USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Cleveland, Ohio, pictorial and biographical. De luxe supplement, Volume I > Part 3
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Charles A. Otis, Sr.
During his residence in Cleveland Mr. Otis was not only promi- nent in the industrial development of the city but was also a factor in its municipal progress and public life. In 1872 he was elected mayor of Cleveland on the democratic ticket and filled a very suc- cessful term in that office. He was importuned to again accept the nomination of his party but found that his business, which was at its height at that time, was demanding too much of his attention, so he declined further political honors. It was said of him that his wish to serve the people of the city was strong and he could have . risen much higher in public office had not his business required his attention. In 1894 he became the president of the Commercial Na- tional Bank and was at the head of this institution for ten years, re- signing the office and retiring from active business in 1904, at which time the Commercial Bank was merged with the Mercantile Na- tional Bank, forming the present National Commercial Bank. Mr. Otis was also one of the founders of the American Wire Company, which later became the American Steel & Wire Company, and was connected with the Standard Sewing Machine Company, the Amer- ican Steel Screw Company, the Cleveland Electric Railway Com- pany and the Society for Savings, being a director of the last named. At one time he was associated with Dr. Everett in the old East Cleveland line. Among the business men of Cleveland Mr. Otis was held in very high regard. He always took a personal interest in his employes, whose esteem for him was marked and there never occurred a strike in the history of his firm.
Mr. Otis had no early education beyond the meager facilities of the country schools but by indomitable energy he became a man of broad knowledge and large capability. His manner was one of simplicity and this, combined with his irreproachable integrity, gained him the confidence and good will of all who knew him and in fact he enjoyed the respect of the entire city. His foresight and business ability, aided by his public spirit, contributed in no small way to the substantial growth and progress of Cleveland.
Mr. Otis was first married to Miss Mary Shepard, who died leaving two daughters: Mrs. Judge William B. Sanders; and Mrs. Dr. J. Kent Sanders, now deceased. For his second wife Mr. Otis chose Miss Ann Eliza Shepard, a sister of his first wife, and she died some twenty-three years previous to her husband. The chil- dren of the second marriage were three sons: William A., Charles A. and Harrison G.
A Cleveland paper referring to the death of Mr. Otis said edi- torially: "In the death of Charles A. Otis the city loses one of the builders of Cleveland. Charles A. Otis, Sr., was a pioneer in the
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Charles A. Otis, Sr.
creative industrial enterprises which made this city, as it is today, a possibility. He ran risks and reaped the rewards of the pathbreaker, whose ventures into new fields are followed by less daring and able men. In the making of iron and steel, in banking, in varied manu- facturing interests, Charles A. Otis was one of the most active forces in the growth of Cleveland. He promoted progress in all directions. The whole world of industry, finance and trade felt the stimulating effects of his many-sided enterprises. He was an inspiration and example for a goodly number of younger men who came within the scope of his personal influence. Great popularity bore witness that in this strong man's career success did not blunt humanity. He was loved and trusted by his employes as well as by his business asso- ciates. His judgment was as sound as his impulses were kindly. Enterprises which he founded went forward to great success. He was a stranger to defeat. The loss of such a citizen is a blow to Cleveland, which would be more felt if Charles A. Otis had not retired from active business and put his affairs in order some time before his death. Age and leisure had withdrawn him from the broad field of the city's productive interests before his long and use- ful life came to its end. A maker of Cleveland is missed from the scene of his labors and triumphs."
Another paper said of him: "The death of Charles A. Otis re- moves one who was for many years a leading figure in the city's manufacturing and financial life. Moreover, he served a term as mayor of Cleveland, having been nominated in his absence and without his knowledge, a fact which enabled him to display ad- mirable and unusual independence while in office. He was one of the pioneers in the city's iron and steel industry and was identified with various other large interests. He was a leading citizen in every sense of that much abused term and will be widely missed in spite of retirement from active life which several years ago withdrew him largely from public notice"
met Otis
Talilliam A. Otis
N a review of the history of Cleveland and of north- ern Ohio it is interesting to note what an important part William A. Otis played in shaping the policy and molding the destiny of this section during its formative period. His busineses interests were al- ways of a character that contributed not only to his individual success but also constituted an important factor in gen- eral progress. With the development of the trade relations, the improvement of the waterways, the building of the turnpikes and railroads and other features which have been most valuable in pro- moting the growth of the state he was closely associated and no his- tory of this city, therefore, would be complete without prominent and extended personal mention of him.
A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Otis was descended from one of the distinguished New England families, tracing his ancestry back to John Otis, who was born in Barnstable, Devonshire, England, in 1581. He arrived at Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1635 and drew house lots in the first division of lands in that town. He was an ancestor of James Otis, the orator and patriot, who did so much toward promoting the interests of the colonies during the momen- tous period prior to the Revolutionary war. With keen insight rec- ognizing the tendency of the British to encroach upon the long es- tablished rights of the colonies, through his oratory he awakened the people to a recognition of the situation and perhaps did more than any other man of his time to place colonial resistance in its true light before the world, indicating clearly the rights of the English- man under the British constitution, as declared in that great instru- ment of English freedom, the Magna Charta. His prominent con- temporaries of that time spoke of James Otis in terms of highest praise, recognizing the worth of his work in the glorious move- ment for independence. President John Adams said of him: "I know of no man whose services were so important and essential to the cause of his country and whose love for it was more ardent and sincere than that of Mr. Otis." Speaking of him, Justice Dana
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William a. Otis
said: "Mr. Otis was looked upon as the safeguard and ornament of our cause. The splendor of his intellect threw into shade all the great contemporary lights; the cause of American independence was identified at home and abroad with his name."
William A. Otis was a direct descendant of this distinguished statesman, who may well be numbered among the men who made the nation. In another way William A. Otis also performed a most important service for his country in opening up the west to civiliza- tion and promoting its trade and commercial interests. Leaving Massachusetts about 1818, he traveled on foot to Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, where he secured employment in an iron establishment, doing any task that was entrusted to him. His ability, however, was soon recognized by his employers, who promoted him and gave him a generous increase in salary. For two years he remained with that house, depositing his savings with the firm, they agreeing to pay interest on the same; but the company failed and Mr. Otis thereby lost not only the interest but all that he had managed to save. With a resolute spirit that could not be overcome by disad- vantages, he again turned his face westward and walked the entire distance to Bloomfield, Trumbull county, Ohio. With a vigorous constitution he set to work to make for himself a home and, if pos- sible, a fortune in the new world. He was well qualified to meet the onerous demands of pioneer life and from the outset was an im- portant factor in the actual work of development and improvement in this part of Ohio. He cleared land and also established a primi- tive mercantile business .by furnishing the settlers with goods in exchange for ashes, wheat or other produce. He also conducted a tavern wherein he entertained the traveling public. Ashes were at that time used in the manufacture of black salts or impure potash, which was the only strict cash article in the country. It was diffi- cult, however, to get this commodity to the eastern market. The casks of potash were hauled to the mouth of the Beaver river or to Pittsburg, whence they drifted on flatboats down the Ohio and Miss- issippi rivers to New Orleans and from that point were transported to New York. Mr. Otis did much of his own teaming and in Pitts- burg exchanged the potash for goods with which he returned to Bloomfield. All trade in those days was largely a matter of barter rather than of cash, for there was scarcely money enough in the country with which to pay the taxes and indeed Mr. Otis was fre- quently obliged to furnish his customers with cash for that purpose.
When the Erie canal was completed to Buffalo, Mr. Otis, with keen prescience, realized the opportunity for making wheat a cash product by shipping it to that point. The settlers here raised an
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William A. Otis
abundance of grain, which they gladly disposed of for twenty-five cents a bushel, taking their pay largely in merchandise. Mr. Otis determined to see what might be done with Ohio flour on the New York market and shipped the first lot that was sent from the Western Reserve. As there had previously been no demand for flour barrels, there was no coopers at Bloomfield but a few miles north, toward the lake, there was a good custom gristmill. The old saying that necessity is the mother of invention has been again and again dem- onstrated by the pioneer and found exemplification in the work of Mr. Otis, who, unable to purchase barrels from a cooper, went into the woods, selected an oak tree and set his men to cut and saw it into suitable blocks for the barrels. From these blocks the rough staves were split. When the cooper's stuff was seasoned the barrels were made and although they were somewhat rough in construction, they were capable of being used in transporting flour and potash. The wheat which he secured from his customers Mr. Otis stored in the mill until it could be ground and packed in the barrels. He then hauled his flour and potash thirty-five miles to Ashtabula creek, where it was loaded on to a schooner and then taken to Buffalo and by canal to New York. The quality of the flour by New York merchants was regarded as in no way inferior to that of the Genesee country, which was then thought to produce the finest flour manu- factured. The eastern merchants at once recognized the significance of trade with this new country on the shores of Lake Erie and of- fered every encouragement for the manufacture and shipment of flour and other commodities that might be produced in that section. In time Mr. Otis also took up the shipment of wool and pork and for nearly twenty years remained one of the leading shippers of this part of the country, conducting a constantly growing business which was characterized by none of the methods of modern specu- lation but brought a sure and steady return.
While still living in Bloomfield Mr. Otis was elected to repre- sent his district in the legislature in 1834, capably serving for two terms. Recognizing now that the growing city of Cleveland offered a wider field for commercial enterprise, he took up his abode here in 1836 and at once was given rank with the foremost business men here. He continued to deal in pork, flour and potash and also be- came actively connected with the iron trade. Business development in one line always necessitates a corresponding growth in some other field of activity. The increasing shipping interests of this section called attention to the question of transportation, as it was necessary to have good roads and other means whereby the commodities might be easily taken to market. One of the earliest turnpikes in north-
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dalilliam A. Otis
eastern Ohio was made through Bloomfield, from Warren to Ash- tabula, and steamers were placed upon Lake Erie and the Ohio canal, thus extending navigation into the interior. Mr. Otis favored, protected and cooperated in many of these interests and was later an advocate of railway building, recognizing the great advantage which such a course would prove to this section of the country. He was therefore influential in securing the building of the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati, the Cleveland & Pittsburg and the Belle- fontaine & Indianapolis Railroads. He spent much time in discus- sing the matter with the farmers, presenting to them the benefits of railroad enterprises and largely securing their cooperation and en- dorsement. For a long period he was a director of the first two railroads mentioned in a day when railroad interests were carefully managed for the benefit of the stockholders and the development of the country through which they passed. With the settlement of Ohio and the gradual transformation of its business Mr. Otis con- cluded to concentrate his energies upon iron manufacture and be- came the pioneer iron master of Cleveland. Again his keen fore- sight was demonstrated in the splendid results which attended his labors in this connection. Others followed his example until Cleve- land became one of the important iron centers of the country. Still his resourcefulness in business was not exhausted, for he became as well a factor in banking circles and was prominent in the organization of the State Bank of Ohio and served as a member of the state board of control during its entire existence. He was the originator of the Society for Savings in Cleveland, acted as its presi- dent for thirteen years, was also president of the Commercial Na- tional Bank and connected with the banking firm of Wick, Otis & Brownell.
No movement for the benefit of Cleveland failed to receive his endorsement and of many of these he was the originator and pro- moter. The Board of Trade was largely founded through his ef- . forts and he was one of the commissioners representing Cleveland in the negotiations that culminated in the merging of Ohio City and Cleveland into one great corporate body, the result being greatly promoted through his quiet influence and diplomacy in handling any measure entrusted to his care.
It was in 1824 that Mr. Otis was married to Miss Eliza Proctor, of Manchester, Massachusetts, and unto them were born two sons and a daughter: Hon. Charles A. Otis, president of the Otis Iron & Steel Company, of Cleveland; Eliza P., the wife of Hon. T. D. Crocker, of Cleveland; and William H., late of Indianapolis, In- diana.
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Jalilliam A. Otis
Mr. Otis was an earnest Christian man and with the increase of his wealth he did not attempt to live in luxurious style or to hoard his earnings but gave with constantly increasing generosity wherever his money might be of practical service and benefit to his fellow- men. His gifts to public charities were many, especially to those connected with religious bodies. Kindliness, helpfulness and benev- olence ever remained salient features in his life. He held friend- ship inviolable and true worth could always win his regard. He was extremely cautious and conservative in condemnation of an act of another, viewing all with charity, preferring always to speak a word of encouragement rather than of criticism. Coming on foot to the great west in the second decade of the nineteenth century, he remained through more than fifty years an essential factor in its development in business, political, intellectual and moral lines. While his activities were largely concentrated upon his commer- cial, manufacturing and other enterprises, his influence remained ever as a steady, moving force for those other interests which are vital to the best development of the individual and the country at large.
Yours Truly Yeast Harshington
George h. Valorthington
G EORGE H. WORTHINGTON, financier and cap- tain of industry, whose business interests will cover connection with at least forty important commercial and industrial enterprises, all of which have received substantial support in his sound judgment and keen insight, was born in Toronto, Canada, February 13, 1850. His rise seems spectacular in that his initial step in the busi- ness world was made an an apprentice in a mercantile establishment in which he was to receive no pay for his first year's service. Yet in his entire career there is no esoteric phase, his brilliant success following as the logical sequence of integrity, industry and the abil- ity to foresee possibilities as results of the coordination and combina- tion of forces.
A son of John and Mary (Wellborn) Worthington, he pursued his education in the schools of Toronto until sixteen years of age, and also attended a commercial college in that city. The day fol- lowing the completion of his course there he was apprenticed by his father to serve for three years with a wholesale grocery house. He was to receive no compensation for his services for the first year, but to his surprise at Christmas was handed fifty dollars and for his second year's services was paid five hundred dollars, having in the meantime become the best salesman in the store. He was promised one thousand dollars for the succeeding year but the failure of his father's health led him to leave Canada and come to the United States to take charge of the interests of his father who, as a con- tractor, was then building the Southern Central Railroad in the state of New York. Taking up the task he at once gave careful consideration to the business management, saw where retrenchment of expenses and expansion of activity was possible, and so managed the business that when the contract was completed, according to the terms of his arrangement with his father, his share of the profits amounted to fifty thousand dollars-and Mr. Worthington was not yet twenty-one years of age. From New York he went to Brownhelm, Ohio, and entered the employ of Worthington & Son, a firm con-
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John Huntington
John Huntington
A S the day with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, its evening of complete and suc- cessful effort ending in the grateful rest and quiet of the night, so was the life of John Huntington, a man esteemed and honored wherever known and most of all where best known. He figures on the pages of history as a capitalist but more than that as a benefactor whose in- terests and sympathies went out at all times toward the unfortunate in a tangible manifestation of a spirit of helpfulness. While he has passed from life his good deeds remain and are yet factors in much of the city's charitable and benevolent work.
Mr. Huntington was born in Preston, England, March 8, 1832, a son of Hugh Huntington, who was professor of mathematics at Onuskirk in Lancashire and one of the founders of the Trinity school at Preston. After acquiring a good education in his native land John Huntington sailed to America in 1852 and the same year came to Cleveland, establishing himself in the roofing business. In this industry he met with success and he also became interested in oil in an early day. It was in 1863 that he took up the business or refining oil with Clark, Payne & Company and his knowledge of mechanics and his understanding of the needs in the line of his business enabled him to invent many valuable improvements in the methods of re- fining oil, which inventions he patented. He also made improve- ments on the furnaces and on the machinery used in the manufacture of oil barrels. So great were the advantages resulting from the use of his inventions that the business of Clark, Payne & Company rapidly outstripped all competitors and finally they united with several of the chief refiners of this section of the country to form the Standard Oil Company. 'Mr. Huntington acquired a handsome fortune but, never hoarding his gains for selfish purposes, he gave freely in charitable and benevolent lines and also became interested in other business enterprises which were of substantial benefit in up- building the city. In 1886 he engaged successfully in lake shipping and became part owner of a large fleet of vessels. He was also ex-
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John Huntington
tensively interested in the Cleveland Stone Company and became its vice president.
Unlike the great majority of the prominent and successful busi- ness men of the present day, he did not regard participation in the political interests of his city as beneath him but on the contrary re- garded it as a duty as well as the privilege of every American citizen to share in the work of promoting the welfare of city, state and coun- try through the avenue of politics. He became actively interested in municipal affairs and at an early day entered the city council, where by reelection he was retained for many years and was con- nected with the inception and carrying out of the plans for many of the public works of Cleveland. He was always a firm believer in a brilliant future for the city and his labors at all times looked to the growth and development of Cleveland while also promoting practi- cal reform. In 1872 he introduced the resolution in the city coun- cil for the appointment of a committee to take into consideration the construction of a bridge across the river at Superior street. The reso- lution was adopted and he was appointed to serve on the committee having in charge the construction of the bridge. He continued in the council for thirteen years, beginning in 1862, and always stood for substantial improvements such as paving streets, developing the sewer system, building bridges, advancing the water supply and in- troducing steam fire engines. He was also one of the promoters of the Lake View park and the Superior street viaduct. His labors were at all times practical and he was ever a man of action rather than of theory, accomplishing results while others were still form- ing plans.
In 1852 Mr. Huntington was united in marriage to Miss Jane Beck, of Preston, England, and that year they sailed for the new world. As the years passed four children were added to the family : Mrs. A. C. Hord, William R., Mrs. H. P. Smith and Mrs. E. A. Merritt, all of Cleveland. Following the death of his first wife Mr. Huntington wedded Mrs. Mariett L. Goodwin, a daughter of Tal- mage W. Leek, of Cleveland. The death of Mr. Huntington oc- curred in London, England, January 10, 1893. Four years before- in 1889-he established a permanent fund to be known as the John Huntington Benevolent Trust and placed the sum of two hundred thousand dollars in the hands of a committee, which he selected. The income was to be divided between nineteen public institutions of charitable and educational character, and today no less than forty different charities of the city are benefited yearly through the Hunt- ington Benevolent Trust. He also gave a certain per cent of the in- come from his estate during the life time of his children and at their
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John Huntington
death a definite amount of property for an art gallery and an evening polytechnic school. He foresaw the needs of the city along these as well as many other lines and made provision therefor. His resi- dence in America covered almost fifty years and during that period he made substantial progress. He wisely chose as the place of his residence a land where history is making, a country whose natural resources have not been developed to their full extent, as is the case in many districts of the old world, but where the wealth of its ad- vantages is hardly yet realized. He took his part in shaping the destiny of the city with which he became identified, utilized his . opportunities for the development of natural resources and as the years passed, in the control of his business interests, reached a place among the millionaire residents of Cleveland and won a firm hold on the affection of his fellow townsmen by reason of the many gener- ous deeds which he did for the benefit of those needing his assistance. Thus among the names of the most honored dead of Cleveland is in- scribed that of John Huntington.
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Horace A. Bishop
H ORACE A. BISHOP, one of the honored retired resi- dents of Cleveland, has lived here since 1867 and has borne his part in the subsequent upbuilding of its best interests. He was born in Andover, Connecticut, July 2, 1849, and was well educated, taking a classi- cal and English course at East Greenwich Academy, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. After coming to Cleveland in 1867, he secured employment as civil engineer in what was then the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, but is now a part of the Erie Railroad, continuing in that position for two years. He then be- came a member of the wholesale grocery firm of Babcock, Hurd & Company, continuing with them until 1895. At the same time Mr. Bishop was president of the Wholesale Grocers Association and later president of their state association. In 1894 he was elected presi- dent of the old Park National Bank, which in time consolidated with the American Exchange Bank and the Euclid Avenue National Bank, with Mr. Bishop as president until this was merged with the First National Bank, and John Sherwin, who had been first vice president of the Euclid Park National Bank, was elected president. Mr. Bishop has continued on the board of directors. In 1894 he was elected president of the Elwood Tin Plate Company, of Elwood. Pennsylvania, one of the largest factories of the kind in the country, and he continued at its head until it was taken over by the trust in 1899. In that year he decided to retire from business to a great ex- tent on account of ill health, and since then he and his wife have traveled extensively, visiting most of the important places through- out the world.
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