Lake View Cemetery on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Lake View Cemetery is a
In 1868, prominent Cleveland businessmen Jeptha Wade,
privately owned
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
, nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
cemetery
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...
located in the cities of Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
, Cleveland Heights
Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th largest ...
, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gilded Age
In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...
, and today the cemetery is known for its numerous lavish funerary monuments and mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be cons ...
s. The extensive early monument building at Lake View helped give rise to the Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...
neighborhood, but over-expansion nearly bankrupted the burial ground in 1888. Financial recovery only began in 1893, and took several years. Lake View grew and modernized significantly from 1896 to 1915 under the leadership of president Henry R. Hatch. The cemetery's cautious management allowed it to avoid retrenchment and financial problems during the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
.
Two sites within the cemetery are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. The first is the James A. Garfield Memorial, erected in 1890 as the tomb of assassinated President James A. Garfield. The second is Wade Memorial Chapel, which began construction in 1898 and was completed in 1901. It honors the memory of Jeptha Wade, one of the cemetery's co-founders, and was donated by his grandson.
Founding of the cemetery
Creation of the Lake View Cemetery Association
In 1868, prominent Cleveland businessmen Jeptha Wade, Henry B. Payne
Henry B. Payne (November 30, 1810September 9, 1896) was an American politician from Ohio. Moving to Ohio from his native New York in 1833, he quickly established himself in law and business while becoming a local leader in Democratic politics. ...
, and Joseph Perkins began discussing the need for a new cemetery for the city of Cleveland. They believed that the city's then-preeminent burial ground, Woodland Cemetery Woodland Cemetery may refer to:
* Woodland cemetery, a type of cemetery
or it may refer to specific places:
in Sweden
* Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery) in Stockholm, Sweden
in the United States (by state)
* Woodland Cemetery (Quincy, I ...
, was too small for the growing city as well as overcrowded, ill-maintained, and not scenic enough. They issued an invitation on May 8, 1869, to about 40 of the city's other leading businessmen, asking them to meet at the end of the month to discuss the organization of a new cemetery. Thirty of them showed up to the meeting on May 24.
The group of 30 formed the nonprofit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
Lake View Cemetery Association on July 28, 1869. The trustees were William Bingham (owner of the W. Bingham Co. hardware company), Hinman B. Hurlbut (banking executive), Henry B. Payne (railroad investor), Joseph Perkins (banking and railroad executive), U.S. District Court Judge Charles Taylor Sherman, Amasa Stone
Amasa Stone, Jr. (April 27, 1818 – May 11, 1883) was an American industrialist who is best remembered for having created a regional railroad empire centered in the U.S. state of Ohio from 1860 to 1883. He gained fame in New England in the 184 ...
(steelmaker and railroad investor), Worthy S. Streator (railroad executive and investor), Jeptha Wade (co-founder of Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...
), and Stillman Witt (railroad investor). Wade was named president, and Liberty E. Holden (owner of ''The Plain Dealer
''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday.
As of M ...
'' newspaper) the association clerk. The group resolved to build a garden cemetery in the style of Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brah ...
near Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, or Spring Grove Cemetery
Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham ...
in Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, Ohio, and Judge Sherman chose the name: Lake View Cemetery. Lake View was "non-sectarian" and open to all, which (in the 19th century) meant that its intended clientele were Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
.
The group sold 7 percent annual interest bonds in the association, hoping to raise $150,000 ($ in dollars). Within six weeks, they'd raised the money and set a new goal of $200,000 ($ in dollars), which was also reached. Selah Chamberlain (ironmaker, railroad investor, banker), Payne, Perkins, Stone, Wade, and Witt held $60,000 ($ in dollars) in bonds, while another 11 individuals held $55,000 ($ in dollars) in bonds.
Site selection, design, and construction
A committee was formed to choose a site for the new cemetery. Its members consisted of Holden, Payne, Perkins, Sherman, and J.C. Buell (a local banking executive). The committee wanted a location on the lake shore, but found nothing suitable. While traveling on Euclid Avenue, Holden came upon the cemetery site by chance. The area was known as "Smith Run". Beginning on theErie Plain
The Erie Plain is a lacustrine plain that borders Lake Erie in North America. From Buffalo, New York, to Cleveland, Ohio, it is quite narrow (at best only a few miles/kilometers wide), but broadens considerably from Cleveland around Lake Erie to S ...
in the northwest, the site rose into the foothills of the Portage Escarpment
The Portage Escarpment is a major landform in the U.S. states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York which marks the boundary between the Till Plains to the north and west and the Appalachian Plateau to the east and south. The escarpment is the defin ...
. Dugway Brook The Dugway Brook Watershed is a nine-square mile basin in Cleveland, Ohio and its east side suburbs, which drains storm runoff into Dugway Brook which is a direct tributary feeding into Lake Erie. Dugway Brook is one of the six greater "bluestone ...
(which bisected the site) and several small streams ran south-to-north through the area, carving out a number of ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.East Cleveland Township, the site was somewhat isolated. With the city pushing eastward at a swift pace, city and county government officials were already planning additional roads in the area, several of which would reach the new cemetery.
It's not clear when the first interments at Lake View Cemetery were made, but several plots were in use by October 21, 1870.
Improvements to and expansion of the cemetery continued over the next few years. The first ravine was bridged in November 1870, and in December the association purchased an unspecified number of acres that doubled the length of its frontage on Euclid Avenue. The cemetery sold $400,000 ($ in dollars) in bonds in 1871 to pay for more improvements. To secure the bonds, the cemetery pledged all but sold lots, roads, and water features. By August 1871, six sections of the cemetery were laid out and the receiving vault for use by plot-holders, designed by local architect Joseph Ireland, was almost finished. A superintendent's lodge at the front gate on Euclid Avenue was finished at the end of the year. By this time, several large, artistic funerary monuments had been erected at Lake View. The association purchased another of land in October 1872 and in January 1873. By June 1873, the cemetery had a total of . It had spent $65,643 ($ in dollars) on landscaping, with eight sections landscaped, plotted, and open for burials. The cemetery even dammed Dugway Brook in places to create ponds.
Plots at Lake View Cemetery in its first three years sold for half the average price of plots in established cemeteries. Plot sales generated little income initially. At the close of the 1872–1873 fiscal year, the cemetery was technically bankrupt, with more debt (about $198,000 in dollars than assets. Plot sales were brisk, however, and the cemetery was proving extremely popular with local residents. As much as 40 percent of all burials at Lake View Cemetery between 1870 and 1873 were removals from Woodland Cemetery. Another of land were purchased in August 1873, and the cemetery's acreage totalled in 1876.
Euclid Avenue was paved up to Lake View Cemeteryn in 1874. Lake View Cemetery purchased another of land in 1875, issuing $150,000 ($ in dollars) in 6 percent annual interest bonds to pay for it.
By 1877, ''The Plain Dealer'' estimated, more than $100,000 ($ in dollars) in funerary monuments dotted the landscape at Lake View Cemetery. These included the highly visible
The initial plan to save Lake View Cemetery, proposed by association officials, paid bondholders 3 percent of interest due in cash and the remainder in
With revenues extraordinarily low and the association not having paid any interest in cash since 1889, cemetery trustees formed a committee consisting of Daniel P. Eels, Henry R. Hatch, and Edwin R. Perkins to see what level of cash interest could be sustained. The committee proposed a new plan in February 1892: All 1871 and 1878 bondholders could turn in their bonds and receive a new "refunding bond" paying lower annual interest. To cover all outstanding debt, about $400,000 ($ in dollars) in "refunding bonds", back-dated to December 1, 1891, would be issued. They would have a $1,000 par value, and be payable in 50 years.
Interest for the last six months of 1892 would be paid in cash at a 7 percent annual rate. The new bonds would carry
In 1896, Jeptha H. Wade II decided to fund the construction of a new receiving vault and chapel, dedicated to the memory of his grandfather, at Lake View Cemetery. Wade asked the newly founded Cleveland architectural firm of
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...
Adolph Strauch
Adolph Strauch (b. August 30, 1822 – 1883) was a renowned landscape architect born in Silesia, Prussia, known particularly for his layout designs of cemeteries like Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, Forest Lawn in Buffalo, NY and O ...
, who designed Cincinnati's celebrated Spring Grove Cemetery, was hired in October 1869 to design Lake View. Joseph Earnshaw of Cincinnati was the civil engineer, and O.D. Ford was hired as the first superintendent. During the winter of 1869–1870, work crews began grading and laying down roads and paths, terracing part of the site for in-ground plots and mausoleums, and removing underbrush and unwanted trees. By February 1870, two sections were being laid out with a total of about 500 plots.
The 300 plots in the first section went on sale on June 23, 1870, according to ''The Plain Dealer'' newspaper. The cost of a standard size in-ground grave was set at $4.00 ($ in dollars). Larger sites for families, monuments, or mausoleums went for 20 cents ($ in dollars) a square foot. The cemetery's distance from Cleveland's population center and the price of its plots meant that only those with a middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
income or better could afford to be buried at Lake View.
Early years: 1869 to 1880
It's not clear when the first interments at Lake View Cemetery were made, but several plots were in use by October 21, 1870.
Improvements to and expansion of the cemetery continued over the next few years. The first ravine was bridged in November 1870, and in December the association purchased an unspecified number of acres that doubled the length of its frontage on Euclid Avenue. The cemetery sold $400,000 ($ in dollars) in bonds in 1871 to pay for more improvements. To secure the bonds, the cemetery pledged all but sold lots, roads, and water features. By August 1871, six sections of the cemetery were laid out and the receiving vault for use by plot-holders, designed by local architect Joseph Ireland, was almost finished. A superintendent's lodge at the front gate on Euclid Avenue was finished at the end of the year. By this time, several large, artistic funerary monuments had been erected at Lake View. The association purchased another of land in October 1872 and in January 1873. By June 1873, the cemetery had a total of . It had spent $65,643 ($ in dollars) on landscaping, with eight sections landscaped, plotted, and open for burials. The cemetery even dammed Dugway Brook in places to create ponds.
Plots at Lake View Cemetery in its first three years sold for half the average price of plots in established cemeteries. Plot sales generated little income initially. At the close of the 1872–1873 fiscal year, the cemetery was technically bankrupt, with more debt (about $198,000 in dollars than assets. Plot sales were brisk, however, and the cemetery was proving extremely popular with local residents. As much as 40 percent of all burials at Lake View Cemetery between 1870 and 1873 were removals from Woodland Cemetery. Another of land were purchased in August 1873, and the cemetery's acreage totalled in 1876.
Euclid Avenue was paved up to Lake View Cemeteryn in 1874. Lake View Cemetery purchased another of land in 1875, issuing $150,000 ($ in dollars) in 6 percent annual interest bonds to pay for it.
By 1877, ''The Plain Dealer'' estimated, more than $100,000 ($ in dollars) in funerary monuments dotted the landscape at Lake View Cemetery. These included the highly visible obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
s and shafts over the Doan, Kelley, McDermott, Potter, and Tisdale plots; the Goodrich and Jaynes memorials; the Keynes column (topped with a funerary urn); the Jeptha Wade shaft, which was topped by an angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...
; and the Hurlbut pillar topped with a weeping figure. There were also a number of monuments with well-designed, expertly carved bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
or freestanding sculptures. These included the angel atop the Truman P. Handy memorial, the weeping woman atop the Bucher and Hanna monuments, the group of angels supporting a cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a s ...
atop the Cross grave, figures carved on the upright slabs over the Johnson and Garretson plots, a sculptural group named "Hope" atop the Perkins monument, and another sculptural group atop the Chamberlain monument. Although a number of large mausoleums had been built in the cemetery, the newspaper noted that the most elaborate of these was the tomb being erected by H.J. Wilcox. Wilcox had visited Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, where he employed artisans to design a vault that mimicked the look of an Italian Renaissance chapel.
With lots selling quickly, cemetery officials used the revenue to redeem debt. By 1878, only $10,000 of the 1871 bond issue remained unredeemed, and just $30,000 of the 1875 bond issue. The trustees decided to retire both debts by issuing $40,000 ($ in dollars) in new bonds at 7 percent annual interest. Although the new bonds were sold, the old debt was inexplicably not retired.
Expansion: 1881 to 1890
Building the Garfield Memorial
President James A. Garfield, a resident of nearbyMentor, Ohio
Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in Me ...
, was shot in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881. He died on September 19, 1881. Garfield himself had expressed the wish to be buried at Lake View Cemetery, and the cemetery offered a burial site free of charge to his widow, Lucretia Garfield.
Mrs. Garfield agreed to bury her husband at Lake View. Garfield was temporarily interred in the cemetery's public vault on September 26, 1881, then transferred on October 22 to an empty mausoleum owned and designed by noted local architect Levi Scofield. Even before Garfield's funeral, plans were laid by his friends and admirers for a grand tomb to be erected at the highest point in the cemetery.
The popularity of the garden-like cemetery and the public's desire to see Garfield's resting place were such that large crowds began thronging Lake View every Sunday. Roughly 50,000 people a year were visiting the crypt. The cemetery received no revenues from the memorial committee despite the wear and tear on its property. Cemetery officials began requiring tickets in the summer of 1882 to enter the grounds in order to control the crowds and maintain a suitable atmosphere for mourning. Relic hunters were so willing to vandalize the Scofield tomb (they even ripped up the grass around it) that a wire fence had to be erected to keep them away. In 1891, the cemetery barred all non-lotholding visitors from the cemetery on Sundays unless they had a pass. With only about 230 Sunday passes available, hundreds of people were turned away.
The Garfield Memorial Committee selected the highest point in the cemetery in June 1883 for the president's final resting place. Lake View Cemetery built a road around the memorial in early 1885, and began work on cutting a road from the Euclid Gate to the memorial site in the fall of that year. The cemetery also began work on making improvements to the landscape, water, and drainage around the site. The Garfield Memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1890. Lucretia Garfield, the president's widow, died on March 13, 1918, and was interred in the Garfield Memorial on March 21.
Rise of Little Italy
Little Italy largely owes its inception to funerary monument maker Joseph Carabelli. In 1870, the 20-year-old northern Italian journeyman stonecarver emigrated to the United States. He spent 10 years in New York City, where he dressed stone and carved the statue ''Industry'' for the Federal Building and Post Office inBrooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Carabelli relocated to Cleveland in 1880, establishing the Lake View Granite and Monumental Works on Mayfield Road adjacent to the cemetery. Carabelli began encouraging other Italian sculptors, stonecutters, and artisans to settle in Cleveland near his works, and by 1885 a substantial enclave of Italians, mostly immigrants, had grown up there.
By 1892, the neighborhood adjacent to the cemetery's southwestern corner had become known as Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...
. It was largely inhabited by Italian immigrants who worked as groundskeepers at Lake View or who worked in the funeral monument companies making headstones or memorials for placement in the cemetery. 1892 also saw the city of Cleveland annex Little Italy. The annexation included all of Lake View Cemetery west of a line running from the end of Brightwood Avenue south to Mayfield Road.
Streetcar access
Lake View, Collamer & Euclid Railway, astreetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...
line, proposed a line to reach Lake View's main gate in July 1874. However, as built in 1876, the line followed Superior Avenue to Euclid Avenue before proceeding east—reaching Euclid east of Lake View Cemetery.
The first streetcar to reach Lake View Cemetery was the East Cleveland Railway's Euclid Avenue Line in 1886. The company extended its tracks from its existing terminus at E. 107th Street up Euclid Avenue to Rosedale Avenue in East Cleveland (just short of the major thoroughfare of Noble Road). The East Cleveland Railway opened a second set of tracks, an extension of its Cedar Avenue Line, in 1889. This line began at the company's car barn
A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train ca ...
at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Coltman Road. The line traveled south on Coltman to reach Mayfield Road, then south down Murray Hill Road to Cedar Avenue. A year after the Cedar Avenue Line extension opened, the Cleveland Electric Railway Company opened its Mayfield Road Line. This line went past Lake Views Mayfield Road gate. The line began at the East Cleveland Railway's car barn, went south down Coltman to Mayfield, and then east on Mayfield to Lee Road. This line closed in 1907.
In 1902, Lake View Cemetery gave permission for the Cleveland Electric Railway to build a spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...
into the cemetery so that the streetcar firm's funeral car could be used to transport caskets and funeral parties to the cemetery.
Financial difficulties
Emergence of the financial crisis
As of 1888, Lake View Cemetery had of land. About had been laid out, but only half had been sold. The cemetery association had spent $800,000 ($ in dollars) buying land and improving it. By the end of 1888, about 14 percent of Lake View's had been sold, bringing in $406,000 ($ in dollars). The price of a single-burial lot had more than doubled since the cemetery opened, to ($ to $ in dollars) a square foot. By late 1888, Lake View Cemetery was nearing bankruptcy. Mismanagement was part of the problem, and ''The Plain Dealer'' newspaper said the cemetery's financial records were in "deplorable" shape. Lake View had outstanding debt of $432,980 ($ in dollars), and interest on the debt consumed $23,031 a year ($ in dollars). Maintenance of the few open sections cost another $9,676 ($ in dollars) a year, yet income was only $23,875 ($ in dollars) a year on average. The cemetery superintendent had spent $150,000 to $200,000 ($ to $ in dollars) on improvements, a figure officials privately admitted was too much. Lot sales fell below expectations, and the cemetery had never established a reserve fund to see the organization through difficult economic times. Cemetery trustees were aware of the worsening deficit many years earlier, and believed the cemetery should stop paying interest on its bonds to bring its finances back in order. This step was not taken because the trustees believed many bondholders relied on interest for income. The cemetery began quietly borrowing money from the Citizens Savings and Loan Association, a local bank, in order to pay interest on its bonds. The association paid out only 4 percent of the 7 percent annual interest due on its bonds at the end of 1888, creating a severe financial hardship for bondholders who relied on the interest for their living expenses. Bonds which formerly sold for $108 to $110 (thepar value
Par value, in finance and accounting, means stated value or face value. From this come the expressions at par (at the par value), over par (over par value) and under par (under par value).
Bonds
A bond selling at par is priced at 100% of face valu ...
was $100) now began selling at $50 to $75. Angry bondholders protested the move, but were assured that the cemetery's financial problems were temporary. Bondholders representing about $50,000 out the bonds formed a committee in late March 1889 to seek more information about the cemetery's financial status.
Quietly, the cemetery began accepting bonds as payment for lots. Usually, purchasers held few bonds, with those holding large amounts of bonds refusing to sell. Although the exchange of bonds for lots would impact revenues, cemetery officials believed that only $7,000 to $8,000 in bonds would be redeemed.
February 1889 proposed rescue plan
The initial plan to save Lake View Cemetery, proposed by association officials, paid bondholders 3 percent of interest due in cash and the remainder in scrip
A scrip (or ''chit'' in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitive payment of employees under truck systems; or for use in local co ...
. The cemetery would also create a sinking fund
A sinking fund is a fund established by an economic entity by setting aside revenue over a period of time to fund a future capital expense, or repayment of a long-term debt.
In North America and elsewhere where it is common for public and priva ...
to redeem scrip. To generate revenue, the cost of lots would be halved to just 25 cents ($ in dollars) a square foot; the surge in lot-buying, it was believed would raise $2 million ($ in dollars). In addition, spending on cemetery improvements would be cut back sharply. The reaction of the bondholders was not reported, but area businesspeople began suggesting that the city of Cleveland purchase the cemetery.
The plan was amended at the end of April 1889 so that all interest coming due that year was paid in scrip. Interest due after 1889 would be paid 3 percent in cash, 4 percent in scrip. The cemetery agreed to pay 6 percent annual interest on scrip, to devote all income first to maintaining the cemetery and second to paying cash interest, and to create a second sinking fund dedicated to redeeming bonds at maturity. Excess income (after expenditures for maintenance and cash interest) would go toward the sinking funds, redemption of scrip, a fund to pay the next year's cash interest, and to pay other debts. Significant bondholder opposition to the plan began to emerge.
In June 1889, the Lake View Cemetery Association paid only 3 percent of the 7 percent annual interest due in cash, the remainder in scrip. The cemetery was forced to redeem $11,000 ($ in dollars) in bonds at par that month alone as payment for lots. The redemption of bonds significantly impacted the cemetery's cash flow, and by the end of 1889 it could not pay any interest in cash. Income was so negatively impacted by the exchange of bonds for lots that cemetery trustees admitted on June 1, 1889, that no cash interest would be paid at the end of the year; all interest would be paid in scrip. The trustees also warned that scrip might not be issued unless bondholders agreed to the cemetery's financial rescue plan. Angry bondholders began to threaten lawsuits to personally hold the trustees responsible for the payment of interest.
The bonds-for-lots exchange program proved financially disastrous. Lake View sold lots worth $12,000 in September 1889 but received only $1,000 in cash as the remainder was paid in bonds. In the same month, maintenance expenses amounted to $5,000. At the beginning of October 1889, the association stopped accepting the full amount of bonds for the purchase of lots, and said it would accept bonds for only one-third of the lot sale price. The cemetery also agreed to accept scrip for up to a third of a lot's cost as well.
November 1889 proposed rescue plan
Local banker and cemetery trustee Daniel P. Eells proposed in November 1889 to form asyndicate
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...
to raise $200,000 ($ in dollars) and redeem two-thirds of all outstanding bonds at the current market price. A trustee would hold the redeemed bonds until January 1, 1893, paying interest on them from net cash income. The trustee would distribute the bonds on a ''pro rata
''Pro rata'' is an adverb or adjective meaning in equal portions or in proportion. The term is used in many legal and economic contexts. The hyphenated spelling ''pro-rata'' for the adjective form is common, as recommended for adjectives by some E ...
'' basis on January 2, 1893. Subscribers to the redemption fund were essentially betting that the price of the bonds in 1893 would have risen more than enough to not only cover their investment but also offset the loss of income from the reduced interest payments. Eells said the cemetery faced bankruptcy if the syndicate scheme was not adopted.
Gaining acceptance from the bondholders was complicated. C.F. Houghton, a banker and bond dealer based on the East Coast, held all $10,000 of the outstanding 1871 bonds and $7,000 of the 1875 bonds. Samuel E. Williamson, a local judge, held $13,000 of the 1875 issue. Another 331 individuals held the remaining $10,000 of the 1875 and all $40,000 of the 1878 issue. Houghton claimed to have been given misleading information on the amount of outstanding debt by Lake View officials, and he threatened to sue the cemetery to force it into receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
(a process which would take about six years to accomplish). Support for the cemetery's plan among the miscellaneous bondholders was about evenly split. Those in opposition argued it was unethical for the cemetery to create a financial crisis which caused bond interest to cease and bond prices to collapse, and then turn around and offer to buy those bonds back at the new low price.
A recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
hit the U.S. economy in 1890 followed by a brief depression in 1891, further depressing lot sales.
By 1892, the grounds at Lake View Cemetery were seriously neglected. Sections ready for sale were unmown, weeds and other plants grew wild, and erosion and drought had left some areas bare of vegetation. Only a small percentage of the cemetery's roads were paved, and the remainder, all dirt roads, were heavily eroded and rutted. Lake View's finances were so poor that many residents believed it was close to bankruptcy. The association needed revenue so badly that its trustees considered lowering the price of lots so that the poor could afford to be buried there. The cemetery generated so little revenue that it had incurred about $365,700 ($ in dollars) in debt above and beyond interest and principal owed on bonds.
1892 approved rescue plan
With revenues extraordinarily low and the association not having paid any interest in cash since 1889, cemetery trustees formed a committee consisting of Daniel P. Eels, Henry R. Hatch, and Edwin R. Perkins to see what level of cash interest could be sustained. The committee proposed a new plan in February 1892: All 1871 and 1878 bondholders could turn in their bonds and receive a new "refunding bond" paying lower annual interest. To cover all outstanding debt, about $400,000 ($ in dollars) in "refunding bonds", back-dated to December 1, 1891, would be issued. They would have a $1,000 par value, and be payable in 50 years.
Interest for the last six months of 1892 would be paid in cash at a 7 percent annual rate. The new bonds would carry coupons
In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product.
Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods
or by retailers, to be used in r ...
for all other past-due interest, to be paid at a 6 percent annual rate. Additionally, redeemed bondholders would receive an income debenture
In corporate finance, a debenture is a medium- to long-term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money, at a fixed rate of interest. The legal term "debenture" originally referred to a document that either creates a debt or acknowle ...
equal to 20 percent of the bond's face value. Only $100,000 ($ in dollars) in income debentures would be issued, carrying a 7 percent (or less) annual interest rate. To ensure payment of the interest on the debentures, the cemetery agreed to establish a sinking fund whose proceeds would pay the interest.
Lake View Cemetery agreed that revenues would go toward maintenance and cemetery expenses first. Excess revenues would be applied first to the income debentures, second to interest on the 1878 and refunding bonds, third to sinking fund payments, and lastly to any reasonable improvements to be made to the cemetery. The cemetery staff believed that only about $4,000 ($ in dollars) a year was needed to maintain the cemetery. Interest on the 1875 bond issue (of which only $35,000 was outstanding) amounted to $2,100 a year ($ in dollars), while interest on the refunding bonds would amount to $16,000 a year ($ in dollars).
About half the outstanding bondholders approved of Lake View's plan, but it needed 90 percent to do so before the financial recovery plan could be implemented. The cemetery association tried and failed to get bondholder approval for its plan, and then turned for assistance to Harry A. Garfield, son of President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
James A. Garfield and a local attorney who represented several cemetery bondholders. Garfield felt the association's plan was needed to ensure the cemetery's financial stability, and began sending personalized and form letter
A form letter is a letter written from a template, rather than being specially composed for a specific recipient. The most general kind of form letter consists of one or more regions of boilerplate text interspersed with one or more substitution p ...
s to all the bondholders in December 1891. The cemetery's plan was tweaked to provide for even smaller par values for the refunding bonds. In total, $500,000 ($ in dollars) in refunding bonds were proposed, 350 at $1,000 par value, 50 at $500 par value, and 1,250 at $100 par value. Five months after Garfield began his lobbying effort, 75 percent of bondholders approved the plan. The remaining approvals were received in June 1892, and the LVCA board of directors authorized issuance of the refunding bonds. Legal work took longer than usual, however, and it was not until December that the bonds were finally issued.
The cemetery's financial condition improved significantly over the next few years. Although some board members felt the cemetery should still be sold to the city of Cleveland, the board rejected this proposal overwhelmingly in June 1895. The cemetery board approved the erection of a crematorium
A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also b ...
in 1900, but no action was taken on the plan.
Renewed improvement
In 1896, Lake View Cemetery's entrance was unprepossessing. Located next to Mayfield Road about southwest of the current entrance, it consisted of a small wooden gate, a two-room office in a wooden shack just inside the gate, and a small wood-frame home for the superintendent adjacent to the office. Henry R. Hatch was elected Lake View's president in June 1896. Lake View was in dilapidated condition, with nearly all monuments and headstones sinking or out of plumb. The cemetery's financial problems had hindered its development for years now, and Hatch implemented new, modern financial and recordkeeping systems to further improve accounting and cash flow. A new system of gravedigging orders was also implemented, and cemetery engineering was improved. Lake View had long laid out lots according to the contour of the ground. Steep slopes were avoided, and roads withstorm drain
A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surfa ...
s laid out before a section was plotted. The new engineering standards required that all sections have a wide infrastructure border around them. The outermost tier of graves was intended for monuments, and lots were deep. All other tiers had lots just in length, with a walkway between tiers. Any section deeper than in depth also needs to have an wide service road bisecting it. All ground was roughly graded before the construction of infrastructure and roads; wet ground was drained after rough grading. Section and lot corners were marked with cornerstones, and all permanent fixtures were recorded on the cemetery engineer's maps.
With the Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide price and economic recession, beginning in 1873 and running either through March 1879, or 1896, depending on the metrics used. It was most severe in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing st ...
ending in the United States, the board believed lot sales would rise significantly. With the board's backing, Hatch began making new improvements to the cemetery and converting undeveloped land into sections 4, 10, and 26 at a cost of $10,000 ($ in dollars). Realizing that lot sizes were too large and expensive for middle-class purchasers, Hatch ordered that lots in what is now Section 26 be small and affordable like those at Woodland Cemetery. Unsold large lots in what is now Section 1 were subdivided into smaller lots as well. Terra cotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...
markers were placed to mark section boundaries, and new maps of the cemetery produced for the first time in several years. Cemetery-wide improvements included the laying of of fresh water pipe for irrigation purposes, of drainage pipe to reclaim soggy land for burial purposes, of new fencing around the exterior of the cemetery, of new concrete sidewalks, and extensive graveling of dirt roads. Cemetery staff were given uniforms to wear for the first time, and a marquee purchased to provide cover for funeral attendees during inclement weather. In sections with large lots intended for funerary monuments, Hatch ordered that lot corners by marked with a piece of polished dark Quincy granite with lot numbers carved into each corner. Where section lots contained just two to six graves, corners were marked with a piece of Georgia marble or slate.
Hatch also hired landscape architect Ernest W. Bowditch to finish laying out the cemetery's . Bowditch retained the garden cemetery design begun in 1869, and began planting large numbers of ornamental trees, including bald cypress
''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve;
''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide ...
, copper beech, gingko
''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within t ...
, oriental plane
''Platanus orientalis'', the Old World sycamore or Oriental plane, is a large, deciduous tree of the Platanaceae family, growing to or more, and known for its longevity and spreading crown. In autumn its deep green leaves may change to blood red ...
, pin oak
''Quercus palustris'', the pin oak or swamp Spanish oak, is a tree in the red oak section (''Quercus'' sect. ''Lobatae'') of the genus ''Quercus''. Pin oak is one of the most commonly used landscaping oaks in its native range due to its ease of ...
, and purple beech. Importantly, he also planned a new entrance for Lake View Cemetery on Euclid Avenue, with a new circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is cons ...
just inside the cemetery gate. The new office building at the entrance was designed by noted local architect Charles F. Schweinfurth, and the cost of its construction donated by Hatch. Neoclassical in style, it was faced with Ohio sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...
. The $6,000 ($ in dollars) rectangular structure was in size. The floors and wainscoting
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...
were hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
. Ground for the new office building was broken on October 21, 1897, and it was completed in April 1898.
Construction of Wade Memorial Chapel
In 1896, Jeptha H. Wade II decided to fund the construction of a new receiving vault and chapel, dedicated to the memory of his grandfather, at Lake View Cemetery. Wade asked the newly founded Cleveland architectural firm of Hubbell & Benes
Hubbell & Benes was a prominent Cleveland, Ohio architectural firm formed by Benjamin Hubbell (1857–1935) and W. Dominick Benes (1867–1953) in 1897Barre granite from Barre, Vermont. The interior decor was designed and manufactured by Tiffany & Co. The commission was considered so important that
In 1898, John D. Rockefeller, the co-founder and largest stockholder in
In 1900, Lake View Cemetery had just over 10 percent () of its land developed into cemetery plots. Lakes, streams, roads, and other features took up another . Undeveloped land remained heavily forested, with
Part of the cemetery's success was attributed to its use of modern technology. For years, Lake View maintenance staff had used 50
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...
personally contacted Hubbell & Benes to win the job. The chapel featured a massive stained glass window at the rear and mosaics on each side wall. The stained glass window, titled ''Resurrection'' or ''Flight of the Soul'', was designed by Tiffany artisan Agnes Northrop. Tiffany artist Frederick Wilson designed the wall mosaics. The Favrile glass
Favrile glass is a type of iridescent art glass developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He patented this process in 1894 and first produced the glass for manufacture in 1896 in Queens, New York. It differs from most iridescent glasses because the c ...
and gold tile mosaics depicted the passage of life to death. The left side mosaic became known as "The River of Life", while the other had the title "The River of Death". The chapel featured a casket pedestal in place of an altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...
. This pedestal could be lowered mechanically through the floor into crypt, where the receiving vault was located. The "public" portion of the crypt could hold as many as 96 coffins. Two private receiving vaults also existed on the crypt level, closed off by marble doors.
Ground for the new chapel was broken on February 19, 1898. The hillside was excavated down to bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of be ...
, and the foundations and crypt level finished in late December 1898. Completing the interior took much longer than expected, and the chapel was not finished until 1901. The cost was variously reported to be $350,000 ($ in dollars), $150,000 ($ in dollars), $140,000 ($ in dollars), and "more than $100,000" ($ in dollars).
Erecting the Rockefeller Monument
In 1898, John D. Rockefeller, the co-founder and largest stockholder in Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...
and one of the wealthiest men in the United States, began the erection of a funerary monument in Lake View Cemetery. Some time before 1882, Rockfeller purchased a family plot on one of the cemetery's highest points, slightly northeast of the Garfield Memorial. Three people were buried in the John D. Rockefeller plot. Two of them were children of Frank Rockefeller
Franklin Rockefeller (August 8, 1845 – April 15, 1917) was an American businessman and member of the prominent Rockefeller family.
Early life
He and his younger twin sister Frances, who died young, were born on August 8, 1845, in Moravia, ...
, John's brother. They were William Scofield Rockefeller (81 days old, died on March 17, 1878) and Myra Rockefeller, 2 years and 81 days old, died on August 23, 1886). Rockefeller's mother, Eliza Rockefeller, died on March 28, 1889, in New York City. She was buried in the Rockefeller plot at Lake View on March 30.
Construction began on the Rockefeller Monument in 1898. Quarried in Barre, Vermont, by the Wetmore and Morse Granite Co. of Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population ...
, several hundred tons of rock had to be blown before a piece of rock big enough for the obelisk could be found. The Egyptian-style obelisk alone was high with a bottom square. It was the largest granite shaft ever quarried in the United States, and the second-largest single-piece shaft to be erected in the United States after Cleopatra's Needle
Cleopatra's Needles are a separated pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks now in London and New York City. The obelisks were originally made in Heliopolis (modern Cairo) during the New Kingdom period, inscribed by the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose I ...
in Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
in New York City. ''The Plain Dealer'' newspaper believed it to be the tallest shaft ever erected over a private grave anywhere in the world. The first base of the pedestal was square and high. The second base was by and high. The die was by and high. The total height of the monument was .
The Rockefeller obelisk was dressed in Vermont. It had minimal if graceful ornamental elements on the base, with the name "Rockefeller" on the second base. The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (the "Nickel Plate") transported the shaft and other elements of the monument from Vermont. The shaft alone weighed ; combined with the bases and die, the monument's total weight was . The obelisk was the heaviest item the railroad could move without straining its bridges. Even so, the railroad had to design and build special rail cars to carry the load, and build a heavy-duty spur from its main line to the quarry.
The Rockefeller monument arrived in Cleveland on Sunday, February 11, 1899. A house moving company used horses and a windlass
The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...
to move the obelisk from the railroad tracks along Mayfield Road to the cemetery's Mayfield Road entrance. By March 3, the obelisk had only moved four blocks to reach Mayfield Place (now E. 124 Street), and was beginning to make its way up the steep hill which Mayfield Road climbed. At that time, the movers believed it would take only three weeks for the obelisk to make it the up hill. Weather and other delays hindered the shaft's progress, however, and it was up the hill and only halfway through the cemetery—and still short of its final destination—by June 25. A derrick
A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and ...
to erect the obelisk was rented by W. F. Howland (the firm to which the Carabelli monument company had subcontracted the erection work), but the delays in moving the obelisk meant the derrick's use was required elsewhere. The derrick was erected again at Lake View about August 26. The first base was put in place on August 31. The second base was cemented to it on September 1 using a special French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
cement, and the die cemented to the second base on September 2. The obelisk was hoisted upright on September 11. The derrick's wooden superstructure proved too weak to lift the obelisk into the air, and had to be reinforced. The shaft was finally lifted into and cemented in place on September 12 while a large crowd of onlookers watched. Stoneworkers applied the finishing touches to the monument on September 13, 1899.
The Rockefeller Monument cost $50,000 ($ in dollars) to quarry and erect, and another $10,000 ($ in dollars) to move.
Continued improvement: 1900 to the Great Depression
In 1900, Lake View Cemetery had just over 10 percent () of its land developed into cemetery plots. Lakes, streams, roads, and other features took up another . Undeveloped land remained heavily forested, with beech
Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engl ...
, elm, maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...
, and oak trees predominating.
Financial prosperity
Lot sales were extremely high in 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1898, helping to improve the cemetery's financial condition and making its bonds well-regarded for investment purposes. Lot sales declined significantly in 1899 and early 1900, but the cemetery still grossed $35,500 ($ in dollars) in sales revenue and counted more than 6,000 total interments by 1901. It had assets worth $1,119,302 ($ in dollars) and debts of just $626,290 ($ in dollars) Lake View was paying interest on its debt every six months, and the sinking fund was ample. The cemetery created an endowment fund in 1900, and put $7,207 into it ($ in dollars). In July 1900, John D. Rockefeller gave Lake View Cemetery a gift of $10,000 ($ in dollars), the first of several donations. Rockefeller's gift was used to open a section for the poor, to lay fresh water pipes in several sections, and for other improvements. The cemetery received another $15,000 ($ in dollars) in other cash donations during year as well. Lake View Cemetery reported lot sales of $40,778 ($ in dollars) in 1901, assets of $1.19 million ($ in dollars), and debts of just $626,290 ($ in dollars). The following year, lot sales increased and the cemetery spent $25,000 ($ in dollars) to make an unusually large number of improvements, rebuilding old roads, adding new roads, draining some land, and opening a number of new sections. John D. Rockefeller made another $10,000 donation ($ in dollars), and the cemetery received another $12,272 ($ in dollars) in donations from other sources. Lot sales rose again in 1903. Rockefeller made a third donation of $10,000 ($ in dollars), and other donations totaled about $7,000 ($ in dollars). Lake View Cemetery continued to see lot sales rise in 1904, generating $55,230 ($ in dollars). Donations brought in another $8,186 ($ in dollars). The cemetery made $20,040 ($ in dollars) in improvements during the year, adding fresh water pipes, stormwater sewers, and building three tool houses (each with atelephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
) in the cemetery. With expenses and supplies requiring just $22,148 ($ in dollars), the cemetery had more than enough cash on hand for interest payments, the sinking fund, and scrip interest and redemption. Lot sales and associated revenues were even higher in 1905 ($63,201 in dollars, with expenses and supplies rising to $37,915 ($ in dollars) and improvement spending dropping to $14,840 ($ in dollars). Lake View was so flush with cash that it made an extraordinary $10,000 ($ in dollars) payment to the sinking fund. For the first time in years, Lake View Cemetery Association trustees discussed opening a number of new sections, and began discussing setting aside sections solely for the construction of large, expensive mausoleums.
Section 23 experiment and the death of Hatch
The 1910s and 1920s continued to be years of prosperity for Lake View Cemetery. Its maintenance staff had grown so much that it built an addition to its maintenance shop in 1909. It opened Section 23 in 1913. This section was "pre-designed" by cemetery staff, architects, landscape architects, and sculptors, many of them associated with theCleveland School of Art
The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio.
History
The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at firs ...
. The landscaping around the lot's borders and at strategic points in its interior was designed to accommodate and complement only certain types of funerary monuments. In 18 of the 32 lots in these areas, the cemetery issued highly specific, narrow rules regulating the size and type of monument which could be erected. In the remaining 14 key lots, the cemetery "strongly suggested" to buyers that only certain kinds of funerary monuments be used in these locations (explicitly ruling out funerary vases). Headstones were allowed to rise only above the surface of the earth. All local funerary monument companies were furnished with a booklet on monument design to assist them in designing gravestones appropriate for Section 23, and for all other sections at Lake View.
Lake View Cemetery suffered two setbacks in 1915. On January 28, the cemetery's old two-story wood office building burned to the ground. Maps, plot plans, and the blueprints for hundreds of mausoleums and monuments were lost. On May 20, Henry R. Hatch died suddenly, depriving Lake View of the energetic and visionary president who had led the organization since 1896.
Hatch left a cemetery in excellent financial condition. Lake View was making so much money that cemetery was able to purchase $50,000 ($ in dollars) worth of Liberty Loan bonds in 1917 to support the American cause in World War I. In a snapshot of the cemetery's financial success, the trustees reported that it made a surplus of $62,165 ($ in dollars) in 1922. It had assets totaling $3,021,888 ($ in dollars), which included an endowment and sinking fund of $1,704,737 ($ in dollars). Its outstanding debts were $2,016,192 ($ in dollars).
Modernization, ownership of the Garfield Memorial, and push east
Part of the cemetery's success was attributed to its use of modern technology. For years, Lake View maintenance staff had used 50 lawn mowers
A lawn mower (also known as a mower, grass cutter or lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the design of the mower, but g ...
and 30 hand-held scythe
A scythe ( ) is an agriculture, agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It is historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely ...
lawn trimmers. In 1917, the cemetery purchased a two-ton truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
from the Acme Motor Truck Co. of Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac ( ) is a city in and county seat of Wexford County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,371 at the 2020 census, which ranks it the third most-populated city in the Northern Michigan region after Traverse City and Al ...
. The truck was used to haul materials from Lake View's quarry around the cemetery for the construction of buildings and macadam roads and the setting of headstone foundations. By 1922, the cemetery also used Fordson
Fordson was a brand name of tractors and trucks. It was used on a range of mass-produced general-purpose tractors manufactured by Henry Ford & Son Inc from 1917 to 1920, by Ford Motor Company (U.S.) and Ford Motor Company Ltd (U.K.) from 19 ...
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...
s to dig graves, place monuments, clear snow, and maintain roads. About 1923, Lake View purchased two one-ton Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
trucks for general-duty use around the cemetery. Cemetery shops manufactured a "tent wagon", a "grave wagon" and both metal- and concrete-lined "dump carts". Originally developed in 1913, the dump carts were used to carry earth from graves. Up to six carts could be attached to a single Ford truck.
In late October 1923, the Garfield National Monument Association turned the Garfield Memorial over to Lake View Cemetery. Most of the Monument Association's members had died, and its charter did not permit for a self-perpetuating board. After accepting title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
to the memorial and its land, Lake View Cemetery immediately ended the practice of charging a 10 cent ($ in dollars) admission fee to the memorial. Lake View also began cleaning, repairing, and rehabilitating the memorial.
Increasingly, Lake View Cemetery turned its attention to its Mayfield Road border and entrance. The city of Cleveland Heights
Cleveland Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs. The city's population was 45,312 at the 2020 census. As of the 2010 census, Cleveland Heights was ranked the 8th largest ...
, incorporated as a hamlet in 1901, included within its boundaries the southern portion of Lake View. Cleveland Heights grew very rapidly. Its population rose from 1,564 at the time of incorporation to 2,576 in 1910, a 64.7 percent increase. By 1920, Cleveland Heights had 15,264 residents, a six-fold increase. Cleveland Heights incorporated as a city in 1921. Lake View Cemetery was the burial ground of choice for the upper-middle class suburb. Although the Mayfield Road gate was locked, the cemetery gave keys to the gate to those Cleveland Heights residents who were lotholders.
Great Depression and war: 1929 to 1945
The Great Depression put significant financial stress on Lake View Cemetery. Those who had purchased large lots often failed to keep up payments. Cemetery officials allowed them to sell back a portion of their lots in order to retain at least some burial ground. When the owners of large lots defaulted on their purchase contracts completely, Lake View threatened to disinter the bodies in the plot and move them to single-grave lots in another part of the cemetery and re-sell the large plot. The cemetery responded to the economic crisis with retrenchment as well. It lowered the price of a single grave by 20 percent, to $60 ($ in dollars). The cemetery also cut wages for all maintenance workers and grave diggers making more than 55 cents an hour ($ in dollars), and laid off 10 men. In response, workers organized atrade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
in 1937 under the auspices of the Arborists and Landscapers Union, LIUNA
The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA, stylized as LiUNA!), often shortened to just the Laborers' Union, is an American and Canadian labor union formed in 1903. As of 2017, they had about 500,000 members, about 80,000 of whom ...
Local 344, AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
.
Manpower shortages hit Lake View Cemetery during World War II as laborers enlisted in the military or were drafted. To assist in the war effort, the cemetery allowed large portions of unused land to be converted into Victory garden
Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I ...
s. Wartime inflation and the rapidly declining number of wealthy families in the Cleveland area hurt lot sales. The cemetery subsequently shifted its marketing efforts to focus on middle and working class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
families.
Latter half of the 20th century
As more people chose cremation as a burial option in the latter half of the 20th century, Lake View Cemetery responded by constructing and opening a cremains mausoleum in 1990. Any member of the public may purchase a niche in the mausoleum for cremains.21st century
Lake View Cemetery has been under persistent financial stress since the start of the new millennium. Operating deficits are common, and the LVCA has occasionally cut back services and staff. Even though the cemetery is a significant tourist attraction and the site of a presidential memorial, Lake View received no local, state, or federal funding as of 2017. In 2006, the Lake View Cemetery Foundation made education and tourism its top priorities. From 2001 to 2010, the number of individuals participating in officially sponsored foundation tours increased to 10,000 from 3,000, while the number of sponsored educational programs nearly doubled from 10 to 19. Lake View Cemetery spent $5 million in 2016 and 2017 conserving, repairing, and upgrading the James A. Garfield Memorial's structural elements. This included reinforcing beams and columns in the basement, In 2019, the cemetery began a multi-million-dollar project to clean the exterior and repoint any damaged or missing mortar. It is the first time in the memorial's history that the exterior has been cleaned. Lake View Cemetery celebrated its 150th anniversary with two years of events in 2019 and 2020.About the cemetery
The garden cemetery is located in the "heights" area ofGreater Cleveland
The Cleveland metropolitan area, or Greater Cleveland as it is more commonly known, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census results, the five-county ...
, with a view of Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...
to the north. The burying ground had of land in 2007, with more than 104,000 burials. There are two entrances, on Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road.
The cemetery provides a plot in its Veterans Section free of charge to all honorably discharged U.S. armed forces veterans.
Governance
The nonprofit Lake View Cemetery Association owns and governs the cemetery. Originally, membership in the association was open to anyone who purchased a lot, making the association akin to a church or a club. Members elected a 20-member board of trustees (with four seats up each year), and a board secretary. The board met quarterly, while a five-member executive committee of the board met monthly. The board appointed the cemetery's president, vice president, and superintendent. Income from lot sales was used primarily to pay for staff salaries and the maintenance and improvement of the grounds. Among the many board and executive office positions, only the superintendent and the board secretary received pay. The Lake View Cemetery Association reincorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1926, with the LVCA now acting as a nonprofit association for the benefit for lotholders. Annual meetings of lotholders to elect directors and officers were no longer held. Instead, a self-perpetuating board of directors was elected which continues to own and govern the cemetery. Lake View's annual budget in 2012 was $6.1 million ($ in dollars). Income from lots sales and services to families made up 60 percent of all cemetery revenue in 2001, and 80 percent of all revenue in 2012. Charitable contributions make up much of the remaining income. The Lake View Cemetery Foundation provides a significant portion of this charitable income. Foundation donations were 6 percent of all cemetery revenue in 2001, rising to 16 percent of all revenues in 2011. As of 2017, roughly half of the cemetery's annual costs were spent on maintaining the grounds, headstones, monuments, and mausoleums. The other half goes to staff and office operations.Leadership
Following is a partial list of the presidents of the Lake View Cemetery Association. The president oversaw the day-to-day operations of the cemetery along with the superintendent. * Jeptha H. Wade, 1869 to 1879 * Joseph Perkins, 1879 to 1885 (his death) * Jeptha H. Wade, 1885 to 1890 (his death) * William Edwards, 1890 to 1893 * Timothy Doane Crocker, 1893 to 1896 * Henry R. Hatch, 1896 to 1915 * Douglas Perkins, 1915 to 1921 (his death) * Jerome B. Zerbe, 1921 to 1924 * Francis F. Prentiss, 1925 to 1926Lake View Cemetery Foundation
The Lake View Cemetery Foundation was established by the Lake View Cemetery Association in 1986 as a 501(c)(13) organization. The foundation was originally chartered to raise money to repair and restore the James A. Garfield Memorial and to establish a fund for its ongoing maintenance. After the renovation was completed, the foundation expanded its goals to include enhancing, maintaining, and preserving the botanical gardens, buildings, horticulture, landscape, monuments, and areas at Lake View Cemetery to benefit the general public. The foundation's new mission specifically embraced education and outreach programs. Although the foundation provides assistance to the cemetery in maintaining historic buildings and monuments and historic or horticulturally significant aspects of the grounds, it is both separately governed and administered from the cemetery. The foundation's 2012 annual budget was $567,000 ($ in dollars). Foundation assistance is not unrestricted, but targeted to meet the goals established by the foundation's board of directors and its strategic plan. Charitable donations make up roughly half of the foundation's annual income, although these can vary widely from year to year. Donations provided 65 percent of income in 2013. Investment income also varies considerably over time, but has averaged about 30 percent of all foundation revenues between 2002 and 2012. Service fee income is a relatively negligible 2 percent of all revenues.Notable sites and funerary monuments
The James A. Garfield Memorial is the most prominent point of interest at Lake View Cemetery. The ornate interior features a large marble statue,stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
, bas relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
, and various historical relics from Garfield's life and presidency. The monument also serves as a scenic observation deck and picnic area. President and Mrs. Garfield are entombed in the lower level crypt
A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...
, their coffins placed side by side and visible to memorial visitors.
Lake View Cemetery is home to the Wade Memorial Chapel, which features an interior designed by Louis Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...
. Behind the chapel is a large pond.
The cemetery is famous for its numerous statues of angels, sculpted in a Victorian style. A well-known memorial, the ''Angel of Death Victorious'' at the gravesite of the Haserot family, was created by sculptor Herman Matzen
Herman Matzen (July 15, 1861 – April 22, 1938) American sculptor and educator, born in Denmark.
Early years
Matzen studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin before immigrating to the United States. ...
.
In popular culture
The cemetery is among those profiled in the 2005 PBS documentary '' A Cemetery Special''. Scenes of the 2014 film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' were filmed at the flood control dam at the cemetery.Notable interments
Notable people buried at Lake View Cemetery include: *Newton D. Baker
Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...
(1871–1937), Mayor of Cleveland and U.S. Secretary of War during World War I
* Ernest Ball
Ernest Roland Ball (July 22, 1878 – May 3, 1927) was an American singer and songwriter, most famous for composing the music for the song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" in 1912. He was not himself Irish.
Early life and education
Born in Cl ...
(1878–1927), composer and author of " When Irish Eyes are Smiling"
* Frances Payne Bolton (1885–1977), Member, U.S. House of Representatives
* Helene Hathaway Britton
Helene Hathaway Britton (née Robison; January 30, 1879 – January 8, 1950) was an American baseball executive. She owned the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, and was the first woman to own a Major League Baseball franchise.
Britto ...
(1879–1950), owner of the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
* Charles Francis Brush
Charles Francis Brush (March 17, 1849 – June 15, 1929) was an American engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
Biography
Brush was born in Euclid Township, Ohio to Isaac Elbert Brush and Delia Williams Phillips. Isaac Brush ...
(1849–1929), inventor of the modern arc light and businessman
* William B. Castle (1814–1872), last Mayor of Ohio City, Mayor of Cleveland
* Ray Chapman
Raymond Johnson Chapman (January 15, 1891 – August 17, 1920) was an American baseball player. He spent his entire career as a shortstop for the Cleveland Indians.
Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by pitcher Carl Mays and died ...
(1891–1920), baseball player for the Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...
* Charles W. Chesnutt
Charles Waddell Chesnutt (June 20, 1858 – November 15, 1932) was an American author, essayist, political activist and lawyer, best known for his novels and short stories exploring complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civ ...
(1858–1932), African-American attorney and author
* Henry Chisholm
Henry Chisholm (April 22, 1822 – May 9, 1881) was a Scottish American businessman and steel industry executive during the Gilded Age in the United States. A resident of Cleveland, Ohio, he purchased a small, struggling iron foundry which became ...
(1822–1891), father of the Cleveland steel industry
* Henry D. Coffinberry (1841–1912), industrialist, founder of the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company
* George Washington Crile
George Washington Crile (November 11, 1864 – January 7, 1943) was an American surgeon. Crile is now formally recognized as the first surgeon to have succeeded in a direct blood transfusion. He contributed to other procedures, such as neck di ...
(1864–1943), co-founder of the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...
and the first surgeon to successfully perform a blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...
* Harvey Cushing
Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cushing's disease ...
(1869–1939), pioneer neurosurgeon
* John A. Ellsler (1821–1903), actor and theatre manager
* Lethia Cousins Fleming (1876–1963), American suffragist, teacher, civil rights activist and politician.
* Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
(1921–1965), radio disc jockey who popularized the term "rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...
"
* Abram Garfield (1872–1958), architect
* James A. Garfield (1831–1881), President of the United States
* Lucretia Garfield (1832–1918), First Lady of the United States
* Marcus A. Hanna
Marcus Alonzo Hanna (September 24, 1837 – February 15, 1904) was an American businessman and Republican politician who served as a United States Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. A friend and po ...
(1837–1904), U.S. Senator and Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
boss
* Gertrude Harrison (1871–1938), professional golfer
* Stephen V. Harkness
Stephen Vanderburgh Harkness (November 18, 1818 – March 6, 1888) was an American businessman based in Cleveland, Ohio. He invested as a silent partner with John D. Rockefeller, Sr. in the founding of Standard Oil and served as a director of St ...
(1818–1888), investor and founding co-partner of Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...
* John Hay
John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was U ...
(1838–1905), former United States Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
and aide to President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
* Myron T. Herrick (1854–1929), Governor of Ohio, U.S. ambassador to France
* Adella Prentiss Hughes (1869–1950), founder of the Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...
* Mortimer Dormer Leggett
Mortimer Dormer Leggett (April 19, 1821 – January 6, 1896) was a lawyer, school administrator, professor, and a general of the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Early life
Leggett was born in Ithaca, New York, but relocated to G ...
(1821–1896), lawyer, educator, Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
, Commissioner of Patents
* Al Lerner
Alfred Lerner (May 8, 1933 – October 23, 2002) was an American businessman. He was best known as the chair of the board of credit-card giant MBNA and the owner of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He was also a past presid ...
(1933–2002), owner of the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...
* Flora Stone Mather
Flora Stone Mather (April 8, 1852 – January 19, 1909) was a prominent philanthropist and advocate supporting religious, social welfare, and educational institutions in Cleveland, Ohio.Her leadership and generosity, directed toward promoting ...
(1852–1909), philanthropist
* Garrett Morgan
Garrett Augustus Morgan, Sr. (March 4, 1877 – July 27, 1963) was an American inventor, businessman, and community leader. His most notable inventions were a three-position traffic signal and a smoke hood (a predecessor to the gas mask) notably ...
(1877–1963), inventor of the gas mask
A gas mask is a mask used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas mas ...
and the three-colored traffic light
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic.
Traffic light ...
* Eliot Ness
Eliot Ness (April 19, 1903 – May 16, 1957) was an American Prohibition agent known for his efforts to bring down Al Capone and enforce Prohibition in Chicago. He was the leader of a team of law enforcement agents, nicknamed The Untouchables. ...
(Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
, 1903–1957), Cleveland Safety Director and a member of The Untouchables
Untouchables or The Untouchables may refer to:
American history
* Untouchables (law enforcement), a 1930s American law enforcement unit led by Eliot Ness
* ''The Untouchables'' (book), an autobiography by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley
* ''The U ...
* Charles A. Otis Sr. (1827–1905), businessman and Mayor of Cleveland
* Arthur L. Parker (1885–1945), founder of Parker Hannifin Corporation
Parker Hannifin Corporation, originally Parker Appliance Company, usually referred to as just Parker, is an American corporation specializing in motion and control technologies. Its corporate headquarters are in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in Greater ...
* George W. "Peggy" Parratt (1883–1959), professional football player who threw the first legal forward pass
In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridiro ...
in a professional game
* Oliver Hazard Payne
Oliver Hazard Payne (July 21, 1839 – June 27, 1917) was an American businessman, organizer of the American Tobacco trust, and assisted with the formation of U.S. Steel, and was affiliated with Standard Oil.
Early life
Oliver Hazard Payne was ...
(1839–1917) American businessman and organizer of the American Tobacco trust
* Harvey Pekar (1939–2010), comic book writer known for the ''American Splendor
''American Splendor'' is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the last one in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular interv ...
'' series
* Dave Pope
David Pope (June 17, 1921 – August 28, 1999) was an American Negro league and Major League Baseball outfielder who played one inning for the Homestead Grays and for four seasons in MLB for the Cleveland Indians in 1952, and from 1954 to 1955. H ...
(1921–1999), professional baseball player
* John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937), founder of the Standard Oil Company
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co- ...
and philanthropist
* James Salisbury (1823–1905), inventor of the Salisbury steak
* Viktor Schreckengost (1906–2008), industrial designer, teacher, sculptor, and artist
* Heinrich Christian Schwan (1819–1905), third president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The L ...
* Henry Alden Sherwin (1842–1916), co-founder of the Sherwin-Williams Company
Sherwin-Williams Company is an American Cleveland, Ohio–based company in the paint and coating manufacturing industry. The company primarily engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floorcoverings, and related p ...
* Anthony J. Stastny (1885–1923), composer, founder and president of Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It origin ...
music publisher, A. J. Stasny Music Co.
* Carl B. Stokes
Carl Burton Stokes (June 21, 1927 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician and diplomat of the Democratic Party who served as the 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Elected on November 7, 1967, and taking office on January 1, 1968, he wa ...
(1927–1996), Mayor of Cleveland, United States ambassador
* Louis Stokes
Louis Stokes (February 23, 1925 – August 18, 2015) was an American attorney, civil rights pioneer and politician. He served 15 terms in the United States House of Representatives – representing the east side of Cleveland – and was the firs ...
(1925–2015), Member, U.S. House of Representatives
* Amasa Stone
Amasa Stone, Jr. (April 27, 1818 – May 11, 1883) was an American industrialist who is best remembered for having created a regional railroad empire centered in the U.S. state of Ohio from 1860 to 1883. He gained fame in New England in the 184 ...
(1818–1883), industrialist and philanthropist
* Worthy S. Streator (1816–1902), physician, railroad baron, founder of Streator, Illinois
Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 censu ...
, Ohio State Senator
The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the ...
, first mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio
East Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is the first suburb encountered when travelling east from Cleveland. The population was 13,792 at the 2020 census. East Cleveland is bounded by the city of Cleveland to its nor ...
* Mantis James Van Sweringen (1881–1935), railroad and real estate baron
* Oris Paxton Van Sweringen (1879–1936), railroad and real estate baron
* Jeptha Homer Wade (1811–1890), founder of Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...
References
;Notes ;CitationsBibliography
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *For further reading
*External links
* * {{Cleveland Cemeteries in Cleveland Protected areas of Cuyahoga County, Ohio 1869 establishments in Ohio