TheChristmanFamilyBy:JimDubelko

TheChristmanFamily:DeeprootsofservicetoNorthOlmsted

WhenyouthinkaboutfamiliesofNorthOlmstedwhomaderichandextensive

contributionstothefoundingandgrowthofourcommunity,thenamesStearns,Coe,

Romp,Fitchandothersimmediatelycometomind.But,asrichandextensiveasthose

families’contributionswere,nofamily,intermsoflengthanddepthofcommunityservice,

canmatchthecontributionsmadebytheChristmanfamily.Late-comerstothecommuni-

ty,historicallyspeaking,HenryChristmanandhisfamilydidnotarriveinNorthOlmsted

until1914.Butsoon,thefamilywasoperatingoneofthebestknown.loristbusinessesin

thenewvillage,andjustafewyearslater—possiblyattheurgingofsecondmayorLeon

Coe,Henrybecamepoliticallyactiveinthevillage,initiatingaperiodofcontinuousgov-

ernmentservicetothecommunitybythefamilythatwouldlastfortherestofthecentury

andbeyond.Andweoweitall,youmightsay,toDr.W.H.Beaumont.

HenryChristman(1861-1939)

HenryChristman,aGermanimmigrantfromBavaria,camewithhisfamily

totheUnitedStatesin1867whenhewasjust6yearsold.Thefamilysettledonthe

eastsideofCleveland.AlthoughHenry’sfatherwasaschoolteacherinGermany,

andhisolderbrotheramusician,hereinAmericatheybecamegarmentworkersin

Cleveland’sburgeoninggarmentindustry.Henryalsoeventuallyworkedinthat

industry,butinhisyouthhealsoworkedfromtimetotimewithDr.W.H.Beau-

mont,aphysicianwhohadgivenuphismedicalpracticeandbecomeoneofnine-

teenthcenturyCleveland’sforemost.lorists.Beaumontdiedin1879,whenHenry

waseighteenyearsold,butbeforehedid,BeaumontimpartedtoHenryextensive

knowledgeaboutthe.loristindustrythatwouldstaywithHenryfortherestofhis

lifeand,eventually,charthiscoursetowardNorthOlmsted.

Cover:backrow:brothersGeorge,Elroy

andClarence;frontrow:sisterGrace,father

Henry,brotherCarlton,motherAnna,and

brotherJohn

Below:HenryandAnnaChristmannear

houseat23538LorainRoad,c.1916

Below:ChristmanFlowers,1930’s

Butthatwouldallcomemuchlater.In1880,ayearafterthedeathofDr.Beaumont,thefederal

censusreportedthatHenry,likehisfatherandolderbrother,wasnowworkingasatailor.Forthenext

30years,accordingtoClevelanddirectoriesandensuingfederalcensuses,thatwastheworkthatHen-

rydid.Inthemeantime,hemarriedAnnaWalther,thedaughterofGermanimmigrants,in1886,and,

between1888and1906,theirsixchildrenwereborn,includingsonsElroy(1894)andGeorge(1896),

whowouldlaterbeprominent.iguresinNorthOlmsted.

In1914,whenhewas54-yearsold,HenryChristman,nowlivingwithhisfamilyonthewest

sideofCleveland,purchasedtwoacresoflandinNorthOlmsted,onthenorthsideofLorainRoadjust

eastofGessner.Itwasclearwhathisintentionswere.HewasreadytopickupwhereDr.Beaumont

hadleftoff,andstarthisown.loristbusinessinthelittlevillagethatlaterwouldbecalled—perhapsin

partbecauseoftheChristmanfamily,“ThePlacewhere

FlowersGrow.”Accordingtomembersofthefamily,Hen-

ry’ssonsElroyandGeorgemovedtoNorthOlmsted.irst,

andthatsameyearbeganbuildingthegreenhousesand

otherbuildingsonthepropertythatwouldsoonbecome

thematerialplantforH.ChristmanandSonsFlorists.

Twoyearslater,Henry,Anna,andtheyoungestchild,

Carlton,movedtoNorthOlmsted,joiningElroyand

George,livinginthehouseat23538Lorain,locatedjust

tothewestofthegreenhouses.

Whenthemunicipalelectionsrolledaroundin

1919,HenrywaselectedtotheVillageCouncil,even

thoughhehadlivedinthevillageforonlythreeyears!He

served10yearsasamemberofCouncil,winning5elec-

tions,butlosinghisseatin1929,thesameyearthat

CharlesAldenSeltzerdefeatedLeonCoeintheNorth

Olmstedmayoralrace.WhywasHenrydefeated?ItmayhavebeenthattheNorthOlmstedelectorate

decidedtoretireHenry,now69-yearsold,especiallywhenthereweretwootherChristmannameson

theballotthatyear.

ElroyChristman(1894-1976)andGeorgeChristman(1896-1975)

HenryandAnnaChristmanhad.ivesonsandonedaughter,butitwastwoofthesons,Elroy

andGeorge,whobecamepartnerswithhiminthe.loristbusinesshestartedinNorthOlmstedin1914,

andwhoalso,liketheirfather,becamepoliticallyactiveinthevillage.Whenthetwoboysmovedto

NorthOlmsted,Elroywas20yearsoldandGeorge18.Littledidtheylikelyimagineatthetime,butfor

thenext61years—untilGeorge’sdeathin1975,theywouldlive,workandevenworshipveryclose

tooneanotherinthiscommunity.

In1921,justtwoyearsafterhisfatherwaselectedtoCouncil,Elroy,now27yearsoldand

recentlymarried,ranfortheof.iceofVillageMarshallandwaselected.HeservedtwotermsasMar-

shall,andthen,in1925ranandwaselectedVillageClerk,theof.icewhichhadmanyoftheduties

whichthepresentdayClerkofCouncilandtheDirectorofFinancenowhave.ElroyservedasVil-

lageClerkfor26years,andthenanadditional8yearsastheAuditorwhenNorthOlmstedbecamea

cityin1951.Altogether,Elroywon19elections,andservedinelectedof.iceinNorthOlmstedfor38

years.Hiswork,.irstasclerk,andthenasauditor,establishedtheframeworkandfoundationfor

.inancialpracticesinNorthOlmstedthatcontinuetothisday.Whilehewasinvolvedintheplanning

andexecutionofmanyprojectsduringhislongtenureasclerkandthenauditor,inaninterview

withareporterin1953hecitedhisroleintheestablishmentoftheNorthOlmstedmunicipalbus

lineandthepurchaseofNorthOlmstedParkastwoofthemostimportantofthoseprojects.

GeorgeChristmanfollowedinhisolderbrotherElroy’sfootstepsandranfortheof.iceof

VillageMarshalin1927.However,unlikehisbrother,GeorgestayedwiththeVillagepolicedepart-

menthisentirecareer.GeorgeservedasMarshalfrom1927-1941,andthen,whentheappointed

positionofChiefofPolicewasestablished,heservedasChieffrom1941untilhisretirementonJan-

uary1,1966.LikehisbrotherElroy,GeorgeChristmanheldof.iceinNorthOlmstedfor38years—

startingsixyearsafterhisbrotherstarted,andretiringsixyearsafterhisbrotherretired.While

Marshal,andthenlaterasChiefofPolice,GeorgeChristmangrewtheNorthOlmstedpolicedepart-

mentfromasmallforceofseveralpart-timedeputymarshalstoaprofessionalpoliceforcecom-

posedof13full-timepoliceof.icersand11part-timeauxiliaries.Thepresent-dayNorthOlmstedpo-

licedepartment’sorganizationrestsuponthefoundationsthatheestablishedasChief.

Below:ElroyChristmaningreenhouse,1947

Left:GeorgeChristmanfamily(1931);upperright:youngGeorgeon

motorcycle(c.1930);lowerright:GeorgeChristmanwithNorth

OlmstedPoliceDepartment(1930’s)

ThetwoChristmanbrothers—ElroyandGeorge,heldimportantof.icesintheNorthOlmsted

governmentforatotalof76years,arecordthatwillunlikelyeverbesurpassedbyanyothercombina-

tionofbrotherslivingandworkinginthecity.Asthetwonearedretirementinthelate1950s,North

OlmstedCommunityCouncilrecognizedtheimportanceofthecontributionstheyhadmadetothe

community,notonlytothecitygovernment,butalsotoorganizationsliketheKiwanis,theCommunity

Chest,theSportsmanClub,theBoyScoutsofAmerica,theAmericanLegion,theMasonicLodge,andthe

OlmstedHistoricalSociety,aswellastotheirplaceofworship—theClagueRoadCongregational

Church,todayknownastheClagueRoadUnitedChurchofChrist.In1959,theCommunityCouncilse-

lectedElroyasNorthOlmstedCitizenoftheYear.Thefollowingyear,theawardwenttohisbrother

George.

Whiletheywereservingintheirlocalgovernmentof.ices,ElroyandGeorgeChristmancontin-

uedtooperateH.ChristmanandSons.loristbusinesswiththeirfatherHenry,untilthelatter’sdeathin

1939.Thebrothersthenranthebusinesstogetheruntil1941,whenElroyretiredfromthebusiness

becausehisdutiesasVillageClerkhadbecometoodemandingtodoboth.GeorgeChristmanandthen

othermembersoftheChristmanfamilycontinuedtooperatethe.loristbusinessonLorainRoaduntil

theearly1980swhenitwassold.Inthatsamedecade,theChristmangreenhouseswhichhadstoodfor

somanyyearsonLorainRoadjusteastofGessnerRoadweretorndown,andshortlyafterthat,the

.loristshopwhichwasbythistimeoperatedinasmallstorefrontacrossthestreetfromtheformer

siteofthegreenhouses,closed.

RalphChristman(1925-1993)andotherChristmans

InNovember1959,asElroyChristmanpreparedtoretireasCityAuditor,hissonRalphwas

electedCouncilmanforWard2.RalphChristmanservedtwotermsonCityCouncil,andthen,in1963

defeatedincumbentmayorPaulGareautobecomemayoroftheCityofNorthOlmsted.Christman

wouldgoontowinsevenelections,serving14yearsasmayor,longerthananyotherpersoninthehis-

toryoftheCity.HisfamilycitedhisbuildingoftheNorthOlmstedRecreationCenterin1976—

somethingforwhichcityadministrationshadbeenstrivingtoobtainvoterapprovalsincethe1950s,as

hismostimportantachievementasMayor.

InadditiontoMayorRalphChristman,anumberofotherdescendantsofHenryandAnna

ChristmanservedtheCityofNorthOlmstedwithhonoranddistinctioninthelatterhalfofthetwenti-

Above:ElroypresentsGeorgewiththeCiti-

zenoftheYearPlaque,havingwonitthepre-

viousyear,1960

ethcenturyandbeyond,includinggrandsonWalterChristman,whoservedontheFireDepartment,

great-grandsonJimChristmanwhoservedontheNorthOlmstedMunicipalBusLine,andgreat-

grandsonGeorgeRuple,whoservedonthepolicedepartment,risingthroughtheranksandretiringas

ChiefofPolicein2006.FromHenryChristman’selectiontoCouncilin1919toChiefGeorgeRuple’s

retirementin2006—87yearslater,theChristmanfamilyestablishedarecordofcommunityservice

herewhoselengthanddepthmayneverbeexceeded.

Below:ChristmanfamilyduringWWII(Ralphinuniformonright),1940’s