800 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY his death he had been connected with the Gray Canyon Quarry No. 6. at Amherst and had charge of the entire west end as assistant superintendent. At an earlier day he had opened the quarry in Elyria in Cascade Park, went from here to Amherst about 1886, and his home was in that town with the exception of about four years, during which time he was located in Cedar .Valley, Iowa, as superintendent of the Buhler Stone Quarry there from 1892 until the year 1895. He returned from Iowa to Amherst and had his home there until his death. He is a very active church worker, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at South Amherst, and is also known in the Masonic order and the Inde- pendent Order of Foresters, belonging to Amherst Lodge of the former. His wife was born in Yorkshire, England, was brought to this country when less than a year old by her parents, who settled in Amherst, subsequently lived for a time in Canada, and then returned to Amherst. She was liberally educated, attending the public schools of Amherst and Elyria, where her parents lived for a time, and completed her education in the Oberlin High School at Oberlin. She died at Elyria, November 8. 1912. She was very devout as a Christian and a worker in the churches at Amherst and Elyria. Of the two sons, William is the older, and his brother, Elmer E., is now proprietor of the Amherst Bakery at Amherst. Growing up in Amherst, William E. Roe attended the public schools there, the high school one year, and was graduated from the Elyria High School with the class of 1909. From there he entered the law department. of Western Reserve University, and remained until graduating in June, 1913, with the degree Bachelor of Laws. In the same year he was admitted to the bar by examination and in October opened his office in the Century Building at Elyria. In two years he has made his mark in the profession, and has earned a reputation for solid ability and proficient handling of all business entrusted to him, which assures him a fine future. He is a member of the Lorain. County Bar Association and has recently entered actively into politics, having become a candidate for city solicitor of Elyria. He is a republican, a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Elyria, affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees at Elyria, and is one of the young men who comprise the active membership of the Olympic Club. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Elyria and to the Young Men's Christian Association. EARL GARFIELD JENKINS. Every occupation of mankind demands certain special qualities which are applicable to no other in the same degree. That of funeral director in particular calls for a kind and sympathizing heart, refined manners and ready tact in embarrassing situations; for the undertaker touches humanity at its most sensitive point, when the personal feelings are least under control and the individual most in need of outside aid and guidance. One of the prominent representatives of this honorable profession in Lorain County is Earl Garfield Jenkins, of Elyria, whose funeral parlors are situated at No. 335 Second Street. Mr. Jenkins was born at Morristown. St. Lawrence County. New York, June 30, 1881. three days before the assassination of President Garfield. an event which accounts for his middle name. His parents were Rev. Owen and Debora Ione (Doty) Jenkins. his father a native of South Wales and his mother of Troy. Ashland County, Ohio. Rev. Owen Jenkins came to the United States when twenty years of age in company with a man name Evans, both settling in Oberlin. Ohio. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 801 in 1865. At that time he was unacquainted with the English language, except for a few words which he had picked up from his fellow Welshman on the boat during the passage. But it was not long after his arrival in America before Owen Jenkins had acquired a practical knowledge of the English tongue. He was entered and was graduated from Oberlin College and Seminary, and was ordained to the Congregational ministry December 24, 1876. Previous to his ordination and while attending college he had preached at Grafton in Lorain County, and since that time he followed his calling chiefly in the State of Ohio, though about eight years were spent in other localities, including the State of New York. Reverend Jenkins passed away February 9, 1916, in Cleveland. At one time he lived at Collinwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and while there served one term as mayor. Rev. Owen Jenkins married Debora Ione Doty, who completed her education at Oberlin College. They became the parents of three children : Parry D., also a graduate of Oberlin and now employed by the National Casket Company in the Cleveland branch ; Earl Garfield; and Royal •., deceased ; the last mentioned died March 2, 1911, in Cleveland. He was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, while his two brothers, Tarry and Earl G., were both natives of the State of New York. Earl Garfield Jenkins acquired his education in public schools at Dover, Collinwood, Chardon and other places where his father was a pastor. He began earning his own way in the paint factory of the Sherwin & Williams Company at Cleveland, in whose employ he remained one year. and then became bookkeeper for J. H. Libby, a cement contractor of Cleveland, in whose service he was for a year. Having determined upon the undertaking business as his profession, he began an apprenticeship with the firm of J. P. Hogan & Company at Cleveland on January 2, 1901, remained with them about three months, spent a season working at Euclid Beach, and then entered another undertaking firm of Cleveland, Black & Wright, with whom he remained two years. After continuing his apprenticeship with Saxton & Son of Cleveland he entered the Huron Road Hospital in Cleveland and studied anatomy. On October 25. 1904, he took the examination before the Ohio State Board of Embalming Examiners and was granted a license to practice his profession. He then became embalmer for J. L. Cross of Warren, Ohio. with whom he remained for a year and a half, subsequently removing to Garretsville. Ohio, to take charge of the undertaking department of H. A. Wadsworth. A little later he moved to Akron, remained there nearly three years in the employ of C. T. Parks as an embalmer. On August 1. 1909. Mr. Jenkins came to Elyria and in the following October became a stockholder in The Wilkins-Hurst Company, with whom he was associated until April 18, 1914. In the following month he engaged in business for himself at his present location, No. 335 Second Street, and has developed an establishment thoroughly modern in every respect, including tasteful and commodious parlors, a complete line of funeral supplies, and he has one of the handsomest auto funeral cars in Northern Ohio. Mr. Jenkins is a member of the Masonic order, being affiliated with the lodge in Akron, Marshall Chapter of Elyria and Elyria Council; also Elyria. Commandery, Knights Templars. Since 1905 he has been a member of the Knights of Pythias of Warren. In politics he is independent. voting for the man rather than for the party. A member of the First Congregational Church of Elyria, he has served one term as deacon. and belongs to the Men's Club of that church. He is a well known member of the Ohio Funeral Directors' Association. On January 14, 1908, Mr. Jenkins married Miss Mary Alice Cratsley 802 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY of Warren, Ohio, daughter of Albert B. and Lottie (Horst) Cratsley. Her father is a retired farmer. Mrs. Jenkins was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, but was educated in Warren, being a graduate of the Warren High School. Her parents removed to Warren when she was a girl of twelve years, and are still residing there. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins are the parents of one child, Albert Owen, who was born in Elyria September 22, 1911. JOHN T. HENDERSON. Modern business requires practical and thorough training in the same degree as the professions and sciences. In the entire State of Ohio there is no instltution which affords a better curriculum and practical business education than the Oberlin Business College. This school, since its founding, has trained and graduated hundreds of young men and women, giving them a thorough preparation for entrance into business life. Throughout the United States can be found substantial business men who acknowledge the influence of the Oberlin Business College as an important factor in their early developing career. The success of this important Lorain County institution van be attributed chiefly to John T. Henderson, now president of the college and an educator of long and varied experience. Mr. Henderson is also one of Oberlin's foremost citizen's and business men and is president of the People's Banking Company. He was born near McConnelsvllle in Morgan County, Ohio, May 18, 1862, a son of John and Cecelia ( Richardson) Henderson. His father was born in Virginia in 1822. a son of William Henderson, also a native of that state. whence he came to Ohio in the early days and located on a farm. Cecelia Richardson was born in Ohio in 1831, a daughter of Thomas Richardson, who was born in that portion of Virginia now West Virginia. John Henderson and wife were married at McConnellsville, Ohio, and they afterwards bought a farm near that town and spent the rest. of their days there. He died in. 1884, while his widow is still living. Of their nine children eight are living, and Professor Henderson was the fourth in order of age. The parents were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the father was an Odd Fellow and in politics a republican. As a farmer he was successful beyond the average and at the time of his death left an estate of 240 acres. The boyhood of John T. Henderson was spent on the old farm in Morgan County. He attended the district schools in the winter time, and when quite young his aspirations and ambitions went beyond the horizon of his immediate surroundings. One step in his career was attending Normal School for several summers, and he was also a student in the Baldwin University at Berea, Ohio. For four years he was a teacher in the common schools and then for one year had charge of the commercial branches at Baldwin University. He was also a practical bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Berea. It was as a student in the old Oberlin Business College that hc first became identified with this community in 1884. After doing some special work in penmanship he was employed in September. 1884. as a teacher of general business subjects. Later he increased his associations with the college by buying a half interest, and in 1895 he incorporated the institution under the name of The Oberlin Business College. At that time about half the stock was distributed among other owners. but he has since bought back the greater part and is now practically sole proprietor. The Oberlin Business College has an enrollment of about three hundred students each year, and on the whole they come to the school mature in years and early training, and for that reason the graduates go out with a superior fitness and equipment for the positions to which they aspire. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 803 The college has two large buildings and in equipment stands in the front rank. One distinction of the school that should be noted is that it was the first business college in Ohio to be placed on the Accredited List by the State Department of Public Instruction for the training of commercial teachers. The normal department for training commercial teachers is now an important feature of the institution. All these improvements have been brought about during the progressive and enlightened administration of Mr. Henderson. Its growth has been such that in enrollment and in point of instruction and facilities the school is now four times as large as when he took charge. He has under him a staff of seven teachers and the curriculum includes, in addition to the normal department, all practical business courses, and special courses in penmanship. The officers and board of directors at the present time are : J. T. Henderson. president ; J. D. Yocom, vice president ; C. A. Barnett, J. E. Campbell, Dr. Lyman B. Sperry, G. L. Close, secretary, and Hon. A. R. Webber. On June 1, 1885, Mr. Henderson married Ada V. Lawrence, who was also born near McConnelsville, Ohio. Of the five children born to them, four are still living : Elmer C., who was graduated from Oberlin College in 1912, spent one year as a teacher in the Chamberlain Milltary Academy, located at Randolph, New York, and is now employed as a teacher and athletic coach in the Broadway High School at Seattle, Washington. Harold, who was graduated from Oberlin College in 1914, having specialized in political science, and is now connected with the New York Bureau of Municipal Research ; Alice E., graduated from Oberlin College in 1915, and is now teaching commercial studies in the Oberlin Business College ; Herbert R.., who is a junior in the high school and a member of the high school football team. Mr. Henderson and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics he is an independent republican. He has been active in local affairs for a number of years, having served on the school board, as a member of the Board of Health for more than twenty-five years and for a long time was president of the local board of charities. CONRAD A. HORN. For ten years Mr. Horn has been connected with the office of county auditor of Lorain County either as deputy or auditor. His qualifications for the important duties of that position are so definite and well known that he is everywhere recognized as the man for the handling of these responsibilities in the county government. Mr. Horn has a self-made career, and has done well not only for himself but for others, and is one of the most popular men in Lorain County. Conrad A. Horn was born at Lorain, Lorain County, December 3, 1873, a son of Martin J. and Catherine (Krantz) Horn. His father was born in Huron County, Ohio, and died at Lorain, February 22, 1895. In early life he was a. farmer and subsequently was mill foreman for the Lorain Lumber and Manufacturing Company and also identified with the general lumber business. He was a practical mill man, and by trade a sash and door maker. His widow, still living at Lorain, was born in Schenectady, New York, and was brought to Lorain County in infancy. Her father, Conrad Krantz, who died in May, 1915, at the age of eighty-six, was the last survivor of a group of ship. builders who a generation ago laid the foundation of Lorain's ship building interests. He was one of the wealthy and prominent men of Lorain County. Martin J. Horn and wife had one son and two daughters: (1) Elnora, a widow living with her mother has two children, Norris and Katherine ; (2) Conrad A., subject of this article and (3) Cora, who died in infancy. Conrad A. Horn had a limited education in the Lorain public schools. 804 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY His tastes were early indicated for practical action, and he probably did not attend school up to the full measure of his opportunities. He has been working for his own support since early boyhood and has had a great variety of experiences. For a time he was a Great Lakes sailor, and for two years was a brass molder in. the old Brass Works at Lorain. When his father died he became an employe of the lumber company in which the elder Horn had a position, and continued in the office of that firm for eight years. Having realized the need of a better education, he then gave up his business career temporarily in order to complete a course in the Oberlin Business College. Returning to Lorain, he was for a time employed by the Lorain City Waterworks Department, and while in that position was married August 5, 1905, to Miss Jessie E. Stuff of Fredericksburg, Ohio. Mrs. Horn is a daughter of John and Mary Stuff, both now deceased. Soon after his marriage Mr. Horn entered the county auditor's office as a deputy on December 1, 1905. He rapidly familiarized himself with the details of the office, and continued deputy five years and seven months. He then became a candidate for the office of auditor, and was unopposed for the republican nomination. He was elected in 1912 and re-elected for his second term in 1914. Mr. Horn and family reside in a beautiful residence at 651 Hamilton Avenue in Lorain, which he built in 1908. This home is on part of the original farm owned by his grandfather Krantz. Mr. and Mrs. Horn have one son, Robert L., who was born in the family residence at Lorain just mentioned. Mr. Horn takes much interest in fraternal affairs. He is affiliated with the Masonic bodies at Lorain and with Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cleveland. He is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Lorain, the Knights of Pythias, and other fraternal bodies. Other connections are with the Lorain Chamber of Commerce and with Emanuel,s Evangelical Church of Lorain. Mr. Horn is well known in musical circles in Lorain County, has much natural ability in that art, and for the .past nineteen years until very recently has been identified with either the Elyria or Lorain bands and is (1916) a member of Al Koran Band of Cleveland, Ohio, in connection with the Mystic Shrine. He is also a lover of outdoor sports, and is usually to be found among the spectators at baseball, football, or basketball games. REV. JAMES B. MOONEY. Among the Catholic clergy in Lorain County, Rev. James B. Mooney has distinguished himself for the earnestness of his labors, for his effective pastorate of St. Mary's Church at Elyria, and for his active support of everything that is wholesome in ,the life of the community. A native of Cleveland, Father Mooney was born July 22, 1870, a son of John and Catherine Mooney, both of whom were born in Ireland, came to this country as children, and were married in Cleveland where they are still residents. As a boy Father Mooney began his education in the Holy Family School (now St. Edward's) at Cleveland, at the age of fourteen entered St. Vincent,s College at Beatty, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and three years later became a student in St. Charles College at Ellicott City, Maryland. At the age of nineteen he entered St. Mary 's Theological Seminary at Cleveland. and on October 18, 1894, was ordained to the priesthood by Right Reverend Bishop Horstmann at St. Mary’s Seminary. A few days later, on October 31, 1894, he was stationed as assistant to Rev. R. A. Sidley, pastor of St. Peter and Paul's Church, at San- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 805 dusky, Ohio. Two years later he became assistant to the Rev. A. E. Manning, pastor of St. Rose Church at Lima, Ohio, and remained there six years. Then came his first regular pastorate at St. Patrick's Church in Kent, Portage County, Ohio, and two years later he became pastor of St. Mary ,s at Conneaut, Ohio. On September 20, 1911, the Rt. Rev. John P. Farrelly, Bishop of Cleveland, assigned to the pastorate of St. Mary 's Church in Elyria, and he has now been identified with this community as one of its leading churchmen for more than four years. WILLIAM H. KLINECT. A native son of Lorain County, William H. Klinect at the beginning of his independent career had less than two hundred dollars in cash. He now has a fine farm of 110 acres all paid for, and besides has provided liberally for his growing family which numbers some seven or eight sturdy young men and women. He is the type of man who generally makes a success of anything he undertakes, and his capability in managing his private interests has brought him at different times prominently into the public life of his home township and of the county. He operates a fine farm and dairy three and a half miles southeast of Grafton on rural route No. 3. William H. Klinect was born in the house where he now lives October 28, 1868, a son of Jacob and Frederica (Wise) Klinect. His father was born in Liverpool Township of Medina County about five miles southeast of the present Klinect farm in Lorain County, and was a son of Michael and Catherine Klinect, .both of whom were natives of Germany.. Reared on a farm in Medina County, the father afterwards bought considerable land in Grafton Township and in the spring of 1868 he bought the eighty acres included in the present estate of his son William. There he spent his last days and passed away July 5, 1900. He was twice married. By the first union there were two children : Mrs. Elizabeth Cousins, who lives in Eaton Township and is the mother of eight children ; and John, who lives in Orange County, Florida, and is married and has eight children. On January 17, 1865, Jacob Klinect married Miss Frederica Wise, who was born in Southern Germany near the French border and when thirteen years of age came to America with her parents Peter and Louise (Mueller) Wise, who settled in Medina County. By this second marriage there were three children : William H., the oldest ; Anna, wife of Charles Marsh, living in Elyria, and she has two sons named Orlo and Clarence; and Frederic, who lives in Grafton Township and is married to Bertha Marsh and has three children. William H. Klinect spent his early youth on the old homestead, and profited by attendance at the local schools. He was well trained for his present vocation under the direction of his father and he not only worked in the fields but also bought stock and learned the butchering business. On December 12, 1894, he married Miss Lottie Marsh. She was born and reared in Liverpool Township, of Medina County, a daughter of Irvin and Edith (Taylor) Marsh. Her father was also a native of Medina County while her mother was born in Lorain County. Irvin Marsh was a farmer. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Klinect were born ten children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are : Irvin, who was born September 1.9, 1895, and completed his education in the little white schoolhouse near the old home ; Rosa, born November 21, 1896 ; Mabel. born August 2, 1898 ; Lewis, born January 29, 1900 ; Howard, born January 8. 1902; Lee, born June 7, 1903 ; Maurice, born December 8, 1907: and Hazel. born March 15, 1910. After his marriage Mr. Klinect pursued a course of steady indus- 806 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY try, thrift and economy, in which he was loyally aided by his wife, and in 1900 he was able to buy the old homestead from his mother. Since then he has created many improvements which have increased the value of his property. in 1907 he bought thirty acres of adjoining land. He erected a fine new barn in 1913 and has also remodeled the old house. With all this fine property to his credit and with hls happy family, he can well be said to have accomplished all that an ambitious man can desire. In politics he is a democrat, and is now a member of the County Executive Committee. He served several terms as township assessor and in 1910 was both assessor and land appraiser. In 1914 Governor Cox appointed him member of the board of complaints and he served as president of the board. In 1910 Mr. Klinect was nomlnated for the. office of county commissioner. His district is normally about 3,500 majority republican, but he lost the election by only 490 votes. He was reared in the Lutheran Church, but his family attend the Methodist Episcopal and he helps to support that denomination. THOMAS A. CONWAY. The active career of Thomas A. Conway has been spent in Henry and Lorain counties, and in. both of these localities he has gained a gratifying number of official honors, and his ability as a lawyer and public leader are now generally recognized throughout this section of the state. He gained his education and every successive degree of advancement by hard work, and some twenty-five years ago was a country school teacher in Henry County, using that as a stepping stone to his position in the bar and has now been in active practice for twenty-two years. Mr. Conway's parents, Patrick and Jane (Callahan) Conway. were born in Ireland, came to this country when young, were married at Cleveland in 1862 and soon afterwards purchased a small farm near Olmsted Falls in Cuyahoga County. While living on that farm and in a. humble home, Thomas A. Conway was born on June 19. 1864. In the following spring his parents removed to Wood County, and after living in that county until 1883 they moved to Henry County. where the father died in 1913, aged eighty-seven years, and where the mother now resides. The healthy environment of the country was Mr. Conway's early source of strength, and he attended the district schools and the Grand Rapids High School in Wood County, and beginning in 1885 was for eight winter terms a teacher. The summer seasons for four of these years, 1886-87-88-89, were spent as a student in the Northern Ohio University at Ada, and thus he perfected his. literary education. In the fall of 1890 he began reading law with Judge John V. Cuff of Napoleon, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1893. His preceptor having been elected probate judge of Henry County. Mr. Conway bought Mr. Cuff's practice and during the next ten years was a lawyer of growing prestige and influence in that county. In 1903 he was elected prosecuting attorney, and held that office from 1904 to 1907. His home has been in Elyria since September, 1907. In the spring of 1898 he formed a. partnership with Harry A. Pounds under the firm name of Conway & Pounds, which continued until Mr. Conway's appointment to the office of probate judge. Judge Conway has been a promlnent factor in democratic politics since coming to Lorain County, and in 1908 his vigorous campaign for election as prosecuting attorney of Lorain County attracted wide attention since he ran more than a thousand votes ahead of his ticket. This HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 807 demonstration of popular esteem led to his name being placed on the democratic ticket as nominee for mayor of Elyria after the death of Thomas Folder, who had been the first democrat to be elected to that office since the Civil war, and who was again nominated for the office in 1909, but died several weeks before the election. About ten days before the election Mr. Conway entered the race, and to the happy surprise of his friends was elected by a margin of twenty votes, though at the same election the republican candidate for city treasurer was elected by 1,400 majority. Mr. Conway gave Elyria a very efficient administration as mayor, beginning January 1, 1910, and serving a term of two years. Since then still further official honors have been given him. Governor Harmon in 1912 appointed him judge of probate of Lorain County to fill the unexpired term caused by the death of Judge E. H. Hinman, and he filled that office for eight months from June, 1912 to February, 1913. He was also a. member of the charter commission of Elyria, which formulated a new charter for the city but this instrument was rejected by popular vote in 1913. On May 5, 1915, Mr. Conway was appointed referee in bankruptcy, an office he still fills. Fraternally he has served as grand knight of the Elyria Knights of Columbus. and is now a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. He also belongs to the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and is always found supporting every movement for a better and greater- city. His offices are in the Reddington Building. June 8, 1897, Mr. Conway was married at Ada. Ohio, to Miss Stella J. Owens. She was born at Bluffton, Ohio, daughter of Henry P. and Elizabeth (Alerding) Owens. Mr. and Mrs. Conway have five children, all of whom were born in Napoleon, Ohio, except the youngest, a. native of Elyria. Their names are Owen Thomas, Charles Bernard, Esther Elizabeth, Dorothy Estella and Eugene H. HON. WILLIAM G. SHARP. Lorain County has been well honored by the services of its public men in numerous high stations. The most recent distinction of the county in this respect was the appointment by President Wilson in June, 1914, of Hon. William G. Sharp as ambassador to France. Mr. Sharp has spent most of his life in Lorain County, though his activities as a" lawyer and business man has led him far afield, so that he is a cosmopolitan in experience and has a Wide and thorough knowledge of world politics. Mr. Sharp resigned his place in Congress. where for the third successive term he was representing the Fourteenth Ohio District, in order to accept his present post, which is one of the most important in the diplomatic circles of the world. Without respect to party the appointment of Mr. Sharp was regarded not only as a high compliment to an Ohio man, but as one completely justified on every consideration because of Mr. Sharp's experience as a lawyer, business man and congressman. The Cleveland Plain Dealer said : "William G. Sharp, nominated to succeed Mr. Herrick, will fill the office in a manner no less acceptable to both nations. Friends of the present member of Congress from the Elyria District will be pleased at the honor which has come to him. Three times in succession the republican fourteenth district has returned Mr. Sharp to the House. In republican as well as democratic weather, the voters have signified their confidence in his character and ability, ignoring party lines and increasing his plurality at each election. Under the last redistricting act Mr. Sharp's home county of Lorain was thrown into a new group and the representative had already announced his disinclination to seek another nomination." Likewise the Toledo Blade referred to the appointment in these words: "It is unlikely that the president 808 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY could have filled the place more acceptably, even though he had eared to look elsewhere than in the ranks of those made eligible by the party expediency. Mr. Sharp in addition to being a citizen of soundest character, is a gentleman of those social and financial attainments which particularly fit him for the delicate and yet somewhat rigorous duties of representing the United States in Paris." At the time of his appointment Mr. Sharp was ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House, and had become a power in the movement for international peace through his zealous efforts to accomplish this much desired condition. It is noteworthy that the Foreign Relations Committee paid him a compliment by agreeing to a report for his confirmation without referring the appointment to a committee for investigation. as is usual. That was the first appointment to the diplomatic 'service which had thus been treated during the Wilson administration. Few men in Ohio have displayed a greater versatility and thoroughness of attainment than the present ambassador to France. He has been known as a lawyer, writer, astronomer and also a power in the industrial world. Born at Mount Gilead, Morrow County, Ohio, March 14. 1859. he is a son of George and Mahala (Graves) Sharp. His mother is still living at Elyria. His paternal ancestors took a prominent part in public affairs of Maryland in the early days, his grandfather, George Sharp, serving as state senator and afterwards holding for many years a conspicuous position in politics and journalism. Ambassador Sharp's father was well educated, came to Ohio about 1830, and was a pioneer newspaper man. The ancestors of Mahala Graves were Connecticut people, some of whom served in the Revolutionary war, and there were men of distinction on both sides. William Graves Sharp was reared in Elyria. graduated from the high school in 1877 and in 1881 took his degree in law from the University of Michigan. On leaving college he spent some months in the Northwest, in the Dakotas and Minnesota, and was principally employed in newspaper work. In 1882 he began active practice as a lawyer at Elyria, but while successful in the ordinary channels of legal work, he has given most of his attention to industrial development and organization. In 1887 he became the legal adviser to a southern manufacturing corporation, and this indirectly opened the field in which he attained his greatest business success. He effected the organization of a number of large companies manufacturing pig iron and chemicals in Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada. In 1907 he was chiefly instrumental in consolidating the various companies in which he was interested into the Lake Superior Iron & Chemical Company, which soon became the largest concern for the manufacturing of charcoal pig iron in the world, owning numerous furnaces, mines, timber lands and chemical plants in Michigan and Wisconsin. The headquarters of the corporation are now in Detroit. Mr. Sharp's interests also include valuable holdings in real estate in Elyria and Lorain. In public life Mr. Sharp's advancement has always been against the serious obstacles presented by a normal republican majority. In 1884 he accepted the democratic nomination for prosecuting attorney of Lorain County, and in his election overcame a normal republican majority of 2,500. He declined renomination at the end of three years, and in 1887 was nominated for state senator and though leading his ticket was defeated. In 1892 he was a democratic presidential elector when Mr. Cleveland was elected for his second term. He was also democratic nominee for Congress in 1900, and a delegate to the Demo- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 809 cratic National Convention in 1904. In his election to represent the Ohio Fourteenth District in Congress in 1908 Mr. Sharp, as has been well said, succeeded in making the impossible possible. It was against his individual protest that he was nominated by the democrats in that year though in every respect he was one of the best qualified men in Ohio to represent the state in the halls of the national Legislature. He was elected by a large plurality, and this plurality was increased at each election, both in 1910 and 1912, and in the last year reached the impressive figures of 11,384. Almost from the first he occupied a position of unusual prestige and influence in the House of Representatives, and he was by no means unknown in diplomatic circles and over the country at large when his appointment as French ambassador brought him so prominently into the public eye. Mr. Sharp was married at Elyria in 1895 to Miss Hallie M. Clough, daughter of Henry H. and Margaret (Barney) Clough. Their five children are Margaret, George, William, Effee Graves and Baxter Sharp. Mr. Sharp is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, Elk, Woodman, and has membership in many clubs both in Ohio and in the East. For several years he served as a member of the Elyria School Board. Among a more limited circle Mr. Sharp is known for his scientific attainments, particularly in the field of astronomy. That science attracted him when a boy, and as means and success came to him he has never relaxed his enthusiasm and is an amateur whose knowledge is unusually thorough and exact. He enjoys the friendship and association of many of the best known astronomers in the world. AUGUST STRAUS. The commercial history of Oberlin could not be written without frequent reference to the Straus family. The first head of this family in Oberlin is August Straus, who is one of the oldest active merchants. His cousin was the late Marks Straus, whose enterprise was one of the cornerstones of Oberlin's prosperity. Marks Straus was born in Germany and first came to Oberlin in 1848 as a traveling peddler. He possessed a splendid commercial genius, and when he died he was worth half a million dollars. His wealth and his influence went to the upbuilding of Oberlin in many ways. He founded a dry goods business which for years he conducted under his name and it was the chief trading center of a large surrounding territory. He also owned a large hotel, but subsequently willed the building to Oberlin College. He was generous, broad minded, and was never selfish in his success. He married Miss Bartholomew of Oberlin and had one son, Clayton Straus. Marks Straus died in 1912 and his wife passed away in 1904. August Straus, who on first coming to Oberlin more than half a century ago, was associated with his cousin Marks in business for some years, was born in Germany in April, 1843, a son of Abraham and Rose (Summerfelt) Straus, who were natives of the same district in the old country. His father was born in 1798 and died in 1870, and the mother was born in 1811 and died about 1868. Abraham Straus was a dealer in horses and cattle in Germany and the parents spent their lives in that country. Of their eight children five are living. August and two of his brothers came to the United States, but August is now the only one living in this country. He was about seventeen years of age when he came to America and in 1860 entered the employ of his cousin Marks Straus at Oberlin. He remained with him for eight or ten years, and then bought the clothing department, Marks Straus keeping the dry goods store. Since then for a period of more than forty-five years August Straus has conducted 810 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY the leading clothing business at Oberlin and has displayed much of the commercial ability which so distinguished the late Marks Straus. In 1873 he married Sarah Wood of Birmingham, Erie County. Ohio. Their two children are : Bertha E., who married E. M. Cook of Oberlin, who is associatcd with Mr. Straus in the clothing business, and they have a son named Elton Straus Cook. Claudia S. is the wife of W. P. Carruthers, and they have a son Arthur S. Mrs. Straus dled in November. 1912. Fraternally Mr. Straus is a Royal Arch Mason, and in politics is a democrat. At one time he served as vice president of the Oberlin Bank .and was a charter member of the Oberlin Banking Company. W. P. Carruthers, who is now actively associated with his father-in-law Mr. August Straus in the clothing business at Oberlin, was born in Elyria, Ohio, April 14, 1870, a son of George N. and Mary Elizabeth (Chapin) Carruthers. His father was born in Virginia in 1831 and died in 1911. His mother, also deceased, was born in Amherst, Lorain County, in 1832. Both parents were early students of Oberlin College, and soon after George N. Carruthers graduated in 1858 he married, and then took up his active profession as an educator. He taught for a time in Oberlin College and also in the business college after the war. During the \war he served as chaplain of the Fifty-first United States Infantry. Many hundreds of people have grateful memory of the late George N. Carruthers for his splendid work as an educator. He was superintendent of public schools for forty years, part of the time at Elyria and also at Chillicothe and Salem, Ohio. When he retired from actual school management, he bought a farm east of Oberlin, and lived there until his death. The Carruthers farm under his direction became a place of beauty as well as illustrating a profitable and progressive management. He introduced the first silo in this part of Ohio and took a very active part in farmers associations and in other progressive movements. He was an active member of the Second Congregational Church and in politics a republican. George N. Carruthers and wife were the parents of seven children : Alice, deceased, was the wife of.Dr. W. C. Bunce, and at her death left three children. Wilda, Catherine and Marjorie : Mrs. Bunce was a very prominent woman and a leading spirit in the Sorosis Club. the first woman's club in Oberlin. Arthur. deceased, married Bertha Wilcox and left one daughter, Zilpha. Mrs. I. H. Taylor, widow of the former business manager for the Frederick Stearns Company of Detroit. F. I. Carruthers who is a successful newspaper man, for ten years business manager of the Denver Republican and is now with the Denver Post. W. P. Carruthers was the fifth in order of birth. Carleton F. died at the age of eighteen years. Harold G. is connected with the transmission department of the Willys-Overland Automobile Company. W. P. Carruthers after getting his education was clerk in a jewelry store at Oberlin for eleven years and then for fourteen years conducted a business in that line in Oberlin. Selling out in 191:3, he has since been active in Mr. A. Straus' clothing store. In 1900 he married Miss Claudia Straus. They have a son Arthur. Mr. and Mrs. Caruthers are members of the Second Congregational Church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic Order and in politics is a republican. HENRY STOLZENBURG. Aside from his responsibility and standing as a successful business man at Elyria, the chief characteristics of Henry Stolzenburg are his bigness of heart and breadth of sympathy which have brought him friends from every rank and station of life, and few local citizens have given a better and kindlier service to their fellow humans than this genial and popular resident. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 811 A native of Germany, he was born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, October 13, 1867, a son of Christian and Mary (Ebel) Stolzenburg. His father, who was a carpenter all his active years, brought his family to the United States in 1887 and in the same year located in Elyria. Between him and his son Henry existed more than the usual ties of affection between a father and son, and the latter was especially devoted to his parents, and the father lived in his home until his death on May 8, 1915, having passed his eightieth birthday on June 22, 1914. The mother died at Elyria, April 15, 1893. There were four sons in the family : William, a brief sketch of whose career is found on following pages ; Henry : Fred, a resident of Cleveland; and Herman, the youngest, who died in 1908. Henry Stolzenburg received his early education in the public schools of Germany, and was about eighteen years of age when brought to the United States in company with his parents. After coming to Elyria he showed his readiness to accept every opportunity offered by fortune, and worked in various employments up to 1899, since which year he has been in business for himself. For about three years he was located at Lorain. was in Cleveland for a year, and since then has been in Elyria. Mr. Stolzenburg owns a large amount of valuable city real estate. In 1914 he put up the strictly fireproof three-story building on Broad Street at the corner of Chapel, the, first floor of which is occupied by the People's Theater, a moving picture house, while the second and third floors are the club and lodge headquarters of the Loyal Order of Moose. This building is one of the handsome and modern fireproof structures on the main business thoroughfare of Elyria and is distinctly a credit to the city. Mr. Stolzenburg owns other business property on Broad Street, and has constructed several residences which he rents. Though long identified with the republican party he has never sought any official position for himself. He is a member of the Elyria Automobile Club, is affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose, with Huron Tribe No. 200 of the Improved Order of Red Men, and with Elyria Aerie No. 431 of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He also is a member of three local German societies, and was reared in the faith of the German Lutheran Church. On May 25, 1888, Mr. Stolzenburg married Miss Hulda Hyman of Lorain. daughter of Peter and Anna Hyman of that city. Mrs. Hyman is now living in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Stolzenburg. Mr. Hyman died at New Philadelphia, Ohio, in 1900. Mrs. Stolzenburg is a native of Switzerland. was about two years of age when she came to the United States with her parents, and grew up and received her education at Lorain. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stolzenburg were born six chlldren, and three sons and one daughter are living: Anna, now Mrs. R. P. Meyers of Elyria ; Louis A. ; Edward W. and Henry Jr. Herman died aged two and one-half years, and Minnie died at the age of four and one-half years. The daughter Anna was born in Lorain but the rest claim Elyria as their birthplace, and besides their education in the local schools they attended the Oberlin Business College. Mr. Stolzenburg among other business interests is a stockholder in the Lorain County Banking Company at Elyria. He finds his chief recreation in automobiling. GEORGE H. HADAWAY. In the business history of Elyria, an enterprise that is notable in that it furnishes an example of the energy and progressiveness that have built up this thriving community is the firm of Hadaway Brothers. Founded in 1902 in a modest way, this venture has grown and developed steadily until today it is the largest livery Vol. II-17 812 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY and storage business in Lorain County, handling a volume of patronage that is not exceeded by a firm in any city in the state of the size of Elyria. George H. Hadaway, the senior member of this company, had his earliest experience as a business man in the livery business. When he returned to this line after ten years in a different field, he began the development of the large livery, feed and sale stable which the concern now owns, and soon added automobiles to his equipment. a department which is now a very important part of the business. Mr. Hadaway was born at Elyria, December 12, 1869, and is a son of Charles and Margaret (Mayers) Hadaway. His father, born near London, England, came to the United States when about nineteen years of age, locating at Elyria, where he was married, his wife being a native of Ireland. Charles Hadaway was forty-eight years of age at the time of his death, having been a resident of Elyria for more than twenty-eight years, during seventeen years of which time he worked for the late T. W. London on that gentleman's stock farm near Elyria. Mrs. Hadaway still survives her husband. There were eight children in the family : one who died in infancy ; Mrs. Kate Bath, deceased, who left two sons, now grown,—Alfred and Charles; George H.; Eliza, who is the wife of Alfred Myers, of Cleveland; Charles, of Elyria; Louis. who is engaged in business with his brother, George H., and whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Fred, of Elyria; and a daughter who is the wlfe of Walter Johns, of Cleveland. All the children were born at Elyria and here educated in the public schools. When still a lad, George H. Hadaway received his introduction to the livery business with H. M. Andress, who conducted an establishment here for some years, but later became identified with railroading as a conductor on the C. L. & W. Railway, now a branch of the Baltimore & Ohio. Mr. Hadaway continued to be thus engaged for ten years, in which time he accumulated some small capital. with which he engaged in business with his brother Louis, under the firm style of Hadaway Brothers. They bought out George Bivins, locating in the livery which was located on the present site of the American Theatre, on Broad Street, but after three years found their business grown to such proportions that larger quarters were needed, and accordingly, in 1905, erected the present large storage building and livery, at No. 607 West Broad Street, the largest structure of its kind in Lorain County. Here they keep seventy head of horses, operate a hay]; and transfer line, do all kinds of heavy teaming and maintain an up-to-date and efficient moving service. They have also ten automobiles and automobile trucks, while a taxicab service, operated under the name of the Hadaway Taxi Company, makes a specialty of weddings, touring. parties, etc. Mr. Hadaway is a republican and has taken some active part in politics, although not as a seeker for preferment at the hands of his party. He is a director in the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and has shown a keen interest in agricultural development, being at this time vice president of the Lorain County Agricultural Society. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Elyria Lodge No. 431, Fraternal Order of Eagles. Mr. Hadaway was married April 13. 1900, at Beach City. Ohio, to Miss Beulah E. Raff, who was born at Beach City and is a graduate of the Beach City High School. Her parents. Mr. and Mrs. William Raff are old settlers of that place, where Mr. Raff is engaged in the clothing business. Mr. and Mrs. Hadaway are the parents of two children : Vivian and Ruth, both born at Elyria. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 813 ZAVALAH R. PARSONS. It is consistent with the eminent fitness of things that a member of the Parsons family should now be holding the office of county commissioner of Lorain County. Zavalah R. Parsons is one of the most esteemed citizens of this county, represents one of its older families, and has made his own career conform to the best ideals of citizenship and private character. Born on his father's farm in LaGrange Township of this county May 39, 1853, Zavalah R. Parsons is a son of Ralzaman and Esther Biantha (Nobles) Parsons. His parents were among the early settlers of LaGrange Township. There were four children in the family, one son and three daughters, the son being the oldest : Justitia A. is now Mrs. A. E. McCaskey of Chicago, Illinois ; Velette is Mrs. H. C. Schultz of Des Moines, Iowa ; and Nettie C., who married Benjamin E. Eston, died in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, in 1907 and is buried in LaGrange Township. All the children were born in LaGrange Township, attended schools there and at Oberlin, and the oldest daughter graduated from Oberlin College, while the second attended the Conservatory of Music in Oberlin College and later taught music for several years. The daughter Nettie attended the Union School of Oberlin. Zavalah R. Parsons grew up in a rural environment and belonged to a family which well appreciated the necessity for education as well as moral training. He attended the district schools in LaGrange Township, also a select school, and was a student in the preparatory department of Oberlin College when his scholastic career was unfortunately terminated. At the age of nineteen he suffered a severe attack of the measles, and the permanent effects of the disease weakened his eyesight so that he was unable to continue at his books and his eyesight has never since been normal. The measles was quite an epidemic at Oberlin about that time, and there were about 2,000 cases in the town. His education thus having been interrupted Mr. Parsons returned to the old farm and took an important share in its management. On December 31, 1873, when in his twenty-first year he was ,married at Oberlin to Miss Mary E. Blanchard, daughter of Darwin E. and Lucinda L. (Obits) Blanchard. After his marriage Mr. Parsons continued running the old homestead, since his father had moved into Oberlin. The farm at that time contained 170 acres, and at one time Mr. Parsons and his father together owned 260 acres, but these possessions have since been reduced until his present homestead comprises 105 acres, an excellent farm, with fine improvements and is a valuable and productive property. The old homestead had been bought by his father eighty years ago when the family came to Lorain County. Mr. Parsons continued to give his active supervision to his farming interests until the death of his wife on June 27, 1906. Since then he has rented his farm and has lived part of his time at his home in Elyria and part of the time in the country. He has given much time to public affairs, served as trustee and township assessor a number of terms in LaGrange, and has long been a figure in the republican party in the county. Eight years ago he began his duties as county commissioner, having been elected to the office in the fall of 1905 and assuming its duties in the fall of 1906. He remained in office five years was then out two years, and in the fall of 1912 was again elected, his term beginning in the fall of 1913 and terminating in September, 1915. No member of the board has given a more conscientious and capable administration than Mr. Parsons. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Grafton, with the Knights of the Maccabees and the Knights of Pythias at LaGrange, with Elyria Lodge No. 456, Benevo- 814 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY lent and Protective Order of Elks, and is an active member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. He is a working member of the Second Congregational Church of Elyria and helps supports two churches in LaGrange Township. He and his wife had only one daughter, Grace J., who was born on the old farm in LaGrange Township December 10, 1879, and died there September 11, 1880, at the age of nine months. Mrs. Parsons died suddenly of apoplexy. They were greatly devoted to each other, and her death was the most severe bereavement which he has been called upon to suffer, and with home ties broken and with his love of home and children unsatisfied, he has found the cares of public office a grateful diversion from his own personal bereavement and has exercised his big hearted nature in performing many kindly-services for others. CAREY T. WINCKLES. One of the flourishing business concerns of Elyria is the Elyria Construction Company, which is the outgrowth of the individual enterprise of Carey T. Winckles in general construction work. The construction company was incorporated March 16, 1912. with Mr. Winckles as president, treasurer and general manager. The offices of the company are in the Elyria Block. Mr. Winckles had for some years prior to that time been engaged in road building and paving construction, and has a notable record to his credit in the construction of many miles of high grade highways and city streets throughout Lorain County. The company has an organization and ample facilities for almost unlimited work in excavating, grading. paving, road building, sewer construction, and other contracts of that nature. While this business has naturally brought Mr. Winckles into special notice among Lorain County business men he is primarlly a farmer and dairyman. He now owns and resides upon a. fine farm of 187 acres at North Ridgeville, the old homestead where he was born May 23. 1869. His parents are Thomas T. and Lucy (Hurst) Winckles. both of 'whom are now living in Elyria retired. His father for a number of years operated the old home farm in Ridgeville, but about 1884 moved to Elyria. He served as a trustee of the township and held various other offices there, and both he and his wife were especially active in the Congregational Church at Ridgeville, and from their home in Elyria they still drive out almost every Sunday to attend worship in their old home church. Thomas Winckles has been a deacon in the church for a great many years. This is one of the older families of Lorain County, and Thomas Winckles was born in Avon Township. His wife was born in Dover Township in Cuyahoga County. A brief record of their four children is : Lillian, now Mrs. William Barnes of Cleveland: Lena, who died at the age of eighteen; Carey T. and Harvey T. of Elyrla. All the children were born on the old homestead in Ridgeville and attended public school there and in Elyria. The old farm on which Mr. Winckles was born is known as the Meadow -View Dairy Farm. and he has made it one of the finest of the farms in Lorain County. He keeps a herd of high grade cows, about sixty in number, and sends his milk products daily to Cleveland by the electric lines. It was in 1908 that Mr. Winckles took up the business of road building and paving contracting, and now divides his attention between the business of the Elyria Construction Company and his dairy farm. Mr. Winckles is also president of the Farm Implement Company of Elyria. He is actively identified with local organizations, being a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and a member and director of the Elyria Automobile Club, and fraternally he is identified with the Knights HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 815 of the Maccabees at North Ridgeville. He was married in Hudson, Michigan, to Miss Grace V. Hollister, who was born and educated there. Her father, John H. Hollister, is now living in Hillsdale, Michigan, and her mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Olds, died several years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Winckles have a daughter, Ruth E., who is now attending the high school at Elyria. FRED E. DENN. An enterprising and progressive citizen of Elyria Township, this county, is Fred E. Denn, who lives at Stop 93, Oberlin Line, where he is engaged in truck gardening, in addition to which he is rural mail carrier for this section. He is a man of keen intelligence and he gives a loyal support to all matters tending to improve local conditions. A native of the fine old Wolverine State, Fred E. Denn was born at Tecumseh, Michigan, August 12, 1874, and he is a son of Frederick and Catherine (Dueree) Denn, the former of whom was born just south of Oberlin, Ohio, and the latter at Geneseo, New York. Frederick Denn left home in 1870, at the age of nineteen years, and entered a veterinary college, in which he was subsequently graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery. He entered upon the active practice of his profession at Tecumseh, Michigan, and continued to reside in that city until 1880, when he began to travel in order to improve his health. He had contracted consumption and that dread disease ended in his demise three years later, at which time he was living in Grafton, Ohio. He was but thirty-two years of age when death called him but his kindly disposition had made an indelible impression on those who knew him and his memory will ever be green in the hearts of his friends. Mrs. Denn survives her husband and is now a resident of Elyria Township, where she is beloved by all who know her. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Denn, namely : Charles Henry, engaged in the electrical business and accidentally killed by an electric shock in 1901; and Fred Ernest, the subject of this review. Fred E. Denn was bereft of his father at the tender age of nine years. He completed the prescribed course in the common schools of Elyria Township and for a time - attended the high school at Elyria. On leaving school he entered the service of the United States Express Company and for the ensuing thirteen years was driver of their only wagon in this section. Later he became agent for this company at South Lorain, remaining there for one year, at the expiration of which he was train messenger for the same concern for two years. In 1903 he was appointed rural mail carrier on Route No. 3 and he has continued to fill this position with the utmost efficiency to the present time, in 1915. On his plot of sixty-five acres Mr. Denn is most successfully engaged in dairying and general farming, finding a good market for his produce in Elyria. June 15, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Denn to Miss Anna F. Arndt, a daughter of Charles and Fredericka (Schultz) Arndt, residents of Amherst, where Mr. Arndt was for many years engaged in the stone quarry industry. Mr. and Mrs. Denn have two children, both boys : Charley Ernest, born May 25, 1899, is a junior in the Elyria High School ; and Clarence Albert, born November 11, 1901, is a pupil in the graded schools. In politics Mr. Denn is a stalwart republican and in a fraternal way he is a valued and appreciative member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Denn is a devout member of the Lutheran Church at Elyria and she takes an active part in both its religious and social work. Mr. and Mrs. Denn are 816 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY popular with their neighbors and they are looked upon as substantial and progressive citizens. DEWITT ELDRED. An evidence of thrift and industry exists in the cozy and comfortable residence of Dewitt Eldred, located in Elyria Township, in the midst of a fertile tract of land which has within its borders sufficient gardening and other interests to beguile the comparative leisure of this erstwhile general farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Eldred was born in 1840 in Elyria Township, Ohio, a son of Noah and Mary Minerva (Murray) Eldred. His paternal grandfather was Moses Eldred, who came from Rome, New York, to Cuyahoga county, Ohio. settling on a farm west of Rocky River. He served in the War of 1812, following which he settled on what was known as the Shore Road. but later, finding that this was not to be the main thoroughfare, moved to a location on the Center Ridge Road, 2 1/2 miles east of Elyria, in Lorain County. There he built a log tavern and later a frame house, which. substantially built of heavy timbers, is still standing as a landmark of pioneer times. He continued to conduct the tavern until his wife's death, when he gave up the business, and from that time until his death, at the age of eighty-three years, made his home successively with his several children. Noah Eldred, his son and the father of Dewitt Eldred, was born at Rome, New York, in 1798, and accompanied his parents to Ohio at the age of ten years. He was eighteen years of age when he engaged in farming on his own account, purchasing a property on Murray Ridge Road, in the western part of Elyria Township, and there accumulated 105 acres of good land. His health failing he sold a part of his land, retaining but fifty-five acres, but lived to the age of eighty-three years. dying in 1881. He was three times married, his first wife being Betsey Murray, who was an aunt of his second wife, Mary Minerva Murray. By his first union he had one son, Albert, who grew to manhood and died about 1909. The mother died about six months after his birth, and Mr. Eldred was again married, there being six children in this family : Charley and Betsy, deceased ; Dewitt ; one who died in infancy ; Newton. and Mary. After the death of his second wife Mr. Eldred was married, a third time, being united with Harmony Redington, of Amherst Township, Lorain County. There were two children born to them : Frank, deceased, whose widow is living on the old farm in Elyria Township ; and Martha, who resides at Elyria. Dewitt Eldred was reared on the family homestead and remained at home until attaining his majority, when, in 1861, he enlisted in Colonel Barnatt's regiment of light artillery, with which he served three years, receiving his honorable discharge in 1864. During his service he received a severe injury to his back, and this has troubled him more or less all of his life, although, at the age of seventy-five years, he is still erect. with a good carriage, and appearance of one many years younger. His military career ended, he secured employment with the Lake Shore Railroad, on the section between Cleveland and Erie, but after five years was compelled to resign as his injury troubled him severely, and his next employment was in the handling of a stationary engine at Cleveland. a calling which he followed for five years. Mr. Eldred then turned his attention to farming pursuits in Dover Township, Cuyahoga County, where he resided until 1890, and in that year practically retired from farm work. He has resided on his present place on Murray Ridge Road. Elyria Township for two years, this being a part of the old homestead, where he has a small but comfortable residence, with a handsome garden. Mr. Eldred has been industrious, honest and thrifty and is HISTORY OF LORAIN. COUNTY - 817 richly entitled to the exemption from care which attends hls later years. On September 17, 1865, Mr. Eldred was married to Miss Mary Crawl. a native of Cleveland, whose father came from Pennsylvania. Her mother died when she was a small child and her father two years later. Six children 'have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Eldred : Edwin, Burton, Arthur, Claud, Melville and Scott, all living with the possible exception of the last-named, who left home when sixteen years of age, and has not since been heard from directly. THE COLUMBIA STEEL COMPANY. Perhaps no local industry at Elyria has had a more satisfactory record since it was established some thirteen years ago than The Columbia Steel Company. Moved to Elyria in 1903, from small beginnings it has developed into a business that now supplies material not only to all parts of America but to foreign countries as well. Its product is known technically as cold rolled strip steel, largely employed in the manufacture of stamped, drawn and formed parts used in automobile equipment, typewriters, sewing machines, light hardware, and many other lines. The company specializes in the finer grades of this material, as for the most part the strips and sheets it makes are electroplated in the finished article. It was through the efforts of Arthur L. Garford, who was at the time general manager of the Federal Manufacturing Company, that what is now The Columbia Steel Company was removed from Chicago and re-established at Elyria under the present corporate name. At that time the plant was laid out on a generous scale, with a view to the requirements of a growing business. In 1905 The Federal Manufacturing Company was liquidated, and The Columbia Steel Company plant then came into the possession of The Pope Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. At the same time Mr. Garford retired to look after his other extensive affairs. In May, 1905, the present manager, Mr. Charles E. Lozier, was installed by the Pope interests as general manager of the plant, and he still retains that position. It was the growth of the automobile industry which most favorably affected and brought about the rapid progress and prosperity of The Columbia Steel Company. Its products were used for many of the most important parts in automobile construction, though the output by no means goes exclusively to automobile factories. During the brief financial panic of 1907-08, The Pope Manufacturing Company failed, and within less than a year the control of The Columbia Steel Company passed into the hands of a Chicago syndicate whose successors are largely included in the present official roster as follows: C. D. Smith, president ; W. L. Smith, treasurer ; E. J. Scott, secretary ; C. E. Lozier, vice president and manager. Probably nowhere in the country is a factory so well equipped for producing cold rolled strips and sheets of steel in accurate gauges and of excellent quality. Special attention is paid to the matter of finish, and in consequence the Columbia product can be electro-plated without expensive pre-treatment, and for this reason the company enjoys the patronage of a wide circle of buyers who have grown to be fast friends of this Elyria industry. While a very large proportion of the company's products is of basic open-hearth quality suited to deep drawing operations, the Columbia people sell also a considerable tonnage of high carbon and alloy strips, used in certain lines of manufacture. While The Columbia. Company can be considered somewhat of a "specialty concern." its output is of such staple character, that the mill operates the entire year through and furnishes steady employment to about two 818 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY hundred and fifty men, constituting a most valuable asset to the general prosperity of the city. The warehouses of the company contain a great tonnage of semi-finished strips in the form of hoops, bars and bands, so that most orders can be promptly filled, and often with greater expedition than by some of the larger competitors of this local industry. Wherever cold-rolled strips are in demand, the reputation of Columbia steel is that of the first rank in quality. The company has facilities for strips ranging in width from 5/16 inch to 20 inches. and in the matter of unusual widths it has practically no competition. The plant is most eligibly located at the junction of the tracks of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and the Baltimore & Ohio Railway, and no industry at Elyria has better shipping facilities. W. G. NICHOLS, besides representing one of the oldest families of LaGrange Township. has made his own career count effectually for improvement and progress in that section and there is no resident there who shows greater capability in the management of the soil and his livestock. and who enjoys more esteem among his neighbors. The founder of the family in Lorain County was grandfather James Nichols. who was born in Rhode Island in 1800, and in 1836 brought his family West and settled in LaGrange Township. His tract of land was completely covered by a heavy growth of timber, and he literally out a farm out of the woods. The Nichols family in America dates from the time, in early colonial days, when three brothers named James. Coe and John left England and settled on Rhode Island. Cyrus Nichols, father of W. G. Nichols, was born at Champion in Jefferson County, New York, in 1823, and was thirteen years old when he came to Lorain County. He was well educated, always kept himself well informed, and having a retentive memory was a recognized authority on all matters of local history and carried in his mind a great fund of general knowledge as well. In his generation he stood among Lorain County's most successful farmers. He is given credit as being the first to use commercial fertilizer in growing his crops. He was an active member of the Baptist Church, and took much interest in school affairs, serving as a director. Politically he was a republican. Cyrus Nichols was twice married, his wives being half-sisters. His second wife was Bessie S. Pearce, who was born in Pittsfield Township of Lorain County March 26, 1841, a daughter of Daniel Pearce, who was born in Herkimer County, New York, and became one of the early settlers of Pittsfield Township. Cyrus Nichols died October 19, 1891, while his wife passed away December 29, 1887. Of their five children the four now living are: W. G.; George H., who is a farmer in LaGrange Township: Nora, wife Of John Miller, a baker at Lansing, Michigan; anti Mrs. Lizzie Edmonds, wife of a farmer at Oberlin. W. G. Nichols acquired his early training in the public schools of LaGrange Township, and for fifteen years he alternated between the duties of the schoolroom as a teacher and his farm as a practical agriculturist. He bought a farm in Penfield Township, on which he lived four years, and since 1899 has had his home in LaGrange Township, where he owns a well improved and well stocked place of ninety acres. When he bought the land it had no improvements, and its present condition is ascribable entirely to his own work and management.. Much of his time has been devoted to dairying. In 1891 Mr. Nichols married Lillie Walkden, who was born in Columbia Township of Lorain County, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Walkden. Her parents were born in England, and came to Lorain County when young people. Her father died in Columbia Township HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 819 and her mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols had two children, but Andrew. their son, died March 23, 1916, aged twenty-three years. He was his father's right hand helper on the farm. The daughter Alice is now attending high school. Mrs. Nichols is a member of the Baptist Church. Not only in the management of his own interests as a farmer but also in the broader movements of community life and rural improvement, Mr. Nichols has accepted every opportunity for useful service. For six years he was a master of the Grange in Penfield Township and has also served as master of the County Pomona. He has filled some minor township offices and was a member of the board of education twelve years. In polltics he is republican. PERKINS KIRKLAND CLARK. One of the most picturesque country homes in Lorain County is Clarkhurst, in Carlisle Township, four miles south of the City of Elyria and located on the Diagonal Pike and also on the Elyria and LaGrange Road. This place exhibits the care and management of Mr. P. K. Clark, who has been its proprietor for upwards of half a century. Few men in the county have been so successful in directing farm enterprise. While the Clark family has been identified with Lorain Counts' since early times, the ancestral line in America extends back to the early half of the seventeenth century, when the Puritans came out of England and established the first settlement along Massachusetts Bay. Mr. Clark's lineage goes directly back to one William Clark, who came to America in 1630, about a year after the first colony of the Massachusetts Bay Company was established and located at first at Dorchester, Massachusetts, but subsequently joined that numerous body of dissenters who established Windsor on the Connecticut River in the state of that name. Still later he moved back to Massachusetts and died at Northampton July 18, 1670, when about ninety years of age. William Clark, son of the immigrant, was married to Hannah Strong. They had eleven children, some of whom subsequently returned to Connecticut. Of these eleven children three lived to be above the age of ninety, one attaining the age of ninety-nine, four passed the fourscore mark, and three of the others were past seventy when they died. The sons without an exception lived beyond the age of fifty. and all of them had wives and buried them, but none of them ever took a second wife. On April 7, 1789, at the death of the youngest of these sons, Josiah, the six sons enumerated their descendants as 1,158 in number, of whom 925 were alive at that time. One of the sons of William and Hannah Clark was John Clark, who was married March 16, 1679, to Mary Strong. Of their children Josiah was born June 11, 1697. and died April 7, 1798. Their son Enoch Clark was married June 16, 1763. to Mercy Kingsley, and they were the great-grandparents of Perkins K. Clark of Lorain County. The latter's grandfather, Enoch Clark, was born March 15. 1777, at Northampton. Massachusetts, and was married December 6, 1801. He died March 31, 1831, probably in Massachusetts. The maiden name of his wife was Abigail Kirkland. Lorenzo Clark, father of Mr. P. K. Clark, was born at Westfield, Massachusetts. February 6, 1814. He married Charlotte A. Blanchard. Lorenzo Clark was still a young man when he came to Lorain County. He possessed a fair common school education and had learned the trade of cabinet making and followed that line in Elyria for several years and also conducted the first regular furniture store in the town. His marriage was celebrated at Penfield, Lorain County. There were just two children, and the sister is Mrs. Charlotte A. Jones, whose home is now at Orlando, Florida. 820 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Perkins Kirkland Clark was born in the City of Elyria, April 4, 1843. Four weeks after his birth his mother became an invalid and remained so for seven years. During that time Mr. Clark lived with his maternal grandmother and then returned home. His parents about that time moved to the farm which Lorenzo Clark had bought in Carlisle Township, and on that old homestead Mr. Clark grew to manhood. For some eight or nine terms he attended school at Oberlin. When he was twenty-four years of age his father bought 157 acres in Carlisle Township, and this was the nucleus of Mr. Clark's large landed possessions in that section of Lorain County and of his beautiful rural estate known as Clarkhurst. His own industry and good management have been important factors in his success, and with what he received from his father he has since brought his possessions to about 700 acres. As early as 1885 some of his tenants while digging for water struck gas on his land, but no practical use was made of this discovery until 1903, when Mr. Clark drilled a gas well and he has since utilized the product of his own wells for the heating and lighting of his home. Though reared a republican and always a stanch upholder of republican doctrines, Mr. Clark has never been an office seeker, and his only important position has been as township clerk. His first wife died some years ago without children. On February 11, 1902. he married Miss Julia A. Loomis of Cleveland, a daughter of Milton and Ellen (Foley) Loomis. Mrs. Clark was born in Grafton, Ohio. and finished her education in the high school at Elyria. CHARLES A. JONES. There are turning points in every man's life called opportunity. Taken advantage of they mean ultimate success. The career of Charles A. Jones is a striking illustration of the latter statement. Diligent and ever alert for his chance of advancement; he has progressed steadily until he is recognized today as one of the foremost business men of Elyria. Here he is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens who honor him for his native ability and for his fair and straight forward career. He is a prominent contractor and builder and has constructed more residences and business blocks in this county than any other man. A native of East Cleveland, Ohio, Charles A. Jones was born September 23. 1849. He is a son of John L. and Honor (Livingston) Jones, both of whom were born and reared in New York State, where was celebrated their marriage and whence they removed to Lorain County. Ohio, in 1856. The mother was ,descended from the Livingstons of Livingston, New York. and her uncle, Robert Livingston, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. John L. Jones grew up in the Empire State and as a youth learned the trade of tinner. In April. 1856. he and his wife settled in Avon Township, this county, about one mile distant from Lake Erie. For a time they resided in what is now Cleveland and there he did considerable work as a gardener. He was a private in the War of 1812, having enlisted in a New York regiment, and he participated in the battle of Sacketts Harbor. He passed to eternal rest at Avon and the mother died in Cleveland; both are interred in a Cleveland cemetery. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones and of the number all reached maturity except Joshua, who died at the age of three years. Following are brief data concerning the children : Elizabeth was killed by accident in the Hoyt Paper Mill at Cleveland in 1849; Mary became the wife of Rollin C. Mott. and she died in Cleveland : Jane, wife of Jesse Nichols, is deceased; Clara is the widow of Henry Till and lives in Denver, Colorado; John L., HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 821 Jr., died in Virginia ; Lucy is the wife of Perry Saxon, of Mayfield Township. Cuyahoga County, Ohio ; Louise is the widow of Frederick Padley, of Avon Township, this county ; Lydia Ann was the wife of DeForest Ruple at the time of her demise, at which time she resided in Dover, Ohio ; Charles A. was next in order of birth ; Alfred H. died in East Cleveland ; and Joshua died at the age of three years, as noted above. Of the foregoing the six eldest were born in New York State, the next four in East Cleveland and the youngest in Lorain County. John L., Jr.. gave valiant service as a soldier in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during practically the entire period of the Civil war and he was wounded in the battle of Stone River. Charles A. Jones attended the district schools in East Cleveland and in Avon until he had reached his ninth year. In 1860, aged eleven years. he left home and became cook on a scow on the Great Lakes. Subsequently he became cook on larger vessels and he was recognized as an able-bodied seaman at the tender age of fourteen years, at which tune he received a grown man's pay. He was a seaman and ship carpenter for the ensuing ten years and one of his trips during that time was a whaling voyage in the Arctic Ocean. He was second mate on a steam boat that ran from Cleveland through the canal to Chicago when he was seventeen years old and just previous to that time he made trips to Liverpool and to the Mediterranean Sea as an orderly seaman. For a couple years prior to the panic of 1872 he worked as ship carpenter and he is the only man in Lorain County who can build a boat of wood from start to finish. He quit sailing in 1872 and after the panic devoted his attention to building houses. He came to Elyria in the following year and holds the reputation of having built more residences in Lorain County than any other contractor in this section of the state. He has also constructed many homes and business buildings in Cleveland, having as many as twenty houses in process of construction at one time. He built the Sharp Block on Broad Street in Elyria and also built a block on Cheapside. He owns four houses in this city and his own residence is one of the finest buildings in town. For fifteen years he was construction foreman for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company and during that period built water tanks, round houses. depots, freight houses, coal shutes and other buildings in Buffalo, Toledo and Elyria. In Sandusky, Ohio, December 27, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Letitia Padley, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, whence she accompanied her parents to America at the age of six months. She is a daughter of John and Letitia (Hill) Padley, who settled at Sheffield, Lorain County, in 1856. For six months prior to coming to this section Mr. and Mrs. Padley lived at Dover, Cuyahoga County; they passed to eternal rest in Sheffield Township. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have four children, as follows: Livingston A., of Elyria, is a carpenter and is associated with is father in business; Charles R. is a mechanical engineer at Mount Wilson, California; Owen J. died at the age of eleven years in Elyria; and Letitia M. is the wife of Arthur H. Pfaff, a piano player of much talent, who played the piano in the U. B. Clark store in Lorain for five years and who is now a bookkeeper for the National Tube Company at South Lorain. The Jones children were all born and educated in Elyria, Livingston and Letitia both being graduates of the local high school. Letitia studied with talented teachers and is an accomplished musician. She and her husband have one daughter, Kathryn Letitia, born in Lorain July 18, 1915. Charles R. Jones is married and has a daughter, also named Letitia. It is interesting to note at this point that the two little grand- 822 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY daughters are named Letitia as they will some day be the owners of silver teaspoons, handmade over 200 years ago in England and engraved with the letter "L." Mrs. Jones has an old silver teapot which her parents brought from England and which was among the exhibits of the historical society in the Elyria courthouse for a number of years. In politics Mr. Jones is a democrat and while not an active participant in local affairs he nevertheless gives an ardent support to all measures projected for the good of the general welfare. His wife is a member of the First Congregational Church and they hold a. high place in the esteem and affection of their fellow citizens. Mr. Jones is a self-made man in the strictest sense of the term and it is gratifying to note that he is one of the foremost business men of this county. CHARLES B. RAWSON. For twenty-four years continuously Charles B. Rawson has been identified with the mercantile enterprise of the Village of LaGrange. He is proprietor of a large general merchandise store and has made his business profitable to himself and representing a thorough and up-to-date mercantile service to the community. Though nearly all his active career has been spent behind a counter or in a store office, he was born on a farm near Sunfield in Eaton County, Michigan, June 29, 1867. a son of B. F. and Elden (Freemire ) Rawson. It was on the old farm in Michigan that he spent his boyhood. had a common school education, and was twenty years of age when he value to LaGrange and found employment in the grocery store conducted by his uncle L. W. Richmond. At first he was paid $15 a month and his board. He was with his uncle three years, and the last year the arrangementwas that he should receive $30 a month. However. before the close of the twelve month period he and B. L. Wilkins bought the store and started under the firm name of Wilkins & Rawson. They conducted this business five years. They assumed the stock on credit. and at the end of five years had so prospered that they owned the entire business and had discounted their bills so closely that they had a splendid credit rating. A short time before buying out his uncle Mr. Rawson on November 27, 1889, married Miss Grace Holcomb. She was born and reared in LaGrange. a daughter of Andrew and Anna (Aldrlch) Holcomb. When Mr. Rawson and partner bought the stock of his uncle. Mr. Holcomb was his financial backer, endorsing the note. The firm of Wilkins & Rawson continued for five years. when Mr. Wilkins sold out to his partner on account of ill health. In 1902 Mr. Rawson took in a brother as partner under the firm name of Rawson Brothers, and this was the style of the firm until 1910. In 1901 he bought the building in which his fine store is conducted. Mr. and Mrs. Rawson have two children. The son Charles Andrew who was born at LaGrange August 11, 1891, is a graduate of the LaGrange High School, took a full course in the Oberlin Business College, and in 1915 finished a course at Cleveland in penmanship under Professor Barnet, and has a diploma and is well qualified for the teaching of penmanship. Just now he is employed by his father in the store at LaGrange. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rawson is 'Min Grace who graduated from high school and is still at home. The family reside in a comfortable residence on South Main Street. While Mr. Rawson was reared a democrat, he is independent in political activities. In his home community he has served on the school board, as township treasurer and as corporation treasurer. He and his wife are active in the Methodist Episcopal Church. he being a member of the official board, while the son is leader of the Sunday School orchestra. Fraternally both Mr. Rawson and his son are members of LaGrange Lodge HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 823 No. 399, Free and Accepted Masons, in which the father has been junior warden, secretary ten years and now worshipful master, while the son is now junior warden. Mr. Rawson is also affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. WILLIAM C. SILICA. The career of William C. Silic of LaGrange Township is a story of achievement, a gradual accumulation of material resources and the experience which profits a man in any undertaking. Born in the City of Cleveland March 1, 1858, he was about four years of age when his mother died, and at the age of twelve he began life for himself. He had only limited schooling. Coming to Pittsfield Township in Lorain County, he hired out to work on a farm for board and clothes. At the age of fourteen he was paid wages of $6 a month. He continued monthly employment until he was nineteen, and at that time was getting $20 a month. When he quit he had accumulated a modest capital of $100. With that he bought a team and harness and went in with other parties in the purchase of a threshing machine outfit. For five years he helped operate this in the fall and early winter while the spring and summer were spent in the lumber camps of Michigan. At the end of the five year period he had accumulated about $1,000, and that was the foundation of his present prosperity. Having attained that stage of success, Mr. Silic in April, 1882, at LaGrange married Miss Anna Stevenson, who was born in Pittsfield, January 12, 1859, a daughter of George and Mary (Speed) Stevenson. Her parents were both natives of England* came to America when quite young with their respective parents, and grew up in Muskingum County, Ohio, where they married and later settled on a farm in Pittsfield Township of Lorain County. Mrs. Silic's father died at the age of forty-eight and her mother is still living at the age of eighty. Mrs. Silic died in 1889, and in about 1890 Mr. Silic married Mary Matilda Stevenson, a sister of his first wife. All of his children were born of his second marriage. Mr. Silic's parents were Conrad and Anna Silic, both natives of Germany. where the father served his regular time in the army. The father was a machinist by trade, and he died at the Soldiers Home in Dayton, Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Silk moved to Cleveland and for four years was employed by the United States Express Company at $50 a month. Returning to. Pittsfield Township he invested his capital in a farm of 86 1/2 acres and for the past thirty years has made farming and stock raising his chief occupation. He owned the first farm for twenty-three years, and in that time made many improvements. He occupied it as his home for about seventeen years and then desiring to farm on a more extensive scale he leased a place of 240 acres near Wellington. He operated this for eight years and in the meantime acquired a house and lot in Wellington, and in 1908 after selling his original place, he bought his present fine farm of 234 acres 1 3/4 miles west of the Village of LaGrange. Thls farm too he has improved in many ways. Mr. Silic is well known as a dairyman and as a breeder of thoroughbred Holstein cattle. He started his herd with one thoroughbred cow and now has six, while his dairy herd numbers altogether twenty-four. Mr. and Mrs. Silica have four children : Flossie Maude, who was born in Pittsfield and is the wife of Edward Wise, a farmer in LaGrange Township, and their two children are named Leona and Paul E.; Jessie M., who was born in Pittsfield and lives with her parents; Clarence W., born in Pittsfield, and in the second year of the high school; and Leslie Dewey, born in Pittsfield and in the first year in high school. Mr. Silic 824 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY is a republican, but is not a seeker for official honors. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and was formerly connected with the Maccabees and with the Grange. STUART HARVEY LUCAS. Such a position as is occupied in the community of Elyria by S. H. Lucas does not come as a result of chance. A steadfast ambition, untiring energy, a capacity for endless detail and hard work, a sound integrity, have made him one of the most forceful of the younger business men and citizens. In a business way he has been primarily identified with the upbuilding and development of The Hygienic Ice Company, the only factory at Elyria engaged in the manufacture of ice from distilled waters. Mr. Lucas occupies a number of other relations with the civic, fraternal and club life of his home city and his name hardly requires any introduction to the present generation. A native of Ohio, he was born in Marion February 16, 1876. a son of Harvey Stoughton and Mary Margaret (McLain) Lucas. His mother was born in Springfield, Ohio, January 1, 1849, a daughter of Rev. John Stuart McLain, whose activities as a minister brought him into prominence among the early preachers of Ohio. Mr. Lucas' great-grandfather was Noah Lucas, who in 1832 removed from Homer, New York, in the Mohawk Valley and settled at Kipton in Lorain County, Ohio. At that time the vicinity of Kipton was noted as deer hunting grounds and was a great resort for sportsmen from Cleveland. Noah and his son William, the latter the grandfather of the Elyria business man, were the only settlers in that community, their nearest neighbors being seven miles away. Grandfather William Lucas subsequently removed to Summit County. That was a time when Cuyahoga Falls was a larger town than Akron, and he was one of the men of enterprise who endeavored to make an industrial center by building the Chickoree Race, which was to take water from the Cuyahoga River above the *falls to Akron. That project fell through and the ruins of the \ye] I conceived though unsuccessful enterprise are still found in that locality. Harvey Stoughton Lucas, who was born in Homer, New York, in 1826, likewise became a man of considerable prominence in business affairs. Prior to 1852 he was associated in a small way with the famous Rockefellers of Cleveland. Leaving Cleveland in 1852. he settled in Marion County, Ohio, and there took up general merchandising. He conducted one of the old fashioned country community stores and the stock comprised everything from a package of pins to farm machinery. He was continuously identified with that business—in Marion County until 1888, and it was the only store kept open in the county during the disastrous cholera epidemic of many years ago. His partner in the business was Fred Seffner, and their store was conducted under the firm name of Lucas & Seffner. In 1888 Harvey S. Lucas sold out and removed to a farm in Sheffield Township of Ashtabula County. living there until 1891. At that date he purchased the Shreve Roller Mills in Wayne County, and operated the establishment during 1891-92-93. He then retired from active business and lived quietly at his home in Wooster until his death on August 4, 1895. His wife survived him until September 10, 1903. Harvey S. Lucas also had a record as a soldier. He enlisted in 1864 in Company I of the One Hundred Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the capacity of sergeant. and served about four months in the closing days of the war. He and his partner in the general merchandising business in Marion County were unable to enter the service at the same time and they drew lots to see which would enlist first, and the partner was the one upon whom this choice fell. and he HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 825 saw three years of service and on returning home his place in the ranks was taken by Mr. Lucas. Harvey S. Lucas married for his first wife Miss Abbie Green. She died being survived by three children : Mrs. R. W. Harrington of Akron ; W. G. Lucas of Marion ; and Mrs. Carrie Galley of Detroit, Michigan. For his second wife Mr. Lucas married Miss Mary Margaret McLain. Three children were also born to this union. Stuart Harvey ; Grace Margaret, who is now a missionary in one of the departments of the Girls School at Nankin, China ; and Rhea Reed Lucas, a florist at Wooster, Ohio. The early life of Stuart H. Lucas was spent largely in the towns of Marion, Shreve and Wooster, and in those localities he also acquired his education. In 1891 he graduated from the high school at Shreve, and subsequently attended the Wooster University. Like most successful business, men he started at the foot of the ladder and has gone upward step by step on the basis of merit and accomplishment. His first employment was in a drug store at Wooster owned by Laubaugh & Boyd. About a year later he transferred his connection to the Boston Piano Company at Wooster, with which he remained eighteen months and then spent two years with Wamelink & Son of Cleveland. For about three years he was in the auditing department of The American Steel and Wire Company at Newburg, Ohio, and had another variation then in business experience by several months of employment with the Burrows Brothers Company in their book store at Cleveland. In the spring of 1904 Mr. Lucas organized The Hygienic Ice Company at Elyria. He went into this enterprise with characteristic energy and had the plant in complete operation by July 9, 1904. It is an incorporated company, and the officers are : W. E. Brooks, president ; D. W. Hyland, vice president ; S. H. Lucas, secretary ; and Frederick Mosley, treasurer. Mr. Lucas is also general, manager of the company, and its splendid success is largely due to his efficiency and progressive management. Ice has long been recognized as one of the most indispensable of commodities, and in late years emphasis has been placed upon the requirements of purity, and this company at Elyria is the only one manufacturing ice from distilled water: The business is a flourishing one, and in addition to the manufacture of distilled water ice, it also has a large cold storage plant, the principal building having a capacity for 900 tons, of ice and provision for the storage of 2,000 crates of eggs while there are two other cold storage rooms fitted for the keeping of products of other kinds. Another department of the business is the manufacture and selling at wholesale of pure and sanitary ice cream, and the standard of purity is the motto and watchword of the entire business. In his political associations Mr. Lucas has always been classed as a republican, and without undue partisanship has always been in close touch with civic interests and affairs. He is prominent in Masonry, his affiliations being with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons ; Marshall Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons ; Elyria Council No. 86, Royal and Select Masters ; Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar ; and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cleveland. He is also affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks: Elyria Lodge No. 778, of the Loyal Order of Moose; Elyria Lodge of Eagles No. 431, and he is a member of the Associated Craftsmen of Engineers, and is a charter member of the Lakewood Yacht Club, now the Cleveland Yacht Club. Other clubs of which he is a member are the Elyria Auto Club, the Eastern Heights Tennis Club, the Summit Lake Tennis Club of Akron, the Sandusky Yacht 826 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Club of Sandusky, the Put-In-Bay Yacht Club at Put-In-Bay. He attends the First Congregational Church at Elyria. On August 10, 1903, Mr. Lucas was married in Wooster to Miss Aimee G. Hamilton. Mrs. Lucas, who is a woman of thorough culture and many accomplishments, was born in Manchester, England. Her father, Harry Hamilton, who died at Manchester, was a well known English sportsman and one of the fox-hunting squires who in a former day were such picturesque figures in English life. Her mother, Margaret (Young) Hamilton, lived at San Diego, California, at the time of her death, December 29, 1915. Mrs. Lucas came with her mother and other members of the family to the United States about 1888. She had received her education in Manchester and the only one of her sisters remaining in England married the Rt. Holt Vernon Kellett. Mrs. Lucas among other accomplishments is one of the best horseback riders in the state, as well as an expert boat handler. She attends the. religious services of the Christian Science Church. FRANK C. BILLINGS. The prosperity and advancement of a community depend upon the social character and public spirit of its members. In every prosperous town and country center will be found citizens who take the lead and give their energies not alone to their own well being, but to the things that mean better and fuller life for all. Such a citizen for many years in Lorain County has been Frank C. Billings, farmer, dairyman and breeder of thoroughbred Holstein cattle. The fine Billings farm is located two miles west and three-quarters of a mile north of LaGrange Village on rural route No. 1. Not only has Mr. Billings helped to make progress in his own time but he also represents. one of the solid old time families of Lorain County. He was born in LaGrange Township June 14. 1873, a son of George Mortimer and May (Ingersoll) Billings. The family was founded in Lorain County by the grandparents, Orson and Sophronia (Buell) Billings, both of whom were born and reared in Chenango County, New York, where they married and where two of their children were born. Later Orson Billings traded some property in New York State for land in LaGrange Township. the transaction having been made. through the medium of the 'Western Reserve Company. The young people loaded their possessions on a boat at Buffalo. and soon after leaving port .a storm came up and all their furniture was thrown overboard, and besides a few clothes they were left without any equipment except his carpenter tools. They landed at Cleveland and stopped for a time at the old Franklin Hotel. Grandfather Billings was very nearly tempted to trade his land in LaGrange Township for that hotel and some additional land. Being a carpenter, he soon had a log house erected on his land. in LaGrange Township. and while working at his trade and putting up many of the early buildings in that locality, he also cleared up most of his land. He lived in LaGrange Township until about fifty years of age. Orson Billings was a man of somewhat remarkable genius. He invented the Duplex mowing machine, and put up a building on his farm in which to manufacture it. This building is still in use and is now a tool shed on Frank C. Billings' farm. Grandfather Billings also invented the Billings corn planter. He had patents on both of these machines, and he also carried his skill into the manufacture of parlor organs. One of these instruments is still in use in LaGrange Township. From his farm he finally moved to Elyria and formed a company for the manufacture of his inventions. Business cares weighed upon him so that he lost his health. sold out, and died at Elyria when about sixty-one or sixty-two years of age. His widow survived him until about the age of eighty-five. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 827 George M. Billings was born in LaGrange Township December 25, 1845. Reared on the Billings farm in LaGrange Township, he acquired a liberal education for that time. He attended Oberlin College one year. His active career was spent on the farm, but he lived in Elyria at the time of his death on January 30, 1909, at the age of sixty-three. He was a democrat and was a man of deep religious convictions though not identified with any one church. He and his wife had two children, and the daughter Pearl A., who was born in LaGrange and was given the best of advantages in musical training, having studied at the Oberlin Conservatory, was for some years a teacher of music, but is now the wife of F. E. Gibson of Cleveland, and her two sons are Lisle, aged fifteen, and Ford, aged five. Frank C. Billings spent his boyhood on the farm, acquired a common school education, and at the age of eighteen went out to Kansas. For two years he farmed on rented land near Topeka. Returning to Lorain County in 1893, he was employed by his father a few years, and on March 9. 1896, was married in Elyria to Miss Maude Mc Telly. She was born at Ridgeville, Lorain County, a daughter of James and Bertha (Tippin) McNelly. Mrs. Billings graduated from the Elyria High School in 1893 and was a teacher in the country schools until her marriage. They have one son, Dorrwood Arthur, who was born on the home farm January 24, 1898, and finished his course in the LaGrange High School in 1916. In addition to what he inherited from his father Mr. Billings bought the interests of his mother and sister in the home farm, and now has altogether 240 acres. This includes fifty-three acres which he purchased in addition to the homestead. Everything he does he does well and works constantly for progress and improvement. A prominent feature of his farm is a fine new barn on a foundation 30x100 feet, and seventeen feet from foundation to eaves. It is covered with a slate roof and has cement floors. He also has a silo of 100 tons capacity. He employs power extensively to run his farm machinery, and has a power house with a gasoline engine run by natural gas, and this supplies power for his three milking machines, which he has had in use in his dairy for the past two years. In 1908 Mr. Billings sank a 500-foot gas well, and he used it until another well was put down 2,200 feet to Clinton sand, and this developed a strong flow of gas. Beside his own power house and home two other houses on his land are supplied with this gas. and he receives a royalty on gas he supplies from his works. Born and reared a democrat, Mr. Billings in 1912 was elected township trustee. and was the first democrat elected to that office in twenty-eight years. He has also served as a member of the school board. Mrs. Billings is a member of the Disciples Church and for some time was a teacher in the Sunday School. Mr. Billings affiliates with the Knights of Pythias at LaGrange, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Eagles at Elyria, and both he and his wife are active in the Grange. Mrs. Bilings has membership in the Pythian Sisters and the Ladies of the Maccabees. and has served as home commander and as county commander. SAMUEL VINCENT PRYCE, of Carlisle Township, near LaGrange, a citizen who has prospered in spite of handicaps and adversities, and with his family is now enjoying a comfortable prosperity on his farm of sixty-five acres on rural route No. 1 out of LaGrange. He does considerable dairy business, and turned to farming after a long experience as a telegraph operator and store manager. He was born in the Village of Pool, Illogan Parish in Cornwall, England, December 9, 1858, a son of Samuel V. and Mary (Trevenen) Vol. II—18 828 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Pryce. He remained in Cornwall with his grandparents after his father went to Australia, where the latter died when Mr. Pryce was about twenty years of age. In Cornwall he acquired a fair common school education, and was in his twenties when he set out to make his own way in the world and came to America. He landed at New York after a trip of six days. On the same boat was Miss Eliza Rickard, his betrothed, who was also born near his birthplace in Cornwall, daughter of Stephen and Jane (Gall) Rickard. The couple went direct to Northern Michigan, and were married in the Village of Norway in that section of Michigan July 22, 1881. The young couple lived at Norway and also at Vulcan. while 11r. Pryce was employed in the iron and copper mines of the Upper Peninsula. While at work he met with an accident which closed his career as a miner, and he then learned telegraphy. It was as a telegraph operator that he came to Ohio and after spending a time at Oberlin was appointed to a position with the Cleveland Stone Company at Nickel Plate as operator and also as manager of the company store. He remained with that corporation continuously for twenty-nine years until the business was closed up. In the meantime in 1897 Mr. Pryce bought his present homestead in Carlisle Township, and his family resided there while he continued work for the Cleveland Stone Company. During the past eighteen years he has made many improvements and he now has a fine farm home. He remodeled the barn, and he also had a gas well put down to a depth of 957 feet and has a copious supply of natural gas for fuel and lighting purposes. Mr. and Mrs. Pryce have a son, Samuel Vincent Pryce III, who was born at Menominee, Michigan, November 19, 1882. The son was graduated in a business course in 1901, and is now an active young farmer helping his father run the place. Mr. Pryce is independent in politics, and he and his family are Methodists. He still keeps up his affiliations with the Independent Order of Foresters at Calumet, Michigan. FRANK R. FAUVER. It is doubtful if any recent appointment to the state service has been based upon better qualifications, fitness for the responsibility and the general requisites of experience and ability than that of Frank R. Fauver who in August, 1915, began his duties as superintendent of the State Public Works. This office is one that demands exactly the qualifications which Mr. Fauver is known to possess. Prior to beginning his duties in this state office Mr. Fauver's record was made in Lorain County, where for the past eight years he has been a member of Elyria Road Commission No. 1. The construction of a good road is an improvement which, under modern conditions. must take precedence in importance over almost any public undertaking. To the energy and good judgment of Mr. Fauver must be credited a large share not only in the construction of one road but in the building nearly 100 miles of macadamized roads in the No. 1 district of Lorain County. Under his supervision a. large mileage of macadam construction is found in the townships of Elyria, Ridgeville, Carlisle and Eaton. For nearly a quarter of a century Mr. Fauver's home has been in Elyria, and while his service as road commissioner outweighs all others in importance he was for six years city auditor. Mr. Fauver is a native of Lorain County, having been horn on a farm in Eaton Township October 10, 1878. He is a man of liberal education, having attended the common schools and being a graduate of the Elyria High School, after which he took two years of work in the University of Michigan. He early became identified with public affairs, and was elected for two HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 829 terms to the office of city auditor. Along with the office of road commissioner he was secretary of county road district No. 1. Well known in social and fraternal circles, he is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons at Elyria, and Lodge No. 465 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Fauver was married February 9, 1916, to Miss Julia Schnuerer, of Elyria, a daughter of Mrs. Minnie Schnuerer, of that city. J. A. MEEK, M. D. One of the young physicians and surgeons whose work has indicated ability and professional talent in Lorain County, Dr. J. A. Meek lives at Grafton, where almost at the outset of his career he has acquired a place of prominence and usefulness. He was born in Cortland, Ohio, August 2, 1885, a son of Warren Fayette and Harriet (Cowdery) Meek. Doctor Meek was reared to manhood in the vicinity of Cortland, attended public school there, being graduated from the high school with the class of 1903, and followed that with three years of general employment. Partly with his own earnings he entered the Homeopathic College at Cleveland, where he continued to pursue his studies until graduating M. D. in 1912. After his graduation he located at Grafton, and has made an excellent start and has a promising patronage. He is a member of the Lorain County Medical Society. In Cleveland, while still attending medical college, on September 19, 1909, Doctor Meek married Miss Lila M. Bartholomew of that city. CARL H. DUDLEY. While Oberlin is a town chiefly distinguished for its homes and its educational institutions, it has at least one industrial and manufacturing concern, the Ohio Road Machine Company, of which Carl H. Dudley is secretary and treasurer. This local plant bears favorable comparison with the larger industries of Lorain County. It manufactures a large line of machinery used in the construction. of roads and also for irrigation purposes. The output of the factory meets the international and export trade of the United States since the machines are shipped to such foreign countries as South Africa, South America and Russia. The company is incorporated with a capital of $40,000. Besides his office as secretary and treasurer of this company, Carl H. Dudley has a number of other interests that identify him with Oberlin. He started life practically without any fortune as a farmer's boy. He was born in Lorain County, September 26, 1868, a son of J. Harwood and Angeline (Loomer) Dudley. His grandfather, Jonathan Dudley, a native of Vermont, was an early settler in Lorain County, where he spent the rest of his days. J. Harwood Dudley was born in Vermont in 1822 and died in 1876, while his wife was born in Nova Scotia in 1832 and died in 1898, They were married in Wisconsin. but soon afterwards moved to Ohio and located in Lorain County, where the elder Dudley followed farming and in time built up a considerable business, owning quite a tract of land in Henrietta Township and handling sheep and cattle. As a republican he filled several township offices, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist Church. There were nine children, and the six now living are : Arthur L., a farmer in Henrietta Township, Lorain County ; Ella, wife of Dr. Thomas Walker, who holds the chair of English in a large college in South Africa ; Stowell B., who is a physician at Weiser, Idaho ; Carl H. ; Harlan, a physician at Jefferson, Ohio ; and Mrs. J. E. Barnard, wife of a dentist at Oberlin. Reared on a farm, and no doubt deriving from that atmosphere and environment a wholesale physical energy which has enabled him to make 830 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY a success in business affairs, Carl II. Dudley attended the Academy of Oberlin College for three years, and then completed a course in the Oberlin Business College. He lived in Chicago one year, after which his business interests led him to the West, and for two years he was connected with a bank in Nebraska and for a time was in the lumber business in New York State. It was in 1898 that he established himself as a manufacturer at Oberlin, beginning with the manufacture of creamery cans and cream separators. He has been one of the important factors in developing the Ohio Road Machine Company. Mr. Dudley also owns a farm in Lorain County, and has a summer resort hotel at Vermilion. In 1908 he married Miss Hortense P. Mapes, who was born Nebraska. They have two daughters : Winifred, born .June 6, 1910 ; and Barbara, born February 18, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Dudley are members of the Baptist Church and in politics he is an independent republican. ROBERT C. WARD. To the greatest number of people in Lorain County Mr. Ward is known through his capable service as sheriff, an office which he held for two terms, four years. However, he has been a resident of this section of Ohio nearly forty years, was for a long time in business at Wellington, and has lived at Elyria during the past fifteen years. Whether in office or in private affairs Mr. Ward has enjoyed an excellent reputation for painstaking ability, efficiency and public spirit. In identifying himself with Lorain County Mr. Ward came from the West rather than from the East, which is the natural movement of most people in establishing new homes. He was born at Rockville in Parke County, Indiana, September 11, 1.850. His father, John E. Ward, was born in Kentucky, and his mother, Margaret E. (Mulhallen) was a native of Virginia and a daughter of a slave holding planter who freed his slaves and came to the free State of Indiana when Mrs. Ward was about six years of age. John E. Ward was born in 1.824, and died in 1839. His wife was born in 1826 and they were married at Rockville. Indiana. moved from there by wagon to Fulton County. Illinois, later to Peoria, and finally to Lacon in Marshall County, Illinois, where the father died. His widow was left with the care of five children. For the next two years she lived at Lacon and then established a home near Wenona, Illinois, where her sons found work on a farm and contributed their earnings to the support of the little household. One of these early wage earners and workers was Robert C. Ward, who gained practlcally all his regular schooling prior to the time he was fourteen. and at that age started as a regular farm hand at wages of $14 a month. At the end of eight months when paid his aggregate wages of $112 he took the entire amount to his mother. His other brother was also working. and their sister was teaching school, and in this way the family gradually began to get ahead and prosper. About 1878 the mother and two older children moved from Illinois to Missouri and the mother died there in the .home of her daughter in 1908, while her son Robert was serving as sheriff of Lorain County. Robert C. Ward first came to Ohio in 1873, and was employed in a sawmill at Napoleon in Henry County, but in June of the same year went to Huron County in charge of 1,000 head of sheep. He soon afterwards found work in a sawmill at Greenwich. but in 1875 took up another line of business, driving about over the country and collecting butter and eggs. In the spring of 1880 he became identified with the firm of Wadsworth, Peabody & Hossler in their planing mill at Greenwich and in 1893 the same company sent him to their mill at Wellington in Lorain County. For seven years Mr. Ward remained at Welling- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 831 ton, and was engaged in several lines of business while there, part of the time having a buggy and implement house. Having sold his interests at Wellington Mr. Ward moved to Elyria in 1901 to take up his duties as bailiff and deputy sheriff. This office furnished him the training and the logical preparation for the honor paid him in 1906 when he was regularly elected county sheriff. He was nominated in an old time political convention for that office, but in 1908 he became the nominee of his party at the popular primaries, and was the first sheriff of Lorain County subject to the registration of the popular will both at primaries and the regular election. He was nominated without opposition, was re-elected, and held the office for two consecutive terms, until January, 1911. Since leaving the office of sheriff Mr. Ward has lived retired. In politics he claims allegiance with the republican party first, last and always, and has at different times been an influential factor in local politics, though never seeking honors for himself except in the case of sheriff. He was formerly identified with several fraternal organizations, but is now only an active Mason, both in the Lodge and Royal Arch Chapters. Mr. Ward and wife find their chief recreation and take a great deal of pleasure in their large Cadillac touring car. Mr. Ward knows how to keep an automobile clean and in the best of working order, and his big car looks like new all the time. He is a member of the Elyria Automobile Club. He and his wife have a pleasant home on Lake Avenue. November 4, 1874, he married Emerett Washburn, who belonged to one of the oldest families in this section of Ohio. She was born in Huron County, a daughter of Henry Craft and Charlotte C. (Griffin) Washburn, the latter a native of Greene County, New York. Henry C. Washburn was also born in Huron County, a son of Henry Washburn, who brought the family to Huron County in the early days, and a grandson of Joseph Washburn, who also came to Huron County. ALBERT FRANKLIN RUST. Shady Nook Farm, at Grafton, was for two years the scene of the energetic plans and labors of the late Albert Franklin Rust, who died while in the midst of his preparations for an extensive business as an .agriculturist and dairyman, but whose brie f residence in Lorain County made a strong impress on the community, where he left a host of sorrowing friends, and Shady Nook Farm is now occupied and ably managed by Mrs. Rust and two of her daughters. For one who started his independent career in early boyhood, relying upon industry, honesty and merit to advance hlmself in the world's favor, the late Albert Franklin Rust accomplished all that could be desired, both in a material way and in that esteem which is one of the most distinctive marks of a successful career. He was born on a, farm at Northampton, Clark County, Ohio, January 31, 1865, a son of David and Phoebe (Cost) Rust. His father was born March 9, 1835, in Clark County and his mother was born in the same locality, January 9, 1840. When the son was about five years of age his parents moved to Union County, Iowa, where his mother died in 1868. The father then returned with his three children to Clark County, Ohio. The late Mr. Rust acquired only a common school education in his early youth, and when fifteen years of age started out to earn his own living by hard work in a little factory in Dialton, Clark County. By such employment he earned sufficient to support himself and later also to pay for several terms of instruction in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. In 1886 he moved to Shelby County, Ohio, bought a farm, started and conducted a tile factory. November 28, 1889, Thanksgiving Day, Mr. Rust was united in mar- 832 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY riage with Miss Bonnie Estella Dunson. Mrs. Rust was born November 8, 1871, in Shelby County, Ohio, a daughter of Addison and Rosanna (Lodge) Dunson. Her father was born at Meadowbrook, Augusta County, Virginia, January 22, 1831. Her mother was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, July 30, 1835. Addison Dunson was a child when he moved with his parents to Port Jefferson in Shelby County, Ohio, was reared there, obtaining a common school education, and afterwards learned the undertaking business, which he carried on at Port Jefferson until 1872. He then moved to a farm at Maplewood, Ohio, and lived there until his death on May 24, 1914. Mrs. Rust's mother passed away February 3, 1890. Mrs. Rust is a woman of culture and thorough education, attended the common schools, and took one year in high school and also had a course in elocution. In 1899 Mr. and Mrs. Rust moved to Paulding County, Ohio, where he again resumed the industry to which he had been early trained, tile manufacture, and became sole owner of a plant there. He had shut down his plant in Shelby County, though he still owned his farm there. From Paulding County Mr. Rust, in 1913, came to Grafton in Lorain County, and bought 386 acres included in the fine estate known as Shady Nook Farm. He was in the midst of his plans and labors for establisting himself on an extensive scale in dairying and stock raising when he was called away from the scenes of earthly life, February 10, 1915. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rust were born six children : Hazel Rosanna, born May 11, 1891, is a graduate of high school and of a business course at Sidney, Ohio, and on March 24, 1910, she married Ivan S. Mahan ; they are the parents of one son, Howard A., born February 12, 1911, and this little grandson was about four years of age when Albert F. Rust passed away. Eunice Pauline, who was born in Shelby County, Ohio, July 26, 1893, graduated from the high school at Haviland. Paulding County, Ohio, and is now the wife of William Spelbring. Itella Joy, born October 1, 1897, near Maplewood, Shelby County, is a member of the class of 1916 in the Elyria High School. Mary Cornelia, born June 18, 1901, in Shelby County, is a member of the freshman class in the Grafton High School. Albert Franklin, Jr., was born January 28, 1906, in Shelby County. Phronsie Estella was born in Haviland. Paulding County, September 11, 1908. In character and accomplishment, the late Mr. Rust was a man who always attracted notice and stood as one of the leading citizens of any community with which he was identified. He was reared a republican, but later became a democrat, and though not an office seeker he filled several places of trust and responsibility. He was at one time chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Maplewood, Ohio, and was also a representative in the Grand Lodge. While at Haviland in Paulding County he assisted in organizing the First National Bank, and was its first president, an office he held until he moved to Lorain County. When twelve years of age Mr. Rust was confirmed in the Reformed Church. and continued an active member both in the church and Sunday school until his death. While he was ahnost a lifelong member of the church. several years before his death he made a special consecration of himself and his means to the work of the Master. With very meager beginnings he had developed himself into a man of business affairs and had life been spared the normal period he would doubtless have gone much further in the various fields wherein his interests lay. At his death the care and responsibility of his business affairs devolved upon his wife. who has been ably assisted by her two daughters who are now grown and also by the one who is rapidly developing into young womanhood. HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 833 PLINY H. ROGERS. One of the products which has made the Rogers farm in Grafton Township distinctive is the manufacture of cider and apple butter. During the season of 1915 Mr. Rogers in his home plant manufactured about eighty thousand gallons of apple cider, and converted a large part of its product into the making of apple butter, and of this delicious commodity he sent about twenty-eight hundred gallons to market. This is not the only industry carried on on the Rogers farm. Mr. Rogers is a practical farmer, has made a success of his business, and also operates a first class dairy. His home is a mile and a half south of Belden, with Grafton as his postoffice. Pliny H. Rogers was born on the farm a mile east of Grafton, August 29, 1872, and is a son of Theodore B. and Harriet S. (Hart) Rogers. His father was born at Collinsville, Connecticut, June 4, 1840, and is now living retired at the age of seventy-six. The grandparents were Henry D. and Bathsheba (Chapin) Rogers. Henry D. Rogers was born at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810, and died in 1896. His wife, Bathsheba Chapin, was born at Chicopee Falls, Connecticut, May 28, 1805, a daughter of Oliver and Ellice (Bush) Chapin. Oliver Chapin was born August 17, 1776, and his wife on October 20; 1779. In 1842, when Theodore Rogers was two years of age, his parents came west to Lorain County, locating in Grafton Township a mile east of Belden, and there they spent the rest of their days. Theodore Rogers was for years a very active member of his community in addition to his work as a farmer. As a republican he filled most of the township offices, and both he and his father Henry were closely identified with the Congregational Church in that community. Henry Rogers was one of the founders of that church, and sold steers at three cents a pound in order to raise the $500 he had contributed to the building. Theodore Rogers was also active in church affairs, held official position in both church and Sunday school, and is also a member of the Masonic Lodge at Litchfield. When about twenty-one years of age Theodore Rogers married, lived at. home with his father until thirty, and then was given eighty acres of land by Henry Rogers. He occupied that place until 1897. His wife died January 29, 1896. The six children in the family were : Clara B., who died December 28, 1915, left three children by her marriage to E. A. Terrell of Ridgeville ; Edith P., who died at Oakland, California, married William H. Brandenburg, and left a son Edwin B.; Harry L., who now lives at Fiske, Saskatchewan, Canada, married for his first wife Lottie Breckenridge, by whom there is one child, George W. and for his second wife married Mrs. Laura Johnson ; John died in infancy ; the fifth child is Pliny II.; Dwight E. married Carrie Bessie Cleverdon and lives in Lorain. Pllny H. Rogers grew to manhood on the old family homestead. When about eighteen years of age he went to Findlay, Ohio, and while attending high school there was employed in a drug store and eventually became a registered pharmacist. He was in the drug business at Findlay for five years until failing health compelled him to abandon that vocation. On February 20, 1895, on the farm where he now lives, he married Miss Jessie Cleverdon. Mrs. Rogers was born in the Village of Lodi, Medina County, Ohio, daughter of William and Emeline (Woods) Cleverdon. About 1888 her parents removed to Grafton Township, where her father bought sixty acres and later another sixty acres. Her parents are now retired at Litchfield, Ohio, where her father is living at the age of seventy-six. After his marriage Mr. Rogers spent several years in the business of well drilling, and from that he got the start which enabled him in 1907 834 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY to buy his present farm. The house burned the same year he bought, and afterwards he erected his present modern home. His improvements show that he is very progressive and enterprising. He constructed two silos of good capacity, and some years ago he bought a cider mill and began the industry which is now perhaps the most distinctive feature of his business. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have five children : Ruth, who graduated from the Elyria High School with the class of 1913. and is now a successful teacher ; Glenn A., who spent a year and a half in the Elyria High School ; Donna, Marjorie and Lois. all young and living at home. In politics Mr. Rogers is a republican and cast his first presidential ballot for McKinley in 1896. For one term he served as township trustee, and he passed the highest competitive examinations and received. appointment as assessor from Governor Cox. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Belden, and he is a trustee and is superintendent of the Sunday school. He is also affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Litchfield. PHILIP D. REEFY, M. D. In the world of modern thought there is coming about a gradual and better appreciation of fundamental values and relationship. Emphasis is being placed more and more upon individual and personal service as at least coequal in importance with vested property and material rights and privileges. It was these better and higher ideals and principles of human life that were well exemplified in the career of the late Dr. Philip D. Reefy of Elyria, and in a time and age which saw the highest development of material achievement and in which the spirit of human ministry to fellowmen was overclouded by those accomplishments which could be measured only by material standards. Whether as a soldier, as a physician, practicing medicine at Elyria continuously from 1869 until his death, or as a public spirited and bard working citizen, Doctor Reefy lived and exemplified the life of service. He was born on a farm near Mount Eaton, Wayne County, Ohio, December 29, 1845, and died at his home on West Third Street in Elyria October 7, 1913. His parents were Johan Heinrich and Marie ( Gnaegi) Ryffe, as the name was spelled in Switzerland, whence the parents came as pioneer settlers to Ohio. In many ways the influences of Swiss nationality and character were expressed by the late Doctor Reefy. His early education was limited to a few months each year in the district schools. He gained bodily strength by working the land and helping clear the forests, and as a youth possessed that love of freedom and ardent patriotism which subsequently made him so valuable as a soldier in the Union army. He had an uncle who was one of the famous Swiss guards around Emperor Napoleon and followed that leader on his disastrous Russian campaign. Less than sixteen years of age at the time. Philip D. Reefy on September 7, 1861, enlisted in Company F of the 19th Ohio Infantry. He did much to inspire others in his community to take part in the war for the preservation of the Union, and he always in every emergency and in every duty set an example of fearlessness, courage and devotion to duty. He went with his company into the Army of the Cumberland, and from the battle of Shiloh to the battle of Nashville, which finally broke the strength of the Confederacy in the West, he served first as private and then as captain in eighty-four engagements. including all the great battles around Chickamauga and Atlanta. For two years he was captain of his company, for one year served as adjutant, and at the close of the war was detailed as mustering out officer of the Third Division, Fourth Army Corps, on the staff of Major-General Wood. He was also an ordnance officer in the central district of Texas, and assistant HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 835 adjutant-general on the staff of Major-General Beatty. He went through the war, constantly exposing himself to danger, with only a slight injury caused by a fragment of a shell. Of his army service one of his lifelong friends at Warren, Ohio, wrote in tribute to him at the time of his death as follows : "My knowledge of him as a soldier was derived from close acquaintance with him during four years which we spent together in the Civil war as members of the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. By nature and intellect he was a leader of men. He belonged to that coterie of bright young fellows who attained command of companies ere reaching their majority. His record as a soldier was that of the bravest of the brave. Always ready for duty, no matter how arduous or hazardous that duty might be, he knew not the meaning of cowardice. A man among men, a hero among heroes, his proudest boast was his citizenship of the grandest republic on earth. His friendship was as steadfast as his loyalty to his country. With him, friendship meant a covenant, a baptism, a sacrament. His was a nature that despised mean manners and mean methods. Had he enemies, personal or political, he fought them with the same open courage with which he met the enemies of his country on the field of battle." Many memories might be recalled of Doctor Reefy as a soldier and in his relations with old comrades after the war. He possessed a remarkable memory, and it is said that practically his entire individual experience as a soldier and all the important movements of the troops with which he was associated were photographically registered upon his mind, and he could give expression to the incidents of many campaigns with marvelous descriptive powers. To quote the words of an editorial : "He served his country well, but it can be truthfully said he has served even better the hundreds and hundreds of survivors of the war, who in one way or another came into his life after the great conflict. He loved his war comrades with undying affection and he never hesitated to perform any act which meant for the veterans more comforts in their advancing years, and he constantly preached to the younger generation of the great benefit which had come to the nation through the bloody sacrifice of the flower of the nation's youth in the early '60s." Mustered out and given his honorable discharge November 25. 1865, Captain Reefy then entered the Roanoke Seminary at Roanoke, Indiana, the head of which was at that time his brother, the late Professor F. S. Beefy. After two years of study there he entered the Eclectic College of Medicine at Cincinnati, graduated M. D. in 1869, and following about six months of practical experience in the Bellevue Hospital at New York City came to Elyria and became associated in practice with the late Dr. Paul W. Sampsell. Later in 1871 Doctor Reefy graduated from the Cleveland Medical College, and in 1873 he went abroad and studied under the direction of some of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in the great hospitals at Vienna and Berlin. For more than forty years Doctor Reefy practiced in Elyria and the surrounding country. He was not a mere dispenser of medicine, but entered into the lives of his patients and became the true family physician who has long been an ideal of praise and honor. He gave his professlonal time and services, and also dispensed a broad and liberal charity with lavish hand. In the words of another who spoke of his life at the time of his death, " for forty-four years he has with tireless energy and indomitable purpose pursued his ideal in the practice of his profession. For forty years his name has been a household word in Lorain County. He knew, it is said, until a few years ago, about every resident of the county, familiarly by name. For years, before the interurban cars or motor cars made travel easy, he traversed the rough roads of this county and neigh- 836 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY boring counties by day and by night in the practice of his beloved profession. None called to him in vain. No home too distant, no night too dark, no poverty too deep, for him who held his professional skill as a trust in keeping for his fellow man." After his death Doctor Reefy was honored also for his public services, when the city council of Elyria drew up resolutions to be made a part of the public records in recognition of his work as mayor. He was twice elected mayor of Elyria, in 1899 and 1901, and both administrations were characterized by such respect for law and order that ever afterward they were synonyms of good government. His last civic duty was to serve on the charter commission. His public spirit was not manifested alone when in office, but he was constant in exercising his influence either personally or by the wielding of a vigorous pen toward any betterment which he was convinced was necessary for the city. He was long prominent in Richard Allen Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Whether in his profession or in his relations as a citizen Doctor Reefy always had the courage to have an opinion and to express it without a quibble. At times he might have been thought a. little blunt of speech or manner, but it was the action of a sincere, honest mind that believed in the frank expression of a conviction. On December 29, 1877, Mr. Reefy married Miss Libbie Mountain. He was survived by Mrs. Reefy, by a son, Dr. Karl P. Reefy, a successful physician of Elyria, and a daughter, Mrs. Mayo E. Roe of Elyria. In conclusion should be quoted some of the words delivered by Rev. George B. Ranshaw at the memorial services held in honor of Doctor Reefy : !'We do not forget his high integrity as a citizen. As we recall the story of his busy. rushing life, the spectacle of this occasion is significant in the history of our city. This memorial is not, I take it, a tribute to official service. a recognition of extraordinary genius, to literary or scientific attainments. It is homage to personal character and worth. It is a solemn public declaration that a life so long devoted to the highest ideals, so unselfish in its devotion to the welfare of others, as exalted in its conception and estimates of citizenship, furnishes an example so inspiring, a patriotism so lofty and a public service so splendid and beneficent that in contemplating them, discordant opinions, differing judgments and the sharp sting of controversial speech vanished like dew before sunshine." GEORGE C. PRINCE. During the past thirty years George C. Prince has been a resident of Oberlin. His connections with Lorain County have been many and varied, both in a business way and ln public affairs. The foundation of his business prosperity came as a mill owner and lumberman though his name has been associated with a number of enterprises of other kinds. He is now living retired in the beautiful little City of Oberlin and is one of the men whose careers have helped to make this county what it is. His birth occurred in Erie County. New York, December 10, 1830, a son of William and Betsy (Fargo) Prince. He comes of old New England ancestry as is the case of so many of the older residents of Lorain County. His great-great-grandfather was Daniel Prince, who was born in Birmingham. England, about 1655. and first came to America as a soldier of the British army. Upon being discharged from the army he decided to become a citizen of the New World, and he died at Springfield, Massachusetts. in 1728. His son Robert married a Miss Warren. She was arrested for witchcraft during the historic period when witches were persecuted in New England. and was convicted to be hanged, but died in jail. Abel, the grandfather of George C. Prince, was born in Brooklyn, Windham County, Connecticut, July 3, 1763, and HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 837 died at Brooklyn in that state, January 17, 1819. He married Lucy Cady, who died at the age of seventy-seven. William Prince, father of George C., was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, July 23, 1791, and died in January, 1842. He was married at Providence, Rhode Island, to Miss Fargo, who was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1800, and died in 1885. William Prince was a merchant all his life, and for a number of years he conducted a store near Buffalo, New York, where he died. Of the six children born the only one now living is Mr. Prince of Oberlin. One of the sons, William, served in the Civil war as a soldier and was badly wounded at the battle of Stone River. William Prince was a member of the Presbyterian Church. After his death his widow brought her family to Medina County, Ohio, buying a farm on which she reared her little family. She afterwards removed to Lorain County, and lived on a farm there until her death. As a boy the circumstances in which George C. Prince was reared were those of limited advantage but of sturdy ideals. He was able to acquire only a common school education, and at the age of sixteen he started out to make his own living. For about fourteen years he was extensively engaged in the lumber business, and in that time directed the operations of some five or six mills. It was this business which gave him the foundation of the fortune which he has since conserved and now enjoys the use of. In 1861 Mr. Prince married Lucy A. Hill, of Camden Township, of Lorain County. To their union were born six children. Clarence G. is connected with the American Book Company of New York City ; William I is now mayor of Duluth, Minnesota; Grace is the wife of Ira D. Shaw, who is connected with the industrial department of the Y. M. C. A. and travels extensively ; Sarah, who lives at home is a graduate of Oberlin Kindergarten Training School and is a teacher ; Ernest L. and Edith, twins, are the youngest children, and Edith is the wife of Harry R. Hazel, a teacher in the Glenville High School at Cleveland. Mr. Prince is a member of the First Congregational Church and in politics has always been identified with the republican party. Again and again he has been called to public office. In early days he was township clerk and assessor and justice of the peace. After his removal to Oberlin in 1885 he served as village treasurer and as personal property assessor. For four years he was deputy state supervisor of elections. A man of comfortable means, acquired through the strictest principles of integrity, Mr. Prince has long enjoyed the special confidence of the people in Lorain County, and this was well testified when he was made guardian of the largest estate ever probated in the county, valued at $140.000. He handled the estate with vigor and tact and in such a way as to satisfy all interested parties. At different times in the course of his life he has administered some thirty or forty estates. GEORGE W. INGERSOLL. It is always pleasing to the biographist or student of human nature to enter into an analysis of the character and career of a. successful tiller of the soil. Of the many citizens gaining their own livelihood, he alone stands pre-eminent as a totally independent factor, in short, "monarch of all he surveys." His rugged honesty and sterling worth are the outcome of a close association with nature and in all the relations of life he manifests that generous hospitality and kindly human sympathy which beget comradeship and which cement to him the friendship of all with whom he comes in contact. Successfully engaged in diversified agriculture on his fine estate of 150 acres in Elyria 838 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Township, George W. Ingersoll is decidedly a prominent and popular citizen in Lorain County, having lived in this section of the state since 1886. George W. Ingersoll was born at Grafton, Ohio, September 10, 1864, being a son of George M. and Mary (Preston) Ingersoll. the latter of whom died in 1870. Shortly after the death of his wife, Mr. Ingersoll removed to Elyria in order to have better educational facilities for his children. For his second wife he married Elvira Bradley. who survived him for a number of years. He passed to rest in 1895. There were three children born to the first marriage of whom two are living in 1915. Henry W., an attorney of Elyria, Ohio, married May Hamilton and has two children living, Mary C. and Henry W., Jr. ; George W. is the subject of this review; Anna A. died, aged fourteen years, March 18, 1881. In the common schools of Elyria George W. Ingersoll completed his preliminary educational training and he vas graduated in the Elyria. High School in 1884, at the age of nineteen years. He then purchased a book store in Elyria and conducted the same with marked success for a short time. He disposed of that business, however, on account of his health and went west to Colorado, where he obtained a tract of Government land on which he engaged in ranching for the ensuing three. years. In 1886 he returned to Ohio and engaged in farming in the vicinity of Camden, Lorain County. He remained there for about three years and after his marriage, in 1889, located in Elyria Township, this county. Here he is the owner of a splendidly improved farm of 150 aeries, the same being situated on Lake Avenue, just outside of the city limits of Elyria. He is engaged in the raising of high-grade stock and has met with remarkable success in his agricultural pursuits. The fine condition of his farm indicates good business management and evcrywhere can be seen signs of thrift and untiring industry. In politics Mr. Ingersoll is a staunch supporter of the principles and policies for which the republican party stands sponsor and he takes a public-spirited interest in everything calculated to advance the welfare of the community along material and moral lines. He is well known and highly respected throughout this section of the county. September 18, 1889, in Elyria, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Ingersoll to Miss Myrta Parmely, a daughter of Stanley M. and Mary (Sampson) Pannely, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ingersoll have an adopted daughter, Gladys, who is now attending high school. The great-grandfather and the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Ingersoll on the paternal side were early residents in Connecticut and were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. Asahel Parmely, grandfather of Mrs. Ingersoll. was a native of Vermont, and in August. 1817. in company with his parents, two brothers and his wife and two children, he came across the country in a covered wagon to Ohio. IIe, settled. first, in Sullivan Township, Ashland County. and in 1829 removed to Elyria Township, Lorain County, and located on a farm which included all of George W. Ingersoll's and a part of an adjacent farm. He died January 4, 1859. and his wife survived him many years, passing away October 18, 1875. Two children were born to Asahel and his wife, Fannie ( Wright) Parmely, in Vermont, and five others in Ohio. The first. two were Hannah and Amandrin, the former of whom died in Medina County, Ohio, August 22, 1817. when the family was en route ; she was buried in the woods. Amandrin was a farmer in Elyria Township for many years and his death occurred March 21. 1891: he married Emily Thomas. Concerning the five children born in Ohio the following facts are here inserted : Ashley, born February 21. 1818, married Julia Mann and HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 839 died in Ashland County, Ohio; Lovilla AI., born May 11, 1822, died, unmarried, in Elyria, August 8, 1848 ; Rexavllle E., born February 28, 1825, died. unmarried, in Elyria, May 23, 1848 ; Freeman, born November 17, 1828, married Pamelia Hecock, in 1851, and died January 10, 1893 : and Stanley M., born in Elyria, April 18, 1830, died February 15, 1894. Stanley M. Parmely, the youngest of the foregoing children, was the father of Mrs. Ingersoll. He married, in Chester, Massachusetts, January 25, 1855, Mary Sampson, who died on the old homestead in Elyria Township, December 6, 1915, aged eighty-four years. To Mr. and Mrs. Stanley M. Parinely were born the following children : Nellie R. and Clara B. both died in childhood ; Myrta P. is the wife of George W. Ingersoll, of this sketch : and Clarence D., born September 11, 1876, is engaged in farming on the parental estate in Elyria Township ; he married, first. Gertrude Burlingame, who bore him one child, Mary Gladys. and for his second wife he married Margaret Tanswell. The second union was prolific of three children : Marian, who died at the age of two years : and Inez and Thelma, both living, in 1915. FREDERICK S. REEFY. If the City of Elyria had wished to express through the character of one citizen its best ideals of thought and action during the past forty years, no one man could have represented those ideals so broadly and fully as the late Frederick S. Reefy. His death June 9, 1911, marked the passing of a citizen of remarkable character and activities. For nearly forty years he had been identified with local journalism as senior editor of the Elyria Democrat. His most attractive and valuable characteristic as an editor was that quality, now considered old fashioned, of vigorous, positive expression of conviction. He was never content to deliver the news alone, but made his paper an assertive force in the molding and converting of public opinion. However, there were many other interests and activitles through which the influence of the late. Mr. Reefy can be traced. Before taking up newspaper work he was an educator in Indiana and educated hundreds of boys and young women to lives of broad usefulness and honor. For years he stood for the best in the community, and is particularly remembered as an uncompromising opponent of the liquor interests. His love of flowers and birds and nature in all its manifestations was a trait of gentleness to be 'treasured in the memory of his friends. The influence which his character necessarily exerted cannot be measured by any of the ordinary standards of achievement. The late Frederick S. Reefy was born in the little Village of Boetzingen at the foot of the Jura Mountains in Switzerland, September 1, 1833. He was of Swiss Huguenot ancestry, and true to his inheritance always showed an unconquerable love of freedom, an indomitable courage and ideals as lofty as the mountain peaks of his native land. A few months after his birth, his parents, Johan Heinrich and Marie (Gnaegi) Ryffe, started for America to realize in their own career the abundant opportunities of the New World. The father disposed of his land, gathered the household effects together, purchased wagons and some instruments of agriculture, and leaving the little village among the vineyards on March 28, 1834, transported their family to Havre de Grace, and thence came by a sailing vessel, which .after thirty-five days on a stormy sea landed them safely in an American harbor. Going west to Cleveland, they found that city stricken with cholera, and hastened on by way of the Ohio Canal to Massillon and ended their long journey at Mount Eaton in Wayne County. They secured a tract of land which had been previously cleared, but which had only an unfinished log cabin upon it, and the father lived there 840 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY as a pioneer farmer and homesteader for a number of years. When the late Frederick S. Reefy was fifteen years. old the family moved to Tuscarawas County to a farm of seventy-five acres near the Town of Wilmot. Frederick S. Reefy was a fine type of the self-made man of the last century. Living in a time and under conditions which denied him the opportunities which are now so lavishly bestowed upon growing youth, he kept himself at the white heat of enthusiasm regardless of limitations and the obligations bestowed upon a simple country lad who from early youth had to bear his share of the strenuous toil needed to improve and develop a farm. He attended school during the winter months, and the few books which came into his possession he mastered with a consuming thirst for knowledge. It was in those years, in close touch with the wilderness, that he laid the lasting love and eagerness for his pursuits as a naturalist. In this way he continued to help his father on the home farm and store his mind with useful knowledge from every available source until the age of nineteen, when he was given a certificate and taught his first term of district school. In the spring of 1860 he went to Roanoke, Indiana, and brought about the organization of the Roanoke Seminary, a co-educational institution. The building for the school was erected under his direction, and with his customary thoughtfulness for other generations set out a grove of young trees around it. For eight years he remained the honored and beloved head of the school and worked with self-sacrificing zeal and earnestness in behalf of its welfare. While always a deep student of books, his gifts as a teacher were not those of a mere book man. He was successful in developing enthusiasm and love of learning in his pupils, and in arousing in them those motives and desires which bring about well rounded and seasoned character. It is impossible to understand the far reaching influences of such a life as that of the late Frederick S. Reefy. The impress of his enthusiasm and lofty character was deeply laid in the lives of hundreds of young men and women who went out from his school to carry the message of his life to many diverse quarters and spheres of activity. While at Roanoke, in addition to his duties as head of the seminary, he also became superintendent of the sub-district schools of Huntington County. Hard and constant work finally undermined his health so that at the end of eight years he was obliged to give up the seminary and other duties, and in 1868 he moved to Bluffton. There, after recuperating, he organized the graded schools and was superintendent for four years. His services in that community were highly appreciated as they had been in Roanoke, and it was with general regret that he was finally obliged to leave that section of Indiana, on account of the malarial conditions of the country. Thus in October, 1872, Professor Reefy became a resident of Elyria, where his brother, the late Dr. Philip D. Reefy, had established himself in practice about three years previously. In Elyria Professor Reefy bought the Lorain Constitution, a paper that had been established some seven or eight years, but whose fortunes had been one of many vicissitudes. He soon afterward introduced two changes in the name of the paper. The little Town of Black River had become Lorain, and thus he substituted Elyria for Lorain in the newspaper title, and subsequently in accordance with his political belief changed the word Constitution to Democrat, and since then the Elyria Democrat has been under the management and editorial direction of the Reefy family. As an editor Professor Reefy made his paper more than a mere party organ. He was an independent thinker and writer, and its opinions could never be influenced by any consideration, monetary or partisan. He always kept its rudder true to HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 841 the lofty ideals of his own character, and made the Democrat a worthy and frequently controlling influence in local affairs. In his individual allegiance to the democratic party he showed all the courage and persistence of a real pioneer. For some ten or fifteen years after he took control of the Democrat, the party in Lorain County was in a hopeless minority, but in spite of this condition he never faltered in advocating the doctrines in which he believed, was the acknowledged leader of the party for many years, and in almost every campaign delivered speeches so that he became familiarly known in every school district in the county. As a party honor there was never one more worthily bestowed than when Mr. Reefy was appointed postmaster at Elyria under both the Cleveland administrations. He was a district delegate to the national convention in Chicago in 1896, and in many ways served the party well. Outside of journalism and politics there were many other services which he rendered and for which he should be remembered. He was one of the prime movers in getting a supply of lake water for Elyria, and felt something of a personal triumph when that improvement became a realty. For years, in season and out, he fought strenuously for temperance, and was fearless and independent in his war against the saloon. In October, 1888, he was elected first president of the Elyria Board of Health upon its organization, and served continuously in that capacity until the close of his life. He was an active leader in the public health movement when comparatively little attention was given to those matters of public sanitation and general health which are now almost axiomatic in any community. He was also president of the Lorain County Humane Society, and was largely responsible for the organization of the Lorain County Historical Society. Fraternally he was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with the Knights of Honor and the National Union, and exemplified the best teachings of fraternalism in his own ready sympathy with need and distress. Though always a busy man, his studious pursuits gave him more than a casual knowledge of many branches of learning, and he was particularly interested in geology and archeology, and at the same time endeavored to make himself useful in such practical movements as farmers' institutes and in anything which would broaden and better country life. It was through his writings and descriptions and his personal leadership that the beautiful Cascade Park came to be appreciated by the people of the community. It is said that as a nature lover he knew the note and plumage of every native bird and knew the names and characteristics of all the trees and the varied flora of his section of Northern Ohio. While living at Roanoke, Indiana, Professor Reefy was married July 10, 1862, to Miss Mary Shearer. At his death he was survived by Mrs. Reefy, a son Rollin T. Reefy, who had long been associated with his father-in the management of the Democrat, and by four daughters : Eva L. Reefy, Ada H. Reefy, Alta M. Reefy and Mrs. P. H. Arnold. It was in the words of an editorial written by the editor of the Elyria Telegram that the best appreciation of Professor Reefy 's real life and service was expressed. The language of this editorial should be read as a proper conclusion to a brief sketch of one of Elyria's grand old men. " On a bright sunny morning some fifteen years ago a gray haired man with a basket on his arm followed the winding river north of town. The basket was filled with butternuts, and inquiry revealed the purpose of the bearer to sow them along the river flats, so that butternut trees might , be more abundant in this vicinity for the next generation. The gray bearded man who carried the basket was the late Professor. F. S. Reefy. It is not important whether the trees grew or not. The spirit which in- 842 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY spired the planting was the spirit of unselfish service. The act was symbolical of the life and character of this generous hearted man, who sowed that others might reap. Of such disinterested usefulness, his days were full. “Professor Reefy belonged to an old school and an earlier era in Elyria. The 'flood of years' which bears all before it has been sweeping old time figures from the field of action in the last few months—men who knew Elyria when it was hardly dreamt of as the present bustling, manufacturing community ; when its prosperity was the thrifty activity of a rural business center, its charm the charm of simple suburban life, and its greatest asset the scenic beauty with which nature endowed it. Coming at this period and for nearly two score years serving as the veteran commentator and chronicler of his time, Professor Reefy belonged in this setting as much as the trees and other natural fixtures he loved so well. His pen. ever directed in behalf of any righteous cause, was made especially active in urging the conservation of the shrubs and trees and flowers and birds of this section. To Nature he was a devoted editor and an ever faithful lover. "The grind of present day business life, even in towns so fortunate in natural environment as Elyria. tends to deaden and choke out the love of the beautiful. but the temperament and early associations of Professor Reefy had imbued him with admiration for the graces of nature that no stress or artificiality could eliminate. He realized the paucity of the grandest auditorium on earth as compared with the blue dome of heaven ; the finest pictures of the great masters to him could not compare with the sylvan retreats by the riverside, made by the Creator with real rocks and trees and water and green grown banks; the sweetest music in the world to him was the song of a bird, the rustling of leaves and the sighing of restless branches in the treetops. And all the beneficence and sweet philosophy which Nature teaches was. woven into his kindly soul. "Although the Professor sought truth and beauty at first hand, he did not neglect the intellectual heritages of the past. He was as well a reader and student of the best prose and poetry, and many a pleasant call is treasured in our memory of occasions when this good neighbor slipped over with a bit of verse, perhaps clipped from some distant exchange, some rhythmic derelict of the journalistic sea, which he would divide and enjoy with another, before it floated into oblivion. By those who knew him best he will ever be remembered in his prime as an able and scholarly writer a lover of good literature, a publlc spirited citizen and an editor who was true to his ideals and to his constituency. A more wholesome, useful life than this was never lived in this community, nor a purer soul never departed from it, but it has been truly said ' To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.' " ADDISON WELLS. Representing one of the fine older families of Lorain County. the late Addison Wells, though his life was not spared beyond his prime, should be remembered as one of the old soldiers who went out from this county during the critical period of the Civil war and who in all his relations bore himself honorably and faithfully. Born in Lorain County in 1838. the late Addison Wells was a son of Harlow and Elmira (Kelsey) Wells. His parents came from Connecticut and settled in Lorain County in pioneer times, and established one of the early farms here. Addison Wells was educated in the district schools. learned farming and was already beginning an independent career when the war came on. He served with a creditable record in one of the Union regiments, and after the war returned to Lorain County and became identified with railroad work, being boss of a track HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 843 gang and was killed while engaged in his duties in 1880 at the age of forty-two. In 1859 he married Miss Cynthia Lord, of Elyria Township. Their children were : George, who grew up and married; Clara, who died after her marriage ; Charles, who died in childhood ; Jessie, who died at the age of nineteen ; Eugene, who is a mechanic living on the west side of Elyria, is a member of the Sons of Veterans, of the Loyal Order of Moose and other fraternities, and by his marriage has one child, Loree, now ten years of age. Mrs. Addison Wells now lives on Lake Avenue in Elyria Township, has a comfortable little homestead of 4 1/2 acres, and is one of the highly esteemed women of that community. HARRY JAMES HECOCK, one of the older residents of Elyria Township, which has been his home since birth, is one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Lorain County and his family have so identified themselves with this community as to deserve a permanent record on the pages of this publication. Born in Elyria Township, June 4, 1836, Harry James Hecock is a son of Erastus and Eunice (Burrell) Hecock. His father came to Lorain County in 1817, almost a century ago, from Herkimer County, New York, and located on a farm in Sheffield Township. The Hecocks were among the prominent early settlers of old Sheffield, the centennial anniversary of whose founding was celebrated only recently. Erastus Hecock established his home where the tube mills now stand at Lorain. Five years later he removed from his first farm and engaged in the milling business, operating both a flour and sawmill at about the center of Sheffield Township. He supplied a service as miller to the community for some six or seven years, and then bought another farm in the southwest corner of Sheffield Township. There he erected a home, lived for ten years, and after a brief interval of two years during which he resumed milling, he spent the rest of his life on the old farm. He was killed while crossing the Lake Shore track between LaGrange and Carlisle townships, August 23, 1866. He was at that time seventy-three years of age. His widow survived him about thirty years, passing away at the age of ninety-four. Their seven children were: Permelia, born in 1828 ; Isaac, born in 1830 ; Hannah, born June 3, 1832 ; Harry J. ; Celia, born in 1839 ; Hiram, born in 1841; and Silas. Of these children, Hannah, Harry and Silas are still living and are all residents of Elyria Township. Harry James Hecock was educated in the district schools, and spent his boyhood and early youth on the homestead farm. He was brought up to agricultural pursuits, and has made that his main occupation throughout his career. On March 13, 1860, he married Miss Ellen Weeks, who was born in Dorchester, New Hampshire, but came as a girl to Elyria Township. The young couple began their housekeeping on Mr. Hecock's farm on Lake Avenue, and their first home was a few rods north of the present place. About thirty years ago Mr. Hecock moved to his present home, a neat and attractive residence, most eligibly located, since a few minutes ride takes him into the City of Elyria. When he bought the property it contained about one hundred and one and one-half acres. and he operated it as a general farming proposition for many years. About ten years ago he sold 92 1/2 acres, and that tract is now cut up into town lots. Mr. Hecock has a comfortable little estate of about six acres, and that furnishes him all the employment which his energetic nature demands. He also owns an interest in a large greenhouse located near his home, a little east of Lake Avenue. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hecock was born three children: Vol. II-19 844 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY Arthur, born in 1861, died at the age of twenty-seven, after his marriage to Harriet Woodruff, who is now living in California ; Stella died at the age of twenty-eight ; Brackett is now in the lumber and coal business in Elyria. Mrs. Hecock died March 27, 1913, aged seventy-two years. HENRY M. ANDRESS. One of the most influential figures in the busi- ness community of Elyria for nearly forty years has been Henry M. Andress. He was one of the builders and is still owner of a third interest in the Andwur Hotel, the largest and finest hotel in Elyria and one of the best in Northern Ohio. His associate in establishing this hostelry vas Henry W. Wurst, and when it came to selecting a name they combined the first three letters in each of their individual names and thus evolved the present title by which the hotel is known all over Lorain County and to hosts of traveling men. Mr. Wurst finally sold his third interest in the hotel to Charles E. Wilson. Mr. Andress has for many years been one of the leading authorities on local real estate and has done much to improve a large amount of property in and about the city. His interests are of wide variety and extent. He is now serving as treasurer of the Lorain County Agricultural Society. For a number of years he has been one of the principal automobile dealers and agents in Elyria. Up to November, 1913, he handled the Studebaker car, but since that date his son George H. has assumed the individual management of the Studebaker agency. As automobile dealers the business was formerly carried on under the name of H. M. Andress & Son, but Mr. Andress is now a dealer under his individual name, and is handling the agency exclusively for the Cadillac cars in Lorain and Medina counties. It is a matter of interest to automobile circles that Mr. Andress sold at Elyria one of the first hundred cars ever turned out by the Studebaker plant. Since 1909 he has handled the Cadillac and has been very successful in promoting the sale of that popular car. In 1914 he built the new garage on Broad Street, a two-story buildlng on a foundation 27x110 feet, the type of construction being what is known as steel girder. Two weeks from the time the first brick was laid, the roof was on complete, and this made a record job in Lorain County. Mr. Andress continued business in the old building while the new was being constructed, and this one location has been his headquarters for more than twenty-five years. A slogan by which his business is well advertised throughout Lorain County and which is singularly appropriate is "H. M. A. Here to Stay." Born on a farm in Henrietta Township of Lorain County June 19, 1855, Henry M. Andress is a son of Carlo and Welthy (Smith) Andress. His father was born in Essex County, New York, November 6. 1804, and was one of the early settlers of Ohio, going to that state at the age of fourteen. He was one of the early farmers in Henrietta Township, cleared and improved the .land, and lived there until 1868, when he removed to Oberlin College to educate his children. He died in that old college town November 8, 1870. His wife was born August 16, 1815, in Poughkeepsie, New York. As a boy Henry M. Andress attended local schools, completed his education in Oberlin College, and after some experience as a teacher himself took up a mercantile career. He ran a meat market at Birmingham. but in 1876 was appointed bookkeeper in the store of Hannan & Obitts, grocers and hardware merchants at Elyria. Not long afterwards he became associated with Henry W. Wurst, who had also been an employe of Hannan & Obitts. Mr. Andress laid the foundation for his present enterprise as an automobile dealer a great many years before the automobiles were thought of. In 1877 he and John T. Houghton entered the livery business, but he bought out his partner in a year, and for twenty-five years con- HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 845 ducted one of the best equipped barns in Northern Ohio. He also began dealing in horse vehicles of all kinds, keeping a large stock of carriages, and from that naturally turned to dealing in automobiles. For a number of years he has also been one of the leading dealers in local real estate. He is a director in the Elyria Savings & Banking Company, was formerly a member of the Elyria Public Service Board, and for two years its president, and his authoritative knowledge of real estate values caused him in 1910 to be appointed a member of the board of appraisers of real property for its quadrennial session in Elyria. Mr. Andress' only fraternal relations are with Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and of the Elyria Automobile Club. Mr. Andress has three children : Maude NI., who completed her education in the Maryland College at Lutherville, Maryland, married Kenneth Duryea, of El Paso, Texas ; Jean, wife of J. V. Dillman of Cleveland, and they have two children, Harriet and John ; and George H., who for a number of years has been his father's right hand man in business affairs, married Laura Waite, and has one child, Maude. FRED L. HALL. In the last half dozen years the name Fred L. Hall has become very familiarly associated with the larger business affairs at Oberlin, and he is known as the man chiefly responsible for the introduction of natural gas into this little city. Mr. Hall is an old and experienced operator in gas fields, having been identified with the fields of Western Virginia, and he spent practically all his career in West Virginia until his removal to Oberlin in 1909. He was born at Wellsburg in the extreme northern end of the West Virginia panhandle above Wheeling on December 21, 1864, a son of Augustus C. and Mary Elizabeth (Morton) Hall. His paternal grandfather was Francis P. Hall, and both father and grandfather were natives of Germany. Augustus C. Hall was born in Germany in 1836 and died in August, 1904. His wife was born in Pennsylvania in 1840 and is still living. He came over to America with his parents when seven years of age, and after landing at New Orleans came north to Cincinnati and finally located at Wellsburg, West Virginia. Augustus C. Hall spent his active career as a merchant, and was in one store for fifty-three years. During the Civil war he c served in Company K of the West Virginia Regiment and continued active until illness compelled him to leave the army. He was a democrat in politics, a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Episcopal faith. Grandfather Hall was noted as a restless traveler, and in 1849 went out to the California gold fields and secured some modest fortune by his ventures in that district. Augustus C. Hall and wife are the parents of nine children. The six now living are : Clara McElroy, whose husband is a contractor at Wellsburg ; William A. interested in the glass business at Wellsburg, West Virginia ; John M., connected with glass manufacturing at Wellsburg ; Leonard J., a merchant tailor at Wellsburg; and Mrs. Earl Mahon, a widow living at Wellsburg. Fred L. Hall grew up in his native city, obtained his education in the local schools, and when only fourteen years of age began as a boy helper in a glass house. After a year and a half there he learned the tailor 's trade, and that was his regular vocation in Wellsburg for thirty years. During the '80s, when the oil and gas fields were developed in Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Mr. Hall made some investments along that line and has kept it up ever since, and has made most of his modest fortune in gas and real estate. In September, 1909, he 846 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY moved to Oberlin where he established his sons in the merchant tailoring business. On coming to Oberlin he leased and formed the Pittsfield Gas Company of Oberlin, and this company began active drilling operations in Erie and Lorain counties. Prior to that time Oberlin was burning artificial gas at a price of more than a dollar a thousand. It is estimated that the introduction of natural gas through the company headed by Mr. Hall has effected a saving of fully seven thousand dollars per month during the winter season. The company is incorporated at $60,000 with Mr. Hall as president and general manager. More than any other person he has been responsible for the development of gas in Lorain County, and his company has invested fully two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in pipes and apparatus for supplying of gas and fuel. In 1914 Mr. Hall leased over six thousand acres of ground in and about Vermilion, Ohio, and in 1916 a very strong company was organized and incorporated under the style of the Ajax Gas & Oil Company. It is incorporated under the laws of Ohio and with a capital stock of $50,000. The officers are : T. B. Grant, of Oberlin, president F. L. Hall, vice president, treasurer and general manager ; W. S. Hall, secretary ; and directors, E. M. Grant, F. L. Hall, J. H. McDermott, A. M. Snyder and J. H. McGrew. At different times Mr. Hall has had some prominent financiers of the East associated with him, among them the late H. Clark Ford, who died in 1915. Another associate is Mr. Alonzo Snyder, of Cleveland. On September 17, 1884, Mr. Hall married Mary E. Little, who was born in Newport, Ohio, daughter of Nathaniel Little of that. town, who vas a manufacturer at Wellsburg, West Virginia. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall were born six children : Carl N., associated with his father ; William S., a merchant tailor of Cleveland, and also interested in the gas industry ; Fred L.. now in South Dakota Lucy. V., who is teaching in Florida and has attended the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin: Gertrude B.. in college in Florida ; and Mary E., living at home. JOHN BLAINE JOHNSON is general manager of the Lorain County Electric Company, which as the result of concentration and consolidation now has an immense plant supplying electrical energy for lighting and power purposes to all quarters of Lorain County and even beyond the county limits. He is one of a staff of expert electrical engineers who have grown up in the service of the extensive public utility corporation known as Henry L. Doherty and Company of New York City. In his work Mr. Johnson has been associated with the Denver Gas and Electric Light Company at Denver. Colorado ; the Fremont Gas, Electric Light and Power Company of Fremont, Nebraska : the Massillon Electric and Gas Company of Massillon, Ohio. and the Lorain County Electric Company, all of which are subsidiaries of the Cities Service Company, operated by the Doherty corporation. Mr. Johnson was born at Marathon, Iowa, December 17, 1884, a son of Charles X. and Hulda A. Johnson. He received his preliminary training in the grade and high schools at Hot Springs, South Dakota, where his parents still reside. In 1909 he graduated bachelor of science in the electrical engineering course from the University of Nebraska, and starting at the bottom in his profession has rapidly advanced to his present place of responsibility. His first practical experience after leaving the university was as a cadet engineer performing all kinds of work from rough labor to office HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 847 duties with the Denver Gas and Electric Company. He began there in July, 1909, and in December, 1910, was transferred to Fremont, Nebraska, as distribution superintendent in charge of the rebuilding of gas and electric distribution system. In May, 1912, Mr. Johnson was transferred from Fremont to Massillon, Ohio, as superintendent of the Masslllon Electric and Gas Company. In March, 1914, the company sent him to Elyria as superintendent of the property now included in the Lorain County Electric Company, and he was made general manager of this extensive business in September, 1915. Mr. Johnson is a republican, a member of the Masonic Order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and while in college belonged to the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Club of New York City. HENRY W. WURST. One of the most easily identified citizens of Lorain County is Henry W. Wurst, whose name is associated with a number of the most familiar and important business enterprises and industries of the cities of Elyria and Lorain, and who for many years has helped to supply the capital, the energy and the enthusiasm required in the upbuilding of a prosperous city. Mr. Wurst has not been numbered among the wealthy and fortunate all his life, and truly began his career at the bottom of the ladder, climbing slowly up by industry, faithfulness and integrity. Born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, November 7, 1849, he is a son of Eckert and Elizabeth (May) Wurst. His father was born and reared in Germany, and before leaving that country became an expert stone cutter. In 1859 he brought his family to the United States, and from Amherst, his first location in Lorain County, he moved in about a year to Elyria, where his death occurred in 1855 at the age of thirty-three. His widow subsequently married John Brell, and lived in Elyria until her death at the age of eighty-three December 11, 1908. Henry W. was the oldest of the three children born to his father, while his brother Samuel E. is a poultry breeder of Elyria and Mary is the wife of John Dailey of that city. From the age of eleven Henry W. Wurst became dependent upon his own efforts. He was only six when his father died, and when his mother married about five years later he determined to shift for himself and make his own way in the world. His education in the meantime had consisted of a few months of district schooling each winter. In 1861 he entered upon his first stage in business, working for Charles A. Parks, an Elyria grocer, for only board and clothes. The agreement was that at the end of four years he was also to have $5 in cash, but in lieu of this payment he took a swarm of bees. After the close of the war he worked on a farm in Ridgeville and attended school in the winter, and was also employed by Mrs. Charles Arthur Ely for a time. At the age of seventeen Mr. Wurst made arrangements with Daniel M. Fisher by which he was to get wages of $15 per month and board during the summer, and in the winter was to get board and the privilege of attending school. As a result of all this work and self denial he finally acquired the equivalent of a common school education. His most important start as a business man came when he entered the employ of Baldwin, Laundon & Nelson, one of the leading mercantile firms of Lorain County at .the time, his wages being $75 for the first year and board. For the second year the firm raised his salary to $150, and continued to promote him financially and in responsibilities each succeeding year. Mr. Wurst continued four years as the firm's successors, Hannan & Obitts. His career as an independent business man 848 - HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY began October 2, 1875, when he and Henry M. Andress bought out the grocery and crockery department of Hannan & Obitts. The firm of Andress & Wurst continued about six months, when Mr. Wurst bought his partner's interest and continued as a crockery and grocery merchant for five years. He bought the frame building on West Broad Street which occupied the site on which the Wurst Block now stands, and moving his store to that locality continued his business five years, until the building was destroyed by fire in 1885. At that time he replaced the frame structure with the substantial Wurst Block, and continued merchandising until 1892. A large part of Mr. Wurst's success has been in handling and improving real estate. His record as a builder includes the construction of something more than 150 residences, many of which are still under his ownership. The largest and best hotel of Elyria is the Andwur Hotel, in which Mr. Wurst owned a third interest for a number of years, and in that time he twice remodeled and enlarged the building. He finally sold his interest to Charles E. Wilson. This hotel gets its name by a combination of the first three letters in the names of both Mr. Wurst and Mr. Andress. Mr. Wurst was also one of the incorporators of the old Elyria Block, but sold his interests before that structure was burned in 1909. In the City of Lorain his enterprise has been equally important, and he was one of the builders of the Lorain Block, the largest store and office building in that city, was also one of the builders of the Kent Block and owned part of the Chapman Block in that city. He is one of the proprietors of the tract of 155 acres known as the Lorain Realty Company's Addition to Lorain. As a banker Mr. Wurst is treasurer of the Elyria Savings & Loan Company, a director in the Elyria Savings Depokt Bank & Trust Company, and a stock holder in the Penfield Avenue Savings Bank of Lorain. He was one of the incorporators of The Perry-Fay Manufacturing Company of Elyria, and is vice president and director of The Fay Stocking Company, being one of the leading men in this organization. and is sole owner of the Ohio Nursery & Supply Company. He is a director of the Elyria Telephone Company and works actively with the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. In November, 1909, he was made a member of the Board of Appraisers of real property, which early in the following year began the revision of the valuation of real property for taxation purposes at Elyria, with Mr. Wurst as chairman of the board. In politics he is a republican. November 27, 1873, he married Miss Ella J. Robson. She is a native of Ridgeville, and a daughter of John and Sarah (Tong) Robson, who came from England. Earl H. Wurst, the oldest son of Mr. Wurst, is a successful young business man of Elyria, Ohio, and by his marriage to Ella M. Hirsching of Elyria has two children named Gertrude V. and Nellie L. Charles J. Wurst, the younger son, a jeweler, married Mabel L. Quayle of Elyria. and they have one child, John H. STEPHEN M. COLE. One of the veteran citizens and business men of Oberlin is Stephen M. Cole, president of the S. M. Cole & Sons Lumber Company. The Cole family has lived in Oberlin practically seventy years. Mr. Cole himself has been in business there the greater part of his active career. He is one of the survivors of the great Civil war and has also manifested a sterling patrotism and public spirit in all his civic relations. He was born in Delaware County, Ohio, September 29, 1839, a son of Stephen W. and Elizabeth (Cockran) Cole. The grandfather was also Stephen Cole, a native of Connecticut, whence he moved to Fredericktown, Ohio, in the early days, and acquired a large tract of HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY - 849 land there. The Coles came to America from England during the colonial period of settlement. Mr. Cole's maternal grandfather, Samuel Cockran, was a native of Pennsylvania, but afterwards settled on a farm and died near Fredericktown, Ohio. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. Five of his children attended Oberlin College, four of them graduating, and two sons, Samuel and William Cockran, became ministers, one of them died young while the other lived to be ninety-three. Stephen W. Cole was born in Connecticut in 1802 and died in 1879. His wife was born in Pennsylvania in 1805 and died in 1900. They were married at Frederick-town, Ohio, where they had been reared from early youth. Stephen W. Cole brought his family to Oberlin in 1845, and his name was associated with that section of Lorain County for many years. He helped build the First Congregational Church of Oberlin, of which he was an active member for many years. He was a farmer by occupation and owned a good farm in this county. First a Whig and later a republican, he was a very strong abolitionist before the war and he did much to elevate the standards of schools, and of all institutions in his locality. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, and three now living are : Stephen M.; Frances, wife of Chambers D. Reamer, a well to do retired clothing merchant of Oberlin ; and Samuel Cole, a real estate man at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Stephen M. Cole grew up in Lorain County and was a student in Oberlin College, but, to quote his own words, graduated while in the army. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Seventh Ohio Infantry, and saw an active service covering three years, three months. He was in a great many campaigns and important battles. At Cross Lane, West Virginia, he was captured and was held in Confederate prisons for ten months, at Richmond, New Orleans and Salisbury, North Carolina. After being exchanged he rejoined his regiment, in time to fight at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and was in many other well known conflicts of the war. He was several times slightly wounded, and at Chancellorsville sustained quite severe wounds. After the war he returned to Oberlin and entered college with the intention of completing his course. However, after his army experience had rapidly matured him, he changed his mind and instead of getting a complete education went to Gibralter, Michigan, and took up a new farm, to which he gave his work for three years. He then went to Northwest Missouri, spent some time at Kidder and then bought a farm at Hamilton. After three years of this experience he then went to Oberlin and has since been engaged in the lumber and building material business. He has furnished supplies for a great many of the homes constructed in Oberlin. In the way of public service Mr. Cole served six years as street commissioner at Oberlin, has been a member of the council, and is in many ways a booster for his home town. In politics he is a republican, is an active member of the Grand Army Post, and he and his wife and daughter are members of the First Congregational Church of Oberlin. In 1864 Mr. Cole married Rose A. Kelley, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their family consists of three children : Edith M., who graduated from Oberlin College and was principal of the Academy for several years, but is now the wife of H. C. Shattuck, a Cincinnati attorney ; Percy C., who is actively associated in business with his father at Oberlin ; and George, who is engaged in the lumber business in the West. ALBERT MONROE is a Lorain County citizen well known for his activities in different cities and towns, and for the past six years has been one of the enterprising factors in the village of Grafton, where he is now serving as mayor. By trade he is a baker, an occupation he