Marcus Alonzo Hanna, chairman of the National Republican Committee, is one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Cleveland, Ohio. He was born in New Lisbon (now Lisbon), Columbiana County, Ohio, September 24, 1837. His family were New England people. When the present Senator was fifteen years old, they removed to Cleveland. Mark Hanna was educated in the public schools of that city and the Western Reserve College, Hudson, Ohio.

After his schooling he was engaged as an employee in the grocery house of Hanna, Garretson & Co., his father being senior member of the firm. His father died in 1862 and he represented that interest in the firm until 1867 when the business was closed, when he became a member of the firm of Rhodes & Co., engaged in the iron and coal business. At the expiration of ten years the title of this firm was changed to M. A. Hanna & Co., which still exists. This business has been extended in various directions until their interests now amount to several millions of dollars, and includes among other things the largest ship yards on the lakes. Mark Hanna was one of the earliest stockholders in the Standard Oil Company. He is also a large owner in street railways, both in Cleveland and Buffalo, and there are few prominent enterprises in the city in which he lives, which he has not encouraged and in which he is not interested to some extent. Senator Hanna is president of the Union National Bank, of Cleveland, president of the Cleveland City Railway Company, and president of the Chapin Mining Company. He was a director of the Union Pacific Railway Company in 1885 by appointment of President Cleveland.

Although repeatedly urged to accept the nomination for offices in the gift of his party, Senator Hanna kept out of politics until recent years. He was a strong supporter of Garfield's candidacy for the presi dency in 1880 and was a liberal contributor to his campaign fund. In 1884, 1888 and 1896 he was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions, and in the later year, after the nomination of McKinley for the presidency, he was chosen chairman of the National Republican committee and managed that campaign. He has been re-chosen for that position for the campaign of 1900. He was appointed to the United States Senate as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the resig nation of John Sherman in 1897 to become Secretary of State. He was elected by the Legislature to fill out the short term and re-elected, so that his term of service will expire March 4, 1905.

John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States, is one of the most notable figures in the diplomatic service of America. The death of Vice-President Hobart makes Mr. Hay the successor apparent to the presidency in case of the "removal, death, resignation, or inability" of President McKinley before March 4, 1901.

A man of great and varied abilities, graduating at Brown University at twenty, he began by studying law with Abraham Lincoln in Springfield. He gained admission to the bar of the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1861, then came immediately to Washington as assistant secretary to President Lincoln, acted also as his adjutant and aid-de-camp and served for several months under Generals Hunter and Gillmore with the rank of major and the brevet of colonel.

Upon the death of President Lincoln Colonel Hay went to Paris as secretary of legation, next to Vienna as secretary of legation and chargede-affaires and then as secretary of legation to Spain. He returned to America to become editorial writer on the New York Tribune for five years. He served as Assistant Secretary of State from November 1, 1879, until May 3, 1881, and on March 19, 1897, took the chief place in our diplomatic service as ambassador to Great Britain. He became Secretary of State September 20, 1898. Although he has never served long in any one office, except the four years as assistant secretary to President Lincoln, he has made his mark and added to his reputation by his thorough and skillful work in every post.

Colonel Hay has won even more repute by his literary work than by his activity in politics and diplomacy. His most important book is the "Life of Lincoln," written in collaboration with John G. Nicolay, which was published in several volumes.

Colonel Hay's poems had previously gained for him a wide reputation as a keen humorist and sympathetic observer of human nature. His "Pike County Ballads," published in 1871; "Jim Bludso" and "Little Breeches" have become exceedingly popular. His "Castilian Days," studies of Spanish life and character, the fruit of his sojourn in Spain as a diplomatic officer of the United States, appeared in 1871.

His marriage to the daughter of Amasa Stone, the Cleveland multimillionaire, brought Colonel Hay great wealth and their home in Washington is one of the famous houses of the capital city.