General History of Wiltshire Road
by Connie Sancetta, 9/2016

At the beginning of the 20th century all of this area was farmland, although not every acre was under cultivation. I have not taken this back further than 1896, when Frank and Lizzie Jackson sold the 100 acres that was to become Wiltshire Road to a Fred Akins and family. The Akinses have left a rich paper trail which I have only partially followed. The basic story is that Fred was born on a farm in Euclid Township, and married a woman named Cynthia. They spent some time in Michigan, and possibly also Kansas, but were back in the Cleveland area by 1885.   Fred is listed as a “merchant” in the 1900 census, and apparently had a candy shop in 1910, when they were living on East 75th St.
The deed from the Jacksons lists the entire Akins family as purchasers, rather unusually. As far as one can tell, the Akinses continued to live in Cleveland and there is no way to tell what, if anything, was done with the property. They may have been simply holding it as an investment.  It’s possible that they were thinking of living here, or at least that one of the adult children might do so, because after holding the property for seventeen years, they apparently did build a small house in 1913 — what is now 3971 Wiltshire (current owner Jill Matusek).

But then some changes occurred. For one thing, Fred divorced Cynthia when they were both about 60 years old, and immediately married a woman named Olive. And during the same time the S.H. Kleinman Realty Company was buying up various large lots in Orange township with the intent to develop them. I haven’t tried to figure out which lots they used for which subdivision, but the key thing is that on April 13, 1915 Fred and Olive Akins sold the 100 acres to Kleinman as the “Kinsman Highland Subdivision, part of Orange Township lots 1 and 2, Tract 3”. Wiltshire Road, in short. Kleinman presumably put in the road, if it did not already exist as part of the farm, laid out the sublots, and on February 1, 1916 they offered the land for sale and had four immediate takers, with more buyers during the next decade or so.
The story of some properties is added below.

3971 Wiltshire       Jill Matusek
This property consists of sublot 52 and a slice from sublot 51 on the south side
(corresponding to the driveway and its border). The two parts were not joined until 1943, so this report concentrates on sublot 52 with the house.
As mentioned above, the original cottage was built in 1913 when the Akinses owned it,
although they were living in Cleveland. It looks as though the house was a rental property for several decades. Sublot 52 was bought by a Martin Zorko as soon as the realty company offered the land for sale on Feb. 1, 1916. Zorko was the son of Slovenian immigrants from Yugoslavia, and in 1920 he was naturalized and 28 years old but still living with his parents in Cleveland, although not employed. So he must have bought the property as an investment, not to live in.
Zorko kept the property for ten years and then sold it to Ruth Decker in December 1926.
There are three Ruth Deckers in the 1930 census in Cleveland, so we can’t tell which one she was. But she was certainly not on Wiltshire Road; the tenants of the house were probably James and Louise Teasar, 31 and 24, with a baby James Jr. They paid $25 per month in rent, and James was working in a greenhouse. James was almost certainly the son of Mary Boche, a widow from Czechoslovakia who was also renting on Wiltshire, living with her other sons Frank and Joe.   They were also farm laborers or greenskeepers at a clubhouse. Mary had come in 1907 and was  not naturalized. Presumably she had remarried a Mr. Boche after her Teasar husband died.

Ruth Decker (who subsequently became Ruth Avery just to confuse things) used it as rental property for seventeen years. From at least 1935 to 1940 the tenants were Edwin and Emma Wilker, 24 and 22, with a baby Judith. They were born in Ohio and Edwin was employed as a foundryman, probably in Chagrin Falls.
Ruth sold sublot 52 to William and Genevieve Zeleny in July 1943. They lived on Pulaski
Ave. in Cleveland. Genevieve had previously bought sublot 51 in 1940 from Joseph Rutkowski, and she later acquired sublot 53 as well (now the Apanius place). Presumably the house continued as a rental during all this time.
Then Rutkowski apparently showed an interest in reacquiring all three properties, because the Zelenys sold all three of them to him in June 1961. Rutkowski was living on Madison Ave. in Cleveland at the time; one would have to do some further research to see if he ever lived on Wiltshire.
Rutkowski held on to all three lots for a long time; it was not until 1977 that he sold them to Stella Kazmierski. She is the first owner who can be documented as actually living in the house.      Given the timing of sales, the driveway could have been put in by the Zelenys, or Rutkowski, or Stella Kazmierski. It was certainly there when Stella sold the full thing to Clint and Mary Papesch in October 1987. Therefore, Stella lived in the house for ten years.
The Papesches also lived in the house for a little over ten years, and then sold it to Lee
Harlands (unmarried) in Oct. 1998. He kept it for only four years and then sold it to Roger and Debbie Lipstreu, who sold it to Jill Matusek in 2015.

3879 Wiltshire       Lynn and Rich Parker
The property consists of the southern half of sublot 40 and all of 41. They were purchased from the Kleinman Realty company by Walter and Florence Jacobs in stages during 1920. By the end of that year, Walter owned all of sublots 38-45 (corresponding to the Sciuvas through half of the McAninch property today).
In February 1926, Florence sold most of their holdings to Michael and Susanna (aka Buda) Glockner, including these lots. The Glockners were Czechs, Michael having come in 1905 and Susanna in 1912. In 1930 they were living on Wiltshire, but it is not possible to be sure which property had their house, since street numbers did not come in until after World War II. Judging by the dates of construction, it could have been the original house on the Torontali property, or something on the Parker property that was later replaced by the one they live in.
The house, whatever it was, was worth $5000 in 1930. At that date Michael was 42 and Buda 38 and they had three children. Michael was a machinist at an auto garage and had recently applied for naturalization.
In May 1946 Michael died of leukemia and in August Susanna as executor was authorized to sell the south part of 40, plus 41 and 42 to pay his debts. They were sold that same day to MaryAnn Keberle and Walter L. Parker, father of Rich Parker who owns it today.

3849  Wiltshire     Jim and Kathy Sciuva
This property is sublot 38. It was purchased from Kleinman Realty, along with lots 39 and 40, by Walter and Florence Jacobs in March 1920. The Jacobses sold this lot, plus number39 and the northern part of sublot 40, to Carl and Johanna Moodt in February, 1923. The property  records indicate that the age of the original house is 1921, so the Jacobses must have been the ones who built it.
Carl and Johanna lived in the house for the rest of her life. They were both from Romania and were naturalized by 1930. At that time Carl was 38 and Johanna was 32, and they had two children. The house was valued at $7000 — high for Wiltshire values. Michael was a carpenter on a farm and he may have modified it a bit. Or, conceivably, they initially rented the land from the Jacobses and he built the house himself.
Johanna died in 1971 and Carl as executor sold sublot 38 to Max and Violet Whitmore, who in turn sold it to the Sciuvas that same year. There was a major remodelling job in 1956, which would have been while the Moodts owned it.

3850 Wiltshire      Joan Horinka
The property is sublot 25, and county records indicate the house was built in 1926. This poses a little problem, because the records show that the property was purchased from Kleinman Realty on Dec. 31, 1926. If the date of construction is correct, then the only explanation that makes sense is that the people who bought it had been renting the land for some time before.
The buyer was Esther Orcutt Goettling, daughter of John and Ione Orcutt. Ione herself was one of the first buyers from Kleinman — she bought several properties across the street from this one. Esther transferred the property to her mother Ione about six months later in May 1927. John and Ione did live on Wiltshire by 1930, and my guess is that it was in this house (now 3850). By that point John was 65 and Ione 59 and he was a general repairman. He was born in New York and she in Michigan. They listed the value of the house at $7000, making it one of the more valuable ones on the street.

Sadly, Ione died of uterine cancer shortly after the census was taken, and in August 1930 her will was filed in the probate court. She left all of her property to her husband, and after his death to her daughter Esther. Ione was buried in her home town of Morenci, MI and John can no longer be found in Ohio. The intermediate paperwork does not exist in the public record, but apparently Esther arranged for an administrator of Ione’s estate to sell the property to the Chagrin Falls Savings and Loan for $3100 in July 1932. It looks as though the Orcutts were among the early victims of the Depression.
The Savings and Loan kept title to the property until June 1945, when it was sold to John and Mary Toth. The Toths had been in the house since at least 1940 with their son Jack, 5, so they must have been renting it for a while. They were from Hungary, naturalized citizens, and John was a welder for an airplane parts company.
The Toths stayed there for the rest of their lives. When John died in 1978 the title passed to Mary, and it was not until October 1980 that Mary sold it to Morteza and Zivar Danesteh. They kept it for only four years before selling to Jeffrey and Teresa Heaton. And four years after that, in Sept. 1988, the Heatons sold it to Joan Horinka.

3785 Wiltshire      Patrick and Kay Voss Hoynes
This property is the southern half of original sublot 32, and the house was built in 1928.
Sublot 32 was purchased from Kleinman Realty on Sept.16, 1926 by Ione Orcutt (wife of John).  Ione bought several other Wiltshire properties around that time, most of which she sold shortly thereafter. She split up sublot 32, and sold this half to Allen Boyer in February, 1927. Allen was  clearly a speculator, since he bought quite a few other properties on Wiltshire, Ellendale and other places.
The Orcutts did live on Wiltshire in 1930, but it is not possible to tell which house. It wasn’t this one, since Allen owned it by then. John Orcutt was 65 and Ione 59, and their house was worth $7000, making it one of the better homes on the street. John was a self-employed general repairman. Ione died of uterine cancer in 1930 and was buried in her home town of Morenci, Michigan.
Presumably Allen Boyer built this house and used it for rental income. In 1930 there were two rental properties at the end of the street, either of which might be this one. Marie Mason, a widow of 35 with three children was renting for $15 per month and doing housework for people. Marie Boche, a widow of 58 from Czechoslovakia, was renting another place for $10 per month, along with her sons Frank and Joe Teasar (32 and 25), and Joe’s teenage son. All three men were working as farm laborers or in a greenhouse at the country club. Mary immigrated in 1907 and was not naturalized. Given the difference of names, she must have remarried a Boche after her Teasar husband died. There was also a James Teasar living down the street, in what is now 3971 Wiltshire, with his wife and a baby boy.
Allen Boyer held on to the property for ten years, but may have finally succumbed to the
Depression, because in February 1938 he sold a whole bunch of properties to the Van Sweringen Company, including this one. Within six months (August 1938) the company sold it to Neil and Mary Scott who had been living in it since at least 1935 as tenants. In 1940 the house was worth $1300, Neil was 37 and Mary 25, and they had one daughter of 4. Neil had been born in Scotland and was a naturalized citizen; Mary was from Pennsylvania. Neil was working as a tractor driver at a country club, and claimed that his wages in 1939 were $1300.
Neil and Mary had a mortgage on the house, and in May 1945 they sold it to Paul and Ethel Gothard with the $4000 mortgage. The Gothards apparently did move in and pay off the mortgage, but less than a year later (February 1946) they sold it to Michael and Helen Lamperth, formerly of E. 118th St.
Michael transferred title to Helen in July, 1958. He died at the age of 85 in December 1977 and six months later (May 1978) Helen transferred title to Carl and Grace Lamperth (presumably her son and daughter-in-law), who were living on Harvard Road. Two years later (September 1980) Carl and Grace sold it to David and Joanne Evans, who planned to live there. And two years after that, David and Joanne sold it to the Hoynes.

Connie Sancetta, 9/2016