Summit County, Ohio - Chapter 3: County and Other Officials, 1908

Chapter 3: County and Other Officials

The following is a complete roster of all the officials of Summit County for the year 1907. A list of all county officials occupying the more important positions since the beginning of the county will be found at the end of the chapter.

Judges of the Circuit Court for the Eighth Judicial Circuit: Ulysses L. Marvin, of Akron ; Louis H. Winch, of Cleveland ; F. A. Henry, of Cleveland.

Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the Second Subdivision of the Fourth Judicial Circuit: George C. Hayden, of Medina; Clarence G. Washburn, Elyria; Reuben M. Wanamaker, Akron; Dayton A. Doyle, Akron.

Superintendent of infirmary, S. B. Stotler. Jury Commissioners: W. H. Stoner, P. G. Ewart, of Springfield; George Edwards, of Twinsburg, and W. H. McBarnes. Surveyor, Joseph A. Gehres. County detective, H. M. Watters. Stenographer of courts, W. H. Collins. Trustees of the Children's Home: A. M. Armstrong, J. B. Senter, of Northfield township; F. M. Green and Charles Hart. Superintendent of the Children's Home, D. R. Braucher. Members of the Court House Building Commission: L. H. Oviatt, chairman; John C. Frank, secretary; Gus Seiberling; J. Park Alexander, R. F. Palmer, W. A. Morton and John Frank, of Fairlawn. Members of the Board of Countv School Examiners: M. S. Kirk, of Akron'; H. 0. Bolich, of Copley township, and C. A. Flickinger, of Peninsula. Deputy State supervisors of elections: F. C. Wilson, chief deputy; R. E. Lewis, clerk. Members of the Summit County Soldiers and Sailors' Relief Commission : John C. Weber, of Akron ; John C. Reid, of Cuyahoga Falls, and J. R. Campbell, of Akron, secretary. Deputy probate judge, Ora Lytle. Deputy clerks of courts: Ed. Mitchell, Harriett M. Baad and Maud Gostlin. Deputy recorder, B. F. Clark. Deputy auditor, John Moore. Deputy sheriff, B. C. Garman. Superintendent of Court Hou.se, Earl Shepherd.

Mayor, Charles W. Kempel ; solicitor, Clyde F. Beery ; auditor, William A. Durand ; treasurer, Fred E. Smith; engineer, John W. Payne; poor director, Joseph Kendall; city physician. Dr. A. W. Jones; superintendent of streets, Edward Dunn, Jr. ; .superintendent of markets, John Wolf. Board of Public

City Council: Ira A. Priest, president; Ray F. Hamlin, clerk ; Joseph Dangel, Adam G. Ranck, Harry A. Palmer, councilmenat-large. Members from wards - Ward 1, H.

Board of Health: Charles W. Kempel, president ex officio; Dr. A. A. Kohler, health officer; Michael W. Hoye, sanitary policeman and milk inspector; James D. Chandler, George W. Crou.se, John C. Weber, A. P. Woodring and William E. Young.

Barberton Village Officials

A. Miller; engineer, H. W. Alcorn; Marshal, D. R. Ferguson; chief of Fire Department, J. M. Royston; health officer, B. Rodenbaugh; sanitary policeman, J. P. David. members of council: W. A. Bryan, B. C. Chandler, H. Y. Herman, A. W. Sample,

B. C. Ross, Charles Worthen. Trustees of public affairs, F. A. Hale, M. C. Hastings, W. S. Mitchell. Board of Education: C. A. Carlson, president; 0. N. Craig, clerk; T. J. Davies, H. S. Davidson, W. P. Welker, U. G. High. Superintendent of Schools, J. M. Carr. The schools of Barberton are the High School, Baird Avenue, Rose Street, Hopocan Avenue, Portage, Riverside, Central and St. Augustine's Catholic (parochial) School.

Past

Perhaps all will agree that the one Summit County citizen whose fame has spread the farthest was John Brown, the hero of Harper's Ferry and the Kansas struggle. He was not a native of the county, having been born in Connecticut, but, at the age of four years, his father brought him, with the rest of his family, to Hudson. There his early days were spent; there he was educated, and there it was he married the wife of his youth. He spent twenty-one years in Hudson, two in Richfield and two in Akron. Thereafter,

Massachusetts, New York and the Nation claimed him. Hudson can justly claim that it was his rearing in the atmosphere of freedom and sentiment of anti-bondage, which has always prevailed there, that was the inspiration of his later life, and furnished the animus of the acts that brought his fame.

The Summit County man, w'ho has risen highest in the official public life of the nation and who has brought to his county its greatest distinction in this respect, is our own honored and beloved United States Senator, Charles Dick. He was born in Akron and has never lived anywhere else. He is proud to say that all he is, he owes to Summit County. When Senator Marcus A. Hanna died in 1904, the legislature of Ohio obeyed the wishes of the Republican party of the State when it made Charles Dick his successor. He served the unexpired part of Senator Hanna's term, and, in 1905, began the service of a full term. Summit County will, therefore, claim a United States Senator until 1911, at least. If he desires a re-election al that time, his splendid record in the public service should bring him the title to another term.

A high place in the Summit County Temple of Fame belongs to Sidney Edgerton, a name that all the older residents, and many of the younger, will never hear mentioned, save with the deepest feelings of love and respect. Sidney Edgerton came to .Vkron in 1844 from New York State, where he was born. He was then about twenty-five years of age. He taught school and .studied law until 1852, when he was elected prosecuting attorney of the county. In 1858, and again in 1860, he was elected to Congress. In 1863, President Lincoln appointed him Chief Justice of Idaho, from which he resigned (o accept the appointment of Governor of the Territory of Montana. He resigned in 1866 and returned to Akron, where he practiced law until his death.

Russell A. Alger can hardly be credited to Summit County, a? he was born in the adjoining county of Medina, and spent the active vears of his career as a citizen of

Michigan. Most of his education, however, was secured in Richfield, where he attended the old Richfield Academy. He also taught school there two winters while pursuing his course. He spent the years 1857 and 1858 in Akron, studying law in the office of Wolcott and Upson. In 1860 he left Cleveland, where he had been practicing law and took up his residence in Michigan. He rose to the rank of major-general in the Civil War; was made Governor of Michigan in 1884; became secretary of war in President McKinley's Cabinet in 1897; and in 1901 was elected United States Senator, which position he held at the time of his death in 1907.

David K. Cartter, who practiced law in Akron from 1836 to 1845, coming here from New York State; in 1848, and again in 1850, he was elected to Congress ; in 1861 appointed minister to Bolivia; and in 1863 appointed chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

Wilbur F. Sanders, came to Akron in 1854, from New York State; taught school and studied law here until 1861, when he entered the Union Army ; in 1863 he became a citizen of Montana, and when that territory was admitted to the Union in 1890, he was elected United States Senator.

Samuel B. Axtell, who for some years had his residence in Richfield, was elected to Congress from a California district; in 1875 appointed governor of Utah; in the same year, governor of New Mexico; in 1882 chief justice of New Mexico.

Christopher P. Wolcott was born in Connecticut December 17, 1820; graduated at Jefferson College in 1840 ; was admitted to the bar and come to Akron in 1846. He was the senior member of the distinguished firm of Wolcott and Upson. In 1856, he was appointed attorney-general of the State of Ohio to fill a vacancv. and was afterward elected twice to that office. In 1862, President Lincoln appointed him assistant secretary of war. He served under his brother-in-law, Edwin M. Stanton, until within two months of his death. He died at his home in Akron, April 4, 1863.

Eufus P. Spalding, a native of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, came to Akron in 1840, and in 1841 was elected Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives; in 1848 appointed justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. At the expiration of his term he moved to Cleveland, and was afterward elected to Congress for three terms.

One of the most distinguished names in Summit County history is that of William H. Upson. He was born in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1823, but came to Tallmadge with his parents in 1832. He has been a resident of the county, continuously, since that time. He came to Akron in 1846, a few months after his admission to the bar. He was prosecuting attorney 1848-1850; Ohio State Senator, 1853-1855; elected to Congress in 1869, and again in 1871 ; delegate to National Republican Convention in 1864, and voted to renominate Abraham Lincoln ; delegate-at-large from Ohio to the National Republican Convention in 1876; in 1883 was appointed justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio; in 1884, elected judge of the Circuit Court, and re-elected in 1886 and 1890. In 1896 he retired from active practice and resumed his domestic quiet in Akron, where he still lives.

In addition to those already mentioned, Summit County has had the following Representatives in Congress : George Bliss, 1852- 1854; David R. Paige, 1882-1884; George W. Crouse, 1886-1888, and Charles Dick, 1898-1904. She has had Presidential electors as follows: 'Stephen H. Pitkin, 1868; John R. Buchtel, 1872; Nathaniel W. Goodhue, 1880, and Ulysses L. Marvin, 1884.

This senatorial district has often called upon Summit County to represent the district in the Ohio Senate, as witness these names of Senators: Simon Perkins, 1838- 1840; EHsha N. Sill, 1840-1842; William

Judges of Circuit Court, Eighth Judicial Circuit of Ohio - Hon. Ulysses L. Marvin, Akron; Hon. Louis H. Winch, Cleveland; Hon. F. A. Henry, Cleveland.

County and City Board of Elections - E. H. Bishop, Akron, chief deputy; F. E. Whittemore, Akron, clerk; R. C. Ellsworth, Richfield; F. C. Wilson, Akron; L. C. Koplin, Akron; office, 520 and 522 Hamilton building.

City Officers

City Council - Meets first and third Monday evenings of each month: Ira A. Priest, president; Ray F. Hamlin, clerk; Joseph Dangel, A. G. Ranck and J. R. Mell, councilmen at large. First Ward - J. M. Amundson; Second Ward - F. J. Go.stlin; Third Ward- M. S. Williams ; Fourth Ward - J. W. Gauthier ; Fifth Ward - John Beynon ; Sixth Ward - L. D. Seward; Seventh Ward- S. R. Thomas; Board of Public Safety - C. C. Warner, E. C. Housel.

Library Board - Meets first Friday of each month at library, corner Market and High streets; J. C. Frank, T. J. Mumford, J. W. Kelley, W. T. Vaughan, G. D. Seward, Henry Kraft.

Market and Broad ; Neptune Park, West Market, corner Valley; Perkins Park, south of Maple at west city limits ; Perkins Square, corner Exchange and Bowery; Pleasant Park, corner Thornton and Washington.