USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III > Part 27
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JOSEPH L. FREE.
Joseph L. Free, of German-Irish ancestry, was born March 7, 1873, in Craw- ford county, Pennsylvania. His parents were Joseph P. and Helena Free. The father, with the aid of his three sons, cleared and developed a new farm in the midst of the forest and the sons were all reared to the most rugged toil-such as is incident to clearing the land and cultivating hitherto undeveloped soil.
Joseph L. Free always performed his full share of the labor of the home farm. His early education was acquired in the district school and he afterward attended the State Normal School at Clarion, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the class of 1895. He afterward spent two years in college at Grove City, Pennsylvania, pursuing normal and classical studies with a special view to teaching. His experiences in youth were those common to a poor boy unable to have clothing and advantages such as were enjoyed by the sons of more well-to-do fathers, but he possessed a natural taste for learning and manifested such aptitude in his studies that he stood first in his classes, not only in the district school but also in the normal school and college. When he ceased to be a student he became a teacher, spending four years as school principal-two at Hydetown, Pennsylvania, and two at Springboro, that state. At the end of that time, however, he resolved to enter the commercial field and became engaged in a general mercantile and farmers' produce business in a country location. After three years he sold out and engaged in the real-estate business at Barberton, Ohio, entering the field as a buyer and seller. In the meantime he acquired holdings in the city of Cleveland and eventually located here about 1906. Under wise direction and through close application and watchfulness he has reached a prominent position in real-estate circles, being now secretary and treasurer of the Cleveland & Pittsburg Realty Company, secretary of the Phoenix Realty Company, secretary and treasurer of the Prospect Land Company, a director in The J. L. Free Land Company and president of the East
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Ohio Land Company. These different organizations indicate something of the scope of his activities and the prominent position to which he has attained through his own efforts.
In 1896, in Oil City, Pennsylvania, Mr. Free was married to Miss Enna E. Lamb, a former classmate at the Clarion State Normal School, both having been graduated there in 1895. Both Mr. and Mrs. Free have taken active and helpful part in church and Sunday school work, holding membership in the Parkwood Avenue Methodist Episcopal church. He is now district president of five counties, including Cuyahoga, in the Ohio Sunday School Association, is a member of the executive committee of the Cuyahoga County Sunday School Association and teacher-training superintendent in this work for the city and county. He is also dean of the Sunday School Teacher-Training Institute of Cleveland and his wife is primary superintendent in the Cuyahoga County Sunday School Association. They have three children: Helena, Lucile and James, aged twelve, ten and four years respectively.
Mr. Free is also an exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Woodward Lodge, F. & A. M., and Cleveland Chapter, R. A. M. He is likewise a member of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce and of the Cleveland Real Estate Board, and through those agencies is taking active part in the city's material development and progress. In politics he has always been a republican and served as postmaster of Westford, Pennsylvania, during President McKinley's adminis- tration. In 1902 he was elected county auditor of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, but resigned after serving one year because of the demands of his business. He is not unknown as an entertaining after-dinner speaker and his alert and receptive mind is evidenced in the ready word, which is spoken as aptly and effectively in his Sunday school work, in social and fraternal relations as well as in the conduct of business affairs.
HARRY DAVID JAMES.
Harry David James, vice president and general manager of the Mollen-Thomp- son-James Company, and, therefore, one of the leading representatives of the wholesale trade of Cleveland, was born in this city May 12, 1880, his parents being Roger and Amelia (Hughes) James, the latter a daughter of William Hughes. Roger James, who was born in 1857 in the little rock-ribbed country of Wales, came to America in 1879, settling in Cleveland, where for many years he was engaged in the ice machine business. He likewise had charge of the installation of ice plants in various parts of the United States and also in South American coun- tries, continuing an active factor in business life until his death in 1893. His widow is still living in Cleveland at the age of fifty years.
Harry David James, entering the public schools at the usual age, passed through consecutive grades to become a pupil in the Central high school. Later he had the benefit of instruction in the Spencerian Business College and at the age of sixteen years he received his first practical business training as an office boy in the employ of A. J. Wenham's Sons. He there remained for twelve years, his ability and fidelity winning him successive promotions until his connection therewith covered services as bookkeeper, house salesman and traveling salesman. In 1907 he joined John C. Mollen and W. A. Thompson in organizing the Mollen- Thompson-James Company and embarked in the wholesale grocery business. At the time of the organization he was elected the vice president and general manager and has continued to devote his energies to administrative direction since that time. His previous experience in connection with commercial interests well qualified him for the duties which he assumed and his efforts have been a salient and potent force in the success of the company.
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On the 17th of February, 1904, Mr. James was united in marriage to Miss Laura McWatters, a daughter of John C. and Florence (Russell) McWatters, of Cleveland, who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume. They now have three children : Florence Beatrice, Thomas Hershel and Russell Hayward. The family residence is at the Groveland Club on Lake Shore boulevard. Mr. James is promi- nent and popular as an Elk and Mason. He also holds membership in the Cleveland Commercial Travelers and the United Commercial Travelers. Politically he votes independently ; nor have the honors and emoluments of office ever had attraction for him. His religious belief is indicated in his membership in the Trinity Congregational church. He finds his chief recreation in fishing but is preeminently a business man, whose close application and adaptation have brought him a measure of success which has made his record such a one as many an older merchant or business man might well envy.
JOSEPH COLWELL.
The late Joseph Colwell, for a quarter of a century president of the National Commercial Bank and its predecessor, and a man highly esteemed by all who knew him, was born in the city of New York, January 10, 1844, and was descended from a family that has figured in the records of New England for more than two hundred and fifty years. He traced his ancestry to Robert Colwell, who settled in Rhode Island at an early period in the colonization of that state, since which time the family has been continucusly represented there. Through the marriage of Benjamin Colwell, a grandson of Robert Colwell, to Martha Winsor, who was a granddaughter of Roger Williams, Mr. Colwell traced his descent from that strong character of colonial history-the apostle of religious liberty. Joseph Colwell, the grandfather of him whose name introduces this review, was born in Providence county, Rhode Island, February II, 1771. He was a farmer and settled at Hamilton, New York, in 1798, while his death occurred in Oswego, New York, in 1852. He married Laura Smith, of Hamilton, where occurred the birth of their son, Albert Gallatin Colwell, on the 18th of December, 1810. In his early business life Albert G. Colwell was connected with manufacturing enterprises in New York city and in 1854 removed to Cleveland, where he engaged in the hardware business on Ontario street, finally retiring in 1868 when he dis- posed of his mercantile interests. Soon afterward he was appointed consul to Ancona, Italy, during the administration of President Grant, and served for a little more than a year, when he resigned. He was one of the original members of the Western Reserve Historical Society and at one time filled the office of presi- dent of that organization. He attended the Old Stone church and was a cooperant factor in the social and moral as well as the material development of the com- munity. He married Sarah Platt Rogers, of New York, a descendant of an old Long Island family. Her death occurred in 1882 and Mr. Colwell passed away in 1904 at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Three children were born unto them : Albert L., who was a manufacturer of carriage bolts and died in Cleveland ; Joseph ; and Harriette Rogers, who is the wife of Charles E. Collins, manager of the Cleveland Clearing House Association.
Joseph Colwell was ten years of age when his parents removed to Cleveland. As soon as he completed the high school course at the age of seventeen years he entered the employ of the private banking house of Henry Wick & Company. After a short time he became connected with the National City Bank and a little later, in 1863. he became a clerk in what is now the National Commercial Bank, in which institution after seven years of service in intermediate positions he was called to the cashiership. About thirteen years later he was elected to the presi- dency, which office he held until his death on the 7th of December, 1908. Thus his rise was steady and gradual and when he died he was regarded as one of the
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city's most conservative and able financiers. Besides being connected with the bank he was heavily interested in other corporations and his keen sagacity in busi- ness affairs constituted a valuable element for success. He was president of the Cleveland Storage Company.
Socially Mr. Colwell was connected with the Union, Country and Rowfant Clubs. He was a liberal, kind-hearted man and contributed freely to charitable causes. He was greatly interested in religious matters and was one of the leading members of Old Stone church, acting as president of its board of trustees at the time of his death. This board at his demise passed resolutions of respect expressing in unmistakable terms the warm regard entertained for him by his colleagues on the board.
Mr. Colwell was united in marriage to Cornelia R. Durant, of Albany, New York, who died in 1901. They had two children : Edward D., who was a pupil at the Brooks school at the time of his death, which resulted from a street car accident when he was eleven years of age; and Josephine, who occupies the old homestead on Euclid avenue. At a meeting of the directors of the National Com- mercial Bank held December 10, 1908, the following resolutions were adopted and placed upon the minutes of the institution :
"The directors of the National Commercial Bank are deeply pained to record the death of their highly esteemed friend and associate, Mr. Joseph Colwell, the president of the bank, and they desire so far as possible to give expression to their appreciation of his stainless character and of his valuable and long con- tinued service.
"For more than forty-five years Mr. Colwell was in the service of this bank and its two predecessors. Thirty-eight years ago he was elected cashier of the Commercial National Bank and during the last twenty-five years he has been the chief executive officer of that bank and its successor. During all these years he has commanded the respect of all his associates in the directorates of the two institutions.
"Mr. Colwell was of New England ancestry and inherited most of the virtues of the Puritan without any of his less esteemed characteristics. He has been the constant friend of good government and in a modest manner has always labored to promote good citizenship. He has constantly endeavored to illustrate by his example the life of a cultivated, Christian gentleman. For many years he has been an honored elder in the First Presbyterian church and the president of its board of trustees. He had much sympathy for the poor and has contributed freely to most of the charitable organizations of the city. We shall long miss his presence and shall continue to hold in the highest esteem his lofty example of fidelity and devotion in the care of the many trusts committed to his keeping.
"We offer our tender sympathy to the devoted daughter who survives him and invoke for her and her relatives the gracious favor of the Great Father whom he faithfully served for so many years."
JAMES T. ALLEN.
James T. Allen, who for many years has been engaged in general contracting here, ranks high among those devoted to this line of work and his long years of experience have developed within him a degree of conservative business judg- ment which has enabled him not only to maintain his own prosperity but also to contribute to enhancing the financial standing of the city in which he is widely recognized as a substantial business man whose straightforward dealings and honest and upright relations make him also a worthy and desirable citizen. He was born November 22, 1867, a son of Joseph Allen, a native of Indiana, born August 12, 1838, who spent some time in Virginia, later removing to this state. During the Civil war he was among the first to answer the country's call to arms
JAMES T. ALLEN
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and served on the Union side for three years in the Thirteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. About 1864 he married Catherine Culp, a native of West Virginia, born in 1832, and entered into rest in 1904.
West Virginia was the birthplace of James T. Allen, but when he was about one year of age his parents located in Clinton county, later removing to Greene county, Ohio, and in these places he acquired his education in the public schools. Upon completing his studies he turned his attention to husbandry and for about five years tilled the soil in Greene county, and at the expiration of that time re- paired to Dayton, Ohio, where he was employed in the production of agricultural implements for ten years and in 1895 located in this city, where he learned his trade after about four years' apprenticeship. He followed his occupation as a journeyman until 1899 when he undertook general contracting. He was alone in business until 1907 when he took others into partnership and incorporated what is known as The James T. Allen Contracting Company, one of the best known firms in this city. His work, most of which is done in Cleveland and vicinity, consists chiefly in erecting residences and apartment houses and his business has been attended with such success that at present he is recognized throughout the city as a reliable and prominent contractor.
In 1890 Mr. Allen wedded Florence M. Knott, a native of this state, and to this union have been born Iva May, Ethel Marie, Hazel Jeanette, Walter James, Raymond Cushman, Herbert Thomas, Erma Ruth, Myrtle Christina, Leonard Burrell, Dorothy Lucille, Homer Wilbur and Clyde. Mr. Allen belongs to the Knights of Pythias, in the affairs of which he is active. Always endeavoring to conduct his business relations on the basis of honesty and ranking among the city's most enterprising and aggressive citizens he justly deserves his reputation as one of Cleveland's foremost business factors.
LEOPOLD DAUTEL.
The field of business is so limitless that a man of ability and energy can always win success if he has but the qualities of perseverance and determina- tion. This statement finds verification in the life record of Leopold Dautel, who, as a general contractor, is a prominent factor in the building circles of Cleveland. His birth occurred in this city on the 10th of April, 1874, his par- ents being Leopold and Mary V. (Rickey) Dautel. The father, who was born in France in 1846, crossed the Atlantic to the United States when a young man of about twenty-one and after traveling around the country for four or five years he took up his abode in Cleveland, Ohio. Here he was successfully en- gaged in business as a contractor until the time of his retirement, a few years prior to his death, which occurred in 1902. His widow, whose birth occurred at Steubenville, Ohio, in 1854, still survives him.
After completing his public school education Leopold Dautel entered the Case School of Applied Science, where he pursued a course in engineering. On leaving that institution in 1892 he became associated with his father in the general contracting business and the firm style of L. Dautel & Son was sub- sequently adopted. The building operations of the company are confined prin- cipally to Cleveland and vicinity. The business has increased until they now execute a large number of contracts annually and among the many fine struc- tures which stand as substantial monuments to Mr. Dautel's skill and business enterprise may be mentioned the following: The Rose building, the Colonial Arcade, the factory of the Warner & Swasey Company and various other im- portant store and factory buildings.
In 1896 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Dautel and Miss Mabel Edna Poe, of Ravenna, Ohio. They now have two children: Leopold, who was born in 1901 ; and Robert, born in 1903. Mr. Dautel has membership relations with
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the Cleveland Architectural Club, the Clifton Club, the Cleveland Automobile Club and the Case fraternities. He has an extensive and favorable acquaintance throughout the city where his entire life has been spent and where he is widely recognized as a prosperous and enterprising business man as well as public- spirited citizen.
LOUIS NEWTON GROSS.
Louis Newton Gross, the president and treasurer of the L. N. Gross Company of Cleveland, was born at Kief, Russia, on the 23d of March, 1870, a son of Nelson Newton and Celie (Palister) Gross. The father, who was a jobbing merchant, died in Russia in 1891 and the mother was called to her final rest the following year.
Louis N. Gross attended the private schools of his native town until eigh- teen years of age and then pursued his studies in a public law school for a year. In July, 1889, he set sail for the United States and after landing on the shores of the new world located in New York city. It was his intention there to con- tinue his law studies but he first entered the employ of a manufacturing con- cern in order to earn the necessary funds. While thus engaged he gained some idea of the wonderful possibilities in industrial lines and, abandoning his plans for a professional career, he took a course in drafting and designing on ladies' garments and subsequently applied himself exclusively to manufacture along this line. He held good positions with several houses in the eastern metropolis and afterward removed to Chicago, where for some time he was in the employ of one of the leading garment manufacturers. In 1896 he came to Cleveland to take charge of all the garment manufacturing departments of the Root-McBride Wholesale Dry Goods Company of this city, but in 1898 severed his connection with the concern in order to engage in business on his own account and estab- lished the L. N. Gross Company-the first specialty manufacturing house in Cleveland, making ladies' waists and dresses exclusively. Some idea of the steady growth and success which has attended the enterprise may be gained from the fact that though they started with but twenty-six sewing machines, they now utilize three hundred and seventy-five machines and the number of their em- ployes has been increased from about forty to between five and six hundred. In the beginning their market was confined to the state of Ohio but it has rapidly broadened until it now includes every large city of the United States. The highest possible compliment to the quality and style of their product is the fact that a large portion of the output is sold in the city of New York, where ninety per cent of the ladies' garments made in this country are manufactured. Their higher class goods also find an excellent market in Canada, notwithstanding the fact that a large portion of them are made of foreign materials bearing a duty of forty to sixty per cent and after being made up into garments are subject to a duty of thirty-five per cent on the Canadian side. Since the es- tablishment of the L. N. Gross Company several other concerns have entered into this line of manufacture here and Cleveland has built up a reputation as a shirtwaist market as well as a cloak center.
Mr. Gross was likewise the organizer of the American Lace Manufactur- ing Company, an institution located at Elyria, Ohio. This concern was incor- porated two years ago with J. J. Sullivan, the Cleveland banker, as president and Mr. Gross as vice president. It was the third enterprise of its kind in the United States and now stands first in rank, having a capital of five hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Gross went abroad and purchased all the machinery and devoted a large portion of his time to the enterprise until it had been established upon a sound and profitable basis. He then resigned active office but is still a member of the board of directors. A man of keen discernment and excellent
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executive ability, his cooperation has been sought in the management and control of various other enterprises of Cleveland and he has long occupied a position of prominence among the leading business men of the city. He is a member of the wholesale board of the Chamber of Commerce and also belongs to other business organizations.
In the year 1888, in Russia, Mr. Gross was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Silber, by whom he has four children, one daughter and three sons, as follows : Rose, now eighteen years of age; Nelson, who is sixteen years old; and William and Julius, who have attained the ages of fourteen and twelve years respectively. The family residence is at No. 1848 East Seventy-fifth street.
Mr. Gross is a republican in his political views but not bitterly partisan and does not hesitate to support a candidate of the opposition if he believes that such a course will best conserve the general welfare. A man of unfailing courtesy and unfeigned cordiality, he enjoys the kindly regard and friendship of all with whom business or social relations have brought him in contact. Coming to the United States as a young man of nineteen years and utilizing to the best ad- vantage the opportunities offered in a land unhampered by caste or class, he has steadily worked his way upward to a position of prominence in industrial circles, having won a measure of success which many a much older man might well envy.
GEORGE A. McKAY.
Captain George A. Mckay was born at Oswego, New York, June 16, 1841. He was educated in the grammar and high schools, and also took a special col- legiate course. Immediately thereafter he entered the service of what is now the Big Four and Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, and continued in their employ until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion in 1861, when, being a private in the Cleveland Light Guard Zouaves, he enlisted in what afterward became Company A, Seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three months, and was appointed second sergeant. He reenlisted for three years at Camp Dennison, Ohio, and was promoted to orderly sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain in that regiment, and was transferred to the staff as assistant inspector-general, serving in that capacity until his muster out of the service.
He participated in the battles of Cross Lanes, Winchester, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run campaign, Dumfries and Chancellorsville, Virginia; Antietam, Maryland; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, Tennessee; and Ringgold, Georgia, and was wounded nine times in six of the engagements. He was in every engagement, skirmish and march of the regiment until dangerously wounded through both legs at Ringgold, Georgia. He was bearer of the order that took the First Brigade, Second Division, Twelfth Army Corps, in the unfortunate charge on Taylor's Ridge. Colonel W. R. Creighton, commanding the brigade, notified him that as he had delivered the order he would have to see it executed. He did so, and was wounded as stated above. Creighton was killed in this engagement. In giving his commands he turned to his brigade and said, "I expect to see you roosters walk right over that ridge," and was answered by Captain E. H. Bohm, commanding Company I, Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, "Colonel, we can but try." They tried, but failed, although they did all that brave men could do to succeed. During the war Captain Mckay served on the staffs of Generals Joseph Hooker, John W. Geary and Charles H. Canby.
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