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ultraheydudemestuff · 1 month ago

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Levi Scofield House

2438 Mapleside Rd.

Cleveland, OH

In Cleveland, Ohio, Levi Tucker Scofield, the man who designed the 125-foot tall Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Public Square in 1894 to Cleveland's Civil War heroes and built the Scofield Building in 1902 on the southwest corner of Euclid Avenue and East Ninth Street which is being restored, also built a mansion at 2438 Mapleside Road in the city's Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood. Sitting for the last 117 years, hardly anyone notices it today. And, sadly, it is slowly crumbling into ruins. Scofield was a third-generation Clevelander, born in 1842 on Walnut Street, near today's downtown intersection of East Ninth and Superior Avenue. His grandfather Benjamin, a carpenter, came to Cleveland from the state of New York in 1816, and built some of the early-era buildings in what is now the city's downtown. Levi's father William followed in the family business, likewise becoming a carpenter and also a builder who contributed to the early building up of downtown Cleveland. In the 1850s, William purchased property on the southwest corner of Erie (East Ninth) and Euclid Avenue, and in about 1861 built a boarding house there, which also served as his family's residence. Growing up in such a family, it is not surprising that Levi decided to become an architect.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Levi Scofield, just 19 years old, left Cleveland to fight for the North. He joined the 103rd Regiment as a private, but was soon commissioned a second lieutenant. By the War's end, he had risen to the rank of Captain. In 1865, he returned to Cleveland and began his career as an architect. His work covered a wide range of building types. He designed mansions for Euclid Avenue millionaires. He also designed school buildings--including the Central High School building on Wilson Avenue (East 55th Street) in 1877. He was an early architect of penitentiary buildings, creating the plans for the Athens, Ohio Lunatic Asylum (1868)--today, housing the Kennedy Museum of Art at Ohio University, the North Carolina State Penitentiary (1870), and the Ohio State Reformatory at Mansfield (1886). Scofield also designed monuments--not just the famous Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Cleveland Public Square (1894), but also--and perhaps just as important to his national reputation, the 'These Are My Jewels' monument for the State of Ohio that was featured at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. And, of course, he designed office buildings, including the downtown Scofield Building.

In the 1890s, as the Euclid Avenue corridor in downtown Cleveland was transforming into a commercial district, Levi Scofield decided to move from what had been his boyhood neighborhood of Erie (East Ninth) Street and Euclid Avenue, to the "country"--the southeast side of Cleveland, near today's intersection of Quincy Avenue and Woodhill Road. There on a bluff overlooking the Fairmount Reservoir--which was then a picturesque body of water, he purchased six plus acres of land and designed and built a beautiful residence for his family. The three-story, stone-facade Victorian style house with over 6,000 square feet of living space was completed in 1898. Scofield resided there until his death in 1917.

After the death of Levi Scofield, his family remained in the house until 1925, when it was sold to the Cleveland Catholic Diocese. For the next thirty years, the Scofield mansion served as a chapel, a mission headquarters, and as a convent for the Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity. In 1955, the Sisters sold the property, and the mansion became a nursing home--first Mapleside Nursing and then Baldwin Manor, until approximately 1990, when it closed. Since that time, the mansion has been vacant and has experienced neglect and disrepair. Now nearly 120 years old, the Levi Scofield mansion is on the brink of demolition. There has been much talk in recent years about the Opportunity Corridor and what that new roadway might bring to the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood on Cleveland's southeast side, where this mansion still stands. Whether the new corridor will be built in time to bring new opportunity to the historic Levi Scofield Mansion, though, is anyone's guess.

Located in in Cleveland’s Woodhill neighborhood, this 1898 home of sculptor and architect Levi T. Scofield sits on a bluff over-looking the city. While this home is both architecturally and historically significant, it is also severely deteriorated having sat vacant for over two decades and was slated for demolition. The City of Cleveland’s Building and Housing Department reached out to Cleveland Restoration Society regarding the property which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 2019. After evaluating the home, CRS quickly assembled an expert task force of local real estate and development professionals to secure and stabilize the property. To date, CRS has been instrumental in having the property donated to the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, orchestrating the release of liens, and initiating over $200,000 of donated construction services.

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the-record-columns · 8 years ago

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Feb. 22, 2017: Columns

…and the box it came in

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a road trip I took with my friend, Carl White, who, for the past six or seven years, has produced and hosted Life in the Carolinas, a syndicated television show.

During the trip we were searching for an item of TV trivia for Carl's friend Tom Isenhour of Salisbury who has been collecting for years. The premise being that if we found something he didn't have, that would in and of itself be unusual. Well, we found a child's Davy Crockett outfit that Tom did not have, he was well pleased, and Carl and I succeeded in our mission.

But, what Tom did have, was an original box for it, which he had bought some years earlier and put away for the day when he would find its contents. Which, of course, brings us to this week, and the promised follow-up about boxes.

Collecting things brings out all kinds of minutiae for folks who are trying to make a set of something. Stamp collecting is the best example. There must be a 25 different things that can change the value or the cataloging of any given stamp, from something as obvious as whether it is new of used, down to how many perforations it has on each side. Personally I am content to just have one to go in my album, because, as I like to say, it is just as much fun and takes about the same time to find the spot for a stamp worth a penny as it does for a rarity.

Boxes, however, are something I hadn't really thought about until after our trip to see Tom Isenhour's collection. Then I remembered that a few folks who visited the poor man's museum here at The Record's offices and have tried to buy a box which is full of old calendars and other miscellaneous items. Now understand, they didn't want what I had in the box, just the box itself, which reads on the side “Remington Standard Typewriter.” It is a wooden crate, not in very good shape, but it was pointed out to me that you can find an old typewriters at every antique store or flea market you go to, but the boxes just do not exist. The got thrown away, or used for kindling.

So I began looking around the shop and realized that I had managed to pick up several good boxes—all of which are empty—and are all harder to find than what came in them. Among them are a large Stetson hat box which was given to me by Sarah Payne Absher and her sister Betty Chloe, whose parents operated Payne Clothing in North Wilkesboro from forever till the early 1960s. I also have an old hat box from Spainhours, a retail fixture in Wilkes and surrounding counties for over 100 years, courtesy of Syd Spainhour, as well as a box for Her Majesty lingerie and sleepwear, also from Spainhours. I don't know where it came from, but I also found a Madame Alexander doll box for “Mary, Mary #451”, while empty, it is in good condition—perhaps Carl will read this and find me a Mary-Mary.

As I looked around, there are assorted wooden crates and boxes for everything from axe blades, to Winchester ammunition, Western's World Famous ammunition, Waters Extra Fine Sugar, Kraft cheese, Brunswick talking machines, and even a crate for Empire nuts, bolts and rivets from Port Chester, New York. These, like the typewriter box, make excellent displays as well as conversation pieces.

I'll finish with small appliances, all of which have the item in question still inside. There are two electric irons; a Betty Crocker steam version as well as a Graybar quick heating iron. The Graybar iron's box had wooden wedges glued inside at one end to keep it from sliding around in the box. There is a Hamilton Beach juicer attachment for their Model H mixer and my personal favorite, a Presto Hot-Dogger—not just still in the box, but a never opened box at that. The only way you can get an idea about what it looks like is from the illustration on the cover.

No, it doesn't take too much to make me happy.

I now suppose that the collectors addendum to “Do you want fries with that?” will have to become, “Do you have the box it came in?”

“Nevertheless, she persisted…”

HEATHER DEAN Reporter/ Photo Journalist

When I was about 7 years old, I remember playing in the yard at my grandmother’s house with my boy cousins, and one of their friends. So there we were, making believe, and I decided I was going to be the doctor. “You can’t be the doctor” my cousin’s friend said. “You’re a girl.” Neither I nor my boy cousins understood. “She can be whatever she wants” my younger cousin said, and that was that.

I did ask my mom about it later, because it never occurred to me that I “couldn’t” or that as a girl I was limited in any aspect. I was curious to know what “because you’re a girl” meant. The women in my family were strong, independent and secure in whom they were. It never occurred to me that my mother, her sisters, either of my grandmothers or any girl I knew for that matter, would ever be questioned in their endeavors. Especially either of my grandmothers- they were the first role models I had.

So when I asked my mom about the event she laughed and said that yes, some people felt it was a man’s world, but that with hard work and persistence, anyone could be anything they wanted to be. Take my mothers mother:

My grandmother, Betty Jane, was the Matriarch, and clearly always the one in charge. She served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Nurse Corps during WWII. She was one of the first women in her unit to get a pilots license. The man behind the desk told her women didn’t need to learn to fly, that’s what the male pilot was for. She persisted saying (and I quote) “I’m not going down in this plane and loosing my patients cause the pilot gets his ass shot. I will learn to fly.” Turns out, this is how my grandfather and grandmother met. He was in line behind her and saw the whole exchange, and promptly fell in love with the tenacious redhead. .She stayed in the medical profession after the war. .She was appointed as the first woman in North Carolina to the position of State Commander of the VFW1996-1997, and I stood and watched dumbfounded as Elizabeth Dole, and other notable people waited in line asked for my grandmother’s autograph at that event in Greensboro, NC. She was a life member of the National VFW, the National American Legion and the National AMVETS organization. She traveled all over the country to meetings for veterans. In the case of her grandchildren, she could stop you with a look, and we knew we were in trouble when the words “Oh for Pete’s sake!” came out of her mouth. Needless to say, this tiny 4 foot 11 inch tall Irish woman was a force to be reckoned with, as were my mother and her sisters. (In case you ever wondered where my sister and I, or my girls get it from.)

Looking back, I believe it was on that day I was instilled with my mother’s love of history. All genres, but specifically “herstory.” I learned about the suffragettes, and take my right to vote seriously and with gratitude; Grandmother Moses, who understood as much as Lady Liberty how important freedom was; Dolly Madison saving the Whitehouse; Victoria Woodhill, who in 1872 became the first woman to run for president; Amelia Earhart, who did the unthinkable in her time; and for whom my youngest is named; Joan of Arc, who raised a literal army and died for what she believed in; Frankie Silver, the first woman hanged in North Carolina for the murder of her physically abusive husband; Lilith; the first woman God created for Adam in the Garden of Eden, but who was too insubordinate (read: persistent) for the man; the list goes on, women’s right movements from the beginning of time, to the battles we still fight for our individual rights. My mom had her share of bra-burning-fight-the-the institution- hippie-chick stories, always persisting in her own right. For instance: even though Roe v. Wade had been passed in 1973, she was ridiculed by the women in the church when she decided to get her tubes tied in the 80’s after her third child, because apparently, that was a form of abortion and surely God would not approve of a woman taking control of her body like that.

But the 80’s was a long time ago, right? Women have come so far, becoming Doctors, Presidents of foreign countries, Senators, Congresswomen, CEO’s, Heads of State even. And yet, here it is, 17 years into a new millennium, and an esteemed Senator Elizabeth Warren, a professor of law and prominent scholar, was shushed by a man while speaking on the senate floor. What makes this even more ludicrous is that male senators before, and immediately after her, spoke the same words, reading from a three-decade-old letter from Dr Martin Luther King's widow, Coretta Scott King, then regarding Mr. Sessions being considered for federal district court judge in 1986, and pertaining to President Trump's pick for attorney general . Warren is now forbidden from participating in the floor debate over Sessions' nomination ahead of a confirmation vote. She has literally been silenced. Why? As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. Kentucky) so eloquently put it "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted."

Well, if I had chosen to believe that same kind of rhetoric when I was 7 Mr. McConnell, I would never have become the history making, award winning woman I am. Count me in as a rebel for the cause. . Mind you, I am by no means a feminist. I don’t think I’ve ever needed to be. I’ve always known I was just as good as anyone else, and time and again I’ve proved it to my self and others. I suspect it was all because of the fierce tenacity, sometimes stubborness, and persistence that continue to be handed down through the women in my mother’s lineage. That being said, I am also aware that not everyone is as fortunate as I am, to have such a strong, positive female influence in their lives. I also count myself beyond lucky that the men in my family have been secure enough to love, adore, and walk beside these women, blessed to be their chosen equals. Nevertheless, I will persist in helping those in my gender find their voice. I will persist in the “liberties and freedoms we hold so dear”. I will persist and “hold these truths to be self evident.” I will persist that we are “one nation… indivisible… with liberty and justice for all.” I will persist, and I will not be silenced.

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Practicing mindfulness

By LAURA WELBORN

On my journey to be more mindful in my life I attended a mindfulness workshop.

Research is showing that our brain becomes stronger and gives us the ability to rewire when we practice mindful activities. In as little as eight weeks our brain becomes thicker and develops neuroplasticity.

So how do we train our brain?

By practicing.

When we walk and let our brain just enjoy the moment, when we focus and become more intentional in what we do and when we are non-judgmental and act with kindness and compassion. Ringing a bell in our mind is to pause before we speak and ask ourselves:

Is it true? The right time to speak? Helpful to others? Kind?

The most powerful weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. Train your mind to see the good in everything.

Being positive and seeing the good does not mean ignoring the negative. Being positive and seeing the good means overcoming the negative. Next time you have a thought that is stressing you out, ask yourself these four questions that adapted from philosophical research by Alan Watts and Byron Katie:

Is this thought true? – This question can change your life. Be still and ask yourself if the thought you’re dealing with is true.

Can I be absolutely, 100 percent certain that it’s true? – This is another opportunity to open your mind and to go deeper into the unknown, to find the answers that live beneath what you think you know. Think about some contrasting possibilities beyond the narrow viewpoint of this one stressful thought.

How do I feel when I think this thought? – With this question, you begin to notice internal cause and effect. You can see that when you believe the thought, there is a disturbance that can range from mild discomfort to outright panic and fear. What do you feel? How do you treat the situation (or person) you’re thinking about, how do you treat yourself, when you believe that thought?

Who would I be, and what would I do differently, if I were not thinking this thought? – Imagine yourself in your situation (or in the presence of that person), without believing the thought. How would your life be different if you didn’t have the ability to even think this stressful thought? How would you feel? What else would you see? Which do you prefer – life with or without the thought? Which feels more peaceful and productive?

When you change your thoughts, you can choose your response and not react negatively to what we think is happening.

Stay tuned as I learn more about Mindfulness… Laura Welborn, Mediator

The Recorded Deed to Jerusalem

By EARL COX

Days after UNSC Resolution 2334 condemned Israeli settlements in the “occupied Palestinian territory” of Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation under international law” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat issued a strong rebuke: The mayor and his planning-committee director announced the committee’s intent to approve building 618 previously planned housing units in East Jerusalem—a first step toward an additional 5,600 units in the city. “I’m not ever going to stop building. No construction will be stopped by me as mayor,” he said. While the Obama administration harmed its ally by strengthening its enemies, if President Trump holds to his promises perhaps things will change going forward but there is already talk of backpedaling.

Barkat is “politically correct” in the most positive sense of the phrase. He is also legally and historically correct. In property disputes over land ownership, lawyers search property records for deeds, liens and related issues in order to identify the real legal owner(s). They also use mandatory “discovery” to demand that the opposing party provide all relevant documents, inspections and depositions that pertain to the dispute. In the courtroom, the presiding judge determines whether the proceedings and evidence of both sides are represented in a fair and balanced way.

The U.S. abstention of Resolution 2334 and John Kerry’s specious rhetoric laying out his two-state agenda were mockeries of the these basic processes and premises of justice. As further evidence of’ the resolution’s shaky legal grounds, it conflicts with tenets of international law in the Palestine Mandate, UNSC Resolution 242, the Oslo Accords and Camp David Summit.

The Bible clearly defines ancient boundary lines and one of the oldest title deeds in the world is recorded in the Tanach, where King David purchased the future site of the Jewish Temple from Araunah the Jebusite for 600 gold shekels. David’s son, King Solomon built the First Temple on that site. There’s ample additional biblical, archeological, religious and historical evidence of Israel’s abiding connection to Jerusalem that pre-dates Palestinian claims. The Jews governed Israel for a thousand years, and lived there continuously for the past 3,300 years. According to Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs researcher Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem was the Jewish capital during that time, never a capital of any Arab or Islamic entity.

Despite Israel and the Jewish people’s deep and abiding historical, cultural and religious connection to Jerusalem, the Palestinians, who began to define themselves as a people only about 100 years ago, insist they will never sign a peace deal that does not include Israel’s surrender of East Jerusalem, including the Old City and the Temple Mount. (Under international law, this area is disputed, not “occupied.”) Meanwhile, the Palestinians continue to deny Israel’s right to exist and incite violence and terrorism against her. As Dr. Joel Fishman wrote, “It is simply not possible to build [a state] on a foundation of myth and ignorance.”

Mayor Barkat and many others rightly discerned the previous administration in Washington D.C. as being anti-Israel long before Resolution 2334 reared its ugly head. Over the past eight years the U.S. has pressured Israel to halt “illegal” Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem. In recent years Barkat slammed the Obama Administration for criticizing Israel’s plans to expand the suburb of Ma'aleh Adumim—an effort to provide affordable housing in the over-crowded capitol. "I don't know of any city in the world whose regulator is the U.S. president," the mayor remarked. Efrat Mayor and pro-settler leader Oded Revivi added, “Israeli building policies are set in Jerusalem, not New York.” Based on the latest news reports, it now appears that the Trump Administration are starting to sideways waffle on the topic of settlements. Let’s hope these news reports are mistaken as they so often have been.

What country doesn’t have the right to its unified capital, and to develop and build it? I pray the Trump Administration will focus its efforts at the United Nations against terror and stand strong on Israel’s side against any and all attempts to delegitimize the only democracy in the Middle East.

Three Presidents and a possibility

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolinas

The Carolinas have undisputed claim to three U.S. presidents and the possibility of a fourth. And as with all good southern stories intrigue is not lacking.

I have written about our seventh president, Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, before, and he was certainly born in the Carolinas - the question being, which one, North or South? Both states have people with strong feelings about their side of the line. He was born March 15, 1767, and served as president between 1829-1837. Jackson was also known as the first “Citizen President.”

Jackson earned the nickname of Old Hickory for good reason, life was hard, his father died when he was 2 and his mother died when he was 14. His military activity started in his early teens as a courier during the American Revolutionary War, at which time he was captured and abused by the British Army. It is said that he refused to blacken the boots of his British captures.

A young Jackson would eventually leave the Carolinas for Tennessee and in 1801 that he would be appointed Colonel in the Tennessee militia and his political life would begin. His journey to the White House is legendary and so are his two terms as president.

Jackson would make the Hermitage, near Nashville, Tenn., his home and he would die there peacefully at the age of 78.

It was during the Jackson Presidency that Arkansas and Michigan would join the Union.

Our 11th President, James K. Polk, also a Democrat, was born Nov. 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg County, N.C. He served as president from 1845-1849.

Unlike President Jackson, President Polk had the benefit of a strong father and mother that inspired the values of patriotism, religious faith and a strong interest in politics.

At the age of 11, the Polk family homestead was sold and they moved to join his grandfather in Tennessee. Polk would return to North Carolina in January 1816 as a sophomore admitted to the University of North Carolina which at the time was a school with around 80 students. Polk would graduate with honors May 1818.

After graduation Polk returned to Nashville to study law and over the next few years he would serve in a variety of ways and would run for and win the seat for U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee’s 6th congressional District in 1825, in 1827 Polk was reelected to congress.

It was in 1828 that Jackson ran for President again, Polk would advise Jackson on campaign matters and after the Jackson victory Polk would support the new administrations position in Congress.

Polk would become Speaker of the House where he would continue to work for the Jackson policies. Polk worked to create a more peaceful environment in the House and unlike Jackson and many others he never challenged anyone to a duel for insulting his honor. Polk is the only U.S. President to have served as Speaker of the U.S.p House of Representatives.

Polk would leave Washington for a while and serve as Tennessee Governor from Oct. 14, 1839 – October 15, 1841.

After an interesting campaign and commitment to only serve one term, James K. Polk would return to Washington and become the 11th president of the United States on March 4, 1845 at the age of 49, the youngest president of his time.

After his term as President he returned to Tennessee and died of cholera only three months later June 15, 1849.

During his term as President the states of Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin joined the union.

Our 17th President, Andrew Johnson, still another Democrat, was born December 29, 1808 in Raleigh. He served as president from 1865-1869. Johnson differed from President Jackson and President Polk as he did not run for the office of President of the United States and he did not pursue a law or military career.

Johnson was on the Lincoln ticket as Vice President and assumed the office because of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

His family was poor and he started out as an apprentice to a tailor in 1822. While he was still 17, he set out for Tennessee and in 1827 he married 16-year-old Eliza McCardle, who was the daughter of a local cobbler in Greenville Tenn. It would be his new wife that would teach Johnson how to read and write.

Johnson’s public service and political career started as an Alderman in 1803 and then Mayor of Greenville Tenn., then he served in the U.S. House of Representatives and went on to be elected Governor of Tennessee from 1853-1857.

In 1864 President Lincoln, would make a change from the Republican party and run for reelection under the National Union Party. Johnson was added to the ballot for Vice President and the campaign would turn in Lincoln’s favor later in September. Lincoln defeated George McClellan in the November 1864, electon.

Johnson would be sworn in as vice president on March 4, 1865. Vice President Johnson would become President Johnson on April 15, 1865.

With the end of the Civil War and being faced with Reconstruction and the mending of a nation President Johnson would have few days that were less then enormously challenging.

On Feb. 24, 1868, President Johnson, would become the first U.S. President to face impeachment proceedings. He was charged with violations of the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson was successful in maneuvering for an acquittal and after three months, it was close, with only one vote in his favor that lead to a not guilty ruling. President Johnson was acquitted; however, he was unable to secure the Democrats presidential nomination in 1868.

During the Johnson Presidency, Nebraska would join the Union.

The Abraham Lincoln National Historical Park is in LaRue County, Ky. It is stated that Abraham Lincoln was born there in a one room log cabin on Feb. 12, 1809. However, that is not the only location that claims to be the birth place of Abraham Lincoln.

We discovered The Bostic Lincoln Center in Rutherford County NC and it is their opinion that there is evidence that the 16th President of the United States may have been born on Puzzle Creek in Rutherford County, N.C.

As the story goes a woman by the name of Nancy Hanks (Lincoln’s mother’s name) was a “bound out” servant girl to the Abraham Enloe family in Rutherford County. It is said that while in care of the Enloe’s, Nancy would become pregnant and Enloe’s wife suspected that her husband may have been the cause of the new development.

In short, things become very stressful for everyone involved. Abraham Enloe’s wife’s anger increased with the birth of the Nancy’s boy child. Wanting to find peace Abraham struck a deal with Tom Lincoln, for $500, to take Nancy Hanks and the boy child away.

The question of President Lincoln’s place of birth and his real father has been subject of conversation and debate from a time before his presidency.

We do have a Carolina link to Lincoln that seems to be undisputed. The presidential couple who were together for almost 50 years, Andrew Johnson and Eliza McCardle, were married by Justice of the Peace Mordecai Lincoln, first cousin to Thomas Lincoln. That’s right Abraham Lincoln’s father, Maybe

Carl White is the executive producer and host of the award winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In the Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its seventh year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte viewing market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturdays at 12 noon. For more on the show visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com, You can email Carl White at [email protected].

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