USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II > Part 65
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On the 22d of May, 1890, Mr. Schmitt was married to Miss Emma Nuss- dorfer, of Cleveland, and they have one son, Walter J., who was born in 1892 and is now a pupil in the East high school. In addition to their residence in the city Mr. Schmitt owns a country home, Eagle Cliff, on the lake front. He is a member of Cleveland City Lodge, No. 15, A. F. & A. M .; Cleveland Chapter, R. A. M .; Holyrood Commandery, K. T .; and is a thirty-second degree Mason, affiliated with Lake Erie Consistory. He has no desire for club life, finding his greatest pleasure in the home circle, and resides temporarily at 1841 East Eighty- second street. He is interested in all manly outdoor sports and finds true pleas- ure in country life. He has also a well developed literary taste and many of his most pleasant hours are spent in his library. He travels largely both in this country and abroad and has reached a position in the business world where he has leisure to enjoy those interests and measures which contribute to general culture and pleasure. However, he neglects in not the slightest degree the inter- ests of his clients, his faithfulness to the terms of the contract having become proverbial, while the superior nature of his work is evidenced in the fine buildings which the firm have erected.
LOUIS W. HEIMSATH.
Louis W. Heimsath is now living retired, his former labor making him ap- preciative of the leisure which has been vouchsafed him as the reward of his perseverance and diligence of previous years. He was born in Germany in 1844 and came to the United States in 1854. He lived first in Lorain, then known as Black River, Ohio, and containing but a few houses. There he learned the carpen- ter's trade, eventually becoming a contractor and builder. In 1878 he arrived in Cleveland and, turning his attention to other pursuits, established with his brother. H. A. Heimsath, the Troy Steam Laundry, one of the first extensive steam laun-
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dries in the city. The passing years chronicled his success, for an extensive patron- age was accorded him and his business, conducted along most honorable lines, gave him the competence which enabled him in 1897 to put aside further business cares and rest from his labor. He has since dealt to some extent in real estate, both buying and selling property, but he does not allow this to monopolize his time. It, however, gives him something to work and plan for, as indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature.
Louis W. Heimsath was married in 1871 to Miss Amelia Pietschman, a na- tive of Sandusky, Ohio, and to them was born a daughter, Antoinette, who passed through the public schools and was afterward graduated from Caton's Business College. She is now the wife of Z. Taylor, who is a claim clerk for the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company and resides in this city. Mr. Heimsath is a member of Cuyahoga Lodge, No. 22, I. O. O. F., and he and his family are members of the Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran church. In 1887 he built his home at what is No. 2635 East Fifty-first street. There have been no striking events or chapters in his life record, but it is the history of a man who has been faithful to duty in his work, meeting fully the obligations and responsibilities that have devolved upon him and winning his success by honorable methods.
BENAJAH BARKER.
Benajah Barker, one of the well known citizens of Cleveland in his day and in his active life a leading contractor through the middle west, came from an old New England family. He was born July 10, 1805, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a son of Captain Peter and Ruth (Cook) Barker. The ancestors of Benajah Barker were among the early settlers of Rhode Island, this family being descended from one of three brothers who came to America with the Pil- grim fathers and later settled in different sections of New England and founded the branch in Rhode Island of which Benajah Barker is a descendant. Captain Peter Barker, the father of our subject, served faithfully in the war of the Revo- lution and in 1811 migrated from Portsmouth to the state of New York, where he died in 1850, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
When only twenty years of age Benajah Barker succeeded in securing a large contract for the construction of what was formerly known as the Delaware division of the Pennsylvania canal, connecting Easton, Pennsylvania, with tide water at Bristol. His cash capital at the beginning was but five hundred dollars saved from his daily earnings previously, and on this comparatively small sum he boldly started on the undertaking. By able management and shrewd financiering he completed the contract to the letter and cleared the handsome sum of seven thousand dollars, which seemed at that early day quite a fortune-in reality the equivalent of several times that sum in the present day. On his return home he was warmly congratulated by his friends and neighbors on his prosperous termination of the undertaking. In 1837 he was awarded a heavy contract in the construction of the Wabash canal by which he was a considerable gainer. In 1848 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he erected the gas works, and for some time held a majority of the stock. He organized the company and was elected president, a position he held for five years. In 1852-53 he was engaged in the construction of the gas works at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and in 1854-55 built the gas works at Adrian, Michigan. In 1858 he accompanied a colony from Boston to Iowa, where he purchased twelve thousand acres of land, which he disposed of in less than one month at a profit of no less than eighteen thousand dollars. The town of Nevin- ville is located on a portion of that tract of land. In Cleveland he was for a long time one of the directors of what was then the Forest City Bank.
Although Mr. Barker never resorted to the chicaneries and tricks of the poli- ticians yet he was ever decided in his views in favor of the abolition of slavery
ELIZABETH V. BARKER
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BENAJAH BARKER
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and by every means in his power sought to educate the people to his doctrine. Cherishing always a great love of liberty, he took pity on all those seeking free- dom. He assisted many a poor slave in his efforts to reach the soil of Canada, paying their expenses incurred. In furtherance of his plans to crush the slave power he purchased the lot on which the Plymouth Congregational church was erected, giving his own individual check for four thousand dollars for the same, besides assisting in the erection of the building. When organized the church took a positive stand against slavery and it labored unceasingly for the cause of liberty, thus doing perhaps more for the advancement of the new party than any other institution in the state. He was also one of the originators and a stockholder in the paper then called the Democrat, which later became the Cleveland Leader and was instituted to advocate the opposition to slavery. He always bore an irre- proachable character for honor and integrity and his sympathies in behalf of the suffering and needy were always manifested by his unbounded liberality. To many he extended a helping hand, more especially to feeble churches, and a num- ber of such institutions received timely and substantial assistance from him. For several years previous to death he was retired from active business pursuits and enjoyed the fruits of a well spent life. His death occurred in September, 1881.
Mr. Barker was married in 1833 to Elizabeth, a daughter of James Vander- worker of Saratoga county, New York. The widow survived until March 29, 1900. She was a descendant of the first governor of New York. Mrs. Barker was considered a remarkable woman for her heroic qualities and her many substantial traits of character. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barker were born eight children, only two of whom now survive: Frances E. Shipherd, widow of James Shipherd. and James W., both of Cleveland.
MAX FEDER.
Max Feder, who is engaged in the wholesale and retail cigar business at 48 Public Square, Cleveland, was born in Pudewitz, the province of Posen, Ger- many, March 30, 1861, and is a son of Jacob and Rebecca Feder. He obtained his early education in the public schools of the fatherland, later attending a private high school, after which he embarked upon his business career. He went first to Soldauop, remaining there about four years, in that time learning the seed business. Next he took up his residence in Berlin, where he joined his brother in the manufacture of drugs. He stayed in that city only about a year, however, coming at the end of that period to the United States. As the ship on which he had crossed the ocean docked at New York, he found work there in the employ of Weiss & Bendheim, at Canal and Elm streets. In the meantime, however, his brother had come to Cleveland, where he had engaged in business, and accordingly in 1880 Mr. Feder came to this city to join him. In connection with the retail and wholesale trade in cigars, he also conducts a manufactory of pipes and a shop for their repair, and has a stand located in May's Drug Store. His work in the pipe line, however, is known throughout the country, for the product of his and his employers' labor finds a ready market beyond the confines of this state.
After having become a resident of Cleveland Mr. Feder was united in mar- riage on the 22d of December, 1896, to Miss Sophia Bloch, a daughter of Ed- ward Bloch and a sister of Judge Bloch. She was herself well known in the educational circles of this city, for previous to her marriage she was the assist- ant principal of the Warren school. Mr. and Mrs. Feder have one son, James Leonard, who is now eleven years of age and a lad of promise, if one may judge from his school record, for each year he has passed from one grade to another and always with honor.
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Since he has been admitted to citizenship in this nation Mr. Feder has felt attracted more or less by the republican party, but for the most part he is inde- pendent in his political ideas giving to the worthy man or the worthy cause his influence and support, irrespective of party adherence. Fraternally he enjoys pleasant relations with the Knights of Pythias, being a member of Deak Lodge, No. 343. In religious matters Mr. Feder upholds the temple and the teachings of his race.
CHARLES C. NORTHROP.
The visible evidence of the activity and success of Charles C. Northrop is the business of the Northrop Silk Company of Cleveland. In 1907 he established this enterprise as an importing silk merchant and today has one of the most complete establishments of the kind in the United States. He was born January 20, 1846, a son of Elizur Northrop, of Elyria, Ohio. At the usual age he be- gan his education in the public schools, which he attended to the age of fourteen years, when he started in business life as a salesman in a general store. Eight years were passed in that service and in 1868 he came to Cleveland, entering the silk business, and has been connected with that interest for over forty years, at present conducting the finest silk store in the United States, under the name of C. C. Northrop Silk Company, making importations of silk from various for- eign lands, and is acknowledged the oldest silk buyer in the country. He draws his trade from large territory, for he handles everything known to the silk mar- ket and the quality and design of the goods prove an attractive feature to the shopper. From the beginning his patronage has steadily increased and the success which is now his is well merited, being the legitimate and logical out- come of his thorough understanding of the trade, his earnest desire to please his patrons, and his probity and fairness in all business transactions.
Mr. Northrop has been married twice. He first wedded Miss Hattie, a daughter of Adney Groat, by whom he had one child, Nellie, now Mrs. Alton Smith. Afterward he married Mrs. Nettie Tame, a daughter of William Lacy, of Cleveland. Their children are: Mrs. O. S. Skinner and Clarence C. Northrop.
Mr. Northrop exercises his right of franchise in the support of the men and measures of the republican party. For more than half a century he has been known in the commercial circles of Cleveland and throughout that entire period there has been naught said detrimental to his business integrity, and he en- joys the respect and confidence of his clients as is shown in his rapidly increasing business.
JAMES H. CLARK.
James H. Clark, who has for years been connected with the oil business in Cleveland, is at present the vice president of the Wyandot Refineries Company and occupies a pleasant home at 1961 Ford Drive. His father, James H: Clark, was one of the pioneers in that field of occupation in the city, being associated with such men as John D. Rockefeller, Colonel O. H. Payne, his brother Worthy Clark and also Richard Clark, who have gained a national reputation for their business sagacity. Mr. Clark and his brother formed a company to deal in oil, and, taking Colonel Payne and Mr. Huntington into partnership, called it the Clark, Payne & Company. The firm was reorganized from time to time as the personnel of the partners changed, being known successively as the Clark, Childs & Company and the Clark Brothers & Company, the latter selling their interests to the Standard Oil Company. At that time Mr. Clark, the father of our sub- ject, severed his connection with the oil business of this city. He acquired con-
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siderable real estate here and was well known among the older citizens of Cleve- land. He died September 1, 1907. In his early manhood he had married Miss Harriett H. Lancaster.
Their son, James H. Clark, was born in Cleveland, October 7, 1861. He was a pupil in the local schools of the city, and when he had completed his educa- tion entered upon his business career. In 1880 he became associated with his father in Clark Brothers & Company, remaining with them until 1888, when they sold their business to the Standard Oil Company. However, he continued in the employ of that concern for the next five years, being given the manage- ment of the lubricating department in Wilmington, Philadelphia and Cleveland. Subsequently he became associated with the Wyandot Refineries Company, of which he is now vice president. While his headquarters are in Cleveland, he is often called to Chicago, New York and other places in the interests of his firm. He is a man of proved ability, endowed with a large measure of sagacity in the management of his affairs, which have in consequence returned him a gratify- ing profit.
On the 13th of September, 1887, Mr. Clark wedded Miss Louise S. Clark, also a native of this city and a daughter of Cyrus L. Clark, now deceased. Three sons have been granted to Mr. and Mrs. Clark : Robert S., who is twenty-one years old; Douglas B., who is sixteen ; and Charles L., who is twelve.
Mr. Clark has always been a stanch adherent of the republican party, feeling in the greatest sympathy with its principles. He exercises his right to vote with discrimination, in this way rendering as notable a service to the city as if he had the time to participate in its municipal government.
JAMES H. FOSTER.
James H. Foster, whose relation to the public interests of Cleveland is that of vice president and general manager of the Hydraulic Pressed Steel Company, is contributing through his activity in this field to the business enterprise that has led to the growth of the city and given it rank with the ten largest cities of the Union. Of New England birth and ancestry, he is a direct descendant of Thomas Foster, who was one of the early settlers of the Hartford colony of Connecticut, having come to America from England in 1660. His grandfather, Hiram Foster, was a prominent Connecticut manufacturer. His father, Samuel H. Foster, was a native of Meriden, Connecticut, and the senior member of the well known hard- ware manufacturing firm of Foster, Merriam & Company. He served during the Civil war on the staff of General Phil Sheridan and military and commercial du- ties were alike carefully guarded in his hands. His death occurred in 1889, when he had reached the age of fifty-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Stanley, was a daughter of Augustus and Elvira (Conklin) Stanley. The Stanleys are one of the old New England families and were founders of the Stan- ley Rule and Level Company of New Britain, Connecticut.
James H. Foster was born in Meriden, Connecticut, April 10, 1879. Pur- suing a course in St. Paul's school at Concord, New Hampshire, he thus prepared for collegiate work, which he received in Yale University and Williams College, being graduated from the latter with the degree of Bachelor of Arts as a mem- ber of the class of 1900. Thus equipped by liberal education for a business career, he turned his attention to real-estate operations in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he continued for one year. During the succeeding three years he was connected with the American Tubular Wheel Company and in 1904 came to Cleveland, en- tering into active association with the firm of Parish & Bingham in the capacity of assistant general manager. He thus served until August, 1906, when he or- ganized the Hydraulic Pressed Steel Company, with a capital of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and was elected vice president and general manager.
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From a modest beginning the business has advanced by leaps and bounds until it is the largest institution of its kind in Cleveland, doing a business of one million dollars annually. The plant covers six acres and its capacity is being doubled yearly. Several of the most powerful presses ever constructed are in use in this plant, the largest striking a blow of eight thousand tons at the rate of eight strokes per minute. Their product finds ready market in every section of the United States and the export business is continually increasing. Mr. Foster has con- tributed in substantial measure to the development of this concern, having knowl- edge and business experience which have constituted a safe foundation on which to build the success of the enterprise. He is also a director of the Ohio Sherardiz- ing Company and the vice president of the Citizens Taxicab Company.
On the 28th of September, 1907, occurred the marriage of Mr. Foster and Miss Edith A. McIntosh, a daughter of George T. and Elizabeth (Ellis) McIn- tosh, of Cleveland. Their only child is George McIntosh Foster. Their home, at No. 1932 East Seventy-First street, is the abode of a warm-hearted and generous hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are members of the Emmanuel church and in church and charitable work Mrs. Foster takes active and helpful part. Mr. Foster belongs also to the East End Tennis Club and the Hermit Club, while his political endorsement is given the republican party. His leisure hours are devoted to golf, tennis, baseball and various outdoor athletic sports. Pleasure, however, is al- ways the secondary consideration to business with him and his success in manu- facturing circles is due to an unlimited capacity for hard work, splendid execu- tive ability and the faculty of enlisting the support and cooperation of strong bus- iness men in his projects.
JOHN B. FOSTER.
John B. Foster who, hale and hearty at the age of seventy-eight years, is now living retired, has contributed in large measure to the commercial development and consequent prosperity of Cleveland, cooperating in business affairs of large importance to the community. His history is an excellent example of the fact that success and an honorable name may be won simultaneously.
A native of Kentucky, Mr. Foster was born in Clark county, in 1832, about eighteen miles from Lexington, and was a neighbor of the noted southerner, Cas- sius M. Clay. His father, John Foster, was widely known through the soutli as a leading live-stock dealer. He was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1784, and became one of the pioneers in his line of business in the Blue Grass state, driving most of his cattle afoot to market at Charleston, South Carolina. He was also one of the pioneer sportsmen of Kentucky, having a stable of racing horses, in which connection he became known all over the south. He died in Texas in 1854, while on a trip to that state with his racing horses. The grandfather, Henry Foster, was a Virginian by birth and served for four years as a private in the American army during the Revolutionary war. He was a descendant of Eli Ford, one of the notable characters of colonial days.
John B. Foster attended the schools of Winchester, Kentucky, and afterward engaged in the live-stock business, with which he continued his connection until his retirement from active life. As a stock drover in the '50s, accompanied by two hired men, he drove a herd of one hundred and nine head of cattle to the then far distant market of New York city, being on the trail for many days. This was the last drove of fat cattle that was driven from Kentucky to New York. In 1866 he removed to Covington, Kentucky, where he took charge of the stockyards, after being engaged in the live-stock commission business. He remained there until 1881. During the same period he likewise had charge of the stockyards at Nashville, Ten- nessee, for several years.
JOHN B. FOSTER
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Mr. Foster came to Cleveland in 1881, organized the Cleveland Stockyards Company and built the yards, conducting a profitable and growing business there until 1892, when the plant was destroyed by fire. A reorganization was then ef- fected under the name of the Cleveland Union Stockyards Company and Mr. Fos- ter rebuilt the yards, of which he was superintendent until 1905, when he resigned. In the meantime he was also identified with several large local packing industries in a financial way. His keen discrimination and sound judgment constituted im- portant elements in successful management and his labors did much toward making Cleveland an important live-stock center and thus promoting the com- mercial importance of the city. He was one of the first directors of the Forest City Railroad Company and in 1885 he established the John B. Foster Distilling Company, on Detroit and West Twenty-eighth street, where the business has been conducted ever since.
In 1857, in his native state, Mr. Foster was united in marriage with Miss Nolan, but the wife and their four sons have all passed away. In 1883 he married again, his second union being with Mrs. Mary Mattingly, a native of Covington, Ken- tucky. Her maiden name was Mary Cressap and she belonged to one of the old Maryland families. While not a public man in the commonly accepted sense of the term, such is the regard entertained for his judgment and keen insight into public affairs that upon him was conferred the honor of being made representative from his congressional district to the democratic national convention of 1896. He there assisted in nominating William J. Bryan for the presidency and was also the chair- man of the committee that entertained Mr. Bryan in this city in the same year. For a long period he was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and was deeply interested in all its various projects and movements for the advancement of Cleve- land's industrial and commercial prominence. He is a true southern gentleman of the old school, his unfailing courtesy ever winning him high regard and constitut- ing an example that might well be followed by the younger generation. Although the snows of many winters have whitened his hair, in spirit and interests he seems yet in his prime, is a remarkably well preserved man and keeps in touch with the vital questions and issues of the day. Since 1905 he has been connected with no active business enterprises but has spent his time at his home on Clinton avenue in those pursuits which afford him enjoyment and interest.
HERMAN C. KOMRAUS.
Since 1902 Herman C. Komraus, as general manager, has had a guiding hand upon the destinies of the Machinery Forge Company. He was born in West Prussia, Germany, but came to this country when very young and received all his education in the schools here. At the age of fourteen he entered the business world, being in the employ of the Edwin Hart Manufacturing Company, manu- facturers of cabinets and fine wood work. He next engaged as blacksmith with the Cleveland Hardware Company, to whom he gave satisfaction for seven years. Going to South Bend, Indiana, he worked for the Studebaker Carriage Company one year and then returned to Cleveland, where he was employed as blacksmith by the Cleveland City Forge Company for three years. This firm he left to take charge of the forge of Hackney, Hammer & Company and two years later ac- cepted a similar position with Joseph Dyson & Son, with whom he remained seven years. About this time Harry French started in the machine forging business, in which he has been very successful, and called upon Mr. Komraus to act as manager.
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