In 1904, The Hermit Club’s founder and patron saint, Frank Bell Meade, invited a group of friends over for dinner and fostered the idea of creating a club in Cleveland similar to the famous Lambs Club in New York.

“The Men Who Came to Dinner,” and key Hermit Club principals, included: Mortirner W. Lawrence, Harry Bliss, George B. Pettengill, Albert Rees Davis, E. H. Brown, John H. Blood, Norman C. McLoud, Roger Enwright and George H. Gardiner.

	Frank Bell Meade Meade was born in 1867 in Norwalk, Ohio. He attended the Cleveland Public Schools and took up violin lessons at the age of eight. By age 15, Meade became second violinist with the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. After a three years effort of “professional playing,” Meade enrolled in the Case School of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering. With exceptional sketching skills, he headed down the career path of architecture and later graduated from Boston Tech in 1893 as a full-fledged architect. He became a partner with his classmate Alfred Hoyt Granger for three years and then joined Abraham Garfield for seven years. He later formed his own partnership with James Hamilton Meade and Hamilton, Inc. In 1904, his love of music and theatre came to fruition with the meeting, to become “The Men Who Came to Dinner.”
	Mortimer W. Lawrence Born in Cleveland in 1873, Lawrence received his education at Cleveland Grammar Schools, University School, Denver High School and The Ohio State University. He later owned The Lawrence Publishing Company and was the first Secretary of The Hermit Club and business manager of several of its theatrical productions.
	Harry Albert Bliss Bliss was born in 1867 and was a native of Columbia, Tennessee. After primary and high school education, he entered the wholesale hardware business and later became a manufacturer’s agent. He later founded The Bliss Supply Company and brought his musical talents to The Hermit Club as French horn player in the orchestra.
	George Burnham Pettengill Pettengill was born in Cleveland in 1873 where he later attended the Cleveland Public Schools. He worked for the Cleveland Railway Company and then the C.P.E.E. Railway. His infectious humor and wholesome good nature placed him in good stead at The Hermit Club. He was a dialect comedian in all of The Hermit Club productions including “Holland.”
	Albert Rees Davis Born in Youngstown in 1867, Davis graduated from Oberlin Academy and Maryland Military Academy. He later became an insurance agent. For 13 years he was widely known as the conductor of The Singers Club of Cleveland and was very active in drama productions at The Hermit Club.
	Edwin Hewitt Brown Born in Chicago in 1879, Brown was a graduate of University School and Yale University. He began his career with the Securities Corporation and moved on to the General Aluminum and Brass Corporation. In 1925, he affiliated himself with the Copeland Products Company. His contributions to the Hermit Club were in finance.
	John H. Blood Blood was born in 1859 in Springfield, Illinois. After studying law in the office of Stuart, Edwards and Brown, Blood became interested in journalism and moved to Denver where he established a weekly newspaper. He later returned to Cleveland to become the owner of Cleveland World. However, his main interest and expertise was in real estate, which enabled Mr. Blood to obtain a 95-year lease on the property on Hickox Alley, the first Hermit Club location.
	Norman Calvin McLoud Born in 1873 in North Carolina, McLoud received his education at the Asheville Military Academy. He headed his own brokerage firm on the Cleveland Stock Exchange. His many contributions to The Hermit Club were in the form of authorship of lyrics and libretti.
	Roger Cornelius Enwright Enwright was born in 1861 and was a native of Bellevue, Ohio. He started out as a bookkeeper at the First National Bank and later opened the R. C. Enwright & Company. An actor of immense talent, he could be counted on for a major role in every production at The Hermit Club.
	George Hamilton Gardiner Gardiner was born in 1869 and grew up in California. He was in the brokerage business with Lamprecht Brothers and later with Hayden Miller & Company. Versatility was his main talent and as an actor he often doubled as “leading lady” arid “leading man.”