A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 65

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 65

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After the war he resumed his practice as a lawyer at Cleveland. Upon the resignation of Judge Williamson in September, 1882, from the Common Pleas Bench, Governor Foster appointed Mr. Ingersoll to fill the unexpired term. He served until relieved by the election of E. J. Blandin in October of the following vear. After retiring from the bench Judge Ingersoll associated himself with Messrs. Stevenson Burke and William B. Sanders,

under the firm name Burke, Ingersoll & San- ders. This partnership was continued until Mr. Sanders was appointed judge, and after that Judge Ingersoll practiced with Judge Stevenson Burke and his son, A. F. Ingersoll, the latter mentioned elsewhere in this publica- tion, under the firm name of Burke & Inger- soll.

Still a member of this firm, and enjoying a distinctive place as a highly capable lawyer, Judge Ingersoll was busy with his profession until his death, which occurred August 11, 1899, at Roach River, Maine, where he had gone for his annual vacation. He had arrived on the preceding Tuesday, and on that very day suffered a stroke of apoplexy, which was followed by the second and fatal stroke on Friday, the 11th.

Judge Ingersoll as a lawyer was absolutely fearless and honest. When he had once made up his mind that a certain position was right he would never recede from it, no matter what the opposition might be. It mattered not to him how unpopular that position might be or how fiercely he might be assailed. He was always true to his convictions and absolutely without either moral or physical fear. At the same time, many a poor client can testify to the tenderness of heart and generosity which lay hidden beneath a somewhat rough exterior. He was a champion of the downtrodden and oppressed and much of his valuable time was occupied in the trial of cases for clients who were too poor to compensate him for his services.

With all his numerous engagements as a practicing attorney, Judge Ingersoll found time for a thorough and comprehensive study of many branches of science and art. He was a broad minded, all around scholar and many a specialist has had occasion to wonder at the extent of Judge Ingersoll's familiarity with his own specialty. The bar, not of Cuyahoga County alone, but of the whole State of Ohio, suffered a great loss by his demise. His ex- ample of fearless honesty and loyalty to his clients' interests are things that will be treas- ured by the profession and will prove a stimu- lus to that large portion of the bar which believes that honesty and fidelity to clients are the first requisites for a practicing attorney.

Judge Ingersoll married Miss Mary Fuller. Her father, Augustus Fuller, was an early set- tler in Cleveland. Mrs. Ingersoll, who died at Asheville, North Carolina, at the home of her daughter in January, 1906, was born in War- ren, Ohio. The interests dearest to her were

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those of her home and family, and she never became known to any extent outside of her immediate social circle and was not a partiei- pant in club activities. She proved a true and devoted mother to her ten children. Both Judge and Mrs. Ingersoll were laid to rest in Lakeview Cemetery at Cleveland.

ALVAN F. INGERSOLL began the practice of law at Cleveland in 1885. Thirty years have brought him numerous suecesses and distine- tions. He has performed his greatest work as a sound and able lawyer. For a number of years he was referee in bankruptey and ad- ministered the details of that position with a conseientious care and a delicacy of judgment which were widely appreciated and must always remain a matter of special satisfaction to him.

He had the good fortune to be born at Cleveland and that city furnished both his early and mature environment. When con- sidered in connection with the excellent use he has made of his talents and opportunities, it is of interest to know that he is descended from old and prominent American stock. His father was the late Judge Jonathan Edwards Ingersoll, a direet descendant of the famous New England divine, Jonathan Edwards. His mother was Mary (Fuller) Ingersoll. Both parents are now deceased, and further refer- enee to their lives will be found on other pages.

Alvan F. Ingersoll was born October 5, 1859, was educated in the Central High School of Cleveland and the Western Reserve Univer- sity. In school and college he made a com- mendable record as a student and also took a worthy part in college activities, especially in athleties. He was pitcher on the old college baseball team, and was also a member of the football squad of East High School forty years ago.

After fully deciding upon the law as his vocation he pursued his studies with the firm Burke, Ingersoll & Sanders, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1885. In the same year he began practice at Cleveland, and in 1890 beeame a member of the firm Burke & Ingersolls. Most of his work during his thirty years of practice has been in general lines, but in 1901-02 he served as attorney for the Cleve- land Electric Railway Company. In 1902 he resumed general practice and continued until January 1, 1910, when he was appointed ref- eree in bankruptcy. That appointment was given him by the late Judge R. T. Tayler, and

he filled the office six years until January, 1916. As attorney and elaim agent for the Cleveland Electrie Railway Company he was successful in adjusting many important claims and in bringing to a successful conelusion the trial of various eases for the company. Both lawyers and business men eame to appreciate his fairness and ability in handling the often complicated matters that came before him as referee in bankruptey.

Mr. Ingersoll was secretary of the Cleveland Association of Credit Men from April 1 to September 1, 1916, resigning at the latter date on account of his private practice. He is now giving all his time to his business as a lawyer, and his offices are in the Engineers Building. His summer home is at Dover Bay, while dur- ing the winter he lives at the New Amsterdam Hotel in Cleveland.

Judge Ingersoll has been a lover of whole- some outdoor recreation and sports all his life, and his chief diversion now is golf. During the years 1916 and 1917 he was president of the Dover Bay Country Club. Sinee 1879 he has been a member of the Delta Kappa Epsi- lon fraternity, and is a member of the Ameri- can Bar Association, the Ohio State and Cleveland Bar Association, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, the Second Presby- terian Church, and in politics is an independ- ent republican.

At Akron, Ohio, September 6, 1881, he married Miss Della Bishop. Her father was Avery Bishop and her grandfather, Joseph Bishop, the latter one of the earliest pioneers of Hudson, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Ingersoll have five children : Mary Elvira, who married Howard C. Rose of Detroit; Charles Bishop Ingersoll, who married Marie Y. Meriam of Cleveland; Kenneth, who married Winifred Lawrenee of Cleveland ; Jonathan Edwards, whose wife was Marion Roby of Coneord, New Hampshire; and Caroline Burton, who is the wife of Bernard Duffey, Jr., now associated with Mr. Ingersoll in the practice of law under the firm name of Ingersoll & Duffey.

CHARLES W. DILLE. The part taken by Charles W. Dille in the affairs of Cleveland has been that of an able and conscientious lawyer, whose affiliations have always been straightforward and honorable and who for a large degree has represented the interests of the "common people." His practice in the handling of negligenee eases is one of the largest enjoyed by any individual attorney at Cleveland.

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Mr. Dille, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1869, represents one of the oldest families of this part of the state, founded the year be- fore Ohio was admitted to the Union. His great-great-grandfather migrated from the south side of the Ohio River to Cuyahoga County in 1797, only a year or two after the first settlement had been made at Cleveland. The grandfather of Charles W. Dille was Eri M. Dille, who became noted as one of the lead- ing stockmen of Northern Ohio. W. W. Dille, father of the Cleveland attorney, is a native of Cuyahoga County and was formerly a suc- cessful farmer, but has lived retired since 1896. He married Miss Mina T. Gilbert, who was born in New York and in both lines was a representative of New England stock.

Charles W. Dille grew up on his father's farm in the suburbs of Cleveland. After leav- ing the public schools he entered the railway train service and was a popular and active railroad man for a number of years. He finally determined to study law, and in the spring of 1895 entered the Ohio Northern University at Ada and afterwards the law department of the Ohio State University at Columbus. The latter part of his four years college course was taken in the University of Denver in Colorado. Mr. Dille was admitted to the bar at Columbus in the spring of 1900, and has since been in the continuous practice of law at Cleveland. Since 1905 he has given much of his time to the law of negligence and general reform legislation. His successful handling of such cases against corporations has brought him a practice all over the state of Ohio and neighboring states and he has es- tablished a large clientele even as far east as Buffalo.

Through his early experience as a railroad man Mr. Dille knows and understands the viewpoint of the laboring man, had a long affiliation with labor organizations through his membership in the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, and was frequently delegated with responsibility in connection with legislation for the protection of labor. He is a member in good standing of the Ohio State Bar Associa- tion, and is a republican, though not a strong partisan. At the present time he is head of the law firm of Dille & Rosenberg, with offices in The Arcade.

In October, 1901, at Cleveland, Mr. Dille married Miss Nettie Luster. Her father, Sam- uel Luster, was one of the early settlers of Cuyahoga County. Mr. and Mrs. Dille have

three daughters, Helen, Elizabeth and Dor- othy.

JOHN SMINCK VAN EPPS. Outside of men constantly in public life it seldom happens that a name acquires such associations and bodies forth more completely an interesting and forceful personality as is true of the name J. S. Van Epps. In half a dozen states, wher- ever coal men get together, this name suggests good-fellowship. It is claimed, and there would hardly be found anyone to doubt the assertion, that J. S. Van Epps is the most widely known and the most popular coal man in the country. He has meant much to the citizenship and the community of Cleveland, where he has been in business for forty years. The story of his career is one that will be read with interest by a large number of people.

He is a native of Cleveland, born August 13, 1855. The house in which he was born stood at the head of 86th Street and Cedar Avenue, a brick building, still standing there and in a good state of preservation. His parents were Dr. John Payson and Mary E. (Sminek) Van Epps. He was a boy of fifteen years when his mother died at the old home, August 27, 1870. She was born in New York City and the parents were married there. Dr. Van Epps was a native of Ovid, New York, graduated from the Ovid Academy, and his mother, Cath- erine Van Epps, was the first white girl born in Seneca County, New York. Her father, John C. Covert, was the pioneer in whose honor the Village of Covert, New York, was named. Doctor Van Epps by a previous mar- riage had two children, Mrs. J. Q. Adams of Cleveland, and Robert T. of Buffalo, New York. By his second wife there were three children : John S .; Elizabeth P. of Cleveland; and Charles S., who died in Cleveland in 1885.

J. S. Van Epps was educated in the Bolton School of Cleveland. Among his instructors there were Dr. Elroy McKendree Avery, edi- tor-in-chief of this publication, and the late Mrs. Avery, and he shares with other students of the school at that time in kindly memories of both of these instructors. Mr. Van Epps graduated from the Bolton High School in 1872, being the youngest member of the grad- uating class. He was then just seventeen. From high school he proceeded with character- istic directness into work of a practical nature, and for a time was with Rose & Brother, pork packers of Cleveland. This was a well known old establishment, consisting of the late Ben- jamin Rose and his brother. Mr. Van Epps

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served them in the capacity of cashier for about five years, from the time he was cighteen. When Rose & Brother went out of business he accepted the interruption of his work as an opportunity to restore his health by a trip of about six months through Southwestern Texas.

Then on his return to Cleveland Mr. Van Epps secured his original appointment as western sales agent for the distribution of anthracite coal west of Buffalo for the Dela- ware & Hudson Railway Company, owners of the Lackawanna coal mines. As western sales agent at Cleveland Mr. Van Epps continued from 1879 to 1902. After 1902 the Millspaugh & Green Company were allotted all the busi- ness of shipping the Delaware & Hudson Com- pany's eoal, and under them Mr. Van Epps has continued as western sales agent, repre- senting Western New York, west of Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, In- diana. He maintained offices both in the Ford Building at Detroit and the Citizens Building at Cleveland. In the fall of 1918 Mr. Van Epps completed four decades as representative of the company, the only break in his contin- uous relations being four years from 1902 to 1906, when he did a general jobbing business in coal for himself, but still with offiees in the Citizens Building. While a general jobber he secured interest in an anthracite property of which he is a fifth owner today. This is The Trevorton Colliery Company, of which he is secretary and which has its general offices in the Citizens Building. After his four years' experience as an independent jobber and on returning to his old firm, Mr. Van Epps re- ceived many letters from his competitors all over the country expressing pleasure that he was back in the old fold again.

Mr. Van Epps is certainly a veteran coal merchant, and is, in fact, one of the pioneer agents of the anthracite trade in the West. Through his enthusiasm, his working interest in the Order of Kokoal and various retail coal trade organizations, especially in the anthra- cite division, Mr. Van Epps has become a national character. For several terms he served as Imperial Baron of the Order of Kokoal, and at all retail conventions in his territory has been much in evidence, and his advice and counsel upon important matters have been in great demand and thoroughly ap- preciated and usually followed.

For some time Mr. Van Epps has been called "Harry Lauder" Van Epps, a name given him by his brother coal dealers in Cleveland for his resemblance to the Scotch comedian in

appearance and his unusual powers as an cn- tertainer. At banquets of the coal trade no one ever overlooks a chance to call upon Mr. Van Epps to sing, speak or tell a story. It is not impertinent to quote a paragraph or two from the Coal and Coke Operator of Pitts- burgh, under date of June 20, 1912: "At the Kokoal Pow-Wow at Cincinnati last week Harry Lauder Van Epps is the name they dubbed that genial entertainer and whole- souled personage we all know as the distribu- tor of anthracite in Ohio and Michigan for the Millspaugh & Green Company, by the name of J. S. Van Epps, who has done so much to make the meetings of coal men so delightful, and who has done much hard work for Kokoal, for which in his usual spirit of generosity he has given others the credit. To know J. S. is a pleasure which all who had the privilege will always be grateful for, for he has always been a sure cure for the dumps and the blues. May he ever live, for such men are needed to point out the sunny side of the street. The only objection we have to the new appellation is that it is unjust to J. S., for he can beat the Scotch laddie miles as a versatile entertainer, moreover, he is a business man as well."

Mr. Van Epps is a director and chairman of the executive committee of the Ohio Lemon Company, owners of 150 acres of citrus groves in California, produeing lemons, oranges, grape fruit and tangerines, with lemons as the primary and biggest output. He is a member of the Cleveland Rotary Club, Union Club of Cleveland, Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, being on the wholesale merchants board of that organization, Credit Men's Association, Cleveland Automobile Club, Fellow Craft Ath- letic Club of Detroit, and is affiliated with Halycon Lodge No. 498, Free and Accepted Masons of Cleveland. Mr. Van Epps has a nicely located country home on Lake Erie at Perry, with 1,000 feet of frontage and with thirty acres of ground. Mr. Van Epps is senior warden of the Church of the Epiphany of Cleveland, and is also a trustee. For twenty-five years he was a trustee of the Cleve- land Y. M. C. A.

He has had an ideal family life. April 20, 1881, at Cleveland, he married Miss Fanny Noakes, daughter of Rev. Benjamin T. Noakes, D. D., who died in Cleveland, and Sarah (Piper) Noakes, who is still living, aged eighty-five, at her home, 2060 East 90th Street. Mr. and Mrs. Van Epps have had three ehil- dren, all born and educated in Cleveland. The oldest is Mrs. Julius C. Sanderson, wife of the

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assistant treasurer of The White Sewing Ma- chine Company of Cleveland. Mrs. Sanderson is the mother of a daughter, Ruth Mary. The son Leslie I. is secretary and treasurer of The Van Epps Coal Company, with offices in the Rockefeller Building. He is married and has two children, Virginia and John Noakes Van Epps. Through all their many years of wedded life the saddest bereavement that has come to Mr. and Mrs. Van Epps was the loss of their beloved daughter, Sally Ellen Van Epps, on January 28, 1914. And her death was a distinct loss and cause of sorrow to a large community. She was just coming to the prime of her powers and usefulness at the age of twenty-nine. She was a graduate of the Woman's College of Western Reserve Univer- sity, and after graduating had enjoyed the unusual honor of being accorded a place on the faculty of the school and served there two years before her death.

LESLIE I. VAN EPPS, wholesale coal mer- chant, secretary-treasurer of The Van Epps Coal Company, is a Cleveland man by birth and training, is a mining engineer by profes- sion, and knows the coal business from the mining or operating side as well as in its com- mercial and distributing phases.

Mr. Van Epps was born at Cleveland, May 9. 1883, a son of John S. and Fanny (Noakes) Van Epps. Reference is made on other pages to John S. Van Epps, who is probably one of the most widely known coal men in the United States.

Leslie I. Van Epps was educated in the Cen- tral High School and is a graduate in the me- chanical engineering course of The Case School of Applied Science. He put his education to practical test as superintendent of the Kather- ine Colliery of The Trevorton Company at Trevorton, Pennsylvania, located in the west- ern part of the anthracite coal field near Sham- okin. This is a property in which various Cleveland people are interested. During his superintendency of the colliery its output was doubled.

Mr. Van Epps, having found his location in Pennsylvania somewhat isolated, resigned his office to return to Cleveland, and in April, 1912, organized The Van Epps Coal Company as a factor in the wholesale trade. Some of his friends and relatives were financially inter- ested in the company, but Mr. Van Epps has charge of the practical details of its manage- ment. The Van Epps Coal Company, with offices in the Rockefeller Building, has the fol-

lowing officers: M. F. Anderson, president; J. C. Sanderson, vice president ; L. I. Van Epps, secretary-treasurer; and F. C. Johns, sales manager. The company handles chiefly bituminous coal but also deals in anthracite.

Mr. Van Epps married at New York City, September 29, 1908, Miss Mabel E. Anderson. They have two children, both born in Pennsyl- vania, Virginia and John M. Mr. Van Epps is a member of the Reformed Episcopal Church and of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

DAVID R. ROTHKOPF. In recent years at Cleveland there has come before the public no young lawyer of more splendid promise than David R. Rothkopf. Not alone in the law is he prominent, but in matters pertain- ing to the civic welfare, particularly in the line of accident prevention and relief, of which he is a stalwart and undeviating supporter. Mr. Rothkopf was born in Roumania, Decem- ber 25, 1890, a son of Morris and Doris (Just- er) Rothkopf. On both sides of the family he comes from prominent and wealthy people of that country, where the Justers own large estates, and one of his uncles on his father's side is a prominent woolen merchant, Nicholas Rothkopf. Also, both families are noted for their longevity, a number bearing these names having lived to reach nearly 100 years in age.

The parents of Mr. Rothkopf brought their children to the United States in 1902, settling at Cleveland, where Morris Rothkopf is en- gaged in merchandising and is also identified with the dairy firm of Rothkopf Brothers, at 105th, Morse Street, 6112 Central Avenue, and St. Clair and 92nd Street. There are twelve children in the family, nine sons and three daughters, of whom the youngest was born at Cleveland, and the others in Roumania, and all are now residents of this city : Adolph, who is owner and manager of the Walch Em- ployment Agency, the oldest in the city; Mitchell, Joseph and Ben, who are all as- sociated with their father in the dairy busi- ness ; Lillian; Frieda, who is the wife of J. Heller; David R., Jacob, Marie, William, Louis and Samuel.

David R. Rothkopf attended the schools of his native country up to the sixth grade, and was eleven years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States, here at- tending the Cleveland public schools and Case Woodland School. He graduated in 1907, at which time he entered the Central High School, and had an enviable record in ath- letics there, being captain of the basket-ball

Navio Polloy

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team in his senior year, 1911. Also, while attending high school, he made it a practice to rise at 2 A. M. and deliver milk, thus help- ing to pay his way through school. Upon graduation, he began representing the Na- tional Manufacturers Association of New York, and thus began to be interested in and to make a study of the subject of accident prevention and relief. He attended the B. & W. College in the evening classes, studying law, and in 1914 graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and being admitted to the bar in June of that year commenced prac- tice as a member of the firm of Mckay & Rothkopf. This continued until June, 1917, since which time he practiced alone, having offices at 317 Society for Savings Building until November, 1917, when he was appointed assistant county prosecutor. Mr. Rothkopf's legal work is greatly aided by the fact that he is able to speak and write fluently in three languages, Roumanian, German and English. As a lawyer he has built up a large practice and a reputation for fine ability and a comprehensive knowledge of the principles of law, and has been connected with a num- ber of cases of much importance. Aside from his profession he has many interests. He is secretary of the Diamond Spring Oiler Manu- facturing Company, and has interests in the Frank Brooklyn Company, is secretary and was one of the organizers of the East Side Milk Dealers Fraternal League, and an active member of the Cleveland Chamber of Com- merce. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Deak Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and the B'nai B'rith. Likewise he is one of the active fac- tors in the work of the Independent Aid So- ciety, the Federation of Jewish Charities, the Talmud-Torah, the Jewish Publication So- ciety, and the Business Men's Y. M. C. A. He belongs to the Cleveland Automobile Club, the City Club and the Civic League, and is a member of the Webster Club, a literary organization. Possessed of no small literary ability himself, he has been a frequent con- tributor to the newspapers on his favorite sub- ject of accident prevention.

For some years Mr. Rothkopf has been quite active in democratic politics, and is a mem- ber of the Eighteenth Ward Democratic Club. He served as city tax assessor in 1915, in which year he also became candidate for city councilman, and not only received the un- qualified support of the best Jewish people of the city, and of the democratic organi- zation, but of the Civic League, being second

choice next to Harry C. Gahn. As a part of his campaign he advocated the inaugura- tion of a municipal department of accident prevention and the application by the munici- pality of the principle of "safety first," under which shops and factories would take up a campaign against accidents and for their prevention. He was defeated for the office by only a small vote, although running against a much older and more experienced man who had held the office for six years. A young man of fine qualities and unblemished repu- tation, he possesses the necessary capacity for public service, a fact which no doubt will be duly recognized in time.

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A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 65

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