USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 6
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Mr. Babcock was married October 15, 1894, to Miss Minnie Mead, of Lorain, daughter of James B. Mead, who was connected with the Balti- more & Ohio Railroad for many years. Three children have been born to this union: Mildred Daisy, who graduated from the Lorain High School with the class of 1915; Floyd Ernest, who is still a student; and Leota Amanda.
ALBERT WILLIAM CINNIGER. Together with the other learned pro- fessions, the bench and bar is well represented in Lorain County, a large proportion of its members being men of ability, safe counsellors and eloquent and effective advocates. One of the most prominent engaged in general practice at the City of Lorain is Albert William Cin- niger, who has an office in the Century Building.
A native Ohioan, Mr. Cinniger was born near Medina, September 13, 1875, a son of John and Olive Ann (Eden) Cinniger, who were farming people in that locality.
Mr. Cinniger has a very interesting ancestry, and many of his family connections have been soldiers, not only in this country but in Europe. His name is of German origin, and the German spelling is Zinniger. His grandfather, Charles Cinniger, who was born at Em- mindingen, near Karlsruhe, Province of Baden, Germany, came to America in 1834. During the Civil war he enlisted in the First Ohio Light Artillery in August, 1862, and served until the following year. At the battle of Stone River he was wounded and was taken prisoner and confined at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and after being released was discharged on account of his wounds. Olive Eden, mother of the Lorain lawyer, was a daughter of George Eden, a native of England, who in 1840 married Clarissa Miller of New York. Her brother was a strong abolitionist and was commonly known as "Negro" Miller, owing to his connection with the underground railroad for assisting the escape of slaves. George Eden's brother was John Eden, who served in the English army, for twenty-one years, much of the time under the Duke of Wellington, and was killed at the battle of Waterloo. Mr. Cinniger's great-great-uncle on his father's side fought in the Prussian army under the great Napoleon, and was killed during the invasion of Russia. Mr. Cinniger's great-grandfather, Hans Loefler, whose people were among the first settlers at Germantown, Pennsylvania, served in the
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colonial army as a minor officer under General Washington, and marched with that great American general from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, from the beginning to the close of the war for independence.
Reared on a farm and after graduating from high school, Albert William Cinniger in 1894 entered Hiram College, where he finished his literary education and graduated in 1899. He then took up the study of law in the office of Judge G. W. Lewis and Judge George Hayden and was later in the office of Judge A. R. Webber of Elyria, Ohio. Admitted to the bar December 7, 1901, he did his first practice in Elyria, where he remained about three and a half years. From January, 1902, to April, 1905, he was partner of C. A. Metcalf, under the firm name of Metcalf & Cinniger.
Removing to Lorain City in April, 1905, he was a member of the firm of Thompson, Glitsch & Cinniger until December 7, 1911, since which time he has practiced alone. Well versed in the principles of jurisprudence and possessing all the most necessary qualifications for success in his profession, he has gained a high place in the bar of this county and is both respected as an able lawyer and esteemed as a man and citizen. He is a member of the Lorain County Bar Association, the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member and trustee of the Christian Church.
September 11, 1900, Mr. Cinniger married Clara L. Gibbs, daughter of Alexander and Paulina (Green) Gibbs of Brunswick, Medina County, Ohio. She is a descendant of Gen. Nathanael Greene of Revolutionary fame. Her father's uncle, Alexander Thayer, was at one time ambas- sador from the United States to Austria, while her great-great-uncle, Samuel Gibbs, served on Washington's staff in the Revolutionary war. Alexander Gibbs, her father, enlisted in the Union army July 31, 1861, and upon reorganization his regiment became the Second Ohio Cavalry. He remained in the army until the close of the war, being mustered out in September, 1865. While a soldier he participated in a number of famous battles and had many exciting experiences. While in the Shen- andoah Valley he saw Gen. Phil Sheridan in his famous ride, when he arrived just in time to rally the broken troops at Winchester and drive back Early's almost victorious legions. For several months he served as General Grant's orderly and assisted in laying mines at Petersburg. He also witnessed the surrender at Appomattox, and took part in the grand review at Washington after the surrender of Lee and Johnston's armies. He was also with Custer in the service when the latter was but a simple colonel, and was with him subsequently in Indian Territory when Col. William Cody (Buffalo Bill) was scout for the command. During the war Mr. Gibbs had several narrow escapes from death, two horses being shot from under him, and one time a bullet passed through his hat.
Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cinniger the one now living is Edwin Gibbs Cinniger, born April 12, 1913.
ELBERT JULIAN BURRELL. A life that was an unusual record of ac- complishment and influence came to a close with the death of Elbert Julian Burrell on December 28, 1905. While Mr. Burrell spent little of his time as a resident in Lorain County, he had many interests there, had a home in Elyria, and his body now rests in the family vault at Ridgelawn Cemetery in that city. Mrs. Burrell, his widow, is living at 124 Harrison Street in Elyria, and is one of the notable women of Lorain County.
Born at Leroy, Medina County, Ohio, on May 30, 1845, Elbert Julian Burrell was a son of George and Marionett (Barnes) Burrell, who a few years after his birth moved to a farm in Ridgeville Township of Lorain
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County. The late Mr. Burrell grew up in Lorain County, obtained his education in the district schools, and though the horizon of his early life was bounded by a country school and by the duties of a farm, he pos- sessed that excellent combination of energy and ambition which creates opportunity for a career of signal usefulness and service. His early practical experience was gained in his father's mill at Ridgeville, and he made himself proficient in the handling of machinery and in various mechanical pursuits. In 1870 he engaged in the lumber industry in Michigan, but not long afterwards was severely injured by the explosion of a boiler in the lumber mill. There was no handicap that could be permanently imposed upon so energetic and determined a character and he was not long in finding other opportunities. He possessed a peculiar genius in practical chemistry, became a manufacturer of chemicals and .originated an improved process for the making of commercial alcohol, which was used by sixteen large companies in Michigan, Tennessee, Canada and Wisconsin. In these various companies Mr. Burrell had financial and business interests and was highly successful from a finan- cial standpoint. His affairs called him to many parts of the country, so that he was never able to consider Elyria his permanent home. For several years prior to his death he suffered from ill health and he died at Manistique, Michigan. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was a man of utmost integrity and known and honored in many business circles in diverse parts of the country.
Mrs. Burrell, who for a number of years has had her home at Elyria, since the death of her husband has been active as a philanthropist and social worker at Elyria, is a member of several woman's organizations, and served as one of the trustees of the Old Ladies Home at Elyria and belongs to the Universalist Church at her old home town, Mount Gilead, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Burrell had only one son, Orpheus, who died when two and a half years of age. When she married Mr. Burrell in 1868 she was Mrs. Mahala Sharp. Her maiden name was Mahala Graves, and she was born in Morrow County, Ohio, a daughter of William and Effie (Shafer) Graves, the former a native of New York and the latter of Ridgeville, Lorain County. Mrs. Burrell's first husband was George S. Sharp. Mrs. Burrell is perhaps best known as the mother of two famous men in Ohio. Her twin sons by her first marriage are Hon. William G. Sharp and Hon. George W. Sharp. William Graves Sharp, who was born in Mount Gilead, Ohio, March 14, 1859, was graduated in law from the University of Michigan in 1881, and for many years prac- ticed at Elyria, and also became engaged in the manufacture of charcoal, pig iron and chemicals. However, he is best known for his public serv- ices. He was prosecuting attorney of Lorain County from 1885 to 1888, was a democratic presidential elector in 1892, was delegate to the National Convention of 1904, and in 1908 was elected to represent the Fourteenth Ohio Distriet in Congress. He served during the sixty-first, sixty-second and sixty-third congresses, retiring in 1915, and was elevated by Presi- dent Wilson to the important diplomatic post of ambassador from the United States to France, and he and his family now reside at Paris. William G. Sharp married in 1895 Hallie M. Clough of Elyria. Their children are Margaret, George, William G., Jr., Effie and Baxter. His twin brother. George W., has long been active in public affairs in the State of Michigan, formerly represented the Thirty-first District of that state in the State Senate, and is also favorably known as an author. He married Nellie Hitchcock, of Cleveland, Ohio, and they are the parents of three children: Anibell, an author of considerable note; William G .; and Margueretha. The last named is a graduate of an art school in Cleve- land, and is a talented artist.
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WILLIAM HAZLETT HAMILTON. A successful young business man of Lorain, Mr. Hamilton has been chiefly identified with this community in connection with the Wood Lumber Company, of which he is sec- retary. The present large business, which is both a mercantile and manufacturing concern, is the outgrowth of the old B. II. Wood & Company, which was started in 1892. In 1900 a reorganization occurred, at which time the name was changed to the Wood Lumber Company, with a capital stock of $100,000. II. O. Wood is president, D. H. Aiken is vice president, and W. H. Hamilton is secretary-treasurer. While the company deals extensively in lumber and building material, it also maintains a large plant for manufacturing purposes. The mill for the manufacture of sash, doors and other planed and milled materials is a two-story building. 54 by 106 feet. The yards occupy a total space of six acres and about forty men find regular employment in the different departments.
A resident of Lorain County only a few years, William Hazlett Hamil- ton was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, on a farm May 10, 1879, a son of L. C. and Rebecca (Hazlett) Hamilton. His father was a miller and grain merehant, and is now living at Barberton, Ohio. The son received his education in the country schools and in the high school at Barberton and in a business college at Warren, Ohio. For two years he was employed as a stenographer and bookkeeper and then for two years was cashier of the American Strawboard Company at Barberton. Fol- lowing that for seven years he was bookkeeper and draftsman in the Jackson Lumber Company, and in that way gained a thorough knowledge of the lumber and woodworking industry in all its details. For a time he was at Akron connected with the B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company, but in 1907 came to Lorain, first as clerk, later as bookkeeper, and since January 1, 1911, as secretary and treasurer of the Wood Lumber Company.
While practical business affairs have claimed his attention during most of his years since boyhood, Mr. Hamilton is also a man of many interests, and is exceedingly popular at Lorain. He is a member and director of the board of commerce and in 1915 served as chairman of the industrial committee and is especially active in the Knights of Pythias order at Lorain. On October 21, 1903. he married Miss Elnora McFarlin of Barberton. Ohio. They have a daughter, Marian Elizabeth, born November 5, 1912.
A. EUGENE TAYLOR is president and treasurer of the Elyria Foundry Company and one of Elyria's most prominent citizens.
Mr. Taylor was born in LaPorte. Carlisle Township, Lorain County, Ohio, July 3, 1872, and is a son of William G. and Emma (Haring) Taylor. His father, a native of Tioga County, New York. removed as a young man to Lorain County. Ohio, and in August, 1862, enlisted as a private in Company H. One Hundred and Third Regiment, Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, for service during the Civil war. After two years and ten months of faithful and courageous service, he received his honorable discharge and returned to Lorain County, where he engaged in farming during the remainder of his life and became a leading and well known citizen of his community, serving for many years as constable of Carlisle Township. He died at Elyria, February 20. 1910. Mrs. Taylor. who survives her husband and makes her home with her son at Elyria, was born at Republic, Seneca County, Ohio, a daughter of Doctor Haring, one of the pioneer physicians of Lorain County. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were the parents of two sons: A. Eugene; and George L., who died June 26, 1912, at the age of thirty-seven years.
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A. Eugene Taylor was not granted exceptional advantages as a youth. He attended the district schools of LaPorte, but the greater part of his training has come in the school of experience. However, he always made the most of every opportunity, something that has been characteristic of him during his entire career. When still a lad he was apprenticed to a machinist at Elyria, spending three years in the plant of the old Elyria Variety Works. Subsequently he was employed at his trade at the Garford Saddle Company, where he remained seven years, and then passed two years at Cleveland as an employe of the Cleveland Elevator Bucket Company. Returning to Elyria, Mr. Taylor became one of the promoters of the Elyria Engine Company, then known as the Elyria Gas Engine Company, with which he remained until 1906. In 1905, he organized the Elyria Foundry Company, of which he has been presi- dent and treasurer ever since, and to the management of which he has given his undivided attention since 1906. This concern handles light and heavy gray iron and semi-steel castings, making a specialty of machine tool castings, and under Mr. Taylor's efficient management is doing an excellent business. He is an active and working member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce and enjoys the friendship and con- fidence of many of the leading business men of the city.
Mr. Taylor is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons, and is president of the Elyria Automobile Club. With his family, he belongs to the First Baptist Church of Elyria. A generous and liberal man, of charitable impulses, he was one of the leading contributors to the movement for the erection of the building of the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he is a member, and belongs to the Memorial Hospital Association of Elyria. In national politics Mr. Taylor is a consistent republican, and from the time of his first vote his sympathy and support have ever been given to the repub- lican party. He believes, however, in a great measure of political inde- pendence.
On June 2, 1897, Mr. Taylor was married at Norwalk, Ohio, to Miss Sadie R. Miller, who was born, reared and educated there. To this union there have been born two sons and one daughter: Carl L., who is attending the Elyria High School; Russell L., also a student at that school; and Lucille F., the baby, who is only two years of age. All were born at Elyria.
EDWARD A. DOUGLAS. After nearly fifteen years of service, marked by extreme fidelity and efficiency with one of the largest industrial con- cerns of Lorain County, Edward A. Douglas was promoted to one of the chief offices in the county government, county recorder, and has now filled that position with credit to himself and to the entire com- munity for the past six years.
A native of Pennsylvania, Edward A. Douglas was born at Derry, Westmoreland County, February 1, 1870. His parents were James A. and Lydia A. (Blair) Douglas, both natives of Pennsylvania. His father served in the Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and also with the cavalry and artillery branches of the army, and after the war was with the Pennsylvania Railway Company until he met his death in an accident in 1872.
As a boy Edward A. Douglas had the responsibilities of mature life early thrust upon him. He attended the common schools, and at the age of twelve was sent to the Soldiers & Sailors Orphans Home and School at Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He came out of that institution at the age of sixteen, and had soon learned telegraphy and found his first work as an operator. Mr. Douglas has been a resident of Lorain
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County for the past twenty years, having come to Lorain in 1895 and joined the Johnson Company, which subsequently became The National Tube Company. From one position to another he was promoted from time to time, and was chief clerk of the steel department when he re- signed on July 31, 1909. Evidence of his popularity with the working- men of the concern is found in a handsome gold watch, which Mr. Douglas constantly carries and cherishes, and which was given him by the mill men on his retirement from the company. The company also showed its regard and appreciation for services by giving him a month's leave of absence at full pay at the close of his relations with the concern.
Mr. Douglas has been a factor in republican politics in Lorain County for a number of years. He was nominated and in November, 1908, elected county recorder, and has since been reelected at the close of each two years. He is an active member of the chamber of commerce, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Sons of Veterans. He is past exalted ruler of the Elks and past president of the Eagles, and on Decem- ber 3, 1915, was appointed deputy grand president under William L. Grayson, grand worthy president, Fraternal Order of Eagles, of the United States. On October 18, 1898, Mr. Douglas married Miss Eliza- beth Grace Boyden, daughter of Henry T. Boyden of Elyria.
REV. JOHN T. SCHAFFELD. By reason of his effective service as pastor for more than thirty years the memory of the late Father Schaffeld deserves to be lastingly cherished among his people in St. Mary's Parish at Elyria. In many ways he made that church strong and flourishing, increasing its membership more than sixfold, and upbuilding its institu- tions and varied philanthropies and benevolences in proportion.
John T. Schaffeld, though a thorough American in spirit and spend- ing most of his life in this country, was born in Germany, at Isselberg, October 16, 1837. When he was ten years of age his parents brought him to America and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he continued his education in a college conducted by the Redemptorist Fathers. In 1863 the family removed to Cleveland, where Father Schaffeld entered old St. John's College and took his divinity course in St. Mary's Semi- nary. His ordination occurred July 17, 1870, and his first appointment as pastor was at St. Patrick's in Hubbard. He served not only that church but nearby communities, both parishes and missions. Father Schaffeld was not only a spiritual leader but an unusually capable executive and organizer. He enlarged the church at Hubbard, built school and parochial residence, and also erected St. Joseph's Church at Vienna.
He came to St. Mary's Parish, Elyria, at the time that Father Molon became stricken with paralysis and continued in the pastorate of the parish and after the death of Father Molon Father Schaffeld succeeded him as pastor of St. Mary's Church in Elyria, on May 13, 1880. At that time the congregation numbered about 400 souls, and in the next thirty years the membership increased to more than 2,500, and the prosperity of the church increased even more rapidly than the growth of the city. The varied institutions of St. Mary's Parish were largely a material monument to the fruitful labors of Father Schaffeld. He left the parish with a beautiful church edifice, substantial school building, modern parochial residence, and a large home for the Sisters of Notre Dame.
Members of the parish and citizens at large recall the simple dignity and happy associations connected with the celebration in July, 1910, of Father Schaffeld's fortieth anniversary in the priesthood. Many trib- utes were paid to the worthy priest at this jubilee and it was a fitting
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climax to a life of service that had continued uninterruptedly for four decades. Among his congregation he was esteemed for his zeal, his kindness, and his fatherly interest in every member of his flock. While most of his work was done within St. Mary's Parish, he also during his pastorate constructed the Chapel of the Sacred Heart at Oberlin.
Early on the morning of June 7, 1911, the tolling of the bell of St. Mary's announced the passing of this devoted priest, who had ministered to the congregation gathered within its walls for more than thirty years. Father Schaffeld was survived by three sisters: Mrs. John Schnitzler and Mrs. T. Kasinsky of Lorain, and Sister Mary Louise, in a convent at New Orleans. He also left a brother, of San Francisco, California, and three nephews: Rev. John Schaffeld of St. Michael's Church in Cleve- land, and Rev. Joseph Schaffeld and Rev. John Kasinsky. The high position Father Schaffeld had earned in his work was shown in the honors paid him at his funeral in St. Mary's. Bishop Farrelly of Cleveland, was present at the service, and many priests attended from surrounding parishes, besides a host of those whom he had so loyally and unselfishly served in Elyria.
GEORGE A. MOSHER, superintendent of the Children's Home of Lorain County, is a native of Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he was born January 19, 1851.
His parents were William H. and Margaret E. (Thayer) Mosher. His father was born in Troy, New York, January 18, 1821, and died December 8, 1853. The mother was born August 28, 1833, and died in February, 1914. William H. Mosher saw active service in the war with Mexico and contracted disease in that war which brought his life to a close when only thirty-three years of age. He was married at Lenox, Ohio, on December 24, 1849, to Miss Thayer, and of their union were born two children, George A. and Charles H., the latter a resident of Richmond, Virginia. William H. Mosher was a harness maker by trade, and in his brief life had been an extensive traveler, having gone practically around the world. He was a member of the Congregational Church. William H. Mosher was a son of Alfred Mosher, who was born in Vermont, and settled in Ohio during the '30s, where he became a farmer and merchant, and died in Ashtabula County. George A. Mosher's maternal grand- father was Calvin Thayer, a carpenter by trade, who died in Cleveland, Ohio. George A. Mosher is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution by virtue of the fact that his great-grandfather, Anthony Morse, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
George A. Mosher acquired his early education in the public schools of Syracuse, New York. For forty-two years he was a clerk and other- wise identified with the book business and spent all that time in Syracuse, New York. He returned to Ohio in 1900, locating at Oberlin in that year, but for five years was connected with the Borrows Bros. store in Cleveland.
In 1905 Mr. Mosher was made superintendent of the Lorain County Children's Home, and has filled that office for the past ten years. No better selection could have been made for this delicate and important responsibility, since he has been all but a father in fact to the children under his charge. In the Home proper he now has forty-three young people, and has fifty children outside under his direct supervision. For ten years he has been superintendent of the Home; 500 children have been at different times under his care and superintendence.
On September 17, 1874, Mr. Mosher married Laura Coleman. Her father, Christopher C. Coleman, lived at Seneca Falls, New York, was a harness maker by trade, and also owned a plantation in Virginia, from
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