Author Archives: Don in Westerville

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

This blog showcases the still standing house designs of architects Joseph Warren Yost & Frank Lucius Packard in their home territory of Columbus, Ohio. Fortunately, none of the structures appear threatened with demolition. These two architects were in partnership from 1892 to 1899; each practiced separately before and after this period of time. When the partnership ended, Warren Yost (he was called by his middle name) moved his practice to New York City. Frank Packard’s entire career, 1889 to 1923, was in Columbus. Packard did not remove the Yost name from his practice until January 1, 1901.

The blog covers 1882 to 1923. The Yost & Packard firm, nationally recognized, would likely be considered one of Ohio’s most significant.

Published July 1, 2023. donfoster73@gmail.com

Columbus Homes A – K are in a separate blog. Here is the link to it:

https://doninwesterville.com/2023/06/30/architects-joseph-yost-and-frank-packard-in-ohio-columbus-homes-a-k/

6/29/2023 donfoster73@gmail.com

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. 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.

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.

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

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

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

The Nicholsons, previous owners of 150 West Main Street.

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

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

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

In conclusion…

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

Lucas County

Paulding County

Putnam County

Seneca County

Van Wert County

Wood County

And while you’re in the NW Ohio area…

11/15/2022 donfoster73@gmail.com

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

Morgan County

Muskingum County

Before we leave Muskingum County…

Perry County

10/17/2022 donfoster73@gmail.com

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

Tributes

7/23/2022 donfoster73@gmail.com

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 Adams, 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.

Adams County

Clinton County

Fayette County

HighlandCounty

Madison County

Pickaway County

Ross County

6/26/2022 donfoster73@gmail.com

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 Licking County, 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.

Publishing a blog with missing pictures feels like a defeat…and two are missing. Here’s hoping readers of the blog may provide them.

Missing Picture #1

It was common in the early part of the 20^th century to see a house built for a physician as both residence and patient office. Yost & Packard designed such a house for Dr. William B. and Augusta Chambers in a central location: downtown Newark at 40 East Locust Street. In separate sets of years, four different doctors and their wives occupied this space until its demolition to make way for the 1958 construction of the Route 16 expressway through town. A search of Licking County sources yielded no picture.

Missing Picture #2

Yost & Packard’s Portfolio of Architectural Realities promotional publication of circa 1898 includes twelve “barns.” These would have been significant structures that in some or perhaps all cases provided housing for a caretaker since this was the horse and carriage era. An example of a Y&P-designed circa 1890’s barn (still, amazingly, housing a carriage) is pictured in this blog. That picture will have to suffice for now as the barn designed for “Charles Genehart…Newark, O” is likely gone. Genealogy websites such as Ancestry and FamilySearch yielded just one Genehart in Ohio. A Genehart search (and a search of all names beginning with letter J) of Licking County directories at the Licking County Historical Society came up empty as well. But…there was a Charles Guckert living in Newark. Here’s the logic leading to the conclusion that “Charles Genehart” was actually Charles Guckert.

• The large list of various designs in the 1898 publication has other name misspellings. The list was likely compiled by an office worker reading from script. It’s also possible that Yost or Packard just got mixed up with the information being supplied.
• The Guckert barn sounds like it was show-stopper per an article in the Newark Advocate of 8/3/1893 that stated this during its construction: “It has been the source of much comment and speculation.” That article appears later in this blog along with a current photograph of a very early 1900’s massive barn at Bryn Du in Granville designed by Frank Packard.
• Charles Guckert and his wife were living in Newark in the 1880’s. The 1887/88 directory lists an address of 335 North Fourth Street. Joseph Yost designed two schools, the jail and the children’s home in Newark in the 1880’s so his name would have been known. He also designed a stunning home for Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Sinnett in 1890 in Granville just up the road from where it’s been determined the Guckert barn was built (thus more name exposure of this architect).
• Based on the amount of farmland Guckert acquired along both sides of Centerville Street (now Newark-Granville Road), he had the means to afford a prominent architectural firm such as Yost & Packard. His brother Anthony must have been a person of means as well. Per his obituary pictured in this blog, his Newark furniture manufacturing business A. Guckert & Company was one of the largest in eastern Ohio. No information could be located on Anthony’s enterprise and perhaps that is due to the fact that by 1878 he had moved the operation to Pittsburgh. It’s a curiosity as to how a street in a neighborhood constructed in what looks like the 1960’s has a street named Guckert Avenue. The significance of Frank and Magdalena Guckert of 41 Mound Street and their seven children (Anthony, Charles, Frank, John, Nicholas, Philomena and William) must have been apparent to someone.

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Judy Cruikshank, Mead-Needham Museum; Jack Goodman, Licking County Library; Donna Gregory, Licking County Historical Society; Sasha Griffin, Denison University Archives; Athena Koehler, Bryn Du Mansion; Theresa Overholser, Granville Historical Society; Tim Priest, Johnstown Historical Society; Janet Procida, Granville Historical Society; Rev. Matt Van Winkle, Johnstown United Methodist Church; Elizabeth Wilson, Granville Public Library.

Published 2/24/2022 by Don Foster. donfoster73@gmail.com

Etna

Granville

Johnstown

Newark

Pataskala

2/24/2022 donfoster73@gmail.com

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

BLOG UPDATE!!! After this blog was published, a friend lent me a local history book of which I’d never heard: Westerville In The American Tradition. It was written in 1940 by the Works Progress Administration. Page 87 jumped out: “In 1911, the National Staple Post Company was organized to make concrete posts.” I immediately thought to myself…I need to go ask the Westerville History Museum if there is a file folder on this company. There was, and the pictures interspersed throughout are the result!! All are marked NEW DISCOVERY. The narrative immediately following this paragraph is the original blog narrative and remains the same. So if you’ve visited this blog before, you might want to skip reading it and head to the pictures that follow.

This effort didn’t begin with the intent of becoming a blog. The intent was to discover if 32 West Home Street in Westerville was designed by the prominent Columbus architectural firm of Yost & Packard. It was built in 1898 for Russell and Nellie Bennett. The Bennetts moved to Westerville in 1892 from Delaware County. Russell had taught school in Croton and then in Sunbury where he became superintendent.

I’ve been researching the designs of Joseph Warren Yost and Frank Lucius Packard for several years and have been publishing the results as blogs. Their Westerville portfolio is impressive, but only one house is among those designs. I think there are more houses to discover. I chose the Bennett house to investigate since it’s just down the street from that one house: 98 West Home Street. Designed for Otterbein University Professor William Johnston Zuck, it was built in 1897. When Otterbein constructed its Campus Center in 1964, the Zuck house was razed for parking. It’s unique history is the subject of a blog as well and is linked below…3rd link).

Discovering the architect of an old house is often a matter of luck. Old cornerstones of public buildings, churches, schools, etc. sometimes show the name of the builder; they seldom show the name of the architect. Houses are just as frustrating. When no documentation exists, the genealogy of an owner may lead to a descendent with construction knowledge. Fortunately the archives at the Westerville History Museum have Russell and Nellie Bennett family history including Russell’s obituary. One surprising sentence in that obituary changed the architect search to much more: “Mr. Bennett lived in Westerville and was president of the Westerville Roque Club and vice president of the American Roque League.” Whoa! What is “roque”?…and whatever it is, how unusual for a resident of a village of only 3,000 to achieve VP status of a national organization.

So what IS roque (pronounced roke)? Here’s a brief description compiled from various websites. Roque is an American-created form of croquet popular in the early 1900’s. The “c” and the “t” of croquet were dropped to derive the name. It’s played on a 30ft X 60ft hard-surfaced octagon-shaped court bordered by a low wall. Similar to croquet, the game or sport consists of wickets, mallets (though shorter), and a ball about the same size. Similar to billiards, the border walls are used to bank the ball and on a surface topped with a thin layer of sand to mimic felt. Roque was an exhibition sport at the 1904 Summer Olympic Games in St. Louis. Popularity grew into the 1916 founding of the American Roque League of which Westerville’s Russell Bigelow Bennett served as Vice President for an unidentified period. Today roque is revived for one week every August at Angelica, New York’s Heritage Days “in a bucolic park in the village center.” Sounds like Brigadoon. There is also a web reference to a roque court in Clinton, Illinois, restored to playing condition and is included among the pictures that follow here. Further down in this blog is a humorous description of roque (written in 1939) as well as a humorous critique of residents of Westerville (written in 1934).

Where do Russell Bennett and Westerville fit into roque history? A search of microfilmed issues of the Westerville Public Opinion and digitized issues of The Columbus Dispatch yielded plenty: construction of courts behind the Bennett house, Bennett’s passing while playing on those courts with a neighbor in the winter of 1927, state tournaments held on those courts in 1931 and 1932, and the crown jewel as this blog’s title proclaims: site of the 1934 national roque tournament!! A search for more led to the Bennetts’ great granddaughter Debbie Pinney Warren who emailed this: “I grew up playing in the backyard as we lived at 36 West Home Street until I was in upper elementary and of course we visited my grandparents often until my grandpa sold the house after my grandmother’s passing when I was a senior in high school. I remember asking my grandmother what the concrete pads were for and she explained about the game of roque. But I cannot find any mention of architects nor are there any pictures nor memorabilia that have survived the decades. My great grandpa Bennett died before my dad was born so he has no personal recollection.”

No pictures of Russell and Nellie Bennett have been found. There are no pictures of the 32 West Home Street roque courts in action other than a grainy one shown below that was in the newspaper. Although there is brief mention of the roque courts and the tourneys in local history sources as well as an old fire insurance map showing the footprints of the house and roque courts, nothing else exists. So the search for more turned to descendants, if any, of Archie Gammill who was on the court with Russell Bennett that fatal day in December 1927.

Success! Old census records, the Franklin County Auditor website, and an obituary led to discovery of the Archie and Hattie Gammill house at 15 West Plum Street, Westerville. Contact with current owners William and Mary Jane Hitt resulted in a picture of the Gammill family (shown later in this blog) seated in front of their house. Westerville resident Carole Brohard, who gifted that photo to the Hitts, had this to say in an email: “I remember going through the home of my great grandparents Archie and Hallie at 15 West Plum Street on a tour a few years ago to bring back memories.  It has changed somewhat. I remember the beautiful glass pieces that were in the stucco. Kids used to pick the glass out as far as they could reach. The house sparkled! I cannot be certain, but I believe possibly the house at 85 West Plum Street may have been built by Archie also. I, of course, do not remember Archie, but remember Hallie well. I have been to their gravesites in Sunbury and know exactly where they are.” Archie did indeed build 85 West Plum before building 15 West Plum in 1922 (on the site of the town’s first skating pond per Nineteenth Century Westerville).

A stunner! The perimeter walls of all three roque courts still exist beneath the overgrowth at the back of 32 West Home Street!!! These are likely the only original unrestored roque courts that remain in the United States. AND…are the two random posts near these courts examples of the cement fence posts for which Russell Bennett had a U.S. patent???

Conclusion The identity as to who designed 32 West Home Street remains unknown, but Yost & Packard are a good bet.

• Yost & Packard already had several Westerville designs on their resume by the time the Bennetts’ 32 West Home Street house was built in 1898. They were a known architectural firm. A blog describing the Y&P Westerville legacy is linked below.
• One of the Y&P designs, the Professor Zuck house built in 1897, was in the same West Home Street block as the Bennett house. Zuck could have recommended his architect to Bennett.
• Russell Bennett was a former teacher and superintendent of nearby Sunbury schools. Eva Lena Elliott and her sister Carrie Bell Elliott were enrolled in Sunbury schools, and Bennett would likely have known them and as well as their parents. Eva married architect Frank Packard. Coincidentally, the childhood home of the Elliott family is owned today by a graduate of Westerville High School.
• Carlos Shedd was a promoter of roque in Columbus at the same time Russell Bennett was promoting roque in Westerville. Shedd participated in Westerville tourneys, and it’s likely Bennett did the same in Columbus. Frank Packard designed the house of Carlos’ brother Frederick (shown further down in the blog). Yost & Packard designed three houses on Hamilton Avenue in Columbus, the same street on which Carlos lived. One of those three designs was for the honorary treasurer of the Anti-Saloon League which was based in Westerville. It seems logical that architects Yost & Packard might have come up in conversations between Carlos and Russell.

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Carole Brohard, Westerville; Kaysie Harrington, Lakeside Heritage Society; Mary Jane Hitt, Westerville; Jeff Kasson, Westerville; Lauren Lehnert Bailey, owner of the Bennett house; Bobbi Perryman, Vespasian Warner Public Library District, Clinton, IL; Jack Roegner, The American Roque and Croquet Association; Katy Kaslow and Jim Seitz, Westerville History Museum; Adam Swindell, Otterbein University student residing at 32 West Home Street; Debbie Pinney Warren. I would like to thank Scott and Lauren Bailey, who acquired ownership of this property in 2022, for allowing Dave Lehman, Jeff Yoest and me to uncover some of this historic site in June of 2023.

https://doninwesterville.com/2021/05/06/architects-joseph-yost-and-frank-packard-in-ohio-westerville-legacy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque

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

Published 12/26/2021 by Don Foster. donfoster73@gmail.com

ANOTHER NEW DISCOVERY: In the summer of 2024, I received an email from a former Bexley resident now living in Georgia asking if I knew the people in the following set of pictures. They had been posted on Reddit (a social media site with which I am not familiar) by the owner of 1094 Lincoln Road in Grandview who found them in a crawl space there. He commented that he knew it was a long shot, but hoped someone would know these people and want the pictures. There were first names on the back of family picture of 15 members and “Nellie Bennett, wife of R.B.” The Bexley resident Googled Russell and Nellie Bennett. Up popped this blog. From a variety of sources, all 15 people in the picture have been identified. The March 27, 1936, obituary of Mitchell L. Williams “of 1094 Lincoln Rd” solved the mystery as to how this cache of pictures ended up in a crawl space in a house in Grandview. The pictures have been shared with a very appreciative Bennett descendant in West Viriginia and will be donated to the Westerville History Museum.

12/26/2021 donfoster73@gmail.com

NOTE: The blog contains quite a few 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 the region of Crawford, Hardin, Marion and Wyandot 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 couple comments regarding this blog:

• It’s rare to find three Yost & Packard commercial designs on the same street and even rarer to find them in a small town. But this blog features such a rarity. West Johnson Street in Upper Sandusky has two churches and a Carnegie library all designed by Frank Packard. One of the churches is built of pink sandstone quarried in Mansfield, Ohio. That structure and three more pink sandstone churches by Packard are the subject of their own blog linked below. The library is one of nine Carnegies designed by Packard also subject to a separate blog linked below.
• Marion was at one time a manufacturing powerhouse in Ohio, and its downtown reflected that prosperity. Like so many small towns in Ohio that lost manufacturing to cheaper labor outside the U.S., population and wealth declined resulting in commercial centers giving up historic buildings to empty lots. Marion has been particularly hard hit. An effort is underway to add its downtown to the National Register of Historic Places. At least two Yost & Packard designs in the downtown area appear threatened to me: the Edward Huber Block on West Center Street and Sawyer Sanitorium on South Main Street. The Elks Lodge (Packard design) and the adjoining former Grand Opera House (Packard remodel) on South State Street appear underutilized and thus threatened as well. Perhaps the National Register effort will lead to saving these.
• https://doninwesterville.com/2020/11/21/the-sandstone-churches-of-ohio/
• https://doninwesterville.com/2021/02/03/the-ohio-carnegie-libraries-of-architect-frank-packard/

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Steven Flower for providing the picture of his third great grandfather Joseph Yost; Marion historian Stuart Koblentz; Glenn and Gayle Hayman for showing me their house…and their neighbor Donna Mattix for making that happen; Bobbie Hooper of the Marion County Historical Society; John Kurtz of the Bucyrus Historical Society; and Sheena Striker of Hardin County Historical Museums, Inc.

Published 12/14/2021 by Don Foster. donfoster73@gmail.com

Crawford County

Hardin County

Marion County

Wyandot County

12/14/2021 donfoster73@gmail.com

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

This blog was rewritten December 12, 2021, after additional history was discovered at the Archives of Ohio United Methodism at Beeghly Library on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware.

In June 2019 bronze plaques were mounted on the exterior fronts of twenty buildings in the Uptown Westerville area describing their historical significance. This was a joint effort of the Westerville Historical Society, the Westerville Public Library’s History Center and Museum, and Uptown Westerville, Inc. Providing funds can again be raised from preservationist friends, there will be a round two of plaques…and it will include the oldest surviving church building in town as described below. Not only has the structure survived (today, an art museum), the congregation continues as well (today, Church of the Saviour United Methodist).

Built one block east of Uptown, Salem Evangelical Church has stood at the northwest corner of South Vine and Winter Streets since 1877. The documentation of the life of this church while located there (1877-1950) was limited to just two sources. Source one is a short history compiled by a long-ago church member on file at the Westerville Public Library’s History Center and Museum at the public library. What caught my eye was the description of key founding church member Samuel Rigal’s wife Sarah, daughter of “the noted Daniel Hoy.” That curious statement led to searching Hoy genealogy…was Daniel an accomplished person? Source two, material on file at the Archives of Ohio United Methodism, looks like the basis for the history compiled in source one. The real gems of the recent discovery at the Archives are two pictures that appear later in this blog and a page from the The Evangelical Church in Ohio 1816-1951 (by Roy B. Leedy, Ohio Conference Historian) that link the Westerville church to the Evangelical denomination’s founder.

The carving above the Salem door reads “Westerville Church of the Evangelical Association.” A web search of this denomination revealed it was founded in 1800 by Jacob Albright of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Evangelical Association expanded to Ohio in 1816 with the first sermon in Ohio preached at the home of Daniel (“the noted Daniel Hoy”) and Molly Eyer Hoy in Bloom Township of Fairfield County (three miles south of Lithopolis at the Fairfield/Franklin County line). They had relocated here in 1806 from Albright’s Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Daniel’s parents were chief supporters of Albright. Of even greater significance, Albright held formative meetings in the home of Molly’s parents. Among those who influenced Albright’s founding of the Evangelical Association were followers of Philip William Otterbein, co-founder of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Otterbein University was the first institution of higher education opened by the United Brethren and is located just a few blocks away from the Salem church. Quite a coincidence.

In 1807, Daniel and his brother Philip donated land in Bloom Township near Lithopolis for a Lutheran church and cemetery. Constructed of logs in 1809, it’s referred to in historical records as the Salem Reformed Church and in others as the Glick/Salem Brick Church…Glick because Glicks and Hoys were among the earliest Bloom Township settlers and sometimes “Brick” because the log structure was replaced by one made of brick. At an 1816 service, sisters Molly and Lizzie Hoy (Lizzy married Daniel’s brother Philip) converted to the Evangelical faith thus becoming the first members of the Evangelical Association of Ohio. The Lutheran church eventually became Bloom Chapel Evangelical Church.

 While the following quote is a bit off the subject, it’s worth noting. Per the eltiste-kaiser.com website (the genealogy of the Hoys): “Molly was a famous doctor in her day. She was especially known for her kindness of heart. When that region was still sparsely settled she would go many miles through the darkness of the night to visit the sick and relieve the suffering. She usually rode horseback and carried her medicines in a pack saddle. Sometimes people came for her in the dead of night and she would be gone for days at a time, usually until the patient either recovered or passed on.”

Now to the Rigals. Samuel, of Bloom Township in Fairfield County, married Sarah Hoy who was the widowed daughter of Daniel and Molly Hoy of Bloom Township. The couple settled circa 1830 in Plain Township of Franklin County four miles east of Westerville where Samuel opened a sawmill. They donated land and lumber for the construction of Bethel Church in 1850 at the corner of Walnut Street and Harlem Road. Bethel became part of the Gahanna Mission of the Evangelical Association (“Church” later replaced “Association” in the denomination name). In 1865, the Rigals left their sawmill business and Bethel Church membership, moved to Westerville, and acquired land on the largely undeveloped east side of State Street. Sarah passed away shortly after the move (Samuel later remarried). A Google search of “Rigal” lead to a description of the house they built as “a spacious and comfortable mansion, with handsome grounds around it.” The “mansion” clue led to identifying the actual house from a picture in the archives of the Westerville History Center and Museum. Today the house no longer stands and is the site of the Masonic Temple locatednext door to the Westerville Public Library. Dr. Harold Hancock’s History of Westerville, Ohio includes a chapter of reflections by Frank Sked who was a lifelong resident (1857-1944). The reflections were published during the 1930’s in the local Public Opinion and included the following two statements: (1) “Mr. Riggle owned all the ground not occupied by the Anti-Saloon League.” and (2) “Mother Riggle, who lived where the Anti-Saloon League is now located, made butter and cheese. I always got a drink of buttermilk at her spring house.” Note that Rigal was misspelled as Riggle. (Other recorded misspellings of Samuel’s last name include Riggle, Riggal, Reigel, Riegle.) The Anti-Saloon League was located where the Westerville Public Library stands today and includes the original building housing the ASL administrative offices.

In 1876 by persuasion of Samuel Rigal, Reverend Emanuel Wengerd (at age 27) of the Gahanna Mission and a group of 18 parishioners (some or all from Bethel Church) began meeting in a school just south of Westerville. Today this is the approximate site of Speedway on South State Street. The group of 18 became charter members of a new Westerville Mission. Samuel’s son Daniel and his wife Sophia were among them. Eventually other members of the Bethel church moved to Westerville and joined the new mission. The Bethel building closed in 1926, became a hay barn, and no longer stands.

In the summer of 1877, Samuel Rigal purchased a lot at the northwest corner of South Vine and Winter Streets from George and Lucinda Brewer of 25 South Vine Street. The lot was then donated to the Evangelical Association, and the new brick Salem Evangelical Church was dedicated December 2, 1877. Total cost was $2,346 of which $500 came from Samuel. The inspiration for this gift and the church name likely came from father-in-law Daniel Hoy’s donation of land for a church by the same name back in Rigal’s native Bloom Township. I identify the word “salem” with the southern United States (not sure why), and Salem seems like a random choice for this church. A web search revealed that “salem” means “peace” or “peaceful” and was commonly used as a meetinghouse name in the mid-19^th century. Bethel and Ebenezer were popular names then as well. Samuel Rigal became an officer of the church, and Emanuel Wengerd became the first pastor (his brother Josiah later served a year as pastor).

Under the guidance of Reverend W.D. Huddle, a basement and furnace were added to the church in 1818. Services met elsewhere for three months, and then a reopening service was held on 8/18/18 (kind of a fun notable date). Growth at Salem Evangelical Church eventually led to discussion of expansion or a move to an entirely new facility. The latter was the choice and on February 5, 1950, a new church was dedicated at 41 South State Street in the Uptown. Previously, in 1946, the Evangelical Association had merged with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The State Street church took the name Second Evangelical United Brethren Church while the former United Brethren Church on South Grove Street beside the Otterbein University campus took the name First Evangelical United Brethren Church. Then, in 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church. The State Street church became Church of the Saviour United Methodist, and the Grove Street church became Church of the Master United Methodist. These names continue today.

Church of the Saviour added an educational wing in 1963. Eventually, a lack of air conditioning and handicap accessibility contributed to the decision to sell the building to CVS Pharmacy and purchase twenty-four acres of land on Fancher Road for a new facility. A closing ceremony and final service was held at State Street on February 16, 2005. CVS built on the corner lot next door and saved the front portion of the church for lease as retail space. The educational wing was demolished and the space used for CVS customer parking. Salem Evangelical Church had been sold to the Westerville Grange which occupied the space until 1956 when it built a new facility on East College Avenue. Dr. Paul and Lillian Frank, Otterbein faculty members, purchased Salem from the Grange and made this their home until donating it to Otterbein University in 1999. Today the former 1877 Salem Evangelical Church houses the Frank Museum of Art.

The events in the life of Salem Evangelical Church from 1877 to the building’s closure in 1950 remain unknown. But this research did lead back to a church outside Lithopolis that likely motivated the creation of the Westerville church (and its name), discoveries of the gravesites of Samuel Rigal and Emanuel Wengerd…and what I conclude are a series of unique connections:

• Salem Evangelical Church was started by Samuel Rigal, son-in-law of Molly Hoy who was one of the first two members of this denomination in Ohio and in whose Pennsylvania childhood home the Evangelical Church denomination itself began to form.
• Jacob Albright was inspired to found the Evangelical Church denomination by followers of Philip William Otterbein, co-founder of the United Brethren denomination.
• Otterbein University was, in 1847, the first college opened by the United Brethren denomination.
• Both the Evangelical and United Brethren denominations had a church in Westerville and both became one with their 1946 merger.
• Salem Evangelical Church, reborn as the Frank Museum of Art, is now one with the Otterbein University campus.

I would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in contributing to this blog: Deb Gifford, Church of the Saviour United Methodist; Stephen Grinch, Otterbein University Archivist; Rev. Brent Harris, Spirit and Truth Fellowship; Sharon Mangold, Archivist at the Archives of United Methodism; Nancy Nestor-Baker, Westerville; Jim Seitz, Westerville History Center and Museum.

Published 11/20/2021. Don Foster, Otterbein Class of 1973. donfoster73@gmail.com

11/20/2021 donfoster73@gmail.com