USA > Ohio > Portage County > Portage heritage; a history of Portage County, Ohio; its towns and townships and the men and women who have developed them; its life, institutions and biographies, facts and lore > Part 83
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Mr. Collette was a member of the Episcopal Church where he served as a Vestry Man and Senior Warden. He served as a city councilman, as president of the Community Chest, president of the Chamber of Commerce, president of the Kiwanis Club, president of the Twin Lakes Country Club, various offices in the Boy Scouts of America, and was a member of the Masonic Lodge and Elks Club. He was for many years a director of the Second National Bank and of Allen Aircraft Products Company. He served as a director of the Toy Manufacturers Association of U.S.A. He was known not only for his civic and philanthropic work but also for his prowess as an amateur golfer. He played in the Ohio State Amateur, was runner-up in the Portage County Amateur, and was champion of Twin Lakes Country Club five different years.
The Day Family
Few families have achieved the high standing in Portage County as has the well known Day family of lawyers. The first here was Luther Day.
Luther Day was born in Granville, New York, the son of Mr. and Mrs. David Day who came from Massachussetts. The father had been a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was killed in an accident when Luther Day was 14 years old. Luther then helped to keep the family together and worked on the farm until he was twenty, at the same paying off his father's numerous debts. He then sought an education at Middlebury College, Vt., teaching part time to help him through.
In 1838 he came to Ravenna to visit his mother who had re-married and moved here. He had insufficient money to get back East and remained to work and study law under Judge Rufus P. Spalding, who later sat on the Supreme Court bench of Ohio. The young man was admitted to the bar in 1840 and entered partnership with Darius Lyman. He be- came prosecuting attorney, was state senator, and by 1851 was common pleas judge. He married Emily Spalding, daughter of the judge, in 1845. She died in 1852. Later he married Miss Ellen Barnes of Massachussetts.
When the Civil War came on Mr. Day left the Democratic party and served as Ohio's judge advocate general. In 1864 he was elected to the state Supreme Court and also served on various commissions and committees of importance.
Judge Day had three children by his first wife-Emily L., William R. (later U. S. secre-
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tary of state) and Edward L. By his second wife there were Mary E., Charles F., David B., Robert H. and John. The sons who reached manhood all studied law.
Judge Day died in 1885.
Of the Luther Day family, the son who achieved greatest fame was William R. who was born in Ravenna. He attended Ravenna schools, then went to the University of Michigan where he graduated in 1870. He then began the practice of law in Canton and was ap- pointed by President Harrison as U. S. District Court judge for Northern Ohio. In 1897 he was named assistant secretary of state by his friend, President Mckinley. In 1898 he became Secretary of State and in this capacity helped negotiate the peace treaty with Spain. He pre- ferred law and in 1899 was named a U. S. Circuit judge and in 1903 was appointed to the U. S. Supreme Court by President Roosevelt.
William L. Day, son of W. R. Day, was a U. S. District Attorney in Cleveland
Mark W. Davis
Ravenna's pioneer automobile dealer, Mark W Davis, was born in Freedom July 8, 1878. He was named for and by Mark H. Davis, former men's clothier in Kent. His child- hood was spent in Freedom at the homestead deeded to his grandfather by the Connecticut Land Co.
He left his home in Freedom and at the age of seventeen came to Ravenna and opened a bicycle shop. His business prospered from the start. At the turn of the century he was a private with Co. B. of the Fifth Infantry, Ohio National Guard and received his honorable discharge.
With the advent of the automobile, several prominent men prevailed upon him to open an automobile sales and service agency, said to be the first in Portage County. His first sale was to the late Dr. L. W. Prichard. In the course of his business he had two successive partners. The first was Curt M. Reed and the second was Ernest O. Case. In 1921 he retired from the automobile business entirely and in later years aided C. R. Jones in the moving business, and G. L. Horr & Son in their seed store.
Mr. Davis was married February 7, 1911, to Jane Har- mon, daughter of Samuel and Sylvia (Streeter) Harmon of Mantua. Their only child is Esther H. Davis Szabo, wife of J. G. Szabo, owner of the Kent Jewelry at 141 S. Water St., Kent. She was born just one month after they moved to the house, 151 N. Freedom St., Ravenna, that was to be their home for nearly forty years.
Mr. Davis was a member of the Ravenna Grange, Ravenna Lodge 1076, B.P.O.E. and a former member of the Knights of Pythias.
Judge Clay Dietrich
Clay Dietrich was born in Clarington, Ohio, on September 19, 1895, the son of Albert and Carrie (Jackson) Dietrich. The family, which included four boys, moved to Ravenna in 1906.
Mr. Dietrich received his elementary education in the Ravenna Public Schools and graduated from Ravenna High School in 1914. Entering Ohio Wesleyan University in the autumn of 1914, his education was interrupted in the third year by World War I. Mr. Dietrich entered the U. S. Army and served until after the Armistice. In the spring of 1919
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he returned to college and graduated in June of that year. Entering Western Reserve Law School, he received the Bache- lor of Laws Degree in 1922. Mr. Dietrich was admitted to the Ohio Bar, December 29, 1921. He served two terms on the Ravenna City Council.
He was appointed Probate and Juvenile Judge of Port- age County on October 1, 1945, and was re-elected in 1946, 1948, and 1954. Mr. Dietrich is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, national scholastic society; various Masonic bodies; and the Portage County, Ohio State and American Bar Associations. He has served as President of the Ravenna Rotary Club; Dis- trict Chairman of the Boy Scouts of America, and is now serving as Vice-President of the Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges. Mr. Dietrich's avocation is writing and his articles have been published by several magazines of national circulation.
Judge Dietrich was married on June 28, 1924 to Lucile Eger of Delaware, Ohio. The Judge and Mrs. Dietrich have one son, Clay Dietrich, Jr., now serving as an officer in the United States Air Force.
Emmett C. Dix
Emmett Clinton Dix, who was born Dec. 28, 1873, in Atwater, was a Portage county citizen who left the county of his birth to make his mark and then returned to play an important local business role himself and later through his sons.
He made his mark as a newspaper publisher and editor. He left Portage county at the age of six to go to Hamilton, O., where his father, the late Albert Dix, had acquired a news- paper interest. He returned to the county for his education (Hiram College 1891-97) and then left to go into business with his father. They lost the Hamilton newspaper as a result of the panic of '96 but went anew into the business by acquiring a paper at Wooster, O.
This paper was one of six in a field of weeklies. Under his management it became a daily and finally the only daily in Wayne county, purchasing the last competitive newspaper in 1919.
He re-entered the Portage county scene in 1927, acquir- ing with his sons the Ravenna Republican. This was en- larged and later merged with Portage County Democrat, and the Kent Courier-Tribune, which the Dixes purchased from the Davey interests in 1930, to become the present Record Courier.
Always interested in Hiram College, he was a trustee there for many years. Together with his five sons-Albert of Martins Ferry, Raymond of Wooster, Robert of Kent, Harlan of Cuyahoga Falls and Gor- don of Defiance -- he gave the money for Dix Dining hall as a memorial to Mrs. Dix, whom he met at Hiram. Mrs. Dix's maiden name was Edna Marian Voorhees of Waterloo, Ia.
His name is carried on in Portage county by one of his five sons, Robert, who is pub- lisher of the Record-Courier. All of the other sons are in the publishing business in their respective cities except Harlan, who is in the medical profession.
Besides the newspapers, they also have radio and television interests ..
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Charles C. Dixon
On Easter Sunday morning, April 9, 1882, a son was born to Fulton and Emma (Jones) Dixon at Londonderry, Ross County, Ohio. The son was named Charles Cryder Dixon. Later, the family made their home in Wilmington, Ohio, and still later, Kansas. Young Charles received his education in the elementary schools and later attended Temple Uni- versity, Philadelphia.
In February, 1916, Mr. Dixon returned to Westerville, Ohio and married Ethel Theresa Caulde. They established a home in Deaf Smith County, Texas, where two children were born. These were Dorothy and Joseph Dixon.
In 1919 they returned to Ohio to make their home. They located in Ravenna, purchasing a home at 831 West Main St. Mr. Dixon entered business with Mr. Elliot in establishing a real estate agency. Later he was in business with Bryan Jones and William Z. Stowe. He also managed the Plymouth Finance business for H. R. Loomis.
In 1923 another daughter was born, Carol, born Nov. 1 of that year. Mrs. Dixon passed away Nov. 4 of the same year. Mr. Dixon remained a widower for six years and on August 21, 1929, he married Mabel Garey.
He was active in politics and civic affairs, serving one term as councilman from his ward, and one term as mayor. He was appointed head of the Old Age Pension body of Portage County and was a charter member of the Rotary club. He belonged to the Elks Lodge No. 1076, and in 1936 was offered the presidency of the board of elections. At the time of his death he was Ravenna City safety director. He died Feb. 7, 1937.
William J. Dodge, Jr.
William J. Dodge Jr. was born in Ravenna, Dec. 9, 1899, the son of William J. and Mary Frances (Hank) Dodge, of New England ancestry on his father's side, of Virginia-Penn- sylvania Quaker on his mother's.
Mr. Dodge graduated from Ravenna High School in 1918. The same year, he served briefly in the Army. In 1922 he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts.
From 1922 to 1943, he was the active partner in the W. J. Dodge & Son general insurance agency. For the past 25 years he has been a director of The County Savings & Loan Co. of Ravenna and since Jan. 1956 has been its Vice-Presi- dent. In 1943, he went with the War Department's Con- tinuous Security District Office in Cincinnati, becoming Chief Inspector. In 1944, he joined The American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces and landed at Guam with the Marine garrison forces. Later he was transferred to Oahu, T. H. as
Field Director at Hickam Field.
Mr. Dodge has been identified with many community activities including service as Chairman of the Portage County Chapter, American Red Cross and as member of the James A. Garfield Board of Education. At present he is a Trustee of Robinson Memorial Hospital
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and is Home Service Chairman of the Portage County Red Cross Chapter.
He lives at his country home in Hiram and Freedom Townships with his wife, the former Mildred Creusere of Ft. Thomas, Kentucky.
Mr. Dodge is a member of the Hiram Church, the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, the Ravenna Kiwanis Club and the American Legion.
William J. Dodge, Sr.
William Jones Dodge was born in Brimfield Feb. 27, 1868, the son of George W. and Minerva (Hoskins) Dodge. Shortly thereafter the family returned to its original home in Randolph, where he attended school. In 1890 he graduated from Hiram College and in 1893 received his Master's degree from Hiram.
In 1892 he was married to Mary Frances Hank of Hiram. Mrs. Dodge died in 1935. For three years he was principal of the Watertown, S. D. High School, resigning to become principal of Ravenna High School in 1893. He held this position until 1905 when he was elected Portage County Auditor, an office he held for six years. In 1909 he founded the general insurance agency later known as W. J. Dodge & Son in which he was interested until 1943. In 1916 he helped organize The County Savings & Loan Co. and was its active executive head until his retirment in 1948.
In his full and varied career Mr. Dodge had a singular capacity for success. As a teacher he inspired as he taught; as a public official he was admired for integrity and courage; as a business man he was able to combine sagacity with a warm humanity and an unselfish willingness to serve.
Mr. Dodge died on Jan. 31, 1954 a few weeks before his 86th birthday.
At various times he served his community in many ca- pacities: President of the Ravenna Kiwanis Club; member of the Ravenna City Board of Education; Clerk of the Board of Elections; President of the Summit-Portage Savings & Loan League; long-time official board member of the First Christian Church in Ravenna; honorary Trustee of Hiram College. His gift to Hiram College provided Dodge Lounge in Gray-Agler Hall, dedicated to the memory of his wife, Mary Hank Dodge.
Mr. and Mrs. Dodge were the parents of one child, William J. Dodge Jr.
Chester Dunlavy
Chester Dunlavy was born August 6, 1906 near Urichsville, Ohio in Harrison County. In 1917 with his parents, he and three brothers moved to Portage County. They settled on a dairy and truck farm at Campbellsport which they operated for years.
After graduating from Ravenna Township High School he attended Kent State Uni- versity where he graduated from the Liberal Arts College with a Bachelor of Science degree. He later took graduate work at Kent State University.
He has served as an accounting clerk for the State Highway Department, cost ac-
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countant for the Kent Machine Company of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Payroll auditor for the Army Air Force station at Goodyear Air Craft, business manager and accountant for the John Mansville home insulating department in Akron, Ohio and clerk treasurer of the Ravenna Township Board of Education. He has served as secretary or treasurer of various organizations such as The Methodist Church, Rotary Club, P.T.A .. Boy Scouts, Ravenna Township Alumni, Port- age County Historical Association, etc.
In 1948 he established his insurance and real estate business which has been located above the Standard Drug Store in Ravenna, Ohio.
Chester and Margaret Dunlavy (the former Margaret Acken of Tallmadge, Ohio) reside at 209 Jefferson Street, Ravenna, Ohio with their five children, Barbara, Mary Jo, Patricia, Jay and Keith.
Ross Dustman
Ross Dustman was born January 24, 1900, at Limaville, Stark County, Ohio. He was the son of John S. and Margaret (Ruttman) Dustman, being the seventh son of nine chil- dren. The family moved to Ravenna in July, 1903, where the father was employed at the Byers Machine Co.
He attended public schools in Ravenna and later was employed in various capacities, including ten years at the Cleveland Worsted Mills, and seven years in the clothing store of Coy Merts. From 1942 to 1944 he was on guard duty at the Ravenna Arsenal. He ran for sheriff in 1952 and was defeated in the primary but was employed as chief deputy under Sheriff Stockdale. He again ran for sheriff in the 1956 general election and was successful, winning the 1957-1960 term.
Mr. Dustman is a member of Unity Lodge No. 12, F. & A. M .; Valley of Canton Consistory; Yusef Kahn Grotto of Akron; and Tadmor Temple Shrine. He belongs to the Buck- eye and National Sheriff's Associations and is a member of the M. E. Church. He is a director of the Ravenna Boys Club.
Mr. Dustman married and has a daughter, now Mrs. Shirley Jones, Spray Drive, Monroe Falls, and two grandsons, Robin and Randy Jones.
Albert Bradley Fairchild
Albert Bradley Fairchild was born in Jericho, Vermont, August 3, 1849, son of John H. and Sophronia Sears Fairchild. He was married to Martha Ann Jones, daughter of Ed- ward and Jane Harris Jones of Kempville, Ontario, Canada on July 4, 1871 at Ogdensburg, New York.
In 1887 he and his family moved to Ravenna, Ohio, where Mr. Fairchild joined his brother, George E. Fairchild, who conducted a crockery and furniture store at 115 East
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Main Street. In 1901 he purchased the furniture business from his brother who moved to California, and W. A. Jenkins became affiliated with him in the undertaking business. At the death of W. A. Jenkins he purchased the Undertaking business and the firm became A. B. Fairchild-Furniture and Undertaking; later A. B. Fairchild and Sons.
Mr. Fairchild was interested in civic affairs, a member of Grace Episcopal Church, a member of the Masonic Unity Lodge of Ravenna, becoming and serving as Grand Tyler of Ohio for many years.
Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild were the parents of five children: Sophronia Jane Fairchild who taught in the Ravenna School system for many years; Eunice Fairchild, an employee of the Probate Court at time of her death in 1904; Clara, who died in infancy; John George Fairchild and Albert Bradley Jr .; both of whom assisted their father.
Mrs. Fairchild died January 16, 1916 and Albert B. Fair- child died November 24, 1937.
Albert Bradley Fairchild, Jr.
Albert Bradley Fairchild, Jr. younger son of Albert Bradley and Martha Jones Fair- child was born in Ravenna, Ohio, November 23, 1889. He was educated in the Ravenna City Schools graduating with the class of 1909 from the Ravenna High School. He spent the following year with an uncle, William R. Jones, a min- ing engineer in Salt Lake City, Utah. He returned home and attended The Cincinnati School of Embalming, graduating in 1910. Upon his return to Ravenna he joined his father and older brother, John in the A. B. Fairchild & Son, Furniture and Undertaking. Following the death of his father in 1927 he became manager of the business and continued serving the people of Ravenna and vicinity with undertaking services until his death.
Albert Fairchild, Jr. was married to Helen Louise Davis, daughter of Joseph and Clara Mason Davis on August 9, 1911. They were the parents of Mary Jane Fairchild, now Mrs. David H. Watkins, Jr .; Albert Bradley Fairchild III and William Davis Fairchild.
Mr. Fairchild was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, serving on its vestry for many years. He was affiliated with the Masonic Lodge Lodge and B.P.O.E. 1076 and a charter member of The Ravenna Kiwanis Club.
Mr. Fairchild suffered a severe heart attack in April, 1943 and passed away on February 24, 1944.
Judge V. W. Filiatrault
Vere Wells Filiatrault was born June 27, 1891, at Rutland, Vermont, graduating from the high school there in 1910. He received his training at the Syracuse University Law School and came to Ravenna in 1914, where he spent some time in the office of O. P. Sperra and
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was admitted to practice in Ohio in 1916. In January, 1923 he opened an office of his own at its present location.
Mr. Filiatrault was elected prosecuting attorney for Portage County in 1918, running on the Republican ticket, and served two terms in that capacity. Because of his interest in politics he became clerk of the County election board and later a member of the board, being chairman for eight years. He also found time to be city solicitor of Ravenna and a justice of the peace for several years. For several years he was secretary of the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce.
He was chairman of the Robinson Memorial Hospital first addition building committee, member of the Portage County Bar Association as well as State and National Bar associations and The International Association of Insur- ance Council.
Mr. Filiatrault has been unusually active in Republican party affairs, being county chairman of either the central or executive committee. He also served as chairman of the Ravenna Community chest drive. In 1942 he was appointed by Governor Bricker to the Common Pleas bench to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge C. H. Curtiss.
In November, 1914, Mr. Filiatrault was married to Miss Gladys I. Gouldin of Ravenna. To them was born a daugh- ter, Jeanne, now Mrs. Robert Hastings. Their two grand- children are the twins, Christine and Robert, Jr. Mr. Fil- iatrault is a member of the Congregational Church, K of P, of which he is a past C. C. and the Ravenna Kiwanis Club, of which he was the first president.
He now practices law in association with Herbert Kane and William Bangas as Filiatrault, Kane and Bangas. Mr. Filiatrault died Oct. 20, 1957.
Carl B. Frank
Carl B. Frank was born in Ravenna, Ohio, on February 27, 1895. His father was Pryor L. Frank and his mother was Eva (Beeman) Frank, of a widely known family.
Mr. Frank attended Ravenna schools and graduated from Ravenna High School in 1914. Later he attended Case School of Applied Science and the Spencerian Business School in Cleveland. He then went to work for the P. L. Frank Construction Co., with which he has been associated since 1916, with the exception of two and one half years in the U. S. Ordnance Department in World War I in France. He entered service in November, 1917, and was discharged in May, 1919.
On August 12, 1919, he was married to Julia E. Burt of Kent, daughter of Daniel and Ethel Burns Burt. The chil- dren of this marriage were three in number. The first son, Burt C. Frank, married Suzanne Worden Aug. 26, 1946, their children being Daniel, David, Katherine and Stevenson. James R. Frank, the second son, married Ruth Shepherd May 14, 1949, and their children are James R., Jr., John Burt and Mark Shepherd. The daughter, Juliann, married Jack F. Kohl Aug. 21, 1948. Their children are Julie, Susan and Jack II.
Mr. Frank's interests and hobbies include color photog.
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raphy and his swimming pool at his farm in Charlestown. This farm was inherited from his grandfather, Moses B. James, whose family came to the farm in 1817.
Mr. Frank is a member of the Ravenna Congregational church, the Rotary Club and the Masonic order.
Pryor L. Frank
Pryor Lewis Frank, son of John P. and Maria Margaret (Christ) Frank was born Dec. 3, 1863, near Newton Falls, Ohio. He was the oldest of six children: Aaron, Simon, Eliza- beth, Levi, and Henry, the last of whom died in infancy. The family moved to Charleston, O. in 1875.
His father, John P. Frank, fought in the Civil War in the company commanded by Captain Pryor whose name he gave his son. His great-grandfather, Jacob Frank, served in Captain Caleb Baldwin's Company from Trumbull County, Ohio, in the War of 1812, and two great-great grandfathers, Baltzer Frank and Michael Simon, in the Washington Co., Pa. Militia in the Revolutionary War. About 1800, Michael Simon came to Boardman ·Township in what is now Mahoning County, Ohio, where he bought one thousand acres of land. He donated land for a school, a German Reformed Church and cemetery, the last of which is now a part of Lake Park Cemetery in Youngstown. Other ancestors included two well-known ministers, Reverend Henry Hewitt of the Lutheran Church and Rev. John Peter Mahnenschmidt (Monosmith) of the German Reform Church, founders of many of the churches of those denominations throughout Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana, and Stark Counties, Ohio.
Pryor attended Mount Union College and taught school several winter sessions. During the same period, he worked with his father, a contractor, and learned the fundamentals of construction. About 1885, he became an independent con- tractor, and in 1899 organized the P. L. Frank Company. In 1905, he established a retail lumber yard with mill and carpenter shop on West Highland Ave. in Ravenna. The P. L. Frank Co. was reorganized in 1925 into two companies, the P. L. Frank Lumber Co. with yards in Ravenna, Kent and Garrettsville, and the P. L. Frank Construction Co. His three brothers, Aaron, Simon, and Levi, worked with him for many years.
LeRoy L. Baldwin, Mabelle Olin Baldwin and other faithful employees too numerous to mention played a great part in the success of these companies. Mr. Frank's son, Carl, grew up with the business and became president the Construction Co. in 1951. He in turn has been aided by his sons, Burt and James Frank, in the construction business.
P. L. Frank literally helped build Portage County. He designed and built most of Ra- venna's churches, several factories and business blocks, most of the original consolidated township schools, hundreds of houses, barns and other buildings.
He was also greatly interested in the Second National Bank of Ravenna, and the Oak Rubber Company and served as a director and vice-president of both for a number of years.
On Sept. 4, 1890, Pryor L. Frank married Eva G. Beman (b.August 2, 1870, Atwater, O.) Eva had come to Charleston, O. as a small child when her mother married Moses B. James, prominent farmer there. Mr. and Mrs. Frank moved to Ravenna in 1893 and two years later built a home on East Main St. where they lived for the remainder of their lives. Eva assisted her husband during the early years of building up the trade. They had two children, Carl, who married Julia Burt of Kent, and Mary, who married John Forney
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