1622 Richmond Avenue - Huntington House

Woodland Park, Columbus, Ohio 

1622 Richmond Avenue

Lot 4 and 5 of A.R. Creamer's Subdivision

Richmond Realty Company sold the lot to Augusta M. Huntington on November 14, 1919

Hugh Huntington was born April 14, 1885 in South Charleston, Ohio, son of Hugh and Hannah D. (Pierce) Huntington. He married  Augusta India Menfee on January 17, 1916 in Franklin County. Augusta was born June 28, 1887 in Boswell, Indiana, daughter of Marion and Anna M. Van Deripe Menfee. They had four children: Jane (Cook)(1917), Katherine (Stephenson)(1919), Hugh, Jr. "Mike" (May 11, 1921) and William M. "Bill" (1923).

Augusta Menfee Huntington
circa 1911

Augusta attended the Ohio State University. In 1910 she lived with her family at 274 South Ohio Avenue. Hugh was a WWI veteran. Apparently after their marriage they stayed at 274 South Ohio Avenue. In 1920 Hugh was a general practice lawyer. The family had a cook, Anna McDowell, a 42-year-old divorced mulatto woman. In 1930 they owned and lived at 2491 Fair Avenue in Bexley, valued at $30,000.

Hugh was an attorney and long time local Republican leader. Hugh led a campaign committee for the adoption of the Columbus City Charter which was adopted in 1914. He was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. Hugh collected unique and memorable wills, a collection started after a 1932 speech at the Kit Kat Club of Columbus. He chose the topic was a whim, but after giving the speech, unusual wills became a hobby. There is an article in the August 13, 1950 Milwaukee Sentinel that talks about Hugh's collection.

The Sunday Morning Star, Wilmington, Delaware, July 15,1946

Hugh Huntington, Jr.

Their son, Hugh, Jr., known as "Mike", died in 2006 in Pacific Palisades, California. He "became interested in airplanes during the 1920s and '30s, having seen Charles Lindbergh in a parade, and later meeting Orville Wright, of the Wright Brothers. Mike learned to fly an airplane at age 16, making him the youngest pilot at that time in Columbus. He also was a record-setting football player, known as the "Blond Express" at Bexley High School."

Hugh died in Bexley on October 18, 1963. An article in the November 1, 1963 Columbus Dispatch (p. 10A) reports that his will included a message concerning his political activities. Augusta died in Columbus on August 9, 1973.

On April 17, 1922, Helene R. Cashatt purchased the property from the Huntingtons.

Helene Rath Cashatt was born in June 7, 1894 in Columbus, daughter of John and Clara P. (Rath) Cashatt. She married Charles Wesley Drais, Jr. on April 22,1922 in Franklin County. Charles was born in Columbus on September 17, 1892, son of Charles Wesley and Birdie (Doughty) Drais.

57 Winner Avenue

John Cashatt was a cigar dealer and in 1900 the family lived at 57 Winner Avenue. John was also a director of the Central Ohio Savings Bank and Trust Company. John died in Columbus on April 10, 1917. The cigar store building was demolished about April 2005 according to a Columbus Dispatch article of January 21, 2005 (p. C1).

Helene was listed in the 1920 Census in both Los Angeles, California and Columbus. In Los Angeles, she and her widowed mother shared an apartment. In Columbus they rented part of 79 Latta Avenue. Helene's address on her 1922 marriage license application was the Lincoln Hotel, Columbus.

Charles W. Drais, Jr. was a WWI veteran. He was a real estate broker in 1922 and lived with his parents at 96 North Miami Avenue.

Helene was a Daughter of the American Revolution, a descendant of John McAllister.

About 1929 they lived at 839 Mansfield Avenue in Los Angeles, a home they owned that was valued at $35,000. Charles was still working as a real estate broker. They had a 22-year-old Philippino servant, Pedro Olgaray.

Helene died in Los Angeles on February 21, 1957. Charles died in Riverside, California on February 22, 1984.

On October 7, 1925, Edward and Helen T. Johnson purchased the house.

Edward Johnson, circa 1909
from Club Men of Columbus in Caricature

Edward Johnson was born August 26, 1855 near Birmingham, England, son of Thomas and Ann (Slater) Johnson. His family came to the US about 1863, the family settling near Niles, Ohio. Edward married Helen T. Musser about 1883. Helen was born November 2, 1857 in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, daughter of Alexander and Sarah (Murdoch) Musser. Their children were Goldie (August 1884)(Wildermuth), Charles C. (September 1886), Stanley B. (November 1892), Frances E. (June 1895), and Edward S. (April 1900).

Edward Johnson and his brother Thomas (1853-1941) came to Ohio in 1862 and formed the New Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1886. The brothers owned 35,000 acres of coal mines. In 1900 Johnson and others organized the Lorain Coal and Dock Company with controlling interests in coal mines and steamship lines. He was a director of Citizens Savings Bank and Ohio Trust Co. and the Columbus Merchandise Company. The Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Volume I, has a full biography of Johnson and a photograph.

The James C. Campbell House, 1203 East Broad Street
originally built in 1909 for Edward Johnson

Edward Johnson house, 1349 East Broad Street, circa 1919
Architect, Frank Packard

In 1900, maintained two homes, and both are listed in the Census for that year. One a farm in Franklin Township and a residence at 1240 Bryden Road. In 1910 the family lived at 1203 Broad Street, and employed three servants: a cook, Jennie Stevens, a maid, Martha Morgan and a coachman, George Ruffner.

In 1920 the family was living in their new home at 1349 East Broad Street.

In 1930 the Johnsons lived at and owned 1349 East Broad Street, valued at $50,000. They had a servant living at the rear of the property, Muriel Walker, a 29-year-old from Ohio.

Helen M. Johnson died at home on Broad Street on August 19, 1932. Edward died September 18, 1936 at 1349 of pneumonia. They are both buried at Greenlawn Cemetery.

On January 17, 1927, Edward transferred the house at 1622 Richmond Avenue to his son, Charles C. Johnson

Charles Cooke Johnson was born in September 1886 in Nelsonville, Ohio, son of Edward and Helen Johnson. Charles married Margaret Fuller Jones on February 1, 1910 in Franklin County. Margaret was born June 25, 1887 in Columbus, daughter of George D. Jones. They had two children: Edward D. (1912) and Sarah Ann (1913).

In 1910 the newlyweds lived on a farm on Galloway Road in Prairie Township. In 1920, the family was renting 816 Oak Street, with a black servant, Mary F. Chapman, age 29, and her husband, Noble Chapman, a 29-year-old steel car company laborer. Charles was then Assistant General Manager of the Lorain Coal and Dock Company.

In 1930 the family lived 1260 East Broad Street which they rented for $125/month. That house was the grand former home of the Taylors who later lived at 1589 Granville Street.

Richard H. and Mary A. Shafer purchased the house on October 14, 1929. The 1930 Census says they owned the house, valued at $15,000.

Richard Hawlin Shafer was born in Findlay, Ohio November 9, 1894, son of Morgan C. and Florence (Hamlin) Shafer. He married Mary Ann Hodson in Franklin County on December 22, 1919. Mary was born in Okeana, Ohio on October 19, 1896, daughter of Clement V. and Eveline (Clark) Hodson.

At the time of their marriage, Richard was a resident of Findlay and they returned there after and lived with Richard's widowed mother. Richard was a road builder and highway contractor. In 1917 he had his own company, Richard H. Shafer Co., and was working on building the Lincoln Highway in Ohio. The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States. It originally ran from Times Square in New York City to San Francisco. In Ohio it more-or-less parallels the current US 30. By 1953, Richard was president of the Ohio Road Improvement, Co., and wanted to require the Ohio Turnpike Commission to take bids for asphalt construction. They originally only allowed bids for cement. Richard lost the ultimate Ohio Supreme Court case that decided that the road could bid and built using cement, without getting bids for asphalt.

In 1962, Richard and Mary Ann lived at 6720 Lee Road in Westerville. Mary Ann died in January 1964. A headline in the December 27, 1974, Columbus Dispatch says, "A will covering the estate of Richard H. Shafer, inventoried at $7.7 million, could result in establishing a 100-acre bird and animal refuge near Westerville."

On December 11, 1956 the Shafers sold the house to Charles E. and Lena Johnson.