USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 2) > Part 19
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Doctor Farnsworth is a charter member of the Cleveland Academy of Medicine, and holds membership also in the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has held various official posi- tions in the various Masonic bodies with which he is affiliated, including Brooklyn Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Forest City Commandery of Knights Templars. He has received also the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite of Masonry, and is affiliated with the Order of the Eastern Star as a past officer.
For his first wife Doctor Farnsworth wedded Mrs. Alice (Clark) Fish, widow of Edwin Fish, two children having been born of this union, Howard, who died in infancy, and Paul Irving, who died, aged thirty-five years, and was survived by his widow and one son, Paul I., Jr. For his second wife the Doctor married Miss Lucy Fish.
HON. CARL VICTOR WEYGANDT, one of the younger members of the Cleveland bar, has within the space of half a dozen years won prestige in his profession, honor in the Ohio Legislature, and a place on the bench of the Common Pleas Court of Cuyahoga County.
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Judge Weygandt was born on the farm in Baughman Township, Wayne County, Ohio, on June 14, 1888, descended alike from Colonial ancestors and early Ohio settlers. This family is of German-French origin of the Rhine Provinces, and during the World war furnished soldiers to both the German and French armies (General Weygandt was chief of staff to Marshal Foch). The American ancestors came over in Colonial days and settled in Pennsylvania, and from that state later generations came to Ohio. The great-grandparents of this generation were William and Catherine (Frase) Weygandt, the grandparents were Jacob K. and Mary (Downer) Weygandt, the parents being Judge William E. and Cora (Mock) Wey- gandt (still living). Upon coming to Ohio the family settled in Baughman Township, Wayne County, in which section members of it have been successful farmers and honored citizens.
Judge William E. Weygandt was born on the family homestead in Wayne County, Ohio, on June 1, 1864. He was graduated from Ohio Northern University, Bachelor of Arts, in 1885, studied law at Wooster, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1894, and entered practice in Wooster. He served as prosecuting attorney of Wayne County from 1898 to 1904, and as judge of Common Pleas Court of Wayne County from 1909 to 1915, and since retiring from the bench he has been in the very successful practice of his profession in Wooster. The judge's wife was born in Baughman Township, Wayne County, on August 6, 1865, the daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Shisler) Mock, and to them three children have been born : Carl V., Ross S. and Ola.
Judge Carl V. Weygandt was graduated from the Wooster High School in 1906, taught in the elementary schools for a year, and then entered Wooster University, from where he was graduated Bachelor of Philosophy in 1912. He taught in the Wooster High School from 1912 to 1915, and then entered Western Reserve University Law School, where he was graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1918, and was admitted to the bar of Ohio in June of the same year, and entered practice in Cleveland, associated with the law firm of Thompson, Hine & Flora until December, 1923, when he became counsel for the Cleveland Automobile Club.
On June 24, 1924, Governor Donahey appointed Mr. Weygandt to the Common Pleas Court bench to fill a vacancy, the governor having selected him from among three Cleveland attorneys recommended for the purpose by the Cleveland Bar Association.
In 1920 Judge Weygandt was elected on the democratic ticket a mem- ber of the Ohio General Assembly, and during the regular session of 1921- 22, he served as a member of the house committees on judiciary, codes, military affairs, elections, reorganized taxation, and as a member of the House special committee to investigate the state highway department. He introduced House Bill No. 239, amending the Dower Law of Ohio so as to give in fee simple to a widow or widower one-third of the real estate which the deceased wife or husband died possessed of ;. and though the bill failed of enactment, its sound economic and moral principle is generally recog- nized and approved, and will in time become a law. He also introduced House Bill No. 393, amending that section of the General Code relative to the power of judges of Common Pleas Court, which measure was enacted into law. One of the measures in which he was greatly interested, and to which he gave particular attention and study, was the bill providing a mini-
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mum wage for women. And, while he was a member of the very small minority of that session of the General Assembly, he attracted attention among the members, irrespective of parties, as one of the able and hard- working members of the House, eloquent, fearless, always the hard but fair fighter, which qualities, together with his broad grasp of facts and principles, brought him the confidence and respect of the entire Legislative body.
During the World war period Judge Weygandt served in every bond and Red Cross campaign, and in all of the drives for the Community Fund.
Judge Weygandt is a member of the Cleveland, Ohio State and Amer- ican Bar associations, is a member of the board of trustees of the East End Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Official Board of the First Glenville Methodist Episcopal Church, is a member of the City Club, the Singers, the Cleveland Council of Sociology, of Delta Tau Delta and Delta Theta Phi college fraternities, and of Ebenezer Lodge No. 33, Free and Accepted Masons, Council, Chapter, Commandery in Masonry, and Valley of Cleveland, Lake Erie Consistory, Scottish Rite, thirty-second degree, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On June 14, 1915, Judge Weygandt was united in marriage with Miss Jessie May Silver, who was born at Wooster, Ohio, the daughter of Jerome R. and Jennie (Cassidy) Silver, and they have two sons : Richard S., born March 3, 1918, and Clark W., born March 6, 1923.
CHARLES ANDREW ALEXANDER, law practitioner and specialist in cor- poration law, has been in continuous practice in this city since 1913, with the exception of the time he was serving his country as a soldier in the World war. Mr. Alexander is a member of an old pioneer Western Reserve family of remote Scotch-Irish descent.
Charles Andrew Alexander was born on the old Alexander homestead in Bedford Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on November 21, 1889, a son of John Clark and Rachel (Gibson) Alexander, and a grandson of Andrew and Elizabeth (Hope) Alexander. Both grandparents were born in Pennsylvania, where the Scotch-Irish Alexanders settled in the seven- teenth century and the Scotch Hopes about the same time. It was the paternal grandfather, Andrew Alexander, who was the adventurous pio- neer of the family in the Western Reserve, coming from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1812, when Indians were still numerous in this section. He found a tract of land that both pleased his fancy and suited his purse, and soon was the owner of what has long been known as the Alexander homestead in Bedford Township, Cuyahoga County, which property now lies on Alexander Road. He was a man of energy and enter- prise, and not only cleared and improved a fine property but built and operated one of the first grist mills on the old canal. Both he and his wife died on their Bedford Township farm.
John Clark Alexander was born on his father's homestead, December 15, 1841, and died in the City of Cleveland March 10, 1922. He grew to manhood in Bedford Township, and for many years assisted his father in operating the Alexander mill. In 1891 he came to Cleveland and embarked in the real estate business, in which he was profitably interested for a long period. He bought and sold large bodies of land during this time, and did a large amount of building on his own properties, at one time owning much
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valuable realty here. In political life he was a staunch republican and before coming to Cleveland had served many years in public capacities in Bedford Township. In 1895 he was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Cuyahoga County, and served out one full term but failing health then caused him to resign. It was during his service as county commissioner that many substantial improvements were made and worthy enterprises carried out, including the building of the Central Armory and the Brooklyn Bridge, and because of his deep interest in the subject, progress was made in the good roads movement.
Mr. Alexander married Rachel Gibson, who was born at Gibsonia, a place so named for her family, February 22, 1851, and died at Cleveland September 12, 1912, a daughter of Charles and Mary (Logue) Gibson. Two children were born to them: Charles A. and Grace E. The latter is a student of architecture and interior decorating in New York City. She spent two years in the Woman's College, Western Reserve University, and in 1910 was graduated from Monmouth College, at Monmouth, Illinois.
The late John Clark Alexander was a member of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, of the Old Settlers Association, the Tippecanoe Club and the Cuyahoga Country Club. He was an official member of the First United Presbyterian Church at Cleveland, and in every relation of life a man of personal worth and business integrity.
Charles A. Alexander was two years old when his parents moved to Cleveland, and thus he had excellent educational opportunities through boyhood. In 1907 he entered Adelbert College, Western Reserve Univer- sity, then during 1908-09 took a special course in Princeton University, returning then to Adelbert College, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1911, and then entered the Law School of Western Reserve University, from which 'he was graduated in 1913 with his degree of Bachelor of Laws, and in the same year was admitted to the Ohio bar, and later to the United States District Court, Northern Division of Ohio.
Mr. Alexander entered upon the practice of law at Cleveland, in asso- ciation with T. J. Moffett and M. A. Copeland, and during the succeeding three years amply proved his professional ability and the soundness of his legal training. In 1917, when the United States became involved in the World war, Mr. Alexander was selected for training at Fort Benjamin Harrison and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Three Hundred and Thirty-first Infantry, National Army. When he returned from the army and again resumed active interest in his profession he became a member of the law firm of Wilkin, Cross & Daoust, specializing in corporation law. He is a member of the Cleveland and Ohio Bar associations, the Cleve- land Chamber of Commerce, of a number of social organizations and of his old college Greek letter fraternities, the Delta Kappa Epsilon and the Phi Delta Phi.
JUDGE LEE E. SKEEL was reared in Cleveland and since completing his law course has had a commendable record of activity as an attorney and public official. He was in the great war as a soldier overseas, and is now a judge of the Municipal Court. Judge Skeel was born at White City, Kansas, Tune 4, 1888, son of Frank E. and Artemisia (Edgerton) Skeel. In 1891, when he was three years of age, his parents came to Cleveland, and are old and honored residents of this city. His father was
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born in New York State and his mother at Royalton in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Lee E. Skeel attended public schools at East Cleveland, completed his literary education in Hiram College, and from the Cleveland Law School was graduated in 1912 with the degree Bachelor of Laws, Summa Cum Laude. Admitted to the Ohio bar the same year, he immediately engaged in general practice, and continued until its interruption five years later when he joined the colors.
On December 6, 1917, he enrolled for active duty in the Three Hundred and Twenty-second Machine Gun Battalion of the Eighty-third Division. He was made sergeant major of headquarters company, and from June 12, 1918, to January 31, 1919, was on duty overseas. He received his honorable discharge February 14, 1919, and at once resumed his law practice at Cleveland. On March 1, 1920, he became general counsel for the Cleveland Automobile Club. He served as chief police prosecutor of the City of Cleveland from January 1, 1922, to September 1, 1923. He resigned that office to make the campaign for election as judge of the Municipal Court. He was chosen November 6, 1923, his four-year term beginning in January, 1924. Judge Skeel is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, is active in the American Legion, and his Masonic affiliations are Holy Rood Commandery, Knights Templar, Lake Erie Con- sistory of the Scottish Rite, Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine and Al Sirat Grotto. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
Judge Skeel married, June 12, 1918, Miss Nell Tucker, of Painsville, Ohio. They have two children, Tom S. and Shirley.
HOMER H. JOHNSON has practiced law at Cleveland for thirty-five years, and his associates have long since learned to respect his capabilities and resourcefulness as an attorney.
Mr. Johnson represents two old and prominent families of Northern Ohio. His paternal grandfather, William Johnson, was born in New Jersey, and from New York State came West to Ohio with his wife and seven children in 1835. He settled at Hartland in Huron County. This branch of the Johnson family is descended from early Protestant stock that lived on the borders of what were known as the low countries, part of time within the boundaries of Holland and also in France. Due to the persecution of the Huguenots, they were driven from France, and coming to America settled in New Jersey. Alfred S. Johnson, father of the Cleveland attorney, was born in New York State and was a child when brought to Huron County, Ohio. He married Philathea Townsend, who was born in Huron County. Her father, Hosea Townsend, was born in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. His ancestors came over from the family seat of the Townsends in England, known as Romney Marsh, and arrived in Massachusetts in the early Colonial period. Hosea Townsend came from Massachusetts to Ohio in 1815, settling in Huron County. His farm has been in the possession of his descendants for five generations and is now owned by and furnishes the summer home for H. H. Johnson's family.
Homer H. Johnson was born on the Johnson farm at Hartland in Huron County, June 26, 1862. He was educated in grammar and high schools in New London, Ohio, and is a Bachelor of Arts graduate of
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Oberlin College. He finished there with the class of 1885, and then entered Harvard Law School, where he was graduated Bachelor of Laws in 1888. Mr. Johnson was admitted to the Ohio bar in October, 1888, and continuously since then has been in practice at Cleveland. He has satisfied his ambition by the work he has been able to do and the service he has been able to render as an attorney, and has sought few outside interests or diversions. He is a member of the Cleveland Bar Association and belongs to the Union, the University, the Country, the Mayfield, the Kirtland and the Rowfant clubs of Cleveland.
On October 2, 1901, Mr. Johnson married Miss Louise Pope, of Cleveland. They have three children. Jeannette is a member of the class of 1924 at Wellesley College. Philip Cortelyou is a member of the class of 1927 at Harvard University. The youngest child is Theodate, who was named for her maternal great-grandmother.
PERRY DEFORD CALDWELL. An educator in his earlier years, Perry DeFord Caldwell since 1911 has been one of the capable members of the Cleveland bar, handling an extensive practice in corporation and real estate law. He is senior member of the law firm of Caldwell, Suhr and Prasse, with offices in the Union Trust Building.
Mr. Caldwell was born on a farm in Columbiana County, Ohio, March 10, 1879, son of William and Hortense (DeFord) Caldwell. His grand- father, William Caldwell, a native of Ireland and of Scotch-Irish ancestry, was an early settler in Columbiana County, buying the land and building a solid brick residence which is still standing in good condition and which was the birthplace of his son William and also of his grandson Perry. William Caldwell, father of the Cleveland attorney, was born at the old homestead in Columbiana County in 1850, and, like his father, devoted his active years to agriculture. He died in 1914, and is survived by his widow, now sixty-six years of age. She, Hortense DeFord, was born in Carroll County, Ohio, daughter of John DeFord, a native of Pennsylvania and of French descent.
Perry D. Caldwell lived through the years of his boyhood at the home farm. After the public schools he attended Mount Union College, taking the normal course and graduating in 1898. Then for several years he was a teacher in Ohio schools, following which he entered Adelbert College of Western Reserve University, graduating in 'the classical course with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1909. He continued his work in the law department of Western Reserve University, taking his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1911. Admitted to the Ohio bar, he began practice the same year. He was alone in his professional work until 1914, when he formed a partnership with Ford W. Brunner and D. C. Van Buren under the title Caldwell, Brunner and Van Buren. Mr. Brunner died in 1921 and Mr. Van Buren retired in 1924, at which time Mr. Caldwell formed his present partnership of Caldwell, Suhr and Prasse, specializing in corpora- tion and real estate law. Mr. Caldwell is attorney for and director of a number of corporations.
For several years he has been much interested in civic affairs at Cleveland. He served as a member of the Cleveland City Council, repre- senting the Nineteenth Ward, during the years 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1921. He was chairman of the committee on public utilities and a member of the
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finance and judiciary committees. He belongs to the Cleveland Bar Asso- ciation, the college fraternities Sigma Nu and Phi Alpha Delta, the City and Tippecanoe Clubs and the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Caldwell married, March 6, 1920, Miss Maybelle F. Pipes. They have one son, William DeFord Caldwell, born in March, 1921.
HENRY KRATHER. One of the well known men of Cleveland is Henry Krather, of Krather Road, South Brooklyn, for whom that abbre- viated thoroughfare was named, and who is now practically retired after a long, honorable and successful business career. Mr. Krather was born at Lorain, Germany, October 20, 1845, and is a son of Louis and Ellen Krather.
The Krather family came to the United States on a sailing vessel when Henry Krather was still a boy, in 1851, landing at New York City, from which city they journed by railroad to Buffalo and thence by lake boat to Cleveland. Their first modest home was a log house located in Parma Township, where the father cut wood by the cord and worked by the day in the hay fields in order to support his growing family and to secure the means whereby he could himself become a landed proprietor. Eventually he was able to rent a farm, from which he cleared off the timber in pay- ment of rent, and two years later purchased a farm of thirty acres on Centre Road, in Parma Township. He made numerous improvements thereon, and four years later disposed of the property at an excellent profit. With the proceeds he bought a farm on Pleasant Valley Road, in the same township, and in later years bought the Krather home farm in Parma Township, where he and his worthy wife spent their last years. Louis Krather was a man of sturdy industry and strict integrity, and bore an excellent reputation in his neighborhood for personal probity of charac- ter and good citizenship.
Henry Krather began his independent career when he was in his fourteenth year, after receiving a public school education, by commencing an apprenticeship to the butcher's trade, and from that time forward made his own way in life. After serving a three-year apprenticeship, and being then only in his seventeenth year, he engaged in business on his own ac- count, buying an outfit consisting of a horse and wagon, and driving among the farmers, early and late, purchasing calves. For the next twenty years he continued buying cattle in general throughout the county, and these he sold to the wholesalers, making a decided success out of the business through good management and honorable dealing. Later he branched out into other lines of endeavor. He was one of the organizers and a charter member of the Home Savings and Loan Company, now the Home Savings and Trust branch of the Pearl Street Savings and Trust Company, and was a member of its first board of directors. He is still a member of this board, as he is also of the board of directors of the Pearl Street Savings and Trust Company. He is also the owner of upwards of thirty building lots in his neighborhood and possesses other valuable interests. Fraternally Mr. Krather is a member of Glenn Lodge No. 263, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is the second oldest member thereof, having joined that lodge fifty-three years ago. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Krather married Miss Elizabeth Pfeifer, who was born in Parma
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Township, Cuyahoga County, a daughter of Philip Pfeifer, a native of Germany and a pioneer of Parma Township, where he passed the greater part of his life in agricultural operations. To Mr. and Mrs. Krather there have been born four children : Catherine, the wife of Matthew Koblentzer; Ellen, who died at the age of twenty-four years; Susan, the wife of Christian Koblentzer, who has two daughters; and Parmelia, the wife of George Gehring, who has one daughter.
HARRY B. LAMSON, who has passed the whole of his life at Bedford and vicinity and is one of its best known citizens, was born here on April 13, 1858, and is the son of John Harrison Lamson. The latter, who is supposed to have received his middle name from William Henry Harrison, was born October 5.1830, in the State of New York, and is the son of Ira and Lydia (Ward) Lamson. In 1834 Ira and his wife concluded to go West and "grow up with the country" and accordingly, with their family of children then probably consisting of six, started for the Western Reserve, intend- ing to locate at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. Upon reaching that section of the state, now the City of Cleveland, and after making an investigation of the soil, streams and physical conditions then existing, they came to the conclusion that the soil was too sandy and poor there for successful farming results and that the tract was too depressed and swampy and hence too unhealthful for the rearing of vigorous children. They therefore moved on further into the interior and finally located at what is now the Village of Bedford, where they secured a tract of suitable land and began at once the construction of a brick dwelling which was the first of its kind in this section of the county. While this building was being constructed his family no doubt were obliged to live either with some neighbor or were forced to camp in the woods until the dwelling was finished.
Ira Lamson was a cobbler by trade and by it managed to make a good living. He at once became one of the most conspicuous citizens by his devotion to religion. He was a devout Methodist, an earnest believer in the holiness of the great revivals which swept the church organization at least once every year and established his home as the headquarters of the itinerant Methodist clergymen who in those days patiently traversed their circuits usually on horseback, but sometimes on foot, and were always welcomed at the brick house. Thus all of his children were reared under the highest moral influences and surroundings and all in mature life dis- played their steady and upright characters and their dependable citizenship.
To Ira and Lydia were born the following family of children: Elvira, who became the life companion of Edwin ("Squire") Hendricks ; Ben- jamin, who was a successful sawmill operator at Bedford for many years, became a distinguished citizen and served as recorder of Cuyahoga County for eight years with credit; Caroline, who married Alden Comstock; Thankful, who became the wife of W. B. Hillman; Amos, who became a prominent and prosperous farmer and lived at Bedford; Martha, who married Halsey Heston ; John H .; Marshall ; Phoebe, who became the wife of Fred Bentley. All were given good educations, considering the pioneer facilities.
John Harrison, the seventh child, was only four years old when he was
16, h. twolder.
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brought to what is now Bedford. Here he grew to maturity, received his education at the common schools, and engaged in real estate business quite early. From the start he took deep interest in the growth and development of Bedford and the whole county, and many years ago when he was still a young man he was ridiculed by many when he predicted that the time would come when people could ride quickly from Cleveland to Bedford for a five cent fare. He had optimistic visions of the future growth and development of this section of Ohio, and time has proved that he was not blind, figura- tively speaking. He took pleasure in buying and selling real estate and in time amassed a substantial competency and gained a reputation for good judgment.
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