Ordello Luce Doty (1856-1921)

From the  1895 Souvenir Program of the Second Internation Conference of the Epworth League.

  A number of 19th-century parents had the inclination to bestow vaguely Italianate-sounding names on their children, several of whom went on to public prominence. Among these men were famed American clergyman Orello Cone (1835-1905), and political figures Ronello DeWitt Burnham, Devillo Henry Curnalia, Coello Orland Boling, and Francello George Jillson, the latter two being featured here in years past. That list grows slightly larger with the inclusion of Ordello Luce Doty, a Cleveland manufacturer and Methodist church leader. A standout figure in the Cleveland area Epworth League, Doty was an active worker on behalf of the Prohibition party. A past candidate for mayor of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County treasurer, Doty was also an aspirant for the Ohio state senate and the house of representatives.

  The son of the Rev. Thomas King (1833-1913) and Mary Asenath (Luce) Doty (1836-1921), Ordello Luce Doty was born in Potsdam, New York on April 23, 1856. Little is known of Doty's early life, excepting notice of his family's relocation to Cleveland in 1868. He married in Cleveland in September 1880 to Eliza Broder Timmins (1857-1948) and the couple's four-decade marriage produced two sons, Charles Edward (1881-1963) and Ordello Luce Jr. (1894-1983).

  In 1885 Doty partnered with Christian J. Werwage to found the Manufacturers Oil and Grease Co, of Cleveland. Doty would serve as the company's president until his death in 1921. In addition to his business activities in that city, Doty gained further distinction with his affiliation with the Epworth League, which he helped to found in 1889. The league had its origins in Cleveland, where, in 1889, several Methodist young adult associations merged to form an organization dedicated to "encourage and cultivate Christ-centered character amongst young adults around the world." Prior to its formation Doty had served as secretary of the Ohio Oxford League, a precursor to the Epworth League.

  Doty's long connection to the Epworth League saw him serve four years on its board of control; was first vice president of the Cleveland Union League; was president of the Cleveland district league, Northern Ohio Conference; was secretary of the league's Fifth General Conference district in 1890; and was president of the Fifth General Conference district, retiring in 1898.

From the Western Christian Advocate, 1898.

  As a leading Methodist in Cleveland, Doty served over a decade as a Sunday school superintendent of the Jennings Avenue Methodist Episcopal church and was long active in the affairs of the Prohibition party.  Prior to 1898, he had been put forward as that party's candidate for mayor of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County treasurer, and in 1897 gained the party's nomination for state senator from the 25th district. One of nine candidates that year, Doty polled seventh in the field, garnering just 684 votes. In 1908 he returned to politics with his unsuccessful run for state representative from Cuyahoga County. One of several prohibition candidates that year, he polled just 312 votes, and two years later was the Prohibition candidate for Cuyahoga County sheriff.

  Information on Doty's life after 1910 remains scant. He died at his home in Cleveland on December 4, 1921, following a week's illness, and was survived by his wife and two sons. Following her death at age 90 in 1948, Eliza Doty was interred alongside her husband at the Lakewood Memorial Park in Rocky River, Ohio.

Hedding Anderson Caswell (1851-1913)

Portrait from the Rome Daily Sentinel, April 14, 1913.

    Long distinguished in the business and political life of Rome, New York, Hedding Anderson Caswell served a three-year term as mayor of that city beginning in the early 1900s. A lifelong New Yorker, Hedding Anderson Caswell was born in the town of Herkimer on June 13, 1861, being the son of William and Harriett Harter Caswell. The Caswell family moved from Herkimer to Camden, New York when Hedding was a child and from there resettled in Rome when he was nine. Caswell attended the public schools of that city and also studied at the Rome Free Academy.

   Having entered his teenage years Hedding Caswell left Rome for the big city, traveling to New York City to begin work in a "large boot and shoe store." This line of work proved to have a lasting influence on Caswell, who, after returning to Rome, joined the shoe store operated by Jerome Dillenbeck. After several years in his employ, Caswell and another partner, Fred Marriott, purchased Dillenbeck's interest in the store and began new operations under the name of Caswell and Marriott. Hedding Caswell married on November 24, 1875, to Ms. Arletta Tiffany (1854-1934). The couple would later have four children: Eva (died in infancy in 1879), Tiffany (1880-1906), G. Frederick (1882-1940), and Pauline (1891-1933).

  After a year of operating in the aforementioned partnership, Hedding Caswell sold his interest in the firm to Fred Marriott and launched a new career for himself by entering into the flour and feed business, being joined by his father-in-law, Erastus Tiffany. The firm of Tiffany and Caswell would continue until Tiffany sold off his interest to a friend, M.J. Wentworth, whereafter the firm underwent a name change to Caswell and Wentworth. Sometime later Caswell would operate this business alone and eventually sold it to his son Frederick.

   Caswell became active in city politics in the late 1880s when he was elected as a member of the Rome Board of Supervisors for the city's fifth ward. In 1895 he was appointed to the city's Board of Aldermen to fill a vacancy and six years later became the Republican nominee for Mayor of Rome. In the election of 1901, it was Caswell facing off against incumbent Democratic Mayor Abner White, who had been in office since 1899. On election day it was Caswell who emerged victorious, receiving a "majority of 189", and in addition to winning the mayoralty the Republicans swept several other city offices, in what was referred to as a "real Waterloo for the Democrats."

  Shortly after being told of his election, Caswell gave a brief address to his constituents, stating that: 

"Gentlemen: I am pleased to meet you as Republicans and Democrats of this city, this evening, for you chose to stand up for a man in any spot and place. If fortune spares my life, I will serve all to the best of my ability. You have won a great victory, for not only have we beaten the ring, but a double ring, and I have made the canvass single handed and alone. I will try to give you an administration that you will feel proud of."

   Entering into office in March 1901, Caswell's original term of two years was extended to three by a provision of the city charter in 1903. His term concluded in January 1904 and he was succeeded by Thomas Gill Nock Jr. (1859-1910). Following his tenure as mayor, Caswell would never again be a candidate for public office but did continue to "keep in touch" with city political happenings for the remainder of his life. 
  Caswell's final years were marred by periods of ill health and in April 1913 underwent an operation for "adhesion of the peritoneum and intestines". Following this surgery prognosis for Caswell's recovery appeared to be good, but this changed a few days later, and by Sunday the former Mayor of Rome was dead, being just 61 years old at the time of his passing. He was survived by his Arletta and two of his children, all of whom were interred in the Caswell family plot at the Rome Cemetery in Rome, New York.

Mayor-elect Caswell, from the March 8, 1901 edition of the Rome Citizen.

Boine Wilmer Fuller (1904-1983)

Portrait from the Lodi News-Sentinel, April 13, 1954.

    Popularly known by the nickname "Spud", Boine Wilmer Fuller was for over five decades a well-known businessman and public figure in the city of Lodi, California, serving as the Mayor of that city for one term in the early 1950s. A native of Tombstone, Arizona, "Spud" Fuller was born on April 17, 1904, the son of  Henry W. and Jennie E. Fuller. His early education took place in the state of his birth and he would later graduate from the high school at Globe, Arizona in 1921. 

   In 1921 "Spud" Fuller left Arizona and moved to California, first settling in Marysville. He remained here for nearly a decade and in 1931 resettled in Lodi, where he would take work as a manager of a Western Auto Supply store. Prior to his removal to Lodi Fuller had married in Yuba City to Mattie Belle Reamy (1898-1953), later having a daughter, Joyce Elaine, in 1929. After settling in Lodi Boine and Mattie would become parents to the first set of triplets to be born in the city of Lodi (Boine Raymond, Boyd Edwards, and Barrie Chalmer), their births occurring on Christmas Eve 1936. 

    In the early 1930s, Fuller and E.J. Crescenzi established a sporting and auto accessories store in Lodi, operating under the name of Fuller and Crescenzi. Their partnership would continue until 1944, when it was dissolved and the company underwent a name change to Fuller and Sons, with Fuller as its "sole owner". In 1945 he was elected as President of the Central Valley Sportsman's Council and in the following year began a lengthy connection with Junior League baseball in Lodi, helping to found the Lodi Junior Baseball League. Fuller had earlier helped to establish a youth basketball club in Lodi in 1940, and his devotion to the promotion of youth sport in Lodi later led to his being inducted into the Lodi Sports Hall Fame in 1977.

A cartoon of "Spud" Fuller, printed in the Sept. 16, 1954 edition of the Lodi News-Sentinel.

    Spud Fuller first entered Lodi city politics in March 1954 when he announced his candidacy for the city council. He would win election to that body on April 20, 1954, and shortly after being sworn in was "unanimously selected" as Mayor of Lodi by his fellow city council members, as the Lodi city charter provided that the mayor would "serve in that capacity as long  as a majority of the city council members vote him into office." The Lodi News-Sentinel reported in its April 21st edition that Fuller was entering the office with "mixed emotions", with Fuller stating that:

"I feel great pride, humility and fear in accepting this position.....In fact, I'm scared. Never has the Lodi City Council been faced with such problems as confronts this council."

Boine W."Spud" Fuller with outgoing Lodi Mayor Mabel Richey in 1954.

  Fuller succeeded Lodi's first female mayor, Mabel Richey (1903-1999), who had served two terms in office. Fuller's term extended into 1955 and during his year in office was a prominent booster for the Heart Fund, a health campaign started by the San Joaquin County Heart Association. Fuller would continue to serve on the city council after his term as mayor concluded, his last year of service on the council being in 1958. Widowed in 1953, Fuller would remarry in August 1963 to Lydia Herman (1911-1995), who would survive him upon his death at age 79 on May 26, 1983.  He was later interred at the Lodi Memorial Cemetery, also the resting place of both his wives as well as his infant son Boyd.

Portrait from the Lodi News Sentinel, May 27, 1983

Allingham Burks Summers (1898-1977)

                                                                   Portrait courtesy of the Baltimore Sun, 1964.

   The life of distinguished businessman and diplomat A. Burks Summers is highlighted today, and in this case, it appears that history's dustbin has claimed yet another victim. Although prominent in his day as a financier and diplomat (serving briefly as U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg), the passage of history has made details on Summers's life difficult to come by. While no substantial biography exists in regards to Summers, there are a few small mentions of him here and there in periodicals of the time, all of which aided in the construction of his profile here.
   Allingham Burks Summers was born in Mattoon, Illinois on June 27, 1898, the son of John William and Virginia Burks Summers. The Summers family would later move to Walla Walla, Washington in 1908, and in the succeeding years, John Summers built up a distinctive political career, serving a term in the Washington state legislature and in 1919 began the first of six terms as a member of Congress from Washington. The Summers family could also count an actress in their family, Allingham's sister being one Hope Summers (1896-1979), perhaps familiar to you Andy Griffith Show fans as Ms. Clara Edwards, appearing in a total of 36 episodes in that series.
   Little is known of Allingham's early life in Illinois and Washington. Mention is given as to his attending the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1922 he earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics degree from that institution. Summers had previously attended the University of Washington, where he met his future wife, Helen (1900-1976). The couple married in the mid-1920s and Helen Summers would subsequently find success in her own right, being the organizer of the "Lincoln Day Box Suppers", an idea that would later become a "GOP institution" by the early 1960s. 
   After entering the business world following his college graduation, Summers relocated to Washington, D.C., and in the late 1930s was serving as the President of the General Credit, Incorporated, a firm  that specialized in "automobile financing." Aside from being a financier, notice is given as to Summers being an "international economist" and "industrial consultant", his business expertise being sought out across the world. His small death notice in the Phi Delta Theta 1976-77 Scroll relates that:

"From 1930 to 1948 he assisted in the industrial and development studies of Latin America, South and East Africa, the Near East, Greece, Finland, France, Spain and Portugal." 

 In addition to the above notes, Summers also traveled with future U.S. Secretary of Commerce Maurice Stans on a "scientific and research expedition to Chad" in 1966. Summers's status as a big game hunter was well known by his contemporaries, and in the mid-1960s took part in advertising a new type of grill that ran solely on newspaper fuel. As Summers himself related in the February 14, 1968 edition of the Milwaukee Journal:

"Four years ago I was in Africa on a big game safari. The people down there, the Zulus, use beaten up old oil cans (for cooking.) This engineer picked this idea up and patented it.......They're an awful lot of fun and they do a really good job. Why should people pay for fuel when they don't have to? Why carry it?"

From the Milwaukee Journal, February 14, 1968.

   The grill, marketed under the name "Swaniebraai Safari Grill", was remarked by the Philadelphia Inquirer as coming about due to Summers's "personal grudge against charcoal", and after returning to South Africa on business met up with a British engineer named Derek Davis, who would become the actual inventor of the grill. Summer would later "fall in love" with Davis's invention and also "arranged for full U.S. patent rights." 

   After many years of involvement in national and international business, A. Burks Summers was tapped by President Eisenhower to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg in 1960, succeeding outgoing Ambassador Vinton Chapin (1900-1982). Summers officially entered into his duties as Ambassador on September 16, 1960, and served only a few months in that post, leaving office on April 1, 1961. 

   Following his return to the United States Summers continued with his earlier business interests and in 1964 took on an active role in the campaign of U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, who was the Republican candidate for President that year. Summers served as head of the "Sportsmen and Women for Goldwater Committee" and took to the stump in the latter portion of the campaign season, even being expected to "round up golfers, polo players, and mountain climbers for Barry."

   In the remaining years of his life Summers was a prominent booster for his old fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, and in 1968 was inducted by his brother Paul into the fraternity's "Golden Circle." That same year Summers also took part in Washington, D.C.'s Founders Day Observances, serving as toastmaster. In April 1976 Helen Summers died of a heart attack at age 76. Allingham survived her by only a few months, dying in Rockville, Maryland on January 19, 1977, at age 78. A burial location for both Summers and his wife is unknown at this time.

From the 1976 Phi Delta Theta "Scroll".

Dorilus Morrison (1814-1897)

Portrait from "Genealogy: Strobridge Morrison of Morison Strobridge, 1891."

   The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota can lay claim to having one of the oddest named mayors on record, Dorilus Morrison, who was a transplant to that state from his birthplace of Maine. A wealthy lumber dealer, as well as one of the primary organizers of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Morrison etched his name into the history books in 1867 when he was inaugurated as the first mayor of the incorporated city of Minneapolis, certainly a fitting honor for a man with such an unusual first name!

   The second child of six born to Samuel and Betsey Benjamin Morrison, Dorilus Morrison was born on December 27, 1814, in Livermore, Maine. Bestowed the name "Dorilus" upon his birth, this name is as mysterious as it is strange, with nothing being known of its origin. Morrison's education in Maine is described as "limited" and early in his life took to working as a clerk in a Livermore general store, furnishing local lumbermen with tools and supplies. After accumulating substantial funds from his employment Morrison removed to Bangor in 1842 to stake his claim in the area's lumber industry, becoming a merchant and timber dealer. 

  Dorilus Morrison married in Maine in May 1840 to Harriett Whitmore, and the couple became parents to five children, two of whom died in infancy. They are listed as follows in order of birth: De Witt Clinton (born 1842), George Henry (born 1843), Harriet Adele (died in infancy in 1846), Grace Everett (born 1846), and May Evelyn (died in infancy in 1848).

   Morrison and his family resided in Bangor until 1853, when he sold off his business and removed to Hudson, Wisconsin. He resided there for a brief period and then relocated to the small community of St. Anthony's Falls, Minnesota, where he reentered the timber industry, being the founder of the lumber manufacturing firm of D. Morrison and Co. Within a short amount of time, Morrison had staked a claim as one of the largest lumber dealers in the state, owning "approximately 11,000 acres of Minnesota's valuable white pine". Active in other business concerns, Morrison was one of the thirteen organizers of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and between 1870 and 1874 the construction firm (of which Morrison was a member) laid "240 miles of road from Duluth to Fargo". This consortium later took another contract which laid a further 200 miles of track from Fargo to Bismarck, North Dakota, concluding work in 1874.

                  A youthful Dorilus Morrison, from the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Vol. 9.

  Dorilus Morrison first entered the political field in Minnesota shortly following his resettlement, serving as a member of the Minneapolis town council in 1858. In November 1863 he was elected to the state senate from the 5th district of Hennepin County. Serving in the session of 1864-66, Morrison was named to the committees on Elections, Military Affairs, Railroads, and chaired the committee on Prisons. Shortly after the conclusion of his Senate term Morrison was elected as the first mayor of  Minneapolis in February 1867, the city having been consolidated a short time before. He was returned to the mayor's office in April 1869 and served another one-year term. 

  Morrison continued involvement in Minneapolis affairs after leaving office, being elected to a two-year term on the city board of education in 1871. In the following year, he was unsuccessful in his bid for another term as Mayor of Minneapolis and in 1878 won another term on the board of education, serving for a time as board president. Morrison was beset by tragedy in 1881 with the death of his wife Harriett, who died while on vacation in Vienna, Austria. Following her death, he remarried to Abby Clagstone, who survived him upon his death in 1897.

  In 1883 Dorilus Morrison was named to the Minneapolis Board of Park Commissioners, and the St. Paul Globe notes that for nearly twenty years before his appointment, Morrison had been a strident advocate for the creation of a park system in the city, and in the 1860s had seen a bill struck down by the Minneapolis city council which would have accomplished just that. 

This portrait of Morrison appeared in the Minneapolis Herald on January 21, 1906.

  Throughout the latter portion of his life, Morrison continued to have a hand in numerous business opportunities in Minneapolis. Beginning in 1876 he and his son Clinton assumed control of the Minneapolis Harvester Works, and under their fifteen-year stewardship, the company employed hundreds of workers, which in turn helped bolster the growth of South Minneapolis. 

   In 1878 Dorilus Morrison entered into the flouring milling industry, establishing the Excelsior Mill in Minneapolis. The mill is recorded as having been ravaged by fire in 1881 and was later rebuilt by its owner, continuing operations until 1889 when management was transferred. During this time Morrison also held the ownership of the Standard Mill of Minneapolis, which he had founded with business associate E.V. White. 

   By the dawn of the 1890s, Morrison had largely retired from public life, and a year prior to his passing had visited New York, where a physician informed him that "he could not be expected to live for more than a year." After returning to his home "Rose Villa" in Minneapolis Morrison continued to make periodic visits to his business office in the city until health concerns led him to be confined to his home. Shortly before his passing, Morrison experienced a bout of "stomach trouble" which was a contributing factor in his death, which occurred on June 26, 1897. The 82-year-old ex-mayor was lauded as having led a "grand life" and following his death was interred under an impressive obelisk at the Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

  

Dorilus Morrison, 1814-1897.

Massena Berthier Erskine (1819-1894)

From "the United States Biographical Dictionary of Eminent and Self Made Men"

    A native of Royalton, Massachusetts, Massena Berthier Erskine would remove to Wisconsin in the early 1850s, later residing in the city of Racine for over fifty years. During this time the name of Massena Berthier Erskine grew to be one of the most memorable in the vicinity, as he became a prominent manufacturer and banker, and would also serve four terms as Mayor of that city between 1869 and 1880. 

   Born in Royalton on December 19, 1819, Massena B. Erskine was one of three children born to Walter and Margaret Bowen Erskine. Massena was left fatherless while still a child and would have "meager educational advantages" during his youth. Due to his father's passing Massena would become his family's breadwinner and at age fifteen was apprenticed by his mother to a local shoemaker. He would later tire of this work and was "thrown out" by his employers, and following his dismissal became employed as a carpenter in Westford, Massachusetts, continuing in this line of work until 1847. Erskine had married in Westford,  in April 1841 to Susan Perry (1820-1906) and became the father to five children, listed as follows in order of birth: Susan E. (birth-date unknown), Freeman (died 1864), Charles E. (1852-1908), Emma (1851-1951) and Flora (birth-date unknown.)

   Like many other young men of the time, Erskine would soon hear of the discovery of gold in California and cast his lot with other hopefuls, starting out from Boston via a sailing ship. The vessel would travel around Cape Horn and reached San Francisco in 1849. Once settled, Erskine would begin work in a local shipyard and during his time there reached the position of superintendent. In 1850 he returned to Massachusetts intending to bring his family to California, but "unforeseen circumstances" would later cause him to change his destination to Wisconsin, and in 1852 settled in the still-young city of Racine.

   Soon after his family's settlement, Erskine found employment under the auspice of Jerome Increase Case (1819-1891), the owner of the J.I. Case Threshing Machine Co. and a former Mayor of Racine. Several years after joining the company Erskine assumed the position of superintendent of the company and in 1863 bought a "fourth interest" in the business. Erskine would later become a vice president of the company in 1892 and served in that capacity until his death two years later. Under Erskine's stewardship, the company grew exponentially, with the Commemorative Biographical Record of Prominent and Representative Men of Wisconsin noting that:

"The working force grew from twenty-five hands to about a thousand, and the value of the product from $75,000 to about $2,000,000."

From the Portrait and Biographical Album of Racine and Kenosha Counties.

   Erskine became involved in local politics in Racine within a few years of his arrival and would serve the city as a supervisor and member of the school board. In November 1868 he was elected as the Mayor of Racine and would be returned to that office on three more occasions in 1870, 1871, and 1880. Erskine's time in the mayor's office is noted by the Commemorative Biographical Record as "being more frequently honored in that respect than any other citizen of Racine" up to that time. 

   Aside from his business and political pursuits, Massena Erskine also made good in financial circles, being one of the original incorporators of the National Bank of Racine in 1872. He would later assume the presidency of the First National Bank of Fargo, North Dakota, and would also serve as a founder and director of the First National Bank of Burlington, Wisconsin. Erskine was also active in charitable endeavors in Racine, being a treasurer and director of the Taylor Orphan Asylum, and also donated a substantial sum of money for the establishment of a Civil War memorial in Racine's Memorial Square. 

   The latter portion of Erskine's life saw him continue to be active in his business pursuits, and, being a millionaire, resided with his family in a palatial mansion in Racine. In 1885 he would take the reigns of the Racine Wagon and Carriage Co., and as president of the company helped its sales expand into "every state and territory, as well as Mexico and South America." Massena B.  Erskine died at age 74 on May 20, 1894, at his home and was survived by his wife and four of his children. Following his death, he was interred at Racine's Mound Cemetery, coincidentally enough the same resting place as that of his friend and business partner Jerome I. Case.

  

Portrait from the "History of the town of Richmond, Cheshire County, New Hampshire."

Erskine's age is mistaken as "84" in this notice from the Little Falls Weekly Transcript.

Dillaplain Harrison Wright (1875-1945)

From the Rochester Motorist, August 1918.

    The following write-up highlights the life of one Dillaplain Harrison Wright, an oddly named resident of Webster, New York who served his native town for three terms as Village President.) In addition to political service, Wright was also a well-known local businessman and amateur inventor, and in 1919 secured a patent for a new style of quickly detachable dust cap for automobile tire valves. Despite the somewhat daunting task of finding biographical information for Mr. Wright, an obituary for him (published in the May 4, 1945 edition of the Webster Herald) helped out significantly in terms of information!

   Born in New York in 1875, Dillaplain Harrison Wright was the son of William H.H. and Kate Wright. His early life was centered in the Niagara County town of Wilson, and as a young man was employed as a telegraph operator in that town. He later relocated to Webster, where he was an agent "for the Old Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg Railroad". Wright married Leo Anna Norton on July 2, 1896, in Webster and later became the father of four children, Dewey, Carroll, Francis, and Lois. 

   In the years following his resettlement in Webster Dillaplain Wright left his employment as an agent and took on the position as a bookkeeper and office manager with the J.W. Hallauer and Son Evaporated Fruit Company. Sources of the time note that during the early part of the twentieth century, Wright was an important figure in the dried fruit industry, being instrumental in the founding of the Evaporation Publishing Company, which was responsible for the production of a periodical entitled  "The Evaporator", a "monthly journal devoted to the interests of Evaporator Men, Evaporator Equipment Crop conditions, Models and Designs, Markets, Horticulture Comment, Gasoline Engine Power, etc." Wright served as editor and publisher of this journal for several years, and in addition to this was involved in the brokerage business in Rochester for more than two decades.

   While being prominent in the production of dried fruit in Monroe County, New York, Wright found additional distinction as an automobile enthusiast and inventor, being a member of the Rochester Automobile Club. He was accorded a substantial write-up in the August 1919 edition of the Rochester Motorist, which highlighted his invention of a "Quick Detachable Dust Cap" for use on car tire air valves. The Motorist noted that his invention:

"has been thoroughly tested out in a practical way the past year not only by Wright himself but by the experimental departments of some of the largest tire manufacturers in this country and pronounced 100 percent. One of these concerns in Akron, Ohio, stated it to be the best Q.D. cap ever produced."

   Dillaplain Wright's success in business and being a reputable citizen in Webster eventually culminated in his election as Mayor (Village President) of that village in 1925. Serving three terms in office (1926, 1927, and 1928), Wright is recorded by his Webster Herald obituary as being:

"Largely responsible for the extension of heating gas service to Webster in 1928. He also initiated important street improvements as well as being instrumental in bringing mail delivery to Webster."

   The title of village president of Webster changed to Mayor after Wright left office, and he was succeeded by Mayor William F. Kittleberger. Wright remained an active citizen in Webster after his term(s) in office concluded, maintaining memberships in the local Methodist Church choir, the Webster Fire Department, the Webster Republican Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Masons, and the Odd Fellows and Moose Lodges. Wright also served as a member of the Webster Village Board, his exact dates of service being unknown at the time of this writing.

From the Webster Herald, April 23 1980 edition.

   Wright is recorded as suffering from ill health during the last few years of his life, with the Webster Herald noting in his 1945 obituary that he had been "ill for some time" prior to his passing. Dillaplain H. Wright died at his home on May 1, 1945, at age 69, and following funeral services was interred at the Webster Rural Cemetery in Webster.

Ortha Orrie Barr Sr. (1879-1958), Ortha Orrie Barr Jr. (1922-2003)

From the History of West Central Ohio, Volume III.

    The curiously named man shown above is Ortha Orrie Barr Sr., a two-term member of the Ohio House of Representatives who also was an attorney and hotel operator in Lima. The only son of Dr. Eugene Jacob and Sadie Michael Barr, Ortha Orrie Barr was born on February 24, 1879, in Clarke County, Ohio, and at age six relocated to Allen County with his family. He is recorded as having attended schools local to that county and later studied at the "old Lima College". Barr went on to enroll at the University of Michigan Law School in his early twenties and graduated from this institution in the class of 1904.

  Following his return to Ohio Ortha Barr married in Lima on September 4, 1907, to Bertha Woerner (1881-1953) and later had four children, including Catherina A. (died aged three), Robert Ortha (1910-1996), Margaret A. (1914-1999), Edna Barr Hunter (1915-2009) and Ortha Orrie Jr. (1922-2003). In the late 1900s, Barr took on a position as deputy sheriff of Allen County, serving under his father Eugene, and in 1911 is recorded as the assistant prosecutor for Allen County.

   In the 1910s Barr and his father began preparations to erect the fireproof Barr Hotel, and at the time of its opening in October 1916 stood seven stories and later gained notoriety as "the leading hotel" in Lima. Barr and his family continued to have an active role in operating the hotel for many decades afterward, even enlarging the original 88-room facility to 150 rooms. 

From the Lima Morning Star and Republican Gazette,  November 3, 1930.

   Active in Democratic party circles in Allen County, Barr was a member of the county central committee as well as being a member of the Allen County Bar Association. He served a two-year term as prosecuting attorney for Allen County from 1915-17 and retired from the practice of law around 1919.

  Barr reemerged on the political scene in 1930 when he announced his candidacy for the Ohio House of Representatives. In a Lima Morning Star notice on his candidacy, Barr was "expected to be unopposed in the primaries" and throughout the summer of 1930 campaign notices touting his candidacy appeared in Allen County newspapers. Barr would later be opposed by fellow Democrat Clarence C. Miller, who he later defeated on primary election day. Barr went on to win the general election that November and took his seat in January 1931.

    During the 1931-33 session, Barr served on the committee on Taxation and within days of taking his seat introduced a bill that aimed to curb interest rates in the state. He was reelected to the legislature in 1932, and during the 1933-35 term served on the committee on County Affairs and chaired the committee on State Buildings, Parks, and Public Works.

  Following his time in Ohio state government Barr continued his involvement in the family hotel and achieved distinction in several Lima fraternal groups, being a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a former grand master of the local Knights of Pythias chapter, and was an "esteemed lecturing knight" of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1943 Barr became the President of the Lima Sertoma Club, serving one year in this post.

   In September 1953 Barr experienced tragedy with the loss of his wife Bertha in a truck-car accident in Auglaize County, Ohio. He and his wife had been returning from Indiana with another couple after celebrating their 46th wedding anniversary in Connersville. After entering Ohio Barr's car collided with a tractor-trailer truck during a rain storm near the town of Wapakoneta. The September 12th edition of the Lima News reported on the accident, noting that "Mrs. Barr was hurled from the vehicle, then pinned beneath the wreckage." Bertha W. Barr succumbed to her injuries shortly after the initial crash, and Ortha Barr and Mrs. Harvey Crider (a passenger in the car) were later transported to a nearby hospital for their injuries. 

   Following the loss of his wife, Barr was noted by the Lima News as being in a "deep shock" and later made a recovery from his auto injuries. In 1956 he sold off his interest in the Barr Hotel to one C.O. Porter and sometime later relocated to Hollywood, California, where he died on December 5, 1958, in a rest home in that city. He was 79 years old at the time of his death and was later returned to Ohio for burial in the Gethsemani Cemetery in his native city of Lima.

 From the Lima News, December 6, 1958. 

    In addition to Ortha O. Barr's career in the public forum, his son Ortha Orrie Barr Jr. also had fleeting involvement in Buckeye State politics, launching a candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio in 1956. Hoping to represent the 4th congressional district of Ohio, O. Orrie Barr Jr. faced off against four-term incumbent Republican William Moore McCullough (1901-1980) and in the November election Barr was defeated by a wide margin, 42,416 to 93,607. McCullough would later go on to serve seven more terms in Congress, retiring in 1973 after 26 years of service. In addition to his congressional candidacy, O. Orrie Barr Jr. was a WWII veteran and prisoner of war and later followed in his father's footsteps, graduating from the University of Michigan in the early 1950s. He later became an attorney, and died on March 24, 2003, shortly after his 81st birthday. He was interred at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman, Medina County, Ohio.

Ortha Orrie Barr Jr. (1922-2003), from the 1951 Michiganensian Yearbook.