USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Memorial record of the county of Cuyahoga and city of Cleveland, Ohio, Pt.1 > Part 43
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Hle was married at thirty-five, to Maria Wat terman, who was born at Dunkirk, New York, a successful and popular teacher. She was a daughter of John and Melinda ( Randall) Wat- ferman, of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Church have two children,-Kate M. and John A.
Mr. Church, a Republican in politics, has served on the Seliool Board for eight years, and is now and has been Trustee of the township for seventeen years and Clerk five years. Ile has been a member of the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 290. Hle is also a member of the G. A. R., N. L. Norris Post, No. 40. Mrs. Church is a member of the Methodist Church, and also of the Relief Corps, serving as president of the latter society.
The family are honored and respected by all who know them.
AMES W. HARPER, one of the promi- nent citizens of Solon township, was born in Orange township, Ohio, February 22, 1848, as a son of James and Sarah Harper, both of whom were born near Belfast, Ireland. James Harper was a well known early settler of Orange township. There were eight children in the family, four sons and four daughters; six of the family are now living, viz .: Elizabeth Herri- man; Hector, of Orange township; Margaret Perkins; Robert, of Bedford; William, de- ceased; James W .; Sarah Pike, of North So- lon; and Mary Jane, who died at three years of age. Their mother died at sixty-four years of age, and the father at sixty-five. The father was a stone mason by trade, politieally a Repub- lican, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
James W. was the sixth child of the family. IIe was reared in Orange township, receiving his education from the district and select or high schools. He learned the trade of mason
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under the instructions of his father, and followed it for several years. Hle also learned the car- penter's trade, and practiced that for a time. In 1861 Mr. Harper engaged in the manufacture of cheese in Solon towuship near where he now lives. For nine years he made cheese from the milk of 400 cows, continuonsly. He lives now on a good farm of seventy acres, well improved and furnished with a spacious barn and all other appliances necessary for first-class farming, making a specialty of the dairy business.
He was married at twenty-three, to Maggie Doak, of Cleveland; Mrs. Harper is a danghter of Francis and Margaret Doak, both natives of northern Ireland, now living in Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Harper are the parents of five eliildren, vix .: Lotta E., Carrie A., Maggie May, Everett and Virgil P.
Mr. Harper is a Democrat, being one of the wheel-horses of the party in his township. He has been Assessor for five or six years, and is a member of the School Board. He belongs to the Masonic order, Bedford Lodge, No. 375.
ACOB STROIIM, Postmaster of Solon, Ohio, received his appointment in October, 1893. He has lived at Solon since 1868. Ile was born at Maytown, Pennsylvania, 1824, a son of Michel and Barbara Strohm. The par- ents are both natives of Pennsylvania, the father of Berks county, and were both of Ger. man ancestry. They had nine children, two sons and seven daughters, and lived in Penn- sylvania until their death. Jacob was reared and educated in Pennsylvania. During the war he enlisted in the Second Ohio Cavalry; his regiment was for some time in active operations in Western Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas, and after twenty-two months of service he was hon- orably discharged. He was in the railroad ser- vice for nearly thirty years, first as clerk and station agent. Ile came to Solon in 1868 and was in the railroad service here for twenty- five years and over.
Mr. Strohm was married in Summit county, Ohio, to Elvira Curtis, a lady of intelligence and good family, born at Farmington, Trumbull county, Ohio, daughter of Zenis Curtis. They have had two children: Mattie, wife of Sam. Ferguson, of Sevilleburg, Ohio, and George II., of Lima, also in this State.
Politically Mr. Strohnmn is a Democrat. Ile is a member of the Masonic order, Golden Gate Lodge, also of the Webb Chapter, and of the Oriental Commandery. He is a Scottish-rite Mason of the thirty-second degree. Mr. Strolan is also a member of the I. O. O. F., Lodge No. 190, and of Encampment No. 113, both of Cha- grin Falls.
R OBERT THOMPSON is a well-known citizen of Solon, Ohio, where he was born June 17, 1844, a son of Christopher and Elizabeth (Forest) Thompson. The father was a native of Yorkshire, England, and the mother of Durham, England. They left England about 1839 and came to the United States, spending one year in New York; then coming to Solon they settled in the woods in a log cabin. Here the parents made their home and reared their children, having a family of five, namely: Jolin, on the home farm; Robert, onr subject; Elizabeth Whitlock, of Orange, Ohio; Rebecca Birdsall, of Summit county, Ohio; and William, of Solon. The mother died at sixty-four and the father at seventy years of age. In politics he was a Democrat.
Robert was reared on the farm at hard work, receiving bnt a limited education, but he was taught honestry and industry. He enlisted in the late war, in 1864, as one of the One IIun- dred and Fiftieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company II, served 100 days near Washington, and was honorably discharged.
Hle lived in Solon township until 1874, then went to Streetsboro, Portage county, Ohio, for five years; thence he removed to Geanga county, where he remained four years, coming
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to Solon in 1882, and buying his present home. Hle has 102 acres, well improved, and furnished with all that is needful for thrifty, successful farming. He is also largely interested in dai- rying.
Mr. Thompson was married in 1871 to Cla- rissa Hall, and they had one daughter, Artie, now the wife of George Pike, of Newburg. Mrs. Thompson died April 11, 1882, and Mr. Thomp- son married for his present wife, in 1884, Miss Ida Britton, of Solon, daughter of William Britton. There are two daughters by the sec- ond marriage, Eda and Helen. One son, For- est, died at the age of twenty months.
Mr. Thompson is a Democrat, a home worker in the party. He has served as Township Trns- tee l'or five or six years. lle is an intelligent, public-spirited citizen, taking an interest in ed- ucation and the public welfare.
D GRIESE, of the firm of D. & G. Griese, general contractors of Cleveland, has been identified with the building inter- ests of this city as an independent builder since 1884. In preparation for his work Mr. Griese made himself thoroughly acquainted with tho details of mason and carpenter work, learning both trades, and also informing himself in the principles of architecture to the extent of being able to supervise the construction of work on any plans.
C. Il. Griese, his father, was one of Clevo- land's early builders, locating here in 1851 and erecting many good buildings still standing in the city. Ile was well equipped for his respon- sible work, having studied and mastered his trade in Germany.
Among the first work done by the Griese Brothers was the erection of two school build- ings in Cleveland. Since then their work has extended to all classes of buildings, in and out of Cleveland, their reputation extending as far west as Junction City, Kansas, where they con-
strueted Fort Riley, a piece of Government work. In an easterly direction Mr. Griese's work has reached New York city and points west to Cleveland. The firm has a reputation for promptness and fairness in all their work, and receive a fair share of the work of their home city.
Mr. Griese is a member of the Masons' Asso- ciation and Builders' Exchange.
AMES POTTER, a well-known citizen of Solon township, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, was a son of one of the pioneers of the township, Thomas Potter, who was a native of Ireland, and married in Ireland. In 1836 he settled in Solon township on a farm. His log house stood in a little clearing of two or three aeres, and all about him was a dense wilderness. Game was plenty and wild animals mimerons and often met with, but Thomas Potter and his brave and faithful wife were not to be easily discouraged by hardships and trials. They carne from that brave, hardy race, the Scotch- Irish, noted for their intelligence, bravery and honesty. They had nine children, viz .: Eliza, Robert, Jane, Thomas, W. A., Andrew, James Ilenry, and Angeline G., an adopted child. Thomas served in the Civil war, and was Quar- termaster in the army of General Sherman in the " March to the Sea." llis wife died at the age of sixty-seven, and he at eighty-one years of age. Ile was a stone mason and farmer, an expert mechanic, and helped in the erection of some of the best buildings in the city of Cleve- land, among which was the Weddell Honse. For years he worked for William Hutchins, doing his stone work in the county. Voting for Fremont in 1856, he joined the Republican party.
James was reared in his native place, edu- cated in the district schools, and received a certificate for teaching at eighteen years of age. lle settled on his present homestead in 1866,
18
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where he has 100 acres, with a good house and spacious barn, and keeps a good dairy, which he can do to advantage, the farm being exeep- tionally well watered.
Mr. Potter was married at the age of twenty- three to Lydia E. Russell, daughter of Ellsworth Russell, one of the first settlers of Solon town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Potter are the parents of two children, -Nealie E. and Leon E.
In politics he is a Republican, and a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge, No. 290, and of En- eampment No. 113, of Chagrin Falls; has been an Odd Fellow for twenty-two years, and is one of the good, substantial citizens of Solon, Mrs. Potter is a member of the Disciple Church.
G M. REID, superintendent of bridge con- struction for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, has been iu the em- ploy of this corporation sinee May, 1872. A young man of twenty years he began the study of bridge construction with J. Park Paul, at Elk Creek, Pa., and worked under his direc- tion from June, 1852, until April, 1855, when he secured a position with Thatcher, Burt & Company, coutractors and bridge builders at Cleveland; he was made superintendent of eon- struction for this firm, and the first work he did was putting in a bridge for the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Railroad Company. The superior excellence of his work did not go unobserved, and in May, 1872, the Lake Shore Company offered him the position of superin- tendent of bridge construction; he accepted the offer which is one of no little responsibility, the entire system comprising fifteen hundred miles of track. His relationship with the rail- road company has been a most harmonins one, his ability and integrity being duly recognized and appreciated.
Mr. Reid is a native of the Empire State, born in Ontario county, at Canandaigua, March 9, 1832. His father, Robert Reid, was born January 25, 1794, and died August 3, 1833,
Ile married Sarah C. Culbertson, who was born in Paterson, New Jersey, November 22, 1799; she died in Cleveland, Ohio, August 19, 1878. John Reid, the paternal grandfather of G. M. Reid, was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, Jan- mary 29, 1755. In 1778, accompanied by his brother Alexander, he crossed the sea to Amer- ica, and soon after landing in this country he settled at Canandaigua, New York; his brother went to the South where he continued to reside. Ile was a cooper by trade, but devoted much of his time to agriculture. Ile was united in mar- riage May 22, 1780 to Irene Parish, a native of Seotland, born October 27, 1761. Ilis death occurred January 18, 1833; the wife died May 7, 1824. They were the parents of a family of eleven children. The maternal ancestors of our subject were of Irish and Scotch descent, the maternal grandfather, John Culbertson, being a native of the North of Ireland. Mr. Reid is an only child; he attended the district school in Monroe township, but npon the removal of the family to Conneaut in 1841, he entered the academy there, completing the course of study in 1852. His first experience with the com- mercial world was as mate of the schooner Sae- ramento, but at the end of three and a half years he decided to quit the water. It was then that his career as a bridge-builder began with J. Park Paul, as previously mentioned in this biography.
Mr. Reid removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1860, and three years later, December 30, he was married to Sarah E. Corey, the Rev. Dr. Goodrich officiating. Mrs. Reid is the daugh- ter of Charles S. and Aldura (Webster) Corey; the father was born in the Province of New Brunswick, March 31, 1815; the mother was born at Ballston Spa, New York, in 1808, and died in Cleveland, Ohio, April 17, 1881. They reared a family of four children, all of whom are living: Charles, of Cleveland; William, of Toledo; Ursula, wife of Ezekial Keep, of the State of Washington; and Mrs. Reid: Mr. and Mrs. Reid are the parents of four children: Robert is an engineer in charge of the bridge
Edward Servis
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work in one division of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad; Charles C., an electrical engineer of Cleveland; Della A., wite of George A. Richmond, of Pittsburgh; and Jessie B. The sons are both graduates 'of the C'ase School. Mr. Reid is a member of Iris Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of the Knights of Honor, and is also a Forester. He belongs to the Civil Engineers' Club of Cleveland, and is treasurer of the International Association of Railway Superintendents of Bridges and Building. lle is a worthy member of the Scovil Avenne Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and is chairman of the finance committee.
E DWARD LEWIS. -. Fifty-two years ago, in 1841, a rosy-cheeked young man of sturdy frame and self-reliant and am- bitious spirit set out from historie Malmsbury, in Wiltshire, England, to seek his fortune in America. His name was Edward Lewis, son of a worthy market gardener whose family of eleven children typitied in a small way the con- dition of the United Kingdom-too many people to the square acre! Young Lewis felt within himself aspirations and powers that needed room for development. So, alone but confident, he left the classie precincts of the little English town whose pavements had more than onee been vocal with the tread of royalty, and whose abbey walls to this day bear the marks of Cromwell's canon balls, and songht the greater freedom and opportunities afforded in the United States. After a six weeks' stormy pas- sage he landed in New York, but tarried not in the metropolis, having determined to seek a lo- cation in some younger town inland. By chance rather than design he stopped in Cleveland, for it was the dead of winter when he arrived, the stage lines went no farther and navigation was at an end for the season. Having made up his mind to remain here, ho sought employment, and soon found it in the iron and hardware store of W. A. Otis, on Merwin street, where
the establishment of R. T. Lyon now stands. Being a sturdy lad he was paid the munificent salary of one dollar a day and " fonnd " himself. To-day ho is the owner of a large amount of manufacturing property and real estate, a sub- stantial proof of what a young man with no capital but with industrious hands, an honest heart and a clear head can accomplish in this country.
When Mr. Lewis came to Cleveland, this city was a town of abont 4,000 inhabitants. The estimated population in 1838 was 7,000, but the depression following the panie of 1837 re- dneed it nearly one-half. The shipping business had suffered a great set-back, the silk-growing industry, which was domiciled on the Lake Shore, and in the neighborhood of the site now ocenpied by the Onthwaite school, had collapsed, and various other interests were in a very debili- tated condition for the time being. In 1842, as Mr. Lewis remembers, there was a cornfield where he now worships in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, and political meetings were held in a grove where the public library build- ing now stands. The territory cast of Erie street was generally described as " Perry's pas- tures"; Enclid avenne was an abominably bad country road, not nearly as desirable as Wood- land avenne, which was improved from conven- ient gravel beds. In that year or thereabouts, T. P. Handy, the late M. C. Younglove, and one or two other citizens were suspected of lunacy for buying homestead lots of five acres, each at $300 an acre, just above Huntington street on Enclid avenne, now worth that much per foot front. Even the down-town site of the Euclid avenne opera house was enclosed with a rail fence when Mr. Lewis came to town. He has seen the town of 1,000 grow to a mighty city of over 300,000 inhabitants.
The sterling qualities of the young man were quickly recognized by Dr. Otis, and he was ad- vaneed to positions of trust. Dr. Otis furnished capital for a small rolling mill at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, to make the iron and nails sold in this market, and in these enterprises Mr. Lewis
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acquired valnable knowledge of the iron-making business. When the firm of Ford & Otis (Charles Otis), afterward the Otis Iron Company, was formed, Mr. Lewis took a one-third interest in it. Though a great undertaking for those days, the mills and furnaces of the company were small affairs compared with the iron plants of later times. They started with two furnaces and two hammers, employing about fifteen men. A year later two more hammers were put in; and in 1859 an 18-inch and an 8-inch mill were added to the plant. Eight or nine tons a day were considered a big prodnet. But the iron business was uncertain and discouraging at that time. The mills were entirely idle during twenty-one of the forty-eight months that Buchanan occupied the President's chair. The war and the Morrill tariff put life into it.
In 1872 Mr. Otis retired from the firm and the Lake Erie Iron Company sneceeded to the business, Mr. W. C. Scofield and Mr. Lewis purchasing the interest of Mr. Otis and E. B. Thomas. In this great establishment, which includes mills, furnaces, forges and one of the most extensive bolt and nut works in the eonn- try, Mr. Lewis is the largest individual stock- holder. When in full operation it gives ein- ployment to nearly 1,000 men. From 1861 to 1893 it never stopped work except for necessary repairs. It is not turning a wheel now, owing to the triumph of "tariff reform " at the elec- tions last fall.
Before the war, Mr. Lewis was one of the most active conductors of the "underground railway" in this city. The fugitive slaves were nsnally shipped across the lake on Canadian lumber vessels, and he relates many stirring in- cidents of those troublons times in which he played a leading part. The slavery question entered prominently into church discussions until after emancipation, and Mr. Lewis aflili- ated with the Wesleyan Methodists on that ac- connt, the Methodist Episcopal Church being divided on the issue. In 1872, however, he joined the First Methodist Episcopal Church and has been one of its main pillars over since.
Mr. Lewis was born in 1819, seventy-four years ago, but years seem to have little effect upon his vigorous frame and none whatever upon his capacity for business. Few of the young men of this city perform the amount of work that he does regularly, or devote as many hours daily to business duties. In 1845 he was mar- ried to Mrs. Harriet Lowrie, who died two years ago. Of the five children born to them only one survives, Mrs. C. II. Weed. Mr. Lewis lives at 615 Enelid avenue, in a home suited to his means but as unostentationsly as when he worked on Merwin street for a dollar a day.
Such is the plain but instructive story of the life of one of Cleveland's captains of industry, who for more than half a century has been an active figure in the development of her growth and power. Of all the men in business on Superior street when he made his first business venture only four remain-T. P. Handy, Will- iam Bingham, C. C. Carleton and John Corlett; while R. T. Lyon alone remains of those who were in business below Superior Street Ilill. During these fifty-two years Mr. Lewis has ac- quired a reputation for business foresight and ability, for progressive energy and sterling in- tegrity, which crown his whitening locks with wreaths of honor more enduring and more to be desired than the fleeting fame which rewards the achievements of public life. And the beauty of it all is that he hardly snspeets the value and example of his life to the community.
S GOULD, a veteran engineer of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company, las unquestionably covered more miles of different territory than any other one man in this country. He entered the rail- road service in February, 1866, as fireman on the Cleveland, Painesville & Ashtabula Rail- road. In a short time he was running an en- gine, and in 1865 he went into the Northwest and ran an engine on the Chicago & North-
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western, running ont of Winona, Minnesota. lle helped lay the rails on the River Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Panl Railroad from LaCrosse to Red Wing. Ile ran three months on the Union Pacific Railroad between Sidney and Cheyenne, Wyoming. He put in four months on the Northern Pacific Railroad, hanling iron for its construction from Suke Center to Brainard, and while engaged on the Sault Ste. Marie Railroad five years ago lie made a record of 594 miles in sixty-eight honrs, without being off duty, a record unheard of before. Ile also ran on the Pittsburg & Lake Erie, Minnesota Southern, Michigan Cen- tral and Minneapolis & Pacific. He has been in all the States and Territories.
Mr. Gould was born in Ashland county, Ohio, Jannary 27, 1850. His father, M. E. Gould, yet living, was a farmer all his active life. Ile came into Ohio in 1823, at the age of eleven years, and located in Sullivan, Ashland county. Abont 1845 he made a tonr of in- spection of several of our Western States,- Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Indi- ana,-but found no place so promising as Ohio, and returned and improved a home in Ashland connty. This family of Gonkls was originally from Vermont, our subject's grandfather, who was a Revolutionary soldier, being born there. Ile came West, as before stated, and is buried in Sullivan. M. E. Gonld married Miss Char- lotte Williams, a pioneer of Ohio. There were six children born of this muion: S. Gould, M. E. Gould, Mrs. M. Durham, of Ashland county ; Mrs. II. A. Parks, of Oberlin, Ohio, and two others.
Mr. S. Gould received a limited education from the district schools of Ashland county and in 1863 enlisted in the Second Ohio Cavalry, being mustered in at Wooster, this State. Ilis command was ordered into the Southwest, to Newtonia, Missouri, and during the campaign that followed he participated in twenty-six dif- ferent battles, some of them the noted ones. A battery called the Twenty-fifth Ohio was made up from the Second Ohio at Fort Scott,
Kansas, and Mr. Gonld was attached to that for the remainder of his service. Ile was mus- tered ont at Little Rock, Arkansas, December 10, 1865, and arrived at home Jannary 1, 1866, this being his first visit home since his clandes- tine departure for enlistment. By request of his mother, and on account of his extreme youth, President Lincoln sent Mr. Gould his discharge, but he refused to accept it or go home till all went.
May 25, 1875, Mr. Gould married, in Ashta- bula, Ohio, Elizabeth, a daughter of Jolin Cox, of that county, and they had one child, Gaylord Gould, now aged thirteen years.
Mr. Gonld is a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Engineers' Brotherhood.
W ILLIAM ARTHUR BRAUND, builder and maker of carriages, wagons and vehicles of all kinds at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was born in Devonshire, England, April 3, 1830. His father was William Braund, a native of Devonshire, and the son of William Brannd, Sr. (a native of Scotland) and Elizabeth (Ayers) Brannd, born in England. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a carpenter by trade, and taught this trade to his son, William, who married Elizabeth Sonthcomb, a native of Devonshire. William Brannd, Jr., lived to be eighty-nine years of age and died in the field at work, in Devonshire, England. His wife died at sixty years of age. They reared four children: William Arthur, Theresa, Samnel and Anne, deceased. The parents were members of the Church of England.
In his fourteenth year William Arthur was apprenticed to learn the trade of blacksmith, and served seven years, and all he received the first five years was his board, and the last two, eighteen pence per week. He became an expert. mechanic and worked as a journeyman for two years. Ile then sailed for America. He came to Chagrin Falls in 1852 and found work with Charles Chase, for one month, then rented a forge in the shop and went to work shocing
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horses. He was an expert shoer, and succeeded so well that in a short time he bought the shop of Mr. Chase. After continuing in this business two years, he sold out and worked in an ax factory for some time, again buying the shop, after a time, which he finally sold and went into the hardware business. This was sold out in abont fifteen months, and the shop was bought where he is now doing business with his sons. It is one of the pioneer shops of the town. The sons, like their father, are expert mechanies, and they have a large trade, and do a good business.
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