TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 475 losses were sustained. The American Sugar Refining Company, however, with its great capitalization and as the owner of the stock of the Woolson Company, was quite able to stand the losses. The purpose of the ownership of the Woolson by the American Company having been accomplished, the American Company sold the Woolson Company in 1909 to Mr. Herman Sielcken, one of the coffee kings of the country, resident in New York city, who undertook the operating of the company along better business lines than the American Company had pursued, and to make money. He placed the business under the local management of Mr. W. A. Brigham as vice president, and Mr. John W. Koehrman as superintendent of the plant, and while the company was operated not wholly independent of Mr. Sielcken's other extended interests, its business became increasingly profitable and it came in a measure to repeat its earlier success. At Mr. Sielcken's death in 1918 in Germany, where he had been residing during the years of the Great war, all his American interests were in the hands of the Alien Property Custodian for the United States. Mr. Sielcken's death presented an occasion to restore the company to Toledo ownership and Mr. Brigham and Mr. Koehrman, still employed by Mr. Sielcken, enlisted the services of Mr. Marion M. Miller, president of The Home Savings Bank, through whose influence Mr. Robert A. Stranahan and his brother, Frank D. Stranahan, became interested and made possible the purchase, by these five men, at public sale in New York city, of the Sielcken interest in the Woolson Company. These five men constitute the active management of the business at this time, and under their direction the company is again one of the very successful enterprises of the city. It is capitalized, including undistributed earnings, at approximately $2,000,000 and there are very liberal distributions annually in cash dividends. JOHN B. NORDHOLT John B. Nordholt, a mechanical engineer of marked ability and a successful business man, has steadily progressed since entering upon his professional career and is now the vice president of the Toledo Steel Castings Company and president of the American Swiss Magneto Company. He was bora in Hamilton, Ohio, February 13, 1881, of the marriage of Herman and Mary Nordholt, both of whom were of European birth and came to the United States in early life. The father was a stone mason and contractor and always followed that line of activity. His demise occurred at Hamilton, Ohio, February 14, 1921. The mother passed away on January 1, 1923, in that city. They were the parents of four children John B., Gesina, Henry and William. The grammar and high schools of his native town afforded John B. Nordholt his early educational opportunities and later he became a student at the Ohio State University, from which he was graduated in 1908, on the completion of a course in mechanical engineering. His initial experience along professional lines was obtained with the Dayton Steel & Foundry Company, with which he was identified for four years. He then came to this city and entered the service of the Toledo Steel Castings Company, being connected with the production department until he was made vice president and manager, and is now filling those offices. They utilize about one hundred and twenty-five employes in the operation of their plant and Mr. 476 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY Nordholt is working earnestly to broaden the scope of the undertaking, which has greatly benefited by his well directed labors. He has also extended his efforts in other directions and is president and a director of the American Swiss Magneto Company, which has likewise profited by his management and direction. He has the poise, self-confidence and executive force necessary for the successful conduct of extensive interests and his labors have been beneficially resultant. On the 8th of October, 1913, Mr. Nordholt was united in marriage to Miss Clara L. E. Van Loo, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank J. Van Loo, prominent residents of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Nordholt have three children : Ann Elizabeth, whose birth occurred in 1914 ; John B., Jr., who was born in August, 1917 ; and James Shelby, born in January, 1919. Mr. Nordholt is a member of the Epworth Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order, being a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. During 1921 and 1922 he served as president of the Rotary Club of Toledo and on retiring from office was presented with a handsome testimonial of their esteem by the members of the organization. His deep interest in the welfare and progress of his city is indicated by his connection with the Chamber of Commerce and he is also affiliated with the Toledo Club, the Inverness Club and the Young Men's Christian Association. During the World war Mr. Nordholt was active in government service, furnishing steel castings for the army and navy. His keen insight has enabled him to grasp situations and mold opportunities into tangible assets and his efforts are resultant factors in whatever he undertakes. He occupies a position of importance in business circles of Toledo and his course has at all times marked him as a citizen of worth. Mr. Nordholt's residence is at No. 2535 Park-wood avenue. GEORGE CURTIS URSCHEL George Curtis Urschel, of the Woodville Lime Products Company of Toledo, is thus identified with one of the important commercial interests of the city. A native of Bowling Green, Ohio, he is a son of John Jacob and Margaret Urschel. While spending his youthful days under the parental roof he attended the public schools of Toledo, the family having removed to this city during his early childhood. He passed through consecutive grades to the high school and later he enjoyed and profited from a college course which he pursued in the University of Michigan and the University of Syracuse. When his college days were over he became connected with the lime industry and has made steady advancement in this field of commerce, being now associated with the Woodville Lime Products Company in an official capacity, having been chosen vice president in 1918. The only interruption to his continued activity in business came with his response to the country's call for troops in the World war. He was graduated from the Field Artillery Officers' Training School and commissioned a second lieutenant. At Detroit, Michigan, on the 19th of October, 1918, Mr. Urschel was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth S. Schenck, a daughter of Lieutenant William Schenck. Lieutenant William Schenck was killed in action, while leading his company in the campaign against Aguinaldo in the Philippine islands. Mr. and Mrs. Urschel have an interesting little son, George Curtis Urschel, Jr., born September 23, 1920, in Toledo. The religious faith of Mr. and Mrs. Urschel is that of the Episcopal TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 479 church, their membership being in St. Mark's. Mr. Urschel is a member of the Sylvania Golf Club, Carranor Hunt and Polo Club, Beta Theta Pi and Lambda Chapter of the University of Michigan. He is concentrating his efforts and attention upon his business affairs, and this thoroughness and persistency of purpose have been strong and decisive elements in his steady advancement. Mr. Urschel's residence is at No. 1312 Thatcher drive. R. W. THORNBURGH, M. D. Dr. R. W. Thornburgh, one of Toledo's able and successful physicians, has had broad experience along professional lines, and for twenty-three years he has engaged in practice in this city. He was born in Henry county, Ohio, September 26, 1858, a son of Wesley and Eliza Jane (Choate) Thornburgh, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Maryland, and both were reared in Tiffin, Ohio. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thornburgh removed to a farm near Napoleon, Ohio, and the father became one of the well known agriculturists of that section of the state. He defended the Union cause in the Civil war, joining an Ohio regiment, and was under command of Captain Pray of Toledo. While in the service he contracted pneumonia and his death occurred in the south in 1863, while the mother passed away in the late '60s. R. W. Thornburgh attended the country schools of Seneca county, Ohio, until he was eighteen years of age and then became a student at Baldwin University. After completing his course in that institution he took up educational work, teaching in country schools for ten years, and on the expiration of that period he entered the medical school of Cleveland University at Cleveland, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1895. He began his professional career at Bloomville, Seneca county, Ohio, where he remained for four years, and in 1899 he came to Toledo, which city has since been his home. His professional labors have been attended by a gratifying measure of success and as the years have passed his practice has steadily grown as he has had opportunity to demonstrate his skill and ability. Close study has formed the basis of his advancement, and combined with an appreciation of the scientific phases of his profession is a deep and abiding sympathy that prompts him to put forth earnest and effective effort where the welfare of his fellowmen is involved. On December 25, 1884, Dr. Thornburgh was married to Miss May Seitz of Seneca county, Ohio, a daughter of Hon. John Seitz, who filled the office of state senator for eight years and was one of the most prominent men in that part of the state. Of the six children born to Dr. and Mrs. Thornburgh, John S. was the eldest. He was born in 1886 and died at Jamestown, New York, January 19, 1919, while in the service of his country, being a victim of the influenza epidemic. He married and his little daughter, Betty Jane, now resides with her paternal grandparents; Wesley Choate, the second of the family, is a native of Seneca county and acquired his education in the public schools of this city. He is an enterprising young business man and is now a member of the brokerage firm of Blanchet, Thornburgh & Vandersal. He is married and has a son, Robert W.; Orrin K. was also born in Seneca county and is connected with the Willys-Overland Company of Toledo. He is married and has two children, Adolph and Evelyn May ; Victor H. is a native of Seneca county and saw service in the World war as a member of the 480 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY One Hundred and Twelfth Ammunition Train. He is also connected with the firm of Blanchet, Thornburgh & Vandersal ; Edwin R. was born in Seneca county and is now in the employ of the American Plumbing Supply Company of this city. He is also a veteran of the World war, spending a year overseas with the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Field Artillery, which was a part of the Thirty-seventh Division ; Mrs. Herbert F. Tigges, who was born in this city, is the youngest of the children. She is a resident of Toledo and has a son, Rolla Frederick Tigges. Dr. Thornburgh is a member of the Central Methodist Episcopal church and his keen interest in the welfare of his city has led to his connection with the Chamber of Commerce. He is also identified with the Woodmen of the World, the Woodmen's Circle, the Protective Home Circle, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs, an auxiliary to that order. He is likewise a member of the Automobile Club of this city and his professional relations are with the Toledo and Lucas County Academy of Medicine, the Ohio Homeopathic Association and the American Medical Association. Like all men who have achieved success in the best sense of the term, Dr. Thornburgh has been an indefatigable worker and deep and continued interest in his profession has led to the acquirement of broad knowledge and marked efficiency. He holds to high standards in professional service and enjoys the respect of his colleagues and also of the general public. CLYDE L. DEEDS Clyde L. Deeds, a rising young attorney of Toledo, has been identified with the bar of this city since 1913 and has thoroughly demonstrated his ability successfully to handle intricate and involved legal problems. He was born in Hancock county, Ohio, July 21, 1890, and is a son of Wellington and Alice Deeds, who are also natives of that county, in which the father successfully followed the occupation of farming until 1917. He is now living retired in Bowling Green, Ohio, and the mother also survives. Seven children were born of their union : John Clair, a resident of Bowling Green, Ohio ; Neil H., of Toledo ; Mrs. Gladys M. Alge and Mrs. Thelma Line, both of whom are living in Findlay, Ohio ; Hollis and Mabel, who reside with their parents ; and Clyde L. In the district schools of Hancock county and the high school at Ada, Ohio, Clyde L. Deeds obtained his preparatory training and then became a student in the law department of the Ohio Northern University at Ada, from which he was graduated in 1913 with the LL. B. degree. After passing his examination he opened an office in Toledo in the same year and has since successfully followed his profession in this city. He is most thorough and conscientious in the discharge of his professional duties and his practice is a large and growing one. He is a ready and resourceful lawyer, well versed in the principles of jurisprudence. He prepares his cases with great thoroughness and care, is forceful and clear in argument, and in his presentation of a cause he seems to lose sight of no point that has a bearing upon the interest of his client. He is also connected with business activities, being a director of the hotel company of this city, and is secretary and a director of the Commerce Finance Company of Toledo. At Cleveland, Ohio, on the 9th of June, 1920, Mr. Deeds was married to Mrs. Edna (Gill) Morrison, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward H. Gill of Toledo. Mr. and Mrs. Deeds have a daughter, Marian Lucile, who was born March 27, TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 483 1921, and is a native of this city. They are members of the First Congregational church of Toledo and Mr. Deeds gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Maumee River Yacht Club and the Toledo Club, while fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His professional connections are with the Lucas County and Ohio State Bar associations and he is also a member of Delta Theta Phi, a legal fraternity. He believes in the maxim : "There is no excellence without labor," and follows it closely and in his law practice whatever he does is for the best interests of his clients and for the honor of his profession. He is an ambitious, energetic and progressive young man and in his chosen calling he is making rapid progress. CHARLES MELVIN HARPSTER, PH. G., M. D., F. A. C. S. Surgeon and urologist, born, Carey, Ohio, September 13, 1873 ; son of David and Hannah (Holway) Harpster ; graduate, high school, Toledo, Ohio, 1893 ; Toledo Medical College, 1896 resident surgeon, St. Vincent's Hospital, Toledo, Ohio, 1896, 1897 ; postgraduate work at Vienna, Berlin, Paris, London, 1899, 1900, 1910, 1913, 1914. Delegate 192 International Congress on Syphilis at Rome, Italy. Married Luella A. Wilt of Fremont, Ohio, May 26, 1898. Two daughters, Helen Armenia, and Hilda Thankful. Practiced in Toledo, Ohio, since 1898. Was surgeon-in-chief Edward Ford Plate Glass Company, 1898, 1899. Many years a member of the executive committee of the Toledo Hospital and head of the department of genito-urinary surgery. Surgeon St. Vincent's Hospital 1918 to 1920. Director of the department of genito-urinary surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital, 1920 ; chief surgeon, Lucas County Hospital, 1908. Practiced limited to surgery and urology; consulting chief surgeon for Ohio, for Henry L. Doherty & Co., 60 Wall street, New York, New York. Surgeon and chief surgeon many corporations and interurban railroads. Hospital Corps, O. N. G., Sixteenth and Sixth regiments, many years. Examining surgeon, O. N. G., during Spanish-American war ; major 1897, 1898. Registered Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, by examination. Fellow American College of Surgeons and the American Medical Association ; member Ohio State Medical Association ; secretary Section Genito-Urinary Surgery, four years ; chairman Section Genito-Urinary Surgery, one year ; member Mississippi Valley Medical Association, North Western Ohio Medical Association, Northern Tri-State Medical Association, American Urological Association, American Association Industrial Surgeons ; director, American Association Industrial Surgeons, 1920, 1921, 1922 ; member, Academy of Medicine of Toledo and Lucas County; member, International Congress on Tuberculosis, Rome, 192; member, Clinical Congress of Surgeons, London, 1914 ; member, German Surgical Association, 1902 (Honorary). Mason—Toledo Commandery ; Shriner, Scottish Rite, 32d degree ; Surgeon General, Grand Commandery of Ohio, Knights Templars, 1915. Elk. Republican. Episcopalian (Trinity). Clubs : Toledo, Exchange, Automobile, Commerce, National Exchange. Past 484 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY president, Toledo Exchange Club. Past president and originator of the National Exchange Club. Voluminous contributor to the foreign and domestic literature on surgical and urological subjects. Articles published : "Tumors of the Bladder." Ohio State Med. Jour., Feb., 1911 ; Am. Jour. Urology, Jan., 1912. "Chronic Gonorrhea." Toledo Med. & Surgical Reporter, July, 1910 ; Abstracted Ohio State Med. Jour., July, 1910. "Hygroma of the Testicle." Abstracted Congress Syphilis Rome, 1912, Pub. in transactions. Pub. Transactions Mississippi Valley Med. Ass'n. 1910. Am. Jour. G. U. Surgery & Dermatology, Page 20, 1910 ; Vol. XVI, 1912. "Prostatotomy." Am. Med. Jour., Page 259, Jan. 25, 1913. "Ureteral Calculi." Ohio State Jour., Oct., 1909. "Intra-vesical operations." Ohio State Jour., May, 1910. Abs. Am. Med. Jour., July 16, 1910. "Senile Atony of Bladder." Ohio State Med. Jour., Nov., 1905. "Teno Synovitis." Ohio State Med. Jour., June, 1907. "Crushed Foot." Med. Council, Nov., 1906. "Intestinal Suture with aid of Gelatin Cylinders." Amer. Med. Jour., July, 1904. "Symptomatology and diagnosis of hypertrophy of the prostate." Pub. Am. Med. Compound, Oct., 1907. "Renal Tuberculosis." Medical & Surgical Reporter, Jan., 1905. "Stricture of the Urethra." Med. & Surg. Reporter, March, 1904. "Cysts of bladder." Detroit Med. Journal, Dec., 1904. "Incontinence of Urine in the Adult." Operation for Med. Council, 1908. "Simple points in the diagnosis of enlarged prostate." Lancet-Clinic. "Purulent & Ulcerative Cystitis." Ohio State Med. Ass'n., May, 1908. "Urethral Caruncle." Ohio State Med. Jour., Nov., 1906. "Tumors of the bladder, with further case reports and review of the High Frequency Method of Treatment." Pub. Am. Jour. Surgery, Jan., 1913. "Renal Gonorrhea." Read before Am. Urol. Ass'n., Boston, Apr., 1913 ; Pub. Ohio State Med. Jour., June, 1913 ; Am. Jour. Urology, July, 1913. "An interesting case Renal Hematuria, with three Anamalous renal arteries." Pub. Urologic Review, Vol. XVII, No. 7, 1913. Read before Ohio State Med. Ass'n., Sept., 1913. Pub. Ohio State Med. Jour. "Rupture of the Urethra following fracture of the Pelvis." Pub. Ohio State Med. Jour., Sept., 1914. Am. Uro. Trans. Read before Am. Uro. Ass'n., Phila., June, 1914. "Sarcoma of Bladder." Read at Baltimore, Md., Apr., 1915. Pub. Urological and Cutaneous Review, Apr., 1915. Trans. Am. Uro. Ass'n., 1915. "Wassidlo and Goldschmidt technic in handling obstructions at the Vesical Neck." Read Baltimore, Md., Apr., 1915. Pub. Trans. Am. Uro. Ass'n. 1915. Pub. Am. Jour. Urology, May, 1915. Pub. Surgery, Gynecology and Obs., Aug., 1914, pp. 208-22. Presented by invitation in Symposium on indications for Surgical Intervention in Obstructions at the Neck of the Bladder, at the meeting of the American Urological Association, Baltimore, Md., April, 1915. One of the most important of his vast fund of contributions to medical literature is an article on "Injuries of the Head," which was published in full in the Ohio Medical Journal for October, 1918. One of his latest articles is "The Surgeon in Relation to Public Service Companies." Modern Medicine. August and September, 1919. "Indigo Carmine as a functional Kidney test," Pub. Urological & Cutaneous Review, Vol. XXIV. No. 8, 1920. "Original investigations and comparative values of Indigo Carmine as a functional Kidney test." Pub. Urological & Cutaneous Review, Feb., 1922. Pub. Ohio State Med. Jour., Mar., 1922. Read before Ohio State Medical Ass'n., Columbus, May, 1921. "Anomalies of the Kidney & Ureter." Read before the American Urological Ass'n., Atlantic City, April, 1922. Read before Ohio State Med. Ass'n., Cincinnati, May, 1922. "Anom- TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 485 alies of the Kidney & Ureter?! Pub. Ohio State Medical Journal, August, 1922. Pub. American Journal of Urology, October, 1922. Home, No. 2141 Robinwood avenue, November to May ; summer home, Grand View, Monroe county, Michigan, June to November. Senior member of the firm of Harpster, Brown & Delcher. Offices, Nos. 301 315 Wedgewood building, corner Adams and St. Clair street. JUDGE O'BRIEN O'DONNELL Judge O'Brien O'Donnell, who for fourteen years has occupied the bench of the probate court at Toledo, his entire judicial record being one over which there falls no shadow of wrong, while on the contrary his work has won the highest commendation of the legal profession and of the public at large, was born in St. Clair county, Michigan, a son of Patrick and Honora O'Donnell and a grandson of John O'Donnell, who was born in Ireland and on coming to America cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Wayne county, Michigan, whence he afterward removed to St. Clair county. In his native land and in his adopted country he followed agricultural pursuits. The mother of Judge O'Donnell was also born in Ireland and cattle of English and Irish ancestry. She was about thirteen years of age when she took up her abode in Michigan, which remained the state of her residence to the time of her death in Kent county in 1905. O'Brien O'Donnell was reared on his father's farm in St. Clair county and after attending the district schools prepared for a professional career by a course in the Detroit College of Law, from which he was graduated. Later he was admitted to practice at the bar of both Michigan and Ohio and also in the United States court and the federal district. court. He entered upon active practice at Port Huron, Michigan, and in the spring of 1896 came to Toledo, where he has remained. He was not long in becoming well established in a large and important practice and was notable for the thoroughness and care with which he prepared his cases and the strength, clearness and cogency of his arguments, as he presented his cause before the court. He remained in private practice until February, 1909, when he became judge of probate for Lucas county, to which position he was elected upon an independent ticket, and was designated judge of the juvenile court for Lucas county. In this connection a contemporary biographer has written : "His record of service classifies him as a fine type of the modern judge. He does not represent the stern justice that inflicts penalties without discretion or discrimination, but rather believes and acts so that, with due respect for the welfare of society, the individual wrongdoer may be set on the road to reformation. This important characteristic of his work has been especially prominent as judge of the juvenile court, and Judge O'Donnell has been frequently commended in Toledo and elsewhere for his service in inaugurating the 'Big Brother' movement as a factor in the conservation and reformation of misguided and unfortunate youth. In a branch of the judiciary that is comparatively new in modern civil government, and one that requires for its effective working the finest balance of judgment and character, Judge O'Donnell has performed a service of inestimable benefit to the present and future generations, and has given his court a high standing throughout the country. In order to supplement the agencies established by law and to carry out some of his high ideals for the reformation of young boys who were daily brought 486 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY into his court, Judge O'Donnell inaugurated in Toledo the 'Big Brother' movement. As a result delinquent boys in the majority of cases, instead of being remanded to some institution are placed under a sort of parole and under the individual guardianship of responsible persons who have voluntarily assumed their share of civic obligations and whose duty it is to faithfully endeavor to give the lads a chance of life and guide them towards real manhood. Naturally, as judge of the juvenile court, Mr. O'Donnell is the official head of this system, and his own personality has had much to do with its successful working. He has shown a wonderful sympathy with so-called incorrigible youths of the city of Toledo, and no one understands better the depth of a boy's nature or can read more clearly the mysteries of their heart and mind. To his work he has brought a high enthusiasm and an unselfish purpose which has contributed probably more than anything else to the admirable record which he has made. His duties in the probate court are arduous and exacting, and are performed with punctilious care, so that it is generally understood that the interests of widows and orphans are safely entrusted when in the keeping of Judge O'Donnell. In spite of the incessant demands upon his time and strength by reason of his official duties, Judge O'Donnell really regards his position as a privilege and an opportunity and is employing all the gifts and talents of a high-minded man for the sake of a great public benefit. Judge O'Donnell is also known as an eloquent public speaker, and always has something worth saying and something which is worth remembering. In fact, Judge O'Donnell is one of the men best fitted to speak on social conditions that prevail in Toledo, since for the past six or seven years he has daily been brought into contact with the classes and masses, and well understands 'how the other half live.' " Judge O'Donnell belongs to St. Francis de Sales Catholic church and has membership with the Knights of Columbus and the Young Men's Christian Association, the Knights of the Modern Maccabees and the Inverness Club. He is also associated with the Chamber of Commerce and along professional lines with the Lucas County and Ohio State Bar associations. He has always voted with the democratic party where national questions are involved but at local elections believes in an independent ballot and upon an independent ticket has been elected probate judge, in which position he is now serving for the fourteenth year, his reelections having come to him as an expression of trust in his capability and faithfulness to the important duties that devolve upon him. AMOS L. CONN Amos L. Conn, member of the Toledo bar, engaged in general practice, was born in Mifflin, Ohio, July 3, 1879, and is a son of Enoch and Sarah (Eby) Conn, the former a carpenter by trade and now deceased. Amos L. Conn was educated in the public schools and in the Ohio Northern University, at. Ada, Ohio, where he pursued his literary education, while later he entered upon preparation for the bar as a law student in Grant University at Chattanooga, Tennessee, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906. Looking about him for a favorable location, he at length decided upon Toledo and that he made no mistake in his choice is indicated in the enviable place which he has made for himself as a representative of the bar of this city. Locating here, he entered upon general practice- and through the passing years has worked his way steadily TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 489 upward, demonstrating his ability to cope with involved and intricate legal problems. He displays skill in the presentation of evidence, marked ability in cross examination, persuasiveness before the jury and a strong grasp of every feature of the case. Untiring industry is a dominant element in his law practice and he is at all times faithful to the interests of his clients. He belongs to the Lucas County, Ohio State and American Bar associations and his popularity among his professional brethren in this city is indicated in the fact that he has been elected to the presidency of the Lawyers Club. On the 7th of September, 1910, Mr. Conn was united in marriage to Miss Grace M. Bennis and to them have been born three children: Rachel Elizabeth, Helen Louise and Robert Jackson. Mr. Conn belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and in its work and objects is deeply interested. He has membership in the Rossford Methodist Episcopal church and was formerly president of its official board. He is also president of the building committee having in charge the erection of a new church and his time and attention aside from his profession are mostly given to church work. He finds his recreation in the development and improvement of a five-acre farm, which he has made a thing of beauty in its orderly productiveness. HORACE K. BECKWITH, M. D. Dr. Horace K. Beckwith, physician and surgeon of Toledo, was born in this city, July 4, 1891, and is a son of Seth W. and Ida B. (Kurtz) Beckwith, the former a native of Huron county, Ohio, while the latter was born in Wyandot county, this state. They always remained residents of Ohio and the father became a prominent physician and surgeon of Toledo, ranking particularly high by reason of his great efficiency in surgery. He died in this city in 1909 and here his widow still makes her home. In their family were two children. the other being a daughter, Myrtle, who has passed away. Horace K. Beckwith attended the Toledo public schools and the Central high school, from which he was graduated in May, 1909. He afterward pursued a course of study in the Toledo University and still later entered the Ohio State University, taking a three years' course. He then completed his professional training in the Detroit College of Medicine, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1916. Soon after his graduation he entered the Lucas County Hospital as an interne and in 1917 entered upon the private practice of medicine and surgery. In the same year, however, he enlisted in the medical division for war service and was commissioned a first lieutenant, being kept on duty in this country until discharged in May, 1919. At that date Dr. Beckwith again opened an office in Toledo, where he has remained in active practice, and steadily he has advanced in his chosen profession, his ability being attested by the large patronage now accorded him. He belongs to the Lucas County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Association and the American Medical Association and through his connection with these bodies keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and scientific research. On the 1st of September, 1917, Dr. Beckwith was united in marriage to Miss Mary Lucille Scott of Toledo, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Farr L. Scott. Fraternally the Doctor is connected with the Masons and he also belongs to the East Side Commercial Club. He is interested in all of those forces which make for the uplift 490 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY of the individual and the betterment of the community, while along professional lines he is actuated by a most progressive and earnest spirit, manifest in the faithful and conscientious performance of his duties. GEORGE B. RHEINFRANK George B. Rheinfrank is one of Toledo's well known architects, to whose skill and ability .are attributed many of the important and substantial business edifices and beautiful homes of the city, all of which stand as monuments to his professional skill. Mr. Rheinfrank was born in Perrysburg, Ohio, on the 15th of April, 1874; and while spending his youthful days in the home of his parents, Dr. John H. and Sophia (Bruckner) Rheinfrank, at that place, he attended the public schools, mastering the work of successive grades and the high school. Later he pursued a two years' course in the University of Michigan and spent an equal period as a student of architecture in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the class of 1899. His thorough preparation constituted the lower rounds of the ladder on which he has climbed to success in his profession. Experience has constantly broadened his knowledge and he has kept in close touch with professional thought and progress through study and observation. On the 15th of December, 1913, Mr. Rheinfrank was married to Miss Ida Taylor, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Taylor of Toledo, and they have a son, George B., Jr., who was born in 1916. In his political views Mr. Rheinfrank is an independent and served for one term as a member of the city council during the administration of Brand Whitlock as mayor. He belongs to the Toledo Chamber of Commerce and withholds his support and cooperation from no plan or project instituted by that organization for the city's benefit and upbuilding. He is also a member of the Architects Club and of the Kiwanis Club, while along more strictly social lines his membership is with the Carranor Hunt and Polo Club, the Toledo Club, the Toledo Country Club and the Toledo Art Museum. Fraternally he is a Mason, identified with the lodge and both the York and Scottish rite bodies, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has also crossed the sands of the desert He is loyal to any cause which he espouses and he is faithful to all public duties and obligations, while along the line of professional activity he has been actuated by a most creditable ambition and progressive spirit that has gained him a satisfying place in the front rank of Toledo's architects. RALPH BOYD SMITH Ralph Boyd Smith has operated in the real estate field in Toledo since 1916 and, organizing the Ralph B. Smith Company, has since been at its head. He is a young man, but already he has established himself in a position in business circles that many a man of twice his years might well envy. His birth occurred in Fredericksburg, Ohio, October 13, 1890, and he is a son of Boyd W. and Katherine (Skiles) Smith. At the usual age Ralph B. Smith entered the public schools and mastering the work of successive grades, became a high school pupil at Wooster, Ohio, there TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 493 completing his education. In his early business career he spent three years as assistant superintendent of the East Cleveland Water Works and then went on the road as a traveling salesman, being thus engaged for three years. During a period of similar length he carried on merchandising at Columbus, Ohio, and then came to Toledo, believing that the rapid and substantial growth of this city offered excellent opportunities in the real estate field. It was in 1916 that he arrived here and became connected with the real estate business, which led eventually to his organization of the Ralph B. Smith Company, of which he is the president. Under this caption he is conducting his business and his diligence, enterprise and alert business methods are productive of substantial results. Already his patronage is making extensive demands upon his time and energies and each year has marked an increase in the volume of business which he has transacted. On the 2d of June, 1917, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Martha Johns of Columbus, Ohio, and to them has been born an interesting little son, Ralph Boyd, Jr., whose birth occurred February 25, 1918, in Toledo, Ohio. Following America's entrance into the World war Mr. Smith went to the Officers Training School at Camp Gordon, Atlanta, winning his commission as second lieutenant about the time the armistice was signed. He is a consistent follower of Masonic teachings and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He has membership in the Commerce Club and he is identified with the Inverness, Toledo and Toledo Yacht clubs. He is a member of the Toledo Real Estate Board as well as a member of the State and National Real Estate associations. It has been said that recreation is next in importance to industry and in his life Ralph B. Smith has maintained an even balance between these, thus developing a well-rounded character. Already he has attained a creditable place in real estate circles for one of his years and under his careful guidance his business seems to be increasing not only year by year but almost month by month. His home is at No. 4205 Lowe road. SAMUEL M. JONES Many things in American life are accepted now in practice and belief that a few years ago were regarded as Utopian and unassimilable. It is really a better way to measure progress by this gradual readjustment to new principles of social justice than by mechanical inventions and colossal aggregations of material power. A towering factory, a railroad system, is something of a testimonial to the creative power of the individual mind and energy, but it is less significant in the long view of centuries than the establishment of some principle or rule in human conduct that abolishes forever an age-old injustice. It was as a pioneer in giving practical vitality and practice to ancient truth that Samuel M. Jones will have his place in history. He brought no new philosophy ; he merely practiced what had been preached so long as to have lost its real meaning. He was known as Toledo's "Golden Rule Mayor." Strangely enough, in carrying the golden rule into business and politics, he made himself a singular and picturesque figure in American life ; and in regulating his life by a standard upheld by church and moralists for centuries, he found himself exposed to as much ridicule and denunciation as though he were 494 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY the originator of the rule. What he actually accomplished as an administrator of a successful business concern and of the municipal government of Toledo, gives him a high place in the history of that city, but altogether that is less important than the influence from his life and character that was introduced as a practical and definite fruitage into a wide and national, if not international, campaign for a revision of our social ideas and industrial methods which have gradually gathered increasing momentum since his death. Samuel M. Jones was born August 3, 1846, and died July 12, 1904. Beyond this brief introduction it is not the purpose of this article to interpret his career but merely to set forth the significant and essential points of his biography. This can best be done by quoting appropriate passages from his autobiography, whieh appears in his book, "The New Right," written by Mr. Jones in 1899, while he was mayor of Toledo. He remained Toledo's "Golden Rule Mayor" for five years after the book was published, and really died at his post. But the vital experiences of his life and the formulation of that political philosophy which he exemplified are contained in his autobiography. With only such changes, therefore, as the necessity for abbreviation requires, the following paragraphs are quoted in his own language: "I was born on August 3, 1846, in a small stone house still standing, known as Ty Mawr (Big House) about three miles from the peaceful village of Bedd Gelert, Caernarvonshire, North Wales. Three years ago I had the privilege and pleasure of visiting the rude house where I was born, the floor of which was composed of rough flagstones. I am glad that I left the place at such an early age that I cannot recall any of the hard experiences that my parents must have had there. "When I was three years of age they emigrated to America. As I understand the situation, and as the story has been told to me, they were what would now be classed as 'assisted' emigrants, who are today denied the right to land. The passage across the Atlantic was made in the steerage of a sailing vessel and the voyage completed in the unusually fast time of thirty days. From New York passage was taken in a canal boat up the Hudson river through the Erie canal to Utica, whence they went by wagon forty-five miles to the northward and settled in the vicinity of Collinsville, Lewis county. In Wales my father had worked in the slate quarries, and so he naturally drifted into the stone quarries and stone mason work in this country ; soon afterward he became a renter of tenant farms, with the result that he usually succeeded in getting a tolerable livelihood for himself and family, but that was about all. "I went to the village school as soon as I was old enough and I recall that it was during those early years of my life the schools were made free in New York state. From my earliest recollection I had a strong dislike to farm work, and this disliking was called by another name by my family and the neighbors ; they called it `laziness,' but I now assert that I have not now and never had a lazy hair in my head ; it was simply the rebellion of a free soul against the injustice of the kind and quality of labor so sought to be imposed upon me. "At ten years of age I worked by the month for a farmer who used to get me out of bed at four o'clock in the morning. It was true that my work was not of the heaviest kind—that is I was not required to carry things I could not lift—but I was dragged out of bed at an unearthly hour when a growing boy should be sleeping, and started off after the cows, and my day's work was not ended until sundown ; and for this service I received the munificent salary of three dollars per month. I went to the schools in the winter, more or less, and there got my start for an TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 495 education that I am still acquiring. I have not yet graduated and never expect to graduate; I am far more of a student today than I ever was at any earlier period of my life. As nearly as I can remember I went to school all told about thirty months ; during that time I did not get beyond fractions in arithmetic, and I have never studied grammar in or out of school an hour in my life. The education I have acquired has been gained under the severe handicap of a lack of technical training in the fundamental rules. "When I was fourteen years of age I worked in a sawmill twelve hours a day, sawing barrel heading, and one day I brought the little finger of my right hand in contact with the saw. I still bear the marks of the. wound as a memento. Shortly after this I secured a boon I had longed for for years ; that was a job on the steamer L. R. Lyon, running on the Black river between Lyon's Falls and Carthage. I had a mechanical turn of mind, and was very ambitious and hopeful that some day I might rise to the exalted position (as it seemed to me) of a steamboat engineer. The getting of this job, which was that of 'wiper and greaser,' seemed like the beginning of the realization of the hopes of future happiness. I spent the greater part of three summers on this boat and gained some little knowledge of mechanical engineering that proved useful to me in after life ; indeed, it was the advice of a steamboat engineer who had spent the winter of 1864-65 in the oil regions of Pennsylvania that in all probability was instrumental in changing the course of my life; for it was he who said to me one. day, `Sammy, you are a fool to spend your time on these steamboats ; you should go to the oil regions ; you can get four dollars a day there.' A little conversation with him soon led me to determine that his advice was worth considering, and a few days later I landed at Titusville, Pennsylvania, the headquarters and gateway practically of the oil regions, with fifteen cents in my pocket and without the benefit of the acquaintance of a single individual in the city." Then followed several days of disheartening search for work. At only one place did he receive consideration and kindly advice, and that was an experience that Mr. Jones always remembered and he said that he had made it a point, no matter how busy he was, to try to find time at least for a kindly word for the man out of a job, and when he had a factory of his own the walls were never defaced by any sign "no help wanted." On the following day he started for Pithole, then one of the noted boom centers of the oil industry. There his recommendation secured him work as an engineer at four dollars a day. In his autobiography Mr. Jones describes the mushroom growth of that city and its equally rapid decline. After some months of steady work he found one day the offices of the company closed and the following winter he spent in the ranks of those "out of work." "From 1865 to 1870 I had a varied experience, working as driller, pumper, tool dresser, pipe liner, in fact, doing all kinds of work in the oil regions and for about six months working as a tool sharpener on a 'rock job' in the construction of a new railroad in northern New York. Returning to Pleasantville, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1868 I was fortunate enough to strike a steady job, that boon which the toilers of earth so much crave and which they are so often denied. In the two years that followed I saved a few hundred dollars and 'started in for myself,' moving about from place to place as new oil fields were discoveredf rom Pleasantville to Parkers' Landing, and from there to Turkey City, Clarion county, where I lived for six years and where I secured quite an important part of my literary education in the meetings of the Turkey City Literary Club, 496 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY of which I was a member and part of the time president. It was while I lived there that I married, October 20, 1875, the wife of my youth, Alma Bernice Curtiss of , Pleasantville, as sweet spirited and helpful a soul as ever inhabited this world of ours, with whom I lived for ten years. She bore to me three children: Percy, born at Turkey City in February, 1878; Eva Belle, born at Duke Centre, August, 1879; Paul, born at the same place, May, 1884. Our little girl, Midgie we called her, died shortly after she was two years of age, and her mother's death followed in December, 1885. "The separation from these two souls was the greatest trial and severest shock of my life. The little girl in the first place had somehow gotten nearer to my heart than any other creature, and the cloud that obscured the sunshine from my sky had scarcely cleared away during the four years that followed her death, when the greater trial came in the death of the wife of my youth. I think now that my suffering was greatly intensified by the confused notions I then held regarding life and its purposes. I now no longer think of them, or of any of the many friends who are gone, as dead, as I then thought of death. "Taking a backward glance over the twenty-four years that have passed since my first marriage I do not recall any happier years than were the first three which we spent in a small cottage, our first home, on the Shoup farm about one-half mile outside of Turkey City, where I had a small interest in an oil lease. I pumped an oil well, cultivated a small garden and assisted my wife with the washing, which we used to do jointly at the boiler house, where I had steam and hot water convenient for the purpose. She repaid me by watching the engine while I was gone to town on necessary errands and together we dug a part of our living out of the small garden ; in addition to this, my wife taught music to two girl friends and presided at the organ in the Sunday school that was held in the hall of the literary club. We lived quite a natural life, comparatively free from the care and burden of 'things' and being so, we were at liberty to contribute our share to the common welfare of the community, and we had the best kind of times in so doing. I merely make mention of this because I want to impress the thought upon the minds of young people that the simpler the life the better it is, and the greater its possibilities in an artistic sense. Jesus made no mistake when he said that 'life does not consist in things.' "From Duke Centre in the Bradford oil fields, McKeon county, to which we had moved in 1878, and where we lived for six years, I moved after the death of my wife to Bradford; and one year later in 1886 to Lima, Ohio, being induced to do so mainly by my friends, who thought that a change of scene would serve to divert my mind from the great sorrow that had come upon me in the separation referred to. I at once engaged in the oil business in Lima, leasing lands, and drilled what was known as the 'first large oil well' in Ohio ; it was known as the Tunget well, located about three miles east of Lima, and it started at about six hundred barrels a day. The Standard Oil Company was the only buyer of Lima oil at that time, and was paying forty cents a barrel for it, but on the day after the Tunget well was struck the price declined to thirty-seven and one-half cents and a few days later to thirty-five cents. "When I arrived at Lima there were but twenty oil wells in the state of Ohio. The development of oil in the Ohio field marked an epoch in the history of our greatest oil trust, the Standard Oil Company. Prior to 1886 this company had never been a producer of petroleum—merely a buyer, manufacturer and shipper—but soon after the drill had demonstrated that Ohio and Indiana contained vast TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 497 areas of prolific oil territory, it entered the field as a producer. And right here I want to say that I have been familiar with the development and growth of this company from the beginning, and that while there has always been vigorous and pronounced opposition to it and to its methods, much of this opposition has seemed to me to be a 'waste of powder,' for I have always observed that as soon as those who were most pronounced in their antagonism to the Standard Oil Company and its methods were taken into the fold and made to share in the profits of the concern, their complaints suddenly ceased. From an intimate knowledge of the methods of the Standard Oil Company, covering twenty-five years, and the methods of business generally, I feel that as a socialist, as a man who believes in brotherhood, simple justice requires me to say that the ethics of that corporation are simply a reflex of the ethics prevailing in the business world and that guide and control the business men of today. "My experience as an oil operator in the Ohio and Indiana fields has been that of hundreds of others. I have simply taken advantage of opportunities offered by an unfair social system and gained what the world calls success—that is, I have accumulated some property. I was one of the original incorporators of the Ohio Oil Company, now the producing department of the Standard Oil Company, and in proof of what I have just said I will say that in its early history the Ohio Oil Company had the opportunity before it practically to capture the Ohio oil field. It was composed of experienced oil producers, men who knew every detail of that business, but who lacked the ability to go forward and carry the thing through to the success that has been realized by the Standard Oil Company. We did not understand the art of competition, and so we surrendered (sold out) to the Standard. "In 1892 I married my present wife, Helen L. Beach of Toledo, who has been to me a helpmeet and to my children everything that their own mother could have been except that she did not bear them." On October 3, 1897, a son was born to them, Mason Beach Jones, who attended the Toledo high school, class of 1917. "At that time (1892) I moved from Lima, where I had made my home for six years, to this city (Toledo). During 1892 and 1893 I spent a great deal of my time in the oil fields among the wells and invented some simple but valuable improvements in oil well appliances and in 1894 I began the manufacture of these and other oil well appliances at 600 Segur avenue, where the work was carried on under the name of the Acme Sucker Rod Company (now known as the S. M. Jones Company). "Prior to this time I knew little about 'labor conditions.' As a rule, labor in the oil fields had enjoyed fair wages compared to similar work outside, and having passed most of my life in small towns I had seen little real suffering among the working people. I think the first real shock to my social conscience came when the swarms of men swooped down upon us begging for work, soon after signs of life began to be manifest around the abandoned factory which we rented for our new enterprise. I began to think about the thing called wages, and as I learned that men were employed at common labor at a dollar a day and even less, the whole hideous wrong of the wage system began to reveal itself to me. I saw at once that it was a purely arbitrary arrangement, in which the man who had nothing but his labor to sell had no choice ; he must accept what his employer offers, the alternative being usually starvation for himself and his children. I resolved that the `going wages' rule should not reign supreme in the Acme Sucker Rod Company, but rather, I said. we would try to recognize the rule that every man is entitled to such a share of the product of his toil as will enable him to live decently, in a way 498 - TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY that he and his children may be fit to be citizens of a free republic of equals ; and since that time, as best I know how, I have tried to be true to this principle. "I soon discovered that I was making the acquaintance of a new kind of man. Always a believer in the equality of the Declaration of Independence, I now for the first time came into contact with working men who seemed to have a sense of social inferiority, wholly incapable of any conception of equality, and this feeling I believed it was my duty to destroy. Without any organized plan, and hardly knowing what I was doing, I determined that this groveling conception must be overcome ; so we began to take steps to break down this feeling of class distinction and social inequality. The first year we began to 'get together' with little excursions down the bay, we invited our workmen and their families and also some other people who live in big houses and who do not work with their hands, or anything else for the matter of that ; we sought to mix them, to let them understand that we are all people—just people,' you know. As our business increased we took in new men, we made no special effort at selection ; there were always plenty of 'out of work' willing and waiting to rent themselves out to us, that is, to allow us to use them to add to our wealth and incidentally to get an existence for themselves. We asked no questions as to their habits, their morals or their religion ; we ignored the sacred rules of business that go so far in some cases as even to submit the men to physical examinations in order to avoid the risk of responsibility incurred through physical weakness. In fact, we were going along in a free and easy way, occasionally giving the boys a word of caution, perhaps printed on a pay envelope, or a little letter expressing goodwill and fellowship and a word of friendly advice. "It was the distress of mind occasioned by seeing a string of rules a yard long in another factory, at the tail of every one of which was a threat of dismissal, that led me to say to my wife, 'I am going to have a rule for our shop ; I am going to have the Golden Rule printed on a piece of tin and nail it up as the rule that governs the place.' It was not any belief in my own goodness of heart or my ability to reach the lofty ideal of doing to others as I would be done by, but it was the reaction that came from the contemplation of the outrageous injustice that was practiced upon my fellowmen by the ironclad rules to which they are made abject slaves in order to gain the right to a bare living, that led to the setting up of the Golden Rule on our wall. At that time I did not realize the limitations that are placed upon our better natures by the economic conditions that surround us. I did not know that the competitive system of industry was calculated to bring out everything that is bad and to suppress all that is good in us, as I now know that it is. The putting up of the Golden Rule was the first radical move that was made at the Acme Sucker Rod Factory. There were several things about that that may properly be called radical. In the first place, it was acknowledging a basis of equality for all about the premises ; next, it was ignoring the time-honored precedent, 'doing as other people do finally it was an assumption at least that this fundamental rule of conduct, given us by the founder of Christianity, was a livable and practical thing. "Perhaps the most helpful thing of all has been the opening of the Golden Rule Park and Playground. This is a lot of ground only one hundred and fifty feet square adjoining the factory at the corner of Segur and Field avenues. Some fine old forest trees made it possible to convert this into a little park for the people and playground for the children, and it has been used and enjoyed to the utmost. The Sunday afternoon meetings for the people have been most delightful experiences. Brotherhood and Golden Rule and Golden Rule and Brotherhood have TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY - 499 been the popular themes we have been preaching from its platform. We have now supplemented the Golden Rule Park with the Golden Rule Hall, which was opened last Thanksgiving Day, where we hope to join in the teaching and study of this idea of brotherhood that is yet to save the world that Jesus died to redeem. We wish to have it distinctly understood that we do not lay claim to have done anything for which we either desire or deserve any credit. No man wants or deserves credit for having done what was simply his duty and we cannot lay claim to having done more ; in fact, we do not feel that we have lived up to our convictions. We started out by joining in the universal admission that 'something was wrong.' The wronged men and women and children have been and are so constantly before us, whether asleep or awake, that we have been impelled by an irresistible power to do what we have done in the hope that we might uncover something that would correct the wrong. In following this impulse we have uncovered something ; we have found the source, the evil, that we believe to be the cause of all the misery, wretchedness, want, poverty and crime that afflict this fair earth today. The cause of all this horrid category of evils is found in social injustice, springing out of a denial of brotherhood ; from this social injustice proceed the causes which produce and perpetuate all the miseries that I have enumerated." After becoming established as a successful manufacturer Mr. Jones broadened his experience by a number of journeys both in this country and in Europe, and everywhere he used his keen observation to learn more about the problems of social justice which had so long perplexed him. Continuing he says : "The revelations of truth that came pouring in upon me as a consequence of my experience with the swarms of hungry men looking for work about the Acme Sucker Rod factory brought me more and more every day to a realization of the truth that I have talked so much about, the truth of brotherhood and the equal right of every man to a place upon the earth, as well as an equal right to live an entire human life. It was the result of these revelations and reflections and my seeking some way of escape from the guilt of the dreadful system in which we are all caught that led me, in the conduct of the work of our own business, to take such steps looking toward a mitigation of these evils as I have already outlined. The social gatherings, wherein we made an attempt to break down the absurd notions of social distinction between employer and employed ; the shortening of the time of labor to a fifty hour week ; the practicing of a little profit sharing at Christmas time and during the last year the giving a week's vacation with full pay, are measures we have employed in the hope of moralizing the system of industry in our plant. I now see that all these measures, while they are steps in the right direction, are insufficient. Fundamentally and scientifically, as well as according to all Christian conception, it is plain that every man is entitled to all the fruit of his toil. It follows, therefore, that neither I nor any other man has a right to take profit from his fellows, nor shall we want to in a just social order. "It was the application of these principles at the Acme Sucker Rod factory that brought my name with some degree of prominence before the Toledo public. In the spring of 1897 the republican convention, to which I had been chosen a delegate, assembled in the city for the purpose of nominating a city ticket. There were three candidates for the office of mayor. After four ballots there was no choice and two of the candidates looked about for a man upon whom they could combine their forces to defeat the third, who was likely to be the winner on the next ballot. In this emergency my name was placed before the convention, and I