(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 400 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY to Miss Katherine Molmar, a daughter of John and Agnes Molmar, and they are the parents of a daughter, Emilie Ann, born in Akron, November 27, 1927. Mr. Ivory gives his political support to the republican party and, active in its ranks, takes a keen interest in its success and has served as a member of the County Executive Committee. His religious faith is that of the Hungarian Roman Catholic church. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Liedertafel, the Akron Automobile Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He is honorary life president of the Magyar Home of Akron, of which he was one of the original organizers and made substantial contributions toward its erection. His activities in church affairs, both Catholic and Protestant, have been important and helpful. He has proven a loyal citizen of his adopted country, true to its institutions and sincerely interested in the public welfare, while his business record and his stable and dependable qualities of character have gained for him a high place in public esteem. His residence is at No. 190 Highland avenue. HON. GEORGE WASHINGTON SIEBER For forty-six years Hon. George Washington Sieber has been a representative of the Akron bar and there is probably no attorney of this city better known nor more highly honored and esteemed by his fellow members of the profession. What he has accomplished in the field of law practice would alone entitle him to recognition as a leading resident of Akron and yet in real estate and other fields his labors have also been far-reaching and effective. There are no spectacular phases in his career, but his life history is one of earnest endeavor crowned by substantial results. A native of the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, his birth occurred in Snyder county on the 22d of February, 1858, and by reason of that date he was given the Christian name of George Washington. His parents, Joseph and Sarah (Moyer) Sieber, were also natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in 1818 and the latter in 1819. The year 1868 witnessed their arrival in Akron and the father devoted his attention not only to the occupation of farming but also to the conduct of a wholesale meat business and a tannery, managing each of the three enterprises successfully. On more than one occasion he and his AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 403 wife slaughtered the beeves late at night, quartered and divided the parts and prepared them for the market, to which they were conveyed in the early morning hours of the following day. In the winter time Mr. Sieber engaged in tanning the hides of the animals, which he had first raised and then prepared for sale in his wholesale meat establishment. He set an excellent example to the youth of the present day in his unfaltering industry and diligence. His death occurred in Akron in 1896, when he had reached the age of seventy-eight years, while his wife survived until 1912 and passed away at the notable age of ninety years. George W. Sieber is the only survivor of their family of three children. He began his education in the public schools of Pennsylvania but was a youth of only ten years at the time the family home was established in Ohio, so that he later attended the public schools of Freeburg and subsequently the Akron high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1876. Later he had the further advantage of a two years' course in Buchtel College and in the meantime his consideration of his future life led him to the determination to become a member of the bar. Accordingly he entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated with valedictorian honors as a member of the class of 1882. He at once entered upon the active practice of law and he attributes his success more to close application than to any special ability. However, his colleagues and contemporaries bear testimony to the fact of his keen intellect, his clear reasoning and his logical deductions as well as his careful preparation of his cases. In 1886 he became prosecuting attorney for Summit county and filled that office through a six-year period, discharging his duties to the satisfaction of all concerned. In 1891 he became junior partner in the law firm of Green, Grant & Sieber, which following the death of Judge Green became Grant & Sieber and so continued until Judge Grant became a member of the Ohio court of appeals in 1912. In later years Mr. Sieber has been joined in practice by his son, Joseph B. Sieber, and by Bernard J. Amer, practicing under the firm style of Sieber, Sieber & Amer. In 1897 Mr. Sieber was admitted to practice before the United States supreme court. He has a large clientele, and while he has continued in the general practice, his legal work is of a most important character. He has not confined his attention entirely to professional interests, however, for he has been active in the organization or the development of a number of Akron's leading industries and business interests. He was instrumental 404 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY in putting on the market the Sieber and Seiberling Allotment, the first real estate development on North Hill, and he was likewise active in converting the old Wise farm into one of the most attractive residential districts of the city under the name of the Wilcox, Noah and Sieber Allotment. He is likewise a director of the F. H. Weeks Lumber Company of Akron. On the 11th of September, 1883, Mr. Sieber was married to Miss Elsie C. Motz, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Motz, of Middleburg, Pennsylvania. She passed away in Akron on the 2d of September, 1927, survived by her husband and three children. Joseph Byron, the only son, was born December 26, 1886, and a more extended mention of him will be found elsewhere in this work. Florence Sarah, born in Akron, is a graduate of Wellesley College and is now the wife of Armor T. Carnahan and the mother of two children, Helen Louise and Mary Catherine. Ruth, also an alumnus of Wellesley College, is the wife of F. F. Dugan, of Akron, and has one child, Ruth Elaine. Mr. Sieber has ever given stanch support to the republican party and has long been a leader in its ranks in Ohio. Not only did he serve for six years as prosecuting attorney of Summit county but in 1899 became a member of the state senate and during his incumbency in the office was chairman of the finance committee and a member of the judiciary committee. He has ever recognized the duties and obligations as well as the privileges of citizenship and over the record of his official career there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He is today the oldest member of the Trinity Lutheran church, having been identified therewith since 1876. In its work he has taken active and helpful part and has been a teacher in its Sunday school. Fraternally a Mason, he has attained the Knight Templar degree as a member of Akron Commandery ; is a member of Lake Erie Consistory, A. A. S. R. ; is a past potentate of Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cleveland ; and also past potentate of Tadmor Temple at Akron. He has also been president of the building committee having in charge the erection of the Elks Home at Akron and is prominently known in the club circles of Akron, belonging to the City, Portage Country, Congress Lake Country and University clubs. He is also a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and of the Akron Chamber of Commerce, which is indicative of his interest in the material welfare and substantial upbuilding of this section. Along the path of his profession his connection is with the Summit County, Ohio State and American Bar Asso- AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 405 ciations and there is no one who holds more strictly to the highest ethical standards of legal practice than George W. Sieber. Since 1890, Mr. Sieber has resided at No. 484 East Market street, corner of South Adolph, formerly Fay street. ROBERT GUINTHER Robert Guinther, an outstanding attorney of Akron, has for the past eight years been a member of one of the leading law firms of Summit county—Slabaugh, Seiberling, Huber & Guinther—and also figures prominently in school affairs as president of the Akron board of education. He was born at Utica, Licking county, Ohio, March 11, 1890, his parents being I. C. and Mary (Rexroth) Guinther, both of whom are natives of Crawford county, Ohio, and have always resided within the borders of the Buckeye state. The father served for many years as superintendent of the public schools of Galion, Ohio, and subsequently became publisher and editor of the Galion Inquirer. Mr. and Mrs. I. C. Guinther had a family of five children, of whom four survive, namely : Fred, an electrical engineer of New York city; Lawrence, superintendent of the aeroplane division of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company of Akron ; Mildred, a trained nurse of Cleveland, Ohio; and Robert. The last named grew up in northwestern Ohio, graduating from the high school at Galion in 1907. His more advanced intellectual training was received in Wooster College of Ohio, which in 1911 conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. During this period he spent some time in teaching work in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, high school, and at Bucyrus, Ohio, to earn a part of his college expenses. During the two succeeding years he was a faculty officer in the Wentworth Military Academy at Lexington, Missouri. To prepare himself for his chosen profession he matriculated in the University of Chicago Law school, graduating with the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1915. He was admitted to the Illinois bar in October of that year, and in January, 1916, qualified as a member of his profession in Ohio. From June, 1916, to February, 1917, Mr. Guinther was with the Ohio Field Artillery on the Mexican border. From June 24, 1918, to January 21, 1919, he was an officer in the Coast Artillery Corps and was stationed at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Before 406 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY and since the war he has practiced at Akron, and from January, 1917, to June, 1919, except for the time engaged in military service, was assistant prosecuting attorney of Summit county. During the past eight years, as above stated, he has been a member of the law firm of Slabaugh, Seiberling, Huber & Guinther and enjoys a well merited reputation as one of the able and successful representatives of the legal profession in his adopted city. He served as president of the Summit County Bar Association in 1922 and is also a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Aside from his professional activities Mr. Guinther is a director in a number of business enterprises. On the 17th of September, 1917, in Lexington, Missouri, Mr. Guinther was united in marriage to Winifred Winn, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Winn and representative of a prominent family of that place. They are the parents of two daughters: Annie Lee, born in Akron, September 12, 1921; and Mary Catherine, who was born in Akron March 30, 1925. Mr. Guinther is a democrat in politics and is now making a splendid record as president of the Akron board of education. He is also a member of the Akron Chamber of Commerce, of which he is now a director, the University Club, the Akron City Club and the Rotary Club. In fraternal circles he is known as a member of the Masonic orders in Akron, including the Shrine and Grotto, and his name is likewise on the membership rolls of the Masonic Club and of the college societies Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif, Alpha Tau Omega, Phi Alpha Delta and Delta Sigma Rho. Moreover, he belongs to the First Presbyterian church. He enjoys the social amenities of life and is esteemed for those qualities which have made possible his success. Residence-242 Casterton avenue. DANIEL A. SCANLON Daniel A. Scanlon, occupying the responsible position of general superintendent of railways with the Northern Ohio Power & Light Company and thus deserving recognition as one of the representative business men of Akron, was born in Portland, Maine, December 31, 1879, his parents being Michael and Nora (Fitzgerald) Scanlon, who were also natives of the Pine Tree state and spent their entire lives there, the father devoting his AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 409 attention to the tanning industry. Of their family of seven children four yet survive : Daniel A., of this review; James; Mrs. George Donnelly; and Sister Emanuel, a Catholic nun. Having attended the public schools of his native city until he had completed the high school course, Daniel A. Scanlon then started out to earn his living by working in the mechanical department of the Portland Street Railway Company, with which he remained until his twenty-first year. He then sought the opportunities of the middle west, removing to Newark, Ohio, where he entered the employ of the Columbus, Buckeye Lake & Newark Railway Company. He spent three years in that connection and then resigned in order to accept a position with the Raleigh (N. C.) Electric Company, having charge of its interests for three years. In 1907 he went with the Canton & Akron Railway Company as superintendent of the southern division of the Northern Ohio Power & Light Company, acting in that capacity for eight years, while since 1919 he has been general superintendent. The steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible. He has steadily advanced, working his way upward through close application and the constant development of his powers, resulting from experience and acquired knowledge. He meets every demand made upon him and measures up to the highest requirements of the officials of the corporation which he represents. He is likewise vice president of the North Akron Savings & Loan Association. On the 11th of June, 1899, Mr. Scanlon was married to Miss Bertha Cowan, the ceremony taking place at Portland, Maine. She is a daughter of Franklin Cowan, of Farmington, that state. Mr. and Mrs. Scanlon are now parents of four children. Margaret, who was born in Newark, Ohio, in 1906, was graduated from Seton Hill College, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and the Cleveland School of Art and is now a public school teacher. Theresa, born in Newark, Ohio, in 1907, is also a graduate of the Seton Hill College and of St. John's School of Nursing and is a hospital nurse. Charles, born in Canton, Ohio, in 1909, was graduated from the Canton high school and is also a graduate of Holy Cross College, class of 1928. James, born in Canton in 1913, is a student in the Campion high school, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Scanlon is a third degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He belongs also to the Akron City Club, 410 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY the Silver Lake Country Club, the Kiwanis Club, of which he is a director, and to the Akron Chamber of Commerce. He is interested in all that has to do with the welfare and upbuilding of city and county and his attitude upon public questions is that of a progressive citizen actuated by a constructive spirit. EDWARD J. BERGIN Edward J. Bergin, the executive head of the Buckeye Coal Company, is one of Akron's substantial business men and loyal sons. He was born July 7, 1881. His parents, Stephen and Mary (Gorman) Bergin, were natives of Ireland and established their home in Akron in 1868. The father, who was a mason, aided in constructing the buildings of Buchtel College, later entered the field of contracting and was one of the builders of the Valley Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Bergin are survived by eight children: Mrs. Mary McCormick and Mrs. Julia Mutchler and Mrs. Ellen Wayman, who live in Akron; Mrs. Elizabeth Butler, of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Mrs. Katherine Herron, Mrs. Margaret Forbes, Mrs. Anna Eisenzeimer and Edward J. Bergin, all residents of Akron. The son completed his studies in the Central high school of Akron and afterward learned the machinist's trade, working for the firm of Webster, Camp & Lane. Later he was with the Wellman, Siever & Morgan Company and subsequently entered the employ of the Diamond Rubber Company, with which he remained for fifteen years, becoming an expert mechanic. In 1921 he began his independent commercial career, forming the Buckeye Coal Company, of which he has since been the president, and success has attended the venture. He maintains his headquarters at No. 923 Bank street and the sand and gravel features of his business constitute one of its largest items. These materials are obtained from the Hazel street sand bank. The sand, which is of fine quality, has been used in building the new post office and he also furnishes from four hundred to six hundred yards a month to the M. M. Mell Company. Mr. Bergin also operates a first class garage at the Bank street address, where he is engaged in automobile repairing, with gas and oil as side lines. This thoroughfare is a short cut to the business center from East Akron and a short cut to Newton street, Eastland avenue, Goodyear Heights and the seven corners at Tallmadge. Traffic in AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 411 Bank street is estimated to run as high as four thousand cars a day because it offers a fine avenue of travel away from congested areas. Resourceful, energetic and capable, Mr. Bergin has prospered in all of his undertakings and he sees a greater Akron with a large and steady gain in population being rounded out in the next few years. The growth of his own business as well as the increase in activities throughout the city is the basis of his prediction. On November 24, 1926, Mr. Bergin was united in marriage to Miss Martha E. Harris, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Harris, of Akron. Mr. Bergin adheres to the Roman Catholic faith and is a third degree Knight of Columbus, while he also belongs to the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is deeply attached to his city and has contributed toward its advancement. His success has been won by industry, ability and integrity and these qualities unite to make him an upright man and a useful citizen. FORD L. HIGLEY Ford L. Higley has directed his energies into constructive channels and is prominently identified with building operations in Akron, representing one of the city's well known contracting firms. He was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, December 29, 1888, and is a son of Elmer L. and Hattie (Avery) Higley, who have always lived within the borders of the Buckeye state. The father was the organizer of the Higley Construction Company and from the time of its inception had been the executive head of the business, which reflects his enterprising spirit and high standards. Ford L. Higley, an only child, was a student in the Central high school and also attended a business college. After his graduation he became a member of the clerical force of the B. F. Goodrich Tire & Rubber Company, with which he remained for four years, and then entered the employ of the Miller Rubber Company of Akron. A year later he joined his father in construction work and started at the bottom, mastering every detail of the business. He is now serving as secretary and treasurer of the Higley Construction Company, which was awarded the contract for the masonry work of Akron's sewage disposal plant and erected the Recreation building on East Market street as well as the addition to the South high school. The firm has built schoolhouses at Mogadore, Silver Lake, Bettes Corners and 412 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY many others and has much important work under way. The thoroughness, reliability and efficiency of the firm has commended it to the confidence and support of the public and the business is constantly expanding. The efforts of the father are ably supplemented by those of the son, who devotes deep thought and study to his work, instituting well devised plans for the development of the business. On June 11, 1913, Ford L. Higley was married in Akron to Miss Ruth A. Christian, a daughter of Frank and Clara (Brecht) Christian. Mrs. Higley's father is state inspector of work shops and factories and fully meets the requirements of that important office. Mr. and Mrs. Higley have three children : Robert, who was born August 8, 1914, and is attending the Grace school; Marvin, who was born January 25, 1916, and is a pupil in the same school ; and Richard, born June 14, 1927. Mr. Higley is identified with the Adoniram lodge, No. 517, A. F. & A. M. ; the Masonic Club, the Akron Builder's Exchange and the National Contractors Association. Both he and his wife are affiliated with Grace Reformed church and Mrs. Higley is also a member of the Woman's City Club, the Home-School League and the local chapter of the Eastern Star. They manifest a deep and helpful interest in projects for the advancement and benefit of their city and enjoy the esteem of a wide circle of friends. MILTON OTIS HOWER Milton Otis Hower, one of Akron's foremost citizens, whose extensive and varied interests affected the city's industrial, commercial and banking activities, was called to his final rest May 25, 1916. His birth occurred in Doylestown, Ohio, November 25, 1858. He was a son of John H. and Susan (Youngker) Hower, the former a native of Stark county, Ohio, born February 22, 1822, and a son of Jesse Hower, who was a native of Center county, Pennsylvania, whence he accompanied his parents to Ohio about 1815. Jacob Hower, great-grandfather of M. Otis Hower, was born in the Keystone state and there learned the shoemaker's trade. Following his arrival in Ohio he engaged in farming in Stark county. His son, Jesse Hower, removed to Clinton, this state, about 1823 and purchased a farm from his father upon which he built a sawmill, his death occurring, however, soon after AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 415 he completed it. His widow then removed with her family to a farm near New Berlin and after five or six years she became the wife of John Snider and located near Doylestown, where she passed away about 1856. John H. Hower remained at home until he reached the age of thirty years, having in his youth acquired a good common school education, while later he worked on the farm through the summer seasons and taught school in the winter months after reaching the age of eighteen years. In 1852 he was married to Susan Youngker, a daughter of J. Youngker, of Doylestown. About 1850 he purchased an interest in a general store at Doylestown, which for five years was conducted under the firm name of Graham & Hower. Later he capitalized the Excelsior Reaper & Mower Works of Doylestown, and was connected with the plant until 1875, but in 1865 had removed to Akron, where he aided in organizing the Excelsior Reaper Works, the first large manufacturing organization here, becoming vice president of the company and so continuing for ten years. In 1879 he purchased an interest in the Turner mills of Akron, and in 1881 his sons, Harvey Y. and Otis, purchased the interest of Mr. Turner in the business and the firm of Hower & Company thus came into existence. Mr. and Mrs. Hower were members of the Trinity Lutheran church, this church being organized from services held in their home and they were prime movers in the erection of the edifice on Prospect street. Mr. Hower was a democrat in early life but after organization of the republican party he was affiliated with it until his death. He died in 1916. M. Otis Hower was but seven years of age when the family removed from Doylestown to Akron and here he attended the public schools, making rapid progress in his, studies while later he became a student in Buchtel College. When but a boy he .gave evidence of pronounced industrial talent, and his father encouraged him in a business career. He was admitted to partnership by his father when he and his brother acquired the interest of Mr. Turner in the oatmeal mill and for a long period thereafter he was associated with the enterprise, contributing in substantial measure to its success. In the course of time he was made secretary of the company and also discharged the duties of general manager until 1894 when a merger was effected taking over the five largest milling concerns of the kind in the United States, the Hower Company thus becoming a part of the American Cereal Company. Of that organization M. Otis Hower was made a director and vice 14-VOL. 3 416 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY president and removed to Chicago and was prominently identified with the management of the business, which in time became known as the Quaker Oats Company. Mr. Hower retained his residence in Chicago until 1901, when he returned to Akron, where he occupied the old Hower homestead until his death. He had various business interests of wide scope, being at one time president of nine different corporations, among them being president of the Hower Building Company, president and general manager of the Akron-Selle Company, vice president of the Central Savings & Trust Company, director of the Akron Canal & Hydraulic Company and a director in the Home Savings Company. He was at one time president and general manager of the Akron Wood Working Company, president of the Lombard & Replogle Engineering Company, president of the Akron Hi-Potential Company, of Barberton, director of the Akron Gas Company, also of the Home Building & Loan Association. He belonged to the National and State Good Roads Association, was an active member of the Akron Chamber of Commerce of which he had served as a director and as secretary. A stanch republican, he took a keen interest in the party's success. He was an ex-president of the Akron Automobile Club and his business interests largely promoted the development and commercial growth of the city. On the 16th of November, 1880, Mr. Hower was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Eugenie Bruot, a daughter of James F. and Rosalie (Gressard) Bruot. They became parents of two children: Grace S. R., now the wife of John M. Crawford; and John B., of whom further mention is made later in this review. Mr. Hower held membership in the Trinity Lutheran church and in the Young Men's Christian Association, at one time serving as trustee of the latter. He also belonged to the Portage Country Club and was interested in all projects having to do with the city's development along material, intellectual and moral lines. He belonged to the Luther Burbank Society of California and was a warm friend of the naturalist for whom that society was named, spending many happy hours as a visitor in the Burbank home near Santa Rosa. Travel was always to him an interesting and stimulating experience and he visited many countries of Europe as well as of South America. He had the faculty of seeing much that others passed by unnoticed and possessed the rare ability of describing what he had seen so as to give comprehensive knowledge to others. Akron mourned the loss of Mr. Hower, whom she had long claimed as a valued citizen and whom AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 417 she delighted to honor, not only by reason of his notable achievements, in the material world but also by reason of the sterling traits of character which he ever displayed in the varied relations of life. John B. Hower was born in Akron, September 26, 1892, and received his higher education at Buchtel College and the Case School of Applied Science. He began his business career with the Akron-Selle Company, in 1914, and is now vice president and general manager of that corporation. Among his other business interests he is secretary and treasurer of the Superior Baking Company and of the Hower Building Company. Fraternally Mr. Hower is connected with the Masonic order and with the Grotto and he also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has membership in the Portage Country Club, in the Beta Theta Pi, the Kiwanis Club and in the Church of Our Savior. He is the third generation of the Hower family in Akron's business circles and his residence on Fir Hill has been the family home for more than sixty years. THOMAS J. STUVER Thomas J. Stuver occupies a prominent position in business circles in Barberton, not only by reason of the success which he has achieved, but also owing to the straightforward business policy which he has ever followed. Mr. Stuver was born in Akron, Ohio, on the 12th of May, 1890, and is a son of James W. and Nancy (Garman) Stuver, the former now deceased. He attended the grade schools and had one year of high school work, laying aside his textbooks in order to go to work for the Akron Roofing Company, with which he remained for three years, and was then with the Diamond Rubber Company one year. Feeling the need of a better preparation for a business career, Mr. Stuver attended business college in Akron for a year, and next entered the employ of the W. E. Wright Company, dealers in builders' supplies and allied lines. He was with that concern six years, after which he was with M. M. Mell & Company for a year and a half. In 1915 he came to Barberton and, in partnership with his brother, John C. Stuver, established the Stuver Brothers Company, which was incorporated in 1916, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars. They deal in builders' supplies, clay products, feed and coal, and maintain plants at Barberton and 418 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY Kenmore, in which twenty persons are employed. Thomas J. Stuver is secretary and treasurer of the company and has been indefatigable in his efforts to promote the success of the business, in which he has been a most effective factor. On January 1, 1914, Mr. Stuver was united in marriage to Miss Maude Dungan, of Akron, and they are the parents of three children, Thomas J. Jr., Donald R. and Kenneth. Mr. Stuver is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and also belongs to the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He has led an active and diligent life and the prosperity which is his is the well-merited reward of earnest effort and unceasing application. MAURICE ACOMB KNIGHT An outstanding figure in Akron's industrial circles is Maurice Acomb Knight, sole owner and proprietor of what is in some particulars the most important chemical stoneware plant in the world. The art of forming utensils and vessels of clay is of great antiquity. Libraries have been written, vast fortunes amassed and men and countries have been made famous through this art. Yet an entirely new industry has been inaugurated in the discovery and subsequent manufacture of the great number of products that have been put upon the market since 1909, under the name of "acid-proof chemical stoneware." The recent pioneer in this industrial field is Maurice A. Knight, a man of high scholarship in the geological and chemical field—who invents and perfects new and superior bodies by different methods of combining various kinds and grades of clays, so that the body or clay of the piece of acid-proof chemical stoneware apparatus, withstands in itself the action of different acids or chemicals, hot or cold, strong or weak—without the use of a glaze, enamel, or veneer. "It is the body itself," is Mr. Knight's trademark. Maurice Knight, or "Mose," as he is still familiarly known among his associates of boyhood and college days, was born in the home of his maternal grandfather, James Acomb, M. D., at Tidioute, Pennsylvania, September 8, 1883. He is the eldest son of Professor Charles M. Knight, who for a full generation was head of the chemical department of Buchtel College, now the Municipal University of Akron. The Knight family emigrated AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 421 from England to Massachusetts soon after the colony was established at Plymouth, and were patriots. Mr. Knight's great-great-grandfather was a soldier under Washington at Valley Forge, and his great-grandfather was a soldier in the War of 1812. The original homestead in Vermont has always been occupied by some descendant of the family. As a boy Maurice Knight attended the grade schools of Akron through the grammar department and then entered Buchtel Academy, from which he was graduated in June, 1902. He immediately entered Buchtel College, where he graduated June 19, 1906, with the degree Bachelor of Science. During his college course Mr. Knight was a recongized leader and a tireless worker in all student activities. He was a member of the Lone Star fraternity, and was prominent in athletics and social affairs. To him college life was not only a mental discipline but an opportunity and invitation to test his abounding vitality in many lines. He gave special attention to chemistry and geology and his scientific studies, and his graduating thesis was a discussion of the chemistry and geology of clays. With the practical and technical knowledge he acquired on this subject, Mr. Knight could now be one of the great wheat farmers of the northwest, or one of the opulent fruit growers. But he turned his scientific knowledge in an entirely different direction and from the same foundation has built up an important manufacturing business that has brought equally substantial returns. After completing his college course Mr. Knight entered the employ of A. J. Weeks, a stoneware manufacturer of Akron who also made a chemical stoneware and with whom he remained until 1909. He then bought the old F. K. Weeks' pottery plant in East Akron. It was his intention to establish a factory for the manufacture of chemical stoneware. In starting in this business, however, he was dismayed to find so little adequate clay-making machinery and so little technical information among the older manufacturers of what was claimed to be acid-proof chemical stoneware. Although young among the manufacturers, Mr. Knight possessed the knowledge and the ability and the determination to enter the field as a pioneer, and he set himself the task of building up in this field a business that could be worthy of his highest ideals. The plant he had bought was a small and insignificant concern, but it formed a nucleus around which he has built a factory eight times the size, with thoroughly modern 422 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY equipment, and furnishing employment to one hundred skilled men. Acid-proof stoneware is altogether different from the usual clay and stoneware products of the pottery. It must have the toughness of metal, the smoothness of glass, and must resist the action of all acids, alkalies and chemicals, weak or strong, hot or cold. For this purpose the ordinary clay is not suitable, neither are the ordinary processes of manufacture. Mr. Knight has had to test every kind of clay, and he gathers his raw material from different parts of the country, some of it being imported from England. He has also been under the necessity of inventing and devising and modifying many details of manufacture, and all this experience has made him a master in his special field. Maurice A. Knight's acid-proof chemical stoneware is known to every government and university and important manufacturing establishment in both continents. Following are excerpts from a very interesting article which appeared in the March, 1927, issue of the magazine "Business," under the tile "A Modern Arabian Night," written by Sanford Jordan. "Remember that part of Arabian Nights where Ali Baba persuades the forty thieves to hide in immense earthen crocks, and then pours in boiling oil? I can close my eyes and see those huge Oriental crocks even yet. The day I drove into the yard of Maurice A. Knight's pottery, in Akron, I felt for a moment as if I were back in Ali Baba land. Crocks and jugs and queer-looking contraptions, some of them seven or eight feet high, were stacked all around, some with pipes reaching up in various directions, and others that might have been bathtubs, but weren't. What, I wondered, were all these things? Chemical stoneware, they told me. Who, I ventured to ask, would use them? I learned that the market includes manufacturers of heavy acids and chemicals, pharmaceutical concerns, soap factories, ink makers, alkali plants, powder works and paint factories, paper mills, film-manufacturing plants, and storage-battery concerns. You may find Knight customers almost anywhere in America, and even in England and Japan * * After one learns that Knight can work ordinary clay into machinery such as pumps, for example, which force a stream of acid through long pipes ; that he manufactures stoneware impervious to the elements; that his is one of the few one-man concerns doing an international business, and that he has owned his pottery outright for twenty years; that his AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 423 is the only firm in America specializing in acid-proof pottery and finding plenty of business—then only, one begins to learn that this little known business is interesting * * Every day's output presents its own special problems. Although the Knight organization issues a handsome catalogue of fifty-two pages, eighty per cent of its work is special. Customers come with sketches or blue prints of new devices, samples of which they want the company to manufacture. The new chemical laboratories at Princeton, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins, and the new University of West Virginia, as well as many other universities, colleges and schools, contain sinks, traps, drain-pipes, ventilating flues and what not, all made of Knight acid-proof pottery. The Knight plant can turn to this sort of work readily enough because eighty per cent of its production is on special jobs. During a possible slack week, the men can be put to work making more faucets or pipes or carboy stoppers, for these items are fairly standard and may be carried in stock * * The large number of objects of one kind or another in the open-yard represent, chiefly, overruns. If an order calls, say, for twelve pieces, probably thirteen will be made up to allow for possible damage to one. Sometimes the customer wants the thirteenth, or it may serve to fill an emergency order later. Meanwhile, there these 'overruns' stand, exposed to heat and sun and snow and cold ; but they don't crack because they're hard enough to cut glass and yet elastic enough to permit of expansion and contraction * * This, then, is the story of Maurice A. Knight. He owns his business. He worked and slaved and built from small beginnings until his product is internationally known. He has invested in real estate and today he owns some business property in Akron, a couple of farms, and perhaps a little more that he doesn't talk about * * To him, his work is thrilling ; he needs no hobbies or outside pleasures. His home and his business are enough ; and in his business what particular task do you imagine gives him the greatest pleasure? Opening the morning mail ! Successful as he has become, Maurice A. Knight most enjoys slitting open the day's assortment of envelopes and sorting the checks and the new orders. He likes to look at the calls for help, the detailed requests for suggestions and prices, the blueprints and instructions to go ahead and make something that he never saw before. That, to him, is the world's best fun." The development of the above business along an unusual line was entirely from Mr. Knight's own initiative and through his 424 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY own enterprise. However, he has additional large interests, being president of the Rubber City Sand & Gravel Company, president of the Metropolitan Building Company and president of the Florence Villa Grove Association in Flordia. He is secretary and treasurer of the Krumroy Land Company and a director of the National City Bank, the Bankers Guarantee Title & Trust Company, and several other concerns. On the 4th of June, 1907, Mr. Knight was united in marriage to Miss Lulu L. Weeks, daughter of A. J. Weeks. They have five children, namely: Maurice Acomb, Jr., born in 1908; Lovina May, whose natal year was 1909 ; Lulu Weeks, born in 1913 ; Edmond Hal, born in 1916; and Lillian Dorothea, born in 1923. The Akron Chamber of Commerce and East Akron Board of Trade value Mr. Knight's interest as a member, and he belongs to other organizations, fraternal, business and social, while politics claims some attention, since he is a vigilant citizen. He is a Mason and a member of the Lone Star college fraternity, and of the University, the Akron City, the Portage Country, the Fairlawn Country, the Silver Lake Country, the Akron Automobile and the Rotary clubs. His name is likewise on the membership rolls of various chemical and engineering societies. He served on the Akron public school board for three years. A contemporary biographer said of him : "Personally Mr. Knight impresses one with his vitality, and at the same time he is kind, genial and courteous." Mr. Knight's residence, "The Woods," is at No. 711 North Portage path. DANIEL H. HEPNER Although one of the more recent additions to Akron's legal fraternity, Daniel H. Hepner has thoroughly demonstrated his ability as an attorney and counselor and is also well known as an abstractor of titles. Tireless energy, a strong will, intelligence and ambition were his youthful patrimony and with these assets he has overcome adverse conditions, winning the victory in the great battle of life. He was born September 28, 1893, in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, near Johnstown. His parents, Jacob B. and Ida V. (Meadows) Hepner, were natives of Virginia. The father was a charcoal burner and lived for many years in the Keystone state. He is survived by the mother, who resides in AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 427 Ohio. Their family numbered thirteen children, three of whom are deceased. Daniel H. Hepner, the fifth in order of birth, acquired his early instruction in a district school near Johnstown and gained his start in life as a water boy on the township road which was then being built. At first he was paid fifteen cents per day and later his wages were advanced to a dollar. His next position was that of clerk in a country store, after which he was employed in the office of a coal company, subsequently becoming weigh-master for the mines. His knowledge of that industry won for him the position of assistant superintendent with the Portage Coal & Water Company, a Pennsylvania firm with which he spent five years, and he then made his first independent venture. In association with a partner, he operated a lumberyard and built several houses in Portage. He operated a sawmill in the Allegheny mountains near Portage, Pennsylvania, and also made concrete blocks, selling the products of the mill and factory to home builders of that part of the state. Eventually Mr. Hepner purchased the interest of his partner and successfully continued the business alone until 1917. As one of the field workers of the Young Men's Christian Association he endeavored to "do his bit" but was rejected and then turned his plant over to the government, for which he manufactured lumber until the close of the war. In 1919 he came to Akron and entered the service of the B. F. Goodrich Tire & Rubber Company, which he left after ten nights' work, securing a position with H. C. Wilcox & Sons, title examiners. Six months later he became associated with W. E. Snyder, engaged in the same line of work, and remained with him until 1920, when he entered the law office of W. J. Laub, then mayor of Akron, in the business of examining titles. While thus engaged he read law in Mr. Laub's office and on January 12, 1925, was admitted to the bar. In the intervening period he has established a lucrative practice and also does a large amount of work as an abstractor, exmining titles for a number of well known real estate firms. He maintains an office on the second floor of the Delaware building and his services are in constant demand. In May, 1928, Mr. Hepner organized a building company in Akron, and was instrumental in bringing here E. D. Billings, to whom he gave an interest in the company. Mr. Billings had formerly been superintendent for Mr. Hepner in Portage, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hepner is also interested in a three- 428 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY hundred-acre farm in Columbiana county, Ohio, near Lisbon, where week ends are spent during the summer season. Mr. Hepner was married May 6, 1916, in Portage, Pennsylvania, to Miss Eva Lake Patterson, a daughter of James G. and Sarah A. (Pearce) Patterson, and they have become the parents of three children : Eunice I., who was born January 30, 1917, in Portage; Jeanne Louise, who was born in the same town December 18, 1920; and Daniel H., Jr., who was born in Akron, November 25, 1923. Mr. Hepner is a Knight Templar Mason and belongs to the Masonic and Automobile Clubs, while his professional affiliations are with the Summit County and Ohio State Bar Associations. He has demonstrated what may be accomplished by the man who has the courage to dare and the will to do and never fails to inspire respect for his talents, confidence in his integrity and admiration for his firmness of character. Mr. Hepner's residence is at 797 Crestview avenue, Akron. JOSEPH CLAY HALE Joseph Clay Hale, vice president and chief chemist of the Akron Pure Milk Company, occupies a position of importance and prominence in connection with one of Akron's outstanding industries. He was born February 10, 1892, on a farm in Noble county, Ohio, about eight miles south of Caldwell, the county seat, and in both paternal and maternal sides, comes from pioneer families in that section of the state. His maternal great-grandfather, Rufus James, was from a Virginia family and became one of the early settlers of southeastern Ohio. His son, Henry Clay James, was one of the well known residents of Noble county, Ohio, where he died in March, 1927, survived by his widow, Mrs. Martha M. James. Their daughter, Attie C., married Arthur B. Hale, and they are the parents of Joseph C. Hale, the subject of this review. This Hale family is of Holland extraction. Joseph L. Hale married Caroline Hughes, and they were the parents of Arthur B. Hale and resided in Noble county, Ohio. Arthur B. Hale, previous to locating in Akron, was for almost a quarter of a century connected with the engineering department on the Newark division of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He is now an engineer at the plant of the Akron Pure Milk Company. AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 429 Joseph C. Hale first attended the country school near his birthplace in Noble county, Ohio, and later the public schools of Zanesville, Ohio, completing his high school course in Marietta, Ohio, and his university work at Ohio State University, from which institution he received his degree of Bachelor of Science, June 22, 1914. Immediately after his graduation Mr. Hale accepted a position in the chemical laboratory of the Akron Pure Milk Company, and his ability soon won recognition. He was advanced to the position of plant superintendent and is now vice president and chief chemist of the company. His work in this connection has been no small factor in the remarkable growth and development of the corporation, during the more than fourteen years of his identification with its operations and in scientific as well as trade circles he is regarded as a man of outstanding ability. An extended mention of the Akron Pure Milk Company will be found, under its own caption, elsewhere in this work. Mr. Hale was married in Akron, June 3, 1925, to Miss Helen Alexander, a representative of a prominent Summit county family and a daughter of Alonzo and Harriet Alexander. Mr. and Mrs. Hale have a daughter, Nancy Joanne, who was born in this city January 24, 1927. Mr. Hale belongs to the Alpha Zeta college fraternity and in his religious connection is a Baptist. In club circles he is well known, being a member of the University, Rotary, Silver Lake Country and Akron City Clubs, and also belongs to the Akron Chamber of Commerce. He is both a York and Scottish Rite Mason and a charter member of Tadmor Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His scientific and trade connections are in the American Dairy Science Association, the Ohio Dairy Products Association and the International Association of Milk Dealers. Broad in his views and progressive in his standards, Mr. Hale is a fine type of the modern business man and a citizen of worth to the community. His residence is at No. 729 Chitty avenue, Akron. VIRGIL A. WALKER Virgil A. Walker, the very efficient superintendent of the Pittsburgh Valve and Fittings Company, at Barberton, has been with this well known concern for sixteen years, and his loyal and able service in other capacities received substantial recognition 430 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY in his promotion to his present position, for which he has proven well qualified. Mr. Walker was born in Otsego, Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 16th of July, 1887, and is a son of Robert A. and Susannah (Goodheart) Walker, the latter now deceased. In 1897 the family moved to Barberton, where his father engaged in the grocery business and was also interested in milling. Virgil A. Walker attended the grade and high schools of Barberton and then entered Purdue University, at Lafayette, Indiana, from which he was graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Mechanical Engineer in 1911. In September of that year he entered the employ of the Pittsburgh Valve and Fittings Company as an engineer and has remained here to the present time. In October, 1924, he was made superintendent of the plant, to the operation of which he has closely devoted his attention, his thorough technical training and experience enabling him to secure the maximum results at a minimum of expense and effort. On November 25, 1915, Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Florence A. Munk, of Toledo, Ohio, and they are the parents of three children, Martha, Georgia and Ruth. Mrs. Walker is a member of the Barberton Music and Art Study Club and is a past worthy matron of the Order of the Eastern Star. In his political views Mr. Walker has always supported the democratic party and he has shown a commendable interest in local affairs, being a member of the board of education. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has attained the rank of Knight Templar, and belongs also to the Rotary Club, the Brookside Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce. His strong personality and agreeable qualities have gained for him many warm friends and he is highly regarded throughout the community. CHARLES EDGAR WAY In life insurance circles of Summit county no individual has achieved a more notable success than has Charles Edgar Way, of Akron, general agent for the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. A man of broad and varied experience, possessing a thorough and exact knowledge of every phase of life insurance, genuinely devoted to his life work, a born salesman and a man of unusual organizing and executive ability, he has built up a sales AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 433 organization that is a marvel of efficiency, and he is today regarded as one of the most capable men in his line in the state of Ohio. Mr. Way was born in Holmes county, Ohio, on the 10th of December, 1874, and is a son of D. Lambert and Frances A. (Close) Way, who are also natives of Holmes county and have always resided in this state. His father followed farming during his early years but later engaged in the hardware business in Killbuck, Holmes county. They are now residents of Akron. To them were born four children, namely : Mrs. Laura Turner, of Akron ; Mrs. Mary Phillips, of Lodi, Ohio; Mrs. Lillie Burkhart, of Akron, and Charles Edgar. Charles E. Way was reared on his father's farm and received his early education in the country schools of his home neighborhood. He attended normal school at Danville, Ohio, after which he taught school in Knox county. Later he entered Northwestern University, at Evanston, Illinois, alternating his college terms with periods of school teaching, during which he served as instructor, principal and superintendent. He was graduated from Northwestern with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1895, after which he took up the study of law; passed the Ohio state bar examination and was admitted to practice at North Baltimore, where he opened a law office. He also began selling insurance and was soon afterward made secretary of the Home Building & Loan Association of that place, which was so successful that it absorbed its principal competitor. Mr. Way also became secretary and treasurer of the North Baltimore Water & Electric Company, and he remained in North Baltimore for twelve years. During this period he formed the acquaintance of a man who demonstrated to him the wonderful possibilities of the life insurance business, and to him Mr. Way in turn gave evidence of his natural ability as an insurance salesman. About this time he was appointed by the governor of Ohio as a delegate to the International Irrigation Congress at Spokane, Washington, and on the way he attended the Seattle exposition. There, largely in a spirit of levity, he and some of his friends registered for the drawings for reservation lands being thrown open to settlers in Montana and Idaho. To his surprise, he drew a farm in Idaho and, with the idea of making the most out of his piece of good fortune, on his return to Ohio he sold his interests here and went to his ranch in the west, which was near the town of St. Maries. He proved up on the land, which he cleared and fenced, and engaged in the raising 434 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY of potatoes, of which he had abundant crops, selling the same to the lumber camps of that locality. While there he took an active interest in local affairs, being a leader in church and fraternal organizations. He took charge of a Bible class with ten members and soon built it up to one hundred members. He was instrumental in organizing a chapter of Royal Arch Masons, of which he became high priest, and in many other ways he became prominent and influential in the community. But trouble came to him, his little daughter dying and his wife's health failing, which, together with large hospital and medical bills, made his pioneer experience anything but encouraging. In order to afford Mrs. Way a better chance for regaining her health he brought her back to her parents in Ohio, while he returned to Idaho to carry on the project which he had started there. About that time Mr. Way began selling life insurance during his spare time and soon became a field supervisor under a general agent whose territory comprised Washington and Idaho. This work proved congenial and he was making satisfactory headway, when the death of his wife and the serious illness of his mother decided him to return east. After dividing his ranch into lots and selling them off, he came back to Ohio and in 1913 located in Akron, where he met a representative of the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. He joined the sales force of that company and, going to Columbus, opened an office. He was successful there and two years later was transferred to Akron and made manager of the central Ohio district, comprising six counties. During the eleven years that he has held this position his territory has been increased to ten counties and he has done a remarkable volume of business, largely the result of his ability in the selection and training of agents, in which he uses original and effective methods. In January, 1928, Mr. Way received, on recommendation of Akron Life Underwriter's Association, the degree of A. L. U. (Accredited Life Underwriter ) , from the National Association of Life Underwriters of America. He is the first insurance man in Summit county to receive this honor, which is conferred in recognition of underwriting knowledge, standing, record and experience. Mr. Way has been married twice, first in 1903, at Lodi, Ohio, to Miss Daisy Gearhart, who died at that place in 1906. Their only child, Dorothy, died at St. Maries, Idaho. On April 8, 1917, at Gambier, Ohio, Mr. Way was married to Miss Edythe E. McMahon, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth E. McMahon. AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 435 Mr. Way is a republican in his political views and while residing in Idaho was chairman of the county executive committee of Coeur D'Alene county. He is a past master of North Baltimore Lodge No. 561, F. & A. M.; past high priest of St. Marie's Chapter No. 18, R. A. M. ; a member of Bethany Commandery No. 72, K. T.; Scioto Consistory, A. A. S. R., and Tadmor Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. He belongs to the Silver Lake Country Club; is a past president of the local underwriters association and national committeeman of the Life Underwriters Association of United States. He is a trustee of Baldwin-Wallace College at Berea, Ohio, a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Orphanage at Worthington, Ohio, and is a trustee and chairman of the official board of the Woodland Methodist Episcopal church in Akron. He is unselfishly interested in everything which tends to promote the public welfare and elevate the standards of living, and in every relation of life has been loyal and true to his ideals. Genial and affable in manner and a confirmed optimist in disposition, he has a host of warm and admiring friends throughout the range of his acquaintance and is regarded as one of Akron's best citizens. His residence is at 980 Bailey avenue. WALTER C. MAIBOHM Nature has endowed Walter C. Maibohm with those qualities which insure success in commercial affairs and his business activities in Akron are closely allied with the automobile industry. He was born in Racine, Wisconsin, April 9, 1895, and his parents, Peter C. and Jacobine Maibohm, were natives of Germany. In their youth they left that country, joining the tide of immigration to the United States, and settled in Racine. The father was a manufacturer of carriages and wagons and developed one of the large plants of the city, which later became a center of that industry. He passed away in 1925 and is survived by the mother and five children : Harry Maibohm, who is manager of the Simplex radio outfits at Sandusky, Ohio; Mrs. J. R. Foster, Mrs. Thomas McGovern and Marie Maibohm, all of whom reside in Racine ; and Walter C. Maibohm. The last named was educated in the public schools of his native city and learned the blacksmith's trade in his father's plant, in which he spent several years, assisting in the conduct of the industry. In 1916 he severed home ties and went to San- 436 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY dusky, Ohio, becoming identified with the manufacturing end of the automobile business. He remained in that city until 1922, when he came to Akron and organized the Maibohm Battery & Ignition Company, of which he is now secretary and treasurer. They have an up-to-date, completely equipped service station at Nos. 12-20 East Cedar street and receive a large share of the local trade. Mr. Maibohm is a forceful executive as well as an expert mechanic and has fostered the growth of the business by able, systematic work. On the 4th of May, 1921, Mr. Maibohm was married in Akron to Miss Lucille D. Rhinehart, whose father, William H. Rhine-hart, is president of the Maibohm Battery & Ignition Company, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Joan, who was born in Sandusky in 1922 and is a public school pupil. Mr. Maibohm has little time for outside interests and the Automobile Club is the only organization with which he is connected. He brings to the discharge of his daily duties the zeal and enthusiasm of youth, as well as the poise and sagacity of a man of mature years, and his personal qualities are such as inspire esteem and friendship. WILLIAM WILSON, M. D. The name of Dr. William Wilson is well known to residents of Akron and his pronounced ability as a physician is attested by his professional colleagues and the general public as well. A native of England, he was born in the city of Leeds, March 24, 1861, and his parents, George and Hannah (Jackson) Wilson, were lifelong residents of that country. To their union were born five children, one of whom is deceased. The others are : William; Arthur, a mining engineer of prominence ; George, a railroad worker in the employ of the English government; and Sarah Anna, the wife of Herbert Simon, who also resides in her native land. Dr. Wilson received his early education in private and parochial schools. He was the eldest son in the family and his father, following the common custom, apprenticed him to learn a trade, choosing the leather business. He was thus engaged until 1886, when he came to the United States and spent two and one-half years in visiting various sections of the country. Returning to England, he remained there about six months and then decided to AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 439 come to this country to establish his permanent home. Locating in Akron, he was in the employ of the Akron Belting Company during its formative period. During this time he took a course at Hammill's Business College. Deciding upon the study of medicine, he entered Hiram College as a special pre-medical student and later for a time studied medicine with one of the best known physicians of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He next entered Pulte Medical College at Cincinnati, from which he was graduated in 1900. He then took a course at the Cleveland Homeopathic College, graduating in 1901. Part of the period of his college work was spent in the office of his mentor at Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Wilson began practice in Akron in 1901 and through his skill has built up a most gratifying practice demanding much of his time and energy. He is connected with the medical staff of the People's Hospital, which he was largely instrumental in securing for the city. His associates were planning to establish a homeopathic college here but through his influence the project was abandoned and instead a general hospital, open to all reputable physicians and surgeons, was erected. This institution has been appropriately named the People's Hospital and is a credit to the city. Dr. Wilson served on the active staff of the hospital for ten years and is now a member of the auxiliary staff and a member of its board of directors since its organization. He was also one of the organizers and is a member of the board of directors of the Akron Pharmacies. Dr. Wilson is a member of the First Methodist Episcopal church and has served as a member of the official board when the present edifice was erected and has been president of the Men's Club of that church. He is a well known Mason, a member of Henry Perkins Lodge No. 611, F. & A. M. ; Akron Chapter No. 209, R. A. M. ; Akron Council No. 80, R. & S. M. (the largest council of Royal & Select Masters in the world) , of which he was thrice illustrious master in 1926 ; and Akron Commandery No. 25, K. T. He is also a member of Summit Lodge No. 50 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Dr. Wilson has for thirty-five years been a leading member of Akron Lodge No. 180, Sons of St. George, of which he has served as president and secretary. While attending college he became a member of the Alpha Sigma fraternity and is also a member of the Summit County and Ohio State Medical Societies, the Summit County Homeopathic Society, of which he has served as president, the Northeastern Ohio Homeopathic Medical Society, of which he has also served as president, 440 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY and the American Institute of Homeopathy. He is devoted to his patients and has a high conception of the duties and responsibilities of his profession. He possesses a marked public spirit, has a deep affection for his adopted country and a patriotism of high order. During the World war he served as a member of the Reserve Army Medical Corps. An extensive traveler, he has made six trips to Europe and has also visited practically every point of interest in the United States and Canada. He is a broad-minded man of generous nature and high principles and enjoys to the fullest extent the esteem and confidence of those who have been brought within the sphere of his influence. Dr. Wilson is unmarried, and for forty years his home has been in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius C. Misnor, the former of whom is now deceased but was for many years one of the well known contractors of Akron. WILLIAM FRANKLIN JONES William Franklin Jones, president and founder of W. F. Jones Company, is one of the well known and successful men in the automobile trade in this part of the state, and, while not yet a man of middle age has achieved success in business affairs far beyond the ordinary. From boyhood Mr. Jones has displayed a spirit of energy and self-reliance, and his activities have constantly broadened with the demands of the times and while developing his various business enterprises he has also contributed toward Akron's progress along many lines, belonging to that desirable class of citizens who constitute the strength and the motive power of every community in which they are found. Mr. Jones was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio, March 23, 1894. His father, Edward Jones, was a native of Wales and, leaving that country in his youth, sought the opportunities of the new world, settling in Ohio. His life was devoted to industrial pursuits and for many years he was employed in the rolling mills at New Philadelphia, filling responsible positions until his death. His wife, Mary Jane (Pickford) Jones, was born at Mineral Ridge, Ohio, and has also passed away. They are survived by six children : E. R. Jones, R. D. Jones, Mrs. Wilbur Marlow, Mrs. Homer Schrock, Mrs. William Croaker and William F. Jones. William F. Jones was reared in New Philadelphia, Ohio, and AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 441 attended the schools of that city. As a boy he was industrious and energetic and often during vacation periods worked on a farm in the vicinity of his parents' home. He began his business career as a clerk in a grocery store in New Philadelphia and was thus employed for about a year, when he went to work in the rolling mills in that city. In the fall of 1910 he went to Cleveland and entered the employ of the Stearns Automobile Company, which engagement marked the beginning of his connection with the automobile industry, which has continued without interruption to the present time. Mr. Jones remained with the Stearns Company until he went to Canton, Ohio, where for two years he was connected with the firm of Monnot & Sacher, Ford dealers of that city. He then became identified with 0. P. Bashaw, of Alliance, Ohio, handling the Ford line. Mr. Jones remained in Alliance until 1914, having in the meantime acquired an interest in the business. In January, 1914, he located in Akron, continuing his association with Mr. Bashaw. In 1916 Mr. Jones established an independent business under the name of the Jones Motor Sales Company. Subsequent changes in the firm style were made from time to time, until on January 1, 1927, when the business was incorporated as the W. F. Jones Company, of which he has ever since been the executive head. Since 1918 the business has occupied its present location at 56 South High street. This company carries a complete line of Ford cars and accessories and is classed with the leading automobile dealers of the city. Mr. Jones' progressive spirit has led him into other fields, in which he has been equally successful, having a capacity for detail as well as the ability to think in large terms, and the exercise of effort keeps him alert. He is vice president of the Summit Beach Park Company; president of the W. F. Jones Broadcasting Company, whose station, WFJC, on the Beacon-Journal's new million dollar home is the largest in this city; president and treasurer of the Christianson Agate Company; and president of the Akron-Cleveland Speedway, which is devoted to automobile races. Resourceful, decisive and systematic, he is able to accomplish a great deal of work in a short time and his name is a guarantee of the stability and soundness of every corporation which he represents. Mr. Jones was married June 5, 1917, in Canton, Ohio, to Miss Helen F. Smith, a daughter of Fred Smith of that city, and they have a son, Rosser Jenkin, who was born in Akron, August 3, 1918. Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic order, in which 442 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY he holds the thirty-second degree and is a past master of Adoniram Lodge, No. 517, F. & A. M. His fraternal affiliations also extend to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the Silver Lake Country Club, and the Akron City Club, and in religious faith he is a Christian Scientist. His plans and theories, deeply conceived and deliberately matured, have crystallized into realities. Few men of his years have accomplished as much and his success has its root in those qualities which inspire trust and confidence and compel admiration and respect. Mr. Jones' residence is at No. 1203 North Howard street. HUGH ALLEN GALT To Hugh Allen Galt, Barberton and Summit county are largely indebted for their industrial prosperity, for to his ability and tireless efforts were due the establishment and development of the great plant of the Columbia Chemical Division of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, of which he is vice president and general manager, also one of the board of directors. Mr. Gait was born February 13, 1868, at Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, and is the only son of Frederick and Agnes (Orr) Galt of that place. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Ardrossan parish, Ayrshire. Later he took a three-years' course in technical chemistry at Anderson's College, Glasgow, and special courses in physics in Glasgow University. His first position as a chemist was in Irvine, Ayrshire, in the Englinton Chemical Works, one of the plants of the United Alkali Company of Great Britain. In their productions bichromate of soda was extensively used. None of this chemical was made at this time in the United States, although large quantities were imported for dyeing and color manufacture. Mr. Galt went to Philadelphia in 1889 as chemist with the Kalion Chemical Company, which was anxious to add bichromate of soda to its list of manufactured chemicals. Soda ash was one of the principal raw materials in the manufacture of bichromate of soda. There was only one plant in the United States producing soda ash and this was controlled and operated by British capital. As their production was small compared with the consumption, large quantities were imported from Great Britain, Belgium and Germany. About 1892 Captain John B. Ford, the pioneer plate glass AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 445 manufacturer of Pittsburgh, saw the importance of soda ash being produced in this country. Captain Ford and John Pitcairn, a Philadelphia capitalist, had formed the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, with operating plants at Creighton and Tarentum, Pennsylvania. Large quanities of soda ash were consumed, so Captain Ford decided to build an alkali plant at Wyandotte, Michigan, and gave Mr. Galt the position of superintendent of this new plant, first sending him to England to buy special machinery and to study English methods. In 1896 the Michigan Alkali Company was formed and the first successful plant was built and started operating in November, 1896. The new venture faced discouragements and hardships, but it was successful, and Michigan owes a debt of gratitude to Captain J. B. Ford for the development and utilization of its salt deposits. In 1899 the control of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company was obtained by the Pitcairn interests. They decided to erect an alkali plant of their own, and in that year the Columbia Chemical Company was organized by John Pitcairn and his associates, H. C. Frick and the Mellon interests. At this time Mr. Galt resigned from the Michigan Alkali Company and accepted the position of general manager in charge of the construction of an alkali plant for the newly organized Columbia Chemical Company. His first work was to find a suitable location for the plant. It was finally decided to build at Barberton provided necessary salt deposits could be found. Land was optioned, a well was started and excellent salt deposits, hitherto lying dormant, were developed. The plant was started in 1899 and began production of soda ash in 1900. It was the third plant of its kind in the United States and the first in Ohio. What is now known as West Barberton was then farm land and the present site of the Columbia Chemical Company plant was then a corn field. In 1918 the Columbia Chemical Company was consolidated with the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company and is now known as the C. C. Division of that company. Large quantities of limestone are consumed in the manufacture of soda ash and caustic soda. This at first was obtained from Columbus, Ohio, but in 1920, a quarry near Zanesville was bought and operated. As this limestone is of a certain size causing the accumulation of screenings and small size stone, a cement plant was erected near the quarry and is now producing Colum- 446 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY bia cement. This is the Cement Division of the Columbia Chemical Company. Mr. Galt's home, "Braeside," is one of the beautiful residences on Medina road. His summer home is in Ventnor, New Jersey. He married Miss Annie Alexander of Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, March 31, 1894. They have one daughter, Dorothy Margaret, wife of Robert D. Parsons, a member of one of the old families of Akron. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons reside in Zanesville, Ohio. They have two sons : Hugh Galt, born in 1916 ; and Robert, Jr., born in 1918. Mr. Galt is a member of the Portage Country Club of Akron and a past president thereof, and also belongs to the Brookside Country Club of Barberton and the Seaview Golf Club of New Jersey. He is vice president of the American Chemical Manufacturers Association, a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Chemical Engineers and the Society of Chemical Industries of Great Britain. He is an honorary member of the Ohio National Guard, and is a trustee of the First Presbyterian church of Akron ; he also is a director and past president of the Citizens Hospital of Barberton. JOHN V. NICE John V. Nice, member of the well known dry goods firm of Wercks & Nice, at Kenmore, has been actively engaged in mercantile affairs here for fifteen years, during which period he has met with well merited success, being a progressive and energetic business man. Born at Easton, Ohio, on the 15th day of July, 1892, he is a son of Joseph F. and Clara E. (Baughman) Nice, both of whom now live at Kenmore. He received his educational training in the public schools and earned his first money as a newsboy. He then entered the Alderfer bake shop, where he learned the trade, which he followed for two years. He also learned the trade of a brickmason. For two years he was employed in the experimental department of the International Harvester Company, at Chicago, and on quitting that line of work gained employment as a brickmason. Later he worked as a clerk in a grocery store, and on November 17, 1913, established his present dry goods business in Kenmore. Here he met with encouraging success and, in March, 1917, admitted Anton H. Wercks to a partnership in the business, which has since been AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 447 conducted under the name of Nice & Wercks. The first location of the store was on the present site of the post office building, where it remained until the fall of 1916, and since February 8, 1924, they have been at their present location at 1526 Kenmore boulevard. This is now the leading dry goods store of Kenmore and commands a large trade, covering a wide territory, due to the progressive business policy of the firm. Mr. Nice was married on July 5, 1916, to Miss Gladys Cox, who died in 1919, and on October 14, 1920, he wedded Miss Elva E. Horst, to which union has been born a son, William Valentine. Mr. Nice has been an active supporter of the republican party and served as a member of the county central committee in 191617-18. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Malta and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and his religious connection is with Goss Memorial Reformed church, to which he gives liberal support. He has shown a commendable interest in the welfare of his community, and has measured up to the highest standard of citizenship and has thereby gaining and retaining the confidence and respect of his fellowmen, while in the social circles in which he moves he enjoys well deserved popularity. SAMUEL A. JACOBS Akron is a monument to the aggregate labors of many enterprising, farsighted business men of the type of Samuel A. Jacobs, who has achieved substantial success and enjoys the distinction of being the city's leading furniture dealer. He was born January 4, 1879, in Cincinnati, Ohio, a son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Pareira) Jacobs, natives respectively of Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, and Amsterdam, Holland. Both came to the United States in childhood and were educated and married in Cincinnati. There the father engaged in merchandising for many years and both he and the mother passed away in that city. In the acquirement of an education Samuel A. Jacobs attended the public schools of Cincinnati and Hamilton, Ohio, and afterward became a traveling salesman for the Mosler Safe Company of Cincinnati. For eight years he filled that position and later embarked in the furniture business at Hamilton. He also opened a store in Cleveland, Ohio, but left that city at the end of a year and came to Akron. In 1905 he organized the Home Furniture 15-VOL. 3 448 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY Company, later changing the name to the present form of the Peoples Outfitting Company, and now has the largest establishment of the kind in Akron. Later he obtained control of the Dodge Furniture Company, one of the oldest furniture houses in the city, purchasing the business from James V. Oliver, and is president of this firm as well as the Peoples Outfitting Company. Mr. Jacobs is exceptionally well informed on trade matters and his establishments are veritable treasure houses of beautiful things and characterized by an air of distinction in personal service as well as in merchandise. He is an honest dealer whose word is always to be relied upon and many of his customers have remained patrons throughout the period of his connection with mercantile interests of the city. Mr. Jacobs was married June 21, 1905, to Miss Lillian Daisy Weil, of Denver, Colorado, and they have become the parents of three children : Arthur L., born in Akron in August, 1907, and now a junior at Harvard University; Richard E., born in Akron in January, 1909, a graduate of the St. Johns Military Academy; and Blanche Elizabeth, who was born in this city in October, 1910, and is a student at Akron University. Mr. Jacobs is a member of the Akron Automobile Club and his fraternal affiliations are with the Masons and the Elks. He is a progressive business man of high standing and a citizen who would be a valuable acquisition to any community. JOSEPH H. SPULLER There are few men who so fully realize the ambition and dreams of their youth as has Joseph H. Spuller, owner of the Pendleton Hotel in Akron. Fortune did not smile upon him during his early years but he has won her favor and is now one of the substantial and prosperous residents of his adopted city. His birth occurred in Decatur, Adams county, Indiana, February 28, 1855, his parents being John P. and Elizabeth (Arnold) Spuller, who were natives of Switzerland and of Maryland, respectively. The father came to the new world with his parents, George and Ann (Stegmyre) Spuller, in 1833, when a lad of six years, the family home being established on a farm near Crestline, Ohio, where the family remained until 1836, when they migrated to Adams county, Indiana, being pioneers in that section of the Hoosier state. In 1848 John P. Spuller returned to Ohio, locating