In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1898) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1836, Bath Township
From History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio (1881), A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio (1898)
SUMNER NASH, County Clerk, Akron; was born in Bath Township, Summit Co., Ohio, May 10, 1836, and is the youngest of five children born to Hophni and Lovisa (King) Nash, who are spoken of elsewhere in this work. Our subject remained on the farm until he was 20 years of age, receiving a common school and academic course of study; he then went to Wisconsin, where he took a contract to clear a way through the forest near Ply'mouth for the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad, making ties and cording the timber. He next drove stage between Oshkosh and New London. In the Spring of 1857, he took charge of a hardware store in Oshkosh, for E. H. Barber, and the following summer he returned home and took charge of the farm which he managed and taught school during the winters until 1862. Aug. 6, of that year, he enlisted in the service, and was assigned to the 115th 0. V. I., and served three years; he enlisted as a private and was successively promoted to the rank of ist Lieutenant. In 1863, he was detailed to relieve Lieut. John Eadie, in command of the military forces at Dayton during the election. In 1864, he was placed under May. Willet, and served as Assistant Inspector of Railroad Defenses, which position he held until the close of the war. In July, 1865, he returned home, and in September following bought a farm in Livingston Co., Ill. March 8, 1866, he married Miss Rebecca M., daughter of John A. Means, of Summit Co., Ohio; after the marriage, he occupied his farm in Illinois, and lived there until 1868, when he returned to Summit Co., where his wife died July 18, 1869. They had one child, M. Maud. He managed his fatherin-law's farm for two years; in the spring of 1872, he engaged as agent for G. G. Baker & Co., manufacturers of lightning rods, etc., and traveled for them in Illinois until the following winter, when he returned to Summit Co., and was appointed Deputy County Clerk by John A. Means, which office he held until the term expired; he then served as Deputy for George W. Weeks, and in the fall of 1878 he was elected County Clerk on the Republican ticket, and entered the duties of the office Feb. 10 following. June 23, 1874, he married Miss Linnie A. Cross, of Columbus, Ohio.
As printed in History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio (1881). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
SUMNER NASH, secretary and treasurer of the Akron Belting company, is a native of Bath township, Summit county, Ohio, was born May 10, 1836, and is a son of Hophni and Lovisa (King) Nash, both natives of Hampshire county, Mass., where their marriage took place.
The Nash family is of Scotch- Irish origin, but for many years several of its members resided in England, whence, early in the history of the United States, two brothers came to this country, one of-whom settled in Massachusetts and the other, it is supposed, found a home in the sunny south. From the Bay state immigrant the subject of this biographical review descends, and many other of his descendants attained eminent positions in the learned professions and in the legislative halls of Massachusetts. The King family was also among the early settlers of Massachusetts and was of Scotch-Irish extraction. Hophni Nash, shortly after his marriage at Chesterfield, Mass., April 28, 1825, to Miss Lovisa, daughter of Eleazer and Mercy King, came from their native state to Ohio and located on a farm in Bath township, Summit county. Mr. Nash taught school during the winter of 1827-28, at. or near Ghent, served as clerk of Bath township for many years — this office being afterward held by each of his three sons — and followed farming until his death, at Akron, April 17, 1882, at the age of eighty-five years, his wife surviving until January 6, 1892, when she died at Montrose at the age of ninety years. Their children numbered five, as follows: Harriet, who was first married to Curtis D. Barber and then to a Mr. Williams, and now, a widow the second time, is residing with a daughter in Pipe Stone, Minn.; E. King Nash, M. D., of Montrose, Ohio; Nancy Ellen, widow of R. D. Pierson, of Lincoln, Neb.; Thomas W., a bookkeeper for A. M. Barber, of Akron, and Sumner, the subject of this biography.
Sumner Nash was reared on the home farm and was educated in the district schools and in the academy at Richfield. When about nineteen years of age he went to Wisconsin and drove stage between Oshkosh and New London, while the country was still wild and occupied to a great extent by Indians. He next took a contract at Plymouth, Wis., for clearing the timber from the surveyed line of the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad company, then being built from Plymouth west, by making the suitable timber into ties and by cutting the refuse into cord-wood. In the fall by 1856, at Oshkosh, he took charge of a hardware store during the absence of the proprietor at the south. In the fall of 1857 he returned to his old home, attended the Richfield academy for a time, taught school several winters, and in the summer seasons worked his father's farm, and other leased land until August 6, 1862, when he enlisted in company G, One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, and served until July 7, 1865, when he was mustered out as first lieutenant, although for months he had held the captaincy of a company. After his return from the war, in July, 1865, he purchased a farm in Livingston county. 111.; March 8, 1866, he married Miss Rebecca M. Means, of Northfield, working the Illinois farm until 1868, when he returned to Summit county, Mrs. Nash dying July 18, 1869, leaving one child — Maud M. Spending two years on his fatherin-law's farm in Northfield, and one season in Illinois, as agent for a lightning rod company, in the winter of 1872-73 he was appointed deputy county clerk by Clerk John A. Means, serving the balance of the term, and also through two terms for Clerk George W. Meeks, being himself elected clerk in 1878, and holding the office two full terms of three years each. Mr. Nash is now secretary and treasurer of the Akron Belting company, fully written of elsewhere. June 23, 1874, Mr. Nash was again married — this time to Miss Linnie A. Cross, of Columbus, Ohio.
As printed in A portrait and biographical record of Portage and Summit counties, Ohio (1898). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Named in this biography: A. M. Barber (b. 1830) George W. Weeks (b. 1831)
The printed record stops around 1881. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.