George Sackett

George Sackett, for sixty years a prominent resident of Cuyahoga Falls, who was closely identified with its manufacturing industries, and many other of its upbuilding agencies, was born at Warren, Litchfield County, Connecticut, January 6, 1821, and died at Cuyahoga Falls, Summit County, Ohio, July 12, 1907. He was a son of Aaron and Hulda C. (Tanner) Sackett.
The Sackett family became established in Summit County in 1838, through the settlement here of Aaron Sackett and his household. Both he and his wife were born in Connecticut, and the maternal grandfather of George Sackett served in the Revolutionary War as an officer under General Anthony Wayne. In 1836 Aaron Sackett moved to Canandaigua, New York, that his children might enjoy the educational advantages of that place. In 1838 the Sackett family resumed their western journey and permanently settled on a tract of land in Tallmadge Township, where Aaron Sackett resided until his retirement from active life in 1868. He died at the home of his son, William Sackett, in Copley Township, at the age of eighty-four years. His sterling traits of character were reflected in his children, George being the third in order of birth.
Mr. Sackett attended two sessions of the Tallmadge Academy, and then his school days were ended. Up to the time he attained his majority he performed faithfully the arduous part that fell to the lot of the eldest son in a large famiily under pioneer conditions.When twenty-one years old Mr. Sackett began farming on his own account. His capital was $100. He leased a tract of land from the "Chuckery" Company, located in that section of the city of Akron now known as North Hill. Thanks to untiring industry, and the exercise of his unfailing good sense, these farming operations prospered greatly. Special attention was given to the production of wool and wheat raising. His farm at one time embraced the handsome total of 1,400 acres of excellent land.
Mr. Sackett was also interested in manufacturing enterprises, and was for a number of years the president of the Cuyahoga Paper Company. He was a man of superior business ability and accumulated an ample fortune. He engaged in coal mining, railroad building, and the general development of the country at Laredo, Texas, in partnership with Gov. A. C. Hunt of Colorado. At one time he had large holdings of real estate and mining properties in Colorado.
Mr. Sackett was from the very formation of the Republican Party its staunch and undeviating supporter. He was the president of the first Republican Club in Cuyahoga Falls. In 1867 he was elected County Commissioner by the Republican party and served three years. In 1879 he was appointed a member of the State Board of Equalization, representing Summit and Portage Counties, and he also served in lesser offices. His superior judgment was exercised in the performance of public tasks with the same fidelity as in the pursuance of his private business. He was a man of honor in all transactions.
In 1848 Mr. Sackett was married to Helen Williams of Auburn, New York, who died in 1851. Mr. Sackett was married a second time, February 9, 1854, at Tallmadge, Ohio, to Frances V. Grant, a daughter of William and Esther (Treat) Grant, of Orange, New Haven County, Connecticut, who, with one daughter, Mrs. A. F. Smith, of Cleveland, survives him.
In 1847, Mr. Sackett purchased a valuable farm of 200 acres on which he resided until 1867, when he purchased the property on Second street, where he lived until he completed the building of a fine residence in 1902 on Broad street, Cuyahoga Falls. This beautiful home remains the place of residence of his widow. In 1902 Mr. Sackett completed the sale of the city lots into which he had divided his farm, making the Sackett addition to Cuyahoga Falls now one of the most attractive parts of the city. For many years Mr. Sackett was an active, consistent, Christian, a member of the Congregational Church, to which he gave generous support both of money and time. Until within a year of his death, Mr. Sackett enjoyed as good health as usually falls to the lot of men of his years, while his mind remained clear, and his interest in his family and immediate circle of friends never ceased. He was the last of his family save one, Mrs. H. C. Grant, of this city. George Sackett's was a pre-eminently successful career. In it all there was nothing to conceal. He was from first to last honest, upright, industrious, a good citizen, neighbor and friend.

—William B Doyle, Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio