A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 103

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

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While his private interests and investments have made heavy demands upon his time and energies, Mr. Ford has never been neglectful of the duties of citizenship but on the contrary has given hearty cooperation in many move- ments for the promotion of the public welfare. For about twelve years he has acted as a member of the board of trustees of Oberlin College and also as chairman of its finance committee. He is likewise a member of the American board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and has for many years been a member of the board and chairman of the finance committee of the Congrega- tional Board of Ministerial Relief. He has acted on the finance committee of the American Missionary Association, which has charge of a number of col- leges in the south for the education of negroes, mountain whites and Indians, and since its organization in 1892 he has been the president of the Cleveland Congregational City Missionary Society, the purpose of which is the organiza- tion and sustaining of new church enterprises in the city. He has long held membership in the Euclid Avenue Congregational church, which was organ- ized by his ancestors, his father and his grandfather being charter members.

On the 17th of March, 1877, in Cleveland, Mr. Ford was married to Miss Ida M. Thorp, a daughter of the late John H. Thorp, who for many years was largely interested in the early industries of Cleveland. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ford. Mildred F., a graduate of Smith College, of Massachusetts, is now the wife of Frank M. Cobb, of the Cleveland bar and one of the professors of the Western Reserve Law School. Horatio, who was graduated from Yale University with the class of 1904 and is now cashier

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at the Gordon and Glenville branches of the Garfield Bank, was married in April, 1908, to Ella, daughter of Thomas H. White, of the White Sewing Machine Company. Cyrus Clark is a freshman in Adelbert College. David Knight is a junior in the East high school, and Baldwin Whitmarsh, eleven years of age, is attending Fairmount grammar school of Cleveland.

Mr. Ford is a valued member of the Union Club and he belongs to Zeta Psi, a college fraternity. Among the names that stand out prominently on the pages of Cleveland's history is that of H. Clark Ford, who has contributed in substantial measure to the upbuilding of his native city. While a lawyer by profession, he has also extended his efforts into various fields of activity and has displayed in his business career such fertility of resource, marked enter- prise, and well defined plans, as to deserve classification with the captains of industry of Cleveland. Moreover, he is further entitled to distinction from the fact that he is a worthy scion of his race, having added luster to the untar- nished record of a family that in the paternal line has figured in connection with the history of Cleveland for nearly three-fourths of a century.

GEORGE S. PATTERSON.

Few if any of the young business men of Cleveland can exhibit a more gratify- ing record of success and achievement than can George S. Patterson, the vice president and general manager of the Cleveland branch of the Rambler Auto Com- pany. In the few years he has been connected actively with the commercial world he has evinced the possession of the strong qualities which mean the attainment of the greatest prosperity, but in the one season during which he has been connected with his present business his progress has been almost phenomenal. This enter- prising young man was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, January 22, 1883, a son of Seth D. and Anna (Auer) Patterson. They were also natives of that city, where the former was born in 1843 and the latter in 1853. They were married about thirty years ago, and together passed along the highway of life until 1903, when Mr. Patterson died. He was engaged in the ice business in Ashtabula and was ac- counted one of its successful and well-to-do citizens. His widow still survives.

George S. Patterson obtained his early education in the public schools of Ash- tabula, later attending the academy at Hudson, Ohio, which was a branch of the Western Reserve University. From that institution he was graduated in 1902 and engaged actively in the world of business, in which he had already had some ex- perience, for during the last few years of his college course he had sold insur- ance that he might obtain the funds for his education. Until 1905 he continued to be interested in insurance, but in that year entered the employ of the Reo Motor Car Company, at Columbus, Ohio, as their representative, remaining with them until 1906, when he bought the Cleveland office of that concern. Two years later, however, in 1908, he disposed of that business and in October of that year became connected with the Rambler Auto Company. Its plant was established at Kenosha, Wisconsin, by T. B. Jeffries in 1900, occupying at that time a space of fourteen and a half acres, but the area has now been doubled and the output of cars increased until it now manufactures about four thousand annually. They are among the best on the market, for the firm claims not so much to produce the greatest number each year, but to make the best, improving always upon the quality of the product previously placed upon sale. They have advanced facilities for manufacturing. which, combined with the peculiarly economical means at their command for pur- chasing materials, enables them to build machines that command a moderate price for the excellence that is theirs. Mr. Patterson began active service with this firm in January, 1909. The record of the preceding season, that of 1908, showed an output of twelve cars from the Cleveland branch; the season which has just closed saw one hundred and thirty-three cars leave the office, eighty-eight of which

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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

were new. While some measure of this exceptionally large increase in business is due perhaps to the merits of the machines themselves, in much larger degree it is due to the efforts of the manager. Enthusiastic over the product of his employers, he is all the more able to call to his aid the remarkable qualities of salesmanship which have never before had such a large field for exercise. He is energetic and enterprising, endowed with real business acumen, able to satisfy the wants of the old customers, something that is just as important as winning new ones. He has been unsparing of his efforts to advance the interests of the Rambler Company in Cleveland, and his success redounds to their prosperity as well as to his own ad- vancement. Although still a young man in years he has discovered the real secrets of progress, so that the future can only hold continued and more pronounced good fortune for him.

On the 26th of January, 1905, Mr. Patterson was united in marriage to Miss Florence Fillius, a daughter of E. L. Fillius, a dealer in flour and feed in Hudson, Ohio. They have one daughter, Irene, who is now two and a half years of age.

In politics, Mr. Patterson inclines toward the republican party on national is- sues, but in local matters he votes independently of party allegiance. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, and socially with the Cleveland Auto Club and the Athletic Club of this city. He is well known among his fellow members, who recognize him as a loyal friend and as a man of sound business principles.

WILLIAM A. OTIS.

In a review of the history of Cleveland and of northern Ohio it is interesting to note what an important part William A. Otis played in shaping the policy and molding the destiny of this section during its formative period. His business interests were always of a character that contributed not only to his individual success but also constituted an important factor in general progress. With the development of the trade relations, the improvement of the waterways, the building of the turnpikes and railroads and other features which have been most . valuable in promoting the growth of the state he was closely associated and no history of this city, therefore, would be complete without prominent and ex- tended personal mention of him.

A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Otis was descended from one of the dis- tinguished New England families, tracing his ancestry back to John Otis, who was born in Barnstable, Denvonshire, England, in 1581. He arrived at Hing- ham, Massachusetts, in 1635 and drew house lots in the first division of lands in that town. He was an ancestor of James Otis, the orator and patriot, who did so much toward promoting the interests of the colonies during the momentous period prior to the Revolutionary war. With keen insight recognizing the ten- dency of the British to encroach upon the long established rights of the colonies, through his oratory he awakened the people to a recognition of the situation and perhaps did more than any other man of his time to place colonial resistance in its true light before the world, indicating clearly the rights of the Englishman under the British constitution, as declared in that great instrument of English freedom, the Magna Charta. His prominent contemporaries of that time spoke of James Otis in terms of highest praise, recognizing in the worth of his work in the glorious movement for independence. President John Adams said of him: "I know of no man whose services were so important and essential to the cause of his country and whose love for it was more ardent and sincere than that of Mr. Otis." Speaking of him, Justice Dana said: "Mr. Otis was looked upon as the safeguard and ornament of our cause. The splendor of his intel- lect threw into shade all the great contemporary lights; the cause of American independence was identified at home and abroad with his name."

WILLIAM A. OTIS

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William A. Otis was a direct descendant of this distinguished statesman, who may well be numbered among the men who made the nation. In another way William A. Otis also performed a most important service for his country in opening up the west to civilization and promoting its trade and commercial interests. Leaving Massachusetts about 1818, he traveled on foot to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he secured employment in an iron establishment, doing any task that was entrusted to him. His ability, however, was soon recognized by his employers, who promoted him and gave him a generous increase in salary. For two years he remained with that house, depositing his savings with the firm, they agreeing to pay interest on the same; but the company failed and Mr. Otis thereby lost not only the interest but all that he had managed to save. With a resolute spirit that could not be overcome by disadvantages, he again turned his face westward and walked the entire distance to Bloomfield, Trumbull county, Ohio. With a vigorous constitution he set to work to make for him- self a home and, if possible, a fortune in the new world. He was well qualified to meet the onerous demands of pioneer life and from the outset was an import- ant factor in the actual work of development and improvement in this part of Ohio. He cleared land and also established a primitive mercantile business by furnishing the settlers with goods in exchange for ashes, wheat or other prod- uce. He also conducted a tavern wherein he entertained the traveling public. Ashes were at that time used in the manufacture of black salts or impure pot- ash, which was the only strict cash article in the country. It was difficult, how- ever, to get this commodity to the eastern market. The casks of potash were hauled to the mouth of the Beaver river or to Pittsburg, whence they drifted on flat boats down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans and from that point were transported to New York. Mr. Otis did much of his own teaming and in Pittsburg exchanged the potash for goods with which he returned to Bloomfield. All trade in those days was largely a matter of barter rather than of cash, for there was scarcely money enough in the country with which to pay the taxes and indeed Mr. Otis was frequently obliged to furnish his customers with cash for that purpose.

When the Erie canal was completed to Buffalo, Mr. Otis, with keen prescience, realized the opportunity for making wheat a cash product by ship- ping it to that point. The settlers here raised an abundance of grain, which they gladly disposed of for twenty-five cents a bushel, taking their pay largely in merchandise. Mr. Otis determined to see what might be done with Ohio flour on the New York market and shipped the first lot that was sent from the West- ern Reserve. As there had previously been no demand for flour barrels, there was no coopers at Bloomfield but a few miles north, toward the lake, there was a good custom gristmill. The old saying that necessity is the mother of inven- tion has been again and again demonstrated by the pioneer and found exempli- fication in the work of Mr. Otis, who, unable to purchase barrels from a cooper, went into the woods, selected an oak tree and set his men to cut and saw it into suitable blocks for the barrels. From these blocks the rough staves were split. When the cooper's stuff was seasoned the barrels were made and although they were somewhat rough in construction, they were capable of being used in trans- porting flour and potash. The wheat which he secured from his customers Mr. Otis stored in the mill until it could be ground and packed in the barrels. He then hauled his flour and potash thirty-five miles to Ashtabula creek, where it was loaded on to a schooner and then taken to Buffalo and by canal to New York. The quality of the flour by New York merchants was regarded as in no way inferior to that of the Genesee country, which was then thought to produce the finest flour manufactured. The eastern merchants at once recognized the significance of trade with this new country on the shores of Lake Erie and offered every encouragement for the manufacture and shipment of flour and other com- modities that might be produced in that section. In time Mr. Otis also took up the shipment of wool and pork and for nearly twenty years remained one of the

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leading shippers of this part of the country, conducting a constantly growing business which was characterized by none of the methods of modern specula- tion but brought a sure and steady return.

While still living in Bloomfield Mr. Otis was elected to represent his district in the legislature in 1834, capably serving for two terms. Recognizing now that the growing city of Cleveland offered a wider field for commercial enterprise, he took up his abode here in 1836 and at once was given rank with the foremost business men here. He continued to deal in pork, flour and potash and also be- came actively connected with the iron trade. Business development in one line always necessitates a corresponding growth in some other field of activity. The increasing shipping interests of this section called attention to the question of transportation, as it was necessary to have good roads and other means whereby the commodities might be easily taken to market. One of the earliest turnpikes in northeastern Ohio was made through Bloomfield, from Warren to Ashtabula, and steamers were placed upon Lake Erie and the Ohio canal, thus extending navigation into the interior. Mr. Otis favored, protected and cooperated in many of these interests and was later an advocate of railway building, recogniz- ing the great advantage which such a course would prove to this section of the country. He was therefore influential in securing the building of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati, the Cleveland & Pittsburg and the Bellefontaine & In- dianapolis Railroads. He spent much time in discussing the matter with the farmers, presenting to them the benefits of railroad enterprises and largely se- curing their cooperation and endorsement. For a long period he was a director of the first two railroads mentioned in a day when railroad interests were care- fully managed for the benefit of the stockholders and the development of the country through which they passed. With the settlement of Ohio and the gradual transformation of its business Mr. Otis concluded to concentrate his en- ergies upon iron manufacture and became the pioneer iron master of Cleveland. Again his keen foresight was demonstrated in the splendid results which attended his labors in this connection. Others followed his example until Cleve- land became one of the important iron centers of the country. Still his resource- fulness in business was not exhausted, for he became as well a factor in banking circles and was prominent in the organization of the State Bank of Ohio and served as a member of the state board of control during its entire existence. He was the originator of the Society for Savings in Cleveland, acted as its president for thirteen years, was also president of the Commercial National Bank and connected with the banking firm of Wick, Otis & Brownell.

No movement for the benefit of Cleveland failed to receive his endorsement and of many of these he was the originator and promoter. The Board of Trade was largely founded through his efforts and he was one of the commissioners representing Cleveland in the negotiations that culminated in, the merging of Ohio City and Cleveland into one great corporate body, the result being greatly promoted through his quiet influence and diplomacy in handling any measure entrusted to his care.

It was in 1824 that Mr. Otis was married to Miss Eliza Proctor, of Man- chester, Massachusetts, and unto them were born two sons and a daughter : Hon. Charles A. Otis, president of the Otis Iron & Steel Company, of Cleveland; Eliza P., the wife of Hon. T. D. Crocker, of Cleveland; and William H., late of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mr. Otis was an earnest Christian man and with the increase of his wealth he did not attempt to live in luxurious style or to hoard his earnings but gave with constantly increasing generosity wherever his money might be of practical service and benefit to his fellowmen. His gifts to public charities were many, especially to those connected with religious bodies. Kindliness, helpfulness and benevolence ever remained salient features in his life. He held friendship in- violable and true worth could always win his regard. He was extremely cau- tious and conservative in condemnation of an act of another, viewing all with

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charity, preferring always to speak a word of encouragement rather than of criticism. Coming on foot to the great west in the second decade of the nine- teenth century, he remained through more than fifty years an essential factor in its development in business, political, intellectual and moral lines. While his activities were largely concentrated upon his commercial, manufacturing and other enterprises, his influence remained ever as a steady, moving force for those other interests which are vital to the best development of the individual and the country at large.

FRANK CARL FRIEND.

Frank Carl Friend was born in Austria, November 17, 1862, and in 1865 was brought to the United States by his parents, Anton and Petronila Friend. The father was born in Austria in May, 1830, and the mother's birth occurred March 31, 1825. He was a merchant tailor by trade and on coming to the United States made his way direct to Cleveland, where in 1870 he opened a tailoring establish- ment, continuing as one of the leading representatives of his line of business up to the time of his death, which occurred August 6, 1881. His widow survived him . for almost a quarter of a century, passing away March 9, 1906. In the family were only two sons, Joseph A., a merchant tailor, and Frank C.

The latter was educated in the public schools of Cleveland and in the Central high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1881. He studied law in the office of E. K. Wilcox and was admitted to the bar on the 7th of October, 1884. He began practice in the office of Mr. Wilcox, although there was no part- nership relation between them until 1893, when the firm of Wilcox & Friend was organized and had an existence of eleven years. In 1904 this relation was dis- solved and Mr. Friend has since been alone in practice. He now devotes his at- tention to general law practice but while a member of the firm of Wilcox & Friend made a specialty of personal injury cases, always acting as attorney for the de- fense, representing various corporations in this way. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to the profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all of the details of his cases, have brought him a large business and given him rank with the strong law- yers of the Cleveland bar. He holds membership with the Cuyahoga Bar Association.

On the 26th of November, 1890, Mr. Friend was married to Miss Lilly D. Da- vies. Mr. Friend is a Chapter Mason and in politics is a republican. In 1885.he was elected to the city council for a term of two years, was a member of the board of education in 1889 and 1890 and a member of the board of health in 1906 and 7. He has a very fine private library of reference books and the leading authors of ancient and modern days, his favorite writers of fiction being Dickens and Thackery. His library also contains many works on travel with several sets of encyclopedias and many other reference books which place the wisdom of the ages at hand.

ARTHUR JONES.

Among the younger men who, through their energy, industry and close ap- plication to business reenforced by natural ability, have become prominent in the commercial and financial circles of this city is Arthur Jones, who was born here, June 12, 1875, and who officiates in the responsible position of secretary and sales manager of the W. M. Pattison Supply Company. His father, Thomas M. Jones, a native of Wales, was born March 10, 1845, and came to this locality about the year 1868. For many years he worked in a rolling mill, being an expert artisan

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in the various departments of the steel and iron industry, and is now living in re- tirement in this city. His wife, Ann Jones, was also a native of Wales, where her nativity occurred in 1850. She came to America wlien a girl, settling in Cleve- land, where they were married in 1872. Her final summons came December II, 1899.

To the public schools of this city Arthur Jones is indebted for his education and upon completing his studies, being ambitious to enter the business world for himself and become self-supporting, he entered the employ of the Newburg Wire Mill as timekeeper and continued in the employ of the company for eighteen months, when he resigned his position. He was engaged with the George Worth- ington Company, with which he remained until December, 1897, when in company with W. M. Pattison and W. H. Smith he established the business in which he is now engaged and which under his careful and judicious management is steadily growing. It is numbered among the important industries of the city. The firm manufactures railroad, mill and factory supplies, together with heavy hardware and machinery, and transacts a large shipping business with the cities of this and other states. Mr. Jones' commercial relations have been so favorable as to enable him to launch out in the industrial world and he is financially interested in a num- ber of business enterprises, in which he has invested considerable capital.

On June 17, 1903, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Jean Graham, a na- tive of Niles, Ohio, and the couple have one daughter, Elizabeth Jean, whose birth occurred February 20, 1906. He is prominent in Masonic circles, being a thirty- second degree Mason and also a Shriner, and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Euclid Club and the Cleveland Athletic Club, in the affairs of which he takes an active interest. Mr. Jones' business ability is recognized throughout the city and his career thus far has been eminently useful and successful. He de- serves great credit for the strides he has made, inasmuch as he began life prac- tically without means or influence, and on the strength of his own resources has gradually ascended in the commercial world until at present he is numbered among the city's most enterprising and substantial business men.

CHARLES A. OTIS, SR.

The death of Charles A. Otis, Sr., which occurred in Cleveland, June 28, 1905, removed an influential citizen, whose life was rich in its benefits for the city's growth. He was a son of William A. Otis, whose life history appears elsewhere on these pages, and his birth occurred in Bloomfield, Ohio, June 26, 1835. He was nine years of age when his parents removed to Cleveland and as a youth and young man he worked in his father's general store and bank, being thus employed until nearly twenty-one years of age, when he became purser on one of the old Winslow boats. This life keeping him too much away from home, he returned to Cleveland. His father in the meantime had developed the iron trade here and the son followed in his footsteps. In 1853 he organized the firm of Ford & Otis and set up the first forge in Cleveland, beginning the manufac- ture of axles and bar iron. This factory was the first and only one of its kind west of Syracuse, New York. Shortly after the war Mr. Otis went abroad and at Berlin learned a new process of making steel. On his return to America he arranged to work the process on a royalty basis and thus instituted new methods in America. He was singularly successful and in a short time became one of the leading business men of the city. It was at this period of his life that he formed the Otis Iron & Steel Company, now operating under the name of the Otis Steel Company, and built the largest open hearth steel plant in the coun- try. Associated with him in this enterprise were E. B. Thomas, Thomas Jop- ling, J. K. Bole and S. T. Wellman. Mr. Otis became the first president of the organization and so continued until 1899, when the property was sold to an

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 103

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1150