H. Ross Ake

H. Ross Ake
H. Ross Ake
	circa 1920
33rd Ohio State Treasurer
	In office; February, 1929 – November, 1930
Appointed by	Myers Y. Cooper
Preceded by	Bert B. Buckley
Succeeded by	Edwin A. Todd
Member of the Ohio Senate; from the 21st district
	In office; January 6, 1919 – January 2, 1921
Preceded by	Adam W. Oberlin
Personal details
Born	September 22, 1878; Osnaburg Township, Stark County, Ohio
Died	February 11, 1954 (aged 75); East Canton, Ohio
Resting place	Mapleton Cemetery, Mapleton, Ohio; 40°44′54″N 81°14′27″W
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Hannah Roxanne Dager
Children	three
Alma mater	Mount Union College

Howard Ross Ake (September 22, 1878 – February 11, 1954) was a Republican politician and banker from the U.S. state of Ohio. He was elected to the Ohio State Senate, appointed as Ohio State Treasurer, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

Biography

H. Ross Ake was born September 22, 1878, on a farm in Osnaburg Township, Stark County, Ohio.[1] His parents, John Ake, and Cora Shearer Ake were both born in Stark County. He attended the country schools and Mount Union College.[1] He was a banker in Canton, Ohio,[2] and was secretary-treasurer and manager of the Canton, Ohio, Morris Plan Bank from its founding in 1916. He also was on the Board of Governors of the National Association of Morris Plan Bankers.[1]

Ake served two terms as County Treasurer of Stark County, before being elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1918. He served during 1919 and 1920. This was during the period of anti-German sentiment by the war with Germany in World War I.[3] The legislature passed the Ake Law, which in 1919 outlawed the teaching of the German language below the eighth grade in all schools, both public and private. The United States Supreme Court, in Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), determined the law and ones like it to be unconstitutional, as the state did not have the authority to ban German in private schools.[3] Ake also was favorable toward labor in the legislature.[4]

In February 1929, Ohio State Treasurer Bert B. Buckley was convicted of bribery, and forced to resign rather than be impeached.[5] His two-year term had just started, and would not expire until January 1931. Ohio Governor Myers Y. Cooper appointed Ake to finish the term. He resigned in November, 1930.

H. Ross Ake was the Republican nominee for Ohio's 16th congressional district in 1936. He ran as an isolationist,[4] and lost to incumbent Democrat William R. Thom.

Ake was married to Hannah Roxaine Dager in 1904.[6] They had three children.[1] Ake was a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Jr. O.U.A.M.[1]

H. Ross Ake died February 11, 1954, in East Canton, Ohio. He is buried at the cemetery in Mapleton, Ohio.[6]

References

Halley, W E; Maynard, John P. (1920). Manual of Legislative Practice in the General Assembly 1919-1920. Columbus: State Bindery. p. 65.
Halley 1920 : 40
"Ake Law", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005 Ohio Historical Society
Massillon Evening Independent, May 9, 1938 page three
Kokomo Daily Tribune, Feb. 6, 1929
H. Ross Ake at Find a Grave

Political offices
Preceded by Bert B. Buckley	Treasurer of Ohio 1929–1930	Succeeded by Edwin A. Todd

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[man-1] Halley, W E; Maynard, John P. (1920). Manual of Legislative Practice in the General Assembly 1919-1920. Columbus: State Bindery. p. 65.

[2] Halley 1920 : 40

[akelaw-3] "Ake Law", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005 Ohio Historical Society

[massevening-4] Massillon Evening Independent, May 9, 1938 page three

[5] Kokomo Daily Tribune, Feb. 6, 1929

[grave-6] H. Ross Ake at Find a Grave