The trade in stoneware is a very important branch of the business of Cleveland, and this lies in the hands of one firm, of which Grove N. Abbey is the leading member. As the West generally is supplied from the parent house of the Abbeys, or from one or other of the branch establishments through the West, in which Mr. Abbey holds an interest, it would be manifestly out of place to omit, in a work of this character, a reference to him and his operations.

Mr. Abbey was born in Portland, Connecticut, August 19th, 1818. He was the eleventh of a family of thirteen, of whom seven yet live. The father, Asaph, died at the age of fifty-five. The mother, Ruth Hollister, survived her husband thirty years, the last twenty-two of which were spent in the family of her son Grove N., and died February 20th, 1868, at the advanced age of eighty-six. As before said, she had thirteen children, twelve of whom married, and thus enabled her to remark, as she repeatedly did, that she had had twenty-four children. Before her death she had seventy-one grandchildren added to the list of her descendants, besides fifty-seven great-grandchildren, and one of the fourth generation, making in all one hundred and forty-two descendants.

At the age of sixteen, G. N. Abbey bade adieu to his New England home and set out for the West. A good portion of his first year after leaving home was spent in Pittsburgh, which he then left for Ohio, where he has since resided; twenty-one years in Akron, and the remainder of the time in Cleveland. His first experience in Akron was as a clerk, from which he rose to the position of merchant on his own account, carrying on business until 1856. In the Spring of the preceding year he commenced business on River street, Cleveland, in the sale of Akron stoneware, in which he had become interested, and in 1856, removed his family to Cleveland, where he has since that time resided, retaining his mercantile interests in Akron until 1858.

When Mr. Abbey was carrying on a mercantile business in Akron, his attention was called to the growing importance of the manufacture and trade in stoneware, made from the clay of the Springfield clay-bed, which has since become famous for the superior quality of stoneware made from it. The pioneer in the business was David Abbey, a brother of Grove, who died in Chicago, in 1856. The extension of railways to Akron rapidly developed the trade in stoneware, and the Abbey family turned their exclusive attention to it. The trade grew to importance wherever the articles found their way. To obtain greater facilities for sale and distribution, Mr. Grove N. Abbey came to Cleveland and obtained storage privileges in a warehouse on River street, at the foot of St. Clair hill. Soon the increase of business justified the engagement of the whole building, and from that time the growth of the trade has been rapid and permanent. Brandi houses were established in Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis, and the parent houses in Akron and Cleveland have been kept busy in supplying the needs of these branches as well as of their own. The character of the article dealt in became known throughout the West, and wherever introduced the trade soon increased in importance. The result has been a gratifying success to the Abbeys, and the addition of a large revenue to the county of Summit.

In all their various ramifications of business, Mr. Abbey has occupied an important position. In addition to providing for the home trade, he has exercised constant personal supervision over the supplying of the western branches. The negotiations between dealers and manufacturers have mostly been managed by him, and the importance of these negotiations may be judged from the fact that the requirements of the customers of Abbey & Co. regulate the amount of stoneware manufactured in Summit county, and thus affect the business and revenues of the county.

The business of the Cleveland house of G. N. Abbey & Co. has gradually been increased by the introduction of other articles of a kindred nature, such as the brown and yellow ware, manufactured at East Liverpool, Ohio, glassware from Pittsburgh and New York, and fire-brick and fire-clay. The position of Cleveland renders it the natural distributing point for those wares, and the extensive facilities possessed by Mr. Abbey, and his long experience in the business, place the monopoly of the trade in his hands. That nothing but good has grown out of this virtual monopoly, is seen in the fact that the business is steadily increasing, that no dissatisfaction is expressed by the customers, and that no litigations have taken place during the long business career of the house, extending over a hundred years in Cleveland.

During the last six years the firm has had some interest in vessels on the lakes, and these interests have been carefully watched by Mr. Abbey, who has entire control.

It will be rightly inferred from what has already been said, that Mr. Abbey has achieved success in business. That success is due to no lucky accident or extraneous circumstances, but is the natural result of devoted attachment to business, keen insight, and a determination to follow, as far as practicable, the golden rule of doing as you would be done by, and of a desire to avoid all misunderstandings.

If there be one business faculty more than another, prominent in Mr. Abbey, it is that of ability to do a large business, on a small capital; having, like nearly all of our merchants, commenced business with nothing that his own hands had not earned, and passing through all the trials incident to mercantile life in a young country, he has become an excellent financier. Naturally of a genial temperament, and inclined to look on the bright side of things, he glides over reverses and difficulties easier than some people, yet he has always keenly felt, and often deplored, the want of such early advantages as children of the present day possess.

Being early interested in the cause of temperance, he has persistently endeavored to spread its beneficial effects by means of temperance organizations, and in April, 1869, he was nominated as temperance candidate for Mayor on the first strictly temperance municipal ticket ever put in nomination in Cleveland. The result was the polling of a temperance vote of about ten per cent, of the whole vote cast.

Twenty-seven years since, whilst in business at Akron, he was induced to make a profession of faith and be received into the Congregational church. The faith then professed has never been renounced, and he is now an active member of Plymouth Congregational church in Cleveland.

On November 4th, 1844, Mr. Abbey married Miss Sarah Goodale, of Kent, Ohio, but who came originally from Massachusetts. Of this marriage there were four children, three of whom are still living; the oldest being married to Charles H. White, of Chicago, Illinois. The other daughter and a son remain with the family at home.