A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 96

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 96

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W. N. GATES

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has always been very active in church work and his example among the young men is powerful in inspiring them to renewed efforts. As he takes great pride in all civic matters, he has long been identified with the Home Garden Associa- tion of Elyria, of which he is now president. He makes his home in Elyria, living at the old homestead, built by his grandfather in 1835, where he was born and where his parents lived until death. Mr. Gates maintains the atmosphere of music at the old homestead that has made the hospitality of four generations ever to be remembered by those so favored; as every member of his father's family played some musical instrument or were vocalists of rather unusual ability.

On May 12, 1897, Mr. Gates married Ada Laura Cook, who was born in Buffalo, New York, where they were married. They have four children: Wil- liam N., Jr., born December 30, 1900; Geoffrey McNair and John Montieth, twins, born June 30, 1905; and Edward Leigh, born December 1, 1907. Mrs. Gates is very prominent socially in Elyria, as well as in the church life of St. Andrew's Episcopal church. She was formerly president of the Ladies' Guild and active in all good work, being now trustee of the Old Ladies Home.

The life of Mr. Gates has been successful for he has built up a large business that makes him well known all over the United States. In addition to this, he has established himself firmly in the hearts of those who know him best and rec- ognize his many excellent qualities. Generous, public-spirited, a man who loves his fellowmen and tries to help them in the church, in social life and in his daily routine, he shows forth in his life the noble characteristics of his heart and mind, and no man stands higher in Elyria than he, while his position among Cleveland business men is one any might well envy.

AUGUST J. HIRSTIUS.

August J. Hirstius, sheriff of Cuyahoga county, was born in 1875 in the city of Cleveland, where he has spent his entire life. His father, Jacob H. Hirstius, is numbered among the old residents here, coming to Cleveland a half century ago direct from the Hessen province of Germany. He was the father of four children, of whom August J. was the second in order of birth. All are still living in this city.

In the public schools August J. Hirstius acquired his education, attending the Sterling school. His first position after completing his course was as cash boy for the firm of E. J. Baldwin, Hatch & Company, at that time conducting business on Superior avenue. Resigning that position to go with G. H. Lyttle, he became connected with the wall paper business of the city, the enterprise being conducted in the Young Men's Christian Association building at the corner of Ninth and Prospect. Mr. Hirstius remained in that employ for about ten years and after- ward became a clerk in the county auditor's office under Auditor Craig, with whom he continued for two and one-half years. He afterward acted as clerk to the county board of reviews, in which capacity he served for two years. He resigned that position after being elected a member of the city council from the twelfth ward, his service there covering two terms. Through con- tinual agitation in the council he was largely instrumental in bringing about the first referendum campaign in the state of Ohio on the street railway franchise, and he was also instrumental in awakening interest in and securing the first appro- priation for three children's playgrounds. He resigned as a member of the coun- cil December 31, 1908, to begin his present term of office, to which he was elected in November, of that year. As sheriff of the county he is discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity, and neither fear nor favor swerve him in the slight- est degree. In this office he has worked for a long time to secure a new jail build- ing, very much needed.

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Mr. Hirstius was married in 1896 to Miss Anna Bente of Cleveland and they have one child, Sherwood, a boy of seven years of age, who is now attending the public schools. The parents belong to the German Zion Lutheran church. Mr. Hirstius is connected with Cleveland Aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, belongs to the Major Cramer Camp of the United Spanish War Veterans and is vice president of the Western Reserve Republican Club and a member of the Tippecanoe Club. He is recognized as one of the active workers in republican ranks in Cleveland. doing all in his power to legitimately further the interests of the party, in the principles of which he has always been a firm believer. Much of his life has been spent in public office and his record is a clean and commendable one. His nature is one of sociability and cordiality and these qualities have ren- dered him personally popular wherever he is known.

GEORGE W. CRILE, M. D.

Dr. George W. Crile, a Cleveland surgeon and widely known to the profession as the author of various valuable monographs, was born in Chili, Ohio, November II, 1864. and is a son of Michael and Mary (Deeds) Crile. He received his Bach- elor of Arts degree from the Ohio Northern University in 1884 and his Master of Arts and Medical Degree from the University of Wooster. In 1893, 1895 and 1897, he pursued further medical studies in London, Vienna, Berlin and Paris, gaining a comprehensive knowledge of the advanced methods of practice of emi- nent physicians and surgeons of those cities. At various times he has taught in the medical department of Wooster University, afterward the Cleveland College of Physicians and Surgeons, giving instruction in histology, physiology and surgery. In the Western Reserve University he has held the chair of clinical surgery since 1900 and he has served on the surgical staff of the Cleveland General, St. Alexis, City, Lutheran and Lakeside Hospitals. His authorship includes the following monographs: Surgical Shock, published in 1897; Surgery of the Respiratory System, 1900; Certain Problems Relating to Surgical Operations, 1901 ; Blood Pressure in Surgery, 1903; and Hemorrhage and Transfusion, 1909. The com- ments of public opinion and the testimony of the medical profession all establish Dr. Crile's position as one of the eminent surgeons of Ohio.

CHARLES SUMNER HOWE, Ph. D.

Dr. Charles Sumner Howe, as president of the Case School of Applied Science, is holding that institution fully up to the high and advancing standards of twentieth century education. A native of Nashua, New Hampshire, he was born September 29, 1858, and is a son of William R. and Susan D. (Woods) Howe, the former of Milford, New Hampshire, and the latter of Groton, Mas- sachusetts, where her father was a farmer. William R. Howe through much of his business career engaged in the manufacture of piano actions.

Dr. Howe pursued his elementary education in the schools of Boston, to which city his parents removed when he was only a few months old, and when twelve years of age, he accompanied his parents on their removal to a farm near Franklin, Massachusetts. He then continued his education in the high school of Franklin and eagerly availed himself of opportunity for further study. Farm life was uncongenial to him and he desired to master the science of civil en- gineering but later found that his tastes were more in the line of mathematics and general science. As it was impossible for him for pecuniary reasons to enter college when he wished to do so, he secured a position in a newspaper and job printing office in Franklin, and while there employed worked in every

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DR. GEORGE W. CRILES

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department of the business. At the same time he displayed the elementary strength of his character by facing the condition that existed and through his own labor securing the funds necessary for a college course. In 1874 he en- tered the Massachusetts Agricultural College, from which he was graduated in 1878 with the Bachelor of Science degree, and the same year also won the same degree from Boston University. He afterward pursued a year's post- graduate course in mathematics and physics at Amherst and devoted a year to the same branches in Johns Hopkins University. In 1887 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred upon him by the Wooster University, while in 1905 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Science from the Armour Institute of Technology of Chicago, and Mount Union College conferred on him the honorary degree of LL. D. During the year following his graduation he remained in college for post-graduate work and then accepted the principal- ship of the high school at Longmeadow, Massachusetts, in 1879. A month later, however, he was offered a professorship in Colorado College, with the understanding that he was not to have a regular chair but was to establish and act as principal of a preparatory academy, which he did from 1879 until 1881. Because of impaired health he then went to the mining districts of New Mexico and Arizona, thus spending the succeeding year. During his three years in the west he maintained an assay office either in Albuquerque or in Prescott, Arizona. · In September, 1882, he entered Johns Hopkins University as a gradu- ate student in mathematics and physics, and in September, 1883, he became ad- junct professor of mathematics in Buchtel College, at Akron, Ohio. In 1884 he was made full professor of mathematics and astronomy in Buchtel College, where he continued until 1889, when he received appointment to the professor- ship of mathematics and astronomy in the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland. In 1902 he was elected to the presidency of the same institution and has since remained at its head. Believing with Kant that "the object of education is to train each individual to reach the highest perfection possible for him" he has endeavored to keep the work of the school up to a high stand- ard, and the institution is today recognized as one of the strongest features in the educational system of the middle west. Dr. Howe's zeal and interest in the work has led to the adoption of various methods which have been effective forces in the advancement of the school, while his own ability as an educator places him in a prominent position among those who are holding professor- ships in the great Mississippi valley.

Dr. Howe is not unknown as a writer, for he is the author of various articles which have appeared in the Astronomical Journal, the monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the Journal of the Association of Engineer- ing Societies. Dr. Howe is a member of the National Educational Association, the North Central Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools, the Col- lege Entrance Examination Board and the Ohio Association of the Teachers of Mathematics and Science, having served as the first president of the last named organization. He is an ex-president and life member of the council of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, is likewise a mem- ber of the board of managers of the Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education and was the first chairman of the Ohio section of that society. He is also a member of the Cleveland Educational Commission and as chairman of the sub-committee on industrial education he wrote the report which induced the board of education to issue bonds for the present Technical high school. He also prepared the original draft of the course of study, which was essentially appro ved by the board and is in use today. The building plans were greatly modified also at his suggestion. He is chairman of the advisory committee of the Cleveland High School of Commerce and the chairman of the committee of the simplification of engineering degrees (Society for the Promotion of En- gineering Education). He is likewise a member of the committee on the teach- ing of mathematics to engineering students, appointed by the American Society

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for the Advancement of Science, and is chairman of the section on technical schools of the International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics. The Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education appointed him a member of the committee of ten on the relation of industrial education to the public school system, and he is a member of the council from the section of education (Ameri- can Association for the Advancement of Science).

In civic organizations Dr. Howe has held or does hold the following posi- tions : ex-president of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the committee on city finances, which tries to do the same work that is accom- plished by the Boston finance committee; ex-president of the Cleveland Uni- versity Club; ex-president of the Cleveland Engineering Society; member of the Merchants Marine League; member of First White House Conference on the Conservation of the Natural Resources of the United States; member of the national committee on city planning ; member of the National Civic Federa- tion ; and a member of the board of trustees of the Ohio Tax League. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has been general secretary of the organization, as well as secretary of the section of mathematics and secretary of the council. He is likewise a member of the American Mathematical Society and the American Astronomical and Astrophy- sical Society and is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Dr. Howe also belongs to the Rowfant Club of Cleveland, an organization of book lovers, the University Club of Washington, the Graduates Club of New York city and many other organizations, Sigma Xi, three scholarship fraternities, and to the Phi Sigma Kappa. In Masonry he has attained high rank, belonging to the lodge, chapter, commandery and consistory. His religious faith is indicated in his active connection with the Euclid Avenue Congregational church and these different organizations evidence much of the nature of his interests.

Most pleasantly situated in his home life Dr. Howe was married May 22, 1882, to Miss Abbie A., daughter of George A. Waite, of North Amherst, Massachusetts. Mrs. Howe's parents are both deceased. The doctor's mother, however, is living at the age of seventy-seven but his father has passed away. Dr. and Mrs. Howe have three sons, William Cordingly, born in 1883; Earl Waite, in 1890, and Francis Edward, in 1895. The family home is at No. 11125 Bellflower Road, which will be the official residence of the president of the Case School of Applied Science. The excellent work and particular scholar- ship of Dr. Howe have gained him the companionship and the friendship of many cultured minds throughout the country, and the approval of public opinion has also been placed upon his professional labors.

DUDLEY BALDWIN WICK.

Dudley Baldwin Wick, vice president of the Wick Investment Company, with the lasting example of his honored father before him is sustaining in all of his business relations the high reputation which has ever been associated with the name of Wick in important financial and banking enterprises. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio, October 3, 1846, his parents being Henry and Mary S. (Hine) Wick, the latter a daughter of Homer and Mary Hine. The Wick family is of English origin and was established in America by Henry Wick, who settled first on Long Island, and in 1795 arrived in Youngstown, Ohio, becoming one of the city's pioneer merchants and prominent residents.

His descendant and namesake, Henry Wick, the father of our subject, was born February 28, 1807, and died May 22, 1905, after devoting many years of his life to the banking business. He had the privilege of attending school only until eleven years of age, when he began work in his father's store, and such was his diligence and economy that at the age of sixteen years he was able to purchase an

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interest in the store and at twenty years became the sole owner of the business. He conducted it with continued success for two decades and then, looking for a wider field, he came to Cleveland in August, 1848, and engaged in the banking busi- ness in the firm of Wick, Otis & Brownell. A few years later the firm style was changed to Henry Wick & Company, his three sons having been admitted to part- nership. Mr. Wick's business interests developed rapidly in Cleveland and after a career of over forty years the institution, which he had promoted and successfully conducted, was incorporated under state laws and changed in 1891 to the Wick Banking & Trust Company, of which Mr. Wick was chosen president. In busi- ness affairs he has displayed a particularly fine sense of justice and business in- tegrity. He was also a tower of strength to any financial venture with which he was associated. His labors in a public way were always for the furtherance of the welfare and upbuilding of his native state. Private and public credit he also sus- tained as far as possible and in many valuable enterprises he was a pioneer, his labors constituting a valuable factor in the progress of city and state. In associa- tion with Governor Brough, Amasa Stone and Stillman Witt, he built the Bellefon- taine & Indianapolis Railroad, which later became a part of the Big Four system and served as its treasurer for a number of years, his selection for the office being due to his acquaintance with banking and his splendid reputation as a financier. He saw and had much to do in his own quiet way with many of the momentous changes and enterprises of his native state. Untiring industry and firmness were among his conspicuous traits and he managed his enterprises undismayed by ob- stacles or panics, conservative policy constituting a safe bulwark against financial stress and storm. He was of quiet, domestic tastes caring nothing for club life, preferring rather the society of his family of sons and daughters. Public office never attracted him, yet he took active part in public affairs and never overlooked an opportunity for furthering the interests of his adopted city. He left upon it the impress of his individuality for good in many ways.

On the 10th of December, 1828, Henry Wick wedded Mary S. Hine of his na- tive city of Youngstown, and with her lived a married life of sixty-six years. Their six children are : Henrietta Matilda, the wife of F. W. Judd; Alfred H., president of the Wick Investment Company ; Mary Helen, the wife of Warren H. Corning; Florence, the wife of D. B. Chambers; Dudley B .; and Henry C., secretary and treasurer of the Wick Investment Company.

After attending the public schools and Oberlin College Dudley B. Wick became associated with his father's banking affairs and always retained an interest therein until 1891, when it was chartered as the Wick Banking & Trust Company. In 1901 the interests were sold and the name changed to the City Trust Company, since which time Mr. Wick has devoted his attention largely to his private interests. He was one of the organizers of the North Electric Company and served as vice president until 1907, when he resigned his position of active management, although he still continues as a director. He has served as officer and director in many of the important business interests of Cleveland and was for many years a leading member of the Chamber of Commerce. He belongs also to the Union and Road- side Clubs. While independent in local affairs his political allegiance is unfalter- ingly given to the republican party where questions of vital importance to the na- tion are involved. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, and he is an exemplary Mason, affiliating with Oriental Commandery, K. T., and with the Scottish Rite consistory. In all branches of the Masonic order he has held offices.

On the 28th of July, 1875, Mr. Wick was married to Miss Emma Steele, a daughter of Horace and Lydia (Blish) Steele of Painesville, Ohio. Her father was a prominent banker of that city. Mrs. Wick is greatly interested in music, being an exceptionally good organist and pianist. She is active in church and charitable work, devoting time and means to the amelioration of liard conditions of life for the unfortunate. The children of this marriage are three in number. Dudley B., Jr., who was born July 23, 1876, and died March 1, 1905, was a graduate of the University School and of Cornell University and became an engineer ex-

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pert for the North Electric Company. Helen is the wife of Charles Dukleow, pub- lisher of the Boston Commercial. Warren Corning attended the Sheffield Scien- tific School of Yale University and was graduated in June, 1909, being manager of the Sheffield Scientific Monthly during his college days. He is now with the Sher- win-Williams Paint Company. The family residence is at No. 8205 Euclid avenue and in the hours of leisure Mr. Wick enjoys driving and motoring. He is associated with various private charities and interested in many benevolent works, realizing and fully meeting the obligations and responsibilities of wealth.

RT. REV. GEORGE F. HOUCK.

Rt. Rev. George F. Houck, chancellor of the diocese of Cleveland, was born in Tiffin, Ohio, July 9, 1847. That city delights in the honors to which he has attained, as do his many friends and the priesthood which he represents, for his promotion has come in recognition of his unfaltering zeal and devotion to his work and the efficiency of his labors in extending the influence of Catholicism in this part of the state. His parents were John and Odile ( Fischer) Houck, na- tives of Germany. The father came to America when but four years of age and the mother when a little maiden of ten summers. They were married February 16, 1846, and in all their interests were thoroughly American. For forty years John Houck was a leading shoe merchant of Tiffin and in his store his son, George F., when a youth of eighteen years, gave evidence of his practical spirit and excellent business management, for during two years, when his father was ill, he had complete charge of the business.

In St. Joseph's parochial school in Tiffin the Rev. George F. Houck received his preparatory training and subsequently spent two years in Heidelberg College in that city, an educational institution of considerable note. When at length he determined to enter the priesthood, he became a student in Mount St. Mary's Seminary at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1867, and there pursued his studies until 1874, during which time he had charge of the seminary account books and was also assistant librarian for five years. He was then called by Bishop Gilmour to St. Mary's Seminary in Cleveland and after one year was ordained to the priesthood on the 4th of July, 1875, by Bishop Fitzgerald, of Little Rock, Arkansas, who was then performing the duties of Bishop Gilmour, who was absent through illness. Soon after his ordination Father Houck was commissoned pastor of St. Joseph's church at Crestline, Ohio, where he zealously labored until July, 1877. He was then appointed secretary to Bishop Gilmour, with the duties of the chancellorship superadded. So acceptably did he acquit himself in his new station that at the diocesan synod held in May, 1882, he was named for the chan- cery office also. The duties of these responsibile positions are his today, (July, 1909) for the Rt. Rev. Bishop Horstmann reappointed him on his accession to the See in March, 1892. Therefore for more than thirty years, from 1877 until 1909, the Rev. George F. Houck has faithfully and satisfactorily performed the arduous tasks which these offices impose.

On the 24th of July, 1902, Father Houck celebrated his twenty-fifth anni- versary as chancellor, on which occasion over one hundred and sixty priests, together with the Rt. Rev. Bishop Horstmann, participated in the ceremonies which were then held. Father Houck's native ability, coupled with his experi- ence, is the ground for the high compliment that has been paid him-that he is the most painstaking, faithful and efficient chancellor and secretary to be found in any diocese of the country.

A contemporary biographer has said: "When Bishop Gilmour ... lled Father Houck to his present official stations he but gave an additional proof of his accuracy in estimating human character and his ability to discern specific talents. He saw with peculiar distinctness in the chancellor of the Cleveland diocese a

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RT. REV. G. F. HOUCK

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remarkable development of the faculties of order, system, attention to detail and continuity and also the fullness of the intellectual and moral powers which direct and consecrate these to the loyal and conscientious performance of duty. That duty is primarily spiritual with Father Houck. He is a priest first and a chancellor and secretary afterward." Aside from his specific duties in those connections Father Houck was for seventeen years, beginning in 1877, chaplain of the Cleveland workhouse and in discharging his duties manifested not only versatility and a high degree of sympathy but also that charity which prompts the priest to love the sinner while hating the sin. His words of truth and wis- dom sank deep into many hearts and have borne rich fruit in the improvement of lives in later years. He was also chaplain of St. Vincent's Charity Hospital of Cleveland from July, 1877, to October, 1905. He also did an important work in improving some of the Catholic cemeteries of Cleveland, being in 1878 appointed manager of St. Joseph's and St. John's and in 1893 of Calvary cemetery. He yet continues in charge and has introduced order and strict regulations where before was laxness and inefficiency in control. He has neither asked for nor received any compensation on account of his services as chaplain of the hospital or work house or as manager of the cemeteries.

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume II, Part 96

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