FLINT, EDWARD SHERRILL (3 Jan. 1819-29 Jan. 1902), a railroad executive, banker, and mayor of Cleveland (1861-63), was born in Warren, Ohio, but the early deaths of both parents left him to be raised and educated by his grandparents in Vermont. He initially worked as a bookkeeper, but by 1851 relocated himself and his family to Cleveland to start a real-estate firm.
FLORA AND FAUNA. The early settler who cleared a bit of forest for his cabin and garden began to change the area's plant and animal life. In the forest around his cabin he could hunt deer, bear, wild turkey, and smaller animals necessary for daily living. Indians before him may even have encountered elk and wood buffalo.
The FLORENCE CRITTENTON SERVICES OF GREATER CLEVELAND, chartered by the Ohio legislature in 1911 as the Florence Crittenton Home for Unwed Mothers of Cleveland, served unwed mothers and their children until changing its focus to delinquent and predelinquent girls in 1970. Organized as a branch of the Natl.
FLYNN, EILEEN ELEANOR FINLIN (13 June 1915-11 Oct. 1992), attorney, civic leader and social activist, was Assistant Attorney General to Ohio Attorney General William Saxbe (1957-59) and a member of the Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals in the 1960s (see ZONING).
FLYNN, FR. THOMAS A. (May 19, 1932 - August 31, 2018) was the founding pastor of St. Clarence parish in North Olmsted, OH, and the genial host of an annual “Emerald Ball” for 39 years.
FOGG, WILLIAM PERRY (27 July 1826-8 May 1909), an adventurer and writer, was born in Exeter, N.H., the son of Josiah and Hannah (Pecker) Fogg. He moved to Cleveland as a child. A transplanted "Yankee," he was an early member and president of the New England Society, which promised to promote a kindred spirit among the offspring of New England pioneers.
FOLSOM'S MERCANTILE COLLEGE was the first college founded in Cleveland. R. C. Bacon opened the college on W. 3rd St. in 1848, and Ezekiel G. Folsom, who had taught penmanship in common school in Cleveland, became sole owner a few months later. In 1850 it became known as E. G. Folsom's Commercial College.
The FOOD CO-OP (Food Community Organization of People) is a grocery store which focuses on selling food at low prices, as well as offering quality natural foods. The organization began, however, as a traditional buying co-op in 1970 in the UNIV. CIRCLE area, operating without a permanent location. In 1974 the co-op opened a store at 12408 Euclid Ave.
FOOTBALL. The first organized football game in Cleveland was reportedly played in 1887, 18 years after the first college football game was played in the United States, between Rutgers and Princeton.
FOOTE, JOHN A. (22 Nov. 1803-16 July 1891), reformer and politician, was born in New Haven, Conn., to Samuel A. and Eudocia (Hull) Foote. His father was governor of Connecticut and a member of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Foote was also the elder brother of Adm. Andrew H. Foote, of naval fame during the CIVIL WAR.
The FOOTPATH DANCE COMPANY, a nonprofit troupe based in SHAKER HEIGHTS, was the first modern dance company from Greater Cleveland to perform both nationally and internationally. Formed in 1976 by artistic director Alice Rubinstein, the company initially consisted only of women.
FORAN, MARTIN A. (11 Nov. 1844-28 June 1921), U.S. Congressman, and county prosecutor, and judge of the court of common pleas, was born in Choconut Twp., Susquehanna County, Pa., to James and Catherine O'Donnell Foran. He learned the coopering trade, and attended St. Joseph's College in Susquehanna County for 2 years.
The Benjamin P. Forbes Chocolate Company has manufactured Forbes Chocolate in Cleveland, Ohio since 1901. After working for Milton Hershey, Benjamin Forbes began an empire of his own called Cleveland Chocolate Company in 1896. Forbes first day of business on March 12th 1901 began operating from Seneca Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. By 1913, the name was legally incorporated as the Benjamin P.
FORD MOTOR CO., a major employer in the Cleveland area, entered the Cleveland market in 1906 by establishing a sales and service office at 1900 Euclid Ave. In 1911, Ford moved its Cleveland operation to E. 72nd St. and St. Clair Ave., where workers assembled Model T's from sections received from Detroit. The company then built a 4-story brick assembly plant at 11610 Euclid Ave. which began operating on 29 June 1914.
FORD, DAVID KNIGHT (10 Feb. 1894-28 Oct. 1993) was a lawyer, businessman, and churchman who took pride in his family roots in New England and early Cleveland. He incorporated the LUBRIZOL CORPORATION, was a director, and served as a trustee of its foundation continuously from its founding until his death.
FORD, HORATIO (23 June 1881-28 Nov. 1952), a banker and lawyer involved in the BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA and in forest conservation, was born in Cleveland, to Ida May Thorp and HORATIO CLARK FORD. He earned his A.B. from Yale University in 1904, his LL.B.
FORD, HORATIO CLARK (25 Aug. 1853-25 Aug. 1915), a descendant of early settlers of New England and Cleveland, was a prominent lawyer, entrepreneur, banker, and civic leader. His father, Horatio Cyrus Ford, came from Cummington, MA in 1837 to (old) East Cleveland, where he married Martha Cordelia Cozad, granddaughter of SAMUEL COZAD.
FORD, LEONARD "LENNY" (18 Feb. 1926-13 Mar. 1972), defensive end for the CLEVELAND BROWNS from 1950-57 and Pro Football Hall of Famer (1976), was born in Washington, D.C., to Lenny Guy and Gerlean Ford. He was captain of the football, baseball, and basketball teams his senior year at Armstrong High School.
Foreign Born Population, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 1870-1990
| 1870 Cleve. | 1880 Cuy. Co. | 1880 Cleve. | 1900 Cuy. |
"FOREST CITY" Cleveland's long-time nickname, has murky origins. An obituary of TIMOTHY SMEAD claims that "while in an editorial capacity Mr. Smead gave to Cleveland the name of Forest City" (PLAIN DEALER, 4 Jan. 1890). Credit for inspiring the name, however, is generally given to WM.
The FOREST CITY BASEBALL CLUB, or the Forest Citys, was the name of several early amateur and professional baseball teams in Cleveland. The first was an amateur team sponsored by the Forest City Baseball Club, organized in 1865. In 1868 the club had 150 members and enjoyed a good reputation locally until 24 June, when the Forest City team suffered a humiliating 85-11 defeat at the hands of the Athletics of Philadelphia.
FOREST CITY ENTERPRISES, INC., which grew to own some $2 billion in real estate in 1993, was founded in 1922 by Jewish Polish immigrant Charles Ratner who opened the Forest City Materials Co. to sell lumber and building materials at E. 93rd St. and Harvard Ave.
FOREST CITY HOSPITAL, established as a 103-bed general hospital, was called Cleveland's first interracial hospital. In 1939 the Forest City Hospital Assn. was formed by a group of black physicians to raise support for a hospital free of color restrictions which would offer black doctors the opportunity to participate in the total operations of a hospital.
FOREST CITY PARK was reportedly the first amusement park in the Cleveland area. It was originally known as Beyerle Park after its developer and first operator, George William Beyerle. The park opened about 1883. The entrance to this 47-acre park was on Sykora St., not far from Independence Rd.; a streetcar line also followed this route.
The FOREST CITY PUBLISHING CO. was a holding company formed on 29 Sept.
The FOREST CITY TREE PROTECTION COMPANY, was established in 1910 by William P. Lanphear, Jr.
FOREST HILL, now a residential neighborhood in E. CLEVELAND and CLEVELAND HTS., formerly was the summer home of the JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER family. In 1873 Rockefeller purchased a large tract of land bordering Euclid Ave. in E. Cleveland. He sold it to the Euclid Ave. Forest Hill Assn.
FOREST HILL CHURCH, PRESBYTERIAN, at 3031 Monticello Blvd. and Lee Rd., CLEVELAND HTS., originally known as CLEVELAND HTS. Presbyterian Church, began in Nov. 1903 (chartered 1916) as a mission of Beckwith Memorial Church (later part of the CHURCH OF THE COVENANT).
FOREST HILL NURSING HOME. See MENORAH PARK CENTER FOR THE AGING.
FOREST HILL PARK, located west of Lee Rd. and south of Euclid Ave. on Cleveland's east side, was originally part of the estate of JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER (see FOREST HILL).
FORSYTH (MYERS), JOSEPHINE (c. 1890-24 May 1940), was a Cleveland singer, composer, and musical patron. Born on the city's South Side, she received vocal training from Marcella Sembrich and former Clevelander Rita Elandi. Making her New York debut in the light opera Listen Lester in 1919, she expanded her repertoire to opera and folk songs in costume. For her marriage to pump manufacturer Philip A.
FORT HUNTINGTON, located on a site west of the county courthouse at Ontario and Lakeside, was a fortress and supply depot of the Army of the Northwest during the War of 1812, built at the direction of Pres. Jas. Madison to protect the settlement. The fort was named after SAMUEL HUNTINGTON, governor of Ohio 1808-10.
FORTE, ORMOND ADOLPHUS (17 Dec. 1887-14 Jan. 1959) earned the honorary title of "dean of Cleveland Negro newspapermen" for his efforts in publishing 3 black weeklies over a span of 4 decades. A native of Barbados, British West Indies, he was educated there at Harrison College.
The FORTNIGHTLY MUSICAL CLUB is one of the oldest continuous music clubs in the country. Organized in Feb. 1894 by Mrs. Curtis Webster, it was federated with the National Fed. of Music Clubs in 1898 and became a charter member of the Ohio Fed. of Music Clubs in 1919. During its first 25 years especially, Fortnightly served as a concert agency for Cleveland, bringing many of the orchestras and artists who performed here.
FOSTER, CLAUD HANSCOMB (23 Dec. 1872-21 June 1965), automotive inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, was born in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn to George and Julia Wells Foster. In 1891, he opened a machine shop, playing the trombone for 11 years in the Euclid Ave. Opera House orchestra to support his business.
FOSTER, LEONARD GURLEY (10 Sept. 1840-13 Dec. 1937) was a CIVIL WAR veteran whose avocation brought him the epithet, "the Buckeye poet." Born on the family homestead in the Cuyahoga Valley near Denison Ave., he was educated at HUMISTON INSTITUTE and Berea College.
FOSTER, WILLIAM ADELBERT (17 Feb. 1915-2 May 1945) was a private in the U.S. Marine Corps during WORLD WAR II who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on the Island of Okinawa. William, one of 6 children, was born in Cleveland, to Charles J. and Alma Messzik Foster.
The FOUNDATION CENTER-CLEVELAND, was established in 1978 as one of the 6 field offices of the Foundation Center, an independent nonprofit organization based in New York City founded by FOUNDATIONS to inform the public about charitable nonprofits. Maintaining the Kent H.
FOUNDATIONS have shaped culture, social welfare, criminal justice, GOVERNMENT, and EDUCATION in Cleveland since 1914.
1913: Thomas H. White Foundation
1914: The Cleveland Foundation
1916: John Huntington Art & Polytechnic Trust
1929: Brush Foundation
1929: George Davis Bivin Foundation
1937: Kulas Foundation
1939: Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation
1943: Louis D. Beaumont Foundation
1944: Dauby Charity Fund
1947: Renner Clinic Foundation
1949: Bicknell Fund
The FOUR-IN-HAND AND TANDEM CLUB, in existence 1902-08, brought together a group of wealthy Clevelanders who believed that driving four-in-hands (a 4-horse team driven by 1 person) and tandems (a 2-seated carriage drawn by 2 horses harnessed one before the other) was an outdoor exercise that could bring them "amusement, recreation, health, and profit." On 31 Mar.
FOURTH EVANGELICAL & REFORMED CHURCH. See ARCHWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST.
FOURTH GENERAL HOSPITAL (Lakeside Unit, WORLD WAR II), staffed primarily by Cleveland-area physicians and nurses, was the first U.S. Armed Forces general hospital unit to go overseas in World War II. Between 12 Jan. 1942 and 15 Aug. 1945, it admitted 46,200 patients. The 4th General had existed on paper since 1933 as a successor to Base Hospital No.
FOX, BEATRICE WRIGHT (16 Mar. 1903-l Aug. 1988), educator and the first African-American administrator in the MOUNT PLEASANT area, and an advisor/director with the PHILLIS WHEATLEY ASSOCIATION.
FRANCE, MERVIN BAIR (31 Mar. 1901-16 Feb. 1970) was a Cleveland banker and civic leader who orchestrated the unification of the Society for Savings into Society National Bank and helped found SOCIETY CORPORATION, a bank holding company.
The FRANCIS DRURY MANSION, located at 8615 EUCLID AVE., is an English Renaissance Tudor Revival-style mansion built in 1912 for Industrialist
The FRANCISCAN COMMUNITY AND APOSTOLATE in Cleveland once encompassed a seminary and college, as well as monastic orders for men and women, a secular order for the laity, and parishes and schools. In 1879 Cleveland was established as the core of the Province of the Sacred Heart, which extended west to Platte City, NE, and from Superior, WI, to Memphis, TN.