USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut > Part 36
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Miss Willis' private library includes a very unique selection including "The Five Foot Shelf," first edition of Harvard classies, and many rare volumes of historical, literary and scientific works.
Besides the achievements which must be credited to her indomitable energy and mental and will power, it is only natural to ascribe much to inheritance. Miss Willis is of Eng- lish-French and German extraction. Her father Dedrich William Willis, Sr., was de- scended from the noble and gentleman classes, the gentleman class of England on the pater- nal side and of the French nobility and the Huguenot stock on the maternal side, each bearing their significant crests. Her mother, Mrs. Sarah A. (Tinkey) Willis, was also of sturdy ancestry. On the paternal side the mother's ancestry goes back nearly two centuries to her great-great-grandfather, George Tinkey, a native of the Prov- ince of Hesse, Germany, who came to America about 1760 and located in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The maternal ancestors have
been traced back over 300 years to Johann Krumrein of Jungholzhausen, Wurtemburg. Johann Krumrein was born in 1592. The first progenitor in America of this side of the house was George Lenhart Krumrein, born in Ger- many, 1719, and landed at Philadelphia from the Palatinate mn 1749.
On the records of the University of Oxford in England for the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may be seen the names of seven members of the Willis family who matricu- lated during the period from 1557 to 1681. All appear to have distinguished themselves in the university, no one of them having taken less than two degrees. They seem to have been equally prominent in subsequent life, espe- cially in the church. Five of them received tlie degree Bachelor of Arts, and later that of Master of Arts, one became a Doctor of Di- vinity, one a Bachelor of Civil Law, one a Bachelor of Medicine, one a Doctor of Medi- cine, and three held fellowships. As church dignitaries three of them became vicars, two became rectors, one was a dean and one was a canon. The oldest, Francis Willis, became president of St. John's College and vice chan- cellor of the University of Oxford, and for different periods of his life held five prominent offices in the Church of England. He died in 1596.
Of the American branch of the family George Willis, a Puritan of considerable dis- tinetion, is recorded as being admitted to the Freeman's Oath in 1638 and elected a deputy to the General Court.
Another, Charles Willis, was an active mem- ber of the Boston Tea Party that threw into the water on the night of December 16, 1773, the cargoes of three English tea ships that had just arrived in the harbor. His position and action in the affair were represented in an ancient engraving, bought long afterwards by his grandson Deacon Nathaniel Willis. A copy of the same is now in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. His wife Abigail was a lady of character and of maxims, and exhorted her family never to eat brown bread when they could get white, and never to go in at the back door when they might go in at the front.
A son of this worthy couple Nathaniel, Sr .. conducted a whig newspaper in Boston and became one of the pioneer journalists of the West. He removed first to Winchester, Vir- ginia, where he published a paper, then to Shepardstown, also published a paper there,
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and in 1790 went to Martinsburg, Virginia, and founded the Potomac Guardian and edited it until 1796. In that year he went to Chillicothe, Ohio, and established the Scioto Gazette, the first paper in what was then known as the Northwest Territory. He was printer to the Government of the territory and afterwards held an agency in the post office department. His son Nathaniel Willis, Jr., lived in Boston and after years of effort, dur- ing which he supported himself by publishing tracts and devotional books, started in Janu- ary, 1816, the Boston Recorder, which he as- serted to be the first religious newspaper in the world. It still lives as the Congrega- tionalist and Boston Recorder. Nathaniel Willis, Jr., also originated the idea of a re- ligious paper for children, The Youth's Com- panion, which he commenced in 1827 and edited for about thirty years. It was the first and remains one of the best publications of the kind in existence. A son of this Boston editor was Nathaniel P. Willis, a poet and writer of Belles Lettres whose name is lastingly en- shrined in the history of American literature. The elder Willis had the formal and narrow piety of the new evangelicals of that day, re- volting against the latitudinarianism of the Boston churches and was for twenty years deacon of Park Street Church, Boston, pro- fanely nicknamed by the Unitarians "Brim- stone Corner."
Another ancestor in the paternal line was a fine old Puritan Divine, Rev. John Bailey, a non-conforming independent minister in Lancashire, who having been silenced and afterwards imprisoned escaped to Massachu- setts in 1684, and was a minister over the church in Watertown and later an associate minister over the First Church in Boston, where he died in 1697. Increase Mather preached his funeral sermon. His tomb is in the Granary Burying Ground opposite Park Street Church and his portrait in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Another ancestor of Miss Willis was Alex- ander Mack, founder of the German Baptist Church. One of the family, Col. Henry Willis, married Mildred Washington, who was born in 1696 and was the aunt and godmother of General Washington. Mrs. Catherine D. Mu- rat, the second child of Col. Byrd Willis was born in 1803, and at the early age of thirteen years married Atcherson Gray, son of John Gray of "Traveller's Rest." Atcherson Gray
died in less than twelve months after his mar- riage and his child born after his death died also. The young widow went with her father and mother to Florida and soon after her ar- rival there married Achille Murat, ex-prince of Naples, nephew to Napoleon Bonaparte. They settled about sixteen miles from Talla- hassee. She subsequently accompanied her husband to London, and saw a great deal of the high life in that ciy and was introduced by Lady Dudley Stuart, a daughter of Lucien Bonaparte, as the niece of Washington. Not- withstanding notable attention shown her abroad, she returned a good American. On one occasion while visting an art gallery in London in company with John Randolph of Roanoke and other distinguished personages the party paused before the pictures of Napo- leon and Washington which hung side by side. Randolph, pointing to the pictures, re- marked, "Before us we have Napoleon and Washington, one the founder of a mighty em- pire, the other of a great republic." Then, turning to the company, he said, "Behold in the Princess Murat the nieee of both, a dis- tinction which she alone can claim." In grati- tude for her kindness to him when in exile and in recognition of her husband's claims, Napo- leon III, when emperor of France, placed the Princess Murat at the head of the French no- bility and honored her with a seat on his right. After the war between the States Louis Napo- leon settled an annuity of 50,000 franes upon the Princess Murat, which was regularly paid up to the time of her death. Another distinc- tion was the bestowal upon her of the right of the royal livery of France.
Miss Willis' grandmother Susannah Dc- Shong Willis, was a linguist, and assistant to her father who was professor of the languages in the city of Philadelphia. Her maiden name Susannalı DeShong was the Americanized form of the proper Freneh name "De- Champs." A descendant of Susannah De- Shong Willis was reputed to be a founder of the Order of the Paulist Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ancestry lends distinetion only when the descendants have something of the distinctive qualities of the forbears, and few women may more properly take pride in aneestry than Harriet Jean Willis, lawyer, Cleveland.
NELSON MOSES, who died in Cleveland July 21, 1908, was a prominent factor in local busi-
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ness affairs, and was senior member of the well known real estate and contracting firm of N. Moses & Brothers.
He was born at Euclid, Ohio, May 16, 1833, and was seventy-five years of age at the time of his death.
His father, Charles Moses, was a Euclid pioneer, where he located as early as 1814. Nelson Moses had but a country school educa- tion, and it was through natural talent and hard work that he made a success in business affairs.
The firm of N. Moses & Brothers, of which he was for forty years senior member, did an extensive business in handling railroad ties and ship timber as well as in local real estate development. Nelson Moses was one of the men chiefly interested in the founding of Col- linwood, as a Cleveland suburban district. He was also a director of the First National Bank and member of the advisory council of the Cleveland Trust Company.
He never married, and, outside of business affairs, he was perhaps most interested in the Masonic Order, in which he attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He was also an active member of Al Koran Temple of Mystic Shrine.
CHARLES W. MOSES was one of three brothers whose names had a very prominent part in Cleveland business affairs, especially in real estate and development lines. Charles Moses was essentially a contractor, and was in that business practically all his life, using it as a basis for extensive real estate operations, in which he was associated with his brothers.
Mr. Moses, who died at his home in Cleve- land, June 27, 1904, was born at Euclid, Ohio, March 15, 1840, son of Charles Moses, a pioneer of that village. He was educated in the coun- try schools, and about his first business experi- ence was in the lumbering industry. He came to Cleveland and joined his brothers Nelson and Angustus in the real estate business and in contracting work, and more and more with passing years his interests became identified with real estate.
In 1887 he was united in marriage to Mary E. Hull of Toledo, Ohio, who still survives him. Mr. Moses was one of the well known citizens of Cleveland, a member of the Col- onial Club, and of various other organiza- tions, and was prominent in the Masonic fra- ternity.
He was the first of the three brothers to die, being survived by Nelson and Angustus
L., and his only sister, Mrs. O. H. War- ren, of Syracuse, New York, all of whom have since passed away.
AUGUSTUS L. MOSES, associated with his two brothers, was for many years a promi- nent factor in Cleveland real estate circles. To that business he gave the study of a life- time, and out of his mature experience ac- quired a judgment and ability which made him an exceptionally successful factor in the growth and improvement of the community. Mr. Moses is remembered as one of the pio- neers in the development of the old Collin- wood and Nottingham sections for real estate purposes.
He represented one of the earliest families of Cuyahoga County. His birth occurred on Euclid Road in the Village of Euclid, Sep- tember 29, 1844. He lived to be nearly seven- ty years of ago, and died while visiting his grandchildren at Atlantic City, New Jersey, January 29, 1914. His parents were Charles and Polly (Akins) Moses. His father came to the Western Reserve from Connecticut in 1807, and in 1814 the family located in Euclid. His wife also came from Connecticut, becom- ing a resident of Euclid about 1816.
Augustus L. Moses grew up in Cuyahoga County, and had only such advantages as were offered by the primitive schools of that day. He first entered the contracting busi- ness, as a contractor of railroad ties, ship timber and general lumber supplies. To that business he gave about twenty-five years of his life.
In 1868 Mr. Moses married Miss Mary E. Dille of Nottingham, Ohio. Their only child is Louis A. Moses, who grew up in the real estate business under his father's guidance and is one of the successful operators of the present time.
In 1870 Nelson and Charles W. Moses with W. F. Walworth, became partners in the real estate business, and in 1871 they were joined by Augustus L. Moses.
In a short time Mr. Walworth retired and the firm of N. Moses and Brothers continued unchanged until the death of Charles W. Moses in 1904, and of Nelson Moses in 1908. After that, Augustus Moses continued as the head of the business, though much of the re- sponsibilities of its management devolved upon his son, Louis A. Moses.
Augustus L. Moses usually confined his at- tention and operations to the property under the individual ownership of the firm, rather
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than to the brokerage basis. It was his con- stant purpose to keep in close touch with the real estate market, and his thorough knowledge gave him the privilege of anticipat- ing possible advances and declines in values. His investments were almost without excep- tion judiciously made and brought him sub- stantial returns.
Mr. Moses was a republican in politics, and was always well informed on current ques- tions and problems. He was never an office seeker, and outside of business was very fond of outdoor life and recreation, chiefly employ- ing his leisure hours in this manner. He was an enthusiastic hunter and fisherman, and belonged to a number of hunting and fish- ing clubs, among which were the Ottawa Shooting and Castalia Fishing clubs.
LOUIS A. MOSES. Reference on other pages is made to the prominence and activities of various members of the Moses family in real estate circles at Cleveland. The old house of that name established in 1871 was N. Moses & Brothers, and the successor to this business is Mr. Louis A. Moses.
Mr. Moses practically grew up in the at- mosphere of real estate, and has an almost intuitive perception of values. Undoubtedly he is one of the best known men in this line of business in the State of Ohio. To the many qualifications granted him through family traditions and by long and thorough experi- ence, he has brought that reliability which is an expression of sterling character, and imparts the final touch of value to every transaction in which he is engaged.
Mr. Moses was born at Cleveland, October 3, 1876, son of Augustus L. and Mary E. (Dille) Moses, who were married at Cleve- land, July 4, 1868. The mother is still liv- ing at Cleveland, and an article on the late Augustus L. Moses is found elsewhere in this publication.
Louis A. Moses attended the public schools of Cleveland, the Brooks Military Academy, and the next four years was tutored. He then entered Adelbert College of Western Reserve University, and later took a law course in the Franklin T. Backus Law School. His knowl- edge of the law he has used primarily to promote his individual success as a real estate operator.
He went into the real estate business in 1899 with his father, and the Arcade offices of this old and established firm, are still occupied by him.
His business is general real estate, insur- anee and mortgage loans. In addition to the main office at 207 The Arcade he main- tains branch offices in old Collinwood, at 16605 Waterloo road, and at 15107 St. Clair Avenue. At Springfield, Missouri, October 3, 1899, Mr. Moses married Miss Olive T. Crane. Her parents, W. G. and Angelia (Baird) Crane are still living at Springfield, where the fam- ily has long been one of prominence. Mr. and Mrs. Moses have two children, both born at Cleveland, Marion Crane and Marjorie Dille Moses.
Mr. Moses was president of the Cleveland Real Estate Board in 1915, was president of the Ohio Association of Real Estate Boards in 1916-17, and is a member of the executive committee of the National Association of Real Estate Boards. He is a director and mem- ber of the executive committee of the Cleve- land Real Estate and Housing Company. This company was organized by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce to stimulate the con- struction of workingmen's homes in order to relieve the congested housing conditions of the city.
Much of his work in real estate affairs has been in the development of the suburban dis- tricts of Collinwood and Nottingham. He took a very active part in the annexation pro- reedings in 1912, when Nottingham was made a part of the larger City of Cleveland, and was a member of the Annexation Commis- sion.
Mr. Moses is the secretary and a director of the Bankers Guaranteed Mortgage Com- pany, and is a director of the Land Title Abstract & Trust Company. He is now vice president of the Cleveland Metropolitan Park Board, successor of the Cuyahoga County Park Board, of which he was also one of the original members. He is a trustee of the Mc- Gregor Home, an institution founded by the late Mrs. Terry as a memorial for her hus- band, Mr. A. M. MeGregor, which is con- ducted and maintained as a home for indigent couples and individuals.
He holds membership in the Cleveland Automobile Club, the Cleveland Athletic Club, Union Club, Civic League, City Club, Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, and the Cleveland Chamber of Industry. In 1916, he was president of the Tippecanoe Club, the leading republican organization of Cleveland. While in college he became a Delta Kappa Epsilon; is president of the local Chapter
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House Company, and is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Club of New York City.
WARREN BICKNELL was educated for the law but was never enrolled as a lawyer. His big work has been in the field of transportation. He was identified with the management of sev- eral pioneer electric lines in Ohio and else- where, and in the maturity of his experience and abilities he has occupied an increasingly important position as a railroad builder and a power in the financing and operation of transportation and industrial corporations.
Mr. Bickell has been a resident of Cleveland for many years. He was born at Morrisville, New York, February 19, 1868, a son of Charles T. and Susan (Payne) Bicknell, both natives of New York State. Mr. Bicknell is descended from an English family that came to this country in 1835. Charles T. Bicknell was born in 1836, gave his active years to mer- chandising and was a manufacturer of paper goods, and on retiring he removed to Cleve- land in 1885 and is still living there. His wife, whom he married in New York in 1857, died in 1871.
Warren Bicknell began his education in the public schools of his native town in New York. In 1878, when he was ten years of age, his parents removed to Massillon, Ohio, where he also attended public school. In 1890 he grad- uated from Adelbert College of Cleveland with the degree of B. A.
On leaving college Mr. Bicknell became a student in the law offices of Boynton, Hale and Horr. He never completed his course, realizing that his talents were rather for con- structive and practical affairs than for the dull routine of the law. For about 11% years he was secretary of the Cleveland Athletic Club. Another year was spent in the coal business at Newcastle, Pennsylvania. He gave up his interests there to become auditor of the Cin- cinnati and Miami Valley Traction Company and general manager of the Dayton Traction Company. These companies were subseqently consolidated with the Southern Ohio Traction Company and at the reorganization Mr. Bick- nell became secretary and auditor. His head- quarters were at Middletown, Ohio, but after two years he resigned his post to become gen- eral manager of the Aurora, Elgin and Chi- cago Railroad, with offices in Chicago. For two years he looked after this third rail elec- trie system, comprising one of the most im- portant suburban electric lines out of Chicago.
From Chicago Mr. Bicknell returned to Cleveland and from 1903 to 1906 was presi- dent of the Lake Shore Electric Railway Com- pany. Since resigning from that office he has been president of the Cleveland Construction Company.
The Cleveland Construction Company, with offices in the Citizens Building, is one of the largest of its kind in Ohio. Its principal work is the building of electric and steam railroads, the erection of light and water plants, and the construction of telephone lines. Its field of operations has been confined to no one state. A few of the larger contracts executed by the company were construction and installation work for the following companies and systems : The Northern Ohio Traction and Light Com- pany ; the Cleveland Southwestern and Colum- bus Lake Shore Electric Company; the Southern Ohio Company; the Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railway; the Rockford, Beloit and Janesville; the Richmond and Petersburg in Virginia; the New York and Long Island Traction Company; the Kokomo and Marion Western; the Western Ohio; Youngstown and Ohio River Company; Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend; and a number of other elec- tric lines.
More and more Mr. Bicknell has become closely identified with the financial organiza- tion and management of transportation com- panies. Ile is president of the Springfield & Xenia Railroad Company; the Citizens Rail- road and Light Company of Fort Worth, Texas : the Havana Electric Railway Company of Cuba; and was formerly chairman of the board of directors of the Toledo Railway and Light Company, and was receiver of the Mu- nicipal Traction Company of Cleveland. Ile is also a director in the Citizens Loan & Trust Company, a director in the Union National Bank, director of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway Company, vice president and director of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, vice president of the Crowell-Lund- off Little Company, and trustee of the West- ern Reserve Academy. Mr. Bicknell is presi- dent of two insurance companies, their busi- ness relations being chiefly with the employees of railway and light companies.
In February, 1900, Mr. Bicknell married Miss Anne Guthrie, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. They have four children : Frances Louise, Warren, Jr., Elizabeth and Guthrie.
Mr. Bicknell since college days has been active in the Delta Kappa Epsilon Society.
Arthur Stanley Danso
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CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS
He is a member of the Union Club, the Hermit Club, the Country Club and the Mayfield Country Club of Cleveland, and is a trustee of the Western Reserve University. His many large interests have made him one of Cleve- land's foremost business men and capitalists and have also enabled him to serve the best interests and welfare of the Ohio metropolis.
THOMAS H. HOGSETT was born on an Ohio farm, was member of a household neither rich nor poor, had a good family name to encourage his aspirations and was given a fair educa- tion. His ambition led him into the law, he was admitted to practice more than thirty years ago, and for more than twenty years has been a resident of Cleveland. In this city he has taken prominence among the ablest corporation lawyers, and his abilities have made him widely known outside the city and even the state. To say that he is a member of the law firm of Tolles, Hogsett, Ginn & Morley, indicates the enviable prominence which he enjoys as a lawyer, since this firm has un- doubted front rank among the larger law firms of Ohio.
Mr. Hogsett was born in Highland County, Ohio, May 17, 1858, a son of John N. and Hannah E. (Hughes) Hogsett. Through both parents he is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. His paternal great-grandfather and his maternal grandfather came from the north of Ireland, while both his grandmothers were natives of Scotland. The prandparents on both sides were early settlers in Ohio, coming to this state from Virginia. Mr. Hogsett's father was born in Ohio, made farming his life work, and became a man of considerable influ- ence in Highland County. He served as jus- tice of the peace and in other positions of trust. Mr. Hogsett's mother was a daughter of John L. Hughes, a leading Highland Coun- ty merchant and farmer, and for several terms a member of the State Legislature. Mr. Hogsett is a nephew of Judge O. H. Hughes, of the State Public Service Commission.
During his boyhood in Highland County Mr. Hogsett attended the common and high schools and was also under private tuition. He began the study of law in the office of Hon. Charles H. Collins of Hillsboro. Entering the Cincinnati Law School, he graduated LL. B. in 1882 and in the same year was admitted to the bar. Ill health prevented his immediate entrance into practice, but in 1883 he opened an office at Hillsboro. From 1884 until 1886
he was a partner at Hillsboro with Judge Albert H. Matthews, and from 1886 to 1895 was associated with Judge Samuel F. Steel.
Mr. Hogsett removed to Cleveland in 1895. For three years he was a partner of Judge George B. Solders. During the administra- tion of Mayor Farley he was appointed direc- tor of law of the city, but when his term ex- pired he devoted himself exclusively to private practice. For a time he was associated with M. B. and H. H. Johnson, but since 1913 has been a member of the firm of Tolles, Hogsett, Ginn & Morley. This firm occupies nearly the entire twelfth floor of the Williamson Build- ing. It is one of the best known corporation law firms of Ohio today. Mr. Hogsett early gained distinction in the Cleveland bar, and in the field of corporation work his abilities are hardly second to any.
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