As part of my internship at the Ramsayer Research Library here at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, I was tasked with creating an exhibit for the display case in the library. The assignment was, “Share a story that needs to be told.” At first, researching possible ideas was overwhelming because there were simply too many stories to tell. After much thought and consideration about what kind of story should be told, the topic presented itself. The women who shaped Canton, Ohio have been largely forgotten in history and their stories need to be shared. Library volunteer Judy Cloud Pocock gave some guidance for this project. She suggested that Elizabeth Aultman Harter be included in the display case exhibit. Once Elizabeth’s life story started to be uncovered, it was clear that she was the woman who the exhibit should focus on.
Elizabeth Aultman Harter was an incredibly accomplished woman— and not just in her time. Her legacy still impresses to this day. Daughter of Canton, Ohio’s first millionaire entrepreneur Cornelius Aultman, Elizabeth left a lasting mark on Stark County. She and her stepmother Katherine Barron Reybold Aultman founded Aultman Hospital here in Canton, Ohio. Elizabeth served on the board of directors at the Aultman Taylor Company in Mansfield, Ohio. She also presided as one of the first presidents of Canton’s YWCA. Another thing that made Mrs. Harter so outstanding is that she, like her father Cornelius Aultman, was one of Canton’s greatest ‘silent’ benefactors, putting many young men through college who otherwise would not have had the opportunity. While she exceled in her professional career, she was also a strong woman in her personal life. When she was just eighteen, Elizabeth lost her birth mother Eliza Wise Aultman after a long-term illness. In her adult life, Mrs. Harter lost her first daughter Eliza when she was just six months old. Later, Elizabeth lost her only son Cornelius A. Harter when he was four. The passing of her husband George DeWalt Harter made Elizabeth a widow and single mother to four daughters by the age of forty-three. However, despite her successes and the hardships she overcame, her memory has faded from history. To bring her back to life, Ramsayer Research Library intern Alyia Marasco has uncovered her legacy to share her story. “Elizabeth Harter’s Lasting Legacy” will be displayed in the Ramsayer Research Library display case. The Library is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm for anyone who would like to view this new exhibit.
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.
Thank you to Gary Brown for his very interesting Monday After article: Remembering 1976 and the Bicentennial in Stark County! The article that appears in today’s Repository features longtime volunteer at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, Tom Haas when he was the Director of the Canton American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. He went on to take the position of Education Director at the Stark County History Center before later going on to a longtime career at WHBC Studios. Tom is in his 7th year of being a volunteer researcher in the Ramsayer Research Library. Thank you Tom for your hard work and dedication to our community.
Stark County Story Told in 24 Objects…
The Library will feature 24 objects throughout 2020 to tell the Story of Stark County. These objects are chosen by our museum staff. Enjoy!
E. Howard Clock movement #2
George Deal’s serendipitous path-crossing with James Gilmore at the Hartville Market in June, 1983 was significant. Gilmore told Deal – President of the Stark County Historical Center from 1983 to 2000 – that he had been holding on to the Dueber-Hampden Watch Company’s tower clock mechanism that most people believed had been lost if not destroyed after the demolition of the factory around 1963. After a deal was negotiated, Gilmore donated the mechanism to the McKinley Museum. Deal saw to it that the clock works was refurbished and some pieces restored thanks to assistance from both the Timken Company and Ohio Valley Chapter #10 of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. When the mechanism was put into working condition, it was displayed on the second floor in the east wing of the Museum. The E. Howard Clock movement #2 reflects the rise, consolidation, and fall of industrialization in Canton and the country itself.
The Gilded Age of U.S. history (1850-1916) reflected the extent that a young U.S., after the brutal political, economic, and social chaos of the Civil War, flexed its economic potential. The Gross National Product (GNP)I increased 300% and the U.S. became a world leader in industrial output measurements despite episodic depressions. Stark County and Canton shared in this expansion. If the country had its Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Vanderbilt; the community had Aultman, Belden, Timken and Hoover. The country’s population, in part due to an influx of much needed immigrant labor, rose from just over 23 million in 1850 to over 106 million in 1920. Canton’s population, driven by similar national employment opportunities and needs, increased from less than 3,000 in 1850 to over 50,000 in 1920 with 14,000 of those new citizens in a span of only ten years from 1880-1890. The county’s population in the same time span grew from less than 40,000 to over 177,000 with significant increases in and near Alliance, Perry Township and the Massillon areas. The U.S. Census Department reported that the nation’s center of manufacturing products would be located only eight mile south and seven miles west of Canton in Sugarcreek, Ohio. In 1910, Stark County was rated seventeenth in the nation in the value amount of key steel manufacturers. As the economic growth in the U.S. took off, so did the local economy.
The Dueber-Hampden Watch Co. is just one of those local industries that reflected this general national industrial expansion. With its total workforce of 2,300 in 1888 and a factory that covered 1,140 feet of frontage, Dueber-Hampden’s output and quality made Canton a vital center for watch manufacturing in the U.S. Relying on the local population growth centered primarily on immigrants from Greece, Austria and Switzerland, Dueber-Hampden increased productivity to meet a significant demand in timepieces. This demand in watches was spurred by a nation more preoccupied with time. The need to know what time it was spurred in part by factory time clocks and train time schedules that became a more integral part of the American daily routine.
It was John Dueber’s decision in 1888 to move his factory to Canton from Cincinnati and combine his company’s manufacturing of a watch’s inner mechanisms to the watch cases manufactured by the Hampden Company. His decision was based on opposition to a trust that had formed to control the production of watch cases. This, of course, was not an isolated development in the Gilded Age. Like the Watch Case Trust, other businesses such as steel-making under Carnegie and oil-production with Rockefeller created trust to dominate and hinder competition. Dueber believed that the Watch Case Trust would limit his production of high-quality time pieces and lose its competitive edge over less quality pieces. His simple solution? Combine the two operations. He moved to Canton when the Cincinnati authorities denied him permits to expand. Canton came calling and Dueber found his new home in Canton. (Dueber’s wife, Mary, was less than thrilled with what she saw as the backward society of Canton and promised never to leave her Canton residence. A promise she largely kept.) Dueber would formally unite the two operations in 1923 into the Dueber-Hampden Watch Company. Unfortunately, for Dueber and his workers wrist watches with Swiss time-pieces became more functional and popular. With demand dropping, Dueber-Hampden declared bankruptcy in 1927 at the cusp of the Great Depression. The machinery was sold to the Soviet Union reflecting the gradual, cautionary rapprochement between the U.S. and Communist-regime.
Canton’s industrial expansion, population growth, dependence on cheap immigrant labor, trust-building, and shifts in social tastes and needs all reflected national trends. It reflects a twist on an old adage that if the country at large sneezes, Canton catches a cold. The reverberations of historic national tendencies are all around us in our community. The memory of some of these trends are reflected in many of the objects that are located within the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum. Within the Museum are artifacts that help us connect our local history to national and even international events. And its happenstances like Deal’s run-in with Gilmore that helps keep history both alive and intact in the Museum much like E. Howard clock works #2 that graced the tower of the Dueber-Hampden Watch Company for over 60 years.
Then & Now in Canton, Ohio on a snowing morning. Then West Tuscarawas Street and Shorb Avenue (Present Day Fulton Road) Where William McKinley Sr. and Nancy Allison McKinley and many others in the family lived. Now McKinley Downtown Campus.
Then & Now in Canton, Ohio. Then The McKinley National Memorial weeks before it is dedicated. Now The McKinley National Memorial maintained for 113 years.
Then & Now time in Canton, Ohio. The McKinley Block stood on the south east corner of South Market Avenue and 7th Street. Now Huntington Plaza sits at present day South Market and 2nd Street.
Where did you attend school (elementary, junior high, high school/college)?
I went to Voris CLC Elementary School from kindergarten until 3rd grade. From 3rd grade, we moved to Canal Fulton and I transferred to Northwest Canal Fulton. For junior high, I went to Northwest Intermediate school and graduated from Northwest High School in 1983.
After graduating high school, I wanted to stay local so I went to Kent State Stark and I majored in history. In the fall, I am going to Graduate School at Cleveland State University. I am majoring in history with a concentration in museums. After graduating, I want to become an archivist and work with history and records.
How did you hear about The McKinley Presidential Library & Museum?
I had always known about the museum because I grew up in Stark County, but didn’t become a volunteer until this year.
How/When did you become a volunteer at our library?
One day while I was visiting the museum, I decided to set up an appointment with the volunteer coordinator. I met Mark, the archivist, and visited the archives. I really liked what I saw and heard so I became a volunteer at the library in May of this year.
What is your favorite part of being a volunteer in the library?
I really enjoy learning about local history. I go through old photographs of Stark County so I get to see various aspects of what life used to be like compared to how it is today.
Do you have any hobbies or other commitments?
I love to read. I specifically like to read about Colonial America, ranging from the 1700s to the 1800s.
What values and/or lessons would you pass along to someone?
Find out more about history. Local, national, or anything else, history can teach us so much.
We want to thank Briant for letting us interview him and allowing us to share his 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 apart of that too!
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
Where did you attend school (elementary, junior high, high school/college)?
I went to St. Michael’s school for elementary. I used to walk to and from school while listening to my radio. I attended Taft Middle School and graduated from Glenwood High School in 1968. I went on to Akron University for a year, but then I transferred to The Ohio State University as a history major. I graduated in 1972 with my B.A. in history.
How did you hear about The McKinley Presidential Library & Museum?
I first got involved with the Stark County Historical Society, which is located in the library, when I became the Canton Bicentennial Director in 1975.
How/When did you become a volunteer at our library?
I became a volunteer at the library in 2014. I had been researching my own family history since I retired in 2010 and spent a lot of time in the library trying to piece my own history together. One day, Mark (our archivist), asked if I would like to be a volunteer since I spent a lot of my time in the library anyway. I’ve been here ever since.
What is your favorite part of being a volunteer in the library?
I enjoy working with other researchers and volunteers. The ability to learn and grow doesn’t have a limit, we can always expand our knowledge in many ways.
What has been one of your favorite projects to work on?
One of my favorite projects recently was when I worked on researching the oldest house in Stark County, it has been around since 1812.
Do you have any hobbies or other commitments?
I used to do stone carvings, but I really enjoy making wood carvings lately.
What values and/or lessons would you pass along to someone?
Always have an open mind and a sense of humor. Don’t take yourself so seriously.
We want to thank Tom for letting us interview him and allowing us to share his 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 apart of that too!
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
We invite our followers to get to know Marylou Thompson, one of our Research volunteers at the Presidential Library!
Marylou taking a well deserved, but short break from her duties in the McKinley Presidential Library
Marylou was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but spent much of her childhood traveling with her family. Her father was in the service, her family moved all over the United States while she and her siblings grew up. She recalls memories of her past, particularly recalling 5th grade as being one of her favorite memories. At the time, she had moved back to Ohio and was attending St. Mary’s in Painesville, Ohio. She really enjoyed school, but also loved being able to spent lots of time with her loving grandparents. She continued to move with her family until she graduated high school and started her own career path.
After high school, she attended Central Michigan University, then attended nursing school at Delta College in Saginaw, Michigan. After graduating from nursing school, she received her Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in science and business, from the University of St. Francis in Illinois. Finally, she attended graduate school and received her MBA at the University in Chicago. During her time in school and out, she worked as a nurse for many years. She found that being a caretaker was her calling and it came naturally to her.
As a nurse, she worked primarily in the ICU department of the hospital, and she kept moving up to different roles in life. She enjoyed her work so much so that she ended up working in hospital administration for some years. She wanted to do more though, and soon moved to the long term care industry until retirement.
In 2016, she moved to North Canton to be closer to her sister. She had just retired and was looking for something to do to pass the time when she stumbled upon the McKinley National Memorial one day. She remembers walking around the parks and when she saw the monument, she had to go see what it was. After she visited the monument that day, she went to our museum and asked to become a volunteer at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. She found something else that she loved to do and her years of being a multi-tasker and nurse gave her very valuable skills that we honor here in our library. She has volunteered with us for three years and she is an incredible asset to our team, keeping us organized and taking care of our accessions and cataloguing items.
In her spare time, she also volunteers in the library at MAPS Air museum in Green, Ohio . She loves reading various types of military books, fictional or non-fictional, and she loves to travel. She is very big on history and all about learning as much as she can from her travels and from her own experience.
One of her favorite aspects of being a volunteer here is that she is actually able to see the results of our projects and requests in a short time. Being a nurse and working in the healthcare industry, quick results weren’t easily noticed because of the varying aspects of that field, but she loves being able to see the results of hers and everyone else’s hard work. She describes her time here as not being work, it is like hanging out with friends and working together as a team. She loves what she does here and is truly a valuable resource to all who know her.
We want to thank Marylou 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 apart of that too!
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
Archivist's Attic... 