Donald S. Yarab

On the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet Era for the Naturally Curious: The Case of the Lion of Lyon on an Eighteenth Century Jeton

See the source image — **“In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.”**

Long ago a doctor observed that, in his opinion, I most certainly had an attention deficit disorder. He in particular noted that my habit of reading three or four or more books (each a few pages or chapters at a time) simultaneously rather than sequentially (one book in its entirety, one after another), sealed the deal, as it were, for his diagnosis. The reality now is even worse than the kind doctor could have imagined for in any book with end notes or foot notes, which I review most assiduously, I am often immediately diverted by the notes to hunt for additional relevant information. I hunt either in my library for the information or on the internet. I describe that hunt, and the ensuing hunts that usually result from the initial hunt, just as a tumble down a rabbit hole. For, you see, I tumble down rabbit holes in pursuit of knowledge almost daily, never considering how in the world I will get out again, just as blithely as Alice tumbled down her rabbit hole.

It happens easily enough, these tumbles. Consider the macro photograph of the AR jeton of Lyon which I posted about earlier. All things considered, the jeton was one of many items I was photographing that particular day merely to practice my photography skills. I was, in point of fact, attempting to develop my skills in lighting the coins which I was photographing with more precision and subtlety. I was not attempting to undertake any particular study of the individual items themselves. However, when I happened to glance at the photograph of the jeton, which is admittedly poorly lit overall (my skills are still inadequate and developing!), I was struck, as I had previously mentioned, by the presence of the lion’s phallus, which I had never noticed previously when viewing the jeton. This was not, in spite of the subject matter, a prurient observation, so much as an amused observation that the engraver would add such fine detail to the piece which is not readily visible to the naked eye. It was also a catalyst to further research (much like those cursed notes in a book). In short, I stumbled into a rabbit hole.

My curiosity was piqued, first and most naturally, as to whether the lion was generally depicted on the arms of Lyon in the 1750s in so anatomically correct a manner. Though my library does contain a number of heraldic works, those works do not include anything that would address French heraldry so, of course, I immediately went to the internet. Much to my pleasure and surprise, Wikipedia has a very robust and well researched entry on the arms of Lyon.

Wikipedia was kind enough to instruct me as to when Lyon was granted its arms and the various forms the arms have taken over the years. I learned many things, including how Lyon sided with the Royalists during the French Revolution and, for its efforts, was officially disestablished. I also learned that, after the restoration of the monarchy, the lion in the shield was shown carrying a sword to signify its combativeness against the revolution. A nice touch, to be sure. And, of course, with each change to the shield, and each twist of history, I went down another rabbit hole to learn the story behind the story. Before I knew it, several hours had gone by. I had learned many interesting things, none of which I had planned on learning that day. Indeed, none of which I would have even planned on learning that day if I had sketched the day out. As I recall, I was working on my photography skills that day and the jeton was merely a tool in that exercise.

My lack of discipline regarding the initial task at hand allowed me to be diverted for an extended period of time, but I learned much about topics that I shall likely never have occasion to visit again or otherwise put to productive use. I confess that I cannot much regret the experience, for it was enjoyable and all knowledge has value. Yet, I am convinced that I must develop a more rigorous schedule, so that even in retirement, I accomplish some of the projects that I have a mind to complete. I can only stumble down so many rabbit holes before the day, then the week, then the month, then the year, is lost.

The Lion of Lyon and the Revelations of Macro Photography

**Enlargement of heraldic lion from AR jeton.**

One of the various activities that I have engaged in as a newly retired individual has been participation in the various online educational seminars offered by the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the American Numismatic Society (ANS). To this end, I signed up for a four session program offered by the ANS entitled “ANS Lyceum: Basics of Photography.” Happily, my macro photography skills are slowly improving.

**Reckoning Table in Use From Jakob Koebel’s *Rechenbiechlin*, Augsburg, 1514**

One of the pieces that I recently photographed was an eighteenth century French jeton from Lyon catalogued as Feuardent-10682 by Felix Feuardent in his magnus opus, Jetons et méreaux depuis Louis IX jusqu’à la fin du Consulat de Bonaparte (Paris 1907). A French jeton, also known as a reckoning counter, was originally used in the medieval era as an aid in performing calculations by merchants and royal officials who placed the counters on a checkered board or reckoning table to represent amounts or tallies in complex calculations. The word jeton comes from the French verb jeter, to cast. The specimen I have photographed has an obverse which features the heraldic arms of Lyons‎. Lyon, of course, may be translated as lion, so it is no surprise the centerpiece of the arms is a lion rampant. The shield itself is augmented by a heraldic chief, the division occupying the upper third. This is the “Head of France,” which shows the heraldry of the former monarchs of France: of azure laden with three golden fleurs-de-lys (a blue background adorned with three yellow lily flowers).

The reverse features the inscriptions VIRIS. CONSULARIBUS in circular caption while in the featuring in the field the words PATRIA. MEMOR in an oak crown, with the date 1756 in Roman numerals below. The blazon proper of Lyon consists of a field of gules (red color), in which a lion appears rampant (of profile and erect) and silver (white color).

What photographing the jeton allowed me to see, that I had never noticed before, was the anatomical glory of the lion which the engraver had labored to ensure was embedded in the die for the piece. This was somewhat of a surprise as very few of the heraldic renderings of the arms of Lyon that I was able to trace, from the granting of the shield in 1320, through the issuance of this jeton, seemed to insist upon such graphic accuracy (though most allude to the appendage). Perhaps it is the Rococo transitioning to neoclassical in metallic glory.

Reflections on the Brevity of Life

“Long life, and short, are by death made all one; for there is no long, nor short, to things that are no more. Aristotle tells us that there are certain little beasts upon the banks of the river Hypanis, that never live above a day: they which die at eight of the clock in the morning, die in their youth, and those that die at five in the evening, in their decrepitude: which of us would not laugh to see this moment of continuance put into the consideration of weal or woe? The most and the least, of ours, in comparison with eternity, or yet with the duration of mountains, rivers, stars, trees, and even of some animals, is no less ridiculous.” -Montaigne

When I read the above passage in Montaigne’s Essays, especially the reference to the short lived creatures described by Aristotle, I thought of the incredibly short lived midges that make an appearance at my home every year. When they do, I have often reflected on the extreme brevity of their time among us, and then by extension, our equally brief time among the cosmos. And yet, at the same time, reflecting on the mundane midge, and the brevity of their and our own vitality, I am amazed nonetheless, and rejoice at the wonderment of it all.

Joseph M. Gasser: Immigrant, Patriot, and Florist

Joseph M. Gasser, was a resident of the Edgewater neighborhood from 1886 until his death in 1908. His honorable life of sacrifice, service, contribution, and industry, stands as stern rebuke to those small-minded fear-mongers amongst us who would build walls to shut out immigrants from foreign lands seeking refuge in the land of opportunity.

Joseph was born in 1843 in Switzerland, the son of Nicholas, a carpenter. His family immigrated to the United States in 1854. The family came to Cleveland where Joseph began to attend both the common schools and work in a pail factory in the flats at the age of twelve years old. Joseph continued working at the pail factory until the outbreak of the Civil War.

As soon as Joseph learned that the Southern rebels had fired on Fort Sumter, he enlisted for three months service as a private at the age of 19 in the Sprague Zouave Cadets, which was organized in Cleveland under the direction of Captain Charles A. DeVillers. The Sprague Zouave Cadets were subsequently mustered into the service of the United States as the Seventh Regiment of the Ohio Voluntary Infantry as Company B, retaining that letter during its service in the field. He reenlisted, June 19, 1861, for a period of three years. The Seventh Regiment was known as the Roosters.”

Mr. Gasser participated in the following Civil War battles: Battle of Kressler’s Cross Lanes (Cross Lanes, Virginia), August 26, 1861; First Battle of Kernstown (Winchester, Virginia), March 23, 1862, (in which Mr. Gasser was wounded severely in the left arm and side and was incapacitated for service until June 3, 1863); The Battle of Gettysburg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania), July 1, 2, and 3, 1863; Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, November 24, 1863; Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, November 25, 1863; The Battle of Ringgold Gap (Ringgold, Georgia), November 27, 1863; Dalton, Georgia, May 8, 1864; Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, May 1864; Resaca, Georgia, May 13 to 15, 1864, and Dallas, or New Hope Church, Georgia, May 26, 1864. Mr. Gasser was mustered out of service with an honorable discharge at the expiration of his enlistment on July 6, 1864.

The Seventh Regiment’s service was commemorated locally by the Seventh Regiment OVI Association with a monument erected at Woodland Cemetery (Woodland Avenue/East 71st Street). The monument was dedicated in 1872. The principal speakers at its dedication were General John W. Geary, the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania, General Erastus B. Tyler, and Major William McKinley, later Governor of Ohio and President of the United States. The monument cost $8,500 and consisted of Quincy granite for the base, a shaft of Peterhead red granite, and was topped with an eagle with outstretched wings of Peterhead gray granite.

The granite was quarried, polished, and engraved with a list of the Regiment’s battles in Scotland before being shipped to the United States. The lot on which it was erected was donated by the City of Cleveland.

Of course, the Ohio Generally Assembly also commemorated the service of the Seventh Regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg with the erection a marker, which is located near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in Adams County at the intersection of Slocum Avenue and Williams Avenue. It was dedicated on September 14, 1887, and marks the position held by the Regiment on July 2 and 3, 1863. If you have occasion to visit the Gettysburg Battlefield, you now know of its Edgewater connection.

When Mr. Gasser returned to civilian life after nearly four difficult years of service to his adopted country, he sought both employment and education. The available information indicates that he initially boarded with his father at 63 Orange Street and worked for the Weaver Brothers Wholesale Liquor House (87 & 89 Merwin), the grocery firm of Pope & Hains (163 Ontario Street), and subsequently for five years as a postal carrier. He also sought to further his education while working so paid for two years of education at the Humiston Institute. The Humiston Institute, also known as the Cleveland Institute, was a private coeducational school for secondary education founded in 1859 by Professor Ransom F. Humiston, a respected Cleveland educator, who offered a college preparatory curriculum to both students from out of state as well as from the Cleveland area. The Institute closed in 1868.

In 1867, the industrious Mr. Gasser found love and married Miss Katherine Fox, with whom he had a daughter, Josephine.

The Cleveland Directory Company’s 1872/73 Directory reflects that Mr. Gasser was still a letter carrier but now resided and operated a business out of his residence at 345 Pearl. The business was listed under various headings, including confectionary, cigars, fruit, and variety goods. The Cleveland Directory Company’s 1877/78 directory reflects that Mr. Gasser moved his residence and business to 347 Pearl, and only listed his business under the headings notions, stationary, and confectionery.

In the August 13, 1921, issue of The Florist Exchange (p. 347), a article recounting Cleveland’s floral history recorded that “on Saturdays, [Mr. Gasser] made up bouquets and boutonnieres of Roses from the garden of Mrs. Gasser’s mother. As a dancing school was located on the second floor [of his small store], Mrs. Gasser thought a few buttonhole bouquets would sell–from this very small beginning grew the large business of today. The first greenhouses were built in Rocky River in 1880. Then a range of glass was built on Lake Ave. in 1885. The store was continued on [Pearl] until 1883, when a store was opened on lower Euclid Ave. in connection with the Heyse & Weisgerber Co., who were leading caterers in those days. It was only a few years later before they felt able to use an entire store individually. They bought a lot and built on Euclid Ave., near Bond St. [East 4th], moving to their present location later. The business was incorporated in 1901. Meanwhile, new greenhouses were started in Rocky River hamlet on Wooster Road. Here the main crop of flowers was grown. Now the firm has 350,000 sq. ft. of glass, covering eight acres. They cut as many as 9,000 Roses, 10,000 Carnations, and 5,000 Lilies daily. In 1902, the Lake Ave. greenhouses were moved and rebuilt at Rockport place. The store is now on Euclid Ave., next to the Cleveland Trust Co.” Other sources record that the innovative Mr. Gasser was also the first florist in Cleveland to utilize delivery wagons for floral deliveries.

Mr. Gasser eventually established a separate wholesale business to supply other florists while also maintaining his retail floral shops. His success was great and his services were much in demand by the most discriminating clientele in Cleveland.

WOODCLIFF

The Cleveland Director Company’s 1886/87 Directory records that Mr. and Mrs. Gasser resided on Lake Avenue, making them amongst the earliest residents of the neighborhood. And, of course, we know from city maps, that his residence with the greenhouses was called Woodcliff.

Although we know that Senator Marcus A. Hanna hosted the “Wedding of the Century” in the Edgewater neighborhood in 1903, it is fair to say that Mr. Gasser hosted the first Grand Affair in the Edgewater Neighborhood. Specifically, in 1896, during the Centennial Celebrations for the City of Cleveland, the Society of American Florists held its twelfth annual convention in Cleveland during the month of August. The convention was quite a success, as recorded by The Official Report of the Centennial Celebration of the Founding of the City of Cleveland and the Settlement of the Western Reserve (1896), which stated:

“An excellent opportunity for the study of the beautiful was afforded to Centennial visitors by the grand Floral Exposition held during ” Floral Week,” in connection with the twelfth annual convention of the Society of American Florists. This exhibition was opened on Tuesday afternoon, August 18th, in the Central Armory. An extensive and varied botanical display was set forth in the main auditorium, plants and flowers having been brought from all parts of the country to compete for prizes. It was the largest exhibition ever given in Cleveland. The Armory was transformed into a conservatory in which floral beauties from the North, East, South and West vied with each other for honors. There were palms and ferns and mosses and shrubs in terraces and groups, lilies in cluster, roses, violets — flowers of every class and kind. The exhibition was divided into two departments, one being the main display under the auspices of the Cleveland Floral Society, and the other being a trade exhibit for which a large section of the hall was reserved. The convention headquarters were in Army and Navy Hall, in front of which was displayed the national flag of the society. The hall was elaborately decorated. Garlands of evergreen hung from the ceiling, banks of palms arose in the corners and windows, and the plat form was almost hidden in a profusion of plants and cut flowers.” [pp. 160-161]

Mr. and Mrs. Gasser did not hesitate to host their colleagues most graciously:

“Late in the afternoon of the first day the delegates, accompanied by their wives, set out for a trolley ride. There were five hundred in the party for which a specially chartered train of eight cars was provided. The cars were gorgeously decorated with flowers and were freely admired as they passed through the streets. The destination was Woodcliff, the home of Mr. J. M. Gasser, on Lake avenue, where the president’s reception was held. The guests, about five hundred in all, were cordially received by Mr. and Mrs. Gasser on their lawn — a floral park of great beauty — and the company was later photographed. Refreshments were served under a canopy on the lake front, and after this came dancing and other amusements. Fairy lamps and Japanese lanterns were hung over the grounds, making the effect after nightfall very pretty.” [p. 162]

Mr. Gasser was a member of the Republican party, the Knights of Pythias, the Clifton Club and the Chamber of Commerce. The Cleveland Blue Book 1907 indicates his daughter and her husband, James C. Pettee, lived with Mr. and Mrs. Gasser at Woodcliff.

Mr. Gasser died on March 12, 1908, in Flint, Michigan after several years of poor health. He was buried in Lake View Cemetery (Lot 11-30 BNE).

The Florist Exchange reported, in its March 28, 1908, (p 466), edition, the following, as a sad denouement to such an accomplished life:

An estate of $250,000 would be worth approximately $6,100,000 in 2017.

Mrs. Katherine F. Gasser died on September 20, 1921, and is buried beside him. His life exemplified one of service to his country as well as business acumen and success.

It cannot be controverted that, of all the men who lived in the Edgewater neighborhood during the Gilded Age, no other is more deserving of our respect and admiration than Mr. Joseph M Gasser. He volunteered for military service as a private to preserve the Union, fought in many major battles that we still remember by name today, and was severely wounded in service to his adopted country. He was industrious and innovative, building a business, not from inherited wealth, but from the fruit of his labor, a successful business that sustained his family while employing and sustaining others and their families. And there is no evidence in the record that he accomplished any of the foregoing while betraying any trust, exploiting any workman, or bankrupting any business.

L.C. Hanna: Professional Baseball Player, Industrial Magnate, and Gatling Gun Battery Captain

Leonard Colton Hanna was a summer resident of the Edgewater neighborhood from 1890 until shortly before he sold the property in 1911.

We mentioned him briefly in discussing his more famous brother, Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna, and Senator Hanna’s Glenmere estate, in several previously published Beacon articles. In this brief article, we will give L.C. Hanna and his estate, Urncliff, their due.

L.C. Hanna was born in New Lisbon, Ohio on November 30, 1850, the son of Dr. Leonard Hanna (1806-1862) and Samantha Maria (nee Converse) Hanna (1813-1897). His siblings included Helen G. Hubbell (1836-1891); Marcus A. Hanna (1837-1904); Howard M. Hanna (1840-1921); Salome M. Chapin (1844-1907); Seville S. Morse (1846-1927); and Lilian C. Baldwin (1852-1948). The family moved to Cleveland in 1851.

Once in Cleveland, L.C. Hanna attended the public schools. His family then sent him to Doctor Holbrook’s Military School, a military academy and boarding school for boys located in the town of Ossining, New York. He reportedly attended Doctor Holbrook’s Military School until June 1867.

When he returned to Cleveland, he was briefly associated with Hanna, Doherty & Company, a firm established by his brother, Marcus A. Hanna, for the purpose of refining petroleum. His brother Howard later purchased Marcus’ interest in the firm.

In 1869, L.C. Hanna became associated with Cleveland’s first professional baseball team, the Forest City Club, as its second baseman. The team included pros who were paid, such as Arthur Allison, outfielder and first baseman, Albert G. “Uncle Al” Pratt, pitcher, and James L. “Deacon” White, each of whom remained with the team until its demise in 1872, and amateurs such as L.C. Hanna, who remained “pure” and refused payment. On June 2, 1869, the Forest City Club played, and lost, 25-6, the first pro baseball game in Cleveland against the professional Cincinnati Red Stockings. The game was played in front of 2,000 spectators at Case Commons at Putnam Ave. (E. 38th St.) between Scovill Avenue and Central Avenue. On March 17, 1871, the Forest City Club became a charter member of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players.

By 1871, L.C. Hanna left behind his baseball career and sailed on the steamer Northern Light for one season. In January 1872, he left for St. Paul, Minnesota, where he resided until November 1874. In 1874 he returned to Cleveland to begin his lengthy career with the firm of M. A. Hanna & Company, which at the time was one of the largest and most important ﬁrms in the country handling coal, coke, iron ore and pig iron. M. A. Hanna survived into the modern era, merging in 2000 with The Geon Company, to become The PolyOne Corporation, a company whose 2016 revenues exceeded $3.3 billion dollars. L.C. Hanna was also affiliated with the Superior Savings & Trust Company, the Guardian Savings & Trust Company and the Union National Bank of Cleveland. His memberships included the Tavern Club, the Union Club, the Roadside Club, the Country Club of Cleveland, and the Chagrin Valley Hunt Club at Gates Mill, Ohio.

L.C. Hanna also “commanded” the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery as “captain” from 1892-1893. This para-military organization was formed in June 1878 by reactionary Clevelanders concerned about “the maintenance of law and order” after the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, which was discussed in a Beacon article that sketched the life of Edgewater resident Daniel W. Caldwell, who was President of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway Company and who obtained the title “General” from the governor of Ohio during the “Great Railroad Strike.”

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History states the following regarding the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery:

“Using contributions, the committee purchased 2 Gatling guns and then issued a call for volunteers. At a meeting in the mayor’s office, the Cleveland Gatling Gun Battery was established with 25 charter members, including Major Wilbur F. Goodspeed, elected captain; 1st Sgt. Thomas Goodwillie; 2d Sgt. Leonard C. Hanna (captain, 1882-93); 3d Sgt. John R. Ranney; and Quartermaster J. Ford Evans. On 6 Mar. 1880 the Ohio legislature enacted a bill authorizing Cleveland citizens to establish a Gatling gun battery, placed it under control of the mayor in emergencies, and made it subject to the regulations governing Ohio National Guard units. The unit was incorporated on 17 May 1880. An armory was constructed at E. Prospect and Sibley (3433 Carnegie). In 1885 the battery had 2 guns, 80 sabers, and 1 revolver. It billed the city $242 for the services of its members on guard during the iron workers’ strike at Newburgh, 8-13 and 17-21 July 1885. The majority of the unit’s activities were social events; its annual target practice, for example, included dances and was held at such resorts as St. Clair Springs, MI, and Chautauqua Lake, NY.”

L.C. Hanna was married twice. He married his ﬁrst wife, Fannie Wilson Mann (1852-1885) in Buffalo, New York. He married his second wife, Coralie Walker (1852-1936) on October 17, 1888, in Richmond, Kentucky.

He had three children: Jean Claire Hanna (1880-1930), Fanny Hanna Moore (1884-1980) and Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. (1889-1957). He died on March 23, 1919, and is buried in Lake View Cemetery.

L.C. Hanna’s Edgewater estate was named Urncliff, Erncliff, or Erncliffe (depending on the written source) and was located on the northside of Lake Avenue at roughly West 104th Street. The home and barn located on the estate were designed by the famed architect Charles Frederick Schweinfurth. It is likely that L.C. Hanna commissioned Schweinfurth to build his summer residence and barn in the Edgewater neighborhood shortly after his brother Marcus did and that residence and barn were complete by 1890.

In The Life and Work of Charles Frederick Schweinfurth, Cleveland Architect, (1967), author R.A. Perry stated the following regarding the Urncliff residence of L.C. Hanna:

“The residence built for Captain Leonard C. Hanna was contemporary with “Glenmere.” The L.C. Hanna design was a simpler conception than the adjacent “Glenmere.” The carriage porch of the long, low design was a wider and simplified version of the one at “Glenmere.” The lake or north façade of the L.C. Hanna residence displayed a dramatic chimney-gable interpenetration on the northeast corner of the house. Pseudo-buttresses constructed of brick with limestone ashlar trim were located on the east side of a wide brick chimney which pierced a boldly projecting gabled area which cantilevered into space. The cantilevered effect and the piling up of buttresses which sloped offsets at the base of the chimney in the L.C. Hanna design represented the most striking of all Schweinfurth’s gabled interpenetrations and appears to have been an original feature of that design.”

The interior of the L.C. Hanna residence was also simpler than that of “Glenmere” as is revealed in a comparison of the reception halls in the two residences. The L.C. Hanna barn which faced the north façade closely related to the main dwelling in the exterior sheathing and in its bold geometric arrangements. Schweinfurth’s skillful massing of bold, unadorned projecting surfaces created a feeling of movement and an interesting play of light and shade in the low, sprawling design. The L.C. Hanna house and barn were a handsome compliment to each other, and the two houses were remarkable examples of Schweinfurth’s most original productions in the “Shingle Style.” [pp. 100-101]

We are fortunate that several striking pictures of the residence and barn survive to illustrate Schweinfurth’s mastery of the Shingle Style.

The Cleveland Blue Book 1891 indicates that Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Hanna considered “Erncliff” their summer residence, while their permanent residence was at 736 Prospect. The Cleveland Blue Book 1900 again indicated that “Erncliffe” was their summer residence while changing their permanent residence to 667 Euclid Avenue. In The Cleveland Blue Book 1904, Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Hanna only list 737 Euclid as their residence and no longer list Urncliff as a summer residence.

Sadly, like Senator Hanna’s Glenmere residence, the Urncliff residence was also demolished shortly after the turn of the 20th century.

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