History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 135

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present > Part 135

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).

ARTHUR GOEBEL, of the firm of Lowry & Goebel, was born March 22, 1863. at Car- bondale, Luzerne Co., Penn., in an humble cabin, son of William and Augusta Goebel. With his parents he removed at the age of three years to Covington, Ky. Here he received a primary-school education, and generally stood at or near the head of his classes. In 1878 he entered the Hughes High School in Cincinnati, from which, preeminent as a writer, he graduated with high honor, and with the rank of second in scholarship, in 1882. He then entered the Academic Department of Yale Uni- versity, New Haven, Conn. While at Yale, he was a member of his class crew, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa scholarship fraternity, and was the only man in his class of 153 men who was a successful competitive writer for participation in every public college oratorical contest during the entire course of four years. In 1886 he was graduated from Yale with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with high honors as a scholar, and standing in the front rank of the university as a writer, a debater and a

844

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

speaker. He then matriculated in the Law Department of the University of Vir- ginia, Virginia, where he took the degree of International and Commercial Law in one year. Overwork broke down his health, and he was compelled to abandon his career as a student. At the direction of his physicians he went west, "roughed it," four years, and traveled afoot and on horseback through the Rocky Mountains, the Coast range, the Sierras and the Cordilleras, spending most of his time in Colo- rado, New Mexico and Arizona, and acquiring, during this period, interests in min- ing property and in coal and timber lands. In July, 1891, with restored health, he returned, at the solicitation of his brother, to Cincinnati, and bought a proprietary interest in the business of Lowry & Goebel. He is the head of the retail depart- ment, is the director and author of the firm's advertising. and has in charge the general management of the house. Unmarried and residing in the city near his place of business, he is at his post of duty early and late; an aggressive and persist- ent worker by nature and acquisition, there is nothing in the routine that is too trifling to receive his supervision and, if need be, his personal attention; thoroughly acquainted with every branch of the business and appreciative of its demands, there are few, if any, of its aspects that escape the penetrating vision of his vigilant obser- vation, and the efficient touch of his comprehensive and progressive direction. The honor, integrity and trustworthiness of the house-its character-are his highest daily care and the keenest ambition of his business life. Tall and erect, lithe and athletic in figure, direct and candid in speech, decisive, energetic and determined in action, frank in expression, dignified in demeanor and courtly in address, a reader and a student, and with the resultant equipment of his travels and his education at his spontaneous command, he typifies the gentleman, scholar, and successful young merchant, and constitutes a fit complement of the young but strong triumvirate within whose hands rest the destinies of Lowry & Goebel, the representative wholesale and retail carpet house of Cincinnati, and one of her foremost mercantile institutions.

LEWIS VOIGHT was born in Cincinnati January 7, 1836. His parents, Henry and Margaret (Helmuth) Voight, were natives of Hanover, and in 1833 came to this city, where the former established a transfer and drayage business, which he con- ducted until his death in 1838. In 1840 his widow married Christopher Stager; both are now deceased.

Lewis Voight attended the public schools until thirteen years of age, when he entered the employ of Irwin & Foster, steamboat agents, attending night school during this period .¿ He was next employed by P. W. Strader, in the Little Miami railroad ticket office, under Major Tillotson, and was then transferred to the charge, as conductor, of the large omnibus known as the "Ben Franklin." In 1852 he began to learn the trade of paper-hanging, and in 1855 became a journeyman. In 1860 he established the Senate Exchange, on Main street, near Court, and was doing a good business when the Civil war broke out. He sold out, and in June, 1861, enlisted as captain of Company H, Twenty-third Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out in December, 1862, having been compelled to resign on account of rheumatism contracted from exposure during the battle of Perryville. After the battle of Murfreesboro Capt. Voight's resignation was accepted. During this cam- paign he was provost marshal at Scottsville and Glasgow, Ky. Returning to Cin- cinnati in January, 1863, he bought out the paper store of George W. Reed, located on Central avenue, between Longworth and Sixth streets. In 1865 he moved into the Hart building, on the northwest corner of Longworth and Central avenue, and there remained until 1891, when he removed to his present location, Fosdick build- ing, No. 57 West Fourth street. In 1881 he established a wholesale department and warehouse on Seventh street, west of Central avenue. In 1887 he removed his wholesale department to Nos. 258 and 260 West Fourth street, and again removed that branch of his business to the new building erected by the company, Nos. 90,

845

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

92. 94 and 96 John street, below Fourth. In 1879 Mr. Voight took his eldest son, William, into the business, and in 1887 the second son, Elmer C., became identified therewith. The former is now manager of the wholesale, and the latter of the retail, department. In 1890 the Lewis Voight & Sons Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio, a third son, Lewis, Jr., being one of the com- pany. The concern does the largest jobbing business in the West, is the second largest jobbing house of its kind in the United States, and was the first jobbing house of its kind in Ohio.

Mr. Voight has been an active worker in the Republican party, and was one of the organizers of the Lincoln Club, of which he has been a director and vice-presi- dent. He was for six years a member of council; for two years one of the board of aldermen, and for two years a member of the Ohio Legislature. The office has inva- riably in his case sought the man. When nominated and elected to conncil he was in New Orleans, and when elected to the board of aldermen, in New York. He is a 32° Mason, a Knight Templar, and a member of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Voight was. married, April 28, 1857, to Susannah, daughter of Michael Friedel, a vinegar man- ufacturer of Cincinnati. Besides the sons named above, there is one child, Flor- ence Gertrude. The family reside at the northwest corner of Kemper lane and Windsor street, Walnut Hills. The eldest son, William, is married to Carrie, youngest daughter of John H. Sandmann, a former partner of the late Herman Lackman; Mr. and Mrs. William Voight have one child, Edith.

JOHN G. FRITSCH, president and treasurer of the Francis Fritsch Manufacturing Company, was born in Cincinnati July 7, 1860, son of Francis and Clara (Roessler) Fritsch, natives, respectively, of Alsace and Bavaria. His father came to America in 1847, and located at New Orleans, where he remained one year, and then worked his way up the river. Upon his arrival at Cincinnati he worked at his trade, that of machinist, for Reynolds, Kite & Tatem (predecessors of the Lane & Bodley Com- pany), two years, and then, in partnership with several others, started a shop at Vine and Mary streets. It passed through several changes of proprietorship, but Mr. Fritsch finally, in 1884, became sole owner. In 1883, having become cramped for room, the present site was purchased from the Dallas, Marsh and Harwood estates. It fronts 100 feet on McMicken street, 190 feet on Stark street, and 200 feet on Dunlap street. The plant is devoted to general foundry and machine work. Brewing machinery receives special attention, and some of the largest breweries in the country have been equipped by this establishment. Mr. Fritsch died October 17, 1884. The management of his estate devolved upon his son, John G., but the expansion of the business was such as to render incorporation desirable, and in 1889 the present company was organized, with John G. Fritsch, president, Otto C. Arens, secretary, and John Brauer, superintendent.

Francis and Clara (Roessler) Fritsch were the parents of five children: Anna, John G., Emma, Frank H., and Joseph L. Frank H. is a draughtsman and mechan- ical engineer. Joseph L. graduated at St. Xavier College in 1893. John G. received a public-school education, served a three-years' apprenticeship as machin- ist, served as bookkeeper in his father's establishment from 1876 to 1884, and since that date, as previously stated, has directed the business. On January 29, 1890,

he married Dora, daughter of Henry Roeck, of Cincinnati. He is a member of the Catholic Church, the B. P. O. E., the Board of Trade, the Republican party, and various social clubs.

JOHN HASKEL GRAY, assistant superintendent at factory of The Cincinnati Dessi- cating Company, at Gilead Station, Hamilton Co., Ohio, is an old Cincinnati boy. He was born at Marietta, Ohio, March 7, 1856, and removed to Covington, Ky., with his parents at the age of five years. His mother dying one year later, his- father and family removed to Cincinnati, where he received his education in the public schools, attending same as far as the A Grade Intermediate school, on Bay-

:846

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

miller street. When not quite fifteen years of age he went to Boston, Mass., and was in the employ of his brother-in-law (Arthur H. Bailey) in the canned goods busi- ness, remaining there nearly five years, when he returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, the home of his childhood. On October 26, 1880, he was married to Miss Nellie Johnson, of Ironton, Ohio, at his parents' residence, No. 357 West Seventh street, Cincinnati, by Rev. Mr. Fitch, pastor of the Seventh Congregational Church. For several years he was connected with The Cincinnati Freight Weighing and Inspection Bureau, as weigher and freight inspector under Mr. H. Coope, and later under Mr. J. A. Gance. He was also deputy city weigher under Mr. William Broadwell and Mr. Harry H. Maddux. For three years previous to his accepting his present position he was in the local car accountant's office of the C. C. C. & St. L. railway under Mr. J. A. Rothier, when he resigned in 1892 to accept his present position. Mr. Gray has never been discharged from any position, can refer with pride to any of his past employers, and bears a good reputation for honesty, integrity and sobriety. He resides with his family at No. 916 York street, Newport, Ky., and is a member of the First Baptist Church of that city. His family consists of himself and wife and two bright boys, Atherton Lyon, born November 29, 1883, at No. 98 Broadway, Cincinnati, and Frank William, born July 28, 1887, in Lombardy building, Cincin- nati. Both are attending the public schools of Newport, Ky. His first child, Harry Walter, was born June 30, 1882, and died August 3, 1882, aged five weeks; he lies buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati.

Mr. Gray is a Republican, but never took any active part in politics. He is a son of William Ide Gray, who died in Tullahoma, Tenn., March 7, 1893, of pneu- monia, aged seventy-nine years, five months and twenty-five days, and who was well known to the older members of the Seventh Street and Vine Street Congrega- tional Churches of Cincinnati, of which he was a devout member. The following copies of two notices of the death of William Ide Gray speak for themselves. From the Tullahoma Semi-weekly Guardian, Tullahoma, Tenn., March 8, 1893: " Death of W. I. Gray. Mr. W. I. Gray died at his residence in this city at 5 A. M., Tues- day, March 7, 1893, aged seventy-nine years, five months and twenty-five days. He was born in Rhode Island and came west at twenty-five years of age, and started the Marietta (Ohio) Chair Works, to-day the largest in the country. He had led a very active life up to the last, though in ill health for many months. He united with the church at fifteen years of age, and had been an active worker ever since. He leaves a widow, three sons and a daughter. The funeral services, conducted by Revs. L. B. Cheney and J. C. Putnam, took place at the Presbyterian church at 3:30 P. M. yesterday, after which the remains were forwarded to Cincinnati in charge of his son John for burial in Spring Grove Cemetery, which will occur at 4 P. M. this even- ing, in the presence of his old friends and relatives. Mr. Gray had been a resident here only a few years, but was greatly esteemed as an upright citizen and a consci- entious, Christian gentleman, and left the impress of his life and example for good."

From the Christian Observer, Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, March 29, 1893: " W. I. Gray, a life and example worthy of notice. William I. Gray, who was an elder in the Tullahoma (Tennessee) Church, died March 7, 1893, in his eightieth year. He was born at Little Compton, R. I., September 15, 1813. He came of the old Puritan stock of which he was never ashamed. At the age of fifteen he was received into the communion of the Congregational Church. He camne west at twenty-five. For many years he was an active worker and officer in the old Seventh Street Congregational Church of Cincinnati. In 1885 he removed to Tullahoma, Tenn., and soon thereafter he was elected an elder in the Tullahoma Church. Through a long life he was a faithful and hopeful worker in the church. He did not get too old to attend the night service, prayer meetings and Sunday-school. He lost only two Sundays from the Sunday-school the last two years of his life, when he was confined to his bed. At the time he was stricken he was teacher of the Bible

847

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

class. He was always fond of children, and of course they were no less fond of him. When the church was opened for service 'Old Brother Gray' was present, walking quietly up and down the aisles, showing strangers and visitors to seats and furnishing them with hymn books. He loved the Church, he loved God's people, he loved to serve. His wife told me that she had never known him to have a doubt, and they lived together nearly thirty years. Why no doubts? Because he was regularly using the means of grace and serving. This left neither time nor place for doubt. He worshiped God in his own house, was interested in the Church, in the Sunday-school, in the home missions and in foreign missions. That which I wish to emphasize is this: he was faithful, even down to old age, in his attendance upon all the services of the sanctuary. Ordinarily he was there to greet the pastor, to receive the children, to welcome strangers. He was quite feeble during the last five years of his life. For several years he and his wife lived alone, but when she was too feeble to go to church he did not find it necessary to stay at home with her. If the night was dark and stormy he would pull his cap close over his ears, take his lantern and march off to the services, several blocks distant, and not a very good walk. Can one wonder that he was free from doubt, and that when the end came he said, 'I am ready.' He had faults, of course, but they are buried and will be forgotten, whereas his virtues will live. He was a man of faith, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. A wife, three sons and a daughter survive him, but these 'sor- row not as those who have no hope.' His remains will be taken to Cincinnati for interment." [L. B. Cheney.

John Haskell Gray, the subject of this sketch, is a descendant of the old Puri- tan stock, and is proud of his ancestry, which he can trace back eight generations, as the following record, mostly copied from his grandfather Gray's Bible, will show. Joseph Church and Col. Benjamin Church (the great Indian warrior) were brothers; no record of birth or death. Joseph Church, 2nd, was son of Joseph Church, 1st; no record of birth or death. Caleb Church (son of Joseph Church, 2nd); no record of birth or death. Capt. Ebenezer (son of Caleb), born January 25, 1725, and Hannah Wood, his wife, born 1734; they were married March 7, 1754. Ebenezer died February 10, 1825, aged one hundred years and four days; his wife died Feb- ruary 3, 1815, aged eighty-four years. Their children were Mary, born December 30, 1754; Joseph. born February 25, 1757; Elizabeth, born May 30, 1761; 'Joseph, born February 27, 1764; Hannah, born July 18, 1766; Nathaniel, born February 12, 1769; Abagail, born September 30, 1771; Sarah, born March 28, 1774; Will- iam, born November 24, 1776. An article in the Newport Mercury, of Newport, R. I., February, 1825, says: "Captain Ebenezer Church, of Little Compton, R. I., was on February 5, 1825, one hundred years old, and then in good health, never been confined to his house by sickness but one week, and that in childhood. Mowed his farm eighty-five years in succession, and is now able to mount his horse from the ground. In his ninety-ninth year he caught a mess of bass four miles from his house, and in the last year he went out in a boat and caught a mess of fish. He has a number of children, nearly one hundred grandchildren and some great-grand- children. He is a descendant of Col. Benjamin Church, the great Indian warrior. Capt. Church sustained through life the character of temperance, regularity and umimpeached integrity."

The children of Samuel Gray and Deborah, his wife, were: Hannah, Faller, John. Simeon, Lydia, Elizabeth, Samuel, Thomas, Jonathan, Joshua L., Nathaniel, Loring and Benjamin. John Gray was born March 20, 1756; Elizabeth Church, his wife, was born May 30, 1761. Their children were: Simeon, born March 3, 1785; Church, born April 13, 1787, married to Sallie Ide on April 5, 1812; Hannah, born March 2, 1788, married to Wright Wilber; Deborah, born September 26, 1791, mar- ried Christopher Brown; John, born November 11, 1793; Lydia, born March 19, 1796, married John Shorey; Eliza, born July 22, 1798, married Christopher Brown;

848

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Sally. born October 8. 1799; Amasa, born Jannary 8, 1801, married (twice) to Mary and Phoebe Irish; Mariah, born April 27, 1803, married George Bailey; Ira, born June 14, 1805, married Harriet Sukill. Elizabeth Church Gray died May 30, 1847, aged eighty-six years.

Jonathan Ide, born July 4, 1760, married Sarah Ide, who was born November 25, 1765. Their children were Elpalet and Ezra. William Ide, born April 11, 1765, married Sarah Ide (her second husband). Their children were: Sally Ide, Sally Ide, William and Betsy Ide. Nathaniel Ide, Jr., born August 28, 1774, mar- ried Sarah Ide (her third husband), and their child was Betsey Ide. Sarah Ide married three men. by the name of Ide, none of whom were related to each other. William Ide died January 22, 1803, aged thirty-seven years, nine months and eleven days. Jonathan Ide at his death was thirty years, four months and sixteen days old. Nathaniel Ide was fifty-three years and twenty-six days old when he died. Sarah Ide died December 17, 1819, aged fifty-four years and twenty-two days.

Church Gray, born April 13, 1787, and his wife, Sally Ide, born October 15, 1794, were married Aprit 5, 1812. Their children were: William Ide Gray, born September 15, 1813, who married Philena Bert Barnaby and Jennie Cunningham; Sally Ann, born November 26, 1814, married to J. W. Stanley, of Marietta, Ohio; Church Gray, Jr., born June 26, 1816, married to Ann Emily Allyn, of Seekonk, Mass .; Samuel Gray, born February 18, 1818, married to Angeline Moore, of New Orleans, La. ; Alvah Gray, born February 4, 1820, who married Elizabeth Bromley and Josephine Perry; Eliza Gray, born October 17, 1821, died Angust 30, 1829; Abby Maria Gray, born May 20. 1824, married Oliver Chaffee, of Seekonk, Mass .; John Gray, born December 7, 1828, married Mrs. Sarah C. Shepherd, of Califor- nia; Henry Walter Gray, born July 23, 1832, died March 15, 1834.

William Ide Gray and Philena Bert Barnaby were married at Dighton, Mass., September 5, 1838. Their children were: Annie Church, born September 5, 1839, at Fearing, Ohio, died August 17, 1840, aged eleven months and eighteen days; Henry Walter, born September 23. 1846, at Coolville, Ohio; Ellen Elma, born April 10, 1850, married Arthur H. Bailey, of Boston, Mass., died February 9, 1874, aged twenty-three years, ten months and one day; John Haskell, born March 7, 1856, at Marietta, Ohio. married Nellie Johnson, October 26, 1880. Philena Bert Gray died October 10, 1862, at Covington, Ky., aged forty-four years, nine months and two days. William Ide Gray and Jennie Cunningham (his second wife) were married at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 5, 1863. Their children were: Florence Edna, born July 10, 1865, at Cincinnati, Ohio, married Frank C. Haymaker, of Clarks- burg, W. Va., December 28, 1886; Horace Cunningham, born March 1, 1867, at Purdy. Tenn., married Allie Wade, of Murfreesboro, Tenn. John Haskell Gray, born March 7, 1856, and Nellie Johnson, born July 22, 1859, were married at No. 357 West Seventh street, Cincinnati, by Rev. Mr. Fitch, on October 26, 1880. Their children were: Harry Walter, born June 30, 1882, at No. 98 Broadway, Cincinnati, died August 3. 1882; Altherton Lyon, born November 28, 1883; Frank William born July 28, 1887, in the Lombardy building.

JOSEPH R. BROWN, general commission merchant, at No. 34 Walnut street, was born in Cincinnati, July 24, 1838, and is a son of Charles L. and Annie M. (Bacon) Brown, natives of New Jersey and of English origin. He is a grandson of John and Lavina (Roberts) Brown, the latter of Welsh ancestry. His great-grandfather Brown was an officer in the English army, but at the outbreak of the American Revolution joined the colonists, for which he was disowned by his family. His grandfather was a contractor and builder of bridges, canals, roads, turnpikes, etc. His father followed the same business. On coming to Cincinnati the latter was accompanied by the grandmother of our subject, and her three brothers, Thomas. Robert and Dr. Joseph Roberts. Charles L. Brown died in 1847, at the age of thirty-three years. His wife survived him until May 15, 1890, when she passed

H. F. Bras hear

849

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

away at the age of seventy-four years. The family consisted of five children, four of whom are living: Joseph R .; Maria S., who was first married to Edward L. Tozier, and after his decease to M. J. Louderback; Martha A., married Charles M. Story, who, together with Charles A. Brown, the youngest surviving child, is associ- ated in business with Joseph R.

Our subject was educated in the public schools of Cincinnati, and also attended the public schools of Peoria, Ill., for a short time, completing his education in Gundry's Commercial College, Cincinnati. He then engaged as shipping clerk for the firm of Conkling & Bacon, where he remained one year, after which he went to Peoria, Ill., and engaged as a clerk in the grocery business. One year later, how- ever, the junior member of Conkling & Bacon went to Peoria, and induced him to again enter their employ, and he remained until the dissolution of the firm in 1861. He then embarked in the commission business under the title of J. R. Brown & Company, and two years later entered into partnership with F. Jelke, forming the firm of Brown & Jelke, which existed nine years. His next partner was H. Mor- genthan, the style of the firm being Morgenthau & Brown, fish and general commis- sion merchants. Three years later, in 1883, the business of the firm was dissolved, Mr. Morgenthau taking for his part their fish trade, and Mr. Brown with his brother, Charles A., the commission part, forming the firm of J. R. Brown & Company, which still exists. In August, 1892, Mr. Brown was made president of the Swift Powder & Cartridge Company, of Tallapoosa, Ga., where he spent the following winter constructing their mills, which are the finest of the kind in the United States.

Mr. Brown was married, May 17, 1866, to Miss Mary A., daughter of George George, of Cincinnati, now of Wyoming, Ohio. The issue of this marriage is three children, two of whom are living: Edna G. and Luella M., graduates of the Wyo- ming High School in the classes of '93 and '94, respectively. Mr. Brown's family are members of Wayne Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, of Wyoming, where they reside. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, and member of the Knights Templar and Mystic Shrine. He is a Republican in his political views. In 1872: he was made director of the Chamber of Commerce, two years later was made sec- ond vice-president, a year later vice-president, and in 1891 was acting president. of that institution, although many of his colleagues, including the candidate for vice-president, were defeated. This is the highest honor which the commercial world of Cincinnati can bestow.

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.

History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 135

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592