AMBLER, NATHAN HARDY (1823-1888), dentist in California and Ohio and purveyor of lucrative real estate deals, bought property on the Cleveland city limits and resold it as the city pushed outward. A millionaire, he once owned much of AMBLER HEIGHTS. Born in Huntington, VT, to Selah and Charlotte Caswell Ambler, Ambler began to study DENTISTRY in 1841. He joined the California Gold Rush in 1849 and amassed a small fortune as a dentist there (he was paid in gold dust) before opening a practice in Cleveland (1852). Ambler's Cleveland office was first located on the corner of Erie (E. 9th) and Bond (E. 6th) streets, and later in the Northrup & Harrington building on Superior Ave. One of a family of dentists, Ambler trained his nephew, HENRY LOVEJOY AMBLER, who practiced for a time with his uncle (1866-68). In 1868, Nathan Ambler turned to real estate full-time. He married Martha S. Buell on 4 July 1845. Their home, called Rock Rest, sat on a hill between the present Fairhill Blvd. and Cedar Avenue (at the later site of the Baldwin Filtration Plant). With partner Daniel O. Caswell (1857-1906), Ambler developed a water cure establishment, the BLUE ROCK SPRING HOUSE (see HYDROTHERAPY). Childless (a daughter died as a toddler), the Amblers made Daniel Caswell, Jr. their heir. Ambler is buried in LAKE VIEW CEMETERY. In 1894, Martha Ambler donated 25 acres to the city of Cleveland for Ambler Park.
Henry Lovejoy Ambler Papers, Dittrick Museum of Medical History.