The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1880-03-04
An Eccentric Millionaire.

An Eccentric Millionaire.
Leonard Case, Cleveland's eccentric
bachelor millionaire, who was found dead
on the hooroi his sleeping room, having
committed suicide by an overdose Of
chloroIorm, had been q c%onsumptive for
Years, and could have survived but a
short time longer. His physician bad
put him to bed regularly every night for
two years.
When his father, tie late Leonard
Case, came to Cleveland about 1910, this
was almost a wilderness. Case was n
man Of small means, and a farmer be-
coming indebted TO him for a yoke Of
oxen, he was compelled reluctantly to
accept a ten-acre lot for the debt. That
lot is now in the heart Of the city, and
made the Gases millionaires; 20 that
when Leonard Case died he wa the
richest landed proprietor in the State.
Leonard Case, Jr., was born in 1920,
was graduated at Yale, studied law in
Cincinnati, but never followed his pro-
%fession. He was one Of the 6nestmath-
ematicians in the country, and besides
was a fine classical scholar. Some one
in 1859 having made the assertion that
the atlantic Monthly would not accept
a poem from a Western source, no matter
how meritorious, he wrote and sent,
anonymously, Treasure Trove,' an his.
torical poem, which was accepted and
afterward reprinted in book form.
In 1873 he published a volume of
poems that was Iavorably received. His
eccentricities were many. When q young
man he purchased ten beautiful steeds
and presented them, handsomely capari-
soned, to as many of his lady friends.
Seeing an old acquaintance walking the
street in adejected manner and evidently
m%editating on a recent loss OF fortune,
he slipped up behind him, and, placing
in his hands, which we're folded behind
his back, a roll of bills amounting to
$500, fed precipitately before the man
could discover his benefactor.
One day he drove to the Herald and
invited j. II. A. Bone, the city editor,
to take a drive. Passing along one of
the principle residence streets he point
ed out several lots, and asked Mr.. Bone
which he thought most eligible for
building. Bone made a selection, and
Case said: We'll, build a house on it
and send me the bills when it is COM
pleted. I'll give you q deed of the
property And he did, much to the
establishment of the scribe.
He never would notice a direct appeal
for charity, and some ladies having
solicited his help, he rebuffed them
fatty. The next day they received a
$500 bill anonymously. He founded
Case Library, giving to the association
aproperty worth 5000, coo. He employed
an agent to dispense charity secretly,
and gave away during his life thousands
of dollars. He brought Prof. Stockwell,
the astronomer, to Cleveland, built him
a fine house and observatory, besides
giving him a stated income for the SUP
port of his family. He made a protege
of ayeung son of e1-Mayor Chaplin, and
on his birthday, a few years ago, pre-
scented him with a check for $21, 900.
Leonard Case owned nearly two
thousand acres of land within the city
limits. When a young MAJ he met a
poor girl at a dancing school and fell
desperately in love with her. She was
beautiful and charming, but Leonard
failed to win her, and ever after smiled
not upon women. 1t is thought that
this experience did much to make him
a ~recluse. He died leaving no will, and
his vast estate will 60 to some thirty or
cousins living in different parts of
the country, but mainly in southwestern
Illinois.