(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 350 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY the Summit Sewer Pipe Company. Mr. Brewster has been interested more or less for years in the developing of coal lands. He has never taken any very lively interest in politics, absolutely refusing to hold local offices, and has contented himself with merely performing those duties which appeal to him as a good citizen. Hiram Brewster never married. Hayes Wheeler Brewster, who is associated with his uncle, Hiram Brewster, in the management and operation of about the largest farm in Summit County, is one of the best-known agriculturists of Coventry and Springfield Townships. Mr. Brewster was born on the farm on which he has spent his whole life, the old Brewster homestead, June 25, 1876, and is a son of Stephen, a grandson of James G. and a great-grandson of Stephen Brewster, who settled on this land in 1811. Stephen Brewster, son of James G., married Charlotte Meech and they had four children, namely: Ephraim, who is established in the far West; Hayes; Stephen, who is also in the West; and John. The father of Mr. Brewster died in January, 1887, but the mother survived until December, 1903. Hayes Wheeler Brewster was married in October, 1899, to Susan Dodd, who is a daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Griffith) Dodd, well-known residents of Summit County. They have two children, a son and daughter, Hiram and Charlotte. Mr. Brewster, in the management of the large family estate, displays the judgment and. capacity for business which has marked the Brewster family, and which has made them so long prominent factors in all that concerns this section. He takes an active interest in public matters that concern the general welfare, but, like his uncle, has always had a distaste for public office. His interests always having centered here, he stands as one of the section's truly representative men. LOUIS SEYBOLD, treasurer and manager of the Akron Germania Company, with offices at No. 148 South Howard Street, Akron, has been a resident of this city for the past thirty-two years, coming here from his home in Bavaria, Germany, where he was born in 1856. Mr. Seybold was educated in the excellent schools of his native land, and at the age of eighteen years he crossed the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to find more favorable opportunities for advancement here than in Germany. Shortly afterward he came to Akron and secured employment in the rubber works, and later engaged as clerk in a grocery store. This was all preliminary to his real work, for Mr. Seybold's abilities were recognized as soon as he became acquainted with men of prominence in the community, who were seeking intelligent and reliable assistance. He shortly became a member and then a director of the old German Harmonie Society, at the same time interesting himself in politics to some degree, and was also engaged to write a few editorials for the German newspaper published by Mr. Werner. An acquaintance thus established led to his further continuance with the paper, of which he subsequently became editor and proprietor. With the exception of a few years, when otherwise employed, Mr. Seybold has since, continued in his editorial position, and also owns the controlling interest in the Germania Company. He wields a facile pen and has devoted close study to public questions and is a wise adviser to his army of readers. In 1879, Mr. Seybold was married to Louisa Doppstaedter, who was born at Ashland, Ohio. They have eight children, namely : Clara, who is secretary of the Akron Germania Company ; Carl, who is advertising manager of the same company ; Louis, who lives in the city of Chicago; Elsie, Edith, Paul and. Margaret, all of whom reside with their parents. Mr. Seybold is a man of musical talent and social tastes, and is a popular member of the Odd Fellows, the Elks, the German club, the Liebertafel, Turn Verein, the German Rifle club, the Pilsener club, and the Akron Sangerbund, and an honorary member of the German Military Society. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 353 HON. GEORGE W. CROUSE, a prominent resident of Akron, whose portrait accompanies this article, is now enjoying a life of ease, after having been one of the city's most effective business men for many years. He is identified with such great industries as the Buckeye Mower and Reaper Works, the Whitman & Barnes Manufacturing Company, The B. F. Goodrich Company, (Akron Rubber Works), The Thomas Phillips Company Paper Mills, the Akron Iron Company, the Woolen & Felt Company, the Diamond Match Works, the Stove Works, the Selle Gear Works and many other successful concerns. Mr. Crouse is a native of Summit County, born at Tallmadge, November 23. 1832, and is a son of George and Margaret H. (Robinson) Crouse. He is of German and Irish ancestry. His grandfather fell in battle in the War for Independence. The family appeared in Ohio at a very early day, and it was in Summit County, on a farm he had developed from the forest, that George Crouse reared his family of ten children. George W. Crouse assisted in the clearing and cultivation of the above mentioned farm until he was seventeen years of age, while securing a fair common-school education. He continued to spend the summers in farm work, but was occupied in teaching through the winters for the next five years, in the meantime making so good an impression on his fellow-citizens that in 1855 he was proffered the position of deputy county treasurer, with office at Akron, and until 1858 he also performed the duties of deputy county auditor. He was then elected county auditor, and was re-elected in 1860, but before his second term expired he was called upon to fill out the term of county treasurer. All the important interests connected with these offices were placed under his control while he was still a young man, and the manner in which his every duty was performed but added to the esteem in which he was already held. Mr. Crouse, who was one of the county officials at the outbreak of the Civil war, in his official capacity and as a private citizen did all that lay in his power in support of the Union cause. He was very active in securing recruits, and saw that they were well provided for by obtaining favorable action from the Board of County Commissioners. Finally, he himself enlisted, entering Company F, 164th Reg., Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for the 100-days' service; he received his honorable discharge in 1864. After the war, upon the organization of the Commandery of Ohio, Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, he became a Third Degree member, and today is the only member of the Commandery of this degree. Naturally he takes pleasure in wearing the tri-color button. The Soldiers' Memorial Chapel at Akron, one of the most beautiful structures in the city, was secured mainly through his efforts. In 1863 Mr. Crouse was made secretary of the Akron Board of Trade, and subsequently became very active in encouraging the location of manufacturing industries in this city. He became in the same year financial manager for U. Aultman & Company, of Canton, in the erection of a branch factory here, and later was the financial manager of what is named as the initial manufacturing plant of what is now one of the greatest manufacturing centers of the State—the great Buckeye Mower & Reaper Works. When a stock company was formed in 1865, Mr. Crouse was first secretary and treasurer and later its very able president. There can scarcely be named any important business enterprise at Akron, of substantial standing, that has not in some way benefitted by his assistance or advice. In 1870 he helped to form the Bank of Akron, and was a director and officer of that bank until 1890, when he became president of the City National Bank, and served as such until 1893. For a period he was proprietor of the Akron Beacon. Politically, Mr. Crouse is closely affiliated with the Republican party, and his efficiency has been recognized by his successive elections to important stations. In 1872 he was elected county commissioner, in 1885 he was elected 354 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY to the State senate, and in 1886 he was elected to Congress, from the Akron district, in all these honorable positions bearing himself with dignity and showing himself thoroughly capable. In civic affairs Mr. Crouse has also always taken a deep interest, and has served as a member of the City Council, and as president of the Board of Education. He is one of the trustees of Buchtel College, to which institution the Crouse Gymnasium was one of his gifts. Mr. Crouse was married October 18, 1859, to Martha K. Parsons, a daughter of Edward and Clementine (Lingsley) Parsons, and they have four daughters—Martha P., Julia M., Mary R. and Nellie J.—and one son, George W., Jr., who is a prominent manufacturer of Akron. The family home is located at No. 263 East Mill street. JOHN FRANKLIN WEYGANDT, a successful farmer and substantial citizen of Portage Township, owns a residence adjoining the grounds of the Akron Country Club, on the old Portage path, which was the boundary line in early days, between the United States and the Indian Nations. Mr. Weygandt was born in Ashland County, Ohio, September 24, 1840, and is a son of Jonathan and Miriam (Baughman) Weygandt. Jonathan Weygandt in boyhood accompanied his father, Henry Weygandt, from Washington County, Pennsylvania, to Wayne County, Ohio, who bought a farm in Chippewa Township, which he cleared up, being of the earliest settlers. In later years, he would often tell of how he used to make the trip from Chippewa Township to Akron, to the old stone mill, with an ox-team, being two days on the road. He removed to Ashland County, Ohio, after his marriage, and lived on a farm that his father owned, and which, with his brother Eli, he cleared and developed into a good piece of agricultural property. He resided there from 1838 until 1853 and then moved to Copley Township, Summit County, where he purchased sixty-nine acres; but one year later he moved to Portage Township and bought a farm of 136 acres. On this the family lived until 1864, when Mr. Weygandt sold out to Joseph E. Wesener and moved to Illinois, where he bought 200 acres of land. Both Jonathan Weygandt and his wife died in Illinois. In April, 1895, John F. Weygandt sold his farm of eighty-five acres, in Illinois, and returned to Summit County, where he was subsequently married, after which he settled in Macon County, Illinois, and lived there for thirty-one years. In 1895 he came back to Summit County and purchased his present place, erecting a fine residence and substantial farm buildings. December 31st, 1864, Mr. Weygandt was married to Elizabeth Garman, who is a daughter of Benjamin Garman, and they have one son, Emory Marion. The latter married Jennie Baughman, who died in Illinois. He resides with his parents. The family belong to Grace Reformed Church. J. E. PFLUEGER, vice-president and superintendent of the Enterprise Manufacturing Company, leaders in the saddlery industry at Akron and commanding a trade that covers the whole United States, is one of the city's most active and enterprising men of affairs. Mr. Pflueger has scarcely reached middle age, having been born September 18, 1864, and is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. He is a son of the late E. F. Pflueger, who was the founder of the present business. E. F. Pflueger was born at Baden, Germany, in February, 1843, and after a most useful life, passed away at Akron, November 18,1900. An enduring monument to his memory is the prosperous industry to which he devoted many years of his life, and which had its inception in his inventive brain. He was brought to America in early childhood, being then an orphan, and by the time he was six years old had made himself of use to his protectors, by carrying water from the old town pump, in Buffalo, for use in a bakery. From the age of eight years to that of fourteen he was chore boy in a stove foundry. He then entered upon his apprenticeship to the molder's trade, which he followed until 1868, AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 355 when he came to Akron. For a number of years he was connected with the Erie Stove Company, a Pennsylvania organization. As an example of his industry and business foresight, it is related that when the foundry was closed during July and August, he was accustomed to go through the country and buy up apples and produce, which he would ship to the city markets, making a good profit. It was in connection with this industry which he opened up for himself, that Mr. Pflueger came to Akron and with capital supplied by Mr. Miller, a wholesale grocer of Buffalo, New York, who had become interested in his operations, embarked in a grocery business on Howard street, which he continued with great success, until 1880. Then the inventions which for a number of years he had been engaged in perfecting demanded factory facilities, and a business organization for their manufacture and sale. Mr. Pflueger's first successful inventions were a horse head light and a harness rosette, and when these were put on the market, the inventor went out on the road and sold them himself, thus in great degree accumulating the capital with which :the Enterprise Manufacturing Company was started. He subsequently continued his inventions until he had fifty patents granted him, of which the following is a partial list: Hinge-tug as applied to fishing spoons and baits, fish scalers, coil spring fastener for fishing float, sweat-pad spring for attaching sweat-pads to horses' collars, medicated sweat-pads, riveting loops to backs and mountings, luminous head-light and rosette, wire rosette, Jockey Club rosette ; detachable rubber horse shoe, fist bait with flitter, weed protector as applied to fishing tackle, luminous paint as applied to fishing tackle, paper or pulp fishing float, fish bait decoy, swivel for fishing bait, wooden Trolling Peek, soldering machine, and a luminous paper weight, these being but some of the inventions which seemed to spring almost spontaneously from Mr. Pflueger's active mind. He continued active to the time of his death, and died just as he would doubtless have wished, still in harness. J. E. Pflueger was placed as superintendent of the Enterprise Manufacturing works while still young, following out his father's instructions, and gradually assuming more and more responsibility. After the death of the elder Pflueger, the business was reorganized and J. E. Pflueger became vice-president, George A. Pflueger succeeding his father as president of the business. J. E. Pflueger also has made many practical inventions which are manufactured by the company. Among them may be mentioned, the cyclone spinner, metal rosette fastener, a hard rubber side plate with metal center reinforcement for fishing reels, a leather thumb brake for fishing reels, and a reinforced flange washer for fishing reels; he has also many others pending. His inventions, like those of his father, are all practical and add greatly to the value of the articles to which they are applied. The Enterprise Manufacturing Company, organized in 1880, was incorporated in 1886, and was reorganized in 1901. The present home of the company is a four-story brick building, which has supplanted smaller quarters. This plant is equipped with all kinds of modern machinery, with original appliances made by the Pfluegers, and their products include many other articles in addition to their rosettes, ornaments, spots, saddle-mails, fronts and houseing plates, which have been leaders in regard to popular demand. In 1891, J. E. Pflueger was married to Lovina Ulm, of Brimfeld, Portage County, Ohio, and they have two children, Erne and Edna. Fraternally, Mr. Pflueger is a Knight Templar and belongs to all of the Masonic branches at Akron ; he is also an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. He is corresponding secretary of the Avansas Pass Tarpon club, of Tarpon, Texas; and of the Tuna club, of Catalina Islands, California. AUSTIN J. TRIPLETT, a representative citizen of Coventry Township, and the owner of a well-cultivated farm of thirty acres, was born in an old log house on his present farm in Kenmore, Coventry Township, Summit 356 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY County, Ohio, and is a son of John and Laura (Bellows) Triplett. William Triplett, the grandfather of Austin J., was probably born in Virginia, from whence he moved to East Liberty, Logan County, Ohio, and there purchased a farm, which he cleared from the woods. Some years later he sold this property and bought a farm in Coventry Township, now a part of the Brewster brother's estate, which he cultivated until within ten years of his death, when he retired, the rest of his life being spent with his children. His death occurred at the home of his son, Joshua Triplett, when he was over 70 years old, his wife having passed away some years before. William Triplett was twice married, his second wife being Saviera Viers, and had eight children, three of whom were sons and five daughters. John Triplett, the father of Austin J., was born March 4, 1809, and was the first white child born in Green Township, Summit County, Ohio, and the eldest of his parents' children. He was reared to agricultural pursuits and experienced all the hardships of pioneer life, clearing a home from the dense wilderness. Shortly after his marriage he located on what is now the farm of Austin J. Triplett, and cleared a small space in the center, on which he built a small log house, this being the family home until his son Austin was four years old. At this time a house was built on the Manchester road, and in 1841 was built a frame house, in which Mr. and Mrs. Triplett spent the rest of their lives, the former's death occurring in August, 1888, and that of his wife in August, 1875. He was a Democrat in politics and served one term as township trustee, although he never cared for public life. John Triplett married Laura Bellows, who was born in Coventry Township, a daughter of Ithemer Bellows, of Connecticut. To Mr. and Mrs. Triplett there were born three children, namely : Amelia, who married John Haines, of Lockwood Corners ; Austin James, whose name begins this article ; and Marietta, who was the wife of George W. Foust, of Coventry Township, and who died May 3, 1905. Austin J. Triplett was reared on the home farm, and his education was largely secured at home, as in his early youth there was little or no public money in the township, and as a result what educational institutions there were at that time were supported by what each family could afford to subscribe. Teachers were advertised for and bids for the positions accepted, and school sessions were held in a double log-house, a family living in one side while the school was held in the other. Mr. Triplett's father was in poor health, and as soon as the son became old enough he took charge of the home farm, which he later received from his father's estate. About twenty acres of this land he sold for building-lots in Kenmore, and the remainder he has used for agricultural purposes. His home, which is located at the corner of the two roads, was erected by him in 1902 and its beautiful location and surroundings attract the attention of every visitor to this section. Mr. Triplett is a Prohibitionist in politics, and for many years has served efficiently as a member of the school board. On September 19, 1858, Mr. Triplett was married to Mary Cartmill, who was born at Mogadore, Summit County, Ohio. There were three children born of this union, namely: William, a carpenter, residing near his father, who married Nellie Lodge and has three children, Claude, Lydia and Hattie (Mrs. Lloyd Stein) ; Charles, also residing near his father's home, who married Nancy Norris and has two children, Flossie and Lester; and Jesse, a machinist living at Akron, who married Bertha Daily, and has three children, Elsie, Dorothy and Earl. Mr. Triplett, with his wife and family, belongs to the Evangelical Church, which he has served as trustee. JOHN SOWERS, county recorder of Summit County, now serving in his second term, is a veteran of the Civil War. He was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1845, where in AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 357 his boyhood he attended school and assisted on the home farm. Mr. Sowers was not quite seventeen years of age when he enlisted for service in the war for the preservation of the Union, in 1861 becoming a member of the Sixth Battery in Sherman's brigade. The command to which he was attached left Mansfield for Louisville, and for a time it was employed guarding the Columbia River, near Shiloh. It later took part in the siege of that city, participated in the battles of Corinth, Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and through all the skirmishes and long marches of the Atlanta campaign, going from Atlanta to Jonesboro, then back to Tennessee, where were fought the battles of Franklin and Nashville. The command was then ordered to East Tennessee, and from there to Texas, and then to Cairo, Illinois, from which point it went by water to New Orleans. The end of the war closed Mr. Sowers' long military service and he was honorably discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, September 1, 1865. Having suffered no serious injury in spite of the many fields of danger on which he had been, Mr. Sowers returned safely to Wayne County and set about completing his education. After a year at school he learned the plasterer's trade and in 1868 began work at it in Greensburg, where he subsequently followed it for some thirty years. He then purchased a meat market which he conducted until 1897, when he sold out and came to Akron, which city has been his home since. He has always been active in politics and while residing at Greensburg, was township assessor for eleven years and school director for three years, later serving three years as constable. Mr. Sowers was first elected county recorder in the fall of 1902 and assumed the duties of the office in September, 1903, performing them so satisfactorily that he was easily re-elected in the fall of 1905. In 1870, Mr. Sowers was married to Kate Garman, of Summit County, and they have eight children, namely: Blanche, who is the wife of William Brady, residing at Massillon; Grace, who is her father's assistant in the recorder's office; Floyd, residing in Pennsylvania; William, chief deputy in the recorder's office; Leroy, residing at Akron ; Maud, who is the wife of Joseph Funk, residing at Akron; and Paul and Fay, both residing at Akron. Mr. Sowers is a valued comrade in Buckley Post, G. A. R. U. G. FREDERICK, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the U. G. Frederick Lumber Company, was born in Summit County, Ohio, and during the whole of his business life has resided in Akron. He is a son of Henry Frederick, who was one of the early settlers of this county, where he became a successful farmer. U. G. Frederick after completing the common-school bourse in his native county was a student for awhile at Hiram College. Later he took a business course in Eastman's Commercial College, at Poughkeepsie, New York. Prior to going east, Mr. Frederick had been with the B. F. Goodrich Company, for a short time, and after his return he entered the employ of the Thomas Lumber Company. In 1901, he bought the Thomas interests and in 1905 he incorporated The U. G. Frederick Lumber Company, at Akron, with a capital stock of $25,000. The officers of the company are: Henry Frederick, president; L. A. Frederick, vice-president; and U. G. Frederick, secretary, treasurer and manager. The company does a general lumber and contracting business and its commercial standing is of high rating. In 1887, Mr. Frederick was married to Lulu Walterman, who was born in New York, and they have one child, Ethel. With his family he belongs to the Disciples Church. Fraternally Mr. Frederick is a Knight Templar and an Elk, and he belongs to the Masonic Club and the Portage Country Club. J. A. MAHAFFEY. Among the self-made men of Akron, whose business success has been the direct result of his own personal effort, is J. A. Mahaffey, proprietor of the largest furniture and house-furnishing store in this city. He was born in 1858, at Freeport, 358 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, and was taken to Pittsburg when ten years of age, where he was educated, attending the public schools for a few years. Mr. Mahaffey has displayed remarkable business faculty and he began to be self-supporting when only twelve years of age, working first as a newsboy and later as a messenger in a telegraph office. He then became office boy for a civil engineer, and all the time, while performing the duties of the position for which he was paid, he was learning business methods and using his spare time to qualify as a bookkeeper. When seventeen years old he became assistant bookkeeper in a mercantile house and later bookkeeper in a Pittsburg wholesale house, where he continued for fourteen years. In 1890 Mr Mahaffey went to Canton, Ohio, where he established a housefurnishing store, and later, in the same year, opened a branch store at Akron. He conducted both these enterprises until his Akron business became so large as to be of more importance than the original enterprise at Canton, when he sold the Canton store, and has since devoted his attention exclusively to that in Akron. His commodious quarters give him 30,000 square feet of floor space and he carries a complete stock of all goods in his line. In 1879, Mr. Mahaffey was married to Emma Foust, of Pittsburg, and they have three children : Edna Blanche, who married D. M. Krug, of Canton ; and J. Earl and A. Roy, both of whom are associated with their father in the business. Fraternally, Mr. Mahaffey is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, an Elk, a Knight of Pythias, and an Eagle, and belongs also to other beneficial orders. He still retains membership with the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Canton. D. R. HANAWALT, superintendent of the 1lower Building, at Akron, and a director of the Lombard & Replogle Engineering Company, of this city, was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, April 12, 1861. He remained in his home neighborhood until eighteen years of age, and completed his education at Juniata College, having previously taught school for three years in central Pennsylvania. In 1883 he went to Philadelphia, where he was bookkeeper for five years with a wholesale grocery house and for nine years a traveling representative of a photographic supply house. Following this he became interested in the manufacture of stoves at Royersford, Pennsylvania, in which he continued for seven years, after which he came to Akron and became interested in the business life of this city, as above noted. In making Akron, his home, he has connected himself with local institutions, and has made friends among the people, to his and their mutual benefit. He is a member of the German Baptist Church. On July 11, 1900, Mr. Hanawalt was married to Matilda Augusta Preston, of Newark, New Jersey, and they have three children : George Preston, Joseph Donald and Virginia Brands. GEORGE D. BATES, formerly mayor of Akron and founder and president of the Second National Bank of this city, was born November 11, 1811, at Brandon, Vermont, and died at Akron, July 25, 1887, at the age of seventy-six years. In 1828 Mr. Bates came to Ohio and worked for a time on a farm in the vicinity of Solon, but in 1836 he opened a general store at Franklin Mills, which he conducted for about ten years. In 1848 he formed a partnership with Charles Webber and James B. Taplin, under the firm name of G. D. Bates & Company, establishing the Globe Foundry, which business still survives under the name of the Webster, Camp & Lane Machine Works. Several years later Mr. Bates sold his foundry interests, and engaged in railroad building, in partnership with J. H. Pendleton, in which business he continued to be interested for some years. In 1855, in association with the late Gen. Philo Chamberlin, he embarked in a private banking business, under the firm name of G. D. Bates & Company, several years later buying the stand of the old Akron Bank. In 1863 he organized the Second National Bank of Akron, and to the interests of this financial institution he devoted the greater part of his time for the AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 301 lest of his life. His public services to Akron included a performance of all the duties pertaining to the mayoralty, to which he was elected in 1864 and 1865, and to advancing the commercial importance of the city in every way possible to a good citizen. Mr. Bates was married (first) to Anna Maria Warner, who died December 4, 1841. He was married (second) June 22, 1845, to Alice Maria Baker, who was born at Olean, New York, and who died September 19, 1853. Three children were born of that marriage. On April 4, 1856, Mr. Bates married his third wife, Mary Ann Mathews, who was born at Mclndoe Falls, Vermont, and who died August 12, 1885, leaving two children, Jennie and George D. The latter is cashier of the Second National Bank of Akron and a member of the board of directors. His residence is at No. 152 Adolph avenue. HON. J. PARK ALEXANDER, who, after many years of prominence in business and public life, is now serving as a member of the Board of Commissioners in relation to the building of the magnificent new Court House, of Summit County, is one of Akron's distinguished and honored citizens. For a protracted period he was prominent in political life, representing this community first in the State Legislature, in 1882 and 1883, and the counties of Summit, Portage, Geauga, Lake and Ashtabula, in the State Senate, from 1888 until 1892, and again, from 1896 to 1898 ; and throughout his life up to the present time, he has been identified with matters of public concern. Mr. Alexander was born August 7, 1834, at Bath, Summit County, Ohio, and is a son of John and Mary (Scott) Alexander. During his boyhood and early youth, he attended Richfield Academy and the Marlboro Normal School, at the latter institution taking a course in civil engineering. He then began to teach school, and from April, 1855, until July, 1857, he was principal of the Akron Grammar School, many of the present residents of this city having been students under him at that time. In 1866 he went into business, purchasing the site of the present Diamond Fire Brick Works, where he began the manufacture of silica fire brick, upon which he held a patent, also the manufacture of stoneware, contracting for the output of some fifteen other potteries, and establishing warehouses at Akron, Detroit and Chicago. la 1887 he still further enlarged his business. and from 1872 until 1877, he operated in addition two oil refineries. He continued to be actively interested in illuminating and lubricating oils until 1891, since which time he has turned his attention in other directions. On September 4, 1860, Mr. Alexander was married to Martha D. Wright, and into their household have been born eight children, namely : Clara. W., who married Prof. Charles B. Wright, residing at Middlebury, Vermont; Helen B., who married Henry B. Sperry and resides in Akron, Ohio; George Bates, who is now deceased; Grace F., wife of C. N. Belden, president of the Taplin, Rice Company, and residing in Akron; Martha D., who married Charles H. Little of Cleveland; Bessie H., who married Stephen H. Pitkin, residing at Akron, where he is general manager for the Wellman Seaver Company ; John Park, who is deceased; and Alice S., who married Frank E. Hulett, who with his father is the patentee of the hoisting machinery known as the Hulett Unloader, residing at Cleveland. During the greater part of his mature life, Mr. Alexander has been active in politics, and his fellow-citizens have recognized his claims to public confidence. Among many other causes which he has successfully championed, are the colonization of the imbeciles and feeble-minded youths of the State, and through his efforts an appropriation of $150,- 000 was secured for that purpose, and an institution was established after he had worked ten years for its success. During the several years following he served on the board that regulated its affairs. Wile the needs or his whole State have always appealed to him, Mr. Alexander has been particularly anxious at all times to promote the interests of Akron 362 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY and Summit County. For some fifteen years he occupied a seat in the City Council, for almost the whole of that time being president of the board. In 1858 he was made secretary of the Summit County Agricultural Society, and for fourteen years following, was its secretary and president. In 1872 he was elected treasurer of the State Board of Agriculture. In fraternal life Mr. Alexander has been an Odd Fellow for many years, oelonging to the various divisions of that order. OTIS REED THOMPSON, proprietor of the Crystal Creek Celery Farm, a tract of 171 acres, situated in Stow Township, has been a prominent citizen of this section for a number of years. Mr. Thompson was born September 12, 1849, at Hartville, Lake Township, Stark County, Ohio, and is a son of Benjamin F. and Susanne (Werner) Thompson. Benjamin F. Thompson was born January 13, 1820, in the same house and on the same farm in which his son Otis R. was born, his father John Thompson, having been a very early settler in Stark County. All through his active life he has been engaged extensively in farming, has bought and sold cattle on a large scale and raised many sheep. In politics he is a Republican, but he has paid less attention to office-holding than many others whose business interests were not so large. He has been twice married and he and his first and second wife have been consistent and active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Benjamin F. Thompson was married (first) to Susanne Werner, who died in 1863. She was a daughter of John Werner, of Stark County, Ohio, and she became the mother of eight children, six of whom reached maturity, as follows: John L., residing at Cuyahoga Falls; Henry, residing in Cuyahoga Falls Township ; Emily, who married Travella Wilcox, and resides in Cleveland; Mary, wife of Cyrus Yerrick, and residing in Akron ; Otis Reed; and Loretta, who married William Lane. Emily and Loretta are deceased. Mr. Thompson was married (second) to Martha Linn, of New Berlin, Ohio, and they have had one son, Harvey, who resides at Cuyahoga Falls. Otis Reed Thompson was reared in a home where all material comforts were abundant, but his educational advantages were very limited. He was only fifteen years of age when he enlisted as a drummer boy in Company A, 19th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Charles F. Manderson, and he remained in the service a little over two years. The first battle in which his mettle was tried, was at Ringold Station, below Chattanooga. He later took part in the Atlanta campaign, was engaged in battle of Franklin, Tennessee, later on participated in the second battle of Nashville, after which he went with his regiment to Texas. After his honorable discharge from the army in which he had displayed the enthusiasm of youth and the bravery of manhood, Mr. Thompson returned to Lake Township and remained at home with his father whom he greatly assisted. Some two years later he accompanied his father and step-mother, the latter of whom was a kind, motherly woman, to Stow Township, where they settled on a farm on which the Test Station now stands. His parents subsequently moved to Cuyahoga Falls, but Otis Reed remained on that farm for fourteen years. From the age of fourteen Mr. Thompson was trusted by his father with business affairs, having shown rare good judgment, even in childhood, concerning the handling of stock. During most of his subsequent life, Mr. Thompson has given special attention to this line of industry, for many years being a noted breeder of stock and fine horses ; and even now, when his main attention is directed to another industry, he still breeds Shetland ponies and at the present writing (1907) has twenty-four head of these beautiful little animals. On the above farm, Mr. Thompson also ran a dairy, raising many cows at that time and there started his horse-breeding industry which later assumed such large proportions. In 1888 he bought his present farm of 171 acres, naming it appropriately the Crystal Creek Stock Farm, for the breed- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 363 ing of trotting and draft horses from registered stock. Mr. Thompson improved his farm with the idea of developing speed, along with other good qualities in the horses he bred, to this end building a half mile track, where matinee races were held as long as he devoted his attention to that industry. He raised many notable horses, among them being Fanny Wilkes, who easily made a record of 2.26 1-4, and that was not the limit of her speed. She was used mainly as a brood mare. Mr. Thompson also bred the noted horse Jessie Wilkes, who made a record of 28 1-4 and a trial mile of 2.11. Mr. Thompson was offered $7,000 for her, but she died on his hands. Mr. Thompson has since bred Cardinal Wilkes, and Noble Wilkes, who made a mark of 29 1-4. Mr. Thompson continued in the horse business on his place until within the past twelve years, and he is still interested in the breeding of draft horses, being president of the Springdale Horse Company, which imported the Belgian stallion, Toto to improve the breed of local draft horses. This noble animal was imported July 27, 1903, at a cost of $3,000. He was approved by the Belgian government to stand for public service in Belgium, and was also approved by the French government to stand for public service in France. It is generally conceded that the Belgian is the coming breed of draft horses. During all the time that Mr: Thompson was engaged in the horse business, he also ran a large dairy, having a milk route at Cuyahoga Falls and supplying milk to Fair Oaks Villa for many years. About the time that Mr. Thompson retired from the breeding of horses, he turned his attention to another profitable industry, the growing of celery, his celery tract covering about twenty-five acres, on which he raises something like $5,000 worth of the succulent vegetable a year, with the work of eight employes. He raises also corn, wheat and oats, and, as mentioned above, gives attention to his Shetland ponies. It will be seen that Mr. Thompson is a man of great business capacity and occupies a very prominent place in the attention of his fellow citizens. He has had the foresight to enable him to see favorable business opportunities, and has had the courage to push forward and make every enterprise to which he has given direct attention, a success. When nineteen years of age Mr. Thompson was married to Isabella Machmer, who is a daughter of John Machmer, of Lake Township, Stark County.' They have three children, namely: Pinetta, who married Frederick Hibbard, residing in Stow Township ; Lillian, who married W. C. Keenan, residing at Akron; and Roy Otis. In 1906, Mr. Thompson erected what is probably the finest rural residence in this county. It is modern in every particular, equipped with hot and cold water, with a sewerage system that carries the waste to a distant creek running through the farm. The house is placed on an eminence which gives a beautiful view of the surrounding country, with a handsomely shaded lawn sloping from the front to the highway. He has three other dwellings on the farm which are occupied by his employes. Other substantial improvements made by Mr. Thompson, include the fine bank barn which was built in 1895, its dimensions being 40 by 60 feet, with 18-foot posts. Prior to this, in 1887, he built the horse barn which is 70 by 26 feet in dimensions, with 16-foot posts. For fourteen years he has been a director of the Summit County Agricultural Society and he has served as expert judge of horses and cattle at county fairs all over the State. In politics he is a Republican, but he has never sought political office. Since its organization, he has been a member of Eddy Post, Grand Army of the Republic at Cuyahoga Falls. He is termed the "celery king" on account of his success in growing celery and to the fact that he is the largest grower in this part of Ohio. Personally, Mr. Thompson is a man who impresses one with his vigor and enterprise. COL. STEWART MILLER, a well known and highly respected citizen of Akron, residing in his comfortable and attractive home . 364 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY at No. 183 Ellwood Street, is a worthy veteran of the great Civil War, throughout which he served with honorable distinction. He was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1834, and comes of the sturdy Scotch and German stock with which that section of the United States is largely settled. When Colonel Miller was a child of ten years his parents moved to Harrisburg, where he spent three years of his early life, at the end of that period accompanying them to Lancaster County, in the same State, where they settled on a farm. This furnished him with plenty of healthful occupation until he was eighteen years old. He then began an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade, at which he continued for three years, during this period receiving wages amounting to but $25 a year. After becoming proficient at his trade, and being confident of securing employment almost anywhere, in order to see something of his native country, he left home in 1860, journeying as far west as Mansfield, Ohio, where in August of that year, he began work in the blacksmith shop of the Mansfield Machine Works. Here he might have remained indefinitely, but for the breaking out of the Civil War. But the rebel attack on Fort Sumpter changed for the time being the even current of his life. He had a good position with an excellent concern, but to him his country's call was imperative. Putting aside all thoughts of self-interest, with loyal determination he stepped promptly forward to join the ranks of the Nation's defenders. On April 13, 1861, Mr. Miller enlisted for a service of three months in Company I, First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 18th, being sent directly to Philadelphia. Ten days later the regiment went to Washington City, camping for drill along the Orange Run Railroad. From that point it was sent soon after to Vienna, Fairfax County, Virginia, where it had its first engagement with the enemy, sustaining a loss of ten men wounded. Its second was at Bull Run, July 21, 1861, and this closed Mr. Miller's first term of enlistment, which had been fairly strenuous. His second enlistment was on October 14, 1861, in the Sixth Ohio Independent Battery, and his third, for three years more, on December 12, 1863, his final discharge being effected September 1, 1865, at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio. During this long period of almost constant military activity Colonel Miller participated in the following engagements, being promoted from the ranks to one official position after another. As noted, his first two engagements were at Vienna and Bull Run respectively, after which he was on duty at Washington, D. C., until his discharge, August 3, 1861. The Sixth Ohio Battery in which Mr. Miller re-enlisted in the following October, was organized at Camp Buckingham, Mansfield, Ohio. On November 10, 1861, Mr. Miller was made a sergeant of his company. On December 15, 1861, the battery was sent to Louisville, Kentucky and assigned to the Eleventh Brigade, Department of the Ohio. It remained at Camp Gilbert until January 12, 1862, when it transferred to the Cumberland River. March 18, it journeyed to Nashville, Tennessee, by steamer, marched with the Artillery Reserve, Army of the Ohio, to Savannah, arriving at Pittsburg Landing on the morning of the second day of the battle of that name, otherwise known as the battle of Shiloh. The siege of Corinth under Hal-leek, April 30, to May 30, followed, the brigade being under the immediate command of General James A. Garfield. On the evacuation of Corinth by the Confederates the brigade went into camp at Stevenson, Alabama, where it remained from June 18 to August 21. It then took part in the pursuit of Bragg to Louisville, Kentucky, until September 25. As a part of the Artillery Brigade, Sixth Division, Second Corps, the Sixth Battery engaged in the pursuit of Bragg to Crab Orchard, October 1 to 15, subsequent movements being to Perryville, October 8, Harrodsburg, October 11, Stanford, October 14; thence to Nashville, Tennessee. The Sixth Battery was then made a part of the Artillery Brigade First Division Re- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 365 serves of the Fourteenth Army Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, and as such saw active service at Lavergne, December 26-27; Stewart's Creek, December 28; Stone River, December 28-31; January 1-3, 1863, Colonel Miller being wounded January 2d. The next service of the battery was at Tullahoma, June 24;30; Hoover's Gap, July 24-25; Lee and Gordon's Mill, September 11; Leet's Tan-yard, September 12-13; Chickamauga, September 18-21; Siege of Chattanooga, September 24-October 26; then in garrison at Fort Wood, where Colonel Miller veteranized. Colonel Miller took part in all the engagements of importance in which his command participated in the Atlanta campaign, including the following : Tunnel Hill, May 7; Buzzard's Roost Gap, May 8; Rocky Face Ridge, May 8-11; Resaca, May 13-16; Adairsville, May 17-18; Dallas, May 25-June 24; Pickett's Mill, May 27 ; Kenesaw Mountain, June 17-July 2; Pine Mountain, June 14; Lost Mountain, June 15-17 ; Pine Knob, June 19; Culp's House, June 22; Assault on Kenesaw, June 27; Smyrna Camp Ground, July 3-4; Chattahoochee River, July 6-17 ; Peach Tree Creek, July 19-20; Siege of Atlanta, July 21-August 25; Ezra Chapel, July 28; Utoy Creek, August 5-6; Jonesboro, August 31- September 1; Lovejoy Station, September 26; Pursuit of Hood in Nashville Campaign, November to December; Columbia,. Duck River, November 24-28; Spring Hill, November 29 ; Franklin, November 30 ; Nashville, December 15-16; Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River, and Huntsville, Alabama. Colonel Miller was on duty in the Department of Louisiana from July 3 to August 23, 1865, and was mustered out September 1, as before mentioned. During this long period of almost constant danger Colonel Miller was twice wounded—once seriously, through the arm at Stone River, and once slightly, in the abdomen, his life Being saved on this latter occasion by his having a notebook with family letters in his pocket. His wounds kept him in the hospital for over two months. The life-preserving book and papers he still keeps, naturally regarding them with tender sentiments. They will descend to those who come after him as precious relics of the day when, but for their opportune presence, a brave soldier's life would have been sacrificed. At the close of the war Colonel Miller returned to Mansfield, where he resided until 1882. He then came to Akron, entering the rolling--Ails of the Akron Iron Company, in which ne continued to work at his trade for thirteen years, after which he retired from active industrial life. On December 15, 1864, Colonel Miller was married to Lizzie McCoy, a daughter of John and Jane McCoy. He and his wife are the parents of three children, namely : Mary S., wife of A. J. Wills, who has charge of the tire department of the B. F. Goodrich Company; Charles J., who is a traveling representative of Leggett and Company, of New York City, the largest wholesale grocery house in the world; and. Harry C., who is a salesman for the B. F. Goodrich Company. Both Mr. Miller's sons are very able business men. _ A man of firm political convictions, Colonel Miller has taken an active part in civic matters. He has held local offices at various times and for six years was assessor for the Second Ward at Akron. Army affairs, too, have always remained interesting to him, and the old veteran organizations have claimed much of his time and attention. He was the main organizer of the Union Veteran Union of Ohio, from which organization his title of colonel was received. For the last thirty-two years he . has been a member of the order known as the Knights of Honor, belonging to Acme Lodge, No. 35, Akron, Ohio; PHILO B. UPSON, who is now one of the most influential citizens of Sedgwick County, Colorado, where he has a valuable homestead of 160 acres, belongs to one of Ohio's old and honorable families, whose ancestors were identified not only with the early settlement of the Western Reserve, but also the establishing of civilization in the New England colonies. He was born June 14, 1844, in Medina County, Ohio, and is .a son of. Reuben A. and Jane (Furber) Upson. 366 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY Reuben Upson, the grandfather of Philo B., was born at Waterbury, Connecticut, August 14, 1771, and in 1798 he married Hannah Richardson, who was born at Waterbury, October 18, 1780. In 1808, he came to Ohio with his brother Stephen and family. cutting a path through the forest to Portage County, where the brothers bought land of the Connecticut Land Company. Later Reuben Upson moved to Tallmadge Township, Summit County, where he bought a farm, on which he lived until 1818, when he removed to another part of the same township, purchasing 300 acres. Not being able to secure a clear title to this land he later accepted the same amount in still another part of the same township. He died in 1848, aged seventy-four years. His children were: Phebe, Emma, Reuben, Polly, Chloe, Hannah, Julius A. and George C. Reuben Upson (second), son of Reuben and Hannah Upson, was born near Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1808, and accompanied his parents to Ohio, growing to manhood in Summit County. He then returned to Connecticut and worked one year for Seth Thomas, the famous clock maker, after which he returned to Ohio and settled on a farm. In 1836 he made a trip to Iowa, going down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi, and after reaching that then far distant State, he "homesteaded" a farm; but not finding the prospect satisfactory, he returned to Ohio in 1837, walking the distance from Rock Island, Illinois to Chicago, then a "little village in the mud," where he took a steamer to Cleveland and settled in Medina County. In 1867 he traded his farm for a hotel in the town of Cuyahoga Falls, where he remained until 1871, when he removed to Henry County, Illinois and resided there until his death, which occurred in February, 1884. Before moving to Iowa, Reuben Upson (second) was married to Jane Furber, who was born in England, August 26, 1810, and who died in Illinois in 1901. She was a daughter of Frances and Elizabeth Furber, who settled in Summit County when she was nine years old. Her parents lie buried at Kent. Of the nine children comprising the family of Reuben and Jane Upson, three survive, namely: Philo B.; Benjamin L., residing in Henry County, Illinois, engaged in farming; and Mary L., who is now the wife of Joseph U. Barnes, residing at Minneapolis, Minnesota. Philo B. Upson was reared and mainly educated in Northampton Township, Summit County, and was engaged in farming there at the outbreak of the Civil War. In July, 1862, he entered the Union army, enlisting as a member of Company G, 115th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was ordered to the front. For one year the regiment was engaged in provost duty at Cincinnati, and at Covington, Kentucky, going thence to Murfreesboro, and during the winter of 1863-4 it did picket duty. In the following summer, Mr. Upson was one of the body of thirty men detailed to man a blockhouse on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, near Lavergne, and on the 5th of December the men were surrounded by a party from General Forest's army, and all were captured. When en route for Andersonville Prison, twenty days later, Mr. Upson was fortunate enough to escape, while his poor comrades, after enduring the horrors of that terrible prison pen, were paroled and placed on board the ill-fated steamer "Sultana" which was destroyed by an explosion, near Memphis, in which disaster, many of the members of Mr. Upson's company were killed. After his escape from the confederates, Mr. Upson returned to Murfeesboro and rejoined his regiment and a few days later was detailed for duty at the very point where he had been captured, the blockhouse having been destroyed at that time. Mr. Upson was a good soldier and he remained on duty at this point until he was recalled in order to receive his discharge, which took place at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in July, 1865. He was paid off at Cleveland and then was at liberty to return to his home, reaching there safely, with the consciousness that he had performed his whole duty as a patriotic and loyal citizen. He has always since then enjoyed his meet- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 369 ings with old comrades, taking much interest in matters pertaining to the Grand Army of the Republic and at present is past. commander of Julesburg Post, No, 21, Department of Colorado and Wyoming. Mr. Upson remained in Summit County until 1867. when he went to Illinois and for two veers he worked as a farm hand in Henry County. and then rented a farm which he carried on for two years, after which he bought a place live miles from Geneseo, which he cultivated for the following thirteen years. It was in 1885 that Mr. Upson made a great change in his fife by removing to Colorado, and arriving there, having the foresight to take up a homestead, being the first man to settle in Sedgwick Township. His farm lies within two miles of Sedgwick, and its value has increased many times over since he saw its possibilities in the spring of 1.885. For sonic years he was extensively engaged in the cattle business, but. in 1892 he turned his attention to other lines of industry, his son being old enough by this time, to take charge of the farm. Mr. Upson went to Wadena, Minnesota, where he became manager of a farm loan agency, and vice-president of the Wadena State Bank. One year later he went to Minneapolis, where he was connected with the Minneapolis Title and Trust Company as collector, remaining in that city until August, 1895. lIe then severed his connection with the company and returned to Colorado, once more resuming the care of his cattle business. When Sedgwick County was cut off from Logan, in 1889, Mr. -Upson was selected by Governor Cooper as one of the first county commissioners, and in the following fall he was formally elected to fill a term of three years, being the only member of the first board who wits returned to office. In the summer of 1892, he was chosen as an alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention which convened at Minneapolis, and which nominated Benjamin Harrison for the Presidency of the United States. On March 12, 1868, Mr. Upson, while living in Henry County, 'Illinois, was married to Sarah A. Richardson, who is a daughter of Stephen Richardson, a farmer of that section. She was born at Pleasant Valley, Illinois, where she enjoyed fair educational advantages. To Mr. and Mrs. Upson a family of eleven children have been born, and what is remarkable is that all but one survive. William G.. the eldest, is engaged in farming and stock-raising in Logan County. Clara L. is the wife of E. C. Smith, a stockman of Sedgwick County. Charles 13. is cashier and paying teller of the Minneapolis Title, insurance and. Trust Company, of Minneapolis. Joseph Clinton is a business man also of that city. John E. is a member of Company B, Thirteenth Regiment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, now at Manila, having left the University of Minnesota in order to enter the army:. Chloe Etta. is a teacher in the public schools of Sedgwiek. Jennie E., Ray R., 'Daniel D. and Bessie R., reside at home. Mrs. Upson died July 5, 1904. Mr. Upson and family belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. HON. LEONIDAS S. EBRIGHT, M. D., postmaster at Akron and formerly a member of the Ohio State Legislature, representing Summit County, was born near Royalton, Fairfield County, Ohio, September 25, 1844, and is a son of George and Rachel (Hathaway) Ebright. Dr. Ebright is of German-Scotch ancestry. His father, who for many years was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, died in 1864, at the age of fifty-three, leaving a widow and nine children. From the public schools of Fairfield County, Leonidas S. Ebright entered the Union Army as a soldier, enlisting May 7, 1862, for three months' service in Company K, 85th Ohio Volunteer infantry, and was honorably discharged in the following September. He re-enlisted in April, 1864, in the Eighty-seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Later he was transferred to Company G, 88th infantry, and served on detached duty until July 3, 1865, when he was mustered out by special order at Camp Chase. During the interval between his terms of 370 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY army service, he taught school. In February, 186'6, he came to Akron, after serving as a clerk in a drug store at Wooster, for six months, and entered upon his medical studies in the office of Drs. Bowen and Ebright. Subsequently he entered the Charity Hospital Medical College; at Cleveland, where he was graduated in February, 1869. He then resumed his residence in Akron, engaging in practice until 1871, when he took a postgraduate course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at New York City. In the fall of 1872 Dr. Ebright went to Europe and spent ten months in special study in some of the most famed hospitals and laboratories there. After an absence which covered thirteen months, he returned to Akron, in which city he became an eminent practitioner. He was the first secretary of the Northeastern Medical Society and later was its president. For a protracted period he was the city health officer, and for a number of years also was physician to the Children's Home, and a member of the board of physicians of the Akron City Hospital. For nearly a quarter of a century Dr. Ebright has been one of the active and. influential Republicans of this section of Ohio, serving on the various important county and State committees. In 1879 he was elected a representative from Summit County, to the State Legislature, and demonstrated during his term at Columbus that he might be trusted to look after the people's interests. In campaign work throughout the country, Dr. Ebright has been a tower of strength to his party, and has been associated, on one or another ocasion, with almost all of its leading orators. His equal command of the German tongue with the English, often proved advantageous to Republican interests. During 1896; Dr. Ebright, as a political speaker, visited the States of Illinois, Michigan, Ken- tucky and a large part of Ohio. July 27, 1897, he was appointed postmaster at Akron by the late President McKinley, who was his personal as well as political friend. In that year the Akron office had sixteen carriers, one of whom still serves as such, having been identified with the office ever since its establishment, and the receipts amounted to $400,000. In comparison, in 1907, Postmaster Ebright has twenty-three clerks and thirty-six carriers, handling in all the respectable sum of $1,000,000. On November 15, 1883, Dr. Ebright was married to Julia A. Bissell, who was born at Sharon, Medina County, Ohio, and they have two children, Ruth B. and Mary R. The family residence is situated at No. 678 East Market street. Dr. Ebright has been prominent also for many years in fraternal circles, having filled some of the highest offices in R. A. bodies as well as with the Knights of Honor. For four years he served as surgeon-general, with the rank of brigadier-general, on the staff of Governor McKinley; for five years was surgeon of Battery B, Ohio National Guards, and for five years of the German Guards. In 1890 he was honored by being made president of the Decennial Real Estate Board of Equalization, of Akron. At various times he has been more or less interested in business enterprises. He served as president of the Akron Sewer Pipe Company, and was one of the directors until it was merged with the American Sewer Pipe Company. His busy life has brought him into close contact with men and affairs, and h_e numbers friends and admirers in every class both in Akron and elsewhere. MAURICE G. SNYDER, manager of the Ohio Mining & Railway Company, at Akron, who has been a resident of this city since 1871, was born at New Baltimore, Stark County, Ohio, in 1860. His father, John C. Snyder, was in the mercantile business at New Baltimore, for a number of years, and was a veteran of the Civil War. Maurice G. Snyder was nine years old when his parents moved to Akron, and he secured his education in this city, later going to Wadsworth, Ohio, where he worked in a printing office for one year. He then came back to Akron, where he entered the offices of the Aultman-Miller Company, and he re- AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 371 mained with that house for twenty-one years subsequently. He was then elected a member of the Board of Public Service, at Akron, and after serving one term embarked in a coal business. In April, 1907, Mr. Snyder accepted the management of the Ohio Mining and Railway Company, a position which carries with it a large amount of responsibility. He is one of the stockholders and is chairman of the board of directors of the Ohio & Pennsylvania League of professional base ball players and has all the ordinary American's enthusiasm for the sport. In 1888, Mr. Snyder was married to Eliza Wigley, who was born in England. They have three sons Maurice H. and Paul and Park, twins. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He belongs to the fraternal order of Odd Fellows and the social organization, the Kirkwood Club. N. C. STONE, president of the National City Bank, of Akron, was born in this city in 1854. He is a son of. Nelson B. Stone, who was formerly a prominent citizen here, and a sketch of whom may be found on another page of this volume. Mr. Stone was reared in Akron, and after graduating from the public schools, became a member of the class of 1876 of Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio. He then spent one year in European travel, at the end of which time, returning to Akron, he entered business life, becoming connected with the Weary-Snyder-Wilcox Manufacturing Co. manufacturers of and dealers in lumber. Co., this concern be remained for about seven years. He was then connected for a short time with the Seiberling Milling Company. His next move was to Kansas City, but after a short stay there his business interests called him to New York City, where he was located for about two years. In 1887 he returned to Akron and entered the employ of the Selle Gear Company, with whom he remained until the spring of 1888. In this year he entered upon an entirely different sphere of business activity, becoming cashier of the City National Bank. On the expiration of the bank's charter in 1903, by limitation, a new organization became necessary, and the National City Bank was accordingly organized in May of that year, Mr. Stone becoming president, which office he has since retained. Mr. Stone is also interested in a number of manufacturing ente prises in Akton. He is a man of sound and extensive information in regard to the business and financial conditions, both of Akron and the surrounding district, and while enterprising and fully abreast of the times, exercises a conservative judgment in all business matters which come before him for his decision. In politics he is a Republican. He is affiliated with the First Methodist Episcopal Church, which he is now serving on the board of trustees. Mr. Stone was married in 1879, to Miss Margaret J. Oburn, of Chicago, Illinois. C. H. BORST, president and manager of The Borst Stone & Brick Company, of Akron, has been identified with the business life of this city for the past decade. He was born in 1856, at Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio, and is a son of the late J. A. Borst. The father of Mr. Borst resided at Wadsworth until the latter was sixteen yea_rs of age, where he was engaged in raising fruit with great success, and then moved to Green-town and for some time carried on a coal business. Subsequently he became interested in the growing of celery, and his investigations and experiments resulted in his becoming one of the first notable celery growers in this part of Ohio. Subsequently he became one of the most extensive growers in the State, and also produced the best varieties, of which he had 100 acres at the time of his death, in 1894. He has made a complete success of the industry. C. H. Borst attended the High Schools of both Wadsworth and Greentown. His first work was in the line of civil engineering, and for two years he was connected with the Washington, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad line, in Virginia. In 1878 he "went on the road," traveling between Cleveland and Canton, for two years, after which his field of work lay 372 - HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, and New and Old Mexico. He spent nine years west of Missouri. He then came back to Ohio and for about seven years was connected with the city engineer's office at Akron, resigning that position in order to look after personal business interests. In the spring of 1906, The Borst Stone & Brick Company was incorporated, with a capital stock of $10,000, with Mr. Borst as president and general manager. The business of this concern is the manufacturing of all kinds of cement blocks, plain and ornamental, and they do a general cement block contract work in all kinds of building. The firm stands at the head in this line of industry. Mr. Borst is a man of extensive experience and thorough business integrity. In 1895 Mr. Borst was married to Belle Tait, of Akron, and they have two children : Helen E. and Frank A. As a good citizen, Mr. Borst is interested in the perpetuation of honest city government. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow. PHILIP WAGONER, a retired citizen of Akron, an ex-county commissioner of Summit County, and ,a man long identified with its leading interests, was born in Franklin Township, Summit County, when it was still a part of Stark County, Ohio, April 3, 1829. He is a son of George Wagoner, an early settler. George Wagoner was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in 1812, locating in Jackson Township, Stark County, where he remained until 1821. He then sold his farm and entered 160 acres of Government land in what is now Franklin Township, Summit County, and there he remained engaged in farming and stockraising until the close of his active career. He died April 23, 1873. He married Rebecca Sowers, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and died in 1886. They reared six of their family of ten children, the survivors at this writing being the following : Henry L., postmaster at Krumroy, Springfield Township ; Philip, residing in Akron ; John J., residing at Akron ; Harriet, widow of Michael Harpster, also residing of Akron ; Amanda, widow of John Spangler, residing in Franklin Township, and Aaron of Akron. Philip Wagoner was reared and educated in Franklin Township. For nine years he followed the carpenter's trade. He then turned his attention to farming and this occupation he successfully followed until he retired from active life in 1900. He has been an active participant in public matters in Franklin Township, voting first with the Whig party and later with the Republicans, having supported every Republican presidential candidate. On many occasions he has been elected to office, serving four years as township treasurer of Franklin township, one year as assessor, in 1890 as census enumerator, and in September, 1900, assuming the duties of county commissioner, in which office he served for two terms or six years. In 1850 Mr. Wagoner was married to Hannah Henney, who died in August, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner had twelve children born to them, the five living being the following: Amanda C., who married Henry Taylor, of Akron ; Irvin S., residing in Colorado, where he is interested in gold mines; Emma, who married C. F. Reinhold, of Massillon, Ohio; Mary, who married Maurice Monegan, of West Richfield, Summit County ; and Harvey Philip, residing at Akron. Since he was seventeen years of age, Mr. Wagoner has been a member of the Lutheran Church. He is one of Summit County's honored citizens. LOREN WAY, one of the substantial farmers of Summit County, living on his valuable farm of ninety-two acres in Coventry Township, was born January 22, 1850, on his father's farm, which was situated on the present site of Barberton, Coventry Township, this county, and is a son of Joseph and Jane (McCracken) Way. Ezra Way, the grandfather of Loren, was a native of Connecticut, whence he came to Ohio in 1817, settling on the present site of Barberton. Here he bought a tract of timberland extending from Wolf Creek to the Tuscarawas river, Lake Anna being in the