HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 775 R. A. M., Groveport, Loyal Order of Moose, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Eagles Lodge. He is identified with the Columbus Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association. During 1927-8 Mr. Cooper served as president of the Buckeye Republican Club. He is recognized as an orator of considerable note and has always manifested a keen interest in local and state politics, frequently being called upon as a speaker for his party. However, he does not desire public office, his entire time being devoted to the practice of law. Lieut. Edward Milan Taylor, F. A. D. O. L., who holds the commission of first lieutenant, Field Artillery, United States Army, is a native of Ohio. He was born at Marion, January 13, 1895, the son of James F. and Mary (Byers) Taylor. James F. Taylor was born at Ada, Ohio, and is now a resident of Rockford, Illinois. Mrs. Mary B. Taylor, a native of Marion, now lives at Columbus with her son, Edward Milan, the subject of this sketch. Another son, Irvin Harwood, lives at 146 Clover Avenue, Marion, Ohio. Edward Milan Taylor obtained his education in the public schools of Marion, and after his graduation from high school in 1912 he entered Denison University,. at Granville, Ohio, from which he received the degree of Ph. B. in 1916. He spent the following year as a high school teacher at North Baltimore, Ohio, and on June 18, 1917, enlisted in the Regular Army. After completing the Third Officers Training Camp at Leon Springs, Texas, in April, 1918, he served in France, and was commissioned a second lieutenant, Field Artillery, U. S. Army, at Saumur, France, on July 12, 1918. He was discharged from the service October 28, 1919, and subsequently entered the employ of the Marion Steam Shovel Company. However, on September 3, 1920, he entered the Regular Army as a second lieutenant, Field Artillery, and was promoted to first lieutenant on March 1, 1921. He is at present carried on the detached officers list, and lives at 156 South 17th Street, Columbus. 776 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Mr. Taylor is a member of the Baptist Church, belongs to Ohio Iota chapter of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and Columbus Lodge F. & A. M. Mr. Taylor served at the White House as junior military aide to Presidents Harding and Coolidge from 1921 until 1925. He is a graduate of the Basic Field Artillery School, Camp Knox, Kentucky, in 1921; the Battery Officers Course, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1929 ; and at the present time is unit instructor of the 323rd Field Artillery, Reserve, with offices at 2810 A. I. U. Building, Columbus. Boyd B. Haddox.—Numbered among the prominent attorneys practicing at the bar in Columbus, Boyd B. Haddox is conducting a general law practice and occupies a high position both professionally and socially. He was born at Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1889, a son of Rev. Louis C. and Caroline Belle (Ireland) Haddox, natives of Virginia. Rev. Louis C. Haddox was a graduate of Marietta (Ohio) College, and was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was born in what was then Virginia, now Ritchie County, West Virginia. In his ministry he occupied pulpits at Portsmouth, Columbus, Chillicothe, Zanesville, and Athens, Ohio, and for a number of years was presiding elder of his church: .Mrs. Haddox, on her maternal side is a great-great-great-granddaughter of Col. William Lowther, who was an officer of Virginia troops during the Revolutionary War. She is an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her husband was also descended from Revolutionary ancestry. Boyd B. Haddox attended school in the various cities to which his father's pastoral duties took him, particularly those of Columbus, Athens, and Chillicothe. He graduated from the Chillicothe High School in 1908, and subsequently was a student at Ohio State University, being graduated from the Law School of that institution in 1912, and that same year entered upon the practice of his profession at Columbus. He has been admitted to practice in all of the State and Federal courts, and also in the United States Supreme Court, in which he has been connected with some very important litigation. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 777 Mr. Haddox is a member of the Benjamin Franklin Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, and has served as its president. Upon assuming the duties of president in 1923 he took hold of its affairs with a determination to increase its influence and usefulness in every way possible. In addition to this Mr. Haddox is a member of the University Club of Columbus, The Franklin County Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association, and David Kinsman Lodge, No. 617, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Boyd B. Haddox married Miss Nellie B. Walcutt, who was born at Westerville, Ohio. They have a daughter, Barbara Jeanne, born October 26, 1918, a student at the Columbus School for Girls. Mr. Haddox is a skilled and resourceful lawyer, whose careful preparation of his cases, his intimate knowledge of the law and his thorough mastery of the interests involved are largely responsible for the frequency with which he wins a verdict for his client. However, he has always made it a rule of his practice, not to accept a retainer from one of whose innocence he is not convinced, for he believes that in order to favorably impress a jury he must know that the case he is pleading is a righteous one. Knowing that he is right he can present his argument with a forceful sincerity which is convincing beyond any technical quibbles or rhetorical logic, no matter how eloquent. Mr. Haddox served as president of the Columbus Bar Association in 1928, having previously served as secretary and treasurer of this organization. Ralph W. Presnell, who is a member of the Board of Deputy State Supervisors and Inspectors of Elections, is a representative citizen of Columbus. He was born at Springfield, Missouri, September 30, 1872, the son of John A. and Mary Ellen (Gilmore) Presnell. John A. Presnell, deceased, was a veteran of the Civil War. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee, where he spent his early life. He traveled throughout his business career and for many years was a representative of Backrone & Back, silk manufacturers of St. Louis, Missouri. He died in 1900 and is buried at Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. 778 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Presnell was a Democrat, a member of the Episcopal Church, and a 32nd degree Mason. He served during the Civil War, having enlisted in Missouri. Mary Ellen (Gilmore) Presnell was born at Chillicothe, Ohio. She died in 1874 and is buried in Chillicothe. She was the daughter of Col. William E. and Ellen (Brown) Gilmore, natives of Ohio. He was a graduate of the Cincinnati College of Law and for a number of years engaged in practice at Chillicothe. During the Civil War he served with the rank of Colonel of the 63rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and commanded that regiment for four years. After the close of the war he removed to Springfield, Missouri. In 1869 he was elected governor of the State of Missouri on the Republican ticket, and served in that capacity for four years. Both he and his wife are buried at Chillicothe. To John A. and Mary Ellen (Gilmore) Presnell were born two sons : Frank Gilmore, who served as government ore inspector under President McKinley, and died in 1906; and Ralph W., the subject of this sketch. Ralph W. Presnell acquired a public school education in Chillicothe, and began his career as deputy court clerk of Ross County. He also served as deputy county recorder of Ross County for a four year period, and in 1900 went to Akron, Ohio, with the Goodrich Tire & Rubber Company. The following year he came to Columbus, where he was appointed deputy sheriff of Franklin County, and in which capacity he served for eight years under sheriffs Resch and Slack. In 1921 he was appointed deputy clerk of the Franklin County Board of Elections and after four years became a member of the board of Deputy State Supervisors and Inspectors of Election, serving for a term of four years. May 1, 1930, he was appointed to that office for another four year term. In 1905 Mr. Presnell married Miss Anna Elizabeth Gardner, the daughter of Charles Samuel and Mary Paulina (Cupp) Gardner, natives of Switzerland and Germany, respectively. Mr. Gardner, who died in 1915, served during the Civil War as a member of the 55th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He is buried at Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio. His wife died in 1881 and is buried near Massilon, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were the parents of seven children, as follows : Charles, lives at West Lebanon, Ohio ; Ida, the widow of Joseph Scott, HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 779 lives at Columbus ; George, lives at Akron, Ohio ; Frank, lives at Massilon, Ohio ; Anna Elizabeth Presnell ; Violet, married Barney Kinney, lives at Akron ; and Homer, lives at New Philadelphia, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Presnell have no children. Mr. Pressnell has always been a Democrat. He holds membership in the Episcopal Church, Loyal Order of Moose, and the Oaks Club. St. Mary's of the Springs owes its origin to the fact that in the June of 1866 a destructive fire laid waste the Convent of St. Mary's at Somerset, Perry County, where the Sisters had labored since the February of 1830. Friends of the Sisters who had their interests at heart felt it would be far more to their advantage to leave the little town of Somerset, and locate themselves nearer the Capital City. This they were enabled to do through the generosity of Mr. Theodore Leonard who offered them thirty-three acres of his farm on which to erect a larger and more up to date Academy than the one that had been destroyed by the flames. St. Mary's received its name of St. Mary's of the Springs for the reason that, when the Sisters became possessed of this property, there were numerous springs, some of them highly medicinal, on various parts of the ground. For the past twenty years, however, with the exception of only two or three, the springs have ceased to yield their former supply of water. Originally there was only one building which, because of the number of students who flocked to St. Mary's, soon became wholly inadequate for their accommodation. From time to time handsome additions have been added, the latest, most commodious, and thoroughly equipped of all, three splendid college buildings—a dining hall, Liberal Arts Building, and a residential building, known as Sansbury Hall, named in memory of the founders of old St. Mary's, at Somerset, in 1830. St. Mary's offers to its students the best advantages for education, beginning with a Kindergarten, and carrying the young aspirant for knowledge up through the various stages of Primary, Academic, and advanced college courses. 780 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY The campus is ideal in offering every opportunity for out-doors sport, while a fully equipped and perfectly modern gymnasium makes the students independent of weather for as much physical exercise as they need and desire. A splendid auditorium, capable of accommodating a thousand persons, has been completed during the past year. The accoustic effects are perfect, and have elicited much praise from competent critics who have been present for musical entertainments and speeches. Three large busses carry day pupils to and from the Academy and College every morning and afternoon, while many more come from the city on the street cars and in automobiles. St. Mary's increases the number of its pupils by leaps and bounds year by year, and its future prospects are now brighter than ever before. Frank P. R. Van Syckel is prominent among the influential men of Columbus, where he is identified with the Columbus Academy as Head Master. He is a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, born January 6, 1874, the son of P. B. and Rebecca (Rue) Van Syckel. P. B. Van Syckel was born in New Jersey, as was his wife. He was a minister of the Presbyterian Church and during a long pastorate was located at various cities throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and in Long Island, New York. He died in 1919 and his wife died in 1924. Both are buried at Princeton, New Jersey. Their children were : Mary and Jenevieve, who live in New York City ; and Frank P. R., the subject of this sketch. Frank P. R. Van Syckel attended Princeton Preparatory School, and received his A. B. degree from Princeton University, and also attended Columbia University. He began as a private tutor and traveled abroad for five years. His next educational work was as Master at Helicon Hall, Englewood, New Jersey, and he then spent eight years as master at Mackenzie School, Dobbs Ferry, New York. During those years Mr. Van Syckel lived at Irvington-on-Hudson, New York. He came to the city of Columbus in 1911 to help in the organization of the Columbus Academy, which opened on September 1st of that year with an enrollment of seventeen boys. During 1929 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 781 the Academy has a total enrollment of 180 boys in the Senior and Junior departments. In June, 1910, Mr. Van Syckel was united in marriage with Miss Arline Constable, of Elkton, Maryland, the daughter of Albert and Elizabeth (Groome) Constable, natives of Maryland. Mr. Constable died in 1904 and his wife died in 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Van Syckel have no children. Mr. Van Syckel is usually a Democrat in politics but is thoroughly independent. He holds membership in Trinity Episcopal Church, and is a member of the Columbus Club, Columbus Country Club, and Princeton Club of New York. Columbus Academy.—The Columbus Academy, now entering its nineteenth year, has become an institution of commanding influence in the community, an exclusive school for boys. Mr. James L. Hamill, secretary and general counsel of the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company, is generally credited with being the one who first conceived the idea of a school of this kind. Among the first to fall in line and co-operate in every possible way until the success of the institution was assured were : S. P. Bush, B. G. Huntington, Butler Sheldon, and Henry Taylor. It was certainly that group, with some others, who were active at the beginning and put their bank accounts and services back of the undertaking and thus launched this industry before the public in 1911. The first corporation organized was one for profit, and there was a commercial side to it, the founders hoping that in the course of time it might become not exactly a profitable investment, but one that would carry itself and yield some revenue. That hope was not realized and in 1923 the corporate organization was changed to a corporation not for profit and now all the revenue must be used for the purposes of the school and cannot be distributed among the stockholders. Approximately thirty-five stockholders in the old corporation exchanged their stock in the old corporation for shares in the new company, and by so doing made a donation for the benefit and welfare of the community. In 1911 it was opened with seventeen boys 782 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY and three masters. The present enrollment is 180 students and nineteen masters and teachers. In the past several years the boys have shown an average of better than ninety percent in the college entrance examinations and in 1926 there were ninety-one passed which made an average of 96.8 percent. The credit for this accomplishment is naturally largely due to Headmaster Van Syckel and other masters associated with him. Frank P. R. Van Syckel has been Headmaster since the school was opened and it has been through his efforts, sound judgment and keen ability that this school has been getting such excellent results. He has been able to surround himself with a corps of masters who are loyal to the school, enthusiastic in their work and imbued with high ideals. The headmaster has all of these qualifications and his influence on the masters and the boys is a very important source of success. Mr. Van Syckel is a man of culture and scholarly attainments. Possessing a keen understanding of the ways of young boys, he is able to maintain good discipline in a manner that appeals to their sense of justice and honor. One can scarcely speak of the country day schools, of which type is the Columbus Academy, without a swift reference to homes. Boys who attend the former retain the inestimable advantages of home surroundings and influence during the years when, most of all, these are supreme blessings. The boys are under the discipline and training of school during the day, and then in the evening and over weekends there is re-established the contacts with those who are best fitted to give wise counsel and loving care, to say nothing of the genuine enjoyment that springs from the entirely natural association of parents and their sons. What could be more essential in helping to shape the ideals of those lads who are some day to make homes of their own, and will .inevitably recall memories of boyhood days in so doing, than the deep and wholesome impressions of their own boyhood homes. A boarding school training without eliminating the home is the ideal of the Columbus Academy. The Academy sets aside hours every day for athletics for all ; not the team members only, but every boy (unless physically disabled) is to play under the directions of competent leaders, who are themselves exponents of good sportsmanship and athletic fame. Wil- HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 783 liam P. Hunt, an outstanding athlete of Ohio State University during his college career, is in charge of football and basketball ; Adolph Buechner, former catcher and halfback at Lafayette College, is also in charge of the Academy's athletic program. These men are meeting the boys in homogeneous squads every day for the good old wholesome pastime of athletic exercise. A true story of the greater success of these later years could never be told without mention of Nelson P. Rose, to whom the school is deeply and lastingly grateful for his constructive work in behalf of the institution since he became president of the Board of Trustees eight years ago. Under his counsel the Academy has made more friends, drawn more boys, and been cheered on by a large measure of good will in the community. In October, 1929, the following officers were elected : Charles P. Outhwaite, president ; B. G. Huntington, vice president and H. P. Moore, secretary and treasurer. The executive committee consists of the following : J. J. Stevenson, Emil W. Hoster and L. L. Bigelow, M. D. Harry T. Schwartz, who is connected with the Ohio State Optical Company, is a veteran of the World War and a member of one of the oldest families of Columbus. He was born in this city, October 3, 1893, the son of Henry and Anna (Cutsinger) Schwartz. Henry Schwartz was born in Columbus in 1868, the son of Nicholas Schwartz, who was born in this city in 1843, on the present site of the T. & O. C. viaduct, opposite the depot at 383 West Broad Street. This land was part of the original farm owned by Nicholas Schwartz and purchased in 1820. Title to this land remained in the Schwartz family until it was sold to the New York Central Railroad for a viaduct site. The Schwartz farm contained 600 acres and gradually from 1880 until 1910 was developed into city lots. Harry T. Schwartz attended the parochial schools of Columbus and the LaSalle Extension University of Chicago. He spent fifteen years in the employ of the Ohio Optical Company, of Columbus, and since September, 1925, has been engaged in business with Robert E. Hagman as proprietors of the Ohio State Optical Company. The 784 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY business was originally located at 131 East State Street in the Physicians & Dentists Building, but was recently removed to larger quarters at 134 East State Street. On October 9, 1920, Mr. Schwartz married Miss Winifred May Mara, the daughter of John and Margaret Mara, of Columbus. They have two daughters, Rita Mae and Margaret Ann. During the World War Mr. Schwartz enlisted in a special unit of the Ordnance Department on June 20, 1918, and was sent to Camp Hancock, Georgia. He went to France in July, 1918, and saw active service until the close of the war period. Mr. Schwartz and his family live at 223 South Roys Avenue, Columbus. Willis H. Liggett.—One of the most popular of the younger attorneys of Columbus is Willis H. Liggett, a member of the firm of Huggins & Liggett, and a veteran of the World War. He was born at Magnetic Springs, Ohio, April 11, 1891, the son of Clement and Jessie (Graham) Liggett. Absolam Liggett, great great grandfather of Willis H. Liggett, was a prominent pioneer settler of Delaware County. The Liggetts were originally natives of Virginia, and came to Ohio shortly after the admittance of Ohio as a state. They first settled in Ross County, later moving to Delaware County. Clement Liggett, father of the subject of this sketch, who lives retired on his farm near Ostrander, Delaware County, is a native of that section. He attended the rural schools and Ada College, and throughout his business career was interested in the hardware and implement business at Ostrander. He retired in 1919 and has since lived on his farm. Mr. Liggett is a Republican and a member of the Baptist Church. His wife was born at Plain City, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Liggett had only one child, Willis H. Willis H. Liggett obtained his early education in the public schools of Ostrander. After his graduation from high school in 1909 he taught school for two years and then entered Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1915. He received the degree of L. L. B. at Harvard Law School in HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 785 1918, and soon after his graduation entered the Fourth Officers Training School at Camp Taylor, Kentucky. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in August, 1918, and promoted to first lieutenant on October 23, 1918. He was then transferred to Camp Jackson, S. C., in command of Battery D, 5th Regiment, where he remained until the close of the war. He was discharged December 11, 1918, and upon his return to Columbus immediately engaged in the practice of law with the firm of Huggins, Pretzman & Davies. Two years later the firm dissolved partnership and Mr. Liggett became associated with Mr. Huggins. Mr. Liggett is recognized as an authority on corporation and real estate law and has an extensive practice in the state and Federal courts. On April 1, 1926, Mr. Liggett was united in marriage with Miss Katherine M. Tomkins, of Columbus, the daughter of Congressman Emmett and Jessie (Murfin) Tomkins. Mr. Tomkins died in 1918, and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Columbus. Mrs. Tomkins died in 1925 and is buried at Portsmouth, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Liggett have one daughter, Jessie Katherine, born February 9, 1927. Politically, Mr. Liggett is a Republican. He is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and belongs to Columbus Lodge, No. 30, Free & Accepted Masons, University Club, Harvard Club, American Legion, Columbus Country Club, Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and Buckeye Republican Club. The family residence is in Bexley. Thomas H. Denney.—Standing among the leading figures in the younger group of professional men in Columbus today, Thomas H. Denney has well demonstrated his ability as a legal practitioner, being associated with the firm of Eagleson & Laylin, with offices at 16 East Broad Street. He was born in Columbus, November 17, 1900, the son of Dr. Joseph V. and Jane (Hawkes) Denney. A complete sketch of Dr. Joseph V. Denney appears elsewhere in this history. Thomas H. Denney received his early education in the public schools of Columbus and was a member of the 1917 class of North High School. He then entered Ohio State University, from which he 786 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1921. Three years later he was graduated from the Harvard Law School, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Admitted to the bar in 1925 he immediately engaged in the practice of his profession in this city. He was admitted to practice in the federal courts in 1927. Mr. Denney holds membership in the First Congregational Church, University Club, City Club, Crichton Club, Players Club, Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, and belongs to the Ohio State and Harvard Alumni Association, and to the Columbus and Ohio State Bar Associations. St. Charles College-Seminary.--One of the greatest achievements in the career of the Right Reverend Bishop Hartley, and one of the most outstanding expressions of the faith and devotion of the people of the diocese of Columbus, is the establishment of St. Charles College-Seminary. In September, 1923, conditions were found to be at last favorable for the initiation of such a project. Temporary quarters were established in the Sacred Heart school building, and with Rev. John J. Murphy and Rev. James M. Ryan acting as Regents, the new school was opened with an enrollment of twenty-six students and three professors. Meanwhile, after careful consideration, a site admirably adapted to the needs of such a school was purchased on the 4th of November of the same year; a site which has since proved to be among the most beautiful in the city. Located in a district of great natural beauty, just at the dividing line between the city of Columbus and Bexley, on East Broad Street, the seminary occupies a site admirably adapted to the needs of an educational institution. On July 2, 1924, ground was broken for the new institution and the building went rapidly forward. September 8, 1924, saw the corner stone blessed and set in place by the Right Reverend Bishop. On September 14, 1925, Right Reverend Monsignor Joseph A. Weigand, S. T. B., A. B., L. L. D., came to take the position of first rector of the new St. Charles College-Seminary ; the students were transferred to their new quarters; and the first scholastic year in the new building was begun. On November 4, 1925, the patronal feast of St. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 787 Charles, the new building was solemnly dedicated, and pontifical High Mass celebrated by Bishop Hartley, with a great throng of visiting and diocesan prelates and priests in attendance. Monsignor Weigand's administration of the office of Rector has been eminently successful. A man of deep and known scholarly traditions, it is especially fortunate that he was chosen to father the infant institution. Under his expert guidance the faculty has been enlarged until it now consists of eleven priests and two lay instructors, all having done graduate work and holding degrees from such institutions as the Pontifical College, Josephinum, St. Mary's University (Baltimore) ; Mount St. Mary's (Emmittsburgh, Maryand) ; St. Vincent's (Latrobe) ; Niagara University; St. Bonaventure's, etc.; and all having had experience and training and teaching of young men. Under Monsignor Weigand the student body had constantly increased in numbers without any sacrifice of the high scholastic standard of the school, until in this current year, 1929-30, all available living space is occupied, and from the applicants as many day students were accepted as could be consistently received without detriment to good teaching and without prejudice to the high standards of St. Charles College-Seminary. On July 2, 1928, St. Charles' was incorporated as a College, and a charter was granted by the Secretary of the State of Ohio, under the legal title of the College of St. Charles Borromeo, giving full power to award academic and honorary degrees, and to take its proper place among the accredited colleges of the country and Monsignor Weigand became first president of the college. The opening of the scholastic year, 1929-30, saw the establishment of the Senior Division of the College of Liberal Arts, which comprises the junior and senior of the college course and is the first section (Philosophy) of major seminary work. After a brief retreat, the eleven accepted applicants were clothed with the cassock of seminarists and were received into the Department of Philosophy. In June, 1931, St. Charles' will have completed for the first time its cycle of instruction, and with the conferring of academic degrees on its first graduates will present the first fruits of its training to the clergy and people of the diocese of Columbus. Established as a college to develop vocations to the priesthood and to train the young 788 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Levite to the Lord's service, St. Charles' at the same time gives to the student with other aims in mind that thorough classical training that is the best preparation for all specialization, and which is embodied in the curriculum of College of Liberal Arts and Philosophy. John J. Chester, Jr. —One of the brilliant and outstanding young attorneys of Ohio is John J. Chester, Jr., who is serving as prosecuting attorney of Franklin County. The name, John J. Chester, has been prominently identified with the Columbus bar for almost half a century, and the abilities and prestige of the elder John J. Chester have in recent years been supplemented by the work of his son, John J. Chester, Jr., who is associated with him in practice. The family is one that has been in Ohio for several generations and represents a very old family of New England. Prior to the year 1663 Captain Samuel Chester, who commanded the "Adventure" after its capture by the French, settled in the east parish of New London, Connecticut, now Groton, where he owned large tracts of land. His son, John Chester, represents the second generation. He married Mary Starr. Her father, Thomas Starr, through his mother, Hannah Brewster, was the grandson of Elder William Brewster, who was known as chief of the Pilgrims, and one of the passengers on the Mayflower. The third generation of the family was represented by Simeon Chester, who removed to Truro, Nova Scotia. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War his loyalty to the Colonies caused him to sacrifice his valuable property there and return to Connecticut to take sides with the Colonists in the war of independence. His loyalty was recognized by the Congressional Act in 1789-91. These acts accorded him 960 acres of land in three separate tracts in Ohio, two located in Licking County and one in Franklin County. His oldest son, Elias Chester, of the fourth generation, was the Ohio pioneer, and settled on the Franklin County tract in Truro Township. He was instrumental in naming the township in honor of his father's old Nova Scotia home. The Licking County tracts were settled by Simeon Chester, II. A son of this latter Simeon Chester was Austin Eaton Chester, who was born at Groton, Connecticut, in 1821, and HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 789 was five years old when his family came to Ohio. He became a successful merchant and manufacturer at Newark, Ohio, where he died in 1891. Austin Eaton Chester married Cordelia McCune, who was a sister of the late Jonas M. McCune, of Columbus, Ohio. John Jonas Chester, Sr., of the Columbus bar, is a son of Austin Eaton and Cordelia (McCune) Chester. He was born at Newark, Ohio, in 1860. He was liberally educated, attending Wooster University, until 1880, and graduated from Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1882, later receiving the Master of Arts degree from that institution. At Columbus he read law with the firm of Converse, Booth & Keating, and was admitted to the bar in 1884. He has been continuously engaged in a broadly successful practice ever since, and has specialized mainly in corporation law. Mr. Chester is a member and former president of the Benjamin Franklin Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, and is a member of various local clubs and civic organizations. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, Knights Templar, and Shriner. In 1894 Mr. Chester married Harriet E. Lisle, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. John J. Chester, Jr., was born at Columbus, Ohio, in 1898. He attended the public schools and was a student in the Miami Military Institute at Germantown, Ohio, and Kenyon College. He later entered Amherst College in Massachusetts and while a student there enlisted for service in the .World War as a member of Headquarters Troop, 37th Division. He participated in numerous important battles and drives during the war. After the close of the war Mr. Chester studied law at Ohio State University and in January, 1922, was admitted to the bar and at once joined his father in practice at 16 East Broad Street. In December of that year he was appointed police prosecutor. In 1926 Mr. Chester was elected prosecuting attorney of Franklin County and was re-elected to that office in 1928. Mr. Chester gained nation wide prominence during the trial of Dr. James A. Snook, who was convicted of the murder of Theora K. Hix, a medical student at Ohio State University. The youthful prosecuting attorney of Franklin County lost the nickname of the "kid prosecutor" when he won an electric chair verdict in the Snook-Hix murder trial. Columbus had become so used to regarding John 790 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY J. Chester, Jr., as "that kid prosecutor" that nobody seriously expected Dr. James H. Snook to be convicted of murdering Theora K. Hix, without some sort of mercy recommendation or second degree string to it. But now since "young Jack" has routed a battery of Ohio's leading criminal lawyers, obtaining a death sentence verdict on one ballot, half an hour after the jury retired, Mr. Chester has been going by new nicknames. He is being called a second "Jerome" and another "Beveridge." The trial of the middle-aged professor was only the climax in a series of big cases in which Prosecutor Chester has defeated some of the oldest and most adroit legal lights of the Ohio bar. Mr. Chester married Miss Bonnadine Rice, the daughter of Dr. R. A. Rice, of Columbus. They have three children, John J., III, Barbara Jane, and Ann. Politically, Mr. Chester is a Republican. He is a member of Franklin Park Methodist Episcopal Church, and belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, Scioto Consistory, 32nd degree, Aladdin Temple, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, American Legion, and Psi Upsilon fraternity. He is also a member of the Columbus Country Club and Athletic Club of Columbus. William Luther Arnett is an active business man of Columbus, where he is president of the Columbus Coca Cola Bottling Works. He was born near Paxton, Sullivan County, Indiana, September 19, 1870, the son of Luther and Elizabeth (Hancock) Arnett. Luther Arnett was born in Sullivan County, Indiana, in 1835 and died in October, 1870. He is buried at Sullivan. Elizabeth (Hancock) Arnett was born near Paxton, Indiana, the daughter of Issacher Hancock, a pioneer of Sullivan County. Both he and his wife are buried at Paxton, Indiana. Mrs. Luther Arnett died in 1915 at the age of seventy-five years and is buried in Sullivan County. William Luther Arnett received his education in the public schools of Paxton, Indiana. In 1893 he went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he was employed as a clerk and bookkeeper in a hardware and imple- HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 791 ment store, and after four years he became associated with a building and loan business. In 1901 he became interested in the real estate business with J. A. Dailey and five years later located in Cleveland, Ohio, where he purchased the Coca Cola bottling plant, in partner.. ship with J. J. Hager. Mr. Arnett severed this connection in 1911 and came to Columbus, where he immediately organized the local corporation of the Coca Cola Bottling Works, of which he serves as president. The plant is located at 533 South Park Street. In 1898 Mr. Arnett married Miss Vera M. Brown, of Terre Haute, Indiana, the daughter of C. B. Brown. They have a daughter, Mary Louise, the wife of Wallace A. Harrison, of Columbus. They have a son, Timothy Arnett Harrison. Politically, Mr. Arnett is a Republican. He holds membership in the Indianola Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with Euclid Lodge No. 573, Free and Accepted Masons, Terre Haute Indiana, Scioto Consistory, Thirty-second degree, Temple Chapter, Columbus Council, Mt. Vernon Commandery, Achbar Grotto, Aladdin Temple and the Rotary Club. Robert E. Hagman is among the leading young business men of Columbus, where he is identified with the Ohio State Optical Company. He was born in this city, September 23, 1896, the son of Frank and Elizabeth (Franz) Hagman. Frank Hagman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1861, and his wife was a native of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Mr. Hagman spent most of his life in Columbus and for many years was successful as a liquor dealer. He died February 22, 1899, and is buried in Columbus. Robert E. Hagman obtained his education in the public and parochial schools of Columbus. At an early age he became associated with the Ohio Optical Company, in whose employ he remained continuously for sixteen years. He then became associated with Harry T. Schwartz and they established the Ohio State Optical Company in September, 1925. The business is located at 134 East State Street. On June 17, 1924, Mr. Hagman was united in marriage with Miss Laurane Gassman, the daughter of John I. and Barbara Gassman, of 792 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Columbus. They have three children: Robert E., Jr., Beatrice Helen, and Elizabeth Louise. The Hagman family residence is located at 1178 Linwood Avenue, Columbus. John Wesley Pontius.—One of the outstanding citizens of Columbus is John Wesley Pontius, who is general executive of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was born at Chicora, Butler County, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1883, the son of Solomon I. and Sarah C. (Sommerville) Pontius. The Pontius family came to the United States in 1738 and were of French extraction. They fought in the American Revolution and were prominent pioneers of Butler County, Pennsylvania. Solomon I. Pontius, father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Chicora in 1861, and is the son of Solomon Pontius, who was also born at Chicora in 1819. The son, Solomon I., was a farmer in early life and was also interested in the development of the oil fields of his native county. He was later identified with the building and loan business at Warren, Ohio, where he now lives in retirement. His wife, born at Worthington, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, is the daughter of John and Margaret Sommerville, of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Pontius were born the following children: Dr. William C., physician and surgeon, lives at Warren, Ohio; Harry E., chemist and pharmacist, lives at Newton Falls, Ohio ; C. I., banker, lives at Tulsa, Oklahoma ; John Wesley, the subject of this sketch ; and Margaret C. Hammond, lives at Warren, Ohio. John Wesley Pontius received his early education in the public schools of Chicora, Pennsylvania, and later attended Alden Academy at Meadville, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, class of 1906, and has taken graduate work at Boston University. Throughout his professional career he has been identified with the interests of the Y. M. C. A., and began as student secretary of the state organization of Iowa. He later became eastern student secretary of the International Committee of the Y. M. C. A. in New York City, and served in that capacity from 1910 until 1912. From there he went as executive secretary of the student branch of Y. M. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 793 C. A. work to Ohio State University during 1912-13, afterward being appointed as general executive of the Columbus Metropolitan Y. M. C. A.; and he now serves in that capacity. From August, 1927, until April, 1928, Mr. Pontius was granted a special leave of absence from duties in Columbus in order to technically complete, equip and open the largest Y. M. C. A. building outside the borders of the United States, located in Czecho-Slovakia. On June 6, 1911, Mr. Pontius was united in marriage with Miss Hazel L. Dolin, of Columbus, the daughter of Thomas M. and Alma W. Dolin. For many years Mr. Dolin was identified with the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, Columbus, and later served as building superintendent and engineer of the Y. M. C. A. in Columbus. He is now retired. Mr. and Mrs. Pontius have one daughter, Jean, born May 14, 1912. Mr. Pontius is a Republican, a member of the First Community Church, of Grandview, and belongs to the Rotary Club, Torch Club, and Scioto Country Club. He is a Scottish Rite Mason of the 33rd degree, and belongs to the Scioto Consistory, Aladdin Temple and Goodale Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons. He is a trustee of Ohio Wesleyan University, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Columbus Y. M. C. A., past president of the North American Association of Y. M. C. A. Secretaries, and a member of the National Judicial Board of Y. M. C. A. During the World War, Mr. Pontius was associate chief executive officer of the Y. M. C. A. in service with the A. E. F. ; and saw service in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, France and Italy. Ethyl F. Cunningham, who is successfully engaged in the real estate business in Columbus, is widely known in the business life of the city. She was born in Columbus, the daughter of John Stuart and Mattie (Stelzig) Cunningham. John Stuart Cunningham was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1861 and throughout his business career was interested in the manufacture of buggies. He died in 1896 and is buried in Columbus, where he had resided since a boy. Mr. Cunningham was captain of Com- 794 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY pany B, Ohio National Guard, at the time of his death and received full military honors. His widow, a native of Columbus, now resides in the city with her daughter. Ethyl F. Cunningham obtained her education in the public schools and is a graduate of East High School, Columbus, class of 1904. She then spent eight years in the office of a leading real estate firm and resigned as office manager in 1913 to open an office of her own. Miss Cunningham has specialized in rentals of both business and residential properties and has met with marked success in her work. She has offices in the Guarantee Title & Trust Company Building, 16 East Broad Street. Politically, Miss Cunningham is a Republican. She has no club affiliations but devotes herself exclusively to the interests of her professional life. The White-Haines Optical Company.—Early in the year 1901 two Columbus citizens, who were conducting separate retail optical businesses, decided that there was a need for a high class wholesale optical business here. This idea of these men, the late J. B. White and C. 0. Haines, resulted in the organization of the White-Haines Optical Com-- pany. The company opened for business April 1, 1901, at 72 North High Street, headed by Mr. White as president and Mr. Haines as secretary and treasurer. The capital stock of the company was $25,000, which was increased from time to time until the present capital stock is $1,500,000. The space occupied at 72 North High Street served only until 1906, when the growth of the business necessitated a move to Long and High Streets. Here in larger quarters, the business continued to grow until in June, 1914, another move was made to 80-82 North High Street. Continued expansion caused the last move in 1920 to the present White-Haines Building at 111-117 East Long Street, which was acquired at that time. From the organizing of the company in 1901, serving an almost local territory, expansion has continued until now the territory served includes all the central states. In addition to the Columbus office, HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 795 there are numerous branch offices, each with stock and manufacturing facilities to render the best of service. The present officers of the company are: D. D. Hubbell, president and treasurer ; E. F. Wildermuth, secretary. The fundamental ideas of the company have been carried out and enlarged upon by these officials—a tribute to those who so successfully established a sound foundation from the very beginning. Founded in Columbus, The White-Haines Optical Company has enjoyed its entire development and growth in this city. Personnel of the general offices and of the Columbus plant is largely made up of Columbus people. The White-Haines Optical Company early developed a business reputation for being a leader in its field. By providing only the most dependable prescription service ; by using only the best of quality merchandise ; by developing and using the most modern, efficient manufacturing methods—the company has cultivated this reputation for furnishing the finest optical products available. Ophthalmic lenses of Bausch & Lomb make, assure the wearer of the best possible vision ; other materials entering into the manufacture of the finished product have been as equal; Any movement for the advancement of the industry at large has always been sponsored White-Haines Optical Company. As a result this company enjoys a favorable position in the industry. Clyde Orrine Haines.—Prominently identified with the business life of Columbus is Clyde Orrine Haines, of the C. 0. Haines Company, and one of the leading opticians of the city, with offices in the Beggs Building. He was born in Stark County, Ohio, the son of John C. and Rebecca (Ritter) Haines. Both John C. Haines and his wife were natives of Stark County. He was a merchant tailor for many years at Alliance, Ohio, and died in that city in 1915. His wife died in 1891. Clyde Orrine Haines was reared and educated at Alliance and attended the schools of Mt. Union, Ohio, for a time. At the age of 796 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY fourteen years he became associated with the dry goods business of John G. Ernest, Alliance, and after three years was employed by Paul Gaum. He then came to Columbus, where he was connected with the firm of Barnitz & Nunemacher, jewelers and opticians, located in the old Neil House. In 1896 Mr. Haines formed a partnership with W. T. Oberer and established a jewelry and optical business in Columbus, which was successfully conducted for four years. In 1900 Mr. Haines disposed of his interest in the firm of Haines & Oberer and opened an exclusive optical shop alone. After a year he became associated with J. B. White, at which time the firm of The White-Haines Optical Company was incorporated. They are wholesale optical specialists and Mr. Haines has continued as a director of the firm since incorporation, although he devotes his time exclusively to the interests of his retail optical studio in the Beggs Building. In 1900 Mr. Haines married Miss Ruth Fenimore, the daughter of John C. and Sadie Fenimore, of Columbus. It was Mr. Fenimore who was the originator cf the idea of a traveling men's fraternity, which subsequently became a reality in the form of the United Commercial Travelers of America, which now extends throughout the United States and Canada. Headquarters in Columbus. To Mr. and Mrs. Haines have been born two sons : Howard F., who is associated with the White-Haines Optical Company; and John F., who attends Oberlin College. Mr. and Mrs. Haines hold membership in the First Congregational Church, of Columbus, and he is affiliated with Goodale Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Scioto Consistory, Thirty-second degree, and Aladdin Temple. Mr. Haines also belongs to the Aerial Club, Columbus Country Club, Columbus Athletic Club, Optimist Club, and Columbus Chamber of Commerce. William Miller is well and favorably known in Columbus, where he is extensively engaged in the coal and builders' supply business, located at 1736 McKinley Avenue. He is a native of Franklin County, born in Columbus, August 22, 1872, the son of John and Katherine (Frunneburg) Miller. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 797 Both John Miller and his wife were natives of Germany. They were early settlers of Franklin County, where Mr. Miller followed general retail lumber business for a number of years. There were two sons born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller : William, the subject of this sketch ; and John, a farmer, lives in Delaware County, Ohio. He died in October, 1873, and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery. William Miller was educated in the schools of Columbus—while quite young rented and moved on a farm in Madison County, returning to Columbus in 1900, and engaged in business for himself as a dealer in stone and builders' supplies. His first place of business was located at 95 North Central Avenue. In 1907 he became a dealer in coal also and removed to his present location on McKinley Avenue in 1925. On January 24, 1894, Mr. Miller married Miss Mary H. Traftzer, the daughter of Christopher and Christanna Traftzer, of West Jefferson, Ohio. They have two children: Anna Florence, married R. E. Pearson, electrical engineer with the Buckeye Steel Casting Company, Columbus ; and Willis Eldon, who is associated in business with his father. Mr. Miller is a Republican. The family residence is located at 3003 West Broad Street. Opha Moore.—The original American ancestor of Mr. Moore's family arrived in Maryland from the British Isles in the early days of Lord Baltimore's colonization efforts, and became an extensive land owner in Prince George County. Philip Moore, of the third generation, moved westward, sojourning for a time in the Shenandoah Valley, and later settled in the valley of the South Branch of the Potomac River, where he was among the earliest pioneers. In 1748, George Washington engaged in surveying these lands for Lord Fairfax, refers in his journal to Philip Moore's "house" in contrast to the "cabbins" encountered elsewhere and describes "Lot 15" as "being very good." Three of Philip Moore's sons acquired considerable tracts of land in this beautiful valley, and the county seat town of Moorefield was established in 1777 on lands then owned by Conrad Moore. After serving in the Revolutionary War, Michael Moore, youngest son of Philip, with his family and a company of neighbors, mi- 798 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY grated across the Allegheny Mountains and settled in Monongalia County, now West Virginia, in the vicinity of Morgantown, where many of his descendants are now living. Michael's second son, Philip, served in the War of 1812, being a member of a Virginia company sent to assist General Harrison in the campaign that ended in the victory of the Thames. William Moore, the oldest son of the last Philip, moved to Tyler County, where he acquired ample acres, covering rich deposits of oil and coal, later developed by one of his sons. Dr. Alfred L. Moore, father of Opha, was born in 1837. As a young man he taught school and studied medicine, but shortly after the Civil War was licensed to preach in the United Brethren Church, and, for twenty-five years, was a circuit rider in West Virginia and eastern Ohio. After devoting half a lifetime to the ministry, he resumed the study of medicine and, after graduating in Cincinnati, successfully practiced his profession in Meigs County until the time of his death in 1918 at the age of eighty-one. In 1866 Doctor Moore married Mary Jane Baker, of Mason County, West Virginia, a descendant of the pioneer Baker family of Philadelphia. Opha Moore was born at Parkersburg, West Virginia, August 18, 1867. He received his early education in such schools as happened to be conducted in the little villages where his preacher father was stationed. He entered Otterbein College at Westerville in 1883 where he was a student almost three years, dropping out to come to Columbus and take up the serious business of making a living, first as a reporter on the old Columbus Times, then as a stenographer with the Columbus Buggy Company at the time when it was the largest industrial institution in the city and doing more to advertise Columbus than all other activities combined. Later he left the buggy company for service on the Republican State Committee the year Governor Foraker was re-elected. This led to his appointment to a place created for him in the governor's office. Following this, and during the Democratic administration of Governor Campbell, Mr. Moore was engaged for a time on the staff of Light, a more or less humorous weekly begun by him in Columbus but transplanted to Chicago on account of the richer financial soil. However, the venture proved to be another "light that failed." HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 799 Returning to Columbus shortly before the inauguration of Governor McKinley, Mr. Moore was offered his old place in the executive office and spent four years in close association with that great Ohioan. During the presidential campaign of 1892, he was given a leave of absence to serve as secretary of the Speakers' Bureau at Republican National Headquarters, in New York, where he formed friendships with the leaders of the party in every state of the Union. When Asa S. Bushnell succeeded to the governorship in 1896, he retained Mr. Moore as his commission clerk. During a portion of this administration he acted as secretary to the governor, and was appointed secretary of the building commission having charge of the construction of the addition to the capitol, known as the Judiciary Building. This work extended through the first year of Governor Nash's administration. In 1906, when Lieutenant Governor Andrew L. Harris succeeded John M. Pattison in the executive chair, upon the death of the latter, Mr. Moore was again invited to a place in the official family of the governor and served throughout that administration. In 1910 the Ohio Manufacturers Association was formed and Mr. Moore was made its first secretary. The legislative session of 1911 was distinguished for the large number of "milkers" introduced and the brazen effrontery of certain members in seeking bribes. The secretary of the Manufacturers' Association, financed and backed by influential members of the organization, employed a corps of Burns detectives and procured sufficient evidence to enable the county prosecuting attorney to send four members of the Senate to the penitentiary and break up the system of looting for a decade. In the course of this investigation the dictagraph was first used in an important matter and gained its first notoriety. When James J. Thomas was elevated from the city clerkship to the mayor's office in 1920, Mr. Moore succeeded him in the former office. During his term in this office he was obliged to pass on the sufficiency of a number of referendum petitions and to find one of them in particular not only failing to comply with the requirements of the law, but permeated with fraud and forgery. The finding in this case had led to greater safeguarding of the machinery of government by petition and, locally, resulted in an amendment to the city