Remembering the Rosemary Neighborhood by Knopf & Near
David Penniman, a resident of the Rosemary neighborhood, sleuthed out a copy of a document penned in 1984-88 by Richard C Knopf and Miriam F Near. The document, entitled Reminiscences: Not Memoirs, is a free-wheeling remembrance of growing up in the neighborhood around Henderson and Rosemary Parkway in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Dave’s copy came from Ann and Keith Bossard of Dominion Blvd; Dave then digitized the 97 page book and shared it with us. Thanks, Dave!
Both Richard and Miriam are deceased; their obituaries are linked below.
Richard C Knopf, 1/4/1925 – 7/17/2002
Miriam Fowle Near, 6/28/1924 – 12/10/2009
I’m so appreciative of people who preserve local history, as Richard and Miriam, and Dave, have done.
[Digital version of the Knopf and Near typescript courtesy of David Penniman. Knopf obituary came courtesy of the Ashtabula Public Library System based on a search and tip from Nick Taggart, retired librarian par excellence at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.]
Another one of the first families of Clintonville was the Cooke family. According to the family’s history, Roswell Cooke (1764-1827) came to Ohio with his wife and five children in 1800 from Connecticut. His two eldest sons, Rodney and Chauncey, took up land 6 miles north of the state house, their farms adjoining (in the vicinity of Cooke Road and North High Street). They cleared the land and both erected “houses out of round, unhewn logs, with puncheon floors and primitive fire places, with mud-and-stick chimneys.” The brothers lived the rest of their lives on these farms. Family history states that in 1827 they constructed one of the first grist and saw mills on the Olentangy River, which later became known as the Whipp and then as the Weisheimer Mill. They also operated a distillery. (Photo courtesy of Terry Miller.)
In 1842, Clinton Township School District 1 acquired land at Henderson and High Street from Chauncey Cooke, and in 1878, built a brick school building on the southwest corner. The building was used both as a school and for worship services by various denominations. In 1920, the district deeded the school to the Methodist Church, and the Maple Grove Methodist Episcopal Church was organized. It was at the time the only church between Clintonville and Worthington. (Photo courtesy of the Ron Ohsner family)
Another noted family in the vicinity of Henderson and High Street was the Armstrong family. Henry C. Cooke’s daughter Flora had married Llewellyn Armstrong. This is their house on the corner of Cooke Lane and High Street. A caption by Lulu Pearle Browne (Ohsner) also states “Clem Cooke [a son of Albert C. Cooke] born here—when first built Al and Lulu Cooke lived here.” (Photo courtesy of the Ron Ohsner family)