Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2022 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= NOTICE TO USERS - These files are protected by the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Information contained herein is provided for research purposes and may be freely linked to. Copying for redistribution or presentation by any person, persons or organization is not allowed without the written permission of the author/submitter. Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== History of the City of Cleveland Its Settlement, Rise and Progress Robinson & Cockett, The Sunday World, Cleveland, Ohio - 1887 [p. 449-451] RUFUS K. WINSLOW The distinguished father of the subject of this sketch was one of the very first, as he was one of the most successful, among the early vessel owners on the lakes. The merchant mar- ine interests established by the elder WINSLOW have grown un- der his and his son's careful management also to be one of the largest on the lakes. RICHARD WINSLOW was born in Falmouth, Maine, in 1769, and after making a visit of what was then the far Northwest, decided to locate in Cleveland. In 1831 he pur- chased property on the river and vicinity which he saw was to be a valuable business locality in the future. He brought am- ple capital and invested it liberally. He first engaged in the mercantile business on Union Lane, and shortly after became agent for a line of vessels between Cleveland and Buffalo. In 1833 he became personally interested in the vessel business, and with others built the brig North Carolina. In 1836 he was largely interested in the building of the famous passenger steamer Bunker Hill, which gained a historical record in those early days. From this date on he rapidly increased his busi- ness and added boat after boat to his line. At his death in 1854, at the ripe old age of eighty-eight, the WINSLOW fleet was one of the largest on the chain of lakes. Since 1848 his sons N. C., R. G., H. J. and R. K. have been interested with him, and at his death the great interests fell upon them. They continued to give their personal attention to the busi- ness and greatly increased it in every way, paying at that time particular attention to the passenger and freight busi- ness. The business increased until the WINSLOWS owned and controlled over a hundred vessels, many of them being the largest and finest on the lakes and being seen and known in every shipping port. H. J. WINSLOW went to New York in 1860 and died in 1863; R. G. died in 1854, and N. C. died in 1880. The control of the Cleveland business has long been in the hands of RUFUS K., the brothers some years before operating their interests from other points, principally Chicago and Buffalo. RUFUS K. WINSLOW was born in Ocracoke, North Carolina, and came to Cleveland in 1831. At twenty-one he became associated in the vessel business with his brothers, N. C. and H. J. WINSLOW. With the increased demands of commerce, the firm en- larged their interests, and from that day to this the WINSLOW fleet has been one of the prominent features of lake trade. While confining their business almost entirely to the lakes, the brothers in 1859-60 dispatched some vessels to the Black Sea. The operations since, however, are mainly on fresh water. In 1851 MR. WINSLOW was married to MISS LUCY B. CLARKE, daugh- ter of the late DR. W. A. CLARKE, of Cleveland. MR. WINSLOW has ever been a public-spirited, conservative, patriotic citizen, interested in public enterprises and affairs, but declining the honor of public office. By his means he aided and encouraged the cause of the government during th rebel- lion. A man of refined tastes, he has pursued his classical and scientific researches, and has become one of the leading scholars in ormithology. He was also for many years an active and energetic member and president of the Kirtland Academy of Natural Sciences, and is to-day a liberal patron of the highest forms of art. A modest, unassuming gentleman, his public worth is highly appreciated by the community of which he has so long been a part. ===============================================================================