Satisfied with its appearance, Folsom nodded appreciatively. The sign could be Seen from afar.

The site of E. G. Folsom's Business College is now part of the Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel. The little college Folsom proudly surveyed 125 years ago has moved only a short distance from its original location, but has remained firmly committed to downtown Cleveland. It is now David N. Myers University.

E. G. Folsom had become the sole owner of a school that was opened by R. C. Bacon a few months before. A full-size advertisement in the Cleveland Leader documented the opening of Folsom's business school, and two eager young students had enrolled. Folsom repeated their names to himself as he admired the new sign, "Bryant and Stratton - has a good ring to them - two names to remember." Folsom would have good reason to remember these young men's names in future years.

Folsom's Business College was managed soundly. Folsom had rounded out his qualifications as an educator while teaching penmanship in common school in Cleveland. Furthermore, he had added strength to his venture by inviting several of Cleveland's most prominent business and professional leaders to invest in the school. These men were organized into a "Visiting Committee" or board of trustees consisting of:

Mather and Handy were also members of the city school board and virtually all of them played important roles in the development of Cleveland as a major financial and industrial city. They were to be cornerstones of the future of the community.

The little college opened to serve a population of nearly 14,000 Clevelanders who were laboring vigorously for full city status. Cleveland was in competition with Newburgh Heights to become the county seat. West of the Cuyahoga River was an autonomous settlement called Ohio City, and there was strong feeling that Cleveland and Ohio City would remain separate indefinitely.

But Cleveland had an edge on its rivals. It was the terminus for road, rail and water transportation, linking the bustling city east, north, south and west. A stagecoach line connected Cleveland with Pittsburgh on the east and Toledo to the west. Buffalo was linked with Chicago when the City of Cleveland expended $100,000 - a Phenomenal expenditure in those days - to connect railway lines between them.

A decision to build the Ohio Canal from Cleveland instead of from Conneaut or Sandusky brought lake trade and resulting business prosperity to the City of Cleveland. And population grew rapidly, compared with neighboring communities.

Cleveland, as might be suspected, looked different then. Its mix of people, industry and culture was in formative stages.

For example, the railroad and push to the west required particular supplies. Therefore, at 40 Prospect Street, Hercules Powder Company produced the strongest and safest dynamite explosive known for mining, railroad construction, and rock and stump blasting. In the city, builders needed slate roofing, and the attachment of it to homes was a roofing specialty for which local artisans were widely respected. Wagoners and blacksmiths were beginning to have more business than they could manage. Labor conditions included the news that "laboring females" were beginning to air their grievances, complaining that wages of $.75 and $1.50 a week plus board and lodgings were too low.

Euclid Road had become Euclid Street and Cleveland was pushing toward the east and south. Euclid Street, the site of stagecoach lines into Cleveland from the east, ran from Public Square eastward along a promontory that afforded an unobstructed view of Lake Erie across gently-sloping land to the north.

Wealthy residents early began to build impressive homes with a magnificent view of the panorama of land to lake by taking ample ground on the north side of Euclid Street for construction. A residence on Euclid Street with a front yard of two to five acres soon was to become each successful resident's ambition.

Culturally, Cleveland had a small public library, and the Cuyahoga Anti-Slavery Society was in existence. The Cleveland City Temperance Society had 260 members. On November 8, 1848, a news story announced a plan to close the stores at 8:00 PM instead of 10 in order to allow time for citizens who "Might devote a portion of their time to mental improvement and the study of branches holding a near relation to their employment."

This yearning for educational improvement was also evident in the rapid development of a public school system extending from elementary through high school - then called "common schools." Separate high schools were opened for boys and girls.

Cleveland's public school system owed its emergence principally to the dedication of one man: Harvey Rice, lawyer, businessman, teacher and legislator. As a State Senator from Cuyahoga County, Rice Persuaded the Ohio Senate to authorize publicly-supported high schools with an eloquent plea to his legislative colleagues in which he said:

The excitement and prosperity of a growing city had attracted people from rural areas outside Cleveland and hundreds of immigrants, principally from Germany, in the late 1840's. Rice was pleading, too, for the newcomers' integration into the city.

With the coming of an open system of elementary and secondary education, it was logical for persons of vision to see the need for education beyond the high school for those who aspired to careers in the world of work. Cleveland as yet had no college or university of its own. Western Reserve College was located in Hudson, and the German colleges that were to become Baldwin Wallace College were in distant Berea.

Thus was born the idea that a practical college, available to Clevelanders within commuting distance of their homes - and E. G. Folsom, with the support of prominent Clevelanders, opened his Business College.

On September 21, 1850, the Cleveland Herald' advertised Cleveland's only college as follows:

A young man attending Folsom's school evenings, after working days, would have had a number of ways to obtain his personal needs or to meet other people in the City of Cleveland in the summer and fall of 1850. Let us assume, for a moment, that this young student is called Louis Ingraham, a farm boy, and a newcomer to Cleveland. The Cleveland Herald of June and July, 1850, would provide him with all necessary information about enrolling.

Temporarily, he would be staying at the Fowler's Hotel, newly opened and in the center of the town. He would use the "Lake Erie Bath House (at the foot of Water Street & Stockley's Pier), cold and warm bathing." His bedding would be made of "Feathers, 500 prime live geese feathers, from Mr. R. T. Lyon." Clothing would be from the T. W. Morse & Company Emporium, where he might Possibly find "Congress gaiters." He might have arrived in Cleveland by stagecoach or railroad.

Young Louis' shoes would not have lasted too long between walking to the places of his employment, his lodging, and his schooling. A trip to "Bratenahl Brothers, Dealers in leather, shoe bindings, boots and shoes - at the old stand of Hilliard, Hayes & Company, Superior Street, Cleveland, Ohio" - would bring him shoes able to stand up to the plank board streets. Walking would be less hazardous with "whalebone canes - a new supply at Cowles & Albertson's, Je-15."

If he felt ill, he would go to the Druggists and Apothecaries, where he might find also paints, oils, and dye stuffs, sponges and linseed oil. "Dr. Townsend's Sarsparilla, the wonder and blessing of the age - most extraordinary medicine in the world, consumption cured" might be his alternative choice. "Moffatt's Life Pills & Phoenix Bitters" were also available at 99 Superior Street.

If young Louis developed a toothache, he would visit Dr. Strickland, who manufactured "incorruptible teeth," and might be "commanded by the year" for his services.

For leisure reading Ingraham might pick up a copy of Hawthorne's newly published work, The Scarlet Letter.

One advertisement might inspire young Louis to invest in a luxury:

The purchase of a buggy would make it possible for Louis Ingraham to invite a young lady of his choice to accompany him for an evening outing. They might attend a great Mass Temperance meeting regularly held at the Baptist and Second Presbyterian Churches. They could ride to Melodeon Hall to hear Kimberly's operatic troupe. Or they might visit the new train station.

On the 4th of July, Ingraham and his lady might have attended an exciting afternoon of activities, described as follows in a Cleveland Leader' editorial:

Yesterday's Celebration was nearer the old-fashioned 4th of July than any in Cleveland for years. The day was bright and pleasant, and the country poured its thousands into the city. The Iron Horse came snorting in with 2,000 people behind him and numbers Of wagons full loaded and from every direction.

Louis Ingraham's studies at Folsom's Business College would be concentrated and rigorous - lasting only a few months. With the training he received, young Ingraham would be able to compete for employment and promotion in a rapidly-growing business community. If he were half as fortunate as one of his classmates, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., he 'Would look back on his business college training and say, as did Rockefeller:

I do feel that . . . under the excellent instruction received . . . a foundation stone was laid for the fortunate experiences which came to me in later years

.

E. G. Folsom and his College had arrived on the scene at the precise moment in Cleveland's development when education for business was to become of paramount need and importance. The common school awakening was hastened by magazines devoted to the promotion of education. Academies were formed as college preparatory schools, thus lessening emphasis on vocational preparation and leaving a wide gap in the education scheme.

Chapter II