Lorain City (part 68 of 77)

A native of the fine old Wolverine State, Fred E. Denn was born at Tecumseh, Michigan, August 12, 1874, and he is a son of Frederick - and Catherine (Dueree) Denn, the former of whom was born just south of Oberlin, Ohio, and the latter at Geneseo, New York. Frederick Denn left home in 1870, at the age of nineteen years, and entered a veterinary college, in which he was subsequently graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery. He entered upon the active practice of his profession at Tecumseh, Michigan, and continued to reside in that city until 1880, when he began to travel in order to improve ' his health. He had contracted consumption and that dread disease ended in his demise three years later, at which time he was living in Grafton, Ohio. He was but thirty-two years of age when death called him but his kindly disposition had made an indelible impression on those who knew him and his memory will ever be green in the hearts of his friends. Mrs. Denn survives her husband and is now a resident of Elyria Township, where she is beloved by all who know her. Two ehildren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Denn, namely: Charles Henry, engaged in the electrical business and accidentally killed by an 'electric shock in 1901; and Fred Ernest, the subject of this review.

Fred E. Denn was bereft of his father at the tender age of nine vears. He completed the preseribed course in the common schools of Elyria Township and for a time attended the high school at Elyria. On leaving school he entered the service of the United States Express Company and for the ensuing thirteen years was driver of their only wagon in this section. Later he became agent for this company at South Lorain, remaining there for one year, at the expiration of which he was train messenger for the same concern for two years. In 1903 he was appointed rural mail carrier on Route No. 3 and he has continued to fill this position with the utmost efficiency to the present time, in 1915. On his plot of sixty-five acres Mr. Denn is most successfully engaged in dairying and general farming, finding a good market for his produce in Elyria.

'June 15, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Denn to Miss Anna F. Arndt, a daughter of Charles and Fredericka (Schultz) Arndt, residents of Amherst, where Mr. Arndt was for many years engaged in the stone quarry industry. Mr. and Mrs. Denn have two children, both boys: Charley Ernest, born May 25, 1899, is a junior in the Elyria High School ; and Clarence Albert, born November 11, 1901, is a pupil in the graded schools.

In politics Mr. Denn is a stalwart republican and in a fraternal way he is a valued and appreciative member of the Independent Order of ' Odd Fellows and of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Denn is a devout member of the Lutheran Church at Elyria and she takes an active part in both its religious and social work. Mr. and Mrs. Denn are

Dewitt Exprep. An evidence of thrift and industry exists in the cozy and comfortable residence of Dewitt Eldred, located in Elyria Township. in the midst of a fertile tract of land which has within its borders sufficient gardening and other interests to beguile the comparative leisure of this erstwhile general farmer and stock raiser.

Mr. Eldred was born in 1840 in Elyria Township, Ohio, a son of Noah and Mary Minerva (Murray) Eldred. His paternal grandfather was Moses Eldred, who came from Rome, New York, to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, settling on a farm west of Rocky River. He served in the War of 1812, following which he settled on what was known as the Shore Road. but later, finding that this was not to be the main thoroughfare, moved to a location on the Center Ridge Road, 214 miles east of Elyria, in Lorain County. There he built a log tavern and later a frame house, which, substantially built of heavy timbers, is still standing as a landmark of pioneer times. He continued to eonduct the tavern until his wife's death. when he gave up the business. and from that time until his death, at the age of eightv-three vears, made his home successively with his several children.

Noah Eldred, his son and the father of Dewitt Eldred, was born at Rome, New York, in 1798, and accompanied his parents to Ohio at the age of ten vears. He was eighteen years of age when he engaged in farming on his own account, purchasing a property on Murray Ridge Road, in the western part of Elyria Township, and there accumulated 105 acres of good land. His health failing he sold a part of his land, retaining but fifty-five acres, but lived to the age of eighty-three years, dying in 1881: He was three times married. his first wife being Betsey Murray, who was an aunt of his second wife, Mary Minerva Murray. By his first union he had one son, Albert, who grew to manhood and died about 1909. The mother died about six months after his birth, and Mr. Eldred was again married, there being six children in this family: Charley and Betsy, deceased; Dewitt: one who died in infancy; Newton, and Mary. After the death of his second wife Mr. Eldred was married a third time, being united with Harmony Redington, of Amherst Township, Lorain County. There were two children born to them: Frank, deceased, whose widow is living on the old farm in Elyria Township; and Martha, who resides at Elyria.

Dewitt Eldred was reared on the family homestead and remained at home until attaining his majority, when, in 1861, he enlisted in Colonel Barnatt's regiment of light artillery. with which he served three years, receiving his honorable discharge in 1864. During his service he received a severe injury to his hack, and this has troubled him more or less all of his life, although. at the age of seventy-five vears, he is still erect. With a good carriage, and appearance of one many years younger. His military career ended. he secured emplovment with the Lake Shore Railroad. on the section hetween Cleveland and Erie, but after five years was compelled to resign as his injury troubled him severely, and his next employment was in the handling of a stationary engine at Cleveland. a calling which he followed for five years. Mr. Eldred then turned his attention to farming pursuits in Dover Township, Cuyahoga County. where he resided until 1890, and in that year practically retired from farm work. He has resided on his present place on Murray Ridge Road. Elyria Township for two years, this being a part of the old homestead, where he has a small but comfortable residence, with a handsome garden. Mr. Eldred has been industrious, honest and thrifty and _ is

On September 17, 1865, Mr. Eldred was married to Miss Mary Crawl, a native of Cleveland, whose father came from Pennsylvania. Her mother died when she was a small child and her father two years later. Six children'have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Eldred: Edwin, Burton, Arthur, Claud, Melville and Scott, all living with the possible exception of the last-named, who left home when sixteen years of age, and has not since been heard from directly.

THE CoLuMBIA STEEL CoMPANy., Perhaps no local industry at Elyria has had a more satisfactory record since it was established some thirteen years ago than The Columbia Steel Company. Moved to Elyria in 1903, from small beginnings it has developed into a business that now supplies material not only to all parts of America but to foreign countries as well. Its product is known technically as cold rolled strip steel, largely employed in the manufacture of stamped, drawn and formed parts used in automobile equipment, typewriters, sewing machines, light hardware, and many other lines. The company specializes in the finer grades of this material, as for the most part the strips and sheets it makes are electroplated in the finished article.

It was through the efforts of Arthur L. Garford, who was at the time general manager of the Federal Manufacturing Company, that what is now The Columbia Steel Company was removed from Chicago and re-established at Elyria under the present corporate name. At that time the plant was laid out on a generous scale, with a view to the requirements of a growing business. In 1905 The Federal Manufacturing Company was liquidated, and The Columbia Steel Company plant then came into the possession of The Pope Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. At the same time Mr. Garford retired to look after his other extensive affairs. In May, 1905, the present manager, Mr. Charles E. Lozier, was installed by the Pope interests as general manager of the plant, and he still retains that position.

It was the growth of the automobile industry which most favorably © affected and brought about the rapid progress and prosperity of The Columbia Steel Company. Its products were used for many of the most important parts in automobile construction, though the output by no means goes exclusively to automobile factories. During the brief financial panic of 1907-08, The Pope Manufacturing Company failed, and within less than a year the control of The Columbia Steel Company passed into the hands of a Chicago syndicate whose successors are largely included in the present official roster as follows: C. D. Smith, president; W. L. Smith, treasurer; E. J. Scott, secretary ; C. E. Lozier, vice president and manager.

Probably nowhere in the country is a factory so well equipped for producing cold rolled strips and sheets of steel in accurate gauges and of excellent quality. Special attention is paid to the matter of finish, and in consequence the Columbia product can be electro-plated without expensive pre-treatment, and for this reason the company enjoys the patronage of a wide circle of buyers who have grown to be fast friends of this Elyria industry. While a very large proportion of the company's products is of basic open-hearth quality suited to deep drawing operations, the Columbia people sell also a considerable tonnage of high carbon and alloy strips, used in certain lines of manufacture. While The Columbia Company can be considered somewhat of a ''specialty concern.'' its output is of such staple character, that the mill operates the entire year through and furnishes steady employment to about two hundred and fifty men, constituting a most valuable asset to the general prosperity of the city. The warehouses of the company contain a great tonnage of semi-finished strips in the form of hoops, bars and bands, so that most orders can-be promptly filled, and often with greater expedition than by some of the larger competitors of this local industry. Wherever cold-rolled strips are in demand, the reputation of Columbia steel is that of the first rank in quality. The company has facilities for strips ranging in width from 5/16 inch to 20 inches, and in the matter of unusual widths it has practically no competition. The plant is most eligibly located at the junction of the tracks of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and the Baltimore & Ohio Railway, and no industry at Elyria has better shipping facilities.

W. G. Nicuous, besides representing one of the olilest families of LaGrange Township, has made his own career count effectually for improvement and progress in that section and there is no resident there who shows greater capability in the management of the soil and his livestock, and who enjoys more esteem among his neighbors.

The founder of the family in Lorain County was grandfather James Nichols. who was born in Rhode Island in 1800, and in 1836 brought his family West and settled in LaGrange Township. His tract of land was completely covered by a heavy growth of timber, and he literally ent a farm out of the woods. The Nichols family in America dates from the time, in early colonial days, when three brothers named James. Cov aid John left England and settled on Rhode Island.

Cyrus Nichols, father of W. G. Nichols, was born at Champion in Jefferson County, New York, in 1823, and was thirteen vears old when he came to Lorain County. He was well educated, always kept himself well informed, and having a retentive memory was a recognized authority on all matters of local history and carried in his mind a great fund of general knowledge as well. In his generation he stood among Lorain County's most successful farmers. He is given credit as being the first to use commercial fertilizer in. growing his crops. He was an active member of the Baptist Church. and took much interest in school affairs, serving as a director. Politically he was a republican. Cyrus Nichols was twice married, his wives being half-sisters. His second wife was Bessie 8S. Pearce, who was born in Pittsfield Township of Lorain County March 26, 1841, a daughter of Daniel Pearce, who was born in Herkimer County, New York, and became one of the early settlers of Pittsfield Township. Cyrus Nichols died October 19, 1891, while his wife passed away December 29, 1887. Of their five children the four now living are: W. G.; George H., who is a farmer in LaGrange Township: Nora, wife of John Miller. a baker at Lansing, Michigan: and Mrs. Lizzie Edmonds, wife of a farmer at Oberlin.

W. G. Nichols acquired his early training in the public schools of LaGrange Township, and for fifteen years he alternatea between the duties of the schoolroom as a teacher and his farm as a practical agrieulturist. He bought a farm in Penfield Township, on which he lived four years, and since 1899 has had his home in LaGrange Township, where he owns a well improved and well stocked place of ninety acres. When he bought the land it had no improvements, and its present condition is ascribable entirely to his own work and management... Much of his time has been devoted to dairving.

In 1891 Mr. Nichols married Lillie Walkden, who was horn in Coluinbia Township of Lorain County, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Walkden. Her parents were born in England, and came to Lorain County when voung people. Her father died in Columbia Township and her mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols had two children, but Andrew, their son, died March 23, 1916, aged twenty-three years. He was his father's right hand helper on the farm. The daughter Alice is now attending high school. Mrs. Nichols is a member of the Baptist Church. Not only in the management of his own interests as a farmer but also in the broader movements of community life and rural improvement, Mr. Nichols has accepted every opportunity for useful service. For six years he was a master of the Grange in Penfield Township and has also served as master of the County Pomona. He has filled some minor township offices and was a member of the board of education twelve years. In politics he is republican.

PERKINS KIRKLAND CLARK. One of the most picturesque country homes in Lorain County is Clarkhurst, in Carlisle Township, four miles south of the City of Elyria and located on the Diagonal Pike and also on the Elyria and LaGrange Road. This place exhibits the care and management of Mr. P. K. Clark, who has been its proprietor for upwards of half a century. Few men in the county have been so successful in directing farm enterprise.

While the Clark family has been identified with Lorain County since early times, the ancestral line in America extends back to the early half of the seventeenth century, when the Puritans came out of England and established the first settlement along Massachusetts Bay. Mr. Clark's lineage goes directly back to one William Clark, who came to America in 1630, about a year after the first colony of the Massachusetts Bay Company was established and located at first at Dorchester, Massachusetts, but subsequently joined that numerous body of dissenters who established Windsor on the Connecticut River in the state of that name. Still later he moved back to Massachusetts and died at Northampton July 18, 1670, when about ninety years of age.

William Clark, son of the immigrant, was married to Hannah Strong. They had eleven children, some of whom subsequently returned to Connecticut. Of these eleven children three lived to be above the age of ninety, one attaining the age of ninety-nine, four passed the fourscore mark, and three of the others were past seventy when they died. The sons without an exception lived beyond the age of fifty. and all of them had wives and buried them, but none of them ever took a second wife. On April 7, 1789, at the death of the youngest of these sons, Josiah, the six sons enumerated their descendants as 1,158 in number, of whom 925 were alive at that time.

One of the sons of William and Hannah Clark was John Clark, who was married March 16, 1679, to Mary Strong. Of their children Josiah was born June 11, 1697, and died April 7, 1798. Their son Enoch Clark was married June 16, 1763, to Merey Kingsley, and they were the greaterandparents of Perkins K. Clark of Lorain County.

The latter's grandfather, Enoch Clark, was born March 15, 1777, at Northampton, Massachusetts, and was married December 6, 1801. He died March 31, 1831, probably in Massachusetts. The maiden name of his wife was Abigail Kirkland.

Lorenzo Clark, father of Mr. P. K. Clark, was born at Westfield, Massachusetts, February 6, 1814. He married Charlotte A. Blanchard. Lorenzo Clark was still a young man when he came to Lorain County. He possessed a fair common school education and had learned the trade of cabinet making and followed that line in Elyria for several vears and also conducted the first regular furniture store in the town. His marriage was celebrated at Penfield, Lorain County. There were just two children, and the sister is Mrs. Charlotte A. Jones, whose home is now at Orlando, Florida.

Perkins Kirkland Clark was born in the City of Elyria, April 4, 1843. Tour weeks after his birth his mother became an invalid and remained so for seven years. During that time Mr. Clark lived with his maternal grandmother and then returned home. His parents about that time moved to the farni which Lorenzo Clark had bought in Carlisle Township, and on that old homestead Mr. Clark grew to manhood. For some eight or nine terms he attended school at Oberlin.

When he was twenty-four years of age his father bought 157 acres in Carlisle Township, and this was the nucleus of Mr. Clark's large landed possessions in that section of Lorain County and of his beautiful rural estate known as Clarkhurst. His own industry and good management have been important factors in his suecess, and with what he received from his father he has since brought his possessions to about 700 acres.

As early as 1885 some of his tenants while digging for water struck gas on his land, but no practical use was made of this discovery until 1903, when Mr. Clark drilled a gas well and he has since utilized the product of his own wells for the heating and lighting of his home. Though reared a republican and always a stanch upholder of republican doctrines, Mr. Clark has never been an office seeker, and his only important position has been as township clerk.

His first wife died some years ago without children. On February 11, 1902. he married Miss Julia A. Loomis of Cleveland, a daughter of Milton and Ellen (Foley) Loomis. Mrs. Clark was born in Grafton, Ohio, and finished her education in the high school at Elyria.

CuarLes A. JoNES. There are turning points in every man's life called opportunity. Taken advantage of they mean ultimate success. The career of Charles A. Jones is a striking illustration of the latter statement. Diligent and ever alert for his chance of advancement, he has progressed steadily until he is recognized today as one of the foremost business men of Elyria. Here he is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens who honor him for.his native ability and for his fair and straightforward career. He is-a prominent contractor and builder and has constructed more residences and business blocks in this county than any other man.

A native of East Cleveland, Ohio, Charles A. Jones was born September 23. 1849. He is a son of John L. and Honor (Livingston) Jones, both of whom were born and reared in New York State, where was celebrated their marriage and whence they removed to Lorain County, Ohio, in 1856. The mother was descended from the Livingstons of Livingston, New York, and her uncle, Robert Livingston, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. John L. Jones grew up in the Empire State and as a youth learned the trade of tinner. In April. 1856. he and his wife settled in Avon Township, this county, about one mile distant from Lake Erie. For a time they resided in what is now Cleveland and there he did considerable work as a gardener. He was a private in the War of 1812, having enlisted in a New York regiment, and he participated in the battle of Sacketts Harbor. He passed to eternal rest at Avon and the mother died in Cleveland; both are interred in a Cleveland cemetery. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones and of the number all reached maturity except Joshua, who died at the age of three vears. Following are brief data concerning the children: Elizabeth was killed by accident in the Hoyt Paper Mill at Cleveland in 1849; Mary became the wife of Rollin C. Mott. and she died in Cleveland: Jane, wife of Jesse Nichols, is deceased ; Clara is the widow of Henry Till and lives in Denver, Colorado; John L., wre died in Virginia : Lucy is the wife of Perry Saxon, of Mayfield Township. Cuyahoga County, Ohio; Louise is the widow. of Frederick Padley, of Avon Township, this county; Lydia Ann was the wife of DeForest Ruple at the time of her demise, at which time she resided in Dover, Ohio; Charles A. was next in order of birth; Alfred H. died in East Cleveland; and Joshua died at the age of three years, as noted above." Of the foregoing the six eldest were born in New York State, "the next four in East Cleveland and the youngest in Lorain County. John L., Jr.. gave valiant service as a soldier in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during practically the entire period of the Civil war and he was wounded in the battle of Stone River.

Charles A. Jones attended the district schools in East Cleveland and in Avon until he had reached his ninth year. In 1860, aged eleven years, he left home and became cook on a scow on the Great Lakes. Subsequently he became cook on larger vessels and he was recognized as an able-bodied seaman at the tender age of fourteen years, at which time he received a grown man's pay. He was a seaman and ship carpenter for the ensuing ten years and one of his trips during that time Was a whaling voyage in the Arctic Ocean. He was second mate on a steam hoat that ran from Cleveland through the canal to Chicago when he was seventeen years old and just previous to that time he made trips to Liverpool and to the Mediterranean Sea as an orderly seaman. For a couple years prior to the panic of 1872 he worked as ship carpenter and he is the only man in Lorain County who can build a boat of wood from start to finish. He quit sailing in 1872 and after the panic devoted his attention to building houses. He came to Elyria in the following vear and holds the reputation of having built more residences in Lorain County than any other contractor in this section of the state. He has also constructed many homes and business buildings in Cleveland, having as many as twenty houses in process of construction at one time. He built the Sharp Block on Broad Street in Elyria and also built a block on Cheapside. He owns four houses in this city and his own residence is one of the finest buildings in town. For fifteen years he was construction foreman for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company and during that period built water tanks, round houses. depots, freight houses, coal shutes and other buildings in Buffalo, Toledo and Elyria.

In Sandusky. Ohio, December 27, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Letitia Padley, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, whence she accompanied her parents to America at the age of six months. She is a daughter of John and Letitia (Hill) Padley, who settled at Sheffield, Lorain County, in 1856. For six months prior to coming to this section Mr. and Mrs. Padley lived at Dover, Cuyahoga County; they passed to eternal rest in Sheffield Township. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have four children, as follows: Livingston A., of Elyria, is a carpenter and is associated with is father in business; Charles R. is a mechanical engineer at Mount Wilson, California; Owen J. died at the age of eleven years in Elyria; and Letitia M. is the wife of Arthur H. Pfaff, a piano player of much talent, who played the piano in the. U. B. Clark store in Lorain for five years and who is now a bookkeeper for the National Tube Company at South Lorain. The Jones children were all born and educated in Elyria, Livingston and Letitia both heing graduates of the local high school. Letitia studied with talented teachers and is an accomplished musician. She and her husband have one daughter, Kathryn Letitia, born in Lorain July 18, 1915. Charles R. Jones is married and has a daughter, also named Letitia. It is interesting to note at this point that the two little grand- daughters are named Letitia as they will some day be the owners of silver teaspoons, handmade over 200 years ago in England and engraved with the letter ''L.'' Mrs. Jones has an old silver teapot which her parents brought from England and which was among the exhibits of the historical society in the Elyria courthouse for a number of vears.

In politics Mr. Jones is a democrat and while not an active participant in local affairs he nevertheless gives an ardent support to all measures projected for the good of the general welfare. His wife is a member of the First Congregational Church and they hold a high place in the esteem and affection of their fellow citizens. My. Jones is a selfmade man in the strictest sense of the term and it is gratifving to note that he is one of the foremost business men of this county.

CuarLes B. Rawson. For twenty-four vears continuously Charles B. Rawson has been identified with the mercantile enterprise of the Village of LaGrange. Ile is proprietor of a large general inerchandise store and has made his business profitable to himself and representing a thorough and up-to-date mercantile service to the community.

Though nearly all his active career has been spent behind a counter or in a store office, he was born on a farm near Sunfield in Eaton County, Michigan, June 29, 1867, a son of B. F. and Elden (Freemire) Rawson.

It was on the old farm in Michigan that he spent his bovhood. had a common school education, and was twenty years of age when he came to LaGrange and found employment in the grocery store conducted by his uncle L. W. Richmond. At first he was paid $15 a month and his board. He was with his uncle three vears, and the last vear the arrangement was that he should receive $30 a month. However. before the close of the twelve month period he and B. L. Wilkins bought the store and started under the firm name of Wilkins & Rawson. They conducted this business five vears. They assumed the stock on credit. and at the end of five years had so prospered that they owned the entire business and had discounted their bills so closely that they had a splendid credit rating.

A short time before buving out his uncle Mr. Rawson on November 27, 1889, married Miss Grace Holeomh. She was born and reared in La- Grange, a daughter of Andrew and Anna (Aldrich) Holcomb. When Mr. Rawson and partner bought the stock of his uncle. Mr. Holcomb was his financial backer, endorsing the note.

The firm of Wilkins & Rawson continued for five vears. when Mr. Wilkins sold out to his partner on account of ill health. In 1902 Mr. Rawson took in a brother as partner under the firm name of Rawson Brothers. and this was the style of the firm until 1910. In 1901 he bought the building in which his fine store is conducted.

Mr. and Mrs. Rawson have two children. The son Charles Andrew who was born at LaGrange August 11, 1891, is a graduate of the La- Grange High School, took a full course in the Oberlin Business College, and in 1915 finished a course at Cleveland in penmanship under Professor Barnet, and has a diploma and is well qualified for the teaching of penmanship. Just now he is emploved by his father in the store at La- Grange. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rawson is Lura Grace who egraduated from high school and is still'at home. The family reside in a comfortahble residence on South Main Street.

While Mr. Rawson was reared a democrat, he is independent in politieal activities. In his home community he has served on the school board, as township treasurer and as corporation treasurer. He and his wife are active in the Methodist Episcopal Church. he being a member of the official hoard. while the son is leader of the Sunday School orchestra. Fraternally both Mr. Rawson and his son are members of LaGrange Lodge

Wittrim C. Sizic. The career of William C, Silic of LaGrange Township is:a story of achievement, a gradual accumulation of material re- Sources and the experience which profits a man in any undertaking.

Born in the City of Cleveland March 1, 1858, he was about four years of age when his mother died, and at the age of twelve he began life for himself. He had only limited schooling. Coming to Pittsfield Township in Lorain County, he hired out to work on a farm for board and clothes. At the age of fourteen he was paid wages of $6 a month. He continued monthly employment until he was nineteen, and at that time was getting $20 a month. When he quit he had accumulated a modest capital of $100.

-With that he bought a team and harness and went in with other parties in the purchase of a threshing machine outfit. For five years he helped operate this in the fall and early winter while the spring and summer were spent in the lumber camps of Michigan. At the end of the five year period he had accumulated about $1,000, and that was the foundation of his present prosperity.

Having attained that stage of success, Mr. Silic in April, 1882, at LaGrange married Miss Anna Stevenson, who was born in Pittsfield, January 12, 1859, a daughter of George and Mary (Speed) Stevenson. Her parents were both natives of England, came to America when quite young with their respective parents, and grew up in Muskingum County, Ohio, where they married and later settled on a farm in Pittsfield Town. ship of Lorain County. Mrs. Silie's father died at the age of fortyeight and her mother is still living at the age of eighty. Mrs. Silic died in 1889, and in about 1890 Mr. Silie married Mary Matilda Stevenson, a sister of his first wife. All of his children were born of his second marriage. Mr. Silic's parents were Conrad and Anna Silic, both natives of Germany. where the father served his regular time in the army. The father was a machinist by trade, and he died at the Soldiers Home in Dayton, Ohio.

After his marriage Mr. Silie moved to Cleveland ane for four years was employed by the United States Express Company at $50 a month. Returning to Pittsfield Township he invested his capital in a farm of 861 acres and for the past thirty years has made farming and stock raising his chief occupation. He owned the first farm for twenty-three years, and in that time made many improvements. He occupied it as his home for about seventeen years and then desiring to farm on a more extensive scale he leased a place of 240 acres near Wellington. He Operated this for eight years and in the meantime acquired a house and lot in Wellington, and in 1908 after selling his original place, he bought his present fine farm of 234 acres 14 miles west of the Village of LaGrange. This farm too he has improved in many ways. Mr. Silic is well known as a dairyman and as a breeder of thoroughbred Holstein cattle. He started his herd with one thoroughbred cow and now has six, while his dairy herd numbers altogether twenty-four.

Mr. and Mrs. Silie have four children: Flossie Maude, who was horn in Pittsfield and is the wife of Edward Wise, a farmer in LaGrange Township, and their two children are named Leona and Paul E.: Jessie M., who was born in Pittsfield and lives with her parents; Clarence W., born in Pittsfield, and in the second year of the high school; and Leslie Dewey, born in Pittsfield and in the first year in high school. Mr. Silic is a republican, but is not a seeker for official honors. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and was formerly connected with the Maccabees and with the Grange.

Stuart Harvey Lucas. Such a position as is occupied in the community of Elyria by S. H. Lucas does not come as a result of chance. A steadfast ambition, untiring energy, a capacity for endless detail and hard work, a sound integrity, have made him one of the most forceful of the younger business men and citizens. In a business way he has been primarily identified with the upbuilding and development of The Hygienic [ce Company, the only factory at Elyria engaged in the manufacture of ice from distilled waters. Mr. Lucas occupies a number of other relations with the civic, fraternal and club life of his home city and his name hardly requires any introduction to the present generation.

A native of Ohio, he was born in Marion February 16, 1876, a son of Harvey Stoughton and Mary Margaret (McLain) Lucas. His mother was born in Springfield, Ohio, January 1, 1849, a daughter of Rev. John Stuart McLain, whose activities as a minister brought him into prominence among the early preachers of Ohio. Myr. Lucas' greatgrandfather was Noah Lueas, who in 1832 removed from Homer, New York, in the Mohawk Valley and settled at Kipton in Lorain County, Ohio. At that time the vicinity of Kipton was noted as deer hunting grounds and was a great resort for sportsmen from Cleveland. Noah and his son William, the latter the grandfather of the Elvria business man, were the only settlers in that community, their nearest neighbors being seven miles away. Grandfather Willian Lueas subsequently removed to Summit County. That was a time when Cuyahoga Falls was a larger town than Akron, and he was one of the men of enterprise who endeavored to make an industrial center by building the Chickoree Race, which was to take water from the Cuyahoga River above the falls to Akron. That project fell through and the ruins of the well conceived though unsuccessful enterprise are still found in that locality.

Harvey Stoughton Lucas, who was born in Homer, New York, in 1826, likewise became a man of considerable prominence in business affairs. Prior to 1852 he was associated in a small way with the famous Rockefellers of Cleveland. Leaving Cleveland in 1852. he settled in Marion County, Ohio, and there took up general merchandising. He conducted one of the old fashioned country community stores and the stock comprised everything from a package of pins to farm machinery. He was continuously identified with that business-in Marion County until 1888, and it was the only store kept open in the county during the disastrous cholera epidemic of many years ago. His partner in the business was Fred Seffner, and their store was conducted under the firm name of Lucas & Seffner. In 1888 Harvey 8S. Lucas sold out and removed to a farm in Sheffield Township of Ashtabula County. living there until 1891. At that date he purchased the Shreve Roller Mills in Wayne County, and operated the establishment during 1891-92-93. He then retired from active business and lived quietly at his home in Wooster until his death on August 4, 1895. His wife survived him until September 10, 1903. Harvey S. Lucas also had a record as a soldier. He enlisted in 1864 in Company I of the One Hundred Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the capacity of sergeant, and served about four

'months in the ¢losing days of the war. He and his partner in the general merchandising business in Marion County were unable to enter the service at the same time and thev drew lots to see which would enlist first, and the partner was the one upon whom this choice fell. and he saw three years of service and on returning home his place in the ranks was taken by Mr. Lucas. Harvey S. Lucas married for his first wife Miss Abbie Green. She died being survived by three children: Mrs. R. Wy. Harrington of Akron; W. G. Lucas of Marion; and Mrs. Carrie Gailey of Detroit, Michigan. For his second wife Mr. Lucas married Miss Mary Margaret McLain. Three children were also born to this union. Stuart Harvey; Grace Margaret, who is now a missionary in one of the departments of the Girls School at Nankin, China; and Rhea Reed Lucas, a florist at Wooster, Ohio. _

The early life of Stuart H. Lucas was spent largely in the towns of Marion, Shreve and Wooster, and in those localities he also 'acquired his education. In 1891 he graduated from the high school at Shreve, . and subsequently attended the Wooster University. Like most successful business. men he started at the foot of the ladder and has gone upward step by step on the basis of merit and accomplishment. His first employment was in a drug store at Wooster owned by Laubaugh & Boyd. About a year later he transferred his connection to the Boston Piano Company at Wooster, with which he remained eighteen months and then spent two years with Wamelink & Son of Cleveland. For about three years he was in the auditing department of The American Steel and Wire Company at Newburg, Ohio, and had another variation then in business experience by several months of employment with the Burrows Brothers Company in their book store at Cleveland.

In the spring of 1904 Mr. Lucas organized The Hygienic Ice Company at Elyria. He went into this enterprise with characteristic energy and had the plant in complete operation by July 9, 1904. It is an incorporated company, and the officers are: W. E. Brooks, president; D. W. Hyland, vice president: S. H. Lucas, secretary; and Frederick Mosley, treasurer. Mr. Lucas is also general manager of the company, . and its splendid success is largely due to his efficiency and progressive management. Ice has long been recognized as one of the most indispensable of commodities, and in late years emphasis has been placed upon the requirements of purity. and this company at Elyria is the only one manufacturing ice from distilled water: The business is a flourishing one, and in addition to the manufacture of distilled water ice, it also has a large cold storage plant, the principal building having a capacity for 900 tons of ice and provision for the storage of 2,000 erates of eggs while there are two other cold storage rooms fitted for the keeping of products of other kinds. Another department of the business is the manufacture and selling at wholesale of pure and sanitary ice cream, and the standard of purity is the motto and watchword of the entire business.

In his political associations Mr. Lucas has always been classed as a republican, and without undue partisanship has always been in close touch with civie interests and affairs. He is prominent in Masonry, his affiliations being with King Solomon Lodge.No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons; Marshall Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons; Elyria Council No. 86, Royal and Select Masters; Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar; and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cleveland. He is also affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks: Elyria Lodge No. 778, of the Loyal Order of Moose ; Elyria Lodge of Eagles No. 431, and he is a member of the Associated Craftsmen of Engineers, and is a charter member of the Lakewood Yacht Club, now the Cleveland Yacht Club. Other clubs of which he is a member are the Elyria Auto Club, the Eastern Heights Tennis Club, the Summit Lake Tennis Club of Akron, the Sandusky Yacht

On August 10, 1903, Mr. Lucas was married in Wooster to Miss Aimee G. Hamilton. Mrs. Lucas, who is a woman of thorough culture and many accomplishments, was born.in Manchester, England. Her father, Harry Hamilton, who died at Manchester, was a well known English sportsman and one of the fox-hunting squires who in a former day were such picturesque figures in English life. Her mother, Margaret (Young) Hamilton, lived at' San Diego, California, at the time of her death, December 29, 1915. Mrs. Lucas came with her mother and other members of the family to the United States about 1888. She had received her education in Manchester and the only one of her sisters remaining in England married the Rt. Hon. Vernon Kellett. Ars. Lueas among other accomplishments is one of the best horseback riders in the state. as well as an expert boat handler. She attends the religious services of the Christian Science Church.

FRaNK C. Bittines. The prosperity and advancement of a community depend upon the social character and public spirit of its members. In every prosperous town and country center will be found citizens who take the lead and give their energies not alone to their own well being, but to the things that mean better and fuller life for all. Such a citizen for many years in Lorain County has been Frank C. Billings, farmer, dairyman and breeder of thoroughbred Holstein cattle.

The fine Billings farm is located two miles west and three-quarters of a mile north of LaGrange Village on rural route No. 1. Not only has Mr. Billings helped to make progress in his own time but he also represents. one of the solid old time families of Lorain County. He was born in. LaGrange Township June 14, 1873. a son of George Mortimer and May (Ingersoll) Billings. The family was founded in Lorain County by the grandparents, Orson and Sophronia (Buell) Billings, hoth of whom were born and reared in Chenango County, New York, where they married and where two of their children were born. Later Orson Billings traded some property in New York State for land in LaGrange Township, the transaction having been made through the medium of the Western Reserve Company. The young people loaded their possessions on a hoat at Buffalo. and soon after leaving port a storm came up and all their furniture was thrown overboard, and besides a few clothes they were left without anv equipment except his carpenter tools. They landed at Cleveland and stopped for a time at the old Franklin Hotel. Grandfather Billings was very nearly tempted to trade his land in LaGrange Town-- ship for that hotel.and some additional land. Being a carpenter, he soon had a log house erected on his land in LaGrange Township. and while working at his trade and putting up many of the early buildings in that locality. he also cleared up most of his land. He lived in LaGrange Township until about fifty years of age. Orson Billings was a man of somewhat remarkable genius. He invented the Duplex mowing machine, and put up a building on his farm in which to manufacture it. This building is still in use and is now a tool shed on Frank C. Billings' farm. Grandfather Billings also invented the Billings eorn planter. He had patents on hoth of these machines, and he also carried his skill into the manufacture of parlor organs. One of these instruments is still in use in LaGrange Township. From his farm he finally moved to Elyria and formed a company for the manufacture of his inventions. Business cares weighed upon him so that he lost his health. sold out, and died at Elyria when about sixty-one or sixty-two vears of age. His widow survived him until about the age of eighty-five.

George M. Billings was born in LaGrange Township December 29, 1845. Reared on the Billings farm in LaGrange Township, he acquired a liberal education for that time. He attended Oberlin College one year. His active career was spent on the farm, but he lived in Elyria at the time of his death on January 30, 1909, at the age of sixty-three. He was a democrat and was a man of deep religious convictions though not identitied with any one church. He and his wife had two children, and the daughter Pearl A., who was born in LaGrange and was given the best of advantages in musical training, having studied at the Oberlin Conservatory, was for some years a teacher of music, but is now the wife of F. E. Gibson of Cleveland, and her two sons are Lisle, aged fifteen, and Ford, aged five.

Frank C. Billings spent his boyhood on the farm, acquired a comnon school education, and at the age of eighteen went out to Kansas. For two years he farmed on rented land near Topeka. Returning to Lorain County in 1893, he was employed by his father a few years, and on March 9. 1896, was married in Elyria to Miss Maude MeNelly. She was born at Ridgeville, Lorain County, a daughter of James and Bertha (Tippin) MecNelly. Mrs. Billings graduated from the Elyria High School in 1893 and was a teacher in the country schools until her marriage. They have one son, Dorrwood Arthur, who was born on the home farm January 24, 1898, and finished his course in the LaGrange High School in 1916.

In addition to what he inherited from his father Mr. Billings bought the interests of his mother and sister in the home farm, and now has altogether 240 acres. This includes fifty-three acres which he purchased in addition to the homestead. Everything he does he does well and works constantly for progress and improvement. A prominent feature of his farm is a fine new barn on a foundation 30x100 feet, and seventeen feet from foundation to eaves. It is covered with a slate roof and has cement floors. He also has a silo of 100 tons capacity. He employs power extensively to run his farm machinery, and has a power house with a gasoline engine run by natural gas, and this supplies power for his three milking machines, which he has had in use in his dairy for the past two years. In 1908 Mr. Billings sank a 500-foot gas well, and he used it until another well was put down 2,200 feet to Clinton sand, and this developed a strong flow of gas. Beside his own power house and home two other houses on his land are supplied with this gas. and he receives a royalty on gas he supplies from his works.

Born and reared a democrat, Mr. Billings in 1912 was elected township trustee. and was the first democrat elected to that office in twentyeight vears. He has also served as a member of the school board. Mrs. Billings is a member of the Disciples Church and for some time was a teacher in the Sunday School. Mr. Billings affiliates with the Knights of Pythias at LaGrange, the Modern Woodmen of America. the Eagles at Elyria, and both he and his wife are active in the Grange. Mrs. Bilings has membership in the Pythian Sisters and the Ladies of the Maccabees. and has served as home commander and as county commander.

SAMUEL Vincent. Pryce, of Carlisle Township, near LaGrange, a citizen who has prospered in spite of handicaps and adversities, and with his family is now enjoying a comfortable prosperity on his farm of sixty-five acres on rural route No. 1 out of LaGrange. He does considerable dairy business, and turned to farming after a long experience as a telegraph operator and store manager.

Pryce. He remained in Cornwall with his grandparents after his father went to Australia, where the latter died when Mr. Pryce was about twenty years of age. In Cornwall he acquired a fair common school education, and was in his twenties when he set out to make his own way in the world and came to America. He landed at New York after a trip of six days. On the same boat was Miss Eliza Rickard, his betrothed, who was also born near his birthplace in Cornwall, daughter _of Stephen and Jane (Gall) Rickard. The couple went direct to Northern Michigan, and were married in the Village of Norway in that seection of Michigan July 22, 1881.

The young couple lived at Norway and also at Vulcan, while Mr. Pryce was employed in the iron and copper mines of the Upper Peninsula. While at work he met with an accident which closed his career as a miner, and he then learned telegraphy.

It was as a telegraph operator that he came to Ohio and after spending a time at Oberlin was appointed to a position with the Cleveland Stone Company at Nickel Plate as operator and also as manager of the company store. He remained with that corporation continuously for twentynine years until the business was closed up.

In the meantime in 1897 Mr. Pryce bought his present homestead in Carlisle Township, and his family resided there while he continued work for the Cleveland Stone Company. During the past eighteen years he has made many improvements and he now has a fine farm home. He remodeled the barn, and he also had a gas well put down to a depth of 957 feet and has a copious supply of natural gas for fuel and lighting purposes,

Mr. and Mrs. Pryce have a son, Samuel Vincent Pryce III, who was born at Menominee, Michigan, November 19, 1882. The son was graduated in a business course in 1901, and is now an active young farmer helping his father run the place. Mr. Pryce is independent in politics, and he and his family are Methodists. He still keeps up his affiliations with the Independent Order of Foresters at Calumet, Michigan.

FraNK R. Fauver. It is doubtful if any recent appointment to the state service has been based upon better qualifications, fitness for the responsibility and the general requisites of experience and ability than that of Frank R. Fauver who in August, 1915, began his duties as superintendent of the State Public Works. This office is one that demands exactly the qualifications which Mr. Fauver is known to possess.

Prior to beginning his duties in this state office Mr. Fauver's record was made in Lorain County, where for the past eight vears he has heen a member of Elyria Road Commission No. 1. The construction of a good road is an improvement which, under modern conditions. must take precedence in importance over almost any public undertaking. To the energy and good judgment of Mr. Fauver must he credited a large share not only in the construction of one road but in the building nearly 100 miles of macadamized roads in the No. 1 district of Lorain County. Under his supervision a large mileage of macadam construction is found in the townships of Elyria, Ridgeville, Carlisle and Eaton.

For nearly a quarter of a century Mr. Fauver's home has heen in Elyria, and while his service as road commissioner outweighs all others in importance he was for six years city auditor. Mr. Fauver is a native of Lorain County, having been born on a farm in Eaton Township October 10, 1878. He is a man of liberal education, having attended the common schools and being a graduate of the Elyria High School, after which he took two years of work in the University of Michigan. He early became identified with public affairs, and was elected for two

Well known in social and fraternal circles, he is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons at Elyria, and Lodge No. 465 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce.

J. A. Mer, M.D. One of the young physicians and surgeons whose work has indicated ability and professional talent in Lorain County, Dr. J. A. Meek lives at Grafton, where almost at the outset of his career he has acquired a place of prominence and usefulness,

He was born in Cortland, Ohio, August 2, 1885, a son of Warren Fayette and Harriet (Cowdery) Meek. Doctor Meek was reared to manhood in the vicinity of Cortland, attended public school there, being graduated from the high school with the class of 1903, and followed that with three years of general employment. Partly with his own earnings he entered the Homeopathic College at Cleveland, where he continued to pursue his studies until graduating M. D. in 1912. After his graduation he located at Grafton, and has made an excellent start and has a promising patronage. He is a member of the Lorain County Medical Society.

Cart H. Duptey. While Oberlin is a town chiefly distinguished for its homes and its educational institutions, it has at least one industrial and manufacturing concern, the Ohio Road Machine Company, of which Carl H. Dudley is secretary and treasurer. This local plant bears favorable comparison with the larger industries of Lorain County. It manufactures a large line of machinery used in the construction of roads and also for irrigation purposes. The output of the factory meets the international and export trade of the United States since the machines are shipped to such foreign countries as South Africa, South America and Russia. The company is incorporated with a capital of $40,000.

Besides his office as secretary and treasurer of this company, Carl H. Dudley has a number of other interests that identify him with Oberlin. He started life practically without any fortune as a farmer's boy.

He was born in Lorain County, September 26, 1868, a son of J. Harwood and Angeline (Loomer) Dudley. His grandfather, Jonathan Dudley, a native of Vermont, was an early settler in Lorain County, where he spent the rest of his days. J. Harwood Dudley was born in Vermont in 1822 and died in 1876, while his wife was born in Nova Scotia in 1832 and died in 1898, They were married in Wisconsin. but soon afterwards moved to Ohio and located in Lorain County, where the elder Dudley followed farming and in time built up a considerable business, owning quite a tract of land in Henrietta Township and handling sheep and cattle. As a republican he filled several township offices, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist Church. There were nine children, and the six now living are: Arthur L., a farmer in Henrietta Township, Lorain County; Ella, wife of Dr. Thomas Walker, who holds the chair of English in a large ¢ollege in South Africa; Stowell B., who is a physician at Weiser, Idaho; Carl H.; Harlan, a physician at Jefferson, Ohio; and Mrs. J. E. Barnard, wife of a dentist at Oberlin.

a success in business affairs, Carl H. Dudley attended the Academy of Oberlin College for three years, and then completed a course in the Oberlin Business College. He lived in Chicago one year, after which his business interests led him to the West, and for two years he was connected with a bank in Nebraska and for a time was in the lumber business in New York State. It was in 1898 that he established himself as a manufacturer at Oberlin, beginning with the manufacture of creamery cans and cream separators. He has been one of the important factors in developing the Ohio Road Machine Company. Mr. Dudley also owns a farm in Lorain County, and has a summer resort hotel at Vermilion.

In 1908 he married Miss Hortense P. Mapes, who was born in Nebraska. They have two daughters: Winifred, born June 6, 1910; and Barbara. born February 18, 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Dudley are members of the Baptist Chureh and in politics he is an independent republican.

Ropert C, Warp. To the greatest number of people in Lorain County Mr. Ward is known through his eapable service as sheriff, an office which he held for two terms, four years. However, he has been a resident of this section of Ohio nearly forty years, was for a long time in business at Wellington, and has lived at Elyria during the past fifteen years. Whether in office or in private affairs Mr. Ward has enjoved an excellent reputation for painstaking ability. efficiency and public spirit.

In identifying himself with Lorain County Mr. Ward came from the West rather than from the East. which is the natural movement of most people in establishing new homes. He was worn at Rockville in Parke County, Indiana, September 11, 1850. His father, John E. Ward, was born in Kentucky, and his mother, Margaret E. (Mulhallen) was a native of Virginia and a daughter of a slave holding planter who freed his slaves and came to the free State of Indiana when Mrs. Ward was about six years of age. John E. Ward was born in 1824, and died in 1859. His wife was born in 1826 and they were married at Rockville. Indiana. moved from there by wagon to Fulton County, IIlinois, later to Peoria, and finally to Lacon in Marshall County, Illinois, where the father died. His widow was left with the care of five ehildren. For the next two vears she lived at Lacon and then established a home near Wenona, Illinois, where her sons found work on a farm and contributed their earnings to the support of the little household.

One of these earlv wage earners and workers was Robert C. Ward, who gained practically all his regular schooling prior to the time he was fourteen. and at that age started as a regular farm hand at wages of $14 a month. At the end of eight months when paid his aggregate wages of $112 he took the entire amount to his mother. His other brother was also working. and their sister was teaching school, and in this way the family gradually began to get ahead and prosper. About 1878 the mother and two older children moved from Illinois to Missouri aud the mother died there in the home of her daughter in 1908, while her son Robert was serving as sheriff of Lorain County.

Rohert C. Ward first came to Ohio in 1873, and was emploved in a sawmill at Napoleon in Henry County, but in June of the same vear went to Huron County in charge of 1,000 head of sheep. He soon afterwards found work in a sawmill at Greenwich. but in 1875 took up another line of business. driving about over the country and collecting butter and eggs. In the spring of 1880 he became identified with the firm of Wadsworth, Peabody & Hossler in their planing mill at Greenwich, and in 1893 the same company sent him to their mill at Wellington in Lorain County. For seven years Mr. Ward remained at Welling-

Robert C. Ward

Having sold his interests at Wellington Mr. Ward moved to Elyria in 1901 to take up his duties as bailiff and deputy sheriff. This office furnished him the training and the logical preparation for the honor paid him in 1906 when he was regularly elected county sheriff. He was nominated in an old time political convention for that office, but in "1908 he became the nominee of his party at the popular primaries, and was the first sheriff of Lorain County subject to the registration of the popular will both at primaries and the regular election. He was nominated without opposition, was re-elected, and held the office for two consecutive terms, until January, 1911. Since leaving the office of sheriff Mr. Ward has lived retired.

In politics he claims allegiance with the republican party first, last and always, and has at different times been an influential factor in local politics, though never seeking honors for himself except in the case of sheriff. He was formerly identified with several fraternal organizations, but is now only an active Mason, both in the Lodge and Royal Arch Chapters. Mr. Ward and wife find their chief recreation and take a great deal of pleasure in their large Cadillac touring car. Mr. Ward knows how to keep an automobile clean and in the best of working order, and his big car looks like new all the time. He is a member of the Elyria Automobile Club. He and his wife have a pleasant home on Lake Avenue. November 4, 1874, he married Emerett Washburn, who belonged to one of the oldest families in this section of Ohio. She was born in Huron County, a daughter of Henry Craft and Charlotte C.

(Griffin) Washburn, the latter a native of Greene County, New York. Henry C. Washburn was also born in Huron County, a son of Henry Washburn, who brought the family to Huron County in the early days, and a grandson of Joseph Washburn, who also came to Huron County.

ALBERT FRANKLIN Rust. Shady Nook Farm, at Grafton, was for two years the scene of the energetic plans and labors of the late Albert Franklin Rust, who died while in the midst of his preparations for an extensive business as an -agriculturist and dairyman, but whose brief residence in Lorain County made a strong impress on the community, where he left a host of sorrowing friends, and Shady Nook Farm is now occupied and ably managed by Mrs. Rust and two of her daughters.

For one who started his independent career in early boyhood, relying upon industry, honesty and merit to advance himself in the world's favor, the late Albert Franklin Rust accomplished all that could be desired, both in a material way and in that esteem which is one of the most distinctive marks of a successful career. He was born on a farm at Northampton, Clark County, Ohio, January 31, 1865, a son of David and Phoebe (Cost) Rust. His father was born March 9, 1835, in Clark County and his mother was born in the same locality, January 9, 1840. When the son was about five years of age his parents moved to Union County, Iowa, where his mother died in 1868. The father then returned with his three children to Clark County, Ohio.

The late Mr. Rust acquired only a common school education in his early youth, and when fifteen years of age started out to earn his own living by hard work in a little factory in Dialton, Clark County. By such employment he earned sufficient to support himself and later also to pay for several terms of instruction in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso.

riage with Miss Bonnie Estella Dunson. Mrs. Rust was born November 8, 1871, in Shelby County, Ohio, a daughter of Addison and Rosanna (Lodge) Dunson. Her father was born at Meadowbrook, Augusta County, Virginia, January 22, 1831. Her mother was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, July 30, 1835. Addison Dunson was a child when he moved with his parents to Port Jefferson in Shelby County, Ohio, was reared there, obtaining a common school education, and afterwards learned the undertaking business, which he carried on at Port Jefferson until 1872. He then moved to a farm at Maplewood, Ohio, and lived there until his death on May 24, 1914. Mrs. Rust's mother passed away February 3, 1890. Mrs. Rust is a woman of culture and thorough education, attended the common schools, and took one year in high school and also had a course in elocution.

In 1899 Mr. and Mrs. Rust moved to Paulding County, Ohio, where he again resumed the industry to which he had been early trained, tile manufacture, and became sole owner of a plant there. He had shut down his plant in Shelby County, though he still owned his farm there. From Paulding County Mr. Rust, in 1913, came to Grafton in Lorain County, and bought 386 acres included in the fine estate known as Shady Nook Farm. He was in the midst of his plans and labors for estabing himself on an extensive scale in dairying and stock raising when he was called away from the scenes of earthly life, February 10, 1915.

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rust were born six children: Hazel Rosanna, born May 11, 1891, is a graduate of high school and of a business course at Sidney, Ohio, and on March 24, 1910, she married Ivan S. Mahan; they are the parents of one son, Howard A., born February 12, 1911. and this little grandson was about four years of age when Albert F. Rust passed away. Eunice Pauline, who was born in Shelby County. Ohio, July 26, 1893, graduated from the high school at Haviland. Paulding County. Ohio, and is now the wife of William Spelbring. Itella Joy, born October 1, 1897, near Maplewood, Shelby County. is a member of the class of 1916 in the Elyria High School. Mary Cornelia, born June 18, 1901, in Shelby County, is a member of the freshman class in the Grafton High School. Albert Franklin, Jr., was born January 28, 1906, in Shelby County. Phronsie Estella was born in Haviland. Paulding County, September 11, 1908.

In character and accomplishment the late Mr. Rust was a man who always attracted notice and stood as one of the leading citizens of any community with which he was identified. He was reared a republican, but later hecame a democrat, and though not an office seeker he filled several places of trust and responsibility. He was at one time chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Maplewood, Ohio, and was also a representative in the Grand Lodge. While at Haviland in Paulding County he assisted in organizing the First National Bank, and was its first president, an office he held until he moved to Lorain County. When twelve vears of age Mr. Rust was confirmed in the Reformed Church. and continued an active member both in the church and Sunday school until his death. While he was almost a lifelong member of the church, several vears before his death he made a special consecration of himself and his means to the work of the Master. With very meager beginnings he had developed himself into a man of business affairs and had life been spared the normal period he would doubtless have gone much further in the various fields wherein his interests lay. At his death the care and responsibility of his business affairs devolved upon his wife. who has heen ably assisted by her two daughters who are now grown and also by the one who is rapidly developing into young womanhood.

farm in Grafton Township distinctive is the manufacture of cider and apple butter. During the season of 1915 Mr. Rogers in hig home plant manufactured about eighty thousand gallons of apple cider, and converted a large part of its product into the making of apple butter, and of this delicious commodity he sent about twenty-eight hundred gallons to market. _. This is not the only industry carried on on the Rogers farm. Mr. Rogers is a practical farmer, has made a success of his business, and also operates a first class dairy. His home is a mile and a half south of Belden, with Grafton as his postoffice.

Pliny H. Rogers was born on the farm a mile east of Grafton, August 29, 1872, and is a son of Theodore B. and Harriet S. (Hart) Rogers. His father was born at Collinsville, Connecticut, June 4, 1840, and is now living retired at the age of seventy-six. The grandparents were Henry D. and Bathsheba (Chapin) Rogers. Henry D. Rogers was born at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1810, and died in 1896. His wife, Bathsheba Chapin, was born at Chicopee Falls, Connecticut, May 28, 1805, a daughter of Oliver and Ellice (Bush) Chapin. Oliver Chapin was born August 17, 1776, and his wife on October 20; 1779. In 1842, when Theodore Rogers was two years of age, his parents came west to Lorain County, locating in Grafton Township a mile east of Belden, and there they spent the rest of their days. Theodore Rogers was for years a very active member of his community in addition to his work as a farmer. As a republican he filled most of the township offices, and both he and his father Henry were closely identified with the Congregational Chureh in that community. Henry Rogers was one of the founders of that church, and sold steers at three cents a pound in order to raise the $500 he had contributed to the building. Theodore Rogers was also active in church affairs, held official position in both church and Sunday school, and is also a member of the Masonic Lodge at Litchfield. When about twenty-one years of age Theodore Rogers married, lived at home with his father until thirty, and then was given eighty acres of land by Henry Rogers. He occupied that place until 1897. His wife died January 29, 1896. The six children in the family were: Clara B., who died December 28, 1915, left three children by her marriage to E. A. Terrell of Ridgeville; Edith P., who died at Oakland, California, married William H. Brandenburg, and left a son Edwin B.; Harry L., who now lives at Fiske, Saskatchewan, Canada, married for his first wife Lottie Breckenridge, by whom there is one child, George W., and for his second wife married Mrs. Laura Johnson; John died in infancy; the fifth child is Pliny H.; Dwight E. married Carrie Bessie Cleverdon and lives in Lorain.

Pliny H. Rogers grew to manhood on the old family homestead. When about eighteen years of age he went to Findlay, Ohio, and while attending high school there was employed in a drug store and eventually became a registered pharmacist. He was in the drug business at Findlay for five years until failing health compelled him t6 abandon that vocation.

On February 20, 1895, on the farm where he now lives, he married Miss Jessie Cleverdon. Mrs. Rogers was born in the Village of Lodi, Medina County, Ohio, daughter of William and Emeline (Woods) Cleverdon. About 1888 her parents removed to Grafton Township, where her father bought sixty acres and later another sixty acres. Her parents are now retired at Litchfield, Ohio, where her father is living at the age of seventy-six. ' :

After his marriage Mr. Rogers spent several years in the business of well drilling, and from that he got the start which enabled him in 1907 to buy his present farm. The house burned the same year he bought, and afterwards he erected his present modern home. His improvements show that he is very progressive and enterprising. He constructed two silos of good capacity, and some years ago he bought a cider mill and began the industry which is now perhaps the most distinctive feature of his business. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have five children: Ruth, who graduated from the Elyria High School with the class of 1913. and is now a successful teacher; Glenn A., who spent a year and a half in the Elyria High School; Donna, Marjorie and Lois, all young and living at home.

In politics Mr. Rogers is a republican and east his first presidential ballot for McKinley in 1896. For one term he served as township trustee, and he passed the highest competitive examinations and reveived appointment as assessor from Governor Cox. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Belden. and he is a trustee and is superintendent of the Sunday school. He is also affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Litchfield.

Puitip D, Reery, M. D. In the world of modern thought there is coming about a gradual and better appreciation of fundamental values and relationship. Emphasis js being placed more and more upon individual and personal service as at least coequal in importance with vested property and material rights and privileges. It was these better and higher ideals and principles of human life that were well exemplified in the career of the late Dr. Philip D. Reefy of Elyria, and in a time and age which saw the highest development of material achievement and in which the spirit of human ministry to fellowmen was overclouded by those accomplishments which could be measured only by material standards. Whether asa soldier, as a physician, practicing medicine at Elyria continuously from 1869 until his death, or as a public spirited and hard working citizen, Doctor Reefy lived and exemplified the life of service.

He was born on a farm near Mount Eaton, Wayne County, Ohio, December 29, 1845, and died at his home on West Third Street in Elyria October 7, 1913. His parents were Johan Heinrich and Marie (Gnaegi) Ryffe, as the name was spelled in Switzerland, whence the parents came as pioneer settlers to Ohio. In many ways the influences of Swiss nationality and character were expressed by the late Doctor Reefy. His early education was limited to a few months each vear in the district schools. He gained bodily strength by working the land and helping clear the forests, and as a youth possessed that love of freedom and ardent patriotism which subsequently made him so valuable as a soldier in the Union army. He had an uncle who was one of the famous Swiss guards around Emperor Napoleon and followed that leader on his disastrous Russian campaign. Less than sixteen years of age at the time, Philip D. Reefy on September 7, 1861, enlisted in Company F of the 19th Ohio Infantry. He did much to inspire others in his community to take part in the war for the preservation of the Union, and he always in every emergency and in every duty set an example of fearlessness, courage and devotion to duty. He went with his company into the Army of the Cumberland, and from the battle of Shiloh to the battle of Nashville, which finally broke the strength of the Confederacy in the West, he served first as private and then as captain in eighty-four engagements, including all the great battles around Chickamauga and Atlanta. For two years he was captain of his company, for one year served as adjutant, and at the close of the war was detailed as mustering out officer of the Third Division, Fourth Army Corps, on the staff of Major-General Wood. He was also an ordnance officer in the central district of Texas, and assistant adjutant-general on the staff of Major-General Beatty. He went through the war, constantly exposing himself to danger, with only a slight injury caused by a fragment of a shell,

Of his army service one of his lifelong friends at Warren, Ohio, wrote in tribute to him at the time of his death as follows: ''My knowledge of him as a soldier was derived from close acquaintance with him during four years which we spent together in the Civil war as members of the

.19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. By nature and intellect he was a leader of men. He belonged to that coterie of bright young fellows who attained command of companies ere reaching their majority. His record as a soldier was that of the bravest of the brave. Always ready for duty, no matter how arduous or hazardous that duty might be, he knew not the meaning of cowardice. A man among men, a hero among heroes, his proudest boast was his citizenship of the grandest republic on earth. His friendship was as steadfast as his loyalty to his country. With him, friendship meant a covenant, a baptism, a sacrament. His was a nature that despised mean manners and mean methods. Had he enemies, personal or political, he fought them with the same open courage with which he met the enemies of his country on the field of battle.''

Many memories might be recalled of Doctor Reefy as a soldier and in his relations with old comrades after the war. He possessed a remarkable memory, and it is said that practically his entire individual experience as a soldier and all the important movements of the troops with which he was associated were photographically registered upon his mind, and he could give expression to the incidents of many campaigns with marvelous descriptive powers. To quote the words of an editorial: 'He served his country well, but it can be truthfully said he has served even better the hundreds and hundreds of survivors of the war, who in one way or another came into his life after the great conflict. He loved his war comrades with undying affection and he never hesitated to perform any act which meant for the veterans more comforts in their advancing years, and he constantly preached to the younger generation of the great benefit which had come to the nation through the bloody sacrifice of the flower of the nation's youth in the early '60s.''

Mustered out and given his honorable discharge November 25. 1865, Captain Reefy then entered the Roanoke Seminary at Roanoke, Indiana, the head of which was at that time his brother, the late Professor F. S. Reefy. After two years of study there he entered the Eclectic College of Medicine at Cincinnati, graduated M. D. in 1869, and following about six months of practical experience in the Bellevue Hospital at New York City came to Elyria and became associated in practice with the late Dr. Paul W. Sampsell. Later in 1871 Doctor Reefy graduated from the Cleveland Medical College, and in 1873 he went abroad and studied under the direction of some of the most eminent physicians and surgeons in the hospitals at Vienna and Berlin. Dice ait. than forty years Doctor Reefy practiced in Elyria and the surrounding country. He was not a mere dispenser of medicine, but entered into the lives of his patients and became the true family physician who has long been an ideal of praise and honor. He gave his professional time and services, and also dispensed a broad and liberal charity with lavish hand. In the words of another who spoke of his life at the time of his death, ''for forty-four years he has with tireless energy and indomitable purpose pursued his ideal in the practice of his profession. For forty years his name has been a household word in Lorain County. He knew, it is said, until a few years ago, about every resident of the county, familiarly by name. For years, before the interurban cars or motor cars made travel easy, he traversed the rough roads of this county and neigh- boring counties by day and by night in the practice of his beloved profession. None called to him in vain. No home too distant, no night too dark, no poverty too deep, for him who held his professional skill as a trust in keeping for his fellow man.''

After his death Doctor Reefy was honored also for his public services, when the city council of Elyria drew up resolutions to be made a part of the public records in recognition of his work as mayor. He was twice elected mayor of Elyria, in 1899 and 1901, and both administrations were characterized by such respect for law and order that ever afterward they were synonyms of good government. His last civic duty was to serve on the charter commission. His public spirit was not manifested alone when in office, but he was constant in exercising his influence either personally or by the wielding of a vigorous pen toward any betterment which he was convinced was necessary for the city. He was long prominent in Richard Allen Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. Whether in his profession or in his relations as a citizen Doctor Reefy always had the courage to have an opinion and to express it without a quibble. At times he might have been thought a httle blunt of speech or manner, but it was the action of a sincere, honest mind that believed in the frank expression of a conviction.

On December 29, 1877, Mr. Reefy married Miss Libbie Mountain. He was survived by Mrs. Reefy, by a son, Dr. Karl P. Reefy, a successful physician of Elyria, and a daughter, Mrs. Mayo E. Roe of Elyria.

In conclusion should be quoted some of the words delivered by Rev. George B. Ranshaw at the memorial services held in honor of Doctor Reefy: ''We do not forget his high integrity as a citizen. As we recall the story of his busy, rushing life, the spectacle of this occasion is significant in the history of our city. This memorial is not, I take it, a tribute to official service. a recognition of extraordinary genius, to literary or scientific attainments. It is homage to personal character and worth. It is a solemn public declaration that a life so long devoted to the highest ideals, so unselfish in its devotion to the welfare of others, as exalted in its conception and estimates of citizenship, furnishes an example so inspiring, a patriotism so lofty and a public service so splendid and beneficent that in contemplating them, discordant opinions, differing judgments and the sharp sting of controversial speech vanished like dew before sunshine.''

(ieorGE (. Prince. During the past thirty years George C. Prince has heen a resident of Oberlin. His connections with Lorain County have been many and varied, both in a business way and in public affairs. The foundation of his husiness prosperity came as a mill owner and lumberman. though his name has been associated with a number of enterprises of other kinds. He is now living retired in the beautiful little City of Oberlin and is one of the men whose careers have helped to make this county what ic is.

His birth occurred in Erie County. New York, December 10, 1830. a son of William and Betsy (Fargo) Prince. He comes of old New England ancestry as is the ease of so many of the older residents of Lorain County. His great-great-grandfather was Daniel Prince, who was born in Birmingham, England, about 1655, and first came to America as a soldier of the British army. Upon being discharged from the army he decided to hecome a citizen of the New World, and he died at Springfield, Massachusetts. in 1728. His son Robert married a Miss Warren. She was arrested for witcheraft during the historie period when witches were persecuted in New England. and was convicted to be hanged, but died in jail. Abel, the grandfather of George C. Prince, was horn in Brooklyn, Windham County. Connecticut, July 8, 1763, and

William Prince, father of George C., was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, July 23, 1791, and died in January, 1842. He was married at Providence, Rhode Island, to Miss Fargo, who was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1800, and died in 1885. William Prince was a merchant all his life, and for a number of years he conducted a store near Buffalo, New York, where he died. Of the six children born the only one now living is Mr. Prince of Oberlin. One of the sons, William, served in the Civil war as a soldier and was badly wounded at the battle of Stone River. William Prince was a member of the Presbyterian Church. After his death his widow brought her family to Medina County, Ohio, buying a farm on which she reared her little family. She afterwards removed to Lorain County, and lived on a farm there until her death.

As a boy the circumstances in which George C. Prince was reared were those of limited advantage but of sturdy ideals. He was able to acquire only a common school education, and at the age of sixteen he started out to make his own living. For about fourteen years he was extensively engaged in the lumber business, and in that time directed the operations of some five or six mills. It was this business which gave him the foundation of the fortune which he has since conserved and now enjoys the use of.

In 1861 Mr. Prince married Lucy A. Hill, of Camden Township, of Lorain County. To their union were born six children. Clarence G. is connected with the American Book Company of New York City; William I is now mayor of Duluth, Minnesota; Grace is the wife of Ira D. Shaw, who is connected with the industrial department of the Y. M. C. A. and travels extensively; Sarah, who lives at home is a graduate of Oberlin Kindergarten Training School and is a teacher; Ernest L. and Edith, twins, are the youngest children, and Edith is the wife of Harry R. Hazel, a teacher in the Glenville High School at Cleveland.

Mr. Prince is a member of the First Congregational Church and in politics has always been identified with the republican party. Again and again he has been called to public office. In early days he was township clerk and assessor and justice of the peace. After his removal to Oberlin in 1885 he served as village treasurer and as personal property assessor. For four years he was deputy state supervisor of elections. A man of comfortable means, acquired through the strictest principles of integrity, Mr. Prince has long enjoyed the special confidence of the people in Lorain County, and this was well testified when he was made guardian of the largest estate ever probated in the county, valued at $140.000. He handled the estate with vigor and tact and in such a way as to satisfy all interested parties. At different times in the course of his life he has adminstered some thirty or forty estates.

GEorGE W. INcersoLu. It is always pleasing to the biographist or student of human nature to enter into an analysis of the character and career of a successful tiller of the soil. Of the many citizens gaining their own livelihood, he alone stands pre-eminent as a totally independent factor, in short, ''monarch of all he surveys.'' His rugged honesty and sterling worth are the outcome of a close association with nature and in all the relations of life he manifests that generous hospitality and kindly human sympathy which beget comradeship and which cement to him the friendship of all with whom he comes in contact. Successfully engaged in diversified agriculture on his fine estate of 150 acres in Elyria

Township, George W. Ingersoll is decidedly a prominent and popular citizen in Lorain County, having lived in this section of the state since 1886.

George W. Ingersoil was born at Grafton, Ohio, September 10, 1864, being a son of George M. and Mary (Preston) Ingersoll, the latter of whom died in 1870. Shortly after the death of his wife. Mr. Ingersoll removed to Elyria in order to have better educational facilities for his children. For his second wife he married Elvira Bradley. who survived him for a number of years. Ile passed to rest in 1895. There were three children born to the first marriage of whom two are living in 1915. Henry W., an attorney of Elyria, Ohio, married May Hamilton and has two children living, Mary C. and Henry W., Jr.; George W. is the subject of this review; Anna A. died, aged fourteen years, March 18. 1881.

In the common schools of Elyria George W. Ingersoll completed his preliminary educational training and he was graduated in the Elyria High School in 1884, at the age of nineteen years. He then purchased a book store in Elyria and conducted the same with marked success for a short time. He disposed of that business, however, on account of his health and went west to Colorado, where he obtained a tract of Government land on which he engaged in ranching for the ensuing three years. In 1886 he returned to Ohio and engaged in farming in the vicinity of Camden, Lorain County. He remained there for about three vears and after his marriage, in 1889, located in Elyria Township, this county. Here he is the owner of a splendidly improved farm of 150 acres. the same being situated on Lake Avenue, just outside of the city limits of Elyria. He is engaged in the raising of high-grade stock and has met with remarkable suecess in his agricultural pursuits. The fine condition of his farm indicates good business management and everywhere ean be seen signs of thrift and untiring industry. In politics Mr. Ingersoll is a staunch supporter of the principles and policies for which the republican party stands sponsor and he takes a public-spirited inter-- est in everything calculated to advance the welfare of the community along material and moral lines. He is well known and highly respected throughout this section of the county.

September 18, 1889, in Elyria, was celebrated the inarriage of Mr. Ingersoll to Miss Myrta Parmely, a daughter of Stanley Ml. and Mary (Sampson) Parmely. both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ingersoll have an adopted daughter, Gladys, who is now attending high school.

The great-grandfather and the great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Ingersoll on the paternal side were early residents in Connecticut and were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. Asahel Parmely, grandfather of Mrs. Ingersoll. was a native of Vermont, and in August. 1817. in company with his parents, two brothers and his wife and two children. he came across the country in a covered wagon to Ohio. He settled. first. in Sullivan Township, Ashland County, and in 1829 removed to Elyria Township, Lorain County, and located on a farm which included all of George W. Ingersoll's and a part of an adjacent farm. He died Jauuary 4, 1859, and his wife survived him many years, passing away October 18, 1875. Two children were born to Asahel and his wife, Fannie ( Wright) Parmely, in Vermont, and five others in Ohio. The first two were Hannah and Amandrin, the former of whom died in Medina County. Ohio. August 22, 1817. when the family was en route: she was buried in the woods. Amandrin was a farmer in Elyria Township for many vears and his death occurred March 21. 1891: he married Emily Thomas. Concerning the five children born in Ohio the following facts are here inserted: Ashlev, horn February 21. 1818. married Julia Mann. and died in Ashland County, Ohio; Lovilla M., born May 11, 1822, died, unmarried, in Elyria, August 8, 1848; Rexaville E., born February 28, 1825, died. unmarried, in Elyria, May 238, 1848; Freeman, born November 17, 1828, married Pamelia Hecock, in 1851, and died January i ae and Stanley M., born in Elyria, April 18, 1830, died February d, 1894.

Stanley M. Parmely, the youngest of the foregoing children, was the father of Mrs. Ingersoll. He married, in Chester, Massachusetts, January 25, 1855, Mary Sampson, who died on the old homestead in Elyria Township, December 6, 1915, aged eighty-four years. To Mr. and Mrs. Stanley M. Parmely were born the following children: Nellie R. and Clara b. both died in childhood; Myrta P. is the wife of George W. Ingersoll. of this sketch; and Clarence D., born September 11, 1876, is engaged in farming on the parental estate in Elyria Township; he married, first. Gertrude Burlingame, who bore him one child, Mary Gladys. and tor his second wife he married Margaret Tanswell. The second union was prolific of three children: Marian, who died at the age of two years: and Inez and Thelma, both living, in 1915.

FREDERICK 8. Reery. If the City of Elyria had wished to express through the character of one citizen its best ideals of thought and action during the past forty years, no one man could have represented those ideals so broadly and fully as the late Frederick S. Reefy. His death June 9, 1911, marked the passing of a citizen of remarkable character and activities. For nearly forty years he had been identified with local journalism as senior editor of the Elyria Democrat. His most attractive aud valuable characteristic as an editor was that quality, now considered old fashioned. of vigorous, positive expression of conviction. He was never content to deliver the news alone, but made his paper an assertive force in the molding and converting of public opinion. However, there were many other interests and activities through which the influence of the late Mr. Reefy can be traced. Before taking up newspaper work he was an educator in Indiana and educated hundreds of boys and young women to lives of broad usefulness and honor. For years he stood for the best in the community, and is particularly remembered as an uncompromising opponent of the lquor interests. His love of flowers and birds and nature in all its manifestations was a trait of gentleness to be treasured in the memory of his friends. The influence which his character necessarily exerted cannot be measured by any of the ordinary standards of achievement.