USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III > Part 22
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Mr. Wylie is the secretary of The Beachland Realty Company, one of the pio- neers in the development of Cleveland surburban properties and one of the most successful. Early in 1910 the company extended its sphere of operations to inter- national fields by purchasing Grimsby Beach, the great Canadian Chautauqua on Lake Ontario. They expect under Mr. Wylie's direction to Americanize this won- derful property and devote it to a summer residence resort for the better class of Americans and Canadians.
Since 1906 Mr. Wylie's energies have been more particularly directed to Beach- land-on-the-Lake. He lives at Beachland, is married and has four children, as follows: Robert Frederick, who is two years of age; William Dunbar, nine years old ; and Helen and Beatrice, who are fifteen and eleven years of age respectively.
EDWIN A. McFARLAND.
Edwin A. McFarland, whose prosperity has been won in the real-estate field, is a native of Twinsburg, Summit county, Ohio. He was born April 14, 1842, a son of Harvey McFarland, who for twenty years was a justice of the peace in Lorain and Summit counties and died in Twinsburg, Ohio, where his wife also lies buried.
Edwin A. McFarland remained in his native county to the age of sixteen years and through the succeeding decade was a resident of Kipton, Lorain county, where he followed gardening and farming. In the meantime he en- listed at the first call for troops for service in the Civil war, but the next day was informed that the quota was filled and that he would not be allowed to go to the front. Later, at the call from Governor Todd for volunteers to defend the state from the invasion of the Confederates, he reported at Cincinnati and was with the military forces during the period of danger to the state, after which he received an honorable discharge. Subsequently he turned his atten- tion to the wholesale poultry business, shipping to eastern markets, but as this venture did not prove a success, owing to the dishonesty of commission mer- chants in the east, in 1880 he came to Cleveland, where he engaged in the wholesale poultry business and in this won a desirable reward for labor. Later he dealt in real estate and in this field has made himself financially independent. His investments have been judiciously made and with keen foresight he has recognized the possibilities offered in the purchase and sale of property. Closely watching the real-estate market, he has become owner of various prop- erties which could be bought at a low figure, awaiting his time for profitable sale. His business associates and contemporaries recognize the soundness of his judgment and his powers of business perception.
On April 14, 1866, Mr. McFarland was united in marriage to Miss Gertie A. Bates, of Henrietta, Lorain county, Ohio, and a daughter of Bennet Bates, a farmer of that locality. They have four children, a son and three daugh-
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ters, but Lena, the eldest, has been an invalid all her life. Grace is a grad- uate of the West high school and of the Cleveland Normal School, and for five years engaged in teaching in the Willard, Orchard, Gordon and Waverly schools. She then became the wife of Oscar Laisy of this city, who is en- gaged in the real-estate business, and they have two sons, Willard and Clifford, who are now pupils in the public schools. Royal McFarland, a graduate of the West high school and now assistant cashier in the Adams Express office, married Lillian Huff, of Akron, Ohio, and they have three chil- dren : Eugene, Hugh and Edwin, aged respectively five, three and one years. Catherine is a graduate of the West high school and is the wife of Edward Garson, of Rochester, New York, in which city they reside with their two children, Leonard and Alfred Bates.
Mr. McFarland is a member of the First Ward Republican Club, of which he was chairman in 1896, while for seven years he has been its treasurer. He is interested in the political situations of the country and the questions and issues of the day, and has always given loyal allegiance to the grand old party. In all of his business career there has been no esoteric phase and the reliabil- ity of his methods and his unquestioned commercial probity constitute an ex- ample that is well worthy of emulation.
LORENZO ALSON KELSEY.
Lorenzo Alson Kelsey, one of the well known, old time citizens of Cleveland and one of the early mayors of that city, came from one of the oldest families of Connecticut. He was born February 22, 1803, at Port Leyden, New York, (better known as Kelsey's Mills in that section). His father was Eber Leete Kelsey, who, in 1797, went from Killingsworth, Connecticut to Port Leyden, whence he removed to Cape Vincent in 1809, making the first clearing and erect- ing the first home. He was called to Cape Vincent in the interest of Vincent Le Ray, whose agent he was. Le Ray was largely interested in the great land company. "La Compagnie de New York," the property of the colony of French exiles banished during the French Revolution, and who settled in Lewis and Jefferson counties, New York. Among them were Joseph Bonaparte and Count Real. of Paris, the latter chief of the secret police and the "council of ten." These exiles included a number of highly cultured and refined people, and a number of them were early friends of Mr. Kelsey. The mother of Mr. Kelsey was Lucy Leete, a great-great-granddaughter of William Leete, one of the early colonial governors, and at the time of his death governor of Connecticut.
In 1825 L. A. Kelsey married Sophia Smith, the daughter of Miner Smith, a druggist, of Windham, Connecticut, and a granddaughter of Major Hezekiah Huntington, who left the Revolutionary Army after a service of three years, to establish, at Windham, Connecticut, the first armory in the United States for the making and repairing of guns, and, where it is said, the first gun wholly made in America was produced.
Soon after Mr. Kelsey's marriage he removed to Youngstown, on the Niagara river, to engage in the lumber business. A schooner, owned by his firm was the first to pass through the Welland canal. He came to Cleveland in 1837, hav- ing been induced by flattering promises to take charge of the "Exchange," which was supposed to be a very fine structure on the "Flats." After his arrival there was a failure on the part of the Exchange people, and the project fell through. Mr. Kelsey then turned his attention to the old Cleveland Hotel, which stood on the site of the present Forest City House.
Finding the business distasteful, after one year he retired. Soon after this he became commander of the lake passenger steamer "Chesapeake," in the line between Buffalo and Chicago. Subsequently he purchased the steamer
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General Harrison and ran it between Chicago and Green Bay. He always had a great fondness for the water, and when but a lad Commodore Chauncey, who was a warm personal friend of the family, wished him to enter the navy but his father would not consent.
After the erection of the New England Hotel, by George M. Atwater, in 1847, Mr. Kelsey was persuaded to take charge of it and was its proprietor for two years. This hotel was on the corner of Superior and Merwin streets, a fine structure for those days, and was considered a rival of the Weddell House. The New England Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1854.
Politically Mr. Kelsey was a democrat and took a prominent part in the political affairs of his time. He was many times chosen as a delegate to the national and state conventions of his party. He was elected mayor of Cleve- land in 1848 and 1849, and although much pressed to serve another term, de- clined to do so. He had an extensive acquaintance with the prominent party leaders of the country, and could relate many interesting incidents of his ex- periences with the historical men of that day.
His nature was most jovial, modest and kind, and his tastes musical and artistic. In 1844, he built a home on Woodland avenue, and resided there dur- ing the remainder of his life, excepting the two years he conducted the New England Hotel. His family consisted of two sons and three daughters, who lived to adult age; Mrs. J. H. Devereux; Edgar Oscor, of Lowell, Massachu- setts ; Theodore Rowland, who was killed at Chickamauga in the Civil war ; Ada Helen, who died unmarried; and Josephine, who married John Cutter, and is now his widow, residing in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kelsey's death came in his eighty-seventh year. His wife died three years before, and both are buried now in Lakeview cemetery, at Cleveland.
GEORGE H. GARRETT.
George H. Garrett is well remembered as one of the popular hotel propri- etors of Cleveland. a man whose geniality, unfailing courtesy and efforts for the benefit of others gave him the high regard and enduring friendship of the great majority of those with whom he came in contact. He was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and died in Cleveland, March 17, 1908, at the age of fifty-three years. The family of which he was a representative was one of the old pioneer families of Pennsylvania and his father, George Garrett, was a prominent, active and influential citizen of West Chester. The son was educated in the public schools of that city, and his first commercial venture was in the flour and feed business, but he early developed a liking for the hotel business and, in conse- quence thereof, sought a favorable opening for activity in that line. He went to Warren, Ohio, where he built the Park Hotel, which he successfully managed for many years, and was later in Springfield, Ohio, where he engaged in the conduct of a hotel for some time. He was also at one time proprietor of a hotel in Zanesville and removed from that place to Cleveland in September, 1899. Shortly after his arrival, in connection with Mr. Mckinney, he secured the Ken- nard house, which was then run down through poor management, but the part- ners were practical hotel men and through Mr. Garrett's extensive acquaintance with traveling salesmen and by reason of the reputation which he had won as a popular and capable landlord, they soon were conducting one of the leading com- mercial hotels in the city and were very successful. Mr. Garrett concentrated his entire attention upon the business and looked after the interests of the guests of the house in every particular, regarding no detail as too unessential to claim his attention. He made a close study of the wishes and demands of the public and maintained a high standard in the hotel in the personnel of the house and in the character of the services rendered. He never regretted coming to Cleve-
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land, but felt that his business success Was an ample justification of the step which he took in removing to this city.
Mr. Garrett was married in Chardon, Ohio, to Miss Clara L. Chamberlain, who still survives him and makes her home in Cleveland, where she has many friends. In his political views Mr. Garrett was a republican, active in the work of the party and interested in all that pertained to its welfare. He sought honor in municipal affairs as well as in private life, and his influence was always on the side of purifying and wholesome reform. He was an honorable, upright man, esteemed by all who knew him, his record and his personal qualities making him one of the popular citizens of Cleveland.
LEONARD PARKS.
Leonard Parks, one of the pioneer residents of Cleveland, arriving in 1834, continued to make his home in the city until his death in August, 1883. Although more than a quarter of a century has come and gone since he departed this life, he is yet remembered by many of the older citizens and the fact that he was closely associated with the development and progress of the city in its formative period well entitles him to representation in this volume. He was born in Schoharie county, New York, in 1824, and a decade later came to Cleveland with his father, Sheldon Parks, who brought his family to this city. He then purchased a farm on the Lake Shore in what is now Bratenahl, the former owner having been John Gardner. With characteristic energy Sheldon Parks began to clear, cultivate and develop his place, erected a substantial dwelling thereon and as the years went by met with a creditable and gratifying measure of success in all of his undertakings. Upon the farm which he developed he reared his family of seven children.
Leonard Parks spent his youthful days at the old homestead and became fa- miliar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His ed- ucation, too, was acquired in the early schools of those days, at a time when the boundaries of Cleveland were much more restricted than at the present and when the city gave promise of little industrial or commercial importance. Through the period of his minority he continued to assist in the labors of the farm, giving the benefit of his services to his father, Sheldon Parks, who lived upon the old home- stead until his death, which occurred in 1872, when he had reached the venerable age of ninety-five years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Earls, died in 1867, at the age of sixty-seven years. She was a lady of marked ability and of innate culture and refinement and left the impress of her character upon the lives and hearts of her children. In the family were four sons and three daughters : Leonard and Samuel, both deceased: Joseph; Sheldon, deceased ; Mrs. Page; Mrs. Hanks ; and Carrie. Joseph occupies a portion of the old home farm but a great deal of the original tract has been sold off in town lots and some of it is now owned by the. wealthy people of the city and constitutes some of the finest residence property of Cleveland.
Leonard Parks was never very actively engaged in any business enterprise save for the supervision which he gave to his property interests and in the control of his realty he manifested keen discernment and marked business ability. He had a fine home in East Cleveland and greatly enjoyed it, his interests centering there. He was also interested, however, in the affairs of the city and cooperated in many movements which were of direct benefit to Cleveland. Anything which was a matter of civic interest and of civic pride made strong appeal to him and his cooperation was never sought in vain for the public good.
In 1852, in East Cleveland, Mr. Parks was united in marriage to Miss Harriet A. Hendershot, who was a daughter of Perry Hendershot, who was a stonemason by trade. He had much to do with the early building of the city and his labors were an element in its improvement during its formative period. His father, David Hendershot, had come to Cleveland from Pennsylvania at an early day, so that the
C. A. JEWETT
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Parks and Hendershot families were among the earliest settlers here. Mr. Parks was a very active member and interested worker in the Presbyterian church and his religious faith constituted the guiding principle in his life. He died in August, 1883, and Mrs. Parks has lived in the old home since that time, being one of the most highly esteemed of the early pioneer women of the city.
WILLIAM BURNS HANLON.
William B. Hanlon, a consulting engineer in railway and mining projects, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, September 1, 1855. The Hanlon family is of Irish origin but for several generations has been represented on this side the Atlantic. Alexander Hanlon, father of our subject, was a native of Jefferson county, Ohio, and at an early date took up his abode in Coshocton county. He was a carpenter by trade but later turned his attention to farming, purchasing land in Coshocton county, which he cultivated for some time. He was afterward chosen probate judge of that county and filled the position in an ac- ceptable manner for six years. On his retirement from the office he also retired from active business life. He had married Elizabeth Mitchell, who was a native of Coshocton county, born May 20, 1820. His death occurred in April, 1890, while his wife passed away in July, 1896, at the advanced age of seventy-six years. She was a daughter of John Mitchell, a pioneer resident of Coshocton county and a native of Maryland. The Mitchells are of English lineage and are of an old, well known and representative family of the south, tracing their ancestry back to Dr. Brownhill, who was a surgeon in the British army and later was surgeon to his Majesty, the King of England.
William B. Hanlon was educated in the district schools of Coschocton county and afterward spent about six months as a student in a normal school. He was reared to farm life to the age of twenty years, gaining all the experiences of field and meadow. He afterward became deputy in the office of the probate judge, serving for three years under his father, at the end of which time he became con- nected with an engineering corps, going out as a rod man with the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad Company. He remained in that service until the fall of 1879, when he removed to St. Clairsville, Belmont county, Ohio, in order to execute a contract for the mapping of the reappraisement there. He remained in that locality until May, 1880, when he went to Bridgeport as paymaster and clerk for the Pittsburg & Wheeling Coal Company. He occupied that position until the Ist of April, 1881, after which he became draughtsman and resident en- gineer with the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad Company, at Massillon, Ohio. He occupied this position for two years, or until April 1, 1883, when he went to Bridgeport as mining engineer for the Pittsburg & Wheeling Coal Company, thus serving until July, 1885. He then took up special work in private practice, in which he continued until February, 1886, when he was elected chief engineer of the Cleveland, Lorain & Wheeling Railroad and thus served until 1901, during which time he was also mining engineer for many coal companies along the line of the road. His work included during this period a great deal of construction and changes of grade and alignment and also various improvements in the system. In 1901 the property was taken over by purchase by the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- road Company, and Mr. Hanlon remained as district engineer until September I, 1905. At that date he opened his present office in Cleveland, where he has since engaged as consulting engineer on mining and railway work. He has also made a specialty of the examination of properties for investors. He is considered an au- thority on the value of coal property in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and has a large clientage, making his practice a lucrative one.
Mr. Hanlon is a member of the Cleveland Engineering Society, the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association, the Ohio Engineer-
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ing Society and the National Geographical Association. He has carried his re- searches far and wide in the realms of knowledge bearing upon his profession and his learning and experience have given him prominent place and won him substan- tial success as a railway and mining consulting engineer.
BISHOP I. F. HORSTMANN.
Rt. Rev. Ignatius Frederick Horstmann was a distinguished representative of the Catholic clergy. His life of great usefulness in the upbuilding of the church and the expansion of its influence closed in Canton, Ohio, May 13, 1908, save as his memory is an inspiration for good deeds in the lives of those who came under his teaching. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1840, and was one of a family of ten children. After attending private and public schools of his native city, leading to his graduation from the Philadelphia Central high school, he became a student in a seminary at Glen Riddle, actuated by the purpose of preparing for the priesthood, which was his ambition from an early age. His scholarship led to his being sent to the American college at Rome in 1860 by order of Bishop Wood, and he displayed the same aptitude in his studies there that had characterized his scholastic work in previous years.
His ordination to the priesthood occurred in the Eternal City, June 10, 1865, and the year following the Doctor's degree was conferred upon him. Returning to Philadelphia, he occupied a professorship in St. Charles Seminary of that city until 1877, when he was assigned to the pastorate of St. Mary's church there, filling the position for eight years. Much of his time during that period was given to editorial work in connection with church literature, his introduction to an edition of the Bible bringing him renown in Catholic circles.
In 1885 Bishop Horstmann was unexpectedly called to the chancellorship of the diocese of Philadelphia and while he was acting in that position he was ap- pointed the successor of Bishop Richard Gilmour, with jurisdiction over the Cleve- land bishopric. Several names were sent to Rome but all were rejected and Chan- cellor Horstmann, a total stranger to the diocese, was appointed November 29, 1891. His consecration took place in the cathedral at Philadelphia, February 25, 1892, the services being conducted by the Most Rev. William H. Elder, D. D., archbishop of Cincinnati, assisted by Rt. Rev. Bishops O'Hara, of Scranton, and Chatard, of Vincennes.
Arriving in Cleveland on the 8th of March, 1892, the next morning Bishop Horstmann was installed as third bishop of that city, Bishop Foley of Detroit, preaching the installation sermon. Being familiar with the routine work of gov- erning a diocese, he was very soon familiar with his new surroundings, taking up the administration, adopting all the business methods and forms and reappointing as his immediate assistants those then in the positions. There was, therefore, no break in the work of the diocese, Bishop Horstmann at once taking up the tasks which, owing to Bishop Gilmour's long illness, had been left undone, as they could not be delegated to others. Under his guidance churches were established, or- ders dedicated and the large and varied interests of the diocese, both spiritual and temporal, were administered by him with great zeal and self-sacrifice. He pre- sided with great dignity in the bishopric and yet his genial disposition, kindly man- ner and ready sympathy won him the friendship and highest respect of all.
On December 20, 1892, Bishop Horstmann published a circular in which he ordered that throughout the diocese the De Profundis bell be rung each evening, either immediately after the Angelus or at 7 p. m., to remind the faithful to pray for the souls in purgatory. The devotion struck a popular chord and soon became a fixed custom. In the same month and year the bishop asked the pastors of con- gregations to send to the diocesan archives duplicate photographs of the respec- tive churches. The same request was sent to the heads of all the religious and ed-
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ucational institutions. In a short time a most valuable array of photographs was collected, one set of which was mounted in two large albums, properly engrossed and indexed. The other set was likewise mounted in a splendidly bound album and presented to his holiness, Leo XIII, by Bishop Horstmann when he made his first official visit to Rome in December, 1894. In August, 1893, he divided the diocese into five districts, each of which was assigned to one of the five orphan asylums located in the diocese, and the sisterhood were allowed to collect only in the district now assigned to their respective asylums, in order to make the annual call on the charities of the faithful as light as possible. At the suggestion of Bishop Horstmann the Sisters of Charity, connected with St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, Cleveland, commenced in 1894 the "St. Vincent's Union," its member- ship being composed of the laity who contribute as annual dues the sum of twenty- five cents toward the support of the asylum. The sum total thus realized each year has proved of great assistance to the sisters in the work of charity.
In 1892 Bishop Horstmann discovered the imperative need of securing for a cemetery a tract of land sufficient for the needs of all the Cleveland parishes and after a six months' search for the same the Leland farm in Newburg township was secured. The new burial ground was given the name of Calvary cemetery. In 1900 Bishop Horstmann purchased an additional fifty-acre tract on the east of Calvary cemetery, thus making the entire cemetery tract one hundred acres in ex- tent.
It was reserved for Bishop Horstmann to carry out the ardent wish of Bishop Gilmour, expressed during his last days, that of inaugurating in his diocese the evangelization of non-Catholics, about which, owing to his long illness and con- stant press of duties in other directions, nothing had been or could be done. Bishop Horstmann invited the celebrated Paulist missionary. Father Elliot, to come to Cleveland and train two or more of the priests for that purpose, Father Elliot having had such experience in that work as perhaps no other priest in this country had. He came in September, 1894, and with the assistance of priests of his own training, gave missions to non-Catholics in various parts of the diocese with great success. The missions consisted of a series of lectures in public halls or any other available place to which the desired audience could be attracted. A special feature of the missions was the "question box," which soon became very popular. In September, 1895, the present Cleveland apostolate was organized and is continu- ing the work so well begun by Father Elliot.
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