Chester R. Howard
Chester R. Howard, farmer and mechanic, P. O. Aurora Station, was born February 3, 1812, in Hartford, Conn.; son of Freeman and Eunice A. (Risley) Howard, natives of Hartford, Conn., and a descendant of Thomas and Susanna Howard, who emigrated from England to America, and settled in Ipswich, Mass., in the year 1634. Freeman Howard, subject's father, was born in 1789; was a carriage-maker by trade, and in 1828 came to Aurora and erected and controlled a saw-mill and grist-mill. He died in Chardon, Ohio, February 3, 1867. His wife was born June 15, 1788, died June 26, 1866, at Chardon, also. They were the parents of the following children: Freeman, Jr., Chester Risley, Eliza, Celestia and Julius Field. Our subject remained at home during his minority, assisting his father in farming and in the saw-mill. In 1846 he bought the property his father had first owned in Ohio, and has since continued to occupy it. He has been twice married, on first occasion to Harriet Benjamin, who died July 10, 1864, leaving the following children: Emerett, Emerson, Elmira and Eliza. He subsequently, September 7, 1865, married Harriet, daughter of Robert and Rhoda (Henry) Root. Mr. Howard has always quietly and assiduously devoted himself to his private affairs, except when he bas been called by the citizens of his township from time to time to discharge the duties of District Assessor, and other local offices.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885