USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II > Part 21
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JOHN COLAHAN.
John Colahan, for sixty-nine years a resident of Cleveland, was born in this city in 1840 and has spent his entire life here. His father, Samuel Colahan, was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1808, and came to Cleveland in 1813, being one of the pioneer residents of the Forest city. It was a mere hamlet at the time and more than a decade later its population numbered only a thousand. But Samuel Cola- han believed that he saw possibilities for future growth and development and thus cast in his lot with its early settlers. He first engaged in the printing business here and when Cleveland was a town of about three thousand inhabitants he en- gaged in general merchandising. One of the earliest directories has him desig- nated as a merchant at what was known as Cleveland Center. About 1838 he turned his attention to real-estate operations, which business he followed for al- most a half century, or until his death in 1886. He married Harriett Hedges of Circleville, Ohio, and unto them were born five children. The mother survived her husband for about two years, passing away in 1888, when she was laid to rest by his side in the Monroe cemetery.
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John Colahan is a graduate of the old Cleveland Institute and his first busi- ness enterprise was the establishment and conduct of a grocery, in which line he continued for twelve years. From that time afterward he has largely dealt in real estate, handling mostly his own investments, and he now has extensive hold- ings on the west side and is one of the most substantial citizens of Cleveland. He made many investments in an earlier day when property was at a comparatively low figure. Moreover, his sound judgment enables him yet to make judicious investments, for he determines with accuracy the possible rise or diminution in price. His acquaintance with the pioneers of Cleveland was very extensive. He was personally acquainted with James S. Clark, of whom it is said that he did more in building up Cleveland in the early days than any other man. After Mr. Clark left Cleveland the correspondence was continued between him and Mr. Colahan until the former's death, which occurred in 1857.
Mr. Colahan was united in marriage with Miss Celia De Long, a native of this city. They have been life-long residents of Cleveland and have a circle of friends almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance. Mr. Colahan has been an interested witness of the growth and development of the city through almost the Psalmist's allotted span of life of three score years and ten. At all times he has rejoiced in the work of public progress and has cooperated therein to a large degree. His influence has always been found on the side of upbuilding and improvement and in many tangible ways from which the general public has benefited he has furthered the interests of the city. His reminiscences concern- ing the early days are entertaining for he speaks with authority upon many events which have long since become matters of history, but of which he was an eye witness.
CHARLES WADDELL CHESNUTT.
Charles Waddell Chesnutt, author and attorney at law, is one of Cleveland's native sons, of whom she has every reason to be proud. Moreover, there is always an element of interest in the record of him who portrays and interprets life through the medium of authorship, a fascination in the contemplation of that imagination which enables the individual to look beyond and above the things of this workaday world and recognize in results the motive springs of human con- duct and the possibilities of other effects if temperament, conditions and envi- ronment were other than as they are. It is through his writings that Mr. Ches- nutt has become best known to the general public and the recital of his own life history is therefore a matter of widespread interest. His birth occurred in Cleve- land June 20, 1858, and he comes of southern ancestry. His parents, Andrew J. and Maria Chesnutt, removed to this city in 1856, and in the schools of Cleve- land he acquired his early education, which he continued in Fayetteville, North Carolina, whither his parents removed after the close of the Civil war. Through private instruction and study he largely broadened his knowledge and took his place among the scholarly men of the county. At the age of sixteen years he began teaching and for nine years was thus connected with the public schools of North Carolina, being appointed principal of the State Normal School at Fayetteville when but twenty-three years of age. He made continuous progress in those lines of life demanding strong intellectuality and in 1884 spent some months as a newspaper writer in New York. He began his business life in Cleve- land as a shorthand reporter, in which capacity he has been employed in connec- tion with most of the important litigation in the Cleveland courts for many years. He prepared for admission to the bar in the office of the late Samuel E. Williani- son and was commissioned upon passing the required examination in Ohio in 1887. He has since been a member of the legal fraternity of Cleveland, among whom he is held in high esteem.
CHARLES W. CHESNUTT
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While Mr. Chesnutt is well known in his native city as an attorney, he is per- haps more widely known throughout the country as an author, for his published volumes have been widely read. His early experience as a teacher developed in him an understanding of the individual and the power of human analysis that have constituted valuable forces in his authorship. Moreover, he has always been a keen and interested observer of men, recognizing the picturesque and the forceful of an incident which to others seems but commonplace. His published volumes include: The Conjure Woman, 1899; The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories, 1889; Life of Frederick Douglass in Beacon Biographies, 1889; The House Behind the Cedars, 1900; The Marrow of Tradition, 1901; and the Colonel's Dream, 1905. His writings indicate not only a fine play of the imagina- tion but a comprehensive understanding of the problems of life and a clear analy- sis of the motive springs of human conduct.
CHARLES P. GILCHRIST.
Charles P. Gilchrist, vessel owner and agent, who since 1893 has been iden- tified with shipping interests in Cleveland, was born at Newport, now Marine City, Michigan, September 8, 1852. His father, Alexander Gilchrist, was a native of New Hampshire and was of Scotch-Irish descent. Removing to the west, he became well known as a lumberman and vessel owner, continuing in active connection with business affairs until almost the close of his life. He died in December, 1902, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Betsy Ruth Clough, was also a representative of an old New Hampshire family.
Charles P. Gilchrist pursued his education in the schools of Marine City to the age of seventeen years, when he accompanied the family on their removal to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he attended the high school and later the Uni- versity of Michigan, completing the classical course by graduation in 1875, when he won the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then took up the study of law in the state university and won the Bachelor of Law degree in 1877. The same year he was admitted to the bar and located for practice at Port Huron, Michi- gan, where he remained for three years. He then abandoned the profession to become connected with the lumber trade at Vermilion, Ohio, and through grad- ual processes of development in his business career he turned his attention to shipping interests and in 1893 removed to Cleveland, where he took up the busi- ness in which he is now engaged, being well known as vessel owner and agent. He was a member of the old firm of Moore, Bartlow & Gilchrist for several years, and upon the dissolution of that firm he organized the firm of C. P. Gil- christ & Company, his associate being Captain C. E. Benham. He is now a stockholder in the Gilchrist Transportation Company, with which he has been connected since his identification with shipping interests. He has also extended his investments and his efforts to various other lines and enterprises, has been connected with a number of banking institutions and is now largely interested in mining. His investments are most judiciously made and indicates the sound judgment and keen business wisdom which characterize all of his business transactions.
In early manhood Mr. Gilchrist was married to Miss Harriett Ives, of Grosse Ile, Michigan. They have three sons and three daughters, and the family resi- dence is a beautiful home on East Ninety-seventh street. Mr. Gilchrist gives his political allegiance to the republican party and, while never a politician in the sense of office seeking, keeps well informed on the issues that divide the two great parties. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and religiously is of the Episcopalian faith. For many years he was identified with St. John's Episcopal church and served as one of its vestrymen. He is also a member of a society
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which has for its object the study of literature and takes great interest in the events of the day. His reading is broad and varied, indicating his scholarly tastes and at the same time he is a splendid type of the American business man -alert, energetic and determined-carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
F. L. FELCH.
F. L. Felch, engaged in the real-estate business in Cleveland and also officially and financially associated with various corporations, is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan. There at the usual age he entered the public schools and was grad- uated from the Ann Arbor high school with the class of 1872. Stimulated to further intellectual activity in that center of learning, he was graduated from the University of Michigan with the class of 1876. He afterward turned his atten- tion to manufacturing interests in Sandusky, Ohio, where he remained for ten years, during which time he became one of the organizers of the Sandusky Sav- ings Bank and was its cashier for ten years. This gave him comprehensive under- standing of investments and commercial paper and for several years thereafter he was engaged in the investment, stocks and bonds and brokerage business. Having made investments in real estate in Cleveland in 1892, in that year he came to this city, making it his home, and has since been interested in real-estate allot- ments not only in Cleveland but in different cities and states from coast to coast. His purchases have been judiciously made, and awaiting the time for profitable sale he has made considerable money in his operations on the real-estate market. He has also extended his efforts to other lines and is now the president of the National Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of plumbers' supplies, and also making a specialty of wrought iron pipe hangers.
Mr. Felch belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in politics is somewhat independent, seeking the good of the city and country rather than the promotion of partisan measures.
ROBERT FAIRWEATHER MACKENZIE.
Robert F. Mackenzie, president and general manager of the Robert F. Mac- kenzie Company, belongs to that class of business men who quickly discriminate between the essential and the non-essential and in the timely recognition of oppor- tunity find the path to success. Without special advantages at the outset of his career he has wrought along modern business lines, and, utilizing every legitimate advantage that has come to hand, he stands now among the prosperous business men of Cleveland. He was born July 4, 1860, in Kirriemuir, Scotland, his parents being Alexander and Catherine (Fairweather) Mackenzie. The father was a farmer and stock dealer.
Spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, Robert F. Mackenzie acquired his education in the common schools of his native village and soon after putting aside his text-books entered business life in connection with the hardware trade, with which he was associated for three years. He then went to the West Indies, where for four years he was engaged in the sugar business, being located most of the time on the island of St. Vincent. He then made his way northward to New York, and his initial step in business circles in the United States was made as a traveling salesman for a confectionery supply house of that city. He met with gratifying success in the undertaking, thoroughly acquainted himself with the trade and its demands and when he came to Cleveland in 1892 he be- came associated in business with the late John Wuest, a well known manufacturer
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and confectioner. Since that time he has been a representative of this line of commerce and in 1893, when the business was incorporated as the Wuest Mac- kenzie Company, he became vice president and general manager. Continuing in that capacity for about six years, he then organized the Robert F. Mackenzie Company and erected the present plant on Woodland avenue. The business is a prosperous and growing one, Mr. Mackenzie being the leading spirit in its man- agement. His previous broad experience along this line has been of substantial benefit to him, and, with keen discernment into the possibilities and opportunities of trade, he is so directing his energies that his labors are now being attended with gratifying prosperity. He has won for himself an enviable position in busi- ness circles and, in connection with his manufacturing interests, is a director of the German-American Savings Bank and a director of the Western Reserve In- surance Company. He likewise belongs to the Confectioners' National Associa- tion and has a wide and favorable acquaintance in the branch of business repre- sented thereby.
Mr. Mackenzie was married in Pictou, Nova Scotia, to Miss Mary E. Morri- son, and they have one son and one daughter, Jean and Robert L. The latter was graduated in 1908 from the Kiskiminetis Springs School at Salisbury, Penn- sylvania, and is now connected with the Robert F. Mackenzie Company. Mr. Mackenzie is independent politically. His fraternal relations are with Airlie Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Kirriemuir, Scotland, and Washington Lodge No. 10, K. P., in Cleveland. He finds social interest and recreation through his mem- bership in the Roadside, Colonial and Cleveland Athletic Clubs, and his favorite pastime is suggested by the fact that he is a member of the Rockwell Springs Fishing Club. The spirit which prompted him in early manhood to leave home and seek more advantageous fields for business activity has been manifest throughout his entire life and has carried him into important relations. He has known the pleasure of success, not simply in the pecuniary reward that has come to him, but also in that enjoyment which comes in the accomplishment of what one undertakes. He has ever persevered in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and is now numbered among those who are the factors in Cleveland's material upbuilding.
THOMAS HINCKLEY STETSON.
Thomas H. Stetson, who in the course of a long and active business career became recognized as one of the leading representatives of the lumber trade in Cleveland, came to this city immediately after the war and here resided until his death He was born at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and, thus reared in a sea- faring community, he became a good sailor, as were his people before him, many of them being more or less identified with navigation at that point. His father, Calvin Stetson, however, was an undertaker and cabinetmaker at Cape Cod, devoting his life to those lines of business.
Thomas H. Stetson was a self-made man, who from early life depended upon his own resources for the advantages and opportunities which he enjoyed. He was reared on Cape Cod and pursued his education there in the pub- lic schools. He was born November 24, 1845, and came to Cleveland imme- diately after the war. For twenty years he was connected with the Woods, Perry Company and subsequently became associated with D. A. Shepherd as manager of his lumberyard, continuing in that capacity for five years. During those years he became thoroughly acquainted with the lumber trade in principle and detail, understanding the business in every particular, and, carefully saving his earnings, he was at length enabled to engage in business on his own account. He then organized the firm of Thomas H. Stetson & Company and opened a lumberyard. Subsequently he organized the Lake Erie Lumber Company,
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which, under his capable guidance, became one of the largest and most success- ful concerns of the kind in the country. He was regarded as one of the best authorities on lumber in this section, having for many years been connected with the trade. He started in at the bottom and worked his way steadily upward un- til he occupied a commanding position among the distributers of lumber in this part of the country. His business reached very large proportions, and his suc- cess had its root in his close application, his thorough understanding of the bus- iness and his ready appreciation and intelligent utilization of opportunities.
Mr. Stetson was married in Cleveland, October 20, 1872, to Miss Lucretia M. Meade, who lived about seven miles from the city of Cleveland. She was a daughter of John Meade, an early settler of Ohio, who came from Vermont when this country was largely an unbroken forest. He settled upon a farm which he hewed out in the midst of the green woods, transforming the wild land into productive fields. Mrs. Stetson has spent her entire life in Ohio. By her marriage she became the mother of one child, Ethel, whose death at the age of seventeen years, was an almost unbearable blow to the parents. Mr. Stetson was a man of domestic taste, very fond of his family, and in ministering to their comfort and welfare he found his greatest happiness. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, and he was always most loyal to its principles, for he believed they contained the best elements of good government. He labored earnestly for the success of the party, yet never sought nor desired office for himself. In his religious belief he was a Unitarian and in that faith passed away November 17, 1887. Not by leaps and bounds did he attain his success in business but by that steady and orderly progression which indicates the wise and continuous development of one's native powers and talents. He early recognized that persistency of purpose and unabating energy will even- tually win success, and as the years went by he gained for himself a most cred- itable, honorable and enviable position in business circles, his colleagues and associates respecting him for what he accomplished and the honorable manner of its attainment.
JOHN R. McQUIGG.
John R. McQuigg is entitled to threefold mention because of the activity which he has displayed in legal, political and military circles, his efforts consti- tuting forceful factors for advancement and progress in all those lines. He is now serving as mayor of East Cleveland, while in the practice of his profession he has gained recognition as one of the well equipped members of the Cuyahoga county bar. He was born near Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, December 5, 1865. His parents were Samuel and Jane (Mckinney) McQuigg. The father, a native of Ireland, was brought to America by his parents when six years of age and throughout the greater part of his life followed farming in Wayne county, con- tinuing in active connection with agricultural interests there until his death in 1003. He had for several years survived his wife, who died in 1887.
John R. McQuigg spent his youth on the home farm assisting in the labors of the fields as his age and strength permitted, while in the winter months he at- tended the public schools. His early education was acquired in the district schools of his native county, while later he attended the Wooster high school and Woos- ter University, being graduated therefrom with the class of 1888, at which time the Bachelor of Arts degree was conferred upon him. Determining upon a pro- fessional career, he entered the law department of Cornell University in the fall of 1888 and a year later matriculated in the National Law School at Washington, D. C., where he pursued the work of senior and post-graduate years in one, finish- ing the course in 1890 with the Bachelor of Laws degree. Admitted to the bar at Columbus before the supreme court of Ohio in June of that year, in the fol-
J. R. MeQUIGG
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lowing October he came to Cleveland and entered upon active practice with George B. Riley, who had been his classmate and was admitted to the bar at the same time. The firm of Riley & McQuigg has since continued and with one ex- ception remains the oldest unchanged law firm in the city. They have given their attention to general practice, and the zeal with which Mr. McQuigg has devoted his energies to his profession and the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients have brought him a large business. He is an able writer; his briefs always show wide research, careful thought and the best and strongest reasons which can be urged for his contention presented in cogent and logical form and illustrated by a style unusually lucid and clear. Shortly after his admission to practice in the state courts Mr. McQuigg was admitted to practice in the United States circuit and district courts and in the United States circuit court of appeals.
While well known as an active representative and honored member of the profession, Mr. McQuigg has figured prominently in other connections because of the valuable service he has rendered as a citizen and as a representative of mil- itary interests. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, in the work of which he has taken a most helpful part. Having great faith in the future of Cleveland, he has become interested in real estate here to a considerable extent and has erected several blocks and apartment houses, including his own home in East Cleveland. He has always been a stalwart republican, taking an active interest in local politics and is now serving his second term as mayor of East Cleveland, in which capacity he is giving to the municipality a business-like administration. Long interested in military affairs, he joined the Cleveland Grays in 1892 and at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war was commissioned captain of Com- pany A, Tenth Ohio Infantry, and served until the close of the war. Subse- quently when the corps of engineers of the Ohio National Guard was organized, Mr. McQuigg was commissioned major, which rank he still holds. During the past ten years he has devoted much time to this organization, which he has brought up to a high standard, until it is recognized as one of the most efficient in the country, as shown by government inspection reports.
On the 16th of February, 1892, in Wooster, Ohio, Mr. McQuigg was married to Miss Gertrude W. Imgard, a daughter of August Imgard, of that place. They have two children: Pauline, and Donald C. Mr. McQuigg belongs to Tyrian Lodge of Masons and the Military Order of Foreign Wars, to the United Span- ish War Veterans and to the First United Presbyterian church-associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and of the principles which govern his conduct. In manner plain and modest, in disposition frank and genial, he enjoys the good will and companionship of a constantly increasing circle of friends.
EDWARD W. MOORE.
Edward W. Moore, the president of the Lake Shore Electric Railway and a director in numerous telephone and electric traction companies in Ohio and else- where, is a member of the Everett-Moore Syndicate and one of the leading finan- ciers of the United States. The story of his rise from an office boy in a banking firm to the head of one of the largest combinationes of capital in the country is an incentive for every aspiring young man in the land. The element of chance has never figured in his success, and the prominent position which he now occu- pies in financial circles is but the natural result of his close application, untiring energy, strict integrity and hard, painstaking labor. He is a man of great ability, and combined with his genius for organization is a knowledge of men and methods that has made him a most valuable acquisition and a large factor in the wonder- ful success of the Everett-Moore Sydicate.
Mr. Moore was born in Canal Dover, Ohio, on the 3d of July, 1864, and is of German descent. He obtained a common-school education, and in 1880 began
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his business career as an office boy in the old banking house of Everett, Weddell & Company of Cleveland, remaining in their employ until 1883. He next became identified with the construction company that built the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad and subsequently served in the treasury department, his connec- tion with the company covering altogether five years. He was with the East End Savings & Banking Company from 1888 until 1890 and in the following year became one of the organizers of the Dime Savings & Banking Company and was elected secretary, treasurer and active manager of that institution. In 1899 he was made vice president of the bank and in that official connection ably repre- sented its interests until 1901. At about this time he had largely to do with the or- ganization of the Western Reserve Trust Company, of which he became vice pres- ident. This company was later merged with what is now the Cleveland Trust Company. He was also a conspicuous factor in the organization of the Garfield Savings Bank and the Permanent Savings & Loan Company, which afterward became the Central Trust Company. At one time he was probably the largest individual holder of bank stocks in Cleveland, being interested in a very large number of Cleveland banks as well as many outside banks, including some of New York's leading financial institutions.
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