USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Cleveland, past and present; its representative men > Part 29
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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 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
The financial storm was so much more severe and longer continued than the wisest had calculated upon, that for years the result was regarded by them and the friends of the enterprise with painful suspense. In the interest of the road Mr. Perkins spent the Spring of 1854 in England, without achieving any important financial results.
At length, in 1856, the road was opened to. Youngstown, and its receipts, carefully husbanded, began slowly to lessen the floating debt. by that time grown to frightful proportions, and carried solely by the pledge of the private property and credit of the president and Ohio directors. These directors, consisting of Hon. Frederick Kinsman and Charles Smith, of Warren, Governor David Tod, of Briar Hill, Judge Reuben Hitchcock, of Painesville, and Dudley Baldwin, of
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Cleveland, by the free use of their widely known and high business credit, without distrust or dissension, sustained the president through that long and severe trial, a trial which can never be realized except by those who shared its burdens. The president and these directors should ever be held in honor by the stockholders of the company, whose investment they saved from utter loss, and by the business men of the entire Mahoning Valley, and not less by the city of Cleve- land ; for the mining and manufacturing interests developed by their exertions and sacrifices, lie at the very foundation of the present prosperity of both.
Before, however, the road was enabled to free itself from financial embarrassment, so to as commence making a satisfactory return to the stockholders, which Mr. Perkins was exceedingly anxious to see accomplished under his own presidency-his failing health compelled him to leave its active management, and he died before the bright day dawned upon the enterprise.
He said to a friend during his last illness, with characteristic dis- tinetness : " If I die, you may inscribe on my tomb stone, Died of the Mahoning Railroad ;" so great had been his devotion to the interests of the road, and so severe the personal exposures which its supervision had required of him, who was characteristically more thoughful of every interest confided to his care, than of his own health.
He was married October 24th, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth O. Tod, daughter of Dr. J. I. Tod, of Milton, Trumbull county, Ohio, and removed his family to Cleveland in 1856. Of three children, only one, Jacob Bishop, survives him. Mrs. Perkins died of rapid consumption, June 4th, 1857, and his devoted attention at the sick bed of his wife greatly facilitated the development of the same insidious disease, which was gradually to undermine his own naturally vigorous con- stitution.
The business necessities of his road, embarrassed and pressing as they were, united with his uniform self-forgetfulness, prevented his giving attention to his personal comfort and health, long after his friends saw the shadow of the destroyer falling upon his path. He was finally, in great prostration of health and strength, compelled to leave the active duties of the road and spent the latter part of the Winter of 1857-S in the Southern States, but returned in the Spring with little or no improvement. He continued to fail ; during the Summer and in the Fall of 1858 he again went South in the vain hope of at least physical relief, and died in Havana, Cuba, January 12th, 1859. His remains were embalmed and brought' home by his phy-
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sician, who had accompanied him-and were interred at Warren. in Woodland Cemetery, where so many of his family repose around him. A special train from either end of the Cleveland and Mahoning Rail- road brought the board of directors and an unusually large number of business and personal friends to join the long procession which followed " the last of earth" to its resting place.
One of the editorial notices of his death, at the time, very justly remarks of him :
He was a man of mark, and through strength of talent, moral firmness and urbanity of manner, wielded an influence seldom possessed by a man of his years. In addition to his remarkable business capacity, Mr Perkins was a man of high literary taste, which was constantly improving and enriching his mind. He continuel, even amid bis pressing business engagements, his habits of study and general reading. Mr. Perkins belonged to that exceptional class of cases in which great wealth, inherited, does not injure the recipient.
An editorial of a Warren paper, mentioning his death, says:
He was born in this town in 1821, and from his boyhood exhibited a mental capacity and energy which was only the promise of the brilliancy of his manhood. To his exer- tion, his personal influence and liberal investment of capital the country is indebted for the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad. To his unremitting labor in this enterprise he has sacrificed personal comfort and convenience, and we fear, shortened his days by his labors and exposure in bringing the work to completion. Known widely as Mr. Perkins has been by his active part in public enterprises, his loss will be felt throughout the State, but we who have known him both as boy and man, have a deeper interest in him, and the sympathies of the people of Warren, with his relatives, will have much of the nature of personal grief for one directly connected with them.
Said a classmate in the class meeting of 1862:
Although his name on the catalogue ranks with the class of 1842, his affections were with us, and he always regarded himself of our number. He visited New Haven fre- quently during the latter part of his life. in connection with a railway enterprise, in which he was interested, and exhibited the same large-heartedness and intellectual superiority which won for him universal respect during his college course.
A gentleman who knew Mr. Perkins intimately, and as a director was associated with him in the construction of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad, and in carrying its debt, wrote of him as follows :
The management and construction of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad by Mr. Perkins, under circumstances the most difficult and trying, were well calculated to test his powers, and, in that work he proved himself possessed of business capacity rarely equalled, sustained by unquestioned integrity, and remarkable energy. These qualifica- tions, united with his large wealth, gave him the requisite influence with business men and capitalists. His devotion to the interests of the road, his abiding confidence in a
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favorable result, and his clear and just appreciation of its value, and importance to the community, called forth his best efforts, and were essential conditions of success. To him more than to any other individual are the projection, inauguration, and accomplish- ment of this enterprise attributable. From its earliest projection, he had a most compre- hensive and clear view of its importance to the city of Cleveland and the Mahoning Valley, and confidently anticipated for them, in the event of its completion, a rapidity and extent of development and prosperity, which were then regarded as visionary, but which the result has fully demonstrated.
His life was spared to witness only the commencement of this prosperity, nor can it be doubted, that his close application, and unremitting efforts to forward the work short- ened his life materially. His deep and absorbing interest in it, prevented the precau- tionary measures and relaxations, which in all probability would have prolonged his life for years. His associates in the board saw the danger and urged him to earlier and more decided measures for relief. He too was aware of their importance. But the constant demaud upon his time and strength, and the continually recurring necessities of the enterprise, which he had so much at heart, were urgent, and so absorbed his thoughts and energies, that he delayed until it was obvious that relaxation could afford merely temporary relief.
In his intercourse with the board, Mr. Perkins was uniformly courteous and gentle- manly, always giving respectful attention to the suggestions of his associates, but ever proving himself thoroughly posted; readily comprehending the most judicious measures, and clearly demonstrating their wisdom. Entire harmony in the action of the directors was the result, and all had the fullest confidence in him. While his business capacity and integrity commanded their highest admiration, his urbanity, kindness and marked social qualities secured their strong personal attachment, and by them his decease was regarded as a severe personal affliction, as well as a great public loss.
Thus is briefly noticed, one who dying comparatively early, had given evidence of great business capacity, as well as the promise of unusual power and popularity with the people of his own State, and nation.
WILLIAM CASE.
A work professing to give sketches, however brief and incomplete, of the representative men of Cleveland, would be manifestly defec- tive did it omit notice of the late William Case, a gentleman of ster- ling worth and great popularity, who was identified with much of the material progress of the city, who had a host of deeply attached friends while living, and whose memory is cherished with affectionate esteem.
Vrilljam lass ١
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William Case was born to prosperity, but this, which to very many has proved the greatest misfortune of their lives, was to him no evil, but, on the contrary, a good, inasmuch as it gave him opportunity for gratifying his liberal tastes, and his desire to advance the general welfare. From his father, Leonard Case, he inherited an extraordi- nary business capacity, indomitable energy, and strong common sense, with correct habits. To these inherited traits he added an extensive knowledge, acquired both from books and men, and made practical by keen observation, and liberal ideas, which he carried into his business and social affairs. In all relations of life he was ever a gentleman, in the true meaning of the word, courteous to all, the rich and the poor alike, and with an instinctive repugnance to every- thing mean, oppressive or hypocritical. With regard to himself, he was modest to a fault, shrinking from everything that might by any possibility be construed into ostentation or self-glorification. This tribute the writer of these lines,-who owed him nothing but friend- ship, and who was in no way a recipient of any favor from him, other than his good will, - is glad of an opportunity to pay, and this testi- mony to his good qualities, falls short of the facts.
William Case takes his place in this department of our work by virtue of the fact that he was an early friend to the railroad enter- prises of Cleveland. He contributed largely to the Cleveland, . Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad, and for four years and a half, until August, 1858, was president of that company. Under his man- agement the railroad prospered and paid large dividends, and when he left that position it was with the regret of all his subordinates, whose esteem had been won by his kindness and courtesy.
But it was not alone as a railroad man that Mr. Case won for him- self the title to a place among the leading representative men of the city. He grew up with Cleveland, and was alive to the interests of the growing city. No scheme of real improvement but found a friend in him. He was energetic in forwarding movements for bettering the condition of the streets; he took a leading part in the location and establishment of the Water Works. Anxious to effect an in- provement in the business architecture of the city, in which Cleve- land was so far behind cities of less pretension, he projected and car- ried on far towards completion the Case Block, which stands to-day the largest and most noticeable business building in the city. and which contains one of the finest public halls in the West. Mr. Case died before completion of the building, which unforeseen difficulties made of great cost, but his plans so far as known -including some
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of great generosity, such as the donation of a fine suite of rooms to the Cleveland Library Association - have been faithfully carried out.
In 1846, Mr. Case was elected member of the City Council from the Second Ward, and served in that position four years. In that body he was noted for his advocacy of every measure tending to the improvement of the city, and the development of its industrial and commercial resources.
In the Spring of 1850, he was nominated, on the Whig ticket, for mayor of Cleveland, and was elected by a large majority, against a strong Democratic opponent, his personal popularity being shown by his running ahead of his ticket. His administration was marked with such energy, ability and public spirit, that in the following year -the office then being annually elective - he was re-elected by an increased majority, and ran still further ahead of his ticket.
In 1852, the Whig convention for the Nineteenth Congressional District, which then included Cuyahoga county, assembled at Paines- ville, under the presidency of Hon. Peter Hitchcock. Mr. Case was there nominated for Congress by acclamation, and the canvass was carried on by the Whigs with great enthusiasm. But the Democracy and the Free Soil party were against him, and under the excitement growing out of anti-slavery agitation, the Free Soil candidate, Hon. Edward Wade, was elected, though closely pressed by Mr. Case. From that time Mr. Case, who was not in any respect a politician, and who had at no time a desire or need for office, took no active part in politics.
Mr. Case did not possess a strong constitution, and early in life his medical attendant reported against his being sent to college, as the application would be too severe a strain on his health. In accordance with the advice then given, he devoted much attention to hunting, fishing, and to horticultural and agricultural pursuits. But these were insufficient to save him, and he died April 19th, 1862, whilst yet in the prime of life, being but forty years old.
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AMASA STONE, JR.
Conspicuous among the railroad managers connected with Cleve- land, indeed occupying a prominent position in the list of the rail. road magnates of the country, is the name of Amasa Stone, Jr. The high position he has attained, and the wealth he has secured, are the rewards of his own perseverance, industry, and foresight ; every dollar he has earned represents a material benefit to the public at large in the increase of manufacturing or traveling facilities.
Mr. Stone was born in the town of Charlton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, April 27th, 1S18. He is of Puritan stock, the founder of the American branch of the family having landed at Boston in 1632, from the ship Increase, which brought a colony of Puritans from England. The first settlement of the family was at Waltham. . The father of Mr. Stone, also named Amasa, is now alive, hale and hearty, at the age of ninety years.
Young Amasa Stone lived with his parents and worked upon the farm, attending the town district school in its sessions, until he was seventeen years old, when he engaged with an older brother for three years, to learn the trade of a builder. His pay for the first year was to be forty dollars, increasing ten dollars yearly, and to furnish his own clothing. At the end of the second year, thinking he could do better, he purchased the remainder of his time for a nominal sun, aud from that time was his own master. In the Winter of 1837-S, he attended the academy of Professor Bailey, in Worcester, Mass., having saved sufficient from his small wages to pay the expenses of a single term.
His first work on his own account was a contract to do the joiner work of a house building by Col. Temple, at Worcester. The work was done, and in part payment he took a note of a manufacturing firm for $130; within a few months the firm failed, the note became worthless, and the first earnings of the young builder were lost. That note Mr. Stone still preserves as a memento.
The following year, at the age of twenty, he joined his two older brothers in a contract for the construction of a church edifice in the town of East Brookfield, Mass. In the succeeding year, 1839, he engaged with his brother-in-law, Mr. William Howe, to act as foreman
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in the erection of two church edifices and several dwelling-houses in Warren, Mass.
During this time Mr. Howe was engaged in perfecting his invention of what is known as the Iowe truss bridge. After securing his patent Mr. Howe contracted to build the superstructure of the bridge across the Connecticut river, at Springfield, for the Western Railroad Com- pany. Mr. Stone engaged with him in this work. During a part of the first year he was employed on the foundations of the structure in the bed of the river. Thereafter until the year 1842, he was employed constantly by Mr. Howe in the erection of railway and other bridges, and railway depot buildings. In the Winter of 1841, his duties were most trying and arduous. About a thousand lineal feet of bridging on the Western Railroad, in the Green Mountains, had to be com- pleted, and Mr. Stone and his men were called upon to carry the work through. In some locations the sun could scarcely be seen, the gorges were so deep and narrow, while during a large portion of the time the thermometer ranged below zero. But the work was success- fully completed.
In the year 1842, he formed a copartnership with Mr. A. Boody, and purchased from Mr. Howe his bridge patent for the New England States, including all improvements and renewals. Subsequently an arrangement was concluded with Mr. D. L. Harris, under the name of Boody, Stone & Co., for the purpose of contracting for the construc- tion of railways, railway bridges, and similar work, the mechanical details generally to be under the charge of Mr. Stone. In the year 1845, Mr. Stone was appointed superintendent of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield Railroad, he, however, still continuing his partnership in the firm of Boody, Stone & Co., and the business of the firm becoming so heavy that within a year from the time of his ap- pointment he resigned his office as superintendent.
Circumstances occurred previous to his appointment that may be worthy of remark. The purchase of the bridge patent, before alluded to, was for the sum of forty thousand dollars, to be paid in annual instalments. A few years after the purchase some defects showed themselves in the bridges that had been crected on this plan, and many prominent engineers had come to the conclusion that it was not superior to, if it equalled, the truss plan of Col. Long, the arch and truss of Burr, or the lattice plan of Ithial Towne, and the firm of Boody, Stone & Co. began to fear that they had made a bad bargain in the purchase of the patent. Mr. Stone, in relating the incident to a friend, said : "I came to the conclusion that something must be
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done or there must be a failure, and it must not be a failure. The night following was a sleepless one, at least until three o'clock in the morning. I thought, and rolled and tumbled, until time and again I was almost exhausted in my inventive thoughts, and in despair, when at last an idea came to my mind that relieved me. I perfected it in my mind's eye, and then came to the conclusion that it would not only restore the reputation of the Howe bridge, but would prove to be a better combination of wood and iron for bridges than then existed, and could not and would not in principle be improved upon. Sleep immediately came. I afterwards, with models, proved my con- clusions and have not, up to this time, changed them." It seems that the invention consisted in the introduction of longitudinal keys and clamps in the lower chords, to prevent their elongation, and iron socket bearings instead of wooden for the braces and bolts, to avoid compression and shrinkage of the timber, which was the great defect in the original invention, and the adoption of single instead of double intersection in the arrangement of the braces, the latter being the arrangement in the original invention.
In the autumn of 1846, an incident occurred that may be worthy of notice. On the 14th day of October, when walking in Broadway, New York, Mr. Stone met the president of the New Haven, Hartford and Springfield Railroad, who had in his hand a telegram, stating that the bridge across the Connecticut river at Enfield Falls, one-fourth of a mile long, had been carried away by a hurricane. The president asked the advice of Mr. Stone, who stated that the timber for that structure was furnished by Messrs. Campbell & Moody, of that city. and advised that he order it duplicated at once. The president, a very faithful officer, but disinclined to take responsibilities, asked Mr. Stone to take the responsibility of ordering it. Mr. Stone replied. " Not unless I am president." The timber was, however, ordered, and at the request of the president, Mr. Stone went immediately with him to Springfield, where a committee of the board was called together, and he was asked to propose terms, and the shortest time upon which his firm would contract to complete the bridge. He stated that his terms would be high, as the season was late and would likely be unfavorable before so heavy a work could be completed, and further suggested that if they chose to appoint him manager of the work. he would accept and do the best he could for them. He was immedi- ately appointed sole manager of the work, and the board placed at his control all the resources of the company. The work was immedi- ately commenced by bringing to the site men and material, and it
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was completed, and a locomotive and train of cars run across it by Mr. Stone within forty days from the day the order was given for its erection. The structure consisted of seven spans of seventy-seven feet each, with two other spans at each end of about fifty feet each. Mr. Stone has been heard to state that he regarded this as one of the most important events of his life, and that no one was more astonished than himself at the result. IIe was rewarded by complimentary resolutions, and a check for one thousand dollars by the company.
The following Winter the partnership of Boody, Stone & Co. was dissolved by mutual consent, and the territory that their contract for the bridge patent covered was divided, by Mr. Stone taking the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Mr. Boody the other three States. A new partnership was then formed between Mr. Stone and Mr. Harris, which continued until the year 1849.
From the year 1839 to 1850, the residence of Mr. Stone, most of the time, was in Springfield, Mass., but the numerous contracts in which he was interested called him into ten different States. He served several years as a director in the Agawam Bank, was also a director for several years, and one of the building committee in the Agawam Canal Company, which erected and run a cotton mill of ten thousand spindles, in the town of West Springfield.
In the autumn of 1848, he formed a partnership with Mr. Stillman Witt and Mr. Frederick Harbach, who contracted with the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati Railroad Company to construct and equip the road from Cleveland to Columbus. This was the largest contract that had, at that time, been entered into, of this character, by any one party or firm in the United States. A large amount of the capital stock was taken in part payment for the work. It was generally regarded as a hazardous adventure, but the work was carried through in accordance with the terms of the contract, and proved to be a profitable investment for its stockholders. In his partnership con- tract it was stipulated that he was to act as financial agent at the East, to send out the necessary mechanics, and to occasionally visit the work, but was not to change his residence. Events, however, occurred that required his constant presence in Ohio, and in the Spring of 1850, he moved his family to Cleveland, where they have since resided. In the Winter of 1850-1, the road was opened for business through from Cleveland to Columbus, and Mr. Stone was appointed its superintendent.
In the Fall of 1850, the firm of Harbach, Stone & Witt contracted with the Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad Company to
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In the year 1855, he, with Mr. Witt, contracted to build the Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad, and was for many years a director in that company, and for awhile its president.
For several years he held the office of director in the Merchants Bank, of Cleveland. From its first organization until it was closed up, he was director in the Bank of Commerce, of Cleveland, and has been director in the Second National Bank, and the Commercial National Bank, of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Banking Company, from the time of their respective organizations until the present time. He was for some years president of the Toledo Branch of the State Bank, at Toledo. He was elected a director in the Jamestown and Franklin Railroad Company in the year 1863, which office he has held until the present time. In the same year he was elected presi- dent of the Mercer Iron and Coal Company and held the office until the close of the year 186S. ,
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