(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 501 as a homestead and tavern, it being for many years a famous stopping place on the Medina and Wooster pike, which was the main road from Cleveland to Columbus years before railroads were ever dreamed of. On the old homestead farm Mr. Brainard was reared, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors incident to the life of an agriculturist. He, too, took up farming as his life work and was continuously engaged in tilling the soil until 1875, when he sold a portion of his farm for burial purposes, it being converted into what is now known as Riverside cemetery. After this sale he retired from all active business and has spent his remaining days at the old homestead in the pursuit of such interests as afford him recreation and enjoyment. It rs in these days a rare thing that a man lives continuously in one house for over eighty years. In 1857 Mr. Brainard was married to Miss Clarissa Thompson, a native of Canada, who was, however, brought to Cleveland by her parents when only three months old. Five children graced this marriage : Ella M., who was a student in Delaware College and is now the wife of Frank A. Radcliff, president of the Ohio Brass & Iron Manufacturing Company; Marvin A., who was a graduate of the Brooklyn schools and is now deceased; Bettie C., who was a graduate of the Brooklyn schools and is the wife of H. M. Farnsworth, the secretary and treasurer of The Brooklyn Savmgs & Loan Company ; Jennie D., who completed her education in the Brooklyn schools and is the deceased wife of Gurdon Barnett; and Frank J., who after attending the common schools was graduated from the Spencerian Business College and is now engaged in stock farming in Medina county. He was married in 1902 to Miss Mattie E. Slater, of Cleveland. The only child of this union is Frances C., born in 1904. Harley Brainard Barnett, a son of Mrs. Jennie D. Barnett, became a member of his grandfather's family at his mother's death when he was but three weeks old and has lived with them continuously since, being now a young man of twenty-three years. After graduating from the Lincoln high school he became a student in Adelbert College and is at present engaged as secretary and treasurer of The Domestic Vacuum Cleaner Company. Mr. and Mrs. Brainard are members of the Brooklyn Memorial Methodist Episcopal church and are held in the highest esteem for the many good traits which have characterized their entire lives, kindliness, generosity and justice supplementing the good business ability and integrity which Mr. Brainard ever displayed in carrying on his agricultural interests. ALBERT C. BAILEY. Albert C. Bailey, assistant purchasing agent for the Grasselli Chemical Company, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 30, 1876, his parents being Daniel and Lucretia (Grasselli) Bailey, the latter a daughter of Eugene Grasselli. Daniel Bailey is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. In the public schools of Cincinnati and Cleveland Albert C. Bailey pursued his preliminary education and was afterward afforded the benefit of instruction in the University School and the Case School of Applied Science, where he pursued special engineering courses, which he completed in 1897. He then accepted a position with Bowditch of Boston, being engaged on special work in connection with the Euclid Heights allotment. In 1898 he became connected with the Grasselli Chemical Company in the auditing department and in 1901 was advanced to his present position as assistant purchasing agent. His developing business powers and his laudable ambition, together with his close application, well entitle him to the responsible position which he is now filling, and he is making for himself a creditable name in the business circles of this city. Mr. Bailey is well known and popular in a social way, holding membership in the Roadside, Euclid and Hermit Clubs and the Zeta Psi fraternity. His political 502 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND allegiance is given to the republican party. He has keen appreciation for the social amenities of life and his friends find him a genial, companionable gentleman, whose many excellent traits of character have given him firm hold upon the regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact. DANIEL K. BAILEY. Daniel K. Bailey, superintendent of the Grasselli Chemical Company, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 15, 1874, a son of Daniel Bailey, Sr. He was a lad of eleven years when he came to Cleveland with his parents in 1885, continuing his education in the public schools of this city, in the Case School of Applied Science and in the Sheffield School of the Yale University. When his college days were over Mr. Bailey accepted the position of chemist with the Grasselli Chemical Company and was engaged in the laboratory for some time. Subsequently he was appointed department foreman and in successive promotions passed through various departments until he became assistant superintendent, while in 1909 he was called to the superintendency of the entire works. He has since filled the position with unqualified success and capability, his college training well fitting him for his preliminary stages in this direction, while constantly broadening experience has s0 advanced his efficiency that he has merited every promotion that has brought him to the responsible position which he now fills. He is fond of scientific literature and his reading has covered a wide field in that department of learning. On the 30th of June, 1903, Mr. Bailey was married to Miss Florence Blee, of Cleveland, and they reside at No. 9304 Euclid avenue. Mr. Bailey belongs to the Zeta Psi, a college fraternity. He is fond of horses and outdoor sports and in those ways seeks his recreation. His political views are in accord with republican principles and he stands, as do a large number of the leading business men of the city, for independence at municipal elections where political issues do not figure but where the capability of the candidate should be a vital question to every public-spirited citizen. SIMON REIF. Simon Reif is a substantial Cleveland citizen who for the past eight years has been brew master of the Bohemian Brewing Company, one of Cleveland's rapidly growing industries. His birthplace was Bavaria, Germany, and the date of his birth March 16, 1864, his parents being George and Marguerite Reif. His father, also born in Bavaria, in February, 1833, came to the United States in 1883 and, locating in Baltimore, Maryland, engaged in the grocery business in that city. In 1889 he retired from active life. He is still living after a decade free from the cares incident to a business career. Until his fourteenth year Simon Reif enjoyed the advantages of that public education of which Germany is so justly proud and the years intervening before the family's removal to "the land of promise" he spent as an apprentice in a brewery. Shortly after locating in Baltimore, he left the paternal roof and, going to Washington, D. C., was employed for a year in a brewery. The following year was spent in Alexandria, Virginia, in similar work, and he then returned to Baltimore, where for the next eight years he was in the service of a brewing concern. Desiring to equip himself with an expert knowledge of his special line of work, he went to Chicago and took a four months' course in a brewing academy. Thus fitted so thoroughly by training and experience, he secured the position of brew master with the John C. Miller Company, of HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 503 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, remaining with them for four years. He severed this connection to come to Cleveland to assume his present position with the Bohemian Brewing Company. Mr. Reif was united in marriage to Miss Hommer, of Buffalo, New York, June 15, 1888, and they have two children : Anna, aged nineteen years ; and Bertha, aged sixteen, both of whom are at home. The, family residence is at 3101 Library avenue. Mr. Reif is a Mason, holding membership in the blue lodge. He is independent in politics and Protestant in his religious conviction. Possessing remarkable skill in his special line of endeavor, he has contributed greatly to the success of that industry with which he is connected-the Bohemian Brewing Company. CHARLES A. KELLER. Charles A. Keller, who since January, 1909; has been president and treasurer of the American Watchman's Time Detector Company, in which connection his energies are evidenced in the upbuilding of an important business, was born in Cleveland, April 8, 1877, and is a son of Frank J. A. and Eliza F. (Lannert) Keller. The family is of German origin, his grandfather and his father both having been born in Germany. The maternal grandfather, George G. Lannert, was also a native of that country and brought his family to the United States in 1848. After living for six months in Cleveland, he removed to Findlay, Ohio, and turned his attention to farming, but subsequently followed the locksmith's and gunsmith's trades. In 1866 a removal was made to Cleveland, where Mr. Lannert continued to follow his trades until his death, which occurred in 1894. The paternal grandfather of Charles A. Keller was born April 2, 1833, and died in Germany in 1896. The father, Frank J. A. Keller, born in Germany in 1857, came to Cleveland in 1872. In his youth he was employed in the office of a justice of the peace, and in 1877 he returned to his native land, visiting the friends and scenes of his youth and other European points. In 1880 he became connected with his brother-in-law, J. A. Lannert, and George F. Ransom, who were the holders of the patents on the device now manufactured by the American Watchman's Time Detector Company. They organized the business which was later incorporated in 1882 under the name of the Cleveland Electrical Manufacturing Company for the purpose of manufacturing the American time detector. In m00 the style of the firm was changed and the business was incorporated as the American Watchman's Time Detector Company, Mr. Keller being chosen vice president, in which position he remained until 1906, when he was elected to the presidency, thus serving as chief executive until his death, which occurred April 18, 1908. At the industrial exposition held in Cincinnati in 1882 the firm was the recipient of the magnetic watchman's clock award. Mr. Keller was recognized as a strong and resourceful business man, watchful of opportunities, and his energy and carefully devised plans enabled him and his associates to build tip an enterprise of growing importance. He was a member of the Knights of -Pythias but took no interest in club life, preferring to spend his leisure hours with his family. He married Eliza F. Lannert and unto them were born seven children : Charles A. ; Lawrence H., now secretary of the Union Electric Company, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; Marie M., at home ; Alice S., the wife of L. J. Lester, of Cleveland ; Pearl, deceased ; and Viola Blanche and Hazel Dell, both at home. Mrs. Keller still survives, occupying the family residence in East Cleveland. Charles A. Keller attended the public schools until he reached the age of fourteen years, after which. with the exception of two months spent as an em- 504 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND ploye in the Burrows Brothers book store, his youthful days were passed in the service of his father. He began very modestly as errand boy, enjoying a preliminary recompense of a dollar and a half a week. Since that time he has risen steadily, not through parental favor but by virtue of actual ability. From errand boy he arose to the position of machinist, eventually was made foreman, afterward promoted to manager, later became secretary and treasurer and in January, 1909, was chosen president and treasurer. His long experience has brought him intimate knowledge of the business in every department and in principle and detail so that he is well qualified to superintend the interests of the concern, which is constantly growing in the importance and extent of its trade relations. Today they have ten thousand outfits throughout the country, and under the guidance, directed by the policy of Mr. Keller, the business undoubtedly will become one of the largest of its kind in the country. They have recently erected a model plant at the corner of Thirty-fifth and Perkins streets, especially equipped for the manufacture of time detectors. Mr. Keller devotes almost his entire energy and attention to the business and it is his ambition, by reason of merit, to place this company far beyond competitors. On the 4th of October, 1900, Mr. Keller was married to Miss Jennie Bosinger, of Cleveland, and three children have blessed their union : Dorothy Margaret, Evaline and Helen May, who are with their parents at the family home at No. 4 Emily street, East Cleveland. Mr. Keller was a member of the Cleveland Grays, a notable military organization, for several years. As to his convictions and affiliations, he is a believer in republican politics, has membership in the Presbyterian church and belongs to the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The success of the business of which he is now the head lies largely within his hands and earnest, untiring effort, perseverance, energy and undaunted courage have been the salient features in his success. GEORGE H, GYNN. There is no man who occupies a more enviable position in the business circles of Cleveland than George H. Gynn, not alone by reason of the success he has achieved but also owing to the straightforward, honorable business policy he has ever followed. It is true that he entered upon a business already established but in enlarging and developing this he has displayed keen discernment and marked ability in coordinating forces. One of Cleveland's native sons, he was born January 26, 1864, his parents being john and Eliza (Cook) Gynn, both of whom were of English birth. The father was born in Huntingtonshire, England, and came to America in 1850. The same year he arrived in Cleveland, where he engaged in the manufacture of brick, being one of the pioneers in that line of business in the city. He died March 10, 1882, after almost a third of a century's connection with the manufacturing interests of Cleveland. Unt0 him and his wife were born two children, Mary and George H. The latter was educated in the Mayflower public school of Cleveland and after putting aside his text-books joined his father in business and became his successor at the time of the father's death. His early experience in the field of brick-making gave him comprehensive knowledge concerning the work and as the years have gone by he has developed an enterprise which makes his plant one of the largest producers of building brick in the city, the output being about sixty thousand brick daily. The brickyard is located on Independence Road.. The enterprise has been conducted along well defined lines of labor and his discrimination and sound judgment have been continually manifest in its successful control. Mr. Gynn is also a stockholder in the Broadway Savings & Trust Company and is a large property owner, having placed his surplus earnings in the safest of all investments-real estate. HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 507 Mr. Gynn was married to Miss Georgia Pickard, of Kansas City, a daughter of George and Marian Pickard. They have one child, Alice Kathryn, who was educated in the Ursuline Convent. The family home is at No. 3353 Independence Road. Mr. Gynn finds his chief recreation in hunting and fishing but is preeminently a business man, not having missed a single day from business in twenty-eight years. His political allegiance is given to the republican party where state and national questions are involved but locally casts an independent ballot, believing that one should regard the capability of the candidate rather than party affiliation at local elections. His religious faith is indicated in his membership in the Independence Methodist Episcopal church. He is well known in Masonic circles, having attained the Knight Templar degree in Holyrood Commandery and the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He also belongs to the Mystic Shrine and is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and the Elks. Moreover, he is connected with the Locust Point Shooting & Fishing Club and his fellow members of these orders find him a genial and courteous gentleman, manifesting deference for the opinions of others and interested at all times in questions which are of vital import to the country. BATE. Warwick Guy, Herbert and George Bate are the president, vice president and treasurer respectively of The Cleveland Cut Flower Company, sons of Richard and Elizabeth M. (Pierce) Bate, both of whom were natives of England, in which country they were reared and married. The father was born in 1842 and the mother in 1843, and in 1872 they came to America, taking up their abode in Cleveland, since which time they have been numbered among the worthy and respected residents of this city. Richard Bate was a civil engineer, long following that profession. The eldest son, Warwick Guy Bate, was born July 17, 1874, and his education was acquired in the public schools of Cleveland. After finishing his course he secured a position with a florist and was employed in various establishments of this kind until 1897, when he embarked in the business on his own account, and nine years later consolidated his and his brothers' interests with those of F. R. Williams, the business being incorporated as The Cleveland Cut Flower Company, with W. Guy Bate as president ; Herbert Bate, vice president ; F. L. Evans, secretary ; George Bate, treasurer ; and F. R. Williams, manager. This combined organization is the largest floral establishment in the city, being extensive growers of flowers, having over two hundred thousand feet under glass. They are the leaders in the wholesale floral trade, operating extensively throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania. Their's is a most modernly equipped plant, supplied with all accessories for the trade, and their patronage has grown to mammoth proportions. W. Guy Bate is a stanch republican in his political views and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodward lodge of Masons. He is likewise a member of the Cleveland Florist Club and has made many friends in these different organizations. In April, 1899, he married Minnie B. Flick, a daughter of George and Margaret Flick, and they have three children, George, Alfred and Erma. The family residence is at No. 993 Eddy Road. Industrious and prosperous, the principles that have actuated W. Guy Bate's life have been such as to win for him the highest esteem and good will of his many acquaintances and business associates. Herbert Bate was born December 19, 1876, and attended the public schools until he had completed the work of the grammar grades. He was afterward engaged in various ways until his twentieth year, when he joined his brothers in 508 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND the florist business and later, on the organization of The Cleveland Cut Flower Company, he was elected vice president of that corporation, in which office he has served to the present time. His political views are in accord with the republican principles and to the candidates and measures of the party he gives his support. He is a Mason, affiliated with Woodward lodge, F. & A. M. On the 30th of June, 1903, he married Amelia, daughter of George and Margaret Flick, of Cleveland, and they have one son, Rodger, who is with them in their residence at No. 989 Eddy Road. Herbert Bate finds his recreation in shooting, fishing and boating, devoting his leisure hours to those interests. In his business life he has won that success which comes from close application, industry and capable management, while socially he has gained the friendship and regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact. George Bate, treasurer of The Cleveland Cut Flower Company, was born March 19, 1879. He received his educational training at Woodland Hills school and his first position after leaving school was in connection with the florist's trade. He soon afterward joined his brothers in this line and, on the organization of the present company, he was elected treasurer, in which capacity he still serves. He is also the active head of the wholesale department of the institution. The three brothers work together in the utmost harmony for the upbuilding of the trade and the growth of the business, the labors of one ably supplementing the efforts of the other in the task of promoting an enterprise which has become the foremost in their line. George Bate is a member of the Cleveland Credit Men's Association and he exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party, while fraternally he is associated with Woodward lodge, F. & A. M. On the 30th of July, 1891, he married Miss Gertrude Anna, daughter of George and Margaret Flick, and they have one child, Helen M. Their home is at No. 850 East One Hundred and Twenty-ninth street. George Bate employs his leisure hours in shooting, fishing and boating and, indeed, is fond of all outdoor athletic sports. His genuine personal worth has gained him the unqualified regard of an extensive mircle of friends and his business ability has been in no small way responsible for the firm's success. The name of Bate is an honored one m trade circles and the extensive business is a monument to the capability and enterprise of the brothers. WALTER P. AMBOS. There are some men who are bound to rise to the top wherever they are found, for their abilities are of such an order that it is impossible to keep them down. Walter P. Ambos, president of The Ambos-McNair Company, selling agents, at 1522-1526 Prospect avenue, Cleveland, has held his present responsible position for two years, being one of the representative business men of the city. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, October 30, 1873, a son of Herman and Amelia. Ambos, and a grandson of Peter Ambos. The latter was born in Stratsenburg, Germany, but came to Ohio in 1836 and, locating in Columbus, became quite prominent. When he died in 1881 he was president of the First National bank of that city. His son Herman Ambos was born in Columbus, Ohio, in February, 1836, and grew up there, graduating from Kenyon College. He then served three years as an apprentice in the works of the Columbus Machine Company, and later went to Philadelphia, where he engaged with Bennet & Mills, machinists. He then took a post-graduate course in mechanics, and on his return to Columbus became superintendent of the shops of the Columbus Machine Company, holding that position until his death in March, 1885. He was a man of strong character, skilled in his work, and beloved by a wide circle of friends, who mourned his loss. HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 509 Walter P. Ambos attended the Columbus public schools and when only sixteen years of age entered Kenyon Military Academy for a two-years' course. Returning home, he engaged with the Columbus Machine Company as draughtsman for a year and then was made timekeeper for the same company. After six months of that work, he left Columbus and came to Cleveland, where he served for three years as an apprentice with the Brush Electric Company. In 1894 he formed a partnership with a Mr. Edeburn, under the style of Edeburn & Ambos Electric Company, but after eighteen months sold his interests. Following this he formed the Ambos Construction & Electric Company, of which he was president for five years. His health failing, Mr. Ambos spent the next nine months in South Dakota. Upon his return he became electrical inspector for the Cleveland Inspection Bureau, being made chief of it within six months, and he held that position for four years. For eighteen months, Mr. Ambos was then traveling salesman and demonstrator for the Osborn Flexible Conduct Company. Having secured the agency for this company he represented it in Cleveland until 1907, when they incorporated and he was elected president. Mr. Ambos was married in Cleveland to Miss Grace Dustaman in January, 1904, and they reside at No. 1903 East Eighty-second street. He is a member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and also belongs to the Sons of Jove and the Cleveland Athletic Club. While fond of all outdoor sports, Mr. Ambos specially delights in hunting and fishing. Politically he is a republican, while his religious affiliations are with the Episcopal church. He has risen through concentrated efforts intelligently directed, and the success which has rewarded him is well merited. MARTIN KOSTER. Persistent endeavor, intelligently directed in legitimate channels, works toward ultimate success, and one of the men who has proven this conclusively by his life work is Martin Koster of Cleveland. He was born in this city, February 12, 1859, a son of Martin and Adelaide (Nienhaus) Koster. Until he was sixteen years old-he attended the public schools but has since earned his own living. Entering the grocery store owned by his father, he worked for him two years and then until he attained his majority he was employed by his uncle in farm work near Warrensville, Ohio. At the age of twenty-one he came to Cleveland and for two years was a metal polisher for the White Sewing Machine Company. Having gained valuable experience, he entered the employ of the Whipple Lock Company, and remained with them for three years in the same capacity. By this time he had saved some money and so established himself in a plating business on the corner of Center and Detroit streets and built up so good a trade that within seven months he sold out to the Peckstone-Wilcox Company. For the following five years he was foreman of the builders' hardware department of the Claflin Manufacturing Company. At the expiration of the five years he bought the old Northern Ohio Plating Works, which he has since operated with marked success. Mr. Koster also owns a one-half interest in the Cleveland Meat Chopper Company and is half-owner in the Cleveland Stove Trimmings Manufacturing Company, giving to all these concerns the benefit of his long and varied experience. On May 31, 1881, Mr. Koster was married in Cleveland to Miss Marguerite Denning, and they have ten children : Adeline, now Mrs. Armstrong; Jennie, at home; Bernard, who is engaged with his father as is William ; Catherine, at home ; Frank, who is also with his father ; Carl, who is attending St. Ignatius College; Theodore, who also attends a Catholic school; and Martin, Jr., and 510 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND Marguerite, who are attending the public schools. The family residence is at No. 8610 Madison street. The political affiliations of Mr. Koster are with the democratic party. He is a Catholic and belongs to the Knights of Columbus. He has won success through persistent and painstaking efforts, and at the same time he has maintained a high standard in his business transactions which has assisted him materially in retaining old customers. WILLIAM E. AMBLER. William E. Ambler, secretary and treasurer of the Curtiss-Ambler Realty Company, is in this connection actively interested in one of the most extensive real-estate firms of the city. He has been a resident of Cleveland since 1891 and is numbered among Ohio's native sons, his birth having occurred in Medina, this state, December 18, 1845. His father, Chester C. Ambler, a native of Vermont, was for many years engaged in merchandising in Spencer, Medina county, Ohio. He wedded Margaret Eglin and in 1859 they removed with their family to Hillsdale, Michigan. Their last days, however, were passed in Cleveland, where the father died July 5, 1905, at the remarkable old age of ninety years, while his wife survived him until 1906. After attending the public schools, William E. Ambler continued his education in Hillsdale College and subsequently completed a scientific course in Albion (Mich.) College, from which he was graduated in 1865 with the Bachelor of Science degree. He then took up the study of law, completing a course in 1867 at Albany Law School, being a classmate there of William McKinley. Returning to the middle west, he entered Adrian College at Adrian, Michigan, where he completed a classical course and won the Bachelor of Arts degree in the spring of 1868. Mr. Ambler then located for practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he remained for a year, after which he removed to Pentwater, Michigan, where he continued as an active and successful member of the bar until 1891. In the meantime he had figured prominently in public life in the community in which he made his home and that he did successful and original work is indicated by the fact that in 1870 Adrian College conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree, while in 1875 he received the same degree from Hillsdale College. In 1888 he was elected a trustee of Hillsdale College and by reelection has continued in the office to the present time, acting as chairman of the board for several years. He is greatly interested in intellectual progress and at all times his influence is a potent element in behalf of public education. His fellow citizens, recognizing his worth and ability, also conferred upon him polit-, ical honors, electing him to the state senate of Michigan in 1878 and again in 1880. He served as president pro tern of the senate during his last term and was chairman of the important committee on appropriations and finances. He has always been a close student of those questions which are to the statesman and the man of affairs of vital import and his legislative service was characterized by the utmost devotion to the interests of the commonwealth at large. Subsequently he served as judge of the probate court of Oceana county, Michigan. Since coming to Cleveland in 1891 Mr. Ambler has been engaged in the real-estate business and as secretary and treasurer of the Curtiss-Ambler Realty Company has been connected with extended activity in this line, for the firm is very prominent in real-estate circles. He is also the vice president of the Cuyahoga Building & Loan Company and few men are so well informed concerning realty values and the possibilities of their rise or diminution as is Mr. Ambler. On the 25th of December, 1871, in Lyons, Michigan, Mr. Ambler was married to Miss Flora E. Lewis, a daughter of Charles E. and Ann (Tufts) Lewis. They have become parents of two sons and two daughters. Jay C. the eldest, HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 513 now of Manchester, Tennessee, is a graduate of Hillsdale College, of Hillsdale, Michigan, and is engaged in the ranch business. Angell was educated at the Women's College of the Western Reserve University and following her graduation entered the Teachers' College, of New York, where she completed the course. She is now the wife of Dr. S. M. Weaver, a well known dentist of Cleveland, and has two children, William Ambler and Marshall. William, the younger son of W. E. Ambler, was graduated from the Case School of Applied Science m Cleveland and also completed the literary course in Hillsdale College, of Michigan, and the electrical course in Cornell University. He was for two years instructor in electricity at Cornell and for two years assistant professor of electricity in the Case School of Cleveland. He then left the educational field to go into business for himself as a real-estate dealer. He has become a well known citizen of Cleveland and is now vice president of the Colonial Club. Marguerite Faye is a graduate of Miss Middelberger's school in Cleveland and the National Park Seminary in Washington, D. C. In 1909 Mr. Ambler erected a modern residence at No. 1696 Magnolia Drive, near Wade park, which is the family home. The political allegiance of Mr. Ambler has always been stanchly given to the republican party and since coming to Cleveland he has been a valued and popular member of the Colonial Club, of which he has been a director. He possesses one of the largest collections of autographs and autograph letters and manuscripts in this country, having a large library of autograph books. Those who know him socially entertain for him the warm regard which is always given genuine worth when free from ostentation, while those who meet him in business circles recognize in him a reliable man of marked enterprise and progressive spirit. CHESTER J. WADSWORTH. Chester J. Wadsworth, the proprietor of C. J. Wadsworth Clothing Cabinet Company at No. 5806 Euclid avenue in Cleveland, was born in Otsego county, New York, on the 16th of December, 1866, his parents being Chester and Cynthia Wadsworth. The father, whose birth occurred in Cherry Valley, New York, in 1830, followed the profession of dentistry throughout his entire life. He was called to his final rest in July, 1903. In the acquirement of an education Chester J. Wadsworth attended the public schools until fourteen years of age, when he put aside his text-books to enter upon a clerkship in the dry goods store of J. F. Ruestle, being thus employed for two years. He then spent a similar period in travel, selling a patent article, and subsequently went to Utica, New York, where for two years he remained in the employ of Martin B. De Long, a furniture and mantel manufacturer, On the expiration of that period he came to Cleveland and for a month acted as salesman for Michael Moriarty, a furniture dealer. During the following nine months he served as salesman and stock keeper for the Herrenden Furniture Company, which was then succeeded by the firm of Conger & Collings, with whom Mr. Wadsworth continued for eight years, having charge of the mantel department. He then embarked in business on his own account at No. 5300 Euclid avenue, where he remained for two years ere removing to his present location. In 1900 he began the manufacture of mantels and special cabinet work and since 1904 has also made clothing store fixtures, on which he has a patent. In May, 1909, he erected a large plant at Painesville, Ohio, in order to reduce the cost of manufacture as well as to obtain better railroad facilities. The output of his factory is shipped to all parts of the United States and he furnishes employment to a force of forty-five men. Mr. Wadsworth's practical knowledge of the business enables him to determine the value of the labor of his workmen and to judge correctly of the worth of the manu- 514 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND factured product. He has studied closely the trade, recognizing the demands in his line and has therefore met the needs of the public in mantels and clothing store fixtures of all kinds. On the 13th of October, 1903, in Cleveland Mr. Wadsworth was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Howland, of Newcastle, Pennsylvania. Their children are three in number, namely : Chester Gordan, who is five years of age; Cynthia, two years old; and Donald, who is in his first year. The family residence is at No. 11 Bender avenue, East Cleveland. At the polls Mr. Wadsworth exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party, believing that its principles are most conducive to good government. In religious faith he is a Methodist. He is fond of fishing and motoring as a means of recreation but finds his greatest delight at his own fireside in the companionship of his wife and children. He is a man of undoubted integrity in business, 'of progressive spirit and marked enterprise, whose popularity and prosperity have been won through his many good qualities and his well directed effort. CHARLES A. KLAUER. Charles A. Klauer, general manager of the Cleveland branch of the Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Beef Company, has been connected with this line of business all of his life and is therefore thoroughly conversant with all its details. He was born in New York city, November 11, 1861, a son of Charles and Mary Klauer. Until he was fourteen years of age he had the advantages offered by the New York public schools, but at that early age he began working for his father in a retail meat market, continuing there until he was eighteen years old. Feeling that his four years of experience with the business justified his action, he opened a retail market of his own at the corner of Sixty-ninth street and Columbus avenue, New York city, and conducted it for fourteen years. At this time he received a flattering offer from the Schwarzschild & Sulzberger Beef Company, and, going to Wilmington, Delaware, was their general manager at that point for nine years. He was then transferred to the Cleveland branch, where he has since continued as general manager, having under him seventeen men. During his administration of affairs here he has brought the business into a fine condition and greatly increased the volume of trade. Mr. Klauer was married in New York city, May 10, 1890, to Frances S. Quigg, and they have two children : C. Frank, eighteen years old, who is a clerk for the Lake Shore Railroad ; and Joseph A., seven years old, who attends the St. Agnes school. The family have a pleasant home at No. 9118 Wade Park. Mr. Klauer belongs to the Elks and is interested in fraternal matters. Politically he is not affiliated with any party but casts his vote as his conscience dictates. His religious connection is with the Catholic church. Long association with the meat industry has given Mr. Klauer a close insight into it and singularly fitted him for the position he occupies. MILTON W. HASENPFLUG. Milton W. Hasenpflug, conducting a large undertaking establishment at No. 2126 East Fifty-fifth street in Cleveland, was born in Huron, Ohio, on the 25th of March, 1876, his parents being the Rev. George and Elizabeth Hasenpflug. The father, whose birth occurred in Germany in 1833, crossed the Atlantic to the United States in the year 1846 and took up his abode at Brownhelm, Ohio. There he preached the gospel as a minister of tile German Evangelical church HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 515 and subsequently went to Huron, Ohio, where he followed his holy calling until 1880. He then came to Cleveland as the pastor of the Salem Evangelical church and was thus engaged for four years, on the expiration of which peri0d he entered business circles as a manufacturer of hardware, organizing the Champion Lock Company. The concern is now doing business at Geneva, Ohio. The Rev. Hasenpflug was made president of the company, in which official connection he ably directed its affairs until the time of his demise in 1896. Milton W. Hasenpflug supplemented his preliminary education by a course in the Central high school of Cleveland, where he continued his studies until eighteen years of age. On putting aside his text-books he entered the employ of the undertaking firm of Hogan & Sharer, with whom he remained for a period of four years, doing all their embalming. After severing his connection with that concern he embarked in the undertaking business on his own account, opening an establishment of this character at the corner of Cedar avenue and Ninety- seventh street. In 1896 he admitted Mr. Jennings to a partnership and the firm style of Jennings & Hasenpflug was adopted. In 1900 he removed to the corner of Hough avenue and Fifty-fifth street, where the business was successfully conducted until September, 1907, when they dissolved partnership. Since that time he has been the sole proprietor of an undertaking establishment at No. 2126 East Fifty-fifth street and is widely recognized as one of the prosperous and representative business men of the city. On the 8th of April, 1909, in Cleveland, Mr. Hasenpflug was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Jane Jones. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and in religious faith he is a Protestant. His fraternal relations are with the Royal Arcanum, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Foresters of America and the Knights of Pythias. He is a young man of enterprise, of manly conduct, of sincere purposes and high ideals. GEORGE D. KOCH. George D. Koch, the senior partner of the firm of Koch & Henke, handling a high grade of furniture. carpets and draperies, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, on the 23d of December, 1850. He was brought to the United States when three and one-half years old and obtained his education in the public schools of Cleveland, putting aside his text-books when he had attained the age of thirteen years. Subsequently he secured a position as furniture finisher in the employ of J. A. Vincent, a furniture dealer, and later became foreman of the shop, serving in that capacity until 1870. During the following two years he worked as a furniture finisher in the Kraus Furniture Store and then embarked in business as a furniture dealer in company with R. Fleming, opening an establishment of this character at the corner of Lorain and Penn streets in February, 1872. In 1873 they admitted D. Tonne to a partnership and the business was conducted under the firm style of Fleming, Koch & Company. Subsequently they opened another store on Detroit avenue and in 1874 consolidated both enterprises in one, removing to the corner of Pearl street and Lorain avenue, where they occupied the greater part of the building. In 1875 the firm was dissolved. Afterward Mr. Koch formed a partnership with F. H. Henke and they began business in a store at the corner of Lorain and Penn streets but in a few years outgrew the premises. Mr. Henke then erected a large brick building at the corner of Lorain avenue and Jersey (now West Thirtieth) street, occupying the greater part of it until the extent of their business made larger quarters necessary and additions were made to the structure. Mr. Henke retired in 1897 and passed away ten years later. His sot], H. A. Henke, is now in partnership with Mr. Koch and they handle a general line of medium and high grade furniture as well as carpets and draperies. The business has had a steady growth and they now 'furnish 516 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND employment to a large force of people and utilize the entire building at the corner of Lorain avenue and West Thirtieth street. Mr. Koch is a man of unquestioned integrity and reliability in business affairs and well merits the success which he now enjoys and which entitles him to recognition among the prosperous and enterprising representatives of mercantile interests in Cleveland. On the 1st of December, 1875, in this city, Mr. Koch was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Berno. Their children are four in number, namely : George B., who is thirty-three years of age and is associated with his father in business ; Charles C., a young man of thirty, who is a furniture manufacturers' agent in Cleveland; Viola, the wife of George Muth, of this city ; and Estelle, who still resides under the parental roof and is interested in music. The family residence is at Detroit and Mars avenues in Lakewood. MR. and Mrs. F. J. LANGER. In a history of the successful mercantile interests of Cleveland it is imperative that mention be made, if the record be complete, of Fred J. and Mary E. Langer, who have directed their business ability and artistic perceptions into a channel which has brought them success, for the Langer millinery establishment is widely known throughout the country and is recognized by connoisseurs of fashion and art to be unexcelled. This enterprise was a success from its inception and has enjoyed a continually growing patronage. It was the first store to open in the Colonial arcade, where since February, 1898, they have been located. Mrs. Langer is the eldest of six sisters and one brother and is the only one of a family in whom business qualities were developed. Her father, Adam Eyerdam, following the death of the only son, Adam, Jr., wished that his daughter Mary should become the business head of the family and to this end gave her such training and instruction as should develop in her executive force and commercial qualities. The father was born in Germany in 1848 and after coming to the United States wedded Miss Mary Richner. He met with a substantial measure of success during his residence in Cleveland, becoming the owner of a beautiful apartment building in the east end and other interests. As is too frequent the case, when the time came that he might enjoy the fruits of his labors and the companionship of a happy family, he was called to the home beyond, passing away on the 26th of June, 1908. He left his widow lonely but well provided for. His daughter Mary, whom he had trained in many of the ways of business, was only fifteen years of age when she became connected with the millinery trade in the employ of Mrs. Shaw. She has been continuously engaged in the millinery business since that time and is not only one of the most popular representatives of the trade in the city but has the reputation of carrying the most artistic, beautiful and attractive line of goods in Cleveland. Her patrons include not only the best families of this city but of the state as well. Her conscientious methods of conducting business, as well as her skill in introducing artistic millinery ideas, have won for her a fame and reputation second to none in this line. At times an occasional customer, in order to avoid a three or four hours' wait, has drifted away but only to return to her establishment m order to find just that production in millinery which is most to be desired, and it is seldom, if ever, that a customer once secured does not remain as a patron always. Mr. Langer was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1868, and is a son of Franz Langer, who was a successful manufacturer of that country. To fulfill a promise made to his wife when she was upon her death bed he brought his family to America in order that the sons might avoid compulsory military service and have a chance in this new and free country to develop their latent talents in the field of industrial, commercial or professional activity. True to his promise Mr. Langer sacrificed his business interests, although this was to his disadvantage HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 519 financially, and came to the United States, settling in Cleveland in 1872 He brought with him his two sons, Frank and Fred J., and two daughters, Mary and Frances, the last named being now the wife of Anton Doering, of this city. In spite of his father's efforts Frank Langer, the elder son, enlisted in the regular United States Army soon after his arrival in the new world. He served faithfully and bravely and after three years was honorably discharged and given transportation home, but when upon his homeward journey was drowned in the Missouri river at Yankton, South Dakota, and his remains were never recovered. The father, distracted by his son's death, never afterward engaged in active business and, heartbroken, passed away in 1883. Fred J. Langer attended the common schools of Cleveland and afterward worked his way through the Cleveland Spencerian College. He entered the business world m connection with the wholesale millinery house of the Reed Brothers Company and there remained for twenty years, working his way steadily upward until successive promotions brought him to a prominent position in the business world. In 1896 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Eyerdam and in 1898 they established their millinery business in the Colonial arcade. Mrs. Langer has charge of the sales and trimming departments, while Mr. Langer gives his supervision to the business management, their carefully devised and executed plans bringing them gratifying and substantial success. Their establishment is today unexcelled in Cleveland and, in fact, largely sets the standard for millinery production in this city. Mr. Langer is the inventor of Langer's dyerown outfit. It is designed for quickly tinting, dyeing, gilding or decorating soiled, old or even new flowers, foliage, wings, quills, wires, thread, fancy ornaments, etc., also blacking straw hats and freshening up straw or felt hats, dyeing edges of same when cut and numerous other valuable everyday uses. He has also invented a "steamer" that steams, irons and renovates all at the same time. Mr. Langer is well known in Masonic circles, belonging to Forest City Lodge, No. 388, F. & A. M.; Cleveland Chapter, R. A. M.; Holyrood Commandery, K. T.; and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also has membership relations with the Commercial Travelers. HARRISON ROMANSO NEWCOMB. Learning the lessons of life which each experience brings and applying his knowledge correctly to the solution of the various business problems which have arisen, Harrison Romanso Newcomb, now deceased, made consecutive progress down through all the years to the time when as a retired banker he was known as one of the most astute and capable financiers of the city. Starting upon his business career as a bookkeeper and cashier of a prominent retail store of Cleveland, he became one of the leading representatives of financial interests in the city, widely known as the president of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company. He was born in Parkman, Geauga county, Ohio, March 3, 1842, a son of Orris P. and Cordelia T, Newcomb. The father was a farmer and carpenter in early life, while in later years he became well known as a wholesale lumber dealer. The ancestry in the paternal line is traced back to Captain Andrew Newcomb, one of the early American pioneers emigrating to this country from England Both parents descended from Connecticut families that were established in Obit nearly a century ago. Harrison Romanso Newcomb pursued his education in district schools and in the Hiram Eclectic Institute. He was reared as a farmer boy and in his youth became a teacher in the district schools. He afterward attended a corn mercial college, thinking to prepare for a life of activity in the field of commerce, and when his course was finished secured the position of bookkeeper Banc cashier in a leading retail store in Cleveland. During the progress of the Civil 520 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND war he served in the United States navy as paymaster's clerk for about a year and a half and after the close of the war became superintendent of the West Side Street Railway Company of Cleveland, in which position he continued for about three years. He afterward engaged in the wholesale lumber business with his father and another partner and his next advance step was made in the field of banking, with which he was connected until his recent retirement from the position of bank president. He was one of the organizers of the Savings & Trust Company, which commenced business May 8, 1883, and was the first trust company established in Ohio. He was chosen as secretary and treasurer and eighteen years later became vice president and afterward was chosen to the presidency. At the time of the consolidation of the Savings & Trust Company, the Citizens Savings & Loan Association and the American Trust Company in 1903, under the name of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company, Mr. Newcomb was elected the head of the combined institutions and occupied that position until the 1st of January, 1910, giving the bank his undivided attention. The safe and conservative policy instituted at its inception has always been maintained and the financial records of the city indicate the high standing of the institution, the success of which is attributable in no small measure to the executive ability, keen discrimination and carefully formulated plans of Harrison R. Newcomb. Perhaps the one thing that brought Mr. Newcomb more prominently before the public than any other occurred in January, 1902, when the Everett-Moore syndicate became financially embarrassed and a committee of bankers was organized to direct liquidation of the securities owned by the syndicate and payment of the indebtedness of the individual members and the corporations controlled by them. Mr. Newcomb was elected chairman of the bankers' committee and for several months devoted his entire time to unraveling the syndicate's affairs. The amount involved was over eighteen million dollars and through careful handling under the personal direction of Mr. Newcomb, all of the creditors, secured and unsecured alike, received every dollar of principal and interest due them without resorting to the courts. Because of the condition of his health Mr. Newcomb felt that he could not, in justice to the institution and himself, serve longer as president of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company and on the 1st of January, 1910, tendered his resignation, his successor being elected on that date. His resignation was accepted with the deepest regret on the part of the officials and directors of the bank. He thus brought financial activities to a close save for the management of his private interests. In a review of his financial record it is impossible to find an esoteric phase. He was ever recognized as a man of unimpeachable business integrity and in addition to the keen sagacity which enabled him to understand every phase of a business proposition and therefore utilize the opportunities to the best advantage, he employed only constructive measures, never sacrificing the interests of others in the establishment and upbuilding of his own. He therefore won and enjoyed the high honor of his fellow citizens and long occupied a notable position as one of the foremost representatives of financial affairs in Cleveland. On the 10th of April, 1866, Mr. Newcomb was married in Cleveland, Ohio, to Miss Mary M. Nickerson. They had one daughter, Ellen Cordelia, now the wife of Alfred William Ruple. The death of Mrs. Newcomb occurred in 1906. The whole life of Mr. Newcomb was given to active work. He took his first real vacation only a few years prior to his demise, when he made a European tour for the benefit of his wife's health. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party and was well known in various fraternal and social organizations. He attained the Knight Templar degree in Masonry and was also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belonged to the Union Club and the Clifton . Park Club of Cleveland, was a member of the Christian church and a trustee of Hiram College, an educational institution of that denomination. Never unmindful of the responsibilities of life, the attainment of success was for him but a means to an end, for it is well known that his prosperity enabled him to become HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 521 a generous donor to many charitable and benevolent institutions and projects. In editorial comment following the passing of Harrison R. Newcomb one of the local papers said : "His death takes away from the business world of this city a man who will long be remembered as a perfect type of the banker who is always safe, always conservative, always ready to do his part in public service of the kind which is more solid than showy, more a matter of quiet strength and absolute trustworthiness than of outward show and spectacular deeds of any kind. Mr. Newcomb was an admirable example for the younger financial leaders of the city, and the good effects of his career will long be felt in this part of Ohio. He succeeded largely and in a lasting, growing way, by the soundness of his judgment and the entire sanity and reliability of his methods. * * * The late president of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company was one of the men who have given his city the kind of banking support and service which every large and growing town greatly needs, and for that reason, aside from the many other activities of his busy life and his admirable qualities as a man and a citizen, he fairly won the high place which he held in the esteem of his neighbors and fellow townsmen. No city has many men of the ability and solid usefulness of H. R. Newcomb. Cleveland is fortunate in that he was a type of its best business leaders and its solid, absolutely reliable financiers." JACOB BABIN. Jacob Babin is one of the enterprising young real-estate men of Cleveland who has made a close study of the conditions of the real-estate market and has therefore been enabled to meet the situations that have arisen and to improve the opportunities that have offered. He is farsighted and progressive in all of his business movements and his labors have proven of signal benefit to various sections of the city, as well as a source of attractive individual income. Mr. Babin was born in 1872—a native of Prussia. He acquired his education in the public schools of that country and on crossing the Atlantic to the United States made his way direct to Cleveland, where he arrived in 1886. Here he entered the jewelry house of Charles Stein, with whom he continued for three years and during that period in order to fit himself for business life in this country he attended the Eagle night school and also a private school, thus gaining a good knowledge of the English language as well as an understanding of the text-books which constituted his curriculum. His next position was with Charles Ettinger, with whom he continued for three years, when, feeling confident that his experience as well as his careful expenditure was sufficient to enable him to engage in business on his own account, he started out upon an independent venture with broad knowledge of the jewelry trade and of watchmaking. In 1893 he opened a store in the Stribbinger building, at the corner of Ontario and Broadway, where he was located until 1895, when he removed to the William A. Howe building on Ontario street. He was quite successful in this venture, so much so that in 1896 he opened a second store at No. 172 Superior avenue, continuing in the jewelry trade with gratifying success until 1905, when he sold out to his brother Isidor. While engaged in the jewelry trade Mr. Babin became interested in the real-estate business, making some very successful deals. He then determined to devote his entire attention to this line and, withdrawing from mercantile interests, he has since negotiated some very important realty transfers of his own investments, dealing largely in business property. He owns property of this character in Ontario, Bolivar and Oregon streets and Central viaduct, having a ninety-nine year lease on the property at the corner of Prospect and Bolivar, and on Prospect avenue a piece of property near the Rockefeller homestead. He erected the handsome building at the corner of Fifty-fifth street and Hough avenue, 522 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND which contains seven store-rooms and eight suites for offices. This is an excellent improvement for that locality. Mr. Babin was united in marriage to Lucy Newdorfer, a native of New York city, whose father was an importer and manufacturer of ladies' apparel. Two children grace this marriage : Elmer, seven years of age, attending the Sibley school ; and Myrtle, five years of age. The family are members of the Willson Avenue Temple. Mr. Babin belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is a charter member of Knights of Joseph, No. 1, of which he served as treasurer for three terms, while for one term he was its commander. He likewise belongs to Cleveland Lodge, No. 16, of. the Cleveland order of B'nai B'rith. He is a man of broad mind and has never concentrated his energies solely upon his private business affairs to the exclustion of active participation in public movements. He is a member of the Federation of Jewish Charities, of Cleveland, which includes such beneficiary institutions as the Cleveland Council of Jewish Women; Council Educational Alliance ; Council Educational Alliance Camp Wise; Hebrew Free Loan Association ; Hebrew Relief Association ; Hebrew Shelter Home; Jewish Infant Orphans' Home ; Jewish Orphan Asylum ; Mount Sinai Hospital; National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives at Denver ; and Sir Moses Montefiore Home for Aged and Infirm Israelites. Coming to America at the age of fourteen years, Jacob Babin has utilized the excellent opportunities 0ffered in the new world for advancement and through close application, indefatigable energy and an aptitude for successful management has reached a creditable and satisfactory position in business circles in Cleveland. DANIEL EDWARD GIESSEN. Daniel Edward Giessen has since 1897 been engaged in the hardware business on his own account in Cleveland and since 1905 has been located at No. 215 Prospect avenue. Since entering commercial circles he has been almost continuously connected with this line of trade and therein lies one factor of his success for he has not dissipated his energies over a wide field but has concentrated his efforts on the work of thoroughly acquainting himself with the trade and of studying the public taste so as to handle the most salable articles. He is now accorded a liberal patronage that is indicative both of his progressive methods and the reliability of the policy which he pursues. Mr. Giessen is a native son of the Forest city, born June 25, 1867. His parents, Frederick and Appolonia (Hoffman) Giessen, were both natives of Bavaria, Germany, but in early life sought the freedom, appreciation and opportunities of the growing western world. Becoming residents of Cleveland, they here reared their family, and Daniel E. Giessen attended the public schools until he had reached the sixth grade, when he put aside his text-books to provide for his own support. He was first employed in a humble capacity by H. A. Stevens & Sons, remaining with that firm for two years, after which he entered the employ of the Lockwood & Taylor Hardware Company as order boy. This was a wholesale hardware establishment, with which he was connected for two years. He was afterward employed in several retail hardware stores, spending much of the time, however, with the firm of H. W. Luetkemeyer & Sons, whom he represented as city salesman for several years. This brought him broad knowledge of the trade and the demands of the public and when industry and careful expenditure had secured for him capital sufficient to enable him to engage in business on his own account he started for himself in 1897 at Nos. 28 and 30 Broadway, dealing in cabinet hardware and upholstery supplies. On several occasions he has outgrown the quarters in which he has been located and finally he incorporated the business and removed to his present location at No. 215 Prospect avenue in 1905. Here he carries a large and well selected line of goods and the HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 525 neat and tasteful arrangement of his store, the excellence of the products which he handles and the reliability of the business methods of the house are the chief concomitants in his success, which is altogether desirable. The business is now conducted under the firm style of the D. E. Giessen Company with Daniel E. Giessen as the president and treasurer ; and his brother Fred M. Giessen vice president and as secretary. In 1894 Mr. Giessen was married to Miss May Chatterton, a daughter of Joseph Chatterton, an iron merchant of Cleveland. They now have two children, Helen May and Evelyn Dorothy. Mr. Giessen votes with the republican party and is in thorough sympathy with its principles and policy. He belongs to Bigelow Lodge, No. 243, F. & A. M., and heartily endorses its basic purposes concerning mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness. He is likewise connected with the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the Commercial Travelers Association and the Chamber of Commerce. An alert and enterprising man, while he is prompted by laudable ambition to attain success, he never sacrifices the interests of others to his personal ends and has, therefore, made for himself a creditable name as one 0f Cleveland's merchants. STONEMAN. Few concerns in the city of Cleveland are conducted along more progressive and enterprising lines than is the hardware business of The Stoneman Company, Incorporated. The owners of the business are Frank S., George C., William H. and John S. Stoneman, brothers, who have instituted many new and progressive ideas in the development and expansion of their trade, the worth of their business methods being proven in the success which has been accorded them. Their father, Jabez Stoneman, was born in Liverpool, England, and when twenty-five years of age came to the United States, settling in the vicinity of Cleveland, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising, finding his labors well repaid by the good prices which he received for the products of the farm. He wedded Miss Ann Spear, a native of Devonshire, England, and both are still living. They became the parents of seven children, six sons and a daughter : Frank S., Annie, William H., George C., John S., Arthur and Albert L. The eldest son and senior partner in The Stoneman Company was born September 15, 1859, while George C. was born January 1, 1867, William H. on the 24th of April, 1870, and John S. on the 24th of September, 1872. They acquired their education in the public schools of Cleveland, acquainting themselves with the fundamental branches of English learning and assumed many of the serious responsibilities of life at an age when other boys are engrossed with books or with the pleasures of the playground. This self-dependence so early developed was productive of a readiness to seize opportunities and the ability to profit by experience which has distinguished their commercial life. It was about fifteen years ago that George Stoneman saw a chance for advancement in purchasing a bankrupt stock of hardware. Accordingly he associated his brothers with him in a partnership and the present company was organized and inaugurated under the title of The Stoneman Company, with Frank Stoneman as president ; George C. Stoneman as general manager ; William H. Stoneman as vice president ; and John S. Stoneman as secretary and treasurer. Notwithstanding the fact that they opened a hardware store where there were already many substantial firms established. they have been able to meet competition through the diligent exercise of good management, energy and genuine ability to cope with the numerous problems that are continually presented. The company was originally incorporated for fifty thousand dollars but they have recently taken over the business of the Schorndorfer Company, a twenty-five thousand dollar corporation, thus largely increasing their facilities. From the be- 526 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND ginning they have conducted a profitable enterprise, making it a valued factor in the commercial life of Cleveland. As opportunity has offered, the different members of the firm have also invested extensively in real estate, thus giving another evidence of the wise foresight which has been distinctive of them. The members of the firm are all married. Frank S. Stoneman, now living at 10618 Drexel avenue, wedded Rose Bennett and has three children : Maude, Harry and Jessie. William H. married Rose Ellicott and with their son, Percy, they reside at No. 8701 Whitethorn avenue. George C., living at 10615 Drexel avenue, married Ella Clark and has two children, Louis and Ruth. John Stoneman married Marie Batchelor and resides at 2689 East Sixty-first street. Their sister Annie is the wife of George Lowe, of Chicago. The two younger brothers of the family, Arthur and Albert L., reside at the old family home, No. 848 Lakeview Road. The latter married Ella Barker and has one son, Lester. The brothers are all republicans in their political views and John Stoneman is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Their interests, however, center in business and their well developed and carefully executed plans have brought them substantial success in the fifteen years of the existence of the firm and have established their reputation as representative, reliable and progressive merchants. ALFRED WILLIAM RUPLE. Alfred William Ruple, manager of the safe deposit department of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company of Cleveland, was born in the Forest city, February 29, 1864. His father, Ferdinand S. Ruple, was a mechanical engineer and manufacturer and his family were among the early settlers of what is now known as Collinwood. The great-grandfather, Samuel Ruple, was one of the pioneer settlers of Collinwood and Euclid, establishing his home there when the greater part of the territory now included within the corporation limits of Cleveland was covered with its native forest growth. Ferdinand S. Ruple died at the comparatively early age of forty-two years as the result of an accident. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Elizabeth Pankhurst, was a daughter of John Pankhurst, a native of England, who settled in Cleveland in 1835 and was here engaged in soap manufacture at the time of his death. At the usual age Alfred W. Ruple entered the public schools and after attending the high school became a pupil in the Case School of Applied Science, from which he was graduated on the completion of a civil engineering course with the class of 1886. From his early youth until his graduation from college he was kept continually in school. He preferred philosophy to literature, his mind being of a scientific rather than a literary trend. He was fond of outdoor life and traveled considerably. As his father died when he was but twelve years of age, his experiences in the world taught him to be self-reliant and independent and early developed in him those latent forces of character which have made for strong manhood. On leaving college he immediately began the practice of civil engineering. Professional experience was a necessary factor at that time, for the professions were not specialized then as now, and on putting aside his text-books he entered the service of the Vierling, McDowell Iron Works Company at Chicago, there remaining until June, 1887, when he left their employ to accept a position on the construction of the Colorado Midland Railway-an important piece of engineering owing to the mountainous district traversed by that line. Later he was engaged on the construction of the double track of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, being made division engineer on the Mahoning division, this work occupying his attention for two years. On its completion he went immediately to the Pennsylvania Railway Lines west 0f Pittsburg as assistant engineer and so continued until February, 1894, when on account of illness in the family he returned to Cleveland. Here he accepted the HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 527 position of manager of the safe deposit department of the Savings & Trust Company, later merging with the Citizens Savings & Trust Company, and in this position he has since continued. On the 27th of September, 1893, at Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Ruple was married to Miss Ellen Cordelia Newcomb, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Newcomb. They are prominent socially in the city and Mr. Ruple is well known as a stanch republican. In the field of finance as well as in the department of his chosen profession he has proven his worth and ability in business and enjoys in fullest measure the esteem of those with whom he is associated. JOHN W. McARDLE. The path has at times been a difficult one which John W. McArdle has traversed from the position of office boy to that of vice president 0f the Fred G. Clark Company, refiners and distributers of lubricating oils, the extent of their business being second only to that of the Standard Oil Company in America. No fortunate circumstances or favoring environment have constituted forces in his advancement. He has won his promotion by earnest effort and capability and now occupies an enviable position among Cleveland's prosperous business men. A son of Frank Michael and Bertha McArdle, he was born in Cleveland, October 7, 1871, and the public and high schools afforded him his educational privileges. He then entered the service of the Merrian & Morgan Paraffine Company in the capacity of office boy and worked his way steadily upward until he was in charge of the sales department, resigning that position to become connected with the Fred G. Clark Company as traveling salesman. He traveled from coast to coast, spending five years on the road and winning many patrons for the company, thus contributing in substantial measure to the growth and development of the business. On the expiration of that period he was made manager of the lubricating department and so continued for four years, formulating and instituting the plans which led directly to the growth of the business in that department. In 1906 he was elected a vice president and one of the directors of the company and the volume of the trade makes his official position one of large responsibility. His foresight and sagacity enable him to look beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities and responsibilities of the future and he has wrought along lines which have constituted forceful factors in the expansion of the trade of the house. He is also interested in various companies and finds quick and ready solution for intricate business problems. Pleasantly situated in his home life, Mr. McArdle was married June 3, 1900, to Miss Myrtle Barkdull and they have one son, John W., Jr., five years of age. He has always maintained his residence in Cleveland and that his life has been well spent is indicated in the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present time. JAMES BOGGS. James Boggs, president of The Columbia Bolt & Forging Company of Cleveland. was born in Allegheny. Pennsylvania, on the 13th of February, 1872, his parents being Thomas and Nancy Boggs. He was but a year old when brought to this city and at the usual age entered the public schools, being graduated from the grammar grades when a lad of fourteen. Subsequently he spent two years as a student in the West high school and afterward attended the Ohio Business College for a similar period. He then entered the employ of the Lamson & Sessions Company in the capacity of billing clerk, remaining with that concern 528 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND for fourteen years. On the expiration of that period he organized The Columbia Bolt & Forging Company and, being elected president, has since controlled and managed its affairs with signal success. The factory of the company is located at the corner of Willey avenue and Walworth street and their shipments extend all over the United States and Canada. They are manufacturers of Norway T head shaft bolts, step bolts, whiffletree bolts, special bolts, forgings, etc., and employment is furnished to a force of twenty men. On the 30th of August, 1893, in Cleveland, Mr. Boggs was united in marriage to Miss Lotta J. Bishop. They have two children, Chester A. and Martha L, aged nine and six years respectively. Both are public school students. The family residence is at No. 1705 Mentor avenue. Mr. Boggs gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is interested in matters of progressive citizenship relating to national progress and local advancement. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Pilgrim Congregational church. He is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity and belongs to Halcyon Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Hillman Chapter, R. A. M. He is fond of all manly outdoor sports and is especially interested in baseball, hunting and fishing. In the city where practically his entire life has been spent he has a most wide and favorable acquaintance and has long been numbered among its prosperous and enterprising business men and respected residents. RUFUS P. RANNEY. Among all the illustrious names preserved in the records of the supreme court of the state, none is higher, nobler or purer than that of Rufus P. Ranney. He died at his home in Cleveland on the 6th of December, 1891, at the age of seventy- eight years. The sketch of his life, together with the analysis of his character and the estimate of his public services here presented, is the collaboration of Allen G. Thurman, Richard A. Harrison, Jacob D. Cox, Francis E. Hutchins and Samuel E. Williamson. The memorial prepared by Judge Williamson for the State Bar Association in 1892 furnishes the material relating to Judge Ranney's work in the constitutional convention and some of his important judicial decisions. As a man, as a lawyer, as a judge and as a statesman, he left a record without a blemish ; a character above reproach ; and a reputati0n as a jurist and a statesman which but few members of the bar have attained. Judge Ranney came from New England, a land of robust men of wonderful physical and mental fiber and endurance. He was born at Blandford, Hampden county, Massachusetts, on the 30th of October, 1813. His father was a farmer of Scotch descent. In 1822 the family moved to Ohio, which was then a "western frontier." They settled in Portage county. In the son the old blood 0f New England had forceful inheritance ; and his hard struggles with pioneer life were favorable to the full development of his great natural endowments, his inherited characteristics and the attainment of the highest excellence. The means of public instruction were quite limited ; but the stock of intelligence in the family, with a few standard books brought from Massachusetts, coupled with an active, penetrating and broad intellect, aroused in the son a desire to get an education. And he had one of those exceptional minds that take to learning by nature, as Shakespeare and Columbus did. Not until he had nearly arrived at man's estate was he able to manage, by means of manual labor and teaching in backwoods schools, to enter an academy, where in a short time he prepared himself to enter college. By chopping cord wood at twenty-five cents per cord, he earned the money to enter Western Reserve College but, for want of means, he could not complete the college course. He made up his mind to study law, and at the age of twenty-one years entered the law office of Joshua R. Giddings and Benjamin F. Wade and HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 531 began his preparation for the bar, to which he was admitted in 1836. Mr. Giddings havmg been elected to congress, the firm of Giddings & Wade was dissolved, and upon Mr. Wade's suggestion he and young Ranney entered into partnership. This firm was the leading law firm in northeastern Ohio. In 1845 Mr. Wade was elected judge of the court of common pleas. Shortly afterward Mr. Ranney removed to Warren, Trumbull county, which was the chief center of business and wealth in that section of the state. He at once commanded a large practice. In 7846, and agam in 1848, he was nominated as a candidate for congress but, his party being hopelessly in the minority, the opposing candidate was elected. In 1850 he was elected, as a delegate from Trumbull and Geauga counties, to the convention which had been called to revise and amend the constitution of the state. In this convention he served with distinction on the committees on the judiciary, on revision, on amendments and others. His associates on the committee on the judiciary were Stanberry, Swan, Groesbeck and Kennon. Although he was then a young man, he was soon recognized as one of the leading members of the convention. In this body of distinguished lawyers, jurists and statesmen, there were few members who had so thorough a knowledge of political science, constitutional law, political and judicial history and the principles of jurisprudence, as Judge Ranney displayed in the debates of the convention. There was no more profound, acute and convincing reasoner on the floor of the convention, and in the committee rooms his suggestive and enlightened mind was invaluable. The amended constitution conforms very nearly to the principles and provisions advocated by him. In March, 1851, he was elected by the general assembly judge of the supreme court to succeed Judge Avery ; and at the first election held under the amended constitution in 1851, he was chosen to be one of the judges of the new supreme court. He was assigned the longest term and served until 1856, when he resigned and removed from Warren to Cleveland, where he resumed the practice of his profession as a member of the firm of Ranney, Backus & Noble. In 1859 he was the unsuccessful candidate of his party against William Dennison for governor of the state. Three years afterward he was nominated, against his expressed desire, as a candidate for supreme judge. One of his partners, Franklin Backus, was nominated by the opposing party for the same office. To his own surprise, Judge Ranney was elected. He qualified, but resigned two years afterward and resumed the practice of law in Cleveland. The demands upon his professional services were now more than he could comply with. Anything like a selfish regard for his own pecuniary interest would have induced him to select for his attention the most important and lucrative business that was offered, but the needs of a man or woman in difficulty or distress were more likely to secure his devoted services than the offer of a large fee. When the Ohio State Bar Association was organized in the year 1881, he was unanimously elected its president. Toward the close of his life Judge Ranney gradually withdrew from the practice of his profession ; but the urgent solicitation of some old friend, or an attack upon some important constitutional or legal principle, drew him occasionally from his library to the courtroom. The announcement that he was to make an argument never failed to bring together an audience of lawyers, eager to learn from him the art of forensic reasoning, of which he was a consummate and acknowledged master, to be entertained and instructed by his sympathy and familiarity with the more recent advances in the science of jurisprudence. The well-earned leisure of his later years was far from being indolence. If he had needed an inducement to continue his reading and study, he would have found it in the pleasure it gave him to share with others the results of such study. He was anxious that young men should have the educational advantages which had been denied to him, and it was for the double purpose of helping to provide such advantages and justifying the confidence which had been reposed in him by a valued client and friend, that he devoted much time for several years to placing the Case School of Applied Science at Cleveland upon a firm foundation and providing for it adequate buildings and 532 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND equipment. From the time of Judge Ranney's admission to the bar he found time, by means of his ability to dispose of business rapidly and by unremitting industry, to make up to some extent the deficiency in his early education. Accident and taste combined to direct his attention particularly to the language of France and as soon as he could read it easily he made a profound study of her literature, politics, history and law. The civil law and the debates which resulted in the Code Napoleon became as familiar to him as the Commentaries of Blackstone and had their part in forming his clear and mature conceptions of natural justice and views of public policy. Judge Ranney was a man of great simplicity of character, wholly free from affectation and assumption. He was a man of native modesty of character. He could have attained the highest standing in any pursuit or station requiring the exercise of the best intellectual and moral qualities, but his ambition was chastened and moderate and he seemed to have no aspirations for official place or popular applause. While always dignified, he was a genial and companionable man, of fine wit and rare humor. He had singular powers of memory. Every fact, every rule, every principle, when once acquired, remained with him always. He combined extensive and varied general knowledge with remarkable accuracy of judgment. His originality of mind was not impaired by his accumulation of knowledge and the ideas of others. No man was more fearless in asserting the right and in the performance of what he deemed his duty. His known integrity and honesty, and his never-failing common sense and sagacity in affairs of business, placed in his hands weighty and responsible trusts embracing important interests and large amounts of property. From the beginning of his career as a lawyer, by reason of the professional learning, the clear and persuasive method of reasoning, the nice power of discrimination, the strict sense of justice, the inflexible integrity and the great practical wisdom which characterized and adorned all his efforts, he occupied the position of a leading representative of the Ohio bar. He had remarkable power of analysis and saw with the quickness of intuition the principles of law as well as the right or morality of a controversy. In the argument of a cause he never made a useless parade of authorities. He used authorities only to illustrate principles. While Judge Ranney was on the bench he was one of the strongest administrative forces of the state government. He held a place of his own. He was a personal force whose power was profoundly felt in the administration of justice throughout the state. He made a deep and permanent impression on the jurisprudence of Ohio. His facility and accuracy in disposing of business was owing in large measure, to his almost unequaled habit of concentration on the business before him, the analytical structure and logical action of his mind, his acute perception of the crucial points in a cause, his comprehensiveness of view and his quickness in discovering how natural justice and equity suggested a controversy should be decided. His most distinguished trait was his grasp of general principles, in preference to decided cases. He never ran to book shelves for a case which had some resemblance to that in hand, perceiving, as he did, that the resemblance is frequently accidental and misleading. To consider questions of constitutional law or of public policy and justice, was above all things congenial to him. He took large views of every matter or question with which he had to deal. He was at his best when under the stimulus of working to solve a great and difficult constitutional or legal problem. Difficulties melted away under the fire from his keen and powerful intellect. His reserve force never failed him. Occasionally, in hearing or deciding a case, his broad and mellow humor and bright imagination illustrated or illumined the questions involved. He was always courteous on the bench and no member of the bar, young or old, ever had just cause to complain of unfair treatment at his hands. On the bench, as at the bar, he never extended any hospitality to loose notions of professional ethics. Judge Ranney's rich style furnished unmistakable evidence that he had drunk deep at the wells of English undefiled. His reported judicial opinions, all of which are characterized by inherent strength and breadth and dispassionate and unbiased judgment, show HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 533 he had great facility in clear, precise, forcible expression. No one could say a plain thing in a plainer way or deal with an abstruse subject in a clearer manner. In oral argument or public discourse he gave a sort of colloquial familiarity to his utterances. No one could use an apt illustration or an amusing anecdote with greater effect. He never declaimed. He was as wise in what he left unsaid as in what he said. There was never anything puerile or irrelevant in his arguments. They were characterized by a vigor and grasp of mind, a full possession of the subject and a fertility of resource whenever an emergency arose requiring him to bring to his aid his reserve power. Upon occasion no one could use sarcasm with greater effect ; but the blade he used was the sword of the soldier, not the dagger of the assassin. Judge Ranney had those qualities of simplicity, directness, candor, solidity, strength and sovereign good sense which the independence and reflective life of the early settlers of the western country fostered. At the bar or in his own library, he was one of the most interesting of men. He had a just economy of labor; he never did anything which men of narrower capacity could do for him well enough. He did not expend upon his work any superfluous strength. It is unfortunate that his great powers were not called into use upon the broadest theater. Had he been given a seat upon the bench of the supreme court of the United States, as was in contemplation when he was in his prime, he would have enriched not only his own fame, but the country would have had additional reason to be justly proud of institutions under whose fostering influences men like Judge Ranney are entrusted with the highest civil authority and the protection of the rights and liberties of the citizen. He was himself a firm believer in representative government, insisting, however, that in order to perpetuate it, its abuses and evils must be plainly exposed and resolutely resisted. In the constitutional convention Judge Ranney was made a member of the committee on the judicial department and chairman of the committee on revision, enrollment and arrangement. His part in the convention was largely the result of his intense belief in democracy ; not democracy in a partisan sense, although that belief determined his party fealty also, but democracy in the first and best sense as meaning government by the people. He trusted the people thoroughly, and although the character of the voting population of the state gradually changed before his death, his faith in the people continued to be so strong that he looked forward to the outcome of every struggle, in which both sides had a fair hearing, as sure to be wise and right. Without this key to his votes and speeches they would be sadly misunderstood. He favored every proposition to the limit of the executive and the legislative except as the duty of legislative action to restrain encroachments upon the rights of citizens could be imposed upon the general assembly. His faith in the people led him to wish for them a larger share in the administration of justice and to desire that every court should be to some extent a court of first instance, and he would have had every question of fact, in equity as well as at law, referred to a jury. He favored biennial sessions of the general assembly. It was said in favor of annual sessions that one of the principal means by which the people had been able to secure, generation after generation, a portion of their rights under the British government was frequent elections and meetings of public bodies. But while he conceded this, his answer was that in England all power exercised by legislative bodies was taken from the monarch ; here from the people. There the people could not fail to gain by legislative action ; here they could not fail to lose. He opposed the proposition to give the governor a qualified veto, which was supported by the argument that it would prevent much ill-considered legislation. He admitted that inconsiderate legislation had been a sore evil, but in his opinion it arose from the fact that the people of Ohio had theretofore delegated too much power to the departments of government. The remedies that he proposed were to take away patronage from the legislature, to require important laws to be submitted to a direct vote of the 534 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND people and to receive a majority of the votes of both branches of the general assembly by yeas and nays. The first and last of these remedies were applied by the constitution with good results. He supported with success an amendment to the report of the committee reducing the term of senators from four to two years. He proclaimed emphatically the opinion that the people should not delegate their power for any longer time than was necessary ; that the senate ought to be as popular as the house; that to say that the senate ought to "hang back and hang on" to save the people was to say that they were incapable of self-government. He repudiated it from his very soul. He had not one particle of sympathy for it and it never could have any foundation whatever in his political creed. The committee on the legislative department reported a section forbidding the general assembly to pass retroactive laws, or laws impairing the obligations of contracts or their remedies. Judge Ranney opposed the introduction of the words "or their remedies," but gave the remainder of the section his cordial and effective support. The provision against retroactive legislation was then a new constitutional principle, the term "retroactive" being much more broad and comprehensive than the phrase "ex post facto," then in common use. It was urged by such able men as Judge Hitchcock that the power of the retroactive legislation had been exercised beneficially, but Judge Ranney pronounced it dangerous. In his judgment the power of curing errors, defects and omissions should be reposed in the courts, and so the convention ultimately decided. He considered that as men became more enlightened the stringent laws required to protect the rights of individuals in an uncultivated state of society became unnecessary and the legislative power should be restrained in proportion. It was Judge Ranney who first proposed that the creditors of corporations should be secured by the individual liability of stockholders, although the form and extent of the proposition were somewhat changed by amendment before its adoption. He met strong opposition from many delegates, who agreed with him that, as an abstract principle, it was right that stockholders should be responsible for the debts of their corporations, but contended that it was impolitic to so provide in the constitution, because it would check public improvements. With terrific sarcasm he replied that to barter away principles in order to push forward prematurely works of public improvement would be "making a most miserable swap," and with eloquence he denounced the abandonment of political principle in matters of legislation. He favored the proposition for the reformation of civil procedure. His ideal for a lawyer was high. In his opinion no one could occupy a respectable position in the legal profession without a knowledge of law as a science, which could be attained only by the most assiduous labor and application. He wanted the profession to be relieved of the miserable jargon and mystery of forms and technicalities that it might be left to pursue the noble study of the rights of man, the rights of property and all the varied relations of life subject to legal regulations. He took an active part in the discussions on education, the elective franchise, capital punishment, levying poll taxes, finance and taxation, and the repeal of corporate franchises. His views upon all of these matters were pronounced, but the combined wisdom of all the delegates was greater than the wisdom of any one ; so in the closing hour of the convention he had occasion to say that after a careful review of the whole instrument, of all its parts, of every line and word, he believed before God and man that it was one of the best, if not the best, of constitutions of American states, and if the people of Ohio were not well governed thereafter it would be the fault of the people, for the whole responsibility then and thereafter was upon them. He devoted his best thought and labor to the judicial article. His chief objection to it was that it removed the courts of last resort too far from the people. He objected to the district courts because they might be held at only one place in the district, and consequently lawyers and witnesses might be compelled to travel a hundred miles for trial. But most of all he objected to the supreme court, because it was to become substantially a court of errors, sitting at Columbus. HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 535 He looked upon a circuit system as absolutely indispensable. In his judgment a mere paper court would become but little better than mere papers themselves and might as well be filed away in some secure place in the capitol. It was an insurmountable objection that no judge of the court was ever to participate in a trial, face a jury, see the parties, hear the witnesses, study human nature as exhibited in a trial at court or mingle with the people. He also wanted the effect of the circuit system upon the people, because he believed that no court can acquire that power, dignity, influence and authority in the eyes of the people which it ought to have, unless it acts among the people, performs its duties in their sight and places in their view the practical workings of the system of judicial power which acts upon and protects their interests. He and others who agreed with him were able to secure the abandonment of the county courts, for which probate courts were substituted and a provision requiring district courts to be held in every county. This was justly considered a great triumph, but they were unable to secure any substantial change in the duties of the supreme court judges, who, as business increased, were gradually withdrawn from district court duty until they composed simply a court of errors sitting at Columbus. The old supreme court, under the leadership of Judge Peter Hitchcock, was one of the ablest courts in the United States and was acknowledge as such wherever the common law prevailed. It was remarkable for taking certain practical views of the law, which were widely accepted and applied to a great variety of cases. Judge Ranney found himself in thorough sympathy with them, as they satisfied at the same time his feeling of veneration for the principles of the common law and his love for justice. One of his first opinions is an illustration of this. The owner of a judgment had accepted payment for about one-third of its amount and one hundred dollars for attorney's fees, in satisfaction of the whole, and he refused to enter the satisfaction of the whole. The court recognized the existence of the rule that payment of a sum less than the sum due upon a liquidated judgment, although agreed to be received in full satisfaction, could not be insisted upon as such for want of a valuable consideration, Judge Ranney, in giving the opinion, would not set aside this rule: he had too much regard for well settled principles. But he had no hesitation in pronouncing both the reason and the rule purely technical and said that there was nothing of principle left in the rule itself. He therefore held that the payment of one hundred dollars to the attorney instead of the judgment creditor was a sufficient consideration to take the case out of the rule. "I am aware," he said, "that this is an exceedingly technical and unsatisfactory reason, but its justification is found in the fact that the plaintiff seeks to escape from his solemn engagement, by which he has obtained money from the defendant, by the aid of a technicality. To prevent the consummation of such a fraud, he is met with technicalities nearly as absurd as that upon which he insists." A somewhat different illustration of the view which the court took of the force of the English common law, which also shows the effect of Judge Ranney's early life upon the formation of his opinions, is found in his opinion of cattle running at large. (C. H. & D. R. R. Company vs. Watterson, 4 O. S., 424.) After holding that before any statutory inhibition the owner of domestic animals was not in fault in suffering them to run at large, he said : "I am aware that this is flatly opposed to the common law doctrine upon the subject and if the rule of the common law was enforced in this state it would be entirely inadmissible; but it is not in force, and it is not in force because, in addition to being utterly inconsistent with our legislation, it lacks all the essential requisites that give vitality to any principle of the common law and is opposed to the common understanding, habits and even the necessities of the people of the state. Indeed, with the strict enforcement of such a rule the state could never have been settled. The lands were all heavily timbered, and the introduction of do- 536 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND mestic animals, from the scarcity of herbage, requiring a wide range for their. support, became indispensable before the forests could be removed. It would have been a novel proposition to a sturdy pioneer, when he listened in the morning for the bell that indicated where the oxen that had hauled his logs together for burning might be found, to have told him that his cattle were trespassers on every other man's unenclosed land upon which they might have fed during the night ; or that he could plant corn without enclosing the ground, and sue his neighbor whose cattle had eaten it up." The tendency of the court in Judge Ranney's time to sustain the title of occupants of land under generally acknowledged titles whether strictly legal or not, as against those who sought to gain possession under technical rights after the lapse of years, is shown by his opinion in Lessee of Blake vs. Davis (20 Ohio, 231). The title of the plaintiff came from a married woman. The title of the defendant came through an administrator's sale which had no validity. An allotment had been made by the trustees of the district known as the Ohio Company's Purchase, and the plaintiff claimed that the woman who was grantor was entitled to the benefit of the presumption that a deed had been delivered in pursuance of the allotment. The court conceded that the claim was well founded if the plaintiff was in a position to avail himself of the claim ; but after a careful review of all the authorities Judge Ranney said that the whole doctrine rested upon the idea that titles and possessions are to be quieted, not disturbed by it ; that right and justice are protected in its application, not injured; in short, that it is only what ought to be done that can be considered as done. Referring to the plaintiff's grantor, he added : "She has n0 legal advantage, but now seeks by presumption to get it. To get it she must present an honest, not a technical case. She cannot in honesty take this land from the occupants while her father's estate was relieved by the very money that paid for it, and when she has acquiesced in the action of the administrator for more than half a century. I know it is said that she is a married woman, but I have yet to learn that even a married woman has a right to do a wrong. We take from her no rights, we only prevent her from taking the rights of others." It was Judge Ranney who pronounced the opinion, reviewing all the authorities in England and America, in which the rule was settled for Ohio that the transfer of a negotiable promissory note secured by mortgage on real estate to a bona fide endorsee, does not entitle the holder to foreclose the mortgage, when it appears that both note and mortgage were obtained by fraud. (Bailey vs. Smith, 14 0. S. 396.) "Mortgages," he said, "are not necessities of commerce ; they have none of the attributes of money ; they do not pass in currency in the ordinary course of business, nor do any of the prompt and decisive rules of the law merchant apply to them. They are securities, or documents for debts, used for the purpose of investment, and unavoidably requiring from those who would take them with prudence and safety, an inquiry into value, condition and title of the property upon which they rest ; nor have we the least apprehension that commerce will be impeded by requiring the further inquiry of the mortgagor, whether he pretends to any defense, before a court will foreclose his right to defend against those which have been obtained by force or fraud." Perhaps the decision of most far-reaching influence and importance in everyday, practical affairs which he ever delivered, was in the case of Railroad Company against Keary (3 0. S., 201), which elaborated and made effective a rather weak decision of Judge Caldwell in 20 Ohio, 314. The latter held that when an employer places one person in his employment under the direction of another also in his employment, such employer is liable for injury to the person of the servant placed in the subordinate position caused by the negligence of his superior. Judge Ranney in the case of Keary, with the unanimous concurrence of the court, declared the rule and the principle thus tersely : "No one has the right to put in operation forces calculated to endanger life and property without placing them under the control of a competent and ever-acting superintending HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 537 intelligence. Whether he undertakes it or procures another to represent him, the obligation remains the same, and a failure to comply with it in either case imposes the duty of making reparation for any injury that may ensue." W. S. Kerruish contributes the following from his personal recollections : "I was a law student in the office of Backus & Noble at the time Judge Ranney removed from Warren to Cleveland and became the head of that firm in 1857, after his first resignation from the supreme bench. Not long thereafter Mr. Backus was chosen as the republican candidate for supreme judge of the state, and the democratic party selected from the same office as its candidate for the same bench, Judge Ranney. It was said at the time that these candidates were both alike not only surprised, but also each disappointed, at the result of the subsequent election—Mr. Backus at being defeated, and Judge Ranney at being elected. My knowledge of him began upon his accession to the above named firm. He was then in his early prime. Though comparatively young, he had already attracted the attention of the bar of the state for the grasp and vigor of his mind, for the marked ability with which he dealt with constitutional questions, and for his extraordinary judicial force and clearness. Anterior to his elevation to the bench, as one of the younger members of the constitutional convention and as one of the most active of the committee on judiciary in that body, the marked ability displayed by him in counsel and debate may be said to have first challenged general attention. Judge Peter Hitchcock, himself a member of that body and having for nearly a generation been an occupant of the supreme bench of Ohio, in the light of the young Ranney's capability and the constructive character of his talent, then prophesied that his young democratic colleague would one day be the leader. An examination of the two volumes containing the proceedings and debates of the convention will disclose that although in the first part of those proceedings Ranney's appearance was unfrequenthe was a modest man—yet before the deliberations were half ended he appears to have found his place, and the convention to have found its man ; and the result is that the admirable judicial system imbedded in our constitution today bears the marks of no other man's genius so visibly as it does that of Rufus P. Ranney. So much by way of introduction and as the background of a few impressions made on my mind by him when he took his place in the office of Backus & Noble. I was less brought into contact with him, he being the leading member of the firm and to some extent a stranger in the city, than a law student under similar circumstances might be at the present time, perhaps. As I remember it, he was not especially communicative or effusive. I do not mean that his manner was repellant, or that he was difficult of access or unduly dignified; but the impression the average young man would get of him in those days, could be expressed as follows : 'There's a man who can tell us all about it; but state your point clearly, avoid all circumlocution, nonsense, and irrelevancy, and he will tell you all. There were old friends—friends of his earlier practice, Judge Spaulding, Judge Tilden, Judge R. F. Paine and others—with whom he delighted to unbend himself, and they often met, and not withstanding the gravity and dignity of the interlocutors, the wit and banter and merriment and good-humored personality, long to be remembered by the listener, would equal the best pages of Noctes Ambrosianae, and Judge Ranney was not behind any of them. I have an experience of his wonderful tact and delicacy in encouraging a beginner. It fell to my lot at the commencement of my practice to defend an old gentleman for a felony in which, if there were pretty strong symptoms of technical guilt, there was at least the mitigating circumstance of ignorance and inexperience; and my client, becoming alive at last to the gravity of the situation, suggested that I get additional counsel. I selected Judge Ranney. He took the second place at the trial table and, notwithstanding my protest, firmly but courteously declined to take the first place. He omitted nothing, however, by way of suggestion, but clothed every suggestion with such outward circumstances of deference to his young associate as to carefully conceal 538 - TORY OF CLEVELAND any consciousness on his part of my inexperience or his superiority. In this his art in concealing art seemed to me perfect. In his argument, whether to court or jury, in the one respect so many seem to me to fail, namely, observance of due proportions of things, he had no superior. It was not his habit to come into court loaded down with books—one or two authorities, in which the principle was enunciated, generally sufficed him. His reasoning was masterly, and if his premises were admitted it was exceedingly difficult to escape his conclusions. He never indulged m the habit of dwelling on unimportant things. He never wearied the listener with complicated details about irrelevant matter. He saw the real issue at a glance and dealt with it directly. The most marked characteristic of the man was his ability to arrive instinctively and instantaneously at a point which other men reached by study and the comparison of data. I have seen him come into courtroom and casting a quiet glance around among the persons present he would seem to have divined in some mysterious fashion not only what had been going on, but what was in contemplation, almost as well as some others could ascertain the same facts by half an hour's cross-examination." In the course of a public address at the "Old Roman" banquet Judge Thurman thus referred to him : "For forty years I have been a devoted friend of Rufus P. Ranney, and I firmly believe that he has been mine. It may therefore be permitted to me to say that of all the great lawyers I have ever known, no one ever seemed to me to be his equal. With a quickness of apprehension almost supernatural, with a power of analysis that Pascal might have envied, with an integrity that never for a moment was or could be brought into doubt, with a courage that never permitted him to fear to do what he believed to be right, with an industry that brought all his great qualities into successful operation, and with a mind cultivated beyond the sphere of his profession, he is, in the eyes of those who know him as I know him, a man of whom Ohio is and always will be most justly proud. He is a star in her firmament that will never be blotted out." Judge Ranney never sought to appear learned, but rather to adapt his argument to the comprehension of the weakest member of the profession and of a layman. The course of his reasoning is readily followed to a conclusion which is impregnable. His style is charming, his choice of words felicitous. Clearness of expression is matched by purity of diction. His opinions are not more noteworthy for the soundness of the conclusions reached than for the beautiful simplicity of the language in which they are clothed. His tastes were simple and domestic. His home life, in its affection, confidence and constancy exhibited the gentler traits of his strong character. His attachments to wife and children were of the tenderest and most enduring quality. He married Adeline W. Warner, who at the age of seventy-eight survives and is greatly beloved. Mrs. Ranney was a daughter of Judge Jonathan Warner, of Jefferson, Ashtabula county, who was an associate judge of the common pleas court and one of the pioneers of the state. Their family consisted of six children, four sons and two daughters. Both daughters and two of the sons are dead. One son, John R. Ranney, was educated in the law but is not now engaged in practice. The other son, Charles P. Ranney, is a successful business man of Cleveland. FRED A. PEASE. Fred A. Pease, general manager of The Fred A. Pease Engineering Company, with offices in the Williamson building, belongs to that class of young men who, becoming fully cognizant of conditions in the business world at the present time, qualify to meet the demands which the exigencies of modern business life create. Choosing the profession of civil engineering as a life work, HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 541 he has made such progress in his chosen calling that he is now accorded high rank among those who direct their efforts in the same field of labor. He was born in Kingsville, Ohio, July 17, 1873. His father, H. H. Pease, was also a native of Kingsville and became a mason contractor. He wedded Mary Elizabeth Barnum, of Rock Creek, Ohio. At the usual age Fred A. Pease began his education in the public schools of his native village, passing through consecutive grades until he was graduated from the high school at the age of seventeen years. He then began preparation for business life by undertaking engineering, being employed in supervision and construction work in the northwest and in Canada for two years. On his return to Cleveland he took up the further study and practice of civil engineering, which he pursued along various lines. Mr. Pease was appointed assistant county engineer in charge of road construction in 1899. He continued in this office until 1901, when he organized and established The Fred A. Pease Engineering Company, becoming vice president and general manager. He occupies the dual position at the present time and in this connection has done much important work in the line of his profession. This engineering company are engineers for the villages of Cleveland Heights, East Cleveland, Rocky River and Euclid. In addition to that they execute extensive municipal improvement work, design subdivisions and engage in electric railway work. They are engineers in charge of the Gates Mills development work for the Maple Leaf Land Company, Oakwood-on-the-Lake, Rocky River, the Shaker Heights Land Company and the Deming-Forest Hill subdivisions. Their services in an engineering capacity have been employed on electric railway work by the Eastern Ohio Traction Company, the Wheeling Traction Company, the Cleveland, Southwestern Railroad Company and by various other enterprises in this and adjoining states. Mr. Pease is devoted to hunting in the western states, which affords him a pleasurable source of recreation, and as a member of the Cleveland Grays he is identified with military organizations of the city. He also belongs to the Cleveland Athletic Club, the Cleveland Auto Club, the Builders Exchange and as a member of the Chamber of Commerce is associated with various activities for municipal betterment. In more strictly professional lines he is an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Cleveland Engineering Society. His time is given almost exclusively to his business interests, which have shown remarkable development in extent and importance, as The Fred A. Pease Engineering Company occupies a representative position in professional circles of this city. JOHN H. QUAYLE, M. D. Dr. John H. Quayle, physician and surgeon of Cleveland, was born in Madison, Ohio, June 25, 1874. His father, Henry Quayle, also a native of this state, was born in Painesville but for many years has resided at Madison, where he is now living retired at the age of seventy-six years. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary E. Bower and also survives. Dr. Quayle spent his boyhood at Madison and acquired his education in the public schools of that city, which he attended until seventeen years of age, when he began preparation for a professional career as a student in the Cleveland University of Medicine & Surgery, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in the class of 1895. Soon afterward he pursued a course in the Cleveland College of Physicians & Surgeons, of which he is also a graduate, and later he attended the New York Post Graduate College and likewise did post-graduate work in Europe, receiving instruction from some of the eminent physicians and surgeons of the old world, so that his training for the profession was most thorough and comprehensive. 542 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND Dr. Quayle engaged in practice in Madison, Ohio, for nine years, and since that time has been a representative of the medical fraternity in Cleveland. While he continues in general practice, he has given particular attention to gynecology and obstetrics and his researches along those lines, together with his continually broadening experience, have made him one of the foremost representatives of his specialty in this city. He is a member of the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, the Cleveland Medical Library Association and the Ohio and American Medical Associations. He has been an occasional contributor to the current literature of the profession and the ability which he has displayed has won him recognition not only from the general public but also from his fellow practitioners. Aside from professional interests Dr. Quayle is known in financial circles as a member of the auxiliary board of the Guardian Savings & Trust Company. He is also well known as a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of the Cleveland Athletic Club and of the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in Forest City Commandery, K. T., and in Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He finds his principal recreation in athletics and recognizes the value of outdoor exercise as a source of health promotion. His political allegiance is given to the republican party but he is not an active worker in its ranks. Dr. Quayle was married at Chardon, Ohio, October 3, 1896, to Grace C. Dayton, a daughter of Frank J. Dayton, of Madison, Ohio. They have a daughter, Alice Lynette, seven years of age, and a son, John H., two years old. Dr. Quayle owns a home at No. 4724 Franklin avenue. He is a fine appearing young man, of athletic build, of frank and genial nature and pleasant and social disposition. In his profession he has achieved high rank for one of his years. JOHN F. RUST, SR. The initial step in the business career of John F. Rust, Sr., was not such as would attract the attention of others. In fact, he started in life in a humble capacity but his ready recognition of opportunity led him continually to broaden the scope of his labors until he attained a commanding position m the financial and business circles of Cleveland as the vice president of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company, as a director of every national bank in the city and as the owner of large real-estate interests here, while his business connections also included investments in other parts of the country. He was born in Rutland, Vermont, June 15, 1835, and was the youngest of a family of five sons and three daughters, whose parents were Amasa and Charlotte (Ward) Rust. On leaving Rutland they removed to Marine City, Michigan, John F. Rust being at that time two years of age. Spending his boyhood days there, he attended the public schools and at the age of eighteen became an engineer in the employ of his brother, who was the owner of a sawmill. Soon afterward he went to Saginaw, Michigan, with his brothers and there engaged in the lumber business. He was also connected with the firm of Ward Brothers, who were prominent shipowners. He retained his residence in Saginaw until 1865, when, having saved some capital from his earnings, he decided to come to Cleveland and enter business circles in this city. Here he formed a partnership for the conduct of a lumber enterprise under the firm name of Rust, King & Company, and when the silent partner of the firm sold out the name of Rust, King & Clint was adopted. For a number of years they did a profitable and growing business as lumber merchants and then Mr. Rust, in 1883, sold his interest and became one of the founders of what is now the Citizens Savings & Trust Company. In this he was associated with Messrs. King, Newcomb, Leuty and other prominent business men, and assumed part of the active management of the business as director and vice president. He was largely instrumental in instituting a safe and conservative policy which won public confidence and, taking on the legitimate HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 543 branches of a banking business, did much to promote the efficiency of the bank and, therefore, win the patronage of the public. He retired from active business interests in 1886 and through his remaining days gave his time to those interests for which his taste inclined him and his leisure permitted. His name, however, was closely linked with banking interests, for in addition to his connection with the Citizens Savings & Trust Company he was vice president of the Western Reserve National Bank and a stockholder in every national bank of Cleveland. He was, moreover, financially interested in many of the most important business houses of the city and was a heavy investor in real estate, owning much Euclid avenue and down town property that proved very profitable. At the time of his death he was the owner of many of the most valuable sites in the down town districts, was the owner of large vessel interests on the Great Lakes, as well as mining interests in the west and in the lumber districts of Michigan. In fact, he had extensive holdings in various sections of the country and came to be considered as one of Cleveland's wealthiest business men, who was widely known and courted socially by club men and those prominent in society. On the 15th of December, 1863, at Saginaw, Michigan, Mr. Rust was married to Miss W. A. Smith, a claughter of Isaac and Weltheina (Stevens) Smith, the former a prominent jeweler of Knowlesville, New York. Mrs. Rust was born in Knowlesville in 1845 and came to Cleveland in 1863. The children of this marriage were six in number : Frank P., who was born in Saginaw in 1864 and died in 1901; Gertrude, the wife of George Chandler, of Cleveland; Charlotte, who wedded Wilson Potter, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Clara, the wife of H. H. Hill, also of this city ; and John F., Jr., and Irma, both residing in Cleveland. Mr. Rust was prominent in many projects for the city's welfare and was very widely known in Cleveland. He attended the Second Presbyterian church, in which he was a trustee and to which he was a liberal donor, and he held membership in the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Industry, the Union, Euclid, Colonial, Roadside and Gentlemen's Driving Clubs. He was a director of the Huron Street Hospital. He was also a Master Mason and appreciated the duties of the metaphorical teachings of the order. He was fond of driving and always kept some good horses. His home interests, however, were paramount to all else and his success was a source of gratification to him because it enabled him to provide the members of his own household with the comforts and the opportunities of life. His death occurred August 9, 1899, Mrs. Rust surviving until December, 1909, when she passed away in Philadelphia. S0 many and varied were his activities that he touched in large measure the general interests of society, nor was he ever unmindful of his obligations to his fellowmen. He never allowed personal interests or ambition to dwarf his public spirit or activity. His was the record of a strenuous life—the record of a strong individuality, sure of itself, stable in purpose, quick in perception, swift in decision and energetic and persistent in action. It is a recognized fact that in this, the twentieth century, other things being equal, the men of substance are the stronger force in the progress of the world and it was to this class that John F. Rust belonged. BENJAMIN W. BROWNE. Benjamin W. Browne, who with marked success has conducted the interests of the Great Western Oil Company since its establishment in 1901, has throughout this period been its president. He was born near Lancaster, England, December 2, 1863, and is a son of John and Rebecca (Widdman) Browne and a grandson of Benjamin Browne. He acquired his education at Thornton in Lonsdale, England, and at the age of twenty years sought the opportunities 544 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND of the new world, settling in Cleveland, where he became connected with the firm of Scofield, Shurmer & Teagle. He advanced through a series of promotions to the position of general manager, continuing with that house for eighteen years and then, desiring the opportunities that are afforded in the conduct of an independent venture, in 1901 he founded the Great Western Oil Company and became its president, since which time he has conducted its affairs with constantly increasing success, his labors being crowned with gratifying results. On the 12th of October, 1886, Mr. Browne was married to Miss Helen M. Goodrich, a daughter of John and Angelina Goodrich, of Cleveland, and they now have two children : Stewart B. and Ralph G., who are with them at their home at No. 13311 Euclid avenue. Mr. Browne finds pleasure in motoring and driving and is also greatly interested in farming and country life. He belongs to the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, to the Euclid Club and to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His political faith is that of the republican party, while his religious belief finds expression in his membership in the Windermere Methodist Episcopal church. His wife also holds membership in that organization, is prominent in church and charitable work and is a member of the Sorosis Society. She gives ready response to the call of the poor and needy, extending a helping hand to many who seek assistance and who have been victims of an untoward fate. Both Mr. and Mrs. Browne are well known socially here, having a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance. Mr. Browne has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek his fortune in America, where advancement is more quickly secured as the result of the bountiful natural resources of the country. Recognizing the fact that close application is ever a salient element in business, he has given his time and energies in almost undivided manner to the business duties which the years have brought and is enjoying the profits of his labors resulting from the conduct of a growing enterprise. FRED M. NICHOLAS. Fred M. Nicholas, who through the years of an active business career was forceful factor in the management and successful control of various important mess enterprises and is still financially interested in many large and profitable business projects although now living practically retired in the city of Cleveland, was born in Vermilion, Erie county, Ohio, in 1855. His father, Isaac W. Nicholas, was a native of Vermont but came to Ohio in 1828, settling at Vermilion, where he engaged in shipbuilding until his retirement in 1875. He built the first three-masted schooner on the lakes and was one of the best known vessel builders on the inland waters. His death occurred in Cleveland in 1900, in which year his wife, a native of Ohio, also passed away. Fred M. Nicholas attended the common schools of Vermilion and also the Central high school of Cleveland, from which he was graduated in the class of 1874. On the completion of his school days he became connected with the Republic Refining Oil Company, which was absorbed by the Standard Oil Company in 1879. Although a part of the great corporation, the former retained its organic existence and Mr. Nicholas remained therewith until 1881, when he was transferred to No. 1 Works of the Standard Oil Company, having charge of the barrel preparing, shipping, glue manufacture and paint and color works departments until 1886. In that year his business standing and ability secured him a flattering offer and he became identified with the McConway, Torley Company, of Pittsburg, now the Malleable Iron Company of Pittsburg, as its treasurer. He continued in that position for two years and is still financially interested in the business. As the years passed on he extended the scope of his activities, his ability bringing him into important business relations. He HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 547 became one of the organizers of the National Safe & Lock Company, of Cleveland, and acted as its secretary for four years. He is also interested in the Nicholas Transit Company, the Minch Transit Company, the Bradley Fleet Ore. and Grain Carriers, the American Ship Building Company and others of equal importance, his ripe judgment and wide experience serving to make his aid a valuable asset to any concern. In 1892, h0wever, Mr. Nicholas decided to put aside some of the more engrossing activities that had hitherto crowded his busy life and in the years which have since come and gone has practically lived retired. In 1880 occurred the marriage of Mr. Nicholas and Miss Jennie M. Hopper, a daughter of George H. Hopper. They have one child, Marjorie, who was a student in the Hathaway-Brown school and is now attending Mrs. Dow's school at Briarcliff Manor, New York. Mr. Nicholas owns one of the finest country estates in northern Ohio—Broadfields, located at Unionville, Lake county, and adjoining Elmwood, the celebrated country home of the Hopper family. Broad- fields was selected for representation in "One Hundred Country Houses" which were chosen as modern American examples of such structures, the volume being issued by the Century Company in 1909. Mr. Nicholas may well be proud of this magnificent estate. It is lacking in none of the equipments which constitute features of a most progressive and thoroughly modern country estate. Upon it is to be found the second best apple orchard in Ohio, the best private golf course in the state, while a trout stream was stocked by the government with ten thousand trout. His stables are filled with splendid specimens of work horses as well as fine driving stock. There is a large aviary and in fact no equipment of the modern country place is lacking. The friends of the proprietor call him "Farmer Nicholas" and the title is a pleasing one to him, for he delights in working his own land. Mr. Nicholas is identified with the leading clubs and social organizations of Cleveland, including the Euclid, Roadside, Hermit, Cleveland Automobile and Cleveland Singers Clubs. He also belongs to the Lambs Clubs of New York city and the Ohio Society of New York and was a member 0f the old Gatling Gun Battery of Cleveland. Mr. Nicholas is not only a high type of the modern agriculturist and a splendid representative of the astute, keen business men who have made Cleveland an important commercial and industrial center, but also possesses talents along other lines which would probably have won him fame had he been compelled to rely upon them for support. He is a singer of more than local renown, possessing a remarkably fine voice and his musical talent is often used in church and charitable entertainments ; otherwise it is cultivated only for the pleasure of himself and friends. It sometimes seems a pity that such talent as his should be hidden beneath "the bushel" of business cares, yet he never refuses his aid when his musical ability is sought for the benefit of some worthy charity or benevolence, or for the delight of his friends. Mr. Nicholas moreover possesses marked histrionic knowledge and ability, delights in high class stage performances, would make an excellent actor and frequently takes part in amateur theatricals. For many years he has had charge of the music of the Church of the Holy City, of which he and his family are members, and the musical service rendered upon special occasions had hardly an equal in choir work in other cities. It is seldom that a man is so richly endowed as Mr. Nicholas and his versatility makes him a welcome companion in all social circles. As has been indicated, his enterprise, ready recognition of possibilities, thorough understanding of the needs of business and indefatigable energy made his a strenuous yet a resultant business career, many important commercial and industrial projects profiting by the impetus gained through his cooperation. He retired from those fields to become an equally dominant factor in agricultural circles. His person., 1 activities have not ceased because of his withdrawal from commercial life, for his time is occupied to the fullest extent and his influence is strongly felt in local matters. The circle of his friends has been continually increasing as the 548 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND circle of his acquaintance has broadened and it would be difficult to find a more popular or highly respected man than the genial, courteous gentleman who is the proprietor of Broadfields. JOHN FRANKLIN RUST. John Franklin Rust, a capitalist whose time is devoted to the management of the Rust estate, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 16, 1882, a son of John F. and W. A. (Smith) Rust, extended mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work. The son attended private schools and also the University School of Cleveland, after which he went east to continue his education in the Lawrenceville school of New Jersey. He also attended Princeton College, from which he was graduated in 1907 with the Bachelor 0f Arts degree, and on leaving college he was called to manage the estate left by his father. His attention has since been given to the property interests and investments which constitute the estate, and his business ability is manifest in the capable manner in which he has controlled the interests entrusted to him. In 1907 Mr. Rust was united in marriage to Miss Irma L. Squire, a daughter of F. F. Squire. They hold membership in the Presbyterian church and Mr. Rust belongs to various social organizations, being prominent in the club life of the city as a member of the Union, Hermit, Country, Roadside and Quadrangle Clubs. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He came to manhood well equipped by liberal education for the duties and responsibilities that have devolved upon him. To accumulate a fortune requires one kind of genius ; to retain a fortune already acquired, to add to its legitimate increment and to make such use of it that its possessors may derive therefrom the greatest enjoyment and the public the greatest benefit, requires another kind of genius. Mr. Rust belongs to that younger generation of business men in Cleveland who have been called upon to assume responsibilities materially different from those which devolved upon their predecessors. In a broader field of enterprise they find themselves obliged to deal with affairs of greater magnitude and to solve more difficult and complicated financial and economic problems. The subjective and objective forces in the life of John F. Rust are well balanced, making him cognizant of his own capabilities and powers, while at the same time he thoroughly understands his opportunities and meets his obligations. JOHN F. BELOW. Cleveland is the home of branch establishments of some of the largest corporations in the country, it having been found necessary to maintain them in order to better handle the tremendous volume of trade which looks to this city for its source of supply. These branches are in the hands of sound and reliable men who have been thoroughly tested before being advanced to their present positions. John F. Below, general manager of the Cleveland branch of Morris & Company, packers and provisioners, belongs to this class. He was born in Cleveland, June 20, 1876, and is a son of Henry and Christiana Below. 'After attending the public schools until he was seventeen years of age, Mr. Below spent two years at Cayton's Business College and was graduated from it, following which he obtained a position as timekeeper with the Buckeye Electric Company, and was later their shipping clerk, continuing with them for three years. At the end of that time he established a teaming business of his own and with twenty-eight horses did all the teaming for H. C. Christy & Company, grocers, Radcliff & Gore, William Hoffman, Schener & Company, A. Dun- HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 549 can, Jr., & Company, and other prominent houses. After he had built up an excellent business, Mr. Below sold it in 1904 and accepted a position as salesman for Morris & Company. Recognizing his worth, this concern pr0moted him in 1907 to the position of general manager for the Cleveland branch. He has sixteen men under him and runs seven wagons, and since taking charge the sales have multiplied perceptibly, while the affairs are in excellent condition. On June 22, 1899, Mr. Below was married in Cleveland to Miss Margaret Miller, and they have one child, Helen, nine years old, who is attending the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Below reside at No. 10827 Olivet avenue. He belongs to the Order of Eagles, and his political affiliations are with the republican party, although he is not an office seeker. While not connected with any religious denomination, Mr. Below is a protestant in his beliefs. He belongs to the younger class of business men in Cleveland, who are demonstrating beyond any question their ability to handle affairs, however weighty, that may be placed in their capable hands. Having been associated with the company for some years, he is thoroughly conversant with all its details and probably no better man could have been found for the position. JOHN B. CORLETT. There are few real-estate men of Cleveland whose operations have been so helpful in the improvement and expansion of the city, as John B. Corlett. He is improving his property along the most modern lines of city building and besides his large interests 'in Cleveland, in which he has consummated some of the most important real-estate deals here made, he has extensive holdings in Florida and elsewhere. He was born in Warrensville, Ohio, March 5, 1846. His father, Phillip Corlett, was born on the Isle of Man in 1800 and came to the United States in 1822, making his way at once to Cleveland. He wedded Mary Ann Clayton, a native of this city and a daughter of William Clayton, a pioneer of Cleveland. They became the parents of two sons and six daughters, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of John B. Corlett and an elder sister, Mrs. Harvey Closs, who lives in Cleveland. In the public schools John B. Corlett mastered the elementary branches of learning, continuing his studies through grade after grade until he was graduated from the Warrensville high school, while commercial training was received in the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, of which he is an alumnus of 1868. After leaving school he became a stock drover, buying stock in the western states and making shipments to the east. He became an expert judge of cattle and was so engaged in business for eighteen years, during which time his financial resources gradually increased, enabling him with a substantial capital to turn his attention to the lumber and real-estate business. In the former field he makes a specialty of supplying ties for city street railroads. He is perhaps best known by reason of his important real-estate operations, having allotments on Miles avenue, Rice avenue and Mars Hill. In this connection he is engaged in speculative building, erecting modern homes for sale. His largest allotment is Corlett village, which is just being developed and is laid out along attractive lines, with broad streets and every modern improvement. In 1870 Mr. Corlett was united in marriage to Miss Ella S. Leonard, a native of Cleveland, and . unto them have been born three daughters. Ethel L., a graduate of the South high school and the Cleveland Normal, was a teacher in the public schools for many years and is now living in this city. Tressa, a graduate of the South high school is the wife of Judge Dellenbaugh. Eloise, the youngest, is five years of age