IRELAND, ROBERT LIVINGSTON, JR. (1 Feb. 1895-21 April 1981) was a colorful, prominent Cleveland business executive who had a long and distinguished career with the M.A. Hanna Co. and the Pittsburgh Consolidation Coal Co.
Category: Technology
IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY. Location has been Cleveland's potent metallurgical advantage since the mid-19th century, when its situation on Lake Erie at the convergence of numerous railroad lines made it an ideal meeting place for iron ore and coal.
J. B. ROBINSON CO., INC., one of the largest retail jewelers in the country, was founded in 1946 by Joseph B. Robinson as a wholesale diamond operation located on the 8th floor of the Schofield Bldg. on E. 9th St. After Robinson's death in 1959, his son, Lawrence, changed the company to a retail jewelry firm, specializing in diamonds and watches with $200,000 in annual business.
J. L. GOODMAN FURNITURE CO. was founded in 1886 by Jacob L. Goodman, who opened his store at Broadway and Harvard avenues in Newburgh. Featuring such items as brass beds and silk-trimmed mohair couches, the company prospered over the years by keeping up with changes in furniture styles and offering fair prices. Jacob's son Julius took over the store when his father died in 1919.
The J. SPANG BAKING CO., a family-owned retail bakery that operated for 70 years, was established by German immigrant Julius Spang, who learned the baking trade in Germany, where he was born in 1852. He and his family came to the U.S. in 1882, and after settling in Cleveland, Spang opened a small bake shop on Barber Ave. in 1888. The J. Spang Baking Co.
JERMAN, FRED "MIKE" (16 June 1930-30 March 1993) was a chemical technician who, during his 43 years with BRUSH WELLMAN Technical Laboratories, helped develop high-temperature, high-vacuum, and nuclear reactor technology. He was also a pigeon fancier who helped found the Independence Homing Club.
JERRY VENCL CORLETT MOVERS & STORAGE COMPANY, INC. was established in 1930 by Jerry (Jaroslav) Vencl Sr., a CZECH immigrant to Cleveland. After migrating to the United States in 1922, Vencl worked for his older brother Anton who owned an established moving company in Cleveland.
The JOHNS-CARABELLI COMPANY, originally known as Carabelli & Broggini, was founded in 1879 by GUISEPPE CARABELLI and James Broggini.
The JONES AND LAUGHLIN STEEL CORP. (CLEVELAND WORKS) began in 1873 when CHAS. A. OTIS with 2 associates formed the Otis Iron & Steel Co. It was the first firm in America formed exclusively to make acid, open-hearth steel. Under Samuel T. Wellman's guidance, the new Otis mill on the lakeshore at E. 33rd St. produced its first basic open-hearth steel in 1880.
JONES, DAVID I. (18 June 1818-2 June 1891) and JOHN (ca. 1808-1870), brothers who built the first steel mill in NEWBURGH, were born in Monmouthshire, Wales, worked in Dowlais Mill in Glamorganshire, South Wales, and immigrated to the U.S. about 1845, working for Phoenix Iron Co. in Phoenixville, Pa. Early in 1856 they joined the new Railroad Iron Mill Co.
JORDAN MOTOR CAR CO., noted for promoting its product through innovative advertising, was founded by EDWARD S. (NED) JORDAN in June 1916. Located at 1070 E. 152nd St., the firm sold 1,788 cars the first year of its operation. With generous profit margins on its automobiles, the Jordan Co. enjoyed spectacular financial success and the original stockholders received a 1,900% return on their investment.
JOSEPH & FEISS CO., an important part of Cleveland's garment industry, came from Meadville, PA, in 1845 as Koch & Loeb and set up a wholesale clothing store at 82 Superior St. The firm, run by Kaufman Koch, sold a general line of men's and boys clothing as well as piece goods to tailors. The company also sold its own brand of clothes, but manufacturing was contracted out to small ethnic shops.
JUMPSTART INC. was created in 2003 to address Northeast Ohio's declining economy, loss of jobs and lack of entrepreneurial growth.
KAUFMANN'S, A DIVISION OF THE MAY DEPARTMENT STORES CO. (formerly May Co. of Cleveland) is one of the area's largest retailers. The parent company, founded in Denver in 1888 by David May and his brothers-in-law, Louis, Joseph, and Moses Schoenberg, relocated its headquarters to St. Louis by 1899. At that time it entered the Cleveland market by purchasing the E. R. Hull & Dutton Co.
KELLEY, HORACE (18 July 1819-4 Dec. 1890) was a wealthy real-estate investor who bequeathed in excess of $500,000 from his estate for the purpose of building and maintaining an art museum.
KELLEY, IRAD (24 Oct. 1791-21 Jan. 1875), one of Cleveland's first merchants, postmaster, real-estate investor, and co-owner of Kelleys Island, was born in Middletown, Conn., to Jemima Stow and DANIEL KELLEY. He moved to the Cleveland area ca. 1812, and opened his first store in Cleveland's first brick building (1814). When he became postmaster on 31 Dec.
KELSEY, LORENZO A. (22 Feb. 1803-13 Feb. 1890), steamboat captain and mayor of Cleveland from 1848-49, was born in Port Leyden, N.Y., the son of shipowner, Eber Kelsey and Lucy Ann Leete Kelsey. He was educated in his local district and moved to Youngstown to work in lumber. Kelsey moved to Cleveland in 1837 with his wife and became manager of the Cleveland House Hotel for 1 year.
KeyBank is a major national bank headquartered in Cleveland, OH. Although, KeyBank?s origins can be traced to the founding of the Commercial Bank of Albany (NY) in 1825, its contemporary organization was formed after a 1994 merger between the Albany, NY-based KeyCorp and Cleveland, OH-based Society Corporation.
KIEFER'S RESTAURANT began as a beer and bratwurst stand operated by William W. and Anna Kiefer at the GREAT LAKES EXPOSITION OF 1936. The popularity of the stand led the Kiefers to establish the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) restaurant at 2519 Detroit Ave. the following year, which specialized in German food.
The KING IRON BRIDGE & MANUFACTURING CO., the largest highway bridge works in the U.S. during the 1880s, played an important role in the nationwide development and construction of the metal truss bridge, a unique product of American engineering and construction technology. Although the King Iron Bridge & Mfg. Co.
KING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS has been responsible for redesigning and improving the tonal and playing quality of more than 28 instruments, including the slide trombone, cornet, trumpet, and clarinet. It also invented the Trombonium, the valve trombone used widely by high school marching bands.
The KINNEY & LEVAN CO. was a leader in the wholesale and retail sale of crockery, glassware, and other home furnishings, specializing in imports. Its predecessor, the Geo. W. Kinney & Co., began in 1879 when Geo. W. Kinney opened a wholesale lamp goods and glassware business in the Atwater Bldg. at Water (W. 9th St.) and Superior Ave. In 1883 Kinney and a young salesman, Aaron B.
KIRBY, JOSIAH (16 May 1883-4 Feb. 1964), controversial businessman, was born in Wyoming, Ohio, came to Cleveland in 1911 following a business failure, and formed Cleveland Discount Co., a $10 million mortgage company which by 1921 was the largest company of its kind in the U.S., with capital of $37 million. But Kirby's company was taken over by receivers in 1923 with huge losses.
KNIOLA, MICHAEL P. (16 Sept. 1859-17 Sept. 1944), prominent businessman in Cleveland's Polish community, was born in Samostrzel, Poland, to Peter and Anna Nowakowski Kniola. He immigrated to Spotswood, N.J. in 1873 and moved to Cleveland in 1880, working at Cleveland Rolling Mill Co. He continued his education at Broadway Night School, and eventually became a mill foreman.
KNOBLE FLORISTS, a leader in the floral community, was founded in 1906 by Herman P. Knoble near its present location at 1836 W. 25th St. Knoble was among the founders and charter members of the Floral Telegraph Delivery System (FTD), begun in 1912, and in 1924 he founded the clearinghouse division of that organization, which centralized billing of FTD purchases.