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FREDERICK C. WITTHUHN. In point of years of continuous experience Frederick C. Witthuhn is one of the oldest
of Cleveland's florists. He has been in that business on his own account for over thirty years. Mr. Witthuhn has
his retail establishment at 3600 West Twenty fifth Street at the corner of Dover, while his main greenhouses are
located on Schaaf Road.
His success has been due in part to the fact that he has devoted almost a lifetime to the growing and handling
of flowers under glass. He was born in Germany, in 1864, and learned the floral business in all its technical details,
beginning as a boy. He was an expert, accomplished in all branches of the industry, when he came to the United
States and to Cleveland in 1888. His first work in Cleveland was in the employ of Mr. Ziechmann, a pioneer florist,
whose sons still continue the business. Later he was with the late William Gordon, whose greenhouses were on land
now included in Gordon Park on the lake front. In 1890 Mr. Witthuhn became manager for Jacob Selzer, a florist
in old South Brooklyn village, on the site of the present Riverside Cemetery. After two years with Mr. Selzer,
Mr. Witthuhn determined to embark his modest capital and his wide experience in a business of his own. He established
his greenhouse at the corner of what was then Pearl and Dover streets. His present retail establishment occupies
a corner just opposite to that location, and is across the street from Riverside Cemetery. It was due to the gradual
upbuilding and for the purpose of securing larger and a better site that Mr Witthuhn subsequently established his
main greenhouses on the Schaaf Road. For thirty years, therefore, he has been in business as a florist in this
part of the city.
Mr. Witthuhn is a member of the Cleveland Florists Association, Cleveland Florists Club, Society of American Florists,
and is affiliated with Elsworth Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Hillman Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Al Sirat Grotto,
belongs to the Maccabees, the Royal League and the German Beneficial Society.
Walter W. Witthuhn, son of Frederick C., was born at Glenville, a suburb now included in Cleveland, on May 7, 1890.
He was educated in the Dennison Public School, and as a boy entered his father's establishment and by a practical
apprenticeship mastered every branch of the floral business. He is now assistant manager of the Witthuhn Floral
Company. He is also one of the very popular young business men of the South Side, and is active in the commercial,
social and fraternal affairs of this section of the city. Fraternally he is a member of Brooklyn Lodge, Free and
Accepted Masons, Hillman Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Forest City Commandery, Knights Templar, Cleveland Consistory
of the Scottish Rite, Al Koran Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Al Sirat Grotto and the Eastern Star. He also belongs
to the Riverside Lodge Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Cleveland Florists Club, the Society of American
Florists and the Lakewood Country Club.
From:
A History of Cuyahoga County
and the City of Cleveland
By: William R. Coates
Publishers:
The American Historical Society
Chicago and New York, 1924
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