USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III > Part 80
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BENJAMIN CHARLES STARR.
Benjamin Charles Starr, whose thorough literary and law training within the classic walls of old Harvard constituted his equipment, has in the application of his legal knowledge won success that places him with the foremost representatives of the Cleveland bar, where he has practiced for thirty years. Endowed with a mind naturally analytical, logical and inductive, his study and research have brought him broad familiarity with the principles of jurisprudence and with prece- dent, so that he is never at a loss in his practice to quote the proper authority or make accurate application of a point at law to the point at issue.
Mr. Starr was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, July 1, 1848, and traces his ancestry back to Dr. Comfort Starr, of Kent, England, who in 1633, with his three sons, settled in Massachusetts. His son, Comfort Starr, Jr., was a dis- senting clergyman and was one of the first Fellows of Harvard College. Subse- quently he returned to England, where his last days were passed. Benjamin John Starr, the grandfather of Benjamin Charles Starr, was born in Middletown, Con- necticut, and when a young man left that state and went to Rome, New York, where he made his home until called to his final rest. He died, however, in Cleve- land while visiting in this city in 1857. One of his sons, Henry Starr, was in the regular army with the rank of colonel and after the Civil war commanded the Department of Texas. Another son, Theodore B. Starr, the father of Benjamin C. Starr, was born in Rome, New York, August 8, 1820, and died November 4, 1898. In early life he engaged in civil engineering and in railway contracting, and afterward conducted a news and stationery business in Cleveland, establish- ing his home in this city in 1858. He wedded Eunice M. Winchester, who was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, May 16, 1825, and is now living in Cleveland. Her father, Elhanan Winchester, was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire, December 4, 1791, made farming his life vocation and died in October, 1868. He was a son of Jonathan Winchester, a native of Massachusetts, who, with his twin brother, David Winchester, removed from the Bay state to New Hampshire when sixteen years of age and there took up land, spending his remaining days at West- moreland. David Winchester was a man of much repute as a Restorationist, be- coming a clergyman of that religious school, which was somewhat similar to the Universalist faith of the present day.
In the district schools of Westmoreland, Benjamin Charles Starr began his ed- ucation and pursued his preparatory course in Phillips Academy, Exeter, New
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Hampshire, from which he was graduated with the class of 1873. Much of the time between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one years he acted as assistant to his father in the stationery business in Cleveland. He followed his preparatory course by matriculation in Harvard University, from which he was graduated cum laude in 1877 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He spent one year in Har- vard Law School and also studied in a law office in Cleveland. Following his ad- mission to the bar on the 27th of April, 1879, he began practice alone, while later he became a member of the firm of Griswold & Starr, so continuing from 1882 until the death of Judge Griswold in 1893. In that year he joined the firm of Foran, Starr, Schwan & Holcomb, but since 1894 has been alone in general practice.
On the 6th of November, 1902, Mr. Starr was married to Mrs. Addie M. Hodgson, a daughter of William John and Mary (Eaton) Bishop, of Cleveland. Mr. Starr has been a resident of this city since the 19th of November, 1861, and is well known here. He belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa, becoming identified with Alpha chapter of Harvard College, and politically is connected with the democratic party, which in 1889 nominated him for the common pleas bench. The following year he received his party's nomination for circuit judge and in 1902 was again the circuit judge candidate, but, as is well known, the political strength of Cleve- land is republican and he therefore met defeat with the others of the ticket. In the practice of law, however, he has made steady progress and he is known for the wide research and provident care with which he prepares his cases. His logical grasp of facts and principles of the law applicable to them has been another potent element in his success, while his remarkable clearness of expression, com- bined with an adequate and precise diction, enables him to make others understand not only the salient points of his argument but also his every fine gradation of meaning. His mind has been trained in the severe school of investigation until close reasoning has become habitual and easy.
ERNEST S. COOK.
Ernest S. Cook, who has won high honors in the practice of corporation law, which is regarded as the most desirable and remunerative field of law practice, was born in Morenci, Michigan, June 26, 1859, a son of Stephen H. and Mary (Price) Cook. The father was a business man of Morenci for a number of years but made his home in Cleveland for some years and then returned to Michigan, where he died in 1885.
Following the removal of the family to this city, Ernest S. Cook pursued his education in the grammar grades of the public schools and later attended the high school of his native city. He engaged in teaching school and in clerking in Mo- renci between the ages of sixteen and nineteen years, when, ambitious for intel- lectual progress, he continued his education in Kenyon College in 1878. His own labors met the expenses of his college course, which was completed by graduation in the class of 1882. For some time thereafter he engaged in teaching as head master of the preparatory school in Gambier, Ohio, and at the same time devoted his leisure hours to the study of law.
Continuing his preparation for the bar as a law student in the office of Ranney & Ranney of Cleveland, he was admitted in 1886, remaining with his preceptors until 1888, after which he was alone in practice for some time. He then formed a partnership with A. J. Marvin and later joined the firm of Webster & Angell, which connection was terminated upon the death of Mr. Angell in 1898. In 1900 Mr. Cook became senior partner of the present well known firm of Cook, Mc- Gowan & Foote. Their business is largely corporation law and they are now rep- resentatives of several railroad companies and other large corporations. Mr. Cook is one of the best known and most able lawyers of Cleveland and it has been a matter of great regret to his friends that he has always refused a nomination
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E. S. COOK
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for the bench, for which position he is eminently fitted. He has always preferred to continue in the private practice of law but has become financially interested in the United Banking & Savings Company, of which he is a director, and in several commercial enterprises.
Mr. Cook has often been solicited to accept a candidacy for public office but save that he served as assistant United States attorney for five years he has stead- ily refused official preferment even when urged to preside in the courts. He was one of the presidential electors following the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt and was also a delegate to the Chicago convention which nominated William How- ard Taft for the presidency. Always a stalwart republican where national ques- tions of vital significance are involved, he votes independently at local elections, believing that the question of party politics should not be considered in the selec- tion of municipal officers.
On the 18th of June, 1883, Mr. Cook was married to Miss Katharine Dempsey, a daughter of John and Martha Dempsey, the former a retired merchant. Their children are : Martha ; Helen; James Dempsey, who was born November 20, 1889, and is now a student in Kenyon College; and Marion. The family attend the Episcopal church.
The outdoor exercise and the interest of the game of golf is a stimulus to Mr. Cook, who furthermore has keen appreciation for the social enjoyments offered by the Union, Euclid, University, Mayfield Country and Tippecanoe Clubs, in all of which he holds membership. Undeterred throughout his life by obstacles and difficulties which have confronted him in the acquirement of an education and in the conduct of his law practice, he has with firm and unfaltering purpose contin- ued in the course which he had mapped out until his ability and energy have brought him to a foremost place in the ranks of Cleveland's legal profession.
JAMES H. CASSIDY.
James H. Cassidy, congressman from his district, is a notable example of a man whose inherent force of character and native ability have won him success, honor and distinction. History is replete with proofs that the great majority of men whose youth is passed amid luxurious surroundings and whose advantages are almost limitless, leave but little impression for good upon the progress of the world, while those whose opportunities in boyhood are limited seem to be made of sterner stuff. Necessity and competition arouse and develop their latent ener- gies and in the struggle for supremacy they develop the force that, intelligently directed, makes them useful factors in society and capable of controlling interests of state. One is led to this train of reflection through contemplation of the life history of James H. Cassidy, one of Cleveland's native sons, born on the 28th of October, 1869. While spending his youth in the home of his parents, James H. and Mary (Brown) Cassidy, he attended the Cleveland public schools until eleven years of age, when he faced the necessity of providing for his own support and secured employment in a factory. He soon came to realize the value of industry and faithfulness and those qualities won him promotion. While in the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company he utilized those hours which are usually termed leisure for the study of law, pursuing a course in the Cleveland Law School which eventually qualified him for admission to the bar on examination in Columbus in 1891. Returning to Cleveland for practice, he be- came junior partner in the firm of Long & Cassidy, a third name being added thereto when on the Ist of November, 1909, Mr. Copeland was admitted to the partnership. While advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, no dreary novi- tiate awaited James H. Cassidy. He had not only acquainted himself with the principles of jurisprudence but also with the methods of procedure in the courts and he came to the starting point of his professional career well equipped for his
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onerous duties. He never fails to give a thorough preparation and in his presen- tation of the case before the courts manifests a familiarity with every detail and the points in law applicable thereto. But while his devotion to his clients' interests is a well known factor in his professional career, he never forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law.
Mr. Cassidy has also gained distinction in the field of political activity. mani- festing a deep interest in the vital issues and questions of the day from the time he attained his majority. In December, 1902, he was elected clerk of the river and harbor committee of the national house of representatives and so continued until January, 1909, when he resigned. On the 20th of April of that year he was elected a member of the sixty-first congress, his term to continue until the 3d of March, 19II. As in all other relations of life, Mr. Cassidy has proved himself an active working member of the lawmaking body of the nation, giving careful consideration to each question which comes up for settlement and standing loyally in defense of those measures which he believes will prove of widespread benefit.
Mr. Cassidy's social relations are with the Masonic fraternity, the Cleveland Athletic. the Western Reserve. the Tippecanoe and many other clubs. His sym- pathy with concerted movements for public improvement is evidenced in his mem- bership in the Chamber of Commerce and his religious faith is manifest in his membership in the First Baptist church. He was married November 21, 1903, to Miss Elizabeth Handiges, of Cleveland, and, maintaining their home in this city, they have won the favorable regard of many friends in those social circles where intelligence and true worth are accepted as passports to good society.
E. C. BALZHISER.
E. C. Balzhiser's name has been connected with the ice industry nearly all of his business life. He was born August 24, 1868, near Batavia, Ohio, a son of Henry and Mary Balzhiser, both of whom still survive, living retired at Owens- ville, Clermont county, Ohio.
E. C. Balzhiser received a good common-school education in Clermont county, after which he worked for his father at farming and in the produce business. In 1887 he left his home and visited various cities and localities about the country with a view of locating for the future, finally settling at Cleveland in 1888, en- tering the employ of the Knickerbocker Ice Company as a driver, where he re- mained until 1893, during which time he, by steady promotions, became the su- perintendent of the business.
In that year the Knickerbocker Ice Company sold its business outright to the Forest City Ice Company, and our subject entered the employ of the Pictet Ice Company, of this city, that being the first manufactured ice plant established in Cleveland, where he continued for eighteen months. He then bought an interest in the Independent Ice Company, which had been formed in 1892 by Harry D. Norvell and was elected a director, secretary and manager of the company.
The City Ice Delivery Company was established in 1902, and Mr. Balzhiser was elected a director and district manager. In 1908 The City Ice Delivery Com- pany bought the Independent Ice Company, and he was elected first vice president and director, which positions he still retains. He is also president of the Collin- wood Ice Company. From a small beginning Mr. Balzhiser's company, and the various interests with which he has been identified during the past fifteen years, has steadily increased until the ice industry of Cleveland has become known as the best equipped and conducted ice business in the country. This company now oper- ates ten ice-making plants in the city, with a total ice-making capacity of eight hundred and fifty tons daily, and uses at the height of the season about one hun- dred seventy-five delivery wagons.
E. C. BALZHISER
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Mr. Balzhiser is an enthusiast on the subject of ice and refrigeration. He is at present chairman of the advisory board of the American Society of Refrigera- tion, which organization participates in the international congresses of refrigerat- ing industries, which met in 1908 at Paris under the supervision of the French government, and will meet at Vienna, Austria, during October and November, in 1910. He also served as chairman of the National Ice Carnival meeting, held at the Jamestown Exposition, at Norfolk, Virginia, in 1907, and served three terms as president of the Middle States Ice Producers' Exchange.
Through his earnest and effective efforts in promoting organized effort throughout the country for the advancement of the ice and refrigerating trades, his name has become well and favorably known. He is a firm believer in the abounding opportunities offered by the kindred industries in which he has labored so earnestly. He is a self-reliant type of manhood, alert, adaptable, ingenious, fearless of obstacles of danger, rich in experience, is a true representative of the best of our American business men.
Mr. Balzhiser was married in 1892 to Cora May Walker, of Owego, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Balzhiser have one daughter.
CLARENCE R. MEGERTH.
Clarence R. Megerth, attorney for the Guardian Savings & Trust Company of Cleveland, was born in this city, September 7, 1875. His father, John F. Me- gerth, a native of Berne, Switzerland, was brought to America by his parents in 1849, when a little lad of four years, the family home being established in Cleve- land. When years of experience qualified him for the onerous duties of business life he became connected with the marble trade and so continued up to the time of his retirement. In 1874 he wedded Mary B. Keeler, a native of Cleveland, who is still living. The death of Mr. Megerth occurred January 6, 1892.
In the old Brownell public school Clarence R. Megerth pursued his education through primary and grammar grades and finally was graduated from the Central high school. He took up the study of law in 1893 in the Western Reserve Univer- sity Law School and was graduated with the Bachelor of Law degree in 1897. While a student there he was made editor of the college paper. Admitted to the bar in June, 1897, he engaged in general practice until June, 1900, when he became attorney for the Guardian Savings & Trust Company and has since given his atten- tion exclusively to the legal affairs of that corporation, in which connection he has successfully conducted a large volume of business.
On the 7th of March, 1901, Mr. Megerth was married in Cleveland to Miss Jessie M. DeVaud, a daughter of Frederick J. DeVaud, of this city, and they have one son, Frederick C., now six years of age. In politics Mr. Megerth is a repub- lican with earnest desire for the success of the party but without ambition for office. He belongs to the Cleveland Athletic Club and is a courteous, pleasant gen- tleman who has many friends in his native city and who in professional relations has won for himself a creditable position.
GUSTAVE SCHROEDER.
Gustave Schroeder probably stands alone in his present line of business, being a decorator in artificial flowers. From a small beginning he has developed a busi- ness of immense proportions and, while his home office is in Cleveland, he con- ducts operations in all of the larger cities further east. Mr. Schroeder was born in Cleveland in 1869, a son of Gustave and Josephine (Heimer) Schroeder. The father was born in Germany in 1854 and died in 1904. He established a business
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for the manufacture of artificial flowers for the millinery trade in 1894, and be- came the largest manufacturer in his line west of New York city. Of a social nature, he belonged to several German societies. Charitable to a fault, he gave largely of his means not only to the Lutheran church, in which he was very active, but to any worthy object, and his memory is tenderly cherished by many who were saved from distress by this kind-hearted, generous man.
Gustave Schroeder, Jr., attended the Cleveland high school and the Cleveland Business College. Leaving school when seventeen years, he engaged in the whole- sale millinery business, later becoming traveling salesman for Reed Brothers, with whom he remained for six years. He then went to New York city to engage with the Savage Theatrical Syndicate as scenic designer, having at that early age dis- played unusual artistic talent, and remained there for four years, but the death of his father brought him back to Cleveland to take charge of the latter's business. Being possessed of an artistic temperament that idealizes everything, Mr. Schroe- der developed his present line of business and now decorates for social events, with artificial flowers, the homes of the wealthy. In addition to his home office, he has branches in Pittsburg and New York city. He has furnished artificial flowers and decorative effects for many select social events in New York city, Philadelphia, Boston and Pittsburg. The business has grown to such a magnitude that he has been compelled to move into a new building at No. 1528 Prospect avenue and occupies it all. He has no competition in the entire country.
Although he has but little time for amusements, Mr. Schroeder enjoys motoring when he can spare a few hours to devote to it. He resides with his mother at No. 6026 Superior avenue. This venture of his is a very unusual one and shows the character of the man. Beneath the artist lies the sterling business traits possessed by the sturdy father, and while everything the younger man touches is imbued with his own artistic taste, he is making his enterprise pay him handsomely for his efforts.
HENRY CLAGUE.
Henry Clague, formerly vice president of the firm of Watterson & Clague, contractors, is now enjoying in retirement the fruits of a previous successful ca- reer. He was born July 25, 1847, on the Isle of Man, and is thus a Manxman in nationality. His parents were Thomas and Margaret (Gill) Clague, the former a shoemaker by trade who lived out his life in his native land.
Henry Clague attended the public schools of the Isle of Man and at the age of fourteen in obedience to an innate love of adventure left home and went to Liver- pool, England. There he shipped on a trading vessel and for eight years led a sea-faring life. He had his share of the ups and downs of a sailor's life and in 1865 he was ship-wrecked off the coast of Key West. In that same year he fol- lowed the example set by so many of his acquaintances and came to America, landing at Philadelphia, and going thence to Chicago. In that city he shipped on one of the Great Lake vessels and for the next three years sailed these vast inland waters. Tired of the precarious existence of a sailor, Mr. Clague in 1869 came to Cleveland, where he learned the trade of stone-mason and bricklayer as assistant to a mason named John Gill, and for about sixteen years worked at his trade. Fitted by experience and capability for a wider field of activity and one in which his fine executive talents would find greater scope, he went into the contracting business, which he conducted independently for about seven years. At the end of this time Mr. Clague and S. W. Watterson formed a partnership under the name of Watterson & Clague, which association continued for eighteen years and was only severed upon his retirement from business about four years ago.
Some thirty-three years ago Mr. Clague laid the foundation of a happy home by his marriage to Miss Margaret Rath, and they have become the parents of five chil-
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dren. They are: Margaret, aged twenty-nine years; Maud, aged twenty-seven; John, aged twenty-five; Ruth, aged twenty-four ; and Frederick, aged twenty-two. John follows the trade engaged in by his father when young and is a brick-layer, while Frederick is employed by the Cleveland Renting Agency.
As to the convictions, political and religious, held by Mr. Clague, he upholds the policies and principles of the republican party and holds membership in the Methodist church. Beginning his struggle with the world at the early age of fourteen and profiting by his experiences no matter how unpleasant, he may well be accounted a self-made man, and the ease which he is now permitted to enjoy is a tribute to his industry and native ability.
MARK ANSON COPELAND.
For a third of a century there were no new names added to the roll of America's military heroes. The country was at peace and there was no occasion for military activity other than that which is manifested by the regular army in its practice work and in manning the forts. Then came the war with Spain, when it was evidenced that the patriotism was as strong and the courage as marked as ever manifest by the sons of the United States. Among the number whom Cleveland sent to the Spanish-American war was Mark Anson Copeland, who, since his re- turn, has become well known as a general practitioner of law and also as the secre- tary of The Dodd-Rogers Company. He was born in Bristolville, Trumbull county, Ohio, December 16, 1877. His grandfather is a carpenter and contractor of Lorraine, New York. His father, Anson T. Copeland, was born in Lorraine, New York, in 1830 and died at Girard, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1897. He was edu- cated at the Wesleyan University of Middletown, Connecticut, entered the Metho- dist ministry and in the early '70s came to this state, joining the East Ohio confer- ence. At different times he had charges at Kent, Bristolville, Bedford, Canfield and Windsor, continuing actively in the work of the ministry until he passed to his re- ward in 1897. His wife, Mrs. Minerva (Detchon) Copeland, was born in Poland, Ohio, March 31, 1839, and died in Cleveland, July 30, 1899. She was a daughter of Solomon Detchon, who was born in England and became a farmer of Poland, Ohio. Her brother, Wilbur Fisk Detchon, was a sharpshooter of the Civil war and was killed by the explosion of a mine at Petersburg, when but eighteen years of age. He went to the front from Ohio and belonged to a picked body of sharp- shooters. Mr. Copeland of this review has one brother, Wilbur F., who is an ed- ucator, and two sisters: Blanche, the wife of Frank S. Maston, an attorney of Cleveland ; and Rena, the widow of Clinton D. Gloss, of this city.
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