|
Featured in the 1915 Centennial edition of the Ashland Times
Gazette was an architect’s drawing and description of the new home
of Mr. and Mrs. Philip A. Myers. The “Italian influence” exterior was
built with Greendale rug brick and buff Indiana limestone with a roof
of various colors and thicknesses of slate. On the first floor would be
a solarium den in the Adam style with high oak wainscoting, Caen
stone walls and a vaulted ceiling. The main entrance and long gallery
would also have a vaulted ceiling and walnut paneled walls. An
Elizabethan brick fireplace would be built in the living room The
north enclosed porch would have a tile floor, pressed brick walls and
ornamental stucco ceiling. In addition to a suite of rooms with double
closets for the owners, the second floor would also have guest rooms
with separate baths and additional bedrooms on the third floor. Servants would have a separate entrance with a sitting room on the first floor and a stairway to their second floor bedrooms. The large garage would have space for six automobiles, a washroom, work room, and a second floor for a future apartment.
At the time Mr. and Mrs. Myers were living at a Center Street house they built which has since been torn down. It was located on the site of the Ashland County Historical Society office building.
Philip, the son of George and Elizabeth Myers, was born in a log house in Perry Township in 1853. He was one of nine children. While John Studebaker did the iron work on his wagons, George, helped by his sons, built the woodwork.
His older brother Francis had already entered the farm implement business and enticed Philip to join him. At the time, much of the machine work was done in Wooster or Canton, but by 1882 the brothers established their own power plant and soon the F.E. Myers and Bro. Company began complete operation of the farm implement and pump business. P.A. Myers invented the double-action force pump, the first of nearly 100 patents to his credit.
Philip was married in 1879 to Samantha Alice Chase. The couple had twins, a daughter Grace who died at the age of 8 and a son, Guy, who married Kate Moore in 1906 and lived for many years at 420 Center Street. Samantha died in 1923. In 1928 Myers was married to Josephine Forsythe, prominent singer and composer. To them was born one daughter, Phyllis Arlene. Following his father’s death in 1932, Guy Myers, his wife Kate, and children Phillip and Elizabeth, moved into the home. Mrs. Carlton Mitchell (Elizabeth), daughter of Guy Myers, donated the home to the church in 1964. Today the home is incorporated into Trinity Lutheran Church and used for church school, meetings, and receptions.
|
