CORRECTION 2/4/23
I want to correct misinformation in my 12/10/22 post, "The Case of Claude McMillen". In that post I mistakenly connected the school's renaming to the "...Addisonian Native Americans who previously occupied the area, as per relics found over the years by farmers...." As noted in the modified section of the post (see blue text below), the school was renamed to recognize the Addisonian Literary Society that was active in the area. When settlers began to move into the area during the 18th century, "...Ohio was a hunting ground, not a major population center [for Native American peoples]. It is estimated that only about 6,000 Native Americans, from the Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandot, Erie and Seneca tribes, among others, lived in Ohio..." * The Native American relics found over the years on this and surrounding farms are likely from these Native American peoples.
* https://www.times-gazette.com/story/news/2021/08/09/ashland-county-historical-society-talks-mohican-area-history/5526013001/
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Those who have used a genealogy web sites to trace their heritage quickly found it is not as easy as the TV commercials imply; it is not the simple matter of entering a name, pressing RETURN, and a genealogy appears on the screen. Developing a genealogy using these sites typically is a long, arduous process, approached one person at a time with a lot of cross checking, inference making, and doubling back. It is not uncommon to find discrepancies. Information and documents from family members can be critical, but their validity needs to be carefully considered given family lore can misdirect. Some genealogy web sites allow users to post genealogies or pieces of them. These can help guide searches, but they also can misdirect. Foremost, any genealogy, no matter how detailed, provides only limited insights into a family history. It is not unusual, no matter what the level of detail, for a genealogy to raise more questions, a desire for more information and speculation. The following is an example from a four-family genealogy (Rubba, Layer Stauffer, McMillen) I completed mainly a decade ago, though I continue to update it as new information arises. "The case of Claude McMillen" exemplifies the strengths and limitations of genealogies - they map a linage, but provide very little, if any, insight into the lives of ancestors especially when supplemental documents are not available. Our family now knows a great deal more about Claude McMillen, but there is a lot more we would like to know.
The rather "dapper" guy in the photo below is Claude McMillen, my wife Sue's maternal grandfather. According to family lore, Claude had two careers as an educator in north central Ohio across the first half of the 20th century, the second of those careers would seem to be a step backwards.
James McMillens of Mt Lebanon, Pennsylvania was among the initial settlers following the War of 1812 to move into the area of Ohio that would become Holmes County in 1824 with Nashville becoming the major town. Congress awarded veterans from the war up to 160 acres in states such as Michigan, Illinois, and Louisiana, but no evidence was found that James McMillen served in the war or received a land grant in Ohio. He may simply have thought opportunities would be better in Ohio.
Skipping ahead two generations to 1875, Alonzo McMillen, a Nashville, OH farmer and the grandson of James McMillen, married Alina May Boiling. Alonzo and Alina had three children (a set of twins and a daughter) within a three year period. Unfortunately, one of the twins, a girl, died shortly after birth and the other, a boy, died within two years. Alina then have another baby girl who apparently also died as did Alina. Dates were not available, but issues in childbirth are a good possibility.
In 1880, Alonzo married Margaret Elizabeth Yeater. Together they had three children (a girl followed by two boys), Claude being the youngest born in 1885. While he grew up on a farm, Claude completed a two-year "normal" education, likely at Ashland College, and pursued teaching after. However, the institution cannot be confirmed because a 1952 fire destroyed the original "Founders Hall" at Ashland College and the records it held.
In 1906 Claude married Edith Rohler, who was born in 1886 in Lafayette, IN. The following is a photo taken at a turn of the century McMillen family reunion held at the Nashville farm of John McMillen (1825-1913), Claude's grandfather and the son of James McMillen (noted above) . The date of the reunion is not known, however John's 75th birthday plus the turn of the century in 1900 or a later birthday would have been good reasons for a family celebrations. Irrespective of the date, one has to think Claude and possibly Edith attended and are in the photo.
The family story is that over the next 20 years, Claude rose to become the Holmes County Superintendent of Schools. However, his path to that position and his service record are a black hole. From deed records we know there was a significant change in 1926. Claude and Edith purchased and moved to a 65 acre farm just off Middle Rowsburg Road in Ashland, OH. Claude became the teacher at the nearby one-room Addisonian School, originally known as the Roseberry School. At some point the school was renamed to recognize the Addisonian Literary Society that was active in the area.
Claude also farmed and completed a bachelor's degree part-time at Ashland College. Helen Mae McMillen, Claude and Edith's third child of three and Sue's mother, proudly would note that her father graduated from Ashalnd College the same year she graduated from high school in Ashland - 1932. Keep in mind that it was very unusual for a teacher to hold a Bachelor's Degree at that time. That information notwithstanding, we do not know what factors led to the move and Claude's return to teaching in a one-room school after being a county superintendent of schools and earning a Bachelor's Degree.
Claude retired from teaching in 1938 when the Addisonian School was closed - consolidated into the new Montgomery Grade School from which stepped up to Ashland High School. Claude and his last Addisonian class of students are pictured below.
Claude died in 1946 (cause no known). In 1949 Sue's mother and father - James (Jim) and Helen Mae (McMillen) Stauffer - purchased the farm. Edith lived with them until her passing in 1953 from an illness whose symptoms resembled those of Parkinson's Disease, which appears to run in the family with three confirmed occurrences in the two generations following Edith.
The farm remains in the family, owned today by Claude and Edith's great-granddaughter and her husband who recently completed a significant remodel. In 1969 family members pulled together to make improvements to the kitchen the house for Jim and Helen. I was told at the time that the two story section of the farm house dated to 1815 and at some point, the one story portion was a former outbuilding pull up onto a field stone foundation and attached to the house.
The Addisonian School is currently part of a sawmill business.
