Don in Westerville

Two Kings and a Commodore: The History of Otterbein University’s Oldest Residence Hall

PLEASE NOTE: The blog contains quite a few pictures so give it several minutes to download. They download haphazardly.

It was anticipated that a blog about the history of a college dormitory would be fairly short. But unexpected discoveries grew into spinoffs. This blog ended up feeling like a long sentence diagrammed back in the day. I wonder if kids are still summoned to the chalkboard to do this.

King Hall, now Dunlap-King Hall, opened in the fall of 1926. The front of it looks like a style of architecture that was popular many years ago (today making a come-back referred to as American Craftsman. Sears-Roebuck sold via its catalog a lot of Craftsman style pre-manufactured houses. Maybe their Craftsman-brand tool line came from this. Despite the construction date being three years beyond suspected Columbus architect Frank Packard’s early passing at age 57 in 1923, I wondered if this was his design that had not been built due to funding not quite being there yet. There were two reasons for this hunch: Packard was a fan of the Craftsman style and the announcement of his passing in the Westerville newspaper stated: “Mr. Packard was also developing the Otterbein College building program.” It turns out another Columbus architect, Harry Clyde Holbrook, did the King Hall design.

John King of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Zella Bates of Rising Sun, Ohio, met while attending Otterbein. Members of the Class of 1894, they married and then departed for Africa where they spent the next eighteen years in a missionary capacity. Upon returning to the U.S. in 1912, they helped found a home for children and older adults in Lebanon, Ohio. Lebanon’s Otterbein Home, like Otterbein University, was affiliated with the United Brethren Church. Both were named after U.B. church co-founder Philip William Otterbein. The Kings managed the Otterbein Home, today a retirement community, for the next fourteen years.

After serving the needs of others in Africa and in Lebanon for a combined total of thirty-two years, the Kings moved to Westerville in 1926. Here, they continued serving…this time as house parents for college students in a dormitory constructed from their own funds. The Otterbein student newspaper reported “This new building project was not solicited by the college and came like a bolt from the clear sky.” In 1932, the Kings retired and moved a short distance to 150 West Main Street. The pictures that follow best tell their story.

Published 11/24/2022. Don Foster, Otterbein Class of 1973. donfoster73@gmail.com

King Hall is built. Dr. and Mrs. King move in as resident managers.

**John Resler King, Otterbein Class of 1894. Zella Bates King, Otterbein Class of 1894.**

*The Tan and Cardinal* 4/13/1926. The architect H.C. Holbrook is identified. Note that the foundation work was done by Karg and Smith. This is Rollin Karg, son of Henry Kary who built Carnegie Library, Cochran Hall, Lambert Hall and the heating plant on the Otterbein campus. Rollin went into concrete block manufacturing and located his business by the railroad tracks, now a bike path, between East Broadway and East College Avenues.

**Photo credit: Otterbein University Archives.**

**Rollin Karg, King Hall foundation contractor. Freshman year, Otterbein yearbook Sibyl 1909. Rollin was at Otterbein for one year. His four sisters all graduated from Otterbein.**

Rollin’s house on Vine Street which he and his father Henry built. Next door is Vine Street School (now Emerson Elementary). Henry was the general contractor for the four-classroom two-story addition at the rear of the school.

This real photo postcard captures all four campus buildings of which Henry Karg was general contractor: Carnegie Library at top left, heating plant right beneath it, Lambert Hall at top right, Cochran Hall at bottom right.

**Photo credit: Otterbein University Archives. Unidentified workers.**

*The Tan and Cardinal* 11/2/1926. **Dedication was at Homecoming the previous weekend on October 30.**

The decorative pitched roof at either end of King Hall are typical of American Craftsman style architecture. These three Packard designs are similar to the design of King Hall…which is why it was thought King might have been a Packard design. The house on the left is Packard’s which overlooks the grounds of the Franklin Park Conservatory in east Columbus.

**Old aerial views. King Hall middle left** **both above and below.**

This house was purchased by Otterbein with the intent to remove it due to its too-close proximity to the new King Hall (visible in the background). It stood on the SW corner of West Main and Maple Streets and was purchased by Albert and Jane Morrison Horn (Otterbein Classes of 1949 and 1950 respectively). The Horns moved the house one block to North West Street. There, it became their residence. “Bert” was a long-time Treasurer of Otterbein, and Jane was a long-time Westerville elementary school teacher. Maple Street ran from West Main Street to West Park Street and was between King Hall and the science building. It’s visible in the three aerial views above.

**Photo credit for these moving-day pictures:**
**sons Tom, John (Otterbein Class of 1980) and Bill Horn.**

**Jane and Otterbein Business Manager Sanders Frye (Otterbein Class of 1948) on the one block ride to North West Street.**

Relocation complete with a two-story addition. Jane’s great uncle John Morrison and then John’s daughter Ellen Jones owned the University Bookstore in the Uptown. In 1964, the bookstore moved to the newly opened Otterbein Campus Center **(and ownership by Otterbein).**

**Bookstore owner John Morrison on right. Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**
**The bookstore history, dating to 1870, is a blog itself linked below.**

https://doninwesterville.com/2021/01/18/separated-since-birth-otterbein-bookstore-joins-the-family/

Sanders Frye, mentioned 3 pictures ago, lived at 145 West Home Street which is a house Otterbein students now pass by daily. Previous to Frye ownership, this was the boyhood home of Gilbert Mills pictured below. He dropped out of Otterbein in 1912 to become Westerville’s first mail carrier. Home delivery began late in 1912 after house numbers were assigned. He later re-enrolled, finished his degree and taught at Otterbein. He and his wife Lillie were managers of King Hall 1934-38.
**A short blog about Gilbert Mills is linked below.**

https://doninwesterville.com/2020/12/08/youve-got-mail/

**Photo credit: Otterbein Archives left picture; Otterbein yearbook right picture.**

Dr. and Mrs. King retire and move a short distance to 150 West Main Street.

**The Kings circa sometime in the 1890’s.**
**Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**150 West Main Street as it appeared in 1948.** **The Kings moved here after serving as supervisors of King Hall and living in King from 1927 to 1932. Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**Rear addition under construction** **sometime in the 1930’s.**
**Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**The King’s son Alton (Otterbein Class of 1935) and his wife Nola (Otterbein Class of 1931).**
**Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**Alton and Nola. Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**Alton King operated a gas station on North State Street near West Home Street. This picture is dated 1949.** **Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**Circa 1937. All three structures in this picture still stand today.**
**Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**Photo credit. Random person, Pinterest.** 🙂

The same automotive-related structure today with a south addition and the original service bay repurposed. It’s considered an important piece of Westerville history and recognized as such with an exterior plaque to the right of the window by the office door.

The Nicholsons, previous owners of 150 West Main Street.

**Undated. Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

John Nicholson, right, and his son Clifford on the left. John and his wife Elizabeth, below, may have been the first owners of the house. The construction year and first owner are unknown. Photo credit:
**Richard Nicholson, great-grandson of John and grandson of Clifford.**

**Photo credit above and below: Richard Nicholson.**

**The U.S. Census lists John as “stock dealer” so he may have raised horses on this property**.

**Westerville** **Public Opinion** **6/19/1924.**

**Westerville *Public Opinion* 10/6/1941.**

**Gravestone of John and Elizabeth Nicholson, Otterbein Cemetery.**

“Commodore” Harry Clyde Holbrook, the architect of King Hall.

**King Hall architect Harry Clyde Holbrook.**
**Photo credit: Find-A-Grave.**

*The Columbus Dispatch* 7/18/1925. This lucky find is very likely how St. Clair church architect Harry Holbrook got the King Hall design contract. The second to last paragraph includes the names
**F.M. Kumler and William J. Zuck, previous pastors of St. Clair and both Otterbein graduates.**

*Dayton Daily News* 1/16/1929.
**Francis Marion Kumler**.
**Otterbein Class of 1872.**

*The Columbus Dispatch* 11/22/1934. **William Johnston Zuck, Otterbein Class 1878.**

Dr. Zuck taught in the English Department at Otterbein from 1884 to 1903. Architects Joseph Yost and Frank Packard designed a house for William and Jessie Zuck that stood where the Otterbein Campus Center stands today. Later, this house was the childhood home of Mary Burnhan Thomas (Otterbein Class of 1928 who left her estate of $7 million to Otterbein) and was the first location of Lambda Gamma Epsilon “Kings” Fraternity.
**The grounds behind the Campus Center are a story itself, as linked below.**

https://doninwesterville.com/2021/07/16/otterbein-universitys-graceful-green-hollow-a-source-of-sorrow-in-1919/

As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, Frank Packard was initially thought to be the architect of King Hall. Packard’s East Broad Street office was on the top two floors of the building in the middle. While he did not design that one, he designed Capitol Savings & Trust on the left which was the tallest building in Columbus until the Leveque Tower was built. These two buildings still stand today and were in the process of being restored when the picture was taken in 2019. The poster below, describing Packard, was in one of the windows at that time.

*The Columbus Dispatch* 6/13/1908. What a fun find this was!! In addition to Harry Holbrook and Frank Packard, also pictured are George Bulford (one of the architects of the Bank of Westerville which is now Middlefield Banking Company in the Uptown), Fred Elliott (architect of the Westerville Armory), Harry Lum (one of the architects of Westerville’s Church of the Master UMC) and Edwin Pruitt (architect of Westerville’s First Presbyterian Church).

**Westerville *Public Opinion* 11/1/1923. Packard died three years before King Hall was built, but based on the article above, he likely would have been the architect had he lived.**

**Frank Packard was the architect of an 1891 remodel of the men’s Philomathean Literary Society room in Towers Hall. Some of his design work is still seen today: the doors, windows and woodwork.** The Westerville *Public Opinion* 0f 9/3/1891 stated: “The windows of the hall are much like the doors. They are elaborate design in opalescent and Chauncey cathedral glass, bounded by colonial bands set with jewels…The finishing of the entire hall is in birch wood, hard oiled and highly polished.”

Joseph Yost and Frank Packard designed the Christian Association Building constructed in 1892. Roush Hall stands there today. Students raised the funds. The two largest gifts were $250, a sizable amount back then. One was from the Rike family…and the other was from
**Yost & Packard. Photo credit: Otterbein Archives.**

This real photo postcard of the building shows, on the left, what today is known as Howard House. Built by Dr. Purley and Lillie Baker on about 12 acres, “Greendale” included a greenhouse (seen above the letters YMCA), a dairy and a cobblestone carriage house. Post the Baker era, the lower level was the site of the first Westerville Public Library in 1930. The property later became subdivided. Baker was superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America.

**The cobblestone carriage house of “Greendale” survives at 60 University Street behind Jonda Fraternity.**

**Designed by Frank Packard, Otterbein’s Carnegie Library opened in 1908 and today houses the Office of Admission. Its history is described in a blog linked below.**

https://doninwesterville.com/2021/02/03/iron-master-makes-gift-carnegie-library-at-otterbein-university/

**Back to Harry. This is probably Holbrook’s most significant design still standing today: the Midland Theatre built in 1928 in downtown Newark. It’s been restored and now hosts a variety of events**.

**Restoration of the Midland underway.**

**Today. This building is to Newark what the Ohio Theatre is to Columbus.**

Coincidentally, the Holbrook-designed Midland is right across the street from where the three-story (maybe four per the picture) Yost & Packard-designed Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Hall once stood.

**Coliseum at the Ohio Exposition Center, one of a number of fairgrounds buildings designed by Holbrook and business partner Harry Z. Dawson.**

Westerville Central High School graduation of 2009, held in the above Coliseum. Couple of random Central ’09 graduates have made the blog, LOL: Susan Avenue neighbors Kristen Foster, later Otterbein ’13, and McKenzie Bowman.

Architects Dawson & Holbrook would have worked closely with WIlliam Clark in constructing the Ohio State Fairgrounds, now known as the Ohio Exposition Center. This blog is an opportunity to shed a spotlight on Westerville’s Clark. Obituary from *The Columbus Dispatch* **3/20/1918**.
**William and wife Amanda are entombed in the mausoleum at Otterbein Cemetery pictured here.**

**Westerville *Public Opinion* 3/21/1918.**

**Residence of William and Amanda Clark on South State Street in Westerville. Built 1870. The front entryway was originally screened as shown below in an old house-for-sale real estate listing.**

**Another Holbrook design still standing today: Buckeye Lake Yacht Club which was built in 1913.**

**Found this on Facebook. A frozen lake.**

**The Buckeye Lake Yacht Club today. There is a resurgence at Buckeye Lake.**
**Perhaps this building will see some cosmetic enhancements that might highlight its design.**

**Note the “Commodore” beneath Harry’s name above…and thus part of the name of this blog.**
*The Columbus Dispatch* 9/19/1915.

**Originally built in 1912 for Clayton and Alma McCleary at 212 East 15th Avenue in Columbus, this structure joins King Hall as the second Holbrook design housing college students.**
**This is Delta Zeta Sorority at Ohio State University.**
**Rendering appeared in *The Columbus Dispatch* 2/11/1912.**

**The front has been altered. Found this picture of Delta Zeta on Facebook.**

**The Columbus Dispatch** **12/23/1946. Interment Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus.**
**Harry was a native of Athens, Ohio.**

In conclusion…

**Dr. King obituary, *Hamilton Daily News Journal* 1/24/1938.**
**Mrs. King obituary, Westerville *Public Opinion* 10/21/1954.**

**The King house at 150 West Main Street today**. **Owned by Otterbein.**

Coincidence or intentional? Dr. King was president of the Benjamin Hanby Memorial Association which moved the former Hanby family home (on the left) and restored it. Today, Hanby House is a state historic site owned by the Ohio History Connection. Could a personal attachment to this piece of Westerville history have been the reason the Kings purchased and moved to the
**West Main Street house next door?**

The Hanby House was originally located where Church of the Master United Methodist stands today at the SE corner of West Main and North Grove Streets. It was saved from demolition by Squire Fouse, a former slave, who moved it to his lot near the NW corner of West Home Street and the road leading to the Otterbein football stadium. From there it was moved a second and final time to **160 West Main Street.**

**The Hanby House is recognized in this plaque which will be attached to the Church in mid-2023.**

Dacia Custer Shoemaker (left; Otterbein Class of 1895) purchased and donated the Hanby House. Her childhood home, 89 West College Avenue, is on the right. Her father, Dr. Isaac Newton Custer, was a Westerville dentist. He was raised in the eastern Ohio home of his first cousin and childhood playmate, General George Armstrong Custer.

Architects Joseph Yost and Frank Packard in Ohio: Allen, Lucas, Paulding, Putnam, Seneca, Van Wert and Wood Counties

PLEASE NOTE: The blog contains quite a few pictures so give it several minutes to download. They download haphazardly.

This blog showcases the known designs of Columbus architects Joseph Warren Yost & Frank Lucius Packard in Allen, Lucas, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert and Wood Counties of Ohio. These two architects were in partnership during the years 1892-1899; each practiced separately before and after this period of time. The history of these structures has not been studied. The blog’s purpose is to generate local appreciation of these treasures, inspire research/promotion of them, and save/value those that remain. The Yost & Packard firm, nationally recognized, would likely be considered one of Ohio’s most significant.

A few comments regarding this blog:

Yost & Packard designed a significant number of facilities that housed people: asylums, children’s homes, prisons, jails, etc. Several appear in this blog.
The Wood County Courthouse (Bowling Green) construction was the subject of tons of statewide press. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Joseph Yost and Frank Packard. The thought of that was just plain amusing considering their stature in the architectural field. The issue was resolved in their favor as described in an article included in the blog.
I got sidetracked. Added a bit of non-Y&P. LOL

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Kelly Schroeder, Putnam County Library District; Kelly Taylor, Paulding County Carnegie Library.

Published 11/15/2022 by Don Foster. donfoster73@gmail.com

Allen County

**Lima: Lima High School (later renamed Central High School). Built 1906.**
**Designed by Packard. Above rendering: *The Times Democrat* (Lima) 12/23/1905. Razed.**

**Lima: West Ward School (Franklin Elementary School): North Street. Built 1908.**
**Designed by Packard. Razed.**

**The Lima schools previously pictured shared the same city block.**

**Lima: Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. 301 West Market Street. Built 1910.**
**Designed by Packard.**

**Lima: Moose Lodge. 221 West North Street. Built 1922. Designed by Packard. Razed. Unable to locate an actual picture. Maybe a blog reader will have one. Above from *The Lima News* 7/30/1919.**

**Lima: Lima State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. 2338 North West Street. Built 1908-15. Seventeen buildings. Was the largest asylum in the U.S. Designed by Packard.** Closed in 2004.
**Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution sits on this site today with a much smaller footprint.**

Unable to determine if Packard designed this school in Shawnee Township. Above article is from the *Allen County Republican* 7/14/1914 and the article below is from *The Lima News* 8/8/1913. Remains a mystery.

**A must when in downtown Lima. 111 North Elizabeth Street. Great burgers.**
**Within walking distance of the Packard-designed Trinity M.E. Church.**

Lucas County

**Toledo: Collingwood Avenue Presbyterian Church. 2108 Collingwood Avenue. Built 1899.**
**Designed by Yost & Packard. General contractor was Henry J. Karg of Westerville who is the subject of a separate blog.**

**Morning sun behind the building. Not good for picture-taking.**
**Next time will know to get there in the evening.**

Toledo: Toledo Asylum for the Insane. Corner Detroit and Arlington Avenues. Built 1884-87 and opened January 1888. Thirty-four buildings designed by Yost and by Edward O. Fallis of Toledo. Renamed Toledo State Hospital in 1894. Razed.
**Today this space is occupied by the Northwest Ohio Psychiatric Hospital.**

**Above: Administration Building and Chapel. Below: Women’s Hospital.**
**Photo credit: toledostatehospitalcemetery.org.**

**Above and below: Cottages.**
**Photo credit: toledostatehospitalcemetery.org.**

**Toledo: First Church of Christ Scientist. 2704 Monroe Street. Built 1898. Designed by Yost & Packard and Edward O. Fallis of Toledo. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.** Photo credit: 1978 picture submitted on the National Register nomination form by the State Preservation Office of the Ohio History Connection.

**Now United Missionary Baptist Church.**

Paulding County

**Melrose: Melrose High School. Built 1916. Designed by Packard.** **Razed, but the bricks were repurposed as described below in an interesting article.**
**Photo credit: Paulding County Carnegie Library.**

*Van Wert Times-Bulletin* 10/21/1999. Photo credit: Paulding County Carnegie Library.

**Paulding: rear addition to the grade/high school. Built 1917. Designed by Packard. Razed.**
**Photo credit: Paulding County Carnegie Library.**

Putnam County

A bonus discovery with this building: Turns out the courthouse was the initial location of Ottawa’s first library in 1924 (today the main branch of the Putnam County District Library). It was founded by my great-grandmother Maize Hauck Frey. Also discovered that great aunt Julia Kersting worked many years in the County Auditor’s office located in this building.
**Here’s an opportunity to add some family history to a blog. More below 🙂**

**Maize and husband Edwin Leslie “Les” Frey. Their house at 543 East Main Street, just a few short blocks from the courthouse, still stands today.**

Les Frey entered the hardware business in 1877 at the age of 16. The store, pictured on the left with a porch covering the sidewalk, was caddy corner to the courthouse. It had a toy section on the upper floor. I remember visiting there in the 1960’s.

**A not very good photocopy of a not very good photocopy. Interior of Frey Hardware.**

**On the left, a typical modernized front that became popular in the 1950’s. Original brick front and second floor windows covered. A later redo on the right.** **The building is currently empty.**
Last occupant was the *Putnam County Sentinel*.

Seneca County

**Tiffin: Columbian High School. East Market Street. Built 1893. Designed by Yost & Packard.**
**Photo credit: Tiffin-Seneca Public Library.**

**Photo credit: Tiffin-Seneca Public Library.**

**Today the building is empty and advertised for redevelopment. Let’s hope so.**

**Front entry. Note the mailbox slot on the right.**
**The picture below was taken looking through the slot.**

**A later addition at the rear has been removed.**

**Tiffin: College Hill School #2. 315 East Market Street. Built 1912-13. Designed by Packard.**

**Today this well-maintained former public school is Aigler Alumni Building**
**at Heidelberg University**. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

**Hidden from view by the large shrub to the right of the entryway.**
**It was a tight squeeze to get this picture.**

Tiffin: Junior Order United American Mechanics Orphans’ Home. 600 North Township Road. Rendering by Yost & Packard which appears in their circa 1898 promotional publication *Portfolio of Architectural Realities*. Their design was not selected. Charles Ernst of Tiffin was the architect for this massive self-contained community established in 1896 that grew to approximately 50 buildings. It closed in 1944. Several original buildings remain though they appear to be empty. **Today, with a much smaller footprint, this is the Tiffin Developmental Center** **serving individuals with mental disabilities.**

**The pictures above and below are what the complex looked like back when the orphans’ home was operational.**

Van Wert County

Van Wert: Van Wert High School. West Crawford Street. Built 1913. Designed by Packard. Above rendering is from the *Van Wert Daily Bulletin* 11/5/1910. A photo of what was actually built is below. It appears in a descriptive article (including the floor plans) in
*The American School Board Journal* of 1913. **Razed.**

Wood County

The Columbus Dispatch 2/28/1896. This controversy went on for months and was frequently reported on by newspapers all over the state. Warrants for the arrest of Yost & Packard were even issued. Perhaps this may be why a different architect was selected for the jail of similar style that was built a few years later. It can be seen in the postcard below…at the rear of the courthouse.

**Wood County Jail, but not a Yost & Packard design. No longer used as a jail.**

Bowling Green: Judge Guy C. and Emma Rockwood Nearing residence. 220 Court Street. Listed in the Yost & Packard circa 1898 promotional publication. Does not appear on the 1900 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, but does in 1908. Apartments today.

**This was a surprising Ebay find. Nearing house is the second one. Gate on the porch no longer there today and probably some other ornamentation has been removed. Postmarked 1915.**

**The above picture was taken from the steps of the courthouse.**
**An easy commute to work** **for Judge Nearing.**

**Photo credit: Find-A-Grave. Obit below indicates captured by the enemy in the Civil War.**

**Bowling Green: First Presbyterian Church. South Church Street. Built 1888. Designed by Yost. Destroyed by fire in 1919.**

**Bowling Green: Ohio Central Lines depot. Built 1903. Designed by Packard. Razed.**

**North Baltimore: Church of Christ. 101 East Walnut Street. Built 1897. Designed by Yost & Packard.**

And while you’re in the NW Ohio area…

**Findlay: Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay. 201 College Street.**
**Houses over 300 original children’s book illustrations. Unique!!!**

**Findlay: Hancock Historical Museum. 422 West Sandusky Street.**
**The museum bell collection below…also unique!!!**

**Findlay: Wilson’s Sandwich Shop. 600 South Main Street, downtown.**
**Great burgers!!! Photo credit: Jeanie Hickman.**

Architects Joseph Yost and Frank Packard in Ohio: Fairfield, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry Counties

PLEASE NOTE: The blog contains quite a few pictures so give it several minutes to download. They download haphazardly.

This blog showcases the known designs of Columbus architects Joseph Warren Yost & Frank Lucius Packard in Fairfield, Morgan, Muskingum and Perry Counties of Ohio. These two architects were in partnership during the years 1892-1899; each practiced separately before and after this period of time. The history of these structures has not been studied. The blog’s purpose is to generate local appreciation of these treasures, inspire research/promotion of them, and save/value those that remain. The Yost & Packard firm, nationally recognized, would likely be considered one of Ohio’s most significant.

A few comments regarding this blog:

The trek to southern Fairfield County to photograph two buildings at the defunct Boys’ Industrial School proved to be a tad unsettling. The road leading to it dead ends at the hill on which those buildings stand. I was not expecting to be on camera and about to be asked to leave. I explained my mission and the security guard said OK. The B.I.S. is now a medium security prison and no longer houses juveniles.
An unexpected great surprise was Joyce Harvey, retired librarian of the Fairfield County District Library, informing me of “The Shack”…a summer residence designed by Packard. Coincidentally it’s located in the same Fairfield County area as the Boys’ Industrial School. It’s a good read!!
Quite unusual to find 3 Yost designs still standing in a small town…and within a block of each other as well. Such is the case in New Lexington of Perry County. The courthouse and the jail are well maintained. Old city hall needs work and will likely be restored. There may even be a Yost house design still standing in this same area.

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Drew Cannon, Perry County Auditor; Josh Guisinger, New Lexington; Jim Hart, Corning; Joyce Harvey, Fairfield County District Library; Nainsi Houston, Chair of the Department of Library Science, Muskingum University; Cyrus Moore, Director of Baltimore Community Museum; Mitch Taylor, Curator, Muskingum County History.

Published 10/17/2022 by Don Foster. donfoster73@gmail.com

Fairfield County

Baltimore: Liberty Union School. West Washington Street. Built 1919. Designed by Packard. Razed. The communities of Baltimore and Basil sat side-by-side and each had its own high school. The schools merged in 1919 after a levy passed, but not without a fight from the electorate. It was agreed to construct the school on the dividing line with equal halves of the building on each side of that line…including the superintendent’s office. Basil eventually was absorbed by Baltimore and no longer exists in name.

**Bremen: Grade school. Maple Street (now School Street). Built 1912. Designed by Packard. Razed.** Photo credit above picture and the two below: Baltimore Community Museum.

**Hocking Township: Boys’ Industrial School.** 5900 Boys’ Industrial School Road. Seven buildings on the campus of the juvenile reformatory pictured above were designed by Yost & Packard circa the 1890’s. Packard later designed some of the “cottages” where the young boys **lived.**
**Comedian Bob Hope spent some time as a child here. He later made donations to the school.**

**Designed by Yost & Packard.**
**Demolition was started and then stopped. That will likely resume at some point.**

**Photo credit: Fairfield County District Library.**

**The former Administration Building sits outside the fenced prison.**
**Partially demolished.**

**Today this complex is a medium security prison renamed, in 1980, the Southeastern Correctional Institution. Three old buildings are outside the fence.**

**One old building inside the fenced complex is visible above.**
**The rest of the original reformatory buildings inside the fence may be gone.**

**This building, designed by Yost & Packard, was known as the Drill Hall and is in the National Register of Historic Places.** **It’s outside the fenced complex.**

**The Drill Hall above as viewed from the former partially-demolished Administration Building.**

**The chapel was designed by Yost & Packard.** Razed.

*Portfolio of Architectural Realities*, Yost & Packard’s circa 1898 promotional publication, lists 7 Y&P designs for the Boys’ Industrial School. In addition to the 3 previously pictured, the others are a “School Building and Dormitory”, a “Cottage”, a “Conservatory”, and a “Cold Storage Building.” The chapel can be seen in the distance above, but perhaps the first 2 buildings are Y&P designs. Each cottage housed 40 boys ages 10-18. **Photo credit: Ohio History Connection.**

**This is the third building outside the fenced complex. Not sure who designed it.**
**Note the Ohio State University Block “O” at the top. 🙂**

**When it opened in 1857, the reformatory was called the State Reform Farm. The name changed to Boys’ Industrial School in 1884. It changed again, in 1964, to the Fairfield School for Boys.**

The pumping station above certainly looks like a Yost & Packard design. Perhaps it is. It’s been razed, but the matching low stone wall preventing the road above from collapsing still stands. It’s just above the blue roof of the shed pictured above…and enlarged below. Due to being watched on camera while I was taking pictures, I didn’t want to press my luck. So upon exiting I passed on stopping in the middle of the road to take a photograph of it.

Hocking Township: William Frederick and Jennie Kelsey Burdell summer residence (aka “The Shack”). Near Jacob’s Ladder Overlook, Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve. Built 1905. Designed by Packard. This article of the *Fairfield Heritage Quarterly* provided by Joyce Harvey.

As stated above, Burdell was a founder of the Scioto Valley Traction Company. Packard designed a number of SVTC structures including the homebase depot in downtown Columbus. So this connection likely led to his being selected as architect of the Burdell summer home.

**Lancaster: First Presbyterian Church. 222 North Broad Street. Built 1892. Designed by Yost.**
**Razed and replaced. Photo credit: Fairfield County District Library.**

**Lancaster: Hocking Valley, Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley RR depot. South Maple Street.**
**Built 1899.** **Designed by Yost & Packard. Razed.** **Photo credit: Fairfield County District Library.**

Lancaster: Kirn Block. 107 South Columbus Street. Built 1909/10 for Christopher Frederick Kirn, president of Farmers & Citizens Bank. Designed by Packard. Today houses various businesses on the ground floor and Canal Place Senior Apartments on the upper floors.

*Lancaster Daily Eagle* 5/13/1909. Photo credit: Joyce Harvey.

**Christopher Frederick Kirn and family. Photo credit: Joyce Harvey.**

*Lancaster Gazette* 4/16/1930.
**Photo credit: Joyce Harvey.**

**Lancaster: Ohio Flint Glass Company. Built 1899. Designed by Yost & Packard. Razed. Furnace room below. Photo credit: Fairfield County District Library.**

Lockville: Jefferson Springs Water Company bottling plant. Built 1909. Razed. Based on the above blurry photo caption, perhaps it was owned by the Scioto Valley Traction Company. The SVCT ran an interurban line from home base in Columbus to Lancaster and another to Chillicothe. Among other Packard SVTC designs were **the interurban depot in Chillicothe** **and, in Columbus, the interurban depot and traction yard structures. Photo credit: Fairfield County District Library.**

**Rushville: grade/high school. Built 1919. Designed by Packard. Razed.**
**Photo credit: Fairfield County District Library.**

Morgan County

Muskingum County

**Frazeysburg: High school. Built 1914. Designed by Packard. Razed.**

Packard designed four buildings for Muskingum of which three were built. The University has historically maintained a relationship with the Presbyterian Church. Packard designed a church of this denomination adjacent to the campus. All still stand.

**New Concord: Brown Hall at Muskingum University. Built 1912. Named for J.M. Brown of Wheeling, West Virginia, a benefactor and longtime Board of Trustees member.**

*The American Contractor* 5/1/1915. **The library was to serve both Muskingum and the local community, but plans were dropped in 1916 when fund-raising did not reach its goal.**

**New Concord: Montgomery Hall at Muskingum University. Administration and classrooms. Built 1921. Named for Dr. John Knox Montgomery, Sr., president 1904-1931.**

**Should have visited campus after the leaves dropped in fall.**
**So Montgomery Hall has been pieced together. 🙂**

**New Concord: Women’s Dormitory. Later renamed Patton Hall. Built 1922. Named for Emma Patton Montgomery, wife of President Dr. John Knox Montgomery, Sr.**

**The new dormitory under construction.**

**Saw this on Ebay when searching Muskingum and New Concord.**
**Unusual to see a professor featured on a postcard.**

**New Concord: United Presbyterian Church. 2 West High Street. Built 1922.**

**Trinway: Depot. Built 1900. Designed by Y&P. Razed.**

**Arrival at Zanesville…famous for its Y bridge.**

**Zanesville: John McIntire Children’s Center. Blue Avenue. Built 1880. Designed by Yost. Razed. Photo credit: Muskingum County History.**

**Photo credit:** **John McIntire Library, Zanesville.**

**Zanesville: Grover Cleveland Junior High School. Cooper Mill Road. Built 1924. Designed by Packard. Razed. Photo credit: Muskingum County History.**

**Program, dedication ceremony.**
**Photo credit:** **John McIntire Library, Zanesville.**

**Zanesville: Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School. Roosevelt Avenue. Built 1925. Designed by Packard. Razed. Photo credit: Muskingum County History.**

**Zanesville: Grant & Black Block. 334 Main Street. Built 1888. Designed by Yost.**
**Photo credit: Muskingum County History.**

Per an article in *The Times Recorder* (Zanesville) 8/28/1960: A real estate company purchased the Grant building in 1957, and **“the new owners removed the two top stories and completely remodeled and modernized the two remaining floors.”** This is how it looks today.

**Portion of obituary, *The Times Recorder* 11/23/1910.**

**Zanesville: Alexander and Anna Black Grant residence. 1050 Maple Avenue. Built 1894. Designed by Yost. In the process of being razed in 1962 as shown. Photo credit: Muskingum County History.**

**Zanesville: Clarence Sumner and Elizabeth Warnock Vandenbark residence.**
**1024 Culbertson Avenue. Built circa 1902. Designed by Packard.**

**Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.**

*The Times Recorder* (Zanesville) 5/12/1905.

*The Times Recorder* (Zanesville) 5/18/1905.

Before we leave Muskingum County…

**Excellent museum and definitely worth a visit!!**
**Located on U.S. Rt. 40, the National Road, east of Zanesville.**

**In the same vicinity as the museum is a preserved stretch of the original National Road right off today’s U.S. Rt. 40. Watch for the signs and take a drive on it.**

Perry County

**Corning: George W. and Ida White Sailor residence. 122 North Valley Street. Built circa 1904. Designed by Packard.**

American Craftsman style architecture became popular in the early 20th century. Packard was a fan of this design. The Sailor house has Craftsman features including the deep overhanging eaves, dark brick and the front porch.

**Crooksville: Crooksville High School**. South State Street. Designed by Packard in 1904 per the *Ohio Architect and Builder*, but not built until 1906. Razed.

The high school was also referred to as the East Side School. The real photo postcard above matches the entryway of the high school building. Based on the young faces, it must have housed elementary age students at some point.

**Crooksville High School aka East Side School.**

**The above history appears in an old Crooksville High School yearbook. Efforts to find an updated history were not successful. Photo credit: Perry County District Library.**

**Crooksville: West Side School. Cemetery Road. Built 1906. Designed by Packard in 1904 per the *Ohio Architect and Builder*, but not built until 1906.**

**Today** **West Side School is abandoned.**

**Real photo postcard of Crooksville students, but not sure where this was taken.**

**The abandoned Crooksville school building on the left above is similar to the Bremen elementary school building (on right) that appears earlier in the blog. Perhaps it’s a Packard design.**

**Junction City: grade/high school. Built 1907/08. Designed by Packard. Razed.**

**Thought this description was interesting.**
*The Columbus Dispatch* 4/28/1907.

**New Lexington: Perry County Courthouse. South Main Street. Built 1886-88. Designed by Yost.** **Photo credit: Perry County District Library.**

**Photo credit: Ohio Historical Compendium, Facebook.**

**Courthouse in the middle. Real photo postcard.**

**New Lexington: Perry County Jail. West Brown Street. Built 1887. Designed by Yost.**
**Photo credit: Ohio Historical Compendium, Facebook.**

**New Lexington: City Hall. South Main Street. Built 1887. Designed by Yost.**

**Restoration of the former City Hall has been proposed.**

**New Lexington: chapel for Saint Aloysius Academy. 5375 Tile Plant Road. A new and larger chapel was designed by Yost and built in 1892.**
**The Academy complex pictured above and below has been razed.**

**The above photo and the two below are Yost’s chapel addition.**
**Photo credit: Ohio Historical Compendium, Facebook.**

New Lexington: Maurice Herbert and Martina Johnson Donahue residence. Main Street. Built between 1893 and 1900 per the house footprint on Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. Location was one block to the north of the courthouse on the same side of the street. Likely designed by Yost. Razed. Photo credit: *The Book of Perry County.*

**New Lexington: Lawson Aquila and Augusta Achauer Tussing residence. Main Street. Built circa 1895. Likely designed by Yost**. **Location remains a mystery.** Could it be one of these two houses below located on North Main Street? Perhaps a reader of this blog will provide the answer.

“It takes a village.” 1846: Westerville carpenter shops for clothes in Columbus; comes home with a college (Otterbein University).

PLEASE NOTE: The blog contains quite a few pictures so give it several minutes to download. They download haphazardly.

Otterbein University first opened its doors in Westerville on September 1, 1847. This blog retells the founding story with the intent of re-emphasizing the contributions of a Westerville village resident and a Pickaway County farm family. The discovery of some new information along the way was a bonus.

The Founding Story

Westerville, Ohio, was incorporated in 1858 (legal entity with a charter received from the state), but it was actually established in 1839. In that year, brothers Matthew and Peter Westervelt donated a portion of their land near the banks of Alum Creek for the establishment of Blendon Young Men’s Seminary, a preparatory school sponsored by the Methodist Episcopal Church. To support the school, the land next to it was platted (divided) into lots to be sold for housing thus creating a village. Local carpenter Randall Russell Arnold, credited by historians with building the first frame dwelling in the area, was tapped by Matthew Westervelt to perform this task. A post office was soon desired. Arnold took on this task as well and sought the assistance of his friend “Dr. Vance”, postmaster of nearby Galena, where Randall had previously lived. The petition for a post office required a name for the location and together they selected Westerville in recognition of Matthew, Peter, and third brother William Westervelt. The petition was accepted and in 1840 Westerville had a post office.

Blendon Young Men’s Seminary struggled almost from the start. The Methodists soon turned their attention toward establishing a college just eighteen miles away in Delaware, and Ohio Wesleyan opened there in 1842. The competition for students was just too great and Blendon folded in 1844. The campus consisted of two buildings: a three-story brick dormitory and a frame building containing a chapel, library and three recitation rooms. Twelve trustees (Randall Arnold included) who held the title to the property were now responsible for its debt of $1300.

In the fall of 1846, Randall Arnold rode his horse twenty miles to a downtown Columbus clothing store. There he overheard two men discussing the need for the United Brethren Church in Christ to open its very first college to keep pace with other denominations that were already well underway in this endeavor. History sources indicate it was owned by Harvey Coit though none of the sources identified a store location. Fortunately, The Columbus Dispatch has been digitized. A search led to an advertisement with a street address. Additional online resources of old town maps, photographs and just basic Googling of key words identified a building on South High Street. In 1851, in this same large building, Simon Lazarus opened what became known as the F & R Lazarus Company. Thus, a fun find…a building of great significance to Central Ohio history though it no longer stands. Lazarus would eventually outgrow this space and build what became a mammoth flagship department store on the opposite corner same side of the street.

Arnold raced back to Westerville and rallied leading citizens to discuss what he had overheard. Matthew Westervelt and Dr. George W.H. Landon were appointed to attend a meeting of the Scioto Conference of the United Brethren Church in Christ at Bethlehem Church near Ashville in Pickaway County. There they presented their proposal to sell the Blendon campus for $1300. Circleville or Dayton had previously been established by the Church as the preferred choice for location of a college. When representatives of the Church came to Westerville on an inspection tour, the offer was immediately accepted. A purchasing team consisting of Reverend Lewis Davis, Jonathan Dresbach and William Hanby completed the transaction. They also became the first trustees and held their founding meeting in Westerville on April 26, 1847. Otterbein was selected as the name in honor of United Brethren Church founder Philip William Otterbein. It opened the following September 1 as an academy with a principal. Eight students were there that first day, but by year’s end enrollment had reached 52 men and 29 women. At that time only one other institution in the United States, Oberlin College, was open to women. Otterbein’s being second-in-the-nation to admit women is still a proudly published fact.

Randall Rice Arnold of Westerville

As significant as Randall Arnold was to the establishment of Westerville and Otterbein University, his contribution to this history has left the public eye. Randall passed away in 1898 at age 92 and was buried, per his obituary, at Jameson Cemetery (now called Pioneer Cemetery) on Westerville’s south side. His grave is likely beside the graves of his first wife and son who have gravestones; Randall has none and the cemetery roster is missing his name. A mystery yet to be solved…he passed away in the house of his daughter and son-in-law, John Henry and Ida Arnold Evans, on Vine Street. That house remains unidentified.

The only permanent tribute to Randall Arnold is an alley named after him that runs off North Vine Street between East Broadway and Logan Avenues. The City of Westerville’s website lists the Uptown alleys/namesakes and states the following: “Since alley names did not appear in Council legislation before 1966, it is believed the naming convention is related to the 100^th anniversary of the City in 1958, the 100^th anniversary of the start of the Civil War in 1960, and/or the event of the Village of Westerville becoming the City of Westerville in 1964.” It sounds like that recognition of 62 years ago was without much fanfare, and it’s doubtful anyone looking up at the Arnold Alley sign today knows who Arnold is.

Randall Rice Arnold’s years in Westerville (1825-1898) include:

Built the first frame house in the village.
Surveyed and platted Westerville in 1839.
Was a founding trustee of Blendon Young Men’s Seminary in 1839 and one of twelve men who financed and held title to the property.
Successfully co-petitioned the U.S. Postmaster General to establish a post office for Westerville in 1840.
Co-creator of the name Westerville for the village. Unfortunately, there is no record of his co-petitioner/co-creator friend “Dr. Vance” as confirmed by historical societies in Delaware County, local cemeteries, the U.S. Postal Service and other sources.
In the fall of 1846 in Columbus overheard two men at a Columbus clothing store discussing the need for a denominational institution of higher education to keep pace with other church denominations. Returns home, inspires key citizens…and Otterbein University is established in Westerville as a result.
Recruited a local militia company during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848.
Was a Justice of the Peace for over 50 of his 92 years and thus was referred to as Squire Arnold in recorded history (squire being a term, years ago, given to a justice of the peace).
Was one of a committee of five who petitioned to have Westerville incorporated in 1858. Professor John Haywood was named first mayor in 1858. In his article Early History of Westerville that appeared in the June 1897 issue of the Otterbein Aegis, he referred to Randall Arnold as “a leading citizen of Westerville.”
Served six years as mayor from 1860 to 1866.
Wrote extensively about the history of townships surrounding Westerville. These lengthy handwritten histories are archived at the Westerville History Museum. In his book Our Ancestors of the Westerville Area: A Genealogical History, Otterbein Professor Harold Hancock provided the following recollection of a village resident. “He was possessed of an unusual degree of intelligence and was a contributor to the newspapers. He gathered up many facts connected with the early settlement of Ohio and wrote a most interesting series of articles about pioneer life in the state.”

The Glenn and Dolly Hay Family of Pickaway County

Bethlehem Church, site of Otterbein’s founding, was a frame structure constructed in 1840 and was in use until 1880. At closure, possession changed hands to the township trustees who had no use for the building. The adjacent cemetery was relocated and the former Bethlehem Church was sold to Edson Marberger for $16, the cost of the relocation. Sold again, new owners Glenn and Dolly Hay used the old church as a farm implement shed until razing it.

As part of its 100^th anniversary celebration in 1947, the Otterbein and the Southeastern Conference of the United Brethren Church proposed acquiring the old church site and placing a marker (boulder with a bronze plaque) as the centerpiece of a small roadside park. The Hays agreed to this, and the transaction was completed at the courthouse in Circleville. At some point, maintenance became an issue and the land was returned to the Hay family. In 2022, the year of this blog, Otterbein is again celebrating…this time its 175^th year. There is another milestone that should be celebrated this year as well. For 75 of these 175 years, this lonely boulder along a rural country road in Pickaway County has been under the watchful eye of the same farm family who today, at their own expense, maintain the manicured expanse of lawn upon which it rests. Four grandchildren of Glenn and Dolly Hay agreed to meet for a picture this past June, and it appears in the photo section below. A big surprise was that one of these grandchildren is a 1975 graduate of Otterbein!

Thoughts…can we do better?

There is a timeline of Otterbein University history displayed on the third floor of Roush Hall. The unique founding needs recognized in this history display: the clothing store conversation and the role of RR Arnold, Bethlehem Church, the Hay family and the boulder marker. There’s room for another history panel in the third-floor hallway. There’s room for a second marker, too…this one at Jameson/Pioneer Cemetery. Perhaps a few local historians and perhaps a homeowner or two whose houses touch Arnold Alley know who Randall Arnold was, but that’s likely it. Randall’s resume speaks for itself.

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Stephen Grinch, Otterbein University Archivist; the grandchildren of Glenn and Dolly Hay (Joy Hay Hoover, Kay Hay, Larry Hay, Kathy Beers Studebaker); Bob Hines, Ohio’s Small Town Museum, Ashville; Darlene Weaver, Pickaway County Historical and Genealogical Library.

Published 7/23/2022. Don Foster, Otterbein Class of 1973. donfoster73@gmail.com

**Store where RR Arnold overheard conversation about establishing a college in Circleville or Dayton. This advertisement in *The Columbus Dispatch of* 6/9/1881** **reveals the previously unknown location of 141 South High Street, Columbus.**

**Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows Coit’s clothing store business #141 is one of several in the Parsons Building footprint above.**

**In 1851, Simon Lazarus opens a store in a portion of the same Parsons Building housing Coit’s clothing business. Eventually Lazarus takes over the entire building.**
**(The addresses are renumbered** **at some point.**)

**The Parsons Building no longer stands. Photo credit: Columbus Metropolitan Library.**

In 1909 Lazarus opened in a new building just to the north of its original location. This nighttime view has particular meaning for me. Hall’s (lighted sign above) had a model train shop in the basement. I bought a used Lionel switcher there for $5 the day after Thanksgiving sometime in the early 1960’s. It was the favorite in my collection (below). And Lazarus kept the front doors open with overhead heat blasting down. Was fun to just stand there and enjoy that. 🙂
**Photo credit: Facebook.**

Bethlehem Church, Walnut Township, Pickaway County. Here in 1846 an offer was made to sell Blendon Young Men’s Seminary to the United Brethren Church in Christ. This is the only known picture to exist, and it’s how the building looked after it became a farm storage shed.
**Photo credit: Otterbein University Archives.**

**Blendon Young Men’s Seminary as it appeared at the time of its purchase for $1300**. The building on the left was a chapel and recitation rooms. The building on the right was a men’s dormitory. Roush Hall and Towers Hall occupy this area today.
**This** picture is of fabric composition and part of the Otterbein University Archives.

**Pictured above picture and below are the first generation of commercial buildings on State Street in Westerville. Photos credit: Westerville History Museum.**

None of the structures in the above four pictures still stand except for the building second from right that was constructed in 1863. Today it houses Morgan’s Treasure on the NW corner of State and Main. Interesting sidenote: The second floor of this building is vacant space, but per an advertisement in *The Otterbein Dial* of 2/1876, it was a dental office occupied by Dr. Isaac Newton Custer. Custer’s mother died when Isaac was 3 at which time his aunt took him into her New Rumley, Ohio home. He and his cousin George were playmates in their childhood years. George, in adulthood, was famed Indian fighter General George Armstrong Custer of “Custer’s Last Stand.”

*Otterbein Towers*, New Year’s issue 1947.

*Otterbein Towers*, New Year’s issue 1948.

*Tan and Cardinal* Otterbein student newspaper, 11/17/2005.

The grandchildren of Glen and Dolly Hay who carry on 75 years of maintaining the land on which this boulder marking Otterbein’s founding rests. L to R: Kathy Beers Studebaker (daughter of Eloise who was the daughter of Glen and Dolly) ; Kay Hay and Joy Hay Hoover (daughters of Dorwin who was the son on Glen and Dolly); Larry Hay, Otterbein Class of 1975 (son of Jay who was the son of Glen and Dolly). Photo credit: me.

The boulder is across the street from the nearby Hay family barn. About an hour from Westerville. From Route 23 in South Bloomfield, take Route 752 east about 8 miles or so. Turn right onto Ringgold Northern Road. At the first crossroad (about a mile or so), turn right onto South Bloomfield Royalton Road. The boulder is about 1/4 mile on the right.

**Recent publicity!! Author Dr. Bob Hines on behalf of the Pickaway County Historical Society located in Circleville and Ohio’s Small Town Museum located in Ashville.**

Tributes

**Brothers Peter and William Westervelt, Olde Methodist Cemetery at the end of**
**West Lincoln Street in Westerville.**

**Westerville *Public Opinion* 5/16/1907. Randall remarried after his wife passed away. Lucretia Ingalls Wilder was related to Laura Ingalls Wilder of *Little House on the Prairie* fame.**

**Olde Methodist Cemetery is on the doorstep of the Otterbein campus which is in the background of the above picture.**

**Matthew Westervelt, brother of Peter and William. Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus. Randall Arnold and Dr. Vance named Westerville after these men.**

**Forest Hill Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri. Photo credit: Find-a-Grave.** **Dr. Landon and Matthew Westervelt went to Bethlehem Church in the fall of 1846 and made the sales pitch of Blendon Young Men’s Seminary for $1300**. Per family folklore, Dr. Landon died during the Civil War.

**Jonathan Dresbach, one of the three Otterbein founders.** **Photo credit: Find-a-Grave.**

**Dresbach Cemetery, Tarlton Road SW, Stoutsville, Ohio.**

Dresbach United Methodist Church is next to the cemetery. It was built on land donated by brothers George and Jonathan Dresbach whose adjoining farms were separated by the Fairfield/Pickaway county line. By design, “the county line runs directly down the center aisle” as stated in the article below.

**Photo credit: Pickaway County Historical and Genealogical Library**.

**Rev. Lewis Davis, one of the three Otterbein founders. Photo credit: will add when I remember.**

Rev. Davis house at the corner of West College Avenue and South Grove Street on the Otterbein campus. It was replaced by the Carnegie Library which today houses the Office of Admission. Davis was an abolitionist, and the attic of this house was a safe stop **on the Underground Railroad. Photo credit: Otterbein University Archives.**

**Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton, Ohio.**

**William Hanby, one of the three Otterbein founders. Photo credit: Otterbein University Archives.**

Bishop Hanby’s house was next door to Rev. Davis’ house. Hanby was also an abolitionist, and the barn in back was a safe stop on the Underground Railroad. The house fell on hard times. It was moved twice and fortunately restored. First United Brethren Church was built on its former site and was considered the church of Otterbein University. Today, after mergers, it is Church of the Master United Methodist. **Photo credit: Westerville History Museum.**

**The Hanby House is recognized on this plaque to be attached to the Church in mid-2023.**

**160 West Main Street, Westerville. Adjacent to the Otterbein campus.**

**Hanby family gravesite. Otterbein Cemetery, West Walnut Street, at the southern edge of the Otterbein campus.**

**At the time Randall Arnold overheard the two men talking at the Coit clothing store about the need to start a college, Harvey Coit, Jr. was the owner**. Per the above article in *The Columbus Dispatch* 2/18/1880, the business changed hands to his son below.

**Obituary of Harvey Coit: *The Newark Advocate* 8/9/1902. Unable to locate a picture of Mr. Coit.**

**Harvey Coit’s wife, Elizabeth Greer Coit, made significant contributions to the Women**‘**s Suffrage Movement as described in her obituary.** *The Columbus Dispatch* **5/29/1901.**

**Elizabeth has a Wikipedia page.**
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Greer_Coit

**Isabelle,** **the daughter of Harvey and Elizabeth Coit also made significant contributions to the Women’s Suffrage Movement.** **Picture on right is her 100th birthday celebration.**
**Photos credit: Columbus Metropolitan Library.**

***The Columbus Dispatch* **11/24/1956.**** There is a plaque in the Ohio Statehouse honoring 47 of the state’s most prominent suffragists. Elizabeth and Isabelle are among those names. Kinda veered off the subject of Otterbein’s founding, but the discovery of the Coit ladies was a blog-worthy surprise.

**Isabelle Coit married Frank Clarence Kelton whose parents abolitionist story is described on the marker below. Eventually this house that was a stop on the Underground Railroad** **became the residence of Isabelle and Frank. Not too long ago, a PBS special on Central Ohio’s role in the UGRR featured two houses…Kelton and Hanby.**

**Farm home of Glenn and Dolly Hay across the road from the Otterbein boulder.**
**The basement of this house was a safe stop on the Underground Railroad.**
**It’s likely parishioners of Bethlehem Church were sympathetic to the UGRR movement.**
**This blog having all these Underground Railroad connections was a surprise!!**

**Randall Rice Arnold. Photo credit: Find-a-Grave.**

**Westerville *Public Opinion* 10/13/1898.**

Per Randall’s obituary above, he was buried at Jameson Cemetery which was established in 1817 in Westerville. The cemetery was named for Robert Jameson who donated a portion of his land for it as well as a portion for the first school in the Westerville vicinity. **The cemetery name was later changed to Pioneer.** **Eventually ownership and maintenance passed to the City of Westerville.**

**It’s easy to miss this cemetery.**
**Located in a high traffic area of South State Street at I-270 across from Bob Evans.**

**Unfortunately, there is no gravestone for Randall Rice Arnold nor is his name listed among recorded Pioneer Cemetery burials posted on the City’s website.**

**Mary Baldwin Arnold, Randall’s first wife.**
**Randall’s grave is likely in this plot.**

**Henry Harrison Arnold 10/10/1840 – 12/11/1843. Died at age 3 of an accidental scalding.**

The Weyant Block which today is occupied by the Old Bag of Nails Pub in Uptown Westerville once had an opera house. Tragically, there was a fire during a performance of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in May of 1886. A gasoline stagelight was accidentally knocked to the floor by one of the players. Thirty-five people were injured and two children lost their lives. **One of those children,**
**Harry J. Evans, was the son of Ida Arnold Evans and the grandson of Randall.** **His gravestone above is next to those of Mary Baldwin Arnold and Henry** **Harrison Arnold.**

**There is a lasting remembrance of Randall Rice Arnold, but a marker of some kind at Pioneer Cemetery would put an exclamation point on his contributions to Westerville.**

The history of Otterbein University is told on a series of panels lining two hallways in Roush Hall. The very beginning needs tweaked to include the founding at Bethlehem Church in Pickaway County, the commemorative boulder marking that spot, and Randall Rice Arnold whose initiative brought Otterbein University to Westerville.

Architects Joseph Yost and Frank Packard in Ohio: Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Madison, Pickaway and Ross Counties

PLEASE NOTE: This blog contains a number of pictures so give it several minutes to download. The pictures download haphazardly.

This blog showcases the known designs of Columbus architects Joseph Warren Yost & Frank Lucius Packard in Clinton, Fayette, Madison, Pickaway and Ross Counties of Ohio. These two architects were in partnership during the years 1892-1899; each practiced separately before and after this period of time. The history of these structures has not been studied. The blog’s purpose is to generate local appreciation of these treasures, inspire research/promotion of them, and save/value those that remain. The Yost & Packard firm, nationally recognized, would likely be considered one of Ohio’s most significant.

A few comments regarding this blog:

It was rewarding to find that 17 of the 20 houses in this blog have survived though most have lost their decorative trim that was so popular in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.
Finding all 8 houses in London was a challenge. I am indebted to local historian Earl Ballenger who put up with multiple emails and went the extra mile for a complete stranger, me.
Four schools have survived. One of those, the former Circleville High School, has been repurposed as senior housing…which means that building will be around for a long time. Survival of the others is doubtful.
Frank Packard designed 9 Carnegie libraries in Ohio including one in this blog located in Washington Court House. If you are interested in seeing the others, here is the link to a blog with pictures of these buildings.

https://doninwesterville.com/2021/02/03/iron-master-makes-gift-carnegie-library-at-otterbein-university/

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Earl Ballenger, London historian; Amanda Fairchild, Lafayette United Methodist Church; John Glaze and Vicki Knauff, Highland County Historical Society; Keith and John Howard, Valentine and Dollie Wilson house, Lafayette; Jennifer Hunter, Madison County Auditor; Sue Mattinson, South Charleston Ohio Heritage Commission; Robert Parrott, Union County Historical Society; Chuck Reed, Madison County Recorder; Wendy Royse and Harold Schmidt, Greenfield Historical Society; Bob Russell, Fayette County Historical Society; Dick Shank, London; Suzy Smith, Dennis and Martha Winchester house, London; Lisa Uhrig, Ross County Historical Society; Darlene Weaver, Pickaway County Historical and Genealogical Library; Mike Wells, Wilmington Public Library of Clinton County.

Published 6/26/2022 by Don Foster. donfoster73@gmail.com