HENRY BORN
pages 447-448

T HE LAMENTED subject of this biographical memoir, now sleeping the sleep of the just in God's quiet acre, as the old Saxons referred to their burying-grounds, was in life one of the best known business men of the city of Cleveland, where practically all of his life of three-score and ten years was spent. He was one of that worthy class of men who fought their way to success through unfavorable environment; and a study of Mr. Born's life record reveals the intrinsic worth of a character which not only can bravely endure so rough a test, but gain new strength through the discipline. Although a man of unusual capacity for business, and, as the head of a great manufacturing concern, was always deeply engrossed in industrial affairs, nevertheless he found time to exercise the duties of a good and useful citizen, helpful to those with whom his daily life brought him in contact.
The birth of Henry Born occurred in Bayern, Germany, February 25, 1845. He was a son of Frederick and Johanna (Raskopf) Born whose family consisted of ten children, two of whom died in infancy, those who grew to maturity being: Charles P., whose death occurred in 1879; Louis died in Duluth, Michigan, where he was engaged in copper mining; Henry, of this review; Frederick died in 1891; William, who was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, died of yellow fever in Galveston, Texas, in 1865; Mary is the widow of the late Henry Schneider, of Glenville, Ohio; Frederica is the wife of William Schweitzer, of Chicago; Minnie is the widow of the late Michael Helbig, of Cleveland, Ohio.
Frederick Born, father of our subject, was a metal worker by trade, which he learned in Germany where he spent his earlier life, and from which country he emigrated to America in 1847, locating in Cleveland, Ohio, and he soon opened a shop on Water Street, the firm becoming F. and C. P. Born, in 1852. In 1859, Frederick Born retired and moved to Valley City, Medina County, Ohio, where he purchased a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In the latter fifties, he drilled, by manual labor, an oil well one hundred and thirty-two feet deep, which produced about twelve barrels of crude oil a day and sold for ten dollars per barrel. This was one of the first oil wells in this country, and the oil was used for medicinal purposes. The well is still in good condition and is producing a small quantity of oil.
C. P. Born continued to operate the shop in Cleveland alone until 1868, when Frederick and Henry Born formed a partnership with him. In 1873, the firm became F. and H. Born, C. P. Born retiring that year from active business. In 1891, the business was incorporated as the Born Steel Range Company, when Henry Born, of this sketch, was made treasurer of the company and manager of the business, and in the same year Frederick Born died. In 1892, a factory was built in Galion, Ohio, which was removed to Cleveland in 1898, where it has since been located. It is a large, substantial, well-equipped plant, employing scores of men. The firm manufactures a line of family stoves and ranges and a complete kitchen equipment for various institutions, hotels, and restaurants, and these products find a very ready market over a vast territory owing to their superior quality and workmanship. The plant is one of the largest and best-known of its kind in the United States.
Henry Born, who was of a decided mechanical turn, invented a number of practical and useful improvements in ranges, furnaces, kitchen equipment, and machinery.
He was a member of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce and the Cleveland Chamber of Industry. Fraternally, he belonged to the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; also the Holyrood Commanderv, Knights Templars, and belonged to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In all of these he was active and in excellent standing, and his daily life indicated that he tried to live up to their high precepts.
On October 25, 1879, Mr. Born was united in marriage with Louise B. Cook, a daughter of George and Louise Cook, who were of German origin. To this union four children were born, namely: Henry G. married Katharine E. Holly, and they have three children, Maynard, Ronald, and Helen.; Julia K., who died November 13, 1892; Louise B. is the widow of the late Thomas A. Clark, and has one child, Arline; William F. is the youngest. Henry G. Born, oldest of the sons, has now assumed the management of the Born Steel Range Company, and is conducting its affairs in a successful and admirable manner, the business increasing rapidly under his able management, and he is proving to be a worthy son of a worthy sire in every way, evidently having inherited much of his father's perseverance, sound judgment, and foresight.
Henry Born, of this memoir, was a man of many sterling qualities, and he had a great capacity for work. In his younger days he put in extremely long hours; no eight-hour day for him; in fact, he usually worked twice that length of time. It was his theory that hard work never hurt anybody, that rest meant rust; and the fact that he remained active, hale, and hearty during a very long and successful business career, would indicate that his ideas were right. He was of the opinion that bad habits, wrong thinking and living, destroyed men's bodies, minds, and souls, and thus while he worked hard and put in long hours, he was careful of his habits, was extremely simple in his manners and tastes. He was a kind-hearted, charitable, and obliging gentleman, always ready to help the person who was down. His intimate acquaintances say that no man ever lived who was more sympathetic in a deserving case. This whole-souled man had hosts of friends who deeply deplored his death, which occurred at the commodious home in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland, July 21, 1915, at the age of seventy years. The Knights Templar commandery had charge of his. funeral. He was buried in Woodland Cemetery.

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