A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 88

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 88

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Mr. Hunt has been an active member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Com- merce, and is a member of the leading clubs of the city, which include the Union, Rowfant, Athletic, Mayfield, Country and Tippecanoe.

Mr. Hunt is known by all his acquaintances as a prodigious worker, yet carrying his many interests with characteristic equanimity. His natural optimism is always in evidence, his cheerful and hopeful disposition is appreciated by associates in the various organizations with which he is identified. Few men active in busi-

ness have traveled as extensively as Mr. Hunt. All parts of the world have been visited in his travels and his collection of curios is extensive. He has one of the largest private collections of photographs in the country, comprising over 10,000 pictures of art and architectural sub- jects from Oriental and European countries. He has also made a novel collection of clay products, some of his specimens dating back thousands of years.

At Akron, Ohio, October 12, 1912, Mr. IFunt married May Fairchild Sanford, daughter of the late Hon. Henry C. Sanford. Mrs. Hunt is a highly educated and accomplished woman, studied art in schools of New York City and Cleveland, and many of her sketches have re- ceived high praise from discriminating critics.

FRED P. BRAND, president and owner of the Fred P. Brand Motor Company, operating the exclusive agency at Cleveland and over twenty- seven counties of Northern Ohio for the Pierce-Arrow motor cars and trucks, is one of the oldest automobile salesmen and design- ers in America. As the automobile was per- fected and introduced into the commercial markets of the world less than twenty years ago, this statement has obviously no reference to Mr. Brand's individual age in years, for he is in fact a comparatively young man just now in the prime of his business career. He has sold and superintended the manufacture of some of the most noted cars of their time, and since coming to Cleveland less than three years ago has developed a business that is a recognized institution in the automobile dis- tricts of the city.

Mr. Brand was born at Utica, New York, September 22, 1874, a son of James H. and Cornelia M. (Perkins) Brand, both now de- ceased. His father died at Utica and his mother at Buffalo, both being buried at Utica. James H. Brand was a merchant tailor and spent practically all his life in the business at Utica. He was born at Edmiston, New York, and his wife at Utica, where they married. James H. Brand outside of business and fam- ily gave most of his attention to Masonry, and held a number of state offices in the order.

Fred P. Brand, one of three children, and the only one of the family in Ohio, was edu- cated in the public schools of Utica, and began earning his own way when fifteen years old. Like many of the older automobile men he en- tered the motor industry through the avenue of its predecessor, the bicycle. When every community in the country had a branch of the

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American Wheelman's Association, Mr. Brand became widely known as an expert rider in the big races, won many medals in endurance runs, and had tested out every resource of the bicycle before the automobile became king of the highway.

There is only one other man in the country who shares with him the premier honors in motor salesmanship. Twenty years ago he identified himself with the Locomobile Com- pany of America, when that corporation was building steam carriages. 'For 71/2 years he was on the sales force of the Locomobile Com- pany, located at the factory at Bridgeport, Connecticut, resigning to accept the sales management of the Autocar Company of Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Lator he was sales manager for three years at Springfield, Ohio, of the Kelly-Springfield Motor Truck Com- pany, and for two years was president and general manager of the Imperial Motor Car Company of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Mr. Brand designed and built the Imperial car. He was sales manager for three years of the Parish Manufacturing Company of Reading, Pennsylvania. This company were the pioneer builders of alloy steel automobile frames. Mr. Brand built and designed for them the ex- perimental cars and trucks and was sales manager for the frame department. On Sep- tember 22, 1915, his birthday, Mr. Brand ar- rived in Cleveland and organized the Fred P. Brand Motor Company, located at 1821 East Thirteenth Street. This business is now owned solely by Mr. Brand, and in the fall of 1917 the company moved to the elaborate new home at the corner of Carnegie Avenue and East Forty-sixth Street. Mr. Brand bought the ground and built there one of the finest dis- play and office rooms and garages in the State of Ohio, and he also owns adjoining land in- cluding a row of apartment buildings, on East Forty-sixth Street as well as vacant property on Cedar Avenue where ultimately the truck department and service station will be located. The new home of the Pierce-Arrow car in Cleveland was built at a cost of $200,000, is a two-story building in the classic Italian Renaissance style, finished in white glazed terra cotta and offers a superb arrangement both for offices and service plant.

In addition to his work as a salesman, Mr. Brand is well known in motor circles by his former service on the automobile racing board and served as assistant starter and clerk of the course for practically all of the larger

automobile races in the country, including the Vanderbilt Cup races and Briar Cliff Grand Prize races. He was active in automobile racing until he came to Cleveland in 1915.

Mr. Brand is a member of the Cleveland Auto Show Company, the Cleveland Automo- bile Club, Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, West Side Chamber of Industry, Willowick Country Club and is a Mason with affiliations with Faxton Lodge No. 697, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, at Utica; Syracuse Consistory of the Scottish Rite and In Lu Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Philadelphia.

At Philadelphia, June 29, 1916, Mr. Brand married Martha N. Casiez, who was born in New York City and was reared and educated there. She is of an old French family of New York City. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brand are very fond of golf and are members of the Sea View Golf Club at Absecon, New Jersey, just outside of Atlantic City. They usually spend several weeks there every summer. Their Cleveland home is at 1157 East Boulevard.

BELDEN SEYMOUR the elder was one of the business men of consequence and a citizen of high social standing in Cleveland until his death thirty years ago. He was a resident of the city forty-five years, and his name is as- sociated with many important enterprises of the time.

He was a descendant of the Connecticut fam- ily of the name. This family was first known in Norfolk, England, in 1639. His unusual Christian name was given to all the oldest sons of the family from the time of the marriage of Ruth Belden, also of Connecticut, to Lieut. William Seymour, who was the first Seymour to marry in America.

Belden Seymour was born June 14, 1826, at the home of his grandfather known as "Comfort Hill" in Vergennes, Vermont. His grandfather also bore the name Belden. His own parents were Harry Belden and Mary Lazell (Ward) Seymour of Framingham, Massachusetts.

At the age of fourteen Belden Seymour was sent by his uncle, Hon. Edward Seymour, to live with an older uncle, Charles St. John Sey- mour, a merchant in New York City. There he was given a good business training, and in 1844 came west on a trip to buy furs. He stopped at Ohio City to visit his mother's brother, Horatio N. Ward, whose farm was where The Peoples Savings Bank now stands, a part of which tract later became Belden

Frawel Rieley

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CLEVELAND AND ITS ENVIRONS

Seymour's home. To that home he brought his mother and brothers and two little sisters in 1846, and there his own children were born.

Mr. Seymour early established himself in the real estate business at Cleveland and in 1857 added a fire insurance department. Both these businesses he eondueted until his death on January 17, 1889, siuee which time his son, Belden Seymour, has continued to keep the name and integrity of the service before the public.

The late Mr. Seymour had a big generous outlook on life and became an active and pub- lie spirited citizen, identified with all matters of civic progress. His business experience made him an acknowledged authority on real estate values. IIe was one of the leading pro- moters of the Superior Street Viaduet, and · was sometimes called the "father of the via- duet." He was one of the organizers and first directors of The Peoples Savings and Loan As- sociation. This is now the Peoples Savings Bank Company, and its president is his only son, Belden Seymour. He was also one of the organizers and first directors of the Citi- zens Savings and Loan Association, now the Citizens Savings and Trust Company, and of the Peoples Gas Company.

He became a member of St. John's Episco- pal Church, for which his kinsman had given the land, and followed his father-in-law as vestryman and warden. He was always a eon- sistent republican supporting his party and its measures invariably. Though repeatedly urged he always declined public office. In the Independent Order of Odd Fellows he was prominent and held all the state offices and some of the national ones. He was a member of the Cleveland Light Artillery and of the Union Club.

October 27, 1853, he married Eleanor In- graham Herriek. Her father, Stephen Nel- son Herrick, as a young civil engineer had come to Cleveland from Albany, New York, with Harbeck, Stone & Witt, the builders of the C. C. C. & I. Railroad. The senior member of this firm was a cousin of Mr. Herrick. The latter's wife was Mary Ann Brooks of East Haddam, Connectieut. As she was a niece of Richard Lord, Mr. and Mrs. Herrick on com- ing to Cleveland went to live with the Lords in the beautiful old colonial house Mr. Lord had built on Detroit Street at the same time his partner, Judge Barber, built on Pearl Street. It was all these relationships that identified Mr. Seymour with the lands granted

to Barber and Lord by the Connecticut Land Company.

The children of the late Mr. Seymour are: Eleanor, wife of Andrew Squire of Cleveland ; and Belden, who married Susan, the only daughter of John William and Ellen ( Bolton) Faweett, who came to Cleveland in 1866 from Liverpool, England. Mr. Seymour had no grandchildren.

FRANK RIELEY. By a number of points of connection was the late Frank Ricley a figure and factor of prominence in Cleveland's civie and business life. He had held and admin- istered with credit several city offiees, and was for twenty years a prominent paving eon- tractor, and the business which he thus founded is now continued by his sons under the name Rieley Brothers, one of the leading firms of the kind in Cleveland.

He was sixty-seven years of age when he died. He was born December 12, 1842, at the old Rieley home on Huron Road S. E., near East Ninth Street. He died at the home of his son Charles F. Rieley on August 1, 1909. His parents, Hugh and Margaret (Owen) Rieley, came from Ireland and settled in Cleveland during the decade of the '30s. Hugh Rieley was head maltster of the J. B. Smith malt house at Cleveland, a very important in- stitution in that day, shipping malt all over the West, even to Milwaukee.

Frank Rieley grew up in Cleveland and was educated in the schools of the south side. When a boy of eighteen he ran away from home, being unable to seeure his parents' con- sent, and enlisted in the Third Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. He joined the regiment at San- dusky, Ohio, and saw four years of continu- ous and arduous service. He was promoted to the rank of first sergeant. After the war he engaged in business aud eivic affairs. He was street commissioner of Cleveland two terms, was a eouneilman from the old Twelfth Ward, and served as deputy director of public works under the late Mayor William G. Rose. How- ever, his principal business was as a paving contractor, and for twenty years or more he was manager of The Northern Ohio Paving & Construction Company. In this business he was suececded by his sons, Charles F. and Oliver R. Politically Frank Rieley was a re- publiean. On Christmas Day of 1869 he married Miss Mary Pritchard, of Geneva, Ohio. She died at Cleveland in March, 1899. She was aetive in St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

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CHARLES F. RIELEY is senior member of Rieley Brothers, paving contractors, with of- fiees in The Arcade. This is one of the largest firms making a specialty of municipal paving in Northern Ohio. It is a business which Charles F. Rielcy and his brother, Oliver R., learned and acquired through early associa- tions with their father, and they practically sneceeded the late Frank Rieley in the con- tracting business.

Charles F. Rieley was born at Cleveland, February 8, 1872, and was well edueated, at- tending the public schools, including the old Central High School, and in 1895 graduated Bachelor of Science from the Case School of Applied Science.

In the meantime his younger brother, Oliver, had gone to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he went to work in the foundry busi- ness. Charles F. Rieley also worked in the Walworth Run Foundry at Cleveland for about three years, and then joined his brother at New Brunswick, New Jersey. These foun- dries both at Cleveland and in New Jersey were owned and operated by their uncle, the late T. A. Rieley, a brother of Frank Rieley. T. A. Rieley, who died at New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1897, was for many years a resident of Cleveland, and had his home in that eity until a short time before his death, when he removed to New Brunswick.

After about three years with the New Bruns- wiek foundry, Charles F. Rieley and his brother returned to Cleveland and went to work for the eoneern with which their father was connected, The Northern Ohio Paving Company. The brothers continued with this firm until after the death of their father, and then engaged in paving contracting for them- selves under the name Rieley Brothers. As municipal paving contractors Rieley Brothers has laid up to 1918 more than sixty miles of paving in Cuyahoga County and Cleveland City.

Mr. Charles F. Rieley is treasurer of the Pavers' Exchange and is treasurer of The Buekeye Insurance Ageney. He is a member of the Cleveland Engineering Society, the Cleveland Automobile Club and the Cleveland Athletic Club. For seven years he was first sergeant of Troop A of the Ohio National Guard. His religious home is St. Paul's Epis- eopal Church at Cleveland.

Mr. Rieley married for his first wife Miss Nettie Bell Corrigan, daughter of the late James Corrigan of Cleveland. Mrs. Rieley and their child, Mary, then about a year and

a half old, were both drowned in Lake Erie in July, 1900, when the Corrigan private yacht capsized about ten miles out of port.

January 22, 1908, Mr. Rieley married for his present wife Miss Gertrude Scott, daugh- ter of the late Dr. X. C. Seott of Cleveland, elsewhere mentioned in this publication. Mrs. Rieley was born and educated in Cleveland and is a graduate of the Hathaway-Brown School for Girls in the eity. Mr. and Mrs. Rieley have two children, both born at Cleve- land, named Elizabeth Cole and Charles Shel- don.

XENOPHON C. SCOTT, M. D. Many of the qualities and achievements which underlie real fame in the profession of medieine and surg- ery were part of the record of the late Doctor Scott, who was a resident of Cleveland nearly. half a century and died at the home of bis daughter, Mrs. C. F. Rieley in that city Sep- tember 10, 1909. He was widely known as a surgeon, and was probably one of the fore- most oenlists in the entire country. At one time he served as president of the Mississippi Valley Medieal Society, and for twenty years was a member of the American Medical As- sociation, and for nine years a member of its judicial council, the body to which are re- ferred all ethical questions that arise in the medical profession. He was an honored mem- ber also of the Ohio State Medical Society and the various other medical organizations and was on the visiting staff of nearly all the Cleveland hospitals. In 1887 he represented Ohio at the International Congress of Phy- sicians and Surgeons in Washington.

Doctor Seott was born at Haysville, Ohio, December 4, 1841. He grew up as an Ohio boy and was in his freshman year at Vermil- lion College in his native town when the Civil war broke out. In the spring of 1861 he en- listed in the three months' service and at the close of his term of enlistment resumed his studies in Jefferson College, but only for one session. He then re-enlisted, and at the sec- ond enlistment was in the quartermaster's de- partment. During the ardnous campaigning before Pittsburg his health failed and he was obliged to resign.

So far as possible he kept up his studies while in the army, and had a good founda- tion on which to begin his preparation for a medical career. He studied medicine with Dr. John Weaver, and on coming to Cleveland began study and practice with his uncle, Dr. D. H. Scott. He also attended lectures at

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the Medical School in Cleveland and finished his studies with the leading honors of his class in 1867. About that time he accepted an appointment in the Brooklyn City Hospital, but was soon appointed to a larger hospital in New York City. While there he began specializing on surgery and diseases of the eye, throat and ear. He availed himself of special courses in these branches at the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, and then in 1869 went abroad and sought the su- perlative advantages of the schools and the eminent personalities of Heidelberg, where among his teachers were the renowned Pro- fessors Helmholtz, Otto, Becker and Moss. When the Franco-Prussian war broke out Doc- tor Scott was put in sole charge of a military hospital, and was the only foreign surgeon thus honored by the German authorities. At the close of the war and during 1871 he con- tinued special study in acoustics at Berlin. On his return to New York City he acted as resident surgeon in a private hospital, hut within a year returned to Cleveland, where he accepted a chair as lecturer on diseases of the eye, throat and ear at the Cleveland Med- ical College. For ten years his class rooms were crowded in that institution, and for six years he was also in the medical department of Wooster University. He finally gave up all responsibilities in connection with the educa- tional side of his profession and resumed pri- vate practice, which he continued with unin- terrupted success and achievement until Sep- tember, 1905, when he was stricken with par- alysis, and spent his last years as an invalid. Widely known for his individual skill in surg- ery, he was constantly sought out by other physicians and surgeons in all parts of Amer- ica for advice and consultation.

In 1878 Doctor Scott married Miss Edith Leslie Cole of Elyria, Ohio. She died in 1889 and three years later he married May F. Allen of Cleveland, who is now the wife of Harry Coulby of Cleveland. Doctor Scott had three children, two by his first marriage and one by his second wife. The older two are Mrs. Charles F. Rieley of Cleveland and Xenophen C., Jr., who is connected with the sporting department of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The third child is K. A. Scott of Cleveland.

OLIVER R. RIELEY is junior partner in the firm Rieley Brothers, municipal paving con- tractors, a firm that has executed a large amount of work in this section of Northern Ohio and has the prestige that goes with long

years of successful work in a complete organ- ization and all the facilities necessary for prompt and efficient handling of every class of contract.

Mr. Rieley was born in Cleveland Septem- ber 3, 1873, son of Frank and Mary (Pritch- ard) Rieley. Further particulars concerning the family history will be found on other pages. Oliver attended the Cleveland publie schools, including the old Central High School, and was also a student in Western Reserve University, where he graduated A. B. with the class of 1895. On leaving college he went to work for his uncle, the late T. A. Rieley, pro- prietor and operator of the Walworth Run Foundry at Cleveland. Later he went to New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he was con- nected with another foundry owned by his uncle. After the death of his uncle in New Brunswick he returned to Cleveland, and be- came connected with his father's firm, The Northern Ohio Paving Company. Both he and his brother Charles were in that business and with that firm for eight years, and there laid the foundation of their experience as pav- ing contractors. In 1910 they retired and es- tablished a business of their own under the name Rieley Brothers, with offices in The Arcade. Since then they have handled almost exclusively municipal paving contracts, and have executed over sixty miles of high class paving in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

Oliver R. Rieley is a member of the Cleve- land Chamber of Commerce, the Hermit Club, Cleveland Automobile Club, University Club and St. Paul's Episcopal Church. On Novem- ber 1, 1899, he married Miss Marie Voorhees, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. She died at Cleveland, August 28, 1913, leaving one daughter, Charlotte B. Rieley, now a student in the Hathaway-Brown School for Girls at Cleveland. On January 29, 1915, Mr. Rieley married Miss Elsie Preston of Attica, New York.

CHARLES D. GIBSON, general manager of the Cleveland Machinery and Supply Company, is an expert mechanical engineer with long and thorough experience in manufacture of machinery tools. He has been a resident of Cleveland since 1914. Mr. Gibson was born at Marshall, Michigan, July 24, 1871, a son of William H. and Harriet A. Gibson, During his childhood his parents removed to Kala- mazoo, where Charles D. attended the public schools, graduating from high school in 1890. His inclinations had already taken a decided

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bent toward mechanical industry, and on leav- ing high school he went east to Hartford, Con- necticut, and entered upon an apprenticeship with Pratt and Whitney, manufacturers of machine tools. From an apprenticeship he went through the various grades of responsi- bility and service until he was superintendent of the automatic machinery department. At the conclusion of nine years he resigned from that firm and became manager of the plant of the IIamilton Machine Tool Company of Hamilton, Ohio. He remained there seven years and his next location was in Chicago, where he was sales engineer with the Niles- Bemint and Pond Company, manufacturers of machinery tools. This connection he re- tained until January, 1914, when he came to Cleveland as manager of the machine tool de- partment of the Cleveland Tool and Supply Company.

In February, 1915, Mr. Gibson was instru- mental in organizing the Cleveland Machinery and Supply Company, his associates being S. W. Sparks, John O'Brien and W. E. Mc- Naughton. The business is a flourishing one and has proved an important addition to Cleve- land's industrial district.

Mr. Gibson is a member of the American So- ciety of Mechanical Engineers, the Cleveland Atlıletie Club, Hamilton Club of Hamilton, Ohio, and in politics is a republican. He and his family are members of the Methodist Church. In Chicago in June, 1897, he mar- ried Miss Daisy M. Husk. Their two sons, Harold D., aged eighteen, aud Frederick H., aged fifteen, are both attending the Cleveland High School.

THE AMERICAN CIVIC REFORM UNION, whose national headquarters are in the Caxton Building at Cleveland, is an organization whose work appeals to the interests of every person alive to the necessity of moral reform and the elimination of those evils from social life which chiefly contribute to the degeneracy of society. Though the scope of the work is nation wide there need be no apology for in- cluding a brief account of the origin and his- tory of the Union in this publication.

At 'a civic congress held in the First Meth- odist Church in Canton, Ohio, in November, 1910, in response to a call issued by the Canton Ministerial Association, a committee of three was appointed to draft resolutions for the purpose of giving the congress organic shape. These resolutions, after recognizing the im- mediate necessity of reform in many direc-

tions, recommended the organization of the American Civic Reform Union, to be national as well as state wide in its activities. The three principles recommended for guidance were: I. To initiate and further such re- forms as are not cared for by other organiza- tions. II. To co-operate with all other or- ganizations for the furtherance of reforms now cared for by them. III. To act as a clearing house for reforms in general. The resolutions concluded as follows : "We recom- mend the creation of a representative commis- sion to perfect these plans and purposes, said commission to consist of nine men and two women. We recommend that Rev. A. S. Gregg of Cleveland, Rev. W. F. Wyckoff of Alliance, and Mr. J. H. Miller of Newark be constituted a committee for the selection of the commis- sioners and submit the same to the Civic Congress for approval.

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A history of Cleveland and its environs; the heart of new Connecticut, Part 88

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