Lorain City (part 65 of 77)

About that time Mr. Lersch established the Northern Ohio Syndicate, composed of Baldwin, Lersch & Company, at Elyria, the Fries & Scheuele Company of Cleveland, and the B. C. Taber & Company of Norwalk. The purpose of this syndicate was to purchase goods, chiefly from manufacturers or their agents, thus saving jobber's profit, and bringing the retail houses in the syndicate within close and prompt relations betweén the manufacturers and the buying public. The syndicate kept an agent constantly in the field, so that prompt advantage was taken of bargains, and the retailers were enabled to sell at considerable advantage and also afforded all the greatest service to their stores. This syndicate was subsequently expanded to include about fifteen large dry goods houses in Ohio and Pennsylvania, with a total purchasing capacity of about 43,000,000 annually. Mr, Lersch was elected president of this larger organization.

In addition to building up this splendid business now conducted as John Lersch & Company, he has formed at different times other useful connections with Elyria affairs. For many years he was a director and member of the finance committee of the Elyria Savings Bank, and later one of the founders of the Elyria Savings & Banking Company, - of which he is one of the directors and was at one time its vice president. He has always been a stanch member of the republican party and his judgment both in business and on other matters everywhere commands respect and is eagerly sought by younger men, many of whom at critical points of their career found the counsel of John Lersch invaluable. He served on the school board twelve years, and was president of the board for a short time. He cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has been an ardent protectionist. He was a prominent advocate of the plan for securing a supply of lake water for Elyria and of municipal ownership of all public utilities. He has been a liberal contributor to the Young Men's Christian Association, the Elyria Memorial Hospital, the Young Women's Christian Association, and is a strong advocate of all practical temperance work.

Mr. Lersch in 1868 married Miss Pamela Boynton, daughter of the late Joshua Boynton, who was born in Maine but was an early settler in Lorain County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lersch gave their children good educational privileges, and both sons and daughters are now well established in the world. The children are: Carl T.; Robert B.; Louise De- Lano, wife of John R. Gobey, a prosperous wholesale lumber merchant in Columbus, Ohio; Carlotta, wife of T. C. Cherry, manager of the Annapolis & Baltimore Street Railway: J. Walter; Arthur E.: and Harwood, a graduate of Dennison University, and for the past eight years one of the Division Engineers in the State Highway Department.

As the above brief outline has suggested John Lersch is a splendid example of the self-made man. He is a great reader, has depended a great deal upon the information obtained from encyclopedias. and has one of the largest private libraries in Elyria. Mrs. Lersch is a fine type of the mother and home maker. She has a broad and liberal education. and for a number of years taught in the Elyria publ schools. She is well versed on literary subjects, and has frequently shown a masterful logic and a fluent style of literary composition in various articles which have come from her pen. She is particularly able in the discussion of political matters. Mr. Lersch has been back to Europe to visit his old home twice, first in 1882 and again in 1914. He was able to leave Liverpool the day before the beginning of the great European war. sailing from that port July 31, 1914. and receiving the news by wireless when in midocean of the commencement of the war. Mr. Lersch is probably the oldest merchant in point of continuous service in Lorain County. having begun his career as a business man in 1854. He has shown a high sense of responsibility in the use of his general success, has given liberally to all worthy institutions and has striven for everything that would make Elyria a better and greater city.

CarL THEODORE LeErscil, the oldest son of John and Pamela ( Boynton) Lersch, is one of the younger business men of Elyria who has contributed his part to the prestige of the name, and is recognized as a successful and loyal citizen.

He was born January 6. 1870, at Elyria, gained his education in the publie schools, and in the third year of high school gave up his studies in order to enter the store of his father. With that great business, elsewhere described, he has been identified ever.since. For the past fifteen years he has been buyer and successful manager of the carpet and curtain department.

In political views Mr. Lersch is a staneh republican, though not to the extent of considering party before principle. To a question in regard to his religious views he would doubtless reply - 'they are embodied in Leigh Hunt's poem 'Abou Ben Adhem.' "'

Rosert B. Lerscu. Junior member of the well known firm of John Lersch & Company, proprietors of the largest dry goods store between Cleveland and Toledo, and vice president and a director of the National Bank of Elyria. Robert B. Lersch is a native of the city in which he is now engaged in business and is a son of John and Pamela (Boynton) Lersch. The career of John Lersch furnishes subject matter for another article, published elsewhere in this work.

Robert Boynton Lersch was born at Elyria, November 10, 1871, grew up at Elyria, where he was graduated from the high school in 1889, and following this took a partial course in law at the Western Reserve University, Cleveland. However, he did not pursue the law as 'a vocation, turning his attention to business affairs, although his legal training has been of no little value to him in subsequent years. Leaving college to identify himself actively with the firm of John Lersch & Company, he has been an associate member of the firm since 1893.

For a number of years Mr. Lersch has also been a figure in public life in the city and county. He began voting the republican ticket as soon as he reached his majority, and in 1896 was elected a member of the city council of Elyria, to which body he was re-elected four times, and in which he gave much service of a definite and helpful order in shaping the policies of the city government during that time. In 1903 the Lorain County Republican Convention chose Mr. Lersch on the first ballot as candidate for the State Legislature, and during his term at Columbus he was chairman of the finance committee and secretary of the committee on cities that prepared and presented the Payne bill, providing for the municipal code of Ohio. While a member of the Elyria City Council, Mr. Lersch was also chairman of the water committee, during the great seven-year fight, which enlisted the services of some of © the greatest lawyers in the country, and which resulted in securing for Elyria its own water works plant on the shores of Lake Erie, where the water is pumped and filtered and piped to the city from the lake. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and is fraternally a Knight Templar Mason, affiliating with Elyria Commandery No. 60, and a member of the Order of Elks and the Knights of the Maccabees. Socially, he is a popular member of the Elyria Country Club and the Cleveland Athletic Club, of Cleveland. A trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association, Mr. Lersch has always taken an active interest in that organization. He was captain of one of the teams at the time the money was raised to build the beautiful building of the institution here, and was one of the twenty guests at a dinner given by the late W. N. Gates, at which time the subject of erecting such a structure at Elyria was first broached.

On November 10, 1897, Mr. Lersch was married to Miss Helen Seward, who was born and reared in Lorain County, Ohio, a daughter of Thomas and Etta Seward. To this marriage there have been born two daughters: Dorothy and Jane.

Hurry Moore REpincTon, son of Judge Horace G. Redington, whose sketch appears on other pages, was born in Amherst, Lorain County, February 22, 1886. He attended the public schools at Amherst, also Oberlin Academy, and entering the Western Reserve Law School was

On July 6, 1910, only a few weeks after setting up in practice at Elyria, he married Miss Mary Lydia Peck of Oberlin, Ohio, daughter of Jonathan F. and Medora E. (Wack) Peck. Her father died many years ago and is buried at his old home in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and the mother is now living with Mr. and Mrs. Redington. Mrs. Redington was graduated from Oberlin Academy, spent several years in the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and about two years in the New York Art. School of New York City.

Mr. Redington had his first law office in the Redington Block, where he established himself August 4, 1910, and where his father later had his offices. After one year of practice alone he and his father shared the same office until February 1, 1914. The son then moved into the Elyria Block, continued alone until January 7, 1915, and then became junior member of the firm of Pounds & Redington, his associate being Harry A. Pounds, mention of whom is found on other pages.

In polities Mr. Redington is a democrat, and was the first president of the democratic club known as the Elyria Democratic Club and was active in its organization on July 17, 1914. He continued as its president until January 1, 1915, and is now a member of its executive committee. Fraternally his affiliations are with King Solomon Lodge No. 56. Free and Accepted Masons, and Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the Elyria Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and to the Men's Club of the Congregational Church. Mrs. Redington was brought up as an Episcopalian and attends that church. They have a daughter, Rosemary, born at Elyria, May 13, 1912, and a son James Peck, born October 30, 1913.

THomas Jounston. In the history of Lorain County, a name that appears frequently is that of Johnston, the members of this family having borne honored parts in professional, business. military, public and civic life. This family was founded here as early as 1838 by Thomas Johnston, now long since deceased, but whose descendants still represent the family honorably and bear evidence of the possession of the sturdy qualities of this old pioneer.

Thomas Johnston was born at Palmerston (Wilton), Saratoga County, New York, August 30, 1777, and was a son of Peter and Susannah (Johnson) Johnston. His father was born at Lockerhby. Annandale, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in 1735, and in 1773 applied for and received a certificate of good character signed by the magistrate of the borough of Lochmaben, in the same year taking his wife and children and starting for America. Embarking at Dumfries, they were carried in safety to the new country, the vessel duly making port at New York, from whence Peter Johnston took his family to Palmerston, Saratoga County, New York, which township afterwards was renamed Wilton. This was a newly-settled community, and the new arrivals were forced to face many hardships and overcome numerous obstacles. The heavy timber with which the tract was covered was cleared, cut into logs and made into rafts, and these were floated down to Troy, Albany and New York City. When the Revolutionary war broke out Peter Johnston first joined a company of Minute Men for the protection of the home community, but afterward enlisted in the Thirteenth Regiment of Albany County militia, known as Col. Cornelius Van Veghten's Regiment, and served as private in Capt. Ephraim Woodworth's Company. When his military service was completed, Peter Johnston returned to his Saratoga County farm and there passed the remaining years of his life in the development of a home, dying at Wilton, New York, September 13, 1798, aged sixtythree years. He was twice married, first in 1763 to Jane Mundle, by whom he had a son and a daughter, Andrew and Elizabeth. She died about 1771 and a year later he married Susannah Johnson, born in Scotland, and died at Wilton, New York, December 29, 1787, daughter of Archibald Johnson. They became the parents of four children: Jane, Thomas, Naney and Mary. Peter Johnston and his wife Susannah were buried in the cemetery near Emerson's Corners, at Wilton.

Thomas Johnston passed his boyhood on the home farm near Mount McGregor, New York, and received his early education in the common schools. It was the desire of his father that he become a minister, and he was sent away to be educated, but the youth did not finish the course nor did he adopt the calling, although to the end of his life he was ever ready to uphold his views in regard to religious topics, and was willing even to neglect his work to expound his theological doctrines to whomsoever should bring the subject up. His father was a devout Presbyterian, but early in life Thomas concluded from his researches that baptism by immersion was the only true form, and accordingly identified himself with the Baptist Church, although he did not become a professed member thereof for many years.

In 1800 Thomas Johnston was married to Lucy Benedict, daughter of Elisha and Thankful (Gregory) Benedict, of Northumberland, New York, and settled in that vicinity, where a son was born to them the next year, but both mother and child died within a few days, the former August 4, 1801. Later Mr. Johnston moved to Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont, where he married Susanna Cleveland, daughter of Stephen and Polly (Goodin) Cleveland. She was born at Bennington, Vermont, October 2, 1781, and was a member of a family the descendants of which have spread all over the country and have become prominent in every walk of life. The founder of this family in America, Moses Cleveland, is supposed to have been born in 1624, and came from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, to Woburn, Massachusetts, in 1635, as an indentured apprentice to a housewright. He became a freeman in 1643 and was married September 16, 1648, to Annie Winn, who bore him eleven children: Moses; Hannah: Aaron, the direct ancestor of President Grover Cleveland; Samuel; Miriam; Joanna; Edward; Josiah, the ancestor of Gen. Moses Cleveland, founder of the City of Cleveland, Ohio; Isaac: Joanna (2) and Enoch. Susanna (Cleveland) Johnston was in the sixth generation of the family in America.

Some time after his second marriage, Thomas Johnston bought a tract of land in Vermont, adjoining Fairfield, and settled there with his bride, but in 1804, being pressed for deferred payments on this property, disposed of it in order to save his improvements and bought a piece of land in Fairfield, Franklin County, Vermont, where he resided until 1811. In that year he moved to Oneida County, New York, and while he was residing in that locality witnessed the outbreak of the War of 1812 and enlisted in Capt. Earl Fillmore's company of Colonel Stone's regiment, New York militia. He served with that organization for 188 days as a private, and after his death his widow drew a pension for this service. In 1822 Mr. Johnston removed to Leyden, Lewis County, New York, and after three years made removal with his family to Shelby, Orleans County, New York, where he purchased a fine property on Maple Ridge, not far from Millville. ; to Cleveland, Ohio, where they embarked in two wagons, thus traveling to Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio, where they settled on a farm. In November, 1838, they made another removal, this time into the adjoining county of Lorain, where they settled on a farm on the east branch of the Black River, about a mile south of Grafton, which was then known as Rawsonville. They were among the pioneers of that locality, where they built a log house and planted an orchard, but after their children were all married the parents sold the farm, and it has since changed hands several times. Thomas Johnston died July 22, 1858, at the home of his son, Paul M., at LaGrange, Ohio, whence he had moved: at the time of his retirement, while the mother survived him until July 19, 1873. and passed away near the old homestead. They were buried side by side in the cemetery three miles east of LaGrange, where a substantial monument marks the resting-place of these two sturdy old pioneers. They were the parents of twelve children, namely: Polly M., who married Theodore Perkins: Peter B.; Stephen C.; Lucy B., who married Horace Perkins; William L.: Betsey M.; Drew M.; Betsey M. (2). who married Elihu F. Terrell; Sarah J., who married Sanford Thorp: Lois Ann Miller, who married first David Gregory, and second Virgil H. Worden: Charles W.; and Paul Milton. All of these children are now deceased.

Pati Mitton JoHnston. Sr. Although thirty-five vears have passed since the death of Paul Milton Johnston, a record of his life is worthy of a place in any history of the community of Lorain County. One of the early school teachers of this vicinity, he was also engaged in business and agricultural ventures, and throughout a life of industry and usefulness held the confidence and warm regard of those with whom he was brought into contact in any capacity.

Mr. Johnston was born at Shelby, Orleans County. New York, April 12, 1827, and died at Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, November 28, 1880. He was a son of Thomas and Susanna (Cleveland) Johnston, pioneers of the Western Reserve of Ohio, of whom separate mention is extensively made in another part of this work. In 1832 Mr. Johnston moved with his parents to Ohio, settling at Brunswick, Medina County, on a farm, and in November. 1838, came to Lorain County. the family locating on land on the east branch of the Black River, about one mile south of Grafton. There the father erected a log house and planted an orchard, and there the sons were brought up to agricultural pursuits. Paul M. Johnston worked on the old home farm until attaining his majority, and in the meantime secured such educational training as was afforded by the pioneer schools. He qualified as a teacher and for several vears was in charge of schools in his locality, but subsequently engaged as a drover in Company with his brother Charles, with whom he made a tour of the states of Ohio, Indiana. Illinois and Wisconsin.

On Christmas eve, 1857. Mr. Johnston was married at LaGrange, Ohio. to Maria Hicks Ohitts, who was born at Antwerp, Jefferson County, New York. April 17, 1834, a daughter of Jacob and Betsey (Gillett) Ohitts. Not long after his marriage Mr. Johnston engaged in the general merchandise business with George Robbins, Freeman Sheldon and Lionel Sheldon. but about 1860 moved to Liverpool, Medina County, Ohio, and there with George W. Noble became the founder of an iron foundry. Afr. Johnston was a man of phenomenal strength and at various times it was his pleasure to show his prowess in this direction to his friends. While living at Liverpool, on one occasion he made a wager that he could carry a hog for a quarter of a mile, a task which was accom- plished by him, but which soon cost him dearly, as within the next few days he was stricken with apoplexy, from the effects of which he never . fully recovered. For several weeks he lay at death's door, but finally recovered sufficiently to do ordinary work. About 1864 he disposed of his interests in the iron foundry and purchased a farm in Grafton Township, Lorain County, near Kingsby's Corners, and in 1869 traded this for. another farm, located on the Black River about one-quarter of a mile from the original place on which his father had settled. Here he lived in comparative comfort and happiness for several years, but August 12, 1875, his wife died after only a few weeks of illness, during which the devoted husband nursed her night and day, and really wrecked his own health which had not been any too strong. His constitution was hearty, however, and undoubtedly he would have recovered had he made the effort, but the death of his wife, of whom he was fond beyond the average nature of conjugal love, caused him to lose interest in life, and while he survived her for five years, it was ever his expressed wish that he go to join her. To add to his troubles, in the next winter, at La- Grange, whence he had gone to live for a year after leasing the home farm. he slipped upon the icy streets and fractured the cap of his knee in three places, which rendered him a cripple for life. In the following year he moved back to the farm, but was dependent upon his sons, William and Charles, for all the work in the fields, and upon his daughter Helena, for the care of the house. In 1879 he sold his farm and bought a property at Grafton, and there the remaining year of his life was passed.

There were four children in the family, namely: W. B., who is a practicing attorney at Elyria; Mrs. Helena M. Rawson, who died at LaGrange in September, 1914; Capt. Charles E., of Washington, D. C.; and Paul M. Jr.. of Elyria, of whom special mention is made in following sketch. The children were all educated in the schools of Lorain County, and Capt. Charles E. is a graduate of Elyria High School and the military academy at Annapolis; while Helena was a graduate of the Grafton High School; and Paul M. completed his studies at the LaGrange High School. ;

Pari Mitton JounstTon, Jr. One of the beneficent institutions of Lorain County, the founding of which was regarded with general satisfaction by members of the bar, as well as by people interested in the welfare of children, and the importance and value of which has become more and more recognized as the years have passed, is the Lorain County Juvenile Court, which under the administration of its officers has proved a triumphant success, vindicating the faith of its projectors and realizing the hopes of the humane men and women who had called it into heing. Since April, 1913, one of the leading contributors to the success of this court has been Paul Milton Johnston, Jr., who bears the title of Chief Probation Officer, and who has labored energetically and disinterestedly in behalf of the welfare of the youthful charges placed

" At Johnston was born at Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, June 9, 1875. and is a son of Paul M. and Maria Hicks (Obitts) Johnston, whose histories furnish subject matter for another sketch to be found elsewhere in this work. Mr. Johnston's mother died when he was about two months old and at that time he was taken into the family of his aunt, Mrs. Julius Beeman Gott. of LaGrange, Ohio. He grew up at that place and attended the public schools, and was graduated in 1890, following which he took a commercial course at Caton's Business College, Cleveland. On his return to LaGrange, he secured employment in a general merchandise Vol. II - 13 store, where he earned the reputation of being faithful, industrious and energetic. An odd coincidence is found in the fact that this store was located on the identical site of the one in which Mr. Johnston's father had commenced business many years before. In 1908, with associates, Mr. Johnston incorporated the LaGrange Elevator Company, with which he was identified until April, 1913. While at LaGrange he had served in the capacity of councilman, corporation clerk and township clerk, having been first elected to the last named office when he was but twentyone years of age and continuing to hold it as long as he remained at LaGrange. He came to Elyria in April, 1913, when he received the appointment of chief probation officer from Judge H. C. Wilcox of the Juvenile Court, a position in which he has won the universal regard of the community because of the work he has accomplished for the vouth of the county.

Mr. Johnston is a member of LaGrange Lodge No. 399, Free and Accepted Masons, as well as the Chapter and Council at Elyria; and the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 7729, of LaGrange. With his family, he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. Johnston was married June 15, 1898, to Miss Hattie Electa Underhill, daughter of Hon. A. R. and Sophronia (Sweet) Underhill. Mrs. Johnston was born at LaGrange, a member of that city's old and honored family of Underhill, her father now being mayor of the city. She received good educational advantages, being a graduate of the La- Grange High School. Mrs. Johnston is not a clubwoman, preferring her home to outside connections, but is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and is active in religious work of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, in which she belongs to several societies. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Johnston: Wilma, born at LaGrange: and Paul M. III, born at Elyria.

ANGELO Dei. As Italy has been the source of some of the world's greatest art and literature for centuries, it is a distinction to the City of Elyria that it possesses among its citizens one of the most finished sculptors from the shores of that artistic nation. Angelo Delia had a passion for art as a boy, went against the wishes of his parents and friends, who had planned a career for him in the church, and passed years of study and hard apprenticeship in learning all the details of sculpture. Mr. Delia is now one of Elyria's successful business men and head of the firm of Delia & Galli, manufacturers and dealers in cemetery memorials of granite, marble and bronze, and contractors in building and carving. The home of the company is at 244 East Broad Street.

The birthplace of Angelo Delia was the Town of Besano, Italy. where he first saw the light of day July 15, 1884. His parents are Giovanni and Angela (Galli) Delia, the former also a native of Besano and the latter of Guasso, Italy. His father is a mason by trade and a railroad contractor and still lives at Besano and in the course of his active career has been steadily pursuing his trade and the contracting business and is one of the influential citizens of his community. He saw active service for the required time in the standing army of Italy, but being now past the military age will probably not be called upon for active service in the present war, except in case of extreme need. Angelo is the voungest of a family of two sons and two daughters. The oldest is Mrs. Marta Bottinelli of Besano, Italy; Lazzaro Delia is married and is residing in Algeria, Northern Africa, where he is a mason contractor in railroad building; Maria Bottinelli who married a cousin to her older sister's husband, died at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1912.

pastorate of that venerable father, who was greatly beloved in that locality and in many ways befriended the members of the Delia family. As already stated it was the wish of his father that Angelo Delia should enter the priesthood, and the devout priest used all his influence to the same end. The boy might have received the best advantages of the Italian schools and seminaries, but from an early age his desire was all for an,.artistic career. After attending the schools of Besano until he Was ten years of age, he found opportunities to study the art of sculpture at Vigiu. Vigiu is a town noted for its fine opportunities to students of this art, and he remained there working and studying for five years. He received no pay during this apprenticeship, and as Vigiu was five miles from his home he walked back and forth the entire distance both ways night and morning, and through rain or shine. While at Vigiu he was employed two or three hours of each day with the hammer, and then went with the other students to study and practice drawing and designing, and also in clay modeling and figure moulding. Then after the day's study and work was completed he attended what is called the Corporation College during the night classes. This college is conducted for the benefit of young men learning the technical trades, and classes are held for instruction in practically all of the technical and industrial arts. At the end of his five years at Vigiu he won a first premium for his skill in carving. The next step in his profession was to locate at Milan, Italy, where he attended the Brera Milano, one of the largest colleges in Italy for the teaching of drawing, sculpture and architecture. He remained in that college two years.

In 1901 Mr. Delia came to the United States, landing at Castle Garden in New York, and first locating at Pittsburg, Per ~sylvania, where he was employed for two months in a monument shop. The persistent smoky atmosphere of Pittsburg caused him to leave and go to Cleveland, where for a year and a half he was employed in monument work by Joseph Carabelli, and then in similar employment with the firm of Broggini Brothers for six months at Cleveland. In 1905 Mr. Delia came to Elyria, and was in the employ of S. L. Sands until he and his partner, Mr. Galli, bought out the business in 1912. The firm of Delia & Galli are now the principal center in Lorain County for artistic products in sculptured material.

Fraternally Mr. Delia is affiliated with Elyria Aerie No. 431 of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He married Miss Amelia Malnati in Cleveland, a daughter of Angelo Malnati and wife, both of whom died at Cleveland.

Cagsar A. GALLI. Junior member of the firm of Delia & Galli, manufacturers and dealers in cemetery memorials, of granite, marble and bronze, and contractors in building and carving of all kinds, Caesar A. Galli is a competent associate with Mr. Delia in one of the most important concerns of its kind in Northern Ohio. Both proprietors of this firm are experienced stone carvers, sculptors, and have both the practical and artistic side of their profession thoroughly mastered.

A native of Italy, Caesar A. Galli was born in Saltrio, July 20, 1886, a son of Fedele and Lucia (Sartorelli) Galli. His parents were born in the same locality, and his father is still living there and for years has carried on the same business as that in which his son is engaged at Elyria. He had _a large business as a manufacturer until the European war brought the industry practically to a standstill. Formerly he took many contracts for the construction of buildings out of solid granite, but that durable and expensive process has practically become obsolete since the introduction of tile, cement and other materials in building construction. The father saw active service with the Italian army in the war against

Austria both in 1859 and again in 1866, and is now a pensioner for his service. The mother died in Italy about 1895. They had a large household of children. - Nine of the sons are now in the United States. One of them, James Galli, is manager of the Presbrey-Cuykendall Company, at Barre, Vermont, one of the largest concerns of its kind in the East for contracting in granite work and in the building of mausoleums. Some of the other sons are employed under James Galli at Barre, and there are tio sisters living in that city, besides one at home in Italy. Four of the family are deceased, and altogether there was a large number of children who grew up in the Galli household back in Italy.

Until he was twelve years of age Caesar A. Galli attended the local schools. He then was placed in the Brera Milano at Milan, Italy, and learned both the technic of the practical trade and the art of sculpture. His training was unusually thorough. While in the school he worked in clay modeling each day for two hours, then spent a similar time in designing, and then performed practical work with the chisel for two hours. In this way he went along for seven years, and at the age of nineteen years had finished his apprenticeship as a sculptor.

On coming to the United States and landing in New York City on May 2, 1904, he went at once to Barre, Vermont, where some of his older brothers had located ten years previously. He found work in that great center of the granite industry for two years, and at the age of twenty went to Boston and for three months was employed on the Cambridge Bridge. His next location as a Journeyman was in New York City. and also in Newark, New Jersey, where he was employed in several different contracts of carving and sculpture work. From there he went to the Southwest, at Llano, Texas, and for about six months was engaged in stone carving for a church at Houston, Texas. Returning East. he worked on the Metropolitan Building at Twenty-third Street and Sixth Avenue in New York City as a carver, subsequently on the courthouse at Jersey City. New Jersey, and for six months was one of the carvers at Washington, District of Columbia, on the National Museum Building. Then followed a period of travel over the New England states ending with his arrival at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1929. He spent about a year in Cleveland, most of the time engaged in carving for the Cuyahoga County Courthouse.

On March 29, 1909, Myr. Galli married in Cleveland Miss Pearl Malnati. She was also born in Italy. After their marriage Mr. Galli returned to Barre, Vermont, and for a time was emploved by the Presbrev-Cuykendall Company as a traveling inspector for their mausoleums and other granite construction contracts. After six months his employment in this firm was terminated by the big strike in the granite quarries by the granite cutters. This interval he filled up by work on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on the public square in Svracuse, New York, and then returned to Barre and took a well earned vacation. His next location was at Boston, where he took for himself a contract to perform part of the carving for the Municipal Building in New York City. The carving was all done in Boston, and the finished material shipped from that city to New York.

Having finished this contract, Mr. Galli came from Boston direct to Elyria in 1912, and here joined his brother-in-law, Angelo Delia, who had also married a Miss Malnati, and together they bought the monument business of S. L. Sands. In the past three vears thev have built up their business second to none of its kind in Lorain County and among the first in Northern Ohio.

Mr. Galli is affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 431 of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, is a member of the Granite Cutters International Union Association, of the Ohio Retail Monument Dealers Association, and the

National Retail Monument Dealers Association. He and his wife have one daughter, Alma C., who was born in Barre, Vermont, and is now five years of age. :

Francis O. Ricney. The only member of the Lorain County bar making a specialty of patent law, and the only one thoroughly qualified in this county for its practice is F. O. Richey, who since locating here has developed a large business mostly in corporation and patent work. For a number of years Mr. Richey lived in Washington, District of Columbia, and while there was connected with the patent office, an experience which has proved invaluable to him in his practice as a patent lawyer.

A Virginian by birth, Francis O. Richey was born in Clarke County of that state August 15, 1878, a son of John S. and Ella M. (Locke) Richey, who were also natives of Virginia and since 1913 have lived in Elyria. John 8. Richey as secretary of the Retail Merchants Association of Elyria has offices in the Chamber of Commerce. In earlier years he was a merchant at Fort Defiance, Virginia, and in the same line of business at St. Joseph, Missouri, until moving to Elyria in 191d. F. O. Richey is the oldest in a family of nine children, eight of whom are living, three of them in New York State, one in Boston, one in Tennessee, and one in Montana. He and his brother Herbert are the only ones living in Lorain County. Herbert has his home in the Y. M. C. A. Building at Elyria.

Mr. Richey was liberally educated, took his preparatory work in the Augusta Military Academy in Augusta County, Virginia, and then entered the University of Virginia, from which he received a degree in electrical engineering. He is thus a man of thorough technical training, and in the branch of law to which he gives his chief attention that is almost as essential as his knowledge of the fundamental principles of jurisprudence. While living in the City of Washington Mr. Richey studied law in the National University, and his degree of LL. B. was given by that institution. For three years he was assistant examiner in the patent office at Washington, then in March, 1909, came to Elyria as special counsel for the Dean Electric Company, having charge of their law and patent work. Since 1914 Mr. Richey has been in practice as attorney and counselor at law, with special attention to patent and trade mark causes, and with offices in the Masonic Temple.

Owing to the fact that his home after reaching majority was in the City of Washington until coming to Elyria, Mr. Richey east his first vote in this city. This is due to the fact that all residents of the District of Columbia are without the right of franchise. Mr. Richey is affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 456 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, is a member of the Y. M. C. A., the Elyria Country Club, the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and his hard work at his profession is varied by his recreative pursuits of golf in the summer and hand ball in the winter.

On May 21, 1914, he married Miss Helen D. Betteridge of Elyria, a sister of Dr. Edward Betteridge of that city. Mrs. Richey was born in Kentucky but received her education in the public schools at Elyria, being a graduate of the high school in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Richey have a little daughter, Bettie Jane, born June 29, 1915.

FRANK Marion STEVENS. Since establishing himself in active practice of the law at Elyria nineteen years ago, Mr. Stevens has enjoyed many of the most substantial successes of the able lawyer. has interested himself in politics with disinterested motives and has several times been honored with office and his professional, business and social connections indicate that he has won a most enviable position in the community. A native of Chicago, Frank M. Stevens was born February 27, 1873, a son of George W. and Mellissa (Fullington) Stevens. His parents are both living in Elyria, and have had their home there since 1887. His father, who was born in the vicinity of Concord, New Hampshire, spent his active career as a railroad man, and for many years was with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. While living in Chicago he was superintendent of the shops of the West End, later was stationed at Elkhart, Indiana, as master mechanic, and was superintendent of motive power at Cleveland until he retired from the service. His wife was born at Ypsilanti, Michigan. Their children, all living, are three boys and two girls, mentioned in order of age as follows: Mrs. T. 8S. Faxon, of Elyria; Frank M.; George, a resident of New York City; H. C., of Chicago; and Mrs. Robert Ely of Elyria. All were born in Elkhart, Indiana, except Frank Marion.

Mr. Stevens was liberally educated. having graduated from the Elyria High School with the class of 1891, and subsequently was a student in Adelbert College, Western Reserve University and Ohio State University. He attended the academy of Western Reserve University one year, then entered Adelbert College, and during two years, 1893 to 1895, spent at home after leaving college, he read law in the office of Johnston & Leonard at Elvrid. He then continued his studies in the University of Ohio, where he was graduated LL. B. in 1897. During 1898 he gained his initial experience as a lawyer at Elyria in the office of the late E. G. Johnson, who was in his time one of the most prominent members of the Lorain County bar. Since 1899 Mr. Stevens has conducted an independent practice, and has looked after a broad range of legal business, having been connected with some of the most important cases tried in the local courts during that time. Most of his public service has been within the line of his profession. In polities he is an active republican, and served four years from 1899 to 1904 as city solicitor of Elvria, and for seven successive years was prosecuting attorney of Lorain County, from 1906 to 1912. Mr. Stevens is also a director of the National Bank of Elyria, a director of the Hecock Floral Company of Elyria, a director of the Lorain Building Company, of the Lorain County Electric Company.

He is a member of all the Masonic bodies of Elyria and is also a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. He is also affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees at Elyria, the Woodmen of the World, and Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His name is found on the membership rolls of such organizations as the Lorain County Bar Association. the Elyria Country Club, the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and his fondness for outdoor life leads him into such recreations as baseball, golf and tennis. In a political way he rendered some valuable service as secretary of the Lorain County Republican Executive Committee during McKinley's two campaigns in 1896 and 1900. and from 1900 to 1904 was the clerk of the board of elections. He is a member of the Elyria Board of Education.

On October 4, 1901, Mr. Stevens married Miss Helen M. Moriarty, daughter of Mrs. Ellen Moriarty of Elyria. She was born and educated at Elyria. and is the mother of two children: Frank E.. born at Elyria, March 27. 1904; and Richard F., born at Elyria, November 3, 1907.

Dr. H. Lyxn Knapp, D. O. At Elyria one of the physicians who can claim a patronage of exceptional numerical strength and value is Doctor Knapp. osteopath, who during nearly ten vears of residence in Lorain County has enjoyed a success and standing that are creditable not only to him personally but to his profession. It is largely through the able and conscientious work of such men as Doctor Knapp that osteopathy, which originated only about twenty years ago, has won its place with the older schools of medicine. Doctor Knapp is one of the ablest exponents of this science in Northern Ohio.

A New Yorker by birth, Doctor Knapp was born in North Collins, Erie County, twenty miles from the City of Buffalo, on July 19, 1883. His parents are Anthony Wayne, who was named for the famous Indian fighter, and Florence (Wood) Knapp. His father was born in Perrysburg, New York, and his mother at North Collins, and they were married and spent many years in the latter locality. They now reside retired at East Aurora, New York. Anthony W. Knapp spent twenty-six years as a teacher in country schools in New York State. He received his education from the public schools of Erie County. He is affiliated with the Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at North Collins. Of the three children in the family the first two are twin daughters, Clara and Carrie, the former now Mrs. H. H. Graham of Buffalo, New York, and the latter Mrs. A. Ross Gray, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. All the children were born at the home of their parents in North Collins in Erie County, and received their education in the public schools of Buffalo.

Doctor Knapp is a graduate of Masten Park High School of Buffalo with the class of 1901, and having determined upon a professional career he soon afterwards entered the S. S. Still College of Osteopathy at Des Moines, Iowa, from which he received his degree D. O. in 1905. His practice began in Galveston, Texas, in 1905, but after nine months he returned north and since July, 1906, has had his home and office at Elyria. Doctor Knapp has his offices in the Masonic Temple, and is a member of the American Osteopathic Association. Fraternally he is identified with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, with the Royal Arch Chapter, and takes an active interest in local affairs, - largely through the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. His religious faith is that of the Unitarian Church. His principal recreation is found in automobiling, and he is a member of the Elyria Automobile Association.

September 30, 1907, Doctor Knapp married Miss Esther M. Kamper, a woman of broad culture and a member of one of the fine oid families of Buffalo, New York, her parents being W. R. and Lulu Lenice ( Wilgus) Kamper, both of whom are now living at Buffalo, where her father is in the wholesale business. Mrs. Knapp was born in Buffalo, attended the public schools and is also a graduate of the Masten Park High School. Dr. and Mrs. Knapp have two children, Lenice Florence, who was born March 2, 1909, in Elyria and her names are in honor of her two grandmothers, and Lester Ben, born September 3, 1915. The residence of Doctor Knapp and family is at 206 Harvard Avenue.

Hurry A. Pounps, who has been a lawyer in this city for more than fifteen vears, is a member of the firm of Pounds & Redington, with offices in the Elyria Block. This firm has a high reputation for the successful results of many important cases which have gone through their hands.

Harry A. Pounds was born in Eaton Township of Lorain County, Ohio, July 25, 1874, a son of Thomas M. and Mary Frances (Zehring) Pounds. His father was born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and was brought when a child to Wayne County, Ohio, where he married Miss Zehring, a native of that county. They were married about 1865, and in 1868 they settled in Eaton Township of Lorain County. Thomas Pounds spent most of his life as a farmer, but during his youth had served an apprenticeship to a tanner, and while living in Wayne County worked at his trade and also had a tannery at West Lebanon. He was connected with the tanning business after locating in Lorain County. He gave up farming in 1883 and moved to Elyria, where he lived retired, renting his place in Eaton Township, until his death on February 28, 1887. His widow is still living in Elyria. There were two children, and the daughter Mildred Louise now lives with her mother and is a teacher in the Elyria public schools.

Harry A. Pounds has lived at Elyria since he was nine years old. His education was continued in the public schools of that city, and he graduated from high school in 1891. After a brief attendance at the Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware he entered the law department. ot the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and remained until graduating LL. B. with the class of 1898. In October of the same year he was admitted by examination to the Ohio bar, and began active practice in Elyria on March 1, 1898. He soon came to be known as a young attorney of excellent habits and ability and the skill and energy which he put into the conduct of his cases soon brought him an important practice. He was engaged in individual practice until Januar}, 1915, at which time the present partnership of Pounds & Redington was established. His associate is Harry M. Redington, a well known lawyer whose name is mentioned on other pages.

Mr. Pounds has not given all his time to private practice. From 1908 to 1912, a period of four years, he served as city solicitor of Elyria. He was director of public safety for one year from January 1, 1912, to February 1, 1913. He is a republican in politics and a member of the Lorain County Bar Association.

On June 4, 1908, Mr. Pounds married Miss Nellie M. Hastings. daughter of Lewis and Harriet (Gott) Hastings of Elyria. Both the Gott and Hastings families have been long established in LaGrange Township of Lorain County, and Mrs. Pounds was born and educated in the Village of LaGrange in that township.

Harry Hinxson. One of the old established men in the contracting and building business in Lorain County is Harry Hinkson, who has recently opened offices alone in the Masonic Temple at Elyria, and now looks after a large business as a contractor and builder and also in real estate and insurance. He came to Lorain County more than a quarter of a century ago, and has been almost continuously identified with contracting and has acquired a number of other interests.

His early life was spent mainly in Buffalo, New York, though he was born in Dubuque, Iowa, September 15, 1867, a son of Ransom and Hattie (Barnett) Hinkson. His father was born in Ottawa, Canada, and the mother was born in Wiltshire, England, and when about two vears of age was brought to the United States by her parents who located in Dubuque, Iowa, in which city she was reared and married. In the spring of 1873 the family removed to Buffalo, New York, where she died in 1907, at the age of fifty-eight. Ransom Hinkson when a boy went with his parents to Iowa, and lived there until the removal to Buttalo already mentioned. Grandfather Hinkson owned and kept a tavern on the old overland route to California. It was a flourishing institution during the memorable days of '49 and following, when all the roads of the West were crowded with emigrants and gold seekers, and large numbers of them were entertained at the Hinkson Tavern. This house was the last of its type along that route to give way to a more modern hotel. The Hinksons were thus among the early settlers of Iowa, and Ransom Hinkson hauled the first poles for the first telegraph line built through that section of the state, not many years after the telegraph had become a practical means for the transmission of intelligence. By business he was a general contractor and since 1873 has lived in Buffalo, and beginning with the first administration of President Cleveland has continuously served as cattle inspector at the Buffalo Stock Yards. He is now sixtyeight years of age. Of the five children in the family, two sons and three daughters, two died in infancy and the three now living are: Harry; Ruby, Mrs. Glen Fargo of Butfalo; and May, wife of Harold Martin of Cleveland, Ohio. All the children were born in lowa.

About five years of age when the family left Iowa and established their home in Buffalo, Harry Hinkson regularly attended the public Schools of that city up to thirteen. Since that age he has been doing for himself, and his first employment was in a planing mill. He remained with that industry in Buffalo until 1889, and in that year came to Elyria to take charge, as foreman, of the sash and door department of the John Hart Planing Mill. A few years later ill health compelled him to give up the confining work of the mill, and for a year he was employed in farm labor in the country districts. Since returning to Elyria in 1895 he has been engaged in contracting and his business record now covers fully twenty years. A general opinion in that community is that Mr. Hinkson put the full force of his character and ability into every undertaking, and it was as a result of this characteristic that in a few years he had a larger business than he could individually attend to, and consequently in 1903 he organized the Hinkson-Halpin Company, contractors and builders. After retiring from this concern, he organized the corporation known as Hinkson-Buttenbender Company, general contractors, and dealers in real estate and insurance. He became president of the new organization, and after the Elyria Block in which the offices were located had burned the company moved its headquarters to the Masonic Temple. On March 1, 1915, the corporation was dissolved, and throughout its existence Mr. Hinkson had been president. As already stated he is now in business alone. In the course of his career at Elyria he has constructed a large number of the more substantial business buildings and residences, and has done an important work in developing unimproved real estate. He is also treasurer of the Park Amusement Company of Elyria, is president of the Elyria Fence Supply Company, and a stockholder in several other enterprises. He is the owner of considerable real estate and his own home is on Lake Avenue in Elyria Township just outside the city limits.

In politics he has been active as a democrat, though the subordinate position of that party in Lorain County has not permitted his able qualifications to represent the people in public office. He was the unsuccessful candidate of his party for sheriff in the fall of 1914. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, belongs to the Elyria Automobile Association, and takes a prominent part in fraternal orders. He is chairman of the trustees of the local branch of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and a member of its building committee, and is also affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Maccabees, and in Masonry belongs to King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, Marshall Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons, and Elyria Council No. 86, Royal and Select Masters.

October 23, 1890, he married Miss Bertha M. Eckler of Carlisle, Lorain County, daughter of John' H. and Cornelia M. (Hart) Eckler, who were old settlers of Carlisle having come originally from Connecticut. Her father died on the homestead in Carlisle and her mother is now living in Elyria. Mrs. Hinkson was born and educated in Carlisle. Mr. and Mrs. Hinkson have a son, Rollin E., who was born at Elyria and following the work of the public schools finished his education in the

Hvcu D. Greer, D. D. S. Of the many professional men who have their headquarters in the Masonic Temple at Elyria, Dr. Hugh D. Greer, dentist, is regarded as one of the ablest members of his profession and during his residence in Lorain County has made himself an influential factor in local affairs. Doctor Greer has a wide and varied experience in his profession, covering more than twenty years, and has seen a great deal of the country and of men and affairs generally.

His birth occurred in Lexington, Missouri, April 4, 1864. His parents were Joseph R. and Tabitha (Dickinson) Greer. His father was born in Virginia and his mother in Kentucky. When Doctor Greer was six years of age his father died and he was only two years old when deprived of a mother's care. The parents were married in Mecklin, Jackson County, Missouri. Joseph R. Greer was descended from the old McGregor stock of Seotland, where his father was born. Grandfather Greer on coming from Scotland brought two other brothers and first settled in New York and then moved to Virginia, where his son Joseph was born. Tabitha Dickinson was a Kentucky girl from the Blue Grass State, but her mother and father were both natives of England. Joseph R. Greer and his wife are buried in a little country churchyard located four miles west of Mecklin and about twenty-eight miles east of Kansas City, Missouri, a place which their son Doctor Greer visits whenever he is in that vicinity. Doctor Greer has one sister, one brother and a half brother: Mrs. Charles H. Ayers of Independence, Missouri; Thomas S., a physician and surgeon of Edgerton, Kansas; and Charles L., a half brother. whose mother was Nannie (White) Greer and who died at the birth of this only child, who is now a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. Nannie White's father lived at Pleasant Hill, Missouri. She died in April, 1870, and Joseph R. Greer passed away November 30, 1870. All the children including Doctor Hugh were reared in the home of an uncle and aunt, William Thomas and Elizabeth J. (Greer) Bell at Lexington, Missouri. In the spring of 1913 Doctor Greer visited these worthy people, for whom he has the strongest affection, for the first time in four years. but prior to that time had made it a practice to see them every year. Mr. Bell was an active farmer but has been retired for the past thirty years.

Doctor Greer lived with Mr. and Mrs. Bell on their farm until the age of fifteen. His education came from the public schools of Lexington, Missouri, but when quite young he found work as weighmaster in the coal mines at Wellington, Missouri, for the Wellington Coal Company, and was with that firm about four years. His next position was in the wholesale grocery house of Beckham-Mercer & Company at Kansas City, beginning as stock boy and having a place in the bookkeeping department when he left. It was while in that business that he gained his real education and training for life except his equipment for his profession. On leaving the grocery house he went to Texas and was at first one place and then another for about a year, after which he returned to Independence, Missouri, spent one year in the retail coal business, and then entered the dental office of Parker & Monser, dentists, and after being with them two years received a preceptor's certificate, which in those days entitled the holder to practice after registering the same with the county clerk. After ten months of practice Doctor Greer determined that he was insufficiently equipped for the profession, at least to pursue it independently, and accordingly gave up his office and went west to San Francisco. While he practiced dentistry there to some extent, his ill health interfered with any regular vocation and he put in his time chiefly in recuperating his strength. He lived on the Pacifie Coast from the spring of 1888 to the fall of 1891, and after returning East his physician confided to him that he had sent him out to the coast to die, but was pleasantly disappointed at the rapid recovery. On returning to Kansas City Doctor Greer entered the office of Dr. George S. Monser, dentist, who had in the meantime moved to that city from Independence. He remained with him in practice about a year, and then going to Wichita, Kansas, was for six months in the employ of Doctor Boyd, a dentist there. He then opened an office for himself in Wichita, but at the end'of six months sold out, and his next home was in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where for about a year he was employed in the offices of the New York Dentists in that city. He then opened an office of his own in Allegheny, now a part of Greater Pittsburg. This was about 1894. While in practice at Allegheny he also attended the Pittsburg Dental College, and few members of the profession have studied harder and done more to acquire proficiency and expertness in this calling. In 1898 Doctor Greer'registered for practice in Ohio, and in May of that year located at Elyria. For nearly ten years he practiced with offices in the Wurst Block at 535 Broad Street, but sold out his practice in October, 1907, and for the following six years practiced in the metropolitan City of Cleveland, where his office was located just across from Highee Company's big store on Euclid Avenue. On leaving Cleveland Doctor Greer returned to Elyria in June, 1913, and in the subsequent two vears has acquired a large and profitable practice.

In politics Doctor Greer is a democrat, and that is unfortunate for the community, since he is eminently qualified for public service, but Lorain County has long been unfavorable to democratic candidates however well qualified, and it is only seldom that the individual popularity of a candidate overcomes the normal party prejudice. Doctor Greer in the fall of 1914 was on the democratic ticket as nominee for county auditor, and at an earlier date in 1902 had been a candidate for councilman at large in Elyria.

Fraternally Doctor Greer is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, at Elyria, with the Knights of the Maccabees at that city, and is well known both professionally and socially. His favorite recreation is mountain climbing, and whenever able to take a vacation he generally finds his way to the mountainous districts, usually in.the West.

At Wichita, Kansas, November 25, 1892,Doctor Greer married Miss Ida M. Crawmer, daughter of James P. and Elizabeth Crawmer of Wichita. Mrs. Greer was born in Iowa, and was educated in the public schools of her native village and at Randell in that state, graduated from the high school at Superior, Nebraska, and subsequently finished a course in the Kansas State Normal School. Dr. and Mrs. Greer have a happy family of six children, five sons and one daughter: Arthur G. is now an engineer and is on one of the Great Lakes boats; Reed C. is in the real estate and insurance business with offices in the Masonic Temple at Elyria; Hugh D., Jr., is in high school; William Thomas Bell is also a high school student; Elizabeth D., is in the grades; and Richard H. begins school life in 1915. The first three children were born in Pennsylvania and the others in Elyria.

Lorexzo Dow Hamurn. At an early stage in his career, about thirty years ago, Lorenzo Dow Hamlin was known to a limited circle of people in Lorain County as a country school teacher. For some four or five years he was a faithful and rising employe in the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the next stage of his career found him a Lorain County farmer. From this business he turned his attention to the law, and now for more than ten years has been one of the able and successful attorneys at Elyria.

Mr. Hamlin comes of one of the oldest American families, and his people have been identified with Ohio for several generations. Going back along the line of ancestry for a number of generations we come to the record of James Hamlin, who emigrated from London, England. in 1639, to the Massachusetts Colony, and settled at Barnstable, Massachusetts. He and his descendants became connected by marriage and otherwise with nearly all the old New England families. The next in line is James, I, and following him comes James, Il], and then James, 1VY. A son of the last James was Job Hamlin, whose life fell in the historic period that concluded with the separation and independence of the American colonies. Job Hamlin was a colonial volunteer in the French and Indian wars, was with General Wolfe at the taking of Quebec, and later became an officer in the War of the Revolution. Although an official member of the church, a record is found of his being fined for profane swearing and doubtless he possessed the violent temper which has been always more or less an inalienable characteristic of the family. Continuing the lineage from Job the next is David Hamlin, whose son was David II. the last being the grandfather of Lorenzo Dow Hamlin of Elyria. David Hamlin II, married Roxanna Crocker, and both were of the Puritan stock and the Crockers were likewise among the first settlers of New England. David and Roxanna came from Lee, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and became early settlers at Dover, Cuyahoga County. Ohio. At their home there Noah Crocker Hamlin, father of the Elyria lawyer. was born December 14, 1832. He was a farmer, an earnest and consistent Christian and for sixty-five years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and for more than sixty years class leader in that church. He is now living at the age of eighty-three on his farm two miles southeast of Elyria. Noah Crocker Hamlin married Lydia Lucinda Fauver on March 27. 1860. She was born April 8, 1840, in Eaton Township of Lorain County, a daughter of Walter and Alzina (Cornell) Fauver, who came to Ohio from New York State many years ago.

This brief account of the family shows that Lorenzo Dow Hamlin began life with the fortune of a good heritage and he grew up in a home of Christian ideals and with influences tending towards substantial character and good citizenship. During the winter of each vear from 1873 to 1883 he attended the country district schools. In the latter vear he spent one year in the Oberlin Academy, and then qualified and began teaching district schools in Lorain County. He alternately taught and attended school in Oberlin and Berea for the succeeding five years. Not being satisfied with the prospects arising from teaching. Mr. Hamlin in 1889 went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in search of employment. and while there attended a technical school. He never graduated trom any institution except that of hard experience.

Soon after going to Pittsburg he found employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad as common brakeman on the main line east. He possessed qualities which make for advancement in any calling. and after ten months was promoted and spent two years as a conductor and master of wrecking train and crew, and the company then sent him into the Union yards at Pittsburg as assistant yard dispatcher. Resigning from the railroad service in June, 1893, with a certificate testifying to his good service, he returned to Lorain County and took up the vocation of farmer in Carlisle Township. That was his work for seven years. In 1900 he began the study of law with Judge Lee Stroup in Elyria. who was at that time prosecuting attorney of the county. Myr. Hamlin was admitted to the har in. 1903, and has been in active practice at Elvria since May, 1904, with offices now in the Turner Block. It should also be mentioned that while a student of law between 1900 and 1902 he paid part of his expenses as a teacher in the Elyria Business College.

For a number of years Mr. Hamlin has been active in republican politics, and is a man of progressive inclinations, but believes that all reforms should be conducted within the ranks of the party rather than by the familiar practice of ''bolting'' or disruption. For three years he was a member of the Republican County Executive Committee. Though an active party worker Mr. Hamlin's scrupulous integrity and rigid adherence to the ideals of public service have not been entirely favorable to-his political advancement. His first public office was as clerk of Carlisle Township to which he was elected in 1894 and in which he served six years. In 1902 Governor George K. Nash appointed him a member of the Ohio Investigating Canal Commission and he remained with that commission eighteen months and it is said that during that time he was the only man who had ever personally inspected or even seen the entire canal system of the state. In the fall of 1903 the same governor appointed him to fill a vacancy on the State Board of Public Works caused by the death of Hon. Charles Goddard. He was on that board until Hon. George Watkins who at the time of the last appointment was the republican nominee for the office, was elected and qualified. Mr. Hamlin spent most of his time in Columbus in the service of the Canal Commission until the close of the 1904 session of the State Legislature. In 1904 he was a candidate before the Republican State Convention for nomination as a member of the State Board of Public Works, and in that convention openly contested the nomination against the ''electrical mule'' group of exploiters of state property. It was a bold and admirable stand to take in the interests of good service in the state, but as Mr. Hamlin says himself he was so badly licked that he has not ''come to'' yet politically. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order at Elyria, and in church matters was formerly a Methodist, but is now an independent thinker so far as independent thought is possible in that sphere.

On November 21, 1890, in Carlisle Township of Lorain County, Mr. Hamlin married Stella J. Brush, daughter of William and Facelia (Humphrey) Brush. She was descended on both sides from New England ancestry. On September 7, 1910, at Akron, Ohio, Mr. Hamlin married for his present wife Lillie O. Bloom, who was then a widow, daughter of William and Margaret (Hahns) Gault. The Gaults are of Protestant Irish descent, while the Hahns are Pennsylvania Dutch. William Gault, her father, was a volunteer in the Union army and served throughout the Civil war. By his first marriage Mr. Hamlin has the following children: Facelia Brush Hamlin, born April 19, 1892, and now living in Chicago, Illinois; David Walter Hamlin, born August 28, 1895, and living in Lorain County; Lydia Irene Hamlin, born September 24, 1897, and a student in Oberlin College ; and James Thurman Hamlin, born December 19, 1906, and now in the public schools,

Isiic Everson. In the course of a long life Isaac Everson has had many interesting associations with Lorain County. It was his birthplace, the home of his youth and mature manhood, and while for all these reasons he is loyal to the county he has also made himself useful by active work and real service as a farmer and in every position to which the destiny of life has assigned him.

His birth oceurred in Brighton Township of Lorain County, April 10, 1840. His parents were Isaac and Hannah (Hammond) Everson. His paternal grandfather was also named Isaac Everson and died in Massachusetts when the second Isaac was seven years of age. The maternal grandparents were Edmondson and Hannah Hammond, who were early settlers in Lorain County, where Mr. Hammond followed shoemaking at Brighton for many years. Isaac Everson, Sr., was born in Massachusetts in 1777 and died in 1868. He came to Brighton Township in 1836, buying 120 acres and clearing it up, erecting a log house as his first habitation, and spending the rest of his days on a farm. His first wife was Mary Usher, and their children were Franklin, Samuel, Norman, Orville, Lafayette, George, Mary and Lucy, all of whom are now deceased. By his marriage to Miss Hammond there were three children: Harriet, who graduated from Oberlin College and who died in 1879 as the wife of Howard Burrill, who was also a graduate of Oberlin College, and for a number of years was an editor in lowa and is now living retired at Washington, in that state; Elizabeth, who died in infancy ; and Isaac. Isaac Everson, Sr. and wife were active members of the Baptist Church, and he was a whig and a republican in politics. He developed a farm of 120 acres well improved, and nearly all of it cleared by his own hands, and he put up some very substantial buildings. He was one of the prominent men of the township in his day. His wite was born in Chenango County, New York, twelve miles from Utica, New York, in 1800, and died March 12, 1883.

Isaac Everson, Jr., has made his own way in the world for many years. He started with a district school education acquired in Brighton Township, and took up farming as his first vocation.

On May 8, 1879, he married Mary Collen, a daughter of Ephraim and Mary (Drayton) Collen, both of whom were natives of England. They came to Chatham in Medina County, Ohio, where her father followed farming until his death at the early age of thirty-nine. [lis widow survived to be eighty-two. Of the seven Collen children the three now living are Mrs. Everson, Elvira Whitney of Toledo and William T., a farmer at Norwalk, Ohio. Mrs. Everson was born in England. April 14, 1847.

Mr. and Mrs. Everson have a fine family of eight children, and may properly take pride in their accomplishments and the worthy positions they oceupy. The oldest, Arthur, born March 25, 1870, is a lineman with the Postal Telegraph Company; Franklin James, born October 24, 1871, is located at Milan, Ohio, and has served as lineman and is now district manager for the telephone company; Charles H. was born September 10, 1873, and is still at home; Walter H., born November 7, 1877, and is also at home; Norman B., horn December 7, 1879. is in the real estate business at Cleveland, Ohio; Jessie May, born July 17. 1880. is the wife of Rev. Newton Moore, a Congregational minister at Muscatine, Iowa; George H., born August 18, 1885. graduated from the Wellington High School and from Oberlin College, and from Columbia University of New York City, and was recently chosen among twenty-three appliecants and is now secretary to the Criminal Court Committee in New York City, and has a very promising career of usefulness hefore him; Howard H., the youngest, was born February 10, 1888, and is also a telephone man.

Mr. and Mrs. Everson are members of the Congregational Church and quite active in church affairs, Mr. Everson serving as a member of the board of trustees. He is a republican in politics.

Mr. Everson started out as a farmer on 105 acres of land. Many changes have resulted from his ownership and control, and his is undoubtedly one of the finest farms in Brighton Township. It is located close to Brighton Center and besides general farming he carries on some dairying, and keeps shorthorn cattle, Berkshire hogs, some good road horses, and a number of White Rock chickens. All of this prosperity he has won from a start of only $300 of capital. He also owns ninety acres of his father's old homestead.

Earu J. SrrickLANpD. Perhaps no branch of business is more indicative of an advanced state of civilization than that of insurance in its different forms of life, fire and accident, and it would be hard to find another that in recent years has had a more phenominal growth. Financial protection against the results of death or accident has come to be looked on as a modern necessity among all classes of people who have claims to reasonable intelligence, and since this necessity has come to be generally recognized the insurance business has grown by leaps and bounds. One of the leading men engaged in this line of business in Lorain County, Ohio, is Earl J. Strickland, general agent for The Ohio National Life Insurance Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who has an office at 318 Elyria Block, Elyria, this county. Mr. Strickland was born in Jamestown Chautauqua County, New York, September 23, 1883, a son of Parker D. and Josephine (Moynihan) Strickland. The father, a native of Dayton, New York, was an upholsterer by trade and spent most of his life in Jamestown, where he died in 1903. His wife Josephine was born in Ireland, and was seventeen years old when she came to the United States, where she had brothers and sisters living, her parents remaining in their native land. She is still living, being a resident of Jamestown. She and her husband were the parents of nine children - four sons and five daughters - of whom the subject of this memoir is the eldest of the family and the only one now living in Ohio.

Earl J. Strickland was educated in the public schools of Jamestown, New York and began industrial life as a clerk in the employ of the American Express Company at Jamestown, where he continued in that capacity for two years. He was then transferred to Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburg, and was agent of the company there for one year, being then, in August, 1907, transferred to Oberlin, Ohio. After acting as the.company's agent in Oberlin for five years he resigned from this position to enter the employ of The Ohio National Life Insurance Company of Cincinnati, as general agent for this territory, with headquarters at first in Oberlin. In 1913 the headquarters for the district were established in Elyria, with a commodious office in the Elyria Block. The company is an ''old line'' insurance company, organized under the laws of Ohio, and engaged in the sale of ''nonparticipating insurance"' at a low fixed guaranteed rate, which plan of insurance is rapidly coming to be considered as superior to that which provides for the participating in so-called ''dividends,'' which are simply overcharges held in trust by the companies and returned, in whole or part, at the end of the year, or stated period of years, to the person holding the policy. The fifth annual statement of The Ohio National Life Insurance Company, issued December 31, 1914, shows a surplus to policyholders of $654,560.62, which is greater than that of all other Ohio companies combined, except the Union Central. That Mr. Strickland is a man of force, with a thorough grasp of the business in which he is engaged, may be gathered. from the fact that his name appears as second in the list of the five leaders for paid up business for the first quarter of 1915. As a member of the builders' club of his company, he was elected secretary in January, 1916. He is an active and useful member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, of Elyria.

Mr. Strickland was married, July 19, 1906, to Miss Nellie E. Scott, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, who was born in West Virginia, but reared and educated in Coraopolis where she attended business college. They are the parents of one son, Donald Scott, who was born in Oberlin, Ohio, November 13, 1908.

Horace GREELEY REDINGTON (son of Ransom Nathaniel Redington and Melissa E. Tyler) was born on a farm in Amherst Township, Lorain County, Ohio, on July 10, 1858. His father was a direct descendant of Jobn Redington, who came over from England in 1646 and settled at Topsfield, Massachusetts. His mother belonged to the Tyler family which settled in Massachusetts, and later moved to Connecticut and took part in the founding of the New Haven Colony. Ransom N. Redington was born at Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, in 1816. In 1819 his father, Harry Redington, moved his family from Fredonia to Amherst Township, Lorain County, Ohio, where he resided until his death on November 18, 1848. Melissa E. Tyler was born in Eaton Township, Lorain County, in 1822. Her father, David Miles Tyler, came to Lorain County from Connecticut prior to 1820. She was married to Ransom N. Redington at Elyria, Ohio, on July 24, 1844. He died at Amherst, Lorain County, in October, 1885. She died at Amherst in 1905. Thus the Redingtons and Tylers have been identified with the history of America for over 250 vears, and with that of Lorain County for nearly a century.

Horace G. Redington attended the publie schools in Amherst Township and Oberlin Village. was graduated from Oberlin Academy, and entered Oberlin College with the class of 1881. However, he left that institution in the early part of 1880 during his junior vear, and entered Cornell University where he finished the school year. From the fall of 1880 until the spring of 1884 he read law under the supervision of Jacob F. Burkett, of Findlay, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar on June 4, 1884, an at once opened an office and began to practice his profession at Amherst, Ohio. On December 4, 1884, he married Miss Lucy Cornelia Moore, of Amherst, daughter of Dr. Abner C. Moore and Elizabeth Onstine. Doctor Moore came to Amherst in 1851, and actively practiced medicine there for over forty years. Her mother was a daughter of George Onstine. who, with his father, Frederick Onstine. settled in Amherst Township in 1819.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Redington: Harry Moore, born February 22, 1886; Blanche Lucile, born August 4, 1888. and Horace Ray, born May 30, 1891. They continued to reside in Amherst Village until February 1911, when they moved to Elyria, Ohio, where Mr. Redington continued to practice law. In 1885 he was elected mayor of Amherst, which office he held for four terms or eight years. He organized the Savings Deposit Bank of Amherst in 1891, and served as its president until 1905. He organized the Amherst Water Works Company, and is still its president. For several years he was president of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce. While in Amherst, he was financially interested in numerous other enterprises. and was recognized as one of the leading citizens there. He became affiliated with the Masonic, Odd Fellow, and other lodges at Amherst, as well as the Elks Lodge and the Masonic Chapter at Elyria.

In 1911, he and Judge David J. Nye were elected as the two delegates from Lorain County to the Ohio Constitutional Convention, Mr. Redington being the high man in the field of ten candidates. On September 1, 1914, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas to serve until the election in November, 1914, Judge Stroup having resigned. At the November election in 1914, he was a candidate for election to serve until January 1, 1917, the end of Judge Stroup's term. He and his opponent. W. B. Thompson, each received 4.985 votes. The result being a tie, there was no election, and Judge Redington, by virtue of his appointinent, will hold the office until January 1, 1917.

From June 4. 1884, to September 1, 1914, Judge Redington was almost continuously engaged in the practice of law, and was recognized as one of the able lawyers of Lorain County. His broad experience and success as a lawyer, his wide experience as a man of affairs, coupled with the highest integrity, made it only natural that he should be a successful judge. His judicial service has been notable.

Politically, Judge Redington is a democrat, and has been chairman of the Lorain County Central Committee on several occasions, and has acted as a delegate to various democratic conventions. He belongs to the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, the Men's Club of the Congregational Church, and other civic and social or ganizations. Judge and Mrs. Redington are still residing in Elyria.

Blanche Lucile attended the public schools at Amherst, and Miss Mittleberger's School for Girls in Cleveland; was graduated from Oberlin Academy, and took two years' work in Oberlin College. She was one of the most popular members of Elyria's younger social circles, and on April 21, 1915, was married to E. Carl Danner. They are now residing in Johnstown, Pa., where Mr. Danner is connected with the Cambria Steel Company.

Horace Ray attended the public schools at Amherst, was graduated from Oberlin Academy, took his freshman year at Oberlin College, entered Brown University as a sophomore the next fall, and was graduated from that institution in June, 1913. On October 30, 1915, he married Miss Bess Fell. They are residing in Elyria. He is connected with the National Tube Company of Lorain.

Roy F. VanpEMARK is accounted one of the leading lawyers of Elyria of the younger generation and a citizen whose activities in civic life are rapidly bringing him to the forefront. He was born at Lodi, Medina County, Ohio, December 22, 1887, and is a son of B. J. and Mary (Burkholder) Vandemark.

B. J. Vandemark was born in Spencer Township, Medina County, Ohio, and throughout his life has been engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which his industry and energy have gained him success. He was married in Harrisville Township, Medina County, to Mary Burkholder, who was born in Congress (or Canaan) Township, Wayne County, Ohio, and both still survive and: reside on their farm in the vicinity of Lodi, although they are now retired from active labor. An active and influential republican, Mr. Vandemark has been a prominent figure in local politics, having been a trustee of Harrisville Township and held other township offices. and at this time being a commissioner of Medina County. Mr. and Mrs. Vandemark are the parents of five sons and one daughter. all living, as follows: A. W., a resident of Chippewa Lake, Ohio; C. V.. H. A. and V. A., who all reside at Lodi; Effa, who is now Mrs. Charles Overs, of Ashland, Ohic; and Roy F., of this notice. All the children were born in Medina County, and all received their educational training in the public schools of Lodi.

Roy F. Vandemark was graduated from the Lodi High School in the class of 1907, following which he entered the Western Reserve Law School. and was duly graduated in 1910, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In June of the same year he commenced practice at Elyria, in association with Henry W. Ingersoll, a connection which continued until October 1, 1915, since which time Mr. Vandemark has maintained an office in the Elyria Block and practices alone.

Mr. Vandemark is a member of the Lorain County Bar Association and holds an established position in the confidence of his clients and the regard of his fellow-practitioners. A republican in politics, he is at the present time a candidate for the office of city solicitor. Mr. Vandemark belongs to the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and his religious Vol, TI - 14 connection is with the First Congregational Church, in which he is a leading member of the Men's Club. He belongs also to King Solomn Lodge No. 56, of Elyria, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Marshall Chapter and Elyria Council, also of this city, and is lecturing knight of the Elks Lodge at Elyria. That his tastes are intellectual and his habits of a very energetic character, his career up to the present time has shown. Before him unquestionably are many honorably years of participation in professional life.

On March 31, 1914, Mr. Vandemark was married to Miss Zepha White, who was born in Harrisville Township, Medina County, Ohio, daughter of C. N. White. Like her husband she is a graduate of the Lodi High School, class of 1907. In the spring of that vear her mother died, but her father still survives and resides on the old home place in Spencer Township, Medina County, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Vandemark there has been born one son: Robert W. (''Bob White'').

WiuuiAm Crisp. In the death of William Crisp, which occurred in November, 1910, Elyria lost one of its veteran business men, one who was honest and conscientious in all he did, and enjoyed a reputation for fair dealing second to none.

Born in the Village of Mausley, Rugby, England, February 23, 1840, William Crisp was brought to this country in 1844 by his parents, who bought a farm in Avon, Lorain County. When only fourteen years of age he entered the employ of John A. Topliff as an apprentice and learned the carriagemaker's trade. When twenty-two he was taken into partnership with his employer, and this relationship continued for seven or eight years. Then Mr. Crisp formed a partnership with William Henson which continued until his death. The firm of Crisp & Henson was the oldest partnership existing in Lorain County when it was broken by Mr. Crisp's death. They had been engaged in business in the same location on West Avenue for forty years.

Besides his business career Mr. Crisp served two terms on the city council and was a member of the board of health at the time of his death. ;

Rosert HucuHes Rice. Junior member of the law firm of Stroup, Fauver & Rice, whose offices are in the Turner Building at Elvria, Robert Hughes Rice is a young man of natural capabilities and thorough training, and has already taken his position among the leading professional men and citizens of Elyria.

Born at Riceville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, December 14, 1886, he is a son of Elmer M. and Carrie C. Rice. The family moved from Riceville, Pennsylvania, to Elyria in 1897, and Elmer M. Rice is eashier of the Elyria Savings and Banking Company.

Robert H. Rice enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education and made the best of his opportunities while in school and university. Graduating from the Elyria High School in 1904, he entered Oberlin College, where he was graduated A. B. in 1908, and in 1911 took his degree LL. B. from the Columbia University Law School at New York City. He was elected to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, the scholarship honor fraternity, from Oberlin College in 1908. While in the Columbia University Law School he was one of the editors of the Columbia Law Review. In 1908 he represented Oberlin College in the intercollegiate debate, and enjoyed similar honors at Columbia University in 1909 and 1910. Prior to that, in 1907, he was president of the Northern Oratorical League. While his educational career was apparently uninterrupted in its continuity, Mr. Rice paid a large share of his expenses, and entirely supported himself while in law school by tutoring, teaching and lecturing. During the summers of 1908, 1909 and 1910 he held a clerical position in the Elyria Savings & Banking Company.

Immediately on his admission to the bar June 29, 1911, he began practice in the office of L. B. Fauver. He was a member of the firm of Fauver & Rice from 1912 to 1914, and has since been junior in Stroup, Fauver & Rice, one of the leading law firms of Northern Ohio. Mr. Rice was a member of the first charter commission of Elyria in 1913. While non-partisan as to local politics, he is a republican in national affairs, though in many ways he is completely independent. In Masonry he is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, and Marshall Chapter Royal Arch Masons. His church is the First Congregational. At Elyria on December 26, 1914, Mr. Rice married Harriet E. Garford, daughter of G. H. Garford of Elyria.

Metyin F. Harrison. The rapid growth of the automobile industry has been responsible for the development of a new profession, the follower of which much necessarily possess qualifications and talents requisite in few other lines. Engaged in the automobile business at Elyria since 1908, Melvin F. Harrison, of the Harrison Motor Company, has become one of the best known figures in the automobile world of Ohio, being the fortunate possessor of just those attributes which make for success in this newest of vocations.

Mr. Harrison was born at Dover, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, December 20, 1876, and is a son of John B. and Carrie H. (Witham) Harrison, both residents of that place today. The father is a real estate dealer and farmer, a native of the place, and has spent his entire life at Dover, where the mother was also born and where they were married. George Harrison, the grandfather of Melvin F. Harrison, came to Ohio from Connecticut, making the journey with an ox-team, and for many years conducted the old half-way house between Elyria and Cleveland. He is now deceased, and the maternal grandfather, a veteran of the Civil war, in which he fought as a Union soldier, A. B. Witham, survived until January, 1916. He was then ninety years old and a resident of Cleveland. John B. Harrison has held several minor offices of a civic and township nature, and is one of the community's influential and highly respected citizens. He and his wife have been the parents of three sons and one daughter: Melvin F.; Lua-Ella, who is now the wife of George A. Hogue, of Blue Cass Springs, Woodburn County, Indiana; Herman, who died at the age of six years, nine months, fifteen days; and Calvin L., a resident of Dover. All were born at Dover and there educated. ,

After graduating from the Dover High School, Melvin F. Harrison attended Burke & Dyke's business college, at Cleveland, and began his business career by opening a stall in the new market house in that city, dealing in butter and eggs, an enterprise in which he was engaged for about a year. At this time his father lost his health and was compelled to go to Northern Michigan, and the son disposed of his Cleveland business and returned to the home farm to take charge of its management for twelve months. His next move was to Cheboygan, Michigan, where with his father, he built a range of greenhouses, the first of any size to be erected in that state north of Bay City, and remained in business together for one and one-half years, under the style of Harrison & Son. The father then returned to the home farm and for three and one-half years longer Melvin F. Harrison carried on the business alone, but finally sold out to a cousin, George H. Harrison, and returned to Cleveland, from which city he subsequently removed to Greenwood, Indiana.