Fred Kohler from Wikipedia

Frederick Kohler (May 2, 1864–January 30, 1934) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 40th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1922 to 1923. He was born in Cleveland to Christian and Fredericka Kohler. As a teenager, he left school to help his father in Kohler Stone Works. After his father’s death, the business ended and Kohler sought work elsewhere.

In 1889, Kohler joined the police force and quickly rose to prominence. In 1900, he was promoted to captain and in 1903, Mayor Tom L. Johnson appointed Kohler as chief of police. He had a very brusque style of law enforcement and always expected the absolute maximum from all policemen, demanding a neat appearance and full day’s work. While some, such as President Theodore Roosevelt, applauded him as “the country’s finest chief of police”, he was disliked by political partisans who disapproved of his contempt for political favoritism. After Johnson left the mayor’s office in 1909, opposition forces began gathering up to rid the city of Kohler. In 1913, Kohler was fired from his position by Civil Service Commission on charges of neglect of duty and gross immorality, after becoming wrapped up in an ugly divorce suit brought by a salesman against his adulterous wife. A month later, a gang of hired thugs mugged and brutally beat Kohler in an alley off Short Vincent Street.

Kohler made it through the tussle and instead of deciding to leave Cleveland, he devoted himself to politics. In 1918, he was elected Cuyahoga County commissioner as a Republican, serving two terms. His tenure as commissioner served him well when he campaigned and was elected mayor of Cleveland. He served one term from 1922 to 1924. As mayor, Kohler concentrated on the economy in city government, cutting payrolls and city services, and persuading private agencies to care for families on relief. However, Kohler started becoming unpopular again when he “cleaned up” City Hall by slashing municipal expenses and firing 850 patronage employees.

In 1924, the city adopted a city manager plan, and Kohler did not seek reelection. Instead, he was elected sheriff. He left office in 1926, after being accused of underfeeding the prisoners in jail. He suffered a stroke in 1932 and died in 1934.


Moses Cleaveland Overview

From the Ohio Historical Society

The link is here

Moses Cleaveland was the founder of Cleveland, Ohio.

Following the American Revolution, Americans began to migrate westward in large numbers. There were lengthy disputes about the ownership of this land. The federal government encouraged the states to give up their claims within the Northwest Territory. Connecticut was one of the states with land claims in Ohio. While giving up its rights to most of the land, the state maintained its ownership of the northeastern corner of the territory. This area became known as the Connecticut Western Reserve. The Connecticut Land Company was a group of private speculators who purchased approximately three million acres of the Western Reserve.

In 1796, the company sent one of its major investors, General Moses Cleaveland, to Ohio. He led the survey of company lands within the Western Reserve. Cleaveland had served under General George Washington for several years during the American Revolution and rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Connecticut militia. In 1781, Cleaveland had opened a law practice in Canterbury, Connecticut. He also had served as a member of the Connecticut state convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.

Cleaveland’s surveying party of fifty-two people included two women. The surveyors laid out a town along the eastern bank of the Cuyahoga River and named it Cleaveland. Because of a spelling error on the original map, the town of Cleaveland was spelled as Cleveland. The surveying party experienced many difficulties and hardships. It did not complete as much work as had originally been expected and returned to Connecticut in the fall. Another surveying team went back to the Western Reserve the next spring but Moses Cleaveland was not a part of it.

Cleaveland never returned to Ohio. He spent the rest of his life with his legal practice and business interests in Connecticut. He died in 1806.

 

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