(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 550 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY and from there to Arlington Heights, Washington, and when the military necessity was over, returned to Cleveland and was mustered out. As one of the township's intelligent, reliable citizens, Mr. Skinner has frequently been called upon to accept local offices and on all occasions he has performed his duties faithfully and efficiently. For the past five years he has been a township trustee and his caution and good judgment have made him a valuable member of the board. He belongs to Buckley Post, Grand Army of the Republic at Akron, and is a member of the local Grange. He is a liberal man in the support of charities and has never turned a deaf ear to distress. HOWARD A. BAUER, a well-known citizen of Norton Township, who since 1895 has been operating the Weygandt farm, which is a valuable tract of seventy-three acres, was born June 14, 1873, in Norton Township, Summit County, Ohio, and is a son of John and Susanna (Hoch) Bauer, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Howard A. Bauer was reared in Norton Township, where he has resided all his life with the exception of two years spent at Barberton. On January 1, 1895, Mr. Bauer was married to Augusta Weygandt, who was born on the old Weygandt farm across the road from the present home, and is a daughter of Elias and Mary (Miller) Weygandt, the latter of whom was a daughter of Peter Miller Elias Weygandt was a native of Pennsylvania, and came early in manhood to Norton Township. He owned the farm on which Mrs. Bauer was born, his wife being the owner of the present Bauer home. Mrs. Bauer owns the present farm, which Mr. Bauer cultivates very successfully. Mr. and Mrs. Bauer have one child, Thelma May. They attend the Lutheran Church at Doylestown, Ohio. EDWIN H. CARTER, general farmer and representative citizen of Northfield Township, was born in Boston Township, Summit County, Ohio, August 14, 1858, and when fourteen years of age, his parents moved to Everett, and his education was secured there and at Peninsula. Mr. Carter worked on his father's canal boat and later assisted the latter on his farm, until he was twenty years of age, when he purchased the canal boat named Tempest, and later owned the Tidal Wave. He continued on the water for about two years, after which he engaged in farming for a time, still later entering a wholesale house at Akron, where he continued for five years. He had previously learned the blacksmith business and spent a season in the Michigan woods working as a blacksmith for the Cleveland Sawmill Company, Prior to going to Akron, he conducted a blacksmith shop at Everett, for five years. Before his marriage in 1904, he rented a farm at Everett for two years, and afterward came to the Chaffee farm, which he has operated very successfully ever since. He raises truck and produce of all kinds for the Cleveland market, keeps twenty cows and has butter made on the farm for special customers, has some twenty calves and twenty head of hogs. He raises good crops also of corn, oats, wheat and hay. The apple orchard is a fine producer and many barrels are shipped a season. On May 2, 1904, Mr. Carter was married to Gertrude Wisneski, who is a daughter of Peter Wisneski. She was born at Independence, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, December 2, 1867, but for the past twenty-five years has lived with the Chaffee family, by whom she is looked on in the light of a daughter. Her father was born in Poland and came to America with his parents. They settled first in Cleveland, moving later to Independence, where Mr. Wisneski followed the trade of stonecutter until within five years of his death, when he bought a farm in Northfield Township, on which he raised truck for the Cleveland market. Mr. Carter takes no active interest in politics, voting as his judgment directs. He is known to his fellow-citizens as a fine farmer, a reliable man and an accommodating and helpful neighbor. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 551 CHARLES W. WICKLINE, general superintendent of the Akron China Company, and one of the stockholders and a director in the concern, was born in 1869, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he attended school in early boyhood. Mr. Wickline is a self-made man, beginning at a very early age to provide for his own maintenance. He began to work as a feeder in a nail factory and so careful, accurate and industrious did he prove himself that by the time he was eighteen years old he was given charge of four machines, which he operated for about seven years. Desiring to see something of the country and to engaged in a more congenial business, Mr. Wickline then went to East Liverpool, where he learned the pottery trade, his natural deftness and ready understanding of the principles of this industry soon bringing him into notice with china manufacturers and dealers. Coming to Akron he was here given charge of one department of the Akron China Company, in which he owned stock. His manifest ability resulted in his rapid promotion, and for the past six years he has occupied his present responsible position. The Akron China Company commands an extensive trade, as at their Chicago office they do a half million dollars' worth of business yearly in imported goods alone. They have 225 employes in their Akron plant. In addition to his interest in this important enterprise, Mr. Wickline is a director in the Akron Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He has always taken some interest in local political affairs. In 1892 Mr. Wickline was married to Mary Frances Hawkins, who was born at Steubenville, Ohio. Her grandfather was one of the first settlers in Jefferson County. Mr. and Mrs. Wickline have one son, Frank Hawkins Mr. Wickline, with his family, is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is quite prominent in Masonry, having been identified with the fraternity for many years. He is past worshipful master of Akron Lodge, N. 83, F. & A. M. ; past high priest of Washington Chapter No. 25 ; past thrice illustrious master of Akron Council, No. 80; and belongs to the Akron Commandery and Lake Erie Consistory. COMFORT JACKSON CHAFFEE, who has the distinction of being the oldest resident of Northfield Township, was born in what is now Hampden, Massachusetts, April 14, 1817, and is a son of Comfort and Persis (Skinner) Chaffee The family can be traced back to France, from which country it early went to Wales and in colonial days came to Massachusetts. The original settler was named Samuel and he had a son, John, who settled at Pomfret, Connecticut, and he had a son, Asa. Asa Chaffee, the great-grandfather, was born in Connecticut, and was one of the early settlers at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. He had sixteen sons, many of whom were killed in the French and Indian and in the Revolutionary War. The youngest of these, Comfort Chaffee, was born at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. He participated in the Revolutionary War and proved a bold and resolute man He was a strict Sabbatarian and permitted no household or farm work to be done on Sunday. Comfort Chaffee (2), the second child and eldest son of his parents was born at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, where his life was spent. He was a farmer and stockdealer and was a man of considerable substance. He assisted in suppressing Shay's Rebellion. He took a leading part in the town's government and held many of the offices. He married Persis Skinner, who was born in Woodstock, Connecticut, and they have six sons and three daughters. Their children were reared in great strictness. Comfort Jackson Chaffee attended the district schools in his youth and received excellent training in the rudiments. On the last day of December, 1837, he entered the employ of the firm of Waters & Flagg, armorers, at Millbury, Massachusetts, and remained a year, afterward worked at the Chicopee Falls Arms Company, and later cut a large amount of cord wood, taking his pay of thirty-seven and one-half cents a cord, in sole leather. 552 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY Later he worked at manufacturing monkey wrenches. About 1839, Mr. Chaffee received a letter from his brother Jonathan, who was then at Brecksville, Summit County, asking him to join him in this part of the country. On April 1, 1840, he left Massachusetts, traveling by rail to Rochester, New York, which was then the terminus of the line, and there took a stage to Dunkirk, at that point taking passage on the steamer General Scott, then making her maiden trip to Cleveland. Having safely reached Northfield Township, Mr. Chaffee bought seventy acres of land, which is included in his present farm and to the original purchase he continued to add until he owned 300 acres. He cleared the timber from his land, making his home for two years with his brother and also working in a machine shop at Brecksville. In the second year he built a barn. When not employed on his land he worked at Brecksville, in the iron works when they were running, and also, in the machine shops at odd times. He afterwards assisted in establishing a plant for the manufacture of rifles at Brecksville. He began to stock his farm with cattle and sheep, as soon as practicable, and in 1848, he began dairying, starting with two cows, and later increased to eighty-seven cows. At the same time he had 400 sale cows on the place. Later Mr. Chaffee became a drover, a very successful one, and in this capacity he was on the road until he was eighty-eight years of age, selling at Brooklyn, Ohio, and South Cleveland, when not holding sales on his own place. Mr. Chaffee is well known all over this section of the State, and for many years was regarded as an authority on cattle and stock. His operations sometimes were on a large scale and through his excellent business judgment, he accumlated an ample fortune. Mr. Chaffee married Asenath W. Ferry, who died May 30, 1904, aged eighty-six years. She was a daughter of Noah Ferry and was born at Wales, Massachusetts. There were two children born to this marriage: Mozart, deceased; and Anna Maria, who is the-widow of Dr. Franklin Coats, of Berea, Ohio. In his early political life, Mr. Chaffee was a Whig, later became a Free Trade Republican, but at present is identified with the Democratic party. The only office he would ever consent to hold was that of school director. His life has covered a notable period of history and has been more or less filled with interesting incidents. Mr. Chaffee is remarkably preserved and enjoys social intercourse and takes the interest of a much younger man in the affairs of his community and of the world at large. J. M. WILLS, president and superintendent of the United States Stoneware Company, at Akron, is one of the city's prominent and substantial citizens. He was born in 1841, in England and was eight years of age when he accompanied his parents to America. Mr. Wills was reared and educated at Cuyahoga Falls. After graduating from the High School of that city, he looked about for employment, and was engaged for some two years in making plows. He embarked then in a mercantile business in which he continued for twenty-six years, during sixteen of which he officiated as postmaster at Middlebury. In 1889, Mr. Wills became superintendent of the United States Stoneware plant at Akron, and this city has since been his place of residence. On the death of George W. Brewster, Mr. Wills succeeded him as president of the company. This concern was organized for the manufacture of all kinds of stoneware and enjoys a heavy trade, the plant giving employment to fifty workers. Mr. Wills is himself master of every part of the business, and keeps closely in touch with commercial and manufacturing interests all over the country. Under his guidance the business is enjoying continued prosperity. In 1863 Mr. Wills was married to Martha E. Willis, of Middlebury (East Akron), and they have five children : Rena; Nellie J., who married A. H. Coles, of Cleveland; Bessie, who married J. J. Chamberlain, of Akron; Frank S., of Lima, traveling freight agent for the Lake Erie & Western Railroad; and Grant M., residing at Cleveland, who is stock clerk for the Ferro Machine Si Foundry Com- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 553 pany. Mr. Wills has taken an active interest in city politics and for four years served as a member of the City Council. He belongs to the beneficiary order of the Protected Home Circle. WALTER A. FRANKLIN, of the firm of Franklin Brothers, also a general Contractor, at Akron, has been for the past twenty-eight years a resident of this city, which has been the scene of his greatest business activity. He was born a Baltimore, Maryland, in 1868, and is a son of Charles Franklin, who is a retired citizen of Akron. The parents of Mr. Franklin came to Ohio when he was about two years of age, and he attended school in this city. His entrance into business was as a clerk in a tea store for two years, commencing at the age of thirteen years. Afterward he worked in a brick yard for one year and then engaged in lathing. He also learned the plasterer's trade and subsequently served two years at the cooper's trade. Prior to his twenty-first birthday he had accomplished all this and was then prepared to engage in contract plastering, which he did at the age of twenty-one. This easily led to mason work and general contracting. In 1898 the firm of Franklin Brothers was established for the purpose of dealing in all kinds of sand and gravel and other commodities and doing all kinds of excavating and heavy teaming, an extensive business being carried on along all these lines. C. F. Franklin manages this business W. A. Franklin, independent of the Franklin Brothers does a large amount of contract work, private residences especially, in connection with city building. He has built the following fine residences: S. J. Rickie, B. G. Work's addition to residence, George G. Allen's, John Gross's, George Warner's, M. O'Neil's; I. R. Manton's, also Frederick Miller's, of Cuyahoga Falls, and the addition to the palatial home of C. B. Raymond, besides many others. In 1889, Mr. Franklin was married to Jessie E. Salmons, of Akron, and they have four children : William Charles, Harriet Ann, James A. and Robert D. Fraternally Mr. Franklin is a Mason and he belongs to the Blue Lodge, Chapter, and Council at Akron. His business location is at No. 327 Cuyahoga Street. He is recognized as one of the city's most capable business men, and is also an interested and active worker in advancing the welfare of Akron in every way. His portrait on the neighboring page will be regarded as an appropriate supplement to this article. C. F. FRANKLIN, of Franklin Brothers, the leading general contracting firm of Akron, is one of the city's successful, self-made men. He was born in 1873, at Cleveland, Ohio, but was reared and educated in Akron, attending the North Hill School. In boyhood he started out to mike his own way in the world, and he was the first lad to carry the Cleveland Press north of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which work he performed for three years, and under conditions which would have discouraged many less persevering youths. At that time the newspaper, which was greatly in demand, did not reach Akron until five o'clock in the afternoon, causing the brave little carrier to make a somewhat risky trip over the North hills at night. This determination of character has been a winning attribute in later life. From being a. newsboy he entered the employ of the Akron Building and Cabinet Company, and remained with this concern during seven busy years. He then took charge of L. D. Ewing's planing mill for two years. During the next two years he worked for. the Akron Spirit Level Company, then for thirteen months was with the Summit Lumber Company, following which came his partnership with his brother, Walter A. Franklin, under the style of Franklin Brothers. This firm is one of the most progressive in the city. The Franklin Brothers were the first to make a business of delivering screened sand to their customers, and they own the only steam shovel. They are engaged in all kinds of heavy teaming, having thirty-eight teams in operation to assist in excavating and other contract work. A large contract now 554 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY being filled is the building of the new State Mill Reservoir, which is progressing satisfactorily. The Franklin Brothers are the owners of the North Hill sand banks, situated at the corner of North Howard Street and Glenwood Avenue, which contains fifteen acres of sand and to an average of forty feet high. On November 15, 1893, Mr. Franklin was married to Ada M. Gillett, of Akron, and they have five children, namely : Charles E., Howard L., Walter A., Ada May and Francis Gillett. Mr. Franklin is a member of the order of Modern Woodmen and of the Builders' Exchange. McALLISTER BROTHERS, the name including Isadore and Alexander McAllister, own the old Alexander McAllister farm of eighty-eight and one-quarter acres, which is situated in Bath Township. It formerly contained eighty-nine acres but the McAllister school building, in School District No. 10, takes off three-fourths of an acre. This farm was purchased from an early settler, Dr. Crosby, June 30, 1840, and has never been out of the family. The parents of the McAllister Brothers were born and reared in Ireland and came to America in 1836, following their marriage. They settled first in Coventry Township, Summit County, and Alexander McAllister, the father, was a contractor on the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal. Later he moved to Monroe Falls, where he took a second contract. His first contract was the building of the canal between Akron and Middlebury, now East Akron. From Monroe Falls he moved on the present farm of his sons, in Bath Township, finding no buildings but an old log house. Many of the trees had been girdled and were dead, and old stumps made a lonesome appearing landscape, but he was a man of great energy and industry and completed the clearing of the whole farm. This was a large undertaking, as in those days, the use of present explosives and machinery for this purpose was unknown, and all the heavy work had to be done practically by sheer strength. In 1843 he replaced the log house with the frame one in which his sons reside. He had seven children and Isadore and Alexander are the only survivors. The others were: John, who died in infancy in Coventry ; Alexander (1), who died an infant, in Coventry ; an unnamed infant ; Mary, who died June 20, 1854, aged three years; and James, who died in Bath Township, September 6, 1873, aged twenty-one years. The father died April 22, 1854, and the mother, February 6, 1891. Isadore McAllister was seven years of age when his father died, leaving a family of small children for the mother to rear. Her children being too young to give much assistance, she let the farm out on shares until her sons were old enough to take charge, which they did when young. They have proven themselves good farmers and stock-raisers and excellent business men as well. They operate a fine dairy with twelve cows. Isadore, the elder of the McAllister Brothers, was born April 4, 1847. He married Miranda Vallen, who is a daughter of William Vallen, and they have two children: Lloyd, aged twenty-one years, and Alma, aged seventeen years. Mrs. McAllister died April 12, 1902. Both brothers work together in harmony and present a picture of brotherly affection and devotion to each other's welfare that it is pleasant to contemplate. They are both consistent members of St. Vincent's Catholic Church. For four years, Alexander McAllister has served as a member of the School Board. CALVIN SPADE, foreman of the Robinson Clay Company factory No. 3, at East Akron, a responsible position he has filled for the past five years, was born in Springfield Township, Summit County, Ohio, September 6, 1851, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Heckman) Spade. John Spade, the grandfather of Calvin Spade, came to Uniontown, Springfield Township, in 1812, from Snyder County, Pennsylvania, and died when advanced in years. Of his fourteen children, all reached maturity except two, and the survivors reached a good AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 555 old age, the majority leaving descendants. The eldest child, George, was born in Snyder County, in 1811, was brought by his parents to Springfield Township, where he married Rebecca Weaver; Jacob married Miss Myers, and died at the age of seventy-two years ; Samuel also married a Myers, and died aged sixty-seven years; Catherine also married into the Myers family, and died aged seventy-three years; William married a Miss Weaver, and died aged seventy years ; Henry married a member of the Myers family, and lived to be sixty-eight years of age; Noah married a Miss Starr, and died aged seventy-eight years; Thomas married a Miss Weaver, and died aged seventy years; Sarah married a Kreichbaum, and died aged thirty-five years ; Eve never married, and lived to the age of eighty-one years; John, father of Calvin, lived to the age of seventy-seven years; and Michael married a member of the Weaver family. .The grandparents died aged sixty-six and eighty-one years, respectively. Both parents of Calvin Spade were born in Springfield Township, where their lives were passed. They had the following children : Samuel, who died aged two years; Catherine, who married Joseph Bollinger; Eve, who married Moses Israel; Calvin ; Michael, who married Barbara Jane Swinehart; William, who married Barbara Keller; John, who married Minerva Schriner; Sarah, who remains unmarried; Elizabeth, who is unmarried. Calvin Spade had few educational .advantages in his youth. His life had been one of constant industry and has been mainly confined to the pottery industry. He learned his trade at the pottery of his uncle, George Spade, and for the past thirty-three years he has been engaged at Factory No. 3, this plant having been established for a half century. Mr. Spade, from his long experience, has the work here well in hand, and since he has been superintendent, the product has not only been increased in quantity but has still more surely confirmed its reputation as to quality. Mr. Spade has thirty-six workmen under his control and the most cordial feelings exist between theft foreman and his employes. In 1873 Mr. Spade was married, and nine of his family of children still survive, namely : William Edward, residing in New Mexico, is a locomotive engineer, married Pearl Metzger and they have one child ; Robert, residing at Atlanta, is a pitcher in the Southern Base Ball League, married Carrie Bolling and they have two children, Glynn and Vera; Grace, who married William Ritzman, a farmer of Springfield Township, has one child, Hazel ; Stella, who married John Raman, a farmer of .Springfield Township, has one child, John ; Louisa, who married George Ody, resides in the Hunt Allotment of Akron ; Ira, who is engaged with his father at the pottery ; and. Huldah, Lillie and Carrie L., all residing at home. The family belong to the East Market street Reformed Church. For thirty years Mr. Spade has been a member of the order of Knights of Pythias, belonging to Aetolia Lodge, No. 24, Akron. GEORGE A. SHAW, organizer, president and general manager of the Buckeye Match Company, of North Baltimore, Ohio, has been a prominent resident of Barberton and. New Portage, for the past thirty-four years, serving with credit in public offices, successfully directing business affairs and taking an active part. in political life. Mr. Shaw was born about one-half mile north of Johnson's Corners, in Norton Township, Summit County, Ohio, September 1, 1853, and is a son of Merwin and Emily E. (Betz) Shaw. The father of Mr. Shaw was born at Medina, Ohio, and spent the larger part of his life in Norton Township, Summit County, where he engaged in farming and also operated a grist mill. Attending the district schools in the winter seasons and working on the home farm during the summers, made up the larger part of Mr. Shaw's boyhood life. Later he attended the High School at Doylestown and subsequently attended the Mennonite College at Wadsworth, Ohio. The failure of his father's health, about this time, threw the responsibility of managing the home farm on his shoulders. Several years later he went to South 556 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY Dakota, where he took up a Government claim of 160 acres, but made his home at Mitchell. While there he entered into the employ of a railroad company, first as night yardmaster and later as manager of the day yards. After residing there for some two years and continuing his railroad work, he was so seriously injured while making a coupling, that all further railroad work was abandoned and he returned to Summit County, on a pass gladly offered by the company. Mr. Shaw located at New Portage, where he opened a general store, and for eight years he served as postmaster there, when, on being elected mayor of Barberton, he moved to his prsent home. He served four years also as postmaster of this city and- was elected a member of the first board of Public Affairs, of Barberton. Mr. Shaw is concerned in various business enterprises and is president of the Barberton Wire Lock Fence Company, which plant employs about twenty-five men. He has recently organized an industry which promises to be one of great importance, the Buckeye Match Company, which has been incorporated for $100,000. The works are to be established at North Baltimore, Ohio. Mr. Shaw owns a majority of the stock and is president and general manager of the company. He is recognized as one of the able and enterprising business men of Summit County. In 1898 Mr. Shaw was married to Harriet L. Marshall. Politically he has always been identified with the Republican party and has been an important factor of the same in Summit County. He organized the first McKinley club in the county and has been liberal in contributing to its work. Fraternally he belongs to the Junior Order of American Mechanics and to the Knights of Pythias. C. CHARLES CONAGHAN, a leading business citizen of Tallmadge, belongs to one of the old pioneer families of Ohio that crossed the mountains from Pennsylvania and entered the Western Reserve about 1800. C. Charles Conaghan was born October 16, 1842, in Wyandot County, Ohio, and is a son of Charles C. and Mary L. Conaghan. The Conaghan family is of Irish extraction, the grandfather, Dennis Conaghan, having been born in Ireland and left his native land in youth. He settled in Adams County, Pennsylvania, married and subsequently came to Ohio, where he reared a large family, and died in old age in Wyandot County. Charles C. Conaghan, father of C. Charles, carried on agricultural pursuits on what was known as the old Logsdon farm, in Wyandot County. He married Mary A. Bardoon, who was born in Perry County, Ohio, in June, 1822, and was a daughter of Anthony and Magdalene Bardoon, the former of whom was a native of France and the latter of Germany. There were two children born to Charles C. and Mary (Bardoon) Conaghan: C. Charles and A. Frank. Charles C. Conaghan, died aged thirty-two years. His widow married (second) William Best, and she became the mother of four more children, namely: Mary E., Agatha, Louisa and Matilda. Mrs. Best died November 9, 1891. C. Charles Conaghan, bearing his father's name along with inheriting his sterling traits of character, was reared on the old farm in Wyandot County, which his father and grandfather had redeemed from the forest. Be attended the district schools in boyhood and had already become very useful on the home farm when the Civil War broke out and its issues absorbed the thoughts of young and old almost to the exclusion of every private interest. On August 12, 1861, Mr. Conaghan enlisted in the Federal army, at Tiffin, Ohio, entering Company B, 49th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, contracting for three years or during the war. He was honorably discharged at Chattanooga, Tennessee, September 5, 1864, having participated in numberless engagements, many very serious battles, and suffered both from wound and imprisonment. He took part in the battles of Shiloh, Liberty Gap and Chickamauga, being wounded at the latter place, on September 19, 1863, but he recovered in time to participate in the Atlanta Campaign and also in the bat- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 557 tles of Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, Adamsville, Cassville, Pickett's Mills, Pine Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and the siege and capture of Atlanta. The mere recital of these historic names brings the blood to the cheek and the fire to the eye (if every noble old veteran, but a tear also falls, for in the National Cemetery, at Marietta, Georgia, with thousands of their gallant comrades, sleep 113 brave soldiers who once were members of the 49th Ohio. Although Mr. Conaghan seemed to bear a charmed life through the furious battles which he never evaded, he was captured by a party of Gen. Kirby Smith's soldiers at Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, October 8, 1862. Fortunately for him his captors could not conveniently take their prisoners with them at that time and he was immediately paroled. This kept him out of active service for a time, as did his wound for several months, otherwise he served with his regiment whenever it was in the field. Mr. Conaghan believes that he knows the States of Kentucky and Tennessee better than many of their native sons, having marched three times across the former and five times across the latter, and under conditions which will never permit him to forget the landscape or the people. Mr. Conaghan was but nineteen years of age when he entered the army and his only brother was but seventeen, the latter offering up his young life on the altar of his country, at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. Mr. Conaghan is a prominent and interested member of Buckley Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Akron, and has represented his post at the Department Encampment. After the end of his military service, he returned to Carey, Wyandot County, where he remained until the spring of 1865, when he entered a commercial college at Cleveland and subsequently, for a few months, was bookkeeper in a business house of that city. In February, 1866, he came to Akron, where he was engaged for one year in a coal business, later removing to New Portage, where he was in a grocery line for eighteen months. In 1870 he came to Tallmadge and engaged in clerking until 1885, and in the following year went into a partnership in a mercantile business, with the late Frank E. Hine. Mr. Hine died in 1892, since which time he has continued alone, doing the most satisfactory business in his line, in the place. Mr. Conaghan was married (first) at Akron, to Olive R. Ellis, who died October 27, 1885. She was a daughter of Joseph D. and Mary A. (Brown) Ellis, and left two children, Nellie L. and Mary. Mr. Conaghan was married (second) March 25, 1897, to Mrs. Margaret E. (Hall) Hine, who was the widow of his former partner, Frank E. Hine. Mr. Conaghan is one of the town's public-spirited, enterprising and useful men. He commands the respect of his fellow-citizens and enjoys the esteem of a large circle of friends. The political offices he has held have been regarded by him in the light of public trusts, and their duties as faithfully performed as were those of the young soldier in 1861-2-3. W. J. WILDES, president of the Board of Public Service of Akron, has held this honorable position since the organization of the board. He was born in this city in 1872, and is a son of James Wildes, a native of Summit County, who settled in Akron, a half century ago. W. J. Wildes was reared in Akron and educated in her institutions, graduating from the High School in 1889. In the following year he went to Poughkeepsie, New York, entering Eastman's Commercial College of that city, where he completed the course. He then returned to Akron and entered into general contracting with his father. They have since executed a large amount of work, including the building of roads,'streets and sewers, both in Akron and at other points, a number of important contracts having been filled in Northwestern Ohio. In recent years Mr. Wildes has taken quite an active interest in politics. In 1902 he was appointed a member of the Board of City Commissioners, by Mayor Doyle, and served one year, since which time he has been in service on the pres- 558 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY ent board, a body which enjoys in large measure the confidence of the people. In 1902 Mr. Wildes was married to Florence McCue, who is a daughter of T. W. McCue, of Akron. Fraternally Mr. Wildes belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Knights of St. John, and to the Elks. He is a member of St. Vincent Catholic Church. HON. CHARLES A. DAVIS, mayor of Cuyahoga Falls, and proprietor of the largest grocery house in the city, was born at Canastota, Madison County, New York, January 19, 1856, son of George M. and Sarah J. (Hale) Davis. His paternal grandfather was Samuel Davis, a native of New Jersey, but of Welsh parentage, who came to this county at an early day. This Samuel Davis died in Lennox Township, Madison County, in 1850, at the advanced age of eighty-two years, having moved from New Jersey to Lewis County, New York, in 1828. He was a farmer by occupation. Samuel's son, Aaron, grandfather of Mayor Davis, was born in New Jersey, sixteen miles from Brunswick, about 1808. Previous to his marriage he moved to Lewis County, New York. At the age of eighteen he learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed until the death of his wife, when he went West, to Des Arc, Prairie County, Arkansas, where he became the owner of 1,200 acres of land. In 1850 he wrote saying that he would return home in the spring, if nothing happened to prevent him, but that was the last news received from him. He married, in Auburn, New York, August 25, 1825, Rachel Merritt. They had four children, of whom three grew to maturity, namely : Mary, who is now deceased ; Samuel, and George M. George M. Davis was born in Lewis County, New York, and came to Cuyahoga Falls in the spring of 1866, being for some years after coming here in the employ of L. W. Loomis. In January, 1875, he returned to New York with his family, afterwards returning to the Falls, where he and his wife now live retired. They have two children, Charles A., whose name begins this sketch, and Frank J.,. who is a resident of Lamed, Kansas. Politically George M. Davis is a Democrat. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Charles A. Davis completed his literary education in the High School at Cuyahoga Falls, and then worked for several years on a farm, which he left to enter the printing office of the Cuyahoga Falls Reporter. In 1875, when his parents returned to New York, he accompanied them and remained there for three years, later returning to Cuyahoga Falls. Subsequently he worked as a printer on the Akron Daily Tribune for a year, or until its suspension. He continued in journalism a while longer, accepting a position with the Oil City Derrick,. at Oil City. In the latter part of 1879 he returned once more to Cuyahoga Falls and entered the Jones Bros.' grocery store as a clerk. Two years later, on the firm's going out of business, Mr. Davis opened a store of his own and conducted it for eighteen months, after which he resumed clerking. He had long been an active worker in the ranks of the Democratic party, and when President Cleveland entered upon his second administration, Mr. Davis was appointed assistant postmaster. At the close of his term in that office he purchased the Cuyahoga Falls Reporter, which journal he conducted with marked ability for six years. In November, 1903, Mr. Davis sold the newspaper and bought his present grocery store, from H. E. Wells. He now conducts the largest grocery trade in the town, besides which he has other important business interests, being a director in the Cuyahoga Falls Savings Bank, also in the Falls Savings and Loan Association and in the Elgin Butter and Ice Cream Company, and a member of the Finance Committee of the Cuyahoga Savings Society. He has been a strong political factor for many years, and was elected .Mayor of Cuyahoga Falls on the Democratic ticket, assuming the duties of the office January 1, 1906. Mr. Davis was married to June E. Laughead, a daughter of Carlisle B. Laughead of AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 559 Middleport, Ohio. Mrs. Davis died in 1903, leaving two children, Leslie L. and Frank A. Mr. Davis is a member of Star Lodge, No. 187, F. and A. M. A patriotic and enterprising citizen, he keeps the public welfare ever in view, and his official acts have been fraught with beneficial results to the community. HIRAM STUMP, the owner of 175 acres of excellent farm land in Franklin Township, was born on his present farm, in an old log house, in Summit County, Ohio, September 18, 1842, and has made his home on this property all of his life. He is a son of John A. and Mary (Grove) Stump. Michael and Mary (Ashway) Stump, the grandparents of Hiram, came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in wagons, with their five children, crossing the river at Pittsburg, by way of the ferry. They settled in Tuscarawas Township, Stark County, Ohio, in the dense woods, and here two more children were born. Nine years later, while assisting a neighbor to raise his house, Michael Stump was accidentally killed by a log falling on him. His widow, who was left in straitened circumstances, reared her children as best she could. She lived to the advanced age of ninety-two years. When he reached manhood John A. Stump returned to Pennsylvania, where he learned the cabinet-making and carpenter trade with his uncle, John Stump, with whom he worked three years, during which time, in 1832, he was married. One month after his marriage he took his young wife back to Stark County, Ohio, to his mother's home. In 1833 they came to Franklin Township, Summit County, and located on the present farm of Hiram Stump, he purchasing eighty acres of section 1'6, school land, from the Government. On this farm, which had been partly improved, had been erected a log house and barn, but in 1845, Mr. Stump erected a brick residence, and a substantial barn was built by him in 1851. Here Mr. and Mrs. Stump spent the remainder of their lives, his death occurring at the age of seventy-nine years, and hers in her sixty-sixth year. In political matters Mr. Stump was a Democrat, and he served his township for some terms as trustee. The name of the lady Mr. Stump married was Mary Grove, and they became the parents of five children : Alpheus, who died January 2, 1907, aged sixty-nine years ; Eliza, deceased, who was the widow of Eli Stout, who died in the army; Hiram; Mary Margaret, who died at the age of four years ; and Lucinda, who died in infancy. Hiram Stump was reared to manhood on the home farm, from which the longest period he has ever been absent was a six-weeks' visit, in Pennsylvania. While attending the district school, where he had good teachers, he helped to clear the home farm from stones and brush, and when he began farming it was with the scythe, the cradle and other crude implements, before the introduction of modern farm machinery. Although Mr. Stump has retired from active work on his farm he still oversees general operations. Like his father, he is a Democrat, and for nine years in succession served as township trustee. He is a member of the Reformed Church at Manchester. On April 13, 1876, Mr. Stump was united in marriage with Emma Swigart, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Samuel Swigart, and to this union one child was born, Loma Belle, who married Rolla A. Stump, son of Nathaniel Stump. Mrs. Stump's father, Samuel Swigart, and mother, Anna Grubb, were the second couple to procure a marriage license after the formation of Summit County, the date being June, 1840. ISAAC NERHOOD, a representative farmer and dairyman of Coventry Township, and the owner of ninety-eight acres of fine farming land, located about five miles south of Akron, was born on his father's farm in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1854, and is a son of Amos and Barbara Ellen (Landis) Nerhood. Jacob Nerhood, the grandfather of Isaac, was a native of Pennsylvania and a soldier from Snyder County in the War of 1812-14. 560 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY His death occurred in middle life on his farm in Snyder County. Jacob Nerhood married Hannah Rigel, who died in 1877, aged eighty-five years. They had seven children : John ; Daniel ; Amos; Sarah, who married Isaac Musser; Sophia, who married Fred Haynes; Eliza, who married Jacob Snook ; and Leah, who was the first wife of Isaac Musser. Amos Nerhood, father of Isaac, was born on his father's farm in Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood, lived the life of a farmer and died in August, 1883, aged sixty-six years. He married Barbara Ellen Landis, who was born in Juanita County, Pennsylvania, where her father had been a pioneer. She died in 1902, aged eighty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Nerhood had nine children, as follows : Elizabeth, who was the wife of Edward Yetter; John Jacob, who resides in Pennsylvania; Lucy Ann, who was the wife of A. Romig; Melinda, who married Emanuel Page, resides in Snyder County, 'Pennsylvania; Daniel, who lives in Pennsylvania; William Howard, who lives in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; Isaac; Joseph, who lives in Coventry Township ; and Hannah Louisa, who died at the age of three months. Isaac Nerhood attended the district schools of his native locality, when opportunity offered but the greater part of his youth was spent on the home farm, at hard work. At the age of twenty-two years he went to Bellvue, Sandusky County, Ohio, where he worked on various farms for about four years, and then located in Summit County, where he worked in J. P. Kepler's saw mill and at farming for a period of fourteen years, also during that time doing some carpenter work. Having accumulated enough capital he purchased a small piece of property in Springfield Township, a tract of thirty-eight acres, which he secured from Mr. Austin Spicer, but after three years he sold this place and bought his present property, from Edward Kepler, his brother-in-law. This is considered one of the best farms in this section of the township, and here Mr. Nerhood carries on general farming and dairying, keeping for the latter purpose a herd of about fourteen cattle. The large, nine-room frame house was built by J. P. Kepler, while the barn was erected by John Stroman, an early owner. Coal has been found on the land in large deposits and much has been already mined. On March 29, 1892, Mr. Nerhood was united in marriage with Clara Melinda Kepler, who is a daughter of J. P. Kepler and granddaughter of John Kepler, a well known pioneer of East Liberty. Mr. and Mrs. Nerhood have one child, Harvey Elmer, who was born on Decoration Day, 1899. In political matters Mr. Nerhood is a Republican, but he has never cared for, nor sought public office. With his wife he attends the Reformed Church, to which faith the family has always adhered. Mr. Nerhood is one of Summit County's self-made men, having worked his way from a boyhood of humble circumstances to be a man of substance, solely through his own efforts. JOHN WILLIAM KING, the owner and operator of an excellent farm of eighty acres, situated in Green Township, was born on his present property in Green Township, Summit County; Ohio, March 15, 1878, and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Gougler) King. William King, the grandfather of John W., was born in Wittenberg, Germany, and as a boy of sixteen years came to America and settled in Pennsylvania. He was married in Pennsylvania to Magdalena Stroub, who was born in Germany. When a child of thirteen years she came to America, penniless, and was hired out to work for strangers for three years and was married young. They became the parents of ten children. After marriage William King removed to the northern part of Coshocton County, Ohio, where he became a substantial farmer and good citizen. Jacob King, father of John W., was born on his father's farm in Coshocton County, Ohio, January 20, 1837, and went to the old Millcreek Township log school-house for about three months each year in boyhood, then the Greenburg Seminary, and the Spring Mountain College, the latter a Methodist institution, thus obtaining an excellent education. For AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 563 about one year he taught school in Whitley County, Indiana, and the next six years were spent as an Evangelical preacher, being on the Stark County circuit. Two years of this time were passed at West Austintown, Mahoning County, Ohio, two years in Stark County, and the last two years at Fairview, Pennsylvania, where he preached in German. When only seventeen years of age Mr. King had engaged in the mercantile business at Warsaw, Ohio, but gave this up in order to attend school. Later he spent many years in farming, having acquired 458 acres of land, which he divided among his children. He is now one of the highly esteemed retired citizens of Greensburg. At the age of twenty-three years, Mr. King was married to Elizabeth Gougler, and to this union there were born four children, all of whom live in Green Township, namely: Mary, who married Henry Oberlin ; Samantha; Emma, who married Jacob Boettler ; and John William. John William King attended the district schools, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He secured his property from his father, and its present fine condition proves his ability as a farmer. Mr. King erected his large house, barn, and other buildings after taking possession. On January 14, 1900, Mr. King was married to Minnie B. Shaffer, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, and is a daughter of Samuel and Louise (Good) Shaffer, residents of Summit County. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. King: Harvey, Maude and Clyde. In political matters Mr. King is a Republican, while fraternally he is connected with the Grange and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. OTIS K. VIALL, funeral director, whose business is located at No. 919 East Market Street, Akron, was born at Akron, in 1874, and is a son of John F. and Cornelia C. (Wheeler) Viall. John F. Viall was born in Chautauqua County, New York, April 30, 1825, and was brought to Ohio by his parents, Bennett and Wealthy (Arnold) Viall, when five years of age. They settled in Springfield Township, Summit County, among the pioneers. John F. Viall learned the cabinet-maker's trade, which he followed until 1866, at which time he engaged in undertaking. Later he was in partnership with his son, under the firm name of Viall & Son. He married Cornelia C. Wheeler, and their surviving children are: Frances, who married William Orendorf, residing at Akron ; Laura, who married C. B. Macey, residing at Noblesville, Indiana ; Edward W., a resident at Noblesville ; and Otis K., of Akron. Both John F. Viall and his wife have passed away. He was a man of business honesty and enterprise, and he made the first coffins kept in stock in the city of Akron, an innovation at that time. He was a stanch Republican politically but was never disposed to be a politician. A number of the minor offices of the township he held because he was elected to them, but he. sought no political honors. For many years he was secretary of the Middlebury Cemetery Association. Otis K. Viall, upon completing his school education, became associated with his father in the undertaking business, and since the latter's death has had sole charge of it. He is a graduate of the Champion College of Embalming at Springfield, Ohio, and also of the Boston College of Embalming, of Boston, Massachusetts. His firm style is Otis K. Viall, funeral director and embalmer. He keeps in readiness all the paraphernalia incident to his business, and has an establishment which is modern in every particular. He is superintendent of the East Akron Cemetery Association. In 1895 Mr. Viall was married to Daisy Shoemaker, who is a daughter of the late Cyrus Shoemaker, one of the old families of Northampton Township. They have one •son, Earl Victor, who is a student of promise in the public schools. Mr. Viall and his wife belong to the Disciples Church. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. 564 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY CHARLES BIRGE WETMORE, whose finely improved farm of 100 acres is situated in Stow Township, is one of the representative men of this section. He was born on his present farm in Stow Township, Summit County, Ohio, September 14, 1848, and is a son of Silas and Mary (Birge) Wetmore. The Wetmore family was founded in America some time during the Sixteenth century, by three brothers, Seth, Chauncey, and one whose name has been forgotten, who came from Wales. Seth Wetmore settled in Connecticut, and from him the Wetmores of Stow Township have descended. He had two sons: William and Titus. William Wetmore was elected the first justice of the peace of Stow Township, when it was yet a part of Portage County. In August, 1804, he was appointed clerk of the court, and removed to Ravenna, but not being satisfied with the empty honor of his position he resigned and came back to Stow Township, settling on the farm now owned by Charles B. Wetmore. The first township election was held at his home. He built the house now owned by the heirs of Orison M. Moore, cultivated 200 acres of land, and in every way was one of the leading men of his section. In his latter years he served as judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Judge Wetmore was married to Anne Ogden, and to them were born four children : William, Edwin Clarissa and Henry. Edwin Wetmore, grandfather of Charles B., received apart of his father's farm at the time of the latter's death, and for many years was engaged in business with his son Silas, whose death preceded his own by one year. For a long period he was a justice of the peace in Stow Township, having an office on his farm. In politics he was an ardent Whig in early life, later becoming a Republican. Mr. Wetmore died December 25, 1872, aged over seventy-four years. His first wife was Polly Wetmore, a cousin, who died August 11, 1843. Silas Wetmore, father of Charles B., grew to manhood on his father's farm, and throughout his mature life was connected in business with his father, the partnership being dis solved by his death in 1871. He was a Whig and Republican, and during the Civil War was very active in securing men and means for the cause. He was a trustee of Stow Township, for a number of years. With the exception of Edwin Wetmore, who was a Methodist in his early years, the Wetmores have always been identified with the Christian Church, in which Silas Wetmore was deacon. He was married to Mary Birge, who was born in Connecticut and came to Ohio with her father, Dr. Simeon Birge, when ten years old. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore: Charles Birge, and Edwin S., both of whom reside in Stow Township. Charles B. Wetmore was reared on the home place, and his education was secured in the district schools and the High School at Cuyahoga Falls. After a visit of one year's duration, in the West, he returned, in order to take charge of the farm, when his father became ill, and here he has resided ever since. Mr. Wetmore has demonstrated his ability as a capable farmer, and raises large crops of wheat, potatoes and corn, and has a silo 14x30 feet. He keeps on an average, twenty cattle, and ships his milk to the Co-operative Creamery of Stow Township, of which he is one of the large stock-holders, and which he was instrumental in founding. Mr. Wetmore was married to Adeline Kelly, who is a daughter of John Kelly, a resident of Cuyahoga Falls, and to this union there have been born four children : Arthur S., who resides in Stow Township ; Ida, who married Rev. D. W. Besaw, pastor of the Stow Corners Disciples Church; Jennie, who is the wife of Boyd Winch, of Akron ; and Henry, who lives at home. Mr. Wetmore is an independent Republican in politics. He has served as township trustee for twenty years and also has served as a member of the School, Board. He and family belong to the Disciples Church at Stow Corners, in which he is an elder. JAMES A. STETLER, a well known agriculturist, formerly of Springfield Township, but now residing in "Uniontown, was born in AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 565 Union County, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1840, son of William and Salome (Reichley) Stetler. He is a descendant of John Stetler, who came to this country at an early date from Germany, settling near what is now New York City. The next in ancestral line, Conrad Stetler, son of John, resided for a time in New Jersey, where he married. He afterward removed to Union County, Pennsylvania, where he became a wealthy farmer, owning 1,000 acres of fertile land in the heart of Dry Valley. Among his children was John (II), born in 1792, who married Elizabeth Roughert, daughter of Anthony Roughert, a native of Bucks County. This John Stetler, who was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a Whig in politics, taking an active interest in public affairs, and a deacon in the Albright church. He died September 9, 1868; his wife in October, 1876. They were the parents of nine children : William, Daniel, Mary (married Thomas Pursel ) , John, Isaac, Charles, Thomas, Andrew and Elizabeth. William Stetler, son of John and father of James A. Stetler, was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, October 10, 1816. He was educated in the district schools, and remained on the farm until reaching the age of fifteen years. After working for some three years in a brick yard, he obtained employment on the construction of the public dams on the Susquehanna, at which he continued for five years, during the winters being occupied in shoemaking. He also ran a boat from Northumberland to Philadelphia. In 1846 he became superintendent of wood-work on the dams, which position he filled until 1848. In the fall of that year he removed to Summit County, making the journey in a covered wagon over the mountains, and by way of Pittsburg. Settling in Green Township on a farm now owned by his son James, he lived there until about 1891, when he moved to Stark County. He returned, however, and is now making his home with his son, the subject of this seketch. Formerly a Whig in politics, he became a Democrat in 1844. Mr. Stetler is now ninety-one years old, but is well preserved for a man of his great age. He has always been a man of much personal force, and has held at different times various township offices. He is a member and strong supporter of the Methodist Church, giving to it freely of his ample means, acquired by a long life of industry. His marriage to Salome Reichley took place November 2, 1838. She was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1815, a daughter of William and Mary (Sausaman) Reichley, lifelong resident of that county. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was at Cleveland, within hearing distance of the battle, when Perry obtained his great naval victory over the British flotilla under Commodore Barclay. Mrs. William Settler died in February, 1904, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years and one week. James A. Stetler was the only child of his parents, and was eight years old when they settled in Summit County. In his youth he attended the old log school-house, with its slab benches, and was later sent to a good select school, where he improved his opportunities for gaining further knowledge. In the meanwhile his industrial education was not neglected, as he was early initiated, on his father's farm into the various methods and operations pertaining to agricultural life. On September 2, 1860, he was married to Lovina Koons, who was born in Bloomsburg, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, November 29, 1841. Her parents--Henry and Esther (Rough) Koons—were natives of Pennsylvania, and for many years farmers in Norton Township, Summit County. Mrs. Stetler was about ten years old when she accompanied her parents to this State. She has borne her hus band four children : William H., Charles E., Marvin T., and Clarence O. all of whom have been given a sound practical education. William H. Stetler, after attending the common schools, completed his literary studies in the Academy at Uniontown, Stark County; Ohio. He followed farming in Green Township for a number of years, but now resides in Akron. He married Rose Belle Haggerty, and has- 566 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY three children : Roscoe, who married Mary Weise; Harry, and Lucille. Charles E. Stetler, after passing through the common schools and graduating from Mogadore High school, became a student at Buchtel college. He became a practical telegrapher, and afterwards a commercial traveler, in which business he is now engaged. He married Ada Rhodes, and now resides in Dayton, Ohio. Marvin T. Stetler was educated in the Mogadore High School and at Uniontown Academy. He is now a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. He married Maud Morton, and has two children —Warren and Russel. Clarence O. Stetler graduated from the Academy at Uniontown, and later as an accountant and bookkeeper from the Business College at Akron. He resides in Delaware, Ohio. He married Minnie Harmon. James A. Stetler is now the owner of 303 acres of farm land in Summit County-147 acres in Green Township and 156 acres in Springfield. He moved to the latter township after a residence of thirty years in Green. He lived in Springfield twenty-five years. Fifteen acres of his farm there consisted of a valuable deposit of vitrified clay, which for a number of years he was engaged in excavating, with the result of developing it into a valuable and important industry. In 1904 he left his Springfield farm and came to Uniontown to assume the care of his aged father. Mr. Stetler is a Democrat in politics, and has served in the offices of trustee, justice of the peace, treasurer, assessor, and township clerk. His first presidential vote was cast for Gen. George B. McClellan. He and his wife are earnest and active workers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he has served as trustee. He is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Apollo Lodge, No. 61, of Akron, also to the Encampment No. 18, also of Akron ; and to the Patrons of Husbandry, being past State deputy master of that order, and a leading member of Lodge No. 1323. Mr. and Mrs. Stetler have always been numbered among the respected and honored residents of the county, and it is the universal wish that their days may be still further pro longed in the land in which Providence cast their lot. WILLIAM E. ETLING, owner and proprietor of the Etling Coal and Ice Company, of Barberton, has been interested in this line of business since 1903, and has been a resident of this city since 1896. Mr. Etling was born in Wayne County, Ohio, July 21, 1876, and is a son of Abraham and Ada (McIntire) Etling. William E. Etling was reared on the old home farm in Wayne County, on which hi parents still reside. Until he was nineteen years of age he alternated working on the farm and going to school, and then learned the carpenter trade, coming to Barberton fo that purpose and entering the employ of Charles Lutz. After four years of instruction and practice with Mr. Lutz, Mr. Etling started into contracting for himself, for the first three years doing contracting only, the for two years engaged in contracting and dealing in coal, and since the spring of 1905, when he bought out the Barberton Ice Company, has added ice to his business interests. He also handles cement and lime and with his three teams does a large amount of teaming, giving employment to from three to twelve men according to the season. Mr. Etling owns his own buildings and bought the land on which the are standing when it w vacant property. Mr. Etling married Jennie G. Santrock who was reared in Wayne County, and is daughter of John A. Santrock, and they have had four children, namely : Edna, who di aged eleven months and fifteen days; Mabel, Elmer W. and Esther Lucile. Mr. Etling is a member of the Odd Fellows. C. H. MORTON, president of the Ohio and Pennsylvania Base Ball League, with offices in the Central office building, at Akron, was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, October 12, 1854, and is a son of Rev. A. D. Morton. C. H. Morton inherits a name which h been a very prominent one in this Nation's history. The name of his great-grandfather, AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 567 John T. Morton is appended to that immortal document, the Declaration of Independence. His father is a son of John Morton who was a member of the same branch of the family which produced those statesman, the late Hon. Oliver P. Morton, formerly governor of Indiana, and Hon. Levi P. Morton, who was vice-president of the United States. Mr. Morton's father, Rev. A. D. Morton, at one time was presiding elder of the Akron District of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which religious body he was long a distinguished minister. C. H. Morton's early life was passed on the shore of Lake Erie and in Cleveland, and after completing his education he entered into the grocery business in which he continued until failing health warned him that he would be obliged to seek more of an out-door existence. He had been interested in base ball prior to this and had been a player of some merit before entering into the sport in a business way. For the past sixteen years he has been the manager of different ball teams, and is now serving in his third year as president of the Ohio and Pennsylvania League of professional players, a body which has won many triumph on the Diamond. Their success in no small degree has resulted from the excellent management of Mr. Morton. In 1883, Mr. Morton was married to Margaret Laber, who was born near Heidelberg, Germany. They have two children, Edna Ruth and Frederick William, the latter of whom is a bright student in the Akron High School. DAVID A. McCOLGAN, who for twelve successive years has been a member of the Board of Education, and for six years one of the trustees of Springfield Township, resides on his farm of 132 acres, which he has placed under fine cultivation. He was born in Summit County, Ohio, June 6, 1854, and is a sou of James and Nancy (Moore) McColgan. The father of Mr. McColgan was born in Ireland and came to America in 1835 at the age of twenty-five years, subsequently coming to Springfield Township, Summit County, Ohio. He was married at Trenton, New Jersey, to Nancy Moore, who was also born in Ireland, where her parents died. She died in 1857. The grandparents of Mr. McColgan, Michael and Martha McColgan, followed their son James to America some five years after he had emigrated, and they both died in Springfield Township, and were buried at Springfield Center. James McColgan died in 1870, having survived his first wife for thirteen years. There were four sons born to his first marriage, namely: William John, deceased, who married in Michigan, left two Children ; James Shannon, resides in Northampton Township, engaged in farming, married Susan Adams and they have three children ; Charles Henry, who is deceased, and David A. There were three children born to a second marriage, all of whom survive. David A. McColgan obtained his education in the district schools and was reared on a farm near Pleasant Valley, where his father first settled. For six years he resided in Portage County, but in 1884 he settled on his present farm, since which time he has been engaged in growing grain and stock. His land is fertile and under his excellent management, is very productive. In 1878 Mr. McColgan was married to Jennie Grotz, who is a daughter of John and Elmira (Martin) Grotz. The grandmother of Mrs. McColgan was the first white child born in Suffield Township, Portage County, and her mother can remember the time when Indians would frequently be seen in the neighborhood of her home. Mr. and Mrs. McColgan have had two children, namely : Bertie, who died aged nine months; and Claude, who was born July 12, 1882, and resides on the home farm. He married Elma Spade, who is a daughter of Henry and Louisa Spade, and they have a little two year old daughter, Mabel. Mr. McColgan was reared a Republican, but for the past fifteen years he has been identified with the Democratic party. He has served for six years as township trustee and for twelve years as a member of the Board of Education, having a remarkable 568 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY record in connection with both offices, that of never having missed a single official meeting in the whole period. He has been particularly active in politics since 1890, and has been sent as a delegate to two State conventions. Both he and wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He stands as one of Springfield Township's representative citizens. CLARK E. WOOLF, residing on his finely developed farm of fifty-nine acres, situated in Springfield Township, is one of the leading men of this section. He was born at Atwater, Portage County, Ohio, October 2, 1856, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Baum) Woolf. Mr. Woolf comes of old pioneer families of Ohio, on both sides, his ancestors having come to their respective settlements, from eastern homes, in the days when Indians still roamed through the trackless forests and Nature had been practically undisturbed. Family records do not tell how early the paternal grandparents settled in Columbiana County, but there they reared a family and both died when George Woolf, father of Clark E., was small. Of the twelve other children this biography does not treat, but all through this part of the State, their representatives may be found, usually among the respected and useful citizens. The maternal grandparents, the Baums, were equally early settlers in Trumbull County, where the mother of Clark E. Woolf was born. It is related of Grandmother Baum, as indicative of her energy and courage, that she made a trip on horseback from Salem to Ravenna, through the forests, following only blazed paths, carrying with her the products of her own dairy for the purchase of warp for the weaving, which her busy hands carried on in the long winter evenings. She was the first white woman who ever faced the dangers of such a journey over that ground, and she accomplished it in one day. She was the mother of a numerous and sturdy family. Left a widow, she remained on her farm near North Benton, Mahoning County, a number of years and then moved to the home of her son-in-law, George Woolf, at Atwater, where she died. After George Woolf left Columbiana County, he settled for a few years at Ellsworth, Mahoning County, and then moved to Atwater, Portage County, removing from there to the farm of Grandmother Baum, on which he remained for some years, subsequently returning to Atwater. He died in the fall of 1904, at the age of eighty-four years. He married Elizabeth Baum, who died December 2, 1880, aged fifty-nine years. They had six children, namely : Elizabeth, who died aged six years, and Preston G., Homer H., Morris O., Clark E., Wilson W. Preston G. Woolf, residing at Atwater, Ohio, owns and operates a large flour and chop mill. He married Amelia Luke, of Edinburg, Portage County, and they have had two children, a daughter, deceased, and a son, Merritt. The latter is an expert electrician and is foreman of a shop in one of the largest manufacturing centers of Indiana. Homer H. Woolf, residing at Atwater, where he conducts the largest hardware business in Portage County, having been in business there for thirty-four years, occupies one of the largest store rooms in the city, having a space of seventy feet square. He married Carrie Crumrine, of Goshen Township, Mahoning County, and they have two daughters and one son : Edith, Elsie and Leslie, the latter of whom is a physician at Ravenna. The elder daughter is bookkeeper in her father's store, and the younger is a teacher in the public schools of Hudson. Morris 0. Woolf resides near Rootstown, Portage County, where he owns a small farm, and a lake where he has made a summer resort, which is liberally patronized. He married Rhoda Harding, who was born on that farm, and they have had two children a daughter and son, the latter of whom died at the age of nineteen years. The daughter married Carl Brown. Wilson W. Woolf, a mechanic by trade, resides at Atwater and has been in the employ of a railroad company for sixteen years. He married Anna Baith, who was born at Atwater, and they have one son and three daughters: Herbert, Rena, Leta and Ethel. The son fills a AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 569 responsible position in one of the banks of Alliance, having been appointed to the place on account of the recommendations presented to the president of the bank, by the principal of the school in which the young man was educated. Clark E. Woolf was the fourth member of the above family. He was reared on the homestead at Atwater where he remained until twenty-eight years of age, and was educated in the local schools. In 1885, he moved to Springfield Township, Summit County, settling first in the southeastern part, where he lived for ten years, since when he has resided on his present farm, which he purchased in 1896. It had been improved to a considerable degree and under Mr. Woolf's management has continued to increase in value. He carries on general farming and keeps a few cows, but makes no special effort at dairying. On October 9, 1879, Mr. Woolf was married to Alice Hart, who is a daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Meacham) Hart. The mother of Mrs.Woolf was born in Springfield Township, Summit County, Ohio. Her parents died when she was young and she was reared by a family named Kent. Jessie Hart, the grandfather of Mrs. Woolf, came to Summit County, in 1812, making the journey from Connecticut in an ox-cart, and living to see the time when he could have purchased many of the fertile acres which were wild and uncultivated when he first saw them. He lived to the unusual age of ninety-four years. Mrs. Woolf was born on the farm on which Grandfather Hart settled, as had been her father. The early log house gave way to a fine brick dwelling, the bricks for its construction having been burned on the farm. The family retained this property until within recent years. Mr. and Mrs. Woolf have had three children, one son and two daughters, namely : Mary, Mahlon and Bessie. Mary was educated in the public schools of Suffield, and Bessie is a student in the schools of Springfield Township. The son, Mahlon Woolf, has made a brilliant record at school. From the public schools of Springfield Township, he entered the High School at Akron, where he was creditably graduated in the class of 1904, after which he took a commercial course in an Akron Business College. For the past two years he has been a student at Wooster University, and after completing a very thorough literary education, he proposes to study theology and subsequently enter the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Woolf has always been noted for good citizenship, attending carefully to the duties pertaining thereto. He is not closely identified with either great political party, preferring to keep free to vote more for the man of high principles than to support blindly any organization. He is a strict temperance man and naturally favors legislation along that line. In 1906, his fellow-citizens elected him to the office of township treasurer. On November 5, 1907, he was elected for another term, an honor he never sought, but a position he had filled with fidelity to the public's interest. With his wife and children, Mr. Woolf belongs to the Presbyterian Church and is a liberal supporter of its various benevolent projects. REV. A. B. CHURCH, D. D. LL. D., the scholarly president of Buchtel College, came to this noted institution of learning from a successful ministerial career, and has been identified with it since September 1, 1897. This decade has been one of remarkable growth for the college, and to Dr. Church's scholarship, devotion and executive ability much of this progress must be attributed. Dr. Church was born January 11, 1858, at North Norwich, New York, and is a son of the late A. William Church. The latter resided during the whole of his life on the same farm and was so talented a musician that he adopted music as a profession. On the paternal farm, Dr. Church was reared and remained until he was twenty-one years of age. In the district school he developed an unusual boyish love of his books and he entered the Union schools at Sherburne. From there he went to the Clinton Liberal Institute, at Fort Plain, New York, and in 1882, he entered St. Lawrence University, at Canton, New York, 570 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY where he was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1886. He took the theological course in the same institution and was there graduated in 1888, immediately entering the active work of the ministry. His first charge was the church at South Berwick, Maine, where he served from July, 1888, to. September, 1890, when he accepted the pastorate of the North Adams, Massachusetts, church where he continued until 1897. In that year he was offered and accepted the pastorate of the First Universalist Church of Akron, in which he labored until his appointment as president of Buchtel College, in 1901. Prior to this he had been identified with the faculty of the college, teaching mental and moral philosophy, and entered upon his still more responsible duties with full comprehension of what they included. As a student, scholar and theologian, Dr. Church has been recognized honorably by many institutions of learning. In 1892 the degree of D. D. was conferred on him by his alma mater, in 1899 Buchtel College conferred the A. M. degree, and in 1904, Tufts College, of Boston, conferred the LL. D. degree. On September 10, 1899, Dr. Church was married to Anne Attwood, who is a daughter of Rev. Dr. I. M. Attwood, then president of the Theological School of St. Lawrence University. Dr. and Mrs. Church have four children : Evelyn, John Attwood, Harold and Dorothy. FRANK J. SHAW, who is serving in his second term as treasurer of Norton Township, in which he is a leading citizen and successful farmer, was born in Summit County, Ohio, June 7, 1850, and is a son of Merwin and Emily (Betz) Shaw. Merwin Shaw, father of Frank J., was born in Wadsworth Township, Medina County, Ohio, and was a son of Joshua F. Shaw, who came, to Ohio from New York at a very early date, and settled first in Wadsworth Township but later removed to Norton Township, and was the first owner of the farm which is now the property of his grandson, Frank J. Shaw. He died at Johnson's Corners. Merwin Shaw followed agricultural pursuits through life. He married Emily Betz, who still survives at the age of seventy-three years and resides in California. She is a daughter of Abraham Betz, who was a pioneer from Pennsylvania, to Medina County. Merwin Shaw died on the present farm of his son, in 1903, in the old home built by his father. The four children of the family all survive, namely : Frank J., George A., Ella and Hattie, the older daughter being the wife of William Yoder of Wadsworth, and the younger, the wife of William Shafer, of Akron. Frank J. Shaw has always lived on the homestead farm and in addition to following agricultural pursuits here, he has operated a portable sawmill for about thirty years, and for the same length of time engaged in threshing, owning an outfit. He still continues to run his mill, it being the only one in the vicinity nearer than Wadsworth. His farm includes a little over 100 acres of excellent land. For several years after his marriage he lived on the part of the farm which contained the old home, and then moved to another part on which he had built a house and barn and made many improvements. Still later as his children grew up and married, he built houses and barns for his sons, and also purchased a small property with comfortable residence, for his son-in-law, Ward Ware. Mr. Shaw has thus shown his regard for the happinesss and welfare of his family and enjoys seeing their prosperity. He is a well-educated man himself, being a graduate of the High School of Seville, Medina County, and has given his two sons and two daughters many advantages. On December 25, 1879, Mr. Shaw was married to Ruth Wilder, who is a daughter of Wells Wilder,, of Medina County, Ohio, and they have the following descendants: Frank M., residing on a part of the home farm, is employed at the Stirling Works at Barberton, as a patternmaker, married Della Fending-ham and they have three children: Ruth, Gladys and Paul; Daisy A., who married Ward Ware, who follows the carpenter trade in Norton Township, has three children: AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 573 Russell, Harold and Delight; Dora, who married William Weaver, who is a retail milk dealer at Barberton, has one child, Clara; and Ernest W., residing on a part of the home farm, married Dora Specht. Mr. Shaw has never desired political office but has consented to serve when his fellow citizens have honored him. He was elected township treasurer in 1903, the only member of the Republican party to receive the elective vote in Norton Township, for many years, and approval of his service was shown by his re-election for a second term. lie has also been a member of the township School Board. He is one of the leading members of the Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Church. For a long period he served as class leader arid in all the offices of the Sunday-school in the old church at Johnson's Corners. HARVEY A. WISE, a highly esteemed citizen and practical farmer of Franklin Township; residing on his excellent farm of 160 acres, was born June 6, 1871, in Franklin Township, Summit County,. Ohio, and on the same farm and in the same house in which he now resides. He is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Kepler) Wise. Henry Wise was a native of Pennsylvania, where in his younger days he was engaged in oil drilling and farming. As a young man he came to Ohio, and after his marriage settled on the present farm of his son Harvey, in Franklin Township, from which they subsequently removed to :near Kenmore. Here Henry Wise died in November, 1905, aged 62 years, his wife still surviving him. Henry Wise was married to Elizabeth Kepler, .who is a daughter of Jacob Kepler, and to this union there were born four children: Charles; Harvey Allen ; Ida, who married Martin Ling; and 011ie, who died young. Harvey A. Wise received his education in the schools of his native district, and he has always been engaged in agricultural pursuits in Franklin Township, with the exception of three years when he carried on a livery business at Barberton, and two years spent on his father's farm near Kenmore. He inherited his present property from his father—a fertile tract of 160 acres on which stands a large brick residence, one of the first in the locality. In December, 1901, Mr. Wise was married to Mattie Snyder, who is a daughter of Isaac Snyder. Four children have been born to this union: Jesse, Lloyd, Grace and Howard. Mr. Wise, with his family, belongs to the Reformed Church. His portrait may be seen on an adjacent page. FRANK PFEIFFER, a prominent and substantial citizen of Springfield Township, residing on his well-improved farm of 145 acres, was born November 3, 1860, in Portage Township, Summit County, Ohio, and is the only child of Frederick and Catherine (Grope Pfeiffer. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Pfeiffer were George and Catherine (Bank) Pfeiffer, the latter of whom was a daughter of John Bank, and a sister to two ministers of the Lutheran Church, John, who had a charge at Buffalo, New York, and Charles, who was pastor of a large church at New Brunswick, New Jersey. The children of George and Catherine Pfeiffer were: Frederick ; George, who died in California, after residing there many years; Catherine, deceased, who married Rev. George Rettig, resided at Monticello, Iowa; Jacob, who resides at Akron; Louisa, who died in 1902, in Medina County, married Mr. Monsmith ; and Charles, residing at Akron, married Catherine Brown. Frederick Pfeiffer, father of Frank, was born January 17, 1829, in Oldenburg, Germany, and came to America in 1848. Prior to reaching Akron, in the same year, he had resided for short seasons, in Pennsylvania and New York. He was variously engaged in his earlier years, at Akron, working in the Christy leather store and also in the flour mills. In 1856, he settled on the George Miller farm, of Western Star, from which he moved to a farm near Clinton, which he operated for one year, and then purchased a farm of sixty-one acres in Sharon Township, Medina County, which he sold after hiring there for eight years. From there he moved to 574 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY Akron and bought a house and lot, but after six months of town life, he decided to return to farming and bought eighty-five acres of land north of Akron, on which he lived for fourteen years. After selling that property he bought 180 acres at Uniontown, Stark County, Ohio, on which he has resided since the fall of 1887. Frederick Pfeiffer married Catherine Grohe, who was born in Germany, April 23, 1829, and is a daughter of Adam and Catherine Grohe, both of whom died in the old home in Hemsbach, Baden, Germany. Mrs. Pfeiffer came to America in 1852, locating at Randolph, Portage County Ohio. Both Frederick Pfeiffer and wife have reached the age of seventy-nine years, enjoying excellent health and possessing all their faculties, They are valued members of the First Reformed German Church at Akron. Mr. Pfeiffer is a Democrat. Frank. Pfeiffer remained with his parents until after his own marriage. After completing the public school course, he entered Buchtel College, where he spent two years. About 1881, he became the operator of his father's farm, north of Akron, and later conducted the home farm in Stark County, for eighteen years. He has always taken a great deal of interest in agricultural pursuits and entertains justifiable pride in his present fine, well-ordered farm, which he purchased. in 1898, of the King Ellet heirs. He has made many fine improvements here, not the least of which is his elegant home, recently completed. It contains eight rooms, is of modern architecture, and is beautifully finished inside in red and white oak, while its Furnishings and surroundings are all that good taste demands. Mr. Pfeiffer was married October 8, 1885, to Lydia Hawk, who is a daughter of Michael and Albertina Hawk, both of whom were born in Germany, and a granddaughter of Philip and Margaret Hawk, who came to Portage County, Ohio, in 1849, and lived on their farm there until death. Philip Hawk died in 1862, and his widow in 1874. They had five children, Michael being the youngest. Michael Hawk was born in Germany, September 27, 1835, and accompanied his parents to Portage County. He entered manhood without financial resources, but his industry and perseverance brought their own reward, and by 1870 he was able to purchase a farm of his own. He is now seventy-three years of age and owns an excellent farm of 144 acres, in Tallmadge Township, Summit County. Ho married Albertina Bletzer, a daughter of Michael Bletzer, of Randolph, Portage County, where she was born in 1840. She died in 1893, aged fifty-two years. They had two children, namely : Lydia and Albert, the latter of whom resides in the West. Michael Hawk is a member of Grace Reformed Church, at Akron, to which his first wife also belonged. Mr. Hawk contracted a second marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer have three children: George Frederick, Raymond Arthur and Clara May. The daughter was born November 30, 1892, and is a student in the public schools. The older son, George Frederick, was born August 28, 1886. He took a scientific course at Buchtel College and a course in the Scranton School of Civil Engineering, and is a civil engineer with the N. 0. T. Company. The second son, Raymond Arthur, was born August 28, 1890, and is a bright student at Buchtel College. Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer are members of the Reformed Church on East Market Street, Akron, in which he is an elder and secretary of the church Consistory. In politics, Mr. Pfeiffer is a Democrat and for a number of years has been active in politics. While never pressing his claim to political honors, he has frequently been chosen by his party for responsible offices. He served several terms as treasurer of Lake Township, Stark County, and also as justice of the peace. He was appointed a notary public first by Governor Bushnell, and has commissions which were subsequently issued by Gov. George K. Nash and also by Governor Herrick. For a number of years he served as central committeeman in Lake Township, and frequently has attended the important Democratic conventions as a delegate.