Charles Otis Little
Charles Edward Little, whose death occurred January 21, 1898, was for many years a prominent and important figure in the financial circles centering at Delaware, Ohio. Possessed of the highest attributes of manhood, he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens to a marked degree, and although his death was not unexpected, it came as a sad shock to the community in which he had lived so many years. .
Mr. Little was horn in Delaware, Ohio, February 18, 1839, and was a son of William, Sr., and Catharine W. (Wood) Little. The father was born in Columbia, Connecticut, December 24, 1770, and died in Delaware. Ohio, November 30, 1848. His wife was a daughter of George and Elizabeth Wood. In 1808, William Little, Sr., came to Delaware, Ohio, from Worthington, to which village he had emigrated from Connecticut. His trade was that of saddler, but it is doubtful if he ever followed it after coming here, as a mercantile life offered greater inducements. He one of the earliest and most successful merchants of this city. He first purchased a small stock of goods that had been sent up from Worthington as a branch business, and this he later moved into the small brick building which still is standing, on the southwest corner of Winter and Sandusky Streets. He made annual trips to Philadelphia to purchase goods, wagoning his goods home, frequently at the excessive rate of $18.75 Per 100 lbs., these trips consumed from six weeks to two months of time. His invoices included velvets, satins, silks, cassimeres and commoner cloths, as well as shoes, crockery, hardware, medicines and groceries. In 1817, a bank was started in Delaware, in which it is said he was the largest stockholder. The brief history of this bank and Mr. Little's amusing method of closing it up, are related in the chapter on Banks and Banking. He was a charter member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in 1817, and was a vestryman from the beginning. In 1827, he and his wife helped to organize the first Sunday school in Delaware. He gave the lot on which the Episcopal Church was built, it being a part of a large tract of land owned by him, which included that now occupied by Monnett Hall, that being where his residence was located, Campbell's Stone Quarry, and the Mineral Springs property on West Central Avenue. The beautiful stone residence, now owned by Ohio Wesleyan University and known as Art Hall, was the familiar residence of Mrs. Geo. W. Campbell, daughter of Wm. Little, Sr. William Little, Sr., was the first treasurer of the Delaware County Agricultural Society, organized in 1833. He was a charter member of Hiram Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M., of which he also was first senior deacon.
Charles Otis Little was educated at Kenyon College and had as a classmate and friend. Colonel James Kilbourn, of Columbus, who belonged to the same fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon. He studied law and was admitted to the bar of Delaware County, but never practiced his profession. He was for many years a director and cashier of the Delaware Savings Bank. He was secretary and treasurer of one of the early building and loan associations which was successful and paid out. He also was cashier of the Delaware Savings Bank for a year or two from its organization, but resigned on account of ill health and spent the last eight years of his life in various parts of the country, seeking such relief as changes in climate and environment would bring him.
Mr. Little enlisted, January 16. 1863, as a private in Company H, Ninety-fifth Regulars, O. V. I.; was promoted to sergeant. March 5, 1864; on July 22, 1865, was transferred to Company E, Seventy-second Regulars, O. V. I, and was mustered out August 16, 1865. He was never injured, though on occasion a shell hurst at his feet, killing a horse near by. He was a fine penman and of superior education, and this fact was taken advantage of by Colonel William L. McMillen, whose dissipated habits were well known. After doing a private's duty all day, Little was kept in the headquarters figuring and writing until the small hours of the morning. Though of frail constitution and anything but rugged, he bore the imposition without a murmur, losing sleep at night and doing a soldier's work every day. This proved too much for his comrades' sense of justice and they started a movement which resulted in his being detailed to duty at Washington. He was a member of George B. Torrence Post, G. A. R., at Delaware.
October 23, 1879. Mr. Little was united in marriage with Miss Julia Griswold Howard, who comes of pioneer Delaware County families on both sides of the house. She is a daughter of Henry Howard and Catherine (Thomson) Howard, and a granddaughter of Caleb and Electa (Griswold) Howard. Caleb Howard, the grandfather, came from New England and settled at Worthington, Ohio, at an early date. In 1823 he and Anthony Walker formed a partnership and engaged in the mercantile business, but continued only a short time. It was he, who, with Judge Hosea Williams, in the spring of 1838, purchased the flouring mill and water-power privileges at Stratford. They built a fine stone dam and on October 1, 1839, began operating a paper mill. In the fall of 1844. he sold out to Hiram G. Andrews. He was a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M., and in 1854 became a charter member of Delaware Chapter, No. 54, R. A. M., of which he was first excellent scribe. Caleb Howard was joined in marriage with Electa Griswold. a daughter of Ezra Griswold.
Ezra Griswold, maternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Little, was born in Connecticut and accompanied his father's family to Worthington, Ohio, in 1803. He died in 1863, at the age of 71 years. At an early date he established a paper at Worthington, which he later removed to Columbus, and the present Ohio State Journal is the outgrowth of this paper. He sold this publication and in partnership with Judge Smith established The Monitor; he soon sold out to his partner, but being a practical printer continued to work at the case in the same office for some time. We next find him back in Worthington where he established the Columbian Advocate and Franklin Chronicle, the first issue of which appeared January 7, 1820. After the issue of September 24, 1821, he removed the paper to Delaware, where the next issue was dated October 10, 1821, under the name of the Delaware Patron and Franklin Chronicle. In an editorial Mr. Griswold says: "The reasons which have induced us to move are many: but the most important one is the fact that our business in this place has been so small that we do not realize money enough to purchase the paper on which we print, and have been compelled to draw from other sources a considerable portion of the expenses of the establishment. We expect, by blending it with other business, to proceed with less embarassment in Delaware." He had the same year purchased of Colonel Byxbe what became the famous old Griswold Inn, which was located on Sandusky Street, the present site of the Donovan Hotel. He carried on the business of publishing his paper in the hotel until 1822. then moved across the street, and in April, 1824, moved into a building on the southwest corner of Sandusky Street and West Central Avenue, which had been erected for a hotel and was used for that purpose for many years by Mr. Griswold. Later the name of the paper was changed to the Delaware Patron and Sandusky Advertiser, and appeared under this title until May 13, 1830, when it was changed to the Ohio State Gazette and Delaware County Journal. The following January, Mr. Griswold sold the paper to Wm. Milliken & Co. who changed the name of the paper to the Delaware Journal, but he continued as its editor. Evidently the sale was not finally consummated, as Mr. Griswold remained with the paper and on December 27, 1834, sold it to G. W. Sharpe, retiring at that time from the field of journalism. He was elected associate judge of the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County by the Legislature in 1832, and filled the office until 1842. In 1846 Judge Griswold made an addition to Delaware of 26 lots, located between Franklin and Liberty Streets, through the center of which Griswold Street passes. Fraternally, he was a member of Hiram Lodge. No. 18, F. & A. M.; and in 1853 was a charter member of Delaware Chapter, No. 54, R. A. M., of which he was the first most excellent high priest.
Henry Howard, father of Mrs. Little, was born in the old Griswold Inn, at Worthington, Ohio, and died October 21, 1807, at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, aged 85 years. In his youthful days he attended the common schools and later Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio. He went to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and engaged in the manufacture of paper until the mills there were destroyed by fire, after which he went on the road as a traveling salesman. He married Catherine Thomson, a daughter of William Thomson, of Delaware. The genealogy of the Thomson family is traceable back to one of the ancient clans of Scotland. Seven children bless this union, six of whom grew to maturity, namely: Mary, of Cuyahoga Falls; Catherine, now deceased, formerly wife of J. H. Smith, a hardware merchant of Columbus; Julia Griswold (Little); Fannie, wife of Charles Howland, of Cuyahoga Falls; Elizabeth, who became the second wife of J. H. Smith; Jessie, who died in infancy; and Charles Henry, who resides at the old home in Cuyahoga Falls. Religiously, all were members of the Episcopal Church at Cuyahoga Falls. When Mrs. Little's father enlisted in the Civil War, he left a wife and seven children behind him. His wife, a woman of faith, plucky and very capable, and withal a woman of very attractive appearance, upon learning of her husband's determination to go to the front, remarked: "All right; if it is the Lord's will, it must he so." He sent home all his pay, and during his absence she not only provided for the young and growing family, but saved money enough to buy a house and lot on Broad Street, one of the most beautiful residence streets in Cuyahoga Falls. After living in this home for 40 years, they had the misfortune of being burned out, but the house was immediately rebuilt.
Charles Otis and Julia G. (Howard) Little became parents of three sons, as follows: John Howard, now a resident of Columbus; Charles Stanley, a member of the Class of 1910, in Ohio Weslevan University; and William Henry, a student in the Class of 1912. Religiously, our subject was a devout member nf St. Peter's Episcopal Church, of which he was junior warden for a period of 25 years. A man of the highest Christian character he observed the strictest interpretation of the word "honesty" in his business dealings, and he was not only held in highest esteem, but we may safely say he was without an enemy in the world. Mrs. Little, a woman of culture and charming personality, resides in a beautiful home on West Winter Street.
From 20th Century History of Delaware County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Edited and compiled by James R. Lytle, Delaware, Ohio, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908