USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Cleveland, Ohio, pictorial and biographical. De luxe supplement, Volume II > Part 14
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Charles Edward Benham
same system as used in Cleveland for the tapping of all water lines and also the system of keeping records in the office. Thereafter under the Gardner administration he was a member of the infirmary board and under Mayor McKisson was a member of the city council. Dur- ing his term of service he acted as chairman of the committee which investigated the books of the Consolidated Street Railway Company to ascertain the cost of carrying passengers. Aside from his private busi- ness interests and public service already mentioned, he is now the first vice president of the West Cleveland Banking Company, with which he has been connected since its organization. He is likewise inter- ested in various other financial and commercial institutions and enter- prises and is the owner of valuable west side real estate. He has been an active member of the Chamber of Commerce for many years and at one time was chairman of the navigation committee and has for a long period been a member of the river and harbor committee. He was appointed by Cleveland to represent the city in the deep water convention held in Toronto and in many other ways has put forth effective and far-reaching efforts for the promotion of public progress. He was elected to succeed Herman Baehr as presi- dent of the Cleveland Chamber of Industry when that gentleman was elected mayor of Cleveland and was later reelected, now serving in that position.
In organizations which have had for their object the benefit of shipping interests Mr. Benham is also known as senior past grand president of the Ship Masters Association of the Northwestern Lakes. The social side of his nature has found expression in his membership in the Cleveland Yacht Club, the Rough Riders Club and the Tippe- canoe'Club, and his fraternal spirit has been manifest in his member- ship in all branches of the Odd Fellows Society, including the grand lodge and also in the Royal Arcanum. Furthermore, he belongs to the Republican Club and was the first president of the First Ward Republican Club, with which he has always been prominently identi- fied, being one of its principal supporters. His activities therefore touch the various interests which constitute vital phases in the public life and his efforts have always been put forth along the lines of sub- stantial progress and improvement.
On New Year's Eve of 1867 Mr. Benham was married in Cleve- land to Miss Mary J. Prescott, a daughter of William Prescott, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Benham, who died on the 10th of Jan- uary, 1899 ,was very active in charitable and benevolent work and also in Edgewater Rebekah Lodge, No. 264, of which she was past grand president. She was a most liberal contributor to the Old Ladies Home and benevolent institutions. By her marriage she became the mother
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Charles Coward Benham
of five sons and two daughters, namely: Captain C. A. Benham, mas- ter of the steamer McGehan of the Hutchinson fleet; William P., master of the steamer J. J. Sullivan; George E., master of the steamer W. S. Mack; Robert H., chief engineer of the steamer J. J. Sullivan; Harrison M., who has attended the Case School of Applied Science and is now oiler of the J. J. Sullivan; Eva May, the wife of J. W. Karr, of the firm of Karr & Mitchael, dealers in ship supplies; and Jennie M., a graduate of the West high school of the class of 1909. The family reside at No. 9901 Detroit avenue, Northwest, where the home is surrounded by extensive grounds that are adorned with an orchard and gardens.
Captain Benham is numbered among the few lake commanders who have not only mastered navigation but have also displayed marked ability in dealing with the financial problems of lake transportation, and through the utilization of the opportunities which have been opened in connection wtih the shipping interests of Cleveland he has won success that places him in a creditable and enviable financial position. At the same time his has never been a self-centered life but with broad outlook he has cooperated in concerns of public impor- tance wherein the city has been a direct beneficiary nor has he been unmindful of the social amenities of life, which are a source of much happiness to him.
Judge Seneca O. Griswold
J UDGE SENECA O. GRISWOLD, who for forty years was an honored member of the Cleveland bar, while his name is also linked with many events and movements which have left their impress upon the history of the city, was born in Windsor, Connecticut, December 20, 1823. He was descended in the sixth generation from Edward Griswold, who settled in Windsor in 1635, thus founding on American soil a family that has numbered many men who have won distinction in literature, science and professional life.
In his youth Mr. Griswold was a pupil in the Suffield (Conn.) Literary Institute, where he pursued his studies until he reached his seventeenth year. He came to Ohio in 1841 and the following year matriculated as a freshman in Oberlin College, completing his four years' course in that institution by graduation with the class of 1845. Immediately afterward he returned to Connecticut and for one year was engaged in teaching in the academy of his native town. He then again came to Ohio and began preparation for what was to be his real life work as a student in the law office of the firm of Bolton & Kelly, of Cleveland, who directed his reading until his admission to the bar in 1847. In the spring of the following year he entered into partner- ship with the Hon. John C. Grannis and at once began the practice of his profession. Three years later that partnership was dissolved and he joined his former preceptors, under the firm style of Bolton, Kelly & Griswold, the firm name being changed to Kelly & Griswold upon the election of the senior partner to the bench in 1856. The firm of Kelly & Griswold then maintained a leading position at the Cleveland bar until the death of Mr. Kelly in 1870. The succeeding year Judge Griswold was joined in a partnership relation by a former student, Isaac Buckingham, with whom he was associated for two years.
In the meantime Mr. Griswold had become a recognized leader in political circles and in 1861 was elected a member of the general
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Judge Seneca D. Griswold
assembly, in which he served for one term. While in the legislature he rendered valuable aid in organizing the railroad sinking fund com- mission and also in procuring for the city of Cleveland a paid fire de- partment. He was next called to office when, in 1873, he was elected one of the superior court judges of Cleveland and during the same year was elected, as the candidate of both democrats and republicans, a member of the state constitutional convention. He left the impress of his individuality upon the organic law of Ohio, taking active part in the deliberations of the convention and serving with marked ability as chairman of the committee on corporations and as a member of the apportionment committee, and his course on the bench was charac- terized by all that marks the able jurist. Upon the expiration of his judicial term, Judge Griswold assumed the active practice of his pro- fession and again became associated with Mr. Grannis. Later he was joined in a partnership relation by B. C. Starr, which continued until his retirement after forty years of active connection with the profes- sion.
A contemporary biographer said of him: "As a judge, Mr. Gris- wold commanded the respect of all by his learning and impartiality, and as a lawyer he stood in the front rank of the profession, his exten- sive reading, well balanced judgment and logical reasoning making him a most reliable counselor and successful practitioner." He was chiefly instrumental in establishing the Cleveland Law Library Asso- ciation and for many years was continued in the office of president by the vote of his fellow members. He also served his fellow townsmen as a member of the city council.
In 1858 Judge Griswold was married to Miss Helen Lucy Robinson, of Westfield, New York, who died in 1871. About 1888 Judge Griswold retired from practice and soon afterward took up his residence in Windsor, Connecticut, on the old family homestead, where he engaged in tobacco growing and became an authority on the cultivation of that plant. His death occurred there February 17, 1895, when he was in his seventy-second year. During the years of his active connection with the legal profession he won considerable reputation as a public speaker and delivered an oration at the Cen- tennial celebration in Cleveland on the 4th of July, 1876, which was acknowledged by all to be an eloquent and able address, well worthy the occasion which called it forth. He also wrote much upon legal and kindred themes and his writings remain as a monument to his comprehensive legal knowledge.
Through the cooperation of Mrs. Stevenson Burke, for years an intimate friend of the family, we are able to present the excellent like- ness of Mr. Griswold accompanying this sketch.
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Je Husser
oseph Al. Gasser
T HE name of Gasser is a familiar one to Cleveland's residents, for it has long figured in connection with the florist's trade of the city and Joseph M. Gasser was recognized as a prominent business man here, honored and respected by all for what he accomplished. The success that came to him was the direct reward of his own labors and, profiting by experience and opportunity, he at length reached a creditable financial position.
He was born in Switzerland in 1843 and when eleven years of age came to the United States with his parents. The father was a car- penter and in the early '5os brought his family to the United States. Owing to the limited financial resources of his parents, Joseph M. Gasser began earning his own living when very young. At the age of twelve years he worked in a pail factory on the flats and was thus employed until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when he offered his services to the government, becoming a member of Company B, Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until 1864. During that period he participated in the battles of Antietam, Cedar Mountain, Lookout Mountain, Crossroads and Gettysburg and was honorably discharged in 1864, after three years spent at the front.
Mr. Gasser was not only a self-made but largely a self-educated man for the necessity of early providing for his own support gave him little opportunity to attend school. For about two years, however, he was a pupil in the Humiston Institute, a boarding school on the heights, and met the expenses of the course himself. He worked and studied until twelve o'clock at night, ambitious to secure an education, the value of which he thoroughly recognized. In his youthful days he was also employed as chore boy at the Weaver Wholesale Liquor House. He also worked for the firm of Pope & Hains on Ontario street and afterward spent seven or eight years in the postoffice. Eventually he turned his attention to the raising of flowers and be- came a well known florist and prominent business man of Cleveland.
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Joseph A. Gasser
When he retired he had an attractive little fortune and a name of which any man might well be proud. For years he conducted several retail stores, also a nursery on Lake avenue and one on Rocky river. His sales were extensive and brought him a substantial annual in- come so that his success classed him with the representative business men of the city.
Mr. Gasser was united in marriage in 1867 to Miss Katherine Fox, and at his death, which occurred on the 12th of March, 1908, he left a wife and daughter, Mrs. J. C. Pettee. His political support was given to the republican party and he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Clifton Club and the Chamber of Commerce. His business record was entirely commendable and free from fault or intention of wrongdoing. In fact, he was recognized as a most hon- orable and honest business man, worthy the trust of all with whom he came in contact, and this brought him to a very desirable place among the men of affluence in Cleveland.
Charles & Dishes
Charles L. F. Malieber
C HARLES L. F. WIEBER, vice president and gen- eral manager of the Rauch & Lang Carriage Com- pany, manufacturers of electric pleasure cars, having one of the most extensive plants and manufacturing the finest electric vehicles in the world, has come to be widely recognized as one of the successful business men of Cleveland. A native of this city, he was born February 15, 1861. He is the son of Jacob B. and Salome Wieber. The father was a native of Baden, Germany, and came to America at the age of nineteen years, locating in Cleveland, where he engaged in the tailoring business until his death, which occurred here in 1870 at the age of thirty-six. On arriving in Cleveland, he entered the employ of Mr. Moley, a tailor occupying a shop at the corner of Detroit and Pearl streets, and after two years he bought out his em- ployer. Several years later he erected one of the first business blocks on Detroit street, near that corner, remaining there until the present Detroit block was built, to which he removed. Jacob Wieber con- tinued to conduct a high class tailoring establishment until his death, after which his wife carried on the business until their son Charles was old enough to take active charge. Mrs. Jacob Wieber, who was Miss Salome Zipf, was also a native of Baden Baden and still sur- vives her husband.
Charles L. F. Wieber is the only surviving son in a family of five children, three of whom are living. He was the third in order of birth and was educated in private schools until the age of thirteen years, when he pursued a course in the Spencerian Business College. Educated for a business rather than a professional career, after leav- ing school he became associated with his mother in the conduct of the business which the husband and father had established. Shortly afterward he assumed active charge.
Mr. Wieber early in life began to learn the practical side of business affairs and displayed from the beginning unusual ability
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Charles L. F. MWieber
for his years. That he was fully competent to assume the responsi- bilities incident to the general management of the business, was shown by its subsequent success and development. Conducted in keeping with the most progressive spirit, it soon outdistanced all competitors not only in volume of trade but also in the personnel of its patrons. This growth necessitated a more central location. In 1902 the busi- ness was incorporated as the Wieber Company, merchant tailors, with Charles L. F. Wieber as president and treasurer, and for the succeeding years until 1910, the business was carried on in the Len- nox building at No. 919 Euclid avenue. As the practical head of the company, Mr. Wieber shaped its policies and originated its methods. Through his exceptional management, the business be- came the largest and most exclusive men's tailoring establishment west of New York. This house set the standard for workmanship and style in Cleveland and had the patronage of the best clientele of the city.
As the years passed and success attended his efforts, Mr. Wieber branched out into other fields. His sound business judgment and active cooperation soon became valuable factors in the successful and profitable control of different undertakings. As a result of the mag- nitude and importance of such enterprises, Mr. Wieber on February 1, 1910, disposed of his interests in the Wieber Company, thus sever- ing his connection with a business that had been conducted by the family for half a century. At that time the Cleveland Leader, in mentioning Mr. Wieber's change in business, said in part :
"On February Ist, Charles L. F. Wieber, who has been identified as the head of the Wieber Company for many years and due to whose exceptional management the business has become one of the greatest west of New York, will retire from that firm. Much of the success that he has enjoyed in the business was due to the men with whom he surrounded himself. To these men he has given over his interests. They will in the future try to emulate the policy which has made the Wieber Company one of the best known in the United States. This move was deemed wise, in fact was made necessary, through the remarkable growth of the Rauch & Lang Carriage Com- pany, of which he is vice president and general manager. Three years ago Mr. Wieber joined the force of the Rauch & Lang Com- pany and since that time he has given more or less time to the man- agement. This growth of the business since he entered the firm has, however, made the devoting of his entire time and energies neces- sary. Mr. Wieber's business career has been most successful but of all the enterprises in which he has an interest, none have grown with such rapidity as has the electric vehicle business of the Rauch & Lang
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Charles L. F. Wieber
Company. Much of the success of that concern is due to his business acumen, shrewdness and activity. The methods which made the Wieber Company so remarkably successful have been applied the past three years by Mr. Wieber in the Rauch & Lang Carriage Com- pany. The fruits of his labors have proved so remarkable that his entire time and energy is demanded, which he will begin to devote to the further promoting and developing of the Rauch & Lang Car- riage Company. A big increase of business is expected to be the result of this change in which Mr. Wieber will become actively the financial and managerial head of the Rauch & Lang Company."
Mr. Wieber is also president of the Lakewood Realty Company, president of the Detroit Street Investment Company, a director and member of the finance board of the Forest City Savings & Trust Company, a director of the George P. Faerber Company, a director in the Workingmen's Collateral Loan Company, and interested in various other financial and industrial enterprises. All of these con- nections are but tangible proof of the marked business ability of Mr. Wieber, who has wrought along well defined lines of labor and has made most judicious investments. In all of his business activities he has followed where keen discrimination and rare judgment have led the way and there are few, if any, points in his business career where he could have accomplished larger things at that given point. Mr. Wieber's greatest success lies in his ability to master details. He has always believed in the old adage: "Take care of the little things and the large ones will take care of themselves." The spirit of this saying has characterized his every move and especially since enter- ing the Rauch & Lang Company, the success of which depends upon a constant and careful supervision of details. In a concern of this size such a task is no sinecure, especially when it is taken into con- sideration that the business is now capitalized at one million dollars. Twice since Mr. Wieber has joined the company the capital has been increased-a fact which to the thinking man proves conclusively that the course Mr. Wieber has pursued is not only logical but demonstrates also the soundness of his deductions.
On the 8th of January, 1889, Mr. Wieber was married to Miss Martha E. Dietz, a daughter of George Dietz, one of the prominent and pioneer German residents of Cleveland. Their four children are: Charles L. F., Jr., Alvina E., Martha and Walter D. Mr. Wieber is a republican, supporting the party at the polls, yet not active in its ranks. He is well known in different fraternal and social relations, having attained the Knight Templar degree in Forest City Commandery, while he has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise
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Charles I. F. Wieber
a member and director of Clifton Club and a member of the Cleve- land Athletic Club. His religious faith is indicated through his church relations with the Presbyterian denomination. He has a fine home on Lake avenue with five acres on the lake front, erecting there a handsome residence about two years ago. He is a man of athletic build and fine personal appearance and of dignified manner, impressing one at once with the force of character that has enabled him to reach the enviable position which he today occupies in the business circles of the city.
X
J. Hutchinson.
John T. hutchinson
OHN T. HUTCHINSON, who at the time of his death was one of the oldest and most successful vessel owners on the lakes and was for many years promi- nently connected with the carrying trade, was born in Oswego, New York. No resident of Cleveland was more closely, actively or prominently associated with navigation interests, and the enterprise which he displayed in this connection brought him substantial prosperity and was of direct benefit to the shippers of the city. Mr. Hutchinson began business in this line when twenty-four years of age, or in 1861, by the purchase of an interest in the scow Monitor, which was about two hundred and sixty-five tons. It was built for the purpose of carrying lumber from Lorain and Fremont to Buffalo, from which point it was shipped to New York, where it was used in the construction of the ironclad Monitor that sunk the Merrimac in Hampton Roads during the Civil war. Mr. Hutchinson owned the scow until the fall of that year, when he sold the vessel for fifty-five hundred dollars. He afterward became third owner in the construction of the steamer Lac La Belle, his part- ners in this enterprise being La Frenier Brothers.
In the fall of 1860 Mr. Hutchinson married Miss Emma C. Camp, a daughter of C. L. Camp, who died two years later. Of the estate Mr. Hutchinson borrowed five thousand dollars and with this he purchased the scow Ellen White, which he used in the lumber and stone trade, making trips to and from all points on the lower lakes, although little was done on Lake Superior. He owned this scow for several years, when she burned off Port Dover. In 1862 he purchased the schooner Milan, which he sold three years later and then bought the bark Orphan Boy, of William Kelley, of Milan, the purchase price being twenty-eight thousand dollars. For a few years he owned this vessel and on selling her bought the schooner Winona for eighteen thousand dollars. He owned that vessel for three years and then entered into partnership with S. H. Foster, building the schooner I. N. Foster,
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John T. Hutchinson
at a cost of twenty-four thousand dollars. After the sale of that vessel Mr. Hutchinson built the Emma C. Hutchinson in the winter of 1872-3, naming the schooner in honor of his wife. This is still in commission. It was launched June 12, 1873, and has been very for- tunate, no losses being charged against her except six thousand dol- lars. Her tonnage is six hundred and ninety-eight and when she was built she was one of the largest schooners on the lakes. The next vessels which Mr. Hutchinson owned were the Rube Richards and the May Richards, the former a steamer and the latter a schooner, which he purchased in the winter of 1877-8, at a cost of fifty-eight thousand dollars for the two. He afterward bought an interest in the steamer Queen of the West and later became owner of the Germanic, which had a carrying capacity of two thousand tons and cost ninety- . five thousand dollars. The vessels owned by Mr. Hutchinson in 1899 were the steamers Germanic, Rube Richards and Queen of the West, and the schooners Emma C. Hutchinson and May Richards. It will be seen from the foregoing that he was constantly extending his oper- ations and working his way upward in lake navigation circles. His investments at length represented many thousands of dollars, while his annual business was represented by a large figure. His vessels were constantly in use in the shipping trade of this part of the country and the volume of his business brought him a most substantial and gratifying financial return.
As above stated, Mr. Hutchinson was married to Miss Emma C. Camp, who was born in Cleveland, her father being Charles L. Camp, who came to this city from the state of New York when there was but one house here. With the early development and progress of Cleve- land he was closely associated and was engaged in the dry-goods bus- iness for many years. He was also for a considerable period vice president of the old City Bank and figured prominently in financial circles. He built the first four-story brick building in Cleveland on Superior street and was one of the organizers and founders of many of Cleveland's business enterprises, which greatly promoted the bus- iness development and prosperity of the city. He formulated his plans carefully, was determined in their execution and so utilized the means at hand that he seemed to have attained at any one point of his career the possibility for successful attainment at that point. Mr. Camp married Miss Clarissa Blicksley and they became the par- ents of five children, of whom four are living: Mrs. David Foster, Miss Mary E. Camp, Mrs. Hutchinson and Mrs. Thompson.
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