USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, (Vol. 3) > Part 28
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County, Ohio, and is a descendant of two of the pioneer families to settle in that part of the state. He is the son of the late William B. and Emeline (Grove) Carpenter, who became useful and prominent citizens in that county. The father was born in that part of the state, while the mother was a native of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, but was reared from childhood in Richland County. William B. was the son of Daniel Car- penter, who was born at Barre, Vermont, in 1796.
Daniel, though quite young at the time, served in the United States Army during the War of 1812. After that war had ceased he came west to Richland County in 1818, locating on a farm, where he carried on agri- culture, as well as general merchandising until 1847, when he migrated to Iowa and Colorado, where he died in 1885, at the age of eighty-eight years. Daniel Carpenter, was the offspring of George, and George, the offspring of William, who served the Colonies in the Revolution and distinguished himself for his opposition to the oppressive tactics of the English monarch. After his arrival in Richland County in 1818 Daniel became prominent in all reputable acts of sound citizenship, and as soon as the pioneers became sufficiently numerous he assisted in organizing the local State Militia and was elected colonel of the Richland County forces. He usually occupied some official position therein as long as he lived or until general interest in the militia faded and finally passed away.
William B. Carpenter followed the occupation of tanning at Mansfield, Ohio, for over fifty years, and became one of the most active and reliable business men of that city. He took a leading and prominent part in all worthy industrial and municipal affairs, and was always on the side of law and order. He died in that city on June 5, 1913, at the advanced age of eighty-six years.
His wife, Emeline, was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Boyer) Grove, which name was formerly or originally Groff, no doubt. The Groves came to Ohio in 1826 and located on a tract of land in Richland County, where they were prosperous and prominent for many years. Eme- line passed away on December 22, 1902, at the age of seventy-four years.
Otto W. Carpenter was born November 12, 1870, and was reared to manhood at Mansfield. In youth he was given a good education in the public schools and was graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in the class of 1894. Soon after his graduation he began the study of law in the office of his uncle at Mansfield, and while thus occupied managed to secure a position as examiner in the Ohio State Department of Insurance at Columbus and was thus employed from 1896 to 1900. In the latter year he secured the appointment of general agent for the Union Central Life Insurance Company at Cleve- land, and the same year removed to Lakewood, which has since been his residence. In 1908 he was duly admitted to the bar, but did not begin the practice of that profession, instead giving his entire time and attention to the insurance business, which he still carries on in Cleveland, with offices in the Society for Savings Building.
At this date Mr. Carpenter is president of the Lakewood Savings & Loan Company of Lakewood, and is also a director in the Colonial Savings & Loan Company of the same city. He takes an earnest interest in the welfare of the community where he resides, and has served the people in
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various capacities with credit to himself and advantage to his neighbors. He is active in the civic and municipal upbuilding of the city, and admits his obligations as a citizen to serve the people if required to do so. He has rendered important service on the various boards and otherwise. He served for four years on the Lakewood Board of Education and for two years on the Sinking Fund Commission. During the World war, as chair- man, he had charge of two campaigns to sell Liberty Bonds in Lakewood, and these personally conducted campaigns were the first to raise their full quotas in Cuyahoga County. He also assisted in all other Liberty Bond campaigns and in war activities.
He is a member of both the Lakewood and the Cleveland Chambers of Commerce, is a charter member of Lakewood Lodge No. 601, Free and Accepted Masons ; a member of the Lakewood Country Club, and of the Official Board of Detroit Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Carpenter chose for his wife Miss Ruby Desiar Sears, who is a native of Bucyrus, Ohio, and is the daughter of Benjamin and Melissa (Minnick) Sears, both deceased. Her people were early pioneers of Crawford County. Mrs. Carpenter is a lineal descendant of Elder William Brewster, who was one of the company of pilgrims to cross the Atlantic in the historic Mayflower landing at Plymouth in 1620. She is a member of the Ohio Society of Descendants of the Mayflower, also of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution and of the Society of Founders and Patriots of America. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have the following children : Emeline, who graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the Ohio Wesleyan University and the Simmons College (post graduate work) of Boston, Massachusetts. She is now in the service department of the Illuminating Company of Cleveland. Benjamin Sears graduated with the degree of Mechanical Engineer from the Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland, in 1923. Otto William II graduated from the Lakewood High School in 1923, and is now a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University.
WILLIAM JOHN ELLENBERGER, one of the leading business men and one of the public-spirited citizens of Lakewood, was born on Cedar Avenue, Cleveland, on the 30th of April, 1871, and is the son of Frederick Herman and Margaret Ann (Hudson) Ellenberger. The father was born in Canal Dover, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in 1849, and was the son of William Ellenberger, who came from Friedesheim, Germany, at an early date and became one of the pioneers of Tuscarawas County. There he became one of the active business men and one of the reputable citizens of that com- munity. He died there in 1856, leaving a widow and several children.
Frederick H., better known as Herman, came to Cleveland the same year his father died, or when he was about seven years old, and thereafter made his home with his aunt in that city. He received a fair education, princi- pally at the old Brownell Public School, and for a time was taught by a lady teacher who afterward became Mrs. John D. Rockefeller. . At the age of fifteen years he began operations for himself in the business world, and accepted a clerkship in a cigar store, where he remained for some time. Later he secured a position with Thomas and Butts, for many years leading lumber dealers in this part of the state. There Frederick gained much of the information which became valuable to him in his subsequent lumber
Vol. III-14
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operations. He managed to lay up considerable money for his own future, and with it he was able a little later to enter into partnership with the N. Mills & Company lumber concern. There he remained in constant work for several years, still further perfecting his knowledge of the lumber traffic, but in 1895 withdrew from that establishment and entered into part- nership with his brother, Albert W., under the firm name of the Ellenberger Lumber Company.
In 1901 he relinquished his interests in this company and in conjunction with his brother bought out the Smeed Box Company and began an active business along somewhat different lines. At the same time he and his brother became the owners of the Worden Tool Company, another departure from the old lumber industry. He was made general manager and treasurer of the Smeed Box Company, and served as president of the Worden Tool Company until his death on the 11th of October, 1914. He was identified with the lumber industry of this part of the state for over forty-seven years, and at the time of his demise was one of the oldest members of the Cleveland Board of Lumber Dealers, which organization, at the time of his death, passed resolutions of sympathy and condolence.
He was a steadfast and unwavering member of the Free Will Baptist Church. He took unusual interest and concern in the growth and develop- ment of the Sunday school. He was one of its most earnest and active workers. For many years he was a faithful member of the Cuyahoga County Sunday School Association, of which the present Cleveland Sunday School Association is the successor. He also became a member of the Ohio State Sunday School Association, and was much interested in the establishment and progress of the International Sunday School Association. For twenty-five years he served with much credit as superintendent of the Sunday schools of the Cleveland Free Will Baptist Church.
His wife, formerly Margaret Ann Hudson, was born in Richmond, England, in 1848, and was the daughter of William Hudson, who came to the United States at an early date and settled in Cleveland. He left his family in England, probably to get well located here before their arrival. But he died ere long and was buried in the old Erie Street Cemetery. He was living when his daughter left England to join him, but when she reached Cleveland she learned for the first time that he was dead and buried. The daughter is still living. To Frederick and Margaret Ellen- berger were born two sons, William John and Walter Edward. The latter now resides near Hiram, Ohio, and is successfully engaged in agriculture and stock breeding. Frederick Ellenberger and family moved to Lakewood in 1901, where he purchased two acres of land on Detroit Avenue, built his home and there passed the remainder of his day.
William John Ellenberger was educated in the Walton School, the Cleveland West High School and Oberlin College, receiving, as a whole, an excellent schooling: His first important labor was with the Worden Tool Company in their works for two years. Then he worked for the N. Mills Company and finally with the Ellenberger Lumber Company. When the latter was incorporated he became one of its directors. Then for a time he was with other business concerns, among which was the Cleveland Car Company, being a director. When his father and uncle bought the Smeed Box Company he became secretary, and upon the death of his father he
Payph a. Jeher M.LO.
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assumed the management of the company as secretary-treasurer. He also was a director in the Worden Tool Company, in the Security Savings & Loan Company and in the Mutual Mortgage Company. He was also treas- urer of the Metropolitan Motor Insurance Company and a director in the J. L. Free Company. He is treasurer of the Brecksville Country Club, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, West Side Chamber of Industry, Rotary Club, Sleepy Hollow Country Club, member of the Board of Stewards of the Detroit Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, member of the Executive Committee of the Cleveland Sunday School Association and member of the Governing Board of the Lakewood Young Men's Christian Association.
In early manhood he married Flora May Hulburt, a native of Seville, Ohio, and daughter of William and Caroline (Chambers) Hulburt. Six children were born to this union: Irene Imogene, who married Frank J. Roubal ; William H., who died in 1907, at the age of seven years; F. Her- man, who is now with the Smeed Box Company; Phillip E., a student at Ohio Wesleyan University; Carl, in high school; and Ernest L., in high school. Mr. and Mrs. Ellenberger have for many years resided in the old Ellenberger home in Lakewood.
RALPH ALLEN SCHERZ, M. D. One of the well known physicians of Cleveland, and a leading citizen of the West Side, is Dr. Ralph Allen Scherz, who has built up a large practice in this city and commands the respect and confidence of his professional associates as well as of the general public. Doctor Scherz was born at Sandusky, Ohio, March 5, 1884, and is a son of the late J. Louis and Josephine (Daniels) Scherz.
J. Louis Scherz was born at Sandusky, Ohio, in 1850, and died in that city May 7, 1920. His father, J. Louis Scherz, Sr., was the founder of the family in Ohio. He was born at Heidelberg, Germany, and came from there to the United States in 1844, settling at Sandusky, of which city he became a prominent and substantial business man. By trade he was a pat- tern maker, and he made some of the first patterns used by the Mad River Railroad, now the branch of the Big Four out of Sandusky. As a business man he saw opportunities quickly and practically, and when he bought a large tract of hard wood timber in Sandusky County he used it in the manufacture of ax handles to good advantage.
J. Louis Scherz, Jr., was educated at Sandusky, and in early life was a machinist, but later entered the Government railway mail service, with which he was connected for thirty-five years, running on the New York Central lines between Cleveland, Ohio, and Syracuse, New York. A reli- able and trustworthy man in every relation of life, he became well known and valued by his fellow citizens, and at the time of his death was chairman of the board of trustees of the Sandusky Children's Home. He was a charter member of the first lodge of the order of Knights of Pythias organ- ized at Sandusky. He married Josephine Daniels, who was born at San- dusky, and died in 1884, as the result of an accident.
Ralph Allen Scherz received his early educational training in the San- dusky public schools, and was graduated from high school. In 1904 he entered the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1908, with his medical degree. He applied himself closely
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to his studies, and in his senior year served as an interne at Cleveland City Hospital, and following his graduation served in the same capacity at Huron Road Hospital. As an indication of his proficiency in his medical studies and the value placed on this proficiency by his professors it may be stated that he was then appointed instructor in physical diagnosis at his alma mater, and so continued until that college was taken over by the Ohio State University ; and in 1920 he was granted a certificate showing him to be a graduate of that institution under its present name. He is interested in everything pertaining to his profession, and is a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy.
Doctor Scherz married Miss Mae Kers, who is a daughter of Joseph Kers, of Cleveland. She is a lady of education and force of character, and is a graduated nurse of Mount Sinai Hospital of Cleveland and a post- graduate of Bellevue Hospital, New York City.
In political life Doctor Scherz is interested only as a good citizen, and takes part in civic affairs from the standpoint of a man of science. Like other members of his profession, he gives generously to charity, and, like them, also is silent as to the objects of his benefactions, whether they prove grateful or otherwise. This, possibly, is professional ethics, neverthe- less it is beneficence in the widest sense. Doctor Sherz is a member of O. N. Steel Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Robert Wallace Chapter ; Forest City Council; Forest City Commandery, Knights Templar, and Al Koran Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of Hesperian Lodge, Knights of Pythias.
EDWIN CARLOS FORBES, founder of The Letter Specialty Company of Cleveland, of which he is president and manager, has developed in this connection a specially effective organization' for direct mail advertising, and the enterprise is one of importance and consecutive expansion.
Mr. Forbes was born on the parental homestead farm in Hartland Township, Huron County, Ohio, January 18, 1868, and is a son of Carlos and Mary Jane (Pond) Forbes. Carlos Forbes was born in Parma Town- ship, Cuyahoga County, a son of Thomas B. Forbes, who came to Ohio from Massachusetts in the pioneer days, he having transported his family and small supply of household effects by means of wagon and ox team and having reclaimed and developed a productive farm in Parma Town- ship where he passed the remainder of his life. Mrs. Mary Jane (Pond) Forbes was born at Basin Harbor, Vermont, and was a girl of ten years at the time her father brought the family from the old Green Mountain State to Ohio in 1848, the home having here been established on a pioneer farmstead in Warrensville Township, Cuyahoga County, whence removal later was made to the Huron County farm on which Edwin C. Forbes was born. Carlos Forbes and his wife both attended Oberlin College, where was formed the acquaintance that finally culminated in their marriage. After their marriage they resided on the old homestead farm of the Pond family in Huron County until 1882, when they removed to the Village of Brooklyn, which is now a part of the City of Cleveland, Mr. Forbes having been a master carpenter and having here developed a substantial business as a contractor and builder. Here he passed the remainder of his life.
Edwin C. Forbes gained his earlier education in the rural schools of
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Huron County and after the removal to Brooklyn was graduated from the Brooklyn High School. Thereafter he was for two years a student in the Spencerian Business College in Cleveland, and then became book- keeper for the Grossman Paper Box Company. After three years with that concern he assumed a similar position with the Voice Publishing Company, and later he purchased the Cuyahoga County News, a weekly paper cir- culating in the western part of the county and also in the counties of Lorain and Medina. His initial service in public office was that of deputy county auditor under Albert E. Aiken, with whom he thus served three years. He was retained in the same position through the administration of William E. Craig and for a time under Robert Wright, the successive incumbents of the office of county auditor, leaving that office to become deputy to William R. Coates, county clerk of Cuyahoga County, with whom he was thus associated until the expiration of the term of Mr. Coates.
Upon leaving the office of the county clerk Mr. Forbes established a trade paper known as the Macaroni & Noodle Manufacturers Journal, and in May, 1904, he brought about the organization of a national association of macaroni and noodle manufacturers, of which his paper became the official organ. While continuing the publication of his paper Mr. Forbes also gave fourteen years of service as secretary of the association above men- tioned, and in the meanwhile he gave six years of service as cashier in the office of the treasurer of Cuyahoga County, under the regimes of Albert K. Spencer and George E. Myers.
In 1910 Mr. Forbes established the business since conducted under the title of The Letter Specialty Company, and under his effective supervision this concern has developed a large and prosperous business, the functions of which are meeting with constantly increasing appreciation on the part of advertisers.
Mr. Forbes was actively concerned in the organization of the Kiwanis Club of Cleveland and is a charter member of the same, this having been the second Kiwanis Club organized in the United States. He became tem- porary president of the club at the time of its inception, in July, 1915, and continued his service in this capacity until the following October, when at his own request, he was retired from this office and was chosen secretary of the club, in which position he has since continued and has been able greatly to advance the splendid civic and business ideals and policies for which the name of Kiwanis stands sponsor. Mr. Forbes is identified with the Cleveland Chamber of Industry, the Cleveland Real Estate Board, the Cleveland Advertising Club, and the Cleveland Automobile Club. He is president of the Mail Advertising Service Association of Cleveland, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Mail Advertising Service Asso- ciation of North America. In the Masonic fraternity his affiliations are with Laurel Lodge No. 657, Free and Accepted Masons ; and Keystone Chapter No. 217, Royal Arch Masons. He is a member also of Riverside Lodge No. 209, Knights of Pythias, and Riverside Circle No. 87, Protected Home Circle, in which last mentioned order he is a past grand president of Ohio. His wife, whose maiden name was Lucy Wilde, was born in the Village of Berea, Cuyahoga County, and is a daughter of the late William and Emma (Crawford) Wilde. Mr. and Mrs. Forbes have one son, Earl Edwin, who is with the tourist-service department of Wonder Tours, Inc.
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NICHOLAS LEO ZINNER, A. B., M. D., maintains his office at 1355 East Fifty-fifth Street in his native City of Cleveland, where he has been engaged in the successful general practice of his profession since 1916, save for the interval of his loyal service with the Medical Corps of the United States Army in the World war, he having had a full quota of experience in connection with the operations of the American Expeditionary Forces on the stage of active conflict overseas.
Doctor Zinner was born in Cleveland on the 1st of August, 1889, and is a son of David and Helen (Fox) Zinner, who were born and reared in Austria, where their marriage was solemnized and where they continued to maintain their home until 1887, when they came to the United States and established their residence in Cleveland. David Zinner, a man of fine intellectuality and a specially talented linguist, was identified with various lines of business enterprise in the Ohio metropolis up to the time of his death, April 24, 1924. Mrs. Zinner died November 5, 1922.
In the public schools of Cleveland Doctor Zinner continued his studies until his graduation from the Central High School in 1908, and in advanc- ing his education along academic lines he completed a course of study in Adelbert College of the Western Reserve University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1912 and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His preliminary educational work thus completed, he forthwith began preparation for the profession of his choice, and as a member of the class of 1915 in the medical department of Western Reserve University he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He thereafter gave a year of service as an interne in the Cleveland Charity Hospital, and then, in 1916. initiated the active general practice of his profession, in which he here continued until there came to him a higher duty, that of patriotic service in connection with the nation's participation in the great World war. In May, 1917, about one month after the United States declared war against Germany, Doctor Zinner received commission as first lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the United States Army, and in the following August he was sent to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, for preliminary training. On the 25th of November of that year he was ordered to the base hospital at Camp Greene, Charlotte, North Carolina, and there he was detailed to special service as registrar, summary court officer, member of the Board of Disability, and also member of the Neuropsychiatric Board. In 1918 he received his commission as captain in the Medical Corps of the United States Army, and in June of that year he was transferred to Base Hospital No. 54, in connection with which unit he was ordered to overseas service in the following August. He disembarked at Brest, France, and ten days later his unit was assigned to the base hospital center of the American Expeditionary Forces at Mesves, France, his unit having been the third to enter service at that point. There Doctor Zinner was made registrar of the base hospital, as well as receiving and evacuating officer and member of the board of disability, besides which he was associated with other sur- geons in active charge of a hospital ward provided with about 150 beds. No minor responsibilities rested upon him, and his leisure hours were principally minutes, he having assumed charge of virtually all operations and wound-dressing in the large ward just mentioned. His record of professional and patriotic stewardship on the stage of the greatest con-
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flict known in the annals of time is one that shall ever reflect honor and distinction upon his name. In January, 1919, Doctor Zinner received orders to return to the United States, the trip having been made on the steamer "Lapland," which left Brest, France, with about 3,600 sick and wounded soldiers on board. The voyage was thus one that incidentally placed as great demands upon the time and professional attention of Doctor Zinner as had his previous service in France, and nothing within his power to do for the suffering heroes was left undone. On the 21st of January, 1919, the day following that of his arrival at Camp Dix, New Jersey, Doctor Zinner there received his honorable discharge. He immediately returned to Cleveland, and three days after his arrival in his native city he girded himself with characteristic energy and enthusiasm and resumed the active practice of his profession, in which his success shows a constantly cumulative tendency, his practice being now of substantial and representative order.
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