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 17
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Mr. William P. Ginther is the son of Stephen and Mary (Horning) Ginther. His father has been a resident of Akron for fifty-two years, and is now seventy-two years old. His mother is in her sixty-eighth year. He was born March 21, 1858, and was married, in 1892, to Miss Emma E. Wohlwend, also a native of Akron. Four children have been born to them, only two of whom, Julian B., and Mary, survive. He received his education in the local schools and in Buchtel College in his native city. From boyhood he evinced a talent for drawing, and was induced by his friends when a youth to take up architecture. He has followed it in all its departments, and has attained in it a high degree of art. Beside the satisfaction of knowing what he knows, he also enjoys the reflex effect of pleasing others by what he does. In addition to this he derives a pleasure from being able to manifest high art in designing temples to be dedicated to the Great Architect of all things.
MR. FRANCIS H. GLIDDEN.
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MR. FRANCIS H. GLIDDEN.
As one prominent among the laity of the Diocese of Cleveland Mr. Francis H. Glidden, a long-time resident of the See city, has been selected as a fit subject for a biographical sketch in this work. He is the founder and president of the Glidden Varnish Company, of Cleveland, a concern that is abreast of the great manufacturing and commercial enterprises for which Ohio's metropolis is noted.
He was born at New Castle, Maine, May 24, 1832. His father was Joseph Glidden, and the maiden name of his mother was Emily Harrington. Her family were residents of Thomaston, Maine. His education was obtained in the common schools and also in the academy of his native village. In early life he followed the sea. Miss Winifred Kavanaugh Waters, also of New Castle, became his bride, in 1854. Her parents were James Sinclair and Margaret (Kavanaugh) Waters. They were among the early residents of Damariscotta Mills in that State. The grandfather of Mrs. Glidden was James Kavanaugh, who, in 1803, was the prime mover in the erection of St. Patrick's Church at that place. The church is yet in a good state of preservation and is of note, not alone because it is the oldest Catholic Church in New England, but also because of the picturesqueness of its location and the memories that cluster around it. It was dedicated by Bishop Cheverns, the first bishop of Boston, who later returned to France and was created a Cardinal. Visitors in that section always make it con- venient to attend old St. Patrick's. Mrs. Glidden is therefore descended of good old Catholic ancestors, both immediate and remote, while Mr. Glidden himself embraced the Catholic faith three years after his marriage. He has since continued happy in his religious convictions.
In 1866, he visited Cleveland, and was so much impressed by its business outlook and its educational advantages that he removed his family to that city, in 18GS. The thousands who have since adopted the "Forest City" as their home can attest the soundness of his judgment as to what Cleveland has in store for all who, as its citizens, have their own and its welfare at heart. The vast wealth of that great city is now largely in the possession of these energetic, appreciative, and public-spirited men. During
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the nearly thirty-three years that Mr. Glidden has been a citizen of Cleveland he has been closely identified with the varnish manufac- turing business. In 1875, he established the nucleus of the present extensive plant of the Glidden Varnish Company. From a small beginning he has witnessed its growth to its present large propor- tions, his energy and executive ability as its founder and president developing and guiding it from the first. At its inception its business sky was somewhat overcast, but it soon cleared up until scarcely a cloud appeared to darken the bright sun of its growing prosperity.
It may be that mere business success is the acme of some men's hopes and efforts, but it is not altogether thus with the gentleman here mentioned. If what he has accomplished were to be measured at all, other fields than those of business would have to be traversed. Happily the native ability by which he has attained to material success he has found by experience to be equally potent in other and higher fields. The social conditions of men, the educational and religious needs of the time, and how best to advance and elevate the masses, have received his attention, and in a quiet way his aid and support. He has traveled some, has at least turned over some of the pages of history, has rubbed up against art, and is by no means indifferent to literature and music. He possesses a large fund of information, and is able to communi- cate what he knows. He well deserves the reputation, which is his, of being a pleasing conversationalist, not alone in the sense of fluency and elegance of speech, but also and especially in that when he speaks he says something. In his character and manner Mr. Glidden combines much of the dignity, polish, and courtesy of the old-school gentleman with the alertness and business energy of the modern man-of-affairs.
The social and domestic side of Mr. Glidden's life has been marked by unalloyed happiness. He has many friends and admirers who are both appreciative and sincere. Naturally, the first and best of these is his good wife, a gift to him from the Lord. Because of the many excellent qualities which adorn her wifehood and motherhood, the intervening forty-six years since their marriage have been a season of uninterrupted conjugal devotion and contentment. Well might they say: "How friendly
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to our higher nature are all things that are simple, kindly, homely, as opposed to such as are factitious and conventional."
Mr. and Mrs. Glidden have been blessed with eight children, four sons and four daughters, all of whom, with one exception, are living and are residents of Cleveland.
THE REV. JOSEPH P. GLODEN.
The Grand Duchy of Luxemburg has contributed a number of priests to the Diocese of Cleveland, and not the least of these, in point of excellence, is Rev. Joseph P. Gloden, pastor of St. John's Church, Defiance, Ohio. He was born in Remerschen, Luxem- burg, January 12, 1842, and made his preparatory and classical studies, and also philosophical course, at Bitche, St. Augustin's College, and in the Grand Seminary at Metz. When, therefore, he came to the United States, in 1866, and entered St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio, he made his theological course and studied the language of the country. His stay in the Seminary was considerably shortened, for, in 1869, September 30th, the records tell of his ordination to the priesthood by Bishop Rappe. In fact he enjoys the distinction of being the last man ordained in the diocese by that great missionary bishop.
The notably active and varied career of Father Gloden in the Diocese of Cleveland for the past thirty-one years is the best evidence of his zeal and his remarkable capacity to adapt himself to peoples and circumstances. Besides the language of the classics, he began his career with a knowledge of German, French and English, and was therefore welcomed by peoples speaking these tongues, and was in demand among them as a preacher and con- fessor. He commenced his priestly labors in a German congrega- tion, St. Peter's, Cleveland, Ohio, where he took temporary charge in the absence of the regular pastor, the late Father Westerholt. He remained until May, 1870, a period of eight months, when his failing health, due to his years of close application to study, neces- sitated a vacation. He visited in his native land for one year, and on his return was placed in charge of the Church of St. Nicholas, at Berwick, in Seneca county. There he built the school, and also the Church of Our Lady of Consolation, at Carey, which was one
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of his missions. For this church he obtained from Rome many privileges, the chief of which are a proper feast with a proper office, and the extraordinary favor of a plenary indulgence every time a person visits it. If not the first, these favors were among the first granted by the present Pontiff, Leo XIII, to any church in the United States. Father Gloden was in charge of Berwick and missions for nearly fifteen years.
In May, 1886, he was transferred to Fostoria, where he enlarged the church, St. Wendelin's, and built the parish school. He remained there until 1891, when he was appointed to St. Joseph's Church at Randolph, in Portage county. In November of that year he was commissioned pastor of St. John's Church at Defiance, and it was there he performed his greatest work. With his parishioners of one mind, he directing them, the labor of build- ing the present magnificent church was undertaken. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Horstmann laid the corner stone, and the edifice was com- pleted in 1895. It is value for over $35,000, but, because of excellent business management, it cost the congregation not over $23,000. The convenience of the structure, its architectural style and dimensions and its plainness in neatness are features that render it remarkable. Another is its cost as distinct from its value, for in the difference ($12.000) is found the evidence of business ability in the pastor and in the building committee who aided him.
During the many years which Father Gloden has spent on the mission he has labored among various peoples and encountered many obstacles. The obstacles he overcame and used as stepping stones to future progress, while his former parishioners are always rejoiced to meet him and recall his fatherly concern for their spiritual and temporal welfare.
· Not alone on account of his venerable personal appearance, which is heightened by his flowing white beard, is he, in kindly jest, referred to by his brother priests as the "Patriarch of the Diocese," but also, and indeed in real earnest, by the laity also, because of his manner and quiet, thoughtful bearing. He is by nature a self- possessed and tolerant man. He is more inclined to gentleness than to anything approaching the harsh or severe, and is noted in consequence as possessing the qualities of a true spiritual father.
Andrew N.
Auna M., M. D.
Philip. MR. AND MRS. JOHN GOEBEL AND FAMILY.
Joseph.
John, Jr.
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MR. JOHN GOEBEL.
Since this work was sent to press the subject of this men- tion passed away, at his home in Lima, Ohio, May 22, 1902. He was in his eighty-third year and was one of the early pioneer Catholics of his adopted city. He aided in building the first Catholic church in Lima. After working all day to provide bread for his little ones, he would labor at night, often until two or three o'clock in the morning, making by hand the door and window frames and the sash and doors for the new house of God. All was a labor of love with him, for he neither asked for nor re- ceived any remuneration whatsoever. And long before that event he befriended all the missionary priests, and was the stanch sup- porter of every Catholic pastor who labored in that field during his residence there of half a century.
When put to the test he was never found wanting. In 1853, when the "Knownothing" movement was inaugurated in this country, and for years appeared to be a part of our body politic, its nefarious aim did not dismay honest, sturdy John Goebel. That aim at first was ostensibly to keep foreigners out of public office, but the underlying purpose, as the history of the movement later developed, was the proscription of Catholics. In those years, when bigotry and intolerance were so prominent in many localities that it was at the risk of life itself to be known as a Catholic, John Goebel and his faithful spouse never for a moment wavered in their faith and practice, but in their constancy and zeal for religion suffered social ostracism and endured the derision and sneers of "friends" and acquaintances in preference to turning their back on their holy religion-a religion in whose cause untold thousands of martyrs have offered up their lives. Fully apprised of these things Mr. and Mrs. Goebel always gave their tithe to help pro- pagate the work of the Master in their newly-chosen home, and they left their sturdy descendants to take up the good work in which they labored so zealously and faithfully.
Mr. John Goebel was born at Kirchheim, Bavaria, February 23, 1820. In 1846, he was married to Miss Mary Anna Borst, who was born at Kleinrinderfeld, in the same country, August 17, 1820. She passed to her reward at Lima, August 10, 1898, when she
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lacked but one week of completing her seventy-eighth year. She was a devoted Catholic mother and a model of all the domestic virtues. Her life was truly Christian.
In 1847, Mr. and Mrs. Goebel left their native land, arriving at Quebec, Canada, after a tedious ocean voyage of four months. Making only a short stay there, they came to the United States and took up their abode at Rochester, New York. After a few years they pushed farther west, into Pennsylvania, locating at Carlisle, near Harrisburg, where Mr. Goebel engaged in farming pursuits. Again in 1851, they removed to Kenton, Ohio, and thence in 1852, to Lima in the same State, where they made their permanent home.
Mr. Goebel worked at his trade as a cabinet maker, in which calling he was an adept. He later embarked in mercantile pur- suits in which he was successful. At the breaking out of the rebellion of 1861-65, he joined the 81st Ohio Regiment to do battle for the Union. He served for about one year, when he was honorably discharged on account of disabilities received in the service. Having recuperated after the close of the war, he was twice elected a member of the City Council, in which capacity his ability and honesty were highly appreciated by his fellow citizens. He was also a member of the Board of Trade for several years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Goebel was born a family of six, one of whom, Louis F. X., passed away in 1888. The surviving mem- bers are five sons and one daughter. The daughter, Miss Anna M., for seventeen years has been a practicing physician in Lima. After her preparatory training in the local schools she finished her literary education at the Ursuline Convent in Toledo, and subse- quently taught school. She pursued her professional studies at the University of Michigan, where she graduated with honors, taking the degree of Doctor of Medicine. She then took a post-graduate course in the Woman's Medical College, of Philadelphia, and, since 1885, she has been in continuous and successful practice in Lima.
Dr. Goebel is a woman of strong convictions and sterling worth. She has added to her natural endowments by much travel in her native land and in foreign countries. In 1899, she journeyed extensively in Europe visiting the hospitals in many of the prin- cipal cities. the great cathedrals, the shrines, and the art galleries, including the Vatican at Rome.
Of the sons, John G. joined the S1st Ohio Regiment with his
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MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH HACKMAN.
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father, when he was only fourteen years old. Later he was trans- ferred to Company H, 1st Missouri Light Artillery. He fought in seventeen of the principal battles, including that of Shiloh, Corinth, Chickamauga, etc. He was the youngest soldier who participated in "Sherman's March to the Sea." He served faithfully during the war and now resides at Chattanooga, Ten- nessee. Andrew N. is in the government printing office at Wash- ington, D. C. With these exceptions all the others, the Doctor, Joseph, and Philip, reside in Lima.
The Goebel family has always been highly respected in Lima. The individual members have, since childhood, been noted for their Catholicity, their patriotism, and their industry. They were early impressed by, and drank in, the beautiful example of their parents; and today, while the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Goebel is green in the hearts of the people of Lima, the surviving members of the family have added to their own merits the credit of the good Christian lives of their progenitors.
The standing and record of the Goebel family and of thousands of other Catholic families in northern Ohio are the stone wall against which the waves of sectarian prejudice and false wit- ness spend their force and fury to no purpose. Even those who run may read and draw conclusions.
MR. JOSEPH HACKMAN.
Since this sketch was originally written Mr. Joseph Hackman, an early Catholic pioneer, passed to his reward at his home in Cleveland, Ohio, December 7, 1901, having attained to the ripe age of eighty-one years. His journey to the other shore was preceded by that of his faithful wife who died October 10, 1899, when she was in her seventy-sixth year, she, too, having been ranked among the early Catholic pioneers of Cleveland.
Mrs. Hackman's maiden name was Miss Margaret Schwartz. She was born in Germany, in 1824, and when ten years of age was taken to this country. She resided in Cleveland continuously for upward of sixty-five years. Her home and her children were her constant care, and in these respects she evidenced her domestic
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traits, which happily chimed with the lessons taught by religion. As a Catholic mother her virtues were many.
Mr. Joseph Hackman was also a native of Germany. He was born in 1820. When a young man, in his twentieth year, he emigrated to the United States, selecting Cleveland as his per- manent home. This was in 1840. At the time of his demise he was in the sixty-second year of his continuous residence in the See city of the diocese. He witnessed the erection of the first Catholic church in Cleveland, old St. Mary's on the "Flats," and in later years, in his capacity as a practical building contractor, he himself erected more than one of the fine churches, hospitals, and institutions which are the evidences of the zeal and liberality of the Catholic people, and are monuments to religion. He was also among the generous givers, and from his considerable means, which he acquired by honest industry, he contributed liberally in aid of religion and Christian education.
Mr. Hackman was too much of a "family man" to be active in society work, or in politics. It is not known that he was an officer or even a member of any society. In politics he simply voted according to his convictions, seeking no preferment what- ever. The position of councilman for his city he held for but one term, and he coud not be induced to stand for re-election. Things partisan were not to his liking. He was noted for his kindly nature and for probity and simplicity of character. He was an exemplary Catholic and a most excellent citizen.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hackman was born a family of six, only two of whom survive. One died in infancy, and one in early childhood. Joseph A., who was a building contractor, died May 5, 1899, and Frank F., November 2, 1901. The two remaining are Margaret A., who is Mrs. Pfister; and Herman H., who is proprietor of a large leather and shoe findings business in Cleveland. The Hackman family has always been well respected, and in the character of each of its members have always been found those qualities which religion and patriotism inspire. Among these might be promi- nently mentioned honesty in business, respect for the rights of others, and the strict observance of those rules which make for peace and good order in the family, in the social relations, and in the community.
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MR. DENIS J. HALLARAN
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MR. DENIS J. HALLARAN.
A man of very considerable prominence in Catholic and business circles in Cleveland, Ohio, was the late Mr. Denis J. Hallaran of St. Bridget's parish. He was born in that city Novem- ber 14, 1854, and died there September 4, 1895. His parents, Patrick and Johanna Hallaran, were among the early settlers. Although comparatively young when he passed away, he yet had accomplished much.
He was given a fair education in the local schools, after which he learned the lithographic art. For many years he was connected with, and financially interested in, the firm of W. J. Morgan & Co .. of Cleveland, and was, up until his death and for a long time pre- viously, the superintendent and secretary of their large lithographic plant. He was a man of recognized skill in his art, and his pride in it as well as in whatever he undertook seemed to have been the forerunner of his numerous and very creditable successes.
When the diocesan organ, the Cleveland Catholic Universe, stood in great need of reorganization in its business department, Mr. Hallaran was among the leading spirits who nobly undertook the work and carried it through successfully. Both his own money and that also of several of his friends were invested in the enterprise, not with an eye to dividends or interest-they never received either-but rather to maintain for the Diocese of Cleve- land an organ which should speak its bishop's mind and fearlessly defend Catholic truth. If that journal has since accomplished much good, the merit of it, in the minds of many, should not and . can not be entirely disassociated from the public-spiritedness, busi- ness capacity, and true Catholic aim of Mr. D. J. Hallaran and his numerous co-operating friends.
The same spirit which Mr. Hallaran manifested in his success- ful efforts to sustain the diocesan organ he also exhibited touching the establishment and perpetuation of what might be called Catholic and patriotic associations. He labored that such might be instituted and live, and he continued to remain a member, and often an officer, of not a few of them. Having a large acquaintance both in and outside of his native city, and being a man of generous
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impulses, magnestism, and more than ordinary intellect, his influence for good was both felt and gratefully acknowledged.
Mr. Denis J. Hallaran was married in Cleveland, November 14, 1888-his thirty-fourth birthday -- to Miss Katharine A. O'Connor, an accomplished young lady educated in that city, but a native of Newark, New Jersey. Her parents, Patrick and Ellen (McKee) O'Connor, removed with their family to Cleveland, in 1875, where unexceptionable educational advantages were enjoyed by their children. A son became the Rev. J. J. O'Connor of the Diocese of Leavenworth. He died in 1889. The daughter, Katharine A., who became Mrs. Hallaran, and who is a lady of charming manners and personality, was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Cleveland and finished her excellent musical training partly in the Notre Dame Convent and partly under private tutors. Her talents and acquirements, which are of note, she has devoted, first, to the Church in choir work, and, secondly, to the entertain- ment of her many friends. Both as a vocalist and instrumentalist she has been accorded many plaudits.
Of the little family of three, orphaned by the death of Mr. Hallaran, the youngest, a girl-baby, is named Ellen Grace; the two boys are Louis P., and J. Graham Hallaran. They are fortunately well provided for in a worldly sense, and also in that they inherit many of the admirable traits and qualities characteristic of their parents.
THE HANNAN FAMILY.
The members of the Hannan family of Cleveland, Ohio, have been quite prominent in that city for half a century, while for generations in Ireland their ancestors were of note as well for devotion to their native land and to religion as for the advanced education in which they always prided themselves.
The immediate progenitor of the present generation of the family, Mr. Michael Hannan by name, was a native of Barrington Bridge, in the county of Limerick. He died there March 25, 1851. He held the office of postmaster, and his profession was that of teacher in the national schools. The maiden name of his wife was Miss Mary Fitzgerald. After the death of her husband she emigrated with her children to the United States, in 1852, and took
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Michael. Patrick. Rev. John.
Edward. James.
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up her abode in Cleveland, where she passed away August 28, 1885, when she was eighty-four years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. Hannan were blessed with a family of eight, six boys and two girls. One of the girls, Ellen, died in Ireland October 25, 1851. Her remains, with those of her father, rest in Killmurry Cemetery. in their native county. The other children, emigrating with their mother, became later well known in the city of Cleveland. They were all more or less talented. The education of each was far beyond the common.
On the death of the elder Hannan in Ireland, his son James took his place both as postmaster and as teacher in the local national school. He taught in Cleveland also, where he died February 9, 1898. Patrick passed away also in the same city May 3, 1898. Edward was 2nd sergeant, Company B, Sth Ohio Regiment, in the war of 1861-65. He subsequently removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he yet resides. Thomas was an orderly sergeant in the 10th Ohio Regiment and was close to Gen. Rosecrans during the war. He became a doctor of medicine and for years was a practicing physician in Cleveland. During the administration of Mayor Buhrer, 1872-74, he was in charge of the Department of Health. He died in Cleveland May 11, 1887. Mary became a member of the Ursuline Community in Cleveland. Her name in religion was Sister St. Maxim. She passed away September 14, 1883, and her remains repose in the cemetery of the Community at Nottingham.
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