But it must not be supposed that this prosperity was uninterrupted throughout Mr. Crittenden's business life. There were dark storms which threatened disastrous wreck, and nothing but stead-fastness of purpose and force of character brought him through. In 1836 the financial tornado swept over the land and stripped nearly every business man bare. When the storm was at its height Mr. Crittenden found himself with fifty thousand dollars of New York debts past due, and without the money to pay them. Collections were cut off, and whilst he was thus unable to raise the means from his debtors, his creditors were likewise stopped from pouncing upon him. Other men in like condition were compounding with their creditors, and thus getting out of their difficulties by partial repudiation. Mr. Crittenden declined to avail himself of the opportunity, and, in course of time, his creditors were paid in full, though that result was brought about by years of toil, of steady, persistent application to business, of shrewd financiering, and of rigid economy.
In his early days in Cleveland he was chosen one of the village trustees. In 1828, when he held that office, and Richard Hilliard was president of the Board of Trustees, the members gathered one afternoon in an office and voted an appropriation of two hundred dollars to put the village in proper order. Great was the outcry at this wastefulness, on the part of some of the tax payers. One of the old citizens, who yet lives, met Mr. Crittenden and wanted to know what on earth the trustees could find in the village to spend two hundred dollars about. At a later date, when Cleveland was a city and Mr. Crittenden a member of the Council, it was voted to appropriate ten thousand dollars to protect the lake front from encroachments by the lake. Again was Mr. Crittenden met and upbraided for his extravagance in municipal affairs, such conduct tending to bankrupt the city.
It is Mr. Crittenden's pride that he has had no serious litigation, his care in making contracts having saved him the unpleasant necessity of resorting to legal means to compel his debtors to fulfil their obligations. But whilst looking thus sharply after his own interests, avarice or parsimony has formed no part of his character, and he has been liberal according to his means.
William A. Otis.
William A. Otis was one of those pioneer business men, who settled in Ohio during the dark times which followed the war of 1812. He was one of those to whom we owe much, but of whom the present generation know little; who without capital or education gave an impetus to the Western settlement, by integrity, personal energy, economy, and good sense. By force of character alone, which was their only capital, they wrought such wonders that the wilderness was literally transposed into fruitful fields.
Mr. Otis left his paternal home in Massachusetts, about the year 1818, on foot, to seek a home in the West. Having reached Johnstown, in the Allegheny Mountains, he hired for a few months as man of all work, in an iron establishment, and thence set forward, travelling as before, by way of Pittsburgh, to the township of Bloomfield, in Trumbull county, Ohio. His physical constitution was equal to the labors of a new country, which had nothing to recommend it but a rich soil, and which required above all things perseverance and hard work. He cleared land, furnished the settlers with goods, for which they paid in ashes, or wheat, and kept a comfortable tavern for the accommodation of travelers. The ashes were manufactured by himself into "black salts" or impure potash, more often styled "Pots," which was the only strictly cash article in the country. It was necessary to haul the casks of potash to the mouth of Beaver river, or to Pittsburgh, from whence they drifted on flat boats down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, and from thence were shipped to New York. Much of the teaming he did himself.
The "Pots" were exchanged at Pittsburgh for goods, or if shipped furnished a credit for the purchases, with which his wagon was loaded, on the return to Bloomfield. Currency did not in those days enter into the course of trade, because there was barely enough of it in the country to pay taxes. Mr. Otis was frequently obliged to furnish his customers with cash for this purpose. When the Erie Canal was finished to Buffalo, the wheat of the settlers on the Reserve, for the first time, became a cash article. They had an abundance of grain, which they were glad to dispose of at twenty-five cents a bushel, payable principally in goods. The canal furnished a better outlet for potash than the river. Mr. Otis determined to try a venture in flour at New York, which he considered the first lot sent there from the Reserve.
There were no flour barrels, and no coopers, at Bloomfield, but a few miles north towards the lake there was a good custom grist mill. He went into the woods, cut an oak tree, set his men to saw it into blocks of the right length, from which the rough staves were split. The wheat which his customers brought in, was stored at the mill and ground. When the cooper stuff was seasoned, the barrels were made, rough enough, but strong, and his stock of flour and potash hauled through the mud thirty-five miles to the mouth of Ashtabula creek. A schooner was at anchor outside, and as soon as his venture was on board, he took passage with it to Buffalo, and by canal to New York. The New York dealers were surprised and gratified, for they perceived at once the capacity of a new country on the shores of Lake Erie, of which they had hitherto only known in theory, not in practical results. In quality the flour was not behind that of the Genesee country, which seemed a wonder in their eyes. They purchased it readily and offered every encouragement to the trade and the trader. In process of time, wool and pork were added to the staples for the New York market. It was by this course of incessant activity during near twenty years of country business, coupled with a sure judgment, that Mr. Otis gradually acquired a moderate money capital. In 1835 or 1836, he came to this city, with his hard earned experience in traffic, and with more ready cash than most of our produce dealers then possessed, and entered upon a wider field of enterprise. He continued to purchase and sell the old class of articles, pork, flour and potash, to which iron soon became an important addition. His capital and experience brought him at once into connection with many public enterprises, which became necessary to an expanding country, especially such as relate to transportation. One of the earliest tumpikes in northeastern Ohio was made through Bloomfield, from Warren to Ashtabula. Steamers made their appearance on Lake Erie, and the Ohio canal extended navigation into the interior. In all these auxiliaries to trade in the heavy products of the country, Mr. Otis had a friendly interest, and when railways began to be discussed he saw their value at once. Finally, after his usual deliberation, he decided that the manufacture of iron was a safe and profitable business at Cleveland; he became the pioneer iron master of the place, with the usual result of his operations--a large profit on his investment.
This example and success laid the foundation of iron manufactures here. It required something more than the talents of a shrewd country merchant, or of a mere money lender, to foresee the coming wants of trade in a growing State, to invest in its banks, railroads and manufactures, and to render all these investments profitable. With his increase in wealth there was in Mr. Otis no increase of display, and no relaxation of the economy of early life, but an increasing liberality in public charities, particularly those connected with religion. When compared with the briskness of modern traffic he was slow and cautious; but having finally reached a conclusion he never flagged in the pursuit of his plans. He belonged to a past generation, but to a class of dealers whose judgment and perseverance built up the business of the country on a sure basis. In the midst of a speculative community in flush times, he appeared to be cold, dilatory, and over cautions, but he saw more clearly and further into the future of a business than younger and more impulsive minds, who had less experience in its revulsions.
For a number of years previous to his death Mr. Otis was largely interested in the banking business of the city. He took a prominent part in the organization of the State Bank of Ohio, was the originator of the Society for Savings in Cleveland, and was for thirteen years its president, and at the time of his death was president of the Commercial National Bank. He was also connected with the banking firm of Wicks, Otis & Brownell.