A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 111

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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ARTHUR E. MERKEL.

Thorough education and practical experience along mechanical lines and comprehensive knowledge of the law bearing upon patents constitute Arthur E. Merkel one of the most capable and successful patent attorneys of Cleveland, his native city. He is a son of Louis J. and August (Guebhard) Merkel, the former of German descent and the latter of French lineage. In 1840 the ma- ternal grandfather, Louis Guebhard, sailed from France to New York city, where he engaged in general merchandising until 1856, when he removed to Cleveland, where he continued in the same line of business. The paternal grand- father migrated from Germany to the United States in 1848 and settled in Watertow11, Wisconsin, where he remained until his death. Louis J. Merkel, the father of Arthur E. Merkel, is a resident of New York city, and has long been identified with the manufacture of malt, having formerly been the vice president of the Kraus-Merkel Malting Company, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and now being with the American Malting Company, of New Jersey.

In the public schools of Cleveland Arthur E. Merkel began his education which he continued in the public schools in Watertown, Wisconsin. He after- ward pursued a course in mechanical engineering in the Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, New Jersey, the M. E. degree having been conferred upon him in 1893. He was afterward employed by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company and in other shops, in which he gained broad prac- tical experience. While associated with the Fairfield Copper Company he had charge of their chemical laboratory. In this field of labor he made consecutive progress but at all times was watchful of opportunities that would promote his advancement and, believing that a knowledge of the law would be of great advantage, he took up a course of reading, which was directed by several well known attorneys. He finally entered the office of Jesse B. Fay, one of the foremost patent lawyers of Cleveland, with whom he remained for eleven years. During this time he gained not only thorough knowledge concerning this branch of the profession, but also had the practical experience of the office in the preparation of patent cases. In 1907 he opened an office for private prac- tice and has gained an enviable reputation as a patent solicitor and expert on patent causes. His counsel and legal advice have been sought by some of the most prominent inventors of the country, and he has been connected with much important litigation of this character. Mr. Merkel has also extended his ef- forts to commercial fields and is now secretary and treasurer of the Beatty Stamp- ing Company, and secretary of the Cleveland Mausoleum Company, which is promoting an innovation in burials and promises to develop into a business of immense proportions, revolutionizing the present system of disposing of the dead.

In 1906 Mr. Merkel was united in marriage to Mrs. 'Anna Lee Morrill, a daughter of Captain J. W. Lee, who was a captain of the Third Maryland Regi- ment and served throughout the Civil war. He has since been in the adjutant

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general's department at Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Merkel have two children, Lee and Arthur Jordan, and reside on Wymore avenue in East Cleveland.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Merkel hold membership in the Episcopal church, and he has various other membership relations, being a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the University and Hermit Clubs, the Russell E. Burdick Camp of United Spanish War Veterans, the Cleveland Council of Sociology, two college fraternities, the Beta Theta Pi and the Theta Nu Epsilon, and a member of Woodward Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Mckinley Chapter, R. A. M. These associations indicate much of the character and variety of his interests. Dur- ing the Spanish-American war he served as a member of Troop A, First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and subsequently for seven years was a member of Troop A, of the Ohio National Guard. He is now quartermaster of Russell E. Bur- dick Camp, U. S. W. V. He calls himself a Roosevelt democrat, in that he endorses many of the principles which were advocated by the recently retired president. He is very fond of outdoor sport, including horseback riding, ten- nis, golf and swimming, and thus seeks relaxation from his professional and business cares. He regards his professional duties, however, as his first in- terest, and with deep and comprehensive knowledge of patent law, he gives to his profession the results of years of patient, faithful endeavor and careful study.

WARREN BICKNELL.

Warren Bicknell is president of the Cleveland Construction Company, one of the most extensive concerns of the kind in the state, which executes con- tracts throughout the entire country. He is descended from an English family which came to this country in 1635, and was born in Morrisville, New York. February 19, 1868. His father, Charles T. Bicknell, a native of the Empire state, born in 1836, was formerly a merchant and manufacturer of paper goods but withdrew from active life and came to this city in 1885, where he now re- sides. His wife, Susan (Payne) Bicknell, was also a native of New York state, where they were united in marriage in 1857. She died in 1871.

In the public schools of his native town and also of Massillon, Ohio, to which city his family removed in 1878, Warren Bicknell acquired his pre- liminary education, subsequently completing a course of study in Adelbert Col- lege, this city, from which he was graduated in 1890. He then entered the law office of Boynton, Hale & Horr, with whom he studied for a while in lieu of entering the legal profession but before completing his course he gave up the idea of becoming an attorney and was engaged as secretary of the Cleveland Athletic Club for about a year and a half. Later he spent one year in the coal business at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and upon disposing of his interests he became auditor of the Cincinnati & Miami Valley Traction Company and gen- eral manager of the Dayton Traction Company, which two companies were sub- sequently consolidated into the Southern Ohio Traction Company and of the new organization Mr. Bicknell was made secretary and auditor. He located at Middletown, Ohio, but after two years' service in this responsible capacity, he resigned his post to accept the position of general manager of the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railroad Company, with offices in Chicago, Illinois. Resign- ing that position after performing its duties for about two years, he came to this city, where he was president of the Lake Shore Electric Railway Com- pany from 1903 to 1906 when, upon his resignation, he became president of the Cleveland Construction Company, in which office he is serving at present. The company is one of the largest of its kind in this part of the state and en- gages in building electric and steam railroads, erecting light and waterplants and constructing telephone lines throughout various portions of the country. Among the contracts which have thus far been executed are: the Northern

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Ohio Traction & Light Company; the Cleveland Southwestern; Columbus Lake Shore Electric Company ; the South Ohio Company; the Aurora, Elgin & Chi- cago; the Rockford, Beloit & Janesville; the Richmond & Petersburg; New York & Long Island Traction Company ; Kokomo & Marion Western; Western Ohio; Youngstown & Ohio River Company; Chicago & Lake Shore; South Bend; and a number of other electric lines. Mr. Bicknell's relations have been such as to enable him to become associated in many ways with the financial world and he is president of the Springfield & Xenia Railroad Company; the Citizen's Rail- road & Light Company, of Fort Worth, Texas, the Havana Electric Railroad Company, of Cuba; and was also chairman of the board of directors of the Toledo Railroad & Light Company, and receiver of the Municipal Traction Company, of this city. Moreover his business associations also include two in- surance companies, of both of which he is president, and his business has chiefly been in relation to the employes of railroad and light companies.

Mr. Bicknell in February, 1900, was united in marriage to Anne Guthrie, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the couple have three children: Frances Louise, born in November, 1900; Warren, Jr., whose birth occurred in 1902; and Elizabeth, born in February, 1904. Mr. Bicknell is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Society in the affairs of which he is a leading factor. He also belongs to the Union Club, Hermit Club, Country Club and Mayfield Country Club. Being a man of many interests which have enabled him to contribute much toward the financial worth of the city, he deserves the reputation he enjoys as a representative and substantial citizen.

FREDERICK METCALF.

Frederick Metcalf, in control of the financial interests of the Chase Machine Company, which he has represented as treasurer since coming to Cleveland in 1898, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, January 31, 1866. He is a descend- ant in the ninth generation of Michael Metcalf, the American ancestor of this branch of the family. Michael Metcalf was born in Tatterford, in the county of Norfolk, England, in 1586, and by occupation was a dornock weaver. Because of religious persecution in his native land he came to New England in 1637 and set- tled at Dedham, Massachusetts, where he joined the church in 1639. From Michael Metcalf the line of descent is traced down through Michael II, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Nathaniel II, Joel, Joseph, Gay and 'Alfred Metcalf to the subject of this review. Joel Metcalf located at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1780 and there carried on an extensive business as a tanner and currier. He was a Jeffersonian democrat and at one time acted as judge of the court of common pleas for Prov- idence county. One of his daughters is conceded by all to have been the first straw braider in the United States. The family have continuously resided in Rhode Island since Joel Metcalf removed to that state and representatives of the name are numbered among the leading, most influential and useful citizens, prom- inent in financial, manufacturing, religious, political and social circles.

Alfred Metcalf, the father of Frederick Metcalf, was born in Providence in 1828 and died in 1904. He was by profession a civil engineer and as a young man removed to Ohio, where he engaged in railway construction. Returning to Providence he became a successful manufacturer of woolen goods in his native city and as a man and citizen was among the most substantial and useful residents there. He served for a number of years in both branches of the city government and was a devout member of the First church (Unitarian) for many years. He acted as a member of the city council many years and was for twenty-two years a member of the school committee. In 1860 he married Miss Rosa C. Maloy, of Newport, Rhode Island, who still resides in Providence. She was the adopted daughter of George C. Mason, whose sister was the wife of Commodore Oliver

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Hazard Perry. The grandmother of Mrs. Metcalf was Peggy Champlin, one of the famous belles of Revolutionary times and one of the leaders of the notable ball given in honor of General George Washington at Newport. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Al- fred Metcalf were born three children: Ralph, a graduate of the University of Michigan and now a successful business man of Portland, Oregon; Frederick, of this review ; and Guy, who was graduated from Harvard and the law department of the University of Michigan and is now an attorney at Providence. His wife was formerly Clare Louise Burt, of Cleveland.

Frederick Metcalf attended the public school of Providence and afterward the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he was graduated with the class of 1890, the degree of Mechanical Engineer being conferred upon him. After his college days were over he was employed for some years in the woolen mills in which his father was interested and also in the manufacture of turbine water power equipment. He served for six years as superintendent of the Amer- ican Ship Windlass Company and in 1898 came to Cleveland to take charge of the financial interests of the Chase Machine Company as treasurer. This company was established in 1888 for the manufacture of vessel auxiliaries, Cleveland being chosen for its location on account of its dominating position in the shipping in- dustries. They have brought out a number of useful inventions, chiefly appli- ances for the safe and convenient handling of wire hawsers on shipboard. Their mooring and towing machines and steam windlasses and capstans are built in con- siderable numbers and find a market in all parts of the world.

Mr. Metcalf married Miss Alice D. Butts, a daughter of Francis B. and Helen F. (Battey) Butts, of Providence, Rhode Island. The ancestry of this family as well as that of Mr. Metcalf, is traced back to the Mayflower colonists and the family has long been prominent in Rhode Island.

Mr. and Mrs. Metcalf attend the Unitarian church, in the faith of which he was reared, his father serving for many years as director of the American Unita- rian Association. He votes independently at local elections and otherwise gives his allegiance to the republican party. He is a member of the Euclid Club and is identified with the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. He also belongs to the Engineers and University Clubs and to the American Society of Naval and Marine Engineers, his present business connections admitting him to membership in these organizations.

WILLIAM MACKALL HAGER.

Among the prominent real-estate men of Cleveland is numbered William Mackall Hager, the vice president and secretary of The Van De Boe-Hager Company. Since an early enoch in his business career he has concentrated his energies upon real-estate dealing, and long and varied experiences have splendidly equipped him for conducting a business as important and extensive as is now accorded him. He was born at Barnesville, Ohio, October 31, 1863. His father, Benjamin J. Hager, was also a native of this state, and a son of Kelion Hager, who was born in Green county, near Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, but became one of the pioneer residents of Barnesville and an extensive wool-grower, dry- goods merchant and dealer in leaf tobacco at that place. Subsequently he ex- tended his activities to include the manufacture of lamp oil, and his manifold industrial and commercial interests, being well managed, brought him gratifying success, placing him with the men of affluence in the community. He was a man of very strong character and was recognized as one of the leaders in his locality in public matters, as well as in business circles. His son, Beniamin J. Hager, was for many years engaged in the commission business, until he re- tired about twenty years ago. He is still living at the advanced age of eighty- two years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Harriett Mackall, is a

W. M. HAGER

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native of Barnesville, Ohio, and is now seventy-nine years of age. Her father was Colonel Benjamin H. Mackall, of Barnesville.

The Mackalls are of Scottish descent and the family of that name in this country settled in Calvert county, Maryland, in 1745, at what was known as the Cliffs. Benjamin Hance Mackall, one of the first settlers of Barnesville and father of Colonel Mackall, was a member of the Maryland legislature, and a deputy United States marshal. In 1817 Benjamin Hance Mackall dis- posed of his property in Maryland, and with his family, consisting of his wife, Mary Bond, and five children, including Benjamin H. Mackall, took up their journey to Ohio. The journey across the country in covered wagons took twenty days. The family settled on a farm about three miles northwest of Barnesville. They remained here about eleven years, when they removed to Barnesville, Ohio, and Benjamin H. Mackall engaged in mercantile business. He was postmaster in 1830 and held this office until his death in 1835, at the age of sixty-five years. The mother died on the 13th day of July, 1871, aged ninety-three years.

Colonel Benjamin H. Mackall, the eldest son, was born in Calvert county, Maryland, January 6, 1801, before Ohio was a state, and before even the bound- aries of Belmont county were made. He went to Barnesville with his parents in 1817, and the first ten years he devoted to farming. In 1823 he was mar- ried to Miss Mary Pearce, of Ohio county, Virginia. To them ten children were born, one of whom, Harriett Mackall, is now Mrs. Benjamin J. Hager and mother of William Mackall Hager.

In 1828 Colonel Mackall engaged in the mercantile business in Barnesville, and continued until 1851. During his life he held many offices of trust and honor and was for more than twenty years postmaster of Barnesville. He was mayor of the city from 1836 to 1855 and in 1845 he was elected to the state senate for two years. He was lieutenant colonel of the Second Ohio Regiment during the Civil war. He was made a Mason in 1823 and was secretary of his lodge for sixty-four years. He died January 31, 1891, aged ninety years.

William Mackall Hager was the second child and only son in a family of four children, all of whom are yet living. He spent the first sixteen years of his life in the place of his nativity, and the public schools afforded him his educational privileges. His father, desirous that he should become a physician, began to educate him for that calling, but the boy found this distasteful to him and he left home, going to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was employed in a dry-goods store until twenty years of age. At that time he took up the real- estate brokerage business on his own account in Pittsburg, where he remained for several years and then went to Florida, for his health had been undermined by his strenuous labor. He was successful in real-estate lines, so much so that he conducted three different offices a part of the time, and gave his attention so unremittingly to his business cares that his health became seriously im- paired.

After spending two years in the sunny clime of Florida in rest and re- cuperation, Mr. Hager located in Buffalo, New York, in 1892, and became manager of the Buffalo and Rochester branches of the H. J. Heinz Company of Pittsburg, having previously handled all of Mr. Hienz's property while in the last named city. He continued in that position until the fall of 1895, when he formed a partnership with Joseph S. Van De Boe, and they came to Cleveland, where they established their present business, which they are now conducting under the firm style of The Van De Boe-Hager Company, with Mr. Hager as vice president and secretary. During the fourteen years in which they have operated here they have laid out thirteen subdivisions in Cleveland, and also established a branch in Columbus, Ohio, in 1897, there laying ont five subdivi- sions. They have enjoyed the patronage of more than eight thousand clients, and have confined their business to purchasing and subdividing property ex- clusively. I11 1905 they also organized the firm of Van de Boe, Hager &

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Company, which is devoted to all kinds of insurance except life. Their clients in the real-estate field demanded their embarkment in insurance lines, and in this they have been equally successful.

On the 20th of December, 1893, Mr. Hager was married in Chicago to Miss Helen G. Green, a daughter of Nathan Green, of 3137 Michigan avenue, that city. Her death occurred in Pasadena, California, November 6, 1908. On the 3d of December, 1909, he married Miss Adaline L. Johnson, of Cleveland, daughter of Major C. W. Johnson.

Mr. Hager is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, being thus allied with the representative men of Cleveland in promoting the business development of and in enhancing the substantial interests of this city. He also belongs to the Cleveland Athletic Club, is a director in the Ohio State Automobile Association, chairman of the Good Roads Board of The Ohio State Association, president of the Ohio Good Roads Federation, and an active member in the Cleveland Auto- mobile Club-associations which indicate much of the nature of his recreation. He is also fond of hunting and fishing, in which he indulges quite often. Fra- ternally he is a Mason, having taken the degrees of the Commandery, the Con- sistory and of the Mystic Shrine. His political allegiance is given to the re- publican party, in the success of which he is greatly interested, and, while with- out aspiration for office himself, he uses his aid and influence to further the advance of party principles.

EDWIN W. DOAN.

Edwin W. Doan, deceased, who for many years played an important part in the commercial life of Cleveland was born in his father's old hotel here, May 30, 1833, a son of Job and Harriet (Woodruff) Doan and grandson of Nathaniel Doan, who came to Cleveland in 1799 from Hadden, Connecticut, with Moses Cleveland. They first made the trip in 1796 to select a site on the Western Reserve, which had been purchased by a large land company of Connecticut. Without doubt the Doans were the oldest settlers of the city whose descendants still live here. The family has always been very prominent in Cleveland and much is recorded of them in the general history in this work. Nathaniel Doan owned and conducted the first blacksmith shop in the city and assisted in lay- ing out Cleveland and naming the streets. His wife came to the city overland from New Jersey by ox-team in 1814.

Job Doan was a farmer and operated a sawmill on the present site of beautiful Wade Park. He also dealt largely in cattle and owned the first hotel built in east Cleveland, which is still standing. He became very prominent both in busi- ness and political circles and served for one year in the state assembly, so that when he died in September, 1834, the city lost one of its representative men.

Edwin W. Doan was educated in the little stone school house in east Cleveland, where he pursued his studies until fifteen years of age, after which he went to Austinburg, Ohio, to attend the school for four years, it being a manual training school for boys. Following this he spent two years in Illinois. Returning home, he lived a short time in Cleveland, and then went back to Illinois, where he spent seven years. When the Civil war broke out, he enlisted in Company D, Seven- teenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving until September, 1862. His term of service expiring, he came home and enlisted in Battery D, First Ohio Light Ar- tillery, being mustered out July 15, 1865. After this, Mr. Doan went to Corry, Pennsylvania, to engage in the oil business, remaining about two years, when once more he returned to Cleveland, to continue the oil business with a brother for eight or ten years. At the expiration of that time he retired from active labors. He died in this city on the 20th of September, 1909.

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On July 14, 1879, Mr. Doan married Carrie Bradley, a daughter of John and Laura Sophia (Woodruff) Bradley, farming people of Sumners, Connecticut. They had an adopted daughter, Mrs. Clara E. Hudson. Mr. Doan was a repub- lican but never desired public office. He belonged to the Euclid Avenue Methodist church, although his people were Congregationalists, and what is now the Con- gregational church of Cleveland was started in his mother's kitchen, where the first meeting was held and the membership formed. He belonged to the Forest City Post, G. A. R., and to the Old Settlers Association. Secure in the con- sciousness of having done his full duty both as private citizen and soldier, Mr. Doan enjoyed the serenity that closed his useful and well spent life, surrounded by love of friends and family and the respect of the community in which he and his have done so much.

FRANK ADGATE QUAIL.

Frank Adgate Quail, a member of the Cleveland bar since 1889, now practic- ing as an attorney in the firm of Henderson, Quail & Siddall, was born in Canons- burg, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1865. There in the public schools he acquired his preliminary education and subsequently was graduated from Washburn College at Topeka, Kansas, with the class of 1887, receiving the Bachelor of Arts degree. In preparation for the profession of law, he entered the University of Michigan and completed his course in 1889 with the Bachelor of Law degree. The same year he was admitted to the bar and at once entered upon active practice in Cleve- land. During the twenty years of his connection with the profession here he has made substantial progress. In January, 1895, he entered into a partnership with J. M. Henderson under the firm style of Henderson & Quail, and in 1904 G. B. Siddall was admitted to the firm. In 1902 he was nominated for judge of the circuit court but was defeated. He has always engaged in general practice. From an early period in his professional career his practice has been extensive and important and as a lawyer he is sound, clear-minded and well trained. He is also a director in a number of corporations doing business in Ohio.

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 111

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