USA > Ohio > Representative citizens of Ohio : memorial-genealogical > Part 47
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As a member of the bar, Mr. Gregg faithfully and honestly discharged his duty. He always maintained the respect that is due to courts of justice. He always counseled and maintained such actions and defenses only as appeared to him to be just. He never sought to employ means other than were consistent with truth, and never sought to mislead the court or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law. He always abstained
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from offensive personality. He never encouraged the commence- ment or continuance of an action or proceeding from any motive of passion or interest. He was never known to reject from any consideration personal to himself the cause of the defenseless or depressed. He adhered so closely to the professional code of ethics that his conduct in that respect was sufficient to show that he merited the confidence all had in his integrity.
In the ranks of the Republican party, Mr. Gregg was, as has been suggested, active for many years and had rendered ef- ficient service as county chairman, contributing largely by his personal efforts to his party's success in the campaigns. Fra- ternally, he was a member of the Masonic order, in which he had taken the degrees of the Scottish rite, and was also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and other fra- ternities. Religiously, he was an active member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, to the support of which he was a liberal contributor. He was generous and charitable in his at- titude towards all worthy causes, none of which appealed to him in vain. Every benevolent movement found in him a friend- indeed his support was given without hesitation to everything that promised to benefit the people of his community, materially, socially, educationally, or morally.
On July 9, 1886, Henry Gregg was married to Sarah J. Walker, and to them was born a daughter, Clara B., who is now a popular and successful teacher in the Steubenville High School. Personally, Mr. Gregg was a man of marked domestic tastes and found his greatest enjoyment in his home. He was an extensive reader of the world's best literature and possessed a splendid library of well selected works, in the midst of which he spent some of his most enjoyable hours. He was widely and accurately informed on a varied range of subjects and was a most entertain- ing conversationalist. He was a genial companion and in all the circles in which he moved he enjoyed a deserved popularity.
Joseph Cooper Price
MONG the successful self-made men of the past gen- eration in northern Ohio whose efforts and influence contributed to the upbuilding and general business activity of their respective communities, the late Joseph Cooper Price, of Toledo, occupied a conspicuous place. Always ambitious to do things, but surrounded by none too favor- able environment, his early youth was not especially promising, but he accepted the discouraging situation without a murmur and, resolutely facing the future, gradually surmounted the dif- ficulties in his way and in due course of time rose to a prominent position in the industrial circles of his community, besides win- ning the confidence and esteem of those with whom he was brought in contact, and for many years he stood as one of Toledo's most representative pioneer citizens. He was a liberal-minded, whole- souled, kind-hearted, and withal a useful and noble man, who justly won the unstinted praise and respect of all who knew him, and his somewhat remarkable and interesting record might be studied with rrofit by the young man whose destinies are yet matters for the future to determine.
Mr. Price was a descendant of an English family that dates back to the time of Edward II. His ancestors came to America early in its history and settled in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. His earliest forebears of whom there is record, were Sir Ralph de Neville and Lady Sanford, and the genealogy of the family leads back to these two, who were in the fifth degree related to Edward II. Through a number of generations this family played a more or less conspicuous part in the history of that old settle- ment near the Jersey Coast, and it was at Elizabethtown that Joseph Cooper Price was born on March 4, 1833. He was the son of Joseph Dayton Cooner Price and wife, his mother dying when he was two years of age. His early davs were spent in his native town and he received his education at a boarding school. His early life was an eventful one, dating from his sixteenth vear. when he broke home ties and shipped for a voy- age that ended in South America. After some months he tired of Valparaiso, where he landed after a stormv trin, and again set sail. bound this time for San Francisco. It was then in the first years of the discovery of gold on the coast, and for a space
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of time Mr. Price cast his lot with the "forty-niners," in a land that knew little of law or authority. Tiring of the lawlessness that held life at such a low value, young Price followed again the impulse to wander, and left the coast for a voyage to South America and later wandered back again to the States. When the Civil War broke out he was in Washington City and entered the government service there. He was in the surgeon general's office there a part of the time and also in the office of the second comptroller of the currency, very ably and conscientiously per- forming his every duty and winning the hearty approval of his superiors.
Upon returning to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, after his eventful early career, he accepted a position with a cousin who ran a grocery store in that place, and while living there, in 1855, he was united in marriage with Carrie Day Storms, a daughter of Cornelius and Anna (Richards) Storms. She was born and reared in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, her father having been a manufacturer of hats there, and his death occurred while he was in St. Louis, Missouri, on a business trip, when his daughter, Carrie Day, was an infant. Her mother continued to reside in Elizabethtown for many years and there reared her family, and later in life made her home with her son, George W. Storms, now a retired clothing merchant in Rochester, New York, in which city occurred the death of Mrs. Anna Storms, mother of Mrs. Price, at the advanced age of over eighty years.
Mr. and Mrs. Price spent the first few years of their married life in Elizabethtown, then moved to Rochester, New York, where our subject kept books for his brother-in-law, George W. Storms. While holding this position he often heard through traveling men visiting that store, much praise of Toledo, Ohio, and he decided to come here to locate. He had never visited this city, but, al- ways willing to take a chance, he went to New York City, pur- chased a bill of goods for a gents' furnishing store and had them shipped to Toledo, to a building already selected for him by a traveling salesman, a friend of his. Arriving in Toledo in 1867 he was at first very much disappointed with the city. He found his store nothing more than a small one-story frame residence located on Summit Street, between Madison and Jefferson Streets, but he soon learned to like the place and, foreseeing a great future for the same, decided to establish his permanent home here, and in a short time he had become well situated. His first store burned after he had been here a year or two, and he moved to another on the same block on Summit Street, later re-
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moved to his best remembered store at the corner of Summit Street and Madison Avenue, where he conducted a popular and profitable store until 1882, when he disposed of his business and from that time until his death he lived retired from active life, having, through his close application and the exercise of sound judgment, accumulated a competency. He had acquired con- siderable real estate and this he continued to look after, having invested his earnings in good residence property, and now his widow owns, besides her own attractive, commodious, and costly home at 222 Eleventh Street, eleven other desirable properties, valuable and well-located residences. When he came to Toledo his boundless energy that had formerly driven him from one place to another was restrained and directed in other courses, much to the upbuilding and development of the city. He had seen something of the recklessness as well as the wickedness of the world in the towns and settlements on the outposts of civili- zation. He found many in the city in which he had elected to love who needed help to lift them out of the depths. He was one of the founders of the old Adams Street City Mission, that has become one of Toledo's established institutions for religious and philanthropic work. The circumstances attending its be- ginning were quite out of the ordinary. At a meeting held at the residence of one of the leading citizens of that day, in Jan- uary, 1871, those present pledged themselves to begin a work that would tend to the uplifting of the young men and women from the shame and sin into which so many had fallen. Mr. Price had organized a Bethel Sunday-school previous to this, and he was familiar with the conditions of the city in the districts where vice flourished. A concert saloon that was notorious at the time was located on South St. Clair Street, and Mr. Price went to the proprietor and asked for the use of the place for a Sunday meet- ing. The proprietor, a German, gave it willingly, and the first religious meeting was held in the theater while the proprietor and bartender poured drinks for customers in the adjoining room. The meeting was a great success, and a second one was held the following Sunday. This was the beginning of the now historic mission.
In 1879, J. Cooper Price published a book, "Wild Oats," which was widely read and much commented on, which showed the author's versatility and literary powers, and which is a story of that early period of his life when the wandering impulse in his blood led him from place to place, among people and scenes that could not fail to leave their impress upon him.
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Mr. Price was prominent in Masonic circles, having attained the thirty-second degree in that time-honored order, and he was a Knight Templar, in fact, he was one of the best known and most highly esteemed men in Toledo and the good he did here cannot be measured, since the forces he set in motion for the betterment of his fellow men are still at work, making brighter, happier, and better many a life that needed help.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Price was without issue, they reared an adopted daughter, Lena Price, who married Harry B. Tichenor, and for several years they lived at Santa Barbara, California, he being now a stock broker in New York City. Mrs. Tichenor's death occurred on June 20, 1912.
Among the prized possessions of Mrs. Price, are two fine oil paintings, one of herself and the other of Mr. Price, which were made while they lived in Rochester, and while they were still in their early twenties.
In 1908, the subject of this memoir celebrated his seventy- fifth birthday with a notable dinner at which his friends of the early days on the coast and others of long standing were present. The guests went in costumes representing historical characters, and Mr. and Mrs. Price appeared as General Andrew Jackson and Mrs. Jackson, the day being the seventy-fifth anniversary of the inauguration of Andrew Jackson.
The death of J. Cooper Price occurred on December 25, 1910, after a lingering illness, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. His funeral, which was very largely attended, was in charge of the Masonic bodies.
Joseph Grasser
ERMANY has contributed some of her best citizens to the United States-men who have here entered into the spirit of our institutions and have not only gained pecuniary independence for themselves, but have also been a distinct acquisition to our population. In taking up this review of the life of the late Joseph Grasser, one of the worthiest pioneers of Toledo, Ohio, and for a number of decades one of the foremost business men of this section of the State, the biographer calls attention to one who by a life of earnest and consecutive en- deavor won for himself the sincere respect of all who came in con- tact with him. For many years he was a potent factor in the in- dustrial and civic life of the city honored so long by his residence, where no man stood higher with all classes, and he is therefore emi- nently worthy of a conspicuous place in the history of the Buckeye State.
Mr. Grasser was born in Hochfelden, Alsace-Lorraine, Ger- many, February 14, 1828. He was the son of Anton and Margaret Grasser. He grew to manhood in his native land and as a boy he attended the common schools and learned the car- penter's trade, and after completing his apprenticeship in that he learned the brewer's business at Strasburg. Believing that greater opportunities existed for him in the new republic of the West, he crossed the great Atlantic to our shores when he was twenty years of age, landing at New Orleans, where he worked for a short time as brewmeister, then went to St. Louis, Mis- souri, where he followed the same line of work for a short time, then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, continuing the same line of en- deavor. He had become an expert in this work and gave emi- nent satisfaction to his employers in each of these cities. Not long after he located in Cincinnati, he was united in marriage to Barbara Scharff, a native of Germany, and by that marriage two children were born-Anton Grasser and Rose Grasser, the lat- ter becoming the wife of Emil Hoffman; both these children live in Toledo, Ohio, at this writing. Shortly after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Grasser moved to Toledo, in 1858, and here Mr. Grasser soon became brewmeister for the old Stevens Brewery on Michigan Street, but remained there only a short time, then took a similar position with the Koehler Brewery, and for a
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period of over fifty years he was a prominent figure in the brewery trade of Toledo, recognized all over this part of the Middle West as a man of energy, fair dealings and obliging nature. Toledo was a comparatively small town when he came here, but with characteristic foresight he could see that its future greatness was assured, and he decided to make his permanent home here, and he assisted very materially in its growth and up-building. He was not satisfied to remain merely a brew- meister, and ere long we find him building a brewery for himself on St. Clair Street, thus founding the prosperous and widely known Grasser & Brand Brewing Company, which grew to a prosperous industry under his capable management, and made a fortune for him. It was finally merged with the Toledo-Huebner Company at which time our subject retired from active life, hav- ing through his close application, straightforward dealings with his fellow men, and the exercise of sound judgment accumu- lated a handsome competency, becoming one of the substantial and most representative business men of the city of Toledo.
A few years after moving to Toledo, the first wife of the subject of this memoir was called to her rest. In 1870, Mr. Grasser returned to Cincinnati and there married Christina Pressler, a lady of many commendable attributes and the daughter of a fine old German family. She is a daughter of Martin and Susana Pressler. She was born in Germany and when young in years came with her parents to America, in fact, she was but two years old when she left her native land, conse- quently was reared to womanhood and educated in this country. Her father located first in Miamisburg, Ohio, where for several years he worked as a contractor, subsequently purchasing a fine farm in Darke County, Ohio, and there he became one of the lead- ing and prosperous agriculturists, and on that farm Mrs. Grasser spent much of her girlhood.
After their marriage Mr. Grasser immediately took his bride to Toledo where he had already become well established in a prosperous business. To this union six children were born, five of whom are still living, named as follows: Christine, who makes her home with her mother at the beautiful and attractive Grasser homestead, adjoining Walbridge Park, Toledo; Edward married Jessie Martin, and they have one child, Irene; he is vice president of the Huebner Brewing Company, and lives in a fine modern home at 2665 Broadway, overlooking Walbridge Park and the beautiful Maumee River, Toledo; he is a young man of exceptional business ability. Katherine is the wife of William
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F. Meister, of Toledo; Augusta and Joseph M. are the two youngest of the family. These children have received every ad- vantage of education and social and business training and they stand high in the best social circles of their home city.
Joseph Grasser, of this memoir, was a man of indomitable energy and very public-spirited, and always stood ready to as- sist in the furtherance of any laudable movement for the general good of the city of his choice, and although often importuned to do so by his many friends he would never accept a political posi- tion, preferring to devote his time exclusively to his extensive business affairs and to his home. The only office he ever held was that of water works trustee. In 1887, he began the erection of his imposing and commodious home at 2630 Broadway, which is located on a tract of land covering four acres and which in beauty and fortunate location rivals Walbridge Park, which is adjoining. The grounds are laid out in splendid drives, with fine shade trees, flowers and shrubbery on the spacious, velvet- like lawns. When this magnificent home was built it was on a ten acre plot of ground, one end of which was for many years used as an amusement park, but the buildings were burned some time ago.
The death of Joseph Grasser occurred suddenly and without warning on April 29, 1908, at the advanced age of eighty years. He had been in fairly good health up to the last and only a few days previously had celebrated his thirty-eighth wedding anni- versary. He was buried in Forest Cemetery, where in that serene "God's Acre," he is quietly sleeping, "after life's fitful fever," having left behind him much valuable property, the rec- ord of a helpful citizen, and what is more to be desired by his family, his descendants and his wide circle of friends and ad- mirers-a good name, "which is to be chosen rather than fine gold." His loss was deeply deplored by the entire city, he hav- ing been universally recognized as one of the most prominent German-American citizens of northern Ohio. He was a member of the German Pioneer Society and the Toledo Maennerchor. Personally, he was a gentleman of pleasing address, genial, chari- table and always a man of pure ideals and broad mind, hospita- ble and worthy in every respect of the trust and confidence that were reposed in him by all who knew him.
Talilliam Senn
T IS a recognized fact that the most powerful influence on public life is the press. It reaches the people in greater numbers and thus has been a most important factor in molding public opinion and shaping the des- tiny of the nations. The late William Senn was for an extended period prominently connected with journalism in Ohio, and for more than three decades of his strenuous, useful and honorable career was editor and owner of the "Sandusky Democrat." Northern Ohio recognized him as one of its ablest representa- tives and his connection with the affairs which affected the gen- eral welfare was of such a character that the public long ac- knowledged his power and beneficial support, and his name will always adorn the roster of distinguished journalists. He has given to the world a heritage of noble thoughts and noble deeds, having been a man of broad mental ken and one who viewed life and its responsibility in their right proportions. He was never given to rash inferences and half views. The leap from the particular to the general has ever been tempting to the thought- less, but not to this man of strength and judgment and lofty motives. He was a true friend of humanity and even the data of this epitomized memoir will clearly indicate this; for in many ways the thought, care and counsel given by Mr. Senn to the general improvement of his city and locality helped to place them on their present high standard, and the people of this section of the State owe him a debt of gratitude which can never be re- paid.
William Senn hailed from the rugged little republic of Swit- zerland, from whence has come so many of our progressive pa- triots, being a scion of a sterling family. He was born there on December 26, 1842, at Unter-Endingen, Canton Aargau, and there he spent his early boyhood, being twelve years of age when he made the long journey and tedious voyage, in 1854, to the in- terior of the United States with his parents, landing at New Orleans, but the family located in Memphis, Tennessee, where they lived for some time, thence removed to Sandusky, Ohio, and here established their permanent home.
William Senn received a good common school education in this and his native country, for, being ambitious and nature hav-
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ing blessed him with a quick mind, he mastered rapidly the ele- ments of education, which were greatly supplemented in later life by wide miscellaneous home study and by actual contact with the world in general. When he first came to Ohio he found an opportunity to gratify his ambition of long standing to enter the newspaper field, for which nature seems to have especially en- dowed him. He worked for a German newspaper in Cleveland, where he became a printer's foreman. Later he came to Sandusky where he obtained the same position with the "Sandusky Regis- ter." His rise was rapid, due to merit, and, being a man who applied himself closely and saved his money, he was finally en- abled to purchase the "Sandusky Democrat," which paper had been losing prestige for some time, being badly run down when he took possession of it. With characteristic energy and fore- sight he soon had things running on a new basis and with re- newed energy, and by it was not long until he became recognized as a power in the newspaper world, his paper increasing rapidly in circulation and becoming popular with advertisers. Its me- chanical appearance was brightened and its editorial columns strengthened. He added to his equipment from time to time and eventually had one of the best equipped plants in this part of the State, and he always kept well abreast of the times in everything that pertained to his line of endeavor. He continued to operate the "Democrat" for a period of more than thirty years or until his death, which occurred on October 16, 1902, after which his son, William F. Senn took charge of the plant and con- tinued to run it along the lines inaugurated by his father until 1904 when he sold out.
For a number of years Mr. Senn lived in an unpretentious home on Monroe Street where his death occurred. He com- menced the erection of a beautiful home on Adams Street, near Fulton, which, however, he was destined never to occupy. He had been very successful in a business way and accumulated a competency. In his home life Mr. Senn was a devoted husband and father. He was married on October 13, 1860, to Sophia Kromer, daughter of Ferdinand Kromer and wife, both natives of Germany, where they spent their childhood, coming to America when young and here they were married. They established their permanent home in northern Ohio and here the father died some ten years ago, August 10, 1912, but the mother of Mrs. Senn is still living, having attained the advanced age of eighty-three years, still living on the old farm.
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Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Senn; namely, William F., mentioned above, married Ida Stang, of Sandusky, and they have one child-Frank; our subject's oldest son has con- tinued to make his home in Sandusky where he is a successful manufacturer. Clara, the second child, is the wife of George Zimmerman; Otto married Nora Endel, and they have two children-William and Elizabeth.
In its eulogistic article on the death of the subject of this memoir, one of the leading dailies of Sandusky said in part:
"William Senn, veteran editor and highly respected citizen, is dead. The end came calmly, peacefully, and quickly. To the last the aged man was conscious and cheerful, until, like a flash, the heart was touched, and ceased its beating. The struggle against disease had ended. He was aged sixty years. Few men have been better known in the community, and none more highly respected than William Senn, and the announce- ment of his death brought forth expressions of profound regret and sympathy. Among newspaper men this was true, and it was also true among all classes of people, business men, and laborers. The widow and children have the sympathy of all. While the burial will mark the end of the career of William Senn, his memory will live after him. As a writer, as a student of public questions, as a citizen, his course was always such as to win admiration and respect. His voice was ever raised in be- half of justice and truth, and the influence which he wielded as editor of the "Democrat" was widespread, powerful, and good. He was a Democrat, though independent in all respects, even in politics, and he dared to express his views and the expression took such vigorous form as to carry conviction with it. He was rightly rated one of the leading German editorial writers and newspaper men of the country. Mr. Senn was essentially a self- made man."
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