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BIOGRAPHIES
 Source:
A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio
- Vol. II -
by G. Frederick Wright
1916
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J. H. Schibley |
JACOB H. SCHIBLEY
Source: A Standard History
of Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick
Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 997
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W. H. Schibley |
W. H. SCHIBLEY
Source: A Standard History
of Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick
Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 965 |
Burdette S. Smith |
BURDETTE S. SMITH.
Nearly every one in Lorain is now acquainted with
the substantial position occupied by Burdette S.
Smith, as head of an electrical contracting and
garage and automobile plant, but comparatively few
know of the struggles by which he has won his way to
success.
Very early in life, on account of the death of his
mother, he had to turn his time to account in making
his own way in the world. He had been born at
Ludington, Michigan, June 6, 1876. His father,
Samuel Smith, was a foreman in the
lumber camps of Northern Michigan during the high
tide of the lumber industry. The mother was Loretta
Smith. On account of the breaking up of the home
through the death of the mother, Burdette S.
Smith, who in the meantime had acquired only a
limited amount of education in the public schools,
went east to New York City, and for a time sold
papers on the streets. The position which had
a great deal to do with his subsequent destiny was
employment with the telephone company, and he soon
became an operator, and from that got into the more
technical part of the business as a switchboard and
cable man, and eventually was made foreman of a gang
of men performing this class of work. In that
way he acquired a thorough practical knowledge of
electrical construction and operation, and his main
business career has been identified chiefly with
things electrical.
In 1900 Mr. Smith came to Lorain to take
charge of the telephone department of the National
Tube Company. Later he organized the Lorain
Electrical Construction Company, of which he became
manager, secretary and treasurer, and in September,
1914, be bought the controlling interests and then
changed the name to the Lorain Electric & Auto
Company. This is now a substantial industry at
Lorain, and Mr. Smith built the
structure which hia plant occupies, a two-story
brick building, 33 by 143 feet deep, all of which is
occupied by his shops and garage. He also has
a two-story warehouse, 25 by 50 feet. Besides his
general repair and electrical contracting business
he bandies the agency for the Ford and Buick
automobiles.
Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason, and is a life
member of Al-Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Cleveland, Ohio.
He is one of the moat popular business men of
Lorain. On June 1, 1902, he married Miss
Lulu White of Vermilion, Ohio. Their three
children are named Chester Burdette,
Blanche Dee and Paul White.
Source: A Standard History
of Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick
Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 876 |
Charles W. Smith |
CHARLES
WILLIAM SMITH.
Among the veteran retired merchants of Lorain County
perhaps none is better known through long
association with one line of business than
Charles W. Smith, who for fully half a century
had been in the jewelry and watch making trade and
business at Elyria. For the greater part of
this time his store was not only represented as an
important landmark in the shopping district, but was
regarded as the largest and most important
establishment of its kind in that city.
Throughout all his career Mr. Smith
has manifested a high degree of public spirit toward
all enterprises and movements for the improvement of
the city as a business center and as a social
community.
A resident of America since he was twelve years of age,
Charles William Smith was born February 6,
1842, in Tuebingen, in the Kingdom of Wuertemberg,
Germany, a son of Christian Gottlieb
and Agnes (Waiblinger)
Schmid, as his father wrote his name. Both
parents died in Elyria. The father came to
America in 1853 with two other members of his
family, and the mother followed with the other
children in 1854. Charles W. Smith made
the voyage with his mother in 1854. He had
already had some benefit of instruction in the
schools of Germany, and after coming to Elyria spent
three months as a pupil in the old stone schoolhouse
on East Avenue, and another three months at an old
school-house now torn down which stood on Middle
avenue.
In 1862, at the age of twenty, Mr. Smith took up
the trade of watch-maker and jeweler and engaged in
that business in the store on Broad Street at the
comer of Mill Street, a corner now occupied by
Robinson and Hancock, clothiers.
In 1865 he moved to the Beebe House,
and occupied the corner store on Broad Street now
occupied by the Lorain County Banking Company, in
the Andwur Hotel. In 1874, having prospered as a
merchant, Mr. Smith built and moved
into his own store, the Smith Block,
at 541 Broad Street. His business prosperity
is represented by some important building and real
estate interests. Besides the Smith
Block at 541 Broad Street, he is also owner of
the Smith Block at 538-542 Broadway in
the City of Lorain, and be owns a substantial
residence at 651 Broad Street in Elyria. Mr.
Smith has been a witness to most of Elyria 's
development since it was a very small town.
The family on coming to America spent about a year
and a half in Cleveland, and arrived in Elyria about
1855. It was then a small town, and the
locality on Broad Street where Mr. Smith
now has his home was at that time mainly a cow
pasture, though now located nearly in the center of
the business district. With a few more years
of rapid development such as Elyria has had during
the past decade his home will necessarily have to be
moved or torn down to make way for the advance of
business development in that section of the city.
Mr. Smith has been affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1870.
He became one of the first members of St, Paul's
Church at Elyria, joining in 1858. In 1864 at
Cleveland he married Miss Anna Mary Laux, a
daughter of Peter and Gertrude Laux of
Ridgeville, Ohio. Mrs. Smith died Jan.
2, 1899. The children are William C.,
who married Elizabeth Beller, of Amherst,
Ohio, has been in the shoe business at Elyria nearly
a quarter of a century, his store being at 541 West
Broad Street in the Smith Block.
They are the parents of Arthur G., who is
connected with the shoe firm of Wm. C. Smith
& Son; Charles J., deceased, married
Hattie Reublin, and left two children, Pierre
R. and Geraldine; Henry F. married
Dora Schubert, and has one child,
Catherine; Julia M. married M. J.
McGuire, and they have three children,
Charles W., Helen and Mary;
Frank W. is still unmarried.
Source: A Standard History
of Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick
Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 863 |
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FRANK ALLEN SMITH.
A resident of Lorain County most of his life, Mr.
Smith's name is associated with various
phases of Elyria 's commercial activities. For
nearly twenty years he has been in the real estate
and insurance business as his chief line of
enterprise, has assisted in the pro- motion and has
financial interests in different business concerns,
and has identified himself with the organized
movements for the general improvement of the
community. There is hardly any event of
importance in the civic and commercial history of
Elyria during the past twenty years with which he
has not been connected in some public spirited
manner. He is now secretary and treasurer of
The P. A. Smith & Brother Company, probably
the leading concern in Lorain County in the handling
of real estate and insurance and surety bonds.
The corporation, which has been only recently formed
to succeed the former partnership of F. A.
Smith & Brother, has offices in the Elyria
Block.
He was born in Wellington, Lorain County, Ohio, Apr.
25, 1868, a son of Milo R. and Abigail (Haskell)
Smith. His father died at Elyria Aug. 30,
1913, and the mother is still living, her home being
in Oberlin. Milo R. Smith was born at
Amherst in Lorain County, and his wife is a native
of Augusta, Maine, born on the Penobscot River.
She came to Lorain County with her mother, locating
about 1856 in Oberlin, where she and Milo
Smith married. The Smiths came to
Ohio from Northern New York, their original seat
having been near the head of the Hudson River.
Milo Smith spent all his active years
as a farmer in Huntington Township in Lorain County.
There were six children, four sons and two
daughters, all of whom reached maturity and all but
one are now living. In order of age the
children are: Will M., now president of The
P. A. Smith & Brother Company; Edward H.,
who died in 1884 at the age of twenty-one on the
home place in Huntington Township; Margaret,
Mrs. L. S. Hazel of Atlanta, Georgia;
Frank A.; Mason D., a teacher in the
public schools at Elyria; and Minerva. Mrs.
Harry Crosier of Pittsfield, Ohio.
All the children claim Lorain County as their
birthplace, and as children attended the local
public schools and all graduates of the Wellington
High School. Will and Frank also
attended business college in Terre Haute, Indiana,
while Mason took his higher instruction in
the Ohio Northern University at Ada.
Frank A. Smith graduated from the Wellington
High School with, the class of 1888, then entered
business college at Terre Haute, and following his
graduation became bookkeeper with J. R. Duncan
& Company of that city. A year later he went
to Williamsburg, Kentucky, and spent five years with
the Kentucky Lumber Company as bookkeeper. Returning
to his home county, he located in Elyria in 1895,
and about a year later engaged in the insurance and
real estate business. He shared an office with
Clayton Chapman, but did business
alone until 1912, when he was joined by his brother
Will. Mr. Prank Smith
moved from the Chapman office into the old
Elyria Block, and was the first tenant in
that structure, which subsequently was burned.
With the construction of the new Elyria Block he was
the first tenant to take possession, and that is
still his business home. When his brother
Will joined him in the business the firm became
known as P. A. Smith & Brother, but in May,
1915, the business was incorporated under the name
The F. A. Smith & Brother Company, with
Will Smith as president and Frank A. Smith
as secretary and treasurer. This company
handles surety bonds, fire insurance and city real
estate, and is the leader in these lines in Elyria.
The firm platted and laid out the Dewey Avenue
allotment in Elyria in 1907, and all of that
subdivision is practically sold out.
Mr. Frank Smith is a stockholder in the Lorain
County Abstract Company, In politics he is a
republican, and in many ways has made his influence
count for good in the improvement of the community.
He served five years continuously as a member of the
city council, and during the first two years
represented the Third Ward and in the last three
years was councilman at large. He was also
city assessor in the Fourth Ward for three
successive years.
Mr. Smith is much interested in fraternal
affairs, and is affiliated with King Solomon Lodge
No. 56, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Elyria;
Oriental Commandery of the Knights Templar at
Cleveland; Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine at
Cleveland; Lake Erie Consistory of the Thirty-second
Degree at Cleveland; and is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias,
the Royal Arcanum, the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Modem
Woodmen of America, the Order of the Eastern Star
and the National Union in the local bodies at
Elyria. He is a working member of the
Elyria Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Smith was married to Miss Nell E.
Short of Wellington, Nov. 4, 1891, and on the
same day he also voted for Major McKinley
for governor of Ohio. Mrs. Smith
was born in Devonshire, England, and when about two
years of age was brought to the United States by her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Short.
About six years later she lost her father, and her
mother had passed away when Mrs. Smith
was about six years of age. She was reared and
educated principally in Berea, Ohio, and
subsequently lived at Wellington until her marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a daughter,
Esther La Rue, aged twelve, and now attending
the grade schools at Elyria.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 789 |
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HENRY F. SMITH.
For a man who started in life absolutely dependent
upon his own resources, even to the extent of paying
his way through school, Henry F. Smith, who
is now vice president of the Peoples Banking Company
of Oberlin, has made a success that is stimulating
and encouraging to younger men.
He was born in Elyria, Ohio, Nov. 30, 1867, a son of
Charles W. and Anna Mary (Loux) Smith.
Both parents were natives of Wuertemberg, Germany.
His father was born in 1842 and is still living,
having been brought to the United States when twelve
years old. The mother was born in 1845, came
to this country with her parents at the age of
three, and died in 1896. They were married in
Cleveland. Charles W. Smith was a
jeweler by trade, and followed the business all his
active career. He established himself at
Elyria in 1862, and was in active business there
until he retired about fifteen years ago. At
one time he served as chief of the fire department
in Elyria. He is a democrat in politics, and a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
of St. Paul's Evangelical Church. His
wife was a Catholic. Of their six children,
four are living: William C.., a shoe
merchant at Elyria; Henry F.; Julia Mary,
wife of M. J. McGuire, manager of the
Standard Foundry Company at Cleveland; and Frank
W., who was formerly a jeweler but now lives
retired at Elyria.
Henry F. Smith attended the public schools at
Elyria for a time, and out of his own earnings he
paid for a course in pharmacy in the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he finished in 1891.
From his earnings as a pharmacy clerk he set himself
up in business as a druggist at Oberlin in 1893.
He prospered and continued active in that line of
business until 1906, when he sold out. Since
then he has been the chief executive officer of the
Peoples Banking Company, of which he is vice
president, and he also owns stock in the State Bank
of Oberlin. He has also invested in real
estate, both in Oberlin and in Lorain City.
In 1894 Mr. Smith married Dorothy Schubert,
who was born near Oberlin, a daughter of William
Schubert, one of the early settlers of Lorain
County. They have one daughter, Catherine
Dorothy, now in school. Mr. and Mrs.
Smith are members of the First Congregational
Church, and he has always taken much interest in
Masonry, being junior warden of the Blue lodge, and
a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Knights
Templar Commandery. For a number of years he
has been an enthusiastic republican and has given
his influence without reserve to the benefit
of his home community. He is still a member of
the city council and has been connected with that
body for the past six years. At one time he
was a member of the water board and for a number of
year was precinct committeeman.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 646 |
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JAMES C.
SMITH. No small share of
technical skill and ability to lead and direct the
work of a large factory organization has been
furnished to the Elyria industrial community by
James C. Smith, who is factory manager of The
Machine Parts Company and has been closely
identified with this and some of the other large
enterprises in Elyria for more than twenty years.
Mr. Smith, who probably inherits his taste
for things mechanical from his father, began his
career as a machinist's apprentice and has filled a
number of positions in a rising grade of
responsibility in factories and industries both the
Lorain County and elsewhere.
Born at New Hartford, Oneida County, New York, Nov. 16,
1861, James C. Smith is a son of Edward B.
and Helen (Cunningham) Smith. His father,
Edward B. Smith, was born in England, a son
of Jonathan Smith, who spent all his life in
that country. Helen Cunningham, was
born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and being a radical and
expressing his views too freely, was thrown into
prison, but by the aid of influential friends was
released and came to Canada, and lived for many
years in the United States. Edward B. Smith
as a tool maker was in the employ of hte Remington
Arms Company at Ilion, during the Civil war.
When peace brought about a slackening of that
industry, he moved to Meadville, Pennsylvania, was
employed for a time by the Atlantic & Great Western,
now the Erie Railroad, and in 1867 moved to
Cleveland, Ohio. About twelve years later he
took up his residence at Elyria, but after a year
and a half returned to Cleveland, where he died in
1884. His wife passed away in 1880.
On reaching the second year of the high school at
Cleveland, James C. Smith left school to gain
a vocational training as apprentice to the
machinist's trade. He was with the White
Sewing Machine Company in Cleveland for a time, and
during the year and a half his parents lived in
Elyria he was employed by the firm of Topliff &
Ely. He afterwards worked for I. N.
Topliff and for a time was in the employ of the
Cleveland Electric Company, and also with the Chapin
Nut Bolt Company.
On returning to Elyria Mr. Smith was for a time
with Mead & Wallace, manufacturers of
carriage hardware, and later with James Hollis,
who conducted a machine shop on the site now
occupied by The Machine Parts Company. for 3½
years he had charge of the iron valve department in
the brass works at Lorain, and then returned to the
machine works formerly conducted by Mr. Hollis,
but at that time under the proprietorship of H.
K. Day. The forming of his next connection
in industrial affairs is one of interest and
importance to his personal career. He returned
to the employ of the Topliff & Ely
Company, which at that time was making some of the
first of the famous Garfield bicycle saddles.
On Dec. 1, 1892, Mr. Smith was made
superintendent of the manufacture of these saddles
for The Garfield Company, and continued in
charge of this department of a large and growing
industry until May, 1905. He resigned to take
the management of the Rochester Valve Company, which
in about a year later was reorganized as The Machine
Parts Company, on Ohio corporation, in which Mr.
Smith became vice president. When he
left the Garford Company's plant as
superintendent the esteem in which he was held by
his many employes was well shown when the men as a
token of their regard presented him with a handsome
gold watch and chain and a Masonic charm.
Mr. Smith is now a director and factory manager
of The Machine Parts Company and is also a director
in The Worthington Company.
He is a director in the Masonic Temple Company, and for
many years has been closely identified with Masonic
affairs. He is affiliated with King Solomon
Lodge No. 56, Free and Accepted Masons; with
Marshall Chapter No. 47, Royal and Select Masters,
in which he is past thrice illustrious master; and
with Elyria Commandery No. 60, Knights Templar, of
which he is past commander. He is also a
member of the United Commercial Travelers and the
Elyria Chambers of Commerce. As a local
citizen he has not neglected his duties, and for
about five years up to January, 1908, was a member
of the board of public service and its president
during the last year.
Mr. Smith married Miss Elizabeth Howells,
who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, daughter of
Thomas and Elizabeth Howells, who as children
were brought from Wales, their native country, to
the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
have three children: Brenton Arthur,
who graduated from the Elyria High School in 1911,
is a draftsman by trade, and is now connected with
The Willys-Overland Co., Elyria, Ohio; Helen
Elizabeth, who graduated from the Elyria High
School in the class of 1913 and is now a
stenographer; and Theodore Howells,
who is still a student in the high school. All
three children were born in Elyria.
Source: A Standard History
of Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick
Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page 860 |
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HON. LAERTES B. SMITH.
The distinction gained by the late Judge Smith
during his long career as a lawyer and man of
affairs comprise an important addition to the many
worthy associations of the name in Lorain County.
His was one of the first families to make permanent
homes in this section of Northern Ohio. The
year 1914 was the centennial of the Smith family
residence in this county, and it is due to the
varied achievements of the family during the century
as well as to the individual attainments of the late
Judge Smith that the following brief history
is offered for permanent record.
This branch of the Smiths was long identified
with New England and was of Puritan stock. The
founder of the name in the wilds of Lorain County
was Chiliab Smith, grandfather of the late
Judge Smith. He was born in the colony of
Connecticut, Nov. 11, 1765, and died in 1840, his
boyhood having been spent in the midst of the
Revolutionary war. For a number of years his
home was in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, where
he married Nancy Marshall, who was
born Jan. 19, 1766, and died Dec. 5, 1824. In
1814, toward the close of the second war with
England, they set out with their family for the old
Western Reserve of Ohio. Wagons drawn by oxen
conveyed them by tedious stages to the present site
of Elyria, and from there they were five days in
cutting a road through the heavy forest to their
permanent place of settlement, where they arrived
Oct. 16, 1814. Their home was included in the
territory which in April, 1817, was organized as
Amherst Township. The land came into the
Smith possession through a trade of eastern
property with the Connecticut Land Company.
Chiliab Smith was a tailor, and while looking
after the work involved in clearing up a new tract
of land he also gave his services to such of the
pioneer families as required his skill in the
cutting and fashioning of the homespun garments then
almost universally worn. He was also an
exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in
the absence of regular preachers or missionaries he
held many meetings in his neighborhood and
frequently the Smith home was the scene of a
gathering for prayer and the reading of the gospel.
When old age came upon him, grandfather Smith
turned his farm over to his children, who also
inherited the good name of one of the finest pioneer
characters in Amherst Township. The Smith
homestead was located on Little Beaver Creek,
four miles west of the present City of Elyria, and
the home was also employed for purposes as an inn,
and was the first tavern in that locality.
In the next generation was David Smith, who was
born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Mar. 30,
1797, and was a growing youth of seventeen when the
family moved to Lorain County. In 1824 he
married Miss Fannie Barnes. She was
born in Berkshire County, Dec. 23, 1802. To
their union were born nine children, six of whom
reached maturity. David Smith was a man
who lived at peace with his neighbors and
accomplished a great deal in his quiet way. In
politics he was a democrat. He died Apr. 30,
1861. His wife survived until August, 1888.
She was of the Presbyterian faith, and attended the
congregation at Elyria until 1840.
The third in his father's family, Laertes B. Smith
was born in Amherst Township of Lorain County, Sept.
21, 1828, and was sixty-nine when he died at Elyria,
May 12, 1897. Though a lawyer for many years,
his early experiences were al of the farm and
mechanical trades. Educated in the common
schools of his native township, he left the farm at
twenty-one to learn the trade of harness-maker,
which he followed for several years as his chief
means of livelihood. At twenty-five he
accepted employment in a hardware store at LaPorte,
Indiana, and lived there about five years. His
commercial experience had not entirely satisfied
him, and on returning to Lorain Cunty in 1858 he
began to prosecute his law studies as vigorously as
circumstances would permit. The firm with
which he studied was Vincent & Sheldon in
Elyria. Admitted to the bar in 1860, he began
his practice with the same firm. During the
following year Mr. Vincent retired, leaving
Sheldon and Smith together, but soon
after the outbreak of the war the former went into
the army. The next year he formed a
partnership with Judge W. W. Boynton, the
venerable lawyer and jurist who were in practice
together about four years.
In June, 1871, Mr. Smith was appointed probate
judge of Lorain County to fill the vacancy caused by
the resignation of John W. Steele, and by
subsequent elections his services were continued in
that capacity until February, 1882, more than eleven
years. It was often remarked that the widow
and orphan had a firm and just friend as long as
Judge Smith was on the probate bench.
For the greater part of his remaining years Judge
Smith performed the duties of justice of the
peace in addition to his private law practice.
He was not only well known but had hosts of warm
friends throughout the count y.
His marriage occurred Dec. 26, 1871. Mrs.
Smith, who is still living in Elyria, bore the
maiden name of Margaret Smyth.
She was formerly from Ontario County, New York.
To their marriage were born seven children, four of
whom are still living: Mrs. S. H. Squire, of
Elyria; Mrs. A, B, Taylor, of Elyria;
Frank C., who is now city editor of the Elyria
Evening Telegram; Mrs. Frank T. Horan, of
Elyria. Leroy B. died in 1907 in New Mexico.
In politics the late Judge Smith was a
democrat until Civil war times, after which he was
firmly allied with the republicans.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 675 |
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WILL M. SMITH.
The active business career of Will M. Smith
covers fully thirty years, and the first half of
that period was spent in the lumber industry and for
the past fifteen years he has been associated with
his brother in the large real estate and insurance
firm now known as The P. A. Smith & Brother
Company, with offices in the Elyria Block in Elyria.
A native of Lorain County, born at Huntington Oct. 9,
1860, Will M. Smith is a son of the late Milo R.
and Abigail (Haskell) Smith. His mother is
still living at Elyria. Further particulars
concerning the family will be found in the sketch of
Frank A. Smith.
Reared on a farm, Will M. Smith attended the
country schools, also the Wellington High School,
and prepared for business by a course in the Terre
Haute Business College of Terre Haute, Indiana.
He got into active business life as a sawmill
operator, and spent fourteen years in that industry,
two years in Huntington and twelve years at
Centerton, near Chicago Junction, in Huron County.
Having sold out his interests at Centerton he moved
to Elyria in September. 1901, and the following
summer built his attractive home in that city,
performing a large share of the work himself.
In the fall of 1902 Mr. Smith entered
into business relations with his brother Frank A.
under the firm name of F. A. Smith & Brother.
In May, 1915, his business was incorporated as The
F. A. Smith & Brother Company, with Will
Smith president and his brother
secretary-treasurer. This company handles
surety bonds, fire insurance and city real estate
and stands at the top as a reliable agency in these
lines. The firm in 1907 platted and laid out
the Dewey Avenue allotment in Elyria, and at this
writing practically the entire subdivision is sold
out.
Mr. Smith takes much interest in fraternal
affairs. He is secretary of the Brotherhood of
American Yeomen, and has held that office for the
past ten years. For the past eight years he
has been recording secretary of Elyria Lodge No.
103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a
member of King Solomon Lodge No. 56, Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons, at Elyria. He belongs to
the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, and in politics a
republican, was quite active in local affairs while
living at Centerton, in Huron County, serving as a
trustee of Norwich Township, as justice of the peace
and as school director during his twelve years of
residence there. His church is the Methodist
Episcopal, and he was treasurer of the Sunday School
a number of years up to January, 1915.
His first wife was Miss Stella M. Rotson of
Spencer, Medina County, Ohio. She died in
Elyria in 1901, one month after the family removed
to this city. Her only daughter is now Mrs.
C. R. Summers of Oberlin. On Aug. 24,
1904, Mr. Smith married Mrs.
Nellie White of Chicago Junction.
The two children of her former marriage, both now
with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, are Dale and
Ethel White. Dale
White is a young man who has become widely known
for his athletic accomplishments. He is fond
of all outdoor sports, including basketball,
football, and is an expert swimmer. In the
spring of 1915 he assisted the local police as
expert diver in recovering the body of a small boy
who had been drowned, and also swam out and saved
the life of a boy whose canoe had been overturned.
He is a graduate of the Elyria High School with the
class of 1913 and is a young man of great promise.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 790 |
|
|
JOHN JOSEPH SMYTHE.
One of the youngest members of the Lorain County
bar, Mr. Smythe is a lawyer with a
promising practice, and has already obtained some
distinctions which furnish indications of a useful
and honored career. He is a member of the firm
of Baird & Smythe, with offices both
in Elyria and Amherst.
John Joseph Smythe was born at Dennison,
Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Dec. 12, 1889, a son of
Joseph Weaver and Elizabeth Smythe. His
father, who is of English descent, is a railroad
engineer in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. The mother is of French-Canadian
birth and parentage, and when a child came from
Quebec to Pennsylvania.
John J. Smythe graduated from the Dennison
public schools in 1908. His parents were not
wealthy people, and while they contributed all they
could to further the ambitions of the young man, he
early became dependent upon his own resources and by
his own work paid practically all his way through
college. In the year of his graduation from
the public schools he entered the Ohio State
University in the College of Arts, and in the
following year entered the College of Law, from
which he was graduated LL. B, in 1912. While
in university he was much interested in athletics
and was captain of the university baseball team in
1911-12, and has taken much interest in athletic
affairs since locating in Lorain County.
After graduating from law school Mr. Smythe
worked with William Herbert on Page's
Ohio Digest until January, 1915. He then
located in Elyria and opened a law office with D.
A. Baird under the name Baird & Smythe.
In April of the same year he established and took
charge of the branch office of the firm at Amherst.
This firm represents several corporations, including
the Amherst German Bank and the Amherst Home
Telephone Company.
One month after settling in Amherst Mr. Smythe
was appointed city solicitor of the village by the
village council, and after being a resident there
only six mouths, on account of his prominence in
municipal affairs, was nominated on a non-partisan
ticket for mayor and in November, 1913, at the age
of twenty-three, was elected to the office. At
that time he was reported as being the youngest
mayor Ohio had ever known. He is a democrat,
and in November, 1914, was candidate for clerk of
courts of Lorain County, being defeated by the
republican nominee of Lorain, William H. Oldham.
Mr. Smythe is affiliated with the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the
Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Knights and Ladies
of Security.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 691 |
G. N. Snyder, M. D. |
GEORGE N.
SNYDER, M. D. In 1868 a young man
arrived in the community of LaGrange and after being
engaged in the practice of medicine for a year and a
half he taught school. He made a favorable
impression whenever his services were requested in a
professional line, and in the course of about a year
and a half his practice had reached such proportions
that it required all his time and he gave up
teaching as a vocation. Since then for
forty-eight years Doctor Snyder has been one of the
leading physicians and surgeons in his section of
Lorain County, and is also founder and proprietor of
the principal drug store at LaGrange. He is a
type of the kindly family physician, is a friend to
all his patrons, and there is no citizen in that
community who stands higher in popular regard and
esteem.
He was born in Vermont July 8, 1845, a son of Hiram
and Sophronia (White) Snyder, but about a year
after his birth his parents moved to Ohio, lived in
Medina County a time, and then went to Wood County,
where the father acquired a farm. When Doctor
Snyder was about ten years of age he returned to
Medina County, and somewhat later went to Lorain
County, where he attended country schools during the
winter terms twenty years of age. At the age
of eighteen, however, he had begun teaching country
schools, and the earnings of his teachings during
the winter he employed to pay his way as a student
in summer sessions.
While teaching he took up the study of anatomy and
physiology, and later entered the medical department
of what is now the Western Reserve University, where
he was graduated M. D. with the class of 1868.
He was at that time twenty-two years of age, and he
soon after located in LaGrange. there he
taught school and practiced his profession until he
had established a good practice.
On Apr. 30, 1868, at Spencer, Medina County, Doctor
Snyder married Miss Mary J. Welcher, who
was born at Spencer Nov. 21, 1847, a daughter of
Jacob H. and Elizabeth (Wood) Welcher. Her
father was born at Phelps, near Rochester, New York,
June 29, 1803. After growing to manhood and
marrying he came to Ohio about 1845, locating on a
farm at Spencer in Medina County. Mr.
Welcher served many years as county commissioner
and as justice of the peace, was also postmaster,
and was a vigorous exponent of the temperance cause
in his locality and did much temperance lecture
work. Mr. Snyder's mother died at
Spencer in 1881, and in the same year her father
moved to Hillsdale County, Michigan, where he died
at the age of eighty-six Jan. 2, 1889.
Mrs. Snyder grew up in Medina County and had a
common school education, also attended a select
school for three or four years. Doctor
and Mrs. Snyder have one son, Mark
A. Snyder, who was born Jan. 28, 1873. He
has distinguished himself as a musician. He
was graduated from the Union School at LaGrange,
took up the study of music at home, and when hardly
more than a boy in years became a teacher of that
art. He studied music in the conservatory at
Oberlin for five years, and then went abroad and
continued his studies under some of the best masters
in Europe at Berlin, Germany, for three years.
Returning to America in 1897 he became an instructor
of music at the conservatory in Springfield, Ohio,
with which he remained six or seven years, and at
the same time he was one of the members of the noted
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a membership which in
itself is a high distinction for any musician.
Later he established a school of his own at
Springfield, and is regarded as one of the leading
music teachers in his section of the state.
Mark A. Snyder was married at LaGrange June 11,
1898, to Miss Gertrude Schultz. They
had met at Berlin, Germany where Miss Schultz
was born and reared. Mark A. Snyder
and wife have three children: Mary Emilie
who was born in LaGrange May 13, 1899, and was
graduated from the Wittenburg Academy in 1916
George W., born at Springfield, Mar. 9, 1903;
and Gertrude Amy, born at Springfield, Mar.
29, 1906.
In 1875 Doctor Snyder established a drug store
at LaGrange. The store was opened in a
building which he had constructed and which is still
standing. It is a two story frame building 24
feet in front and 47 feet in depth, and is a
combination store and resident property, and it
served as the home of Doctor Snyder and wife
until Feb. 10, 1899, when they moved into a
commodious residence and store building which he
also built. Doctor Snyder is a
registered pharmacist while his wife is a registered
assistant pharmacist.
A republican in
politics, Doctor Snyder cast his first
presidential ballot in 1868 for General Grant.
While not an office seeker, he has twice served as
postmaster of LaGrange, first to fill an unexpired
term, and then by regular appointment for several
years He took his first degree in Masonry at
LaGrange, and has served as junior warden of
LaGrange Lodge No. 399. He is a charter member
of the Maccabees, and has been examining physician
for that order since its organization. Mrs.
Snyder's name was proposed as a charger member
of the Maccabees, and has been examining physician
for that order since its organization. Mrs.
Snyder's name was proposed as a charter member
for the Chapter of the Eastern Star, but on account
of ill health she was unable to take part in the
initiation, and she never became a member of the
order. Doctor Snyder at one time was a
leader in the choir of the Baptist Church, and his
wife are sang there, although neither has membership
in the church. Mark A. Snyder also took
his first degree in Masonry at LaGrange, and is now
a Knight Templar in Springfield, and before going
abroad took his chapter degrees at Elyria.
Source: A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio
- Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright - Publ. 1916 - Page
971 |
F. M. Sponseller |
F. M. SPONSELLER
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 1038 |
A. E. Stiwald |
A. E. STIWALD
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 980 |
S. M. Streeter |
S. M. STREETER - See
LESTER
C. COOK
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 957 |
J. F. Strenick |
JAMES F.
STRENICK. Since
1903 Mr. Strenick has been engaged in
the practice of his profession in the City of
Lorain, where his sterling character, his ability
and his distinctive success in his chosen sphere of
endeavor have given him secure standing as one of
the representative members of the bar of Lorain
County, besides which he is known as a citizen whose
loyalty and public spirit are of the staunchest
order.
James Franklin Strenick was born
at West Salem, Wayne County, Ohio, on the 5th of
July, 1874, and is a son of James and
Amanda Jane (Royer) Strenick,
who still maintain their home there, the father
having been for many years associated with railroad
operations. In the public schools of his native town
Mr.d Strenick continued his studies
until he had completed the curriculum of the high
school, in which he was graduated as a member of the
class of 1894. From that time forward he was
identified with the mercantile business, and he then
followed the course of his ambitious purpose and
entered the law department of the University of
Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which he was graduated as
a member of the class of 1903 and from which he
received his well-earned degree of Bachelor of Laws.
In July of the same year he established his home at
Lorain, and here he has since continued in the
successful general practice of his profession, with
well-established reputation as a versatile advocate
and well fortified and judicious counselor. He
is an appreciative and popular member of the Lorain
County Bar Association, served as assistant city
solicitor from 1908 to 1911, and on May 2d of the
latter year he became the incumbent of the office of
justice of the peace. In January, 1908, he
assumed the office of treasurer of Black River
Township, in which fiduciary position he served two
terms. In his home city Mr. Strenick
is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and council
bodies of the York Rite of the Masonic fraternity,
and he holds membership also in the local
organizations of the Knights of Pythias, the
Independent Order of Foresters, and other
organizations. His political allegiance is
given to the republican party.
Aug. 28, 1896, recorded the marriage of Mr.
Strenick to Miss Arline Mellen,
of Burbank, Wayne County, Ohio, and their only child
is Helen, who was born Oct. 1, 1902.
Source: A Standard History of
Lorain County, Ohio - Vol. II by G. Frederick Wright
- Publ. 1916 - Page 883 |
NOTES: |
