Lake County Ohio GenWeb

Thomas B. Wyman

As published in the Alumni Record, Painesville High School, Painesville, Ohio
Compiled and Published by the Painesville High School Alumni Association in 1925

Transcribed by Linda Jeffery, November 2004.

Thomas B. Wyman, ’98

Thomas B. Wyman was born at Perry, Ohio, July 14, 1880. As a boy he attended the district schools of Perry Township. In 1895 his family moved to Painesville where he entered Painesville High School, graduating with the class of 1898. Following his graduation, he clerked for two years at The Wyman, a hotel conducted by his uncle at Connelsville, Pennsylvania. While in school at Perry and Painesville he had always been greatly interested in scientific study and in botany in particular and so, in the fall of 1900, he entered the Ohio State University at Columbus enrolling for the course in horticulture and forestry.

Forestry, at that time, was a comparatively new study in the United States and courses were very incomplete. Not being satisfied with the course, which was practically all horticulture, he did not return to Columbus the following year but entered the employ of the Pioneer Trust Company at Painesville, remaining with the bank two years.

In July, 1903 he continued his Forestry course at Biltmore Forest School, Biltmore, North Carolina, graduating from the latter institution with the Degrees of Bachelor of Forestry and Forest Engineer, December 31^st, 1904.

In February of 1905 he entered the employ of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company at Negatunee, Michigan, as Forester and, at the end of the year was transferred to Munising, Michigan, in charge of the Munising District operations of this company with which operations he was identified until 1911.

In the spring of 1906 he was elected Supervisor of Grand Island Township, Alger County, in which capacity he served seven years the latter two of which he was chosen Chairman of the Alger County Board of Supervisors.

During his experience as Forester with the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company he had come in contact with the great need for better forest protection and in the fall of 1910 took an active part in the organization of the Northern Forest Protective Association, an organization of private timber land owners, having for its purpose the patrolling of the timber lands of its membership against forest fires and the conduction of a needed publicity campaign to arouse the public mind against the enormous losses annually cause by fires. In March, 1911, he became Secretary-Forester of this Association. The Association continued active operations until 1918 when it secured such increased state appropriations for forest work as would permit of general patrol and lessen the cost to all timber land owners. To put the new patrol system into effect he resigned from the Association and took charge of the work in the Northern Peninsula for the State.

In 1909, finding in his own work a decided need of young men with woods experience, he organized Wyman’s School of the Woods, a practical school of forestry, which school he conducted until 1917 when war conditions made it inadvisable to continue. The school sent many men into private forest work the larger percentage of whom saw service with the Forest Regiment in France during the World War.

When Painesville adopted the City Manager Plan, effective January 1, 1920, he was invited to become the city’s first manager which position he has occupied since that date.

Mr. Wyman was married December 17, 1907 to Lillian Penglase of Negaunee, Michigan and his family consists of two boys, Max and Don, both attending the Painesville public schools.