USA > Ohio > Women of Ohio; a record of their achievements in the history of the state, Volume IV > Part 2
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Mrs. Carvin was reared in Indianapolis, where she attended the grade schools and graduated from the high school, while later she com- pleted a course of study in the Normal School of that city. She is also a graduate of the Indiana Law School and, while she never practiced law, she was admitted to the Indiana bar on the 24th of October, 1914. She also holds a teacher's life certificate entitling her to teach in the schools of that state.
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In 1900 was celebrated the marriage of May Brown and Francis A. Carvin, also of Indianapolis. Their only child, Dorothy Brown Carvin, died at the age of four years. Mr. Carvin was a contractor and when the United States became involved in the World War, the government sent him to Lorain, Ohio, because of his knowledge of reinforced concrete construction. In 1920 they established their home in Toledo, where they have since remained and Mr. Carvin engaged in the building of auto truck bodies and other equipment, in which he still continues, his wife being a partner in the firm of Carvin Body Company.
Mrs. Carvin is a member of the Methodist Church, in the work of which she takes a helpful part. Always interested in civic and govern- ment affairs, she helped to promote the suffrage movement in Detroit and is now a member of the executive board of the City Manager League in Toledo. In her girlhood days in Indianapolis she was a pupil under May Wright Sewall, a famous suffragist and a worker in the peace movement. Mrs. Carvin was also a student under Dr. Lillian Martin of Stanford University. Mrs. Carvin has been quite active in the club life of Toledo, is past president of the Zonta Club, under whose auspices she gave radio talks on current events. She was a member of Caroline Scott Harrison Chapter of Daughters of the Revolution in Indianapolis, and belongs to the Toledo Young Women's Christian Association. For nine years she has lectured to the bi-monthly classes in current events for the Woman's Educational Club of Toledo. Her affiliation is regarded as a valuable asset to any organization to which she belongs for she always keeps abreast of the times and is a fluent, earnest and interesting speaker who can add much to any worthwhile discussion.
KITTIE CHURCH DUER
KITTIE CHURCH DUER, wife of A. G. Duer, an attorney of Toledo, was born November 22, 1872, at Spring Mountain, in Coshoc-
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ton County, Ohio, her parents being Benjamin S. and Margaret Eliza- beth (Cox) Church. The father, who was born at Tiverton, Coshocton County, was of English descent, while the mother, a native of Char- lottesville, Virginia, was of Scotch-Irish and English lineage. Her an- cestry in the paternal line can be traced back through seven genera- tions to Richard Church, who arrived in New England with Governor Winthrop in 1630. He was a carpenter by trade and he and John Thompson were engaged to build the first "meeting house" and also the first gun carriage in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1637. Richard Church was also a member of the "Grand Enquest" and was the ref- eree. His son, Colonel Benjamin Church, was a famous Indian war- rior whose exploits were narrated in the early histories of the colonies. including his connection with King Philip's War. Passing on to the seventh generation, Benjamin Simmons Church, father of Mrs. Duer, was a lawyer and held many positions of trust. His wife was a descend- ant of Patrick Henry, also of Henry Clay's mother, and was an aunt of S. S. Cox, author and noted foreign minister.
Mrs. Duer spent her early life in her native county and in the adjoining county of Holmes, where she attended the public schools. For a short time she was a student in Oberlin College and at Delaware, Ohio, leaving there to enter the Ohio Northern University at Ada. When she had completed her studies she became a newspaper writer on the Chicago Inter-Ocean, writing on matters of special interest in the field of education. She also wrote articles of general interest under the non de plume of Margaret Le Grande which were frequently accepted by national magazines. After the death of her mother, she returned to her home in Millersburg, Ohio, to keep house for her father, who was practicing law there, and while residing in Millers- burg she met the young attorney, Alonzo G. Duer, who became her husband. Following their marriage they removed to Toledo, where Mr. Duer has since continued in the practice of law. They have one daughter, Mrs. Margaret E. Wolf, and two grandchildren, Franklin Alonzo and Robert Park Wolf, of whom they are justly proud. Their
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ages are twelve and ten years, respectively. The Wolf family resides in Columbus, where the husband, F. L. Wolf, is a manufacturer.
Mrs. Duer has taken an active part in civic, philanthropic and club work and three times has been elected president of the City Federation of Women's Clubs in Toledo. For a number of years she was a director of the North Toledo Settlement and is also connected with several other organizations and is now president of the Past Presidents of the Toledo Federation. During her administration as president of the City Federation she was instrumental in securing the passage of laws and ordinances which were of decided benefit to the city. She has also interested herself in Egyptology to such an extent that she is considered an authority on some of its phases. Her re- ligious affiliation is with the Methodist Church.
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NELLIE GAMBEE
Among Akron's esteemed residents who have been active in the civic life of the community and who have always cast the weight of their influence on the side of progress and development is numbered NELLIE DRUSHAL GAMBEE, living at 178 Hyde Avenue. She is a native daughter of Ohio, having been born in Orrville, her parents being Riley and Irene (Evans) Drushal, who were early settlers of Pennsyl- vania and Ohio.
Mrs. Gambee acquired her education in the schools of Orrville, where she passed through the grades to the high school, and after her text books were put aside she devoted several years to government service, her interest in civic affairs being thus early awakened. In 1908, in her native city, she was married to C. H. Gambee, then of Attica, Ohio, and they became the parents of one son, H. Kenneth Gambee.
With Woman's Club activities and with various organizations of civic nature she has long been associated in a helpful manner. She is now president of the Akron and Summit County Federation of Woman's Clubs, and has served on its board for many years, participating earnest- ly and loyally in the many forms of progressive work which the club organizations are doing. She belongs to the Akron Woman's City Club, is a past president of the West High School Parent-Teacher Association, is a past president of the Akron Delphinian Association, a member of the board of the Akron Art Institute, a member of the board of the Florence Crittenton Rescue League and is deeply interested in all that makes for better citizenship and right living among individuals. She has men- bership in the Episcopal Church and her political support is given to the Republican party.
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ELIZABETH WATKINS HALEY
ELIZABETH WATKINS HALEY has been a most active factor in the women's club life of Toledo, with which she is still identified and in which she is still helpfully interested. She attained prominence in this connection, serving at one time as president of the Toledo Federa- tion of Women's Clubs, has been outstanding in her work with the Daughters of 1812 and is allied with other organizations that have had much to do with the civic, literary and cultural activities of Toledo.
Mrs. Haley, who was born in Union City, Michigan, is a daughter of Edward M. and Chloe (Rogers) Watkins, both natives of the state of New York. In their family were four children, of whom two died in infancy, while her brother, W. D. Watkins, lives in Beverly Hills, Cali- fornia. Mrs. Haley attended the public schools of her native city until she graduated from high school and afterward graduated from the Putnam Kindergarten College of Chicago, taking also extra courses in the Harrison Kindergarten School. She taught in a private kinder- garten school in Chicago and in the Toledo schools later.
In 1905 Elizabeth Watkins became the wife of William S. Haley, of Napoleon, Ohio, whose father was Dr. James S. Haley, a well known physician, while his grandfather was Judge James G. Haley, one of the pioneers of Ohio. Mr. Haley is assistant division engineer of the New York Central Railroad with headquarters in Toledo.
Mrs. Haley is widely known in club circles throughout the state for she is editor of the Buckeye, the official publication of the Ohio Fed- eration of Women's Clubs. For many years she was a club reporter and recently completed a two year term as state chairman of press and publicity in the Ohio Federation. She served for four years as state
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chairman of the Division of Americanization and has attended many meetings of the General Federation; as a delegate from the Nautilus Club she attended the Council in San Francisco and afterward took an interesting side trip to Alaska.
She was the second state president of the Ohio Delphian Federa- tion and still keeps her membership in the Toledo Chapter. Mrs. Haley is a past state president of the Ohio Daughters of 1812. During her administration two chapters were formed in Ohio, one of which is called the Henry Rogers Chapter, in honor of Mrs. Haley's maternal grand- father. The state society further honored her by acquiring two silk flags, one of 1812 and the other a modern flag, as a tribute to the retiring administration, which she headed. She has also been president of the Peter Navarre Chapter, Daughters of 1812, in Toledo, in addition to serving two years as vice president. She is likewise a member of Ursula Wolcott Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution of Toledo.
Mrs. Haley has membership in the Toledo Woman's Club and the Lakeside Federation of Women's Clubs, of which she has been president. She is connected with the Woman's Educational Club, having served two years as president, and of the Educational Club Players is now vice president and has taken part in a number of plays which the club pre- sented. For two years she was chairman of the Department of Litera- ture and Drama in the Woman's Educational Club and is now program chairman. For many years she was a member of the Shakespeare Class, has been an officer in Toledo Sorosis and president of the Nautilus Club. For several years she was on the board of the Young Women's Christian Association and headed the committee on education. She is a member of the First Congregational Church.
During the World War, Mrs. Haley taught classes in knitting and kept open house, where she and her associates made garments and quilts for the refugee children, turning out hundreds of garments for that purpose. After the war she was chairman of a committee to form a bond and promote contacts between American and foreign born
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women. She belongs to the Auxiliary of the Toledo Society for Crippled Children, also to the Auxiliary of the Spanish-American War Veterans and is a member of the Eastern Star. Her work in these various fields has been a forceful element in upholding the high standards repre- sented by the different organizations and her own ideals of life have always been high.
She reports that her hobbies are needle point, knitting, cooking and her inherited antiques and that she "plays an average game of con- tract." She greatly enjoys travel and is particularly enthusiastic about long motor trips.
VALINDA M. RICKARDS ROOD
VALINDA M. RICKARDS ROOD has been an untiring worker in the church and in connection with civic and philanthropic interests and has had much to do with directing the energies of women's organizations into channels of helpfulness and usefulness, thus enriching the lives of others. Mrs. Rood is a native of Buffalo, New York, and a daughter of George H. and Fannie Maria (Young) Rickards. Her father was a merchant in Buffalo, New York, and afterward removed to Bronson, Branch County, Michigan, where he developed a fine farm. After the death of his first wife he married Laura Welch, who reared his daughter Valinda and who was teacher of a private school in Danville, New York. Mrs. Rood graduated from high school in Buffalo, New York, and has since taken many post graduate courses. In fact, she has always been a student and realizes that the keenest pleasures of life come from in- tellectual stimulus. Her student habits have carried her into many fields and she is even now studying French. Immediately after completing her high school course she began teaching in the public schools of Buffalo, New York, where she continued until 1887, when she removed to Toledo to accept a teaching position.
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Mrs. Rood was identified with the schools of Toledo until June, 1893, when she became the wife of Prentice E. Rood, who was engaged in the wholesale and retail mail order business here and which he and his wife developed together.
Before her marriage Mrs. Rood had become an active factor in women's organized efforts to help humanity. She was one of the found- ers of the Young Woman's Christian Temperance Union and was one of the active members in the first service work of the Episcopal Church, of which she has been a lifelong member, being a member of St. Mark's. She has taken a most helpful part in many branches of the church work and for four years has been president of St. Mark's Church League. Soon after her marriage she became one of the members of a study club and a little later was one of the organizers of the Sorosis Club, of which she was made the first vice president and finished out the term of the president, who removed from the city, at the end of which time she was elected president. In 1904 she was one of the principal organizers of the North Toledo Community House and is now the only surviving member of the original board. Her work has always been along con- structive lines and as one reviews the history of the city and realizes what has been accomplished by organizations with which she has been closely identified, one feels that Mrs. Rood perhaps builded better than she knew. At all events, her labors have been far-reaching, beneficial and resultant.
Mrs. Rood belongs to the Toledo Woman's Club, is a past president of the Woman's Educational Club and City Federation of Clubs. She served for seventeen months as welfare director of the city, filling out an unexpired term at the request of Mayor Schreiber. For two terms she was president of the Young Women's Christian Association and was president of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs during the war. For two years as chairman of publicity of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs, she had a column running in seventy-two newspapers of the state during the administration of Mds. Geo. Zimmerman. The
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breadth of her activities can scarcely be measured and the end is not yet for she continues her efforts for humanity in these various fields which tend to develop character and lead to the acceptance of higher ideals of living.
EVA LUMLEY MCCLELLAND
EVA LUMLEY MCCLELLAND has been very actively and help- fully concerned in matters pertaining to the educational progress of Warren and was the first vice president of the Parent-Teachers Associa- tion, which was one of the first organizations of this kind in Ohio. She has championed many measures that have stimulated intellectual devel- opment here and has given her support to all plans for the general good.
Mrs. McClelland is a native of Washington, Pennsylvania, born April 1, 1881, and is a daughter of John R. and Jane Lumley. Spending her girlhood days in her parents' home, she attended the schools of her native city and was married in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1897, be- coming the wife of John Knapp McClelland of Warren, Ohio, whom she accompanied to this city to make it her future home. They became the parents of three children: Helen, who is now Mrs. Arthur J. McConnell of Warren; William P., who is also living in Warren; and Sarah, who is now the wife of K. E. Grove, of Lorain, Ohio.
Mrs. McClelland, throughout the period of her residence in Warren, has manifested an effective interest in matters of cultural and uplifting worth. She is a past president of the Warren Federation of Woman's Clubs, is a past member of the board and was the first vice president of the Parent-Teachers Association, filling the latter position for four years and aiding in placing on a substantial and effective basis, one of the first branches of the association in the state. She is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, of which she formerly served as president
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and of which she is now treasurer, has been a member of the Warren Board of Education since 1937 and for seventeen years was a member of the Warren Board of Health, in which connection she rendered valu- able service to the community in promoting methods of sanitation and health control. Her political support is given the Republican party, based upon a thorough study of the vital questions and issues of the day, bringing about a firm belief in the party principles. Her religious faith is shown in her membership in the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Warren.
REBEKAH NULTON PARRISH
REBEKAH NULTON PARRISH (Mrs. Charles J. Parrish), whose work in women's clubs, civic, social, religious and educational organiza- tions has made her an important factor in the development and progress of Hamilton, Ohio, was born at Hillsboro, the daughter of L. A. and Katherine (Foster) Nulton.
Her father, born at Waverly, Ohio, was orphaned in early youth and reared by his aunt, a member of the widely known Townsend family of Zanesville, Ohio. He entered the railroad business at eighteen and was for his main period of service prominently associated with the old Cincinnati, Washington and Baltimore Railroad (now the B. and ().). Later he engaged in the lumber business at Chicago, Illinois, where he died when forty years of age.
Rebekah's mother was Katherine Foster, a daughter of James Fos- ter, Jr., of Cincinnati, widely known optician and manufacturer of lenses and scientific instruments. He is referred to in various histories of Cincinnati as a promoter of civic progress and a patron of the fine arts. In 1860 James Foster, Jr., was one of the prominent citizens appointed to receive the then Prince of Wales on his visit to Cincinnati.
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Katherine Foster was gifted with a beautiful voice and a love of music which continued to find expression after her marriage and was inherited by her daughter, Rebekah Nulton. Rebekah attended private school in Hillsboro and later Oxford College from which she was gradu- ated in 1895 with diplomas in both the scientific course and in piano.
In 1896 Rebekah Nulton was married to Charles Jared Parrish, of Hamilton, Ohio, an alumnus of Ohio Wesleyan University. Four chil- dren were born to the union, of whom the two oldest, Kathryn and Augusta, are twins. The former is now the wife of Dwight Jones, presi- dent of Crown Foundries of Jackson, Ohio, and the latter the wife of Judge William O'Keefe, of Saginaw, Michigan.
The third daughter, Louise Rebekah Parrish, married Joseph Gar- retson, Jr., widely known Cincinnati newspaper man and the only son, Nulton Parrish, educated at Culver Military Academy, at Miami Uni- versity and later Dartmouth College, is now associated in Banking and Building Association business with his father at Hamilton. The daugh- ters were students at "Oakhurst", Cincinnati, Ossining-on-Hudson and Vassar College.
Despite the claims of home interests and responsibilities, Mrs. Par- rish has found time for participation in social, cultural and welfare work. She was one of participants in the World Drive of the Young Women's Christian Association, a board member of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs from 1917 to 1921, was active during the World War in numerous services promoting the welfare of soldiers in camp or field, helped to organize the Girl Scouts and served as commissioner of this group for her locality until a year ago when she was made honorary commissioner. Mrs. Parrish is a member of the American Association of University Women, a life member of the George Washington Mem- orial Association and served for two years on the board of the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs. Her name is prominent in the membership of the Browning Club, Hamilton's longest established literary organiza- tion, and also of Hamilton "Musical Arts" Club. The Cincinnati Wom- an's Club and the English-Speaking Union continue to receive her sup- port.
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Before her marriage at eighteen this talented and untiring daughter of Ohio was assistant organist and Sunday school teacher in the Presby- terian Church of Hillsboro. Later her religious interests centered in the First Methodist Church of Hamilton and in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, with which she has been identified fifty-eight years, becoming a member in Hillsboro under Gov. Trimble's daughter- "Mother" Thompson of "The Temperance Crusade"-later in Hamil- ton and now in Battle Creek, Michigan, where in recent years Mrs. Par- rish has been obliged to remain much of the winter season to rebuild her health.
FANNIE SMITH POWERS
From early womanhood FANNIE SMITH POWERS has been allied with those forces which make for intellectual progress and achievement, particularly with regard to library activities, and she has also been an earnest and effective worker in club life and in the church. While she makes her home in Poland, her activities have largely centered in Youngstown. She was born in Warsaw, New York, and is a daughter of Irving B. and Amelia (Miller) Smith, her father devoting his life to educational work.
Mrs. Powers began her education in the public schools of Warsaw and after completing her high school course there she attended Smith College, winning her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1905. She afterward pursued a literary course in the New York State Library School at Albany, New York, which is now affiliated with Columbia University of New York City. For two years she was connected with the Brooklyn (N. Y.) Public Library and in 1910 removed to Youngstown, Ohio, where she served as reference librarian for some time, while later she was librarian of the Reuben McMillan Free Library, which is the public library of Youngstown, serving in that connection for a year.
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In Youngstown, in 1916, Fannie Smith became the wife of Franklin B. Powers, an attorney of Youngstown, and they have become parents of two sons and a daughter: Franklin B., Jr., who is now a student at Amherst College; John, who is attending Wesleyan University at Mid- dletown, Connecticut; and Helen, at home. Aside from the management of her home, Mrs. Powers has found time for helpful participation in various clubs, societies and other organizations. She is now president of the Ohio branch of the American Association of University Women and a past president of the Youngstown branch of that organization. She is serving on the board of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and is secretary of the board of the Friends of the Youngstown College Library. She has membership in the Federation of Woman's Clubs of Youngstown, belongs to the Poland Garden Club and politically is a Republican, with membership in the League of Women Voters. She is a member of the Poland Presbyterian Church and is actively interested in the various branches of the church work, her influence at all times contributing to the advancement of those forces which emphasize intel- lectual development and character upbuilding.
FLORENCE KENYON HAYDEN RECTOR
FLORENCE KENYON HAYDEN RECTOR (Mrs. James M. Rector), of Columbus, bears the distinction of being Ohio's first licensed woman architect. Residing in this city since 1892, she has divided her interests between her home, her profession and numerous worthy causes, including activity as a member of the National Women's party. She was but a small child at the time of the death of her father, William Horace Hayden, of Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of eighteen he had enlisted for service in the Civil War and fought through the entire period of hostilities, becoming a first lieutenant of cavalry. His wife, who in her maidenhood was Kate Bemis, of St. Louis, eager that their daugh-
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ters should never know a fate like that which befell many southern women of gentle birth after the war, instilled in them a desire to educate themselves for professional careers.
Born in St. Louis, Mrs. Rector pursued her education in schools of California until she attended Ohio State University, where she studied civil engineering. Her sister, Gillette Hayden, also followed the mother's advice as to choosing a professional career and has won fame as a periodontia specialist in both America and in Europe. Mrs. Rector's initial step in a professional career was taken when she was employed by the department of architecture of Ohio State University to design fixtures for the new chemical building. On this same campus she later saw the women's dormitory erected according to plans which she as one of two architects had submitted and which were accepted. Since the beginning of her professional career her services and advice have been sought by both individuals and business interests. Her leaning toward architecture as a profession may be traced to her maternal an- cestors, who according to genealogical records were knighted for their designs of bridges. Under her supervision a large Columbus department store, that of F. & R. Lazarus & Company, installed a Charm House where modes of interior decoration are displayed. Not only was she the architect of the house but she also superintended the workmen in order to save time. She has acted as architect for several exclusive Columbus shops, has superintended civic improvements and was on the verge of her most important architectural commission when she became the wife of Dr. James Manara Rector, a Columbus physician. After her marriage she continued her profession but within recent years, fol- lowing the death of her husband, she has had to devote more time to the administration of family matters. Her daughter, Gillette, and her son, Hayden, now grown to young manhood and womanhood, are of the tenth generation of Haydens in the United States.
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