History Knox
Mark Sebastian Jordan authors his History Knox column each Saturday in Knox Pages.
MOUNT VERNON — You might not want to believe everything an 8-year-old tells you.
That was the harsh lesson learned by Mount Vernon shopkeeper Harry Porter in August of 1915, according to a brief article in the Aug. 17 issue of the Democratic Banner.
A child wandered into Porter’s Bakery one day, complaining about his hair. He apparently announced that his mother had given him permission to get it cut, he just didn’t have the money to go to the barber.
Somehow this resulted in the child talking Porter into cutting his hair. After all, if he was packing up baked goods, he likely had scissors for cutting paper and string. This seemed reasonable enough to Porter, and he trimmed the child’s hair.
Either Porter gave a really awful haircut, or the child’s mother was exceedingly fond of her little boy’s locks (or, possibly, both), for the woman went through the roof with anger. The newspaper isn’t particularly helpful in identifying the victim of the shearing, identifying him only as “a son of Robert Doty.”
The most likely candidate I’ve found to be the father (or in this case, step-father), is Robert Thomas Doty, born in Clinton, just north of Mount Vernon in 1890. The stepson is likely Leland Clements.
If that is the case, then the mother was Elizabeth Lillian Doty, previously Clements, maiden name Hunter, known to her friends as “Lizzie” or sometimes “Lucy.”
Lizzie’s father had emigrated to the U.S. from England, and ended up in Pleasant Township of Knox County. Lucy got married to Ozzy Clements in 1900, and Leland was born a few years later.
By 1909, the marriage had gotten rocky, resulting in Ozzy loading up his wife and son and taking them to her father’s home, where he left them, declaring he wouldn’t live with her any longer. He then left the state and was never seen again.
By 1910, Lizzie and Leland are living with the Lindholm family on North Mulberry Street, where Lizzie worked as a housekeeper. In 1911, she filed for divorce from the missing Ozzy, and it was granted. By 1915, she was with Doty.
Perhaps the difficulties of life made both Lizzie and Leland pretty feisty. Records suggest that Lizzie went on to marry for a third time, to a man named Noggle. Over the years, Leland was reported using Hunter, Clements, and Doty as surname, but he later settled on Clements.
He lived for many years in Marion, Ohio, and passed away as recently as 1998.
As for Harry Porter, he was found guilty in his assault trial and forced to pay $5 in damages, plus court costs.
One thing’s for sure: I’ll bet he didn’t give out any free haircuts after that!