Henry S. French
For over sixty years the name French has figured prominently in the commercial and industrial affairs of Cleveland. And this name has other interesting associations than those strictly confined to business.
The founder of the family here was the late Clinton D. French. He was born at Barre, Vermont, in September, 1827, of rugged New England stock. He was directly descended from that William French of Westminster, Vermont, whose blood with Daniel Houghton's was the first shed in the Revolution on March 13, 1775, and to whose memory the state erected a monument in 1875.
Educated in public schools, Clinton D. French came to Cleveland in 1854 and soon established a retail dry goods business under the name of French & company. Subsequently, the business was conducted by French & Davis, their store being located at 91 Superior Avenue Northeast. Still later the firm was French & Keith, and the business was then moved to the Marble Block on Superior between Bland and Seneca streets. Clinton D. French sold out in 1862, was in the real estate business for a time, and in 1863 with his brother Gilbert L. established French's Golden Lion, a retail dry goods store at Buffalo, New York. From this Clinton French withdrew in 1876, and after that his time was taken up with the management of his private property and other interests.
One of his distinctive characteristics was a love for the old and the rare, and he gave much of the time of his later years and considerable of his means to the collection of antiques, especially books, documents and historical souvenirs. Perhaps the most famous article of his collection was the coach which Lafayette brought over from France and used in his tour of America in 1825. This coach was made in Paris, and after coming into the possession of Mr. French was carefully preserved and aside from the fading of its bright colors was kept in almost the same condition as when the famous Frenchman rode upon it. It is elaborately wrought and highly finished, of the style of the Napoleonic period and of the First Empire. Two heavy for ordinary service with a single pair of horses, four powerful steeds having drawn it over the heavy roads of early America, it has escaped the common use and consequently experienced little wear or tear. Formerly it appeared upon the streets only on rare occasions of national rejoicing or public sorrow.
Clinton D. French was a member of the old Stone Church in Cleveland, and a democrat in politics. He died September 1, 1901, at the age of seventy-four. At Buffalo, New York, he married Henrietta Davis.
Their only child, Henry S. French, was born at Buffalo, New York, July 18, 1865. He attended the Rockwell public school in Cleveland and at the age of fourteen began earning his own living as a clerk in Bailey & Crothers retail dry goods store at Cleveland. This firm by subsequent change and development became the great department store of L. A. Bailey. In 1882 Mr. French resigned his position there, and went into the service of J. G. W. Cowles in the real estate business. After 1893 he continued in this business alone until 1901. At that date he established the Machinery Forging Company, of which he has since been president and treasurer. Mr. French was one of the organizers and the financial backer of the Tabor Ice Cream Company at its organization a few years ago, and this concern in a short time took first rank in its line in the city, so rapid was its growth.
Mr. French is a member of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, Cleveland Athletic Club, Cleveland Rotary Club, Cleveland Automobile Club, Willowick Country Club, and in politics is a republican. On January 25, 1888, at Cleveland he married Miss Minerva Antoinette Copeland. They are the parents of four children; Laura A., now Mrs. C. E. Hartwell of Cleveland; Clinton R., connected with the forging business at Cincinnati; Noyes C., vice president of the Machinery Forging company; and Georgiana B.
From Cleveland - Special Limited Edition, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York, 1918 v.1