USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Memorial record of the county of Cuyahoga and city of Cleveland, Ohio, Pt.1 > Part 25
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Mr. Jopling possessed an eminently sympa- thetie and charitable nature. Never was appeal made in vain to him by the poor and needy, or the discouraged and distressed. IIe gave liber- ally to charitable and benevolent institutions of all denominations, making no distinction in creeds; yet so unostentatious was his charity that many of his donations were unknown even to his family until after his death! He was brought up in the church, but after leaving England did not formally belong to any con- gregation. He followed the teachings of his youth, and his life was that of a Christian, though not a church member. He was inter- ested in public affairs to the extent of being a good citizen, but took no activo part in politics. lle was one of the most genial of men, with a
happy disposition, full of life and capacity for enjoyment. He liked good company, and was fond of entertaining his friends. He was a member of the Union, Roadside and Country Clubs; but it was in his own home and snr- rounded by his family that he found his greatest pleasure. Ile was a devoted husband and a loving and indulgent father, joining his children when young in their childish games with all the zest of a boy, and finding his best recreation with them when grown np. He was one of those men who possess the power in a singular degree of endearing themselves to their associates, old or young. It may be truly said of him that " whatsoever he did was done with his whole heart," were it playing a game with a child, spending a sociable evening with friends, entertaining strangers, performing business engagements and work of all degrees of importance, giving timely advice and help. No matter what he did, it was done with a free heart, a clear head and a strong hand.
ITis vacations he usually spent in travelling with his family in Europe, not following the beaten tracks but journeying leisurely from place to place, and resting in chosen spots as faney or inelination prompted. Mr. Jopling's three children are: two sons, namely, Reginald F. Jopling and Thomas Halliday Jopling; and a daughter, Florence M., married to Mr. Fran- eiseo Eseobar, a Spanish South American.
Mr. Jopling died at his residence on Willson avonne, on the 18th day of February, 1894, of heart failure, at the comparatively early age of fifty-three, and is buried in Lake View eeme- tery.
R EV. J. C. HORNBERGER, editor of the Living Epistle and of the English Sunday- school literature of the Evangelical As- soeiation, No. 265 Woodland avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, was born in Laneaster county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1845.
His parents were John and Sarah (Killian) Horuberger, natives of Pennsylvania; and his
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grandfather was Jacob Hornberger, who served as a teamster in the war of the Revolution. John Hornberger and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church, and were people whose honorable and upright lives won for them the respect and esteem of all. Both have long since passed away, he in 1863, at the age of lifty-live years, and she in 1862, also at the age of fifty- five. They were the parents of ten children, five of whom are still living. J. C. was the eighth born. The oldest son, Zacharia, was a minister in the Evangelical Association, and died in 1893, at the age of sixty years. The third son, Sebastian, a veteran of the Civil war, died in Cincinnati, Ohio, in July, 1893, at the age of fifty-eight years. All of the family now living, with the exception of our subject, are residents of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
1. C. Hornberger was educated in the public schools and in the seminary of a neighboring town. After teaching Fonr terms in the public schools, he began preaching. That was in 1865. For two years he was on a cirenit, after which he was a stationed preacher for thirteen years, filling successively the following appoint- ments: Mahanoy City, Pine Grove, Berrysburg, Harrisburg and Lebanon. Then he was elected Presiding Elder and served nearly eight years, until he was elected to his present position by the General Conference of the Evangelical Association, held at Buffalo in 1887. He was re-elected in 1891, his term to expire in 1895. Mr. Hornberger was a member of the General Conferences of 1875, 1879, 1883, 1887, and 1891, being the youngest member of that body in 1875. He served as English secretary of the General Conference of 1875 and 1879, and the last named year was elected Fraternal Delegate to the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.
Mr. Hornberger was married, September 17, 1867, to Miss Christie Etzweiler, daughter of George and Mary Etzweiler, of Millersburg, Pennsylvania. He and his wife have four chil- dren living, viz .: Mary Mabel, an accomplished young lady, who occupies the position of stenog- rapher in the publishing house with which her
father is connected; Edith Rebecca, a medical student in the Homeopathic Hospital College, Cleveland; Sarah Killian, in the Cleveland high school; and Robert Zacharias, employed as book-binder in the publishing house. All the family are members of the same church.
The personal appearance of Mr. Hornberger is that of a gentleman of fine physique, medium size, and somewhat inelined to corpulency. Ile is one of those men whose ontside appear- ances indicate a genial mind and kindly dis- position. The dark eyes, shining forth under heavy eyebrows, the well-formed and massive head, and broad chin, indicate the firmness of his character. This has been a characteristic in his ministerial life, as a pastor of large con- gregations as well as Presiding Elder of dis- triets, and other ollicial capacities in which he has served the church. In all these different positions he administered the duties of his office to the satisfaction of both his superiors in the church and those who were under his super- vision. Ile is a close observer, and his keen eye soon detected any irregularity that may have existed on his district.
While yet serving as Presiding Elder he was the editor of a Homiletic Monthly, which was received by the ministers of his church, as well as by the ministers of other denominations, with much appreciation, and was regarded as a work of high order. This fact evidently was a rec- ommendation to the General Conference of his church, which in 1887 elected him editor of the Living Epistle and English Sunday-school litera- ture of the Evangelical Association. As an editor he has shown his ability by the able pro- ductions of his pen and carefnl selection from his exchanges, and thus he uses his pen and shears with equal success. Possibly one reason why his labors are so acceptable, is because he has kept himself in close touch with the wants and needs of his readers, not as a caterer who simply desires to gratify, but as a spiritnal ad- viser who knows the needs of his people and cultivates in them a desire for still better things. Another reason which may be assigned is the
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faet that the prodnetions of his fluent pen are his convictions and therefore carry with them moral and spiritual force that leave their im- prints wherever they are read.
The church made a wise selection when it in- trusted to him the general management of the Living Epistle and Sunday-school literature, which has shown a marked improvement in every respect during the period of his editor- ship.
As a speaker, Mr. Hornberger is eloqueut, and has the happy faculty of never tiring a congregation.
A NDREW FREESE, formerly a teacher and later the Superintendent of the Cleveland publie schools, and residing at 241 Sawtell avenne, was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1816. Ilis parents, Gordon and Hannah (Allen) Freese, were married in Deer- field, New Hampshire, their native State. The father was an excellent farmer, and his farm was admitted to be the best one in the township. Ile was a very energetic and industrious man, teach- ing by his example that it was a sin to be idle. Politically he was an ardent admirer of Andrew Jackson and his principles. He died in 1862, at the age of eighty-two years. His wife died as early as 1826, at the age of forty-years. She was a lady of ardent temperament, most gener- ons impulses and a very pions member of the Free-will Baptist Church. Of their eleven children, ten grew to maturity, four sons and six daughters, and our subjeet is the only of the family now living, but he has a half sister, Mrs. Mary llam, a widow living in Bangor. Gordon Freese, Jr., brother of the Superintendent, was a schoolteacher in Brooksville, Kentucky, for nearly twenty years, where he died in 1872.
Mr. Freese, the subject of this sketch, was educated in Maine, attending college about three years altogether, but irregularly. He came to Cleveland in 1840, engaging at once in teaeh- ing, at the Prospect Street School. The first
settlers of this place were from Connectient, and, according to tradition, as soon as three familes had established themselves here, which was about the beginning of this century, they started a school for their five children. The earliest school mentioned in any record was kept by a Mr. Chapman in 1814; but it was not until 1836 - the year of the organization under the city charter-that any system of pub- lic instruction was adopted. In the Prospect Street School, in the latter part of the year 1840, the number of pupils was 275; teachers-in Senior department, boys, Andrew Freese: girls, Sophia Converse; in the Primary, boys, Emma Whitney; girls, Sarah M. Thayer.
In the spring of 1846 the mayor of the city, George Iloadley, in his inaugural address ree- ommended that a high school for boys be established, and that the committee on schools be authorized to hire suitable rooms and fit them up for the temporary accommodation of such a school. Rooms were accordingly procured in the basement of a church located on Prospect Street where the Homeopathic Medical College uow stands, and Mr. Freese was elected as prin- cipal. The school was commenced July 13, 1846, with thirty-fonr pupils.
The best service Mr. Freese ever rendered the city was his labors in organizing and setting in operation this high school. To prepare for this new work, he was allowed time to visit Boston, where his eonsin, Prof. Philbrick, was an emi- nent teacher, and other New England cities, in order to ascertain the latest and best methods of teaching, and profit by the advice of the most advanced educators. Conversing with the eminent Horace Mann, the latter exhorted him in this laconic manner: "Orient yourself, young man; Orient yourself; then, to quote David Crockett, go ahead."
In 1854 the office of Superintendent of In- struction was created, and to it Mr. Freese was at once elected; and he brought to that position all the wealth of observation garnered thus far in a laborions life, and in due time he had evolved beauty from chaos. Utility was the
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gronnd-work of his successful career as man- ager of public schools. As he was strong in developing the intellectual faculties of his pu- pils, so he was apt and swift in educating the teachers under him in their work of teaching.
Hle had the superintendency of the city schools for ten years, was also County School Examiner for nineteen years; and altogether he was en- gaged in school work in Cleveland twenty-four years. Ilis whole life has been devoted to school work. lle has visited all the principal schools from Bangor, Maine, to San Francisco, California. He has visited more schools in this country, probably, than any other man living. In speaking of Mr. Freese, one of the editors of the Cleveland Herald says: " His scholars may now be found in almost every State in the I'mion, eminent in all departments. They are met with as governors, jurists, mechanicians and artists." Indeed, it has been remarked that were Professor Freese to start for a tour of the globe he could be handed around the world by his old pupils, scattered everywhere from Cleveland to Hong Kong!
When principal of the high school he re- ceived as compensation $500 for forty-four weeks' service, and as Superintendent $1,300 a year; but a few years ago his salary as teacher was 82,500 a year. In 1847 the Western Re- serve University conferred upon him the degree of A. M. Ile has written considerably upon edneational topies. In politics he is a Repub- lican.
Ile was married June 17, 1847, to Miss Eliz- abeth Merrill, a teacher in Cleveland, one of his assistants in the high school. She was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, in 1825, gradn- ated at the Brooklyn Academy, an institution near Cleveland. She had a fine literary culture, excelled in mathematics, was a proficient in rhetoric, and prominent in Chantanqua circles. ller " talks" were always interesting, and she was much beloved for her amiable and Christian character. She died December 3, 1893, leaving but one child, Elmina, now the wife of James G. Hobbie, an attorney-at-law. The only child
in the latter family is Andrew Freese Hobbie a promising son. Mrs. Hobbie is a good worker in school and church affairs. Her husband, though educated at Amherst College, cannot beat her in reading Greek, having read it with her grandfather, Rev. Moses Merrill, famous in his day as a Greek scholar and an eloquent. Methodist preacher.
D R. A. F. BALDINGER was born in Ravenna, Ohio, in 1865. Ilis father was born in Switzerland. Coming to this country when a small boy, he was soon thrown upon his own resources by the death of both of his parents. lle, like most self-made men, developed into a strong, upright man. The son has inherited mental and moral strength. The father was too honest to make money, there- fore the son had the making of his own way in life. Ile was ambitious to be educated. His father could not pay school bills for him, so he worked and studied until he had saved enongh to go to Buehitel College, Akron, Ohio, and later the Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio, where he also commenced to read medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. A. M. Erwin.
Dr. Baldinger came to Cleveland in 1886, was a student under Dr. G. J. Jones two years, and in the spring of 1889 graduated at the Homeopathie Hospital College. At that time he passed a competitive examination and re- ceived the appointment to the Good Samaritan Dispensary for one year. He then opened an office in the Scofield Block, where he remained three years. In 1891 he moved to 86 Inron street, liis present address.
During these years of general practice Dr. Baldinger was a close student, developing into a specialist and doing much independent think- ing, so that when called to lecture before the students of the Homopathic Hospital College he gave some very interesting illustrated lec- tures on histology, pathology and bacteriology. During the present year he has been promoted to a professorship.
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He is indefatigable in making research, keep- ing abreast of the times, and convincing those who listen to him that the successful physician must always be a student. Ilo has the happy Faculty of winning the confidence of both old and young, thus making him one of the leading practitioners of the city. His pleasing address, conrteons manners and scholarly tastes must place him in the first rank.
Dr. Baldinger was married to Miss Carrie Haber, of Cleveland, in 1892.
R EV. ROBERT MOTT, pastor of the First German United Evangelical Church, cor- ner of Erie street and Central avenne, Cleveland, Ohio, was born in Baden, Germany, April 13, 1841.
Ile is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Mnen- zer) Mott, natives of Germany. Jacob Mott served as quartermaster in the Revolution in Baden in 1848. He was one of the Revolution- ists, and when the country was subdued he fled to Switzerland, and later on to America, land- ing here in 1852. Ile settled on a farm in Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he met with pros- perity and where he still resides. He and his wife were members of the Catholic Church be- fore they came to America, but after coming here nnited with the Evangelical Association. Mrs. Mott was born in 1815 and died in 1883. Mr. Mott is now in his eighty-fourth year. Their family of four children are as follows: Daniel, a blacksmith, who resides near his father; Robert, the subject of this sketch; Josephine, wife of Allen Sturgeon, a farmer of Erie county, Pennsylvania; and Emma, wife of Albert F. Dobler, owner of the famous " Dobler Farin" in Erie county. This farm is second to none in western Pennsylvania.
Robert Mott was educated in Germany, a Catholic, and had the advantages accorded to those destined for the priesthood. He com- pleted his studies in Germany and came to America in 1859, settling in Erie county, Penn-
sylvania. Subsequently he studied the English language in an academical school there. He was received into the Pittsburg Conference of the Evangelical Association in 1861, and began his ministry in Cleveland, Ohio, remaining here one year. Then he preached in Pittsburg and Allegheny nine years; in Warren, Pennsylvania, four years. Returning to Cleveland, he became assistant editor of The Christliche Botschafter, which position he filled four years; and for the past ten years he has been assistant editor of the German Sunday-school literature of the Evangelical Association. He has had charge of an independent Evangelical Church for over five years.
Some years ago one of his charges was in the coal regions of Pennsylvania, and while there he received a notice to leave town within twenty- four hours, the notice containing a skull and crossbones. This was in the Molly-MeGuire times of that locality. Be it said he did not leave. The papers, the mayor of the city and the best element of the locality were on his side; yet those were days that tried men's souls.
In 1882 Mr. Mott returned to Europe and spent three months' vacation there. While on his way back, August 8, 1882, the vessel in which he sailed-the Moselle-was shipwrecked off Lizard Point, at Land's End, and went to the bottom. The passengers and crew were all saved by the efficient service of the life-saving station. The vessel struck a rock in the fog at 8 o'clock in the morning, they were taken back to Falmonth by a coast vessel at 5 o'clock in the evening, and from there were sent back to Southampton, where two weeks later they sailed again for America.
Mr. Mott was married in October, 1864, to Miss E. E. Gensheimer, daughter of Joseph and Mollie Gensheimer, of Erie county, Pennsylva- nia. They have two daughters, Josephine and Lottie. Miss Josephine is a popular and sue- cessful teacher in Cleveland, and is a writer of some note. During her recent absence in Europe she frequently wrote for the papers published by the Evangelical Church at Cleve-
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land. Miss Lottie is attending the Cleveland high school. The family are all members of Evangelical Church.
Although the silver threads are lining his shocky hair, and he has passed his fiftieth mile- stone, Mr. Mott still enjoys the strength and vigor of youth. Hle is of imposing physique and possesses a great amount of natural magnet- ism. Ile has the faculty of always seeing the bright side of things and enjoying the happy side of life.
As a writer he wields a fluent pen, and has made a success of his editorial work. He is a close observer, and his editorials on the qnes- tions of the day are keen and sharp, interspersed with commendation or sarcasm, either of which he applies in such a graceful manner that even those who are hit recognize it as a genial tap of friendship.
As a preacher he has been successful in build- ing up congregations, building churches and paying for them as he built them, which reflects great eredit on him as a financial manager.
H D. CHAMPLIN, A. B., M. D., phy- sician and specialist, located at No. 455 Clark avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, holds rank with the leading members of his profession in this city.
Dr. Champlin was born at Grand Gulf, Mis- sissippi, November 19, 1853, seventh in a fam- ily of ten children, of whom he and his sister Grace are the only ones now living. His par- ents, Joseph W. and Harriet M. Champlin, natives of New York State, removed from there to Mississippi in 1838, and for many years his father was engaged in the mercantile business in Grand Gulf, Mississippi, having the largest store in the country and doing an annual busi- ness of $500,000, up to the time of the war, 1861. They came to Cleveland in 1889, and have since made their home in this city.
The subject of our sketch received a high- school education at New Orleans, taking the
degree of A. B., and his medical education in Cleveland. He graduated in the old Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital in the class of 1882. Previous to his graduation he practiced in Co- Inmbus, Ohio. Afterward he located in Cleve- land, and here his professional efforts have been attended with snecess, his specialty being ner- vous diseases. He was lecturer on hygiene in the Cleveland Medical College for one year, one year on microscopy, and one year on nervons diseases. Having resigned the chair of Ner- vous Diseases in the Cleveland Medical College, he was tendered the same chair in the Cleveland University of Medicine and Surgery and made professor of Nervous Diseases, which chair he now fills.
Dr. Champlin was married in 1881, to Miss Helen L. Kent, M. D., danghter of Arad Kent, of Akron, Ohio, one of its most prominent citi- zens, who was Sheriff two terms and Mayor two terms. They have an adopted daughter, Jessie by name. The Doctor's parents belong to the Episcopal Church in the Sonth, while he and his wife are members of the Pilgrim Congrega- tional Church of Cleveland.
Ile is independent in his political views, and, indeed, gives little attention to political issues, his whole time and attention being absorbed in his profession. That his abilities have been recognized and appreciated is demonstrated by his long connection with the college of which he is a graduate. Ile and his estimable wife hold a high place in the esteem of their many friends in this city, they being alike popular in church and social circles.
G B. SPRIGGS, the general freight agent of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company, was born in Rocking- ham, England, in November, 1831. Ilis parents were Avery Burdett and Dinah Spriggs, who had two children, both being sons.
The subject of this sketch, after receiving a liberal education, was carly in life called into
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railroad service. The outline of his career is an interesting one, showing a steady rise from the lowest to the highest position in the freight department. At the age of eighteen he entered the service of the London & Northwestern Rail- way as junior clerk in the freight department in Rockingham. After a year's service in that position he was made corresponding clerk at Stafford Station. Two years of this work was sufficient to show his employers that he had the right stuff in him, and he was made correspond- ing clerk and chief accountant at Wolverhamp- ton. In 1858 he was further promoted to the chief clerkship of the district goods manager's office, remaining in that position until 1862, when he accepted, by direct invitation from the management in Canada, the position of freight agent at Ilamilton, Ontario, on the Great West- ern Railway of Canada. From 1862 until 1870 his career was a series of steadily ascending steps, being promoted from the position of freight agent at llamilton to that of through freight agent, and finally general freight agent, leaving the service on a change of management. From 1871 to 1877 he was assistant general freight agent of the Baltimore & Ohio system, and developed the business of the Chicago divis- ion of that road from its opening in 1874. But in 1877, on the retiring of the management whose regime he had left in 1870, Mr. Spriggs returned to the Great Western Railway as gen- eral traffic manager, with headquarters at Ham- ilton, Ontario. In the summer of 1882, the Great Western and Grand Trunk being then about to amalgamate, the executive officers of the Nickel Plate began casting abont for a man who could develop and successfully manage the freight department of the new road so that the rival Vanderbilt lines might be fully cognizant of the Niekel Plate's existence, Mr. Spriggs was the man chosen for this great work, and in Angust, 1882, he accepted the position, which he has satisfactorily held, up to date.
Quiet, genial, good-humored, never in a hurry or flustered, he nevertheless manages to capture a full share of business, despite the heavy handi-
cap placed upon the Nickel Plate by the older lines. In the Central Traffic Association, Mr. Spriggs is a leading spirit, being on the follow- ing standing committees of the freight commit- tee: Rules and regulations; live stock; pack- ing-house products; grain and grain products; oil; paving brick; fire- brick clay and moulding sand; lime; relations with western roads; rela- tions with trunk lines; East-bound percentage basis; and lake and rail differentials, being chairman of the last named committe. At the last meeting of the executive board of the Lack- awanna fast freight line Mr. Spriggs was elected its chairman for the tenth consecutive year. In his official capacity he travels a great deal, aver- aging about 25,000 miles a year, and in a recent year traveled as much as 32,000 miles.
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