1571 Hawthorne Park - Brown House

Woodland Park, Columbus, Ohio

1571 Hawthorne Park, March 2010

Lot 21-22 Amended Plot of Woodlands (Lot 31 of Calender & Rockwell's Addition)

This house was built between 1908 and 1911 for John Beals Brown. It was probably designed by architect Otto C. Darst.

John Beals Brown was born January 8, 1864 in Columbus, son of John W. and Sarah Louise Wing Brown. He married Osie Emma Armstrong on April 13, 1887 in Franklin County. Osie was born August 21, 1866 in Troy, Ohio, daughter of Elliott B. and Mary Emma Parker Armstrong. They had a son John Weller Brown, II, born June 10, 1892

The October 7, 1916 issue of American Contractor reports that architect Otto C. Darst's plans for a garage at 1571 Hawthorne Park will be ready for bids on October 10. John B. Brown, owner, Secretary and Treasurer of the John W. Brown Manufacturing Company.

The John W. Brown Manufacturing Company was located on the northwest corner of Town and Center Streets. They made headlights for carriages and then early cars and motorcycles. One of their tradenames was Stabilite. Their headlights were on Auburn, Studebaker, Hudson and Ford automobiles among others. They manufactured Motolamps for Indian Motorcycles. In 1930 the company merged with two others and became the Corcoran-Brown Lamp Company and was based in Cincinnati. That firm later became part of Autolite.

The Horseless Age, September 17, 1913 reports, "New Plant for Brown Mfg. Co. - The
John W. Brown Mfg. Co., of Columbus, O., one of the largest makers of automobile lamps in the country, is making rapid progress on the construction of a large new plant, located on Marion road. The plans of the officials are to have the plant ready for occupancy by the first of the year, if
not sooner. The concern has a large contract to supply the Ford Motor Car Co. with lamps." This building was located at 753 Marion Road. They also had a manufacturing facility at 666 Marion Road in 1919.

Hughes House, 51 West Second Avenue, circa 1897

In 1930 the Browns lived at 56 South Columbia Avenue in Bexley, a house designed by architect Darst and built by R.H. Evans Company for John Weller Brown in 1916 at an estimated cost of $30,000. This home later became the Columbus School for Girls.

Brown has a mausoleum with a beautiful stained glass window at Greenlawn Cemetery. There are six of the family interred in the mausoleum, including Brown who died August 10, 1931 in Tuscarora Township, Michigan and his wife, Osee who died in Bexley on November 4, 1940.

The Browns sold the house to Frank L. Hughes on January 11, 1917.

Frank L. Hughes was born September 7, 1857 in Ohio, son of Welsh parents, John R. and B. Elizabeth Evans Hughes. He married Harriet M. Ritson in Franklin County on October 19, 1887. Harriet was born August 1863 in Ohio. They had two daughters: Mary R. (October 1, 1888) and Margaret (August 26, 1896).

Margaret Hughes, circa 1923

Mary R. Hughes, circa 1920

Hughes was Vice President of the Buckeye Buggy Company and president of J.R. Hughes Trunk Co. Frank's father, John R. Hughes came to Columbus in 1848 and began making trunks. He founded the J. R. Hughes Company in 1850 and organized the Buckeye Buggy Company in 1881.

The Buckeye Buggy Company operated from 1881 to 1910 with a factory at 482 North High Street, built on the site of the first professional baseball game to be played in Columbus in 1876. The factory was demolished April 23, 1910. The company slogan was "Get a Buckeye and Be Satisfied."

Buckeye Buggy Company billhead from 1896

Lima (Ohio) News, June 14, 1926

Capitol Trust Building, 8 East Broad Street, center, circa 1909

Hughes died June 14, 1926 when he committed suicide by jumping from the 13th floor of the Capitol Trust Building, 8 East Broad Street and falling to the roof of 6 East Broad Street. He is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery.

The property passed to Harriet and his two daughters after his death and finally to Margaret (Merkle) on November 6, 1936. She sold it on November 23 to Margaret I. Hatton.

Frederic G. Hatton,
 circa 1918

Frederic George Hatton was born March 13, 1883 in Delta, Ohio, son of Frank and Jennie Boone Hatton. He married Margaret Iola Coulson in Franklin County at St. Paul's P.E. Church on October 24, 1906. Margaret was born October 9, 1882 in Bellaire, Ohio, daughter of John W. and Margaret A. Henry Coulson. They had two sons: Frederic H. (1908) and William C. (May 14, 1912, Roanoke, Virginia).

Hatton was Secretary of the Middle States Coal Company in 1905. He was President of Hatton, Brown and Company and the Blue Ridge Coal Company. His partner, William M. Brown lived in Roanoke, Virginia. Both men had worked at the Sunday Creek Coal Company and the Clinchfield Coal Company. In 1942 he was President of the Hatton Coal Company.

The Hattons sold the house to Ambrose C. Lomer on July 18, 1951.

Ambrose Condins Lomer was born in Fryburg, Pennsylvania on November 9, 1887. He married Etta. Etta was born July 18, 1883.

Lomer came to Columbus via Erie, Pennsylvania and Akron, Ohio.

Ohio Auto Sales, 772 North High Street, circa 1915. The building 
on the corner of High and Warren Streets, looks much the same today.

In 1924 Lomer owned Lomer's Auto Laundry at 31-35 North Wall Street.  By 1934 it was Lomer's Auto Park at 35 North Wall Street. He was also President and Manager of Lomer Auto Sales at 772 North High Street. The 1940 Census lists Lomer as a parking lot operator, living at 1209 W. Third Ave. In the early 50s, Lomer and his wife, Etta, lived at 1688 East Broad Street, Apartment 1.

Lomer died in December 1957 and Etta died May 26, 1981.

Lomer sold the house to Frank R. and Mabel R. Arnold on February 23, 1952.

Rev. Frank Russell Arnold was born June 18, 1884 in Ironton, Ohio, son of Calvin R. and Mary Bickley Arnold. He married Twila Mae Martin in Cuyahoga County on August 28, 1919. Twila was born October 6, 1898 in Springfield, Ohio, daughter of Samuel H. and May Pattiese Martin.

Frank lived in Martins Ferry, Ohio and was an Army Chaplain in WWI.

Frank and Twila divorced in Columbus on December 4, 1920. Twila married Henry C. Sherman in Clark County on February 13, 1924. Frank married Mabel Sarah Rone in Cuyahoga County on April 25, 1921. Mabel was born in 1893 in West Virginia, daughter of Edward and Mary Poindexter Rone.

In 1940 the Arnolds lived in Cincinnati.

Arnold was pastor of Asbury Methodist Church 1949-1961. With a growing congregation, Arnold was responsible for Asbury's purchase of the Nelson Memorial Presbyterian Church at 1586 Clifton Avenue in November 1953. Frank was Minister of the McKinley United Methodist Church in Dayton, Ohio from 1961-1966.

The Arnolds sold the house to James D. and Pauline Parks on September 5, 1963. The Parks lived at 1512 Eastwood Avenue in Columbus.

James Darry Parks, Jr. was was born January 17, 1923 in Atlanta, Georgia, son of James Darry and Lulu Sims Parks.

The 1940 Census shows James living with his parents at 195 Garfield Avenue. His brother Arthur was born in Ohio in about 1927, so the Parks probably moved to Columbus from Georgia between 1925 and 1926.

James married twice and both his wives were named Pauline. He married Pauline Davis in Clark County on December 23, 1943. They married on Pauline's 16th birthday. Pauline was born December 23, 1926 in Springfield, Ohio, daughter of Alex and Fannie Maxwell Davis. Parks was in the U.S. Marines at the time.

On June 20, 1948, James married Pauline N. Dotson in Franklin County. Pauline was born May 5, 1929 in Gallipolis, Ohio, daughter of Dixie and Geraldine Borden Dotson. At the time of their marriage, James was a city fireman and living at 451 South Monroe Avenue. Pauline lived at 185 North 20th Street, her parents' home that Pauline owned until her death.

Pauline Dotson Parks

James and Pauline were divorced in Columbus on August 25, 1987.

James died in Columbus on May 25, 1996. Pauline died in September 2012.

Carolyn Napier posted her condolences in the Columbus Dispatch online guest book with Pauline's obituary along with this comment, "I remember fondly her teaching me how to sew. I remember her in the kitchen cooking and all the fun Paula and I had in the house with all the secret hiding places."

Moses D. Mosley bought the house on April 17, 1996.