650 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Albert Aloysius Plato has the distinction of claiming Lorain County as the place of his nativity, for he was born in the Village of Amherst, this county, on the 11th of September, 1870, a son of Henry A, and Elizabeth (Hildebrand) Plato, Henry A. Plato was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1857, He became eventually a prosperous merchant at Amherst, this county, where he is now living retired, a citizen of sterling character and one who has secure place in popular esteem. Both he and his wife are zealous communicants of the Catholic Church, in the faith of which their children were carefully reared. Albert A. Plato gained his preliminary education in the parochial and public schools and supplemented this by an effective course in the celebrated Notre Dame University at South. Bend, Indiana. Thereafter he continued to be associated with his father in the general merchandise business until 1899, when he established at Amherst an independent business enterprise, as a dealer in men's furnishing goods. To this enterprise he continued to devote his attention until 1904, in May of which year he assumed the position of collector for the Lorain & Elyria Ice & Coal Company. Upon the reorganization of the corporation in 1907, as the Crystal Ice Company of Lorain, Mr. Plato was made general manager, of which responsible office he has since continued the efficient and valued incumbent, He is also president of the Amherst Hardware Company, a leading mercantile concern in his native village,e and he served from 1891 to 1893 as township clerk of Amherst Township, He is a. democrat in politics, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his religious faith is that of the Catholic Church, of which his wife likewise is a. communicant. On the 26th of September, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Plato to Miss Rose A. Ludwig, daughter of John L. and Carrie E, Ludwig, of Amherst, Mr, Ludwig being a skilled machinist. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Plato are Paul Ludwig and Bernice Wilhelmina. ELYRIA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. A tragedy in the City of Elyria, occurring on Memorial Day of 1907, in the shape of a street railroad disaster, in which lives were lost and injured, gave and formulated the definite impulse to the founding of the Elyria _Memorial Hospital, which takes its name from that occasion, and which is dedicated to the high ideal of caring for and affording medical or surgical treatment to the sick, injured or disabled persons residing in Elyria or Lorain County. As an institution, it represents the liberal contributions and support of the people of the city and county, rich and poor, and of every station in life, and as such a project is to relieve suffering and save lives without distinction as to race, nationality, color, sex or religious convictions. Neither directly nor indirectly is its management under the control of any religious or sectarian bodies, nor of any particular school of medicine or treatment. Certainly one of the best of the many distinctions connected with this institution is the broad and liberal basis on which it was founded and has been maintained. For several years prior to 1907 a private hospital had been maintained in Elyria, assisted by limited contributions from individuals. In May, 19()7, a short time before the tragic accident above mentioned, a movement had been started to organize a hospital association with the co-operation of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. The plans were hastened in. their fruition by the emergency created by the street railway disaster. and the entire community was aroused to the need for adequate hospital facilities. The Elyria Chamber of Commerce took the general supervision of HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 651 the campaign which in three months netted over $80,000 in popular subscription, to which was added the sum of $25,000 donated by the city government in annual payments of $5,000, which was to be applied to the maintenance, In June, 1907, the Elyria Memorial Hospital Company was organized and incorporated under the laws of Ohio. This company owns and controls all funds and property and is directly responsible for the conduct and management of the institution. The company comprises fifty persons, of whom forty must be residents of Lorain County. Twenty-five of these were originally chosen by the members of the hospital association, and these in turn selected fifteen others, The remaining ten comprised the five members of the advisory board of physicians and elected by the physicians' committee of the association, and five who are members of the company by virtue of their official positions, including the mayor of Elyria, the chairman of the commissioners of Lorain County, the senior judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the president of the hospital association and the president of the hospital auxiliary. The active management of the company is vested in a board of trustees, nine in number, three being elected each year by members of the corporation, During 1907 the company had secured a tract of about three acres of ground on East River Street, and the first real work on the building was begun October 17th of that year, the cornerstone being laid in the following November. The doors of the institution were opened for the reception of patients on October 30, 1908. The main hospital building completed in that year is of modern design and equipment, of the colonial style of architecture, built of red pressed brick and sandstone, with the floors of re-enforced concrete and the entire structure fireproof. Its westerly frontage is 175 feet and its depth is 55 feet, During the first year 408 people were treated as patients of the hospital, and since then the growth and service of the institution have been steady and uniform. During the first year the average daily number of patients cared for was 18; an average number of 22 in the .second year; 27 in the third year ; 32 in the fourth year; 37 in the fifth year; 41 in the sixth year ; and 46 in the seventh year, which closed in November, 1915. The first important addition to the hospital buildings was the erection of a nurses' home, which was begun in the fall of 1910 and was dedicated in the fall of 1911, The quarters formerly occupied by the nurses in the main hospital were then taken to enlarge the facilities of that institution, The first important addition of land was the purchase of about two acres adjoining the old tract in the spring of 1914, while about a year later the company secured another strip of land, making a total of practically eight acres in the heart of the city, with an ideal location. The most recent addition to the buildings and service of this magnificent institution leas the opening of the W. N. Gates Hospital for sick, crippled and deformed children in the spring of 1915, After the death of her husband, William N, Gates, who had been one of the original trustees of the hospital company, Mrs. Gates donated as a memorial to her husband the entire amount of money necessary for the erection of the building, The site and necessary improvements were furnished by the hospital company, and the cost of equipment was contributed by relatives and friends of Mr. Gates and by the school children of Elyria. This institution is under the management of the Elyria Memorial Hospital Company and is maintained especially for the care of the children of Lorain County. It has been found necessary to emphasize the fact. that the Gates Hospital is not an orphan asylum, and only those children are received who need such care and medical or surgical attention as the institution is designed to give. Vol. II— 7 652 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY The future plans of the hospital company contemplate the erection of two more buildings, one of them power house and laundry, and the other a maternity home. It is noteworthy that the first officers of the Elyria Memorial Hospital Company are still in active service and have been retained year after year in the executive management, The officers are : Judge W. W. Boynton, president ; F, A, Smythe, vice president ; E. F. Allen, treasurer ; and Charles E. Tucker, secretary. The original board of trustees under whom the hospital was opened in 1908 were : W, W. Boynton, W. N. Gates, E, F. Allen, A, L, Garford, F. A, Smythe, Albert Kistner, George D. Nicholas, Sr,, T. T, Robinson and J, P. Sala. At the present time the trustees in addition to the president, vice president and treasurer are : T. T. Robinson, George D, Nicholas, A. L. Garford, W. S. Miller, L. B, Fauver. As the Memorial Hospital is in the best sense of the word a great philanthropy, it requires support from other sources than the receipts from pay patients and other income. One of the organizations which have been formed to aid and assist the company in maintaining the hospital and extending its charitable work has been the Elyria Memorial Hospital Association, this being a men's organization, while the Elyria Memorial Hospital Auxiliary is an organization of women formed for the same purpose. There is also an organization of young people known as the Elyria Memorial Hospital Junior Auxiliary, This hospital is one of the few in the United States run on strictly business principles so far as its management is concerned, without conflicting with the true spirit of philanthropy which governs its service to individual patients, One feature that illustrates this business system that pervades the entire management is the card catalog by which every patient ever received or treated in the hospital has been kept track of, containing a record of the ailments and treatment, when the patient was received and when discharged, For this businesslike efficiency in the management of the fiscal affairs of the institution much credit is given to the treasurer, E, F. Allen, who since the organization of the hospital company has given liberally of his time to its general welfare and particularly to the accurate and systematic conduct of its business affairs, As the usefulness of any institution of this kind must, in the last analysis, depend upon the efficiency of its financial management, it will not be inappropriate to quote a portion of the report of the auditing committee covering the books of the company up to November 7, 1914. This report in part says: "At the request of the officers of the Hospital Company we are making further examination of the books and records of the company regarding their system of accounting for patients and the general plan in the office adopted by the hospital in reference to its records of patients received and discharged, and we wish to say for the benefit of the general public of Elyria and Lorain county that the system in handling accounts and records is complete and comprehensive, and when the company makes statements that during the past year they have handled nearly fifteen thousand hospital days of service, of which two-thirds, or over ten thousand days, are all or part charity work, that these statements are correct, and we also are glad to state that the figures given for cost of patient, somewhat under two dollars per day are considerably lower than reports given by other institutions of similar character, We feel that the public should know as we know that the accounting system in connection with the Elyria Memorial Hospital is more elaborate and complete than we had any idea of, and we recommend to the general public and other institutions of similar nature an examination of same," And the financial report covering the fiscal year ending November 1, 1915, is even more flattering than the above. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 653 CLAIR O. GOSS is proprietor of one of the distinctive enterprises of Lorain County, namely : The Glendale Ferret Company of Wellington. This is an important department of his farm on Rural Route No. 1 out of Wellington, and he has had a great deal of success in raising ferrets for commercial purposes. He ships his animals to every state in the Union, and has a complete set of buildings and equipment necessary for the propagation and training of these very valuable animals. He has shipped as high as 1,000 in a season. Mr. Goss was born in Brighton Township, January 22, 1883, and is one of the live and progressive younger citizens of Lorain County, His parents were Otis F. and Mary (Sinclair) Goss. His father was born at Berea, Ohio, April 23, 1839, and died March 20, 1908, He was a son of David and Aurelia (Porter) Goss, the former a native of Montague, Massachusetts, and the latter of Vermont, David Goss came out to Ohio when a single man and after investigating the country went back East and returned with his bride. He was a very prosperous and enter= prising citizen, owned a large farm and operated two mills, Otis F. Goss was seven years old when he came with his parents to Brighton Township, received his education in this county, and became a farmer and also conducted a sawmill and followed his trade as a carpenter. He was a republican in politics, but later gave his support to the prohibition cause, He pursued his business as a farmer on eighty acres of land. Both he and. his wife were active members of the Congregational Church, His wife, Mary Sinclair, was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, August 12, 1850, and is still living, They were married September 26, 1876, Her father was Alexander Sinclair and he brought his family to the united States in 1852 when Mrs. Goss was two years of age. The Sinclairs settled near Ruggles, and afterwards went to Clarksfield, where Mr, Sinclair bought a farm and spent the rest of his days. In the Sinclair family were eleven children, and the three now living are Mrs. A. E, Watt of Greensburg, Pennsylvania ; Mrs, Isabelle Ross, a widow, living at Wakeman, Ohio ; Mrs. Goss. Alexander, deceased, was .a farmer at Clarksfield. Clair O. Goss is the only child of his parents, He received his education in the district schools and had much preliminary training on a farm before taking up agriculture as his regular vocation. His farm comprises eighty acres of land, and he gives his time to general farming, to .the operation of the Glendale Ferret Company, and he also does some dairying. The farm is well improved, and he has one of the best silos in the entire county, On September 8, 1910, Mr, Goss married Ona Niles, a daughter of Jerome and Carminetta A, (Gillett) Niles, and a granddaughter of Ichabod and Miranda (Lake) Niles, Her father was born in Canada in 1860 and died in 1890 and her mother was born in Lorain County in 1854 and is still living. Mrs, Goss has one brother, Edwin, who is a policeman at Kansas City, Mrs. Goss is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. while Mr, Goss belongs to the Congregational Church, He is a member of the Maccabees and politically is a republican, In the fall of 1915 he was elected township trustee and had served two terms in that office prior to that election. He is a very popular and widely known citizen in Wellington Township. HON. CLARENCE G, WASHBURN, It was in 1892 that Judge Washburn began the practice of law at Lorain and the honors of office and a profitable patronage as a lawyer soon followed. For many years Judge Washburn has represented the qualities of the true leader in the life of Lorain County, and the worth of his career is attested by many important relations with the institutions and affairs of his home city, 654 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Clarence. Griffin Washburn was born in Greenwich Township of Huron County, Ohio, February 19, 1867, a son of Henry C, and Charlotte (Griffin) Washburn. His parents came to Ohio from the vicinity of Syracuse, New York, and in earlier generations the ancestors were Connecticut people. Judge Washburn was sixteen years old when his mother died and ten years later the father died. His father was a farmer, but in later years lived in the Village of Greenwich, where Judge Washburn spent the first eighteen years of his life. With a common school education and with good natural endowments, he then went out to Kansas with an older brother, and after his return three years later spent one year in conducting a retail shoe business in Huron County. This was the sum of his experiences before he took up the study of law in the • office of T. L. Strimple, From the private study of law about two years later he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated June 30, 1892. In the spring of 1892, having been admitted to practice law in Ohio, he obtained a leave of absence from the University and opened an office at Lorain, returning to Ann Arbor in June to take examinations which gave him the degree of Bachelor of Laws, His first important official position was village solicitor, to which he was appointed by the council of Lorain in 1894. About that time came a much more important event in his life, his marriage on July 25, 1894, to Miss Maude Marsh, of Greenwich, and an old schoolmate of Judge Washburn. Few wives have been more practical and helpful companions to their husbands than Mrs. Washburn, Prior to her marriage she had been deputy in the probate office of Huron County, and when Judge Washburn was elected clerk of courts of Lorain County in 1896 she assisted him in the office, and in all their relations, both in business and at home, their lives have been singularly felicitous and harmonious. Mrs. Washburn was admitted to practice law in Ohio in 1896, but has never exercised that privilege in a .professional way, In 1897, following his election to county office, Judge Washburn moved to Elyria, and has since had his home in that city, He was reelected to the office of clerk in 1899, and did not return actively to the practice of law until the fall of 1903. In 1904 Governor Myron T, Herrick appointed him judge of the Common Pleas Court for the second sub-division of the Fourth Judicial District, to serve until his successor was elected. At a special election be was chosen his own successor in November, 1905. and by re-election in 1906 continued on the bench until 1913. In 1912, while still in office as Common Pleas judge, he was nominated by the republicans for judge of the Court of Appeals in the Eighth Judicial District, which included the City of Cleveland. Owing to the split in the republican party of that year Judge Washburn failed to receive an election which otherwise would have been largely a matter of course. In February, 1913, he resumed the practice of law at Elyria, When Judge and Mrs, :Washburn were married they were both poor, and they have used their abilities and opportunities to secure the most cherished of their ambitions, a good home and family of fine children, and means to live comfortably, Their children are: Charlotte Edwards, aged seventeen ; Anna Paine, aged sixteen ; Warner Marsh, aged twelve and Elizabeth, aged seven. Mrs. Washburn has proved a model mother, and in her success as a home-maker and -in her capable judgment in business affairs she shares the honors of accomplishment associated with the name of her husband, Both are active members of the First Congregational. Church of Elyria, For about ten weeks every summer the family live at the Summer Assembly Grounds maintained by the Congregational Church at Crystal Lake near Frankfort, Michigan, and Judge HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 655 Washburn manages to spend about two weeks of the year at the same place. Judge Washburn is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias and in politics has always been a republican. He is a director in the Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Company of Elyria, is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, a life member of the Library Board, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Young Men's Christian Association, a life member of the Elyria Memorial Hospital, was former president and is now a trustee of the Social Settlement at Elyria, has served as president of the Elyria Country Club, and has been president of the Men's Club of the Congregational Church, an organization that has been in existence for the past eight years. Through these and other channels he finds opportunities to do a great deal of public-spirited work in behalf of his home city and county, Judge Washburn is a member of the Lorain County Bar Association and is trustee of the Lorain County Law Library Association. His chief recreation is golf, BYRON GERALD NICHOLS, For more than thirty years Byron Gerald Nichols has been identified with the business interests of Lorain, first as a successful merchant and more recently as an operator in real estate and insurance, His connections are so numerous and important, however, that it would be difficult to find a field to which his activities have not led him, and each of his various ventures has been brought to a success through the exercise of his fine abilities, His business talents have always been used to further the interests of the city, and as a member of the Lorain City Council for five years he contributed materially to civic improvement and advancement. Mr. Nichols is a native son of Lorain, and was born October 12, 1864, his parents being John and Deborah (Lowe) Nichols, The parents came to Lorain County in 1857, settling in the vicinity of Lorain, on a farm, and here the father continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remaining years of his life, and passed away November 1, 1878. He was one of the substantial, practical farmers of his locality, was a. man of the highest. honor and integrity, and won and held the entire confidence of the people of his community. Mrs, Nichols survived him for a long period, and passed away at the old home, May 15, 1899, The public schools of Lorain furnished Byron Gerald Nichols with his early education, following which he enrolled as a student at Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio, from which institution he was duly graduated in 1883. Thus equipped, Mr. Nichols entered business life at Lorain, establishing himself as the proprietor of a general merchandise establishment, of which he continued to be the head for a. period of twelve years, In the meantime he had at various times invested in realty holdings, and his interests in this direction grew so extensively that he decided to give more of his attention to the real estate business. He accordingly disposed of his holdings in the store, which he had built up to large proportions, and opened an office as a dealer in real estate, loans, insurance, etc,, in which field of endeavor he has steadily advanced to a foremost position among the business men of Lorain, Mr. Nichols has been connected with various transactions of large magnitude, and his great capacity and thorough knowledge of values, coupled with many years of business association with capitalists and men of affairs, render him a valued medium for the carrying through of real estate deals, Mr, Nichols' abilities have been recognized and appreciated by his associates at Lorain, and his connection with enterprises of an important character are many, including directorships in the Lorain Banking 656 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Company, the Black River Telephone Company, the Lorain Glove Company and the Lorain Casting Company. He is a member and steward of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Lorain, Mr, Nichols' first political office was that of township clerk, in which capacity he served very acceptably for two years. He was then sent to the Lorain City Council, where he served five years, and while a member of that body served on the finance and other important committees. Mr. Nichols was married November 20, 1884, at New London, Ohio, to Miss Elizabeth Brightman, daughter of P, B. Brightman, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Huron County, and a member of a family that has been well known and prominent in Ohio for many years. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nichols : Howard Kent, who graduated in June, 1914, from Western Reserve University, and is now associated with his father in the real estate business, He was married September 10, 1915, to Miss Gladys White, a daughter of John P, and Mae (Reed) White, of Cleveland, Ohio, Enid Lucretia and Millicent Deborah reside with their parents. Personally, Mr. Nichols' manner and bearing are those of the brainy, successful business man, and he thus possesses peculiar advantages for his chosen vocation, His friends are as numerous as his acquaintances, and his career in the real estate history of Lorain County is no doubt destined to continue as a brilliant one, ARTEMAS BEEBE, who had the distinction of being the last survivor of the first pioneers of Elyria, was born at Russell, Hampden County, Massachusetts, October 7, 1793, and died at Elyria, Ohio, March 29, 1880, aged eighty-six years, five months, twenty-two days, Educational advantages during his youth were not such as they are today in Massachusetts, but such opportunities as were afforded by the common schools were eagerly grasped by the lad during the intervals between his labor, and he grew up alert in mind and active in body, with an education which allowed him to take his proper place and hold his own among men. When still a youth, Mr, Beebe became a clerk in his father's store, there acquiring a rudimentary knowledge of business that laid the foundation upon which was later built a structure of business success, but his ambition at that time was to do more for himself than the opportunities promised in his native place, and when in his twenty-third year he engaged to accompany Heman Ely to his new possessions in the Far West, as Ohio was then regarded, in the capacity of carpenter and joiner, This company consisted of Heman Ely, Ebenezer Lane, Luther Lane, Artemas Beebe, Ann Snow, the housekeeper, and Ned, Mr, Ely's colored servant, and left Springfield, Massachusetts, February 20, 1817, for the wilderness of the Western Reserve, where since has been built the community of Elyria, After a long. and toilsome journey, the little party arrived at their destination on the evening of March 18, 1817, and found lodgings in the but of logs that had been erected in the previous months, the only house in the settlement, which stood on what now is the south side of Broad Street, near where the "Old Tavern" still stands as a landmark of early days. It is not necessary to follow Mr, Beebe through his years of activity in preparing homes for those who were to share in the hardships of the pioneers suffice it to say that his resolute purpose to realize the ambitions of his youth never forsook him, and that from early morn until late at night he labored with the tools of his trade, or with the axe and hand-spike drove back the solid forest and added to the comforts of his home and the area of his farm. In February of the year following his arrival, he purchased a horse and returned to his home in New England, where he remained only a short time, and when he came back had a horse HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 657 and wagon, Again, in February, 1820, he went to Massachusetts, covering the greater part of the journey on foot, and on the 4th of the following October was married in that state to Miss Pamelia Morgan. With his bride and a wagon containing the most important implements of housekeeping he, started for the new country again, arriving November 17, She continued to be his true and faithful helpmate during his long and useful career, and her death, which occurred June 26, 1878, had a very depressing effect on Mr. Beebe and no doubt hastened his own demise, Six years after he commenced housekeeping in the "Beebe Tavern," Mr, Beebe became the contractor for carrying the mails between Elyria and Cleveland, and this enterprise, beginning in a small way, eventually grew into a line of stage coaches which ran between Cleveland and Lower Sandusky, which was afterwards called Tremont. The handling of thin business required the possession of considerable executive ability and energy to insure its success, but Mr, Beebe was not found lacking in either, and the result was that after fifteen years of labor in this venture he sold his entire line, in 1842, to Neil, Moore & Company, and began to devote his then ample means to enterprises more directly beneficial to his immediate community. The Beebe House, which Mr. Beebe erected in 1846, was at that time the largest and best appointed hostelry in any country town in the West. He was one of the stockholders of the Lorain Bank at Elyria at the time of its organization, this now being known as the National Bank of Elyria, and was a member of its board of directors from its inception, in 1847, through its nationalization, up to the time of his death, and at all times had the regard and confidence of his associates, who looked to him for advice and leadership in important ventures. During all these years his early habits of industry never forsook him, and he was constantly employed in personally superintending the operation of his large estate, often performing work that could have been done by other hands, merely from the habit of keeping energetically at work, But the stoutest muscle cannot always endure and the strongest will must sometimes yield to the inexorable laws of nature, On November 18, 1876, while walking in his yard, he suffered a severe attack of paralysis, which for, a time rendered his limbs on one side powerless to perform their functions, and it was feared for a time that he could not recover. His strong constitution and indomitable will, however, gradually overcame the dreaded disease, and he 658 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY was able to use his arms, although he never recovered the use of his lower limbs and from the day of his attack never left the house unless carried to his carriage for a short drive amid the scenes of former labors. Mr. Beebe contributed liberally to the church and Sunday school, as well as to benevolent and charitable movements. His mind continued alert to the last, and with the strict probity and integrity that had governed all his actions, he arranged his business affairs in an orderly manner, preparing thus calmly and resignedly for his final departure. He survived all the others of the party who came as pioneers to Elyria, Heman Ely died February 2, 1852 ; Ebenezer Lane, who became a chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, June 12, 1866 ; Luther Lane, November 23, 1868; and the colored boy, Ned, at West Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1830, while Ann Snow died some time before Mr. Beebe, although the exact date is not known, Mrs. Beebe, who died June 26, 1878, was born at West Springfield, Massachusetts, November 9, 1799, On October 4, 1820, she was married to Mr, Beebe at West Springfield, by the old blind pastor, Rev. Joseph Lathrop, assisted by his colleague, Rev, William B. Sprague. Prior to her marriage, Mrs, Beebe had been a member of the First Congregational Church of West Springfield, but when in 1824 the First Presbyterian Church of Elyria was formed, she became one of the ten original members, and at the time of her death only one other of the first ten survived, At the time of their deaths, Mr. and Mrs. Beebe belonged to the First Congregational Church of Elyria, There were three daughters and two sons in the family of Artemas and Pamelia (Morgan) Beebe : Mary, who died September 11, 1903, as the wife of 'Edwin Hall, leaving two children, of whom one is living, —Mrs. R, S, Sloan, of Sandusky, Ohio ; Henry, who died February 15, 1905, at Toledo, Ohio, leaving one son, George, who died at Cincinnati soon after his father's death ; Artemas, a sketch of whose career. will be found on another page of this work ; Sarah, who died October 11, 1904, as the wife of Frank Turner, and left one daughter,—Winnifred L,, who makes her home with her aunt ; and Pamelia Beebe, the youngest of the family and the only one now living, who makes her home at the old Beebe residence, 264 Broad Street. Pamelia Beebe was the only one of the children to be born in this home, the others all being born in the old Beebe Tavern here, an old landmark of Elyria, a cut of which is shown herewith, She was educated here and in girlhood joined the First Congregational Church, of which she has continued to be a member since the time of her father's joining, her mother having been a charter member when the church was organized. Pamelia Beebe is president of the Lorain County Historical Society, an office which she has held since the death of her sister, Mary, whom she succeeded. She is well known in church and social circles, and is held in high esteem, not only for her many personal attainments, but as the representative of a family than which none has done more to make Elyria 's history. From her father's interesting reminiscences of early days, the late Mrs. Mary Hall compiled a 58-page book, containing many early-day cuts of building and scenery, "Reminiscences of Elyria, Ohio," which was published in 1900 and dedicated to the Lorain County Historical Society, of which she was then president. This interesting work met with a large sale, the proceeds from which were turned over to the society to further its work, ARTEMAS BEEBE, In the death of the late Artemas Beebe, which occurred at his farm residence on Cleveland Street, August 27, 1891, Elyria lost a citizen who was a native son, who had grown with the HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 659 community, and whose history was a part of the history of the locality, He watched the straggling little hamlet of his boyhood grow and develop into a center of business, agricultural, educational and religious activity, and while bearing his full share of the labors and responsibilities necessary to bring this great development about, won fairly and retained unquestionably the warmest regard and fullest confidence of his fellowmen, Mr. Beebe was born in the old hotel known as Beebe Tavern, at Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, October 10, 1825, and spent his entire sixty-six years of life here, He was the second son of the late Artemas Beebe, who had come to this community with the late Heman Ely, from Massachusetts, in 1817, and assisted in making a home in the wilderness where Elyria now stands, and a sketch of whose career and achievements will be found on another page of this work, Artemas Beebe of this review was educated in the public schools, which he attended until nearly fifteen years of age, and at that time became a clerk in the dry goods store of the late Seymour W. Baldwin, where he remained for several years, then turning his attention to farming. On November 25, 1847, he was married to Miss Nancy L, Fisher, of Grafton, Lorain County, and soon thereafter removed to his farm near the city, where, with the exception of two years, he passed the remainder of his life. At the time of his father's death, in 1880, he became the owner of the Beebe Hotel, which he leased until 1886, in which year he took possession as manager, but after two years of experience in this direction returned to farming and continued to be engaged therein until his death, As an agriculturist he was energetic, progressive and enterprising, winning a substantial property through straightforward and above-board transactions, He was an active worker in religious affairs in Lorain County, and was a member and regular attendant of the Congregational Sunday School of Elyria for sixty years, for ten years of which time he acted in the capacity of assistant superintendent, In addition, he was for a long period chairman of the executive committee of the Lorain County Sunday School Union, During thirty-three years he was an active and highly honored member of the Congregational Church of Elyria, A highly regarded man among his associates, in his home he was a kind husband and an indulgent father, and, in fact, in every walk of life, followed the dictates of a conscience that never failed to point out the proper course for him to pursue as an honest, God-fearing man. Mrs. Beebe, who was born at Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, January 12, 1825, died at Elyria, November 15, 1898, They became the parents of four children, as follows : Mary M. (Beebe) Williams, who died suddenly at the family home in the same year as her mother, when apparently in the best of health ; William A., born October 14, 1848, at Elyria, for years a telegraph operator with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, a good citizen and a respecter of the Golden Rule, married Fanny Mills and had a son and daughter, the latter of whom died in October, 1900, and himself passed away December 10, 1902, mourned by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances ; Frank, who is a resident of Elyria ; and Artemas, also of this city, ARTEMAS BEEBE. During a period of more than seventeen years, Artemas Beebe has been identified with the Cleveland & Southwestern Railway, in the capacity of conductor, and in this time has become one of the best known and most popular officials on the line. He belongs to one of Lorain County's pioneer families, which. was founded here by his grandfather, Artemas Beebe, who came to Elyria in 1817. Since 660 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY that time the history of the family has been that of the city and county. Mr. Beebe of this review was born at Elyria, May 26, 1869, and is a son of Artemas and Nancy Louise (Fisher) Beebe. Separate mention is made in this work of his father and grandfather, as well as of his brother, Frank Beebe, of Elyria, who is the only other survivor of the family of four children, of whom Artemas is the youngest. Educated in the public schools of Elyria, Artemas Beebe was graduated from the high school with the class of 1890, and at that time became the proprietor of a book store, located on Broad Street, at the present site of the Haserodt jewelry store, at No. 503, During the four years that Mr. Beebe conducted this establishment, under the firm style of Beebe & Company, Edward Fisher, the jeweler, shared the rooms with him. In 1895, when he sold his business to John C, Bins, Mr, Beebe went to work under his father-in-law, the late George H, Mapes, of whose career further notice will be found elsewhere in this work. He began as yard clerk at the Baltimore & Ohio Junction, and later for five years was identified with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, and when he left that concern entered the service of the Cleveland & Elyria Electric Railway, which has since become the Cleveland & Southwestern Railway, Since June 2, 1898, he has acted in the capacity of conductor and his faithful, efficient and courteous performance of his duties has made him one of the company 's most trusted and valued employes, as well as placing him high in the regard of the passengers who patronize this line, Mr. Beebe has large interests in the Beebe estate, owning a part of the 200-acre farm which his father had on the east side of the city, and in addition holding a number of valuable pieces of city realty. In business circles he has many warm friends among leading and influential citizens and has built up a reputation for integrity and fidelity which the members of his family have always enjoyed, Raised a Mason in. 1901, Mr, Beebe has taken a keen interest in Masonic work, and when the Masonic Temple was being built probably collected more money for its erection than any other person in Elyria, He is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Mason, of which he is past master ; was eminent commander of Elyria. Commandery No. 60, in 1910 ; in 1911 and 1912 was thrice illustrious master of Elyria Council No. 86, and belongs to Lake Erie Consistory, being a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. He also holds membership in the Knights of the Maccabees and the Royal Arcanum, As a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, Mr, Beebe has assisted in forwarding movements which have advanced the commercial and industrial welfare of the city, and he also belongs to the Elyria Memorial Hospital Relief Association, and, with his family, to the First Congregational Church of Elyria. When the Young Men's Christian Association Building was being erected at Elyria he took a prominent part in the collection of funds, being a member of Captain Buttenbender's team, On December 16, 1891, Mr, Beebe was married to Miss Minnie Angeline Mapes, who was born at Bellevue, Ohio, the only child of George and Marietta E. (King) Mapes, by whom she was brought to Elyria when she was one and one-half years of age, Mr. Mapes is now deceased, and his widow owns the home at No. 626 Broad Street, which Mr. Mapes built, and in which Mr, and Mrs. Beebe now reside. GEORGE MAPES. For thirty-three years the late George Mapes was a well-known and highly respected citizen of Elyria and was one of the most popular railroad men of this community, his connection with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway having commenced in 1873, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 661 From that time until his retirement he continued in the service of that road and grew to be one of its most trusted employes, Mr. Mapes was born at Willoughby, Ohio, August 18, 1841, the youngest in a family of seven brothers and sisters and the last of them to die, the preceding death in the family having been that of his sister, Mrs. Katherine Alvord, of Peoria, Illinois, who passed away only a week before her brother's demise. Educated in the public schools of his native community, when his school days were finished he took up telegraphy, then a new vocation, which he made his life work, He was still a youth when he entered the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, and at various times held the position of telegrapher at Wakeman, Clyde and Bellevue, Ohio, and at the latter place was promoted to station agent. In 1873 he was transferred from Bellevue to Elyria, in the capacity of agent, where he continued until his retirement. in December, 1903, he then being pensioned by the road in the service of which he had spent forty years of energetic, conscientious and capable work. Mr. Mapes was one of the old-time "knights of the key," his experiences having covered the era of the greatest development of the telegraph. He was .known as a rapid operator and his messages could be depended upon absolutely. Among railroad men he was widely known and had many friends among the high officials of the road with which he was connected. While at Bellevue, Mr. Mapes was raised a Mason, and continued to be actively interested in the work of that fraternity .up to the time of his death. For three years prior to that event he had been secretary for the several branches of the order at Elyria, including King Solomon Lodge No, 56, and Marshall Chapter No. 47, and he was also recorder for Elyria Council No, 86, and a member of Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar, of which he was made a member April 13, 1905. He became a member of the Royal Arcanum at the time of its organization at Elyria. Mr, Mapes died March 29, 1907, and his funeral was in charge of the Masonic order and held at Masonic Temple, He Was widely mourned, not only among his family and immediate friends, but among a. wide acquaintance who knew him as a kindly, charitable man, and as a citizen who was always giving his support to some beneficial movement in the community.' On January 27, 1866, Mr, Mapes was married to Miss Mary Etta King, who survives him and resides at the old family home on Broad Street. One daughter was born to this union : Minnie Angeline, who is now the wife of Artemas Beebe, of Elyria, the daughter and son-in-law making their home with the mother at the old home which Mr. Mapes built many years ago. CHARLES P. EDWARDS. When Charles P. Edwards came to Oberlin in 1882 he was an ambitious young man, possessing considerable skill and experience in the tin and metal working trade and as a plumber. For a number of years he went steadily ahead as an employe of different firms in the town, and in 1905 he borrowed some capital and started a business of his own. That he has done well is the general consensus of opinion in that community, He now furnishes perhaps the most reliable service in plumbing and tin and metal work in the community. He was born at Seville, Medina County, Ohio, June 24, 1860, His parents were James D. and Ellen (Sickner) Edwards. His grandfather was Andrew Edwards, who was born at Paisley, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States about 1825, first settling in New York, and thence moving to Seville, Ohio, during the early '50s. He was a tanner and currier by trade, having served a thorough seven years apprenticeship in 662 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY those lines in Scotland, The maternal grandfather of Mr. Edwards was James Sickner, who was born in one of the New England states and for many years sailed the ocean as an able bodied seaman, and saw practically all the ports of the civilized world. On leaving the sea he came inland to Ohio, and there followed his trade of blacksmith, James D, Edwards, father of Charles P., was born in Watertown, New York, in 1836, while his wife was born at Strongsville, Ohio, in 1837, and died in 1897. They were married in Seville, Ohio, in 1858, James I), Edwards was a tinsmith for more than forty years in Seville, and he now lives at Jefferson and is still working at his trade, He is a member of the Baptist Church and is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. As a republican he served as mayor of Seville a number of years and was also a member of the town council. During the Civil war he was one of the Ohio volunteers who aided in repelling Morgan's raids, while his brother John lost his life at the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee. Reared in his native Village of Seville, Charles P. Edwards acquired a. common school education, and when only a boy began working and learning the trade of tinsmith under his father, After his apprenticeship he became a journeyman, and while he is duly modest about his own accomplishment, his friends say that he has prospered by steady adherence to one line and by doing everything he undertakes well and thoroughly. In 1881 he married Mary Freehold, of Cleveland. To their union were born four children : Arthur, who is in business with his father ; Mrs. Stella Williams, of Elyria, whose husband is a motorman Mrs. Fannie Rathwell, wife of a farmer in Lorain County : and Alma, who is employed in a local telephone office. The mother of these children died in 1893, In 1895 Mr, Edwards married Eliza Rathwell, who was born at Oberlin, There are also four children by this union : May Udora, Grace and Harley, all of them at home. Mr, Edwards is a member of the Baptist Church, and finds an outlet for his interests in fraternal work. He has passed the chairs of the subordinate lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is also a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security. In politics he is a republican, and is a factor in the municipal government of Oberlin, where be has served in the city council for the past four years. H. C, OTTERBACHER. For many years the name Otterbacher has been closely and successfully identified with business affairs at Wellington, The late John Martin Otterbacher, who died September 8, 1910, was in early life trained to the trade of harnessmaker, and he used that trade to build up and develop a business which made him prominent at Wellington, The successor of his father in mercantile affairs at Wellington is H. C, Otterbacher, who was born at Wellington, September 6, 1879. a son of the late John Martin and Rosa L, (Fahrion) Otterbacher. H. C. Otterbacher acquired his early education in the Wellington public schools, graduating from high school in 1897. and afterwards attending Oberlin Business College for one year. He then became his father's assistant in the harness business and has continued and expanded the business since his father's death, He now has a large and well equipped store and factory, keeps all supplies in the way of harness required by the trade, and keeps a large stock of buggies, wagons and farm implements. He is an ex-president of the Tri-State Vehicle and Implement Association and is at present a director in that organization, On September 2, 1914, Mr. Otterbacher married Miss Phillipine Handiges of Cleveland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs, C. Handiges, Mr. Otterbacher is a prominent Mason, being senior warden of Wellington Lodge, No. 127, Free and Accepted Masons, and has taken his HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 663 degrees in both the York and Scottish Rites, is a thirty-second degree Mason and is a member of Al Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Cleveland, Ohio, In politics he is a republican. THOMAS T. WINCKLES, Now in the seventy-ninth year of his age, Thomas T, Winckles has had a truly noteworthy career, not in the abnormal sense of the term but in the sturdy accomplishment of duty, the fulfillment of obligations to home, friends and community, and a straightforward career, loving justice, practicing charity, and walking in the fear of God. Mr. Winckles has spent practically all the years of his life in Lorain County, and is now one of the grand old men among its native citizens. Born on a farm in Avon Township, March 29, 1837, a son of Thomas T. and Ann (Buck) Winckles, both of whom were born in Northamptonshire, England, and were married there, emigrating to the United States early in 1836 and spending about a year in New York City. His father bought property in New York City but sold it on moving to Avon Township in Lorain County, They settled in this county the same year that Mr. Winckles was born and the elder Winckles spent his active career as a farmer. In 1845 he removed to Ridgeville, and built a fine estate in that section of the county, He had owned about ninety acres in Avon, and selling that bought fifty acres first in Ridgeville and later acquired more than 200 acres of wild land. His estate was finally reduced to 187 acres in Ridgeville, and for more than sixty years that has been in the possession of the Winckles family. The father lived in that community until his death at the age of forty-four, and his wife passed away at the age of fifty-one. The elder Thomas T. Winckles took an active part in local affairs, serving as a township trustee and justice of the peace at Ridgeville, In his family were seven children, three sons and four daughters, Elizabeth, who married Thomas Martin, died in Virginia : the second is Thomas T., Jr.; Cary H, was a graduate of Oberlin College, early enlisted in the army during the Civil war as a private, was promoted to orderly sergeant and finally to first lieutenant only a few days before his death, his fatal illness having overtaken him when near Covington, Kentucky, in 1863, while with the One Hundred and Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry ; Sarah Jane died in childhood and all the other children died in infancy. Thomas T. Winckles received most of his education in the Elyria public schools, with a few terms in Oberlin. College. His school and home training well prepared him for the serious and practical duties of life, and he then took up farming on the old estate, He was only twenty years of age when his father died, and he continued to cultivate and manage the homestead until 1881, at which time he bought the property. This fine farm of 187 acres in Ridgeville is easily one of the best in Lorain County, and is now the property of his son Cary T. Winckles. Thomas T. Winckles owned and managed the farm up to 1900, since which year he has lived almost retired in Elyria, His home in Elyria comprises a substantial residence surrounded with four and a half acres of land and as it would he contrary to his nature to be idle, he finds employment in working his large garden, His home is at the corner of Cleveland Street and Winckles Street, the latter being named in his honor. He laid part of this street out, and the late Parks Foster continued the thoroughfare, and it is now one of considerable length. During his residence in Ridgeville Mr. Winckles took an active part in civic and religious life, He was a trustee of the township for a number of years and since coming to Elyria served six years as a member of the city council, representing the first ward. In politics he is a repub- 664 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY lican, In the way of local improvements he had erected four residences. on Winckles Street, and still owns three of these, which he rents. He is also interested as a stockholder in The Farm Implement Company at Elyria, of which his son Harvey T. Winckles, mentioned on other pages, is president and the active head. Mr. Winckles has long been prominent in the Congregational Church at Ridgeville, and up to a year ago served as one of its trustees, his service in that office beginning when he was only twenty years of age and at the time of the organization of the church and continuing for more than fifty-five years, He helped to build the first church home, and has been one of its main supporters, a work and interest in which his wife was equally zealous. At the home of Thomas and Jane (Townshend) Hurst in Dover, Cuyahoga County, on January 16, 1861, Mr. Winckles married Miss Lucy A, Hurst. She was born in Dover, received her early schooling there and later attended Oberlin College. For more than fifty-four years Mr. and Mrs, Winckles have traveled life's highway together, and theirs has been a marriage ideal in its communion and its interests and accomplishments. A few years ago they celebrated with family and friends their golden wedding anniversary, Of the five children born to them three are still living, Arthur died when three years of age : Lillian is now Mrs. W. M. Barnes of Cleveland. Cary T. is president of The Elyria Construction Company and owns and operates as a dairy farm the old homestead in Ridgeville, as related on other pages. Lena died at the age of eighteen, being at that time a graduate of the Elyria high school. Harvey T. is president and general manager of The Farm Implement Company of Elyria and his career as a business man is recited on other pages, All these children received their early education in the Elyria public schools. PERRY G. WORCESTER. One of the best known carpenter contractors in Lorain County is Perry G. Worcester of Oberlin. Mr. Worcester as the basis of his business learned his trade thoroughly and skillfully, and during the past twenty or thirty years has employed his individual services and the organization which he has built up and maintained in the construction of some of the best homes, offices and other buildings in the Minty, He comes of a very old American family, which originally came from England and settled in Massachusetts and Vermont, from which states the stock has spread to all parts of the Union, There were a number of the Worcesters who served in the rank and file in the patriot army during the Revolution, and one of them was colonel of a regiment. It was fully seventy years ago that this branch of the Worcesters became identified with Lorain County, Grandfather Samuel Worcester, a native of Vermont, came to Lorain County in 1845, took up a tract of land and lived on it as a farm until his death, Perry G, Worcester was born in Lorain County on a. farm May 1, 1863, a son of James M. and Adeline (Hill) Worcester. The father was born at Fort Ticonderoga. New York, in 1828 and the mother in Vermont in 1831, His father died in August, 1907, and his mother in June, 1895. James M. Worcester was about seventeen years of age when the family came to Oberlin, and he combined farming and work as a carpenter. He owned several farms in the county, and was quite successful, though he started in life with practically nothing. In the '40s and '50s he was an active abolitionist, and helped to keep up the underground railroad, He was a republican in politics, served as a. member. of the city council at Oberlin, as town trustee for a number of years and also as assessor. He was also a member of the Masonic order, while his wife was a Methodist. They were the parents of thirteen children, eleven of whom are living. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 665 The ninth in order of birth, Perry G. Worcester completed his early education in the Oberlin High School, For the first twenty-one years of his life he lived almost entirely on the farm, and then learned the carpenter's trade and gradually developed his trade into a contracting business, It is said that he has contracted and built more of the first class homes in Oberlin than any other man. He has been in the business for twenty-one years, at Oberlin, and for four years he was located at Mentor, Ohio. On February 27, 1889, Mr, Worcester married Emily Corning, daughter of Nelson and Adelia (Tyler) Corning. Her father was born in Mentor, Ohio, in 1831, and died in 1907, and her mother was born in New York State in 1832 and is still living at the age of eighty-four. Nelson Corning was a farmer by occupation and spent practically all the days of his life at Mentor. Mr. and Mrs. Worcester have four children: Nelson C., a farmer at Oberlin ; Mills E., who is in the United States regular army ; Emily A,, who is still attending school at Oberlin ; and Harriet Elizabeth, born September 16, 1900, and died February 5, 1905, Mr. Worcester has for many years taken much interest in the Masonic order, and is affiliated with the Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, Knight. Templar and Commandery, is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs to Alkoran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Cleveland, Ohio, He has served as junior warden of his lodge and is now generalissimo in the Knights Templar. In politics he is a republican. ORLANDO T. MAYNARD, M, D, If there is one institution more than another of which the citizens of Lorain County are proud it is the Elyria Memorial Hospital, and it was a high tribute to the standing, ability and recognized qualificatons of Dr. Maynard as a physician and surgeon that he was chosen as the first president of the medical staff of that hospital when it was organized, He has continued a member of the staff ever since, and is also on the medical staff of the Nurses' Training School. Dr. Maynard is one of the older physicians of Elyria, where he has practiced more than a quarter of a century, and his entire record of service in that profession covers forty years, Born at Ripley, Huron County, Ohio, September 14, 1851, he is a son of George C. and Polly (Woodward) Maynard. His father' was horn in New York State, February 18, 1821, and when a boy accompanied his parents to Huron County, where he became a substantial farmer, and died there June 29, 1897, The doctor's mother was also a native of New York State, born October 8, 1827, and when a girl was brought to Hancock County, Ohio, by her parents. She died in Huron County, August 12, 1903, on the same farm she came to as a bride fifty-three years before, The first twenty-one years of his life Doctor Maynard largely spent on his father's farm in Huron County, attending in the meanwhile the public and select schools of that locality. Prior to his twenty-first birthday he taught school for two terms in Ripley, his native township, and taught another term later, just before entering medical college, and part of his expenses while studying medicine were defrayed from his earnings as a teacher, He began the study of medicine at North Fairfield, Ohio, and in 1875 was graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati. Since then, a period of forty years, he has been continuously in the practice of his profession. Few medical men in Lorain county have secured for themselves so generous an equipment and training in the various medical centers of the world. In 1884 Doctor Maynard grad- 666 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY uated from Western Reserve Medical School, and in 1886 was given a diploma by the New York Polyclinic. He has also traveled extensively abroad, spending four summers in hospitals in London, and has done post-graduate work in that city, in Berlin, Germany, and Dublin, Ireland. Doctor Maynard and his wife have made two trips to Egypt and the Holy Land, the first in 1906 and the second in 1912. From 1875 to 1877, Doctor Maynard was assistant physician in the Hospital for the Insane at Toledo, His home has been in Elyria since 1887, He is a member of the Lorain County Medical Society, the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, the Ohio State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and is a trustee of the Elyria Public Library. Doctor Maynard in politics has always endeavored to support the cleanest and best man who was candidate for office and where no difference has been apparent in their respective qualifications has usually supported the republican ticket, He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum, and has been a member of the Baptist Church since 1873. In 1877 in Amherst Township of Lorain County, Doctor Maynard married Mary E. Lyman, daughter of Charles Lyman, HENRY OSWALD WURMSER, Architecture, the art which constructs either for beauty or utility, or combines both, is one of the oldest of the refining and civilizing agencies of man, While it has necessarily been regulated by natural conditions and configuration of the country in which it is exercised, the development of a modern palace, either for residence or business, step by step from the ancestral cave or tent, is one of the great and interesting romances of civilization, Worthily in the front rank of this difficult and important profession, Henry Oswald Wurmser possesses a very large circle of professional and social friends. The mention of his name brings at once to mind Lorain's beautiful school buildings, which have been incidents in an immense field of labor successfully and honorably accomplished, Just as the names of some public and business men who have passed into the history of the county suggest their fulfillment of important enterprises, so also it is probable the name of Mr. Wurmser will be identified with the architectural and building interests of Ohio for many years to come. Henry Oswald Wurmser was born at Findlay, county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, April 27, 1861, and is a son of Oswald and Mary (Alheile) Wurmser, who were born in France and came to the United States soon after they were married. As a boy Oswald Wurmser, adopted the building profession and followed it with success throughout the period of his active life, designing and erecting many of Findlay's most beautiful and imposing structures of the early days. H. O. Wurmser's direction of study was mapped out for him early in his life, and his preparatory education for the professions of engineering and architecture, quite often united in that day, received most careful development and supervision from his father, under whose guidance he chiefly gained his preparatory education in his calling, beginning to learn its rudiments while still a student at the public. schools. After some ,gears of practice at Findlay in 1893 he came to Lorain, and from that time to the present his name has continued to be identified with the best work of bis profession, which he has followed throughout the State of Ohio. The labors which have brought this accomplished architect most prominently into public view have been probably in the line of public HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 667 school buildings. At Lorain he has erected all the public school buildings during the past twenty-one years with the exception of three, Among these are to be found the Oakwood Park School, a $40,000 structure, and the Lincoln School, located at Vine and East Thirty-first Street, the contract price for which was $60,000, This latter structure, built in 1913, two stories and basement, occupies ground dimensions 106 by 76 feet, with basement under all, and with an auditorium 31 by 76 feet, During his active career Mr. Wurmser has designed and built 1,224 buildings in Ohio, including among many others the Methodist Church at Elyria and the Reeves Hotel at New Philadelphia, Ohio, the latter costing $75,000. Mr. Wurmser has various business connections outside of his calling, one of which is with the Parkside Automobile Company, of which he is vice president. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. In former years he took much interest in politics, having been a member of the Central Committee of Lorain, but recently the demands of his profession have been so heavy as to take his entire time and attention. In 1884 Mr, Wurmser was married at Findlay, Ohio, to Miss Allie S. Woodley of that city. Four children have been born to their union. Frank J,, who is now traffic manager for the National Stove Company of Lorain, married Jessie Rood, and they are the parents of one child, Joan. Roy G, and Cliffe L,, twins, have also reached the stage of independent usefulness in their careers, and Roy is identified with the Park-side Automobile Company in the capacities of secretary and treasurer, while Cliffe is one of the popular and efficient teachers in the public schools of Lorain. The youngest child, Paul W., is a student in the Lorain High School. BERT O. DURAND, The oldest real estate and insurance business in Lorain County under the continuous management of members of one family was established at Oberlin in 1865, the same year as that in which occurred the birth of Bert O. Durand, who is now head of this old and reliable business, which has recently completed a record of fifty years, The business was established by the late William B, Durand, who was horn in Ohio in 1839 and died at Oberlin in 1909. He followed the work of an educator for several years, but in 1865 opened his office as an insurance and real estate man at Oberlin, and developed a very extensive business, though he had gone into the work with practically nothing. He was also prominent in local affairs. During the Civil war he spent two years with an Ohio regiment until stricken with brain fever and taken from the army to the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, William B, Durand was the son of Henry Durand, who was born in Bedford, Connecticut. and was an early settler on a farm in Erie County, Ohio, William B, Durand served as township clerk at Oberlin for twenty--eight years, and was a member of the school board eight years. He was a. republican and was affiliated with the Royal Arcanum, and for thirty-five years was superintendent of the Baptist Sunday School and very active in the church itself. His wife belonged to the First Congregational Church, William B, Durand was married at Grafton, Ohio, in 1861, to Hannah Breckenridge, who was born at Grafton in 1842, and died in 1914, Her father, Benjamin Breckenridge, was a native of Illinois and moved to Ohio, following farming near Grafton. Bert O. Durand, the only son of his parents, was born at Oberlin October 30, 1866, He was liberally educated, graduated from Oberlin College in 1890, and soon afterwards entered business with his father, A little later his father went on the road in the interests of business Vol. II—8 668 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY and turned the management of the home office over to his son. Mr. Durand is now one of the leading representatives of the general insurance and real estate field in Lorain County, and his business connections also extend to Cuyahoga County. In 1889 he married Lillian B. Burgess, of Norwalk, Ohio, They have two children : William Breckenridge, who is attending high school ; and Corinne, in the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, The family are members of the First Congregational Church, Mr, Durand is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has filled the various chairs in the lodge of Masons. In politics he is a republican. For sixteen years he filled the office of township clerk at Oberlin, and was chief of the local fire department for eight years. CHARLES E. WILSON. From a successful career as a farmer in Avon Township, Charles E, Wilson graduated into a position of business and public leadership at Elyria. Mr. Wilson is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war, has spent most of his life in Lorain County, has served with credit in public office, and among other important relations which he sustains toward .business is chairman of the board of directors of the Lorain County Savings & Trust Company, one of the largest and solidest banking institutions of Northern Ohio, Charles E. Wilson was born in Avon Township, Lorain County, Ohio, August 26, 1840, a. son of William and Elvira (Clisbee) Wilson, The father was born in Northamptonshire, England, in 1812, and came to the United States at the age of eighteen with his father, William. William, Sr., was twice married, and his first wife died in England and his second in Avon Township. After living in Cleveland, Ohio, for a few years William Wilson, Jr., was married in that city to Miss Elvira Clisbee, and in 1839 they removed to Avon Township, Lorain County, settling on a tract of land which at that time was covered by woods. He died there January 19, 1860, at the age of forty-seven years two months and nine days. In politics he was a democrat, and a member of the Baptist Church. His wife, who was of New England stock, lived to be eighty-five years of age and passed away at Tabor, Iowa, May 25, 1904, In 1867, after the marriage of her son Charles, she and three of her children went to Cassopolis, Michigan, lived in that state about three years, and then went West to Tabor, Iowa, where she spent the rest of her years, Mrs, Wilson in Iowa took a very prominent part in church work, was a devoted Baptist, and was especially known for her kindness and helpfulness in times of sickness and need, She was laid to rest at Tabor, In the family were six children, three boys and three girls, of which two sons and one daughter are still living: Charles E., who is the oldest of the family ; Nancy, wife of N, S. Phelps, living on a farm near Glenwood, Iowa ; Louis E., of Tarkio, Atchison County, Missouri ; Anna, wife of J, S. Graves of Tabor, Iowa, died there leaving one son, Thaddeus L., who after the death of his mother was brought to Lorain County by his uncle, Charles E. Wilson, was reared and graduated from the Elyria schools and is now married and lives in Portland, Oregon; Willis S,, who died at the age of twenty-three in Tabor, Iowa, where he is buried ; and Alice, who died and was buried at Tabor, Iowa. All these children were born in Avon Township, Lorain County, Charles E. Wilson had the stimulating environment of the partly developed farm during his early youth, and when the occasion and opportunity were given attended the common schools of Avon Township, He afterwards had one term of instruction in Oberlin College. He had just reached manhood when the war broke out, but did not enlist until 1864, when he left the heavy responsibilities of the home and enlisted HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 669 in Company H of the First Ohio Heavy Artillery, which was in service chiefly in Eastern Tennessee, He remained with the army until after the close of the war, and was discharged at Nashville, Tennessee, in June, 1865. After the surrender of Lee he returned home, and in the fall of the same year drove a team to Iowa, and spent one year on a farm in that state. Returning to Lorain County, he was married, and located on the old homestead, which for several years he rented, and later bought. Mr, Wilson was an active and progressive farmer in Avon Township until 1886, and now for almost thirty years has been a resident of the City of Elyria. In public affairs he has always been an influential factor, and his chief service was as county commissioner, a position he held for six years and ten months, two terms of three years each, after which he served an appointive term of ten months, Mr. Wilson has long been active in financial affairs at Elyria, and was formerly a stockholder in the Elyria Savings Deposit Company, With the organization of the Lorain County Banking Company, he sold his stock in the former institution and became one of the original stockholders of the new company, and on the 15th of November, 1915, the bank was reorganized as the Lorain County Savings & Tru.st Company and its capital stock increased, He has been one of the directors for a number of years, and is now chairman of the board. The Lorain County Savings & Trust Company has capital stock of $150,000, and surplus and undivided profits of nearly $115,000, The total resources according to a statement made in the spring of 1915 aggregated over $2,000,000. Probably the item in this statement which most accurately indicates the high standing of the bank in Northern Ohio is that showing the deposits, which at the time aggregated over $2,000,000, The executive officers of the banking company are : Arthur B, Taylor, president ; Richard D. Perry, vice president ; Louis B. Fauver, second vice president ; Alvin J. Plocher, secretary ; Herbert A. Daniels, treasurer ; Aloysius M, Thome, assistant treasurer. The board of directors comprise a number of the best known business men and citizens of Lorain County. In addition to his responsibilities as chairman of the board of directors of the Lorain County Savings & Trust Company Mr, Wilson is a stockholder in various enterprises in Elyria and elsewhere, including the Cleveland, Columbus and Southwestern Electric Railway. He is president of the Masonic Temple Building Company of Elyria, He is a member of Richard Allen Post, G, A. R., of Elyria ; of King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons; and of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, While not a member of any church, he is a regular attendant and supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Society of Elyria, where his wife has an active membership. Among other public services he has been a member of the Elyria city council, and in politics is a republican on national issues. In Avon Township, on April 16, 1867, Mr, Wilson married Miss Elzina Lucas. She became his wife when he was still struggling to get a start as a young farmer, and they have traveled life's highway together, sharing and dividing each other's joys and sorrows for nearly half a century. To their marriage were born two daughters, Mrs. Alice E. Edwards, the only one now living, resides at the Wilson home in Elyria, and her daughter, Miss Alice W, Edwards, after graduating from the Elyria High School in the class of 1914 entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, The other daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson was named Grace, and died at the age of sixteen years, The daughter, Mrs, Edwards, and her. daughter, are members of the Congregational Church at Elyria. 670 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY ALBERT Z. TILLOTSON, While most lawyers of Lorain County have their homes in Elyria, one of the able representatives of the profession is Albert Z, Tillotson, of Oberlin, Mr. Tillotson has a very large private practice, and his position is such that it is evident he made no mistake when he returned from his career as a school man, which he had followed for a number of years, to the law. Born at Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio, August 2, 1867, he is a son of. Zadock and Emily M. (Metcalf) Tillotson, Both parents were natives of Ohio, his father horn in Brunswick in 1835 and his mother in Liverpool in 1843. They were married in Liverpool, Ohio, in 1860 and the father died after a long career as a farmer in May, 1913, at the home of his only son and child, Albert Z., in Oberlin. The mother died in 1898, The latter was a member of the Baptist Church while the father was a Methodist, was a. republican in politics and was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Albert Z, Tillotson finished his education in the Oberlin Business College, and had also attended a select school at Brunswick. His work as a teacher was continued through sixteen terms, and in the meantime he had taken up the study of law under his uncle, C. A. Metcalf, and after his admission to the bar practiced with his uncle at Oberlin and Elyria for five years. Since then he has been alone in practice and has handled eases before all the courts of the state and the Federal district, In politics he is a republican and an active party man in his section of Lorain County, He has served as justice of the peace, and was elected pollce judge of Oberlin, being one of the youngest men honored with that office, He has also been a candidate for nomination as probate judge, In 1888 Mr, Tillotson married Emily C, Felakins. She was born in Sullivan, Ashland County, Ohio, daughter of George Felakins, a farmer and early settler there, Mr. and Mrs. Tillotson have. a fine family of eight children : Roy E., who is now a senior in Oberlin College; -Jessie, a teacher in the public schools; Mary E., a teacher at Penfield; Frances E,, who is employed in Cleveland, Ohio; Ruth Marie, Esther M., Ruby Lou and Rose Elaine, all at home. Mr. Tillotson is a member of the Baptist Church, is a Mason, having served as senior deacon in his lodge, has passed all the chairs of local lodge of Royal Arcanum, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. GEORGE L. WELLER. Lorain County has produced a few men whose work has been notable in the realm of invention, and one of these is George L, 'Weller, who for many years was superintendent of the Elyria waterworks, and is now engineer of the steam plant in the Great National Tube Company's works at Lorain. Mr. Weller has from an early age manifested great skill, both in handling and in perfecting mechanical apparatus and at different times has given to the industrial world a number of devices which have served to lighten and cheapen the labor and time involved in the older methods of performing a given piece of work, Elyria has been the home of Mr, Weller practically all his life. He was horn there. March 24, 1864, a son of John and Mary (McCollum) Weller. His father died in 1890 at the age of fifty-seven. The old Weller homestead is just north of the city, There George L. 'Weller grew to manhood, gained his early education in the public schools of Elyria, was also a student in Oberlin College for a time, and then attended that old and substantial institution for business training, the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, His father was a stone mason, and HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 671 from him he learned the same profession and that furnished him his chief means of livelihood until 1890. In the meantime, in 1889, he was appointed superintendent of the Elyria waterworks, and held that office consecutively for more than twenty years, until 1912. During the reconstruction of the waterworks after municipal ownership had been decided upon and while the pumping station was being constructed on the shores of Lake Erie, he did much work of the nature of civil engineering, and after having seen the new plant installed and in successful operation he resigned in 1912, and then went with Lorain,ional Tube Company at Lorain. There he has charge of everything in that big plant that runs by steam power. The steam boilers generate altogether about a quarMr, million horse-power, and Mr. Weller is the capable man who has the responsibility of keeping up to the highest point of efficiency all of this power making plant. Out of the originating genius of his own mind and his long experience in handling machinery, Mr. Weller filteringthe filters and the filterina process now for a number of years used in the Elyria waterworks. The value of this invention cost,e best told in terms of cost. When he became superintendent the company paid about nine dollars per million gallons for the filtering of water, but his new process reduced that cost to 50 centMr, million gallons. In 1912 Mr. Weller secured patents both in the United States and in Canada for what Meter,wn as the Weller Water Meter. Another' of his inventions is a channeling machine, used in stone quarrying, and this machine was one of the principal products manufactured by the Weller Engineeyears,ompany for a number of years. He has also invented and patented a number of other implements and processes used in stone quarries. He is one of the prominent members of the Lorain County Engineering Club, whose membership includes electrical, mechanical and steam engineers residing in this county. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and belongs to The Elyria Chamber of Crepublican, in politics is a republican. Mr. Weller was married July 19, 1893, to Miss Ida Alma Black of Vermilion, OhiBlack,ghter of John and Mary Black. They are the pC,,nts of two children : Jay C., who graduated from the Elyria high school in the class of 1912, and is now a studVileda,Oberlin College ; and Vileda. who is a member of the graduating class of 1917 in the ElAGEMANh school. ALBERT V. HAGEMAN. A V,tHagcman of Lorain, Albert V. Hageman has passed his entire career in this city, among whose business men by his learning, industry, ability and character he holds a high place, while he is no less valued in the community as a libcitizen,ded and enterprising citizen. During his business life here, Mr. Hageman's hands have taken hold of incipient enterprises and have guided them to success ; he has been honored by his associates with election to positions of trust not because of his self-seeking or importunity, but because such positions seek one who has sghown rare intelligence and fidelity in the mangement of his own affairs. Mr. Hageman was born at Lorain, October 12, 1871, and is a son of Conrad and Catherine (Claus) Hagman, natives of Germany, the father having come to this country in 1845 and settled in Ohio, where his subsequent career was passed in farming in the vicinity of Lorain. After attending the public schools of Lorain, Albert V. Hageman entered a commercial college at Oberlin, Ohio. where he completed a business course. His first position was that of bookkeeper for the Amherst Stone Quarries, where he remained three years, subsequently becoming clerk in the Lorain Savings Banking Company, in October. 1894. In 672 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY 1901 he was made secretary and treasurer of this institution, positions which he held until it was sold to the Cleveland Trust Company, in 1905, when Mr. Hageman was made manager of the new ownership and held that position until October, 1907, In 1897 he had been elected treasurer and general manager of the Black River Phone Company, which under his direction has grown and developed rapidly and now has 3,600 subscribers, Various other positions have been and are held by Mr. Hageman, He is president of the Amherst Home Telephone Company ; was one of the organizers of the Cleveland Life Insurance Company, of which he served as a director two years and then resigned ; was formerly a member of the advisory board of the Cleveland Trust Company ; was one of the purchasers of the Hoffman Heater Company when that company had failed, and assisted in bringing it to success, when he sold out his interests, in 1911; is a director of the Citizens Home and Savings Association and a member of the finance committee of that enterprise, and was one of the organizers of the Wickens Company, He has shown his faith in the future of Lorain and its industries by investing his means in realty and other holdings, and for some years has been the medium through which some large and important real estate transactions have been carried through, As a city servant he has ever been ready to do his full share toward advancing the community's welfare, and in 1915 his abilities were recognized by his appointment to the position of trustee of the Lorain Sinking Fund, He belongs to the Cleveland Athletic Club and is also well and favorably known in fraternal circles, being a Knight Templar and Shriner in Masonry, and a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Improved Order of Red Men, With his wife, he belongs to the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, at Lorain, in which he is serving as vestryman. Mrs, Hageman was formerly Eleanor M. Cunningham, of Clyde, Ohio. GEORGE P. WALTON, It is not every man who can leave, when called from earth prematurely, a successful and growing concern to his family. The Walton Ice Company at Elyria, regarded as one of the important institutions in the commercial district, is a monument to the energy and integrity of the late George P, Walton, and it is still carried on as a prosperous concern under the direct management of his family, While Mr. Walton deserves great credit for building up this flourishing enterprise, he is remembered not only for what he did in a material way but also for the genial personality, the kindly nature, and the public-spirited citizenship which were dominant qualities in his character all his life. There was one locality in the City of Elyria with which George P. Walton's career was identified more than any other, This was the place of his birth, and in a house which is now the family homestead and he himself assisted to construct, located on the same site, he passed away, The Walton home is at 671 East River Street, There George P, Walton was horn October 31, 1859, and he died January 4, 1912, when a little past fifty-two years of age. His parents, John and Catherine (Garrety) Walton were early settlers of Elyria, having established their home there in 1844, They came to Lorain County from Vineland, New Jersey, but John Walton was born in Northamptonshire, England, and his wife in Dublin, Ireland, Mrs, Catherine Walton died in Elyria thirteen years after the birth of her son George, John Walton was a brick-maker, worked at that trade for a number of years, but late in life became paralyzed and was helpless for several years before his death, which occurred in April, 1897, In the family were three sons and two daughters, all of them now deceased, In the environment which he knew from early childhood until the HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 673 close of his life, George P, Walton was reared, gained his education at Elyria, and when still a boy learned the butcher's trade from the late John Savage. He was employed in that line until 1893, and then took up the ice business, For a number of years he handled the natural product, and got his supply from Black River which in years gone by was the scene of ice cutting and gathering in all this section of Northern Ohio, He also operated a cider press at Coon's Mill, thus making his ice gathering operations. and cider making furnish alternate employment for the different seasons of the year. In the spring of 1911, about a year before he died, Mr, Walton erected an artificial ice plant on Winckles Street, and had the plant in full running order before his death. The immediate cause of his death was an injury to the foot occasioned by the falling of an iron bar at the ice plant, from which injury blood poison developed, and after an illness of six weeks he passed away. Mr, Walton had a host. of friends not only in Elyria but in all the surrounding country, and enjoyed success because of the fact that he was master of his business, Personally he was extremely popular, and the estimation in which he was held was well stated in the words expressed at the time of his death that "he was a big hearted, jolly, good natured man that it was a pleasure to meet." While always busy and doing something that was worth while, he was devoted to his home and family, and outside of business hours could usually be found within the family circle, As already stated, The Walton Ice Company is a family business, and the oldest child, Miss Florence M, Walton, has shown herself to be a splendid business woman and has assumed many of the responsibilities connected with the business since her father's death. Prior to that time she had kept the books of the company and thus acquired a considerable knowledge of its affairs, The artificial ice plant on Winckles Street has a daily capacity of fifteen tons of ice, and the ice is manufactured from distilled water, There is also storage space for 1,500 tons, and in 1915 the company erected a cold storage plant which furnishes facilities for the storage of fruit, eggs and butter, The company operates a number of wagons for supplying the local and family trade and the business is making rapid progress each year, Before his death George P, Walton was a member of the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association. His family are members of St. Mary's Catholic Church at Elyria, At St, Mary's Church on May 17, 1882, he and Miss Elizabeth C. Neipfoot were married, She was born on Sugar Ridge in Elyria Township, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Meyer) Neipfoot. Her mother was born in Germany, coming to this country with her parents when she was eleven years of age. The father was born in Saxony, Germany, came over when about twenty-six, was a cabinet maker for a number of years, but subsequently bought a farm on Sugar Ridge and looked after its operations the rest of his active life. The mother died on that farm December 10, 1894, and the father subsequently lived in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Walton, at Elyria, until his death, December 6, 1896, at the age of seventy-seven. Mrs, Walton was educated in St, Mary's Parochial School in Elyria. Mrs. Walton's five children are Florence M., Roland H,, Charles F,, Karl P, and Elmer W. All were born in the comfortable brick house at 671 East River Street, in which their father died, George P. Walton and his father and another man burnt the brick for the construction of this old residence. The children all attended St, Mary's Parochial School until they were about twelve years of age, and later continued their education in the public schools. Elmer, the youngest, is a member of the class of 1916 in the Elyria High School and is a capable young student, 674 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY showing a high average in all his classes. All. the children have been brought up with more or less familiarity with their father's business, taking an active part in its affairs, and its success and continued prosperity are largely due to the harmonious workings of the members of the Walton family. The son Roland H. is now the active manager of the company. He is affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Elyria Lodge No. 431 of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Elyria Lodge No, 778 of the Loyal Order of Moose, the Knights of St. John and the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, The son Karl P. is also affiliated with the Elyria Lodge of Elks. The Walton Ice Company as a business institution has membership in the Elyria Automobile Club. ANDREW W. DAVIDSON. In the rural districts the honors of politics are usually better bestowed on the basis of merit and qualifications than in the large city communities. At the present time the trustee of Camden Township is Andrew W, Davidson, who was first elected to that office in the fall of 1913 and was re-elected in 1915. Mr, Davidson has for years been recognized as one of the most substantial citizens in the Kipton community and is a man in whom his fellows place implicit confidence both for what he has done and for what he is, He was born in Russia Township of Lorain County, September 28, 1869, a son of Andrew and Martha (Edgar) Davidson, His 'father is the venerable Andrew Davidson, and the name of Davidson has for more than half a century been linked with the sterling qualities of industry and integrity in Lorain County. Andrew W. Davidson grew up on his father's farm in Camden Township, acquired an education in the local schools, and started out when quite young to make his own way in the world. With the sturdy discipline of the farm, he was able to fit in usefully in any employment to which he turned his hand, For seven and a half years he was in the butcher business at Kipton, and in 1902 bought a farm of eighty-eight acres, which has since been the principal object of his energy and ambition, He subsequently added fifty acres to his first purchase, but having sold twenty-five acres his estate now consists of 113 acres. In many ways he has improved his land, and for a number of years has conducted a small dairy, shipping considerable milk to the city centers. As a result of his growing prosperity Mr, Davidson was able in 1910 to put up a comfortable and commodious two-story frame house, and by home advantages and otherwise he has provided liberally for his family, He also put down a well on his land and has a sufficient supply of gas for domestic uses. In October, 1899, Mr. Davidson married Miss Elizabeth Geist, Her father, Adam Geist, was a native of Germany and when quite young came to Camden Township but is now living retired at Kipton. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson have four children: Mildred A., Earl E., Florence E,, and Melvin Howard, all of whom are at home and are getting their education in the Kipton schools. Mrs, Davidson is a member of the Disciples Church at Kipton. In politics Mr. Davidson has always affiliated with the democratic party. V. ADAIR, M. D. It is as a very capable and skillful physician and surgeon that Doctor Adair has contributed his best known and most useful services to the City of Lorain, where he established his home and office after an unusually thorough training for his life vocation. A native of Ohio, he was born at Winterset, December 1, 1882, a son of P, M, and Letitia A, (Johnston) Adair. His father was a farmer HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 675 and stock raiser, and the son grew up on a farm, attended country schools, finishing his literary training in the Muskingum College, and soon afterward entering the Starling Medical College at Columbus, where he was graduated with the degree M. D. in 1906, Doctor Adair before coming to Lorain had unusual opportunity for experience by the four years passed as assistant physician in the Massillon State Hospital, From there he came to Lorain, December 1, 1910, and has since enjoyed a very fine practice, and his capabilities were recognized in his appointment in May, 1914, as health officer for the City of Lorain, He is a member of the Lorain County and Ohio State Medical societies and the American Medical Association. Fraternally Doctor Adair is identified with the Masonic order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On October 8, 1913, he married Miss Mabel MacRae of West Bay, Novo Scotia, Canada. HON. LAERTES B. SMITH. The distinction gained by the late Judge Smith during his long career as a lawyer and man of affairs comprise an important addition to the many worthy associations of the name in Lorain County, His was one of the first families to make permanent homes in this section of Northern Ohio. The year 1914 was the centennial of the Smith family residence in this county, and it is due to the varied achievements of the family during the century as well as to the individual attainments of the late Judge Smith that the following brief history is offered for permanent record. This branch of the Smiths was long identified with New England and was of Puritan stock. The founder of the name in the wilds of Lorain County was Chiliab Smith, grandfather of the late Judge Smith. He was born in the colony of Connecticut, November 11, 1765, and died in 1840, his boyhood having been spent in the midst of the Revolutionary war, For a number of years his home was in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where he married Nancy Marshall, who was born January 19, 1765, and died December 5, 1824. In 1814, toward the close of the second war with England, they set out with their family for the old Western Reserve of Ohio, Wagons drawn by oxen conveyed them by tedious stages to the present site of Elyria, and from there they were five days in cutting a road through the heavy forest to their permanent place of settlement, where they arrived October 16, 1814. Their home was included in the territory which in April, 1817, was organized as Amherst Township. The land came into the Smith possession through a trade of eastern property with the Connecticut Land Company, Chiliab Smith was a tailor, and while looking after the work involved in clearing up a new tract of land he also gave his services to such of the pioneer families as required his skill in the cutting and fashioning of the homespun garments then almost universally worn, He was also an exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the absence of regular preachers or missionaries he held many meetings in his neighborhood and frequently the Smith home was the scene of a gathering for prayer and the reading of the gospel, When old age came upon him, grandfather Smith turned his farm over to his children, who also inherited the good name of one of the finest pioneer characters in Amherst Township. The Smith homestead was located on Little Beaver Creek, four miles west of the present City of Elyria, and the home was also employed for purposes as an inn, and was the first tavern in that locality. In the next generation was David Smith, who was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, March 20, 1797, and was a growing youth of seventeen when the family moved to Lorain County. In 1824 he mar- 676 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY ried Miss Fannie Barnes, She was born in Berkshire County, December 23, 1802. To their union were born nine children, six of whom reached maturity. David Smith was a man who lived at peace with his neighbors and accomplished a great deal in his quiet way. In politics he was a democrat. He died April 30, 1861. His wife survived until August, 1888. She was of the Presbyterian faith, and attended the congregation at Elyria until 1840. The third in his father's family, Laertes B. Smith was born in Amherst Township of Lorain County, September 21, 1828, and was sixty-nine when he died at Elyria, May 12, 1897. Though a lawyer for many years, his early experiences were all of the farm and mechanical trades. Educated in the common schools of his native township, he left the farm at twenty-one to learn the trade of harness-maker, which he followed for several years as his chief means of livelihood, At twenty-five he accepted employment in a hardware store at LaPorte, Indiana, and lived there about five years, His commercial experience had not entirely satisfied him, and on returning to Lorain County in 1858 he began to prosecute his law studies as vigorously as circumstances would permit, The firm with which he studied was Vincent & Sheldon in Elyria. Admitted to the bar in 1860, he began his practice with the same firm. During the following year Mr. Vincent retired, leaving Sheldon and Smith together, but soon after the outbreak of the war the former went into the army. The next year he formed a partnership with Judge W, W. Boynton, the venerable lawyer and jurist, who remains as one of the oldest figures in the Lorain County bar. They were in practice together about four years. In June, 1871, Mr. Smith was appointed probate judge of Lorain County to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John W, Steele, and by subsequent elections his services were continued in that capacity until February, 1882, more than eleven years. It was often remarked that the widow and orphan had a firm and just friend as long as Judge Smith was on the probate bench, For the greater part of his remaining years Judge Smith performed the duties of justice of the peace in addition to his private law practice, He was not only well known but had hosts of warm friends throughout the county, His marriage occurred December 26, 1871, Mrs, Smith, who is still living in Elyria, bore the maiden name of Margaret Smyth. She was formerly from Ontario County, New York. To their marriage were born seven children, four of whom are still living: Mrs, S, H, Squire, of Elyria Mrs. A. B, Taylor, of Elyria; Frank C,, who is now city editor of the Elyria Evening Telegram; Mrs. Frank T. Horan, of Elyria. Leroy B. died in 1907 in New Mexico. In politics the late Judge Smith was a. democrat until Civil war times, after which he was firmly allied with the republicans, WESLEY L. GRILLS. Another of the native sons of Lorain County who is doing much toward upholding the high standard of the bar of the county and who is one of the representative young members of his profession in the City of Lorain, is he whose name introduces this review and who has here built up an excellent general practice, In numerous litigated cases of important order, in both criminal and civil departments of practice, he has tested and proved his power as a resourceful and efficient trial lawyer, and as a counselor he has shown himself well fortified. He subordinates all other interests to the demands of his. profession and continues a close and appreciative student of the involved science of jurisprudence. On his father's well-improved homestead farm, in Carlisle Township, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 677 Lorain County, Mr, Grills was born on the 6th of February, 1885, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Grant) Grills, who still maintain their home on the farm and who are well known and highly honored citizens of this section of the state. In the public schools of the City of Elyria Mr, Grills pursued his youthful studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school, and thereafter he attended the literary department of the great University of Chicago for four years. In preparation for the profession in which he has achieved marked success and prestige, he entered the law department of Western Reserve University, in the City of Cleveland, where he completed the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class in 1911, his admission to the bar of his native state being virtually coincident with his reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In June, 1911, he opened an office in the City of Cleveland, Ohio, and there remained until June, 1913, when he opened an office in the City of Lorain, where his ability, close application and personal popularity caused his professional novitiate to be of brief duration, as he soon developed a substantial practice, to which he has since continued to give his close attention, with a clientage of representative order, He is a member of the Lorain County Bar Association, is a republican in his political allegiance, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the chivalric degrees, a member of Lorain Commandery, Knights Templars. He holds membership also in the local organizations of the Knights of Pythias and other fraternal organizations, and is affiliated with the Phi Alpha Delta college fraternity, On the 18th of October, 1911, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Grills to Miss Virginia Morehouse, of Elyria, she likewise being a native of Lorain County, where she was reared and educated, and their only child is a winsome little daughter, Ida Virginia, REV. SAMUEL L. STEWART, D. D. On other pages of this work will be found an interesting article on "Methodism in Elyria," the author of which is Dr, Stewart, pastor of the First Methodist Church of Elyria, Dr. Stewart has spent nearly twenty years in the active ministry of the Methodist Church in Ohio, and is well known not only for his power and influence as a preacher, but also as one of the able constructive workers in church development. Samuel Lemen Stewart was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, November 24, 1870. His father, Robert Stewart, spent his life in Guernsey County as a farmer, and also saw active service during the Civil war in the Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The mother, whose maiden name was Emiline Ferguson, has also been a resident of Guernsey County most of her life. e It was the public schools of Guernsey County that gave Doctor Stewart his early education, and from those he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at. Delaware, where his work gained him several degrees, He was graduated A. B, in 1894, received the Master of Arts degree in 1896, and his alma mater conferred upon him the degree Doctor of Divinity in 1913, In 1896 Doctor Stewart was graduated S. T. B. from the Boston University School of Theology, and immediately after graduation joined the North Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a member of the North Ohio Conference until it was merged with the East Ohio Conference, making the Northeast Ohio Conference the largest body under conference organization in all Methodism. In the course of his active ministry Doctor Stewart has held pastorates at. Chicago Junction, Clyde, and for six years before taking the pastorate of the First Methodist Church of 678 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Elyria in September, 1911, Was pastor of the First Methodist Church at Mansfield. While at Mansfield his successful work was signalized by the erection of a church edifice costing $85,000. Doctor Stewart has been an active member of the church since 1882. On September 2, 1896, at West Lafayette, Ohio, he married Miss Margaret Rogers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs, J. L, Rogers, lifelong residents of Coshocton County. Her mother's father was Judge James Burt, one of the early settlers of Coshocton County. Mrs, Stewart is also descended from Morris Fought, who was a soldier in the American Revolution. To their marriage have been born four children: Ruth Evangeline, Paul Rogers, Mildred Margaret, and James Robert Stewart. ROBERT GEORGE ANDERSON, M. D, In 1915 Doctor Anderson concluded his twentieth year of consecutive practice as a physician and surgeon at Elyria. There is abundant testimony of his ability and standing as a physician in his large private practice, his influential associations with the local profession, and the general esteem paid him as a man and citizen, Though Elyria has been the scene of all his work and experience as a professional man, Doctor Anderson was born on a farm in the Province of Ontario, Canada, May 25, 1868, and lived in Canada until coming to Elyria, His parents, Archibald and Mary (Burns) Anderson were Protestant people from the north of Ireland, came with their respective families to America, and Archibald Anderson cleared away the forest from a traet of land and developed a good farm home in Ontario, where he lived many years and died at the age of seventy-eight in July, 1895, It was on this farm that Doctor Anderson spent his boyhood, acquiring the equivalent of a high school education, and after some varied experience in paying his own way finally entered Trinity Medical College, now the Toronto Medical College, where he was graduated in 1895, A few months later he was in Elyria and began practice on the West Side, For twenty years now he has given his professional service to a widening circle of patrons and has also been actively identified with The Elyria Memorial Hospital as a member of its medical staff since it was opened,. Doctor Anderson is a member of The Lorain County Medical Society, The Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and in Masonry is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No, 56. Free and Accepted Masons, and Marshall Chapter No, 47, Royal Arch Masons, He married Miss Laura E. Ferguson, who was born in Toronto, Canada. Their children are Eva Louise and George Bertram, MARK A. WHITNEY, Representing one of the oldest and most substantial family names of Pittsfield Township, Mark A, Whitney was for many years a prosperous farmer in that locality of Lorain County, and is now engaged in the grain business at Oberlin. He was born on a farm in Pittsfield Township November 22, 1869, a son of Mark and Cordelia K. (Gifford) Whitney. The grandfather, Joseph Whitney, was a native of Rutland, Vermont, and about 1836 pioneered into Lorain County and acquired a tract of land in Pittsfield Township. The maternal grandparents were Cornelius and Hannah (Nye) Gifford, the former born at Lee, Massachusetts, and passing away at a. great old age November 13, 1900, while his wife was born November 17, 1782. at Columbus, New York, The Gifford family established a home in Lorain County in 1833. Mark Whitney, father of Mark A,, was born in Rutland, Vermont, in 1818, and died in 1882. His wife was born in Columbus. New York, April 5, 1825, and died March 10, 1916, at the age of ninety years, eleven months and five days. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 679 Mark and Cordelia Whitney were married in Pittsfield Township April 27, 1848. He had come to Lorain County when eighteen years of age and was a man above the average in education and reading and one of the leading farmers of the township, Though with little capital to start on he acquired a good estate, and built a fine brick residence which at the time was one of the best in Pittsfield Township, He spent his last years in Oberlin. Mark A. Whitney was the fifth in a family of six children. He acquired his early education in the schools of Oberlin, also took a business course there, and made farming the first object of his effective endeavors, He prosecuted his industry in that line until 1905, when he moved to Oberlin, having sold his farm, and has since enjoyed the comforts of a good home in the college city. For two years he was in the carriage and implement business with 0. E. Peabody, Since April, 1911, he has been associated with Mr, C. W, Ward in the grain business and they have one of the principal establishments in that line in this part of Lorain County. In October, 1893, Mr. Whitney married Miss Lula Avery, daughter of William Avery, a well known Lorain County citizen who was born in Pittsfield Township where his father, Carlos Avery, was one of the first settlers. Mr, and Mrs, Whitney have one adopted child, Alice Mills. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge, the Royal Arch Chapter and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, As a republican he served for a number of years as clerk of his home township. WILLIAM ANDREW HISCOX, To his present duties as county superintendent of Lorain County's schools, Mr. Hiscox has brought a broad range of experience as a capable educator, and from the time he taught his first country school near Lisbon, Ohio, has lived in almost constant association with his duties as a school man. Born at Lisbon, Ohio, he is the son of Joseph and Rose Anna (Fife) Hiscox, both of whom are now deceased, His father was born at Bradford-on-the-Avon in England, the son of John Hiscox, who brought the family to America and settled at Lisbon, Ohio, when Joseph was three years of age, Grandfather Hiscox died at Lisbon, and his wife at Hicksville, Ohio, Grandfather Hiscox was a weaver in England, but after coming to Ohio settled on a farm, did a great deal of the pioneer work of clearing and lived there the rest of his days. Mr. Hiscox's mother was born at Lisbon, her parents having come from Germany when young and married in Ohio and spent most of their lives around Lisbon. Joseph Hiscox likewise spent his active career as a farmer at Lisbon, and died there March 12, 1906, being survived by his wife until April 6, 1915. W. A. Hiscox spent his early life on a farm, learned its duties and shared in its toils, and laid the foundation of his education in the common schools of Lisbon. His higher education was acquired in the Northeastern Ohio Normal, from which he was graduated Bachelor of Science in the class of 1892, and in 1910 he was given the degree Master of Science by Baldwin University. His first work as a teacher was done in Center Township near Lisbon, where he taught about four years. Of his more important service in administrative positions, Mr. Hiscox was superintendent of schools at Washingtonville, Ohio, six years; at Grafton, Ohio, six years ; at LaGrange, Ohio, two years ; at Waterford, Pennsylvania, four years ; and at New Cumberland, West Virginia, two years, He also taught in the Wooster University Summer School for nine summers, On July 20, 1914, Mr. Hiscox was elected county superintendent of 680 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY schools in Lorain County, and on June 1, 1915, was re-elected for a term of two years. He is a hard working and enthusiastic educator, and has done much to increase the efficiency of both the personnel and of the organization of the local schools under his supervision. While not a farmer in the practical sense, Mr. Hiscox owns a place of fifty acres near Lisbon in Columbiana County. He is a republican, and fraternally is affiliated with the lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Washingtonville, in which he is a past grand, and is a member of Lodge No. 399, Free & Accepted Masons, at LaGrange, Ohio. At Elyria he belongs to The Elyria Chamber of Commerce and is active in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church of that city. At his old home Town of Lisbon November 24, 1892, Mr, Hiscox married Miss Ella S, Lindesmith, daughter of Jacob and Nancy Linde-smith, who were old settlers of Columbiana County, Her father died there in August, 1892, and her mother now lives at Malvern, Ohio. Mrs. Hiscox was educated in the rural schools of Columbiana County, To their marriage have been born three children : Ethel May Hiscox was graduated from the New Cumberland High School in West Virginia in 1913, taught the following year in the fourth grade at Weirton, West Virginia, and then entered Oberlin College, where she completed her freshman year in 1915. Harold W. Hiscox, the second child, is now a junior in the Elyria High School, while Norman L., the youngest, is in the seventh grade of the public schools. The daughter was born at Washingtonville, Ohio, while the sons are natives of Grafton, Ohio, ELISHA M. PIERCE, One of the men most prominent in making Lorain an industrial center is Elisha M, Pierce, whose influence can be traced through the principal financial, manufacturing and other business concerns that have their headquarters in that city. He is president of the Lorain Casting Company and is treasurer of the Thew Automatic Shovel Company, these being perhaps the two largest plants at Lorain, except the National Tube Works, Some facts regarding the Thew Automatic Shovel Company will be found on other pages. The Lorain Casting Company was organized in November, 1906, with a capital of $100,000. Its first officers were : Elisha M, Pierce, president ; Richard Thew, vice president ; F. A, Smythe, secretary. During the first year about fifteen men were employed in the firm, while now the average payroll includes about fifty. The present officers are Mr. Pierce, president and treasurer ; and Richard Thew vice president and secretary, The company has an average output of about 175 tons of castings each month. The main building plant is 110x130 feet ; pattern house, 40x90-feet storage' house 20x24 feet; and the office building a two story structure 25x25 feet, Elisha M. Pierce was born at York, Medina. County, Ohio, June 26, 1845. His parents were Thompson and Harriet (Little ) Pierce, both of whom were born at Peru, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Grandfather Levi Pierce brought his family to the Western Reserve of Ohio in 1836, locating in Medina County, The maternal grandfather was Samuel Little, who came to Medina County about the same time, Educated in the schools of Medina County and at Oberlin College, Elisha M, Pierce began his career as a telegraph operator at his native town of York. He next became station agent for the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad Company at Uhrichsville, but in the spring of 1880 came to Lorain to take charge of the Tuscarawas Valley Coal Company. In 1882, resuming railroad work, he took charge of the terminals of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling, and only resigned that important responsibility in 1907, In the meantime he had identified himself in many ways with other HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 681 institutions in Lorain, He assisted in organizing the Lorain Savings & Banking Company, of which he was president until 1905, when it was succeeded by the Lorain Banking Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer. In 1908 he became secretary and treasurer of the Thew Automatic Shovel Company, He helped promote the Black River Telephone Company and became president of the company on its organization and still holds that office. From 1887 he was agent for the trustee of the Black River Land Company, On the organization of the Lorain Chamber of Commerce, now known as the Board of Commerce, he became its president, and has also served as president of the Lorain Library Association, as president of the Young Men's Christian Association, was for six years president of the Lorain School Board and for eight years a member of the city council and also president of that body for a time. Considering these various activities and relationships, there is no question that his public spirited influence has been one of the large factors in making the town. By his marriage to Almira Penfield, who died in 1887, he has two daughters: Marian F. is the wife of Thomas M, Duncan, postmaster of Bridgeport, Belmont County, Ohio, and they have one child, Mary Margaret, Inez J,, at home, is a graduate of Lake Erie College and has for the past eight years been connected with the work of the Cleveland Day Nursery and Free Kindergarten Association, The second wife of Mr. Pierce was Mary Penfield, a sister of Almira. She died January 7, 1916. Both were daughters of Samuel Penfield, who was born in New York State and came as a boy to Lorain County, the Penfields having been the first settlers in Penfield Township. Lorain County, the town taking its name from that family. A local publication in writing of the death of Mrs. Pierce paid the following tribute : "Mrs, Mary Penfield Pierce, wife of E. M. Pierce, secretary and treasurer of the Thew Automatic Shovel Co,, and one of Lorain's best known women, died at 2 o'clock this afternoon at her home, 103 Arkansas Avenue, "Death came after an illness of a few days, She was seized with an attack of pneumonia Saturday. Weakened heart action aided the disease in ending her earthly existence. "Probably no other woman in Lorain carried on greater work of a charitable nature than Mrs. Pierce, Her charity to a large extent was accomplished quietly and without the knowledge of even her most intimate acquaintances. In addition she was prominently identified with the Lorain Associated Charities and its work. "As a member of the First Congregational church Mrs, Pierce participated prominently in the religious life of the city, She was first vice president of the Congregational Women's Association, taught a class in the Sunday school for many years and was otherwise identified with the work of the church. "In club life of the city Mrs, Pierce was equally as prominent, She was a charter member of the Wimodaughsis club. On the 20th anniversary of the club to be celebrated next April she was the scheduled hostess. Her club affiliations also included the Round Table and Colonial clubs, "Mrs. Pierce was a native of Lorain county, having been born in Oberlin 67 years ago, Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Penfield, were pioneers of the county, Early in her womanhood she taught school in the southern part of the county. In 1889 she was united in marriage to Mr. Pierce, She had been a resident of Lorain since 1880, "The surviving members of the family include her husband, E, M, Pierce, two daughters, Mrs. T. M. Duncan, of Bridgeport, O., and Miss Inez J. Pierce, of Lorain, a sister, Mrs, M. W, Smith, of Shelby, Mich., and a granddaughter, Miss Duncan, of Bridgeport," 682 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY JAMES B. SEWARD. What The Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Company of Elyria represents as one of the chief financial organizations of Lorain County is made a matter of comment for other pages. Its officers and directors probably constitute the most influential group of business men in the entire county, and among those that could be singled out for individual personal mention is the cashier, James B. Seward, who has been identified with the institution nearly fifteen years, and is now its trusted and efficient cashier. Born at Elyria December 23, 1869, Mr, Seward is a son of Thomas and Esther (Colgan) Seward, who, as old settlers of Elyria, are further mentioned on other pages of this publication in the biography of D, W. Seward. James B, Seward grew up at Elyria, attended the parochial and public schools, and after considerable experience and training in various commercial lines established his first independent venture in the grocery and provision trade under the name of Seward & Goldberg. This firm was located on West Broad Street for about seven years, On March 19, 1901, Mr. Seward entered The Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Company, and soon made his ability appreciated and recognized in that institution. On January 1, 1914, he was made cashier, and now has a very important share in handling the large business of that bank. Politically Mr. Seward is a democrat, is a member of The Elyria Chamber of Commerce, is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and his church home is St, Mary's Catholic. On October 2, 1900, at Elyria, he married Miss Mary Helen Farrell, daughter of the late M. J. Farrell, who was a pioneer hotel man at Elyria. Mrs. Seward is an accomplished musician, and is well known both in musical and social circles in Elyria, They are the parents of four children, Mary, Frank, Edward J. and Catherine Seward, THOMAS JAMES HUME. Among the followers of any of the leading trades, no better recommendation may be secured than employment by a reliable firm and the possession of the trust and confidence of their employers, Since May, 1914, Thomas James Hume has been identified with the well known contracting firm of L, A, Burgett & Company, at Lorain, where through ability and fidelity he has won standing for himself as a master workman and as a young man of ability and enterprise who will accomplish much in the line of his chosen calling, Mr. Hume was born at Cuylerville, Livingston County, New York, April 26, 1886, and is a son of James and Bridget (McKinnon) Hume, His parents, lifelong residents of that county, were farming people and Thomas J, was reared in an agricultural atmosphere, his education being secured in the public schools, As a youth he displayed a mechanical bent, preferring work with tools to the tilling of the soil, and accordingly he was placed with a carpenter to learn the trade, which he mastered thoroughly and in a due length of time began to work as a journeyman carpenter. Subsequently he spent some years in the East, but in May, 1914, came to Lorain, Ohio, where he secured a position with the firm of L. A, Burgett & Company, one of the leading contracting concerns in this part of Ohio, During his connection with this company, Mr. Hume has been engaged in work on some of the leading structures erected at Lorain, particularly school buildings, in the erection of which the firm specializes. In this connection he was one of the force which built the new Lorain High School, in 1915, a $275,000 edifice which is one of the finest of its kind in the state. Mr, Hume is a young man of energy and industry, of pleasing address and courteous manner, and since his arrival at Lorain has succeeded in attracting to himself a large number of friends, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 683 Mr. Hume was married first to Miss Florence Burroughs, who died leaving one child—Elmer Thomas, who was born April 8, 1912. On June 2, 1915, Mr. Hume was again married, being united with Miss Blondena U. Burgett, of Lorain, daughter of L. A. and Josephine B. (Miller) Burgett, Mr. Burgett is one of the leading contractors and builders of Lorain County, and president of the firm of L, A. Burgett & Company. Mr, and Mrs. Hume are members of Saint Mary's Catholic Church. C. W. WARD, Of the business firms now in active service at Oberlin, one of the best known is that of Ward & Whitney, grain merchants and elevator men. The senior member of this firm, C. W. Ward, was originally a farmer, comes of one of the old families of Pittsfield Township, but for the past ten years has been very prosperously engaged in the grain business and is one of the leading citizens of Oberlin, He was born in Pittsfield Township of Lorain County June 28, 1866, a soil of William F. and Susan M, (Graves) Ward, The Ward family was established in Lorain County more than eighty years ago when Grandfather James R. Ward, a native of Vermont, moved to Ohio and bought a farm in Pittsfield Township, on which he spent the rest of his days. He was a real pioneer, had the virtues of the typical New Englander, and was one of the men who helped to develop Lorain County during its formative period. Mr. Ward's maternal grandfather, Lynam Graves, a native of New York State, moved in pioneer times to Bath, Ohio, later to Royalton, and finally to LaGrange in Lorain County, where he died. William F, Ward was born in Rutland, Vermont, April 15, 1828, and was still a lad when he was brought to Ohio. He grew up and received his education in Pittsfield Township, and spent all his active career as a farmer until about twenty years before his death, after which he lived somewhat retired in Oberlin. His death occurred August 14, 1911. In 1861 at Sullivan, Ohio, he married Miss Graves, who was born at Bath, Ohio, October 11, 1836, and died February 25, 1905, William F. Ward was a democrat in politics and was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are the parents of five children: Frank D., a dealer of horses at Goshen, New York ; C, W, Ward ; Edith M., wife of Albert Chadwick, of Watertown, New York : Mary E., wife of George Winnie, a machinist at Rochester, New, York ; and Flora M,, wife of Herbert B. Hineline, a machinist at Toledo. Mr. C. W. Ward spent his early days on a farm in Pittsfield Township, and acquired a common school education. When he started out in life it was with practically no capital and he worked at farm labor and in other ways until he could get a start, He remained a practical farmer in Lorain County until 1905, in which year he established himself in the grain trade at Oberlin, He now handles a large business in grain, hay and feed and is associated with Mr. M, A, Whitney under the firm style of Ward & Whitney, On January 14, 1903, Mr. Ward married Frances Whitney, daughter of Silas Whitney, and a member of one of the oldest families of Lorain County. Her father was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and was brought to Pittsfield Township in Lorain County in 1834. The father of Silas Whitney acquired a tract of 1,600 acres of land in Pittsfield Township, all in one body, and of this he gave 100 acres to Thomas Wait for assisting him in making the settlement and clearing the land, Grandfather Whitney was one of the first settlers in Pittsfield Township, and both he and his son, Silas, spent the rest of their days there, Silas Whitney was the owner of a farm of 201 acres and was quite Vol. II— 9 684 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY prominent during his lifetime, both as a farmer and as a public spirited citizen. For years he held the office of justice of the peace, was township trustee, and used his means and encouraged wherever possible substantial improvements. Mr. and Mrs, Ward are members of the Pittsfield Congregational Church, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a democrat. SAMUEL B. RAWSON, Judged by the fruits of his career, the late Samuel Bela Rawson of Elyria was one of the prominent constructive Americans of the past century, and his reputation in business affairs was by no means confined to one locality, though his home from birth to death was in Lorain County. By exercise of his native qualities of unusual activity and earnest endeavor, he rose unaided to a foremost place in the telephone business of the United States. Born in Elyria October 19, 1848, almost sixty years later he died at his home in the same city April 9, 1908, His earliest American ancestor was one of the grantees of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and served as second town clerk and registrar of Boston. Bela Rawson and Harriet Nichols, the parents of the late Samuel B, Rawson, were born within eight miles of each other near Watertown, New York, but first formed their acquaintance in Lorain County. Bela Rawson was a. successful farmer for many years in Pittsfield Township, and of his seven children the late Samuel B., the second in age, was the first to die, The oldest son, Arthur B,, died at Elyria in December, 1909. The other children were : Bird, Ora, Mrs, Frankie Bath, Mrs, Alice Root, and Mrs, Ella Gleason. About 1854 the Rawson family moved to Pittsfield Township, and Samuel B, Rawson, who was then six years of age, grew up in a rural environment. At the age of fourteen he left the public schools to begin the study of medicine, The death of his preceptor changed his plans, and fortunately for him, since his inclinations and talents were for practical and mechanical affairs. He learned the tinner's trade, and almost by nature could be considered 'an inventor. He combined the genius of the inventor with the care and expertness of the trained mechanic, `and also with the broad judgment and executive ability of one who developed important enterprises, At the age of nineteen he returned to Elyria, and lived in that city more than forty years. For a time he was a "fickler in the Garford works, and at one time conducted a large laundry. However, it was in the telephone field that he chiefly distinguished himself, He made some improvements of a practical nature on the telephone apparatus, took out patents and, securing capital, organized the Rawson Manufacturing Company, which started in a small way to manufacture telephones that represented the Rawson patent and ideas, In order to secure a market for his goods Mr. Rawson branched out in the organization of independent telephone companies, and that subsequently became his chief scope of activities, Out of the original business which he established at Elyria grew the Dean Electric Company of Elyria, which took its name from W, W, Dean, a prominent capitalist of Chicago, but in which Mr. Rawson was president. He was also president of the Rawson Electric Company, the American Construction & Trading Company of Elyria and the Independent Union Telephone Company, which a few years ago transferred its business from Elyria to Albany, New York, Mr, Rawson was also a director in a number of independent telephone companies in New York State, including the following : Niagara County Home Telephone Company: Interstate HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 685 Telephone Company of Little Falls ; Seneca County Home Telephone Company ; Schenectady Home Telephone Company ; Albany Home Telephone Company ; Cohoes-Waterford Home Telephone Company at Co-hoes ; Watervliet-Green Island Home Telephone Company of Watervliet, New York ; West Shore Home Telephone Company at Catskill ; and Citizens Standard Telephone Company at Kingston. The memory with which Mr. Rawson's name will always be cherished in Elyria was due not only to his large business accomplishment but also to his spirit of public enterprise and his work and support in the foundation of worthy charity, He took a very deep interest in the establishment of the Memorial Hospital at Elyria, was one of the projectors of the institution, and selected the splendid site which the hospital occupies. He was one of the incorporators and was chairman of its building committee at the time of his death, He contributed liberally to churches and other local institutions, belonged to the Men's Club of the Congregational Church and was active in fraternal affairs. He was affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No, 56, Free and Accepted Masons; was a charter member of Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar ; was a charter member of Elyria Lodge No, 456, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and a past exalted ruler ; and also a member of Elyria Chapter No, 165, Order of Eastern Star, In 1870 Mr. Rawson married Miss Mary A. Roe, daughter of William Roe of Elyria. Her death occured a few months after their marriage. In June, 1872, he married Miss Faustina Biggers, Mrs. Rawson, who for a number of years has been one of the social leaders of Elyria, was born at Fairview, Pennsylvania, daughter of William and Helen M. (Payson) Biggers, and a granddaughter of Samuel and Betsey (Colt) Biggers. Mrs. Rawson has one daughter, Helen Doris, who on December 23, 1914, married Mr, Paul H. White of Cleveland. During the life of her husband Mrs. Rawson made her home a center for the cultured hospitality of Elyria, In recent years she has given her attention to many charitable and social organizations, and has a breadth of sympathy as large as the world itself, She was one of the seven incorporators of the Old Ladies' Home at Elyria, and for several years a trustee. She has .been a member of the auxiliary board of the Memorial Hospital since its organization, and a few years ago furnished a room at the hospital in memory of Mr. Rawson, She is a member of St.' Andrew's Episcopal Church. Perhaps she is best known over the country at large for her work in women's organizations of a fraternal nature. In the Eastern Star she was secretary three years, worthy matron three years, Electa two years of the Elyria chapter, was Grand Martha of the Grand Chapter of the State of Ohio in 1904, and represented the State of Wyoming until 1912 and prior to that had represented the State of Minnesota. She has been identified with the Woman's Relief Corps many years, has been president of the Twelfth District of that organization three years, and in 1915 was the national delegate representing that district of four counties in Northern Ohio at the general convention in Washington, She was also national delegate at Cincinnati in 1899, At the present time Mrs. Rawson is the oldest member in point of years of association in the Daughters of Rebekah, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in Lorain County. She is also a member of Palestine Shrine No, 2, the White Shrine of Jerusalem, at Cleveland, an organization affiliated with the Eastern Star, She has attained some of the highest posts in the Ladies of the Maccabees of the World, and at the fourth biennial review of that organization, held at Port Huron, Michigan, July 16-19, 1901, she was one of the five representatives selected in the State of Ohio and was appointed and sent as 686 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY supreme representative of the Supreme Hive, chosen in place of Mrs. Emma S. Olds, the great commander, who had only recently left the hospital after .a serious illness and was unable to perform her official duties, Thus many honors have been bestowed upon this Elyria woman, and they have always come unsolicited. Mrs, Rawson has well been characterized as a woman of sweet dignity and broad charity, and enjoys the love and esteem of an entire community, E. E. SPERRY. One of the most progressive citizens of Oberlin, where for the past fifteen years he has handled a large amount of the local grocery trade, Mr. Sperry has been a strenuous worker since early youth, having started out on his own account without capital and relying upon industry and efficiency to advance him in the world, and as a result of his effort's in the past he is now able to take life somewhat leisurely, Born in Chautauqua. County, New York, April 29, 1861, he is a son of Roland and Mary (Cowles) Sperry, Both parents were natives of New York State, and the grandfather, Merritt Sperry, was an early settler in Herkimer County, New York, and a. well-to-do farmer there, His parents came from Connecticut to New York and practically all the Sperrys in America are descended from one or other of three brothers who came from England to the United States early in 1600. Mr. Sperry's maternal grandfather, Darius Cowles, spent all his life in New York State as a farmer. Roland Sperry was born in 1833 and died in 1910, and in 1858 married Miss Cowles, who was born in 1837 and is still living. Roland Sperry was an active farmer, spent most of his career in New York, but in 1901 moved to Oberlin and lived retired until his death. E. E, Sperry has one brother, Merritt D., who is also in the grocery business at Oberlin, Their mother is a member of the Baptist grocery and their father was an active prohibitionist. E. E. Sperry received his early education in Chautauqua County, attended the high school at Panama, New York, where he was graduated in 1879, and soon afterwards took up telegraphy as a profession and for fully twenty years was an operator, largely in the western states. In 1886 he moved out to the vicinity of Kansas City and followed his work with several different lines of railway and in several western states, On coming to Oberlin in 1901 he established himself in the grocery business, and has since had an ample share in the rewards paid to local merchants. During the last. session of the State Senate of Ohio Mr. Sperry served as postmaster, In 1890 he married Miss Martha Hilbert, who was born in Eastern Pennsylvania. Their three children are : Walter, now a junior in Oberlin College Mary, in the freshman year at Oberlin and Charles, attending the grade schools. Mrs. Sperry is a. member of the Baptist Church. He is a republican in politics, has served as a member of the board of elections, as clerk of the school board, and never fails to take a progressive part in all local affairs. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order and with the lodge of Elks at Elyria. CLEMON H. SNOW. Through practically all his life Mr. Snow has been a resident of Lorain County, His record shows that he has been a citizen of varied usefulness, and altogether a vigorous and independent man though working with and for the best interests of community life. He has had the courage of his convictions, and has had the rare fortune to keep an unbiased mind and judgment while effectively identifying himself with those departments of life which require co-operation and loyalty, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 687 His birth occurred September 22, 1848, in the southeastern corner of Avon Township of Lorain County. His birthplace was a log house on the east side of what is now known as the Snow Road, His parents were Edwin Snow and Julia Lewis, This is one of the oldest families in Northeastern Ohio, and the immediate ancestry is also directly related with some of the earliest American settlers, The Snows came to America from England prior to 1640, settling in Massachusetts. Franklin Snow, father of Edwin, emigrated from Beckett in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, to Portage County, Ohio, about 1806 or 1807. That was several years before the second war with Great Britain, and only a few years after Ohio became a state, Edwin Snow was born in Ohio in 1809. His wife, Julia Lewis, was born near Warsaw in Wyoming County, New York, April 7, 1818, and died April 5, 1905, at a very venerable age, The Lewis ancestors came to America in the year 1632. The famous explorer Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, which was sent out by President Jefferson to explore the upper valleys of the Missouri River in the Louisiana Purchase, was a near relative to Julia Lewis' ancestors, She was one of a family of ten children, and all of them reached advanced years. The earliest recollections of Clemson H, Snow are identified with that splendid agricultural and civic community known as Avon Township. He attended both the common and high schools of that township, spent two terms in the Elyria public schools, and for about six terms was a student in Oberlin College, However, he did not pursue his college course to graduation. He early showed a proficiency in mathematics and in the exact sciences, and in 1872, when a young man of twenty-four, secured a position as assistant to J. M, Ackley, who was then county surveyor of Cuyahoga County, He continued with him during the seasons of 1872 and 1874, Then followed a period of about ten years during which his chief vocation was farming, though he was employed frequently making surveys and in general civil engineering work. Mr. Snow's chief public service, by which he will be best remembered in Lorain County, was his long record as county surveyor and city engineer of Elyria, In June, 1886, he was appointed county surveyor to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of E. C. Kinney, and in November of the same year he was elected to the office for a three-year term beginning in January, 1887. In November, 1889, he was re-elected to the same office, to which he gave six years and six months, While serving as county surveyor he was appointed in 1887 city engineer of Elyria, and for a number of years carried on both offices. In January, 1893, his last term as county surveyor terminated, though he continued in the service of the county for about a year longer. During the next ten years he was kept in the office of city engineer, and his service in that position covered a period of sixteen years. Practically all the important improvements in Elyria up to the year 1903 were planned and carried out by Mr. Snow. In addition to his long-continued service in these two offices he also served as a member of the Board of Education of Elyria. It is noteworthy that throughout his entire career Mr. Snow has been an independent in politics, and held that attitude at a time when party loyalty and regularity were much more strongly insisted 'upon than at present, He has at the same time affiliated with the republican party, but has not considered himself bound to its policies, and has never been in sympathy with its tariff principles. In 1912 he gave his vote to Woodrow Wilson for president, Mr. Snow is essentially a "peace" man and not only in recent years but has always shown an implacable hatred of anything and everything pertaining to war. He belongs to 688 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY no secret society, but is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and for forty years has been identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his native locality of Avon Township on May 24, 1880, he married Miss Mary M, Sweet, Her father was Calvin Sweet, whose father in turn was one of the first settlers in Avon, having located there in the year 1817, As the history of that community shows, most of the prominent early pioneers came just about that time, and the permanence of the Sweet family is indicated by the fact that some of the land which the pioneer acquired nearly a century ago is still in the possession of his descendants. To Mr, and Mrs. Snow were born two children : Franklin Chadwick Snow, born December 26, 1882, has for the past seven years been professor of civil engineering in the Montana State College, and in December, 1906, married Lorena Gilbert, Bricena A. Snow, the only daughter, was born March 16, 1891, is a graduate of the Elyria High School, and is an accomplished musician; she is still living with her parents at their home in Elyria. FRED J. PENNEY. For many years the name Penney has been familiarly known in business circles at Lorain, and has been chiefly identified with the coal and builders' supply trade. Fred J. Penny now has extensive yards and a large amount of capital invested in coal and other necessary commodities, with plant and yards at 1463 Broadway, He is one of the younger and very enterprising business men of Lorain County. Born at Port Huron, Michigan, June 23, 1875, he is a son of Daniel J, and Catherine (McDonald) Penney, who moved from Michigan to Lorain, Ohio, in the fall of 1891. Daniel Penney was for many years engaged in the coal and building supply business at Lorain and his son Fred grew up in the business, and is now sole proprietor, the concern having been conducted under his individual name as F. J, Penney since July, 1915, he having then bought out the interests of R. J. Mills. He was formerly a member of the firm of Penney Sr, Smith, a coal and supply company, and operated in that line for several years. Mr. Penney is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles and is a member of Pioneer Tent No, 1072, Knights of the Maccabees, On April 30, 1915, he married Miss Martha Wenger of Lorain, DANIEL WEST HYLAND, Not many men now past seventy in Lorain County have filled their years with more activities than Daniel W, Hyland, who has earned the right to retire and enjoy life at leisure. During his active career his name was chiefly identified with the coal and ice trade in Elyria, Outside of his honorable business and civic record, he is especially distinguished by his service in the Civil war, where he fought in a score of the battles familiar to every schoolboy and did more arduous duty than many who came out with officer's straps upon their shoulders, While his home has been in the United States as long as he can remember, he was born in England, at a place about sixty miles below London, on October 18, 1842. His parents, Thomas and Martha (West) Hyland, about six months after his birth, set out for the new world, and on a sailing vessel that was six weeks between ports arrived in Canada. .in April, 1843. From Quebec they went to Port Stanley, and after six years in Canada came to Lorain County. The father bought a farm of 120 acres in Carlisle Township, but had not long to cultivate it or enjoy its fruits. He bought in April and died the following September 29, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 689 1849. His widow subsequently married John Lees, another farmer in Carlisle, and she survived him many years, passing away at the home of her youngest daughter in Eaton on November 11, 1906, aged ninety-four years six days, There were eight children in the Hyland family, two sons and six daughters. Two died in infancy in England, five Came to the United States, and one died in Canada. Only the two youngest are now living, Daniel W. and his sister Sarah, the wife of Jacob Jonas, who lives on the farm in Eaton Township. The little family party that emigrated from England to Canada also included the grandfather and grandmother Hyland, and they also came to Lorain County, The grandfather died in an old brick house which stood where the Second Congregational Church is now in Elyria. The grandmother died just after Daniel Hyland went away to the army. The grandfather's name was also Thomas, Daniel W. Hyland was about old enough to attend school when he came to Lorain County, and his education came from the district schools of Carlisle and Amherst. Up to the age of sixteen his working experience was with farming, but he then learned the trade of harness making and carriage trimming in Amherst, and earned his living at it three years before going to the war, It was a full three years' service that he gave to the Union in the dark days of the Civil war. August 6, 1862, he enlisted at Amherst, and was mustered in as private at Camp Mitchell, Kentucky, in Company F of the One Hundred and Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry under Capt, P. C. Hayes and Col, J, S. Casement. The regiment was attached to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Twenty-third Army Corps. His record of service included the following engagements and campaigns: Monticello, Kentucky, May 1, 1863; Carter's Depot, Tennessee, September 20-21, 1863; Jonesboro, September 21; siege of Knoxville, November 17 to December 5, 1863; Dandridge, January 6 to 17, 1864; Dalton, Georgia, May 8 to 13, 1864; Resaca, in May ; promoted to corporal May 4th ; at. Cartersville, Georgia, May 20th; battles about Dallas, New Church and Altoona Pass, May 25 to June 5, 1864; near Marietta, June 1 to 19 ; Kenesaw Mountain, June 10 to July 2; Lookout Mountain, June 15 to 17 ; Muddy Creek, June 17; Noyes Creek, June 19; K.enesaw Mountain, June 27 ; Nickajack Creek, July 2 to 5; Chattahoochee River, July 5 to 17, and his was the first regiment to cross; Decatur, July 1819 ; siege of Atlanta, July 22 to September 2; Lovejoy Station, September 26; Columbia Ridge, November 24-27; Franklin, Tennessee, November 30; Nashville, December 15-16; Sugar Loaf Battery, North Carolina, February 11, 1865; Fort Anderson, February 18-19; Wilmington, February 22; Johnston's surrender, April 26, 1865. Thus he was in practically all the campaigns which drove the Confederate forces out of Kentucky and Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas, On June 12, 1865, he received his honorable discharge at Raleigh, North Carolina, Once more at home a private citizen, he worked two years in a harness shop at South Amherst, and for four years was engaged in farming in Ionia. County, Michigan. On his return in 1872 he was with the grocery department of the Starr Brothers establishment in Elyria. until March, 1873, when the Heman Ely Block burned. The site of that old building is now covered by the Commercial Block. For a time, including the year made notable by the women's crusade, he and Orin Dole were in the soft drink business under the name of Dole & Hyland, but on selling his interest Mr. Hyland spent a year and a half in Cleveland with the wholesale drygoods house of Alcott & Horton. The next year he conducted the grain elevator at Elyria for Clark & Sampsell, and from that graduated into the coal and ice business, which, together 690 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY with the handling of general supplies, formed his chief commercial interests for the next thirty years or more. With Mr, Dole he organized what was known as the Elyria Coal & Ice Company, After three years Mr. Dole sold out, and D. M. Clark came into the organization for three years, at the end of which time Mr. Hyland sold to Clark and then became connected with the City Fuel & Ice Company along with Ed Carter. A number of years later he bought out Carter and sold a half interest to John Murba.ch. With Mr, Murbach he was associated for the long period of seventeen years in conducting the Elyria Coal & Ice Company, Mr. Hyland has a most successful record in business affairs at Elyria. For the last ten years he has been retired from more active responsibilities, though he employs his capital in the buying and selling of farms and city property, and has handled no small amount of real estate in his time. His own substantial home on Sixth Street he built about twenty-seven years ago. He is also vice president of the Hygienic Ice Company, and is one of the original stockholders in the Lorain County Banking Company. He has always maintained kindly and helpful associations with old army comrades, and in the Elijah Hayden Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Elyria, is now post commander and has filled that office several times before. While a republican, he has never sought an office, Besides owning city property in Elyria, he has some interests in lands in Ionia County, Michigan. His name has been on the rolls of membership in the Elyria Chamber of Commerce since it was organized, On May 7, 1866, a few months after his return from the army he married Miss Sade Shephard of Elyria. Her death occurred in May, 1867. On December 28, 1872, he married Miss Lena E. Howe at Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was her home. After more than forty years of wedded companionship, she passed away February 20, 1913, FRANK A. SANFORD, For more than a score of years Frank Allen Sanford has maintained his residence in the City of Lorain and as a vigorous, alert and progressive business man of the younger generation in Lorain County he has proved effectually his administrative and constructive power, especially through his active association with the syndicate that succeeded to the ownership and control of much of the valuable property and business of the Sheffield Land & Improvement Company when the affairs of this important corporation were placed in the hands of a receiver. Through his connection with the extensive activities initiated by this company Mr. Sanford has become very prominently identified with the civic and material advancement and development of Lorain, and is to be designated as one of the representative men of affairs in this city. The Sheffield Land & Improvement Company was organized in .1894 and was incorporated with the gigantic capital of $1,000,000. The company purchased 4,400 acres of land in Lorain County, and initiated the development and upbuilding of South Lorain, as a virtual extension of the City of Lorain. It platted a large district into city lots, improved streets and established proper water and sewer systems, as well as installing effective street car service, The company erected in this section of the county 800 houses and loaned money for the construction of 200 additional houses. The best type of street paving and sidewalks marked the development of the new district, and the company achieved a splendid work in furthering the material and industrial progress of Lorain, though its affairs finally became involved and necessitated a receivership, HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 691 Mr. Sanford associated himself with the real estate department of the Sheffield Land & Improvement Company in 1900, in the capacity of salesman, and when the business of the corporation was placed in the hands of a receiver Mr. Sanford became an interested principal in a syndicate that purchased a large part of the company's property, so that the new organization practically succeeded to the control of the property and business of the original company, and Mr, Sanford is one of the representative factors in the handling of the extensive affairs of the syndicate, his association with which has brought to him large success and distinctive precedence in connection with broader business activities in his home city and county, where he has secure place in popular confidence and good will. Frank Sanford was born in Lewis County, West Virginia, on the 23d of June, 1875, and is a son of Rev. James L. and Lillie (Simpson) Sanford, his father being a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church and having also achieved success as a merchant in Lorain, Ohio, where he established his residence in 1895 and where he and his wife still maintain their home. To the public schools of West Virginia and Ohio Frank A, Sanford is indebted for his early education, which was effectively supplemented by a course of high study in the Ohio Wesleyan University, in the City of Delaware, He left this institution in his senior year and then became associated with his father in the mercantile business at Lorain, where he soon made an excellent record as a reliable and progressive young business man. In 1900 he identified himself with the Sheffield Land & Improvement Company, as previously noted, and this context has already given adequate record concerning his activities since that time. Mr. Sanford is distinctively popular in business and social circles in Lorain County, is a member of the Elyria Country Club, at the county seat, and is affiliated with the Lorain lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On November 9, 1912, was solemnized the marriage of- Mr, Sanford to Miss Bess Whitmore, of. Lorain, she being a daughter of Frederick C. Whitmore, who is now manager for a. machine company in the city of New York. Mr, and Mrs, Sanford have one child, Betty Jean, JOHN JOSEPH SMYTHE. One of the youngest members of the Lorain County bar, Mr, Smythe is a lawyer with a promising practice, and has already obtained some distinctions which furnish indications of a useful and honored career, He is a member of the firm of Baird & Smythe, with offices both in Elyria and Amherst. John Joseph Smythe was born at Dennison, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, December 12, 1889, a son of Joseph Weaver and Elizabeth Smythe. His father, who is of English descent, is a railroad engineer in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, The mother is of French-Canadian birth and parentage, and when a child came from Quebec to Pennsylvania, John J. Smythe graduated from the Dennison public schools in 1908, His parents were not wealthy people, and while they contributed all they could to further the ambitions of the young man, he early became dependent upon his own resources and by his own work paid practically all his way through college. In the year of his graduation from the public schools he entered the Ohio State University in the College of Arts, and in the following year entered the College of Law, from which he was graduated LL. B. in 1912. While in university he was much interested in athletics and was captain of the university baseball team 692 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY in 1911-12, and has taken much interest in athletic affairs since locating in Lorain County. After graduating from law school Mr. Smythe worked with William Herbert on Page's Ohio Digest until January, 1915. He then located in Elyria and opened a law office with D, A, Baird under the name Baird & Smythe, In April of the same year he established and took charge of the branch office of the firm at Amherst. This firm represents several corporations, including the Amherst German Bank and the Amherst Home Telephone Company, One month after settling in Amherst Mr, Smythe was appointed city solicitor of the village by the village council, and after being a resident there only six months, on account of his prominence in municipal affairs, was nominated on a non-partisan ticket for mayor and in November, 1913, at the age of twenty-three, was elected to the office. At that time he was reported as being the youngest mayor Ohio had ever known. He is a democrat, and in November, 1914, was candidate for cleric of courts of Lorain County, being defeated by the republican nominee of Lorain, William H. Oldham, Mr. Smythe is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Knights and Ladies of Security. GEORGE LOUIS BUELL, it is a man's first duty to provide for his family while he lives and to see that suitable provision is made for those dependent upon him after he has passed away, One of the most effective methods of providing for future contingencies due to death is by means of insurance—a fact so generally recognized nowadays that the insurance business has grown to be one of the largest and most important in the country, One of its leading representatives in this section is George L. Buell, of Lorain, who was born in Summit County, Ohio, November 10, 1861, His parents, Ichabod and Mary (Robinson) Buell, were farming people, He was educated in the public schools and in the normal school at Medina, Ohio, and at the age of twenty years began industrial life as a telegraph operator, After being thus occupied for about four years, he came in 1885 to Lorain and for three years subsequently was here engaged in the same line of work. Then, in company with James Reid, he established himself in the insurance business. Subsequently the firm became Buell and Cozad, its present style, real estate being added to the interests of the concern, which, since its establishment has steadily advanced in prosperity. Mr, Buell organized The Black River Telephone Company, of which he was also manager for some time, One of Lorain's leading citizens, he has served for the last fifteen years as a justice of the peace. In politics he is aligned with the republican party, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, In 1890 Mr. Buell married Miss Anna Reid, daughter of James Reid of Lorain, WILLIAM MILNE ADAMS, Of the class of men who owe their success in business life solely to their own efforts and abilities, William Milne Adams, of Elyria, is an excellent example. Induced to come to this country in his youth by stories of the wonderful opportunities awaiting ambitious young men here, he found that in America, as elsewhere, the only road to prosperity and position was over the highway of hard and persistent work. This road he has traveled perseveringly, and at length has reached the goal of success, occupying an honorable position among Elyria's business men as the Elyria and Lorain representative of the Citizens Gas and Electric Company. Mr. Adams was born March 20, 1851, in the City of Forfar, County HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 693 Forfar, Scotland, and is a son of George and Emily (Tuck) Adams, both born at that place, the father of Scotch and the mother of Scotch-English descent. In his early life George Adams was engaged in contracting, but later took up gardening, and for over forty years acted in that capacity for a number of wealthy families in Scotland. He died in that country in 1902, aged eighty-seven years, while the mother passed away in 1898, aged eighty-three years, They were the parents of three children : William Milne ; Betsy, who came to the United States a number of years after her brother, married John Taylor, and resided near Youngstown, Ohio, where she died, and Rev. John C., a graduate of the College of London, England, who became a missionary to the Orkney Islands, and was found frozen to death after his failure to return from making calls, the supposition being that he had suffered an attack of heart failure. William Milne Adams received but scant educational advantages in the public schools of his native city, but was a young man of industry and ambition, and when only sixteen years of age was foreman in a linen manufacturing factory, with over 125 girls under his superintendency. It would seem that a position of such responsibility would have satisfied a youth of his age, but he had repeatedly heard stories of the wealth to be easily gained in the United States, and in 1869, when between eighteen and nineteen years of age, he resigned his position and set. sail for New York, determined to rapidly gain a fortune. When he arrived in this country, he found that the conditions pictured as so favorable had been greatly exaggerated, and he was glad to accept such honorable employment as came his way. In a factory at Ithaca, New York, he learned to make hubs and spokes, and resided in that city until about 1871, when he went to Ilion, New York, and secured a position with the Remington Arms Company, where he assisted in the manufacture of 350,000 guns used in the Franco-Prussian war. Still later he went to Paterson, New Jersey, where he worked in a factory in the manufacture of machinery for the making of silk ribbons, .but in 1873 left. that position to come to Toledo, Ohio, where, and at Delphos, Ohio, he was engaged in making hubs and spokes. In 1884 Mr. Adams received his introduction to matters electrical when he located at Fremont, Ohio, and worked for the Central Union Telephone Company, and after four years in that capacity entered the service of the Fremont Gas, Electric Light and Power Company, becoming one of its stockholders and remaining in that city until 1905, although he sold his stock in the concern in 1902, On April 1, 1905, he came to Elyria, where he has since been connected with the electric light and natural and artificial gas business, having since that year been representative of the Citizens Gas and Electric Company for the cities of Lorain and Elyria. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and the Lorain Chamber of Commerce, and has an excellent reputation in business circles of both cities, In political matters he is a republican and his first vote was cast for an old friend, with whose family he had become acquainted while a resident of Fremont, Rutherford B, Hayes, who subsequently became President of the United States. He has continued to be a stanch supporter of republican candidates and principles, although not a seeker for preferment at the hands of his party, Fraternally, Mr, Adams belongs to Brainard Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Fremont, Ohio, and Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in both of which he has numerous friends. He attends and supports St, Andrew's Episcopal Church of Elyria, of which his wife is a member. On October 16, 1884, Mr, Adams was married at Toledo, Ohio, to Miss Catherine Elizabeth Botsford, daughter of Hiram and Eliza (Caton) Botsford, natives of New York State, who died at Toledo, where 694 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY their daughter, Mrs. Adams, was born and educated. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Adams : Emily, born at Fremont, Ohio, a graduate of the Fremont High School, who also took a business course in that city, married W, J. Derr, of Toledo, Ohio, who is engaged in the musical instrument business, and has two daughters, Mary Louise and Emily, the latter of whom was born in the same hour of the same day of the same month as her uncle, William H, Adams : and William Hiland, a graduate of the Elyria High School, class of 1906, who attended Gambria College, Mount Vernon, Ohio, now agent of the Logan Natural Gas and Fuel Company, at Ashland, Ohio, married Miss Fay Bankard of Mount Vernon, and has one daughter, Lois. THOMAS RATH. For fully twenty years Thomas Rath has been an effective factor in the industrial life of Lorain. He is division manager at Lorain for the National Stove Company, a division of the American Stove Co., and has been the chief man locally responsible for the progress and direction of that enterprise almost since its establishment, What is now a branch of a. great manufacturing corporation was established in 1893 at Lorain as The National Vapor Stove & Manufacturing Company. At that time about fifty people were employed in the plant, In 1902 the business was taken over by the American Stove Company, and since then many changes and extensions have been made. Nearly two hundred and twenty-five persons are now on the regular payroll of the plant, and the works cover a large tract of ground. The main building is 450 by 60 feet, with a wing 119 by 45 feet. The warehouse is 80 by 150 feet : the japanning plant is Si) by 4t) feet ; the plating room and brass foundry is 70 by 40 feet : the enameling room is 180 by 60 feet ; the power plant is 40 by 60 feet : and the storage room is 30 by 110 feet. The products of the works at Lorain are sent all over the world and include all classes and types of stoves and ranges. Thomas Rath was born in Cleveland, Ohio, November 3. 1866, a son of John and Mary (Mackin) Rath. Educated in private schools, when only fourteen years of age he became an office boy with the Hall Vapor Stove Company of Cleveland. Since then he has earned every step in his progress. He possessed natural capabilities for higher positions, and with experience and maturity has graduated from one grade of the service to another, While at Cleveland he worked his way to division manager, and in 1895 took charge of the works at Lorain, and is now the chief executive official of that extensive industry. At the same time he has been closely identified with the civic and general business life at Lorain, and is a 'member and former director of the board of commerce. On September 4, 1890. he married Sarah Ann Taylor of Cleveland. Their four children are : Raymond George, who is associated with his father in the stove works; Charlotte Frances, Thomas Joseph and Joseph Edward. ADDISON E. LORD. During the past half century few men have touched at more points the business and civic community of Elyria than Addison E. Lord, who several years ago reached that stage in his business life which enabled him to retire and enjoy a well-earned leisure, and who first became identified with Elyria soon after leaving the navy, in which he served during the Civil war. Mr. Lord was for many ycars a tobacco manufacturer, was subsequently in the telephone construction business, and is also remembered for his service in the old volunteer fire department of Elyria and in the office of sheriff of Lorain County. Of New England birth and ancestry, Addison E. Lord was born in HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 695 Warehouse Point, Connecticut, on the headwaters of the Connecticut River, October 15, 1842. His parents were Chester A. and Lucretia (Moran) Lord, When he was two years old his mother died and his father passed away in 1882, He was one of a large family, and several of then found their way into this section of Northern Ohio. His brother Cordon O. was one of the first cigar manufacturers in Lorain County, and died at Elyria, Gilbert was also a resident for some time in this county, but finally returned to Connecticut where he died. Atkins A. spent all his life in the East. Three of Mr, Lord's sisters came to Lorain County in 1857, and lived here the rest of their lives, Clara M, was the wife of Lorain Wood. Martha was the wife of Samuel Hines, All these are now deceased. Cynthia Wells is still living at Elyria, the widow of Addison Wells, who died shortly after the war. Another sister was Lavina who married Stephen Clark in Connecticut and both died there, The oldest of the children was Cordon, while Addison E. was the youngest, The latter obtained his early education in the public schools of his native village, but gained a more substantial and practical training by actual contact with the world and with men after he was fifteen years of age, An experience such as very few residents of Lorain County can include in their careers was four years spent on a whaling vessel, and in that rime as a boy employed in the hard and exciting life of whaling he saw a great deal of the world, Returning home, at the outbreak of the war he enlisted in the navy, or as the more exact term was "shipped in the navy." This was in July, 1861, and his service continued until September, 1864, While much of the time he was on blockade duty, he was also in the naval engagements around the mouth of the Mississippi by which the City of New Orleans was captured by the Federal forces, and he was also at the siege of Mobile, The boat on which he served was part of the West Gulf blockading squadron. On being discharged from the navy Mr. Lord came to Elyria in October, 1864. Since that date this has been his home, He was employed in different capacities and with his brother Cordon learned the cigar-making trade, and in 1873 started in that business for himself in partnership with F. H, Sudro under the firm name of Lord & Sudro, Their establishment was located Where the cigar and tobacco store now stands. They carried on both a retail and wholesale business, and were very successful, On accepting the nomination for sheriff of Lorain County, an office to which he was elected, Mr, Lord sold his interests to his partner, Sudro, and began his official duties in January, 1894. For four years he made an enviable record of efficiency and faithfulness to duty in this office. Mr. Lord cast his first vote for president in the fall of 1864 after coming to Elyria, and almost as a matter of course gave his support to Abraham Lincoln. Since then he has been steadfastly aligned with the republican party, In one of the Elyria papers there recently appeared an interesting comment on the old volunteer fire force of the city, in which Mr. Lord was mentioned as one of the four survivors of the forty who composed the old hook and ladder company of 1868. The old fire organization had many associations with the social life of the city, and everyone was interested in the conventions and tournaments at which contests were staged between various fire companies, Mr, Lord in those days was frequently called to duty with the ladder company and is now one of the oldest of the surviving company. The old fire truck which was built by John Topliff in 1869 for this company is still in good condition and is often taken to the volunteer conventions. After leaving the office of sheriff for seven years Mr. Lord was en- 696 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY gaged in business as a telephone constructor, He erected plants throughout this county, at Columbia, Eaton, Grafton, LaGrange and Amherst, also installed plants at Medina and Berea. He was a member of the firm of Rawson & Company in this business, For about a year while in the telephone construction business he was at Joplin, Missouri, and while there acquired some interests in the zinc mines, but that never proved a profitable venture, and he has no very pleasant memories of the experience. For the past eight years Mr. Lord has lived retired and usually spends about three months each summer with his son in Benzie County, Michigan, This son is a successful fruit grower, having about eighty acres devoted to apples, peaches and cherries, and during the last year he sold fourteen tons of cherries to the local canning factory. In 1902 Mr. Lord built his substantial home on West Avenue in Elyria. He is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons, with Elyria. Lodge No, 103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in the Richard Allen Post, Grand Army of the Republic, has held all the offices, being now a past commander. Mr. Lord's domestic life has been one peculiarly happy and on January 20, 1916, he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. They were married in Elyria at the old Methodist Episcopal parsonage, Louise L, Ward, who became his bride at that time, was born in Elyria, educated in that city, and is a daughter of James and Calista Ward, who were early settlers in Lorain County from Vermont. Her father was for many years a farmer. Mr. and Mrs, Lord have two children living, Edward G. is the Michigan fruit farmer already mentioned, Pearl Louise lives at home in Elyria, Both were horn in this city and received their education here, graduating from the high school when it was under the superintendence of the late Professor Parker. Another child, Burton H., died in 1871 when a year and a half old. JOSEPH MARTIN HOUFF, The Houff-McNeil Company is one of the largest flour milling concerns around the southern shore of Lake Erie, It was organized at Lorain in May, 1911, with a capital stock of *60,000, The capital stock remains the same to the present writing and the company now has all the facilities for manufacture of grain products of the very highest quality, The main building is 40 by 70 feet, with a capacity of eighty barrels of flour per day. The modern roller process is employed exclusively, and about sixteen people have a place on the payroll, At the organization the first officers were : J, M. Houff, president; Adam Kolbe, vice president ; and Miss Ida Houff, secretary and treasurer. The present officers are: J, M, Houff, president William B, Thompson, vice president and Mrs, Margaret C. McNeil, secretary and treasurer. The company has the benefit of the experience and thorough business ability of Joseph M. Houff as its president, Mr. Houff has for many years been engaged in the grain trade, and is one of the successful manufacturers of Lorain County, He was born at Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, May 26, 1866, a son of Martin and Margaret (Maher) Houff, His father was a contractor, Mr. Houff as a boy attended the public schools at Bellevue, Ohio, and at the age of fifteen learned telegraphy and became an operator, From that he got into the grain business, buying and selling grain for ten years, but since August. 1904, has been in the milling industry, and was mainly responsible for organizing the Houff-McNeil Company and has brought the business to its present prosperous condition. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 697 On February 2, 1892, Mr. Houff married Miss Christina Arnold, of York Township, Sandusky County, Ohio. To their marriage have been born seven children : Arnold, who is connected with the milling company at Lorain ; Margaret, at home ; Gordon ; Gerald ; Rachel; Jonathan ; and Robert Hugh. CARL G, FRIDAY. One of the oldest and at the same time one of the most progressive business houses of Elyria is that now conducted under the name of Friday & Thomas, a furniture and undertaking concern that has won a firmly-established place in the business history of the city. It was founded here in 1861 by the maternal grandfather of Carl G. Friday, the senior partner, Henry Rimbach, Sr., who was succeeded by his sons, Henry and George Rimbach, who conducted the business under the style of Rimbach Brothers. When they dissolved partnership Henry Rimbach, Jr., was alone in the business for eighteen years, or until his death, when it was continued by Ernest and George Rimbach, who restored the old name of Rimbach Brothers, it being carried on as such for six years, At the time of Ernest Rimbach's death, Carl G, Friday bought his interest from Mr, Rimbach's widow, the firm name then becoming Rimbach & Friday, which continued until, one year before his death, Mr, Rimbach sold his share in the enterprise to Glade B. Thomas, Friday, October 13, 1913, the firm then becoming, as at present, Friday & Thomas, the first time in more than fifty years that the name of Rimbach had not been connected with the establishment, Carl G. Friday, senior member of the firm of Friday & Thomas, was born at Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, February 14, 1881, and is a son of Charles F. and Anna M. (Rimbach) Friday, His father, a native of Germany, was about four years of age when he came to the United States with his parents, who settled at Elyria. Here the youth was reared and educated, and as a young man became identified with railroading, in which he has passed his entire career, having been for twenty-nine years in the employ of the New York Central Lines, first as fireman, and later, as at present, as locomotive engineer, Mrs, Friday was born, reared, educated and married at Elyria, and like her husband survives and is living in their comfortable home. They are the parents of three children, namely : Carl G., of Elyria ; E, Louise, of Cleveland, Ohio; and Clara May, residing with her parents at Elyria, All three children were born and educated at Elyria, and E. Louise was given the advantages of a business course at Oberlin, Carl G, Friday received only meager educational advantages in his youth, as his parents were in modest circumstances at that time, and the family needed the wages which he could earn. However, he was a bright, alert lad, possessing industry that caused him to take advantage of every opportunity and a retentive mind that made him an excellent scholar, and during the time he attended the German Lutheran schools he acquired an education far in advance of many of his fellows who enjoyed greater advantages. He was only fourteen years of age when he put aside his studies to accept his first position, employment at the old candy factory of Clark & Company, on Cheapside, located on the present site of Bivins' Walk-Over Boot and Shoe Store. Later he drove a delivery and grocery wagon for Seward & Goldberg, prior to the erection of the first Elyria Block, which was destroyed by fire, and which stood on the present site of the new Elyria Block. Mr. Friday's next employer was W, H, Smith, the West Side grocer, for whom he worked for five years, then entering the employ of the National Tube Company of South Lorain, where he was employed as chemist in the 698 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY chemical labratory for five years under W, B: N. Hawk, who is still chief chemist. there and who remains as one of Mr. Friday's best friends. Mr. Friday entered business on his own account at Elyria, in May, 1905, in partnership with George Rimbach, under the firm name of Rimbach & Friday, as before mentioned, At that time, in order to prepare himself for his new duties, he took a course at the Massachusetts College of Embalming, at Boston, from which he was duly graduated, He is also a graduate of the Barnes School of Anatomy, Sanitary Science and Embalming, of Chicago, Illinois, and received his state license from the Ohio State Board of Embalming Examiners in June, 1906, In addition to carrying the largest stock of furniture at Elyria, the firm of Friday & Thomas conducts the leading undertaking business here. Mr, Friday is a thorough master of the art of embalming and has received letters from people in various parts of the United States where he has shipped bodies commending his work. The business has grown from a $10,000 per year concern, as when Mr. Friday came, to an enterprise doing a business annually of $50,000, The chapel and morgue are located at No, 580 Broad Street, while the furniture establishment is at. No, 582, next door, and occupies two floors, in addition to which there are maintained three warehouses. Mr. Friday has charge of the undertaking department, while Mr, Thomas has full control of the furniture end of the business, although both are capable men in both directions and assist each other when necessary. The firm has the finest automobile funeral equipment in the northern part of Ohio, not excepting Cleveland, and has just purchased one of the finest automobile invalid carriages in the country. This is a combination of hearse and invalid carriage, with a full limousine front and very pleasing body design, being ornamented tastefully with hand-carving to relieve the plainness, The finish is a beautiful silver gray with gold striping, .and the interior of the car is veneered with genuine mahogany, An adjustable invalid bed is included, one that may be taken up and down the average stairs. The chassis is the Riddle Coach & Hearse Company's, of Ravenna, Ohio, six-cylinder, forty-five horse-power, a motor which under severe tests has shown itself capable of traveling the worst roads in the country, Mr. Friday is a member of the Ohio Funeral Directors' Association, and of various civic and social organizations at Elyria. Still a young man, he has gained such an excellent reputation in his native community that in 1915 the citizens of Elyria circulated a paper, with 200 signatures, boosting Mr. Friday for the mayoralty, and even in the face of Mr, Friday's prompt and decisive refusal tried for a long time to persuade him to be a candidate, However, he finally convinced them that it is his belief that public service and business are not congenial, Last year Mr, Friday served as treasurer of the Democratic Club, of which he is vice president at this time. He owns his own home at No, 123 West Bridge Street, which he erected in 1912. On November 27, 1910, at Elyria, Mr. Friday was united in marriage with Miss R. Mae Arpin, of Alpena, Michigan, who was reared and educated in the city of her birth and is now well and popularly known in social circles of Elyria. GLADE B. THOMAS. Among the business men of the younger generation at. Elyria, one who has attained success through his own efforts and who occupies a substantial position and has a high reputation, is Glade B, Thomas, junior member of the undertaking and furniture concern of Friday & Thomas, Mr, Thomas was born in Union County, Ohio, July HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 699 4, 1884, and is a son of R, F, and Nattie A, (Bailey) Thomas, who both reside at Columbus, Ohio, R, F. Thomas being a funeral director of that city, The elder Thomas has been an undertaker at different locations in Ohio since 1889 and during this more than a quarter of a century has won and held his associates' regard and esteem by reason of his integrity and straightforward dealing, Both the parents were born in Logan County, Ohio. They have had four children : Glade B,, who is the only son ; and Fleeta, Mona and Tempa, who were educated in thc public schools of the communities in which their parents have lived and whu are now residing at home. The public schools of Marion, Ohio. and Marion Business College furnished Glade B. Thomas with his education, but some time before his graduation from the latter institution he had received his introduction to business, having learned the art of embalming largely under the preceptorship of his father, In the spring of 1898, when he completed the embalmer's course and secured a certificate, he was not quite fourteen years of age and was the youngest certified embalmer in Ohio, He continued to be engaged with his father until 1905, when he entered the employ of the Cleveland Burial Case Company, as traveling salesman, selling undertakers' supplies, During the next six years he went over the states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Michigan, or four separate and distinct territories. It is a significant fact that, starting in with the worst territory, he finished with the best the company had, With the foregoing experience and preparation, in October, 1911, Mr, Thomas decided he was ready to enter upon a business career of his own, and accordingly accepted the opportunity offered of buying the interest of George Rimbach, in one of the oldest established business enterprises of Elyria, This concern had been founded in 1861 by Henry Rimbach, Sr,, who was shortly succeeded by his sons, Henry and George Rimbach, who carried on the business under the name of Rimbach Brothers. Later Henry Rimbach, Jr., conducted the business .alone for eighteen years, and at his death Ernest and George Rimbach became the owners and restored the old name of Rimbach Brothers, which it kept for six years. Ernest. Rimbach then died and Carl G. Friday bought his interest from the widow, the firm name then becoming Rimbach & Friday, which it continued until Mr, Thomas bought into the firm, which became Friday & Thomas, its present style, The firm now carries the largest stock of furniture at Elyria, Mr, Thomas being in charge of the furniture department, while Mr. Friday carries on the funeral directing. The business has steadily grown from modest proportions to a venture doing $50,000 worth of business annually, having a modern chapel and morgue at No, 580 Broad Street, with the furniture store next door, at No. 582, where it occupies two floors, in addition to which the firm maintains three warehouses, The firm also has the finest funeral automobile equipment in the northern part of this state, and this does not except the City of Cleveland. In it is what is considered the most complete and up-to-date combination of hearse and invalid carriage in the country, a vehicle manufactured for this concern by the Riddle Coach and Hearse Company, of Ravenna, Ohio, Mr. Thomas is a member of the Ohio Funeral Directors' Association. He has been prominent in the business life of Elyria as a promoter of movements for the welfare of the city's commercial and industrial interests, having been a member of the industrial committee of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce for two years, and at this time being a member of the publicity committee of that body. Fraternally, he is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Vol. II-10