he was elected a Director, which office he now holds. ______________________________ ------------------------------ X-Message: #2 Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 09:36:39 -0500 From: "Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <03af01bf342d$d28d1fe0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Fw: Bio - 1885 - Portage co, OH, Ravenna #2 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit ----- Original Message ----- From: Betty Ralph To: Sent: Saturday, November 20, 1999 5:00 PM Bios: Beecher, Belden, Bierce, Brainerd - Portage County, Ohio, from "History of Portage County, Ohio" published by Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885 Copyright C 1999 by Betty Ralph. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. bralph@hiwaay.net ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net ************************************************************************ HENRY BEECHER (deceased) was born in Shalersville Township, this county, September 18, 1817; son of the well-known pioneers Sylvester and Betsey Beecher, and the eldest of their twelve children. Our subject remained on his father's farm until 1842, when he engaged in mercantile business. He was in partnership with A.V. Horr until 1846, in which year he established himself in Garrettsville, this county, where he remained nineteen years, having as a partner, during the last ten years if that period, his brother Samuel S. At the death of his father in December, 1855, our subject succeeded him as Director of the Portage County branch of the State Bank of Ohio, holding the position until the bank was closed. He was prominent in the management of the First National Bank of Ravenna from the time of its organization, and was mainly influential in the erection of the Etna Block in Ravenna. He was actively identified with many other public and private enterprises which have contributed to the building up of the interests of Ravenna City and Portage County generally. Mr. Beecher was married, September 21, 1857, to Miss Laura, daughter of N.D. Clark, Esq., of Ravenna. She died March 12, 1858, and our subject was after united in marriage, July 23, 1861, with Miss Rachel, daughter of Maj. John and Jane (Wilson) Shannon, of Youngstown, Ohio, where she was born October 10, 1835. She completed her education with a three years' course under the instruction of the late President James A. Garfield at Hiram College. Mrs. Beecher was successfully engaged in teaching in the Union School of Ravenna two years previous to her marriage. Mr. Beecher departed this life April 16, 1870. His loss was deeply mourned by a large circle of friends won by his generosity and uniform kindness. C.L. BELDEN, M.D., Ravenna, was born August 23, 1818, in West Farmington, Trumbull Co., Ohio, where his parents, Harvey and Martha Belden , were among the earliest pioneers. Our subject received his education in the academy at Farmington, Ohio, and attended medical lectures at the Eclectic Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., where he graduated in 1859. He practiced his chosen profession at West Farmington until 1862, at Chardon, Geauga Co., Ohio, until 1871, and at Braceville, Trumbull Co., Ohio, until 1876, and then located in Ravenna. Here he is recognized as a scientific physician and famed for his uniform success in combating diseases. September 2, 1839, Dr. Belden married Sarah L. Brown, of Farmington, Ohio, born in Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, who bore him four children, three of whom survive her: Mrs. Elizabeth Pierce, Mrs. Emily Skeels, and Mrs. Abbie W. Thomas. Little Corwin met his death by accident when less than two years old. Personally the Doctor is rather robust, socially a genial companion. By his courteous bearing and skill in his profession he has succeeded in building up a fine practice. In matters of religion our subject entertains liberal views; in politics he is a Democrat. Mrs. Belden died March 13, 1885, after and illness of fifty-one days, during which she suffered more than pen can write. She was a whole-souled worker at home and in the neighborhood, and was a great benefactress to the poor and needy. She had a singular presentiment of her demise, even months in advance, and when the time came she faced death with courage and left those nearest and dearest to her, expressing to them the sentiment of her life, "Kind words can never die." PHILO BIERCE, County Recorder, Ravenna, son of Zenas S. and Lucinda (Pinney) Bierce was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1844. His father, a native of Connecticut, was a pioneer merchant of Stark County, subsequently was engaged in the manufacture of cheese boxes, and at the close of his life was a book-keeper at Windham Center; he also served as Township Clerk for many years. He died in the sixty-second year of his age, the father of following children, all of whom are living: Ellen, wife of M.T. Hill, in Nevada, Mo.; Alice, widow of W. Waters: and Myra, wife of W.S. Brush, in Batavia, Ill. Our subject learned the carpenter's trade, and in 1861 enlisted in Company A., First Ohio Light Artillery. He was struck by a shell at the siege of Knoxville, Tenn., which carried off his left arm near the elbow and his left leg below the knee. He was taken to the Field Hospital, and in November transferred to Chattanooga Hospital, where he remained until able to journey to the Cleveland, Ohio, Hospital, where he fully recovered and received an honorable discharge in August, 1864. He afterward learned and followed telegraphy until his hearing failed, when he turned his attention to obtaining further education. In 1872 he joined a colony of ex-soldiers and went to Nebraska, taking up a soldier's homestead claim in Hall County, which he still owns. After remaining there some years he removed to Milwaukee, Wis., and conducted a restaurant until 1876, when he returned to Ravenna, this county, and in the fall of the same year was elected County Recorder. He is now serving his third term. He was married in October, 1879, to Miss Ellen, daughter of Miles Whitney, of this county, and has one child - Amber. Mr. Pierce is a member of Encampment Lodge, I.O.O.F., of the G.A.R., and the Ravenna Rifle and Shot-gun Team. ENOS P. BRAINERD is a resident of Ravenna, the county seat of Portage County, Ohio, and the eldest of four sons of Joseph and Nancy (Post) Brainerd, born in Leyden, Lewis Co., N.Y., November 25, 1814. His education was acquired in the common schools of Lewis county and the Martinsburg Academy. At the age of sixteen his father died, and it was the wish of his widowed mother that her eldest son be educated in some profession, but preferring a trade he served an apprenticeship at harness-making and carriage trimming. In the spring of 1834 he came to Ohio and settled at Cuyahoga Falls, then in Portage County, where he followed his trade for about five years. August 4. 1836, he married Miss Margaret Wells, eldest daughter of John F. Wells. of Ravenna, this county. In 1839 he removed to Randolph, and in 1843 he was elected Justice of the Peace, and at the October election in 1845 he was elected County Treasurer. In the spring of 1846 he removed to Ravenna, where he has since resided. In 1849 he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, Samuel Mason, under the firm name of Mason & Brainerd, engaged in hardware, stove and tinning business, which partnership continued until Mr. Mason's death in August, 1852. In 1853 Mr. Brainered was appointed Cashier of the Franklin Bank of Portage County, was acting Treasurer in 1854, and in 1855 he was elected Treasurer of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company, and re-elected from year to year until 1864, when he resigned, but subsequently served in the same position one year more. On the 12th of July, 1859, he was appointed acting Secretary of this railway company, in which position he served three years. In December, 1864, he was appointed Director of the company in place of William Reynolds, Esq., resigned, and at the next annual meeting in July he was elected member of the Railway Board of Directors, which position, and that of Inspector of Accounts, he held several years. His official connection with the railway company in the positions named covered a period of nearly fourteen years. Mr. Brainerd was also Director, Treasurer and Financial Officer of the Silver Creek Mining & Railway Company in Wayne and Medina Counties seven years, from 1856 to 1863. For many years he was Director of the Portage County Branch of the State Bank of Ohio, and after the death of Mr. Seymour in November, 1863, he was elected its President. After the organization of the First National Bank of Ravenna, he was for several years one of its Directors. He was also Treasurer of the Farmers Insurance Company of Portage County during all the years of its business transactions. For seven years he was Treasurer, and three years President, of the Portage County Agricultural Society, and much of its success and prosperity is due to his efficient action and untiring efforts in its behalf. Mr. Brainerd has for the past six years been Director and Historian of the Portage and Summitt Counties Pioneer Association. In 1870 he entered into partnership with his son, Charles W. Brainerd, under the name of E.P. Brainerd & Son, and engaged in a general drug business, which continued until the spring of 1882. Our subject is of the fifth generation from Daniel Brainerd, the common progenitor of all of the name in the United States, who came from England when quite young, and settled in Haddam, Conn., in 1862. He became a wealthy, prominent, and influential man; was twice married, first to Miss Hannah Spencer, of Lynn, Mass., by whom he was the father of seven sons and one daughter. No children by his second wife. Mr. Brainerd has in his possession a manuscript 200 years old, it being the original record of a town meeting in Haddam, Conn., at which the first Brainerd was elected to a township office. The subject of this sketch being a direct descendant of Revolutionary stock, he inherited the spirit of '76 and great devotion to the stars and stripes. In politics he began an old-line Whig, voted the Free Soil ticket, and has been identified with the Republican party since its organization, and was for many years Chairman of the County Central Committee. He has ever been a warm friend of education. For many years before the union school system was adopted he held the position of Director of Common Schools, and later for some year he was President of the Board of Education of Ravenna. He is the father of two children: His son, Charles W., is a druggist in Mantua; his daughter, Mary Adelaide, married F.W. Hulburt, of Utica, N.Y. - she died October 11, 1878, aged twenty-eight years, leaving a daughter, Florence Adelaide, born June 25, 1875. His wife died March 21, 1880, aged sixty-three years. October 11, 1881, Mr. Brainerd married Augusta L., the only surviving daughter of Ezra and Lydia (Platts) Jones, of Saybrook, Conn., and a graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary, Mass., in the class of 1859. From the early period at which the subject of this sketch became identified with the interests of Portage County, he has occupied a conspicuous position in business affairs, in educational interests, public improvements and all that pertains to the progress and advancement of his town and county. The record of his life will live in the memory of those whose rugged ways he smoothed and softened, after he has passed away. -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #793 *******************************************