A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 57

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 57

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Thomas A. McCaslin pursued his education in public and private schools, the latter at Slate Lick, Pennsylvania, where his course was equivalent to that taught in high schools. He also attended Elders Ridge Academy and entered upon the study of law in the office and under the direction of the law firm of Mix, Noble & White, of Cleveland. After thorough preliminary reading he was admitted to the bar by examination in June, 1888, and for more than two decades has now been active as a lawyer of this city. He entered upon practice as a clerk in the law office where he had studied, there remaining from 1884 until June, 1888, when he was admitted to the bar and formed a partnership with Thomas L. Johnson under the firm name of Johnson & McCaslin. In 1886 Conway W. Noble of the firm of Mix, Noble & White, was elevated to the common pleas bench and the partnership was then maintained as Mix & White. In 1890 Mr. Mix retired and Mr. White then became head of the firm of White, Johnson & McCaslin. This relation was continued until October 1, 1895, when Austin V. Cannon joined the partnership and the present firm style was assumed. They give their attention to general practice.

On the 29th of September, 1890, Mr. McCaslin was married to Miss Ruth LeMont, and they have three children: James Frederick, who is now a pupil in the Cleveland high school; John White, also attending high school; and Ruth Dorothea.

Mr. McCaslin is a republican in his political views and has been an excellent worker in the ranks of the party because of his firm belief in the value of its principles, but is without desire for office. He served for one year as chairman of the republican executive county committee and has been a delegate to county and state conventions. In 1903 he took an active part in the campaign as chair- man of the committee and gave stalwart support to M. A. Hanna, when the usual democratic majority was reduced by about twelve thousand votes. The

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result of the election was largely contributed to by Mr. McCaslin's work and management, his executive ability enabling him to draw out and harmonize the full party strength. In the line of his profession he is connected with the Cuy- ahoga Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows and several other societies. He attends and supports the Presbyterian church and is a member of the Colonial and Masonic Clubs. He is an alert, enterprising man, placing a correct valuation upon life, its opportunities, its obligations and its privileges and as the years have gone by he has come into a position of pro- fessional prominence and of social influence.

JOSEPH SHERMAN VAN DE BOE.

Thrown upon his own resources at the age of twelve years, Joseph Sherman Van De Boe is today one of the most successful and prominent representatives of real-estate interests in Ohio, conducting business in Cleveland, Columbus and Buffalo, as president of the Van De Boe-Hager Company in the field of real- estate operations, while in the insurance line business is carried on under the style of Van De Boe, Hager & Company. It has often seemed that the biographer has rather emphasized the fact that because of one's lack of early advantages and of few opportunities, the individual wins success. Is it not, however, that he works his way upward in spite of these obstacles, calling forth every latent energy and power of his nature to overcome the difficulties and obstacles which are his be- cause of his few advantages in youth? A self-reliant, enterprising and deter- mined spirit has led Mr. Van De Boe to a prominent place in the business world, his record being at all times creditable, while his success is most gratifying. A native of Cooperstown, New York, Mr. Van De Boe was born January 2, 1859, on the trail of J. Fenimore Cooper. His father, John Leeland, also a native of the Empire state, was of Holland lineage, tracing his American ancestry back to one of the passengers on the first boatload of Dutch settlers that came to the new world, founding the colony on the Hudson river. J. L. Van De Boe was a farmer by occupation. He, too, started out in life empty handed but became a large landowner and also engaged in the raising of fine horses. His death resulted from a runaway accident in 1865, when he was but forty-four years of age. His wife also passed away about the same time and thus Joseph S. Van De Boe was left an orphan at the early age of six years. He lived with his grandparents on a farm near Deposit, Delaware county, New York, until twelve years of age, when he left their home to start out in life on his own account. For two months he was employed at farm labor at ten dollars per month, but he felt this would not win him rapid advancement and he secured employment with a manufacturing drug concern at Andover, New York, with which he was connected for a year. He next went to Ulysses, Pennsylvania, and arranged to work in a country store mornings and evenings for his board, while during the periods of vacation he was to receive a salary. He there attended the Ulysses Academy until he was gradu- ated at the age of sixteen years, after which he went to Poughkeepsie, New York, and pursued a commercial course in Eastman's Business College, then the largest institution of the kind in the country. He had come to realize the need and value of education and with characteristic spirit set to work to overcome the disadvan- tage under which he labored by lack of early school training. Upon finishing his course he returned to Potter ,county and accepted a clerkship in a country store and when eighteen years of age, at the request of the school board, he took charge of the school there, which he conducted with great success, receiving a higher salary than had ever previously been paid. He was urged to continue as teacher the following year but refused, for, ambitious to still extend his own education,

J S. VAN DE BOE

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he matriculated in Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Massachusetts, where he remained until he completed the course.

At that time Mr. Van De Boe came to Ohio with the intention of reading law and entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, where he took up some special work. He was married about that time, being then twenty-two years of age, and this changed his plans, for his wife was suffering from pulmonary trouble and for the benefit of her health they went to Florida, where Mr. Van De Boe planted an orange grove and remained there in the cultivation of citrus fruits for eight years. He also occupied a position as head bookkeeper and gen- eral manager of a wholesale and retail dry-goods and grocery house at Sanford for four years, after which he began merchandising on his own account, handling a line of fancy groceries. In that business he continued until 1887, when his store was destroyed by fire, leaving him in debt to start life anew.

Mr. Van De Boe then returned to the north, locating in Chicago, where he en- gaged in the general real-estate brokerage business for a year. He afterward became connected with a Boston real-estate firm, subdividing real-estate and re- moving to that city. He began with the firm at a salary of fifteen dollars per week and within ten months was made general manager at a salary of one hun- dred dollars per week and expenses, having charge of twenty-five offices through- out the country. In 1893 he resigned that position to engage in real-estate bus- iness on his own account, locating in Buffalo, where he subdivided some prop- erty. In 1895 he formed a partnership with W. M. Hager 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. Van De Boe as president. During the fourteen years in which they have oper- ated here they have laid out thirteen subdivisions in Cleveland and also estab- lished a branch in Columbus, Ohio, in 1897, there laying out five subdivisions. They have enjoyed the patronage of more than eight thousand clients and have confined their business to purchasing and subdividing property exclusively. In 1905 they also organized the firm of Van De Boe, Hager & Company, which is devoted entirely to insurance of all kinds except life. Their clients in the real- estate field demanded their embarkation in insurance lines and in this they have been equally successful.

In December, 1881, in Lebanon, Ohio, Mr. Van De Boe was married to Miss Mary A. Wood, a daughter of John Wood, a contractor of Lebanon. They had one son, Hugh Robert, who was born in Sanford, Florida, October 14, 1885, and was educated in the Cleveland public schools, graduating from the Central high school. He then entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Mary- land, from which he was graduated in 1909, and is now a lieutenant in the navy. He was married June 5, 1909, in Annapolis, to Miss Mary E. Scott, of Petersburg. Virginia, who belongs to an old Virginian family. Mrs. J. S. Van De Boe died December 27, 1909, at Hong Kong, China, while on a visit to her son, who was then on a cruise in oriental waters.

Mr. Van De Boe is much interested in the city's welfare and progress along lines of general improvement and development and cooperates with the efforts of leading business men to promote public progress, especially through his member- ship in the Chamber of Commerce and the Cleveland Credit Men's Association. He is prominent in Masonry, having been initiated March 18, 1887, in Sanford Lodge, No. 62, F. & A. M., at Sanford, Florida. There he was raised as a Mas- ter Mason and is now a member of Tyrian Lodge, No. 370, F. & A. M. He be- came a Royal Arch Mason in Buffalo Chapter, No. 71, on the 15th of March, 1893, and was created a Knight Templar in Holyrood Commandery, No. 32, at Cleveland, May 10, 1899. He has held the various offices in the commandery and now enjoys the rank of past commander. He also attained the thirty-second degree in Lake Erie Consistorv. S. P. R. S., October 27. 1899, and was consti- tuted a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in Al Koran Temple. May 25, 1809. He be- came a charter member of Al Sirat Grotto, No. 17. M. O. V. P. E. R., Novem-

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ber 21, 1904, of which he is now monarch. He belongs also to the Cleveland Athletic Club and the Cleveland Automobile Club and in religious faith is an Episcopalian. Politically he is a republican, active to some extent in local poli- tics but never seeking office. Avoiding sham and pretension, his genuine worth has nevertheless won him the merited regard and good will of his fellowmen, while his business record awakens their admiration and respect inasmuch as his advancement is due entirely to his own efforts, proving the strength of his char- acter and of his business capacity.

HENRY W. KITCHEN, M. D.

Dr. Henry W. Kitchen, who for twenty years was professor of anatomy in the medical department of Delaware University and for a long period rec- ognized as one of the most competent and progressive physicians of Cleveland, was born on a farm in Stark county, Ohio, July 8, 1843. He attended the dis- trict schools in the acquirement of his literary education and on the Ist of Octo- ber, 1861, when but eighteen years of age, he enlisted as a private of Company I, Nineteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. At the battle of Chickamauga he was wounded and taken prisoner, this occurring on the 19th of September, 1863. He was then sent to Richmond and, after being incarcerated in Libby prison for forty-five days, was transferred to the Pemberton building and subsequently to Danville, Virginia, in Prison No. I. There he remained until April, 1864, when he was sent to Andersonville and on the 7th of September of that year he was sent to Savannah, Georgia, and afterward to Milan Junction, where he was held as a prisoner of war until November 30, 1864. On that date he was paroled and was sent to Camp Parole, Annapolis, Maryland, and in January, 1865, he was honorably discharged and mustered out at Columbus, Ohio. He suffered all of the horrors of life in the southern prisons and ere his capture he partici- pated in a number of hotly contested engagements making a most creditable record. After the war Dr. Kitchen engaged in teaching school and also attended college at Oberlin, while later he became a student in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Qualifying for the practice of medicine, in 1870 he was graduated from the Charity Hospital Medical College, now the medical department of Dela- ware University, where a few years later he was made professor of anatomy and taught in that branch for twenty years. His practice, too, grew steadily during all this period and his ability placed him in the foremost rank with the medical practitioners and educators. He spent one year traveling in Europe, beside making three short tours abroad, the last one in the summer of 1906, and he not only added to his professional knowledge in visiting the clinics and hos- pitals of the old world but also gained that broad culture and experience which only travel can bring.

In the line of his profession Dr. Kitchen also served for three terms as presi- dent of the board of health of Cleveland. He was likewise elected surgeon of the Cleveland Grays and for many years went with them on their annual en- campments. In 1882 he was elected clerk of the court of common pleas and served in that capacity for two terms. When the State Banking & Trust Com- pany was organized he was elected its president and was active in the manage- ment of this important financial institution for many years.

On the Ist of September, 1875, Dr. Kitchen was united in marriage to Miss Grace Kingsley, a life-long resident of Cleveland and a daughter of Horace B. Kingsley, who was a traveling representative for a New York drug house. Unto Dr. and Mrs. Kitchen were born two sons: Joseph, whose birth occurred in 1877 and who is now assistant secretary of the State Banking & Trust Company; and Carl, who was born in 1885 and is on the staff of the New York World and a correspondent for the Plain Dealer in New York.

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Dr. Kitchen was deeply interested in politics, always kept well informed on the vital questions of the day and was chairman of the republican committee of Cleveland. Fraternally he was a thirty-second degree Mason and was made a veteran member in the spring of 1907. In the early days he was a member of the' various medical societies. Much interested in the old soldiers, he did all in his power to further their interests and he was also equally interested in hos- pital work. He held membership in the Chamber of Commerce, in the Union and the Colonial Clubs and his was a well rounded character, as manifest in his connection with various lines of public thought and action. He won honors and success in his profession and in financial circles and left the impress of his in- dividuality upon the political history and the municipal life of Cleveland. On the morning of September 27, 1907, he was in the office of L. C. Hanna, when he was stricken with paralysis on the left side. The following day he was much better but on Sunday night, September 29, he suffered a second stroke which left him unconscious and he passed away at 1:00 A. M. on the morning of Sep- tember 30, when sixty-four years of age. It is not from the few conspicuous deeds of life that the blessings chiefly come which make the world better, sweeter, happier, but from the countless lowly ministries of the every days, the little faith- fulnesses that fill long years. It was these as much as the prominence to which he attained in professional and financial circles that caused the death of Dr. Kitchen to be so deeply regretted and also which caused his memory to be cher- ished by all who knew him. Mrs. Kitchen still survives. She has an extensive acquaintance in Cleveland and enjoys the warm friendship of all with whom she has been brought in contact.

AVERILL LEWIS HYDE.

Among the men who are prominently identified with the large business in- terests of Cleveland appears the name of Averill Lewis Hyde, secretary of the City Ice Delivery Company. He was born in West Woodstock, Connecticut, February 5, 1855. His father, Lewis A. Hyde, well known as an educator, rep- resented a family of English origin that was founded on American soil in 1650, when the first ancestor in this country arrived at Hartford, Connecticut. Lewis A. Hyde died when his son Averill was but two years of age. He had married Elizabeth Barlow, a daughter of Darius and Chloe (Ford) Barlow, and a sister of Merrill Barlow, one of Cleveland's prominent lawyers and leading citizens, who served as quartermaster general of Ohio during the Civil war. The Barlow family is an old one of New England.

Averill Lewis Hyde came to Cleveland in the fall of 1862, when a youth of seven summers, and attended the public schools until he was graduated from the Central high school with the class of 1872. His literary education completed, he began learning the more difficult lessons in the school of experience, taking up the printer's trade, which he followed in Cleveland until his removal to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he read law. Later he returned to this city, where he completed his law course and in 1876 was admitted to the bar. He has never engaged actively in practice, however, but his legal knowledge has served him in good stead in the management of important commercial interests. It was soon after his admission to the bar that he assumed the management of the ice business of which his stepfather, Charles Reeves, had been the proprietor. He took control of the business on the death of Mr. Reeves and conducted it until 1888, when several smaller companies were merged into the Forest City Ice Com- pany, of which Mr. Hyde became secretary. This connection lasted until 1897, when the Forest City Ice Company, the Lake Erie Ice Company and the Knick- erbocker Ice Company consolidated under the name of the Columbia Ice Com- pany, Mr. Hyde becoming assistant secretary of the new organization. He

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served in that capacity until 1901, when the Columbia was taken over by the Independent Ice Company and he acted as secretary of the latter until 1902, when the City Ice Delivery Company was organized and he was elected secre- tary. He has since remained in that capacity and has also been a member of the board of directors. He stands today as one of the leading representatives of the ice trade in the city, active in control of a business which, because of its ex- tent and importance, has come to be recognized as one of the leading commercial enterprises of Cleveland.

Not alone in business lines has Mr. Hyde put forth his activity and energies. He has never regarded self-centered interests as the real source of happiness, but has found contentment in the recognition and performance of various duties which constitute vital forces in the affairs of life. His study of the political questions of the day has led him to cast his ballot for the men and measures of the republican party. He belongs to Grace Episcopal church, of which he is one of the vestrymen, and he is active in the Young Men's Christian Association, serving as a member of its Business Men's Club and also taking part in its other activities.

On the 25th of May, 1880, Mr. Hyde was married to Miss Etta Marshall, a daughter of Daniel and Olive (Radway) Marshall, of Cleveland. Her father was one of the city's leading residents and business men, who in early days served in the city council and was a prominent republican. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde have become parents of two sons and a daughter. Elbert Lewis, who pursued his education in the Central high school and the Case School of Applied Science, afterward studied law and was admitted to the bar in Washington, D. C., in 1907. He is now connected with the patent office in the capital city. Olive M., who was educated in the Central high school and the Cleveland Normal School, is now a successful teacher in the public schools of this city. Charles A., a graduate of the Central High School and the Case School of Applied Science, is now with the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company. The family home is at No. 11209 Wade Park avenue and they also have a country home at Noble Beach, Ohio.

LUTHER ALLEN.

Like the army, civic life is composed of the great rank and file-men whose labors are directed by others, whose duty it is to follow the orders given. Above these are those to whom greater ability or favoring circumstances have secured promotion, while at the head are the great generals of finance, commerce and manufacture-men who can grasp and comprehend in their broadest sense the economic and scientific problems and are capable of grouping and coordinating the varied and conflicting forces of business life.

The subject of this sketch may well be classed among this latter group, for he won for himself a prominent and influential position in manufacturing, financial and transportation circles, and, giving of his time freely and gladly, cooperated actively with other public-spirited citizens in many matters looking toward the betterment and upbuilding of the city of Cleveland.

No record of Luther Allen would be complete which did not mention in addi- tion to the chronicle of his various activities the influence for good which a man of his absolute sincerity, integrity and responsive sympathy for all deserving peo- ple. charities and causes must have upon the community in which he lives. His consideration for and appreciation of others, many helpful acts, unfailing cour- tesy and affable personality brought him not only the respect but the affectionate esteem of his fellow citizens. Through his indomitable energy, his devotion to every duty and his active championship of men and measures aiming to further

LUTHER ALLEN

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the best interests of Cleveland, he occupied an important place in the affairs of the city, both in its civic and business enterprises.

The life record of Mr. Allen covered a period of fifty-nine years, his birth having occurred on the 20th of July, 1846, in Gowanda, Cattaraugus county, New York, while he passed away in Cleveland, Ohio, September 23, 1905. His father, also Luther Allen, who was prominently identified with the settlement, growth and history of western New York and held many positions of trust and responsi- bility, died at Gowanda, New York, February 20, 1847. His mother, who before her marriage, was Lois Marshall Leland, died at Gowanda, New York, in 1852. Mr. Allen thus became an orphan at six years of age. The Allens came origin- ally from England and settled in Connecticut four generations back. The Leland family, to which Luther Allen's mother belonged, came to America from Eng- land in 1624 and settled in Massachusetts.

Mr. Allen's boyhood was spent with relatives in Cleveland, Toledo and Mil- waukee. His early education was secured in the public schools until at the age of seventeen he commenced his business career as a clerk in the freight office of the Chicago & Milwaukee Railway, now a division of the Chicago & Northwest- ern Railway. He studied telegraphy and became proficient in sending and re- ceiving messages, and a year later was promoted to the position of cashier. In 1866, when twenty years of age, he was appointed station agent at Racine, Wis- consin, which place was at the time mentioned the largest "way" statiton on that road. A year later he was advanced to the position of coupon ticket clerk of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railway and went to Chicago to live. He held this position for two years and when the Lake Shore & Michigan South- ern Railway was organized in 1869 he was appointed traveling auditor of all the lines. In July, 1872, at the age of twenty-six, he resigned this position to accept that of auditor of the Northern Pacific Railroad, becoming its first auditor.

In July, 1874, when twenty-eight years of age he became accountant for the Society for Savings, of Cleveland, and in January, 1884, was elected secretary and treasurer of this large and prosperous financial institution. In September, 1886, he resigned this position to become secretary and treasurer of The Globe Iron Works Company, builders of steel steamships in Cleveland, which position he occupied until 1899, when the ship building plants on the Great Lakes were merged into The American Ship Building Company.

From this time until his death, Mr. Allen devoted his time to banking, manu- facturing and interurban electric railways. At the time of his death Mr. Allen was president and treasurer of The Toledo & Western Railway Company ; pres- ident of The Reserve Trust Company ; president of The Adams Bag Company ; president of The Inland Grocer Publishing Company ; president of The Columbia Fire Clay Company, a member of the executive committee of The American Ship Building Company and a director in a number of other corporations.

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 57

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