USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Cleveland, Ohio, pictorial and biographical. De luxe supplement, Volume I > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
Mr. Tisdale was one of the early members of the Board of Trade and was always deeply interested in projects for the welfare and upbuilding of his city. In politics he was a stanch republican and although not a politician used his influence for the leading candi- dates of the party and for the foremost republican principles. He was an active and helpful member of St. Paul's Episcopal church, served as one of its vestrymen for many years and at the time of his
283
284
George A. Tisdale
death was senior warden of the church. His influence was always given on the side of right and justice. A man of good judgment, his advice was frequently solicited and in such cases freely given. He was a charitable man, ready to extend a helping hand to those in need when substantial assistance was worthily sought.
Mr. Tisdale married Miss Caroline M. Burt, of Sacket Harbor, New York, who, with two daughters, Mrs. James B. Savage and Caroline A., is still a resident of Cleveland. Mr. Tisdale lived for more than thirty years on Euclid avenue in what is now the busi- ness district of the city. He died at the age of seventy-two years. Thus a life of usefulness was closed, a life which contributed to the sum total of the world's improvement and progress.
-
M . A. Ciarlo
Michael A. Ciarlo
INCE an Italian made the discovery of the Ameri- S can continent the sons of sunny Italy and their de- scendants have proven important factors in various walks of life in the new world. It is true that other countries have sent a larger percentage of citizens to the United States, but as a class none have furnished more worthy representatives of substantial and progressive citizen- ship than has the land from which Columbus came more than four centuries ago. Michael A. Ciarlo, of Italian parentage, was born in Cincinnati, August 9, 1863. His father, Joseph J. Ciarlo, was born in Geneva, Italy, and on coming to this country settled in Cincin- nati, Ohio. He was a man of superior education and opened a school for teaching foreign languages, but the time was not yet ripe for a profitable institution of that character in Cincinnati and he removed to Cleveland, where he turned his attention to commercial pursuits, opening and conducting a fruit store here. Later he went to Europe, where his death occurred. His widow still survives and makes her home with her two daughters in Cleveland. In the family were five children : Angelo, deceased; Joseph J .; Michael A., of this re- view; Julia E .; and Miss May Ciarlo, who pursued her education in the schools of Cleveland and in Cincinnati and is widely and popu- larly known in the social circles of the former city.
Michael A. Ciarlo pursued his education in Cincinnati and was eighteen years of age when the removal was made to Cleveland. In 1889 he established a hand laundry at No. 180 Prospect street, which he called the Public Hand Laundry. Under his careful guidance the business soon developed, its growth exceeding his ex- pectations. In 1893, therefore, he purchased the land at the corner of Prospect and Fourteenth streets and erected the building in which the business is still carried on. It was through his efforts alone that the enterprise was built up from a small undertaking. At first a hand laundry, it was soon developed in accordance with modern ideas of business of that character, the latest improved machinery was installed and at the time of his death he was empioving fifty people and was utilizing six wagons for collection and delivery. As
287
288
Michael A. Ciarlo
he prospered in his undertakings he made further investment in property, purchasing the property opposite on Prospect and East Fourteenth streets and also property on Euclid avenue and in other districts. From these investments he secured a good financial re- turn and was very successful. Although he was never a robust man and in fact suffered considerably from ill health from his boyhood, he was yet very active, ambitious and energetic and deserved much credit for what he accomplished, for he started out in life empty- handed and worked his way upward until he was at the head of an extensive and profitable business.
Mr. Ciarlo belonged to the Catholic church, attending services at the cathedral. He was a most public-spirited citizen, always ready to do his part for the development of Cleveland and politically he was an earnest republican, giving stalwart allegiance to the party. In his disposition he was charitable, ever ready to aid a fellow trav- eler on the journey of life and his own early struggles developed in him keen sympathy for others who were attempting to make their way upward unaided. He died in Cleveland November 16, 1906, and thus closed a life of activity and of usefulness.
A.d. Passons
A. S. Possons
T HROUGH the development of his native powers N. S. Possons made himself a valuable factor in the world's work, achieving much more than local recog- nition in business, while he was also active in those other departments which go to make up the sum of early activities, including the social, religious, politi- cal and benevolent interests which are factors in the life of every well organized community. The birth of N. S. Possons occurred in Cohoes, New York, in 1844 and he comes of French and Ger- man lineage, his original American ancestors having come to the new world in the latter part of the seventeenth century. His grand- father, Wilhelmus Possons, was the first farmer in Schoharie county, New York, who utilized the system of renewing the soil by raising clover upon it, for the little nodules of that plant contain much nitrogen and thus furnish food for the crops. It is a practice now quite common among scientific agriculturists but Mr. Possons was a pioneer in the introduction of that method. He was always act- uated by a spirit of progress and sought to improve upon every task which he undertook. He possessed considerable mechanical in- genuity and invented the first threshing machine, doing all the me- chanical work himself and the machine was signally successful. Having arrived at years of maturity, he wedded Eliza Borst, an earnest and devout Christian, who died in early womanhood. Their son, William Fiero Possons, was a native of Schoharie county, New York, and in early life was apprenticed to learn the dyer's and ful- ler's trade, which he followed up to the time of the advent of woolen factories. He was a graduate of the Albany Normal School but much of his education was obtained after his marriage and by the assistance of his wife, a lady of superior scholarship. Greatly in- terested in educational work, he took up the profession, which he followed with marked success, employing advanced methods and imparting with notable clearness and readiness to others the knowl- edge that he had acquired. He was among the first to teach by the empirical system, recognizing the fact that the presentation of the object to the pupil could make more impression upon him than any
291
292
A. S. Possons
recital of bare facts. He was a prominent and helpful member of the Baptist church, in which he held the office of deacon and he was also active in community interests, his fellow townsmen calling him to several offices. He served as city clerk and also as school trustee for many years and was particularly active in his efforts to promote intellectual progress. He died in 1879 at the age of sixty-eight years, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Maria A. Zimmer, passed away April 22, 1886, at the age of seventy-one years. She, too, was a devoted Christian, long holding membership in the Bap- tist church, while her zeal and interest in its work constituted a force- tul element in its upbuilding. She was a daughter of Jacob and Marie Zimmer, her father being a large landowner, whose estate comprised what was known as Zimmer Hill, in Schoharie county, New York. At the time of the Revolutionary war he espoused the cause of the colonists and fought for independence. He lived to enjoy for many years the fruits of liberty, reaching an advanced age.
N. S. Possons, whose name introduces this record, acquired his education in his native city, supplementing his early studies by an academic course. His natural aptitude for mechanics and his in- terest in mechanical lines led him to direct his efforts into other fields of activity and his studies were mostly in scientific branches bear- ing upon mechanics. In his youth he was regularly apprenticed to John Whitin & Sons, builders of cotton mill machinery at Hol- yoke, Massachusetts, and completed a full term of nine hundred days, during which time he became an expert workman. On leaving that firm he entered the celebrated Remington Armory, at Ilion, Herki- mer county, New York, as a die sinker and model maker, there re- maining until May, 1864, during which time he obtained compre- hensive knowledge in regard to the manufacture of firearms. His understanding thereof led to his selection for the position of inspec- tor of small arms under W. A. Thornton of the ordnance depart- ment and was ordered to Colt's Armory in Hartford, Connecticut. Later he was connected with similar establishments in other cities throughout the country. In December, 1865, he accepted a posi- tion in the Ceresian Cutlery Works at Syracuse, New York, and three years later removed to Auburn, New York, where he had the superintendency of the extensive works of Hayden & Litchworth, manufacturers of saddlery hardware.
In 1879 Mr. Possons accepted a proffered position with the Tele- graph Supply Company of Cleveland and, coming to this city, was in charge of their business, which was subsequently conducted under the name of the Brush Electric Company. He acted in that capacity until October, 1890, when he resigned to accept the posi-
293
A. S. Possons
tion of manager with the Belding Motor Company of Chicago. In 1891, however, he returned to Cleveland and established business on his own account, organizing the Universal Electric Company, of which he became president and general manager. This was imme- diately regarded as one of the important industrial concerns of the city, for under the capable guidance and business management of Mr. Possons it was at once established upon a paying basis and the scope of its operations were continually widened. The business became a leader in this line not only in Cleveland but in this part of the country, for Mr. Possons' broad, practical and scientific knowl- edge were supplemented by splendid powers of organization and executive ability. He had gained wide recognition both as a me- chanical and electric engineer and was continually thinking out along new lines, with the result that he invented and patented sev- eral unique machines for the facile and speedy execution of work in lines of both electrical and mechanical engineering. As he pros- pered in his undertakings Mr. Possons extended his efforts to other lines, becoming one of the organizers and the president of the Equity Savings & Trust Company Bank of Cleveland, with which he was actively connected until his death.
In 1872 occurred the marriage of Mr. Possons and Miss Martha Adla Connor, a daughter of Joseph and Matilda (Steele) Connor, residents of Auburn, New York. Her father was a soldier of the late war, joining the Union army as a private of the Seventy-fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, the regiment being attached to Gen- eral Sheridan's forces. It was while at the front that he contracted disease which in later years terminated his life. His wife was a native of the north of Ireland, where her people were prominent in the affairs of the Irish government. She possessed many noble quali- ties and characteristics, which caused her death, which occurred in Cleveland in 1882, to be deeply regretted. Mr. and Mrs. Possons had no children of their own but reared three: Albert W. Connor, the youngest brother of Mrs. Possons and an expert machinist who learned his trade under Mr. Possons; and Maud Blanche and Ham- ilton Van Valkenburg, brother and sister, who were the children of the deceased sister of Mrs. Possons. To these children they gave every care and attention possible and the home life was ever a most happy one. Both Mr. and Mrs. Possons became members of the Presbyterian church of Cleveland, contributed generously to its sup- port and were associated with its various activities. In that faith Mr. Possons passed away September 12, 1904. He was a most pub- lic-spirited citizen, his labors, influence and ideals making him a man of value in the public life of his adopted city. He held mem-
294
A. S. Possons
bership with and cooperated in the work of the Chamber of Com- merce, belonged also to the Civil Engineers Association and to the Colonial Club. In his political views he was a republican, who ever kept informed on the questions and issues of the day, regarding it the duty as well as the privilege of the American citizen to support those principles which he deems most conducive to good government. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and in the different branches of the order he filled various chairs. In business life he displayed originality, enterprise, perseverance and determina- tion; in all his social relations manifested a most kindly spirit and yet his best traits of character were reserved for his own home and fireside. A contemporary biographer has spoken of him as a man of distinguished ability and attainments, one who has accomplished much in the line of his profession and who has thereby contributed to its advancement and incidentally wrought for the good of his fellowmen.
David Otis Summers
AVID OTIS SUMMERS is the president and treas- D urer of the D. O. Summers Cleaning Company, which is the leading establishment of its kind in Cleveland and one which was founded and developed to its present proportions by the man whose name it bears and who well deserves classification with the representative business men of the city. A native of Orange town- ship, Ashland county, Ohio, he is a son of Daniel and Mary (Wher- ry) Summers. His paternal grandfather was a native of Pennsyl- vania and in 1817 settled in Ashland county, Ohio, spending his remaining days there upon a farm.
It was upon the old homestead farm in Ashland county that Daniel Summers was born and reared. In early life he began teach- ing school, while subsequently he engaged in farming at Charlotte, Michigan, where he resided for many years. Finally he removed to Cleveland, where the later years of his life were passed and where he lived until called to the home beyond. His widow is now a resi- dent of California.
David Otis Summers started upon the journey of life on the 14th of June, 1860, and attended the public schools of Charlotte, Michigan. After coming to Cleveland he completed his education by attending the night school of the Spencerian Business College, during which time he worked during the day, being employed by Davidson & House, who conducted a lumber and planing mill. For two years while in their employ Mr. Summers was in charge of the mill and had a force of twenty men under him, although he was scarcely of age at the time. He remained with that concern until 1882, when he became associated with Sterling, Welch & Company as a mechanic, remaining with that firm until 1887, when he estab- lished a carpet-cleaning business. At that time there were four other similar establishments in the city. Mr. Summers borrowed the necessary capital and began business in an upstair room on East Prospect street. Beside the carpet-cleaning business the concern also rented awnings for parties and weddings. The business en- joyed a steady growth and in 1896 the scope of the trade was ex- tended by the establishment of a rug manufactory, which is today
297
298
David Otis Summers
an important part of the business. About this time Mr. Summers adopted the plan of cleaning carpets with compressed air, having the first establishment of the kind that used that process. The growth of the business has since been very rapid and its yearly in- come is now represented by many figures. Mr. Summers has ad- vanced a number of ideas in connection with the application of compressed air which are in general use today. Since 1902 a de- partment of dry cleaning and lace cleaning has been added and the quarters of the growing business have been enlarged from time to time, while in 1905 the present modern building was completed and occupied. The same year the business was incorporated as the D. O. Summers Cleaning Company, Mr. Summers becoming presi- dent and treasurer. He is also the vice president of the Big Lake Land & Lumber Company, an Ohio corporation, owning lands in Arkansas, and is a director of the Hough Bank & Trust Company.
Mr. Summers was married in Cleveland to Miss Josephine Kaighin, a native of New York city and a daughter of Phillip Kaighin. Their children are: Bessie O., the wife of John H. Mar- shall, of Cleveland, by whom she has one son, John Stanley; Otis Delos, who attended East high school and for one year was a student in Ohio Wesleyan University, while at the present time he is man- ager of a department and one of the directors of the D. O. Summers Company; Harry K., who has charge of the machinery and over- sees all of the changes connected therewith for the D. O. Summers Cleaning Company; and Ruth.
Mr. Summers' Cleveland residence is on Harkness Road while his summer home is on Orange Hill at Chagrin Falls, Ohio. He is a member of the Hough Avenue Congregational church and at one time served for three years as chairman of the board of trustees. He was also a member of the building committee when the present house of worship was erected. Fraternally he is connected with Woodward Lodge, No. 508, A. F. & A. M .; Cleveland Chapter, R. A. M .; Cleveland Council, R. & S. M .; Holyrood Commandery, K. T .; and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Summers is recognized as a forceful, enterprising man, public opinion being united on the fact that he is one of the representative citizens of Cleveland, his activity and alertness being important elements in his success. While he made a humble start in the business world, he is now at the head of a profitable and continually growing enter- prise, the cleaning establishment being a plant which represents a large investment and is a visible proof of marked business ability and energy. His record is an indication that success is ambition's answer.
Hoste Luth
Diram D. Little, M. D.
MONG the men who in the last half of the nineteenth A century utilized the opportunities offered in Cleve- land for business progress and attained thereby not- able success was. Dr. Hiram H. Little. For many years he was one of the most extensive and successful operators in real estate in the Forest city and his ac- tivity contributed to general progress and improvement as well as to individual prosperity.
He was born near Morristown, Vermont, in 1816 and in both paternal and maternal lines represented old New England families, his parents, David and Lucy Little, being natives of Litchfield, Con- necticut. The father, who made agriculture his life work but put aside personal and business considerations to aid his country by active service in the war of 1812, died in Vermont at the age of sixty-two years. He was a member of the Universalist church and high and honorable manhood won him the unqualified respect of all who knew him. Following his demise his widow removed to Cleveland, where her death occurred in 1875 when she was eighty- eight years of age. She, too, was an earnest Christian, holding mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
Dr. Little, the sixth in a family of eleven children and the last surviving member of the father's household, was educated in the academy at Johnstown, Vermont, and prepared for a professional career in the Ohio Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1844. He then located for practice in McConnelsville, Ohio, and after following his profession there for twelve years with marked success came to Cleveland in 1856. Here he withdrew from his profession to concentrate his attention upon real-estate opera- tions, recognizing the opportunity for profitable investment in that line. For years he continued as one of the most prominent and ex- tensive real-estate dealers of the city and his word was regarded as authority concerning property interests or values here. His opera- tions were of the most important character, bringing him into close connection with the development of Cleveland. In 1877 he be-
301
302
Diram 4. Little, A. D.
came a director of the Citizens Savings & Trust Company and re- mained as such during the remainder of his life.
Dr. Little was married in Ohio, to Miss H. M. Keyes, a daugh- ter of Judge E. N. Keyes, of Vermont. Mrs. Little passed away in 1875. She was a member of the Episcopal church and a lady whose many traits of heart and mind endeared her to all who knew her. Harriet L., the only daughter of this marriage, died at the age of ten years. In 1876 Dr. Little was joined in wedlock to Miss Laura Bascom, of Canton, Ohio, and a daughter of W. T. and Emily (Murray) Bascom. There were two sons of this marriage, Hiram M., who died in May, 1900, just before his graduation from Cor- nell University in the class of 1900; and T. Bascom, who is repre- sented elsewhere in this volume.
Dr. and Mrs. Little held membership in the Unitarian church, in which he served as a trustee, also contributing generously to its support. He was a broad thinker, logical reasoner and his reading and study were wide and comprehensive. He voted for the candi- dates of the republican party and was interested in the questions which are to the statesman and the man of affairs of vital import but he had no aspiration for office or sympathy with those who seek political preferment for personal gain without manifesting any re- gard for the duties and obligations of citizenship. In the days prior to the Civil war his hatred of oppression led him to conduct one of the stations of the famous underground railway. Well educated and well bred, he stood as a high type of American manhood and chivalry, being courteous, refined and popular. The Doctor built at what is now number 7615 Euclid avenue the residence which the family have since occupied but previous to that his home was at the Euclid avenue entrance to The Arcade.
Benajah Barker
Benajah Barker
B ENAJAH BARKER, one of the well known citizens of Cleveland in his day and in his active life a lead- ing contractor through the middle west, came from an old New England family. He was born July 10, 1805, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, a son of Cap- tain Peter and Ruth (Cook) Barker. The ancestors of Benajah Barker were among the early settlers of Rhode Island, this family being descended from one of three brothers who came to America with the Pilgrim fathers and later settled in different sec- tions of New England and founded the branch in Rhode Island of which Benajah Barker is a descendant. Captain Peter Barker, the father of our subject, served faithfully in the war of the Revolu- tion and in 1811 migrated from Portsmouth to the state of New York, where he died in 1850, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
When only twenty years of age Benajah Barker succeeded in se- curing a large contract for the construction of what was formerly known as the Delaware division of the Pennsylvania canal, connec- ting Easton, Pennsylvania, with tide water at Bristol. His cash capital at the beginning was but five hundred dollars saved from his daily earnings previously, and on this comparatively small sum he boldly started on the undertaking. By able management and shrewd financiering he completed the contract to the letter and cleared the handsome sum of seven thousand dollars, which seemed at that early day quite a fortune-in reality the equivalent of several times that sum in the present day. On his return home he was warmly con- gratulated by his friends and neighbors on his prosperous termina- tion of the undertaking. In 1837 he was awarded a heavy contract in the construction of the Wabash canal by which he was a con- siderable gainer. In 1848 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he erected the gas works, and for some time held a majority of the stock. He organized the company and was elected president, a position he held for five years. In 1852-53 he was engaged in the construction of the gas works at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and in 1854- 55 built the gas works at Adrian, Michigan. In 1858 he accom-
305
.
306
Benajah Barker
panied a colony from Boston to Iowa, where he purchased twelve thousand acres of land, which he disposed of in less than one month at a profit of no less than eighteen thousand dollars. The town of Nevinville is located on a portion of that tract of land. In Cleve- land he was for a long time one of the directors of what was then the Forest City Bank.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.