USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. II, Pt. 1 > Part 8
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HON. CHARLES FLEISCHMANN.
Many men attain fame through a single stroke of good fortune, others through their connection with public affairs, but there are few who become known from one end of the continent to the other simply by their connection with commercial interests. To the subject of this sketch, the late Charles Fleischmann, belonged the distinction of being placed in the last mentioned class. His name was known to the residents of every city and town in the United State and Canada and his trade as manufacturer of compressed yeast was coextensive with his reputation. He was identified with many enterprises in the city of Cincinnati, where he resided from 1868 until his death, and was long prominent in the affairs of the State of Ohio.
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Charles Fleischmann was born near Pesth, in Hungary, Austria, No- vember 3, 1835, and was educated in the schools of Vienna and Prague. He was 32 years of age when he came to America to seek his fortune, and for some years worked in a number of factories in New York City. Upon coming to Cincinnati, in 1868, he formed a partnership with James W. Gaff and engaged in the manufacture of compressed yeast, being the first manu- facturer of that commodity in this country. The business was started on a small scale but under the expansive policy, inaugurated by the firm at the very beginning and since adhered to, it grew rapidly to mammoth size, mak- ing it necessary to establish branch stores in nearly all the cities and towns in the United States and Canada. For years the output of this company has exceeded that of all other companies combined. Soon after his arrival in this city, Mr. Fleischmann also engaged in the distilling business in connection with Mr. Gaff, with whom he continued for many years. The latter died January 23, 1879, and was succeeded in the business by Maximilian Fleisch- mann, a brother of Charles. The busines prospered and the partnership con- tinued until the death of Maximilian, September 1, 1890, when the firm of Fleischmann & Company was organized. This is one of the largest and strongest firms in the country, controlling nearly the entire yeast trade and a very large distilling trade.
Charles Fleischmann was a man of limitless ability and capacity for work, and did not confine his energies to the enterprises above enumerated. He was a director of the Market National Bank of Cincinnati several years before his election as president in 1889, and during the period he held that office the amount of deposits doubled and the stock increased to twice its former value. He was also one of the directors of the Cincinnati Cooperage Company, an extensive enterprise giving employment to many men and sending its products to all parts of the United States.
Mr. Fleischmann was a Republican, and received many high political honors. In 1880 he was elected by his party to the Ohio State Senate, and served one term. He was again elected State Senator in 1896. He was a member of the staff of Governor Mckinley during the latter's first term; a delegate from the Second Congressional District of Ohio to the National Republican Convention at Chicago, when Garfield was nominated in 1880, and in 1884, when James G. Blaine received the presidential nomination ; · was appointed fire commissioner in 1886 by Mayor Amor Smith, Jr., serv-
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ing as such until he resigned in 1890; and was appointed by Governor Fora- . ker in 1889 a trustee of Longview Asylum for the Insane for a term of five years, and was reappointed upon the expiration of his first term. He was ' also president of the Cincinnati Commercial Tribune Company. Among the 'various political and social organizations to which he belonged, the Queen City Club, of which he was elected one of the governors in 1889 for a term of five years, and the Blaine Club might be mentioned. He was a 32nd de- gree Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. .
In 1869, Mr. Fleischmann was united in marriage with Henrietta Rob- ertson of New York, and to them were born two sons -- Julius and Max C .- and one daughter. The family residence, which is one of exceeding beauty, is in Avondale.
HON. BELLAMY STORER, SR., LL. D.
HON. BELLAMY STORER, SR., LL. D., deceased, eminent as a statesman and jurist, passed his entire business career as a citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born at Portland, Maine, March 26, 1796, and came of a family of early settlers in Maine, Storer's Garrison being famous in the early French and Indian wars.
He was prepared for Bowdoin College by Dr. Edward Payton and Ebenezer Adams, the latter formerly a professor at Dartmouth. He was but 13 years of age when, in August, 1809, he entered Bowdoin College, but his brilliancy as a student gained him prestige. He left college before gradu- ation and entered upon the study of the law in Boston, Massachusetts, under the preceptorship of the celebrated Chief Justice Parker. There he was admitted to the bar in 1817, and in the same year made his way west to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar of the State and entered upon a career which was destined to bring him prominently before the people of the United States. He possessed all the essentials of greatness,-irreproach- able character, wonderful knowledge of the law and eloquence of speech, -and it was but a short time before he gained that recognition which was his due. In 1824, he edited the party organ, The Crisis, and advocated the election of John Quincy Adams to the presidential chair. He became the nominee of the Whig party, then in the minority, for Member of Congress
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from the First Congressional District of Ohio, in 1834. His election over so strong a candidate as Robert T. Lytle was a great personal triumph and a high tribute paid to him by the people. His qualities of leadership and his eloquence on the floor of the House of Representatives in Congress gained him high standing in that august body, and his constituents greatly regretted his action in declining a renomination to that office. He preferred to return to the practice of his profession, but continued to take an aggressive part in political affairs. He was an earnest advocate of his personal friend, Gen. William Henry Harrison, in the latter's candidacy for presidential election. In 1844, he was presidential elector on the Whig ticket and cast his vote for Henry Clay. In 1852, he was nominated, contrary to his wishes, as a justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio; although he ran several thousand votes ahead of the party ticket, he was defeated. In 1854, he was elected judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati, having as his colleagues in that dis- tinguished court, Judges O. M. Spencer and W. Y. Gholson. This tribunal had just been established and in the act creating the office it was provided that the first judges elected should cast lots for their respective terms. Judge Storer drew the short term but was kept on the bench by subsequent reelec- tions until 1872,-a period of 18 years. It was while holding this position that he attained the height of his popularity. He brought to the bench great knowledge of the law, as well as great love of its study, unremitting zeal in the performance of his judicial duties and eminent fairness of mind and temperament. He was easy of approach, kind and helpful to the younger members of the bar, many of whom are now distinguished lawyers, but withal he maintained a dignity commanding the respect of the profession. He resigned in 1872 in order to form a partnership with his son, Bellamy, who was admitted to the bar in 1869. In 1855, he became a professor in the Cincinnati Law School, continuing until 1874, when he became professor emeritus. Throughout life, Judge Storer was a very successful speaker at both political and religious meetings, and was active in a band of young men called " The Flying Artillery," which went from town to town to pro- mote religious revivals. In 1862, when the city was threatened by Confed- erate invasion, he shouldered his musket and marched as a private in defense of the city which had honored him. The degree of Doctor of Laws was . bestowed upon him by Kenyon College and Bowdoin College, of which latter institution he was for many years a trustee. He died June 1, 1875, leaving
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Matthieu Uddy
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a name, as a lawyer and man, that after a lapse of almost a quarter of a century is a familiar synonym for learning and virtue.
Judge Storer was united in marriage with Elizabeth Drinker, who was born in Philadelphia and was directly descended from one of the colonists ' who came to America with William Penn.
MATTHEW ADDY.
In fecalling the great men of Cincinnati, whose lives and services have contributed so largely to the commercial prosperity of the Queen City, the late Matthew Addy, whose portrait accompanies this sketch, must take a promi- nent place in any record of representative citizens. As president of the Addy- ston Pipe & Steel Company, his business ability, executive capacity and high sense of commercial integrity, placed this industry in the front rank in the manufacturing world and gave it more than a national reputation.
Matthew Addy was born April 15, 1835, in Montreal, Canada, and was a son of William and Louisa (Jameson) Addy, the former of whom was a hardware merchant of Montreal in prosperous circumstances. His ancestry came from the North of Ireland, and the youth had the advantages of education and religious training in the Presbyterian faith. As he ad- vanced to early manhood, he felt the restrictions and limitations that sur- rounded him, offering little field for the development of business enterprises which he felt himself capable of promoting, if given opportunity. In the late "fifties" he located in Cincinnati, accepting a position as bookkeeper in the firm of Frederick and Leopold Burckhardt, soon after becoming asso- ciated with Robert Moore & Company, in which house he later became a junior partner. In time his footing became sure enough to encourage him to enter business for himself, first as a commission agent, dealing mainly in cotton, the city at that time being one of the great cotton markets. His keen business foresight, however, saw that as the other parts of the country developed, Cincinnati could not hope to hold her own as a cotton market, and in looking about selected pig iron as a staple. This proved the value of his judgment, for in those days Southern pig iron was almost an un- known quantity, and the Birmingham region, with its present day millions
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of invested capital and its limitless raw material, was not even a dream of the future. His acumen was thus shown in his forecast that the South would ultimately be a mighty factor in the pig iron industry of the country, and to the development of this trade he devoted every energy, bringing the very first Southern pig iron, smelted with coke, to the Cincinnati market. Mr. Addy found much prejudice to break down and much reluctance of foundry- men with which to contend, as the workmen had been educated to believe that iron must be made either in Pennsylvania or Great Britain to be of standard quality. That he succeeded in what at that time seemed the wildest of hopes, is shown by the fact that to-day Cincinnati is the great market for Southern iron, and to him is due the credit for developing this trade and fixing its center here. His unflagging energy directed the trade to this city and the great company of which he was the honored head handles more of this commodity than any other house in America.
The Addyston Pipe & Steel Company during the late years of its presi- dent expanded into one of the largest manufacturing industries of the West. The pipe foundry at Addyston was built when the original Newport works became too small for the growing needs of the business, although the latter are still operated to their fullest capacity, and, in addition, the modern and well equipped plant at Addyston has occasionally been obliged to work on a double turn in order to satisfy the demand. This foundry is the largest in the world, and in recent tests made on water pipes by the government of Japan, its product, the Addyston pipe, proved superior to all others sub- mitted in the competition. This test was exhaustive and thorough and Eng- lish and Belgian pipe manufacturers were surprised and chagrined to find that in practical properties their product was not to be compared to the American article.
On November 4, 1862, Mr. Addy was united in marriage with Caroline E. King, who was a daughter of the late Abraham King, one of the promi- nent merchants of Cincinnati. To this union were born two daughters and one son, namely : Louise A., wife of D. Kinney; Ruth, who was married to Samuel F. Nave, in the Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, January 6, 1903, and now resides in St. Joseph, Missouri; and Clifford Hills, who died at the age of six years. Matthew Addy died at Falmouth Heights, Massa- . chusetts, August 2, 1896. His love of art and all things beautiful had made his home on Auburn avenue, Cincinnati, a treasure house and some of the
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happiest hours of his life were spent among the artistic surroundings which his cultivated taste craved.
Matthew Addy took no active part in politics, for he could not spare the time and other interests absorbed him, but his vote was always cast in ' support of the Republican party. In all the various public movements in . which this city was interested, his time, influence and money were generously given, while his private benefactions, which were liberal to a degree, he never ostentatiously made public. In the support of the various religious enterprises of the city, no citizen has ever shown more liberality, while the gift of Clifford Chapel to the Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, in memory of his only son, was but one of the notable examples of his public spirt and his deep, religious convictions. Mr. Addy will long be remem- bered in Cincinnati, not only on account of the great business house which bears his name, but for those qualities which characterized his life,-sturdy integrity, unflagging industry and scrupulous love of commercial honor.
WILLIAM HUBBELL FISHER.
WILLIAM HUBBELL FISHER, an attorney-at-law of Cincinnati, Ohio, was born in the city of Albany, New York, November 26, 1843, and is a son of the distinguished divine, Rev. Samuel Ware Fisher, D. D., LL.D. His father, who is now deceased, was at one time president of Hamilton College of Clinton, New York, and for a period of II years was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, Ohio. The mother of our subject was Jane J. Jackson of New Jersey, who was of an old Holland Dutch family; she was a descendant of Peter Schuyler, Governor of New York, and was descended on her mother's side from the Van de Lindas.
On his father's side, Mr. Fisher is a descendant of Jonathan Fisher, Who was chosen by field officers as 2nd lieutenant in the Fifthi Company of Northampton, Second Hampshire County Regiment, Massachusetts, March 22, 1776. Maternally he is a great-grandson of Adrian Brinkerhoff, quarter- master of the Second Regiment of Dutchess County, New York, his commis- sion being issued October 11, 1775. The grandfather of Adrian Brinkerhoff was Col. Jolin Brinkerhoff, who lived at Fislikill, on the Hudson River, his home being the headquarters of General Washington in 1778. 6
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William H. Fisher passed his boyhood in Cincinnati, where he received his early educational training. He then entered Hamilton College, an insti- tution from which he graduated with honor in 1864. He was a member of the Epsilon Chapter of the college fraternity Phi Beta Kappa. He studied ' law in Columbia College, New York City, under Prof. Theo. W. Dwight and Professor Liever, being admitted to the bar of the State of New York in 1867. He entered practice at Utica, New York, at which time John S. Crocker, attorney in patent cases, transferred to him all his business relating to letters patent. In 1870 he entered into partnership for the practice of patent law with Hon. Samuel S. Fisher, ex-commissioner of patents in Cincinnati. In 1873 the partnership was dissolved and our subject has since practiced alone. He is the author of "Fislier's Patent Reports, Vol. I," a compilation of cases of great value to those engaged in practicing patent law.
On September 10, 1873, Mr. Fisher was joined in marriage with Mary I. Lyon, of Lyons Falls, New York, and to them were born four children, of whom three are now living. During his residence in Utica, with two other gentlemen, he originated the Young Men's Christian Association of that city, an organization of great strength and usefulness, which at the present time possesses a handsome building, the property valued at over $100,- 000. He is an elder in the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, and is corresponding secretary and director of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion here.
Mr. Fisher has been president of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, and is a director thereof. He has contributed various articles on the subject of natural history. In 1893 he published an interesting article of original research entitled "The Investigations of the Burrows of the Ameri- can Marmot," together with full diagrammatic plans of the burrows. It was an entirely new subject in the field of scientific investigation, and the paper received favorable notice from American and European scientists. Mr. Fisher is a member of the American Ornithological Union, and has re- cently communicated to The Auk two interesting articles relative to the flight of birds, one "A Specialized Use of the Bastard Wing," and the other, "Pre- serving the Equilibrium by the Use of One Wing," which discloses a use heretofore undescribed. Mr. Fisher is interested in the subject of forestry, and has contributed several articles on this subject, which is becoming more and more important every day to the welfare of the United States. At the
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inception of the first Society for the Promotion of Forestry, and which was held at Saratoga, New York, some 20 years ago, he became a member. He has been identified with the work ever since. He has been the first and only president (since it was incorporated in 1898) of the Audubon Society for the State of Ohio, for the protection of birds. In the line of photography . he has made certain interesting inventions enabling animals to take their own pictures by day and by night, also certain valuable improvements in lens shutters, and in apparatus for supporting cameras.
THE JOSEPH R. PEEBLES' SONS COMPANY.
THE JOSEPH R. PEEBLES' SONS COMPANY, of Cincinnati, conducts one of the largest and most complete grocery stores in the United States. The reputation of this business house is by no means confined to Cincinnati and its immediate vicinity, but extends throughout Ohio and contiguous States, and its patronage is coextensive. This enterprise was launched more than 60 years ago as a small store, with little financial backing, and its growth has been identical with that of the city. Its founders were William Sharp Peebles and Joseph Rusk Peebles, who in 1840 purchased the stock of Nor- throp, Comstock & Moore, grocers on the northeast corner of Fifth and Race streets. In commenting upon this venture, a Cincinnati gentleman re- cently wrote: "They scarcely realized their little plant was an acorn that was to grow and spread into an oak that would defy the financial storms of half a hundred years and then be wider and taller and sturdier than ever. About it they builded wiser than they knew. The principle on which they started, of a fair count, and to which they tenaciously clung, has borne its legitimate fruit, a fruit that is free from all that is bitter. The law which the first Peeebles established a half century ago in their little Fifth street store of selling 16 ounces to the pound and four quarts to the gallon has never had any amendment. It has stood like the laws of the Medes and Per- sians. As the great Grecian poet, Euripides, represented man as he is, not as he should be, so the Peebles Brothers represented their stock in trade pre- cisely as it was, not as it might be. The exterior was an index of what was inside. If an examination did not prove it to be so it was because the
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Peebles Brothers had been deceived, and they straightway made it so or re- funded the money."
Twelve years after the inception of this partnership, William Sharp Peebles retired, leaving his brother to continue the business, which prospered as before and grew to large proportions. The latter continued the business alone until his early death, in 1866, at the age of 48 years. Three years later, his eldest son, Joseph Straub Peebles, formed a partnership with his younger brother, E. C. Peebles, and Joel J. Barlow, and they became sole proprietors by purchasing all outstanding interests and continued it under the firm name of Joseph R. Peebles' Sons. As the patronage of the firm became extended, the stock was increased proportionately, and it soon became apparent that the small store on Fifth and Race streets was inadequate. It was only a question of time when the store would be removed to more commodious quarters, and this removal was hastened by a flooded cellar caused by a cloud burst, by means of which occurrence considerable stock was destroyed. . Mr. Peebles secured excellent accommodations in the Pike Building on Fourth street, and one Saturday night in September, 1879, he secured about 40 mov- ing wagons, which with the delivery wagons of the firm moved the entire stock to the new location. In 1888 the adjoining store was rented and the two thrown together, making one vast floor space, 13,000 square feet in area. The store extended from No. 69 to No. 73 West Fourth street. The business remained in those commodious quarters until September, 1900, when it was moved to its present location in the beautiful store on Government square opposite the Post Office, built expressly for it.
Owing to a desire to retain the services of many of the valued employees who had grown up with the business, in July, 1888, Mr. Peebles determined to recognize their services and reward their faithfulness to the firm's interests by organizing a stock company, The Joseph R. Peebles' Sons Company. with himself as president, and Harry Lee Peebles, son of William Sharp Peebles, secretary and treasurer. J. G. Schmidlapp, president of the Union Savings & Trust Company, became vice-president of the concern. The pres- ent officers of the company are: Joseph Straub Peebles, president; Louie H. Schmidlapp, vice-president; Harry Lee Peebles, secretary; and George P. Kerl, treasurer. An immense stock of groceries, wines, whiskies, cigars and mineral waters is carried.
A branch establishment is maintained on Walnut Hills, located at the
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corner of Gilbert avenue and McMillan street, and by reason of its location there that corner has become known as Peebles Corner. The Josephi R. Peebles' Sons Company not only supplies private families, but hotels, res- taurants and clubs as well. Kitchen, dining room and bar supplies for hotels are a leading feature of this famous house, and there are few hotels within two hundred miles of Cincinnati that are not familiar with this fact. There are 150 persons in the employ of the company, and the service of 35 horses is required in the work of delivering goods. This was the first house in the city to begin free delivery to customers, and the first to place a telephone in a store for the accommodation of patrons in ordering. The Joseph R. Pee- bles' Sons Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $200,000 and constitutes the largest distributer of pure food products, fine wines, whiskies and confections in the Ohio Valley.
William Sharp Peebles, one of the founders of the business above de- scribed, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1816, and was a son of Robert and Margaret ( McClintock) Peebles. He received a meager schooling in the common schools of his native town, and in 1836 came to Cincinnati, being the first of his family to do so. His first employment was as typesetter for the old Cincinnati Gasette, and in 1840 he purchased the grocery store of Northrop, Comstock & Moore, as above mentioned. Shortly after, his brother was taken into the business and the partnership continued with uninterrupted success until 1852. He in the meantime had associated himself with an older brother, Daniel McClintock Peebles, and Mr. Pollard, in the manufacture of lard oil and candles under the firm name of Pollard & Peebles. In 1852, he disposed of his interest in the grocery, bought out his partners in the lard oil firm and conducted that business until his death. He went to St. Paul, Minnesota, on account of ill health and died there in 1861. He became known as one of Cincinnati's most progressive and enter- prising citizens, and his death was sadly mourned as a loss to the community. On October 28, 1841, he was married to Lucy Stephenson, a daughter of William S. Stephenson, an old Cincinnati tinner (who died leaving a large estate), and a sister of Arthur . Stephenson. His children by this marriage were: Howard, Robert and Kenton. His wife died September 24, 1848, and he formed a second union on June 15, 1852, with Delia Tift, a daughter of William and Rebecca Tift. Their only child was Harry Lee Peebles, at the present time secretary of The Joseph R. Peebles' Sous Company.
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