A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 21

Author: Avery, Elroy McKendree, 1844-1935; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, New York The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 904

USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut > Part 21

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Thomas S. Grasselli, a son of C. A. Grasselli, is the present active head of the Grasselli Company and represents the third generation of the family in America.

He was born in Cleveland November 14, 1876, and in 1893 finished his literary course in Mount St. Mary's College at Emmitsburg, Maryland. On returning to Cleveland he started to master the business of the Grasselli interests. There was nothing supercilious in his character and he started in as a laborer in the plant and learned the business by actual

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contact with every detail of the work. He was promoted to additional responsibilities from time to time, and in 1898 was made an official in the management of the business, in 1904 was elected second vice president, in 1913 first vice president, and since January, 1916, has been president of the corporation, direct- ing the affairs of a business that has long since outgrown the limitations of one city and is now practically one of the great Amer- ican industries.

Mr. Grasselli is a director of The Citizens Savings & Trust Company, vice president of the Woodland Avenue Savings & Trust Com- pany, a director of the Broadway Savings & Trust Company, and a director of The Wheel- ing & Lake Erie Railroad and the Cleveland and Youngstown Railway.

He was formerly a member of Troop A, . Ohio National Guard, and at the time of the Spanish-American war became captain and regimental quartermaster of the First Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Mr. Grasselli is a member of the Union Club, the Country Club, Shaker Heights Country Club, Chagrin Valley Hunt C'lub, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Society of New York and the Chem- ists Club of New York. His religious affilia- tion is with the Catholic church. At Rock Island, Illinois, in May, 1899, he married Emelie Schmidt. They have three children : Caesar A., second, and Thomas Fries, both of whom are attending the University School of Cleveland, and Harry Williams.

HON. HENRY I. EMERSON is now serving his second term in Congress, representing the Twenty-Second Ohio District of Cleveland. As congressman Mr. Emerson has been a vigorous factor in the present international crisis and has stood uncompromisingly for national pre- paredness and the upholding of President Wilson's stand in the matter of adequate training and consolidation of the resources and people of this nation for war purposes.

Mr. Emerson was the only one of Cleve- land's three congressmen who announced him- self definitely, before the opening of the Sixty-Fifth Congress, for a program provid- ing universal military training. Early in the session he introduced a bill providing for military training for the boys in high schools and preparatory schools and he also intro- duced a bill authorizing the organization of a volunteer army under the command of for- mer President Roosevelt.

Congressman Emerson was born at Litch-

field, Maine, March 15, 1871, a son of Ivory W. and Rose A. (Stewart) Emerson. Mr. Emerson has lived in Cleveland since early manhood. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in the law department in 1893, and began practice at Cleveland immediately upon his graduation. In 1902-03 he served as a member of the Cleveland City Council and has long been a recognized leader of the repub- lican party. He was elected a member of the Sixty-Fourth Congress in 1914, and reelected in 1916. Congressman Emerson is a member of the Methodist church. His offices in Cleve- land are in the Society for Savings Building.

On December 25, 1894, he married Nettie Naumann at Cleveland, who died August 15, 1913. On February 19, 1917, Mr. Emerson married Miss Lillian McCormick, daughter of J. W. McCormick, formerly of Galt, Ontario, but now a resident of Grafton, Ohio.

WALTER MCCLURE. The wide-awake oper- ator in realty in almost any section is able to accomplish results when conditions are nor- mal, and that many have availed themselves of advantageous circumstances, the prosperity of numerous communities and the individuals themselves, conclusively prove. If this be true in the smaller localities, how much more so is it at Cleveland, where much of the wealth and many industrial activities of the Middle West are concentrated. One of those who have been instrumental in bringing about present substantial conditions is Walter McClure, a handler of realty investments, who stands pre- eminent as a capable, alert and honorable oper- ator. During his business career along this line he has handled many thousands of dol- lars' worth of property, and his name has be- come prominently known in connection with some of the largest realty deals in the history of the city.

Mr. MeClure was born at Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, August 8, 1880, a son of Hon. Addison S. and Mary L. (Brigham) MeClure, old and respected residents of Wooster, where the father died in 1902, the mother surviving him five years and dying at Cleveland. Ad- dison S. MeClure was born at Wooster, where the family had settled at an early day, and during the Civil war enlisted in the Fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but was promoted captain and transferred to the Six- teenth Regiment. His services in the army covered a period of nearly five years, during which time he was in numerous engagements, was captured by the enemy and confined in

Walter si Clure

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Vicksburg, Libby and Andersonville prisons, and made a splendid record for bravery and fidelity. Returning to Wooster he embarked in the practice of law and in time became not only the leading attorney of the city, but also a prominent figure in civic and national af- fairs, serving as a member of the Forty-seventh Congress in 1881-1883, and of the Fifty-fourth Congress, 1895-1897. Mrs. McClure's people were from Monroe, Michigan, where she was born.

The only child of his parents, Walter Mc- Clure was reared at Wooster, where he at- tended the graded and high schools, and in 1901 graduated from Wooster University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he en- tered the Western Reserve University, gradu- ating in 1904 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and in June, 1904, was admitted to the bar of Ohio. Mr. McClure, however, did not take up the practice of that profession, al- though it has been of great aid to him in his business. He had recognized the possibilities of the real estate field, and, gathering together all the capital he could command, about $8,000, he entered the business determined to win. His subsequent achievements at Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland tell a story of wonder- ful success. When he started he handled city properties exclusively, and until five years ago operated principally in Detroit and Milwan- kee, but at the same time retained an office at Cleveland, being now in the Garfield Building, and handles only his own property. He is secretary and treasurer of the Griswold Build- ing Company, the Morse Building Company, the Del Prado Building Company, the Perkins Building Company and the East Fourth Street Building Company, and treasurer of the Douglas Prospect Building Company, all of Cleveland; vice president of the Mather Realty Company of Detroit ; and secretary and treasurer of the Woodward Realty Company of Detroit. One of Mr. McClure's biggest deals was the leasing of the Plankinton prop- erty at Milwaukee to Charles W. Somers, vice president of the American League of Profes- sional Baseball. Mr. McClure started the building at Cleveland in 1916 of the Del Prado, an apartment hotel, which was finished in July, 1917, located at No. 4209 Euclid Ave- nue, with eighty-eight suites and twenty-one terraces. In November, 1916, he commenced the erection of the Perkins, at 8011 Euclid Avenue, to be finished October 1, 1917, an apartment hotel with fifty suites. The Morse, at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Seventy-

seventh Street, was built by him and has forty- nine suites; and the Griswold, which he is erecting at No. 3844 Euclid Avenue, next to the old home of John D. Rockefeller, will, when ready for occupancy, be an apartment hotel with sixty-eight suites. Mr. MeClure has always taken a deep interest in the city's wel- fare and lias never hesitated to advocate or oppose measures which he has believed would affect the general welfare. His successful career as a real estate man has given him a prominent place among the shrewd judges of such values in Cleveland and he is a valued member of the Cleveland Real Estate Board and of the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges. He belongs also to the Phi Gamma Delta and the Phi Beta Phi fraternities, to the Union, Cleveland Athletic and City clubs and to the Civic League.

Mr. MeClure was married to Miss Frances Kauke, of Exeter, California, at that place November 27, 1911. She was born at Wooster, Ohio, and educated there in the public schools and Wooster University, and is a daughter of C. W. and Miriam (Phillips) Kauke, who are now living in retirement at Exeter. Dur- ing the active period of his career Mr. Kanke was a leading banker of Wooster.

PETER WITT. The city of Cleveland has long been recognized as one of America's most desirable communities, both as a trade center and as a place of residence. Its busy marts have held ont opportunities to men of sub- stantial worth and business prominence, and its beautiful residential sections have attracted people of wealth and culture. Like all large cities, however, one of its most serious prob- lems has, until within recent years, been the problem of transportation. Its districts are so situated, its street system is so planned, and its traveling public so large, that for a long time the question of handling its street car facilities in an expeditious and satisfactory manner was one of grave consequence. This problem has been solved through the genius of one of its best known citizens, Peter Witt, who in 1916 secured the patent on what is known as "The Car Rider's Car," a street car coach which has been put into operation on the city's surface lines, and today Cleve- land may boast of one of the fastest-working systems of any in the country. Mr. Witt has long been well and favorably known in busi- ness circles of Cleveland, and continues to be prominent in public affairs, in which he has taken a leading part for some years.

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A native son of Cleveland, Peter Witt was born July 24, 1869, his parents being Chris- topher and Anna (Probeck) Witt. Christopher Witt was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, and after acquiring the trade of blacksmith he toured Germany. Some time during the early '40s, while in the southern sections of this empire, he put the tires on the first locomotive which ascended the Alps. There he met Carl Schurz, the German patriot who later was forced to flee to Scotland to escape arrest after having participated in the revolutionary move- ments in the Palatinate and at Baden, and in 1849 came to the United States. Mr. Witt settled at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he secured work at the trade of blacksmith, which he had learned in his youth, and re- mained in that city until 1866. While there he met and married Anna Probeck, who was born in Germany, near Mainz, and who in 1851, after losing her parents, had come alone to the United States at the age of eighteen years. They were married August 27, 1853, and resided at Philadelphia until the spring of 1866, when they came to Cleveland, Mr. Witt securing employment at his trade at the old Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Works, where he assisted in the building of the first locomo- tives put together this side of the Allegheny Mountains. He worked at his trade until about 1889, when he retired, and then lived quietly until his death, which occurred at Cleveland December 15, 1897, Mrs. Witt surviving until October 10, 1909. This pioneer couple of Cleveland were most highly respected. Mr. Witt, who was a splendid citizen, was intensely · interested in the Abolition movement, but

maintained an independent stand upon politi- cal questions. There were eleven children in the family, seven born at Philadelphia and four at Cleveland, and of these five grew to maturity : Charles, the eldest of these, was killed in a railroad collision while a fireman on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway at Han- over Junction, near Baraboo, Wisconsin, Octo- ber 11, 1883, being then twenty-four years of age; Sophia is now Mrs. Frederick Hayes, of Cleveland; Anna is the widow of Alexander Dow and lives in this city ; Herman, deceased, was baliff in the court of Judge Morgan of Cleveland ; and Peter is the youngest.

Peter Witt secured his education at the old Orchard school on the West Side, Cleveland, and in 1886 was apprenticed to the trade of moulder, a vocation at which he was employed until 1896, as a journeyman in various estab- lishments at Cleveland and elsewhere. In the

latter year he became interested in newspaper work and insurance, and, having made a pro- found study of the matter, publislied two books upon the subject of taxation, which at- tracted widespread interest at the time. In 1901 Mr. Witt became the first appointee of the late Tom L. Johnson when he took the mayoralty chair, being given the office of what was known as the "Tax School," a special department which had been created by the mayor himself. This department Mr. Witt conducted until November, 1902, when the office was abolished by the injunction rule. On May 4, 1903, Mr. Witt was elected city clerk of Cleveland, in which office his services were so satisfactory that he was reelected in 1906 and retained the office continuously until Jan- mary 3, 1910, when, with the Tom Johnson administration, his office expired. During the two terms following Mr. Witt confined his at- tention to his private affairs, but January 1, 1912, he again entered public life during Mayor Newton D. Baker's administration, as City Street Railway Commissioner, an office in which he became intimately familiar with the problems of street transportation. At the expiration of his term of office, January 1, 1916, he returned to his private affairs, which include principally consulting work in rail- way operations. During this time he has pat- tented what is known as the "Car Rider's Car," as noted above, but which is generally known as the Peter Witt car by the operators. He secured the patent April 25, 1916, and since that time numerous other cities have adopted this car. At this writing, May, 1917, there are cars in service at Cleveland, Toledo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica and Schenectady, with cars building for Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Erie and Youngstown, and nu- merous other large centers of traffic. For this front-entrance, center-exit car, Mr. Witt makes the claim that it loads quickly, lessens accidents, gets all the fares, pleases the car rider, has less platform expense, lessens law- suits, secured more dividends and assures pub- lie favor. A description of this new car may not be without interest. Its features are not new and untried, but have been developed and adopted in standard practice on the cars of the large systems in different parts of the country. The low entrance and exit at the center have been widely used on many of the principal city railways; the door and window systems have been widely adopted; the com- bination of the longitudinal and transverse seats has been quite common in long city cars

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for many years: placing the conductor near the center of the car is far from unusual; single-end operation with the motorman's posi- tion partitioned to prevent encroachment upon his operating space and, at the same time, to permit him to control the entrance door and step and to observe freely the incoming passengers, has been broadly adopted; and, in fact, all of the individual features are well known and firmly established in modern elec- tric railway design. The distinctive feature of this car is the provision of the largest amount of loading space of any pay-as-you- enter or pay-as-you-leave car that was ever put into operation. This feature is attained without the sacrifice of seating space, and it achieves the most advanced method of fare collection that has yet been conceived. John J. Stanley, president of the Cleveland Railway Company, has witnessed the evolution of the transportation system from horse-drawn vehi- ele to electric-propelled motor, from turntable to loop, from bell-punch to fare-box, and his opinion is: "I have seen it all, and unhesi- tatingly say that in the front-entrance, center- exit car the last word in car design has been spoken." In a report to the American Electric Railway Association, F. W. Doolittle, director of the Bureau of Fare Research, Amer- ican Electric Railway Association, said in part when speaking of the Car Rider's Car: "This car is of the front-entrance, center-exit type. In the forward half of the car, seats are arranged longitudinally, leaving a large standing. area, and in the rear part of the car there are tranverse seats with a center aisle, together with a marginal seat about the rear end and two short lon- gitudinal seats near the center of the car. The forward half of the car is for passengers who have not paid their fares and the rear half of the car is for passengers who have passed the conductor, stationed at the center-exit, and who therefore have paid their fares. All passengers leave through the center door, those from the rear leaving without the attention of the conductor and those from the forward part of the car paying as they leave. During periods of heavy travel a large number of passengers can be taken aboard this car in a very short time and, since there is always the incentive of cross seats in the rear part of the car, a considerable portion of the passengers automatically work past the conductor, paying their fare as they move and thus lessening the length of time necessary for stops. This type of car has much to commend it as a

revenue-producing unit, and the success with which its use has been attended in Cleveland doubtless will lead to the construction of more cars of a similar design."

Mr. Witt has consistently maintained an independent stand in political matters. He has been very active in Cleveland politics, and in 1915 was a candidate for mayor, but met with defeat through an accident in the preferential ballot. He defeated the present mayor, Harry L. Davis, by 3,000 votes in the first choice votes, but in the second and third choice was counted out.

Mr. Witt married June 14, 1892, at Cleve- land, Miss Sadie James, who was born and reared in the West Side, about a block away from the home of Mr. Witt, and attended the Orchard school. She is a daughter of Absalom and Sarah (Owen) James, now deceased, who became residents of Cleveland in 1868. Three daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Witt, all at Cleveland. Hazel is a graduate of East High School, class of 1913, and of the Women's College, Western Reserve Univer- sity, class of 1917. Norma Jean, a graduate of East High School, class of 1914, attended the Women's College one year, then took up kin- dergarten work, and is the wife of Herbert Cooper Jackson, Yale, 1916, now with the firm of Pickands, Mather & Company, of Cleve- land. Helen is attending the Doan Grade School.

HON. JAMES A. REYNOLDS. Within the present generation there has not arisen in Ohio a more brilliant or more popular legis- lator or a finer citizen than Hon. James A. Reynolds, of Cleveland. A member of the House and Senate at various times during the past decade, he has been the author of some of the most important legislation that has come before these bodies in this period, his most recent achievement being the fathering of the bill for presidential suffrage for Ohio women, which was passed by the General Assembly early in 1917. While Mr. Reynolds is a figure of state-wide importance in public affairs, his accomplishments have not been confined to his abilities as a law-maker, for in various other ways he has distinguished himself. His rise from obscurity to prominence within a little more than a quarter of a century forms one of the interesting chapters in the history of the lives of Cleveland's foremost citizens.

James A. Reynolds was born at Swindon, Wiltshire, England, December 6, 1871, a son of Charles Edward and Jane (Jarman) Rey-

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nolds, the latter a native of Wales and the former of the city of London, England. Mar- ried at Swindon, the parents resided at that place until their son James A. was eight years of age, at which time they went to Wales, and in that country, one year later, James A. Reynolds entered upon his independent career, securing employment in the coal mines, where he worked until he was nearly fifteen years old. In 1886 the family came to the United States and landed at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and then proceeded to Alliance, Ohio, where the family home was located for three and one-half years. The father, who spent his entire life as a stationary engineer, met his deatlı in an accident August 8, 1913, while operating an engine at the shops of the Chi- cago Pneumatic Tool Company, at Cleveland, the family having lived in this city since the latter part of 1890. Mrs. Reynolds, an active and energetic woman of strong intellect, kept herself well informed in regard to the im- portant movements of the times, was a natural politician, and a stanch disciple of the late Mayor Tom Johnson of Cleveland. She was also a great friend and admirer of Peter Witt, who, in November, 1915, was defeated for the mayoralty of Cleveland. Four days after his defeat, November 7, 1915, Mrs. Reynolds died, and Mr. Reynolds has always felt that the shock attending the disappointment over her friend's failure had much to do in causing her lemise. Of the children of Charles Ed- ward and Jane Reynolds, all of whom were born in England, four sons and one daughter died in childhood, while three sons and one daughter survive, as follows: William C., who is a street car conductor at Cleveland ; James A .; Ada, who is the widow of John M. Tooth and a resident of Cleveland; and George E., who is connected with the Ford Automobile Company at Detroit, Michigan.

James A. Reynolds attended the public schools of his native place in England and, after coming to the United States, a Cleveland night school, but the greater part of his edu- cation, he feels, has been secured in the "Col- lege of Hard Knocks" and the trade union movement. Self teaching, much reading, a good deal of study and close observation have contributed toward making him a decidedly well informed man. While residing at Al- liance with his parents he learned the trade of machinist, but felt that the city of Cleve- land offered greater possibilities, and leaving home arrived in this city April 11, 1890. His cash capital at the time of his arrival totaled

seventy-five cents, but he was in possession of a good trade, workmen in which were at a premium, and the nineteen-year-old youth found no trouble in securing employment. During the next ten years he worked at his trade, gradually advancing among its members by reason of his activities in trade union cir- eles, and, because of his initiative, ambition, energy and popularity, coming more and more to the front as a desirable and useful citizen. In 1901, when the late Tom Johnson was selected as mayor of Cleveland, Mr. Reynolds was appointed inspector of machinery of the City Water Works of Cleveland, and it was while acting in this capacity, in 1902, that he went to Lockport, New York, to secure new pumps for his station. He not only brought back what he had gone for, but returned also with a bride.

Mr. Reynolds held the position of inspector of machinery until 1909. In the meantime, in 1906, he had been elected to the Ohio State Legislature, and served in that body during that and the two following years, but con- tinued to hold his inspectorship, obtaining leaves of absence at periods during those years to attend to his legislative duties. He was one of the most active members of the House of the General Assembly, and in 1908 secured the passage of the Reynolds Child Labor Law, of which he was the author.

In June, 1909, Mr. Reynolds was appointed assistant superintendent of the Cooley Farm, and in November of the same year was made superintendent of. that institution. In Jan- uary, 1910, because of a change in the admin- istration of the city, he was removed from the position by the new mayor, but in the same year was sent to the Ohio State Senate and served in the session of 1910 and 1911. While in that body his work included the putting through of the Reynolds Non-Partisan Ju- diciary Bill, which took the judiciary of the state out of politics, and which was and still is considered one of the best pieces of legisla- tion ever accomplished. While still a member of the State Senate Mr. Reynolds was made inspector for the New York Central Railway Company, in charge of the concrete work, having the entire new belt line of Cleveland to inspect. He was still connected with the New York Central Lines in that capacity when, in January, 1912, Newton D. Baker was elected mayor of Cleveland. The new mayor appointed Mr. Reynolds superintendent of the Cooley Farm, a position held by him until March 1, 1916, when he became superintendent

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A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 21

Author: Avery, Elroy McKendree, 1844-1935; Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, New York The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 904

Author: Avery, Elroy McKendree, 1844-1935; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, New York The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 904