Researching Family History Since 1999
An interesting wedding took place last night in Adrian, Mich., when Miss Ada Rorick McConnell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Willard McConnell, became the bride of Mr. Wallace Donald McLean of New York city, formerly of this city.
The ceremony took place at 7 o’clock and was followed by a reception at the home of the bride’s parents.
Continue reading “McLean-McConnell Wedding in Adrian, Mich.”
Was Sick Short Time After Returning From New York
Mrs. Hama [sic] Rorick McConnell, widow of the late Willard C. McConnell, an Adrian business man for many years, died yesterday afternoon in her home on South Main Street, after a short illness of a complication of diseases. Mrs. McConnell, who had made her home with her only daughter, Mrs. Wallace D. McLean and family, in Rye, New York, since the death of Mr. McConnell, had come to spend a short time in her home here, and was taken ill soon after her arrival. Continue reading “Mrs. W.C. M’Connell Died Here Tuesday”
Wallace Donald McLean of Morris Lane, executive vice-president of The Morris Plan Company of New York, the largest industrial banking institution in America, was born in New Hampshire of Scotch parents. He is the great grandson of John McLean of New York, who was a prominent public citizen and one of the founders of The Bank of Manhattan.
Mr. McLean’s early life was spent in Washington, D. C. He attended the public schools and later prepared for college at the Friends’ School of that city. From there, he entered Princeton University, graduating with an A.B. degree, in the class of 1896. He then concentrated on the study of law at Columbian University, (now George Washington University), in Washington, and in 1898 received his degree of LL.B. Continue reading “Local Resident Helped to Form Country’s Largest Industrial Banking Company”
Funeral services were held Monday noon at the Calvary Episcopal Church, 21st St. and 4th Ave., New York City for Mrs. Ada McConnell McLean, wife of Wallace D. McLean, chairman of the executive committee of the Industrial Bank of Commerce.
Mrs. McLean died suddenly Friday night at their apartment in the Mayfair House. She was well-known in Scarsdale where she made her permanent home at 1 Birchall Drive. A native of Adrian, Mich., she was a graduate of Fairmont Seminary, Washington, D.C. and was a Daughter of the American Revolution.
She is survived by her husband, by her son, Wallace W. McLean, of Princeton, and a daughter, Catherine E. McLean of Scarsdale, and a grandson, Wallace W. McLean II.
Source: Scarsdale Inquirer, January 7, 1949.
Wallace D. McLean Weds Miss Ada Rorick McConnell at Adrian.
ADRIAN, MICH.—One of the season’s most notable weddings was celebrated here when Miss Ada Rorick McConnell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.C. McConnell, was married to Wallace D. McLean, of Washington and New York city.
At Princeton the groom studied under President Wilson and is a personal friend of the Wilson family. Congratulatory letters have been received from President Wilson and his daughter, Miss Margaret Wilson.
Source: Clare Sentinel, October 8, 1915.
The many Wauseon friends of Cleantha McConnel [sic] of Adrian, Mich., granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Rorick will learn with sincere regret of her death which occurred Monday night at 9:30.
Miss McConnel’s death was the result of influenza, she had been sick only one week and one day.
Miss McConnel was to have been married to Wyllis Osborn Dodge of Lansing, Mich.
She was often a visitor in the home of her grand-parents here and had a large circle of friends among the young people of Wauseon.
Mr. and Mrs. Rorick attended the funeral services in Adrian Thursday afternoon.
Source: Fulton County Tribune, April 11, 1919.
A Long and Active Life
Varied Experiences – Pioneer and Patriot – Services to His Community and State – Honored by Fellow Citizens and Associates
John C. Rorick was born near Elmira, New York, February 13th, 1834, died at his home in Wauseon, December 8th, 1920; between these two dates there is a period of nearly eighty seven years; a long life time and filled with a variety of experiences beyond the average of those which come to the lives of American citizens. Mr. Rorick was of a sturdy stock remarkable for its longevity and as well for its initiative and energy in service to its time and place.
William Rorick, his father, was of German parentage, as a young man of twenty-five he made the trip from New Jersey to Elmira on foot and six years later he was a member of the “Westward Ho” which people this section of the country with those pioneers of indomitable spirit and will who have conquered the wilderness and gave it as a heritage to their successors in the generation that followed. William Rorick made the trip from New York to Lenawee County, Michigan, with his little family in a covered wagon in 1836, he died at the age of 93. The mother who shared the adventure and the task of her pioneer husband, was Phoebe Breese, from the same family came such men as Judge Sidney Brees of Illinois, and Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the inventor of the telegraph.
The characteristic traits of his ancestry are evident throughout the life history of Mr. Rorick.
In the days of his boyhood, society made but meagre provision for the school training; but his undaunted determination led him to work out his own training and education by supplementing the meagre school advantages with his own persistent effort to acquire for himself the knowledge essential to successful and useful living: One and one half terms at Medina Seminary in Tenawee [sic] County and a rather meagre course in Commerce in Gregory’s Commercial College of Detroit formed the framework upon which Mr. Rorick by his own study at home and constant search for information wrought out for himself what was recognized by those who knew him as a liberal education. To the last days of his activity he was constant in effort to add to his fund of information, so it was indeed true that with him education was the process of a lifetime.
The pioneer spirit and versatility of his character is exemplified in an outline of his life’s activities.
At the age of eighteen he began teaching school; in 1854 he was in the Lake Superior Copper country as “Boss of the Kilns” at the Ridge Mine Ontonagon; returning to the states in company with two other young men on snow shoes 250 miles through unbroken wilderness with only a chart and compass to guide them; he again took up the occupation of teaching, giving instruction in writing, drawing and bookkeeping in Madison, Wisconsin and towns in that vicinity. In 1855 he in company with Dan Howard, a noted pen artist, charactered the first Commercial College in the State of Wisconsin, located in the city of Milwaukee; Mr. Rorick’s position in this school being the professor of the science of accounts and Commercial Law. He became proficient in pen drawing and his work in this line was awarded premiums in art exhibits in Chicago and elsewhere. Selling out his interest in the Commercial College in Milwaukee, he retired to Aurora, Illinois and in 1860 returned to Michigan. In 1862 December 15th, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma J. Whiting at Elmira, N.Y. returning to his home in Michigan with his bride. In 1864 he became the proprietor of the Sherman House in Wauseon. In 1866 he purchased the Morenci Hotel Morenci, Michigan, in 1867 he became the owner and operator of a Spoke Factory at Canandaigua, Michigan. In 1872 he moved to Wauseon where he resided to the date of his decease: In addition to the enterprises already alluded to he has been actively involved in agriculture, having owned 12 farms in Ohio, besides numerous others in the States of Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Kansas. He was engaged in Commerce in Wauseon for a number of years as a member of the grocery firm of White and Rorick; he was also president of the Grayson Telephone Company of Sherman and Dennison, Texas with headquarters at Lima, Ohio.
Mr. Rorick has also distinguished himself as an inventor, having to his credit the following practical and useful inventions: The Rorick System of re-working butter, which went into use among shippers in 1878. The Quadrant Bevel Square; an improved Air Pad Truss and several other practical devices. He was also a frequent contributor to the press on political and social subjects.
In the field of public service Mr. Rorick has made himself a remarkable record. In Lenawee county Michigan he was called to serve as a member of the School Board and as Justice of the Peace; in Wauseon he has served as councilman, Mayor, President of the Board of Education and a township trustee. He has served the State of Ohio as a member of the Board of Equalization, in 1881 and again on the same board in 1901. He was elected State Senator from the 33rd Senatorial District in 1891 and was re-elected to this same position in 1893, serving two full terms as State Senator; for two years he served as a member of the Board of managers for the Ohio State Penitentiary. His last important public service was as a member of the Ohio State Constitutional Convention in which body he helped to frame the present Constitution of our State. To all of these positions whether great or small he brought a thorough knowledge of practical economics, a well balanced judgement, an unfailing energy, a true public spirit and unsevering fidelity to every trust reposed in him, by which he merited the confidence and esteem which his fellow citizens gave him.
In private life he was a loyal and faithful husband, a friend whose true friendship found expression in kindly deeds as well as words. He loved his fellowmen and loved to mingle with them. He found real pleasure in ministering to the comforts and pleasures of others. His long life is closed and his best monument is the record of a life well spent in service to humanity. He leaves in the circle of those nearest to him by family ties his faithful wife, companion and work-fellow for fifty-eight years; his adopted daughter, Mrs. W.C. McConnell of Adrian, Mich., a sister, Mrs. Converse of Adrian, Mich., and a brother, Dr. E.H. Rorick of Fayette.
Funeral services were held at the house on East Elm Street Saturday afternoon, Dec. 11th, Rev. Arthur E. Fish, pastor of the Congregational church officiating and Wauseon Lodge No. 156 Knights of Pythias, of which he was a member performing their burial service at the grave.
Mr. Rorick was at the time of his death Commander of the Associate Members of Losure Post G.A.R. Members of this Post were in attendance in a body at the funeral services.
Source: Fulton County Tribune, December 17, 1920.
Retired Banker Here
William David Murphy, 71, of 2650 Martin Road, prominent retired Zanesville banker and civic leader, died at 9:43 a.m. Friday in Bethesda Hospital where he had been a patient since July 10.
Mr. Murphy was born Nov. 7, 1900, in Fayette, Ohio, a son of Dr. William and Nellie Murphy.
His family moved to Columbus when he was a boy and he attended schools there, graduating from Ohio State University in 1923. He studied law at Franklin University and passed the bar in 1928. While in school he helped himself financially by selling clothing, and as a messenger for Citizens Bank and Trust Company in Columbus. He remained with the bank when it merged with the Ohio National Bank.
When Ohio National started its branch program in the late 1920s, he served in various executive capacities and in 1929 the Banc-Ohio Corp. was formed and began buying banks in various cities. In 1930, when Citizens National was organized by the merger of four Zanesville banks, Murphy was assigned to Zanesville to supervise its promotion program. He was elected cashier and a member of the Citizens board of directors in May 1931, vice president and cashier in 1945, and president in January 1947, succeeding Henry J. Knoedler. Her retired Dec. 31, 1965, at the age of 65.
He had been an associate trustee of Bethesda Hospital; trustee, treasurer, and past president of the Muskingum Motor Club; and a trustee of the Abbot Home for Men. He was a past campaign chairman of the Community Fund. In 1961 he was appointed chairman of Ohio State University’s Development Fund and in 1966 served as chairman of the Muskingum Area Trade School campaign finance committee.
He was a member and elder of Central Presbyterian Church, a former member of the trustees and past president of the church Brotherhoods; a member of the Rotary Club, Zanesville Country Club, Amity Lodge F&AM, Aladdin Shrine and Zavi Shrine Club.
Surviving are his widow, the former Margaret Foster of the home; a son, William F. Murphy of Route 8; a daughter, Mrs. John (Margaret) McConnell, of Minneapolis, Minn.; seven grandchildren; and a brother, John Murphy of Columbus. A brother, Roy, is deceased.
Friends may call 7 to 9 p.m. today and 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Bryan Funeral Home.
Lodge of Amity 5 F&AM will hold services at 7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
Source: Zanesville Times Recorder, July 29, 1972.
Morenci—The Misses Marilyn Bryant and Pricilla Downer will leave Monday to being their school year at Siena Heights College in Adrian. (Adrian Daily Telegram, September 11, 1943)
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Foster of Toledo called Sunday on Mr. and Mrs. W.R. Rorick. (Adrian Daily Telegram, January 26, 1943)
Mrs. Harper Gallup and children are spending a few days with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gallup of Kingsley-st. (Adrian Daily Telegram, July 29, 1922)
Medina — Miss Helen Guss accompanied by Miss Helen Austin was home from Ypsilanti for the week-end. (Adrian Daily Telegram, January 28, 1925)
Mr. and Mrs. Harlow Ingall of Plymouth and their daughter Miss Harriet Ingall of New York City were guests Friday of his parents Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ingall. (Adrian Daily Telegram, August 10, 1943)
Miss Pearl Jones returned last evening from a pleasant visit with her cousin Dr. E.H. Rorick and family of Fayette, O. (Adrian Daily Telegram, September 17, 1910)
Mr. and Mrs. William Jones and daughter, Pearl, were in Rollin Monday, attending the funeral of a brother’s child. (Adrian Daily Telegram, September 2, 1905)
Sgt. and Mrs. Jacob Martz arrived Saturday from Portland, Ore., to spend a week with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. C.H. Rorick and family. (Adrian Daily Telegram, September 13, 1943)
Mrs. W.C. McConnell is in Morenci, to attend the funeral of her grandfather, Mr. Rorick, who died Saturday. (Adrian Daily Telegram, January 17, 1898)
Mrs. E.E. Spear entertained Tuesday afternoon in honor of Mrs. Maurice Spear. The time was spent socially and Miss Lorena Johnson favored the company with music. Decoration in keeping with the season were [sic] attractive and refreshments were served. The guests were Mrs. G.H. Rorick, Mrs. C.H. Rorick, Mrs. Curtis Rorick, Mrs. Mary Rorick, Mrs. Frank Tayloe, Mrs. Fred oon [sic], Mrs. William Poucher, Mrs. George Pratt, Mrs. Paul Spear, Mrs. Kenneth Spear and Mrs. Richard Rogers. (Adrian Daily Telegram, January 2, 1925)
Dr. Maurice Spear is visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Spear. Dr. Spear and wife recently received their diplomas from the Palmer School of Chiropractors in Davenport, Ia., and will located in Adrian. (Adrian Daily Telegram, October 7, 1921)
Paul Spear of Claunch, N.M., a former Morenci resident, arrived Thursday evening to visit his brother Kenneth Spear and sister Mrs. Richard Rogers and family and other relatives. He will spend the weekend with his sister Mrs. Ray Lyons and family in Adrian. (Adrian Daily Telegram, October 16, 1943)
Sharon Carroll, daugher of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Carroll, has enrolled at the Goldey-Beacom School of Business for the summer session. (Denton Journal, June 21, 1923)
Those who received certificates of promotion from the seventh grade of Hillsboro school are Roberta Rowe, Dorothy Knotts, Hazel Passwaters, Mildred Worth, Pearl Eveland, Herbert Rice, John Eveland, and Lee Seymour. (Denton Journal, June 25, 1921)
Mr. and Mrs. John Eveland, Mrs. J.E. Eveland, and Miss Pearl Eveland attended commencement exercises at Western Maryland College last Monday. Thos. Eveland, a son of Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Eveland, was a graduate. (Denton Journal, June 13, 1936)
Stephen Ray Hanson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Marion R. Hanson of Junction City, has enrolled at Huntington College, Huntington, Ind. Huntington College is founded and supported by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. (Zanesville Times Recorder, September 22, 1966)
Fairmont Seminary last night sent out its annual quota of cultured womanhood. Sixteen misses representing nine states and the District of Columbia, who have been making preparation for their future careers received their diplomas, certifying they are competent to assume “added rights and new responsibilities” in the parlance of Representative Victor Murdock, of Kansas, who delivered the address of the evening. The graduates are Mary Katharine Brown, of Ohio; Miss Lillian Beatty, of Ohio; Miss Dorothy Marie Borland, of Pennsylvania; Miss Ethel Louise Foster, of this city; Miss Virginia Guitar, of Texas; Miss Hazel Herr, of Pennsylvania; Miss Mabel Elizabeth Halloway, of Kansas; Miss Sarah Frances Hancock, of Texas; Miss Eliza Watts Killian, of South Carolina; Miss Katharine Lauck, of Pennsylvania; Miss Mildred Mann, of Missouri; Miss Ada Rorick McConnell, of Michigan; Miss Grace Marie McClelland, of Pennsylvania; Miss Mabel Clair Payne, of Arkansas; Miss Harriette Richardson, of Texas; and Miss Mattie Lee Yokley, of Tennessee. (Washington Post, May 28, 1910)
Miss Alice Van Sickle, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Van Sickle has been selected as valedictorian of the graduating class of Port Jervis High School, it was announced today by Charles D. Marsh, principal. Maintaining the tradition of a number of years, Miss Van Sickle was chosen by virtue of her holding honor position in the class with the highest average for for years. (Middletown Times Herald, June 22, 1934)
Salem, May 13 — To-day were held the closing exercises of the Oregon school for the blind in the presence of a few invited guests and friends of the pupils. The programmes were very interesting, and consisted of exercises which those who have the full five senses might be proud to be able to render as well. These were not graduating exercises, and the entire class will return next year. The names of the pupils are: Ernest Voos, Portland; Bertie Waller, Salem; Fred V. Cooper, Portland; Misses Lou Lewis, Corvallis; Mollie Read, Mitchell, Wasco county; Blanche Savage, near Salem; Sadie Bristow, near Monmouth; Mary Baker, Silverton; Jess Watkins, Albany; Hattie Carruthers, Albany; Amy Walling, Polk county. The school is under the supervision of D.B. Gray; matron, Mrs. Gray; assistant teacher, Miss N.J. McFallen; music teacher, Miss Helen Holman. (Portland Oregonian, May 14, 1887)
