USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 37
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Known as a successful businessman, Mr. Hurst has been drawn into many of the activities which are making for a greater or better Elyria. In politics he is a republican, and in 1913 was appointed a member of the board of education to fill out the term of W. W. Austin, who had resigned, and at the fall election held in Elyria on November 4, 1915, he was elected a member of the board for a term of three years and January 1, 1916, was elected first vice president of that body. He is chairman of the building committee of the board of education. He is also a director of the Elyria Savings and Banking Company, a director and trustee of the Elyria Y. M. C. A., and a director of the Y. W. C. A., is president and a director of the Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Merchants Association of Elyria, treasurer of the Men's Club of the Episcopal Church, treasurer of the Men's Federation Club of Elyria, and a member of the Elyria Country Club. When business permits, he enjoys a quiet game of golf with his friends at the Country Club. He has been elected a life member of the Memorial Hospital Association of Elyria and is a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In Masonry he has taken the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite, belongs to the Council and the Knight Templar Commandery at Elyria and to various other Masonic bodies in Mckeesport, to Syria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Pittsburg and to the Eastern Star, a Ladies' Auxiliary of the Masonic order. He is also a member of Harlan P. Chapman Post, Sons of Veterans, at Elyria, to the Elyria Tent of the Knights of the Maccabees, while his firm has membership in the Automobile Club.
Mr. Hurst's first wife was Miss Hattie B. Powers of Elizabeth, Penn- sylvania. She died three years after their marriage at Mckeesport. Her one daughter, Lulu LaRue, is now the wife of Howard B. Somers of Elyria, now special agent there for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, with offices in the Century Block. Mrs. Somers was born in Mckeesport, was educated there in the high school, spent nearly two years in the Indiana State Normal at Indiana, Pennsylvania, but left school on account of ill health.
The present Mrs. Hurst before her marriage was Miss Elizabeth S. Robb, who was born and reared in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and was educated at Mckeesport, being a graduate of the high school of that city,
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and lived there until her marriage. For a number of years she taught school at Braddock, five miles from Mckeesport, going back and forth to her duties every day. Her parents were T. J. and Ellen ( Veasey) Robb of Beaver County, where her father died about 1900. Her mother now lives at Elyria with a son. Two daughters and one son have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hurst. The daughters are Eleanor and Isabel, both of whom are graduates of the Elyria public schools, each has taught a year in Elyria Township, and both are now students in the Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, where Eleanor will graduate with the class of 1916. Both the daughters were born in Mckeesport. The son is Orlando Hunter Hurst, who was born in Mckeesport, April 28, 1903, and is now attending the grade schools at Elyria.
WILLIAM STOLZENBURG's record as a building contractor and in public affairs is one that gives him a special place in the history of the City of Elyria during the past thirty years, and reflects high credit upon his ability and public spirit.
A brother of Henry Stolzenburg of Elyria and a son of Christian and Mary (Ebel) Stolzenburg, William Stolzenburg was born in Mecklen- burg-Schwerin, Germany, September 11, 1862. He came to the United States in the early '80s, several years before his parents emigrated to this country, and has been a resident of Elyria more than thirty years. His education came from the public schools of Germany, and after his confirmation in the Lutheran Church he attended night school four times a week for three years, taking second premium for scholarship the first year, first premium the second, and also received honors the third year. Before coming to this country he had served an apprenticeship of three years as a carpenter, worked as a journeyman one year and came to this country soon after his marriage. In 1885 Mr. Stolzenburg began the business of general contracting, and in the past thirty years it is doubt- ful if any building contractor in Lorain County has done a more extensive business. To his credit may be assigned the construction of more than 400 buildings in Elyria, including business blocks and some of the finest residences in the city.
At the same time he has been closely identified with the civic develop- ment of the city during his residence. For eighteen years he was a member of the volunteer hook and ladder company of the fire department, and is now a member of the Lorain County Volunteer Firemen's Asso- ciation. He was appointed assistant chief of the fire department, but resigned that post in 1907 when elected councilman at large, a position he has filled with judgment and ability for four successive terms, and is regarded as one of the strongest men in the city council. He is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and the Elyria Builders' Exchange, and for many years has been one of the most influential members and officers of St. John's Lutheran Church, having served eighteen years as trustee, and is still in the office of head cashier of the church.
On July 13, 1883, Mr. Stolzenburg married Miss Augusta Bobzien, who was also born in Mecklenburg-Schwerin. To their marriage were born six children, all but one of them still living. Albert M., who was born before his parents left Germany, is in business at Elyria and married Tilla Stettin, and they have three children, Guy, Pearl and Ralph; Christian C., born in Elyria, as were the other children, is a machinist. and married Hattie Peters of Elyria, and has two children, Chester and Helen ; William H., who was a soldier in the regular army of the United States for five years, married Lucy Pauley, and has one child, William; Rev. Otto F., who is now a minister of the Lutheran Church at Pomeroy, Ohio, married Nettie Vortman; Anna is at home with her parents; and
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Emma is deceased. All the children are married except Anna and all received their early education in the German Lutheran School at Elyria, while Rev. Otto attended the public schools, the college at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and prepared for the ministry at the Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.
PAUL W. SAMPSELL, M. D. No history of the medical profession in Lorain County would be complete without reference to the personality and the conspicuous success of the late Dr. Paul W. Sampsell, who for many years was undoubtedly the strongest practitioner of the Eclectic School in Lorain County, and stood first and foremost among all repre- sentatives of the profession in this part of the state. He possessed all the qualifications for the successful physician, and in the end had hosts of admirers of the symmetry and wholesomeness of his character.
Though spending the greater part of his long lifetime in Lorain . County, Dr. Paul W. Sampsell was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, June 22, 1828. He died in Elyria May 8, 1888. He belonged to a fine old family and one that furnished a large number of physicians to the world. Educated in the common schools, he attended the Eclectic Medi- cal College and also the Homeopathic School of Medicine at Cincinnati, from both of which institutions he graduated. His first place of practice was in Ashland, Ohio, and from there he moved to South Bend, Indiana. He enjoyed a high degree of popularity and standing among the leading citizens of that young manufacturing city, and continued there until failing health obliged him to seek a change of occupation and climate. A few years before gold had been discovered on the Pacific Coast, and among young men of venturesome spirit no undertaking was more highly in favor than a trip to California. Believing that such a journey would be of great benefit to him, he crossed the plains about the year 1852, the party going by wagon. Among other members of this little expedi- tion were several of the famous Studebakers of South Bend, then young men and close friends of Doctor Sampsell. These young men not only conducted their own tour but looked after a number of wagons and families on the road to California. At the end of one year in California Doctor Sampsell was greatly encouraged by his renewed health, and then decided to return to his native state.
In 1854 he made a permanent location in Elyria, and continued there in the Eclectic practice of medicine until his death more than thirty years later. After going to Elyria he was offered a chair in one of the colleges of Cincinnati, but declined a position where his ability and learning would have made him useful as an influence in the instruction of young men preparing for medicine. This was mainly due to his great prefer- ence to remain in active private practice. The opinion has frequently been expressed that as a physician Doctor Sampsell had no superior and had few peers during his active career. He enjoyed not only a large office practice, but as long as health and age permitted he had demands upon his time and energies requiring almost constant riding about the City of Elyria. Doctor Sampsell served as mayor of Elyria, and it is to his administration that the nucleus of the present beautifully shaded streets of Elyria is indebted, as the first shade trees were planted at that time.
In 1855 Doctor Sampsell was married in Elyria to Miss Evaline Childs. To their marriage one son was born, Warren W., who died December 1, 1887, at the age of thirty-one. Mrs. Sampsell was a native of Elyria, and came of an early and highly respected family there, and she herself was a woman of high culture and popular esteem. She died at Elyria in 1904 at the age of sixty-seven. At the present time there is only one direct descendant of the late Doctor Sampsell. The son, Vol. II-16
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Warren W., and his wife are both deceased, but they left a son, Paul W., a grandson of Dr. Paul W., and now a successful lawyer practicing in Los Angeles, California. He has had his home in California since his grandmother's death in 1904.
GEORGE BENJAMIN RANSHAW. Few men possess the talent for the exercise of such extended activities for usefulness in the world as George B. Ranshaw, who is prominently known in Elyria through his work as a religious and social leader, and more recently as district agent for the Berkshire Life Insurance Company. A record of his life in detail makes interesting reading.
Born in Covington, Kentucky, January 27, 1864. George Benjamin Ranshaw is a son of Henry and Emma (Warwood) Ranshaw. His father was born in London and his mother in Birmingham, England, coming to America when young, and were married at Cincinnati, Ohio, whence they removed to Covington, Kentucky. The mother came to the United States when about fourteen years of age. Her parents set- tled first at Pittsburgh, and later moved to Cincinnati. The Warwoods made the trip from England to the United States in a sailing vessel, which required about five weeks for the voyage. Cholera broke out among the passengers, and three of her brothers fell as victims of the disease and were buried at sea, and scores of the other passengers died before the end of the voyage. Henry Ranshaw came to America with an older member of the family, George Stacey, a half-brother. He was about twenty-two years of age at the time, and they both settled in Cincinnati. They also made the trip from England in a sailing vessel. Henry Ranshaw had learned the trade of machinist and shipwright in London, and after coming to the United States he and his half-brother established an iron railing works in Cincinnati. They subsequently developed this into a plant for steel fabrication. Henry Ranshaw was on terms of intimacy with General Rosecrans and General Mcclellan, both of whom were distinguished leaders of the Union army during the Civil war, and through the influence of General Rosecrans a large amount of Government business was turned to the plant at Cincinnati. The business for which George Stacey furnished capital and which grew up largely under the supervision and as a result of the energy of Henry Ranshaw was known as the Stacey Manufacturing Company, and the firm is owned today by the children and grandchildren of Henry Ran- shaw and George Stacey, both of whom are now deceased. While they had not yet completed their naturalization as American citizens at the time of the Civil war, they organized a regiment for the defense of Cincinnati, in which Henry Ranshaw became first lieutenant. and his brother a captain. It was known as Col. Amos Shinkle's Regiment, and it may be noted in passing that Colonel Shinkle built the suspension bridge over the Ohio River at Cincinnati. Henry and Emma Ranshaw were the parents of eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, all of whom grew up, and all are still living except two sons and one daughter.
The third son and the fifth child, George B. Ranshaw obtained his early education in the public schools of Covington, and also attended the famous old Chickering Institute of Cincinnati; a school which at different times enrolled many students who afterwards became famous, among them William H. Taft. Mr. Ranshaw entered the law department of the Cincinnati University, while Jacob D. Cox was its dean. and was graduated LL. B. with the class of 1885, and the same year, by special examinations, was admitted to the bar of Kentucky, and for about four years practiced in the office of George R. Sage and Thornton M. Hinkle
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at Cincinnati. Later he went out to the frontier in Dakota Territory, locating in Edmunds County, where he established himself in the town called Roscoe, that name having been given the new town in honor of the noted New York lawyer and politician, Roscoe Conkling. While in Dakota he purchased the newspaper Appeal, the official organ of the prohibition party, became sole proprietor, and through voice and pen did a notable work in educating the people of both North and South Dakota to establish prohibition as one of the cardinal principles of state policy. Mr. Ranshaw and Rev. James H. Kyle were co-workers in Dakota, and they subsequently moved to Aberdeen in South Dakota. Kyle outlined the platform of the populist party in South Dakota, and was elected on that ticket for the United States Senate, and died while filling his second term as a senator at Washington. During the four years in Dakota Mr. Ranshaw was elected state president of the Christian Endeavor work of the State of South Dakota, and spent much of his time in presenting the principles of the Endeavor Society and in organizing it in various churches.
It was this work which finally brought him to answer the call to the active ministry. Having sold his newspaper in South Dakota, the Appeal of Aberdeen, to members of the populist party who employed its columns to advocate that brand of politics, he returned to Kentucky and entered the Transylvania University at Lexington, where he took the English theological course. As a minister of the gospel Mr. Ranshaw had charge of churches at Paris, Indiana, for one year, two and a half years at Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and in the third year entered upon his duties as pastor of the Walnut Hill Disciple Church in Cincinnati. He remained in that charge three years, and was then sent to Taylor, Texas, for a year. He was a member of the boards of both the Home and Foreign Missionary societies of the Disciples Church, and on account of his knowledge of the work of these two organizations he was sent as missionary pastor of the First Christian Church of San Antonio, Texas, and while there organized the first congregation of the Disciples faith among the Mexican population, and continued to superintend the work in the Mexican field as long as he remained in Texas. Later returning to Cincinnati he became assistant secretary of Home Missions, and that was his principal work for ten years, though in the meantime he did much preaching, and also founded and was editor of the American Home Missionary at Cincinnati. This paper is still published. Mr. Ranshaw has occupied the pulpit as a preacher in nearly all parts of the United States.
In 1910 Rev. Mr. Ranshaw was called to Elyria to become pastor of the local Disciples Church. and remained its minister up to October 1, 1914. Since transferring his work to the field of Lorain County he has practically identified himself with many important movements in this locality. He has been called upon for numerous addresses of a memorial character and especially in the cause of prohibition, and at the same time has proved himself a thorough student and vigorous worker for civic improvement. He was one of the commission of fourteen local citizens who drew up a new charter for the City of Elyria, though that charter was defeated by the machine politicians from both the dominant parties. He is now serving on the Elyria City Board of Health.
On October 1, 1914. Mr. Ranshaw entered business as district agent for the Berkshire Life Insurance Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. This is one of the oldest life insurance companies in the country, having been incorporated in 1851, and for sixty-three years it has measured up to the highest standards of an ideal insurance service, has successfully
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met all the different tests applied by experience and changing conditions to insurance management, and offers practically all the most progressive forms of life insurance policies. Mr. Ranshaw's office as district agent is in the Masonic Temple, and he has already built up a large clientele over his district, which covers the counties of Lorain, Erie, Sandusky, Huron and Medina.
Mr. Ranshaw is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce. Politically he is identified with that progressive branch of the original republican party whose champion is Theodore Roosevelt, but in local politics he yotes independently. At the present time he is leader of the large men's class in the First Congregational Church Sunday School. He is also leading a large young men's bible class in the Elyria Young Men's Christian Association, known as the Automobile Bible Class, and the first to be instituted in America. In 1915 he was elected chairman of the religious work committee of the Young Men's Christian Association.
In the way of public service while living in Dakota Territory he served as city magistrate and police judge at Roscoe.
On October 25, 1894, at Covington, Kentucky, he married Miss Zue Lou O'Neal, daughter of Col. Weden O'Neal and Caroline (Fenley) O'Neal. On both sides Mrs. Ranshaw is descended from old Virginia stock. Her father was colonel of the Fifty-fifth Kentucky Regiment of the Union army during the Civil war, and for many years was one of the prominent lawyers and republicans in Northern Kentucky. A num- ber of years ago he led a forlorn hope of the republicans against that eminent Kentuckian, John G. Carlisle. Mrs. Ranshaw's parents both died at Covington. She was born in Crittenden, Grant County. Ken- tucky, where her grandfather, John Fenley, a wealthy planter and slave owner. was one of the first settlers. Mrs. Ranshaw was educated in the public schools of Covington, and for years has been a leader in church work. At Elyria she has given special attention to the Mothers' and Teachers' Organization. She is a forceful speaker, and possesses almost a genius as an organizer. She organized the first Teachers' and Parents' Association in Elyria, and has directed its work to a point productive to great good to all the public schools and has brought about proper co-operation between the parents and the teachers. She is also president of the Political Study Club, the largest club in Elyria; is president of the Federation of Parents' and Teachers' organizations of Elyria ; and is vice president of the exclusive social club known as the Four O'Clock Club, which is one of the oldest woman's organizations in Elyria, and has a membership limited to twenty-four. With the resigna- tion of Emma S. Olds from the board of education of Elyria. Mrs. Ran- shaw was appointed in her stead in December, 1914. and later she refused reappointment to the same office. She is frequently called upon to give addresses throughout the country around Elyria, largely on the subject of mothers' and teachers' co-operation in school affairs.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ranshaw were born two children : Weden O'Neal, who was born in Texas while his parents resided in that state, is now concluding his fourth year in the Staunton Military Academy in Virginia. Emily Warwood, the daughter, graduated from the Elyria High School in 1914, the leader of her class of eighty-four, and is now one of the most promising students in the large freshman class of 385 at Oberlin College. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. .
HON. ANTHONY NIEDING. Lorain County has had many occasions to be grateful to its present representative in the Lower House of the State Legislature. Anthony Nieding. who was elected on the republican ticket 'in 1914. Representative Nieding, who is a prominent lawyer of Elyria,
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with offices in the Masonic Temple, is less of a politician than a public spirited citizen, and has shown excellent judgment in his work in the Legislature. The city council of Elyria recently passed resolutions thank- ing him for his effective work in defeating the Behne bill, which it was generally believed would have proved seriously detrimental to the cause of municipal ownership in Ohio. The bill was referred to a committee and Mr. Nieding, knowing of the bill and the action the committee was to take, was instrumental in sidetracking the bill for two weeks, when it was finally defeated. Another part of his legislative record was his bill, introduced at the request of the State Coroners Association, per- mitting coroners to deputize private citizens to serve writs and receive fees. This bill passed both houses of the Legislature in May and is now a law.
Descending from old German stock of Lorain County, Anthony Nieding was born on a farm in Elyria Township, August 2, 1875. His parents were Henry and Elizabeth (Neufer) Nieding. His father was born in Germany, was brought to America as a child, his parents settling in Black River Township, and his life has been spent as a farmer, largely in Ridgeville Township. Elizabeth Neufer was born in Michigan, and her father, George Neufer, was also a native of Germany, and after coming to America saw service as a Union soldier in the Civil war.
Educated in the country district schools, Anthony Nieding later attended Baldwin College near Cleveland, and spent two years in the Cleveland Law School. He was admitted to the bar June 12, 1903, and for the past twelve years has been engaged in active practice at Elyria and has a large clientage and has been unusually successful in handling many important cases. His activities in behalf of the public welfare began with manhood, and he has proved an effective worker in many movements. He was formerly a member of the Republican County Central Committee, is active in the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and in 1901 was elected secretary of the Lorain County Agricultural Society, a post he held for a number of years. Fraternally he is identified with the Fraternal Order of Eagles, belonging to Elyria Aerie No. 431 of Elyria; with the Modern Woodmen of America; the Knights of Pythias; Elyria Lodge, No. 465, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and with Harlan P. Chapman Camp of the Sons of Veterans at Elyria.
On October 14, 1903, Mr. Nieding married Miss Grace Babcock, daughter of George P. and Lois A. (Mathison) Babcock. Her father came from New London, Connecticut, and after living in Lorain County a number of years went to New Jersey, where he was a Federal employe, and where he died in 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Nieding have one daughter, Lois E., born June 14, 1905.
WILLIAM E. ROE. Among those who have quite recently entered the professional circles of Elyria, on the basis of attainments and talents at the age of twenty-five William E. Roe has the promise of a brilliant future in the law and as a leader in public affairs. Mr. Roe belongs to a highly respected family which has been identified with Lorain County a number of years, and is of English parentage.
He was born in Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio, May 6, 1890, a son of Samuel and Anna (Bancroft) Roe. His father was born at Kirchkar, England, in September, 1862, and died at Amherst in Lorain County July 29, 1901. His son has apparently inherited many of his sub- stantial qualities of character and ability to win his own way. Samuel Roe came to the United States alone when about twelve years of age. and coming to Elyria in 1874 found employment which finally started him in the stone quarrying business. For a number of years prior to
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