USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 3) > Part 14
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Shriner, being a member of Roosevelt Lodge No. 640, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Thatcher Chapter; Forest City Council; Holyrood Commandery, Knights Templar ; Lake Erie Consistory ; Al Koran Temple ; Al Sirat Grotto and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. He belongs also to Amazon Lodge of Odd Fellows, to the Cleveland Chamber of Industry, the Cleveland Yacht Club and the Lakewood Country Club.
GEORGE LYMAN INGERSOLL. For nearly seventy years the name Inger- soll has been prominently identified with the Cleveland bar. Not alone in the law, but in many business and civic interests the name has accumulated distinctions.
The late George Lyman Ingersoll was a brother of Judge Jonathan Edwards Ingersoll, whose sketch appears elsewhere, and for some time they were associated together in practice at Cleveland, though George L. Ingersoll seemed to find more satisfaction in business than in his profession.
He was born at Rochester, New York, February 12, 1830, son of Alvan and Hannah (Lyman) Ingersoll. His father was born at Lee, Massa- chusetts, and his mother was also a New Englander. Alvan Ingersoll was a Presbyterian minister, and about 1828 he moved from Western Massa- chusetts to Rochester, New York.
George Lyman Ingersoll had very little opportunity for educational advantages as a boy, his father having never received salary sufficient to warrant him in sending his children to college. When about fourteen years old George L. Ingersoll came to Ohio to learn from his mother's brother the business of making fanning mills. At that time fanning mills were operated by hand.
George Lyman Ingersoll during his early years in Ohio contrived to continue his education under adverse circumstances, and finally qualified for the bar. For a time he published a newspaper at Hudson, this being one of the pioneer efforts at journalism in the Western Reserve. About 1851 or 1852 he moved to Cleveland, and some years later became associated with his brother in law practice. He gave up practice to become associated with William Bingham and others in the old Cleveland Rolling Mill Com- pany. When he resumed the law it was in individual practice, and he was more or less identified with the profession until his death. He was pros- perous but never wealthy, and his ambition was not so much for the achievement of wealth as for diversified activtiy. From the close of the Civil war until 1877, during unsettled business and financial conditions over the country, many short lines of railroads experienced financial diffi- culties. For several years Mr. Ingersoll bought, sold and traded in these properties. He also invested in real estate, and spent considerable time in managing his farms. His great energy was one of his distinguishing traits. He was one of the most liberal supporters of the old Third Presbyterian Church of Cleveland.
His first wife was Miss Kate Talcott, and she became the mother of three children : George T., Edward Platt and Mary Augusta, who married Edward S. Parsons.
The second wife of George L. Ingersoll was Miss Cornelia Howard Saunders. To this marriage were born: Howard, Helen G., Horton, Albert C., Arnold, Alan and Ruth. The only members of the family now
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living at Cleveland are : Mrs. George L. Ingersoll and Albert C. and Helen Gertrude.
HON. GEORGE S. ADDAMS is judge of the Insolvency and Juvenile courts of Cuyahoga County, positions which he has held since December 1, 1905. He was born in Harrison County, Ohio, in 1869. His father was George W. Addams and his mother, Caroline Stanton. His ancestors on both sides were among the earliest settlers of the state. He was educated in the public schools of Salem, Oberlin College and the Law School of the University of Cincinnati, having been admitted to the bar in 1892, since which time he has been engaged in active practice in the City of Cleveland. In 1896 Judge Addams married Florence Farrand, a native of Cleveland, and has two sons, Stanton and Carl Benjamin, the former of whom is now a practicing lawyer of the Cleveland bar.
The Juvenile Court of Cuyahoga County is the second of its kind, having been preceded by the Juvenile Court of Chicago, and Judge Addams has occupied the office almost from the inception of the court. He has either directed or participated in securing most of the present child legisla- tion of Ohio. He initiated the legislation providing for the recodification of the laws applying to children, and Ohio was the first state to have a Children's Code. Much legislation in other states pertaining to children has been patterned after these laws. Judge Addams has probably tried more cases involving children than any other living man.
All the interests subsidiary to the Juvenile Court, such as the Detention Home and Mothers' Pension Department, have been established during Judge Addams' administration and are models of their kind. His influence has been helpful to, and many of his suggestions followed by, philanthropic agencies of Cleveland, with which he has always been most intimate.
The powers of both the Insolvency and Juvenile courts have been enlarged by almost every legislature until the courts are now regarded as among the most important institutions in the community. One of the functions of the Insolvency Court is to try all of the cases where private property is taken for public or semi-public purposes. There has scarcely been a public improvement in Cuyahoga County in the last twenty years some phase of which has not been determined in the Insolvency Court, the recent ones being the appropriation of the land necessary for the city and metropolitan park systems and the new Union Terminals Station on the Public Square.
THE ASSOCIATED INVESTMENT COMPANY, incorporated in September, 1913, comprises a number of Cleveland business men united for honest service in the real estate field and development of the city. The success of the company has been noteworthy, both in the performance of the ordinary and the extraordinary things in real estate. The company has handled an immense volume of business involving the ordinary real estate transactions and dealing in mortgages and loans, has also carried out some extensive development and building work, and also owns Cleveland real estate valued at between one and two millions of dollars. The capitalization of the com- pany was increased to $1,500,000 in July, 1919. The organizer of the company was George R. McKay, its president and general manager, and
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other officers are: Thomas Ferry, chairman of the board of directors; Russell K. Pelton, vice president; C. J. Houle, vice president ; Charles A. Heil, treasurer ; and M. C. Teasdale, secretary. The company is a complete organization, and carries on its work through four distinct departments, income and investment properties, allotments, brokerage and financial division.
Shortly after his return from abroad as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces, C. J. Houle joined the Associated Investment Com- pany as one of its executive officers. Mr. Houle was born in Cleveland, July 22, 1887, son of John and Rosa (Hemmerling) Houle. His mother was born on Frankfort Street, at the Public Square, in Cleveland. His father was a native of Niagara, Canada, came to Cleveland about 1868, and during the rest of his life engaged in the cooperage business. He had learned the trade in youth, and for many years he was a cooperage manu- facturer, most of the time making barrels for the Standard Oil Company. He retired from his business about two years before his death, which occurred in April, 1920. He was very earnest, capable, and much admired for his integrity and efficiency, and aside from business his time was devoted to his home and family. He was an ardent democrat, but never a seeker of public office. His family consisted of two daughters and three sons.
C. J. Houle, youngest of the family, was educated in the Outhwaite Grammar School and the Central High School at Cleveland. Before grad- uating from high school he went to work, and also took a course in the Spencerian Business College. His career began as office boy for the National Malleable Castings Company at Cleveland, a business corporation with which he remained for thirteen years. During nine years of that time he was in the accounting department and four years in the sales and collec- tion department.
Mr. Houle resigned to go into service as a World war soldier, enlisting in December, 1917, with Battery D, Sixty-fourth Artillery, at New Orleans. He was transferred to the Ordnance Department at Augusta, Georgia, in May, 1918, and put in charge of 250 men. He left Newport News July 31, 1918, for France. He landed at Brest twelve days later, and his duties were chiefly those involved in convoying ordnance equipment from the Standard Gauge Railroad to the various divisions in the front lines. It was a service exposed to enemy fire, and though for three months he was in the heavy fighting in the Argonne he never received a scratch or a wound nor had a day of sickness in all the nineteen months he was in the army. After the armistice he was transferred to Leman's headquarters of the Eighty-third Division and put in charge of equipping the boys with ordnance to return home. He left Brest in April, 1919, on the bat- tleship South Carolina, landing at Newport News, and received his hon- orable discharge in May, 1919.
Following the war Mr. Houle for a brief time was a salesman selling Heights property with the H. A. Stahl Company, dealers in residence and commercial properties. In June, 1919, he resigned to join the Associated Investment Company, with offices in the Guardian Building. Mr. Houle is a Mason, a member of the Real Estate Board, the Gyro Club, the Acacia Country Club, and the Woodland Avenue Presbyterian Church.
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WILLIAM HOWLAND QUINBY. In Cleveland's mercantile life no name was better known than that of Mr. Quinby. His training was perfect for the career of a merchant, having been gained in the great metropolis where he began as an errand boy in a dry goods house, and rose step by step until he was filling an important position. A term of service as traveling sales- man followed, then his career as a merchant, operating under his own name, began and continued with great success until his passing at the age of seventy-five years. Cleveland, Ohio, was the scene of his business successes, and there he was highly rated and esteemed.
The Quinby family is supposed to have come into England with the Danish invasion, and the name originated at Quarmby or Quermby, near Hotherfield, Yorkshire, the first person bearing the name of whom there is record being Hugh de Quarmby, 1341. Branches of the family moved into Farnham, Surrey, near London, and in the south transept of the old church there is a tablet to Robert Quynby, one of the first bailiffs of Farnham, who died in 1670. Tradition says that a Quinby settled at Stratford-on-Avon, and was related through Judith Shakespeare to the great poet. This is probably an error as the real name of Judith Shakespeare's husband was Quinny, not Quinby.
The founder of the Quinby family in Westchester County, New York, to which William Howland Quinby belongs, was William Quinby, born in England, who settled in Stratford, Connecticut, of which he was one of the founders, and where his sons, John in 1654 and Thomas in 1660, are of record.
John Quinby, son of William Quinby, became one of the principal pro- prietors of New Castle, Westchester County, New York, and in 1662 was appointed magistrate by Governor Petrus Stuyvesant. He married Deborah Haight, and among their children was a son, Josiah, who married, in 1689, Mary Mulleneux. From Josiah and Mary (Mulleneux) Quinby descent is traced through their son Josiah ; his son William ; his son Thomas, and his wife, Susan (Hunter) Quinby ; their son, William Howland Quinby, of the eighth American generation, to whose memory this review is offered.
William Howland Quinby, son of Thomas and Susan (Hunter ) Quinby, was born in Westchester County, New York, January 27, 1843, and died at his residence, 14724 Terrace Road, East Cleveland, Ohio, October 27, 1918. He spent his boyhood on his father's farm, and attended the district schools of his section and New York City. He was quite young when, on account of his father's failing health, the work of the farm fell upon him, but the sale of the homestead soon followed, and he entered business life, finding employment with the Calhoun Robbins Company, wholesale mer- chants, New York City, a firm still in business on Broadway in that city He began as an errand boy, but was promoted frequently, and before leaving the store had gained a thorough knowledge of the business and was holding an important position. He was then sent on the road by the house as traveling salesman, his territory the State of Ohio. In the spring of 1879, he became Northern Ohio's agent for the Butterick Pattern Company, making Cleveland his business headquarters. Two years later he opened a ladies' furnishing store on Superior Street, Cleveland, but retained the Butterick agency. From Superior Street he moved to Euclid Avenue, and later to 500 Euclid Avenue, where he continued his business until his death.
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He gave his store his personal attention, never had a partner, and while he was in business was its active head, sharing neither labor nor responsibility with any one. In 1913 Mr. Rainey, who for many years had been manager under Mr. Quinby, and S. C. Barbour took over the business and conducted it under the name of the W. H. Quinby Company, Mr. Quinby being merely a stockholder in the corporation, and five years prior to his death he retired from active business, but retained his holdings in the W. H. Quinby Company.
In 1913 Mr. Quinby built a winter home at Rockledge, Florida, and alternated between the winter and summer homes until his death. He was a republican in politics, but never sought nor held a public office, although always being interested as a citizen. He was a member of the board of the A. M. McGregor Home for elderly people, was on the board of the East Cleveland Public Library, a member of the Second Presbyterian Church, serving as elder, and in every way possible performing with the best of his ability the duties and obligations of life.
Mr. Quinby married, in New York City, May 7, 1878, Janet Freeland, daughter of John and Catherine Freeland. To Mr. and Mrs. Quinby a daughter was born, May Cameron Quinby, who with her mother resides at the Quinby homestead, East Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Quinby was very fond of the home which he delighted in beautifying and adorning. He was a man of gracious, charming personality, and during his long business life won the respect and the confidence of a very wide circle of friends.
GEORGE H. CHANDLER was an Englishman by birth, and during the forty years before his death his name was associated with some most satisfying achievements in commercial life, and particularly with a scope of service in the religious and moral activities of his home city. No one of the citizens of his generation is held in more kindly remembrance. He was thoroughly good, and his character was beyond reproach.
He was born in Bristol, England, May 6, 1835, was reared and edu- cated in his native country, and on reaching his twenty-second year, crossed the ocean to America, and at Cleveland entered the service of his uncle, Charles Chandler, a very prosperous commission merchant of that day. He gave about fifteen years to the work of his uncle's establish- ment, and in 1870 started a business of his own, with which his name was closely identified for a period of a quarter of a century. He and a partner established the retail grocery business of Chandler and Rudd, and subse- quently the Chandler and Rudd Grocery Company became one of the most successful and prosperous establishments of the kind in the City of Cleve- land. Mr. Chandler in 1894, after having given more than thirty-five years to business, sold his interest and retired from the company. There remained sixteen years of his life to enjoy the rewards of his business prosperity and round out his long and faithful service to his church and community. He died December 9, 1910. On December 31, 1869, he had become a member of the Cleveland Baptist Church at Euclid and East Eighteenth Street. His service to this church was one of unexampled fidelity for more than forty years, until his death. He became one of its most conspicuous members, served as deacon for many years, and sin- cerely accepted the many opportunities to do good, not only within the
Janet L. Quinby
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church, but to the various causes it supported, and it was one of his supreme pleasures to support every pastor who came to the church, and he has also held numerous offices in the organization. It was said of him : "We have never seen him when he was out of patience, and have never heard him speak an unkind word about anyone." He made it a special point to visit the sick and the aged, and administer to their wants if circum- stances required and demanded. Anybody in need of a true friend found one in him, one that could be depended upon at all times. He did not confine his devotion to his own church, but human welfare was one of his chief objects throughout his entire career. He was a deep student of the Baptist ritual, and an able worker in behalf of the prosperity of the Baptist Association. When the City Mission Society undertook the con- struction of five or six mission churches he served as chairman of its build- ing committee, and the eventual success of this ambitious undertaking was largely due to his good business judgment and his persistent efforts as chairman of the committee. The buildings that they erected stand as a monument to his religious devotion and love for humanity. He served as deacon, trustee, chairman of the Fellowship Fund, president of the Board of Trustees, chairman of the House Committee.
It was well said after his death that "There is no one among us who can fill Mr. Chandler's place." At the time of his death he was an honorary deacon for life. A paragraph of the resolutions passed by his fellow members has an appropriate place: "Resolved, that the members of the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church do hereby express the deep personal sorrow felt by each and every member at parting with someone who has been so true a friend, so wise a counsellor, so Christian a gentleman, and whose faithful stewardship will meet the reward it so justly deserves."
George H. Chandler, on February 14, 1864, while on a trip to the old country, married Miss Annie Newcombe. To their marriage the following children were born: Frances, who became the bride of Charles W. Baker, of New York; George Newcombe; Jessie, who became the wife of Samuel Chandler, of New York; Percival, who died in 1889 at the age of twenty years ; and Dorothea, who lives in Cleveland.
George N. Chandler, son of the late George H. Chandler, has had a career that has made him a prominent factor in the business life of Cleve- land. He was born in that city, and has had a varied program of business responsibilities and interests. He married in 1892 Miss Laura Gertrude Rust, daughter of John F. Rust, of Cleveland. The children born to them are Katherine, who became the wife of Kenneth B. Wick; Marietta, who married Williard F. Walker ; and John Rust.
UNION OIL COMPANY OF CLEVELAND. The Union Oil Company of Cleveland, manufacturers and distributors of oils, greases and specialties, has been one of the very successful commercial organizations of this city, its history extending over a period of over forty years.
It was established in 1877 by W. H. Compton. The company was incor- porated with an authorized capital of $30,000 on September 30, 1901, the first officers being W. H. Compton, president and treasurer; A. Prior, secretary, and Q. F. Compton and C. F. Spencer. The founder of the business died at Cleveland February 10, 1908. His share in the business
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was inherited by his daughter, Mrs. B. C. Johnson, and she succeeded him as president and with the aid of her husband, W. H. Johnson, vice presi- dent, continued the business very successfully.
For many years the Union Oil Company has made a special effort to secure the trade of manufacturing plants and both municipally and pri- vately owned power plants, electric railways and similar industrial estab- lishments. Its business in this line has covered a large part of the State of Ohio, Southern Michigan and Western Pennsylvania. Owing to the uniform quality of the manufactured product the company has had 'no difficulty in holding its business once acquired, and the result has been an impressive growth and development from a small beginning. Quite recently Mr. Charles F. Siegrist bought the controlling interest in the Union Oil Company. At a meeting of the stockholders of the Auto City Oil Company, a Michigan corporation, the two companies were merged under the name of the Union Oil Company. This gave the corporation in its present form greatly increased facilities, including complete manufacturing plants in both Cleveland and Detroit, with refinery connections in Pennsylvania and the West. The company has access to the choicest crudes for the manu- facture of its special brand.
Mr. Siegrist, president of the company, was born in Cleveland, Sep- tember 15, 1870. He was educated in public and high schools, was mechanical engineer, was with Rockefeller for sixteen years, was chief engineer in the building of the Rockefeller Building. He has been a mechanical engineer all his life, is president of the Siegrist Universal Valve Company plant, located in Cleveland, is a member of the Masonic Order, being a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner, is vice president of the High Moon Club, a member of the Cleveland Athletic Club, and in politics is a republican. He married Miss Lucy C. Warnecke and they have two children, Dorris, wife of Paul G. Lutz, and Maria, at home.
EDGAR GROVE BARNETT came to Cleveland a dozen years ago, only recently out of college, and in this brief period has become a real leader in industry and affairs. Among other extensive interests Mr. Barnett is secretary and general manager of the Geist Building Material Company.
Mr. Barnett was born at New Philadelphia in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, June 2, 1886, son of Rev. Elton B. and Emma (Grove) Barnett. His father, who was born at Whips Ledges in Summit County, Ohio, has for a number of years been a member of the North East Ohio Methodist Conference. He is still active in the ministry, being pastor of East Glen- ville Methodist Episcopal Church of Cleveland. Emma Grove, his wife, was born at Akron, where the Grove family were pioneer settlers.
Edgar G. Barnett acquired his early education in the several towns where his father was a minister. He graduated from the Lincoln High School at Cleveland in 1904. Soon afterward he entered Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, graduating Bachelor of Science with the class of 1908. Immediately after his university career Mr. Barnett became mechan- ical draftsman for the Thew Steam Shovel Company at Lorain, and from there in 1911 came to Cleveland and took an active part in the promotion and organization of the Geist Building Material Company. He was elected secretary when it was incorporated, and since 1919 has been both secretary
Quetas & Readinguha,
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and general manager. This is one of the large organizations handling building materials in the Cleveland district. Mr. Barnett is a director in the Independent Brick & Tile Company of Cleveland, in the Southwestern Savings and Loan Company, in the Home Mortgage Company, and is president of the Builders Supply Board of Cleveland. He has given much influence and work to the program of the Chamber of Industry, and for several years has served as a director and in 1922 was elected vice president of the chamber, which position he held for one year.
Mr. Barnett is a member of the Gyro Club, the City Club, Brooklyn Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Holy Grail Commandery, Lake Erie Consistory, and Glen Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Brooklyn Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Bar- nett married Mary Stokes, daughter of Thomas Stokes, of Delaware, Ohio. Their two sons are Elton and John Herbert.
ARETUS EARL BIDDINGER, M. D. One of Cleveland's most accom- plished surgeons is Dr. Aretus Earl Biddinger, whose work has been attracting favorable attention for a number of years. He is head of the surgical staff of Grace Hospital. He saw active duty nearly two years as a member of the Naval Medical Corps during the World war.
Doctor Biddinger was born at Nankin, Ashland County, Ohio, July 12, 1881, and represents families that have been in this state since pioneer days. His grandfather, David Biddinger, was an early farmer of Ashland County. His maternal grandfather, Goliath Tedrow, was one of the most successful men of his time in Harrison County, and at his death left a large estate there. John Willard Biddinger, father of Doctor Biddinger, was born in Ashland County, and followed the example of his father as a farmer in that section. He died in May, 1919. He married Elizabeth Tedrow, a native of Harrison County.
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