The Wiseley Store in Oakwood, OH

"Oakwood-Past and Present"
by Jeanne Bennett Calvert
Oakwood, OH

In 2005 I was doing research at the State Library in Columbus Ohio when I found a book entitled "Oakwood, Ohio - Past and Present."  It contained several references to Wiseley.  I knew I had to go there.  A few months later I was in Ft Wayne, IN at the fantastic Allen County Library. If you have any interest in Genealogy you simply must visit there at least once. I have been there several times, usually for a week each time.


"What...you never ordered a large coffee before?"



    Oakwood is only about 35 miles east of Ft Wayne so I took a day and headed over there. One of my first stops was at the local cafe for a quick cup of coffee. While in this nice little cafe I asked if there were any Wiseley's around. Before I left they had called the Mayor, a local historian and the Lady who wrote the book. Saying it was a friendly town is an understatement. Before leaving town I spent several hours in the village clerks office where the old record books were kept in the city council meeting room. She told me she had to leave for an appointment but I was welcome to stay there. she would lock up and just make sure I closed the door when I left.

     I mentioned there was a Wiseley store in this town. In 1875 Allen Newton and Electious Wisely opened a general store. The Nickel Plate Railroad came to town in 1881. With timber mills, flour mills, a wooden hoop factory, the Nickel Plate hotel, a Doctor, drug store, and a two story brick school built in 1884 the town prospered.

      In the next clip you will see that in 1889 there were two wisely's running stores.  Just click on the pictures to enlarge them for easier reading. The back arrow will bring you back here.

In her wonderful book on Oakwood the author included a lot of the daily events from town council meetings and other sources so it reads almost like a diary. We can trace the store and what was happening pretty easily just from these entries. Read the following clips and you won't have any trouble following the events. from 1875 to about 1918.

     The note below is from May 1913

Some of the entries are oddly interestng because they show life in a simpler time in the country.  I have selected a few to give you the flavor of the times in 1913-1920.  Perhaps your kids or grandkids should see some of these. 
                            Gas was a little cheaper

and before Dixie cups or styrafoam cups were invented

And they were willing to provide for people who were out of work.

It was a very different time. In the early years of the 20th century the question of Women voting was still up for grabs, boys in grade school and high school began to wear overalls. Telephones, automobiles and electric lights were just arriving in smaller midwest towns. Oakwood had numerous experiences with  measles, flu, diptherea  and other diseases that were so contagious they caused churches to cancel meetings and the mayor to outlaw people waiting in the post office for mail to be sorted.  Dr's, dentists and eye doctors were only in town once or twice a month, unless they set up a practice in the village.  Roads and travel were nearly impossible in wet weather.  Right after WWI tanks that were touring the state didn't make it to Oakwood because they kept getting stuck in mudholes. Now that is a bad road! 

      But even in a small Ohio town there were Wiseleys who have left some interesting clues to who they were and how they lived.  Here we have the Wiseley store. . It is behind the pole with all the wires on it.  The two fellows who started it we learn are brothers and both named Wiseley

Here we see the brothers arrived in Oakwood in 1874 and went into partnership in opening a store in 1875.  Where did they come from? Who were they related to? 

By 1885 Oakwood seemed to have just about everything a town could want.

Here we learn that the Wiseley brothers store was one of three dry goods stores.  In another part of the book we learn that there was more than one Wiseley store

Here we learn that Allen Newton was actually Allen Newton Wiseley.  When they dissolved the partnership A N Wiseley kept the location but changed it to a grocery store. Electus moved across the street and continued in the dry goods business.  Well, until his stored burned in 1899. 

Six years after his brothers store burned A N Wiseley sold the original store.  I don't know what happened to Allen N Wiseley after he sold. 

Poor Electious  (proper spelling)  still had some problems in his future. The March 1913 flood that nearly wiped out the town left his building standing. The Auglaize river is just west of town. When it flooded it nearly ruined the city. The entire downtown area was flooded with five foot deep water. Several structures either floated away or collapsed as their foundations were eroded.  Buildings behind Electus Wiseley's store floated away. The post office next door to Electus collapsed.

     In Aug 1918 there is an entry that says CC Wiseley closed the store founded by his father and Uncle. But it doesn't say which of the brothers was his Father. I do not know what happened to Electious after the store closed. or do I know who CC Wiseley is or what happened to him. IN our next blog we will look more closely at some of the town records that list a number of Wiseleys and look for more clues to link Oakwood Wiseley's to one of the lines of Wiseley's that passed through this area.  As is often the case, there are no Wiseley's living in or near Oakwood today. No one I spoke with can even remember any Wiseley's from the area. But they do know there was a Wiseley store at one time and can point you to the grass covered part of the small downtown park where it once stood.

NOTE: The old time pictures and text were taken from the book "Oakwood, Ohio-Past and Present" by Jeanne Bennett Calvert Copyright 1996.  A copy of the  book can be obtained from the author by writing to Oakwood, OH.  The town is small enough a letter with her name on it and the Oakwood post office would most likely reach her. You could call Dolly Shishler at 419-594-3352. She works in the office for the Village of Oakwood and could give you information on how to obtain the book.