the christman family - north olmsted · the christman family: deep roots of service to north...
TRANSCRIPT
TheChristmanFamilyBy:JimDubelko
TheChristmanFamily:DeeprootsofservicetoNorthOlmsted
WhenyouthinkaboutfamiliesofNorthOlmstedwhomaderichandextensive
contributionstothefoundingandgrowthofourcommunity,thenamesStearns,Coe,
Romp,Fitchandothersimmediatelycometomind.But,asrichandextensiveasthose
families’contributionswere,nofamily,intermsoflengthanddepthofcommunityservice,
canmatchthecontributionsmadebytheChristmanfamily.Late-comerstothecommuni-
ty,historicallyspeaking,HenryChristmanandhisfamilydidnotarriveinNorthOlmsted
until1914.Butsoon,thefamilywasoperatingoneofthebestknown.loristbusinessesin
thenewvillage,andjustafewyearslater—possiblyattheurgingofsecondmayorLeon
Coe,Henrybecamepoliticallyactiveinthevillage,initiatingaperiodofcontinuousgov-
ernmentservicetothecommunitybythefamilythatwouldlastfortherestofthecentury
andbeyond.Andweoweitall,youmightsay,toDr.W.H.Beaumont.
HenryChristman(1861-1939)
HenryChristman,aGermanimmigrantfromBavaria,camewithhisfamily
totheUnitedStatesin1867whenhewasjust6yearsold.Thefamilysettledonthe
eastsideofCleveland.AlthoughHenry’sfatherwasaschoolteacherinGermany,
andhisolderbrotheramusician,hereinAmericatheybecamegarmentworkersin
Cleveland’sburgeoninggarmentindustry.Henryalsoeventuallyworkedinthat
industry,butinhisyouthhealsoworkedfromtimetotimewithDr.W.H.Beau-
mont,aphysicianwhohadgivenuphismedicalpracticeandbecomeoneofnine-
teenthcenturyCleveland’sforemost.lorists.Beaumontdiedin1879,whenHenry
waseighteenyearsold,butbeforehedid,BeaumontimpartedtoHenryextensive
knowledgeaboutthe.loristindustrythatwouldstaywithHenryfortherestofhis
lifeand,eventually,charthiscoursetowardNorthOlmsted.
Cover:backrow:brothersGeorge,Elroy
andClarence;frontrow:sisterGrace,father
Henry,brotherCarlton,motherAnna,and
brotherJohn
Below:HenryandAnnaChristmannear
houseat23538LorainRoad,c.1916
Below:ChristmanFlowers,1930’s
Butthatwouldallcomemuchlater.In1880,ayearafterthedeathofDr.Beaumont,thefederal
censusreportedthatHenry,likehisfatherandolderbrother,wasnowworkingasatailor.Forthenext
30years,accordingtoClevelanddirectoriesandensuingfederalcensuses,thatwastheworkthatHen-
rydid.Inthemeantime,hemarriedAnnaWalther,thedaughterofGermanimmigrants,in1886,and,
between1888and1906,theirsixchildrenwereborn,includingsonsElroy(1894)andGeorge(1896),
whowouldlaterbeprominent.iguresinNorthOlmsted.
In1914,whenhewas54-yearsold,HenryChristman,nowlivingwithhisfamilyonthewest
sideofCleveland,purchasedtwoacresoflandinNorthOlmsted,onthenorthsideofLorainRoadjust
eastofGessner.Itwasclearwhathisintentionswere.HewasreadytopickupwhereDr.Beaumont
hadleftoff,andstarthisown.loristbusinessinthelittlevillagethatlaterwouldbecalled—perhapsin
partbecauseoftheChristmanfamily,“ThePlacewhere
FlowersGrow.”Accordingtomembersofthefamily,Hen-
ry’ssonsElroyandGeorgemovedtoNorthOlmsted.irst,
andthatsameyearbeganbuildingthegreenhousesand
otherbuildingsonthepropertythatwouldsoonbecome
thematerialplantforH.ChristmanandSonsFlorists.
Twoyearslater,Henry,Anna,andtheyoungestchild,
Carlton,movedtoNorthOlmsted,joiningElroyand
George,livinginthehouseat23538Lorain,locatedjust
tothewestofthegreenhouses.
Whenthemunicipalelectionsrolledaroundin
1919,HenrywaselectedtotheVillageCouncil,even
thoughhehadlivedinthevillageforonlythreeyears!He
served10yearsasamemberofCouncil,winning5elec-
tions,butlosinghisseatin1929,thesameyearthat
CharlesAldenSeltzerdefeatedLeonCoeintheNorth
Olmstedmayoralrace.WhywasHenrydefeated?ItmayhavebeenthattheNorthOlmstedelectorate
decidedtoretireHenry,now69-yearsold,especiallywhenthereweretwootherChristmannameson
theballotthatyear.
ElroyChristman(1894-1976)andGeorgeChristman(1896-1975)
HenryandAnnaChristmanhad.ivesonsandonedaughter,butitwastwoofthesons,Elroy
andGeorge,whobecamepartnerswithhiminthe.loristbusinesshestartedinNorthOlmstedin1914,
andwhoalso,liketheirfather,becamepoliticallyactiveinthevillage.Whenthetwoboysmovedto
NorthOlmsted,Elroywas20yearsoldandGeorge18.Littledidtheylikelyimagineatthetime,butfor
thenext61years—untilGeorge’sdeathin1975,theywouldlive,workandevenworshipveryclose
tooneanotherinthiscommunity.
In1921,justtwoyearsafterhisfatherwaselectedtoCouncil,Elroy,now27yearsoldand
recentlymarried,ranfortheof.iceofVillageMarshallandwaselected.HeservedtwotermsasMar-
shall,andthen,in1925ranandwaselectedVillageClerk,theof.icewhichhadmanyoftheduties
whichthepresentdayClerkofCouncilandtheDirectorofFinancenowhave.ElroyservedasVil-
lageClerkfor26years,andthenanadditional8yearsastheAuditorwhenNorthOlmstedbecamea
cityin1951.Altogether,Elroywon19elections,andservedinelectedof.iceinNorthOlmstedfor38
years.Hiswork,.irstasclerk,andthenasauditor,establishedtheframeworkandfoundationfor
.inancialpracticesinNorthOlmstedthatcontinuetothisday.Whilehewasinvolvedintheplanning
andexecutionofmanyprojectsduringhislongtenureasclerkandthenauditor,inaninterview
withareporterin1953hecitedhisroleintheestablishmentoftheNorthOlmstedmunicipalbus
lineandthepurchaseofNorthOlmstedParkastwoofthemostimportantofthoseprojects.
GeorgeChristmanfollowedinhisolderbrotherElroy’sfootstepsandranfortheof.iceof
VillageMarshalin1927.However,unlikehisbrother,GeorgestayedwiththeVillagepolicedepart-
menthisentirecareer.GeorgeservedasMarshalfrom1927-1941,andthen,whentheappointed
positionofChiefofPolicewasestablished,heservedasChieffrom1941untilhisretirementonJan-
uary1,1966.LikehisbrotherElroy,GeorgeChristmanheldof.iceinNorthOlmstedfor38years—
startingsixyearsafterhisbrotherstarted,andretiringsixyearsafterhisbrotherretired.While
Marshal,andthenlaterasChiefofPolice,GeorgeChristmangrewtheNorthOlmstedpolicedepart-
mentfromasmallforceofseveralpart-timedeputymarshalstoaprofessionalpoliceforcecom-
posedof13full-timepoliceof.icersand11part-timeauxiliaries.Thepresent-dayNorthOlmstedpo-
licedepartment’sorganizationrestsuponthefoundationsthatheestablishedasChief.
Below:ElroyChristmaningreenhouse,1947
Left:GeorgeChristmanfamily(1931);upperright:youngGeorgeon
motorcycle(c.1930);lowerright:GeorgeChristmanwithNorth
OlmstedPoliceDepartment(1930’s)
ThetwoChristmanbrothers—ElroyandGeorge,heldimportantof.icesintheNorthOlmsted
governmentforatotalof76years,arecordthatwillunlikelyeverbesurpassedbyanyothercombina-
tionofbrotherslivingandworkinginthecity.Asthetwonearedretirementinthelate1950s,North
OlmstedCommunityCouncilrecognizedtheimportanceofthecontributionstheyhadmadetothe
community,notonlytothecitygovernment,butalsotoorganizationsliketheKiwanis,theCommunity
Chest,theSportsmanClub,theBoyScoutsofAmerica,theAmericanLegion,theMasonicLodge,andthe
OlmstedHistoricalSociety,aswellastotheirplaceofworship—theClagueRoadCongregational
Church,todayknownastheClagueRoadUnitedChurchofChrist.In1959,theCommunityCouncilse-
lectedElroyasNorthOlmstedCitizenoftheYear.Thefollowingyear,theawardwenttohisbrother
George.
Whiletheywereservingintheirlocalgovernmentof.ices,ElroyandGeorgeChristmancontin-
uedtooperateH.ChristmanandSons.loristbusinesswiththeirfatherHenry,untilthelatter’sdeathin
1939.Thebrothersthenranthebusinesstogetheruntil1941,whenElroyretiredfromthebusiness
becausehisdutiesasVillageClerkhadbecometoodemandingtodoboth.GeorgeChristmanandthen
othermembersoftheChristmanfamilycontinuedtooperatethe.loristbusinessonLorainRoaduntil
theearly1980swhenitwassold.Inthatsamedecade,theChristmangreenhouseswhichhadstoodfor
somanyyearsonLorainRoadjusteastofGessnerRoadweretorndown,andshortlyafterthat,the
.loristshopwhichwasbythistimeoperatedinasmallstorefrontacrossthestreetfromtheformer
siteofthegreenhouses,closed.
RalphChristman(1925-1993)andotherChristmans
InNovember1959,asElroyChristmanpreparedtoretireasCityAuditor,hissonRalphwas
electedCouncilmanforWard2.RalphChristmanservedtwotermsonCityCouncil,andthen,in1963
defeatedincumbentmayorPaulGareautobecomemayoroftheCityofNorthOlmsted.Christman
wouldgoontowinsevenelections,serving14yearsasmayor,longerthananyotherpersoninthehis-
toryoftheCity.HisfamilycitedhisbuildingoftheNorthOlmstedRecreationCenterin1976—
somethingforwhichcityadministrationshadbeenstrivingtoobtainvoterapprovalsincethe1950s,as
hismostimportantachievementasMayor.
InadditiontoMayorRalphChristman,anumberofotherdescendantsofHenryandAnna
ChristmanservedtheCityofNorthOlmstedwithhonoranddistinctioninthelatterhalfofthetwenti-
Above:ElroypresentsGeorgewiththeCiti-
zenoftheYearPlaque,havingwonitthepre-
viousyear,1960
ethcenturyandbeyond,includinggrandsonWalterChristman,whoservedontheFireDepartment,
great-grandsonJimChristmanwhoservedontheNorthOlmstedMunicipalBusLine,andgreat-
grandsonGeorgeRuple,whoservedonthepolicedepartment,risingthroughtheranksandretiringas
ChiefofPolicein2006.FromHenryChristman’selectiontoCouncilin1919toChiefGeorgeRuple’s
retirementin2006—87yearslater,theChristmanfamilyestablishedarecordofcommunityservice
herewhoselengthanddepthmayneverbeexceeded.
Below:ChristmanfamilyduringWWII(Ralphinuniformonright),1940’s