USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Cleveland, Ohio, pictorial and biographical. De luxe supplement, Volume I > Part 2
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
General Devereux always manifested an active interest in public affairs and would have been accorded high political success had he not declined to serve in public office. He was twice tendered the nomination for congress but he always preferred to do his public service as a private citizen, supporting a public measure by his in- fluence and labors rather than by political activity. He attained high rank in the Masonic fraternity and in 1860 was elected thrice illus- trious grand master of the Grand Council of Tennessee. He belonged to the Episcopal church and was particularly interested in its mis- sionary and Sunday-school departments. He was fond of business life and found genuine pleasure in carefully manipulating railway interests but he was also equally fond of music and art and possessed a fine artistic sense. Moreover, he was a keen lover of books and the riches of literature were among his most valued possessions. He en- joyed hunting and fishing and was on the whole a man of splendid balance, whose life was not so busy in its commercial relations as to crowd out recreation and pleasure nor to withhold from him the de- lights of companionship. He held friendship inviolable and was devoted to his family, giving to them the best of his nature in his efforts to enhance their welfare and promote their happiness.
=
=
E
11
11
I ->
C
6
11
E
=
=
J K CAMPBELL 1909
ENte Tracy
James J. Tracy
J AMES J. TRACY, one of the well known and influen- tial financiers of Cleveland, where for nearly three- quarters of a century he has been engaged in the bank- ing business and who, despite his advanced age of ninety years, is punctual at his office and conducts his business affairs with a clearness and vigor of a man many years younger, is a native of Lansingburg, Rensselaer county, New York, where his birth occurred December 3, 1819, his family having been among the early settlers of that part of the country. His father, Gardner Tracy, was a native of Connecticut, born in 1777, and passed away in 1849. The son began his education in his native city, but at the age of six years accompanied his parents on their re- moval to Utica, New York, where he attended school, early in life developing his talents for the transaction of commercial affairs and upon leaving the Empire state in 1836, he located in Cleveland, which at that time was in its infancy. He soon afterward entered the insti- tution which was known as the Bank of Cleveland, and he remained with that concern until it closed its doors in 1842.
His second financial venture in this city was with the T. P. Handy Brokerage Company, with which he remained greatly to the advantage of the business for several years and upon severing his connection with the firm he became teller of the commercial branch of the State Bank of Ohio, in which institution he performed the duties of teller until the year 1850, when he resigned his position and has since been associated with a number of industrial enterprises particularly real estate. His conservative business judgment and tal- ent for handling large affairs have won him recognition as a financier throughout the city and enabled him to prosper. Perhaps no man here has been so useful and influential in the affairs of the community, his ambition leading him into many walks of life, in all of which he met with success and proved beneficial to those with whom he was associated. He was one of the founders of the Case School of Engi- neering, a well known and thorough institution of its kind, which has turned out many students who have attained to positions of promi- nence in business and professional careers and since its establishment
21
22
James J. Tracy
he has been a member of the board of trustees. Mr. Tracy is vice president of the Society for Savings and at one time was a director of the City Bank, one of the most substantial and influential financial concerns in the state. He was also one of the founders of the original Brush Electric Company of Cleveland.
Mr. Tracy was united in marriage to Jane A. Foote, a native of Detroit, Michigan, born in 1857, by whom he had two children: James J. Tracy, Jr., whose birth occurred in 1884; and Catherine S., whose birth occurred in 1888.
Throughout his long business career Mr. Tracy has always been a supporter of the republican party and in all his experience he has never found occasion to induce him to become disloyal, believing firmly that the policies set forth by its principles are in every particu- lar adequate to subserve the country's highest financial and industrial interests. His many years of prosperity in this city bear ample evi- dence of his business ability and unremiting energy, and he deserves the excellent reputation he sustains throughout the business circles of the community.
Saw Mather
Samuel Mather
F OR more than sixty-five years the name of Mather has been prominently identified with the financial, indus- trial and social interests of Cleveland. One of the oldest and most prominent of the New England fami- lies, it has numbered among its members such noted divines as the Rev. Richard Mather, the American progenitor of the family; his son, the Rev. Dr. Increase Mather, the first native born president of Harvard College; and the latter's son, the Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather, who was a graduate of Harvard, senior pastor of the Old North Church in Boston and an overseer of Har- vard College.
The branch of this family under consideration, whose history is inseparably a part of that of Cleveland during the period of its repre- sentation here, springs from Samuel Livingston Mather of the eighth generation, the father of Samuel Mather and William Gwinn Mather, among the foremost citizens of Cleveland.
The name Mather is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Math, mean- ing honor, reverence-and its representatives are very numerous in some parts of England and Scotland. Nearly all of those bearing the honored name in this country are descended from the Rev. Richard Mather, of Lowton, Winwick parish, Lancashire, Eng- land, where he was born in 1596. The line of descent from him, show- ing connection of the Cleveland branch, is designated by Roman numerals in the following.
(I) Rev. Richard Mather, the founder of the family in the new world, arrived at Boston, August 17, 1635. In 1636 he became the beloved pastor of the church in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and died there in 1669. He was twice married, his first wife, Catharine Holt, being the mother of his six children. His second wife was Sarah Cotton, the widow of the noted Rev. John Cotton.
(II) Timothy Mather, son of the Rev. Richard and Catharine (Holt) Mather, married first Catharine Atherton and second Eliza- beth Weeks.
(III) Richard Mather, son of Timothy and Catharine (Ather- ton) Mather, and his two brothers, Rev. Samuel, who settled in Wind-
25
26
Samuel Mather
sor, Connecticut, and Atherton, who settled in Suffield, Connecticut, are ancestors of all those bearing the name and descend from the New England Mathers, as the name in other lines to this time ceased with Samuel Mather, a grandson of the Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather. After his marriage Richard Mather removed to Lyme, New London county, Connecticut, where he died in 1688.
(IV) Samuel Mather, of Lyme, Connecticut, married Deborah Champion and resided in that town.
(V) Richard Mather married Deborah Ely and resided in Lyme, Connecticut.
(VI) Samuel Mather married Lois Griswold. He was a promi- nent man in Connecticut and a member of the Connecticut Land Company.
(VII) Samuel Mather, born in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1771, after his graduation from Yale made a journey to the then wilderness of the Western Reserve to inspect lands in that section held by his father and other eastern men who were members of the Connecti- cut Land Company. After his return east he settled in Albany, New York, where he resided for some years, subsequently removing to Middletown, Connecticut, where he died April 16, 1854. He mar- ried Catherine Livingston, of a prominent New York family. Like his father, he was one of the leading men in his section of Connecti- cut. In his family were nine children. The eldest, a daughter, Maria, became the wife of Major General J. K. F. Mansfield, of Middletown, Connecticut, who was mortally wounded at Antietam in 1862. Their daughter married Walter B. Hubbard, whose sister is the wife of Frank B. Weeks, the present governor of Connecticut.
(VIII) Samuel Livingston Mather, son of Samuel and Cath- erine (Livingston) Mather, was born in Middletown, Connecticut, July 1, 1817, and was a member of the first class that was graduated from the Wesleyan University of that city-in 1835. After leaving college he was for some time occupied with business transactions for his father and subsequently, for several years, was in business in New York on his own account. During this period he made two voy- ages to Europe. In 1843 he came to Cleveland to look after the sale of lands owned by his father as one of the holders on the Western Reserve and also to attend to the same line of business for other eastern men who had interests in the state. Soon after coming to Cleveland he was admitted to the bar but never practiced the profes- sion of law, for about that time his attention was attracted to the iron discoveries in the Lake Superior regions. He foresaw the future importance of that district and determined to give his time to and invest his capital in its development. In 1853 he became one of the
27
Samuel Mather
incorporators of the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, which mined and transported to Lake Erie the first cargo of Lake Superior iron ore. He was a member of the company's original board of directors and its first secretary and treasurer. Those offices he filled until 1869, when he was elected president and treasurer-a relation that he sus- tained until his death.
Mr. Mather was always held in the highest personal regard and esteem by the large iron manufacturing firms that bought Lake Superior ores, and to a great extent the prosperity and high reputa- tion of the Cleveland Iron Mining Company was due to his personal influence and popularity. Upon his sound judgment and business acumen the directors and stockholders were always content to rely, feeling that their interests were safeguarded and fostered in his hands. He had a longer and more active identification with Lake Superior iron ore interests than any man of his time and his large-minded and conservative influence on the general policy of the ore companies was marked and beneficial throughout the entire period of his connection with the industry. Besides his identification with the Cleveland Iron Mining Company, one of the most substantial and important com- mercial institutions of the city, he was the secretary and manager of the Marquette Iron Company, a director of the Bancroft Iron Com- pany, president of the Cleveland Boiler Plate Company, president of the American Iron Mining Company and president of the McComber Iron Company. He was at various times a director in numerous other companies engaged in the mining of ore and the manufacture of iron. In 1878 he became a director of what was then the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railway Company and re- mained a member of that board for more than ten years. He was one of the original board of directors of the old Merchants National Bank and continued a member until it was succeeded by the Mer- cantile National Bank, in which institution he was also a director. His interests were large and varied. In the directorates of several insurance companies and numerous industrial enterprises he had a prominent part and he gave his genius and wealth to the advancement and upbuilding of Cleveland. As a business man he was one of the very foremost of his time in this city. While cautious, conservative and careful, he yet possessed a will to decide and the courage to ven- ture where favoring opportunity led the way. Until his last illness he was actively engaged with business duties, his opinions constitut- ing a forceful factor in the successful management of many impor- tant concerns. His reputation for honesty and fair-mindedness was of the highest and his life record is without a stain. While he won notable success, his path was never strewn with the wreck of other
28
Samuel Alather
men's fortunes, nor did his own prosperity cause others to lose in the game of life.
Personally Mr. Mather was a man of medium height, erect and portly. He was moreover a gentleman of education and refinement, who had a keen sense of humor and displayed a never failing cheer- fulness and mirth, rendering his society a constant pleasure to his friends and associates. In his friendships he was warm, generous and stanch. If his confidence was once gained those who won it could always rely upon his loyalty. He was for almost forty years a promi- nent member of the vestry of Trinity church and for fifteen years preceding his death was its senior warden. He had long been known as one of the most liberal contributors to its religious and benevolent work. On a number of occasions he was elected to represent the dio- cese of Ohio as one of its lay delegates to the general triennial con- ventions of the Protestant Episcopal church and for many years rep- resented Trinity church in the annual conventions of the same diocese. He was always a generous contributor to the various charity organi- zations of the city.
While never actively connected with politics, Samuel L. Mather manifested a deep interest in the various vital questions of his time and had clear and well defined convictions concerning public men and measures. As a citizen he commanded the profound respect of his fellowmen and while shrinking from public notoriety, he was an out- spoken advocate of all measures looking to the preservation of public morals, the diffusion of general intelligence and the maintenance of law. His character for integrity was of the highest type and where- ever known his name was synonymous with all the qualities which mark the Christian gentleman.
Samuel L. Mather was twice married. His first wife, whom he wedded September 24, 1850, was Georgiana Pomeroy Woolson, a daughter of Jarvis Woolson, of Cleveland, and to them were born two children: Samuel, a sketch of whom follows; and Katherine Livingston, a resident of Cleveland. Mrs. Mather died November 2, 1853. The second wife of Samuel L. Mather was Elizabeth, daugh- ter of William R. Gwinn, of Buffalo, New York, to whom he was married on the 11th of June, 1856. One son, William Gwinn, born of this marriage September 22, 1857, is now a resident of Cleveland. Samuel L. Mather passed away October 8, 1890, and is buried in Lakeview cemetery. The Leader of October 9, 1890, said in part, regarding his death : "The chimes of Trinity Cathedral did not play at the usual hour of service last evening, but a single bell tolled out the requiem for a departed soul. Samuel L. Mather, senior warden of the parish, died at three P. M. yesterday after a brief illness. The
29
Samuel Mather
quiet manliness with which he met all the issues of life did not for- sake him when he entered the valley of the shadow of death. Of him it may be written as another has said: 'I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.' The Episcopal church in the diocese of Ohio was the interest that, outside of ties of affection, lay nearest his heart. Among his last commissions were his pledges to the support of the Episcopate and the care of the missionaries. Within the parish he was a liberal giver and a faithful attendant upon divine service. For thirty-eight years he had served as vestryman and warden and was alike the loyal friend of the clergy and faithful representative of the people. The world will never know the extent of his private and personal charities but many there are who will rise up and call him blessed. To unassuming modesty were added those sterling qualities which go to make a 'man known and revered of all men' and as thoroughly respected as he was widely known."
(IX) Samuel Mather, son of Samuel Livingston and Georgiana Pomeroy (Woolson) Mather, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, July 13, 1851. After attending the public schools of this city he continued his education in St. Mark's school at Southboro, Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of a man whose extensive connections and inter- ests caused the son at once to take up a business career when his edu- cation was completed. It was much the case of giving a good man a good chance. His nature forbade him living in idleness and re- tirement, although his means would have permitted, his energy and ambition prompting him to an active life. Gradually he won his way to a place in the ranks of the prominent men of his time and at his father's death, when Samuel Mather was less than forty years of age, he had become a worthy successor of his parent who was one of the foremost men of his time, not only figuring thus prominently in Cleveland but in the northwest as well. He had become recognized as a leader in financial and industrial circles before his father's demise and the latter's death threw upon him the care of great interests, mak- ing him the head of Pickands, Mather & Company, as well as bring- ing him into important relations with many other mammoth con- cerns. His prominence in banking circles in indicated by the list of banks of which he is a director or trustee. In industrial and commer- cial circles he is perhaps even more widely known. He is the presi- dent of the Huron Barge Company, the Hemlock River Mining Company and the Verona Mining Company, is vice president of the Hobart Iron Company, the Corsica Iron Company, the Minnesota Dock Company of Illinois, the Toledo Furnace Company of Toledo,
30
Samuel Mlather
Ohio, and the Bank of Commerce National Association. His name is included in the list of directors of the U. S. Steel Corporation, the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company of West Virginia, the Cleveland Iron Mining Company of Michigan, the Pioneer Iron Company of Mich- igan, the Iron Cliffs Company of Michigan, the Cleveland Storage Company, the Malta Iron Company, the Citizens Savings & Trust Company, the Cleveland Trust Company, the Superior Savings & Trust Company, the Interlake Company, the Ashtabula Steamship Company, the Messaba Steamship Company, the New York, P. & O. Dock Company, the Cleveland Electric Company, the Ohio Iron & Steel Company, the Odanah Iron Company, the Provident Coal Company and the Mahoning Coal Railroad Company. Prominently connected with the iron and steel trade of the country, Samuel Mather now ranks among the distinguished capitalists of Cleveland. His business interests have ever been of an extensive and important char- acter, demanding keen discrimination in management and marked sagacity in investment. The variety of his interests at once indicate' him to be a man of notable business enterprise and keen perception, manifesting marked ability in discriminating between the essential and non-essential. He regards no position as final, believing that there is still opportunity for advancement and this qualifies his coun- sel whenever he expresses opinions concerning the management and control of important business affairs.
Mr. Mather's extensive connection with educational and chari- table institutions also suggests much of his character and of his in- terests. His value as a citizen cannot be over-estimated, as his hold- ings are almost all in lines that have been factors in Cleveland's growth. He is one of the foremost men in the country in iron mining circles, thus sustaining the reputation of his father. Aside from busi- ness, however, his labors have been far-reaching in effect and in bene- fit. While he has attractive club relations outside of his business in- terests, he prefers to concentrate his energies upon affairs which are of vital importance to the individual or to municipal, state and na- tional progress. He is now a member of the executive committee of the National Civic Federation and a member of the central com- mittee of the American National Red Cross Society. He takes a great interest in Lakeside Hospital. He is the president of the Chil- dren's Aid Society; president and treasurer of the Home for Aged Women; vice president of the University School; a director of the Floating Bethel and City Mission; a director of the Cleveland Mu- seum of Art; chairman of the Hanna Monument Association; and a trustee of the Western Reserve University, of Adelbert College, the Hiram House, Goodrich House, Kenyon College and the Case
31
Samuel Mather
Library Association. He is also senior warden in Trinity (church) parish. Notwithstanding all of his connections and the fact that he is looked to for leadership in lines relative to the city's progress and welfare and to many enterprises for the public good in other lines, he is nevertheless a man of most modest and democratic manner. He is known as a philanthropist because his benefactions have been many and most substantial and yet the public knows nothing of the full extent of his contributions to and his personal activities in charitable causes. Close friends, however, say that his activities in these direc- tions are larger than those of any other permanent resident of Cleve- land. Few men have so fully realized the responsibilities of wealth or met their obligations unchecked by the spirit of self-interest. He has desired no public preferments or honors but he has extensive con- nections with institutions that pay no salaries. Without invidious distinction he may justly be termed one of the foremost men of Cleve- land and many would accord him the place of greatest prominence.
Mr. Mather was married October 19, 1881, to Miss Flora Stone, the youngest daughter of Amasa Stone, one of the most prominent citizens that Cleveland has ever had. Mrs. Mather died January 19, 1909, in this city, on which occasion the local press published the following: "'There has never been such another woman in Cleve- land and there never will be,' said Mrs. M. E. Rawson, president of the Day Nursery and Free Kindergarten Society, speaking of Mrs. Mather. 'There is not a philanthropic organization in the city that will not feel her loss deeply.' 'Mrs. Mather was continually doing something for the Home for Aged Women, given years ago by her father, Amasa Stone,' said Mrs. Charles W. Chase of the Young Women's Christian Association. 'Her strong, sweet character and wide charities made her womanhood ideal.' Miss Mary E. Inger- soll, for many years president of the Nonpartisan Women's Christian Temperance Union, was overcome by emotion at the news of Mrs. Mather's death. 'I first knew her when she was a little girl and later when she was one of the pupils of Miss Guilford's school, where she graduated,' said Miss Ingersoll. 'Always the same quiet, retiring, unselfish disposition,-she was one of the finest types of Christian womanhood I have ever known.' Guilford House and Haydn Hall, the buildings which were Mrs. Mather's gifts to the College for Women, were saddened by the news of her death. 'Mrs. Mather's wisdom was as great as her generosity,' said President Charles F. Thwing of Western Reserve University. 'With every gift she gave herself.' Goodrich House, a monument to Mrs. Mather's interest in settlement work, will be closed all day tomorrow in honor of her memory. Funeral services will be held at 2 P. M. at the Old Stone
32
Samuel Mather
church, of which she was an active member. Bishop William A. Leonard, rector of Trinity cathedral, will officiate with the pastor, Rev. A. B. Meldrum."
Mrs. Mather left at her death the following children: Samuel Livingston, Amasa Stone, Philip Richard, Constance.
1459216
Charles A. Otis, St.
T HE death of Charles A. Otis, Sr., which occurred in Cleveland, June 28, 1905, removed an influential citizen, whose life was rich in its benefits for the city's growth. He was a son of William A. Otis, whose life history appears elsewhere on these pages, and his birth occurred in Bloomfield, Ohio, June 26, 1835. He was nine years of age when his parents removed to Cleve- land and as a youth and young man he worked in his father's gen- eral store and bank, being thus employed until nearly twenty-one years of age, when he became purser on one of the old Winslow boats. This life keeping him too much away from home, he re- turned to Cleveland. His father in the meantime had developed the iron trade here and the son followed in his footsteps. In 1853 he organized the firm of Ford & Otis and set up the first forge in Cleveland, beginning the manufacture of axles and bar iron. This factory was the first and only one of its kind west of Syracuse, New York. Shortly after the war Mr. Otis went abroad and at Berlin learned a new process of making steel. On his return to America he arranged to work the process on a royalty basis and thus insti- tuted new methods in America. He was singularly successful and in a short time became one of the leading business men of the city. It was at this period of his life that he formed the Otis Iron & Steel Company, now operating under the name of the Otis Steel Com- pany, and built the largest open hearth steel plant in the country. Associated with him in this enterprise were E. B. Thomas, Thomas Jopling, J. K. Bole and S. T. Wellman. Mr. Otis became the first president of the organization and so continued until 1899, when the property was sold to an English syndicate. He held the chairman- ship of the board of directors for two or three years, after which he gradually retired from active business life. During his last fifteen years he lived in New York but spent a great deal of his time in traveling through Europe and America, visiting many places of interest in this country as well as in foreign lands. While residing in the Empire state he became a member of the Ohio Society of New York.
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.