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The Story of Leo Abt…

17 Sunday Oct 2021

Posted by McKinley Presidential Library & Stark County Archives in Guest Blogger

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Advertisement, Advertising, Archives, archivist, business, businessman, Canton, Canton Hebrew Congregation, Canton Repository, Evening Repository, Gretchen Putnam, historian, Historic, Historical, History, Intern, Leo Abt, Leo Abt & Sons, Leo Abt Company, LocalHistory, Millinery, New York Bazaar, Newspaper, ohio, Photographs, photography, Rediscovered, Research, seekthethreads, Stark, Stark County, Store, volunteers

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Thanks to a recent donation of photographs, the stories of prominent Canton businessman Leo Abt and his store have been rediscovered. Included in the donation were photographs of Abt’s store, the clerks, portraits of the family, and more pictures whose backstories remain a mystery. The captions on the back of the photos were minimal, often providing only basic information. More research had to be done to uncover their stories. An article found by volunteer Sue Henry gave a valuable start to uncovering Abt’s story. This Canton Repository article, written by Gretchen Putnam in 1937, included a photograph of Abt’s clerks, matching a photo that came to the library in the donation. In her article, a part of the series Canton’s Family Album in the Canton Repository, Putnam identifies the clerks and gives an overview of Abt’s millinery. Using the clerk’s names and this new information, I began researching. Throughout my investigation, I discovered Abt’s personal life story, his professional accomplishments, and overall developed a picture of life in Canton in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The group of Abt’s young trimmers, as identified in the Canton’s Family Album article.

Leo Abt was born on December 31, 1850 in Melzungen, Hesse Castle, Germany as the youngest of twelve children. At the age of sixteen, Abt immigrated to the United States. Abt later married fellow German immigrant Flora Ury in New York City on November 8, 1873. On November 22, 1875, the couple had their first son, Arthur Loeser Abt, in the town of Aurora, Indiana on the western border of Ohio. Later, the family moved to Circleville, Ohio, a city just south of Columbus. Here, Leo and Flora had two more sons. Edwin I. was born on March 19, 1878. Two years later on July 9, 1880, Oscar Moses Abt was born. The Abt family arrived in the city of Canton on April 1, 1888.

Leo and Flora had three sons, Arthur, Edwin, and Oscar. Pictured here is Edwin Abt.

In his personal life, Abt was a deeply religious man who fostered Canton’s Jewish community from the ground up. In 1915, Abt, with committee of other devoted Jews, began working passionately to create a synagogue for their religious community. Today, this structure is the Canton Pentecostal Temple, located at 950 McKinley Ave Northwest. After Abt’s passing, he was described by Charles I. Cooper as the “father of Jewish communal life in Canton.” Further, he was the beloved president of the Canton Hebrew Congregation at the time of his death. The congregation recalled Abt’s memory as being the “most efficient and faithful member and worker” who “was especially fitted in every way for the position of president.” His congregation also described him as being a “friend to all, and really a father to many.” It is clear that Abt was greatly respected and treasured by his community in faith.

Mr. Leo Abt, “The Father of Jewish Communal Life in Canton.”

In addition to being a leading figure of the Jewish community, Abt was a prominent Canton businessman. For over thirty years from the time of his arrival in Canton until his passing, Abt was an industrious and hardworking merchant. In early May of 1888, Leo Abt’s New York Bazaar was announced to be opened in the Evening Repository, as the Canton Repository was known then. At the time of its opening, the bazaar was advertised as being located at 21 South Market Street. Today, this would be the lot at the corner of Market Avenue South and 2nd Street Southwest. Days after the opening was announced, on May 14and 16, the bazaar’s grand opening was declared a “great success” in the Evening Repository. The advertisement describes “throngs” of customers in attendance, and apologizes for not being able to help every patron due to the mass of shoppers. The millinery department was particularly popular. In 1937 in the Canton Repository, historian Gretchen Putnam described the busy workroom filled with young female employees, referred to as “trimmers.” These girls included Katie Mintzenburger, who was the head trimmer, Inez E. Allensworth, who later owned and operated her own millinery, sisters Olivia Fierstos and Rosia Victoria Halter, and many more.

The Leo Abt & Sons storefront. Son Edwin is seen standing on the far left. It is possible that the young boy in the center is Edwin’s younger brother, Oscar.

Abt continued his business under several different names over the years, including Leo Abt & Sons, and the Leo Abt Company at the time of his passing. In several newspaper advertisements and the photographs of his storefront, the cursive logo from the Abt & Sons era can be seen. Abt’s resiliency as a businessman is demonstrated through his handling of various challenges. For example, in October of 1915, Leo Abt & Sons was declared bankrupt by the United States Bankruptcy Court and was immediately sold. Not even six months later, Abt announced the opening of his new store, the Leo Abt Company in March of 1916.

The interior of Leo Abt’s millinery.

During my research, I found various newspaper articles that gave insight to what life was truly like for Abt and his employees, both the good times and bad. In June of 1897, Abt’s employees gathered for a pleasant evening of entertainment at the home of W. S. McClelland, just north of Canton. The Evening Repository gives a vivid image of the night: “The spacious lawn was elaborately decorated with Chinese lanterns, and admitted of many outdoor games and pastimes.” The contemporary article mentions the delicious dinner the guests enjoyed, and how the party continued until a late hour.

Captioned, “Abt’s Clerks,” this image shows the women enjoying each other’s company outside of work.

The newspaper also provides an image of hard times the employees endured. On November 20, 1899, the Repository reported the death of young trimmer Rosia Victoria Halter. This employee was only twenty-five years old when she developed appendicitis. She later passed due to the operation for her illness. The article describes Rosia as being popular with the other girls she worked with. She worked at Abt’s with her younger sister, Olivia, nicknamed Ollie, Fierstos.

Finally, the Evening Repository illustrates how the Abt family celebrated special occasions. On March 26, 1895, the Abt home hosted the wedding of Leo’s sister-in-law Clara Ury and Reverend David Klein. This article describes the beautiful event as “one of the most delightful weddings of the season.” The Abt family’s faith is also shown in the “impressive rituals of the Hebrew ceremony.” These photos and articles offer a brief peek at daily life for Abt and those close to him. They hold the hints left by those who came before us. Following the clues in these documents, you can uncover the most forgotten details to piece back together lost stories.

Tales From The Negatives: Canton Actual Business College…

24 Monday Aug 2020

Posted by McKinley Presidential Library & Stark County Archives in Everyday Archivist

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#Team, calendars, Canton Actual Business College, Canton City Treasurer, classes, classroom, dream, enhancing, Google Maps, high resolution, Market Avenue, New Vicary Building, November, photograph, Photographs, Photoshop, principal, scanning, Sears Building, secretary, Tales from the Negatives, treasures, vice president

While my wife and I were cleaning out our attic we came across a box that could have been easily tossed in the trash.  The treasures that were hidden in the seemingly worthless paperwork that most of us keep proved to be a gem from 1922.  In the box we found photographs of my grandmother and grandfather from the 1920’s.  My grandmother, Myria Madeline (Studer) Rice, attended the Canton Actual Business College in 1922. She subsequently went on to work as a stenographer at several well known businesses  in Canton before she married Raymond Clayton Rice and worked for the business, Rice’s Drugs, he started in 1927. 

Scanning this photograph at a high resolution, and enhancing it in Photoshop helped me to reveal the date. There are at least two calendars in the classroom of the Canton Actual Business College. One of them did not have the year, but thanks to Miss Pearl Warburton pinning up a calendar at her desk, she “told” me it was November of 1922. Going to the 1922 Canton City Directory, I found the Canton Actual Business College was located in the New Vicary Building that would become known to most as the Sears building at 424 North Market Avenue Canton, Ohio. J.J. Krider was the president of this business college, while S.E. Hedges was the vice president, and J.E. Bowman secretary, and principal.

It has always been a dream of mine to see the inside of the “Sears” building on North Market Avenue because my Dad worked there in the 1950’s dressing the displays in the windows on Market Avenue. After contacting several people I found out Canton City Treasurer, Kim Perez and his team are located where I think the Canton Actual Business College was located. Counting the windows in the photograph and using Google Maps I surmised the college was on the fourth floor in the back of the Sears Building. My Grandma Rice is sitting at her desk along with ten other students attending the college.

Thank you to Canton City Treasurer, Kim Perez and his team for their time in allowing me to visit this special place in Canton, and the chance to photograph a part of the space where the business college once conducted classes. 

Mark G. Holland

Archivist

McKinley Presidential Library & Museum

Meet Rebecca Davis…

07 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by McKinley Presidential Library & Stark County Archives in Blogger

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archivist, Bexley Ohio, Canton, Capital University, Digitization, findyourquest, findyourwhy, Glenoak High School, high school, History, Ida McKinley, Intern, major, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, morethanamonument, ohio, Photographs, Plain Local, Project, seekthethreads, St. Peter’s Catholic school, Stark County, volunteers, welcome, William McKinley

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Rebecca Davis - Copy

We invite our followers to get to know Rebecca Davis, one of our summer interns at the McKinley Presidential Library!

Rebecca was born here in Stark County and has lived here her whole life. Originally from downtown Canton, she now resides in Plain Township with her family.

She attended St. Peter’s Catholic School for elementary and then transferred to Oakwood Middle School for junior high. After graduating Glenoak High School in 2017, she enrolled at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio as a history major. When she is not at college, she is working at Donatos in North Canton and now volunteering at our museum.

Since she has lived here her whole life, she has always known about the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, but only attended as a visitor. Last summer, Rebecca and her mother came to our library to have some photos of old Stark County digitized. While they were here, they met our archivist, Mark Holland. Mark invited Rebecca to become a volunteer and after thinking about it, she decided to spend her summer with us as an intern, helping our team with various projects.

Currently, she is working on digitizing photographs of William McKinley and cataloging them with our software. She is a great addition to our team and we hope that she joins us again next summer. She has been here for only a couple of weeks, but she really has enjoyed her time so far  and she encourages more people to become volunteers because learning is a lifelong process. One of her favorite parts of volunteering here is that she gets to see photographs of what life used to be like and compare that information with what it is like to today.

We want to thank Rebecca for letting us interview her and allowing us to share her story on our social media. Our team at the McKinley Presidential Library loves being able to share stories of our volunteers with people outside of the museum and we want you to be a part of that!

If you would like information on how to become a volunteer, be sure to private message our page or call the museum at: (330) 455-7043

Inspection…

09 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by McKinley Presidential Library & Stark County Archives in Everyday Archivist

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1899, aerial view, Air Force, battle of Plattsburgh, buildings, Clinton County Historical Association and Museum, Google Maps, government land, historian, MAPS, McKinley Presidential collection, New York, Photographs, Plattsburgh, President McKinley, Vice-President Hobart

2015.0.377

President McKinley & Vice President Hobart Inspecting the Troops 1899

While going through the photographs we have in the McKinley Presidential collection I found three that were taken in Plattsburgh, New York.  I looked at the first two photographs and determined they could have been taken almost anywhere.  The third one, above, featured full views of two buildings that President McKinley and his party passed.

Going to Google Maps, I searched for the city of Plattsburgh, NY.  The program offers an aerial view in the maps portion, and a satellite view in Google Earth. The program also offers a street view where possible.  I went to the street view and it took me to this location, or a location with buildings very similar to the buildings in the above photograph.

Next, I found and called Clinton County Historical Association and Museum where I spoke to Julie, their historian.  She told me the area where President McKinley and Vice-President Hobart were in this 1899 photograph was government land from 1814 to 1994.  The government purchased this land after the battle of Plattsburg in 1814, and the Air Force last occupied this land in 1994.  The land and the buildings that occupy it now belong to the city, and are privately owned.

More Later…

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