Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 57

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

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well-assorted stock. He is interested also in other enterprises.

In 1891 Mr. Hale was married to Zedella Frank, who was born and reared in Copley Township, and is a daughter of the late David Frank. Mr. and Mrs. Hale have one son. Andrew. They are members of the West Congregational Church, of Akron, Mr. Hale being a member of its present board of trus- tees.

CHARLES H. JAITE, president of the Jaite Company, manufacturers of paper and paper bags, with a plant in Northfield Town- ship.

The parents of Mr. Jaite settled at Cleve- land in 1860, where he attended the public schools until he was thirteen years of age. He then went to work in a paper mill. Be- ing suited with this employment, he set out to master every detail of the business, and in time became a thorough expert. He later became president of the Standard Bag and Paper Company and vice-president of the Cleveland Paper Company. In 1902, when the two companies were consolidated with the Akron Paper Company, the new style of The Cleveland-Akron Paper Company was as- sumed. Mr. Jaite had charge of the manu- facturing part of the business, and located the plant in Boston Township, Summit County. He continued to be thus occupied until July, 1905, when he resigned as director and man- ager, at the same time disposing of his stock. He had, however, no idea of going out of the paper business, but merely desired an estab- lishment organized according to his own plans, and on September 18, 1905, he founded the Jaite Company. The officers of this new company are: Charles H. Jaite, president : Robert H. Jaite, vice-president : Emil W. Jaite, secretary : and Julius Kreckel, treasurer. The business was incorporated September 18. 1905, and was followed immediately after- ward by the erection of their plant in North- field Township, which they placed on the Cuyahoga River. They now own one of the most substantial manufacturing buildings in Summit County. The machine room of the

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plant is 50 by 200 feet in dimensions and ing business here, and has been a resident over this, in the second story, is located the of the city since 1882. He is a prominent member of Buckley Post, Grand Army of the Republic, having served as a soldier in the Union army during the entire period of the Civil War. He was born in Pennsylvania, March 9, 1844. When a youth of but seven- teen years, in June, 1861, he voluntarily as- sumed the dangers and hardships that fell to the lot of those who took active part as sol- diers in the great Civil War, which he faced with courage and endurance that would have been ereditable in one much older and more seasoned. bag factory. The boiler room for heating is 60 by 157 feet in dimensions; the boiler room for the 580 horse-power steam engine and engine room is 61 by 74 feet; the bleach room is 37 by 60 feet, and the of- fice is 16 by 20 feet. The building is two stories in height, with a warehouse 60 by 164 feet. The plant is equipped with a capacity of eight tons of manufactured paper a day, which is made into paper bags, the product being sold direet to manufacturers of flour and cement. The company has drilled five productive gas wells, each 900 feet deep, and thus they get abundant heat, their power being obtained by a gas and a steam engine.

The quality and purity of the water used is a factor of importance in the manufacture of paper and this company has an artesian well, 390 feet in depth, which flows 400,000 gal- lons of water a day. It is of such purity that the paper manufactured with its use is many points stronger than paper made heretofore by the same formula, with ordinary water. The company has built five two-flat buildings just across the line, in Brecksville Township, for the housing of their employes. This is one of the most important business enterprises of this section, and its success must be attrib- uted to the quiet, resourceful man who has studied the manufacture of paper in a prac- tieal way from boyhood.

Mr. Jaite married a daughter of R. L. Peebles, of Cuyahoga Falls, and they have had six children, namely: Grace May, Roy W., Giles, Edna E., Nettie and Fern J. Giles died at the age of three years. Mr. Jaite built a beautiful home in Boston Township in 1904, in which he has resided since the spring of 1905. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce at Cleveland, the Royal Areanum in Cleveland, and of Cri- terian Lodge, K. of P. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOSEPH C. HILL, formerly county com- missioner of Summit County, and a leading citizen of Akron, carries on a large contract-

As a member of Company E, Seventy- seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Colonel F. H. Stambaugh, and under com- mand of General Negley, he left Pittsburg on October 26, 1861, going directly to Ken- tucky. He served under some of the greatest commanders of the war-Generals Grant. Sherman, Rosecrans and Buell-and par- tieipated in some of the most memorable en- gagements, including those of Pittsburg Land- ing, Corinth, Perryville, Chickamauga, Mis- sionary Ridge, the campaign from Chatta- nooga to Atlanta, Jonesboro, Sherman's March to the Sea, through the Carolinas, and in the last struggle at Bentonville. He was honorably discharged and was mustered out of the service at Louisville, Kentucky, in Sep- tember, 1865. During all this period of al- most constant exposure to danger, Mr. Hill was wounded but onee, and then slightly. He was captured once, at Chickamauga, but for- tunately made his eseape on the same day.

After the close of his very creditable mili- tary serve, Mr. Hill returned to- Pennsylvania, and in 1867 went West., There he soon found profitable employment in building, and his work was so approved that he became con- cerned in the building of all the bridges for the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Rail- road, from Chetopa, Kansas, to Fort Gibson. He subsequently built the Plaza hotel at Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Palace hotel at Las Vegas, New Mexico; the Adelia Silver Mill, for the Adelia Mining Company, at Sil- ver Cliff, Colorado. After completing the last

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mentioned contract, in January, 1882, he re- turned east to 'Ohio and located permanently at Akron. Here Mr. Hill has had a good share of the general building and contract- ing work of the city, and has erected some of the finest residences here, including those of M. H. Crumrine, Charles Berry, on Portage Path; H. H. Bender, on Balch Street, and that of Dr. Rose, on Rhodes Avenue. He is a stockholder in the Dos-De-Atril Mining Company, of Chico, New Mexico.

In 1870 Mr. Hill was married at Clinton, Summit County, Ohio, to Belle Whittle-ey, of that place. He and his wife have four sons and two daughters, namely : Clarence M., who is a conductor on the A. B. & C. Railroad; Charles R., who is connected with the firm of Yeager Company, as window dresser; Wil- liam W., residing at home with his parents; Kathryn, who married Charles Ellet, resid- ing at Akron; and Mabel, who is a graduate nurse, connected with the Akron City Hos- pital; and Frank, who is a stenographer in the offices of the Goodrich Rubber Com- pany.

Formerly Mr. Hill was quite active in poli- tics, and served very efficiently as a commis- sioner of Summit County, but latterly has given the larger part of his attention to busi- ness affairs.

A. POLSKY, one of AAkron's enterprising men and successful merchants, dealing in dry goods, cloaks and millinery, and carrying the largest and most exclusive stock of its kind in this city, occupies a three-story and base- ment building, at Nos. 51-53 South Howard Street, where he has a floor space of 40 by 90 feet.

Mr. Polsky was born in 1848 in Polish Russia, where he remained until twenty years of age, when he emigrated to America. After landing in the United States he remained for six months in New York and then went on a tour through Towa, Minnesota and other states in search of a desirable location, finally, in 1877, coming to Ohio and engaging in a general mercantile business at Orwell, Ash- tabula County. He entered into partnership

with Samuel Myers, under the firm name of Myers & Polsky, and they continued there for eight years. In 1885 they came to Akron and continued the business until 1893, when Mr. Polsky became sole proprietor, and has since continued the business alone. Mr. Polsky has demonstrated his fine business qualities, and in the face of much competition, has attained a place in the front rank of local merchant :. Good judgment in buying, honest methods in selling and courteous treatment to all have been the leading factors in his success.

In his native land Mr. Polsky was married to Molly Bloch, who died in 1893, leaving children as follows: Anna, who married C. R. Finn, a wholesale grocer of Cleveland ; Eva, who married I. Sands, who is in the con- fectionery business at Cleveland; Rose, wife of Dr. Morgenrath, of Akron; Harry, who is manager of the cloak department of A. Pol- sky; and Bertram, who is also an assistant in his father's business. Mr. Polsky is a mem- ber of the Akron Hebrew Congregation. Fra- ternally, he is connected with Adoniram Ma- sonic Lodge and Akron Lodge of Odd Fel- lows.

JAMES B. SENTER, one of the prominent citizens of Northfield Township, who is se"v- ing his second term as township trustee, was born November 14, 1850, in Northfield Town- ship, Summit County, Ohio, and is a son of John and Jane (Boyle) Senter.

John Senter, who was a native of Ireland, came to America as a young man, and set- tled at Cleveland, Ohio, where he was offered two aeres of land, on which the Case Block now stands, for one year's work. After a short time in Cleveland, Mr. Senter came to Northfield Township, where he purchased a farm of eighty aeres, to which he later added from time to time. Here he spent the rest of his life in dairy farming, his death 0"- eurring in his seventy-sixth year. ITe was married in Stow Township, Summit County. Ohio, to Jane Boyle, who was also a native of Ireland. They had ten children, of whom seven grew to maturity, namely: Sarah Jane, who' married Simpson Hibbard: William.

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who resides in Bedford Township; Edward, James B., Ellen, Robert, Della, who married Frank Southwick, of Twinsburg Township; Caroline, who married Charles Delong, and resides on the home farm; and three others, who died in infancy. The family are mem- bers of the Baptist Church.

James B. Senter was educated in Northfield Township, where for two years he carried on agricultural pursuits with his brother, Ed- ward. In 1880, however, he sold his inter- ests to his brother, and purchased his present farm of 100 acres on the road between Center and Macedonia, where he has been engaged in dairy and general farmning to the present time. He raises hay, corn, wheat and oats, using everything for feed, except wheat, and keeps about forty head of thoroughbred Ilol- stein cattle. Ile has shipped milk to Cleve- land for thirty years. Mr. Senter was a mem- ber of the Northfield Grange until the dis- bandment of that organization, and he is now connected with Bedford Lodge, Knights of Pythias. In polities Mr. Senter is an inde- pendent Democrat, and he is now serving his second term as township trustee. For about eight years he has been a member of the board of directors of the Children's Home. Mr. Senter was married to Adda L. Sheppard. who is a daughter of Simeon Sheppard, of Solon, Ohio, and five children have been born to this union, of whom three survive, name- ly: May, who is the wife of Clarence Jones, of Macedonia: Clyde, who resides in Bedford. and who married Dortha Barns in September, 1907: and Opal.

FRED S. VIALL, president of the Akron Plumbing & Heating Company, of Akron, has been a resident of this eity for the past seventeen years. Ile was born in Summit County, Ohio, in 1873, and is a son of Syl- vester Viall. The father of Mr. Viall was also born in Summit County. in 1844, and is a son of Sullivan Viall, who settled early in Summit County. Sylvester Viall resides on his farm in Boston Township and is one of the prominent citizens of the county.

Fred S. Viall was reared on his father's

farm and obtained his education in the coun- try schools. He came to Akron when he was seventeen years old, and, deciding to learn the plumbing business, entered the employ of Kraus & Oberlin, with which firm he re- mained three years. For one year afterward he traveled through Vermont and Massachu- setts, working at his trade, and then return- ing to Akron, and was connected with the firm of Kraus & Kirn for four years. About this time, in association with other practical men, he formed the Akron Plumbing & Heat- ing Company, which was incorporated in the spring of 1907, with a capital stock of $15 .- 000. The officers are: Fred S. Viall, previ- dent; R. II. Viall, vice-president and man- ager; and F. S. Pryor, secretary and treas- urer. The business of the company is gen- eral contracting and plumbing of the most approved style.

In 1897 Mr. Viall was married to Kate M. Watson, a daughter of Frank Watson, who eame originally from Scotland. They have four children : Irene, Blanche, Mary Frances and Carl Sylvester. Mr. Viall has a fine bu -- iness record and is numbered with the pro- gressive business men of this city.

C. P. FRAIN, of the firm of Frain & Manbeck, leading dealers at Akron in fine groceries, fruit and meats, with extensive quarters at Nos. 422-424 East Market Street. is a prominent man in the city's commercial life and a citizen of most reliable character. He was born at Middleburg, Snyder County. Pennsylvania, in 1853, and was reared and educated in his native place. where he lived to the age of twenty-one vears. He then went to Lewistown, Pennsylvania, where for five years he was engaged in a clerical capac- ity in a dry goods store. In 1879 he came to Akron, and for the five following years was with the firm of O'Neil & Dyas. Then. in partnership with Frank J. Mell, he estab- lished his present business at the same loca- tion. The firm name of Mell & Frain was continued until the spring of 1885. Mr. Mell then sold his interest to Harry J. Shref- fler, and the business was eondueted for two

MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM COOPER

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years under the name of Shreffler & Frain, when Mr. Shreffler sold out his interest to C. D. Manbeek. The business has been con- dueted under the present style sinee 1887. Mr. Frain has remained continuously a men- ber of the firm and the business is one of the oldest in the city in its line.

In 1878 Mr. Frain was married to Mar- garet C. Brenneman. In 1892 Mr. Frain erected his handsome residence at 92 Forge Street, on which street he has resided since coming to Akron.

WILLIAM COOPER, for many years con- nected with the industrial interests of Akron as a manufacturer of brick, but now retired, was born in Staffordshire, England. March 19, 1845.

Ilis knowledge of brick-making was ac- quired in his native land, where he served an carly and thorough apprenticeship to the trade. Coming to this country in 1865, at the age of twenty, Mr. Cooper found employ- ment in AAkron in Brewster's coal mines, in which he worked for six years, gaining the reputation of being one of the most skillful coal miners in this section.

He then returned to England, where for the next seven years he was employed in the mines. At the end of that period he came again to the United States and took up his permanent residence in Akron, where he was employed by Dr. Jewett, on contract, to man- nfacture brick. In this line of industry he proved himself an expert, and probably no better briek was ever made here than that turned out by him.

About the same time two of Mr. Cooper's brothers, Samuel and Joseph, both practical brick-makers, were working at Akron, and the three brothers decided to embark in the manufacturing business for themselves. Though posessing but a small amount of eap- ital, the most of which was absorbed in leas- ing their plant and buying a horse, they all had the requisite knowledge, industry and perseveranee to make the business a success, and they were rewarded by early and long continued prosperity. Under the style of the

Cooper Brick Company they carried on the business for sixteen or seventeen years, at the end of which time Mr. William Cooper bought out his brothers' interests, afterwards conduet- ing the business alone until 1905. He then sold the plant to George W. Crouse, Jr., and retired. He is now living in the enjoyment of the ease earned by his long years of honest labor, which is sanctified by the blessings which accrue to those who load a sincere Christian life.

Mr. Cooper was married in 1864, near Portsmouth, England, to Elizabeth A. Bag- gott. He and his wife have been the parents of eleven children, of whom seven still sur- vive, namely: IFattie, Emily J., Rose, Ed- win T., Amanda, Charles Ford, and Eva (frace. Hattie, who is the wife of William Leoder, of Akron, has one child by a former marriage-Grace Mattoeks. Emily J., wife of Charles Tewksberry, of AAkron, by her first marriage to Charles Spellman. had four chil- dren-Clarissa, William, Eva, and Pearl-of whom Clarissa and William are deceased. Rose, who married Jese Schofield. of Akron, has had five children, namely : Edith, Ellen, Ethel, Mabel. and Park, of whom Edith and Ethel are now deceased. Amanda, who is the wife of Eugene Spellman, of Altoona, Pennsylvania, has two children-Ruth and William. Edwin T., who is an engineer at the Weeks Pottery, Akron, is married and has one ehild-William. Charles Ford, an engi- neer. residing in Akron, has two children- Viola and Edwin. Eva Grace is the wife of Thomas Johnson, of Akron, and has one child -Elizabeth.

Mr. and Mrs. William Cooper, whose por- traits appear in this connection, are members of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Cooper has been a member of the order of Sons of St. George for a number of years. He is a strong advocate of the temperance cause, and casts his vote in support of the Prohibition party.

GEORGE STARR, one of Copley Town- ship's most highly respected residents, who owns 245 aeres of well-improved land at Cop-

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ley Center, was born on the farm and in the house which continues to be his home, November 1, 1846. His parents were Simon and Parnell (Orcutt) Starr.

Simon Starr was born in Connecticut, in August, 1800, and was twenty-six years of age when he came to Ohio. He remained for two years in Medina County and then pushed on into Summit County, where he bought Mr. Starr's present farm from the Perkins fam- ily. It was mainly covered with a timber growth at that time, and only a portion of the present residence had been built. Short- ly after coming to this section Simon was married to Parnell Orcutt, who was born in New York, and had accompanied her father, Chester Orcutt, to Ohio. This remained the family home and here the father died in 1860 and the mother in February, 1880. They had eight children, namely: Mary, who married Samuel Moore; Lucius, who is decease:l; Sarah, who is the widow of Henry Ingham ; Simon, deceased; George, subject of this sketch; Martha, deceased, who married O. B. Hardy; Eddie, who died at the age of two years; and Charles.

George Starr obtained his education in the district schools. His home has ever been in Copley Township, and he has been mainly interested in farming, but as a matter of rec- reation, he has visited many parts of the country, including the states of Indiana, Illi- nois, lowa, Missouri and California. While interested in the products and resources of those sections, he remains satisfied with Ohio and his own fine farm in Copley Township. Ile can recall how this land looked before it was improved by his father and himself, and knows the fertility of its soil. Ile is an en- terprising agriculturist, as was his father, the latter having purchased the first reaper ever used in Copley Township. It was but the forerunner of other improved machinery.

Mr. Starr was married to Martha Searles, and they have two children, namely: Clark, engaged in farming near his father, who married Fannie Bender, and has one . son, George Eber: and Maude, who married Guy Weeks, has one son. George Harrison, and

also lives in Copley Township. Mr. Starr is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically, he is a Republican and has served on the Township School Board.

A. C. ROHRBACHER, senior member of the leading hardware firm of Rohrbacher & Allen, has been identified with this line of trade for a quarter of a century, making him one of the oldest hardware men at Akron, in point of years of service. He was born in 1856, in Mississippi, but was reared at Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Rohrbacher was educated at the West- ern University of Pennsylvania, and prior to coming to Akron, had been engaged in the drug business in Pittsburg. In 1882 he bought a one-third interest in the hardware business at Akron, of Williams & Rohrbacher, he being the junior partner, and this firm con- tinued for fourteen years, at its termination, Mr. Rohrbacher purchased Mr. Williams' interest. . Subsequently, Mr. Rohrbacher took in I. F. Allen and the present firm style has since continued. The firm deals both by wholesale and retail. Their building at No. 66 South Howard Street is five stories high, with dimensions of 22 by 108 feet, and with a warehouse in the rear of 75 by 27 feet, and two stories high. The busi- ness is a leading one of the city and keeps two salesmen on the road, who cover a large amount of territory. Mr. Rohrbacher has other business interests and is concerned in the Jahant Heating Company. He is an en- terprising citizen and ever ready to further public-spirited movements, but he cares littl for political preferment. After serving one term in the City Council he declined to serve longer.

In 1877 Mr. Rohrbacher was married . to Mary E. Lyon, of Courtland, Ohio, who died July 28, 1905. She left one son, Paul F., who creditably completed the Akron High School course and then entered Buchtel Col- lege. Mr. Rohrbacher is one of Akron's most prominent. Masons. He belongs to the Blue Lodge, of which he was treasurer for a num- ber of years, Chapter, Council and Command-

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ery at Akron, Lake Erie Consistory and Al- koran Shrine, at Cleveland, and to the Ma- sonic club. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, and the Odd Fellows, and is treasurer of the organization known as the Builders' Exchange.

ASIIER F. SIPPY, M. D., physician and surgeon at Akron, who is a valued member of the Sixth Councilor District, the Summit County, the Ohio State and the American Medical Associations, came to this city in May, 1894, a graduate of the Rush Medical College of Chicago.

Dr. Sippy was born in Richland County, Wisconsin, in 1861, where he secured his lit- erary training and grew to sturdy manhood on the homestead farm. His inclinations, however, were in another direction and from farming and dairying he turned to profes- sional work, and at the age of twenty-seven years entered the medical institution above named. There he was graduated in 1892, re- ceiving the Benjamin Rush gold medal for the highest standing in examinations for the three years' course in his class of 163 mem- bers. For nineteen months following he had the advantage of serving as an interne in the Cook County Hospital, at Chicago, where probably every disease that afflicts the human body, and many of the most serious accidental injuries, came under his care and were ob- jects of study. From there Dr. Sippy came to Akron, where he has built up a large and satisfying practice.

In 1884 Dr. Sippy was married to Nona Jaquish, who was born in Wisconsin, and they have two sons: Burne O. and H. Ivan. Dr. Sippy retains membership in his college society. the Alpha-Omega- Alpha fraternity. He belongs also to the Odd Fellows and the Maccabees, the Summit County Medical club and the Celsus club.

(". D. LEVY, junior member of the whole- sale and retail clothing house of Federman & Levy, at Akron, is one of the city's represent- ative business men. He was born in 1868, in the city of London, England, and was

thirteen years of age when he came to Amer- ica. Mr. Levy's first year in the United States was passed in Philadelphia, removal then be- ing made to New York City, where he was practically educated. During his eighteen years' residence there he served a two-year apprenticeship to the jeweler's trade, and then traveled for three years for a New York con- fectionery company. Ile was afterward in the wholesale stationery and confectionery line for himself for eight years. He then lo- cated at Mckeesport, Pennsylvania, and opened a branch store at Youngstown, and later at Akron and at Lorain, in 1899 establishing the firm of Federman & Levy, The firm has disposed of its stores at Youngs- town and Mckeesport, but still retains the Lorain trade. Mr. Levy has made his home at Akron for the past seven years. The firm here has a very large store and does a wholesale and retail furnishings business, a retail cloth- ing business, and make a specialty of hosiery and underwear, wholesale. During his period of residence in New York, Mr. Levy took considerable interest in public affairs, but since coming to Ohio has not been active in politics. He is recognized as a fine business man and stands very high commercially.

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Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 57

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150