USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > Memorial record of the county of Cuyahoga and city of Cleveland, Ohio, pt 2 > Part 39
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Mr. Rouse was a man richly endowed for the work he had taken up in early life, and to which the whole of his manhood was devoted. lle was one of the most kind-hearted men. He was
generous, charitable, quick to act and certain in his course. Hle carried with him that enthusiasm necessary for the infusion of zeal in others. His greatest joy was found in doing good unto others. No other so well came living up to the golden rule, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
R EBECCA ELLIOTT ROUSE .- Of all the women of Cleveland, past and present, who by their noble works have won for themselves a conspienous place in the history of the eity, none are more deserving of notice than the late Mrs. Rebecca Elliott (Cromwell) Rouse, who in her quiet and un- ostentatious way did more to promote the growth of organized Christian work during the pioneer days of the Western Reserve than any other one woman.
This woman, so remarkable for her intelleet- ual and spiritual gifts, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on the 30th day of October, 1799, and died in Cleveland on the 23d day of December, 1887. Her father, John Cromwell, died when she was bnt a child, her mother sur- viving until during the '30s. Her childhood was spent in affluence, and to a liberal educa- tion was added the refining influences of exten- sive foreign travel. At the age of eighteen years she was married to Benjamin Rouse, and in 1825 removed with her husband to New York city. Always of a deep Christian and be- nevolent nature, Mrs. Ronse was not long in becoming interested in and identified with the benevolent and charitable work of the metropo- lis, so that five years later, when her husband was urged to go to Ohio, as the emissary of the Sabbath-school Union, she cheerfully abandonod the comforts of her eastern home to devote her- self to missionary work in the Western Reserve, then in a primitive state, where the work was urgent and the laborers few.
Mrs. Rouse's first work upon coming to Cleveland was to make a personal visitation into every house in the village, and her success
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was such that a church was soon organized, she, with her husband, being one of the seventeen original members of the First Baptist Society. When the infant church was in swaddling clothes, she was its nursing mother; she blessed it with her prayers and tears, and surrounded it with her loving anxiety. It was her greatest joy to see it grow and thrive and become strong.
In the wider realm of philanthropy her in- tluence as a leading spirit was everywhere felt. She was the organizer and the president of the Martha Washington Society of 1842, one of the earliest of Cleveland's benevolent societies, out of which grew the Protestant Orphan Asylum, the oldest of the Protestant benevolent institu- tions of the city, and of which Mrs. Rouse was for years the managing director. She was also a leading spirit in many other benevolent or- ganizations of the city during her active life, giving freely of her time, talents and means to further philanthropie work of all kinds. Many there are "who shall rise up and call her blessed." Not a few of these are the Ohio " Boys in Blue" of the war of the Rebellion. Never will they forget the continued self- sacrificing labor this great-hearted woman gave for live years, when she was instrumental in collecting and distributing millions of dollars' worth of supplies for the gallant siek and wounded lying in military hospitals. The call to arms was sounded on April 15, 1861. Five days later the "Soldiers' Aid Society of Cleveland, Ohio," was formed, and to it belongs the great and lasting honor of being the first society of women that met and organized for the noble work of bearing a people's love to the people's army. As president of this society, Mrs. Rouse became widely known and much beloved. To her wise administration of its affairs was largely dne the success of an enter- prise which achieved a national reputation. Although most unassuming, she was pressed into making some highly effective addresses which aroused the sympathy and patriotic inter- est of the women of northern Ohio in the great relief work of those eventful days.
On several occasions she went to the front, in connection with supplies sent, and visited the soldiers in military hospitals. At one period, when more buildings and supplies were ren- dered necessary to shelter and relieve the soldiers passing through Cleveland, so heavy had been the drain upon the resources of the citizens that some of the business men said that the money could not be raised. ller quiet and characteristic reply was, "It must be raised;" and it was. She possessed in a very large measure that genius of common sense, that breadth and boldness of conception and wonder- ful executive ability, which met and mastered difficulties as they arose, and which was ade- ynate to each emergency.
In honor of her great work in behalf of the soldiers, and in grateful memory of the woman, a bronze figure of Mrs. Ronse has been placed on the south side of, and her name inscribed within, Cuyahoga county's magnificent Soldiers' Monument, which has been erected in Cleve- land's Public Square.
Though of delicate appearance, Mrs. Rouse possessed great strength of mind and body, patience and endurance, and a will-power and conrage that knew no such word as fail. Iler deep religions nature, with all its earnestness, was turned into a patriotism which considered no sacrifice too great to save the country. IIumble, nnostentatious, heroic, self-sacrificing, noble-hearted woman and devoted Christian, she "rests from her labors and her works do follow her." She was universally loved and her name was a household word throughout the community. Her memory is loved and revered by thousands who came directly, or through the medium of loved ones, under the influence of her Christian spirit and benevolent works. Iler resting place is a sacred spot.
The following tribute to Mrs. Rouse is from the author of " Men and Events of Half a Century :" "A hundred years hence, when the census shall credit the beautiful city with a million of people, the ladies of Cleveland will celebrate the virtue and heroic devotion of the
ECKouse
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noble men and women whose names are ein- balmed in the historic record of the great sanitary fair of the Civil War and wonder that their ancestors could have done sneh mighty works; and the antiquarian will search among the moss-covered tombstones of Lake View, Woodland and Riverside for the names now familiar to us, and find his delight if, happily, he shall be enabled to decipher and slowly spell out the name of Mother Ronse."
E DWIN COOLIDGE ROUSE, Insurance President of Cleveland, the second son of Benjamin and Rebecca Elliott (Crom- well) Rouse, was born in New York city on the 12th day of August, 1827. During the period beginning with ante-bellum days and ending with his death on the 1st day of February, 1877, he was a well known and prominent figure in the commercial and insurance history of Cleveland.
Mr. Ronse was but three years of age when his parents came to Cleveland. Ilere he was reared and educated and began his business career as a member of the wholesale dry-goods house of Clark, Morgan & Company. A man of more than ordinary capabilities, he com- manded success in all his undertakings and was not long in making his way to the head of the firm of Rouse, Post & Company. While on- gaged in mercantile pursuits his methods were conspicnous as being most correct and honorable. When the firm with which he had been connected dissolved, in 1856, Mr. Ronse became identified with the insurance business, and to this voca- tion the best years of his life were devoted, ex- cepting for a period of three years that he served as Assistant Treasurer of Cuyahoga county, and a few months spent in military service as Captain of Company F, One Hundred and Fiftieth Ohio National Guard, commanding Fort Totten, one of the defenses of Washing- ton, District of Columbia.
In 1865 he resumed the insurance business, and upon the organization of the Sun Fire In-
snrance Company of Cleveland he became its secretary and treasurer, and in the spring of 1875 he was elected president of the company to fill the vacancy cansod by the death of Stillman Witt, and which ollice he held up to the time of his death. For several years he was man- ager of the Ohio business of the Continental Insurance Company of New York, and for five years was the president of the Cleveland Board of Underwriters; he was a member of the Na- tional Board of Fire Underwriters, and a mem- ber of its executive committee from its organ- ization until his death. Ile was also the first president of the American District Telegraph Company. In these varied positions of trust there were presented to him many opportunities for advancing the interests of all underwriters and for elevating the standard of the fire-in- suranee business, -opportunities which he never failed to embrace.
He uniformly commanded the respect of all who knew him, even where he failed to win the concurrent judginent of his professional as- sociates. lle was logical in his habits of thonght, and as free from the fear of reckless competition as he was from the influence of personal greed. Possessed of a warm, generous nature, he was charitable in his judgment of others, stanch and true in his friendships and worthy of the affectionate regard in which he was held.
Mr. Rouse was united in marriage, at Cleve- land, Angust 12, 1850, to Mary Miller, daugh- ter of Joseph K. Miller, who was the son of William and Hannah Miller. Joseph K. Miller was born Jannary 12, 1802, and was brought in his childhood by his parents from their Mary- land home to Ohio. He was married February 14, 1826, to Margaret Spangler, who was born June 18, 1809, at Canton, Ohio, a daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Spangler. Mr. Miller died at the age of thirty-six, and his wife, a woman of many admirable traits of character, ended her long and active life, replete with many acts of benevolence and charity, on Sep- tember 26, 1891.
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Mrs. Mary Miller Rouse died January 13, 1884. She was a lady of great beauty of char- acter and amiability of disposition, possessed of much artistic taste and an innate love of the beautiful. She and her husband were alike lovers of music and were united in their relig- ious life in song, giving more than twenty-nine years of their time and service to the conduct of the choir of the First Baptist Church, of which they were both devoted members.
H ENRY CLARK ROUSE, financier and railway president, only son of the late Edwin C. and grandson of the late Benjamin Rouse, was born on the 15th day of March, 1853, in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, where as a youth he received his academ- ic education, graduating at the age of eight- een. Following this he continued his studies under private tutors for two years, and then went abroad, spending some time in foreign travel.
When twenty-one he entered his father's office and there obtained a thorough business training, by reason of which he was able to as- summe with ease, at the age of twenty-three, the entire business of his father upon the latter's death in 1877, thus becoming at once conspien- ous as the youngest insurance manager in this country. Ilis administration of the affairs of this office was most successful, but the develop- ment of superior powers for broader organiza- tion and execution five years later led to his giving up his active interest in under-writing to engage in other pursuits.
The record of the business achievements of Henry C. Rouse during the past ten years speaks volumes for his ability as a financier and man of affairs. Cleveland's first large apart- ment house, " The Lincoln," was the work of his brain, and in 1852 was operated by him as the managing director of the Lincoln Apartment House Company.
About this time the marked executive ability and general business talents of Mr. Rouse began
to attract attention, and during the business depression of 1883 his services were enlisted in behalf of the Joel Hayden Brass Company, of Lorain, Ohio, a large concern then verging on bankruptey. He thus became identified with the brass-manufacturing business of the coun- try, and in the following year he was made president of the " Hayden Company," which corporation was operating large brass works at Haydenville, Massachusetts. Following this he became president of the United Brass Company, of New York, then the leading brass-manufac- turi, g company of the country.
Thus at the age of thirty we find Mr. Rouse, through his ability as a financial manager, the youngest officer of the corporation of which he is president, though representing the largest interests in the brass-manufacturing industry. At this time Mr. Rouse also held official posi- tions in a number of Ohio enterprises of greater or less importance, among others the Britton Iron & Steel Company, of Cleveland, and the Lorain Manufacturing Company, both of which, together with all his interests in brass manufac- ture, have been wholly abandoned within the last three or four years, his time now being en- tirely devoted to the administration of railway properties.
In 1885 Mr. Ronse was brought into relation with a western railroad enterprise, and joined a syndicate for the construction of the Chicago, Wisconsin & Minnesota Railrod, an extension of the Wisconsin Central System, from Mil- wankee to Chicago. Previous to this he had devoted considerable attention to the study of railroad interests, in pursuit of which he traveled extensively over a great portion of this contin- ent, visiting every State and Territory in this country and all the provinces of the British Possessions in America. The fund of general information thus obtained pertaining to the vast material resources of the country, and their re- lation to trade centers and the avenues of com- merce, admirably adapted him for entering upon the broad field of practical railroad admin- istration that has sinco been opened to him. It
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is in this direction that he has achieved his greatest snecess, as in it he has found an oppor- tunity to develop the musual organizing and administrative abilities inherited from his pa- ternal grandmother.
On June 1, 1887, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company defaulted in payment of mortgage interest and the road passed into the hands of receivers. In 1891 a reorganiza- tion of this company was effected, and in June of that year Mr. Rouse was offered the position of chairman of its board of directors. He ac- cepted the position and the company's property was turned over to him by the receivers July 1, 1891, sinee which time he has made rapid strides in the railway and financial world, and is to-day recognized, both in this country and abroad, as one of the rising men in railway cir- eles in America. Under his skillful direction the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Com- pany has been rescued from its bankrupt condi- tion and placed upon a sound physical and fin- ancial basis, and has attained an important place among the great railway systems of this coun- try. Recognition of Mr. Rouse's successful administration has come each year since 1891 in the way of his continued re- election as chairman of the board of directors, and by his election as president of the company as well in May, 1893. With his first election as president of the Mis- sonri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company, Mr. Ronse became the youngest railway president in this country.
Another recognition of Mr. Rouse's abilities came in 1893, when, on the 15th day of August of that year, he was appointed receiver of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, a position he also holds at the present time. In January, 1894, an application was made to the courts by adverse parties actuated by selfish motives for the removal of Mr. Rouse and his associates From the receivership of this railroad, but the court passed upon the application fully exoner- ating Mr. Rouse from all charges, sustaining him as receiver and confirming his appointment.
Besides being at the head of two of the largest
systems in the United States, aggregating 7,000 miles of railroad, Mr. Rouse has many other col- lateral interests, being officially connected with a score or more of railroad and kindred enterprises.
As an illustration of the breadth of the man and his capabilities, and the wide scope and ramification of his interests, extending through fifteen States and Territories, the following list of the official positions he holds is here given:
Chairman of board and president, Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway System; receiver of the Northern Pacific Railroad; chairman of the board of the Missouri, Kansas & Eastern Rail- road Company; president of each of the follow- ing companies: Boonville Railroad Bridge Com pany, Northern Pacific & Manitoba Railway Company, Winnipeg Transfer Railway Com- pany, Limited, Coeur d'Alene Railway & Naviga- tion Company, Helena & Jefferson County Rail- road Company, Fargo & Southwestern Railroad Company, Southeastern Dakota Railroad Com- pany, Northern Pacific & Cascade Railroad Company, Central Washington Railroad Com- pany, Washington Short Line Railroad Con- pany, Rocky Fork & Cooke City Railway Com- pany, Sanborn, Cooperstown & Turtle Mountain Railway, Tacoma, Orting & Southeastern Rail- road Company; and director in each of the fol- lowing companies: Kansas City & Pacific Rail- way Company, Denison & Washita Valley Rail- way Company, Southwestern Coal & Improve- ment Company, Osage Coal & Mining Company, Chicago & Northern Pacific Railroad Company, Chicago & Calumet Railroad Company, St. Paul & Northern Pacific Railway Company, Spokane Falls & Idaho Railway Company, Spokane Falls & Palouse Railway Company, Little Falls & Dakota Railway Company, North- ern Pacific, Fergus & Black Hills Railway Com- pany, Duluth & Manitoba Railway Company, Northern Pacific, LaMoure & Missouri River Railroad Company, James River Valley Rail- way Company, Jamestown & Northern Rail- way Company, Rocky Mountain Railroad of Montana, Helena & Red Mountain Railway . Company, Jamestown & Northern Extension
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Railway Company, Duluth, Crookston & North- ern Railway Company, Clealum Railroad, North- ern Pacific & Montana Railway Company, and Montana Union Railway Company.
It is a characteristic of Mr. Ronse, in con- nection with the many enterprises with which he has been identified, that he has manifested an intimate knowledge of the resources and possi- bilities of his undertakings, and has demon- strated his power of readily applying the most practical expedients at the proper time. Ilis capacity for acquiring minute information and his unusual powers of observation and concen- tration of details has caused his services to be greatly sought for where intricate and difficult problems are encountered in the conduct of large enterprises. Although of a conservative nature, once a determination reached, he plans broadly and boldly, and exeentes with celerity and confidence.
Personally Mr. Ronse possesses most attraet- ive characteristics. Although a man of very positive views and unequivocal expression, ho is of most agreeable address, kind and courteous, easy of approach and of decided personal mag- netism. lle has traveled so extensively, both in this country and in Europe, that his circle of acquaintance is very large both at home and abroad, and he possesses the varied accomplish- ments of the thoroughly trained man of the world. Ile is a member of the Union, Road- side and Athletic Clubs of Cleveland, and the Country Club of Glenville; of the Metropolitan, Riding, Ragnet and Tennis, and Lawyers' Clubs, the Seawanhaka-Corinthian and New York Yacht Clubs, and the Down Town Association of New York city.
At his home in Cleveland, where he occupies the old family homestead, a beautiful residence on Enelid avenne, Mr. Rouse is thoroughly ap- preciated by his friends and fellow townsmen, all of whom consider him a good citizen, and class him among the ablest railroad presidents and financiers of the country, and take a per- - sonal pride in his achievements, regarding his Blecess as a compliment to the city.
OHN G. REITZ is a son of the late George P. Reitz. His mother was Barbara (Lehr)
Reitz. The parents were born in Germany, emigrating to America late in the '40s, living for a short time in Cleveland and then settling in Rockport township, where the father died in 1856.
John G. was the youngest of a family of ten children. Ile was born in Rockport township December 16, 1855. Here he was brought up and received a common-school education.
Hle was married in Rockport township, Feb- rmary 14, 1882 to Miss Mary Barthelman, daughter of John Christopher Barthelman, who died in Rockport township, December 16, 1877. Mrs. Mary Reitz are the parents of four chil- dren,-Henry G., Frederick W., Anna K. and John C.
Mr. Reitz was elected one of the councilmen of Roekport Hamlet in April, 1893. Hle has been school director for several years. Farm- ing has been his life work, and he owns the old homestead which formerly belonged to his father, consisting of eighty acres.
Mr. Reitz and his wife are members of the German Protestant Church.
H H. PARR, manager of the Ohio Oil & Grease Company, was born in Cleveland, May 16, 1870, a son of Thomas W. and Caroline (Hlattersley) Parr, natives of England and Cleveland, respectively. The father came to this city in 1865, when he en- gaged in contracting and building, and later succeeded his father-in-law, Henry Ilattersley, in the gunsmith store. He is now engaged in the coal business on South Woodland avenue, Cleveland. The family residence is located at 35 Platt street. Mr. and Mrs. Parr had four children, namely: II. H., our subject; William J., secretary of the Cleveland Window (Inss Company, married Miss Ella Chapin, of this city; Katherine and Carolino, attending the city high school,
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II. 11. Parr received his education in the public school of this city, and also in the Spen- cerian Business College. After leaving school he was employed as clerk for the Manufacturers' Oil Company for seven years, and then, in 1892, assumed control of the Ohio Oil & Grease Company. The oil is manufactured in Cleve- land, and is shipped to all parts of the United States. The company send out 250 sample cases, and employment is also given to many in handling and shipping.
Mr. Parr was married in August, 1893, to Miss Georgia Ilunt, a daughter of the late William Hunt, of northeast Maryland. He was a prominent manufacturer, and also had a largo business in Philadelphia. Mrs. Hunt is still living, an honored resident of Cleveland. She is a member of the First Baptist Church. Mr. Parr is a member of the East Madison Avenne Congregational Church, and his wife of the Baptist Church.
S AMUEL A. RAYMOND .- Specific ca- pability coupled with fidelity to any im- portant trust imposed or conferred will eventuato in the average case in something more than the mere subjective satisfaction that must come when one's duty is fulfilled. There will be a reward extraneous to this, while yet its natural sequence. Thus it is in the case of the thorough executive and honored business man whose name constitutes the eaption of this par- agraph. He is a native of the same county of which he is now a resident and was born August 27, 1845. His parents were Samuel and Mary (North) Raymond, the former of whom was born at Bethlehem, Connectient, in 1805, and the lat- ter in the State of New York, in 1811.
Samnel Raymond was one of the pioneer mer- chants of Cleveland, coming from New Britain, Connecticut, in 1836 and at once opening a dry- goods establishment in the Forest City. This enterprise, which in its importance and range of operations kept pace with the growth and de-
velopment of the city, was continued by its in- ceptor up to the time of his death, in 1866. IIe was widely and favorably known as one of the leading merchants of Cleveland during those early years of her history. He was a promi- nent member of the first Presbyterian Church and was one of the trustees of the Cleveland Medieal College (as it was then known), contrib- nting largely to the success of the institution when it was endeavoring to establish itself upon a firm and permanent basis. As a business man he was duly conservative, ordering his affairs with careful discrimination and gaining a repu- tation for irreproachable integrity and honesty of purpose. Ilis death was of tragie order: he was on board the ill-fated Mississippi river steamer, W. R. Carter, which was demolished by the explosion of her boilers, near Vicksburg, in 1866. More than 200 persons met death as the result of this accident, and Mr. Raymond was one of the victims. He was drowned and his body was never recovered. He was making a pleasure trip in company with his wife and the latter was saved from death, though one of her limbs was fractured at the time. The wid- ow survived for six years, but never rallied from the shock and bereavement entailed by the fearful disaster. She died in 1872, at the age of sixty-one years.
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