USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Cleveland, Ohio, pictorial and biographical. De luxe supplement, Volume I > Part 17
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
William W. Whitacre was educated in the schools of Lisbon, completing the high-school course by graduation, after which he attended Alliance Academy for a period of two years. This com- pleted his literary course, after which he began preparation for the practice of medicine and spent one year as a student in a medical college in Chicago. That length of time, however, convinced him that he did not care to continue and in 1872 he came to Cleveland, where he secured a position in the freight office of the Lake Shore Railroad Company, there remaining until 1888. He then became freight agent for the Empire freight line and was also contract agent for that line, in which connection he traveled extensively and attended to a large volume of business. He was thus engaged up
375
376
William TUI. Whitacre
to the time of his death, which occurred on the 19th of August, 1905.
On the 26th of November, 1879, Mr. Whitacre was married to Miss Helen Pennock, a daughter of Henry and Jane (Force) Pen- nock, of Virginia and New Jersey, who made the overland trip to Marlboro, Stark county, Ohio, with their parents, arriving in this state in pioneer times. Her maternal grandfather was Mahlon Force and her great-grandfather was Isaac Force, who served as a Minuteman in the Essex county, New Jersey, militia during the Revolutionary war. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Whitacre were born a son and daughter: William Henry, now of Cleveland; and Elizabeth J., who became the wife of John B. Wood, who is engaged in the real-estate and building business.
In his political views Mr. Whitacre was an earnest democrat for a considerable period but in later years became more independent and cast his ballot without regard for political affiliation. He was a self-made man, whose business success was attributable entirely to his own labors. He was good, kind, generous and loving, had a wide acquaintance and by all who knew him was held in the high- est esteem. There is nothing in his life history to interest those in search of a sensational chapter, but to the student who has apprecia- tion for real values there is much that may be carefully pondered and considered. He gained many friends and at his own fireside displayed the best traits of his character, for he was devoted to the welfare of his family.
4
M
Jacob Theobald Ir
Jacob Theobald, Sr.
ACOB THEOBALD, SR., whose ability, energy and enthusiasm have largely been responsible for the de- velopment of the flour industry of Cleveland, has won his present position in the business world through sound and conservative methods. He was born in this city in 1850 and is a son of Jacob Theobald, a native of Germany, who came to the United States about 1849 and located immediately in Cleveland. Having been a glazier in Ger- many, he soon found employment at his trade but died soon after his arrival here, about 1850. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Marie Pfeifer, was born in Germany in 1825 and came to America with her husband, dying in Cleveland in 1905.
Mr. Theobald of this review was educated in Cleveland and when a lad began working in a grocery store owned by relatives. Later he embarked in the grocery business for himself and continued in it for fifteen years, when he disposed of his interests and founded the Theobald Flour Company, which is one of the oldest flour job- bing concerns in the city. At first he was interested in the manu- facturing of flour, but after ten years sold out and became connected with the Pillsbury people, being their Cleveland agent, for about twenty years. His territory spread until the company controls Cleveland and adjacent towns and the volume of trade is immense, the results being extremely gratifying.
In January, 1910, Mr. Theobald promoted the organization of the Cleveland Milling Company, with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars, of which company he was elected vice president, treasurer and a director. It has taken over the property of the Com- mercial Milling Company, operating the Herkel Mill, one of the largest producing mills in Ohio. In the future Mr. Theobald's ac- tivities will be confined to this new interest, the active management of the Jacob Theobald Flour Company reverting to his sons, Jacob, Jr., and Walter. This arrangement largely increases the company's importance in the commercial life of Cleveland, making them lead- ers in the flour industry of the city. Mr. Theobald is also interested in the Lorain Street Savings bank, of which he was an incorporator
379
380
Jacob Theobald, Sr.
and is now a director, and he is also connected with other concerns of importance. A republican, he has been active in party work and a recognized factor in local affairs. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Franklin Avenue Circle.
On October 15, 1872, Mr. Theobald married Louise Herbster, who was born in September, 1850, in Germany, but was brought to the United States when an infant. They have two children: Jacob T., vice president of his father's company, married Belle Hall; and Walter, secretary and treasurer of the above company, married Myrtle Weideman.
Mr. Theobald is a man who was optimistic enough to realize the great opportunities offered by the flour business and to profit by them. He has made his house a dominant one and has firmly es- tablished it with the trade. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and motoring is his chief recreation.
ford
. Clark Ford
I T is a noticeable tendency of the age to recognize the interdependence of the individual and society at large, and the forceful man of the present day, he whose powers are of value as a factor in growth and progress, is not the man who confines his attention alone to business, even though he may be particularly successful in that field. His interests must reach out along broader lines and concern his obligations and duties to his fellowmen and the world at large. A splendid type of this spirit of the times is found in H. Clark Ford, well known to the citizens of Cleveland as a lawyer and a prominent banker, and also well known for his co- operation in movements of benefit in economic and sociological lines and in intellectual and moral progress.
Mr. Ford was born in Cleveland, August 25, 1853. The Fords are descended from an old New England family, the American progenitor being Andrew Ford, who arrived in Weymouth, Massa- chusetts, in 1650, and, having purchased large tracts of land, founded the town of Abington. H. Clark Ford is numbered among his descendants of the tenth generation. The family records have ever been distinguished for the honesty, industry and thrift of the representatives of the name. Horatio C. Ford, father of H. Clark Ford, was a farmer and school teacher who, leaving his native state of Massachusetts, came to Ohio in 1840 and settled in East Cleve- land. He engaged in teaching in the city and vicinity during the years of his early manhood and until after the Civil war. He taught on the west side when there were only two schools west of the river, the other being conducted by his brother, the late Henry Ford, at one time city auditor. Neither of the schools at that time were graded. One of the old school buildings is still standing on Wash- ington street, being now used as a blacksmith shop. During the Civil war Horatio C. Ford had charge of all the schools in Colla- mer, now East Cleveland. Following the close of hostilities be- tween the north and the south he retired from active life and died in 1876, at the age of fifty-one years. At the time of his demise and
383
.
384
4. Clark Ford
for many years previous he had been a member of the city council and had always been active in public affairs, using his official pre- rogative in support of many measures of substantial benefit to the city. He was likewise intensely and actively interested in church and educational affairs and was a trustee of Oberlin College at the time of his death. He was only fourteen years of age when he came to Ohio with his parents, his father having removed here for the purpose of raising silk worms, which venture proved a failure. The journey was made by wagon and they traveled over a large part of the middle west, going as far as Chicago in search of a good loca- tion. Finally the father decided on Cleveland as the coming me- tropolis and bought extensive tracts of farm land in East Cleveland which has since become some of the most valuable residence prop- erty of the city. From the age of fourteen until his demise Horatio C. Ford remained an honored and valued resident of Cleveland, his influence always being on the side of progress and improvement, while his efforts were substantial factors in the upbuilding of the community. He married Martha C. Cozad, a lady of French Huguenot descent. Her ancestors, on being driven from France by religious persecution, settled in New Jersey, while later representa- tives of the name became residents of western Pennsylvania and from that point came to Cleveland about 1805, in which year a pur- chase of one hundred acres was made, including the site of the pres- ent home of H. Clark Ford. Their land also included the site on which Adelbert College is located. For one hundred and four years the family has lived on this tract, where the birth of H. Clark Ford occurred and where he has always made his home. His mother still survives at the age of eighty-three years and is a wonderfully preserved woman, both physically and mentally. A lady of strong intellectuality, she has ever been of studious nature and habits and, pursuing the Chautauqua course, was graduated therefrom at the age of seventy-five years. Her family numbers two sons and three daughters: Mrs. Clara F. Gould, now of Indianapolis, Indiana; Mrs. Ella F. Brunner, of this city; H. Clark; and Mrs. Kate F. Whitman and Walter H. Ford, also of Cleveland.
After pursuing his early education in the public schools of East Cleveland, H. Clark Ford continued his studies in the old Central high school, where the Citizens building now stands. He was for one year a pupil in Oberlin College and for four years attended the University of Michigan, being graduated from the literary depart- ment with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1875. Turning his at- tention to the study of law, he was admitted to the bar in Cleveland in 1878 and at once entered upon active practice here. The follow-
385
4. Clark Ford
ing year he became a member of the city council and served until 1885. Since that time he has devoted his attention and energies en- tirely to his law practice and other business interests. He practiced alone for many years, but in recent years the firm of Ford, Snyder & Henry was formed and so continued until the election of Judge F. A. Henry to the circuit bench in 1904. Soon afterward Judge D. H. Tilden resigned from the common pleas bench and became a member of the firm under the style of Ford, Snyder & Tilden. Their practice has been very largely corporation law. At the present time Mr. Ford is largely leaving the practice to his partners while he devotes much time to numerous business interests with which he has become associated. He organized the old East End Savings Bank Company in 1886, and in August, 1892, the Garfield Savings Bank Company. He was attorney for the former until it was absorbed by the Cleveland Trust Company and has been president of the latter since its organization. In 1895 he was one of the organizers of the Cleveland Trust Company and acted on its executive com- mittee until the organization of the Western Reserve Trust Com- pany, when he withdrew from official connection with the Cleve- land Trust Company to assist in forming the Western Reserve Trust Company in June, 1900. At that date he was elected vice president and became a member of its executive committee. At the time of its consolidation with the Cleveland Trust Company, in 1905, he was one of the committee who arranged for the merger and since that time he has served on the executive board of the latter. Active, resourceful and energetic, he ever looks beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities of the future, and his labors have re- sulted in benefit to the public as well as a source of individual suc- cess. He was one of the organizers of the company which erected the Williamson building, of which he has since been the president. This company owns the Williamson building, which is the largest office building in the city, the Otis block and the New Amsterdam apartments. The Williamson building contains sixteen floors, with four hundred and fifty-nine offices and store units. In the time of its erection the building broke all records. The building formerly occupying the site was vacated March 30, 1899, and the new Wil- liamson building was opened and occupied the Ist of April, 1900. This has proven a successful business enterprise, having an excel- lent class of tenants, its offices always being well filled.
Mr. Ford has also been interested in railroads for many years, was president of the Eastern Ohio Traction Company for a number of years and chairman of the building committee. He is now a member of the board of directors and of the executive committee.
386
I. Clark Ford
He has also been a member of the board and of the executive com- mittee of the Wheeling Traction Company of Wheeling, West Vir- ginia, since 1895-a company owning the traction lines of Wheel- ing and the connecting lines from Wellsville to Moundsville on the West Virginia side of the Ohio river and on the Ohio river side from Steubenville south through Martins Ferry, Bridgeport, Bellaire and other southern points. The company also owns two bridges across the Ohio river and the main traction lines of Wheeling and the sur- rounding territory. Mr. Ford now devotes most of his time to the interest of the Williamson Company, to banking and his traction in- vestments, in all of which the general public has been a large indi- rect beneficiary.
While his private interests and investments have made heavy. demands upon his time and energies, Mr. Ford has never been neg- lectful of the duties of citizenship but on the contrary has given hearty cooperation in many movements for the promotion of the public welfare. For about twelve years he has acted as a member of the board of trustees of Oberlin College and also as chairman of its finance committee. He is likewise a member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and has for many years been a member of the board and chairman of the finance com- mittee of the Congregational Board of Ministerial Relief. He has acted on the finance committee of the American Missionary Asso- ciation, which has charge of a number of colleges in the south for the education of negroes, mountain whites and Indians, and since its organization in 1892 he has been the president of the Cleveland Congregational City Missionary Society, the purpose of which is the organization and sustaining of new church enterprises in the city. He has long held membership in the Euclid Avenue Congre- gational church, which was organized by his ancestors, his father and his grandfather being charter members.
On the 17th of March, 1877, in Cleveland, Mr. Ford was mar- ried to Miss Ida M. Thorp, a daughter of the late John H. Thorp, who for many years was largely interested in the early industries of Cleveland. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ford. Mildred F., a graduate of Smith College, of Massachusetts, is now the wife of Frank M. Cobb, of the Cleveland bar and one of the professors of the Western Reserve Law School. Horatio, who was graduated from Yale University with the class of 1904 and is now cashier at the Gordon and Glenville branches of the Garfield Bank, was married in April, 1908, to Ella, daughter of Thomas H. White, of the White Sewing Machine Company. Cyrus Clark is a fresh- man in Adelbert College. David Knight is a junior in the East
387
4. Clark Ford
high school, and Baldwin Whitmarsh, eleven years of age, is at- tending Fairmount grammar school of Cleveland.
Mr. Ford is a valued member of the Union Club and he be- longs to Zeta Psi, a college fraternity. Among the names that stand out prominently on the pages of Cleveland's history is that of H. Clark Ford, who has contributed in substantial measure to the up- building of his native city. While a lawyer by profession, he has also extended his efforts into various fields of activity and has dis- played in his business career such fertility of resource, marked en- terprise, and well defined plans, as to deserve classification with the captains of industry of Cleveland. Moreover, he is further entitled to distinction from the fact that he is a worthy scion of his race, having added luster to the untarnished record of a family that in the paternal line has figured in connection with the history of Cleve- land for nearly three-fourths of a century.
Frederick 2. Jaft.
Frederick L. Haft
F REDERICK L. TAFT, recognized as one of the re- publican leaders of Cleveland as well as one of the representative members of the Ohio bar, practicing now as partner in the law firm of Smith, Taft & Arter, was born in Braceville, Trumbull county, Ohio, December 1, 1870. His parents were from New England and his father, Newton A. Taft, comes from the same ancestry as President Taft. His mother bore the maiden name of Laura A. Humphrey. A great uncle of Frederick L. Taft was Mathew Birchard, one of the early judges of the supreme court of Ohio and a leading lawyer of the northern section of this state.
Pursuing a public-school education Frederick L. Taft com- pleted the high-school course at Newton Falls, Ohio, in 1886, and was graduated from Mount Union College in 1889. He afterward engaged in teaching for a brief period and later attended the Cin- cinnati Law School in preparation for the bar. He was admitted December 1, 1891, when twenty-one years of age and has since been closely associated with the practice of law, his thorough understand- ing of legal principles, his careful preparation of cases and his loy- alty to the interests entrusted to him carrying him into important professional relations. In May, 1898, he was appointed assistant county solicitor and continued in this office until October 1, 1901, when he resigned to enter the general practice of law, being now a member of the well known firm of Smith, Taft & Arter. In 1906 Governor Harris appointed him to fill the vacancy on the bench of the common pleas court and he was afterward nominated by accla- mation in the republican convention. He served with general sat- isfaction during the short time he was judge of that court but was defeated with the remainder of the ticket at the ensuing election although he ran several thousand votes ahead of the other judicial candidate. In 1896 he was chairman of the twenty-first congres- sional committee and of the republican city and county executive committees in 1897. In 1900 he was a member of the state central committee and on many occasions has been a delegate to city, county and state conventions, acting as chairman of the last two conventions
391
392
Frederick L. Haft
of the republican party in Cleveland. In 1908 he was a delegate to the republican national convention in Chicago and assisted in nominating President Taft.
On the 28th of October, 1901, Judge Taft was married to Miss Mary Alice Arter, a daughter of Frank A. Arter of Cleveland and a sister of his present law partner. They have a family of three sons and a daughter: Kingsley Arter, born July 19, 1903; Charles Newton, December 14, 1904; Frederick L., Jr., August 15, 1906; and Laura Emily, July 2, 1909. Mr. Taft is a trustee of Mount Union College, his alma mater, and is a member of the Sigma Al- pha Epsilon, a college fraternity and the Phi Delta Phi law fra- ternity. He is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion and is an active representative of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. He belongs to the Columbus Club of Columbus, Ohio, and to the Union Club of Cleveland, while in strictly fraternal lines he is known as a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is active as a member of the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Sons of Veterans. He is thus associated with various organizations and movements which indicate the trend of the times in the effort of progressive citizens to promote the interests of humanitarianism and of general progress.
MoMurray
Wallilliam Parmelee Murray
ILLIAM PARMELEE MURRAY, a member of W the firm of Pickands, Mather & Company and a leading and well known man of extensive business affairs, is a descendant of one of the old, prominent, and well known families of the Western Reserve. He is of Scotch-Irish extraction and his ancestors on both sides were early settlers of the eastern section of Pennsylvania. John Murray, the grandfather of William P. Murray, was the founder of the family in Ohio, traveling to this state from the eastern part of Pennsylvania, making the journey with an ox team. He settled near Concord, Lake county, establishing his home in the wilderness. At that time money was very scarce in the new country and the farmers wishing to obtain money for exchange instead of skins, etc., which were used as current funds, sent a drove of cattle to the east- ern market in Philadelphia and vicinity. John Murray was quick to note the possibilities of that line of business and he continued to buy cattle, drive them to Chester and Lancaster counties, Pennsyl- vania, and there dispose of them to the farmers for fattening pur- poses. This he continued for a number of years and established thereby a successful business. Eventually he entered the field of banking, organizing the First National, now the Painesville Na- tional Bank. He had almost unlimited credit with the banks of Cleveland and with all with whom he transacted business.
Robert Murray II (the number being used to designate him be- cause an uncle had the same name) was the father of William Parmelee Murray. With some of his brothers he succeeded to the business of driving cattle to the eastern markets and carried it on very successfully until the introduction of railroads rendered it un- profitable. He was one of the heaviest dealers in that line in the Western Reserve and carried a great deal of cash in his saddle bags while traveling from place to place. Like his father, he had almost unlimited credit. During the days of the Civil war he did an im- mense business in driving cattle over the Allegheny mountains to be used as beef in the eastern markets. For some time he was con- nected with the bank of Painesville, with which various members
395
396
William Parmelee Murray
of the family have been associated since its organization. From 1845 until his death, which occurred when he had reached the ad- vanced age of eighty-two years, he resided at Mentor and his old homestead property there is still in possession of his son William. The wife of Robert Murray was Sophronia Parmelee, a member of one of the pioneer families of the Western Reserve.
William P. Murray was born at Mentor, Ohio, July 12, 1854, and obtained his education in the schools of his native village, being graduated from the high school at the early age of fourteen years. Leaving his home, he came to Cleveland on horseback, after which he started upon his business career here as an office boy with the banking firm of E. B. Hale & Company. Eventually he became a clerk and remained with that concern for about three years, or until 1873. In that year he became connected with the Merchants Na- tional Bank, continuing in that institution until April 1, 1881, at which time he withdrew from the banking business to become a factor in the iron ore and coal trade of this district. He went with the Cleveland Furnace Company, engaged in the manufacture of pig iron at Steubenville, Ohio, where he remained for two years, and in 1883 he became connected with the Tod-Stambaugh Com- pany as traveling representative, selling pig iron. He remained with that house until 1888, when he established the coal department with Pickands, Mather & Company, which has since grown to im- mense proportions, making extensive shipments throughout the north and northwest. Mr. Murray is a man of initiative spirit who sees and utilizes opportunities that others pass by heedlessly and his energy is brooked by no obstacles that can be overcome by persistent and determined purpose and effort. In addition to his connection with Pickands, Mather & Company he is a director of the Huron Barge Company, the Inter-Lake Company and the Ashtabula Steamship Company.
On the 3d of October, 1877, Mr. Murray was married in Me- dina, New York, to Miss Jeannie C. Castle, a daughter of Reuben S. Castle, a venerable and highly respected citizen of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Murray have two children, Helen and Margaret. Politically Mr. Murray is a republican but has steadfastly refused to accept public office which has been proffered him, feeling that one accepting a public trust should devote his best time and efforts to it and the pressure of his own business would not permit him to give attention to public matters as he would desire. He is a mem- ber of Tyrian Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Holyrood Commandery, K. T., and Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also holds membership with the Union, Euclid, Roadside, Century and Tavern
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.