Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men / Comprising Biographical Sketches of Pioneer Settlers and Prominent Citizens

by Unknown

The Moral Hero.

With heart that trusteth still, Set high your mark; And though with human ill The warfare may be dark, Resolve to conquer, and you will!

Resolve, then onward press, Fearless and true: Believe it--Heaven will bless The brave--and still renew Your hope and courage in distress.

Press on, nor stay to ask For friendship's aid; Deign not to wear a mask Nor wield a coward's blade, But still persist, though hard the task.

Rest not--inglorious rest Unnerves the man; Struggle--'tis God's behest! Fill up life's little span With God-like deeds--it is the test--

Test of the high-born soul, And lofty aim; The test in History's scroll Of every honored name--None but the brave shall win the goal'

Go act the hero's part, And in the strife, Strike with the hero's heart For liberty and life-- Ay, strike for Truth; preserve her chart'

Her chart unstain'd preserve, 'Twill guide you right. Press on and never swerve, But keep your armer bright, And struggle still with firmer nerve.

What though the tempest rage, Buffet the sea! Where duty calls, engage: And ever striving be The moral hero of the Age!

In the fall of 1851, Mr. Rice was put in nomination for the State Senate, and was elected by a majority exceeding seven hundred votes.

The General Assembly to which he was now returned, was the first that convened under the new Constitution. Upon this body devolved the responsibility of reconstructing the statutes of the State, and adapting them to the requisition of the Constitution, so as to secure to the people the practical benefits of the great reforms which had been achieved by its adoption. Mr. Rice contributed quite as much as any other member to the important legislation of the two sessions held by that General Assembly. It was said of him that he was always at his post. The degree of influence which he exercised as a legislator, was such as few have the good fortune to wield.

Among the variety of measures which engaged his attention, he took a prominent part in procuring the passage of the act which authorized the establishment of two additional lunatic asylums in the State.

His course in relation to the subject of common schools attracted public attention throughout the State, and called forth from the press commendations of a very complimentary character. The correspondent of a paper published at Newark, writing from Columbus, remarks as follows:

Senator Rice, of Cuyahoga, has in charge a bill for the reorganization of schools and providing for their supervision.

No better man than Mr. Rice could have been selected for this work. He is a model man and a model Senator. Clear headed, sound minded, carefully and fully educated, with a painstaking disposition, he is the ablest chairman of the standing committee on schools that any Ohio Legislature ever had. Deeply impressed with the great importance of the subject--of the stern necessity which exists for basing our whole republican form of government on the intelligence of the people, he has carefully provided a bill, which, if enacted into a law, will give a good common school education to every child in the State, and in so doing, has been equally careful that the money raised for that purpose be not squandered. The bill provides for a State Commissioner of Common Schools, and it has been mentioned to me as a matter of deep regret, that the Constitution excludes Mr. Rice from being a candidate for that office--no member of the Legislature being eligible to an office created while he was a member, until one year after the expiration of his term of office.

On the question of the final passage of the bill, Mr. Rice addressed the Senate in a concluding speech, which was published, and very generally noticed by the press. Among these notices, a leading paper published at Cleveland, with a magnanimity rarely possessed by a political opponent, makes the following comments and quotations:

Mr. Rice made the closing speech on the School Bill, in the Senate, on the 24th. It was his Bill. He had labored over it, and for it, a long time, and given to it every consideration, and gained for it every counsel, which, by any possibility, he could gain.

The text of his speech was the language of the Constitution itself; the duty of securing 'a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the State.'

Mr. Rice goes into detail on the school bill, and, regretting that we have not room for the detail, we close our synopsis of his very sensible speech by quoting its conclusion:

"It is certainly much cheaper, as well as much wiser, to educate than to punish. How much of crime would be prevented if a higher order of education were generally diffused among all classes. A well educated and enlightened people will have but little occasion for criminal courts, jails and penitentiaries. The educated man has ordinarily too much self-respect, too much regard for moral principle and the value of a good character to stoop to crime. In short, sir, the perpetuity of the government, and security of the citizen, and of property, depend upon the virtue and intelligence of the people.

"By the provisions of this bill, it is intended to make our common schools what they ought to be--the colleges of the people--'cheap enough for the poorest, and good enough for the richest.' With but a slight increase of taxation, schools of different grades can be established and maintained in every township of the State, and the sons and daughters of our farmers and mechanics have an opportunity of acquiring a finished education, equally with the more favored of the land. And, in this way, the elements of mind now slumbering among the uneducated masses, like the fine unwrought marble in the quarry, will be aroused and brought out to challenge the admiration of the world-Philosophers and sages will abound everywhere, on the farm and in the workshop. And many a man of genius will stand out from among the masses, and exhibit a brilliancy of intellect, which will be recognized in the circling years of the great future, as

'A light, a landmark on the cliffs of time.'

"It is only the educated man who is competent to interrogate nature, and comprehend her revelations. Though I would not break down the aristocracy of knowledge of the present age, yet, sir, I would level up, and equalize, and thus create, if I may be allowed the expression, a democracy of knowledge. In this way, and in this way only, can men be made equal in fact--equal in their social and political relations--equal in mental refinement, and in a just appreciation of what constitutes man the brother of his fellow man.

"In conclusion, sir, allow me to express my belief, that the day is not far distant when Ohio, in the noble cause of popular education and of human rights, will 'lead the column,' and become, what she is capable of becoming--a star of the first magnitude--the brightest in the galaxy of our American Union."

A proud hour now came for Mr. Rice! A good and glorious one for the State! The roll of the Senate was called, and that body, on the 24th day of January, 1853, proceeded to cast its final vote upon the bill, when only two negatives were announced.

Another bill, of scarcely less importance than the school bill, was introduced into the Senate by Mr. Rice, near the heel of the adjourned session, which with him was a favorite measure, and which seemed to meet with the hearty approbation of the public. It had for its object the establishment of a "State Reform School," expressly designed for juvenile offenders.

But owing to the late day of the session in which the bill was introduced, though very favorably received by the senate, a motion was made to postpone it until the next session. In reference to this motion, without attempting to make a formal speech, Mr. Rice explained briefly the object contemplated by the bill. His remarks relating as they did to a subject of public interest, were reported and published. The bill, at a subsequent session, resulted in establishing the present Reform Farm School.

The eminent services which he has rendered the State in the promotion of her educational interests will be long and gratefully remembered by those of his fellow citizens who properly appreciate the true objects of life, and who wish to secure to themselves, to their children, and to the generations which will follow them, the social blessings which flow from a high degree of refinement, intelligence and moral virtue.

While a member of the City Council, in 1857, Mr. Rice took the lead in establishing the Cleveland Industrial School, and was chairman of the committee that put it into successful operation. It has now grown to be one of the most important charitable institutions in Cleveland. Mr. Rice is still active in extending its usefulness.

In the same year he originated the project, and introduced the resolution into the Council, authorizing the erection of the Perry Monument which now graces the Public Park of the city. The cost of the Monument, by the terms of the resolution, was made to depend on the voluntary subscriptions of the citizens. Mr. Rice was appointed Chairman of the Monument Committee, and after three years of persevering effort, succeeded in carrying the object of the resolution into effect. The Monument was inaugurated with imposing ceremonies, on the 10th of September, 1860, the anniversary of Perry's victory on Lake Erie. Mr. Bancroft, the historian, delivered the Inaugural Address. As carefully estimated, not less than one hundred thousand people attended the inauguration. In carrying out the programme the battle of Lake Erie was reproduced, in a mock fight, on the Lake in front of the city. It was a proud day for Cleveland. Both the Monument and the inauguration were pronounced a perfect success.

In 1861, Mr. Rice, being elected to the Board of Education, was appointed President of the Board, and during his term of office rendered essential service in promoting the educational interests of the city. In fact, he has always been a zealous friend and advocate of popular education. In his literary career he has become widely known as the author of "Mount Vernon, and Other Poems"--a volume containing two hundred and fifty pages which has reached a fifth edition.

In 1862, Mr. Rice was appointed by the Governor of the State, with the concurrence of the War Department, a commissioner for Cuyahoga county, to conduct the first draft made in the county during the late civil war. In executing this delicate task he acquitted himself with firmness, integrity, and discretion. While in the discharge of his duties he found his office one morning suddenly besieged by some five or six hundred excited citizens, who were armed with pistols and other weapons, threatening to demolish the office and destroy the records. They had been instigated to make this demonstration by false rumors regarding the fairness of the draft. Mr. Rice met the crisis firmly, sent to the military camp on the Heights for a detachment of soldiers, infantry and artillery, who came to his relief on the "double quick," and dispersed the riotous assemblage. To satisfy the disaffected that all was right and just in relation to the draft, Mr. Rice proposed that they should appoint a committee of their own to investigate the state of affairs in the draft office. They did so, and with his aid an elaborate examination was made, and the committee reported that the draft had been conducted fairly and justly in all respects. Mr. Rice then proceeded with the draft, and as luck would have it, two of the committee, who had been ring-leaders in getting up the demonstration, were drafted on the spot, and every body seemed pleased with the result.

In 1867, Mr. Rice, wishing to express his regard for the cause of Missions, as well as for the college where he graduated, erected at his own expense, and with the approval of the college authorities, a beautiful marble monument in Mission Park, at Williamstown, Mass., commemorative of the origin of American Foreign Missions. The park is a part of the college domains, and within it there is a maple grove where a few pious young students of the college, in the summer of 1806, held occasional prayer-meetings. At one of these meetings a shower of rain compelled them to seek the shelter of a neighboring haystack, where they continued their exercises, and where one of their number, Samuel J. Mills, first suggested the idea of a mission to foreign heathen lands, as being a religions duty. In this noble and philanthropic thought his associates all concurred, and there, while at the haystack, consecrated themselves in solemn prayer, to the great work. From this circumstance originated American Foreign Missions. The monument was planned by Mr. Rice It is erected on the spot where the haystack stood, is twelve feet in height, and surmounted with a marble globe three feet in diameter, and cut in map lines. The face of the monument has the inscription, "The Field is the World," followed with a haystack, sculptured in bas relief, and the names of the five young men, who held the prayer-meeting, and the date 1806. The monument was dedicated July 28th, 1867, at the maple grove, in the park. A large audience was present. Mr. Rice, by special request, delivered the dedicatory address, which was received with a high degree of satisfaction, and afterwards published, with the other proceedings, in pamphlet form.

Mr. Rice has accumulated a reasonable share of "this world's goods;" has been twice married--first in 1828, and afterwards in 1840.

He has a wife, three sons and three daughters still living, and now leads, comparatively, a retired, yet not an idle life.

He still has the appearance of a well preserved gentleman, he is six feet in height, erect and of good proportions, and his general personal appearance is pleasing. In manner he is a true gentleman,--modest and kind, but prompt and decided. Two of his sons, Capt. Percy W. Rice and James S. Rice, are settled in business at Cleveland. The youngest son, Harvey Rice, Jr., resides in California. The three daughters are married and settled--one in California and the other two in Cleveland. Mrs. Rice is a lady of refinement, exemplary, and much beloved and respected. As a family, but few have been more highly favored, or lived in more perfect harmony.

Andrew Freese

The name of Andrew Freese will always hold a place of honor in the scholastic records of Cleveland. No educator in the city is held in such affectionate esteem by a large class of former pupils, and none better deserves the grateful tributes paid to his abilities as a teacher and his worth as a citizen.

Mr. Freese was born in Levant, Penobscot county, Maine, on November 1st, 1816. His father was a farmer, but Andrew was of such slender frame and weak constitution that he was completely unfitted for farming life. His father destined him to be a printer, and took him to the nearest printing office to show him how types were set and newspapers printed. The boy was not favorably impressed with what he saw, and begged to be allowed to enter college. This was considered out of the question, his father being too poor to provide the necessary funds. But the boy's heart was set upon it, and he thought that by teaching school for a time he could obtain money enough to complete his own education. This idea he carried into execution, and had no sooner entered on the business of teaching than he realized that he had found his true vocation. He continued to teach and study until his collegiate course was completed, and then he resolved to fit himself for the business of teaching by studying the best systems of education, as laid down in the most approved books and practiced in the most successful schools. He examined the best school buildings, and brought away plans of construction, and models of their furniture. The most thorough teachers were consulted as to the results of their experience, and when he had thus acquired a thorough mastery of the whole science of teaching, instead of setting out as an educational empiric, he resolved to seek the West as a better field for turning his knowledge to account, than was the East, where educators were far too numerous to make the business profitable.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, Andrew Freese]

Mr. Freese came to Cleveland in 1840, and offered his services to the Board of School Managers as a teacher. His rare ability was appreciated, he was immediately engaged, and was at once recognized as the head of the schools. There was then only the general school law to work under. The law as then understood, made it almost a crime to give instruction in the higher branches of even an English education. There was then no high schools, or graded schools in the great State of Ohio. To Cleveland, and to Mr. Freese, belong the honor of establishing the first free high school in the State. The scholars from that school may now be found in almost every State in the Union, eminent in all departments of life. They have been met with as Governors, jurists, mechanicians, and artists, and the first inquiry from them all has been, "Is Mr. Freese still with you? All I am, and all I have, I owe to him; may God forever bless him."

The high school was established in July, 1846, and Mr. Freese at once placed at its head. Those unfriendly to public schools, and especially to this department, offered him large inducements to engage in a private school, but Mr. Freese had faith in the success of the experiment, and was determined not to abandon it until its success was insured. The pay given by the city was but a beggarly pittance, and his labors inside and out of the school room were exceedingly arduous, but no discouragement could daunt his zeal, and he resisted blandishments as he treated opposition, with indifference. The unexpected and severe labors imposed upon him shattered his health, but with him love overcame all other considerations, and he persisted. In June, 1853, the office of Superintendent of Instruction was created, and tendered to Mr. Freese, who held it until 1861, when his failing health admonished him to retire. Recently he was summoned from his retirement to take the position of principal of the Central High school, now grown to proportions its founders scarcely dared hope for it. It was with extreme reluctance that Mr. Freese consented to resume his old profession, but he finally did so, working with great zeal and success until the close of the Summer term of 1869, when, immediately after re-election by a highly complimentary vote, he was compelled, by the condition of his health, to resign his position and bid a final farewell to the profession he so much loved. The proceedings of the Board of Education in relation to the resignation of Mr. Freese are of interest, as showing the high value set upon his services to the cause of education.

The following communication was presented to the Board:

To the Honorable the Board of Education of the city of Cleveland:

Gentlemen: I have to submit herewith the resignation of Mr. Andrew Freese, who has for the past year acted as principal of the Central High school.

On account of ill health it was with great reluctance that Mr. Freese went into this position. In accordance, however, with the advice of friends, he finally yielded to persuasion and entered upon the discharge of its duties with the well known earnestness of his character. The result has been marked in the earnestness with which his able corps of assistants associated with him have co-operated to promote the highest interests of the school, and of each and all its pupils. It has been specially marked, too, by the increased devotion of all the scholars to their studies, and the ready acquiescence with which they have obeyed all the rules and regulations of your Board.

In taking leave of Mr. Freese it is due to him that I should thus formally and earnestly record my high appreciation of his services. Furthermore, it may not be inappropriate for me testify to the fact, that much of the hearty earnestness of the corps of teachers with which I am now laboring, is due to the influence of this gentleman when he held the office which I now hold.

Andrew J. Rickoff, Superintendent of Instruction.

The Board of Education having received and accepted the resignation of Andrew Freese, Esq., principal of the Central High School, Mr. Perkins offered the following resolutions, which were adopted:

Resolved, That the thanks of the Board are hereby tendered to Mr. Freese, for the valuable services he has rendered in the various relations he has sustained to the public schools of this city during the last quarter of a century. In every position he has been called to fill, he has proved himself faithful to the trust committed to his keeping. To him more than any other are we indebted for the deservedly elevated character of our System of graded schools.

Resolved, That the president and secretary of the Board be requested to communicate to Mr. Freese the feeling of regret occasioned by his withdrawal from our service, together with a certified copy of its action this evening.

Mr. Freese was the originator of the celebrated outline maps. Many years before any were published by Mitchell, they were in use here, and may still be found on some of the walls and floors of our old school houses, where they were placed by Mr. Freese. What Horace Mann and William Colburn did for the schools of New England, Andrew Freese has done for the schools of the West. Almost immediately after commencing his labors he began to protest to the Board of School Managers against our school laws; under them he could do no justice to himself or his scholars. His efforts were aided by the Board of School Managers, and after a hard contest with city and State authorities, the laws were altered so as to give us one of the best school systems in the world. The first free high school in the State was started by Mr. Freese, in the basement of an old church, at a rent of fifty dollars per annum, and this was regarded by some of our largest tax payers as so great an outrage that they threatened to resist the payment of their taxes. The school now enjoys the use of a palatial building, and our grammar schools have the use of the most elegant and convenient structures for educational purposes in the State. Many of our citizens devoted their time and money to bring about this great change, which has done and is doing so much for the welfare of our city. But perhaps no one man has done so much as Mr. Freese.

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to overrate the services of Mr. Freese to the cause of education in Cleveland. It was the sole business of his life, and he entered on it with utter unselfishness. With him the cause was everything, self nothing. He traveled far, spent his own slender funds freely, and labored assiduously in the endeavor to secure the best of everything in plan and machinery, for the city schools. He had no ambition outside or beyond the school room, and his shrinking modesty prevented him claiming the credit justly due him for the unintermitted and successful labors performed within the school walls.

Anson Smyth.

Among the citizens of Ohio, few are more worthy of mention than Rev. Anson Smyth. There is not a township in the State in which his influence has not been felt, nor a school district in which his name is not honored. He has labored to uplift the intellectual, social, and moral status of our great commonwealth, and his impress is left on the highest and most sacred interests of the people.

Though born in Pennsylvania, Mr. Smyth is none the less a New Englander. His parents and older brothers and sisters were natives of New England. There many of his early years were spent, and there he received both his collegiate and his theological education. There for two years he taught school, and for three, was pastor of a church. Thus it is seen, that while his birth makes him a Pennsylvanian, his blood and education make him a Yankee.

Mr. Smyth is a self-made man. By his unaided energies he surmounted the difficulties that stood in the way of his advancement, and has achieved distinction by a career of great usefulness. His father was a man of high respectability, and most excellent character. He was a farmer in moderate circumstances, and being well advanced in life, and declining in health, when his youngest son, the tenth of twelve children, determined to acquire a liberal education, he was unable to do anything for his assistance. But the boy had a brave heart, and he went forward, strong in the idea that "there is nothing impossible to him that wills." At first by manual labor, and afterwards by teaching, he contrived to secure funds for meeting those expenses which demanded ready payment. When he left the theological seminary he owed several hundred dollars, all of which he paid from his first earnings.

After preaching for three years at the East, Mr. Smyth accepted a call to the pastoral charge of a church in Michigan. It was a village of a few hundred people, in a new and wild region. Society was in a chaotic condition, and there were but few who had either the ability or the disposition to do much for the young pastor's support or encouragement. The locality was unhealthy, and Mr. Smyth suffered severely from prevalent diseases. But during a ministry there of four years, he was eminently successful, and he left the church four times as strong as he found it.

In 1847, Mr. Smyth came to Ohio, and, after spending a few months in Cleveland, received and accepted a call to the pastorate of the Presbyterian church in Toledo. He entered upon his new charge with zeal and energy. He labored faithfully for the advancement of the cause of Christ in that rising town, but owing to chronic alienation among the members of his church, from the beginning he felt the need of that degree of co-operation and sympathy necessary to insure the full benefit of his labors. Still, the condition of affairs greatly improved under his ministry; the membership of the church being nearly doubled, and the congregation largely increased. At the end of three years he resigned his charge and entered upon that department of public service in which he has acquired most honorable distinction.

[Illustration: Yours truly, Anson Smyth]

Until 1850, the facilities for education in Toledo were all in the future. While pastor of the church there, Mr. Smyth felt keenly the need of establishing a good system of schools ere the town should become confirmed in the habit of neglecting so important an interest. A few of the citizens took hold of the business with energy; the "Akron School Law" was adopted, and a Board of Education elected. Mr. Smyth was placed at the head of the movement. This was a position he had never expected to fill, but, regarding it as a field of usefulness, a field in which to serve God and society, not less sacred than that of the pastoral office, he went to his new work without a doubt that thereby he was doing the will of God. In many particulars the business Mr. Smyth found upon his hands was new and strange to him. He had had no experience in organizing schools upon the graded plan. Eighteen years ago there were very few good schools in Ohio. Lorin Andrews, at Massillon, Dr. Lord, at Columbus, M. F. Cowdery, at Sandusky, Andrew Freese, at Cleveland, and H. H. Barney, at Cincinnati, were the leaders in the educational reformation, then rising into notice. Not till three years afterwards was our noble school law enacted. But Mr. Smyth took hold of the great work entrusted to him with characteristic energy. He read much and thought more upon the best plan of organizing a school system for the city, and when he left there, in 1856, the schools of Toledo had gained a most enviable character. They were regarded as among the best in the country, and their Superintendent had acquired the reputation of being one of the wisest and most successful educators in America. The Board of Education committed the entire management of the schools to him. The selection of teachers, the classification and discipline of the schools, the course of study, and the examinations were just what Mr. Smyth was pleased to make them. He gathered around him a corps of teachers equal to the best in the State, and the schools were the pride of the citizens. When he resigned, in closing an article upon the subject, the Blade remarked: "We regard the retirement of Mr. Smyth as no less than a public calamity."

At a meeting of the State Teachers Association, in December, 1855, Mr. Smyth was unanimously elected President of that body, also editor of the Journal of Education. In the following February he removed to Columbus, and entered upon his editorial duties. His success in his new field was most satisfactory to all who were interested in the cause which he represented.

In May, 1856, the Republican State Convention nominated Mr. Smyth for the office of State Commissioner of Schools. This was an honor as unexpected by him as it was satisfactory to the people. He was elected by a large majority, and in February, 1857, entered upon the discharge of the duties of his new office. In this high position he remained six years, having been re-elected in 1859.

Mr. Smyth was not disheartened when he found his post at the head of the educational forces of the State, environed with most serious embarrassments. The general school law had been in operation three years, encountering the hostility of a large portion of the people, who were persistent in their efforts to secure its repeal, or extensive modification. It was regarded as doubtful whether it could much longer survive in the face of the antagonism which confronted it. But when Mr. Smyth turned the office over to his successor, in 1863, the law had become popular, and strong in the regards of nearly all the people. The changes which it had experienced were improvements, and it was everywhere working out its own praise.

In this sketch, Mr. Smyth's labors and successes in the Commissionership can not be detailed. He spared no pains in promoting the interests which the State had confided to him. Whether looking after members of the legislature who were working against the law, or performing ordinary office duties, or traveling and addressing the people, he showed untiring industry and enthusiastic devotion to the good cause. When he declined, another nomination, the State Teachers' Association, at their meeting in Mount Vernon, passed a resolution highly approving his administration. David Tod, then Governor, wrote of him to a friend: "The most faithful manner in which Mr. Smyth has discharged the arduous duties of School Commissioner of our State for the last six years, involving, as it did, the expenditure of millions of money, without the loss of a dollar, has won for him my fullest confidence and profound respect. He is an excellent business man, and a Christian gentleman." No man ever left an office stronger in the confidence and esteem of the people.

Mr. Smyth did not propose to continue longer in the educational field, and declined many invitations to positions at the head of institutions of learning. But, very unexpectedly to him, he was elected Superintendent of Instruction for Cleveland. A strong inclination to reside here, and the urgency of friends, secured his acceptance. He removed to this city in July, 1863, and was warmly welcomed by the people.

At that time, the Board of Education was in many things subordinate to the City Council, and these two bodies not always working harmoniously prevented the adoption of many reforms advocated by the Superintendant. Still, Mr. Smyth's administration was a period of great prosperity and advancement with the Cleveland schools. The gradation and classification were improved; modes of teaching were introduced which greatly promoted the purposes of education. Through his influence the use of the rod in the schools was to a great extent discontinued, while better order was secured. His success in the selection of teachers was remarkable. He seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of character, and next to none of those he placed in charge of schools proved failures. His power over teachers was very great. While he was exacting in his demands, never excusing negligence, he knew how to temper authority with kind and courteous manners.

In the management of schools, Mr. Smyth required that due regard be had to manners and morals. Arithmetic and grammar were not, in his estimation, more important than politeness and Christian morality. He encouraged the ornamentation of the school rooms with plants, flowers and engravings, which has been so generally adopted, thus rendering them attractive and conducive to taste and refinement.

For five successive years Mr. Smyth was re-elected, but the last election he declined to accept, having entered into business arrangements, that he might pay needed attention to pecuniary interests. During his superintendence the number of teachers employed in the schools increased from eighty to one hundred and thirty; the splendid school buildings now approaching completion, were planned and put under contract, the School Library was established, and all school interests were most prosperons. When he retired from the superintendence of the schools, nearly two years ago, the Leader expressed the public sentiment in regard to his services, in the following terms: "It is with unfeigned regret that we announce the resignation of Rev. Anson Smyth, as Superintendent of Instruction in this city. He has discharged the duties of this office for four years with ability and efficiency. The educational interests of the city have been guarded with jealous care; and the excellent condition of our public schools, the firm, judicious discipline that is enforced, and the thorough system of instruction well attest his zeal, ability and faithfulness. To the teachers of the schools and the citizens generally, he has given the most unqualified satisfaction, and all will sincerely regret the circumstances which have induced him to retire."

Mr. Smyth has never given up pulpit services, but has averaged to preach one sermon per Sunday ever since resigning his pastoral charge in Toledo, eighteen years ago. Though a Presbyterian in doctrine, and loyal to that church, he is remarkably free from sectarian exclusiveness, and all evangelical churches seek and obtain his ministerial services.

Within the last year he has given more than twenty addresses at college commencements, and before literary and educational associations, while he has been obliged to decline numerous applications for like labors.

The weight of fifty years and the work of a life of very great activity rest lightly upon him. He is possessed of robust health, and is as marked for energy and vivacity as he was twenty years ago. But few men, who at his age have accomplished so much labor, seem still so able to repeat their life-work.

R. F. Humiston.

The family of Humiston, or Humbastone, as it was originally called, is one of considerable antiquity, and its American branch dates from an early period in the history of this country, John Humbastone, its founder, having settled in New Haven, Connecticut, towards the middle of the seventeenth century. For over two hundred years the family, or a portion of it, resided in the same neighborhood, about seven miles out of New Haven, on the Quinnipiac river. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, several members of the family took part in the struggle on the side of the patriots, and did good service.

Caleb Humiston (the name had been corrupted in the course of time) was of the third generation in descent from John Humbastone, the original settler in New Haven. He was born on the old homestead on the Quinnipiac river, inherited a portion of it, and lived there until he was thirty years old. Then he removed to Berkshire county, Massachusetts, settling down in 1816 on a farm he had purchased in Great Barrington. He was at this time a farmer in comfortable circumstances, but misfortune came upon him, his property passed from his control, and he was reduced to extremely narrow circumstances. When this misfortune came upon him he had already been burdened with a large family. Ten children had been born, one of whom died, but the others grew up and had to be provided for, the family consisting of seven boys and two girls. It is a noteworthy fact, that with the exception of the child who died in infancy, and Caleb Humeston himself, there has been no death in the family for over half a century, the youngest of them now living being thirty-eight years old. The family had been noted for its longevity, the average age of the ancestors of the present generation being between seventy and eighty years.

R. F. Humiston, whose life we propose briefly to sketch, was born in Great Barrington, July 29th, 1821. The misfortune suffered by his father overtook him when R. F. was nine years old, and from that time each one of the children was capable to do something towards earning a living. Tools were provided for each, proper work marked out, and every one held responsible for the faithful performance of the allotted task. As long as could be afforded, the children were sent to the district school, but the grade of education provided was low, and the knowledge acquired meagre. In his ninth year, R. F. Humiston was taken from school and put to earn his living with a neighbor, with whom he remained a year, and was then placed to work in a cotton factory at Stockbridge, Mass. His duty in this establishment was to tend a spinning jenny, and the winter hours of labor were from six o'clock in the morning to eight at night, with half an hour's intermission for dinner.

His health failing through the severity of this labor, his parents took him from this factory and placed him in another factory, for the manufacture of cotton batting and wadding, in West Stockbridge. Here he remained several months, but was obliged to leave on account of sickness.

In the Spring of 1833, the family removed to Ohio. After selling his farm and paying his debts, Caleb Humiston had barely sufficient left with which to reach Hudson, Ohio. Here he engaged in making brick, the subject of this sketch, twelve years old, assisting in the brick yard. Change of climate, hard work, and want brought sickness on the whole family, and before R. F. Humiston was fifteen years old the physicians pronounced his constitution entirely broken down, and that he could never do severe labor. He availed himself of an offer to become clerk of a store in Hudson, and clerked there and in Cleveland until he was sixteen years old. When clerk in a Cleveland bookstore, the proprietor failed and the books were taken to Buffalo, young Humiston receiving an offer of a clerkship in that city. This he declined, refusing to desert his family, who were in poverty, and working hard. His health having been partially restored, he took off his good clothes and re-entered the brick yard, where he remained until he was eighteen years old. Whilst in the store he had learned to keep books, and turned this knowledge to account in arranging his fathers business. A number of the better class of citizens of Hudson insisted on the boy having an education, and a merchant offered to bear the expense of a collegiate course, but the boy was too useful in his father's business to be spared, and so the opportunity was lost.

But the brick-making did not suit the boy, who was ambitious, and desirous of learning. In the Winter after he was eighteen, he went to learn the trade of a carpenter, agreeing to pay his father for his unexpired time as soon as he became of age. He learned the carpenter's trade of Samuel Johnson, in Ravenna, an intelligent man, who was highly respected by his neighbors, and whose influence was of great benefit to his apprentice, forming correct habits, and giving him moral and intellectual training.

Young Humiston was ambitious to excel as a mechanic, and spent his evenings in studying architecture and examining plans for buildings. There was no eight or ten hour system in those days. Mechanics worked from daylight to dark, frequently continuing their labors sixteen hours. Under this severe strain his health again gave way, and in September, 1841, he was reluctantly compelled to abandon the trade of a carpenter, except to work about three days in the week in order to pay his board.

At this point he determined to gain an education, and endeavor to earn a living by his brain, since his muscles failed him. He returned to Hudson with the purpose of entering college, his entire capital being ten cents in money and a few tools, with which he hoped to earn enough to pay for his board and tuition. He remained at the college five years, working at his trade by the hour, and doing odd jobs, teaching an occasional term, and working hard as a carpenter in vacations. His studies and labors were unremitting, sometimes allowing him but three hours' sleep out of the twenty-four. As might be expected, his health again gave way, and he was obliged to leave. The college conferred on him the honorary degree of M. A., and the Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, subsequently conferred the same degree, both without solicitation.

[Illustration: R. F. Humiston.]

On leaving college he went into the nursery business, not having physical stamina sufficient to prosecute his studies for the ministry, as intended. In this business he continued directly for eighteen months, and partially for five or six years.

In the Fall of 1847, he commenced teaching in the public schools in Cuyahoga Falls, and in the following Spring established a private school, the Cuyahoga Falls Seminary. At the end of that year he was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction and principal of the high school. He continued his seminary, having assistants, and the privilege being allowed him of spending a portion of his time in the management of that establishment. In the Fall of 1849, he came to Cleveland and was appointed principal of the Rockwell street grammar school, where he remained seven years, bringing up the school from a low pitch to rank among the foremost in the city. His salary, when he began to teach in Cleveland was but five hundred dollars, and out of this he had to provide for two families, his own and that of his parents. To add to his small stipend, he taught evening school, and took agencies in the vacation. At the same time he was repeatedly offered other situations at better salaries, and was invited to become the principal of a State Normal school. He tendered his resignation as principal of the Rockwell street school, but was induced to remain on promise of increase of salary. Finally, becoming weary of that hope deferred that maketh the heart sick, he resigned and was engaged at a much higher salary, to establish, under the patronage of an association of leading citizens, the Cleveland Academy. This enterprise was very successful, and the position pleasant, a fine corps of assistants being gathered around him.

After two years labor in this position, some gentlemen connected with the property on University Heights, requested him to engage in the enterprise of a school on the Heights, in the building erected for a college under president Mahan, but which now lay unfinished and unoccupied, the college scheme having failed. They offered rent and grounds free, but he refused, until they agreed to sell him the whole property for a nominal sum, if he could acquire a clear title, the ownership having become badly involved by the failure of the college. This he eventually accomplished after much labor, and took possession of the property in 1856.

The task was a gigantic one to a man like Mr. Humiston, with limited funds and uncertain health. The building was unfinished and needed considerable expenditure to put it in shape for occupation. The location though very promising in the distant future, was then very inconvenient of access, and was therefore objectionable. But Mr. Humiston possessed a determined will and he set to work without delay. He borrowed money, fitted up a portion of the building, and opened the Cleveland Institute with strong hopes for the future, but gloomy prospects in the present.

About the middle of the second year the building took fire and a large portion of the interior was destroyed. The school was closed for six months, and with characteristic energy Mr. Humiston went to work to repair damages, enlarging the building, and again involving himself in debt to meet the expense. Success crowned his enterprise. The number of scholars increased rapidly, and again the building had to be enlarged and improved.

The institute was continued ten years, and the gross income in its later years ranged from $20,000 to $31,000 per year. During nearly the whole time Mr. Humiston taught himself, and usually five hours out of the six devoted to studies. At the same time he gave medical lectures at the Western Homoeopathic College, and managed all the affairs of the institute, keeping no agent or steward. He purchased and fitted up in the institute a fine chemical and philosophical apparatus, collected a good library and several valuable cabinets of specimens in natural history, geology, and mineralogy. The corps of teachers was large and of superior talents.

In 1868, Mr. Humiston, considering that he had earned a respite from his arduous and unremitting labors, accepted an offer from some gentlemen desirous of establishing a Homoeopathic Hospital, and sold his building' with half the adjoining grounds for $35,000. He then accepted the tender of the agency of the American Missionary Association in Great Britain, and early in 1869 left for Europe, having previously visited the South in order to acquaint himself with the condition of the freedmen, whose cause he designed especially to present. After a year or more spent in this work he designs visiting the remainder of Europe, North Africa, and the Holy Land.

Mr. Humiston has, since 1859, held the position of Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in the Western Homoeopathic College, and has given ten courses of lectures in that institution. Each year he insisted on resigning, but the resignation has always been refused. On closing his educational career he again resigned, but the college again refused to accept his resignation, promising to supply his place temporarily during his absence in Europe.

The distinguishing characteristic of Mr. Humiston is his strong will, and this is well exemplified in the fact that although born with a constitutional fierce thirst for liquor, he has been able to continue in right habits of temperance through all temptation, though at the cost of many powerful struggles with his inordinate cravings. He is a man of strong religions convictions, and has been so from his youth up. For many years he was connected with the Methodist church on University Heights. As an educator he ranks among the best in the State, and was held in deservedly high esteem by those who had themselves been taught by him, or whose children had been brought up under his tuition.

Railroading

First of the railroads of any description chartered in connection with Cleveland were the Cleveland and Newburgh and Cleveland and Bedford Railroad Companies. The first named was incorporated in 1835, built soon after, and for some time run by horse power, hauling stone and timber, and occasionally passengers. It was eventually abandoned. The Cleveland and Bedford was never built. Another local road, run by horse power, with wooden rails, was, about the same time, constructed between the city and East Cleveland, passing up Euclid street.

The Ohio Railroad was of a different character. It was intended to run along the lake shore from the Pennsylvania line to Toledo, mostly to be built on piles. Considerable work was done, though no iron laid, when the financial crisis overwhelmed it and its kindred schemes. The piles driven for the track are yet visible in places between Cleveland and Sandusky. The rights of the company, as far as they existed, afterwards became the property of the Junction Railroad Company, now the Cleveland and Toledo. Of the same period, was the Cleveland, Warren and Pittsburgh. This was chartered in 1836, the act of incorporation authorizing the construction of a railroad from Cleveland, in the direction of Pittsburgh, to the State line of Pennsylvania. At the point of intersection with the State line, the charter provided for the union of the road with any other road which the State of Pennsylvania might authorize from Pittsburgh, or any other point below the Ohio river, running in the direction of Cleveland, in order that a continuous route might be perfected from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, under the authority of both States. The charter was very loose in its provisions, allowing the president and directors to create and sell stock as in their judgement occasion might require, without limit as to the amount issued, except that it should not exceed the needs of the company. Plenary powers were granted to the company in the selection of a route, the condemnation of land, and like "full and discretionary power" was granted to the company in "the use and occupancy of the road, in the transportation of persons or property, either by the force and power of steam, or animals, or any mechanical or other power, or any combination of them, which the company may think proper to employ." The cost of the line was estimated to be less than $7,000 per mile. The road was to be an extension of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a branch of which was to extend to Pittsburgh, and thus would "give the whole vast region of the western lakes an opportunity of marketing their products in, and receiving their foreign produce from Philadelphia and Baltimore, at least rive weeks earlier in the season, and at much less expense," than was accomplished at New York.

In the same year a charter was obtained for the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, connecting Cleveland and Cincinnati by the way of Columbus.

None of the roads were built under these charters. The financial panic of 1837 swept them all into oblivion, together with a multitude of other roads projected throughout the country. Some of them were heard of no more, and others were revived in after years, the charters greatly amended, and the roads eventually built. The design of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company was eventually carried out to the extent of building a line to Columbus and there connecting with railroads extending to Cincinnati. The Cleveland, Warren and Pittsburgh charter was dug up, amended, and made authority for organization of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, whilst the original route was mainly occupied by the new Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad.

The Cleveland and Bedford was at last rendered unnecessary by the Cleveland and Pittsburgh passing over its route, whilst the Cleveland and Newburgh reap-pears as a street railroad, for passengers only, the original design of a local railroad for freight being abandoned thirty odd years ago.

In 1845, the lapsed charter of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company was revived, revised, and a new company organized, with John W. Allen, Richard Hilliard, Jolin M. Woolsey and H. B. Payne as Cleveland directors, and John W. Allen as president. Between the organization of the company and the construction of the road there was a wide gulf of difficulties, jealousies and enmities, bridged over at last by untiring perseverance and unwavering faith in the final success of the undertaking. The story of the struggle is told incidentally in the biographical sketches of those connected with the enterprise. All that we have to do here is, to briefly sketch the leading features in the narrative as it has been already told, after a careful examination of the documentary history of the company. That account says the incorporation of the company had been obtained in the year 1845, with a proviso authorizing the city of Cleveland to subscribe two millions of dollars to the stock. The bonds of the city were promptly given, but before any money could be obtained upon these bonds it was necessary that a further subscription should be made by the citizens, not only to meet the current expenses, but to give assurance to capitalists abroad that the people here were really in earnest, and would not suffer the undertaking to fall through. After a thorough canvass of the city, by two well known and respected citizens, it was found that not more than twenty-five thousand dollars could be obtained. There was both a scarcity of cash and a lack of faith in the enterprise.

John M. Woolsey was sent to Cincinnati to negotiate the city bonds with the Ohio Life and Trust Company; to Pittsburgh to ascertain upon what terms iron could be obtained; and to Philadelphia and New York to enlist the sympathy and help of capitalists. The mission was a failure. The common strap iron of that day could not be obtained without cash on delivery, and the money could not be procured on any terms. Cleveland was too far off, and entirely unknown to the moneyed men of the eastern cities. Thus, in the Spring of 1847, one of the very darkest periods in our history, it was determined to abandon the enterprise for the time, and await a more favorable season.

In this desperate extremity Mr. Hilliard and Mr. Payne volunteered another and last effort of three months personal labor to arouse their fellow citizens to a proper sense of the importance and ultimate value of this grand undertaking. By patient perseverance they succeeded in securing a leading subscription of five thousand dollars from Leonard Case, who also consented to become a director of the company. The ultimate result of the solicitations was the subscription of about $40,000 additional to the amount previously pledged. About the same time an accession of the utmost importance was made when Alfred Kelley, of Columbus, accepted the presidency of the road, contrary to his inclination to retire from further public duties and to the strong remonstrances of his personal friends. Through the influence of Mr. Dwight, of Springfield, Mass., the directors secured the services of Captain Childs, well known among Eastern capitalists as a skillful engineer, and his endorsement of the company did much to advance its credit abroad. But it was still necessary to secure a large disposal of stock at home, and to effect this, a liberal additional assessment upon the friends of the road was made and accepted. Mr. Childs finally recommended Mr. Harbeck, who, in company with Stillman Witt and Amasa Stone, Jr., undertook and carried out the building of the road to its completion.

In February, 1851, the first through train arrived from Columbus, bringing the State authorities and the Legislature, to celebrate the union of the two cities. Thus the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad was the pioneer of the series of the now enlarged, and most important enterprises so clearly identified with the growth of the city. The chairman of the building committee stated at the opening of the new depot, that during the entire building of that road, there was not a dollar paid as a bribe to either the Legislature or the City Council, to receive their favors.

The terminus of the road at Cleveland was originally intended to be on Scranton's Flats, but it was afterwards determined to bring the road across the river to the site of the old New England House. Appreciating the importance of extending it to the lake shore, the contractors agreed to grade the road free of charge from that point to the lake, and it was accordingly carried forward to its present terminus.

In 1869, the road was consolidated with the Bellefontaine line, thus placing its western terminus in Indianapolis. Its southern stem had previously been extended by way of the Delaware Cut-Off to Springfield, thus opening another connection with Cincinnati.

We have already said that the charter of the Cleveland, Warren and Pittsburgh Railroad, after sleeping for several years, was dug up, amended, and the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad Company organized under it. The resuscitation of the charter took place in March, 1845, when the route was changed from "the most direct in the direction of Pittsburgh," to "the most direct, practicable, and least expensive route to the Ohio river, at the most suitable point." The company organized at Ravenna, in October of the same year, with James Stewart, of Wellsville, as president, A. G. Cattell, as secretary, and Cyrus Prentiss, as treasurer. The route was surveyed, meetings held in aid of the project, and in July, 1847, the first contracts let from Wellsville northward, and the work of construction commenced. The northern end dragged, owing to the slow coming in of subscriptions, and the work was not fully let until 1849.

In February, 1851, the line was opened from Cleveland to Hudson, and the General Assembly and State officers who had come to Cleveland to attend the celebration of the opening of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, accepted an invitation to ride over the new railroad to Hudson. A short supply of provisions at Hudson, and the ditching of the train on the return trip, made the weary and hungry legislators long remember their pioneer trip over the unfinished Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad. In March following, the track was completed to Ravenna, in November to Hanover, at which time free passes for "each stockholder and his lady," and "landholders through whose land the road passes, with their wives," were issued, good for one ride over the line and return, that they might see the whole of the stupendous undertaking and admire it. In January 1852, connection was made with the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad at Alliance, and a route thus opened to Pittsburgh, and in March, of the same year, the line was opened to Wellsville, and connection with the Ohio river perfected, thus completing the work laid out in the amended charter.

At different times, subsequently, authority was granted by the General Assembly for the extension of the line and the construction of branches. In this way the River Division was built, connecting the Wellsville end with Pittsburgh by a junction with the Ohio and Pennsylvania at Rochester, and with the Baltimore and Ohio and Central Ohio, by a line to Bellair. The Tuscarawas Branch was built to New Philadelphia, and there stopped, though its original purpose was to form a connection with the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad. Authority was also given to build a branch from Hudson towards the Ohio and Pennsylvania and any line running in the direction of Columbus. A separate company afterwards constructed this "Akron Branch," or Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad, so far as Millersburgh. The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad has had a serious financial struggle to go through, but it has come out as an important and prosperous line. It is now working under a consolidation of earnings with the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, formerly known as the Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company, now, after several consolidations and changes of title, forming part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad Company, was part of the general plan of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, was built under much of the same influence, and has always been intimately connected with it in its working. The charter was obtained by special act in 1848, and empowered the corporators to build a line by way of Painesville, through Ashtabula county, to the Pennsylvania State line, and to continue their line into that State to any point authorized by the Pennsylvania Legislature. That part of the road extending to Erie, in the State of Pennsylvania, was constructed under the charter of the Franklin Canal Company, passed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, the 21st day of May, 1846, and amended April 9th, 1849, giving it authority to construct a railroad.

The company was organized August 1st, 1849, by the selection of Alfred Kelley, Samuel L. Seldin, Heman B. Ely, George E. Gillett, David R. Paige, Laphnor Lake and Peleg P. Sanford as directors, and Heman B. Ely as president, and the surveys from Cleveland were made under the superintendence of Frederick Harbeck as chief engineer, and from the State line to Erie he acted as consulting engineer, filling both situations until his death, which occurred in the month of February, 1851. A contract for the construction of the road from Cleveland to the State line of Pennsylvania was made with Frederick Harbeck, A. Stone, Jr., and Stillman Witt, on the 26th day of July, 1850, but the work progressed slowly for six months after the contract was concluded, principally for the reason that there was no confidence in the ability of a railroad from Cleveland to Erie or Buffalo to compete with the lake in the transportation of persons and property, and the contractors expended more than $100,000 of their means before a like amount could be raised through all other sources. In the month of January, 1851, the Hon. Alfred Kelley was appointed general agent of the company with unlimited authority to raise funds and press forward the work of completion. He entered upon his duties with his usual indomitable perseverance and energy, fully seconded by the directors and contractors, and they had the satisfaction of passing a locomotive over its entire length late in the autumn of the year 1852.

The act conferring authority on the Franklin Canal Company to construct a railroad from the State line of Ohio to the city of Erie, being regarded by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania as doubtful, they repealed it on the 28th day of January, 1854. On the 5th day of May, 1856, the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania passed an act authorizing the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company to purchase the road as constructed from the State line to Erie, and to operate it under the general law of the State of Pennsylvania, passed the 19th day of February, 1849. The history of the Pennsylvania portion of the line reflects no credit on that State. The petty and vexations "Erie War" in 1854, by which a portion of the people of Erie attempted to prevent a through connection of the road at that place, and the unjustifiable expenses to which the company were subjected by the Legislature, are blots on the record of that State.

The road was operated jointly with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad until April 1st, 1855, when the management was divided. In 1869, it was consolidated, first with the Cleveland and Toledo and then with the Michigan Southern and Buffalo and Erie Railroads. The Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula has been one of the most profitable railroads in the country.

The story of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad Company--one of persistent struggle against apparently insurmountable difficulties, is told in great part in the sketch of the life of Jacob Perkins, to whose labors and sacrifices the success of the undertaking is in great measure due. The road was projected to develope more fully the mineral and agricultural resource of Trumbull and Mahoning counties, and to find a market for their products in Pittsburgh or Cleveland. Unlike many projected railroads, the first object of this line was a local trade; the through business anticipated was a secondary consideration. The Company was incorporated in 1851, and the first meeting of stockholders held at, Warren, Trumbull county, in June, 1852, when $300,000 local subscriptions were reported and it was determined to survey and prepare estimates for the road. The directors under whom this work was commenced were Jacob Perkins, Frederick Kinsman and Charles Smith, of Warren, David Tod, of Youngstown, Dudley Baldwin of Cleveland, Robert Cunningham, of New Castle, and James Magee, of Philadelphia. In order to aid the enterprise by securing connections, they opened negotiations with the Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad, and the Pittsburgh and Erie Railroad, but without success. About the same time a contract was made with the Junction Railroad, afterwards merged in the Cleveland and Toledo Road, for purchase of ground near the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, on the west side, and the right of way obtained through a portion of Ohio City, and through Scranton's Hill to the west end of the Columbus street bridge, near which the freight depot was afterwards established. In 1853, the principal office of the Company was removed to Cleveland, which was made the head quarters of the Company.

After surveying different routes and hesitating over the choice between them, it was decided to build the road from Cleveland, on the West Side, and running through Scranton's hill to Newburgh, Bedford, Aurora, Mantua and Warren, fifty-three miles, and thence down the Mahoning Valley to Youngstown and Poland, to the east line of the State.

Repeated attempts were made to induce the Legislature of Pennsylvania to authorize an extension of the road in that State, but owing to the opposition of the Pittsburgh and Erie Bailroad, and especially of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, the desired permission was finally refused. The estimated aggregate cost of the road was about one and three-quarter millions of dollars, and when the principal contracts for labor and iron were made, there was a very fair prospect of disposing of the bonds of the company to advantage, and thus, in addition to the loans effected in Philadelphia, New York and at home, the means to complete the work were reasonably anticipated. In the Directors' Report of 1854, they were obliged to announce unlooked for embarrassments, growing out of the altered condition of the money market. The story of the seemingly hopeless, but finally successful, struggle that followed is told in another part of this work. At length, in 1857, after five or six years of persevering efforts, and most perplexing difficulties, the road was opened through to Youngstown; substantial machine shops were built at Cleveland, station houses erected along the route, and the coal and iron of the Mahoning Valley were made accessible by a quick and easy route.

In October, 1863, the road was leased for ninety-nine years to the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, which had already laid a broad gauge upon the track, That company now controls the main line to Youngstown, with the several branches to Hubbard and the coal mines. The narrow gauge is kept up for the use of the Mahoning trains, freight and passenger, while the broad gauge is used by the Atlantic and Great Western through trains. The track has been extended to the shore of the old river bed, an extensive wharfage established, and large facilities obtained for connecting the traffic of the road with the lake commerce.

The Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company was formed by the consolidation of two rival and nearly parallel lines. One of the companies thus united, was incorporated as the Junction Railroad Company, and the other by the name of the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company. The former was incorporated by an act of the legislature of Ohio, passed on the second day of March, 1846; and the latter, by an act of the seventh of March, 1850. The Junction Railroad Company, by its original charter and two amendments, in 1861, was authorized to construct a railroad from the city of Cleveland to the west line of the State by such route as the directors might determine, with power to construct branches to any points within the counties through which the main line might pass. The charter of the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company, authorized the construction of a railroad from Toledo, by the way of Norwalk, in the county of Huron, to a connection with the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad, at some point in the counties of Huron or Lorain. The authorized capital stock of the Junction Company was three millions, and that of the other company, two millions of dollars.

The consolidation was effected, and the new company organized on the first of September, A. D. 1853, under the specific provisions of the twelfth section of the amendment to the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad charter, passed on the first of March, 1850. Under its charter, the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad Company constructed a road from the east bank of the Maumee river, opposite the city of Toledo, to Grafton, where it connects with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad, twenty-five miles south-west from the city of Cleveland, being a distance of eighty-seven and one-half miles, all of which was finished and put into operation in January, 1853. This became known as the Southern Division of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad.

The Northern Division, or Junction Railroad, was originally intended to run from Cleveland, west side, via Berea and Sandusky, westward to a point on the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad some twenty miles west of Toledo, and crossing the track of the Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland Railroad at a point about eight miles east of the same city. The road was opened between Cleveland and Sandusky and operations commenced upon it in the Fall of 1858, immediately after the consolidation. The original project of a separate line to the west was carried out by the consolidated corporation so far as to construct the road to its intersection with the old Toledo, Norwalk and Cleveland track, from which point both lines approached Toledo over the same right of way. This line was operated over its whole length until the 31st day of December, 1858, on which day the use for regular business of that portion lying west of Sandusky was discontinued, and all the through travel and traffic turned upon the Southern Division. On the 30th of July, 1856, a contract was entered into with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company by which the Cleveland and Toledo Company acquired the right to use the track of the first named company from Grafton to Cleveland, for the Southern Division trains, and from Berea to Cleveland for the Northern Division, and thence forward all trains were run into, and departed from, the Union Depot in Cleveland--a change which soon resulted in the practical abandonment, for the time, of that portion of the Northern Division lying between Berea and Cleveland on the west side of Cuyahoga river. This arrangement, together with the completion, in 1855, of a bridge over the Maumee river at Toledo, enabled the company to receive and discharge its passengers in union depots at each end of its line. During the years 1865 and 1866, about eight miles of new road were constructed between Elyria on the Northern Division, and Oberlin on the Southern Division, for the purpose of allowing all trains to leave and come upon the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Road at Berea, thirteen miles, instead of Grafton, twenty-five miles from Cleveland. This new piece of road was opened for business on the 10th of September, 1866, and the road between Oberlin and Grafton immediately abandoned, The construction of a bridge near the mouth of the Cuyahoga river at Cleveland, brought the Northern Division line between Cleveland and Berea once more into use, and over it the freight trains of the line are now run. In 1869, the company was made part of the Consolidated line between Buffalo and Chicago.

The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, by its lease of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad, has become an important part of the Cleveland railroad System. The company was organized in 1851, as the Franklin and Warren Railroad Company, to build a road from Franklin Mills (now Kent) in Portage County, to Warren, in Trumbull county, with power to extend to a point in the eastern line of the State, northeast of Warren and southwesterly to Dayton, Ohio. In July, 1853, operations were actively commenced along the whole line, but were soon seriously retarded by financial embarrassments. In 1854, the Franklin and Warren Railroad Company, under authority of an Act of the General Assembly of 1853, changed its name to the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company. Two years before, a project had been started to extend the broad gauge of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad through Ohio, northeastern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York, to connect with the New York and Erie Railroad. This route would run through Meadville, Pennsylvania, Warren, Kent, Akron and Galion to Dayton, Ohio. In 1858, the Meadville Railroad Company changed their name to the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of Pennsylvania. In 1859, a company was organized in the State of New York, under the name of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad in New York, and purchased in 1860 of the New York and Erie Railroad Company thirty eight miles of their road, from Salamanca to near Ashville. These thirty eight miles with eleven miles of new line, make up the entire length of line of this road in the State of New York. Each of the above companies made contracts for the building of their respective roads.

In the Fall of 1858, negotiations were commenced in London with James McHenry, for the means to carry on the work. T. W. Kennard, a civil engineer, came over as the attorney of Mr. McHenry, and engineer in chief of the whole work. In 1862, the road was opened from Corry to Meadville, Pennsylvania. In 1863, it was extended to Warren, and in the next year to Ravenna and Akron--202 miles from Salamanca.

In October, 1863, the three companies above named, leased for ninety-nine years, the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad, extending from Cleveland southerly to Youngstown, Ohio, sixty-seven miles. This road has a narrow gauge track crossing the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad at Leavittsburgh, Ohio, fifty miles south of Cleveland. The Atlantic and Great Western Company laid a rail on either side of the narrow track, thus carrying the broad gauge into Cleveland, and a broad gauge train from the city of New York entered Cleveland on the evening of November 3rd, 1863. Subsequently the several companies forming the Atlantic and Great Western line were consolidated into one line, and this again was, in 1869, consolidated with the Erie Railway.

Besides opening a new and important thoroughfare to the East, this line has opened up to Cleveland the resources of north-western Pennsylvania, and in the oil product has added an immense and highly profitable trade to the business of the city.

Several lines have been built, connecting with and adding business to the railroads leading to Cleveland, but of these it is not the province of this work to speak. A large number of new railroads have been from time to time projected in various directions. Some of these "paper railroads" have intrinsic merit, and these, or lines aiming at the same objects, will eventually be built.

[Illustration: Yours truly, Jacob Perkins]

Jacob Perkins.

Jacob Perkins was born at Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, September 1st, 1822, being next to the youngest of the children of Gen. Simon Perkins, one of the earliest and most prominent, business men of norther Ohio, a land agent of large business, and the owner of extensive tracts of land. In his early years Jacob Perkins developed a strong inclination for study, acquiring knowledge with unusual facility, and gratifying his intense passion for reading useful works by every means within his power.

He commenced fitting himself for college at the Burton Academy, then under the direction of Mr. H. L. Hitchcock, now president of Western Reserve College, and completed his preparation at Middletown, Connecticut, in the school of Isaac Webb. He entered Yale College in 1837.

While in college he was distinguished for the elegance of his style and the wide range of his literary acquirements. He delivered the philosophic oration at his junior exhibition, and was chosen second editor of "Yale Literary Magazine," a position in which he took great interest, and filled to the satisfaction and pride of his class. His college course was, however, interrupted by a long and severe illness before the close of his junior year, which compelled him to leave his studies and (to his permanent regret) prevented him from graduating with his own class. He returned the following year and was graduated with the class of 1842.

He entered his father's office at Warren, and was occupied with its business until, upon the death of his father, some two years afterwards, he became one of his executors.

During his residence at Warren he appeared occasionally before home audiences as a public speaker, and always with great acceptance.

In politics, he early adopted strong anti-slavery principles, then not the popular doctrine, and they were always freely and openly advocated. Of an address delivered in 1848, which was published and attracted very considerable local attention, the editor of the Chronicle remarked, "We have listened to the best orators of the land, from the Connecticut to the Mississippi, and can truly say, by none have we been so thoroughly delighted in every particular as by this effort of our distinguished townsman." The oration discussed the true theory of human rights and the legitimate powers of human government--and the following extract gives the spirit of his political principles on the subject of slavery:

The object of law is not to make rights, but to define and maintain them; man possesses them before the existence of law, the same as he does afterwards. No matter what government may extend its control over him; no matter how miserable or how sinful the mother in whose arms his eyes opened to the day; no matter in what hovel his infancy is nursed; no matter what complexion--an Indian or an African sun may have burned upon him, this may decide the privileges which he is able to assert, but can not affect the existence of his rights. His self-mastery is the gift of his creator, and oppression, only, can take it away.

Without solicitation he was nominated and elected a member of the Convention that framed the present Constitution of Ohio. His associates from the district were Judges Peter Hitchcock and R. P. Ranney, and although "he was the youngest member but one of the Convention--and in the minority, his influence and position were excelled by few."

He was one of the Senatorial Presidential Electors for Ohio on the Fremont ticket in 1856.

In the intellectual progress of the young about him, and the building up of schools and colleges, he took especial interest. He first suggested and urged upon President Pierce to adopt the conditions of the present "Permanent Fund of Western Reserve College," rather than to solicit unconditional contributions, which experience had proved were so easily absorbed by present necessities, and left the future as poor as the past. In connection with his brothers, he made the first subscription to that fund. The embarrassment arising from his railroad enterprise prevented him from increasing that contribution. The wisdom of his suggestions was subsequently shown, when, during the rupture and consequent embarrassment under which the college labored, the income of this fund had a very important, if not vital share in saving it from abandonment, and afterwards proved the nucleus of its present endowment.

He was always efficient in favoring improvements. He was associated with Hon. F. Kinsman and his brother in founding the beautiful Woodland Cemetery at Warren. The land was purchased and the ground laid out by them, and then transferred to the present corporation.

Soon after his return from the Constitutional Convention, he became interested in the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad. He was most influential in obtaining the charter and organizing the company, of which he was elected president, and became the principal, almost sole financial manager.

Owing to prior and conflicting railroad interests, little aid could be obtained for his project in either of the terminal cities, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and the work was commenced in 1853 with a comparatively small stock subscription. A tightening money market prevented any considerable increase of the stock list, or a favorable disposition of the bonds of the road, and the financial crisis a few years afterwards so reduced the value of the securities of this, as of all unfinished railroads, as practically to shut them out of the market. In this emergency the alternative presented itself to Mr. Perkins and his resident directors, either to abandon the enterprise and bankrupt the company, with the entire loss of the amount expended, or to push it forward to completion by the pledge, and at the risk of their private fortunes, credit, and reputations.

In this, the darkest day of the enterprise, Mr. Perkins manifested his confidence in its ultimate success, and his generous willingness to meet fully his share of the hazard to be incurred, by proposing to them, jointly with him, to assume that risk; and agreeing that in case of disaster, he would himself pay the first $100,000 of loss, and thereafter share it equally with them.

With a devotion to the interests entrusted to them, a determination rarely equalled in the history of our railroad enterprises, they unanimously accepted this proposition, and determined to complete the road, at least to a remunerative point in the coal fields of the Mahoning Valley.

The financial storm was so much more severe and longer continued than the wisest had calculated upon, that for years the result was regarded by them and the friends of the enterprise with painful suspense. In the interest of the road Mr. Perkins spent the Spring of 1854 in England, without achieving any important financial results.

At length, in 1856, the road was opened to Youngstown, and its receipts, carefully husbanded, began slowly to lessen the floating debt, by that time grown to frightful proportions, and carried solely by the pledge of the private property and credit of the president and Ohio directors. These directors, consisting of Hon. Frederick Kinsman and Charles Smith, of Warren, Governor David Tod, of Briar Hill, Judge Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville, and Dudley Baldwin, of Cleveland, by the free use of their widely known and high business credit, without distrust or dissension, sustained the president through that long and severe trial, a trial which can never be realized except by those who shared its burdens. The president and these directors should ever be held in honor by the stockholders of the company, whose investment they saved from utter loss, and by the business men of the entire Mahoning Valley, and not less by the city of Cleveland; for the mining and manufacturing interests developed by their exertions and sacrifices, lie at the very foundation of the present prosperity of both.

Before, however, the road was enabled to free itself from financial embarrassment, so to as commence making a satisfactory return to the stockholders, which Mr. Perkins was exceedingly anxious to see accomplished under his own presidency--his failing health compelled him to leave its active management, and he died before the bright day dawned upon the enterprise.

He said to a friend during his last illness, with characteristic distinctness: "If I die, you may inscribe on my tomb stone, Died of the Mahoning Railroad;" so great had been his devotion to the interests of the road, and so severe the personal exposures which its supervision had required of him, who was characteristically more thoughtful of every interest confided to his care, than of his own health.

He was married October 24th, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth O. Tod, daughter of Dr. J. I. Tod, of Milton, Trumbull county, Ohio, and removed his family to Cleveland in 1856. Of three children, only one, Jacob Bishop, survives him. Mrs. Perkins died of rapid consumption, June 4th, 1857, and his devoted attention at the sick bed of his wife greatly facilitated the development of the same insidious disease, which was gradually to undermine his own naturally vigorous constitution.

The business necessities of his road, embarrassed and pressing as they were, united with his uniform self-forgetfulness, prevented his giving attention to his personal comfort and health, long after his friends saw the shadow of the destroyer falling upon his path. He was finally, in great prostration of health and strength, compelled to leave the active duties of the road and spent the latter part of the Winter of 1857-8 in the Southern States, but returned in the Spring with little or no improvement. He continued to fail; during the Summer and in the Fall of 1858 he again went South in the vain hope of at least physical relief, and died in Havana, Cuba, January 12th, 1859. His remains were embalmed and brought home by his physician who had accompanied him--and were interred at Warren, in Woodland Cemetery, where so many of his family repose around him. A special train from either end of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad brought the board of directors and an unusually large number of business and personal friends to join the long procession which followed "the last of earth" to its resting place.

One of the editorial notices of his death, at the time, very justly remarks of him:

He was a man of mark, and through strength of talent, moral firmness and urbanity of manner, wielded an influence seldom possessed by a man of his years. In addition to his remarkable business capacity, Mr. Perkins was a man of high literary taste, which was constantly improving and enriching his mind. He continued, even amid his pressing-business engagements, his habits of study and general reading. Mr. Perkins belonged to that exceptional class of cases in which great wealth, inherited, does not injure the recipient.

An editorial of a Warren paper, mentioning his death, says:

He was born in this town in 1821, and from his boyhood exhibited a mental capacity and energy which was only the promise of the brilliancy of his manhood. To his exertion, his personal influence and liberal investment of capital the country is indebted for the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad. To his unremitting labor in this enterprise he has sacrificed personal comfort and convenience, and we fear, shortened his days by his labors and exposure in bringing the work to completion. Known widely as Mr. Perkins has been by his active part in public enterprises, his loss will be felt throughout the State, but we who have known him both as boy and man, have a deeper interest in him, and the sympathies of the people of Warren, with his relatives, will have much of the nature of personal grief for one directly connected with them.

Said a classmate in the class meeting of 1862:

Although his name on the catalogue ranks with the class of 1842, his affections were with us, and he always regarded himself of our number. He visited New Haven frequently during the latter part of his life, in connection with a railway enterprise, in which he was interested, and exhibited the same large-heartedness and intellectual superiority which won for him universal respect during his college course.

A gentleman who knew Mr. Perkins intimately, and as a director was associated with him in the construction of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad, and in carrying its debt, wrote of him as follows:

The management and construction of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad by Mr. Perkins, under circumstances the most difficult and trying, were well calculated to test his powers, and, in that work he proved himself possessed of business capacity rarely equalled, sustained by unquestioned integrity, and remarkable energy. These qualifications, united with his large wealth, gave him the requisite influence with business men and capitalists. His devotion to the interests of the road, his abiding confidence in a favorable result, and his clear and just appreciation of its value, and importance to the community, called forth his best efforts, and were essential conditions of success. To him more than to any other individual are the projection, inauguration, and accomplishment of this enterprise attributable. From its earliest projection, he had a most comprehensive and clear view of its importance to the city of Cleveland and the Mahoning Valley, and confidently anticipated for them, in the event of its completion, a rapidity and extent of development and prosperity, which were then regarded as visionary, but which the result has fully demonstrated.

His life was spared to witness only the commencement of this prosperity, nor can it be doubted, that his close application, and unremitting efforts to forward the work shortened his life materially. His deep and absorbing interest in it, prevented the precautionary measures and relaxations, which in all probability would have prolonged his life for years. His associates in the board saw the danger and urged him to earlier and more decided measures for relief. He too was aware of their importance. But the constant demand upon his time and strength, and the continually recurring necessities of the enterprise, which he had so much at heart, were urgent, and so absorbed his thoughts and energies, that he delayed until it was obvious that relaxation could afford merely temporary relief.

In his intercourse with the board, Mr. Perkins was uniformly courteous and gentlemanly, always giving respectful attention to the suggestions of his associates, but ever proving himself thoroughly posted; readily comprehending the most judicious measures, and clearly demonstrating their wisdom. Entire harmony in the action of the directors was the result, and all had the fullest confidence in him. While his business capacity and integrity commanded their highest admiration, his urbanity, kindness and marked social qualities secured their strong personal attachment, and by them his decease was regarded as a severe personal affliction, as well as a great public loss.

Thus is briefly noticed, one who dying comparatively early, had given evidence of great business capacity, as well as the promise of unusual power and popularity with the people of his own State, and nation.

William Case.

A work professing to give sketches, however brief and incomplete, of the representative men of Cleveland, would be manifestly defective did it omit notice of the late William Case, a gentleman of sterling worth and great popularity, who was identified with much of the material progress of the city, who had a host of deeply attached friends while living, and whose memory is cherished with affectionate esteem.

[Illustration: William Case]

William Case was born to prosperity, but this, which to very many has proved the greatest misfortune of their lives, was to him no evil, but, on the contrary, a good, inasmuch as it gave him opportunity for gratifying his liberal tastes, and his desire to advance the general welfare. From his father, Leonard Case, he inherited an extraordinary business capacity, indomitable energy, and strong common sense, with correct habits. To these inherited traits he added an extensive knowledge, acquired both from books and men, and made practical by keen observation, and liberal ideas, which he carried into his business and social affairs. In all relations of life he was ever a gentleman, in the true meaning of the word, courteous to all, the rich and the poor alike, and with an instinctive repugnance to everything mean, oppressive or hypocritical. With regard to himself, he was modest to a fault, shrinking from everything that might by any possibility be construed into ostentation or self-glorification. This tribute the writer of these lines,--who owed him nothing but friendship, and who was in no way a recipient of any favor from him, other than his good will,--is glad of an opportunity to pay, and this testimony to his good qualities, falls short of the facts.

William Case takes his place in this department of our work by virtue of the fact that he was an early friend to the railroad enterprises of Cleveland. He contributed largely to the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad, and for four years and a half, until August, 1858, was president of that company. Under his management the railroad prospered and paid large dividends, and when he left that position it was with the regret of all his subordinates, whose esteem had been won by his kindness and courtesy.

But it was not alone as a railroad man that Mr. Case won for himself the title to a place among the leading representative men of the city. He grew up with Cleveland, and was alive to the interests of the growing city. No scheme of real improvement but found a friend in him. He was energetic in forwarding movements for bettering the condition of the streets; he took a leading part in the location and establishment of the Water Works. Anxious to effect an improvement in the business architecture of the city, in which Cleveland was so far behind cities of less pretension, he projected and carried on far towards completion the Case Block, which stands to-day the largest and most noticeable business building in the city, and which contains one of the finest public halls in the West. Mr. Case died before completion of the building, which unforeseen difficulties made of great cost, but his plans so far as known--including some of great generosity, such as the donation of a fine suite of rooms to the Cleveland Library Association--have been faithfully carried out.

In 1846, Mr. Case was elected member of the City Council from the Second Ward, and served in that position four years. In that body he was noted for his advocacy of every measure tending to the improvement of the city, and the development of its industrial and commercial resources.

In the Spring of 1850, he was nominated, on the Whig ticket, for mayor of Cleveland, and was elected by a large majority, against a strong Democratic opponent, his personal popularity being shown by his running ahead of his ticket. His administration was marked with such energy, ability and public spirit, that in the following year--the office then being annually elective--he was re-elected by an increased majority, and ran still further ahead of his ticket.

In 1852, the Whig convention for the Nineteenth Congressional District, which then included Cuyahoga county, assembled at Painesville, under the presidency of Mon. Peter Hitchcock. Mr. Case was there nominated for Congress by acclamation, and the canvass was carried on by the Whigs with great enthusiasm. But the Democracy and the Free Soil party were against him, and under the excitement growing out of anti-slavery agitation, the Free Soil candidate, Hon. Edward Wade, was elected, though closely pressed by Mr. Case. From that time Mr. Case, who was not in any respect a politician, and who had at no time a desire or need for office, took no active part in politics.

Mr. Case did not possess a strong constitution, and early in life his medical attendant reported against his being sent to college, as the application would be too severe a strain on his health. In accordance with the advice then given, he devoted much attention to hunting, fishing, and to horticultural and agricultural pursuits. But these were insufficient to save him, and he died April 19th, 1862, whilst yet in the prime of life, being but forty years old.

Amasa Stone, Jr.

Conspicuous among the railroad managers connected with Cleveland, indeed occupying a prominent position in the list of the railroad magnates of the country, is the name of Amasa Stone, Jr. The high position he has attained, and the wealth he has secured, are the rewards of his own perseverance, industry, and foresight; every dollar he has earned represents a material benefit to the public at large in the increase of manufacturing or traveling facilities.

Mr. Stone was born in the town of Charlton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, April 27th, 1818. He is of Puritan stock, the founder of the American branch of the family having-landed at Boston in 1632, from the ship Increase, which brought a colony of Puritans from England. The first settlement of the family was at Waltham. The father of Mr. Stone, also named Amasa, is now alive, hale and hearty, at the age of ninety years.

Young Amasa Stone lived with his parents and worked upon the farm, attending the town district school in its sessions, until he was seventeen years old, when he engaged with an older brother for three years, to learn the trade of a builder. His pay for the first year was to be forty dollars, increasing ten dollars yearly, and to furnish his own clothing. At the end of the second year, thinking he could do better, he purchased the remainder of his time for a nominal sum, and from that time was his own master. In the Winter of 1837-8, he attended the academy of Professer Bailey, in Worcester, Mass., having saved sufficient from his small wages to pay the expenses of a single term.

His first work on his own account was a contract to do the joiner work of a house building by Col. Temple, at Worcester. The work was done, and in part payment he took a note of a manufacturing firm for $130; within a few months the firm failed, the note became worthless, and the first earnings of the young builder were lost. That note Mr. Stone still preserves as a memento.

The following year, at the age of twenty, he joined his two older brothers in a contract for the construction of a church edifice in the town of East Brookfield, Mass. In the succeeding year, 1839, he engaged with his brother-in-law, Mr. William Howe, to act as foreman in the erection of two church edifices and several dwelling-houses in Warren, Mass.

During this time Mr. Howe was engaged in perfecting his invention of what is known as the Howe truss bridge. After securing his patent Mr. Howe contracted to build the superstructure of the bridge across the Connecticut river, at Springfield, for the Western Railroad Company. Mr. Stone engaged with him in this work. During a part of the first year he was employed on the foundations of the structure in the bed of the river. Thereafter until the year 1842, he was employed constantly by Mr. Howe in the erection of railway and other bridges, and railway depot buildings. In the Winter of 1841, his duties were most trying and arduous. About a thousand lineal feet of bridging on the Western Railroad, in the Green Mountains, had to be completed, and Mr. Stone and his men were called upon to carry the work through. In some locations the sun could scarcely be seen, the gorges were so deep and narrow, while during a large portion of the time the thermometer ranged below zero. But the work was successfully completed.

In the year 1842, he formed a copartnership with Mr. A. Boody, and purchased from Mr. Howe his bridge patent for the New England States, including all improvements and renewals. Subsequently an arrangement was concluded with Mr. D. L. Harris, under the name of Boody, Stone & Co., for the purpose of contracting for the construction of railways, railway bridges, and similar work, the mechanical details generally to be under the charge of Mr. Stone. In the year 1845, Mr. Stone was appointed superintendent of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield Railroad, he, however, still continuing his partnership in the firm of Boody, Stone & Co., and the business of the firm becoming so heavy that within a year from the time of his appointment he resigned his office as superintendent.

Circumstances occurred previous to his appointment that may be worthy of remark. The purchase of the bridge patent, before alluded to, was for the sum of forty thousand dollars, to be paid in annual instalments. A few years after the purchase some defects showed themselves in the bridges that had been erected on this plan, and many prominent engineers had come to the conclusion that it was not superior to, if it equalled, the truss plan of Col. Long, the arch and truss of Burr, or the lattice plan of Ithial Towne, and the firm of Boody, Stone & Co. began to fear that they had made a bad bargain in the purchase of the patent. Mr. Stone, in relating the incident to a friend, said: "I came to the conclusion that something must be done or there must be a failure, and it must not be a failure. The night following was a sleepless one, at least until three o'clock in the morning. I thought, and rolled and tumbled, until time and again I was almost exhausted in my inventive thoughts, and in despair, when at last an idea came to my mind that relieved me. I perfected it in my mind's eye, and then came to the conclusion that it would not only restore the reputation of the Howe bridge, but would prove to be a better combination of wood and iron for bridges than then existed, and could not and would not in principle be improved upon. Sleep immediately came. I afterwards, with models, proved my conclusions and have not, up to this time, changed them." It seems that the invention consisted in the introduction of longitudinal keys and clamps in the lower chords, to prevent their elongation, and iron socket bearings instead of wooden for the braces and bolts, to avoid compression and shrinkage of the timber, which was the great defect in the original invention, and the adoption of single instead of double intersection in the arrangement of the braces, the latter being the arrangement in the original invention.

In the autumn of 1846, an incident occurred that may be worthy of notice. On the 14th day of October, when walking in Broadway, New York, Mr. Stone met the president of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield Railroad, who had in his hand a telegram, stating that the bridge across the Connecticut river at Enfield Falls, one-fourth of a mile long, had been carried away by a hurricane. The president asked the advice of Mr. Stone, who stated that the timber for that structure was furnished by Messrs. Campbell & Moody, of that city, and advised that he order it duplicated at once. The president, a very faithful officer, but disinclined to take responsibilities, asked Mr. Stone to take the responsibility of ordering it. Mr. Stone replied, "Not unless I am president." The timber was, however, ordered, and at the request of the president, Mr. Stone went immediately with him to Springfield, where a committee of the board was called together, and he was asked to propose terms, and the shortest time upon which his firm would contract to complete the bridge. He stated that his terms would be high, as the season was late and would likely be unfavorable before so heavy a work could be completed, and further suggested that if they chose to appoint him manager of the work, he would accept and do the best he could for them. He was immediately appointed sole manager of the work, and the board placed at his control all the resources of the company. The work was immediately commenced by bringing to the site men and material, and it was completed, and a locomotive and train of cars run across it by Mr. Stone within forty days from the day the order was given for its erection. The structure consisted of seven spans of seventy-seven feet each, with two other spans at each end of about fifty feet each. Mr. Stone has been heard to state that he regarded this as one of the most important events of his life, and that no one was more astonished than himself at the result. He was rewarded by complimentary resolutions, and a check for one thousand dollars by the company.

The following Winter the partnership of Boody, Stone & Co. was dissolved by mutual consent, and the territory that their contract for the bridge patent covered was divided, by Mr. Stone taking the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Mr. Boody the other three States. A new partnership was then formed between Mr. Stone and Mr. Harris, which continued until the year 1849.

From the year 1839 to 1850, the residence of Mr. Stone, most of the time, was in Springfield, Mass., but the numerous contracts in which he was interested called him into ten different States, He served several years as a director in the Agawam Bank, was also a director for several years, and one of the building committee in the Agawam Canal Company, which erected and run a cotton mill of ten thousand spindles, in the town of West Springfield.

In the autumn of 1848, he formed a partnership with Mr. Stillman Witt and Mr. Frederick Harbach, who contracted with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company to construct and equip the road from Cleveland to Columbus. This was the largest contract that had, at that time, been entered into, of this character, by any one party or firm in the United States. A large amount of the capital stock was taken in part payment for the work. It was generally regarded as a hazardous adventure, but the work was carried through in accordance with the terms of the contract, and proved to be a profitable investment for its stockholders. In his partnership contract it was stipulated that he was to act as financial agent at the East, to send out the necessary mechanics, and to occasionally visit the work, but was not to change his residence. Events, however, occurred that required his constant presence in Ohio, and in the Spring of 1850, he moved his family to Cleveland, where they have since resided. In the Winter of 1850-1, the road was opened for business through from Cleveland to Columbus, and Mr. Stone was appointed its superintendent.

[Illustration: Respectfully, Amasa Stone, Jr.]

In the Fall of 1850, the firm of Harbach, Stone & Witt contracted with the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company to construct the railroad from Cleveland to the State line of Pennsylvania, and furnish it with cars, and to take in part payment for the work a large amount of the stock and bonds of the Company. Soon after the execution of this contract, Mr. Harbach died suddenly in the city of New York, and the completion of the work devolved on Messrs. Stone and Witt. The completion of the road through to Erie principally devolved upon the Cleveland company, and was attended with many difficulties, as the Legislature of Pennsylvania seemed determined that no road should be built through the State along the shore of Lake Erie, and the general impression was, at that time, that the construction of a road along the shore of the lake was a wild scheme and would prove a failure. It was difficult to get capital subscribed and more difficult to collect instalments. The contractors having confidence in its success, prosecuted the work with vigor up to a period when they found they had expended more than $200,000, while the aggregate amount that the railroad company was able to raise and pay them was less than $100,000. An effort was then made, with success, to engage the services of Mr. Alfred Kelley. His well known character, aided by the reputation of others who were elected directors, and a subscription from the city of Cleveland of $100,000, enabled the company to meet its engagements with the contractors, who carried the work forward to completion, and the road was opened through to Erie in the Winter of 1852, when Mr. Stone was appointed its superintendent. Notwithstanding the great expense that had to be incurred in crossing the deep ravines in the State of Pennsylvania, and the heavy burdens imposed on the company by that State, it has proved to be one of the most successful railroad enterprises in the United States.

In the year 1852, Mr. Stone was elected a director in both Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, and the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Companies, and has held that office in both companies continuously up to the present date. He also continued to hold the office of superintendent of both roads until the year 1854, when he insisted on being relieved in consequence of failing health, caused by the arduous labors which seemed unavoidably to devolve upon him. He was elected president of the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company in the year 1857, which office he has continued to hold for twelve successive years, until 1869.

In 1868, the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad was leased perpetually to the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company, at which time he was also elected President of the former company.

In the year 1855, he, with Mr. Witt, contracted to build the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad, and was for many years a director in that company, and for awhile its president.

For several years he held the office of director in the Merchants Bank, of Cleveland. From its first organization until it was closed up, he was director in the Bank of Commerce, of Cleveland, and has been director in the Second National Bank, and the Commercial National Bank, of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Banking Company, from the time of their respective organizations until the present time. He was for some years president of the Toledo Branch of the State Bank, at Toledo. He was elected a director in the Jamestown and Franklin Railroad Company in the year 1863, which office he has held until the present time. In the same year he was elected president of the Mercer Iron and Coal Company and held the office until the close of the year 1868.

Mr. Stone aided in the establishment of several manufactories at this point. During the construction of the railroads from Cleveland, his firm carried on extensive car shops in the city, where cars were constructed, not only for those two roads, but for several others. He gave financial aid and personal influence to the establishment and maintenance of several leading iron manufacturing establishments and machine shops. In the year 1861-2, he erected, in the city of Cleveland, a woolen mill of five sets of machinery, and for several years ran it and turned out more goods annually than any other mill in the state of Ohio. He subsequently sold it to Alton Pope & Sons.

He is often pleased to note the progress in American enterprise, and among other events that has come under his own observation, relates the following: In the year 1839, he commenced his first railroad service upon the foundation of a bridge that was then being erected across the Connecticut river at Springfield, Mass., of 1260 feet in length. It was regarded as a very difficult undertaking, as the bed of the river was composed mostly of quicksand, and a rise of 25-1/2 feet in the river had to be provided for, and floating ice, its full width, fifteen inches in thickness. Maj. George W. Whistler, the first of his profession, was chief engineer of the work, and he had as advisers Maj. McNeal, Capt. Swift, and other eminent engineers. The work was about three years under construction, at a cost of over $131,000, and every effort was made to keep its cost at the lowest possible point, at the same time making certain the stability of the structure. Within nine years from the time of its completion, a similar structure, in every particular, was to be constructed across the same river, at Hartford, twenty-six miles below. Its length varied but a few feet, although it covered more water, and its foundations and other contingencies were quite as difficult and unfavorable. Mr. Stone concluded a contract for its construction for the firm of Stone & Harris, complete, for the sum of $77,000, and to have it ready for the cars in twenty months. The work was executed in accordance with the terms of the contract, and has not only proved as substantial as that at Springfield, but in many particulars, more so. It was the pride of Mr. Stone for many reasons, (among others, that it was stated by many that it could not be done for this sum of money,) to personally superintend this work himself, and to put in practice some of his own inventions, the most important of which was the cutting off the foundation piles with a saw arranged on a scow, propelled by a steam engine, and the sinking of the piers below water by means of screws. The result proved to be satisfactory, and as favorable, in a financial point of view, as he estimated. It will be noticed that the bridge structure, complete, at Hartford, cost $54,000 less than that at Springfield, of like character.

He has been interested in the construction of more than ten miles in length of truss bridging, and in the construction of roofs of large buildings, covering more than fifteen acres of ground, most of which he designed and personally superintended their election. The last extensive structure that he designed, and the election of which he personally superintended, was the Union Passenger Depot, at Cleveland. He was the first person that designed and erected pivot draw-bridges of long spans, which, however, have been much increased in length of span by other parties since. He was also the first to design and erect a dome roof of a span of 150 feet, sufficient to cover three lengths of a locomotive with its tender, and numerous are the improvements he has introduced in the construction of railroad cars and locomotives. The only eight-wheeled dump gravel car in successful use was designed and put in practice by him.

For a number of years Mr. Stone has been trustee of the First Presbyterian Church Society of Cleveland, and still holds that office. He was chairman of the building committee in the election of the new church edifice, and when it was burned down, was again elected chairman of the building committee, and given full charge of the reconstruction of the building.

In 1868, Mr. Stone visited Europe, being compelled to seek relief, for a brief period, from the exhausting cares of his numerous business engagements. He is expected to return in the Fall of this year, ready to again engage in the active prosecution of the important enterprises with which he is connected, and in which he has won such distinction by his sound common sense, sound judgment, unresting energy, and practicable knowledge. In whatever he undertakes there is good reason for believing that the success he has hitherto met will still attend his efforts.

Stillman Witt

Connected indissolubly with the story of the rise and progress of the important railroad interests of Cleveland and northern Ohio, is the name of Stillman Witt. As one of the builders of the pioneer railroad from the city, and of the next in point of time, which has since become one of the foremost lines of the country in importance and profitableness, Mr. Witt deserves honorable record among the men who have contributed most to make Cleveland what it is to-day, a rich, populous, and rapidly growing city.

Stillman Witt is a self-made man, and unlike some of this class, his self-manufacture will stand the test of close criticism. The material has not been spoiled or warped in the process. Those who know him best know that the struggles of his early years have not soured his disposition or hardened his feelings, and that access of fortune has not made him purse-proud. The Stillman Witt of to-day, rich and influential, is the same Stillman Witt who paddled a ferry boat at about forty cents a day, and was happy in his good fortune.

Mr. Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, January 4th, 1808. His parentage was humble, and, in consequence, his facilities for obtaining an education very limited. When about thirteen years old, his father moved with his family to Troy, New York, where young Stillman was hired by Richard P. Hart to run a skiff ferry, the wages being ten dollars per month, which the lad thought a sum sufficient to secure his independence. Among the passengers frequently crossing the ferry was Mr. Canvass White, U. S. Engineer, at that time superintending the construction of public works in various parts of the country. Mr. White took a strong fancy to the juvenile ferryman, and was so much impressed by the interest the boy manifested in construction, that he applied to Stillman's father for permission to take the lad and educate him in his own profession. The permission was granted, and from that day dates the career of the future railroad builder.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, S. Witt]

Young Witt was greatly pleased with his new profession, and devoted himself to it with such zeal and faithfulness that he grew rapidly in the esteem of his patron. When he had sufficiently progressed to be entrusted with works of such importance, he was dispatched in different directions to construct bridges and canals as the agent of Mr. White. In this manner he superintended the construction of the bridge at Cohoes Falls, on the Mohawk river, four miles above Troy, where, in conjunction with Mr. White, he laid out a town which has since grown to a population of thirty thousand. The side cut on the Erie canal, at Port Schuyler, was dug under his management, and the docks there, since covered with factories, were built by him. When these were completed he was dispatched into Pennsylvania, with twenty-four carpenters, all his seniors, to build a State bridge at the mouth of the Juniata, from Duncan Island to Peter's Mountain. He was then ordered to the work on the Louisville and Portland canal, but before this was completed he was taken sick and remained a prisoner in a sick room at Albany for thirteen months.

With his recovery came a temporary change of occupation. Abandoning for a time his work of bridge building and canal digging, he took charge of the steamboat James Farley, the first lake-canal boat that towed through, without transhipment, to New York. This was followed by his taking charge, for between two and three years, of Dr. Nott's steamboat Novelty. Next he became manager of the Hudson River Association line of boats, in which capacity he remained during the existence of the association, ten years. The Albany and Boston Railroad having been opened, Mr. Witt was invited to become its manager at Albany, and accepted the trust, remaining in that position seven years and a half.

Now came the most important epoch in Mr. Witt's life. After a hard struggle the scheme for the construction of a railroad between Cleveland and Columbus assumed definite shape, a company was organized and was prepared to go to work when contractors should be found who would build the road with a little money and a good deal of faith. Mr. Witt's opportunity had come. At the end of a four days' toilsome journey from Buffalo in a cab, he reached Cleveland, and satisfactory arrangements were finally entered into. A firm was formed, under the name of Harbach, Stone & Witt, and the work commenced. The story of the building of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad has already been told in another part of this volume; it is a story of hoping almost against hope, of desperate struggles against opposition and indifference, and of final triumph. Mr. Witt's part in the struggle was an important one, and the solid benefit resulting from the success that crowned the enterprise was well deserved by him.

Before the work of construction was half completed, Mr. Harbach died, and the firm remained Stone & Witt, under which name it has become familiar to all parts of the American railroad world. The road was opened between Cleveland and Columbus in 1851, and the success that speedily followed the opening, demonstrated the wisdom of the projectors of the line, and justified the faith of its contractors. The three years of construction had not terminated before Messrs. Stone & Witt undertook the construction of the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad, and in two years this road, now one of the richest and most powerful lines of the country, was completed. This was followed, sometime after, by the building of the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad, which required but one year to construct, although built in the best manner.

With the completion of the Chicago and Milwaukee road Mr. Witt's active career as a railroad builder ceased. Since that time he has been chiefly employed in the management of his extensive railroad and banking interests, having been at different periods a director in the Michigan Southern; Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati; Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula; Cleveland and Pittsburgh; Chicago and Milwaukee, and Bellefontaine and Indiana railroads, besides being vice-president of two of these roads and president of one of them. His connection with the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad is noticeable from the fact that it was by his sagacity and unwearied energy, ably assisted by the late Governor Brough, as general manager, that the company was raised from absolute insolvency to a high rank among dividend paying lines. Mr. Witt had gone into the undertaking with a number of other Clevelanders, had all but lost his entire investment, but had never lost faith in the ultimate success of the line, or flagged for an instant in his efforts to bring about that success. The event proved the justness of his conclusions.

In addition to his railroad engagements, Mr. Witt is president of the Sun Insurance Company, of Cleveland; director of the Second National, and Commercial National Banks, and Cleveland Banking Company; also, of the Bank of Toledo. His interests are not all centered in railroad and banking enterprises, he having investments in the Cleveland Chemical Works, and in several other enterprises that contribute to the prosperity of the city.

Mr. Witt was married in June, 1834, to Miss Eliza A. Douglass, of Albany, but who was a native of Rhode Island. Of the four children who were the fruit of this marriage, but two survive. The elder daughter, Mary, is now the wife of Mr. Dan P. Eells, of Cleveland. The younger, Emma, is the wife of Col. W. H. Harris, of the United States Army, now in command of the arsenal at Indianapolis.

Mr. Witt's qualifications as a business man are attested by his success, won not by a mere stroke of luck, but by far-seeing sagacity, quick decision, and untiring industry. From first to last he never encountered a failure, not because fortune chanced always to be on his side, but because shrewdness and forethought enabled him to provide against misfortune. As a citizen he has always pursued a liberal and enlightened policy, ever ready to unite in whatever promised to be for the public good. In social life he has a wide circle of attached friends, and not a single enemy. Genial, unselfish, deeply attached to his family, and with a warm side for humanity in general, Mr. Witt has made for himself more friends than perhaps he himself is aware of.

Wealth and position have enabled him to do numerous acts of kindness, and his disposition has prompted him to perform those acts without ostentation and with a gracefulness that gave twofold value to the act.

In religious belief Mr. Witt is a Baptist, having joined with that church organization in Albany, thirty-one years ago. For years he has been a valuable and highly respected member of the First Baptist Church in Cleveland.

James Farmer.

Although James Farmer has been a resident of Cleveland but thirteen years, and cannot, therefore, be ranked among the old settlers of the city, he is looked upon as one of its most respected citizens, whose word is as good as a secured bond, and whose sound judgment and stability of character place him among the most valuable class of business men. But though prudent in business affairs, and of deeply earnest character in all relations of life, Mr. Farmer has not allowed the stern realities of life to obscure the lighter qualities that serve to make life endurable. Always cheerful in manner and genial in disposition, with a quaint appreciation of the humorous side of things, he endeavors to round off the sharp corners of practical life with a pleasant and genial smile. A meditative faculty of mind, untrammeled by the opinions or dicta of others, has led Mr. Farmer into independent paths of thought and action, in all his affairs. Before taking any course, he has thought it out for himself, and decided on his action, in accordance with his conscientious convictions of right, independent of considerations of mere worldly notice.

Mr. Farmer was born near Augusta, Georgia, July 19th, 1802. His early opportunities for acquiring an education were scant, only such knowledge being gained as could be picked up in a common school, where the rudiments of an education only are taught. Until his twenty-first year, his time was chiefly spent on his father's farm, but on attaining his majority he concluded to strike out a different path for himself, and coming north, he engages in the manufacture of salt, and in the milling business, at Salineville, Ohio. His means were small, but by assiduous attention to business he was moderately successful. Four years later he added a store for general marchandise to his mill and salt works, and thus added to his property.

In the Spring of 1847, Mr. Farmer, imbued with the spirit of progress, and appreciating in advance the benefits to accrue from the proposed Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, entered with spirit into the enterprise, worked hard in procuring subscriptions to the stock, and aided in various ways to its consummation. For several years he held the position of president of the company, and it was through his labors in this channel of commerce, that he became so thoroughly identified with the progress and prosperity of Cleveland.

[Illustration: Very Respectfully, James Farmer]

On the completion of the railroad, Mr. Farmer was among the first to avail himself of the increased facilities for business offered by the road, and embarked in the coal trade, having previously owned coal fields in Salineville. These coal fields were now worked, and the product shipped by railroad to Cleveland and other points.

In the Spring of 1856, he removed to Cleveland, abandoning the mercantile business after devoting to it thirty-two years of his life, and having been completely successful. His coal fields still continue to furnish supplies to the coal market of Cleveland.

So far as human power can be said to control human affairs, Mr. Farmer has been wholly the architect of his own fortunes. The prosperity that has attended his efforts has been due to the close attention given his legitimate business, his strictness in making and keeping contracts, his prudent economy, and his nice sense of commercial honor and general honesty. What man can do to make honest success, he has endeavored to do, and Providence has smiled upon his efforts.

Mr Farmer is still a hale appearing gentleman, though sixty-seven years old, retaining most of his mental vigor, and much of his physical stamina, and will, we trust, be permitted to remain among us for years to come, that he may enjoy the fruits of his labor, and have the satisfaction felt by those only who minister to the necessities of others.

In 1834, Mr. Farmer was married to Miss Meribah Butler, of Columbiana county, Ohio, by whom he has had seven children, of whom five still live--one son and four daughters. The son, Mr. E. J. Farmer, has been for some years engaged in the banking business in Cleveland.

The father of Mr. James Farmer joined the Society of Friends, and was an honored member of that society. His family were all brought up in the same faith, and Mr. James Farmer has maintained his connection with the society, by the members of which he is held in high respect and esteem.

George B. Ely.

George B. Ely is a native of Jefferson county, New York, a county which has contributed many good citizens to the population of Cleveland. He was born in the town of Adams, June 23d, 1817, received a good academical education, and when seventeen left the academy to become clerk with Judge Foster, under whose auspices he came to Cleveland. After serving with Judge Foster one year in Cleveland, he accepted the position of book-keeper in the forwarding house of Pease & Allen, on the river, remaining in this position until 1843. At that date he removed to Milan, Erie county, then at the head of slackwater navigation on the Huron river. Here he engaged in trading in wheat, and in the general forwarding business, and also became interested in lake shipping, doing business under the firm name of Wilber & Ely.

In 1851, the railroad between Columbus and Cleveland was completed, and the course of trade was almost entirely diverted from its old channels. The business of Milan fell away rapidly, and the forwarding trade at that point was completely at an end, Mr. Ely closed up his connection with the place in the Spring of 1852, and removed to Cleveland, where he had engaged a warehouse with the intention of continuing in the forwarding business, but was induced to take the secretaryship of the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad, many of his old business and personal friends having become interested in that undertaking and desiring the benefit of his business tact and experience. About a year after his accession to the company, the offices of secretary and treasurer were combined, and Mr. Ely assumed charge of the joint offices. Three years later he was elected a director of the company and has continued in that position to the present time. At various times he has been chosen vice-president of the company. In 1868, he was elected president of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company, retaining that position until the consolidation of the company with the Cleveland and Erie Railroad Company, and the formation of the Lake Shore Railroad Company. Mr. Ely is now the oldest officer in point of service in the Consolidated company, and is about the oldest employee. During all his long service he has been an indefatigable worker, having the interests of the line always at heart, and his arduous and faithful services have contributed their full share to the prosperity of the company.

[Illustration: Yours Respectfully, Geo. B. Ely]

Whilst always watchful for the interests of the road with which he was connected, Mr. Ely found time to engage in other enterprises tending to advance the material interests of the city. In connection with Messrs. R. H. Harman, A. M. Harman, and L. M. Coe, he projected and built the Cleveland City Forge and put it into successful operation in the year 1864. This forge has now four large hammers at work, and preparations are making for two others, and it gives employment to about eighty skilled workmen. He was one of the projectors of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, of Cleveland, an organization having five thousand acres of coal lands in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, and now that the Jamestown and Franklin Railroad is completed, the prospects of ample returns for the outlay are good. Sixty tons of good coal are daily delivered in Cleveland, whilst the best markets of the product are found in Erie, Buffalo, and the Pennsylvania oil regions. Of this company Mr. Ely is treasurer and one of its directors.

Among his other business connections he was a director in the old Bank of Commerce from its early days until it was reorganized as the Second National Bank, and is still a director under the new organization. He is also a director in the Citizens Savings and Loan Association, and is interested in the Cleveland Banking Company.

Mr. Ely has been the architect of his own fortune, and attributes his success in life to close application to business and a firm determination never to live beyond his income. He is now fifty-two years old, enjoys vigorous health, and has never been seriously sick. From present appearances he has a fair prospect of a long life in which to enjoy the fruits of his labors, and to pass the afternoon and evening of his life amid domestic comforts earned by industry and the esteem of a large circle of friends to whom he has become endeared by his many social qualities and personal virtues.

In 1843, he was married to Miss Gertrude S. Harman, of Brooklyn, Michigan, and formerly of Oswego, New York. They have one son, now twenty-five years old, who has charge of the Cleveland City Forge, and one daughter, Helen, aged seventeen, who is now at school.

Worthy S. Streator.

Dr. Streator, as he is still called, although for many years he has abandoned the active practice of medicine, was born in Madison county, New York, October 16th, 1816. He received an academical education, and at the age of eighteen he entered a medical college, where he remained four years. On completing his medical course he went to Aurora, Portage county, Ohio, where he commenced the practice of his profession, in the year 1839 In Aurora he remained rive years, when he removed to Louisville, Kentucky, spent a year in the medical college there, and returned to Portage county, resuming his practice in Ravenna.

In 1850, Dr. Streator removed from Ravenna to Cleveland, and after remaining two years in the practice of medicine, turned his attention to railroad building. In conjunction with Mr. Henry Doolittle, he undertook the contract for building the Greenville and Medina Railroad, and completed it successfully. In 1853, the same parties contracted for the construction of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway in Ohio, a work of 244 miles. Operations were at once commenced, and were pushed forward with varying success, funds of the company coming in fitfully. In 1860, the same firm took contracts for the construction of the Pennsylvania portion of the line, ninety-one miles, and next for the New York portion. Work on both these contracts was commenced in February, 1860, and the road was completed from Salamanca, in New York, to Corry, in Pennsylvania, sixty-one miles, in the Spring of 1861.

During the prosecution of the work Mr. Doolittle died, and, in 1861, Dr. Streator sold the unfinished contracts to Mr. James McHenry, of London, England, by whom they were completed, Dr. Streator acting as superintendent of construction for about a year after the transfer of contract.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, W. S. Streator]

In 1862, he projected the Oil Creek Railroad, from Corry to Petroleum Center, the heart of the Pennsylvania oil regions, a line thirty-seven miles long. The line was built with extraordinary rapidity, and achieved a success unparalleled in railway history. No sooner had the rails reached a point within striking distance of Oil Creek than its cars were crowded with passengers flocking to the "oildorado," and for many months, during the height of the oil fever, the excited crowds struggled at the stations for the privilege of a standing place on the car platforms after the seats and aisles were filled. The resources of the road were inadequate to meet the great demand on it for the transportation of passengers and oil, and although Dr. Streator worked energetically to keep pace with the demand upon the road, the development of the oil regions, consequent upon the construction of the line, for some time outstripped him. The profits of the line were enormous in proportion to the outlay, but the amount of wealth it created in the oil regions was still more extraordinary. Dr. Streator managed the road until 1866, when he sold out his interest to Dean Richmond and others interested in the New York Central Railroad. In order to connect the Oil Creek Railroad with the line of its purchasers an extension northward, styled the Cross-Cut Railroad, was built from Corry to Brocton, on the Buffalo and Erie Railroad, a distance of forty-two miles, by Dr. Streator, for the New York Central Railroad Company. This was the last of Dr. Streator's railroad building undertakings.

Since the close of his railroad business Dr. Streator has organized a company, mainly composed of citizens of Cleveland, for the working of coal lands purchased in La Salle, on the Vermillion river, Illinois. The purchase contains three thousand acres on which is a five and one-half feet splint-vein of coal resembling in general characteristics the Massillon coal of Ohio. Thirteen miles of railroad have been built to connect the mines with the Illinois Central Railroad, and during the year that the road has been opened the average product of the mines has been two hundred and fifty tons per day, with demands for more, that cannot be met owing to a deficiency of rolling stock. By the close of 1869, it is expected the product will reach a thousand tons daily. Another railroad is to be built to connect with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.

Aside from his interest in this coal company, Dr. Streator has now no active business engagements, and devotes his time to the care of his real estate and a fine stock farm in East Cleveland, containing over three hundred acres, on which he is raising some of the finest stock to be found in the county.

Dr. Streator has had the good sense to retire from the pressing cares of business whilst able to enjoy the fruits of his labors. At fifty-three years old he is healthy and vigorous, and fully able to appreciate the advantages of wealth in procuring social and domestic enjoyments. His residence on Euclid avenue is a model of comfort and elegance, and the surrounding grounds are laid out with artistic taste.

He was married in 1839, to Sarah W. Sterling, of Lyman, N. Y. His only daughter is the wife of E. B. Thomas, Esq., of Cleveland; his oldest son devotes his attention to the care of the stock farm; the other sons are yet at home, being young.

Although Mr. Streator has been regarded, for years, as one of our most active and energetic business men, he has found time to devote to his religious duties. He has for a long time been a useful member of the Disciple Church.

The Coal Interest

By the commencement of the season of 1828, the Ohio canal had been opened from Cleveland to Akron. Henry Newberry, father of Professer Newberry, who among his other possessions on the Western Reserve, owned some valuable coal lands, saw, or fancied he saw, an opening for an important trade in coal, and sent a shipment of a few tons to Cleveland by way of experiment. On its arrival a portion of it was loaded in a wagon and hawked around the city, the attention of leading citizens being called to its excellent quality and its great value as fuel. But the people were deaf to the voice of the charmer. They looked askance at the coal and urged against it all the objections which careful housewives, accustomed to wood fires, even now offer against its use for culinary purposes. It was dirty, nasty, inconvenient to handle, made an offensive smoke, and not a few shook their heads incredulously at the idea of making the "stone" burn at all. Wood was plentiful and cheap, and as long as that was the case they did not see the use of going long distances to procure a doubtful article of fuel, neither as clean, convenient, nor cheap as hickory or maple. By nightfall the wagon had unsuccessfully traversed the streets and found not a single purchaser for its contents. Here and there a citizen had accepted a little as a gift, with a doubtful promise to test its combustible qualities. Eventually, Philo Scovill was persuaded into the purchase of a moderate quantity at two dollars per ton, and promised to put in grates at the Franklin House to properly test its qualities.

That was the beginning of a trade which has since grown to mammoth proportions, and which has become the foundation of the prosperity of Cleveland, for it is to the proximity and practically inexhaustibleness of its coal supply that Cleveland owes its manufacturing character, which is the secret of its rapid development within a few years, its present prosperity, and the assured greatness of its future.

As a domestic fuel coal made slow progress in the city for many years, but other uses were found for it, and the receipts of coal by canal rapidly increased. Steamboats multiplied on the lakes, and these found the coal of Cleveland a valuable fuel. By degrees manufacturing was ventured on, in a small way, and there being no water-power of consequence, recourse was had to steam, which created a moderate demand for coal. For ten years the receipts increased steadily, until in 1838, it reached 2,496 tons. In 1848, it had grown to 66,551 tons, and in 1858--the canal transportation being supplemented by two lines of railroad crossing the coal fields on the way to Cleveland--to 222,267 tons. In 1868, it had swollen to 759,104 tons, and the demand continues to increase in a rate more than proportionate to the enlarged sources of supply and increased facilities for transportation.

The opening of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad gave a strong stimulus to the coal trade of northern Ohio, and was one of the most important events in the history of Cleveland. By this time the beds of the valuable Briar Hill, or block coal, were tapped, which has proved the best fuel for manufacturing iron from the raw ore, and has no superior, if it has a rival, in the West. With the discovery of this bed of coal, blast furnaces and rolling mills were established in the Mahoning Valley, and as the uses of the coal became known in Cleveland and in other ports, a large demand, for consumption in the city and exports to other points, sprang up. Over one-half the amount of Ohio coal raised is of the Briar Hill grade, and of the whole amount of Ohio coal raised, about one-half finds its market in Cleveland.

The bituminous coal is of several grades, each suitable for a particular purpose. The most important is the Briar Hill grade, mined in the southern half of Trumbull county and finding its outlet by the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad. This is a good grate coal, but its great use is in the manufacture of iron, and the numerous furnaces of the Mahoning Valley, the iron manufactories of Cleveland, and the demand along the line of the lakes, keep the numerous mines in full operation. The Mineral Ridge grade is a comparatively new quality to Cleveland, and has yet but comparatively few mines. It is used both for domestic and manufacturing purposes. The Massillon grade is brought both by canal and railroad, and is highly esteemed as a grate coal. The rapidly growing demand for grate fuel has given a great stimulus to the mining of this coal within a few years. The Hammondsville and Salineville grades are used chiefly for stoves in domestic use, for steam purposes, and for the manufacture of gas. These grades come to market on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad. The Blossburgh grade is used almost entirely for blacksmithing.

Besides the Ohio bituminous coals there is a steadily increasing demand for the anthracite and semi-anthracite coals of eastern Pennsylvania, which is brought by lake from Buffalo.

The growth of the coal trade during the past four years can be seen by the following table, showing the receipts from all sources and shipments, chiefly by lake, coastwise and to Canadian ports:

Date. Receipts. Shipments.
1865.......439,483 tons....235,784 tons.
1866.......583,107 " ....397,840 "
1867.......669,026 " ....334,027 "
1868.......759,104 " ....392,928 "

The amount brought over each route of supply during 1868, is thus shown:

By Lake, Anthracite...................................... 13,665 tons.
" Canal, Bituminous...................................... 197,475 "
" Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad...................... 274,159 "
" Atlantic and Great Western Railroad
(Cleveland and Mahoning)............................ 254,000 "
" Cleveland and Erie Railroad............................ 17,600 "
" Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad............ 2,205 "
-----------
759,104 "

This shows an increase of nearly 100,000 tons on the receipts of 1867, notwithstanding a most obstinate and continued strike among the miners, which diminished the receipts by the Atlantic and Great Western, from 20,000 to 30,000 tons. Of the shipments of each during the year, 382,928 tons went by lake, and about 10,000 tons by rail, mostly by Cleveland and Toledo Railroad to Toledo and intermediate points.

William Philpot.

Although never a resident of Cleveland, the enterprise of William Philpot so directly contributed to the prosperity of the city, the labors of his life were so connected with it, and the interests he founded have since become such an integral part of the business of Cleveland, that his memoir appropriately finds a place in this work. It is proper, too, that it should stand foremost in the department relating to the coal trade of the city, for he may justly be considered one of the leading founders of that trade.

William Philpot was born in Shropshire, England. At an early age he removed to Wales and went to work in the mines at three pence per day. Soon after he was able to earn full wages, he became an overseer, and continued in that capacity until he took contracts on his own account. His success was varied, on some he made handsomely, on others he failed. By the year 1835, he accumulated about eight thousand dollars, and concluded to go to the United States as affording greater facilities for small capitalists. He proceeded to Pittsburgh, where he immediately interested himself in the mining of coal. He commenced by leasing from one party a portion of the coal and the right of way on a large tract of coal land, for a term of twenty-one years, and leased coal from others, at a quarter cent per bushel. Of another person he purchased a farm, bearing coal, at seventy-five dollars an acre. In the Summer of 1837, he took into partnership Mr. Snowden, and the firm set to work vigorously, mining coal at Saw Mill Run and shipping on the Ohio river, to which Mr. Philpot had built a railway a mile in length. The two partners were not well matched. Mr. Philpot was full of energy, fertile in resources, and never slackened in his endeavors to push his affairs. No difficulties daunted him; the greater the obstacles the more pleasure he took in surmounting them. He built his railroad tracks where most other men would have shrunk from placing a rail and whilst those who commenced preparations for a mine at the same time with himself were still in the preparatory stages of work, his cars would be rattling down to the river loaded with coal. One great secret of his ability to hasten matters was his influence with the men under him. He was familiar and affable with them, worked energetically among them whenever a sharp effort was needed, and in this way got more work out of the men, without their feeling that they had been imposed upon, than most employers could have done. Mr. Snowden was a man of an entirely different stamp, and it soon became evident that the firm must dissolve. After some negotiations Mr. Philpot disposed of his interests to Messrs. Snowden and Lewis, and in 1838, removed to Paris, Portage county, Ohio, where he had purchased a farm. His family at that time consisted of his wife and two daughters; Mary Ann, now the wife of R. J. Price, Esq., Dorothy, now widow of the late David Morris, Esq. With them also was his father, Samuel Philpot, now dead. Soon after his removal to Portage county he became interested with Mr. Philip Price, in the excavation of the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal, and during the progress of the work they purchased land on either side of the canal, including Lock fourteen, where they built a saw and flouring mill, using the canal water as motive power. Towards the latter part of 1839, Mr. Philpot purchased the interest of Mr. Price in the mills and land, and ran the mills successfully, until 1841, when he sold both mills and land to Colonel Elisha Garrett, of Garrettsville. In the Spring of 1841, Mr. Philpot rented his home farm and removed with his family to Middlebury, Summit county, where he had purchased a coal bank, and engaged once more in the coal trade.

The importance of his operations in coal, both to the business of the coal regions and of Cleveland, which formed his principal market, can scarcely be overestimated. Before removing to Springfield he discovered there, in 1840, a valuable coal mine, which he afterwards developed and worked successfully, building a railroad of about three miles from the mines to the canal at Middlebury, whence the coal was shipped to Cleveland. This road he stocked with about forty coal cars, and for several years his mine supplied the principal demand for the Cleveland market. In 1843, he developed and improved the celebrated Chippewa mines, Wayne county, near the village of Clinton, and built a railroad to the Ohio canal. From these mines he supplied the Cleveland market with large quantities of coal until the year 1845, when he sold out half his interests in them to Mr. Lemuel Crawford, and some time afterward he sold one-quarter interest to Mr. David Camp.

His next remove was to Youngstown, where, in 1846, he leased the Manning and Wertz bank, and while sinking for coal, discovered iron ore. He then went to Pittsburgh and endeavored to get up a furnace company, but not being successful, he returned, and associated himself with Jonathan Warner and a few others in organizing the Ohio Iron and Mining Company, now known as the Eagle Furnace Company, Messrs. Philpot and Warner owning two-thirds of the entire stock. Mr. Philpot at that time opened and developed the Wertz and Manning Briar Hill coal mines, the furnace having been built with the purpose of smelting iron ore with raw stone coal, being the second constructed for this purpose in the Mahoning Valley, the first being that of Wilkenson, Wilks & Co., at Lowellville. The experiment was hazardous, and was carried forward under many difficulties, financial and otherwise, but the energy and enterprise of Mr. Philpot triumphed over them all.

Mr. Philpot was a man of rare energy, industry and practical good sense. He was always successful for he seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of what was the right course to take, and when once entered on an enterprise never allowed himself to be defeated or discouraged. His integrity was unquestioned. His word was as good as a bond, and was entirely relied on. He was a kind husband and father, a true friend, and his heart and hand were always open to the poor and distressed, many of whom were not only relieved from their pressing emergencies, but were assisted to start in business or to procure homesteads. Besides his many excellent social qualities and business talents, he was possessed of a most extraordinary memory, and it is related of him by one who knew him intimately, that after hearing a speech or sermon that enlisted his whole attention, he would sometimes rehearse it to others almost verbatim.

Mr. Philpot died in Liberty township, Trumbull county, June 2d, 1851.

In all the great enterprises of his business career, Mr. Philpot was ably supported by his beloved partner in life, who was a woman of more than ordinary ability. She was also most remarkably benevolent, bestowing much care on the sick and indigent in her immediate neighborhood. She survived her husband a number of years, and died at Cleveland, in August, 1865, deeply lamented.

[Illustration: Lemuel Crawford]

Lemuel Crawford.

The subject of this sketch belonged to the business classes, as distinguished from the professional, but which are none the less fruitful in characters of prominence and public interest.

Indeed it has come to pass in later years that what are commonly known as the learned professions, law, medicine and theology, though still high in rank, have lost something of the ruling pre-eminence they occupied in our earlier history. Other departments in the world's industry have asserted themselves, and railway systems, telegraphs, commerce, journalism, manufactures, banking, and other branches, have come forward and absorbed their fair proportion of the best talent and ambition of the country.

Lemuel Crawford was born in Florida, Schoharie county, New York, December 15, 1805.

Left without means, at the age of fourteen he chose the trade of moulder in the iron or furnace business.

At twenty-one he came to Painesville, Ohio, where he was made foreman of the Geauga Furnace. Here he remained about six years, having especial superintendence of the pattern and moulding department, and filling his position with great skill and credit. At this place, July 29, 1832, he married Louisa Murray, of Willoughby, in the same county, who still survives him, and to whose long and faithful companionship, judgment and energy, in all the vicissitudes of his fortune, he was largely indebted for his success.

In 1833, Mr. Crawford moved with his family to Detroit, whence, after remaining six years, he removed to Presque Isle on Lake Huron, where he was the first to start the wood trade, for fuel for our then rapidly growing steamboat commerce. Here he remained seven years, superintending large bodies of wood cutters and suppliers, the saw mills, now so common in the lumber region, being then unknown.

In 1846, perceiving, with his usual forecast, that coal was likely to supplant wood for the uses of our steam marine, he removed to Cleveland, and at once invested about forty thousand dollars in the Chippewa mines, so called, in the Mahoning Valley, which had been opened a year or two before, and promised, as the event proved, to afford an almost inexhaustible supply of the richest coal. These mines, adding tracts of adjoining coal land to them as occasion demanded, he continued to work with a large annual yield for more then twenty years.

Shortly after commencing with the Chippewa, he was found, in 1848, to be among the pioneers in opening up the beds of Briar Hill coal in the Mahoning Valley, so well known to steamboat men and manufacturers ever since, as being a kind of coal peculiarly fitted for their uses. Here he continued to mine largely at several different localities selected by him with rare judgment. He also opened and carried on mining extensively at other points, such as on the Ohio, below Steubenville, also in Orange county, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.

His chief business office and coal depots were at Cleveland, but he had branch establishments at Detroit and Chicago, and at one time was largely interested in vessel property on the Lakes, and although the business of mining and selling coal, mainly for supplying steam craft and for exportation, was his leading pursuit, he was one of the earliest in 1851, to engage in the manufacture of pig iron from our native ores in the Mahoning Valley, having an interest in the second furnace started there, and being the builder of the fourth. From time to time he invested judiciously in real estate.

From all these sources in spite of some business adventures which proved disastrous, through unexpected financial revulsions, or the fault of others, he succeeded in amassing a splendid fortune to be inherited by his family. He was never a speculator, nor a rash operator, but his business views were liberal and comprehensive, and carried out with energy and wisdom. Personally he was a man of fine presence and manners, always pleasant to meet with on the street, cordial and unassuming. He was intensely loyal and liberal throughout the war, and always kind and charitable to the poor. He was not a church member, but was a regular church attendant and a respecter of religions institutions. In his later years he was frequently an invalid, and being in New York in the Fall of 1867, by the advice of physicians, and in company with friends from Cleveland, he sailed for Europe, where, in Paris, during the Exposition, he spent some months, returning with health improved, but which again declined until June 30, 1868, when at the age of sixty-two years, six months and fifteen days, he died at his beautiful home in Cleveland, surrounded by his family and friends, peacefully and calmly, as a good man dies.

We feel that we can not do better than to conclude this brief and imperfect sketch with the notice which appeared in the Cleveland Herald on the evening of the day of his decease. Speaking of the event it says:

We regret to announce the decease of this prominent business man and respected citizen, who died at his residence on Euclid avenue this (Tuesday) morning at about 9 o'clock.

Mr. Crawford had for years been more or less an invalid, but had not been alarmingly ill until last Thursday, when by a sudden and severe attack he was completely prostrated, and recovery became hopeless.

Mr. Crawford had nearly reached the age of sixty-three. A native of New York, beginning life with few, if any, adventitous aids, he had attained to affluence and position by a long and enterprising business career. For the last twenty-four years he has lived in Cleveland. He was among the pioneers in the coal mining business of Northern Ohio, contributing largely ever since by his sagacity and experience, to the development of that important element of commerce and public wealth.

Through all the vicissitudes of a long business life he maintained a character of the most perfect integrity. As a citizen he was liberal and public spirited; as a neighbor and friend he was kind and generous; in his social and domestic relations he was simple and unostentatious, affectionate and beloved. Very many in the various ranks and conditions of life, both here and elsewhere, will mourn his loss, and remember him with sincere respect.

D. P. Rhodes.

The name of D. P. Rhodes is distinguished among those who have contributed to the prosperity of Cleveland by the development of its coal and iron interests. For many years he has labored to build up the coal and iron trade of the city, on which its future mainly depends, and has met with a success which has benefitted the public in a far greater degree than it has enriched himself, although he has had nothing to complain of in that respect.

Mr. Rhodes was born in Sudbury, Rutland county, Vermont. His father dying when the boy was but five years old, he was compelled to work for his own living, riding horse for his neighbors whilst they plowed corn, digging potatoes and picking apples for every tenth bushel, and doing other odd jobs. When he was fifteen years old his mother married again and he lived with his stepfather till twenty-one. His stepfather, being rich, offered him a farm if he would stay with him, but he was bent on seeing the West before accepting the farm, and so set out westward. Whilst in the West he became engaged to be married, and before marriage he visited his home, when his stepfather offered him half his property if he would return there and live. The papers were made out but were not to be executed till he had consulted his affianced. To do this he returned to the West. As he traveled by canal he had abundant time to consider the matter, and the more he thought of it the more he became sick of the idea. Things were too circumscribed down east to suit his taste. He said nothing of the matter to his affianced, but wrote home that he was not coming; and to this day he has never seen occasion to regret his decision, but has been confirmed in its wisdom. To use his own expression: "By Jupiter, I would rather live west, if I did'nt live half as long."

Mr. Rhodes became early interested in the coal business, his first enterprise being in company with Messrs. Tod and Ford, in 1845, at the old Briar Hill mines, from which they raised and shipped by canal about fifty tons per week. This was considered a good business. In two or three years business increased to a hundred tons daily. In 1846, another mine was opened in Girard. This was followed by the Clover Hill mine in the Tuscarawas Valley, previous to the opening of which the firm was changed by the death of Mr. Ford. The next opened was the Clinton mines in the Tuscarawas Valley. Then a mine in Fairview, Wayne county, which was the last large transaction with Gov. Tod as partner. In about 1855, Tod and Rhodes dissolved partnership, Mr. Rhodes taking Clover Hill, and Gov. Tod all the rest of the interests.

Whilst developing his coal interests, Mr. Rhodes made important discoveries of iron ore, the first being veins of black band ore, very similar to the English and Scotch, though richer. The veins of this ore in Tuscarawas are from five to fifteen feet thick. He also discovered and worked a vein of mountain ore that will also run from five to fifteen feet thick, and is easily mined, one miner being able to mine twenty tons per day after the earth has been removed. Mr. Rhodes spent several months in the ore fields of Scotland and England in 1868, and found the veins there not over two feet in thickness.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, D. P. Rhodes]

In the Tuscarawas Valley property, Mr. Rhodes has found seven veins of coal, five of which are very good, and he has worked the whole of them. There is also as good fire-clay as any yet discovered, the finest grade being pure sandstone, which stands fire as hearthstones in furnaces better than any other. Shell ore, block ore, and limestone also exist in abundance. The iron enterprises in which Mr. Rhodes is interested are the Tuscarawas Iron Company, formed about 1864, of which Mr. Rhodes is president. This company have three or four thousand acres of mineral land in the Tuscarawas Valley, and the works have a capacity of a hundred and fifty tons per week; also the Dover Rolling Mill Company, of which Mr. Baker is president. It makes all sizes of merchant and small T rail iron, having a capacity of about fifteen tons per day.

He is largely interested in a mining company near Massillon, having three engines and three openings there, and can mine a thousand tons of coal per day as soon as the road from Massillon to Clinton is completed. This will be the shortest coal bearing road,--for blast furnace coal--to Cleveland, by fifteen miles, for it connects with the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad at Clinton, thence to Cleveland by Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad at Hudson. A company was formed and sunk some eight hundred or nine hundred feet, within three miles of Canal Dover, on the line of this company, and found salt water of the very best quality, the water itself being almost strong enough to preserve meat. There is coal within twenty rods of the wells at ninety cents per ton, whereas in Syracuse and Saginaw they have to use wood, at a cost (at the former place) of seven dollars per cord. Mr. Cass, President of the Fort Wayne Railroad, and J. N. McCullough, of the same and of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, are heavily interested in the road connections adverted to above.

At Fulton, three miles below Clinton, is another coal company in which Mr. Rhodes is interested. This mine yields about three hundred tons per day, and could double that amount if there were sufficient transportation. There are two engines and two openings at this bank.

Mr. Rhodes is also interested in three mines at Marseilles, Willmington and Braceville, Illinois. He has taken a hearty interest in all improvements, and especially in the matter of railroads. He was interested in building the Northern Division of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad, and was on the executive committee.

D. P. Rhodes and H. S. Stevens built the West Side street railroad, and equipped it. He was also largely interested in building and equipping the Rocky River railroad. He is also interested in the Cleveland and Zanesville railroad project.

Dr. Upson, of Talmadge, and Messrs. Philpot and Camp were in the coal business when Mr. Rhodes commenced, and they have all disappeared. They only then received about one boat load of fifty tons per week by canal, whereas, the firm of Rhodes & Co. now handle from ninety thousand to one hundred thousand tons per year.

Mr. Rhodes has built his docks in this city, two of them are the largest on the line of the river. About seven hundred men are employed on works in which he is heavily interested, but nothing troubles him. He says: "If the men don't dig the coal or iron, they don't get paid for it, so I take it easy, and am giving my attention to farming. I have a stock farm of five hundred and forty-four and a half acres at Ravenna that I run myself, and I have another of eighty acres adjacent to the city, rented for gardening, and still another of twenty-six and a half acres, out on the Detroit road where I intend to build me a home to live and die in, if I do not die away from home." He is now only fifty-three years old, hale and hearty, and seemingly good for another score or two of years.

He has four children, the oldest and youngest being daughters. The oldest is the wife of M. A. Hanna, of the firm of Rhodes & Co. The oldest son, Robert, is a member of the same firm; the other son, James, has just returned from a long visit to the mineral fields of Europe and attending lectures on metallurgy and mining. By his observation and studies he has acquired an extensive knowledge of the old world and the modes of working mines. The youngest daughter, Fanny, is at school at Batavia, New York.

In 1867, Mr. D. P. Rhodes and J. F. Card being tired of the sale department of their coal business, and having immense interest in mines that required close attention, gave up their sale business in Cleveland to Rhodes & Co., a firm consisting of G. H. Warmington, M. A. Hanna, and Robert R. Rhodes, who are receiving and selling both coal and iron, the same as the old firm.

The sales of coal by the firm for the past two years amounted to one hundred thousand tons per year; together with a large trade in pig iron and ore. The Willson Bank and Massillon and also Briar Hill grades of coal are principally handled by this firm, who are also operators largely in the Pennsylvania anthracites.

The ores passing through Cleveland to supply the manufactories of the Mahoning Valley are from Lake Superior and Canada; the Canada ores forming quite an extensive item. The firm keep for sale many varieties of pig iron, the most considerable being that of the Tuscarawas iron, but including also the Lake Superior and Salisbury irons.

The business of the firm averages one million dollars per year, and extends through the entire chain of lakes, having agencies at Chicago and Milwaukee, and also on Lake Superior ports. The Chicago trade is steadily increasing, for which there are two or three good reasons, to wit: The city is growing very rapidly; the Illinois coals are very inferior to those of Ohio, and the local demand for the product of the Illinois coal fields is very large, owing to the scarcity of wood.

David Morris.

The importance of biography as a branch of historical literature is indisputable, and long before reaching this portion of our work the reader must have realized the truth, that in the life of the individual can be seen mirrored not only his individual struggles, "but all mankind's epitome." The trouble, trials and labors of the one are but specimens of the struggles of the many who have to fight the battle of life, and who go down to their graves unchronicled. From the story of those whose experience is recorded, may be gleaned lessons of hope under the most discouraging circumstances, of perseverance amid difficulties, and assurances that labor and faith will eventually conquer. These lessons are forcibly taught in the history of the subject of the present sketch.

David Morris was born of respectable parents, in Sirhowy, Monmouth county, on the border of Wales, July 9th, 1819. His opportunities for acquiring an education were limited, but such as they were he made the most of, and obtained sufficient knowledge of the ordinary branches to enable him to successfully carry on business in after life. When about twenty years of age he emigrated to the United States, landing in New York. October 4th, 1839, in company with his mother and the remainder of the children, his father having arrived earlier, for the purpose of seeking a location. The first stop was made in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, thence they removed for a short time to Llewellyn, and afterwards to Primrose, Schuylkill county.

In 1841, he left his parents and went to Middlebury, Summit county, Ohio. He at once commenced digging coal for Mr. Philpot, with whom he had been acquainted in Wales. After a few months he commenced driving team on the railroad, and continued in that capacity for about two years. The zeal and ability shown by the young man attracted the attention of his employer, and proved of signal assistance in pushing forward the work. So marked was the interest exhibited by Mr. Philpot in his assistant, that he favored a closer connection, and in 1843, his daughter, Dorothy Philpot, was married to David Morris. The young wife was a lady of more than ordinary good qualities, and the union proved a source of unfailing happiness, Mrs. Morris being not only an exemplary wife and mother in her home, but by her counsel and assistance materially advancing the business interests of her husband.

In 1847, Mr. Morris, in connection with W. H. Harris, contracted with Lemuel Crawford for mining the Chippewa bank by the ton. After two years, he took the management of the work for Crawford & Price, the latter having purchased an interest. He then went to Girard to work his own mines at that point. The coal being of an excellent quality, and the demand constantly increasing, these mines became a source of great wealth, engrossing large capital, and giving employment to a host of workmen. Instead of the one mine which he found, his original enterprise, his estate now comprises the Mineral Ridge mines, which have been worked about eighteen years, and have yielded about a hundred and fifty tons per day; the Girard mines, worked about the same period, and yielding two hundred tons daily; and mines at Youngstown, which have been worked eight years. The pay roll of these mines now bears about $12,000 per month, and the freight bills on the railroad average $3,000 per week. The coal is mostly brought to Cleveland, whence it is shipped to Chicago, Milwaukee, Hamilton, and Toronto, a large amount going to the latter place.

In 1856, Mr. Morris moved to Cleveland, the amount of business transacted with this city making this step prudent. Here the firm of Crawford, Price & Morris was formed, which subsequently became Price, Crawford & Morris, and finally Morris & Price. On the 15th of February, 1862, he died in the forty-third year of his age.

[Illustration: Truly Yours, David Morris]

Mr. Morris was active, industrious, and unfailing in his watchfulness over the interests in his charge, both when an employee and when an employer. His industry set a good example, which those under him were induced to follow, and in this way labors which would have wearied and discouraged men with a less energetic and industrious manager, were performed with cheerfulness. He was a man of few words but his manner and acts spoke more forcibly than words, and his men learned to obey and respect an employer, who, instead of ordering and lecturing them, quietly showed them how he wished a thing by setting about it with them. He was careful to restrain his passions, and to act from judgment instead of from impulse. In this way he was not only successful in business, and respected by his business associates, but possessed the esteem and confidence of his workmen, who, when he lay in his last illness, gathered anxiously to learn every item of intelligence that could be learned in regard to his condition.

Mr. Morris was simple and unpretending in his habits, and of a religious turn of mind. He felt his obligations to God, and during his later years, especially, was diligent in his attention on Divine worship. In the closing days of his illness, he was constantly engaged in prayer, and departed this life in the assured hope of a peaceful and joyous hereafter.

The disease that carried him off was typhoid fever, with which he was at first seized in Cleveland, where he lay at his residence for some weeks. On his partial recovery he visited Girard, where he suffered a relapse, and after a lingering illness, died at the residence of his parents. He was buried in Youngstown cemetery, the funeral exercises being attended by one of the largest assemblages of friends ever congregated at that place on a similar occasion.

It was feared that with his death the operation of his works would cease and a large number of people be thus thrown out of employment. But a short time before his death he had expressed the desire that the works should be carried on after his departure the same as before it; "because," said he, "to stop the work would do much harm to others and no good to us." Mr. Morris appointed his wife, Mrs. Dorothy Morris, and Mr. Robert McLauchlan, executors of his will, and trustees of the estate. Mr. McLauchlan, who had been for a number of years engaged with the firm previous to the death of Mr. Morris, and therefore familiar with all its business detail, had the additional qualification of being an able financier, and possessing a practical knowledge of all branches of the coal interest, and above all, a character for unimpeachable integrity. His administration has been eminently successful.

Mr. Morris left a wife and six children to mourn his loss, the eldest of whom, Mary, is now the widow of the late A. V. Cannon, and the second, William, is a member of the firm of Ward, Morris & Co., coal dealers. The third, John, is engaged at one of the estate mines, at Niles, Ohio, the rest being quite young.

W. I. Price.

W. I. Price was born in Nantiglo, South Wales, May 21st, 1823, and came to the United States with his father when about twelve years of age. His father settled at Paris, Ohio, where the subject of this sketch remained until he grew up to man's estate, when he removed to Cleveland, and was engaged as book-keeper with Messrs. Camp & Stockly. The confidence of his employers in his business ability and integrity was soon manifested by their sending him to Chicago as their agent in the coal business. His stay in that city was marked by several severe fits of sickness, and he was eventually compelled to leave that post and return to Cleveland.

Soon after his return he became interested with Lemuel Crawford, in the business of mining coal, in the early development of which branch of trade he filled a conspicuous and important part. He often related, after the coal interest had assumed large proportions, the difficulties to be surmounted in introducing coal as an article of fuel, especially on the steamboats. Frequently he has sat up all night watching for the steamers to come in, and then almost gave away coal in order to induce their officers to use it.

The firm of Crawford & Price was formed in 1850. With persistent energy it continued to push its coal business until it assumed considerable proportions, when, in 1856, Mr. David Morris became a partner, and the firm name was changed to Crawford, Price & Co., and again in 1858, to Price, Crawford & Morris. In 1857, the firm of Price, Morris & Co. was established in Chicago, and Mr. Price was, during much of his time, actively engaged in the extensive coal transactions of that firm.

[Illustration: Very Resp. Yours, W. I. Price]

Mr. Price was married to Miss Harriet Murray, who died in 1850, after two years of married life, leaving one child, which only survived her three months. He was married again August 27, 1856, to Miss Caroline Anderson, of Manchester, Vermont, daughter of Rev. James Anderson, of the Congregational church.

Being in ill health at the time of his second marriage, Mr. Price, with his wife, took a trip to Europe, visiting his old home in Wales, and returned with his health so much improved that he was scarcely recognized by his friends.

The year 1857 was a most trying time for business men. Mr. Price's labors were arduous in the extreme; his energy was unbounded, and the labors he was compelled to perform doubtless so over-taxed his strength that he had not sufficient vitality to recover.

In the Fall of 1858, he had the first serious apprehensions for his health. A bronchial difficulty from which he suffered, was aggravated by traveling and exposure, and in the Spring of 1859, he went to New York for advice. He was told to make another trip to Europe. This advice was followed, but he returned very little benefited. After a few weeks he started with his wife on a tour south, intending to remain there during the Winter. Reaching Charleston, S. C., about the middle of November, he remained but a short time, and then set out for the Sulphur Springs, at Aiken. Here he improved rapidly, but as the cold came on, and the accommodations were poor, it was thought advisable to go further south. At Savannah he remained a short time, and after wandering from point to point, arrived early in February at New Smyrna, where a large company of English hunters made their headquarters. Here they found better food and accommodations. After wandering through the South until about the middle of May, they returned to New York, where they were met by the partner of Mr. Price, Mr. Morris, and Mr. Price's brother Philip. The latter accompanied them to Manchester, Vermont. The mountain air of that region stopped the cough of the invalid, and from Thursday, May 17th, to Monday 21st, he was able to sit up, and was attending to business with his brother all the morning of the last named day. A friend from Brooklyn called, and with him he conversed for half an hour. On rising to bid him good bye, he was seized with hemorrhage, and asked to be assisted to bed. He never spoke more, and died in fifteen minutes. His remains were brought to Cleveland and interred in Erie street cemetery, but were afterwards removed to Woodland. The last illness of Mr. Price was borne without a murmur.

Mr. Price was modest and retiring in manner, affable in disposition, and benevolent to a fault. He was most beloved where best known. In business circles his integrity was proverbial, and his financial ability everywhere acknowledged. Few men have died so sincerely regretted by those who knew him.

James Anderson Price, the only child of the subject of this sketch, was born April 22d, 1858, and though yet very young, presents in personal appearance and disposition an exact counterpart of his father.

D. W. Cross.

In the Spring of 1855, when the coal trade of Cleveland was, comparatively, in its infancy, and before the Mahoning Railroad was built, the late Oliver H. Perry and David W. Cross set about investigating the coal deposits in the Mahoning Valley, which resulted in their making some leases of coal lands, and in purchasing a coal tract of about one hundred and fifty acres, known then as the old Heaton coal bank, of Mineral Ridge coal. In January, 1856, Perry, Cross & Co. commenced operations in earnest, opened an office and coal yard on Johnson & Tisdale's dock and mined and brought to Cleveland the first cargo of Mineral Ridge coal. It came by the way of the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal from Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio.

At that time, when a gold dollar was only worth a dollar, the coal was mined at forty cents per ton, the canal freight about one dollar and seventy-five cents per ton, "dead work," handling, dockage, &c., about seventy-five cents, making the total cost of that coal on the docks in Cleveland ready for delivery, about two dollars and ninety cents per ton.

This mine produced about a hundred tons per day. The company that year also received about eight thousand tons of Briar Hill or "block coal" from Powers' bank, about two miles below Youngstown. This coal was also brought in by canal boats.

In the year 1859, Hon. Henry B. Payne, who had an interest in the original purchase of coal lands, with a view of establishing his son, Nathan P. Payne, in business, bought the entire interest of Mr. Perry in the concern and the business was continued in the name of D. W. Cross & Co. Mr. N. P. Payne, then an active young man just from his collegiate studies, took charge of the retail trade, and Isaac Newton had charge of the books. In 1860, arrangements were made with the late Lemuel Crawford to run his Chippewa and Briar Hill mines in connection with the Mineral Ridge mines, and it resulted in forming the company known as Crawford, Cross & Co., for one year, at the expiration of which time the firm of Cross, Payne & Co., composed of D. W. Cross, Nathan P. Payne and Isaac Newton, carried on the business. This firm made extensive explorations for coal. They discovered and opened the Summit bank coal mines, near Akron, built a locomotive railroad three miles long to the canal at Middlebury, and to the Cleveland & Zanesville and Atlantic & Great Western railroads; repaired the feeder canal from Middlebury to Akron, built a basin capable of holding eight canal boats, extensive shutes, docks, &c., capable of handling four thousand five hundred tons per day. This coal tract includes between three and four hundred acres. The coal is a superior quality of the Massillon grade, about four and a half feet thick, and for steam, manufacturing and domestic uses is claimed to have no superior. The company employed at this mine from seventy-five to a hundred and fifty men; built extensive shaft works for elevating coal to the surface; erected about forty comfortable tenements for the workmen and miners, and, in short, used all their past experience to make this a model mine. It is the nearest coal bank to Cleveland now open.

They also, in connection with the late W. A. Otis, Charles A. Otis and James Lewis, leased and purchased several hundred acres of coal lands in Brookfield, Trumbull county, Ohio, and opened the extensive works known as the Otis Coal Company's bank.

A shaft on this tract was sunk to the coal eight by sixteen feet and a hundred and fifty-five feet deep, in sixty-one days by Isaac Halford, superintendent, through solid rock, said to be the quickest work ever known in the valley. This tract produces an excellent quality of the Briar Hill grade of coal; a locomotive railroad connects it with a branch of the Mahoning Railroad, and the works are capable of mining and raising three hundred tons of coal per day.

In February, 1867, Mr. Cross retired from the business, and the present firm of Payne, Newton & Co., composed of N. P. Payne, Isaac Newton and Charles J. Sheffield, now carry on the extensive business of the entire concern. They have ample facilities for mining and handling five or six hundred tons of coal per day.

After the completion of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal was abandoned, the Railroad Company having obtained control of the stock, and fixed so high a tariff as to cut off all competition with themselves. This effectually killed the canal, except that portion between Akron and Kent. The active trade on this part of the Pennsylvania and Ohio canal will insure its preservation, and as it is an important feeder (supplying water and trade) to the Ohio canal, the State will undoubtedly take possession of it. The capital invested by this concern in the coal trade is about $250,000.

Since his retirement from the coal trade, Mr. Cross has been actively interested in the Winslow Car Roofing Company and the Cleveland Steam Gauge Company, both carrying on their manufactories in Cleveland.

Religious

Although originally settled by people from Connecticut, Cleveland was not in its early days distinguished for its religious characteristics. Old inhabitants narrate how in the infancy of the settlement the whisky shop was more frequented than the preaching meeting, whenever that was held, and how, on one occasion, a party of scoffing unbelievers bore in mock triumph an effigy of the Saviour through the streets. A regular meeting of infidels was held, and burlesque celebrations of the Lord's Supper performed. Still later, when the business of slaughtering hogs became an important branch of industry, it was carried on regularly, on Sundays as well as on week-days, and as this was a leading feature in the year's doings the religious observance of the day was seriously interfered with during slaughtering season. Trade on the river, in the busy season, went on with but little regard for the Sundays, except that Mr. John Walworth invariably refused, although not a church member, to conform to the usage of his neighbors in doing business on that day. Unlike the modern emigrants from New England, the Cleveland pioneers did not carry the church with them.

The first regularly organized religious society in Cleveland was the Episcopal, which gathered together for religious worship in 1817, under the ministration of the Rev. Roger Searles. The meetings were held wherever a room could be obtained, the court-house, old academy building, and other public rooms being frequently used for the purpose. In 1828, Trinity Church was regularly incorporated, and the frame building which stood on the corner of Seneca and St. Clair streets until its destruction by fire in 1853, is remembered with affection by many Clevelanders as "Old Trinity."

The next religions organization was Presbyterian. In 1820, a few residents of Cleveland engaged, the Rev. Randolph Stone, pastor of a church at Morgan, Ashtabula county, to devote a third of his ministrations to Cleveland. In June of that year the first Sunday school was established with Elisha Taylor as superintendent, but it was only by the most persistent effort that it was enabled to combat the prejudices and overcome the indifference of the people. In September, 1820, the First Presbyterian church was formally organized, with fourteen members, in the old log court-house. In 1827, the society was regularly incorporated, and in 1834, the old stone church on the Public Square was opened for worship. During the whole of this time the congregation had no settled pastor, but was dependent on occasional visits of ministers from other places.

The first attempt at Methodist organization was somewhere between 1824 and 1827. Methodism was not in favor among the early settlers in Cleveland. The historian of the Erie Conference relates that a Methodist friend in New England, who owned land in Cleveland, sent on a deed for the lot on the northeast corner of Ontario and Rockwell street, where Mr. Crittenden afterwards built a large stone house, which lot would have been most suitable for a church, and that no person could be found willing to pay the trifling expense of recording, or take charge of the deed, and it was returned to the donor. In 1830, Cleveland became a station, with Rev. Mr. Plimpton, pastor.

The first Baptist meeting was held in the old academy, in 1832, the Rev. Richmond Taggart preaching to a handful of believers. In 1833, the First Baptist society was formally organized with twenty-seven members, Moses White and Benjamin Rouse, who still live in the city, being of the original deacons. In 1836, their first church, on the corner of Seneca and Champlain streets, was dedicated with a sermon by the Rev. Elisha Tucker, of Buffalo, who was afterwards called to the pastorate.

About the year 1835, the first Roman Catholic church was built on Columbus street on the flats, and was intended to supply the religious needs of the Roman Catholics of Cleveland and Ohio City, being situated almost midway between the settled portions of the two places. The first pastor was the Rev. Mr. Dillon.

In 1835, the first Bethel church, for the use of sailors, was built at the back of the site of Gorton, McMillan & Co.'s warehouse. It was a plain wooden structure, which remained there until the erection of the brick church on Water Street, when the wooden building was removed to make way for the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad.

In 1839, the first Hebrew synagogue was organized and a brick church was afterwards built on Eagle street.

From these feeble beginnings have grown up the present religious organizations of Cleveland, numbering about seventy churches, many of them of great beauty and costliness, with flourishing Sunday schools and wealthy congregations. The leading denominations have each several churches graded, from stately buildings for the older and wealthier congregations to the modest mission chapels. Nearly all the religious beliefs of the day are represented by organizations in the city, and all are in a flourishing, or at least a growing condition.

Samuel C. Aiken.

The ancestors of Mr. Aiken were from the North of Ireland, particularly from Londonderry, Antrim and Belfast. At an early day one or two colonies came over to this country and settled on a tract of land on the Merrimac River, in New Hampshire, calling it Londonderry, after the name of the city from which most of them had emigrated. Fragments of these colonies were soon scattered over New England, and a few families moved to Vermont and purchased a tract of land midway between the Green Mountains and Connecticut River. The township was at first called Derry, and afterwards divided, one portion retaining the original name, and the other taking the name of Windham. In the latter town Dr. Aiken was born, September 21, 1791. His parents were both natives of Londonderry, New Hampshire. Before their marriage, his mother, whose maiden name was Clark, resided a considerable portion of her time in Boston, with a brother and three sisters, and was there when the Revolutionary war broke out. When the city fell into the hands of the British, they refused to let any one leave. By some means however Miss Clark escaped and crossed over to Cambridge, where the American army was stationed under General Washington. After questioning her as to her escape and the situation of affairs in the city, Washington told her, that, in the present condition of the country it was unsafe for her to travel unprotected, and accordingly gave her an escort, proving that the great General was also mindful of the courtesies of a gentleman.

When about twelve or thirteen years of age, Dr. Aiken, after a preparatory course, entered Middlebury college, in 1813. In his junior year a long fit of sickness placed him under the care of a physician from Georgia, who bled him forty times and gave him calomel and julep, (such was the way of curing fever,) sufficient to destroy the best constitution. The consequence was, his health was so impaired that he was obliged to leave college for a year. Afterwards returning he entered the class of 1814. In both classes were quite a number of young men who became distinguished in Church and State. Among them was Sylvester Larned, the eloquent preacher of New Orleans, Levi Parsons and Pliney Fisk, first missionaries to Palestine, Carlos Wilcox, the poet, Silas Wright, afterwards Governor of New York State, and Samuel Nelson, now on the Bench of the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Dr. Aiken's first religious impressions were occasioned by reading Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. Faithful parental instruction in the Bible and Shorter Catechism had laid the foundation for belief in the truth of religion. A revival of religion soon after entering college awakened a new and solemn purpose to devote his life to the work of the Gospel ministry. The usual course of three years at Andover Theological Seminary was passed without any special occurrence. He was then called by the "Young Men's Missionary Society" in New York, to labor in their service in that city. He had but just entered the field when an urgent request from the First Presbyterian society in Utica, New York, took him to that place, then only a small village, where he was ordained and installed, the third of February, 1818. Some events of deep interest occurred while he was in Utica. The building and completion of the Erie canal was one. The cholera in 1832, was another. It was there and then this fatal epidemic first appeared in the United States. In Utica also during his ministry were several revivals of religion of great power and interest. Moreover, about that time the subject of anti-slavery began to be agitated; opposition and mobs began to gather, which, under the control of the Almighty, have resulted in the emancipation of millions of slaves.

Impaired health, after about nineteen years of labor, with very little relaxation or relief by traveling, such as is common now, determined him to accept a call from the First Presbyterian church and society in Cleveland, over which he was installed pastor in November, 1835. Although the church had been organized fifteen years, Rev. Mr. Aiken was the first regular pastor. The ministerial duties were performed by supplies.

Soon after Mr. Aiken was installed pastor, a great financial revulsion took place; and for a period of about ten years he voluntarily relinquished three hundred dollars out of his salary of fifteen hundred, lest it should prove burthensome to the church. This low tide in financial matters was characterized by remarkable religious developments; slavery, temperance and Millerism became church questions; and it was regarded as the peculiar mission of Mr. Aiken to distinguish between truth and error. His moderation, judicious advice, and devoted character were just calculated to conduct his charge safely through the distractions of that period. The society increased at such a rate that the building became crowded, and another church was organized for the West Side. On the East Side a Congregational church was formed about the year 1840, to which some of the more radical members of the First Presbyterian church went over. In process of time the nucleus of the Second Presbyterian church on Superior street, and the Third, on Euclid street, were formed out of the First church, not because of any dissatisfaction, however, but for want of room. But, notwithstanding these offshoots, a new and larger edifice became necessary, and in 1853, the present enlarged, elegant and substantial building was put up on the site of that of 1834. In March, 1857, the wood work of this spacious stone structure was destroyed by fire.

In his physical constitution, with which the mental is closely allied, Mr. Aiken is deliberate, to a degree which some have greatly mistaken for indolence. But with a commanding person, and strong will this habitual absence of excitement was never tame, but rather impressive. He seldom rose above the even tenor of his discourse, but never fell to commonplace, was generally interesting and occasionally eloquent. His sermons were not hasty compositions, without a purpose, but well studied, rich with original and important thought, artistically arranged and glowing with genuine piety and embellished with scholastic treasures. Dr. Aiken possessed the accomplishment, and understood the value of good reading, so rare in the pulpit, and which is scarcely inferior to eloquence. We remember but few occasions when he became thoroughly aroused. The destruction of so fine a church edifice so soon after it was completed seemed to him a personal calamity. On the following Sunday the congregation met in Chapin's Hall. His heart was evidently full of grief; but also of submission. His fine enunciation, correct emphasis, and strong yet suppressed feelings, secured the earnest attention of every hearer. He touched graphically upon the power of fire; how it fractures the rock, softens obdurate metals, envelopes the prairies in flame, and how it seized upon the seats, ceiling and roof in his darling house of worship, thence fiercely ascending the spire to strive to rise still higher, and invade the clouds. From this he turned to the doctrine of submission, in a manner so earnest and pathetic that a perceptible agitation pervaded the audience, in which many could not suppress their tears. There was no laboring after effect. It was the natural result of a lofty sentiment, expressed with unction, beauty and vigor.

During the same year the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church was held at Cleveland. The slavery question was there presented for the last time. The Southern members, represented by Rev. Mr. Ross, of Alabama, had counted upon what they called a conservative course, on the part of Mr. Aiken. They wished, simply, to be let alone. From the Middle States there were many clergyman of moderate views, who expected him to take their ground, or, at least, to be silent. He had advised non-resistence to the execution of the fugitive slave law, even on the part of the blacks, in cases where governmental officials were implicated. As usual, the negro question came up, and a large portion of a day was given to it.

Until near the close of the debate the representatives of the Middle and Southern States were quite hopeful of a moderate policy, or of no policy. Mr. Aiken sat near the marble pulpit in the Second church without any apparent interest in the discussion. He rose and spoke with difficulty and in a weak voice, and few words. In a temperate but firm and patriarchal manner he recounted the various phases of the question, during his public ministry. He then touched upon the moral and religions aspect of the case, but with no asseveration, and concluded by denouncing slavery as an evil, so monstrous that the church could neither sustain nor ignore it. The silence was so complete that no word was lost. When he sat down, the Southern members remarked that their fate within the church was settled.

On a previous public occasion in 1851, when the Columbus Railway was just completed, and an excursion of State dignitaries made a trial trip to Cleveland, Mr. Aiken was requested to preach in their presence. As this discourse is one of a very few that have been printed, we can give a few literal extracts:

It was my privilege on the Lord's day to address De Witt Clinton and the Canal Commissioners of New York in recognition of the beneficient hand of Providence, who had carried them on to the completion of the Erie Canal. In a moral and religions, as well as in a social and commercial point of view, there is something both solemn and sublime in the completion of a great thoroughfare. It indicates not only the march of mind and a higher type of society, but the evolution of a divine purpose.

In his quarter century sermon, June 3d, 1850, he says of revivals:

They are as their Divine Author says, like the breath of wind through fragrant trees and flowers, scattering grateful odors, pervading the universal church with the treasured sweetness of divine grace. If my success has not been as great as I would wish, it is as great as I had reason to expect. I confess I have much to deplore, and much for which to be thankful. There have been adverse influences here to counteract those usually falling to the lot of other ministers. So far as the subject of slavery is concerned I have endeavored without the fear or favor of man to preserve a course best calculated to promote freedom and save the church from dismemberment.

With such a style, perspicuous, easy and impressive, it is easy to see how he might thoroughly absorb the attention of an audience, without affecting the orator. If he had been more ambitions and more enterprising, he might have risen higher as a popular preacher, but would have held a lower place in the affections of his people. The position of a pastor in an active and growing city is beset with difficulty on all sides. To retain place and influence in one congregation during a period of thirty-five years is an evidence of prudence, character and stability of purpose more to be desired than outside fame in the church.

Though not yet arrived at extreme old age, he is too feeble to perform much service. It is ten years since he has retired from active duty, but his congregation continue his annual salary by an unanimous vote. Few clergyman are permitted to witness, like him, the fruits of their early labors. He has contributed largely to shape the religions institutions of a city, while it was increasing in population from three thousand to ninety thousand. We remember but one instance where he was drawn into a newspaper discussion. This was in the year 1815, in which he reviewed the decrees of the Council of Trent in relation to the prohibition of the Scriptures to the common people. The letters of "Clericus" and "Veritas" on that subject covered the whole ground on both sides, and are worthy of publication in a more permanent form.

The Rev. Doctor sustained the relation of pastor to the First Presbyterian church until 1858, when he resigned, leaving the Rev. Dr. Goodrich sole pastor. The whole extent of his ministry from the time of his license by the Londonderry Presbytery, 1817, to the present time, March, 1869, has been about fifty-three years. During forty-three years of this period he has been a pastor in only two congregations. The other portion of this time he has preached and labored in vacant churches and where there was no church, as health and opportunity permitted.

The Doctor still resides in Cleveland, beloved by the church over which for so many years he watched and prayed, and honored in a community in which he has so long been recognized as an unswerving advocate of right.

Retired from active duty, and nearing, as he is, the sunset of life, his quiet hours may bring to him remembrances of vigorous effort and unmeasured usefulness, while his gentle nature may be cheered by the consciousness that he still holds the love of this people.

Seymour W. Adams.

The subject of this sketch, Rev. Seymour Webster Adams, D. D., was born at Vernon, Oneida county, New York, August 1, 1815. His father's name was Isaac Adams and his mother's maiden name was Eunice Webster--she was a niece of Noah Webster, the great American lexicographer. His mother is still living. His father died in 1861. Dr. Adams was possessed of remarkable equanimity of temperament, a healthful constitution and great powers of application and endurance. These traits, the home influences under which he was nurtured, developed in a high degree. His early years were passed upon his father's farm at Vernon and in the home circle. Having before him constantly not only the example of right living, as generally esteemed, but of holy living, he could not do otherwise than profit greatly by the example set before him. But he did not only profit by this example--he went much further. It is said of him, "As a son he was docile, loving, tenderly attached to his kindred, profoundly obedient and reverent towards his parents, whose wish was the law of his heart, and whom he loved to call blessed."

At the age of seventeen he became a member of the Baptist church at Vernon, and soon after this entered upon a course of preparation for a liberal education and in due time he entered Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, from which he graduated after a full course, taking a very high position in his class.

That the leading traits of his character while young may be appreciated, some of his early writings are here referred to.

Soon after entering upon his collegiate course he wrote upon "Integrity of Character," and among other things remarked that the man who suffers his principles to be violated "sacrifices his honor, barters all that is noble and admirable, and abandons those principles to which he should cling with an unyielding grasp."

On another occasion a little further on he is found maintaining the necessity of the exercise of the physical and intellectual powers of man "as a wise provision of the Sovereign Ruler of the world" for man's happiness, and he maintains that not only in this should there be activity but energy.

Afterwards, in 1841, when he had become a senior and was about to bid adieu to college life, he chose as the subject of his oration, "Development of Character," maintaining that no one can become "deservedly great" who does not encounter and overcome the impediments and difficulties constantly presenting themselves. He says: "Difficulties may long have met the aspirant at every step and been for years his constant companions, yet so far from proving detrimental, they have been among the most efficient means for preparing him for vigorous effort to surmount still greater barriers."

These references are deemed sufficient to indicate the principles and leading traits of the youthful Seymour W. Adams, and as we shall see, were his unvarying guides through life. To him it was the same to resolve as to perform, for whether in earlier or later life he never put his hand to the plow and looked back. Therefore, having resolved to become a Christian minister, he never swerved from that resolution for a single moment, but went forward with his mind fixed upon his purpose and object as the mariner's upon his guiding star. In pursuance of his previous determination, in the Fall of 1841 he entered the Hamilton Theological Seminary at Hamilton, Madison county, New York, from which in regular course he graduated, and after acting as ministerial supply in one or two places, he was called to and accepted the pastorate of the Baptist church at Vernon, his native place, having previously received ordination. Here he was greatly beloved by his people and continued there quietly pursuing his duties, until sought out at his village home and invited to accept the vacant pastorate of the First Baptist church of Cleveland, Ohio.

When first invited to the Cleveland pastorate he refused to listen, and declined to entertain the call; but upon the matter being further pressed upon him, upon the second call he consented to visit Cleveland for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the people and learning their situation, but was careful to give them no encouragement that he would accept their invitation.

Mr. Adams came to Cleveland in pursuance of this call October 19th, 1846, and after remaining three weeks returned home to Vernon, leaving it in great doubt whether he would return here. In about a month afterwards, the church at Cleveland calling him was relieved of suspense by his acceptance of the pastorate. He entered upon it November 22d, 1846. The subject of his discourse on this occasion was:

"For they watch for your souls as they that must give account."--Heb. xiii, 17.

A few words as to this discourse is deemed not out of place here, as it has become historic in the church to which it was delivered. The doctrine of the discourse was the reciprocal duty of pastor and people. Reference will only be made to what appertains to the pastor. He laid down most rigid rules for him--"that he should be a holy man,"--that he should be one that "hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity." That the injunction was laid upon him, "Keep thyself pure;" that as the conduct of the minister is observed by many it should be fitting as an example to others "in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." That in preparation for preaching the Word "time, thought and prayer must be given--that the burden of all his preaching should be 'Christ and him crucified.'"

How well he observed these will appear hereafter in the language of those who made addresses at his funeral, or soon afterwards. The reader is also referred to the Memoir of Dr. Adams, edited by Judge Bishop.

In this pastorate Dr. Adams continued till his decease. No extended reference can be made to his labors in so brief a sketch as this. A mere summary only can be given of his life work. The number of sermons preached by him, including addresses at funerals, is three thousand four hundred and ninety-three; number of marriages solemnized, three hundred and fifty-two; number of funerals attended, five hundred and four; number received into the church, including those received both by letter and baptism, about seven hundred. In addition to his other labors, in 1858-9, he wrote the life of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Kendrick, so long and honorably known as the founder of the Hamilton Theological School, and which has since grown to be Madison University and Hamilton Theological Seminary. While in this work all display and all mere ornament is avoided, it is a work of decided merit, requiring severe application and patient industry to accomplish it. His surviving wife has said that "his pastoral labors were prosecuted regardless of self."

He was three times married. First to Miss Caroline E. Griggs, who died April, 1847. Second, January, 1849, to Mrs. Cordelia C. Peck, widow of Rev. Linus M. Peck, and daughter of Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Kendrick; she died October, 1852. Third, to Miss Augusta Hoyt, August, 1855, who is the mother of his four surviving children.

He was not only a Christian minister, but he was a true Christian patriot, and never, during all the terrible struggle for the life of the nation, when he offered prayer, did he fail to remember his country. Nearly the last work of his life was to accept an appointment in the Christian Commission to render service in Washington and at the front, relieving and comforting the sick and wounded of our army.

On the sixth of July, 1864, he returned home from this service, quite unwell, but he thought he could find no space for repose, and labored on more intensely than ever, all which time a crisis was approaching which he did not anticipate. He at last began to perceive symptoms of severe illness, and Sabbath, September 11th, he preached his last sermon to his people from Heb. iii: 7, 8. "To-day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts," &c. All that can be said here of this discourse is, that if he had known it was his last he could not have spoken more appropriately or warned more earnestly. From the preaching of this discourse he went to the sick-room, and on the 27th of September, 1864, Dr. Adams bade adieu to earth and passed away.

His funeral was attended September 30th, by a great multitude of mourners and friends, at the First Baptist church, and a large number of the clergymen of Cleveland participated in the solemnities.

This sketch can not be better concluded than by referring briefly to some of the remarks made on that occasion, as a fitting testimonial to the character and worth of Dr. Adams.

Remarks, 1st, by Rev. Dr. Aiken:

I have known him intimately, and I have thought, as I have seen him on the street, of that passage of Scripture, "Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile," for there was no guile in him. You might read his profession in his daily life. He commended daily the Gospel that he preached, and gave living witness of its power and showed that he loved the truth. He was eminently successful as a pastor and useful in the cause of the Redeemer.

2d, by Rev. Dr. Goodrich:

There was manifest a diligence in his study and a thoroughness of thought which commanded increased respect the longer we listened to him. His life and character made him felt in this community even more than his words. He preached one day in the week to his own flock, but he lived forth the Gospel of Christ every day before the world. There was in him a sincerity and consistency which could not be hid. He was transparent as crystal and honest as a little child. No man ever doubted him. He was always himself, true, manly, faithful. Men, as they passed him in the street, said to themselves, "There is a man who believes all the Gospel he preaches." He is gone, but his works follow him. "Being dead he yet speaketh."

3d, by Rev. Dr. Hawks:

Possessed naturally of a strong intellect, he disciplined it by the severe process of thought and study. His scholarship was accurate and thorough, his reading extensive and profitable, by means of these he intended to serve, as he did, Christ and the church. Dr. Adams was a pastor as well as preacher. He taught not only publicly but from house to house.

J. A. Thome.

James Armstrong Thome was born in Augusta, Kentucky, January 20, 1813. He is of Scotch descent on his father's side, and of North Irish by his mother, a native Armstrong of the border land. His father was a Presbyterian of the Scotch type, and a ruling elder in the church. His mother was a Methodist of the original Wesleyan order and period, having been converted under the labors of the Wesleys at the age of nine. This difference of the parents in religious beliefs and church affinities remained unchanged till the death of the mother, each attending their respective meetings; yet, wide as the distinction then was, and warm as the prevalent feeling was, between Presbyterians and Methodists, particularly in Kentucky, there was neither sectarian width nor warmth between the godly pair, the twain were one flesh and one spirit in Christ Jesus.

The son usually followed his father to church, though he sometimes accompanied his mother; and during week-day evenings he had the double advantage of going to prayer-meeting with the one, and to class-meeting with the other. To this two-fold, yet harmonious, religious training in childhood the son is indebted for a breath of religious sentiment and sympathy which made him early a Presbyteria-Methodist in heart, and led him subsequently to the mid-way ground of Congregationalism, where many a Presbyterian and many a Methodist have met in Christian unity,

He owes his early conversion to the faithful teachings and pious example of his parents, to their religious instruction, to family worship, to Sabbath observance, to sanctuary means, in prosecution of the covenant his parents entered into with God when they consecrated him in infancy.

The son's first great sorrow came when he was in his ninth year, in the death of his mother. The loss was irreparable, but it led him to Christ, From the sad moment when the dying mother laid her hand upon his head and spoke in words never to be forgotten, her last benediction, sorrow for the sainted dead was blended with penepenitentialrow towards God, and prayers and tears cried to heaven for mercy. It was not, however, until the age of seventeen that the blind seeker found the Saviour, and conscious peace in Him. This happy event was immediately followed by union with the Presbyterian church, and this by personal consecration to the ministry. Just before his conversion, his college course, early begun, had been completed. Three years were spent in farther study, and in travel, and general observation bearing on the chosen calling of life.

At the opening of Lane Seminary, under the Theological headship of Dr. Lyman Beecher, the young divinity student chose that school of the prophets, and joined its first class in 1833. It was a class destined to be made famous by a discussion, in its first year, of the slavery question, then beginning to be agitated by the formation of an anti-slavery society on the basis of immediate emancipation, and by the active agitation of the subject in the neighboring city, Cincinnati, whereby the mobocratic spirit was aroused, whence threats of sacking the seminary buildings, and thereupon alarm and hasty action of the trustees, disallowing further agitation, and enjoining the disbanding of the society. The students, too much in earnest to yield, after unavailing attempts at reconciliation with the authorities, the professors mediating, and Doctor Beecher conjuring his beloved pupils to stay with him, seceded in a body, in December, 1834. The young Kentuckian, son of a slave-holder, became a thorough convert to the doctrine of emancipation, joined the anti-slavery society, agitated with his brethren, delivered an address at the first anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, in New York, May, 1834, and seceded with the class. "A Statement of the Reasons which induced the Students of Lane Seminary to Dissolve their Connection with that Institution"--a pamphlet of twenty-eight pages, signed by fifty-one names, and bearing date December 15, 1834, was published and went over the land, and the city, intensifying the agitation at home, and raising it throughout the country. Among the signatures to this document are those of Theodore D. Weld, H. B. Stanton, George Whipple, J. W. Alvord, George Clark, John J. Miter, Amos Dresser, (afterwards scourged in the Public Square of Nashville,) William T. Allen, son of a slaveholding Presbyterian minister in Alabama, and James A. Thome.

Exiled from the Seminary halls, these rebel reformers took refuge in a building hard by the city, and extemporized a Theological school, themselves being both lecturers and students. The following Spring, negotiations being matured for adding a Theological department to the Oberlin Institute by the accession of Professors Finney and Morgan the seceders went in a body to Oberlin, where they prosecuted their preparations for the ministry, which were completed in 1836. Among these first graduates of Oberlin Theological Seminary was J. A. Thome. The Winter of 1835-6, he had spent in lecturing on anti-slavery in Ohio, under commission of the American Anti-Slavery Society. The Winter of 1836-7, he, with Jos. Horace Kimball, of New Hampshire, visited the British West India Islands to investigate the results of the abolition of slavery, two years prior, by act of Parliament. A volume entitled "Emancipation in the West Indies," prepared by Mr. Thome, and published, in 1837, by the American Anti-Slavery Society at New York, embodied these observations. The book was timely and told efficiently on the reform in this country. The Winter of 1837, was passed in Kentucky, the abolitionist living among slaveholders, and officiating as the minister in the church of his father. The next Spring he accepted a call to the chair of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres in Oberlin college, and in September following was married to Miss Ann T. Allen, daughter of John Gould Allen, Esq., of Fairfield, Connecticut. After ten years of professorial labors, in association with men of great worth, most of whom still retain their connection with the college, Mr. Thome entered upon the pastoral work, December, 1848, in connection with the church of which he is still the pastor.

He has enjoyed a pastorate of twenty years, uninterrupted by serious ill-health, and cheered by successive revivals and consequent accessions to the church, which, having a membership at the beginning of his pastorate of little over one hundred, now numbers over three hundred, after many losses by dismission and death.

Mr. Thome, early converted to anti-slavery, and consistently devoted to that cause, has lived to see slavery abolished in America. In addition to the volume on West India Emancipation, he wrote, in 1850, a book on Slavery in America, which was published by the British Anti-Slavery Society. Since, a Prize Tract on Prayer for the Oppressed, also a tract during the war on "What are we Fighting for?" and a treatise on "The Future of the Freed People."

At the earnest solicitation of the Secretaries of the American Missionary Association, and with the generous consent of his church, Mr. Thome, accompanied by his wife and daughter, went abroad early in 1867, to secure pecuniary assistance from the friends of the freedmen in England and Scotland for their education and evangelization. He was absent on this mission one year. The result of his efforts have not yet ceased to be realized.

After thirty years of unbroken domestic felicity, three beloved daughters having been reared to womanhood in the enjoyment of the Christian's hope, and two of them happily wedded, Mr. Thome and his wife were overwhelmed with sorrow by the sudden death, on the last day of April, 1869, of their second daughter, Mrs. Maria E. Murphy, wife of Mr. Thos. Murphy, of Detroit. A lady of singular amiability, purity, and Christian excellence, she was endeared by her sweet graces to rich and poor, to young and old, throughout the circle of her acquaintances.

William H. Goodrich.

Rev. William H. Goodrich, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland, is a native of New Haven, Conn. His ancestry is among the most honorable known in American society. His father was the late Rev. Chauncey A. Goodrich, D. D., a greatly distinguished professor in Yale College; and his grandfather, Hon. Elizur Goodrich, for some years a representative in Congress, and for twenty years Mayor of New Haven; and his great-grandfather, Rev. Elizur Goodrich, D. D., distinguished both as a clergyman and an astronomer. His mother was the daughter of Noah Webster, LL.D., the lexicographer.

He graduated at Yale college, and was subsequently a tutor in that institution. He studied theology at the New Haven Theological Seminary. While tutor, it was his duty to preserve order about the college grounds, and he received, (though not from a student,) during a night disturbance, a severe injury upon the head, which put his life in peril and interrupted mental labor for a long period. A part of this time was spent abroad in 1848; and it was not till 1850 that he entered steadily upon the duties of his profession. He was first settled as pastor of the Congregational Church of Bristol, Connecticut, where he remained four years. He was then called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in Binghamton, N. Y., where he remained till 1858, when he removed to this city, where, for eleven years, his ministry has been marked by very great success. The prosperous condition of the church under his care, together with almost unparalleled attachment between pastor and people, afford evidence of the ability and faithfulness with which he has discharged his ministerial duties. To remarkable mental vigor, he adds great delicacy of character and the warmest sympathies; and those who know most of him, regard it as no partial judgment which awards him a front rank among preachers and pastors.

[Illustration: Yours truly, W. H. Goodrich]

Mr. Goodrich has enjoyed the best of opportunities, and is a writer of rare taste and rhetorical force, and an eloquent and impressive speaker. As a preacher he is never speculative and theoretical, never dogmatic nor sectarian, but eminently spiritual and practical. But the strongest point in his character is his downright, never-failing common sense. He never blunders, and never has to apologize for important mistakes committed. He is remarkable for insight to the character of all with whom he has to do. This trait gives him influence with many who care little for the gospel which he preaches. Though not conspicuously demonstrative in his outward life, and though free from all approach to obtrusiveness, so earnest and direct are his ways, that he becomes known to thousands with whom he has no personal acquaintance.

In this country it is generally regarded as a misfortune to have had a grandfather. Most Americans who have reached distinction for abilities and usefulness, have been the sons of parents unknown to fame. As a general rule, self-made men are the only well made men. By the force of their own energies they have surmounted the difficulties that stood in their pathway, and achieved distinction by their own efforts. There are very few prominent men in our country whose fathers and grandfathers have left names which will live for a score of years in the memory of society. But to this general truth the history of our country affords honorable exceptions. The sons of certain families distinguished for wealth, for talent and for the highest position in society, have been so wisely and prayerfully trained that they have escaped the dangers which have proved fatal to most of those who have inherited honored names, and to this class Mr. Goodrich belongs. Though not ignorant of the truth that his ancestry is held in the highest honor by all good men, it seems never to have occurred to him that anything less than his own personal labors and merits would avail to give him a good name with those whose good opinion is desirable. "The poet is born, not made." Character is made, not born.

In 1867, Mr. Goodrich was prostrated by severe illness, which for a season filled the hearts of his friends with most painful apprehension, but the prayers of a loving people were answered, and after an interim of six months he again resumed the duties of his pastorate. It soon became apparent, however, that while the "the spirit" was "willing," "the flesh" was "weak," and that a longer respite was necessary before he could again enter upon his work with his wonted zeal. Hoping to renew his impaired energies by a temporary release from care, and in the pleasures of travel, Mr. Goodrich, with his wife, sailed for Europe in 1868, where he remained for eight months, re-visiting the scenes with which he had become acquainted twenty years before. The ultimate object of his tour was secured, and at the close of the year he returned to his people in excellent health, and with an enriched experience from which he seemed to draw new inspiration for his work.

Soon after his return from abroad, the rapidly failing health of his mother, residing in New Haven, became to him a constant source of solicitude, more especially so from the fact of his being the sole surviving child of that once happy and affectionate household. His departure for Europe had been saddened by the sudden death of his only brother, Rev. Chauncey Goodrich. In the month of August, 1869, that mother passed from a life which seemed rounded to completeness, into the "day-break of heaven," leaving this son, Rev. William H. Goodrich, to rear the tablet to her memory, and to go out from a vacant, voiceless home, the last of his household.

But a quarter of a century has laid grandparents, parents, brother and sisters in the grave. At the present writing, Mr. Goodrich is once more united to his people, and we but give utterance to the general voice in the desire, that in the love and confidence of this church and community, he may find solace for his bereavements; and that henceforth Cleveland may be the home of his adoption, and the field of his labors.

Isaac Errett.

Among the preachers and writers of the nineteenth century who have pleaded for a return to primitive Christianity, the subject of this notice stands pre-eminently among the most distinguished. For more than thirty-five years he has been connected with the Disciples, and, during the greater portion of that time, has been an earnest, able and successful advocate for their plea for reformation.

Isaac Errett was born in the city of New York, January 2, 1820. His father was a native of Arklow, county of Wicklow, Ireland, and his mother was a native of Portsmouth, England. His paternal grandfather was shot down in sight of his own house during the Irish rebellion of 1798. His immediate parents were both of Protestant families, and became identified with the Disciples in New York city, as early as 1811--the father being an elder in the original church in that place. Hence, the son was trained from infancy in the principles which he now cherishes, and, in the Spring of 1832, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania--where his mother had moved soon after the death of his father, in 1825--when only a little over twelve years of age, at a time when the church was without preaching, under the instruction of his mother, he, in company with an elder brother, went forward and asked the privilege of baptism. He was baptized by Robert McLaren, one of the elders of the church.

He now became a diligent student of the Word of God, and, under many embarrassing circumstances, made constant and encouraging progress.

From the time he was ten years old he has been dependent upon his own personal exertions for a living; hence his respectable education has been gathered in the midst of toil and care, by dint of untiring, industrious application.

While laboring as farmer, miller, lumberman, bookseller, printer, schoolteacher, and editor, he never ceased to augment his stock of useful knowledge, and to use whatever opportunities he had for the discipline of his mental powers.

He commenced preaching in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Spring of 1840, and soon gave promise of the distinguished position which he has since held as a preacher of the Gospel.

He enjoyed the advantages of frequent and intimate association with Walter Scott, Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, and most of the early advocates of primitive Christianity in the West; and his association with these men was of incalculable advantage to him, for they not only gave him valuable instruction in the principles of the Reformation, but he was enabled, by coming in frequent contact with them, to draw inspiration from their lives and characters for the great work upon which he had entered.

His ministerial labors have been divided between the work of an evangelist and pastor. He was pastor of a church in Pittsburgh three years; New Lisbon, Ohio, five years; North Bloomfield, Ohio, two years; Warren, Ohio, five years; Muir and Ionia, Michigan, eight years; and Detroit, Michigan, two years. At all these points he was eminently successful, and, besides his regular pastoral labors, did considerable work in the general field.

He removed to Warren, Ohio, in 1851, and while there, was corresponding secretary of the Ohio Missionary Society three years; and it was he who first put that society into systematic and active operation.

In 1856, he removed his family to Ionia county, Michigan, and while laboring to build up a congregation at that point, he was prevailed upon to take the corresponding secretaryship of the American Christian Missionary Society, which position he held three years, and succeeded in bringing the society to a degree of prosperity which it had never before reached. When heresigned the Secretaryship he was appointed first vice-president, and afterwards presided at the annual meetings of the society until 1866, when he was elected president. This, however, he at once declined. In the Spring of 1856, he removed to Cleveland, Ohio.

In April, 1866, he established the Christian Standard in Cleveland, which has become a leading and influential religions journal. In August, 1868, having been elected first president of Alliance College, he removed to Alliance, Ohio, and at once gave to the new college a successful position among our literary institutions. In May, 1869, he was elected president of the Ohio Christian Missionary Society. In August, 1869, he was elected, by a unanimous vote of the Board of Curators of Kentucky University, to the presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of that University. Also, about the same time, Bethany College tendered him the Biblical Department of that institution. We have not learned whether he has yet accepted either of these positions.

Mr. Errett's personal appearance is striking and prepossessing. He is about six feet one inch high, has dark auburn hair, light grey eyes, and a well developed muscular organization. As a public speaker he has few, if any, superiors. His language is chaste and copious, containing an unusually large per cent, of Saxon words; his gesticulation is easy and natural, but his voice, though well under control, has not volume enough to give full force to his beautiful and stirring thoughts. His writings, like his sermons, are full of strong and rugged points, and are frequently interspersed with brilliant passages of exquisite beauty that will compare favorably with many of the finest word-paintings in the English language.

In the social circle he is companionable, but not a very good conversationalist. He needs the inspiration of an audience, or the quiet solitude of the study, to bring out his full strength; hence, while he is pleasant in company--full of wit and humor--he does not appear there to the best advantage.

Benjamin Rouse

Benjamin Rouse was born in Boston, March 23d, 1795, and was brought up as a builder, working at the trade at first in Massachusetts, and subsequently removing to New York, where he carried on his business extensively for about six years. From an early age he had taken great interest in religions matters, and especially in the establishment of Sunday schools. In 1830, he accepted the appointment of agent of the American Sunday School Union for the purpose of going to the West and establishing Sunday schools and book depositories. For this purpose he gave up his business and turned his face westward, prepared to endure hardships and encounter difficulties for the cause in which he was so deeply interested.

Coming directly to Cleveland, he opened his Sunday school book depository, near the corner of the Public Square and Superior street. The prospect was not a hopeful one, but Mr. Rouse had faith, and persevered. There was but one church building in the place, old Trinity, built by the Episcopalians with the aid of those of other denominations, and but little religious sentiment among the people. A Sunday school had for some time struggled hard to maintain its existence, and had but just become established on a tolerably firm basis. The depository, aided by the active labors of Mr. Rouse in the schools, gave a powerful impetus to the cause.

Three months after the opening of the depository Mr. Rouse purchased the lot on which it stood, for six hundred dollars. In making the purchase he had little thought of its speculative value, the sole object being a permanent home for his agency. Time has, however, so enhanced the value of property that the lot on which stood the little book-room, has now, with the pile of buildings standing on it, reached a value of eighty thousand dollars, thus amply repaying Mr. Rouse for his labors in the cause of religion and morality in the earlier days of the place.

For about three years the depository was continued, and then Mr. Rouse turned his attention for a while to general store-keeping, abandoning it finally for the purpose of removing to Richfield, where he went to benefit the health of his wife. In that place hie remained six years.

Mr. Rouse was a member of the Baptist denomination, and was largely instrumental in the organization of a Baptist society in Cleveland. When, in 1835, it was decided to erect a church building on the corner of Seneca and Champlain streets, the experience of Mr. Rouse, then a deacon of the church, was called into requisition. In due time the church was built and a steeple placed on it, which became the wonder and admiration of the country round about, and Trinity, built by the Episcopalians with the aid of those of other denominations, and but little religious sentiment among the people. A Sunday school had for some time struggled hard to maintain its existence, and had but just become established on a tolerably firm basis. The depository, aided by the active labors of Mr. Rouse in the schools, gave a powerful impetus to the cause.

Three months after the opening of the depository Mr. Rouse purchased the lot on which it stood, for six hundred dollars. In making the purchase he had little thought of its speculative value, the sole object being a permanent home for his agency. Time has, however, so enhanced the value of property that the lot on which stood the little book-room, has now, with the pile of buildings standing on it, reached a value of eighty thousand dollars, thus amply repaying Mr. Rouse for his labors in the cause of religion and morality in the earlier days of the place.

For about three years the depository was continued, and then Mr. Rouse turned his attention for a while to general store-keeping, abandoning it finally for the purpose of removing to Richfield, where he went to benefit the health of his wife. In that place he remained six years.

Mr. Rouse was a member of the Baptist denomination, and was largely instrumental in the organization of a Baptist society in Cleveland. When, in 1835, it was decided to erect a church building on the corner of Seneca and Champlain streets, the experience of Mr. Rouse, then a deacon of the church, was called into requisition. In due time the church was built and a steeple placed on it, which became the wonder and admiration of the country round about, and the especial pride of Deacon Rouse.

On his return from Richfield, Mr. Rouse engaged in the coal business in connection with Mr. Freeman Butts. About the year 1862, he retired from active business and thenceforth devoted his time to the cause of patriotism, religion, and charity. From the breaking out of the war Mr. and Mrs. Rouse entered vigorously on the work of aiding the nation's cause by caring for the nation's defenders. Their zeal and activity were irrepressible, visiting the camps and hospitals, ascertaining the needs of the soldiers, and then with unresting assiduity collecting money and materials to supply those needs. Mrs. Rouse became president of the Soldiers' Aid Society of northern Ohio, and was directly instrumental in the formation of hundreds of auxiliary societies that made every city, village, and nearly every home in northern Ohio busy in the work of preparing and sending forward comforts and luxuries for the soldiers of the Union. Mrs. Rouse visited camps and hospitals in the South, and her visits and reports were productive of great good. Her name was known and respected by thousands of soldiers, was repeated with grateful praise in a multitude of homes from which brave boys had gone forth to the war, and has passed into history. In all her labors she was cordially seconded and efficiently aided by her husband.

Three sons and one daughter have been born to this worthy couple.

Medical.

In the early records of Cleveland, as in those of most western towns, the story of sickness and death fills a large part. Fever and ague, brought on by exposure, privations, and by the miasma from swamp, river and uncleared lands, disabled a large number of the early settlers, and hurried some to untimely graves. There were no physicians, and save a few drugs and the simples gathered from the river banks and forest, there were no remedies.

In course of time appeared the pioneer doctor with his saddle-bags, and he was soon followed by a number of his brethren to practice their skill upon the settlers. When the first Cleveland Directory was issued, in 1837, there were already established a round two dozen of physicians and surgeons, and three "surgeon-dentists." It may be interesting to quote the names of these brethren of the lancet and saddlebags who purged and bled the good people of thirty-two years ago. They were, J. L. Ackley, F. I. Bradley, C. D. Brayton, W. A. Clark, Horace Congar, E. Cushing, Jonathan Foote, S. B. Gay, Robert Hicks, M. L. Hewitt, Smith Inglehart, Robert Johnston, Burr Kellogg, David Long, P. Mathivet, George Mendenhall, Joshua Mills, T. M. Moore, W. F. Otis, A. D. Smith, J. Swain, Charles Terry, Samuel Underhill, Joseph Walrath. The surgeon-dentists were B. Strickland, and Coredon & Sargeant.

This list has now swollen to proportions that make the two dozen and three exceedingly insignificant by comparison, and every school of medicine is represented. There are two Allopathic medical colleges--the Cleveland and Charity Hospital colleges--and two Homeopathic--the Western Homeopathic college and the Homeopathic College for Women. There are also three hospitals, the Charity Hospital (Allopathic), the Homeopathic Hospital on University Heights, and the Woman's Hospital on Wilson street.

David Long.

Dr. Long was born at Hebron, Washington county, New York, September 29, 1787. In early life he qualified himself for the practice of medicine and surgery, studying in Massachusetts and graduating in New York city. In June, 1810, he arrived at Cleveland and commenced his professional career. At this early day there was no physician nearer than Painesville on the east, Hudson on the south-east, Wooster on the south, River Raisin (now Monroe) on the west. The arrival of a physician was, therefore, a matter of no small gratification to the settlers here and the neighboring settlements.

In this wild region, without roads, streams without bridges, cabins in many places eight to ten miles apart, did the young and ardent Long hopefully commence the practice of medicine. Nor were the hopes of the early settlers disappointed. In rain and snow, in Winter's cold and Summer's heat, by darkest midnight or mid-day sun the doctor ever cheerfully responded to all the calls for his services with alacrity and zeal, forgetful of self, desirous only to administer timely relief to the suffering and afflicted. In this he was eminently successful, as many of those who knew him for more than a third of a century can testify.

In proof of the untiring perseverance of Dr. Long in the early part of his professional life, it has been stated that on one occasion, in the Fall of the year, about midnight, he rode nine miles in fifty-one minutes. In another instance of extreme urgency, he rode, in the day time, fourteen miles in fifty minutes by changing horses twice on the route. He was a surgeon in the army during the war of 1812, and brought the news of Hull's surrender at Detroit to this city, from the mouth of Black River, a distance of twenty-eight miles, in two hours and fourteen minutes. Such was his character for promptitude to all the calls that were made upon him, and they were far from being few.

For kindness to his patients and friends he had no superior. In his zeal in their behalf, in a few years, he sacrificed in a measure one of the finest constitutions.

After following his profession thirty years or more, Dr. Long retired from general medical practice, and engaged in other pursuits more favorable to his health and congenial to his tastes.

In all public measures for the benefit of our city, in the way of improvements, schools, churches, every effort in behalf of humanity, religion or science, Dr. Long was ready to place his shoulder to the work with all the ardor and enthusiasm of youth.

Dr. Long never had any aspirations for political distinctions, but such was his popularity and so great the confidence of the people in his judgment and integrity that he could have obtained it had he so desired. At one time, however, he was elected to fill a vacancy which had occurred by the death of one of the three County Commissioners. Unimportant as this may seem now, it then occasioned intense excitement. The location of a new county court house, presumptively fixing the county seat for all time, devolved upon these Commissioners. Newburg and Cleveland were the contestants, both being villages of about an equal number of inhabitants--the claims of each supported by a single Commissioner, yet Newburg having the more central location. Though hotly contested, Dr. Long was elected, and the result was the erection of the Court house in the south-west corner of the square, which was demolished about ten years since.

In the year 1834, Dr. Long united with the Presbyterian church in this city, and by his daily walk and conduct in the community, by his deeds of love and charity to the poor, his kindness to the sick and afflicted gave the most striking evidence of a heart renewed by grace and made meet for the kingdom of heaven. During his last painful illness his calmness and resignation showed that he had placed his trust firmly upon the sure foundation.

He filled all the relations of life in a most exemplary manner and thus embalmed his memory in the hearts of all who knew and survive him. He died on the first day of September, 1851, at the age of sixty-four years, lacking a single month.

John Delamater.

Just before the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the ancestors of Dr. Delamater fled from France to Holland. The family name was then De La Maitre. Being whole-souled protestants, they migrated with other Dutch families to the Province of New York, and settled on the banks of the Hudson, near Kingston. Their names are still visible on the ancient grave stones of that neighborhood. Like the Huguenots, of South Carolina, they were Calvinist, or puritans of the French school. They became allied by marriage to the Rogardus family of New York, and others partook of the blood of Anneke Jans, whose name has become famous in the New York courts. The investigation of this connexion and heirship, occupied the last years of Prof. Delamater's life. It was closed only about a month before his death. His coadjutor in this work, was the late Chancellor Walworth, of Saratoga, whose ancestors were also in the line of Anneke Jans.

Dr. Delamater was born in Columbia county, New York, near Chatham, on the State line of Massachusetts, April 18th, 1787. He died at East Cleveland, in March, 1867, having almost reached the extreme age of four score years.

The Huguenots like English Puritans, and the Scotch Irish, have made their mark in North America. John Delamater, while a boy, was destined to be a farmer, on the soil where he was born. He was transferred to the medical profession on account of an accident, which injured his ability for manual labor. His father removed to Schenectady, New York, where his son was put under the tuition of one of the self-denying clergymen of those times, whose salary did not meet the expenses of living. At the age of nineteen his medical education was finished and he commenced practice in his native town. From thence he moved to Florence, Montgomery county, N. Y. Then stopped a short time in Albany, N.Y., and in 1816, established himself at Sheffield, Massachusetts. There was a settlement of negroes in this ancient borough. Dr. Delamater was then, as ever since, an active philanthropist. He attended the negroes as physician, Sunday teacher, and preacher. They also drew money from his purse, which was never very well filled, and paid back very little, either of his fees or of their debts. After some years of assiduous labor on his colored charge, his views of the race underwent a radical change. Among the last utterances of his life he expressed the opinion, based upon his experience at Sheffield, that the negro is by nature unfit for citizenship. In the days of the Jeffersonian Republicans and Adams Federalists, Dr. Delamater was in full accord with the new and rising Democratic party. He left it during the administration of General Jackson, and since then was a thorough Whig and Republican. No one hated slavery more. He saw the remnants of it in his early practice over the line in Connecticut, but never recovered faith in the capacity of the colored man for self-government.

Returning to his medical career, in which for sixty years he led in the profession, it is briefly as follows: While practising in the valley of the Housatonic, he rode almost constantly on a racking horse, about sixteen hands high, and almost with the speed of the wind, and occasionally in a two wheeled vehicle, common in those days, called a chaise, or more often a "one horse shay." At such times one of his medical students rode beside him, and drove the horse.

Between calls along the road the Doctor read his works, especially those relating to cases in hand. This custom of keeping up with the new works and periodicals of the profession he never relaxed, even after old age and the most distressing physical infirmities prevented his practice. Neither was the old shay ever abandoned; our citizens remember it well, moving carefully along these streets, with its huge calash top and faithful horse. No storm of rain or snow prevented him from keeping an appointment while he was able to get in and out of his vehicle.

In 1823, Dr. Delamater was made Professer in the Medical Institute of Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Mass.; in 1827, at the Fairfield Medical School, Herkimer county, New York. He was at the same time giving lessons at Bowdoin College, Mass. While at Fairfield, he was invited to lecture in the Medical College of Ohio, where Kirtland, Drake and Mussey have occupied chairs. This resulted in an appointment as Professor in the Willoughby University, Lake county, Ohio, at that time a flourishing institution. In 1842, he became one of the Faculty of the Western Reserve Medical College, at Cleveland.

Almost every man has some prominent talent, though with many it is never developed. With Professor Delamater it was the ability to give prolonged, profound and perspicuous lectures. This was his special gift and as usual in such cases he was not a facile writer. It is said he delivered seventy courses of medical lectures. His memory was perfect and his reading embraced everything relating to his profession. A good lecturer requires not only a clear perception of his subject, but a lucid and fluent presentation of it. Dr. Delamater never wrote lectures. His memoranda were of the most meagre kind. They were frequently nothing more than a few hieroglyphics made on the margin of a newspaper drawn from his vest pocket as he mounted the desk. Every case he had ever treated and all its details appeared to be thoroughly fixed in his recollection. He sometimes wrote medical essays for publication, but with evident reluctance. In cases of malpractice Dr. Delamater was the especial dread of the attorney whose side he did not favor. His full, clear and logical statements made a deep and generally an irresistible impression upon the court and jury.

After he became unable to visit patients he was consulted with never ceasing confidence by physicians and by patients, especially those afflicted with chronic complaints.

His moral and religious qualities were as conspicuous as his mental ones. He carried the faculty of conscientiousness to a length which the most conscientious would regard as extreme. Against the poor his charges for professional service were merely nominal and were never pressed, and with the rich he was so moderate and easy that with a large practice he was barely able to maintain his family, which, like himself, were afflicted with prolonged constitutional diseases. His rare Christian virtues are described with fidelity and beauty in the farewell discourse of Rev. W. H. Goodrich, of the First Presbyterian Church, which, being in print, may be read and preserved by the numerous friends of the good old man.

Jared Potter Kirtland.

Prof. Kirtland belongs to the class of self-made naturalists who attain to greater eminence than others of equal talents and better advantages. Success in this branch of science requires not only a native genius, but enthusiasm and never tiring perseverance; to the rich and the educated these last qualifications are frequently wanting, or, if they are not, instead of growing with the progress of life, they become more and more weak instead of more and more strong. Industry and ambition are more than a match for education in minds of the same order.

[Illustration: Your Fellow Citizen, J. P. Kirtland]

Dr. Kirtland originated at Wallingford, Connecticut. His father, Turhand Kirtland, in 1799, was appointed general agent of the Connecticut Land Company, on the Reserve. He removed to Poland, in Mahoning county, the next year, where he became a prominent citizen of the new county then known as New Connecticut. So long as the Company existed he was continued in the agency, and survived until 1833 to witness the developments of the region.

Jared appears to have been left in Connecticut, probably to secure the advantages of those common schools which were wanting in this western wilderness. The young man made his appearance in Ohio on horseback, July 4th, 1810, at the age of fifteen years. He was destined to be a physician, and in 1817 he was sent to the celebrated medical school of Dr. Rush, in Philadelphia. After leaving that institution he set forth on the way of life with horse and saddle bags, dispensing advice and prescriptions, according to the custom of the times, to the people of the townships around Poland. Every old settler knows what a time the pioneer doctors had. Their patients were scattered far and wide in log cabins which stood in small clearings in the forest surrounded by gigantic trees. A messenger rushed in at any hour of the day or night from a distressed, perhaps a distant family, requiring immediate attention. It was the duty of the frontier physician to saddle his horse at the moment and return with the messenger. The route more often lay along a narrow trail through the woods, over roots and logs, with mud and water on all sides. In dark nights, or in storms of rain and sleet, the overhanging boughs of the trees dripping with water, these visits were not of the most cheerful character. In those early days bridges were behind roads in regard to condition and repairs, and it was frequently necessary, in order to reach a suffering patient, to do as Cassius did--plunge in and trust to a faithful horse--in order to cross swollen creeks and rivers.

While engaged in this rude professional practice, acquiring a good reputation as a physician, he was closely observing the fishes, reptiles, shells and animals of a region teeming with animal and vegetable life. Scientific works were scarce in that new region, but living subjects were abundant. This exuberance of life was of more value to a scrutinizing mind than a surplus of books and a deficiency of specimens. An unusually rich field for the naturalist lay open to his daily observation for twenty years.

During his residence at Poland, Dr. Kirtland was twice elected to the House of Representatives for Ohio. In that body he directed his efforts especially to a change in the Penitentiary system. It was mainly through his zeal and activity that the old style of treating State prisoners was abandoned, and they have been made a source of revenue and not of expense. Convict labor has thus proven by experience to be valuable to the public and to the convict a relaxation of the rigor of his situation.

It was while studying the habits of the fresh water shells of the Mahoning and its branches that Dr. Kirtland made a discovery which attracted attention throughout the scientific world. The classification of species had been made upon mere difference of form. Dr. Kirtland perceived that in the same species a difference of form was due to sex in testacea the same as in all other animals, and that too many species had been adopted. This bold announcement, coming from the back woods of Ohio, created quite a commotion among naturalists. It was, however, found, on investigation, to be true, though it rendered obsolete a large number of terrible Latin phrases.

In the publication of his views, and afterwards for his descriptions of the fishes of Ohio, he found a liberal patron in the Boston Society of Natural History. When the State of Ohio organized a geological survey, in 1838, the department of Natural History was of course given to him. There was barely time to make a catalogue of the fauna and flora of the State before the survey was suspended, but many of his figures and descriptions of the fishes have since been published in the transactions of the Boston Society. This appointment broke up his large medical practice in Trumbull and adjacent counties. He now accepted the appointment of Professer in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. About 1838, Prof. Kirtland removed from Poland to Cleveland, to perform the same duties in the Cleveland Medical College. With a restless energy he went beyond natural history and medicine in his investigations, into the field of horticulture, floriculture and agriculture.

Purchasing a rugged farm on the ridge road five miles out of Cleveland, he entered with zeal into the business of scientific farming. Here he demonstrated that a stiff clay soil derived from the underlying Devonian Shales may be made highly productive in fruit. His success stimulated others along the ridge road, until the old pastures and meadows on that side of the city have been changed into the most profitable orchards and gardens in the vicinity. This required twenty years more of time and industry, during much of which he came daily to the college and delivered one or more lectures. In the lecture his style is entirely conversational, but rapid, fluent, and always intelligible. Here all the varieties of his studies come into play, as it were, spontaneously. He is equally at home among the birds, the insects and the reptiles, the fishes or the mammalia. Their habits are as familiar as those of his children and grandchildren. He writes but seldom, and thus the teachings of so many years on so many subjects are confided principally to the memory of the many hundreds of students to whom they have been delivered.

For several years Dr. Kirtland has declined to lecture on any subject. He is verging upon four score, a period which with most men, is necessarily one of rest if not of weariness, but he has never known what it is to rest. No farmer in Rockport is up earlier or attends more closely to his grounds. All the valuable varieties of peaches, pears, cherries and grapes, have been tested by their actual product, or are in the process of being tested. He is enthusiastically fond of the culture of bees and of every variety of flowers which will thrive in this climate. A number of new varieties of cherries have been originated on the Kirtland farm, and after trial those which are valuable have been scattered over the country. There are very few men who are enabled to make so many applications of science to practical subjects, and still fewer who are permitted to live long enough to witness the fruits of their labors.

Theodatus Garlick.

We are almost at a loss in what class to place Dr. Garlick. By natural taste and genius he belongs to the artists. His devotion to the healing art arose principally from the necessities of our race for something to eat and wear. He had the fortune, probably good fortune, to be born in Vermont, at Middlebury, March 30th, 1805, in view of the Green Mountains, among rocks and mountains. This region is principally famous for marble, slate, iron ore, and hardy young men, generally known as Green Mountain boys.

An older brother, Abel B. Garlick, having been apprenticed to a marble cutter, came out West, sometime after the war of 1812, and located at Cleveland. In 1816, Theodatus, at the age of eleven years, had drifted as far as Erie, Pennsylvania; in 1819, to Cleveland. The Winter of 1819-20, he spent at Black River, which was then the leading ship yard of the lakes.

Abel B. had artist's ability also. In this region no marble was to be found, but a tolerable substitute existed in the fine grained blue sandstone at Newburg. A mill was erected at the quarry on Mill creek, below the falls, where these stones were sawed, as they are now, into handsome slabs.

Like other New Englanders, the Vermont boys are early impressed with the idea of self-support. Although Theodatus much preferred fun and frolic to hard labor, he entered cheerfully upon the business of a stone cutter at the age of sixteen. Their marble yard (without marble) was on Bank street, where Morgan & Root's block now stands. Abel marked the outlines of the letters upon incipient grave stones in pencil, and Theodatus carved them with his chisel. Most of the renowned sculptors of Ohio, such as Powell, Clevenger and Jones, took their first lessons in the same way. All of them have left samples of their untutored skill in various angels and cherubs, now mouldering in old churchyards. The blue sandstone monuments, on which Dr. Garlick cut inscriptions fifty years since, are still to be seen in the early cemeteries of the Western Reserve; some are touching enough, but not a few are more ridiculous than mournful. When Nathan Perry became so prosperous that he proposed to remove the old wooden store on the corner of Water and Superior streets and replace it with a brick one, he concluded to expend something upon ornament. He ordered two oval stone signs to be made and to be built into the walls over the two doors, one on each street. These were among the earliest efforts of Dr. Garlick. Both of these stones were in existence until the ground was cleared for the present Bank building, when they were broken up and put into the cellar wall. In those days it was one of the duties of an apprentice to sharpen the tools at a blacksmith's forge. The young man concluded to carve flying cherubims with their stone trumpets to ring in the ears of coming generations no longer.

Having a robust physical constitution, he became passionately fond of hunting and fishing. In 1822, he lived with a brother in Newbury, Geauga county, which was then a forest full of game. In a letter referring to the sporting days of his youth, he wrote as follows:

My brother and myself started out very early one morning for a deer that we knew had been feeding around the cabin that night; within a quarter of a mile from the cabin my brother shot him, and as he fired, up jumped eleven elk; one of our neighbors shot five of them within an acre of ground; they were near together, at bay, fighting with the dogs. I helped to get them in; they were a part of a larger herd, we counted their beds in the snow where they had lain at night, and there were over one hundred in the drove.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, T. Garlick]

Ten or fifteen years previous to that time, one of those tornadoes, which occasionally visit this region, had prostrated the timber along a tract a mile wide and several miles in length, through the township of Newbury. A thicket of bushes had sprung up among the fallen trees, which furnished excellent browsing ground and shelter for game, of which there was an abundance of bear, wolves, elk, deer, turkeys, &c., constituting quite a paradise for a young Nimrod.

He finally determined to become a physician, and after some years of the usual experience of medical students, practicing some, and assisting at operations, he entered the medical department of the University of Maryland, in the city of Baltimore, where he graduated in 1834.

No sooner was his diploma secured than the artist again broke forth. He suddenly produced bas-reliefs in wax of five favorite professors without sittings, which were pronounced perfect likenesses. General Jackson and Henry Clay gave him a short sitting, and the next day their statuetts were on exhibition. Mr. Clay expressed his satisfaction for his own in an autograph letter. Another miniature in relief, full length, of Chief Justice Marshall, from a portrait by Waugh, was pronounced by Mr. Bullock, an English virtuoso, as equal to anything produced by Thorwaldsen. But being surrounded by medical men, who, like men of all professions, regard their own as more important than any other, Dr. Garlick was induced to turn his artistic skill upon anatomical models.

He located at Youngstown, Ohio, the same year that he graduated, at which place, and at the Medical College of Cleveland, he devoted nearly two years in getting up models of all parts of the human body, taken from subjects in the dissecting room. They may yet be seen in the Medical Colleges at Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto, Charleston, South Carolina, Cincinnati, and other places. These were such close imitations of nature that the late Professer Mussey, of Cincinnati, pronounced them superior to the French models at Paris by Auzoux. At Youngstown he made a life size bust of Judge George Tod, copies of which are now in the family. In 1853, after a successful practice at Youngstown, he came to Cleveland, and formed a partnership in surgery with the late Professer H. A. Ackley, and for a number of years was a member of the Board of Medical Censors of the Cleveland Medical College, and vice president of the Cleveland Academy of Natural Science. As he was a naturalist, he applied the principles of the anatomical models to animals and parts of animals, especially fishes. He entered with great zeal upon the artificial propagation of brook trout and other fish in connection with Dr. Ackley. In 1857, he published a small book, which is the standard work of the United States on this subject.

He was a skillful physician and surgeon, a diligent student of natural history, a keen sportsman, and a great lover of the fine arts. A good physical constitution is at least one-half of the capital of any man, however gifted in mind. In this respect he was like Christopher North, with few equals. In the rude contests of strength among the young men of a new country, the races, wrestling matches, and occasional fights, he never felt like backing down; but of late years this powerful frame has been partially stricken with paralysis.

The doctor still resides in this city, devoted to natural science, especially botany, but the days of his personal activity are past.

J. L. Cassels.

John Lang Cassels, M.D., LL.D., was born in Stirlingshire, Scotland, and in 1827, while quite a young man, came to this country. Soon after, he studied medicine with Prof. John Delamater, in Fairfield, New York, and graduated in 1834, in the College of Physicians and Surgeons located at Fairfield, N. Y. He was Demonstrator of Anatomy in that school three years, two years during his pupilage and one after his graduation. He opened an office for the practice of medicine in Earlville, New York, in the spring of 1835, and in the fall of the same year received and accepted the appointment of Professor of Chemistry in Willoughby University, Ohio, which connection he retained until the fall of 1843, when he and his associates opened and established the Cleveland Medical College, in which he still occupies the chair of Chemistry.

In 1837, he received the appointment of First Assistant Geologist of the New York State Geological Survey, which he occupied for several seasons, performing field labor in the summer and lecturing on chemistry in Willoughby Medical College during the winter. His connection with the New York survey gave him an excellent opportunity to become an expert practical geologist; his location being on the Hudson river district, offered him a fine field of action, as it is really the key to the geology and mineralogy of the State.

In the winter of 1839, he gave a course of demonstrated lectures on chemistry before the Young Men's Library Association in Cleveland, the first public lectures on science ever given in the city. The following winter the citizens of Cleveland invited him to lecture again on the same subject, and he complied. The city at that time contained mostly young people--only two gray-headed men attended the Stone Church.

In 1815, he spent most of the season in visiting and collecting specimens of mineral in the lead region of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, thus becoming familiar with the geology of their rich mineral region.

In 1846, he spent the whole season in exploring the Lake Superior country, coasting the south shore in a bark canoe, having for his traveling companions two Indians and a half-breed voyager. At this date there were no steamers on Lake Superior, and but a very few small sailing craft. It was during this time that he took squatter possession of a mile square of the iron region of that country, for the benefit of the Cleveland Iron Company. He was the first white man that had visited this region, now so famous for its ferruginous wealth. Near the close of the season he spent a short time geologizing Isle Royale, and returned to Saut St. Marie on the steamer Julia Palmer, which had, during the summer, been hauled over the passage of Saut St. Marie. During the winter following, at the request of a number of Clevelanders, he gave a public lecture on the Lake Superior region; at the close of which he said he would venture a prophecy: "Such was the character of the climate, scenery, etc., of Lake Superior that the time was not far distant when it would become as great a resort for invalids and pleasure-seekers as Saratoga and Newport now are." Also, that there is iron enough in the iron district sufficient to furnish a double track of the much talked of Whitney's railroad. These statements were then received with a stormy manifestation of incredulity.

In 1859, the Jefferson College of Mississippi conferred the Degree of LL.D. on Dr. Cassels.

In 1861, he was elected a corresponding member of the Imperial Geological Institution of Berlin, Prussia.

For the last ten years, in addition to the duties of his chair in the Cleveland Medical College, he has regularly filled the chair of chemistry and natural history in the Western Reserve College at Hudson. During the past twenty years he has given several courses of popular experimental lectures in his favorite branches of chemistry and geology in a number of our neighboring towns, Akron, Canton, &c. He is also the regular lecturer in these branches in the Female Seminary in Painesville.

Perhaps few men have been as extensively engaged in texicological examinations during the past twenty years as Dr. Cassels. Many of these have been of great interest, both in a social and moral point of view. In all such cases he is regarded with great confidence, both on account of his scientific skill and his high sense of moral integrity.

As an analytical chemist he has few superiors, and is much of his spare time engaged in the analysis of waters, ores, coal, limestone, &c. In 1866, he analyzed the water of Cleveland which is brought from Lake Erie and distributed through the city. He analyzed this water taken from different parts of the city and from the point where it entered the pipes to be forced into the reservoir; also from a point in the lake three thousand four hundred and fifty feet from the shore, where he advised that the inlet pipe ought to be located. All these analyses are embraced in his report to the Trustees of the city water works; in which also are many valuable suggestions respecting supply pipes and the character of the water for steam purposes.

J. S. Newberry.

J. S. Newberry, M.D., LL.D., was born at Windsor, Connecticut, of old Puritan stock, his ancestry having formed part of the colony which in 1635, emigrated from Dorchester, colony of Massachusetts Bay, and founded the town of Windsor, the first settlement made in Connecticut.

[Illustration: Yours Very Truly, J. S. Newberry]

The family continued to reside at Windsor for two hundred years, during which time it held an honorable place in that community and contributed several representatives, who took an important part in the affairs of the State government, or in the defense of the colony against the Indians, and in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. Dr. Newberry's grandfather, Hon. Roger Newberry, a distinguished lawyer, and for many years a member of the Governor's council, was one of the directors of the Connecticut Land Company, which purchased a large part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The town of Newberry received its name from him. His son, Henry Newberry, inherited his interest in the land of the company, by which he became possessed of large tracts in Summit, Ashtabula, Medina, Lorain and Cuyahoga counties, including one hundred acres now within the city of Cleveland. Looking after these interests he made three journeys on horseback (the first in 1814,) from Connecticut to Ohio, and, in 1824, removed his family to Summit county, where he founded the town of Cuyahoga Falls, remaining there till his death, in 1854.

Dr. Newberry graduated at Western Reserve College, in 1846, and from the Cleveland Medical College in 1848. The years 1849 and 1850, he spent in study and travel abroad. Returning at the close of the latter year he established himself, early in 1851, in the practice of medicine in Cleveland. Here he remained till 1855, when his professional business became so engrossing as to leave him no time for the scientific study to which he had been devoted from his boyhood. To escape from too great professional occupation, and impelled by an unconquerable passion for a scientific career, in May, 1855, he accepted an appointment from the War Department, and became connected with the army as acting assistant surgeon and geologist to the party which, under Lieutenant R. S. Williamson, U.S.A., made an exploration of the country lying between San Francisco and the Columbia river. The results of this expedition are embodied in Vol. 6 P. R. R. Reports. The reports of Dr. Newberry on the "Geology, Botany and Zoology of North California and Oregon," are republished in a volume of 300 pp., 4to., with 48 plates. In 1857-8, he accompanied Lieutenant J. O. Ives, U.S.A., in the exploration and navigation of the Colorado river, one of the most interesting explorations made by any party in any country. The object of the expedition was to open a navigable route of communication with our army in Utah. To this end an iron steamer was constructed in Philadelphia, taken in sections to the head of the Gulf of California, where it was put together and launched. With this steamer the river, before almost entirely unknown, was navigated for five hundred miles, opening a route of travel which has since been extensively used. Beyond the point reached by the steamer the course of the river is for several hundreds of miles through the "Great Cañon," as it is called, a chasm worn by the stream in the table lands of the "Colorado Plateau." This cañon has nearly vertical banks, and is nowhere less than three thousand feet deep; in some places six thousand feet, or more than a mile in depth.

The party with which Dr. Newberry was connected, spent nearly a year in exploring the country bordering the Colorado, adding much to our knowledge of our western possessions, and giving, in their report, an interesting and graphic description of, perhaps, the most remarkable portion of the earth's surface. Half of the report of the Colorado Expedition was prepared by Dr. Newberry, and so much importance was attached to his observations by his commanding officer, that in the preface he speaks of them as constituting "the most interesting material gathered by the expedition."

In 1859, having finished his portion of the Colorado Report, Dr. Newberry took charge of another party sent out by the War Department, to report to Captain J. N. Macomb, topographical engineer, U.S.A., for the exploration of the San Juan and upper Colorado rivers. The Summer of 1859 was spent in the accomplishment of the object had in view by this expedition, during which time the party traveled over a large part of Southern Colorado and Utah and Northern Arizona and New Mexico, filling up a wide blank space in our maps and opening a great area before unknown, much of which proved rich and beautiful, abounding in mineral wealth, and full of natural objects of great interest. Among the results of this expedition were the determination of the point of junction of Grand and Green rivers, which unite to form the Colorado, and the exploration of the valley of the San Juan, the largest tributary of the Colorado; a stream as large as the Connecticut, before almost unknown, but which, though now without an inhabitant upon its banks, is for several hundred miles lined with ruined towns or detached edifices built of stone, and once occupied by many thousands of a semi-civilized people. The report of this expedition made by Dr. Newberry, containing much new and interesting scientific matter, was finished just before the war, but yet remains unpublished.

Immediately after the commencement of the war, the United States Sanitary Commission was organized. Dr. Newberry was one of the first elected members, and it is, perhaps, not too much to say that no other one individual contributed more to the great success that attended the labors of that organization. In September, 1861, he accepted the position of Secretary of the Western Department of the Sanitary Commission, and from that time had the general supervision of the affairs of the Commission in the valley of the Mississippi; his head-quarters being first at Cleveland, and subsequently, as the frontier was carried southward, at Louisville, Kentucky.

Through his efforts branches of the Sanitary Commission were established in the principal cities of the West, and agencies for the performance of its work at all important military points, and with each considerable sub-division of the army. Before the close of the war the entire West was embraced in one great System of agencies for the production and distribution of supplies, and the care of sick and wounded on the battle-field, in hospital or in transitu. The magnitude of the work of the Sanitary Commission at the West may be inferred from the fact that there were at one time over five thousand societies tributary to it in the loyal States of the Northwest--that hospital stores of the value of over $5,000,000 were distributed by it in the valley of the Mississippi--that over 850,000 names were on the records of its Hospital Directory at Louisville, and 1,000,000 soldiers, for whom no other adequate provision was made, were fed and sheltered in its "homes."

Of this great work Dr. Newberry was the responsible head, and by the wisdom and energy displayed by himself very much of the harmony and efficiency which characterized this organization are to be ascribed.

As his labors in connection with the Sanitary Commission were drawing to a close, Dr. Newberry was appointed Professor of Geology in the School of Mines of Columbia College, New York city. He entered on the duties of the position in 1866. In 1869, he was appointed by Governor Hayes to the office of State Geologist, created by the Ohio General Assembly of that year.

The scientific acquirements of Professor Newberry have given him a world-wide fame. As a Geologist his reputation ranks among the foremost. He has been honored with the membership of the most of the learned societies of this country, and of many in Europe; was one of the original corporators of the National Academy of Sciences; was recently elected president of the American Association for the advancement of Science, and is now president of the New York Lyceum of Natural History.

D. H. Beckwith.

The first Homeopathist in Cleveland was W. K. Adams, who succeeded in converting Dr. Hoyt, with whom he formed a partnership. Very soon after, in 1845, Drs. Wheeler and Williams were added to the list. There were but six families in the city having firm faith in the principles of homeopathy, and these were silent followers of Dr. John Wheeler, not willing to be known as such, so strong was public opinion against them. Dr. Wheeler continued unshaken by the strong opposition he met with, and heeded neither sneers nor denunciations. His course was onward and his practice successful, every month adding to his list of converts, and the profits of each year doubling the preceding one. Dr. Wheeler was the first member of the profession to propose that a homeopathic medical college should be located in Cleveland, and he earnestly pressed his theory that Cleveland should be the centre of homeopathy in the West. His name was the first signature to procure a charter, and when the college was organized he was selected as the President, and held the office for the first eleven years of its existence, contributing materially to its success, and resigning only when increasing age rendered its duties too onerous, when added to a large practice.

From the little beginnings in the early days of Dr. Wheeler's practice, homeopathy has grown in Cleveland, until it now reckons a flourishing college, a woman's medical college, two hospitals, an insurance company, twenty-six practicing physicians, and a host of believers in homeopathic principles and modes of treatment.

Prominent among the number of practicing physicians is D. H. Beckwith, M.D., who was born in Huron county, Ohio, in 1826. His father was one of the pioneers of the northern part of the State; emigrating from the State of New York in 1815, and making the journey the most of the way on foot, occupying more than six weeks. He remained a few days in Cleveland, and not admiring the soil for agricultural purposes (little thinking it was the site for a city of its present beauty and magnitude), he journeyed on until he reached more fertile soil in Huron county, where, by economy and industry, in a short time he accumulated sufficient to purchase a small farm, on which he lived until his death, having seen his family of six sons and one daughter arrive at mature age.

[Illustration: Truly Yours, D. H. Beckwith]

The subject of this memoir remained at home during his boyhood, attending school during the winter and working on the farm in the summer season. At the age of sixteen he entered the Norwalk Seminary, pursuing his studies with vigor for a few years, when it became necessary for him to earn his own living. He taught several schools and was among the first in the State to inaugurate the normal school system to elevate the standard of teaching and improve public schools.

Early in life he decided that the medical profession would be his choice, and all his leisure hours were spent in studying medical books. After securing a sufficiency from teaching (as he supposed,) to meet the expenses of a medical education, he studiously applied himself, under the tuition of John Tiff, M.D., one of the most scientific practitioners of the State. During the third year of his studies his money was expended, and not wishing to call on friends for assistance he concluded to commence the practice of medicine. A partnership was offered him in an adjacent town, and arrangements were made for him to commence his professional career. He unfolded his plan to his preceptor, who listened attentively to his future plans, and then rising from his chair, exclaimed with much emphasis: "If there is anything, sir, that I despise, it is half a doctor," and immediately left the office. The brilliant prospect was clouded. With but eight months more study the young student could commence the practice of medicine and be an honor to his preceptor and to himself, but the lack of money was a seemingly impassable barrier. It was a dark day to the student, but he had learned "never to let his energies stagnate." One resource was left him. He determined to open a select school for advanced scholars. In four days from that time he entered the school room with one hundred scholars, many of them his former pupils. Morning and evening he clerked in a drug store, for which he received his board and washing. On Wednesday and Saturday evenings he was examined in his medical studies with two other students who devoted their entire time to their studies. Thus for thirteen weeks he was daily performing the duties of a teacher, so arduous that many would have complained, though they had no other occupation. In addition to this he was several hours each day compounding and dispensing medicine, and at the same time keeping pace with his class in the study of materia medica and botany.

Having already attended one course of lectures in an allopathic college, and not being satisfied with that mode of prescriptions for the sick, he attended the Eclectic College of Cincinnati, where he listened to the first course of lectures ever delivered in any chartered college in the country on homeopathic medicine, by the lamented Prof. Rosa who had no superior in his profession. After receiving his degree he commenced the practice of medicine with his preceptor. The prompt and curative effect produced by homeopathic remedies soon convinced him of its superiority over other systems of medicine and decided him to adopt it as his system of practice for life. The success that has attended his labors ever since has well proved the correctness of his choice.

The first few years of his practice were spent among the acquaintances of his childhood, in the beautiful village of Norwalk. In 1852, he left a large practice and many warm friends to seek a larger field for future work, and located in Zanesville, Ohio, where he continued his profession until the year 1863. The climate not being adapted to the health of his family he moved to Cleveland and soon obtained what he had left in Zanesville--a large and lucrative practice. By close attention to his patients, being always ready to give his services to the poor as cheerfully as to the rich, and his unusual kindness to all persons placed under his professional care, he has won the affection and esteem of his patients to a degree rarely equaled.

He has always taken a lively interest in the advancement of medical science, firmly believing in the immutable principles that govern the administration of homeopathic medicine as well as the curative effect. He has always been anxious to induce young men that proposed to study the science of medicine to follow the example of the illustrious Hahnemann. His lectures in the Cleveland Homeopathic College have always been characterized by practicability. He has not only published a medical journal, but has largely contributed to the pages of many others in this country. He has always been a leading member of county and State medical societies, as well as of the Northwestern and American Institute of Homeopathy, holding the office of Vice President of all the above named societies. In 1866, he was chosen by the American Institute as one of the committee to prepare an essay on Cholera, its nature and treatment.

He was among the first to establish the Hahnemann Life Insurance Company of Cleveland, being one of its incorporators and procuring a large amount of capital stock for its support, besides giving his time in organizing it. He was chosen their chief medical examiner, and the great success of the Company is largely due to his skill in selecting good and healthy risks for insurance.

[Illustration: T. T. Seelye]

Thomas T. Seelye.

Thomas T. Seelye, M.D., was born in Danbury, Connecticut, August 23, 1818. His parents were Seth and Abigail Seelye, of English descent. After preparing for a collegiate course, it became necessary for him to take charge of his father's store. At twenty-one years of age he commenced the study of medicine as a private pupil of William Parker, professor of surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, from which college he graduated in the Spring of 1842. He was then appointed assistant physician in Bellevue Hospital, where he remained one year, when he commenced the practice of his profession in Woodbury, Connecticut. There he remained until the Spring of 1848, when he sold out his business and removed to Cleveland, having previously leased a tract of land just within the suburbs of the city, covered with native forest and such a profusion of real natural beauty in glen, woodland, and beautiful springs of soft water, that it seemed apparent that art only needed to blend with nature to make this one of the most desirable of localities for a great health institution.

His system of practice, though called water cure, in fact drew assistance from all the experience of the past in relieving physical suffering and curing disease. It was not orthodox, it belonged to no pathy, and in consequence had the opposition of all branches of the profession. His means were quite limited, as were also his accommodations--not so limited, however, but that the expense of construction and furnishing greatly exceeded the length of his purse. Business waited for success, to establish itself, but the sheriff did not. Debts became due, and nothing with which to pay, but hope in the future, which is rather unsatisfactory nutriment for hungry creditors.

But, by and by, patient labor and persistent effort in the right direction began to bring forth fruit. Business increased, the visits of the sheriff were less frequent, and after about five years he could lie down to rest at night without fear of a dun in the morning.

In ten years he purchased the Forest City Cure, which was started in opposition, the capacity of the old Cure having become altogether inadequate for his increased business. After ten years he sold it to the Hebrews for an orphan asylum, preferring to unite the two institutions under one roof. He then proceeded to complete the plan he had been perfecting for the past five years, for erecting buildings of an extent that would amply accommodate his ever increasing patronage, and supplied with those conveniences and appliances which an experience of twenty-one years had deemed most desirable for the invalid. The architect has furnished us a sketch of this institution, of which, when completed, every lover of our beautiful city will be proud.

In addition to his professional labors he is largely engaged, in connection with W. J. Gordon and others, in the manufacture of the non-explosive lamp, which bids fair to be one of the most successful and extensive manufacturing enterprises ever started in this city.

Within the past three years, Dr. Seelye has purchased the twenty-six acres he originally leased, and twenty-two acres adjoining, making a very valuable tract of real estate, taken in connection with the present and prospective growth of the city.

Although Dr. Seelye is not engaged conspicuously in public charities, few hands are so frequently open as his to the wants of the poor. Great comprehensiveness of intellect, an indomitable energy, a rare penetration and control over other minds, combined with an unblemished integrity of character, have given him a high reputation among physicians in the West.

[Illustration: Water Corm.]

Manufacturing

With neither water power nor steam power very little can be done in the way of manufacturing. Cleveland, until the construction of the Ohio canal, was without either of those two requisites for a manufacturing point. The Cuyahoga river, though giving abundant water power along a considerable portion of its course, enters Cleveland as a slow moving stream, winding its sluggish way in so tortuous a course that it seems reluctant to lose its identity in the waters of the lake. Water power, under such circumstances, is out of the question, and, as with no coal, and a rapidly decreasing supply of wood, steam cannot be economically used for manufacturing purposes, the people of Cleveland turned their attention wholly to buying and selling instead of producing.

The construction of the Ohio canal to the coal fields of Summit county opened the eyes of the more enterprising citizens to the possibilities of a great future for Cleveland as a manufacturing city. No sooner had the canal reached Akron, and an experimental shipment of coal been made to the future city--with but poor success, as already narrated--than attention was called to the importance of the new field thus opened to Cleveland enterprise. On the 7th of March, 1828; a letter appeared in the Cleveland Herald, from which the following is an extract:

"We possess, beyond a doubt, decided advantages over Buffalo, or any other town on Lake Erie, in our contiguity to inexhaustible beds of pit-coal and iron ore, very justly considered the basis of all manufacturing. On the one hand, at the distance of about thirty miles, we can obtain any quantity of crude iron of an excellent quality, while, on the other, at about the same distance, we have access by canal to exhaustless mines of coal of good quality. This last most invaluable, and all important article in manufacturing, can not be obtained anywhere else on the Lakes without the extra expense of shifting from canal-boats to other craft.

"When these mines shall have become extensively worked, coal will be delivered in this place very little, if any, above that paid in Pittsburgh, say from four to six cents; and good pig-iron can and is now delivered at a less price here than in Pittsburgh. Doctor Cooper further says: 'The very basis of all profitable manufacturing is, plenty of fuel, easily, cheaply and permanently procurable;--the next desirable object is plenty of iron ore; iron being the article upon which every other manufacture depends. It is to the plentiful distribution of these two commodities that Great Britain is chiefly indebted for the pre-eminence of her manufactures and her commerce.' Surely it need not be thought strange that Cleveland must one day become a great manufacturing place, if we consider,

"First, That the canal will give us access to one of the finest portions of country in the United States, sufficient for vending, to almost any extent, articles such as might be manufactured here;--and, Secondly, That power and materials in great abundance are 'easily, cheaply and permanently procurable.' There is probably not a town in the Western country, Pittsburgh only excepted, that unites these two objects so happily as this place does.

"Every steam-engine wanted for boats on the Lake, for mills and factories near the Lake, and on and near the canal should be made at this point.

"Not a pound of nails, a wagon-tire, an anchor, a cable, a cast-iron stove, pot, kettle, ploughshare, or any article made of cast-iron--a yard of coarse cotton, a gallon of beer, an ax, a shovel, nor a spade, should be sent east for. There ought to be in full operation before the completion of our canal, at least one steam engine manufactory, one establishment for puddling iron, one rolling and slitting mill, and nail factory, two or three iron foundries, in addition to the one now going into operation under very favorable auspices, a cotton factory, a woolen factory, a steam grist and saw mill, a brewery, &c."

On the succeeding week appeared some editorial comments in support of the suggestions in the letter, and for some time frequent references, by correspondents and editorially, were made to the matter. On the 25th of April, 1828, appeared in the Herald a notice of a new iron foundry; the first that had been built, and reference to which had been made in the letter quoted. This was built by John Ballard & Co., and an editorial announcing its opening says it "supplies this place and the surrounding country on short notice and on reasonable terms, with the various articles of cast iron work, for which, before this foundry was established, our citizens were forced to send to a distance, and at the cost of much trouble and expense."

But with all this urging of newspapers, and talking of far-sighted citizens, the cause of manufacturing progressed slowly. To establish manufactories was a costly experiment, requiring capital, patience, and a faith, which, though some might profess, few actually possessed. As is frequently the case in regard to public improvements, those who pressed them most had no funds to invest in them, and those who had the funds were little inclined to heed the suggestions of moneyless advisers.

MacCabe's Directory of Cleveland and Ohio City for 1837-8, says that at that time there were on the east side of the river, in the corporation of Cleveland, "four very extensive iron foundries and steam engine manufactories; also, three soap and candle manufactories, two breweries, one sash factory, two rope walks, one stoneware pottery, two carriage manufactories, and two French run millstone manufactories, all of which are in full operation." A flouring mill was in course of erection by Mr. Ford which, it was predicted, would be, when finished, "the largest and most complete establishment of the kind in the State of Ohio." At the same time Ohio City was described as possessing "among the principal manufactories of the place, the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace, the Saleratus manufactory, and the Glue manufactory." The Cuyahoga Steam Furnace had turned off in the previous year five hundred tons of castings, besides a great quantity of wrought iron work, and gave employment to seventy men. In noticing the description of the iron furnaces and steam engine manufactories on the East side of the river as "very extensive", it must be borne in mind that the standard of size and importance for such establishments in Cleveland was much smaller then than now.

In spite of all the attempts made to stir up an interest in manufactories, slow progress was made until a comparatively late period. One great obstacle in the way was the opposition or indifference of the land-holders, who directly rebuffed the proposals of intending manufacturers, or placed a value on their land so high as to require an amount of capital sunk in the soil that rendered the chances of profit very hazardous. There was also a strong prejudice against factories on the part of very many persons because they were "so dirty," and would tend to make the neat and trim residences and door-yards of Cleveland as smutty as those of Pittsburgh.

It was not until the breaking out of the war for the Union called into existence manufactories all over the land to supply the needs born of the war, that manufactories found a home and cordial welcome in Cleveland. The exigencies of the time, and the intense feeling excited, scattered to the wind all the prejudices against the dirt and smoke of iron manufactories, and establishments of this kind sprang up on all sides, calling into existence a host of other manufactories dependent on and contributing to the successful conduct of iron foundries and iron mills. The war found Cleveland a commercial city, whose trade, if not languishing, threatened to soon reach its turning point; it left Cleveland a busy, bustling manufacturing city, over a great part of which hung a perpetual cloud of dense smoke, and with a population nearly doubled in numbers and greatly changed in character owing to its change from a commercial to a manufacturing city. The petroleum discovery in North Western Pennsylvania and the coincident opening of direct railroad communication between Cleveland and the oil regions, contributed greatly to the rapid increase of the population and wealth of the city. Oil refineries grew up rapidly like mushrooms in the valleys and ravines around, and lined the railroad tracks, but, unlike mushrooms, did not disappear with equal rapidity. A great number of people found employment in this new industry, and wealth poured in with greater volume from this source than had ever been known to flow from any species of trade or manufacture hitherto established. From this time the future of Cleveland was assured. Year by year it has grown with astonishing increase and new manufactories of every description are springing up on every side. The flats that had lain deserted and of but little value were brought into requisition for iron furnaces and iron mills, and wherever lands could be had at reasonable rates in convenient neighborhood to transportation lines, factories of some kind were established.

The four or five small iron manufactories in and about Cleveland in 1837, have grown to fourteen rolling mills, having two hundred puddling furnaces and a daily capacity of four hundred tons of finished iron, not including the nails spikes, nuts, bolts, horseshoes, &c. Several of these mills own their own blast furnaces, and nearly all have coal mines of their own. There are also five stove foundries; one malleable iron works; one axe and tool company; half a dozen boiler plate and sheet iron works of large capacity; nearly as many factories of steam engines of all descriptions, and other machinery; three foundries for making car wheels and castings for buildings; one large manufactory of cross cut, circular and other saws, and several saw and file works of smaller dimensions.

Although the operations of domestic iron works were seriously affected by the large increase of importations from Europe, the following amount of iron was produced from the mills of Cleveland in 1868:

Pig Iron 11,037 Tons.
Rail Road Iron 22,344 "
Merchant Iron 11,396 "
Boiler, Tank and Sheet Iron 2,676 "
Forgings 4,125 "
Nuts, Washers, Rests, Nails and Spikes 5,607 "
Machinery Castings 18,250 "
Wire 865 "

Making a total of 76,300 tons. To produce this it is estimated that 225,000 tons of coal and coke were consumed. The stove foundries produced nearly 35,000 stoves, with the attendant hardware and stove furniture; requiring nearly 10,000 tons of metal, and 4,000 tons of coal and coke, and giving employment to about five hundred persons.

The planing mills and wooden ware manufactures give direct employment to six hundred and fifty persons, and the year's business exceeded a million dollars.

The growth and magnitude of the petroleum business of Cleveland can be seen by the reports of receipts and shipments during the past four years:

Date. Crude Received Refined Forwarded
1865 220,000 bbls. 145,000 bbls.
1866 613,247 " 402,430 "
1867 693,100 " 496,600 "
1868 956,479 " 776,356 "

Between three and four millions of dollars of capital are invested in this business in Cleveland, and the annual product will not fall short of ten or twelve millions of dollars. The rapid increase of the business created an urgent demand for barrels. The receipts of staves in 1868, mainly to supply this demand, were nearly three times in excess of the previous year. Some 3,000 tons of hoop iron were required for barrels.

It is impossible to give, in the absence of any recent exact census, full and correct statistics of the number and classification of the manufactories of Cleveland, the capital invested, and the value of the product. It has, however, been estimated from the best data that could be procured, that the grand total value of all the manufactories of the city in 1868, was not less than sixty millions of dollars, and it is daily increasing.

William B. Castle.

William B. Castle was born in Essex, Crittenden county, Vermont, November 30, 1814. Immediately on the conclusion of the war, his father removed to Toronto, where he had been engaged, as an architect, to superintend the construction of the first Parliament buildings there. In 1827, he removed with his family to Cleveland, William B. Castle being then thirteen years old. His father had taken a farm about thirteen miles from the city, and there the lad spent most of his time until 1832, when, in company with his father and Mr. Charles M. Giddings, he established the first lumber-yard in Cleveland. The business was carried on for a couple of years, when Mr. Castle, Sen., died, and the son removed to Canada, engaging in merchandizing and in manufacturing lumber for the yard in Cleveland. In 1839, he abandoned the Canada branch of the business, and in the following year the partnership with Mr. Giddings was dissolved.

A new partnership was formed with a brother-in-law, under the name of Castle & Field, for carrying on the hardware, in connection with jewelry and watch making, business, on the west side of the river, then known as Ohio City. In 1843, he left the business and entered the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company, with which he has ever since been connected. So thoroughly identified has Mr. Castle been with the history of that establishment during the past quarter of a century, that this is a fitting place for a brief sketch of the nature and history of the pioneer iron company of Cleveland.

In 1830, Mr. Charles Hoyt projected the works which were erected and put in operation under the firm name of Hoyt, Railey & Co. In 1834, the firm was changed to an incorporated company under the name of the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, of which three-fourths were paid in. The principal stockholders at the time of the incorporation were Josiah Barber, Richard Lord, John W. Allen, and Charles Hoyt. The managing officer was Charles Hoyt. Soon after the incorporation the works were burned to the ground, but the company were energetic, and soon a substantial brick structure, two hundred and thirty-five feet front, with a wing of ninety feet deep, was erected on the site of the destroyed building. The pig metal for the use of the works was obtained at the company's blast furnace at Dover, twelve miles west, and was considered equal in quality to the best Scotch pig. In 1840, Mr. Hoyt was succeeded in the management by D. Cushing, who had been secretary of the company. In 1843, Mr. Cushing gave place to Elisha T. Sterling, who remained the head of the concern until his untimely death, in 1859.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, W. B. Castle]

From the advent of Mr. Sterling and the consequent re-organization of the staff of officers of the works, dates the connection of Mr. Castle with the establishment. Mr. Castle took the position of secretary, and held that post until the death of Mr. Sterling, when he was appointed to fill the position of manager. At the time when the sole charge of the works devolved upon him the company was in a deplorable financial condition. The prospect was sufficient to daunt a less resolute and hopeful spirit, but Mr. Castle at once set about the Herculean task of bringing the concern through its difficulties and establishing it on a firm financial basis. The struggle was long continued, and more than once the advance gained seemed suddenly to be again lost, but eventually it was pulled through without having compromised a single debt, and without having but a single case of litigation under his management. This case was not properly chargable to the administration of the works, as it arose from the supplying of a defective beam strap, which, there being then no forges in Cleveland, had been ordered from Pittsburgh. This unusual exemption from litigation was, doubtless, owing to the invariable rule adopted by Mr. Castle, to reduce all contracts to careful writing and to live strictly up to the letter as well as spirit of the contract.

The heavy work of the establishment in its early years was the supplying of most of the mills in Ohio and the new States of the West with mill gearing, and the manufacture of agricultural implements. In 1840, was commenced the manufacture of stationary and land steam engines. In 1843, the manufacture of marine engines was commenced by building the engine for the first propeller on Lake Erie, the "Emigrant." About the same time work was commenced on engines for the large side-wheel steamers, the largest of their day being fitted out with machinery from these works. Among the steamers thus equipped, and which were in their successive days the wonders of the lakes, was the Europe, Saratoga, Hendrick Hudson, Pacific, Avon, and Ohio. Among the propellers receiving their engines from the Cuyahoga Works were the Winslow, Idaho, Dean Richmond, Ironsides, S. D. Caldwell, Meteor, and a very large number of others, besides a great many first-class steam tugs plying on Detroit river.

In 1853, the introduction of the manufacture of locomotives added a new feature to the manufacturing industry of Cleveland. The Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad was supplied from these works, and locomotives were also made for the Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Lake Shore, Cleveland and Toledo, and Bellefontaine and Indianapolis Railroads, besides several other railroads in the west. In 1857, this branch of the business was sold out to the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company, who now use the locomotive works for the manufacture and repair of their own engines.

In addition to the marine engines, for which the establishment has become famous, the company have lately entered upon the manufacture of first class engines and blowing machines for blast furnaces. These have been supplied to the furnaces in the Mahoning Valley and Wisconsin, and to furnaces elsewhere, even supplying Pittsburgh, the home of the iron manufacture. A very large engine has been constructed for the Atlantic Docks, in Brooklyn, New York. Rolling mill engines and machinery have been made for mills at Alliance, in the Tuscarawas Valley, at Harmony, Indiana, and at Escanaba, in the Lake Superior iron district. Various engines have been supplied to the Newburgh works, including the blowing engines and hydraulic cranes for the Bessemer steel works, among the most perfect of their kind in America. Railway tools manufactured by the company's works have been ordered from so far east as New Jersey.

The Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company have employed at times two hundred and fifty men, and will probably average one hundred and fifty. Year after year the company have been compelled to enlarge their facilities, until now their property occupies the two corners of Detroit and Centre streets, and one corner of Centre and West River streets. The buildings extend three hundred and fifty feet on the river, and to a greater length on Detroit street. The capital employed amounts to about a quarter of a million dollars. The importance of these works in attracting attention and capital to Cleveland, in giving employment to the people, and in assisting to build up the business of the city, can hardly be overestimated. Taking its nature, extent and history together it may probably be said with safety that nothing in the city has had a more important influence in shaping the future of Cleveland and contributing to its present prosperity, and much of this influence is due to the labor and wisdom of Mr. Castle. At present the works are organized under the presidency of Mr. Castle, with Josephus Holloway as superintendant and designing engineer; S. J. Lewis, secretary; W. W. Castle, book-keeper. From 1843 to 1857, the superintendent and designing engineer, was Mr. Ethan Rogers, who by his knowledge and skill added very much to the celebrity of the works.

In 1853, Mr. Castle was elected mayor of Ohio City, and during his term of office the consolidation of the two cities was effected. To bring about this desirable end he labored diligently, and was one of the commissioners for settling the terms of annexation. In 1855, he was elected mayor of the Consolidated city, and his rule was marked by vigor, justice, and a strict regard for the rights and interests of the citizens. For six years subsequent to his mayoralty he held the office of commissioner of water works.

Mr. Castle was married in December, 1836, to Miss Mary Derby, who died in Canada in the following year. In 1840, he was married to Miss Mary H. Newell, of Vermont, by whom he has had one son and three daughters. The son, W. W. Castle, now twenty-six, is book-keeper of the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company. The oldest daughter is wife of Mr. Robert R. Rhodes, of Cleveland. The youngest daughters are still at school.

The success of Mr. Castle has been achieved by a persistent struggle against adverse circumstances and with but little to aid him but a resolute will and good constitution. At an early age he was left with the care of his father's family on his hands, and has had to fight, not only his own battles, but to struggle with the difficulties into which circumstances had thrown the company with which he became connected. Out of the struggle he has come with a spotless reputation, the esteem of his friends and the respect of his fellow-citizens, financial prosperity, and the blessing of good health and undiminished vigor.

Charles Jarvis Woolson.

On the sixth of August, 1869, the citizens of Cleveland were surprised and pained at the announcement of the death, on the morning of that day, of Charles Jarvis Woolson, one of the most active and respected business men of the city. Few were aware of his illness, and even by those acquainted with the facts his death, up to within a very short time of the event, was wholly unexpected.

Mr. Woolson was born in Chester, Vermont, and received careful educational training, the family being in good circumstances. His father was engaged in various manufacturing enterprises, including cotton and wool fabrics, and the making of machine and hand cards. He was one of the very earliest manufacturers of cooking stoves in the country.

At the age of nineteen, Mr. Woolson went into business on his own account, choosing the newspaper profession instead of manufactures for his debut. His first venture was as editor and publisher of a newspaper in Grafton county, New Hampshire. Two years later, he sold out and removed to Virginia, where he assumed charge of the Charlotteville Advocate. But the political and social atmosphere of the South was uncongenial to one born and bred in the free air of Vermont. He could neither feel nor affect to feel anything but abhorrence of the "institution," and so he soon terminated his connection with the press of Virginia, and returned to the land of churches, free schools and free speech. In 1830, he married Miss Pomeroy, of Cooperstown, New York, and removing to Keene, New Hampshire, engaged in mercantile business; but he who has once dabbled in journalism imbibes a taste which it is difficult afterwards to eradicate. Mr. Woolson was not at home in a mercantile store, and before long he purchased the New England Palladium, a Boston daily newspaper, and conducted it for two years, when he bade a final adieu to journalism as a profession, disposing of his property in the Palladium and removing to Claremont, New Hampshire, where he engaged with his father in the manufacture of stoves. Here he remained until 1840, when he removed to Cleveland, taking with him the patterns and materials connected with the stove business, and commenced on his own account in a small way, his capital having been seriously crippled by the financial convulsion of 1837.

Mr. Woolson had, in 1845, succeeded in getting his business into a flourishing condition, when, through the defalcation of a trusted partner, he was very nearly ruined. But he did not stop his works one day on account of this disaster. Collecting together his scattered resources, he set to work all the harder, and as the Fall of the year approached, had succeeded in accumulating a fine stock of wares for the Fall trade, which he had stored in a warehouse at the rear of his factory, but which he neglected to insure. A fire broke out, and the building, with its contents, was completely destroyed, resolving the valuable stoves into a heap of old iron. Even this did not stop the works. With his characteristic energy, Mr. Woolson had the ground cleared and set to work with redoubled zeal, making new stoves out of the old iron, and succeeded in doing a tolerable business that winter, in spite of his accumulation of disasters.

When Mr. Woolson commenced business in Cleveland, it was but a lively village. His stove foundry, the first of importance in northern Ohio, when running to its full capacity, employed but ten hands, and its trade was limited to the immediate vicinity, and a few towns on the canal. But few of the farmers then used cooking stoves, the fire on the hearth serving for all purposes of cooking and warming. The works now employ about one hundred hands when running full, and the customers are found in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa. The firm was changed several years since to Woolson & Hitchcock, and subsequently to Woolson, Hitchcock & Carter. Death removed the senior and junior partners of the firm within a few months of each other.

Mr. Woolson's death was caused by erysipelas, brought on by debility; after an illness of two weeks the disease yielded to medical treatment, and he seemed to gain strength rapidly. On Saturday, the 31st of July, he joined a party of friends and drove in his buggy twenty miles into the country, believing that the fresh air would invigorate him as it had done many times before when his health gave way. But the old remedy failed, and, leaving his horse behind, Mr. Woolson took the cars and reached home in the evening very much exhausted. After lingering five days, typhoid symptoms appeared, and at eight o'clock Friday morning he died, unconscious, and without suffering, after a life of 63 years and one month.

Mr. Woolson possessed a very genial and sociable disposition, was highly intelligent and well informed, and in spite of an infirmity of deafness was a charming companion. His business qualifications are proven by the success of the establishment he founded, in spite of the succession of unforeseen and unavoidable disasters with which it had to contend. He was a man of very domestic habits, and these habits were mellowed and refined by many family losses that might have crushed one less hopeful, and less patient and uncomplaining. To his family he was entirely devoted, and all the affection of a loving household clustered around him with an intensity that made the blow of his sudden loss one peculiarly hard to be borne.

Mr. Woolson had long been connected with Grace Church (Episcopal), of which he was senior warden, and very tender domestic ties, sundered by death some years since, made that church peculiarly dear to him.

William Hart.

William Hart, son of Judah Hart, of English descent, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in the year 1811. About the year 1821, Judah Hart removed to the West with his family, settling in Brownhelm, Lorain county, where he died two years after, and one year from this time, William changed his residence to Cleveland. Soon after the arrival of the Harts in Cleveland, Governor Clinton, of New York, came to Ohio to formally commence the work of constructing the Ohio Canal, which was begun on the fourth of July, 1825. Governor Clinton landed in Cleveland in June, and one of the principal incidents of Mr. Hart's recollection of his early days in Cleveland, was the general turning out of the people to receive and welcome the father of internal improvements. Cleveland was then but an insignificant village, a place "six miles from Newburg, where steamboats stopped to wood and water," but great, and well-founded hopes were entertained of the benefits to flow from the opening of the canal, and the people were therefore much elated at the arrival of Governor Clinton, who was to commence the important work, and whose influence had done so much to aid the enterprise.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, Wm. Hart]

About this time young Hart went to live with Asabel Abel, to whom he was apprenticed for the purpose of learning the business of cabinet making. When the term of his apprenticeship had expired, he set up in business on his own account, at first opening his modest store and workshop on the site of the present Birch House, and subsequently, after five or six years of business, removing his location to the opposite side of the street, on the spot now occupied by his present warehouse.

In 1852, a fire swept away his entire establishment, destroying ware-rooms, factory, and all the appurtenances, and throwing out of employment the twenty hands of which his force of workmen then consisted. In the succeeding year, he rebuilt the warehouse and factory on a greatly enlarged scale, and has since still further enlarged and improved the buildings, until, in size and commodiousness, they are not excelled in the city. At present, seventy-five hands are employed in the establishment, aided by the most improved descriptions of labor-saving machinery adapted to the business, and the annual sales reach nearly two hundred thousand dollars.

Mr. Hart believed in always putting his shoulder to the wheel, though on one occasion a too literal adherence to this principle came near costing him his life. In attempting to give some aid in the factory, he came in contact with a circular saw, and his right arm was nearly severed from the shoulder. This was in the year 1850. On his partial recovery, the citizens, to show their sympathy with him in his misfortune, elected him City Treasurer, an office then of but little value, requiring only a small portion of his time and paying him two hundred dollars a year. For nineteen years he held this office uninterruptedly, being elected by both parties term after term, and witnessing the growth of the city, under his financial administration, from an annual revenue of forty-eight thousand dollars to nearly two millions. The emoluments of the office have risen from a salary of two hundred dollars to a salary of fifteen hundred dollars, and a percentage on special taxes collected. During his nineteen years of service, Mr. Hart has negotiated all the loans, sold the school bonds, and collected the special taxes, occupying nearly the whole of his time, and employing the services of a clerk in transacting the business of his office.

When William Hart became City Treasurer, the credit of the city stood rather low, city warrants being hawked about at seventy-five cents on the dollar. This unsatisfactory state of things was put an end to, mainly through the exertions of the Hon. H. B. Payne, then in the City Council, who procured the funding of the outstanding debt, and brought the credit of the city up to the high standard at which it now stands.

When Judah Hart reached Cleveland, the then far West, a part of the family slept in the Mansion House, occupying the site on which now stands Cooper's hardware store, but young William and some other members of the family slept in the covered traveling wagon, under a shed standing on the site of the present Atwater Block. With the revolution of years the then poor boy has now become part owner of the splendid block standing where a part of the Harts slept, homeless wayfarers, forty-five years ago.

In 1834, Mr. Hart was married in Cleveland, to Miss Elizabeth Kirk, daughter of John Kirk, who had left England about a dozen years previously. No children were born of this marriage, but the pair have adopted four, giving them all the advantages and rights of children born to themselves, and three of these are now married.

Still in vigorous life, Mr. Hart has, to a great extent, retired from active business, his establishment being carried on mainly by his sons through adoption or marriage. This partial rest he has earned by a life of labor and enterprise, in which he has watched narrowly his opportunities, and availed himself of every chance of improving his facilities for manufacture, and enlarging his field of business, has faithfully performed his official duties, and has secured the respect alike of his business acquaintances, his political constituents, and the public at large.

John Bousfield.

The wooden ware manufacture of Cleveland is an important part of its industry, the manufacturing establishments being the largest within the United States and doing a business that covers the entire west. Large as the industry now is, it is of but very recent growth, and Cleveland is chiefly indebted for its permanent establishment, in spite of a series of discouraging disasters, to the enterprise and determination of John Bousfield.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, John Bousfield]

Mr. Bousfield was born at Stockport, in the county of Cheshire, England, July 22, 1819. After serving an apprenticeship to the saddle and harness business for seven years, he engaged in that business on his own account, adding to it the manufacture of whips. Four years were thus spent, when he decided on removing to America, leaving his native land in December, 1843. Having brought two of his workmen with him, he established himself in the same business in a small way in the city of New York, but his health failing after a few months, he determined on leaving for the west, hoping that a change of atmosphere, and possibly of business, would be of benefit.

His first stay was at Kirtland, Lake county, Ohio, where he purchased a farm and at the same time carried on the harness business. At this he continued until about the year 1850, when he purchased a factory and water power, put in a pail-making machine, and commenced, in a small way, the manufacture of pails. In 1854, he removed to Fairport, in the same county, where he purchased a larger building and carried on pail manufacturing upon a larger scale. In March, 1855, he sold out the establishment, taking in pay for it a note which he still holds.

In May of that year he came to Cleveland and organized the Cleveland Wooden Ware Manufacturing Company, built a factory on the ground now occupied by the present firm of Bousfield & Poole, and commenced manufacturing in the following September. The first operations of the company were on a small scale, making tubs, pails, washboards, and similar articles in a limited way, but gradually increasing the business until it reached what was then considered respectable proportions. In July, 1857, the company sold out to Greenman & Co., of Massachusetts, and Mr. Bousfield was retained by the new owners as superintendent of the works, until January 12, 1859, when the factory was destroyed by fire.

In March of that year, Mr. Bousfield rented a building on the West Side and commenced manufacturing again on his own account. Five months afterwards he was burned out. Nothing daunted, he immediately purchased the ruins of the Greenman & Co. factory, rebuilt it, and in January, 1860, associated with him Mr. J. B. Hervey, of Cleveland, and in the following month resumed work.

The new partnership was very successful. The business increased rapidly, the area of their trade enlarged until it comprised all the principal cities and towns in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. A planing mill was added to the factory, and this, too, was highly profitable. In 1864, the works were greatly enlarged to meet the rapidly increasing demand for their wares. In 1865, Mr. John Poole, of Harmer, Ohio, was admitted to the partnership, thus bringing in additional capital and experience gained in the management of a similar factory at Harmer. Mr. Poole has devoted himself principally to the financial and sales departments of the business, and has proved himself a man of more than ordinary business ability.

Thus far everything had been going on prosperously, but the old enemy, fire, was as relentless as ever. On the 23d of March, 1866, the whole of the extensive establishment was reduced to ashes, and the unfortunate proprietors sorrowfully contemplated the ruins of years of labor and enterprise, whilst a host of workmen stood still more sorrowfully by, and saw their daily bread swept from them by the pitiless flames. Seventy-five thousand dollars of capital were converted into valueless ashes in a few hours.

The owners of the factory wasted no time in fruitless sorrow. An old wooden building had partially escaped the flames. This was hastily patched up, and within thirty days they were making pails and tubs as earnestly as if they had never known a fire. Mr. Hervey sold out his interest to the other partners, Messrs. Bousfield & Poole, who went to work with almost unparalleled enterprise and energy, built one of the largest and most substantial factories in the country, and entered upon the work of manufacturing wooden ware upon a larger scale than had ever before been attempted. The factory has two hundred feet front on Leonard and Voltaire streets, with a depth of sixty feet, and five stories high; attached to the main building are the engine and boiler rooms. The cost of the building was forty-five thousand dollars. The present capacity of the works is twenty-five hundred pails per day, six hundred tubs, a hundred and twenty-five churns and other small ware, and a hundred dozen zinc washboards.

In May, 1867, the firm commenced the erection of a match factory which was ready for operation in September of that year. A superintendent was engaged who, unfortunately, was unqualified for his position and did much harm to the enterprise, but on his removal, Mr. Bousfield took personal charge of the match factory, and has succeeded in building up an extensive trade. The daily capacity of the factory is two hundred and ninety gross, which, if run to the full capacity throughout the year, would yield to the United States government a revenue of over a hundred and twenty thousand dollars.

The trade of Messrs. Bousfield & Poole extends from Buffalo through the principal cities of the central, southern and western States, to New Orleans on the south, and Salt Lake City on the west, two bills having been sold to the son-in-law of Brigham Young in that city. A branch warehouse has been established in Chicago as an entrepot for the supply of the vast territory of which Chicago is the source of supply.

The manufactory of Messrs. Bousfield & Poole is the largest in the country, and for the past three years has turned out about fifty per cent. more work than any other in the United States. It consumes ten millions of feet of lumber and logs annually, besides other material, and gives employment to from three hundred to three hundred and fifty persons, men women and children. Its influence on the population and prosperity of the city can therefore be judged. The money for the support of these people, and for the purchase of the materials employed, is almost wholly brought from abroad, the amount of the wares used in Cleveland being, of course, a very small fraction of the amount produced and sold. The same is true to a greater or less extent, of all the manufactories of Cleveland, and serves to account for the rapid growth of the city in population and wealth within the few years past, in which Cleveland has entered in good earnest on its career as a manufacturing centre.

Mr. Bousfield was married January 1, 1855, to Miss Sarah Featherstone, of Kirtland, by whom he has had ten children, six of whom are yet living. The oldest son, Edward Franklin Bousfield, is engaged with his father in the factory.

The secret of Mr. Bousfield's successful career can be found in his indomitable perseverance. He has been wholly burned out three times, and had, in all, about twenty fires, more or less disastrous, to contend with, but each time he seemed to have gained new strength and vigor in business as his works rose phoenix like from the ashes. Coupled with his perseverance is a remarkable mechanical ingenuity which has served him to good purpose in the construction and management of his factories. Whilst in England, he invented a machine for braiding whips that would do the work of fifteen women working by hand, as was the usual practice.

J. G. Hussey.

Among the elements that have contributed to the prosperity of Cleveland, copper and oil hold no inconsiderable place. Not only has the cupriferous wealth of Lake Superior directly enriched many Cleveland citizens who interested themselves in its production, but it has led to the establishment of a large and steadily increasing commerce between Cleveland and Lake Superior. In the other direction, the enterprise of Clevelanders in the petroleum region of Western Pennsylvania has built up large fortunes for themselves and has established in Cleveland one of the most extensive and remunerative of its industries. One of the earliest to be identified, first with the copper and afterwards with the oil interest, was J. G. Hussey.

Christopher Hussey, the father of the subject of the present sketch, emigrated from Baltimore and settled in Cincinnati, in 1804, subsequently removing to Jefferson county, Ohio, where J. G. Hussey was born in 1819. Young Hussey received such an education as the facilities of a rural neighborhood at that early day afforded, and added to his school knowledge the practical details of business by becoming clerk in a village store. Here he acquired those correct business habits that stood him in good service in after life. In 1840, he opened a store on his own account in Hanover, Ohio, and was very successful. From Hanover he removed to Pittsburgh, where he operated in provisions until 1845. In that year there was much excitement over the mineral discoveries on the south shore of Lake Superior. The Indian titles to the mineral lands on that lake had been but a short time before completely extinguished, and the surveys of Dr. Houghton were bringing the cupriferous riches of the region into notice. Mining permits were issued under the authority of Congress, those permits giving the applicant a lease for three years, with a conditional re-issue for three years more. The lessees were to work the mines with due diligence and skill, and to pay a royalty to the United States of six per cent, of all the ores raised. Early in the Spring of 1845, Mr. Hussey formed a company of miners and explorers, with whom he went to Lake Superior and opened several copper veins, some of which proved highly productive and are still successfully worked. In some of these he has retained an interest to the present time.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, J. G. Hussey]

In the Spring of 1847, he became a member of the private banking firm of Hussey, Hanna & Co., in Pittsburgh, which did a successful business for several years. At the same time he became interested in a banking establishment in Milwaukee under the firm name of Marshall, Hussey & Ilsley. In 1850, he removed to Milwaukee, to attend to the interest of that firm, but the climate proving injurions to his health, he sold out and removed to Cleveland, where he took up his residence in 1851. From that time he became thoroughly identified with the business interests of the city.

His first act was to establish the Forest City Bank, under the regulations of the Free Banking Law of Ohio, and during his connection with the institution it was eminently successful. During the same summer, he built and put in operation a copper smelting and refining works, under the firm name of J. G. Hussey & Co., engaging at the same time in the produce commission business, under the firm name of Hussey & Sinclair, which afterwards changed to Hussey & McBride. It is a matter of fact, on which Mr. Hussey justly prides himself, and to which in great measure he attributes his success, that he confined himself strictly to the legitimate conduct of his business as a commission dealer, never speculating in produce when selling it for others.

In 1859, Mr. Hussey became interested in the discoveries of petroleum in the creeks and valleys of Venango county, Pennsylvania. With his characteristic energy he went to the scene of the excitement just breaking out over the discoveries, and becoming satisfied of their importance, he immediately commenced the work of exploration, in company with others, who purchased the McElhenny Farm, on which was struck the noted Empire well, one of the most famous wells on Oil Creek, that by its extraordinary yield first added to the petroleum excitement, and then broke down the market by a supply far in excess of the then demand. The tools were no sooner extracted than the oil rushed up in a torrent, equal to three thousand barrels daily. The good fortune of the adventurers was disastrous. It was more than they had bargained for, and was altogether too much of a good thing. The demand at that time was very limited, the uses to which petroleum had been applied being few, and science had not yet enabled it to be converted into the cheap and useful illuminator it has now become. One day's flow of the Empire would supply all the demands of the United States for a week. Barrels, too, were scarce, and when those at hand were filled tanks were hastily improvised, but were speedily overflowed. Pits were dug and rapidly filled, until at length the well owners, cursed with too much good luck, were compelled to turn the oil into the river. Then it rapidly fell in price, owing to the superabundant supply. It fell, in the autumn of 1861, to ten cents a barrel, and the oil interest was, for the time, ruined.

At this juncture Mr. Hussey was induced to erect works for refining the oil and preparing it as an illuminator. The first establishment was a small one, but as the demand increased and the oil interest revived, the capacity was increased until it reached its present limit of from three hundred and fifty to four hundred barrels per day.

When the second oil excitement broke out in 1864, Mr. Hussey was again one of the leading explorers and adventurers in the oil regions of Pennsylvania. Successful wells were put down in Oil Creek and on the Allegheny river, and a large proportion of the product was brought to Cleveland to be refined. His interest in this department of industry became so great and important, that after fifteen years of active connection with the produce and copper smelting business of Cleveland, he sold out his interest in both the commission house and smelting works and devoted his entire attention to oil.

Mr. Hussey is a good example of the success attending faithful, intelligent and conscientious attention to business. A self-made man, he never lost sight of the fact that the same scrupulous honesty which gave him success was necessary to retain it. Debt he looked upon as the road to ruin, and he scrupulously shunned it. He never bought an article for himself or his family on credit. His business paper was always good and never was protested. His engagements were ever punctually kept. His two cardinal principles were "Time is money," and "Honesty is the best policy," and these rules of action he carefully impressed on the young men whom he brought up in business life. The value of his teachings and example is shown in the fact that those brought up under his business care during the past twenty years have come to hold a place in the front rank of business men, and have, by their energy and integrity, accumulated competence, and even affluence.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, A. B. Stone]

A. B. Stone

Andros B. Stone was born in the town of Charlton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, June 18, 1824. He is the youngest son of Mr. Amasa Stone, (now a hale, old man, ninety years of age, in possession of all his faculties,) and brother of A. Stone, Jr., whose biography has been sketched in an earlier portion of this work. Mr. Stone's boyhood was spent in the various occupations of country farm life, where he received in common with other boys the advantages of a public school education. In his sixteenth year he left home to try the world for himself, and for a year and a half worked industriously at the carpenter's trade with his elder brother, to whom he was apprenticed for four years, to receive thirty-five dollars the first year, forty the second, forty-five the third, and fifty the fourth. An unconquerable desire for a better education forced him to leave this occupation for a time, and enter an academy, the expenses of which he met in part by teaching a public school in the winter season, and which left him only five dollars with which to make another start in the world.

In the meantime, Mr. Stone's brother, to whom he was apprenticed, had been employed by Mr. Howe, the patentee of the "Howe Bridge," and to Andros was assigned the keeping of the time of the workmen, and other similar duties, instead of the more direct labors of the shop. In the autumn of 1842, Mr. Howe purchased Mr. Stone's unexpired time from his brother, advanced his pay, and kept him in the same employment as time-keeper, and adding to this duty that of making estimates, drawing bridge plans, etc., allowing him in the winter an opportunity of increasing his finances by teaching school. Subsequently, Mr. A. Boody and Mr. A. Stone, Jr., purchased the Howe Patent for building bridges in New England, and A. B. Stone, then about nineteen years of age, made an engagement with the new firm. At first he was given the charge of a few men in framing and raising small bridges, but an opportunity soon occurred which enabled him to exhibit his capabilities in a most advantageous light. Messrs. Boody and Stone were constructing a bridge over the rapids of the Connecticut river at Windsor Locks, about fifteen hundred feet in length, in spans of one hundred and eighty feet. One day the superintendent, who had the immediate charge of the work, went to Mr. Stone and complained of being so ill that he was obliged to go home, and desired him to take temporary charge of the men. Mr. Stone alleged his unfitness for the duty of taking charge of so many men at the commencement of so important a work, but as the superintendent said he could not stay longer, Mr. Stone was compelled to assume the responsibility, against his wishes.

On examining the condition of the work the cause of the superintendent's severe illness was made manifest. The lower chords or stringers, of about two hundred and sixty feet in length, had been packed without being placed opposite each other, one being placed several feet too far in one direction, and the other about the same distance in the opposite direction. Here was a dilemma and a difficulty, and an ability in the mind of the young mechanic to meet it, so that, in a very short time, the chords were properly adjusted. He then proceeded with the work, and in three days had nearly completed the first span, when his brother paid a visit of inspection to the bridge. Not finding the regular superintendent in charge, he naturally inquired the cause, and when the circumstances were explained, examined the work very minutely. Without any comments upon what had been done, Mr. Stone left the place, leaving his younger brother in charge, a tacit expression of confidence which was most gratifying, and gave him a self-confidence he had not previously possessed. About this time Mr. Stone was advanced to the general superintendence of construction, which position he retained between two and three years, when his brother admitted him as his partner in the construction of the bridges on the Atlantic & St. Lawrence railroad. A year was successfully spent in the prosecution of this work, when a partnership was formed with Mr. A. Boody for constructing the bridges on the Rutland & Burlington railroad in Vermont, which, although accompanied with grave difficulties, resulted in success.

In 1850, Mr. Stone extended the field of his operations by forming a new partnership with Mr. Maxwell, and purchasing the Howe Patent for building bridges in the three northern New England States. For two years this field was profitably and creditably filled, when, dazzled by the ample resources of the West, New England was abandoned for Illinois. Here another partnership was formed, with his brother-in-law, Mr. Boomer, and under the stimulating effect of an undeveloped country, the new firm of Stone & Boomer soon took a high and honorable rank throughout the entire Western States. The total amount of bridging built by this firm from 1852 to 1858 was not less than thirty thousand feet. They constructed the first bridge across the Mississippi river, the longest span of a wooden truss that had up to that time ever been built. This was done under the most trying circumstances, the thermometer at times marking 30 degrees below zero. The longest draw-bridge of its period was also erected by this firm across the Illinois river, it having a length of two hundred and ninety-two feet, the whole structure revolving on its centre, and capable of being opened by one man in one and one-half minutes. During this time they built the roof of the Union Passenger House, in Chicago, which was of longer span than had hitherto been built. The organization for the carrying on of their work was so complete, that it was a common remark among the engineers of western railroads, "If we want any bridges put up on short notice, we can get them of Stone & Boomer; they have them laid up on shelves, ready for erection!" In connection with their bridge business the firm carried on the manufacture of railroad cars.

In the Spring of 1858, Mr. Stone gave up his home and business in Chicago for his present residence in Cleveland and his present business as an iron manufacturer. After carefully investigating the advantages which Cleveland afforded for such a purpose, and realizing the present and prospective demands for an increased development for the manufacture of iron, Mr. Stone availed himself of the opportunity of identifying his interests with that of the firm of Chisholm & Jones, who at that time had just put in operation a small mill in Newburg. Here at once opened a new and delightful opportunity for Mr. Stone to develope his natural love for the mechanical arts. To manufacture iron required knowledge--was a science, and to be master of his business was both his duty and his pride, and claimed all his unflagging energy, his undaunted courage and determination. Thus the small mill at Newburg grew from the capacity of turning out thirty tons of re-rolled rails to its present capacity of sixty tons, beside the addition of a puddling mill, a merchant bar mill, a wire rod mill, two blast furnaces, spike, nut and bolt works. In the meantime the small beginning had grown into such large proportions, and so many railroad corporations had centered here, that it was thought best to form the same into a stock company, embracing another rolling mill on the lake shore, within the city limits. This was done, Mr. Stone filling the office of President of the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company. In 1868, the Company put into successful operation extensive steel works which they had been engaged in erecting with great care and expense for nearly two years. During that time Mr. Stone had made two visits to Europe for more thorough investigation into the process of making Bessemer steel, and the success of this undertaking so far has been admitted by all who have visited the works to be without parallel in the American manufacture of steel. In addition to this heavy and extended business, Mr. Stone is president of another rolling mill company in Chicago, in which he is largely interested, also of a large coal mining company in Indiana, and vice President of a large iron manufacturing company at Harmony, Indiana, also president of the American Sheet and Boiler Plate Company.

Mr. Stone is eminently known, and justly so, as a mechanic, and is widely known as a man who crowns his thoughts with his acts. Still in the prime of manhood, he stands connected with manufacturing interests, furnishing employment to thousands of men, all of which has been the outgrowth of scarcely more than ten years. This eminent success has not been the result of speculation, or of luck, but the legitimate end of his own hands and brain. Neither can it be said he has had no reverses. At one time the failure of railroad companies left him, not only penniless, but fifty thousand dollars in debt. With an indomitable will he determined to liquidate that debt, and how well he succeeded need not be told. Mr. Stone at present stands at the head of iron manufacturing companies, second to none in the country, possessing almost unlimited credit. This extraordinary success has by no means affected Mr. Stone's modest nature for which he is so noted. Gentlemanly and affable in his intercourse with all ranks and conditions of men, he has won universal respect, and an enviable position in the business interests of our country.

Mr. Stone was married in 1846 to Miss M. Amelia Boomer, daughter of Rev. J. B. Boomer, of Worcester, Massachusetts.

[Illustration: Yours truly, Henry Chisholm]

Henry Chisholm

Henry Chisholm is of Scotch origin, having been born in Lochgelly in Fifeshire, April 27, 1822. There, as in New England, children, if they are heirs to nothing else, inherit the privilege of some early education. When he was at the age of ten his father died. At the age of twelve, Henry's education was finished and he was apprenticed to a carpenter, serving in an adjoining city five years, at the expiration of which time he went to Glasgow, as a journeyman. Whilst in Glasgow, he married Miss Jane Allen, of Dunfermline.

In 1842, he resolved to quit his native land and seek his fortune in the West. Landing in Montreal, in April, he found employment as a journeyman carpenter, working at his trade for two years. He then undertook contracts on his own account, relying wholly on his own resources for their execution, and all his undertakings proved successful. In 1850, he entered into partnership with a friend to build the breakwater for the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, at Cleveland, the work occupying three years. This, and other similar contracts, such as building piers and depots at Cleveland, employed his time and energies until his commencement of the iron business at Newburg, as one of the firm of Chisholm, Jones & Co. This company, and its business, have developed into the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company of Cleveland, with two rail mills, making a hundred tons of rails and twenty-five tons of merchant iron per day; two blast furnaces, turning out forty tons of pig iron daily, and a Bessemer steel works, manufacturing thirty tons of steel per day. Besides these, have been established the Union Rolling Mills of Chicago, making seventy tons of rails per day; of this extensive establishment Mr. Chisholm's son, William, is manager. There are also two blast furnaces and a rolling mill in Indiana, making forty tons of iron per day. Fifteen hundred acres of coal land are owned in connection with these works. Of all these enterprises Mr. Chisholm has been one of the leading managers, and remains largely interested, his perseverence and energy aiding materially to crown the undertakings, up to the present time, with the greatest success.

In the midst of a business so large, the social and religions duties of Mr. Chisholm have not been neglected. He is a zealous and liberal member of the Second Baptist church. For more than twenty-three years himself and wife have been professors of religion, and their five surviving children, the oldest of whom is now twenty-six years old, have become members of the same church.

The history of the Scotch boy and his success in America should be read by the youth of England and Scotland, as an example for them to follow. In these and other European countries such a career would be almost, if not quite, impossible. Mr. Chisholm has not been made proud by success, but retains the affability and simplicity of his early days. He has still a hearty physical constitution, with the prospect of a long life in which to enjoy, in the retired and quiet manner most agreeable to his tastes, the good fortune of this world, and the respect of his employees, and neighbors and friends, which he values more highly than money.

R. P. Myers.

R. P. Myers was born in Schodack, Rensselaer county, New York, January 1, 1820. When between two and three years of age, his parents moved to Sand Lake, in the same county. His father died May 14, 1823, leaving but very limited means for the support of the widowed mother and three young children; and it is to the prayers, counsels and Christian influence of his mother Mr. Myers is largely indebted for the direction of his life. At the age of fifteen he left school and became clerk in a village store, but after one year, being dissatisfied with the business prospects of the village, he obtained a situation in a dry goods store in Albany.

In 1842, he commenced business in Albany in the same line, with but two hundred and twenty-five dollars and a good character, for his capital, under the firm name of Allen & Myers, continuing thus about two years. At the end of that time, believing the West offered greater inducements to young men of small means, he removed to Ohio. His partner had previously made a tour of observation through the West and become favorably impressed with the business prospects of Akron, Ohio, which was at that time attracting considerable attention. Mr. Myers, in company with his wife, passed through Cleveland May 3d, 1844, (being the first anniversary of their wedding,) on their way to Akron. There he conducted his old business under the same name as at Albany, for about one year, and then formed a company for the manufacture of stoves, under the style of Myers, Cobb & Co., his former partner being the "Co." To this business he gave his personal attention. The dry goods business was discontinued about a year after engaging in the manufacture of stoves. In addition to this Mr. Myers became interested in the manufacture of woolen and cotton machinery, machine cards, &c., the name of the firm being Allen, Hale & Co. This was developed into a flourishing business.

[Illustration: Respectfully yours, R. P. Myers]

In 1849, he was instrumental in the formation of the Akron Stove Company, into which the firm of Myers, Cobb & Co. merged. At the first meeting of the stockholders Mr. Myers was chosen general agent, in which position he remained with signal profit to the stockholders, until February 1st, 1859. This, though a small company, was one of the most successful stock companies ever formed in this part of the country. Business continued to expand, causing the company to enlarge its facilities for manufacturing from time to time, and their products were sold through Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and other Western States. The fact that the stock at the time he retired from the company sold for from four hundred to five hundred per cent, above par value, after declaring liberal dividends from time to time, speaks more plainly of its unparalleled success than anything we can say, and is the best compliment that could be paid to the energy, enterprise and business capacity of its retiring manager.

After a time, the stove business required his whole attention, and the machine branch was sold out to one of the other partners; he then bent all his energies to the invention and perfection of the stoves, and the vigorous prosecution of the business of the company. After conducting the business of the company ten years, he felt the want of a larger field for enterprise, cast around for the most eligible situation, and finally concluded that Cleveland was destined to be a great stove centre. Resigning the management of the company February 1st, 1859, but retaining most of his interest, he came to Cleveland and started an individual manufactory, at the same time connecting with the stove business the wholesaling of tin plate, sheet iron, &c., which was conducted with such energy that a large trade was attracted to Cleveland that had previously been given to other markets.

The rapid development of business, the demand upon his time in the manufacturing department, and the need of extended facilities induced Mr. Myers to associate with him Messrs. B. F. Rouse and James M. Osborn, who now form the firm of Myers, Rouse & Co. Since the present firm has existed they have built a new foundry, of large capacity, with all the modern improvements, on West River street, which is now taxed to its full capacity to meet the wants of their trade.

The increase of the stove manufacturing of the city is estimated to have been full four hundred per cent. in ten years, and has fully justified Mr. Myers' estimate of the natural advantages of Cleveland as a manufacturing point.

This firm has patented a variety of new stoves that have become very popular, and hence remunerative, among which are the Eclipse, in 1850, soon followed by the Golden Rule and Benefactor, the last named having obtained a most remarkable sale, and the name itself become a household word throughout the country, and, in 1868, the celebrated Princess stove.

Of course, close attention to the wants of the country in this direction for about one quarter of a century, has given Mr. Myers a very valuable experience, which he is continually turning to account to the benefit of the public and his own enrichment. The shipments of this firm are to nearly all the markets in the northwest, reaching Council Bluffs and Omaha.

Mr. Myers is now numbered among the most successful business men of the city, and his success has been achieved in a department that has added very materially to the progress of the city. The large number of men employed, and the still larger number put into requisition in the production of the material required for the uses of the manufactory, and to supply the needs of the men, have added to the population and wealth of Cleveland.

Although so much engrossed in business since coming to Cleveland, Mr. Myers has found time to be active in many benevolent movements. For thirty years he has been a useful member of the Baptist church. His Christian labors have been generously given to the Sunday schools and mission work, and he is at this time superintendent of the First Baptist church Sunday school of this city.

Mr. Myers is now forty-nine years old, with a vigorous physical constitution and strong mind, that give promise of very many years of usefulness still to come.

M. C. Younglove

From 1837 to 1842, when specie payments were resumed, Cleveland saw her greatest financial embarrassments; but from the latter year, a new and more promising era dawned upon her. The land speculator gave place to the business man, and for many years immediately following, her progress, though slow, was sure and steady. During these years of depression many young and enterprising men settled here, who were, of course, untrammeled by old speculating debts, and their business habits were untainted by the loose recklessness of the land speculator. Many of these young men are now to be found among our most substantial, successful and enterprising citizens, and the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this article is one of that number.

Mr. Younglove was born in Cambridge, Washington county, New York. His immediate ancestors on both sides having been officers in the Revolutionary army, gives him a good title to native citizenship. His father died before his birth, leaving him sufficient property for all educational purposes, but none to commence business with. He first essayed a professional life, and with that view began the study of law, but soon discovered that a sedentary occupation was uncongenial to him, and abandoned the profession.

His first business connection, which was formed before his majority, was with an uncle in his native county. But finding the country village of his nativity too slow for a sanguine and active temperament, he determined to try his fortune in the then comparatively unknown West, and in August, 1836, came to Cleveland. After a clerkship of eight months in a dry goods store, he bought an interest in a book store, and in a few months thereafter bought out his partner and added job and news printing, and book publishing, to his other business. At this time he introduced the first power press into Cleveland--and it is believed the second that was run west of the Alleghenies--on which he printed for a long time the daily papers of the city.

In 1848, in connection with Mr. John Hoyt, he built the Cleveland Paper Mill; the first having steam power west of the mountains, and the first of any importance in the United States. This innovation on the old mode of obtaining power for such machinery, called out many prophecies of failure. But these gentlemen not only made their business a success, but demonstrated to Cleveland, that she had, in her proximity to the coal fields, and in the steam engine, facilities for manufacturing unsurpassed by the best water power in the country--a hint which she has not been slow to improve upon.

Messrs. Younglove & Hoyt finally united their business with that of the Lake Erie Paper Company, under the name of the Cleveland Paper Company, of which latter company Mr. Younglove was elected president, and continued in the chief management of its business until the Spring of 1867, when he sold his entire interest, leaving the company with a capital of three hundred thousand dollars, and one of the most prosperous paper manufacturing companies in the country.

Mr. Younglove was one of the first of our citizens to perceive the importance and necessity of a gas company for Cleveland. Learning that a charter had been obtained by some of our wealthy men, and was laying dormant in their hands, he, with some associates, bought it up and proceeded to the erection of the works--himself being one of the directors. Few, however, know the struggles and discouragements which these directors encountered in their efforts to furnish the citizens of Cleveland with one of the greatest conveniences and luxuries of civilized life. The stock could not be sold here. Aside from that taken by Mr. Younglove, only five hundred dollars were subscribed by the citizens, and distributed as follows: James Kellogg, four hundred dollars, and J. W. Allen, one hundred dollars; and this was subsequently all taken off the hands of the subscribers by Mr. Younglove before it was paid up. But the directors, well persuaded of the value and importance of the work they had in hand, were in no way discouraged, but pushed on the work till all present funds were exhausted and not a dollar was left in the treasury to meet the demands of the next Saturday's pay roll. At this juncture, the Board had a consultation, which may be fitly termed an "anxious meeting." The question arose, "What is to be done?" and in answer, each member determined to take such an amount of stock as he could either pay for or sell. Mr. Younglove took five thousand dollars, and determined to make another attempt to sell to the wealthy men of the city, but after four days of industrious effort he had not one dollar of subscription to reward his labor. Mr. P. M. Weddell was the only one who gave any encouragement--"He might take a few hundred dollars at seventy-five per cent."

After this failure, Mr. Younglove mortgaged his lot on Euclid avenue, where he now lives, and paid up his subscription, thus fulfilling his promise to his associates, and placing himself on record as the only citizen who would help to supply the city with gas.

In 1850, Mr. Younglove, associated with Mr. Dudley Baldwin, bought of Howell & Dewitt their machinery for manufacturing agricultural implements. This establishment was immediately enlarged to do an extensive business. Mr. Baldwin subsequently sold his interest to his partner, who still retains his interest in the business, it being at present one of the largest and most reputable manufactories in the city.

The writer of this has authority for saying, that Mr. Younglove looks upon his connection with the Society for Savings in this city, from its organization, as one of the most honorable and reputable of his business life. It is an association purely benevolent in its objects and action, managed by men who have no hope or desire of pecuniary benefit, with matured judgment and an abnegation of self that may well secure for it the utmost confidence--as it most happily has--of the laboring poor and the helpless, for whose benefit it is maintained.

Mr. Younglove is one of the most enterprising and intelligent business men. Having a natural talent for mechanics, he has done much to inaugurate and encourage the manufactures of our city.

John D. Rockefeller.

Although yet quite a young man, John D. Rockefeller occupies in our business circles a position second to but few. He began life with few advantages, save that of honesty of purpose and unflinching morality, and a determination to succeed, if unremitting effort would secure that end. He, in connection with M. B. Clark, commenced the produce and commission business on the dock, with a small capital saved from earnings. For a time their profits were exceedingly small, but the firm soon gained the confidence of our citizens and bankers, and at the end of the first year they had done business to the amount of $450,000. Each successive year added to their business, and in the fourth, it amounted to something like $1,200,000, the average being, perhaps, about $700,000.

In the Spring of 1863, Mr. Rockefeller engaged in the oil refining business, commencing with a capacity of forty-five barrels of crude oil per day, and gradually increased it until 1865, when the capacity of his works was a hundred and fifty barrels per day. At this time he sold his interest in the commission business, and devoted his whole attention to the oil refining. Every year witnessed an enlargement of his works, and for the last three years it is believed that his has been the largest of its kind in the world, the present capacity being twenty-five hundred barrels of crude oil per day. The growth of the business, dating back to 1865, was such that it became necessary to establish a house in New York for the disposition of their oil, where they now have warehouses of their own, and sell and take care of their property.

The effect of such works as those of Mr. Rockefeller in the city may be imagined when we say that there are about one hundred men regularly employed in them, besides a force of some fifteen or twenty teams and teamsters. To these must be added from seven hundred to eight hundred men around the city employed in making barrels for the oil, and from $20,000 to $25,000 per year expended among plumbers and various other mechanics for repairs. The enlargements of their works this year will cost near $40,000.

Mr. Rockefeller never retrogrades; he has always advanced from the commencement. Close application to one kind of business, an avoidance of all positions of an honorary character that cost time, and strict business habits, have resulted in the success, the fruits of which he now enjoys. He has worked himself, and kept everything pertaining to his business in so methodical a manner that he knows every night how he stands with the world. He was drilled to strict economy as an accountant during hard times, before his own business history, and he has rigidly adhered to the principles then learnt.

He has frequently been so situated as to choose between his own judgment and that of older heads, and where he has followed his own opinions in opposition to others of more experience he has seen no reason to regret his choice. The result of his course has been, that, though still young, he stands at the head of one of the most extensive business establishments in the city, and is possessed of wealth sufficient to secure a comfortable maintainance, and a provision against the ordinary mishaps of business.

Mr. Rockefeller is a valued member of the Second Baptist church having long been a sincere believer in the faith and practice of the Baptist church.

[Illustration: Fraternally Yours, Peter Thatcher]

Peter Thatcher.

Peter Thatcher derives his descent in a direct line from the Reverend Thomas Thatcher, the first minister of the Old South Church, in Boston, who at the age of twelve years left England with his uncle Anthony, and arrived in New England in 1635.

Peter Thatcher was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, July 20, 1812. At the age of nineteen, not liking his father's business of farming, he announced his intention of seeking other means of livelihood, and, sorely against his father's wish, he set out in search of fortune. Two days after leaving his father's roof, he found employment with a house-carpenter, in Taunton, Massachusetts, to whom he engaged himself to work one year for forty dollars and board. After two years service in this employ he, in November, 1834, commenced work on the Boston and Providence Railroad, laying track, in the employ of Messrs. Otis & Co. His industry and ability attracted the attention of his employers, and he was retained and promoted by them, remaining in the employ of the firm and their successors, railroad building, until 1850, with the exception of three years spent on Fort Warren and Fort Independence, in Boston Harbor, where he superintended the work of construction under the supervision of Colonel Sylvanus Thayer. During his career as a railroad builder he was engaged on the principal railroads on the sea-coast from Maine to Georgia.

In 1850, the firm of Thatcher, Stone & Co. was formed, for the purpose of building bridges, both in the eastern and western States, an office being opened in Springfield for the former, and another in Cleveland for the latter. In 1851, this firm was dissolved and that of Thatcher, Burt & Co. formed. The patent for building the Howe Truss Bridge in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan was purchased, and nearly all the original railroad bridges in Ohio, with the depots and engine houses, together with many in other States, were built by this firm.

After having for thirteen years carried on the bridge building business, and added to it a trade in lumber, the firm built the Union Elevator, in Cleveland, and the new firm of Thatcher, Gardner, Burt & Co., commission merchants and produce dealers, was formed. This firm was dissolved in 1865, by the withdrawal of Mr. Thatcher.

About this time a company was formed for the purchase of a patent obtained for the manufacture of a durable paint and fire-proof mastic from prepared iron ore. Mr. Thatcher was chosen president of the company which at once entered on a vigorous prosecution of its business and has succeeded beyond the anticipation of its projectors. The paint is made of Lake Superior iron ore, ground fine and mixed with linseed oil, with which it forms a perfect union. It is then used in a thin state as a paint for surfaces, whether of wood stone or metal, exposed to the weather, and in a thicker state for a fire-proof mastic. The ore is crushed with machinery of great strength, and about three tons of the paint are produced daily, besides the mastic, and find ready market.

In connection with the above Mr. Thatcher has recently purchased a patent, obtained by Mr. Ward, for the manufacture of "Metallic Shingle Roofing," which is now being perfected and introduced to the public, and which, its inventor claims, will supercede all methods of roofing now in use for cheapness, durability, weight and effectiveness.

Mr. Thatcher has long been identified with the Masonic order, and has filled high positions in that body. He is Past M. of Iris Lodge of Cleveland, Past H. P. of Webb Chapter, has been Treasurer of Iris Lodge for ten years, Past D. G. H. P. of the Grand Chapter of Ohio, and is now Grand Treasurer of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Ohio, which position he has held six years.

Mr. Thatcher is a genial, whole-souled man, having a host of warm friends, and has enjoyed the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been connected.

W. C. Scofield,

W. C. Scofield was born near Wakefield, England, October 25, 1821, and spent the earlier years of his life in Leeds, where he was employed on machine work until his twenty-first year, when he determined to emigrate to the Western continent to seek his fortune. On reaching America he found his way westward until he arrived at Chagrin river in Cuyahoga county, where he found employment with a Mr. Waite, at eight dollars a month, working one year at this rate. The next two years were spent in the brick yard of A. W. Duty. Following this, he was for two years turnkey under sheriff Beebe, and then established himself in a brick yard of his own on the west side of the river. One Summer's work in this experiment gave him a start in business life, and laid the foundation, small though it was, of his after prosperity.

[Illustration: Yours Respectfully, W. C. Scofield]

After his experiment in the brick making business, he undertook the charge of the lard oil and saleratus works owned by Mr. C. A. Dean. After three years, Messrs. Stanley, Wick & Camp bought the establishment; and shortly after this change, Mr. Scofield purchased the interest of Mr. Wick, and after a few months Mr. Camp sold his interest to the remaining partners, who carried on the business until 1857. At that time Mr. Scofield purchased the interest of his partners and became sole owner of the whole concern and carried on business in this way for the next five years.

In 1861, he added to his lard oil and saleratus business that of refining oil, associating himself in this enterprise with Messrs. Halle and Fawcett. Their refinery was built on the site of the City Forge works, and the capacity of the works was limited to two eight barrel stills. Subsequently this land was sold for other purposes and the refinery was closed, after a very successful career. Previous to that event the firm built an oil refinery on Oil Creek, with a capacity of about forty barrels. This is still in operation under the firm name of Lowry, Fawcett & Co., turning out about sixty barrels of refined oil daily, and proving from its start a continual success. In 1865, Mr. Scofield became interested in the oil refining firm of Critchley, Fawcett & Co., in which he still retains his interest, and which is in successful operation, with a yield of about one hundred barrels per day. About the same time he became a partner in an oil commission business in New York, established under the name of Hewitt & Scofield, which has also proved a success. He is also interested in the Cleveland Chemical Works, being vice president of the company, which is doing a heavy business. The extent and importance of the works may be inferred from the fact, that the buildings necessitated an outlay of a hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

In 1863, the firm of Alexander, Scofield & Co., was formed, and commenced operation on the site of the present works, at the junction of the Atlantic & Great Western Railway with Liberty street. The works were commenced with a capacity of fifty barrels daily, and gradually enlarged, until the capacity now reaches six hundred barrels daily.

During the whole of Mr. Scofield's business career, with the extensive operations of the firms in which he is interested, there has been but one case of litigation. This is noteworthy, and speaks well for the integrity and strict business habits of Mr. Scofield. He is not given to jumping hastily at conclusions or embarking wildly in business schemes. Before entering on an undertaking, he carefully, though rapidly, studies the natural effect of the step and having satisfied himself of its probable success, he prosecutes it with unflagging energy. The course of events within the past few years offered unusual opportunities for a clear headed and active business man to advance himself, and Mr. Scofield had the forethought and energy to take advantage of those opportunities. From first to last he had to depend on his own energies, having been left an orphan at sixteen years of age, and from the time of his reaching his majority, being compelled to push his way unaided, a stranger in a strange land. The efforts of just such men have made Cleveland what it is to-day.

Levi Haldeman.

Levi Haldeman is a representative of another class of our citizens than refiners, who have taken advantage of the petroleum enterprise, and are spending their money in building up the prosperity of the city, turning its energies into channels that cannot fail to give an impetus to all branches of trade, and aid in establishing our financial institutions on a basis of unrivalled strength, and who, at the same time, reap their reward by putting money into their own pockets.

[Illustration: Respectfully + Truly, L. Haldeman]

The subject of this sketch was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, Dec. 14, 1809, received a good common school education, and removed with his father to Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1819. Until he was about twenty-five years of age he spent his time with his father on his farm, and in teaching school. He then commenced reading medicine with Drs. Robertson and Cary of that place; after which he attended lectures at Cincinnati, and was a private student of Drs. Gross and Parker--the former being now Professer in Jefferson College, Philadelphia, and the latter Professor in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Mr. Haldeman commenced practice alone in 1839, at Minerva, Ohio, although he had practiced from 1837 with his old preceptor. He soon obtained an excellent practice in medicine, and was noted for his skill in surgery, performing nearly all the operations in that part of the country, among them tractreotomy, or opening the windpipe and extracting foreign matter from it, and difficult cases of lithotomy.

In 1860, Mr. Haldeman, in connection with Messrs. Hussey and McBride, of Cleveland, bought the McElhenny Farm, in the Pennsylvania oil regions, which proved to be very valuable. For the whole farm of two hundred acres the sum of twenty thousand dollars was paid, subject to some leases, which were renewed to the lessees. Mr. Funk leased a hundred and thirty acres of the farm, subdivided it in into acre lots, and sub-lot them to a number of oil companies, representing an aggregate capital of millions of dollars. Messrs. Bennet and Hatch, the sub-lessees of one sub-lot, struck the largest producing well yet found in the oil region the Empire, a three thousand barrel well, which is estimated to have produced no less than six hundred thousand barrels of oil and the whole farm is estimated to have produced two millions of barrels. At the present time the sub-leases have nearly all been forfeited, through breach of covenant, and the farm has reverted to the owners, Messrs. Hussey and Haldeman. It is not now worked, the wells having been flooded by the unexpected influx of water, against which there had been no provision made by the owners of the wells. It is expected to remedy this misfortune by plugging the wells below the water veins, and pumping, with the hope of thus restoring the value of the farm.

The next enterprise was the purchase of the A. Buchanan farm, of three hundred acres, in connection with others, subject, also, to a lease, but giving the owners of the farm a royalty of one sixth of the oil produced, free of cost, and retaining the use of the land for other purposes. On this farm the town of Rouseville has been built since the purchase. This has proved a very lucrative investment. The first well struck on it in 1860 is still producing. In company with others, Mr. Haldeman also bought the royalty of the John McClintock farm for ten thousand dollars in gold, the Irishman owning it thinking nothing but gold worth having. Mr. Haldeman sold his thirty-second part of the same for a hundred thousand dollars; another partner sold his for forty-thousand dollars, the purchaser subsequently re-selling it for one hundred thousand dollars. Besides this, Mr. Haldeman became half owner of two hundred acres not yet developed, and he and his sons own about four hundred acres, supposed to be excellent oil land. He has also invested about forty thousand dollars in iron tanking, in the oil region, and has now tankage for four hundred thousand barrels, in connection with others.

Mr. Haldeman was married in 1840 to Miss Mary Ann Gaves, of Columbiana county. The oldest and second sons, L. P. and W. P. Haldeman, are engaged in business with their father, and by their energy, foresight, and close attention to business, have aided materially in the later successes of the firm. Mr. Haldeman has, as is evident from the record here given, won for himself considerable wealth, but it has been secured only by the exercise of sound judgment and intelligent enterprise, which deserves, though it does not always achieve, success.

G. Westlake.

The firm of Westlake, Hutchins & Co., composed of G. Westlake, H. A. Hutchins, C. H. Andrews and W. C. Andrews, stands high among the oil refining establishments of Cleveland, not only for the extent of their operations but for their fair dealing in business matters. The firm commenced the erection of their works in October, 1866, and in June of the succeeding year began operations with a capacity of two hundred barrels of crude oil per day. The business improved, and the works had to be enlarged to keep pace with it, until the present capacity of the works is seven hundred and fifty barrels per day. In the enlargements, the latest improvements in the appliances for the refining of oil have been put in. One still now employed has a capacity of eleven hundred barrels, which is charged twice a week, and was the first of the kind in the State. Besides this are ten stills of thirty barrels each, one of two hundred and fifty barrels, and one, recently completed, forty feet in diameter, of the same pattern as the monster still just mentioned, and which is calculated for two thousand barrels. The total capacity of the works, including this still, is fourteen hundred and sixteen barrels of crude per day, which will yield, if running to full capacity, two hundred and eighty-eight thousand barrels of refined oil in a year, or between three and four millions of dollars in value at the stills. Connected with the works are a twenty thousand barrel tank, a fifteen thousand barrel tank, two of ten thousand barrels each, one of six thousand barrels, and several from two thousand barrels down. When all its improvements in progress are completed it will be one of the largest refineries in Cleveland and in the United States, and with enterprise corresponding to the size and importance of its works. A large number of men are employed, either at the works or in direct connection with it by providing cooperage and other necessaries for the business.

Mr. Westlake, the senior member of the firm, was born in Chemung county, New York, January 11, 1822, received a good education and when a young man was employed as a clerk in a lumber business for a couple of years. In 1847, he went into the lumber trade on his own account, remaining in that business until 1866, when he removed to Cleveland, and finding that the oil refining business held out reasonable prospects of profit, he embarked in it, and by his energy of character and enterprise has achieved flattering success, although the time in which he has been engaged in the business is short. He is still in the prime of life.

Mr. Westlake was married in 1848 to Miss Hatch, of Elmira, Chemung county, and has three children.

Stephen Buhrer.

Stephen Buhrer, the subject of this sketch, is of immediate German descent. His father, a native of Baden, and his mother of Wirtemburg, emigrated to this country in the year 1817. Their acquaintance was first formed on board of the emigrant ship on their passage hither, and they were married soon after their arrival in this country. After remaining in the State of Pennsylvania about two years, they came to make their home in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where, on the 26th day of December, 1825, their son, Stephen Buhrer, was born. That region at that time (fifty years ago) was remarkably wild and rough, and inhospitable, but since, by the thrifty German population, by whom it was mainly inhabited, it has become scarcely inferior to any other part of the State in agricultural wealth. But the father of Stephen Buhrer was not destined to live to see this prosperity. He died in the year 1829, leaving his widow and two young children, Stephen and Catharine, dependent on themselves to make their way in the world.

From the severe discipline to which Mr. Buhrer was subjected in early life, and from the difficulties which he had to overcome, he acquired that energy and force of character which have given him success and by which he has attained to a high rank as a self-made man.

Mr. Buhrer does not remember that he was privileged to attend any school after he was ten years of age. All the education which he subsequently acquired he obtained on Sundays and in evenings, after his day's labor was over. He has been a citizen of Cleveland since the year 1844. His first business in this city was at his trade, as cooper, and afterwards he became extensively engaged, and with success, in the business of purifying and refining spirits.

In the Spring of the year 1853, he was elected a member of the City Council, and was twice thereafter re-elected to the same office, the last time almost without opposition.

By the manner in which he discharged his duty as a member of the City Council, public attention was directed toward him as a suitable person for the responsible office of Mayor of the city, to which he was elected, at the April election, in the year 1867, by a very large majority, although he did not belong to the dominant political party. It is conceded by all that he has discharged the duties of Mayor, with a zeal and a devotion to the interests of the city which have had few examples. Turning aside, on his election, from the business in which he was engaged, he has allowed the affairs of the city to monopolize his attention. Placed by his office at the head of the Board of City Improvements, and having in charge public works of great magnitude, involving the expenditure of vast sums of money, invested with the sole control and management of the large police force of the city, and therefore made responsible for its fidelity and efficiency, and exercising a supervision over all the departments of the city government, to promote economy and to lessen taxation, Mayor Buhrer has found his office to be no sinecure. Among the distinguishing traits of his official conduct has been his impartiality, his exemption from favoritism and partizanship, when in conflict with the public interests, and especially his well-known hostility to "cliques" and "rings," such as resort to a city government as a rich placer, where they may work to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. The rigid discharge of duty which he has required of the police under his charge, and the avoidance, at the same time, of everything like oppression, or the exercise of undue severity in office, have received the public approbation.

[Illustration: Yours Respectfully, Stephen Buhrer]

One of the most prominent institutions of Cleveland will be the House of Correction, now in progress of construction, and which is humanely intended to reform and reclaim, as well as to punish, the vicious and the criminal. To Mr. Buhrer much credit will be awarded for the active and leading part he has taken in the establishment of such an institution.

At the expiration of his term of office, it was his wish to be relieved from public care and to devote all of his time to his private pursuits, and which, the more he expected to do, as no one of his predecessors had ever been re-elected, or had entered again upon a second term. But yielding to the solicitations of friends, he again became a candidate, and at the April election, in 1869, was again elected Mayor of the city of Cleveland, by nearly three thousand majority. Such a demonstration by the people is a sufficient commentary upon his character as a citizen, and upon the public estimation of his official services.

M. B. Clark.

M. B. Clark was born in Malmsbury, England, September 6, 1827. From early boyhood until he was nearly of age he was employed in all the various occupations of an agricultural district. About this time the United States, as a promising country for the working man, was attracting considerable notice in his native village, and young Clark, being favorably impressed with reports from America, secretly resolved to husband his means and follow the example of those who had recently gone.

In the Spring of 1847, he left home with but barely sufficient means for the expenses of the journey. On the 17th of June in that year he landed at Boston, amidst martial music and parade of military, celebrating the battle of Bunker's Hill. This, however, was but poor consolation to the English lad, who found himself penniless and friendless. He used every effort to find employment without success, and in the meantime was obliged to sleep wherever night overtook him. At last he obtained work on a farm, in the little town of Dover, Massachusetts, at ten dollars per month. He remained in this situation until October, when, with the regrets of his employer, he left for the West.

On arriving in Ohio, he first obtained employment at chopping wood and teaming, in Lorain county. In the following Spring he returned to Cleveland and obtained a situation as helper in a hardware store. Here it became apparent to him that he was sadly deficient in an educational point of view, and that it offered an almost insuperable barrier to his advancement in life. To remedy this, so far as possible, he devoted all his leisure hours to study, and on the establishment of the evening schools the following winter, he availed himself of them, and the advantage soon became apparent.

With a view to the improvement of his circumstances, in 1851, he engaged himself to Hussey & Sinclair, with whom he remained six years, when he returned to his former employers, Otis & Co., and remained with them three years longer.

In 1859, he established himself in the commission business, associating with him John D. Rockefeller, the firm name being Clark & Rockefeller; both young men of limited means. By strict attention and honorable conduct they soon built up a lucrative business. In 1860, G. W. Gardner became a member of the firm, and continued as such for two years, when he retired.

In 1863, Mr. Clark's attention was attracted to the manufacture of petroleum oils, a business then in its infancy. In connection with his partners, he erected a factory on the Newburg road, the capacity of which was about fifty-six barrels of crude oil per day. They soon discovered that there was money in the enterprise, and before the end of the year they had increased the capacity of their works four-fold; and the enterprise of this firm has aided materially in making Cleveland what it is to-day, the successful rival of Pittsburgh in the manufacture of petroleum oils. In 1865, the manufacturing branch was purchased by his partner, and the general commission business was continued by Mr. Clark until 1866, when he sold out his interest, remaining nominally out of the business until June of that year, when he wearied of idleness and sought active business once more. Purchasing the controlling interest in another refinery, he set to work, vigorously, enlarging the capacity of the works and bringing capital and energy to bear with such effect upon the business of the firm, that it now ranks among the leading oil refining establishments of the country.

[Illustration: Yours Respectfully, M. B. Clark]

Mr. Clark has been no niggard with the wealth that has accrued to him from his business. During the war he contributed liberally and was active in aiding the cause of the government by giving every practical measure his cordial and generous support. In other matters he has manifested a like liberal spirit. In politics he has acted with the Republicans, and has been active in furthering the success of that party. In 1866, he was elected member of the city council from the fourth ward, and was re-elected in 1868. In religions matters he has always connected himself with the Wesleyan Methodists, and has been a leading supporter of that congregation in Cleveland.

Still in the vigor of life, Mr. Clark has the opportunity of doing much more for the prosperity of the city by increasing the manufacturing business, and this his practical nature leads him to do.

It will be seen that Mr. Clark has been the architect of his own fortune. His sympathies are with the industrial classes, from which he sprang, and in return he has the confidence and good will of a large portion of that class.

Mr. Clark was married in 1853, and has a family of five children.

Jacob Lowman.

Jacob Lowman was born in Washington county, Maryland, Sept. 22, 1810. He worked with his father on the farm until he was eighteen, at which time he became an apprentice to the smithing department of the carriage building trade. At the expiration of his apprenticeship, in 1832, he came to Ohio. He stopped in Stark county for a few months, and then came to Cleveland, in search of work, which he readily obtained, with Elisha Peet, on Seneca street, where Frankfort street now intersects it. He worked about a year and a half, for which he received nine dollars per month and board. Being of steady habits, he saved in that time about seventy-five dollars. Mr. Lowman then bought out his employer, and commenced at once on his own account, at the same place. After two years, he built a shop where the Theatre Comique now stands, and remained there eight years. At first he labored alone, after awhile he had one journeyman, soon adding still another, and another, till, at the end of the eight years, he employed about fifteen men. He then removed to Vineyard street, having built shops there to accommodate his increasing business. This was about the year 1842--3. After moving to the new buildings, his business constantly grew with the city, and more men were employed. In 1851, Mr. Lowman commenced the erection of a still larger building to meet his increasing demands; he was then employing from thirty-five to forty men. About this time too, he associated with him Mr. Wm. M. Warden, who had then been in his employ for about ten years. Their facilities were sufficient till about the time of the war, when they erected a large brick building on Champlain street, now occupied as a smith shop, trimming shop, store room, etc., since which they have employed about sixty men. Mr. Lowman, for a number of years, did little beside a local trade, but for the last five or six years he has built up quite a large foreign trade, shipping West extensively--Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana and Kentucky, being the principal markets.

Mr. Lowman has been strictly temperate all his life. He has taken a lively interest in the Sunday schools of the city, in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has been a member nearly since he came to the city.

He was married in 1841 to Miss Minerva E. Peet, by whom he had four children, three of whom are now living--the oldest son being in business with his father. He suffered the loss of his partner in life in 1857. He married again in 1863, to Mrs. Sarah D. Goodwin, of Lorain county, Ohio, formerly of Vermont.

He attributes his success in business to the fact that he had an object in view, and endeavored to attain it, strict attention to business, economy, and studying to give satisfaction by his work.

He is only fifty-eight years of age, and well preserved, and in all human probability will live to enjoy the fruit of his labor for many years to come.

[Illustration: Yours Truly W. G. Wilson]

W. G. Wilson.

W. G. Wilson, now president of the Wilson Sewing Machine Company of Cleveland, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the first of April, 1841. His education was obtained at a village school house. When he was in his thirteenth year his parents removed to Ohio, and the lad remained with them until his eighteenth year, when he left home with a somewhat indefinite idea of doing something for himself, although possessing neither money nor friends to aid him in his start in life. Until the year 1864, he wandered from place to place, turning his hand to various employments, but was dissatisfied with them all, being convinced that he had not yet found his right vocation or location.

In 1864, he was visiting some friends at Madison county, Ohio, when his attention was attracted by a cheap sewing machine. Believing that money could be made by the sale of such machines he purchased one, mastered its mode of operation, and took a traveling agency. Finding this a more profitable business than any he had yet undertaken, he prosecuted it with vigor, and being of an inquiring mind, soon picked up important facts concerning the business, the manufacture of the machines, and the profits of the manufacturers and dealers. He discovered that the largest profits were not made by those who retailed the machines, and, therefore, he set to work to change his position in the business and so enlarge his profits.

In Fremont, Ohio, he formed the acquaintance of a young man in the grocery business, who had thought at times of entering on the sewing machine trade. A partnership was formed. Mr. Wilson contributed his whole available means, sixty-five dollars, to which he added the experience he had gained, whilst his partner contributed to the common stock three hundred dollars. With this slender cash capital, but abundant confidence in their success, the new firm came to Cleveland, which they selected as the base of their operations on account of its superior shipping facilities, and opened a wareroom in Lyman's Block, having previously made arrangements with manufacturers in Massachusetts to make machines for them. The new firm of Mather & Wilson were successful beyond their expectations.

About a year had been passed in this way when suits were brought against Mather & Wilson, in common with a number of other parties throughout the West, for an alleged infringement of a sewing machine patent. Under the pressure of these suits, which were prosecuted with a large capital to back up the litigating parties, Mr. Wilson endeavored to secure the co-operation of the more powerful of the defendants, but without success, each party preferring to fight the battle singly. After a hard fight in the courts, a compromise was effected, the suit against Mather & Wilson withdrawn on each party paying his own costs, and they were allowed to carry on the business unmolested.

Shortly afterwards Mr. Wilson sold out his interest in the firm. A few weeks subsequently he made an agreement with H. F. Wilson, whereby the latter was to perfect and patent a low priced shuttle machine, and assign the patent to the former. In two months the machine was in the patent office, and in 1867 the manufacture was commenced in Cleveland. No money or labor was spared in perfecting the machine, which achieved an instant success and became exceedingly profitable.

In 1868, the Wilson Sewing Machine Company was organized with a paid up capital of one hundred thousand dollars, the principal portion of their stock being owned by Mr. Wilson, who is president of the company. The business of the concern has grown until it now reaches five hundred machines per week, and branch houses have been established in Boston and St. Louis, with general agencies in the principal cities of the United States. Through the rapid development of their business the company have recently purchased a tract of land at the junction of Platt street and the Pittsburgh railroad crossing, in Cleveland, for the purpose of erecting a large building for the manufacture of their sewing machines, that will give employment to between two and three hundred men.

The Wilson Sewing Machine Company is one of the latest established manufactories in Cleveland, but promises to take rank among the most important. It deserves especial mention among the record of Cleveland enterprises, as producing the first local sewing machine that has succeeded, although many attempts have been made.

Albert C. McNairy.

This department of the present work would be imperfect without a reference to the firm of McNairy, Claflen & Co., which ranks among the heaviest and most important contracting firms in the country.

Albert C. McNairy, the head of the firm and a man of great enterprise and energy of character, was born June 14, 1815, at Middletown, Connecticut, and was early engaged in work of a similar character to that now undertaken by the firm. In 1848, he constructed the famous Holyoke Dam, across the Connecticut river at Holyoke, which is over a thousand feet between the abutments, and thirty feet in height. In 1851, he became a member of the bridge building firm of Thatcher, Burt & Co., of Cleveland, whose operations in the construction of bridges were very extensive. In 1864, the firm name became McNairy, Claflen & Co., by the admission of Henry M. Claflen, who had been in the employ of the firm since 1854. In 1866, Mr. Thatcher and Mr. Burt retired and Harvey T. Claflen, (who had been connected with the establishment since 1852,) and Simeon Sheldon were admitted.

From 1851 to a recent date, the Howe Truss Bridge was nearly the only bridge made by the concern. They now are largely engaged in the construction of iron bridges and all kinds of railway cars. The concern has built three thousand two hundred and eighty-one bridges--about sixty miles in the aggregate. The streams of nearly every State east of the Rocky Mountains are spanned by their bridges, and it is a historical fact that not one bridge of their construction has fallen.

Three hundred and fifty men are employed by the firm, and the aggregate of their business reaches two millions of dollars yearly.

The firm is now constructing the New York and Oswego Midland Railroad, from Oneida to Oswego, a distance of sixty-five miles, and furnishing the cars.

The general management of the affairs of the company is in the hands of Messrs. McNairy and Henry M. Claflen. The management of the works is assigned to Harvey T. Claflen, whilst the engineering department falls to the particular superintendence of Mr. Sheldon. The Messrs. Claflen are natives of Taunton, Massachusetts, and Mr. Sheldon of Lockport, New York.

J. H. Morley.

J. H. Morley is a native of Cayuga county, New York. He came to Cleveland in 1847, and commenced the hardware business on Superior street, under the firm name of Morley & Reynolds. This firm continued, successfully, for about twelve years, after which, for some time, Mr. Morley was engaged in no active business. In 1863, he commenced the manufacture of white lead, on a limited scale. Three years subsequently, a partnership was formed with T. S. Beckwith, when the capacity of the works was immediately enlarged. Every year since that time they have added to their facilities. Their factory has a frontage on Canal and Champlain streets, of over three hundred feet. Their machinery is driven by a hundred horse-power engine, and four hundred corroding pots are run. About one thousand tons of lead are manufactured yearly, and find a ready market in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and New York.

Telegraphy.

The telegraphic history of Cleveland is mainly written in the story of the connection with this city of the two leading telegraphers whose biographical sketches are given in this work. The master spirit of the great telegraphic combination of the United States, and the chief executive officer of that combination, have made Cleveland their home and headquarters. Their story, as told in the immediately succeeding pages, is therefore the telegraphic history of Cleveland.

Jeptha H. Wade.

Foremost on the roll of those who have won a distinguished position in the telegraphic history of the West, is the name of Jeptha H. Wade, until recently president of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and who still, although compelled by failing health to resign the supreme executive control, remains on the Board of direction, and is one of the leading spirits in the management.

Mr. Wade was born in Seneca county, New York, August 11, 1811, and was brought up to mechanical pursuits, in which he achieved a fair amount of success. Having a taste for art, and finding his health impaired by the labors and close application consequent on his mechanical employment, he, in 1835, turned his attention to portrait painting, and by arduous study and conscientious devotion to the art, became very successful. Whilst engaged in this work, the use of the camera in producing portraits came into notice. Mr. Wade purchased a camera, and carefully studied the printed directions accompanying the instrument. These were vague, and served but as hints for a more careful investigation and more thorough development of the powers of the camera. By repeated experiments and intelligent reasoning from effects back to causes, and from causes again to effects, he at length became master of the subject, and succeeded in taking the first daguerreotype west of New York.

When busy with his pencil and easel taking portraits, and varying his occupation by experimenting with the camera, news came to him of the excitement created by the success of the telegraphic experiment of building a line between Baltimore and Washington. This was in 1844. Mr. Wade turned his attention to the new science, studied it with his accustomed patience and assiduity, mastered its details, so far as then understood, and immediately saw the advantage to the country, and the pecuniary benefit to those immediately interested, likely to accrue from the extension of the telegraph system which had just been created. Without abandoning his devotion to art, he entered on the work of extending the telegraph system. The first line west of Buffalo was built by him, between Detroit and Jackson, Michigan, and the Jackson office was opened and operated by him, although he had received no practical instruction in the manipulation of the instruments. In the year 1848, an incident occurred, which, though at the time he bitterly deplored it as a calamity, was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, and compelled him perforce to embark on the tide which bore him on to fame and fortune. He was an operator in the line of the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company, at Milan, Ohio, when a conflagration destroyed all the materials and implements forming his stock in trade as a portrait painter. After a brief consideration of the subject, he decided not to replace the lost implements of his art, but to cut loose altogether from the career of an artist, and hereafter to devote himself solely to the business he had entered upon with fair promise of success.

[Illustration: Very Truly Yours, J. H. Wade]

The first years of telegraph construction were years of much vexation of spirit to those engaged in such enterprises. Difficulties of all kinds, financial, mechanical, and otherwise, had to be encountered and overcome. There were those who objected to the wires crossing their land or coming in proximity to their premises, fearing damage from the electric current in storms. Those who had invested their capital wanted immediate large returns. Some of those who had to be employed in the construction of the lines were ignorant of the principles of electrical science, and their ignorance caused serious embarrassments and delays. Defective insulation was a standing cause of trouble, and telegraphers were studying and experimenting how to overcome the difficulties in this direction, but without satisfactory result. In the face of all these difficulties, Mr. Wade proceeded with the work of extending and operating telegraph lines. In addition to the interest he had secured in the Erie and Michigan line. he constructed the "Wade line" between Cleveland via Cincinnati, to St. Louis, and worked it with success. The "House consolidation" placed Mr. Wade's interest in the lines mentioned in the hands of the Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company, and before long this consolidation was followed by the union of all the House and Morse lines in the West, and the organization of the Western Union Telegraph Company. In all these acts of consolidation the influence of Mr. Wade was active and powerful. Realizing the fact that competition between short detached lines rendered them unproductive, and that in telegraphing, as in other things, union is strength, he directed his energies to bringing about the consolidation, not only of the lines connecting with each other, but of rival interests. The soundness of his views has been proved by the unremunerativeness of the lines before consolidation and their remarkable prosperity since.

Mr. Wade was one of the principal originators of the first Pacific telegraph, and on the formation of the company he was made its first president. The location of the line, and its construction through the immense territory--then in great part a vast solitude--between Chicago and San Francisco, were left mainly to his unaided judgment and energy, and here again those qualities converted a hazardous experiment into a brilliant success. Mr. Wade remained president of the Pacific Company until he secured its consolidation with the Western Union Telegraph Company, to accomplish which, he went to California, in the latter part of 1860, and succeeded in harmonizing the jarring telegraphic interests there. On the completion of this consolidation, Mr. Wade was made president of the Western Union Telegraph Company, his headquarters being in Cleveland.

At a meeting of the Board of Directors, in July, 1867, a letter was received from Mr. Wade, declining a re-election to the office of president. The following resolutions were unanimously adopted by the Board:

Resolved, That in receiving the letter of J. H. Wade, Esq., declining re-election to the presidency of this company, we cannot pass it to the officiai files without recording our testimony to the distinguished service he has rendered to the general system of American Telegraphs, and especially to the company whose management he now resigns.

Connecting himself with it in its earliest introduction to public use, and interesting himself in its construction, he was the first to see that the ultimate triumph of the telegraph, both as a grand system of public utility, and of secure investment, would be by some absorbing process, which would prevent the embarrassments of separate organizations.

To the foresight, perseverance and tact of Mr. Wade, we believe is largely due the fact of the existence of one great company to-day with its thousand arms, grasping the extremities of the continent, instead of a series of weak, unreliable lines, unsuited to public wants, and, as property, precarious and insecure.

Resolved, That we tender to Mr. Wade our congratulations on the great fruition of his work, signalized and cemented by this day's election of a Board representing the now united leading telegraph interests of the nation, accompanied with regrets that he is not with us to receive our personal acknowledgements, and to join us in the election of a successor to the position he has so usefully filled.

Office of the Western Union Telegraph Company, New York, July 10th, 1867.

William Orton, President. O. H. Palmer, Secretary.

As before mentioned, Mr. Wade remains a director and leading spirit in the Board, where his suggestions are listened to with respect and acted on without unnecessary delay. In addition to his connection with the telegraph Company, Mr. Wade is heavily interested in several of the most important manufactories, in the railroads, and in the leading banks of Cleveland. The wealth he has accumulated is mostly invested in such a manner as to largely aid in building up the property of Cleveland, a city in which he feels a strong interest, not only from the fact that it has been for the past twenty years his place of residence, but that the wealth enabling him to enjoy the beautiful home he has secured there, was made in Cleveland.

It has already been noted that Mr. Wade, when a painter, took the first daguerreotype west of New York. Soon after his entering upon the business of telegraphy, he put into practice, for the first time, the plan of enclosing a submarine cable in iron armor. It was applied to the cable across the Mississippi, at St. Louis, in 1850. Weights had been applied to the previous cables, at regular distances, on account of the sand, change of bottom, drifts, and other difficulties that interfered with the safety of the cable. Mr. Wade conceived the idea of combining weight and protection in the cable itself. He constructed it with eighteen pieces of wire, placed lengthwise around the cable, and bound together with soft iron wire at intervals. While the spiral cordage of hemp, such as was used at that time on the cable from Dover to Calais, would stretch, and allow the strain to come on the cable itself. This invention caused the strain to come on the armor. It was a complete success, and lasted until the line was abandoned. Mr. Wade also invented, in 1852, what is now known as the Wade insulator, which has been used more extensively, perhaps, than any other.

Among the strong points in Mr. Wade's character, is his readiness and ability to adapt himself to whatever he undertakes to do. The evidence of his common sense, business foresight and indomitable perseverance, has been proved by the success attending the various pursuits in which circumstances have placed him. Finding, in early manhood, his mechanical labor undermining his health, he turned his attention to portrait and miniature painting, to which he applied himself so close that after a dozen years or more at the easel, he was compelled to abandon it and seek more active and less sedentary pursuits. Having so long applied himself to painting--the business of all others the most calculated to disqualify a man for everything else--but few men would have had the courage to enter so different a field, but Mr. Wade seemed equal to the task, and with appropriate courage and renewed energy grappled with the difficulties and mystories of the telegraph business, then entirely new, having no books or rules to refer to, and without the experience of others to guide him, and having, as it were, to climb a ladder, every round of which had to be invented as he progressed. But nothing daunted him. Through perseverance and system he succeeded, not only in supplying the United States in the most rapid manner with better and cheaper telegraphic facilities than has been afforded any other country on the globe, but in making for himself the ample fortune to which his ability and energy so justly entitle him. And when care and over-work in the telegraph business had made such an impression upon his health as to induce him to retire from its management, and give more attention to his private affairs, he was again found equal to the emergency, and has proved himself equally successful as a financier and business man generally, as he had before shown himself in organizing and building up the telegraph speciality.

Anson Stager.

One of the most widely known names in connection with telegraphy in the West--and not in the West alone, but probably throughout the United States--is that of General Anson Stager. From the organization of the Western Union Telegraph Company, General Stager has had the executive management of its lines as general superintendent, and the position has not only brought him into close relations with all connected in any way with the telegraph, but has given him a larger circle of business acquaintances than it falls to the lot of most men to possess. The natural effect of his position and the extraordinary course of events during his occupation of that position, have brought him into communication, and frequently into intimate confidential relations, with the leading men in commerce, in science, in journalism, in military affairs, and in State and national governments.

[Illustration: Very Respectfully Yours, Anson Stager]

Anson Stager was born in Ontario county, New York, April 20, 1825. At the age of sixteen he entered a printing office under the instruction of Henry O'Reilly, well known afterwards as a leader in telegraph construction and management. For four or five years he continued his connection with the "art preservative of all arts," and the knowledge of and sympathy with journalism which he acquired through his connection with it during this period of his life, enabled him during his subsequent telegraphic career to deal understandingly with the press in the peculiar relations it holds with the telegraph, and has occasioned many acts of courtesy and good will which the managers of the press have not been backward in recognizing and acknowledging.

In October, 1846, General Stager changed his location from the compositor's case to the telegraph operator's desk, commencing work as an operator in Philadelphia. With the extension of the lines westward, he removed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and then crossed the Alleghenies to Pittsburgh, where he was the pioneer operator. His ability and intelligence were speedily recognized by those having charge of the new enterprise, and in the Spring of 1848, he was made chief operator of the "National lines" at Cincinnati, a post he filled so well that, in 1852, he was appointed superintendent of the Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company. Immediately following his appointment to that position the company with which he was connected absorbed the lines of the New York State Printing Telegraph Company, and General Stager's control was thus extended over that State.

Whilst holding the position of executive manager of the lines of this company, the negotiations for the consolidation of the competing and affiliated lines into one company were set on foot. General Stager warmly favored such a consolidation on equitable terms and set to work vigorously to promote it. On its consummation, and the organization of the Western Union Telegraph Company his services in that respect and his general fitness as a telegraph manager, were recognized by his appointment as general superintendent of the consolidated company. The position was, even then, one of great responsibility and difficulty, the vast net work of lines extending like a spider's web over the face of the country requiring a clear head, and practical knowledge to keep it free from confusion and embarrassment, whilst the delicate and complicated relations in which the telegraph stood with regard to the railroads and the press increased the difficulties of the position. The rapid extension of the wires increased the responsibilities and multiplied the difficulties yearly, but the right man was in the right position, and everything worked smoothly.

The extensive and elaborate System of railroad telegraphs which is in use on all the railroads of the West and Northwest owes its existence to General Stager. The telegraphs and railroads have interests in common, and yet diverse, and the problem to be solved was, how to secure to the telegraph company the general revenue business of the railroad wires, and at the same time to enable the railroad companies to use the wires for their own especial purposes, such as the transmission of their own business correspondence, the moving of trains, and the comparison and adjustment of accounts between stations. How to do this without confusion and injustice to one or the other interest was the difficult question to be answered, and it was satisfactorily met by the scheme adopted by General Stager. That scheme, by the admirable simplicity, complete adaptability and perfection of detail of its system of contracts and plan of operating railroad telegraph lines, enabled the diverse, and seemingly jarring, interests to work together in harmony. Telegraph facilities are always at the disposal of the railroads in emergency, and have repeatedly given vital aid, whilst the railroad interests have been equally prompt and active in assisting the telegraph when occasion arises.

The relations between the journalistic interests of the country and the telegraph, through the various press associations for the gathering and transmission of news by telegraph, have also given occasion for the exercise of judgment and executive ability. The various and frequently clashing interests of the general and special press associations and of individual newspaper enterprise, and the necessity, for economical purposes, of combining in many instances the business of news gathering with news transmission, make the relations between the press and telegraph of peculiar difficulty and delicacy, and probably occasioned not the smallest portion of General Stager's business anxieties. It is safe to say, that in all the embarrassing questions that have arisen, and in all the controversies that have unavoidably occurred at intervals, no complaint has ever been made against General Stager's ability, fairness, or courtesy to the press.

Whilst the Western Union Telegraph Company has been developing from its one wire between Buffalo and Louisville into its present giant proportions, General Stager has had a busy life. His planning mind and watchful eye were needed everywhere, and were everywhere present. The amount of travel and discomfort this entailed during the building of the earlier lines may be imagined by those who know what a large extent of country is covered by these lines, and what the traveling facilities were in the West before the introduction of the modern improvements in railway traveling, and before railroads themselves had reached a large portion of the country to be traveled over.

With the breaking out of the rebellion, a new era in General Stager's life commenced. With the firing of the first rebel gun on Fort Sumpter, and the resultant demand for troops to defend the nation's life, the Governors of Ohio, Illinois and Indiana united in taking possession of the telegraph lines in those States for military purposes, and the superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company was appointed to represent these in their official capacity. General Stager acted with promptness and vigor, and no small share of the credit accorded to those States for the promptness with which their troops were in the field and striking effective blows for the Union, is due to General Stager for the ability with which he made the telegraph coöperate with the authorities in directing the military movements. When General McClellan took command of the Union forces in West Virginia and commenced the campaign that drove the rebels east of the mountains, General Stager accompanied him as chief of the telegraph staff, and established the first system of field telegraph used during the war. The wire followed the army headquarters wherever that went, and the enemy were confounded by the constant and instant communications kept up between the Union army in the field and the Union government at home. When General McClellan was summoned to Washington to take command of the Army of the Potomac, General Stager was called by him to organize the military telegraph of that department. This he accomplished, and remained in charge of it until November, 1862, when he was commissioned captain and assistant quartermaster, and by order of the Secretary of war, appointed chief of the United States Military Telegraphs throughout the United States--a control that covered all the main lines in the country. He was subsequently commissioned colonel and aid-de-damp, and assigned to duty in the War Department, and was also placed in charge of the cypher correspondence of the Secretary of War. The cryptograph used throughout the war was perfected by him, and baffled all attempts of the enemy to translate it. At the close of the war he left the active military service of the government, retiring with the brevet of Brigadier General, conferred for valuable and meritorious services.

At the close of the war the Southwestern and American Telegraph Companies were consolidated with the Western Union Telegraph Company, and a re-organization of the latter company effected. The general superintendency of the Consolidated company was urged upon General Stager, but as this would necessitate his removal to New York, he declined it, preferring to live in the west. For a time he meditated retiring altogether from the telegraph business and embarking in newspaper life, for which his early training had given him a taste, and towards which he always maintained an affection. Eventually the company persuaded him to remain in connection with them, and to suit his wishes, the field of the company's operations was divided into three divisions, the Central, Eastern and Southern. General Stager assumed control of the Central, which covered the field with which he had so long been identified, and which left him with his headquarters in the home he had for years occupied, in Cleveland. Early in 1869, the duties of his position rendered it necessary that he should remove to Chicago, which he did with great reluctance, his relations with Cleveland business, and its people, being close and uniformly cordial.

General Stager is a man with a host of friends and without, we believe, one enemy. His position was such as to bring him into contact with every kind of interest, and frequently, of necessity, into conflict with one or other, but his position was always maintained with such courtesy, as well as firmness, that no ill feeling resulted from the controversy, however it terminated.

Socially he is one of the most genial of companions; in character the personification of uprightness and honor; firm in his friendships and incapable of malice toward any one. Well situated financially, happy in his domestic circle, of wide popularity, and possessing the esteem of those who know him best, General Stager is one of those whose lot is enviable, and who has made his position thus enviable by his own force of character and geniality of disposition.

City Improvements

Cleveland covers a large extent of territory. The width of its streets and the unusual amount of frontage possessed by most of the dwellings, made the work of city improvements in the way of paving, sewerage and water supply, at first very slow of execution. The light gravelly soil, on which the greater portion of the city is built, enabled these works to be postponed, until the increased number and compactness of the population, and excess of wealth, would render the expense less burdensome.

The first attempts at paving were made on Superior street, below the Square, and on River street. The paving was of heavy planks laid across the street, and was at the time a source of pride to the citizens; but when, in coming years, the planks were warped and loosened, it became an intolerable nuisance. On River street the floods of the Cuyahoga sometimes rushed through the warehouses and covered the street, floating off the planks and leaving them in hopeless disorder on the subsidence of the waters. It was at last determined to pave these streets with stone. Limestone was at first chosen, but found not to answer, and Medina sandstone was finally adopted, with which all the stone paving of the streets has been since done. Within two or three years the Nicholson wood pavement has been introduced, and has been laid extensively on the streets above the bluff. On the low land along the river valley the paving still continues to be of stone. At the present time there are between seventeen and eighteen miles of pavement finished or under construction, about half of which is Nicholson wood pavement, and the remainder Medina sandstone.

Within a few years the work of sewering the city has been systematized and pushed forward vigorously. At first, the sewers were made to suit the needs of a particular locality, without any reference to a general system, and consequently were found utterly inadequate to the growing necessities of the city. Proper legislation was obtained from the General Assembly, money was obtained on the credit of the city, the territory was mapped out into sewer districts, with sewer lines for each district, so arranged as to form a part of one harmonious whole, and the work commenced. All the main sewers drain into the lake. There are now about twenty-seven miles of main and branch sewers finished, and additional sewers are in progress of construction.

The rapid growth of the city, and the gradual failure, or deterioration, of the wells, in the most thickly settled parts, rendered it necessary to find some other source of a constant supply of pure water. It was determined to obtain the supply from Lake Erie, and for this purpose an inlet pipe was run out into the lake, west of the Old River Bed. The pipe is of boiler plate, three-eighths of an inch thick, fifty inches in diameter, and three hundred feet long, extending from the shore to the source of supply at twelve feet depth of water, and terminating in the lake at a circular tower, constructed of piles driven down as deep as they can be forced into the bottom of the lake. There are two concentric rows of piles, two abreast, leaving eight feet space between the outer and interior rows, which space is filled with broken stones to the top of the piles. The piles are then capped with strong timber plates, securely bolted together and fastened with iron to the piles. The outside diameter of the tower is thirty-four feet, the inside diameter is eight feet, forming a strong protection around an iron well-chamber, which is eight feet in diameter and fifteen feet deep, which is riveted to the end of the inlet pipe. An iron grating fixed in a frame which slides in a groove, to be removed and cleaned at pleasure, is attached to the well-chamber, and forms the strainer, placed four feet below the surface of the lake, through which the water passes into the well-chamber and out at the inlet pipe. A brick aqueduct connects the shore end of the inlet pipe with the engine house, three thousand feet distant. From the engine house the water is conveyed to the reservoir, on Franklin, Kentucky and Duane streets, built on a ridge thirty feet higher than any other ground in the city.

The Cleveland Water Works were commenced on the 10th day of August, 1854, and were so far completed as to let water on the city on the 19th day of September, 1856. The time required to build the Works was two years and thirty-nine days. The capacity of these Works to deliver water is greater than the originally estimated wants of the population the works were intended to supply, which was for 100,000. They are, however, capable of supplying at least 300,000 inhabitants with abundance of water. By an enlargement of the main pump barrel and plunger to each Cornish engine, which was contemplated in the plans, the supply may be increased to an almost unlimited extent. No fear can be entertained that the present Water Works in the next fifty years will fail to yield a superabundant supply of water.

The water was first introduced into the city temporarily at the earnest solicitation of the Mayor, Common Council, and Trustees of Water Works, in which the citizens generally participated, on the occasion of the State Fair, on the 24th of September, 1856. Apart from the Fair, this event was hailed with demonstrations of great joy as the celebration of the introduction of the waters of Lake Erie into the city of Cleveland. At the intersection of the road ways, crossing at the centre of the Public Square, a capacious fountain, of chaste and beautiful design was erected, from which was thrown a jet of pure crystal water high into the air, which, as the centre, greatest attraction, gratified thousands of admiring spectators. It became necessary after the Fair to shut off the water as was anticipated, to remove a few pipes near the Ship Channel which had broke in two by the unequal settling of the pipes in the quicksand bed through which they were laid. These repairs were promptly made, and the water let on the city again; since which time the supply has been regular and uninterrupted. The length of pipes laid up to the first of January, 1869, aggregated thirty-nine and one-half miles. The total cost of the Works to that period was $722,273.33. The earnings, over running expenses, for 1868, were $36,340.23, being a little over five per cent, on the capital invested. The preliminary work is now doing for the construction of a tunnel under the bed of the lake, in order to obtain a water supply at such a distance from the shore as to be beyond the reach of the winter ice-field and the impurities collected beneath the ice-crust.

Three commodious and tasteful markets have been erected within a few years, one on the west side of the river, one in the fifth ward, and the Central Market, at the junction of Woodland avenue and Broadway.

Four horse railroads are in active operation within the city: the East Cleveland, organized in 1859, and running from the junction of Superior and Water streets, by the way of Euclid avenue and Prospect street, to the eastern limit of the city on Euclid avenue, thence continuing to East Cleveland. This line has also a branch running off the main line at Brownell street, and traversing the whole length of Garden street, to the eastern limit of the city. The Kinsman street line, organized in 1859, runs from the junction of Superior and Water streets, through Ontario street and Woodland avenue to Woodland Cemetery. The West Side railroad runs from the junction of Superior and Water streets, by way of South Water, Detroit and Kentucky street, to Bridge street, with a branch along Pearl street. The St. Clair street railroad, the latest built, runs along St. Clair from Water street to the eastern line of the city. Besides these, a local railroad, operated by steam, connects the Kinsman street line with Newburg, and another of a similar character connects the West Side railroad with Rocky River. Charters have been obtained for a railroad to connect the Pearl street branch of the West Side railroad with University Heights, and for a line to run parallel with the bluff overlooking the north bank of the Cuyahoga from River street, to the boundary between the city and Newburg township.

[Illustration: Yours very truly, H. S. Stevens]

Henry S. Stevens.

To Henry S. Stevens, more than to any other man, are the citizens of Cleveland indebted for their facilities in traveling, cheaply and comfortably, from point to point in the city, and for the remarkable immunity the Forest City has enjoyed from hack driving extortions and brutality, which have so greatly annoyed citizens and strangers in many other cities. To his foresight, enterprise and steady perseverance is Cleveland indebted for its excellent omnibus and public carriage system, and for the introduction of street railroads. Both these improvements were not established without a sharp struggle, in the former case against the determined opposition of the hack drivers who preferred acting for themselves and treating the passenger as lawful prey, and in the case of street railroads, having to overcome interested opposition, popular indifference or prejudice, and official reluctance to permit innovations.

Mr. Stevens was born in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, January, 1821. After spending seven years at school in Salem and Boston, his father's family moved to New Hampshire. He attended school there for two years. Before he was twenty years of age he developed a desire to visit new scenes and a propensity for observing strange characters and manners, which seems to have strengthened with his years. Our railroad system and ocean steam navigation were then in their infancy, and the first journey he made was almost equivalent to a journey around the globe at the present day. He took passage in a packet ship from Boston for the West Indies, visiting Porto Rico, Matanzas and Havana, thence to New Orleans, the interior of Texas and Arkansas, and remained a winter at Alexandria, in western Louisiana. About a year after his return to New Hampshire the family removed to Maryland, where he resided nine years, and finally came to Cleveland in 1849, when this city had less than a fifth of its present population. He was one of the early proprietors of the Weddell House, and upon his retirement from the business, he established the omnibus local transit for passengers and baggage at a uniform rate of charge, which system has been generally adopted in the principal cities in the country.

In 1856, in company with two other gentlemen from New York, he explored the southern part of Mexico from the Gulf to the Pacific ocean, with reference to its availability for a railroad and preliminary stage road. The result was, that two years later he completed an arrangement with the Louisiana Tehuantepec Company to carry out the provisions of their charter. He chartered a vessel at New York and shipped mechanics and other employees, coaches and materials, and in two months thereafter the line commenced moving a distance of one hundred and twelve miles through the forests and over the rolling plains of Southern Mexico.

For nearly a year this continued successfully, and it was owing either to his good fortune or good management, that no accident to passengers or property was incurred, and of the large number of his employees from the States, every one returned in good health. The rebellion was then in its incipiency, and the Southern owners of the route decided to suspend operations until their little difficulty was adjusted with the North.

Mr. Stevens, however, is better known as having started the street railroad system here, which has proved so great a convenience to our citizens, and which has enhanced the price of real estate in this city more than any other one cause. He built the Prospect street, Kinsman street and West Side railroads; the first two without aid from capitalists, and in the face of many discouragements. In the Fall of 1865, he went to Rio Janeiro for the purpose of establishing street railroads in that city. These roads are now in successful operation there. In this journey Mr. Stevens visited many other places in Brazil, including Pernambuco, Bahia, St. Salvador and Para, on the river Amazon. Returning by the way of Europe, he stopped at the Cape de Verde Islands, on the coast of Africa, thence to Lisbon and across Portugal to Madrid. During his sojourn in Spain he visited Granada, the Alhambra, and many cities in the south of Spain. His route home was through Paris, London and Liverpool. Two years later he made an extended tour over Europe, including Russia, Hungary, and other places of the Danube.

Mr. Stevens has served four years in the city council, and for two years was president of that body. During his official term he was noted for regularity and punctuality of attendance, close attention to business, and watchful care of the public interests. As presiding officer he had few equals. Dignified, yet courteous, in manner, and thoroughly impartial, he possessed the respect of all parties in the council, and was always able to so conduct the deliberations as to prevent unseemly outbreaks or undignified discussions. Methodical in the disposition of business, he was able to get through a large amount in a short time, without the appearance of haste.

Mr. Stevens is one of that class of travelers of whom there are, unhappily, but few, who not only travel far, but see much, and are able to relate what they saw with such graphic power as to give those who remain at home a pleasure only secondary to visiting the scenes in person. His several wanderings in Mexico and Central America, in South America, Western Europe, and Russia, have all been narrated briefly, or more at length, in letters to the Cleveland Herald, which for felicity of expression and graphic description, have had no superiors in the literature of travel. This is high praise, but those who have read the several series of letters with the well known signature "H. S. S." will unqualifiedly support the assertion. In his journeyings he generally avoided the beaten track of tourists and sought unhackneyed scenes. These were observed with intelligent eyes, the impressions deepened and corrected by close investigation into the historical and contemporary facts connected with the localities, and the result given in language graphic, direct, and at the same time easy and graceful. A collection of these letters would make one of the most delightful volumes of travel sketches in the language.

Theodore R. Scowden.

Theodore R. Scowden, son of Theodore Scowden, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was born June 8, 1815, and was educated at Augusta College, Kentucky.

On leaving college, in 1832, he was apprenticed to the steam engine business at Cincinnati, and continued at this about four years, when he engaged as engineer on a steamer plying between Cincinnati and New Orleans. From the time of commencing engine building, he employed all his spare moments in studying mechanics, hydraulics and civil engineering. He remained in the position of engineer on the river for about eight years, when, in 1844, he turned his attention to the work of designing and planning engines, and so put into practice the knowledge acquired by application for the previous twelve years, and, in fact, for which he more particularly fitted himself while at college. He was then appointed by the city council of Cincinnati, engineer of water works, the primitive works then existing being inadequate to the increased wants of the city. The water was conveyed in log pipes, and the work before Mr. Scowden was to replace these logs by iron pipes, and to design and erect new works. In about a year from his appointment his plans were perfected and he was ready to commence operation. A great difficulty under which he labored, was, the necessity of keeping up the supply of water all the time, and being at the same time compelled to place the new reservoir and engine house in the exact spot of the old. This made the construction extend through nearly eight years, during which time from forty to fifty miles of iron pipe were laid, and a reservoir of great capacity constructed. This was his first great public work completed, and was a perfect success.

The first low pressure engine ever successfully used in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, was designed by Mr. Scowden and introduced into these works. It was found that the sedimentary matter of the Ohio river cut the valves in the condensing apparatus, and so destroying the vacuum, rendered the working of the engine ineffective. This Mr. Scowden overcame by introducing vulcanized india rubber valves, seated on a grating. Since that time he has designed several low pressure engines for the Mississippi river, which are still working successfully.

In 1851, Mr. Scowden was commissioned by the city of Cincinnati, to make the tour of England and France for the purpose of examining the principles and workings of public docks, drainage, paving and water works. After returning and making his report he resigned his post and came to Cleveland, for the purpose of constructing the water works now in operation in this city. The plan and designs were completed during 1852, and active operations commenced in 1853. The site of these works is said to have presented more engineering difficulties than any other in the country. At the time the tests were made for the foundation of the engine house, the water was nearly knee deep, and four men forced a rod thirty feet long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter twenty-eight feet into the ground. By the aid of five steam engines and pumps he succeeded in excavating to the depth of fourteen feet, and not being able to proceed further, he commenced the foundation. It is well to note the fact here, that the soil was in such a semi-fluid state that it could not be handled with a shovel, and altogether the chances of success for securing a permanent foundation looked, to the public, at least, very dubious. The citizens grew uneasy; they thought it was a waste of public money, but Mr. Snowden never despaired, though he with his own hand thrust a pole down twelve feet from the bottom of the excavation.

He laid down over the whole area two courses of timber laid cross-wise, leaving a space of twelve inches between each timber. The first timber was drawn by a rope, and floated to its place. In order to get a bed he scooped a space of two feet in length at one end, which was filled with gravel. This process was continued through the whole length of the timber. The second timber was floated to its place, leaving a foot between them, and the same operation was performed throughout the whole foundation.

All the spaces between the timbers were filled with broken stone and hydraulic cement; then the cross timbers were laid, filling the spans with the concrete also. It is to be observed that not a single pile was driven in all the foundation.

The masonry was commenced upon the timbers, and carried up about nineteen feet, and, notwithstanding the misgivings of scientific and experienced contractors and builders, and others, the superstructure was completed in 1855, and from that day to this not a crack in an angle of the building has been seen, although it may with truth be said that the engine house floats on a bed of quicksand. There were three thousand feet of aqueduct from the engine house to the lake, which presented similar difficulties, as did also the laying of pipes under the Cuyahoga river.

The engines in use in the Cleveland works are the first Cornish engines introduced west of the Allegheny mountains. After completing the works and putting them in successful operation, Mr. Scowden resigned his position here, in 1856.

In 1857, Mr. Scowden commenced the construction of the water works of Louisville, Kentucky, and finished them in 1860, and for character, capacity and finish they are acknowledged to be second to none in the United States, if in the world. The second pair of Cornish engines used west of the mountains were introduced there.

The next public work of Mr. Scowden was the extension and enlargement of the canal around the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville, which comprises a new work, as very little of the old was used. The engineering of the work was done under the direction of a board of directors, the president of which was James Guthrie, former Secretary of the Treasury under Pierce, and late United States Senator.

The locks in these works are the largest in the known world for width, length, and lift, not excepting the Suez Canal. There are two locks of thirteen feet lift, and containing fifty-two thousand yards of masonry. The canal is crossed by iron swing bridges. The work has been inspected by the United States topographical engineers, and General Wietzel, now in charge of the work, has pronounced it unsurpassed by anything within the range of his knowledge, and, what is more remarkable, a like tribute to the skill of our fellow citizen has been accorded by French, English and German engineers, and also by the president of the board.

This was his last and greatest triumph of engineering skill; and being a national work, and he a civilian, he may well feel proud of his achievement.

After completing the last mentioned work, Mr. Scowden returned to Cleveland and engaged in the iron trade, constructing a rolling mill at Newburg, for the American sheet and boiler plate company, with which he is still connected.

As an engineer, Mr. Scowden stands high. He never was baffled, though established principles failed, for he had resources of his own from which to draw. Without an exception, every great public work undertaken by him has been not only completed, but has proved entirely successful.

As a man he enjoys the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. His manner is affable and unassuming, and his disposition kindly. Constant application for twenty-five years has had its effect upon him, but with care, he may yet be spared many years to enjoy the fruits of his labors.

John H. Sargent.

John H. Sargent has been, and is, so intimately connected with the construction and management of some of the most important public improvements of the city, and notably so with the sewerage system and water works management, that it is eminently proper he should be noticed here as a representative man in the department of City Improvements.

[Illustration: Yours with Respect, J. H. Sargent]

Mr. Sargent was born March 7, 1814, at Carthage, near Rochester, New York. His parents were but recent emigrants from New Hampshire, and when he was but three years old they removed again toward the land of the setting sun, taking up their residence in what is now the city of Monroe, Michigan, but which was then known as River Raisin. In that place they remained but a year, at the end of which time they removed to Cleveland. Levi Sargent, the father of the subject of this sketch, was by trade a blacksmith, and was at one time a partner in that business with Abraham Hickox, then, and long after, familiarly known to every one in the neighborhood as "Uncle Abram." He soon removed to the west side of the river, and thence to Brooklyn, where he built him one of the first houses erected on that side, on top of the hill. Hard knocks upon the anvil could barely enable him to support his family, so the boy, at the age of nine, was sent to the Granite State, where for ten years he enjoyed, during the Winter months, the advantages of a New England district school, and worked and delved among the rocks upon a farm the remainder of the year. At the age of nineteen, with a freedom suit of satinet, and barely money enough to bring him home, he returned to Cleveland.

Here, after supporting himself, he devoted all his leisure time to the study of mathematics, for which he had a predilection. Subsequently he spent some time at the Norwich University, Vermont, at an engineering and semi-military school, under the management of Captain Patridge.

When the subject of railroads began to agitate the public mind, and the project of a railroad along the south shore of Lake Erie was resolved upon, Mr. Sargent was appointed resident engineer upon the Ohio Railroad, which position he held until the final collapse of that somewhat precarious enterprise, in 1843. Sandusky City had already taken the lead in Ohio in the matter of railroads, having a locomotive road in operation to Tiffin, and horse road to Monroeville. Upon the reconstruction and extension of this last road Mr. Sargent was appointed resident engineer, and while there, seeing the advantages that Sandusky was likely to gain over Cleveland by her railways, at the solicitation of J. W. Gray, he sent a communication to the Plain Dealer, illustrating the same with a map, urging the construction of a railroad from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati. He also advocated the project in the Railroad Journal, but that paper discouraged the matter, as it was likely to be too much of a competing line with the Sandusky road already begun. But the agitation continued until the preliminary surveys were made, the greater part of them under Mr. Sargent's immediate charge. When the project hung fire for a time, Mr. Sargent, in company with Philo Scovill, spent two seasons among the copper mines of Lake Superior. When the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati railroad was begun in good earnest, he was called upon once more and located the line upon which it was built. Mr. Sargent remained upon the road until opened to Wellington, when he went upon the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana railroad, where, for nearly five years, he was engaged in extending and reconstructing that road, and in locating and building its branches.

Since 1855, most of his time has been spent in Cleveland, in engineering and works of public utility. While city civil engineer he strongly advocated, though for the time unsuccessfully, the introduction of the Nicholson pavement, and introduced and established the present system of sewerage, a work, the importance of which to the health and comfort of the citizens, can not be overestimated.

Mr. Sargent has been chosen one of the commissioners for enlarging and extending the water works so as to meet the altered circumstances and enlarged demands of the city.

In politics Mr. Sargent is, and has always been, a Democrat, but never allows party prejudices to sway him, and is in no sense a professed politician. The honesty of his convictions and his uprightness of conduct have won for him the respect and friendship of men of all parties, who have confidence in his never permitting party considerations to interfere with his honest endeavor to serve the public interests to the best of his ability, whenever placed in a position to do so. During the rebellion he was zealous and untiring in his support of the government, and aiding, by all the means in his power, to crush out the rebellion.

Military.

Previous to the rebellion, Cleveland had the honor of possessing military companies famous for their drill and efficiency, and which were the pride of the citizens and a credit to the State. At the outbreak of the rebellion, the Cleveland companies were foremost in tendering their services, were among the first Ohio troops that rushed to the scene of danger, and were in the first skirmish of the war between the volunteer troops of the North and the organized troops of the rebels--that at Vienna. The first artillery company organized in the West was formed in Cleveland, and kept its organization up for many years before the war. The breaking out of the war found this artillery organization ready for service, and scarcely waiting for authority, it was speedily on its way to the point where its services seemed most needed. To its promptness and efficiency is largely due the swift expulsion of the rebels from West Virginia and the saving of that State to the Union cause. As the war progressed, companies first, and then whole regiments, were rapidly organized, and sent forward from Cleveland, until at length every portion of the field of war had Cleveland representatives in it. Those who remained at home eagerly aided those in the field. Money was raised in large sums whenever wanted, to forward the work of enlistment, to provide comforts for the soldiers in the field, and to care for the sick and wounded. Busy hands and sympathetic hearts worked together in unison, enlarging their field of operation until the Cleveland Soldiers' Aid Society became the Northern Ohio Soldiers' Aid Society, and that again developed into the Western Branch of the Sanitary Commission.

In the imposing ceremonies of the inauguration of the Perry statue on the Public Square in Cleveland on the tenth of September, 1860, a few months before the breaking out of actual hostilities between the North and South, the whole military force of the city participated. The organizations represented were the First Regiment Cleveland Light Artillery, under command of Colonel James Barnett and Lieutenant Colonel S. B. Sturges, composed of the following companies: Co. A, Capt. Simmons; Co. B, Capt. Mack; Co. D, Capt. Rice; Co. E, Capt. Heckman. [Co. C, Capt. Kenny, belonged to Geneva. It took part in the ceremonies, under the general command of Colonel Barnett, but at that time retained its old organization as Independent Battery A.] Brooklyn Light Artillery, Capt. Pelton; Cleveland Light Dragoons, Capt. Haltnorth; Cleveland Grays, Capt. Paddock; Cleveland Light Guards, Capt. Sanford; Hibernian Guards, Capt. Kenny. Of these the Cleveland Grays had achieved the greatest reputation in past years for its drill and efficiency. It had been the pet of the citizens, and in its ranks, at one time or another, had been found the very best class of the people of Cleveland, who continued to take pride in the organization, and contribute to its maintenance, long after they ceased to be actually connected with it.

When President Lincoln's call for troops was received, the Cleveland Grays and Hibernian Guards promptly tendered their services, and the first named company started for the field without a single hour's unnecessary delay. It was formed with the First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in the skirmish at Vienna. On the re-organization of the Ohio troops into three years' regiments, a large proportion of the Cleveland Grays found positions as officers in new regiments, where their knowledge of drill and discipline was of great value in bringing the masses of raw volunteers into speedy use as efficient soldiers. The Hibernian Guards followed the Cleveland Grays and did good service throughout the war. Many of the original members of this company also became gradually scattered throughout other regiments as company or staff officers. The Cleveland Light Guards formed the nucleus of the Seventh Ohio, whose history is identical with that of its two principal officers, which will be found in subsequent pages. The story of the Cleveland Light Artillery is mainly told in that of General Barnett, its commander and leading spirit.

It is, of course, impossible to furnish an exact account of the number of men furnished by Cleveland to the army of the Union, or even to designate the particular organizations belonging to that city. Clevelanders were to be found scattered through a number of regiments not raised in this vicinity, and among the regiments organized in Cleveland camps many were almost entirely composed of men from beyond the city, or even county lines. To the 1st Ohio Infantry Cleveland contributed the Cleveland Grays. The 7th Ohio was organized at Camp Cleveland, and contained three companies raised exclusively in Cleveland. The 8th Ohio, organized in Cleveland, contained one Cleveland company--the Hibernian Guards. The 23d and 27th Ohio, organized at Camp Chase, contained Cleveland companies. The 37th Ohio, (German) was organized in Cleveland, and a large part of its members enlisted at this point. The 41st Ohio was a Cleveland regiment, recruited mainly in the city. The 54th Ohio, organized at Camp Dennison, contained one Cleveland company. The 58th Ohio, (German,) also contained a Cleveland contingent. Clevelanders also were in the 61st, organized at Camp Chase. The 67th Ohio had a considerable proportion of Clevelanders. The 103rd Ohio was organized in Cleveland, and was, to a large extent, a Cleveland regiment, in both officers and men. The 107th Ohio, (German,) was organized and largely recruited in Cleveland. The 124th Ohio was organized in Cleveland, most of its companies recruited there and the regiment officered mainly by Cleveland men. The 125th Ohio was organized in Cleveland, with some Cleveland recruits. The 128th Ohio, (Prisoner's Guards,) was recruited and organized in Cleveland. It did duty on Johnson's Island. The 129th Ohio was organized in Cleveland, having been partially recruited and officered in the same place. It was organized for six months' service. The 150th Ohio, National Guard, for one hundred days' service, was organized in Cleveland, and contained eight companies from the city, (the 29th Ohio Volunteer Militia,) with one from Oberlin, and another from Independence. It garrisoned some of the forts around Washington and took part in the repulse of the rebel attack in June, 1864. The 177th Ohio, one year regiment, was organized and partly recruited in Cleveland. The 191st, organized at Columbus, was commanded and partly recruited with Clevelanders. The 2nd, 10th and 12th Ohio Cavalry regiments were organized and partially recruited in Cleveland. The 1st regiment of Ohio Light Artillery was made out of the 1st regiment Cleveland Light Artillery. Besides these Cleveland furnished to the service, in whole or part, the 9th, 14th, 15th, 19th and 20th Independent Batteries. Other regiments were organized at the Cleveland camps, but probably contained no members that could be credited to Cleveland, and mention of them is therefore omitted here. In addition a large number of recruits were obtained for the regular army, and for the navy, besides contributions to the colored regiments raised during the war. A number of Clevelanders, for one reason or another, also took service in regiments of other States.

Colonel Charles Whittlesey.

Although Colonel Whittlesey was trained to the profession of arms, and has a military record of which he may well be proud, it is not in the field of battle that he has won the honors he prizes most, but in the broader fleld of science. It is among the heroes who have achieved distinction in grappling with the mysteries of nature and who have developed means for making life more useful and comfortable, that Colonel Whittlesey would have preferred taking position, rather than among those whose distinction comes rather of destruction than construction or production. But the exigencies of this work prevent the formation of a distinct scientific department, and the military services of Colonel Whittlesey have been such that he could not, without injustice, be omitted from this department of our work.

Charles Whittlesey was born in Southington, Connecticut, about midnight of October 4-5, 1808, being the first born of Asaph and Vesta Whittlesey. When four years old he was sent to the old red school house "to be out of harm's way," whilst his father was in the Ohio wilderness, exploring for a home.

The location was found, and in 1813 the family removed to Talmadge, Summit county, Ohio. There the young boy trudged from home to the log school house, south of Talmadge Centre, until 1819, when the frame academy was finished and the eleven year old lad attended school in the new building during the Winter, and in Summer worked on the farm. This mode of life continued until 1824.

In 1827, he was appointed a cadet at West Point.

During his second year at West Point, a fiery Southerner made a Personal assault upon a superior officer, the military punishment for which is death. He was condemned by a court-martial to be shot. While the sentence was being forwarded to Washington for approval the culprit was confined in the cadet prison, without irons. Cadet Whittlesey was one evening on post at the door of the prison, and as he passed on his beat, his back being for a moment towards the door, the prisoner, who was a powerful man, sprang out and seized the sentinel's musket from behind. At the same instant the muzzle of a pistol was presented to the ear of the young cadet with an admonition to keep quiet. This, however, did not prevent him from calling lustily for the "corporal of the guard." Cadet O. M. Mitchel, of subsequent fame, happened to be in charge of the guard as corporal and then coming up stairs with the relief. With his usual activity he sprang forward and the scion of chivalry ran. The guns of the sentinels at West Point are not loaded. The escaping prisoner could not, therefore, be shot, but in the pursuit by Cadet Whittlesey he had nearly planted a bayonet in his back when the guard seized him.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, Chas Mattingly]

After passing through the regular course of instruction at West Point, he graduated, and, in 1831, was made Brevet Second Lieutenant of the Fifth United States Infantry, and served in the Black Hawk campaign of 1832. He afterwards resigned, and for the next quarter of a century his record is wholly a scientific one. Recognizing the right of the government to his military services in national emergencies he offered to resume his old rank in the Florida war of 1838, and in the Mexican war of 1846, but his offers were not accepted.

In 1837, he was appointed on the geological survey of Ohio, and was engaged on that work two years, the survey eventually terminating through the neglect of the Legislature to make the necessary appropriations. Incomplete as the work was, the survey was of immense importance to Ohio, as the investigations of Colonel Whitlesey and his associates revealed a wealth of mineral treasures hitherto unsuspected, and enabled capital and enterprise to be directed with intelligence to their development. The value of the rich coal and iron deposits of North-eastern Ohio was disclosed by this survey, and thus the foundation was laid for the extensive manufacturing industry that has added enormously to the population, wealth and importance of this portion of the State. It was with the important results of his labors in Ohio in mind, that the State Government of Wisconsin secured his services for the geological survey of that State, which was carried on through the years 1858, 1859 and 1860, terminating with the breaking out of the war. From this survey also very important results have already followed, and still more will be arrived at in the course of a few years.

From 1847 to 1851, both inclusive, Colonel Whittlesey was employed by the United States government in the survey of Lake Superior and the upper Mississippi in reference to mines and minerals. In addition to this he has spent much time in surveying particular portions of the mineral districts of the Lake Superior basin, and has, in all, spent fifteen seasons on the waters of Lake Superior and upper Mississippi, making himself thoroughly familiar with the topography and geological character of that portion of our country.

Colonel Whittlesey was at home in Cleveland quietly pursuing his scientific studies and investigations, when the national trouble commenced. When the entrance of President Lincoln into Washington was threatened by violence in February, 1861, he was an enrolled member of one of the companies tendering their services to General Scott. Seeing that war was inevitable, he personally urged the Governor and Legislature of Ohio to prepare for it before the proclamation of April 15, 1861, and on the 17th he joined the Governor's staff as assistant quartermaster general. He served in the field in Western Virginia, with the three months levies, as State military engineer with the Ohio troops under Generals McClellan, Cox and Hill, and at Scary Run, on the Kanawha, July 17, 1861, behaved with great gallantry under fire, and conducted himself with intrepidity and coolness during an engagement that lasted two hours, and in which his horse was wounded under him. At the expiration of the service of the three months troops he was appointed Colonel of the 20th regiment Ohio volunteers, and detailed by General O. M. Mitchel as chief engineer of the department of the Ohio, where he planned and constructed the defences of Cincinnati, which he afterwards volunteered to defend, in September, 1862. At the battle of Fort Donelson he was with his regiment, and was complimented by General Grant on the morning of the surrender by being put in charge of the prisoners. A published correspondence from the prisoners proves with what kindness and courtesy to the unfortunate this task was performed. A testimony to a similar effect is the correspondence from the leading residents of the rebel counties of Owen, Grant, Carroll and Gallatin, in Kentucky, which in the Winter of 1861, were placed under his command, and which he ruled with such firmness, yet moderation, that both Union men and rebels bore witness to his conservative, moderate, and gentlemanly course, as well as to his promptness and decision.

At the battle of Shiloh, Colonel Whittlesey, on the second day of that desperate fight, commanded the third brigade of General Wallace's division. The part borne by this brigade in the battle has become historic. It was composed of Ohio troops, the 20th, 56th 76th, and 78th regiments, and it was against their line that General Beauregard attempted to throw the whole weight of his force for a last desperate charge, when he was driven back by the terrible fire poured into him. General Wallace, in his officiai report, makes especial and honorable mention of the important part taken by this brigade and its commander in the battle.

Soon after the battle Colonel Whittlesey sent in his resignation, which he had intended sending in earlier, but withheld because he foresaw some important military movements in which he desired to take part. The critical condition of his wife's health and his own disabilities, which had reached a point threatening soon to unfit him for any service whatever, compelled him to take this step. After the battle of Shiloh, when he could resign with honor and without detriment to the service, he sent in his resignation. General regret was expressed by the officers with whom he had been associated and by his old command. The application was endorsed by General Grant "We cannot afford to lose so good an officer." General Wallace, General Cox, and General Force added their commendations of his abilities and services, and few officers retired from the army with a clearer or more satisfactory record, or with greater regret on the part of his military associates.

Since his retirement, Colonel Whittlesey has been leisurely engaged in scientific and literary pursuits, has again spent much time in geological explorations in the Lake Superior and Upper Mississippi country, has organized and brought into successful operation the Western Reserve Historical Society, of which he continues to be president, and has accumulated in its spacious hall a good collection of historical works relating to the West, and a rich collection of geological and antiquarian specimens, gathered in Ohio and the Northwest.

Colonel Whittlesey has contributed largely to scientific literature, and his works have attracted wide attention, not only among scientific men of America, but of Europe. His published works are to be found in the Geological Reports of Ohio, 1838-9; United States Geological Surveys of the Upper Mississippi, D. D. Owen, 1847, 1849; United States Geological Surveys of Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Foster and Whitney, 1850, 1851; Life of John Fitch, Spark's American Biography, new series, Volume 6, 1845; Fugitive Essays, mainly historical, published at Hudson, Ohio, 8vo., pp. 357, 1854; Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge;--Ancient Works of Ohio, 1852; Fluctuation of Lake Levels, 1860; Ancient Mining on Lake Superior, 1863; Fresh Water Glacial Drift, 1866. In addition to these are an essay on the Mineral Resources of the Rocky Mountains, in 1863; a handsome and valuable volume on the Early History of Cleveland, in 1866, and about thirty essays, reports, and pamphlets, besides very numerous and valuable contributions to newspapers and scientific journals.

General James Barnett.

James Barnett was born on the 21st of June, 1821, at Cherry Valley, Otsego county, New York. He came to Cleveland when about four years of age, and after receiving a common school education commenced his business career by entering the hardware store of Potter, Clark & Murfey, where he served three years as clerk. At the end of that time he went into the hardware house of George Worthington, and has for many years been a member of the firm of George Worthington & Co. As a business man and good citizen he stands very high in the estimation of the people of Cleveland, but it is with his military record that we have now chiefly to deal.

In 1840, an independent Company of artillery was organized in Cleveland, and at its start was made a part of the old Cleveland Grays, afterwards the artillery part formed a company by itself, which had for its commanders D. L. Wood and A. S. Sanford. This organization was kept up until the breaking out of the war, and was, without doubt, the best drilled and equipped artillery organization west of the mountains; the State supplied the guns, harness and caissons, but the expenses for horses, the meeting and drill houses, and equipments, and all their expenses, were paid by themselves. They drilled regularly, took an excursion every year, visited Niagara, Syracuse, Sandusky, Wooster, and also Chicago, on the occasion of the assembling of the River and Harbor Convention. At every point they visited they never failed to infuse a military spirit into the people, and to create a desire for similar companies. Nearly all the artillery organizations of the West sprang out of this little nucleus at Cleveland, for at the places visited and instructed by the Cleveland company, men were obtained at the breaking out of the war who were to some extent familiar with artillery drill, and many of them became, because of this, commanders during the rebellion. Such commanders were to be found throughout the service.

About two years before the war, the Ohio militia law was so amended as to permit the organization of artillery companies, with one gun to a company, every six guns to form a command, entitled to elect a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, and major. The Cleveland Light Artillery took immediate advantage of this by organizing into the First, Regiment Light Artillery, O. V. M., with the following officers: Colonel, James Barnett; Lieutenant Colonel, S. B. Sturges; Major, Clark Gates; Quartermaster, Amos Townsend; Quartermaster's Sergeant, Randall Crawford; Co. A, Captain Wm. R. Simmons; Co. B, Captain John G. Mack; Co. C, Captain D. Kenny; Co. D, Captain Percy Rice; Co. E, Captain F. W. Pelton. The three city companies drilled at what is now the Varieties, on Frankfort street, Captain Pelton's company at Brooklyn, and Captain Kenny's at Geneva.

In the Winter of 1860, the regiment tendered their services to the State authorities in case of difficulty, as the rebels in West Virginia were assuming a threatening attitude. This offer was accepted, but the opinion expressed in the acceptance, that the proffered services would probably not be needed. Five days after the fall of Fort Sumter the order came for the regiment to report with its six guns to Columbus. On the second day after the date of the order the organization, with full complement of men and guns, passed through Columbus en route to Marietta, where a rebel demonstration was expected. Here it remained a little over a month, when a detachment with two guns, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Sturges, crossed into West Virginia at Parkersburg, and the remainder, under command of Colonel Barnett, crossed the river at Benwood and proceeded to Grafton, West Virginia. The two guns under Lieutenant Colonel Sturges went up the Baltimore and Ohio line to Philippi, and in the affair at that place did telling service. Theirs was the first artillery fired in the field by the National forces in the war of the rebellion. About a month after, the detachment rejoined the main body of the regiment, and the guns of the artillery did good service in the attack on the rebels at Laurel Hill, the result being the hasty flight of the enemy.

In the pursuit from Laurel Hill, two pieces pushed over the mountains and pressed their rear guard with great energy for two days, during nearly the whole time in a drenching rain, deep mud, and through fords, the men all anxiety to overtake the fleeing foes. The rebels had felled trees to obstruct the road. Some chopped the trees asunder, some helped the guns through the mud, and all worked like desperate men. Finally the transportation of the rebels stuck fast in quicksand and stopped the whole train. The rebels were compelled to make a stand to protect their baggage. To effect this they drew up their forces on a little table land, near Carrick's Ford--the position being hid by a row of bushes on the edge of the hill, and overlooking the line of Colonel Barnett's command. The head of the column was pushing on with great impetuosity when they were suddenly opened upon from the point of land on their right hand, but, fortunately, from the elevation, their fire mostly passed over their heads. The troops were immediately put into position to repel the attack; the guns, to give them scope, were wheeled out into the field and opened fire immediately with canister. Although fired upon by two pieces of artillery from the eminence, they lost no one, and after a few rounds the rebel guns were silenced, and the gallant attack by the infantry under Colonel Steadman of the 14th Ohio, Colonel Dumont, 6th Indiana, and Colonel Milroy, 9th Indiana, at the same time, drove them from their position. When taken, it was found that the gunner of one piece had been killed and was lying across the trunnions of the piece with the cartridge only half rammed--the horses having been killed at the same time and in falling broke the pole, so that it was impossible to get the gun away. Our men soon improvised another pole and harness, hitched some mules to the piece, and brought it away, together with the captured supplies. The pursuing column returned to camp at Laurel Hill.

Immediately after this, Colonel Barnett was ordered to report to General McClellan in person, at Beverly. There a consultation was had on the policy of taking the artillery on a campaign up the Kanawha, after General Wise. There was some question about ordering them on the campaign, from the fact that they were not in the United States command, their organization then not having been recognized by the General Government. They were Ohio troops, and their invasion of West Virginia was excused on the plea that it was necessary to the "defence of the State," for which purpose only they were mustered into the State service.

While the matter of a new campaign was being submitted to the command, the battle of Bull's Run took place, and McClellan was peremptorily ordered to Washington to take command of the army of the Potomac. Colonel Barnett returned to Columbus with his command, which was mustered in and mustered out of the United States service on the same day.

This affair, in connection with the operation at Rich Mountain, under Rosecrans, closed the campaign made by General McClellan in Western Virginia, and preserved the State to the Union.

Colonel Barnett and his command returned to Cleveland, bringing with them, by permission of Governor Dennison, the piece of artillery captured at Carrick's Ford, which still remains in Cleveland and is used for firing salutes. On reaching Cleveland the returning soldiers were received with public demonstrations of joy, and a vote of thanks, couched in the strongest terms of commendation, was unanimously adopted by the city council at their regular meeting, July 30, 1861.

Governor Dennison had strongly urged the General Government to grant him permission to furnish a twelve battery regiment of artillery as part of the State quota of troops. This was steadily refused for a considerable time, but at length a Mr. Sherwin, of Cincinnati, was granted permission to raise such a regiment, provided he could do it within a stated time. The attempt proving a failure, Governor Dennison obtained permission from the War Department to appoint Colonel Barnett to the task. Colonel Barnett at once left for Columbus, and in August, 1861, commenced the work of recruiting and equipping, the batteries being sent to the field as rapidly as they could be got ready. Co. A and Co. C reported to General Thomas in time to participate in the battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky. The other batteries were sent to different commands in Western Virginia and Kentucky, as soon as ready.

Colonel Barnett reported to General Buell, at Louisville, the following Spring, with a portion of the command, and on the arrival of the army at Nashville, in March, he was placed in command of the Artillery Reserve of the Army of the Ohio, in which capacity he served until ordered to Ohio, in July, 1862, on recruiting service, and was in command through the campaign embracing the battles of Pittsburgh Landing, Corinth and other affairs, up to the time of the occupation of Huntsville by Buell's army.

After having obtained the requisite number of recruits for his regiment, he was assigned to duty, in September, upon the staff of General C. C. Gilbert, at that time commanding the centre corps of the Army of the Ohio. After the battle of Perryville, the Colonel was transferred to the staff of Major General McCook, as Chief of Artillery, which position he filled until November 24, 1862, when he was designated by General Rosecrans, Chief of Artillery of the army of the Cumberland.

In the battles of Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, and the various other operations of the grand old army of the Cumberland, Colonel Barnett was constantly and actively engaged, and is mentioned with special commendation by General Rosecrans in his official report, and received the confidence and support of the final commander of that department, the sturdy and gallant Thomas.

After the close of operations around Chattanooga, Colonel Barnett was put in command of the artillery of the department, requiring reorganization and remounting, which was formed in two divisions, consisting of six batteries in a division; the first division being batteries in the regular service; the second division being volunteer batteries, and principally composed of batteries of the First Ohio Light Artillery, having their camps near the city of Nashville, where they were thoroughly drilled, reorganized and equipped, and held in readiness for the field at any moment on requisition of the department commander; which command he retained until mustered out of the service, October 20, 1864.

Colonel Barnett also participated in the battle of Nashville, in which, however, he acted in a volunteer capacity, the battle having taken place subsequent to his muster out of the service.

Subsequently he was awarded a Brevet Brigadier Generalship, in consideration of his eminent abilities and the valuable services he had performed. On his return home he resumed his position in the old firm, having, by the generosity of his partners, been allowed to retain his interest without detriment during the whole time of his service.

Colonel Wm. H. Hayward.

Wm. H. Hayward was born at Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1824, was brought to Cleveland in 1826, received a good common school education, and at the age of fifteen became an apprentice to the printing business in the office of Sanford & Lott. At the end of his five years apprenticeship he was admitted as partner, solely because of his proficiency, not having any capital to put in. Mr. Lott retired on account of ill health, and the firm became Sanford & Hayward, which it has ever since remained, and which has steadily built up a large and profitable blank-book and lithographing business.

From boyhood Mr. Hayward had a taste for military studies, and he was early connected with the military organizations of the city. In the early days of the Cleveland Light Artillery, when it was under the command of his partner, General A. S. Sanford, he was First Lieutenant. When permission was received for the organization of the First Ohio Artillery as a three years regiment, Mr. Hayward was tendered, and from a sheer sense of duty to the country accepted, the Lieutenant Colonelcy of the regiment. He took an active part in recruiting, drilling, and organizing the men as fast as received, and sending them to the front. When the regiment was divided and sent in different directions his command was ordered to the Shenandoah Valley to report to General Shields. Under this command he took part in the fight at Port Republic, June 12, 1862, fought whilst another battle was going on at Cross Keys, seven miles distant. Soon afterwards he and his command became part of the Army of the Potomac, being attached to the Third Division under General Whipple, who was subsequently mortally wounded at Chancellorsville. On being assigned to that Division, Colonel Hayward was made Chief of Artillery. At the time of the battle of Gettysburg Colonel Hayward was assigned to duty in Washington.

His health, never good, having completely broken down, he was compelled to resign and return home. Here he remained attending his business duties and rendering such aid as lay in his power until the call for hundred days troops to defend Washington. At the time he was in command of the 29th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Militia, organized for just such emergencies, and which contained eight companies. With these two other companies were Consolidated, and the organization styled the 150th Ohio National Guards. Colonel Hayward led it to Washington, and took a leading part in the repulse of Early. The attack of the rebel forces was mainly against that part of the defences garrisoned by the 150th Regiment. There were no hopes of permanently keeping the rebels out of Washington with so small a force, but the main object was to keep them at bay until succor could arrive. To do this strategy was adopted. About eight hundred quartermaster's men, darkeys and teamsters, were sent off from Washington to swell the force; these men were kept marching and counter-marching around a piece of wood, then wheeled around and brought again into the view of the rebels, who, thinking there was a large force being massed there, deferred the attack till morning, when the veteran Sixth corps came up to their relief, and Early was driven back in discomfiture.

On the expiration of their term of service the 150th National Guards returned to Cleveland, and Colonel Hayward resumed business life.

Colonel Wm. R. Creighton.

No Infantry regiment raised in Cleveland became so thoroughly identified with Cleveland as the "Fighting Seventh." This was in great measure due to the fact that it was the first complete regiment sent from Cleveland, and that it contained a large number of the spirited young men of the city, taken from all classes of the population. The fortunes of the Seventh were followed with deep interest, their successes exulted in, and their losses mourned over. No public sorrow, saving that for the death of President Lincoln, was so general and deep as that which followed the news of the fall of the gallant leaders of the "old Seventh," as they led their handful of men, spared from numerous murderous battles, in the face of certain death up the hill at Ringgold. Grief for the loss was mingled with indignation at the stupidity or wanton cruelty that had sent brave men to such needless slaughter.

William R. Creighton, with whom the history of the Seventh is identified, was born in Pittsburgh, in June, 1837. At ten years old he was placed in a shoe store where he remained two years and then was placed for six months in a commercial college. From there he entered a printing office, where he served an apprenticeship of four years, and came to Cleveland, where he entered the Herald office, remaining there, with the exception of a few months, until just previous to the breaking out of the war.

In 1858, he became a member of the Cleveland Light Guards and rose to become a lieutenant in that organization. He was a great favorite with his fellow members of the company, and was not only a genial companion, but an excellent disciplinarian. At the breaking out of the war, he organized a company with the old Cleveland Light Guards as a nucleus, and soon had so many applications that his company was full and a second company was organized. A third company was also recruited. This was the beginning of the Seventh Ohio.

On a beautiful Sunday morning, in May, 1861, the Seventh marched through the streets of Cleveland, the first full regiment that had left the city, on the way to the railroad. The whole population turned out to bid them farewell. The regiment went to Camp Dennison, unarmed, without uniforms--except such uniforms as belonged to the old independent organizations--and with but temporary regimental organization. When but a few days in Camp Dennison, the call came for three years troops, and the regiment, with but few exceptions, volunteered for the three years service, with E. B. Tyler as Colonel, and Wm. E. Creighton as Lieutenant Colonel. The places of those who declined to enlist for three years were soon filled by fresh recruits.

The regiment was ordered to West Virginia to take part in the campaign to be opened there. Colonel Tyler had gone in advance, and Lieutenant Colonel Creighton took the regiment to Clarksburg, where he turned it over to his commanding officer. At Glenville he again took command, drilling the men daily when in camp, and bringing them into a high state of proficiency. Hard marching and many privations were endured until the regiment reached Cross Lanes.

On the 21st of August orders were received to join General Cox, at Gauley Bridge. The regiment, then under command of Colonel Tyler, had reached Twenty-mile Creek when word was received that the rebels, four thousand strong, were preparing to cross the river at Cross Lanes, which the Seventh had so recently left. A counter-march was ordered. About six miles from Cross Lanes the regiment was attacked by an overwhelming force, and after a desperate fight was broken, and compelled to retreat in two different directions, with a loss of a hundred and twenty men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Creighton was among those who escaped.

The scattered companies re-united at Charleston, West Virginia, where they remained waiting orders, and were in the meantime thoroughly drilled by Lieutenant Colonel Creighton, who was in fact, if not in title, the commanding officer of the regiment. An order coming for five hundred picked men of the regiment to join in the pursuit of Floyd, he was sent in command of the detachment, was given the advance in the pursuit, and followed Floyd's trail hotly for several days, marching on foot at the head of his men. Soon after this Tyler became Brigadier General and Creighton was made Colonel of his regiment, which was ordered to the East.

At Winchester, Creighton led his regiment, the first in the famous charge of the Third Brigade, having a horse shot under him, and then fighting on foot with a musket, among his men, until the time came to assume the position of commanding officer again. In the march to Fredricksburgh and the return to the Valley he shared every privation and hardship the men were obliged to encounter, always refuse to take advantage of his privileges as an officer. He endeavored to procure every needful comfort for his men, but when they were barefooted and hungry he shared his stores with them, and fought and marched on foot with them. At Port Republic he headed his regiment in five desperate charges, in each of them driving the enemy. In the battle of Cedar Mountain Creighton handled his regiment with a dexterity that told fearfully on the ranks of the enemy. He was finally severely wounded, and compelled to leave the field. In doing so, he kept his face to the foe, saying that "no rebel ever saw his back in battle; and never would." He was taken to Washington, where the bullet was extracted from his side, which was an exceedingly painful operation. Soon after this he came to his home; but while still carrying his arm in a sling, he reported to his regiment. While at home the battle of Antietam was fought, which was the only one in which he failed to participate. Soon after his return, the affair at Dumfries occurred, where, through his ingenuity and skill, Hampton's cavalry command was defeated by a mere handful of men. For this he was publicly thanked by Generals Slocum and Geary. He took part in the battle of Chancellorsville, where he won new laurels. It is said that being ordered by General Hooker to fall back, he refused to do so until able to bring Knapp's Battery safely to the rear; for which disobedience of orders he was recommended for promotion. This battery was from his native city, and in it he had many friends. Next he was at Gettysburg, where he fought with his accustomed valor. He was also at Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, in "Hooker's battle above the clouds."

After this battle came the pursuit of Bragg, whose rear-guard was overtaken at Ringgold, Georgia, where it was securely posted on the top of Taylor's Ridge--a naked eminence. It was madness to undertake to drive them from this hill, without the use of artillery to cover the assault; but in the excitement of the moment the order was given. In this assault Creighton commanded a brigade. Forming his command he made a speech. "Boys," said he, "we are ordered to take that hill. I want to see you walk right up it." After this characteristic speech, he led his men up the hill. It soon became impossible to advance against the terrible fire by which they were met; he therefore led them into a ravine, but the rebels poured such a fire into it from all sides, that the command was driven back. Reaching a fence, Creighton stopped, and facing the foe, waited for his command to reach the opposite side. While in this position he fell, pierced through the body with a rifle bullet. His last words were: "Oh, my dear wife!" and he expired almost immediately. The brigade now fell rapidly back, carrying the remains of its idolized commander with it.

Lieutenant Colonel Crane fell in the same fight and but just after Creighton fell.

The bodies were taken to the rear and sent to Cleveland, where they were given such a reception and funeral as had never been witnessed in Cleveland before, or after. The whole city was in mourning, and after lying in state in Council Hall, to be visited by thousands, the mortal remains of the dead heroes were borne, amid the firing of minute guns, the tolling of bells, and the solemn dirges of the band, to their last resting place in Woodland cemetery.

Colonel Creighton was killed on November 27th, 1863, in the twenty> seventh year of his age.

Lieutenant Colonel Orrin J. Crane.

Orrin J. Crane was born in Troy, New York, in 1829. When he was three years old his parents removed to Vermont, where his father died soon after, leaving his wife and children poorly provided for. Young Crane was taken, whilst still a small boy, by an uncle, and about the year 1852, he came in charge of his relative to Conneaut, where he worked as a mechanic. He left Conneaut at one time for the Isthmus of Panama, where he spent a year, and on returning found work as a ship carpenter in Cleveland, where he became connected with one of the military organizations of the city.

At the fall of Sumter he entered the service as first-lieutenant in Captain Creighton's company; and on his promotion, was made captain. He early devoted himself to the instruction of his company; and it can be said that it lost nothing of the efficiency it acquired under the leadership of Creighton.

After the regiment entered the field, his services were invaluable. If a bridge was to be constructed, or a road repaired, he was sent for to superintend it. If the commissary department became reduced, he was the one to procure supplies. No undertaking was too arduous for his iron-will to brave. All relied on him with the utmost confidence, and no one was ever disappointed in him.

At the affair at Cross Lanes, where he first came under fire, he behaved with great valor, and inspired his men with true courage. They stood like a wall, and fell back only when ordered by their leader, then dashed through the strong lines of the enemy, and were brought off with safety out of what was seemingly certain destruction. He kept his men well together during the long march to Gauley Bridge.

After his arrival at that point he was sent out to the front, up New River, where he rendered valuable service. He was in every march and skirmish in both Western and Eastern Virginia, until the battle of Winchester. In this engagement he showed the same indomitable courage. He held his men to the work of carnage so fearfully, that the enemy's slain almost equalled his command.

He shared in every battle in which his regiment was engaged in the East; Port Republic, Cedar Mountain (where he was slightly wounded), Antietam, Dumfries, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. In all of these he never sent his men forward; he led them on.

At the battle of Antietam, he commanded the regiment, and during the latter part of the engagement, a brigade. Before the regiment left for the West, he was made lieutenant-colonel; a position which his ability and long, as well as faithful, service of his country rendered him eminently qualified to fill.

Arriving at the West, he commanded the regiment in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, where he added new laurels to his already imperishable name. At fatal Ringgold, he again commanded the regiment. He led it up the steep ascent, where the whistling of bullets made the air musical; and where men dropped so quietly that they were scarcely missed, except in the thinned ranks of the command. The regiment had not recovered from the shock produced by the announcement of the death of Creighton, when Crane himself fell dead at the feet of his comrades, pierced through the forhead by a rifle bullet. He fell so far in the advance, that his men were driven back before possessing themselves of his body but it was soon after recovered, and shared with the remains of Colonel Creighton the honors of a public funeral.

Other Military Men of Cleveland.

In selecting the five subjects for the foregoing military biographical sketches it was not intended to single them out as all that were worthy of mention for their services. There are numerous others deserving a place, but the materials for full biographical sketches were wanting for most of them, and it was thought best, therefore, to confine the separate sketches to those military men who, for one reason or another, have come to be considered the representative men in the military history of the city. We add here brief mention of a few others, from such material as is in our posession, and must then, doubtless, omit many equally worthy a place.

Brevet Brigadier Russell Hastings, though not entering the army from Cleveland, is now a resident of the city and holds the position of United States Marshal. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 23rd Ohio Infantry, commanded at first by Major-General Rosecrans and subsequently by General Hayes, rose by regular promotion to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and was subsequently made Brevet Brigadier General "for gallant and meretorious services at the battle of Opequan, Virginia." General Hastings was permanently disabled by a bullet wound in the leg.

Brevet Brigadier Robert L. Kimberly was on the editorial staff of the Cleveland Herald when he joined the 41st Ohio Infantry, as Second Lieutenant under Colonel Hazen, was rapidly promoted to Major, in which rank he had charge of his regiment during the greater part of the time, and sometimes acting as brigade commander. He was made Lieutenant Colonel January 1, 1865, and Colonel of the 191st Ohio Infantry in the succeeding March. He participated with distinction in several engagements, and for these services was breveted Brigadier General.

Brigadier General Oliver H. Payne was commissioned Colonel of the 124th Ohio Infantry January 1, 1863. His regiment was distinguished for its discipline and for the care taken of the men by Colonel Payne and Lieutenant Colonel James Pickands, and also for its gallant services under those leaders. At Chickamauga Colonel Payne was wounded and, being unable to rejoin his regiment, resigned his position in November, 1864. He was subsequently breveted Brigadier General for meritorious services.

Among those who distinguished themselves in the service, but who stopped short of null rank of those mentioned above, may be mentioned Major James B. Hampson, who commanded the Cleveland Grays in the three years' organization of the 1st Ohio Infantry, and subsequently was Major of the 124th Ohio. Lieutenant Colonel James T. Sterling, who commenced his military career as company commander in the 7th Ohio Infantry and subsequently became Lieutenant Colonel of the 103rd Ohio, from which position he was appointed null General on the staff of General Cox. Captain Joseph B. Molyneaux, who served with gallantry in the 7th Ohio Infantry. Captain Mervin Clark, the fearless "boy officer" of the same regiment, who braved death on every occasion, and fell, colors in hand, when leading a forlorn hope over a rebel work at Franklin. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Lynch, of the 27th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel G. S. Mygatt, of the 41st Ohio Infantry, who died of disease contracted in serving his country. Major J. H. Williston, of the same regiment. Captains G. L. Childs, Alfred P. Girty, and G. L. Heaton, of the 67th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel John N. Frazee, of the 84th and 150th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel H. S. Pickands, of the 103rd Ohio Infantry, and Colonel James Pickands, of the 124th Ohio, who reached their positions by active service in various ranks throughout the war. Captain Isaac C. Vail, of the 103rd Ohio Infantry, who died in service. Major George Arnold of the 107th Ohio Infantry, (German,) who fought with great gallantry. Surgeon C. A. Hartman, whose skill as a surgeon was fully equalled by his valor as a soldier, and who, unable to content himself as a non-combatant, engaged in the thickest of the fight at Winchester and was killed in the terrible slaughter the regiment experienced. Captain Wm. C. Bunts, of the 125th Ohio Infantry. Lieutenant Colonel E. A. Scovill, of the 128th Ohio Infantry, rendered important service in charge of the null affairs of the great prison for the rebels on Johnson's Island. Major Junius R. Sanford was in service in this regiment. Lieutenant Colonel George L. Hayward, of the 129th Ohio Infantry, had seen active service as company commander in the 1st Ohio Infantry. In the Cavalry service Cleveland furnished among other leading regimental officers Colonel Charles Doubleday, Lieutenant Colonel G. G. Minor, Major Albert Barnitz, now in the United States service, Major L. C. Thayer, who died soon after his leaving the service, and Major J. F. Herrick. To the Artillery service, in addition to General Barnett and Lieutenant Colonel Hayward, Cleveland contributed Lieutenant Colonel Walter E. Lawrence, who declined promotion and died deeply regretted by his comrades in arms and by a host of warm friends at home. Major Seymour Race, who ably assisted in the organization of the regiment and left Camp Dennison January 10, 1862, with two batteries and reported to General Buell at Louisville; had command of the camp at the Fair Grounds, composed of seven batteries from Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin; left Louisville February 10, with three batteries on steamers, and reported to General Nelson at the mouth of Salt River accompanying him to Nashville; was Chief of Artillery of General T. J. Wood's Division at Pittsburgh Landing and the siege of Corinth and continued in that position in the division through Northern Alabama and back to Louisville; participated in the battles of Perryville and Stone River; was highly commended by his Division commander for valuable services in all these actions; and was also in command of the fortifications at Nashville for about five months; Major Warren P. Edgerton, Major W. F. Goodspeed, Assistant Surgeon Charles E. Ames, Captains Wm. A. Standart, Louis Heckman, Norman A. Baldwin, Joseph C. Shields, Frank Wilson, Louis Smithnight, William Backus, and a long list of Lieutenants. From the fact that the Cleveland Light Artillery organization was the origin of the Light Artillery service of the State, and that the Artillery had long been popular in the city, the Ohio Light Artillery service in the war was very largely officered and heavily recruited from Cleveland. In the 5th U. S. Colored Infantry, officered by white soldiers of Ohio, Gustave W. Fahrion, who had done good service in an Ohio regiment, was appointed Captain, and did hard service with his men in Virginia and North Carolina.

Journalism

It would require more space than can be given here to merely enumerate the different newspaper ventures that have been set afloat in Cleveland, some to disappear almost as soon as launched, others to buffet the waves for a few months, or even years, and then to pass away and be forgotten. In the days when nothing more was required to start a newspaper than a few pounds of type and a hand press, or credit with the owner of a press, new journals appeared and disappeared with great rapidity. Even now, when it is hopeless to think of attempting the establishment of a journal without first sinking a large capital, there are people venturesome enough to try the experiment of starting a newspaper upon little or nothing. The end of such experiments is always the same.

The first newspaper issued in Cleveland was the Cleveland Gazette and Commercial Register, commenced July 31, 1818. It was ostensibly a weekly publication, but the difficulty of procuring paper with the desired regularity, and other untoward circumstances, sometimes caused a lapse of ten, fourteen, and even more days between each issue. In October, 1819, the Cleveland Herald was started as a weekly, by Z. Willes & Co.

In the Summer of 1836, the Daily Gazette was issued. This ran until March 22, 1837, when its owner, Charles Whittlesey, united it with the Herald, under the name of the Daily Herald and Gazette, the new firm being Whittlesey & Hull, and after a few days Whittlesey & J. A. Harris. The Gazette title was subsequently dropped, and that of the Herald preserved, Mr. Harris being the sole proprietor and editor. Messrs. W. J. May, A. W. Fairbanks, G. A. Benedict and John Coon were at different times added to the firm, Mr. May and Coon afterwards retiring, and being followed after some years by Mr. Harris, who was the veteran editor of the city. The Herald is now the oldest paper in the city, and the oldest daily in Northern Ohio. It was always Whig or Republican in politics.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer was the natural successor of the Cleveland Daily Advertiser, a Democratic paper published about a third of a century since, by Canfield & Spencer. The Plain Dealer was owned and edited from its start by J. W. Gray, who made it a sharp and spicy journal. His declining health compelled him to take less interest in his paper, which soon lost prestige, and having gone into incompetent hands after Mr. Gray's death, it was before long compelled to suspend. Being purchased, after a short suspension, by Mr. Armstrong, it was resuscitated, and is at present, under the ownership and management of Messrs. Armstrong & Green, a successful enterprise.

The Leader dates its origin on one side to the True Democrat, an Independent Free Soil paper, dating back over twenty years, and on the other to the Daily Forest City, a "Silver Gray Whig," started about 1852, by Joseph and James Medill. After some coquetting an alliance was formed between the two papers, and the name of Forest City Democrat adopted for the Consolidated paper which was afterwards changed to the Leader. None of those connected with either of the original papers are now connected with the Leader. Of those who became the publishers of the latter paper Mr. E. Cowles retains his connection and is the largest proprietor.

The German Wachter am Erie completes the list of regular daily papers now published in Cleveland. The Herald is published morning and evening, there being two editions of the evening issue. The Leader is issued in the morning with an evening edition under the name of the News. The Plain Dealer publishes two editions in the afternoon, and the Wachter am Erie one afternoon edition.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, A. W. Fairbanks]

A. W. Fairbanks.

A. W. Fairbanks, the senior proprietor of the Cleveland Herald, was born March 4, 1817, in Cornish, now Claremont, Sullivan county, New Hampshire. When twelve years old he entered a printing office in Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, with the purpose of learning the business. In those days it was held necessary to serve a regular apprenticeship as a preliminary to becoming a journeyman printer, and the apprentice had to pass through an ordeal to which the learner of the present day is a total stranger. There were then no machine presses out of the city of New York, nor rollers for inking. The types were inked by dabbing with buckskin balls, as had been done since the invention of printing. Rollers were, however, introduced within a short time of our young apprentice entering on his course of education as a printer.

The office in which he worked, owned by a man named Johnson, was for book and job printing, thus affording the apprentice an opportunity of acquiring a more extensive and varied knowledge of the business than could have been acquired in a newspaper office. He had a taste for the life on which he had entered, and soon made rapid headway in obtaining a knowledge of the "art preservative of all arts." He remained in the same office until it was discontinued. He afterwards went to Schenectady, Ballston, Spa, and Troy, following the fortunes of the man he was apprenticed to, before finishing his trade. His first situation, as a journeyman, was in Rochester, New York.

In 1836, he removed from Rochester to Michigan, then a territory, and assumed charge of the job department of the Detroit Advertiser. In this position he remained for a year, when he was induced to remove to Toledo.

Some time previously an attempt had been made to establish the Toledo Blade as a newspaper. The town was young, and though giving promise of vigorous growth, was yet unable to make such a newspaper enterprise an assured success. About fifty numbers were issued, under several ownerships, and then the enterprise sank, apparently to rise no more. Mr. Fairbanks saw his opportunity and availed himself of it. Possessing himself of what remained of the Blade establishment, he announced its revival, got up and got out the first number himself, working it off on a hand press, and announced to the public that the Blade had this time "come to stay." In spite of difficulties and discouragements he persisted in the work he had undertaken, and in a short time had secured for the paper a good circulation. There was in the office scarcely enough type to get out a single issue; there was no imposing stone on which to make up the forms, and but one press to do all the work of the office. Mr. Fairbanks worked diligently with brain and hands, wrote matter for the Blade, managed its mechanical details, and at the same time spent time, labor, and money in enlarging the capabilities of the office and building up a valuable job-printing business. In fourteen years he built up out of nothing, or next to nothing, a newspaper with a profitable circulation and a wide reputation, a job office admitted to be one of the most complete in the State, having five presses and material abundant in quantity and unsurpassed in quality. The office had made money every year since his connection with it, except in 1840, when he gave all his labor to the Harrison campaign.

In 1850, Mr. Fairbanks left Toledo for Cleveland, and became connected with the Cleveland Herald, then edited by J. A. Harris and W. J. May. He found the establishment without a press, the newspaper being printed on the press of M. C. Younglove, under a contract, giving him twelve and a half cents per token, Mr. Younglove having the only steam press in the city. Land was purchased on Bank street and the present Herald building erected. The entire book and job office of Mr. Younglove was purchased, a Hoe cylinder press for working the Herald purchased, and the establishment placed on a footing for doing a greatly enlarged and constantly increasing business. Additional and improved facilities were furnished yearly, to keep pace with the rapidly increasing demands, the single cylinder newspaper press was changed for a double cylinder, and that had been running but a short time when it proved insufficient for the rapid increase of circulation, and its place was taken by a four cylinder, which remains the only press of the kind in Ohio outside of Cincinnati, and which is capable of running off ten thousand impressions per hour. From a small part of the building this establishment grew until it crowded out all other occupants; then the building itself was altered so as to economise room, and finally additions made, doubling its size, the whole of the space being immediately filled with material, presses and machinery containing the latest improvements. From an entire valuation of six thousand dollars the establishment has reached an inventory value of about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and from a newspaper without a press it has grown to an office with ten steam presses, a mammoth four-cylinder, and a large building crowded full with the best machinery and material required in a first-class printing office, giving employment to ninety-five men, women and boys, and sending out the Morning Herald and two regular editions of the Daily Herald, every day, except Sunday, besides a Tri-Weekly Herald and Weekly Herald.

The entire mechanical details of the establishment have, from his first connection with the office, been under the control of Mr. Fairbanks, and he feels a just pride in the perfection to which these details have been brought. His heart is in his profession, and it is his constant study. No improvement in it escapes his observation, and he is ever on the alert to avail himself of everything promising to increase the efficiency of his establishment. It is a noticeable fact, that the Herald has never missed a daily issue, although at times during the war the scarcity of paper was so great that the issue of the Morning Herald, then but a recent venture, had to be suspended for a day or two.

The firm, which, when Mr. Fairbanks became connected with it, was Harris, Fairbanks & Co., is now Fairbanks, Benedict & Co., Mr. Fairbanks being the only member of the original firm yet connected with the concern.

J. W. Gray.

J. W. Gray was born in the village of Bradport, Addison county, Vermont, on the 5th of August, 1813. When only two years of age his parents removed to Madrid, St. Lawrence county, New York, where his early life was passed, receiving such meagre education as those early days afforded, during the Winter months, to farmer lads. He afterwards became a pupil in the Institutes at Potsdam and Governeur, founded by the New York State Association for Teachers, where he made rapid progress, his mind, naturally fond of study grasping knowledge intuitively. His scholastic career terminated here, the pecuniary means being wanting to enable him to prosecute a collegiate course, and he was soon after launched upon the world to carve, with nothing but his own right arm and resolute will, the future high public and social position he subsequently attained.

In 1836, he came to Cleveland, then, though recently incorporated as a city, in reality but a flourishing village, and was soon engaged as a teacher in one of the public schools, the old Academy, on St. Clair street, being the scene of his first labors. He continued here but two or three terms, when a more advantageous position was offered him as instructor of a district school in Geauga county, to which he repaired and where he continued about a year. On his return to the city, having fitted himself in part previously, he entered the null of Hon. H. B. Payne and U. S. Judge Willson, who were then associated under the law firm of Payne & Willson, and after a little over a year under their preceptorship, during which time his remarkable talents attracted the attention of many, he was admitted to the bar, and almost immediately after receiving his diploma commenced the practice of his profession. He soon formed a law connection which led him to the State of Michigan, where, however he remained but a short time.

On January 1st, 1842, in connection with his brother, A. N. Gray, he purchased the Cleveland Advertiser, which he converted into the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

In July, 1845, the firm of A. N. & J. W. Gray was dissolved, the latter becoming sole proprietor and editor. The bold, poignant and dashing talents he brought to bear, soon made the Plain Dealer widely known as a political journal and placed its editor among the foremost men of his party in the State. In 1853, he received the appointment of post master of Cleveland from President Pierce, which position he continued to hold till the Summer of 1858, when, owing to his refusal to advocate the infamous Lecompton constitution of Mr. Buchanan, he was beheaded with the scores of other martyrs who remained true to Senator Douglas and the constitutional rights and liberties of the people.

In 1858, he received the Democratic nomination for Congress against Hon. B. F. Wade, his successful competitor. In 1860, he was chosen, with Hon. H. B. Payne, delegate from this district to the Charleston-Baltimore convention where he labored with untiring devotion for the nomination of Judge Douglas. When the revolt was raised by the traitorous South, he rallied at once to the support of the constitution and Union, and, following the example of Douglas buried the partizan in the noble struggle of the patriot for the preservation of the liberties of the country.

Of the Silas Wright school of politics, he labored during his editorial career of over twenty years, for his cherished principles. The friend of Mr. Pierce, he was the beloved and confidential exponent of the great Douglas. No man possessed the friendship and esteem of the Illinois statesman in a larger degree than did Mr. Gray. The Plain Dealer was Mr. Douglas' recognized organ--more so than any other paper published in the country, and the close intimacy which existed between them was never interrupted, and continued to the hour of that statesman's death.

Mr. Gray died May 26, 1862. He had been feeble for a few days previously, and for a day or two before his death had not left the house, yet nothing serious was apprehended by his family or physicians, and though the nature of his illness was such as to have long made him an invalid, the hope was firmly entertained that he would regain his general health. On the morning of the day of his death, however, paralysis seized his heart and lungs, soon depriving him of speech, and under which he rapidly, but gently, sank away and died at fifteen minutes past two of the same day.

His life affords another example to the rising young men of the day, of the power of will to triumph over all obstacles, when to indefatigable industry are added those exemplary virtues, strict integrity and temperance.

George A. Benedict.

George A. Benedict, of the printing and publishing firm of Fairbanks, Benedict & Co., and editor-in-chief of the Cleveland Herald, is a native of Jefferson county, New York, having been born in Watertown, August 5, 1813. Mr. Benedict was well educated and in due course entered Yale College, from which he has received the degree of A. B.

When eighteen years old he commenced the study of law with Judge Robert Lansing, in Watertown, finishing his legal education in the office of Sterling & Bronson. He was admitted to practice in New York, and immediately thereafter, in 1835, removed to Ohio, taking up his residence in Cleveland. Here he entered the office of Andrews & Foot and subsequently of that of John W. Allen, being admitted to practice in the Ohio Courts in the year 1836.

As soon as admitted to the Ohio Bar a partnership was formed with John Erwin, under the name of Erwin & Benedict; this arrangement continued three years. On its dissolution Mr. Benedict formed a partnership with James K. Hitchcock, the firm of Benedict & Hitchcock continuing until 1848, when Mr. Benedict was appointed Clerk of the Superior Court, Judge Andrews being the Judge. With the adoption of the new constitution of the State this court became extinct.

Immediately after the termination of his duties as Clerk of the Superior Court, Mr. Benedict purchased an interest in the Herald establishment, and became co-partner with Messrs. J. A. Harris and A. W. Fairbanks. The subsequent retirement of Mr. Harris from editorial life left Mr. Benedict as editor-in-chief of that paper, a position he has from that time retained.

In 1843, Mr. Benedict was a member of the City Council, and president of that body. For one term previous to that time Mr. Benedict was city attorney.

In August, 1865, Postmaster General Dennison, of Ohio, tendered to Mr. Benedict the office of Postmaster of Cleveland. The appointment was accepted, and at this writing, 1869, he still holds the office.

Mr. Benedict is impulsive in temperament, but his impulses are more of a friendly than unkindly character. He is warm-hearted, quick to forgive a wrong atoned for, and still quicker to apologize for and atone an injury done to others. In nearly a score of years editing a newspaper he has never intentionally done injustice to any man, no matter what differences of opinion might exist, and has never knowingly allowed the columns of his newspaper to be the vehicle of private spite. Nor has he ever refused any one, fancying himself aggrieved, the privilege of setting himself right in a proper manner in the same columns in which the alleged injury was inflicted. He has the genuine and unforced respect and esteem of those employed by him, for his treatment of them has always been kind and considerate, and although no newspaper conductor can possibly avoid creating prejudice and temporary ill-feeling. Mr. Benedict has probably no real enemy, whilst among those who best know him he has none but warm friends.

In addition to his editorial abilities, Mr. Benedict is one of the few really good writers of an occasional newspaper letter, and in his journeyings from home his letters to the Herald are looked for with interest and read with keen relish.

Mr. Benedict was married June, 1839, to Miss Sarah R. Rathbone, of Brownsville, Jefferson county, New York, and has three children, the oldest, George S. Benedict, being one of the proprietors and in the active business management of the Herald.

[Illustration: Yours Truly, J. H. A. Bone]

J. H. A. Bone

John H. A. Bone is a native of Cornwall, England, having been born in that county October 31, 1830. He received a good education, being first intended for the army, but an accident having permanently crippled his right arm, that purpose had to be abandoned. He resided awhile in London and Liverpool, during which time he was connected with the press of those cities, and contributed to periodicals. Having married in his native place, he left England in the Autumn of 1851, for the United States, and after a brief stay in New York, arrived in Cleveland in October of that year.

Early in the Spring of 1857, he joined the editorial staff of the Cleveland Herald, to the columns of which he had for some years previous been a frequent contributor. At the same time he had contributed to the pages of the Knickerbocker Magazine, Godey, Peterson's, the Boston Carpet Bag, then conducted by B. P. Shillaber ("Mrs. Partington,") and G. C. Halpine ("Miles O'Reilly,") and other literary papers of Boston, New York and Philadelphia, as well as to a Cleveland magazine, the New American Monthly, and was a regular contributor to the Cincinnati Pen and Pencil, a handsome weekly magazine of more than ordinary merit that was run for some time under the editorship of W. W. Warden.

Mr. Bone, on joining the Herald, took charge of its commercial, local, amusements and literary departments. As the business of the paper increased he resigned those departments, one after another, to others, and on the retirement of Mr. Harris, transferred his labors to the leading editorial department, retaining charge of the literary department also.

In addition to his daily duties on the Herald, Mr. Bone has found time to furnish papers to the Atlantic Monthly on matters of scholarly interest and historical importance, has for the past three years been on the regular staff of Our Young Folks, contributing to it a number of historical articles, prepared with much care and research, and is an occasional contributor to other periodicals.

Mr. Bone published, about sixteen years ago, a small volume of poems, mostly written in boyhood. His after verses, of various characters, are scattered through newspapers and magazines and have never been collected. With the exception of a few political squibs, he has for some years abandoned verse. A work on the oil regions was issued in 1864, and a second, enlarged edition, was published in Philadelphia, in 1865.

Aside from his professional duties as a journalist and the fulfilment of his engagements as a magazine writer, Mr. Bone's literary tastes are chiefly with the older works of English literature. He is a close student of what is known as Early English, delighting in his intervals of leisure to pick from the quaint and curious relics of the earliest English literature bits of evidence that serve to throw some light on the actual social and intellectual condition of our English ancestors four or five centuries ago. He has been for years, and still is, connected with English literary societies for the bringing to light and publishing for the use of the members, unpublished documents of historical and literary value. Of what is know as Elizabethean literature he has been a diligent student. At present he is connected with the management of the Cleveland Library Association and Western Reserve Historical Society.

William W. Armstrong.

William W. Armstrong, one of the present proprietors of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is a native Buckeye, having been born in New Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1833. In his fifteenth year he removed to Tiffin, Seneca county, with the purpose of learning the printing business. In 1852-3, he was appointed to the position of Registrar of the Bank Department in the State Treasurer's office at Columbus. In 1854, he returned to Tiffin and purchased the Seneca County Advertiser, which he made noticeable among the Democratic papers of the State for its vigor and ability. He was recognized among the Democrats of the State as one of their rising men, and in 1862, he was chosen as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, and was elected.

In 1865, having completed his term of office and returned to editorial life, he purchased the material and good will of the Plain Dealer, which had suspended publication, and set about bringing it back to its old prosperity and position among the journals of the State. His efforts were crowned with success. The reputation of the paper for boldness and ability, which had been affected by the death of its founder, was restored, and the business knowledge and tact which Mr. Armstrong brought to bear upon its management before long put its affairs in a healthy state and established the journal on a good paying basis. Although a strong partisan in politics, Mr. Armstrong recognizes the importance of fairness and courtesy, and hence he has the personal good will of his professional and business rivals as well as associates.

In 1868, Mr. Armstrong was elected delegate at large to the Democratic National Convention which nominated Horatio Seymour for the Presidency.

Frederick W. Green.

Frederick W. Green, the associate of Mr. Armstrong in the proprietorship and editorship of the Plain Dealer, was born in Fredericktown, Frederick county, Maryland, in 1816. In 1833, he removed to Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio. Becoming identified with the Democratic party he was elected by that party Auditor of Seneca county, and retained that position six years. In 1851, he was elected to Congress from the Seneca district, and in 1853, was re-elected. At the close of his term he was appointed Clerk of the newly organized United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. In this position he remained twelve years.

In 1867, he purchased an interest in the Plain Dealer, and at once entered upon editorial duties on that paper in connection with Mr. Armstrong. Their joint labors have made the paper the Democratic organ of Northern Ohio. Mr. Green, during his fourteen years residence in Cleveland, has been reckoned among its most respectable citizens, and possesses many warm friends irrespective of political differences of opinion.

Index.