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GC 977.102 C59cle v. 2 1459217
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02481 1033
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/clevelandohiopic02unse
CLEVELAND OHIO
PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
DE LUXE SUPPLEMENT
V.2
VOLUME II.
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CHICAGO AND CLEVELAND THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1910
1459217
ChicBook Store $ 2500 7.3.68 2 Vols. Inv. 2540-Phones.
General James Barnett
N enumeration of. those men of the present generation A who have won honor and public recognition for them- selves and at the same time have honored the state to which they belong would be incomplete were there failure to make prominent reference to the one whose name initiates this paragraph. He holds distinctive precedence as a leading banker and merchant of Cleveland and as a valiant and patriotic soldier, who in every relation of life has borne himself with such signal dignity and honor as to gain him the re- spect of all. He has been and is distinctively a man of affairs and one who has yielded a wide influence. At the present time his rela- tion to the public life of the city is that of director of the First Na- tional Bank and of president of the extensive hardware business con- ducted under the name of The George Worthington Company.
General Barnett was born June 20, 1821, at Cherry Valley, New York. His father, Melancthon Barnett, was born in Amenia, Dutchess county, New York, in 1789, and when six years of age was taken, with others of the family, to Oneida county, New York, where he remained until 1812. He then located at New Hartford, near Utica, N. Y., where for two years he was engaged as a clerk in the general store. From there he went to Cherry Valley, Otsego county, where he followed merchan- dising in connection with a partner until 1825. In the latter year he removed with his family to Cleveland to accept a clerk- ship in a store just opened by a Mr. May. Later he was admitted to a partnership under the firm style of May & Barnett, which existed until 1834, when they closed out their mercantile interests and began dealing in real-estate, continuing in that line very successfully for many years. In 1844 Mr. Barnett was elected a member of the city council and the same years was elected treasurer of Cuyahoga county and proved himself to be a most capable and scrupulously honest official. He was elected in 1846 and again in 1848. The duties not
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General James Barnett
occupying his entire time, he also filled the office of justice of peace and conducted his real-estate transactions. Almost immediately after leaving the office of county treasurer he was elected a director of the City Bank and from that time until his death took a prominent part in the affairs of that institution. He was one of the best known citizens of Cleveland in his day. Plain in manner, he made no pre- tense at display and detested sham and trickery. The wisdom of his counsel in business circles was highly regarded. A man of wonder- ful vitality and vigor, he lived to the advanced age of more than ninety-two years and at his death was as active as most men twenty years his junior. His death occurred July 1, 1881. At Cherry Val- ley, New York, on the 18th of May, 1815, he had married Miss Mary Clark, a daughter of Captain Clark, who participated in the battle of Bunker Hill and other engagements of the Revolutionary war, so that General Barnett came to his membership with the Sons of the American Revolution. The death of Mrs. Mary Barnett occurred April 21, 1840. By her marriage she became the mother of five children: William Augustus, Martha, Melancthon, Mary and James, but only William A. and James lived to adult age.
The youthful days of General Barnett were spent in Cleveland, which at the time of his arrival contained a population of about seven hundred. He was then four years of age. In due course of time he entered the public schools, where he pursued his education, and when he put aside his text-books his activities and energies were di- rected to the accomplishment of such tasks as were assigned him in the hardware store of Potter & Clark, where he was employed for three years. On the expiration of that period he entered the employ of George Worthington, owner of a hardware store of this city, and through gradual stages of promotion worked his way upward until he was admitted to a partnership under the firm style of George Worth- ington & Company. The business grew and expanded with the growth of the city and he was elected president after the incorpora- tion a few years ago. The death of Mr. Worthington made him senior partner of the firm, of which he is now president.
His military record forms an interesting chapter in his history and he is today one of the oldest representatives of the militia. Having become a member of the Cleveland Grays, he was detailed to artil- lery service in the gun squad of the company in 1839 and served in that capacity until the formation of the Cleveland Light Artillery. He was promoted from time to time until, in 1859, he was commis- sioned colonel of the regiment. The previous year he had been ap- pointed division inspector of the Fourth Division, Ohio Volunteer Militia. Five days after the fall of Fort Sumter the order came
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General James Barnett
from Governor Dennison: "Report with your six guns, horses, cais- sons at Columbus; you to retain colonel's rank." Colonel Barnett lost no time in obeying the command and with his troops went to Marietta, Ohio, remaining at the post there until May, when they were ordered to West Virginia and participated in the battle of Philippi, June 3, 1861, their guns firing the first artillery shots on the Union side in the great Civil war. A contemporary biographer, in speaking of General Barnett's service in defense of the Union, said : "He and his men were at Laurel Hill, June 7th, through the West Virginia campaign July 6th to 17th, which included Belington, July 8th, Carrick's Ford, July 13th and 14th, and the pursuit of Garnett's forces July 15th and 16th. The three months' term of service having expired, the command was ordered to Columbus, Ohio, for muster out late in July. Upon returning to Cleveland the command was received with highest honors and the city council unanimously ten- dered General Barnett and his men a testimonial vote of thanks for their gallant services.
"In August, 1861, General Barnett was commissioned by Gov- ernor Dennison to raise a regiment of light artillery, twelve batter- ies of six guns each, and he at once began the work of recruiting and equipping. Upon the organization of the regiment he was commis- sioned its colonel, September 3, 1861. He reported to General Buell, commanding the Army of the Ohio at Louisville, with four batter- ies, in January, 1862, and was assigned to the command of the Artil- lery Reserve, Army of the Ohio. He participated in the movement to Nashville, Tennessee, February 17, 1862, and in the occupation of that city a month later. He was at Duck River, March 16th to 2Ist, and was thence sent to Savannah, Tennessee, to reinforce the Army of the Tennessee. With his command he was engaged in the terrific battle of Shiloh, April 6th and 7th, and participated in the siege and occupation of Corinth. He then marched his command to Tuscumbia, Florence and Huntsville, Alabama, in June, 1862.
"On July 18, 1862, General Barnett was ordered to Ohio to re- cruit men for the batteries, which had become much depleted. Re- turning with four hundred and four recruits, he was assigned to the staff on General C. C. Gilbert, commanding the Third Corps, Army of the Ohio, as chief of artillery. He was engaged in the pursuit of Bragg to Crab Orchard, Kentucky, October Ist to 15th, and in the battle of Perryville. After this battle he was appointed chief of ar- tillery on the staff of General A. McD. McCook, commanding the right wing, Fourteenth Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, un- til assigned to duty as chief of artillery, Army of the Cumberland, November 24, 1862. He then participated in the Murfreesboro
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General James Barnett
campaign, serving also as chief of ordinance, and was in the great battle of Stone River, December 28th to 30th, and of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862, and January Ist, 2d and 3d, 1863. Then came the Tullahoma campaign, the Chattanooga campaign, the battles of Chattanooga, Orchard Knob, and Missionary Ridge, in all of which General Barnett served with bravery and distinction. For his gal- lant and efficient conduct in these actions he received special com- mendation from General Rosecrans. General Thomas, General Rosecrans' successor, aslo held him in high esteem and placed im- plicit confidence in his military skill, judgment and bravery.
"At the close of these operations he was assigned to the command of the Reserve Artillery, Army of the Cumberland, requiring organ- ization. He organized two divisions and was engaged in this duty at Nashville until mustered out of service October 20, 1864. He then became a volunteer aid-de-camp to General George H. Thomas and participated in the battle of Nashville in November and Decem- ber of that year. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier general 'for gallant and meritorious service during the war.'"
When General Barnett returned home he again became an active partner in the hardware house of George Worthington & Company and contributed largely to its success through his capable manage- ment and unflagging industry. This remains as one of the oldest and most important commercial enterprises of the city and his name was therefore a prominent factor in the wholesale hardware trade here. His resourceful ability also enabled him to carry his efforts into other fields, so that he became prominently connected with iron manufacturing interests and also with banking. In 1872 he was elected a director of the First National Bank and in January, 1876, was chosen to the presidency of that important financial institution, which position he retained until May, 1905, when the bank was re- organized and he withdrew, continuing as a director. In May, 1882, he became a member of the board of directors of the Merchant Na- tional Bank. He was also identified with railway interests, hav- ing in March, 1875, been elected a director of the Cleveland, Colum- bus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railway Company. He was also a director of the Cleveland Iron Mining Company until a few years ago. He is now vice president of the Society for Savings ; president of the Garfield National Memorial Association; and a director of the National Commercial Bank, upon consolidation with the Mer- chants National Bank, and of the Guardian Savings & Trust Company.
On the 12th of June, 1845, General Barnett was united in mar- riage to Miss Maria H. Underhill, a daughter of Dr. Samuel Un-
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General James Barnett
derhill, of Granville, Illinois, and they became parents of five daugh- ters, three of whom are now living: Mary B., the wife of Major Thomas Goodwillie, by whom she had three children; Laura, the wife of Charles J. Sheffield, and the mother of one son; and Carrie M., the wife of Alexander Brown, vice president of the Brown Hoist- ing Company, by whom she has a son and a daughter.
No citizen has ever lived in Cleveland of whom every one speaks so highly as they do of General Barnett who is often referred to as "the grand old man of Cleveland." He is most democratic in spirit. Kind hearted and sympathetic, his aid has never been denied to a worthy charity. During all the years of his residence in Cleve- land he has taken an active and helpful interest in the various meas- ures of public moment. On the Ist of May, 1865, he was appointed by Governor R. B. Hayes one of the police commissioners. He was also appointed one of the early directors of the Soldiers & Sailors Orphans Home established at Xenia, Ohio, and upon the reorganiza- tion of the board he was reappointed one of the trustees by the gov- ernor in 1870. From Governor Allen he received appointment to the directorate of the Cleveland Asylum for the Insane and was one of the trustees of that institution for seven years. He has held few elective political offices, yet in March, 1878, was chosen by popu- lar suffrage as a member of the city council and served for two years. In 1880 he was a delegate to the republican national conven- tion in Chicago, when General James A. Garfield was nominated for the presidency. They had been friends from boyhood and had served together on General Rosecrans' staff. In 1900 he was delegate to the national convention at Philadelphia when Mckinley was re- nominated for president. In 1881, by a joint resolution of congress, General Barnett was made a member of the board of managers of the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and so served un- til the 21st of April, 1884. His interest in military affairs had never ceased and since its organization he has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and also of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion since its establishment in Ohio. He was a member of the monument committee and of its executive committee for the Cuya- hoga county soldiers' and sailors' monument and so served until its · completion. Various municipal interests have benefited by his co- operation and his influence. For many years he has been president of the Associated Charities and also of the Cleveland Humane So- ciety. There is only one other living of the original trustees of the Case Library and General Barnett has served continuously since its establishment. He is one of the trustees of the Western Reserve Historical Society and has cooperated in every movement that he
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General James Barnett
has deemed essential to the welfare of his city or the promotion of its interests along lines of material, political and moral progress. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Union Club. A strong mentality, an invincible courage and a most determined in- dividuality have so entered into his makeup as to render him a nat- ural leader of men and a director of public opinion and while he has now passed the eighty-eighth milestone on life's journey, he still retains a deep interest in public affairs and keeps well informed on all important questions of the day. With a business career extend- ing over more than seventy years his record is without blemish. The simplicity of his manner, his honorable life and his high type of citizenship cannot be pictured in too glowing colors. On the oc- casion of the presentation of his portrait by Samuel Mather, to the Chamber of Commerce in April, 1907, he was proclaimed " the first citizen of Cleveland."
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0 1833 02481 1033
ury Clay Ranney
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Henry C. Ranney
H ENRY C. RANNEY, for more than half a century a member of the Ohio bar, comes of a family noted for the prominent position to which many of its mem- bers have attained in connection with the judicial his- tory of Ohio. While he has reached the eightieth milestone on life's journey, he still continues an ac- tive and influential factor in the life of Cleveland. His law practice was always of an extensive and important character and he was re- markable among lawyers for the wide research and provident care with which he prepared his cases. He has ever been recognized as a man of finely balanced mind and of splendid intellectual attain- ments, and he continues alive to the vital interests and questions of the day, while his sound judgment is manifest in his clear and logical opinions concerning points of law, questions of business expediency or matters which touch the general interests of society.
A native of Ohio, his birth occurred in Freedom, Portage county, June 1, 1829. His father, Elijah W. Ranney, was a merchant and the eldest brother of Judge R. P. Ranney, for many years a distin- guished member of the legal profession in Cleveland, and of the late John L. Ranney, who was not unknown to many as a represen- tative of the bar at Ravenna, Ohio. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Levana Larcomb, was one of the twelve children of Paul and Polly Larcomb, six of whom settled within a radius of six miles of the pioneer home of their parents. They were a strong family, mentally as well as physically, and were conspicuous throughout the community for their good sense, geniality, kindliness and for integrity and uprightness of character. Henry C. Ranney was but six years of age at the time of his father's death in 1836, and was adopted into the family of Hon. R. P. Ranney, who at that time had but recently entered upon his professional career but was already making a name for himself in connection with the legal profession.
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Henry C. Ranney
Henry C. Ranney was at once placed in school and liberal edu- cational advantages were afforded him. He supplemented his liter- ary course by study in the law office of his uncle and after thorough and careful preparation was admitted to the bar in 1852. He then entered into practice in Warren, Ohio, in the office of Judge Birch- ard, and subsequently entered into partnership with his uncle, John L. Ranney, at Ravenna, this association being maintained until the death of the senior partner.
At the time of the 'Civil war Mr. Ranney was appointed, in 1862, by the secretary of war, assistant adjutant general of volunteers and was assigned to duty on the staff of General E. B. Tyler, command- ing the First Brigade, Third Division, Fifth Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He was ordered south and was with his com- mand at the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, in both of which he won honorable mention in General Tyler's reports. He also took part in numerous minor engagements and after two years of active military service resigned and resumed his practice, since which time he has devoted himself assiduously to the interests of his clients. After the death of his uncle, John L. Ranney, he continued in practice at Ravenna until 1872, when he came to Cleveland and formed a partnership with his uncle, Rufus P. Ranney, and the lat- ter's son, John R. Ranney. Some years later Henry C. and John R. Ranney became associated with Henry Mckinney under the firm name of Ranneys & Mckinney. John R. Ranney and Judge Mc- Kinney withdrew in 1890 and Judge R. P. Ranney died in 1894. For some time Henry C. Ranney practiced alone but later became as- sociated with C. W. Fuller. A contemporary biographer has said of him: " From the day he began practice until 1880 Mr. Ranney was one of the most constant, laborious and industrious lawyers in Northern Ohio. His hands were always full of great interests which were never neglected nor slighted but received his personal, constant and unremitting care. His powerful constitution and cheerful tem- per enabled him to work more hours than the majority of attorneys and made it impossible for him to turn any person away who sought his aid and counsel at any time. The consequence was he became over-worked and from sheer lack of rest became prostrated with ner- vous difficulties. For nearly a year, therefore, under the advice of his physician-the famous Dr. Hammond of New York-he sus- pended all mental exertion and made a trip to Europe, traveling ex- tensively on the continent. He returned home thoroughly restored to health. In 1884 he again crossed the ocean with his family and visited all places of interest in the British Isles, Germany, Switzer- land and France." The zeal with which he has devoted his energies
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Henry C. Ranney
to his profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and the assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases brought him a large business and made him very success- ful in its conduct. While an active member of the bar he was rec- ognized as a very able writer; his briefs always showed wide re- search, careful thought and the best and strongest reasons which could be urged for his contention, presented in cogent and logical form and illustrated by a style unusually lucid and clear. It was said of him while he was still in active practice: " He possesses the native abilities which mark the lawyer. He has in remarkable de- gree that equanimity of temper, calmness of insight and judgment and steady mental poise which enabled him naturally and with great ease to carry the lawyer's burden of complicated law and fact along the lines of right, reason and level-headed sense and reach rational conclusions with remarkable force and clearness. He never seeks success at the bar by the arts and affectations of the mere advocate. He is more solid than brilliant and yet so exact and painstaking has been his preparation and so honorable, pure and high-minded has he been in all his life and motives, that he is enabled to put into the cause in hand the most potential factors in all advocacy-a master- ful grasp of his case and the weight of an unsullied character. He excels especially in the practice of railroad and corporation law. He works no less efficiently in the office where through systematic and careful study the pleadings are prepared and prompt business methods are applied, than in the conduct of the cause in court. The uninitiated do not understand how great triumphs at the bar are wrought out in the unseen, quiet laboratory of the office. He is an excellent pleader-the crucial test of a good lawyer." While Mr. Ranney has retired from the active practice of law he is yet closely associated financially and officially with various important business interests and corporations, being a director of the Guardian Trust Company, the Cleveland Stone Company, the Continental Sugar Company, the Cleveland & Mahoning Valley Railroad Company, The Citizens Savings & Trust Company, the Cleveland & Pittsburg Railway Company, and a trustee of The Society for Savings.
Mr. Ranney's home life has been one of unusual happiness, com- fort and good cheer. He was married September 19, 1853, to Miss Helen A. Burgess of Ravenna, Ohio, a granddaughter of the Hon. William Coolman of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Ranney became parents of six daughters and a son. The last named Henry Percival Ranney, who was a young man of brilliant promise and strong in- tellectual attainments, died in January, 1880, in his twenty-first year.
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Henry C. Ranney
Throughout his life in this city Mr. Ranney has been a consistent member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church, is a member of its vestry and a trustee of the northern diocese of Ohio. His religious life finds expression in the uniform practice of the sterling virtues of honesty, justice and truth, and he ever carries into all the relations of life the graces of a charitable and kindly spirit. In Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and has al- ways been loyal to the sublime precepts and moral teachings of the fraternity. He belongs to the Army and Navy Post, No. 187, G. A. R., and is a companion of the Loyal Legion, in which he was senior vice commander in 1903-4. He belongs to the American, Ohio State and Cleveland Bar Associations, while in more strictly social lines he is connected with the Union, the University, Country, Row- fant and Euclid Clubs. He is emphatically a lover of the true, the beautiful and the good in nature, art and society and his influence and efforts have always been on the side of progress and improve- ment. After his return from abroad he was elected the president of the Western Reserve School of Design in Cleveland. He was also appointed a trustee of the Hurlbut and Kelly estates, both of which made large bequests for the erection of an art gallery in Cleve- land. Mr. Ranney is the president of the Cleveland Museum of Art under whose name the gallery will be erected. He is also a trustee of the John Huntington Benevolent Trust, and the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust. He has likewise been a member of the state board of charities and has done excellent work for the Case Library, of which he is one of the trustees. He is a life member of the Chamber of Commerce and cooperates in every movement for municipal progress. He has ever regarded the pursuits of private life as being in themselves worthy of his best efforts, and while his influence has always been on the side of progress, reform and im- provement and in support of those movements which are matters of civic virtue and civic pride, he has preferred that his public service should be done as a private citizen. His is a conspicuously success- ful career. Endowed by nature with high intellectual qualities to which are added the discipline and embellishments of culture, his is a most attractive personality. He is undoubtedly the oldest active member of the Cleveland bar and from the entire legal profession he receives the honor and respect which is accorded only in recog- nition of superior personal and professional merit.
MA Laurence Laurence
Walashington h. Lawrence
W ASHINGTON H. LAWRENCE, deceased, is num- bered among those whose labors were of the utmost benefit to Cleveland through the promotion of the industrial and commercial activities of the city. He was among the first to take up electricity when it became a factor in commercial life and in this con- nection he established and developed one of the most important business enterprises of Cleveland. He manifested splendid powers as an organizer and manager and, with no special advantages at the outset of his career, made a steady progress along lines demanding intellectual force and ability until he stood as one of the foremost manufacturers of the Forest city.
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