A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 83

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 83

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PAUL G. KASSULKER.

Paul G. Kassulker, a corporation attorney who has been and is the legal rep- resentative of many important commercial and financial interests of Cleveland, is also a director in various business enterprises so that his worth is manifest in two distinct lines. He was born at Portage, Du Fort, Ontario, Canada, January 7, 1863. His father, Charles A. Kassulker, was born in Germany, January 23, 1820, and died June 29, 1893. He came to Cleveland in 1864 and lived retired for a number of years prior to his death. His wife, Mrs. Dora Kassulker, was born May 23, 1820, and, surviving him for more than a decade, passed away October 6, 1904.

Paul G. Kassulker acquired his early education in the parochial schools of Cleveland and was afterward instructed by a private tutor until he attained his majority. On the 7th day of October, 1884, he was admitted to the bar and at once opened an office in Cleveland, where he has since practiced alone, making a specialty of corporation and real-estate law. He is thoroughly conversant with these branches of law and his continually increasing and broadening experience

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in those departments constitutes him one of the most successful representatives of the Cleveland bar. In this age of complex business interests corporation law is becoming more and more involved and he who assays that difficult field must possess broad knowledge combined with keen powers of analysis and ready recog- nition of analogy. Lacking in none of the requisite qualifications Mr. Kassulker throughout his professional career has made steady progress and his clientage is now of a distinctively representative character. He has also become financially and officially interested in a number of business concerns in and outside of Ohio.

On the 27th of March, 1884, Mr. Kassulker was married to Miss Bessie R. Curtis, a daughter of J. K. and Cynthia S. Curtis, of Cleveland. Their son, Walter Scott Kassulker, born September 16, 1889, was graduated from the University School of Cleveland in 1907. He spent the following year in Dartmouth College and in 1908 entered the University of Chicago, being now a junior in the classical course. He is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and made the 'varsity baseball and football teams of his alma mater in 1909. The daughter, Florence Adelaide, has pursued a special course in the East high school and has attended the Lake Erie Seminary of Painesville, Ohio.

In politics Mr. Kassulker is a stalwart republican, active in his championship of the party, for he believes its principles are conducive to good government. While holding membership in the Lutheran church he attends the Plymouth Con- gregational church. He belongs to the Bar Association and, while other interests claim his time and attention to some degree, he yet regards the practice of law as his real life work and is a successful and representative member of the pro- fession.

WILLIAM ALFRED NEFF.

William Alfred Neff, arriving in Cleveland in 1858, was during the greater part of the period of his residence here engaged in the operation of stone quarries and in the sale of their product. He was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania, April 5, 1828, and was a son of Isaac Neff, a prosperous resident of that locality. The schools of his native county afforded him his opportunities for in- tellectual training and as the years passed by the habits of a retentive mind and an observing eye added greatly to his knowledge. He also gained from each ex- perience of life the lesson that it contained.

Mr. Neff continued a resident of his native state until about twenty-nine years of age, when, in 1858, he removed to Cleveland in company with his wife, and at first they boarded in the French block on old Bond street, where he remained for about a year and a half. After arriving in this city, Mr. Neff became associated with Henry Smith in the real-estate business but as he wished to engage in an in- dependent venture he withdrew from that association and purchased land near the Shaker settlement on what is now Shaker Heights. There he owned and op- erated extensive stone quarries, furnishing stone for many of the city's leading buildings and homes. He was not long in establishing a good patronage in that line and continued in this business until his death, which occurred December 28, 1895, each year marking a steady growth in the enterprise which claimed his attention.

In 1856, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, Mr. Neff was united in mar- riage to Miss Eliza Mong, and unto them were born seven children, of whom four are now living: William A .; Frank Howard, who is married and has two sons ; Mrs. Anne N. King, of New York city, who has one son ; and Harry Alli- son, who is living with his mother and is married and has two sons. Many years ago Mr. Neff purchased two acres of land for a home on One Hundred and Fifth street and the family still reside there in one of the pleasant residences of the city.

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In his political views Mr. Neff was a republican who gave earnest endorsement to the principles of the party. He kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day, whether political or otherwise, and sought the public welfare not only through the exercise of his franchise but also in cooperating with many move- ments for the public good. Although he held membership in the Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania, soon after coming to Ohio he and his wife transferred their membership to the Euclid Avenue Congregational church, to which he was actively devoted throughout his remaining days. His Christian faith was the guiding spirit in his life and led him not only to render justice but also mercy and to aid by his kindly spirit and generous assistance many fellow travelers on life's journey.

ALANSON GRANVILLE HOPKINSON.

One of the pioneers of Cleveland who had much to do in shaping the early educational policy of Cleveland was A. G. Hopkinson, who was born in South Limington, Maine, on the 24th of December, 1824, his parents being Jesse and Polly (Meeds) Hopkinson, of South Limington. His father was a farmer and cabinetmaker.

A. G. Hopkinson obtained his early education in an academy at Limerick, Maine, afterward entered a preparatory school in Massachusetts and then pur- sued his studies in Dartmouth College, being graduated from that institution in 1851. In the meantime he had also been engaged in school teaching, impart- ing clearly and readily to others the knowledge that he had acquired. After leaving Dartmouth College, he made his way to Medina county, Ohio, intend- ing to establish a select school, but the prospects there were not inviting and in 1852 he came to Ohio City, now West Cleveland. Here he had charge of the grammar grades for two years and in 1854 was elected superintendennt of the Chio City schools. Later in the same year Ohio City was annexed to Cleve- land, the Ohio City schools then coming under the direction of Andrew Freese, who was already superintendent of the Cleveland schools. In 1856 Mr. Hopkin- son had raised his school to high-school grade and a branch high school was organized, which afterward became known as the West high school. Of this institution he continued as principal until 1865, when ill health caused his resig- nation. He then spent about fourteen months in Maine and after returning to this city his friends urged him to become a candidate for the position of superin- tendent of the Cleveland schools, but he was defeated by one vote. Afterward he was reelected to his old position as principal of the West high school, but in 1867 resigned the office on account of impaired health and took up a line of work which was less confining. Entering insurance circles, he associated him- self with T. C. Parsons and for twenty years they carried on their interests in partnership, building up the enterprise until it became the most extensive fire insurance agency in Cleveland. Mr. Hopkinson acted as president, vice presi- dent and treasurer of the Cleveland Board of Underwriters and was also a director in the Wick Banking & Trust Company.

Mr. Hopkinson was twice married. In 1853 he wedded Miss Elizabeth Cook, who passed away two years later. On the 25th of December, 1856, he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Farrand, a daughter of Jared and Sallie (Randall) Farrand, who in 1832 made the overland journey from Vermont to Dover, Ohio. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, later took up his abode in Middleburg, Ohio. Jared Farrand, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Hopkinson, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1756. At the time of the Revolutionary war he ran away from home, joined Colonel Allen's expedition and assisted in the capture of Ticonderoga, while later he was employed as a scout by General St. Clair. In 1777 he joined Captain Joseph Stafford's com- pany, known as the "Green Mountain Boys," and served in many hotly con-

A. G. HOPKINSON

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tested engagements, being wounded several times. He lived to attain the re- markable age of one hundred and five years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hopkinson were born six children, four of whom died in infancy, the others being : Harry G. ,who was associated with his father in the insurance business but is now de- ceased; and Charles W., a prominent architect of Cleveland.

A stanch republican in his political views, Mr. Hopkinson was a prominent factor in the local ranks of his party, being called upon to serve in various posi- tions of public trust and responsibility. He acted as a member of the city council for several years and was on the board of education for two years, declin- ing a reelection. For many years he served on the board of school examiners and during the greater part of the time acted as president thereof but resigned in 1893. He was likewise a member of the public school library board. He was a most loyal, public-spirited citizen whose aid and cooperation could always be counted upon to further any movement or measure instituted to promote the public welfare. His religious faith was indicated by his membership in tlie First Congregational church, in the work of which he was actively and help- fully interested, serving as Sunday school teacher and also as a deacon for many years. He was largely instrumental in the erection of the present edifice of that church. His fraternal relations were with the Royal Arch Masons and the Royal Arcanum. He was a most devoted husband and father and deemed no sacri- fice on his part too great if it would enhance the happiness or welfare of his wife and children. His memory is an honored one here and his life record may well serve as an inspiring example to those who come after him.

CHARLES A. RICKS.

Charles A. Ricks, the secretary and treasurer of the G. C. Kuhlman Car Company of Collinwood, Ohio, was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on the 14th of August, 1868, his parents being Augustus J. and Emma E. (Atwater) Ricks. 'A sketch of Judge Ricks will be found elsewhere in this work. Emma E. At- water was a daughter of David and Emma (Maxwell) Atwater of Massillon, Ohio. Their children are: Charles A .; Mary Helena, the wife of Ralph S. Rounds, of the firm of Rounds, Dillingham, Hatch & Delecroix, and has two children, Ralph and Emma Elizabeth; and Theodore A., who died in 1891 while yet a student.

Charles A. Ricks supplemented his preliminary education, obtained in the public schools, by a course of study at Kenyon College and after leav- ing that institution in 1888 he entered the service of the First National Bank at Massillon, Ohio, as a clerk. Subsequently he became secretary and treasurer of the Massillon Building & Loan Association, serving in that official capacity until 1890, in which year he arrived in Cleveland and became auditor and travel- ing salesman for the Standard Oil Company. In 1896 he was appointed man- ager of the Cleveland station of that corporation and was thus actively engaged until 1900, when he organized the G. C. Kuhlman Car Company. He has since served as the secretary and treasurer of this important enterprise and in this connection his efforts have proved a potent element in the wonderful success of the concern. They are builders of electric and steam railway cars and turn out on an average of six hundred cars per year, which are being operated in all the large cities east of Chicago. The names of seven hundred men appear on the company's payroll and their annual output amounts to one million five hundred dollars.

On the 21st of October, 1897, in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Ricks was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Trowbridge, a daughter of General L. S. Trow- bridge, of that city. Their home is on Lake Shore boulevard in Bratenahl, Ohio.

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Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Ricks has supported the men and measures of the republican party, while his religious faith is in- dicated by his membership in the Episcopal church. He likewise belongs. to the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, the Union and Country Clubs, and the Chamber of Commerce, and finds rest and recreation in golfing and fishing. A man of exemplary habits, of high principles and of upright conduct, wherever he is known he commands the good will and trust of those with whom he is associated.

JOSEPH H. SAMPLINER.

The name of Joseph H. Sampliner is connected with many notable litigated interests of the Cleveland courts that have attracted widespread attention and, opposed to some of the strongest attorneys of the city, he has won verdicts fav- orable to his clients. He has for almost twenty-two years practiced in this city, where the days of his boyhood and youth were passed, his birth having occurred here January 23, 1858. His father, Solomon Sampliner, was born in Hungary, in 1827, and was a son of Samuel Sampliner, who spent his entire life in Hungary. In the year 1857 Solomon Sampliner came to the United States and made his way to Cleveland, where he engaged in the dry-goods business until he retired about fifteen years prior to his death, which occurred May I, 1902. Ere leaving his native country he was married to Miss Rose Cone, who was born in Hungary, in April, 1834, and died in 1867. She was a daughter of Leopold Cone, who was born in Austria in 1814 and came to the United States in 1857. He, too, was a dry-goods merchant of this city and later lived retired for thirty-five years, his death occurring in 1900.

Joseph H. Sampliner is indebted to the public-school system for the early educational privileges he enjoyed. He was graduated from the Central high school in 1875 and for three years was a student in the Boston ( Mass.) University, after which he was called home. He then took up the study of law under the direc- tion of Judge Boynton, formerly of the supreme court, and Judge Hale, after- ward on the circuit court bench. In October, 1888, he was admitted to the bar and at once began practice, always remaining alone save for a period of four years, when he was associated with Edward Bushnell under the firm style of Sampliner & Bushnell. He continues in the general practice although for a number of years he has accepted no criminal law cases, his attention being given more especially to commercial and corporation law. One of the notable cases in which he acted for the defense was that in which his client had made an as- signment in Canada for the benefit of creditors under the laws of that country. He then came to Cleveland, leaving all of his property there. His liabilities were large, however, and his assets about twenty-five per cent. After he came to Cleveland several proceedings were instituted against him and he was arrested before judgment in a civil suit for money, the claim being made that he had obtained the goods by fraud. Mr. Sampliner succeeded in getting his release on showing the probate court that he had surrendered all of his property. He was released on county bonds, i. e., he could not go outside of Cuyahoga county. His heaviest creditors brought five or six suits, all ending the same way. A year later criminal action was brought against him in Canada and while he was go- ing through the bankruptcy courts in Cleveland to be discharged from debts, he was arrested on a Canadian warrant and brought before the United States commissioner who refused to allow him bail. After hearing the testimony, which lasted for a week, the commissioner ordered him turned over to the Canadian courts. Mr. Sampliner thereafter brought proceedings in the United States circuit court for a writ of habeas corpus and on the hearing before Judge Tayler the defendant was discharged. The point raised by Mr. Sampliner was that the charge against his client was for obtaining goods on false pretenses ;

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that the warrant charged him simply in language of the treaty; that is that he had obtained goods by false pretenses. Mr. Sampliner claimed they should have made a charge according to the law of the state or country in which the fugitive was found; that is, they had to set out specifically all the allegations that con- stituted a proper indictment for obtaining goods under false pretenses. No precedent or any authority on the question could be found, as the offense was added to the treaty for which a party could be extradited and Judge Tayler held with Mr. Sampliner and discharged the prisoner. This was a great vic- tory as it was a case without parallel and he had to work it out on strictly legal principles applied from analogy. Later the case was settled.

Another case with which Mr. Sampliner was connected was tried four years after he was admitted to the bar, with Judge W. B. Neff as prosecuting attorney and Judge T. L. Strimple as his assistant. The defendants were Dell G. Graham and his father, R. G. Graham, who became liable to the law by reason of false pretenses made to a merchant in Cleveland. They succeeded in buying a stock of dry goods for which they agreed to pay five thousand dollars. They claimed they had six houses and lots in Athens county worth seventy-five hundred dol- lars, and gave their note and mortgages for security for the five thousand, the negotiations only lasting a half day. They secured their goods and the merchant went to Athens county to look up the property. He found that the six houses were mere shanties, four of them without tenants, and the other two bringing in only four dollars per month rental. They were situated in a practically de- serted mining town called Happy Hollow. After discovering the fraud the merchant returned to Cleveland but the purchasers had shipped their goods out of the city. The plaintiff secured a warrant in the police court intending to arrest the parties but by a mistake the wrong man was arrested. Mr. Sam- pliner, as legal representative for the merchant, went to Toledo and found the goods secreted on Jefferson avenue. He obtained a writ of replevin, broke into the store room and secured forty-two hundred dollars worth of the goods. Next morning the defendants, under other names, replevined the goods back, whereupon Mr. Sampliner had the son, Dell G. Graham, arrested as a fugitive from justice for a crime committed in Cuyahoga county ; the officer had difficulty in getting him. Graham's attorneys then secured a writ of habeas corpus and a hearing was held that afternoon and a continuance had for three days. In the meantime Mr. Sampliner returned to Cleveland and had a new warrant is- sued and sent officers with it to Toledo. He did not appear at the habeas corpus hearing and Graham was discharged, but when he went out on the street he was arrested on the Cleveland warrant and after a hearing in the police court of Cleveland, which lasted three weeks, he was bound over to the grand jury. When the case came on Judge Neff and Judge Strimple had been in office but four weeks. After fourteen days' hearing the defendant was found guilty and sent to the penitentiary. The case was then taken up to the circuit court where the decision of the lower court was affirmed. Mr. Sampliner then went to To- ledo and got judgment against the bondsman in the replevin case and obtained judgment for and collected the forty-two hundred dollars. There was a great array of attorneys both in the trial in Toledo and also in Cleveland. In the circuit court Mr. Sampliner tried the case alone but had assistants in the lower court. He takes no criminal cases at the present time, confining his attention to civil law. He is a director in the Bronx Realty Company, a New York cor- poration doing business in Ohio, but further than this confines his attention al- most exclusively to his law practice. Mr. Sampliner, however, is an active re- publican in politics and was a prominent candidate for judge of the common pleas court. He did not desire office, however, but was urged to accept the nom- ination by many friends. It is his purpose to keep out of politics as an office- seeker, yet he is unfaltering in his support of party principles.

On the 18th of January, 1883, Mr. Sampliner was married to Miss Eliza- beth Crane, a daughter of Lewis Stephen and Mary (Butler) Crane, of Trav-

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erse, Michigan. They have two children. Mortimer L., who was graduated from the Cleveland law school, a department of Baldwin University, with high honors in 1908, winning the degree of Bachelor of Law, pursued his preliminary course at Harvard but was obliged to leave there before graduation on account of his health. He is now practicing in Chicago. Rosabel Crane was for six years a student in the Miss Middleberger School of Cleveland, from which she was graduated in 1907. She then entered Rogers Hall, a finishing school in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Mr. Sampliner is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Excelsior and Cleveland Athletic Clubs, and his interest in municipal affairs is indicated by his identification with the Chamber of Commerce. In more strictly professional lines he holds membership with the Cleveland Bar Association and the State Bar Association, and the legal fraternity, as well as the general public, acknowledges his skill and ability, his practice being now extensive and of a distinctively rep- resentative character.

BRENTON D. BABCOCK.

Cleveland knew Brenton D. Babcock as a representative business man and as a progressive executive official during his term as mayor of the city but in Masonic circles he was known throughout the length and breadth of the land for his exemplification of all that is highest and best in that for which Masonry stands. His birth occurred in Adams, Jefferson county, New York, on the 2d of October, 1830. In 1853 he accepted a position in a general store in Smithville, New York, and although only in his twenty-third years then, later had full charge of the establishment. After two years the proprietor sold out and at that time Mr. Babcock was offered a clerkship by the Erie Railroad line of steamers, plying between Cleveland and Buffalo. Accepting this, he went to the latter city and filled the position for about nine years. In 1865 he removed to Cleve- land and made his initial step in business circles of this city as a bookkeeper for the firm of Cross, Payne & Company, dealers in coal. He continued with that house for four years and then became a partner of H. P. Card, under the firm style of Card & Babcock, for the purpose of mining coal. This association was maintained until 1875, when Mr. Babcock sold his interest to his partner and in the following spring engaged with the coal firm of Tod, Morris & Com- pany, in the sales department, being given a salary equal to that which he had received as mayor of Cleveland. After three years he formed a partnership with Mr. Morris under the firm name of Babcock, Morris & Company and, with offices on Superior street in Cleveland, they were identified with the coal trade for many years, having mining property elsewhere in the state. In fact this company became recognized as one of the most extensive representatives of mining interests in the Hocking valley. In his business affairs Mr. Babcock displayed keen sagacity, thoroughly studied every situation and noted its possi- bilities for further development. He never regarded any position as final but considered it rather as a starting point for still greater accomplishments in the business world. He also became connected with Isaac Reynolds for the purpose of conducting the American House but after a brief period disposed of his in- terests in that connection.

Mr. Babcock was not unknown in political circles. He regarded it the duty as well as the privilege of every American citizen to advocate and work for the principles which he deemed most advantageous in promoting local progress and national welfare. He thus became recognized as a local leader in the ranks of the democratic party and in 1886 was elected mayor of Cleveland on the demo- cratic ticket by the largest majority ever given a democratic candidate-a fact which indicated his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him. Dur-

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 83

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