Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men Part 39

This shows an increase of nearly 100,000 tons on the receipts of 1867, notwithstanding a most obstinate and continued strike among the miners, which diminished the receipts by the Atlantic and Great Western, from 20,000 to 30,000 tons. Of the shipments of each during the year, 382,928 tons went by lake, and about 10,000 tons by rail, mostly by Cleveland and Toledo Railroad to Toledo and intermediate points.

William Philpot.

Although never a resident of Cleveland, the enterprise of William Philpot so directly contributed to the prosperity of the city, the labors of his life were so connected with it, and the interests he founded have since become such an integral part of the business of Cleveland, that his memoir appropriately finds a place in this work. It is proper, too, that it should stand foremost in the department relating to the coal trade of the city, for he may justly be considered one of the leading founders of that trade.

William Philpot was born in Shropshire, England. At an early age he removed to Wales and went to work in the mines at three pence per day.

Soon after he was able to earn full wages, he became an overseer, and continued in that capacity until he took contracts on his own account. His success was varied, on some he made handsomely, on others he failed. By the year 1835, he acc.u.mulated about eight thousand dollars, and concluded to go to the United States as affording greater facilities for small capitalists. He proceeded to Pittsburgh, where he immediately interested himself in the mining of coal. He commenced by leasing from one party a portion of the coal and the right of way on a large tract of coal land, for a term of twenty-one years, and leased coal from others, at a quarter cent per bushel. Of another person he purchased a farm, bearing coal, at seventy-five dollars an acre. In the Summer of 1837, he took into partnership Mr. Snowden, and the firm set to work vigorously, mining coal at Saw Mill Run and shipping on the Ohio river, to which Mr. Philpot had built a railway a mile in length. The two partners were not well matched.

Mr. Philpot was full of energy, fertile in resources, and never slackened in his endeavors to push his affairs. No difficulties daunted him; the greater the obstacles the more pleasure he took in surmounting them. He built his railroad tracks where most other men would have shrunk from placing a rail and whilst those who commenced preparations for a mine at the same time with himself were still in the preparatory stages of work, his cars would be rattling down to the river loaded with coal. One great secret of his ability to hasten matters was his influence with the men under him. He was familiar and affable with them, worked energetically among them whenever a sharp effort was needed, and in this way got more work out of the men, without their feeling that they had been imposed upon, than most employers could have done. Mr. Snowden was a man of an entirely different stamp, and it soon became evident that the firm must dissolve. After some negotiations Mr. Philpot disposed of his interests to Messrs. Snowden and Lewis, and in 1838, removed to Paris, Portage county, Ohio, where he had purchased a farm. His family at that time consisted of his wife and two daughters; Mary Ann, now the wife of R. J. Price, Esq., Dorothy, now widow of the late David Morris, Esq. With them also was his father, Samuel Philpot, now dead. Soon after his removal to Portage county he became interested with Mr. Philip Price, in the excavation of the Pennsylvania and Ohio ca.n.a.l, and during the progress of the work they purchased land on either side of the ca.n.a.l, including Lock fourteen, where they built a saw and flouring mill, using the ca.n.a.l water as motive power.

Towards the latter part of 1839, Mr. Philpot purchased the interest of Mr.

Price in the mills and land, and ran the mills successfully, until 1841, when he sold both mills and land to Colonel Elisha Garrett, of Garrettsville. In the Spring of 1841, Mr. Philpot rented his home farm and removed with his family to Middlebury, Summit county, where he had purchased a coal bank, and engaged once more in the coal trade.

The importance of his operations in coal, both to the business of the coal regions and of Cleveland, which formed his princ.i.p.al market, can scarcely be overestimated. Before removing to Springfield he discovered there, in 1840, a valuable coal mine, which he afterwards developed and worked successfully, building a railroad of about three miles from the mines to the ca.n.a.l at Middlebury, whence the coal was shipped to Cleveland. This road he stocked with about forty coal cars, and for several years his mine supplied the princ.i.p.al demand for the Cleveland market. In 1843, he developed and improved the celebrated Chippewa mines, Wayne county, near the village of Clinton, and built a railroad to the Ohio ca.n.a.l. From these mines he supplied the Cleveland market with large quant.i.ties of coal until the year 1845, when he sold out half his interests in them to Mr. Lemuel Crawford, and some time afterward he sold one-quarter interest to Mr.

David Camp.

His next remove was to Youngstown, where, in 1846, he leased the Manning and Wertz bank, and while sinking for coal, discovered iron ore. He then went to Pittsburgh and endeavored to get up a furnace company, but not being successful, he returned, and a.s.sociated himself with Jonathan Warner and a few others in organizing the Ohio Iron and Mining Company, now known as the Eagle Furnace Company, Messrs. Philpot and Warner owning two-thirds of the entire stock. Mr. Philpot at that time opened and developed the Wertz and Manning Briar Hill coal mines, the furnace having been built with the purpose of smelting iron ore with raw stone coal, being the second constructed for this purpose in the Mahoning Valley, the first being that of Wilkenson, Wilks & Co., at Lowellville. The experiment was hazardous, and was carried forward under many difficulties, financial and otherwise, but the energy and enterprise of Mr. Philpot triumphed over them all.

Mr. Philpot was a man of rare energy, industry and practical good sense.

He was always successful for he seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of what was the right course to take, and when once entered on an enterprise never allowed himself to be defeated or discouraged. His integrity was unquestioned. His word was as good as a bond, and was entirely relied on.

He was a kind husband and father, a true friend, and his heart and hand were always open to the poor and distressed, many of whom were not only relieved from their pressing emergencies, but were a.s.sisted to start in business or to procure homesteads. Besides his many excellent social qualities and business talents, he was possessed of a most extraordinary memory, and it is related of him by one who knew him intimately, that after hearing a speech or sermon that enlisted his whole attention, he would sometimes rehea.r.s.e it to others almost verbatim.

Mr. Philpot died in Liberty township, Trumbull county, June 2d, 1851.

In all the great enterprises of his business career, Mr. Philpot was ably supported by his beloved partner in life, who was a woman of more than ordinary ability. She was also most remarkably benevolent, bestowing much care on the sick and indigent in her immediate neighborhood. She survived her husband a number of years, and died at Cleveland, in August, 1865, deeply lamented.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Lemuel Crawford]

Lemuel Crawford.

The subject of this sketch belonged to the business cla.s.ses, as distinguished from the professional, but which are none the less fruitful in characters of prominence and public interest.

Indeed it has come to pa.s.s in later years that what are commonly known as the learned professions, law, medicine and theology, though still high in rank, have lost something of the ruling pre-eminence they occupied in our earlier history. Other departments in the world's industry have a.s.serted themselves, and railway systems, telegraphs, commerce, journalism, manufactures, banking, and other branches, have come forward and absorbed their fair proportion of the best talent and ambition of the country.

Lemuel Crawford was born in Florida, Schoharie county, New York, December 15, 1805.

Left without means, at the age of fourteen he chose the trade of moulder in the iron or furnace business.

At twenty-one he came to Painesville, Ohio, where he was made foreman of the Geauga Furnace. Here he remained about six years, having especial superintendence of the pattern and moulding department, and filling his position with great skill and credit. At this place, July 29, 1832, he married Louisa Murray, of Willoughby, in the same county, who still survives him, and to whose long and faithful companionship, judgment and energy, in all the vicissitudes of his fortune, he was largely indebted for his success.

In 1833, Mr. Crawford moved with his family to Detroit, whence, after remaining six years, he removed to Presque Isle on Lake Huron, where he was the first to start the wood trade, for fuel for our then rapidly growing steamboat commerce. Here he remained seven years, superintending large bodies of wood cutters and suppliers, the saw mills, now so common in the lumber region, being then unknown.

In 1846, perceiving, with his usual forecast, that coal was likely to supplant wood for the uses of our steam marine, he removed to Cleveland, and at once invested about forty thousand dollars in the Chippewa mines, so called, in the Mahoning Valley, which had been opened a year or two before, and promised, as the event proved, to afford an almost inexhaustible supply of the richest coal. These mines, adding tracts of adjoining coal land to them as occasion demanded, he continued to work with a large annual yield for more then twenty years.

Shortly after commencing with the Chippewa, he was found, in 1848, to be among the pioneers in opening up the beds of Briar Hill coal in the Mahoning Valley, so well known to steamboat men and manufacturers ever since, as being a kind of coal peculiarly fitted for their uses. Here he continued to mine largely at several different localities selected by him with rare judgment. He also opened and carried on mining extensively at other points, such as on the Ohio, below Steubenville, also in Orange county, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.

His chief business office and coal depots were at Cleveland, but he had branch establishments at Detroit and Chicago, and at one time was largely interested in vessel property on the Lakes, and although the business of mining and selling coal, mainly for supplying steam craft and for exportation, was his leading pursuit, he was one of the earliest in 1851, to engage in the manufacture of pig iron from our native ores in the Mahoning Valley, having an interest in the second furnace started there, and being the builder of the fourth. From time to time he invested judiciously in real estate.

From all these sources in spite of some business adventures which proved disastrous, through unexpected financial revulsions, or the fault of others, he succeeded in ama.s.sing a splendid fortune to be inherited by his family. He was never a speculator, nor a rash operator, but his business views were liberal and comprehensive, and carried out with energy and wisdom. Personally he was a man of fine presence and manners, always pleasant to meet with on the street, cordial and una.s.suming. He was intensely loyal and liberal throughout the war, and always kind and charitable to the poor. He was not a church member, but was a regular church attendant and a respecter of religions inst.i.tutions. In his later years he was frequently an invalid, and being in New York in the Fall of 1867, by the advice of physicians, and in company with friends from Cleveland, he sailed for Europe, where, in Paris, during the Exposition, he spent some months, returning with health improved, but which again declined until June 30, 1868, when at the age of sixty-two years, six months and fifteen days, he died at his beautiful home in Cleveland, surrounded by his family and friends, peacefully and calmly, as a good man dies.

We feel that we can not do better than to conclude this brief and imperfect sketch with the notice which appeared in the Cleveland Herald on the evening of the day of his decease. Speaking of the event it says:

We regret to announce the decease of this prominent business man and respected citizen, who died at his residence on Euclid avenue this (Tuesday) morning at about 9 o'clock.

Mr. Crawford had for years been more or less an invalid, but had not been alarmingly ill until last Thursday, when by a sudden and severe attack he was completely prostrated, and recovery became hopeless.

Mr. Crawford had nearly reached the age of sixty-three. A native of New York, beginning life with few, if any, advent.i.tous aids, he had attained to affluence and position by a long and enterprising business career.

For the last twenty-four years he has lived in Cleveland. He was among the pioneers in the coal mining business of Northern Ohio, contributing largely ever since by his sagacity and experience, to the development of that important element of commerce and public wealth.

Through all the vicissitudes of a long business life he maintained a character of the most perfect integrity. As a citizen he was liberal and public spirited; as a neighbor and friend he was kind and generous; in his social and domestic relations he was simple and unostentatious, affectionate and beloved. Very many in the various ranks and conditions of life, both here and elsewhere, will mourn his loss, and remember him with sincere respect.

D. P. Rhodes.

The name of D. P. Rhodes is distinguished among those who have contributed to the prosperity of Cleveland by the development of its coal and iron interests. For many years he has labored to build up the coal and iron trade of the city, on which its future mainly depends, and has met with a success which has benefitted the public in a far greater degree than it has enriched himself, although he has had nothing to complain of in that respect.

Mr. Rhodes was born in Sudbury, Rutland county, Vermont. His father dying when the boy was but five years old, he was compelled to work for his own living, riding horse for his neighbors whilst they plowed corn, digging potatoes and picking apples for every tenth bushel, and doing other odd jobs. When he was fifteen years old his mother married again and he lived with his stepfather till twenty-one. His stepfather, being rich, offered him a farm if he would stay with him, but he was bent on seeing the West before accepting the farm, and so set out westward. Whilst in the West he became engaged to be married, and before marriage he visited his home, when his stepfather offered him half his property if he would return there and live. The papers were made out but were not to be executed till he had consulted his affianced. To do this he returned to the West. As he traveled by ca.n.a.l he had abundant time to consider the matter, and the more he thought of it the more he became sick of the idea. Things were too circ.u.mscribed down east to suit his taste. He said nothing of the matter to his affianced, but wrote home that he was not coming; and to this day he has never seen occasion to regret his decision, but has been confirmed in its wisdom. To use his own expression: "By Jupiter, I would rather live west, if I did'nt live half as long."

Mr. Rhodes became early interested in the coal business, his first enterprise being in company with Messrs. Tod and Ford, in 1845, at the old Briar Hill mines, from which they raised and shipped by ca.n.a.l about fifty tons per week. This was considered a good business. In two or three years business increased to a hundred tons daily. In 1846, another mine was opened in Girard. This was followed by the Clover Hill mine in the Tuscarawas Valley, previous to the opening of which the firm was changed by the death of Mr. Ford. The next opened was the Clinton mines in the Tuscarawas Valley. Then a mine in Fairview, Wayne county, which was the last large transaction with Gov. Tod as partner. In about 1855, Tod and Rhodes dissolved partnership, Mr. Rhodes taking Clover Hill, and Gov. Tod all the rest of the interests.

Whilst developing his coal interests, Mr. Rhodes made important discoveries of iron ore, the first being veins of black band ore, very similar to the English and Scotch, though richer. The veins of this ore in Tuscarawas are from five to fifteen feet thick. He also discovered and worked a vein of mountain ore that will also run from five to fifteen feet thick, and is easily mined, one miner being able to mine twenty tons per day after the earth has been removed. Mr. Rhodes spent several months in the ore fields of Scotland and England in 1868, and found the veins there not over two feet in thickness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Yours Truly, D. P. Rhodes]

In the Tuscarawas Valley property, Mr. Rhodes has found seven veins of coal, five of which are very good, and he has worked the whole of them.

There is also as good fire-clay as any yet discovered, the finest grade being pure sandstone, which stands fire as hearthstones in furnaces better than any other. Sh.e.l.l ore, block ore, and limestone also exist in abundance. The iron enterprises in which Mr. Rhodes is interested are the Tuscarawas Iron Company, formed about 1864, of which Mr. Rhodes is president. This company have three or four thousand acres of mineral land in the Tuscarawas Valley, and the works have a capacity of a hundred and fifty tons per week; also the Dover Rolling Mill Company, of which Mr.

Baker is president. It makes all sizes of merchant and small T rail iron, having a capacity of about fifteen tons per day.

He is largely interested in a mining company near Ma.s.sillon, having three engines and three openings there, and can mine a thousand tons of coal per day as soon as the road from Ma.s.sillon to Clinton is completed. This will be the shortest coal bearing road,--for blast furnace coal--to Cleveland, by fifteen miles, for it connects with the Cleveland, Zanesville and Cincinnati Railroad at Clinton, thence to Cleveland by Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad at Hudson. A company was formed and sunk some eight hundred or nine hundred feet, within three miles of Ca.n.a.l Dover, on the line of this company, and found salt water of the very best quality, the water itself being almost strong enough to preserve meat. There is coal within twenty rods of the wells at ninety cents per ton, whereas in Syracuse and Saginaw they have to use wood, at a cost (at the former place) of seven dollars per cord. Mr. Ca.s.s, President of the Fort Wayne Railroad, and J. N. McCullough, of the same and of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, are heavily interested in the road connections adverted to above.

At Fulton, three miles below Clinton, is another coal company in which Mr.

Rhodes is interested. This mine yields about three hundred tons per day, and could double that amount if there were sufficient transportation.

There are two engines and two openings at this bank.

Mr. Rhodes is also interested in three mines at Ma.r.s.eilles, Willmington and Braceville, Illinois. He has taken a hearty interest in all improvements, and especially in the matter of railroads. He was interested in building the Northern Division of the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad, and was on the executive committee.