USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II > Part 24
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GEORGE C. STEELE.
Statisticians say that less than three per cent of the men who enter business life along independent lines are successful. It is not a matter of marvel, there- fore, that the world instinctively pays deference to him who achieves prosperity and wins his advancement through honorable measures. The record of George C. Steele, secretary and treasurer of the North Electric Company, places him in the three per cent class, for he has gained a creditable position in the depart- ment of activity which he has chosen as a life work. Indeed, he is prominent in the management of one of the important industrial enterprises of Cleveland, its constantly growing business returning a substantial annual income.
Mr. Steele was born in Lake county, Ohio, February 3, 1854, and his parents, Horace and Lydia ( Blish) Steele, were also natives of that county. The father figured prominently in business circles as a banker of Painesville for forty years and left the impress of his individuality upon the progress and upbuilding of the community. The public schools afforded George C. Steele his educational priv- ileges, and in 1879 he went to Leadville, Colorado, where he was connected with mining interests for ten years. He met with only fair success in the undertak- ing, however, and in 1889 returned to his native heath and engaged in business there until 1898. In that year he located in Cleveland and in partnership with Charles North organized the North Electric Company for the purpose of man- ufacturing telephone exchange apparatus. Their patronage now extends throughout the country, with branch houses at Dallas, Texas, and Kansas City, Missouri. In various parts of the west they have constructed telephone systems and have rapidly built up an enviable reputation in their special field.
In 1903 Mr. Steele was married to Miss Lucile MacHenry, a daughter of George MacHenry, a Philadelphia physician. They have two sons, George C. and William G. In his political views Mr. Steele is a republican, for he believes that the best interests of good government will be conserved through the adop- tion of the principles of that party. His active duties as secretary and treasurer of the North Electric Company constitute but one phase of his life, for he is not unmindful of the obligations of citizenship nor unappreciative of the social amenities which go to make up the sum of human happiness.
ROBERT S. AVERY.
There were many creditable chapters in the life record of Robert S. Avery. and these have caused his memory to be cherished by many who knew him. He was born in Goshen, Connecticut, December 14, 1841, and was a representative of a prominent family of that state. His parents were Abel and Eunice L (Barnes) Avery, the former a well known gardener of Goshen, where he resided until the early '40s, when he came with his family to Cleveland.
At the usual age, Robert S. Avery entered the public schools, acquiring a good, practical education that qualified him for duties in later life. In 1862, when
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twenty years of age, he responded to the country's call, enlisting at Cleveland as a member of Battery B, Light Artillery, under Captain Standard. He served for three years and was then honorably discharged, having made a creditable military record by his unfaltering allegiance to the old flag and the promptness and willingness with which he performed every military duty assigned him. He participated in the battles of Chickamauga, Stone river and other engagements.
After his return from the war Mr. Avery took up the study of law in the office and under the direction of a Mr. Slade, continuing his reading for three years. He was then admitted to the bar, entered upon active practice in Cleve- land and so continued until his death. He was accorded a good clientage for he soon demonstrated his ability successfully to handle intricate legal problems. He was very careful and thorough in the preparation of his cases, his reasoning was sound, and his deductions followed in logical sequence.
On the 8th of November, 1860, Mr. Avery was united in marriage to Miss Jane L. Blackwell, a daughter of Benjamin T. and Thankful J. (Young) Black- well. The father came to Cleveland from New York in 1831, while the mother made the overland trip with her parents and seven brothers and sisters from Tol- land, Connecticut, in 1817. Forty-one days passed ere they reached their destina- tion, but at length they arrived in Cuyahoga county, and Ansel Young, the grand- father of Mrs. Avery, here turned his attention to farming. He was one of the honored pioneers of Cleveland, and for many years he compiled and published almanacs here. Mrs. Avery was born in this city, where she has spent her entire life, and is now a member of the Old Settlers' Association.
In his political views Mr. Avery was a republican, interested in the success and growth of the party, and he served for one term as a member of the city council of the old second ward. He was a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and his many substantial qualities found their root in his Chris- tian faith and belief. His life labors were terminated in death, June 30, 1906, and his demise was deeply regretted by his many friends, for he had be- come widely and favorably known during his residence in Cleveland. He was not yet sixty-five years of age when called to his final home. In all matters of citizenship he was loyal, was true to the teachings of his church and in his home life, which was beautiful and satisfying, he found his chief enjoyment.
WILLIAM PERRY HORTON, D. D. S.
It is seldom that one reaches the age of eighty-five years and is still actively connected with the line of activity that he has made his life work. Yet Dr. Wil- liam Perry Horton still remains a practitioner of dentistry in Cleveland, where he has lived since July, 1852. He was not long in gaining a place in the foremost rank of the dental fraternity here, and his work in the intervening years has been of a most progressive nature, for at all times he has held to the highest standards of the profession. A native of Vermont, Dr. Horton was born in Pittsford, Rutland county, October 28, 1823, a son of Dennis and Nancy B. (McClellan) Horton, who were likewise natives of the Green Mountain state. The mother, who came of Scotch lineage, died in 1854. The father, who was born in Danby, Vermont, in 1803, passed away in 1903, having become a cente- narian. Through many years he followed merchandising but in later life turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. In 1864 he removed to Pittsfield, Lorain county, Ohio, where he remained until a few days prior to his death, when he came to Cleveland.
Dr. Horton pursued his education in private schools in Wallingford, Ver- mont, and prepared for college at Castleton Seminary. There he also attended medical lectures, after which he engaged in teaching in the district schools for seven years, taking up that profession at the age of twenty. He came to Cleve-
DR. W. P. HORTON
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land at the end of his twenty-first year, in October, 1844, and in February, 1845, entered Oberlin College, where he spent a little more than a year in the pursuit of a literary course, studying Latin, Greek and English literature. In prepara- tion for a life work, however, he turned his attention to the study of dentistry under the direction of Dr. George B. Minor and Dr. Ferris, at Milwaukee, where he continued from June, 1846, until 1848, spending the winter months during that period in teaching school. He then returned to Oberlin, Ohio, where he acted as manager of a department store until 1851, after which he again spent six months with the dental firm in Milwaukee with whom he had previously studied. At the end of that time he was given a certificate of qualification for practice and returned to Oberlin, where he opened an office, continuing in the practice of dentistry at that point until July, 1852, when he sought the broader field of labor offered by the city and came to Cleveland. Here he formed a part- nership for practice with the late Dr. Benjamin Strickland, who was also of New England nativity, having come to the middle west from Vermont. The relations between them were maintained until April, 1857, when Dr. Horton entered upon independent professional labors in Chapins Hall, where the Wilson building is now located, remaining there for twenty-one years. During this period he establ- lished a very extensive practice and later had offices for sixteen years in the Colonial Arcade. For the past two years he has been located at No. 228 Osborn building. For fifty-seven years he has engaged in dental practice in Cleveland, being the dean of the profession in this city, establishing here a wide acquaint- ance and a most enviable reputation because of the skill and ability which he has manifested in his profession. There is today no other dental practitioner in Cleveland who was connected with the profession at the time of his arrival here. As the years have been added to the cycle of the centuries he has kept in close touch with the progress that has entirely revolutionized methods of dental prac- tice. He has always been quick to adopt any new method or system which he believed would prove of particular benefit in his chosen life work, and his office has at all times been equipped with the latest improved dental appliances. Until recent years he has been a most active and valued member of the different dental societies, was the third president of the Ohio State Dental Society and also served as president of the Society of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery and of the Northern Ohio Dental Society. He was the secretary and treasurer of the state board of dental examiners and secretary of section 7 of the American Dental Association, his membership in the last named continuing for thirty years. In 1865 he took the examination in the Ohio College of Dental Surgery and was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Dental Science. Experience, however, has given him a practical training just as thorough and much broader than that received in college, and throughout the years of his connection with the profes- sion he has remained a student of its best literature. From time to time he has written articles for the dental magazines and has presented various original and worthy ideas.
On the 28th of October, 1851, at Elyria, Ohio, Dr. Horton was married to Miss Louisa Chase, of Maine, who died August 5, 1895, leaving two sons, Wil- liam P., a practicing dentist of Cleveland, and Milton Chase, paymaster of the Big Four Railroad. On the 21st of October, 1897, Dr. Horton wedded Miss Margaret Stroup of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Horton is a lover of hunting and has belonged to the Toussaint Shooting Club for the past twenty years and in its sport still indulges, being yet a good shot. Public spirited, his relation to general progress has been that of a citizen whose influence favors general improvement, while his labor and support have not been withheld from progressive public movements. He was a member of the city council from the sixth ward from 1869 until 1877 or for a period of eight years and acted as vice president of that body in 1874-7'. While thus serving he passed judgment upon many measures introduced in the council, and his sup- port thereof was always prompted by an earnest desire to further municipal in-
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terests £ He is now vice president of the New England Society, representing Ver- mont. He has for many years been a member of the Sociological Society and for a quarter of a century was a member of the Chamber of Commerce but re- signed in 1908. He helped to organize the republican party, having previously been a whig, and in political circles he was quite active in his earlier years. He was also instrumental in organizing the forces for service in the Civil war. He is a member of Windermere Presbyterian church, to which his wife also be- longs, and in former days he was a trustee of Plymouth Congregational church for many years and acted as its treasurer for a number of years. He now owns and occupies an attractive home at No. 17 Windermere street in East Cleveland. His professional service has covered fifty-seven years-years fraught with suc- cessful accomplishment and characterized by the utmost devotion to high ideals. His social qualities, too, have made him widely known and popular, and now in the evening of life he enjoys the honor and respect of young and old, rich and poor, his record remaining as an inspiration to the aged and as an example to the youthful. He is a splendid representative of that type of man to whom years do not indicate helplessness but who has continuously developed mentally and spiritually and gives out of his rich store of wisdom and experience for the benefit of others.
ALFRED S. MASCHKE, M. D.
On the list of physicians and surgeons of Cleveland appear the names of many capable men whose ability has found recognition in a large practice. Among this number is Dr. Alfred S. Maschke, whose birth occurred on the 16th of October, 1874, in his parents' home at the corner of Seneca and Lake streets in Cleveland. He is a son of Joseph and Rose (Salinger) Maschke, both of whom are natives of Prussia. They came to America about 1865, locating in Cleveland, where the father engaged in the grocery business. For a long period he was closely iden- tified with commercial interests here but is now living retired at the age of seven- ty-five years, while his wife is now sixty-nine years of age.
Dr. Maschke is the youngest of their five children. He is indebted to the public-school system for his preliminary educational advantages, and, passing through consecutive grades, he was eventually graduated from the Central high school with the class of 1892. He also spent two years at the Case School of Applied Science and afterward entered the medical department of the Ohio Wes- leyan University, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1896. He received an honor appointment in being made house physician at the Cleveland General Hospital, where he spent six months, while later he spent sixteen months in the Cleveland City Hospital. For some months after leaving the latter institution he worked in the experimental laboratory of Dr. George W. Crile. His experience was thus of a broad and varied character, proving an excellent preparation for his work as a private practitioner in later years. Going to Vienna, he spent eight months as externe in the clinic of Professor Nothnagel. His work abroad was of a most valuable nature, bringing him into close contact with a number of distinguished physicians and surgeons, whose methods of practice and views concerning professional problems became familiar to him.
On his return to Cleveland Dr. Maschke opened an office and began prac- tice, in which work he continued until 1905, when he went to Europe and spent a year in study in Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, Munich and London. During that period he was for eight months a volunteer arzt in the Karolinen-Kinderspital in Vienna, and since his return he has given special attention to the diseases of children. He proved himself a capable educator in his lectures on physiology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1900 until 1903 and at the same time was assistant in medicine there. He has been recently appointed chief vis-
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iting physician to Mount Sinai Hospital, has been visiting physician to the Chil- dren's Tubercular Tent and Colony since its opening and was recently appointed physician in charge to the Jewish Infant Orphans' Home. He is associate med- ical examiner for the Equitable Life Insurance Company and physician and medical inspector to the Wooltex Factory. He is likewise examiner for the Jewish Tuberculosis Hospital at Denver, Colorado, and adds to his knowledge through the interchange of thought and experience in the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Cleveland Medical Library Association.
Dr. Maschke is unmarried and resides at the family home at No. 7014 Cedar avenue. He belongs to the Willson Avenue Temple and is a member of the Ex- celsior and Oakwood Clubs.
MICHAEL J. GALLAGHER.
On the roster of Cleveland's successful business men-the men who by the control of important commercial or industrial interests have been the real build- ers of the city and promoters of her greatness-is numbered Michael J. Galla- gher, the secretary and treasurer of the Card & Prosser Coal Company. He was born in this city November 25, 1858, of the marriage of Patrick and Catherine (Gallagher) Gallagher, who though of the same name were not related. The mother was a daughter of Michael Gallagher, who lived to be more than one hundred years of age. Her husband, Patrick Gallagher, was born in County Mayo, Ireland, and in 1847 arrived in Cleveland, where for many years he en- gaged in the grocery business. His death occurred in August, 1875, at the age . of eighty-two years, while his wife passed away in April, 1882, at the age of seventy-five years. They were both devoted members of the Catholic church and were well known and respected in Cleveland among those citizens who claim the green isle of Erin as the land of their nativity.
Michael J. Gallagher acquired his education in the Cathedral parochial school and academy school. When his school days were over he entered the em- ploy of the company which he is now representing in an official capacity. Be- ginning as tally boy he advanced through various promotions until he was made salesman, while later he became manager and in 1897 was elected secretary and treasurer of the corporation, which position he has filled with marked capabil- ity. His advancement has followed as the natural sequence of his understand- ing of the duties entrusted to him, his close application and his thoroughness. He has neglected no detail bearing upon the business, has thoroughly familiar- ized himself with the coal trade, and his superior executive ability has won for him an enviable place in Cleveland's business circles.
Pleasantly situated in his home life Mr. Gallagher was married November 3, 1886, to Miss Agnes McMahon, a daughter of Mortimer and Ellen ( Mannix) McMahon, of Cleveland. Five children have been born unto them: Harry F., who was educated in St. Patrick's School and the Central Institute and is now associated with the Card & Prosser Coal Company ; Catherine A., a graduate of the West high school; James M .; Helen M .; and Stewart. The family reside at No. 4307 Clinton avenue. Mr. Gallagher is fond of outdoor sports, especially baseball and in this finds recreation from his onerous business cares. His polit- ical allegiance is given to the republican party, where the questions involved are of state or national importance. He does not consider that party questions have much to do with the local offices, however, and votes for the candidates whom he thinks best qualified to serve. He and his family are communicants of St. Patrick's Catholic church, and he is a liberal patron of charities. He stands among those men who have learned correctly to value life's contacts and ex- periences and to judge of the worth of all opportunities. Never allowing obsta-
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cles to bar his path, if they can be overcome by determined and earnest efforts, he has worked his way steadily upward and is known to the public as a pros- perous business man, while outside of business hours he is devoted to his home and family.
WILLIAM S. CHURCHILL.
On the record of Ohio's heroes of the Civil war appears the name of William S. Churchill, who in the days of peace gave his attention to agricultural interests, so managing his business affairs that success crowned his efforts and made him financially independent in his later years. He was born June 21, 1841, in Streets- boro township, Portage county, Ohio. His parents were Isaiah and Eunice Atwater (Morris) Churchill. The father, a native of Connecticut, removed from New England in his boyhood days and became a resident of Chautauqua county, New York, while subsequently he took up his abode in Ohio and through the period of his manhood gave his attention to general farming.
Reared in this state William S. Churchill attended the country schools of Portage and Summit counties and afterward had the benefit of instruction in the schools of Kent and Ravenna, Ohio. His father died when the son was ten years of age, and when a young man of eighteen years William S. Churchill left school to assist his stepfather, who was a cripple, in cultivating and improving the home farm. He was thus busily employed until twenty-one years of age, when he could no longer content himself to remain at the plow while the country was engaged in Civil war and needed the support of her loyal sons. Accordingly, on the IIth of August, 1862, he joined Company I of the One Hundred and Fourth Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to duty with the Army of the Cumberland. After three years' service he was honorably dis- charged June 25, 1865, returning home with a creditable military record. He had done active duty on the field of battle on various occasions and manifested a spirit of fearlessness and loyalty, which was most commendable. After being mustered out in Cleveland he returned to Portage county, where he again took up farming and further extended the scope of his labors by conducting a dairy business, in which he continued until 1901, when he sold out and removed to Cleveland. The remainder of his days were spent in honorable retirement from labor, this course being made possible by the success which he had previously obtained.
Mr. Churchill gave his political allegiance to the republican party, which was the defense of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war. He never cared for political preferment and yet served as supervisor and school director in Portage county, his fellow townsmen soliciting his services in those offices. He also maintained pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his mem- bership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He belonged to the Disciples' church while in Ravenna and after coming to Cleveland attended the services of the Euclid Avenue Christian church.
It was on the Ist of January, 1868, that Mr. Churchill wedded Miss Louise E. Towne, a daughter of Joseph Towne, who was born April 3, 1806, and arrived in New Franklin, Ohio, in 1820. The ancestry of the family can be traced back to William de la Towne, who was a high dignitary in Alvely, England, in 1274 A. D. In 1630 another William Towne and his wife, Joanna Blessing, landed at Providence and soon afterward settled at Salem, Massachusetts. They came from Bristol, England, and they had two daughters. Rebecca, the elder, became the wife of Francis Nourse and was executed in Salem, November 22, 1695, dur- ing that now inexplainable fanaticism, that constitutes one of the darkest pages in American history, known as the Salem witchcraft. The other daughter, Mary, became the wife of Isaac Esty, and both she and her husband were executed as
W. S. CHURCHILL
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witches, they being the first two to be executed who were connected with promi- nent families. Mrs. Churchill is of the eighth generation of the descendants of William and Joanna Towne who landed in 1630. The family has a notable mili- tary record, being represented in all of the prominent wars of the country. Amos and Thomas Towne served in King Philip's war; eighteen of the representatives of the family were in the French and Indian war ; thirty-six in the Revolutionary war; three in the war of 1812; two in the Mexican war; fifty in the Civil war; and two in the Spanish-American war. Such a history of patriotism and loyalty may well serve as an inspiration to the American youth.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Churchill are: Edith I., the wife of James Wilson, of Ravenna, Ohio; Pearl Towne; Orilla B., the wife of C. A. Chamber- lain, of Cleveland; Jessie A., the wife of George S. Clapp, of Gustavus, Trum- bull county, Ohio; Winnifred Josephine; Alta B., the wife of Walter B. Henry, of Dorset, Ohio; Ruby H .; Royal S .; and Esther L. The death of the husband and father occurred February 27, 1905. He had been a life-long resident of Ohio and during the years of his residence in Cleveland had won the warm friendship of many with whom he had come in contact. In days of peace he was as true and loyal to his country as when he followed the stars and stripes on the battle- fields of the south.
EDWIN G. ROSE.
Edwin G. Rose, who for thirty-seven years was connected with the Sterling & Welch Company and throughout this period enjoyed the confidence and good will of his business associates, was born in Binghamton, New York, February II, 1837, and died February 3, 1907, his days almost compassing the Psalmist's alloted span of three score years and ten. His parents were Elanson and Lukena Rose, the former a prominent physician of Binghamton, New York. In the schools of that city Edwin G. Rose pursued his education to the age of thir- teen years and then entered upon an apprenticeship in a newspaper office in Norwalk, Ohio, where he remained four years. From that early age he was dependent entirely upon his own resources, and whatever success came to him followed as the logical sequence of his persistent and earnest effort. He arrived in Cleveland in 1861 and for four years was employed as compositor on the Plain Dealer. He was also for a year or two with the Cleveland Leader. He then withdrew from the newspaper field and was in the employ of Morgan & Root, dry-goods merchants, for several years. In 1870 he became connected with the Sterling & Welch Company, and thirty-seven years' association with that house stands as incontrovertible evidence of his ability, trustworthiness and the confidence reposed in him by those whom he represented.
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