USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II > Part 102
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On the 22d of February, 1906, Mr. Rigo was married to Miss Kathelin O'Shea. Mr. Rigo is a member of Bigelow Lodge, No. 54, A. F. & A. M., and a Chapter Mason. He is fond of horseback riding and this furnishes him his principal recre- ation from strenuous business cares.
. WILLIAM PARMELEE MURRAY.
William Parmelee Murray, a member of the firm of Pickands, Mather & Company and a leading and well known man of extensive business affairs, is a descendant of one of the old, prominent and well known families of the West- ern Reserve. He is of Scotch-Irish extraction and his ancestors on both sides were early settlers of the eastern section of Pennsylvania. John Murray, the grandfather of William P. Murray, was the founder of the family in Olio, traveling to this state from the eastern part of Pennsylvania, making the jour- ney with an ox team. He settled near Concord, Lake county, establishing his home in the wilderness. At that time money was very scarce in the new coun- try and the farmers wishing to obtain money for exchange instead of skins, etc., which were used as current funds, sent a drove of cattle to the eastern market in Philadelphia and vicinity. John Murray was quick to note the possibilities of that line of business and he continued to buy cattle, drive them to Chester and Lancaster counties, Pennsylvania, and there dispose of them to the farmers for fattening purposes. This he continued for a number of years and established thereby a successful business. Eventually he entered the field of banking, or- ganizing the First National, now the Painesville National Bank. He had almost unlimited credit with the banks of Cleveland and with all with whom he trans- acted business.
Robert Murray II (the number being used to designate him because an uncle had the same name) was the father of William Parmelee Murray. With some of his brothers he succeeded to the business of driving cattle to the eastern mar- kets and carried it on very successfully until the introduction of railroads ren- dered it unprofitable. He was one of the heaviest dealers in that line in the Western Reserve and carried a great deal of cash in his saddle bags while trav- eling from place to place. Like his father, he had almost unlimited credit. During the days of the Civil war he did an immense business in driving cattle over the Allegheny mountains to be used as beef in the eastern markets. For some time he was connected with the bank of Painesville, with which various members of the family have been associated since its organization. From 1845 until his death, which occurred when he had reached the advanced age of eighty- two years, he resided at Mentor and his old homestead property there is still in possession of his son William. The wife of Robert Murray was Sophronia Parmelee, a member of one of the pioneer families of the Western Reserve.
William P. Murray was born at Mentor, Ohio, July 12, 1854, and obtained his education in the schools of his native village, being graduated from the high school at the early age of fourteen years. Leaving his home, he came to Cleve- land on horseback, after which he started upon his business career here as an office boy with the banking firm of E. B. Hale & Company. Eventually he be- came a clerk and remained with that concern for about three years, or until 1873. In that year he became connected with the Merchants National Bank,
W. P. MURRAY
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continuing in that institution until April 1, 1881, at which time he withdrew from the banking business to become a factor in the iron ore and coal trade of this district. He went with the Cleveland Furnace Company, engaged in the manufacture of pig iron at Steubenville, Ohio, where he remained for two years, and in 1883 he became connected with the Tod-Stambaugh Company as travel- ing representative, selling pig iron. He remained with that house until 1888, when he established the coal department with Pickands, Mather & Company, which has since grown to immense proportions, making extensive shipments throughout the north and northwest. Mr. Murray is a man of initiative spirit who sees and utilizes opportunities that others pass by heedlessly and his energy is brooked by no obstacles that can be overcome by persistent and determined purpose and effort. In addition to his connection with Pickands, Mather & Company he is a director of the Huron Barge Company, the Inter-Lake Com- pany and the Ashtabula Steamship Company.
On the 3d of October, 1877, Mr. Murray was married in Medina, New York, to Miss Jeannie C. Castle, a daughter of Reuben S. Castle, a venerable and highly respected citizen of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Murray have two children, Helen and Margaret. Politically Mr. Murray is a republican but has steadfastly refused to accept public office which has been proffered him, feeling that one accepting a public trust should devote his best time and efforts to it and the pressure of his own business would not permit him to give attention to public matters as he would desire. He is a member of Tyrian Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Holyrood Commandery, K. T., and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also holds membership with the Union, Euclid, Roadside, Century and Tavern Clubs, with the Hermits and the Cleveland Atheltic Club, of which he is now the president ; is also a member of the Duquesne Club of Pittsburg and the Ellicott Square and Buffalo Clubs of Buffalo, New York. In his business career his ability to coordinate forces has been one of the strong points in his success ; he believes in the spirit of unity and seeks that harmony which is found where many are working toward a single end and accomplishing results that could not be obtained through divided interests.
PHILIP L. COBLITZ.
Philip L. Coblitz, the owner of an extensive wholesale establishment, with a specialty of woolens and tailors' trimmings, was at the age of thirteen years em- ployed in a very humble capacity in the cooper shop of John D. Rockefeller. The contrast in his present and past serves to emphasize the business principles he has followed and the rules which have governed his conduct throughout the years of his connection with industrial and commercial interests in Cleveland. It is only under the stimulus of necessity that the strongest and best is brought out and de- veloped and the fact that Philip L. Coblitz was dependent upon his own resources awakened in him a resolve to truly use his time and opportunities that his labors might constitute the measure of his success.
He was born in Germany, August 22, 1860, and the following year was brought to the United States by his parents, who came direct to Cleveland. The party con- sisted of the father, Marcus Coblitz, the mother and a number of children. The limited financial resources of the father made it imperative that Philip L. Cob- litz begin work at an early age, and when a youth of thirteen he secured a position in the cooper shop of John D. Rockefeller, there remaining for two years. Pre- vious to this he had attended the Mayflower public school from 1866 to 1873. Realizing the necessity and value of a business education, he entered the Forest City Business College, in which he pursued a complete course, becoming thus well quali- fied for responsible duties in commercial lines. At eighteen years of age he entered the employ of Bingham & Phelps, hardware merchants, on Ontario street, with
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whom he continued for a year and a half. In the meantime his industry and care- ful expenditure brought him sufficient capital to enable him in 1881 to establish the Forest City Candy Works for the manufacture of candy, which he disposed of to the wholesale trade, conducting business with growing and steady success until 1891. He then branched out into still broader fields, establishing in that year a woolen and dress goods business on Broadway. His capital was then quite limited but in five years he was doing a business amounting to one hundred and ten thou- sand dollars per annum and carrying one of the largest stocks of ladies' dress goods and men's cloth in the city. He now devotes his attention exclusively to the wholesale trade, making a specialty of woolens and tailors' trimmings, and the house is now represented on the road by four traveling salesmen. Watchful of every detail opening to success, appreciative of every opportunity and employing in the conduct of his business only such rules as govern the most strict and un- swerving business integrity, he has made substantial and honorable advance in mer- cantile circles until he is now one of the leading wholesale merchants of Cleveland.
In 1884 Mr. Coblitz was married to Miss Elizabeth Wodicky, a native of Ger- many, who came to the United States when eight years of age. Four children have been born of this marriage. Lillian, the eldest, is a mute who was graduated from the state institute for mutes at Columbus. She married J. D. Addleson, who was a graduate from the same institution, and they have one child, Ruth, two years of age. Florence, a graduate of the grammar schools and also of the Spencerian Busi- ness College, is now assisting her father as bookkeeper. Arthur L., eighteen years of age, after completing the work of the grammar grades, spent two years in the South high school but is now associated with his father in business as a salesman. Edna, fifteen years of age, is a girl of remarkable talent for music and possesses a voice of ability quite rare in one so young. It is her father's ambition to have her cultivate this talent and when she is through in the Central high school, where she is now studying, she will probably devote her time to her musical education.
Mr. Coblitz is a member of the Commercial Travelers and in politics has been a life-long republican, never swerving in his allegiance to the party. With the exception of his first year, he has always lived in Cleveland and is a worthy rep- resentative of the German-American element in her citizenship. Earnest and in- defatigable work has constituted for him the key that has unlocked the portals of success, enabling him now to enjoy the rich benefits of well earned energy.
ROBERT J. CHAPPELL.
Robert J. Chappell, treasurer and general manager of the Chappell & Warren Company, general steamfitters, is an example of what can be accomplished through earnest and persistent effort directed in legitimate channels. He was born in Eng- land March 22, 1868, and has inherited the best traits of his country. He is the son of Robert J. and Caroline (Burton) Chappell, the former of whom was born in England in 1824 and there spent his life as a stonecutter, dying in 1885. His widow survives him and lives in England. The Chappell family is of good old Cornish stock.
Robert J. Chappell was educated in the English schools and when he com- pleted his education began learning the mason's trade, following it for nearly a year, when he embarked in a butchering business in which he engaged for a short time. In 1882 he ran away and enlisted in the British navy, being in the service for ten years, and for gallantry he was raised to the rank of a petty officer. His term ex- piring, he returned to England but shortly thereafter came to America and located in Cleveland, March 29, 1893. With that city as headquarters, he followed the lakes for a year and then started in a steamfitting and engineering business here, owned by the Chaper-Becker Company, remaining with them for nearly two years. He was then foreman for a gas company, later was with the Westinghouse people
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and then returned to steamfitting. In 1903 he started in business for himself on the west side, continuing alone about three years, when his trade justified his coming into the heart of the city and he bought out the Buckeye Steamfitting Company and incorporated as the R. J. Chappell Company. Under this name he carried on a general steamfitting and supply business until May 1, 1909, when he changed the name to the Chappell & Warren Company. The business is confined to Cleveland and vicinity and among other contracts held by the company are those connected with the Mayflower school, the Alpha and Beta block, a number of the build- ings of the board of education and many of the largest business blocks and resi- dences in the city.
Mr. Chappell was married November 7, 1883, to Frances J. Gurse, a native of England, and they have three children: William R., born in 1895; Frederick Arthur, born in 1900; and Ethel Rose, born in 1901. He belongs to the Cleveland Bigelow Lodge, No. 244, A. F. & A. M .; Thatcher Chapter, the Masonic Club of England, and a number of minor organizations. While a republican in national politics, in local affairs he is an independent. Mr. Chappell is an excellent business man and conscientious in his work and the success which has attended him is justly merited.
SHERIDAN P. FISH.
Sheridan P. Fish, who is one of the most successful market gardeners of Cleve- land, was born June 29, 1864, at No. 4216 Jennings Road, where he now lives, this being the old Fish homestead. He is a son of Abel and Emeline M. Fish and grandson of Jonathan Fish, one of the pioneers of this section, coming here from Connecticut and settling in the wilderness, where he had to clear a spot for his log house. Mr. and Mrs. Abel Fish have retired from active life and are residents of Cleveland.
Sheridan P. Fish attended the district schools of his neighborhood, continuing his education until 1883, when he embarked in dairying and truck gardening with his father. In time he developed into an expert market gardener and eventually eliminated the dairy business to devote himself exclusively to the other branch of his business. When his father retired, Mr. Fish assumed full management and now owns the place, including the ground and houses. He belongs to the Market Gardeners Association and to the Greenhouse & Vegetable Growers of America. He is also a stockholder in the Brooklyn Savings & Loan Company, of which his father is vice president. A republican, Mr. Fish does little more than cast his vote, for his time is too fully occupied for politics.
On January 8, 1890, Mr. Fish was married to Anna B. Brainard, a daughter of George W. Brainard, a pioneer resident of Brooklyn township. They have two children : Corinne, aged seventeen; and Forest, aged two years. Without doubt nature returns manyfold all the attention paid to her, and Mr. Fish is reaping the reward of his years of toil in the cultivation of his grounds and the development of his business.
P. RICHARD BIERFREUND.
P. Richard Bierfreund, who has been vice president of the Universal Dry Cleaning Company since 1900, was born in Prussia, Germany, July 12, 1869, a son of Gotthardt and Augusta (Bolle) Bierfreund. The father was also born on Prussian soil, on the 19th of April, 1814. He was deeply interested in educationtal affairs and all his life was intimately connected with the public schools of his native land. During the eighty fruitful years of his life he witnessed the schools
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of Germany steadily advance until they furnish the models for many educational practices in this country.
P. Richard Bierfreund attended the public schools of his native land until he was eleven years of age, when he entered the high school, completing his education in six years. Later he was connected with an importing house, as an apprentice until he learned the details of the business and then as a traveling salesman. When he was twenty-three years of age he was called upon to render that military ser- vice required of the German born male and entered the army at Berlin. He was discharged after two years and came to the United States, landing at New York, but coming almost immediately to Cleveland, Ohio, where he engaged with his brother in the dry cleaning business. A year and a half later he believed he had so far mastered American methods as to be able to enter the mercantile world on his own responsibility and selected as partners in the venture M. E. Messer and Charles W. Messer, establishing the Universal Dry Cleaning Company. In 1901 Charles Messer terminated his connection with the firm, which was then in- corporated with Henry Strasshoefer as president; Mr. Bierfreund as vice presi- dent ; and M. E. Messer as secretary. The company now occupies a modern, two- story, brick building, which was recently put up to accommodate their constantly increasing business.
On the 12th of September, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bier- freund and Miss Anna Wheaton, and the couple now reside at 1365 Addison Road, where they extend gracious hospitality to their friends.
Mr. Bierfreund is an energetic, progressive young business man. He was a loyal subject of the fatherland when that was his home but since coming to this country has sworn to uphold its laws and exercises the franchise bestowed on him with discrimination, casting his vote for the candidates of the republican party. He is a member of the Lutheran church, and his life is consistent with the teach- ings of this body, which so frequently serves as a connecting link for the foreign born citizen between his native land and the country of his adoption.
H. CLARK FORD.
It is a noticeable tendency of the age to recognize the interdependence of the individual and society at large, and the forceful man of the present day, he whose powers are of value as a factor in growth and progress, is not the man who confines his attention alone to business, even though he may be par- ticularly successful in that field. His interests must reach out along broader lines and concern his obligations and duties to his fellowmen and the world at large. A splendid type of this spirit of the times is found in H. Clark Ford, well known to the citizens of Cleveland as a lawyer and a prominent banker, and also well known for his cooperation in movements of benefit in economic and sociological lines and in intellectual and moral progress.
Mr. Ford was born in Cleveland, August 25, 1853. The Fords are descended from an old New England family, the American progenitor being Andrew Ford, who arrived in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1650, and, having purchased large tracts of land, founded the town of Abington. H. Clark Ford is numbered among his descendants of the tenth generation. The fam- ily records have ever been distinguished for the honesty, industry and thrift of the representatives of the name. Horatio C. Ford, father of H. Clark Ford, was a farmer and school teacher who, leaving his native state of Mas- sachusetts, came to Ohio in 1840 and settled in East Cleveland. He engaged in teaching in the city and vicinity during the years of his early manhood and until after the Civil war. He taught on the west side when there were only two schools west of the river, the other being conducted by his brother, the late Henry Ford, at one time city auditor. Neither of the schools at that time
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H. CLARK FORD
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were graded. One of the old school buildings is still standing on Washington street, being now used as a blacksmith shop. During the Civil war Horatio C. Ford had charge of all the schools in Collamer, now East Cleveland. Fol- lowing the close of hostilities between the north and the south he retired from active life and died in 1876, at the age of fifty-one years. At the time of his demise and for many years previous he had been a member of the city council and had always been active in public affairs, using his official preroga- tive in support of many measures of substantial benefit to the city. He was likewise intensely and actively interested in church and educational affairs and was a trustee of Oberlin College at the time of his death. He was only four- teen years of age when he came to Ohio with his parents, his father having removed here for the purpose of raising silk worms, which venture proved a failure. The journey was made by wagon and they traveled over a large part of the middle west, going as far as Chicago in search of a good location. Finally the father decided on Cleveland as the coming metropolis and bought extensive tracts of farm land in East Cleveland which has since become some of the most valuable residence property of the city. From the age of four- teen until his demise Horatio C. Ford remained an honored and valued resi- dent of Cleveland, his influence always being on the side of progress and im- provement, while his efforts were substantial factors in the upbuilding of the community. He married Martha C. Cozad, a lady of French Huguenot de- scent. Her ancestors, on being driven from France by religious persecution, settled in New Jersey, while later representatives of the name became resi- dents of western Pennsylvania and from that point came to Cleveland about 1805, in which year a purchase of one hundred acres was made, including the site of the present home of H. Clark Ford. Their land also included the site on which Adelbert College is located. For one hundred and four years the family has lived on this tract, where the birth of H. Clark Ford occurred and where he has always made his home. His mother still survives at the age of eighty-three years and is a wonderfully preserved woman, both physically and mentally. A lady of strong intellectuality, she has ever been of studious na- ture and habits and, pursuing the Chautauqua course, was graduated there- from at the age of seventy-five years. Her family numbers two sons and three daughters: Mrs. Clara F. Gould, now of Indianapolis, Indiana; Mrs. Ella F. Brunner, of this city; H. Clark; and Mrs. Kate F. Whitman and Wal- ter H. Ford, also of Cleveland.
After pursuing his early education in the public schools of East Cleveland, H. Clark Ford continued his studies in the old Central high school, where the Citizens building now stands. He was for one year a pupil in Oberlin College and for four years attended the University of Michigan, being graduated from the literary department with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1875. Turning his attention to the study of law, he was admitted to the bar in Cleve- land in 1878 and at once entered upon active practice here. The following year he became a member of the city council and served until 1885. Since that time he has devoted his attention and energies entirely to his law practice and other business interests. He practiced alone for many years, but in re- cent years the firm of Ford, Snyder & Henry was formed and so continued until the election of Judge F. A. Henry to the circuit bench in 1904. Soon afterward Judge D. H. Tilden resigned from the common pleas bench and be- came a member of the firm under the style of Ford, Snyder & Tilden. Their practice has been very largely corporation law. At the present time Mr. Ford is largely leaving the practice to his partners while he devotes much time to numerous business interests with which he has become associated. He organ- ized the old East End Savings Bank Company in 1886, and in August, 1892, the Garfield Savings Bank Company. He was attorney for the former until it was absorbed by the Cleveland Trust Company and has been president of the latter since its organization. In 1895 he was one of the organizers of the
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Cleveland Trust Company and acted on its executive committee until the or- ganization of the Western Reserve Trust Company, when he withdrew from official connection with the Cleveland Trust Company to assist in forming the Western Reserve Trust Company in June, 1900. At that date he was elected vice president and became a member of its executive committee. At the time of its consolidation with the Cleveland Trust Company, in 1905, he was one of the committee who arranged for the merger and since that time he has served on the executive board of the latter. Active, resourceful and energetic, he ever looks beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities of the future, and his labors have resulted in benefit to the public as well as a source of individual success. He was one of the organizers of the company which erected the Williamson building, of which he has since been the president. This company owns the Williamson building, which is the largest office build- ing in the city, the Otis block and the New Amsterdam apartments. The Wil- liamson building contains sixteen floors, with four hundred and fifty-nine of- fices and store units. In the time of its erection the building broke all records. The building formerly occupying the site was vacated March 30, 1899, and the new Williamson building was opened and occupied the Ist of April, 1900. This has proven a successful business enterprise, having an excellent class of tenants, its offices always being well filled.
Mr. Ford has also been interested in railroads for many years, was pres- ident of the Eastern Ohio Traction Company for a number of years and chair- man of the building committee. He is now a member of the board of direc- tors and of the executive committee. He has also been a member of the board and of the executive committee of the Wheeling Traction Company of Wheel- ing, West Virginia, since 1895-a company owning the traction lines of Wheel- ing and the connecting lines from Wellsville to Moundsville on the West Vir- ginia side of the Ohio river and on the Ohio river side from Steubenville south through Martins Ferry, Bridgeport, Bellaire and other southern points. The company also owns two bridges across the Ohio river and the main traction lines of Wheeling and the surrounding territory. Mr. Ford now devotes most of his time to the interest of the Williamson Company, to banking and his traction investments, in all of which the general public has been a large indi- rect beneficiary.
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