100 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY is also vice president of The Canton Bank & Trust Company and a director in several corporations. He is a trustee of the College of Wooster and a member of the administrative committee of that institution ; also he is trustee of the First Presbyterian church, the Young Men's Christian Association and the Public Library in Canton. In religious affiliation Mr. Miller is a member of St. James Episcopal church at Wooster, and he and his family are also members of the First Presbyterian church of Canton. He is a member of the Stark County and Ohio State Bar Associations, of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and of Beta Delta Beta inter-fraternity, a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Canton and of the Brookside Country Clubs. His wife is a member of the woman's advisory board of the College of Wooster and a member of the Canton Woman's Club, the Open Door Club and the College Club of Canton. MAURICE W. WENDLING The present city solicitor of Massillon, Maurice W. Wendling, is a comparatively recent addition to the Stark county bar but has shown himself possessed of the requisite attributes of the successful lawyer and is building up a very gratifying practice. He was born in Massillon on the 21st of October, 1902, and is a son of A. F. and Louisa M. (Garwig) Wendling, the former of whom died in 1914. Maurice W. Wendling attended the public schools of his home city, graduating from the Washington high school, after which he attended Ohio State University and later completed his studies in the law department of Ohio Northern University, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1926. He was admitted to the bar that year and at once entered upon the practice of his profession in Massillon. In 1927 he was nominated on the republican ticket for the office of city solicitor and was elected. He is painstaking and vigilant in looking after the city's legal interests, while in private practice he has been uniformly successful, winning a well merited reputation as a safe and reliable attorney. Mr. Wendling gives his political support to the republican HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 101 party, and is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Sigma Phi Epsilon college fraternity. He maintains professional affiliation with the Stark County Bar Association and the Massillon Lawyers Club, while his religious connection is with the First Methodist Episocpal church. He possesses a social nature, is cordial and friendly in manner, and throughout the community where he has spent his life he commands the respect and good will of his fellowmen. CLARENCE R. BASHT Clarence R. Basht has been handling the Chevrolet automobiles at Massillon for twelve years, during which period he has not only sold many of these well known cars throughout this district but has at the same time earned a reputation for square dealing which has been one of his most valuable assets. Mr. Basht was born on a farm south of Navarre, Stark county, January 6, 1888, and is a son of Charles D. and Clara Idilla (Hair) Basht, both of whom are deceased. He was reared at home and received a good public school education, after which he worked for the McCullough Heights Dairy for eight years. In 1913 he engaged in the automobile repair business, and two years later became the local dealer in Reo cars, to which he added the Chevrolet in the following year. He sold both cars until 1920, since which time he has been an exclusive dealer in Chevrolets. His salesroom, office and repair shop are located at 256 Erie street, south, where he is well equipped for the proper conduct of his business. He has devoted his time closely to this enterprise, which he has developed into a large and prosperous business, and is now numbered among the leading automobile dealers of Stark county. On June 1, 1910, Mr. Basht was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Way, of Massillon, and they are the parents of three children, Gwendolyn, Violet and Gladys. The republican party commands Mr. Basht's political allegiance, and he is a loyal and public-spirited citizen of his community. He is connected with the Kiwanis Club, of which he is president ; the Chamber of Commerce and the National Auto Dealers Association. He and his wife are 102 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY earnest members of the First Methodist Episcopal church. Because of his fine business record and excellent personal qualities, Mr. Basht is held in the highest regard throughout the range of his acquaintance. AUGUSTUS DANNEMILLER At the age of eighty-two years Augustus Dannemiller remains an active factor in business life. He has long been a prominent figure in commercial circles in Canton and has contributed in notable measure to the growth and development of one of the city's foremost mercantile enterprises. There have been no spectacular phases in his career, his course being marked by that steady advancement which indicates the wise use of time, talent and opportunities. He has builded his success upon industry, determination and close application and as the president of the Dannemiller Grocery Company he stands as one of the foremost business men of his native city. His birth occurred April 27, 1846, his parents being Benedict and Barbara ( Scheiber) Dannemiller. The father, a native of Alsace, France, displayed a most courageous spirit when at the age of fifteen years he came alone to America, arriving in this country in 1829. He did not tarry on the Atlantic seaboard but made his way at once into the interior, settling at Canton, Ohio, where his remaining days were passed. In early life he followed blacksmithing and subsequently turned his attention to the grain trade, establishing one of the first elevators in Canton and conducting a successful business for many years. Here he passed away in 1897, having reached the age of eighty-three. His wife, also a native of France, came to the new world with her parents, who settled in Canton in 1820, her father engaging in farming in Osnaburg township, Stark county, where he and his wife spent their remaining days. Their daughter, Mrs. Barbara Dannemiller, was called to her final rest in 1876, at the age of seventy-seven years. She was the mother of eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom three sons are yet living. Augustus Dannemiller acquired a public school education in Canton but at the age of twelve years put aside his textbooks and HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 103 worked on his father's farm and in his grain elevator. In 1869, when a young man of twenty-three years, he turned his attention to the wholesale grocery business in association with his father and brother William, two other brothers, Edward and Julius, becoming connected with the business a few years later. Augustus Dannemiller had learned lessons of value as a farmer and with the same thoroughness that has always characterized him set himself to the task of mastering every phase of mercantile life. The firm, organized in 1869, purchased the wholesale grocery house of Thomas Kimball & Brothers, which had been established in 1867 and when taken over by the Dannemiller firm was a small concern, having but twenty-four hundred feet of floor space. Gradually trade was developed through the enterprising and progressive methods of the firm and today their plant covers one hundred and thirteen thousand square feet and employment is furnished on an average to eighty people, while the business extends through eight counties. Starting out in this field in young manhood, Augustus Dannemiller applied himself closely to the business, studied the conditions of trade and put forth every possible effort to promote the interests of the house and increase its commercial connections. From the beginning he recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement and has ever insisted upon courteous and obliging service as well as thorough reliability in every trade transaction. In 1875 the Dannemiller Grocery Company started one of the first coffee-roasting establishments in the United States and has since continued in this field in connection with the wholesale grocery trade, having today one of the most modern coffee-roasting plants in the country. They make large importations of the green bean and the roasted product is placed upon the market under the name of Dannemiller's Royal Blend coffee and Golden Blend coffee. The wholesale grocery house is situated at Nos. 200 to 220 Cherry avenue, southeast, and has long been one of the most important commercial assets of Canton. Augustus Dannemiller became president of the company in 1902 and his associate officers are : Frank T. Dannemiller, director and manager ; Austin Lynch, vice president ; W. A. Phillips, treasurer ; and I. B. Rinehart, secretary. On the 19th of February, 1873, in Canton, Augustus Dannemiller was united in marriage to Miss Julia Thierry, who was born in Canal Fulton, Ohio, a daughter of Francis and Catherine 104 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY (Tyler) Thierry, representing old and prominent families. Mr. and Mrs. Dannemiller are the parents of three daughters and three sons. The eldest of the family, Katherine, who resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, is now the widow of William Y. Cartwright, and has five children, William, Robert, Frank, Richard and Julia Cartwright. Lieutenant Colonel Augustus Dannemiller, who resides in Washington, D. C., wedded Annie McCleave and has three children : William, attending the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York ; Mary ; and "Teddy," baptized Edward. Mary F. Dannemiller is the third in order of birth in the family. Robert J. Dannemiller, who makes his home in Sacramento, California, married Miss Aida Burchfield, and has a family of three children, Barbara, Robert and Aida. Frank T. Dannemiller married Miss Josephine McCarty and has three children, Franklin, Augustus (II) and Joan. Julienne Dannemiller is the youngest member of the family. In his political views Mr. Dannemiller maintains an independent course, voting for men and measures rather than party. He has membership in St. John's Catholic church and with the Knights of Columbus. He also belongs to the Canton Club and to the Brookside Country Club and is ever a welcome member in the activities of those organizations. Throughout his life his fellowmen have found him genial, courteous and obliging, while his standards are such as make for honorable manhood and citizenship. The sterling worth of his character is attested by all who know him, and his record stands in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country, for in the community in which he has spent his entire life Augustus Dannemiller commands the respect and good will of all who know him. CHARLES BARNES The Fairmount Provision Company, of Alliance, of which Charles Barnes is president and general manager, is one of the leading wholesale meat concerns of Stark county. Mr. Barnes, who has been the leading spirit in this enterprise, has had long experience in the meat business and is a man of progressive ideas and sound business judgment. HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 107 He was born in Beloit, Mahoning county, Ohio, March 31, 1885, and is a son of James W. and Olive (McCorkle) Barnes. The Father was born near Baltimore, Maryland, and died in Alliance, Ohio, September 18, 1900, at the age of forty-six years. During the greater part of his active business career he conducted a retail meat market in Alliance ; was a man of fine personal qualities and was highly regarded by all who knew him. He was a republican in his political alignment and was a member of the Baptist church. His parents were Amos and Avarilla (Gilbert) Barnes, both of whom were born on the border of the Chesapeake bay, near Baltimore, Maryland, whence they migrated to Ohio and settled at Salem, Columbiana county, where Amos Barnes engaged in farming. He was a republican and a member of the Presbyterian church. Olive ( McCorkle) Barnes was born at North Jackson, Ohio, and died in Alliance, September 18, 1920, at the age of sixty-six years. She was a daughter of Hyne Wilbur and Lorinda (Pew) McCorkle, of North Jackson, where her father engaged in farming, and where their deaths occurred. They were members of the Baptist church, and Mr. McCorkle supported the democratic party. Charles Barnes received his education in the public schools of Alliance and then worked in a meat market owned by his brother, H. W. Barnes, with whom he remained three years. At the end of that time he opened a retail meat market of his own at the corner of Broadway and Webb streets, which he conducted for three years, after which he went to North Lawrence, Ohio, and established a small wholesale meat business, carrying it on for two years. Returning to Alliance, he opened "The Table Meat Market," at the corner of Broadway and Liberty streets, which he conducted for three years, and then started the Fairmount Provision Company, on the Fairmount road, near the Children's Home. This was a wholesale business and he carried it on successfully until 1920, when he organized the Fairmount Provision Company of Alliance, doing business at the corner of Grant and Willow streets. Of this concern he is president and general manager, and is now doing a splendid and steadily growing wholesale meat business. On April 19, 1925, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mr. Barnes was united in marriage to Miss Viola Sheridan, who was born in Michigan City, Indiana, May 9, 1895, a daughter of the late J. S. Sheridan, of that city. Mrs. Barnes is a graduate of the Michigan City 108 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY high school and is an earnest member of the Lutheran church. By a former marriage Mr. Barnes has two children : Vera Mildred, born July 23, 1904, attended the Alliance public schools and Mount Union College and was graduated from the Alliance Business College. She is now the wife of George Richards, owner of the Richards Service Station in Alliance ; Doris May, born September 23, 1914, is a pupil in the Alliance high school. Mr. Barnes is a republican in his political views and is a member of the First Christian church. He is fond of horse racing and other outdoor sports, and his company has a football team, known as "The Fairmount Bulls," which won the championship of Stark county in 1927. Though his business makes heavy demands on his time, he does not neglect his duties as a citizen and everything relating to the welfare and prosperity of his city or county commands his interest and support. A successful business man, loyal citizen and a constant and dependable friend and neighbor, he is well worthy of the high regard in which he is held throughout the community. AUSTIN LYNCH In professional and financial circles of Stark county the name of Austin Lynch is well known. He is identified with banking interests and with the practice of law in Canton, being now a partner in the firm of Lynch, Day, Fimple, Pontius & Lynch. The family name has long been closely interwoven with the history of this part of Ohio. His father, Arnold Lynch, established his home in Canton in pioneer times and was active in promoting the initial work in the development of the coal fields of Stark county, a work with which he had become familiar through previous experience in western Pennsylvania. He was born in Ireland but in young manhood crossed the Atlantic and while residing in Stark county met and married Frances Horan, also a native of the Emerald Isle. Arnold Lynch devoted a part of his life to surveying and many years ago filled the office of county surveyor and county recorder of Stark county. He worked steadily, always pressing forward to some goal ahead, and his contribution to the early development and progress of Stark county and the state was of HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 109 great worth. He took an active interest in railroad building in pioneer times and was one of the promoters of the project which led to the building of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad, now the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and also of the Mahoning Valley & Cleveland Railway between Youngstown and Cleveland. Other railroad enterprises benefited by his progressive spirit, and his worth to the community both as a business man and as a citizen was widely acknowledged. He passed away in 1856, but his name is placed high on the roll of Stark county's valuable pioneer citizens. His son, Austin Lynch, was born in Canton, receiving his education in the public schools of the city and at Mount St. Mary's College at Emmitsburgh, Maryland. He was probably influenced in his choice of a profession by the fact that his elder brother, William A. Lynch, was already a successful member of the Canton bar, practicing as the senior partner of the firm of Lynch & Day. Austin Lynch pursued his reading in his brother's office and in the law department of the University of Michigan and qualified for practice, passing the required examination and on the 17th of April, 1878, he joined the law firm of Lynch & Day, at which time the firm style was changed to Lynch, Day & Lynch. For a half century he has now practiced in Canton and the years have chronicled his steady progress. While advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, no dreary novitiate awaited him. He soon gave demonstration of his industry and devotion to his profession. His success was based upon a comprehensive and accurate knowledge of legal principles and procedure. Throughout his life he has always prepared his cases with great thoroughness and care and has seemed to lose sight of no detail, however small, while at the same time he has given due prominence and emphasis to that important point upon which the decision of every case finally turns. While his loyalty to the interests of his clients has become proverbial, he has never forgotten that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. In recent years his professional labors have been confined largely to office practice. With the passing years various changes have occurred in the personnel of the law firm, with Austin Lynch remaining continuously as a partner, until today he is at the head of the firm of Lynch, Day, Fimple, Pontius & Lynch, a firm of prominence not only in Canton but throughout the state. Mr. Lynch also figures prominently in finan- 110 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY cial circles of his native county as president formerly of the Central Savings Bank and now of the First National Bank of Canton. In 1888 he married Carrie B. Killinger, of Massillon, Ohio. They have a family of seven sons and daughters. Two of his sons, James and Edward, are associated with him in the practice of law. ADAM J. MILLER Adam J. Miller has become a notable figure in the transportation affairs of Stark county, being president and general manager of the Buckeye Coach Company, which operates a number of bus lines in and about Canton. He has built up the business from a small beginning and its steady growth has been due to his excellent judgment and progressive methods. Mr. Miller was born near Cairo, Plain township, Stark county, May 24, 1888, and is a son of Henry and Sarah (Druckenbrod) Miller, the former a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania,. They now reside on the Plain Center road, near Canton. The family was established in Stark county by Mr. Miller's grandfather, Harry Miller, who came here from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where the family had settled in an early day. Adam J. Miller secured his education in the Whitehall school, south of Cairo, and the Franklin Hall school, east of Waerstler's church, in Stark county, after which he gave his attention to farming until twenty-three years of age, when he came to Canton and went to work for the Gilliam Manufacturing Company, with which concern he remained about two and one-half years. He had studied the transportation problem of this city and in 1915 began to operate a "jitney" bus from the square up Twelfth street northeast to Maple avenue. At the end of a year, satisfied as to the success of this type of transportation, he bought a sixteen-passenger Studebaker bus, of street car type body, which he operated for several years. He then made still further advancement in his equipment by buying and putting into the service the modern twenty-five-passenger types of busses. In 1924, having demonstrated the practicability of his system, he incorporated the business under the name of the Buckeye Coach Company, capitalized for fifty thousand dollars, of which he became president and general man- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 111 ager, and this company has had a very steady and substantial growth in business. They now operate ten coaches, all of the twenty-five passenger type, and cover three city routes, Twelfth street and Maple avenue, Ninth street and Dueber avenue southwest and Fifteenth street and Harrison street southwest, besides running an interurban bus line from Canton to Ravenna. Mr. Miller also owns more than a third interest in the McKinley Monument bus line. The company's service plant and office is located at 1025 Tenth street northwest, where it has sixteen thousand eight hundred feet of floor space. Here are carried a full supply of repair parts and a day and night garage is maintained for the repair and upkeep of the busses, nineteen men being employed in the operation and service department. Mr. Miller gives close attention to the various details connected with the operation of the business, in which he has shown splendid judgment. On March 18, 1913, in North Canton, Ohio, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Viletta V. Lauby, a daughter of Levi and Alice (York) Lauby, the former now deceased and the latter a resident of Canton. Mrs. Miller, who is of German descent, is a member of the Willowdale Country Club. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of four children, Howard Paul, Sarah Alice, Helen Viletta and Ruth Eleanor, all of whom are attending the Gibbs Avenue public school. The republican party receives Mr. Miller's support, and he is a member of Willowdale Country Club and the Optimist Club, while the family attend the Anglican church of this city. Mr. Miller has shown marked enterprise, industry and sagacity in all of his business .affairs and has well earned the success which has crowned his efforts, as well as the respect and esteem in which he is held throughout the community. ROY DONALD MOORE In an era marked by the sudden rise of newspapers everywhere to financial importance and institutional magnitude, a youthful figure has come to vivid identification with Ohio journalism. Roy Donald Moore, at the age of forty, is co-owner, vice president and general manager of five outstanding properties, namely : The Canton Repository, The Marion Star, The Steubenville Herald- 112 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Star, The East Liverpool Review and The Salem News, all operated under the corporate supervision of Brush-Moore Newspapers, Inc. Mr. Moore was born August 25, 1887, on a farm near McArthur, Vinton county, Ohio, to William T. and Elizabeth Moore. Eight years later the family removed to Middleport, Ohio, and there a young man's life of industry started as many other successful careers have begun. Roy Moore became a messenger boy. Through this occupation, after school hours, he learned telegraphy. At the age of fifteen he became an accredited operator for the Hocking Valley Railway at Hobson, Ohio, junction point of the Hocking Valley and the Kanawha & Michigan. The wide world flows through the wrist of a telegraph operator and the loneliness of a wayside station becomes mythical with the click of electric conversation from a hundred cities within elbow's reach. The lure of cities reached this young operator, goaded by ambition and awaiting opportunity. He went to Columbus in the employ of the Western Union, thence to Cleveland and there found the door to newspaperdom through a place with The Associated Press as division telegrapher. Soon an intimacy with newspapers asserted itself and he joined The Cleveland Leader at the age of eighteen, later joining The Cleveland News. In 1913, when Dayton was deluged and the lower half of Ohio under flood waters, Mr. Moore was drafted by International News Service to assist in covering this tremendous story. Recognition for his services came a short time later by his appointment as editor and manager of the Columbus bureau maintained by International News Service as a news collection and distribution point for client newspapers in Ohio. A year later he was promoted to management of the Chicago bureau of the same organization, going later to the New York headquarters which were allied with King Features Syndicate, Inc., producers and distributors of art and editorial elements which are today part of newspapers everywhere. He traveled extensively, representing the news service and feature syndicate in the negotiation of contracts with newspaper publishers. He became assistant to the general manager and, at the instance of President Harding whom he had known through the latter's ownership of The Marion Star, was again "drafted", this time to become general manager and publisher of the Portland (Maine) Press for Sen- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 113 ator Frederick Hale. He brought about the sale of the Press to Guy Gannett, an outstanding Maine publisher, and thereupon accepted an assignment from King Features Syndicate to make a newspaper survey of South America. Three months later, upon returning to the United States, he determined to return to Ohio and establish a family residence in Columbus. Mr. Moore and Louis H. Brush, publisher of The East Liverpool Review and The Salem News, in association, in 1923, bought The Marion Star from President Harding, concluding the transaction three days before the President left Washington on his ill-fated journey to Alaska. In 1925, Mr. Brush and Mr. Moore purchased The Steubenville Herald-Star from Charles D. Simeral and associates. The Herald-Star was once owned by the paternal grandfather of President Wilson. In May, 1927, The Canton Repository became the property of Mr. Brush and Mr. Moore by purchase from George B. Frease. The Repository was once partly owned by William McKinley before his presidency, thus making the third under Brush-Moore ownership to be known as "Presidential newspapers." Mr. Moore established residence in Canton in 1927. Married in 1910 to Miss Lucile Dyke, a childhood sweetheart who lived at Clifton, West Virginia, across the river from Middleport, there has come to this union two children, William T. and Esther Jane, born respectively January 19, 1911, and February 26, 1915. He is active in the civic and industrial development of Canton and Stark county, a Mason, Rotarian, member of the Canton Club, Brookside Country Club and member of the National Press Club of Washington. DAVID NEIL One of the best all-round automobile service establishments in Canton is that of the Neil Starter & Electric Company, at Harrison avenue and Tuscarawas street west, which is owned and operated by David Neil, who, by close and painstaking attention to the needs of his customers, has established a high reputation for reliability and has built up a substantial business. Mr. Neil 8V3 114 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY was born at Blythe, Northumberland county, England, August 21, 1887, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Dawson) Neil, the former born in southern Scotland, and the latter in Seaton Delaval, England, and both now deceased. David Neil secured his public school education at Colgate, Oklahoma, Pittsburg, Kansas, Dingis, West Virginia, Newcomers-town, Ohio, and Mineral City, Ohio, where he attended high school two years. He went to work in a power house at Mineral City, where he was employed until 1919, when he came to Canton and for one year worked for the Coughenour Electric Company. In 1920 he established the Neil Starter & Electric Company, located at 1924 Walnut street northeast until 1924, when he came to his present location at Harrison avenue and Tuscarawas street west, where he has a large and up-to-date plant. Here he handles the sales and service for the A. C. speedometers, National batteries and Lee tires, makes all other tire repairs, rewinds armatures, does all kinds of generator and ignition work, repairs all kinds of electric motors, and sells Freedom gasoline and oils. He takes a justifiable pride in the high quality of his work, for he knows that satisfied customers are his best advertisement, and this has been one of the foundation stones on which he has built up his business. On July 4, 1918, at the home of the bride's sister in Raton, New Mexico, Mr. Neil was united in marriage to Miss Helen Lucile Hill, who is a native of Colorado and is of Scotch descent. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Hill, who now reside in San Diego, California. Mr. and Mrs. Neil have two children, Constance and David Earl, the former now attending the West Clarendon public school. Mr. Neil is a stanch republican in his political affiliation and takes a helpful interest in public affairs. He is a veteran of the World war, having enlisted in the Motor Transport Corps at Austin, Texas, early in 1918. He was assigned to Unit 309 and was sent to New York city, where they embarked for the seat of war. They landed at Liverpool, traveled by rail to Winchester and Southampton, England, thence across the channel to La Havre, France. For awhile Mr. Neil was engaged in the repairing of airplane motors and other similar work at Romerantin, and was later at Dijon and Langres, where he remained until the armistice was signed. Eight months later he sailed for home, and was sent to San Antonio, Texas, where he HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 115 was honorably discharged. A man of earnest motives, strong character and straightforward manner, he stands deservedly high among those who know him and all who come into contact with him are favorably impressed by his manner and business methods. STANLEY M. BALTZLY One of the oldest drug stores in Stark county is that now conducted by Stanley M. Baltzly at Massillon, it having been established by his father, Z. T. Baltzly, in 1869. The latter was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in September, 1848, and was a son of John and Lydia (Miller) Baltzly, the former born in 1821 and the latter in 1831 in the same county. The Baltzlys were of Huguenot stock. Z. T. Baltzly was one of a family of nine children and he remained on his father's farm until sixteen years of age, at which time he entered school at Tiffin, Ohio, there completing his education. In 1869 he removed to Massillon and became interested in the drug business with a partner under the name of Demuth & Company. Two years later the firm was changed to Baltzly & Good and this partnership lasted until 1874, after which Mr. Baltzly continued the business alone. He passed away on the 14th of November, 1913. In 1872 he had married Miss Mary E. Morganthaler, a daughter of Henry Morganthaler, who came to the United States from Germany in 1833. To Mr. and Mrs. Baltzly were born three children : Edwin B., Stanley M. and Mary E. Stanley M. Baltzly was born in Massillon, December 8, 1879, and in the public schools of that city acquired his early education. Later he entered the pharmacy school of Ohio State University, from which he received the degree of Graduate in Pharmacy in 1902. He was then associated in business with his father until the latter's retirement a few months prior to his death, and in March, 1915, he became sole owner of the business. He carries a full line of pure drugs and standard proprietary remedies, as well as a select stock of sundries, toilet articles and such lines as are usually found in an up-to-date drug store. In 1903 Mr. Baltzly established a wholesale physician and barber supply business in connection with his retail drug store, and this he conducted for about ten years, but at the end of that 116 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY time he disposed of the physicians supply business and increased the barber supply. It was necessary to secure larger quarters and the wholesale barber supply business was moved to Canton in 1923, at which time an interest in the business was turned over to Harry G. Keller and Milton M. Zink. At present it is run under the name of "The Baltzly Company, Canton, Ohio," and is in a prosperous condition. On the 20th of November, 1907, Mr. Baltzly married Miss Edna Viola Ayers and they have three children : Stanley M., Jr., Maxine and Mary. Politically Mr. Baltzly is a supporter of the republican party and has shown a commendable interest in local public affairs. He is a past president and a director of the Massillon Chamber of Commerce and is a charter member of the Rotary Club. A man of good business and executive ability, he has prospered in his material affairs and is now a director of the Massillon Savings & Loan Company and the Massillon Mortgage Company in addition to the business already mentioned. He is honorable in all his dealings and commands the respect of those with whom he comes in contact. IRVIN S. SWEANEY Irvin S. Sweaney, of Canton, is the owner of one of the leading baking establishments in Stark county and has back of him a splendid business record, the development of this organization standing in marked evidence of his sound judgment, his progressive methods and the high quality of his products, which are in demand throughout this section of the state. Mr. Sweaney was born at Sandyville, Stark county, Ohio, January 26, 1873, and is a son of William M. and Margaret Evans (Cable) Sweaney, both of whom are natives of Ohio, his father having been born at Sandyville, December 18, 1844, and his mother at East Sparta in 1852. The Sweaney family is of Scotch and Welsh origin, Mr. Sweaney's great-grandfather, William Sweaney, being the founder of the family in Ohio. Coming from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1804, he settled near Sandyville, where he spent his remaining years. His son, Emanuel Sweaney, went to HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 119 North Dakota in an early clay, but came back to Ohio in 1850 and at .the opening of the Civil war enlisted in the Union Army, serving under Captain Charles Harger. He participated in the battles of Kenesaw Mountain and Nashville and was honorably discharged in 1865. One of his sons, Emanuel G., also was a soldier in that conflict. I. S. Sweaney has two brothers and two sisters, namely : Clyde C., who lives at 311 Sixteenth street northeast, Canton ; W. Ray, who lives at 922 Sixth street northeast, Canton ; Mrs. Olive Goughnour, of Jefferson City, Tennessee ; and Clementine A., of 311 Sixteenth street northwest, Canton. Irvin S. Sweaney received a grammar school education at Sandyville and then went to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he took the commercial course in the Knoxville Business College. For about a year he ran a fruit store in that city and then came to Alliance, Ohio, where he worked for the Morgan Engineering Company for about six months. Coming then to Canton, he was employed as a clerk by D. L. Rose for three and a half years, after which he engaged in the grocery and feed business on his own account, conducting it until 1896, when he entered the employ of the W. L. Stolzenbach bakery as a salesman. He followed that line of work until June, 1914, when he established a bakery of his own. Beginning on a modest scale, with a weekly output of eighteen hundred loaves of bread, he gradually built up his business, mainly through the merits of his bread, as well as by his enterprising business methods, until now his output averages between seventy-five and eighty thousand loaves of bread weekly, and, instead of the one horse which he formerly used, seventeen large trucks are operated daily, covering a wide territory, including Dennison, Uhrichsville, New Philadelphia and Malvern. Mr. Sweaney's specialties are the "Butter Crust" and "Luxury" loaves, than which there is no better bread made anywhere. He has given painstaking attention to his business, and has met with well merited prosperity. He is also president of the Canton Building Company, president of the Preferred Mortgage Company, vice president of the Whipple Heights Realty Company, a director of the Canton Bank and Trust Company and a director of the Income Bond and Securities Company. On May 14, 1895, at the Lutheran parsonage in Canton, Rev. Schmucker pronounced the words which united Mr. Sweaney and Miss Esther E. Arnold. Born in Canton, August 14, 1876, she is a 120 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY daughter of Jacob and Mary (Snyder) Arnold, the former born in Prussia, Germany, February 16, 1849, coming to Canton, Ohio, in 1871, while the latter was born in New Philadephia, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Sweaney have a daughter, Marjorie Iona, born July 1, 1896, now the wife of Leo A. Wuske, of this city, and the mother Df Eillene Virginia, born September 28, 1924; Ward Henry, December 2, 1926, and Donna Jean, born December 7, 1927. Mr. Sweaney is a republican in his political views and is a member of Nimisilla Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; Buckeye Lodge, K. P., and Canton Lodge, L. O. O. M. He and his wife are earnest members of the First Reformed church of Canton, to which they give liberal support. Mr. Sweaney is a very busy man, but has never neglected his obligations of citizenship, maintaining a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare and progress of his city and county, and commands uniform confidence and respect of all. COLONEL HARRY FREASE Colonel Harry Frease has been a well known attorney of Canton since 1886. Moreover, he is identified with many business enterprises that are considered assets in the commercial development of the city and is as well an outstanding figure in military circles. In his chosen profession he has largely specialized in patent law and few men in Ohio have attained greater prominence in this field. Colonel Frease is a native son of Canton, his birth having occurred in 1865. His father, Judge Joseph Frease, who was one of the best known lawyers of Stark county, was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1851 and from 1856 until 1858 filled the office of county prosecuting attorney, while from 1867 until 1877 he occupied the bench of the common pleas court of the ninth judicial district. In 1856 he formed a law partnership with his father-in-law, Judge Belden, an association that was maintained until Judge Frease went upon the bench, and following his judicial term he resumed the private practice of law, in which he continued until his demise on the 3d of September, 1909. Judge George W. Belden, the grandfather of Colonel Frease, was also at one time a representative of the Ohio judiciary and was United States dis- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 121 trict attorney, for the northern district of Ohio under President Buchanan. The family has long been resident in this state. He was closely associated with the late President McKinley, who succeeded Judge Frease as a partner of Mr. Belden when the firm of Belden & Frease was dissolved at the time the latter went upon the bench. Colonel Frease completed his public school training by a course in the Canton high school, and later he took a special course in anatomy and dissection in the Western Reserve College of Cleveland during the winters of 1889 and 1890. He was a youth of but sixteen years when he secured the position of chairman with the engineering corps of the Cleveland, Canton, Coshocton & Straitsville Railroad, now the Cleveland-Zanesville division of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. He served in that capacity until February 19, 1884, after which he spent a few months as chief draftsman for the Ohio Railway Company, now the Northern Ohio Railroad. When he withdrew from that connection he became a member of the firm of Frease Brothers and later was a partner in the engineering firm of Frease & Reed of Canton until 1890. Two years previously, or in 1888, he became chief engineer of the Valley Railroad, now a part of the Baltimore & Ohio system, and while thus employed developed the location of the Akron and Chicago Junction division of the Baltimore & Ohio in 1890 and also the route of the Canton & East Liverpool Railway in 1895, this having since become a part of the Pennsylvania system. It was in 1900 that he entered actively upon law practice in partnership with his father under the firm style of Frease & Frease, and after the death of the senior partner in 1909 he practiced alone until October 1, 1918, when he became senior member of the firm of Frease, Merkel, Saywell & Bond, patent lawyers of Cleveland and Canton. From January 1, 1921, he was a member of the firm of Frease & Bond until the death of Fred W. Bond, April 9, 1928. He was admitted to practice before the supreme court of Ohio on the 4th of May, 1886, and to practice in the United States circuit and district courts of the northern district of Ohio on April 23, 1902, while in subsequent years he was admitted to practice in the United States district court for the northern district of Illinois, the United States circuit court for the second, sixth and seventh circuits, and on January 9, 1926, to the supreme court of the United States. For twenty-eight years he has followed the profession in Can- 122 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY ton and has largely specialized in patent, railroad, corporation and commercial law. He is a solicitor of patents in the United States patent office and from 1900 until 1908 filled the position of right-of-way attorney for the Baltimore & Ohio road. His patent law practice calls him into federal courts throughout the United States and few men are regarded as authority upon this branch of the profession to as great a degree as is Harry Frease. Concentrating his efforts and attention upon this branch, he has so closely studied its underlying principles that there is no phase of patent law with which he is not familiar, and his knowledge of patent law cases is as comprehensive as his understanding of the basic principles of his work. In 1922 and 1923 Colonel Frease was president of the Cleveland Patent Law Association, and in 1924 was appointed by Secretary of the Interior Work as a member of a special committee to consider conditions and recommend changes in procedure in the Patent Office. The work of that committee extended through two years and a voluminous report was made April 15, 1926, to Secretary of Commerce Hoover, to whose department the Patent office had been transferred in May, 1925, since which time many of the reforms recommended by the committee have been carried into effect by legislation or by changes in the Rules of Practice in the Patent Office. Colonel Frease has been an active member of the American Bar Association since 1916, and from 1926 to 1928 was vice chairman of the patent section of said association. During the same period, he has been an active member of the American Patent Law Association, and from 1926 to 1929 served as a member of the board of managers of that association. Naturally Colonel Frease's cooperation has been sought in other fields, and many business enterprises of Canton and of Ohio have profited by the stimulus of his efforts and the soundness of his judgment in business affairs. He was long associated with the Canton Stoneware Company, serving as secretary and treasurer in 1892 and 1893, after which he was made superintendent and held that office for two years, while from 1896 until 1899 he was again treasurer of this corporation, which is engaged in coal and clay mining and in the manufacture of stoneware, brick and other clay products. The Repository Printing Company of Canton numbered him among its directors, and he also served on the directorate of the Canton & East Liverpool Railway Company. HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 123 The importance and extent of his professional and business connection would alone entitle Colonel Frease to mention as one of the men of distinction in Ohio, but in military circles, too, he has gained equal fame, being long closely and prominently associated with the Ohio National Guard. As early as 1876, when he was but eleven years of age, he became one of the original members of the Canton Cadets, was later a non-commissioned officer and subsequently first lieutenant of that company. In 1884 he became first lieutenant and adjutant of the Canton Independent Battalion of Infantry and in 1885 was elected captain, commanding Company C of the battalion through a period of five years. He became captain of Company I of the Eighth Infantry Regiment of the Ohio National Guard and directed the organization in that connection for five years, beginning May 10, 1892, and continuing until May 10, 1897. With the rank of major he commanded the Canton Troop, a mounted citizen organization, which during the memorable campaign of 1896, when William McKinley was candidate for the presidency, received and escorted visiting delegations, and in that connection he also organized and directed the various parades held in Canton. As chief of staff of the chief marshal, he organized and directed the street arrangements in connection with the funeral when the remains of President McKinley were brought back to Canton for interment in September, 1901, arrangements which President Roosevelt is quoted as saying were "perfect". Again in 1907 Colonel Frease was actively in charge of the parade which featured so notably in the ceremonies attending the dedication of the McKinley Memorial. On the 19th of July, 1900, he was appointed lieutenant colonel and chief commissary of division of the Ohio National Guard, under command of Major General Charles Dick, and was transferred from the commissary department in January, 1906, by appointment as chief quartermaster of the division, while in the following July he became chief engineer officer of the division, continuing to serve in that capacity with the rank of lieutenant colonel until March, 1912, when he retired. On November 11, 1927, Colonel Frease was grand marshal of the military parade for the dedication of the National Guard Armory at Canton. It will be seen from the foregoing that his progress, whether in military affairs, in engineering circles or in law practice has been continuous. Each step in his career has been a forward one, 124 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. He has used his time and talents not only for the upbuilding of his own interests but for public service as well, and his name is inseparably associated with the history of Ohio and reflects further credit and honor upon an untarnished family name that figures notably in the annals of the state. JOSEPH M. MARKLEY It is doubtful whether there lives in Canton a more useful or popular man than Joseph M. Markley, who for nearly twenty years has been local manager for the R. G. Dun & Company Mercantile Agency. His record as business man, public-spirited citizen and loyal friend has stamped him as possessing to an unusual degree the combination of qualities which are peculiarly beneficial to society as it exists today. Large hearted, unselfish, a man among men, he stands "four square to every wind that blows," and has been not only successful in his business affairs, but has gained wide recognition because of his distinctive service for his fellowmen and his community. Joseph Myron Markley was born in Orrville, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 16th of December, 1878, and is a son of Joel and Mary Emily (Dye) Markley, the latter of Scotch-Irish descent. The father was also born in Orrville, August 1, 1853, and the mother at Rinards Mills, Monroe county, Ohio, December 28, 1856. Mr. Markley's great-great-great-grandfather, John Markley, who was born in about 1725, was one of the earliest settlers of what was then the western frontier, now known as Somerset county, Pennsylvania, moving from eastern Pennsylvania to that locality in 1765. He was probably a descendant of Jacob Markley, who was born in Bonfield, Wurtemburg, Germany, in about 1702. His grandson, Joseph Markley, laid out the town of Salisbury, now known as Elk Lick, Pennsylvania, in 1796, and lived there until 1814, when he, with his twelve sons (each of whom weighed over two hundred pounds, was over six feet tall and noted for great physical strength) and two daughters, located in what is now the city of Ashland, Ohio, where they took up three hundred and twenty acres of land. They were numbered among the pioneers HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 125 of Ashland county, but about 1830 more than half of the brothers and sisters went to what is now Canton, Illinois. David, one of the sons, established the first store in that place. Joel Markley, the grandfather of Joseph M. Markley, of this review, moved from Ashland to Orrville, Ohio, in 1840 and there, sometime later, married Miss Lavina Long. Most of their descendants still live in Wayne county. The Markleys for the most part have been agriculturists, though a few have invaded the fields of law, medicine, the ministry and the educational profession. One at least was a member of congress contemporaneously with Henry Clay. David Markley was a member of the legislature in Illinois and many others have occupied positions of honor, trust and responsibility. Some of them have rendered military service and one or two have achieved distinction along that line, as Alfred C. Markley, of Alton, Illinois, mentioned in "Who's Who" as a brigadier-general of the United States Army. Joseph M. Markley received his educational training in the Orrville public and high schools and Smithville and Wooster Colleges. He spent his early years on the home farm and worked his way through school. He engaged in teaching for seven years and in June, 1907, became connected with R. G. Dun & Company as a commercial reporter. Faithful and efficient service won him deserved promotions and in January, 1910, he became manager for that concern in Canton, in which capacity he has continued to the present time, his long retention in that important position standing in unmistakable evidence of the effective manner in which he has cared for the company's interests. On October 25, 1906, Mr. Markley was united in marriage to Miss Bertha A. Shetler, who was born January 6, 1882, and is a daughter of John F. and Matilda (Baker) Shetler, of Navarre, Stark county. To Mr. and Mrs. Markley have been born six children, namely : Myron Dale, now twenty-one years of age ; Wayne, who died in infancy ; Joseph Milton, aged sixteen years ; Mary Alice, died in infancy ; Lucille Emily, aged twelve years ; Elizabeth Anne, aged eight years. Mr. Markley is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree in the York Rite and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite, and he is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He was at one time president of the Adcraft 126 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Club, which had a membership of nearly four hundred, and has long been an active member of the Rotary Club, of which he has been secretary for seven years, and was recently elected governor of the twenty-first district of Rotary Clubs, comprising the major portion of the state of Ohio, assuming the office July 1, 1928. In this connection a surprise was sprung on Mr. Markley by his fellow Rotarians of Canton, who, on April 24, 1928, printed in the Canton Daily News a full-page "booster" for him for district governor. Among the many complimentary things said of him in that article was the following : "Election of Rotarian Markley as district governor brings to him a well earned and deserved honor, coming after many years of hard work and thoughtful planning of the activities of the Canton Rotary Club in cooperation with its officers and committees, and also because of the achievements which he assisted in accomplishing in a civic way in Canton. . . For almost twenty years Canton has had the united and unselfish labor of Mr. Markley in all its activities of a civic, welfare or patriotic character, never flinching, but always at work when the first meeting was called and quick action needed." Mr. Markley began his first community work in 1910 and thereafter had an active and responsible part in all of the campaigns that were conducted in behalf of the Young Men's Christian Association, the Chamber of Commerce, Liberty Loans and other worthy causes. In 1921 he was one of the founders of the Canton Welfare Federation, of which he was president for five years, and which each year raised in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the more than twenty different welfare and social agencies of the city. He was a director of the Chamber of Commerce for six years and treasurer for three years, and has been a director of the Young Men's Christian Association for fourteen years. He was one of the founders and served a considerable portion of the time as president of the Union Mission, with which institution he has been identified for nine years. For a number of years he has been a member of the board of education and is now serving as its president. He is a member of the Canton recreation commission, in the work of which he is greatly interested, and no measure or movement for the advancement of the city or the betterment of the public welfare has lacked for his earnest support. In his political views he is a stanch republican, while his religious connection is with the First Congregational HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 127 church, which he has served as a trustee and deacon. He is a forceful and effective speaker and has addressed many public gatherings and groups, his optimistic spirit and sound common sense rendering him popular and welcome in all circles. True and loyal in every relation of life, possessing a genuine interest in the welfare of his fellowmen and an attractive personality, his friends are numbered by the thousands throughout Ohio, and he is regarded as one of the representative men of his city and state. F. E. CLAPPER F. E. Clapper, cashier of the Louisville Bank, at Louisville, has had over twenty years of practical banking experience and since coming to this institution has shown himself well qualified in every respect for the responsible position which he is holding. He was born in this city May 22, 1885, and is a son of Cicero and Matilda (Baum) Clapper. The family was long established in Pennsylvania, whence Mr. Clapper's grandfather, Daniel Clapper, migrated to Stark county. Cicero Clapper was a farmer and thresher, was engaged in the creamery business, and served as first engineer at the Louisville Water Works. He died in 1897, at the age of forty-four years. To him and his wife were born nine children, of whom five are living. F. E. Clapper received his educational training in the Louisville public schools, being a graduate of the class of 1902, and went to work as a salesman in a retail clothing store, which line he followed for six years. He then entered the Louisville Deposit Bank (now the State Bank), with which institution he remained for ten years, and in 1917 went to the George D. Harter Bank, of Canton. He first held the position of savings teller, from which he was advanced to commercial teller, then to note teller, and from that to assistant cashier in charge of the operation of the loan department, in which position he was serving when he accepted the cashiership of the Louisville Bank in 1923. He has devoted himself untiringly to the interests of this institution, which is showing a healthy and steady growth, and commands the esteem of all who are associated with him. On August 11, 1909, Mr. Clapper was united in marriage to 128 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Miss Nora Livelsberger, of Louisville, and they are the parents of two children, Harland and Jack Warren. Mr. Clapper gives his political support to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Brethren church. He belongs to the Rotary Club, of which he was the first president, and is regarded as a distinct asset to his community. BERT H. SEBRING Bert H. Sebring, vice president of the Sebring Manufacturing Company of Alliance, holds an enviable place in the business world, being not only successful in material affairs, but also enjoying a reputation as a man of sound business judgment and keen foresight, whose opinions in practical matters are considered sound and dependable. Mr. Sebring was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, on the 1st of November, 1880, a son of Oliver H. and Matilda (Hulme) Sebring. The father was a son of George E. and S. Elizabeth (Larkins) Sebring, natives of Vanport, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and South Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, respectively. George E. Sebring, who followed the trade of a potter, died at Sebring, Ohio. He was a republican in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Oliver H. Sebring was born at East Liverpool, Ohio, July 14, 1857, and now lives at Sebring, being president of the Sebring Manufacturing Company, makers of china and enamel ware. His political support is also given to the republican party, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Matilda ( Hulme) Sebring was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, July 14, 1860, a daughter of William and Emma (Danks) Hulme, both of whom were born in England, and the latter was a sister of Colonel Danks, of Civil war fame. Mr. Hulme was an expert potter, being regarded as an artist along that line ; was a republican in politics and a Methodist in religious faith. He and his wife died at East Liverpool. Bert H. Sebring attended the public schools of East Liverpool and took a commercial course at Mount Union College. He then became associated with the Oliver China Company, in which he was a stockholder. In 1926 there was a consolidation of four corn- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 131 panies, the Oliver China Company, the French China Company, the Saxon China Company and the Strong Manufacturing Company, the new concern being incorporated as the Sebring Manufacturing Company, of which Oliver H. Sebring became president and Bert H. Sebring, vice president and a director. This has been a very successful enterprise and is regarded as one of the solid and prosperous industries of this section of the state. Bert H. Sebring is a director of the Citizens Banking Company, of Sebring, and vice president of the Sebring Cooperage Company, of which his father is president. On June 20, 1901, in East Liverpool, Mr. Sebring was united in marriage to Miss Pauline Fisher Crook, who was born in Calcutta, Ohio, March 9, 1880, and is a daughter of Frank and Jane (Fisher) Crook. In the paternal line she is of English descent, her grandparents, Thomas and Jane ( Bachelor) Crook, having been born in Staffordshire, England, and both died at Elkton, Ohio. Thomas Crook was the owner of woolen mills and was a man of promince in his community. He was an active republican and held a number of local offices. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their son, Frank Crook, was born at Elkton, Ohio, July 24, 1851, and is now living in East Liverpool, where he owns a furniture store and is a director of the Potter National Bank. He, too, is a republican and has been very active and prominent in the Methodist Episcopal church, having served as a delegate to the general conference of that denomination in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1924. His wife was born at Lisbon, Ohio, in 1852, and died at East Liverpool. Mrs. Sebring attended the public schools of East Liverpool ; Beaver College at Beaver, Pennsylvania ; and Dr. Jones School for Girls at Providence, Rhode Island. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Sebring and belongs to the Mount Union College Women's Club and the Alliance Women's Club. In 1926 she was appointed by Governor Donahey as a delegate to the annual national convention of the Anti-Saloon League held at Chicago, being one of thirty-six. Mr. and Mrs. Sebring have become the parents of two children, namely : Frances, who died in infancy ; and Kathleen B., born May 1, 1906, who attended the public schools of Alliance; Miss Wolcott's School at Denver, Colorado; and the Hathaway-Brown school in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Sebring is a stanch republican in his political views, and 132 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Sebring. He belongs to the Chambers of Commerce in Cleveland and Alliance and the Alliance Country Club, while his religious connection is with the First Methodist Episcopal church, to which he gives generous support, as he does to all other worthy benevolent causes. During the World war he took an active part in the various Liberty Loan and Red Cross drives and has always stood ready to cooperate with his fellow citizens in efforts to advance the general interests of the community along material, civic or moral lines. Because of these things, as well as for his sterling character and cordial manner, he commands the respect of all who know him. ALBERT WILD, M. D. A leading member of the medical profession in Stark county is Dr. Albert Wild, who is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at 504 South Arch street, Alliance, where he also maintains a well equipped private hospital. Born at Lorach Baden, Germany, September 10, 1890, he is a son of Otto and Rosalia ( Street) Wild. His father was born in Switzerland, January 21, 1861, and is now living in Stamford, Connecticut, where he is following the printing trade. He is a republican in politics and is a member of the Lutheran church. His wife was born in Baden, Germany, September 2, 1865, and died in Stamford, Connecticut, May 10, 1925. When Albert Wild was five years old he accompanied his parents to the United States. They lived in Holyoke, Massachusetts, for five years, and then moved to North Mianus, Connecticut, where he was reared from the age of ten years. He attended public schools there until fourteen years of age, when he began learning the trade of block cutting, which he followed for five years, also doing pattern-making and electric wiring during that period. When twenty years of age he entered the high school at Greenwich, Connecticut, was graduated in 1914, and then took a pre-medical course at Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Connecticut. He next matriculated in the medical school of the University of Maryland, in Baltimore, and was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1920, after which he served six HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 133 months as interne in the General Hospital at Bridgeport, Connecticut, and one year in St. John's Riverside Hospital, at Yonkers, New York. After a year in postgraduate work at the New Rochelle Hospital in New York, he located in Alliance February 17, 1923, and has since been engaged in professional work here. For three months he served as assistant to Doctor Perry King, and then opened an office of his own at 760 South Arch street. Three months later he moved to 521 South Arch street, where he remained until October 12, 1926, when he opened a private hospital at 504 South Arch street, where he is engaged in the general practice of medicine, specializing in surgery, in which he has been very successful. Dr. Wild enlisted in the Medical Reserve of the United States Navy as hospital apprentice First Class and was honorably discharged shortly after the close of the World war. Out of one hundred and seventy-one surgical cases treated at the hospital, major and minor operations, only one death resulted, less than one half of one per cent. On September 4, 1926, in the Christian church in Alliance, Dr. Wild was united in marriage to Miss M. Katherine King, who was born in this city, January 3, 1903, and is a daughter of Garland and Celestie (Tobin) King. The former, a lifelong resident of Alliance, is connected with the Alliance Machine Steel Castings Company, is a republican in his political views and a member of the Christian church. His wife was born in Kensington, Ohio. Mrs. Wild's paternal grandparents were W. W. and Catherine King, the former now deceased, while his widow still resides in Alliance. Celestie (Tobin) King is a daughter of Morris and Charity (McDaniel) Tobin, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Tobin served in the Union Army during the Civil war and lost an arm in the battle of Gettysburg. Mrs. Wild graduated from the Alliance high school in 1921, after which she attended Mt. Union College one year, and later graduated from the Alliance Business College. She is a member of the Christian church and belongs to the Bang Club of Alliance. Dr. and Mrs. Wild are the parents of a son, John Albert, born October 29, 1927. The Doctor gives his political support to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. He belongs to the American Legion, the Alliance Country Club, the Stark County Medical Society, the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is closely devoted to his profession, 134 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY deeply interested in its scientific and humanitarian phases, and has been more than ordinarily successful in his efforts to combat disease. A man of sterling integrity and high ideals, he exemplifies in his life the highest standards of American manhood and citizenship and commands the sincere respect of all who know him. OLIVER W. RENKERT Some measure success by dollars and cents, but there are many who regard success as the position to which a man has attained in the business world by progressive and reliable methods and by high principles guiding him in his varied commercial relations. Judged by this standard, Oliver W. Renkert is one of Canton's most successful men. His entire course reflects credit and honor upon the city in which he has established one of the most extensive and important business enterprises here found—that of the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company, of which he is the president. His life story is an interesting one of successful achievement. His birth occurred at Canal Dover, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, October 24, 1878, and he was a boy of eleven summers when the family home was established in Canton, so that he acquired much of his early education in the public schools of this city. His father, J. J. Renkert, was a pioneer in the manufacture of paving brick in this city and in his youth Oliver W. Renkert acquired a practical knowledge of the business by assisting in the work at his father's plant. He felt at that time, however, that he would prefer a professional to a commercial career and entered upon the study of dentistry at the Western Reserve University. He there pursued a three years' course and won his D. D. S. degree in 1898, after which he opened an office at Akron, Ohio, where he continued in practice for eight years. Then followed his reversion to his original line of activity, and nature must have intended that he labor in this field, for it is one in which he has achieved notable success. In 1903 he became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company of Canton and from the beginning served on its board of directors. He continued his dental office at Akron, however, until 1906, when he withdrew permanently from that field and became president and general manager HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 135 of the Moberly Paving Brick Company, of Moberly, Missouri, where he remained for six years, carrying on a profitable business. He then resigned as president and general manager and sold his interest in the business. In January, 1913, he took up his duties as general superintendent of the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company at Canton, which he had aided in organizing ten years before. In 1916 he became vice president and general manager of the Metropolitan company and at the untimely death of his brother Harry S. Renkert in 1922, he was made president and general manager of the company in which capacity he still serves. It is an accepted fact that the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company makes and sells more paving brick than any other company in the world. When 0. W. Renkert and his brother Harry were small boys the father was operating a plant at Dover, Ohio. Later they removed to Canton and the father bought an interest in the Royal Brick Company of that place. When the boys were not in school they worked around the plant and early became familiar with every detail of the business. About 1904 the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company was formed and operated the Royal, Imperial and Canton plants. A few years later the W. L. Davis plant was also taken over. The company of which 0. W. Renkert is the executive head has been made the recipient of the emblem of the Rice Leaders of the World Association of New York. Membership in that association is limited to manufacturing concerns, each in a different line of business, but all having one thing in common—a successful, old-established business, built and conducted upon strict adherence to the highest standards. The association's qualifications for membership are : "Honor—A recognized reputation for fair and honorable business dealings. "Quality—An honest product, of quality truthfully represented. "Strength—A responsible and substantial financial standing. "Service—A recognized reputation for conducting business in prompt and efficient manner." The personality and character of 0. W. Renkert, and of those associated with him permeates every phase of the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company's activities. The sound basis upon which its quality products are manufactured and sold has merited the confidence of municipalities, townships and the government, as well as of engineers, contractors, public officials and others throughout 136 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY the country. It is an inspiration to reflect that from several separate small beginnings many years ago, there has been a gradual development and growth until today we find combined in the Metropolitan Paving Brick Company, under one able management, eight plants which not only give profitable employment to hundreds of workers but which turn out paving brick, building brick, face brick, hollow building tile and sprinkling filter bottoms, that are giving satisfaction in all parts of the United States. In 1899 Mr. Renkert was united in marriage to Miss Emma F. Moushey, a daughter of Lewis Moushey, of Canton, and they have become parents of two children, Bernice Mae and Bessie Marie. The family have a beautiful home in Canton and occupy an enviable social position. Mr. Renkert is one of Canton's first citizens. He is a former president of the Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Brookside Saddle Club, the Brookside and Congress Lake Clubs and the Rotary Club. He was also former president of the National Paving Brick Manufacturers Association. Outside of his own company he is a director in a steel company, also a director of two Canton banks and president of a coal company. His high business standing is but the expression of the regard in which he is uniformly held by those who have known him in all the relations of life. He has never stressed his principles in words but they have found expression in the conduct of his interests and never has he deviated from a course which he has believed to be right between himself and his fellowmen. WILLIAM E. WEAVER As safety and service director of Massillon, William E. Weaver is performing able and appreciated work for his community and is adding to the prestige which he already enjoyed among the people of the city. He was born in Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on the 25th of April, 1875, and is a son of William G. and Sarah J. ( Baker) Weaver. The family moved to Massillon when he was five years old and here he was reared, receiving his education in the public and high schools. When eighteen years old Mr. Weaver started to learn the ma- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 137 chinist's trade with Russell & Company, and after completing his apprenticeship he spent five years as a journeyman machinist in other cities. On his return to Massillon he became general foreman for Russell & Company, with which concern he remained until 1925, when he became shop superintendent of the Reynolds Machine Company, holding that position when, in January, 1928, Mayor Johns appointed him to the responsible position of safety and service director of Massillon. He has shown himself to be well qualified for the position, the duties of which he is discharging in a manner that has won for him the commendation of the people of the city. On January 24, 1898, Mr. Weaver was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Morgan, of West Lebanon, Ohio. He is a stanch republican in his political views and is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he attained the degree of a Knight Templar. He and his wife are earnest members of the First Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Weaver is devoting his attention closely to the performance of his official duties, in which he is rendering distinctive service, and all who know him hold him in high regard for his ability and his commendable personal interest in the public welfare. HON. ROSCOE C. McCULLOCH An outstanding figure in public life, Roscoe C. McCulloch has thrice been elected representative from his district to congress, each time by increased majorities, and in every possible way has safeguarded and promoted the interests of state and nation. His life story is one of useful service both as lawyer and lawmaker. He was born on a farm in Holmes county, Ohio, November 27, 1880, and is a son of John G. and Matilda V. McCulloch, also natives of that county. His youthful experiences were those of the farm-bred boy and of the lad who spends his time in one of the smaller urban communities. He began his education in the public schools of Millersburg, Ohio, and later had the advantage of high school training in Canton. His more specifically literary course was pursued in the University of Wooster and in preparation for a legal career—for he had determined to make the practice of law his life work—he 138 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY attended the Ohio State University and the Western Reserve University Law Schools. On the 5th of December, 1903, he was admitted to the bar and at once entered upon active practice. His youth and inexperience did not seem any great obstacle to progress. He applied himself thoroughly to the mastery of every case entrusted to him and with the passing years came to be recognized not only as an able trial lawyer but as a safe counselor. His entire professional career has been marked by fidelity to the interests of his clients and yet he never for a moment forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. Another phase in the public career of Roscoe C. McCulloch has to do with the important service which he has rendered his fellowmen in public office. He was elected to congress from the sixteenth district in 1914 as the candidate of the republican party, receiving a plurality of approximately eight thousand votes, and made so creditable a record in office that he was reelected in 1916 by a plurality of seven thousand in a district which in that year was carried by Woodrow Wilson by a plurality of nearly eight thousand, showing Mr. McCulloch to have received approximately fifteen thousand votes ahead of the party ticket. Still further endorsement of his congressional career came in November, 1918, when he was elected for a third term by a plurality of twelve thousand over his democratic opponent. As a member of the house he gave most thoughtful and earnest consideration to all the vital questions and problems which came up for settlement and showed rare discrimination in analyzing every situation. He has been strongly urged to become a candidate for governor, his friends basing his fitness for the office upon the fact that hiS three terms in congress constituted a record of real accomplishment characterized by a strongly progressive spirit ; that he was a pioneer in advocating and voting for woman suffrage ; that he has advocated a constructive tax reducing plan and that he has a powerful intellect, sound judgment and a marked sense of fairness. Congress chose him as one of its members to investigate and later to head the legal department in the prosecution of war frauds in camps and cantonments. Mr. McCulloch was united in marriage to Miss Helen Herbruck and they have become parents of two children, Kathryn and Hugh H., both at home. Mr. McCulloch is an active member of the First Methodist HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 139 Episcopal church and is well known in social circles through his connection with the Canton, Brookside Country and Brookside Riding Clubs. He is companionable and genial and has a host of warm friends because he holds friendship inviolable. He chose as his life work a profession in which advancement must depend entirely upon individual merit and ability and steadily he has advanced until he is today one of the most capable and widely known lawyers of Ohio and moreover, is recognized as a statesman of the highest principles and purposes to whom an opportunity to serve has ever been a call to action and a call to which he has made ready and adequate response. CHARLES P. SIMS To Charles P. Sims, of Massillon, belongs the distinction of being the oldest lumberman in Stark county in point of years of service, having been engaged in that line of business for forty years, and for twenty-nine years of that time with the Massillon Lumber Company, of which he is vice president and general manager. Mr. Sims was born in Canton, Ohio, on the 29th of December, 1870, and is a son of William H. and Mary E. ( Natche) Sims, both of whom are deceased. He received his education in the grade and district schools and devoted his efforts to farm work until 1888, when he entered the employ of the Canton Car Company, with which concern he remained two years. In 1890 he went to Denver, Colorado, where he was connected with the lumber and planing mill business for six and a half years, after which he was similarly employed in Lafayette, Indiana. He returned to Canton, where he was connected with the lumber business about one year, and in 1899 came to Massillon and went to work for the firm of Connor, Dengler & Brown. This business changed hands in about 1907, since which time it has been operated under the name of the Massillon Lumber Company. Mr. Sims has remained with the business continuously since 1899, during which period he has received well merited advancement and in 1924 was made vice president and general manager. Energetic, wide-awake and progressive, he has devoted his efforts closely to the interests of the 140 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY company, and in the management of which he shows splendid executive ability and good judgment, and is an important factor in its success and prosperity. Mr. Sims is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and a number of lumbermen's fraternities, and is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Because of his loyalty and effectiveness in business, his deep interest in the welfare and progress of his community and his substantial qualities of character, he holds a high place in the esteem of those who know him. WILLIAM ERLANGER, SR. No citizen of Canton is held in higher regard than is William Erlanger, Sr., president of the Erlanger Dry Goods Company and the Stark Dry Goods Company, which control two of the leading commercial houses of central Ohio. Mr. Erlanger's career exhibits in a striking manner the possibilities afforded in this country to one who directs his efforts along right lines and in accordance with the right ideals, for, as a stranger in a strange land, he began business life here humbly and every step of his progress has been attained through indomitable perseverance, strict integrity and the exercise of sound judgment in his affairs. Mr. Erlanger was born on the 28th of January, 1853, in Fuerth, Bavaria, and is a son of William and Janette ( Schlessinger) Erlanger. His father, who belonged to an old and prominent Bavarian family, of German origin, was engaged in the wholesale dry goods business, which he continued successfully until his death, which occurred October 17th, 1852, when he was forty-one years of age, and a few months prior to the birth of his son, William. The mother, who was born March 25, 1817, and died October 13, 1891, carried the business on for twenty years after her husband's death and it is still in existence, being now conducted by a grandnephew, Wolfgang Erlanger. To William and Janette Erlanger were born five children, four sons and a daughter. Owing to her business responsibilities and other cares, the mother found it necessary to place three of her children in an orphan asylum, in which he was reared and received his early education. In 1871, at the age of eighteen years, William Erlanger HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 143 took passage on the steamer "Hanse" for the New World, having received from his mother a sufficient sum in gold to pay his passage and meet his expenses until such a time as he could become self-supporting. Soon after his arrival in New York city he secured employment as an engraver in a jeweler's establishment, and there he remained a few months, when he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and went to work for the firm of Schoneman & Son, wholesale clothiers, with whom he received his first training in mercantile affairs. Later he went to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where for about a year he was employed in the retail clothing store of Leo Wolf. In 1873 Mr. Erlanger went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and obtained employment as a traveling salesman for Thalheimer & Company, wholesale dealers in men's furnishings, but one year later resigned that position and established a clothing store in Butler, Pennsylvania, which he conducted for two years, building up a successful business so that, in 1879, he had no trouble in disposing of it advantageously. Coming to Canton, Ohio, he established a retail men's clothing and furnishings business, which he conducted for about two years and then went to East Liverpool, Ohio, where he engaged in the same line of business successfully for thirty-two years. In 1912 he discontinued his store at East Liverpool and came to Canton to join his son, Sidney Erlanger, and his nephew, William B. Erlanger, in what is now known as the Stark Dry Goods Company, opening a retail establishment. They also organized the Erlanger Dry Goods Company, conducting a strictly wholesale business, and Mr. Erlanger has served as president of both companies to the present time. The Stark Dry Goods Company, in addition to its large and splendidly equipped department store in Canton, also conducts the leading retail establishments in its line in Alliance and Massillon, Ohio, and their various stores employ a total of over three hundred and fifty people. The business has enjoyed a steady growth through the years until now, instead of the few thousand square feet of floor space, occupied but a few years ago, the Canton store has sixty-three thousand square feet, the Alliance store thirty-six thousand square feet and the Massillon store twenty-four thousand square feet. This great business has been built on the foundation of reliable merchandise, square dealing and courtesy and the company commands the patronage of the best people and the most discriminating buyers of the community. 144 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY On March 12, 1882, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mr. Erlanger was united in marriage to Miss Sophie Meyers, who was born in Lisberg, Bavaria, May 14, 1857, and was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kalman Meyers, who brought their family to the United States in 1876 and located in Philadelphia, where they spent their remaining days, the father dying July 24, 1891, and the mother October 17, 1885. Mrs. Erlanger died in Philadelphia, December 5, 1912, at the age of fifty-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Erlanger had two children : Milton, born February 26, 1886, married Miss Pauline Gans, of Baltimore, Maryland, a daughter of Charles and Dora (Rosenberg) Gans, and they have two children, Elizabeth and William (II) ; Sidney, born July 30, 1887, married Miss Florence H. Herold, a native of Trenton, New Jersey, and a daughter of Jacob and Ella (Rosenstein) Herold, and they have a daughter, Janette, who was born in Canton October 4, 1914. In his political views Mr. Erlanger is a stanch republican, and his religious affiliation is with the McKinley Avenue Hebrew Temple. He is a member of Riddle Lodge, No. 315, F. & A. M., at East Liverpool, Ohio ; the Grotto at Canton ; East Liverpool Lodge, I. 0. 0. F. ; East Liverpool Lodge, B. P. 0. E. ; and the Westmoor Country Club of Canton. Mr. Erlanger was made a citizen of the United States at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1879, and has ever been loyal to its institutions, giving his earnest support to the advancement of the public welfare. Because of his splendid business record and outstanding success, as well as for his kindly and friendly manner, he commands to a marked degree the confidence and esteem of the people of his city and county and is regarded as one of the representative men of his community. HARRY W. GAUCHAT, M. D. Dr. Harry W. Gauchat has attained well merited distinction in medical circles, not only as an able and successful practitioner, but also because of his valuable research work along medical and scientific lines, and stands today as one of the leaders of his profession in Canton and Stark county. Dr. Gauchat was born in Canton, on the 3d of May, 1892, and is a son of William F. and Sarah (Crankshaw) Gauchat. His father was born at Wines- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 145 burg, Holmes county, Ohio, and is a son of Louis and Elizabeth (Pitz) Gauchat, the former having come to this country from Neufchatel, Switzerland, though the family is of French origin. Louis Gauchat was a blacksmith by trade and was a resident of Canton at the time of his death, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife was born in Bavaria, Germany, whence she was brought to the United States in young girlhood. William F. Gauchat was reared and educated in Canton, to which city the family moved in 1877, when he was about eleven years of age. He is an active supporter of the democratic party and has been prominent in public affairs, having served as deputy United States marshal at Cleveland, and also as chief of police in Canton from 1920 to 1923. He is a member of Trinity Reformed church. His wife was born in Akron, Ohio, and is a daughter of David and Delila (Engle) Crankshaw. Her father was a member of one of the old pioneer families of Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and a direct descendant of John Shepard, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, who lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and nineteen years, and whose ancestors came to America in the "Mayflower." To William and Sarah Gauchat were born two children, Harry W. and Paul C., the latter a physician of Warren, Ohio. Harry W. Gauchat attended the public schools of Canton until graduated from the Central high school in 1910 and then went to Mount Union College, at Alliance, Ohio, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1914. He matriculated in the medical college of Western Reserve University and won his M. D. degree in 1918. He served as interne in Lakeside Hospital of Cleveland, and afterward as instructor in the department of medicine in Lakeside and City Hospitals for a period of six years. In 1925 he came to Canton and engaged in the active practice of his profession, specializing in internal medicine. He has been very successful and has built up a large and remunerative practice, enjoying a high reputation as a safe and reliable physician. He is a constant student of his profession and has been honored with the degree of Master of Arts by Western Reserve University in recognition of his research work in physiology. On June 16, 1920, in Canton, Dr. Gauchat was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Ann Rate, who was born and reared in this city and is a daughter of James G. and Sophia (Schellhase) Rate. 10V3 146 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY Dr. and Mrs. Gauchat have two daughters, Joan Marie, born May 28, 1923, and Martha Jean, July 7, 1924, both born in Cleveland. Dr. Gauchat is a member of the Stark County Medical Society, the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, the Medical Arts Club of Cleveland, the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the American Roentgenological Society. He has done much writing along medical lines and is the author of "Clinical and Experimental Studies, Pulses and Paradoxes," which was published as a series of papers in the leading medical journals. The Doctor is independent in his political attitude, though deeply interested in the public welfare, voting for the men whom he regards as best fitted for office. He is a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity of Mount Union College and the Mu Sigma Nu medical fraternity, and the University Club and the Exchange Club, of Canton. His religious membership is with the Trinity Reformed church, and he stands consistently for all that is best in community life. A man of splendid personality and agreeable manner, he has many loyal friends throughout Stark county and is regarded as an honor to his profession. HARRY STEWART WYKOFF Harry S. Wykoff, who, through his ability and sagacity, has attained an enviable place in the legal profession in Alliance, is also active and prominent in civic affairs and is regarded as one of his community's most progressive citizens. Mr. Wykoff was born at Richmond, Jefferson county, Ohio, on the 4th day of July, 1890, is a son of Rev. Emory E. and Elizabeth (Stewart) Wykoff and a grandson of John and Martha (Fry) Wykoff, the former of whom was of Holland ancestry, and both of whom are deceased. Mr. Wykoff was a carpenter and builder by vocation, was a member of the Presbyterian church and voted the republican ticket. Emory E. Wykoff was born at Richmond, Ohio, on November 28, 1862, received a thorough education and has been in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years and is now pastor of the church at Perry, Ohio. He is a republican in his political views. Elizabeth (Stewart) Wykoff, who was of English descent, was born January 19, 1860, near Wellsville, Ohio, and HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 147 died November 14, 1923, at the home of her son in Alliance. She was a daughter of James and Sarah ( McClurg) Stewart, of whom the former was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, followed the business of carpenter and builder, and died at New Somerset, Ohio, in 1894. He was a republican in politics and was a steward of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife was a native of Jefferson county, and died there. Harry Stewart Wykoff graduated from the high school at Windham, Ohio, in 1909, and entered Mount Union College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1914. He took a postgraduate course in biology at Ohio State University and taught for five years in the biology department at Mount Union College. During the three following years he read law in the office of Hart & Koehler and on July 19, 1923, was admitted to the bar. He practiced alone in Alliance until February, 1927, when he formed a law partnership with N. C. Fetters, a patent attorney, and they are still associated in practice, specializing in corporation, real estate and patent law. Mr. Wykoff possesses a keen and analytical mind, is determined and resourceful in the handling of causes placed in his charge and is regarded as a safe and sound advisor. On June 15, 1916, in Alliance, Mr. Wykoff was united in marriage to Miss Pearl Miller, of this city, who was born August 16, 1891, and is a daughter of Lorin and Frances Emma ( Matthews) Miller. Lorin Miller was born in Alliance, studied photography tinder Perie McDonald, of New York city, and conducted a successful studio in Alliance to the time of his death. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian church and was an active supporter of the democratic party, serving for a number of years as a member of the school board, while at the time of his death he was a member of the park commission. His wife was born at Hubbard, Ohio, and died in Alliance. She was a daughter of Milton and Nancy Jane (Klingan) Matthews, the latter born near Hubbard, Ohio, and died at Warren, this state. Mr. Matthews also was born near Hubbard, served in the Union Army throughout the Civil war, and later became a manufacturer of evaporators, which business he followed to the time of his death, which occurred February 11, 1925. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and supported the republican party. Mrs. Wykoff graduated from the Alliance high school and entered Mount Union College, from which 148 - HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY she was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1916. She served as city librarian for six years, including the period of her attendance at college, having studied library work at the Library School at Chautauqua, New York. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and its missionary society, and belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Wykoff are the parents of two daughters, Helen Virginia, born March 31, 1917, and Frances Eleanor, born January 19, 1920. Mr. Wykoff is a stanch republican and takes a helpful interest in public affairs. He is a member of Conrad Lodge, No. 271, F. & A. M. ; Alliance Lodge, No. 23, K. P., of which he is a past chancellor commander and a member of the board of trustees of the Pythian building; Alliance Lodge, No. 266, I. O. O. F. ; the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity, the Alliance Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He maintains professional affiliation with the Stark County Bar Association, the Ohio State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. During the World war he was active in Liberty Loan and Red Cross drives, making many speeches. His religious connection is with the First Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a member of the choir and has been missionary superintendent for three years. He has been attorney for the Alliance Building and Saving Company for the past four years and is a director of the Consolidated Investment Company. Because of his sterling traits of character and his agreeable manner, he commands uniform confidence and regard and has a large circle of warm friends throughout the city in which he lives. GEORGE M. LETHERMAN George M. Letherman, president and general manager of The Letherman Seed and Supply Company, of Canton, has long stood in the first rank of the able and successful business men of Stark county, having built up an establishment the interests of which are world wide. His achievements are particularly noteworthy from the fact that he began life a poor boy, and the prosperity which is now his has been won only by hard and persistent industry, backed by sound judgment and sterling principles. Mr. Letherman was born in Elkhart county, Indiana, Septem- HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY - 149 ber 23, 1877, a son of B. F. and Hettie Letherman. The Letherman family is of German origin and was established in this country by Jacob Letherman, who settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1741, and purchased land from William Penn's son-in-law, William Allen. Mr. Letherman's grandfather, Isaac Letherman, came to Ohio in pioneer days and settled near Wooster, where he engaged in farming. B. F. Letherman, who was born and reared in Wayne county, Ohio, also followed agricultural pursuits, but is now retired and living in Goshen, Indiana. He is a republican in his political views, while his religious belief is that of the Mennonite church. The mother, who was born in Bryan, Ohio, is also of German ancestry. In the family were six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom George M. is the second in order of birth. George M. Letherman spent his early years on his father's farm and attended the public schools in Indiana. He then entered Northern Ohio University. On leaving home, at the age of twenty-three years, he became branch manager for the Milwaukee Harvester Company at Fargo, North Dakota, where he remained for several years, and in 1904 came to Canton, of which city he has been a resident continuously since. Soon after coming here he bought what was known as the Patton warehouse and also an adjoining property from the Abner McKinley estate, and engaged in the feed and grain business, in which success attended his efforts. Subsequently the property was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and he established business at his present location at 814 Tuscarawas street east. The business rapidly increased and in the course of time a seed business was also started at 330 Cleveland avenue northwest. In 1917 Mr. Letherman became an automobile dealer and for about ten years was local distributor for the Nash and Chandler cars, in which he was successful, but his other business interests made so heavy a demand on his time that in 1927 he discontinued the automobile line, and the location was devoted to a wholesale and mail order seed business. Mr. Letherman also conducts a nursery near North Canton, where he resides. This has been developed into one of the largest nurseries in this section of the state. The seed business has grown to enormous proportions and now extends not only to all parts of the United States, but also includes Canada and the principal countries of Europe, in relation to both exports and imports. Mr. Letherman has always