USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 1
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A STANDARD HISTORY OF
LORAIN COUNTY OHIO
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Com- mercial, Industrial, Civic and Social De- velopment. A Chronicle of the People, with Family Lineage and Memoirs.
G. FREDERICK WRIGHT SUPERVISING EDITOR Assisted by a Board of Advisory Editors
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1916
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THE NEW Y K PUBLIC LIBRARY 377084A
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R 1928 L
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MOY WAM 01.1809 SARBLI
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David J. Agr
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History of Lorain County
HON DAVID J. NYE. Through the last and most active forty Ve ... . . " . bfe during . hich h- followed a constant, conservative and . .. . . .
reas lawyer, jurist and business man, David J. Nye has p. .. au mence which probably has been surpassed by none and everlind by w in this community.
His ris from the jowly farmer's son to that of one of th ... foremost .wyers of the state. and one of the leaders in the civic and business life : Nortl .. rn Omo, wa- far from meteorieal. It was accompli ned only after years of close application and hard and consistent efforts in his "nosen profession.
While the early years of his life are not of important historical note, yet they were busy ones and served to make up that formative period when boys of that age ercate for themselves their ideals of life and form those conceptions which direct their footsteps in after years.
It was during this period that Mr. Nye conceived the plot of follow- ing the law as a profession and be formed his ideals of ad that this profession stood for and demanded. With these ideas firmly pixel i. his mind, he clung to them, an I each step in his life was m . ardt alah e of his aim to attain to the heights on which his desires was . t. No matter what the endeavor cost him in work or denials, no matter what tl." sacrifice might be. he fered all in his hard struggle to reaen Ins destined goal.
Born at Ellicott, Chautan jua County, New York, December 8. 1843. he was a son of Curtis F. and Susan Jerusha ( Walkup. Nye While his parents were of sturdy Vermont stock ; his paternal ancestors trace their lineage to Benjamin Nye, the original founder of the Nye family in America. He was among the foremost of those early English pione ers who cast his lot with those who strove and struggled that a new nation might be born. Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper, who afterward i came his wife, landed on the shores of New England im 1634 and made their home in Sandwich, Massachusetts, where they reared a family which has ever grown and prospered.
A few years ago the descendants of Benjamin Nye in this country, inded what is known as the Nye Family of America Association and . .. Nye was one of the prime movers in its organization and served S. president for two years.
The parents of Judge Nye, five years after the birth of their son id. moved from their farm at Ellicott to Otto, Cataratas county. . York, where they again took up the tillage of the soil and pimpin ! mail their death. During these years, Young Mir's was on l' farm was interrupted only by a few months durher .' winter. att. nelance at the district school of his neighborh. .. .
the privilege of serving his country durive to pen Civil wane of parental objections, two other wothers saving Ir. We turned his attention and cont . crated his energies of ·ing for the future. He left his home and mairiemated at
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History of Lorain County
HON. DAVID J. NYE. Through the last and most active forty years of his life during which he followed a constant, conservative and dignified career as lawyer, jurist and business man, David J. Nye has gained an eminence which probably has been surpassed by none and excelled by few in this community.
His rise from the lowly farmer's son to that of one of the foremost lawyers of the state, and one of the leaders in the civic and business life of Northern Ohio, was far from meteorical. It was accomplished only after years of close application and hard and consistent efforts in his chosen profession.
While the early years of his life are not of important historical note, yet they were busy ones and served to make up that formative period when boys of that age create for themselves their ideals of life, and form those conceptions which direct their footsteps in after years.
It was during this period that Mr. Nye conceived the idea of follow- ing the law as a profession and he formed his ideals of. all that this profession stood for and demanded. With these ideals firmly fixed in his mind, he clung to them, and each step in his life was in furtherance of his aim to attain to the heights on which his desires were set. No matter what the endeavor cost him in work or denials, no matter what the sacrifice might be, he faced all in his hard struggle to reach his destined goal.
Born at Ellicott, Chautauqua County, New York, December 8, 1843, he was a son of Curtis F. and Susan Jerusha (Walkup) Nye. While his parents were of sturdy Vermont stock; his paternal ancestors trace their lineage to Benjamin Nye, the original founder of the Nye family in America. He was among the foremost of those early English pioneers who cast his lot with those who strove and struggled that a new nation might be born. Benjamin Nye and Katherine Tupper, who afterward became his wife, landed on the shores of New England in 1634 and made their home in Sandwich, Massachusetts, where they reared a family which has ever grown and prospered.
A few years ago the descendants of Benjamin Nye in this country, founded what is known as the Nye Family of America Association and Judge Nye was one of the prime movers in its organization and served as its president for two years.
The parents of Judge Nye, five years after the birth of their son David, moved from their farm at Ellicott to Otto, Cattaraugus County, New York, where they again took up the tillage of the soil and remained there until their death. During these years, Young Nye's work on his father's farm was interrupted only by a few months during the winter, with his attendance at the district school of his neighborhood.
Denied the privilege of serving his country during the great Civil conflict because of parental objections, two other brothers having enlisted, Mr. Nye turned his attention and concentrated his energies on his preparation for the future. He left his home and matriculated at
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Randolph (New York) Academy in 1862 and spent the following winter in teaching school. The succeeding year he spent in practically the same manner. From that time forward, such time as was not occupied with teaching school, was spent in working on the farm for the purpose of accumulating a stipend to be used in further pursuit of learning.
Coming to Oberlin in the spring of 1866, he entered the preparatory department and a year later became a member of the freshman class of Oberlin College. Although his studies were interrupted by the necessity of teaching during the vacation, and doing other work during school terms, he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1871. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by the college in 1883. In his final year at Oberlin he also occupied the position of superintendent of the Public Schools at Milan, Ohio, and at the solicitation of the board of education, taught there another year after his graduation.
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While in Oberlin and also at Milan, he devoted his spare time to laying a foundation for the law so that in August, 1872, he successfully passed the requirements for admission and was admitted to the bar at Elyria, Ohio. The same year he went to Emporia, Kansas, with a view to locating there and growing up in what was then a new country. But finding this location not suited to this tastes he returned to Elyria and took up the practice of law in earnest, associating himself with John C. Hale, who later became one of the leaders of the Cleveland bar, and a most worthy judge of the Circuit Court.
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A year later he opened his own office for the practice of law, which he retained continuously until he went upon the Common Pleas bench in 1892. From 1881 to 1884, however, he served a creditable term as prosecuting attorney of Lorain County. At various times during his private practice in Elyria, he served as county school examiner, member of the city board of education and member of the city council.
With the unanimous approval of the members of the Lorain County bar, Mr. Nye's name was placed in nomination for judge of Common Pleas bench for the district composed of Lorain, Medina and Summit counties, at the judicial convention held at Medina in July, 1891. In the following November he was elected by a handsome majority and took his seat in February, 1892. Toward the close of his term, he received the nomination by acclamation for a second term and was re-elected for another five years.
Judge Nye's record on the bench is distinctly unique, both in the character and the amount of work which was accomplished. Taking the position at a time when the court docket was literally clogged with old cases, he set his energies at once to a clearing away of this accumulation of cases. He made it a rule that the attorneys should try their cases as they appeared on the assignment and the oldest cases were brought forward and disposed of with as great rapidity as justice would permit. After ten years of the most arduous and exacting labor, which for a time impaired his health, Judge Nye left as a heritage to his successor, a practically up-to-date assignment with scarcely a case on the dockets which had been started more than three years before.
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Many were the decisions of great public importance that came from his pen. As a jurist he pursued a course of conservative, intelligent, wise and painstaking dignity, ever watchful for that true justice which is tempered with equity and mercy. It was with much relief that he often remarked that his duty never called upon him to impose a capital sentence upon one who was tried before him. During his long term he maintained a record of having had but one criminal case at which he presided, overruled by a higher court.
Probably a greater strain was never placed upon a judicial officer than during the trial of famous liquor cases of Elyria. Regardless of
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the influence, violent threats and affidavits of prejudice that were used as a means to shake him, he clung tenaciously to his honest and fearless convictions that law and order should prevail.
His was a mind that concentrated itself upon a principle of law until the fundamental theories were solved and their application placed upon the case in question without regard to anything except right and justice, and yet ever guided by his own high conception of gentlemanly courtesy.
Among those of his decisions which will ever stand as precedents of jurisprudence in this state and nation, was one in which Judge Nye decided that the holder of National Bank shares had no right under the laws of Ohio to deduct his legal bona fide debts from the value of such shares. The Circuit Court of the county reversed Judge Nye, but the Supreme Court of Ohio and the Supreme Court of the United States sustained him, consequently setting a new and unique precedent in matters of the relation of Federal banks to counties and states.
On retiring at the end of his second term, Judge Nye again opened an office for the general practice of law, which he still maintains in his service to a large clientele. Significant of the respect and esteem in which Judge Nye has been held during his long career in this one com-, munity, is the fact that among his present clients are the grandchildren of some of those who formed his clientele in the early days of his practice in Elyria-three generations having continued to come to him for counsel and advice.
In 1911 the electors of Lorain County complimented Judge Nye by choosing him as one of its representatives to amend the state constitu- tion. His work in the Fourth Constitutional Convention was of a high order, dignified, conservative and based on the sound judgment of a long experience and familiarity with legal and constitutional questions.
Shortly after the adoption of the amendments to the state constitu- tion, it became necessary to draft new rules for the procedure in the newly established Courts of Appeals. Judge Nye was chosen by the president of the Ohio State Bar Association as a member of a committee of prominent lawyers of the state to assist the judges of the court to prepare regulations for its government, in accordance with the new constitutional requirements.
Ever a strong exponent for civic welfare and progress. he has interested himself in an advisory capacity as well as financially in the thriving industries of his city, which are making it a sound and pros- perous manufacturing center.
It has been his joy to hold himself in readiness for any honorable service he might render to others and to the community in which he lives, and he has served as president of the Elyria Chamber of Com- merce, a contributor to the Elyria Hospital, and a member of the Elyria Hospital Company, and a member and contributor of the Y. M. C. A., besides giving liberally of his means and energies in many other lines of upbuilding.
In Masonic circles, Judge Nye has gained considerable prominence, having reached the highest pinnacle of this ancient and honored order, when in September, 1915, was conferred upon him, in Boston. Massa- chusetts, the thirty-third and highest degree in Masonry. He is a member of Oriental Commandery Knights Templars, of Cleveland, Ohio, and on the establishment of a commandery in Elyria, he was made an honorary member of the organization.
Politically, Judge Nye is a staunch republican and what honors he has received at the hands of his party, he has fully compensated for by his counsel and activity in the interests of the principles for which the party stands and the good it has accomplished.
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On September 15, 1880, Judge Nye was united in marriage with Luna Fisher, daughter of Alfred Fisher, of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The Fisher family were pioneer settlers in Independence Township and were the highly honored and respected leaders of their community. Mrs. Nye has always been an active influence for good in her home and community, her inspiration being an important factor in Judge Nye's career.
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Two children were born to Judge and Mrs. Nye. David Fisher Nye, born October 27, 1882, was graduated from the Elyria High School in 1902 and from Oberlin College in 1906. He received the degree of LL. B. from the law school of Western Reserve University in June, 1909, was admitted to the bar the same month and soon after formed a partnership with his father, under the firm name of D. J. and D. F. Nye. He was a most estimable young man and was considered one of the most promising young attorneys at the Lorain County bar. But his death on June 23, 1912, deprived his family and the community of one of its most cherished members.
Horace Hastings Nye, born August 4th, 1884, was graduated from Elyria High School in 1902 and from Oberlin College in 1908. He engaged in newspaper work for a few years and was afterwards, in 1915, graduated from the law school of Western Reserve University. He was admitted to the bar July 1, 1915. At the present time (1915) he is associated with his father in the practice of law in Elyria.
DAVID S. TROXEL. Twenty years ago a young business man of Den- ver, Colorado, but who had himself been reared in Ohio, where his fam- ily was established early in the nineteenth century, invented an improved form of bicycle saddle. The foot-power bicycle was then at the height of its popularity ; automobiles were in the experimental stage of manu- facture and almost unknown on public highways; while the motorcycle was still in the future. Leaving his Denver business Mr. Troxel came to Elyria and made arrangements for the manufacture of his saddle. From the first it was an article that filled a number of requirements de- manded in a perfect saddle, and there has never been a year since in which the Troxel saddle has not been increased in efficiency, durability, appearance and comfort. Out of this beginning has been evolved the Troxel Manufacturing Company, makers of bicycle and motorcycle saddles and tool bags, and the goods of this now oldest saddle house in America has an established reputation over the world and have no su- perior in strength, style, symmetry and proportions. It is one of the leading industries of Elyria, and the plant has kept growing by addi- tions and improved equipment, and now easily leads all other concerns of its kind. An interesting feature of the Troxel business, and one that shows the substantial character that is impressed on every single product along with excellence of material and special care in the mak- ing, is the unique guaranty that all goods are free from defects in material or workmanship, and the company states explicitly to its cus- · tomers that they expect to and do live up to the guarantee to the letter.
The president of the Troxel Manufacturing Company, and the orig- inal inventor of its chief product, has been as public spirited and effi- cient as a citizen of Elyria as he has been successful as a manufacturer. David S. Troxel was born at the old Troxel homestead near Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, March 2, 1864. That old homestead has been in the family since 1826, and has been occupied by three successive gen- erations of the name. The first of the name in the state was Peter Troxel, grandfather of the Elyria manufacturer. Born in Berks County, Penn- sylvania, in 1804, Peter Troxel when a young man of twenty-one, in
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1825, came into Wayne County, Ohio, and soon afterwards settled on a farm near Wooster. A portion of the land he secured from the Gov- ernment at the cost of $1.25 per acre. On that farm the father of David S. Troxel was born in 1833, and spent a long career as a farmer, with incidental honors paid him by his fellow citizens in election to local offices. His death occurred July 25, 1908. His wife, whose maiden name was Miss Sarah Shaum, was born near Wooster in 1834, and is now living in Wayne County at the advanced age of eighty-one.
The early associations and experiences of David S. Troxel were cen- tered around the old Troxel farm in Wayne County. He attended dis- trict schools, helped in all forms and departments of the farm enterprise, but early manifested tendencies and ambitions for the commercial life. His preparatory experience in this direction was obtained as clerk in a country store where he began work in 1886 and remained one year. Realizing the need of better training, he then followed that with a course in a business college, and from Ohio sought a new field in the West, locating in Colorado. At Denver he became bookkeeper in a hard- ware store, but in 1889 engaged in the hardware business on his own account. He was the owner and active manager of this enterprise in Denver for nine years, and on returning East to manufacture his bicycle saddle, which he had invented in 1898, he left the store in charge of his brother, to whom he finally sold it in 1910. Mr. Troxel is still owner of property in Denver, but has no active business interests there. His home was in that city for ten years.
On bringing his invention to Elyria Mr. Troxel arranged for its man- ufacture by The Garford Manufacturing Company, but being convinced of its merits and encouraged by its progress in popularity he soon or- ganized the Troxel Manufacturing Company, and has since been its president and manager. This company now occupies a large four-story building in Elyria and in order to keep in touch with the trade, now extended not only throughout the United States but to all countries where the bicycle and motorcycle are used, it issues a thirty-five page catalog descriptive of the various types of saddles, tool bags and other equipment.
In addition to his position as head of the Troxel Manufacturing Company, he is a director in the National Bank of Elyria, is vice presi- dent of the Tucker Woodworking Company at Sidney, Ohio, and a director and stockholder in a number of other enterprises at Elyria and elsewhere. He is one of the active members of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce.
The people of Elyria remember gratefully Mr. Troxell's administra- tion as mayor. He was elected to that office in the fall of 1907, and began the duties of his two-year term on January 1, 1908. After an interval of two years he was again called to the same post in the fall of 1911, beginning his second term January 1, 1912. He made his adminis- tration efficient and businesslike, strictly non-partisan, and with a record of many substantial improvements. During the first term he secured the erection of two new fire stations, and inaugurated extensive street paving and sewer construction.
Mr. Troxel is a republican in politics, is a member of the Cleveland Athletic Club of Cleveland, of the Elyria Automobile Club, the Elyria Country Club, and finds his chief satisfaction in the way of recreation in the ancient game of golf. Fraternally he is affiliated with Elyria Lodge No. 456, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons; Marshall Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Elyria Council Royal & Select Masons; Elyria Com- mandery of the Knights Templar; and Al Koran Shrine of Cleveland.
On February 3, 1897, in Ashland County, Ohio, Mr. Troxel married
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