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Archiver > OH-FOOTSTEPS > 2000-09 > 0968206959


From: Betty Ralph <>
Subject: Bio - 1885 - Portage Co, OH, Franklin # 19
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2000 21:22:39 -0500


Bios: Sweeney, Tibbals, Turner - Portage County, Ohio, from "History of
Portage County, Ohio" published by Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885

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HENRY A. SWAN, farmer and milkman, P.O. Kent, was born in Boston, Summit
Co., Ohio, September 28, 1840, son of Levi L. and Louisa (Metlin) Swan,
early settlers of that locality. The subject of this sketch was reared in
his native town, where he followed farming for three years after he became
of age, then went to Bath, where he lived one year, thence came to
Streetsboro, where he engaged in farming and dairying for six years. In
1873 he located in Kent, and in 1876 on the farm where he now resides. He
keeps a dairy of from fifteen to twenty cows, and in 1882 built his present
residence, one of the finest in the county. His barns and other
out-buildings are first-class, well adapted to the uses for which they were
built, and everything about his premises shows evidence of care and thrift.
Mr. Swan was married, March 9, 1865, to Eliza, daughter of Aaron and Mary
(Dickison) Ferry, who located in Franklin Township, this county, about 1833.
The issue of this union is two children: Herbert and Karl. In politics Mr.
Swan is a Democrat.

J.S. SWEENEY, physician and surgeon, Kent, was born in Middlefield, Geauga
Co., Ohio, August 14, 1831, son of John and Dolly (Brown) Sweeney, natives
of Belfast, Ireland, and New Hampshire, respectively. John Sweeney was a
farmer by occupation, and one of the first settlers of Geauga County, Ohio,
locating in Painesville in 1818, where he resided for several years; then
removed to Middlefield, where he lived until his death, which occurred July
9, 1874, in his eighty-third year. He was pressed into the British service
during the war of 1812. In character he was upright, honest and honorable,
a firm friend and true to his convictions. Our subject was reared on his
father's farm and educated in select schools. From 1850 to 1854 he studied
medicine with his brother, E.J. Sweeney, of Nelson, this county. He then
went to Parkman, Geauga Co., Ohio, where he engaged in the practice of
medicine two years; thence moved to Chardon, practicing there one year. At
the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted in Company A. Hoffman's
Battalion, and served on Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, guarding prisoners,
until he received an honorable discharge on account of disability in the
fall of 1862. He then located in Stowe, Summit Co., Ohio, and resumed the
practice of medicine, remaining there until 1871, when he moved to Kent,
where he has since been in active practice. He was married June, 1854, to
Delia, daughter of Joseph W. Rockwell, of Rome, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, and by
her he has three children: Dolly A. (Mrs. Byron Longcoy), Edward J. and
Alice. Dr. Sweeney is an active member of the K. of P. and G.A.R., of which
latter he is Post Commander. In politics he is a Democrat.

JOHN L. TIBBALS, farmer, P.O. Kent, was born in Deerfield Township, this
county, January 15, 1821; son of Alfred M. and Martha H. (Swem) Tibbals.
His paternal grandfather, Moses, Tibbals, a native of Massachusetts, settled
in Deerfield Township in 1805, where he cleared and improved the farm on
which he lived and died. He had five children: Clarissa (deceased), Alfred
M. (deceased), Arbet L. (deceased), Francis (deceased) and Seymour. His
maternal grandfather was William Swem, a native of New Jersey, and a pioneer
of Salem, Columbiana Co., Ohio. The father of our subject was reared from
eight years of age in Deerfield Township, this county. There he cleared and
improved two farms (one now occupied by his son Frederick) and resided until
he was killed at the age of sixty years by a falling limb of a tree. His
children were five in number: John L., Norman (deceased), Frederick and
Curtis (farmers in Deerfield) and Newell, a prominent lawyer of Akron, Ohio,
and who has filled the office of Judge of Common Pleas. Our subject was
reared and educated and served as Trustee for several years in Deerfield
Township, where he resided till 1875, when he removed to Franklin Township
to the farm where he now resides. He was married, February 19, 1851, to
Mary C., daughter of Frederick and Fanny (Williams) Dewey, of Franklin
Township, this county, former of whom was a native of Chester, Mass., and a
son of John Dewey, parent of three children: Mary C., Sylvester F.
(deceased), and Harriet F., wife of J.N. Stratton. Frederick Dewey came to
Franklin Township, this county, in 1818 and located on the farm now owned by
Marius Heighton, and in 1834, settled on the farm now occupied by our
subject, most of which he cleared and improved, and here he died in
February, 1872, in his seventy-fifth year. Mrs. Tibbals maternal
grandfather, Dudley Williams, also a native of Massachusetts, settled in
Franklin Township, this county, in 1820. Our subject and wife are the
parents of five children: Floris (deceased), Charles, Frank, John and
Frederick. Mr. Tibbals is a Republican in politics.

TURNER BROS. (Joshua and John G.), manufacturers, Kent, are natives of
Bradford, England, where they served an apprenticeship of seven years in the
worsted mills of that city. In 1873 they came to America, and located in
Jamestown, N.Y., where Joseph Turner, their father, started the first
worsted mills, which he conducted for five years. They are now owned by
William Hall & Co., and still in operation. In 1879 the family located in
Kent, and embarked in the manufacture of a superior quality of worsted dress
goods. They occupy a building five and a half stories high, in dimensions
160x45, and thoroughly equipped with the latest improved dye-house, combing,
drawing and spinning machinery, with 114 looms and 2,000 spindles, employing
150 hands. The mills are run by two large turbine water-wheels, developing
120 horse-power. The Turner Bros., who are the managers, are gentlemen of
experience in all the details of their business, one of the leading
industries of the place, contributing largely to the substantial welfare of
the community.

JOHN G. TURNER, manufacturer, Kent, was born in England, April 10, 1857; son
of Joseph and Martha (Gill) Turner, who came to America in 1873, and located
in Jamestown, N.Y., where his father, with others, under the firm name of
Hall, Broadhead & Turner, started the first alpaca-mills in that city, and
where he was engaged in business up to 1878. In 1879 Joseph Turner located
in Kent, this county, and embarked in the manufacture of worsted goods in
company with his sons, Joshua and John G., in which he continued until his
death. He died in 1881 at the age of fifty-three years. The business is
still carried on by his sons (see sketch of Turner Bros.). Our subject was
reared in Yorkshire, England, until sixteen years of age, and was educated
in all the details of his present business in that country, and in his
father's mill at Jamestown, N.Y. Mr. Turner is a gentleman of push and
enterprise, and his identity with the manufacturing interest of Kent has
been alike valuable to himself and the public. He is a F. & A.M. In
politics a republican.

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