USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Catholicity in northern Ohio and in the diocese of Cleveland from 1749 to December 31, 1900, Volume II, pt1 > Part 10
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"Her air had a meaning, her movements a grace; You turned from the fairest to gaze on her face; And when you had once seen her forehead and mouth, You saw as distinctly her soul and her truth."
Some of the personal characteristics of Mr. Anthony Carlin are honesty and directness of speech and act, simplicity of manner, kindness and generosity, and a marked respect for the convictions and opinions of others. As well because of his own tolerant nature as because his experience attests the fact, he is proud to be able to state that his Catholicity, though well known, has never been a hindrance to him in his business, but that, on the contrary, it has always been a great aid. Naturally honest, his religion imparts to that virtue a supernatural character, and it at the same time enables him to have the credit of it even among non-Catholics. He there- fore enjoys a twofold advantage, the reflex effect of the virtue on himself, and the direct effect which it has in the way of his reputa- tion in business. He therefore concludes that no Catholic business man in this day and country need fear to suffer in trade because of his faith. If he suffers loss it will not be because he is known to be a practical and consistent Catholic.
These thoughts are Mr. Carlin's, casually expressed, and they imply more than the reader may gather at first glance. They hint that the man who conceives them must necessarily be an observer of both men and situations. He must have a clear, fair, logical mind. Fortunately Mr. Carlin is of just such mental make-up. He has succeeded in business more because he is a thinker than be- cause of his muscle, or his practical skill as a mechanic. Through numerous assistants he personally conducts his large business, a feat which requires pronounced directive and executive ability.
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THE VERY REV. ALEXIS CARON.
It is fifty-two years since the late Father Caron was adopted into the Diocese of Cleveland, 1848-1900; it is twenty-seven years since he passed to his reward, 1873-1900; and yet there are large numbers of Catholics in Cleveland, Sandusky, and other places where he labored, who are mindful of him and who bless him for his great zeal and his many good works. This fact means much both for the character of that good priest and for the individuals who have not forgotten him.
Alexis Caron was born, December S, 1802, at Bilquem, in the Diocese of Arras, France. His parents, as if inspired, marked him from the first for the priesthood. From earliest childhood he, too, took kindly to the notion of the ecclesiastical state, and was docile and assiduous during the years of his college course. After finish- ing his humanities in the Petit Séminaire of St. Omer he took up his theological studies. Joining the religious order now known as the "Fathers of Mercy," he finished his divinity course and was ordained priest in 1827.
Father Caron's pastoral career in France inay be thus out- lined: The revolution of 1840 scattered the members of the religious society to which he belonged, and they sought homes and fields of labor in various parts of the country. The subject of this mention continued with the bishop of Arras, who appointed him curate in a small parish at Flechin in the Canton of Fauquem- berg. Later he was transferred in like capacity to minister at Wimille. After over twenty years of labor in his native France, the opportunity was afforded him of carrying out his long- cherished desire of joining the American missions. Accordingly he offered himself and was received into the Diocese of Cleveland by Bishop Rappe. The date of his arrival was November, 184S.
Ilis record in his new field began with his appointment as superior of the diocesan seminary. He remained in charge of that institution until June, 1856, seven and one-half years, when he was granted a six months' leave of absence to visit his native land. On his return, January, 1557, he was appointed pastor of Holy Angels' Church, Sandusky, where he labored during more than four years. In May, 1861, he went to Painesville to reside
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THE VERY REV. ALEXIS CARON
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with Father Coquerelle, who was then pastor. Although assigned to no regular charge, he volunteered to attend Ashtabula, where he ministered to the people. 1861-62. He was Administrator of the diocese during Bishop Rappe's visits to Europe, 1862-67, and from November, 1869, to August, 1870. He was, for about twenty years, one of Bishop Rappe's Vicars-General. From 1869 until his death, December 21, 1873, he resided at Charity Hospital, Cleve- land, where he acted as chaplain whenever he was able, during his last illness. His remains are interred in St. John's Cemetery. Cleveland, where a monument erected by his brother priests marks his last earthly resting place.
The Very Rev. Alexis Caron was a very zealous, devout, and prayerful man. His faith was as remarkable as was that of Bishop Rappe, and his charity, in the sense of love, was quite consuming. He surely loved his spiritual children as he loved himself, which was an earnest of his great love for God. While not lacking in strength of character, he was noted for his gentleness and tender- ness, and for his great desire to have the youth properly instructed in the truths of religion and inspired with a love for its Divine Founder. Those priests who knew him intimately as superior of St. Mary's Seminary and on the mission, and the laity to whom he ministered, bear testimony to his good life and deep piety, and to all those qualities of head and heart which are expected to adorn the character of the true priest. Plain, prayerful Father Caron will not soon be forgotten in the Diocese of Cleveland. The sweet aroma of his saintly life will be wafted from generation to genera- tion, evidencing the truth of the saying that the just shall be in everlasting remembrance.
"In life our absent friend is far away; But death may bring our friend exceeding near, Show him familiar faces long so dear, And lead him back in reach of words we say."
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MR. AND MRS. JOHN CARR. -
The degree of satisfaction afforded several by having their parents deemed worthy of biographical mention in this work, is measurably heightened in the case of the author of this volume by his enjoying the opportunity and pleasure of recognizing, not only their career, but also some of the qualities which were prominent in the character of his progenitors.
The late Mr. John Carr, of Toledo, Ohio, was a native of the county of Longford, Ireland. His parents were Patrick and Nancy (Hughes) Carr, who reared a numerous and creditable family. When he was twenty-one years old he was married, at Cloonfannon, Leitrim county, to Miss Ann McGuiness, a young lady reared and educated there. Her parents were Edward and Nancy (Kinney) McGuiness. She, with a sister and one brother. comprised the children. The sister having been provided with her marriage portion, the elder McGuiness was free to divide his land equally between the remaining daughter and son. He did so, and thus that daughter's husband. John Carr, became a county Leitrim farmer.
Mr. and Mrs. John Carr for a time enjoyed moderate temporal prosperity, and in the natural order they were happily mated. They reared a family of six, three sons and three daughters. „.In the order of birth they were christened: Bridget. Catherine, James M., Edward, Michael W., and Annie L. After the emigration of the family to this country, Bridget became Mrs. James McPartland, of Toledo, Ohio; Catherine, Mrs. James Malloy, of Indianapolis, Indiana ; and Annie L .. Mrs. Edward J. Phillips, of Toledo, Ohio. All have passed away except Mrs. Phillips and the writer.
The "bad times" of 1847-50 in Ireland, occasioned largely by the failure of the crops, had a maddening effect on the landlords, thereby rendering the condition of their serfs, the tenantry, cor- respondingly deplorable. Many thousands were dispossessed of their land holdings through their inability to pay the rackrents demanded, and John Carr was among this large army of unfortunates. In addition, his stone dwelling, erected by himself, was razed to the ground by the "Crowbar brigade." lest his family
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should later find shelter in it; and a further evidence of landlord malice was the feudal ukase that, under pain of eviction, forbade the undisturbed tenantry to harbor or aid the evicted families. In consequence more people were without food and shelter in Ireland during those years than at any other period of its checkered history since English domination. American vessels were in the Irish offings freighted with supplies for the starving and landlord-cursed people, but the British local authorities delayed or red-taped the distribution of relief until the highways were strewn with the carcasses of thousands of men, women, and babes who died from starvation and exposure, that landlord rapacity might be sated, and indirect religious proscription gratified.
Confronted with such a sad state of affairs, and tagged, as were others, as "a mere Irish Catholic," what was John Carr to do! Husbanding his very scanty means, which were derived in great part from the sale of what personal belongings remained to him. he left a modicum to keep the wolf from the cabin door of his young family, and with the remainder he set out. in company with his two brothers, Thomas and James, for America. A younger brother, Captain Michael Carr, had preceded them, and was engaged in sailing a line of boats out of Toledo, Ohio, on the Wabash and Erie canal. The Carr brothers, with the exception of James, who went to Chicago, and yet resides there, joined in the business and continued it until the Wabash railroad, as a rival carrier, rendered it unprofitable. Captain Michael Carr died at Lafayette. Indiana. He was unmarried. Captain Thomas Carr reared a family and died in Toledo, where also the subject of this sketch passed to his reward August 23, 1885, when he was seventy-five years old.
With the first money earned by John Carr in America he paid the passage to this country of his oldest daughter, Bridget. This of course was in addition to his providing for those who remained behind. He soon was able to bring to him his second oldest daughter, Catherine. It was not, however, until 1861, that he was able to save money enough to bring out the balance of the family. Accordingly, June 21, 1861, he had the happiness of seeing himself surrounded by his wife and six children in Toledo, where a home was provided, and a kind Providence made ample
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requital for all the sufferings they had endured at the hands of alien rulers in their native land.
If John Carr showed himself worthy of his trust and responsi- bility as the head of a family, from which family fortune early turned away its face, he was more than ably seconded in his efforts by her, of happy memory, who was his helpmate and the faithful Christian mother of his children.
"She never found fault with him, never implied His wrong by her right; and yet men at her side Grew nobler, girls purer, as through the whole town The children were gladder that pulled at her gown."
She was a peace-loving, kind, and motherly woman, from whose eyes was never shut out by darkest cloud the bright star that both pointed out the way of duty and inspired love and hope. Her gentle heart was a fountain of wifely and maternal affection and tenderness. She was never known to speak uncharitably or even unkindly of a neighbor ; and if this can be said of her touching the outside world how truly considerate and loving must she have been to those who were bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh. A man may respect, honor, and revere his good father, but for such a woman as Ann (McGuiness) Carr, it is impossible for her son not to recall with tenderest emotion the picture of her beauti- ful life, and the aroma of the many virtues which adorned her character. She was an humble, prayerful, and intensely Catholic woman. She passed away at her home, in Toledo, July 4, 1877, when she was sixty-four years old.
John Carr might be said to have been a fairly well educated man. He was a very interesting conversationalist and a voracious reader of good books. He delighted in controversial works. Aside from these "The Primacy of the Apostolic See Vindicated" was his favorite textbook. Few laymen were his equals in discuss- ing the groundwork and history of the Catholic Church and its incontrovertible claims to primacy and Apostolicity. To him; even in the aspect of a human society, it was the greatest organiza- tion in the world, while in its spiritual character and mission it was, indeed, divinely established, guided, and preserved. His devotion to the Church and his solicitude for everything connected with it were so marked that he grew impatient when those whom he regarded as quite incapable essayed an explanation of its doctrine.
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MR. CHARLES D. CARROLL
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It was a favorite aphorism with him to repeat, if not verba- tim, at least in substance, that, "The nearer a person attains to immunity from passion, the greater is his or her power for good." This he would follow with its corollary that, "Anger is as weak as grief, since both mean that we have been wounded and have suc- cumbed." The practice of a certain local priest to invite non- Catholics to lecture on moral and semi-religious topics before his congregation always met with Mr. Carr's disfavor, if not his positive opposition. He held that, "What a man does not know and practice he can not teach effectively to others." Because of such things he was often angry in the sense of being indignant. but never was his anger a soul distemper. He was neither vindic- tive, nor given to defense of himself. On the contrary, his nature was unselfish, genial, and social, and it was his custom to salute everyone, even in the streets.
John Carr was a charitable, patriotic, manly man. He was very handsome; and the regret is that his portrait can not be presented here, because, owing to his notion of modesty, he always refused to sit for a picture.
MR. CHARLES D. CARROLL.
The capable and painstaking superintendent of the Catholic cemeteries, of Cleveland, Ohio, is very appropriately mentioned here in the person of Mr. Charles D. Carroll. For nearly twenty years he has been in charge of Catholic burial-places in Cleveland. He has always proved himself a valuable lieutenant to the Rev. Chancellor George F. Houck, who has been the efficient manager of St. John's and St. Joseph's cemeteries since 1878, and of Calvary cemetery since 1893. Through the directive and systematizing ability of Father Houck, and Mr. Carroll's faithful discharge of his duties as superintendent. these cities of the dead have been made places noted for orderly arrangement, system, and beauty. They are veritable parks, beautifully laid out, and studded with monuments whereon the imagination fancies angel fingers as hav- ing written the epitaphs of the departed.
The subject of this sketch is the second oldest of seven children born to Thomas and Annie (Denine) Carroll, at Lowell,
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Massachusetts. His natal day was .April 15, 1840. He received an excellent education at Cambridge, and was intellectually abreast of his cousin. the late Rev. Frank A. Quinn, of Fall River, Massa- chusetts, and of his brother, the Rev. W. H. Carroll. S. J., of George- town, D. C. He subsequently became a silk hat manufacturer. a business which he followed in St. Louis, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. In 1872 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he con- tinued in his line of trade until called to his present position.
In 1874, at East Cambridge, Massachusetts, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hawkes, a young lady of culture and good family. Returning to Cleveland their union was blessed, in later years, with a family of four, three boys and one girl. The boys, enjoying the advantages of excellent home training and good education, have grown up a credit to their parents. Charles F. has chosen law as his profession; William K. is a dental surgeon; Thomas J. is engaged in commercial pursuits; and Miss Helen Antoinette is a teacher in the high school, at Conneaut, Ohio. Miss Carroll is a capable instructor who combines with intellectual ability and great conscientiousness the quality of being able to govern well, and at the same time retain the respect and love of her pupils.
Mrs. Carroll is a lady of refinement, practical good sense, and marked domestic qualities. In the rearing of their children she has not only been an aid to her husband in the work of developing their character, but in many respects also her influence and motherly sway have been most potent in smoothing the little asperities and rounding off those angularities which are insepara- ble from the early life of all children. By her happy methods and knowledge of human nature she has mildly restrained them, and at the same time impressed them with both the duty and becoming- ness of obedience, and the necessity of respect for superiors and reverence for religion. The results of her teaching and example are happily evidenced in their lives.
Superintendent Carroll is a gentleman of excellent character. many attainments, unquestioned integrity, and marked faithful- ness. He brings to the discharge of the duties of his responsible position an equipment which, from the beginning, assured his signal success. Being agreeable, prompt. and reliable, he has
وحد البن
الدعليجابر يوما الدارلا تعد ٠٠٠٠٠
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MR. AND MRS. DAVID J. CHAMPION.
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given satisfaction not only to the manager of the cemeteries, the Rev. Father Houck, and to the several pastors, but also to those whom bereavement has brought into business relations with him. This close and very satisfactory relationship has continued since the day he became superintendent, and it bids fair to continue so long as his health and strength will enable him to fill his position, which it is hoped will be for many more years. That position adds to Mr. Carroll's native thoughtfulness, renders tender his sympathies, and makes more manifest his religious fervor. With the poet he can truly say :
"Though a veil of shadow hangs between The hidden life and what we see and hear, Let us revere the power of the unseen, And know a world of mystery is near."
MR. DAVID J. CHAMPION.
The subject of this sketch is of such consequence as a prom- inent Catholic of Cleveland, and as an extensive manufacturer, he being the president of The Champion Rivet Company, that not only himself, but also his ancestors, deserve mention in this work.
Since the days of Cromwell of unsavory memory, Mr. David J. Champion's ancestors on his father's side stood high in the county of Tipperary, Ireland. They early became connected with the Established Church of England in Ireland, and were in great favor with the ruling class and the nobility. His grandfather was an educated man who for years expounded the new catechism of King Henry and Cranmer to his Sunday school class. By teach- ing others he taught himself also, for he found himself investigat- ing theological and historical questions. He kept on delving and thinking until by the force of his logic, aided by God's grace, he abandoned the heresy of the Established Church of England, and with his wife and their eight children was baptized into the Catholic Church.
Grandfather Champion fully realized his position and the consequences it entailed. It was temporal success on the one hand, of eternal loss on the other. He nobly sacrificed all his worldly prospects and adhered to the truth. He was the agent of one of
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the leading landlords, and had the use of twenty acres of land, rent free. He was entitled to carry firearms, which was a high privilege in that day. He stood well with the governing and influential class; but lo! as soon as he forsook the new doctrine by becoming a Catholic he lost all temporal and social favor. He was dispos- sessed of his land, was deprived of the privilege to bear arms, and was, moreover, disfranchised and practically expatriated. He had to begin life anew in his fifty-fifth year, and to do this he emigrated with his family to the United States, locating at Springfield. Massachusetts.
One of Grandfather Champion's sons, Thomas by name, was married at Springfield, Massachusetts, to Miss Bridget Tobin. They removed to Cleveland, in 1847, and took their place among the pioncer Catholics of that city who then attended the first Catholic Church there, old St. Mary's on the "Flats." The youngest of five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Champion. is Mr. David J. Champion, who is here mentioned as a fitting representative of the family.
He was born April 27, 1861, and is now in the vigor of his manhood. He was educated in the Cathedral schools, and in the Cleveland Spencerian College, where he compassed the commer- cial course, including phonetic writing, in which he excelled. He connected himself with the Telegraph Supply Company, and later with the engineering department of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. Finally he entered the employ of the Cleve- land Rolling Mill Company, which company he served for over nineteen years both in the office and as traveling representative. In April, 1895, he organized the Champion Rivet Company. associating with him Mr. Wilson B. Chisholm and Mr. E. S. Page. Mr. Page has since withdrawn, and Mr. Champion and Mr. Chisholm are the sole owners of the business. The Champion Rivet Company manufactures all kinds of rivets and is the only enterprise of its kind in the United States. It bids fair to rank among the most prosperous business ventures of the day.
Mr. David J. Champion was married, May 15, 18SS, in St. John's Cathedral, Cleveland, by Mgr. Thorpe, to Miss Rose, the second oldest daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Peter Daly. Like himself she is a native of Cleveland, and like him, too, she was baptized in the Cathedral, and there also made her first Holy
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Communion. Mrs. Champion was educated in the Ursuline Convent in her native city, where she took the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Her training and culture, backed by good sense, have served to substitute the practical for the theoretical in her life. She is charmingly domestic, finding in her home duties and surround- ings that sweetness and satisfaction which can be found nowhere else. To Mr. and Mrs. Champion have been born four children : David Joseph, Rose Ethel, Eleanor Marie, and Thomas Pierre.
The characteristics of Mr. David J. Champion are such as to commend him to the appreciative. He is plain, but practical, and is more cautious than venturesome. Reliable, steady, and conser- vative, he exhibits those qualities which are solid and lasting and which win success independent of "good fortune." Sound business principles faithfully adhered to and carried out appeal to his judgment as far outranking the whims of so-called "good luck." He believes that nothing can be accomplished without labor, and that money taken and not earned can not be honestly retained. In other words, he holds to the principle that full measure and . good value must be given to both do and retain business. This is honesty in tangibilities. In the higher sense he is equally honest and loyal. With him the ties of home, of friendship, and all the moral and social obligations hold with such force of duty and con- viction that neither opposition nor temptation can disturb them. The conscientiousness and decision of character which ennobled the life of his grandfather, and which blessed his father with a contented spirit, appear to be reflected in the subject of this personal mention.
THE REV. CHARLES VINCENT CHEVRAUX.
The pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church, Toledo, Ohio, the Rev. Charles Vincent Chevraux, was born in the little hamlet of Mandeure, in the eastern part of France, January 22. 1848. His parents. August and Justine (Poinsot) Chevraux. emigrated with their family to the United States, in 1854, and settled near Louisville, in Stark county, Ohio. It was there, in his sixth year, that the lad Chevraux began his American citizen- ship, and it was there also that he subsequently laid the educational foundation for his career as a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland.
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The local schools afforded him his primary training. He later continued his advanced studies in Louisville College, from which he graduated in the classics in 1870. In September of that year he was received into St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleve- land, where he pursued his philosophical and divinity courses during four years. At the close of the term of 1874 he was declared ready for ordination by the director of the seminary. Bishop Gilmour was then sojourning at St. Mary's Academy, Notre Dame, Indiana, where he was convalescing from a serious illness. The young seminarist journeyed thither and was ordained priest by that prelate in the chapel of the Academy, August 8, 1874.
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