| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Ritchie, Clara Belle Family |
| Title: | Clara Belle Ritchie Family Papers |
| Dates: | 1838-1977 |
| Extent: | 4.01 linear feet (4 containers and 1 oversize folder) |
| Abstract: | The Ritchie and Hale families were prominent in civic and philanthropic activities in Akron and Summit County, Ohio. Clara Belle Ritchie, daughter of Samuel J. and Sophronia Hale Ritchie, inherited the Hale farm from her uncle, Charles Oviatt Hale, and bequeathed it to the Western Reserve Historical Society when she died in the 1950s. The collection consists of Ritchie and Hale family correspondence, diaries, recollections, clippings, legal files, financial materials, and guest registers of the Hale farm. |
| MS Number | MS 4124 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
The Clara Belle Ritchie Family was prominent in Akron and Summit County, Ohio, during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries through their civic and philanthropic activities as well as through their relation to the Jonathan Hale Family.
Clara Belle Ritchie was born in 1888, the only daughter of Samuel J. and Sophronia Jane Hale Ritchie. She and her brother Lewis, both unmarried, resided in the family mansion on West Hill in Akron, Ohio, until their deaths. In 1938, Clara and her brother "Ned" acquired the Hale Farm in Bath, Ohio, on the death of her uncle Charles Oviatt Hale in 1938. The property was then bequeathed to the Western Reserve Historical Society upon Clara's death in the 1950s, Ned having died in 1941. Samuel J. Ritchie was a millionaire capitalist residing in Akron, Ohio. Born in Boston Township, Summit County, on Nov. 24, 1838, he married Sophronia Hale in 1865 and raised three children, Lewis Andrew, Charles Edward "Ned", and Clara Belle. Over the first ten years of marriage, Ritchie supported his family by forming the carriage-making business of Oviatt, Sperry, and Ritchie in Tallmadge, Ohio, and the sewer pipe manufacturing firm of Sperry, Ritchie and Company. In the early 1880s he entered business in Canada, quickly becoming president of the Central Ontario Railroad, and by mid-decade formed the Canadian Copper Company, pioneering work in the development of the nickel industry. After 1890 Ritchie steadily increased his activity in politics, civics, and business in the Akron area until his death in 1908. Sophronia Jane Hale Ritchie survived her husband by another eighteen years, living with her children in "The Frontier," the mansion he had built on the summit of West Hill in Akron, Ohio. Born on Aug. 1, 1841, Sophronia was educated in the Richfield schools and Oberlin Academy before her 1865 marriage to Samuel J. Ritchie. At her death in 1926, she was considered one of the wealthiest and oldest women in the county and was well known for her philanthropic endeavors. Sophronia's younger brother, Charles Oviatt Hale, inherited the Hale Homestead in Bath, Ohio, from their father Andrew. Born in 1850, Charles farmed the property and served as township trustee for two years before his election to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1892 and 1914. He died in 1938, having survived his sister and her oldest son Lewis as well as his wife Pauline Cranz (1846-1924) whom he married in 1875. The couple had no children.
The Clara Belle Ritchie Family Papers, 1838-1977 and undated, consist of Ritchie and Hale Family correspondence, diaries and recollections, clippings, legal files, financial materials, and guest registers of the Hale Farm.
The material in this collection pertains primarily to relations between family members, Clara Belle Ritchie's European tour, 1889-1891, court cases involving Samuel J. and Sophronia J. Ritchie, and the family ventures into industry, transportation, and mining.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult PG 181 Clara Belle Ritchie Family Photographs; PG 361 Clara Belle Ritchie Family Photographs, Series II; MS 3143 Eveline Bosworth Cook "Recollections,"; MS 3145 Samuel J. Ritchie Papers; and MS 3115 Jonathan Hale Family Papers.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4124 Clara Belle Ritchie Family Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
William Walker and Hale Farm; 1973, 1976, 1977 and 1981.
Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1987.
Clara Belle Ritchie Family Papers 1838-1977 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of George Henry Rogers and S. J. Ritchie Family letters 1858-1887 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of S. J. Ritchie Family letters 1888-1889 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of Clara Belle Ritchie's European travel letters 1889 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of Clara Belle Ritchie's European travel letters 1890-1891 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of S. J. Ritchie Family letters 1890-1897 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of S. J. Ritchie Family letters 1900-1901 | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of S. J. Ritchie Family letters 1902-1903 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of S. J. Ritchie Family letters 1904 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of S. J. Ritchie Family letters 1905 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of Clara Belle Ritchie's letters ca. 1880-1910 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of Charles Oviatt Hale letters 1925-1941 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of Clara Belle Ritchie's letters ca. 1941-1949 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Correspondence, consisting primarily of Clara Belle Ritchie's letters 1950-1953 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Diaries and Recollections, Clara Belle Ritchie, European trip 1889-1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Diaries and Recollections, Clara Belle Ritchie, European trip 1890 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Diaries and Recollections, Charles Oviatt Hale 1905 1937 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Miscellaneous 1929 1931 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Scrapbook, Lucretia Ames 1847 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Clipping books, E. W. Hale 1883-1906 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Clipping books, S. J. Ritchie 1883-1884 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 20 | Clipping book, T. A. Rogers ca. 1880s-1890s | |||||||||
| 2 | 21 | Clipping books, Charles Oviatt Hale 1890-1936 | |||||||||
| 2 | 22 | Clippings, Miscellaneous 1884-1977 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 23 | Legal Materials, Central Ontario Railway Records 1890-1907 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Legal Materials, Central Ontario Railway Records 1908-1909 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Legal Materials, S. J. Ritchie versus Anglo-American Iron Company 1893 | |||||||||
| 2 | 24 | Legal Materials, S. J. Ritchie and Sophronia J. Ritchie versus James B. McMullen 1894-1897 | |||||||||
| 2 | 25 | Legal Materials, court cases involving Samuel J. Ritchie, consisting of S. J. Ritchie and Sophronia J. Ritchie versus James B. McMullen 1894-1897 | |||||||||
| 2 | 26 | Legal Materials, court cases involving S. J. Ritchie consisting of J. B. McMullen versus S. J. Ritchie ca. 1897 | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | Legal Materials, court cases involving S. J. Ritchie consisting of S. J. Ritchie and C. W. Bingham ca. 1902 | |||||||||
| 2 | 27 | Legal Materials, Samuel J. Ritchie and Sophronia J. Ritchie versus Stevenson Burke undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 28 | Legal Materials, deeds and contracts, Hale Farm 1924-1941 | |||||||||
| 2 | 29 | Legal Materials, deeds and contracts, West Hill Properties 1889-1936 | |||||||||
| 2 | 29 | Legal Materials, Miscellaneous 1863 1889 | |||||||||
| 2 | 30 | Legal Materials, estate papers, Pamelia L. Oviatt 1872-1925 | |||||||||
| 2 | 31 | Legal Materials, estate papers, Clara Belle Ritchie 1938-1950 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 32 | Legal Materials, estate papers, Lewis Ritchie 1914-1923 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 32 | Legal Materials, Samuel J. and Sophronia J. Ritchie materials, including life insurance papers, deeds, articles of agreement and sales agreements 1867-1943 | |||||||||
| 2 | 33-35 | Financial materials, records of securities 1911-1933 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 36-40 | Financial materials, records of securities 1933-1956 | |||||||||
| 3 | 41-43 | Financial materials, tax records, income tax 1911-1944 | |||||||||
| 3 | 44 | Financial materials, tax records, Ohio Intangible and United States Income 1950-1953 | |||||||||
| 3 | 44 | Financial materials, Summit County and United States Income 1954 | |||||||||
| 3 | 45-53 | Financial materials, Crown Trust Company statements 1910-1956 | |||||||||
| 3 | 54 | Financial materials, Charles Oviatt Hale, including account books and stocks, bonds and insurance materials 1869-1938 | |||||||||
| 3 | 55 | Financial materials, receipts 1886-1918 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 56-63 | Guest Registers 1901 1903-1905 1907-1909 1911 1913-1915 1918-1920 1926 1929 | |||||||||
| 4 | 64 | Miscellaneous, consisting of Louisa Cranz, autograph book 1870s-1880s | |||||||||
| 4 | 65 | Miscellaneous, consisting of: Andrew Hale, certificates, 1853 and 1855; Clara Hale, school register, 1870s; Edward E. Hale, biographical sketch, undated; James Hale, certificate of scholarship, undated; Jonathan Hale, obituary, 1854; M. William Hale, obituary, 1862; Nathan Hale, biographical sketch, undated; Nettie Hale, Akron Primary School #2 grade reports, ca. 1867; Pamelia Hale, marriage license, 1866; Sarah Cornelia Hale, record of Bible readings, 1847; William Hale, bill to incorporate First Congregational Society of Bath, 1838; and Hale Family, sketches, 1959 . | |||||||||
| 4 | 66 | Miscellaneous, consisting of: Alida Hale Humphreys, obituaries, undated; Charles E. Ritchie, memorials, 1941, Akron Chamber of Commerce certificates, undated, and materials for Fifty Year Club and mayorship, ca. 1939; Charles Oviatt Hale, candidate card, 1916; Clara Belle Ritchie, Summit County Historical Society membership card, undated, and programs, 1887-1888; Samuel J. Ritchie, article, 1949, certificate, 1871, marriage license, 1865, Senate Document #235 on letters concerning the silver question, 1896, and brochure, "Question of Export Duties on Nickel and Copper Matters" 1898; and Sophronia J. Ritchie, eulogy, undated . | |||||||||
| 4 | 67 | Miscellaneous, William Shannon Ritchie, Book of Poems 1951 | |||||||||
| 4 | 68 | Miscellaneous, Rogers family, biographical sketches and genealogy, undated; J.J. Warren, obituary, 20 January 1929; and Miscellaneous items, 1863 and 1946 . | |||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 69 | Oversize Folder 1: Miscellaneous, Certificate, life membership, Summit County Historical Society, Clara Belle Ritchie, 1946; Deed, photocopy, Hale Farm, 1810; Deed record, photocopy, Hale Farm, 1942; Genealogical chart, Hale family, undated; Ledger, Charles Oviatt Hale, ca. 1868; Ledger, Charles Oviatt Hale, ca. 1869; Map, Charles Oviatt Hale property, 1938; Sudbury Star, feature edition, 1883-1933; and Visitors register, 1955 . | ||||||||||