A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III, Part 7

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1106

USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III > Part 7

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Going west at. the behest of his father, who wished him to learn something of the country and of life outside of cities, Charles A. Otis was engaged in the cattle business in Colorado for three years. His ranching experience brought him a practical knowledge of the life and customs followed by the cattlemen of that time. It involved rising before daylight and working until dark. At times the work was riding, roping; at others it took the form of pitching hay, four or five tons daily, from carefully loaded stacks, to the winter famished cattle. It was a strenuous life but it had its compensations. It developed a physique and brought health that could perhaps have been attained in no other way, and it established habits of industry and tastes for outdoor sports and country life, to- gether with an interest in animate nature that has constituted a source of pleasure ever since.

Returning to Cleveland in 1895, Mr. Otis organized, in connection with Addison H. Hough and others, the firm of Otis, Hough & Company, brokers in iron and steel. In 1898 the firm of Otis & Hough, bankers and brokers, was organized, with memberships in the New York and Chicago Stock Exchanges and the Chicago Board of Trade. Not long afterward the Cleveland Stock Ex- change was organized, of which organization this firm was one of the prime movers. The business of Otis & Hough is one of the most prominent in their line in the west and the firm has a clientage covering almost the entire country. They deal extensively in municipal bonds and other investment securities, in ad- dition to executing the business of their clients on the stock exchanges of New York, Chicago, Cleveland and other large cities. By no means restricting his activities to finance. Mr. Otis has been closely identified with Cleveland's indus- trial development, assuming many and varied commercial interests. He has been concerned in the steel industry as senior member of Otis, Bonnell & Company, while real-estate circles know him as secretary and treasurer of the Lenox Realty Company, vice president of the Tavistock Building Company and director of the Cuyahoga Company. He is connected with a number of directorates in banking and industrial circles, including the advisory board of the Citizens Savings &

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CHARLES A. OTIS, JR.

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

Trust Company, director of the National Commercial Bank, the Standard Sew- ing Machine Company, the Bankers Surety Company, the American Lumber Company and a number of others. Mr. Otis further widened his business inter- ests by accepting, in January, 1910, the presidency of the Cuyahoga Telephone Company, at the request of J. Pierpont Morgan who, shortly prior to that time, had purchased the controlling interest in the company. Mr. Otis has for years been interested in the independent telephone movement in the middle west.

Though interested in the publishing business for some years as president of the Finance Publishing Company, it was not until 1905 that he entered the daily newspaper field as proprietor and publisher. In that year he purchased the Cleve- land World, an evening paper of long standing, and soon consolidated with it the News and Herald, evening edition of the Cleveland Leader, and the Evening Plain Dealer. The Cleveland News, as the combined papers were called, is the only afternoon paper in the city having membership in the Associated Press. Though independent in politics, it has been active in city affairs and in the fall of 1909 achieved a notable journalistic feat in accomplishing, practically lone- handed, the defeat of the city administration which it had opposed for four years.

Mr. Otis married Miss Lucia R., a daughter of the late Colonel William Ed- wards, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work, and they have two chil- dren, William Edwards and Lucia Eliza. His town residence is at 3436 Euclid avenue, but his preferred home is Tannenbaum Farm, his big country place near Willoughby, Ohio. His interests include the breeding of fine cattle, chickens, etc., at Tannenbaum and elsewhere. He has been a prominent amateur reinsman, being a director of the Gentlemen's Driving Club and one of the organizers of the Forest City Fair & Live Stock Association. He is known as a breeder of smaller stock and is an officer of the Cleveland Fanciers Club. He has been active among Yale alumni and has been honored by their organization in the west. In philanthropy his principal connection is with the Babies Dispensary and Hospital, a charity which he was instrumental in founding and of which he is president. For some years he maintained on his Willoughby estate a summer camp for . newsboys which attracted much attention among philanthropists.

Among other memberships to be credited to Mr. Otis may be mentioned the Union, Tavern, Hermit, Roadside, Euclid, Country, Cleveland Athletic, and Cleveland Automobile Clubs, University and Mayfield Clubs, and in New York the Lambs, University and St. Anthony Clubs.

HUMPHREY F. FULTON.

Humphrey F. Fulton, who as president and treasurer of The Investment Company of Cleveland has been very active in promoting various mines and is one of the substantial men of the city, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on a farm, January 15, 1863, being a son of Robert and Mary (McClary) Fulton. The father was born February 22, 1822, in Pennsylvania and always lived in that state, where he passed away in 1893. He was connected with the lumber and building interests of his locality and was a man well known for his republican principles. Prior to the formation of the republican party he was a whig. His wife was born in the Keystone state in 1827 and died there in 1865, and she came from the well known Momeyer family of York, Pennsylvania, on the maternal side of the house. The famous Robert Fulton was a first cousin of our subject's great-grandfather.

The boyhood days of Humphrey F. Fulton passed as those of most lads of his time, although he secured a better education than many, attending the public school and the local academy. It was his intention to go to college, but he decided upon entering a business career immediately and for three years conducted a lumber yard in Pittsburg. In 1889 he, recognizing the superior

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

opportunities offered by Cleveland for his line of operations, came here and promoted a corporation which was from 1889 to 1896 under his management. In the latter year he sold his interests and embarked extensively in a real-estate business and did some building until 1905, when he closed up his affairs and in the following year organized his present company with himself as president and treasurer. The property and operations of the company are confined to Montana, where they have large holdings.

In 1878 Mr. Fulton married Elizabeth Boyd, who was also a native of Penn- sylvania. They became the parents of seven children, as follows: Mrs. Alta Swander, born in 1880, lives in New York; Mrs. Dell Cannon, born in 1883, lives in Twin Falls, Idaho; and Jean, born in 1886, and Jessie, born in 1888, Helen, born in 1902, H. F., Jr., born in 1906, and Mildred, born in 1908, are all at home.

Mr. Fulton, like his father, is strong in his advocacy of the principles of the republican party. He is a keen, shrewd business man and splendid organizer. During his connection with his present company he has become an expert on mining and has carried through to successful termination a number of large deals. While he is able to judge quickly and to act accordingly, Mr. Fulton is careful of the interests of his stockholders and is considered a safe, sound man and one worthy of all confidence.

FRANK A. EDMONDS.

In the list of those far-seeing and progressive business men to whom the city of Cleveland owes so much of its prosperity, the name of Frank A. Ed- monds stands well toward the top. After a long, honorable and successful career as business man and capitalist, Mr. Edmonds is now president and treas- urer of the Edmonds Elevator Company which owes so much to his fostering care and brilliancy of executive ability. He has constantly contributed toward the well being of his city while exerting himself in his individual enterprises and his capital has been used to build up a mighty concern that gives employ- ment to many and adds to the general prosperity of the community.

Mr. Edmonds was born in this city in 1851, a son of Andrew J. and Sarah J. (Truscott) Edmonds. His father was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, and grew up in his native state to be a useful and representative citizen. He was a carpenter by trade. During the Civil war he served his country as a private, and gave his life to the cause, dying at the hospital in Springfield, Illinois, in 1865. His wife, who was also born in Ohio, passed away in 1872.

The career of Mr. Edmonds shows many changes in work and degrees of success, but all his operations were marked by a steady appreciation of the dignity of labor and a comprehension of the power of accomplished results. After a common-school course he learned the carpenter's trade, and then that of ship-building, working at the latter for six or seven years. About 1874 he branched out in a different direction, engaging in the building of passenger and freight elevators and doing a general millwright business. For ten or twelve years he was satisfied with results but then entered the employ of the Falker Manufacturing Company and for three years set up engines for them and did similar work, but he began to realize that he was better fitted for the elevator business and so returned to it. About 1896 he beeamc a stockholder of the O'Donnell & Baer Company and remained with this concern for three or four years, when it failed. Mr. Edmonds was so well acquainted with every detail that he felt that he could rehabilitate the business, and so taking two of the former employes into partnership with him, he reorganized the company. This association continued for a year, when he bought out the interests of his partners and continued to operate the business by himself until 1906, when he

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

incorporated it as the Edmonds Elevator Company with his son as a stockholder and official, and himself as president and treasurer. This is one of the business houses of Cleveland which has grown steadily. There have been no sudden changes since Mr. Edmonds assumed control and there never will be because it is against his policy. He has built up a trade that extends all over the United States and has made his house known for quality and honorable methods. He is also connected with the Harris Ring Fence Company.

In 1871 Mr. Edmonds married Maggie L. Fortier, who was a native of Prescott, Canada, by whom he had two children, namely: Robert A., who is vice president of the company; and Harry Howard, who is also associated with his father. Mrs. Edmonds died in 1878 and in 1886 Mr. Edmonds was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Laura King, who was born in Urbana, Ohio, and to them have been born two children: Blanch and Ralph Worthington, who are at home.

Mr. Edmonds is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner, belonging also to the Sons of Veterans and Foresters. He is captain of the Uniform Rank of Sons of Veterans. His political views make him a stanch republican. He is fully equipped to hold the place in the business world that he has won en- tirely through his own exertions and to ably manage his large interests, pos- sessing as he does courage and perseverance-the prime factors in the making of a successful man.

WILLIAM H. HUNT.

William H. Hunt, president of the Cleveland Life Insurance Company, one of the notably successful insurance companies of the middle west, is a striking ex- ample of a self-made, successful American. He has been for many years prom- inent in business, civic and social affairs, and is one of Cleveland's most repre- sentative citizens.

William H. Hunt was born at Warren, Ohio, January 20, 1868, a son of Wil- liam B. Hunt, of English ancestry, and of Rebecca Myers Hunt, of Dutch an- cestry. Mr. Hunt attended the public schools of Warren and Akron, Ohio. He entered the First National Bank of Akron when twelve years of age and there remained for eleven years. In 1889, at the age of twenty-one, he was made sec- retary of the old Akron Gas Company. In 1890 he became general manager and secretary of the American Alumina Company, a corporation with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, and shortly thereafter assumed in connection therewith the position of secretary and treasurer of the Akron Vitrified Press Brick Company. While a resident of Akron he was interested in many enter- prises and successful in all of his undertakings. Notwithstanding Mr. Hunt's natural inclination for the banking business, he assumed the general management of the brick company in 1893 as his chief occupation. This company shortly afterward became a part of the Hydraulic Press Brick Company, which subse- quently developed into a ten million dollar corporation, the largest concern of its kind in the world. He became vice president and manager, which position he held until June 1, 1909, when he resigned to accept the presidency of the Cleve- land Life Insurance Company. The latter company was organized some two years ago, its board of directors being composed of some of the most successful business men of northern Ohio. Having the utmost confidence of the stockhold- ers, great strides are predicted and the company will take its place as one of the big life insurance companies of the country under its present administration.

Mr. Hunt is one of Cleveland's most philanthropic citizens, giving freely of both time and money towards work of this character. He is a trustee of the Hiram House and takes great interest in settlement and social work. With his intimate associate, F. F. Prentiss, he was one of the principal organizers of St.

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

Luke's Hospital, one of the most up-to-date and complete hospitals of the United States, and he is treasurer and one of the trustees. He is now president of the Society for Promoting the Interests of the Blind in Cleveland. He is also a trus- tee of the Workingman's Collateral Loan Society, an institution which has been a great help to the poor of the city. He is likewise a life member of the Asso- ciated Charities. His practical philanthropy has been spread in all directions and always where it will do the most good. He was for four years president of the Cleveland Builders Exchange, an institution which is stamped with his genius for organizing ability. He has always been foremost in developing and advanc- ing civic art and his refining influence has assisted largely in beautifying his home city. He was one of the organizers of the Civic Federation, of which he is also vice president. His name is known to clay workers throughout the country, for he has served as president of the National Brick Manufacturers' Association, and is at the present time president of the Ohio Face Brick Manufacturers' Association.

Mr. Hunt is president of The Hunt, Queisser, Bliss Company of Cleveland, Ohio, one of the largest dealers in builders' supplies and specialties in the middle west. He has been an active member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the leading clubs of the city, which include the Union, Rowfant, Euclid, Athletic, Mayfield Country and Tippecanoe Clubs.

Mr. Hunt is known by all his acquaintances as a prodigious worker, yet car- ries his many interests with characteristic equanimity. His natural optimism is always in evidence and his cheerful and hopeful disposition is appreciated by associates in the various organizations with which he is identified. Few men active in business have traveled as extensively as Mr. Hunt. He has visited all parts of the world and his collection of curios is extensive. He has one of the largest private collections of photographs in the country, comprising many thou- sand art and architectural subjects from Oriental and European countries.

JAY E. LATIMER.

In these days of rapid discovery, development and expansion along electrical lines an almost limitless field of business has been opened out, and many a sub- stantial competency has been won by those whose foresight has enabled them to realize the value of the opportunities thus presented. Of this number is Jay E. Latimer, who was born in Cleveland in 1863. He is now identified with various corporate and business interests, figuring prominently in real-estate circles as well as in connection with the electric-light and power enterprise. He was reared in this city and after completing his education in the public schools turned his attention to the real-estate business, in which he formed a partnership in 1887 with W. M. Southern, under the firm style of Southern & Latimer. This asso- ciation was maintained until 1892, when the junior partner sold out and became interested in electric railways. He became a pioneer in that field of operation in northern Ohio and was the promoter and builder of the Cleveland and Chagrin Falls electric line. In 1895 he promoted and built the Columbus, Delaware and Marion electric line, also the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula electric railway. His achievement in this field further extended to the development and construc- tion of the Buffalo, Dunkirk & Western electric railway in 1902. In 1905 he be- came interested in electric lighting and power and is now president of the United Light & Power Company and president of the Commercial Electric Company, owning and controlling electric plants at Painesville. Fairport, Madison and Geneva, Ohio. He is also the vice president of the Terminal Land Company and president of the Fireproof Storage Company with warehouse at 5700 Euclid avenue. This is the first of the kind in this city and also the largest. Finding still further scope for his energies, Mr. Latimer became the promoter and or-

JAY E. LATIMER

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

ganizer of the Cleveland Mausoleum Company, thus instituting new methods of putting away the dead through a public compartment system. The company is now engaged in the construction of its first building in Brooklyn Heights ceme- tery and has already received large engagements, so that the business promises to be a profitable one. In numerous other corporations Mr. Latimer is a stock- holder and director, for his business judgment is regarded as sound and reliable. He is preeminently a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence. His theories are ever of a practical character, and his carefully formulated plans are easily executed with results that prove their worth.

In 1889 Mr. Latimer was married to Miss Jennie C. Weidner, of this city, and they have three children: Ruth, a graduate of the Central high school; and Helen and Jay, who are students of the grammar school. Mr. Latimer belongs to the Cleveland Athletic Club, 'and also to the Gentlemen's Driving Club, asso- ciations which indicate the nature of his interests and recreation. He has a wide acquaintance in this city, where he has always lived, and the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his youth to the present is an indication that his life has ever been an honorable and upright one.

FRANCIS M. CHANDLER.

Actorney at law, Cleveland, Ohio. Born May 3rd, 1851, at Richfield, Summit county, Ohio.

His paternal American ancestors were :-

I. William and Annis Alcock-Chandler, of Roxbury, Mass.

II. Thomas and Hannah Brewer-Chandler, of Andover, Mass.

III. Henry and Lydia Abbott-Chandler, of Enfield, Conn.

IV. Nehemiah and Mary Burroughs-Chandler, of Enfield, Conn.

V. Joel and Abigail Simmons-Chandler, of Alstead, N. H.

VI. Joel and Sophia Smith-Chandler, of Richfield, Ohio.

VII. Joel Alonzo and Martha M. Buck-Chandler, of Richfield, Ohio. Educated in the public schools and Richfield Academy.

Clerk in general store at Richfield from 1868 to 1874.

Removed to Cleveland in 1874.

Married (Ist) Effie May Barney, of Richfield, February 2, 1876. She died November 26, 1888. Two children: Harry Alonzo who died in infancy and Capt. Charles DeForest Chandler, Signal Corps, United States Army ; born in Cleveland, December 24, 1878.

Married (2nd) Mary Gertrude Mahon, of Cleveland, April 29, 1891. Two children: Francis M. Jr., born April 5, 1892, and Dorothy Gertrude, born June 18, 1897.

Deputy Clerk Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga county, 1876 to 1883. Admitted to the bar of Ohio by the Supreme Court in 1883.

Practiced law with Frank N. Wilcox, Esq., under the firm name of Chandler & Wilcox, 1883 to 1886.

1885, with Edward W. Bowers, established and published "The Daily Court Record," a publication devoted exclusively to the business of the courts and county offices of Cuyahoga county.

Deputy County Recorder of Cuyahoga county, 1886 and 1887. Devised and installed the present system of numbering and receipting for documents and papers filed for record, which system, the General Assembly subsequently re- quired all counties in Ohio to adopt.

Chief Clerk of the Probate Court of Cuyahoga county, 1888 to 1900. Devised and installed the present system of keeping accounts, files and records of that court. Demonstrated the convenience, durability, economy and practicability of printed instead of manuscript court and county records, by printing Vols., 36 and

HISTORY OF CLEVELAND

37 of the Probate records of wills and an index to all estates administered in Cuyahoga county from its organization in 1808 to 1898.

Secretary of the Cuyahoga County Republican Executive Committee 1891- 92-93. Chairman of the Committee in 1895. While chairman, a comprehensive and systematic enrollment of more than 20,000 Republican voters of the City of Cleveland was successfully inaugurated.

Secretary of the Lincoln Republican League of Cleveland, 1898 and 1899.

United States Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio, June, 1900, to Sep- tember 30, 1909.

Vice President Hough Bank & Trust Company.

Member Cleveland Chamber of Commerce.

Cleveland Bar Association.

New England Society of the Western Reserve.

6 Early Settlers Association of Cleveland.

Richfield Association of Cleveland.

Forest City Lodge No. 388, F. & A. M.

CHARLES S. THRASHER.

Charles S. Thrasher, secretary and treasurer of the Cleveland Construction Company, has scarcely passed the first one-third of a century mark on life's journey, and yet today occupies a position in the business world that many a man of twice his years might well envy. The company with which he is thus officially connected operates most extensively in the building of electric railways and in the execution of its contracts sends its forces of workingmen into various sections of the country. At the same time Mr. Thrasher has extended his efforts into other fields and is now identified with various corporate interests which are effective forces in signally promoting the development of the community.

The birth of Mr. Thrasher occurred July 5, 1875, in Cleveland. In the paternal line he comes of English ancestry. His grandmother was born in Eng- land but the grandfather was a native of Virginia. In the Old Dominion Silas P. Thrasher was born in 1842 and for forty years he has been a resident of Cleve- land, where he is still engaged in the produce commission business, having long been a well known and prominent representative of commercial pursuits here. He married Jennie Rogers, who was born in 1851 and died in 1897. Her father, Daniel Moses Rogers, was captain of the steamship Savannah, the first steamship that ever crossed the Atlantic. He sailed with his father for some time and later became a Methodist minister, devoting his remaining days to preaching the gos- pel

Reared in the city which is still his place of residence, Charles S. Thrasher attended the public schools and after the completion of his education secured a position in the office of the Lake Erie Iron Company, with which he was con- nected for a year. He afterward spent two years in the service of the Grasselli Chemical Company as assistant purchasing agent, one year with the Southern Ohio Traction Company as auditor, one year with the Western Ohio Railroad Company as auditor, and two years with the New York & Long Island Traction Company as vice president and general manager. His previous and varied ex- periences with the different railway lines well equipped him for his chosen posi- tion as secretary and treasurer of the Cleveland Construction Company. This company operates largely in Ohio in the building of electric and steam railroads, electric light and water plants, and in the construction of telephone lines through- out various parts of the country. They have thus far executed contracts for the Northern Ohio Traction & Light Company, the Cleveland, Southwestern & Columbus Railway Company; the Lake Shore Electric Railway Company; the Southern Ohio Traction Company; the Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway Com-

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A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III, Part 7

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1106

Author: Orth, Samuel Peter, 1873-1922; Clarke, S.J., publishing company
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago-Cleveland : The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1106