Ada Watterson Yerkes (1873-1963) was related to three families who settled early in the Connecticut Western Reserve area: the Harper family, the Norton family, and the Watterson family. She was the daughter of Robert Frank Watterson and Carrie Theresa Norton and was the granddaughter of Caroline Harper Norton.
Members of the Harper family came to the United States from Ireland in 1720 and settled first in Massachusetts, then in Connecticut and New York, and finally in Ohio. Alexander Harper and three of his brothers founded Harpersfield, New York, in 1769. In 1798, Alexander Harper moved his family to the Western Reserve and founded Harpersfield, Ohio. Shandy Hall, the first frame house constructed in the Western Reserve, was built in Unionville by Robert Harper in 1815 and is presently owned by the Western Reserve Historical Society.
The Norton family arrived in Massachusetts from England about 1637 and eventually settled in upper New York state and in Ohio. Washington Adams Norton married Caroline Harper of Harpersfield, Ohio, in 1839, thus uniting the two families.
William and Ann Sayle Watterson came to the United States from the Isle of Man in 1826 and settled in the Manx colony in Warrensville, Ohio.
Ada Watterson Yerkes and several members of her family, including her mother, Carrie Norton Watterson, and her cousin, Laurence Harper Norton, actively compiled the family's genealogical history. In 1941, Ada Watterson Yerkes wrote Family Matters, a history of the family.
David Zadock Norton (1851-1928) was a cashier at the Commercial Bank of Cleveland until 1890 when he left this position to form the Oglebay-Norton Company. Norton was a director of several firms including the American Shipbuilding Company, the Columbia Steamship Company, the National Refining Company, and the Union Trust Company. He was a trustee of Western Reserve University, Adelbert college, Kenyon College, University School, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Western Reserve Historical Society. David Z. Norton married Mary Castle of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1876 and they had three children: Miriam (Mrs. Fred R. White), Robert Castle, and Laurence Harper.
Elijah Harper Norton (1843-1886) was born in Clyde, Ohio. In 1862, he enlisted in Company E, 84th Ohio Infantry, and in 1864, in Company C. 150th Ohio National Guard. After his service in the Civil War, He moved to Toledo, Ohio, in 1866 and in 1869 he married Marie Anne Evans, a distant relation. They had three children: Richard Evans, Julia Paige, and Harold Harper. From 1868 to 1871, Elijah Harper Norton was a teller at the First National Bank of Toledo. From 1871 to his death in 1886, he was a member of Keeler, Holcomb, and Company, Bankers, in Toledo, Ohio. Norton was also a member of the Toledo School Board and a trustee of the Toledo Library.
John Adams Norton (1846-1896) enlisted for 100 days in Company F. 29th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War. In 1881, he joined the Gardner Gun Company and operated its London, England, office until his death in 1896. John A. Norton never married.
Jonathan Dorr Norton (1841-1922) was a member of the banking firm of Sheffield & Norton of Napoleon, Ohio. He married Ada Sheffield of Defiance, Ohio, in 1863 and they had seven children: Ada May, William Sheffield, Marie, John Harper, David Watterson, Jonathan Dorr, Jr., and Ralph Harrington. He was a Mason and a Knight Templar and served as a Lieutenant Colonel of the 16th Regiment of the Ohio National Guard. Jonathan Dorr Norton was elected to the Ohio Senate in 1881. In 1887, he moved to Topeka, Kansas, and held a position with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad until his death.
Carrie Theresa Norton Watterson (1848-1923) married Robert Frank Watterson in 1870. Following her husband's death in 1879, she moved her family to New York City. She died in 1923 in Nutley, New Jersey.
Robert Frank Watterson (1848-1879) served with the Union Army in the American Civil War and was wounded at the Battle of Stones River. He married Carrie Norton in 1870 and the couple had three children: Roberta Franc, Ada, and David Norton. Robert Watterson was a member of the James Schriber & Company, Tobacco Manufacturers, until his death in 1879 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Colonel John Harper (1734-1810) a great, great uncle of Ada Watterson Yerkes, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Moor's Charity School in Lebanon, Connecticut. In 1769, Colonel John Harper, his father, his three brothers, and their families settled in the town of Harpersfield, New York. During the American Revolution, Colonel Harper was stationed in Cherry Valley, New York, and led his neighbors in battle against the British. He died in 1810 in Harpersfield, New York.
From the guide to the Ada Watterson Yerkes Family Papers, 1780-1963, (Western Reserve Historical Society)
