Background
Leonard Case was born on June 27, 1820 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. He was the second son of Leonard Case and Elizabeth (Gaylord) Case.
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Leonard Case was born on June 27, 1820 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. He was the second son of Leonard Case and Elizabeth (Gaylord) Case.
He attended the schools of Cleveland; for a time the Academy of the Rev. Colley Foster, and later that of Franklin T. Backus. Following the advice of the latter, a Yale graduate, Leonard entered Yale in 1838, and graduated with the class of 1842. The following two years he studied law in the Cincinnati Law School.
After admission to the bar he opened a law office in Cleveland. His practise was never large, for he gave his attention chiefly to the real estate business which his father had developed. Meanwhile he found time to pursue mathematical, scientific, and literary studies. He and his brother, William, together with a group of friends, turned the Case office into a miniature natural-history museum. They called themselves the "Arkites" and the office, the "Ark. " The "Arkites" formed a stimulating informal natural-history club. In 1845, Case went to Europe in company with Prof. St. John of Western Reserve College and Prof. Loomis, then of the University of the City of New York, formerly of Western Reserve.
While in Switzerland he became seriously ill and the effects lasted the remainder of his life, necessitating constant care of his health. He was very fond of travel and though he made only one trip to Europe, he traveled extensively in the United States. His tastes were never satisfied with either his law practise or business. As soon as he came into his father's large estate he turned the active management over to another and devoted himself to his literary pursuits, to writing, to a wide correspondence, and to his growing interest in philanthropic enterprises in Cleveland. On his travels he wrote lengthy descriptive letters. He also wrote a good many poems, usually of a humorous turn, many of which were published in Western Reserve Historical Society Tract No. 79. His "Treasure Trove, " a mixture of comedy, tragedy, and satire, about medieval knights and kings, was published in the Atlantic Monthly, July 1860 (reprinted in book form, 1873). Of a kindly nature, Case was a generous giver to charities. To the Cleveland Library Association (later Case Library) he gave an endowment of $20, 000. Some years later this was very largely increased by the gift of the Case building, where the library had been housed since 1866, and which was valued at the time at $300, 000. When the Western Reserve Historical Society was founded in 1867, Case became one of its benefactors.
There is some evidence that his father and brother had had in mind some use of their fortune for the benefit of their fellow townsmen, but it is probable that Case's own interest in scientific matters was the main cause of this particular project. In February 1877 the trust deed was signed giving a large share of his fortune to endow a school "to teach mathematics, physics, engineering, mechanical and civil, chemistry, geology, mining, and metallurgy, natural history, languages, " and such other subjects as the trustees should consider necessary. The gift consisted of real property in the business center of Cleveland and was valued at that time at about one and one-half million dollars. Case disliked publicity and the knowledge of the gift was withheld from the public until after his death. In the fall of 1881, the school opened its doors in the Case homestead on Rockwell St.
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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.
He never married.