A piece of the region’s history was lost with the demolition of the historic Pomerene house in the village of Berlin.

The house, built in 1879, stood near the intersection of National Highway 39 and US Highway 62 in the center of the Holmes County community.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. However, being listed on the National Register does not mean that a building cannot be demolished.

The structure is said to be in poor condition and would have been too expensive to repair.

The Pomerene family was one of the most important families in Holmes County in the 19th century.

Dr Peter P. Pomerene was born in Holmes County in 1832 and moved to Berlin in 1855, where he began practicing medicine.

“Dr. Pomerene has been eminently successful, earning for himself a high and honorable position in the medical profession,” according to his biography in the Memorial Biographical Register of Wayne and Holmes Counties, Ohio, published in 1889.

“Nature prepared him admirably for this form of work, and he has always been a close student and a hard worker. He is a skilled practitioner and surgeon, and has practiced his profession in all its branches.”

His brother Joel was a doctor in Millersburg and the hospital is named in Joel’s honor there.

Peter Pomerene has married twice. His first wife was the former Lorhetta Maxwell. She died in 1862. They had three children, Ada, Haidee, who died at the age of two, and Da Costa, who became a prominent Presbyterian minister.

This photo shows the Pomerene House in Berlin as demolition work on the historic structure has begun.

The doctor remarried after less than a year, saying that with his growing practice and two children, a mother was needed. He married Elizabeth Wise of the canton of Berlin on January 1, 1863.

There are two versions of their courtship display, according to the book History of Villages, People, Places in Eastern Holmes County, published in 1975 by Clarence Troyer.

“One of them was that one day he found her hunched over a washboard when he arrived. He was supposed to have said he had it in mind for a while and that if she had had it, they would be married and be done.

“The other version said he asked his father for his hand before speaking to him.”

They had nine children, seven sons and two daughters – Atlee, Harry, Celsus, Lister, Ida, Ora, Lee, Melvin and Budge. Four of the sons became doctors and two became lawyers.

This photo shows the Pomerene House in Berlin as demolition work on the historic structure has begun.

In 1879 the family home in Berlin was damaged by fire, so Peter Pomerene decided to build a bigger and bigger house.

According to the building’s application for registration in the national register, “it is the largest and most distinctive Italian-style residence in Berlin”. Italian was a popular architectural style of this period.

The doctor supervised the construction of the house and kept meticulous accounts of project expenses.

Peter Pomerene lived there until his death in 1892.

His son Atlee achieved the greatest fame in the family.

Senator Atlee Pomerene

Born in Berlin on December 6, 1863, he attended the Berlin School and the Vermillion Institute in Hayesville. according to the Holmes County book until 1985. He enrolled at Princeton University as a junior in 1882 and graduated in 1884. He then attended Cincinnati Law School, graduating in 1886. He was called to the bar the same year.

He moved to Canton and began to practice law. Pomerene quickly got involved in politics, being elected Canton City lawyer within a year. He was elected Stark County District Attorney in 1897 and served until 1900.

A Democrat, Pomerene was elected lieutenant governor of Ohio in 1910. Before he could take up that post, he was elected United States Senator by the Ohio General Assembly.

In the Senate, he helped create the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve System. He was also instrumental in the passage of the Farm Loan Act, the Good Roads Law of 1916 and the Esch-Cummins Transportation Act. from 1920.

After leaving office, Pomerene was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge to investigate the Teapot Dome oil scandal, which involved members of President Warren G. Harding’s cabinet. The investigation revealed millions of dollars in transplant.

In 1928 Pomerene was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, but the nomination went to Al Smith.

During the Depression, he was a vigorous critic of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Pomerene died on November 12, 1937 and was buried in the West Lawn Cemetery in Canton.

The National Cyclopedia of American Biography described him thus: “In public life he has always been a statesman and his voice and vote supported whatever he thought was best for his country, no matter what. political consequences. “

Jon Baker is a reporter for The Times-Reporter and can be reached at [email protected].