OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS


A Part of Genealogy Express
 

Welcome to
Mahoning County, Ohio
History & Genealogy

20th Century History of
Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio

and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co.
Chicago, Illinois -
1907
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CHAPTER XV.
YOUNGSTOWN - THE COUNTY SEAT
Laid Out by John Young - First Events - Discovery of Coal - Judge Kirtland's Reminiscences - Celebrating the Fourth - First Murder Trial - Pioneer Schools - Feminine Costumes - Wet Seasons of 1810-1812 - Early Amusements - Pioneer Houses - Elections - Incorporation - City of the Second Class - Extensions of Limits - Mayors of Youngstown - Other Officials - Youngstown Citizens in 1841 - Cemeteries - Parks - Water Works and Filter Plant -  Fire Department - Police Department - Mahoning & Shenango Railway & Light Company - Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce - Mahoning Gas Fuel Co. - Telephone Companies - Humane Society - Opera House - Park Theatre - A few Statistics - Notable Personages.
Pg. 122

THE FIRST MILL

     It has been shown in a previous chapter that, on the completion of the survey of the Western Reserve by the Connecticut Land Company, the land was partitioned among the stockholders of the company by draft. "Prior to the draft some portions of the land had been sold by the company to individuals not stockholders.  Youngstown was not included in the land partitioned in the draft, and the name of John Young does not appear among the stockholders of the company.  Hence we infer that he contracted for the purchase of the township directly from the company and prior to the draft, but at what time and in what manner this contract was made the records do not show.  The records, however, do show that on Apr. 9, 1800, the trustees of the company conveyed to John Young township No. 2 in the second range, called Youngstown, containing 15,560 acres of land, for the consideration of $16,085.  On the same day Mr. Young, executed to the trustees a mortgage of the township to secure the payment of the purchase money.
     "Mr. Young, according to tradition, visited the township about 1797 with Alfred Wolcott, a surveyor, for the purpose of surveying it into lots and commencing a settlement.  Colonel James Hillman, who then resided in Pittsburg, and had been for a number of years engaged in trading with the Indians on the Reserve, making his voyages up the Mahoning in a canoe, in returning from one of his expeditions, saw a smoke on the bank near Spring Common.  On landing he found Mr. Young and Mr. Wolcott. He stayed with them a few days, when they went with him to Beaver on the Ohio river, to celebrate the Fourth of July.  Colonel Hillman, at the instance of Mr. Young, returned with him to Youngstown, and they commenced the settlement of the town by the erection of a log house, which stood on the east bank of the Mahoning river near Spring Common.
     MORE TO COME.....

FIRST MARRIAGE ON THE RESERVE.

     The records of Trumbull county contain the following certificate:
     "This may certify that, after publication, according to law of the Territory, Stephen Baldwin and Rebecca Rush were joined in marriage on the third day of November, 1800.
                            BY WILLIAM WICK, V. D. M.
     "On the 11th of February prior, according to a record kept at Canfield, Alfred Wolcott, the surveyor who came out with Mr. Young, and then resided at Youngstown, was married to Mercy Gilson, of Canfield.  They were married in Pennsylvania, for the reason that no person in this vicinity was authorized to solemnize marriages.  Hence we infer that the first marriage in Youngstown was that of Stephen Baldwin and Rebecca Rush; and this was probably the first marriage on the Reserve.

FIRST MAIL CHILD BORN.

 

THE FIRST FUNERAL.

 

DISCOVERY OF COAL.

 

JUDGE KIRTLAND'S REMINISCENCES.

 

CELEBRATING THE FOURTH.

 

FIRST MURDER TRIAL.

 

PIONEER SCHOOLS.

 

FEMININE COSTUMES.

 

HEAVY RAILS OF 1810 - 1812.

 

OTHER EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.

 

EARLY AMUSEMENTS.

 

PIONEER HOUSES.

 

ELECTIONS.

 

INCORPORATION.

 

FIRST COUNCIL MEETING.

 

CITY OF THE SECOND CLASS.

 

FURTHER EXTENSIONS OF LIMITS.

 

MAYORS OF YOUNGSTOWN.

 

CITY OFFICERS - 1907.

 

YOUNGSTOWN CITIZENS OF 1841.

 

ONE ATTORNEY.

 

CLERGYMEN.

 

NO NEWSPAPER.

 

OF HIGH CHARACTER.

 

OAK HILL CEMETERY.

     Oak Hill Cemetery was founded in 1852, the Cemetery Association being incorporated in that year with Dr. Henry Manning as its first president.  About sixteen acres of the original land was purchased from Dr. Manning and formed part of his farm.  The land has been improved at considerable expense, and now consists of twenty-seven acres, beautifully situated upon a high hill on the south bank of the Mahoning River.  To this cemetery were gradually conveyed the remains of those who had been previously interred in the old burying ground on Wood street and Wick avenue.  In it about 14,000 interments have been made up to the present time.  The cemetery is not conducted for the profit and no dividends are declared.  Myron C. Wick is no president of the association, with Mason Evans secretary and treasurer.  The grounds are tastefully laid out and kept in admirable order under the careful superintendence of Mr.  J. D. Orr.  With its retired and picturesque situation, elevated far above the noise and smoke of the valley, it makes an ideal City of the Dead, where bereaved ones may commune awhile in spirit with those who have passed away.  There are seven costly private burying vaults now in the cemetery.

BELMONT PARK CEMETERY.

 

MILL CREEK PARK.

 

MILL CREEK AND ITS RELICS IN THE PARK.

 

LAKE COHASSET.

 

EAST END PARK.

 

WICK PARK.

 

YOUNGSTOWN CITY WATER WORKS.

 

YOUNGSTOWN FILTER PLANT.

 

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

 

THE DEPARTMENT REORGANIZED.

 

FIREMAN'S DAILY ROUTINE.

 

THE DEPARTMENT AS NOW ORGANIZED.

 

STATIONS AND COMPANIES.

 

POLICE DEPARTMENT.

 

MAHONING AND SHENANGO RAILWAY AND  LIGHT COMPANY.

 

YOUNGSTOWN BOARD OF TRADE.

 

YOUNGSTOWN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

 

YOUNGSTOWN GAS FUEL COMPANY.

 

CENTRAL UNION TELEPHONE COMPANY.

 

YOUNGSTOWN TELEPHONE COMPANY.

 

BUSINESS COLLEGES.

 

YOUNGSTOWN HUMANE COMPANY.

 

ANNUAL REPORT.

 

WORK RELEASE.

 

GRAND OPERA HOSUE.

 

PARK THEATER

 

A FEW STATISTICS.

 

NOTABLE PERSONAGES.

     JOHN YOUNG came from a Scotch family that settled near Londonderry, in the north of Ireland, in the Sixteenth or Seventeenth century.  Here, in 18623, the first of the family whose record is known to us was born.  In 1718, in his ninety-sixth year, with his son and grandson, their brothers and sisters, and sisters' husbands, forming in all fourteen, part of a Scotch-Irish colony, he sailed away from Ireland, and landed in Boston, Mass., the same year.  One of the descendants settled in Petersborough, N. H., and there John Young was born in 1763.  About 1780 he emigrated to Whitestown, N. Y., and in June, 1792, was married to Mary Stone White, youngest daughter of Hugh White, the first settler there and original proprietor of a large tract of wild land.
     John Young lived in Whitestown until 1796, in which year he became interested in Ohio lands.  In 1797 he began the settlement of Youngstown, to which place, two years later, he removed with his wife and two children- John and George.  Here two more children were born to him - William, in 1799, and Mary  in 1802.  In 1803, Mrs. Young, finding the trials of frontier life, with a latch-string always out, and a table free to all, too great with her young family for her power of endurance, persuaded her husband to close up his business and returned with the family to Whitestown, where her father had kept a home for them.
     Mr. Young's nominal occupation subsequently was that of farmer, though he devoted the greater part of his time to other business interests.  He was for many years engaged in the construction and superintendency of the Great Western Turnpike from Utica to Canandaigua, and later on the Erie Canal, near which he resided, and upon which one of his sons was employed as civil engineer.
     As one of the justices of the peace and quorum, Mr. Young sat upon the bench at the first territorial court held at Warren in 1800, and was ever after addressed as Judge Young.  He died in April, 1825, at the age of sixty-two, twenty-two years after his return from Youngstown.  His wife survived him fourteen years, dying in September, 1839, in the old home of her father, at Whitestown, N. Y., at the age of sixty-seven.

     COLONEL JAMES HILLMAN, one of the most picturesque figures of pioneer days on the Reserve, was born in Northumberland county, Pa., on the 27th of October, 1762.  As a young man he fought for American independence in the Revolutionary War, and on its termination accompanied his father to the West, settling on the banks of the Ohio river, a short distance belong Pittsburg.  In the spring of 1786 he was employed by the firm of Duncan & Wildon as a packhorseman and during the following summer, in the interest of his employers, visited Sandusky, the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and other places.  Subsequently he made several trading excursions up the Mahoning river, on one of which, in 1796 or 1797, he met John Young, and made arrangements with him by which he soon after removed with his family to the then newly funded settlement of Youngstown.  Of this place he was afterwards a resident until his death.
     On his farm of sixty acres, on the west side of the river, Mr. Hillman built, so tradition says, the first frame house in the township.  About 1808 he opened in the village a tavern, of which he was proprietor for several years thereafter.  He sold it after his return from the War of 1812, in which he served as wagonmaster under Colonel Rayen
      In 1818 he sold his farm and opened another tavern, on the corner of Federal and Walnut streets, which he kept until 1824.  He then purchased another farm on the west side of the river, and resided thereon until his death, which occurred Nov. 12, 1848, when he had just entered his eighty-seventh year.
     Colonel Hillman was frequently elected to public office.  In August, 1800, at the First Territorial Court held in Trumbull County, he was appointed constable of Youngstown.  Subsequently he served several terms as appraiser of houses, and was a number of times elected township trustee.  He was elected sheriff of Trumbull County in 1806, and on Feb. 16, 1808, he was commissioned as lieutenant-colonel, commandant of the Second Regiment, First Brigade, Fourth Division, Ohio militia, which latter office he resigned in the following year.  In 1814 he was elected representative in the State Legislature.  He also held the  office of justice of the peace for several years, being first elected thereto in 1825.
     In early manhood, soon after his return from the Revolutionary War, he was married in Western Pennsylvania, making his wife's acquaintance at a dance and marrying her on the same evening, the dancing being suspended for a few minutes while the ceremony was performed.  This union, though childless, proved a happy one.  Mrs. Catherine Hillman survived her husband seven years, dying in August, 1855, at the advanced age of eighty-three.  She was the first white female resident of Youngstown, and was noted for her hospitality and kind neighborly traits of character.
     Colonel Hill was a typical pioneer.  Brave, hardy, adventurous and shrewd, he was well fitted to endure the toil and encounter the dangers of a life in the wilderness, and his fame as a man of courage and ready resource, yet of circumspect judgment, as come down to our day, and we know him as one of hte most worthy of which we are today members.

     JUDGE WILLIAM RAYEN was born in Kent Co., Md., Oct. 1, 1776, and moved to Youngstown as early as 1802, before Ohio had been admitted into the Union; he was therefore one of the earliest pioneers of the Western Reserve.  The early records of Youngstown township, then a part of Trumbull County, mention that the first pubic meeting to organize was held in his house, and the first township officers were elected there April 5, 1802.  Subsequently he was elected and re-elected to different township offices, and became one of the foremost citizens in the public life of the community.
     In the War of 1812, when about thirty-six years of age, he went out under General Harrison as colonel of the First Regiment, Third brigade of militia, raised in the Western Reserve, in his command being Major Mackey, Dr. Henry Manning, Charles A. Boardman and Colonel Hillman.  He was ever regarded with affection and esteem by those who had served under him.  He was always a strong factor in the political party to which he belonged, and its prominent members throughout the State were frequent visitors and guests at his house; among these were David Tod and John Brough, both of whom were afterwards governors of Ohio.  He was appointed by the Governor of the State as associate judge on the Trumbull County bench, and from that period was generally addressed as Judge Rayen except by his military friends who continued to call him colonel.  The leading events of his life, which are of pubic record, establish the fact of a steadily acquired prominence, not only local, but in the State, which can be best accounted for by conceding his unusual ability to rise from moderate beginnings.
     In 1840 he was elected by the legislature as president of the board of public works of the State, and his entire life from the time of his coming to Youngstown up to and beyond this period shows him to have been a man of unusual energy and sagacious judgment in the management of business affairs.  Without mentioning minor instances of his activity, records show that he was one of the corporators, and a director in the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal Company, the first pubic work affecting the growth of the town, and built a warehouse on its banks; that he was a stockholder in the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad Company, the first railroad in the valley, and that he was the first president of the Mahoning County Bank, the first bank organized in Youngstown.  During all this time he continued the extension and improvement of his landed possessions, and built a house suitable to his growing position with all the accessories - garden, orchard, shrubbery, and stables - that mark a well cared for homestead.  His farms were large and easily distinguishable by the superiority of their fences and well known red gates.  His cattle were of select breeds and his sheep of the finest merino.  Visitors from his own and other States came long distances to see his stock, famous for their quality.  as the owner of well managed farms and superior live-stock, the general acknowledgement was that he was without a peer in this part of the country.
     Judge Rayen was a strong man, mentally and physically, with a distinct voice and of good presence, not much above the middle height, and weighing 280 pounds.  He was polite in manner, impressive in intercourse, and in the presence of women particularly courteous; though affable to all, and possessed of considerable humor, few would venture on familiarity unless on friendly terms before.  He was particular in dress, somewhat in the style of earlier days; when he was seen in his black coat, or a blue coat with gilt buttons, buff colored vest and fine ruffled shirt, his portly form seated on a bench under a large tree near his house, with his hands folded over the top of his gold-headed cane, he presented an attractive, even a picturesque, appearance, well known to everyone; and in his position, when weather permitted, his friends at home and from abroad might expect to find him when not particularly engaged.
     His domestic habits were simple and orderly.  An early riser himself, the business of the day began early with the family and domestics.  Systematic in everything, the machinery of affairs ran smoothly and proclaimed a master at the head.  Integrity and candor were essentials to his esteem and favor, wither in dependents or friends.  He was discerning, and when favorably impressed was generous in intercourse and often liberal in aid where required.  There was a certain highmindedness in himself, which made him faithful and open to his friends, but unapproachable by those on whom his esteem could not rest.  He estimated men for their qualities rather than for what they possessed, and so his friendships were to be found in every walk of life.  There was no disguise in his nature; he was direct in his manner and actions at all times.
     He was not a professor of religion, although his family and household were mostly church members, but at the request of his wife, who was a religious woman, he fitted up a large room in an adjoining store building to be used for religious meetings at her disposal.  On her death he built a stone vault not far from the dwelling, in which her remains were laid to rest, and to the end of his life thereafter it was his custom, on the anniversary of her death, the enter, to enter and remain in this vault for some time alone.  On the subject of his religious views he was not demonstrative.  Being a Royal Arch Mason and attached to the order, he had avowed his belief in God, and in the Bible as his inspired word, and that probably was the only open declaration of his faith ever made.
     Judge Rayen was a natural leader, not so much by what he said as by what he did, for he was not a man of many words, though earnest and cheerful in conversation.  He was endowed with practical good sense and a strong will, and in his undertakings kept abreast, if not in advance, of the times and circumstances about him, and thereby appeared to stand on elevated ground among his neighbors, and in that attitude by common consent, was recognized throughout the country when spoken of.
     So far the history, individuality and surroundings of the judge are presented in a concise manner, without referring to that feature of his character in which the people of Youngstown are most interested,  and on which his memory will most securely rest, namely, his benevolence; and it may be well, before treating of his bequest for a public school, to have introduced the personality of a distinguished man who was a living active figure in the early settlement and growth of this part of Ohio during the first half of the Nineteenth century, and who, having passed through the hardships of pioneer times successfully, had at the end of his long life a desire to promote civilization by education of the people, and for that purpose founded an institution of learning with a liberality that is without an equal for its munificence in this community. 
     Vague expectations of some generous act were entertained for some time by his friends but nothing definite was known until his will was read after his death, in 1854.  The secret of his intentions was his own and was not divulged to any, het, when made known, his bequest was not a surprise.  On many occasions he had spoken with commendation of gifts to public institutions, colleges, or libraries, and more than once with particular praise of Stephen Girard's will founding a college at Philadelphia.  Many reasons may be advanced, not altogether speculative, why he should select a public school as the object of his benefactions.  He was a thorough American, born with the Revolution, and a defender of his country in its early wars; and living in the times when the future of the new republic was a subject discussed at home and abroad, he believed its perpetuity depended on the intelligence of the people as much as on their bravery, and that provision for their education was a patriotic duty.  The public school system of today was not then in existence; opportunity for education of the young was precarious, depending on private subscription, so that to adopt some plan of a permanent nature, particularly for children of the poor, was a noble inspiration.  Then, again, his own education, through fair, was limited, and it was a source of regret to him that opportunity for higher attainments was not his lot when young.
     Whatever may have been the moving causes, the benevolent act was his own well matured purpose, and his will is the best exponent that can be given of his motives.  It was framed with a sagacity for which he was noted; the perpetuity of its benefits was a first consideration; that the doors of the school should be open to all children of Youngstown, and especially to those of poor parents, was a part of his broad philanthropy, and to avoid exclusiveness, no particular religious sect should have supremacy in its management, but good moral teaching should be an essential in its teachers, thus making the institution truly public in its benefits.
     At the time of his death the population of Youngstown was about 4,000, and the value of property greatly below the present; wealth was estimated by a different standard, and therefore, the amount bequeathed was at, the time relatively large; and when it is remembered that it was given out of his most available means, not dependent on the uncertain value of landed property, which, though since, very great, could not then have been estimated, it is seen that this cherished purpose of his was, by design, most securely provided for, and in this provision of his will, the habit of doing well whatever he undertook is clearly exemplified.
     Having no children of his own, and yet known to be a lover and friend of the young all his life, it might be said that he adopted the children of Youngstown to be his heirs, leaving to them an inheritance of great educational value for all time, by which his name would be perpetuated, and should this ambition have entered into the purpose of the generous deed, there is nothing unworthy in it.  The field of his benefaction has greatly enlarged since the will was made, and the trust has been so wisely and ably managed that its benefits have attained a proportion beyond any expectation the donor could have entertained at the time.  The population of the city has increased to about 78,000, made up of a new generation, who generally look upon Rayen school as the ordinary outgrowth of civilization, unmindful of its founder, who, if remembered at all, is as some indistinct person in the past, almost mythical in character.  Few recognize the advantages of the school as the result of the foresight and benevolence of one of hte earliest settlers in Youngstown, or consider that, if he had not existed and done the generous deed, the city would be wanting in one of its chief attractions and most useful institutions. - [From a sketch by Hon. Thomas H. Wells.]

     ROBERT MONTGOMERY was born Apr. 5, 1773, in Danville, Chester County, Pennsylvania.  His father, General William Montgomery, was a colonel in the Revolutionary army, and at one time a member of the Continental Congress.  Both father and son were surveyors, the subject of this sketch being employed as assistant to the surveyor-general of Pennsylvania.  While following his profession in the western part of that State prior to the settlement of the Reserve, Robert Montgomery made a journey up the Mahoning river, visiting the site of Youngstown.  Here, between 1812 and 1816, he purchased land near the mouth of Dry Run, and established a homestead on which he subsequently resided until his death.
     Having in his younger days acquired a knowledge of the furnace business he made a second journey to Ohio, about 1805, and selected a site for a furnace on Yellow Creek, in Poland township.  This site was on the farm of John Struthers, with whom he entered into partnership.  A furnace was erected and put in blast in 1806 or 1807, and was the first furnace successfully run in Ohio.  A furnace on Yellow Creek had been previously erected by Dan Eaton, but was not successful.  In 1807, Mr. Eaton sold his furnace, ore, and other rights to Mr. Montgomery and his partners, among the latter being James Mackay, Robert Alexander, and David Clendenin.  The Montgomery furnace was run successfully until the War of 1812 interrupted the business and it was not resumed.
     After closing up his furnace business Mr. Montgomery took up his residence on the farm already mentioned.  He was selected justice of the peace, in which office he served for a number of years.  He was a man of good education and well informed on general topics.  Having served for some time as a major in the militia he was generally given his military title in conversation.  He died in 1857.  Major Montgomery was twice married.  His first wife died young, leaving one child, Mary who married Mr. Corry  He married, second, in 1814, Mrs. Louisa M. Edwards, widow of John S. Edwards.  Of this union there were three children, Robert Morris, Caroline Sarah, who became the wife of Dr. Moses Hazeltine, and Ellen Louise, who married Samuel Hine.

     DAN EATON was one of several brothers who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania soon after the settlement of the Reserve, about 1803 or earlier.  Little is known of his early history.  His name was originally Daniel Heaton, but he had it contracted by act of legislature, deeming it to contain superfluous letters.  The first authentic information in regard to him is derived from a contract made between him and Robert Alexander and David Clendenin and dated June 23, 1807, in which he contracts to sell them the "Hopewell Furnace," together with 102 acres of land which formed a part of the property, and all of which he held by contract with Turhand Kirland; also "his interest in and to the whole of the iron ore on the plantation of Lodwick Ripple, which he held under an agreement with said Lodwick; also certain other rights to wood," etc.  On the date of his agreement with Lodwick - Aug. 31, 1803 - he made a contract for iron ore preliminary to building a furnace.  It also appears that on Oct. 17, 1804, he made contracts with others for wood for charcoal to run the furnace, which probably then was nearly ready to start.  The exact date at which he "blew in" is not known, but it was undoubtedly at some time between 1804 and 1806 inclusive.  This furnace was located upon Yellow Creek about one and one-fourth miles south of its junction with the Mahoning river, in Poland township.  To this place he came, it is believed about 1800.  The price for which he sold his furnace, with ore rights, etc., was $5,600, and the price of the land was not quite $3.50 per acre.
     After thus selling out his rights in this business he went to Niles, Trumbull County, where, with his brother James, he established a forge, using the pig iron made at the Yellow Creek furnaces, the delivery to him of which as part of the purchase price of the furnace was one of the conditions of the contract above referred to.  Subsequently with the same brother, and possibly others of the family he built a furnace at Niles which was in operation as late as 1856.
     About 1825, with his brother James Reese and Isaac Heaton, sons of James and Eli Phillips, he built a furnace on Mill Creek, in Youngstown, the first in the township, a short distance below the Mahoning falls.  About this time, and for a number of years after, he resided on a small farm on the west side of Mill Creek near its junction with the Mahoning, it being a part of the tract originally purchased on which to build the furnace.
     Mr. Eaton was a man of strong prejudices and fiery passions.  Though imperfectly educated he had a good mind and possessed a fair stock of general information.  He several times changed his religious views, being in his younger days a Methodist, afterwards holding _eistical views, and in his later years inclining to Spiritualism.  He held pronounced opinions on financial questions, believing that banks should not issue currency, but that all paper money should be notes issued by the United States Treasury, and should be made a legal tender; that offices should be established in the several States for loaning these notes, and that the government should reap the benefit of the interest on the notes loaned and used as currency.  These views with others he embodied in a bill which he prepared in 1847 and forwarded to Congress, accompanied by a petition signed by many of his friends and neighbors requesting its passage.
     Mr. Eaton was an early advocate of the temperance cause, organizing at Niles, as early as 1811, the first temperance society known in this region.  He and his family, with many others, signed the total abstinence pledge, to which he ever afterwards adhered.  That he was highly regarded by his fellow citizens is evidenced by the fact that in 1813 he was Senator from Trumbull County, and in 1820 Representative from the county in the State Legislature, his co-representative being Hon. Elisha Whittlesey.
     Mr. Eaton died at Youngstown about 1857, at the house of his daughter, Mrs. Hannah E. Kendle, with whom he had lived several years after the death of his wife.

     JAMES MACKEY, one of the most prominent and influential among the early settlers of the Western Reserve, was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1776.  His early history is not fully known, but that he had received a good education is evidenced by the fact that at the time of his arrival on the Reserve he was a "well trained practical surveyor, an excellent accountant, and a good mathematician." 
     He arrived in Poland township about 1805, coming from Pennsylvania to assist Robert Montgomery in building a furnace on Yellow Creek, of which furnace he subsequently became part owner, being also connected with the company as bookkeeper until operations were discontinued about 1812.  About that time he entered the army, and was subsequently promoted to the office of adjutant in the fourth division of Ohio militia, commanded by Major-General Wadsworth.  "During the war he was also assistant paymaster of the division, and his accurate rolls, and their careful preservation, was of great aid to the soldiers in after years in enabling them to furnish evidence of their military service, and thereby obtain bounty land warrants and pensions.  His early training and business capacity well qualified him for these positions, and his kind and generous treatment of the soldiers won him their gratitude, affection and respect.  His military employments gave him the rank and title of major."
     About 1816 he entered into mercantile business in Youngstown with Colonel William Rayen, under the style of Rayen & Mackey, their store being a log building, situated on the northeast corner of Federal and Holes streets.  This partnership lasted for several years and during its continuance Major Mackey purchased a farm of 275 acres, northeast of the territory covered by the present city of Youngstown.  He and Colonel Rayen, who owned a neighboring farm, just over the township line, in Coitsville, became friendly rivals in the production of fine cattle and swine.  He was also often employed as land surveyor.
     Major Mackey was frequently elected by his fellow citizens to public office.  In 1814 he was elected township clerk; in 1822 and 1823, township trustee, and in subsequent years trustee, supervisor of highways, fence viewer, overseer of the poor and justice of the peace.  In 1819 he was elected county commissioner for a term of three years.  In 1822 he was elected representative from Trumbull County to the General Assembly, there being eight other candidates.  His associate was Cyrus Bosworth.  In 1830 he was elected treasurer of Trumbull County for two years, and in collecting the taxes he visited each year all the thirty-five townships of the county, performing his journey on the back of his favorite horse, "Bob."
     Major Mackey was a man of excellent qualities, active and industrious, public-spirited, of strict integrity, with good judgment, and great firmness and decision of character.  Matters of difference between his neighbors, were often referred to him for settlement, and his decision rendered only after full hearing of all the facts, were always accepted by them as final.  His death took place Aug. 15, 1844, when he was sixty-eight years old.
     He was married Sept. 10, 1823, to Miss Margaret Earley, of Coitsville, O.  She survived him many years, dying May 14, 1870, at the age of seventy-two.  They were the parents of eight children of whom three died young.  The others were David, Nancy, (who married Dr. Will Breaden), James, Robert and Letitia, who became the wife of Andrew Kirk.  David, James and Robert Mackey were associated in partnership for a number of years in the real estate business in Youngtown.  They built the first street railroad in that city, of which for a number of years James Mackey was presirent.

     JOHN E. WOODBRIDGE was born in Stockbridge, Mass., June 24, 1777, son of Jahleel and Lucy (Edwards) Woodbridge.  His mother was a daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards.  He acquired his early education in his native town of Stockbridge and afterwards learned the trade of tanner with William Edwards, a relation, who resided in the State of New York, and with whom he remained until attaining his majority.  In 1798 he went to Philadelphia where he worked at his trade, as he did subsequently in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland.  He was married in 1803 to Miss Mary M. Horner, who was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1783.  In the summer of 1807 the family, which then included two children, removed from Baltimore, where they were then residing, to Youngstown, making the journey in a large wagon.  Here Mr. Woodbridge purchased the tannery of Joseph Townsend, who was the first tanner in Youngstown, and who then gave up his trade to become a farmer.  The tannery being small, Mr. Woodbridge enlarged it and continued the business during the rest of his life, in his latter years, however, leaving the active management of the business largely to his sons, who were his partners.  Among his employees, it is said, was Mr. Grant, grandfather of President Grant.
    
In the War of 1812 Mr. Woodbridge served as paymaster of Colonel Rayen's regiment during the six months that it was in the field.  He died in Youngstown Dec. 1, 1844.  The following was the well deserved tribute to his character paid in a funeral discourse by Rev. Charles A. Boardman.
     "His uniform urbanity, intelligence, integrity, refinement, and morality of deportment commanded the respect of all, and the cordial attachment of those who best knew him, which, unshaken by adversity and trial, he has born with him to the grave.  He was a modest man, with qualifications for official station which won the confidence of his fellow citizens, but he recoiled from its responsibility, and steadfastly resisted all offers of public favor."
     His wife survived him several years.  They were parents of eleven children: Lucy who married Jonathan Edwards; John, George, Timothy, Henry, William, Walter, Samuel, Elizabeth, who became the wife of George Tayler; Louisa Maria, married to Robert W. Tayler, and  Stark Edwards.

     DANIEL SHEHY was born in County Tipperary, Ireland.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  He was well educated, and after arriving at man's estate came into possession of his inheritance and emigrated to America, this being just after the close of the Revolutionary War.  At Albany, New York, he met John Young, by whom he was persuaded to seek his fortunes in Ohio, and whom he accompanied on the latter's first trip to the Western Reserve.  In company with Mr. Isaac Powers he assisted in the survey of the Reserve.  Their only white predecessor was Colonel Hillman, whom they met on the banks of the Mahoning.  Mr. Shehy selected and purchased one thousand acres of land for which he paid $2,000, four hundred acres of which lay east of the present city of Youngstown, and the other six hundred on the south bank of the river.  Having concluded the bargain in good faith and secured, as he thought, a homestead, Mr. Shehy married Miss Jane McLain, of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and privations of pioneer live, and would have been content, but for one cloud which darkened their horizon.  This was the difficulty in getting a title to their land.  Mr. Young, who had been offered by Robert Gibson for the land south of the river fifty cents an acre more than Mr. Shehy had paid, refused to give the latter a deed, and their being then no law courts, the latter had no legal redness.  This led to trouble between the parties, and on one occasion it is said, Mr. Shehy gave Mr. Yung a sound thrashing, for which he was imprisoned and fined.  As a last resource, Mr. Shehy left his wife and children in the wilderness, and set out on foot to Connecticut to try to obtain justice from the original proprietors of the land.  The latter obliged Young to give Mr. Shehy a deed for the remaining four hundred acres.  Though his health had been severely tried by the hardships he had undergone, he lived to rear a large family, and was recognized by his neighbors as a warm-hearted, generous, intelligent and public-spirited citizen.  In religious faith he was a Roman Catholic.

     NATHANIEL GARDNER DABNEY was born in Boston, Mass., about the year 1770 or 1771, and was a member of a respectable and influential family.  His father, Nathaniel Dabney, who was surgeon of a ship owned by himself and brother, was lost at sea, the vessel leaving port and never after being heard from.  The mother of the subject of this sketch, was in maidenhood a Miss Betsey Gardner, of Connecticut, a woman of very superior qualities.  Nathaniel  was the only child of his parents and was given an excellent education.  Having considerable means and desiring to see something of the western country, he came to Pittsburg, where he was induced by a friend to join with him in the purchase of a tract of land in Youngstown township, their intention being to engage in mercantile business.  The friend dying before their plans were completed young Dabney found himself in possession of land which he scarcely knew how to turn to account, having no practical knowledge of agriculture.
     Marrying, in 1797, Miss Mary Keifer, of Pennsylvania, a farmer's daughter, he settled on the land, on which he soon erected comfortable buildings.  Here he reared a family of six children - three daughters and three sons.
     In 1813, Mr. Dabney, after a short illness, died of consumption, and his farm was divided among his children.  He had a large family, several members of which subsequently became well known and prominent in the business and social world of Youngstown.

     COLONEL CALEB B. WICK was born Oct. 1, 1795, son of Henry and Hannah (Baldwin) Wick.  He was a descendant of Job Wick, of Southampton, Long Island, N. Y., who according to the family records, was married to Anna Cook Dec. 21, 1721.  In April, 1802, Henry Wick purchased of John Young the square in Youngstown bounded by West Federal, Wood, Phelps, and Hazel streets, and a lot of thirty-seven acres outside of the town plat for $235.  Here he engaged in business as a merchant, and in the spring of 1804 removed his wife and four children to Youngstown.  He died Nov. 4, 1845.  His widow, Hannah B. Wick, died Apr. 10, 1849.
     Caleb B. Wick received such an education as was obtainable in the schools of that period, a part of his time being spent in assisting his father in the latter's mercantile business.  In the fall of 1815 with Dr. Henry Manning, he opened a country store, connecting with it a drug store, the first in this part of the Reserve.  He remained in partnership with Dr. Manning in this store for about ten years.
     Subsequently he continued in mercantile business in other buildings until 1848, at which time he retired.  his time afterwards was devoted to the care of his estate, which had become very large.  He died June 30, 1865, when nearly seventy years of age, having been for some years previously the oldest citizen in Youngstown.
     During his active life he held a number of positions of trust and honor.  On June 2, 1817, he was commissioned by Governor Worthington lieutenant of the Third Company, First Battalion, First Regiment, Fourth Division, Ohio Militia, having been first elected to that position by the company.  Sept. 3, 1818, he was commissioned captain of the same company.  On Mar. 22, 1822, he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment, and in the fall of the same year colonel of the regiment, which position he held for several years.
     He was twice elected township clerk of Youngstown - in 1820 and 1824 - was subsequently trustee, and held other township offices.  He was also postmaster of Youngstown from November, 1841, to March, 1843.
     Colonel Wick married, Jan. 1, 1816, Miss Rachel Kirtland, daughter of Jared Kirtland, Poland, Ohio.  Of this union there were two children, one of whom died in infancy.  In November, 1828, he married for his second wife, Miss Maria Adelia Griffith, of Youngstown, previously of Caledonia, Livingston County, N. Y., who bore him ten children.  "In social life, as a citizen, a neighbor, and a friend, Colonel Wick was liberal, kind and warm-hearted.  In his house everybody felt at home and his hospitality knew no limit.  Indulgent of his own family in social joys, and cheerful to the last, he had great delight in the society of the young as well as the old."

     JOHN M. EDWARDS was born in New Haven, Conn., Oct. 23, 1805.  His parents were Henry W. and Lydia (Miller) Edwards, and he was a grandson of Judge Pierrepont Edwards, one of the original proprietors of the Western Reserve, and a great grandson of Jonathan Edwards, the eminent theologian and an early president of Princeton College.  ON his father's side he was of Welsh and English descent.  His maternal grandfather was John Miller, a native of London, England, who came to America prior to the Revolutionary War and who was a captain in the merchant marine.
     The subject of this sketch was graduated at Yale College in 1824, afterwards read law with Judge Bristol at New Haven, and was admitted to the bar of Connecticut in 1826, and to the bar of the Circuit Court of the United States in 1828.  He came to Youngstown in July, 1832, but at that time remained but a few months, soon after removing to the northern part of Trumbull county, where he engaged in business other than that pertaining to his profession.  Admitted to the bar of Ohio by the Supreme Court in August, 1838, he began the practice of law at Warren.  In 1840, and for some years thereafter he was editor of the Trumbull Democrat.  A bankrupt law being passed in 1841, he was appointed by the United States district court commissioner of bankrupts for Trumbull County, which office he held until the repeal of the law.  In 1842 he was nominated by a Democratic convention, and without any previous knowledge on his part that it was contemplated, representative in Congress from the old Nineteenth district to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, and although not elected, his party being greatly in the minority, he largely cut down the opposition vote.  He was commissioned captain of militia in 1841, and in 1843 was appointed school examiner for Trumbull County.
     On the organization of Mahoning County in 1846, Mr. Edwards removed to Canfield, where he practiced law until 1864, at which time he removed his office to Youngstown.  In 1868 he took up his residence in this city, remaining here subsequently until his death.  While a resident of Canfield he was several times appointed school examiner for Mahoning County, and was tendered a re-appointment after his removal to Youngstown, which, however, he declined.
     He was one of the clerks of the Senate during the session of the Ohio Legislature of 1864-65.  Subsequently he was several times elected justice of the peace of Youngstown township, holding that office from 1869 to 1878.
     A large part of Mr. Edwards' time was occupied by journalism.  Shortly after his removal to Canfield in 1846 he became editor and one of the publishers of the Mahoning Index, the first newspaper published in Mahoning County, and from 1855 was weekly correspondent of the Mahoning Register of Youngstown, writing under the nom de plume of "Quill Pen."  This correspondence was continued up to 1864, in which year he became associate editor of Register, and was connected with it for several years subsequently.  For some fourteen years - from 1865 to 1879 - he was the Youngstown correspondent of the Cleveland Herald.  He was also one of the founders of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, in 1874, and with William Powers, was editor of the valuable and interesting volume of 1876.  He contributed to the press many interesting articles containing reminiscences of pioneer days, and one of his last and most congenial labor was the editing of the "History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties," published at Cleveland, O., in 1882.
     Mr. Edwards was married, July 14, 1842, at Warren, O., to Miss Mary P., daughter of Joseph GrailMrs. Edwards was a talented amateur artist.  She died at Youngstown, May 15, 1877, leaving three children, of whom Henrietta Frances, married Stanley M. Casper, of Youngstown, and Henry W. became a merchant in Philadelphia.

     PATRICK O'CONNOR was born in Clonmel, county Tipperary, Ireland, Mar. 9, 1840.  His father was a tanner who emigrated to America with his wife and son in the spring of 1842.  They went first to Quebec and thence to Montreal, finally settling in Upper Canada, in the village of Newmarket, between Toronto and Lake Simcoe.  Here the family was increased in course of time by one other son and three daughters, and here also the subject of this sketch received his elementary education, to which he subsequently added largely by private study.
     In March, 1854, he began a five years' apprenticeship to the printer's trade in Newmarket.  Toward the close of htis period a change took place in Mr. O'Connor's religious faith, which was brought about in agitation on the subject of establishing separate schools for the children of Roman Catholics.  Mr. O'Connor had been brought up a Catholic, but on this question he took issue with his co-religionists.  A careful study of the Scriptures resulted in his rejection of hte doctrine of papal infallibility, and in January, 1859, he united with the Wesleyan Methodist church.  At this time he was about nineteen years old.  His change of faith being rebuked by his associates, and by his mother, now a widow, he left home and set out to wander as a journeyman printer from place to place.  In June, 1862, he reached Youngstown and entered the employ of John M. Webb, then publishing the Mahoning Sentinel, a Democratic weekly paper that was opposed to President Lincoln's war policy.  Mr. O'Connor's study of American politics while employed on this paper had the effect of making him a strong Republican, for he could not help being struck with the "inconsistency of Irishmen voting with the pro-slavery Democratic party while their fellow countrymen were suffering the oppression of tyranny on their own green isle."
     In the spring of 1863 Mr. Connor returned to Canada, but resumed residence in Youngstown in 1864.  On June 30th of the latter year he was married to Miss Lorinda Dorothea Ewing, adopted daughter of the late Cramer Marsateller, and a resident of Youngstown.  Early in 1865 in company with his brother Richard, Mr. O'Connor began the publication in Youngstown of the Mahoning Courier, an independent, afterwards Republican, newspaper, of which he was editor until 1872.  About the year 1868, during his editorship of this newspaper, Mr. O'Connor attracted considerable attention to himself through a newspaper controversy with the Rev. E. M. O'Callaghan, of Youngstown, on "The Errors of Rome," which was conducted through the columns of the Courier.
     In the winter of 1869-71, Mr. O'Connor and his brother instituted the first steam plant for newspaper printing used in Youngstown. 
     In 1872 Mr. O'Connor sold out his interest in the newspaper business and subsequently spent some time as an itinerant preacher in the Erie conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  Afterwards, on account of failing health, he returned to the newspaper business.  In 1875 he was one of the editors and proprietors of the Youngstown Commercial, and in the following year became proprietor of the Morning Star, a short-lived paper devoted to the 'Greenback cuse.  In July, 1876, Mr. O'Connor removed his family to Cleveland, O., where he resided until August, 1878, working as compositor on the different newspapers of that city.  He then returned to Youngstown and was for a short time editor and publisher of the New Star.
     In 1869, Mr. O'Connor left the Republican party, owing to his failure, at a convention held in Canfield, to commit the convention to an espousal of the prohibition party.    

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