A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 106

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

USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II > Part 106

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He was born at Goldstone, Ontario, Canada, June 20, 1874, and is a son of James F. and Lydia (Smiley) Kerr of Toronto. In the public schools of his native town he pursued his early education and afterward continued his studies in Toronto and in other schools to the age of twenty years, when his training be- came of a specifically business character as he entered the service of the Toronto Rubber Company. After two years spent in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in a branch of that business he became assistant manager of the Toronto Rubber Company but a review of the commercial field in his line led him to the conclusion that better opportunities were offered in the United States and he accordingly crossed the border, coming to Cleveland in 1900, at which time he took charge of the retail department of the Ohio Rubber Company. His previous broad and varied ex- perience in connection with the trade well qualified him for the duties that de- volved upon him and led to his promotion to the position of manager of the whole- sale rubber clothing department. Again he was promoted, when, in January I, 1909, he assumed the duties of manager of the uptown branch of the business, which under his guidance has been developed rapidly, its trade having largely in- creased since he assumed control. He deals in general rubber goods and auto supplies and has built up for the company a trade of large and profitable propor- tions. He thoroughly understands the processes of rubber manufacture, is acquainted with the rubber market and possesses, moreover, the qualities which are indispensable factors in the successful merchant-adaptability, the power to correctly read and judge men and to hold their interest in a line of goods which he is displaying. He has become one of the stockholders in the company and in his own life is making rapid progress toward the goal of success.

On the 4th of April, 1906, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Kerr and Miss Minnie Blades Miller, a daughter of Dr. C. W. Miller, of Kentucky.

Mr. Kerr has a creditable military history as a former member of the Ninetieth Battalion of the Canadian Militia at Winnipeg, in which he served as second lieutenant. This battalion made a splendid record at the time of the Fenian raid in the northwest and also won distinction in the South African war. Mr. Kerr has gained for himself an enviable position in the social circles of his adopted city during the nine years of his residence here, winning many warm friends and en- joying as well the high respect of those with whom commercial relations have

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brought him in contact. There is not a single esoteric phase in his business career and his record is such a one as proves the fallacy of the statement made by some that success is a matter of circumstance or of genius. A careful analyzation of his record, and that of thousands of others who have won prosperity, shows that advancement comes as the direct reward of earnest, persistent effort and farsee- ing judgment.

GEORGE H. WORTHINGTON.

George H. Worthington, financier and captain of industry, whose business in- terests will cover connection with at least forty important commercial and in- dustrial enterprises, all of which have received substantial support in his sound judgment and keen insight, was born in Toronto, Canada, February 13, 1850. His rise seems spectacular in that his initial step in the business world was made as an apprentice in a mercantile establishment in which he was to receive no pay for his first year's service. Yet in his entire career there is no esoteric phase, his brilliant success following as the logical sequence of integrity, industry and the ability to foresee possibilities as results of the coordination and combination of forces.

A son of John and Mary (Wellborn) Worthington, he pursued his education in the schools of Toronto until sixteen years of age, and also attended a commer- cial college in that city. The day following the completion of his course there he was apprenticed by his father to serve for three years with a wholesale grocery house. He was to receive no compensation for his services for the first year, but to his surprise at Christmas was handed fifty dollars and for his second year's services was paid five hundred dollars, having in the meantime become the best salesman in the store. He was promised one thousand dollars for the succeeding year but the failure of his father's health led him to leave Canada and come to the United States to take charge of the interests of his father who, as a contractor, was then building the Southern Central Railroad in the state of New York. Tak- ing up the task he at once gave careful consideration to the business management, saw where retrenchment of expenses and expansion of activity was possible, and so managed the business that when the contract was completed, according to the terms of his arrangement with his father, his share of the profits amounted to fifty thousand dollars-and Mr. Worthington was not yet twenty-one years of age. From New York he went to Brownhelm, Ohio, and entered the employ of Worthington & Son, a firm consisting of his father and elder brother who had purchased and were operating a stone quarry. A year later George H. Worthing- ton was admitted to the firm and on the death of the father in 1873 he and his brother succeeded to the business but retained the old name until the organi- zation of the Cleveland Stone Company was effected. In all of his business af- fairs Mr. Worthington has quickly discriminated between the essential and the nonessential, utilizing the former and discarding the latter. Moreover he dis- plays marked ability in recognizing the value of any situation and in foreseeing the possibilities for successful accomplishment through uniting under one man- agement varied business interests. He has never regarded any position as final but rather the vantage point for further advancement. As he has prospered he has constantly extended the scope of his activities until his ramifying interests reach out in all directions. Succeeding in his first venture in the operation of a stone quarry, he also became president of the Berea & Huron Stone Company and then into other fields directed his energies with equally satisfactory results. He had the prescience to discern somewhat of the success that might be obtained in the manufacture of gum when an old-time acquaintance, Dr. Beeman, then en- gaged in a small business, stated that he was meeting with loss instead of suc- cess in the control of his enterprise. He discussed the matter with Dr. Beeman

GEORGE II. WORTHINGTON

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and coming to the conclusion that the business might be made a source of large profit, he was the promoter and organizer of the Beeman Chemical Company. When the various companies engaged in the manufacture of gum in the United States decided to merge their interests, the American Chicle Company was or- ganized, of which he is president. At the present time Mr. Worthington is presi- dent of the following: The Union National Bank, of Cleveland; The American Chicle Company, of New York; TheAmerican Dynalite Company, of Cleveland ; The Underwriters Land Company, of Missouri; The Cleveland Stone Company ; The Perry-Mathews-Buskirk Stone Company; and the Bedford Stone Railway ' Company, of Indiana. He is a director in the following: The Guardian Savings & Trust Company, The Chamberlain Cartridge & Target Company, The Interur- ban Railway & Terminal Company, The Cincinnati Trust Company, The Colum- bia Gas & Electric Company, and the South Western Ohio Traction Company. He is also extensively interested in zinc and lead mines in Missouri and is finan- cially and officially connected with various other enterprises, standing as a splen- did example of the typical American business man who, in promoting individual success, also advances general prosperity. His interests are to him as the moves of the pawns and kings upon the chessboard and it is a recognized fact that he is never checkmated.

Among the clubs and associations he is affiliated with are the Union, Euclid, Cleveland Yacht, Country, Roadside and the New York Yacht Clubs, and is com- modore of the Cleveland Yacht Club, yachting being one of his favorite pastimes. He owns a steel auxiliary schooner "Priscilla" originally built for a cup defender. His home hobby is the collection of postage stamps. His collection is recognized as the greatest in America and one of the three largest in the world.

Mr. Worthington was married at Mount Vernon, Ohio, in February, 1878, to Mrs. Hannah L. Weaver. He has been a thirty-second degree Mason since 1876 and is a charter member of Lake Erie Consistory and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine.

The rapid development of all material resources during the closing years of the nineteenth and the opening years of the twentieth century has brought bus- iness enterprises up from the day of smaller things to gigantic proportions where millions of dollars take the place of hundreds and where men are required to handle vast sums as carefully and as successfully as their grandfathers handled the smaller sums. All the history of the world shows that to grapple with new conditions and fill breaches in all great crises, men have been developed and stood ready to assume new and great responsibilities which they discharged well and profitably. Of such men George H. Worthington is a splendid example and in the march of America's commercial advancement he has kept pace with the leaders. He seems to have accomplished at any one point in his career the possibilities for successful accomplishment at that point. While he has financed and pro- moted mammoth enterprises, there is in him no quality of the erratic, visionary speculator. He lives in an atmosphere of self-repression and reserved force- a grave, modest, low-voiced, conservative man with the rescuing sense of humor and a quick glance that indicates back of it the alert man that readily and cor- rectly adapts the individual to the situation.

JOHN WORTHINGTON.

John Worthington, who is a railroad contractor, a general builder and the owner of large quarry interests, became well known in business circles in Cleveland and this part of the state, was born in Staffordshire, England, September 8, 1828. Mr. Worthington was educated in his native country and as a young man crossed the Atlantic to Canada where he was married and reared his family. He be- came a contractor and builder, operating in both the Dominion and the United

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States. He erected the Union depot at Cleveland and was the contractor for the construction of the Ashtabula & Jamestown Railroad now a part of the Lake Shore system, and for the Southern & Central Railroad, now a part of the Lehigh Valley system in New York city. He was among the first to import building stone into Canada and his activities were a source of public benefit to the various communities in which he labored. About 1850 he came to the United States to secure stone for shipment to Canada and at that time arranged with the Brown- helm stone quarry for its entire output, but even this was not sufficient for his needs. This led him to buy the quarry which he operated for several years, ship- ping the entire product to Canada. Finally he placed the product upon the market in the United States and in the meantime he had associated his son, James M. Worthington with him in business, while later George H. Worthington joined the firm under the style of Worthington & Sons. No contractor in Canada was more prominent or conducted more extensive and important business. He erected very many leading public buildings and other fine structures and achieved both success and renown.

In his family were four sons and three daughters: James M., formerly presi- dent of the Cleveland Stone Company but now deceased; Minnie, the wife of E. Bendelari; George H., whose sketch is given above; Fanny, the wife of W. W. Keighley, of Toronto; Jane, the wife of T. C. Elwood; John H. and Edward E., twins, the former of whom died in Calcutta, India, December 7, 1873, and the latter died at Toronto, January 20, 1905. The father departed this life on the 25th of December, 1873. In his constantly expanding business operations he had become a prominent factor in industrial circles in Canada and his efforts were not without effect in promoting the industrial development of this section of Ohio.

FRANK G. JONES, M. D.

Dr. Frank G. Jones is engaged in the general practice of medicine in Cleve- land and is well known also as a member of the faculty of the Cleveland Homeo- pathic Medical College, where he lectures on the theory and practice of medicine and pathology. He is one of the foremost representatives of homeopathy in this city, standing for all that is progressive in the field of his chosen calling.

Born in Liverpool, Medina county, Ohio, October 2, 1867, he is a son of Dr. Gaius J. and Emma (Wilmot) Jones. His father, a sketch of whom appears else- where in this volume, is the distinguished president of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College and also the president of the National Safe & Lock Company of Cleveland. He likewise maintains an office for general practice in connection with his son Frank, and his wide knowledge, practical experience and scientific attainment have gained for him a position of leadership in the ranks of the med- ical profession in Cleveland.

Dr. Frank G. Jones was a lad of seven years when he came with his parents to Cleveland, where he acquired his early education in the public schools, passing through the consecutive grades until he became a high-school pupil. He afterward matriculated in Oberlin College and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1885. Determining to follow in his father's professional footsteps, he prepared for active practice by a regular course in the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1888, while later he pursued a post- graduate course in Bellevue Hospital of New York in 1891. He located for prac- tice in Massillon, Ohio, where he continued until 1898, when he sold out there and enlisted in the United States army, being assigned to the medical department with the rank of captain. He served through the Spanish-American war, being on active duty in Cuba and the Philippines, and attained the rank of major. He was also chief medical officer in charge of the unloading of the sick and wounded soldiers, assigning them to hospitals at Montauk Point on Long Island following

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their return from Cuba and Porto Rico. His strenuous service at length under- mined his health and in 1903 Dr. Jones resigned his position in connection with the army and returned to Cleveland, spending about a year and a half in recuper- ating. After regaining his lost strength and vigor he joined his father in the gen- eral practice of medicine and also in educational work as lecturer in the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, where his ability to impart clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he has acquired is evidenced in his comprehensive lec- tures on the theory and practice of medicine and pathology.

On the 7th of August, 1888, Dr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor G. Stowe, of Garrettsville, Ohio, a daughter of Volney Stowe, a farmer and pioneer resident of that section. Dr. and Mrs. Jones have two sons: Gaius V., nineteen years of age, who is now connected with the theatrical business; and Frank G., Jr., who will graduate from the Cleveland high school in 1910.

Dr. Jones votes independently nor is he greatly interested in politics aside from the desire which every public-spirited citizen must feel that honest and com- petent men shall fill the public offices. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks, while in more strictly professional lines he is a member of the County and State Medical Associations and the National Homeopathic Medical Association. With well equipped office at No. 310 Caxton building, he is conducting a successful practice and his constantly increasing ability, resulting from broad reading and re- search, is winning for him substantial and gratifying success.

BERNARD G. DEERICKS.

Bernard G. Deericks has for the past twenty years been the chief executive officer of the Cleveland Store Fixture Company, which is the most extensive en- terprise of this character in the United States, the firm making a specialty of all kinds of store fixtures, fittings, commercial furniture, billiard and pool tables and supplies. Mr. Deericks was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 23d of April, 1856, a son of August and Pauline Deericks. The father, whose birth occurred in Amsterdam, Holland, crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1855, landing at New York, whence he made his way at once to Cleveland, here becoming iden- tified with business interests as a grocery merchant. Subsequently he had a stall in the market and also conducted an express business, winning a gratifying meas- ure of success in his undertakings.

Bernard G. Deericks attended the parochial schools until twelve and a half years of age and after putting aside his text-books secured employment in the shingle factory of Hendrickson & Brothers, where he remained for two years. He then entered the service of Herig & Son, furniture and fixture manufacturers, re- maining in their employ for fourteen years and occuping the position of manager when he severed his connection with the concern. Believing that his long years of experience justified him in starting out on his own account as a manufacturer of fixtures, he established himself in business at Windsor avenue and the Cleve- land & Pittsburg Railway crossing, remaining at that location for two years, while afterward he conducted business for a similar period at Nos. 14 to 28 Scovill ave- nue. Subsequently he removed to his present location at Nos. 4049 to 4059 St. Clair avenue, where is now conducted the leading commercial furniture and fix- ture manufactory in the United States. The Cleveland Store Fixture Company was established in 1890 and since that time has grown and expanded until today no company in the country is in possession of so complete a factory plant fitted with up-to-date machinery and appliances. They are not only the architects and designers of store interiors, but manufacture also all the necessary fixtures so essential to make an artistic interior pleasing and harmonious to the modern taste. Included in the many things that contribute to this ambitious perfection may be mentioned showcases, store and soda stools, soda fountain tops, soda counters,

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marble slabs, zinc and copper work boards, brass arm and foot rails, high grade prescription and counter scales, desks, safes, chairs, telephone cases, sponge cases, cigar lighters, wall cases, screens, partitions, window divides, display stands, mir- rors, refrigerators, etc. The present advanced facilities for manufacturing such store fixtures enable any merchant to equip his store in a symmetrical and artistic manner at a cost much less than half of the expense formerly incurred for less pretentious results. The company point with commendable pride to the many stores which they have fitted up throughout the United States, giving evidence of the skill and good workmanship obtainable from the facilities possessed by them in the prosecution of their work. Mr. Deericks is well qualified for the duties of his responsible position as president of this important concern, for since the age of twelve and a half years he has been identified with work of this character and he has therefore been very successful in supervising and directing the labors of those in his employ.

On the 8th of October, 1901, in Cleveland, Mr. Deericks was united in mar- riage to Mrs. Darah, a daughter of John Zweidinger, who was the first organist in the Catholic church of this city. Mr. Deericks has a family of five children, namely: Edward, twenty-seven years of age, who is assistant manager of the Cleveland Store Fixture Company; Charles, twenty-five years of age, who is assistant foreman for the company; Mamie, a teacher of music; Lawrence, a young man of twenty-two, engaged in farming in the west; and Julia, who is attending the Academy of Our Lady of Lourdes. The family residence is at.No. 7211 Lexington avenue.

At the polls Mr. Deericks casts his ballot in support of the men and measures of the republican party, being a firm believer in its principles. He is a faithful communicant of the Catholic church, and for five years has been identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His chief source of recreation is in motoring and travel. Cleveland has always remained his place of residence and he is well known and highly esteemed as one of its most prosperous and lead- ing business men as well as respected citizens.

ALFRED STONE FIELD.

Alfred Stone Field, a gentleman of quiet demeanor but of strong character who left the impress of his individuality upon all with whom he came in contact, was well known in the business circles of Cleveland as an expert accountant. His birth occurred in Ohio's capital city January 8, 1842, his parents being John and Elizabeth (Stone) Field, the latter a native of Worthington, Massachusetts, and the former of New Berlin, New York. When about nineteen years of age the father removed westward to Columbus, Ohio, and became a pioneer lumber- man of that city. He made visits to Cleveland when it required five days to make the trip by stage and he would spend weeks here, buying and loading lumber on the canal to be shipped to Columbus. For a long period he continued in the lumber trade but at the age of sixty years put aside business cares and retired to private life. He was intensely public spirited in his devotion to the general good and cooperated in many movements which were of material benefit to the city. His political allegiance was given to the republican party. He was a warm per- sonal friend of Horace Greeley and throughout his life was a subscriber to the New York Tribune. In antebellum days when the country was greatly aroused over the slavery question he belonged to the underground railway organization and assisted many negroes on their way to freedom in the north. His religious faith was that of the Universalist church and he died in Columbus at the very advanced age of ninety-two years. He was connected with the Marshall Field family of Chicago and was also a relative of Cyrus W. Field, who laid the Atlan-

ALFRED S. FIELD

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tic cable and belonged to one of the oldest and most prominent American fami- lies. His brother, Sylas N. Field, was a leading politician of Columbus.

Alfred S. Field in his youthful days manifested special aptitude in his studies and when but fourteen years of age was graduated from the high school of Co- lumbus. He afterward completed his education at Oxford and on putting aside his text-books became associated in business with his brother. He continued in active connection with the lumber trade for a number of years and was in part- nership with his brother S. N. Field and also with R. B. Adams, who had been associated with his father. In this undertaking he met with success, his sound judgment and his enterprise proving factors in the substantial progress which he made along commercial lines. He continued in the lumber business until 1876, when he removed to Cleveland, becoming an expert accountant of this city. He was thus identified with its business interests up to the time of his demise.

In 1864 Mr. Field was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Schofield, a sister of Captain Levi Schofield and a member of one of the old pioneer families of Cleveland. She is now prominent in the social circles of the city and belongs to the East End Conversational Club and to the Western Reserve Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. By her marriage she has become the mother of one daughter, Grace, now Mrs. George Dana Adams, who has one child, Margaret.

The death of Mr. Field occurred December 9, 1899, when he was but fifty- seven years of age and was the occasion of deep and widespread regret among his many friends. In politics he was a stanch and stalwart republican who worked faithfully for his party because he believed that its platform contained the best elements of good government. He was a very honorable and upright man, of quiet, genial deportment, of keen intellectual force, of sterling character and of refined tastes. He thus won his friends among the most cultured people of the city and his closest companions were those who had highest appreciation for the qualities which are most ennobling in life.

LOUIS WILLIAMS LADD, B. A., M. D.

Dr. Louis Williams Ladd, a practitioner of internal medicine and lecturer on clinical microscopy in the Western Reserve University Medical School, and clin- ical microscopist to Lakeside Hospital, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 15, 1873. His grandfather, Silas T. Ladd, was one of the early treasurers of the Western Reserve University, filling that position when the institution was located at Hudson, Ohio. He came to this state from New England. Of his family of four children, the only son was George Trumbull Ladd, who for many years was professor of philosophy and is now professor emeritus of philosophy in Yale Uni- versity. He resides in New Haven, Connecticut. The mother, in her maidenhood Cornelia Ann Tallman, died in 1893. She was the daughter of John Tallman, a business man of Bridgeport, Ohio. In the home of Professor George T. Ladd were four children, of whom three are yet living: George T. Ladd, Jr., mechan- ical engineer of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Louis W., the second in order of birth; and Elizabeth T., at home.

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 106

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