Lorain City (part 61 of 77)

Witiiim A. BRAMAN. Few men exercised a stronger and wider influence in the affairs of Lorain County than the late William A. Braman, who was in his sixty-ninth year when he died at Elyria April 12, 1905. In early life hard work and self-reliance were his portion, but in later years he was a vigorous force in the republican party of Lorain County, was both broad minded and practical in promoting everything good in his home city, and was highly successful in business, being president of the Elyria Savings and Banking Company at the time of his death.

He was born in Carlisle Township of Lorain County October 24, 1836. His Seotch ancestors came to America about 1700, locating in Boston, and several of them were revolutionary soldiers and the family was also represented in the War of 1812. One characteristic which has persisted through a number of generations is splendid physical development. Mr. Braman himself stood six feet three inches in height, and it is said that his grandfather and two brothers and two sisters were each six feet or more in height. Grandfather Braman was one of the pioneer settlers in Lorain County. coming from Genesee County, New York, to Avon Township in 1822. William A. Braman was the son of Anson and Emeline (Vincent) Braman. His father was born in Genesee County, New York, May 30, 1811, grew up partly in Avon Township, and for many years was a farmer and nurseryman in Carlisle Township. He was in the nursery business at Elyria from 1855 to 1872, and then removed to Michigan. Emeline Vincent was born in Massachusetts October 8, 1818, and had come with her parents in 1834 to Carlisle Township, where she was married the following year.

From his very boyhood the late William A. Braman had the independence to pursue a self-sustaining course, and on reaching manhood he was equal to the solution of any problems involved in his business and personal affairs. Apparently everything he undertook proved successful. He attended the district schools of his home neighborhood, and on reaching manhood, being thrown upon his own resources, he worked out on farms and also taught country school in order to pursue advanced studies in higher institutions. In 1864 he began dealing in live stock, and in 1870, associated with Mr. Boynton, he took up the cheese business. In the spring of 1874 he was one of the organizers of the firm of Braman, Horr & Warner, manufacturers and general dealers in butter and cheese. This business became one of the most extensive of its kind in Northern Ohio. During the last twenty-five or thirty vears of his life his interests were not confined to any one line. In 1890 a stock company was organized by leading republicans in Elyria and Lorain County to purchase the Elyria Republican, which it was determined should become a temperance republican paper, true to the best interests of the party and in favor of temperance and moral interests. The directors of this company insisted upon Mr. Braman taking the position of editor, though he was without practical experience in that profession. He took the position at first only temporarily, but was unable to relinquish it for eight years, and made of it a journal notable for its high ground and standards as a republican paper and an exponent of temperance and every other reform. He was not only an able editor but made the Republican self-supporting financially.

twenty years or more he was a director in The Savings Deposit Bank Company, for several years was vice president, and also president of The First National Bank of Lorain, and was a director of The Penfield Avenue Savings Bank at Lorain from its organization in 1895. Subsequently his banking interests were concentrated in the Elyria Savings & Banking Company, of which he was president.

The ideals of useful citizenship were seldom better exemplified than in the career of Wiliam A. Braman. Always with credit he filled various positions of responsibility and honor. Personally he was dignified in his demeanor, possessed an impressive personality, and in everything was thoroughly American and patriotic. It was truthfully said of him that he was a better American than he was a partisan.

In polities his father had been an old line democrat, but in spite of that affihation Mr. Braman had gone with the new republican party in 1856 and voted for John C. Fremont. Wiliam A. Braman came to manhood about the time the republican party was organized and about the time the great national crisis was evolved between the North and the South. Like many others he was influenced in his attitude toward public questions at that time by an early reading of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and he was an ardent boy partisan of Fremont in 1856. In 1860 he cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and thereafter for more than forty years was a champion of the best in the grand old party. While living in his home Township of Carlisle he filled most of the township offices, trustee, clerk, treasurer, and at the age of thirty-one was appointed county commissioner for one year. In 1877 he was elected county treasurer by a majority of 2,800, the largest given to anyone on the ticket. He filled that place with fidelity and efficiency for two terms of two years each, receiving his nomination without opposition. In 1887 he was nominated and elected to the State Legislature, in which he served two terms. He was a member of the Finance Committee in both sessions of the Legislature, and among other things established the provision that each state institution should be regularly visited and inspected hy a legislative committee. While in the Legislature he also showed himself an effective force in behalf of temperance reform. It was largely due to his efforts that the township local option law was passed and also the Sunday law, prohibiting sale of liquor on Sunday. Mr. Braman was one of the strongest supporters of Major McKinley in his first nomination for governor of Ohio, and did some effective work in consolidating the party on that candidate. For many years Mr. Braman was president of the Lorain County Humane Society, and though an intensely practical and busy man, the influences of humanitarianism were always guiding factors with him. For many years he was a member of the city council at Elyria, and was a trustee of the local schools for nineteen years. He was president seven years of the Lorain County Agricultural Society and for three years was president of the Farmers - Institute.

With all these activities and interests he was essentially domestic in his tastes and found his highest happiness in his home and among his family. April 27, 1865, he married Miss Sophia E. Patterson, daughter of Hiram Patterson. Mrs. Braman is still hving at Elyria. To their marriage were born three children, Theodore W., who was born in 1867, and is now deceased; Charles M., born in 1869; and Belle Louise.

CursrLes M. Braman. Since he was twenty-two years of age Charles M. Braman has been giving his best ability and energy to banking and his present position represents a steady promotion on the basis of merit and by reason of the prompt and efficient handling of all the responsibilities entrusted to his care.

Born at Carlisle in Lorain County March 5, 1869, Charles Martin Braman is a son of William A. and Sophia E. Braman. The Braman family is of Scotch-Irish descent. As will be found more fully stated on other pages the late William A. Braman was for many years prominent in county affairs, served as a member of the General Assembly four years, aS county treasurer two terms, for many years was editor of the Elyria Republican, and was one of the organizers and until the date of his death in 1905 was president of the Elyria Savings and Banking Company.

Having finished his education in the Elyria public schools in 1888, Charles M. Braman at the age of twenty became clerk in the Savings Deposit Bank of Elyria. In 1892, after three years, he left to become cashier of the Savings Deposit Bank of Medina, Ohio. He was there two years and four months. However, he gained his reputation as a banker by his nineteen years of service as cashier of the Central Banking Company of Lorain, from which he resigned to take the position of vice president of the Savings Deposit Bank Company of Elyria in January, 1914; was elected to the presidency January 30, 1916. He is now vice president of the Central Banking Company of Lorain, is a director of the Wood Lumber Company of Lorain, and treasurer of the Eastern Heights Land Company of Elyria. In banking circles he enjoys an enviable position, and is the chief executive officer of one of the largest institutions of Northern Ohio, The Savings Deposit Bank and Trust Company having total resources of more than $2,000,000, representing not only large capital but the experience and business ability of a number of well known financiers.

In the spring of 1915, at the solicitation of his many republican friends. Mr. Braman consented to become a candidate for the republican nomination for city auditor of Elyria. Though he had five rivals for the nomination, in the August primaries he received more than a third of the total vote cast, and at the election, held November 2, 1915, was elected to fill that office. For more than thirteen years he served as deputy city treasurer of Lorain, Ohio, and on January 1, 1915, was appointed a member of the Elyria Board of Health and for two years had also heen a member of the Elyria School Board. He is a director of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, is a member and director of the Country Club, is president of the Men's Club of the Congregational Church, president of the Social Settlement Association, and a trustee of the local Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. Braman is an attendant of the First Congregational Church, and is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge and also with the Royal Arch Chapter of Masonry and with the Elks.

On June 20, 1395, at Elyria, Mr. Braman married Miss Anna B. Folger, daughter of the late Thomas Folger, to whom reference is made on other pages. The Folgers are an English family, and the first of the name emigrated to this country during the eighteenth century and founded the City of Nantucket. The late Thomas Folger was a nephew cf Charles J. Folger, former secretary of the United States Treasury under President Garfield. Thomas Folger rose to the rank of adjutant in the Civil war with the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was a commission merchant. in Cleveland several years, and served as mayor of Elyria two years. Mr. and Mrs. Braman have two children: Theodore F. and Josephine L. Mr. Braman finds his chief recreation in golf. He is a clean-cut business man, popular in social circles, and stands for all that is progressive and substantial in his home community.

THoMAS Foucer. What the late Thomas Folger represented as an individual asset to the community of Lorain County is concisely described in an editorial from an Elyria paper published shortly after his death, which occurred at his summer home on Avon Point October 13, 1909. The opinions there expressed are vouched for by all the practical facts of his honored lifetime. The editorial was as follows:

'"The sudden death of Thomas Folger came as a sad blow to his many friends in the city. Mr. Folger's personality had won for him during his long residence in Elyria a place in the respect of all his fellow citizens. His quiet, unassuming way spoke of a big nature, and those who knew him intimately were attracted strongly by his frankness and honesty as well as by a cordiality that never failed. He was quick to make up his mind, and his decisions were announced positively. One always counted on a square deal with Thomas Folger and was never disappointed. He attended to his business affairs in a quiet manner, accomplished successful results and won friends, which is much to say for a man in these days. His successful election as mayor a few years ago, against a strong party opposition, showed the confidence of the community and he made a most able official. He was impartial in his court work, rich and poor receiving impartial justice, while his rulings were ever tempered with good sense. He has always been a democrat in politics, and in his death the party loses one of its most loyal supporters. The city loses a good and patriotic citizen. His early vears were cheerfully given to the service of his country and he also cheerfully undertook those civic duties entrusted to him. He was just preparing for an arduous campaign for re-election to the mayoralty when death cut l:im down, and he was entering into it with a zeal born entirely of a aesire to help toward a needed reform in the various branches of the city government. He was glad to assume the burdens which would iollow if his fellow citizens desired it. A good man indeed has gone from us."'

Born in Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio, February 14, 1842, Thomas Folger was a son of Henry G. and Eliza A. (Ingersoll) Folger. The Folger family was established in America in colonial times. and one of the name was among the seven original proprietors of the Island of Nantucket. At Nantucket Thomas Folger's grandfather. also named Thomas, lived for many years, being identified with the old-time whaling industry, which had one of its important centers at Nantucket. He owned several whaling vessels, and when the English govermmnent provided a subsidy for the whaling industry, Thomas Folger moved his residence to London, England, and lived there until the abolition of the whale-oil bounty, and then returned to Nantucket. While living in London he was married, and in that city Henry G. Folger was born. Another of his sons was the late Charles J. Folger. who was United States sub-treasurer under President Grant, was secretary of the treasury under Presidents Garfield and Arthur, was otherwise a high Govyernment official, and was judge of the Court of Appeals of New York. TIenry C. Folger was the founder of the family in the Western Reserve of Ohio, for many years lived in Medina County, where he was a farmer and died at Elyria, November 26, 1885, having spent vears of his life at Avon Point. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza A. Ingersoll, a native of Auburn, New York, died March 7, 1904, at the home of her son Thomas.

Educated in the common schools of Medina County and in the Western Reserve College at Hudson, the late Thomas Folger was nineteen when the war broke out and in August, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company II of the Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out of that regiment and received his honorable discharge in July, 1565. after nearly four years of active service. While his regiment was in the army of the Potomac he fought at Gettysburg, Chancellorsville aud Peters Mountain, beside many minor engagements, and when the regiment was transferred to the army under Sherman he took part in the Atlanta campaign, and accompanied Sherman on the march to the sea and up through the Carolinas, finally participating in the Grand Review at Washington, in 1865. He was promoted out of the ranks to lieutenant and adjutant, and later received the brevet rank of captain. With the elose of the war he took up his residence at Cleve- Jand, was in the produce and commission business for about nine years, and up to 1878 gave his attention to the wholesale commission trade.

Lorain County's prominence as a grape growing center is largely due to the leadership of the late Thomas Folger. It was in 1878 that he identified himself with viticulture both for pleasure and profit, and on his farm of 150 acres at Avon Point along the shores of Lake Erie he cultivated the grape for many years and perhaps as extensively as any other vineyardist in Lorain County. The industry is still continued by his family and no grapes of better quality are shipped out of Ohio than those from the Folger vineyard. For the last twenty years of his life Myr. Folger lived at Elyria, though for months at a time his residence there was only nominal. since he found his chief pursuit and pleasure in the supervision of his beautiful country estate. He performed a useful service in bringing the grape growers together in the organization of the Lorain County Grape Growers Shipping Association, and for fourteen vears was manager of the association and had charge of the selling and shipping of the crops of the 150 growers who were its members.

Always a demoerat in politics, while not ambitious for official preferment. lis civic loyalty was such that he did not deny himself or his services to the public. He served several years as a member of the city council of Elyria. and was the nominee of the party for the office of mayor in 1903. Tis election was not only a triumph for the cause of good government locally, but was particularly interesting from the fact that he was the first democratic mayor of Elyria in more than half a century, and his administration was distinctly creditable to the party.

The late Thomas Folger had been identified with the Royal Arch body of Masons for more than forty vears, and was also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias aud with the Grand Army of the Republic. On May 6, 1867, he married Miss Della M. Beswick, who was born and reared at Medina, daughter of Asahel and Emma A. (Richards) Beswick. Mrs. Folger is still living at Elyria. She was the mother of four daughters: Anna B., wife of Charles M, Braman, president of the Savings Deposit Bank and Trust Company of Elyria; Josephine D., wife of Dr. Charles H. Cushing of Elyria, further mentioned on other pages: Ida A.. who died at the age of eight years; and Jean P., wife of Arthur D. Pettibone of Cleveland.

Hexry F. Surry. For a man who started in life absolutely dependent upon his own resources, even to the extent of paying his way through school. Henry F. Smith, who is now vice president of the Peoples Banking Company of Oberlin, has made a success that is stimulating and encouraging to younger men.

He was born in: Elyria, Ohio, November 30, 1867, a son of Charles W. and Anna Mary (Loux) Smith. Both parents were natives of Wuertemberg. Germany. His father was born in 1842 and is still living, having been brought to the United States when twelve years old. The mother was born in 1845, came to this country with her parents at the age of three, and died in 1896. They were married in Cleveland. Charles W. Smith was a jeweler by trade, and followed the business all his active career. He established himself at Elyria in 1862, and was in active business there until he retired about fifteen years ago. At one time he served as chief of the fire department in Elyria. He is a democrat in politics, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of St. Paul's Evangelical Church. His wife was a Catholic. Of their six children, four are living: William C., a shoe merchant at Elvria; Henry F.; Julia Mary, wife of M. J. McGuire, manager of the Standard Foundry Company at Cleveland; and Frank W., who was formerly a jeweler but now lives retired at Elvria.

Henry F. Smith attended the public schools at Elyria for a time, and out of his own earnings he paid for a course in pharmacy in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he finished in 1891. From his earnings as a pharmacy clerk he set himself up in business as a druggist at Oberlin in 1893. He prospered and continued active in that line of business until 1906, when he sold out. Since then he has been the chief exeentive officer of the Peoples Banking Company. of which he is vice president, and he also owns stock in the State Bank of Oberlin. He has also invested in real estate, both in Oberlin and in Lorain City.

In 1894 Mr. Smith married Dorothy Schubert, who was born near Oberlin, a daughter of William Schubert, one of the early settlers of Lorain County. They have one daughter, Catherine Dorothy, now in school. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the First Congregational Church, and he has always taken much interest in Masonry. being junior warden of the Blue lodge, and a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Knights Templar Commandery. For a number of vears he has been an enthusiastic republican and has given his influence without reserve to the benefit of his home community. He is still a member of the city council and has been connected with that body for the past six years. At one time he was a member of the water board and for a number of years was precinct committeeman.

LAFAYETTE Brusu. On the 30th of August, 1905, was summoned to the life eternal the soul of a man whose sterling integrity and most exemplary christian character have left an indelible impress upon the hearts of his fellow men. At the time when he was called from the scene of his mortal endeavors he was in his sixty-eighth year and it may he said concerning him that ''his strength was as the number of his days.'' The prestige which he gained as a fair and honorable man was the result of his own well-directed endeavors and his success was on a parity with his ability and well applied energy.

Mr. Brush was a farmer during the greater portion of his active career but during the latter vears of his life he resided in Elyria. He was born at Butternut Ridge, Lorain County, Ohio, January 11, 1837, and he died August 30, 1905. He is buried in the Butternut Ridge Cemetery, near the old parental home. He was a son of Benjamin 8. and Sarah (Miller) Brush, both natives of Connecticut. where they were married and whence they immigrated to Ohio in 1832. The parents located in Eaton Township, Lorain County. and there cleared and tilled a fine farm which is still owned by the family. There were twelve children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brush and all grew to maturity except one who died at the age of fifteen vears. Lafayette Brush was the youngest in the family, of whom Mrs. Hitchcock, widow of ex-Sheriff Hitchcock, is the only survivor, in 1915; she lives at Jackson, Michigan, and is in her eighty-fourth year.

Lafayette Brush was reared to maturity on his father's farm and he was educated in the neighboring district schools. He early began to assist his father in the work and management of the farm and after the latter's demise he bought out the other heirs and became sole owner of the parental estate. His mother lived with him until her death at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. The above farm consists of forty-seven acres and it has long been known as one of the finest little farms in this section of the state. Mr. Brush, whose workaday motto was ''What's worth doing at all is worth doing well,'' took splendid care of his little estate and it was one of the model farms in this vicinity. Since his death Mrs. Brush sold the place to a nephew, Charles B. Brush, and he is the same kind of a fine, intelligent farmer that his uncle used to be. Mrs. Brush visits the old place oc¢asionally and is much delighted with the splendid care her old homestead receives. In the early days Mr. Brush's father erected a log house on this land and subsequently he had built one of those old fashioned, heavy frame houses and the same is still standing. It has been modernized throughout and makes a fine, comfortable home for its present occupants.

In 1892 Lafayette Brush gave up farming and came to Elyria, locating in the beautiful home at 234 Eighth Street, now owned and occupied by his widow. He was considered a man of excellent judgment and used to be called upon by his neighbors to appraise property. His word was as good as his bond and he commanded the love and esteem of his many loyal friends and acquaintances. He was a republican in politics and in religious faith was a devout member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mav 27, 1860, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brush to Miss Marie Beulah Hulin, a daughter of Edward and Olive (Paimer) Haulin. Mrs. Brush was born near Bucyrus, Ohio, and she lost her mother when she was a child of but two years of age. She was reared to maturity in the home of her maternal grandparents at Ridgeville, Ohio. Mrs. Brush is possessed of a sweet, kindly disposition and her life has been exemplary in all respects. She has a fine, generous heart and is always extending a helping hand to neighbors and friends in distress.

Mr. Brush was a man of fine mentality and broad human sympathy. He thoroughly enjoyed home life and took great pleasure in the society of his family and friends. He was always courteous, kindly and affable and those who knew him personally accorded him the highest esteem.

ALBERT A. PLATO. That he is not lacking in the mature judgment and resourcefulness implied in his classical family name, is shown by the position which Mr. Plato holds in connection with the more important industrial activities of the City of Lorain, where he is the general manager of the Crystal Ice Company, engaged in the manufacturing of artificial ice on an extensive scale. This company was organized in 1907 and was incorporated with a capital stock of $65,000, which was increased in 1914 to $75,000. The personnel of the company official corps is as here noted: William Seher, president; John S. Dorn, vice president; August Kuebeler, secretary; Edward A. Brown, treasurer ; and Albert A. Plato, generai manager. The plant of the company occupies a substantial modern building 130 by 150 feet in dimensions, a portion of the same having a height of three stories and the remainder of two stories. The establishment has a capacity for the output of fifty tons of ice daily, and a storage capacity for 3,000 tons. Employment is given to an average force of thirty men and the enterprise virtually represents one of the most important public utilities of the thriving City of Lorain.

Albert Aloysius Plato has the distinction of claiming Lorain County as the place of his nativity, for he was born in the Village of Amherst, this county, on the 11th of September, 1870, a son of Henry A. and Elizabeth (Hildebrand) Plato. Henry A. Plato was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1857. He became eventually a prosperous merchant at Amherst, this county, where he is now living retired, a citizen of sterling character and one who has secure place in popular esteem. Both he and his wife are zealous communicants of the Catholic Chureh, in the faith of which their children were carefully reared.

Albert A. Plato gained his preliminary education in the parochial and public schools and supplemented this by an effective course in the celebrated Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana. Thereafter he continued to be associated with his father in the general merchandise business until 1899. when he established at Amherst an independent business enterprise, as a dealer in men's furnishing goods. To this enterprise he continued to devote his attention until 1904. in May of which vear he assumed the position of collector for the Lorain & Elyria Ice & Coal Company. Upon the reorganization of the corporation in 1907, as the Crystal Ice Company of Lorain, Mr. Plato was made general manager. of which responsible office he has since continued the efficient and valued incumbent. He is also president of the Amherst Hardware Company. a leading mereantile concern in his native village, and he served from 1891 to 1893 as township clerk of Amherst Township. He is a democrat in polities, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. and his religious faith is that of the Catholic Church, of which his wite likewise is a communicant,

On the 26th of September. 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Plato to Miss Rose A. Ludwig. daughter of John L. and Carrie E. Ludwig, of Amherst. Mr. Ludwig being a skilled machinist. The two children of My. and Mrs. Plato are Paul Ludwig and Bernice Wilhelinina.

Evyria Memortat. Hospiran. A tragedy in the City of Elyria, occurring on Memorial Day of 1907. in the shape of a street railroad disaster, in which lives were lost and injured, gave and formulated the definite impulse to the founding of the Elyria Memorial Hospital, which takes its name from that occasion, and which is dedicated to the high ideal of caring for and affording medical or surgical treatment to the sick, injured or disabled persons residing in Elyria or Lorain County. As an institution, it represents the lberal contributions and support of the people of the city and county, rich and poor, and of every station in life. and as such a project is to relieve suffering and save lives without distinction as to race, nationality. color, sex or religious convictions. Neither directly nor indirectly is its management under the control of any religious or sectarian bodies, nor of any particular school of medieine or treatment. Certainly one of the best of the many distinctions connected with this institution is the broad and liberal basis on which it was founded and has heen maintained.

For several vears prior to 1907 a private hospital had been imaintained in Elyria. assisted by limited contributions from individuals. In May, 1907, a short time hefore the tragic accident above mentioned, a movement had heen started to organize a hospital association with the co-operation of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. The plans were hastened in. their fruition by the emergency created by the street railway disaster. and the entire community was aroused to the need for adequate hospital facilities.

the campaign which in three months netted over $80,000 in popular subscription, to which was added the sum of $25,000 donated by the city government in annual payments of $5,000, which was to be applied to the maintenance. In June, 1907, the Elyria Memorial Hospital Company was organized and incorporated under the laws of Ohio. This company owns and controls all funds and property and is directly responsible for the conduct and management of the institution. The company comprises fifty persons, of whom forty must be residents of Lorain County. Twenty-five of these were originally chosen by the members of the hospital association, and these in turn selected fifteen others. The remaining ten comprised the five members of the advisory board of physicians and elected by the physicians' committee of the association, and five who are members of the company by virtue of their official positions, including the mayor of Elyria, the chairman of the commissioners of Lorain County, the senior judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the president of the hospital association and the president of the hospital auxiliary. The active management of the company is vested in a board of trustees, nine in number, three being elected each year by members of the corporation.

During 1907 the company had secured a tract of about three acres of ground on East River Street, and the first real work on the building was begun October 17th of that year, the cornerstone being laid in the following November, The doors of the institution were opened for the reception of patients on October 30, 1908. The main hospital building completed in that year is of modern design and equipment, of the colonial style of architecture, built of red pressed brick and sandstone, with the floors of re-enforced concrete and the entire structure fireproof. Its westerly frontage is 175 feet and its depth is 55 feet. During the first year 408 people were treated as patients of the hospital, and since then the growth and service of the institution have been steady and uniform. During the first year the average daily number of patients cared for was 18; an average number of 22 in the second year; 27 in the third year; 32 in the fourth year; 37 in the fifth year; 41 in the sixth vear; and 46 in the seventh year, which closed in November, 1915. The first important addition to the hospital buildings was the erection of a nurses' home, which was begun in the fall of 1910 and was dedicated in the fall of 1911. The quarters formerly occupied by the nurses in the main hospital were then taken to enlarge the facilities of that institution.

The first important addition of land was the purchase of about two acres adjoining the old tract in the spring of 1914, while about a year later the company secured another strip of land, making a total of practically eight acres in the heart of the city, with an ideal location.

The most recent addition to the buildings and service of this magniticent institution Was the opening of the W. N. Gates Hospital for sick. crippled and deformed children in the spring of 1915. After the death of her husband, William N. Gates, who had been one of the eriginal trustees of the hospital company, Mrs. Gates donated as a memorial to her hushand the entire amount of money necessary for the erection of the building. The site and necessary improvements were furnished by the hospital company, and the cost of equipment was contributed by relatives and friends of Mr. Gates and by the school children of Elyria. This institution is under the management of the Elyria Memorial Ilespital Company and is maintained especially for the care of the children of Lorain County. It has been found necessary to emphasize the fact that the Gates Hospital is not an orphan asylum, and onlv those children are received who need such care and medical or

The future plans of the hospital company contemplate the erection of two more buildings, one of them power house and laundry, and the other a maternity home.

' It is noteworthy that the first officers of the Elyria Memorial Hospital Company are still in active service and have been retained year after year in the executive management. The officers are: Judge W. W. Boynton, president; F. A. Smythe, vice president; EK. F. Allen, treasurer; and Charles E. Tucker, secretary. The original board of trustees under whom the hospital was opened in 1908 were: W. W. Boynton, W.N. Gates, E. F. Allen, A. L. Garford, F. A. Smythe, Albert Kistner, George D. Nicholas, Sr., T. T. Robinson and J. P. Sala. At the present time the trustees in addition to the president, vice president and treasurer are: T. T. Robinson, George D. Nicholas, A. L. Garford, W. S. Miller, L. B. Fauver.

As the Memorial Hospital is in the best sense of the word a great philanthropy, it requires support from other sources than the receipts from pay patients and other income. One of the organizations which have been formed to aid and assist the company in maintaining the hospital and extending its charitable work has been the Elvria Memorial Hospital Association, this being a men's organization, while the Elyria Memorial Hospital Auxiliary is an organization of women formed for the same purpose. There is also an organization of young people known as the Elyria Memorial Hospital Junior Auxiliary.

This hospital is one of the few in the United States run on strictly business principles so far as its management is concerned, without conflicting with the true spirit of philanthropy which governs its service to individual patients. One feature that illustrates this business system that pervades the entire management is the card catalog by which every patient ever received or treated in the hospital has been kept track of, containing a record of the ailments and treatment, when the patient was received and when discharged. For this businesslike efficiency in the management of the fiscal affairs of the institution much credit is given to the treasurer, E. F, Allen, who since the organization of the hospital company has given liberally of his time to its general welfare and particularly to the accurate and systematic conduct of its business affairs. As the usefulness of any institution of this kind must, in the last analysis, depend upon the efficiency of its financial management. it will not be inappropriate to quote a portion of the report of the auditing committee covering the books of the company up to November 7, 1914. This report in part says: ''At the request of the officers of the Hospital Company we are making further examination of the books and records of the company regarding their system of accounting for patients and the general plan in the office adopted by the hospital in reference to its records of patients received and discharged, and we wish to say for the benefit of the general public of Elyria and Lorain county that the system in handling accounts and records is complete and comprehensive, and when the company makes statements that during the past year they have handled nearly fifteen thousand hospital days of service, of which two-thirds, or over ten thousand days, are all or part charity work. that these statements are correct, and we also are glad to state that the figures given for cost of patient, somewhat under two dollars per day are considerably lower than reports given by other institutions of similar character. We feel that the public should know as we know that the accounting system in connection with the Elyria Memorial Hospital is more elaborate and complete than we had any idea of, and we recommend to the general public and other institutions of similar nature an examination of same.'' And the financial report covering the fiscal year ending November 1, 1915, is even more flattering than the above.

Cuiair O. Goss is proprietor of one of the distinctive enterprises of Lorain County, namely: The Glendale Ferret Company of Wellington. This is an important department of his farm on Rural Route No. 1 out of Wellington, and he has had a great deal of success in raising ferrets for commercial purposes. He ships his animals to every state in the Union, and has a complete set of buildings and equipment necessary for the propagation and training of these very valuable animals. He has shipped as high as 1,000 in a season.

Mr. Goss was born in Brighton Township, January 22, 1883, and is one of the live and progressive younger citizens of Lorain County. His parents were Otis F. and Mary (Sinclair) Goss. His father was born at Berea, Ohio, April 23, 1839, and died March 20, 1908. He was a son of David and Aurelia (Porter) Goss, the former a native of Montague, Massachusetts, and the latter of Vermont. David Goss came out to Ohio when a single man and after investigating the country went back East and returned with his bride. He was a very prosperous and enterprising citizen, owned a large farm and operated two mills. Otis F. Goss was seven years old when he came with his parents to Brighton Township, received his education in this county, and became a farmer and also conducted a sawmill and followed his trade as a carpenter. He was a republican in politics, but later gave his support to the prohibition cause. He pursued his business as a farmer on eighty acres of land. Both he and his wife were active members of the Congregational Church. His wife, Mary Sinclair, was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, August 12, 1850, and is still living. They were married September 26, 1876. Her father was Alexander Sinclair and he brought his family to the United States in 1852 when Mrs. Goss was two years of age. The Sinclairs settled near Ruggles, and afterwards went to Clarksfield, where Mr. Sinclair bought a farm and spent the rest of his days. In the Sinclair family were eleven children, and the three now living are Mrs. A. E. Watt of Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Isabelle Ross, a widow, living at Wakeman, Ohio; Mrs. Goss. Alexander, deceased, was a farmer at Clarksfield.

Clair O. Goss is the only child of his parents. He received his edueation in the district schools and had much preliminary training on a farm before taking up agriculture as his regular vocation. His farm comprises eighty acres of land, and he gives his time to general farming, to the operation of the Glendale Ferret Company, and he also does some dairying. The farm is well improved, and he has one of the best silos in the entire county.

On September 8, 1910, Mr. Goss married Ona Niles, a daughter of Jerome and Carminetta A. (Gillett) Niles, and a granddaughter ot Ichabod and Miranda (Lake) Niles. Her father was born in Canada in 1860 and died in 1890 and her mother was born in Lorain County in 1854 and is still living. Mrs. Goss has one brother, Edwin, who is a policeman at Kansas City. Mrs. Goss is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. while Mr. Goss belongs to the Congregational Church. He is a member of the Maccabees and politically is a republican. In the fall of 1915 he was elected township trustee and had served two terms in that office prior to that election. He is a very popular and widely known citizen in Wellington Township.

Hon. CLARENCE G. WASHBURN. It was in 1892 that Judge Washburn began the practice of law at Lorain and the honors of office and a profitable patronage as a lawyer soon followed. For many years Judge Washburn has represented the qualities of the true leader in the life of Lorain County, and the worth of his career is attested by many important relations with the institutions and affairs of his home city.

Clarence. Griffin Washburn was born in Greenwich Township -of Huron County, Ohio, February 19, 1867, a son of Henry C. and Charlotte (Griffin) Washburn. His parents came to Ohio from the vicinity of Syracuse, New York, and in earlier generations the ancestors were - Connecticut people. Judge Washburn was sixteen years old when his mother died and ten years later the father died.

His father was a farmer, but in later years lived in the Village of Greenwich, where Judge Washburn spent the first eighteen years of his life. With a common school education and with good natural endowments, he then went out to Kansas with an older brother, and after his return three vears later spent one year in conducting a retail shoe business in Huron County. This was the sum of his experiences before he took up the study of law in the office of T. L. Strimple. From the private study of law about two vears later he entered the law department of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated June 30, 1892. In the spring of 1892, having been admitted to practice law in Ohio, he obtained a leave of absence from the University and opened an office at Lorain, returning to Ann Arbor in June to take examinations which gave him the degree of Bacheloz of Laws. His first important official position was village solicitor, to which he was appointed by the council of Lorain in 1894. About that time came a much more important event in his life. his marriage on July 25, 1894, to Miss Maude M. Marsh, of Greenwich, and an old schoolmate of Judge Washburn. Few wives have been more practical and helpful companions to their husbands than Mrs. Washburn. Prior to her marriage she had heen deputy in the probate office of Huron County, and when Judge Washburn was elected clerk of courts of Lorain County in 1896 she assisted him in the office. aud in all their relations, both in business and at home, their lives have been singularly felicitous and harmonious. Mrs. Washburn was admitted to practice law in Ohio in 1896, but has never exercised that privilege in a professional way.

In 1897, following his election to county office. Judge Washburn moved to Elyria, and has since had his home in that citv. He was reelected to the office of clerk in 1899, and did not return actively to the practice of law until the fall of 1903. Ini 1904 Governor Myron T. Herrick appointed him judge of the Common Pleas Court for the second sub-division of the Fourth Judicial District, to serve until his successor was elected. At a special election he was chosen his own-snecessor in November, 1905, and by re-election in 1906 continued on the bench until 1913. In 1912. while still in office as Common Pleas judge, he was nominated by the republicans for judge of the Court of Appeals in the Eighth Judicial District, which included the City of Cleveland. Owing to the split in the republican party of that year Judge Washburn failed to receive an election which otherwise would have been largely a matter of course. In February, 1913, he resumed the practice of law at Elyria.

When Judge and Nirs. Washburn were married they were both poor, and they have used their abilities and opportunities to secure the most cherished of their ambitions, a good home and familv of fine children, and means to live comfortably. Their children are: Charlotte Edwards. aged seventeen; Anna Paine, aged sixteen; Warner Marsh, aged twelve; and Elizabeth, aged seven. Mrs. Washburn has proved a model mother. and in her suecess as a home-maker and in her capable judgment in business affairs she shares the honors of accomplishment associated with the name of her husband. Both are active members of the First Congregational Church of Elyria. For about ten weeks every summer the family live at the Summer Assembly Grounds maintained by the Congregational Church at Crystal Lake near Frankfort, Michigan, and Judge

Judge Washburn is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias. and in politics has always been a republican. He is a director in the Savings Deposit Bank & Trust Company of Elyria, is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, a life member of the Library Board, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Young Men's Christian Association, a life member of the Elyria Memorial Hospital, was former president and is now a trustee of the Social Settlement at Elyria, has served as president of the Elyria Country Club, and has been president of the Men's Club of the Congregational Church, an organization that has been in existence for the past eight years. Through these and other channels he finds opportunities to do a great deal of public-spirited work in behalf of his home city and county. Judge Washburn is a member of the Lorain County Bar Association and is trustee of the Lorain County Law Library Association. His chief recreation is golf.

BYRON GERALD NICHOLS. For more than thirty years Byron Gerald Nichols has been identified with the business interests of Lorain, first as a successful merchant and more recently as an operator in real estate and insurance. His connections are so numerous and important, however, that it would be difficult to find a field to which his activities have not led him, and each of his various ventures has heen brought to a success through the exercise of his fine abilities. His business talents have always been used to further the interests of the city, and as a member of the Lorain City Council for five years he contributed materially to civic improvement and advancement.

Mr. Nichols is a native son of Lorain, and was born October 12, 1864. his parents being John and Deborah (Lowe) Nichols. The parents eame to Lorain County in 1857, settling in the vicinity of Lorain, on a farm, and here the father continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remaining vears of his life, and passed away November 1, 1878. He was one of the substantial, practical farmers of his locality, was a man of the highest honor and integrity, and won and held the entire confidence of the people of his community. Mrs. Nichols survived him for a long period. and passed away at the old home, May 15, 1899.

The publie schools of Lorain furnished Byron Gerald Nichols with his early education, following which he enrolled as a student at Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio, from which institution he was duly graduated in 1883. Thus equipped, Mr. Nichols entered business life at Lorain, establishing himself as the proprietor of a general merchandise establishment. of which he continued to be the head for a period of twelve years. In the meantime he had at various times invested in realty holdings. and his interests in this direction grew so extensively that he decided to give more of his attention to the real estate business. He accordingly disposed of his holdings in the store, which he had built up to large proportions. and opened an office as a dealer in real estate, loans, insurance, ete., in which field of endeavor he has steadily advanced to a foremost position among the business men of Lorain. Mr. Nichols has been connected with various transactions of large magnitude. and his great capacity and thorough knowledge of values, coupled with many vears of business association with capitalists and men of affairs, render him a valued medium for the carrying through of real estate deals. Mr. Nichols' abilities have heen recognized and appreciated hy his associates at Lorain, and his connection with enterprises of an important character are many, including directorships in the Lorain Banking

Company, the Black River Telephone Company, the Lorain Glove Company and the Lorain Casting Company. He is a member and steward of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Lorain. Mr. Nichols' first political office was that of township clerk, in which capacity he served very acceptably for two years. He was then sent to the Lorain City Council, where he served five years, and while a member of that body served on the finance and other important committees.

Mr. Nichols was married November 20, 1884, at New London, Ohio, to Miss Elizabeth Brightman, daughter of P. B. Brightman, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Huron County, and a member of a family that has been well known and prominent in Ohio for many years. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nichols: Howard Kent, who graduated in June, 1914, from Western Reserve University, and is now associated with his father in the real estate business. He was married September 10, 1915, to Miss Gladys White, a daughter of John P. and Mae (Reed) White, of Cleveland, Ohio. Enid Lueretia and Millicent Deborah reside with their parents. Personally, Mr. Nichols' manner and bearing are those of the brainy, successful business man, and he thus possesses peculiar advantages for his chosen vocation. His friends are as numerous as his acquaintances, and his career in the real estate history of Lorain County is no doubt destined to continue as a brilliant one.

ARTEMAS BEEBE, who had the distinction of being the last survivor of the first pioneers of Ely ria, was born at Russell, Hampden County, Massachusetts, October 7, 1793, and died at Elyria, Ohio, March 29, 1880, aged during his youth were not such as they are today in Massachusetts, but such opportunities as were afforded by the common schools were eagerly grasped by the lad during the intervals between his labor, and he grew up alert in mind and active in body, with an education which allowed him to take his proper place and hold his own among men.

When still a youth, Mr. Beebe became a clerk in his father's store, there acquiring a rudimentary knowledge of business that laid the foundation upon which was later built a structure of business success, but his ambition at that time was to do more for himself than the opportunities promised in his native place, and when in his twenty-third year he engaged to accompany Heman Ely to his new possessions in the Far West, as Ohio was then regarded, in the capacity of carpenter and joiner. This company consisted of Heman Ely, Ebenezer Lane, Luther Lane, Artemas Beebe, Ann Snow. the housekeeper, and Ned, Mr. Ely's colored servant, and left Springfield, Massachusetts, February 20, 1817, for the wilderness of the Western Reserve, where since has been built the community of Elyria. After a long and toilsome journey, the little party arrived at their destination on the evening of March 18, 1817, and found lodgings in the hut of logs that had been erected in the previous months, the only house in the settlement, which stood on what now is the south side of Broad Street. near where the ''Old Tavern"' still stands as a landmark of early days. It is not necessary to follow Mr. Beebe through his years of activity in preparing homes for those who were to share in the hardships of the pioneers ; suffice it to say that his resolute purpose to realize the ambitions of his youth never forsook him, and that from early morn until late at night he labored with the tools of his trade, or with the axe and hand-spike drove back the solid forest and added to the comforts of his home and the area of his farm, In February of the year following his arrival, he purchased a horse and returned to his home in New England, where he remained only a short time, and when he came back had a horse and wagon. Again, in February, 1820, he went to Massachusetts, covering the greater part of the journey on foot, and on the 4th of the following October was married in that state to Miss Pamelia Morgan. With his bride and a wagon containing the most important implements of housekeeping he started for the new country again, arriving November 17. She continued to be his true and faithful helpmate during his long and useful eareer. and her death, which occurred June 26, 1878, had a very depressing effect on Mr. Beebe and no doubt hastened his own demise.

Six years after he commenced housekeeping in the ''Beebe Tavern,'' Mr. Beebe became the contractor for carrying the mails between Elyria and Cleveland, and this enterprise, beginning in a small way, eventually grew into a line of stage coaches which ran between Cleveland and Lower Sandusky, which was afterwards called Tremont. The handling of this business required, the possession of considerable executive ability and energy to insure its success, but Mr. Beebe was not found lacking in either, and the result was that after fifteen years of labor in this venture he sold his entire line, in 1842, to Neil, Moore & Company, and began to devote his then ample means to enterprises more directly beneficial to his immediate community.

The Beebe House, which Mr. Beebe erected in 1846, was at that time the largest and best appointed hostelry in any country town in the West. He was one of the stockholders of the Lorain Bank at Elyria at the time of its organization, this now being known as the National Bank of Elyria, and was a member of its board of directors from its inception, in 1847, through its nationalization, up to the time of his death, and at all times had the regard and confidence of his associates, who looked to him for advice and leadership in important ventures. During all these years his early habits of industry never forsook him, and he was constantly employed in personally superintending the operation of his large estate, often performing work that could have been done by other hands, merely from the habit of keeping energetically at work. But the stoutest muscle cannot always endure and the strongest will must sometimes yield to the inexorable laws of nature. On November 18, 1876, while walking in his yard, he suffered a severe attack of paralysis, which for a time rendered his limbs on one side powerless to perform their functions, and it was feared for a time that he could not recover. His strong constitution and indomitable will, however, gradually overcame the dreaded disease, and he was able to use his arms, although he never recovered the use of his lower limbs and from the day of his attack never left the house unless carried to his carriage for a short drive amid the scenes of former labors.

Mr. Beebe contributed liberally to the church and Sunday school, as well as to benevolent and charitable movements. His mind continued alert to the last, and with the strict probity and integrity that had governed all his actions, he arranged his business affairs in an orderly manner, preparing thus calmly and resignedly for his final departure. He survived all the others of the party who came as pioneers to Elyria. Heman Ely died February 2, 1852; Ebenezer Lane, who became a chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, June 12, 1866; Luther Lane, November 23, 1868; and the colored boy, Ned, at West Springfield. Massachusetts, in 1830, while Ann Snow died some time before Mr. Beebe, although the exact date is not known.

Mrs. Beebe, who died June 26, 1878, was born at West Springfield, Massachusetts, November 9, 1799. On October 4, 1820, she was married to Mr. Beebe at West Springfield, by the old blind pastor, Rev. Joseph Lathrop, assisted by his colleague, Rev. William B. Sprague. Prior to her marriage, Mrs. Beebe had been a member of the First Congregational Church of West Springfield, but when in 1824 the First Presbyterian Church of Elyria was formed, she became one of the ten original members, and at the time of her death only one other of the first ten survived. At the time of their deaths, Mr. and Mrs. Beebe belonged to the First Congregational Church of Elyria.

There were three daughters and two sons in the family of Artemas and Pamelia (Morgan) Beebe: Mary, who died September 11. 1903, as the wife of Edwin Hall, leaving two children, of whom one is living, - Mrs. R. 8. Sloan, of Sandusky, Ohio; Henry, who died February 15, 1905, at Toledo, Ohio, leaving one son, George, who died at Cincinnati soon after his father's death; Artemas, a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of this work; Sarah, who died October 11, 1904, as the wife of Frank Turner, and left one daughter - Winnifred L., who makes her home with her aunt; and Pamelia Beebe. the youngest of the family and the only one 'now living, who makes her home at the old Beebe residence, 264 Broad Street. Pamelia Beebe was the only one of the children to be born in this home, the others all being born in the old Beebe Tavern here, an old landmark of Elyria, a eut of which is shown herewith. She was educated here and in girlhood joined the First Congregational Church. of which she has continued to he a member since the time of her father's joining, her mother having heen a charter member when the chureh was organized. Pamelia Beebe is president of the Lorain County Historical Society, an office which she has held since the death of her sister, Mary, whom she succeeded. She is well known in church and social cireles, and is held in high esteem, not only for her many personal attainments, but as the representative of a family than which none has done more to make Elvria's history. From her father's interesting reminiscences of early days, the late Mrs. Mary Hall compiled a 58-page book, containing many early-day cuts of building and scenery, ''Reminiscences of Elyria, Ohio,'' which was published in 1900 and dedicated to the Lorain County Historical Society, of which she was then president. This interesting work met with a large sale, the proceeds from which were turned over to the society to further its work.

ARTEMAS BEEBE. In the death of the late Artemas Beebe. which occurred at his farm residence on Cleveland Street, August 27. 1891, Elyria lost a citizen who was a native son, who had grown with the community, and whose history was a part of the history of the locality. He watched the straggling little hamlet of his boyhood grow. and develop into a center of business, agricultural, educational and religious activity, and while bearing his full share of the labors and responsibilities necessary to bring this great development about, won fairly and retained unquestionably the warmest regard and fullest confidence of his fellowmen.

_ Mr. Beebe was born in the old hotel known as Beebe Tavern, at Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, October 10, 1825, and spent his entire sixty-six years of life here. He was the second son of the late Artemas Beebe, who had come to this community with the late Heman Ely, from Massachusetts, in 1817, and assisted in making a home in the wilderness where Elyria now stands, and a sketch of whose career and achievements will be found on another page of this work. Artemas Beebe of this review was educated in the public schools, which he attended until nearly fifteen years of age, and at that time became a clerk in the dry goods store of the late Seymour W. Baldwin, where he remained for several years, then turning his attention to farming. On November 25, 1847, he was married to Miss Nancy L. Fisher, of Grafton, Lorain County, and soon thereafter removed to his farm near the city, where, with the exception of two years, he passed the remainder of his life. At the time of his father's death, in 1880, he became the owner of the Beebe Hotel, which he leased until 1886, in which year he took possession as manager, but after two years of experience in this direction returned to farming and continued to be engaged therein until his death. As an agriculturist he was energetic, progressive and enterprising, winning a substantial property through straightforward and above-board transactions. He was an active worker in religious affairs in Lorain County, and was a member and regular attendant of the Congregational Sunday School of Elyria for sixty vears, for ten years of which time he acted in the capacity of assistant superintendent. Jn addition, he was for a long period chairman of the executive committee of the Lorain County Sunday School Union. During thirty-three years he was an active and highly honored member of the Congregational Church of Elyria. <A highly regarded man among his associates, in his home he was a kind husband and an indulgent father, and, in fact, in every walk of life, followed the dictates of a conscience that never failed to point out the proper course for him to pursue as an honest, God-fearing man.

Mrs. Beebe, who was born at Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, January 12, 1825, died at Elyria, November 15, 1898. They became the parents of four children, as follows: Mary M. (Beebe) Williams, who died suddenly at the family home in the same year as her mother, when apparently in the best of health; William A., born October 14, 1848, at Elyria, for years a telegraph operator with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, a good citizen and a respecter of the Golden Rule, married Fanny Mills and had a son and daughter, the latter of whom died in October, 1900, and himself passed away December 10, 1902, mourned by a wide cirele of friends and acquaintances; Frank, who is a resident of Elyria; and Artemas, also of this city.

ARTEMAS BEEBE. During a period of more than seventeen years, Artemas Beebe has been identified with the Cleveland & Southwestern Railway, in the capacity of conductor, and in this time has become one of the best known and most popular officials on the line. He belongs to one of Lorain County's pioneer families, which was founded here by his grandfather, Artemas Beebe, who came to Elyria in 1817. Since

Mr. Beebe of this review was born at Elyria, May 26, 1869, and is a son of Artemas and Nancy Louise (Fisher) Beebe. Separate mention is made in this work of his father and grandfather, as well as of his brother, Frank Beebe, of Elyria, who is the only other survivor of the family of four children, of whom Artemas is the youngest. Educated in the puble schools of Elyria, Artemas Beebe was graduated from the high school with the class of 1890, and at that time became the proprietor of a book store, located on Broad Street, at the present site of the Haserodt jewelry store, at No. 503. During the four years that Mr. Beebe conducted this establishment, under the firm style of Beebe & Company, Edward Fisher, the jeweler, shared the rooms with him. In 1895, when he sold his business to John C. Bins, Mr. Beebe went to work under his father-in-law, the late George H. Mapes, of whose career further notice will be found elsewhere in this work. He began as yard clerk at the Baltimore & Ohio Junction, and later for five years was identified with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, and when he left that concern entered the service of the Cleveland & Elyria Electric Railway, which has since become the Cleveland & Southwestern Railway. Since June 2, 1898, he has acted in the capacity of conductor and his faithful, efficient and courteous performance of his duties has made him one of the company's most trusted and valued employes, as well as placing him high in the regard of the passengers who patronize this line.

Mr. Beebe has large interests in the Beebe estate, owning a part of the 200-acre farm which his father had on the east side of the city, and in addition holding a number of valuable pieces of city realty. In business circles he has many warm friends among leading and influential citizens and has built up a reputation for integrity and fidelity which the members of his family have always enjoyed. Raised a Mason in 1901, Mr. Beebe has taken a keen interest in Masonic work, and when the Masonic Temple was being built probably collected more money for its erection than any other person in Elyria. He is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Mason, of which he is past master; was eminent commander of Elyria Commandery No. 60, in 1910; in 1911 and 1912 was thrice illustrious master of Elyria Council No. 86, and helongs to Lake Erie Consistory, being a thirty-second degree Scottish Rte Mason. He also holds membership in the Knights of the Maccabees and the Roval Arcanum. As a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Beebe has assisted in forwarding movements which have advanced the commercial and industrial welfare of the city, and he also belongs to the Elyria Memorial Hospital Relief Association, and, with his family, to the First Congregational Church of Elyria. When the Young Men's Christian Association Building was being erected at Elyria he took a prominent part in the collection of funds, being a member of Captain Buttenbender's team.

On December 16, 1891, Mr. Beebe was married to Miss Minnie Angeline Mapes, who was born at Bellevue, Ohio, the only child of George and Marietta E. (King) Mapes, by whom she was brought to Elyria when she was one and one-half years of age. Mr. Mapes is now deceased, and his widow owns the home at No. 626 Broad Street, which Mr. Mapes built, and in which Mr. and Mrs. Beebe now reside.

GrorGE Mapes. For thirty-three vears the late George Mapes was a well-known and highly respected citizen of Elyria and was one of the most popular railroad men of this community, his connection with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway having commenced in 1873.

Mr. Mapes was born at Willoughby, Ohio, August 18, 1841, the youngest in a family of seven brothers and sisters and the last of them to die, the preceeding death in the family having been that of his sister, Mrs. Katherine Alvord, of Peoria, Illinois, who passed away only a week before her brother's demise. Educated in the public schools of his native community, when his school days were finished he took up telegraphy, then a new vocation, which he made his life work. He was still a youth when he entered the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, and at various times held the position of telegrapher at Wakeman, Clyde and Bellevue, Ohio, and at the latter place was promoted to station agent. In 1873 he was transferred from Bellevue to Elyria. in the capacity of agent, where he continued until his retirement in December, 1903, he then being pensioned by the road in the service of which he had spent forty years of energetic, conscientious and capable work. Mr. Mapes was one of the old-time ''knights of the key,'' his experiences having covered the era of the greatest development of the telegraph. He was known as a rapid operator and his messages could be depended upon absolutely. Among railroad men he was widely known and had many friends among the high officials of the road with which he was connected.

While at Bellevue, Mr. Mapes was raised a Mason, and continued to be actively interested in the work of that fraternity up to the time of his death. For three years prior to that event he had been secretary for the several branches of the order at Elyria, including King Solomon Lodge No. 56, and Marshall Chapter No. 47, and he was also recorder for Elyria Council No. 86, and a member of Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar, of which he was made a member April 18, 1905. He became a member of the Royal Arcanum at the time of its organization at Elyria. Mr. Mapes died March 29, 1907, and his funeral was in charge of the Masonic order and held at Masonic Temple. He was widely mourned, not only among his family and immediate friends, but among a wide acquaintance who knew him as a kindly, charitable man, and as a citizen who was always giving his support to some beneficial movement in the community.'

On January 27, 1866, Mr. Mapes was married to Miss Mary Etta King. who survives him and resides at the old family home on Broad Street. One daughter was born to this union: Minnie Angeline, who is now the wife of Artemas Beebe, of Elyria, the daughter and son-inlaw making their home with the mother at the old home which Mr. Mapes built many years ago.

CHARLES P, Epwarps. When Charles P. Edwards came to Oberlin in 1882 he was an ambitious young man, possessing considerable skill and experience in the tin and metal working trade and as a plumber. For a number of years he went steadily ahead as an employe of different firms in the town, and in 1905 he borrowed some capital and started a business of his own. That he has done well is the general consensus of opinion in that community. He now furnishes perhaps the most reliable service in plumbing and tin and metal work in the community.

He was born at Seville, Medina County, Ohio, June 24, 1860. His parents were James D. and Ellen (Sickner) Edwards. His grandfather was Andrew Edwards, who was born at Paisley, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States about 1825, first settling in New York, and thence moving to Seville, Ohio, during the early 50s. He was a tanner and eurrier by trade, having served a thorough seven years apprenticeship in those lines in Scotland. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Edwards was James Sickner, who was born in one of the New England states and for many years sailed the ocean as an able bodied seaman, and saw practically all the ports of the civilized world. On leaving the sea he came inland to Ohio, and there followed his trade of blacksmith. James D. Edwards, father of Charles P., was born in Watertown, New York, in 1836. while his wife was born at Strongsville, Ohio, in 1837, and died in 1897. They were married in Seville, Ohio, in 1858. James D. Edwards was a tinsmith for more than forty years in Seville, and he now lives at Jefferson and is still working at his trade. He is a member of the Baptist Church and is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Asa republican he served as mayor of Seville a number of years and was also a member of the town council. During the Civil war he was one of the Ohio volunteers who aided in repelling Morgan's raids, while his brother John lost his life at the siege of Knoxville. Tennessee,

Reared in his native Village of Seville. Charles P. Edwards acquired a common school education, and when only a hoy began working and learning the trade of tinsmith under his father. After his apprenticeship he became a journeyman, and while he is duly modest ahout his own accomplishment. his friends say that he has prospered by steady adherence to one line and by doing everything he undertakes well and thoroughly.

In 1881 he married Mary Freehold, of Cleveland. To their union were born four children: Arthur, who is in business with his father; Mrs. Stella Williams, of Elyria, whose husband is a motorman; Ars. Fannie Rathwell, wife of a farmer in Lorain County: and Alma. who is employed in a local telephone office. The mother of these children died in 1893. In 1895 My. Edwards married Eliza Rathwell. who was born at Oberlin. There are also four children by this union: May Udora. Grace and Harley, all of them at home. Mr. Edwards is a member of the Baptist Church, and finds an outlet for his interests in fraternal work. He has passed the chairs of the subordinate lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is also a member of the Knights and Ladies of Security. In politics he is a republican, and is a factor in the municipal government of Oberlin, where he has served in the city council for the past four years.

H. C. OTTERBACHER. For many vears the name Otterhacher has been closely and successfully identified with business affairs at Wellington. The late John Martin Otterbacher, who died September §, 1910. was in early life trained to the trade of harnessmaker, and he used that trade to build up and develop a business which made him prominent at Wellington.

The successor of his father in mereantile affairs at Wellineton is H. C. Otterbacher, who was born at Wellington, September 6, 1879. a son of the late John Martin and Rosa L. (Fahrion) Otterhacher.

H. C. Otterbacher acquired his early education in the Wellington public schools, graduating from high school in 1897. and afterwards attending Oberlin Business College for one vear. He then became his father's assistant in the harness business and has continued and expanded the business since his father's death. He now has a large and well equipped store and factory, keeps all supplies in the way of harness required by the trade, and keeps a large stock of buggies. wagons and farm implements. He is an ex-president of the Tri-State Vehicle and Implement Association and is at present a director in that organization.

degrees in both the York and Scottish Rites, is a thirty-second degree Mason and is a member of Al Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Cleveland, Ohio. In politics he is a republican.

Tuomas T. WINCKLES. Now in the seventy-ninth year of his age, Thomas T. Winckles has had a truly noteworthy career, not in the abnormal sense of the term but in the sturdy accomplishment of duty, the fulfillment of obligations to home, friends and community, and a straightforward career, loving justice, practicing charity, and walking in the fear of God. Mr. Winckles has spent practically all the years of his life in Lorain County, and is now one of the grand old men among its native citizens.

Born on a farm in Avon Township, March 29, 1837, a son of Thomas T. and Ann (Buck) Winckles, both of whom were born in Northamptonshire, England, and were married there, emigrating to the United States early in 1836 and spending about a year in New York City. His father bought property in New York City but sold it on moving to Avon Township in Lorain County. They settled in this county the same year that Mr. Winckles was born and the elder Winckles spent his active career as a farmer. In 1845 he removed to Ridgeville, and built a fine estate in that section of the county. He had owned about ninety acres in Avon, and selling that bought fifty acres first in Ridgeville and later acquired more than 200 acres of wild land. His estate was finally reduced to 187 acres in Ridgeville, and for more than sixty years that has been in the possession of the Winckles family. The father lived in that community until his death at the age of forty-four, and his wife passed away at the age of fifty-one. The elder Thomas T. Winckles took an active part in local affairs, serving as a township trustee and justice of the peace at Ridgeville. In his family were seven children, three sons and four daughters. Elizabeth, who married Thomas Martin, died in Virginia: the second is Thomas T., Jr.; Cary H. was a graduate of Oberlin College, early enlisted in the army during the Civil war as a private, was promoted to orderly sergeant and finally to first leutenant only a few days before his death, his fatal illness having overtaken him when near Covington, Kentucky, in 1863, while with the One Hundred and Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Sarah Jane died in childhood and all the other children died in infancy.

Thomas T. Winckles received most of his education in the Elyria public schools, with a few terms in Oberlin College. His school and home training well prepared him for the serious and practical duties of life, and he then took up farming on the old estate. He was only twenty years of age when his father died, and he continued to cultivate and manage the homestead until 1881, at which time he bought the property. This fine farm of 187 acres in Ridgeville is easily one of the best in Lorain County, and is now the property of his son Cary T. Winckles. Thomas T. Winckles owned and managed the farm up to 1900, since which year he has lived almost retired in Elyria. .His home in Elyria comprises a substantial residence surrounded with four and a half acres of land and as it would be contrary to his nature to be idle, he finds employment in working his large garden. His home is at the corner of Cleveland Street and Winckles Street, the latter being named in his honor. He laid part of this street out, and the late Parks Foster continued the thoroughfare, and it is now one of considerable length.

During his residence in Ridgeville Mr. Winckles took an active part in civie and religious life. He was a trustee of the township for a number of years and since coming to Elyria served six years as a member of the city council, representing the first ward. In politics he is a repub- lican. In the way of local improvements he had erected four residences on Winckles Street, and still owns three of these, which he rents. He is also interested as a stockholder in The Farm Implement Company at Elyria, of which his son Harvey T. Winckles, mentioned on other pages, is president and the active head. Mr. Winckles has long been prominent in the Congregational Church at Ridgeville, and up to a year ago served as one of its trustees, his service in that office beginning when he was only twenty years of age and at the time of the organization of the church and continuing for more than fifty-five years. He helped to build the first church home, and has been one of its main supporters, a work and interest in which his wife was equally zealous.

At the home of Thomas and Jane (Townshend) Hurst in Dover, Cuyahoga County, on January 16, 1861, Mr. Winckles married Miss Lucy A. Hurst. She was born in Dover, received her early schooling there and later attended Oberlin College. For more than fifty-four years Mr. and Mrs. Winckles have traveled life's highway together, and theirs has been a marriage ideal in its communion and its interests and accomplishments. A few years ago they celebrated with family and friends their golden wedding anniversary. Of the five children born to them three are still living. Arthur died when three years of age: Lillian is now Mrs. W. M. Barnes of Cleveland. Cary T. is president of The Elyria Construction Company and owns and operates as a dairy farm the old homestead in Ridgeville, as related on other pages. Lena died at the age of eighteen, being at that time a graduate of the Elyria high school. Harvey T. is president and general manager of The Farm Implement Company of Elyria and his career as a business man is recited on other pages. All these children received their early education in the Elyria public schools.

PERRY G. WorRCcESTER. One of the best known carpenter contractors in Lorain County is Perry G. Worcester of Oberlin. Mr. Worcester as the basis of his business learned his trade thoroughly and skillfully. and during the past twenty or thirty vears has emploved his individual services and the organization which he has built up and maintained in the construction of some of the best homes, offices and other buildings in the county.

He comes of a very old American family, which originally caine from England and settled in Massachusetts and Vermont. from which states the stock has spread to all parts of the Union. There were a number of the Worcesters who served in the rank and file in the patriot army during the Revolution, and one of them was colonel of a regiment.

It was fully seventy years ago that this branch of the Worcesters became identified with Lorain County. Grandfather Samuel Worcester, a native of Vermont, came to Lorain County in 1845. took up a tract of land and lived on it as a farm until his death. Perry G, Worcester was born in Lorain County on a farm May 1, 1863. a son of James M. and Adeline (Hill) Worcester. The father was born at Fort Ticonderoga, New York, in 1828 and the mother in Vermont in 1831. His father died in August, 1907, and his mother in June, 1895. James M. Worcester was about seventeen vears of age when the family came to Oberlin, and he combined farming and work as a carpenter. He owned several farms in the county, and was quite successful. though he started in life with practically nothing. In the "40s and '50s he was an active abolitionist, and helped to keep up the underground railroad. He was a republican in politics, served as a member of the city council at Oberlin. as town trustee for a number of vears and also as assessor. He was also a member of the Masonic order, while his wife was a Methodist. They were the parents of thirteen children, eleven of whom are living.

The ninth in order of birth, Perry G. Worcester completed his early education in the Oberlin High School. For the first twenty-one years of his life he lived almost entirely on the farm, and then learned the carpenter's trade and gradually developed his trade into a contracting business. It is said that he has contracted and built more of the first class homes in Oberlin than any other man. He has been in the business for twenty-one years, at Oberlin, and for four years he was located at Mentor, Ohio.

On February 27, 1889, Mr. Worcester married Emily Corning, daughter of Nelson and Adelia (Tyler) Corning. Her father was born in Mentor, Ohio, in 1831, and died in 1907, and her mother was born in New York State in 1832 and is still living at the age of eighty-four. Nelson Corning was a farmer by occupation and spent practically all the days of his life at Mentor. Mr. and Mrs. Worcester have four children: Nelson C., a farmer at Oberlin; Mills E., who is in the United States regular army; Emily A., who is still attending school at Oberlin; and -Harriet Elizabeth, born September 16, 1900, and died February 5, 1905.

Mr. Worcester has for many years taken much interest in the Masonic order, and is affiliated with the Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, Knight. Templar and Commandery, is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs to Alkoran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Cleveland, Ohio. He has served as junior warden of his lodge and is now generalissimo in the Knights Templar. In polities he is a republican.

OrLanpo T. Maynarp, M. D. If there is one institution more than another of which the citizens of Lorain County are proud it is the Elyria Memorial Hospital, and it was a high tribute to the standing, ability and recognized qualificatons of Dr. Maynard as a physician and surgeon that he was chosen as the first president of the medical staff of that hospital when it was organized. He has continued a member of the staff ever since, and is also on the medical staff of the Nurses' Training School. Dr. Maynard is one of the older physicians of Elyria, where he has practiced more than a quarter of a century, and his entire record of service in that profession covers forty years.

Born at Ripley, Huron County, Ohio, September 14, 1851, he is a son of George C. and Polly (Woodward) Maynard. His father' was born in New York State, February 18, 1821, and when a boy accompanied his parents to Huron County, where he became a substantial farmer, and died there June 29, 1897. The doctor's mother was also a native of New York State, born October 8, 1827, and when a girl was brought to Hancock County, Ohio, by her parents. She died in Huron County, August 12, 1903, on the same farm she came to as a bride fifty-three years before.

The first twenty-one years of his life Doctor Maynard largely spent on his father's farm in Huron County, attending in the meanwhile the public and select schools of that locality. Prior to his twenty-first birthday he taught school for two terms in Ripley, his native township, and taught another term later, just before entering medical college, and part of his expenses while studying medicine were defrayed from his earnings as a teacher. He began the study of medicine at North Fairfield, Ohio, and in 1875 was graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati. Since then, a period of forty years, he has been continuously in the practice of his profession. Few medical men in Lorain county have secured for themselves so generous an equipment and training in the various medical centers of the world. In 1884 Doctor Maynard grad- uated from Western Reserve Medical School, and in 1886 was given a diploma by the New York Polyclinic. He has also traveled extensively abroad, spending four summers in hospitals in London, and has done post-graduate work in that city, in Berlin, Germany, and Dublin, Ireland. Doctor Maynard and his wife have made two trips to Egypt and the Holy Land, the first in 1906 and the second in 1912.

From 1875 to 1877, Doctor Maynard was assistant physician in the Hospital for the Insane at Toledo. His home has been in Elyria since 1887. He is a member of the Lorain County Medical Society, the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, the Ohio State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and is a trustee of the Elyria Public Library.

Doctor Maynard in politics has always endeavored to support the cleanest and best man who was candidate for office and where no difference has heen apparent in their respective qualifications has usually supported the republican ticket. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum, and has been a member of the Baptist Church since 1873. In 1877 in Amherst Township of Lorain County, Doctor Maynard married Mary E. Lyman, daughter of Charles Lyman.

Hexry Oswaitp WourMser. Architecture, the art which constructs either for beauty or utility, or combines both, is one of the oldest of the refining and civilizing agencies of man. While it has necessarily been regulated by natural conditions and configuration of the country in which it is exercised, the development of a modern palace, either for residence or business, step by step from the ancestral cave or tent, is one of the great and interesting romances of civilization,

Worthily in the front rank of this difficult and important profession. IIenry Oswald Wurmser possesses a very large circle of professional and sovial friends. The mention of his name brings at once to mind Lorain's beautiful school buildings, which have been incidents in an immense field of labor successfully and honorably accomplished. Just as the names of some public and business nen who have passed into the history of the county suggest their fulfillment of important enterprises, so also it is probable the name of Mr. Wurmser will be identified with the architectural and building interests of Ohio for many years to come.

Henry Oswald Wurmser was born at Findlay, county seat of Hancock County. Ohio. April 27, 1861, and is a son of Oswald and Mary (Alheile) Wurmser. who were born in France and came to the United States soon after they were married. As a boy Oswald Wurmser. Sv.. adopted the building profession and followed it with success throughout the period of his active life, designing and erecting many of Findlay's most beautiful and imposing structures of the early days.

II. O. Wurmser's direction of study was mapped out for him early in his life. and his preparatory education for the professions of engineering and architecture, quite often united in that day, received most careful development and supervision from his father, under whose guidance he chiefly gained his preparatory education in his calling, begining to learn its rudiments while still a student at the public schools. After some vears of practice at Findlay in 1893 he came to Lorain. and from that time to the present his name has continued to be identified with the best work of his profession, which he has followed throughout the State of Ohio.

school buildings. At Lorain he has erected all the public school buildings during the past twenty-one years with the exception of three. Among these are to be found the Oakwood Park School, a $40,000 structure, and the Lincoln School, located at Vine and East Thirty-first Street. the contract price for which was $60,000. This latter structure, built in 1913, two stories and basement, occupies ground dimensions 106 by 76 feet, with basement under all, and with an auditorium 31 by 76 feet. During his active career Mr. Wurmser has designed and built 1,224 luildings in Ohio, including among many others the Methodist Church at Elyria and the Reeves Hotel at New Philadelphia, Ohio, the latter costing $75,000.

Mr. Wurmser has various business connections outside of his calling, one of which is with the Parkside Automobile Company, of which he is vice president. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. In former years he took much interest in polities, having been a member of the Central Committee of Lorain, but recently the demands of his profession have been so heavy as to take his entire time and attention.

In 1884 Mr. Wurmser was married at Findlay, Ohio, to Miss Allie S. Woodley of that city. Four children have been born to their union. Frank J.. who is now traffic manager for the National Stove Company of Lorain, married Jessie Rood, and they are the parents of one child, Joan. Roy G. and Cliffe L., twins, have also reached the stage of independent usefulness in their careers, and Roy is identified with the Parkside Automobile Company in the capacities of secretary and treasurer, while Cliffe is one of the popular and efficient teachers in the public schools of Lorain. The youngest child, Paul W., is a student in the Lorain High School.

Bert QO. Duranp. The oldest real estate and insurance business in Lorain County under the continuous management of members of one family was established at Oberlin in 1865, the same year as that in which occurred the birth of Bert O. Durand, who is now head of 'this old and reliable business, which has recently completed a record of fifty years.

The business was established by the late William B. Durand, who was horn in Ohio in 1839 and died at Oberlin in 1909. He followed the work of an educator for several years, but in 1865 opened his office as an insurance and real estate man at Oberlin, and developed a very extensive business, though he had gone into the work with practically nothing. He was also prominent in local affairs. During the Civil war he spent two years with an Ohio regiment until stricken with brain fever and taken from the army to the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee. William B. Durand was the son of Henry Durand, who was born in Bedford, Connecticut, and was an early settler on a farm in Erie County, Ohio. William B. Durand served as township clerk at Oberlin for twenty-eight years, and was a member of the school board eight years. He was a republican and was affiliated with the Royal Arcanum, and for thirty-five years was superintendent of the Baptist Sunday School and verv active in the church itself. His wife belonged to the First Congregational Church. William B. Durand was married at Grafton, Ohio, in 1861. to Hannah Breckenridge, who was born at Grafton in 1842, and died in 1914. Her father, Benjamin Breckenridge, was a native of IIlinois and moved to Ohio, following farming near Grafton.

Bert O. Durand, the only son of his parents, was born at Oberlin October 30, 1866. He was liberally educated, graduated from Oberlin College in 1890, and soon afterwards entered business with his father.

and turned the management of the home office over to his son. Mr. Durand is now one of the leading representatives of the general insurance and real estate field in Lorain County, and his business connections also extend to Cuyahoga County.