Dick Dudley Donaghy papers, 1892-1975

Finding Aid

Prepared by Merritt D. Betts, March 24, 1982; Revised by Andrea Koss, May 16, 1996; Updated by Stephanie Wachalec, December 2003
1 slim document case, .16 cubic foot, 11th floor
Old archives number D.7.5.1.

Biographical Note

Dick Dudley Donaghy (1900-1975) was a prominent Kent, Ohio businessman, banker, and civic leader. Dick and his brother Roy operated the W. H. Donaghy Drug Company after their father's death in 1915. When Roy died, Dick sold the drug store and focused his attention on a college supply store, Campus Supply Incorporated, also founded by the two brothers. He served as City Council president and on the boards, as director and as chairman, of the Huntington Portage (formerly Kent) National Bank, the Home Savings and Loan Association, and the Kent Free Library. As a boy Dick Donaghy attended the Kent State Training School and was friends with Edward W. Parsons (Wolcott-Parsons, Papers).

In 1925, Dick Donaghy married Esther Lucy Getz (1904- ?). Esther's mother, Martha Furry Getz (1876-1934) was a descendent of the Woodard family, and through this line qualified for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution and several similar societies. Martha Furry attended the Oberlin Conservatory of music, Oberlin, Ohio, and for many years was organist and choir director of the Kent Congregational Church. She was a founder of the Kent Parent-Teacher Association, and the County Detention Home. Her husband, John Getz (1863-1941) was a founder of Getz Brothers Hardware, the Home Savings and Loan Association of Kent, Ohio and was vice-president of the Kent National Bank.

Scope and Content

This collection was donated to the Kent State University Archives by Merritt Donaghy Betts on July 30 and August 18, 1975. Items in this collection relate to Dick Donaghy, his wife, and her family. Also included in the collection are some materials relating to the Civil War service of Martha Furry Getz's father, George A. Furry. Genealogical charts of both Donaghy and Getz families compiled by Esther Getz Donaghy and Merritt Donaghy Betts are included in the collection.

Box 1

1. Genealogical charts of Donaghy, Chapin, Converse, Fessenden, and Clarke families
2. Genealogical charts and information of Getz, Russell, Furry, Harris, Scott, Woodard, Wooden, and Leonard families
3. Baptismal certificate of Dick Dudley Donaghy, December 18, 1900; certificate of election as president of Kent City Council, November 10, 1931
4. Obituary of Dick Donaghy, Kent Record Courier, May 20, 1975
5. Letter from Oberlin Conservatory of music concerning Martha Furry [photocopy], June 23, 1898
6. Poem by Martha Furry Getz, tracing the history of education in Kent, Ohio, [after 1922?]
7. Certificates of admission to the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Martha Furry Getz, June 8, 1921; Esther Getz Donaghy, October 20, 1926 (shelved in map case on 11th floor)
8. Acceptances of application for: the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution, Martha Merritt Donaghy, February 3, 1947, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ester Getz Donaghy, October 20, 1927 and Martha Furry Getz, June 8, 1921 and National Society United States Daughters of 1812, Martha Furry Getz, September 15, 1928 and membership approval from National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Martha Merritt Donaghy, February 1, 1961
9. Applications for membership to the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution for Martha Merritt Donaghy, December 1, 1946 and for membership to the Society of Mayflower Descendents for Martha Furry Getz, [no date]
10. Information concerning Civil War service of George A. Furry, includes his request for a pension filed in 1914, and a chronological summary of his service in Company 9, the 7th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, 1861-1864
11. The Friendly Visitor, bulletin of the First Congregational Church, Kent, Ohio, May 26, 1930
12. Chapter XXI of the Indian Wars of the United States by Edward S. Ellis, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1892, entitled "A Scrimmage with the Delawares-Brady's Leap"
13. Photograph of members of the 8th grade class of the Kent State Training School, 1914, dressed for production of "Lady of the Lake" [Dick Donaghy is at the far right and Edward W. Parsons is in the center]
14. Early photograph of summer school at Kent State Normal, [now Kent State University, no date]
15. Photograph of Kent Charter Commission, [Dick Donaghy, chairman], 1954
16. Photograph of W. H. Donaghy Drug Company, [1918?]
17. Photograph of W. H. Donaghy Drug Company, [no date]
18. Photograph of the Board of Directors, Kent National Bank, [Dick Donaghy, chairman, 1957?]
19. Photograph of Dick Donaghy at Campus Supply Incorporated, [1970?]
20. Photograph of G. A. R. veterans, Kent, Ohio, during a Memorial Day Parade, [George A. Furry second from left, no date]
21. Two photographs of Standing Rock, Kent, Ohio, 1896, [no date]
22. Photograph of the Revere House, Kent, Ohio, [no date]
23. Photograph of North Water Street, Kent, Ohio, [no date]
24. Photograph of dam on the Cuyahoga River, [no date]
25. Two photographs of high water at the Cuyahoga River at the Stow Street bridge, one dated March 25, 1913
26. Postcards (6) of Kent, [1900s?]