Valorus Needham
Valorus Needham, retired farmer, Kent, was born in what is now Wales, Hampden Co., Mass., March 29, 1806; son of Alvin and Abigail (Walbridge) Needham, who were the parents of five children: Alfred, Erasmus (deceased), Valorus, Minerva (deceased) and Rebecca (deceased). Mr. and Mrs. Needham settled in Brimfield Township, this county, in 1837; located on the farm, a part of which they improved, now owned and occupied by I. G. Wise, and there lived and died. Our subject settled in Brimfield in the fall of 1837. He was a carpenter by trade, at which he worked up to 1844, when he settled on the farm (now occupied by his son-in-law, S. B. Cuthbert, ) which he improved and lived on until 1865, when he moved to Kent, where he still resides. He has been twice married; on first occasion, in 1843, to Mary L., daughter of Henry and Chloe (Chapman) Smith, of Chenango County, N. Y. The issue of this union was six children: Henry (deceased), Hamar (deceased), Minerva (wife of S. B. Cuthbert), Ellen (deceased), Ann (wife of L. M. Tracy) and Chloe (deceased). October 19, 1862, Mr. Needham married Mrs. Lucia M. Earle, daughter of Abel and Prudence (Lyon) Burt, who came from Brimfield, Mass, to Brimfield, this county, in March, 1823. Mr. Needham is a representative citizen of Kent. ni politics he is a Republican.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885