C. S. Lathrop
C. S. Lathrop, general contractor, at Lima, was born in 1858, near the city of Topeka, Kansas, and is a son of George D. and Columbia A. (Hover) Lathrop, and a grandson of Rodney Lathrop.
The Lathrop family is of English extraction. Its American founder settled in Massachusetts in 1638, having been banished from his own country on account of his religious tenets. He is supposed to have died at Barnstable, Massachusetts, as it is known he lived and preached there. His son, Samuel Lathrop, was one of the founders of the town of Norwich, Connecticut, and from him descended the branch of the family to which C. S. Lathrop, of Lima, belongs. The mother of our subject belongs also to an old colonial family, her ancestor, Thomas Adgate, being a member of the colony at Norwich.
Rodney Lathrop, our subject's grandfather, was a master mechanic of the Mad River Railroad at the time of his death from cholera in 1849. George D. Lathrop, son of Rodney, was born in New York City and came to Allen County at a very early date. In 1849 he went to California where he remained five years, and then located at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1856 he settled in Kansas, and as he was a Free State man he became identified with many of the public activities of that period in that section. Always a politician, according to old standards, he was also an abolitionists as far as restricting the extension of slavery. In 1863 he returned to Ohio where he soon became a leader in Allen County, and for 21 years he served as a justice of the peace, being elected to the office in a community which, at that time, was overwhelmingly Democratic. He was a man of sterling character and his fellow-citizens showed that they appreciated his ability and integrity.
C. S. Lathrop was five years old when the family left Kansas and returned to the old homestead in the extreme southwestern part of Allen County. This was known as old Fort Amanda, which was built in the days of Indian warfare, and its site was one of the first pieces of ground entered in the county. In this historic old place out subject was reared. He attended the common schools of the county, the Lima High School and enjoyed two terms at the Ohio Normal University at Ada. Then he returned to the old home and remained after his father's death, to rear and educate his younger brother, whom he finally left in charge there.
During the time he remained on the home farm, our subject engaged in contract work for the county in the way of bridge-building and road-grading and later worked at the carpenter's trade. His first houses were erected for himself in 1890, at Lima, and since then he has been extensively engaged in contracting and building. Some of the attractive and substantial structures built by him are: Mrs. M. A. Karn's apartment building on the corner of Market and Pierce streets; the Adgate Block; some of the fine residences on West Spring street; the A. L. White residence on South Cole street, which is regarded by many as the finest house in Lima; and others. He is also interested in a number of other enterprises and also owns a fine farm which is located on the line between Allen And Auglaize counties.
Mr. Lathrop was married on August 29, 1903, to Lelia G. McGuire, who is a daughter of the late Elisha J. McGuire , and they have one son, Rodney. Mr. McGuire served four years in the Civil War, was in early life an engineer on the C., H. & D. Railway, and for 20 years was a trustee of the poor in Allen County. Politically Mr. Lathrop is a Republican. He served 12 years as a justice of the peace while living in the country. He belongs to such leading fraternal organizations as the Masons, Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. As a business man and as a citizen he enjoys a large measure of public esteem.