Notable Articles
Article in The Sunday Times Signal
Author: Norris F. Schneider
Published: April 21st
B. F. Abbot's vision of a home for aged men in Zanesville is nearing realization, with his bequest of $40,000 in 1912. Abbot laid the foundation for an institution that would match the Helen Purcell Home for Women. Thirty-four years have passed since Abbot's bequest was made.
A completed home was provided upon that 3½ year old foundation by the provisions of the will of the late Mrs. N. S. Chandler. At Mrs. Chandler's death on January 8, 1944, newspapers announced that she had bequeathed her home at 1258 Greenwood Avenue to the trustees of the Abbot Home for Aged Men. The residue of her estate after the payments of many charitable and personal bequests was also left to the Abbot Home. It is now estimated by the First National Bank, executor of her will that the cash bequest to the Home will amount to approximately $125,000.
Standards for admission to the Abbot Home will be discussed by the trustees at their annual meeting on May 1. Officers are Ralph Gorsuch (President), Henry J. Knoedler (Vice President), Harry R. Shaw (Treasurer) and Orville B Littick (Secretary). Trustees are Albert T. Baker, D. M. Hook and Clarence Simpson.
Workmen of the Mast Construction Company are remodeling the former Chandler residence. Alterations are being made to conform to state laws for homes of this type and conveniences are being installed for the residents. Doors are being hinged on the outside and heating equipment is being insulated.
The Abbot Home trustees plan to open the institution in the former Chandler house in May. This ten-room building will accommodate from seven to ten residents. As soon as building materials are available, the trustees expect to make plans for the construction of a larger building on the Chandler lot. This construction is made possible by the $125,000 bequest of Mrs. Chandler added to the $130,748 already accumulated in the Abbot fund to make a total of $255,748.00.
"Abbot Home Trustees Fulfills Dream" in The Sunday Times Signal
The opening of the Abbot Home next month will fulfill a dream that Zanesville civic leaders have had since the establishment of the Helen Purcell Home. The Chandler residence at 1258 Greenwood Avenue was willed to the Abbot Home by Mrs. N. S. Chandler in memory of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Glessner.
It is said that in one of her wills, Mrs. Chandler left her home to the Pioneer and Historical Society of Muskingum county. But when that society secured a home in the Art Institute, she bequeathed her home to the Abbot trustees.
Since there had already been a delay of 32 years in starting a home, Mrs. Chandler provided that the institution must be opened as soon as possible after her bequest became available. War conditions, however, made the possibility of construction uncertain. If The Abbot Home were not established within one year after her death, the property was to be sold and the proceeds distributed equally in the form of annuities to the YWCA, the Salvation Army, Helen Purcell Home, YMCA Day Nursery, and Good Samaritan Hospital and Bethesda hospital.
The repairs to the Chandler residence are being made at the expense of the trustees of the Abbot Home. But the deed to the real estate will not be turned over to the Abbot trustees until the Home is in operation. Mrs. Chandler provided in her will that her bequest to the Abbot Home should not be paid unless operation of the Home was started within a year after her death or within a second year if the trustees of her estate should consider a time extension necessary because of the war. The executors of the will granted an extension of a second year. The trustees of the Abbott Home voted on May 15, 1944, to accept the gift of Mrs. Chandler's residence and to begin construction of a new building as soon as conditions would permit.
The Chandler Memorial Tablet
Before her death, Mrs. Chandler asked permission of the trustees of the Abbot home to furnish a memorial tablet, to hang in her house after conversion to a home for aged men, was completed. The trustees approved the wording of the inscription on May 4, 1937. Mrs. Chandler had a large bronze tablet made with the following inscription:
This land, and the residence and the nearby house, were given to the Abbot Home of Zanesville, Ohio, by Jessie Glessner Chandler, in memory of her parents, Jacob Glessner and Mary Laughlin Glessner, who long had their home upon this site. Thus will be carried forward, here, the ideals of those who have gone before, from this home, those whose lives have been rich in truth and honor.
Mrs. Jessie Chandler’s Parents
Jacob Glessner was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, on August 15. 1809. Before he was 21 years old he published a newspaper in his home county. When he was growing up, the rich western country beckoned him, and he took charge of a paper in Steubenville, Ohio. Later he edited a paper at St. Clairsville.
In 1837 Glessner married Miss Mary E. Laughlin of Wheeling, West VA and the young people soon moved to Zanesville. Here he took possession of the Zanesville Aurora on January 1, 1838, before he was 30 years old. With youthful enthusiasm he published a strongly partisan Democratic paper for six years. For the next six years he published the Newark, Ohio, Constitution. I n 1850 he returned to Zanesville to make his permanent home here. In that year he bought a 10- acre tract of land on the National Road and built a home. His residence, which is not now standing, was west of the present Chandler house. The next newspaper venture of Glessner was the publication in 1852 of the none-partisan Zanesville Times. It was printed on the first steam press in Zanesville. In 1861 Glessner was elected to the State legislature on the Union ticket. He sold his newspaper to George H. Logan.
In thin burial lot at Greenwood cemetery, marked by the Glessner tombstone at right Mrs. N. S. Chandler and others of her family, including her father, Jacob Glessner are buried.