Stan Hywet Hall and Garden Magazine - Fall/Winter 2008 - (Page 19)

a slanted platform attached to the rear of a cutter bar on a reaping machine. This invention became the foundation of the family fortune. In a personal account, F.A. recalled that all of the leading harvester-machine companies of the time were “taking licenses and paying him royalties, and in addition he operated factories in which he was interested that made profits and distributed dividends.” It was this invention that led to their move to Doylestown and the opening of his father’s first company, the Excelsior Mower & Reaper Works, owned by Kline, Seiberling and Hower. The family lived in Doylestown until their move to Akron, on F.A.’s fifth birthday. Their home, located on two acres of land, was “one of the best homes in Akron at that time.” Still they made improvements, adding a brick addition with a kitchen and dining room and the only stationary bathtub in Akron. Their orchard, garden and playground served as “the center of neighborhood activity, the children for blocks around using our family plat as a rallying place for play.” The children knew there was always someone around if they stopped by, simply because of the size of the Seiberling clan. F.A.’s mother preferred having the children play there, knowing it was easier to watch her kids if they were within her sights. But it was not all fun and games at the Seiberling household. F.A.’s father had a strong work ethic that he passed on to his sons. When F.A. and his brother were eight and nine, they became the daily caretakers of their horse, Old Pete. Although F.A. had a strong work ethic, he was not always well-behaved. He attended primary school in a one-story building on High Street and recalled an experience from that time that remained with him. F.A. had come home for lunch, and, as was his Grandfather Miller’s custom three times a week, he brought the mail from Loyal Oak to Akron, stopping by the house for lunch and smoking long, black, homegrown cigars. After smoking it halfway, his grandfather was called to the table, and he left the remainder of the cigar on the windowsill. This didn’t go unnoticed by F.A. Finishing his lunch, F.A. “appropriated the cigar and started for school.” In the basement, before his startled friends, he puffed away. “In a moment the room appeared to move, then whirl and finally reached a speed of several million revolutions a second — when I collapsed.” His 2008 Stan Hywet Symposium On Display: Historic Homes and Great Estates Stan Hywet, in partnership with The University of Akron and Kent State University, will host the first annual Stan Hywet Symposium, October 17–18. Explore the cultural, architectural and social history of America’s Industrial Revolution and the ensuing Gilded Age. Space is limited. For more information, contact Mark J. Heppner at mheppner@stanhywet.org. See page 22 for details. friends carried him to school, but he didn’t stay there long, winding up in bed for the next three days. He also had a temper that he struggled to control. Perhaps his first incident involved a classmate who sat in front of him in elementary school. As she kicked her legs back and forth, she also kicked him in the process. After telling her to stop, he eventually held a pin down in front of his leg, jabbing her. While he recalled the punishment that followed and the apology to his teacher after he kicked, screamed and cried all the way to her house; he also “atoned to Clara Chisnell for that pin prick.” Later in life, when her family had financial troubles, F.A. lent her $1500. It could be said that F.A. Seiberling inherited his entrepreneurial spirit from his father and that he always remained true to his Midwest upbringing.Yet above all, his greatest sense of joy was his relationship with family and friends in the Akron community. All quotes and recollections came from Stan Hywet’s F.A. Seiberling archives collection. www.stanhywet.org 19 http://www.stanhywet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Stan Hywet Hall and Garden Magazine - Fall/Winter 2008

Stan Hywet Hall and Garden Magazine - Fall/Winter 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.