A Historical Perspective - All in the Name of Progress

A HISTORICAL
PROSPECTIVE
All In The Name Of Progress
ABSTRACT.
This is a historical perspective of three different
time periods in the city of Bellevue, Ohio. It will
show the recorded changes with regard to
things that were important to Bellevue’s
families in early years and how things have
changed today. Most especially the story of the
Harkness Memorial and how it came to be.
Beth Schoren
Urban Studies 200

UST 200 | Assignment One | Beth Schoren
Three Historical Time Periods of a City
Reflecting on the 1800’s
Having lived in the historic town of Bellevue, Ohio from 1992
until 2004 because of acquiring a historic church building
gives me a great understanding of changes that happen over
time in a community. The building had been started in 1887
with the name on one cornerstone of Harkness Memorial the
other was First Congregational Church and was dedicated in
October the following year. This enchanting name started a
rather detailed search for me into the history of that time in Bellevue which will then be use for
the most part of this paper.
It starts back in the beginning just after Ohio was admitted into the Union, when Johnny
Appleseed was sowing apple seeds on patches of land in Huron County, when Moravian,
Seneca and Wyandot Indians were still
roaming the lands (Wright, 1972, pp. 2-4).
This was the time just past the American
Revolution when those who suffered under
the British fires in Connecticut were offered
lands in Ohio’s area awarded under the
Connecticut Western Reserve. This borders the central city of what is now Bellevue which is in
the four counties of Erie, Huron, Sandusky and Seneca. The Erie Huron portion is now referred
to as the “Firelands”. The first settlers were from Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York
(Wright, 1972, pp. 6-7) and later immigrants directly from England. One of the first settlers was
Major Joseph Strong who brought more settlers including his brother Captain Zadoc Strong who

eventually sold property to the Chapman’s (Wright, 1972, p. 13) which is the family whom the
Harkness family go into business and eventually part of the reason for monies to build the
edifice of such grand proportions in Bellevue.
The Harkness family were of Scottish origin having come to the country in 1710 landing in
Massachusetts thereby settling in Pelham. Two of their descendants being great grandson’s
became doctors and moved westward ultimately landing in Bellevue, Ohio (Stillman, 1949). The
first to arrive was Dr. David Harkness whom his son Stephen Vanderberg [V.] Harkness came at
a later point but not before the birth of Daniel Morrison [D.M.] Harkness from David’s second
wife, having been widowed (Goulder, 1973). D.M. Harkness was born in
the area in 1822 but lost his father 3 years later so when his mother
remarried the Rev. Isaac Flagler they moved to New York where he
eventually became half-brother to Henry Flagler of Standard Oil fame.
They both came to Bellevue because of family and Dr. Lamon G. [L.G.]
Harkness who came into town in 1823 from Salem, New York (Camp, 1873) put Dan to work
when he was the age of 15 (Baker, 1836-1961).
It wasn’t long for Dan to make his own way working in the
families “network of country stores” that enticed Henry to want
to come out to the Western Reserve. So Henry Morrison
Flagler at the age of 14 obtained work on the Erie Canal as “an
extra crew member” to make his way because of Dan’s
influence and thus arrived with “a French coin, a nickel, and
four pennies in his pocket” (Martin, 1998, pp. 13-14). Dan had
previously contacted his older half-brother Stephen V.
Harkness to come be a part of harness making. By the time

both Henry and Stephen V. came to the Bellevue area of the Western Reserve one of the
remaining Harkness brothers who were doctors had already become successful in mercantile
stores, had purchased a large land tract and became Bellevue’s most prominent in real estate
and successfully helped in promoting the chartering of the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad. Not
only that but they had an informal banking institution (Goulder, 1973, pp. 2-5). The family
eventually got involved in grain trade which made Stephen V. very wealthy and was how Henry
came to meet John D. Rockefeller because he was the broker
for the Harkness’s trades in Cleveland. By the time Dan was
thirty he was able to buy all the mercantile stores and distillery
which he formed a partnership with Henry until which time
Henry felt pressure to withdraw because of his father’s
ministerial association against whiskey making. Which is how
Henry made his first big break and then invested in salt mines
in Michigan. Stephen V. made his earliest largest sums of
money when he caught wind of a pending tax on whiskey sales and bought up as much as he
could but also had his own banking institution as well by that time in the neighboring town
(Goulder, 1973, pp. 8-10).
Even though Flagler didn’t make out so well in the salt industry because they could not produce
fast enough he still had a home in Bellevue to come back to and he became the Superintendent
of Bellevue’s Congregational Sabbath School which is recorded in the Bellevue Congregational
Church 1862-63 Sunday School minutes (Goulder, 1973, p. 241) aka later the Harkness
Memorial. Even though he came back to Bellevue $50,000 in debt he wanted to make his
fortune and took his family to Cleveland after being offered Rockefeller’s old grain commission
position (Martin, 1998, p. 29). Later Henry would see Rockefeller and he proposed that Henry
get out of commission industry and join him in oil production to which he agreed. This was a

very important turn of events because without Flagler’s wealthy Harkness family “treasury” he
more than likely would not have been partners. It was Stephen V. that put up $100,000 funds to
prevent Rockefeller’s refinery from having to merge but only did so after it was agreed that
Henry would have control over his funds. Thus in 1861 Flagler became partner with Rockefeller
and Andrews with Stephen V. as a silent partner (Martin, 1998, p. 41). Much later on D.M. and
L.G. Harkness invested.
Even though Stephen V. and Henry were now away from Bellevue it was still home to L.G. and
D.M. Harkness’s which they in turn help to spread the wealth and become a philanthropic
example to the others that left the community. For instance, the Harkness Memorial was built in
dedication to D.M. Harkness’s wife Isabella that was a prayerful Christian whom he had been
separated from by her early passing 25 years prior when she was only 34 years aged and yet
the memorial was
not to cover a grave
but as a testimony
to life everlasting a
“Gate of Heaven”
from which eternal
life will be given to
men (Harkness
Memorial, 1888).
The dedication was
for the church and
the community but
also to praise the man who paid to have it built at the mere cost of $25,000 (The Corner Stone,
1887) one other resource states $40,000.

The edifice was the third of Congregational Church locations, the first having only been covered
with clapboards measuring 25’x30’ in 1836 at a cost of $300, the second was only 20’ larger at
the cost of $2,000 where pews were deeded to owners through a sale but the last sermon was
held on July 8, 1887. The new church would offer a 45’x65’ gathering place with a rear elevated
floor, curved seating toward the pulpit made of heavily ornate oak, oiled cherry ceiling with
exterior dimensions of 90’x41’x100’x90’
(Harkness Memorial, 1888). However no bell
was placed in the tower as one condition for the
funds because D.M. Harkness lived next door in
the house built by Henry Flagler which was
named the Gingerbread House (Mittower, 1972).
Yellow arrow on previous page shows the
location of the house next to the church.
These things shows how in the 1800’s family was pretty important in developing community
gestures of goodwill which the other Harkness’s namely Stephen V. and Henry did exemplary
work in the area of giving after leaving the area. A small effort of D.M. Harkness resulted in the
library association having money to purchase books and the Nickel Plate Railroad then backed
this up with a small monthly contribution (Baker, 1836-1961). Captain Zadoc Strong donated
lands for both a school house and a cemetery. The school was a log house where children sat
on split log benches (Wright, 1972, p. 15). Others brought in churches after Major Strong’s wife
died and there was no one to officiate a prayerful goodbye (Wright, 1972, p. 16).
Also this community was developed by educated members of other societies having come from
the Atlantic coast 13 Colony’s after being given opportunity to move west and even though they
were in the wilderness and many could not survive they proceeded to stay (Wright, 1972, p. 6).

In doing so four men made the decisions to purchase and lay out a large plat with lots which
included L.G. Harkness, Chapman, Amsden, and Williams who then named it after the engineer
Mr. Bell (Camp, 1873). Another significant building
which was placed on the four county corner is the
Tremont House that was built in 1846. Of course
there was a
hospital but none
having been
recorded until the
late 1800’s where Dr. Orwig established a “Sanitarium” for
“scientific treatment” of those suffering (Oddo, 1986, p. 100).
Bellevue through the 1900’s
After such a successful beginning to the development of Bellevue what
could the community do next? Well for starters at the turn of the century
they built a new Central High School [Jr. High] since education was
important to them. In 1902 Andrew J. Carnegie donated $10,000 to
build a public library with stipulations that citizens support it. In 1904 they formed a Young Men’s
Christian Association [YMCA] in what was formerly
the Gingerbread house of Flagler and then the
Harkness’s (Upton, 1910). This came about
because when D.M. Harkness passed in 1896
having never remarried with only one child
remaining of 5 that he and his wife Isabella had. That child was William Lamon [L.] Harkness
born August 8, 1858, having left Bellevue shortly after his father’s passing when he sold the

property not knowing what it eventually would become and once he learned of it he returned half
the proceeds to the YMCA (Oddo, 1986, p. 136). Then in
1906 after a fire nearly destroyed the towns’ hospital
(Oddo, 1986) they were in search of funds to erect a new
modern hospital when a year later a letter comes from
William L. Harkness with a check for $23,500 making it possible (Baker, 1836-1961). To which
the community dedicated a bronze tablet honoring his generosity. Time and time again you see
how the D.M. Harkness family has contributed to the needs of the community including Williams
L. Harkness’s wife Edith Hale Harkness whom never lived in Bellevue still helped the community
with a check for modern equipment for the hospital (Baker, 1836-1961).
A very touching reflection of the 100th year celebration of the Congregational Church came from
a member who was with it from the various stages of walking, riding a bicycle, using a horse and
buggy to finally a car as means of getting to church. He states one poignant matter and that is:
“I believe it can be said of the Congregational Church, that its’ members have always
taken a deep interest in the civic affairs of the town – the organization of the YMCA, the
public library and the hospital – which by no means church movements but were actively
and in a special way promoted by men of our church” (Member, 1936).
This statement has been reflected in many other materials that have been collected by myself
but this statement puts it best. Because men and gracious women who have means showed
“Goodwill” to the community even when no longer a part of it is an act of kindness and
generosity that is of true Lady’s and Gentlemen with good moral upbringing in which many
cities are founded and maintained.
Unfortunately that same church underwent some radical decision making in 1973 which was
discussed under committee by where they had to decide to cease operations, merge or status
que to which they chose a merger (Langwell, 1973). On February 17, 1974 the merged became
effective and thus named St. Paul’s United Church of Christ. Nearly a year later on January 29th,

1975 it was sold and became a medical record keeping facility and many of the stained glass
windows were removed by the owner. Then in 1983 a minister of several different named
nondenominational churches over the years decided he wanted a part of the building to bring
back “some of its former glory”. He left in 1987 when another church took it over only to then
take it back in 1989 (Frohman, 1983) until 1992 where I and my future husband had stumbled
upon it while looking for property on Main St. to live and work from.
Other buildings that underwent changes in the
1900’s was the library where it took on an entirely
different look. This photo is from the side, having
had two additions by 1990’s. Then the library
proceeded to purchase two buildings on Main St
for $223,000 [2002] and a storage warehouse on the corner street for $55,000 [2001] had them
demolished with parking lot expansion and beautification at the cost of $155,700 [2003] with an
additional $26,000 fee all by unanimous decision (Trustees, 7-11-2001 to 5-21-2003). They
were making 28 additional parking spots for a grand total of $459,700 or $16,418 per spot! I was
way too late on the scene to be of any help as I had only gathered the following items and
contacted the following programs to try to intervene to try to save the Main Street Historic
appearance in June 2003:
 Downtown Bellevue Architectural Design Standards codes [Chapter 1331],
 Community Reinvestment code [Chapter 161],
 Unsafe Buildings code [ 1325] and
 Demolition code [ Chapter 1327]
 Heritage Ohio & Downtown Ohio, Inc. - Ohio Main Street Program
 Downtown Assessment Resource Team Visit

 Main Street National Trust for Historic Preservation – Kennedy Lawson Smith, Director
 Director of Downtown Revitalization – Pauline D. Eaton, CMSM
 Ohio Historic Society – Franco Ruffini – could only get involved if it was Federal money
 Historic Preservation Ordinance – Glen Harper sent me copies of the ordinances
 Downtown Ohio Inc. workshop locations – Kevin Kuchenbecker, Executive Director
 Bellevue Law Director – David Wallingford – didn’t know of ordinances to assist
Well you can’t say I didn’t try to save the Main Street historical appearance and prompt the city
into joining the Ohio Main Street Program. Also the original hospital that William L. Harkness
had funded had undergone several additions and enhancements from its first appearance
[image located on page 7] of which I went to one of the grand openings of a new maternity unit.
An earlier building that changed greatly was the Central High School compared to the very small
image on page 6 [right hand side of page] and this
one is from 1927 on but the school website doesn’t
give a very good history of events. As for the
property I acquired in 1992 on a lease to purchase
before my marriage to which I stayed the night of
my wedding only to wake to a flood in my basement because water was coming in the
basement windows. Thus finding out the hard way just how much work I was going to have to

put into the building to restore it. Even though I had a lease and could have walked away there
was something that kept me going. It took a while to figure out which parts of the building
needed repaired first since I did not have deep pockets, not in the least. My
father flew in from Maine and my younger brother came down from Michigan
to help with some heavy repairs that needed done on the tower to secure its
flat roof and drain and the floor joists. Many days I spent in a 40’ boom truck
that I rented from an electrical contractor I had do regular work for me. Here
are a few photos to show why I wanted to keep this beautiful edifice but also some of the few
pictures I could find of my working on it.
These 4 windows used to catch the evening sun and just gleam with all
the rich color. When I tried to get replacement parts for them I was told
that it could not be done as the U.S. does not use the same materials
as was used in them. The geodesic carpeting in the balcony area was my favorite and the two
single stained glass windows were in that same room.

As for some of the repair work I was captured doing is only a miniscule amount of what I really
put in this but a sampling is a good start. This was a duty I was happy to work on as it brought
me great joy to be a part of such love and devotion from a man to his wife and for a woman to
her God. It was easy to think of such devotions with every attempt I made to repair her wounds
of which the round windows I was working on leaked
dreadfully one day when I had a meeting at my home and
the rain just poured in. So I invested in some Plexiglas
and rods and tried to protect them from further weathering
without drilling into the sandstone by using colored cement and caulking to hold them in place.
Yes that was me in the bucket tuck-pointing! That is what I
did around two-thirds of the building after having been
given instructions from the U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Services Cultural Resources – Heritage
Preservation Services – with
Preservation Briefs in a packet
from Thomas A. Vitanza, AIA
Senior Historical Architect
which included 15 items of
interest to my building such as
cleaning of masonry buildings
and mortar joints and slate roofs to name a few.
Some people think you can just move into a place and it will take care of your needs and will
maintain itself. That is the furthest from the truth than anything could ever be. A building is not
just an inanimate object just because it can’t walk like we humans do. A building that sits empty

decays faster if there is no one in it to see the problems just like the two days I spoke of water
from rain coming inside the house. These problems would have never been found if I had not
been in it at the time it occurred. So empty historic buildings are not a good idea anywhere.
Needless to say, I could tell that no expenses were
spared on the Harkness Memorial when they put in a
chandelier lighting that could be cranked from the attic
on a large wire, and a tower that stands 85’ into the
heavens and 81 stained glass windows in all with
German glass many of which were taken by one of the previous owners and many have fallen
out from aging and high westerly winds. On to the new millennia.
Bellevue into the new Millennium
Having failed miserably at marriage for a second time, I
tucked my tail between my legs and headed back to my
former home in Sandusky that I also maintained the whole
time I lived in Bellevue. So let me share the few very
important things that have happened since I left the town in
2004 which by then I now had 4 children, one from my former
marriage. The most upsetting to me to say the least was
another building being razed but this was one of the
Harkness buildings. For two years I used to drive my children
back and forth from Sandusky to Bellevue to keep them in the same school system during a
bitter divorce plus I was working there as a manager of a store. So on my drives back and forth
well one day I went passed the hospital and the next day it was rubble. It didn’t matter to me
what the reason was for, it just didn’t seem right after they had done so much work to the

building recently. All they did was keep the original plaque from William L. Harkness. It hurt me
because it made me feel like that is what might happen to the Harkness Memorial since I wasn’t
there to protect it from “progress”. That is what
decisions are being made in the city of Bellevue now.
All they want to do is demolish all of what made the
city what it is and what it was. So this is what they
did. They built a new hospital on the outskirts of town
by which you could not possibly get to on foot. It is a sprawling place but already has a bad
reputation from Sandusky nurses who have been there as being a dirty hospital. More
disappointing news comes during my trips to see friends after I ended my job and lost my
children in a custody battle so the trips became much less frequent. For starters the schools
were all demolished for a new building. The school my children went to was completely gone
from the face of the Earth never to be seen as a reminiscent concept in anyone’s eyes “all in the
name of progress”. It was as if
Bellevue just decided to start
fresh with no reminders of the
past, which is also reflected in
their school website and the
city website in which neither had historical records pertaining to anything of substance about its
past. The big huge Central High school building shown on page 9 is gone, completely gone!
Wiped off the face of the Earth as if it never existed! It is a parking lot for nothing, no business,

no homes, just an empty lot. It’s gone! All in the name of progress! So guess what? On a brief
visit, they had changed the roadways and directions in which you could take them. I followed the
way out of town that was marked and what did I find but more RUBBLE! Rubble, Rubble,
Rubble! Everywhere! Nobody cares about the history of this town. The library gobbled up two
more buildings on the block that they had
already taken from. All for more parking
spots oh and a small addition. My biggest
concern today as in yesteryears is what will
happen to the beautiful edifice that needs
so much repair? Harkness Memorial
Both brick buildings shown were demolished.
Small addition in the back of the library.
More
parking!
Wonder
how
much
this cost
per spot.
“All in the name of progress”

Well there is a small amount of good news! The
Tremont house [page 6] has nearly fallen down
from deterioration all on its own which on its own is
not good. However, it has been purchased and is
part of a renovation project by the Bellevue Historic
Society.
References
Baker, A. L. (1836-1961). Church Directory. First Congregational Church. Bellevue, Ohio.
Camp, C. C. (1873). Bellevue's History. Retrieved from City of Bellevue, Ohio:
http://www.cityofbellevue.com/history1.htm
Frohman, E. (1983, October 26). Church is a church again. Bellevue Churches. Bellevue, Ohio: Bellevue
Gazette.
Goulder, G. (1973). John D. Rockerfeller The Cleveland Years.
Harkness Memorial. (1888, Oct 20). Local News Supplement . Bellevue, Ohio: The Bellevue News.
Langwell, J. (1973, July 6). Dear Church Member. Bellevue, Ohio.
Liskai, B. (2003, May 22). Planners okay several building projects. Bellevue Gazette. Bellevue, Ohio:
Bellevue Gazette.
Martin, S. W. (1998). Henry Flagler Visionary of the Gilded Age. Lake Buena Vista: Tailored Tours
Publications.
Member, U. (1936). 100th Anniversary Celebration. Bellevue's Congregational Church, 5.
Mittower, B. (1972). The World Grows Smaller The Second 25 years of Lyme Township and Strongs
Ridge. Bellevue, Oh: Cook Printing.
Oddo, B. (1986). Stories of Old Bellevue. Bellevue: Bellevue Gazette.
Stillman, M. E. (1949). Edward Stephen Harkness 1874-1940.
The Corner Stone. (1887, September 24). Local News Supplement. Bellevue, Ohio: The Bellevue News.
Trustees, B. P. (7-11-2001 to 5-21-2003). Record of Proceedings. Bellevue: Minutes.
Upton, H. T. (1910). History of the Western Reserve. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co.
Wright, A. (1972). Pioneers' Progress The First 25 Years of Lyme Township and Strongs Ridge.
Bellevue, Oh: W.J. Keiser.

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