W. I. Caris
W. I. Caris, dentist, Kent, was born in Rootstown Township, this county, September 4, 1852, son of Samuel and Rachel (Ward) Caris, natives of Rootstown. His paternal grandfather, John Caris, a native of Cumberland County, Penn., and who, with his brother Frederick, settled in Rootstown Township, this county, in 1802, was a wheelwright by trade, though in the latter part of his life he was engaged in farming. He cleared and improved two farms in Rootstown Township. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, serving as First Lieutenant of his company, and was taken prisoner at Hull's surrender, but escaped the same day. He was the first Justice of the Peace of Rootstown, which office he held about fifteen years. He had eight children: George, deceased; Frederick; Michael; Susan, Mrs. Wilson Fallon; Samuel; Lycurgus V. ; Mary (Mrs. James Likens), and Henry. The maternal grandfather, Mr. Ward, was also an early settler of Rootstown Township, where he lived and died. Samuel Caris, father of our subject, was reared in Rootstown Township, where he always resided, engaged in farming. He had two children: Belle E., Mrs. I. L. Herriff, and William I. Our subject was reared in Rootstown Township, and educated in the common schools. When twenty years of age he located in Kent, where he studied dentistry two years with G. A. Case. In 1873 he went to Huntington, W. Va., where he practiced his profession for one year, but in the fall of 1874 returned to Kent and opened an office, where he has been in active practice to the present time. In 1874 he became a member of the Ohio State Dental Association, and is still an active member. He was married, March 25, 1876, to Roxy S., daughter of Luther H. and Tama (Ingersoll) Parmelee, of Kent, Ohio. Dr. Caris is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of P., of Kent, of the Akron Encampment, and Temple No. 5, of Akron, Ohio. He was elected Clerk of Franklin Township and the corporation of Kent, in 1878, which position he filled for six consecutive years. He was appointed Mayor of Kent, Ohio, November 6, 1883, and in the spring of 1884 was re-elected. In politics he is independent.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885