USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III > Part 17
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NEWTON S. CALHOUN.
The industries of Cleveland are immense and they are in the hands of capable, reliable, far-sighted men who understand how to keep up the prestige the city has gained as a commercial center. There are a number of concerns here that give employment to many and supply a wide territory with their products. The men at the head of such enterprises have to possess more than average ability in order to meet the exacting demands of their positions. Such a man is Newton S. Calhoun, president and treasurer of The Johnston & Jennings Company, con- ducting a foundry, machine shop and chemical plant.
Mr. Calhoun was born in Connecticut, February 12, 1855, a son of William F. and Almira (Tracy) Calhoun. The father was born in the same state, Octo- ber 12, 1813, while the mother was born there in 1817. They spent their lives there, he dying in November, 1881, and she in 1895. The family early settled in
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Litchfield county, Connecticut, as far back as the seventeenth century, and on the paternal side was from Scotland.
Newton S. Calhoun was educated in the Suffield Academy in Connecticut and Brown University, of Providence, Rhode Island, from which he graduated with the degree of M. A. in 1879. On leaving school he taught for two years in the Providence high school and then studied law while teaching and during his vaca- tions. For a year he was in Judge Tillinghast's office in Providence and left there in the fall of 1882 to come to Cleveland. Here he began the practice of law in January, 1883, in partnership with Alexander C. Caskey, which association con- tinued until the death of the latter" in 1904. In 1896 Mr. Calhoun was made treasurer of The Johnston & Jennings Company, of which he is now at the head, and at the time of his partner's death forsook the law to devote all of his time to the business. In 1905 he was made president and has since filled both offices. They have a branch factory in Chicago, and the territory covered by them extends all over the country. They manufacture special machinery for designing and building and have a number of their own patents. Mr. Calhoun is also vice pres- ident and treasurer of the Royal Tourist Car Company and is interested in a number of other enterprises. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is one of the representative men of the city.
In 1884 he was married to Caroline Jennings, a native of Cleveland and a daughter of John G. and Caroline R. (Conklin) Jennings. Mr. and Mrs. Cal- houn have two children: Tracy Jennings, born in 1885, and educated at Cornell University, is now associated with his father as purchasing agent; and Miss Carol is at home. The Jennings family is an old one in Ohio, Mrs. Calhoun's grand- father, Dr. Jennings, having been one of the oldest settlers of Oberlin.
Mr. Calhoun is a member of the Cleveland Athletic Club and is a republican but not active in public matters. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist and attends the Pilgrim church. Whenever a professional man goes into business he brings to his work a trained mind and is capable of discharging his duties sys- tematically. Mr. Calhoun's experience as an attorney has been valuable to him since becoming the head of the immense concern with which he is now connected and he feels that he could not have made the success he has had he not possessed his legal knowledge.
MYRON E. BATTLES.
Myron E. Battles, who is the treasurer and general manager of the Union Paper & Twine Company, the largest concern of its kind in Cleveland, was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, September 7, 1868, a son of John T. and Mary Battles. The parents were both natives of this county and the mother is still living in Cleve- land. The father passed away about fifteen years ago. He had been a farmer in his active life and was one of the pioneers of this section of the state.
Myron E. Battles was a student at Baldwin University, Berea, and when he left school engaged in the paper business with a local company. Two years later, in 1892, he organized the Union Paper & Twine Company, which, although it still bears the same name, was not incorporated until December, 1898. It is one of the leading business houses of Cleveland and the largest in this line in the city. It employs seventy-five hands and occupies an entire five-story building at 131 St. Clair avenue, Northwest, which the company owns. Mr. Battles has always had the active management of all departments of the business and it is largely due to his efforts, his ability and his keen foresight that it has become such a profitable concern.
On Christmas day, 1907, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Battles and Miss Sadie L. Wisner, of Berea, and they have a pleasant home at 40 Cadwell avenue, Cleveland Heights. Mr. Battles has ever been a stanch champion of republican
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interests in this city and in 1907 was elected mayor of Cleveland Heights. He belongs to the Euclid Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Cleveland Athletic Association, all of which organizations have as their aim the promotion of the so- cial, physical or commercial welfare of the citizens of the city. He is a man of broad views and generous sympathies, who has enlarged his outlook on life by study and through extensive travel over a greater part of America.
MATTHEW SMITH.
This is preeminently the age of centralization, resulting in the establishment and control of mammoth undertakings which are the stronger and more vital from the fact that strength is conserved and labor minimized by the consolidation of interests. At the head of business affairs of great magnitude are men whose vision is as keen and whose generalship is as wide and effective as that manifest by the leaders of military forces and well may such men be termed the captains of industry of our day. To this class belongs Matthew Smith as general manager of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company of Cleveland, whose position of prominence in connection with commercial interests is such that his history is one of widespread interest and constitutes an important chapter in the records of the business men of Cleveland.
He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, November 9, 1856, and was educated in the national schools of that country. Coming to the United States in 1872, he entered the employ of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company in a humble capacity, his first task being that of addressing envelopes. Gradually, however, he worked his way upward through successive promotions until in 1880 he was sent to Cleveland to take charge of the business in this city, which at that time comprised but two stores. With his advent here the business took on new life and the spirit of enterprise and determination with which he enthused the concern has resulted in the expansion of trade relations here until the company is operat- ing thirteen stores in the Forest city, with Mr. Smith as general manager of all. He is one of the best known representatives of a great commercial organization, which has today three hundred and twenty-five stores and is today selling more of the highest qualities of groceries to greater number of people than any other firm on earth. Mr. Smith has the interests of the company in Cleveland thoroughly systematized and the business methods which he pursues are those which com- mend him to the confidence and support of Cleveland's citizens as well as of the general officers of the company. In addition to other interests Mr. Smith is vice president and one of the directors of the Schafer-Suhr Coal Company.
In 1887 occurred the marriage of Mr. Smith and Miss Irene M. French, a native of Cleveland. They have become parents of two daughters and two sons. Emily M., the eldest, after attending the public schools and Miss Middleberger's private school became the wife of N. C. Groach, a mining engineer who is now a member of the firm of Groach & Groach of Cobalt, Canada, where they reside. Matthew, a youth of sixteen, is now a junior in Shaw high school. William Mc- Kinley, twelve years of age, is attending the grammar school. Irene L., eight years of age, is a pupil in the East Cleveland public schools.
The family are members of Emmanuel Episcopal church, of which Mr. Smith has long been a vestryman. He belongs to Iris Lodge, No. 229, F. & A. M .; is a past high priest of Cleveland Chapter, No. 148, R. A. M. ; a member of Cleveland Council, No. 36, R. & S. M .; a past commander of Holyrood Commandery, No. 32, K. T .; a member of all the Scottish Rite bodies and of Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has attained the thirty-third degree of the northern Ma- sonic jurisdiction of the United States, an honor conferred on few who are af- filiated with this great fraternal organization. He is now treasurer of the Masonic Temple Association. He is greatly interested in all that pertains to the craft and
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the promotion of its interests. Aside from his business and his home it rep- resents his dominant interests and finds in him an honored and exemplary rep- resentative. His winter residence is 13082 Euclid avenue, while at Salida Beach, just north of Mentor, Ohio, he has a beautiful summer home. His steady ad- vancement in the business world has enabled him to provide for his family those comforts which wealth can secure and refined tastes suggest, and the members of the household are prominent in the social circles of the city.
KENNEDY B. BAILEY.
Kennedy B. Bailey, who was always active in the city's interests and by reason of his practical and intelligently directed labor contributed in substantial meas- ure to the welfare and progress of Cleveland, was numbered among Ohio's native sons, his birth having occurred in Cincinnati on the 9th of November, 1840. En- tering the public schools at the usual age he passed through consecutive grades until he was graduated from the high school. He was for several years connected with the little Miami Railroad, this time covering the period of the Civil War. He afterward became connected with the Grasselli Works, than a small enterprise. Eventually he became treasurer and had charge of the books of the company. When the business was reorganized and removed to Cleveland he came with it in the capacity of treasurer, a position which he held up to the time of his death. He was with the company for thirty-seven years, and his capable management of its financial affairs contributed in large measure to the success which attended the enterprise. He manifested keen discrimination in controlling any business situation, ever placing a correct value of the opportunities arising, and as the years went by his labors proved a very valuable element in the achievement of the - prosperity which came to the house. He was also the vice president of the Wood- land Savings & Trust Company and was also further known in financial circles as a member of the finance committee of the Broadway Savings & Trust Com- pany. He was likewise active in several other Cleveland institutions, all of which benefited by his sound judgment and careful management. He discriminated with great readiness between the essential and non-essential in business and whatever he undertook won a good measure of success by reason of his capable control.
In Cincinnati, in 1876, Mr. Bailey was united in marriage to Miss Maria Newton Gatch, who was born in that city. Their marriage was blessed with two. children, Waldo C. and Lucretia G. The son was general manager of the Beaver Falls Chemical Works for a few years, then after the death of his father he was for a short time with the Cleveland office of the Grasselli Chemical Company and later was transferred to Chicago. He married Miss Anna Stevens, of Olean, New York, and has three children : Kennedy B., William S. and Gean. Lucretia G. was married November 24, 1909, to Mr. Durbin Keaney of Cleveland, where they reside.
Mr. Bailey was devoted to his family, finding his greatest pleasure in pro- viding the members of his own household with those things which add to the comfort and convenience of life or promote its real happiness. He was very charitable, responding readily to any call of need or distress, for his heart over- flowed with human sympathy, and not only by his substantial gifts but also in other ways did he frequently help to lighten the burden of life for others. His kindly word of encouragement was of equal value, for it indicated to the in- dividual that genuine sympathy which is often more needed than the gift of money. He regularly attended the services of the Second Presbyterian church and was much interested in its work. Many movements and measures relative to Cleveland and her progress awakened the attention and support of Mr. Bailey. who was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and eagerly cooperated in all movements intended by that organization for the upbuilding and progress of the
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city. He died December 27, 1903, at the comparatively early age of fifty-three years, but he left the impress of his individuality upon public and private inter- ests, while the recollection of his many sterling qualities will not be effaced from the minds of those with whom he came in contact while life remains to them. He built his residence at what is now No. 2216 East Fifty-fifth street, in 1886, and it has since been the family home.
JOHN HADLOW.
Among the men to whom fate has vouchsafed honorable retirement from labor is John Hadlow, who now resides at No. 2952 West Fourteenth street. He is one of the city's native sons, living here at a time when Cleveland was compara- tively small and of but little industrial and commercial importance. His birth occurred on St. Clair avenue, his natal day being January 5, 1840. He was one of the children of Henry R. and Sarah (Hudson) Hadlow, both of whom were na- tives of Dover, England, but spent their last days in Cleveland. John Hadlow pursued his early education in the district schools and afterward attended Hu- miston's Institute but left that school at the age of eighteen years to concentrate his entire attention upon business affairs. He joined his father in gardening and in that line of activity continued until his earnings were sufficient to enable him to put aside further business cares and spend his remaining days in the enjoy- ment of well earned rest.
On the 12th of August, 1872, Mr. Hadlow was united in marriage to Miss Hannah M. Raines, who was born in England. They have become parents of three children, Ralph H., Gertrude and Caroline, all of whom are at home. Ralph is now construction engineer, with headquarters in Cleveland.
Mr. Hadlow exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and meas- ures of the republican party and he and his family attend the Pilgrim Congrega- tional church on West Fourteenth street. He has a fine home, which he and his family occupy and which is one of the visible evidences of his life of well directed industry and thrift. There have been no spectacular chapters in his life history nor have there been any esoteric phases. He worked on diligently year by year, carefully managing his business affairs, giving full return for all moneys which he received and because of the excellence of the garden products which he mar- keted and the honesty of his business methods he built up a trade which in the course of years brought him the substantial success that he now enjoys.
JOHN A. SANDERS.
John A. Sanders, the well known and popular proprietor of the Sanders Stag Hotel of Cleveland, was born in New Jersey on the 17th of December, 1864, his parents being John H. and Helen (Farley) Sanders. The father, whose birth occurred in Newark, New Jersey. in 1843, was a moulder by trade and successfully followed that occupation until the time of his retire- ment from active life. His demise occurred in 1896. In 1863 he had wedded Miss Helen Farley, who was born in the year 1841. She was called to her final rest in June, 1908.
John A. Sanders obtained his education in the public schools of Detroit, where the family home was established in 1873. while three years later he came to Cleveland, Ohio. After leaving school he secured a position in a grocery store of Detroit and later worked in a store at Cleveland for a time. Subsequently he engaged in the conduct of a grocery establishment but after about three years severed his connection with mercantile interests and began
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learning the moulder's trade, with which he was actively identified for twelve years. For the past twenty years, however, he has been actively engaged in business as a hotel proprietor and for the past sixteen years has managed the Sanders Stag Hotel at No. 86 Public Square, also conducting a cafe and res- taurant. In 1909 he secured a ninety-nine year lease on his present location -the Bank Cafe. In addition to his interests in this connection he is likewise one of the directors of the Standard Brewing Company, the Lake City Ice Company, the Southern Gold Mining Company and the Cooperative Liquor Company.
In 1895 Mr. Sanders was united in marriage to Miss Anna Dowd, a native of Avon, New York. They now have two children, Marian and John. Their city home is at 2196 East Forty-sixth street and they also have a beautiful country home at Noble Beach, where Mr. Sanders owns a splendidly improved estate of sixteen acres. He delights in motoring, shooting and fishing and is a member of the Cleveland Automobile Club. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Eagles. From the beginning of his hotel experiences he has made it his object to maintain the highest standards in hotel life until his name has become a synonym for the best possible service obtainable in public entertainment of this character.
FRANK HIGLEY.
Frank Higley, whose name is on the roll of able representatives of the Cleve- land bar, was born near St. Paul, Minnesota, March 16, 1861. His father was 'Aaron Higley, who was born in 1826, at Windsor, Ohio, and was a son of Jon- athan Higley, who was a native of Connecticut and a farmer by occupation. At an early period in the development of this state Jonathan Higley made his way westward and cast his lot with the pioneer residents of Windsor. A strong opponent of the system of slavery, he served as one of the conductors on the underground railway in antebellum days. He also took an active part in affairs of public prominence and importance and for several years represented his dis- trict in the general assembly. There were only four or five families in the West- ern Reserve at the time of his arrival and he aided in shaping the policy of the state during its formative period. His son, Aaron Higley, removed to Minne- sota about 1856 and in 1867 came to Cleveland. He was an inventor and manu- facturer and invented a number of devices pertaining to street cars. He manu- factured the Higley street car journal and other different street car bearings under the name of the Higley Car Journal Company, of which he remained president until his demise, which occurred May 10, 1886. He was also a heavy real-estate owner, having extensive investments in city property. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Charlotte Finney, was born in Groton, New York, in 1836, and is now living in Cleveland. Her father, Ezra Finney, was a farmer by occupation and one of the early settlers of Trumbull county, Ohio, establishing his home in Bris- tolville.
Brought to Cleveland in his early boyhood, Frank Higley pursued his educa- tion in the public schools until graduating from the Central high school with the class of 1877. He afterward matriculated in the law school of the University of Michigan, where he completed the course in 1884, the Bachelor of Laws degree being then conferred upon him. Ere entering the university he had studied law under private instruction to some extent and had also occupied a business position. For two years after his graduation he acted as deputy clerk of the supreme court of Ohio and in 1885 began practicing in Cleveland, his active connection with the bar now covering a quarter of a century. Throughout the entire time he has continued in general practice and is recognized as a man of well balanced intel-
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lect, thoroughly familiar with the law and precedent and possessed as well of comprehensive general information and an analytical mind. He comprehends the details of a situation quickly and fortifies for every point of attack. He is remark- able among lawyers for the wide research and provident care with which he pre- pares his cases and his practice is now extensive and of an important character.
Mr. Higley votes with the republican party and has been a delegate to county, state and congressional conventions, yet does not seek to become a party leader or officeholder. He belongs to the Tippecanoe Club, a republican organization ; holds membership in the Masonic fraternity and with the Tribe of Ben Hur ; and attends the Euclid Avenue Congregational church.
Pleasantly situated in his home life, Mr. Higley was married in 1891 to Miss Carrie M. Maltby, a daughter of Benjamin F. Maltby, and they have three chil- dren : Raymond F., who is now a junior in the Central high school; Albert M .; and Charles S.
WILLARD GRANT ABORN.
Williard Grant Aborn, whose continuous progress in the business world, from that time when he met, at least partially, the expenses of his college course through his own labor, has brought him to a position of prominent connection with manu- facturing and commercial interests in Cleveland and also in the east, was born September 23, 1870, in Wakefield, Massachusetts, a son of George W. and Mary Frances (Pennell) Aborn. Ancestral records mention Samuel Aborn as the first representative of the family in America. He settled on a plantation at Salem, Massachusetts, sometime prior to 1633, as his name appears on the Salem records of that date. His son Moses and the latter's son, Ebenezer Aborn, were very influential and prominent members of the Salem community during colonial days, when the colonists were facing the hardships of pioneer life and the dangers of Indian warfare. John Aborn, son of Ebenezer Aborn, became a distinguished physician of Lynn township, Essex county. His son, Samuel Aborn, was born in 1764 and wedded Mary Flint, a daughter of Captain John Flint, who served in the battle of Lexington. Dr. John Aborn died in 1768. John Aborn, son of Samuel Aborn, was the father of George W. Aborn. State and local political honors were offered and in some cases accepted by these different members of the family. Mrs. John Aborn was a Gould of the old Salem and later of the Top- field Gould family, well known in history. The Pennells are of equally old New England stock, coming from Maine.
Willard Grant Aborn pursued his education in the Wakefield high school, the academy at Monson, Massachusetts, and in Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1893, while in 1896 his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. His youthful experiences were those of any New England boy and he was much interested in sports, find- ing delight in the summer camping trips in the woods of Maine or in roaming on the Maine seacoast. At Monson Academy he was a member of the athletic teams, was president of the class and of the debating society and was a member of the Glee Club and church choir, so that in many lines he was having the varied ex- periences which constituted a broadening factor as well as his intellectual train- ing. While in college he spent his vacations engaged on waterwork construction as an engineer and the necessity of providing for his own support led him to con- tinue in that field of labor for two years thereafter.
Now being equipped by education for engineering, Mr. Aborn sought a busi- ness opportunity and entered the employ of the Spaulding-Pepper Tire Com- pany of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, being thus employed during the summer of 1895. In February, 1896, he made a change, believing that he might have a better opportunity for a broader field, and thus became secretary of J. C. Pear-
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son of Boston, whose principal interest was that of president of the J. C. Pear- son Company, manufacturers of cement coated nails. During the late summer of 1896 Mr. Pearson induced Mr. Aborn, because of the former's dissatisfaction with his then existing arrangement at the mill, to become supervisor of the manu- factory. Two years later he made a proposition on the tonnage basis, which Mr. Aborn accepted, and in this connection he is active in the business, his position being one of large responsibility and of gratifying financial return as well. In connection with this work he has become interested in the sales end of the busi- ness and has also established mill supply houses at points where the company have considered the selling arrangements unsatisfactory. He has thus been a forceful factor in the development and expansion of the business and at the same time he has become actively and financially interested in other enterprises, being now president of the Lake Frie Nail & Supply Company of Cleveland, the Grant Nail & Supply Company of Boston and the United States Timber Company of Cleveland.
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