Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men Part 5

Joel Scranton.

Joel Scranton, whose name is a.s.sociated with much of the history of Cleveland, during the period when it grew from a small village to a city well on the way to permanent prosperity, was born in Belchertown, Ma.s.s., April 5, 1792. Whilst yet a child his parents removed with him to Otsego county, N. Y., where a considerable portion of his early life was spent.

About the year 1820 he removed to Cleveland, where he engaged in business and remained until his death, of apoplexy, on the 9th of April, 1858, having just completed his sixty-sixth year.

In the later years of the village of Cleveland and the early days of the city, Mr. Scranton's leather and dry goods store, at the corner of Superior and Water streets, was a well known business landmark. In the prosecution of his business he succeeded in saving a comfortable competence, which was increased by his judicious investments in real estate. These last have, by the rapid growth of the city, and increase in value since his death, become highly valuable property.

Mr. Scranton was industrious, economical, and judicious in business transactions; of strong mind and well balanced judgment; a kind parent and a firm friend.

Orlando Cutter.

Orlando Cutter first beheld the harbor and city of Cleveland on the 30th of June, 1818, having spent nine dismal days on the schooner Ben Franklin, in the pa.s.sage from Black Rock. He was landed in a yawl, at the mouth of the river, near a bluff that stood where the Toledo Railroad Machine Shops have since been built, about seventy-five rods west of the present entrance to the harbor. In those days the river entrance was of a very unreliable character, being sometimes entirely blocked up with sand, so that people walked across. It was no uncommon thing for people to ride over, or jump the outlet with the help of a pole.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Mr. Cutter walked along the beach and on the old road to Water street, and thence in a broiling sun to the frame tavern of n.o.ble H. Merwin, on Vineyard lane, near Superior street. Here he was first introduced to Philo Scovill, a robust young carpenter, who was hewing timber for Merwin's new brick tavern, afterwards called the Mansion House.

Mr. Cutter had experienced what our city boys would regard as a rough beginning in life. At sixteen he went into a store at Royalton, Ma.s.sachusetts, at a salary of _four dollars a month_ and board; and at the end of a year had saved one dollar and a half. His pay being increased to one hundred dollars for the next year, he ventured upon the luxury of a pair of boots. In September, 1815, having proven his mettle as an active, capable and honest young man, he was translated to a large jobbing house, on Cornhill, Boston, the salary being board and clothing. Having been born at Jeffrey, New Hampshire, June 5, 1797, at the end of three years apprenticeship in the Boston establishment, he arrived at the age of twenty-one, and became his own master. The firm offered him a credit for dry goods to the amount of $10,000, with which to go west and seek his fortune, but before accepting the offer he concluded to go and see if he could find a suitable place for trade, but as he had no money, it was necessary to borrow $400 for the expenses of the trip. With a pair of well filled saddlebags as an outfit, he started, and in due time arrived at Black Rock, and from thence proceeded, as above narrated, to Cleveland, on a tour of examination.

Cleveland had then about two hundred inhabitants, and four stores. Water street was cleared out sufficiently for the purposes of travel to the lake. It was also prepared for a race course--for which purpose it was used for a number of years.

Twenty or thirty German teams from Pennsylvania, Stark, Wayne and other counties, laden with flour, each team having from four to six horses, encamped in Superior street at night, and gave Cleveland such a business appearance that Mr. Cutter took a fancy to it.

After two weeks, Mr. Cutter set sail in the schooner Wasp for Sandusky, where there was a natural harbor, and from thence in the Fire Fly, for Detroit. But his thoughts reverted to Cleveland, and forming a partnership with Messrs. Mack & Conant, of Detroit, the firm purchased twenty thousand dollars worth of dry goods, groceries, and a general a.s.sortment for an extensive establishment here.

In February, 1820, he married Miss Phelps, of Painesville, Ohio, who died in 1829, two of whose children are now living. His compet.i.tors in business were Nathan Perry, J. R. & I. Kelly, S. S. Dudley and Dr. David Long. It was only about a year after he opened in Cleveland when Mack & Conant failed, throwing the Cleveland purchase entirely upon him. After ten years of hard work, and close application, he paid off the whole, but at the close it left him only five hundred dollars in old goods. Ohio currency was not exactly money in those days. It was at a discount of twenty-five to thirty per cent. for eastern funds. There was, moreover, little of it, and there were stay laws, and the appraisal of personal, as well as real estate, under execution, rendering collections almost impossible. To ill.u.s.trate: a man in Middleburg, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, owed Mr. Cutter seventy-five dollars. He went to attend the constable's sale, and found among the effects a dog appraised at ten dollars; rails ten cents each, and a watch worth five dollars valued at twenty dollars, so he left the place in disgust and hurried home, through the woods, in no placid frame of mind. Of four new shoes put on his horse that morning, three had been torn off by the mud, roots, and corduroy between Cleveland and Middleburg.

After closing up the old business, he posted books or turned his hand to whatever employment presented itself. Inactivity and despondency formed no part of his character. About 1827, there was a temporary business connection between himself and Thos. M. Kelly, after which he started again alone, adding the auction and commission business to that of a merchant.

Mr. Cutter, in November, 1832, was married to Miss Hilliard, sister of the late Richard Hilliard. Of this marriage there are seven children now living, most of them settled in the city. William L. is cashier of the Merchants National Bank; Edwin succeeded his father two years since at the old auction store in Bank street, and R. H. is the princ.i.p.al partner of Cutter & Co., upholsterers.

Going east in the Fall of 1821, Mr. Cutter, on his return, preferred the staunch steamer Walk-in-the-Water, to the Wasps, Fire Flies and Franklins, on board of which he had experienced so many buffetings. George Williams and John S. Strong were also of the same mind. These three old settlers, and about seventy others, went on board at Black Rock, in the afternoon.

Eight yoke of oxen were required to a.s.sist the engines in getting her over the rapids into the open lake. In the night a furious gale arose, Capt.

Rogers put back, but not being able to get into Buffalo Creek, came to anchor near its mouth. Being awfully sea sick, Mr. Cutter lay below, little caring where the Walk-in-the-Water went to. Her anchor, however, parted before morning, and she went ash.o.r.e sidewise, on an easy sand beach, without loss of life.

This year completes his semi-centennial as a citizen of Cleveland, yet he is still hale and vigorous. He has gone through revulsions, and has enjoyed prosperity with equal equanimity, never indulging in idleness or ease, and has now come to a ripe old age possessed of an ample competence.

Peter Martin Weddell.

One of the most noted historical and topographical landmarks of Cleveland is the Weddell House. Its builder was one of the most valuable citizens of the Forest City.

Mr. P. M. Weddell was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1788.

His father died before his birth, and his mother, marrying again, removed to Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, the State at that time deserving its sobriquet of the "dark and b.l.o.o.d.y ground," as the contest with the native savages was carried on with relentless fury on both sides. Under such circ.u.mstances it may well be supposed that he grew up with few educational or other advantages, and that his youth was one of vicissitudes and hardships.

At the age of fourteen he applied at a store for employment, what surplus clothing and effects he then possessed being carelessly flung over his shoulders. He promised to do any work they were pleased to set him at, and he thought he could satisfy them. This broad pledge was so well kept that at the age of nineteen he was made a partner. This partnership was soon closed by the death of the old member.

Young Weddell, with a vigorous body, good habits, a clear judgment, and some money, removed to Newark, Ohio, during the war of 1812. While he was successfully trading there, Miss Sophia Perry, of Cleveland, was sent to her friends at Newark for greater safety, and to acquire an education.

She was but little past fifteen when she consented to be Mrs. Weddell, and they were married in November, 1815.

In 1820, Mr. Weddell removed from Newark to Cleveland and established himself in business on Superior street, taking a stand at once among the leading merchants of the place, a position he retained as long as he continued in business.

In 1823, Mrs. Weddell died, leaving three children, of whom H. P. Weddell is the only survivor. A portrait of her, by Peale, still remains in the family house, which confirms the remembrances of her friends that she possessed many charms both of person and of disposition. In the following year Mr. Weddell married Mrs. Eliza A. Bell, of Newark, who is still living, and whom every old citizen of Cleveland well knows and sincerely respects.

In 1825, he formed a partnership with Mr. Edmund Clade, from Buffalo, and retired from active partic.i.p.ation in business. In 1828, the partnership was dissolved. Three years afterwards he took into partnership with him his two clerks, Greenup C. Woods, his half brother, and Dudley Baldwin, the firm name being P. M. Weddell & Co. The firm lasted but four years, when Mr. Woods established himself in Newark, and Messrs. Weddell and Baldwin continued the business together until 1845.

When Mr. Weddell commenced his mercantile life it was no child's play.

At that time there were no ca.n.a.ls or railroads to facilitate commerce--scarcely were there any roads at all--specie was the only currency west of the mountains, and that had to be carried across the mountains from Pittsburgh on the backs of mules, and the merchandise returned in the same way. Long after, when traveling over the Alleghanies with a friend, Mr. Weddell frequently pointed to places on the road which he remembered, and of which he related interesting anecdotes. Several merchants would travel together and sometimes they would have guards, as the lonely uninhabited mountains were not altogether safe even in those days.

In 1823, Mr. Weddell built what was regarded as a princely brick residence and store on the corner of Superior and Bank streets, afterwards the site of the Weddell House. His surplus funds were invested in real estate, which soon began to increase in value at an astonishing rate, as the city grew in population and importance. On one of his lots upon Euclid street he built the stone cottage which he designed as a country retreat, and after his taking his clerks into partnership, he left the store mainly to their management, devoting his attention to the purchase and improvement of real estate, being generally regarded as a gentleman of wealth.

In the Spring of 1845 he began work upon the Weddell House, tearing away the store and mansion, where his fortune had been made. It was finished in two years. He then made a journey to New York to purchase furniture. On the way home he was attacked by typhoid fever, and in three weeks was in his grave.

As a merchant, Mr. Weddell had few superiors. His urbanity, industry, and care made him popular, successful, and safe, while his integrity and his liberality were well known to his correspondents and to all the religious and benevolent inst.i.tutions of the times.

He was always willing and ready to aid and a.s.sist his young men; when he found one correct and capable he never refused a helping hand. Very few of his day were so liberal in this respect, or could point to so many who became prominent merchants by their aid as could Mr. Weddell.

At his death, Mr. Weddell was a man of such personal energy and business capacity, that he had promise of twenty more years of active life. Soon after the Rev. S. G. Aiken became pastor of the old Stone Church, Mr.

Weddell became a communicant, and he died in the Christian faith. He bequeathed to the American Board of Foreign Missions the sum of five thousand dollars; to the Home Missionary Society five thousand dollars, and several other bequests amounting to some thousands to other benevolent inst.i.tutions.

Dudley Baldwin

In 1819, Dudley Baldwin came to Cleveland from b.a.l.l.ston, New York, having as his princ.i.p.al capital a fair common school education. In course of time be found employment in the mercantile store of Mr. Weddell, and became one of his trusted clerks, being, after a few years, taken into partnership.

The death of Mr. Weddell in 1847, terminated a connection that had existed pleasantly for over twenty years.

For the next few years Mr. Baldwin was chiefly engaged in closing up the affairs of Mr. Weddell, after which he engaged for a time in the manufacture of agricultural implements, until, from ill heath, he was compelled to relinquish business and seek restoration of health by travel and in quiet retirement.

Mr. Baldwin was identified with the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad from its inception, and during the darkest days of the undertaking he stood firmly by it, in connection with the other directors, never losing faith in its ultimate success--a success he has lived to see perfected. He has also, for a number of years, been a director of the Commercial Bank of Cleveland.

In religious principles Mr. Baldwin is a Presbyterian, and has long been connected with the Euclid street Presbyterian Church. He is known to all his acquaintances as a man of quiet una.s.suming manners, and of sterling worth.