USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland, Ohio, Volume III > Part 81
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Mark A. Copeland is indebted to the public-school system of Ohio for the ed- ucational privileges he enjoyed, pursuing his studies in the various places to which his father's itinerant ministry took him. At length he was graduated from the high school of Girard, Pennsylvania, with the class of 1894 and spent one year in Allegheny College at Meadville, Pennsylvania, and one year in 'Adelbert College of Cleveland. This completed his literary course, after which he began prepara- tion for the bar as a student in the Western Reserve Law School, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Law degree in 1901. His early professional experience came to him in connection with the law office of Golder, Holden & Maston, with whom he remained for fourteen months, after which he entered into partnership with Pierce D. Metzger under the firm name of Metzger & Cope- land. This relation was maintained until 1906, since which time Mr. Copeland has been alone in general practice, manifesting ability that has insured him a con- tinually increasing clientage and has augmented the importance of the work which he has done in the courts. He is also well known as the secretary of The Dodd- Rogers Company, dealers in photographic, engineering, optical and scientific supplies.
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As previously indicated, Mr. Copeland responded to the country's call for mili- tary aid, enlisting on the 2d of June, 1898, for service in the Spanish-American war. He became a private of Company K, Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was promoted to the rank of corporal and continued with the army for nine months. Although many who responded to the call were not in active duty, their loyalty and bravery were as pronounced as that of those who went to the scene of action, as they were willing and anxious to take part in the engagements which proved the supremacy of American methods of warfare both on land and sea. In his political views Mr. Copeland is a republican but not active in the ranks of the party.
On the 14th of September, 1904, he married Miss Louise Wellsted, a daugh- ter of Thomas H. and Elizabeth ( Bisonnette) Wellsted, of Cleveland. Her father died in 1893. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have been born two children: Mark Anson, whose birth occurred July 31, 1905; and Thomas Wellsted, born July 10, 1907.
MARTIN JOHN O'DONNELL.
A substantial citizen and one interested in a large number of the city's thriving business concerns is Martin John O'Donnell, sales agent for the Otis Elevator Company, with territory comprising northern Ohio. Mr. O'Donnell was born on a farm in Fauquier county, Virginia, February 2, 1858. His father, Michael O'Donnell, was born in Ireland, but early in life made his adieux to the Emerald isle and in 1845 located in Virginia. He followed the occupation of stonemason and in his contract work often employed many colored people, although he never owned slaves. In 1863, when the subject of the sketch was nearing school age, he removed to Baltimore, Maryland.
Mr. O'Donnell received his education in the public schools of Howard county, Maryland, and afterward mastered the machinist's trade. Upon coming to Cleve- land in 1881, some two years after the attainment of his majority, he availed him- self of special courses in mathematics, engineering, and drafting, thus gaining ex- pert knowledge which particularly fitted him for the responsible position which he at present holds. His first practical experience in his new line of endeavor was in a position with the Reedy Elevator Company, of Cincinnati, as erector. He remained with this company for three years and a half and during this time his mechanical genius asserted itself in the devising of several safety appliances for elevators which he patented. He then formed a copartnership, known as the O'Donnell & Barrett Elevator Company, and engaged in the manufacture of ele- vators and similar mechanisms. This partnership continued for several years, but Mr. O'Donnell finally withdrew from it, and organized a company known as the M. J. O'Donnell Elevator Company. It continued under this name from 1893 until 1900, when it was incorporated under the laws of Ohio as the O'Donnell Elevator Company and continued as such until 1906. At this date it was absorbed by that great concern, the Otis Elevator Company, and Mr. O'Donnell became sales agent for the northern territory. The scope and importance of the Otis Elevator Company is too well known to call for extended comment. Everything known in the elevator line is manufactured, and the industry is famous for its ability to work out and install any such labor-saving devices as may originate in the brains of individual patrons. The company is represented in every civilized country in the world and is particularly happy in its representation in Cleveland and the surrounding country. The business done in northern Ohio in the first eight months of the year 1909 amounted to over four hundred thousand dollars.
On April 11, 1888, in Cleveland, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. O'Donnell to Miss Hannah L. Neeson, daughter of an old and respected family. Resultant of this union is a family of three sons and two daughters as follows : George F., twenty years of age; Mary, aged seventeen; Florence, aged eleven; Martin J., aged six ; and Paul Otis, aged three. This interesting family resides in a beauti- ful home at 13523 Detroit street, Lakewood.
M. J. O'DONNELL
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Mr. O'Donnell is independent in politics and pins his faith to men and princi- ples rather than to party. He is keenly interested in all civic matters, this being directly evident in his membership in the Builders' Exchange, the Chamber of Commerce and the West Side Chamber of Industry. He has manifold interests, being vice-president of the Cleveland Life Insurance Company, and director in the D. T. Owen Company and the Columbia Candy Company. He is stockholder in the following companies: Fenner Manufacturing Company, Alva Steamship Company, Ohio Casualty Company, Central National Bank and Superior Savings and Trust Company.
Mr. O'Donnell is a splendid representative of public-spirited and progressive citizenship and possesses with every well-rounded individual social and fraternal proclivities, these centering in the Knights of St. John, the Cleveland Athletic Club and the Lakewood Tennis Club.
HUMPHREY.
Two of Cleveland's well known business men are Dudley S. and David H. Humphrey, the former president and the latter general manager of the Hum- phrey Company, the largest manufacturers of pop-corn and pull candy in the world, and they are the originators and inventors of all the implements, methods and arrangements used in the business.
In 1891 the brothers came to Cleveland and without capital began the pop- ping and retailing of pop-corn and later engaged in the making of pull candy. In the few intervening years they have built up the largest concern of its kind in the United States. Looking for a more extended field of operation, they in 1901 secured the lease of Euclid Beach Park, which had been established five years previously but had met with indifferent success, ending finally in financial failure. On taking over the park their first innovation was the elimination of all intoxicants, freaks, fakes, chance games and questionable shows, having an abounding faith that the people would apreciate and patronize a resort where cleanliness in everything was the watchword. The soundness of this theory has been amply proven and Euclid Beach Park has today the reputation of being the most moral, temperate, orderly, safe and beautiful, also the best patronized, best paying and largest family summer resort in America.
In the autumn of 1907 they built and opened the Elysium at University Circle, the largest and finest ice rink in the country. Conducted according to the high Humphrey standard, it has met with a success even more flattering than antici- pated by its promoters and has taken a premanent and conspicuous place in the city's amusement life.
The Humphreys' parents were Dudley Sherman and Mabel Truman (Fay) Humphrey. The father was born November 21, 1814, in Goshen, Connecticut. He received his early education and spent his boyhood in New England, coming to Ohio in 1835 and locating in Parma township, Cuyahoga county, where with his brother William he engaged in the lumber and clock business. They later removed to Townsend, Huron county, where they purchased large tracts of land and began in the sawmill business on a large scale, during the partnership erecting over forty sawmills in the western states.
On March 10, 1847, he married Mabel T., a daughter of Benajah and Ruth Fay, of Parma. Mabel T. Fay was born January 26, 1820, and was the second white child born in the township. Their five children were Mina Sherman, Harlow, Dudley S., David H. and Mary Malinda. Mina Sherman married Alex- ander Dillon Scott and they have one son, Dudley. Dudley Sherman, born May 19, 1852, at Townsend, Ohio, married Effie D., a daughter of Harvey J. and Wealthy L. Shannon, of Buffalo, New York. They have three children, Mabel Elizabeth, second vice president of the Humphrey Company; Harvey John, as-
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
sistant treasurer of the Humphrey Company ; and H. Louise, the youngest mem- ber of the firm. Harvey J. married August 8, 1906, Katherine, a daughter of Marcus and Katherine Fuldman.
After leaving school, Dudley S. Humphrey was associated with his father in the conduct of an extensive farm and various business interests until the latter's death in 1876, when he assumed with his brothers the management of the estate. In 1884 he was engaged with his brothers under the firm name of Humphrey Brothers at Wakeman, Ohio.
David H. Humphrey, who is unmarried, was born at Townsend, Ohio, June 5, 1855; was educated in the district schools; and spent the succeeding years on the farm and engaged in business ventures with his brothers until coming to Cleveland, since which time he has taken an important part in developing and shaping the policies of the Humphrey Company and has contributed largely to its remarkable success.
The grandfather, Dudley Humphrey, founder of the Ohio branch of the family, was born in Goshen, Connecticut, October 20, 1770, was a farmer, took the freeman's oath in 1798 and in 1837 removed to Ohio with his family. He was the son of David Humphrey, whose birth occurred June 5, 1726, at Simsbury, Connecticut. He lived to the age of eighty-six years. He was the son of En- sign Samuel Humphrey, born in Simsbury, Connecticut, May 17, 1686, whose father was Lieutenant Samuel Humphrey, born in Windsor, Connecticut, Oc- tober 24, 1653. His father-Michael Humphrey-the founder of the family in America, whence he came from Lyne Regis, England, about 1640, going first to Dorchester, Massachusetts, and later joining a settlement at Windsor, Connec- ticut, where he engaged in the manufacture of tar and turpentine and in various mercantile enterprises.
The English ancestors went to England with William the Conqueror. The remote ancestors were Norsemen and the family has contributed many notable names to the history of both the old and new world.
By the record of their lives, the Cleveland representatives of the family have proven worthy of its best traditions, adhering to the lofty standard of industry, honesty and achievement which have made for them an enviable place in the business and social life of their adopted city.
DAVID CHARLESWORTH.
David Charlesworth, the senior member of the firm of D. Charlesworth & Son, florists and landscapists of Cleveland, was born in England on the Ist of April, 1843, his parents being William and Hannah (Haywood) Charlesworth, who were likewise natives of that country. The father, who carried on general agri- cultural pursuits in the rural district of Nottinghamshire, passed away in compar- atively early manhood. The mother was called to her final rest about 1869.
David Charlesworth attended the public schools of his native land in pursuit of an education that would equip him for the practical and responsible duties of life. When still but a boy he became familiar with the business which now claims his attention, working on Lundy's estate. Subsequently he was identified with the florist's trade at Yorkshire for a period of seven years, at the end of which time he became an instructor in Lee's reformatory school. He next became a student in St. Augustine College of Canterbury, England, and after leaving that institution in 1867 he acted as lay assistant of St. Clement's parish, Leeds, York- shire, for two years. In 1869 he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and came direct to Cleveland, Ohio, but after a short time removed to Tennessee, where he started in the cotton business. The following fall, however, he returned to this city and for a time devoted his energies to various pursuits but eventually he turned his attention once more to floral work. For five years he acted as gar-
DAVID CHARLESWORTH
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dener at the Newburg Asylum and after the fire there he laid out the present beau- tiful grounds. He then embarked in business as a florist of Cleveland by becom- ing a member of the firm of C. W. Schofield & Company and thus successfully conducted his interests for a period of about four years. He then purchased his partner's interest and the establishment is now conducted under the name of D. Charlesworth & Son, the eldest son of our subject having charge of a branch store on Euclid avenue. David Charlesworth was one of the first florists in the city and the success which has attended his enterprise is indeed well merited, for he is a man of untiring energy and good business judgment as well as unfaltering integrity.
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A few days prior to his emigration to the new world Mr. Charlesworth was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Fawcett, a native of England. Unto them were born four children, as follows: Ada Schofield, who passed away at the age of twenty-three years; Lloyd F., who is associated with his father in business; Mrs. Gertrude H. Davis, of Cleveland; and Stanton Irving, the assistant superin- tendent of the Cleveland Furnace Company.
Mr. Charlesworth is a stanch republican and formerly took an active part in politics. In religious belief he is a Spiritualist, while fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason. He has never had occasion to regret his determinaton to seek a home on this side of the water. He found here the business opportunities which he sought and which, by the way, are always open to ambitious, energetic young men. Adapting himself to the altered conditions of life, he has as the years have passed worked his way steadily upward and has long been numbered among the enterprising, prosperous and progressive citizens of Cleveland.
THOMAS GEBBIE.
Thomas Gebbie came to Cleveland in 1873 after crossing the Atlantic from Scotland to the new world. He was born in 1848 in the quaint little town of Ayr, immortalized as the birthplace of Robert Burns. There he learned the trade of shoemaking and the leather business and was one of three brothers, Allen, William and Thomas, who came to America in 1873. They had all learned the latter in Ayr and after reaching the United States they made their way to Cleveland, where they continued to work at their trade. After continuing in the employ of others for about five years, in 1878 they set up their own establishment and did a pros- perous business. In 1884 the partnership was dissolved, each establishing himself in an independent venture. William Gebbie has since passed away but Allen Geb- bie still remains a resident of Cleveland. Thomas Gebbie engaged in the manu- facture of boot and shoe uppers and also conducted a wholesale and retail business as a dealer in leather findings. He built up an extensive trade in this line and became well known to merchants and manufacturers who handled the kind of goods which he carried. His business methods were always most reliable and his energy, close application and honorable dealings brought him substantial success.
Mr. Gebbie was married in his native land, his wedding journey being the trip to America. Unto him and his wife were born three sons, Thomas A., Gene A., and Richard C., all of Cleveland. The death of the father occurred June 18, 1904, after a residence of thirty-one years in this city. He attended the Old Stone church and was a member of St. Andrews Society. His life was ever guided by his religious faith and moral principles, which were of the highest. In politics he was an earnest republican, active in his work for the party and his labors were not without substantial results. He stood as an excellent example of that type of foreign-born citizen who sees in the conditions of the new world the opportunities for success and while managing profitable business enterprises also stands as a stalwart champion of 'American interests in his advocacy of all that pertains to the general welfare.
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Thomas A. Gebbie, the eldest son of Thomas Gebbie, Sr., resides in Cleveland and is a salesman for the oldest tanning house of the United States, the firm being located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He married Miss Elizabeth Lyon, a daughter of I. E. Lyon, who is in the grocery business on Eighty-third street. They have two children, Irvin E. and Elizabeth. Thomas A. Gebbie is widely and favorably known in this city, where he has always resided.
JOHN JAMES THOMAS, M. D.
That Cleveland offers many advantages to her citizens is indicated by the fact that many of her native sons have remained within her borders and have at- tained prominence and prosperity here. Dr. Thomas is numbered among those who have spent their entire lives within her corporation limits and his thorough preparation, close application and unremitting energy have constituted the salient points in his continuous advancement. He is careful and conscientious, increas- ing the talents that nature has given him, and is now numbered among the more capable physicians of the city.
His birth occurred November 18, 1868, his parents being Isaac and Mary J. (Richards) Thomas. The father, a native of Wales, came to America when eighteen years of age in the early '60s and established his home in Cleveland, where he was closely connected with the iron industry until his death, which oc- curred in 1900, when he was fifty-seven years of age. In his fraternal relations he was a Mason. His widow still survives.
Dr. Thomas was educated in the public schools, pursuing his studies through consecutive grades until he was graduated from the Central high school with the class of 1887. He afterward entered Adelbert College of the Western Reserve University, there winning the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1891. During his college days he was president of the Glee Club, was a member of the baseball team and editor of the college paper. His preparation for the practice of medi- cine was made in the Western Reserve University, which conferred upon him the degree of M. D. in 1893 and in 1896 the honorary degree of Master of Arts. Following his graduation he spent a year and a half as house physician in the Cleveland City Hospital and then went abroad, devoting one year to post-graduate work in Frankfort-am-Rhein. He also studied in Strassburg and Vienna, investi- gating the methods of practice of many of the eminent physicians and surgeons of the old world. His professional knowledge is comprehensive, reliable and exact and his ability has carried him into important relations as a physician and sur- geon. Upon his return to the new world in December, 1895, he took up the pri- vate practice of general medicine, giving special attention to obstetrics and pediat- rics, which have gradually claimed more and more of his time until as specialties they embrace the entire field of his practice. He is instructor in obstetrics at the Western Reserve University, having occupied this position since 1902, while since 1900 he has been demonstrator in diseases of children at the same institu- tion. In other professional relations he is also well known, being visiting physi- cian at St. Anne Maternity Hospital & Infant Asylum, visiting pediatrist to the Cleveland City Hospital, physician in charge of the children's department of the Lakeside Hospital Dispensary, visiting physician to Rainbow Cottage, visiting physician to the Infants Rest, visiting physician to the Maternity Hospital and examining physician to the University School. He is also medical examiner for the Connecticut Mutual Insurance Company and secretary to the medical staff of the Babies' Hospital & Dispensary.
On the 7th of June, 1900, in Washington, D. C., Dr. Thomas was married to Miss A. Irene Montanari, a daughter of the late Dr. Montanari, a physician of Nice, France, and they have one child, 'Allen Powell, now three years of age. The family reside at No. 1878 East Eighty-seventh street.
DR. J. J. THOMAS
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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND
Dr. Thomas was active in athletic, musical and literary circles in his youth and early manhood but now devotes all of his leisure time to his home and family, obtaining his recreation through motoring and camping. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and is keenly interested in everything relative to the wel- fare and progress of the city. In professional lines he has done much important work for the general good. He is now the secretary and treasurer and was the prime organizer of the certified milk commission, which was established in 1904 and has secured absolutely pure milk in Cleveland. He is likewise a member of the sanitation committee and believes in methods of prevention before and above all things else. He has, therefore, been deeply interested in the educative move- ments which have brought to the general public a knowledge of health conditions and has done all in his power to further work of that character. He belongs to the Delta Tau Delta of Adelbert College, and also the Theta Nu Epsilon of the same institution. In more strictly professional lines he is connected with the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the Cleveland Medical Library Association. His work has been of vital importance in professional circles of the city and the honors and successes which he has won are well merited.
CHARLES ORLANDO JENKINS.
Charles Orlando Jenkins, a successful representative of the Cleveland bar and the president of the Jenkins Steamship Company, was born in this city, May 28, 1872, and was the second in a family of four sons and one daughter. His brothers are: Dr. Alfred A. and Dr. Henry Jenkins, both well known phy- sicians of Cleveland; and William B. Jenkins, a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Boston. The sister is Mrs. Eugene T. Bush, of Cleveland. The public schools afforded him his preliminary educational advan- tages and his more specifically classical course was pursued in Yale University, from which he was graduated A. B. in 1894. He was a prominent representative of athletic interests there, belonging to the football team and also to the boating crew. For three years following his graduation he filled the position of instructor in classics in the Western Reserve University, there remaining until 1897. In the meantime, in 1895, he had become a member of Troop A, of Cleveland, and upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American war enlisted in Troop G, First Ohio Cavalry, in which he served until mustered out in November, 1908, holding the rank of regimental color sergeant.
Following his military experience Mr. Jenkins entered the Harvard Law School and upon his graduation'in 1901 with the degree of Bachelor of Law, he was admitted to the bar and began practice in Cleveland, forming a partnership with Roger M. Lee, under the firm style of Lee & Jenkins, which continued until June, 1905, when he became senior member of the firm of Jenkins, Russell & Eichelberger. Since the Ist of November, 1908, he has practiced alone, making a specialty of admiralty law, in which department he is well versed. He has ever remained a student of his profession, constantly adding to his knowledge of the law, while the thoroughness with which he prepares his cases and the forceful manner in which he presents his cause are salient features in his success. His commercial interests have been confined almost entirely to steamship business. In 1902 he organized the Jenkins Steamship Company, of which he has since been the president and which owns and operates five large freighters on the lakes. He is likewise interested to some extent in other steamship lines and his business of this character contributes in substantial measure to his annual in- come. He is well known in both connections as a splendid representative of the spirit of enterprise.
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On the 24th of October, 1907, Mr. Jenkins was married in Cleveland to Miss Abby Stewart, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hill Stewart, of this city. They reside at No. 8314 Euclid avenue in a residence owned by Mr. Jen- kins. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and while he has occasionally made addresses in the campaigns, he has never sought or held office. He finds his chief source of recreation in outdoor sports and, appreciative of the social amenities of life, he holds membership in the University and Euclid Clubs. He also belongs to the Delta Kappa Epsilon, the Lake Carriers Association and the Chamber of Commerce. Without pretense or display he has put forth his energies in lines where discrimination has led the way, realizing the fact that unremitting industry and close application are as indispensable essentials to success at the bar as in commercial or industrial life. He stands as a splendid example of the college-bred man who has learned to utilize his native powers to the best advantage and is thus making continuous progress in the fields of labor where he puts forth his efforts.
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