(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 500 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND ada until called to his final rest in 1897, when sixty-five years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Ann Jane McCullough and was a native of Canada, passed away in 1906 at the age of seventy years. John Phillips spent his early life amid rural surroundings and supplemented his preliminary education by a course in the Welland high school, from which he was graduated in 1896. He then followed the profession of teaching for three years and on the expiration of that period entered the medical department of the University of Toronto, where he completed the prescribed course and received his degree in 1903. In September of that year he came to Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the Lakeside Hospital as house physician, which position he held until April, 1905. Subsequently he spent three m0nths at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and after returning to this city served as resident physician to the Lakeside Hospital until October, 1906. Since that time he has been engaged in the private practice of internal medicine at his present location—No. 10509 Euclid avenue. In October, 1906, he was appointed demonstrator of medicine at the Western Reserve University, serving in that capacity until October, 1908, when he was appointed instructor of medicine at that institution. In December, 1909, he was appointed assistant professor of medicine. For one year, beginning in October, 1906, he also served as demonstrator of anatomy at the Western Reserve University. Since May, 1907, he has been attending physician to the dispensary of the Babies Dispensary and Hospital, and since October, 1908, has been physician in charge of the medical dispensary of Lakeside Hospital. He is likewise acting as chairman of the supervisory committee of the Children's Fresh Air Camp. He was secretary of the clinical and pathological section of the Cleveland Academy of Medicine in 1909 and also holds membership in the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Cleveland Medical Library Association. Be has been a frequent contributor to medical journals on subjects pertaining to internal medicine and children's diseases and is one of the collaborators of the Cleveland Medical Journal. On the 19th of September, 1907, in Cleveland, Dr. Phillips was joined in wedlock to Miss Cordelia Louise Sudderth, of North Carolina. Their union has been blessed with a son, John Edward, born September 30, 1908, and they make their home at No. 10000 Lamont avenue. JOHN F. PANKHURST. Among the men who have been active in inaugurating and shaping the business policy and commercial development of Cleveland was John F. Pankhurst, active in the control and management of the Globe Iron Works Company, the Cleveland Dry Dock Company and other business enterprises. His demise therefore removed from the city one whom she could ill afford to lose, a man whose strength of purpose and undaunted energy found expression in the development of business concerns whose magnitude made them not only a source of individual profit but also an element in the city's growth. Mr. Pankhurst was born in Cleveland, March 28, 1830, and was a son of J. J. and Sarah Pankhurst, natives of England. After coming to America his parents resided for a brief period in Syracuse, New York, and then removed to Cleveland, where the father followed the carpenter's trade, and as his financial resources increased made investment in real estate. His son was a pupil in the Cleveland schools to the age of seventeen years, after which he pursued a special course in engineering and mechanics. The advantages of his youth, however, were comparatively few and a portion of his education had to be attained by attending night school. For some time he was engaged in work along engineering and mechanical lines, his evening hours being devoted to study.. This course he HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 503 followed for five years and in the early '60s he sailed as assistant engineer on a lake steamer under Captain George P. McKay, who was afterward manager of a fleet of vessels owned by M. A. Hanna & Company. It was Mr. Pankhurst's plan to become a marine engineer but other opportunities opened before him and he bent his energies in a different direction. In 1865 he became a partner in the firm of Wallace, Pankhurst & Company and opened a machine shop on the east side of the river. Three years later the Globe Iron Works were purchased. This concern had been conducted under a partnership relation formed in 1853. Under the new management the business steadily and rapidly increased and was reorganized and incorporated in 1886, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, with H. M. Hanna as president, J. F. Pankhurst as vice president and general manager and Luther Allen as secretary and treasurer. Previous to the incorporation of the Globe Iron Woiks Company, Robert Wallace and H. D. Coffinberry were associated with Mr. Pankhurst but in 1886 there was a separation of interests, two corporations being formed. For thirty years Mr. Pankhurst was connected with the lake carrying trade and was a guiding spirit in the Globe Iron Works Company, operating the most extensive shipbuilding interests with one exception in the entire United States. In the development of the shipbuilding of the Great Lakes Mr. Pankhurst indeed figured prominently. Shipbuilding and marine engineering were his natural trend, his early education and experience fitting him for the eminent position which he filled. Moreover, close application to business was one of his marked characteristics and he informed himself so thoroughly concerning every phase of the business that if a plan called for a quick judgment it was never an ill advised one owing to a lack of understanding of the situation. He became known all over the United States in connection with the Globe Iron Works Company and through his efforts and those of two or three who were associated with him in business, Cleveland attained her present proud position as a shipbuilding port. Although ships were built in Cleveland many years before Mr. Pankhurst became connected with the shipyard, it was within fifteen or twenty years of his demise that the city became classed as one of the largest shipbuilding ports of the world, the plant of the Globe Iron Works Company being surpassed in extent only by the works of William Cramp's Sons in Philadelphia. Under the management of Mr. Pankhurst lighthouse tenders and revenue cutters were built for the government, the magnificent floating palaces of the North Land and the North West were constructed and the largest of the new type of steel ore carriers were built. The Globe Iron Works in large measure are a monument to the spendid business ability, executive force and carefully formulated and well defined plans of him whose name introduces this review. On the 28th of July, 1856, was celebrated the marriage of John F. Pankhurst and Miss Marie Coates, a daughter of Matthew and Charlotte Coates, who, coming from England, settled in Cleveland at an early period in the development of this city. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Pankhurst were born three children but two are now deceased. The surviving daughter, Abigail M., is the wife of T. H. Pratt, of Paris, France, and their daughter is the Countess Mercati of Athens, Greece. Mr. Pankhurst was prominent in the higher circles of Masonry, having attained the thirty-second degree, while his membership also extended to the Mystic Shrine. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and he was one of the vestrymen of St. John's Episcopal church. He took active and helpful part in all that pertained to municipal progress and sought the benefit and improvement of Cleveland in many ways. He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and served on the committee of one hundred organized for the encouragement of Cleveland industries. As he prospered in his undertakings he embraced his opportunity for judicious investment and was financially interested in many important concerns, including the Forest City Savings Bank, of which he was vice president. His name, however, will be best remembered in connection with the development of the Globe Iron Works, which has furnished em- 504 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND ployment to thousands of workmen and won for the city prestige in shipbuilding circles. The innate force of his character as manifest in laudable ambition, firm purpose and unfaltering energy carried him to success that made him 0ne of Cleveland's renowned captains of industry and a conspicuous figure in the iron and steel trade of the country. HERBERT H. HYMAN. The name of Herbert H. Hyman was well known to Cleveland citizens as that of one who figured prominently in connection with municipal affairs and was recognized, moreover, as one who wielded a wide influence in local democratic circles. He was born in Petersburg, Virginia, October 22, 1851, and was only six m0nths old when brought by his parents to this city. His father, Solomon Hyman, was for years engaged in the dry-goods business here on Superior street and also on Euclid avenue, being throughout the middle portion of the nineteenth century a leading factor in commercial circles. He was always active in the development of Cleveland and his citizenship was of a high order, being characterized by the utmost devotion to the public good. His death occurred in 1879. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Davis, is also a native of Petersburg, Virginia, and yet survives, making her home in Cleveland. In his youthful days Herbert H. Hyman was a pupil in Miss Guilford's Private School and afterward attended the high school of this city. When his course was completed he entered into partnership with his father and even in that early day evinced particular aptitude in politics and became actively engaged in the contests of about a third of a century ago. He did not neglect his business opportunities but made steady progress along commercial lines and, after being associated with his father for a number of years, he entered the toy business in connection with Sam Windecker, their store being located at 188 Superior street. They opened business there in 1880 and were associated for two years in the conduct of their enterprise. Later Mr. Hyman withdrew largely from commercial circles to devote his attention entirely to politics. On the election of Robert Blee as mayor of Cleveland in 1893 Mr. Hyman was appointed director of fire and when John Farley was elected in 1899 Mr. Hyman was again appointed fire director and continued in the office until the administration of Mayor Johnson in 1901, being the last of the old Farley cabinet to be removed from office by Tom Johnson. It was then that Mr. Hyman formed a partnership with Echo Heisley and from that time until his death he devoted his attention and energies almost entirely to mercantile pursuits. As a public official he was always loyal to the interests entrusted to his care and active in the performance of the duties which devolved upon him. He was deeply interested in the work of the fire department and through both of his terms there was never a dangerous conflagration in which he did not personally assist the fire fighters. He was a familiar figure as he watched the work of the firemen, dressed in a rubber coat, boots and cap, with his badge of authority upon his coat. To other public positions he was called, serving as a member of the city council and as a federal office holder, being the Ohio dairy and fruit commissioner for some time. From his boyhood he was a stalwart champion of democratic principles and it was characteristic of Mr. Hyman that he always gave earnest and active allegiance to every cause or principle which he espoused. He, therefore, became a leading worker in the ranks of the democracy and was a man of considerable influence in the local councils of his party. Above all mere partisanship, however, Mr. Hyman was a public-spirited citizen and cooperated in many movements for the general good, advocating various measures which have been a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. For twenty HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 507 years he was a member of the Cleveland Grays, one of the most celebrated military organizations of the country. On the 27th of February, 1876, Mr. Hyman was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Liebenthal, a daughter of Moses Liebenthal, who came to the United States from Germany, where he was born about 1844. He was sixteen years of age at the time of his arrival in the new world and later became a factor in business circles of Cleveland, conducting a merchant tailoring establishment on Superior street. His home was located on the same thoroughfare where the Masonic temple now stands. He was very much devoted to the city and its welfare and took a deep and abiding interest in its affairs. His death occurred in 1878. In the Liebenthal family were four children: Albert, who is now living in California ; Fannie ; Mrs. Anna Montner, of Cleveland ; and Mrs. Hyman. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hyman have been born two sons and a daughter : Walter, Henry Kitchen and Ethel. The husband and father died March 2, 1909. It is given but t0 few men to foretell so clearly the method of their demise but for some time Mr. Hyman felt that his passing would be as it was. His partner had died suddenly and Mr. Hyman felt that his end would come in the same way and so it proved. He was stricken in the De Klyn store on Euclid avenue and although medical aid was summoned he died without recovering consciousness. He was a popular man with many friends, genial, courteous and always approachable, with appreciation for the fun and humor as well as for the serious side of life. He had been practically a lifelong resident of Cleveland and had a very wide acquaintance in this city, especially among those who had been active in shaping the course of public affairs. JAMES RUDOLPH SPRANKLE. While the record of the business man may be less spectacular than that of the statesman or the military leader, it is none the less essential and none the less valuable. In fact, the stable prosperity and substantial growth of every community depends upon its enterprising, reliable business men who day by day perform their daily duties, advancing slowly yet steadily, utilizing every means that come to hand not only to advance their own interests but also to promote the public welfare. To this class belonged James Rudolph Sprankle, who was the second vice president of the L. P. & J. A. Smith Company. His birth occurred at Navarre, Ohio, in 1842, and he was educated there and at Mount Union College of this state. Becoming a resident of Cleveland, he engaged in business as a general commission merchant in 1862 and so continued for about fifteen years, largely handling grain in connection with his father, Rudolph Sprankle. On the termination of that period, however, he went to Muncie, Indiana, where he opened flour mill and also established the Delaware County Bank, which he conducted for five years. He then sold the bank but retained the mill. In 1896 he returned to Cleveland and entered into business relations with L. P. & J. A. Smith as second vice president, his association therewith being maintained for nine years or until his death on the 30th of May, 1905. He was a man of resolute purpose, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertook. When one avenue of advancement seemed closed he sought out another path which would lead to the goal and would brook no obstacle which could be overcome by persistent, determined and honorable effort. He became financially interested in a number of concerns in this city, including the Dime Savings Bank, of which he was a director. Mr. Sprankle was married twice. He first wedded Miss Victorine Gresella and unto them were born two children : Mrs. Mary (Heinshon) McWhorton, now living in Sylvester, Georgia ; and James R., of Cleveland. In 1893 he wedded Angela M. Smith, a daughter of Patrick Smith, who was one of the 508 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND early residents of Cleveland and is mentioned elsewhere in this work. Her grandfather was John Smith, who arrived in this city in 1836. Mr. Sprankle lived on Euclid avenue between Thirty-sixth and Fortieth streets, the old number being 896. In his fraternal relations Mr. Sprankle was a Mason and socially was connected with the Euclid Club. He also belonged to the Chamber of Commerce and took a deep and helpful interest in everything that related to Cleveland's progress and improvement. He sought her upbuilding along modern lines and while he never desired to figure prominently in public affairs, the weight of his influence and his support were nevertheless potent forces f0r her improvement, He passed away May 30, 1905, and a life of genuine and unostentatious usefulness was brought to a close, his sterling worth, however, being manifest in the appreciation of his large circle of frends. VIRGIL CORYDON TAYLOR. For almost two-thirds of a century the Taylor family has figured in the citizenship of Ohio. They were New England people and William Taylor, Jr., the grandfather of Virgil Corydon Taylor, continued his residence throughout his life in Connecticut with the exception of the time that he was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was in Company A from Simsbury, Connecticut, and took part in the battles of Lexington and Monmouth. His son, Hector Taylor, the father of Virgil Corydon Taylor, was born in New Hartford, Connecticut, in April, 1799, and came to Ohio in 1832, settling at Twinsburg, Summit county, Ohio, where he established a general mercantile business, which grew with the development of the town and soon became a profitable undertaking. This he conducted until his retirement from business in 1870, when he removed to Cleveland to live with his son, his death occurring in that city, in November, 1874. In early manhood he had wedded Polly Carter. a daughter of Noah Andrew and Lydia Carter, of Bristol, Connecticut. Virgil Corydon Taylor was born in Twinsburg, Summit county, Ohio, August 4, 1838, and pursued his education in the schools there until he was afforded the opportunities for the attainment of a more advanced education in Geauga Seminary. Leaving school at an early age, he entered his father's store and received a general training in mercantile lines and gained a broad experience, which was to prove of inestimable value to him in later life. To the thorough and systematic methods which he thus acquired, he attributes much of his business success and at the same time to his ever mamfest and intelligent appreciation of opportunities. He remained with his father until 1856. When he came to Cleveland, entering the dry-goods business, in which he remained until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when he joined the Union army as a member of Company E, Eighty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which command he was commissioned first lieutenant and was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. After his army service he entered into the banking business with The Farmers Bank, acting as cashier for eight years, and in 1873 he turned his attention to the real-estate business, in which line he has continued to the present time, having had much to do with the uplifting of modern Cleveland and standing at all times for the progressive spirit which has wrought notable changes in the appearance of the city in recent years. On the 23d of June, 1863, Virgil Corydon Taylor was joined in marriage with Miss Margaret Minerva Sacket, a daughter of Alexander and Harriet ( Johnson) Sacket. Her grandfather, Levi Johnson, was one of Cleveland's earliest pioneers and was identified with many events and projects which marked the growth and development of the city. He was the builder 0f the first courthouse, of the first city and c0unty jail and for a long peri0d was con- HISTORY. OF CLEVELAND - 509 nected with the improvement of the city as a contractor and builder. He died in 1871. Alexander Sacket, the father of Mrs. Virgil Corydon Taylor, was for many years one of Cleveland's best known merchants and the enterprise and probity of his business methods commended him to the confidence and respect of all. Mrs. Taylor was born May 3, 1838, and died May 6, 1908, at the age of seventy years. She was prominently identified with the work of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of Cleveland and its charities, and her many good traits of heart and mind have caused her memory to be greatly cherished. She had four children, the eldest being Harriet, now the wife of Dr. Frank E. Bunts, the noted surgeon of Cleveland ; Katherine, the wife of R. 0. Carter ; Alexander S., who is associated with his father in business ; and Grace, the wife of John B. Cochran, a son of the former vice president of the Erie Railroad. For forty-five years Virgil Corydon Taylor has resided at No. 6620 Euclid avenue and is one of the best known residents of that part of the city. He is very fond of fishing and hunting and spends his summers among the Thousand Islands of Canada. He is also quite fond of literature and is the owner of a fine library, in which he spends many hours. He has always taken an active interest in civic affairs and served for some years as a member of the old school board in East Cleveland, and also as a director of the Chamber of Commerce. He also holds membership in the Euclid and Union Clubs and the Loyal Legion. Mr. Taylor is a republican in his political faith but is allied with that desirable movement which is one of the hopeful signs of the times when men do not blindly follow party leaders but use individual judgment in the selection of candidates for local office. He is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and thus his associations have ever been of the character that has labored for the best interests of the community at large. For more than one half century he has figured in the business life of Cleveland and is one of the oldest and best known real-estate• men here. He has associated with him his son Alexander S. Taylor. WALTER C. HILL, M. D. Dr. Walter C. Hill was born in Huron, Ohio, January 24, 1876, and represents a family of English origin that was established in America in 1630. The great-grandfather of Dr. Hill came from Guilford, Connecticut, which was the ancestral home of the family during two centuries. He took up his abode at Berlin Heights, Ohio, where the family has since been represented. His son, Benjamin L. Hill, was a surgeon of Cincinnati, Ohio, and at one time in the '50s was associated with the Homeopathic Medical College of Cleveland. He was also prominent in political circles and served as United States consul at Nicaragua. His son, Cortland L. Hill, a native of this city, is now living retired at Berlin Heights. He married Gertrude Reynolds, a graduate of Lake Erie College at Painesville, Ohio, and in the alumni association of that institution she has been very active. Her father came to Ohio from the state of New York about 1812 and settled in Erie county. He was connected with the Ohio State University, Dr. Hill attended the common and high schools at Berlin Heights, being gradtuated in 1894, after which he pursued a scientific course in the Ohio State University, taking special work preparatory to the study of medicine. He is numbered among the alumni of that institution of 1898. After spending two years in Starling Medical College at Columbus he also spent two years as a student in the medical department of the Western Reserve University, receiving his professional degree in 1903. He then served as interne in Lakeside Hospital for a year and a half and was afterward assistant superintendent of the same for two years. Since that time he has been engaged in private practice, c0nfining 510 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND his attention exclusively to X-ray work, in which line he has become recognized as a leader in this city. Since 1905 he has been lecturer on X-ray work in the medical and dental department of the Western Reserve University. He makes occasional contributions to the current literature of the profession on various phases of X-ray work and he is the radiographer f0r Lakeside and St. Luke's Hospitals. Dr. Hill is a member of the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the American Rontgen Ray Society, the Cleveland Medical Library Association and is identified with several college fraternities. He belongs to the Phi Kappa Psi, the Nu Sigma Nu, and is a charter member of the Medical Honorary Society of the Alpha Omega Alpha. He likewise holds membership in the University Club of Cleveland and he resides at Croxden. His ability is pronounced and along the line of his specialty he has gained renown, being largely considered authority upon that phase of medical practice which he has chosen as his life work. N. S. POSSONS. Through the development of his native powers N. S. Possons made himself a valuable factor in the world's work, achieving much more than local recognition in business, while he was also active in those other departments which go to make up the sum of early activities, including the social, religious, political and benevolent interests which are factors in the life of every well organized community. The birth of N. S. Possons occurred in Cohoes, New York, in 1811 and he comes of French and German lineage, his original American ancestors having come to the new world in the latter part of the seventeenth century. His grandfather, Wilhelmus Possons, was the first farmer in Schoharie county, New York, who utilized the system of renewing the soil by raising clover upon it, for the little nodules of that plant contain much nitrogen and thus furnish food for the crops. It is a practice now quite common among scientific agriculturists but Mr. Possons was a pioneer in the introduction of that method. He was always actuated by a spirit of progress and sought to improve upon every task which he undertook. He possessed considerable mechanical ingenuity and invented the first, threshing machine, doing all the mechanical work himself and the machine was signally successful. Having arrived at years of maturity, he wedded Eliza Borst, an earnest and devout Christian, who died in early womanhood. Their son, William Fiero Possons, was a native of Schoharie county, New York, and in early life was apprenticed to learn the dyer's and fuller's trade, which he followed up to the time of the advent of woolen factories. He was a graduate of the Albany Normal School but much of his education was obtained after his marriage and by the assistance of his wife, a lady of superior scholarship. Greatly interested in educational work, he took up the profession, which he followed with marked success, employing advanced methods and imparting with notable clearness and readiness to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He was among the first to teach by the empirical system, recognizing the fact that the presentation of the object to the pupil could make more impression upon him than any recital of bare facts. He was a prominent and helpful member of the Baptist church, in which he held the office of deacon and he was also active in community interests, his fellow townsmen calling him to several offices. He served as city clerk and also as school trustee for many years and was particularly active in his efforts to promote intellectual progress. He died in 1879 at the age of sixty-eight years, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Maria A. Zimmer, passed away April 22, 1886, at the age of seventy-one years. She, too, was a devoted Christian, long holding membership in the Baptist church, while her zeal and interest in its work constituted a forceful element in its upbuilding. She was a daughter of Jacob and HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 513 Marie Zimmer, her father being a large landowner, whose estate comprised what was known as Zimmer Hill, in Schoharie county, New York. At the time of the Revolutionary war he espoused the cause of the colonists and fought for independence. He lived to enjoy for many years the fruits of liberty, reaching an advanced age. N. S. Possons, whose name introduces this record, acquired his education in his native city, supplementing his early studies by an academic course. His natural aptitude for mechanics and his interest in mechanical lines led him t0 direct his efforts into other fields of activity and his studies were mostly in scientific branches bearing upon mechanics. In his youth he was regularly apprenticed to John Whitin & Son, builders of cotton mill machinery at Holyoke, Massachusetts, and completed a full term of nine hundred days, during which time he became an expert workman. On leaving that firm he entered the celebrated Remington Armory, at Ilion, Herkimer county, New York, as a die sinker and model maker, there remaining until May, 1864, during which time he obtained comprehensive knowledge in regard to the manufacture of fireams. His understanding thereof led to his selection for the position of inspector of smell arms under W. A. Thornton of the ordinance department and was ordered to Colt's Armory in Hartford, Connecticut. Later he was connected with similar establishments in other cities throughout the country. In December, 1865, he accepted a position in the Ceresian Cutlery Works at Syracuse, New York, and three years later removed to Auburn, New York, where he had the superintendency of the extensive works of Hayden & Litchworth, manufacturers of saddlery hardware. In 1879 Mr. Possons accepted a proffered position with the Telegraph Supply Company of Cleveland and, coming to this city, was in charge of their business, which was subsequently conducted under the name of the Brush Electric Company. He acted in that capacity until October, 1890, when he resigned to accept the position of manager with the Belding Motor Company of Chicago. In 1891, however, he returned to Cleveland and established business on his 0wn account, organizing the Universal Electric Company, of which he became president and general manager. This was immediately regarded as one of the important industrial concerns of the city, for under the capable guidance and business management of Mr. Possons it was at once established upon a paying basis and the scope of its operations were continually widened. The business became a leader in this line not only in Cleveland but in this part of the country, for Mr. Possons' broad, practical and scientific knowledge were supplemented by splendid powers 0f organization and executive ability. He had gained wide recognition both as a mechanical and electrical engineer and was continually thinking out along new lines, with the result that he invented and patented several unique machines for the facile and speedy execution of work in lines of both electrical and mechanical engineering. As he prospered in his undertakings Mr. Possons extended his efforts to other lines, becoming one of the organizers and the president of the Equity Savings & Trust Company Bank of Cleveland, with which he was actively connected until his death. In 1872 occurred the marriage of Mr. Possons and Miss Martha Adla Connor, a daughter of Joseph and Matilda (Steele) Connor, residents of Auburn, New York. Her father was a soldier of the late war, joining the Union army as a private of the Seventy-fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, the regiment being attached to General Sheridan's forces. It was while at the front that he contracted disease which in later years terminated his life. His wife was a native of the north of Ireland, where her people were prominent in the affairs of the Irish government. She possessed many noble qualities and characteristics, which caused her death, which occurred in Cleveland in 1882, to be deeply regretted. Mr. and Mrs. Possons had no children of their own but reared three : Albert W. Connor, the y0ungest brother of Mrs. Possons and an expert machinist who learned his trade under Mr. Possons ; and Maud Blanche and Hamilton Van Valkenburg, brother and sister, wh0 were the children of the deceased sister of Mrs. Poss0ns. 514 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND To these children they gave every care and attention possible and the home life was ever a most happy one. Both Mr. and Mrs. Possons became members of the Presbyterian church of Cleveland, contributed generously t0 its support and were associated with its various activities. In that faith Mr. Possons passed away September 12, 1904. He was a most public-spirited citizen, his labors, influence and ideals making him a man of value in the public ilfe 0f his adopted city. He held membership with and cooperated in the work of the Chamber of Commerce, belonged also to the Civil Engineers Association and to the Colonial Club. In his political views he was a republican, who ever kept informed on the questions and issues of the day, regarding it the duty as well as the privilege of the American citizen to suport those principles which he deems most conducive to good government. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and in the different branches of the order he filled various chairs. In business life he displayed originahty, enterprise, perseverance and determination ; in all his social relations manifested a most kindly spirit and yet his best traits of character were reserved for his own home and fireside. A contemporary biographer has spoken of him as a man of distinguished ability and attainments, one who has accomplished much in the line of his profession and who has thereby contributed to its advancement and incidentally wrought f0r the good of his fellowmen. GEORGE A. TISDALE. George A. Tisdale lives in the memory of many friends whom he left behind as a man of public spirit and of good business ability, thoroughly reliable and progressive at all times. He was born at Sacket Harbor at the foot of Lake Ontario in Jefferson county, New York, in 1821 and was the son of George L. Tisdale, who married Amelia Maria Graham, of Dutchess county, New York. The father died in 1838 while his son George was still in school in Cazenovia, New York. After an extended trip to the west George A. Tisdale came to Cleveland in April, 1852, and became secretary and treasurer of the Commercial Mutual Insurance Company, successfully carrying on business in that connection until 1871, when the great Chicago fire put the company out of existence. The Mercantile Insurance Company was then incorporated with substantially the same directorate and with Mr. Tisdale as secretary and manager. This position he held until a year or so before his death, when failing health made it necessary for him to retire from active life. For this reason the Mercantile Insurance Company decided to liquidate the business while Mr. Tisdale was still able to manage its affairs. Thus he had the satisfaction of seeing his life work brought to a successful close after nearly forty years of strict and unremitting attention to business. He may be called a pioneer in the insurance business of Cleveland. He was well known along the chain of lakes as a man who was thoroughly posted both in fire and marine lines. He was also considered an authority on insurance law. His attention was always devoted to insurance and in both lines of activity he manifested the keen discernment and close concentration which worked out to success. Mr. Tisdale was one of the early members of the Board of Trade and was always deeply interested in projects for the welfare and upbuilding of his city. In politics he was a stanch republican and although not a politican used his influence for the leading candidates of the party and for the foremost republican principles. He was an active and helpful member of St. Paul's Episcopal church, served as one of its vestrymen for many years and at the time of his death was senior warden of the church. His influence was always given on the side of right and justice. A man of good judgment, his advice was frequently solicited and in HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 517 such cases freely given. He was a charitable man, ready to extend a helping hand to those in need when substantial assistance was worthily sought. Mr. Tisdale married Miss Caroline M. Burt, of Sacket Harbor, New York, who, with two daughters, Mrs. James B. Savage and Caroline A., is still a resident of Cleveland. Mr. Tisdale lived for more than thirty years on Euclid avenue in what is now the business district of the city. He died at the age of seventy-two years. Thus a life of usefulness was closed, a life which contributed to the sum total of the world's improvement and progress. EMIL F. SCHULTZ. Emil F. Schultz, who holds the responsible position of resident manager of the Cleveland department of the Murphy Varnish Company, is a representative of that substantial class of business men who are continuously extending the ramifying interests of trade and upholding the commercial status of the city. He was born in the family residence at the corner of Ontario and Noble streets, January 5, 1858, and was one of six children, having an elder sister and four younger brothers. His parents, Ferdinand Ernst and Emilie Susanna (Von Braun) Schultz, who were natives of Germany, have now passed away. The former came to America when a young man and, settling in Cleveland, followed his trade of cabinetmaking at the corner of Ontario and Noble streets, while later he established a factory at the corner of Wood and St. Clair streets. He was the pioneer furniture manufacturer of Cleveland and his enterprise gave impetus to the business activity of this city. In the Cleveland schools Emil F. Schultz obtained his fundamental training for life's duties and responsibilities and from private tutors received a good musical education. He was obliged, however, to put aside his text-books at the age of sixteen years, at which time, complying with his father's desire, he entered the furniture factory with the intention of learning the trade. He did not particularly like that kind of work, however, and after completing his three years' apprenticeship he left the factory and secured a clerical position in the office of E. P. Wright, superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company. For two years he remained in that employ, during which time he mastered telegraphy by night study, so that he was thus able to accept a position as telegraph operator under E. S. Flint, general manager of the Big Four Railway Company, at that time known as the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway. He was at that time twenty years of age. He acted as special operator at different stations along the road until, through the influence of Robert Blee, general superintendent of the Prig Four, he obtained a position in the office of J. W. Schmitt, ̊then chief of the Cleveland police force, who was seeking the service of a young man who could use the Morse system and at the same time master the police secret code. Mr. Schultz succeeded so well in that work that he was soon afterward promoted to the position of captain of telegraph. While thus engaged he utilized his leisure hours in becoming proficient in stenography. His health, however, gave way under the severe strain which he imposed upon himself, and he was sent on a leave of absence and half pay to California. When he returned a year and a half later telephones had been introduced and there was no further need of his services, and he again entered the employ of the Big Four Railroad Company but he was soon afterward called by V. H. Bell, superintendent of the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railroad Company, to fill the position of clerk and assistant train dispatcher at Lorain, Ohio. Later, when the road changed hands, becoming the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling, and William Thornburgh was appointed superintendent, Mr. Schultz was the only one of the old employes retained under the new management. He remained with them for about 518 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND two years, after which he became private secretary to Mr. Hayden, of the Joel Hayden Brass Company, of Lorain, Ohio. When that firm went out of business he accepted a position with the Eberhard Manufacturing Company as private secretary to W. P. Champney, its secretary and treasurer. About a year and a half later he was offered and accepted the position of chief clerk and purchasing agent of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Company, with which he remained for several years. Upon leaving that employ he was made bookkeeper of the Society for Savings of Cleveland, and continued in that capacity until 1891, when he became a traveling salesman for the Murphy Varnish Company, with which he has since been connected. Proving his high worth in that capacity, he was soon made special salesman, in which position he remained until about three and a half years ago, when he was promoted to resident manager of the Cleveland department and has since been in charge of their important interests in this city, with offices at No. 731-733 St. Clair avenue, Northwest. He is a man whose abilities are quickly recognized by those who have had occasion to depend upon him, and, proving his worth by faithfulness and capability in each position, he is now reaping the rewards of his labor, both in substanital remuneration and the even more satisfying knowledge that he is held in high esteem by his business colleagues and associates. In 1904 Mr. Schultz was one of the incorporators and was elected the vice president and director of the Hayes Manufacturing Company of Detroit, Michigan, manufacturers of metal automobile parts. He was also chosen a director of a large and prosperous realty enterprise of that city. On the 10th of December, 1885, Mr. Schultz was married to Miss Edith Bell Crisp, of Elyria, Ohio, a daughter of William Crisp, a carriage builder of that city, and to them have been born three sons : Malvern Emil, twenty-three years of age ; Carlton Ferdinand, twenty-one years of age ; and Stanley Crisp, a lad of thirteen. The eldest, having received his B. A. degree from Adelbert College, is now a student of the Western Reserve University Law School as a member of the class of 1910. The second son has been a student in the University of Michigan for two years and is also studying law. The youngest is a pupil in St. Johns Military Academy at Delafield, Wisconsin. Mr. Schultz and his family have a pleasant home at No. 1890 East Seventy-ninth street, and its hospitality is enjoyed by a large circle of friends. Mr. Schultz finds pleasure in his membership with the Elyria Country Club and the Westwood Golf Club -associations which indicate something of the nature of his recreation. He also belongs to the Cleveland Credit Men's Association, the Cleveland Builders Exchange and the Tippecanoe Club. He is fond of all manly outdoor sports and his leisure hours are spent in motoring, while the more extended periods of vacation are given to camping and travel, accompanied by his family. OTTO ZICKES. Otto Zickes is a well known druggist of Cleveland, connected with several establishments of this department of merchandising in Cleveland. He was born in Bohemia, December 16, 1862, and is a son of Joseph and Anna (Sejner) Zickes, the former a cooper by trade. Following the emigration of the family to the new world and the establishment of the family home in Cleveland in 1867, he pursued his education in the public schools, wherein he passed through consecutive grades until he reached the age of fourteen. He then made his initial step in the business world as an employe in the drug store of Erasme E. Abt. There he remained for about a year and a half, after which he entered the employ of Ferdinand Geutsch, with whom he continued for two years. Subsequently he spent three years in the service of Arthur F. May and then started in business for himself, having carefully saved his earnings until his frugal ex- HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 519 penditure and industry had brought him capital sufficient to enable him to purchase a stock of drugs. He began business in 1883 on Jennings avenue and there remained for nine years, after which he removed to his present location at Forty-sixth street and Clark avenue. He also has an interest in two other drug stores in Cleveland, being the senior partner of the firm of Zickes & Kuntz, having a store on Fulton road, and of Zickes & Bartelt, on St. Clair & Seventy-ninth streets. He is also one of the directors in the Clark Avenue Bank and is treasurer of the Cech Building and Loan Association. He has ever been watchful of opportunities pointing to success and as the years have gone by has made such wise use of his time and opportunities that he has gained a most creditable place among the substantial citizens of Cleveland. On the 6th of June, 1894, Mr. Zickes was married to Miss Mary Sprosty, a daughter of James Sprosty, a merchant of Cleveland, and they have five children : Elmer J., Paul F., Edith M., John V., and Laura H. In his political views Mr. Zickes is a democrat, believing firmly in the principles of the party as being most efficacious in the promotion of good government. A Catholic in religious faith, he attends St. Prokop's church and for four years was its treasurer. His attention is largely given to his business and without turning aside to other interests he utilizes his time and opportunities in such a way that he is now one of the substantial merchants of the city, his life record demonstrating what can be accomplished by strength of purpose intelligently directed, for Mr. Zickes is among the men who have started out in the business world empty handed. EUGENE M. FISHELL. As one by one the years roll on they chronicle the death of many whose interests and activities have constituted them important factors in the life of Cleveland and of Cuyahoga county. On this list appears the name of Eugene M. Fishell, who, when his life record covered almost a half century, passed on to "that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler e'er returns." He was born September 7, 1856, in Minerva, Stark county, Ohio, and died in Cleveland, November 26, 1905. He was a son of Alexander and Sarah L. (Hobbs) Fishell, whose ancestors removed from Maryland to Ohio, making that journey when the difficulties of travel were such that only a few miles could be covered each day. It was about 1780 and through the forests in places there were to be found roads that were scarcely better than an Indian trail. It was a difficult trip to cross the mountains to the regions further west, but at length the family completed their journey and settled near Wellsville, Ohio, where the father followed farming and carpentering. At the time of the war with Mexico he enlisted for active service at the front but as the company had its full quota when he reported he did not serve. He lived at Minerva, Ohio, and at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, for seventeen years, carrying on an extensive and successful contracting business at the latter place. Eugene M. Fishell was only four years of age when his parents removed from Ohio to Allegheny and there he lived to the time he attained his majority. For seven or eight years of that time he was a pupil in the public schools but at an early age began providing for his own support, being a youth of but twelve or fourteen years when he entered a drug store, where he continued as clerk for seven years, learning the prescription business in that time. In 1877 he came to Cleveland and was employed for three or four years in the Brush Electric Works. In 1882 he entered the undertaking business with the firm of Black & Wright and so continued until 1891. He then traveled for two years for an undertaker's supply house and for a short time was a traveling representative of the National Carbon Company. He next accepted a position as superintendent in the battery department and thus continued up to the time of his death, enjoy- 520 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND ing in full measure the confidence of those whom he represented, while his business capacity and energy enabled him to contribute to the success of the business. On the 18th of September, 1884, Mr. Fishell was married to Miss Mary Collister, a daughter of William and Rebecca (Wilson) Collister. Her father came to Cleveland from the Isle of Man in 1826, accompanying his parents who made a settlement at Newburg. Mr. Collister was at that time ten years of age. He afterward became a well known and prominent contractor and planing-mill owner and deserves mention upon the pages of Cuyahoga's history from the fact that he was one of the early pioneers as well as one of the successful and enterprising business men. He retired in 1881 and for twenty-two years thereafter lived to enjoy the fruits of his former toil, his death occurring in 1903. His daughter, Mrs. Fishell, was born and reared in Cleveland and belongs to the Early Settlers' Association. By her marriage she became the mother of three sons and two daughters : William A., Harriet E., George Edward, Lawrence E. and Elizabeth M. Mr. Fishell exercised his right of franchise in support of the men and meas¬ures of the republican party, believing in the efficacy of republican principles as factors in good government. He did not seek nor desire office for himself, however, preferring to hold himself free from the entangling influences of politics. He attended the Presbyterian church, was for many years a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, and held membership in Forest City Lodge, F. & A. M. He died November 26, 1905, at the comparatively early age of forty-nine years. Among his friends—those who came closest to him in social relations and understood most fully his nature and his interests, he was recognized as a man of upright principle, of business integrity and of loyalty in citizenship. Indeed his salient qualities were such as the world recognizes as most worthy and his family therefore cherish with reverence the honored name which he left to them. MICHAEL A. CIARLO. Since an Italian made the discovery of the American continent the sons of sunny Italy and their descendants have proven important factors in various walks of life in the new world. It is true that other countries have sent a larger percentage of citizens to the United States, but as a class none have furnished more worthy representatives of substantial and progressive citizenship than has the land from which Columbus came more than four centuries ago. Michael A. Ciarlo, of Italian parentage, was born in Cincinnati, August 9, 1863. His father, Joseph J. Ciarlo, was born in Geneva, Italy, and on coming to this country settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a man of superior education and opened a school for teaching foreign languages, but the time was not yet was for a profitable institution of that character in Cincinnati and he removed to Cleveland, where he turned his attention to commercial pursuits, opening and conducting a fruit store here. Later he went to Europe, where his death occurred. His widow still survives and makes her home with her two daughters in Cleveland. In the family were five children: Angelo, deceased ; Joseph J.; Michael A., of this review ; Julia E.; and Miss May Ciarlo, who pursued her education in the schools of Cleveland and in Cincinnati and is widely and popularly known in the social circles of the former city. Michael A. Ciarlo pursued his education in Cincinnati and was eighteen years of age when the removal was made to Cleveland. In 1889 he established a hand laundry at No. 180 Prospect street, which he called the Public Hand Laundry. Under his careful guidance the business soon developed, its growth exceeding his expectations. In 1893, therefore, he purchased the land at the corner of Prospect and Fourteenth streets and erected the building in which the business is still carried on. It was through his efforts alone that the enterprise was built HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 523 up from a small undertaking. At first a hand laundry, it was soon developed in accordance with modern ideas of business of that character, the latest improved machinery was installed and at the time of his death he was employing fifty people and was utilizing six wagons for collection and delivery. As he prospered in his undertakings he made further investment in property, purchasing the property opposite on Prospect and East Fourteenth streets and also property on Euclid avenue and in other districts. From these investments he secured a good financial return and was very successful. Although he Was never a robust man and in fact suffered considerably from ill health from his boyhood, he was yet very active, ambitious and energetic and deserved much credit for what he accomplished, for he started out in life empty-handed and worked his way upward until he was at the head of an extensive and profitable business. Mr. Ciarlo belonged to the Catholic church, attending services at the cathedral. He was a most public-spirited citizen, always ready to do his part for the development of Cleveland and politically he was an earnest republican, giving stalwart allegiance to the party. In his disposition he was charitable, ever ready to aid a fellow traveler on the journey of life and his own early struggles developed in him keen sympathy for others who were attempting to make their way upward unaided. He died in Cleveland November 16, 1906, and thus closed a life of activity and of usefulness. GEORGE J. SIEBOLD. George J. Siebold, a member of the firm of Siebold Brothers, owning an extensive meat market at No. 8601 Hough avenue and also a branch at No. 13552 Euclid avenue, belongs to that class of men who have been both the architect and builder of their own fortunes. From the time when he entered business circles he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources and ability. He was born in Oberriden, Germany, May 28, 1868. His father, George C. Siebold, on coming to America settled in Cleveland, where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring September 14, 1893. He married Martha Hinske, a native of Germany, who died in that country September 14, 1887. George J. Siebold acquired his education in the public schools of his native town and when a youth of fourteen came alone to the new world, arriving in Cleveland on the 3d of June, 1882. He was influenced to this step by the fact that his uncle, John Hinske, resided here. He entered the employ of his uncle, who conducted a meat market at Sterling and Garden streets, now Thirtieth and Central, there remaining for about two years, after which he entered the employ of Wilson Brothers, who were engaged in the same line of business at Fifty-fifth street and Euclid avenue. In 1886 he went to Chicago, where he was employed in meat markets until December 1, 1891, when he returned to Cleveland and entered the employ of W. H. Seager, with whom he continued until he engaged in business for himself September 1, 1895, establishing a market at No. 532 Broadway. After a year he went to Pittsburg and Irving streets, where he remained two years and in July, 1896, he purchased his present business and established a market at 8601 Hough avenue. On the 1st of January, 1898, he admitted his brother, H. J. Siebold, to a partnership under the present style of Siebold Brothers and with the growth of the business they established a branch market at No. 13552 Euclid avenue, in East Cleveland, where they are conducting a large retail business. George J. Siebold is also vice president of the J. H. Peck Company, which he organized and of which he was president for five years. On the 2d of September, 1890, Mr. Siebold was married in Cleveland to Miss Carrie M. Noville, a daughter of Otto Noville, formerly a business man of this city. They have seven children : George, eighteen years of age ; Chester Noville, seventeen years of age ; Wilbur P., aged fourteen ; Ralph, twelve; Al- 524 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND fred, ten ; Carl, who died December 24, 1893, when but five months old ; and Gertrude Caroline Minnie, who is a little maiden of three summers. The family residence is at No. 8800 Meridian avenue. Mr. Siebold has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows f0r the past fifteen years and also holds membership with the Retail Butchers' Association. He has built up an extensive business and well merits the success which is his. DAVID OTIS SUMMERS. David Otis Summers is the president and treasurer of the D. O. Summers Cleaning Company, which is the leading establishment of its kind in Cleveland and one which was founded and developed to its present proportions by the man whose name it bears and who well deserves classification with the representative business men of the city. A native of Orange township, Ashland county, Ohio, he is a son of Daniel and Mary (Wherry) Summers. His paternal grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania and in 1817 settled in Ashland county, Ohi0, spending his remaining days there upon a farm. It was upon the old homestead farm in Ashland county that Daniel Summers was born and reared. In early life he began teaching school, while subsequently he engaged in farming at Charlotte, Michigan, where he resided for many years. Finally he removed to Cleveland, where the later years of his life were passed and where he lived until called t0 the home beyond. His widow is now a resident 0f California. David Otis Summers started upon the journey of life on the 14th of June, 1860, and attended the public schools of Charlotte, Michigan. After coming to Cleveland he completed his education by attending the night school of the Spencerian Business College, during which time he worked during the day, being employed by Davidson & House, who conducted a lumber and planing mill. For two years while in their employ Mr. Summers was in charge of the mill and had a force of twenty men under him, although he was scarcely of age at the time. He remained with that concern until 1882, when he became associated with Sterling, Welch & Company as a mechanic, remaining with that firm until 1887, when he established a carpet-cleaning business. At that time there were four other similar establishments in the city. Mr. Summers borrowed the necessary capital and began business in an upstair room on East Prospect street. Beside the carpet-cleaning business the concern also rented awnings for parties and weddings. The business enjoyed a steady growth and in 1896 the scope of the trade was extended by the establishment of a rug manufactory, which is today an important part of the business. About this time Mr. Summers adopted the plan 0f cleaning carpets with compressed air, having the first establishment of the kind that used that process. The growth of the business has since been very rapid and its yearly income is now represented by many figures. Mr. Summers has advanced a number of ideas in connection with the application of compressed air which are in general use today. Since 1902 a department of dry cleaning and lace cleaning has been added and the quarters of the growing business have been enlarged from time to time, while in 1905 the present modern building was completed and occupied. The same year the business was incorporated as the D. O. Summers Cleaning Company, Mr. Summers becoming president and treasurer. He is also the vice president of the Big Lake Land & Lumber Company, an Ohio corporation, owning lands in Arkansas, and is a director of the Hough Bank & Trust Company. Mr. Summers was married in Cleveland to Miss Josephine Kaighin, a native of New York city and a daughter of Philip Kaighin. Their children are : Bessie O., the wife of John H. Marshall, of Cleveland, by whom she has one son, John Stanley; Otis Delos, who attended East high school and for one year was a HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 527 student in Ohio Wesleyan University, while at the present time he is manager of a department and one of the directors of the D. 0. Summers Company ; Harry K., who has charge of the machinery and oversees all of the changes connected therewith for the D. 0. Summers Cleaning Company, and Ruth. Mr. Summers' Cleveland residence is on Harkness Road while his summer home is on Orange Hill at Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He is a member of the Hough Avenue Congregational church and at one time served for three years as chairman of the board of trustees. He was also a member of the building committee when the present house of worship was erected. Fraternally he is connected with Woodward Lodge, No. 508, A. F. & A. M.; Cleveland Chapter, R. A. M.; Cleveland Council, R. & S. M.; Holyrood Commandery, K. T.; and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Summers is recognized as a forceful, enterprising man, public opinion being united on the fact that he is one of the representative citizens of Cleveland, his activity and alertness being important elements in his success. While he made a humble start in the business world, he is now at the head of a profitable and continually growing enterprise, the cleaning establishment being a plant which represents a large investment and is a visible proof of marked business ability and energy. His record is an indication that success is ambition's answer. CHARLES HOLDEN PRESCOTT, JR. Charles Holden Prescott, Jr., who is prominent in the lumber interests of Cleveland, was born of parents who traced their ancestry back to colonial times and were of the sturdy and progressive type which as history and tradition demonstrate was characteristic of the successful early American. His father, Charles Holden Prescott, is also a conspicuous figure in the lumbering interests of the country. He began that business in the wilderness of Maine in his early manhood and later moved to Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania, where he continued this pursuit and married, his wife having been Miss Sarah Barnard, of Connecticut birth. In the white pine woods of the Keystone state he operated for the next twenty-five years, manufacturing principally square timbers, which he rafted down the Sandy Lick to the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. The increased importance of the white pine fields of Michigan, however, finally proved attractive and in 1876 he became interested in the lumbering in that state. Two years later he removed his family to Bay City, Michigan, and began active operations near Tawas City. The business was conducted by Mr. Prescott at first under his own name but as his sons grew up and became identified with it the firm title was changed to C. H. Prescott & Son and later to C. H. Prescott & Sons in order to include the several members of the family. The concern has always remained •a family partnership and has been an important factor in the history of the Michigan white pine industry. In connection with his manufacturing at Tawas Mr. Prescott purchased the Cameron mill at that city, which was operated until it was destroyed by fire in 1900. In 1878 Mr. Prescott, Sr., became interested in a narrow gauge railroad known as the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad. When it became financially involved it was taken over entirely by Mr. Prescott, who operated it individually for about three years as an adjunct to his lumber business. During that period he was also pleased to say that no accident occurred. Finally it was sold to Alger, Smith & Company, changed to standard gauge and became part of what is n0w the Detroit & Mackinac Railroad. During the time of these various business enterprises Charles Holden Prescott, Jr., was as a boy diligently assisting his father in various ways. He had been born in Pennsylvania, November 3, 1864, during the stirring times of the Civil war and was the second son in the family. His early education he obtained in the place of his birth, but later attended the Bay City high school and the Uni- 528 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND versity of Michigan. The period of his youth, however, was not wholly devoted to study for he came in contact with all the trying duties imposed upon a boy about the logging camp or mill, learning even the smallest details as well as the principal features of the business. In fact, his experience was such that later, when the opportunity came, he was able, though but a youth of twenty-one years, to enter into a most important p0sition and to maintain and improve continually that which was put under his care. For some time the C. H. Prescott Company had viewed the Cleveland market with their usual business acumen, coming to the decision that it was an ideal and logical point for the distributi0n of their product. Accordingly, in 1884, they purchased the plant which George N. Fletcher & Sons of Alpena had been conducting in Cleveland under the name of the Saginaw Bay Lumber Company, retaining as agent S. H. Sheldon, who had formerly been superintendent. In the summer of that year Mr. Sheldon died and in the fall of 1885 C. H. Prescott, Jr., just out of college, was sent to take charge 0f the yard, then located at 143 Columbus street. This was the beginning of the large concern which has grown up in the last twenty-five years, its development having been the life work of Mr. Prescott, and the history of the enterprise is also his own story. Soon after coming to Cleveland he mastered all the details of the business and the company started upon its period of advancement. In May, 1887, it sold its first yard to George Norris & Company and moved to 55 Stones levee, a site formerly occupied by N. Mills & Company. In the following year the adjoining yard of T. Emerson & Company was annexed and in 1889 still another contiguous yard, that of Haywood, Burry & Company, was added. Here Mr. Prescott, Jr., continued to manage the interests of the firm with which he was connected, pushing it to a prominent position and gaining for h self an enviable reputation as a business man. The next addition was that of the yard of F. R. Gilchrist & Company on Carter street, which was conducted conjointly with the previous yard until June, 1901, when they were consolidated and the business moved to its present location on West Third street and the Cuyahoga river. The plant today is most complete, with a dock frontage on the river of twelve hundred feet and having besides modern mills and other equipments, ample facilities for piling and storing a large, stock of rough and dressed lumber. The company handles about thirty-five million feet annually so that it is a large factor in the wholesale lumber market of Cleveland and this section of the country. Besides conducting the business of the Saginaw Bay Company Mr. Prescott, together with his brothers W. H. and O. W., is actively engaged in the management of several relative concerns. He is president of the Saginaw Bay Transit Company, which operates two steamers and two consorts with a total carrying capacity of about two million, five hundred thousand feet, while it also conducts a flourishing business at South Brooklyn, Ohio, and has the controlling interest of the Cleveland Lumber Company. The Southern Lumber Company, wholesale dealers in yellow pine, and the Saginaw Bay Box Company are also allied institutions. Mr. Prescott has been a member of the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers Association since its organization, and has been a member of the executive committee. He was elected successively second and first vice president and then at the meeting in March, 1908, was made president. Also he is one of the vice presidents of the Ohio Shippers Association, is a member of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce and the Builders Exchange, and is one of the original underwriters of the Lumber Underwriters of New Y0rk. He has held the office of president of the Cleveland Board of Lumber Dealers several times, and has been active in many useful capacities m the organization as well as in other local lumber and municipal institutions. On the 10th of November, 1892, Mr. Prescott was united in marriage to Miss Mary Dunham, a daughter of one of Cleveland's early prosperous business men. Five children have been born unto the couple, two daughters and HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 529 three sons : Helen Sarah, Mary, Allen Barnard, Wilbur and Charles Holden III. Mr. Prescott is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Euclid and Union Clubs, and with all of his many duties finds time to give important aid to his church. He is superintendent of the Sunday school of the First Baptist church, a thriving congregation, and is a member of the executive committee of the Cuyahoga County Sunday School Association. It is in his home life, in companionship with his wife and children, however, that he finds his greatest relaxation from care. Of New England ancestry and inheriting the rugged strength, activity and business sagacity usually attributed to natives of that section of the country, Mr. Prescott is a type of sterling American manhood, of broad interests, possessed of great energy but well balanced, a man who can enjoy other activities than those connected with the business world. ISAAC GRODIN. Isaac Grodin conducts an extensive and profitable business as a member of the firm of Grodin Brothers, dealers in metals and rubbers, at No. 1684 Columbus road in Cleveland. He was born in this city on the 22d of November, 1872, a son of Moses and Mary Grodin. The public schools afforded him his educational advantages and when sixteen years of age he put aside his textbooks and secured the position of bookkeeper with the firm of L. A. Stone & Company, who were engaged in the rag business. At the end of seven years he severed his connection with that company and became a partner in the firm of Pollack-Kohn & Company, being thus engaged in business for two and a half years, when he sold out his interests. Subsequently he became associated with L. A. Stone as a dealer in metal and rubber at No. 1684 Columbus road, but at the end of three years purchased Mr. Stone's interest and admitted his brother, Joseph I., to a partnership. The enterprise has since been conducted under the firm style of Grodin Brothers and they have built up quite an extensive and successful business in their line, employing a force of fif teen men. In March, 1899, at Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Grodin was united in marriage to Miss Lollis E. Applebaum, by whom he has tw0 children : Eleanor, who is ten years of age and attends public school ; and Harry Earl, a little lad of three. The family residence is at No. 1959 East Seventy-first street. Politically Mr. Grodin is a stanch advocate of the republican party, being convinced that its principles are most conducive to good government. Religiously he is a member of the Scovill Avenue Temple ( Jewish) and acts as one of its trustees. In the city where his entire life has been spent Mr. Grodin has an extensive circle of warm friends and has made for himself a creditable position in business cicles, winning that measure of success which comes from unfaltering diligence intelligently applied. PATRICK SMITH. The first tug that was operated in the Cleveland harbor was under the control of Patrick Smith, a pioneer citizen and vesselman of northern Ohio, who was widely known in connection with the shipping interests on Lake Erie. He was horn in Baileyboro in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1827, and came to this country in 1836 with his mother, the father having preceded them three years before. They then joined him in Cleveland, where the father, John Smith, was engaged in business as a contractor and teamster. For some years the family lived 0n a farm at Newburg and it was about that time that Patrick Smith was attracted to the river and harbor, in which connection the remainder of his life was to show 530 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND forth those traits of character which made him a prominent figure among the vesselmen of the Great Lakes. In 1843 he worked on a dredge on the river and, finding those pursuits attractive and profitable, he purchased the dredge the next year and thus started on a career that brought him into prominence and success. A tug line, one of the first on the lakes, was added to his interests and he operated the first tug that plied the waters of the Cleveland harbor. From time to time he purchased other boats and extended his interests until the Smith fleet became one of the largest on the lakes. Later he invested in real estate, becoming the owner of much valuable property in Cleveland. In 1852 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Margaret Olwill, a native of the Empire state, and they became the parents of eight children, of who four are living. The wife and mother died in 1887 and Mr. Smith afterwa married Miss Burns. The surviving children of the first marriage are L. P., . A., Mrs. James R. Sprankle and Mrs. James E. Cunnea. In his political views Mr. Smith was a stalwart democrat and for several years was a member of the city council as representative from the old eighth ward. He exercised his official prerogatives in support of the measures which he deemed of greatest value in municipal affairs. He was a very charitable man, giving freely to those in need. He was entirely free from ostentation or display, a plain, practical man whose study of life as manifest to him in his various relations with the public led him to judge of genuine worth and merit and his deductions were expressed in many philosophical sentiments. He was altogether a most unique and prominent figure in the shipping circles of Lake Erie, a man whose genuineness and kindly spirit brought him appreciation and regard from those who prize true worth. His death, which occurred May 11, 1902, was a matter of deep regret to all who knew him. HORACE P. WEDDELL. Horace P. Weddell, one of the oldest native born residents of Cleveland, has witnessed probably as much of the transformation of the city from a frontier t0wn to the metropolis of Ohio as any living man within its borders. He was born November 27, 1823, on the northwest corner of what is now West Superior and West Ninth streets, then Superior and Bank streets, where stood his father's residence and store building. His father, Peter Martin Weddell, was one of the foremost merchants and leading citizens of his day in Cleveland. His birth occurred in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1788. His father died before the birth of the son and his mother married again and removed to Kentucky, settling in Paris, Bourbon county, at a time when that state deserved its sobriquet of "the dark and bloody ground," as the contest with the native savages was carried on with relentless fury on both sides. Under these circumstances it may well be supposed that Peter M. Weddell grew up with few educational or other dvantages and that his youth was one 0f vicissitudes and hardships. At the age of fourteen years he applied at a store for employment. His surplus clothing and effects which he possessed were carelessly flung over his shoulder. He promised to do any work which his employer required of him and felt sure that he could give satisfaction. This broad pledge was s0 well kept that promotion followed from time to time until at the age of nineteen years he was admitted to a partnership in the business. The relation, however, was soon afterward terminated by the death of the older member. Mr. Weddell, then a young man with a vigorous body, good habits, a clear judgment and some money, removed to Newark. Ohio, during the progress of the war of 1812. While he was successfully trading there, Miss Sophia Perry, of Cleveland, was sent to her friends at Newark for greater safety and also for the purpose of being educated there. While in that place she met and became en- HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 533 gaged to Mr, Weddell, and they were married in November, 1815. She was a daughter of Judge Nathan Perry, one of the pioneer lawyers of the Western Reserve and one of the first to occupy the bench of Cuyahoga county. In 1820 Mr. Weddell removed with his family from Newark to Cleveland and established himself in business on Superior street, at once taking a foremost place among the merchants of the town—a place he retained as long as he continued in business there. In 1823 Mrs. Weddell died, leaving three children, of whom Horace P. Weddell is the only survivor. A portrait of the mother by Peale is still one of the cherished possessions of the family and shows a lady of many charms of both person and disposition. Later Mr. Weddell married Mrs. Eliza A. Bell, of Newark, Ohio, who survived him for a number of years. In 1825 Mr. Weddell formed a partnership with Edmund Clarke, of Buffalo, and soon afterward retired from active participation in business. In 1828 the partnership was dissolved and three years later Mr. Weddell admitted to a partnership his two clerks, Greenup C. Woods, his half brother, and Dudley Baldwin, the firm becoming P. M. Weddel & Company, This connection continued for about four years, at the end of which time Mr. Woods established himself in business at Newark, Ohio, while Mr. Weddell and Mr. Baldwin continued the business in Cleveland until 1845. When the former began his mercantile life the trials of the merchant developed all there was in a man. At that time there were no railroads or canals to facilitate commerce and in fact but few highways, while specie was the only currency west of the Allegheny mountains and it had to be carried across the mountains from Pittsburg on the backs of mules, the merchandise being returned in the same way. Several merchants would travel together and frequently would have guards, as the lonely uninhabited mountain roads were not altogether safe in those days. In 1823 Mr. Weddell built what was regarded as probably the finest brick residence and store in Cleveland. It was at the northwest corner of Superior and Bank streets, afterward the site of the Weddell House. His surplus funds were from time to time invested in real estate, which soon began to increase in value at an astonishing rate as the city grew in population and importance. On one of his lots on Euclid avenue he built a stone cottage which he designed as a country retreat and after taking his clerks into partnership he left the store mainly to their management, devoting his attention to the purchase and improvement of real estate, for he was by this time one of the wealthy men of Cleveland. In the spring of 1845 he began the construction of the Weddell House, demolishing the store and mansion where the foundation of his fortune had been laid. Two years were required in building the hotel and when completed Mr. Weddell went to New York to purchase its furnishings. On his way home he became ill with typhoid fever and within three weeks was in his grave. As a merchant he had few if any superiors in his. time. His urbanity, industry and careful attention made him popular, successful and reliable, while his integrity and liberahty were well known to correspondents and to all the religious and benevolent institutions of the time, which made frequent demands upon him, and to these he returned ready response. He was always willing to aid and assist the young men in his employ and when he found one worthy and capable he never refused a helping hand. Very few of his day were as liberal in this respect or could point to so many who became successful business men because of his assistance as could Mr. Weddell. He was a man of such personal energy and business capacity that he seemed to have the promise of a quarter of a century of active life when he was suddenly cut off by death. Soon after the Rev. S. C. Aiken became pastor he was received as a communicant of the Old Stone church and died in the Christian faith. He left liberal bequests to the American Board of Foreign Missions and to the Home Missionary Society, and also to several benevolent institutions. Horace P. Weddell was educated in the public and private schools of Cleveland, including the school conducted by Franklin Backus. When a yOung man 534 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND he entered the dry goods business with his father and after the father's death the care and management of his extensive private interests occupied much of the business life of Mr. Weddell. In 1865 he erected the addition to the Weddell House on Bank street. He has als0 occupied a prominent position among the leading citizens of Cleveland because of the extent and importance of his interests, and also by reason of his activity and support 0f progressive public measures. For fifty-two years his residence was on Euclid avenue in the home which his father erected in 1833, and on the expiration of that period he removed to Euclid Heights, where he has since resided. He well remembers the visit of Abraham Lincoln to Cleveland and while a guest of the Weddell House he helped entertain Mr. Lincoln. A life-long republican since the organization of the party, he has v0ted for nearly every one of its candidates for the presidency. He has lived to see Cleveland grow from a village of less than four hundred inhabitants to a city of its present proportions and at his advanced age, in full possession of his faculties, he readily recalls many incidents of the changes witnessed by him that have long since become matters of history to those of the present day. WALTER DANIEL SAYLE. The builders of a city and the promoters of its growth and progress are the men who are prominent in control of its commercial and industrial interests, in which connection Walter Daniel Sayle is recognized as a dynamic force, his sound judgment enabling him to readily discriminate between the essential and nonessential in the conduct and management of the business affairs with which he is associated. He is perhaps best known to the public as the president of the Cleveland Punch & Shear Works Company but 0ther lines have also benefitted by his cooperation and sagacity and business interests at large have profited by the stimulus which his labors have given to business activity. Born in Cleveland, September 10, 1860, Walter D. Sayle is descended in both the paternal and maternal lines from old Manx families of the highest character. His father, Thomas Henry Sayle, a native of the Isle of Man, came to America with a colony of his countrymen about 1830 and settled in Warrensville, Ohio, where he operated a gristmill for a number of years. In 1853 he removed t0 East Cleveland and died on the 0ld Sayle farm in 1878 at the age of fifty-six years. Following the establishment of his home in this locality he operated a gristmill at the Shaker settlement, which is now Shaker Heights. His wife, in her maidenhood Jane Clark, was als0 a native of the Isle of Man and in 1845, at the age of two years, was brought to the United States by her parents, who were among the old Manx colony at Warrensville. Her death occurred in 1906. In a family of eight children, six of whom are yet living, Walter D. Sayle was the fourth in order of birth. All are married and now reside in Cleveland. These are Charles H., a dealer in interior decorations ; Nellie, the wife of D. Auld, Jr., of the firm of Auld & Conger ; Walter Daniel, of this review ; John J., a practicing physician ; William F., a partner in the firm of Col- lister & Sayle, dealers in athletic goods ; and Mary A., the wife 0f J. R. Seager, of Seager & Wise, dry goods merchants. In the public schools of his native city Walter D. Sayle continued his studies until his course was completed by graduation from the Central high school in 1880, the second year after it was opened. He then began the study of law in the office 0f W. H. Bordman but soon gave up the idea of a professional life and entered upon a business career, spending five years in the service of the Ohio Building Stone Company and the Ohio Grind Stone Company, the latter being a consolidation of the sales departments of all stone companies quarrying the Amherst stone. Reliability, ready mastery of tasks assigned him and an indefatigable energy led to his promotion until at the end of three years he had en- HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 537 tire charge of the accounting department. In September, 1886, he was solicited to join with others in organizing the East End Savings Bank Company, which in April, 1887, established a branch at No. 1123 St. Clair avenue, of which Mr. Sayle took charge. He was a director and the secretary of that company until its consolidation with the Cleveland Trust Company in July, 1905. In the mean- time his business interests became so extensive that it was essential that he give up all salaried positions and confine his attention to his manufacturing propositions. He had noted the opportunities for the establishment and successful conduct of interests of that character and into that field had directed his energies, his lab0rs resulting in 1890 in the organization of the Cleveland Punch & Shear Works Company, whose nucleus was the business of the firm of Leighton & Bruch, general jobbing machinists and small manufacturers of punches and shears. At that time the junior partner severed his connection, while in 1899 Mr. Sayle purchased the interest of Mr. Leighton and has had control continuously since. The business has enjoyed a phenomenal growth and today the house is scarcely equaled in its manufacture of tools of this character, its output being sent to all parts of the country, while its product is largely regarded as a standard for the trade. Realizing that it would be advantageous to control the interests upon which the company was dependent for supplies, in 1903 Mr. Sayle purchased the plant of the City Foundry Company, upon which the Cleveland Punch & Shear Works Company depended for their iron castings. Mr. Sayle has been equally successful in the control and development of this business, making it the leader in its line in the city. These interests alone would mark him as a most enterprising and successful business man and yet they have not fully taxed his capacity, for his judgment and labors have been the controlling feature in other successful concerns. In 1897 he organized the Cleveland Crane & Engineering Company for the manufacture of electric traveling cranes, an industry then in its infancy. The plant was originally located at Wason and Superior streets but the quarters there became too small and they purchased twenty-five acres at Wickliffe, Ohio, there erecting an extensive plant which is now being profitably operated. Of this company Mr. Sayle is the secretary and the controlling stockholder. In 1901 the Penton Publishing Company was organized, Mr. Sayle becoming its secretary. This company purchased the entire interests of the Marine Review, Iron Trade Review, The Foundry and several other trade journals. In financial circles Mr. Sayle is not unknown, being interested in the Union National Bank, the Cleveland Trust Company and other moneyed concerns. Not only for his own benefit but for the promotion of general trade interests has Mr. Sayle put forth earnest and effective effort. He was president of the Cleveland Manufacturers Association from 1901 until 1906 inclusive and on refusing to serve longer was presented with a beautiful silver vase appropriately inscribed, as an appreciation on the part of the members of his capable work as chief presiding officer. He has been connected with the National Metal Trades Association since 1901, has served several terms on its administrative council and for one term was its president, being elected March 1, 1906. He also assisted in organizing the Cleveland Manufacturers Club, organized for mutual benefit and to promote the interests of manufacturers and their surroundings, and he served two years as its president. He assisted in organizing the Cleve- land Life Insurance Company, of which he is a director and treasurer. He was appointed one of the executive committee of the Cleveland Industrial Exposition held June 7-19, 1909. In more specifically social lines Mr. Sayle is connected with the Colonial Club and with the different Masonic bodies. In politics he is an earnest republican but was not active in party ranks until 1904, when Elroy M. Avery, his old schoolmaster, insisted on his becoming a candidate for the school board, to which he was elected in November of that year and in which capacity he served for five years. 538 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND On the 22d of October, 1884, in Cleveland, Mr. Sayle wedded Jessie Chichester, a daughter of John Chichester, who was one of the Cleveland Grays, killed in active service with that military command in the Civil war. The three children of the family are : Flora Mary, Walter Chichester and Harold Clark, aged twenty-two, twenty-one and twelve years respectively. The family residence is at No. 2102 East One Hundredth street, erected by Mr. Sayle five years ago, while his summer home is on the lake shore at Euclid, Ohio, his family there spending the heated months 0f the year. He is a lover of children and beside rearing his own sons and daughter he has given a home to two nephews and a niece, whom he has provided with the best educational advantages, having them share alike with his own children in all of the opportunities of the home, his niece being now in college, while his sons and nephews are being educated in his line of business and to them he expects to turn over his entire interests within a year or two that he may enjoy well, earned rest. He is a lover of hunting and spends a period each fall in bird shooting or in hunting big game. Several trophies of his chase adorn his dining room and office, among which are moose and caribou heads and bear and wolf skins. ELIJAH VAN CAMP. Elijah Van Camp was a factor in making Cleveland the important varnish and paint center which it is today. His business interests in that connection were extensive and brought to him gatifying success as the years passed, as the reward for his persistent and well directed labor. A native of Elmira, New York, he spent his earlier years there in the home of his father, Jared Van Camp, who lived in the Chemung Valley, New York. His education was acquired in the public schools of his native place and when a young man he came to Cleveland, entering upon his business career here in the employ of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company as a locomotive engineer. He remained with that company about twenty years as one of their most trusted and reliable employes, for he was most careful, recognizing the responsibility that devolved upon him. At the end of that time he became connected with the Forest City Varnish Company, with which he remained until 1881 and during that time th0roughly learned the business in principle and detail. He then joined William Roeder in organizing the Cleveland Varnish Company, which became one of the important industries of this character in the country and of which Mr. Van Camp was vice president for twenty-six years. He was thus active m the management of the enterprise, in formulating new plans for its growth and expansion and in marking out lines along which its trade interests should be conducted. He devoted his entire time after the organization of the business to the upbuilding of a large and profitable enterprise and his success was such that he never had cause to regret his determination to seek a home in this city. In 1854, in Corning, New York, Mr. Van Camp was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Reville and they became the parents of four children : George W., who is now superintendent of the Cleveland Varnish Company ; Fred, a resident of New York city ; Mrs. A. J. Weidekopf, of Bratenahl ; and Mrs. L. E. Green, also living in New York city. For forty years prior to his death Elijah Van Camp made his home at what is now 2109 East Fortieth street, the residence now occupied by his widow being erected in 1891. Mr. Van Camp was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and was greatly interested in the growth and development of Cleveland, doing all in his power in cooperating with the various movements for the city's substantial upbuilding. He was a member of the First Baptist church and his life record was one over which there fell no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He was ever faithful to duty, whether of a public or a private nature and no trust reposed in him was HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 539 ever betrayed in the slightest degree. He knew that infinitely preferable to wealth, fame or position was his own self-respect and the merited esteem of his fellowmen, and, while he gained a creditable place in manufacturing circles, he never sacrificed his ideas concerning right and wrong to any desire for prosperity. Moreover his success was attributable entirely to his own efforts, for he worked his way upward along well defined lines of trade, his interests growing in volume and importance as the years passed. His leading characteristics were ever of a sterling quality and won for him the favorable position which he occupied in the regard of friends and business associates. He died on the 2d of July, 1907. PERCY J. MORGAN. It may well be a matter of justifiable pride when one stands at the head of a business that has advanced in volume, importance and the excellence of its output beyond all others of similar class. Such is the position of Percy J. Morgan, now president of the Morgan Lithograph Company. It is true that he entered upon a business already established but in enlarging and controlling this many a man of less resolute purpose or of inferior business ability would have failed. Mr. Morgan, on the contrary, is increasing the scope of the activities of the house and is not only keeping abreast with all that is best in lithographic production but is setting the standard in work of this character. Cleveland, justly proud of her successful men, numbers him among her native citizens, his birth having occurred October 18, 1878. His parents were George and Julia Morgan. The father, born in Wales, February 14, 1841, came to Cleveland in 1861 and was one of the organizers of the W. J. Morgan Lithograph Company. In 1880, when the business was organized as a stock company, he was elected vice president and in 1900 was chosen to the presidency. Two years later he retired and died November 14, 1905. He was also the president of the Morgan, Moore & Baine Coal Company. Percy J. Morgan attended the public schools until he reached the age of thirteen years, after which he attended the University School to the age of sixteen. He then went to Andover, Massachusetts, where he entered the Phillips Academy and was graduated in 1897. He was a student in Cornell University the following year, after which he entered Amherst College at Amherst, Massachusetts. On leaving that institution in 1899 he came to Cleveland and has since been actively associated with the Morgan Lithograph Company, being first elected to the vice presidency, while in 1906 he was chosen president and is now chief executive head of this extensive establishment devoted to theatrical and circus poster work. The business was founded in 1864 by Captain W. J. Morgan and his younger brother, George W. Morgan, who did their work with a hand press, while all paper was cut by hand. The growth of the business justified the purchase of a steam press and the removal from their first location on Superior street to the Bratenahl building. where the first of their renowned theatrical lithographs were made. In that day printing was usually done in one color—black—but occasionally a tint was added. Many of the veterans of the stage can look back to the days when the Morgan Company made their lithographs, Charlotte Cushman, Lawrence Barrett, John McCullough, Albert Aiken, Tomaso Salvini, Tony Denier, Adeline Neilson, Edwin Booth, Barry Sullivan, Lotta, John T. Raymond, Denman Thompson, Maggie Mitchell and a host of others being among the firm's stanch friends and customers. The first colored one-sheet—probably the first ever made in this country-that of John T. Raymond in "Millions In It," originated in this house. The continued growth of the business necessitated removal to larger quarters in 1874 and here again the plant became too small, so that in 1898 land was purchased at the corner of Wood and St. Clair streets, where was 540 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND erected the finest and most complete plant of the kind in the world. The company has been the recipient of high honors at various world's expositions. In the Exposition Universelle, Paris, they were awarded the gold medal for artistic poster display in competition with the world, and received the medal and diploma at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Today the output of the house is seen in every civilized country on the face of the globe, in fact in almost every part of the continents, including Iceland and India. Warehouses and offices have been established in England, France, Germany, South Africa and Australia, as well as in all parts of the United States and Canada. In 1904 Captain Morgan, one of the original partners, died and George W. Morgan, who had temporarily retired, again took command. In 1906 Percy J. Morgan was elected to the presidency and is now in control of a business employing four hundred operators in the Cleveland branch. Every new feature is constantly being added to improve the quality of the output and America and Europe have alike been searched for artists, so that the company today employs the finest corps of lithographers in the world. There has been recently established a Morgan art school, where talented youths are given free instruction in drawing by masters in their line. The cordial relations existing between the company and their employes is indicated in the fact that many of the heads of the departments have been in their service for more than a quarter of a century, and whenever opportunity offers promotion follows as the recognition of capable and efficient service. Percy J. Morgan was married in Cleveland, November 8, 1899, to Miss Mary Butts, and to them have been born four children : George W., who at the age of eight years is attending Lorell Institute ; Jackson, four years of age ; Mary W., three years of age ; and Dorothy, who is in her first year. The family residence is at No. 8302 Euclid avenue. Mr. Morgan belongs to the Delta Kappa Epsilon of Cornell University, the Gamma Nu Epsilon of Amherst Academy, and is a prominent club man, being connected with the Union, Country, Euclid, Hermit and Roadside Clubs. He is also a member of the Presbyterian church, while his interest in municipal affairs is manifested in the hearty cooperation which he gives to the progressive movements instituted by the Chamber of Commerce, to which he belongs. He added to liberal intellectual training a thorough schooling in the work which he has chosen as his life vocation and his comprehensive knowledge thereof enables him to speak with intelligent decision regarding not only the financial but also the operative interests of a plant which is without parallel in the history of the world. HIRAM H. LITTLE, M. D. Among the men who in the last half of the nineteenth century utilized the opportunities offered in Cleveland for business progress and attained thereby notable success was Dr. Hiram H. Little. For many years he was one of the most extensive and successful operators in real estate in the Forest city and his activity contributed to general progress and improvement as well as to individual prosperity. He was born near Morristown, Vermont, in 1816 and in both paternal and maternal lines represented old New England families, his parents, David and Lucy Little, being natives of Litchfield, Connecticut. The father, who made agriculture his life work but put aside personal and business considerations to aid his country by active service in the war of 1812, died in Vermont at the age of sixty-two years. He was a member of the Universalist church and high and honorable manhood won him the unqualified respect of all who knew him. Following his demise his widow removed to Cleveland, where her death occurred in 1875 when she was eighty-eight years of age. She, too, was an earnest Christian, holding membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 543 Dr. Little, the sixth in a family of eleven children and the last surviving member of the father's household, was educated in the academy at Johnstown, Vermont, and prepared for a professional career in the Ohio Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1844. He then located for practice in McConnelsville, Ohio, and after following his profession there for twelve years with marked success came to Cleveland in 1856. Here he withdrew from his profession to concentrate his attention upon real-estate operations, recognizing the opportunity for profitable investment in that line. For years he continued as one of the most prominent and extensive real-estate dealers of the city and his word was regarded as authority concerning property interests or values here. His operations were of the most important character, bringing him into close connection with the development of Cleveland. In 1877 he became a director of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company and remained as such during the remainder of his life. Dr. Little was married in Ohio, to Miss H. M. Keyes, a daughter of Judge E. N. Keyes, of Vermont. Mrs. Little passed away m 1875. She was a member of the Episcopal church and a lady whose many traits of heart and mind endeared her to all who knew her. Harriet L., the only daughter of this marriage, died at the age of ten years. In 1876 Dr. Little was joined in wedlock to Miss Laura Bascom, of Canton, Ohio, and a daughter of W. T. and Emily (Murray) Bascom. There were two sons of this marriage, Hiram M., who died in May, 1900, just before his graduation from Cornell University in the class of 1900 ; and T. Bascom, who is represented elsewhere in this volume. Dr. and Mrs. Little held membership in the Unitarian church, in which he served as a trustee, also contributing generously to its support. He was a broad thinker, logical reasoner and his reading and study were wide and comprehensive. He voted for the candidates of the republican party and was interested in the questions which are to the statesman and the man of affairs of vital import but he had no aspiration for office or sympathy with those who seek political preferment for personal gain without manifesting any regard for the duties and obligations of citizenship. In the days prior to the Civil war his hatred of oppression led him to conduct one of the stations of the famous underground railways. Well educated and well bred, he stood as a high type of American manhood and chivalry, being courteous, refined and popular. The Doctor built at what is now number 7615 Euclid avenue the residence which the family have since occupied but previous to that his home was at the Euclid avenue entrance to The HENRY BECKENBACH. Henry Beckenbach, whose reputation was that of a very honest and upright man, loved and honored by all, was closely connected for many years with the business interests of Cleveland, and in the enterprise which he founded and controlled left a substantial monument to his diligence, his persistency of purpose and his aptitude for successful management. A native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, he was born in 1830 and was a son of Henry Beckenbach, Sr., who followed the occupation of farming in Germany. The subject of this review remained a resident of the fatherland until seventeen years of age, when he crossed the Atlantic and became a resident of Cleveland. He apprenticed himself to the shoemaker's trade when he came here and followed that pursuit until twenty-four years of age, after which he engaged in business with his brother William, who had for some time been a resident in Cleveland and was an expert cabinetmaker. They began the manufacture of furniture under the firm style of Beckenbach Brothers, purchasing all of their lumber of people in this locality, for much of the territory now embraced within the corporation limits of Cleveland was then covered with a native forest growth. The brothers seasoned the timber and then manufactured furniture by hand. As the years passed they built up a large whole- 544 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND sale and retail furniture business, also made coffins and conducted an undertaking establishment. After some years Henry Beckenbach purchased his brother's interest and subsequently admitted his sons to a partnership in the concern, and later they discontinued the manufacturing branch of the business, concentrating their energies upon the development of a large retail furniture enterprise conducted under the name of H. Beckenbach & Sons. This is still the property of the family, constituting in itself a desirable estate. Mr. Beckenbach was ever watchful of opportunities pointing to success and seemed to realize the value of every situation that arose in connection with his manufacturing and mercantile interests. In 1854 Mr. Beckenbach was married to Miss Catherine Becker, who was brought to Cleveland when three years of age by her father, Jacob Becker, who purchased a farm on Madison avenue covering an important part of what is now the business and residence section of the town. He cleared the timber from his land, placed it under the plow and continued there to engage in general agricultural pursuits until the borders of the city extended to his place. He divided his property before his death and the children laid off his farm in streets, subdivided it into town lots and sold much of it for building purposes. Mrs. Beckenbach, however, still has her share of the property where the old home was situated and yet maintains her residence there. From the time of his arrival in the county until his death Mr. Becker resided continuously on the old home farm. Unto Mrs. and Mrs. Beckenbach were born nine children, of whom seven survive, namely : John, Henry, Charles, Albert, Edward, Kate and William 0. All of the sons are living here in this city, some of them being engaged in the wholesale and retail drug business, while others continue the furniture business established by their father. In addition to his other interests Mr. Beckenbach was one of the directors and the prime movers in the building of the Superior street car line. He was a man of marked business enterprise, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertook, and over the record of his commercial career there fell no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He was always active and much interested in the welfare and upbuilding of Cleveland and withheld his cooperation from no movement which he deemed would prove of public benefit. He was an active and devoted member of the Christian church and died in that faith at the age of sixty years. Not the good that comes to us but the good that comes to the world through us is the measure of our success, and judged by this standard Mr. Beckenbach was a most successful man. His salient characteristics were sterling qualities of manhood and he received the respect and confidence which the world instinctively gives to those who attain prominence and affluence through honorable effort. OSCAR V. CRAMER. Oscar V. Cramer, cashier of the William. Bingham Company, was born at La Pointe, Wisconsin, in 1860, a son of Andrew and Mary E. (Bigler) Cramer. His father was a pioneer of the northwest and enjoyed no little prominence in his locality, being three times elected treasurer of Ashland county, Wisconsin, and serving as sheriff of the same. After removing to Cleveland in 1867, he lived a retired life. His death occurred in 1907 in Burbank, California, where his widow still lives, and with her a widowed daughter, Mrs. Alina L. White. Oscar V. Cramer, who came to Cleveland when very young, received his education in the common schools and was then enrolled among the students of the East Cleveland high school. His first business experience was gained while in the employ of the Union Steel Screw Company, with which he remained for eight years in the capacities of order clerk and bookkeeper. His connection with HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 545 the William Bingham Company has been of twenty years' duration for it was in 1889 that he was first employed as bookkeeper, and in 1895 he was promoted to the office of cashier, which he still holds. Mr. Cramer has additional interests, one of these being his connection with the Cedar Mining & Milling Company, of Montana, as treasurer and director. This company, by-the-way, is composed of Cleveland men. He is also interested in the C. N. Cramer & Company, a wholesale grocery house of Ashland, Wisconsin, one of the largest concerns of its kind in the northwest, the head of the company being his brother, Charles N. Mr. Cramer was married in 1885 to Miss Julia N. Clifford, their union being celebrated in Galion, Ohio. Mrs. Cramer's parents are Charles J. and Marietta (Huntsman) Clifford, who now reside at Elizabeth, New Jersey. Her father was for some years stationed at Albany, New York, as master mechanic of the New York Central Railway. Mr. and Mrs. Cramer have two children. The elder, Etta Mae, is a graduate of Shaw high school and studied art at the Ursaline Academy and is at present a member of the junior class at Wellesley College. Clifford A., who is fourteen years of age, attends the grammar school. Mr. Cramer is widely known in the Masonic world and has attained high rank in this great order. He holds membership in Cleveland Lodge, No. 115, A. F. & A. M., Cleveland Chapter, R. A. M. ; Holyrood Commandery, K. T. ; Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine ; and is also identified with the Grotto. The Chamber of Commerce is another organization which claims his membership, and he is a director and treasurer of the retail merchants board of that organization. He is a progressive and public-spirited citizen, favoring all measures which he believes will prove of general benefit to the city in which he has so long made his home. His chief recreation is hunting and fishing. His family has another representative here—his brother S. H. Cramer, who for twenty-six years has been associated with the Sterling & Welch Company as buying assistant and manager of the entire retail department. CHRISTIAN MOLT. Christian Molt, who through his active business career was connected with mercantile interests in Cleveland, was numbered among the worthy representatives of the Teutonic race that Cleveland numbers in her citizenship. Born in Germany, he came to America in 1879 and at once took up his abode here. His financial resources at that period were quite limited, but, desiring to enter upon independent business connections, he established a knitting mill on Central avenue, where he conducted business for a few years. He then turned his attention to the dry-goods trade and opened a store at Nos. 7400-74 to Woodland avenue, which he conducted under the name of the C. Molt Dry Goods & Millinery Company. Thereafter he devoted his entire time and attention to building up a good and successful business for himself and thus making liberal provision for his family. At the time of his death, Mr. Molt had two stores in addition to the one at 7400-74 t0 Woodland avenue, one on Kinsman avenue and another on Woodland avenue. He concentrated his energies upon the development and control of the trade and sought through careful management and indefatigable industry to build up a business of large and profitable proportions. In this he succeeded and was, moreover, acknowledged to be a most careful, honest and reliable business man. The enterprise which he established is still being carried on under the same name and is one of the leading mercantile concerns of that part of the city. He had just completed the building of the Molt block on Woodland avenue before his death, and it is a fine monument to his ability and indicates the confidence which he had in the future of the city. He was a self-made man, owing his success entirely to his persistency of purpose, his well directed energy and his firm determination. He was thoroughly American in spirit and interests 546 - HISTORY OF CLEVELAND and had no patience with any of his countrymen who, after accumulating a competence here, wished to return to Germany to spend their money in that land. Mr. Molt was married in Germany to Miss Fredericka Whitlinger and together they came to the new world. Mrs. Molt always remaining by his side to assist him in every possible way in his business affairs and in carrying out his projects. They became the parents of one daughter, Katherine, who is now Mrs. Joseph Gerson and has one son, Erwin S. She lives with her mother in a fine home on the bank of the Rock river on Riverside road. Mr. Molt was a man of domestic tastes, devoted to his family, finding his greatest happiness at his own fireside in the companionship of his wife and daughter. He was a member of the Order of Foresters and a very charitable man, who made ready response to any tale of sorrow, want or distress. He died in 1891 at the comparatively early age of forty-six years. It seemed that there should have been many more years allotted t0 him and yet in his life he accomplished much in the way of building up an important business enterprise and did even more in his advocacy of all interests relative to progressive citizenship, to loyalty in friendship and to the devotion of home ties. These qualities constitute an example that may well be followed by those who desire to make the purpose of their lives of a most worthy character. ERNEST W. REAUGH. Ernest W. Reaugh, the general manager of the Reaugh Construction Company, has since 1890 been associated with his father in the conduct of an extensive contracting and building business. His birth occurred in Pennsylvania on the 7th of January, 1870, his parents being Jacob A. and Susan (French) Reaugh, likewise natives of the Keystone state, who were born in the years 1845 and 1853 respectively.. The first representatives of the family in this country came from Ireland about four generations ago. Jacob A. Reaugh, the father of our subject, spent the first fifteen years of his life on a farm and then went to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he learned the carpenter's trade. In 1870 he embarked in business as a contractor of Jamestown, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1880, when he came to Cleveland and has since continued an active and prominent factor in industrial circles of this city. For the past nineteen years he has been associated with his son, Ernest W., conducting his business under the name of the Reaugh Construction Company. Ernest W. Reaugh, who was a lad of ten years when he came to this city with his parents, pursued his education in the public schools and afterward took a course in the Spencerian Business College. On putting aside his text-books he entered the employ of the well known architect, George F. Hammond, and later was in the employ of his father and in 1890 was admitted to a partnership in the business. The company has its own planing mill and lumberyard, which are under the supervision of Jacob A. Reaugh, while Ernest W. Reaugh has charge of the contracting end of the business. They built a part of the main intercepting sewer and tunnel on Lakeside avenue and also a section of the tunnel at Gordon park, while among the many fine structures which stand as substantial monuments to their skill and enterprise are the following: the Hippodrome theatre and office building; the Chamber of Commerce, Garfield, Schofield, Caxton, Reserve Trust, Bradley and Bailey buildings ; W. M. Brown building, Higbee building, the foundations of the Rockefeller building; the May Company building; the factories of the White Company and the Cleveland Motor Car Company ; the Kuhlman car shops ; the plants of the Cleveland Automatic Machine Company and Dangler Stove Company ; the offices of the Glidden Varnish Company, the Mayflower school ; the St. Regis apartments ; and the Empire and Keith theatres. The business has constantly grown in volume and importance HISTORY OF CLEVELAND - 549 and Mr. Reaugh of this review has gained enviable recognition among the successful and leading representatives of building interests in Cleveland. He is the first vice president of The Cleveland Builders Supply Company, the vice president of the Pelton Apartment House Company and is financially interested in several other concerns of the city. On the 1st of December, 1898, Mr. Reaugh was united in marriage to Miss Fanny Putman, of Michigan. He is a member of the Cleveland Athletic Club and the Builders' Exchange, was the president of the Cleveland Building Code Commission and the chairman of the builders' code committee of the Builders' Exchange. Throughout his business career he has always faithfully executed the terms of a contract and met the obligations devolving upon him. He has thus established a reputation for undoubted integrity and his name is an honored one wherever he is known. THOMAS A. McCASLIN. Thomas A. McCaslin, engaged in the general practice of law as a member of the firm of White, Johnson, McCaslin & Cannon, was born September 30, 1863, in McVille, Pennsylvania. The family name was originally McCausland and was changed to the present orthography by Andrew McCaslin, the father of Thomas A. McCaslin. The grandfather, Robert McCausland, was born at Glade Mills, Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1780, and belonged to one of the old families of the Keystone state. Andrew McCaslin was born in Pennsylvania, September 4, 1815, and died at the old family homestead January 20, 1894. He had been one of the most enterprising business men of his community, well known as the owner of a farm, sawmills and flour mills. He married Dorothea Gray Rinehart, who was born January 12, 1822, in Pittsburg. She is now living in Cleveland. Thomas A. McCaslin pursued his education in public and private schools, the latter at Slate Lick, Pennsylvania, where his course was equivalent to that taught in high schools. He also attended Elders Ridge Academy and entered upon the study of law in the office and under the direction of the law firm of Mix, Noble & White, of Cleveland. After thorough preliminary reading he was admitted to the bar by examination in June, 1888, and for more than two decades has now been active as a lawyer of this city. He entered upon practice as a clerk in the law office where he had studied, there remaining from 1884 until June, 1888, when he was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with Thomas L. Johnson under the firm name of Johnson & McCaslin. In 1886 Conway W. Noble of the firm of Mix, Noble & White, was elevated to the common pleas bench and the partnership was then maintained as Mix & White. In 1890 Mr. Mix retired and Mr. White then became head of the firm of White, Johnson & McCaslin. This relation was continued until October 1, 1895, when Austin V. Cannon joined the partnership and the present firm style was assumed. They give their attention to general practice. On the 29th of September, 1890, Mr. McCaslin was married to Miss Ruth LeMont, and they have three children : James Frederick, who is now a pupil in the Cleveland high school ; John White, also attending high school ; and Ruth Dorothea. Mr. McCaslin is a republican in his political views and has been an excellent worker in the ranks of the party because of his firm belief in the value of its principles, but is without desire for office. He served for one year as chairman of the republican executive county committee and has been a delegate to county and state conventions. In 1903 he took an active part in the campaign as chairman of the committee and gave stalwart support to M. A. Hanna, when the usual democratic majority was reduced by about twelve thousand votes. The