A last Visit to Oakwood.

Put on your Sherlock Holmes Hat

Was the Marshal of Oakwood a deadbeat? We know he was a Wiseley but ...well...was he a deadbeat?  Before we look at the facts let's clean up some loose ends on Oakwood. According to a newspaper clipping (with no date or other source information) the town of Oakwood was originally named "Wide Awake"  Sort of an odd name for a sleepy little village. Later someone with more sense decided it should be called Oakwood, due to the numerous Oak groves in the area.

     The town was not platted into lots until 1872, although there had been a store or two until the Tiffen and Ft. Wayne RR went out of business in the late 1850's. In 1867 they had a postmaster and post office. Then about 1874 Electious and his brother Allen Newton Wiseley came to town.

      Paulding Pathways Vol 1-3,  1987-1989 lists an old record of the early settlers in Paulding county. When they list Brown township, where Oakwood is located, they include A. N. Wiseley among the 60 or so names.  But Electious is not included in the list and he came about the same time as his brother.

     What reason would they have to not list Electious?  My best guess requires a little background.  In the mid to later 1800’s there were people who wrote county histories.  They would include several of the prominent citizens of the county and say really nice things about them. The county history with the biographical sketches of leading citizens would be offered for a “discounted” prepublication sale price. And you probably have already guessed it. The people who bought the book appeared in it’s pages, and the ones who did not were not included. Oh they would include the really important people, but the average person had to buy the book to be included.  



State library Ohio.   "I can't find my name anywhere"



     The practice still continues today, only now it is “Who’s Who among American Women”  Or "Who’s Who among American Educators." Etc Etc. My wife received a letter saying she had been nominated and asked her to write a brief biography.  She was offered the book at only $400 dollars or some such silly price. She responded with a biographical sketch the 3 or 4 times she was selected for various "honors". But we never agreed to buy any of the books. When we were in the Ohio State library in Columbus, OH she found a whole shelf full of Who’s Who.  You are right again. Her name did not appear in any of the books which asked her for a biography. She did however, find the name of a teacher she worked with who had bought the book.

     Now I have no way of knowing if A. N. Wiseley “bought the book” but I am guessing that his brother Electious did not!

 Now back to our question, was the Marshal of Oakwood a deadbeat?  First who was the marshal? Well there were several and at one time we find Clive Wiseley being paid for marshal's services.

Here is a receipt from the Oakwood records. It shows Clive received a salary for being marshall in 1913. 

And the next receipt shows Clive was marshall in January 1916.  Although different years the two are only a few days apart December 2 and January  6.  

Clive Wiseley - The town Marshal!

     We also find from his WWI and WWII Draft registration that Clive's middle name was Clifton. Did the townfolk know him as C. C.? (Clive Clifton) He is the only Wiseley I have found that has both first and middle names starting with C. around Oakwood at this time.

Besides playing on the ball team he played with the town band.

Sounds like a decent kind of guy.  He was the Marshal, played on the ball team and in the town band. So why would I wonder if he was a dead beat?  OK I will explain.
       Clive Clifton Wiseley lived in Oakwood. There was also a C. C. Wiseley that lived there that had problems. Since I could not find anyone else with those initials I wondered if C C was Clive Clifton.  We also know that some time before Aug 1918 C C was operating the store his father and uncle founded    

Electious (sic) and Allen Newton were the brothers that opened the store. Electious had a son named Clive Clifton Wiseley.  Allen Newton had kids as well but I have not found any with initials of C. C.  And the way this article is written either man could have been his father or uncle. 
 

Problems started long before this August 1918 closing of the Wiseley store. From a listing of cemetery inscriptions for Paulding County we find this. Evens is listed as son of  C.C. and V Wiseley,but the absence of dates of birth and death suggest newborn children. Then five years later they lost Armelia. Infant deaths were more common in those days but no less painful for parents.  

        Then I found that on the same page Clive was listed as a member of the band and there was a reference that said "C C Wiseley has installed a cooling room on the second floor of his store...." So it did not seem reasonable that the same person would have two different "names" on the same page.  I decided that C C and Clive C were not the same person.  Then in preparing the last entries for CC I discovered this.

On August 9th, 1920 there are two judgements against C C on the same day for outstanding bills. Here is the first one for $22.02. It also says he had 10 acres of oats that he was planning to convert to cash so it would be beyond the reach of creditors.

And on the same day another merchant filed for an outstanding bill of $40.36 in merchandise (on credit) and also a mote for $38.83 for a total of $79.19  as seen here.

Then I discovered I had assumed that both of these outstanding bills were against CC Wiseley and upon reading before entering them here I saw the second one was for Clive C. Wiseley.  The final piece was finding in a 1920 census that Clive was married to a woman named Vere.   If you recall C C and V were the ones that lost two children. It seems too coincidental that both Clive and C C would have a wife with a name starting with V. and that both Clive and C C had suits filed against them on the same day for outtstanding debts.  (Dr Watson would not have needed Sherlock to solve this case)
      Yes, I think Clive (real name was Clyde) and C. C Wiseley were the same person. What do you think?  This is the last information I have on Clive or C. C.  Makes you wonder what happened for a fellow who was so active in town to go from a town marshal to being filed against for unpaid bills. But I don't think he was a deadbeat. Life has twists and turns for all of us and it look's like he just hit a rough patch. We can all relate to that. relatives or not. 
     Next time we will answer the question of where the Wiseleys came from. Scotland, Ireland, Germany, all three or somewhere else.