Hon. Julius Fleischmann
Hon. Julius Fleischmann, mayor of Cincinnati, politician, business man, financier, sportsman and club man, is a remarkable composition of all the characteristics which make up what Americans delight to call their representative citizen. What is also remarkable in the case of Mayor Fleischmann is that in all these various circles he is equally at home, eminent in each. Julius Fleischmann bears an honorable name in Cincinnati, his father, the venerable philanthropist as well as business man, having long been one of the city’s most esteemed citizens. His birth took place at Riverside, now a part of the city of Cincinnati, June 8, 1872, and he is a son of Charles and Henrietta (Robertson) Fleischmann.
The educational training of our subject was obtained in the Cincinnati public schools, for three years being a pupil at Hughes high school. At the age of fifteen he left the latter to take a preparatory course in the Franklin school, intending to enter a university, but one year later decided to begin his business career under his father’s supervision. The wisdom of the latter’s methods has been shown by the son’s commercial success and to these methods Mayor Fleischmann attributes his present financial condition. In 1889 he entered the establishment of Fleischmann and Company in the capacity of a clerk and displayed enough ability to satisfy even his exacting father, so that in a very few years he assumed the entire management of the vast business.
Mayor Fleischmann is not only the active head of all the Fleischmann interests, one of the largest unincorporated business enterprises in the country, but he holds many other responsible positions. He is president of the Market National Bank, of Cincinnati; president of the College of Music, of Cincinnati; president of the Union Grain and Hay Company; president of the Riverside Malting and Elevator Company; president of the Illinois Vinegar Manufacturing Company of Chicago, which is capitalized at one hundred thousand dollars, and ranks as the largest concern of its kind in the country; one of the governors of the Queen City Club; a prominent member of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; and a member of the Manufacturer’s Club, Business Men’s Club, Commercial Club, Walnut Hills Business Men’s Club, Phoenix Club, Country Club, Riding Club, Young Men’s Blain Club, Stamina Republican League and the North Cincinnati Turnverein. He is a member of Avon Lodge, No. 542, F. & A. M., and is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. He is also a member of the Royal Arcanum, Knights of Pythias, Elks and a large number of social organizations.
In addition to his other business interests, he is vice-president of the C. N. & C. Railroad Company, which is the only quasi-public corporation with which he is connected, having sold all of his stock in the Cincinnati gas and street railway companies when he accepted the mayoralty.
As a sportsman Mayor Fleischmann was, up to a few years ago, well known through the country, having maintained for several years a large racing stable in the east. In his turf interests he was a close associate of the late William C. Whitney and August Belmont and his stable was always rated as one of the best in the country, such notable horses as “Halma,” “Hurstburn,” “Africander,” “St. Daniel” and “Wax Candle” having raced in his colors. Mr. Fleischmann also sent each year a division of his stable to Latonia, where he established the “Cincinnati Trophy” for two-year-olds, a magnificent silver cup. Because of the demands of his gigantic business interests, however, Mr. Fleischmann was compelled to dispose of his stable during the season of 1903.
Mr. Fleischmann owns the yacht “Hiawatha” acknowledged to be one of the fleetest and most attractive boats in eastern waters. He is one of the principal owners of the Cincinnati Baseball Club and a member of the New York and Atlantic Yacht Clubs. He is an all-round athlete and has a life membership in the Cincinnati Gymnasium. He delights in driving and riding and even gives some attention to golf.
From his days of early manhood, Mayor Fleischmann has taken a deep interest in the success of the republican party, and in 1894 he succeeded his father as aide-de-camp on the staff of Governor McKinley. Since his election as mayor of Cincinnati in 1900, and his reelection, in 1903, he has displayed the same executive ability in the discharge of public duties which has characterized him in the management of his private affairs and he was the most popular mayor with all classes that the city ever had. That his heart is in the improvement and development of this city, can scarcely be questioned by those who have conversed or consulted with him or have given attention to his public utterances. At no time in the history of Cincinnati were the railroads given more encouragement than when Mayor Fleischmann assumed municipal charge, it being his view that plenty of transportation facilities are of the greatest encouragement to business. It is a fact known to the whole country that the police department of Cincinnati excels that of every other great city in the United States. His attitude toward educational institutions of every kind is so well known that in this city may be found, since his administration began, schools of all kinds for special work gaining a foothold and assisting in making Cincinnati a center of culture.
In a very timely message to the city council, Mayor Fleischmann gave publicity to his views in these concluding paragraphs: “Cincinnati’s economical and progressive administration is of the vastest importance in bringing new enterprises to the city, and in advancing the interests which for so many years have made Cincinnati so justly famed for her commercial soundness and integrity. It is to the city which is well governed, and whose financial interests are managed as a prudent business man would care for his private investments, that capital is attracted.” The era of municipal improvement which has ensued since the first election of Mayor Fleischmann testifies to the soundness of this views and to the sincerity of his promises.
On April 8, 1893, Mr. Fleischmann was married to Lillie Ackerland, who is a daughter of A. and Louise Ackerland, a charming and talented lady whom he had known from childhood. Three children have been born to them, namely, Louise, Charles and Julius, Jr.
From Cincinnati, The Queen City, Volume III, by Rev. Charles Frederic Goss, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1912