USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III > Part 41
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FRANK HRUBECKY
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been a member of the Lumir Society, a Bohemian singing society, and at the pres- ent time he is actively engaged in organizing the Bohemian Old Settlers Associa- tion, of which he is secretary. In politics he is a consistent and unfaltering repub- lican, having supported the party since he cast his first vote for Rutherford B. Hayes who was then candidate for governor of Ohio. Mrs. Hrubecky has been president of the grand lodge and has always held some office in the Benevolent Organization of Bohemian Women, which is spread over twenty-one different states, and is now a member of the grand lodge. She also belongs to the Sister- hood of Bohemian Women, a benevolent association; to the Society of Vlasta, a benevolent organization; and the Turners, a gymnastic association of which she was one of the founders and the first president. The hope that led Mr. Hrubecky to leave his native country and come to the United States has been more than realized, for he has found in this land good business opportunities which have enabled him to work his way upward. The years chronicled for him a success that is substantial and gratifying and the fruits of his former toil are substantial and now supply him with all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.
WARD B. JACKSON.
Ward B. Jackson is the secretary of the Whitmer-Jackson Sash & Door Company of Cleveland, which was organized on the Ist of April, 1909. His birth occurred in Goshen, Indiana, on the 19th of March, 1874, his parents being Dr. A. C. and Sarah Jackson. He pursued his education in the gram- mar and high schools until eighteen years of age and then secured a position as salesman with the Goshen Sash & Door Company of Goshen, Indiana, being thus identified with the concern for six years.
On the expiration of that period, in 1896, Mr. Jackson came to Cleveland and entered the service of the Van Cleve Glass Company as a salesman. In 1900 that concern was succeeded by the Diamond Glass Company and Mr. Jackson was elected vice president of the new firm, acting in that capacity until the Ist of April, 1909. On that date he organized the Whitmer-Jackson Sash & Door Company and was made its secretary, the other officers being as follows : S. H. Whitmer, president; T. E. Whitmer, vice president; and .I. O. Wood, treasurer. They are manufacturers of doors, sash, interior finish, veneered doors, window, plate and art glass, and the factory is located at No. 1014 West Eleventh street. Fifteen men are employed in the conduct of the business, which is constantly growing along substantial lines under the capable direction and control of its officers.
Mr. Jackson exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the democracy, while in religious faith he is an Episcopalian. He is a well known and popular member of the Hermit Club and the Cleveland Athletic Club, and makes his home at No. 1956 East Eighty-third street. He is a man of many friends here and has made for himself a creditable place in industrial circles, his capability and business efficiency winning him both recog- nition and prosperity.
M. J. HOYNES.
M. J. Hoynes, the proprietor of the Central Electrotype Foundry at No. 113 St. Clair avenue, was born at Olmsted, Ohio, on the 5th of April, 1860, his parents being Daniel and Catharine Hoynes. Entering the public schools at the usual age, he continued his studies until he was fifteen years old and then came to Cleveland and entered the employ of the Cleveland Herald as an apprentice in
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the electrotype department, thus serving for four years. On the expiration of that period he went to Rochester, New York, and secured a position as journey- man in the electrotype foundry of James Lennox, while later he was made foreman, acting in that capacity for three years. He next made his way to Akron, Ohio, where he embarked in business on his own account as the proprie- tor of the Akron Electrotype Foundry but sold out at the end of a year. He then removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked in the Franklin Electro- type Foundry for a year, while afterward he spent a similar period with the Western Electrotype Company at St. Louis, Missouri. Returning to Akron, Ohio, he there organized the Akron Electrotype Company, which he success- fully conducted for four years, at the end of which time he sold out to the Werner Company and took charge of their plate making department. In 1903 he severed his connection with the Werner Company and came to Cleveland, entering into partnership with Charles Warren of the Cleveland Electrotype Foundry Company. After two and a half years he sold his interest in the business and organized the Central Electrotype Foundry for the manufacture of electrotype and stereotype plates. He furnishes employment to a force of twenty men, and is a man of marked mechanical ingenuity and skill, whose prac- tical understanding of the business is one of the strong elements in its success.
On the 29th of April, 1890, in Akron, Ohio, Mr. Hoynes was united in mar- riage to Miss Florence Brownell and they have become the parents of five chil- dren, as follows: Florence E., seventeen years of age, who attends the Ursuline convent ; Daniel O., who is fifteen years old and a student in St. Ignatius college ; Mary, who is thirteen years of age and likewise attends the Ursuline convent ; Paul, a lad of eleven, who is pursuing his education at St. Edward's school; and Dennis, who is nine years of age and also attends St. Edward's school. The family residence is at No. 2633 East Sixty-first street.
Mr. Hoynes gives his political allegiance to the democratic party, while fra- ternally he is identified with Gilmour Council of the Knight of Columbus, being a charter member thereof. He is a faithful communicant of the Catholic church and also belongs to the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and the Cleveland Advertising Club. His entire business career has been marked by steady ad- vancement and he has maintained an unassailable reputation for business in- tegrity as well as enterprise.
THOMAS COUGHLIN.
Thomas Coughlin, of the firm of Coughlin & Laurenson, has long been an influence in insurance circles in the city of Cleveland. He was born in this city, June 21, 1876. His parents were both natives of Ireland and came to this country in the late '30s. For over forty years his father, John Coughlin, was connected with the steel interests of this city, starting with the old Cleveland Rolling Mill Company. He is now retired.
Thomas Coughlin pursued his education in the parochial schools of Cleve- land until fifteen years of age, after which he entered St. Mary's College at Dayton, Ohio, from which he graduated on the 21st day of June, 1893, the sev- enteenth anniversary of his birth. He then entered the field of general insur- ance and from February 1, 1900, to February II, 1907, acted as manager for northern Ohio of the American Bonding Company of Baltimore, one of the larg- est surety companies in the country. On February II, 1907, Mr. Coughlin was appointed city auditor of Cleveland and on November 3 of the same year he was elected to succeed himself for a period of two years. On Jan- uary 1, 1910, he left the public service to reengage in the insurance business, becoming senior member of the firm of Coughlin & Laurenson. The firm in addition to acting as general agents of the American Bonding Company are
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district managers of The Standard Accident Insurance Company of Detroit, writing all classes of liability, including automobile and personal accident in- surance. They also write a large fire insurance business, representing several old line companies. Their agency is one of the largest in the city, its growth being largely due to the popularity and energy of Mr. Coughlin.
Mr. Coughlin is perhaps even more widely known in connection with his political service. In 1898, when twenty-one years of age, he was nominated and elected to the city council, serving in what was then known as the seventh district. In November, 1901, he was elected to the general assembly. He was very active in both bodies and was interested in the framing of much impor- tant legislation.
On June 21, 1899, Mr. Coughlin was married to Miss Mary Agnew and three children have been born of this union: Mary, Thomas, Jr., and Paul. Mr. Coughlin is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Chamber of Com- merce and Builders Exchange. He is one of the trustees of the sinking fund of the city of Cleveland, secretary of the democratic county executive commit- tee and director of several companies. Mr. Coughlin has always displayed a keen interest in the public affairs and his influence is always on the side of progress and improvement.
CHARLES C. HOMAN.
Charles C. Homan, the advertising manager of the Standard Welding Com- pany of Cleveland, was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on the 31st of January, 1884, his parents being Henry and Emma Homan. His youthful years were spent in the acquirement of an education and when a young man of nineteen he left the high school to become a factor in the retail grocery business with his uncle, being thus engaged for two years. He was afterward identified for two years with the firm of Bush & Bull, dealers in men's furnishings, having charge of a department. Subsequently he came to Cleveland and entered the service of the Standard Welding Company as advertising manager and assis- tant sales manager and in these capacities has ably represented the concern to the present time, his sound judgment and good business ability being daily manifest.
On the 24th of December, 1907, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Mr. Homan was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Wise. They make their home in a pleas- ant and attractive residence at No. 11819 Clifton boulevard.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, Mr. Homan has given his poiltical allegiance to the men and measures of the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the English Lutheran church. He also belongs to the Cleveland Advertising Club and is a popular young man, having won the kindly regard and friendship of all with whom he has been associated.
WILLIAM A. REHBURG.
William A. Rehburg is a prominent and successful representative of business interests in Cleveland, being the president of the Rehburg-Busch Company, hardware dealers, and also a partner in the Shill & Rehburg Manufacturing Company, a firm engaged in the manufacture of gas furnaces. His birth oc- curred in Hanover, Germany, on the 30th of May. 1870, his parents being Carl and Sophia Rehburg. He attended the public schools of his native land until
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fourteen years of age and then served as coachman for the German army officers for a period of four years.
In 1889 Mr Rehburg set sail for the new world, and after landing on Ameri- can shores made his way at once to Cleveland, Ohio, where for five years he was employed as a clerk in the retail hardware store of his uncle. He then em- barked in the coal business on his own account but at the end of a year opened a retail hardware store at No. 4159 Pearl Road. Later he extended the scope of his interests by adding a furniture department and at the present time also conducts undertaking parlors. In 1905 a stock company was formed, known as the Rehburg-Busch Company, of which Mr. Rehburg was elected president and G. H. Busch secretary and treasurer. Mr. Rehburg is also a partner in the Shill & Rehburg Manufacturing Company, which was organized in September, 1908. They manufacture a general line of gas furnaces and have already built up an extensive and profitable trade in this connection. Mr. Rehburg has made excellent use of his opportunities, prospering from year to year, and has con- ducted all business matters carefully and successfully, displaying an aptitude for successful management in all of his acts.
On the 19th of July, 1892, in Cleveland, Mr. Rehburg was united in mar- riage to Miss Clara Lingler. They have become the parents of four children, as follows: Edna, who is now sixteen years of age; Ervin, who is six years old; Robert, who is in his third year; and Homer, one year of age. The family residence is at No. 3310 Broadview road.
In his political views Mr. Rehburg is independent, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the German Lutheran church. He also be- longs to the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the German Beneficial Association. Coming to the United States in early man- hood, he has made his own way in life, without the assistance of wealth or in- fluential friends, and what he has accomplished is due to his force of character, laudable ambition and strong purpose that cannot be diverted from the honor- able business path that he has marked out.
MORRISON H. CASTLE, M. D.
Dr. Morrison H. Castle, whose skill as a physician has gained him distinction among his professional brethren in Cleveland, has his office at No. 532 Rose build- ing, and his residence at No. 6013 Scovill avenue. He was born September 7, 1878, in Ashtabula, Ohio, a son of Henry B. and Christie (Morrison) Castle. The father was born in Sheffield, Ashtabula county, in 1825, while the mother was born in Scotland in 1835. They were married in Ashtabula in 1859. Mr. Castle was a builder and contractor and constructed the Ashtabula, Jamestown & Franklin division of the Lake Shore Railroad and had other important contracts. During the Civil war, he had charge of the construction of navy yards and also built several monitor gunboats after the pattern of the famous one that defeated the Merrimac. This prominent and successful man died in Ashtabula in 1907, but his widow survives.
Dr. Castle early determined upon his career, and passing through the common and high schools, took a preparatory course in the Austinburg Academy at Aus- tinburg, Ohio, during 1892 and 1893. Following this he was manager of a drug store until 1896, when upon coming to Cleveland he was made credit man for the Independent Ice Delivery Company, now the City Ice Delivery Company. Hav- ing by this time secured sufficient funds to take him through his medical course, he entered the Cleveland Homeopathic College, graduating therefrom in 1903. He then served as interne of the Huron Road Hospital for a year, and, being fully prepared, opened an office at his present location and began general practice. He is also surgeon for his old company the City Ice Delivery Company and for
DR. M. H. CASTLE
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the Cleveland American League Base Ball Club. In addition to the duties per- taining to all these associations, Dr. Castle is assistant to Dr. C. A. Hall, chief surgeon for the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad. Since 1891 Dr. Castle has been a Mason.
On November 27, 1904, Dr. Castle was married to Jennie Sinclair, a daughter of Duncan Sinclair, a cigar dealer of London, Ontario. Two bright little boys have been born of this union: Edward Balzhiser, aged four years ; and Morrison Henry, aged one year. Dr. Castle is a member of the Phi Alpha Gamma, the national college fraternity, and of the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical Society, being at present lecturer on nervous diseases at the Cleveland Homeopathic Med- ical College. He is regarded by his fellow physicians as one of the most progres- sive men of the fraternity. Brilliant, a close student, alive to all progress in his profession, he has been eminently successful and has a bright future before him.
J. H. SHEADLE.
Ralph D. Williams, editor of the Marine Review, in writing of the lakes and what the infusion of new blood and of men of ideals has meant to the lake trade, has this to say regarding J. H. Sheadle :
In the wonderful evolution which the trade of the great lakes and particu- larly the iron ore trade has undergone within the past few years, many men and many minds have been at work, some developing the unloading machine, some remodeling the ship, and others, like Coulby and Sheadle, improving the personnel. The machines are better machines, the ships are better ships, and the men are better men. The old order giveth place to the new. The chief mate is no longer selected because he is a bully but because he is a competent navigator and a gentleman. Things are handled in large fashion nowadays. The unit of value is easily half a million dollars, for that is a fair sum for a modern steamer and its cargo. The old days when the vessel master became the vessel owner have gone by; but let is not be supposed that opportunities have gone by, for they have not. The mines, ships, furnaces and mills are linked in such a community of interest that they can be successfully conducted only by vast aggregations of capital; but capital in itself can do nothing without men to manage it. For one decent job offered ten years ago there are at least a dozen now.
That is why the development of the proper sort of men becomes a funda- mental necessity, and it is one of the ends to which Mr. Sheadle has applied himself with great diligence, being a prime mover in everything that makes for comfort aboard ship, reasoning that better conditions will automatically attract better men.
Though Mr. Sheadle has been for twenty years identified with lake trade, he is not to the manor born, and in a way this may account for his ceaseless efforts to make things a little better aboard ship for the men. There are men in the trade, and distinguished ones too, who have progressed from deck hand to master and owner, and even to the control of fleets, who are thoroughly rooted to the idea that what was good enough for them in the old days is good enough for anybody now. With this view Mr. Sheadle has neither an inherited nor a natural sympathy.
Mr. Sheadle is of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry, his family having long been settled in the Nippenose valley on the west branch of the Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania, but in the early part of the nineteenth century his forebears removed to the southern part of Trumbull county, Ohio. His grandfather. Wil- liam Sheadle, was a well known builder of gristmills of his day in that part of the state. J. H. Sheadle's parents, Obediah and Sara Barnheisel Sheadle, after their marriage, located in New Bedford, Pennsylvania, where he was born. Mr.
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Sheadle's father was engaged for a number of years in conducting a general store-the "country store" of that time.
J. H. Sheadle received his education in the public schools and at Hiram Col- lege. After completing his education he entered the employ of his father, who had meanwhile become engaged in the banking business at Girard, Ohio. After serving as teller of the Girard Savings Bank for two years, he became connected with the Second National Bank, of Youngstown, Ohio. At the age of twenty- two he became assistant cashier and for several years served that bank in that capacity.
The banking business, however, was not altogether to Mr. Sheadle's liking, and he resigned to seek a wider field. Going to New York he associated himself with the Standard Gas Light Company, remaining with the company one year, during which time he engaged in superintending the laying of gas mains. Dur- ing his connection with that company he laid piping for all of that territory bounded by Fourteenth street, Fortieth street, Madison avenue and the East river.
Since 1888 Mr. Sheadle has been quite intimately associated with the great iron and steel industry of the United States. In the spring of 1888 the iron and steel manufacturers of the Mahoning valley, realizing the necessity of uniform action in all matters common to their business, such as freight rates, the hand- ling of labor and the compiling of statistical data, organized the Mahoning Val- ley Iron Manufacturers' Association and selected Mr. Sheadle as its secretary and executive officer. Since that time Mr. Sheadle's life has been spent in the iron business and its manifold ramifications. After successfully prosecuting the work of the Mahoning Valley Manufacturers' Association for two years, he, in 1890, came to Cleveland as secretary of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, the oldest and one of the largest companies engaged in producing and selling Lake Superior iron ores. The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company is the successor of the old Cleveland Iron Mining Company, which was the first company to begin shipments from the Lake Superior iron country and the only company to ship any ore whatever during the first year that the canal was opened in 1855. Dur- ing that year it sent forward one thousand four hundred and forty-nine tons, being the total shipments for that year.
The company consolidated in 1890 with the Iron Cliffs Company and became known as The Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company. In addition to his duties as sec- retary, Mr. Sheadle has charge of two important parts of the business, that of iron ore sales and lake transportation. To the layman he is better known from the. standpoint of water transportation on the Great Lakes, owing to the promi- nence that trade enjoys in the public prints, but among the iron and steel makers who are consumers of Lake Superior iron ores, he is equally well known in the cre sales department.
Mr. Sheadle has naturally brought the lake fleet of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company to a high state of efficiency. They are probably the best-kept ships on the lakes. Much thought has been given to creature comforts. The crews' quarters are spacious, light and well ventilated, and on the leading ships a small library has been installed.
Mr. Sheadle has been vice president of the Lake Carriers' Association since its reorganization. When the Lake Carriers' Association undertook in 1909 the establishment of the Welfare Plan for the betterment of the conditions of the men on the lakes, Mr. Sheadle became chairman of the Welfare Plan commit- tee and has been an animating influence in carrying out this work. Obviously this is a labor to enlist the whole energy of such a man as Sheadle, and that it should have achieved a membership of nearly ten thousand in a single year proves the interest of its projectors and the soundness of the idea. The welfare plan is one of the sanest and most humane movements ever projected in the interest of men aboard ship.
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When the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce took up the grade crossing ques- tion with the railroads, Mr. Sheadle was made chairman of the committee to investigate and report on the subject. The result was the appointment of a commission by Mayor John Farley in 1900 to negotiate with the railroads, Mr. Sheadle serving on the commission as vice chairman. This commission did the pioneer labor, the results of which are becoming tangible as one grade crossing after another is being eliminated.
Mr. Sheadle was one of the organizers of the Caxton Savings & Banking Company, which afterward was merged into the Citizens Savings & Trust Com- pany. He is a director in the Presque Isle Transportation Company, director and secretary of the Hopkins Steamship Company, director of the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, director and vice president of the Jackson Iron Com- pany, director of the Excelsior Iron Company, director and secretary of the Grand Island Steamship Company, director of the Hanna Transit Company, director of the Miller Transit Company, and, as stated, secretary of The Cleve- land-Cliffs Iron Company, director and vice president of the Lake Carriers' As- sociation, and director of the Great Lakes Protective Association. He is a mem- ber of the Union, Rowfant and Euclid Clubs, of the latter of which he was at one time president.
He was married in 1891 to Miss Kate Buckingham, of New York.
WILLIAM BACKUS.
William Backus, who has acted as manager of the Schlather Brewing Com- pany of Cleveland for the past twenty-one years, was born in Bingen an der Rhine, Germany, his natal day being April 8, 1834. The paternal grandfather, Valentine Backus, followed farming at Bingen an der Rhine throughout his entire business career and passed away in 1842. The father of our subject, who was likewise a native of Bingen, Germany, devoted his attention to gen- eral agricultural pursuits throughout his entire life and was called to his final rest in 1865.
William Backus attended the public schools of his native land until fourteen years of age and after putting aside his text-books worked on his father's farm for a period of three years. When a young man of seventeen he set sail for the new world and after landing in New York made his way direct to Cleveland, Ohio, first securing a position in a tannery, where he remained for six months. Subsequently he acted as porter in the Merchants Hotel for a year and then accepted a clerkship in a grocery store, continuing in the latter position for three years. On the expiration of that period he went to Chicago and worked as a porter in the Tremont Hotel for a year and a half. Returning to Cleveland, he started out in business on his own account as proprietor of a restaurant on Mer- win street, successfully conducting the same until he joined the Union army in 1861. He served with the Twentieth Ohio Light Artillery for three years, being mustered out with the rank of captain. After returning to this city he acted as government inspector of tobacco and cigars for two years and afterward was made superintendent of city markets, holding that position for a period of five years. In 1876 he entered the service of the Schlather Brewing Company and in 1888 was made manager of the concern, in which connection he has since represented its interests. The plant has an annual capacity of one hundred and fifty thousand barrels of beer, while fifty men and twenty-five wagons are em- ployed in the conduct of the business. The company does an extensive and profitable business and one-third of their customers are out of town patrons.
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