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.