P.W. Davidson
Birth Date: Unknown

Artist Gallery
An example of Romanesque architecture, the Case mansion was a design of the noted Guy Tilden. Built in 1902 along Market Avenue N, it sat on less than one acre at its end, perhaps making its massiveness even more noticeable. Tilden was born in 1858 in Youngstown, Ohio and moved to Alliance in 1880 and Canton in 1883. Like the Case Mansion, many of his other buildings have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, including Trinity Lutheran Church and Benders Tavern. For nearly forty years, Tilden was Canton’s premier architect until his retirement in 1924. “He was a skillful, versatile, and prolific architect whose designs incorporated an acute attention to ornamental detail and an ability to blend the romantic touches of older eras with modern construction technology in a full range of building types,” the Canton Preservation Society wrote in an application to the National Register of Historic Places. One of Tilden's most consistent clients was Frank E. Case. A Canton lawyer and businessman, Case was one of the city's most important civic and cultural leaders in the years around the turn of the century. At least five of the existing buildings of Guy Tilden were associated in some way with Case. Frank E. Case was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, and began his career as a young public school educator in Orwell, Ashtabula County. While teaching he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1871.The same year he opened a law office in Canal Fulton, and later moved to Canton. Case became interested in the mechanical problems of dental and surgical chairs, and in 1887 began manufacturing both types in the basement of his home on North Market Street. He became the holder of many patents on improvements and designs for dental furniture. The Case mansion, home to Frank E. Case, was a total of eighteen rooms constructed from sandstone in a Romanesque style with a castle like experience. After the death of Frank E. Case, the mansion was turned into the Canton Art Institute in accordance with his wishes. Eventually, the Canton Art Institute outgrew its space in the mansion, which was then purchased by a development company. Unused since early in the 1980s, in part because of the energy needed to heat the structure, the mansion was torn down early in the 1990s.