09 June 2014

Amanuensis Monday: Newspaper Announces John Needham's 90th Birthday

I don't know which Cuyahoga County, Ohio newspaper this is originally from.  It was reprinted without citation in The Ancestors and Descendants of Horatio Edmund Needham and Lucina Bagley, who Married 25 November 1852 in Royalton, Cuyahoga County, Ohio by Melva Kinch Breffeilh and Shirley Kinch Morrison (self-published:1995) --


A CUYAHOGA PIONEER.
Mr. John Needham, Who Has Lived in the County Since 1834, Celebrates His Ninetieth Birthday.
     Mr. John Needham celebrated his ninetieth birthday on Wednesday at the residence of his youngest son, Mr. Z. Taylor Needham, in Brooklyn Village.  Four of his children and four of his grandchildren were present, and the day passed most pleasantly for the venerable and honored pioneer and those of the family in attendance.  Mr, Needham was born July 31, 1799, in the town of Fort Ann, N.Y.  At the age of fourteen years he went to Vermont and was then married when twenty-seven years old.  He then moved to St. Lawrence, N.Y., and came to Ohio in the year of 1834.  Since that time he has lived in Cuyahoga county, mostly in Brecksville.  Mrs. Needham died in March, 1876.  The couple had nine children, seven boys and two girls.  Two of them are living in Cleveland, one at Medina, one in Paulding county, one in Nebraska, one in Missouri, and one in New York.  The other two died a few years ago.  Mr. Needham has always had good health and he bids fair to remain at the head of his thriving family for some time to come.  His mother lived to be ninety-seven years old.  Mr. Needham was a staunch Whig in the olden days and is now a thorough Republican.  He enjoys the distinction of having voted for Henry Clay.  His many friends wish him continued return of Wednesday's happy celebration.
Articles like these are a treasure to the family historian and genealogist.  We can easily date the article as being published in 1889.  But we also know that since the subject was born on the last day in July, the issue was published in August. The son spoken of "in Nebraska" is my great-grandfather Arthur Herrick Needham.

John Needham, was my 2xg-grandfather.  He lived four more years, dying August 24, 1893 at the age of 94.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker

No comments:

Post a Comment