Edward Partridge in Painesville, Ohio

e g d i r t r a P . H t t o c S y s e t r u o C Fig . Edward Partridge ( – ), engraving, by Charles B. Hall, ca. . Edward Partridge, the son of William Partridge and Jemima Bid - well, was born on August , , at Pitts field, Massachusetts. After an apprenticeship, he opened a hat manufacturing plant and retail store in Painesville, Ohio, where he married Lydia Clisbee in ; they were the parents of seven children. Edward Partridge was the first bishop of the Church and had the responsibility of implementing the first Church - wide attempts at consecration. He died in Nauvoo on May , . Edward Partridge in Painesville, Ohio Scott H. Partridge or a short period in the s, the town of Painesville, Ohio, played an Fimportant part in the development of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The town was a place of success for Mormon missionaries; it was a religious battle field in which the Campbellites resisted the encroachments of the missionaries; it was the home of the Painesville Tele - graph, one of the most virulent critics of Mormonism; and, finally, it was the home of Edward Partridge, a man who would play a critical role as the first bishop of the Church (fig. ). In , Edward Partridge was a successful, prominent, and relatively wealthy businessman. He owned a hat-making factory and a retail store and a substantial house, and he had a wife and family to whom he was dedi - cated. In most Church histories, he is portrayed as sacri ficing all he had when he joined the Church, reluctantly abandoning his business and family when he accepted the call to serve as bishop and departed for Missouri. ₁ These histories also conclude that by joining the Church he su ffered great economic loss and that he left Painesville with reluctance. ₂ New information about Partridge strongly suggests that these conclu - sions should be revised. As to Partridge’s economic losses, a careful search for documentation on the sale of Partridge’s holdings does not yield enough evidence to determine the extent of his losses, and opinions from his family disagree. Perhaps more surprisingly, new evidence suggests that he might not have left Painesville reluctantly. In fact, Partridge was apparently not completely satis fied with his circumstances before he accepted Mor - monism. It is not generally known, even by his descendants, that Partridge was preparing to make a major change as early as . Recently dis covered BYU Studies , no. ( ) 51 52 v BYU Studies real estate documents reveal that he was seeking to sell his factory, home, and property, apparently preparing to move his life in a new direction. It is my purpose here to suggest that Partridge was prepared to leave Painesville even before he joined the Church, but his hasty departure after he was called as bishop meant that he likely sold his property for less than he might have if he had not left the community or if he had been able to wait for a better market opportunity. However, by the time his house was sold, he had already consecrated all of his property to the Church, so the loss would have been borne by the Church. Edward’s consecration of his prop - erty might be considered a financial loss but not by those who willingly gave their worldly goods to build the kingdom. Edward Partridge Edward Partridge was born in Pitts field, Massachusetts, on August , , to William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. His early life, so far as the meager record of it informs us, was uneventful. ₃ At the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed to a hatter named Governor, who operated a hat shop near Pitts field. At twenty, having completed his apprenticeship, Partridge trav - eled to New York State and hired on as a journeyman hat maker with one Asa Martin. Shortly thereafter, Partridge and Martin formed a partnership and established a hat-making business in the town of Clinton, near Albany. ₄ Sometime during the next year, Partridge traveled to Ohio on behalf of the firm and was so impressed with the area that he decided to stay, settling in Painesville, where he established a branch of the business. By the time Par - tridge arrived in Painesville, it had begun to resemble a New England town. On September , , Partridge purchased a large lot on Main Street (now Mentor Avenue) near the public square. ₅ On this property Partridge built his factory as well as his home. Painesville was an ideal location for his new business. It was far enough into the frontier to provide access to the furs he needed to make hats, and yet close enough to the more populated Eastern cities to provide access to their markets. The Partridge home and factory were only two miles from the shore of Lake Erie, which provided the trade connections for both furs and finished products. In a short time, he was doing so well that he bought out Martin’s interest and carried on the business himself, employing several hands and operating both a factory and a store. Marriage and Prosperity Now settled in Painesville and established in business, Partridge met and courted Lydia Clisbee in . She was the daughter of Joseph Clisbee Edward Partridge in Painesville, Ohio V 53 and Miriam Howe of Marlboro, Mid - dlesex County, Massachusetts. Born on September , , she was one month younger than Partridge, who was now twenty- five years old. Fol - low ing the death of her mother in , she, her three sisters, and a brother had moved to Ohio to live near their moth - er’s family. ₆ Edward and Lydia were married on August , , and made their fi e home in Painesville. During the rst g d i r t r decade of their marriage, five daugh - a P . H t ters were born, as well as one baby t o c S y s boy, Clisbee, who died as an infant. e t r u o Their living children in were C Eliza Maria, age ten; Harriet Pamelia, Fig . Caroline Ely Partridge Lyman , age eight; Emily Dow, age six; Caro - date unknown. Caroline, daughter fi of Edward Partridge and Lydia Clis - line Ely ( g. ), age three; and Lydia bee, was born on Jan uary , , in (fig. ), age three months. In addition Painesville, Ohio. She became the to growth in his family, Partridge also plural wife of Apostle Amasa Lyman experienced rapid growth in his busi - on September , , at Nauvoo ness and was generally considered and was the mother of five children. ₇ She came west in and pioneered “quite well to do.” in California and Utah. She was As evidence of his expanding president of the Relief Society for prosperity during the decade of the thirty-two years in Oak City, Utah, s, Geauga County records show where she died on May , . that Partridge purchased a number of additional properties. ₈ The Family Home A description of the Partridge home in Painesville gives some sense of the family’s lifestyle and level of a ffluence. ₉ For its time, the house was comfortable, though not luxurious. It was a wooden frame structure with “‘large living quarters, food storage rooms, a front yard with green plat, rosebushes, a well with an old oaken bucket, currant bushes, a summer home with grapes, flowers, paths, and many arbor vines.’” ₁₀ Partridge’s daughter Emily remembered the home warmly: “My father was doing a thriving business as a hatter. He had accumulated considerable property, and had provided a very pleasant and comfortable home for his 54 v BYU Studies family .... I think my father must have been almost a rich man, when I con - sider the amount of property he owned.” ₁₁ She also wrote, “I remem - ber a very pleasant home, such as I have not had since.” ₁₂ A Plan to Sell Painesville Properties In , after a decade in Painesville as a prosperous business - e g d i r man and family man, Partridge t r a P ff . o ered all of his property for sale. H t t o c Although no record exists that S y s e t r explains his reasons for doing so, he u o apparently wanted to leave Paines- C ville. The following advertisement Fig . Lydia Partridge Lyman, date appeared in the Painesville Telegraph unknown. Lydia, daughter of Edward Partridge and Lydia Clisbee, was on January , : born on May , , in Painesville, Valuable Property For Sale. Lot Ohio. She married Apostle Amasa No. , in the village of Painesville, Lyman on February , (as his with a House, Hatters Shop and eighth wife), and was the mother of Barn erected thereon, with a well of four children. Since her husband was good water, and a fine garden, con - gone much of the time, she sup - taining a selection of choice fruit. ported herself as a seamstress. When [Also o ffered for sale were lots and their husband left the Church, Lydia, , out Lot containing about Eliza, and Caroline left him. Lydia acres, and a farm of acres in died at age on January , , in the township of Harpers field, Oak City, Utah. Ashtabula County]. ₁₃ The ad evidently brought no acceptable o ffers, because the following appeared eighteen months after his first advertisement: Valuable Stand For A Hatter For Sale. Wishing to quit the Hatting business and leave Painesville, I now o ffer my stand for sale, together with an assortment of Stock, Trimings and Tools. My shop is large and commodious, and is pleasantly situated on Main-street near the Public square, and is the only Hat Shop in town. On the lot with the shop, is a convenient dwelling house, barn and an excellent well of water.

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