Lorain City (part 70 of 77)

Mr. Smith has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1870. He became one of the first members of St. Paul's Church at Elvria, joining in 1858. In 1864 at Cleveland he married Miss Anna Mary Laux, a daughter of Peter and Gertrude Laux of Ridgeville, Ohio. Mrs. Smith died January 2, 1899. The children are: William C., who married Elizabeth Beller, of Amherst, Ohio, has been in the shoe business at Elyria nearly a quarter of a century, his store being at 541 West Broad Street in the Smith Block. They are the parents of Arthur G.. who is connected with the shoe firm of Wm. C. Smith & Son; Charles J., deceased, married Hattie Reublin, and left two children, Pierre R. and Geraldine; Henry F. married Dora Schubert, and has one child, Catherine: Julia M. married M. J. \IcGuire, and they have three children, Charles W.. Helen and Mary; Frank W. is still unmarried.

Sotomon MENDELSON. There are few residents of Lorain County with so excellent a reputation in business affairs and with a better record of public spirited citizenship than Solomon Mendelson, who was born of Jewish parents in Russia and came to America in early boyhood. The instinct of the trader was almost as natural to him as in the typical Yankee. and it has found its chief exemplification in the direction of livestock, for which he manifested a special fondness in early youth. For a number of vears Mr. Mendelson has been one of the most extensive dealers in livestock of all kinds in the county, and is also manager of the Mendelson Reduction Company at Elyria, especially noted for the manufacture of a high grade fertilizer and animal tankage, His home and place of business are at 310 Furnace Street in Elyria.

He was eight years old when he came to America with his parents from Russia. His father had visited America some years previously and spent most of his active career in the scrap iron business. Solomon attended the public schools of Lorain County until about seventeen and he showed a marked proficiency in acquiring the English language, which he speaks very fluently. When he was not more than fourteen he began buying and selling whenever the opportunity offered, and most of these early deals were in livestock. He also worked for hig father until the latter's death when Solomon was about twenty years of age. Solomon was the second of three children, his older sister Yetta is the wife of Moses Berinstein, and they reside in New York City. The brother Julius is also a resident of New York City and a manufacturer of ladies dress goods.

During the ten years following the death of his father, Solomon Mendelson carried on the old business, and at the same time continued his dealings in livestock, which acquired a somewhat extensive scope, so that he was finally justified in giving all his energies to that work. In 1909 he erected a substantial residence and also his three story sales stables in Elyria.

On August 14, 1892, he married Miss Lizzie Siegel, who was also born in Russia and came to America with her parents, locating in Cleveland. The eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Mendelson were all born in Elyria. Mary is the wife of Harry Sobul of Elyria; Hattie is a graduate of the high school as is also Ray, the next younger; Emanuel graduated from high school and is now in the State University at Columbus; Eva is in the second year of high school, while Anna is a freshman; Nelson is in the third grade, and Hilda, the youngest of the family, is in the first grade of the public schools.

Mr. Mendelson as an American citizen has voted the republican ticket. He is aftiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of the Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen of America and the United Commercial Travelers. He is president of the Jewish Congregation at Elyria, and is president of the Elyria Lodge of the Independent B'rith of Abraham. He was also one of the founders of the Young Men's Christian Association at Elyria, and has been a trustee since its organization. When the Young Men's Christian Association Building was constructed he performed the excavation work for the foundation.

Grorce H. Box. That it is possible for a progressive and industrious man to make a success of farming in these modern days is well illustrated in the case of George H. Box of Eaton Township. His fine farm of 240 acres in the southwest part of that township a mile north of Grafton, largely represents the fruits of his individual management. In his career he has brought to bear unusual good sense in regulating his affairs, and a persistent diligence which has had its proper reward. He has an excellent farm, conducts a dairy, and is known as a breeder of high thoroughbred Holstein cattle.

He was born in a log house on the very farm where he now lives, April 16. 1862. a son of Charles H. and Maria (Grey) Box. Both parents were natives of Wilkshire, England, where they grew up and married. After four of their children were born the entire family set out for America, and lived a short time in Cleveland, where the father worked for a Mr. Scoville. Coming to Lorain County, with a brother-in-law he bought a small tract of timbered land, erected a log cabin and began the work of clearing. Charles Box did well as a farmer and home maker and eventually had a place of 120 acres, on which he built the comfortable farm dwelling in which his son George now resides. George is next to the youngest in a family of seven children, six of whom are still living.

In the meantime, on December 30, 1885. he married Miss Nellie Wilson of Eaton Township, where she was born a daughter of George and Magdalene (Caldwell) Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Box have seven children. The oldest Charles H. has a common school education, lives in. Eaton Township and married Ina B. Nichols. Naomi is the wife of Guy Amsbary and they live on a farm in LaGrange Township. Perey has completed his public school work and is still at home. Clyde is in the Elyria High School. The youngest children are Mildred, Claude L. and Foster D.

In 1896 Mr. Box began conducting the home farm on the shares. His father died in that year and he then undertook to buy out the interests of the other heirs in the farm, and for the past twenty vears has gone steadily ahead in the acquisition of land until he now owns .240 acres and has also spent much money and labor in making improvements. Ile has remodeled the farm home, and has two substantial silos outside of his farm equipment.

A republican, Mr. Box east his first presidential ballot for Blaine in 1884. He was formerly a member of the Independent Order ot Odd Fellows, filling several chairs in the local lodge, and at one time belonged to the Knights of Pythias, of which he was a charter member. He is a charter member of the Grange at Grafton, and his son Charles is seeretary of the Grafton Grange and also secretary of the County Pomona.

George H. Wilson, father of Mrs. Box, was born March 6. 1848, in Eaton Township on a farm which he still owns. His parents were William and Naney (Fink) Wilson. His father was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1808, and came to America at the age of twenty-two, locating in Lorain County, at first in the north part of the county. Nancy Fink was born in New York State, and when a child was stolen. and brought to Lorain County. She was never informed as to her parents and family, and when she became grown she worked in Elyria until her marriage to William Wilson. After their marriage they bought seventy-three acres in the midst of the woods in Eaton Township, and they lived in a log cabin. Later they built a frame barn and a frame house, and that house is still in use, having been erected in 1847. George H. Wilson is the youngest of six children and the only one born in the house just mentioned.

In December, 1863, when still a boy. George H. Wilson enlisted in Company H of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and most of his time was spent in guarding prisoners on Johnson's Island. In the spring of 1865 he was detailed to assist in escorting 101 prisoners south to Richmond. On returning he was transferred to Company H and was honorably discharged in July of that vear at Columbus. On March 30, 1867, at the age of nineteen he married Miss Magdalene Caldwell of Eaton Township, daughter of William and Magdalene (Fauver) Caldwell. Mrs. Wilson was born in Lagro, Wabash County, Indiana, December 9, 1849, and was about a year and a half old when she came with her mother to Eaton Township. After their marriage George Wilson and wife lived for a short time on Butternut Ridge. and then moved to Eaton Township, where they lived on a rented farm a few years and he then bought his father's old place. That was his home and the center of his activities for eighteen vears, following which he was for eight years a resident of Elyria, and during part of that time served on the police force. He then returned to the farm and in 1914 built his present home on a small tract of land just across the road' from the old home place.

The five children of George H. Wilson and wife are: Nellie May, wife of George H. Box; Charles C. Wilson, who lives in Grafton and married Gertrude Sheldon; Carrie Estelle, wife of Charles Daly of Elyria; Fred, who died at the age of three years; and Harley J., who runs the home farm and married Hilda Mason. George Wilson is a republican, ae he and his wife are active members of the Disciples Church at Eaton

ALEXANDER L. Jackson. A live and energetic representative of the automobile business at Elyria, Alexander L. Jackson, formerly of the Jackson-Harrison Company, has built up a thriving enterprise at 625 which has placed him prominently in the forefront among the dealers of Lorain County. Since coming to Elyria in 1894 he has been engaged in a variety of ventures, in all of which he has gained success through his own efforts; in fact, his entire career is typical of the self-made manhood of which the Middle West is so justifiably proud.

Mr. Jackson was born at Ogdensburg, New York, March 17, 1868, and is a son of William and Sarah (Kerrigan) Jackson. His father, a carpenter by trade, passed his entire life at Ogdensburg, where he died at the age of thirty-one years, the mother passing away when twentyeight years of age. There were two sons in the family: Alexander L.; and William F., who resides at Richmond, Virginia. Mr. Jackson's early education was secured in the public schools of his native place, where he attended while not at work on a farm, for he began to be thus engaged when a lad of nine years and continued to occupy himself so until he was fifteen. Later he secured employment as a steward on the Great Lakes on boats running from Buffalo to Chicago, and while thus employed managed to obtain a commercial course at Bryant & Stratton's Business College, at Buffalo, New York. After ten years on the Lakes, in the fall of 1894 Mr. Jackson came to Elyria, where he established himself in business as the proprietor of a restaurant. This he conducted with a fair share of success for four years, then purchasing the old American House, one of the old landmarks of Elyria, located at the corner of Broad Street and West Avenue, which he rebuilt and named the Hotel Jackson, in 1905. He conducted it as a popular-priced hostelry and built up a large patronage, conducting it personally until 1908, since which time he has leased the property, although he still retains the ownership. During the years 1910 and 1911 Mr. Jackson was proprietor of the Book Shop, located at No. 509 Broad Street, a business which he sold to A. E. Side, its present owner. At that time Mr. Jackson embarked in the automobile business, in company with M. J. Harrison, adopting the firm style of Jackson-Harrison Company, which continued until October 1, 1915, at which time Mr, Jackson withdrew from the firm and established himself in the automobile business independently, having built one of the most. complete garages in Northern Ohio, and where (1916) he handles the celebrated Overland car. The garage and sales agency are located at No. 225 Broad Street, the main business thoroughfare of Elyria, an excellent location for selling and repairing automobiles. Mr. Jackson is what Is known as a hustler, with up-to-date ideas and energetic methods, and is rapidly making a name for himself in automobile circles. He belongs to the Elyria Automobile Club and the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and 1s well known and popular in fraternal circles, belonging to the Independent Order of Odd

Fellows; Elyria Camp, Modern Woodmen of America; Lodge No. 463, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and Elyria Lodge No. 431, Fraternal Order of Eagles.

On January 1, 1896, Mr. Jackson was married to Miss Katherine Greenfield. of Elyria, who was born in Avon Township, Lorain County, and educated in the township and Elyria public schools, daughter of Sebastian and Katherine (Miller) Greenfield. Mr. Greenfield is now deceased, but his widow still survives, residing on the homestead in Avon Township during the summer months, but spending her winters at the home of Myr. Jackson, who declares ''she is one of the best mothersin-law in the world.'' To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson there have been born four children: Irene, who will graduate from the Elyria High School in the class of 1916; Leona, who in the fall of 1915 became a sophomore in the Elvria High School; Raymond, who is attending the graded schools; and Vivian, who was born in 1911.

JOHN CowLEey. The name of John Cowley has a special significance in agricultural and stock farming enterprise in Eaton Township. He has spent some thirty or forty years in farming, has done much in the dairy business, and in recent years his place has become noted for its thoroughbred Holstein cattle. His home is in the southeast part of Ikaton Township, where he owns ninety-one acres of highly improved land on rural route No. 1 out of Columbia postoffice.

Mr. Cowley is a native of the Isle of Man and was therefore born a British subject. His birth occurred December 18, 1849. When he was about a year and a half old his parents John and Catherine (Kermode) Cowlev left the Isle of Man and set out for America. For a time they lived in Cleveland, where John Cowley died in a year or so, leaving his widow and two sons, John and William. William died in childhood. The mother married again and moved to Warrensville, where John Cowley grew to manhood on a farm and acquired a common school education.

At the age of twenty-one he went to Cleveland and served an apprenticeship at the bricklaver's trade. "This trade he has used chiefly for his own benefit. since most of his work has been along agricultural lines. On March 20. 1878, Mr. Cowley married Miss Hattie Radcliffe, whose home at the time was on the place where Mr. and Mrs. Cowley now live, at North Eaton. Mrs. Cowley was born on a farm near Warrensville in Cuyahoga County, a daughter of James and Louise (Radcliffe) Radcliffe. Both her parents were natives of the Isle of Man and her father after coming to Ohio bought fifty acres in Eaton Township of Lorain County, a part of the farm now owned by Mr. and Mrs. John Cowley. Mrs. Cowley was about a year and a half old when the family took possession of this place. The land was heavily timbered, and Mr. Radcliffe had to eut away some of the trees in order to make a space for the small frame house which was their first home and whieh is still standing, being now used as a granary. Mrs. Cowley has one full brother H. J. Radcliffe, who went to Larned, Kansas, when a voung man and studied law there, was admitted to the Kansas bar, and now for many vears has successfully practiced law at Mena, Arkansas, and has filled the office of prosecuting attorney: he is married and has two children. Mrs. Cowlev's half sister bv her mother's second marriage is Mary, wife of Fred Marsh. who lives in Grafton Township and has three children, Bernice, Willard. Geneva and one child who died in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Cowley became acquainted in Warrensville, and after their marriage they lived in that village for about a vear, and then moved to North Eaton. Mrs. Cowley's parents had both died and she had inherited a half interest in the fifty acre farm. Mr. Cowley then bought the other half interest, and about 1896 he remodeled the old house, which had been moved from the Harrison farm and he also remodeled the barn into a bank barn. This was afterwards struck by lightning and burned and he at once rebuilt it with one of the best barn structures found in that neighborhood. Through all the years that he has occupied this farm Mr. Cowley has carried on a successful dairy business. In 1912 he started the nucleus of his fine Holstein herd, and he has now ten head of thorougbreds and eighteen high grade cattle of the same strain but not full-bloods. His prosperity has also been measured by three differeut purchases of land, and he now has ninety-one acres in his home farm. Since living in this community Mr. Cowley has seen land advance in price in Eaton Township from an average of $50 an acre to $100 or more.

Mr. and Mrs. Cowley are the parents of five sons. John Bernard, who was born'at Warrensville January 16, 1879, was well educated and now owns a twenty-two acre farm across the road from his father; he married Florence Silsby and they have a daughter Alta, now nine years of age. Frank Clarence, born in Eaton Township January 12, 1881, took a course in the public schools and also learned telegraphy at Oberlin, but followed that only a few years and is now a farmer in Eaton Township; he married Vira Hathaway and their two children are Grant Rutherford and Willis Elwin. H. Erie, born April 17, 1884, is a carpenter by trade, and by his marriage to Mary Coleman has one son Wayne M. Chester Arthur was born November 12, 1887, is active manager of his father's home farm and by his marriage to Grace Tomes has two children, a son and a daughter, Lester and Mona. Glenn was born July 2, 1900, and is now a freshman in the Berea High School.

Not all his time has been devoted to farming and his private interests, since the name of John Cowley has been quite prominently associated with public affairs in Eaton Township for a number of years. Politically he is an independent republican. For twelve years he served as township trustee, and during that time was chiefly instrumental in securing the construction of the stone road known as the Cowley stone road. In 1910 he was land appraiser for Eaton .Township. He was formerly affiliated with Woodward Lodge No. 508, Free and Accepted Masons at Cleveland.

ALLEN Mason NicHous. That farming can be conducted as a successful business in the same class as store or factory need no other proof than a visit to the excellent estate of Allen Mason Nichols, situated in Eaton Township. Mr. Nichols has a reputation in Lorain County as a progressive farmer and a skillful dairyman and is now vice president of the Lorain County Dairymen's Association.

His farm comprises 160 acres on Center Road one mile north of Eaton Center, and it has always been a matter of pride with him to maintain the highest standards as an agriculturist.

The farm where he now lives and which he owns was also his birthplace. He first saw the light of day in a log house January 27, 1858. His parents were Mason E. and Joan (Mead) Nichols. His father was born at Crown Point, Essex County, New York, February 26, 1830, and while still a boy went with his parents Andrew and Mrs. (Haven) Nichols to Shalersville Township in Portage County, Ohio, where his parents bought land, improved a farm, and spent the rest of their days. There he grew to manhood and at the age of nineteen, desiring to get married, he bought his time from his father for $75. He was married in Freedom Township of Portage County to Miss Joan Mead, and soon afterward came to Lorain County, where some of his Havens relatives had previously located. For $12 an acre he bought eighty acres of land still included in the Nichols homestead occupied by his son Allen. Only about six acres of this was cleared at the time. Mason Nichols was a very industrious man and a good manager, and from time to time purchased other land until he had accumulated an estate of 421 acres in one body. Among other improvements there arose a substantial frame house in 1860, and there were also several barns, the largest of which was burned in 1867. It was about that time that his first wife. Joan, died, being survived by four children. Arthur, the oldest. who became a well known lawyer in Elyria and died December 26, 1886, married Nettie Squiers of Elyria and is survived by one child, Mason. The second of the four children is Allen Mason. Celia J., the only daughter. died in Cleveland as the wife of F. H. Jackson. The youngest. John D.. owned and occupied a farm in Nelson Township of Portage County for a few years, afterwards became manager of the Bell Vernon Creamery at Garrettsville, and then became assistant manager of the Cleveland plant of this creamery concern, remaining about ten years, and is now connected with the Schneider Becker Dairy Company of Cleveland. He was at one time president of an United States Dairymen's Association. By his marriage to Adel Felt of Eaton Township he had two children. Paris and Lula. For his second wife Mason E. Nichols married Mahala ' Cousins of Dover, Cuyahoga County. The only child of this marriage died quite young. Mason Nichols was a republican in politics. served as a trustee of Eaton Township, was a member of the Disciples Church. and his death occurred in 1883.

While growing up on the old farm Allen M. Nichols acquired a good country school education. At the age of eighteen his father removed to Elyria and he continued his schooling there and at Berea. He then began working out, and for a time was employed in a cheese factory at Eaton Center...

On March 29, 1882, in Hiram, Portage County, Mr. Nichols married Miss Frances D. Gage, who was born on a farm in Freedom Township, Portage County, January 7, 1861, a daughter of Martin B. and Mandana (Hart) Gage, her father being a native of Portage County and her mother a native of Michigan. Mrs. Nichols was reared in Hiram Township and had a common school education. To their marriage have been born seven children. Bessie D. is the wife of O. V. Hudson of Akron, and they have had three children, but a son, named Paul V., is the only one living. Louis G., who lives on a farm in Eaton Township. married Metta Sayers and has one child named Ethel F. Arthur A. is an employe of the Big Four Railway Company. Martin E. is a motorman on the Green Line. Ralph A. is a clerk in a hardware store at Akron. Olive M. is the wife of Edward Bainbridge. Paul C. lives at home and assists his father in the management of the farm and dairy.

Mr. Nichols is a stanch republican, and for twenty years has served his township as assessor and was reelected for another term in 1915. He was elected trustee in 1896, and in 1915 was again chosen for that responsibility. In the way of public improvements he has always favored the construction and maintenance of good highways. He has also attended various county conventions as a delegate, aud wherever possible has manifested his influence in behalf of improvement and progress. In 1916 he was appointed vice president for Eaten Township of the Lorain County Dairymen's Association, and since taking the office has succeeded in adding 167 to the membership of the association in his own township. For twenty-two years Mr. Nichols has been a member of the Knights of the Maccabees in Eaton Center, has filled all the chairs in the local orapr ' 2 ~ ?

ganization and has represented them in the Grand Lodge. There are many things about his farm which indicate his stand for improvement. In 1899 he put down a gas well 800 feet, has thoroughly tiled his land, and a few years ago he put up a silo 14x16 feet with a capacity of 150 tons.

CHARLES EF. Cusnine, M. D. The dean of the medical profession in Lorain County is Dr. Charles F. Cushing, who, bearing the weight of more than eighty-six years, is still a loved and venerated member of local society at Elyria and has spent more than fifty years in kindly and skillful service to his fellow men. While he only occasionally counsels some of his former patients, Doctor Cushing was for years a friend and a physician to a wide circle of people in Lorain County. He was the pioneer of the homeopathie school of medicine in Lorain County, and in the early days did much through his own personal ability and character to overcome the prejudice with which at one time homeopathic doctors were regarded. Doctor Cushing is a man of gentle manner in all his dealings, and this quality, together with an expert knowledge and skill in medicine, won for him the strong affections of hundreds of families in this county.

The name Cushing has many familiar historical associations with New England. The early annals of Scituate, Massachusetts, frequently make mention of the name. Doctor Cushing's grandfather was Francis Cushing, who was born at Scituate, and became a shipbuilder. His greatest distinction was in acting as master builder during the construction of the frigate, renowned in American annals and song and story. the old Constitution. Charles Cushing, son of this shipbuilder, followed the calling of a farmer, and was also born at Scituate. He married Miss Sally R. Thayer, whose ancestors included members of the Turner family. also prominent in the early history of New England. Charles and Sally Cushing spent their lives in the East, and became the parents of ten children, one of whom is Dr. Charles F. Cushing of Elyria.

"Charles F. Cushing was born in Turner, Maine, October 28, 1829. His eighty-six vears have been filled with interesting experience and service. As a boy he had the surroundings and advantages of the average New England youth, his muscles being strengthened and disciplined by the work of the farm, while he sharpened his intelligence in the common schools and by three months of attendance at a select school. This brought him to the age of seventeen, at which time he bought ''his time'' from his father for $100. During the next four years he worked at any honest employment he could find, repaying the debt to his father, and also earning sufficient to carry him through higher school privileges at Lewiston Falls in the State of Maine. He worked at times on the farm and also as a school teacher, and after leaving New England followed teaching for three years in the South. After a short visit back East, he spent the five years from 1854 in California. His experiences there were of a varied nature. He was in the cities, at the gold diggings, for a time was proprietor of a hotel in the mountains, and finally became associated with a friend in improving a tract of land, which they fenced, prepared and planted with fruit trees and grape vines, and thus became pioneers in one of the greatest of modern California industries. It is interesting to recall the contract which existed between these partners: ''He who first marries, to him shall this property belong.'' In fulfillment of this curious arrangement, the ''ranche'' finally went to the friend, while the other partner soon afterward returned East and located at Elyria.

While still in California Doctor Cushing took up the study of medicine with a Doctor Norman in Suisun Valley, and continued his readings at Cleveland, Ohio, with Dr. John Wheeler. He subsequently entered the Western Homeopathic College at Cleveland and graduated M. D. in the spring of 1861. For two winters he remained with his alma mater in Cleveland as demonstrator of anatomy. It was thus with an unusual equipment of natural talents and training that Doctor Cushing located in Elyria and began practice as an exponent of the Hahnemann principles of medicine.

Doctor Cushing was just the man to act as a pioneer in establishing new ideas against popular prejudices. He had the qualities of the real leader of men, readily won popular confidence, and the local esteem in which he was held is shown by an incident which occurred soon after he moved to Elyria. In 1862 he was requested to form a company of ''squirrel hunters,'' for service in the Union army. He responded with alacrity, and a number of people can still recall his departure from Elyria as head of the company. For weeks he and his comrades were encamped at Gen. W. H. Harrison's old homestead. and finally after gallant and efficient service Governor Tod sent them home under Captain Cushing, who had been not only captain, but physician and friend to the men under him. Doctor Cushing has well deserved the honors which are paid to the veteran physician and surgeon of Elyria. While really retired, some of hig friends still insist upon his ministrations as a medical adviser and physician. During his active career he enjoyed one of the best practices given to any physician in Lorain County. At one time he was surgeon for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, having succeeded Dr. E. P. Haines in that position after the latter's death. He continued as surgeon with this railway company until by general order the office was abolished. The most courteous relations have always existed between Doctor Cushing and his brother physicians, and at times too numerous to mention he has proved himself a sympathetic friend and adviser to voung men starting out on their professional career. - He is a member of the Lorain County Medical Society and Ohio State Medical Society. and is a consulting member of the staff of the Elyria Memorial Hospital. He also belongs to the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Men's Club of the Congregational Church. In polities he is classed as a progressive republican.

Mrs. Charles F. Cushing, his wife, died at the old home on West Fifth Street in Elyria December 5, 1910. Her maiden name was Mary L. Hayward, and she was born at Elyria September 16. 1845. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Hayward, who, when she was a child, moved to Attleboro, Massachusetts, and subsequently to Brooklyn, New York. Miss Hayward and Dr. Charles F. Cushing were married at Brooklyn May 15, 1866, and the young couple soon afterwards returned to Elyria. To their marriage were born three children: Fannie and Helen, both of whom died in early childhood. and Charles H., a leading physician and surgeon of Elyria, whose career is the subject of another article in this work.

Like her husband, Mrs. Cushing was of fine old New England stock. Mention has already been made of Francis Cushing's connections as the builder of the old ship Constitution. When the time came for the breaking up of that boat after its service in the national navy. Mrs. Cushing's grandfather. Lyman Knowles, secured some of the timbers and from them made a carriage which he presented to President Jackson at Washington, District of Columbia. Mrs. Cushing took a prominent part in social affairs at Elyria and is particularly well remembered for her kindly nature. She was never known to speak disparagingly of anyone, and to the last had a faith in the essential goodness of human nature. Since her death Dr. Charles F. Cushing and his son, Dr. Charles H.,-and family have all lived under one roof and have one of the attractive homes of the city.

CHiarues Haywarp Cusuine, M. D. No name has been more prominently identified with the profession of medicine in Elyria than that of Cushing. In the twenty years since he began practice Dr. Charles H. Cushing has not only utilized the opportunities that come to an able and conscientious physician in his profession, but at the same time has become one of Elyria's leaders in business and civie and social life. His father is Dr. Charles F. Cushing, now one of the oldest members of the medical profession at Elyria, and he is now bringing his active career to a conclusion, gradually retiring from practice. A sketch of the life of Dr. Charles F'. Cushing is found on other pages. The mother of Dr. C. H. Cushing was Mary Hayward Cushing, now deceased.

Those who have had an opportunity to follow closely the career of Doctor Cushing say that, though physically of medium size, he is endowed with wonderful physical endurance and that no man in the medical profession of Northern Ohio has put in more time devoted to the strenuous work of his calling. Besides the ability to work hard he has had training and is a man of great natural ability. Charles Hayward Cushing was born at Elyria, December 20, 1869, attended as a boy the public schools in Elyria, Oberlin College, and has won two degrees as doctor of medicine, one from the regular school and one from the School of Homeopathy. He was graduated from the Western Reserve University and from the Cleveland College of Physicians and Surgeons, has taken post-graduate courses in the New York Polyclinic and the New York Post-Graduate, in the Chicago Policlinic, in the Massachusetts General Hospital, and has also attended clinics abroad. His first regular position was as house surgeon in the Huron Road Hospital at Cleveland, and while there he gave evidence of that splendid ability that has characterized his subsequent career. On April 3, 1895, he successfully removed, and the operation 'is recorded in medical literature, a thirty-eight pound dermoid tumor. This major operation he performed before taking up regular practice as a physician and surgeon. Doctor Cushing has served as staff surgeon at the Elyria Memorial Hospital since its establishment, and: on the Doctors' Advisory Board. He is surgeon for the New York Central Railway Company and the Lake Shore Electric Railway Company, surgeon for several of Elyria's largest industrial plants and examiner for about twenty old-line life insurance companies. He has been president of the staff of the Elyria Memorial Hospital, has been president of the Lorain County Medical Society, and is a member of the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the American Association of Railway Surgeons and the American Association of Orificial Surgeons.

His record in business and social life is one that deserves mention. He is vice president of the Eastern Heights Land Company, is a director in the Elyria Savings and Banking Company, in the Savings Deposit Bank and Trust Company, in the Hygienic Ice Company, and also in the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. He is a director and consulting physical director of the Young Men's Christian Association and chairman of the physical department of that association. Doctor Cushing has served as president of the Men's Club of the First Congregational Church, as president of the Elyria Country Club, and for four years was chairman of the Good Roads Committee of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. He

On December 4, 1895, at Elyria, Doctor Cushing married Josephine Folger. a daughter of the late Mayor Thomas Folger, a prominent Elyria citizen whose career is traced on other pages of this publication. Mrs. Cushing, who is a graduate of Oberlin College, is active socially and. was the first physical director in connection with that important department of one of Cleveland's prominent churches. Their children, all born in Elyria. are named: Thomas Folger Cushing. now a senior in the preparatory school of Oberlin, Ohio; Carl Folger Cushing, who has won distinction as an athlete at Culver Military Academy in Indiana; and John Turner Cushing, who is attending the graded schools.

JOUN AND CHARLES SCHAIBLE. One of the handsome and_ wellcultivated properties of Elyria Township is that belonging to the Schaible brothers. John and Charles, which is located on the old Telegraph Road, just outside the corporation limits of Elyria. They have passed their entire lives in this locality, where both have established reputations for industry and integrity, and have contributed in no small measure to the upbuilding and advancement of this part of Lorain County.

Jolin Schaible was born August 15, 1855, and Charles June 5, 1852, in Elyria Township. being sons of Jacob and Catherine Barbara (Ramsayer) Schaible. The parents were natives of Bolanden, Oberamt Stuttgart, Germany. where they were married November 22, 1833, and came to the United States May 1. 1848, arriving in Elyria Township, Lorain County, Ohio, August 1 of that year. They were accompanied by five children, and four more were afterwards born to them in Ohio. Settling on the farm now owned by their sons, Charles and John, they continued to be industriously engaged in farming operations during the remaining years of their lives. and through their sterling traits of character impressed themselves upon their community and won and retained the esteem and regard of those with whom they came into contact. The father, who was born March 27, 1807, died February 9, 1874, while the mother, born February 9. 1817, died December 11, 1873. Of their eleven children, two died in infancy, while the others were as follows: Agnes Barbara, who is the widow of Frederick Theiss of Berea Township, and has five children: Mary Margaret, who is the wife of Martin Limb of Wooster, Ohio: Frederick. who died February, 1875, a farmer on Telegraph Road, inside the corporation limits of Elyria, married Marie Julia Rodsezzinsky. also deceased. and had an only daughter who survives them and is the owner of the farm: Henrietta Catherine, who is the wife of George Krieger. of Wooster, Ohio, and had five children, of whom two sons survive: Jacoh E.. a farmer of West Ridge, Elyria Township, who married Caroline Eppley, of Zanesville, Ohio, and has two children: Charles Henry and Carrie. the latter being the wife of George Horn. a farmer of Russia Township; Caroline. who died April 29, 1910; Charles and John, of this review: and Sophia.

The Schaible brothers were reared on the home farm and secured their edueations in the public schools. When ready to enter upon their careers they adopted farming as a vocation in which to work out their success, and from the outset have heen associated in every dealing. This partnership has been mutually beneficial and congenial and the brothers form a team that is hard to beat in matters agricultural. The home farm is a tract of sixty-four aeres, in addition to which they own also two other farming tracts in Elyria Township, one being a farm of sixty acres on the old Telegraph Road, formerly known as the old West farm. and one on the West Ridge. consisting of 127 acres. Their land is all in a good state of cultivation, with substantial buildings and up-to-date improvements and modern machinery, and a general air of prosperity gives evidence of the presence of good management and well-directed effort. While the land is given over principally to general farming, the brothers are also engaged in raising some good cattle, which, while not thoroughbred. is constantly being improved, the Messrs. Schaible working towards a better class of cattle. For several years they were also engaged in breeding race horses, and while a number of years have passed since they abandoned this business, as well as that of racing the animals, the records still bear witness to the speed of their animals, notable among which was the famous '' Fleetwood.'' ' Y

Both brothers are good citizens, ever ready to help in all publicspirited movements, and find their greatest pleasure in the cultivation of their fields, the raising of fat, contented live stock, and the tending of a promising and productive orchard.

Anson O. West has made his success as a practical farmer and dairyman and is one of the live and progressive citizens of Pittsfield Township. At different times in his career he has been honored with several township offices, and his dependability has been a prominent characteristic in all his relations. Besides general farming he also conduets a dairy of about fifteen cows.

Practically all his life has been spent on the farm, and he now owns the place in Pittsfield Township on which he was born August 7, 1856. His parents were Oliver and Phoebe F. (Messenger) West. His paternal grandfather was Joshua West, a native of Massachusetts, who subsequently moved out to Ohio and spent the rest of his days as a farmer in this state. The Wests are of English ancestry. The maternal grandfather was Anson Messenger, who was an early settler in Portage County, Ohio. Oliver West, who was born at Lee, Massachusetts, in 1907, died in 1883. He came out to Ohio in 1832 and bought a farm at Wellington, where he lived for some eight or nine years, and then moved to Portage County, hut in 1842 returned to Lorain County and acquired a tract of wild land consisting of about a hundred acres. He applied himself industriously to the clearing up of this place, constructed substantial farm buildings, and lived there until his death. He and his wife were members of the Congregational Church and in politics he was a republican. His wife, Miss Messenger, was born in Portage County, Ohio, in 1820. and died in 1896. They reared three children, and the only one now living is Anson O.

Anson O. West while growing up on the home farm in Pittsfield Township attended the district school there and was also a student in Oherlin College for several terms. Having been reared to farm work he adopted it as his permanent vocation, and all his efforts have been confined to his native farm. In 1896 he bought the interests of the other heirs. and now has a well equipped farmstead of one hundred eighteen acres. While the farm has been under his ownership he has constructed and remodeled some of the buildings, and now has everything he requires for successful agriculture in this section of Ohio.

Tn 1880 Mr. West married Miss Grace Rogers. Mrs. West is a native of England. and her father John Rogers came to Lorain County in 1869 and spent the rest of his days here. Mr. and Mrs. West have three children: Nettie V., at home; John Oliver, who conducts the farm for his father: and Fannie Ann, who is attending Ohio University at Athens. Mrs. West is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church while he remains true to the faith in which he was reared, the Congregational. Vols 1I - 21

Burverte §. Smith. Nearly every one in Lorain is now acquainted with the substantial position occupied by Burdette S. Smith, as head of an electrical contracting and garage and automobile plant, but comparatively few know of the struggles by which he has won his way to success.

Very early in life, on account of the death of his mother. he had to turn his time to account in making his own way in the world. He had been born at Ludington, Michigan, June 6, 1876. His father, Samuel Smith, was a foreman in the lumber camps of Northern Michigan during the high tide of the lumber industry. The mother was Loretta Smith. On account of the breaking up of the home through the death of the mother, Burdette S. Smith, who in the meantime had acquired only a limited amount of education in the public schools, went east to New York City, and for a time sold papers on the streets. The position which had a great deal to do with his subsequent destiny was employment with the telephone company, and he soon became an operator, and from that got into the more technical part of the business as a switchboard and cable man, and eventually was made foreman of a gang of men performing this class of work. In that way he acquired a thorough practical knowledge of electrical construction and operation, and his main business career has been identified chiefly with things electrical.

In 1900 Mr. Smith came to Lorain to take charge of the telephone department of the National Tube Company. Later he organized the Lorain Electrical Construction Company, of which he became manager, - secretary and treasurer, and in September, 1914, he bought the controlling interests and then changed the name to the Lorain Electric & Auto Company. This is now a substantial industry at Lorain, and Mr. Smith built the structure which his plant occupies, a two-story brick building, 33 by 148 feet deep, all of which is occupied by his shops and garage. He also has a two-story warehouse, 25 by 50 feet. Besides his general repair and electrical contracting business he handles the agency for the Ford and Buick automobiles.

Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason, and is a lite member of Al-Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Cleveland, Ohio. He is one of the most popular business men of Lorain. On June 1, 1902, he married Miss Lulu White of Vermilion, Ohio. Their three children are named Chester Burdette, Blanche Dee and Paul White.

Wiuuiam E. Avery. Several generations of the Avery family have lived in Lorain County and have performed their part as citizens with spirit and credit to themselves. The name is one of the most honored in the rural district of the county and one of the older living representatives is William E. Avery whose fine farm home is situated in the vicinity of Wellington.

He was horn in Pittsfield Township June 26, 1848, a son of Carlos and Martha (McKnaught) Avery. His paternal grandparents hoth died in Massachusetts, while his maternal grandfather John McKnaught was a native of Ireland, a shoemaker by trade, and died at Waterloo. Iowa. Carlos Avery was born in Massachusetts in January, 1808. and died in December, 1892. He was married at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. to Miss McKnaught, who was born at New Lehanon, New York, in 1822. and died in 1904. In a very early day his parents came west and located in Lorain County and established their home on a farm in Pittsfield Town- ship. Carlos Avery was one of the sturdy pioneers who helped to develop the communities of Lorain County, and his first purchase of land was ninety-six acres, while later he bought ninety-eight more. After clearing up his land and living in a style of utmost simplicity for some years he had prospered so as to build for his family a substantial brick house, and he spent the rest of his days in comfort. While his wife was a member of the Congregational Church, he was a regular attendant of the Methodist, and he not only went to church on Sundays and other meeting days, but he carried his Christianity into his everyday life, and he also made his children attend church and encouraged them to similar piety. In the early days he took his family to church in an ox cart. He was an unusually fine type of the early settler, and was well read and educated beyond the standard of the men of his time. In politics he was a democrat, but his chief interest was in promoting the good of his home locality, particularly the schools. He served as a school director for a number of years, and led the movement for the erection of one of the first schoolhouses in Pittsfield Township. Carlos Avery and wife had five children, and the four now living are: Mary Elizabeth, widow of William Worthing and living at Colorado Springs; William E.; Charles, a retired citizen of Oberlin; and Harriet, wife of Frank Gifford. who is living retired at Wellington.

William E. Avery had the advantage of the schools in Pittsfield Township during the decades of the '50s and early '60s, and has always appreciated the fine training which he received at home under the direction of his father. He also attended the Wellington Academy and completed his education by a business course at Oberlin.

On December 18, 1871, Mr. Avery married Sarah Rawson, daughter of Zera and Martha (Ames) Rawson. Her father was born in 1822 and died February 11, 1898, and was for many years a successful farmer in Pittsfield Township. On September 23, 1840, he married Miss Ames, who was born in Jefferson County, New York, July 13, 1823, and died at the advanced age of ninety-two on December 31, 1915. After their marriage they located in Pittsfield Township, where they assisted in converting a portion of the wilderness into a good home, and thev finally moved to Michigan where both Mr. and Mrs. Rawson diea. Of their nine children all are still living, and Mrs. Avery was the sixth in order of birth. She has one brother who lives in Norwalk, Ohio, while the others reside in Michigan.

Mr. and Mrs. Avery have three children: Lula is the wife of Mark A. Whitney of Oberlin. Edith married George Hines of Pittsfield Township and they have one child, Luella May. Winfield some years ago had both feet cut off in a railroad wreck, but is showing his capacity for work in spite of this handicap and is now a bookkeeper with the railway company at Cleveland. He married Amanda Sehlobohm and has two children, Karl William and Scott Earl. Mr. and Mrs. Avery are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is affiliated with the Knights and Ladies of Security. In politics a republican, he has been quite active in local affairs, has served as a member of the election board and as school director and for a number of years was president of the school board. Some years ago Mr. Avery acquired the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead in Pittsfield Township, and now has a fine farm of nearly ninety-five acres, and gives his entire time and attention to the business of general farming.

FLoyp G. Avery. Among the younger men who in recent years have assumed the major responsibilities in the conduct of Lorain County's agricultural interests is Floyd G. Avery, who is still in his 80s and yet has established himself securely in the farming community around Oberlin, and is making a success partly on his own land and partly on land that he rents.

A native of Lorain County, he was born in Pittsfield Township May 20, 1879, a son of Charles F. and Martha (Preston) Avery. His grandparents, Carlos and Martha Avery, were early settlers in Lorain County. Carlos Avery was a native of Connecticut and was well known among the early settlers of this section of Ohio. The maternal grandfather, William Preston, was a native of England and spent many years in Lorain County, finally passing away at Oberlin. Charles F. Avery was born in Pittsfield Township and is living at Oberlin with his wife. who is a native of Sullivan, Ohio. They were married in Lorain County, and Charles Avery followed farming actively until 1900, at which date he retired and moved to Oberlin. There are four children: Lewis, of Oberlin, who is employed at the car barns at Elyria; Leland, who is manager for the Sterns automobile business at Cleveland; Phoehe, wife of C. C. Sheffield, a farmer in Pittsfield Township; and Floyd G. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the father is a democrat and for a number of years filled an office on the school board.

Floyd G. Avery acquired his early education in the schools of Pittsfield Township, and grew up on his father's farm. He spent three vears as a farmer on part of his father's land, but at the present time he owns thirty-five acres and operates under lease one hundred acres belonging to his father-in-law and is rapidly getting ahead in the world.

At Christmas. 1900, Mr. Avery married Miss Cora Sherburne, daughter of Arthur and Ada (Whitney) Sherburne, a farmer of Pittsfield Township. Thev have four children: Treva, Kenneth, Knowlton and Charles. The two older children are both in school. Mr. and Mrs. Avery are members of the Grange and helong to the Congregational Church. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Roval Arcanum and in politics is a republican. Jle has made himself a factor in local affairs. and in 1913 was elected township trustee and reclected in 1915. He has served six years as school director.

Wittiim Lewis HvcHes. Among the leading members of the Lorain County bar, Wilham Lewis Hughes, city solicitor of Lorain, has brought to the practice of his calling broad scholarship. comprehensive training and a fine legal mind. Instead of selecting his life calling in the untried enthusiasm of extreme vouth, Mr. Hughes made his choice with a mature mind. trained to thoughtfulness hy vears of experience as an educator and to a full realization of the possibilities and responsibilities which professional practice entails.

William L. Hughes helongs to a family whose members have resided in Ohio since 1825, in which year his grandfather. Hezekiah Hughes. migrated to Belmont County and took up his residence in a wild and uncultivated community where he established his home and after years of endeavor succeeded in clearing and cultivating a farm. From that time this family has had much to do with agricultural interests here, but a number of the name have also engaged with success in business and the professions. The parents of Mr. Hughes. Preston and Mary <A. (Fisher) Hughes. were born in Belmont County. Ohio, and there their entire careers have been passed, the father being a well-to-do fruit farmer.

William Lewis Hughes was born on the homestead place in Belmont County, Ohio. July 22, 1860, and there received his education in the district and normal schools. At the age of twenty years he secured a teacher's certificate and began teaching in the public schools, and during his fifteen years of connection with the educational profession became one of the best known and most proficient and popular educators in that part of Ohio. Much of his time during the summer months was spent on the farm, and toward the close of his work as an instructor he applied himself to the study of law, being finally admitted to the bar in December, 1894. Selecting the City of Lorain as his field of endeavor, in 1895 he entered general practice here, opened an office and enrolled his name among the practitioners of the city. Unusual ability, great natural resource and firm belief in the best tenets of his profession soon made him a factor to be reckoned with, and in the course of his professional life many of the most important municipal cases in this part of the state have received his support. In 1897 he was elected city solicitor of Lorain, an office which he still retains. While Mr. Hughes' practice has been broad and general in its nature, embracing all the branches of his calling, he has, perhaps, gained his reputation principally in the field of municipal law, of which he is an acknowledged master. He isa valued member of the Lorain County Bar Association, and has been connected fraternally with the Knights of Pythias since 1889, having been past chancellor in 1890. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church and is vice president of the Methodist Brotherhood. Mr. Hughes is esteemed for his many excellent qualities of heart and mind, for his thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of law. and for a public spiritedness which has ever prompted a sane and practical interest in those measures which tend to greater happiness, stability and good government.

On July 21. 1891, Mr. Hughes was married to Miss Leonora Dickerson, of Harrison County, Ohio, a member of a family which was founded there in 1805 by her great-grandfather, Thomas Dickerson. This family has been for years one of the best known and most highly esteemed in that county, and some of its members built the first Methodist Episcopal church in Southeastern Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes are the parents of four children, two dying in infancy and Izetta Lucile, who is studying musie at Oberlin College, and Inez Leone, who is attending the public schools.

Amos E. Lawrence. During nearly fifteen years of active practice at Elyria Mr. Lawrence has distinguished himself for solid ability as a lawyer, is one of the leaders of the Lorain County bar, and at the same time the community have often looked to his interest and support for many enterprises and movements that would advance the city and surrounding country.

His birth occurred on a farm in Florence Township of Erie County, Ohio, February 9, 1862, and he belongs to the sturdy and excellent stock of New England and the Ohio Western Reserve. His parents were Charles D. and Hannah E. (Green) Lawrence, both of whom are still living (1915) at Birmingham in Erie County, the father at the age of seventy-seven and the mother at seventy-six. In the direct line of ancestry Mr. Lawrence is separated by three generations from a patriot soldier of the Revolutionary war. Amos Lawrence, a son of this Revolutionary soldier, was a soldier in the War of 1812. His son also named Amos Lawrence was born in New Hampshire. February 27, 1812. and was the grandfather of the Elyria attorney. He was an early settler in Northern Ohio, having first located in Cuyahoga County, but soon afterwards moved into Erie County and spent the rest of his life as a farmer in Florence Township. Charles D. Lawrence was born October 12, 1838, on the banks of Cuvahoga River, but has spent practically all his life in Erie County, where a few years ago he retired from the active cares of farming and has since enjoyed the pleasures of a good home at Birmingham. Charles D. Lawrence was reared in the Presbyterian Church but he and his wife have long been members of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Mrs. Charles D. Lawrence was born in Michigan, a daughter of Silas Green. All their four children are still living. Amos E. being the oldest ; Lillian is now Mrs. W. P. Almroth of Big Rapids, Michigan; C. A. is a successful merchant at Owosso, Michigan; and Mrs. L. R. Heinzerling lives at Elyria

The first eighteen years of his life Amos E. Lawrence spent on his father's farm in Erie County and the family then removing to LaGrange in Lorain County, he attended high school there and soon qualified himself for teaching. For eleven vears Mr. Lawrence was one of the efficient and popular teachers in the district and village schools, spending the winter in that work while the summer seasons were usually devoted to farming. He was married at the age of twenty-two to Miss Josie Humphrey, who was born at LaGrange, a daughter of Sylvester G. and Laura (Ensign) Humphrey. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence lived on, their farm in LaGrange Township, and he looked after its management in addition to his school duties.

At the age of thirty-six in 1897 Mr. Lawrence began the study of law in the office of William B. Johnston of Elyria, and has been in active practice since his admission to the bar in June, 1901. For the first six years he carried on an individual practice and then in May, 1907, formed a partnership with Lorenzo D. Hamlin under the firm name of Lawrence & Hamlin, but since the dissolution of this partnership in September, 1909, Mr. Lawrence has again practiced alone. He is now a lawyer in two states, having been admitted to the bar of Florida, in February, 1915. Mr. Lawrence has considerable property interests in that state, and spent three months of the winter of 1914-15 there. He has established a home in DeSoto County near Sebring, Florida, not so much as a resort for pleasure, but from a business standpoint. He has developed a grape fruit and orange grove of twenty acres, and has thirty acres in his farm. Mr. Lawrence has his offices in the Masonic Temple at Elyria, and has a large and valuable law library, and in the past fifteen years has handled-a large volume of general practice in all the courts of Lorain County. While he was earrying on his law studies he was twice, elected and served two terms as justice of the peace. In 1907 he was elected secretary of The Lorain County Bar Association and held that office until January, 1915.

In politics Mr. Lawrence is a republican and has taken much part in the local work of the party. Fraternally he is affiliated with LaGrange Lodge No. 399, Free and Accepted Masons at LaGrange, and with the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence have two daughters, Mrs. W. P. Babeock and Mrs. J. M. Dougherty, both of Elyria, and both were born in Lorain County and received their education in the local schools Mr. Lawrence also has five grandchildren, all boys, one being the son of his daughter. Eva J., who married Mr. W. P. Babcock, and four being children of his daughter, Sylvia O., the wife of James M. Dougherty.

(;, ADOLPHUS RESEK. The increasing tendency of men learned in the science of law to embark in enterprises outside of their professional field of endeavor has resulted in numerous advantages. This is one of the benefits of a profession which equips its followers for success in more lines of business than any other, and the natural result is an elevating of commercial standards, and a general simplifying of conditions through a knowledge of fundamental principles and limitations. An illustration of this modern type of attorney is found in the person of G. Adolphus Resek, of Lorain, who is one of the leaders of the Lorain County bar, a prominent factor in the commercial and industrial life of this part of

Northern Ohio. Mr. Resek is a refutation of the old adage that ''the shoemaker should stick to his last,'' for from the start of his career each successive change which he has made has brought him added prosperity and prestige. ;

Mr. Resek was born at Cleveland, Ohio, March 10, 1872, and is a son of Joachim and Charlotte (Singer) Resek. His father, a native of Prague, Bohemia, came to the United States in 1867, and passed seventeen years in business at Cleveland, in 1884 coming to Lorain, where he established himself as the proprietor of a merchandise store. Here he continued to engage in business until his death, which occurred in 1904. He was a man in whose life the qualities of industry and integrity were well blended, winning him honorable success and the esteem and respect of those with whom he was in any way associated. Mrs. Resek passed away in 1876, when her son was only four years of age.

G. A. Resek received his early education in the graded schools of Cleveland, and was twelve years of age when he accompanied his father to Lorain. Here he completed his education in the Lorain High School, from which he was duly graduated, and at once entered upon his busi-. ness career, receiving his introduction to business methods as clerk in a dry goods store in Michigan. After one year, the serious illness of his father caused him to return to Lorain, where he took charge of his father's business, and managed it well until the elder man's recovery and return to active participation in commercial affairs. Mr. Resek's entrance into the law came about as a result of his election to the office of city auditor, in 1896, when he became the first auditor under the first city charter. In that capacity he served capably for four years, and during this time found it necessary to familiarize himself with various branches of the law. In this way he became interested in its study, and eventually decided to engage in the profession, and after several years of devoted study was admitted to practice, in 1900. He immediately opened an office at Lorain, and here has since continued in general practice, his clientele having grown to large and important proportions. Mr. Resek's practice has covered a wide range. He has a brilliant record as a trial lawyer, but his constructive ability, as shown by the various organizations and reorganizations with which he has been connected, has won for him a still higher place in the esteem and confidence of his clients. He was the reorganizer of the City Bank Company, of Lorain, of which he is attorney and a director, and is also attorney for the Lorain Banking Company, the Lake Shore Electric Company, the Lorain Street Railway Company, and other large corporations. He is also president of the Standard Hardware Company and secretary of the Lorain Sand and Gravel Company. Mr. Resek holds membership in the Lorain County Bar Association and for fifteen years has been a member of the Ohio State Bar Association. He has kept in touch with his old schoolmates, and in 1915 was elected president of the Lorain High School Alumni Association. Fraternally, he is widely connected, being a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter of the Masonic fraternity the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and in the last named is past chancellor. He is a republican, but of recent years has not been active politically, for the reason that his law practice and business relations have practically absorbed his entire time and strength to the exclusion of everything else.

On September 12, 1904, Mr. Resek was married to Miss Clara Norton, of Wooster, daughter of Albert James and Marjory (Piper) Norton, residents of Wayne County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Resek are the parents of one daughter: Rhea Charlotte.

JOSEPH WESBECHER. About forty-five years ago Joseph Wesbecher arrived at Amherst a young journeyman tinsmith. He had been in this country only about :three years, and had hardly mastered the language and become familiar with American customs and institutions. Industry, the ability to adapt himself to circumstances, good business judgment and enterprise have since made Joseph Wesbecher a wealthy and influential citizen, and he has well earned his position at Amherst.

The business with which his name has been longest associated is known as the Wesbecher Hardware Company, which is incorporated with a capital of forty thousand dollars and of which he is president and general manager. His son Henry Wesbecher is secretary. Mr. Wesbecher is also one of the directors of the Amherst German Bank Company, is interested in the U. S. Automatic Company and the Cold Storage Plant, and is one of the leaders in that group of men whose influence and enterprise carry the heaviest burdens of business responsibility im Lorain County.

Joseph Wesbecher was born in Mugensturm Baden, Germany. February 25, 1852, a son of Aloise and Martha (Melcher) Wesbecher. Ilis father spent his life as a farmer in Baden and the family were all reared in the Catholic faith. There were eight children, and the three still living are: John, a farmer in Ohio; George. an upholsterer at Greensburg, Pennsylvania; and Joseph.

Leaving home at an early age after getting the ordinary education in the German schools, Joseph Wesbecher came to America and in 1369 at the age of seventeen found himself at Youngstown, Ohio. He spent a summer working on a farm, and then went to Crestline, Ohio, and learned the tinner's trade. That trade has been the foundation of his business success, and he still qualifies as an expert in that mechanical occupation. In 1872 he came to Amherst and worked at his trade for others for four years, and then bought the establishment of Mr. Jacoh Stahl. Since then he has been in the tin and hardware business and has one of the largest stores in the county.

In 1879 Mr. Wesbecher married Matilda Plato. a daughter of John Plato. who for many years was in the grocery business at Amherst. Mr. and Mrs. Wesbecher have six children Henry A., who is associated with his father in business at Amherst; Carl A., in the real estate business in California; Edith, wife of Emmett Lahiff. who is a steam shovel engineer at Berea, Ohio; Leo, connected with a construction company in New York; Lucile, at home; and Frank, also at home. The family are members of the Catholic Church and the sons, C. A. and Frank, belong to the Knights of Columbus. Ar. Wesbecher in politics is a democrat.

CuHaArLes C. ScHwarz. Progressive farming at its hest is well illustrated on Rose Lawn Farm, whose proprietor is Charles C. Sehwarz. Rose Lawn is located in Grafton Township. on Center Road. a mile and a quarter from Belden postoffice, and on rural route No. 3.

The proprietor of this farm has usually been the first to introduce improved machinery and methods for the handling of his crops and the preparation of his soil for cultivation. He has the distinction of having been the first agriculturist in that township to buy a manure spreader. That was back in 1897. In 1898 he built the first silo in that community and constructed one on more modern plans in 1913. He bought a hay loader in 1902, a corn harvester in 1901, and in his dairy introduced the use of a cream separator. He also brought in power to run the machinery of his barn and workhouses, and bought his first gasoline engine in 1900. All his feed is ground by machinery on the place. Another fact that should be noted is that Mr. Schwarz has had a hired assistant on his farm who has been continuously in his employ for the past ten years. a)

Charles C. Schwarz is a native of Cleveland, where he was born August 23, 1858, a son of Christian Jacob and Christine (Bleil) Schwarz. When he was ten years of age his father removed from Cleveland to Liverpool, Ohio, where his father carried on a meat market for several years. Later he bought forty-three acres of the land where his son Charles now resides in Grafton Township, and gradually added to his ownership until he was proprietor of one hundred sixty-one acres. He spent the rest of his days there and died in 1897, being survived by his widow for ten years. Christian Schwarz was a democrat in politics, a member of the Lutheran Church, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was a man of high standing in any community where he made his home. Charles G. Schwarz is the oldest of a family of six. His brother Fred J. lives west of Elyria. Albert William died in 1910 leaving a family of ten children. Ida Louise is the wife of Edwin R. Mennell. Rose K. is the wife of L. O. Longwell and lives in Grafton. Bertha is the wife of J. L. Bessing and also lives in Grafton.

Charles C. Schwarz grew to manhood on the old homestead in Lorain County, acquired his education partly in Cleveland and partly in Liverpool and has made farming his regular vocation since youth. After his father's death he bought out the interests of the other heirs, and Rose Lawn now comprises 131 well tilled and valuable acres.

Besides the improvements already mentioned Mr. Schwarz in 1914 built a fine basement barn on a foundation 80x36 feet. with an ''L'' 34x50 feet and with 24-foot posts. The barn is 48 feet from the foundation to the peak. It is solidly built and in equipment is hardly excelled by any other in the county. It has a cement floor, and there is room for the stabling of 38 head of livestock besides four or five box stalls. Mr. Schwarz maintains a dairy of 24 cows, and uses the product in the making of butter.

After he reached his majority he started as a republican voter, but is now aligned with the progressives. He has never been a politician, though his fellow citizens have shown much confidence in his judgment and he is now serving his second term as township trustee. He is a member and has filled all the chairs in the Tent of the Knights of the Maccabees at Grafton. Mr. Schwarz is well read and well informed on all the leading issues of the day and in his work as a farmer has not only benefited by his own experience but has made use of the experiences of others.

James F. Srrenick. Since 1903 Mr. Strenick has been engaged in the practice of his profession in the City of Lorain, where his sterling character, his ability and his distinctive success in his chosen sphere of endeavor have given him secure standing as one of the representative members of the bar of Lorain County, besides which he is known as a citizen whose lovalty and public spirit are of the staunchest order.

James Franklin Strenick was born at West Salem. Wayne County, Ohio, on the 5th of July, 1874, and is a son of James and Amanda Jane (Royer) Strenick, who still maintain their home there, the father having been for many years associated with railroad operations. In the public schools of his native town Mr. Strenick continued his studies until he had completed the curriculum of the high school, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1894. From that time forward he was identified with the mercantile business, and he then followed the course of his ambitious purpose and entered the law department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1903 and from which he received his well-earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. In July of the same year he established his home at Lorain, and here he has since continued in the successful general practice of his profession, with well-established reputation ag a versatile advocate and well fortified and judicious counselor. He is an appreciative and popular member of the Lorain County Bar Association, served as assistant city solicitor from 1908 to 1911, and on May 2d of the latter year he became the incumbent of the office of justice of the peace. In January, 1908, he assumed the office of treasurer of Black River ''ownship, in which fiduciary position he served two terms. In his home city Mr. Strenick is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and council bodies of the York Rite of the Masonic fraternity, and he holds membership also in the local organizations of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Foresters, and other organizations. His political allegiance is given to the republican party.

August 28. 1896, recorded the marriage of Mr. Strenick to Miss Arline Mellen, of Burbank, Wayne County, Ohio, and their only child is Helen, who was born October 1, 1902.

MENNELL FamiLy. Fully ninety years have passed since the Mennell family was first established in the then wilderness of Lorain County. During all that time the principal seat and home has been in Grafton Township, and one of the grandsons of the pioneer still occupies a farm included in the original possessions of the family in this county.

The founder of the name in this county was Crispin Mennell who married Elizabeth Welburn. Their only son was Duke Mennell, who was born in Yorkshire, England, May 8, 1810. When Crispin Mennell emigrated to America in 1817 his son Duke remained with his maternal grandfather until 1823, and then came to America with his two uncles, Jesse and William Welburn, joining his parents in Massachusetts.

Crispin Mennell on first coming to America lived in Albany, New York, and was there during the great conflagration which almost destroyed that city. He then moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and while living there his son Duke joined him in 1823.

It was in the year 1826 that the Mennell family pioneered westward and located in Lorain County. After securing a tract of land in the wilderness of Grafton Township Crispin Mennell began the improvements which have made that one of the oldest cultivated farms in the townships and he subsequently built a substantial house about threequarters of a mile from where his grandson Jay D. now lives. Crispin Mennell died May 22, 1857, on J. D. Mennell's present farm.

Duke Mennell, who was thirteen years of age when he came to America, acquired a fair common school education and was a vigorous youth and able to assist materially in the development of the first farm owned by the family in Grafton Township.

On June 23, 1835. he was married in Lorain County to Rachel Curtis, a daughter of Theodore Curtis. Their married companionship was broken hy the death of the wife on September 29. 1858. In the meantime eight children had been born to them. On October 10, 1861, Duke Mennell married for his second wife Mrs. Mary A. (Hardy) Johnson. By this union there were four children, three sons and one daughter, namely: Perry D.. Jay D., Allen E. and Elizabeth M. The last named is now the wife of John Lafferty of Sharon, Pennsylvania.

Duke Mennell was an active democrat until the Civil war and then became equally ardent as a republican. He was honored by. such offices as township trustee and was a man valuable to his community in many ways. His death occurred September 17, 1889, while his second wife passed away November 2, 1907. By his first marriage the eight children were born: Elizabeth, deceased; Andrew Jackson, deceased ; Meadore; Mary; Anna, deceased; Charles, deceased; Flora; and Elmer.

JAY D. MENNELL. The old homestead of the Mennell family in Grafton Township has as its proprietor Jay D. Mennell, who has attained to considerable note in Lorain County as a general farmer and stock raiser,and dairvman. He has been especially successful in the breeding of Holstein cattle. His farm is about two and a half miles from Grafton, located on rural route No. 2 out of that city.

He was born in the house he now occupies and which was built by his grandfather. His birth occurred June 7, 1867, and he is a son of Duke and Mary (Hardy) Mennell. He was reared with all the advantages of a typical Lorain County home of thirty or forty years ago, and acquired a common school education. On December 31, 1889, at Litchfield, Ohio, Mr. Mennell married Miss Vienna G. Crow. She was born at Ontario, Vernon County, Wisconsin, a daughter of Leander and Emma (Fuller) Crow. Her father was born in Medina County, Ohio, while her mother was an Englishwoman and came to America with her parents, who first located in New York and afterwards moved out to Vernon County, Wisconsin. Mrs. Mennell's father moved from Ohio to Wisconsin. where he met and married his wife, and some years later they returned to Litchfield, Ohio, where Mrs. Mennell received most of her education. For five years before her marriage she was a successful teacher.

Mr. and Mrs. Mennell have two children: Leander D. attended the country schools and in 1909 was graduated from the Elyria High School. After three years as a teacher in Grafton Township he entered the Ohio State University in the agricultural and scientific departments, and will graduate in 1916.

The daughter Irma who graduated from the Elyria High School in 1911, taught four years in Grafton Township and is now the wife of Arthur L. Wise and lives in Grafton Township. Mr. Jay D. Mennell is independent in polities, is a stanch supporter of the prohibition movement and has alwavs steadfastly refused any official honors. He is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees.

ALLEN E. Menneuu. Another representative of the Mennell family ' whose activities have gained him a worthy place in the sturdy agricultural class of Grafton Township is Allen E. Mennell, whose home is on Center Road between LaGrange and Belden.

He is a son of Duke and Mary A. (Hardy) Mennell, and was born at the old homestead January 15, 1870, in the house now owned by his brother, Jay D. Mennell. His early boyhood and youth were spent on the old farm until he was about twenty years of age. He had a fair common school education, and at his father's death inherited eighty acres of land. This land had not a single improvement, not even a well, and consequently it provided a severe test of his enterprise and industry. That land has been the scene of his effective endeavors for the past quarter of a century and with it as a foundation he has conducted a business as a farmer and stockman which is deserving of special attention.

In the meantime on September 28, 1889, in York Township of Medina County he married Miss Louise G. Erhart. She was born and reared in York Township, a daughter of Joseph and Geneva (Musser) Erhart. The parents were born and were married at what is now Valley City, Ohio, then known as Liverpool. Her father was a farmer.

Soon after his marriage Mr. Mennell began making a heme and farm out of his eighty acres. In order to provide a habitation he secured a little building which had formerly been the shop of a dental practitioner and moved it onto his land and by some simple changes made it a fairly comfortable home, in which he and his family lived for ten years. He also erected a small barn, and that is still in use serving as a storage place for tools and for a garage. Year after year he made other changes, put the land under cultivation and the culmination of his prosperity came in 1900 when he erected his present fine home. It is modern in every respect, has nine rooms and basement, and natural gas supplies the fuel for kitchen and furnace heat.

Still another improvement came in 1905 when he built a bank barn on a foundation 36x66 feet with 20-foot posts. This barn has a cement floor and facilities for stabling eighteen cows and eight head of horses. This is only to mention the most prominent features about the Mennell farm, but it is sufficient to indicate that it is one of the best equipped and best managed in Grafton Township. Mr. and Mrs. Mennell have two children. Harland was born in the home afforded by the reconstruction of the dental office on August 14, 1890. He graduated from the Elyria High School and he married Ruth Harrison of Grafton. For a time he was a conductor on the Interurban Railway at Burton. then moved to Grafton and was in similar service on the Green Line Interurban but is now a practical farmer in LaGrange Township. He and his wife have two children: Millicent, born at Chardon. Ohio, September 6, 1912; and Gwendolyn, who was born at LaGrange. February 6, TOL,

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mennell is Fawn G.. who was born in the new home of her parents February 28, 1901. and is now a freshinan in the Elyria High School.

Politically Mr. Mennell has chosen an independent attitude, though usually a republican, and has served three vears as township treasurer. However, he is not a seeker for official honors. He and his wife and daughter are members of the Grange. He is a member of the Maccabees.

LAWRENCE ANTHONY Burcetr. The vocation of contracting and building. of housing the people and the enterprises which make up a community, is one of the oldest and most honorable known to man. In every part of the civilized globe the builder is found as an absolute necessity, and as the opportunities of the calling include few cross-ents to quick prosperity and position, its followers almost invariably are found to be men of temperate habits and steady industry, calm judgment and patient enterprise. The journeyman who possesses ambition, determination and genuine ability in his line is afforded the opportunity of working his way to the highest emoluments of his vocation. in which case the rewards place him on a plane with the majority of men in professional and business life. In this capable and resourceful class of Lorain County is found Lawrence Anthony Burgett. of Lorain, who has contributed much to the past of this city. and who. because of his superior equipment, may be counted upon to share in its future development.

Mr. Burgett was born in Lucas County. Ohio. April 2, 1869. and is a son of Peter and Eva (Laux) Burgett. His father. a brick mason by trade, came to Lorain County, Ohio. in 1846, and here divided his time between following his avocation and carrying on agricultural pursuits. He died in 1903, the mother having passed away in 1892. Lawrence A. Burgett is not only a self-educated man. but a self-made one as well. After attending the public schools, he desired a further training, and accordingly enrolled as a student at a night school, where he improved his mental training, while his daytimes were being devoted to learning the trade of bricklayer, under the preceptorship of his father. His trade mastered, he began following it, and in this connection came to Lorain, in August, 1892. Finally, after securing several small contracts and carrying them through to a successful issue, he gave up the trade as an operator and became a contractor and builder, a line in which he has steadily risen to a foremost place. While all kinds of structures have been erected by him, he is probably best known in connection with building schools, these having included ordinary schoolhouses of eight rooms, more pretentious structures, and the present stately and handsome edifice of the Lorain High School, a cut of which appears in this work. This fire-proof structure, of brick and stone, is three stories in height and 147x290 feet in dimensions. It was erected in 1915, and in addition to the school rooms, includes a spacious auditorium, wellequipped lavatories, and departments of manual training and domestic science. Its machinery cost $17,000, and its equipment, $30,000, the total cost of the building, machinery and equipment being $275,000. Another handsome structure built by Mr. Burgett is the Elyria Building, a threestory brick building, 230x145 feet, modern in every respect, and costing $150,000. He has erected also three graded schools at Lorain, with two additions. the Lorain Opera House, Saint Mary's Catholic Church, the National Bank of Commerce, the Central Bank, on Penfield Avenue, Lorain, and many public libraries, office buildings, banks and churches, as well as private residences. Mr. Burgett has the kind of enthusiasm for his work that enables him to master it thoroughly, but impels him to seek its broadest and most interesting manifestations. He possesses a keen eye for the practical, as well as the artistic, and there can be no doubt that his labor will stand the approbation of years. As a citizen he has displayed a keen interest in affairs affecting his community, and has served capably as a member of the Lorain City Council for one term and as president of that body for one year.

Mr. Burgett was married to Miss Josephine B. Miller, of New Washington, Ohio, who died leaving three children: Blondena Ursula, who is the wife of Thomas Hume, associated with the L. A. Burgett Company ; LeRoy Peter. also with this company; and Virgil Charles, a graduate of the Lorain High School, class of 1915. In August, 1904, Mr. Burgett Was again married, heing united with Cecelia Mary Messmer, who was born at Lorain. Ohio. daughter of Andrew Messmer, who was a well known railroad man of this city for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Burgett and their children are members of Saint Mary's Catholic Church.

Homer Burt BELpDEN, who is a successful and progressive young farmer of Grafton Township, represents the fifth generation of the Belden family which has been continuously identified with Lorain County for practically a century. Few Lorain County families have had so many successive generations to live within the limits of the county. and there is another matter of interest in connection with the Belden residence that their home has been practically in one location, and one farm home has served as a dwelling place for these sturdy people from life's beginning to end. In the older generations the Beldens came in maturity of manhood and womanhood, but not only Homer Burt but also his father were native sons and were born on the same farm.

Mr. Belden's homestead is located three-quarters of a mile south of Belden Station. which was named in honor of the family, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railway. In the house that he now occupies with his family he was born February 20, 1878. His parents were Homer Kings- ley and Rose (Burt) Belden. Homer K. Belden was born on the Belden farm, November 9, 1838. His parents were Daniel Rowley and Sarah (Kingsley) Belden. Daniel R. Belden, the grandfather, was seven years of age when he came to Lorain County from Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His parents were Capt. Bildad and Polly Belden, who brought their family out to the wilderness of Lorain County in the early years of the last century. Capt. Bildad was also accompanied by his father, Daniel Belden and wife Sarah Belden. Their enterprise as pioneers was first directed to the land now included in the Belden farm occupied hy Homer Burt Belden. Here they did their share of productive toil, here. they experienced the sorrows and pleasures of existence, many of the family married at the old homestead or brought their wives there, and there many of them passed from the scene of this mortal existence. Each generation added something to the landed estates until fully 700 acres in that section.are now under the Belden family ownership.

Homer Kingsley Belden was reared and had a common school education in Grafton Township and he also attended Oberlin College. On September 24, 1861, he married Miss Rose Burt of Grafton Township, who was born in Harpersfield in Geauga County, Ohio, a daughter of Ebenezer and Emily (Mallison) Burt. Her father was a manufacturer of woolen goods and kept his home wherever his services were most in demand. Mrs. Rose Belden acquired a good education and was a teacher for some years in Lorain County before her marriage. Homer K. Belden died March 15, 1902. He was a democrat, always interested in local affairs but was never an office seeker.

Homer Burt Belden is the only child of his parents. Besides a good education in the home schools he attended business college at Oberlin, and has devoted his active years to farming and farm management, and has enjoyed a success in proportion to his inherited ability and industry.

On October 3, 1899, he married Miss Corinne Bernice Lehman, daughter of John C. and Amelia E. (Lyndes) Lehman of Grafton Township. They are the parents of two children: Daniel Lehman was born November 30, 1900, and is now a junior in the Elyria High School. Horace Theodore Belden was born June 18, 1907. Mr. Belden is a democrat and is an earnest and public spirited citizen.

W. Scorr Atpricu has enjoyed to the full that satisfaction which goes with successful efforts as an agriculturist and is inherent in the wholesome atmosphere of a prosperous rural community. He has a front place among Grafton Township farmers, and is something of a specialist in the breeding of Percheron horses and in the management of a dairy. His homestead is located three miles southeast of Grafton on rural route No. 3. Altogether he owns two hundred acres, divided into three farms.

It was on one of these farms in Grafton Township that he first saw the light of dav July 25, 1859. The Aldrich family beiongs to the older stock in Lorain County and has been represented here for fully three-quarters of a century. His parents were James L. and Harriet (Clark) Aldrich. James L. Aldrich was born in New York State and was eighteen vears of age when he came to Ohio with his parents Aaron and Cynthia (Bishop) Aldrich. The Aldrich family arrived in Lorain County in 1840 and located on one of the farms now owned by W. Scott Aldrich in Grafton Township. The place was then in the dense woods, and for a number of vears the grown men of the family tested their enterprise and industry in clearing up and developing the land.

aggregate possessions totaled about 320 acres. He died When about eighty-four years of age on October 4, 1904. His wife passed away in May, 1909. Mrs. James L. Aldrich had the distinction of being the first white child born in LaGrange Township. Her father was Nathan Clark.

W. Scott Aldrich in his youth had all the advantages needed to prepare him for his vocation. After attending the common schools he also was in the preparatory department of Oberlin for six months, but at the age of seventeen he was obliged to leave school and return home to take charge of the farm on account of the poor health of his father. At the age of twenty-one he was given a share in the management and profits of the farm and two years later he was ready to provide a home of his own.