USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut > Part 18
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The second bishop of Cleveland was Rich- ard Gilmour, whose stalwart figure was a fa- miliar sight to Cleveland people throughout nearly a generation. He had to contend against many obstacles and it was a time when anti-Catholic bigotry was rampant and con- spicuous. During his occupancy of the bish- op's office St. Ignatius College was established in 1886. Bishop Gilmour was bishop of Cleveland from April 14, 1872, until his death at St. Augustine, Florida, April 3, 1891.
The third bishop was Ignatius F. Horst- mann, who was consecrated in his holy office February 25, 1892, and continued until bis death at Canton, Ohio, May 13, 1908. Bishop Horstmann bought 200 acres of land for Cal- vary Cemetery, and also established the Cleve- land Apostolate for the purpose of explaining Catholic doctrine to non-Catholics.
The present bishop of Cleveland, John P. Farrelly, was consecrated May 1, 1909. Many new churches and schools have been built under his direction, while Catholic activities in every field of endeavor have been rendered more effective by system and organization.
Besides St. John's Cathedral, the institu- tions located on the cathedral ground are the boys' school and the girls' school, occupying a building erected in 1888. The first build- ing for the boys' school was constructed in 1857 and the first for the girls' school in 1867. The boys' school is under the direction of the
Brothers of Mary and the girls' school is taught by the Ursuline Sisters.
Besides Bishop Farrelly the clergy at the Cathedral are Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas C. O'Reilly, vicar-general rector; Rev. William A. Kane, diocesan superintendent of paro- chial schools; Rev. William A. Scullen, chan- cellor; Rev. Richard J. Patterson, secretary ; and Rev. James F. Cummins, Rev. Michael Lee Moriarty, and Rev. Thomas V. Shan- non.
RT. REV. JOHN PATRICK FARRELLY was consecrated bishop of Cleveland May 1, 1909. He is the fourth bishop of Cleveland. While the first bishop over seventy years ago had only a small Catholic community in Cleve- land and many scattered churches and mis- sions over Northern Ohio, Bishop Farrelly has the responsibility of administrative detail over an immense establishment even in the City of Cleveland, not to mention the out- side churches under his jurisdiction.
In the eight years since his consecration Bishop Farrelly has proved an organizer and executive equal to the great burdens placed upon him. The efficiency that comes through organization has been the dominant feature of his administration. For one thing he ef- fected the organization of all diocesan chari- ties under one director. He also brought about the establishment of a uniform system of education. Through him a diocesan build- ing commission has been provided, to which plans and specifications for all church edifices are submitted. The record of growth and im- provement has been equally notable. Nine new parishes and twelve new schools have been established in Cleveland and suburbs since he became bishop, property has been purchased in Wade Park near University Cir- cle for a new cathedral church, the new St. John's Hospital has been erected and only recently, in April, 1917, the $250,000 annex to Charity Hospital was dedicated. The ded- ication of the annex was the crowning event of the hospital's golden jubilee celebration. With the completion of the annex Charity Hospital stands among the very first of such institutions in Ohio. His most recent work is the establishment of the Cathedral Latin School on East One Hundred and Seventh Street near Wade Park.
John Patrick Farrelly was born at Mem- phis, Tennessee, March 15, 1856, a son of John P. and Martha Clay (Moore) Farrelly. Bishop Farrelly's grandfather, Terence Far-
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relly, was a distinguished lawyer and wrote the first constitution of the State of Arkansas. The bishop's father was also a prominent law- yer, practiced for many years in Memphis, and was a member of the Tennessee Legisla- ture when the subject of separation from the Union at the beginning of the Civil war was discussed. He personally opposed secession.
Bishop Farrelly during his boyhood at- tended grammar schools in Tennessee, Arkan- sas and Kentucky. When he made definite choice of the ministry as a career he was given the most liberal advantages both in this country and abroad. His literary studies were pursued in Georgetown University at Washington, D. C., also in Notre Dame de la Paix at Namur, Belgium, and from the Amer- ican College at Rome he received the degree Doctorate in Sacred Theology. He was or -. dained a priest May 22, 1880, by Cardinal Monaca Lavaletta in Rome. Returning to this country, he became assistant at the Ca- thedral in Nashville, Tennessee, and after- ward its pastor. He was chancellor of the di- ocese of Nashville in 1883, and in 1887 was appointed secretary to the American bishops at Rome. From 1894 to 1899 he was spiritual director of the American College. at Rome. His appointment as bishop of Cleveland took place while he was still in Rome and he was consecrated bishop May 1, 1909, in the chapel of the American College by Cardinal Gotti. assisted by Bishop Morris of Little Rock, and Bishop Kennedy, rector of the American Col- lege. Bishop Farrellv was installed in the Cleveland Cathedral June 13, 1909.
Bishop Farrelly during the war crisis with Germany placed himself at the head of the Catholic population of Cleveland and has done much to make them one loval unit in behalf of the country. He was also one of the annointees of the mayor on the Cleve- land War Commission.
RT. REV. MSGR. THOMAS C. O'REILLY is vicar general of the diocese of Cleveland and rector of St. John's Cathedral. As vicar gen- eral Msgr. O'Reilly exercises wide nowers in diocesan affairs, his jurisdiction being al- most co-extensive with that of the bishop, and they constitute in law one judicial per- son. In the absence of Bishop Farrelly from the diocese he acts in his place with the same powers held by the head of the diocese.
Monsignor O'Reilly was born in Cleve- Jand February 22. 1873. son of Patrick and Delia (Readdy) O'Reilly. He attended St.
Patrick's School at Cleveland from 1879 to 1887, was a student in the Cleveland Spence- rian Business College during 1887-88, then from 1889 to 1893 he was a student in St. Ignatius College at Cleveland and from 1893 to 1894 attended St. Mary's Seminary of this city. He was abroad five years from 1894 to 1899, in the American College at Rome. He was given the degree S. T. D. by the Propaganda University of Rome in 1899, and received the LL. D. degree from the Univer- sity of Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1909.
He was ordained a priest bv Cardinal Cas- setta on June 4, 1898, in the Lateran Basilica at Rome, and on returning to Cleveland served as assistant pastor of St. John's Ca- thedral from July, 1899, to September, 1901. For eight years he was a professor and treas- urer of St. Mary's Seminarv of Cleveland, from September. 1901. to December, 1909. On December 2, 1909, he became chancellor of the diocese of Cleveland and on Septem- her 19. 1911. pastor of the Cathedral Church. In 1914 he was made a domestic prelate with the title of monsignor, thus becoming a mem- her of the Papal household. This title was conferred by the late Pope Pius X. He was made vigar general of the diocese January 24. 1916.
Monsignor O'Reilly is a member of the Board of Synodical Examiners and Examin- ers of the Junior Clergy and of St. Mary's Diocesan Seminary. He was president of the alumni of the American College of Rome. 1911-12. and presided at the 1912 reunion of the Alumni Association held at Hollenden Hotel and Country Club at Cleveland. He was first president of the Alumni Association of St. Ignatius College of Cleveland. and has heen chaplain of Gilmour Council of the Knights of Columbus for fifteen years.
Monsignor O'Reilly is credited with hav- ing started the movement for spiritual re- treats for men under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus. The first retreat of this kind was conducted by him in Cleveland in 1904. The retreat is now held annually. with an attendance of between 1.500 and 2.000 men. These retreats are now an annual event in most of the larger towns and cities of the United States.
RFV. WILLIAM A. SPULLEN. chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. has been actively connected with the affairs of this diocese through nearly all the years since he was ordained to the priesthood. Rev. Father
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William Aloysius Scullen is a man of excep- tional administrative ability and in the course of his training had associations with leading churchmen both in America and abroad.
A native of Ohio, he was born at East Liver- pool October 2, 1879, a son of Patrick James and Joanna (Farrell) Scullen. His father is now deceased and his mother lives in Cleve- land. His maternal grandfather, William Farrell, was one of the early settlers of East Liverpool and was a Union soldier during the Civil war.
Rev. Father Scullen was educated in the parochial and public high schools of East Liv- erpool. From 1898 to 1902 he was a student in St. Charles College at Ellicott City, Mary- land, graduating in June, 1902, and during the following year attended St. Mary's Sem- inary. Going abroad, he was a student in the American College at Rome from 1903 to 1909. The degree Doctor in Philosophy was given him by the Propaganda University at Rome in July, 1904, the degree Doctor of Sacred Theology from the same university in May, 1908. and in May, 1909, the Apollonarins University of Rome made him Doctor of Canon Law. In the meantime, on September 21, 1907, he was ordained a Catholic priest by Cardinal Respighi in the Lateran Bascilica at Rome.
On returning from Europe Father Scullen was appointed secretary of the Diocese of Cleveland June 14, 1909, under Bishop Far- relly. Those were his duties until appointed chancellor of the diocese February 1, 1916. In that capacity an important share of the ad- ministrative duties of the diocese have fallen upon his shoulders.
Rev. Father Scullen is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Alumni of St. Charles College, the Alumni of East Liver- pool High School and the Alumni of the American College at Rome. The latter soci- ety he served as historian in 1912 and as vice president in 1916-17.
HOSEA PAUL. A career of quiet but faithful and unusual performance of duties has been that of Hosea Paul, county recorder of Cuya- hoga County since 1913. The story of his active lifetime covers fully half a century. He has been a surveyor, civil engineer, rail- way builder, public official, and, chief of all, an originator and pioneer, much of the time far in advance of his generation in the intro- ducing of efficiency and simplicity into techni- cal and public business that has too often suf-
fered by the complexities of official routine. Hosea Paul is a Cleveland man whose name and career have a fine fitness in the records of the city.
He was born at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Jan- uary 17, 1845, one of the seven children of Hosea and Ellen (Gamble) Paul. His father was born in 1809 and died in 1870, and his mother was born in 1813 and died in 1889. They were married at Canaan, Vermont, in 1833. In the paternal line Mr. Paul is descended from William Paul who was a resi- dent of Dighton, Massachusetts, as early as 1635, and also of Joseph Jewett, a freeholder at Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1639. The Gam- ble family came from County Down, Ireland, in 1826. Hosea Paul, Sr., was a man of good attainments and high standing, excelling in mathematics and well versed in public busi- ness. He filled various local positions, and held the office of county surveyor for many years.
There were seven in the family, Harrison D., 1835-1906 ; George, 1837-1900; Mary, 1839- 1907; Robert, 1842-1905; Hosea, 1845 --; Dwight, 1848-1912; Edward, 1851-1906. They received a good public school education and were trained to the profession of civil engi- neering and surveying, and most of them con- tinued in this work. Their sterling character and proved fitness won general recognition, and a prominence in civic affairs which is still maintained by another generation.
During the Civil war the father was selected by Col. J. H. Simpson, United States En- gineer, as chief of railroad location parties along the route later occupied by the Cincin- nati Southern. When in charge of army high- ways at Big Hill, Kentucky, General Grant stayed over night with him. Harrison and Robert were both engineers on the defenses at Cincinnati, George was assistant engineer in the regular service, United States Navy and served on the Paul Jones and the Monitor Nahant, resigning at the close of the war.
From 1863 to 1865 Hosea was in charge of the family and of the surveying practice. He spent about ten years in this local work. At various times he has prepared maps for publication or tax purposes of Akron and Summit counties, Stark County, Cleveland, Marion, Wapakoneta, Bowling Green, Alliance, Canton, Massillon, Coshocton and Newark, Ohio; Watertown and Dunkirk, New York; Newport, Kentucky ; Ozark, Missouri ; Brevard County, Florida; and a historical atlas of Wabash County, Indiana.
Hosea Paul
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About twelve years of his active career were spent in locating and constructing railroads. His important work in this field covered an extensive mileage, including the Michigan Cen- tral from Gaylord to Mackinac; Lake Shore and Michigan Southern from Fayette, Ohio, to Goshen, Indiana ; the B. R. & P., Brockway- ville, Pennsylvania ; the B. & M. line, Edgar, Nebraska; Little Rock, Arkansas & Spring- field in Missouri; Baltimore & Ohio from Akron to Youngstown; Akron & Barberton Belt Railroad. He was selected by Senator Brice to make detailed surveys of a railway proposed from Chicago to Toledo and Detroit. The study of grades, alignments, crossings and terminals was thorough and worthy of the highest engineering talent.
In 1890 the Lake Erie and Western Rail- road, which had begun a resurvey of its lines from Sandusky, Ohio, to Peoria, Illinois, em- ployed Mr. Paul, and to this novel conception his skillful direction quickly gave vitality and a form available for the most extended use. At the time it was easily the most comprehen- sive undertaking of the kind ever fully car- ried out. It was happily styled by Mr. Paul in his pamphlet "Railway Surveys and Re- surveys" as a "veritable photograph, a living picture of the line." This pamphlet also con- tained the valuable recommendation to num- ber railroad bridges by the mile posts instead of consecutively. This timely suggestion was adopted all over the country.
The range of his public service has been notably broad and valuable. He was deputy surveyor at Akron and Cleveland and for several years was chief land surveyor for the Cleveland Park System. He introduced a sys- tem of numbering courses to prevent omis- sions in descriptions. He also conducted for many years the surveying practice later turned over to Elmer B. Wight, a close friend. He has been city engineer of Akron and Cuyahoga Falls; county auditor at Akron; member of the Cleveland Board of Education, 1885; was one of the organizers of the Cleveland Engi- neering Society in 1880; is a member of the City Club; is second vice president of the Cleveland Real Estate Board in 1917; and vice president of "The Drake Day Associa- tion" which commemorates the discovery of petroleum.
Mr. Paul's ambition to serve as recorder of Cuyahoga County was a natural outgrowth of his wide experience, which had convinced him that almost everywhere the public records were being handled according to the routine
of the log house era, and the facilities afforded in this metropolitan county were of the same primeval pattern.
In government, in industry, and society the fact is becoming every day better realized that these agencies and institutions are shackled hy systems and practices that were adequate when originally adopted but are now obsolete and obstructive. The situation as it prevailed in Cuyahoga County had attracted Mr. Paul's attention years ago, and while other persons were also familiar with it he came to be regarded as the most conspicuous advocate of this needed reform. This, with a general confidence in his ability and char- acter, led to his being placed upon the demo- cratic county ticket in 1912. The party lead- ers guessed rightly; it was a real campaign issue which, when presented to a body of voters remarkable for discrimination and in- dependent thought, made his election a cer- tainty. He took office as county recorder in September, 1913, and his present term extends to September, 1919.
The index system which up to this time was inexcusably crude, was set aside in Janu- ary, 1914, by a fresh start as to all new entries on a plan of such admitted excellence that there is probably no running alphabetical in- dex anywhere, for any purpose, that excels it in magnitude, completeness and continuity.
Printed forms and other efficient devices were also installed, which not only provided new facilities, but actually lowered the total operating cost, which in six years, 1907-12, including the recorder's salary, was 68 per cent of the receipts, while in 1916 the pro- portion of such cost was reduced to 48 per cent.
It is not too much to say that his work in this office is regarded to be intelligent and constructive beyond that of any previous in- cumbent and have made a reputation that is now country wide. Mr. Paul very modestly disclaims such an estimate and says that he ventured to do a few things that he thought the public would appreciate and which were really easy by his policy of keeping in close personal contact with real estate men, bankers, attorneys, abstractors, surveyors and the pub- lic generally and was ready to profit by their suggestions and co-operation.
His work for many years brought him into recorders' offices all over the country to an extent probably unsurpased by any living man, and he still keeps up the habit of visiting such offices on his vacation trips.
ยท The public appreciation of his work has
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steadily grown and in 1916 he was re-elected by the remarkable majority of 20,669 votes.
His interest in the problems of land transfer extends to every detail, and always from a progressive standpoint. He is not impressed by mere tradition, however venerable. He is an advocate of The Torrens System and is, with others, engaged in preparing standard forms for conveyancing and for securing legis- lation for this and for other means of simplify- ing procedure.
Mr. Paul's published writings include "The Systematic Subdivision of Land" (Journal Association Engineering Societies, 1884), "The Land System of the Reserve," "Village Forms" (New England Magazine, 1891), "Natural Gas" (Engineering Magazine, Jan- uary, 1892), "The Clinton Line Railroad" (Firelands Pioneer, 1915), "Railway Surveys and Re-surveys" (Engineering News, 1891), and many other interesting articles which are frequently models of condensed description well worth further exposition in more extended form. His friends insist that he undertake this task as an implied obligation arising from his technical career, and from wide contact with affairs and because the extent and ac- curacy of his information can be made avail- able by facility and grace of expression, with, upon occasion, touches of appealing sentiment. Qualities that, aided by a good presence and voice, make him a very acceptable platform speaker and his occasional efforts in this direc- tion have been distinctly successful.
Mr. Paul's activities have been many and by far larger than any brief outline can in- clude. The military service of the father and older brothers left him in charge of the family and the surveying practice during almost the entire period of the Civil war. He, however, found an opportunity for service as a lay delegate of the United States Christian Com- mission at City Point, Virginia, which was then the headquarters of the army. He was given charge of the general storehouse, from which he received and distributed supplies to the hospitals and camps but did not per- form any religious work. This experience gave him a view of military events at close range, and made a deep impression. It is only re- cently, however, that he realized its importance or gave it more than casual mention. It was voluntary service without pay, and his ex- pense vouchers amounted to twenty-two dol- lars for the entire period.
In 1865, with two older brothers. George and Robert, he was a surveyor on Oil Creek,
Pennsylvania, when the speculative boom raged so fiercely. He saw, at its climax, Pit- hole City rise out of the fields, like a dream of the night, and of the survivors of these spec- tacular events none can better express their significance and sentiment than he has done on the occasions when he has undertaken to describe them.
Politically Mr. Paul is a democrat, a friend and follower of the late Tom L. Johnson. But while his beliefs are strong his interest and fellowship are by no means restricted by par- tisan lines. His manner is kindly and un- affected, the sort that makes and retains friends. He can be delightfully reminiscent of the past, but his main interest is in the things of today and tomorrow, and in this, like all men who conquer a place in the com- munity, his vision reaches far beyond the things he can do. He is, however, no vain dreamer, but is intensely practical and has the enthusiasm and persuasive power to se- cure definite results as he goes along. Above all, he is not troubled by illusions as to his own importance or originality, but freely acknowledges his obligations to others.
His reading has been wide, and his appre- ciation of literary performance, including poetry, is keen. He is a student of local history. The story of the Western Reserve is a familiar topic with him. He delivered the principal address at the annual meeting of the Early Settlers Association in 1916. He is now making a collection of books relating to the carly history of petroleum.
While he recognizes the excellence of fra- ternal organizations, his membership in open bodies and his work has left him little time for participation in such agencies of social benefit.
In 1875 Mr. Paul married Miss Emma Plum, of Cuyahoga Falls. Mrs. Paul died in 1913, and their only child. Kate, a girl of great promise, died in her eleventh year.
Achievement is important, character is much more. Mr. Paul has lived a clean and honorable life, has performed his duties, pri- vate and civic. capably, with sincerity and a full sense of obligation. That is the crown- ing satisfaction of his long life and that is why he is so rich in the esteem of a wide circle of loyal and devoted friends.
EDWIN CONVERSE HIGBEE was one of the citizens of Cleveland upon whom might be bestowed with peculiar fitness the title of merchant prince. The Highbee Company,
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which he founded and which is one of Cleve- land's largest and best dry goods stores, lo- cated at Euclid Avenue and East Thirteenth Street, has long been associated in the minds of Cleveland people with the character of the man who for so many years controlled its destinies and upbuilding. Mr. Higbee was more than a merchant. In the city at large he exercised an influence fine in quality and purpose. It was an influence proceeding from a character of quiet strength, sanity and dis- interestedness, fortified by a varied experi- ence of men and events and directed by a kindly but keen discernment of human rela- tions. Possessing a genius for executive management, he was a factor in his city's substantial fortunes and institutions. He also impressed by reason of his steadfast hon- esty as well as his ability to handle large af- fairs.
In these days his career deserves all the more emphasis because it was a product of strictly American environment and of the best of American family stock and traditions. In the paternal line he represented the eighth generation from Edward Iligbee (then spelled Higbie), who was probably born in Englnad in 1647 and was granted a house and lot at New London, Connecticut. In 1674 there is record of his residence at Jamaica, Long Island, where he died.
His grandfather, Jeremiah Higbee, moved from Middletown, Connecticut, to Lewis County, New York, where other relatives had settled. Jeremiah Higbee, Sr., was a Bap- tist minister and died about 1842 at Turin, New York.
Jeremiah Higbee, Jr., father of the late Cleveland merchant, was for many years the leading merchant of Lodi, Ohio. He died at Cleveland January 22, 1878, when about eighty-five years of age. He was not only a successful merchant but a man of deep re- ligious convictions and exemplary life and for many years was a deacon in the Congre- gational Church at Lodi. He was about for- ty-two years of age when, at Lodi in Medina County on June 12, 1835, he married Sarah Converse. The Converse family had its roots in early New England history. The authen- tic history of this line goes back nearly nine centuries. The family originated in Nor- mandy and from there went to England at the time of the Norman conquest. The Amer- ican founder was Deacon Edward Convers, who was born in Wakerly, England, January 30, 1590. The deacon spelled the name "Con- Vol. II-7
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