Kanengeiser 1

Ashleigh Kanengeiser

Dr. Chura

Thoreau, Emerson, Circle

9 December 2020

Bronson Alcott Medina Family Ties

It is a well-known fact in the literary world that the Alcott family was prominent in New

England in the mid-1800s. With Amos Bronson Alcott who had written Orphic Sayings, Tablets,

Concord Days, New Connecticut, and Sonnets and Canzonets and Louisa May who had written

Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys, as well as many other titles it is undeniable that this is a

family of distinguished people. What isn’t so well known about these important authors are the

connections that they had to Medina, Ohio.

Situated at 113 N. Huntington Street Medina, Ohio, The Coffee Colony boasts on their

website, “this historic home was built in 1846 and originally owned by P.C. Alcott whose niece

was Louisa May Alcott, author of "Little Women". It has been told that she spent time with her

uncle in his home” (About Us). This begs any literary scholar to wonder how deep the

connections may run if there are any remnants of the Alcotts left behind, and what kind of role

the Alcotts may have played in this midwest town. Who was Phineas Alcott? He’s just a piece to

the Medina puzzle.

John Alcott III and Mary Chatfield Alcott married and had two sons, Joseph Chatfield

Alcott in 1771 and James Alcott in 1774. James Alcott married Esther Castle Alcott on January

8, 1800. They had a son together, Phineas Castle Alcott. As for Joseph Chatfield Alcott, he

would marry Anna Bronson, and they would have their own son, Amos Bronson Alcott. This

would make Amos Bronson Alcott and Phineas Alcott first cousins. Phineas Castle Alcott
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married Emily Horton of Connecticut in 1838, and they moved to Medina. Emily died in 1842,

leaving Phineas to remarry Sarah Welton in 1846 (Goodspeed). While Phineas grew up in

Connecticut, he learned to be a farmer and received limited schooling at district schools. He

carried his skill of farming to Medina, along with brickmaking. In 1846, Phineas entered the

grocery business, and after a year he began to “devote his time to stock-dealing (cattle), a

business he was identified with for upward of twenty years, he frequently driving stock to

Dutches Co., N.Y., the trips varying from forty to sixty days” (Goodspeed). The Medina

Historical Society houses the family bible that once was in the ownership of Phineas, and this is

an artifact that helps correctly identify dates associated with marriages and deaths.

Phineas had four children with three of them surviving childhood, Mary Alcott Nettleton,

Sarah Lois Alcott Pomroy, and Eva May Alcott. In 1854, Louisa May Alcott published a book

called The Flower Fables to entertain Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughter. One of the chapters is

called “Eva’s Visit to Fairyland,” and nearly 10 years later she would have a first cousin once

removed named after the character, Eva Marie Alcott. Eva went on to become a vocal coach and

renowned vocalist. Eva eventually bought land for a ranch in North Dakota in 1908, and

combined the land with a woman named Miss Currie, “she took up 160 acres of land five miles

from Dickerson, and since, she and a companion, Miss Currie who also owns 160 acres in her

own right, have taken 480 acres together, making in all these two young ladies ontholdings 800

acres” (Sentinel Newspaper Archives). The ladies did well for themselves, “Last fall the young

ladies refused an offer of $40 an acre, an advance of $25 per cent over the first cost,” and Eva

still maintained her interests in music and held a position in her church (Sentinel Newspaper

Archives). Eva’s sister, Mary Alcott Nettleton, became one of the more established and
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well-known school teachers in the Weymouth area during the 1850s, much like her Connecticut

Alcott relatives.

Going back to Joseph Chatfield Alcott’s wife, Anna Bronson, there are more connections

to be made to Medina, Ohio. Anna was the daughter of Captain Amos Bronson and Anne

Blakeslee Bronson, born in 1773. She had at least two brothers who would end up residing in

Medina, Amos Bronson and Noah Miles Bronson. Noah married Betsey Ives, and together they

had Noah Blakeslee Bronson, Isaac Bronson, and Hiram Bronson. The Medina Historical society

offers a letter from Amos Bronson Alcott to Issac Alcott, and in it, Amos Bronson Alcott

references “Uncle Noah” who would have been his uncle through marriage, Noah Miles

Bronson. It reads, “nothing can be finer in the way of anecdote and reminiscence for enlivening

the book,” and seems that they are discussing family for the sake of a memoir.

Hiram Bronson was perhaps the most notable figure living in Medina that Louisa May

Alcott was related to. He was born in Connecticut, but was brought to Medina as a child in 1818

and is alleged to have been one of the first to drive cattle from Medina Township (MCDL

Genealogy). In mid-1820 he worked as a deputy sheriff, but he became the Medina County

Sheriff from 1828 to 1830, and “also during that time period he was the Brigade Inspector for the

State militia from 1825-1833” (MCDL Genealogy). Hiram operated a mercantile store in

Richfield township for twelve years before moving it to Medina and opening his store at the

northwest corner of Court Street and West Liberty, retiring from it in 1861. It was one of the first

buildings built in Medina’s square, along with Bronson Dry Goods, Groceries, Hardware Store.

He was initiated in the first degree of Masonry in 1823 and served as high priest seven times.

Hiram became the judge of Medina in 1854, “but in 1865 he was elected to the Ohio House of

Representatives and he served until 1869” (MCDL Genealogy).

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Hiram was placed in charge of a railroad collection project, “In 1854, there were efforts

to bring a railroad through Medina County. A group of enterprising men organized the

Cleveland, Medina, and Tuscarawas Railroad, borrowed $15,000 purchased a right-of-way, and

graded the land from Grafton to the Chippewa Creek in Seville. Hiram Bronson was president,

and it was his job to collect subscriptions from area investors. He was told if he could get one

million dollars committed, he would receive the rails to put down on the prepared grading. He

fell short. Everyone he visited said they would only pay for the portion of the line that went

through their village, not a penny more” (86 King). The project led to Hiram resigning and it

being nearly twenty years before the second proposal passed with the railroad being built where

it had been initially proposed.

A prominent figure of Medina, H. G. Blake, organized a local Freedman’s Aid Society as

a branch of the Cleveland organization. Hiram was employed by H. G. Blake as he was the

mayor, and “opened his storeroom on the northwest side of Medina for corn and other foodstuffs

for the former slaves” (178 King). In 1870, there was a massive fire in the square of Medina that

left Phoenix Block and the home to the Newspaper in ashes. “The merchants, mechanics, and

professionals were “hiving” in Hiram Bronson’s warehouse and the old foundry on West Liberty.

In a corner of the foundry, one could find meat, shoes, and hardware” (King). H. G. Blake put

together a committee that included Hiram Bronson and other judges to have a meeting in regards

to the actions that they should take as a result of the fire, “Their first objective was to raise

money for housing, food, and clothing for those displaced from their homes above the

commercial blocks” (King). Then again in 1877, there would be a fire on the square. This time,

Hiram’s business wouldn’t be so lucky, “When it was over, the Empire Block was gone, along

with two large frame buildings to the North on Court Street and Hiram Bronson’s frame
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warehouse on West Liberty” (232 King). The fire would ultimately lead to the creation of

ordinances, and eventually a $3,000 Silsby Steam Fire Engine (232 King).

When Medina’s Women’s Temperance League held a mass meeting and “Mrs. Hiram

Bronson, and Mrs. H. Goodwin spoke to the Literary Society about temperance in Medina and to

recommend a “prayer and praise” method to encourage sobriety,” Hiram Bronson and H.G.

Blake supported the women (272). Eventually, they created a Men’s Temperance Union, and

“their first act was to recommend to village council an ordinance “to prevent drunkenness in the

Incorporated Village of Medina” (274).

In 1878, “Amos Bronson Alcott, the famed transcendentalist, and father of Louisa May

Alcott, visited his relative Hiram Bronson in Medina. To commemorate the occasion, Hiram

opened his front parlor to all who wished to listen to the great man speak on his philosophy, his

friend Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his famous daughter. Another family member, P.C. Alcott

lived one block away from Bronson and was perhaps a part of the occasion” (338). A Medina

County Gazette article also notes this of Amos Bronson, “Mr. Alcott has visited Medina and is

well known here” (MCDL Genealogy). Another Gazette article states, “It gives us pleasure to

note the presence in our village of A. Bronson Alcott, of Concord, Mass., one of the most noted

men of New England, whose lifetime covers a period of eighty years” (MCDL Genealogy). It

goes on, “As an educator, author, philosopher, and lecturer his influence has perhaps been greater

than that of any other American savant, excepting always the sage of Concord, R.W. Emerson.

Mr. Alcott is still hale and hearty, and hopes to round out his hundred years,” finishing the article

by saying that he is in town to visit Hiram and Issac Bronson (MCDL Genealogy). The article

offers an invitation to listen to Amos Bronson Alcott speak, “Mr. Alcott, at the request of his

friends, will hold a Conversazione this, Thursday, evening, in the parlors of Mr. and Mrs. H.
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Bronson, at 7 o’clock, to which those interested in literature and philosophy are hereby invited

by Mr. and Mrs. Bronson to attend” (MCDL Genealogy). The Medina County Historical Society

has a painting of The Rose Cottage done by Mrs. Hiram Bronson, and she is claimed to have

auctioned paintings like these at such events in her home.

Hiram was admitted to the Masonic Fraternity in the fall of 1823, and upon his death had

been one of the longest-standing members at nearly seventy years (MCDL Genealogy). He was

nearly 90 years old when he died, and his obituary notes, “There has been perhaps no man in

Medina County, who through his kindly disposition of heart, his earnestness of purpose, and his

exemplary ways of life, had earned the admiration and endeared himself more to the people of

this county and all his acquaintances than this venerable and good old man and exemplary

citizen” (MCDL Genealogy). It is notable that “Bronson Street on the northeast quadrant of

Medina is named for Hiram,” where one of his homes, The Rose Cottage, would have resided

(MCDL Genealogy).

Louisa May Alcott and Amos Bronson Alcott’s literary genius have undoubtedly reached

people for generations, but what is less known are the ways in which their relatives have

impacted the world. There are some connections that have been lost to time, but it’s obvious that

the two authors probably spent some time visiting their relatives. Some were farmers, musicians,

or politicians. It is interesting to note that there are more educators and authors in the bloodline

than those from Massachusetts. Another interesting finding is that there were relatives from two

different sides of the bloodline that chose to settle in Medina County, although there wouldn’t

have been many areas to settle out West at the time, and they may have communicated through to

each other. It is apparent that there are strong ties with the Bronson and Alcott family name to

Medina, Ohio. Some of their descendants may even be alive today.

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Works Cited

“About Us.” The Coffee Colony, thecoffeecolony.com/aboutus.html.

“Ancestry of Louisa May Alcott.” FamousKin,

famouskin.com/family-group.php?name=24732+louisa+may+alcott.

Chatfield, Colin. “Family Tree .” Geneanet, gw.geneanet.org/chatfhs?lang=en.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9

December 2020), memorial page for Anna Bronson Alcott (20 Jan 1773–27 Aug

1863), Find a Grave Memorial no. 20915121, citing West Edmeston Cemetery,

Brookfield, Madison County, New York, USA ; Maintained by C&P LaPlante Files

(contributor 46814587) .

Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852- [from old catalog], J. H. Battle, William Henry Perrin,

and Chicago Baskin & Battey. History of Medina County And Ohio: Containing a

History of the State of Ohio, From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time ...

Chicago: Baskin & Battey, 1881.

Kat. “Hiram Bronson.” MCDL Genealogy, 15 Mar. 2017,

mcdlgenealogyspot.blogspot.com/2017/03/hiram-bronson.html.

King, JoAnn. Medina County Coming of Age 1810-1900. Joann G. King, 2016.
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“Mary Emily (Alcott) Nettleton.” WikiTree, 4 Sept. 2020,

www.wikitree.com/wiki/Alcott-259.

Medina Sentinel Newspaper Archives, Jan 27, 1911, p. 5. 27 Jan. 1911,

newspaperarchive.com/medina-sentinel-jan-27-1911-p-5/.