Higbee Co. origins began in Lodi

Did you know the Higbee Co. started in Harrisville (Lodi)? To trace the Higbee-Hower connection, we must start in 1835, when Jeremiah Higbee come to Harrisville and built a large building, opening his mercantile business. In 1835, when Harrisville was set aside as a post office, Jeremiah became the town's first postmaster. Jeremiah was active in civic and church affairs with probable Underground Railroad connections and helped establish the First National Bank. Born in September 1837 in Lodi, Edwin Converse Higbee was the son of Jeremiah and Sarah Converse Higbee. Edwin attended the Lodi public schools. His education continued to the Baptist College, which is now Denison College in Granville. Erwin married a Lodi gal, Mary Haines, in 1860. Edwin eventually quit college to join John Hower in opening the Higbee-Hower Dry Goods in Cleveland on Sept. 10, 1860. With families in the same business, Edwin Higbee met John G. Hower from Burbank and became friends. The Hower family had a dry good store in Burbank for 50 years before coming to Lodi. N.W. Hower and his brother James A. Hower started Lodi Hower Department Store in 1889, becoming the oldest retail business in Lodi. The Hower family kept the store in Burbank, as well. The Burbank store eventually closed, leaving only the Lodi store open. The Hower family celebrated seven generations before closing. The Higbee-Hower store was located at 238-240 Superior St. in Cleveland in 1860. On opening day, John Hower and Edwin Higbee took in $100. To help on their opening day, the Perry Monument opened as 100,000 people gathered in Cleveland Public Square. Their emporium specialized in dry goods and ready-to-wear apparel, staffing the business with five employees. The 1860s were not an easy time to be in business. Because of the Civil War, prices doubled in 1860-1864. But wages increased less than 50 percent. Regardless, Higbee-Hower prospered. In 1870, they moved to a new, larger location in the Northup and Harrington Block (now the site of Stouffer's Tower City Plaza Hotel). By 1886 Edwin's son William joined the firm and Higbee-Hower became the first Cleveland store to have electric lights and telephones. Higbee-Hower purchased delivery wagons, as there were 25 "cash boys," which took customers' money to the store cashier and their "newfangled" cash registers. John Hower died in an accident on June 10, 1897, and Edwin Higbee became president. The Higbee-Hower Co. reorganized in 1902 as the Higbee Co. Jeremiah Higbee eventually moved to Cleveland; Jeremiah's first wife and infant son are buried in the Old Lodi Cemetery. Lodi has recently lost Charles William "Bill" Hower, who with his son Scott were the last owners of Lodi Hower Department Store. Eclipse event The Lodi Harrisville Historical Society, aligned with Lodi Library, will be hosting the Eclipse Event at Richman Field, from noon to 4 p.m. April 8. There will be Kurtz food trucks; games and crafts for children; and solar eclipse glasses at a minimal cost. Bleacher seating will be limited; bring a chair. Letha Mapes is president of the Lodi Harrisville Historical Society.