Howard Burgess - Newspaperman, Republican, and Businessman
13405 Lake Shore Boulevard
Howard Burgess had a varied career in newspapers, Republican politics, and many years in various commercial enterprises.
Howard Hobbs Burgess was born on September 10, 1858, to Oliver and Caroline Burgess in Knox County, Ohio. He began his career at the Cleveland Herald after graduation from Baldwin University and became a political writer. In his capacity, he represented his paper on a portion of James G. Blaine's famous tour in 1884 when the "plumed knight" was a candidate for the presidency.
In 1885, Mr. Burgess was placed in charge of the "Sunday Voice," following the consolidation of the Cleveland Herald and the Cleveland Leader. That same year he was appointed assistant city clerk. Then, in 1889, he was elected city clerk by the City Council, and he held that position for many years.
Burgess was an ardent Republican known throughout Ohio and a political contemporary and close friend of Mark Hanna and Theodore Burton. He actively promoted the organization of several political clubs and campaigns in Cleveland.
Mr. Burgess' business interests were varied. In his long career, he was president of the Cleveland Desk Company, vice president and a director of the Cleveland Tanning Company, vice president and a director of the Federal Oil Corporation, president and a director of the Stockwell Tax Table Company, and a director of the Citizens Manufacturing & Investment Company and the Hundred Mining Company.
He held memberships in the Chamber of Commerce, the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias. Social memberships included the Shaker Heights Country and Union clubs.
He married Alice Imogene Hill in 1885. She was born on November 14, 1854, the daughter of Colonel Hosea and Mary Ellen Hill. They had one daughter: Helen Hill (Johnson), born on December 14, 1885.