History of Portage County Ohio United States of America

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Ezra B. Taylor, Lawyer, was born, July 9th, 1823, in Portage county, Ohio, and is a son of Elisha and Theresa (Couch) Taylor. The family on both sides are of New England birth, they having removed from Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in 1813, and settled in Portage county. Mrs. Taylor was a relative of the celebrated General D. N. Couch of Massachusetts. The family were only in moderate circumstances, and Ezra was only able to attend school during the winter months, the balance of the year being devoted to labor and toil. He went to the common school, however, up to the age of seventeen years, but the greater part of his education was obtained by his own indefatigable exertions. Every moment that he could snatch from his daily task and the evening hours were devoted to study, and all this without the aid of an instructor. He commenced reading law under the direction of Judge Robert F. Payne of Cleveland, and was admitted to the bar in 1845, and he at once commenced the practice of his profession. In 1862 he removed to Warren, Trumbull county, where he has since continued to reside, and in 1854 was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Portage county (this was, of course, before he went to Warren). His practice has been very large and widely extended; he is among the best-known lawyers in the State, and though regarded as most excellent in all the different branches of his profession, he is particularly distinguished as an advocate. His name occurs on the docket of nearly every court in northern Ohio, and few attorneys in the State have appeared in as great a number of cases as he. During the late war of the rebellion he was a private in the Home Guard, and when Governor Brough called out the militia during the invasion of Ohio by the guerillas, instead of hiring a substitute, he shouldered his musket and marched to the defence of the southern border. The force was captured by the celebrated and notorious John Morgan, after a bard battle, who took them to Cynthiana, Kentucky, where they were released on parole and returned home. During the construction of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway he served as a Director of that company; and since the completion of the line he has been its attorney and counsel. He was married in 1849 to Harriet M., daughter of Colonel William Frazier, of Ravenna, and is the father of two children.

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

Robert Wright, manufacturer, was born in Portage county, Ohio, June 2d, 1809. His parents were residents of Pennsylvania, whence his father, a farmer, removed to Ohio in 1800. His early education was received at the county school, in Hocking county, whose winter sessions he attended until he had reached his eighteenth year. During the summer months of those years he was engaged in farm labor. Later, he also taught school for two or three terms in the winter season. He was thus employed as a farm hand until 1835, but during the latter years of that time was engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own account. From 1835 until 1842 he was interested in the construction of the Hocking Valley Canal, having secured a contract to finish five miles of this enterprise, partly in Athens and partly in Hocking county. From 1842 until 1855 he was employed entirely in agricultural pursuits and in the latter year purchased the larger portion of the Hocking Falls Mills, securing the balance of the property in 1862. This mill was built by Governor Worthington, of Ohio, about the year 1818, and remained in the possession of his family until 1855. Since its sale the present owner has continued to conduct its affairs, and in connection with it is extensively interested in farming and stock-raising. The farm operated by him at the present time has been in his possession since 1829. In 1844 he was elected a Justice of the Peace, but resigned this office in 1846. He also served two terms of three years each as County Commissioner. In 1850 he was appointed by the Legislature Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and served three years. In 1852 he was appointed also by the Legislature one of the trustees of the Ohio University, at Athens, Ohio, a position which he still holds. He was for several years a director in the Logan Branch Bank of the State of Ohio. Since 1866 he has been a director in the First National Bank of Logan, and is a stockholder in the Columbus & Hocking Valley Railroad. He is interested also in the building development of the town and in its several improvements. His present residence, the handsomest place of its kind in Logan, was completed in 1873. He was married in October, 1840, to Elmira Hamblin, by whom he has had four children, three boys and one girl. Of the former, two are lawyers and the third a farmer.

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

History of Portage County Ohio

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