Educator's family built landmark building on East Avenue 190 years ago

ELYRIA — Built 190 years ago by John and Abigail Monteith, Monteith Hall stands as a reminder of the city's stoic history and past accomplishments. With its large white columns and impressive facade, the home is a mainstay on East Avenue with generations of Elyrians passing by on their daily commute. The structure has been added on to twice, most recently at the turn of the 19th century when the columns were added to the front. Owned by the Monteith family until 1954, it was acquired by the Elyria Woman's Club. "Monteith Hall is the most historical building still standing in Elyria," said Bill Bird, local historian and president of the Friends of Monteith Hall. An educator and minister, John Monteith was a staunch abolitionist living in Michigan before it was a state, trying to start schools. He was president of what is now the University of Michigan. Heman Ely brought him to Elyria to be administrator of the first high school west of the Allegheny Mountains — Elyria High School — in 1830. "He didn't stay at Elyria High School very long," Bird said. "While there is no proof, we think it was because of his work with the abolitionist movement. He gave a fiery sermon and we believe some of the school board, who were more conservative, were not pleased." In 1835, the Monteiths finished construction on their home in Elyria and started an academy for girls. Students lived in the home and were taught by John and Abigail Monteith. The home also was a stop on the Underground Railroad from 1835 to 1847. John Monteith was in charge of a large network of stops along the southern shores of Lake Erie. "There is no real date on the years of operation or how many slaves went through," Bird said. "It was all passed on by word of mouth through the family. Nothing was written down for obvious reasons." Over the years, there was talk of an actual tunnel from the basement of the home to the Black River that allowed slaves to escape, but the distance to the river makes that unlikely, Bird said. However, some type of opening in the basement may have existed, according to Bird. When the Monteiths' eldest daughter, Sarah, married Sheriff Nahum Ball Gates, it made operating the Underground Railroad more difficult and its usage declined. The home was passed to Sarah and Nahum Ball Gates when her parents moved to Michigan to serve in a church. The elder family members eventually returned to Elyria in their later years. Nahum Ball Gates became the first mayor of Elyria and served in the capacity, on and off, for 20 years. The house then passed to Sarah and Nahum Bill Gates' son, William and his wife, Ada (Cook). William Gates ran an advertising company in Cleveland. He died in 1913, when he was in his mid 50s, and his widow, Ada Gates, remarried. When Edgar Allen, a volunteer at Elyria Memorial Hospital where William Gates was a member of the board, wanted to build a hospital for crippled children, Ada Gates donated the money to establish the Gates Hospital for Crippled Children in her late husband's memory. It was the first hospital of its kind in the country and ultimately became the Easter Seals. The Monteith family, and the home, played another important role in history, during Ada Gates' era. In 1908, the matriarch was approached by Emma Olds to help with a local women's suffrage group. Ada Gates sent pamphlets to a number of local women with clout and the Political Study Club was formed. The Political Study Club morphed into the Elyria Woman's Civic Club and finally the Elyria Womans' Club, which still exists today. William and Ada Gates' family was the last of the Monteiths to live in Monteith Hall. All five of their sons went east to prep schools and colleges to study, never to return. Ada Gates lived in the home until she died in 1954. The sons inherited the home but sold it to the Elyria Womans' Club in 1954. The Friends of Monteith Hall acquired the property in January, becoming the third owners of the historic property. Contact Christina Jolliffe at ctnews@chroniclet.com.