ELLIOTT, FRANKLIN REUBEN (27 April 1817-10 Jan. 1878) was an early horticulturalist and fruit farmer who wrote and conducted research on fruit trees and who helped expand local awareness of the area's great variety and excellent quality of its fruit.
Son of Rubin and Grace (Fairchild) Elliott, he came to Cleveland from Guilford, CT. in 1842 and entered into the seed and implement business. He opened F.R. Elliott & Co. nursery, two miles west of Cleveland, and was proprietor of the Forest City Agricultural warehouse and seed store in Cleveland. Elliot also established the Lake Erie Nursery between Detroit and Lorain St., the most elaborate and widespread nursery in the county. Here he built the home that was later to become the Cudell Arts and Crafts Center.
The hard winter of 1856 combined with the Panic of 1857 resulted in the collapse of Elliott's agricultural and seed warehouse business. In 1858 Elliott left temporarily for St. Louis. When Elliott returned he was elected secretary of the Ohio Grape Growers Association in 1862 and appointed to prepare a report about the vineyards of Northern Ohio. From 1862-1869 Elliott provided the U.S. Department of Agriculture with research and background information on fruit trees.
Elliott helped organize the Cleveland Horticultural Society in 1844 and the Cuyahoga County Agricultural Society in 1846. In 1845 he became editor-publisher of the Western Reserve Magazine of Agriculture and Horticulture. Elliott also authored several popular books on fruit-growing, deciduous trees and evergreens, and ornamental landscaping.
Elliott married Sophia Hopkins on 17 Feb. 1846 (separated 1875). They had five children, Frank, Katherine, Cara, Cora, and HENRY WOOD ELLIOTT.
The Elliott Family Papers, Lakewood Historical Society.