Yerkes, Ada W. (Ada Watterson), 1873-1963

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.

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