USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Memorial record of the county of Cuyahoga and city of Cleveland, Ohio, Pt.1 > Part 33
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C IIARLES GATES, a retired miller of Brooklyn township, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, is a son of one of the early pioneers of the Western Reserve, and is probably as well posted on the history of this township as any other man now living. A few years ago, in a series of articles written for The Cuyahogan, he pictured most vividly the life of the brave pio- neers of this vicinity, drawing from his own rich fund of reminiscences and from tradition, show- ing the various phases of frontier life, the whole series being threaded with a vein of humor and being most interesting throughont.
Mr. Gates' long residence in this township and the prominent part he has taken in bring- ing abont its present development entitle him to prominent mention among its leading citi- zens. A brief sketch of his life is as follows:
Charles Gates was born in Brooklyn town- ship, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, February 23, 1825, son of Jeremiah and Phebe (Deming) Gates, the former a native of Connecticut, and the latter of Delhi, New York, of Holland de- scent. Jeremiah Gates moved to Cuyahoga connty, Ohio, as early as 1816. Here he spent the rest of his life, and died in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Ilis good wife lived to be eighty-six. By trade he was a millwright. Ile built many of the sawmills in the county, and for more than thirty years was engaged in the milling business. In his articles in The Cnya- hogan, above referred to, Charles Gates makes reference to his father's mills as follows:
" The sixth mill was built by father, Simeon Wallace and company on the Wallace farm, and was known as . Mnd Mill.' What gave it its name, has gone from me, but there is one little incident I shall never forget. It was my duty
to carry father's dinner each day while working in the mill; but one day I played truant by suffering myself to be coaxed away by an older boy, going to the Cuyahoga river hunting wild dneks and not returning till about 2 P. M. My pants were thoroughly dusted by mother. I thonght then, and still am of the same opinion, that I made the quickest time on record to the old Mnd Mill.'"
"Father erected a saw and grist mill on the farm I now occupy in the year 1836 or 1837, on a small brook entering ' Big Creek,' and known as a 'Thunder Shower Mill,' running when it rained and resting in fair weather, doing its share of sawing and grinding, as many old set- tlers can testify to."
Jeremiah Gates was a man of sterling quali- ties. Indeed, few men in Brooklyn township were held in higher esteem than he. For more than forty years he was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he held varions official positions. Politically, he was first a Whig, and was afterward identified with the Republican party. For a number of years he filled the office of Justice of the Peace. He and his wife were the parents of four chil- dren, three sons and one danghter: John, who died at the age of seven years; Matilda, wife of the Rev. I. W. Fish (who was the first white child born in this township), died in 1849; Renben, of Parma township, this county; and Charles, whose name heads this article.
Charles Gates was reared at his native place and remained under the parental roof until he reached his majority, his education being ob- tained in one of the typical log schoolhouses of the period. In June, 1847, he married Miss Mary A. Acker, a native of Livingston county, New York, who came to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, when she was two years old. Her par- ents, Nathan and Sarah ( Kyser) Acker, were both natives of New York and were of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Gates have three chil- dren, two sons and one danghter, namely: La- fayette, Howard C. and Mary I., wife of II. H. Bratton.
Charles Estes フ
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Brought up in his father's mill, our subject's first business, when he launched ont in life for himself, was to build a steam sawmill in Brook- lyn township. This mill he ran for over twenty years. During that period he shipped large quantities of hunber to various points and did a successful business. For several years he car- ried on farming, owning and operating a hun- dred acres of land. Disposing of that traet, he purchased the Brainard farm, a portion of which he has since sold. Mr. Gates and his brother Rubin, in 1876 or '77 built the Star Elevator in Cleveland, at the cost of $29,000, and operated it for sixteen mouths. It had a capacity of 100,000 bushels. His son II. C. built a fine elevator in Brooklyn, at a cost of $9,000. IIe also erected his commodions and elegant resi- deuce, which is supplied with gas and water and all modern comforts and conveniences.
Like his worthy father, Mr. Gates has long been connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, having united with it when he was sixteen years of age and having since remained a consistent Christian, filling various Church of- fices and also serving as Sunday-school super- intendent. When he became a voter he first identified himself with the Free-soil party. Afterward he joined the Republican ranks, and with the best elements of that organization he has since affiliated. Of the temperance canse he is a stanch friend. Indeed, all measures and movements which have for their object the ad- vancement of the best interests of the commu- nity are sure to find in him an ardent sympa- thizer and supporter.
Such is an epitome of the life of one of Cuyahoga county's venerable citizens.
E DWARD C. PARMELEE .- One of the most familiar figures on the streets of Cleveland is Edward C. Parmelee, gen- eral agent of the IInmane Society. He was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, September 28, 1826. Claremont was also the native home
of his mother, whose father,-Rice, being a farmer and an emigrant from Connectient, in search of more advantageons location wan- dered into the vicinity of this little New Hampshire hamlet and met and married his wife. After the birth of their daughter and only child, Mr. Rice, while rolling and burning log heaps as they did in those pioneer days, by accident fell into one and was burned to death in the presence of his wife! The young widow married some time afterward a Mr. Atkins, bearing him eight children. Seven of these were sons, each of whom was remarkable for his size, being more than six feet tall, and muscular ac- cordingly. One of the danghters married Ware Tappan, whose son, Mason W. Tappan, was New Hampshire's Attorney General, and was a member of the New Hampshire Honse of Rep- resentatives for several years.
Recurring to the Parmelees, in tracing up their lineage we discover them to have been once and originally an order of the German nobility. As early as abont the middle of the fifteenth century a German baron was attacked with a religious fervor which drove him to such enthusiastic demonstrations as to make it im- perative that he take up his residence in Eng- land. He spent the remainder of his life there, in the town of Guilford, and was the first Par- melee in England. It is certain that a descend- ant of this Parmeleee emigrated to America dnring Colonial days and settled in Connecti- ent, naming the town New Guilford. Here our subject's grandfather, Dan Parmelee, was born, from here he entered the Colonial army and fought hier battles till independence was es- tablished, and here he died. His son William is the character mentioned herein as having left Connecticut and married the Claremont maiden. In 1828 William Parmelee was in- dneed to come West with his family, locating for a brief period in Cleveland, going later to Summit county, and resided in Twinsburg till his death, which occurred in 1833.
In this village the subject of this notice was educated under Rev. Samnel Bissell, a Yale
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graduate, yet living, in charge of the Twins- burg Institute. At eighteen years of age Mr. Parmelee returned to his native State, learned carriage trimming, and was employed at it till his return to Summit county in 1850. Hle soon embarked in merchandising at Solon, and was for many years one of the foremost merchants of the village. In 1879 Mr. Parmelee disposed of his mercantile business at Solon, came to Cleveland and engaged in the real-estate busi- ness. In 1881, upon the resignation of Samuel Job, Superintendent of the Bethel Associated Charities, Mr. Parmelee was found to be the most suitable man for the place, and was accordingly appointed. Ile proved a most efficient and pop- ular official and for six years controlled the dis- tinies of the institution. On the death of D. L. Wightman, agent of the Humane Society, Mr. Parmelee was at once made his successor, as the only available man amply qualified for such peculiar and important work. He has institn- ted some needed reforms as to the conduct and keeping of the records of the institution under his charge,-the identity and history of every charge until its final disposition by the institu- tion. While a citizen of Summit county Mr. Parmelee served the publie as their magistrate for a time, and while at Solon was its Post- master during the war. He was appointed by the court a member of the relief commission of Cuyahoga county, resigning August 1, 1892. The other children of William Parmelee are: Lucia, Mary, Fannie, Joel, Samuel, Sarah, Daniel, Harriet and Emily, a twin of our sub- ject. Emily married Judge Belding of Denver, Colorado, in whose name the town site of Omaha, Nebraska, was purchased, and who was subsequently Mayor of the city. Ile went to Denver early and was Mayor of that city, a member of the Legislature of the State and in- troduced and had adopted the Ohio code.
In 1854 Mr. Parmelee married, in Cuyahoga county, Mary, a danghter of Squire Hathaway, a prominent farmer who settled here in 1816. The children of this union are: Emily C., As- sistant Superintendent of the Cleveland Asso-
ciated Charities; and Carroll Hathaway, now a prominent attorney and citizen of Buffalo, Wyoming. Ile graduated at Grand River In- stitute, with the degree of Bachelor of Science, at Hiram College with the degree of A. B., took a B. L. course at Ann Arbor, and received the honorary degree of M. A. from Hiram College in recognition of his superior attainments. He is now Register of the United States Land Of- fice at Buffalo, Wyoming, and was the candi- date of the Republican party for Supreme Judge of his State in 1892. IIe ranks high as an attorney and a scholar, and is one of the rising stars of the new country.
0 F. MCCLENTIC, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, has been in trade here for twenty-eight years, and is the proprietor of the largest and most extensive dry-goods house of the place; it is the pioneer store of the town. The MeClen- tie Block, of which he is the owner, is one of the best business blocks in the town, built in 1882. The ground floor is divided into two general apartments, one for dry goods and faney goods and the other for boots and shoes. The large upper story is used for clothing, carpets and elocks. He carries a stock of $25,000 worth of goods, of the best grades.
Mr. MeClentic eame to Chagrin Falls when a young man, started in trade and did a good busi- ness for three years, when he lost everything by fire. IIe started again, from the foundation, but by perseverance, good business ability and fair and honorable dealings he seeured the con- fidence of the people, and has built np a large trade. A munber of his patrons have done business with him for twenty-eight years.
Mr. MeClentic was born in Portage county, Ohio, May 14, 1835, a son of William and IIuldah (Case) MeClentie. His father was a native of Massachusetts, one of the carly settlers of Portage county, and died at the age of eighty- two years. His mother died in 1855, at the age of fifty-five years. They had nino children:
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Lucius, deceased; Martin; Abigail, deceased; William, John, O. F., Albert L., Franklin and Charles. Franklin was a soldier in the late war.
O. F. was reared on a farm and received his education in the common schools. He was married in 1883, at Chagrin Falls, to Miss Jane Bellows, danghter of William Bellows, of that place. Mr. MeClentic is a stockholder in the Chagrin Falls Banking Company, and vice president of the Chagrin Falls Manufacturing Company. Ile is one of the public-spirited men of the town, and a man of pleasing address, frank and cordial with all.
W J. McKINNIE, Director of Charities and Correction for the city of Cleve- land, was born in Austintown, Mahon- ing county, Ohio, July 8, 1831. It is believed that the original home of this family was Ire- land, that they afterward became citizens of Scotland, and during the period of colonization and settlement of America a branch of the fam- ily found its way to this country and settled at the forks of the Yonghiogheny river above Pittsburg. It was from this point that one of them, our subject's grandfather, John MeKin- nie, was commissioned Captain in the Colonial army and fought the battles of the Revolution, returning only after the surrender of Cornwallis' army at Yorktown. This Revolutionary patriot died abont 1807. He left Pennsylvania in 1804, and moved to Youngstown, Ohio, where his son, Alexander, then abont five years old, grew to manhood, and resided for fifty years. During the administrations of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan, Alexander McKinnie was Youngstown's Postmaster, but when not offi- cially engaged he followed the business of hotel- keeping. He married Nancy Dickinson, whose father was a native of New Jersey. Just prior to and for a brief period succeeding, the birth of Mr. MeKinnie, his father kept a hotel at Austin- town; the last years of his life were spent in
retirement. He died in Pittsburg, at the age of eighty-nine years. His children now living are three sons: Henry and J. T. MeKinnie, propri- etors of the Hotel Anderson at Pittsburg; and the subject of this sketch.
W. J. MeKinnie's school days were very brief. He left home at the age of twelve years, and was never again known as a student. It was in December, 1843, that he went to Kins- man, Trumbull county, and began an appren- ticeship at the tinners' trade. At fifteen years of age he had completed his term as an appren- tice and was ready to do efficient work. IIe secured employment in Warren, and later in Youngstown, where at the age of sixteen he struck against a reduction in wages, and de- serted his trade. In casting about for a location he secured employment in a country dry-goods store, and was so employed for a year. Ile next accepted a position in a warehouse at Beaver, Pennsylvania; subsequently he was employed as a steamboat clerk on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers till the spring of 1854, when he became a clerk and bookkeeper in the office of the Phwe- nix Furnace at Youngstown, Ohio, owned by Lemnel Crawford. One year later he came to Cleveland in the employ of Crawford & Price, coal dealers. He remained with them and with Lemnel Crawford till 1865, when his connection was severed for the purpose of forming a part- nership with C. II. & W. C. Andrews and W. J. Hitchcock, to engage in the coal business, the firm being known as Andrews, Hitchcock & Company. This firm is still in existence.
Politically Mr. MeKinnie is a Democrat, and his service to his party has been loyal and active, in recognition of which service President Cleve- land appointed him in September, 1885, Col- lector of Customs for the district of Cnyalioga, and in this capacity he served most efficiently until relieved in 1889 by the Republican ad- ministration.
In making up his cabinet Mayor Blee se- leeted Mr. MeKinnie as his Director of Chari- ties and Correction, and he entered on his duties April 17, 1893.
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June 7, 1854, Mr. McKinnie married, in Youngstown, Elizabeth G. Haney, a daughter of Joseph G. Haney, a manufacturer and shoe dealer. The children of this nnion are: Harry J., with Andrews, Hitchcock & Company; Sa- rah A., wife of William II. VanAntwerp, of Albany, New York; Nancy A., wife of II. E. Green, of Cleveland; Alexander, in the Public Works Department of this city; and Miss Mary Il.
Mr. MeKinnie is one of the directors of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, president of the Montour Railroad Company, and a director of the Imperial Coal Company. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason.
A LFRED TRAVERS ANDERSON, Postmaster for Cleveland, is a native of lowa connty, Wisconsin, being born at East Arena, on April 18, 1851. Mr. Anderson's parents were George and Emma (Rendeell) Andersen, the father born in Ayres, Fifeshire, Scotland, February 20, 1819, and the mother born in Bridgeport, England. George Anderson was the son of a linen manufacturer and was taught the trade. When yet a young man he accepted employment with a prominent firm at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, who were linen manufacturers, and with this concern he remained several years, and in 1847 returned to England, and one year later came to the United States. His first employment in this country was in a thread factory at Lansingburg, New York, but ere long he went to Wisconsin, to which State his father-in-law had preceded him and engaged in farming. His stay in this State was short, for he was soon induced to become manager of the thread factory at Lansingburg, in which he had been employed before going to Wisconsin. This position he hield till 1865, in which year he became superintendent of a flax and linseed oil mill at Preston, near Gault, Canada. Three years later he accepted the po- sition of overseer of a shoe factory, at Valley
Falls, New York. Mansfield, Ohio, became his residence in 1870, and in 1873 he removed to Cleveland.
Along with him his son, the subject of this sketeli, came to Ohio. The son was given the advantages of a fair English edneation in the village of Lansingburg and an academy at Rock- wood, Canada. At Lansingburg he learned the tinner's trade, which he followed when the fam- ily resided at Mansfield. For a time he had charge of a tin-shop at Oberlin, Ohio, but in 1876 he came to Cleveland, which city has since continued his home.
Upon coming to Cleveland, Mr. Anderson ac- cepted employment with Mr. II. B. IInnt, a manufacturer of tin and japanned ware. He proved a very valuable employee of Mr. Hunt, whose trade and business so increased as to place him among the leading and wealthier manufac- turers in his line. Mr. Anderson was soon placed in charge of the ornamental department, where he continued up to 1882, when he em- barked in a similar business for himself. His business enterprise was conducted with success, being diseontinned at the time Mr. Anderson became Reeorder for Cnyahoga county.
In 1884 the citizens of his ward elected him to the Board of Education, on which board he rendered valuable service up to 1886. In 1885 the citizens of Cuyahoga county laid claim upon his services by electing him Recorder of the county, his term of office beginning in 1886. Ile was re-elected in the fall of 1888 by a large plurality. Thus again was given evidence that in his ability to fill a position of high trust and responsibility the people reposed inneh confi- dence. He made an efficient Recorder and served in this office five years and three months, and when he still had nine months more of his second term to serve President Harrison com- missioned him Postmaster of Cleveland, in March, 1891. Entering npon his duties as Postmaster, Mr. Anderson again gave evidence of judgment and excentivo ability in the admin- istration of this large office. Many measures of reform in the local mail service were inaugu-
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rated and proved of happy results. In 1889 Mr. Anderson was re-elected as an exponent of the tin manufacturers to represent them at the Paris exposition, and in this capacity he ren- dered such services as distinguished him not only as a representative of the tin industry but also as a representative of the best and most val- nable type of the American citizen. Mr. An- derson is a prominent Mason, and also a member of the Western Reserve Historical Society. He is a broad-minded, progressive gentleman, and is warm and generous hearted. He has been a man of great usefulness and credit to Cleveland.
In 1874 Mr. Anderson married Miss Hattie E. MeGibeny, daughter of John McGibeny, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, and they have had four children, of whom three are living.
D R. S. WOLFENSTEIN, Superintendent of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum at Cleve- land, was born in Moravia, Austria, in 1841. IIe attended the public schools of his native town, also the gymnasium or high school at Bruenn, and afterward studied law and phil- ology at the University of Vienna. Mr. Wolf- enstein was ordained a minister, and in 1864 began preaching in Insterburg, East Prussia. In 1870 he came to the United States; for the following eight years was pastor of a church in St. Louis, and since 1878 has served as superin- tendent of the Jewish Orphan Asyhim of Cleve- land. ITis selection for the superintendency has proved a wise one, and his relation through all these years speaks well for the confidenee reposed in him by the anthorities of that noble institution. The asylum is located on Wood- land avenne, and is, perhaps, one of the best in- stitutions of the kind in the United States. The building is of brick and stone, fire-proof, three stories high besides the basement, contains over 100 rooms, and was erected at a cost of over $200,000. Ten teachers are employed, and at present the attendance consists of 170 pupils, their ages varying from live to fifteen years.
Their course embraces the higher studies, and their training is both practical and theoretical. A kindergarten is also connected with the school. The pupils are taught trades or oc- cupations for which they seem best litted. The grounds, consisting of ten acres, are beanti- ful and well kept, and are the pride of the city.
Samnel Wolfenstein was married June 20, 1865, in Breslau, Prussia, to Miss Bertha, a daughter of I. Brieger, also a native of that country. She died July 23, 1885, at the age of forty-one years. They had six children: Jnlins, a physician; Martha, at home; Leo, attending the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, pre- paring himself for a teacher in ancient classical langnages; Laura, a graduate of the Cleveland high school; Joseph, who died during the pres- out year, at the age of seventeen years, was pre- paring himself for the profession of eivil en- gineer: and Minnie, attending school.
Dr. Wolfenstein is a genial, courteons and scholarly gentleman, and has great aptness for the work in which he is now engaged.
WOLFENSTEIN, a physician and sur- geon of Cleveland, giving special attention to the diseases of the ear, nose and throat, was born in Prussia, Germany, in 1866, a son son of Samnel and Bertha Wolfenstein. His mother died in 1885, at the age of forty-one years, and his father is now superintendent of the Jewish Orphan Asylum of Cleveland, and is fifty-two years of age. (A sketch of him is given elsewhere.)
J. Wolfenstein, the first-born in the above family, and the subject of this sketch, received his edneation in the public schools of St. Louis and Cleveland, and in 1886 graduated in the medical department of the Western Reserve University ; he then served as an assistant in the Charity Hospital, of this city, nine months; and spent the following two years in Vienna, Aus- tria, where he studied the diseases of the car, nose and throat under the leading physicians.
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Returning to Cleveland in 1888, he has since followed the practice of his profession. Ilo is secretary of the Cuyahoga Medieal Society, also a member of the Cleveland Society of the Medical Sciences, and of the Ohio State Medical Society. Dr. Wolfenstein is well read and thoroughly posted in his profession, and has re- ceived the best advantages to be gained under the best instructors of the old country. He is . in every way a worthy and respected citizen, carrying the confideneo of those who know him as a citizen and in his profession.
EVI F. BAUDER, an attorney of Cleve- land, is a son of Levi and Eliza (Phillips) Bauder. The father came to Cleveland in 1835, coming from St. Johnsonsville, Mo- hawk valley, New York. Ile descended from among the first German emigrants of Queen Anne's reign. His early ancestors in this conntry, it is believed, settled in New York in the year 1714. Later their descendants partie- ipated in the Revolutionary war, under General Herkimer, and the paternal grandfather of our subject was a soldier in the war of 1812.
Levi F. Bander was born in the city of Cleve- land, January 28, 1840, educated in the public schools of Cleveland, gradnating at the Central high school in 1858, attended a military school at Port Royal, Virginia, and subsequently at- tended Oberlin College, after which he taught school for one year. Upon the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Bander enlisted, in April, 1861, in the Soventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for three years and four months, making a war record as an excellent soldier. He was first a private Corporal, then duty Sergeant, First Sergeant and division Ordnance Sergeant, having been present at the engagements at Cross Lanes, Blue's Gap, Win- chester, Strasburg, Cedar Mountain, Pope's Retreat, Manassas, Chantilly, Antietam, Chan- cellorsville, Gettysburg, Wanhatehie, Lookont Mountain and Resaca. At the battle of Chan-
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