Allen Welton

ALLEN WELTON, formerly a very prominent citizen of Boston Township, where he carried on agricultural pursuits on a large body of land which once aggregated 300 acres, was born July 18, 1809, in Vermont.

Mr. Welton was given but limited educational opportunities in his youth, and for a number of years his fortunes fluctuated. As a young man he began to clerk in a store in his native state, and later went to New York. There he was variously employed, finally acquiring a wood yard and on one occasion he chopped 400 cords of wood, only to see it swept away by the sudden uprising of a river. Prom New York he then went to Cleveland, Ohio, which city was but a small village, and from there to Bedford, and shortly afterward to Boston Township, south of Peninsula. He settled on the farm on Oak Hill, now owned by his widow, which was then covered with timber and this he cleared and cultivated in the course of years, accumulating 300 acres. A large part of this land has since been sold, the farm now containing 187 acres. For a niunber of years Mr. Welton conducted a dairy, and at one time milked forty cows. He was a man of many practical ideas and began making cheese at home, the industry soon growing to such proportions that he built a cheese factory, which wiis the first one in Summit County, and later operated another factory at Bath, which his son Frank helped him to conduct. For many years he was a member of the Ohio Dairymen's Association.

Mr. Welton was married (first) in New York, to Sarah Strieker, and they had five children, namely: Francis, who is deceased; George W., who lives at Akron; William H. H., also a resident of Akron; John N.; and Ellen E., who is the widow of Andrew Ozmun, of Bath Township. On March 17, 1852, Mr. Welton was married (second) to Louise Thompson, who is a daughter of Mills and Catherine (Allen) Thompson, who was born at Hudson, Ohio, January 14, 1831. The following children were born to this marriage: Frank E., who is a railroad conductor, residing at Akron, married Ella Hancock, and they have had three children, Park and Harry, living, and Clara, deceased; Cora A., who married Walter Hunt, who carries on the home farm, has one son, Elwin Welton; Emma C, who married Ira O. France, residing at Akron; Hattie J., who married Bert Lee. residing in Boston Township, has one child, Chester; Ira Glenn, residing at home; and Jessie and Alice, both of whom are deceased.

The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Welton was the first physician to settle in Summit County. Mills Thompson, her father, was born at Waterbury, Connecticut, but at the time of his mari'iage he lived at Akron. Dui ing the building of the Ohio Canal, he was an overseer of a part of the work for a time, but his life was mainly spent as an agriculturist.

Allen Welton made two trips to Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee, to visit his sons, who contracted serious illness during their service in the Civil War, and on one of these trips brought his son John home with him. He had many thrilling experiences, and on a number of occasions narrowly escaped capture by moving bands of guerrillas. A stanch Republican in politics, Mr. Welton was often elected to positions of trust, and served as county commissioner and township trustee. During his long and useful life he was very active in church and charitable movements, and was the founder of the Congregational Sunday-school, which is still in existence in the neighborhood of his former home.

As printed in Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens (1908). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.