USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 3
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auditor of Lorain County from 1854 until 1860. His wife, Fanny Day Root, was born April 3, 1805, at Sheffield, Massachusetts, and in 1816 with her father and mother, John and Lydia (Austin) Day, came to Sheffield, Ohio. Her ancestor, Robert Day, came from Wales in 1634 on the bark Elizabeth, first settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and after- wards in Hartford, Connecticut.
The early life of Orville Root was spent in Lorain County during the '40s and '50s, in which time he completed his education in the Elyria High School. Farming was his regular vocation for many years, and he has gradually acquired other extensive interests, chiefly as a banker, in which capacity his name is well known throughout the county. From 1878 to 1888 he filled the office of auditor of Lorain County, having gone into that office less than twenty years after his father's last service in the same position. He is a republican in his political affiliations. Mrs. Root is a member of the Congregational Church of Lorain, Ohio.
On April 3, 1878, at Sheffield, Ohio, he married Sarah Ann Howes, daughter of William E. and Elizabeth Howes, of Elyria, Ohio, but form- erly from Northamptonshire, England. Mr. and Mrs. Root have two children, Frances Elizabeth, born at Elyria, October 27, 1880, a graduate of Wells College, and from the Western Reserve Library School, married Mr. Albert K. Hibbard, of Cleveland, Ohio. They have two children : Robert Root Hibbard and William Loomis Hibbard. Harriet Maria Root, born at Elyria August 27, 1885, is a graduate of Wellesley College.
WILLIAM HELDMYER. It is given to few men to impress their enter- prise, their resources, more effectually upon a community than was true of the late William Heldmyer of Elyria. His was the familiar story of the poor boy who makes his own opportunities, and who succeeds as a result of hard and persistent toil and intelligent management. For more than thirty years Mr. Heldmyer was one of the foremost merchants of Lorain County, was a business builder who built up a number of organizations which are still vital factors in the commercial life of the community, and for years exercised a controlling power in the business affairs of this section.
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A native of Medina County, Ohio, where he was born April 13, 1850, the late William Heldmyer was a son of Jacob and Julia Heldmyer, who in 1848 immigrated from Wuertemberg, Germany, establishing a home in Liverpool Township of Medina County, and in 1851 going to Ottawa County. Jacob Heldmyer was a harness maker by trade, but during his life in Ohio was chiefly a farmer. He died at Oak Harbor in 1856.
Partly owing to the early death of his father, the early lot of William Heldmyer was one of hard circumstance and limited opportunity. He gained the rudiments of an education in the country schools, and as far back as his memory could recall he was employed in some of the duties of farm work. Coming to Elyria in 1867, he found employment as a carpenter with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. He was careful, economical, faithful to his obligations, and wisely laid the foundation for his permanent success. In 1880 he became associated with the firm of Wright & Semple, under the name of Heldmyer, Wright & Semple in the hardware business at Elyria. He bought the interests of the other partners in 1883, and from that time until his death nearly thirty years later the hardware business was chief among his interests. In 1890 John Krantz became associated with him, and after that the style of the company was William Heldmyer & Company. In 1897 the business was incorporated as the Heldmyer Hardware Company, with Mr. Heldmyer as secretary and treasurer of the corporation. He was also a third owner and vice president of the Elyria Hardware Company.
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He also owned stock and was a director in the Lorain Hardware Com- pany and the Krantz Hardware Company, both at Lorain.
For many years his activities in the business world covered a large field. He was president of the Elyria Savings & Bank Company and one of its organizers; assisted in organizing and became president of the Lorain County Building & Loan Association; was also president of the Andwur Hotel Company. At one time his interest also extended to the lake marine and he was part owner in several vessels. The large Held- myer Block where his hardware store was conducted in Elyria was erected by Mr. Heldmyer and in 1897 he organized the Elyria Building Company and constructed the Elyria Block. The burning of this central feature of the business section in 1909 caused him heavy losses and the many worries connected with the rebuilding of the new Elyria Block, which was completed in 1910 did much to undermine his health. Soon after its organization Mr. Heldmyer became a director in the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and was also a member at one time of the city council.
The immediate cause of Mr. Heldmyer's death was a fall from the fourth floor fire escape in the rear of the Elyria Building, and he was killed almost instantly. This sad loss to the business and civic com- munity occurred July 2, 1912. In his will Mr. Heldmyer named his daughter Mrs. Hannaford as trustee of his entire estate, and for those large responsibilities she is eminently fitted, being one of the most capable business executives in Lorain County. In 1874 Mr. Heldmyer married Mary Beese, who was born at Elyria and died July 19, 1908, at the age of fifty-two. The children born to their marriage were: Florence J., Leona M., Alice C. and Harry M. The oldest daughter, Florence, had married Albert M. Hannaford just two weeks before her father's sudden death. She was married June 15, 1912, and she now has a son, John Roy Hannaford II, born June 16, 1913, and named for his grandfather Hannaford. Mrs. Hannaford has assumed active con- trol of all the business and property interests of her father, succeeded to his place on the board of directors of the Elyria Savings & Banking Company, and is now the only woman in the State of Ohio to hold such a position. The daughter, Leona M., married James Garnett Tyler, and they now live in Los Angeles, California. Alice C. is the wife of Willard M. Taylor of Elyria. The son, Harry, also resides at Elyria.
HON. GEORGE G. WASHBURN. A rare character both in its public service and in its varied influences upon the men and institutions of Elyria and of Lorain County was that of the late George G. Washburn, for many years distinguished in this part of Ohio as a journalist and editor, as a business man, and as one of the founders and for a number of years one of the board of managers of the reformatory at Mansfield. His active career covered a most vital period in the history of Lorain County and Ohio, beginning in the '40s and continuing until his death at his home' in Elyria on June 8, 1898.
Though he was largely self-educated and depended upon his own efforts for self-advancement, he came of family and antecedents of such character, that much might be predicted of his life at its beginning. He was born November 24, 1821, at Orange, Grafton County, New Hamp- shire, a son of Azel Washburn, who was born at Lyme, New Hampshire, and is descended from an English family that settled near Boston very early in the history of that colony. Mr. Washburn's mother was Eliza- beth N. Danforth. She was born at Londonderry, New Hampshire, and was closely related to the noted family of Greggs, members of which founded the Town of Londonderry. The Greggs are distinguished as having been the first to manufacture flax spinning wheels in America.
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For a number of generations at least one male member of the Greggs family was taught the art of manufacturing that implement, and it is said that the last wheels of that kind were made in Elyria about 1838 by Col. William Greggs, now deceased.
As a boy both in New Hampshire and after the family came to Ohio George G. Washburn had many limitations interposed by circumstance between him and his ambitions for learning and attainment. There were no regular schools, and only for brief periods did his parents secure the services of a private instructor in their household for the training of their three sons. In 1832 the family removed from New Hampshire to Ohio, locating in Perry, now Lake County. For three years the sons attended the pioneer schools in that community. In 1835 the family came to Camden in Lorain County. This was then a wilderness country and the hard work involved in clearing up a new farm left little oppor- tunity for growing boys to attend school. In that locality George G. Washburn spent seven years, and during the latter part of that period taught school during the winters.
In 1842 he removed to Brandenburg, Kentucky, where he conducted a private school, but soon returned to Ohio and for three years alternated between teaching in the winter months and in studying at Oberlin during the summer. In the spring of 1846 he removed to Elyria, where he be- came an articled student of law in the office of Hon. Philemon Bliss. Two years later he was admitted to the bar, and for a similar period practiced in partnership with Hon. Sylvester Bagg.
It was not in the law but in journalism that Mr. Washburn exercised his greatest influence in the life and affairs of Lorain County. His first introduction to that career came in 1850 when he was persuaded to edit the Elyria Courier. Most local newspapers of that time were organs of a political party, and the Courier was the mouthpiece for the whig party in Lorain County. In 1852, during the last presidential campaign in which the whig party was an entity, the office was destroyed by fire without insurance, and the entire investment was a total loss. However, Mr. Washburn had become thoroughly committed to journalism, had proved his ability as a trenchant and forceful writer, and the destruc- tion of the plant proved no permanent bar to his continuance in the profession. He borrowed money enough to purchase a new outfit, gave up the practice of law, and was soon devoting all his time and energies to journalism. He was as successful in business management as he was as an editor. At that time it was hardly expected that a political organ would prove self-sustaining, and in fact such a newspaper proved usually a heavy tax upon the party. In a short time Mr. Washburn had brought his journal to independence financially, and in 1854 he merged it with the Independent Democrat. A number of years later he effected another consolidation, merging his enterprise with the Elyria Republi- can, and for a long term of years Mr. Washburn was the editor and proprietor of this old and influential Lorain County paper.
Outside of journalism his services extended in many other direc- tions. At the beginning of the war in 1861 Governor Dennison ap- pointed him secretary of the County Military Committee, and he was a member of that body until the close of the war, spending much time in visiting camps and battlefields in the interests of the soldiers of Lorain County. Although he was for many years active in the field of political warfare, he never sought any political honors for himself, and such offices as he did hold were accepted entirely from a desire to perform particular service. For a number of years he advocated a state insti- tution as a reformatory for young men, and in order to carry out his plans effectively became a candidate for the Legislature, and served four years in that body. While in the Legislature he was author of the bill
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which passed and provided for the establishment of the reformatory at Mansfield. It should be explained in passing that the reformatory at Mansfield has a somewhat distinctive character, and the ideal was present in the mind of Mr. Washburn when he planned and worked for the establishment of the institution. It could not be described as the usual type of reform school for boys, since the Mansfield Reformatory takes young men between the ages of seventeen and thirty, after weaknesses and bad habits have hardened in many cases into permanent lines of eriminality. However, they are not irredeemable criminals, and the purpose of the reformatory is not penal so much as corrective and edu- cative and has done much to replace old lives and methods of action with new. Mr. Washburn's work in behalf of the institution was fol- lowed by his appointment by Governor James G. Campbell on April 27, 1890, as a member of the board of managers for the reformatory, and he was reappointed April 27, 1895, by Governor William McKinley. During the last eleven years of his life the welfare of the Mansfield insti- tution was the matter closest to his heart, and of all his services he per- haps found that the most satisfying.
In 1844 Mr. Washburn married Miss Luana M. Hill. She died in 1855, leaving two daughters. Celia Georgiana is now the wife of Henry Lee Lathrop of San Antonio, Texas. She has two children: Walter Washburn Lathrop, now a resident of Tacoma, Washington; and Alice Washburn Lathrop of San Antonio. The second daughter, Alice Mary, who married John M. Vincent of Fort Worth, Texas, died at Elyria August 12, 1888, leaving two daughters: Stella Louise, now living at Carmel, California; and Alice Vincent, who married Harry Court Cole- man, of Dalhart, Texas ..
In October, 1856, Mr. Washburn married at Buffalo, New York, Mrs. Sarah N. Oatman of that city. Mrs. Washburn is still living at the old residence on Washington Avenue which was built by Mr. Wash- burn forty-four years ago, and is one of the residential landmarks of many associations in the City of Elyria.
In 1858 Mr. Washburn became a stockholder in the Lorain Bank of Elyria, a branch of the old State Bank. This subsequently became the First National Bank. In addition to his service in the Legislature he was also a member of the city council and for six years was president of the school board. However, outside of his valuable work in behalf of the State Reformatory at Mansfield, he deserves to be best remembered for his strong influence and success as an editor and newspaper manager.
LEONARD M. MOORE. The development of an industry in a com- munity is no less than an epitome of the growth and development of the community itself, for a municipality is composed of but an aggrega- tion of industries about which gather a large army of men with their families who are in some way connected with the conduct of these busi- ness enterprises. The City of Lorain, with its numerous industries and far-reaching commerce, owes its growth and prosperity to its position as a manufacturing center and to its location as a distributing point. In this connection a contributing factor to this development has been the Lorain Lumber and Manufacturing Company, in operation for forty- four years, for much of the success of which credit must be given to its secretary and treasurer, Leonard Miller Moore, whose more than ordinary enterprise and sagacity have given him a leading position among the business men of Lorain.
Mr. Moore is a native son of Lorain County, born on a farm, Feb- ruary 20, 1869, his parents being Leonard W. and Amanda (Miller) Moore. His father, who is deceased, was a farmer. He was one of the prominent men of his locality, serving as township trustee for many Vol. 11-2
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years, and after his removal to Lorain served as a member of the council for some time. Leonard Miller Moore was educated in the public schools, and when but a lad secured a position as office boy with the Lorain Lumber and Manufacturing Company. Later he was to become promi- nently identified with that business, but at that time he thought he saw better opportunities offered him elsewhere, and after a short time entered the office of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, in the capacity of bookkeeper. One year completed his experience in the field of journalism, he then going to Erie, Pennsylvania, which city he made his home for four years while he was gaining his training in planing mills and lumber yards and securing a knowledge of the business while employed as a bookkeeper.
In 1893 Mr. Moore returned to Lorain to accept the positions of secretary and treasurer of the Lorain Lumber and Manufacturing Com- pany, the concern with which he had been connected at the outset of his career. This company was organized in 1881, being the outgrowth of the business operated under the style of Brown Brothers & Company, and which had been established in 1872. There are now fifty people employed in the lumber yards and planing mills, the plant covering five acres of land, and the present officers are: Isaac Honecker, presi- dent; Charles F. Friend, vice president; and Leonard M. Moore, secretary and treasurer. Wise in counsel, prudent in action, energetic in the discharge of his duties, and at all times displaying the highest order of integrity, Mr. Moore has won and retained the entire confidence and respect of his associates, and in business circles has an excellent reputa- tion for ability and fidelity. In addition to the duties mentioned, he is serving as vice president of the Lorain Banking Company. For several years he served as a member of the council of Lorain, and during that time displayed an eagerness to further his city's interests that was commendable. At the fall election held in 1915 he was elected mayor of Lorain, taking the office January 1, 1916. The term of this office is two years. His fraternal connections are with the Masons, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree. His political views are those of the republican party and his religious affiliation with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a trustee.
Mr. Moore was married March 15, 1895, to Miss Carrie Friend, daughter of Charles F. Friend, of Lorain, vice president of the Lorain Lumber and Manufacturing Company. Three children have been born to this union : Helen, Ruth A. and Eleanor A.
JUDGE WASHINGTON W. BOYNTON. For a period longer than the average lifetime Judge Boynton has been a member of the Ohio bar. To the present generation his distinguished services are sufficiently familiar. To those who read these pages in the future it will suffice to indicate his prominence by saying that for years he stood second to none as a member of the Cleveland bar, and that for five years he read his clear, logical and forceful opinions into the decisions of the Ohio Supreme Court. Lorain County will always regard him as one of its foremost citizens and one of its most distinguished native sons.
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Born in Russia Township, Lorain County, January 27, 1833, Wash- ington Wallace Boynton is the son of General Lewis D. and Ruth (Well- man) Boynton, both of whom were born and spent many years of their early lives in Belgrade, Maine, but in 1826 they removed to Ohio and established themselves as pioneers in Lorain County. Judge Boynton is directly descended from Sir Matthew Boynton, who was created a baronet May 25, 1618, and was a member of the English parliament during the reign of Charles I. His sympathies became enlisted on the side of the republican cause during the civil wars of England. His
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wlic schools, ith the Lorain to become promi. he thought he saw a short time entered tparity of bookkeeper of journalists, he then made his home for four praning mills and lumber "siess while employed as a
. on to accept the positions of aber and Manufacturing Com- ... been connected at the outset of .: d in 1881. being the outgrowth .... Ir of Brown Brothers & Company, . 1572. There are now fifty people .si planing mills, the plant covering .. officers are: Isaac Honecker. presi- vent ; and Leonard M. Moore, secretary prudent in action, energetic in the v'i times displaying the highest order · and retained the entire confidence and · bramness circles has an excellent reputa- ' : vidition to the duties mentioned. he is . Lor in Banking Company. For several . the council of Lorain, and during that . further his city's interests that was · a held in 1915 he was elected mayor ay 1, 1916. The term of this office ton tions are with the Masons, in which appar degree. His political views are aund his religious affiliation with the : iph he is a trustee.
1. 15 1895. to Miss Carrie Friend, i . .. in, vice president of the Lorain Three children have been born I leanor A.
For a period longer than the been a member of the Ohio bar. tinguished services are sufficiently . pages in the future it will suffice to z that for years he stood second to A war, and that for five years he read ... . mus into the decisions of the Olo w .i always regard him as one of its distinguished native sons.
un County. January 27, 1833, Wash. 4 of General Lewis D. and Ruth / W. H was born and spent many years of their wust in 1826 they removed to Ohio 2.4 .... m Lorain County. Judge Bosnia. : Matthew Boynton, who was created a a member of the English partiam .. This sympathies became enlistei on ..... during the civil wars of England. i;'
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second son, named Matthew, married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Stapleton, and about 1632 emigrated to America and became identified with the New England Colony of Boyntons.
Gen. Lewis D. Boynton was born in Maine August 5, 1802, and his wife was born February 22, 1806. On coming to Lorain County General Boynton acquired a large tract of wild land in Russia Township. It is said that much of the land now included in that township was cleared under his superintendence and by men employed directly by him. He was a leader in thought and action in the early days, and at one time served as brigadier general of the State Militia. For the most part his years were spent in farming, and he died in September, 1871. His wife passed away on the old homestead in Russia Township January 27, 1840.
Judge Boynton is a product of pioneer circumstances of the old fashioned common schools and into his character were instilled much of the fine spirit that went with the building of homes and the clearing up of the wilderness district. While the hard work of a farm was his por- tion as a boy he was naturally studious, and he brought a superior judg- ment to every task. He attended the common schools and select schools, but gained much of his liberal education by dint of hard work with no stimulus save his own ambition. When he was only a boy the people of the community frequently remarked that "he was cut out for a law- yer." At the age of sixteen he taught his first term in a district school. From 1855 to 1857 he conducted a select school in Amherst Township. From 1857 to 1864 he served as county examiner of school teachers. . In the meantime he had been industriously reading law. His director in those studies was his uncle, Elbridge Gerry Boynton, then a leading lawyer at Elyria.
It was in 1856, fifty-nine years ago, that Judge Boynton was admitted to the Ohio bar. However, his work as an educator continued for a year or so longer, and he did not begin active practice until 1858. His first partner was L. A. Sheldon, and they were together in practice at Elyria until 1861, when General Sheldon went out as lieutenant colonel of the Forty-second Ohio Regiment and subsequently gained dis- tinction in the Union army. Judge Boynton was soon marked for offi- cial honor. He served as prosecuting attorney of Lorain County from 1859 to 1864, and in the meantime formed a partnership with John C. Hale. Owing to ill health Judge Boynton gave up his practice for one winter and lived in Minneapolis during that time. until he had sufficiently recuperated to resume his work in Lorain County.
His next partnership was with Laertes B. Smith, and their relation- ship continued for several years. It was interrupted when Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, afterwards President, appointed Mr. Boynton judge of the Common Pleas Court for the second subdivision for the Fourth Judicial District. His appointment came February 9, 1869, and he retired from the firm of Boynton & Smith and held his position on the Common Pleas Bench from 1869 to 1877. His district comprised the counties of Lorain, Medina and Summit. It was his splendid work as a common pleas judge that brought his qualifications to wider renown when on February 9, 1877, he took his seat on the Supreme Bench of Ohio. He had been elected to that office in October, 1876. For nearly five years he was one of the able members of that tribunal, and every well read lawyer in the state is familiar with some of his clear, crisp opinions delivered from that bench.
It was ill health that compelled Judge Boynton to retire from the Supreme Court in November, 1883, and small compensation for his work, and he soon afterwards located in the City of Cleveland. There he at once took rank with the ablest attorneys of a bar second to none
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