USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
Mr. and Mrs. Everson have a fine family of eight children, and may properly take pride in their accomplishments and the worthy positions they occupy. The oldest, Arthur, born March 25, 1870, is a lineman with the Postal Telegraph Company; Franklin James, born October 24, 1871, is located at Milan, Ohio, and has served as lineman and is now district manager for the telephone company; Charles H. was born Sep- tember 10, 1873, and is still at home; Walter H., born November 7, 1877, and is also at home; Norman B., born December 7, 1879, is in the real estate business at Cleveland, Ohio; Jessie May, born July 17, 1880, is the wife of Rev. Newton Moore, a Congregational minister at Muscatine, Iowa; George H., born August 18, 1885, graduated from the Wellington High School and from Oberlin College, and from Columbia University of New York City, and was recently chosen among twenty-three appli- cants and is now secretary to the Criminal Court Committee in New York City, and has a very promising career of usefulness before him; Howard H., the youngest, was born February 10, 1888, and is also a telephone man.
Mr. and Mrs. Everson are members of the Congregational Church and quite active in church affairs, Mr. Everson serving as a member of the board of trustees. He is a republican in politics.
Mr. Everson started out as a farmer on 105 acres of land. Many changes have resulted from his ownership and control, and his is un- doubtedly one of the finest farms in Brighton Township. It is located close to Brighton Center and besides general farming he carries on some dairying, and keeps shorthorn cattle, Berkshire hogs, some good road horses, and a number of White Rock chickens. All of this prosperity he has won from a start of only $300 of capital. He also owns ninety aeres of his father's old homestead.
Digitized by Google
761
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY
EARL J. STRICKLAND. Perhaps no branch of business is more indic- ative of an advanced state of civilization than that of insurance in its different forms of life, fire and accident, and it would be hard to find another that in recent years has had a more phenominal growth. Finan- cial protection against the results of death or accident has come to be looked on as a modern necessity among all classes of people who have claims to reasonable intelligence, and since this necessity has come to be generally recognized the insurance business has grown by leaps and bounds. One of the leading men engaged in this line of business in Lorain County, Ohio, is Earl J. Strickland, general agent for The Ohio National Life Insurance Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who has an office at 318 Elyria Block, Elyria, this county. Mr. Strickland was born in Jamestown Chautauqua County, New York, September 23, 1883, a son of Parker D. and Josephine (Moynihan) Strickland. The father, a native of Dayton, New York, was an upholsterer by trade and spent most of his life in Jamestown, where he died in 1903. His wife Josephine was born in Ireland, and was seventeen years old when she came to the United States, where she had brothers and sisters living, her parents remaining in their native land. She is still living, being a resident of Jamestown. She and her husband were the parents of nine children- four sons and five daughters-of whom the subject of this memoir is the eldest of the family and the only one now living in Ohio.
Earl J. Strickland was educated in the public schools of Jamestown, New York and began industrial life as a clerk in the employ of the American Express Company at Jamestown, where he continued in that capacity for two years. He was then transferred to Coraopolis, Pennsyl- vania, a suburb of Pittsburg, and was agent of the company there for one year, being then, in August, 1907, transferred to Oberlin, Ohio. After acting as the company's agent in Oberlin for five years he resigned from this position to enter the employ of The Ohio National Life Insurance Company of Cincinnati, as general agent for this territory, with head- quarters at first in Oberlin. In 1913 the headquarters for the district were established in Elyria, with a commodious office in the Elyria Block. The company is an "old line" insurance company, organized under the laws of Ohio, and engaged in the sale of "nonparticipating insurance" at a low fixed guaranteed rate, which plan of insurance is rapidly com- ing to be considered as superior to that which provides for the participat- ing in so-called "dividends," which are simply overcharges held in trust by the companies and returned, in whole or part, at the end of the year, or stated period of years, to the person holding the policy. The fifth annual statement of The Ohio National Life Insurance Company, issued December 31, 1914, shows a surplus to policyholders of $654,560.62, which is greater than that of all other Ohio companies combined, ex- cept the Union Central. That Mr. Strickland is a man of force, with a thorough grasp of the business in which he is engaged, may be gathered from the fact that his name appears as second in the list of the five lead- ers for paid up business for the first quarter of 1915. As a member of the builders' club of his company, he was elected secretary in January, 1916. He is an active and useful member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, of Elyria.
Mr. Strickland was married, July 19, 1906, to Miss Nellie E. Scott, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, who was born in West Virginia, but reared and educated in Coraopolis where she attended business college. They are the parents of one son, Donald Scott, who was born in Oberlin, Ohio, November 13, 1908.
Digitized by
762
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY
HORACE GREELEY REDINGTON (son of Ransom Nathaniel Redington and Melissa E. Tyler) was born on a farm in Amherst Township, Lorain County, Ohio, on July 10, 1858. His father was a direct descendant of John Redington, who came over from England in 1646 and settled at Tops- field, Massachusetts. His mother belonged to the Tyler family which set- tled in Massachusetts, and later moved to Connecticut and took part in the founding of the New Haven Colony. Ransom N. Redington was born at Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, in 1816. In 1819 his father, Harry Redington, moved his family from Fredonia to Amherst Town- ship, Lorain County, Ohio, where he resided until his death on Novem- ber 18, 1848. Melissa E. Tyler was born in Eaton Township, Lorain County, in 1822. Her father, David Miles Tyler, came to Lorain County from Connecticut prior to 1820. She was married to Ransom N. Reding- ton at Elyria, Ohio, on July 24, 1844. He died at Amherst, Lorain County, in October, 1885. She died at Amherst in 1905. Thus the Red- ingtons and Tylers have been identified with the history of America for over 250 years, and with that of Lorain County for nearly a century.
Horace G. Redington attended the public schools in Amherst Town- ship and Oberlin Village, was graduated from Oberlin Academy, and entered Oberlin College with the class of 1881. However, he left that institution in the early part of 1880 during his junior year, and entered Cornell University where he finished the school year. From the fall of 1880 until the spring of 1884 he read law under the supervision of Jacob F. Burkett, of Findlay, Ohio. He was admitted to the bar on June 4, 1884, an at once opened an office and began to practice his profession at Amherst, Ohio. On December 4, 1884, he married Miss Lucy Cor- nelia Moore, of Amherst, daughter of Dr. Abner C. Moore and Elizabeth Onstine. Doctor Moore came to Amherst in 1851, and actively practiced medicine there for over forty years. Her mother was a daughter of George Onstine, who, with his father, Frederick Onstine, settled in Amherst Township in 1819.
.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Redington : Harry Moore, born February 22, 1886; Blanche Lucile, born August 4, 1888, and Horace Ray, born May 30, 1891. They continued to reside in Amherst Village until February 1911, when they moved to Elyria, Ohio, where Mr. Redington continued to practice law. In 1885 he was elected mayor of Amherst, which office he held for four terms or eight years. He organized the Savings Deposit Bank of Amherst in 1891, and served as its president until 1905. He organized the Amherst Water Works Company, and is still its president. For several years he was president of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce. While in Amherst, he was financially interested in numerous other enterprises, and was recognized as one of the leading citizens there. He became affiliated with the Ma- sonic, Odd Fellow, and other lodges at Amherst, as well as the Elks Lodge and the Masonic Chapter at Elyria.
In 1911, he and Judge David J. Nye were elected as the two delegates from Lorain County to the Ohio Constitutional Convention, Mr. Red- ington being the high man in the field of ten candidates. On Septem- ber 1, 1914, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas to serve until the election in November, 1914, Judge Stroup having re- signed. At the November election in 1914, he was a candidate for elec- tion to serve until January 1, 1917, the end of Judge Stroup's term. He and his opponent. W. B. Thompson, each received 4,985 votes. The result being a tie, there was no election, and Judge Redington, by virtue of his appointment. will hold the office until January 1, 1917.
From June 4, 1884, to September 1, 1914, Judge Redington was almost continuously engaged in the practice of law, and was recognized as one of the able lawyers of Lorain County. His broad experience and
Digitized by Google
.
Horace & Redington
Digitized by Google
762
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY
HOFFE GREELEY REDINGTON (son of Ransom Nathaniel Redington and Melissa E. Tyler, was born on a farm in Amherst Township, Lorain Com.ty. Omo, on July 10, 1858. His father was a direct descendant of Joen Redington, who came over from England in 1616 and settled at Tops- Said. Massachusetts His mother belonged to the Tyler family which set- tled in Massachusetts, and later moved to Connecticut and took part m the founding of the New Haven Colony. Ransom N. Redb.gton was born at Fr doma. i hastanqua County, New York, in 1516. In 1919 ns father. Harry Redington, moved his family from Bedonia to Ambrest Town- ship, Lorain County, Ohio, where he touched wait his death on Novem- ber 18, 1848. Melissa E. Tyler was born in base Dowaship, Lorain County, in 1822 Her father. David Miles Tyler, vaan to Loram County from Connection pror to 1820. She was married a Ransom N. Reding- ton at E.Sti. . on July 24, 1844. He died at Amherst, Loram
County, in 0 ... : . 1 ~~ 5. She died at Amberst. in 1905 Thus the Red-
mgton- .... bave been identified with the history of America for wir that of Lorain County for nearly a century.
11. moon attended the public schools in Amherst Town- tore, was graduated from Oberlin Academy, and
wie ge with the class of 1881. However, he left that wy part of 1880 during his juroor year, and entered "inte he finished the school your. From the fall of re : 1884 he read law under the supervision. " Jacob Han. Ohio. He was admitted to the bar on June 4, . Fred an office and began to practice his profession (. December 4, 1884. he married Miss Lucy Cor- test, daughter of Dr. Abner (. Moore and Elizabeth Moore came to Amherst in 1851, and actively practiced wer forty years. Her mother was a daughter of with his father, Frederick Onstine, settled in 119.
Hora to Mr. and Mrs. Redington : Harry Moor , Jean; Blanche Lucile, born August 4. 1885, and : Max ge 1:91. They continued to reside in Amherst
1 1911, when they moved to Elyria, Ohio, where
I to practice law. In 1885 he was elected mayor " he held for four terms or eight years. He
. Oposit Bank of Amherst in 1891, and served . Hle organized the Amherst Water Works silent. For several years he was president
Commerce . While in Amherst, he was truus other enterprises, and was recogniz. . . there. He became affiliated with the Ms "' lodges at Amherst, as well as the El: after at Elyria.
man J. Nye were elected as the two delegat. from Lorain Come to Be Glio Constitutional Convention, Mr. I. ington trang & the new in the field of ten candidates. On Sept. ber 1, 1914. b. sas counted judge of the Court of Common Plus serve until the alo con m November, 1914, Judge Stroup having signed. At the Vin ember election in 1914. he was a candidate for tion to serve until January 1. 1917, the end of Judge Stroup's term. and his opponent, W. B. Thompson. each received 4,985 votes. result being a tie, there was no election, and JJudge Redington, by . of his appointment, will hold the office until January 1, 1917.
From June 4. 1884. to September 1. 1914, Judge Redington almost continuously engaged in the practice of law, and was revox' as one of the able lawyers of Lorain County. His broad experien
Digitized by Google
1
Horace & Redington
Digitized by Google
Digitized by
763
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY
success as a lawyer, his wide experience as a man of affairs, coupled with the highest integrity, made it only natural that he should be a successful judge. His judicial service has been notable.
Politically, Judge Redington is a democrat, and has been chairman of the Lorain County Central Committee on several occasions, and has acted as a delegate to various democratic conventions. He belongs to the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, the Men's Club of the Congregational Church, and other civic and social organizations. Judge and Mrs. Red- ington are still residing in Elyria.
The biography of Harry M. Redington is elsewhere contained in this publication.
Blanche Lucile attended the public schools at Amherst, and Miss Mittleberger's School for Girls in Cleveland ; was graduated from Ober- lin Academy, and took two years' work in Oberlin College. She was one of the most popular members of Elyria's younger social circles, and on April 21, 1915, was married to E. Carl Danner. They are now residing in Johnstown, Pa., where Mr. Danner is connected with the Cambria Steel Company.
Horace Ray attended the public schools at Amherst, was graduated from Oberlin Academy, took his freshman year at Oberlin College, en- tered Brown University as a sophomore the next fall, and was gradua- ted from that institution in June, 1913. On October 30, 1915, he mar- ried Miss Bess Fell. They are residing in Elyria. He is connected with the National Tube Company of Lorain.
ROY F. VANDEMARK is accounted one of the leading lawyers of Elyria of the younger generation and a citizen whose activities in civic life are rapidly bringing him to the forefront. He was born at Lodi, Medina County, Ohio, December 22, 1887, and is a son of B. J. and Mary (Burk- holder) Vandemark.
B. J. Vandemark was born in Spencer Township, Medina County, Ohio, and throughout his life has been engaged in agricultural pursuits, in which his industry and energy have gained him success. He was mar- ried in Harrisville Township, Medina County, to Mary Burkholder, who was born in Congress (or Canaan) Township, Wayne County, Ohio, and both still survive and reside on their farm in the vicinity of Lodi, although they are now retired from active labor. An active and influ- ential republican, Mr. Vandemark has been a prominent figure in local politics, having been a trustee of Harrisville Township and held other township offices, and at this time being a commissioner of Medina County. Mr. and Mrs. Vandemark are the parents of five sons and one daugh- ter, all living, as follows: A. W., a resident of Chippewa Lake, Ohio; C. V .. H. A. and V. A., who all reside at Lodi; Effa, who is now Mrs. Charles Overs, of Ashland, Ohio; and Roy F., of this notice. All the children were born in Medina County, and all received their educa- tional training in the public schools of Lodi.
Roy F. Vandemark was graduated from the Lodi High School in the class of 1907, following which he entered the Western Reserve. Law School. and was duly graduated in 1910, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In June of the same year he commenced practice at Elyria, in association with Henry W. Ingersoll, a connection which continued until October 1, 1915, since which time Mr. Vandemark has maintained an office in the Elyria Block and practices alone.
Mr. Vandemark is a member of the Lorain County Bar Association and holds an established position in the confidence of his clients and the regard of his fellow-practitioners. A republican in politics, he is at the present time a candidate for the office of city solicitor. Mr. Van- demark belongs to the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and his religious Vol. 11-14
Digitized by
1
764
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY
connection is with the First Congregational Church, in which he is a lead- ing member of the Men's Club. He belongs also to King Solomn Lodge No. 56, of Elyria, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Marshall Chapter and Elyria Council, also of this city, and is lecturing knight of the Elks Lodge at Elyria. That his tastes are intellectual and his habits of a very energetic character, his career up to the present time has shown. Before him unquestionably are many honorably years of participation in professional life.
On March 31, 1914, Mr. Vandemark was married to Miss Zepha White, who was born in Harrisville Township, Medina County, Ohio, daughter of C. N. White. Like her husband she is a graduate of the Lodi High School, class of 1907. In the spring of that year her mother died, but her father still survives and resides on the old home place in Spencer Township, Medina County, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Vandemark there has been born one son : Robert W. ("Bob White").
WILLIAM CRISP. In the death of William Crisp, which occurred in November, 1910, Elyria lost one of its veteran business men, one who was honest and conscientious in all he did, and enjoyed a reputation for fair dealing second to none.
Born in the Village of Mausley, Rugby; England, February 23, 1840, William Crisp was brought to this country in 1844 by his parents, who bought a farm in Avon, Lorain County. When only fourteen years of age he entered the employ of John A. Topliff as an apprentice and learned the carriagemaker's trade. When twenty-two he was taken into partnership with his employer, and this relationship continued for seven or eight years. Then Mr. Crisp formed a partnership with Wil- liam Henson which continued until his death. The firm of Crisp & Hen- son was the oldest partnership existing in Lorain County when it was broken by Mr. Crisp's death. They had been engaged in business in the same location on West Avenue for forty years.
Besides his business career Mr. Crisp served two terms on the city council and was a member of the board of health at the time of his death.
Mr. Crisp married Georgina Goodwin and they became the par- ents of four children, as follows : Edith, Lottie, Zada and John C.
ROBERT HUGHES RICE. Junior member of the law firm of Stroup, Fauver & Rice, whose offices are in the Turner Building at Elyria, Rob- ert Hughes Rice is a young man of natural capabilities and thorough training, and has already taken his position among the leading pro- fessional men and citizens of Elyria.
Born at Riceville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, December 14, 1886, he is a son of Elmer M. and Carrie C. Rice. The family moved from Riceville, Pennsylvania, to Elyria in 1897, and Elmer M. Rice is cashier of the Elyria Savings and Banking Company.
Robert H. Rice enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education and made the best of his opportunities while in school and university. Gradu- ating from the Elyria High School in 1904, he entered Oberlin College, where he was graduated A. B. in 1908, and in 1911 took his degree LL. B. from the Columbia University Law School at New York City. He was elected to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, the scholarship honor fraternity, from Oberlin College in 1908. While in the Columbia University Law School he was one of the editors of the Columbia Law Review. In 1908 he represented Oberlin College in the intercollegiate debate, and enjoyed similar honors at Columbia University in 1909 and 1910. Prior to that, in 1907, he was president of the Northern Oratorical League. While his educational career was apparently uninterrupted in
Digitized by Google
,
,
Digitized by
Mit. Harrison
Digitized by
1
765
.
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY
its continuity, Mr. Rice paid a large share of his expenses, and entirely supported himself while in law school by tutoring, teaching and lecturing. During the summers of 1908, 1909 and 1910 he held a clerical posi- tion in the Elyria Savings & Banking Company.
Immediately on his admission to the bar June 29, 1911, he began practice in the office of L. B. Fauver. He was a member of the firm of Fauver & Rice from 1912 to 1914, and has since been junior in Stroup, Fauver & Rice, one of the leading law firms of Northern Ohio. Mr. Rice was a member of the first charter commission of Elyria in 1913. While non-partisan as to local politics, he is a republican in national affairs, though in many ways he is completely independent. In Masonry he is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, and Marshall Chapter Royal Arch Masons. His church is the First Congregational. At Elyria on December 26, 1914, Mr. Rice married Harriet E. Garford, daughter of G. H. Garford of Elyria.
MELVIN F. HARRISON. The rapid growth of the automobile industry has been responsible for the development of a new profession, the fol- lower of which much necessarily possess qualifications and talents requisite in few other lines. Engaged in the automobile business at Elyria since 1908, Melvin F. Harrison, of the Harrison Motor Company, has become one of the best known figures in the automobile world of Ohio, being the fortunate possessor of just those attributes which make for success in this newest of vocations.
Mr. Harrison was born at Dover, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Decem- ber 20, 1876, and is a son of John B. and Carrie H. (Witham) Harrison, both residents of that place today. The father is a real estate dealer and farmer, a native of the place, and has spent his entire life at Dover, where the mother was also born and where they were married. George Harrison, the grandfather of Melvin F. Harrison, came to Ohio from Connecticut, making the journey with an ox-team, and for many years conducted the old half-way house between Elyria and Cleveland. He is now deceased, and the maternal grandfather, a veteran of the Civil war, in which he fought as a Union soldier, A. B. Witham, survived until January, 1916. He was then ninety years old and a resident of Cleveland. John B. Harrison has held several minor offices of a civic and township nature, and is one of the community's influential and highly respected citizens. He and his wife have been the parents of three sons and one daughter : Melvin F .; Lua-Ella, who is now the wife of George A. Hogue, of Blue Cass Springs, Woodburn County, Indiana; Herman, who died at the age of six years, nine months, fifteen days; and Calvin L., a resident of Dover. All were born at Dover and there educated.
After graduating from the Dover High School, Melvin F. Harrison attended Burke & Dyke's business college, at Cleveland, and began his business career by opening a stall in the new market house in that city, dealing in butter and eggs, an enterprise in which he was engaged for about a year. At this time his father lost his health and was compelled to go to Northern Michigan, and the son disposed of his Cleveland busi- ness and returned to the home farm to take charge of its management for twelve months. His next move was to Cheboygan, Michigan, where with his father, he built a range of greenhouses, the first of any size to be erected in that state north of Bay City, and remained in business together for one and one-half years, under the style of Harrison & Son. The father then returned to the home farm and for three and one-half years longer Melvin F. Harrison carried on the business alone, but finally sold out to a cousin, George H. Harrison, and returned to Cleve- land, from which city he subsequently removed to Greenwood, Indiana.
Digitized by Google
766
HISTORY OF LORAIN COUNTY
There, with his brother-in-law, George A. Hogue, he erected and in- stalled a telephone exchange, known as the Home Telephone Company, with the idea of forcing its purchase, through competition, by the Bell Telephone Company. The older organization, however, did not come to terms, but Mr. Hogue, a practical man of business, organized a home company at Greenwood, to which the partners sold the line and equip- ment. Returning to Cleveland, Mr. Harrison again invaded the florist business, locating an establishment on Euclid Avenue, on the present site of the Hippodrome. There he conducted the M. F. Harrison Flower Shop, with a branch store in the lobby of the Holland Hotel, for two years, and sold out to the Ohio Floral Company, for which concern he became secretary and treasurer, positions in which he remained for one year. At that time he engaged in another venture with his brother- in-law, going to Lincoln, Illinois, where they erected an electric line from that point to Springfield for the Mckinley Syndicate. With the com- pletion of that enterprise, Mr. Harrison went to Chicago and became manager of the north side store of the Fleischman Floral Company, with which he was identified for three years. He then returned to the old home at Dover, but shortly thereafter, in October, 1908, came to Elyria, where he purchased a one-half interest in the business with which he is connected at this time, with Harry Mckinley, the business being located on its present site, but under the name of the Auto Inn. About four months later Mr. Harrison bought his partner's interest and conducted the enterprise alone for two years, handling the Overland automobile, a car with which he has been associated since entering the business. In this connection it may be mentioned that Mr. Harrison sold the first Overland sold in Lorain County, being the first county agent, an agency which he has retained to the present time. In 1911 Mr. Harrison sold a half interest in the business to Mr. A. L. Jackson, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work. The partners were unable to decide whose name should appear first in the new firm style, so finally agreed to "flip a coin," with the result that the name Jackson-Harrison Company was adopted, which existed until September 1, 1915, since which time Mr. Harrison has continued the business alone. He has taken over the agency of the Ford and Mercer automobiles and com- mercial trucks, as well as the Hudson and a number of others as side lines. The large, up-to-date and finely-equipped offices and salesrooms are located at No. 625 Broad Street, and the business is now recognized as one of Elyria's leading enterprises.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.