History of Wadsworth, (Medina County) Ohio United States of America

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Biographies:

Burke Aaron Hinsdale, educator, was born at Wadsworth, Ohio, March 31, 1837; son of Albert and Clarinda (Eyles) Hinsdale, grandson of Elisha Hinsdale, and a descendant of Robert Hinsdale. He attended the district school, and for a few terms the Western Reserve Eclectic institute, afterward Hiram college. In 1858 he entered upon a course of liberal study at Hiram, the head of the institute being then James A. Garfield, of whom he became a favorite pupil and an intimate personal friend. He entered the ministry of the Christian church in 1861; was pastor at Solon, Ohio, 1864-66; and at Cleveland, 1866-68; and was assistant editor of the Christian Standard, 1866-69. In 1869-70 he held the chair of history and English literature in Hiram college, and was its president, 1870-82. He was superintendent of public schools in Cleveland, Ohio, 1882-86, and became professor of the science and art of teaching in the University of Michigan in 1888. He was elected a member of the American Historical Assooiation, and received the honorary degrees of A.M. from Williams college in 1871, Ph.D. from Ohio State university in 1888, and LL.D. from Ohio university in 1892. He is the author of: The Genuineness and Authenticity of the Gospels (1872); The Jewish-Christian Church (1878); Ecclesiastical Tradition (1879); Republican Text-Book for the Campaign of 1880 (1880); President Garfield and Education (1881); The Life and Works of James Abram Garfield (1882-83); Schools and Studies (1884); The Old Northwest (1888; rev. ed., 1899), The American Government, National and State (1891; rev. ed., 1895); How to Study and Teach History (1893); Teaching the Language Arts (1896); Horace Mann and the Common School Revival in the United States (1898), and voluminous contributions to journalistic and pamphlet literature. He died at Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 29, 1900.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Gilbert Otis Fay, Superintendent of the Ohio Institution for the education of the Deaf and Dumb at Columbus, was born November 8th, 1834, at Wadsworth, Medina county, Ohio. His father belonged to the clerical profession, and, as well as his mother, descended from a long line of sturdy Massachusetts. yeomanry. They left that State at the time of the early western emigration, and he soon fell a victim to the malarial diseases of a new State. The care and training of Gilbert, his only son, devolved upon the mother, and to his education she devoted her time and energy, supporting herself and him by her own manual labor, and reserving his slender patrimony for future use. The childhood and youth of Mr. Fay were spent in her native village. His attendance at school was limited to the winter sessions, but by application and under the guidance of his mother, he managed to acquire a substantial knowledge of the English branches of study with thoroughness and rapidity. As he advanced to manhood, the well-husbanded patrimony and his mother's self-denial secured to him increased facilities for obtaining a comprehensive education. He attended successively Phillips Academy, Yale College, and Andover Seminary, and obtained in this prolonged course of study a refined, classical, and yet a thoroughly practical culture. He became a teacher in 1862 in the institution which has since been conducted with so much success under his charge. In 1866 he was appointed as superintendent, and had the satisfaction of witnessing the completion of the new building and its occupation in 1868. The attendance in the school has increased from one hundred and fifty to four hundred, and the most gratifying results have been achieved by the methods of teaching adopted and carried out by Mr. Fay, who has proven himself eminently qualified for the exercise of his responsible duties as superintendent. The intellectual life of the institution has been drawn more nearly parallel with that of the public schools, while its domestic life has been characterized by comfort, health and economy. The industrial system in use is rotary in its method, and is judiciously arranged and efficiently carried out. Mr. Fay has earned a high reputation for his skill in the exceedingly difficult as well as exceedingly delicate work of instructing the unfortunate youth who are incapable of speech and hearing, and has raised the institution with which he is connected to a leading position for success in teaching deaf mutes. He was married to Adelia C. Allen, of Leominster, August 25th, 1863, who died in 1867. On April 14th 1868, he married Mary J. Jarvis, of Massillon, Ohio.

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

Don Albert Pardee, jurist, was born in Wadsworth, Ohio, March 29, 1837; son of Aaron and Eveline (Eyles) Pardee; grandson of Ebenezer and Anna (Minon) Pardee and of William and Polly (Duthick) Eyles, and a descendant of George Pardee, settled in New Haven, Conn., between 1637 and 1642. He was appointed to the U.S. naval academy in 1854, but left in 1857 to study law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He entered the volunteer army in 1861 as major of the 42d Ohio regiment, was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and took part in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Port Gibson, Raymond, Champion's Hill, and in two assaults on Vicksburg, serving during the siege as inspector-general of the 13th corps. He was mustered out in December, 1864, and on March 13, 1865, was brevetted colonel and brigadier-general. He practised law in New Orleans, 1865-67; was registrar in bankruptcy for the third congressional district of Louisiana, 1867-68; judge of the 2d judicial district; 1868-81; member of the state constitutional convention of 1879; Republican candidate for attorney-general of Louisiana, 1880, and in 1881 was appointed circuit judge for the fifth judicial circuit embracing Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. In June, 1898, he removed from New Orleans to Atlanta, Ga.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor