Charles W. Stage


Charles Willard Stage was an American attorney, politician, professional baseball umpire and amateur track athlete. While attending Western Reserve University, Stage tied an amateur world record in the 100-yard dash and briefly became a National League baseball umpire in 1894. After finishing law school, he was a private practice attorney and served in the Ohio House of Representatives in 1902–03 before returning to law practice.
In the early 20th century, Stage was an ally of Cleveland mayor Tom L. Johnson, and he held several local government posts. He was the Cuyahoga County Solicitor, ran the Municipal Traction Company, and served as Cleveland's public safety director and utilities director. His law practice largely consisted of representing railroad barons O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen.
Stage was married to Miriam Kerruish, one of the first women to practice medicine in Cleveland. She died in the Cleveland Clinic fire of 1929. Stage retired after the Van Sweringen brothers lost their fortune in the Great Depression. He was sometimes known as Billy Stage, particularly in collegiate athletics and in baseball circles.

Early life

Stage was born in Painesville, Ohio. His father, Stephen K. Stage, was a butcher, and his mother was named Sarah Knight Stage. The second of three sons, Charles Stage lived in Painesville his entire childhood, graduating from Painesville High School in 1888.
Stage's parents were against his desire to go to college, so he had to work to pay his tuition at Adelbert College of Western Reserve. Still, he ran track, played baseball and captained the first varsity football team the college fielded. At a track meet in 1890, Stage won seven events, and in six of those events he posted the best time of any college student in Ohio that year. The Amateur Athletic Union did not recognize athletic events at Western Reserve at first; he was first allowed to compete in AAU events in 1892, the year he finished an undergraduate degree.
In 1893, Stage received a master's degree, also from Western Reserve. Later that year, Stage, by that time a Western Reserve law student, tied a world record by running the 100-yard dash in 9.8 seconds at an AAU event.

Umpiring career

In April 1894, Stage was still studying law when he was hired by the National League to serve as an umpire. During a time when umpires worked by themselves, Stage's speed allowed him to get good views of the plays anywhere on the field. Infielder Hughie Jennings recalled that Stage might even slide next to a runner if he thought it would give him a better angle to make a close call. After his umpiring debut, the Pittsburgh Press noted that he offered "a relief from the usual lazy style of umpiring."
Umpires in that era, however, were often not appreciated; they sometimes faced threats of physical violence, and turnover was high. Cleveland Spiders manager Patsy Tebeau later described how players often ran after the umpire to attack him at the end of a game. He recalled that Stage was the most frustrating umpire to chase. "The whole team took after him time and again, but never once did he fail to get over the back fence ahead of us. We could never catch him. Finally I protested to President Young and Stage resigned," Tebeau said.
Stage dealt with unspecified illnesses several times that year, and whether or not Tebeau had a role in it, Stage cited poor health when he resigned that July after working 45 games. Over the next year he returned to the field to umpire five times, all in Cleveland, but he did not umpire after 1895. Stage participated in a few AAU track events in the fall of 1895 before he was declared ineligible because of his prior work as a professional baseball umpire. He turned his attention to studying for the bar exam at that point.

Law and public service

Stage graduated from the Western Reserve School of Law in 1895 as a member of the school's first graduating class, and opened a private law practice in Cleveland. Stage met Cleveland mayor Tom L. Johnson and began to take an increased interest in politics. He served as a Democratic member of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1902 and 1903. In April 1902, Stage argued for the passage of a resolution that allowed Ohioans to vote on whether the governor should have veto power. The measure passed the House; it was approved by voters the following year, giving the Governor of Ohio the most extreme veto power in the United States.
After Stage left the Ohio House of Representatives, he was counsel for the Van Sweringen railroad barons for several years. He served on the boards of directors for several entities, including the Cleveland Union Terminal, later known as Tower City Center. He was also a close advisor to Mayor Johnson and served as Cuyahoga County Solicitor and director of the Municipal Traction Company, which was the holding company for the Cleveland railway system. Stage left city politics after Johnson did not win re-election in 1909, but he returned to city service under a Democratic mayor in 1911, taking posts as Cleveland's director of public safety and then as the first city utilities director.

Personal life

In 1903, Stage married a physician, Miriam Gertrude Kerruish, and they had four children. Kerruish practiced as an obstetrician and pediatrician, and many of her patients were indigent. She was one of the first women to practice medicine in Cleveland and was the first woman credentialed to practice at Cleveland City Hospital. Kerruish's father William was the son of immigrants from the Isle of Man and, like Stage, had worked his way through Western Reserve to become a lawyer. Miriam Kerruish's brother, Sheldon Quayle Kerruish, was also an attorney.
Miriam Kerruish was also active in civic organizations. She helped organize the Women’s Protective Association of Cleveland and was on the board of trustees of the Woman’s Hospital and the Maternity Hospital Council. She died in the Cleveland Clinic fire of 1929. A few years after his wife's death, Stage inherited a large tract of land from the Kerruish family located in what is now known as Cleveland's Lee–Miles neighborhood. Stage donated the land to the city and Kerruish Park was established. He retired when the Great Depression destroyed the Van Sweringens' holdings and he died in 1946, never having remarried.