105 Woodland Avenue
Barker House

Lot 2 and parts of 1 and 3, Woodland Addition

Barker moved here from 31 Woodland Avenue in 1913. 

George Homer Barker was born July 27, 1874 in Pleasantville, Ohio, son of David G. and Martha Barker. He married Lena Maynard about 1898. Lena was born March 10, 1873 in Sunbury, Ohio, daughter of Burns L. and Susan Culver Maynard. They had two children: Margaret M. (August 1898) and Burns Maynard (March 2, 1904 - January 30, 1937).

The Barkers lived with the Maynards. In 1900 they lived at 815 Franklin Avenue. Burns L. Maynard and George were both operators of coal lands.

George was a bookkeeper in 1910. From 1913 to 1920 he was Vice President and Treasurer of the Maynard Coal Company.

In 1927 the Barkers lived at 845 Franklin Park South. George was President of The Skidoo Company, soap manufacturers. In 1929 he sold insurance. In 1931 they lived at 366 Dawson Avenue in Bexley.

In 1937 Lena and her son Burns lived at the Seneca Hotel.

George died October 24, 1932. Lena died December 15, 1943. They are buried at Greenlawn Cemetery.

The Barkers sold the house to Anna E. Brown on April 24, 1924.

William M. Brown was born February 26, 1881 in Wilmington, Ohio, son of Charles Wellington and Clara Matthews Brown. He married Anna Eliza Brown in Franklin County on December 31, 1902. Anna was born August 28, 1882 in Columbus, daughter of Samuel K. and Laura Wetzel Brown. 

In 1900, Brown lived with his parents at 743 Neil Avenue. He was working as a railroad brakeman. 

In 1910, William and Anna lived in Roanoke, Virginia and Brown was a coke (coal) merchant.

In 1925, Brown was Vice-President and Treasurer of The Hatton Brown Company, The Blue Ridge Coal Company and The Peerless Elkhorn Coal Company. Frederick George Hatton, President of those same companies lived at 1571 Hawthorne Park. Both men had worked at the Sunday Creek Coal Company and the Clinchfield Coal Company.

The Browns moved back to Roanoke, Virginia about 1927. In the 1930 Census, Brown's occupation is listed as a salesman for a coal company.

On February 8, 1927 Brown sold the house to James E. Martindill. Martindill was a real estate broker. In the late 1920s the Martindills lived at 115 Riverview Park Drive.

In late 1931 the McCunes rented the house from Martindill.  

Jonas Ferson McCune was born May 18, 1894 in Columbus, son of Jonas Mann and Evalena Gares McCune. He married the widowed Vivian Peavey Dewey at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on November 6, 1920. Vivian was born March 13, 1890 in Waltham, Massachusetts, daughter of Simon Fillmore and Elizabeth Benson Peavey. They had a daughter Elaine (December 28, 1921).

Jonas had grown up at 120 Woodland Avenue. His sister Evalena lived at 1601 Granville Street and 1581 Hawthorne Park.

Vivian had two children from her first marriage to Joseph Fenns Dewey. Joseph F. Dewey was born July 13, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. Vivian P. Dewey was born in Missouri in 1914.

In 1917 Jonas was working for the Houston Farm Company in South Charleston, Ohio. He attended Dartmouth College. He was a veteran of World War I, a 1st Lieutenant and member of the Rainbow Division.

On December 29, 1919 Vivian bought 1599 Clifton Avenue from Robert and Emogene R. McAllister for $10,000. After their marriage, Jonas moved into the Clifton Avenue house. Jonas was working as a salesman for realtor Leigh Koebel.

In 1924 they purchased the property for a house that would be constructed at 296 North Columbia Avenue in Bexley. The house was completed by the end of 1925. The McCunes lived there until August 1931. It appears a reversal of fortune was the reason for the sale. 

Jonas committed suicide on his 38th birthday, May 18, 1932. His body was discovered in a field near the Columbus Country Club by his sister, Evalena Howard and a friend Giles Mohler.

In 1934 Vivian was still living at 105 Woodland Avenue. She was working for the Maramor Company. In 1935 Vivian was working as a hostess and lived with her parents at 550 Town Street. In 1957 Vivian still lived at 550 Town Street. She was an interior decorator for Miller Kelton Studios. She later lived in Upper Arlington.

Vivian died May 5, 1984. The McCunes are buried at Greenlawn Cemetery.

The Martindills sold the house on March 27, 1935 to Clayton A. McCleary.

A biographical sketch of Clayton Asa McCleary is included in The Democratic Party of the State of Ohio, Volume 2, (1913).

"None of the younger members of the Franklin County Bar have been more successful in the practice of their profession than C. A. McCleary, and none are more highly entitled to success. Mr. McCleary was endowed by nature with a strong mind and a capacity for hard work - the two necessary qualifications for the successful lawyer. He has a thorough knowledge of the principles of the law and is always faithful to the interests of his clients.

"Mr. McCleary was born at Harrisville, Ohio. September 24,
1875. He was educated in the District School, and at Franklin College, from which he graduated in 1897. Having chosen the law as his life work, he entered the law department of the Ohio State University, and graduated in 1900 with the degree of LL.B. In June of that year he was admitted to the bar and entered upon the practice of his profession in Columbus. He spent one year in the office of his uncle. Col. J.T. Holmes, one of the ablest lawyers in Ohio. Since 1902 he has practiced alone enjoying a constantly increasing clientele.

"In 1906 (January 3) he was married to Miss Maybell Crawford, of Columbus..."

McCleary was the son of Asa E. and Henrietta Holmes McCleary. Maybell A. Crawford was born April 11, 1874 in Columbus, daughter of William H. and Sarah Violet McCombs Crawford. The McClearys had a daughter, Grace Crawford (stillborn May 11, 1912), and a son, Clayton A., Jr. (stillborn January 4, 1915). 

In 1914 and through 1918, the McClearys lived at 212 East 15th Avenue. 

Clayton was a member a president of the State Library Board of Ohio, a director (and chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors) of the Columbus Young Men's Christian Association. He was a member of the charter commission of Columbus, and with the sub-committee drew up the city charter. He was president of the Board of Trustees of the Indianola Methodist Episcopal Church, and a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight Templar and Shriner, a member of the Elks, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and belonged to the Columbus Athletic Club and the Scioto Country Club. 

Maybell died of Parkinson's disease at home on January 23, 1941. 

McCleary married Edna Randell between 1941 and 1944. Edna was born March 2, 1888 in Richwood, Ohio, daughter of Elmer G. and Ella Finefrock Randell. She and her sister Marie lived at the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Orphan's Home in Xenia in 1900. Their father, a Civil War veteran, died April 21, 1890 and their mother died in childbirth on November 15, 1890. From 1913 through the 20s Edna worked as a secretary and stenographer. In the late 1930s she was a stenographer for the City National Bank & Trust Company and lived at 638 East Town Street, Apt. 107. 

Clayton transferred the house to Edna on May 20, 1944. 

Clayton died of cerebral hemorrhage at home on December 15, 1952. 

In 1957 Edna lived at 344 S. Broadleigh Rd.

Edna died December 24, 1963. The McClearys are buried at Greenlawn Cemetery. 

On April 9, 1954, Edna sold the house to Ethel White.

Ethel ran the Ethel White Nursing Home out of the house. 

Ethel sold the house on February 9, 1960 to John L. and Juanita Francis. Ethel was then in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

John Lewis Francis was born July 5, 1924 in Kentucky.
He married Juanita James Blair about 1951. Juanita was born October 6, 1923 in Youngstown, daughter of Darby Bristol and Gracie Foles Blair. They had four children, Dean Elliott (December 21, 1951 - July 11, 2012), Cynthia, and twins, Stephen and Stephanie Ann (August 17, 1958).

John was a lawyer, he attended the Ohio State University Law School and passed the bar in August 1950. He was a municipal court judge starting in 1971 and the city's first African-American City Attorney, serving until 1977. He had an office at 712 East Long Street. In 1957 the Francises lived at 869 Merryhill Drive. 

The Francises divorced in January 1980 and remarried April 11, 1986. John died in Columbus on May 31, 1994. Juanita died in Columbus on March 10, 2004.

The Francises sold the house on September 6, 1973 to James A. and Jewell K. Vroonland.

105 Woodland Avenue, March 2010

The American Perfumer, February 1922

Jonas F. McCune

Clayton A. McCleary, circa 1924

Maybell Crawford McCleary, circa 1924

John L. Francis, circa 1975

Dean E. Francis