Part 43

During the whole of Mr. Scofield's business career, with the extensive operations of the firms in which he is interested, there has been but one case of litigation. This is noteworthy, and speaks well for the integrity and strict business habits of Mr. Scofield. He is not given to jumping hastily at conclusions or embarking wildly in business schemes. Before entering on an undertaking, he carefully, though rapidly, studies the natural effect of the step and having satisfied himself of its probable success, he prosecutes it with unflagging energy. The course of events within the past few years offered unusual opportunities for a clear headed and active business man to advance himself, and Mr. Scofield had the forethought and energy to take advantage of those opportunities. From first to last he had to depend on his own energies, having been left an orphan at sixteen years of age, and from the time of his reaching his majority, being compelled to push his way unaided, a stranger in a strange land. The efforts of just such men have made Cleveland what it is to-day.

Levi Haldeman.

Levi Haldeman is a representative of another class of our citizens than refiners, who have taken advantage of the petroleum enterprise, and are spending their money in building up the prosperity of the city, turning its energies into channels that cannot fail to give an impetus to all branches of trade, and aid in establishing our financial institutions on a basis of unrivalled strength, and who, at the same time, reap their reward by putting money into their own pockets.

The subject of this sketch was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, Dec. 14, 1809, received a good common school education, and removed with his father to Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1819. Until he was about twenty-five years of age he spent his time with his father on his farm, and in teaching school. He then commenced reading medicine with Drs. Robertson and Cary of that place; after which he attended lectures at Cincinnati, and was a private student of Drs. Gross and Parker--the former being now Professer in Jefferson College, Philadelphia, and the latter Professor in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. Mr. Haldeman commenced practice alone in 1839, at Minerva, Ohio, although he had practiced from 1837 with his old preceptor. He soon obtained an excellent practice in medicine, and was noted for his skill in surgery, performing nearly all the operations in that part of the country, among them tractreotomy, or opening the windpipe and extracting foreign matter from it, and difficult cases of lithotomy.

In 1860, Mr. Haldeman, in connection with Messrs. Hussey and McBride, of Cleveland, bought the McElhenny Farm, in the Pennsylvania oil regions, which proved to be very valuable. For the whole farm of two hundred acres the sum of twenty thousand dollars was paid, subject to some leases, which were renewed to the lessees. Mr. Funk leased a hundred and thirty acres of the farm, subdivided it in into acre lots, and sub-lot them to a number of oil companies, representing an aggregate capital of millions of dollars. Messrs. Bennet and Hatch, the sub-lessees of one sub-lot, struck the largest producing well yet found in the oil region the Empire, a three thousand barrel well, which is estimated to have produced no less than six hundred thousand barrels of oil and the whole farm is estimated to have produced two millions of barrels. At the present time the sub-leases have nearly all been forfeited, through breach of covenant, and the farm has reverted to the owners, Messrs. Hussey and Haldeman. It is not now worked, the wells having been flooded by the unexpected influx of water, against which there had been no provision made by the owners of the wells. It is expected to remedy this misfortune by plugging the wells below the water veins, and pumping, with the hope of thus restoring the value of the farm.

The next enterprise was the purchase of the A. Buchanan farm, of three hundred acres, in connection with others, subject, also, to a lease, but giving the owners of the farm a royalty of one sixth of the oil produced, free of cost, and retaining the use of the land for other purposes. On this farm the town of Rouseville has been built since the purchase. This has proved a very lucrative investment. The first well struck on it in 1860 is still producing. In company with others, Mr. Haldeman also bought the royalty of the John McClintock farm for ten thousand dollars in gold, the Irishman owning it thinking nothing but gold worth having. Mr. Haldeman sold his thirty-second part of the same for a hundred thousand dollars; another partner sold his for forty-thousand dollars, the purchaser subsequently re-selling it for one hundred thousand dollars. Besides this, Mr. Haldeman became half owner of two hundred acres not yet developed, and he and his sons own about four hundred acres, supposed to be excellent oil land. He has also invested about forty thousand dollars in iron tanking, in the oil region, and has now tankage for four hundred thousand barrels, in connection with others.

Mr. Haldeman was married in 1840 to Miss Mary Ann Gaves, of Columbiana county. The oldest and second sons, L. P. and W. P. Haldeman, are engaged in business with their father, and by their energy, foresight, and close attention to business, have aided materially in the later successes of the firm. Mr. Haldeman has, as is evident from the record here given, won for himself considerable wealth, but it has been secured only by the exercise of sound judgment and intelligent enterprise, which deserves, though it does not always achieve, success.

G. Westlake.

The firm of Westlake, Hutchins & Co., composed of G. Westlake, H. A. Hutchins, C. H. Andrews and W. C. Andrews, stands high among the oil refining establishments of Cleveland, not only for the extent of their operations but for their fair dealing in business matters. The firm commenced the erection of their works in October, 1866, and in June of the succeeding year began operations with a capacity of two hundred barrels of crude oil per day. The business improved, and the works had to be enlarged to keep pace with it, until the present capacity of the works is seven hundred and fifty barrels per day. In the enlargements, the latest improvements in the appliances for the refining of oil have been put in. One still now employed has a capacity of eleven hundred barrels, which is charged twice a week, and was the first of the kind in the State. Besides this are ten stills of thirty barrels each, one of two hundred and fifty barrels, and one, recently completed, forty feet in diameter, of the same pattern as the monster still just mentioned, and which is calculated for two thousand barrels. The total capacity of the works, including this still, is fourteen hundred and sixteen barrels of crude per day, which will yield, if running to full capacity, two hundred and eighty-eight thousand barrels of refined oil in a year, or between three and four millions of dollars in value at the stills. Connected with the works are a twenty thousand barrel tank, a fifteen thousand barrel tank, two of ten thousand barrels each, one of six thousand barrels, and several from two thousand barrels down. When all its improvements in progress are completed it will be one of the largest refineries in Cleveland and in the United States, and with enterprise corresponding to the size and importance of its works. A large number of men are employed, either at the works or in direct connection with it by providing cooperage and other necessaries for the business.

Mr. Westlake, the senior member of the firm, was born in Chemung county, New York, January 11, 1822, received a good education and when a young man was employed as a clerk in a lumber business for a couple of years. In 1847, he went into the lumber trade on his own account, remaining in that business until 1866, when he removed to Cleveland, and finding that the oil refining business held out reasonable prospects of profit, he embarked in it, and by his energy of character and enterprise has achieved flattering success, although the time in which he has been engaged in the business is short. He is still in the prime of life.

Mr. Westlake was married in 1848 to Miss Hatch, of Elmira, Chemung county, and has three children.

Stephen Buhrer.

Stephen Buhrer, the subject of this sketch, is of immediate German descent. His father, a native of Baden, and his mother of Wirtemburg, emigrated to this country in the year 1817. Their acquaintance was first formed on board of the emigrant ship on their passage hither, and they were married soon after their arrival in this country. After remaining in the State of Pennsylvania about two years, they came to make their home in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where, on the 26th day of December, 1825, their son, Stephen Buhrer, was born. That region at that time (fifty years ago) was remarkably wild and rough, and inhospitable, but since, by the thrifty German population, by whom it was mainly inhabited, it has become scarcely inferior to any other part of the State in agricultural wealth. But the father of Stephen Buhrer was not destined to live to see this prosperity. He died in the year 1829, leaving his widow and two young children, Stephen and Catharine, dependent on themselves to make their way in the world.

From the severe discipline to which Mr. Buhrer was subjected in early life, and from the difficulties which he had to overcome, he acquired that energy and force of character which have given him success and by which he has attained to a high rank as a self-made man.

Mr. Buhrer does not remember that he was privileged to attend any school after he was ten years of age. All the education which he subsequently acquired he obtained on Sundays and in evenings, after his day's labor was over. He has been a citizen of Cleveland since the year 1844. His first business in this city was at his trade, as cooper, and afterwards he became extensively engaged, and with success, in the business of purifying and refining spirits.

In the Spring of the year 1853, he was elected a member of the City Council, and was twice thereafter re-elected to the same office, the last time almost without opposition.

By the manner in which he discharged his duty as a member of the City Council, public attention was directed toward him as a suitable person for the responsible office of Mayor of the city, to which he was elected, at the April election, in the year 1867, by a very large majority, although he did not belong to the dominant political party. It is conceded by all that he has discharged the duties of Mayor, with a zeal and a devotion to the interests of the city which have had few examples. Turning aside, on his election, from the business in which he was engaged, he has allowed the affairs of the city to monopolize his attention. Placed by his office at the head of the Board of City Improvements, and having in charge public works of great magnitude, involving the expenditure of vast sums of money, invested with the sole control and management of the large police force of the city, and therefore made responsible for its fidelity and efficiency, and exercising a supervision over all the departments of the city government, to promote economy and to lessen taxation, Mayor Buhrer has found his office to be no sinecure. Among the distinguishing traits of his official conduct has been his impartiality, his exemption from favoritism and partizanship, when in conflict with the public interests, and especially his well-known hostility to "cliques" and "rings," such as resort to a city government as a rich placer, where they may work to enrich themselves at the expense of the people. The rigid discharge of duty which he has required of the police under his charge, and the avoidance, at the same time, of everything like oppression, or the exercise of undue severity in office, have received the public approbation.

One of the most prominent institutions of Cleveland will be the House of Correction, now in progress of construction, and which is humanely intended to reform and reclaim, as well as to punish, the vicious and the criminal. To Mr. Buhrer much credit will be awarded for the active and leading part he has taken in the establishment of such an institution.

At the expiration of his term of office, it was his wish to be relieved from public care and to devote all of his time to his private pursuits, and which, the more he expected to do, as no one of his predecessors had ever been re-elected, or had entered again upon a second term. But yielding to the solicitations of friends, he again became a candidate, and at the April election, in 1869, was again elected Mayor of the city of Cleveland, by nearly three thousand majority. Such a demonstration by the people is a sufficient commentary upon his character as a citizen, and upon the public estimation of his official services.

M. B. Clark.

M. B. Clark was born in Malmsbury, England, September 6, 1827. From early boyhood until he was nearly of age he was employed in all the various occupations of an agricultural district. About this time the United States, as a promising country for the working man, was attracting considerable notice in his native village, and young Clark, being favorably impressed with reports from America, secretly resolved to husband his means and follow the example of those who had recently gone.

In the Spring of 1847, he left home with but barely sufficient means for the expenses of the journey. On the 17th of June in that year he landed at Boston, amidst martial music and parade of military, celebrating the battle of Bunker's Hill. This, however, was but poor consolation to the English lad, who found himself penniless and friendless. He used every effort to find employment without success, and in the meantime was obliged to sleep wherever night overtook him. At last he obtained work on a farm, in the little town of Dover, Massachusetts, at ten dollars per month. He remained in this situation until October, when, with the regrets of his employer, he left for the West.

On arriving in Ohio, he first obtained employment at chopping wood and teaming, in Lorain county. In the following Spring he returned to Cleveland and obtained a situation as helper in a hardware store. Here it became apparent to him that he was sadly deficient in an educational point of view, and that it offered an almost insuperable barrier to his advancement in life. To remedy this, so far as possible, he devoted all his leisure hours to study, and on the establishment of the evening schools the following winter, he availed himself of them, and the advantage soon became apparent.

With a view to the improvement of his circumstances, in 1851, he engaged himself to Hussey & Sinclair, with whom he remained six years, when he returned to his former employers, Otis & Co., and remained with them three years longer.

In 1859, he established himself in the commission business, associating with him John D. Rockefeller, the firm name being Clark & Rockefeller; both young men of limited means. By strict attention and honorable conduct they soon built up a lucrative business. In 1860, G. W. Gardner became a member of the firm, and continued as such for two years, when he retired.

In 1863, Mr. Clark's attention was attracted to the manufacture of petroleum oils, a business then in its infancy. In connection with his partners, he erected a factory on the Newburg road, the capacity of which was about fifty-six barrels of crude oil per day. They soon discovered that there was money in the enterprise, and before the end of the year they had increased the capacity of their works four-fold; and the enterprise of this firm has aided materially in making Cleveland what it is to-day, the successful rival of Pittsburgh in the manufacture of petroleum oils. In 1865, the manufacturing branch was purchased by his partner, and the general commission business was continued by Mr. Clark until 1866, when he sold out his interest, remaining nominally out of the business until June of that year, when he wearied of idleness and sought active business once more. Purchasing the controlling interest in another refinery, he set to work, vigorously, enlarging the capacity of the works and bringing capital and energy to bear with such effect upon the business of the firm, that it now ranks among the leading oil refining establishments of the country.

Mr. Clark has been no niggard with the wealth that has accrued to him from his business. During the war he contributed liberally and was active in aiding the cause of the government by giving every practical measure his cordial and generous support. In other matters he has manifested a like liberal spirit. In politics he has acted with the Republicans, and has been active in furthering the success of that party. In 1866, he was elected member of the city council from the fourth ward, and was re-elected in 1868. In religions matters he has always connected himself with the Wesleyan Methodists, and has been a leading supporter of that congregation in Cleveland.

Still in the vigor of life, Mr. Clark has the opportunity of doing much more for the prosperity of the city by increasing the manufacturing business, and this his practical nature leads him to do.

It will be seen that Mr. Clark has been the architect of his own fortune. His sympathies are with the industrial classes, from which he sprang, and in return he has the confidence and good will of a large portion of that class.

Mr. Clark was married in 1853, and has a family of five children.

Jacob Lowman.

Jacob Lowman was born in Washington county, Maryland, Sept. 22, 1810. He worked with his father on the farm until he was eighteen, at which time he became an apprentice to the smithing department of the carriage building trade. At the expiration of his apprenticeship, in 1832, he came to Ohio. He stopped in Stark county for a few months, and then came to Cleveland, in search of work, which he readily obtained, with Elisha Peet, on Seneca street, where Frankfort street now intersects it. He worked about a year and a half, for which he received nine dollars per month and board. Being of steady habits, he saved in that time about seventy-five dollars. Mr. Lowman then bought out his employer, and commenced at once on his own account, at the same place. After two years, he built a shop where the Theatre Comique now stands, and remained there eight years. At first he labored alone, after awhile he had one journeyman, soon adding still another, and another, till, at the end of the eight years, he employed about fifteen men. He then removed to Vineyard street, having built shops there to accommodate his increasing business. This was about the year 1842--3. After moving to the new buildings, his business constantly grew with the city, and more men were employed. In 1851, Mr. Lowman commenced the erection of a still larger building to meet his increasing demands; he was then employing from thirty-five to forty men. About this time too, he associated with him Mr. Wm. M. Warden, who had then been in his employ for about ten years. Their facilities were sufficient till about the time of the war, when they erected a large brick building on Champlain street, now occupied as a smith shop, trimming shop, store room, etc., since which they have employed about sixty men. Mr. Lowman, for a number of years, did little beside a local trade, but for the last five or six years he has built up quite a large foreign trade, shipping West extensively--Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana and Kentucky, being the principal markets.

Mr. Lowman has been strictly temperate all his life. He has taken a lively interest in the Sunday schools of the city, in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has been a member nearly since he came to the city.

He was married in 1841 to Miss Minerva E. Peet, by whom he had four children, three of whom are now living--the oldest son being in business with his father. He suffered the loss of his partner in life in 1857. He married again in 1863, to Mrs. Sarah D. Goodwin, of Lorain county, Ohio, formerly of Vermont.

He attributes his success in business to the fact that he had an object in view, and endeavored to attain it, strict attention to business, economy, and studying to give satisfaction by his work.

He is only fifty-eight years of age, and well preserved, and in all human probability will live to enjoy the fruit of his labor for many years to come.

W. G. Wilson.

W. G. Wilson, now president of the Wilson Sewing Machine Company of Cleveland, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the first of April, 1841. His education was obtained at a village school house. When he was in his thirteenth year his parents removed to Ohio, and the lad remained with them until his eighteenth year, when he left home with a somewhat indefinite idea of doing something for himself, although possessing neither money nor friends to aid him in his start in life. Until the year 1864, he wandered from place to place, turning his hand to various employments, but was dissatisfied with them all, being convinced that he had not yet found his right vocation or location.

In 1864, he was visiting some friends at Madison county, Ohio, when his attention was attracted by a cheap sewing machine. Believing that money could be made by the sale of such machines he purchased one, mastered its mode of operation, and took a traveling agency. Finding this a more profitable business than any he had yet undertaken, he prosecuted it with vigor, and being of an inquiring mind, soon picked up important facts concerning the business, the manufacture of the machines, and the profits of the manufacturers and dealers. He discovered that the largest profits were not made by those who retailed the machines, and, therefore, he set to work to change his position in the business and so enlarge his profits.

In Fremont, Ohio, he formed the acquaintance of a young man in the grocery business, who had thought at times of entering on the sewing machine trade. A partnership was formed. Mr. Wilson contributed his whole available means, sixty-five dollars, to which he added the experience he had gained, whilst his partner contributed to the common stock three hundred dollars. With this slender cash capital, but abundant confidence in their success, the new firm came to Cleveland, which they selected as the base of their operations on account of its superior shipping facilities, and opened a wareroom in Lyman's Block, having previously made arrangements with manufacturers in Massachusetts to make machines for them. The new firm of Mather & Wilson were successful beyond their expectations.

About a year had been passed in this way when suits were brought against Mather & Wilson, in common with a number of other parties throughout the West, for an alleged infringement of a sewing machine patent. Under the pressure of these suits, which were prosecuted with a large capital to back up the litigating parties, Mr. Wilson endeavored to secure the co-operation of the more powerful of the defendants, but without success, each party preferring to fight the battle singly. After a hard fight in the courts, a compromise was effected, the suit against Mather & Wilson withdrawn on each party paying his own costs, and they were allowed to carry on the business unmolested.