ASHTABULA COUNTY, OH Biographies

Dr. Frank E. Scarsdale
DR. FRANK E. SCARSDALE, physician, P. O. Lick Creek; born in Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Ohio, April 9, 1938. William Edward Scarsdale, his father, born in Stafford, Staffordshire, England in 1807; came to this country in 1829, settling first in Maryland, then moving to Kentucky, stayed there about a year, and then moved to Ashtabula, Ohio about 1832. Here he married Amanda, daughter of Erastus and Jerusha Cook, of Ashtabula County. By this union there were two children; of these, the elder is Mrs. Lilly Pierce, living at Ellsworth, Pierce Co., Wis., and the younger, our subject. The Doctor was educated at Kingsville Academy, remaining there until he was sixteen years of age; from there he went to Minnesota, and remained there one summer and then came to Marion County, Ill., about the year 1858, where he taught in the country schools for three years; from here , he next went to Johnson County, where he again taught school for a year. It was here that he commenced the study of medicine in 1860 in the office of Dr. C. L. Whitnel; after completing here, he attended lectures in 1862 and 1863 at the Rush Medical College, Chicago. Doctor Scarsdale then came back and entered into partnership with his old percepter and remained in Johnston County for about two years. In January 1865 he came to Union County, Ill., where he located about three miles from Saratoga at what was then Bradshaw Post Office. Here he remained all of the time since, except when he attended medical lectures at Pope's Medical College, St. Louis, in 1870-71, and also a post-graduate course in the spring of 1882. He was married April 9, 1865 in Union County to a Miss Louisa P. Hastings, daughter of Westley and Mary Ledbetter Hastings. By this union he has had nine children, six of whom are living.
Source: Perrin's 1883 History of Union County, Illinois
Contributed by Anna Newell

AZRO EUGENE CHENEY, 1854-1922 Former member of Executive Council of the Nevada Historical Society. Born at Monroe, Ashtabula County, Ohio, April 15, 1854. Educated, Conneant Academy and Jefferson Polytechnic, Ohio. Received Honorary Degree of LL.D. from the University of Nevada, 1 908. Admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Ohio, 1877; by the Supreme Court of Nevada, 1880, and by the Supreme Court of the United States, 1904. Married Jennie Wethered at San Francisco, 1887. District Attorney of Eureka County, Nevada, 1885-1887. Member of Nevada Legislature, 1 889. District Judge of Nevada (assigned to Second Judicial District), 1891-1898. Practiced law at Reno from 1 898 to his death. Nevada delegate to Universal Congress of Lawyers at St. Louis, 1904. Nevada Commissioner in National Conference on Uniform State Legislation, 1912. President of Nevada Bar Association, 1913. Regent University of Nevada, 1919-1920. Charter member of Nevada Historical Society. Member of Executive Council of Nevada Historical Society for three years. Died in Reno, March 13, 1922. For more than twenty years he was the recognized leader For more than twenty years he was the recognized leader of the Nevada Bar. The lofty eminence to which he attained was due solely to the high qualities of his mind and character, which enabled him to overcome obstacles and struggle upward while weaker men remained behind. Because of failing health he came West and engaged in manual labor in order to gain the physical strength for the continuation of his professional work. Intermittently, through all the intervening years, he was threatened with a return of delicate health. But this was thwarted, as were all other obstacles, by his indomitable will and unflinching determination never to retrace a step. Balzac tells us "The qualities of a great man are often federative. If among these colossal spirits one has more talent than wit, his wit is still superior to that of a man of whom it is simply stated that 'he is witty.' Genius always presupposes moral insight. This insight may be applied to a special subject; but he who can see a flower must be able to see the sun." And so Judge Cheney answered the description of genius. His qualities were certainly federative. He probably had more talent than wit; still his wit was keen, quick, forceful, and superior as manifested both in humor and invective. He could apply himself with close and careful scrutiny to the minutest details of a special subject, but never lost sight of the greater surrounding entities of which it was a part. When looking at a flower, he always saw the sun. So manifold were his activities and his virtues that we cannot enumerate them all, but will refer to a few that particularly distinguished him. He was not an orator. His mind was of the philosophical rather than the oratorical turn. The philosopher states a truth and lets it rest. The orator states, illustrates, enforces, and adorns the truth. To illustrate: Lord Bacon, the philosopher, says: "Histories make men wise," and quits. Edmund Burke, the orator, says exactly the same thing, but he says it in this way : " History unfolds a vast volume for our instruction, drawing the materials for future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind." Judge Cheney was a conservator of energy. His mind went directly to the meat in the nut. He was a diligent student of the law and was a thorough master of a vast store of legal learning. He studied keenly into public affairs and economics, dipped into arts and sciences, traveled widely, and learned what he could of all things. He was peculiarly keen and alert, always on his guard. He knew human nature, loved its virtues, admired its strength, forgave its frailties, abhored its meanness. Judge Cheney practiced law to succeed. He tried his cases to win. But he did not espouse a cause which he considered unjust and he was always ethical. He never allowed the commercial side of his practice to crowd out the professional, but ever kept in mind those sacred duties that distinguish a profession from a trade. Above all things he was wise, sagacious, and philosophic. In one trait he was most remarkable. To the very end, he was as interested in and enthusiastic for the future as a boy. Always his eyes were turned from the past. But history meant to him the wisdom of the ages and he hence was deeply interested in the work of the Nevada Historical Society. Until failing health compelled his resignation, Judge Cheney was an active worker in the Council of the Society. His legal advice to the officers on matters pertaining to the Society was always gratuitous and willingly given. With an exhibition of the same courage that had characterized him through life, Judge Cheney met death with the same fearless intrepidity with which he had faced all the exigencies of life, a credit to himself, a joy to his family, a pride to his friends, an honor to the community, and an inspiration to all who desire to live a great and noble life. *''

EDWARD NELSON SAUNDERS. In the death of Edward Nelson Saunders on June 22, 1913, passed away one of the men whose work and influence had been most conspicuous in the development of the great coal trade in the Northwest, though the interests and the usefulness of his long career were not confined to one industry. He was a pioneer in the best sense of the term, a hard worker, a good manager of men, a keen and resourceful business man and faithful and efficient in the performance of his civic responsibilities.

Edward Nelson Saunders was born at Geneva, Ashtabula County, Ohio, April 26, 1845. His parents were of old New England stock, having come to Ohio in the early days when most of the northern and northeastern counties of that now popular state were comprised in the “Western Reserve.” His father was a country minister of the Presbyterian church, whose duties could be likened mostly to those of a missionary in modern times. This faithful minister died in 1855, and his wife two years later, so that at twelve years of age Edward N. Saunders had to make his own way in the world. His early education was received at the little schools in the villages where he spent his young boyhood, and from the teachings of his mother, and, later of his grandmother and aunt, women of the type that had so much influence in bringing up boys to be the men that made the State of Ohio what it now is. In the early ‘60s Mr. Saunders was able, by hard work of any kind that he could find to do, to give himself the benefit of two years in the Western Reserve University of Ohio.

After his two years at the university he began work in Cleveland, employed as a clerk in a retail dry goods store until the spring of 1870. In that year he came to Minnesota by way of the lakes. This trip was taken as a vacation, in search of much needed rest. However, on his arrival at St. Paul, on the then newly completed railroad from Duluth, the possibilities of the new and growing country so impressed him that he decided to remain in Minnesota.

His first venture was in the oil business, bringing a small cargo or so of oil from Cleveland to Duluth by water. But he was one of the first to realize the possibilities of the coal trade, due to developments made in railroad building, and in 1871 started the shipment of coal from the lower lake ports to Duluth. The first cargo of coal ever received at the head of the lake was consigned to him in the spring of that year.

This first cargo of coal marked the starting of one of the greatest industries of the upper lakes, and Mr. Saunders, as its originator and as a lifelong leader in the industry, was always affectionately known among his associates and competitors in business as “father of the coal trade.” One of the greatest factors in making Duluth a prominent commercial city is its position and facilities with reference to the coat distribution over the Northwest, and Mr. Saunders deserves lasting memory for assisting to lay one of the chief corner stones of that city.

His career since his start in the coal trade was a continuous and important factor in the industry. In 1877 he organized, with a number of St. Paul and Minneapolis associates, the Northwestern Fuel Company, of which company Mr. James J. Hill was the first president and Mr. Saunders the general superintendent. The history of the Northwestern Fuel Company, the history of the coal trade of the Northwest, and the life of Mr. Saunders have been almost identical. A short time after the organization of the North Western Fuel Company, Mr. Saunders became its president and principal stockholder, and retained that connection with the company until his death.

Outside of his interests in the northwestern coal trade, he was for many years before his death actively and financially interested in the coal mining industry in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, having been closely allied with some of the largest producers of coal in those states. He was for many years also actively interested in banking circles of St. Paul, being for a long time a director in the First National and the Merchants National banks of that city, and for some years vice president of the First National Bank.

His interests in matters pertaining to the civic welfare of St. Paul and the development of the Northwest was at all times sincere and helpful, and he was also a factor in the social side of his home city. He was identified with the various clubs of St. Paul, and at times held the position of president in the most influential of those organizations.

His home life was always the happiest. He was surrounded by many friends and by a devoted wife and family of three daughters and one son. His first thought was always for his family and in his rise from a poor boy in Ohio to a leader of the commercial life of the Northwest he took his greatest joy in giving to his dear ones the pleasures and advantages he was unable to have himself in his early life. Mr. Saunders was married February 9, 1873, to Mary Proal, daughter of Charles Proal, an early resident of St. Paul.

The late Mr. Saunders was fortunate in being one of the men whose span of life covered a period of growth and development in his country extending from the early pioneer stage to the time of achievement of great things. He was one of the men who could see the future of the Northwest and help bring that future to reality. Such opportunities as his are rapidly diminishing as the resources of the country are more fully developed, although the younger generations of men are carrying on the work of such a man as Mr. Saunders, the chances of originating and starting the development of new countries must necessarily be more and more limited. To those who knew him, the career and life of Edward Nelson Saunders in all things has been a help and an example both practical and inspiriting.

Source: "Minnesota: Its Story and Biography, Vol. 2 (1915)" Submitted by Karen Hammer