History of Kirtland, (Lake County) Ohio United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Kirtland, (Lake County) Ohio, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Agriculturist, Pomologist, and Fish Cultivator, was born, October 27th, 1825, in Vernon township, Oneida county, New York, and is the second son of Jesse and Eunice (Graham) Tryon. His grandfather, Thomas Tryon, was a native of Middletown, Connecticut, a soldier of the revolutionary war, and a prisoner of war to the British, who placed him in confinement in the noted "Sugar House" in New York city, and in the prison ships in the bay, where for three years he endured the terrible hardships and privations, while hundreds of his companions perished around him. About 1790 he removed with his family to the wilderness of Oneida county, New York, where he died in 1837, aged eighty-three years. Investigation shows that from his ancestry have sprung the entire stock bearing his name in the United States. Hosmer was brought up to labor on the farm, and had but few opportunities for acquiring an education, his father being practically opposed to it; he however attended for a brief season the winter school, and he thirsted for knowledge. Determined to gain a proper education, he finally, surreptitiously, left home, and sought the counsel of Rev. C. S. Percival, then one of the professors of the Clinton Liberal Institute, who advised him, that if he was determined to leave his father, he would render him what assistance he could in the way of acquiring an education. On his return home, his father questioned him as to his absence, and finding his son was determined to obtain his wishes, was obliged to allow him to depart, which he did forthwith. He soon obtained work, whereby he accumulated enough money to carry him through the institute during the winter session, and to board himself. Before entering the school, however, a reconciliation was effected between his parent and himself, the former offering to compromise the matter, but the son refused. For the three following years he led a varied life, alternately laboring and studying, and then teaching. He was induced by a companion to invest his earnings in statistical maps and charts, and unite with him in a peddling tour to the South. This project was carried out in a light wagon drawn by one horse, in which they traversed southern Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. At the return of spring they turned to the eastward, and after a brief stay in Ohio, visited Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Bultimore, and other places of interest, and thence returned to Olean, New York, after being absent nine months. He then accepted his father's offer of sixteen dollars wages per month, for three months' labor on the farm, and when this contract was fulfilled he determined to purchase a farm owned by his father in Kirtland township, Lake county, Ohio, and the latter having accepted his proposition he removed thither, in November, 1847. By his energy, perseverance, and industry, he has evolved from the wildrness a fine farm, a portion of which is devoted to the cultivation of choice fruits. He has also paid considerable attention to fish culture, and has demonstrated the fact that the brook-trout may be successfully grown in the spring waters of Ohio. He is no politician in the common acceptation of the term, but he is an ardent Republican, and has been identified with the Free-Soil party since its inception. He has been elected to various positions in the township, and is now President of the Board of Education of Willoughby, and a Trustee of Willoughby College. In 1873 he ran as an independent candidate for the Legislature, and was elected; notwithstanding there were four other candidates for the position, he received within twenty-four of half the entire number of votes cast. In 1875 he was nominated by the Republicans for the same position, and elected. During the civil war, though unable to enlist in the service, he took an active part in sustaining the Union cause, and became a Captain of "home guards." On the reorganization of the militia in 1863, he was commissioned by Governor Tod, First Lieutenant of a company, and was afterward appointed Adjutant of the regiment by Colonel Houliston. He is an earnest friend to the free-school system, and a believer in compulsory education. He is likewise in favor of protection to American manufactures, the temperance movement, civil rights, including the extension of the right of suffrage to women; and that capital punishment should be abolished. He was married, September 5th, 1850, to Irene B., daughter of Horace Dexter, of Stockbridge, Madison county, New York, and is the father of six children, five of whom are now living.

From: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century. Columbus, OH, USA: Galaxy Publishing Co., 1876.

History of Kirtland, (Lake County) Ohio

Biographies: