Orson Minott Oviatt

Painting of General Orson Minott Oviatt's father, Col. Heman Oviatt Sr., Hudson, Ohio

General Orson Minott Oviatt (1799 – 1869) was a wealthy merchant, abolitionist, politician and military officer from Richfield, Ohio. He was the city postmaster for many years, county commissioner, and the cofounder the Academic Institution of Richfield. He gave land to the city and became the namesake of Oviatt-Newton Park. He was also the father-in-law of the Mayor of Cleveland, George W. Gardner, an early business partner of John D. Rockefeller.

Early life

Orson Minott Oviatt was born on February 24, 1799, to Eunice Newton and Col. Heman Oviatt, a family of French origin. Oviatt was a cousin of Col. Morris Benjamin Oviatt, and Mason Oviatt, who built the Oviatt House used as a station of the Underground Railroad.

Biography

Abolitionist John Brown, old friend and correspondent of Gen. Oviatt

Oviatt attended Moses Hallock's school during his youth, along with John Brown and his brother. Oviatt is also recorded making an agreement with John Brown, and being one of his correspondents during the 1840s. He was involved in the abolitionist cause with Brown.

In 1825, 1829 and 1835, Oviatt was elected Postmaster of Richfield under Postmaster General William T. Barry. In 1835, he was nominated with 4 others by the Ohio House of Representatives to establish an academic institution in the town of Richfield, Ohio.

They established its corporation and named it the Academic Institution of Richfield. In 1841, Oviatt and his wife Lucretia donated land to establish a public park in the city through the Congregational Society, which would later be renamed in their honor as the Oviatt-Newton Park. In 1842, Oviatt is re-elected as postmaster of Richfield. In 1845, he established with his wife the East Richfield Cemetery, also known as the Fairview Cemetery, though a land gift to the First Congregational Society.

In 1847, he entered into a partnership with the son of Capt. Tomlinson, dealing in livestock. While the partners split about a year later, Oviatt would become a wealthy merchant in Richfield, and have large businesses in Cleveland.

Family life Orviatt was married to Lucretia Ward, granddaughter of Rev. Ephraim Ward of the Ephraim Ward House in Massachusetts. They had five children: Eunice Newton, Minott Orson, Henry and Louis. Their daughter Rosaline married to mayor George W. Gardner, brother of Rev. Theodore Yale Gardner, members of the Yale family. His son, Col. Minott Oviatt Jr., became County Commissioner of Summit County, Ohio, and one of his granddaughters married an editor of The North American in Philadelphia.

His son was also one of the proprietors of the Akron Live Stock Association, owning a 20,000 acres ranch in New Mexico, with Oviatt as manager.

Later life

Gen. Oviatt inherited from his father vast asheries, tanneries, and merchandise trade from the area, having a virtual monopoly over the region. Gen. Orson M. Oviatt built in 1868 a mansion at 3758 Brecksville Road, in Richfield, Ohio, which later became the Richfield Historical Society. It is now part of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Summit County, Ohio.

He died on September 15, 1869, in Richfield, Ohio, and was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Cleveland.