USA > Ohio > Representative citizens of Ohio : memorial-genealogical > Part 11
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harry L. Rockfield
rent topics of the times. Moving to the city of Springfield when comparatively young, le settled in that place and went into busi- ness. He was ambitious, thrifty, persistent and would not permit obstacles to thwart him, so in due course of time these commend- able qualities proved their worth and soon he had risen to a posi- tion of fame and wealth, proving while yet young in years that he was capable of competing with the ablest in the business world, and on October 23, 1883, he formally opened the Arcade hotel as manager and proprietor of the same. Success favored him and soon his had become one of the leading hostelries in the city of Springfield, his hotel remaining for many years a popular mecca for the traveling public, all finding there the most courteous and kind consideration and treatment, his hotel being run on the most modern and approved principles and under a superb system, everything possible being done for the pleasure and accommoda- tion of his thousands of guests from year to year, the undertaking proving a most gratifying financial success from the first. Owing to failing health Mr. Rockfield sold his hotel property in 1890, after operating the same continuously for a period of seven years, and went west with the hopes of completely recovering. His wishes and hopes were seeing their fulfilment and he soon re- turned to his former line of endeavor, opening a hotel in Minneap- olis, Minnesota. Later he sold out and went to California where he remained for some time. Returning from the Pacific Coast country in 1900 Mr. Rockfield settled in Chicago, but a short time later came to Springfield, Ohio, and for a second time assumed charge of the Arcade hotel, operating it with his old time success until one year prior to his death, impaired health again forcing his retirement from active business and he sold out to James A. Burham. Still entertaining hopes of recovery, our subject made numerous trips to the South, but to no avail.
Finally Mr. Rockfield began to sink rapidly and was operated upon in a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, the result of which ended in his death on November 1, 1910. Interment was made in Ferncliff Cemetery, Springfield, Ohio, his funeral being very largely at- tended.
Without a doubt Harry L. Rockfield was one of the best known hotel men in the United States, and was well known throughout Ohio. Besides operating hostelries at Springfield and Dayton, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was a prominent and active member of the National Hotel Men's Association, and for two successive terms held the distinction of being president of the Ohio Hotel Men's Association, discharging the duties of that
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important position in a manner that reflected much credit upon his ability and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned. He was identified with numerous Springfield concerns, and was one of the incorporators of the Springfield, Washington, Charleston and Chil- licothe Railway, the pronounced success of which enterprise was very largely due to his wise counsel and enterprising spirit. He served as president of the above named company upon its organi- zation, and as such saw the same successfully launched and started. He was by nature an organizer and promoter, had the rare faculty of being able to foresee the drifting tides of business and the will and tact to control them, and for many years he ranked as one of the leading business men and financiers of south- western Ohio, and when he was summoned to his eternal rest he left considerable valuable property, including one of the commo- dious and most attractive residences in the city of Springfield.
Fraternally he belonged to the Knights Templars at New Al- bany, Indiana. He was also a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Commercial Club and other organiza- tions, in all of which he stood high and was influential.
Mr. Rockfield was but a youth of tender years when the great Civil War began, but he promptly and unhesitatingly enlisted in the Federal army and proved to be as gallant and faithful a de- fender of the flag as the older veterans, seeing much hard service on many of the sanguinary battlefields of the South, serving throughout the conflict in Company C, First Regiment, Ohio Vol- unteers.
Mr. Rockfield was married in 1867 to Susan Rader, a lady of culture and a diversity of commendable characteristics, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and the daughter of a fine old Southern family. She grew to womanhood and was educated in her native city, and she together with her only child, William Rockfield, a promising young business man of Springfield, and two sisters of our subject, survive. She has remained in the cozy Rockfield home at 819 North Fountain avenue, where she has frequently been hostess to the many friends of the family, who have ever found there an old-time hospitality and good cheer.
Mr. Rockfield was, during his long residence in Springfield, one of the most popular and universally beloved gentlemen in this city and Clark County, numbering his friends only by the limits of his acquaintance; indeed, if he had any enemies the fact was never made known. He was a genial, obliging, hospitable man who delighted in doing others favors and assisting in any way pos- sible in the progress of his home city, and when he passed away,
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there settled over the city a pall of gloom which was not soon dis- sipated. His loss was keenly felt by all classes and his memory will long be revered by hosts of acquaintances and friends. His home life was ideal. He was a great home man and was happiest when with his beloved wife and son, both of whom he adored and did everything possible for their comfort, pleasure and physical and mental betterment. He was a loving, kind, gentle companion, husband and father, always indulgent, always forbearing, always worshipful, his long harmonious domestic life being ever fraught with the greatest degree of happiness and satisfaction.
Eng by 5 G Withams & Bro N.Y.
L. D. Schwald
Reb. Luther A. Gotwald, D.D., IL.D.
HAT life is the most useful and desirable that results in the greatest good to the greatest number and, although all do not reach the heights to which they aspire, yet in some measure each can win success and make life a blessing to his fellow men; and it is not necessary for one to oc- cupy eminent public positions to do so, for in the humbler walks of life there remains much good to be accomplished and many opportunities for one to exercise one's talents and influence which in some way will touch the lives of those with whom we come in contact, making them better and brighter. In the list of the hon- ored of Ohio, of the generation that has just passed, who accom- plished an incalculable amount of good for his fellow men, was the late Rev. Luther A. Gotwald, for many years one of the popular and able ministers of the gospel in the city of Springfield. In his career there is much that is commendable and his life forcibly il- lustrated what one can accomplish, even in the face of obstacles, if one's plans are wisely laid and his actions governed by right principles, noble aims and high ideals. He was a man after whom the young man might well pattern his career, not necessarily as a minister, but as a man in the every-day relations with his fellows, for his conduct could not then fail to be inspiring and win the good will and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
Rev. Mr. Gotwald was the scion of a sterling pioneer family of the Keystone State and of German descent, the first member of this family having emigrated from the Fatherland in a very early day and the various members of the family have played a very use- ful and conspicuous part in the several communities in Pennsylva- nia and other States where they have settled and have merited the success and the respect which have ever been theirs. They have been men of courage, yet advocates of peace and progress.
Our subject was born in Petersburg, Adams County, Pennsyl- vania, January 31, 1833. He was a son of Rev. Daniel and Susan (Krone) Gotwald, natives of Center County, Pennsylvania, where they grew to maturity, were educated and married. The father was educated for the ministry at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and was a preacher in the English Lutheran Church for many years, at Aaronsburg, Center County, that State, and there his death oc- curred when in the prime of life. His widow survived him many
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years, dying at the advanced age of seventy-nine. They were splen- did people, beloved by all who knew them. He preached equally well in both the German and English languages. They became the parents of twelve children; namely, Eliza, deceased, was the wife of Rev. J. F. Shearer, who lived in Illinois; Dr. George A., a physi- cian, who married and has one daughter; he is now deceased; Rev. Luther A., subject of this memoir; Dr. Jacob, who became a sur- geon in the American navy, was killed when a young man off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, being one of the first men shot at the opening of the Civil war, when Fort Sumter was bombarded; Rev. Washington W. died a bachelor in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when in the prime of life; he officiated as pastor of the Lutheran church there; Rev. William H., D.D., LL. D., a Philadelphia minis- ter, being the secretary of the State Anti-Saloon League; Susan is the widow of Joseph Long, and she lives in Seattle, Washington, and she has several children.
It will be noted that many of the Gotwalds became ministers of the gospel, and the entire family has been noted for their work in the church and for their pious lives.
Rev. Luther A. Gotwald was reared in his native State, and there attended the public schools, later studying for the ministry at Gettysburg, and was graduated from both college and seminary there, having made a brilliant record for scholarship. He was or- dained in 1859 and soon afterwards took his first pastorate at Ship- pensburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1863 he went to Lebanon, that State, where he remained until 1865, when he came to Dayton, Ohio, remaining there three years. On account of impaired health he then went to Aaronsburg, his native State, in order to recuper- ate his failing powers, and in 1870 we find him at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and in 1873 in York, Pennsylvania, remaining there until 1885, then he came to Springfield, Ohio, as a mission pastor. Here he aroused great interest in this work, and he built up the present large Second English Lutheran Church, of Springfield. He continued his work there most effectively for several years, then was elected to a professorship in Wittenberg Theological Semi- nary, which position he held in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned until 1895, when his health failed and he was made professor emeritus until his death, in Springfield, on September 15, 1900.
As an author he was equally brilliant and wrote "Sermons of Festival Days," in 1895, and "Joy in Divine Government," both of which were well received and found a large and appreciative audi- ence. His style was that of the born author-clear, forceful, enter-
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Reb. Luther A. Gotwald, D.D., KL.D.
taining and instructive. As a preacher he did a most commend- able work wherever he went, building up and strengthening the churches in his charge, and, being a devout, learned and kindly man he was universally popular with his congregations. As a pul- pit orator he had few peers and no superiors. He was logical, forceful, and not infrequently truly eloquent, and was at all times earnest and sincere. He remained a profound student all his life and was familiar with all branches of science and literature, pay- ing, of course, especial attention to theological subjects. Thus when called to the professor's chair, he was exceptionally well qualified to fill the same in a commendable manner.
Rev. Mr. Gotwald was married in Springfield, Ohio, on Octo- ber 13, 1859, to Mary E. King, a lady of education and refinement, and a daughter of a fine old family, well known in her section of the State. She was born at Tarlton, Piqua County, Ohio, in 1837, and she was only four years old, when, in 1841, she came to Spring- field, Ohio, with her parents, David and Almena (Caldwell) King. Her mother was the daughter of Alexander and Hannah (Hamlin) Caldwell, she having been a kinsman of Hannibal Hamlin, former Vice-President of the United States with Lincoln. The Caldwells came to Ohio from New Hampshire in 1818 and lived and died in Portsmouth, Ohio, the father in the prime of life. He was a cabi- net maker, and he and his wife were Presbyterians. David King and wife were married while they were sojourning in Cincinnati. He had previously started a store in Tarlton, Ohio, which he ran until 1841, when he came to Springfield, and began in the dry goods business, which he built up to extensive proportions through his energy and honest dealings, and for a number of years he was rated as one of the city's leading business men. He accumulated much valuable property, although he died in 1849, of cholera, when that dread disease was epidemic over the country. His widow survived until 1868, dying when nearly sixty-nine years of age. He was a very active member of the First Presbyterian Church and superintended the building of same. He was a noble character and was popular with all classes. The following of his children grew up: Robert Quigley, now living retired in Spring- field, is married and has a family; S. Noble, who died February 3, 1913. He was a retired farmer of Bloomington, Illinois, was mar- ried, but had no children; Mary E., widow of Rev. Luther A. Got- wald, of this memoir; David, a wholesale paper dealer of Spring- field, is married and has two children; S. Jane, who now owns and occupies the old King homestead at the corner of Fountain Avenue and Fern Cliff Place. She, like the other members of the family,
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was educated in the old Presbyterian Seminary at Springfield, which Mr. King assisted in founding. Almena Caldwell died after graduating from the above named seminary and was unmarried.
Nine children were born to Rev. Luther A. Gotwald and wife: Charles, who died in infancy; William W., who died when sixteen years of age; Luther A., Jr., who died when fourteen years of age; Rev. George, who died when thirty years of age. He left a widow, Mary (Baugher) Gotwald and one daughter, Elizabeth Gardner, who is the wife of Frederick Remsberg, and they have one son, Robert Gotwald Remsberg. Dr. D. King Gotwald, who was grad- uated from the medical department of the University of Pennsyl- vania and is now a practicing physician at Springfield; he married Julia B. Kurtz, and they have one son, Rev. Wil- liam Kurtz, a Lutheran minister at Wapakoneta; he is married and has a son, David K .; also a daughter, Mary King, who is the wife of Augustus Penfield; they live in Springfield. Robert C. Gotwald, the second of the living children of our subject, is a Springfield architect, and is here well known. He married Mary Ward and they have a son, John Luther. Rev. Frederick G. Got- wald, D.D., a graduate of Wittenberg College, has been a pastor in the English Lutheran Church for the past fourteen years, now lives in York, Pennsylvania, is secretary of the board of education of the General Synod of the Lutheran Church; he married Julia Small, and they have these children, Luther, David, Mary-all at- tending school at this writing, and Julia deceased. Almena, daugh- ter of our subject, is the wife of Glenn Cummings, who is an attor- ney in Cleveland, Ohio, and she is the mother of these children, George, Richard and Elizabeth Mary. Mary Susan, the other liv- ing daughter of our subject, is the wife of Hubert Pontius, a law- yer of Canton, Ohio. He was graduated from Wittenberg College and from the State University.
Mrs. Mary E. Gotwald and family are faithful members of the English Lutheran church, while the King family, except Mrs. Got- wald, are Presbyterians. Both families have long been noted for their commendable work in church affairs and are deserving of the high esteem in which they have ever been held.
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And Go. @ Hilson
eorge Chester Wilson
O ATTAIN a worthy citizenship by a life that is always honored and respected deserves more than mere inen- tion. One may take his place in public life through some vigorous stroke of public policy, and even remain in the hearts of friends and neighbors, but to take the same posi- tion by dint of the practice of an upright life and without a craving for exaltation and popularity, is worthy of the highest praise and commendation. The late George Chester Wilson, for years one of the substantial farmers and business men of Youngstown, Ohio, who was well known throughout his section of the State, was a man respected and honored, not because of the vigorous training of his special talents, but because of his daily life, each day having been one that was above criticism and passed upon in the light of real, true manhood. Strong and forceful in his relations with his fellow men, he not only made his presence felt, but also gained the good will and commendation of his associates and all with whom he came in contact, ever retaining his reputation among men for integrity and high character, no matter how trying the circum- stances, and never losing that dignity which is the birthright of a gentleman. Consequently his influence for good in the general upbuilding of Youngstown was most potent, and he will long be inissed from the circles in which he formerly moved and over which his influence was like sunshine on a field of ripened wheat.
George Chester Wilson, who departed from this life on June 10, 1897, was born at Girard, Ohio, on January 12, 1835, on a farm, where he was reared. He received a good education in the public schools, and then, still in young manhood, he entered the employ of the United States Express Company. He was married in 1859 and immediately afterward he and his young bride went to Memphis, Tennessee, where he was sent in the interests of the Express com- pany. Subsequently they were sent still further south, down the Mississippi river, and while there the war of the Rebellion came on. Mr. Wilson's Northern sympathies were well known and he was advised to take his wife further north, which he did, leaving Paris, Tennessee, on the last through train which came north. Coming to Louisville, Kentucky, they remained there during the remainder of the war, though Mr. Wilson made frequent trips south for his company. On one of these trips he was waiting for a
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north-bound train, having with him a large amount of company money, when a run-away engine, south-bound, went thundering by. Later they found the tracks torn up and Mr. Wilson traveled from Memphis to Louisville in a wagon, reaching home in safety. However, his long-continued absence had excited the gravest ap- prehensions and he was reported as captured and in a rebel prison, so that his safe arrival home was not only unexpected, but the source of great joy, especially to his young wife. At a later period the national government placed him in charge of all river transpor- tation at Louisville, the duties of which position he discharged with the same fidelity and efficiency that characterized his previous service with the express company. At one time, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson nursed at their Southern home a brother of Mrs. Wilson, a soldier in the Northern army who had been wounded in the service. Though Mr. and Mrs. Wilson had many exciting, and sometimes unpleasant experiences during the eight years of their stay in the South, they enjoyed their residence there. While in the employ of the express company Mr. Wilson had been buying, from time to time, the interests of the heirs to the old Sheehy farmstead in Ma- honing County, the birthplace of Mrs. Wilson. Subsequently, when Mr. Wilson's health failed, necessitating a change of occupation, they located on the old farm, where Mrs. Wilson has spent practi- cally all of her life, excepting the eight years spent in the South. Here Mr. Wilson engaged in farming to a limited extent, putting up a large and commodious barn, and also engaged in stock rais- ing and horse breeding. In these lines he was eminently success- ful, for he kept none but the best of stock, which always com- manded the best of prices in the market. Later, the condition of his health became so precarious that he was compelled to relin- quish all active work and during the last seventeen years of his life he was practically an invalid.
Mr. Wilson was a shrewd and farseeing business man and he foresaw that eventually the growth of the city would embrace his farm, therefore he began platting the desirable portions of the land and selling off lots, in which enterprise he was eminently success- ful, and which has had much to do with advancing the values of other lands also in that section. For about seven years, in con- junction with some of his neighbors, he worked to get a street put through his land, the greater part of his efforts being put forth in the evenings, for at that time he was employed in an office at Niles. The street, after being put through, was named Wilson Street, in his honor, and is now paved, with city and interurban electric cars running on it, and otherwise improved. Mr. Wilson had fifty
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acres platted and he donated the right-of-way for the electric lines. At that time the county seat was Canfield, necessitating frequent drives to that place in closing real estate transactions. Despite the bodily infirmity which afflicted him, Mr. Wilson retained his mental faculties in their full vigor and from his sick bed he di- rected and managed his extensive business affairs with success. His advice on business matters was sought by many, and when given was always found sound and practical. He had a fund of information about Youngstown history and Youngstown people that was inexhaustible, and he was a very interesting conversa- tionalist. Despite his illness he was of a most happy disposition and he often cheered the spirits of those who, although despond- ent, were physically much better equipped to fight life's battles than he.
Mr. Wilson was a Republican in his political views, though he was liberal and not closely bound by party lines, often supporting Democrats for office. He was a member and a liberal supporter of the First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown, and his fraternal relations were with the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to Western Star Lodge, which organization had charge of the funeral services.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson had no children of their own, but they adopted one, Elizabeth Thomas Wilson, who was received into their home at the age of eight years. She was born in Blanavon, Wales, and no child of their own blood could have shown a deeper love or more constant faithfulness to parents than she has exhib- ited toward her foster parents, who, in turn, gave her the same at- tention and care as they would have done to one of their own flesh and blood. During the long illness of Mr. Wilson she was Mrs. Wilson's constant help and comfort and now, as constant compan- ion and assistant, she gives Mrs. Wilson much appreciated and effective assistance in the management of the property. Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Wilson has remained in the old neigh- borhood, having bought her present residence, at the corner of Wilson and Truesdale avenues, in 1907. Here her companions are her daughter, Elizabeth Thomas Wilson, and Mrs. Wilson's sister, Anna, widow of the late Thomas Lewis. Mrs. Wilson is a woman of versatile ability, as is evident from the fact that since her hus- band's death she has successfully managed the estate and has car- ried through several intricate deals which would have tested the ability of an experienced business man. In addition to the affairs referred to, she possesses valuable sand pits on the farm, and is a stockholder and secretary of the Garland Block and Sand Con-
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pany, incorporated. She still owns over eleven thousand feet of land along the tracks of the New York Central line, but as several other railroads are near it is probably only a question of a short time until that part of the old farmstead will be put to the use of the railroad.
Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Lewis are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, in which they take a very active inter- est, Mrs. Lewis having served the local chapter as chaplain. Mrs. Wilson has passed through many and varied experiences, in all of which she has been a close observer, and she keeps well informed on current questions of the day so that she is a very entertaining conversationalist and companion, her talk being enlivened by touches of the Irish wit inherited from her paternal grandfather, Daniel Sheehy, who is mentioned at length elsewhere in this work. She possesses that tact and amiableness which enables her to adapt herself to any circumstances, but, withal, it is a source of great gratification to her that she has been permitted to spend prac- tically her entire life amid the scenes of her childhood, on the land entered by her grandfather over a century ago.
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