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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Welcome to
Clark County, Ohio
History & Genealogy |
BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
20th CENTURY HISTORY
of
Springfield and Clark County, Ohio
and Representative Citizens
Publ: Biographical Publishing Co.
Geo. Richmond, Pres C. R. Arnold,
Sec'y and Treas.
Chicago, Illinois
1908
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EMERSON E. CLARK
- See JAMES CLARK
Source:
20th Century History
of
Springfield and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens -
Publ: Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1908 - Page
815 |
| |
JAMES
CLARK, who was one of the leading citizens of
Moorefield Township, and for over a quarter of a century
filled uninterruptedly the office of township treasurer, was
born Nov. 20, 1838, in Moorefield Township, Clark County,
Ohio, under the same roof that sheltered himself through the
whole of his long and busy life. He was a son of
Joseph David and Susan M. Clark.
JOHN DAVID CLARK was an early
settler in Moorefield Township and was one of the wealthy
agriculturists of his day. He erected the fine brick
residence which is occupied by the widow and younger son of
the late James Clark, one of the most pretentious of
this section. James Clark continued his
father's activities and developed still greater business
qualities. He gained almost a national reputation as a
breeder of fine trotting horses, and was able to secure very
large sums for these valuable animals, the price
occasionally being as much as $20,000. He bred what
was known as the fastest yearling trotter in the world,
which was purchased by Frank Rockefeller, who
then was a member of the Standard Oil Company. James
Clark was also engaged extensively in farming and
stock-raising and became one of the capitalists of Clark
County. He was also one of her most useful and
respected citizens. For ten years he was a prominent
member of the Clark County Agricultural Society and in his
own township he was held in such esteem that he could have
filled any office in the gift of his fellow-citizens.
When his death occurred on Mar. 16, 1906, not only
Moorefield, Township but Clark County felt the loss of a man
of unusual worth.
James Clark married Emma S. Morgan and
they had two children: Lester, who died aged four
years; and Emerson E.
EMERSON F. CLARK was born Oct. 24,
1879, and was educated in the schools of Moorefield Township
and the Nelson Business College. For a number of years
prior to his father's death he had been the practical
manager of the farm. On Feb. 26, 1903, he was married
to Ethel McConkey, who is a daughter of Oliver Y.
McConkey. They have one little daughter, Mary
Katherine. She is very fortunate in having a
large number of devoted relatives, for not only her
immediate ones but both of her great-grandmothers still
survive, Mrs. Mary Morgan and Mrs. Catherine
Nicklin. The maternal grandfather of Emerson E.
Clark was the late Charles Morgan, who is
remembered as the proprietor of the old Taylor mill.
His widow still survives, at the age of eighty-two years.
A picture of the residents of Mr. Clark's home
would show four generations, from the aged great-grandmother
to the little babe just upon the threshold of life.
Source:
20th Century History
of
Springfield and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens -
Publ: Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1908 - Page
815 |
| |
JOHN DAVID CLARK - See
JAMES CLARK
Source:
20th Century History
of
Springfield and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens -
Publ: Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1908 - Page
815 |
| |
CHARLES E. CLARKE
- See O. C. CLARKE
Source:
20th Century History
of
Springfield and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens -
Publ: Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1908 - Page
615 |
| |
O. C. CLARKE, secretary and
treasurer of the Springfield Abstract Company, has spent his
entire life up to date in the City of Springfield, with the
exception of a few years spent in Kansas and Missouri.
A native of this city, he is a son of Charles E. and Mary
C. (Christie) Clarke, who were born respectively in
Decatur, Ga., and Springfield, Ohio.
CHARLES E. CLARKE, the father, came to Springfield
when a child of six or seven years, and here grew to
manhood. He began business life in Dayton, Ohio, where
he engaged in book publishing. Thence he went subsequently
to Minnesota, where he was interested in real estate
operations for a short time. At the end of that
period, or about the commencement of the Civil War, he
returned to Springfield. He next went to Missouri,
where in 1862 he became a member of the State Militia,
entering with the rank of captain and being later promoted
to that of major. He resigned his commission in
December, 1864, and again returned to Springfield.
Here he remained but a short time, when he again took up his
residence in Missouri, entering into the lumber business at
Independence, of which place he was a resident for about
five years. He then engaged in the real estate business at
Fort Scott, Kansas, and was thus occupied for three years.
While there his health failed and he once more returned to
Springfield, Ohio, where he died Mar. 12, 1876.
His wife, Mary, was a daughter of James S.
and Laura (Beardsley) Christie, natives of New Hampshire
and New York, respectively, who were married at Springfield,
Ohio, in 1824, where they resided continuously until their
decease, in 1884 and 1888, respectively. Mr.
Christie, who was by trade a carpenter, engaged here in
contracting and building, and also conducted a saw and
planing-mill for a number of years. He and his wife
were the parents of five children, who attained maturity,
namely: Sarah, Mary, Edward, Harlan and James.
All are now deceased, with the exception of Mary and
Harlan. The father was a Republican politically,
and a member of the Presbyterian Church, being an elder for
over fifty years of the First Presbyterian Church in
Springfield.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Clarke had two children,
Frances and Oliver C., the last mentioned being the
subject of the present article. Mr. Clarke was
a Democrat. His wife was a member of the First
Presbyterian Church, Springfield.
Oliver C. Clarke acquired his elementary
education in the Springfield schools, and later became a
student at Wittenberg College, from which he was duly
graduated. He then began business life, entering the
office of the Springfield Machine Company, in the employ of
which concern he remained for some ten years. In 1895
he became interested in the abstract business, and
subsequently organized, with others, the Springfield
Abstract Company, which was incorporated, and of which
Mr. Clarke has since been secretary and treasurer.
He has also other business interests in Clark County, and is
a member of the board of directors of the Merchants and
Mechanics Savings and Loan Association. He takes no
active interest in politics. Religiously he is
connected by membership with the First Presbyterian Church,
Springfield.
Source:
20th Century History
of
Springfield and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens -
Publ: Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1908 - Page
615 |
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A. P. LINN COCHRAN - See
Page 531 - Chapter XX |
J. S. Crowell
Residence
Springfield, O |
JOHN S. CROWELL,
president and general manager of the Crowell
Publishing Company, of Springfield, Ohio, until February,
1906, when the business was sold to others. Mr.
Crowell was the founder of that business in 1877, and
has been one of the city's most active and progressive men
since that date. A man of recognized business ability,
he has been exceptionally successful and become widely known
among publishers and advertisers throughout the United
States as the founder and president of the Crowell
Publishing Company, owners of the "Woman's Home companion"
and the "Farm and Fireside," two periodicals with over a
million subscribers.
John S. Crowell was born in Louisville,
Kentucky, Jan. 7, 1850, and was the seventh child born to
his parents. His father, S. B. Crowell, was a
member and one of the founders of the Walnut Street
Presbyterian Church, at Louisville, of which he was elected
a deacon for life. John S. Crowell attended the
public schools of his native city, and showed such aptitude
in his studies that he was placed in classes with older
pupils, among whom he ranked first. He completed an
eight-year course in six years. Ambitious and self-reliant
even in his boyhood days, at the age of eleven years,
contrary to the wishes of his parents, he became a newsboy,
his original capital invested being five cents, which he
obtained in 1861, by holding a soldier's horse. For
two years he sold papers in the early morning and attended
school during the day. At
fifteen years of age he secured a situation in a small
printing office at $2.50 per week. This was a
short time before the close of school, and so desirous was
his instructor that he should take his final, or public
examination, that he organized a posse of older scholars,
who by force of arms conveyed him to the school-room in his
work clothes, where he acquitted himself with credit.
Contrary to the wishes of his parents and the advice of
teachers, he refused to enter college and continued in
business. Within six months a large job printing
office offered him $12.00 per week, and he was soon made
assistant foreman, and at seventeen years made foreman.
His energy, industry and ability were so marked that his
fellow-workmen at that time predicted that in the future he
would have a large publishing house of his own. That
he possessed rare presence of mind and was capable of quick
thought, enabling him to grasp a trying situation on the
spur of the moment, was demonstrated while he was employed
in this printing office. A workman was caught by the
arm and held between the ceiling and a pulley making 150
revolutions per minute, and while others were looking on in
horror, expecting to see him crushed, young Crowell
grasped a belt with one hand, was instantly hurled to the
ceiling, where, securing a footing, he released his
companion, who fainted in his arms. Early in the year
1868 Mr. Crowell became foreman of the
Louisville Courier-Journal job printing establishment, and
so continued until October, 1869, when he met with an
accident which incapacitated him for work for a time.
About an inch of his right thumb was mashed off while he was
attending a power paper-cutting machine; he quickly adjusted
the severed portion of his thumb while the man who had
caused the accident shut his eyes and called for help, but
young Crowell was able to go alone in search of a
doctor. While thus disabled he invented an elastic
hand stamp, and the rubber-like material out of which it was
made, and while he deemed the invention scarcely worthy a
patent, commenced their manufacture. He employed his
three brothers in the work, and did a very prosperous
business until the panic of 1873. Then, after a visit
to a few states and the Northern Lakes, he entered the
office of B. F. Avery & Sons, the well known plow
manufacturers, of Louisville. He conducted the
publication of their agricultural journal, "Home and Farm,"
which prospered under his management. On a trip in the
interest of "Home and Farm" he first met Mr. P. P. Mast,
of Springfield, Ohio, to whom he afterward suggested the
idea of publishing an agricultural journal, with the result
that in August, 1877, Mr. Crowell being
twenty-seven years of age, moved to Springfield and
established the "Farm and Fireside," which has had a long
and prosperous career, and was probably the first cheap
periodical, or publication, to prosper and obtain a national
circulation and reputation. He may feel a just and
pardonable pride in the success attained by this
publication, as it was probably the pioneer to demonstrate
that newspapers and magazines could be made profitable when
sold at a price one-third to one-fourth the price charged
previous to 1877.
The publishing house was known as Mast, Crowell &
Kirkpatrick for many years. Early in its career they
purchased "The Home Companion" from Cleveland parties, and
changed the name or title to "The Woman's Home Companion,"
under which name it grew in size and influence until it
reached a circulation of nearly six hundred thousand copies.
At an early age John S. Crowell became a member
of the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, at Louisville, and
during his residence there, was active in church and
Sabbath-school work. At the age of seventeen years he
was elected librarian, at twenty became assistant
superintendent and at twenty-one years became superintendent
of the Sabbath school. At twenty-five years of age he
was chosen a deacon for life of the Walnut Street Church.
He and his wife are now, 1908, members of the First
Presbyterian Church, of Springfield, which they joined in
November, 1877. Our subject, at the age of
twenty-seven, was joined in marriage, Nov. 20, 1877, with
Miss Ella C. Mangold, who comes of an old and prominent
Louisville family.
Since coming to Springfield, Ohio, on Aug. 17, 1877,
Mr. Crowell has beer actively identified with
many religious, educational, charitable and business
organizations, and also has been an active advocate of the
improvement and betterment of Springfield. His
activities have resulted in his being chosen to occupy many
positions of trust and honor, such as director of the First
National Bank, of Springfield; also a director of the
Columbia Life Insurance Company, of Cincinnati, and
president of the board of trustees of the Western College
for Women, at Oxford, Ohio; also president of the board of
trustees of the new City Hospital, of Springfield; elder of
the First Presbyterian Church, and director of the Y. M. C.
A., all of the foregoing positions being held by him at this
time, 1908. He has also been president of the
Springfield Board of Trade, and a director of the Associated
Charities, and for five years was president of the
Springfield College and Seminary, and for two years
president of the Young Men's Christian Association, and
president of the Men's Literary Club. He was also
elected superintendent of the Sunday school a number of
times, for a term of one year each, and for nine successive
terms of three years each, to the position of elder of the
First Presbyterian Church, and is elder of the First Church
at the present time, 1908.
A COLLEGE ENDOWMENT.
When Mr. J. S. Crowell became a trustee of the
Western College for Women, at Oxford, Ohio, it had existed
for fifty years without an endowment, and no effort was
being made to secure an endowment, therefore the college
labored under many disadvantages. At the suggestion
and earnest solicitation of Mr. Crowell, the
board of trustees decided to employ a financial secretary or
agent, whose duty it would be to give his entire time and
attention to the subject and work, solely and only for an
endowment, and present the merits of the Western College to
philanthropists, and others, interested in educational
matters. Up to the present time over $260,000.00 has
been subscribed, or pledged. This includes two gifts
of fifty thousand dollars each from Andrew Carnegie
and the General Education Board, which was founded by
John D. Rockefeller. These two latter gifts are
endorsements of the highest character of the "Western
College for Women" and its trustees, as Mr. Carnegie
and the General Education Board do not give such large
amounts without careful investigation of the merits and
standing of an institution.
FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR SAVED
FOR MANY YEARS
In 1887 Mr. Crowell instituted an
investigation of the Presbyterian Board of Publication,
which is located at Philadelphia, Pa. This resulted in
learning that the board was paying far more than it should
for much of its printing, binding, folding, stitching, etc.
When a report was made to the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, of the United States, it ordered a
change in the methods of the Board of Publication, as
suggested by him, which resulted in a saving of over fifty
thousand dollars each year, for many years, to the
Presbyterian Church. The Presbytery, of Dayton, sent
Mr. Crowell as a delegate to the General
Assembly four years in succession, in order that he might
attend to and report upon the investigation which resulted
in such a great benefit to the Presbyterian Church.
THE FIRST COMPLETE STEAM RAILROAD
IN AMERICA
Stephen B.
Crowell, the father of John S. Crowell, was a
mechanic of more than ordinary ability. When he first
came west, about 1825, he settled in Lexington, Kentucky,
and became superintendent of his Uncle Joseph Bruen's
Foundry and Machine Shop. In 1828 parties in Lexington
requested Joseph Bruen to devise, or invent, some
method to carry freight on land, so that Lexington, which
was an inland town, could compete with river and seaport
cities. Joseph Bruen turned the whole
matter over to his nephew, Stephen Bruen Crowell,
who designed the plans and made the drawings, and also the
difficult parts of the patterns and castings and machine
work, and built a locomotive, a train of three cars, also a
track in the form of a circle, on which the train traveled
round and round. This train carried cars, passengers
and freight, and was able to ascend an incline having a
grade of eighty feet to the mile. The historian says,
"The railroad and cars created the belief that carriages and
heavy freight could be drawn as easily and certainly by
steam power upon railroads as boats could be propelled by
steam power through water." The whole outfit was
exhibited in Lexington in 1829, and in Frankfort in March,
1830, and afterwards in Louisville, and it was so convincing
to those who saw it, that the full amount of the estimated
cost of a railroad from Lexington to Louisville, one million
dollars, was soon subscribed and the building of the
railroad commenced, with great military pomp and civic and
religious ceremony. It is now a part of the Louisville
and Nashville system. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
used horse power until 1832, which was four years after
Stephen Bruen Crowell decided that steam was the proper
power for railroads. A study of the history of
railroads will not leave any doubt that Stephen Bruen
Crowell, the father of John S. Crowell, was the
first man in America to invent, design, build and operate a
complete steam railroad, with locomotive, cars and track,
that carried passengers and freight.
Source:
20th Century History
of
Springfield and Clark County, Ohio and Representative Citizens -
Publ: Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Illinois - 1908 - Page
620 |
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