1940 Census, Part II: The Finley Brothers and C.A. Smith

In the first part of this series of blog posts, I told of Clarence Durbin and Alvin and Hazel Babb who worked at Rock Springs Park and lived in my neighborhood in Chester, according to the recently released 1940 U.S. Census Records. Being a big fan of the park’s history and an author of a book on the subject it was interesting to discover that many influential park workers and performers lived just a few doors down from my old stomping grounds.

Just around the bend on 3rd Street from my house growing up in Chester were The Finleys. The friendly couple lived in one of only two ranch-style homes in the neighborhood made up of mostly two-story clapboards. I passed the Finleys' house daily on my way to school or the family drugstore in town. Their home was bordered on one side by a concrete Lincoln Highway marker and on the other by a house near the old bridge over the railroad tracks which had a small monkey tied to a tree in the backyard in summer. The concrete marker was something to leap frog and the monkey was vastly entertaining to kids in the neighborhood.

The Finleys would often sit on their small front porch and greet me on my way to and from town. What I didn’t realize at the time was Mr. Finley was a member of The Finley Family in town. The Finley Brothers Construction Company built nearly every iconic building in Rock Springs Park, including the octagonal carousel pavilion, and just about every other building in Chester as well. According to Sayre Graham, Jr., whose father worked for the company, they built the Chester High School, the City Hall, and C.A. Smith’s huge cattle barn at Hillcrest (seen above) among others.

The 1940 Census tells us that the Mr. Finley I knew was not one of the original Finley Brothers, but most likely a son or nephew. Listed was Joseph Finley who owned an older home across the alley from where the ranch house would later sit. Today 315 Third Street has a pool in its side yard. In 1940, the house and property are listed at a value of $6,000 and Joseph is identified as being 75-years old and head of the household he shared with his wife Ella and two daughters. His occupation is “contractor – lumber and building” and even at 75, he was not retired with number of hours worked during the week of March 24-30 listed as forty-four.

I am assuming at this time, until confirmed, that the Robert Finley residing at nearby 253 Virginia Avenue, my old street, was another Finley Brother. At age 69 Robert with his wife “Ollie” and son Robert, Jr. age 29. (Could Robert, Jr. be the Mr. Finley I knew?) Robert, Sr. was a carpenter at the lumber company, so I am sure he was a Finley Brother of the construction trade.

If only my interest in the Rock Springs Park had been as great back in the 1970s as it is today, I’m sure all of my Finley neighbors would have had some interesting stories to tell of the park and their buildings which I so admire. I did, however, have the occasion to visit the home of the other subject of this post that of C.A. Smith.

In 1978 I was asked to meet a fellow thespian to run lines for a high school production of the musical “Oliver!” at the old Smith residence. The cast member was playing the Artful Dodger and was a cousin of the William A. Watson Family who owned the big house on the terraced hillside at the time. She was one of two female Artful Dodges to play opposite my part in the show. My interest in the house at that time was not so much the fact that it had once been owned by former Rock Springs Park owner C.A. Smith but that it had an elevator inside. When we finished practicing our parts in the living room of the largest house in town, Jack Dawkins and Oliver Twist, of course, rode the elevator to the second floor. “Consider yourself at home!”

1978 Oak Glen High School Little Theatre Production of "Oliver!" I was too old for the part of Oliver Twist (red vest right).

By the time the census was taken in 1940, C.A. Smith was no longer the lessee or manager of Rock Springs Park. Since 1926, the park had been leased to C.C. Macdonald and by 1935 managed by his daughter Virginia and her husband Bob Hand.

On the census, the 73 year-old Smith is listed as “Corporate Exec” and “Pottery Mag.” (I wonder if “mag” is magnate.) It is interesting to note that Smith is listed at the top of the census chart (see image 1, above), most likely because his was the first home, geographically speaking, along Pyramus Avenue. But it is not too difficult to picture him making it a point with the census taker to be listed above everyone else. He had that kind of influence. His home was valued at $25,000 or 1 million in today's dollars.

The Smith residence is only one of two Chester homes I have come across in the 1940 census so far to have servants. The other, listed directly below C.A. Smith on the document is brother, William Smith, pottery salesman. The C.A. Smith household lists as its permanent residents: C.A., wife Mary E., and servants Ada Mobley and William DeVaugin. Mobley, age 46, was the cook and Devaugin, age 77 Mr. Smith’s butler. Mobley lists her birthplace as Jacksonville, Florida, while Devaugin’s is Camden, New Jersey.

Cattle Barn Remains

(Courtesy of Sayre W. Graham, Jr.; from the collection of Sayre W. Graham, Sr.)

In my previous blog entry, I posted this image of Rock Springs Park owner – C.A. Smith’s cattle barn. The image is from the collection of Sayre W. Graham, Sr. and was shared by his son, Sayre, Jr.

Curious about the location of the barn in what had been the Hill Crest Farms property along Smith Road in New Cumberland, WV, I made an attempt to locate the only remains of the barn, its silo, using Google Maps’ satellite feature. Unfortunately, I was not able to zoom in enough to make out the silo from Google, but Sayre, Jr., who still lives in the area, went to the site and took this terrific shot of the silo this week.

He wrote, “I took a ride over Smith Road on the way home today. I've seen this silo many times but I never knew about the Smith barn.”

(Courtesy of Sayre W. Graham, Jr.)

I mistakenly referred to the original image above as a postcard, but Sayre, Jr. pointed out that it is one of many promotional photographs taken of structures built by the Finley Brothers Construction Company of Chester, WV, of which Sayre W. Graham, Sr. was a trusted employee for many years. Finley Bros. constructed many buildings in the area, including several structures in Rock Springs Park, the City Hall, and Chester High School. After Bob Finley retired, Sayre Graham, Sr. started Graham Construction and built the IGA and the VFW in town. Bob then came out of retirement and worked for Graham.

It is interesting to note that the roof of the barn did not have any supports, but was “a clear span from end to the other,” according to one-time Chester resident Barry Smith on Facebook’s “You grew up in Chester or Lawrenceville if you remember...” page.

The Mystery of the Red Sticks

(Courtesy of Jeff Schneidmiller)

Weird coincidences and mysteries are part of what makes continued study of Rock Springs Park so fascinating to me, even after all these years. This week, one question I posted to a Facebook fan led to both.

I was thinking about doing a blog post about owner C.C. Macdonald’s upgrades to Rock Springs Park prior to the 1927 season, an effort which left him penniless after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. I particularly wanted to talk about the Cyclone Roller Coaster and focus on how Macdonald, even though he was in severe financial straits himself, promised all those who helped him that “he would repay them everything he owed or they could have the park.”

It was at about this time that I remembered seeing a message from a Jeff Schneidmiller of East Liverpool on Kassy Hand’s Rock Springs Park Facebook page.

Jeff wrote, “Rock Springs Park ran out of money to pay for the (Cyclone) Coaster. My Great-Grandfather had the Finley Lumber Company, so Rock Springs gave him stock in the coaster.”

This photograph of a blank Rock Springs Coaster Company stock certificate may be similar to the one Jeff’s Great-Grandfather would have received. (Photo by Joseph Comm; Certificate from the Collection of Bill Gray)

After relocating and rereading Jeff’s message I left a message of my own stating that his story matched the one I had heard from C.C. Macdonald’s son, R. Z. Macdonald, in the course of writing my book. R.Z. explained that his father did everything he could to earn money to pay off the workers and suppliers, including working at Motor Square Garden (a convention center in Pittsburgh) in the off-season, and diversifying his business interests by working in partnership with Richard Mellon on Idlewild Park in Ligonier, PA, while still managing Rock Springs in WV. Macdonald continued paying contractors, like the Finley Brothers, until the debt was paid in full by 1950.

In his original post Jeff went on to say that “The Finley Lumber Company also got 1/3 cent for every rider, till the Park Closed.”

Historical Notes: (Jeff's Story Follows)

The Finley Brothers played a huge part in Chester’s early history. One need only review the histories of many of the former and present structures in Chester, and you will see their names attached to them.

One of the earliest institutions built by the Finleys was a wood frame church, erected on the site where the present First United Presbyterian Church sits on Carolina Avenue. Joseph N. Finley was a ruling Elder in the church and built the original wood frame church for a nominal fee in 1898. A good portion of the fee was paid at the “bequest of the estate of A. B. Marks,” according to the Riverstyle Sunday Review, November 5, 2000. It was the Marks’ estate that had been purchased by J.E. McDonald and converted into Rock Springs Park; a park that the Finley Brothers had no small hand in constructing.

The Chester High School was erected by The Finley Brothers Contractors on January 4, 1906.

The Chester city building was built in 1927 by the Finley Brothers Lumber and Construction Co. They completed construction in 1928 and a plaque, which now hangs in the current city building, was created to commemorate the occasion.

Roy C. Cashdollar, in his History of Chester: The Gateway to the West (Part 2), gives the following account of The Finley Brothers Lumber Company :

Owned and operated by the four brothers: Joseph, Frank, Robert, and James along with their brother-in-law Joseph McCoy. Mr. McCoy was the husband of Pearl Finley a sister to the four brothers. Upon the death of Mr. McCoy, George Hasson of Virginia Avenue joined the firm. Joseph served in the state legislature in 1909 and was one of the original incorporators of the First National Bank. Mr. J. P. Finley, a son of Joseph, shortly after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh became the secretary-treasurer of the Newell Lumber Company, a branch of the Chester company. Virginia and Robert Finley, were also active in the company for many years prior to its closing.

The Finley’s were kept very busy in Chester’s early history and their beautiful workmanship gave the new town many of its landmark buildings, including Rock Springs Park's unique octagonal Carousel Pavilion and the ornate Casino Dance Hall (pictured below) in 1906.

The first floor of the Casino contained a Japanese Tea House, six bowling alleys, a billiard hall, shooting gallery, barber shop, toilets and park office. The 18,000 square foot hard white maple dance floor occupied the second floor.

Twenty years later The Finley Brothers’ Company built the Cyclone Roller Coaster for C.C. Macdonld starting in 1926.

Having thought about Jeff Schneidmiller’s comment on Facebook, and wanting to find out more, I messaged him to get further details about his family history.

“Jeff you shared that your Great-Grandfather had the Finley Lumber Company and stock in Rock Springs Park. Could you tell me his name?"

This is where the coincidence comes in: Just as my message popped up on Jeff’s screen, he was at that very moment taking photographs of a few of his family’s Rock Springs Park memorabilia and uploading them to share with Facebook fans of the park.

Jeff wrote back about what a coincidence it was and said that he needed to gather some more information from his mother and her sisters. He said his great-grandfather’s name was “James,” and ended with a question for me.

“I have found some old things from Rock springs Park. I would like you to tell me about the red sticks with the yellow ball on top .They say ‘Rock Spring Park’ on them. Thank you. Jeff.”

Jeff also shared a couple of vintage photographs of his ancestors at the park, including one which illustrates that not only were formal portraits taken at the park but also some very humorous caricatures.

A folding brochure-style map from the 20’s, like this one, is also part of Jeff's collection. It includes a mileage chart showing, Cambridge, Ohio, at a distance of 97 miles, as the furthest town from which travelers came to picnic at Rock Springs.

Jeff left his number and we picked up our conversation over the phone. I could tell he was very proud of his family’s legacy in Chester and the surrounding area and interested in sharing their story. That’s when I asked him about using our conversation and some of his images in this blog post.

Having seen souvenir bamboo canes in park photos I asked Jeff if possibly his two and a half foot sticks might be souvenir canes. “The average length of a cane is 3 feet. That's pretty close,” I reasoned.

But Jeff noted looking at them, “They are very thin .You can't put any pressure on them .I was thinking maybe a flag was on them or banner.”

That started the gears turning in my head, “Yeah, maybe a pennant!”

I went to bed and all the photographs I had scanned while working on the book started racing across my brain. By morning, I had a pretty god idea of the picture I needed to solve the mystery of the red sticks. I fired up the laptop and took only five minutes to find the picture I wanted.

I messaged Jeff. “BINGO! Here's your red stick with the yellow ball on top. This is Bev Springer with her Rock Springs Park pennant tied to one.”

Bev, herself, had been a Rock Springs Park mystery, until I discovered her name and wrote about it, in blog post “Mystery Woman Identified,” on August 20, 2010.