Arvine Wales (1785-1854)
Arvine Wales was born on June 10th, 1785, in New Stanford, Vermont. In 1811, he was working in Hartford, Connecticut, and drove 408 Merino sheep over the mountains to Ohio for Thomas Rotch. They traveled at the rate of 12 miles a day at a total cost of $1,847.37-1/2, which included tavern bills for six men, mending the wagon several times, and leather for the sheep muzzles to keep them from eating laurel. These sheep were the foundation for the Kendal Woolen factory and the fortunes of Arvine Wales and Alexander Skinner. While Skinner continued in the wool business, Arvine Wales identified himself with real estate and agriculture.
His first purchase of land was Lot #2 in Kendal in 1812, located on Front Street (now Wales Road), and then a quarter section of land north of Hills and Dales Road in 1816. This property was referred to as the “upper farm” (the house was razed in 1968).
Arvine Wales married Mary Kimberly (1795-1823) on December 31st, 1822. She was hired in 1814 as a housekeeper and personal helper to Charity Rotch. Mary Kimberly Wales died a year after her marriage from complications of childbirth. She passed away on the same day as Thomas Rotch, and a week after her son died. The infant was buried on September 7th, 1823.
At the time of the Rotch’s deaths in 1823 and 1824, Arvine Wales was named one of the executors of the Rotch estate and was gifted $1,000. In addition, Charity Rotch left $12,000 to found a school in Kendal. Arvine was named as Treasurer of the Fund, and he began planning the school.
On January 18th, 1825, he married Ann Foote Baldwin (1791-1828), the widow of Pomeroy Baldwin Sr. of Hudson. She was the grandmother of Frank Lee Baldwin, whose home later became the Massillon Museum and is now part of the Massillon Public Library. Ann had a son from her first marriage, Pomeroy Jr., who was seven years old when Ann and Arvine married.
In 1826, the couple had a child who died due to childbirth complications. Around the same time, Arvine Wales sold 2,000 acres of the Rotch estate to the Friendly Association for Mutual Interests at Kendal, Ohio. This radical and experimental community was an early venture in socialistic living.
Arvine and Ann had a second child, Arvine Chaffee Wales, who was born on May 2nd, 1827. However, the couple faced trouble almost immediately, as Ann became sickly around the spring of 1828. She died on September 21st, 1828, from bilious fever, what we now know as malaria.
In 1829, the Friendly Association for Mutual Interests at Kendal, Ohio, fell apart. As no interest had ever been paid on the mortgages, the Rotch heirs demanded a foreclosure in 1829. With the foreclosure of the Kendal experiment, and after settling the Rotch estate, Arvine Wales purchased Spring Hill and 65 acres from the Rotch family for $6,000. Through his sympathies with the abolitionist movement, nurtured by his Quaker associations, Arvine Wales continued to keep Spring Hill open as a station on the Underground Railroad, continuing in the Rotch’s footsteps.
Around the same time, the Charity School of Kendal was started, and classes began in a service building on Spring Hill’s property. In addition, in 1831, Arvine Wales, James Duncan, and Charles Skinner purchased the former Kendal experiment land together and subsequently developed the 4th Ward as an addition to the Town of Massillon. Together, these men gave two acres of land for “literary purposes”, which would become the site of Longfellow Middle School. (This is now where the Salvation Army stands between 5th and 6th streets behind Five Oaks.)
Arvine married for a third time in 1833 to a widow named Nancy Smith Shepherdson (1791-1854). She was from Palmyra, New York, and often visited her two married daughters, Lydia Teller (James) and Ann Louise (Samuel) Pease, in Massillon. Nancy Wales was responsible for promoting the education of her stepson, Arvine Chaffee, and for the well-known hospitality of the house.
In 1844, the new Charity School of Kendal schoolhouse was finished. Despite being busy at Spring Hill, Arvine Wales never missed a day visiting the Charity School, and he increased the fund from $12,000 to $40,000 during his lifetime. Additionally, the Massillon Union School opened in 1848, and Arvine Wales served on the Board of Education as Treasurer.
Arvine Wales would die on January 1, 1854, at the age of 69. The Massillon News of 1854 gives a long obituary on the death of Arvine Wales. It states that “without much education by close study and application he made himself one of the most intelligent and practical men in this section of Ohio. He was social in his habits and kind and hospitable. He entertained his friends at his fireside with such plainness and simple-hearted kindness as to assure a stranger even a cordial welcome. In him the oppressed and down-trodden had a firm friend as many a fleeing bondman can testify.”
Perrins’ History of Stark County, written in 1881, states “Whatever may be due Charity Rotch for her gift for the education of the poor and needy, all of which will ever be gratefully acknowledged, the name and memory of Arvine Wales will ever be kindly and affectionately remembered in connection with the cause of education not only for his guarding the fund upon which the Charity School is based but for his devotion to the cause of popular education during his long and useful life. The Union School of Massillon and the Charity School of Kendal are monuments which bear the impression of his care and watchfulness.”
After his death in 1854, his son, Arvine Chaffee Wales, took over many of his father’s roles.
Arvine Chaffee Wales (1827-1882)
Arvine Chaffee received his higher education at Woodward College of Cincinnati in 1844-46, then read law and was admitted to the Cleveland bar in 1848. He graduated Harvard Law School in 1849, and at once entered upon a successful practice of law.
Arvine Chaffee abandoned his law career in 1854 upon the death of his father (Arvine I) which brought him into the possession and care of a large estate, the Spring Hill homestead containing nearly one thousand acres of the best farming land in Stark County. He had been President of the Stark County Agricultural Society for several years, and from 1879 until his death was a member of the State Board of Agriculture, where he was instrumental in establishing the crop reports, farmers’ institutes, and other progressive work of the board.
Much like his father, Arvine Chaffee was a great friend of education, and himself fundraised the money with which the Union School of Massillon was built. For twenty-eight years he had been a director and treasurer of the Charity School of Kendal.
Arvine Chaffee was elected to the State Senate in 1870, filling the unexpired term of Gen. Potts, and was re-elected a member of the 60th Assembly, serving his district in the Senate in 1871-72, and was prominent in educational, agricultural, and railway legislation. In 1873 he was a prominent candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress, and in ’75 was prominently mentioned for Lieutenant Governor.
On December 28, 1864, he married Eliza A. Weimer Robinson, with whom he had three children: Helen (Nell), Arvine III, and Horatio Watson Wales. He fell into a long, painful illness induced by a sun-stroke in the harvest field in 1881, which confined him to his bed for nearly two months. He passed away at his Spring Hill home on July 26, 1882.
Eliza Ann Weimer Wales (1839-1914)
Eliza Ann Weimer was born in Marshallville, Ohio on December 28, 1839. Her father, John Martin Weimer, was an immigrant from Alsace, France who came to America in 1833. He quickly became a successful cabinet maker and joiner (He made the sofa in the parlor of Spring Hill as a gift to Eliza). Mr. Weimer married Susanna Holser in 1836, and had seven children: Sarah, Susanna, Eliza, Martin, John, Jacob, and Ida. Three of the children did not survive past infancy, leaving Eliza as the eldest sister to John, Jacob, and Ida.
Her first husband was William H. Robinson, of Canal Fulton. William came from a prominent merchant family but he would pass away suddenly in 1860 at the age of 28. A few years later, Eliza, as a young and beautiful widow, met Arvine Chaffee Wales. Until that point Arvine Chaffee had been a confirmed bachelor. But thereafter was head-over-heels for “Lida,” as he called her. They were married in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on Eliza’s 25th birthday in 1864, and honeymooned in Washington, D.C. – a popular destination at the time.
Eliza was an excellent match for Arvine Chaffee. Her strong affection for her home, for Massillon and her friends, mixed with her good nature and hospitable attitude were among her many endearing characteristics. Her interests varied from horticulture, to opera, to a good game of cards. She had a keen mind for management and was directly involved with the affairs of Spring Hill farm as well as the Massillon community. After the death of A. C. Wales in 1882, Eliza was left in charge of the farm and to care for their three children, Helen, Arvine III, and Horatio.
In 1890, the family left the Spring Hill home and moved to San Leandro, California, for about two years. Horatio had been quite sick and this move was partly for his health, and partly to avoid costly repairs to the house. Possessions were stored in the wool house and in some rooms of the main house. Tenant farmers lived in the home, using the basement kitchen and family dining room, the upstairs dining room and parlor. The remainder of the house was closed.
When the family returned from California they lived in Massillon on the northeast corner of Lincoln Way East and Sixth Street (Main and High Streets). They would live there until Helen married Robert Skinner, and Arvine III married Edna McClymonds. Eliza then divided her time between Arvine III’s residence at Spring Hill and Helen’s various homes in Europe. While visiting with Helen and Robert in Hamburg, Germany, Eliza became gravely ill and passed away on April 24, 1914. She was laid to rest in the family plot at Massillon Cemetery.
Helen “Nell” Wales Skinner (1868-1956)
Helen Wales (Skinner) was born on November 16th, 1868, the eldest child of Arvine Chaffee and Eliza Wales. In 1869, her brother Arvine III was born. Growing up at Spring Hill, she had a very comfortable childhood and bounced between her brother Arvine III, “Auntie” Lydia Teller, and her mother, Eliza, for affection and fun. However, it seems that she was most fond of playing with and spending time with her father, Arvine Chaffee, whom she wrote about most.
Together they would go fishing, explore in the woods, read books, and had many adventures in the playhouse that Arvine Chaffee had built for her. Helen would also help Arvine Chaffee deliver snacks and drinks to the many farmers working on the farm, among many other activities. She also enjoyed music, and Arvine Chaffee and Eliza even bought her a piano, which sits in the Parlor.
After Arvine Chaffee’s passing in 1882, Helen was deeply affected and began to have trouble in school. She also became quite ill in 1884. At that time, Eliza sent her away to Clifton Springs, New York, to finish her schooling. Upon finishing school, she would return to Spring Hill and be present when Eliza moved the family to California, where they would remain until 1892.
Upon their return to Massillon, Helen would marry Robert Peet Skinner in June 1897. He was a native of Massillon and was editor of the Evening Independent from 1886 until 1897. However, soon after marriage, he began a diplomatic career.
Robert Skinner served as consul and consul-general at Marseilles, France, from 1897 to 1908. In 1903, he was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as commissioner to negotiate a treaty between the U.S. and Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). The expedition was one of this country’s earliest attempts to introduce U.S. products and costumes to a foreign country, and resulted in a treaty establishing direct trade. Robert Skinner appointed Dr. A. Per Lee Pease of Massillon as surgeon and general medical officer, and Helen’s brother Horatio Wales as secretary.
He also served as Consul-General at Hamburg, Germany, 1908-1914; at Berlin, Germany, January 1914-July 20, 1914; at London, 1914-1924; at Paris, France, 1924-1926. From 1926-1931, Mr. Skinner served as minister to Greece, and from 1931-1933, as minister to Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania with headquarters at Riga. He was appointed ambassador to Turkey in 1933 and served there until his retirement in 1939.
Throughout Robert’s travels around the world, Helen kept a very detailed journal, documenting her travels, the many people she met, and the places she visited. As Helen lived in Paris, France, for most of her adult life, her siblings, Arvine III and Horatio, often visited her. Many times, Helen would send the families back with gifts she had picked up. Many of them can be seen in the Library at Spring Hill.
Upon Robert’s retirement from the Foreign Office in 1939, the Skinners would return to the United States and move to Belfast, Maine. Helen Wales Skinner would pass away on January 26th, 1956. Robert Skinner would pass away on July 1st, 1960.
Arvine Wales III (1869-1935)
Arvine Wales III was born on October 21st, 1869, the middle child of Arvine Chaffee and Eliza Wales. Like his sister, Helen, Arvine III had a very comfortable childhood. Besides playing with family and friends, he also had a pet goat that would go with him everywhere on the farm for many years. Like his sister, he also enjoyed playing outside and helping Arvine Chaffee manage Spring Hill.
Arvine III was sent away to Williston Seminary in Easthampton, Massachusetts, in 1886 and would later attend Yale, where he was during the time the family was in California. Arvine III would rejoin the family upon their return to Massillon in 1892. He would live there until 1900, when he married Edna McClymonds.
Like his father, Arvine Chaffee, Arvine III was very well educated and connected with Massillon’s growth and industrialization. He was also very busy with these ventures. He first found work in Massillon as the cashier of the Massillon Saving and Banking Company. After becoming wealthy, he and Edna had a large house built on the upper hill at Spring Hill, which was completed in 1903. There, Arvine III also began to manage the Farm and Dairy at that time. Arvine III later became connected with the Russell Engine Company. When the company merged with the Griscom-Spencer Company of New Jersey in 1912, Arvine III became the Treasurer and General Manager of the entire Griscom-Russell Company.
Arvine III and Edna Wales had a very large family, having six children: Elizabeth, Martha, Ruth, Helen, Arvine IV, and Walter. Living on the same property as Horatio and Irene, Arvine III’s family often visited Spring Hill, and many photographs show Horatio entertaining them with some of his famous dinners. Unfortunately, Arvine III’s home burned down in 1923. The family then moved to Ossining, New York. They also had a winter home in Yeaman’s Hall, Charleston, South Carolina, and a summer home at Saturday Cover, Northport, Maine.
Eventually, some of his family would move back to Spring Hill. One of his daughters, Elizabeth, would move to Upper Hill when she married Robert Per Lee McLain. Together, they had a large brick house built, which can still be seen further up the hill from the original house. Later, Edna would join Elizabeth there until her passing in 1955.
Horatio Watson Wales (1880-1952)
Horatio Watson Wales was born on July 15th, 1880, the third child of Arvine Chaffee and Eliza Wales. Horatio grew up in a different environment than his siblings, Helen and Arvine III, as his father, Arvine Chaffee, died in 1882 when Horatio was only 2. When he was 10, his mother, Eliza, would move the family to San Leandro, where her in-laws lived. Returning to Massillon in 1892, Horatio grew up in Massillon at another home that Eliza had purchased, not Spring Hill.
After attending school in Massillon, Horatio attended University School in Cleveland and graduated from Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University in 1903. After graduating from college, he traveled with his brother-in-law, Robert Skinner, and spent a year as Secretary to the American Commission to Abyssinia (Ethiopia). He would be decorated with the Order of the Star of Ethiopia.
Returning to America in 1903, Horatio spent the next four years in the oil fields and on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. He returned to Spring Hill in 1907 and began remodeling the house, as there was no central heating, electricity, or plumbing. Horatio also took a course in agriculture at the Ohio State University that year to learn more about farm management.
After finishing school and the remodel of Spring Hill, Horatio married Irene McLain in October 1910. While he managed Spring Hill Farm, he was more interested in other ventures, such as banking, and was connected to the First National Bank between 1915 and 1917. At that time, he enlisted in the United States Army and entered an officer’s training camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, in 1917 and became a first lieutenant of field artillery. Horatio served in the Headquarters company of the 322nd Field Artillery, 158th Brigade, 83rd Division. Horatio would be sent to France, where he would participate in the Hundred Days Offensive, the last major Allied advance of the First World War.
Soon after returning to civilian life in 1919, he joined a group of other veterans in founding Massillon Post No. 221 of the American Legion, where he was a charter member and served as the second commander. Horatio also returned to his banking and investing roots and became connected with the C.W. Stuart Co. between 1920 and 1923.
Horatio also managed Spring Hill Farm, but saw it more as a place of sport, as the property had many trails, creeks, and woods to adventure in. Horatio took pride in personally hunting big game on the grounds and would often host large functions at which he served what he had hunted. Family and friends remember the hospitality of the home and the sometimes unusual meals served there. Horatio and Irene also traveled around Europe, visiting his sister Helen and her husband Robert, as well as his brother Arvine III and his wife Edna in New York.
By the 1930s, Horatio began to hunt less extensively and had the Dog Kennel, which was further up the hill, brought closer to the house for easier access. Around the 1940s, Horatio’s health began to decline, and he traveled less. However, he still entertained his friends and family to the best of his ability. Horatio Wales would pass away in 1952.
Irene McLain Wales (1886-1973)
Irene McLain Wales was born August 23rd, 1886, the eldest daughter of Clarence and Annie McLain. The McLains were one of the area’s oldest families, but Irene’s family had moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, before her birth. They relocated back to Massillon while she was a child, where Clarence was an entrepreneur and banker.
Irene came to Spring Hill as a bride in 1910. Her aunt, Mary McLain Russell, offered her the choice of a big wedding or a financial gift, and she chose a spectacular wedding with Horatio Wales. The wedding took place at the Massillon Social Club, now Mt. Cavalry Baptist Church, on Fourth Street.
Early on, Irene tried to show interest in Horatio’s sports and hobbies (hunting, fishing, etc.), but the only one she really enjoyed was horseback riding. She was also not interested in the family’s history, Spring Hill Farm, or the house, and even watched as farmers, who were cleaning up the property and barns, destroy old farm equipment and burn documents.
In the 1920s, Irene was still not very interested in Spring Hill’s history until she found a collection of letters and documents at the Wool House from Thomas and Charity Rotch, including the George Duncan Letter. Immediately understanding the importance of the materials, Irene started and never stopped her efforts to read, file, and research the Rotch-Wales families. Irene spent a great deal of time in the east researching the Rotch’s and her own family, traveling to Philadelphia, New Bedford, Nantucket, Boston, and Worcester, Massachusetts. She also realized that many of the destroyed items from 1910 were important, such as Thomas Rotches’ original carriage from 1820.
By the 1930s, Horatio and Irene began to travel often, visiting Arvine III’s family in Maine, as well as Robert and Helen Skinner in Greece. Later, on another trip to Europe, they visited the Skinners in their Paris home. Horatio and Irene also went on many hunting and fishing trips, and one fall rode through Glacier Park on horseback with Ralf McLain, her brother, who was a Park Ranger. Irene did enjoy herself more on these trips than before.
Following Horatio’s passing in 1952, Irene began to wonder what she was going to do with the materials and the research that she had done on the Rotch and Wales families. She decided to have them preserved and invited collegiate students to come and look through her research.
She did this in 1963 after her eyesight began to fail and she could no longer work on the papers. Instead, Irene served on the Massillon Museum Board of Trustees, promoted tours, cataloging, classes, and exhibits, and was intensely interested in the whole museum program. She was also a charter member of the Massillon Women’s Club and an active member of St. Timothy’s Church, promoting Spring Hill at these bodies.
The Rotch-Wales papers collection was an excellent resource, and Irene assisted numerous college students and academics with writing themes and theses. The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., also sent representatives to Spring Hill to gather information, and Swarthmore College dedicated an entire research project to Quakers. Six different historical societies across the country requested that Mrs. Wales give them this collection of papers, but she gave it to the Massillon Public Library with funds for its care.
At Spring Hill, Irene had a life lease to live in the home, but the home belonged to the heirs. In 1963, the remaining approximately 450 acres and the house were sold at auction as no family member wanted the home, and the property was too much to manage. The land and home were purchased by three individuals from Canton, who planned to develop the property. At the initiative of a Museum board member, the Massillon Museum Foundation, Inc., was formed in 1966 to purchase the home and 12 acres of land. Irene was pleased that the board wished to preserve her home, and she contributed $35,000 for the purchase of the house; the board members raised the remaining $40,000.
With Spring Hill’s finances under control, Irene changed her will in 1969, leaving most of her estate to the Foundation, as she trusted them to care for and operate the home. Irene would pass away in 1973. In 2006, the Massillon Museum Foundation became Spring Hill Historic Home, with a focus on preserving Spring Hill, just as Irene intended.
Archival Photo Restoration Courtesy of Jennifer L. Bachtel