USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut > Part 22
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of the Daisy Hill Stock Farm, located ten and one-half miles from Cleveland, a tract com- prising 800 acres, one of the most complete, modern and sanitary dairy farms in the United States, owned by O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen of Cleveland. In 1917 Mr. Rey- nolds was again sent to the House of Repre- sentatives of Ohio, and his services in that body have already been signalized by hard and effective work, the most important and far-reaching in results of which lay in the work he did in fathering and securing the passage of the bill which gave Ohio women the presidential vote. Incidentally he secured and gave to his daughter the pen with which this law was signed by Governor Cox. Mr. Reynolds introduced the bill against the ad- vice of the greater number of his political associates, and admits that in securing its passage he fought one of the hardest fights of his career; "but," he says-and it is char- acteristic of the man, "it would have been no victory if there had been no fight." Mr. Rey- nolds, who is known throughout the district by everyone as "Jimmie," is a through-and- through Tom Johnson democrat. However, he is popular alike with political friends and those of opposing parties, and his resource and quick mind make him one of the most valuable men of his party in the legislative houses. A recent comment in a Cleveland paper said : "James A. Reynolds of Cleveland, known about the State House as Jim, causes more fun than any other member of the House during sessions. He has served a number of terms in House and Senate. Every time there is a tense situation and feeling is developed, Reynolds can be counted upon to arise to a question of privilege, explanation or inquiry, and shift the line of thought of the House completely before he takes his seat. He seems to have a stock of stories on hand for such occasions."
Mr. Reynolds is one of the oldest members of the International Association of Machinists, has held every office in that union, and was an international officer for twelve years. He was a member of the international executive board of the organization, and was the youngest international officer in the United States at the time of his election. He is sec- retary of the Civic Federation of Cleveland, belongs to the City Club, and holds member- ship in Lodge No. 41, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Lockport, New York.
While at Lockport, New York, in 1902, Mr. Reynolds met Miss Florence E. Greenman, the Vol. II-8
daughter of Jesse. L. and Rosa (Slocum) Greenman, and they were married at that place December 18 of the same year. Mrs. Reynolds, who was born at Lockport, is a woman who takes a keen interest in the move- ments of the day, is well posted in politics and upon public questions, and is a great assistant to her husband in his work. She is the daugliter of a soldier of the Civil war and a member of the Daughters of Veterans, in addition to which she belongs to various clubs and societies of Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are the parents of one daughter, Nina May, who was born at Cleveland and is now a student at the East Technical High School, Cleveland. Mrs. and Miss Reynolds are members of Saint Mary's Episcopal Church of this city.
JOHN ROYAL SNYDER, head of the well known Cleveland law firm of J. R. and H. R. Snyder, with offices in the Williamson Build- ing, has enjoyed a good living practice and a growing reputation as a lawyer and citizen of Cleveland for the past six years.
Mr. Snyder was born in Stark County, Ohio, February 11, 1876, son of John J. and Maria (Shearer) Snyder and a brother of his law partner, Harvey R., under whose name will be found other details of this well known old fam- ily of Stark County.
Mr. J. R. Snyder completed his literary education in Mount Union College at Alliance, where he graduated A. B. in 1899. After leaving college he became active in Stark County politics, served as deputy county treasurer from 1899 to 1902, was then elected county treasurer, filling that office with credit from 1902 to 1906. From 1902 to 1904 he was also treasurer of the City of Canton. He studied law in Harvard Law School and was graduated LL. B. in 1909. Mr. Snyder is a life member of Lodge No. 68, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Canton and is also affiliated with Canton Lodge No. 60, Free and Accepted Masons, Minsilla Lodge No. 39. Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Canton, and Junior Order of United American Me- chanics, No. 171. He belongs to the college fraternity Alpha Tau Omega and finds his recreation in the sports of tennis, baseball and football and also as a practical farmer. Mr. Snyder owns one of the finest 160 acre. farms in Ohio, located in Stark County. While he is not able to give it his personal supervision on account of his law practice, he spends con- siderable time there during certain periods of
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the summer and fall helping to harvest the crops, and this is partly a source of good wholesome exercise and is also almost a neces- sity on account of the great scarcity of good farm hands. Mr. Snyder is a splendid spec- imen of physical manhood and keeps himself fit by much exercise. In college life he was a participant in all classes of good clean sport, and has carried the ideals of good sportsman- ship into his professional and civic life at Cleveland.
HARVEY R. SNYDER, member of the law firm J. R. and H. R. Snyder in the Williamson Building, has had an active and successful career in the law and in real estate and is probably one of the best known college and university men of Cleveland. He is especially well known in athletic circles both as a for- mer Harvard University football man and football coach.
He was born at Mapleton, Stark County, Ohio, October 17, 1880, son of John J. and Maria (Shearer) Snyder. His father, who died July 2, 1914, at Paris in Stark County, had spent practically all his life within a few miles of that locality. He gained a national reputation as a stockman and was the owner of a five hundred acre stock farm in Paris Township of Stark County. He was for about twenty years president of the Stark County Agricultural Association, and his farm pro- duced some of the finest specimens of thor- oughbred cattle, hogs and horses. This im- portant stock business is still continued by one of his sons. The mother is still living at Louis- ville, Ohio. The parents were both born at Mapleton, the Shearers having come to Ohio from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Grand- father Snyder came from Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, about 1826, being at that time six years of age. His parents settled in Ohio, and he died at Mapleton May 5, 1915, at the ad- vanced age of ninety-five. John J. Snyder was a director of a savings bank in Canton and was affiliated with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He and his wife had four sons, all living : John R .; A. Talmage, an attorney at Canton ; Irvin A., who runs the old stock farm; and Harvey R .. All the sons were born at Mapleton.
Harvey R. Snyder was educated in the pub- lic schools of Paris, Ohio, took his preparatory work in Mount Union College, Alliance, and in the fall of 1902 entered the sophomore class of Harvard University. He received his A. B. degree in 1905 and in the fall of the same year
took up the study of law at Harvard Law School. He played on the Harvard football team in 1905, and he also excelled at basket- ball. He received his law degree from Har- vard in 1908. During the seasons of 1906 and 1907 he coached the Oberlin College football team, returning to his studies at Harvard after the close of the season and completing the full year of work. In 1908, after the con- clusion of his law studies, he again coached the football team at Oberlin and then took charge of the Akron Realty Company at Akron, with which firm he was connected until August, 1909. At that date he opened a law practice in the Williamson Building and in 1910 formed a partnership with his brother, John R., under the title above given. As a diversion Mr. Snyder was coach at Oberlin in 1909 and 1910, and each year gave that college a state championship football team. In 1911, 1912, and 1913 he was football coach of West- ern Reserve University. There has probably not been a season in the past ten years when Mr. Snyder has not returned to his alma mater at Harvard, either to assist on the coaching staff or to witness some of the games. He is a member of the Harvard Varsity Club, the Harvard Club of Cleveland, the Cleveland and Ohio State Bar Associations, the Cleveland Real Estate Board, of Iris Lodge No. 259, F. and A. M., Webb Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., and a member and an officer in the Pythian Star Lodge No. 526, Knights of Pythias. He is a member of its third rank team, which won first honors in the State meet at Columbus, Ohio, May 12, 1917. Mr. Snyder is an active churchman, elder and trustee in the Lakewood Presbyterian Church, and assistant superin- tendent of its Sunday School. He also belongs to the Alpha Nu Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity.
Mr. Snyder married at Alliance, Ohio, March 20, 1910, Miss Charlotte Bracher. Mrs. Snyder was born at Alliance, daughter of John and Katherine (Kolb) Bracher, who now live at Lakewood, Cleveland. Mrs. Snyder graduated from the Alliance High School in 1900 and from Mount Union College with the degree of A. B. in 1905. She is a member of the Alpha Psi Delta Sorority, the Cleveland Alumnæ Association of Mount Union, of the College Club, and Cleveland Chapter of the Eastern Star. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder reside at 1361 Gill Avenue, Lakewood. Their two daughters, Mary Katherine and Grace Olive, were both born in Cleveland.
Harvey Snyde
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COL. JOHN HENRY AMMON, whose home was in Cleveland for a number of years, where members of his family still reside, distin- guished himself as a gallant officer of the Union army and afterwards was widely known for his connection with prominent American publishing houses.
He was born in Auburn, New York, Feb- ruary 29, 1840, son of Dr. John Frederick William Ammon. Doctor Ammon was born in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1790, was a graduate of Wurtemberg Univer- sity, and a skilled physician and surgeon. He came to the United States in 1822, locating in Pennsylvaia, afterwards removing to Au- burn, New York, subsequently spending six years in Utica, that state, and then located permanently in Auburn. He volunteered his services to the United States Government dur- ing the war with Mexico and he lost his life while in service. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Elizabeth Eberthart, who was born February 15, 1795, and died in Auburn, New York, being buried in the Fort Hill Cem- etery there.
The late Colonel Ammon was educated in the Auburn public schools and also at Critten- den Business College in Philadelphia. His early life was spent at Auburn. When only fourteen years of age the Auburn Cadets were formed and he was made a captain. He was just of age when the Civil war broke out in 1861 and he and every other member of the Cadet Company enlisted in Seward's Third, afterwards merged into the Sixteenth New York Battery I. This battery distin- guished itself by its splendid execution in the taking of Fort Macon, South Carolina, in 1862. After the surrender of that fort Colo- nel Ammon was in command for two months. After that most of his service was in the North, where he was regarded as one of the most efficient recruiting officers in the entire army. He served from the first call for troops in 1861 until he resigned his commission in 1864, with a brilliant record of official action and performance of duty. He held the rank of captain, and on January 10, 1864, was pro- moted to lieutenant colonel for gallant and meritorious service.
While on a furlough from the army Colonel Ammon met Miss Mary Josephine Saxton at Oberlin, Ohio. She was a Cleveland girl. It is said of her that she was one of the hand- somest young women in that section of Ohio. They were married January 9, 1863, and al- most immediately after the wedding Colonel
Ammon went again to the front and did not see his bride for six months. With the close of the war he and his wife went to Chicago, where he established a book store. This estab- lishment was burned in the Chicago fire of 1871. In the meantime he had become well known in book and publishing circles, and subsequently acted as agent for Prang & Com- pany of New York, and from that became connected with the house of Ticknor & Fields of Boston, being with that firm through its various changes until 1880, when he himself became a partner in the new organization known as J. R. Osgood & Company. He sold his interests there in 1885, and the business is now continued under the name Houghton, Mifflin & Company, one of the largest pub- lishers of standard literature in America.
From 1885 to 1902 Colonel Ammon was at the head of the publishing department of Harper & Brothers. While in this position his services required much travel, and his home was in Cleveland, where his wife pre- ferred to reside. After leaving Harper & Brothers Colonel Ammon established the firm of Ammon & Mackell in New York City. They were successors to Leggett Brothers, New York. Colonel Ammon remained senior mem- ber of Ammon & Mackell until his death. Many book lovers will recall this old firm. It specialized in the handling of rare old books, but also did a general business in books of all kinds and other publications.
In his home at Cleveland Colonel Ammon collected what was regarded then as one of the largest and most complete private libraries in the city. It contained over 4,000 volumes of selected works, many rare editions and handsome bindings. Most of Colonel Am- mon's social connections were in New York City. He was a member of various promi- nent clubs there and belonged to nine dif- ferent military organizations, the two most important being the Loyal Legion and the Old Guards of New York City. His death occurred in New York City November 28, 1904, and he was buried with military honors in Woodlawn Cemetery. Colonel Ammon was three times married. His four children by his first wife all reside in Cleveland, and are mentioned in the sketch of their mother, Mary Josephine Saxton Ammon.
MARY JOSEPHINE SAXTON AMMON. Among notable Cleveland women there was perhaps none who exhibited more forcefulness of char- acter and withal did a more splendid work
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for charity than Mary Josephine Saxton Am- mon. She had hosts of admirers and warm friends, and many of them did not hesitate to say that she was eccentric. Unconventional is perhaps a better word. She was not afraid to do or say those things which her mind and spirit prompted. In her case the im- pulses present in every normal human being were not repressed, but found vent in action or word, and it was this prompt expression of feeling and a deep underlying sympathy which made her an unusual figure among the women of her time.
She was born in 1844 at Cassopolis, Michi- gan, where her parents had moved in 1838. She was brought to Cleveland by her parents when about two years of age, and spent her life in this city. She died at her home, 1639 Euclid Avenue, directly opposite Eighty-sixth Street, June 5, 1892. She was educated in the Cleveland High School and in the Female Seminary on Woodland Avenue. At the age of fourteen she taught her first term of school. At nineteen, on January 9, 1863, she became the bride of Col. J. H. Ammon, and at her death she left four children : Jay R., secretary of the Stearns Advertising Company of Cleve- land; Harry Ticknor, also with the Stearns Advertising Company; Mark Anthony, chief metallurgist with the Willys-Overland Auto- mobile Company of Toledo; and Hattie Jose- phine Cowing, of Cleveland.
Only a few facts and incidents can be noted to indicate the range of interests and the work of this practical philanthropist and humani- tarian. She possessed a remarkable business judgment. She used her fortune in gratify- ing her tastes and particularly in behalf of the poor and oppressed. She was always a stanch friend of the poor. She was one of the originators of the Dorcas Society, one of the first officers of the Huron Street Hospital, and one of the founders of the Western Re- serve Club, which subsequently became merged with the Sorosis Society. At one time she managed a vineyard of over thirty acres near Collamer, and supplied the hotels of Cleve- land and the general markets with grapes long after the regular season was closed. So far as known none of her business enterprises was ever unsuccessful. She had an intense love of the outdoors and the beautiful in nature. About a year before her death she bought a tract of 150 acres east of Collamer and converted it into a park. She built a summer home, surrounding it with flowers and trees, and no landscape gardener could have
excelled her in the adaptation she made of the grounds to the uses of the beautiful and the useful. At the time of her death it was regarded as one of the most attractive spots in Northern Ohio.
While so many of her good deeds are buried with her, much of the general publicity con- nected with her name is due to one dramatic incident. She had befriended a Miss Jose- phine Blann, an unmarried woman about forty-five years of age, who had been left a considerable estate. For about eighteen months Miss Blann had lived at Mrs. Ammon's house on Euclid Avenue. A court proceeding had been instituted to replevin the property belonging to Miss Blann. When the time came for her to appear in court she suddenly dis- appeared. Her whereabouts provided a mys- tery for the public officials and the news- papers for a long time. Sheriff Sawyer was served with a writ to bring Miss Blann into court. He searched Mrs. Ammon's house on Euclid Avenue from cellar to garret, likewise her summer home at Collamer, and went all over the county and state following various clews. The search was unsuccessful. Through a writ of habeas corpus Mrs. Ammon was brought into court before Judge Hamilton. Mrs. Ammon insisted that Miss Blann had walked out of the front door of her house December 31, 1887, but when questioned as to her whereabouts replied that she did not know but had "an idea." Judge Hamilton after several ineffectual attempts had been made to get her to divulge the "idea" com- mitted Mrs. Ammon to the county jail for contempt until such time as she was ready to answer the question and in addition sentenced her to pay a fine of $100. Ever afterwards Mrs. Ammon said she was the first woman ever incarcerated in a jail for having an idea. The imprisonment naturally created a great sensation. That was many years before modern suffrage times when women volun- tarily suffered the martyrdom of imprison- ment for a cause. Hundreds of friends and sympathizers flocked to the jail and vied with each other in mitigating the severity of her punishment. Her cell was strewn with roses, furnished most luxuriantly, while her appe- tite was tempted with all the delicacies of the season. But even imprisonment becomes mo- notonous, and after forty-one days Mrs. Am- mon filed an affidavit in court that she had met Miss Blann on the street December 31, 1887, and at her (Miss Blann's) request was taken by a friend of the family to a farm house
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in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, since which time she had not heard from her. Judge Hamilton then purged her of contempt and remitted the penalty. Miss Blann appeared at the appointed time absolving Mrs. Ammon of all blame.
Later Mrs. Ammon caused to be constructed at her home on Euclid Avenue an exact counterpart of the cell which she had occu- pied in the county jail. It was this prison experience which opened to her a new field of philanthropic endeavor. She became earnestly committed to the work of prison reform, visited the Ohio State Penitentiary several times, suggested changes for the bet- terment of conditions of the prisoners, and fre- quently gave lectures at the penitentiary. Thus she was one of the pioneers in a move- ment which has since become world wide and in which many of America's most prominent reformers are engaged.
Religiously Mrs. Ammon was very liberal. She was impulsive. But her impulses almost invariably led her to do good and practical charity. One day a boy driving a buggy got stuck in the mud on the street. Mrs. Ammon, passing that way, dressed in silk, jumped into the vehicle and had some men standing by to lift on the wheels while she urged the horse forward. She got the buggy out of the mud.
Her unconventional ways were manifested even at death. It was her desire that the newspapers should be represented at her funeral. The concourse of people who as- sembled to pay tribute to her memory at the grave was estimated at more than 1,000. She left special instructions for the burial. It was her request that her remains be interred in some wild, unconventional and romantic spot in Lakeview Cemetery. Mrs. Ammon was a woman of great intellectual force, and her positiveness of opinion was always accom- panied with an indomitable will, a combina- tion that gave her more than ordinary power in the wide sphere in which her life was lived. She had a striking and pleasing per- sonality and was extremely patriotic.
JEHIEL CLINTON SAXTON was not only one of the long time residents of Cuyahoga County but a man whose character for industry, in- tegrity and square dealing made his name one of more than ordinary significance. He had lived in and around Cleveland nearly seventy- seven years. When he came here Cleveland had not more than 500 population. His death occurred at his home 1922 Euclid Avenue,
Jannary 30, 1895, and he had witnessed the growth and development through three-quar- ters of the century which had elapsed since the first settlement was started at Cleveland.
He was born July 14, 1812, of old New Eng- land ancestry and was a native of the Green Mountain State of Vermont. His father, Cap- tain Jehiel Saxton, came in 1818 across the country, which was then devoid of canals or railroads, to Cuyahoga County and secured a place in the wilderness at Newburg. While the boy Jehiel was growing up to manhood he worked many days with his father in clear- ing up the land. One of the scenes of this early toil was on what is now Kinsman Road. He helped cut down trees to open up that thoroughfare. It was through the severe and rigid school of pioneer experience and many privations that he formulated those principles which guided his subsequent life to honor and usefulness. As a young man Mr. Saxton became interested in the militia. He enlisted and was made orderly sergeant of the Ohio Militia and rose in rank until he attained the post of brigadier general. He filled that office only four months, resigning to remove to Michigan.
On June 27, 1837, he married Miss Emeline Axtell Morse. Soon after their marriage they removed to a new village in the woods of Southern Michigan, Cassopolis, the county seat of Cass County. That was their home for nine years. In the development of that town and county Mr. Saxton had a notable part. By experience he had learned the art of surveying. This profession he followed chiefly while at Cassopolis. He also conducted a temperance hotel there. Such a hotel was a rarity seventy or eighty years ago. Politi- cally he affiliated with the democrats, and was elected on that ticket to the office of county surveyor. He was an ardent opponent of slavery. When the free soil or anti-slavery party was formed he became one of its chief supporters. At the first election in Cass County at which the free soil party had a ticket, it was supported by only six votes in Cassopolis. Mr. Saxton was one of these free soilers, and the other votes came from the Quakers who had quite a colony in that vi- cinity and were strenuous opponents of the institution of slavery. On account of his pro- nounced expression of views as a free soiler Mr. Saxton and his wife were socially ostra- cised, ridiculed and treated with contempt. The courage of his convictions he always pos- sessed and such a thing as public ridicule was
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insufficient to deter him from any course which he believed right and just. His home at Cassopolis became one of the stations on the famous underground railway. Many slaves were harbored there until they could be forwarded on their journey to freedom across the Canadian line. Still another dis- tinction attaches to the residence of the Sax- ton family at Cassopolis. The first woman suffrage convention ever held in the State of Michigan took place at the Saxton home, and was attended by six women, including Mrs. Saxton. While in Michigan Mr. Saxton as- sisted in surveying the route of the first rail- road line between Detroit and Chicago.
In 1846 he and his wife returned to Cleve- land and soon located on a farm near New- burg. Here he continued surveying and farm- ing and by business sagacity became the owner of a large amount of real estate. From 1850 to 1860 he was county surveyor of Cuyahoga County. Among his real estate possessions was ten acres of land between Euclid Avenue and Cedar Avenue near Glen Park Place. Here in 1867 he built the first concrete stone residence in Cleveland, located on Euclid Avenue. This residence was afterwards used as The Samaritan Home. For twenty-nine years Mr. and Mrs. Saxton resided there and they then removed to a cottage built nearby. He also owned much valuable property on Euclid Avenue and other sections of the city.
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