Leonard Case Jr.

Leonard Case Jr.
Born (1820-01-27)January 27, 1820
Cleveland, Ohio U.S.
Died January 6, 1880(1880-01-06) (aged 59)
Cleveland, Ohio U.S.
Resting place Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater Yale
Cincinnati
Known for Endower of Case School of Applied Science
Founder of Yale's Scroll and Key
Parent(s) Leonard Case Sr.
Elizabeth Gaylord
Relatives William Case (brother)

Leonard Case Jr. (January 27, 1820 – January 6, 1880) was a philanthropist from Cleveland, Ohio, who endowed the Case School of Applied Science[1] (later Case Institute of Technology, merging Western Reserve University to become Case Western Reserve University).

Biography

Case graduated from Yale University in 1842 with honors in mathematics and languages,[2] and notably helped found the secret society of the Scroll and Key. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati Law School in 1844,[3] and opened a law office in Cleveland. He limited his practice to working with his father, Leonard Case Sr., in settling claims arising from Moses Cleaveland's Connecticut Land Company.[4] His elder brother, William Case, served as Mayor of Cleveland from 1850–1851. Leonard stayed away from the Cleveland political life, although he did build and finance the Cleveland City Hall in the form of the "Case Block" located on E. 3rd and Superior Ave, leasing it to the city beginning in 1875. Later when asked why he continued to own the building, he was quoted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer as saying, "how to dispose of the property so that it shall most benefit the city has given me much concern, but on one thing I am determined. Not a dollar of it shall, so far as I can help, go into the hands of politicians to be mismanaged and wasted.[5]"

Leonard never married. Though he was ill for all his life, he was devoted to academic affairs. His poem Treasure Trove, appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1860, whose literary standard remained high during the period.[6] The work was later published in 1873.

Case died at age 59 on January 6, 1880 after a coughing spell in his home on Rockwell Ave in Downtown Cleveland. His funeral was held three days later on January 9, 1880 inside his home, and he was buried in Erie Street Cemetery in Downtown Cleveland. In 1919, his body and those of his family were transferred to Lake View Cemetery in University Circle. The family monument still stands in Erie Street Cemetery.[7]

Endowment

Upon his death in 1880, $1.25 million was set aside for the founding of "The Case School of Applied Science," carried out by his confidential agent, Henry G. Abbey. Case specified the school teach the subjects of mathematics, physics, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, economic geology, mining and metallurgy, natural history, drawing, and modern languages. For any unforeseen needs in the future, Case wrote he would grant permission for adding "other kindred branches of learning.[8]"

On March 29, 1880, articles of incorporation were filed for the founding of the Case School of Applied Science. Classes began on September 15, 1881, first being held in the Case homestead on Rockwell Ave in Downtown Cleveland, before relocating to University Circle in 1885.[9] With the merger with Western Reserve University in 1967, the Case surname remained, honored in the combined institutional naming of Case Western Reserve University.

Writings

Treasure Trove (1873), illustrations by Sol Eytinge Jr. and engraved by Andrew Varick Stout Anthony[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Impact of The Case Bequest". Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  2. ↑ Martin, C. T. (Deac) (1967). From School to Institute, An Informal Story of Case. The World Publishing Company. p. 7.
  3. ↑ https://archive.org/details/listofgraduateso00univ
  4. ↑ Martin, C. T. (Deac) (1967). From School to Institute, An Informal Story of Case. The World Publishing Company. p. 8.
  5. ↑ Martin, C. T. (Deac) (1967). From School to Institute, An Informal Story of Case. The World Publishing Company. p. 11.
  6. ↑ Martin, C. T. (Deac) (1967). From School to Institute, An Informal Story of Case. The World Publishing Company. p. 10.
  7. ↑ Martin, C. T. (Deac) (1967). From School to Institute, An Informal Story of Case. The World Publishing Company. p. 13.
  8. ↑ Martin, C. T. (Deac) (1967). From School to Institute, An Informal Story of Case. The World Publishing Company. p. 1.
  9. ↑ Martin, C. T. (Deac) (1967). From School to Institute, An Informal Story of Case. The World Publishing Company. p. 15.
  10. ↑ https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=RoMaAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1
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