A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 93

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 93

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In 1866 Mr. Weitz was united in marriage to Miss Sarah B. Hudson, a daughter of Daniel D. Hudson, who came from Pennsylvania by wagon at a very early day, and was engaged in the transfer and hack line business in Cleve- ling for many years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Weitz were born two daughters, Adaline and Louise. The former is the wife of Dr. E. Wells and resides in

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Lakewood, Ohio. Louise is the wife of Walter F. Phelps, a resident of Day- ton, Ohio, where he is president of the Dayton Fan & Motor Works. They have two children, Merrick W. and Pauline. Mr. and Mrs. Weitz also had a son, Carl E., who died in 1897. The following year the death of the husband and father occurred. He departed this life on the 5th of March, 1898, and the community thereby lost one of its valued and representative citizens and busi- ness men. In politics he was a very active and earnest republican and in politi- cal and other lines he did much for the development of the city, being ever recognized as a stalwart champion of those measures and movements which were promulgated for the benefit and improvement of Cleveland.

PHIL H. JORDAN.

A most laudable ambition has always distinguished the life of Phil H. Jor- dan, a manufacturer and capitalist of Cleveland, with offices at 1427 Williamson Building. He was born in Minster, England, March 15, 1854, and is a son of Thomas and Marguerite Jordan. In 1856 the former brought his family to America, settling them in Nashua, New Hampshire. Later he moved to Dun- stable, Massachusetts, which remained his home throughout the remainder of his life. In the old country he had been a manufacturer of plate glass, before the industry was well started in the United States, and after crossing the ocean engaged in farming. He died in 1888, at the age of sixty-nine years.

Phil H. Jordan was about two years of age when he came with his parents to America. He grew to manhood in Dunstable, Massachusetts, receiving a fair education in the schools there, though the broader training for the responsibilities of life was obtained through his own persistent efforts at self-improvement. At the age of eighteen he assumed charge of an estate at Tyngsboro, Massachu- setts, remaining there until he was twenty-one. In those four years he had learned considerable regarding the timber business and he left the estate with the intention of engaging in it for himself. Accordingly, having strong credentials from the men of his own town, he went to Michigan but as he was not satisfied with the prospects there, he went to Chicago, Illinois, where he was engaged in buying and selling corn. He remained in this business for two years and then became a traveling salesman in the department of the American Sewing Machine Company and then accepted a similar position from a Cleveland house, which he retained for four years. Then he engaged in the manufacture of bicycle parts, helping form The A. L. Moore Company in 1893, and became treasurer of that company, making Cleveland its headquarters, with offices at Chicago, New York city, Birmingham, England, and Paris, France, continuing in the business until 1899, when all the plants represented by them were sold to the American Bicycle Company. At this time they represented ten plants, making various parts that went into the construction of a bicycle. In the course of years, he won a large income.

In Cleveland, in 1891, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Jordan and Miss Sophia Kitzstiner, also a resident of this city. Their union has been blessed with one daughter, Grace Lenora, who is now at the interesting age of twelve years. Since he has been of an age to exercise his right to vote, Mr. Jordan has invariably given his support to the democratic party in questions of national importance but in local affairs gives his vote for the man he considers to be the most worthy candidate. From his youth his great ambition has urged him to work hard and accomplish many tasks, seemingly impossible. In his young man- hood, he paid off an incumbrance of four thousand dollars, incurred by other. members of his family, and the generous income which is now his is entirely the result of his own exertions. The broad culture which distinguishes his view of life is also the result of his own efforts and is another evidence of the char-

PHIL H. JORDAN

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acter of the man which will be satisfied with nothing save what is of the high- est worth and in accord with the upright and honorable principles of a noble manhood. At the present time, Mr. Jordan resides with his wife and daughter on his farm at South Euclid.

JOHN G. WHITE.

John G. White, of the firm of White, Johnson & Cannon, counselors at law, has practiced continuously in Cleveland since May, 1868. He was born in this city August 10, 1845, and attended successively the public schools, Canandaigua Academy of New York, the Cleveland high school and the Western Reserve College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1865. He studied law under the direction of his father, Bushnell White, was admitted to the district court at Norwalk, Ohio, and the United States court of the northern district of Ohio in May, 1868. For more than forty-one years he has continuously prac- ticed. In 1870 he became a member of the law firm of Mix, Noble & White, which relationship continued until 1881, when Mr. Noble was elected to the common pleas bench, and the firm of Mix & White then maintained existence until 1895. In that year the firm of White, Johnson, McCaslin & Cannon was organized and so continued until January, 1910, when Mr. McCaslin ceased to be a member, leaving the firm White, Johnson & Cannon, which still exists. They have been prominent in various litigated interests in connection with street railway affairs and Mr. White was active in enjoining the Thomas L. Johnson tax school some years ago.

Mr. White is greatly interested in oriental literature, of which he has pre- sented over seven thousand volumes to the Cleveland Library. He is a republi- can, became a charter member of the Union Club in 1872, is well known as a chess and checker enthusiast and is a keen and persistent sportsman, but these things are minor interests in his life. He is often called "a living enclycopae- dia" and said one who knows him well: "It is not possible for one to have an adequate idea of his knowledge without living and coming into daily contact with him."

OTTO K. STAPF.

Otto K. Stapf, who within the past four years has built up an extensive and successful business as an architect of Cleveland, was born in Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, in 1878, his parents being George C. and Hulda (Cobelli) Stapf, who were natives of Ohio and New York respectively. The father, whose birth occurred in 1851 and who was employed as a traveling salesman throughout his active career, passed away when his son Otto was but a boy. He is still survived by his widow, who is now fifty-seven years of age.

Otto K. Stapf, who was brought to this city by his parents when but five years of age, obtained his early education in the public schools and afterward spent a year in the study of law at a night school. He likewise pursued a course in mechanical drawing at the Young Men's Christian Association and subse- quently studied architecture through the medium of a correspondence school. He early found it necessary to assist in the support of the family and began carrying papers, while later he lighted lamps throughout the city in order to help defray the expenses of his schooling. After he had become familiar with the profession of architecture he spent ten years in the employ of various archi- tectural firms of this city and in July, 1905, embarked in business on his own account, locating at 821-23 Rose building. His operations have been confined

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principally to Cleveland and vicinity and his patronage has grown rapidly along substantial lines. He has largely devoted his energies to the erection of resi- dences, stores, business blocks and apartment houses, and among the many fine structures which stand as monuments to his architectural skill and ability may be mentioned the residences of J. McKelvey, J. N. Hahn, Charles Haas, H. L. Rockey, J. J. Lynch, Neff Laing, A. C. Orth, F. X. Russert, P. W. McDonald, L. Rauscher, F. Mueller, S. Kushman, E. A. Martin and N. Weidenkopf. He made the drawing for the first fireproof building in the city-that of the Broad- way Warehouse Company-which is strictly fireproof throughout, no wood be- ing used in its construction. Mr. Stapf is also connected with the Kirtland street pumping station in the capacity of an architect and engineer and is widely recognized as a prominent representative of industrial interests in Cleveland.

On the Ist of September, 1908, Mr. Stapf was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Walthers, a native of this city. She is well known and popular in musical circles here and her talents as a vocalist have been in great demand, especially in choir and concert work. She has sung the leading part in the Mikado and the Chimes of Normandy.

In his political views Mr. Stapf is non-partisan, not being bound by party ties when exercising his right of franchise. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, the Young Men's Christian Association, the West Side German Society and the Cleveland Chamber of Industry. He is one of the representa- tive young business men of the city, well meriting the regard in which he is held and the financial success to which he has attained.

JOHN CLARK ALEXANDER.

John Clark Alexander, living retired in the city of Cleveland, where he has made his home since 1891, was born December 15, 1841, in Bedford, Ohio. His father, Andrew Alexander, became a resident of Cuyahoga county in 1833, and the family is one of the oldest of this state, James Alexander, the grandfather of J. C. Alexander, having come to Ohio during the earliest period of its colon- ization. He was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, of Scotch- Irish descent. He became one of the first settlers of Columbiana county, Ohio, and was a soldier of the war of 1812. By trade he was a blacksmith and his life was devoted to industrial pursuits. He became the owner of one of the best sawmills in the county, an enterprise which was of immeasurable value to the pioneer settlers of the district. He possessed excellent business qualifica- tions and his energy and capable management won him a gratifying measure of prosperity. His son, Andrew Alexander, who was born in Columbiana county in 1813, was there reared and educated, and there married Miss Hannah Hope, who was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania. In 1833 they removed to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and became residents of Bedford township. Andrew Alexander, too, was a representative of industrial interests and in 1855 he built Alexander's Mills in Independence township and for more than a third of a century engaged in the manufacture of flour. His wife died in 1882, while his death occurred in 1895.

John Clark Alexander acquired a good education in the common schools of his neighborhood and afterward attended the Duff Commercial College at Pitts- burg, from which he was graduated. In his youthful days he received practical training in his father's flourmill, mastering the business in every detail. At length he was admitted to a partnership under the firm style of A. Alexander & Son, and thus represented the milling business at Newburg, his attention being largely given to the buying of grain for the mill. Mr. Alexander owns the old homestead farm in Bedford township where he was born and where his father first settled, consisting of one hundred and forty-five acres. He also owns a

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fine farm two and a half miles south of Cleveland, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, placing thereon many substantial and modern im- provements.

Other business interests also claimed the time and attention of Mr. Alexan- der and profited by his capable management and keen business discernment. He became interested in the stone flagging business, had charge of the erection of the works and was made superintendent of the enterprise now conducted under the name of the Pittibone & Little Stone Flagging Company of South Park. In addition Mr. Alexander interested himself in the National Screw & Tack Company and became one of the incorporators and directors of tlie Hough Avenue Banking & Trust Company. At all times his plans were carefully formulated and properly executed. He has displayed marked ability in dis- criminating between the essential and the non-essential and in his business affairs has fully utilized those advantages which led to legitimate and gratifying success. He continued his association with the old milling firm until he was elected county commissioner of Cuyahoga county in 1891, when the responsi- bilities of his position demanded his residence at the county seat and he removed to Cleveland, where he capably discharged the duties of the office for three years. He took his seat as one of the board of commissioners January 1, 1892. The year 1893 was one of marked activity for the board, eighty-five thousand dollars being expended upon macadam roads, one hundred and seventy thou- sand dollars in the building of the Brooklyn bridge, and two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars for the Central Armory, while other large sums were expended for public improvements.

In 1874, Mr. Alexander was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Logue, a sis- ter of Judge Logue, of Cleveland. Following her death he was married in 1884 to Miss Rachel D. Gibson, a daughter of Charles Gibson, of Gibsonia, Pennsyl- vania, their marriage being celebrated in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Two chil- dren have been born unto them, Grace Elizabeth and Charles Andrew. The former is a graduate of the Hough avenue and the East high schools and is now a student in Monmouth (Ill.) College. The son, after his graduation from the East high school, of Cleveland, attended Princeton College in 1908-9, and is now a junior in the Western Reserve University. The family are mem- bers of the First United Presbyterian church located at Seventy-first street and Carnegie avenue. In 1894 Mr. Alexander built his residence at what is now 1850 East Ninetieth street, where he has resided ever since, and he also has a summer home, Glenayre, at Driftwood in Geneva township, where the family spend the heated season.

For a number of years Mr. Alexander has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce and has always been deeply interested in the advancement of Cleveland and of the county, and quietly and unostentatiously but effectively has done much to bring about public improvement. As an official he was con- scientious and painstaking, and as a business man was alert, enterprising and eminently successful.

CHARLES E. THOMPSON.

Charles E. Thompson, as general manager of the Electric Welding Prod- ucts Company, is active in control of the largest institution of this kind in the United States and Cleveland has in him a splendid type of the alert, business man of the present day who recognizes that thoroughness, comprehensivee un- derstanding of his special line and unfaltering diligence in the prosecution thereof miist constitute the salient elements in advancement. Born in McIndoe Falls, Vermont, on the 16th of July, 1870, he is a son of Thomas Thompson, likewise a native of the Green Mountain state. The father, born in 1842, was a repre-

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sentative of an old New England family. The mother, Mrs. Mary Ann Thomp- son, was a daughter of Dr. George and Eliza Young.

In the early boyhood of Charles E. Thompson his parents removed to Lynn, Massachusetts, where he pursued his preliminary education and afterward at- tended the Boston Preparatory School. When his text-books were laid aside he secured employment with the Thompson Houston Company, of Lynn, Mas- sachusetts, serving in the shipping, armature, incandescent lamp and other de- partments in which he gained much practical experience concerning the electrical manufacturing business during his two years' connection with the firm. He afterward served as assistant superintendent with Alley & Ingalls, shoe manu- facturers, for a year, and in 1892 came to Cleveland, securing a position with the Cleveland Telephone Company. His time was spent in the repair depart- ment as inspector and as branch office manager during the succeeding six years, and then he left Cleveland for the southwest, going to Dallas, Texas, in 1898, as manager of the Dallas Exchange. There he remained for a year and a half and upon his return to Cleveland he accepted a position with the Cap Screw Company which afterward was changed to the Electric Welding Products Com- pany. His leisure hours were devoted to the pursual of special courses in electrical engineering in the evening classes conducted by Professor Langley at the Young Men's Christian Association. He entered the service of the Elec- tric Welding Products Company as electrician and was promoted through var- ious positions until 1905, when he was appointed general manager of the larg- est institution of its kind in the United States. The enterprise has shown a marvelous growth. The business has been more than doubled each year and in 1909 four new buildings were erected. The company has the largest harden- ing room in the state of Ohio and employment is furnished to about three hundred and fifty men. Almost his entire business experience has been in electrical lines and from each connection he has mastered the lessons therein to be learned and passed on better equipped for the duties that were to devolve upon him in a new position. He has thus become a man of marked ability in his line, occupying a foremost position in electrical circles as the general man- ager of the Electric Welding Products Company.

On the 3d of January, 1900, Charles E. Thompson was married to Miss Maora H. Hubbard, a daughter of Jerome and Leanna Hubbard, of Kipton, Ohio. Mrs. Thompson died September 21, 1903, leaving a son, Edwin Groot, born October 30,1900, in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Thompson finds his chief sources of pleasure and recreation in motoring, golf and yachting. He belongs to the Lakewood Yacht, the Cleveland Athletic, the Hermit and the Singers Clubs, where he finds pleasant associations with men of congenial tastes. His politi- cal views concerning the questions and issues of the day are in accord with republican principles and his religious faith is that of the Episcopal church, his membership being in St. Paul's.

JAMES ADAMS ROBINSON.

James Adams Robinson, mastering the lessons of life day by day until his post-graduate work in the school of experience has placed him in a prominent position in the business circles of Cleveland, is now treasurer of The W. Bing- ham Company, one of the oldest and best known hardware houses in the coun- try. He was born in Ashland, Ohio, November 11, 1851.

The Robinson family is of a sturdy Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock, the an- cestors of our subject having settled in North Carolina before the Revolutionary war. In 1775 in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, one of the number as- sisted in framing the Mecklenburg resolutions which were later embodied almost

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J. A. ROBINSON

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word for word in the Declaration of Independence, written in 1776. After the Revolutionary war members of the family removed to Pennsylvania.

John Robinson, D.D., LL.D., the father of James A. Robinson, was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, born in 1814. Coming to Ohio, he settled in Athens when a small boy and acquired his education in the schools of that place. He had the unusual distinction of serving for forty years as pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Ashland and his labors in religious and edu- cational lines were far-reaching and effective. He was a graduate of the West- ern Theological Seminary of Pennsylvania and served on its board of trustees a period of forty-four years, from the time of his graduation until his death. In addition to his pastoral work he devoted much time and energy to educa- tional work, his great ambition being to see established an educational institution under religious influence in central Ohio. He therefore cooperated largely in the movement resulting in the establishment of the University of Wooster. He wedded Mary Willson, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, a daughter of William Will- son, an attorney of that city. Her mother was Nancy Craighead, a daughter of Colonel George Craighead, who during the Revolutionary war was clothier gen- eral of the Army for Delaware, an office corresponding to that of quartermaster general at the present time. After the war he became state senator of Delaware and served as president of the senate for two terms.

The Rev. and Mrs. Robinson reared a family of seven children. John F., de- ceased, entered the Civil war as a member of the Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, known as the Garfield regiment, and was later transferred to the One Hundred and Thirteenth Mississippi Regiment, becoming its lieutenant colonel. William W., now deceased, was also a member of the Forty-second Regiment. Henry M. was too young to enlist in the war but served as suttlers' clerk and afterward engaged in business in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and later in British America as a fur trader. He also served for several years as vice consul for the United States and wrote "The Great Fur Land," a volume regarded as an au- thority on the fur industry and on other subjects of which it treats concerning the Canadian northwest. He became editor of the New Nation during the Reil rebellion, advocating annexation to the United States and had many stirring and thrilling experiences in his time. Following his return to the United States he was for some time connected with the Interior editorial staff in Chicago, while subsequently he became associated with the New York Observer and was the originator of the Condensed World news department of modern journalism. He died in New York city in April, 1907. Samuel N. was a graduate of the Phila- dephia Medical College and became a physician and surgeon of Cleveland and died as the result of infection in a post mortem examination. James A. is the next of the family. Mary E. is the widow of the Rev. Dr. J. V. Stockton, of Mercer, Pennsylvania. Henrietta B. is the widow of L. H. Davidson, of Cleve- land, and now resides in Los Angeles, California.

James A. Robinson was educated in the public schools of Ashland and was graduated from the high school in 1867, after which he entered Vermillion In- stitute at Hayesville, Ohio, remaining there for two years. When his education was completed, he became connected with the dry-goods trade in Ashland, re- maining there for a year. In 1871 he came to Cleveland and entered the employ of The W. Bingham Company as bookkeeper. Since that time he has served suc- cessively as cashier, credit man, office manager, assistant treasurer and secretary and in 1905 was elected treasurer of the corporation. His energy and persever- ance, his ability to judge men, his careful manipulation of business affairs and his thorough understanding of the work that he has undertaken has enabled him to contribute to the success of the institution which in its volume of business is many fold larger than it was when he became connected therewith.

On the 23d of October, 1879, Mr. Robinson was married to Miss Ida M. Odell, a daughter of the late Hon. Jay Odell and Mary ( Packard) Odell, for- merly of Plainfield, Massachusetts, and a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden.

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Into the family of Mrs. Robinson's grandfather, John Packard, there came a needy youth named Marcus Whitman, whom they cared for and helped to obtain an education in the school of Rev. Moses Hallock, then in the midst of its famous and useful career. It was doubtless during this period passed in the Packard home and the Hallock school that he received the inspiration which led this sturdy pioneer in later life to prevail upon President Tyler and Daniel Webster to withhold the proposed trade about to be consummated with England, of what is now Oregon, Washington and possibly California, for the privilege of fishing off the New England coast and thus saved to the United States this great west- ern territory.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are members of the Case Avenue Presbyterian church, in which he has served as an elder for fifteen years. His wife belongs to the Book and Thimble Club and is active in the work of the church and its charities. She is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mr. Robinson has been greatly interested in the University of Wooster, for which his father labored for many years, assisting to found that institution, and while serving as pastor the college was established, he becoming the first presi- dent of its board of trustees, which position he filled until his death, about twenty years.

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 93

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