A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 55

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 55

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three sons: Helen Sarah, Mary, Allen Barnard, Wilbur and Charles Holden III. Mr. Prescott is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Euclid and Union Clubs, and with all of his many duties finds time to give important aid to his church. He is superintendent of the Sunday school of the First Bap- tist church, a thriving congregation, and is a member of the executive commit- tee of the Cuyahoga County Sunday School Association. It is in his home life, in companionship with his wife and children, however, that he finds his great- est relaxation from care. Of New England ancestry and inheriting the rugged strength, activity and business sagacity usually attributed to natives of that sec- tion of the country, Mr. Prescott is a type of sterling American manhood, of broad interests, possessed of great energy but well balanced, a man who can enjoy other activities than those connected with the business world.

ISAAC GRODIN.

Isaac Grodin conducts an extensive and profitable business as a member of the firm of Grodin Brothers, dealers in metals and rubbers, at No. 1684 Colum- bus road in Cleveland. He was born in this city on the 22d of November, 1872, a son of Moses and Mary Grodin. The public schools afforded him his educational advantages and when sixteen years of age he put aside his text- books and secured the position of bookkeeper with the firm of L. A. Stone & Company, who were engaged in the rag business. At the end of seven years he severed his connection with that company and became a partner in the firm of Pollack-Kohn & Company, being thus engaged in business for two and a half years, when he sold out his interests. Subsequently he became associated with L. A. Stone as a dealer in metal and rubber at No. 1684_Columbus road, but at the end of three years purchased Mr. Stone's interest and admitted his brother, Joseph I., to a partnership. The enterprise has since been conducted under the firm style of Grodin Brothers and they have built up quite an ex- tensive and successful business in their line, employing a force of fifteen men.

In March, 1899, at Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Grodin was united in marriage to Miss Lollis E. Applebaum, by whom he has two children: Eleanor, who is ten years of age and attends public school; and Harry Earl, a little lad of three. The family residence is at No. 1959 East Seventy-first street.

Politically Mr. Grodin is a stanch advocate of the republican party, being convinced that its principles are most conducive to good government. Relig- iously he is a member of the Scovill Avenue Temple (Jewish) and acts as one of its trustees. In the city where his entire life has been spent Mr. Grodin has an extensive circle of warm friends and has made for himself a creditable posi- tion in business circles, winning that measure of success which comes from un- faltering diligence intelligently applied.

PATRICK SMITH.

The first tug that was operated in the Cleveland harbor was under the control of Patrick Smith, a pioneer citizen and vesselman of northern Ohio, who was widely known in connection with the shipping interests on Lake Erie. He was born in Baileyboro in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1827, and came to this country in 1836 with his mother, the father having preceded them three years before. They then joined him in Cleveland, where the father, John Smith, was engaged in business as a contractor and teamster. For some years the family lived on a farm at Newburg and it was about that time that Patrick Smith was attracted to the river and harbor, in which connection the remainder of his life was to show

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forth those traits of character which made him a prominent figure among the ves- selmen of the Great Lakes. In 1843 he worked on a dredge on the river and, finding those pursuits attractive and profitable, he purchased the dredge the next year and thus started on a career that brought him into prominence and success. A tug line, one of the first on the lakes, was added to his interests and he operated the first tug that plied the waters of the Cleveland harbor. From time to time he purchased other boats and extended his interests until the Smith fleet became one of the largest on the lakes. Later he invested in real estate, becoming the owner of much valuable property in Cleveland.

In 1852 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Margaret Olwill, a native of the Empire state, and they became the parents of eight children, of whom four are living. The wife and mother died in 1887 and Mr. Smith afterward married Miss Burns. The surviving children of the first marriage are L. P., J. A., Mrs. James R. Sprankle and Mrs. James E. Cunnea.

In his political views Mr. Smith was a stalwart democrat and for several years was a member of the city council as representative from the old eighth ward. He exercised his official prerogatives in support of the measures which he deemed of greatest value in municipal affairs. He was a very charitable man, giving freely to those in need. He was entirely free from ostentation or dis- play, a plain, practical man whose study of life as manifest to him in his various relations with the public led him to judge of genuine worth and merit and his deductions were expressed in many philosophical sentiments. He was altogether a most unique and prominent figure in the shipping circles of Lake Erie, a man whose genuineness and kindly spirit brought him appreciation and regard from those who prize true worth. His death, which occurred May II, 1902, was a matter of deep regret to all who knew him.

HORACE P. WEDDELL.

Horace P. Weddell, one of the oldest native born residents of Cleveland, has witnessed probably as much of the transformation of the city from a frontier town to the metropolis of Ohio as any living man within its borders. He was born November 27, 1823, on the northwest corner of what is now West Superior and West Ninth streets, then Superior and Bank streets, where stood his father's residence and store building. His father, Peter Martin Weddell, was one of the foremost merchants and leading citizens of his day in Cleveland. His birth oc- curred in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1788. His father died before the birth of the son and his mother married again and removed to Kentucky, set- tling in Paris, Bourbon county, at a time when that state deserved its sobriquet of "the dark and bloody ground," as the contest with the native savages was car- ried on with relentless fury on both sides. Under these circumstances it may well be supposed that Peter M. Weddell grew up with few educational or other ad- vantages and that his youth was one of vicissitudes and hardships. At the age. of fourteen years he applied at a store for employment. His surplus clothing and effects which he possessed were carelessly flung over his shoulder. He promised to do any work which his employer required of him and felt sure that he could give satisfaction. This broad pledge was so well kept that promotion followed from time to time until at the age of nineteen years he was admitted to a partnership in the business. The relation, however, was soon afterward ter- minated by the death of the older member.

Mr. Weddell, then a young man with a vigorous body, good habits, a clear judgment and some money, removed to Newark, Ohio, during the progress of the war of 1812. While he was successfully trading there, Miss Sophia Perry, of Cleveland, was sent to her friends at Newark for greater safety and also for the purpose of being educated there. While in that place she met and becanie en-

H. P. WEDDELL

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gaged to Mr. Weddell, and they were married in November, 1815. She was a daughter of Judge Nathan Perry, one of the pioneer lawyers of the Western Reserve and one of the first to occupy the bench of Cuyahoga county. In 1820 Mr. Weddell removed with his family from Newark to Cleveland and established himself in business on Superior street, at once taking a foremost place among the merchants of the town-a place he retained as long as he continued in business there.

In 1823 Mrs. Weddell died, leaving three children, of whom Horace P. Wed- dell is the only survivor. A portrait of the mother by Peale is still one of the cherished possessions of the family and shows a lady of many charms of both person and disposition. Later Mr. Weddell married Mrs. Eliza A. Bell, of New- ark, Ohio, who survived him for a number of years.

In 1825 Mr. Weddell formed a partnership with Edmund Clarke, of Buffalo, and soon afterward retired from active participation in business. In 1828 the partnership was dissolved and three years later Mr. Weddell admitted to a part- nership his two clerks, Greenup C. Woods, his half brother, and Dudley Baldwin, the firm becoming P. M. Weddel & Company. This connection continued for about four years, at the end of which time Mr. Woods established himself in business at Newark, Ohio, while Mr. Weddell and Mr. Baldwin continued the business in Cleveland until 1845. When the former began his mercantile life the trials of the merchant developed all there was in a man. At that time there were no railroads or canals to facilitate commerce and in fact but few highways, while specie was the only currency west of the Allegheny mountains and it had to be carried across the mountains from Pittsburg on the backs of mules, the merchan- dise being returned in the same way. Several merchants would travel together and frequently would have guards, as the lonely uninhabited mountain roads were not altogether safe in those days. In 1823 Mr. Weddell built what was regarded as probably the finest brick residence and store in Cleveland. It was at the north- west corner of Superior and Bank streets, afterward the site of the Weddell House. His surplus funds were from time to time invested in real estate, which soon began to increase in value at an astonishing rate as the city grew in popula- tion and importance. On one of his lots on Euclid avenue he built a stone cottage which he designed as a country retreat and after taking his clerks into partnership he left the store mainly to their management, devoting his attention to the pur- chase and improvement of real estate, for he was by this time one of the wealthy men of Cleveland. In the spring of 1845 he began the construction of the Wed- dell House, demolishing the store and mansion where the foundation of his for- tune had been laid. Two years were required in building the hotel and when com- pleted Mr. Weddell went to New York to purchase its furnishings. On his way home he became ill with typhoid fever and within three weeks was in his grave. As a merchant he had few if any superiors in his time. His urbanity, industry and careful attention made him popular, successful and reliable, while his integrity and liberality were well known to correspondents and to all the religious and benev- olent institutions of the time, which made frequent demands upon him, and to these he returned ready response. He was always willing to aid and assist the young men in his employ and when he found one worthy and capable he never refused a helping hand. Very few of his day were as liberal in this respect or could point to so many who became successful business men because of his as- sistance as could Mr. Weddell. He was a man of such personal energy and busi- ness capacity that he seemed to have the promise of a quarter of a century of ac- tive life when he was suddenly cut off by death. Soon after the Rev. S. C. Aiken became pastor he was received as a communicant of the Old Stone church and died in the Christian faith. He left liberal bequests to the American Board of Foreign Missions and to the Home Missionary Society, and also to several benevolent institutions.

Horace P. Weddell was educated in the public and private schools of Cleve- land, including the school conducted by Franklin Backus. When a young man

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he entered the dry goods business with his father and after the father's death the care and management of his extensive private interests occupied much of the business life of Mr. Weddell. In 1865 he erected the addition to the Weddell House on Bank street. He has also occupied a prominent position among the leading citizens of Cleveland because of the extent and importance of his in- terests, and also by reason of his activity and support of progressive public measures. For fifty-two years his residence was on Euclid avenue in the liome which his father erected in 1833, and on the expiration of that period he re- moved to Euclid Heights, where he has since resided. He well remembers the visit of Abraham Lincoln to Cleveland and while a guest of the Weddell House he helped entertain Mr. Lincoln. A life-long republican since the organization of the party, he has voted for nearly every one of its candidates for the presidency. He has lived to see Cleveland grow from a village of less than four hundred in- habitants to a city of its present proportions and at his advanced age, in full pos- session of his faculties, he readily recalls many incidents of the changes witnessed by him that have long since become matters of history to those of the present day.

WALTER DANIEL SAYLE.

The builders of a city and the promoters of its growth and progress are the men who are prominent in control of its commercial and industrial interests, in which connection Walter Daniel Sayle is recognized as a dynamic force, his sound judgment enabling him to readily discriminate between the essential and nonessential in the conduct and management of the business affairs with which he is associated. He is perhaps best known to the public as the president of the Cleveland Punch & Shear Works Company but other lines have also benefited by his cooperation and sagacity and business interests at large have profited by the stimulus which his labors have given to business activity.

Born in Cleveland, September 10, 1860, Walter D. Sayle is descended in both the paternal and maternal lines' from old Manx families of the highest character. His father, Thomas Henry Sayle, a native of the Isle of Man, came to America with a colony of his countrymen about 1830 and settled in War- rensville, Ohio, where he operated a gristmill for a number of years. In 1853 he removed to East Cleveland and died on the old Sayle farm in 1878 at the age of fifty-six years. Following the establishment of his home in this locality he operated a gristmill at the Shaker settlement, which is now Shaker Heights. His wife, in her maidenhood Jane Clark, was also a native of the Isle of Man and in 1845, at the age of two years, was brought to the United States by her parents, who were among the old Manx colony at Warrensville. Her death oc- curred in 1906. In a family of eight children, six of whom are yet living, Wal- ter D. Sayle was the fourth in order of birth. All are married and now reside in Cleveland. These are Charles H., a dealer in interior decorations; Nellie, the wife of D. Auld, Jr., of the firm of Auld & Conger; Walter Daniel, of this re- view ; John J., a practicing physician ; William F., a partner in the firm of Col- lister & Sayle, dealers in athletic goods ; and Mary A., the wife of J. R. Seager, of Seager & Wise, dry goods merchants.

In the public schools of his native city Walter D. Sayle continued his studies until his course was completed by graduation from the Central high school in 1880, the second year after it was opened. He then began the study of law in the office of W. H. Bordman but soon gave up the idea of a professional life and entered upon a business career, spending five years in the service of the Ohio Building Stone Company and the Ohio Grind Stone Company, the latter being a consolidation of the sales departments of all stone companies quarrying the Amherst stone. Reliability, ready mastery of tasks assigned him and an in- defatigable energy led to his promotion until at the end of three years he had en-

PETER M. WEDDELL

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tire charge of the accounting department. In September, 1886, he was solicited to join with others in organiizng the East End Savings Bank Company, which in April, 1887, established a branch at No. 1123 St. Clair avenue, of which Mr. Sayle took charge. He was a director and the secretary of that company until its consolidation with the Cleveland Trust Company in July, 1905. In the mean- time his business interests became so extensive that it was essential that he give up all salaried positions and confine his attention to his manufacturing proposi- tions. He had noted the opportunities for the establishment and successful con- duct of interests of that character and into that field had directed his energies, his labors resulting in 1890 in the organization of the Cleveland Punch & Shear Works Company, whose nucleus was the business of the firm of Leighton & Bruch, general jobbing machinists and small manufacturers of punches and shears. At that time the junior partner severed his connection, while in 1899 Mr. Sayle purchased the interest of Mr. Leighton and has had control con- tinuously since. The business has enjoyed a phenomenal growth and today the house is scarcely equaled in its manufacture of tools of this character, its out- put being sent to all parts of the country, while its product is largely regarded as a standard for the trade. Realizing that it would be advantageous to control the interests upon which the company was dependent for supplies, in 1903 Mr. Sayle purchased the plant of the City Foundry Company, upon which the Cleve- land Punch & Shear Works Company depended for their iron castings. Mr. Sayle has been equally successful in the control and development of this busi- ness, making it the leader in its line in the city. These interests alone would mark him as a most enterprising and successful business man and yet they have not fully taxed his capacity, for his judgment and labors have been the controll- ing feature in other successful concerns. In 1897 he organized the Cleveland Crane & Engineering Company for the manufacture of electric traveling cranes, an industry then in its infancy. The plant was originally located at Wason and Superior streets but the quarters there became too small and they purchased twenty-five acres at Wickliffe, Ohio, there erecting an extensive plant which is now being profitably operated. Of this company Mr. Sayle is the secretary and the controlling stockholder.

In 1901 the Penton Publishing Company was organized, Mr. Sayle becoming its secretary. This company purchased the entire interests of the Marine Re- view, Iron Trade Review, The Foundry and several other trade journals. In financial circles Mr. Sayle is not unknown, being interested in the Union Nat- ional Bank, the Cleveland Trust Company and other moneyed concerns.

Not only for his own benefit but for the promotion of general trade interests has Mr. Sayle put forth earnest and effective effort. He was president of the Cleveland Manufacturers Association from 1901 until 1906 inclusive and on re- fusing to serve longer was presented with a beautiful silver vase appropriately inscribed, as an appreciation on the part of the members of his capable work as chief presiding officer. He has been connected with the National Metal Trades Association since 1901, has served several terms on its administrative council and for one term was its president, being elected March 1, 1906. He also as- sisted in organizing the Cleveland Manufacturers Club, organized for mutual benefit and to promote the interests of manufacturers and their surroundings, and he served two years as its president. He assisted in organizing the Cleve- land Life Insurance Company, of which he is a director and treasurer. He was appointed one of the executive committee of the Cleveland Industrial Exposi- tion held June 7-19, 1909.

In more specifically social lines Mr. Sayle is connected with the Colonial Club and with the different Masonic bodies. In politics he is an earnest re- publican but was not active in party ranks until 1904, when Elroy M. Avery, his old schoolmaster, insisted on his becoming a candidate for the school board, to which he was elected in November of that year and in which capacity he served for five years.

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On the 22d of October, 1884, in Cleveland, Mr. Sayle wedded Jessie Chi- chester, a daughter of John Chichester, who was one of the Cleveland Grays, killed in active service with that military command in the Civil war. The three children of the family are: Flora Mary, Walter Chichester and Harold Clark, aged twenty-two, twenty-one and twelve years respectively.

The family residence is at No. 2102 East One Hundredth street, erected by Mr. Sayle five years ago, while his summer home is on the lake shore at Euclid, Ohio, his family there spending the heated months of the year. He is a lover of children and beside rearing his own sons and daughter he has given a home to two nephews and a niece, whom he has provided with the best educational advantages, having them share alike with his own children in all of the oppor- tunities of the home, his niece being now in college, while his sons and nephews are being educated in his line of business and to them he expects to turn over his entire interests within a year or two that he may enjoy well earned rest. He is a lover of hunting and spends a period each fall in bird shooting or in hunting big game. Several trophies of his chase adorn his dining room and office, among which are moose and caribou heads and bear and wolf skins.

ELIJAH VAN CAMP.

Elijah Van Camp was a factor in making Cleveland the important varnish and paint center which it is today. His business interests in that connection were extensive and brought to him gatifying success as the years pased, as the reward for his persistent and well directed labor. A native of Elmira, New York, he spent his earlier years there in the home of his father, Jared Van Camp, who lived in the Chemung Valley, New York. His education was acquired in the public schools of his native place and when a young man he came to Cleveland, entering upon his business career here in the employ of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Company as a locomotive engineer. He remained with that company about twenty years as one of their most trusted and reliable em- ployes, for he was most careful, recognizing the responsibility that devolved upon him. At the end of that time he became connected with the Forest City Varnish Company, with which he remained until 1881 and during that time thor- oughly learned the business in principle and detail. He then joined William Roeder in organizing the Cleveland Varnish Company, which became one of the important industries of this character in the country and of which Mr. Van Camp was vice president for twenty-six years. He was thus active in the man- agement of the enterprise, in formulating new plans for its growth and expan- sion and in marking out lines along which its trade interests should be conducted. He devoted his entire time after the organization of the business to the upbuild- ing of a large and profitable enterprise and his success was such that he never had cause to regret his determination to seek a home in this city.

In 1854, in Corning, New York, Mr. Van Camp was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Reville and they became the parents of four children : George W., who is now superintendent of the Cleveland Varnish Company; Fred, a resident of New York city ; Mrs. A. J. Weidekopf, of Bratenahl; and Mrs. L. E. Green, also living in New York city. For forty years prior to his death Elijah Van Camp made his home at what is now 2109 East Fortieth street, the resi- dence now occupied by his widow being erected in 1891.

Mr. Van Camp was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and was greatly interested in the growth and development of Cleveland, doing all in his power in cooperating with the various movements for the city's substantial upbuilding. He was a member of the First Baptist church and his life record was one over which there fell no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He was ever faithful to duty, whether of a public or a private nature and no trust reposed in him was

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ever betrayed in the slightest degree. He knew that infinitely preferable to wealth, fame or position was his own self-respect and the merited esteem of his fellowmen, and, while he gained a creditable place in manufacturing circles, he never sacrificed his ideas concerning right and wrong to any desire for prosperity. Moreover his success was attributable entirely to his own efforts, for he worked his way upward along well defined lines of trade, his interests growing in volume and importance as the years passed. His leading characteristics were ever of a sterling quality and won for him the favorable position which he occupied in the regard of friends and business associates. He died on the 2d of July, 1907.

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 55

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