By: Mark Holtsberry
Joseph Olney Gorrell was born born January 24, 1896 in Payne, Ohio. The son of Don Corlis and Amy C. (Roe) Gorrell. Don C. was born in Indiana February of 1869. Amy was born in Indiana, January of 1872. Don and Amy were married, September 11, 1892 in Grant County, Indiana.
By 1900, the Gorrell’s along with three children, Joseph was the second child, were living in Payne, Don was a dentist. By 1910, the Gorrell’s added a daughter to the family. The family had moved to Paulding living on Harrison Street.
Don had opened his dentist trade also in Paulding. Joseph was in school learning for that future education that was to come. Joseph was going to college at Ohio State University for Pharaceutical and Chemical Medicine. By 1917, Joseph was in Graduate Officers Reserve Training School at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indiana.
Joseph registered for the draft from Ft. Harrison on June 1, 1917. Single, medium build, medium height, brown eyes, brown hair. December 14, 1917, Joseph was in the regular army at Columbus Barracks in Columbus, Ohio. He was assigned to 239th Aerial Squadron serving until April 19, 1918. Served with the 241st Aerial Squadron until June 26, 1918.
May 11, 1918, he was sent to Central Officers Training Camp, Camp Taylor, Kentucky. Promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Honorably Discharged, November 26, 1918 to accept a commission. No active service as an officer during the war.
Joseph returned home to his parents’ house. They were living on Oak Street in Payne. But there is a gal in the picture, Miss Clara J. Lehman, a school teacher, born 1896, the daughter of William E. and Elnora Amy(White) Lehman. On September 21, 1921, Joseph and Clara were married in Paulding by the Rev. Sherman Aldrick. By 1924, Joseph and Clara were living at 1806 Goodyear Boulevard in Akron, Ohio. Joseph was the manager of his brother’s drug store. His brother Wallace was a druggist along with his wife, Ester, and ran the pharmacy, Gorrell Pharmacies, it was located at 409 West Thorton Street in Akron. On April 16, 1925 in Summit County, Akron, Ohio, Joseph O. Gorrell suddenly passed away.
He was brought back home to Paulding County, and buried in Lehman Cemetery, Payne, Ohio. His wife, Clara, never remarried. On April 22, 1976 at the Dallas Lamb Foundation Home, she passed away. She was buried beside Joseph in Lehman Cemetery. They never had children.
…Until Next Time!
