K. Osthimer, Author
Aug 12, 1937

Folklore: Stories from Ex-Slaves
Lucas County, District Nine
Toledo, Ohio

The Story of MRS. HANNAH DAVIDSON.

Mrs. Hannah Davidson occupies two rooms in a home at 533 Woodland Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. Born on a plantation in Ballard County, Kentucky, in 1852, she is today a little, white-haired old lady. Dark, flashing eyes peer through her spectacles. Always quick to learn, she has taught herself to read. She says, "I could always spell almost everything." She has eagerly sought education. Much of her ability to read has been gained from attendance in recent years in WPA "opportunity classes" in the city. Today, this warm-hearted, quiet little Negro woman ekes out a bare existence on an old age pension of $23.00 a month. It is with regret that she recalls the shadows and sufferings of the past. She says, "It is best not to talk about them. The things that my sister May and I suffered were so terrible that people would not believe them. It is best not to have such things in our memory."

"My father and mother were Isaac and Nancy Meriwether," she stated. "All the slaves went under the name of my master and mistress, Emmett and Susan Meriwether. I had four sisters and two brothers. There was Adeline, Dorah, Alice, and Lizzie. My brothers were Major and George Meriwether. We lived in a log cabin made of sticks and dirt, you know, logs and dirt stuck in the cracks. We slept on beds made of boards nailed up. "I don't remember anything about my grandparents. My folks were sold around and I couldn't keep track of them. "The first work I did out from home was with my mistress's brother, Dr. Jim Taylor, in Kentucky, taking care of his children. I was an awful tiny little somethin' about eight or nine years old. I used to turn the reel for the old folks who was spinning. That's all I've ever known—work. "I never got a penny. My master kept me and my sister Mary twenty-two long years after we were supposed to be free. Work, work, work. I don't think my sister and I ever went to bed before twelve o'clock at night. We never got a penny. They could have spared it, too; they had enough.

"We ate corn bread and fat meat. Meat and bread, we kids called it. We all had a pint tin cup of buttermilk. No slaves had their own gardens.

"The men just wore jeans. The slaves all made their own clothes. They just wove all the time; the old women wove all the time. I wasn't old enough to go in the field like the oldest children. The oldest children—they worked. After slavery ended, my sister Mary and me worked as ex-slaves, and we worked. Most of the slaves had shoes, but us kids used to run around barefoot most of the time.

"My folks, my master and mistress, lived in a great, white, frame house, just the same as a hotel. I grew up with the youngest child, Mayo. The other white children grew up and worked as overseers. Mayo always wanted me to call him 'Master Mayo'. I fought him all the time. I never would call him 'Master Mayo'. My mistress wouldn't let anyone harm me and she made Mayo behave.

"My master wouldn't let the poor white neighbors—no one—tell us we was free. The plantation was many, many acres, hundreds and hundreds of acres, honey. There were about twenty-five or thirty families of slaves. They got up and stood until daylight, waiting to plow. Yes, child, they was up early. Our folks don't know how we had to work. I don't like to tell you how we were treated—how we had to work. It's best to brush those things out of our memory.

"If you wanted to go to another plantation, you had to have a pass. If my folks was going to somebody's house, they'd have to have a pass. Otherwise they'd be whipped. They'd take a big man and tie his hands behind a tree, just like that big tree outside, and whip him with a rawhide and draw blood every whip. I know I was scared every time I'd hear the slave say, 'Pray, Master.'

"Once, when I was milking a cow, I asked Master Ousley, 'Master Ousley, will you do me a favor?'

"He said in his drawl, 'Of course I will.' "'Take me to McCracken County,' I said. I didn't even know where McCracken County was, but my sister was there. I wanted to find my sister. When I reached the house where my sister stayed, I went through the gate. I asked if this was the house where Mary Meriwether lived. Her mistress said, 'Yes, she's in the back. Are you the girl Mr. Meriwether's looking for?" My heart was in my mouth. It just seemed I couldn't go through the gate. I never even saw my sister that time. I hid for a while and then went back.

"We didn't have any churches. My master would come down Sunday morning with just enough flour to make bread. Coffee, too. Their coffee was parts of meal, corn and so on. Work all week and that's what they had for coffee. "We used to sing, 'Swing low, sweet chariot'. When our folks sang that, we could really see the chariot.

"Once, Jim Ferguson, a colored man, came to teach school. The white folks beat and whipped him and drove him away in his underwear. "I wanted so hard to learn to read, but I didn't even know I was free, even when slavery was ended. "I been so exhausted working, I was like an inch-worm crawling along a roof. I worked till I thought another lick would kill me. If you had something to do, you did it or got whipped. Once I was so tired I couldn't work any more. I crawled in a hole under the house and stayed there till I was rested. I didn't get whipped, either. "I never will forget it—how my master always used to say, 'Keep a nigger down' I never will forget it. I used to wait on table and I heard them talk. "The only fun we had was on Sunday evening, after work. That was the only chance we got. We used to go away off from the house and play in the haystack. "Our folks was so cruel, the slaves used to whisper 'round. Some of them knew they was free, even if the white folks didn't want 'em to find out they was free. They went off in the woods sometimes. But I was just a little kid and I wasn't allowed to go around the big folks.

"I seen enough what the old folks went through. My sister and I went through enough after slavery was over. For twenty-one long years we were enslaved, even after we were supposed to be free. We didn't even know we were free. We had to wash the white people's feet when they took their shoes off at night—the men and women. "Sundays the slaves would wash out their clothes. It was the only time they had to themselves. Some of the old men worked in their tobacco patches. We never observed Christmas. We never had no holidays, son, no, sir! We didn't know what the word was.

"I never saw any slave funerals. Some slaves died, but I never saw any of them buried. I didn't see any funerals at all. "The white folks would come down to the cabins to marry the slaves. The master or mistress would read a little out of a book. That's all there was to it. "We used to play a game called 'Hulgul'. We'd play it in the cabins and sometimes with the white children. We'd hold hazelnuts in our hands. I'd say 'Hulgul' How many? You'd guess. If you hit it right, you'd get them all and it would be your turn to say 'Hulgul'. If you'd say 'Three!' and I only had two, you'd have to give me another to make three.

"The kids nowadays can go right to the store and buy a ball to play with. We'd have to make a ball out of yarn and put a sock around it for a cover. Six of us would stay on one side of a house and six on the other side. Then we'd throw the ball over the roof and say 'Catch!' If you'd catch it you'd run around to the; other side and hit somebody, then start over. We worked so hard we couldn't play long on Sunday evenings. "School? We never seen the inside of a schoolhouse. Mistress used to read the Bible to us every Sunday morning.

"We say two songs I still remember.

"I think when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men,
How he called little children like lambs to his fold,
I should like to have been with them then.

"I wish that his hands had been placed on my head,
That his arms had been thrown around me,
That I might have seen his kind face when he said
'Let the little ones come unto me.'

"Yet still to his footstool in prayer I nay go
And ask for a share of his love,
And that I might earnestly seek Him below
And see Him and hear Him above.

"Then there was another:

"I want to be an angel
And with the angels stand
With a crown upon my Forehead
And a harp within my hand.

"And there before my Saviour,
So glorious and so bright,
I'd make the sweetest music
And praise him day and night.

"And as soon as we got through singing those songs, we had to get right out to work. I was always glad when they called us in the house to Sunday school. It was the only chance we'd get to rest. "When the slaves got sick, they'd take and look after themselves. My master had a whole wall of his house for medicine, just like a store. They made their own medicines and pills. My mistress's brother, Dr. Jim Taylor, was a doctor. They done their own doctoring. I still have the mark where I was vaccinated by my master. "People was lousy in them days. I always had to pick louses from the heads of the white children. You don't find children like that nowadays.

"My mistress had a little roan horse. She went all through the war on that horse. Us little kids never went around the big folks. We didn't watch folks faces to learn, like children do now. They wouldn't let us. All I know about the Civil War was that it was goin' on. I heard talk about killin' and so on, but I didn't know no thin' about it. "My mother was the last slave to get off the plantation. She travelled across the plantation all night with us children. It was pouring rain. The white folks surrounded her and took away us children, and gave her so many minutes to get off the plantation. We never saw her again. She died away from us.

"My brother came to see us once when slavery was over. He was grown up. My master wasn't going to let him see us and he took up his gun. My mistress said he should let him see us. My brother gave me a little coral ring. I thought it was the prettiest thing I ever saw. "I made my sister leave. I took a rolling pin to make her go and she finally left. They didn't have any more business with us than you have right now. "I remember when Yankee soldiers came riding through the yard. I was scared and ran away crying. I can see them now. Their swords hung at their sides and their horses walked proud, as if they walked on their hind legs. The master was in the field trying to hide his money and guns and things. The soldiers said, 'We won't hurt you, child.' It made me feel wonderful.

"What I call the Ku Klux were those people who met at night and if they heard anybody saying you was free, they would take you out at night and whip you. They were the plantation owners. I never saw them ride, but I heard about them and what they did. My master used to tell us he wished he knew who the Ku Kluxers were. But he knew, all right, I used to wait on table and I heard them talking. 'Gonna lynch another nigger tonight!' "The slaves tried to get schools, but they didn't get any. Finally they started a few schools in little log cabins. But we children, my sister and I, never went to school.

"I married William L. Davison, when I was thirty-two years old. That was after I left the plantation. I never had company there. I had to work. I have only one grandchild still living, Willa May Reynolds. She taught school in City Grove, Tennessee. She's married now. "I thought Abe Lincoln was a great man. What little I know about him, I always thought he was a great man. He did a lot of good. "Us kids always used to sing a song, 'Gonna hang Jeff Davis to a sour apple tree as we go marchin' home.' I didn't know what it meant at the time."I never knew much about Booker T. Washington, but I heard about him. Frederick Douglass was a great man, too. He did lots of good, like Abe Lincoln. "Well, slavery's over and I think that's a grand thing. A white lady recently asked me, 'Don't you think you were better off under the white people?' I said 'What you talkin' about? The birds of the air have their freedom'. I don't know why she should ask me that anyway.

"I belong to the Third Baptist Church. I think all people should be religious. Christ was a missionary. He went about doing good to people. You should be clean, honest, and do everything good for people. I first turn the searchlight on myself. To be a true Christian, you must do as Christ said: 'Love one another'. You know, that's why I said I didn't want to tell about my life and the terrible things that I and my sister Mary suffered. I want to forgive those people. Some people tell me those people are in hell now. But I don't think that. I believe we should all do good to everybody."

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."

William Henry Scott, deceased, was at the time of his death one of the oldest and most influential of Toledo's pioneer citizens, and in his demise the community lost a citizen who was a blessing in his spirit of loyalty to public interests and in his generosity to public objects one whose leadership in good works was an inspira­tion to all and an occasion of progress in all helpful institutions. He was indentified with nearly every bit of progress made by the city from the time that he was old enough to think for himself, and many of the institutions in which Toledo takes pride are directly due to his agitation and intelligent influence. Mr. Scott was born in Columbia , S. C, in 1825, son of Jessup W. and Susan (Wakeman) Scott, The parents are given extended mention on another page of this volume, to which the reader is referred for the ancestral record of the family. William H. Scott came with his parents to the Maumee Valley in 1833, and lived in the city of Toledo during the greater portion of his life, his residence being at Adrian , Mich. , for a few years. In early manhood he engaged in the handling of real estate as a business, with which line of endeavor he was ever after identified, but he steadfastly pursued intellectual and literary studies during his entire life, and the result of his constant research and observation was of great value to the city in which he made his home. When Toledo emerged from its primitive condition and took to drainage, paving, and the creation of parks and fine buildings, he entered into the spirit of each improvement and with wise suggestions aided in the beautifying of the now handsome municipality. He devoted considerable effort to creating an adequate system of parks, and, while all of his suggestions were not carried out, many of his ideas were adopted by the city. One of his pet fancies was the establishment of a boulevard along the line of the old canal bed through the city, and another was the extension of the court-house square to Orange street, thus  transforming "Smoky  Hollow,"  through the  forbidding part of the city, into a thing of beauty that could have no rival. He served well and faithfully upon many public boards, and to him is due the establishment of the magnificent free library structure at the corner of Madison and Ontario streets. The bill creating the public library institution was drawn by Mr. Scott in 1873, and was introduced in the State legislature by T. P. Brown. With but one exception, this was the first free public library established in the West. For twenty years Mr. Scott served on the library board, the greater part of this time as its president, and when he resigned the position he left a valuable collection of books, well housed in a beautiful building. He resigned with considerable regret from an institution, the growth and perfection of which had been one of the objects of his fondest public desires. He was a zealous worker for education generally, and in the Manual Training School , conceived by his father, Jessup W. Scott, he had another object for his generous labor. After the death of the father, the three sons, William H., Frank J.,  and Maurice A., gave $60,000 in city property to be devoted to the building and equipment of the Manual Training School building. And it was largely through the efforts of William H. Scott that this property was sold and the building erected and properly equipped. He was president of the board that had this matter in charge for many years, and he was actively interested in the progress of the school and its pupils until the time of his death. He was identified with several other educational institutions. During Governor Young's administration he served as trustee of the Ohio State University at Columbus , for seven years he was one of the board of directors of the Wesleyan College , and while a resident of Adrian , Mich. , he served as a director of the schools of that city. In 1876-9, he was vice-president of the Toledo Woman's Suffrage Association. In addition to his activities in these institutions of a public nature, privately he was a director in a number of corporations and banks, and he was instrumental in the organization of the early street railway lines. But in the last three years of his life he paid little attention to active business affairs, his health failing to such a degree that he found it impos­sible to spend much of his time in his office. He died at his residence, 2505 Monroe street , in Toledo , March 5, 1901.   In 1851, Mr. Scott was married to Miss Mary A. Winans, of Adrian , Mich. , and of this union there were born four children—Mrs. Frances E. Waters, of Baltimore , Md. ; Susan W., Jane, and Edward Jessup.

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."

Harvey Scribner inherited a logical turn of mind from his father, the distinguished lawyer and judge, Hon. Charles H. Scribner, now deceased. It was in his father's office that Harvey Scribner studied and afterward practiced law in Toledo , the firm after his accession bearing the title of Scribner, Hurd & Scribner. In 1871, Harvey Scribner was admitted to the partnership of this great firm, the illustrious Hon. Frank Hurd being a member and remaining as such until 1894, when the partnership was dissolved. Some years prior to this, Judge Charles H. Scribner was elected to the Circuit bench and retired from the firm. Harvey Scribner, after the demise of his father and the Hon. Frank Hurd, became a member of the law firm of Scribner, Waite & Wachenheimer. Mr. Wachenheimer recently withdrew, Lieut. Henry H. Waite remaining with Mr. Scribner. Their specialty is railroad cases. Mr. Scribner has been peculiarly successful in securing damages for his clients who were injured by railways. Associated with Frank H. Hurd, he recovered a verdict of $30,000 in the famous Shannon case against the Hocking Valley railroad; also a' verdict of $20,000, and was sustained in the Supreme Court, for Edward Topliff, who was injured in the Lake Shore railway collision at Vermillion. Mrs. Eliza L. Topliff, whose husband was killed in the terrible railroad disaster at Kipton, got a judgment of $10,000, the full limit, against this company through Mr. Scribner's efforts. He was also counsel for a large number of the Toledo tunnel catastrophe cases brought before the courts, and collected by suits and settlements some $60,000 from the Lake Shore Railway Company. He caused to be broken the will of Charles B. Roff, which had been drawn up by the late Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, and released a fund of $100,000 from a trust and secured it to the widow. Latterly, Mr. Scribner has taken to literature, and, though he is extremely modest about this attainment, he wields a clever pen in the telling of stories. His experience in the law has been valuable to him and will no doubt furnish excellent material for numerous short stories in the future. Mr. Scribner was born at Mt. Vernon . Ohio , March 19, 1850. He was graduated from the schools of his native town and was but nineteen years of age when he located in Toledo , with his parents, Charles H. and Mary E. (Morehouse) Scribner. There were ten children born to Judge and Mrs. Scribner. Those living are: Harvey, Rollin H., Mrs. Charles Gates and Mrs. Joseph Spencer, of Toledo ; Mrs. Louis Richardson, of Chicago ; Mrs. Charles Cone, of New York ; Edward M. Scribner, of Bridgeport , Conn. ; and Charles E. Scribner, of Chicago . Judge Charles H. Scribner died in 1897; his wife survives him. Harvey Scribner married Jennie B. Bullard, Sept. 23, 1880. His wife had two children, Daisy and Fred, by a previous marriage. No attorney in Toledo is better liked than is Mr. Scribner. He is a thorough gentleman, of fine sensibilities, generous and public-spirited to a degree. He is one of the trustees of the Public Library, and is secretary of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."

Louis Montville, deceased, was a pioneer resident of the East Side, Toledo , and throughout a long residence in that section of the city he won and held the respect of all with whom he came in contact. With perhaps one or two exceptions he was the largest individual holder of East Side property, and the Montville Block at First and Main streets and a quantity of other properties front­ing on First, Second and Platt streets were among his holdings. Mr. Montville was born in the state of New York, in 1837, and at the close of the Civil war he came to Toledo from his former home at Watertown, in that state. Soon after his arrival in Toledo he located on the East Side, where he entered upon the contracting business, and he gained his first financial start in grading East Side streets. He continued in the contracting business until his death, but in later years his work was largely that of pile contracting and at the time of his death he was completing the work on the dry docks for the Toledo Shipbuilding Company. While of limited school training he had a remarkable ability in "calculating" the value of timber, and he could tell at a glance what would often require long and elaborate calculation by others. He was energetic and industrious, and was held in high esteem by all who knew him. His death occurred on May 27, 1907, and he left a widow, three sons—Fred, of Alger , Ohio ; Louis, of Memphis , Tenn. ; George, of Toledo —and two daughters—Mrs. Adeline Sutton and Mrs. Emma Barror, both of whom reside in Toledo .

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."

Carl F. Braun, the subject of this biography, was born at Gudensburg , Germany , Aug. 16, 1843. He received a technical education in the Fatherland, having been graduated at a polytechnic school at Cassel , Germany , and in 1862, at the age of nineteen years, determined to try his fortune in America . In that year he arrived in Toledo , and in 1866 he became a clerk in the hardware house of Roff & Company. As a young man he was alert and energetic, quick to grasp business opportunities, and strictly faith­ful to the discharge of his duties. His salary at the start was not princely, but he managed to save the greater part of it, with a view to engaging in business for himself; and, in 1868, he became a member of the firm of Roff & Company. Toledo was then growing rapidly, and in the years immediately following the Civil war the hardware business, as well as other lines, enjoyed a boom. By 1873 the firm's business had greatly expanded, and in that year was organized the Bostwick-Braun Company, composed of Carl F. and Geo. A. Braun and Oscar A. Bostwick, and this company became the successors of Roff & Company. The new concern opened a store at the foot of Monroe  street , on part of the ground now occupied by the great concrete Bostwick-Braun Building , though the company occupied quarters at the corner of St₄. Clair and Monroe streets for a number of years, until they moved to their present quarters. Carl F. Braun was in the active manage­ment of this immense hardware house until 1904, when he retired. In addition to his interests in this house he was identified with a number of other enterprises, having been a director of the Home Savings Bank and the Citizens Deposit & Trust Company, and at one time he was vice-president of the Home Bank. In 1881 he purchased the old Swan Creek railroad, which had been projected in 1876, but the promoters had experienced some trouble in secur­ing a right of way. Mr. Braun, however, succeeded where his predecessors had failed.  He re-organized the company, was elected president, and the road was soon extended from the intersection of Bismarck and Hamilton streets to the old Toledo , Cincinnati & St. Louis (now the Clover Leaf) track, thus saving considerable time and labor in operating in and out of the city. Mr. Braun was one of the business giants in Toledo in his day, a man of high ideals and unblemished reputation, and his friends were many. He died suddenly at his home, 1615 Monroe street , June 25, 1908, hon­ored and respected by all who knew him, the immediate cause of his death being a stroke of paralysis. On May 22, 1879, he married Miss Elise Lenk, and of this union were born three sons—Walter M., Arthur P., and Carl W., here named in the order of birth. Walter M. and Carl W. are residents of Toledo , where the former is a member of the firm of Stacy & Braun in the investment bond business, and Arthur P., who was a mining engineer in Mexico , died suddenly May 17, 1910. Mr. Braun was by nature intellectually fitted for a business career, and belonged to that class of citizens, who, while advancing their own interests, add materially to the valuation of those interests that surround them. While a success in business, he was better still, a good citizen. Believing in the future of Toledo , he gave both his time and influence in behalf of many measures for the common good. Unto this class of men, who have been the real factors in the development of Toledo 's greatness, is this volume dedicated.

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."

Charles F. Curtis, deceased, was born at Victor , Ontario county, New York , Feb. 19, 1821. He was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Curtis, the former a native of New York State and the latter of Connecticut . The Curtis family is of English descent, but has been represented in America for a number of generations. Charles F. was the eldest of a family of five children, there having been two sons and three daughters born to his parents. He passed the years of boyhood upon his father's farm, and received such advantages as the district schools afforded, afterward attending an academy for two years. On leaving school, Mr. Curtis became a contractor on the New York & Erie railroad, and was thus en­gaged from 1849 to 1851. He then came to Toledo and soon afterward engaged in the construction of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana railroad, now known as the "'old line" of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, on which he was engaged for the three ensuing years. In 1853, in connection with Benjamin Folsom and August Thomas, he formed the firm of B. Folsom & Com­pany, being in charge of the construction of the road extending from Toledo to Butler . Ind. , seventy-one miles in length, of what is now known as the Air Line division of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. His connection with railroad interests covered a period of about fifteen years, most of the time as contractor. On May 1, 1857, with August Thomas, he formed the firm of Curtis & Thomas and engaged in the lumber trade, continuing so associated until 1862, when Webster S. Brainard, former book-keeper, was admitted to the partnership, and the firm was changed to Curtis, Thomas & Company. Immediately after the death of Mr. Thomas, in 1868, the firm was again changed, taking the name of Curtis & Brainard, and real estate and vessel property business being added, the firm continued in active operation until the death of Mr. Curtis, Feb. 20, 1900. It did a large business and was recognized as one of the substantial firms of Toledo .   At the time of his death, Mr. Curtis was also president of the Toledo Savings Bank & Trust Company and a director of both the First National and the Holcomb National banks. He was a man of large business affairs, and was successful in his financial operations. His business career was characterized by sterling integrity and sound judgment. Mr. Curtis affiliated with the Democratic party, but never sought the honors or emoluments of public office. He was a member of Trin­ity Church , and for a number of years held the offices of treasurer, junior warden and vestryman, all of which he resigned prior to his death. Mr. Curtis was first married to Miss Julia Moore, of Victor, N. Y. His wife died at Bryan , Ohio , in 1854, leaving a daughter, Miss Ella Moore Curtis, now living with Mrs. Curtis, and in 1894 he was married to Mrs. Mary A. Birckhead, of Toledo , who survives him, and who resides at 2636 Cherry street , Toledo , Ohio .

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."              

James Melvin, deceased, was a native of the State of Massachusetts , having been born in the historic old town of Concord , Dec. 20,1826. He was a direct descendant of the Melvins who came to New England soon after the Mayflower touched the rockbound coast, laden with the Pilgrim Fathers. His ancestors were among the ardent supporters of the American colonies from the beginning of the Revolutionary struggle against England, and it is of historical interest that his grandfather, Amos Melvin, was one of the guards in Concord town on the night that Paul Revere made his famous ride from Boston—the night preceding the day upon which the embattled farmers "fired the shot heard 'round the world." He, whose name introduces this memoir served his country with the same loyalty as did his ancestors, and in the dark days of 1861, when the integrity of the Union was threatened, at the first call for troops, in April, he enlisted in the Sixth Massachusetts infantry and with it served a three months* enlistment. Later, he re-enlisted in the Thirty-third Massachusetts infantry, and performed his duty nobly in all the marches, campaigns and battles of that command for a period of two years, at the end of which time his health became impaired and he was discharged from the service on account of disability. Returning then to his Massachusetts home, as soon as the condition of his health would permit he resumed the thread of a peaceful life. In 1870, he came to Toledo and immediately opened a men's and boys' clothing establishment, with quarters at what is now 231 Summit street , under the name of the Boston Square Dealing Store. By careful attention to the details of the business and strict integrity he soon secured a per­manent hold upon the clothing trade of Toledo and vicinity, and as the James Melvin Clothing Company the establishment has grown to be one of the most exclusive in its line in the city. Mr. Melvin served the city as a member of the board of aldermen for one term and as a member of the board of education for two terms. In his public, business and domestic life, his name stood for integrity and purity, and in these days of "high finance," when financial gain is placed before every other consideration, his life record, stainless on every page, stands out with peculiar significance. He was a member of Forsyth Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and of Anthony Wayne Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution. He had been a member of the Unitarian Church of Our Father from the time of its organization, and served as treasurer of the church board for many years. In his death, which occurred June 23, 1906, Mr. Melvin left a sorrowing wife and two daughters—Mrs. Clifford Taft Hanson, of Toledo, and Mrs. J. Alan Hamilton, of Buffalo, N. Y. Mrs. Mary Lacey, sister of Mr. Melvin, lives in the old home at Concord,  Mass.

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."

Peter Hoffman Birckhead, deceased, was a native son of the State of Maryland , though he contributed the major portion of his life's activity to business and social interests within the city of Toledo . He was born in Baltimore , Md. , Nov. 13, 1827, and was the son of Dr. Lenox and Mary (Hoffman) Birckhead, who were both natives of the State of Maryland , where they lived out their allotted time. The father who was educated in medicine in Edinburg and Paris was a practicing physician in the city of Baltimore and its vicinity for many years, and then, later in life, divided his time between the practice of his profession and farm­ing. He took a loyal interest in public affairs but never sought the honors of public office. In the war of 1812 he served as a volunteer in defense of Fort McHenry , the occasion being the one im­mortalized by Francis Scott Key's poetical production, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The Birckheads were professional and commercial men in and around Baltimore for a great many years. The progenitors of the family came originally from Basil , Switzerland , the migration being first to England and thence to Maryland . The early ancestors left their European home on account of their religious views. Dr. Solomon Birckhead, the paternal grand­father of the subject of this memoir, was a practicing physician during his entire life in Baltimore , where he died at an advanced age. The maternal grandfather was Peter Hoffman, also of Baltimore , Md. , and his occupation was what was known in those days as "merchant shipper," dealing in groceries, teas, and coffees, and doing an export and an import business. The Hoffman family is of Holland descent, with trading instincts, and for generations the members of the family were merchants. To Dr. Lenox Birckhead and wife there were born seven children, of whom Peter H. was the eldest, and the others were Jane, Louisa, John, James, Susan, and Mary, all deceased. Peter H. Birckhead received his educational training in Baltimore , where he was afforded the advantages of the schools of that period. At an early age he began his independent career by entering the employ of Hoffman & Sons (the senior member of which firm was a maternal uncle), grocery merchants and shippers, of Baltimore , and he remained so engaged until 1852. He then removed to Michigan , where, in company with a Mr. Ferris, he conducted a saw mill, cutting timber from a tract of land owned by his father. Two years later, in 1854, he came to Toledo and, in company with a Mr. Woolsey, engaged in the stave and cooperage business, with an office and yard located at the foot of Lagrange street, the location now being a part of the site of the Vulcan Steam Shovel plant. The business was eventually merged into the Vulcan Iron Works, of which establishment Mr. Birckhead was the president at the time of his death. He was held in high esteem in the business community and was one of Toledo 's most prominent citizens. On June 21, 1888, after having led a useful and industrious career, and after an illness of more than six months, which he bore patiently, Peter H. Birckhead passed to the life eternal, thus depriving the family of a loved member, for he was always attached to his home, and was a devoted and indulgent husband and father. Among his most intimate friends were Charles F. Curtis and Valentine H. Ketcham. He was a consistent and worthy member of Trinity Episcopal Church, and in politics he voted consistently with his convictions, giving his support to the principles of the Democratic party. Mr. Birckhead was twice married, the first time to Harriet Steinbrenner, of Philadelphia, Pa., and of this union there were born two children—Lenox Birckhead, who is located in Milwaukee and connected with the Bucyrns Steam Shovel Company, and Harriet Antoinette, who also lives in Milwaukee, with her brother. On Dec. 26, 1865, Mr. Birckhead was married to Miss Mary A. A. Titus, daughter of Israel and Adaline Titus, of Toledo .

Taken  from  "Men of  Toledo   and  Northwestern- Ohio ."

Selah Reeve Maclaren, deceased, was for many years one of the leading men of affairs of the city of Toledo , and his success in the business world was the natural sequence of industry, clearness of perception, fixedness of purpose and strength of will. And to the surviving members of his family he left the heritage of a good name, which he valued above riches. In the death of Mr. Maclaren, which occurred Jan. 29, 1905, Toledo lost one of her best citizens. Prominent in business and active in Christian fellowship, he had much to do with the building up of the city and advancing its interests in varied ways. Mr. Maclaren was born in New York City , June U, 1846, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and when eight years of age was taken to Fall River , Mass. , where he received his education. On April 14, 1865, although not nineteen years old, he left his boyhood home to come to Toledo , and upon arriving here entered the employ of N. Reeve & Company, lumber dealers, whose place of business was at the corner of Adams and Water streets. After faithful service as an employee for a period of six years, in 1871, at the age of twenty-five, he formed a partnership with H. C. Sprague and they engaged in the lumber business under the firm name of Maclaren & Sprague. Later, when the firm became incorporated, Mr. Maclaren was made president. He was also president of the Franklin Printing & Engraving Company and of the Holcomb National Bank, having been re-elected to the presidency of the bank a short time before his death. Fraternally he was prominent in Masonic circles, and for years he was active in the Young Men's Christian Association movement, having for some time filled an official position in the association. His deeply religious nature found constant expression in good deeds and in active membership in the congregation of his choice. When he first came to Toledo he united with the First Presbyterian Church, and when the Westminster Church was founded he took his letter to that organization and for a number of years was one of its prominent members. Later he became a communicant of the Collingwood-Avenue Presbyterian Church. Mr.Maclaren was twice married, first in 1874, to Miss Margaret Moore, of St. Clair , Mich. , and of this union two daughters were born : Mrs. Joseph R. Bailey, of Fairmount, W. Va., and Mrs. Edward B. Yaryan, of Gulfport , Miss. The second marriage occurred in 1888, and was to Miss Anna C. Beach, sister of Mrs. Samuel M. Jones. Of this marriage was born a daughter, Christine, who died in 1901.

PETER KEEGAN was born in Ireland February 1, 1833. He emigrated to America in 1851 and engaged in the shoe business in Natick, Massachusetts. His marriage with Miss Bridget Killen, also of Ireland, was solemnized in 1853. Four children have been born to them, named: Elsie E., William F., Schuyler C. and Cordelia M. From Natick he went to Toledo, Ohio, and remained one year. In 1857 he came to Peru. August 11, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, 87th Regiment Indiana Volunteers, and was placed in the Army of the Cumberland. He took part in the following noted battles: Perryville, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Resaca and Kenesaw Mountain. At the last battle of Nashville he went with his command to Washington and took part in the Grand Review. He was mustered out in June, 1865. After his return from the war he settled in Bunker Hill. His early recollections of this vicinity are good. Mr. Keegan is a Republican, and has held the office of Justice of the Peace for twelve years. He is now notray public and also engaged in the shoe business. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and identified himself with the M. E. Church in 1852.

BECKWITH, Mrs. Emma, woman suffragist, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 4th December, 1849. Her maiden name was Knight. She graduated at the age of seventeen years from the high school in Toledo, Ohio, whither her parents went when she was four years old. At the age of nineteen years she was married to Edwin Beckwith, of Mentor, Ohio. After residing in Pleasantville, Iowa, a number of years, they removed to Brooklyn, N. Y. Her sympathies with women have always been on the alert. Upon locating in the East she began to put to practical use her knowledge of bookkeeping, after obtaining the permission of the owner of a building in Nassau street, New York, by promising to be good and not demoralize the men. She began work in April, 1879. She was the pioneer woman bookkeeper in that part of the city, and established a reputation for modesty and uprightness that has helped many another to a like position. Her business education of five years' duration gave her an insight into many matters not general among women. Since leaving business life she has urged young women to become self-supporting. Disgusted with the vast amount of talk and so little practical work among the advocates of woman suffrage, she felt that Mrs. Belva A. Lock wood had struck the key-note when she became a candidate for the presidency of the United States. Her ambition was aroused to the point of emulation; hence her candidacy for the mayoralty of Brooklyn. The campaign of ten days' duration, with but two public meetings, resulted in her receiving fifty votes regularly counted, and many more thrown out among the scattering, before the New York "Tribune" made a demand for her vote. Mrs. Beckwith has compiled many incidents relating to that novel campaign in a lecture. She has entered the lecture field and is an able and entertaining speaker, enlivening her earnestness with bright, witty savings.
(American Women Fifteen Hundred Biographies, Volume 1, Publ. 1897.  Transcribed by Marla Snow)

FRAY, Mrs. Ellen Sulley, reformer, born in the parish of Calverton, Nottinghamshire, England, 2nd December, 1832. She is descended from both Huguenot and Danish ancestors. Her mother was a near relative of Lord Denman, Chief Justice of England, and from both sides of the house she inherited intellectual qualities. Her father was Richard Sulley, who married Elizabeth Denman in 1827, and of their six children Ellen was the third daughter. When she was but a child, Mr. Sulley moved with his family to the United States, and after some years located in Rochester, N. Y. During those early years of her life, while they were traveling from place to place, opportunities for education were limited so far as books were concerned. Her father thought that it mattered little, as all that girls needed was to write and read, with a little knowledge of arithmetic added. Ellen became a reader and a student of history. Her father was a well-known writer upon social and economical questions, and had distinguished himself at the time of the repeal of the Corn Laws in England. As a young girl Ellen heard such subjects discussed constantly and became deeply interested in all reforms of the day. In 1848 she first became roused upon the question of woman suffrage, through attendance upon a convention held in Rochester and presided over by Abigail Bush, with Lucretia Mott, Mrs. Stanton and others of the earlier agitators as speakers. That marked an epoch in her life. She had learned of woman's inferiority through the religious instruction which she had received, but henceforth she felt that something in it was wrong. She was advised by her Sunday-school teacher carefully to study and compare passages in the Old and New Testaments. That she did thoroughly, and became satisfied that Christ nowhere made any difference between the sexes. Henceforth her work lay in the direction thus given, and she has labored faithfully to promote political equality for woman and to advance her rights in the industrial fields. In 1853 she became the wife of F. M. Fray, and made her home in Toledo, Ohio, where she now lives. It was a happy union, lasting for twenty years, until the death of Mr. Fray. Her two children died in childhood, leaving her alone and free to devote herself to those things which she felt were of a character to help humanity. She has formed suffrage clubs in several different States and in Canada, and has been repeatedly a delegate to National councils, giving her time and money without stint. She has been foremost in testing woman's eligibility for various positions. In 1886 Mrs. Fray entered into a political canvass in Rochester to put a woman upon the board of managers of the State Industrial School. With Miss Mary Anthony, the sister of Susan, she worked for three weeks and gained the victory. Mrs. Fray is still full of vigor and energy in the cause to which she has given the best of herself for so many years. At present she is one of the district presidents of the Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association and a prominent member of several of the leading clubs, literary, social and economic, in Toledo.
(American Women, Frances Elizabeth Willard, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, Volume 1 Copyright 1897.  Transcribed by Marla Snow.)

BLACK, Maurice, merchant; born at Toledo. O.,  (Lucas Co)   Sept. 30, 1873; son of Alexander and Theresa Black; educated at Leland Stanford University and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating, 1896; married at Manawa, Wis., Aug. 18, 1906, Elizabeth Van Adestine. President treasurer and manager The L. Black Co., optical photo and jewelry goods, wholesale and retail. Club: Detroit Yacht. Office: 156 Woodward Av. Residence: 655 2nd Av.

CARTWRIGHT, Charles E., born, Toledo, O., (Lucas Co)   May 17, 1877; son of Isaiah D. and Ida M. Cartwright; educated in Toledo High School and University of Michigan, 1899; unmarried. Entered real estate business at Toledo, 1899; became identified with coal business, 1901, in connection with A.G. Blair & Co., Toledo; came to Detroit, June, 1904, as general sales agent Youghiogheny Gas Coal Co., miners and shippers of coal. Presbyterian. Member Masonic order, Knights Templar, Shrine. Club: Fellowcraft. Recreations: Tennis and general outdoor sports. Office: 705 Hammond Bldg., Detroit. Residence: Oriental Hotel.

DONOVAN, Joseph Wesley, jurist; born, Toledo, Ohio (Lucas Co)   educated in public and union schools, graduate of Jonesville Academy; took lectures at Hillsdale College, Ohio Law School and Commercial College; later studied in office of Hon. Fred A. Baker; admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court, 1870; married at Waterville, Ohio, Nettie L. Brainard. Began practice in Detroit, 1870; upon bench of Circuit Court since 1894. Office: 305 County Bldg. Residence: 32 Bagley Av.

O’HARA, Charles J., machinery; born, Toledo, O.,   (Lucas Co)   May 7, 1854; son of Charles and Elizabeth (Knaggs) O’Hara; educated in public school, Christian Bros. College, Chicago, and at Farmer’s College, College Hill, near Cincinnati, O.; married at Greenwich, R.I., Oct. 23, 1889, Jane Way Howland. Has been identified with machinery business since he was 17 years of age; came to Detroit, 1887; treasurer C.C. Wormer & Co. since its organization in 1889. Member Detroit Board of Commerce. Office: 99-101 Woodbridge, W. Residence: 73 Delaware Av.

RHINES, Edward H., insurance; born at Toledo, O.,  (Lucas Co)     May 2, 1868; son of Capt. James and Margaret (Curran) Rhines; educated in public and high schools of Detroit; married at Detroit, 1897, Marie Luella Bowen. Began active career in wholesale chemical house, continuing until he entered employment of the Standard Life and Accident Insurance Co. in 1890; appointed state agent of the casualty department of the company in Michigan, 1902. Clubs: Fellowcraft, Detroit Athletic. Office: 35 W. Fort St. Residence: 211 Palmer Av., E.

Source: The Book of Detroiters Edited by Albert Nelson Marquis 1908, Transcribed by Christine Walters