Wednesday, November 30, 2011

320-322 Taylor Avenue - The Corner Filling Station

Woodland Park, Columbus, Ohio 
There was a filling station built at the northeast corner of Granville and Taylor Avenue about 1923. The building is still there, but you might never guess it had been a filling station and that that the pumps were lined up parallel to Granville. The current address of the boarded up building is 320 Taylor Avenue.

The 1919 City Directory lists Art's Grill at 320 Taylor and a Kroger grocery store at 322 Taylor Avenue.

More than likely, John M. Knotts, Jr., a "filling station manager" in 1930 was the proprietor of the station. John lived with his family across the street at 1543 Granville. I'm not sure what year John took the gig at the filling station, but before 1921 he was a railroad brakeman and in 1920 the family shared a house with another family on 22nd Street.

The Knotts lived at and rented 1543 from at least 1930 to 1939 and probably earlier and later than that as well. Their rent was $30/month in 1930.

The family consisted of John Madison Knotts, Jr., born in November 15, 1888, his wife Nina Ellen (McCord) born in November 4, 1889, and their children John L. (October 25, 1911), Charles Blair (March 19, 1914) and Eolah Carolyn (January 3, 1916). In 1930, John L. was working as a filling station attendant. John's wife's name is listed differently in almost every reference. Her name on her death certificate is Nina E., and she had a nickname of Dott. There is something lyrical about Dott Knotts. However it seems it was assumed to be a nickname for Dorothy, which in this case, it was not. In a census she is listed at Ella N. but on her birth and marriage record it is Nina Ellen. John and Nina were married in Columbus on December 8, 1910.

The 1938 City Directory lists John M. and wife Nina as as having a confectionery and filling station, 320 Taylor Avenue, residing at 1543. Mrs. Nina Knotts and Eolah are listed as "waiters" at "John M. Knotts" the listing is similar in the 1939 directory, except Nina is now "Dorothy".

1941 Columbus City Directory
In the 1941 Columbus City Directory, Mrs. Dorothy Knotts and her daughter Eolah are proprietors of Knotts' Grill at 320 Taylor Avenue. The address of the filling station, now a Standard Oil brand was 318 Taylor and the manager was John L. Knotts. It looks like the elder Knotts moved to 330 Taylor and their son John stayed on at 1543.


In 1964, Rob Ernie's Market was at 322 Taylor Avenue. In January of that year an armed  male and female robbed the market of $300 in cash and checks and later wrecked the stolen car they were driving at 8934 Parkwood Avenue.


Knotts' Grill later became the Kozy Korner Bar, owned by Sanford Roan who lived at 1614 Richmond Avenue.

Did you know that Standard Oil, better known as Sohio opened the world's first automotive service station in Columbus in June 1913 at the corner of Oak and South Young Streets just one block east of South Fourth?

John M. Jr., died in Columbus on July 27, 1962. Nina Ella died November 17, 1966 at home in Franklin County. John L. died in St. Petersburg, Florida  October 21, 1999. Charles died in Columbus on December 20, 1994, his lifetime occupation was truck driver, and his death certificate lists his industry as "alcoholic beverages" - sounds like he was a beer truck driver to me. Eolah died October 5, 1991 in Lancaster and her occupation was a bookkeeper in a jewelry store.





Sunday, November 20, 2011

1589 Granville Street - Harwood House

Woodland Park, Columbus, Ohio 
Francis Coffman "Frank" Harwood was born in April 1870 in Springfield, Ohio, son of Thomas Edward and Anna M. (Hartstone) Harwood. He succeed his father as publisher of the Springfield Gazette in 1906. He appears on the 1910 Census in Springfield with his first wife, Pearl C. Evans (August 1874-November 26, 1918) and son, Manton Evans (July 7, 1895) They were married about 1893.

It appears this house was built about 1922 by Harwood. In the 1920 Census he is listed as president of a printing company and he and his second wife Ruth B. (1895) lived in an apartment at 880 East Broad Street with their 1-1/2-year-old son, Francis, Jr. They sold the house in early 1924.

By 1930 the Harwoods were living in Palm Beach, Florida.

Edward Livingston Taylor, Jr.
Marie F.Taylor

Edward Livingston Taylor, Jr. was born August 10, 1869.  He became an attorney in 1891. He married Marie Agnes Firestone on January 4, 1894 at Broad Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Taylor was Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney from 1899 to 1904 and a U.S. House Representative from 1905 to 1913. After that time he was an attorney for the Pure Oil Company. In 1910, the Taylors lived at 1260 East Broad Street. In the Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Volume 2, published in 1909 (it should be noted that this book is authored by Edward's father) it states that, "They occupy a beautiful home in the east end of the city, where they entertain their friends with a lavish but attractive hospitality that indicates high culture."


The Taylor home formerly at 1260 East Broad Street
The house was in Marie's name from February 23, 1924. After her death it transferred to Edward on April 2, 1934. It appears the the garage was added during the Taylors time, in about 1926.

Clinton D. Firestone Mansion, 580 East Broad Street
Marie was born January 13, 1871 in Columbus. She was the daughter of Clinton DeWeese Firestone and Flora N. Taft. Clinton Firestone was co-owner of the Columbus Buggy Company one of the largest buggy manufacturers in this country. Clinton's mansion, originally built by John G. Deshler was located at 580 (or 584) East Broad Street and demolished in 1962.

Clinton DeWeese Firestone
Clinton Firestone, George and Oscar Peters started  in business together as the Iron Buggy Company. In 1875 they sold that firm and started The Columbus Buggy Company with a plant at Wall and Lucas Streets. At the turn of the century the company employed over 1,000 people at a sprawling plant at what was then Dublin Avenue, now Nationwide Boulevard, west of the current Arena District. Harvey S. Firestone, of rubber tire fame, was related to Clinton and worked for a time at Columbus Buggy before starting his own company in 1890. The advent of the automobile proved the death of Columbus Buggy in 1913, though they had tried to compete in the early automobile market. The Columbus Firestone car was first built by the Columbus Buggy in 1907. It is claimed that in 1910 Firestone became the first American automobile with a steering wheel on the left side.



A great history of the Taylor family was written in 1907 by Edward, The Old House and The Taylor-Livingston Centenary and a scan of this rare book is available as a PDF file from the Cincinnati Libraries. 

Marie and Edward both died at 1589. Marie of pneumonia February 16, 1934 and Edward of throat cancer on March 10, 1938. They are interred at Greenlawn Cemetery.

The next owner of the house was Edward's brother, John M. Taylor, a wealthy coal dealer, who received the deed in April 1939.

John sold the house to William S. Kappenberger on October 25, 1941, and about a month later, on November 19, 1941, the next tenant bought the house, John A. Leonard.
John A. Leonard,
circa 1911

John Aaron Leonard was born in December 14, 1889 in Basil, Fairfield County, Ohio. He was the son of William F. Leonard and Lillian B. "Lilly" Kistler. John attended Ohio State University for pharmacy. He married Pauline E. McNaughton (August 16, 1900) in about 1925.

In 1930 the Leonards lived at 178 Parkwood Avenue, which they rented for $42/month. John was pharmacist and owner of Leonard's Drug Store, 602 East Livingston Avenue (at Livingston and Parsons, next door to Solove Hardware). Pauline was a restaurant cashier.

Pauline died in a Canal Winchester care facility, at age 101 on December 27, 2001.

Leonard's Drug Store, 1945

The drug store can be seen in the background, right at the corner of Parsons and Livinsgton in this late 1940s photo

The house was deeded to Mary Curtis on September 10, 1948 and then on October 26, 1948 to Booker W. and Alberta Harris.

Dr. Booker W. Harris was born in Montgomery, Alabama about 1900. He married Alberta A. (1902) and they had a daughter Jacqueline, born in about 1929. In 1930 Booker was working as a dentist and they lived at 225-1/2 East Fifth Avenue. In the 1937-1947 City Directories, Dr. Harris is listed as a dentist at 1205 East Long Street.

Booker's obituary appeared in the December 13, 1992 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant. "Dr. Booker W. Harris, a dentist who practiced for 57 years, including 12 in Hartford, died Tuesday. He was 94.
Born in Montgomery, Ala., Dr. Harris was a resident of Wethersfield.

He graduated from the University of Minnesota Dental School in 1927. Dr. Harris practiced dentistry first in Columbus, Ohio, and then in Hartford. While in Ohio, Dr. Harris also was the Chief of School Dentists for the Columbus school system.
 
Ruth Harris Bunche

Dr. Harris also served as a captain in the Army during World War II in the South Pacific and received the Bronze Star.
He leaves a son, Charles A. Harris of Maui, Hawaii; a daughter, Jacqueline L. Harris of Wethersfield; six grandchildren, Timothy Harris, Julie (Harris) Meyers, Laura Harris, Jacqueline Harris, Charles Harris and Terry Harris; and several great-grandchildren..."

In a March 1952 newspaper account of Charles Harris' January wedding to Barbara J. Terry, it is noted that he is a nephew of UN notable and 1950 Nobel Prize recipient, Dr. Ralph Bunche. Bunche met his future wife, Ruth Ethel Harris, while at Howard University; she was the daughter of the chief mailing clerk in Montgomery, Alabama.

Dr. and Mrs. Harris sold the house on October 7, 1974 to Robert L. Shaw.

Robert L. Shaw transferred the property to Hal D. Amedine on August 4, 1985 and the current owner Andrea L. Hernandez purchased it from him on April 2, 1991.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

1567 Granville Street - Miles House

1567 Granville Street
Woodland Park, Columbus, Ohio 
Clarence Edwin Woolman bought lots 43, 44, and the west half of lot 45 from the City Realty Company (Hugh E. Smith, President) on May 15, 1908. Clarence was a real estate agent, and in 1910 he lived at 1655 Franklin Avenue. The Woolmans later lived at 65 Wilson Avenue for many years. Eleanor died August 1, 1962 and Clarence died in 1967.

Clarence E. and Eleanor H. Woolman sold the  new house to the Miles on April 1, 1909.

John Battelle Miles and his wife, Imogene Ingram Miles were married November 2, 1902. John was born in June 1870, probably in Gallipolis,  son of Columbus J. Miles and Elizabeth Hopkins.

John B. Miles
circa 1911
In 1910, John was a county clerk. They had a 28-year-old African-American servant, Sarah Lewis.

The Who's Who issue of The Ohio State University Quarterly from April, 1912 tells us that Imogene was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, February 1, 1874. She attended The Ohio State University 1891-97, two years preparatory, and graduated in June 1897 with a Bachelor of Philosophy degree. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

In 1912, the Miles had Bell telephone number 1897, yep, just four digits.

The Miles had two children, Howard Barratt, born September 6, 1903 and a daughter, Gwendolyne, born on January 31, 1908.

The Miles sold the house on September 19, 1919. The deed notes that there are some special assessements due for the improvement of Granville Street falling due and payable in December 1919. A neighbor, Frank Thompson was a witness on the deed. In 1920, the Miles lived at 182 18th Street and John was working as manager of a paste manufacturing company. John died November 21, 1929 and Imogene on April 10, 1949 in Hartford, Connecticut. 

A suave Bill, William
Lyman Case, Jr. in his 
1936 Columbus Academy
yearbook photo
In 1920, William Lyman and Margaret B. Case owned the house. W. Lyman, Sr. was born September 4, 1892 in St. Louis, Missouri. Margaret was born about 1893 in Ohio. They wer married about 1919 and had three sons, the first, William Lyman Case, Jr., was also known as Bill. Bill was a member of the class of 1940 of Amherst College. He received his BA degree from The Ohio State University. Bill was a marine corps lieutenant during WWII, and became a leading realtor in the Columbus in the years before he retired to Naples, Florida.

Lyman, Sr. was a salesman for the Zinn & Robins Realty Co. in 1917. In 1920 his occupation is listed as real estate broker and they have a live-in 20-year-old servant at their home on Granville Street, Sarah Boyer. By 1942, W. Lyman Case was self employed with offices at 150 East Broad Street, and a fine home in Bexley at 43 Preston Road.

A young Mary Louise Mckisson Allread
March 15, 1922, Harold C. Allread took possession. Harold was a general practice attorney born August 13, 1889 in Greenville, Ohio. Harold was a WWI veteran, enlisting in the Army September 7, 1918. At that time he lived at 63 Latta Avenue. His wife was Mary Lucille (nee Mckisson) who was born February 23, 1895 in Belmont, Ohio. and they were probably married in 1921. They had three children, Mary P., Sara, and James R. Harold died April 8, 1964 and is buried in Union Cemetery. Mary died November 16, 1989 in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Allreads lived at 1568 Clifton Avenue in 1920.

Harold Allread
circa 1911
The first African-American owners of the property were Rev. Karl Franklin and Josephine Anna (Jackson) Smith. They bought the property on January 22, 1949. Karl was born in Zanesville on October 5, 1892, a son of Henry Nathaniel Smith and Mary Sylvia Nukes. Josephine was born in Ohio in about 1895. They were married December 4, 1915. Karl was a minister in the Church of Christ. Karl and Josephine had seven children, Ruth Sylvia, Karl F. Jr., Aaron Jackson, Juanita M., and two others.  In 1930, they owned the house at 209 18th Street. Karl died January 25, 1972 in Columbus and Josephine passed away in May 1976. They are buried in Union Cemetery.


Hattie Mae Littleton
Samuel L. and Hattie Mae Littleton were the next owners, starting September 17, 1957. Sam was born August 23, 1926, son of Samuel H. and Alberta Littleton - in 1930 their family lived at 436 Buttles Avenue. He was a WWII veteran, and he completed two years of high school. His occupation in 1945 was classified as, "unskilled amusement, receation and motion picture occupations."

Hattie was born June 20, 1929 and she died December 8, 2010 in Columbus.

March 5, 1980, Nathan K. and Deborah A. Toles Wicker bought the house from the Littletons. Nathan was born about 1949 and Deborah in 1952. They married December 17, 1977 in Columbus, but just a few months after buying the house, on October 15, 1980, they were divorced.


Louisa Pursel, Sister Evanela and First Cousins

Woodland Park, Columbus, Ohio 
Louisa Pursel was the mother of Mary Dornberg. She lived in the house with the Dornberg family before her death in 1912. After seeing her gravestone at Mount Calvary Cemetery, I decided I "needed" to know more about the Pursels. What a tangled web of early Franklin County history.

Louisa was a Pursel before she married Zephaniah B. Pursel, so I know there is some sort of connection to be found between both sides.

Louisa was the daughter of Samuel Pursel and Nancy O'Harra. An article in the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly of July 1912 contains a story that fills in some details. "Nancy O'Harra related to her daughter that she rode from Baltimore, Maryland, on horseback with her brother to Franklinton, Ohio, and passed through where Columbus is now, following a path through a dense forest of trees. Her brother Daniel (O'Harra) later kept a dry goods store in Franklinton. She said that her uncle, James, lived along the Scioto river. She had brothers Daniel, James and Joseph (O'Harra).

She married Samuel Pursell, August 26, 1810, (the marriage records in Franklin county Probate Court show those dates, and by William Brundridge). Her daughter (Louisa) was born July 22, 1828.

She (Louisa) married Zephaniah Pursell and they resided six miles from the Court House in Columbus. It is one mile from the old Chillicothe pike road to the east line of the Pursell farm. There was a red frame school house standing on the farm on the north side of the road in 1906, when this information was gained from Mrs. Zephaniah (Louisa) Pursell, who had a good picture of her mother, taken when she was sixty-three years of age, the year that the daughter was married. Another daughter, Sarah Josephine, was at that time Sister Evanela, at the Convent at Tiffin, Ohio. Her age was fifty-four."

College of Ursuline Sisters, Tiffin, Ohio
Aha! So, that's why the Dornberg girls were sent to school at the College of Ursuline Sisters in Tiffin in 1900. Their great-aunt was there. The Ursuline sisters arrived in Tiffin in 1863, starting an academy for girls. Eventually this academy developed into what is now Calvert High School. The building, located at Madison and Jefferson streets, was torn down in the mid-1970s. The original St. Mary’s church was also located in this vicinity.

More about Samuel can be found in the 1880 History of Franklin and Pickaway Counties, listed under Hamilton Township. "In 1809, Samuel Pursel came to Ohio, from near Brownsville, Pennsylvania, a town on the Monongahela river. Shortly after coming, he was married to Nancy O'Harra, whose parents were pioneers of the old town of Franklinton, and located in Hamilton, a short distance south of where Rees' station now is. Subsequently, he settled in the west part of the township, on the Chillicothe road, where he lived until his death, which occurred in the year 1844. Mr. Pursel was a volunteer in the war of 1812, and assisted in building the blockhouses at Upper Sandusky. He was an expert hunter, and, during the early years of his settlement, killed a great many deer, wild turkeys, and smaller game, which, as was the custom among the pioneers, he divided with his neighbors. Ten children were born to him. Mrs. Harriet Stimmel (d. 1894), now residing in this township, was the eldest, and was born in this township, in March, 1811. She became the wife of Yost Stimmel (now deceased), son of Michael Stimmel. Mrs. Stimmel has three children: Mrs. John R. (Louisa) Cook, in Columbus; John, in this township, and Smith Stimmel, an attorney-at-law in Cincinnati. She has buried four." Yost Stimmel and Harriet were married October 1, 1835 in Franklin County. William Pursel, born February 22, 1813 in Columbus was another son of Samuel and Nancy. He married Rebecca Stimmel January 5, 1843 in Franklin County and they had seven children; Morris, Nancy, Luke, Yost, Rachael, Edith and Ella. Rees' Station was located near Groveport and Big Walnut Creek.

As an interesting Columbus history aside, in 1810-1811, John O'Harra kept a tavern in Franklinton. A notice in the Franklinton Freeman's Chronicle newspaper of 1812-13 found online holds an appeal for all "bar tabs" to be paid as John is looking to retire.

Zephaniah B. Pursel was the son of Isaiah Zephaniah Pursel and Rachel McDonald. He was born about 1827, probably in Hamilton Township, Franklin County, Ohio. The family resided in that township in 1830. And if you are a Zephaniah researcher who stumbled on this page looking for your ancestor, be aware that there is another Zephaniah Pursel, born about 1833-1834, probably in Ohio, who also went to Iowa, but then traveled further west and died in 1909.

Definitely by 1850 and perhaps as early as 1845, the family headed by Isaiah moved to Iowa City, Iowa. The 1856 Iowa State Census shows "Zeph" and Louisa married and living in Pleasant Valley, Iowa with two children, "J." and "C.H." So, Zephaniah and Louisa were married sometime between 1850 and 1856, probably about 1853 and more than likely in Iowa. How did Louisa end up in Iowa with this other group of Pursels? I think that after Samuel died, Nancy and her remaining children at home moved to Iowa after 1850 to take advantage of the support of their extended family, and then "Zeph" and Louisa returned to Columbus.

By 1863, Zephaniah and Louisa were back in Franklin County. The Civil War Draft Registration of that year shows Zephaniah to be a "gate keeper" in Franklin Township, Franklin County.

The 1880 Census for Mifflin Township shows "Z.B. Pursell" a dairyman, his wife "Lizzy" age 50,  and two daughters, "S. Jos." age 25, and "M.F." age 17.

Columbus City Directories of 1889-1892 list Zephaniah as a, stock dealer, in one place, but having the farm variously described as being located "near St. Mary's Academy," "Shepard, Ohio," and "S. Johnstown Road" - Shepard was a small community located near the intersection of Nelson Road and East Fifth Avenue, and St. Mary's Academy is now Ohio Dominican College.

Zephaniah died in May 1892 and in the 1894 Columbus City Directory, Louisa is listed as a boarder at 389 Lexington Avenue, which happens to be the first Columbus residence of the Dornberg family, though later directories show that she was living at the old farm in 1898.

So, I'm still left with the question of how Louisa is related to her husband, Zephaniah.
Thomas Purcell, Sr.
1720-1779

Zephaniah's family line goes something like this:
Generation I
Thomas Purcell, Sr., 1720-1779, Revolutionary War soldier.
Generation II***
John Pursel, Sr., born in Loudoun County, Virginia in 1747, died in 1815 in Franklinton, Franklin County, Ohio.
 married before 1772 in Loudoun County, Virginia
Sarah Osburn, born about 1751 in Loudoun County, Virginia, daughter of John and Sarah (Morris), died in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
Generation III
Isaiah Zephaniah Pursel, born about 1791 in Pennsylvania, died May 21, 1867 in Johnson City, Iowa. Buried at Oaklawn Cemetery, Iowa City.
 married* Rachel McDonald, November 18, 1825 in Franklin County, Ohio. 
Rachel McDonald, born May 25, 1807 in Pennsylvania, died August 28, 1888 in Iowa.
Generation IV
Zephaniah B. Pursel, born about 1827, probably in Franklin County, Ohio, died 1892, Columbus, Ohio.
 married about 1853, probably in Iowa
Louisa Pursel, born July 22, 1828 in Franklin County, Ohio, died June 1, 1912, Columbus, Ohio.
Generation V
Mary Frances Pursel
 married
George Alfred Dornberg, Sr.

Louisa's line is a little harder to ascertain, but differs only in one generation from the above.
Generation III
Samuel Pursel, born 1785, Brownsville**, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, died March 14, 1843 in Franklin County, Ohio. Buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery, Franklin County.
 married August 26, 1810, Franklin County, Ohio
Nancy O' Harra, born July 15, 1890, Virginia.

Isaiah and Samuel were brothers, sons of John, making Louisa and Zephaniah first cousins.

*On a side note, Isaiah first married Abigial Vance, August 8, 1816. Abigail was probably the son of Joseph (and Cynthia) Vance. Joseph Vance died June 8, 1824, aged 49 years and was buried in the old Franklinton Cemetery.

**Alternately, W. Brownsfield, Washington County, Pennsylvania

***John and Sarah of Generation II above were the hardest to track down. Their children were Tamar Elizabeth, Enos, Abel, Mary, John Jr., Samuel, Moses, Isaiah and Morris.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Dr. Mark and Mr. Katz

Fanny Mark
Dr. Louis Mark, 1923
Dr. Louis Mark owned 1559 Granville Street between October 11, 1921 and July 28, 1923. Dr. Mark was from Duluth, Minnesota. His parents were Jews from Russia. He came to Columbus in 1921 with his wife Fanny (nee Karon) and daughter Charlotte. Louis and Fanny were married October 7, 1919 in Duluth. About 1925 they had twins, Lloyd and Louise.

Dr. Mark was a lung and chest specialist. He had a a practice in Columbus, and at the time of his death was the head of the chest department at the White Cross Hospital. 

Dr. Clyde Leeper started the Rocky Glen Sanatorium in 1911 for the treatment of tuberculosis. In 1919 Dr. Mark purchased the sanatorium, a small farmhouse and sixteen one-room cottages with an enrollment of two patients. From this meager beginning Louis Mark built Rocky Glen into the largest privately owned tuberculosis sanatorium in the country with an enrollment of 150 patients from all over Ohio and many other states.

Rocky Glen Sanatorium
During the late 1950's and early 1960's the number of patients declined due to the conquest of tuberculosis through drug therapy. To utilize the facilities and skilled employees of the sanatorium, RGS was converted to Mark Rest Center, a skilled nursing facility with 24 beds.

The center remained with the Mark family until 1987 when it was purchased by Genesis Healthcare System.

Mrs. Mark, born March 27, 1894, was born in Duluth. She was into amateur theater and died in Columbus July 14, 1962. Louis was a well known contract bridge expert, as well as being an amateur athlete, into football and golf. He died of cancer in Columbus on February 25, 1954.
  
Walter Katz, 1927
Walter Katz owned the house for just three months before Minnie Neustadt bought it, between July 28, 1923 and October 31, 1923. Walter Katz was a Russian Jew who came to the US in 1892 or 1903 (there are conflicting records). He was the son of Jacob B. Katz, born January 1, 1884. In 1910 he was single, a fruit truck driver, boarding with Alfred Lieberman at 619 E. Livingston Ave. He became a naturalized citizen in 1910. On June 25, 1918 he married Rose R. Topper of Toledo, Ohio. In 1920 he was divorced and living at the Southern Hotel, occupation iron and metals buyer.

In 1930 Katz is living with his second wife Fannie M. at 841 Heyl Avenue. He was working as a retail grocery salesman. He and Fannie had a son, Alvin. They lived at 1093 S. Ohio Avenue in the 1940s. Walter died February 21, 1973 in Columbus. Fannie died December 1, 1986.

Rocky Glen Sanatorium

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Neustadt Mishpocheh

Rabbi Neustadt

So, the Neustadt clan... to go forward we need to step back a bit. Rabbi Isaac Eli Neustadt also known as Isaac Elchanan Neustadt Negnevitsky (1871-July 23, 1913) was a Lithuanian-born Orthodox Rabbi. One source says Neustadt was born at Novardok in Navahrudak, Russia. He was an early leader in the Indianapolis Jewish community. He was married to Minnie A. Krasnopiorka (Krasnow) in about 1895 and they had nine children: Ben, Aaron, Celia, Alice (Leah), Clara, David, Shirley (Frieda), Hannah and Naomi.

Indianapolis Star
Rabbi Neustadt had been a worldwide traveler working in Jewish religious circles and raising funds for Russian Jews until settling in Indianapolis in 1901. He founded the Jewish Educational Association, now called the Bureau of Jewish Education, in Indianapolis in 1910. Neustadt began raising funds for the United Hebrew Schools in 1905 and classes were first held on November 12, 1911. Rabbi Neustadt envisioned a Hebrew School utilizing the latest techniques in Hebrew education and providing Hebrew education to all students in Indianapolis. In 1913, the United Hebrew Schools changed its name to recognize the death of its founder and became the Rabbi Neustadt United Hebrew School.

You're getting the picture now, right? Rabbi Neustadt was what we might call a "kinda big deal." His death from appendicitis in 1913 was front page news in the Indianapolis Star.

So, what happened after he died and how did his family end up in Woodland Park? Well, it looks like it was all about The Ohio Jewish Chronicle.

The American Printer of March 5, 1922 says, "The Ohio Jewish Chronicle is the name of a new newspaper started during February in Columbus to serve the Jewish people. The paper is published in the Hebrew language. Aaron Neustadt is editor-in-chief and Benjamin J. Neustadt business manager."

A 1997 interview with Ethel Neustadt (widow of Ben Neustadt) on the Columbus Jewish Historical Society website helps us out. Ethel was asked when the Chronicle was founded and she replied, "In 1922... Ben did a terrific job, worked very hard. His father died when Ben was 17. He was a rabbi with four congregations in Indianapolis and Ben was asked to come to Columbus. I don't know whether it was the Lazaruses, or the Schanfarbers, or Schonthals who were interested in him and in having a newspaper. His younger brother and sister Cele (Celia) worked on it, too. It was a Jewish paper. They talked him into coming here, and starting it. Shortly after starting it, Aaron came - his brother - did part of the marketing, and Cele came and married Herb Byer.

Cele Neustadt was the oldest girl, and ... she was married about a year before Ben and I were married. Ben was the oldest. As a matter of fact, his baby sister was born after her father died - that's Naomi Canowitz - she was married to Dr. Canowitz. She passed away last year - she was the baby of six girls and three boys. Ben was the oldest.

...Ben raised that family with his mother, he went to school, to college at Butler University, he just did so many things. That's why he was very, very close with his siblings. To them, he was their father, and that's the way it was until they all passed away."

Ethel commented that, "Ben with his sisters and brother made a very close-knit family." She also commented that Ben was "quite a violinist. In our early days, a lot of organizations, when they had affairs, I would play the piano and he would play the violin."

From reading this interview and some selected parts of old Chronicles, it looks like Ben came to Columbus first, Aaron soon after followed by Celia, and it was not until sometime in 1923 that Minnie and the others moved to Columbus. She purchased the Woodland Park house in October 1923. Ben's obituary in the Chronicle states that he was a graduate pharmacist and came to Columbus in 1921 "at the urging of Fred Lazarus, Jr., E.J. Schanfarber and Joseph Schoenthal, who felt that a Jewish newspaper was needed to unite the community behind a fundraising effort for European Jewry."
Minnie Neustadt

Minnie was born December 15, 1873 in Novogrodek, Minsk, Poland. She came to the United States in July 1903 when her husband was chosen to be the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Indianapolis. She moved to Columbus in 1923 to join her children here. She was pregnant with Naomi at the time of her husband's death in 1913. She died in Columbus on January 23, 1940 of pneumonia.
Ben Neustadt

Ben Zion Neustadt was born in Russia on February 23, 1896. He married Ethel Doris Atkin in New York City on March 15, 1941. They had three children: Richard, Charles and James. In the 1949 Columbus City Directory he is listed as editor of the Chronicle Printing Co., residing at 236 S. Ardmore Rd. in Bexley. Ben died in Columbus on February 6, 1985.
Aaron Neustadt

Aaron Manual Neustadt was born on April 1, 1898 in Russia. And yes, Manual seems to the the correct spelling of his middle name. He never married. In the 1939 Columbus City Directory he is listed at a salesman for Penn Mutual Life Insurance residing at 946 Bryden Rd. He is listed in the 1949 Columbus City Directory as a salesman for New York Life, residing at 775 Oak St. Aaron committed suicide in 1952 by jumping from the ninth floor of the Deshler-Wallick Hotel in downtown Columbus. The newspaper reports of his death say that he had been a patient of the
Columbus State Hospital.
The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
October 22, 1926

Celia "Cele" Neustadt Negnevitsky was born July 22, 1901 in Lithuania. She married Herbert Byer on October 21, 1926 in the Woodland Park house where a dinner for 35 was held! Celia and Herb had three children: Howard, Helen and Eve. Celia died in Columbus on September 19, 1991.

Alice Leah Neustadt was born April 23, 1904 in Lithuania. She married Hersh Rivitz on January 4, 1936 and they had two children. On December 12, 1952 she was living in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and she became a naturalized US citizen. Alice died October 8, 1990.

Clara B. Neustadt was born in May 2, 1906 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Clara never married. She was a world traveler, sailing to Italy in 1933, France in 1934 and England in 1953. She is listed as a teacher at Crestview School and residing at 946 Bryden Rd. in the 1939 Columbus City Directory. Clara died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 5, 1987.

David E. Neustadt was born October 4, 1907. He married Dorothy "Dottie" H. Rosin in Philadelphia on March 15, 1941 and had two children. They lived in Philadelphia and in Florida most of their lives. David died in Santa Monica, California, on September 6, 1999.

Frieda Neustadt Wise
Shirley Frieda "Fritzi" Neustadt was born October 21, 1909 (another source has her birthdate as October 3) in Indiana. She married Herbert S. Wise of Lima, Ohio, in Covington, Kentucky on October 18, 1930. In November 1930 they moved from their honeymoon home of the Seneca Hotel to an apartment at 1514 East Long Street. They had two children. She died in Columbus on October 6, 1993.

Hannah Neustadt was born on April 5, 1911. In the 1939 Columbus City Directory she is listed at society editor of the Ohio Jewish Chronicle and residing at 946 Bryden Rd. Aaron Canowitz, Hannah's brother-in-law recalled, " My sister-in-law Hannah, who was teaching, had passed the Ohio State Board but was not allowed to teach in Columbus schools until she had a couple of years practice, so she got a job in Hamilton, Ohio, and after that two years she came back to Columbus and got a job" at Fulton Street School. She is listed in the 1949 Columbus City Directory as a teacher, residing at 2605 Bryden Rd. She traveled to Bremerhaven, Germany each year from 1951-1953. She appears in a Fort Lauderdale City Directory in 1984. She died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on October 14, 1996.

Naomi Neustadt Canowitz
Naomi Neustadt was born October 13, 1913 in Indiana. She married Dr. Aaron S. Canowitz in 1936 and they had three children; David, Mimi and Nancy. Naomi died May 18, 1990 in Columbus.
946 Bryden Road

Minnie purchased the house at 946 Bryden Road on November 20, 1931. It went from her to Leah in February 1934 and then to Ben and Ethel in January 1937. They sold the Bryden Road house in November 1941.
Mansfield News Journal
August 5, 1952


The Zanesville Signal
August 4, 1952

Zanesville Times Recorder
August 5, 1952
The Deshler-Wallick circa 1950s
The Gray Drug marquee is visible on the corner.