(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 451 on a farm near Sharon, Medina county. Here he met and married Elizabeth Arnold, who was a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Plumb) Arnold. In 1850, John P. Spuller moved to Adams county, Indiana, and carried on farming there until 1872. In that year he turned from agricultural pursuits and moved to Akron, where he established a shoe business, having a small shop on Mill street. With the passing of the years the business developed, becoming one of the important commercial and manufacturing interests of its kind in the city, Mr. Spuller remaining in active connection therewith until his death in 1906. For eight years he had survived his wife, who passed away in 1898. They had a family of eight children, as follows : George J., Nathaniel, Joseph H., Emanuel, Philip J., Richard X., Anna M. and Frank A. In his youthful days Joseph H. Spuller attended the public schools near his Indiana home and later continued his education in Akron following the removal of the family to this city. When his textbooks were put aside he began learning the business of manufacturing shoes in his father's establishment, and as the business grew the Akron Shoe Company was incorporated and Mr. Spuller became general manager. Its store was located on South Main street, between Mill and Market, on the former site of the O'Neil store, the O'Neil company purchasing the property in 1897. Mr. Spuller, however, had anticipated this change and in 1896 had purchased the old Pendleton home at 219 East Market street and converted it into a hotel and restaurant. On one occasion, when in reminiscent mood, he related that as a boy, when his father was conducting a little shoemaking business down on Mill street back in the '70s, he had gone up the hill on Market street, finding has way among the mansions of that day that were surrounded by great lawns adorned with beautiful flowers, stately trees and lovely fountains. He marveled at the big homes he saw, so different from the district in which he lived, and he wished that he might some time own the place from which emerged on that day one of Akron's leading bankers, Joy H. Pendleton. The dream of owning property on beautiful Market street hill never left him, and though many years were added to the cycle of the centuries ere this vision was realized, he eventually became owner of the old Pendleton home, which, as previously stated, he has converted into a hotel and restaurant that he has since conducted on a high scale. On the 27th of June, 1881, Mr. Spuller was united in marriage to Miss Mary C. Murphy, a daughter of Martin and Katherine 452 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY Murphy, of Boston, Massachusetts. She was educated at Notre Dame Academy, Berkeley street, Boston. She was a lady of superior intellect and innate refinement, and for fourteen years had successfully followed educational work as a teacher in Boston, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Ashtabula and Bellevue, Ohio. After her marriage Mrs. Spuller was for nearly ten years engaged in art needle work, being one of the pioneer dealers in this line in Akron. Her store on the north side of Mill street, between High and Broadway, was very well known and attracted patrons from various sections of the country. She was exceptionally skillful in art needle work and possessed the faculty of being able to instruct others in her employ. Mrs. Spuller is still active in the management of the Pendleton Hotel. The only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Spuller, Minnie J., is now principal of the Bowen school, thus supervising the activities of one of Akron's public schools, whose pupils represent twenty-six nationalities. She helped to organize the first classes for a group of the city's crippled, subnormal and undernourished children, as well as those with defective eyesight. She has engaged in this work for more than twenty-five years. A native of Akron, Miss Spuller attended St. Vincent's school, graduated from Buchtel Academy and the Perkins Normal College and later took courses at the Michigan State Normal College of Ypsilanti, the Kent Normal School and the Teachers' College at the University of Akron. She began teaching at the Miller school, where she remained for a year and since then has been connected with the Bowen school, acting as a teacher for ten years and then assuming the principalship. The Bowen school is the only one in the Akron school system which has eight elementary grades and the special classes for crippled children and those having defective eyesight. Miss Spuller is a member of the Business Women's Club, the Akron Teachers' Association and the State and National Educational Associations. She belongs to St. Vincent's church and makes her home with her parents at 219 East Market street. Both Mr. and Mrs. Spuller are original members of the Fifty Year Club of Akron and are of the Roman Catholic faith. Fraternally Mr. Spuller is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and with the American Insurance Union. He likewise belongs to the Akron Chamber of Commerce. He has never been an office seeker, his only public service being as assessor of the first ward for a period of four years and for thirty years as a member of the board of elections. Mr. Spuller has AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 453 always been a democrat and takes a keen interest in the party's success. His time and attention have always been given to his business interests with the result that close application and unfaltering enterprise have brought him substantial and well merited success. RAYMOND C. SHAFFER Commercial enterprise in Akron finds a worthy representative in Raymond C. Shaffer, who is a product of the city and a partner in one of its oldest mercantile institutions, representing a family long connected with the leather trade. He was born February 14, 1893, and is a son of Fred N. and Elta M. (Everhart) Shaffer, both members of pioneer families of Ohio, in which state they have always resided. The father was one of the founders of the business now conducted under the style of the Shaffer Leather Company. The history of the enterprise dates from 1827, when Mr. Christy opened a tannery in Akron. His son succeeded to the industry, which he operated independently until 1903, when he formed a partnership with Fred N. Shaffer. They were associated for eighteen years as members of the firm of Christy Si Shaffer and conducted a wholesale and retail leather store. In 1921 Mr. Christy withdrew from the firm, selling his interest to Fred N. Shaffer, whose family has since controlled the business, and to its upbuilding he has devoted the best years of his life. Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer have three children : Mrs. Grace Fichter, Miss Gladys E. Shaffer and Raymond C. Shaffer, all of whom reside in Akron. The son was reared in the Rubber city and received a public school education. At the age of seventeen he entered the establishment of Christy & Shaffer and zealously applied himself to his duties, displaying a natural aptitude for the business. In 1925 he was admitted to a partnership in the company and is now relieving his father of much of the burden of management, proving a capable executive of mature judgment. The store is located at No. 88 South Market street and stocked with a complete line of leather goods of the best quality. High standards of service have ever actuated the owners of the business and for a quarter of century the name of Shaffer has been synonymous with commercial enterprise and integrity in Akron. Raymond C. Shaffer was married June 2, 1914, in Akron to 454 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY Miss Beatrice C. Fisener, by whom he has three children : Margaret, who was born in 1915 ; and Caroline and Katherine, twins, born in 1921. All are natives of the city and public school pupils. Mr. Shaffer is a Scottish Rite Mason and monarch of the Grotto. He is a young man of strong character and a pleasing personality has drawn to him a wide circle of stanch friends. CHARLES HAAS The Charles Haas Company, of which Charles Haas is president, is one of the distinctive business concerns of Cuyahoga Falls and has built up a large trade, covering a wide radius of country. Mr. Haas has proven a progressive and capable executive, and to his personal initiative and persistent efforts the success of the business is largely due. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on the 5th of May, 1889, a son of Clementz and Cecelia (Kleinhens) Haas, and was educated at St. Boniface school in his home city. As a child he possessed a beautiful soprano voice and it was his ambition to become a concert singer but circumstances made it necessary for him to go to work when only thirteen years of age. His first position was in the shops of the Snead Architectural Iron Works, where he served an apprenticeship for four years. It was during this time that he studied architectural drawing in the night school of the Y. M. C. A. of Louisville for three years. On completing his apprenticeship he went to Bedford, Indiana, and served as foreman of the Bedford Foundry & Machine Company. After four years in Bedford Mr. Haas became superintendent of the lay-out shop of the Pan American Building Company in New Castle, Indiana, where he remained until 1915. In the spring of 1916 he became foreman of the E. F. Hauserman Company, steel window contractors in Cleveland. When he quit there in 1920 he was general superintendent. He was then erection manager of the United Erecting Company, Cleveland, until April 1, 1923, when he came to Cuyahoga Falls and organized the Charles Haas Company, steel sash specialists, including erection, painting, glazing and maintenance. In 1924 the company was incorporated, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, and since that time Mr. Haas' brother, J. L. Haas, has entered the company, in addition to whom, E. G. Gensemer, C. E. Motz, Roy Swartzlander and H. R. Lane are directors. Their office building in Cuyahoga Falls AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 457 was erected in 1925, and the business has enjoyed a steady and substantial growth, the company filling many large contracts in widely separated cities. Approximately one hundred people are employed, and the Haas company is numbered among the prosperous and reliable business concerns of Summit county. While a resident of Bedford, Indiana, Mr. Haas heard Miss Georgia Lane sing and she also heard him sing. This settled the matter, and in 1910 they were married in the St. Boniface church at Louisville, Kentucky, where he had sung as a boy. Mrs. Haas is a daughter of Margin D. and Anna (Ross) Lane, the latter now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Haas have one son, Charles Jr., who possesses a good tenor voice, while Mr. Haas now sings baritone and his wife soprano. Back in Louisville the question was often repeated "Who is that dear little boy who sings so sweetly, whose angelic voice works on the listener's sympathetic cord and brings tears to the eye ; a voice which moves sinners to think of their transgressions with shame. Who is he?" This boy was Charlie Haas, now Charles Haas, the subject of this review. For two years Mr. and Mrs. Haas studied voice culture at the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music and were frequently heard in concerts. He holds membership in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church and is a member of the Western Pennsylvania Engineering Society; the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks; the Knights of Columbus; the Kiwanis Club; the Akron City Club and the Silver Lake Country Club. He is also a member and director of the Cuyahoga Falls Chamber of Commerce. His chief forms of recreation are golf and fishing, and he is a man of splendid personal qualities, who commands the respect of all who know him. HON. DAYTON A. DOYLE Hon. Dayton A. Doyle, deceased, a representative of one of Summit county's foremost families, was for a quarter of a century numbered among the prominent attorneys of the Akron bar, being a member of one of the leading law firms of northeastern Ohio. Moreover, he made a most commendable record during two terms' service as judge of the common pleas court of the eighth subdivision of the fourth judicial district. Hon. Dayton A. Doyle was in the sixty-fourth year of his age when he passed away February 28, 1920, having been born September 27, 1856, in Summit county, Ohio. His parents, William 458 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY B. and Harriet (Sage) Doyle, were pioneer residents here. The father, a native of Doylesburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, became one of the early lumber dealers of northern Ohio and a prominent business man of Akron. The first known ancestor of the Doyle family in this county was Felix Doyle, who came into southern Pennsylvania long before the French and Indian war. He, with others, at an early day suffered the penalty of the law for violating one of Penn's Indian treaties in taking up Indian land, but after the Indians joined the French his land was restored to him. Mrs. Harriet (Sage) Doyle, the mother of Judge Doyle, was a native of Wheatland, Monroe county, New York. She was seventh in descent from the original ancestor of the Sage family in America, David Sage, who came from Wales to Middletown, Connecticut, in 1652. David Sage had numerous descendants,. among them the late Russell Sage of New York. This family was represented in the Colonial wars, the war of the Revolution and the War of 1812. After completing a course in the Akron high school in 1874, Dayton A. Doyle became a student in Buchtel College, from which he was graduated in 1878. Having resolved to make the practice of law his life work, he then entered the Cincinnati Law school, and won his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1880. On the 27th of May of that year he was admitted to the bar. Later Buchtel College bestowed upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws and for several years he was a trustee of that institution. In 1885 he entered into partnership with Major Frederick C. Bryan and in the same year was elected city solicitor, which office he filled until 1889. With the admission of Charles Dick to the partnership the firm name of Dick, Doyle & Bryan was assumed, the association being maintained until Mr. Dick was elected to the United States senate. In 1898 Judge Doyle became referee in bankruptcy in Summit county, filling the office until 1906, when he was elected judge of the common pleas court of the eighth subdivision of the fourth judicial district. He remained upon the bench for two terms, retiring in 1918, and his course marked him as one of the ablest jurists of the district courts of Ohio. He stood in the foremost rank of Summit county attorneys and his entire record reflected credit and honor upon the history of the legal profession in Ohio. He was also prominent in other connections, becoming the first president of the Summit County Bank, which later consolidated with the Ohio State Bank & Trust Company. He was also president of the Glendale Cemetery Associa- AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 459 tion for many years and was on the directorate of various other organizations. Fraternally he was a Delta Tau Delta, an Elk, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias and in the fullest measure enjoyed the respect and esteem of his brethren of those societies. He was also an active member of the First Methodist church and was one of the original members of the Summit County Bar Association. A contemporary biographer said of him : "Judge Doyle possessed estimable qualities of mind and heart, and exemplified those attributes found in the successful practitioner and able and important jurist. Equipped with nature's best endowments, supplemented by an intellectual and legal training acquired by a life of industry and study, he brought to his judicial duties all those qualities which served to make for him an enviable record as a judge. He was diligent and painstaking in his work, and was intellectually and judicially honest with himself as well as with the body of the public which he served faithfully and well, in various positions of public trust. As a citizen he was patriotic in his personal relations of good conduct and example, and he left behind him achievements worthy of the ambition of those who are to succeed him in the fulfillment of the duties and responsibilities of life." Judge Doyle was married April 23, 1884, to Miss Ida M. West-fall, a daughter of Jepeth Westfall, grandson of a Revolutionary soldier. To them were born seven children : Dayton A., secretary and treasurer of the B. H. Seever Lumber Company of Akron, who married Miss Ida Carter, of Kenton, Ohio; Nelson Sage, who died at the age of two years; Arthur W., a prominent lawyer of Akron who is mentioned elsewhere in this work; Frank, whose death occurred at St. Augustine, Florida, January 23, 1924 ; Julia M., now Mrs. Harold Dalzell, of Akron ; Harriet K., wife of Dr. George Kenneth Parke, of Akron; and Miss Ida Ruth, who resides with her mother. The family home for a number of years has been at 733 West Market street. THOMAS A. PALMER One of the best known industrial enterprises of Akron is the Palmer Match Company, of which Thomas A. Palmer is vice president and secretary. Having had many years of practical experience in the match manufacturing business, he is able to contribute in large measure to the success of this company and is 460 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY regarded as one of Akron's most capable and useful business men. Mr. Palmer was born in Akron, Ohio, on the 4th day of July, 1877, and is a son of Charles H. and Marion (Peckham) Palmer, of whom the latter died in April, 1927. He attended the public schools of his home city, graduating from high school, and then attended the Case School of Applied Sciences at Cleveland. Entering the employ of the Diamond Match Company, at Barberton, Ohio, he there obtained a thorough knowledge of the business and, through his faithful and efficient service, won deserved promotions until he became manager. He remained in the employ of that company both in America and Europe for twenty-one years. In 1921, the Palmer Match Company was organized by his father, Charles H. Palmer, his uncle, William N. Palmer, and himself. About a year ago William N. Palmer died and Charles H. Palmer is now president of the company, with Thomas A. Palmer as vice president and secretary, and John L. Walker, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as treasurer. The company employs an average of one hundred persons and operates a modern plant, in which is produced only high-grade matches, for which there is a steady demand by the trade. In 1900 Mr. Palmer was united in marriage to Miss Ella Memmer, of Akron, and they are the parents of a daughter, Marion, who is a graduate of the Laurel school, of Cleveland, and is now attending Mt. Vernon Seminary at Washington, D. C. Mr. Palmer gives his political support to the republican party and takes a deep interest in public affairs, particularly such as relate to the progress and prosperity of his home community. A life of diligence and industry has brought him a substantial measure of success and he has shown himself well worthy of the confidence and respect which are accorded him by his fellow men. His club affiliations are with the Portage Country and Akron City clubs. DONOVAN D. ISHAM Among the younger representatives of the Akron bar is numbered Donovan D. Isham, better known as Don Isham, who has already gained a creditable position as an attorney, has keen mentality and laudable ambition carrying him far on the highroad to success. A native of Ada, Ohio, he was born January 5, 1900, and is a son of Charles and Verda (Borden) Isham, who are AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 463 also natives of Ada, where they still reside. The father is active in oil land development and is one of the successful representatives of that industry. Donovan D. Isham, an only child, attended the graded schools of Ada, Ohio, and also the high school at Ada and afterward pursued the classical course in the Ohio Northern University and also the law course offered by that institution, being graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1922. He was admitted to the bar in June of that year, when but twenty-two years of age. The following is an excerpt from an interesting review of his career which appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal : "He was deep in debt for his education, and together with eleven other law graduates who could play musical instruments, and were also in debt for their schooling, organized a 'live wire' orchestra with Isham as their leader and toured the country as `Isham and His Lawyers.' They gained fame. While in Chicago late in 1922 they were heard by the manager of the East Market Gardens, who had gone there to hear them. He signed them up for Akron and they played here for seventeen weeks early in 1923. While here Isham looked Akron over. He decided it was the right place for a young lawyer to locate in. He turned his baton over to his pianist, resigned from the orchestra and opened his law office." In the general practice of law he has since made steady progress, having already gained a position that many an older attorney might well envy. At the primary held in November, 1927, he was a candidate for nomination for municipal judge and was defeated by a few votes. In the August primaries of 1928 he received the nomination on the republican ticket for prosecuting attorney of Summit county. On the 18th of June, 1924, Mr. Isham was married to Miss Cretora L. Lawrence, of Kenton, Ohio, daughter of William J. and Ada (Conner) Lawrence, of that city. Mr. Isham belongs to the Masonic lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and that he is popular socially is indicated by the fact that he has been admitted to membership in Masonic Club, Wayfarers of the East and West Grotta, Welsh Club, the University Club, and the Delta Theta Phi fraternity. He is also a member of the Akron Chamber of Commerce and of the North and South and West Hill Boards of Trade. Mr. Isham has mastered the saxophone, piano and clarinet and is one of the players in the Lawyers' and Business Men's Orchestra. He 464 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY is an honorary member of the Women's Welsh Club. Both he and his wife are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church and are interested in all that makes for material, intellectual, social and moral progress. Mr. Isham is now superintendent of the senior department of the Sunday school of the First Methodist Episcopal church. His name is likewise on the membership roll of the Musicians Protective Association, while along strictly professional lines he is connected with the Summit County, Ohio State and American Bar Associations. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and since his school days he has been a student of history. What he has already accomplished argues well for the future. STEPHEN GREENFIELD, M. D. Since 1917 Dr. Stephen Greenfield has engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Akron and studiousness, combined with the habit of thoroughness, has brought him to the fore in his profession. He was born December 19, 1887, in Vienna, Austria, and is a son of Leo and Johanna (Roth) Greenfield, natives of Hungary. In 1888 they sailed for the United States and established their home in New York city. The father was born March 24, 1854, and is seventy-four years of age, while the mother was born November 20, 1857, and has reached the seventieth milestone on life's journey. They have a family of six children : Mrs. Selma Keer, who is living in Philadelphia ; Mrs. Julia Fosberg, of New York city; Miss Valeria Greenfield, a teacher in the junior high school of New York city; Benjamin F. and Charles B. Greenfield, residents of Los Angeles; and Dr. Stephen Greenfield. The last named was reared in New York city and completed his high school course in 1905. He then entered New York University, from which he received the degree of M. D. in 1909, and afterward devoted two years to study in the medical centers of Europe. On returning to this country he began the active work of his profession in New York city, which he left in 1917, and in the same year became connected with the health department of Akron. A year later he completed his term of service and since 1918 has followed his profession in a private capacity, devoting his attention to obstetrical cases and the treatment of female diseases. In these fields of activity he has become recog- AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 467 nized. He is a member of the staff of the Peoples Hospital, and his practice has assumed large proportions. Dr. Greenfield was married September 28, 1915, in New York city to Miss Beatrice Helfand, of that city. Her father was a well known architect of that city. Dr. and Mrs. Greenfield became the parents of three children : Leon Adrian, who was born August 18, 1918, and died February 12, 1919; Arline Joyce, who was born January 26, 1922; and William David, born January 17, 1924. All of the children were born in Akron. Dr. Greenfield belongs to the Akron Automobile Club and the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. Along professional lines he is affiliated with the Summit County and Ohio State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. Throughout his career he has remained a deep student and a tireless worker, and his success proves that he has chosen the best medium for the expression of his talents. He lends the weight of his support to all movements for the growth and betterment of the city with which he has allied his interests, and his demeanor is marked by the courtesy and consideration which are the outward expression of a gentle and kindly nature. Dr. Greenfield's residence is at No. 390 East South street. MICHAEL O'NEIL Akron's growth and development is largely synonymous with the record of Michael O'Neil. In fact the city's upbuilding largely resulted from his business enterprise and progressive spirit. He was a man of high ideals that found embodiment in practical effort for their fulfillment. His ambition took tangible shape in the establishment and successful control of large business enterprises and in the direction of important civic interests from which he personally derived no special benefit but which were of the greatest worth to the city. He remained an active factor in the commercial and financial circles and in the public life of Akron almost to the end of his eventful career, which covered a period of seventy-seven years. Mr. O'Neil was born in Ireland, December 12, 1850, a son of James and Catherine (Walsh) O'Neil. In that year the father left the Emerald isle, accompanied by two of his daughters, and crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel which dropped anchor in the harbor of New York. It was his purpose to find a home for 468 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY his family in the new world and in 1851 the mother, with the other seven children, made the long voyage in a sailing vessel which was six weeks in reaching its destination. The boyhood days of Michael O'Neil were passed in the eastern metropolis, where he attended St. James parochial school and the La Salle Institute until he reached the age of sixteen years, when the necessity of providing for his own support led him to seek a position, which he found as messenger boy in a Wall street broker's office, but ere a year had passed his employer, who had formerly been an Illinois merchant, had lost his fortune in the banking and brokerage business and resolved to start anew in Illinois. He persuaded Mr. O'Neil to accompany him, but again the employer was unfortunate in his business transactions, so that in 1868 Michael O'Neil returned to New York, where he secured a clerical position in a wholesale house handling white goods and lace. There he remained for five years and in that period gained an intimate knowledge of commercial methods. Prompted by a laudable ambition, he determined to carry on business for himself and in 1873 formed a partnership with a dry goods clerk of Springfield, Ohio, and opened a dry goods store in Lancaster, this state. It was not long, however, before Mr. O'Neil felt that Lancaster did not meet his requirements in the way of opportunity for business expansion and in 1877 he sold his interest to his partner and came to Akron. From that time forward he was closely associated with the steady growth and substantial development of the city and his spirit of enterprise and progress set a standard for other merchants and business men. He first formed a partnership with Isaac J. Dyas and under the firm style of O'Neil & Dyas they opened a dry goods store in the Woods block on Market street, opposite the present site of the Portage Hotel. Both men had had previous experience. Mr. Dyas, like his partner, was a son of Erin and in that country learned the business, while later he was identified with the dry goods trade in Nashville, Tennessee. The new undertaking proved a profitable one from the beginning. They conducted both a wholesale and retail establishment and the trade developed so rapidly that larger quarters were soon necessary and a four-story building was erected by them on Main street. Its doors were opened for business in February, 1889, with a complete stock of goods. That there is no royal road to wealth was soon evidenced, however, for on the 29th of October of that year their entire establishment was destroyed by fire with a loss of one hundred and twenty thou- AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 469 sand dollars. Mr. O'Neil was at that time in New York on business. He at once wired to resume business in the old quarters in the Woods block and this was done the following day. There they remained until they could erect a new building, which they did, greatly improving upon the former one, and from that time forward their course was marked by a steady progress leading to the continuous extension of their trade. The firm name of O'Neil & Dyas became a familiar one not only to local patrons but to merchants throughout this section. With the death of Mr. Dyas in 1890 the business was reorganized under the name of M. O'Neil & Company and on incorporating the business Mr. O'Neil associated with him as stockholders three of his former employes, John J. Feudner becoming vice president of the company, with William T. Tobin as secretary and F. B. Goodman as manager. The scope of the business was rapidly extended until it became a department store—the first of the kind in Akron and one of the largest in the state. Mr. O'Neil at all times utilized the most modern and progressive methods of merchandising and by reason of his splendid establishment drew to Akron a trade that was at once beneficial to merchants in other lines as well as to himself. He continued at the head of the business until 1912, when he sold out to the May company, but such was the prestige of the establishment that the old firm name was retained and the business is still conducted under the style of the M. O'Neil Company. With his retirement from the dry goods business Mr. O'Neil accepted the presidency of the General Tire & Rubber Company, which had been established by his son William. It began as a small concern with about twenty-five employes and under the guidance of Mr. O'Neil, senior and junior, has been developed until the plant today furnishes employment to thirteen hundred people. After continuing as president for some time Michael O'Neil retired from that office to become chairman of the board and as such had voice in the management and control of the business until his demise. Nor did he confine his efforts alone to that line. He was one of the officials of the First Trust & Savings Bank and also of the Bankers Guarantee Title & Trust Company and his cooperation was eagerly sought because of the recognition of his sound judgment, his broad vision and unfaltering enterprise. Mr. O'Neil was most happily situated in his home and family relations. On the 16th of July, 1884, he was united in marriage to Miss Patience J. Maher, of Cleveland, daughter of Thomas 470 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY Maher. They became the parents of six children, the eldest of whom is William O'Neil, president of the General Tire & Rubber Company, who married Grace Savage of Kansas City, Missouri, and has six children : William, Thomas, Hugh, John, Grace and Gerald. Augustin Francis, a well known lawyer and jurist of Akron, is mentioned at length on another page of this work. Thomas, the third son, is married and has five children : Jane, Dorothy, Vivian, Thomas and Michael. Cyril F., born in Akron and now a resident of Cleveland, has two children, Cyril F. and Eugene. Patience, born in Akron, became the wife of H. J. Garvey of Sharon, Pennsylvania, and has four children : Patience, Hugh, Cyril and Annetta Margaret. The daughter Mary completes the family and is at home with her mother. The family circle was broken by the hand of death when on the 16th of December, 1927, Michael O'Neil was called to the home beyond. Throughout the entire community there swept a sense of personal loss and bereavement as the news of his demise spread. It is almost impossible to give an adequate account of what he accomplished for Akron and what a prominent place he occupied in the community. He was one of the organizers of the Chamber of Commerce and served as its vice president. He also was one of the organizers of the company that erected the Portage Hotel, the largest in the city. He also built the structure which houses the M. O'Neil store and the Howard street addition to the store. He also erected the building occupied by the M. J. Rose Furniture Company and which he later sold. He built and to the time of his death was owner of the Ohio building, one of the largest office structures in Akron, and he was likewise the builder of the Cadillac building on West Market street, where he had in process of erection at the time of his death a new garage. Along many lines that had to do only with civic welfare he was most active. He filled the presidency of the North Akron Improvement Association and it was due to his work and influence that the present viaduct was built connecting North and South Akron across the valley. There is no man who did so much for the new St. Thomas Hospital as Mr. O'Neil. His aid and influence were a potent element in raising funds for the institution and his personal gift thereto was one hundred thousand dollars. He remained one of its directors and a contributor to the hospital until his demise. He took a very prominent part in Catholic activities in Akron, was a communicant of St. Vincent's church and was a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus. AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 471 It was the purpose of the Catholic church to bestow upon him one of the highest honors accorded its laymen, but Mr. O'Neil did not live to know of this, for just following his death a cablegram was received from Bishop Schrembs, then in Rome, announcing that the pope had conferred on Mr. O'Neil the honor of Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory in appreciation of his great work in the Catholic church. His social nature found expression in his membership in the Portage Country and Akron City clubs, but he perhaps gave more time to philanthropy and public service of that character than to social interests. During the World war period he headed the Knights of Columbus War Fund drive, was a member of every Liberty Loan committee of Akron and was active in the War Chest drive. No one ever questioned his patriotic devotion to his country and in days of peace, as well as in times of war, he labored untiringly for the benefit and upbuilding of city and state and was an active working member of the Better Akron Federation. The part which he played in the charitable work of the city cannot be overestimated. Aside from his great gift to the St. Thomas Hospital he was continuously bestowing his aid upon other institutions and upon worthy individuals. He never held himself aloof from his fellowmen, being ever willing to extend a helping hand or speak an encouraging word, and something of his splendid nature is shown in the unfalteringly loyalty which his employes had for him. The greatest and the humblest in the land respected and honored him. When he passed on A. L. Viles, general manager of the Rubber Association of America, wired the following message to one of the sons : "Greatly shocked to learn of the death of your father. Extend deepest sympathy to you and family. Your personal loss is great, but the community in which he lived, the rubber industry and wherever his influence was felt have lost a living symbol of the fine and rugged character which is the foundation of all worth-while American institutions." Men prominent in church, in state and in business from all parts of the country sent messages of condolence, each expressing the high esteem entertained for Mr. O'Neil. Jerome Dauby, now president of the M. O'Neil Company, said : "In the passing of Mr. Michael O'Neil, our community has suffered an irreparable loss, for he was not only a brilliant man of business but in every worthy civic cause he was found actively engaged, giving freely and unselfishly of his substance and of himself. In the year 1912, when I came to Akron to take charge of the business which Mr. O'Neil had 472 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY founded, he agreed to remain in the store about a year to give me the benefit of his knowledge and experience. That was a year I shall never forget. We were closely associated and while I had been previously connected with some of America's best business men, I soon learned that in Mr. O'Neil I met a master from whom any man could learn. I owe much of what success I have since enjoyed to the sound advice, wise counsel and friendly support I received from this kindly, courteous gentleman. I have been asked what quality in Mr. O'Neil appealed to me most strongly. In making reply, I shall deal with Mr. O'Neil, the business man, for it was in that capacity I knew him. He had all the qualities that go to make a great leader. He was farsighted, enterprising, quick of decision, an excellent judge of material things, and still more important, a splendid judge of men—admirable qualities; but he had one more which dwarfed them all and that was his strict business integrity, his uncompromising 'honesty'—not the honesty which is the best 'policy'— not honesty because it pays, but the honesty born from an inherent love of truth which recognizes that all men are entitled to a fair deal and that the end does not justify the means. By the employes of the store, many of whom are still there, he was loved and respected, not only as an employer, but as a sincere friend. There are many sad hearts in our store today. A great and good man has passed to the great beyond." The general feeling concerning the passing of Mr. O'Neil was expressed by W. 0. Rutherford, vice president of the Goodrich Rubber Company, in the following: "The death of M. O'Neil takes from our community a character that will ever be exalted in the memories of all who came in contact with him. I have known Mr. O'Neil for a great number of years and have always found him a devoted worker in the cause of charity and tireless in advocating the things that promoted civic welfare and progress. He was truly a great man and I have always looked up to Mr. O'Neil as being a citizen of the first importance, for everything that he did was actuated by an honesty of purpose that was fairly devotional in its character. Akron has suffered an irreparable loss in his passing." The mayor of the city bore evidence of his regard for Mr. O'Neil in the following: "Akron has lost one of its most capable and civic-minded citizens. Mr. O'Neil was a man who always was interested in the betterment of our city." P. T. McCourt bore the following testimony: "During the AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 473 forty years I knew Mr. O'Neil, I found his judgment the most wonderful of any man I have ever met. I have always held him in the highest esteem and his death will be deeply felt." R. L. McAllister said : "I knew him as a wonderful and honest business man and as the best of personal friends. His personal qualities could not have been better. He was one of the best citizens we have ever had." Charles Jahant paid the following tribute : "We will miss him more than we realize now. The great loss will increase as we go along. His presence has always been a stimulant and a great aid for us to carry through in all things." William Clerkin, Sr., said : "I knew Mr. O'Neil for forty years and they were forty years during which I was constantly impressed by the goodness and honesty of the man. Akron has lost one of its most useful citizens. I never knew a more fair or just man." A beautiful and fitting tribute was paid him by the church, the Rev. O'Keefe saying: "Though his body is gone, his deeds will live forever—there is no death of the spirit * * * His faith made him the man he was, the ideal father, the husband, the person he was in the community, his business a success." Following the requiem high mass his remains were laid to rest and the earthly activities of Michael O'Neil were over, but years and years will pass ere Akron ceases to honor his memory or forgets the important part which he played in her development along material, philanthropic and moral lines. ROSS A. CLINE The Columbia Chemical division of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company at Barberton has been fortunate in its selection of men for the heads of its various departments, and in no case is this more apparent than in that of Ross A. Cline, superintendent of the caustic soda department, the whiting department and the lime recovery plant, in which capacity he is rendering very effective and satisfactory service. Mr. Cline was born at Doylestown, Ohio, on the 12th of October, 1878, a son of Peter and Henrietta (Ries) Cline. After completing the grade and high school courses, he attended Oberlin College, from which he was graduated in 1898. He entered the employ of the Hoyt Dry Goods Company, of Cleveland, and later worked for the M. O'Neil Com- 474 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY pany, at Akron. From there he went to the Card & Prosser Coal Company, at Wadsworth, Ohio, with whom he remained until 1901, when he came to Barberton and entered the employ of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company as engineer. He has been promoted from time to time and is now one of this company's most valued employees. On January 29, 1898, Mr. Cline was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Marnin, a daughter of William and Mary (Herwick) Marnin, of Doylestown, Ohio, and they are the parents of three children : Marguerite Catherine, who is teaching in the public schools; Camilla Gertrude, the wife of Robert Caine of Barberton ; and Vigil Peter, who is a student in Notre Dame University. Mrs. Cline has been actively interested in local club and civic affairs. She has been a member of the Barberton chapter of the American Red Cross Society ever since its organization, served as its chairman for three years, and during the World war was in charge of its knitting department. She is a member of the board of directors of the Citizens Hospital at Barberton, was instrumental in the organization of the Sunshine school here, is president of the Hospital Auxiliary, is a member of the board of control of the Community Chest and has been a prominent factor in other movements for the advancement of the public welfare. She is a member of the Barberton Music and Art Study Club and the Woman's Club and is a past president of the Ladies Catholic Benevolent Association. Mr. Cline gives his political support to the republican party and has shown a hearty spirit of cooperation in all movements for the betterment of his community. Because of his sterling character and admirable personal qualities, he is held in high esteem by all who know him. HON. J. EARL COX Thoroughly qualified as a representative of the legal profession, J. Earl Cox has been called to the bench and is now serving as judge of the Akron municipal court. Having chosen as a life work a profession in which advancement depends entirely upon individual merit and ability, he has steadily worked his way upward and now occupies an enviable position for one of his years. His birth occurred on a farm outside of Mason, Ohio, January 11, 1890, his parents being Richard M. and Lucy (Perine ) Cox, natives of Ohio and of Illinois, respectively, the mother AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 477 having removed to this state in early life. Here they still reside and Richard M. Cox has always devoted his attention to the occupation of farming. The family numbered three children : J. Earl, Richard M. and Mrs. Grace Stitt. The boyhood of J. Earl Cox was spent on the home farm, where he was required to work hard. Determined to acquire an education he studied diligently, being graduated from the Mason high school in 1907. He then entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he was graduated in 1911. Returning to Mason, he taught mathematics and science in high school one year. The next year he was employed in the internal revenue office in Cincinnati and the pension bureau in Washington. He then accepted the appointment as superintendent of schools in Mason, thus serving in 1913-14, and it was while holding this position that he made his decision to give up pedagogy and take up law. After a summer spent in the Kansas harvest fields, in 1914, he entered the law department of the University of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1917. He sought to enlist in the army but was rejected three times because of a minor physical defect. He was admitted to the Ohio bar shortly after his graduation, and with the idea of practicing law in the west he visited Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. After three months' prospecting he concluded that Ohio was the best. He returned to Mason and established himself. At the same time he bought out the weekly paper published in Mason, the Warren County Appeal, which he edited and published for two years. In law school he roomed with John McIntosh, of Oberlin, who invited Mr. Cox to form a partnership with him. They surveyed Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Cleveland and other places and decided on Akron, locating here in April, 1919. They dissolved partnership in 1925. Mr. Cox continued alone in active practice until the first of November, 1927, when he was elected judge of the municipal court. A liberal clientele was accorded him and his work in the courts constantly increased in volume and importance. Prior to his election to the bench he served as councilman from the first ward for one term beginning January 1, 1926. He is a director of the North Hill Savings & Loan Company, which he organized, and is also serving as secretary of the North Hill Masonic Temple Company and the North Hill Holding Company. In 1917 Judge Cox was married to Miss Irene Moody, a daughter of Jason Moody, formerly of London, England. They belong to the North Hill Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Cox 478 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY was formerly a member of the official board and now teaches a class of adults in the Sunday school. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Mount Akra Lodge No. 680, F. & A. M.; Lebanon Chapter, R. A. M. ; and Yusef Khan Grotto, M. 0. V. P. E. R. He is likewise a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Torch Club, the Eskimo Club, the Elks and the Exchange Club, while along strictly professional lines he has membership connection with the Akron Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association. Moreover, he belongs to the North Hill Board of Trade and he is the secretary of the Summit County Ohio Wesleyan Alumni Association. His interests are broad and varied. He is alert to the needs and conditions of the time and in all that he does is actuated by a spirit of progress resulting beneficially to the community in which he makes his home. JOSEPH BYRON SIEBER The name of Sieber is inseparately interwoven with the history of Akron, for through two generations, father and son, George W. Sieber, former state senator, and Joseph Byron Sieber, of this review, have been closely associated with the legal profession and have done much to shape the history of the Ohio bar. Extended mention of the Hon. George W. Sieber is made on another page of this work. Joseph B. Sieber was born at Akron, December 26, 1886, and in the acquirement of his education attended the public schools, completing the work of the grammar grades in 1900 and of the high school in June, 1904. He afterward became a student in Adelbert College of the Western Reserve University and next entered Yale University, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree at his graduation as a member of the class of 1908. He pursued his law course at Harvard ; gained his LL. B. degree in 1911 and was admitted to practice at the bar of Massachusetts on the 25th of August of that year. Soon afterward he returned to Akron and was admitted to the Ohio bar on the 23d of December, 1911, while in 1920 he was admitted to practice in the United States district court. With his admission to the Ohio bar he became the associate and partner of his father under the firm style of Sieber & Sieber, this relation remaining unchanged until 1917, when the admission of other partners led to the adoption of the firm name of Sieber, Martineau, Snyder & Sieber. The AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 481 firm became Sieber, Snyder & Sieber in 1918 and so continued until 1920, when the admission of a fourth partner led to the adoption of the style of Sieber, Snyder, Sieber & Amer. The withdrawal of Mr. Snyder at a later date brought about the adoption of the present firm name of Sieber, Sieber & Amer. Success has attended Joseph B. Sieber from the initial point of his professional career. It is true that he had the benefit of association with his father, a distinguished member of the Akron bar, but in no calling does advancement depend so entirely upon individual merit and ability as in the practice of law, and Joseph B. Sieber soon gave demonstration of his ability to cope with intricate and involved legal problems. He has hardly yet reached the zenith of his powers but for a number of years has been accorded a place in the front rank of the leading attorneys and ablest trial lawyers of the Akron bar. Mr. Sieber is naturally gifted as an orator, having won the oratorical contest at Akron high school in 1903, his senior year, and is regarded as one of Ohio's best known public speakers and effective campaigners. He belongs to the Summit County, Ohio State and American Bar Associations, and few men are more careful to conform their practice to the highest standard of professional ethics than he. In the political field Mr. Sieber is also a well known figure, being one of the prominent republicans of Summit county and one of the advisors and counsellors of the party in this section of the state. In 1924 and again in 1926 he was a candidate for the republican nomination for governor of Ohio, running a close second, being only defeated by former Governor Davis in a field of eight. He is widely known in this city through his social and fraternal connections as well as a member of the bar. He belongs to the Akron City Club, the Portage Country Club and the University Club and was the organizer and founder of the Exchange Club of Akron, of which he became the first president, and while for ten years he has been a member of the national board of control of the National Exchange Clubs of the country and was again elected a member of the board at San Francisco in 1927. He is a frequent contributor on various topics to the National Exchange Club Magazine. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar and Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and is also prominently identified with Yusef Khan Grotto, being the only prophet elected for two terms as its monarch. He is a grand officer of the supreme council of the Grotto, Mystic Order Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm, at present being grand captain of the 482 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY guard. He is the author of numerous articles appearing in Grotto publications. His other fraternal connections includes the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Eagles, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He belongs to the Delta Upsilon fraternity, and his religious faith is that of Trinity Lutheran church. He is married to Evalyn Marie Murphy, formerly of Newark, Ohio, a daughter of David H. and Minnie (Irvin) Murphy, and they have two children, Alice Corinne and Martha Marie. Such in brief is the life history of Joseph E. Sieber, who while still a comparatively young man has left an indelible impress upon the legal and political history of the county, while through the activities of private life he has become widely known, being a valued representative of club and fraternal organizations. However, the major part of his time and attention is devoted to his law practice, which is now extensive and of an important character, being confined principally to corporation law, wherein he represents large and notable interests. Mr. Sieber's residence at 1165 Delia avenue is one of the attractive homes in that section of the city. HARRY S. DAVIDSON, M. D. Dr. Harry S. Davidson, one of the best known members of the medical profession in this part of the state, has been practicing in Akron for over twenty years and has attained a position of prominence, not only in his profession but in public life as well, for his record as a member of the state legislature is one which greatly redounds to his credit. Dr. Davidson was born on a farm near East Springfield, Jefferson county, Ohio, on the 7th of April, 1871. His parents, C. L. and Mary (O'Connell) Davidson, were also natives of Jefferson county, where they resided until 1898, when they removed to Summit county, where the father successfully followed agricultural pursuits for many years. His death occurred here in 1918, and the mother passed away in 1923. To their union were born nine children. Mrs. Cora Galt, deceased; David W., who lives in Mogadore, Ohio ; Harry S.; Mrs. Matilda Yeager, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Rose Hales, who is a teacher in Carrollton, Ohio; J. 0., former pastor of the Woodland Avenue Methodist Episcopal church in Akron; Mrs. Hattie AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 483 Graham, whose home is in Amsterdam, Ohio; E. E. and Frank, residents of East Springfield, Ohio. Dr. Davidson was reared on his father's farm and attended the country schools of Jefferson county, remaining at home until the age of eighteen, when he went to Mingo Junction, to become a clerk in the drug store of an uncle, who was a practicing physician of that town. Young Davidson had previously worked at different times during vacation periods, in the same capacity, but at this time had fully decided on leaving the farm. He also taught a country district school for one year. He then entered the College of Pharmacy, of Pittsburgh University, from which he received his Ph. G. degree in 1895. During his college course he also studied medicine. Upon finishing there he entered the Medical College of Ohio State University, from which institution he received his M. D. degree in 1897. His first professional experience was obtained in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he practiced about a year. He located in Barberton in 1898, residing then ten years, during which time he took an active interest in its affairs. He was a member of the Barberton board of education six years. In 1906 he was elected coroner of Summit county. He was reelected in 1908 and that year moved to Akron. His constantly expanding powers have placed Dr. Davidson with the leading physicians and surgeons of the city. His office is situated on the fourth floor of the Korcsh building, and his practice has become extensive. He is a member of the staff of the Peoples Hospital, and one of its directors. Among his business interests aside from his profession, he has been for fourteen years president of the Akron Pharmacy Company; is a director of the Tallmadge Road Realty Company and is also vice president and a director of the Rubber City Realty Company. Dr. Davidson has a family of five children. Dorothy, the eldest, was born in Barberton and is a teacher in the high school of Akron. Jane, whose birth occurred at Barberton, is a graduate of the West high school and also of the nurses' training school of the Peoples Hospital. William Theodore, who was born in Barberton July 7, 1908, is a graduate of the West high school, has been a student of Akron Municipal University, and has received appointment as a cadet in the West Point Military Academy. His athletic prowess has won for him a number of medals. The younger children are Harold, who was born in Akron September 28, 1922; and Marjorie, who was born in this city in 1924. 484 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY Dr. Davidson is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church and contributes liberally toward its maintenance. He is one of the prominent republicans of Summit county and no member of that party takes a keener or more helpful interest in its success. In 1922 he was elected to the house of representatives in the Ohio legislature and has been twice re-elected. During all this time he has been chairman of the health committee and during his most recent term was a member of the rules committee. He is the father of the anti-stream polution law. He is also author of the first bill introduced in the legislature to bring about reform in the election-primary-registration law. A keen sportsman, Dr. Davidson takes a prominent part in the activities of the Izaak Walton League, being president of the Akron Chapter, and a director of the Ohio State Division of the league. He is also a director of the Portage Fish & Game Association. Along fraternal lines he is identified with the Masons, belongs to the Grotto, the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Junior Club and the Eagles. He is a member of the Masonic and Automobile Clubs of Akron and an ex-president of the Summit County Medical Society, also belonging to the Ohio State Medical Society, and a member of. its policy committee, and the American Medical Association. His is a well rounded development in which the elements are happily blended, for he unites the refinements of life with the sterner qualities of manhood, and his efforts have been resultant factors in many ways. Dr. Davidson's residence is at 432 South Maple street. JOHN STUART RUTLEDGE A splendid illustration of what may be accomplished through intelligent application, persistent industry and adherence to right principles is afforded in the career of John S. Rutledge, president and general manager of the Rutledge Drug Stores Company, of Akron, one of the successful and well known business organizations of Summit county. Mr. Rutledge was born in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on the 14th of January, 1888, a son of John M. and Ellen (Swearingen) Rutledge. His parents were born, reared and married in this state and are now living at Midvale, Ohio. The father was long identified with coal mining interests, becoming an extensive operator, but has now retired from active busi- AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 487 ness affairs. To him and his wife were born five children, of whom three are living, namely: John S., of this review; R. W., of New Philadelphia, Ohio, and Mrs. H. S. Spence, of Dover. Ohio. John S. Rutledge received his early education in the public and high schools of New Philadelphia, graduating from the latter at the age of sixteen years. He then entered the University of Pittsburgh, from which he was graduated in pharmacy and chemistry in 1908. Two days later he arrived in Akron to take a position in the drug store of W. 0. Le Master, to whom he had been highly recommended by his college professor. He remained in Mr. Le Master's employ until 1911, when he bought a half interest in the store, and later acquired the entire ownership. He changed the name of the firm to The Rutledge Drug Stores Company and began the expansion of the business, which has steadily continued until today the company owns and operates nine drug stores in this city, all of which have proven profitable establishments, and additional stores are to be opened in the near future. Mr. Rutledge is also a director of the Depositors Savings & Trust Company of Akron and the American Druggists Fire Insurance Company of Cincinnati. On June 25, 1914, in Akron, Mr. Rutledge was united in marriage to Miss Mary Maier, a daughter of Charles and Mary Maier. Mr. and Mrs. Rutledge are the parents of a daughter, Eleanor May, who was born in 1914 and is now attending a private school. Mr. Rutledge is a member of Akron Lodge No. 82, F. & A. M. ; Akron Chapter No. 25, R. A. M. ; Akron Commandery No. 25, K. T.; Lake Erie Consistory, A. A. S. R., at Cleveland; Tadmor Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. ; Akron Lodge No. 363, B. P. 0. E. ; the Silver Lake Country Club, the Exchange Club, the Akron Automobile Club, the Akron City Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife are members of the Congregational church. Mr. Rutledge is president of the Ohio State Pharmacy Board, which requires much of his time, as there are six thousand drug stores in the state which are required to take out licenses and there are over six hundred applications yearly for license as individual pharmacists, all of which licenses must bear his signature. In his business affairs he has shown an up-to-date and progressive spirit which has enabled him to maintain his stores at the highest standard of efficiency and service, and in business circles he is regarded as a man of unusual ability and foresightedness. Upright and conscientious in dealing with the public, 488 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY considerate and courteous in his personal and social relations, and genuinely interested in the progress and welfare of his fellowmen, he is well worthy of the enviable place which he holds in public confidence and regard. His residence is at No. 91 Hawthorne avenue. CHARLES C. BOTZUM Extensive and important business interests claim the attention of Charles C. Botzum, a representative of one of the well known, popular and highly respected families of Akron. He and his four brothers have gained a position of distinction in connection with the business life of the city and have made valuable contribution to Akron's growth and substantial improvement. He is a representative of the third generation of the family in Summit county, being a grandson of John George Botzum, who was born in Germany and came to the new world in 1834, establishing his home in Cleveland, Ohio. The following year, however, he removed to Summit county, settling in Northampton township, where the little village of Botzum was established and named in honor of the family. The trip to this county was made by canal boat and he landed at Yellow Creek basin, while later he went to Ghent, Ohio. He devoted many years to farming in Northampton township and there his son, Conrad Botzum, who was born in Cleveland in 1834, was reared. He, too, took up the occupation of farming as a life work and his unfaltering industry and capable management won for him a substantial measure of success. In his later years, having reached the age of seventy-four, he retired from active business and established his home in Akron, where he passed away January 8, 1915. He displayed many admirable characteristics and his sterling worth won for him the respect and good will of all who knew him. In early manhood he wedded Louise Young, who was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1841 and was a daughter of John Young, one of the pioneer settlers of Summit county. Her death occurred December 28, 1914. In their family were nine children : Harry, Albert P., Joseph C., Lewis E., Mrs. John Dettling, Mrs. Albert Hilkert, Caroline, Amelia and Charles C. Born August 2, 1867, and reared on the old homestead farm, Charles C. Botzum attended the schools in the town named for the family and afterward continued his studies in Buchtel Col- AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 489 lege. Later he began working for Morris Young at Portage and for two months was in the employ of his uncle at Barberton, Ohio. He then came to Akron and entered the employ of P. D. Hall as a clerk, continuing in that connection for four years. He next entered the employ of the M. O'Neil Company, but ambitious to engage in business on his own account, he joined his brother, Harry F., and on the 13th of November, 1893, the firm of Botzum Brothers began dealing in flour and feed, opening a little store on Market street, opposite the Hower building. However, business conditions were not very favorable, so that while Harry Botzum conducted the store Charles worked for a few months in the Polsky store. A little later the business had grown to such an extent that larger quarters were needed and in 1897 the brothers rented a livery barn located on Main street, on the site of the Hotel Howe. This they converted into a feed and flour store, remaining there until 1901, when they built an elevator on North Main street. When it was destroyed by fire in 1905 they immediately rebuilt and in 1906 they opened a seed store at 25-27 South Main street. In the fall of 1913 they built a store and opened a seed establishment at 653 Woodland avenue in Cleveland and the new venture was attended with notable success. In January, 1913, their interests were incorporated under the name of the Botzum Brothers Company, with Charles C. Botzum as president, Harry F. Botzum as vice president and Lewis E. Botzum as secretary and treasurer. The company assumed the general agency for the Oliver Chilled Plow Company in a district covering Summit, Lorain and Cuyahoga counties and also became local agents for the International Harvester Company. As the years have passed they have conducted an extensive business in flour, feed, cement and building materials, and not only are their interests carried on under the name of the Botzum Brothers Company but also by subsidiary companies. In 1909 Charles Botzum decided to enter the moving picture business as a theatre owner and again his activities have continually increased as he has acquired the Orpheum, Dreamland and Strand, at Canton, Ohio, and several other popular theatres. He is the vice president and a director of the Ohio State Bank & Trust Company, as well as of the Botzum Brothers Company and president of the Botzum Theatre Company. On the 1st of June, 1910, Mr. Botzum was united in marriage to Miss Louise Truckley, who died in Akron, January 18, 1922. She was a daughter of Frank and Margaret Truckley and by her 490 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY marriage she became the mother of three children : Margaret Louise, who was born in Akron, April 18, 1911, and is now attending Mount Marie College; Charles C., Jr., deceased; and William Albert, who was born August 20, 1916, and is a student in the St. Vincent school. They reside at 628 West Market street. The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Botzum is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the Akron City club. He is also a member of the Akron Chamber of Commerce and is deeply interested in the city's welfare, giving his support to all measures which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. He has truly earned the proud American title of self-made man and is justly accounted one of the representative residents of Akron and of Ohio, for his labors have extended into various sections—always to the benefit and improvement of the communities in which he has operated. His interests are now large and important and his entire career is one which has reflected further credit and honor upon an untarnished family name. HARRY A. BOESCHE One of the well known, progressive, popular and public-spirited citizens of Akron is Harry A. Boesche, who for the past ten years has been actively identified with the business affairs of the city as secretary of The Zindle Plumbing & Heating Company. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 30, 1880, he is a son of Henry and Caroline ( Hausfeidt) Boesche, both of whom were natives of Germany. Emigrating to the United States, they took up their abode in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Henry Boesche became a well known newspaper man and where he was thus connected with journalistic interests to the time of his death. Harry A. Boesche pursued his education in grade and high schools of his native city and after putting aside his textbooks obtained a clerical position in the office of the Cincinnati Enquirer, being thus employed for twelve years. On the expiration of that period he made his way to Los Angeles, California, where he spent one year with the Los Angeles Times, after which he removed to southern Georgia and for five years managed and operated a large cotton and rice plantation near Brunswick, that state. Disposing of his interests in Georgia, he returned to Cincinnati, where he was engaged in business on his own account along AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 493 mechanical lines until 1918. In that year he came to Akron and purchased an interest in The Zindle Plumbing & Heating Company, to the steady growth and success of which concern he has since materially contributed in the official capacity of secretary. He is also a director of the South Akron Savings Association, the Thomas Title & Mortgage Company, the Builders Exchange and the Ornamental Iron Works, all of Akron. On the 7th of October, 1903, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Boesche was united in marriage to Miss Anna Weithoff, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Weithoff and representative of a prominent family of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Boesche have one daughter, Margaret Seaman, who was born in Cincinnati in 1907, pursued a high school course in Akron and is also a graduate of the Western College for Women at Oxford, Ohio, class of 1928. In Masonry Mr. Boesche has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, belonging to the lodge, chapter, council, commandery, Mystic Shrine and Grotto. He is also a member of the Masonic Club, the Akron City Club, the Silver Lake Country Club, Exchange Club, Chamber of Commerce, while his religious faith is that of the Christian Science church. His name is on the membership roll of the National Plumbing & Heating Association and the marked success which he has won in this field of business may be directly attributed to his own well directed efforts and energy. He is a man of sterling character, stands for all that is best in community life, and his record, both in business and private affairs, has been such as has gained for him a high standing throughout his adopted city. His residence is at 72 Rhodes avenue. EDWARD J. MOLYNEAUX Edward J. Molyneaux, superintendent of the great plant of the Diamond Match Company at Barberton, has proven a man of superior ability, as is clearly indicated by his long service in his present responsible position, while his sterling qualities have gained for him a high place in the esteem of all with whom he comes in contact. Mr. Molyneaux was born at Seaforth, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 8th of December, 1880, his parents being Edward and Catherine (Murphy) Molyneaux. His family is of French Huguenot descent, though his paternal grandfather was a native of England, while his father was for many years 494 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY a resident of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Molyneaux secured a good public school education, graduating from high school, and also attended night school at Detroit University, where he studied factory management. His first work was with the Russell Wheel and Foundry Company, of Detroit, with which he remained several years, and was then employed by other companies in various capacities. On July 1, 1909, he went to work in the Detroit plant of the Diamond Match Company, where he remained two and a half years, and in 1911 was transferred to the Barberton plant, where he has continued to the present time, being now superintendent of the plant. Mr. Molyneaux gives his political support to the republican party and has taken an active interest in local public affairs, having served as director of Public Safety of Barberton during the years 1916 to 1920. He is a director of the American Savings and Loan Company of Barberton which institution he helped to organize in the year 1922. FRANCIS SEIBERLING Francis Seiberling is an outstanding figure at the Ohio bar, where he has practiced continuously for more than a third of a century. Throughout the years he has wisely used his innate powers and talents, and comprehensive study has given him a familiarity with legal principles which constitutes a firm foundation for success in law practice. Moreover, his devotion to his clients' interests has become proverbial and he numbers among his patrons some of the leading business men and largest corporations of this section of the state. Mr. Seiberling is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Des Moines, September 20, 1870, his parents being Nathan Septimus and Joseva (Myers) Seiberling. During his boyhood his parents returned with their family to Ohio, settling in the town of Wadsworth, where Francis had the opportunity of attending school, passing through consecutive grades until he had completed the high school course. Ambitious to secure further educational advantages, he then entered Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, and two years later entered Wooster College at Wooster, Ohio, graduating in the class of 1892, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree. A review of the broad field of business, with its limitless opportunities in industrial, agricultural, AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 495 commercial and professional life, at length led him to the determination to become a member of the bar and with that end in view he studied in the office and under the direction of Marvin, Sadler & Atterholt, well known attorneys of Akron, until his preliminary reading enabled him to successfully pass the required examination that made him a member of the Ohio bar in October, 1894. Since that time he has engaged in general practice and after remaining alone for a year he formed a partnership with W. E. Slabaugh. Later admissions to the firm have led to changes in the style, which is now Slabaugh, Seiberling, Huber & Guinther. The firm has long enjoyed a steadily growing practice and Mr. Seiberling has contributed in large measure to the continued success and prominence of the firm. He has also become financially interested in several important corporations and is now a representative of the directorate of the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Company and of the Rubber Service Laboratories Company, while of the Aluminum Flake Company he is president. He is likewise connected with several other industrial, financial and real estate interests which have been wisely directed and have contributed to his growing and well merited prosperity. He is a member of the board of directors of the First Trust & Savings Bank of Akron, of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, the Mohawk Rubber Company and of still other corporations, all of which have benefitted by his legal opinions and his sound judgment in business matters. On the 16th of June, 1897, Mr. Seiberling was married to Miss Josephine Laffer, of Akron, daughter of James M. and Minnie C. Laffer. Mr. and Mrs. Seiberling are the parents of two daughters: Eleanor, now the wife of R. G. Shirk, of Akron; and Josephine, the wife of Donald M. Mell, also of this city. To speak of Mr. Seiberling merely as a lawyer and successful business man would be to give but one phase of a many-sided nature. He is broad-minded and his interests are comprehensive in scope. Moreover, his activities are ever on the side of progress and improvement and his labors have been a vital feature in the advancement of general welfare. He is now president of the People's Hospital of Akron and also director of the Young Men's Christian Association. He is a director of the Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio, and all those forces which make for uplift find in him a stanch champion. From early youth he has been a warm admirer of Lincoln and reads everything that he can find concerning the Great Emancipator. It was natural, 496 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY therefore, that he should be a republican in politics and take a keen interest in the political situation. He has served as a member of the state central committee from the fourteenth congressional district, and while never ambitious to hold office himself, he has labored effectively for the interests of others. In August, 1928, he received the nomination, by a large plurality as a candidate for the fourteenth congressional district of Ohio. In Masonry he has attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite and he also belongs to the Phi Kappa Psi, a college fraternity, to the University Club, the Portage Country Club, the Congress Lake Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce. Along strictly professional lines he has membership with the Summit County, Ohio State and American Bar Associations and he keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress, while at all times he is careful to conform his practice to the highest standards and ethics of the calling. His interests and activities are thus wide and varied, touching life at many points and always to the benefit of those interests with which he is associated. He delights in travel, enjoys poetry and finds pleasure in the out-of-door life, having a log cabin far back in the woods of his farm at Ghent. He is too many-sided to ever be a bitter partisan. He looks at life from the standpoint of a broad-minded man of wide experiences, recognizing and encouraging the best in his fellows and directing his efforts at all times into those channels through which flows the greatest good to the greatest number. RAY M. WILHELM Ray M. Wilhelm, numbered among Akron's well known, popular and progressive young citizens, has developed an exclusive and successful business enterprise as general manager of the R. M. Wilhelm Lumber & Tie Company, which he organized in 1920. He was born in Berlin, Holmes county, Ohio, February 10, 1894, his parents being Philip and Margaret (Engel) Wilhelm, the former a native of Germany and the latter of this state. Philip Wilhelm crossed the Atlantic to the United States when a lad of fourteen years, locating at Winesburg, Holmes county, Ohio, where he subsequently turned his attention to the contracting business. To him and his wife, both of whom have passed away, were born twelve children, of whom nine survive, namely: AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY - 499 Ray M., of this review; Fred C., who is a resident of Buffalo, New York; Mrs. W. C. Hoffman, living at Millersburg, Ohio; Mrs. W. H. Kaser, living in Toledo, this state; Mrs. J. E. Reinsmith, of South Bend, Indiana; Mrs. A. B. Slutz, of Fredericksburg, Ohio; Mrs. H. 0. Boyd, living in Wooster, this state ; Mrs. George Shrimplin, who resides in Millersburg, Ohio; and Ruby. Ray M. Wilhelm received his early education in Berlin, subsequently pursued a high school course at Millersburg, this state, and after putting aside his textbooks obtained a clerical position in Akron with the Pennsylvania Railway, in the service of which he continued from 1912 until 1915 inclusive. Next he became connected with the Steele-Alderfer Company, a lumber concern of Cuyahoga Falls, with which he remained for a period of five years. It was in 1920 that he organized the R. M. Wilhelm Lumber & Tie Company, of which he is sole owner and which he has since developed into one of Akron's most substantial industrial enterprises. On the 30th of November, 1915, at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Mr. Welhelm was united in marriage to Miss Florence Steele, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Steele, the former a prominent lumberman. Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm are the parents of two sons : Thomas Philip, born in Akron, June 12, 1924 ; and John Frederick, born in Akron, December 24, 1925. Mr. Wilhelm's religious faith is indicated by his membership in St. John's Episcopal church. In fraternal circles he is known as a Knight Templar Mason who has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has membership in the Masonic Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Silver Lake Country Club. Mr. Wilhelm is fond of all outdoor sports, particularly golf, in which he is an expert. His was the distinction to make a "hole in one" on May 2, 1928, and he has a duly registered certificate as a member of the Hole-in-One Club, affiliated with the Silver Lake Country Club. His residence is at 309 North Front street, Cuyahoga Falls. LAWRENCE HALTER The year 1888 witnessed the arrival of Lawrence Halter in Akron, and although he was absent for a brief period, he returned and has made his activity a vital force in business development and progress here. He is today president and general manager