USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II > Part 77
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After finishing a course in the Danish State University in Copenhagen, Alexis Saurbrey was graduated in 1903 as a civil engineer. He then came to the United States and was with the Krebs Manufacturing Company at Wilmington, Delaware, for a short time in designing their new factory, after which he was with the Ransome & Smith Company of New York city, specialists in rein- forced concrete construction. For the following three years Mr. Saurbrey re- mained with them, his work taking him all over the surrounding states. He then went to Chicago to take charge of the office of the American System of Concrete Reinforcing, but on May 1, 1906, he came to Cleveland as chief engineer for the Reinforced Concrete Construction Company, and remained with them for
Mr. Saurbrey then started in business for himself as a consulting engineer, confining his operations to Cleveland and vicinity, and in this capacity he has been connected with some of the most important work in his line that has been done here, including the New Haserot building on Huron Road ; the New Spen- cerian school building, on Euclid and Eighteenth streets; the Wise building on Euclid and East Sixty-fifth street; and the Morley chemical laboratory of the Western Reserve University. He is well and favorably known in scientific cir- cles as a contributor to many journals and in experimental work at Case School of Applied Science.
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In 1904 he married Minna Brynoldt, who was born in Denmark, but was living in Hoboken, New York, when they were married. Mr. Saurbrey is a skilled engineer, carefully trained and with wide experience, and his success has really been remarkable considering the short time he has been in this country and his age. There is no doubt but that he has a brilliant future before him.
PAUL TERRY LAWRENCE.
Paul Terry Lawrence, actively connected with the management of the Law- rence Publishing Company as its secretary and treasurer, was born in Cleveland, on the 23d of November, 1878, a son of Mortimer J. and Helen Irene (Madison) Lawrence. He has resided in Cleveland throughout his entire life and since leaving school has been connected with the Lawrence Publishing Company, in which he has proven his individual worth, working his way upward by close ap- plication and energy until he is now the secretary and treasurer of a company which is publishing the Ohio Farmer in Cleveland and the Michigan Farmer in Detroit. These are among the most important agricultural journals of the coun- try with an extensive circulation and Mr. Lawrence is active in the management of the extensive business necessary in the conduct of an enterprise of this mag- nitude. He is also the treasurer of the Lawrence-Williams Company, importers of and sole agents in the United States and Canada for Gombault's caustic bal- sam, a French veterinary remedy, the sale of which has reached large figures, making the business an important commercial enterprise.
On the 25th of April, 1900, Mr. Lawrence was married to Miss Clara Louise Bryan, a daughter of Thomas A. Bryan of Cleveland. They are both popular among a host of friends and they have a beautiful home at No. 11130 Magnolia drive. Mr. Lawrence gives his political endorsement to the republican party and belongs to the Hermit, Automobile and Cleveland Athletic Clubs. While he en- tered a business already established he has with readiness adapted himself to the constantly changing conditions of business life, has kept in touch with the trend of modern progress and through well defined lines of management has contrib- uted in no small degree to the success of the Lawrence Publishing Company.
JOSEPH GORDON RUSSELL.
Joseph Gordon Russell, practicing at the Cleveland bar as a member of the law firm of Lawrence, Russell & Eichelberger, with a clientage among eastern insurance companies, was born September 15, 1875, in Urbana, Ohio. He is a son of the late James Mahlon Russell, of Urbana, and a grandson of Aaron Russell, who in 1837 removed from Virginia to Urbana. The first representa- tives of the family in America came from England, settling at Salem, Massa- chusetts, about 1690, while later one branch of the family was established in Virginia. James M. Russell wedded Elizabeth McClellan, a native of Harris- burg, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Joseph McClellan, at one time an officer of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
Joseph G. Russell pursued his education in private schools to the age of six- teen years, when he became a pupil in the high school of Urbana and was grad- uated with the class of 1893. He was afterward a student in the University of Michigan and later entered the Cincinnati Law School, being admitted to the bar at Columbus in October, 1897. He has engaged in practice in Cleveland since 1902, at which time he entered the law office of M. B. and H. H. Johnson. On the Ist of January, 1903, he formed a partnership with George H. Eichel- berger and on the Ist of June, 1905, Charles O. Jenkins became a member of
PAUL T. LAWRENCE
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the firm. Upon the retirement of Mr. Jenkins on the Ist of January, 1909, Judge James Lawrence joined the firm under the style of Lawrence, Russell & Eichel- berger.
On the 16th of June, 1908, in this city, Mr. Russell was married to Miss Olive Stewart, a daughter of Charles H. Stewart, of Cleveland, and a grand- daughter of Gideon Tabor Stewart, at one time a central figure in the history of the Western Reserve. Mrs. Russell is a graduate of the Middleberger School and attended Vassar College. While a resident of Urbana, Mr. Russell was active in the ranks of the republican party and still gives to it his earnest en- dorsement, but is not one of the party workers at the present time. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is interested in the various movements for the promotion of municipal welfare. He holds membership with the Union, Country, Euclid, Cleveland Athletic and other Clubs. While a young man, he has already attained distinction in legal circles, while his business enterprise has carried him into important financial and commercial relations.
ISAAC N. PENNOCK.
For a century the Pennock family has been represented in Ohio and from the pioneer epoch in the history of the state those who have borne the name have taken an active and substantial part in the work of development that has made Ohio one of the foremost commonwealths of the Union. A representative of the class of substantial, enterprising business men, capable of organizing and man- aging extensive interests, is Isaac N. Pennock, who for many years was closely associated with the iron industry and is now actively engaged in the management of various enterprises. A native of Minerva, Ohio, Mr. Pennock was born July 29, 1850. His father was Joel Pennock, his grandfather Enoch Pennock. The latter was born in Philadelphia, in 1792, and, removing to Ohio, settled in Car- roll county about 1810. There he engaged in farming. The first American an- cestor of the family was Christopher Pennock, who came to the new world about 1665 or 6, on a mission for King William. He then returned to England and fought in the decisive battle of the Boyne. Later he resigned his commission in the army and in 1685 returned to America, receiving a grant of land in Chester county, Pennsylvania, from the king ..
Joel Pennock, the father of Isaac N. Pennock, was born in Carroll county, Ohio, in 1821, his parents having become pioneer residents of this state. He was reared here upon the frontier and became a farmer and stock raiser. He also de- voted some attention to merchandising and was a prominent citizen of the com- munity, taking an active part in politics and doing not a little to mold public thought and action. He died in 1888. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Charlotte Van Horn, was born in 1825 and died in 1905 at the age of eighty years. She was a daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Reedy) Van Horn, residents of Carroll county, Ohio.
Isaac N. Pennock was educated in the public schools of Minerva, Ohio, and in 1872, in connection with his brother Willard, entered the iron foundry business under the firm name of Pennock Brothers, manufacturers of agricultural imple- ments. They conducted a successful business until 1877, when the plant was de- stroyed by fire. In the meantime they had built up a good trade in railway sup- plies and soon devoted their entire energies to handling railway supplies and cars, conducting an extensive manufacturing enterprise, their business growing so rap- idly that in 1888 their increased plant had a capacity of ten railway cars daily, while employment was furnished to two hundred and fifty people. The business continually increased and five years later three hundred and fifty workmen were given employment in their factory. In 1898 they sold out to the American Car & Foundry Company and thus derived further profit from their years of labor,
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which have resulted in the establishment and upbuilding of one of the important industries of the country. The Pennock Brothers are also the original patentees of the pressed steel car and were the builders of the first steel cars in the United States. Their patents were subsequently sold to the Pressed Steel Car Company, Mr. Pennock has always been very active in different channels, his interest in a business way constituting a forceful factor in the commercial and industrial en- terprises of the city as well as a source of individual profit. He is now financially interested in the Cleveland Furnace Company, has served as a director of more than twenty banks and at all times has promoted success by his wise counsel and keen business sagacity.
On the 6th of December, 1898, Mr. Pennock was married to Miss Minnie Haines, a daughter of Albert R. and Elmira (Harsh) Haines. Her father, the Hon. A. R. Haines, was one of the most prominent men of Carroll county, Ohio, and after serving in various township and county offices was chosen state senator from the twenty-first senatorial district, comprising Carroll and Stark counties. He is a descendant of Joseph Haines, the founder of the family in the western world, who was a Quaker by birth and crossed the Atlantic in the same ship with William Penn. A grandson of this ancestor was John Haines, who came to Ohio with his family in 1817, settling at Pekin, Carroll county. His son Joseph was at that time a lad of seventeen years. In 1822 he wedded Hannah Shriver and unto them were born four sons and six daughters, which number included Hon. A. R. Haines, whose birth occurred September 15, 1826, in Brown township, Carroll county, where he always resided. He wedded Elmira Harsh, and their family in- cludes Minnie, who became the wife of Isaac N. Pennock. Their children are Robert H. and Paul W., who are with them in an attractive home at No. 9204 Euclid avenue, while at Minerva, Ohio, they maintain a country residence. Mrs. Pennock, a lady of culture and a graduate of Wooster University, belongs to the Kappa Kappa Gamma, is prominent in church work and is well known in the leading social circles of the city.
Mr. Pennock also belongs to the Euclid Avenue Methodist church, is a gen- erous contributor to its support and is now serving as a member of its board of trustees and as church steward. He belongs to the Colonial Club and to the Cham- ber of Commerce, being a cooperant factor in the various projects of that organi- zation for the advancement of municipal interests. In former years he was promi- nently identified with the councils of the republican party and was a warm per- sonal friend of President William McKinley, with whom he was long associated. Since 1901 he has continuously resided in Cleveland, giving his time during this period to the development and management of large and important interests as well as extensive private affairs. While a busy man, he enjoys some leisure for the cultivation of those intellectual and social interests which contribute so largely to the enjoyment of life and his friends find him an entertaining com- panion, whose good will is manifest in his appreciation of attractive and com- mendable qualities in others.
WILLIAM A. C. SMITH.
The general management of that large industry, The Ohio Quarries Company, is happily given into the hands of a man whose business talents especially fit him for the post. This man is William A. C. Smith, the son of William and Frances M. Smith, born in Chebanse, Illinois, December 15, 1876. Mr. Smith is by de- scent of that race whose humor and pluck have done so much to decorate the pages of history. His father and mother were born in County Armagh, Ireland, but tempted by America's wide reputation as a land of opportunity, he made a hazard of new fortunes by crossing the seas. In 1870 he went to Chicago, Illinois, and there secured employment with the Illinois Central Railway. Later he was trans-
W. A. C. SMITHI
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ferred to Chebanse, Illinois, acting as station agent at that point, and there lived out his allotted length of days, dying in 1876.
William A. C. Smith attended the public schools until he reached the age of sixteen. He worked four years in a country store and then supplemented the mental training already secured with a year's attendance at the academy of North- western University, at Evanston, Illinois. His next experience as an employe was with the Chicago National bank as messenger and here his trustworthiness rapid- ly advanced him first to clerk and then to assistant teller, which latter position he held for three years. His next step was more important in its bearing upon his career than it probably at first sight appeared. He engaged as salesman with The Bedford Quarries Company and again steadily advanced, becoming auditor and then secretary and treasurer. When in 1903 The Ohio Quarries Company was organized he was elected secretary and treasurer of the new concern. In 1906 he was made general manager of the company and removed to Cleveland, the headquarters of the company. He is also a director in this company which is one of the most important of its kind in the United States, and in January, 1910, was elected to the highest office in the company, being now its president and general manager, thus in thirteen years arising from messenger in a bank to the highest office in one of the most important industries in the city. The operation of the quarry, which is distinguished by the use of the most modern methods, gives em- ployment to five hundred men. At the beginning of its existence the company manifested its ambition for permanence by purchasing two hundred and forty acres of the best stone land in northern Ohio and they now own their own indus- trial railroad, The Lorain & Southern Railroad Company, which has about five miles of tracks. Two locomotives and necessary cars and equipment easily enable them to manage the shipping of five thousand carloads a year.
In September, 1899. Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Grant, of Davenport, Iowa. Three children have been born to them. Two are daughters, named Janet and Helen, and the youngest is a son-Richard. Two of the children attend the public schools. The family reside at 1946 East Eighty-third street. A graphic indication of the wholesome nature of Mr. Smith's tastes is found in his delight in sport, golfing, hunting and fishing securing his especial favor. Mr. Smith constitutes in himself that most admirable factor in society-a well balanced man.
JOHN McGEORGE.
John McGeorge, consulting engineer, who is associated in his profession with some of the largest concerns in the city, was born in Manchester, England, May 2, 1852, a son of William and Elizabeth (Cook) McGeorge. The father was born in Castle Douglas, Scotland, and was a blacksmith foreman. When John McGeorge was two years old, the family removed to Stockport, England, where they lived for twenty-two years, the father dying at that place. The mother survives, making her home in Cleveland with our subject.
John McGeorge was educated in the common schools of England and began his apprenticeship as a machinist in a shop when only fourteen years old. In order to further his education, he attended evening school at Owen College, now a part of Victoria University, at Manchester, England. By the time he was twenty-one years old, he was placed in charge of a factory as general manager. This plant manufactured horizontal steam engines and was located at Manches- ter, England, where Mr. McGeorge continued for seven years. He next went to Nottingham, England, where he was engaged for three years in designing sugar machinery, and the following two years were spent at Hornsby, Grantham, Eng- land, as draughtsman for agricultural machinery. He then removed to Guilford, England, to assume charge of an agricultural implement shop as general man- ager, remaining there two years.
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In the meantime, Mr. McGeorge had become interested in the opportunities offered by the United States, and crossing the Atlantic, located at Bellaire, Ohio, where he engaged as designer of special machinery for the Bellaire Stamping Company. In 1888 he removed to Washington, Pennsylvania, and built the glass works there and installed the machinery, which kept him busy until 1890, in which year he went to Pittsburg as chief engineer of the Pittsburg Iron & Steel Engineering Company, remaining with them for three years. His next connection was with the Wellman Iron & Steel Company, of Philadelphia, for whom he was chief engineer for three years, coming to Cleveland in 1896. Here, in conjunction with S. T. and C. H. Wellman, he founded the Wellman-Seaver Engineering Company, which is now operating under the name of Wellman- Seaver-Morgan Company. Mr. McGeorge was chief engineer of this company until 1903, when he severed his relations with it to engage in business for himself as consulting engineer. Quite recently he became vice president of the Cleveland Engineering Company. He and Charles Wellman organized the Electric Con- troller & Supply Company, which has developed into a very large concern.
On March 5, 1873, Mr. McGeorge was married to Ellen Sarah Reynolds, of Stockport, and they became the parents of nine children: Harold, who is an engineering salesman; Ernest, who is construction engineer for the Peerless Motor Car Company; Herbert, who is chief draughtsman for Chandler & Price, manufacturers of printing machinery; William, who is serving an apprentice- ship in the Park Drop Forge Company; and two sons and three daughters who are deceased. Four of them died in infancy and one at the age of eight. The three older sons are married, and all are young men of whom any father might well be proud.
Mr. McGeorge is a member of the Victoria University Alumni, the Cleveland Engineering Club, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Knights of Pythias. He is recognized as one of the best men in his profession in Cleveland and his long years of careful attention to his business has resulted in a very gratifying success. He is a member and regular attendant of the Hough Avenue Congregational church, having been closely connected officially with this church since 1896, and he was a member of the building committee.
HON. CHARLES HERRMAN.
Hon. Charles Herrman, whose labors in many instances were of tangible benefit to the city of Cleveland and to the commonwealth and whose record reflected credit and honor upon the district which honored him by making him their representative in the state senate, manifested in his life a high type of progressive citizenship. He was born in Cleveland, July 19, 1848, and was a son of George M. and Eva Herrman. The father's birth occurred in Wurtem- berg, while the mother was a native of Bavaria. After coming to Cleveland they lived on the east side of the city until 1853, when they took up their abode in what was then Ohio City and in that district, now a part of Cleveland, Charles Herrman continued his residence until his demise. Throughout much of the period he was prominently identified with its interests and was at all times a recognized champion of public progress. He attended the Hicks Street school in the acquirement of his education and was early called upon to do what he could to provide for his own support. His first service in the business world was in the employ of his father, who operated a sash factory in Center block. Subsequently he again had an opportunity for attending the public schools for a few months and later spent a year in a German-Protestant school. He remained throughout his life a student of men, events and affairs and from life's expe- riences drew many valuable lessons. His early ambition was along mercantile lines and he kept watch for an opportunity that would enable him to enter com-
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mercial circles. At length, by answering an advertisement, he secured a clerk- ship in the well known store of Trescott & Ingram, where he proved himself a valuable employe by reason of his unremitting diligence and his loyalty to the interests of those whom he served. Promotion followed and he soon came to understand the business in all of its departments in a very thorough manner. In 1864 he joined Jacob Bender in the same line of business as an employe and in 1871 he formed his first partnership and made his first venture in business for himself, becoming connected with the grocery, flour and feed trade in association with Nachtrieb Brothers, under the firm style of Herrman & Nachtrieb Brothers. They opened a store in the Young American block on Lorain street and the new enterprise proved successful from the beginning. The following year the Nach- trieb brothers sold out to Jacob Pfarr and under the firm style of Herrman and Pfarr the business was continued until 1875, when another change in the partner- ship led to the adoption of the firm name of Geib & Herrman. This relation was maintained for five years, at the end of which time Mr. Herrman withdrew and built a brick block across the street. There he carried on the same business alone for a few years, after which D. E. McLean became his associate. Under their able guidance and management the business steadily increased and in 1880 Mr. Herrman built a grain warehouse on the Nickel Plate Railroad and Pearl street. In 1889 the business was reorganized and incorporated as the Herrman- McLean Company with Mr. Herrman as the president. They conducted the sec- ond largest retail grocery house in the city, having an extensive patronage, while the reliable business methods of the firm insured them a growing trade. Extend- ing his efforts into other fields of business activity, Mr. Herrman assisted in or- ganizing the West Side Banking Company in 1886 and for years was a member of its board of directors. He erected a four-story building on the corner of Market and McLean streets and the fourth floor was occupied by the Commercial Club, of which he was president.
Throughout the years of his residence here Mr. Herrman was actively inter- ested in municipal affairs and in all the various measures relating to the city's progress and improvement along substantial lines. In 1874 he became a member of the Cleveland Grays, the leading military organization of the city, and for thirty-five years was its color sergeant and for thirty-six years a member of that body. He held membership in various fraternal organizations, including the Knights of Pythias. He served as deputy sheriff under Sheriffs McConnell, Barry and Mulhern and in 1885 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen and appointed the aldermanic member of the board of improvements. His public service was ever of a most practical kind, being characterized by tangible efforts for the city's good. He secured many needed improvements for his section of the city and not the least valuable of his work in this connection was the Central viaduct. He was also one of a hundred men selected to represent the board of industry. In 1887 he was elected vice president of the Board of Trade and when the Cleveland grocers united in an organization in 1885 he was chosen its president and so continued until 1888, when he was elected the president of the Ohio Retail Merchants Association. His election to this office indicated his high standing among men engaged in similar lines of business. In 1888 he was chosen a delegate to the National Pure Food Association which met in Washington. He was also president at one time of the Citizens League, while political honors came to him in 1889, when he was made a candidate for senator from Cuyahoga county and was elected by one of the largest majorities ever given in the county. When he took his place in the general assembly his work was characterized by the same fidelity of purpose and devotion to the public good that he manifested in other official connections.
In 1877 Mr. Herrman was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Graf, of Cleveland, and unto them were born three daughters: Cora, now Mrs. William Burgdorff, of Cleveland; and Effie and Grace, who are with the mother. The family residence is at No. 3337 Marvin avenue and there Mr. Herrman passed
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