Cleveland City (part 2 of 2)

Judge Coffinberry possesses an apparently intuitive perception of legal truths, a peculiar faculty for seizing the strong points of a case, and great power to present his arguments in an original and forcible manner. While appreciating the learning of the profession, and ever mindful of its nicest distinctions, he has mude them subservient to his own broad and liberal views.

After retiring from the bench he returned to the practice of law, but was soon obliged to retire from its activities on account of failing health. He has devoted considerable time to scientifie reading and investigation, in which he takes a great interest. He has been prominetly connected with many of the most important public enterprises of the city, and has been appointed to many offices of trust. He was one of the originators of the Cleveland viaduct, and one who most earnestly advocated that it should be a free bridge.

In politics he was formerly a Whig, but in the Fremont and Buchanan canvass he allied himself with the Democrats, and has since uniformly supported the candidates and politics of that party. At the breaking out of the rebellion he was chairman of the but at once espoused the cause of the Union, and was largely instrumental in rallying the Democratic party of northern Ohio to the zealous support of the war. Ile was the principal secretary of the great Union convention of Ohio, presided over by ex-United States Senator Thomas Ewing, which nominated David Tod for governor. Throughout the war he remained a conservative Union man, but privately disapproved some of the more radical war-measures as being unconstitutional and of dangerous precedent. For sev-. eral years he was the regular candidate of his party for representative in Congress and for judge of the common pleas, but was in no sense a politician; it is believed that he never attended more than one nom-

Mr. Coffinberry and his wife met with a most distressing accident on the 8th of April, 1875. They were returning from Mt. Vernon, where they had attended the marriage of their son. After they reached the city, and were being driven across the railway track near the Union depot, the carriage was struck by a freight train. They were both severely injured, Mr. Coffinberry suffering the loss of a leg. His wife, although terribly bruised and mangled, was restored to comparative health.

Mr. Coffinberry was married in January, 1841 to Anna M. Gleason, of Lucas county, Ohio, by whom he has two ehildren. Hisson, Henry D., served honorably through the war as an officer in the Mississippi gunboat flotilla. Ie is now a parmer in the Globe and is also one of the firécommissioners of Cleveland. His daughter, Mary E., is the wife of S. E. Brooks, a prominent young business man of the eity.

William Collins

The Hon. William Collins was descended in the ninth generation from Lewis Collins, who came from England in the year, 1630, and as the records of those days say, 'with ample means." THis son, Nathan, was a graduate of Cambridge University, England, and had two sons, John, who lived in Boston, and Edward, who was a descon of the church at Cambridge, Massachusetts. John Collins, the second, resided in Saybrook, Connecticut, and also at Middletown and Guilford, in that State, in which last named town he is recorded as wu freeman and planter. Robert, son of John, the second, married Lois Burnett,

Jonathan, son of Robert, born April 26, 1698, dwelt in Middletown and Wallingford, Connecticut. Ile married Agnes Lynn for his second wife, and had eleven children. Oliver, one of his sons enlisted in a company of Massachusetts troops during the Revolutionary war, at the age of sixteen. He served as a company officer till the close of the war, He married Lois Cowles, of Wallingford, Connecticut, und removed to New Hartford, New York. In the war of 1812 he was commissioned a brigadier general, and commanded a brigade of New York militia at Sackett's Harbor. Ie died August 14, 1838.

Ela Collins, son of Oliver and Lois Collins, was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, February 14, 1786. He married Maria Clinton, daughter of Rev. Isaac Clinton, of New Haven. They moved to Lowville, New York. where Mr. Collins became a distinguished lawyer, » member of Congress, and the occupant of other important offices.

His son, William Collins, the subject of this memoir, was born February 22, 1818. He read law with his father, and was admitted to the bar in September, 1843, at Rochester, New York. He then entered into partnership with his father, and they continued in active and successful practice until the death of the elder Mr. Collins, in November, 1848. He succeeded his father as district attorney, but resigned this office when he was elected a member of the national House of Representatives, in November, 1846, from the district composed of Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

Mr. Collins was in Congress during the first agitation of the question of extending slavery to free territory, and opposed the extension with great zeal und ability. Among his speeches will be found one, delivered July 28, 1848, on the bill to establish the Territorial government of Oregon, advocating the ex-

'clusion of slavery from that Territory. It was commended not only for the soundness of its logic, but, as a brilliant literary production. 'The contest was a close one, but theslavery extensionists were defeated, owing largely to the vigilant and industrious efforts of Mr. Collins and a few associates. He was tendered the renomination to the thirty-first Congress, but having determined to remove west, he declined, and was succeeded by Preston King.

Mr. Collins came to Cleveland in 1853 and opened a law oftice, fully sustaining here the reputation as a lawyer which he had gained in New York. He was soon elected a director of the Merchants' Bank of Cleveland, and of the Lake Shore railway company. Subsequently he became a director of the Bellefontaine railway company; the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis railway company; the Jamestown and Franklin railway company, of Pennsylvania; the East Cleveland street-railroad company; the Mercer Iron and Coal company of Pennsylvania, and the Merchants' National Bank of Cleveland. The active duties of these positions absorbed much of his time and attention,

The sympathies of Mr. Collins being always on the side of freedom, he joined the Republican party on its organization and remained faithful to its principles. When the rebellion broke out he threw himself heartily into the cause of the Union, and contributed freely with money and labor in every way to its support. He was a member of various local committees for the promotion of the national cause, and gave largely for the support of the sick and. wounded. Whenever an effort was needed his voice was heard exhorting the people to action, and he was never behindhand in personal example.

Mr. Collins married Jane, second daughter of Alfred and Mary 8. Kelley, at Columbus, on the 22d day of November, 1847, They had five children; Francis, born January 19, 1850, who died February 10, 1850; Frederic Kelley, born in Columbus, Ohio, June 7, 1851; Walter Stow, born in Cleveland, July 12, 1854; Mary, born in Cleveland, June 7, 1857, who died March 1, 1860; and Alice, born in Cleveland, June 26, 1859, who died August 20, 1859.

Mr. Collins died suddenly on the 18th day of June, 1873. Ata meeting of the bar, held on the occasion of his decease, Hon. Sherlock J. Andrews was called to the chair and H. B. DeWolf acted as secretary. The committee on resolutions consisted of Messrs. F. J. Dickman, James Mason, H. B. DeWolf, and Judges Bishop and Prentiss. Resolutions were adopted highly and truly extolling the character and abilities of the deceased, copies of which were presented to the family, to the court of common pleas of Cuyahoga county, and to the circuit and district courts of the United States for the Northern district of Ohio. Mr. Dickman and Judge Bishop spoke in eulogy of Mr. Collins, and the former quoted a remark made by the deceased, worthy of enduring record. In speaking of certain political action Mr. Collins said:

Edwin Weed Cowles

Edwin W. Cowles, a physician, born in Bristol, Connecticut, in 1794, removed to Austinburg with his father, the Rev. Dr. Giles Ilouker Cowles, in the year 1811. His ancestors were all of Puritan descent, except one line, which traced its origin to the Huguenots. He was educated in the academy, at Farmington, Connecticut, and was imbued by his father and mother with the highest principles of the Christian religion and love for his fellow-beings. He studied medicine with the late Dr. O. K. Hawley, of Austinburg, and after receiving his degree he practiced his profession in Mantua, Portage county, Ohio, and in 1832 he removed with his family to Cleveland.

In 1834 he removed to Detroit, and practiced there till 1838, when he returned to Cleveland, where he spent the remainder of his professional life, and made himself a high reputation both as a physician and a valuable citizen. His leading traits as a physician were the exercise of benevolence and fearlessness in the performance of his professional duties. These noble qualities were thoroughly illustrated when that great scourge, the Asiatic cholera, made its first appearance in Cleveland the first year he settled there. This disease was introduced by the arrival of the steamer '' Henry Clay," which sailed up to the landing at the foot of Superior street. As usual in those early days, when there were no railroads and telegraphs, the crowd assembled at the landing to hear the news and see who had come. As the boat neared the wharf the captain appeared on the deck, and exclaimed that '' the cholera had broken out among his passengers and crew; that several were dead and a number more were down with it, and for God's sake to send a doctor aboard!" This announcement created a panic in the crowd. They all scattered and fled in every direction, - many taking their horses and fleeing into the country. A messenger went hurriedexpression of countenance informed him that his services were needed, - that ''the boat was filled with the dead and sick." The doctor promptly started for the boat, and exerted himself immediately with all his power to alleviate the sufferings of the sick. At a meeting held previously by the citizens of the then village of Cleveland it had been voted, with only two dissentient votes, that no boat having the cholera aboard should be allowed to come into port or land its pussengers, for fear of contagion. The two who opposed this resolution were the late Thomas P. May and Dr. Cowles. Under this action of the citizens the "Henry Clay" was obliged to leave. Dr. Cowles volunteered to accompany the sick and look after them, and in spite of the remonstrances of his friends, who believed he never would get through alive, he went ou that charnel-ship to Detroit, and remained on 't until everything possible had been done to relieve the sick and to fight down the*death=dealing scourge. Ilis predominating trait was his love of justice to all - the high and lew, rich and poor. This sense was strongly developed in his hatred of the system of slavery, which, as he expressed it, ''violated every commandment in the decalogue, every principle of justice, all laws of human nature, and destroyed the foundation of a common humanity." Ile was one of the first who came out publicly and avowed themselves ''nbolitionists," at a time when it was considered disgraceful to be called by that term. He was one of the first members of the ''old Liberty Guard," and many a poor fugitive slave has he aided to freedom via the underground railroad. As a politician he was somewhat prominent. Ie supported the old Whig party down to the time he voted for General Harrison, in 1840. In 1841 he joined the ' Liberty party" the germ of the present Republican party.

In all the walks of life he was distinguished for moral rectitude, honesty, and incorruptible integrity. As a gentleman of general information he rarely, met with his peer, for, like John Quincy Adams, he never forgot what he read, and it was this gift that made him the remarkable conversationalist and controversialist that he was. He was a devout and active member of the Congregational church, and one of its most valued supporters. He'was mar-. ried in 1815 to Miss Almira Mills Foot, a lady of great force of character, of amiable disposition, and of a most affectionate nature. She was born in Norfolk, Connecticut, in 1790, and was descended from Nathaniel Foot, the first settler of Wethersfield, and was a half-sister of the late Joseph B. Cowles, of Austinburg, and of the late Hon. Samuel Cowles, who died in Cleveland in 18:7. After the death of his consort, which occurred in 1846, Dr. Cowles spent his remaining days among hischildren, who vied with each other in endeavoring to promote his comfort and smooth the ways of his declining days. He died in June, 1861, at the residence of his son, Mr. Edwin Cowles, in Cleveland. Had he lived only one and a half years

Dr. Cowles had six children. His first child, Samuel, died when three years of age. His second, Giles looker, died in Cleveland, aged twenty-three, leaving four, who are living: Mrs. Helen C. Wheeler, of Butler, Missouri; Judge Samuel Cowles, of San Francisco, California; Edwin Cowles, editor of the Leader, Cleveland; and Alfred Cowles, one of the publishers of the Chicago Tribune.

Edwin Cowles

Edwin Cowles, editor and printer, was born in Austinburg,. Ashtabula county, Ohio, September 19, 1825. Ilis father was the late Dr. Edwin W. Cowles just noticed. His ancestors were all of Puritan descent, except one line, which traces its origin to the IIuguenots. On his father's side he is descended from one of three brothers who settled in the town of Farmington, Connecticut, in 1652. On his grandmother's side, who was a Miss Abigail White of Stamford, Connecticut, he is a direct descendant of Peregrine White, the first white child born in New England; and also of a Huguenot by the name of De Grasse, which name was changed subsequently to Weed. The Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first clergyman who was settled in Connecticut, was also one of Mr. Cowles' ancestors. On his mother's side he was descended from Nathaniel Foote, the first settler of Wethersfield, Connecticut.

ILis boyhood days were spent in Cleveland, with the exception of a few years that he lived in Austinburg, and in Detroit where his father resided for a short time. In 1839 he commenced learning the trade of a printer and served his time mostly with the late Josiah A. Ilarris, then editor of the Cleveland Herald. We finished his education at Grand River Institute in 1843. At the age of eighteen, he embarked in the printing business in company with Mr. T. H. Smead, under the firm name of Smead & Cowles. In 1853 he dissolved partnership with Mr. Smead and became a member of the firm of Medill, Cowles & Oo., publishers of the daily Morest City Democrat, which was the result of the consolidation of the daily True Democrat and daily Forest City. Both papers had been published as losing ventures, the former by John C. Vaughan and the latter by Joseph Medill. In 1854 the name of the paper was changed to Cleveland Leader. In 1855 Messrs. Medill and: Vaughan sold out to Mr. Cowles and removed to Chicago, where they purchased the Chicago Tribune, of which Mr. Cowles' brother, Alfred, became the business manager.

During the winter of 1854-55 the first movement which led to the formation of the great Republican party was made in the Leader editorial room, resulting in the issuing of the call for the first Republican convention ever held, which met in Pittsburg. The gentlemen who helu cunat meeting in the editorial room were Messrs. John C. Vaughan, Joseph Medill, J. F. Keeler, R. C. Parsons, R. P. Spalding and others whose names are not remembered. 'The result of that convention was the consolidation of the Free Soil, Know-nothing and Whig parties into one great party, the history of which is well known.

Mr. Cowles carried on the paper alone until 1866, when he organized the Cleveland Leader Printing Company, of which he retained a controlling interest. He acted gs business manager of the Leader until 1860, when he assumed the clief-editorship. From this time he steadily rose to prominence as an editor because of the strength and boldness of his utterances and his progressive and decided views on popular topics, which soon made his journal one of the most powerful in the West. While the terrible black cloud of secession was looming up in 1860-61, Mr. Cowles took a firm position in the columns of the Leader in favor of the government suppressing the heresy of secession with the army an1 navy if necessary. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster cf Cleveland and held that office for five years. Under his administration he established and perfected the system of free delivery of mail matter by carriers.

In 1861 Mr. Cowles first suggested, in his paper, the nomination by the Republican party of David Tod, a war Democrat, for the purpose of uniting all the loyal elements in the cause of the Union. The suggestion was adopted, and Mr. Tod was nominated and elected. That same year, immediately after the battle of Bull Run, Mr. Cowles wrote an editorial headed '' Now is the time to abolish slavery." He took the position that the South, being in a state of rebellion against the general government had forfeited all right to property - that the government had the same right to abolish slavery for the purpose of weakening the resources of the Confederacy by liberating in its midst a producing class from which it mainly derived its sinews of war, as it had to-capture and destroy rebel property, burn towns, etc., as a military necessity. For taking this advanced position the Leader was severely criticised by a portion of the Republican press, which declared that it was aiding the rebellion by creating dissatisfaction among the war Democrats of the north. In Jess than one year after the publication of that article President Lincoln issued his preliminary emancipation proclamation, which embodied precisely the same views.

In 1863 Mr. Cowles suggested in the Leader the name of John Brough to succeed Governor Tod in the gubernatorial chair. It was after the name of Vallandigham, had been taken up by the Democracy for that office, and at a period during the war previous to the surrender of Vicksburg and the met with a series of reverses, and discouragement had commenced its work among the conservative loyal element. The nomination of Vallandigham, following the election of 1862, when the Demo- have its cffect toward favoring the peace-at-any-price party. Mr. Brough, though formerly a life-long Democrat, was a firm Union man under all cireumstances, and withal his reputation for great executive ability was widely known, and for these reasons his name was announced as a candidate for governor in the Leader. It was warmly seconded by the loyal press, and he was nominated and elected by. more than one hundred thousand majority over Mr. Vallandigham. Governor Brough, and Governors Andrews and Morton, formed that famous trio uf great war governors whose names will go down in history side by side with Eincoln, Grant, Stanton and Chase.

In 1870, Mr. Cowles' attehtion having been called to the great danger that existed from the various railroad crossings in the valley of the Cuyahoga between the hights of the east and west sides of Cleveland, he conceived the idea of a high bridge, or viaduct as it is generally called, to span the valley and Cuyahoga river, connecting the two hill tops, thus avoiding going up and down hill and crossing the "valley of death." Ile wrote an elaborate editorial favoring the city's building the viaduct. His suggestion met with fierce opposition from the other city papers, it being considered by them utopian and unnecessary, but it was submitted to the popular vote and carried by an immense majority. This great work, costing nearly three millions, is one of the wonders of Cleveland.

In 1876 Mr. Cowles was elected a dclegate to the National Republican Convention at Cincinnati, which nominated Rutherford B. Hayes for President. He represented Ohio in the committee on platform, and was the author of the seventh plank favoring a constitutional amendment forbidding appropriations out of any public fund for the benefit of any institution under sectarian control. The object of this amendment was two-fold: first, to forever settle the question of dividing the school fund for the benefit of the Roman Catholic Church; second, to guard the future from the encroachment of that Church that is sure to result from its extraordinary increase in numbers.

Mr. Cowles has now been connected with journalism for over a quarter of a century. The experience of his paper has been like the history of all daily papers. It had sunk previous to his being connected with it over thirty thousand dollars. 'The first nine years after he had taken hold of it, it sunk over forty thousand dollars inore, and at the end of that time it commenced paying expenses, eventually resulting in his being able to pay off every cent of indebtedness. Its business has increased tenfold under his administration, and it also has the largest daily circulation of any paper west of the Alleghenies, with the exception of two papers in Chicago, one in 'St. Louis, and one in Cincinnati, and has more than double the circulation of all the other Cleveland papers combined. When he commenced his editorial career, his staff consisted of himself, one associate, and one city editor. Now it is composed of himself as chief editor, one managing, four assistant editors, and an editor each in charge of the commercial, city, literary and dramatic, and telegraphic departments, also one in charge of the Washington branch office, and four reporters - fourteen in all. His chief characteristic as an editor, is his fearlessness in treating all questions of the day without stopping to consider "'whether he will lose any subscribers" by taking this side oy that. His great ambition is to have the Leader take the lead in the work of reform, the promulgation of progressive ideas, the elevation of humanity to as high a seale as possible, and to oppose in every shape tyranny and injustice, whether of church, State, capital, corporation, or trade-unions, and at the same time to make it the most influential paper in the State, if not in the West.

Mr. Cowles' success In life has been attained under extraordinary disadvantages. From his birth he was afflicted with a defect in hearing which caused so peeuliar an impediment of speech that no parallel case was to be found on record. Until he was twentythree years of age the peculiarity of this impediment was not discovered. At that age Professor Kennedy, a distinguished elocutionist, became interested in his case, and after a thorough examination it was found that he never heard the hissing sound of the human voice, and consequently had never made that sound. Many of the consonants sounded alike to him. He never heard the notes of the seventh octave of a piano or organ, never heard the upper notes of a violin, the fife in martial music, never heard a bird sing, and has always supposed that the music of the birds was a poetical fiction. 'This discovery of his physical defect enabled him to act accordingly. After much time spent in practicing, under Professor Kennedy's tuition, he was enabled to learn arbitrarily how to make the hissing sound, but he never hears the sound himself, although he could hear ordinarily low-toned conversation.

As a citizen Mr. Cowles was ever active in all benevolent and charitable enterprises, giving liberally to them according to his means, and devoting the infiuence of his journal to their support and encourugement.

Mr. Cowles is wedded to his profession, and never expects to leave it for any other; in other words, he expects to die in the harness. Owing to the power of the press in controlling public sentiment, backed up as it is by the aid of wonderful lightning printing machinery, the telegraph, that great association for the collection of news - the associated press, the division of intellectual labor into different departments, and the fast railroad trains, he considers journalism, if only managed in the interests of religion, morals, humanity, and of doing the greatest

Biographical Sketciies. B45

Mr. Cowles was married in 1849, to Miss Elizabeth C. Hutchinson, daughter of the Hon. Mosely Hutchinson, of Cayuga, New York. He had by this union six children, Myra F. who married Mr. Chas. W. Chase, a merchant of Cleveland; Ielen IL., Eugene IL., Alfred H., Lewis IL., and Edwin. The youngest, Kdwin, died in infancy. THis eldest son, Eugene, is a member of the Leader editorial staff, having charge of the Washington office as correspondent.

Samuel Cowles

Sumuel Cowles, a lawyer, was born in Norfolk, Connecticut, Juno:8, 1775,-and died at Cleveland; Ohio, in November, 1837. ITis father was a representative New England farmer. Ie was educated at Williams College, and graduated there in the year 1798, afterwards serving as tutor there for two years, when he commeneced the study of law in Hartford, and was admitted to the bar. Ie practiced his profession in Farmington and Iartford till abont 1820, when he removed to Cleveland, then a village of about five hundred inhabitants. There he went into partnership with the late Alfred Kelley, and carried on the law business with him for several years. Afterward Mr. Cowles formed a copartnership with a late student of his, Sherlock J. Andrews; finally giving the business up to him and retiring from the practice of his profession about the year 1834. Hon. J. W. Allen studied law under Mr, Cowles in the year 1825. In 1839 he was appointed a judge of the court of common pleas, which position he filled at the -time of his death.

In 1832 Mr. Cowles was married in Lenox, Massachusetts, to Miss Cornelia Whiting. In 1833 he erected the mansion on Euclid avenue, now used as an Ursuline eonvent, and resided in it till his death. Ile was a good representative of the gentlémen of the

'old school, a high-minded lawyer, of irreproachable character, of dignified bearing, and of the niost fastidious tastes. ITis society was sought after, especially by the cultivated. Ife was a brother-in-law of the late Dr. Edwin W. Cowles, and uncle to Mr. Edwin Cowles of the Cleveland Leader.

D. W. Cross

1). W. Cross, one of Clevcland's prominent citizens and leading capitalists, was born on the 17th of November, 1814, in Richland (now Pulaski), New York. He received an excellent education at Hamilton Seminary (one of the foremost institutions of learning in the State), and, upon the completion of his studies in 1836, removed to Cleveland, where he entered the law-office of Messrs. Payne & Wilson as a student.

land, which position, with a brief interruption, he retained for eighteen years. During that time he effected many useful reforms and improvements in the management of the custom-house, and received from the secretary of the treasury a gift of $500 as an acknowledgement of his zeal and energy.

During the first years of his holding the office he continued his law studies, and in due season was admitted to practice in both the State and United States courts. In 1844 he joined Mr. Robert Parks in a law partnership which continued until the death of that gentleman in 1860. In 1848 and 1849 he was elected township-clerk of Cleveland (an important olfice) by overwhelmingly large majorities, and in 1849 was chosen a member of the city council,

In 1855 Mr. Cross entered upon the most important enterprise of his life, that of coul-mining. In company with Oliver If. Perry he purchased one hundred and fifty acres of land, and leased several other tracts, upon Mineral Ridge, in the Mahoning valley, the coal deposits in which were beginning to

Perry & Cross entered promptly and actively into the business of coal mining, and soon landed upon the Cleveland docks, via the Pennsylvania and Ohio canals, the first cargoes of coal shipped from Mineral Ridge to Cleveland.

In 1859 Mr. Perry transferred his interest to Henry B. Payne, the firm being continued as D. W. Cross & Co. In 1860 it received an additional partner in the person of Lemuel Crawford, who retired in 1861 and was succeeded by Isaac Newton; the firm name being changed to Cross, Payne & Co. Business operations were at this time materially widened by the purchase of new coal mines, by the construction of docks, and by the building of a railway to connect the Summit Bank with the canal, at Middlebury.

Since his retirement from the firm, however, Mr. Cross has retained his connection with the coal interest, to a considerable extent, and is to-day the owner of some of the most valuable coal lands in the State. Ilis identification with the early coal trade of the Mahoning valley, and its prosperous development under his efforts, were facts of sueh importanee, not only in his career but in that of Cleveland, that it would be very difficult to separate entirely the history of his life from that of the great business just alluded to.

His was the mind that saw how important and necessary it was that Cleveland should have cheap coal, to the end that she might become a great manufacturing city, and in opening the way for cheap fuel he furnished the opportunity for which Cleyeland had so long waited.

important business enterprises, for a temperament like his could not be well satisfied with entire inactivity; but, naturally, he enjoys substantial immunity from the anxieties and labors incident to his earlier experience. The interests of three important manufacturing corporations receive the benefits of his attention. Of each of two of these - the Winslow Oar Roofing Company and the Cleveland Steam Gauge Company - he is the president, and of a third - the Amherst Stone Company - he is a director. To the conduct of these extensive enterprises Mr. Cross gives careful heed, and their substantial success testifies to his excellent administration.

He is a life member of the Western Reserve and Northern Ohio Historical Society, and a member of the Kirtland Sotiety of Natural History. With both organizations he has long been closely associated, and to the latter has contributed many valuable specimens. He was, in his younger days, a prominent member of the Cleveland Grays, and in 1837 was the secretary of that organization. For many years subsequent to 1839 he was the secretary of the Cleveland Lyceum, a popular debating society of that period.

Since the beginning of his residence in Cleveland Mr. Cross has been a devoted disciple of Nimrod and Isaak Walton, and to this day finds his attachment to the sports of hunting and angling undimmed. These are his favorite relaxations, and, in his leisure hours, he follows them quite as eagerly as of yore.

He was one of the founders of the renowned Winous Point Shooting Club, which owns over ten thousand acres of land near Sandusky Bay, and which, in its appointments and scope of action, is far beyond any similar organization in the country. In connection with Dr. Darby (taxidermist), T. K. Bolton, E. A. Brown, L. M. Hubby and others, he contributed largely toward securing the superb collection of game birds now ornamenting the reception rooms of the club.

As an angler Mr. Cross is not only an enthusiast but an authority. From the Adirondacks to Lake ' Superior, streams and lakes have paid tribute to his skill, and in company with Prof. Horace A. Ackley and Dr. Thomas Garlick - the pioneers of artificial fish-culture in America - he has passed many a busy hour upon the shores of Lake Erie in the successful pursuit of the finny tribe. It was through Professor Ackley's persuasion that Mr. Cross wrote the " Piscatonarium," first published in the Cleveland Herald and afterward in Dr, Kirtland's Family Visitor, and the Spirit of the Times, as well as in other leading journals.

Another article from Mr. Cross' pen, entitled "Big and Small Mouth Bass, and How a Trout takes a Fly," published in the Chicago Field of the date of February 8, 1879, assisted materially in settling a vexed question among scientific sportsmen.

In the evening of his days, Mr. Cross enjoys the satis- - faction of having sturdily battled with the difficulties of life and of having produced important results, beneficial alike to himself and the community. The lesson of such a life needs no elaboration, since it is conveyed in unmistakable terms by the simple record of the events.

The wife of Mr. Cross was not only an amiable companion but was a valuable coadjutor in building up her husband's fortunes. She was Miss Loraine P. Lee, of Bloomfield, New York, and was married to Mr. Cross in 1840. In 1873 she visited Europe and spent eighteen months in extended travel, of which she recorded her impressions in a series of highly interesting letters to the Cleveland Leader. Shortly after her return she fell ill, and passed to her rest on the 23d of January, 1875. Devoted to her home and family, endeared to a large circle of friends, and foremost in acts of charity and love, her name remains embalmed in the affectionate remembrance of all who knew her.

John Crowell

This gentleman, a talented lawyer and politician, was born at Hast Haddam, Middlesex county, Connecticut, on the 15th of September 1801. His grandfather, Samuel Crowell, was born at Chatham, Barnstable county, Massachusetts, March 10, 1742, of which place his ancestors for several generations had been natives. In 1769 or 1770 he married Jerusha Tracy, of Hast Haddam, by whom he had five sons, viz: William, Samuel, Eliphaz, John and Hezekiah, and also one daughter who died in infaney. Samuel Crowell, Sr., died at East Haddam in 1810.

Of this family, William, the eldest son, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was born at East Haddam on the 10th of July, 1771. His wife, Ruth Peck, daughter of Daniel Peck, was born in the same town in August of the same year. In the antumn of 1806, he, with his wife and a family of nine children (afterward increased to fourteen), removed to Ohio and settled in Rome, Ashtabula county, where he spent the remainder of his life.

The Western Reserve was at that time an almost unbroken wilderness and but sparsely inhabited. Mr. Crowell's family was the first in the township of Rome, and their nearest neighbors on the south were eighteen miles distant. For a few years. after their settlement the privations of the pioneers were very severe. Food, shelter and elothing were only.to be obtained by the most arduous exertions. Yet the forests were quickly turned into fruitful fields, and rude dwellings speedily erected. The hardships were borne with womanly patience and manly fortitude, and all honor is due the noble pioneers through whose

The boyhood of John Crowell was spent among the most primitive scenes. His father was a carpenter, and with the assistance of his two eldest sons built most of the framed dwellings for miles around. Thus John was left at home to assist in clearing and cultivating the farm. He possessed a vigorous con-

Ilis labor on the farm was continued until he reached his majority, and though he had occasionally attended a winter term of the common school - kept in a log cabin - he was substantially destitute of books, and the means of instruction and improvement which they afford. During his minority he also attended for a few months a select school in Jefferson, taught by Mr. Thomas Whelpley, and spent one winter wnder the instruction of the late Rev. John Hall, while that gentleman was a student of theology.

In the month of November, 1822, young Crowell went on foot to Warren, in order to avail himself of the advantages offered by an academy which had been established in that place a short time previous. The school at that time was conducted by Mr. E. R. Thompson, a graduate of Cambridge University, and a most worthy gentleman, who is remembered by Mr. Crowell with affectionate regard. He continued in the academy with slight interruption until February, 1825, and then commenced the study of Jaw in the office of Thomas L. Webb, of Warren, remaining under his instruction until admitted to the bar in 1827. While prosecuting his studies he supported himself by teaching school, and for six months of the last year previous to his admission he was principal of the academy. Immediately after his admission to the bar he opened an office in Warren, and commenced the practice of his profession. aving purchased Mr. William Quintry's interest in the Western Reserve Chronicle, he became the partner of George Hapgood in the ownership of that establishment, and also the editor of the paper, which he conducted for several years. During the long and severe contest for the presidency between Genera] Jackson and John Quincy Adams, he was a staunch supporter of the latter.

A man of his ability and enterprise could not remain Jong in obscurity, and his talents soon procured for him an extensive practice and a commanding position at the bar. Mr. Crowell's attention, however, was not entirely absorbed by his profession or his newspaper. He took a deep interest in all questions pertaining to the moral and intellectual improvement of the people of the surrounding country. He was one of the earliest advocates of the principles of temperance, and assisted in organizing in Warren one of the first temperance societies in the West.

Mr. Crowell was also one of the prime movers in the organization of the first colonization society, of which he was appointed seerctary, and devoted both time and energy to its support. At length, however, finding it not adapted to the purpose for which it was originated - the alleviation of the sufferings of the slaves - he, with Gerritt Smith and others, abandoned the socicty, but not by any means the cause of the oppressed.

Trumbull county, on the Whig ticket. He possessed in a pre-eminent degree all the higher qualities of a successful politician, and soon became the acknowledged leader of his party in his district. In 1846 he was unanimously nominated to Congress, and was elected by a decisive majority, his opponents being R. P. Ranney and John Hutchins. In 1848 he was elected by an increased majority over Judge Ranney. In Congress he was made a member of the committee on claims and of the committee on Indian affairs. In July, 1848, he made an able speech in the House on the subject of ''Slavery in the District of Columbia," in which he earnestly protested against the slave trade and depicted in a fearful manner some of the abhorent practices attendant upon the traffic in human beings. In one instance he says: 'Slavery is now, as it always has been, a disturbing element in the Government, and there is every reason to believe it will remain so till the last vestige of it is swept away." In conclusion he aptly quoted what Addison had said of Italy nearly one hundred and fifty years before: "How has kind Heaven adorned this happy land, And scattered blessings with a wasteful hand! But what avail her unexhausted stores, Her blooming mountains, and her sunny shores, With all the gifts that Heaven and earth impart, The smiles of Nature, and the charms of Art,

In 1850, during a long and exciting debate relative to the admission of California into the Union as a free State, he delivered a speech which attracted general attention, and in which he again expressed in the strongest terms his sentiments in regard to the extension of slavery.

After his retirement from Congress he removed, in 1852, to Cleveland, and resumed the practice of law. In 1862 he was elected president of the Ohio State and Union Law College, and continued in that position until 1876, when, on account of failing health, he was obliged to resign. The arduous duties of the place were most satisfactorily discharged, and his lectures were highly appreciated for their depth of thought and practical application. The title of LL.D. was conferred upon him by the Law College about the time of his appointment to the presidency.

He was also, for some time, chief editor of The Western Law Monthly, published in Cleveland, which contained a series of biographical sketches from his pen.

Mr. Crowell delivered several courses of lectures in the Homeopathic college, on account of which he received the honorary degree of M.D., and was made dean of the faculty.

He is, and always has been, an earnest advocate of common schools; and, looking upon christianity as the true basis of civilization, he has throughout his life been a decided supporter of the Christian Church. Forty years or more ago he assisted in founding the first Episcopal church in Warren, and held an office in that parish until his removal to Cleveland. He is still a member of the Episeopal Church, but is Protestant and Evangelical, not Catholic, and therefore expresses himself as decidedly opposed to turning parish churches into recruiting stations, and the clergymen into drillsergeants for the Church of Rome.

Mr. Crowell is not only a learned and accomplished lawyer, but also takes high rank as a classical scholar, His knowledge of history, ancient and modern, and of English literature, is critical and scholarly. He possesses clear and enlarged views of the the principles of legal science, in its broadest sense, ripe culture and an exemplary character, and has filled the numerous positions of honor and trust to which be has been chosen with marked ability and unvarying fidelity. ILis success in life is due to the high and noble qualities of his mind, to courage undaunted by the greatest obstacles, untiring industry and sound judgment. Ilis natural gifts, physical and mental, have been thoroughly disciplined and cultivated. His addresses, lectures and biographical sketches were models of elegant diction and full of valuable and interesting points.

As a political leader he enjoyed the fullest confidence of his party, and the respect of all. He has been a member and earnest supporter of the Republican party since its organization. As-a citizen he is highly esteemed and above reproach. He-is now an invalid, and has retired from active business. After many years of labor, in public and private life, he enjoys the pleasures of a quiet home, the society of a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and the wellearned privilege of spending the remainder of his days in ease and quiet. -

Mr. Crowell was married in 1833 to Eliza B. Estabrook, of Worcester, Massachusetts. ''l'o them have been born five children, four of whom are living, one having died in infancy. They are Julia K., widow of Col. Henry G. Powers; Eliza S., widow of the late Henry F. Clark; John Crowell, Jr., a lawyer of the firm of M. D. Leggett & Co., and William Crowell.