Cleveland Past and Present

M >> Maurice Joblin >> Cleveland Past and Present

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46

During 1836 and 7, Mr. Barr devoted a good deal of time in collecting
statistics of this port, the business of the city, its population, &c.,
&c., and also of the west generally, and laying them before the public in
the papers of Philadelphia and other eastern cities. In company with Mr.
Willey and the late Governor Tod, he visited Baltimore, Philadelphia, New
York and Boston, endeavoring to enlist the attention of capitalists to
aid in those enterprises. But the crash of 1837, and the general
prostration of business, that followed all over the country, rendered it
unavailing. In the Winter of 1838, Mr. Gidings, S. Starkweather,
Frederick Whittlesey, Wm. B. Lloyd and Mr. Barr were appointed a
committee to attend a railroad convention at Harrisburgh, Pa., to promote
the project of the railroad from Cleveland to Philadelphia, by way of
Pittsburgh. In 1838 and 9, at the request of John W. Willey, he still
spent much of his time in sending a series of articles on the importance
of the project, that were published monthly in the North American, a
paper in Philadelphia devoted to such projects.

Through the disastrous state of the times, these various measures had to
yield, and become, for the time being, failures; but time has shown that
those who were engaged in them were only in advance of the spirit and
means of the age.

In 1844, when this subject again arrested the attention of the Cleveland
public, Mr. Barr, although crushed by the storm of 1837, again resumed
the subject with his pen, and gave to the public in the National
Magazine, published in New York, quite a history of the city, its early
settlement, &c., together with a full description of the shipping on
their lakes, tonnage, trade, &c., that cost weeks of hard labor and
patience, more particularly to place our city in a favorable view before
the eastern public.

In 1846, a friend of Mr. B. sent him a petition to circulate and send to
the Hon. Thomas Corwin, one of Ohio's Senators, asking Congress for aid to
survey and establish a railroad to the Pacific.

In circulating this petition, Mr. Barr was gravely inquired of by one of
our citizens, "if he expected to live to see such a road built?" Mr. Barr
replied, "if he should live to the usual age of men, he did expect to see
it commenced, and perhaps built." The reply was, "If you do, you will be
an older man than Methusalah!" Both have lived to know that great work has
been achieved.

Mr. Barr procured over six hundred names to his petition, which was duly
presented by Mr. Corwin. Cleveland has now reason to be proud of the
interests she manifested in that great work, at so early a day.

In 1857, Mr. Barr brought the first petroleum to this city, made from
cannel coal, to be used as a source of light. This was new and regarded as
utopian. The article was very odorous, and failed to be acceptable to the
public, but as time rolled on, improvements in refining were made, and now
the largest manufacturing business in our city is that of petroleum.

Few, if any, of citizens have spent more time and pains in collecting and
giving to the public reminiscences of early days and early settlers--those
who located in this region, and who under such privations, trials,
hardships and sufferings commenced levelling these mighty forests,
erecting log cabins, and in due time made this formidable wilderness "bud
and blossom as the rose." In that respect Mr. Barr has done much to
preserve and lay before the public from time to time, brief histories of
many of those brave men and women who left their homes and friends in the
east, and comparative comforts, to settle in the western wilderness, to
build up homes for their children and future generations. Howe's history
of Ohio, and Col. Chas. Whittlesey's history of the city of Cleveland,
bear witness that his generous heart and gifted pen have furnished
tributes of respect to the memory of the noble pioneers, after the battle
of life with them was over, and thus supplying links to our historic chain
that makes it comparatively perfect.

Among the many reminiscences of early times related to us by Mr. Barr,
there is one we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of relating, and
preserving: William Coleman, Esq., came to Euclid in 1803, selected a lot
of land and with his family settled upon it in 1804. For several years the
few settlers experienced a good deal of inconvenience in having only the
wild game of the country for meat, and which, at certain seasons of the
year, was unfit for the table. In the Spring the streams that put into the
lake abounded with excellent fish, and the season lasted about four weeks.
The question arose, "could these fish be preserved in salt for future
use?" The universal answer was No! The idea of preserving _fresh water_
fish in salt seemed incredible; the red man was appealed to, but he shook
his head in contempt at the idea, and in broken English said, "put him on
pole, dry him over smoke." One Spring Mr. Coleman repaired to Rocky River,
famous for its fine pike and pickerel, and laid in his stock, carefully
laid them down in salt, which cost him over thirty dollars a barrel, (at a
great risk, as his neighbors thought,) and watched them carefully from
time to time till harvest. Much to his own and his neighbors'
satisfaction, he found it a success, and proved not only a happy change of
diet for health, but also a luxury, unknown before. From this
circumstance, small at that time, originated a new source of comfort,
which proved, in time, a mine of wealth to the West, and a luxury to the
persons who located in the interior of the State. Well was it said by the
school boy of Massachusetts about those days, "Tall oaks from little
acorns grow, large streams from little fountains flow."

Mr. Barr says he made this circumstance a matter of much research and
inquiry, and fully believes that to William Coleman belongs the credit for
so useful and important a discovery.

J. B. Cobb.

The oldest bookselling house in Cleveland is that of the Cobbs, now
existing under the firm name of Cobb, Andrews & Co. It has grown with
the growth of the city, from a small concern where a few books and a
limited stock of stationery were kept as adjuncts to a job printing
office, to a large establishment doing an extensive business throughout
the northern half of Ohio and north-western Pennsylvania, and in parts of
Michigan and Indiana, and which has planted in Chicago a branch that has
grown to be equal in importance with the parent establishment. Through
financial storm and sunshine this house has steadily grown, without a
mishap, and now ranks as one of the most important and staunchest
business houses in the city.

The head of the firm, Junius Brutus Cobb, was born in 1822, received a
good common school education, and was then sent to learn the trade of a
cabinet-maker. When his apprenticeship expired he worked for a short time
as a journeyman, but was dissatisfied with the trade, and for a year or
two taught school. In 1842, he decided to try his fortune in the West, and
reached Cleveland, where he found employment as clerk in the store of M.
C. Younglove. Mr. Younglove was then doing a job printing business, and
kept in addition a stock of books and stationery. Opportunity sometime
after offering, two younger brothers of Mr. Cobb followed him, and were
employed by Mr. Younglove. In 1848, the three brothers united in the
purchase of an interest in the establishment, and the firm of M. C.
Younglove & Co. was formed, the store being located in the American House
building. Here the firm remained some years, the book trade steadily
increasing, until the old quarters were too strait for its accommodation.

In April 1852, Mr. Younglove parted with his entire interest in the
concern to his partners, and the firm name of J. B. Cobb & Co. was
adopted. Before this the printing department had been abandoned, and the
concern was run as a book and stationery store, with a bindery attached.
The old store being too small, new and more commodious quarters were found
further up Superior street on the opposite side, and with the change the
business increased with greater rapidity than previously.

In February, 1864, it was decided to open a similar house in Chicago. A
store was engaged, and Mr. J. B. Cobb went up to open it, taking with him a
relative of the firm who had formerly been their clerk, Mr. Daniel
Pritchard. The business of the new establishment instantly became large
and remunerative, the jobbing trade commencing auspiciously, and rapidly
increasing to extensive dimensions. At the same time the parent house in
Cleveland added a wholesale department to its former retail trade, and
this grew rapidly, the need of such an establishment being keenly felt by
the numerous small stores throughout the country that had hitherto been
dependent on Cincinnati or the dealers at the East. The rapid growth of
business in the two establishments necessitated a new arrangement of the
firm, and Cobb, Pritchard & Co. took charge of the Chicago house, whilst
Cobb, Andrews & Co. manage the Cleveland establishment. The latter firm
was made by the accession of Mr. Theodore A. Andrews, who had been brought
up as a clerk in the house, taking his place as a partner in April, 1865.
Mr. J. B. Cobb took up his residence in Chicago, leaving his brothers, C.
C. and B. J., in Cleveland.

The Cobbs have maintained for themselves a high reputation for honesty,
fair dealing, and courtesy in business, and in this way have secured
prosperity. The trade that, when they first took it, amounted to about
$25,000 a year, had grown, in 1868, to over $200,000. The qualities that
gained for the head of the firm so many valuable business friends, was
shared in by his brothers, and these again impressed them on the young men
brought up under their control. The result is seen in the large number of
customers frequenting the store daily, and in the extensive wholesale
trade done.

A. G. Colwell.

Mr. Colwell is a native of Madison county, New York, and came to Cleveland
in 1852, soon after the opening of the different railroads had given the
city an important start in the road to prosperity. Mr. Colwell immediately
engaged in the hardware trade, on Ontario street, where he has continued
to the present day. As the city grew in size, and its area of commerce
extended, the business of Mr. Colwell steadily increased. The retail trade
gradually developed into wholesale, and this grew into important
proportions, pushing its ramifications through northern Ohio, Michigan,
and north-western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Colwell has attended closely to his business, taking no other interest
in public affairs than is the duty of every good citizen. But whilst
carefully conducting his business he has found time for the gratification
of a cultivated taste in literature, and has taken pleasure in
participating in every movement designed to foster a similar taste in
others. In a recent tour in Europe, undertaken for the benefit of his
health, he visited the principal points of literary and artistic interest,
and brought back with him many rare and curious souvenirs of travel.

William Bingham.

Whilst few men, if there are any, in the city of Cleveland are more highly
respected than William Bingham, there are none less desirous of notoriety
in any form. To do his duty to himself, his family, and his fellow men,
and to do it quietly and unobtrusively, is the extent of Mr. Bingham's
ambition, so far as can be judged by the whole tenor of his life. Did the
matter rest with him, no notice of him would have appeared in this work,
but to omit him would be a manifest injustice, and would at the same time
render the volume imperfect.

Mr. Bingham is a native of Andover, Connecticut, and on his arrival here
from the East, became a clerk in George Worthington's hardware store.
After a few years' service in this capacity, he set up in the same line
for himself, and for about a quarter of a century has carried on
business with marked success. The operations of the firm of William
Bingham & Co., though at first small, have grown to large proportions,
and Mr. Bingham has grown rich, not through lucky operations, but by
steady, persistent application to business, aided by sound judgment and
powerful will. In addition to his hardware business, he is interested
with Mr. Worthington in the Iron and Nail works, and has furnace
interests in the Mahoning Valley.

In all his dealings, commercial or otherwise, he has been strictly
conscientious, and this has secured for him the esteem of all with whom he
has come in contact, and the respect and confidence of the general public.
His word is inviolable, and no one has ever uttered a whisper against his
unsullied integrity. In all works of genuine charity, his aid is
efficaciously, though unobtrusively given, whenever required. To the young
men in his employ, he is as much a father in his care of their interests
and conduct, as he is an employer.

In politics, Mr. Bingham has steadily acted with the Republican party, but
he is in no degree a politician. He has been chosen by the people to
places of municipal trust, but always without any desire on his part, and
solely because those selecting him considered his services would be
valuable to the city; and whenever selected as a candidate, he has been
elected, the opposing party having full confidence in his ability and
integrity. In his case, the place invariably sought the man, and not the
man the place; and it has always been with great reluctance, and because
it seemed the good of the people required it, that he consented to hold
public office. It would be better for the people were there more men like
William Bingham, and sufficient wisdom among political managers to invoke
their services on behalf of the public.

William J. Gordon.

A history of the leading commercial men of Cleveland, with no mention of
W. J. Gordon, would be not much unlike the play of Hamlet with the part of
the Danish prince omitted. Few men in the city have occupied so prominent
a position in its mercantile history as has Mr. Gordon; but, from a
natural distaste of public notice of any kind, on the part of Mr. Gordon,
we are comparatively without data, and obliged to depend upon what we know
of his history in general.

Mr. Gordon was brought up on a New Jersey farm, on which the battle of
Monmouth was fought, and that had remained for generations, and still
is, in the possession of his family. His earliest recollections were of
rural life, its boyish enjoyments and boyish tasks. He obtained a good
common school education, such as could be obtained in that neighborhood.
Whilst yet a lad he manifested a strong taste for business pursuits; and
to gratify and develop that taste he was sent to New York, where he
became a clerk.

But, young as he was, he reasoned that there was a better chance for a
successful struggle in the new West than in the already crowded marts of
the East, and that for the young man of energy and enterprise, there was
every prospect of achieving distinction and fortune in assisting to build
up the business of the new western cities. With this impression he bade
adieu to New York in 1838, and started westward on a tour of observation,
he being then in his twentieth year. He reached Erie without stopping, and
remained there for some time, carefully observing its commercial
facilities and its prospects for the future. Not altogether satisfied
with these, he moved farther west, and made his next stay in Cleveland.
Here he speedily became convinced that a great future was before that
city, and he determined to remain and share in its benefits. A wholesale
grocery establishment was opened, small at first, as suited his means and
the limited requirements of the place, but which more than kept pace with
the progress of the city.

Mr. Gordon believed that to shrewdness and persistence all things are
possible. His constant endeavor was to discover new avenues of trade, or
new modes of doing business, and then to utilize his discoveries to the
full extent, by persistent energy and unwearied industry. He was always on
the alert to find a new customer for his wares, and to discover a cheaper
place to purchase his stock, or a better way of bringing them home. Whilst
thus securing unusual advantages in supplying himself with goods, Mr.
Gordon was losing no opportunity of pushing his business among the buyers.
His agents were diligently scouring the country, looking up new customers,
and carefully observing the operations of old customers, to ascertain how
their trade could best be stimulated and developed, to the mutual profit
of the retailer and the wholesale dealer from whom he obtained his
supplies. Men of pushing character and large business acquaintance were
sought out and engaged, that they might aid in developing the business of
the establishment. As these withdrew, to set up in business for
themselves, others took their place. It is a noticable fact that no house
has sent out more young men who have achieved success for themselves; and
that success was undoubtedly in large measure due to the training received
under Mr. Gordon.

He tolerated no sluggards around his establishment. A hard worker himself,
those around him were stimulated to hard work. He was at the warehouse
with the earliest clerk and left it with the latest. He demanded
unflagging industry from his employees, but asked no more than he
manifested himself. It was through this persistent energy that he achieved
success where others might have failed.

When Mr. Gordon's capital had increased to such an extent as to warrant
his employment of some of the surplus in investment outside of his regular
business, he made some highly profitable operations of this kind. Among
them was his uniting with some others of like foresight in the purchase of
a tract of mineral land on Lake Superior, and the formation of iron mining
companies which, though not immediately profitable, eventually yielded an
enormous percentage on the original outlay, and bids fair to be equally
profitable for many years to come, besides being a source of immense
wealth to the city.

In 1857, Mr. Gordon's health failed, and since that time he has paid but
little personal attention to business, but by an extended tour to Europe,
it has been in a great measure restored, and being still in the meridian
of life, he has the prospect, unless some mishap occurs, of long enjoying
the fruits of his far-sighted intelligence and unwearied industry.

Henry Wick

Lemuel Wick, the father of Henry, was among the early settlers of
Youngstown. The Rev. William Wick, his uncle, preached from time to time
as a missionary of the Presbyterian church, in the settlements on the
border of Pennsylvania and Ohio, as early as 1779. Henry's father was a
merchant, in whose store be became a clerk at the age of fifteen. At
twenty-one he engaged in the project of a rolling-mill at Youngstown,
which proved successful. In company with a brother, his father's interest
in the store was purchased, and, having a successful future in prospect,
Mr. Wick married, about that time, Miss Mary Hine, of Youngstown, whose
father was a prominent lawyer of that place. In 1848, he became a citizen
of Cleveland, disposing of the rolling mill to Brown, Bonnell & Co., who
have since become leading iron men of the Mahoning Valley.

After a few years of mercantile business at Cleveland, the banking house
of Wick, Otis & Brownell was formed, and was successfully managed for two
years, when the brothers Wick purchased the interest of the other
partners, and continued together until 1857, when the firm name was
changed to Henry & A. H. Wick, father and son, and has thus continued
until the present time.

Mr. Wick is a man of more than ordinary business ability, and has,
throughout his long commercial life, so directed his talent as to preserve
an unsullied character, and enjoy the unlimited confidence of his fellow
citizens, in addition to a handsome competence. Speculations were always
avoided by him, because he believed that, in a young and healthy country
like this, men may accumulate property fast enough in the legitimate
channels of trade, coupled with frugality, temperance and industry. Many
of his employees, by following his example, have become eminently
successful in business.

Mr. Wick was born February 28, 1807, and, consequently, is in his
sixty-third year, although he has lost little of the elasticity of his
step or his business faculty.

William Edwards

The firm of Edwards, Townsend & Co. now ranks among the leading houses in
the city, doing an enormous business, and respected everywhere for its
enterprise and integrity. The head of the firm, William Edwards, was born
in Springfield, Massachusetts, June 6, 1831. At the age of fifteen, he
entered mercantile life as a clerk, and remained in that position in
Springfield six years. In 1852, he came to Cleveland, that year having
brought many New Englanders here on account of the recent opening of the
railroads. His first year was spent in clerking for W. J. Gordon, who then
had by far the most important wholesale grocery establishment in the city.

At the end of the year Mr. Edwards, having two thousand five hundred
dollars capital, resolved on setting up a jobbing grocery establishment
for himself, and in company with Mr. Treat, opened a store on Canal
street, doing business in a small way, and being their own accountants,
salesmen and porters. The first year's business footed up sales to the
amount of thirty-seven thousand dollars only, but the young firm was not
discouraged. The next year opened with brighter prospects. The first
year's customers were pleased with the firm, and satisfied that they were
honest, as well as active and energetic, they returned to buy again and
brought new customers. Orders came in rapidly, and by the middle of the
third year the sales had grown to the rate of sixty thousand dollars per
year. At that point, Mr. Edwards purchased the interest of his partner and
looked about for a new associate in business.

Mr. Hiram Iddings, of Trumbull county, became partner, and with his
accession, the business increased more rapidly than before. Both members
of the firm used every honorable means to push their business, and with
almost unvarying success. New fields were sought out and the old ones
carefully canvassed. As before, nearly every new customer became a
constant purchaser, being thoroughly satisfied with the treatment
received, and new customers were added. The territory served widened, and
the reputation of the house for enterprise and fair dealing spread. In
1862, the sales had grown to two hundred and forty thousand dollars. More
aid was necessary to attend to the business of the firm, and on the first
of October, in that year Mr. Amos Townsend was added to the firm, which
then became Edwards, Iddings & Co. A year from that time Mr. Iddings died,
and on the first of January, 1864, a change was made in the title of the
firm to Edwards, Townsend & Co., Mr. J. B. Parsons being admitted as the
third partner. Under that title and organization it still continues.

The business of the firm has kept fully abreast with the progress of the
city. The members are shrewd, enterprising, always on the lookout for new
openings for trade, and ready to take instant advantage of them. They each
have a happy faculty of making friends, and still happier faculty of
retaining them. The proof of this is seen in the increasing sales, which
now amount to one million dollars a year, the customers being scattered
through northern Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a portion of Michigan. Their
extensive stores on Water street are constantly busy with customers and
with the receipt and shipment of goods.

Mr. Edwards has attained prosperity, not by the favor of others, but by
fighting his own battle of life with indomitable perseverance and
imperturbable good humer. He has worked hard and persistently, but at the
same time acted on the belief that "care killed a cat," and that "a light
heart makes work light." His hearty good humor has had no small share in
attracting and retaining customers, and has at the same time enabled him
to rationally enjoy the prosperity his labors have brought him. But his
good humor never leads him to abate a jot of his shrewd watchfulness in
business matters, and to his prudence and keen observation are owing the
fact that he has almost wholly escaped litigation. At thirty-eight years
old he takes rank among the foremost and most successful marchants of
Cleveland, whilst his frank, hearty manners, his warm friendship, and his
liberal unselfish benevolence which distributes charity with an
unstinting, though intelligent hand, rank Mr. Edwards among the most
valued and most valuable of citizens.

Amos Townsend

Amos Townsend was born near Pittsburgh in 1831, and received a good common
English education. At fifteen years old, he left school and entered a
store at Pittsburgh, in which he remained three years, and then removed to
Mansfield, Ohio, where, young as he was, he set up in business for
himself, retailing goods, and remaining a citizen of that town during the
greater part of nine years.