History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 128

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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SAMUEL HUNT, president of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia Railroad Company, was born in August, 1849, in Warren county, Ohio, son of Dr. Samuel P. and Eliza (Thomas) Hunt, natives of Connellsville, Penn., and Barnesville, Ohio, and of English and Welsh descent, respectively. The Hunts were early settlers near Alexandria, Va. Dr. Hunt died in 1884, at the age of eighty-three; his wife died in 1851, aged forty-three. Their family numbered eight children, six of whom are living: Thomas; John E., of Little Rock, Ark. ; Eliza, widow of W. R. Hoel, deceased, of Warren county, Ohio; Martha, of Kennedy, Hamilton Co., Ohio, Rachel and Samuel.

The last named was educated in the public and private schools of his native county and learned telegraphy. He began his business life as an operator at Chi- cago, on the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago railroad; was assistant station agent at Lexington, Ky., one year; division superintendent on the Cincinnati Southern, with headquarters at Danville, Ky., several years; superintendent of the East Tenn- essee, Virginia & Georgia railroad, between Rome and Macon, Ga., with headquar- ters at Atlanta, two years; superintendent for the Fitzgerald & Mallory Construc- tion Company in the construction of the Denver, Markham & Atlantic railroad, now

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

part of the Missouri Pacific system; superintendent of the Ohio & Northwestern railroad one year, and subsequently receiver and agent for this property until the organization of the present company in 1871, when he became president. Mr. Hunt resides at Walnut Hills. He was married, in 1876, to Martha Trotter, of Xenia, Ohio, and they have two children, Harry and Philip. Mr. Hunt is descended from a Quaker family, and his wife is a Presbyterian, but both attend the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Republican.

EDWARD WOODRUFF WHITE, vice-president of the Cincinnati, Georgetown & Ports- mouth Railroad Company, was born September 17, 1857, in Lancaster, N. H., son of William A. and Ellen C. (Wolcott) White. Mr. White is a great-grandson of Moses White, who distinguished himself in the war of 1776, being a major under Gen. Hazen. He is also a descendant of Oliver Wolcott, of Massachusetts, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Our subject is the sixth in a family of eight children, four of whom are living. He received his education in the public schools of Lancaster and Littleton and graduated at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1876. From that date until 1879 he was engaged in various occupations, principally as assistant station agent on the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad at South Lancaster, N. H. He then came to Cincin- nati and entered the paint and glass house of George Meldrum, where he remained one year. From 1880 to 1885 he was employed in the general offices of the "Big Four" in various capacities. In 1885 he became general freight and passenger agent of the Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth railroad, of which he was made vice- president and general manager in 1891. On April 8, 1885, he married Lila S. Cram, of Montgomery, Ala., and they are the parents of one child, Mabelle Clare. Mr. White resides in Fern Bank. He is a Unitarian in religious faith, and a Republican in politics.

THOMAS HUNT, secretary and treasurer of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia Railroad Company, was born January 22, 1834, in Belmont county, Ohio. He obtained a public-school education, attended Robert Way's Academy, and was a student at St. Xavier College, Cincinnati, 1851-52. For thirteen years he was agent and telegraph operator for the Little Miami railroad at Morrow. He then entered the service of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, for which he was agent at Lexington, Ky., one year, and at Danville four years. For two years he was ticket agent for the Cincinnati Southern at Cincinnati. His first official position with the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia was that of train dispatcher, which he filled in 1890. In 1891 he became secretary and treasurer, which office he has since held. Mr. Hunt is a Quaker in religious faith.

WILLIAM D. GRAY, auditor of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia Railroad Company, was born September 17, 1862, near Mt. Orab, Ohio, son of Leander and Susan (Day) Gray, early settlers of Brown county, Ohio, and of English origin. His father was a farmer, and died in 1878, at the age of forty; his mother still lives in Cincinnati. They had eight children, seven of whom are living: Mollie, wife of Thomas Dowden, San Bernardino, Cal .; William D .; Frank, of New Vienna, Ohio; Edward W., druggist. Fifth and Main, Cincinnati; George C., clerk with J. Foster, Rhodes & Company, Chicago, Ill .; Lucy and Elizabeth. Alonzo died in 1889, at the age of seventeen.

The subject of this sketch received a public-school education in his native town, where he entered the service of the Cincinnati & Eastern Railroad Company as tele- graph operator. For two years he was thus employed, and then for the same length of time he was station agent and operator at Winchester, Ohio. He next entered the auditor's office as clerk, and in 1886 was appointed auditor, in which position he has since been employed. Mr. Gray resides with his mother and two sisters on East Third street. He is one of the youngest railroad officials in Cincinnati, but his ability and efficiency are fully recognized.

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

EUGENE F. GRAY, general freight and passenger agent of the Cincinnati, Ports- mouth & Virginia Railroad Company, was born November 23, 1854, at Owego, New York, son of William W. and Sarah J. (Farrar) Gray, natives of Massachusetts, and of Scotch and French descent, respectively. His father was a shoe manufacturer and merchant at Rochester, N. Y., but in 1865 went to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, where he conducted a hotel and was subsequently engaged in the oil and insurance business. He died in 1872 at the age of tifty-five, and his wife in 1870 at the age of forty-five. They had six sons and three daughters, and of this family Eugene F. was the fifth in order of birth.

Eugene F. Gray received a public-school education at Rochester, N. Y., and Titusville, Penn., graduating from the high school of the last named in 1871. His spare time and school vacations were spent in a machine shop in which his father was interested, where oil-well torpedoes were manufactured. His eldest brother being a locomotive engineer, he very early developed a fondness for railroading, and was mail agent on the Oil Creek railroad for one year, being subsequently employed as fireman on the same road for about the same period. Wishing to see more of the .country, he resigned and drifted west, stopping at Dennison, Ohio, two years, where he was employed in a railroad hotel, and later secured an interest in a restaurant. The next four years were spent with a mining expedition in the West and South. Returning to Pennsylvania in 1879, he engaged in the manufacture of nitro-glycerine and torpedoing of oil wells. In 1882 he superintended the manufacture of nitro- glycerine for the Atna Powder Works at Miller, Ind. In 1883 he returned to his old love, railroading, accepting a position with the Scioto Valley railroad at Ports- month, Ohio, where he remained until 1887, when he accepted the position of chief .clerk to General-freight-agent C. H. Goodrich, of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Vir- ginia railroad, having headquarters at Cincinnati. In 1889 he was appointed freight agent for the same Company at Portsmouth, Ohio. In 1890 he resigned to accept the agency of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern at that place. October 26, 1890, he was appointed general freight agent, and in February, 1891, general freight and passenger agent of the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia railroad. In 1893 he was also appointed general freight and passenger agent of the Dayton, Lebanon & Cincinnati railroad, and May 1, 1894, traffic manager of the Charleston, Cincinnati & Chicago railroad, which positions he now holds. In 1881 Mr. Gray married Ella M. Bailey, of Bradford, Penn., and they have two children, Eugene Francis and Mabel Ruth. Mrs. Gray is a member of the Presbyterian Church; Mr. Gray is a Methodist. He is a member of the Masons, Knights of Pythias and Elks, and is a Republican in politics.

FRANK LORD MCQUISTON, superintendent, master mechanic and car builder of the Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth railroad, was born at Marion, Ind., April 10, 1862, son of John C., ballast inspector for the K. C. S. M. R. R., and Frances A. (Bailey) McQuiston. He was educated in the public schools of Greensburg, and from early manhood has been identified with the railroad industry, having been suc- cessively employed in issuing supplies for the "Big Four" at Greensburg; as clerk for his father in the road department; as brakeman on the "Big Four" road; as night yard clerk at Greensburg and yardmaster at that place; as yard clerk at Indianapolis, and Springfield, Mo .; as division baggage agent at Kansas City and Springfield, and as passenger brakeman and baggage conductor. He then engaged in the grocery business at Springfield, Mo., one year; was paneling contractor for one season, and taught stair building and roof framing one year. In July, 1890, he entered the employ of the Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth railroad; in 1891 he became master car builder; January 14, 1893, master mechanic, and on July 1, 1894, general superintendent, which positions he now fills, and for which he is abundantly qualified by a long and varied experience. On October 5, 1884, he mar- ried Mrs. Josephine Florence Seitz, of Greensburg, Ind., daughter of Henry and

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Ruth (Ford) Doles, and widow of Charles Seitz. They are the parents of two chil- dren: Walter Scott and Jennie Amanda. Mr. McQuiston is a member of the Knights of Pythias, I. O. O. F., and the F. & A. M., and is Democratic in his polit- ical affiliations.

LOUIS C. FRITCH, engineer maintenance of way of the Ohio & Mississippi railway, with office in the Grand Central depot, and residence at Delhi, Ohio, is a native of central Illinois, and was was born August 11, 1867. His parents, Joseph and Mar- garet (Mather) Fritch, settled in that State about 1860. He was educated in the University of Cincinnati, and in 1886 accepted a position as assistant engineer on the Ohio & Mississippi railway, which position he held until October, 1892, when he was promoted to his present position.

JAMES D. WELSH, general agent of the Union Pacific system, Carew building, Cincinnati, was born July 24, 1834, at Quarryville, Lancaster Co., Penn., son of John and Catherine (Groff) Welsh, natives of Ireland and Pennsylvania, respective- ly. They had two children, James D., and Jacob H., foreman in a car factory at Middletown, Penn. The mother died in 1883, and the father in 1888.

James D. Welsh was educated in the public schools, and at an academy in his native county. After teaching two years he became connected with John Bare & Company, proprietors of York Furnace, as superintendent, retaining this position a year and a half. In 1861 he entered the quartermaster's office at Philadelphia, and was in charge of the transportation department until 1869, when he took charge of the Star Union Fast Freight line of the Pennsylvania Company. He conducted this until 1876. and was then Boston agent for the Kansas Pacific railroad one year. December 1, 1877, he came to Cincinnati, as freight and passenger agent for this company, retaining his position when it was merged into the Union Pacific, and under the different changes of management which that road has experienced to the present time. Mr. Welsh resides at Hartwell. On April 16, 1861, he married Mary E. Boyd, of Chestnut Level, Lancaster Co., Penn., and they have three children: Laura E., wife of Henry E. DeCamp, of Cincinnati; Augustus T., bookkeeper with Belding Brothers, and Carrie B. The family is connected with the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Mr. Welsh is a member of the Masonic Fraternity; he is a Repub- lican in politics, and has served as a member of Hartwell village council eight years.

JOHN C. McQUISTON, ballast inspector for the K. C. S. M. R. R., was born at Madison, Ind., August 17, 1823, son of John C. and Eleanor (Craven) McQuiston, natives of Pennsylvania and Scotland, respectively. His father came to Cincinnati in 1811, and was for many years a brewer. He was the father of nine children, two of whom are living: John C., and William, a merchant in Chicago. He died at Greensburg, Ind., at the age of ninety six.

Our subject was educated at the Cincinnati public schools, and at the pri- vate school of John Talbwit, near the old Medical College. He learned the dis- tilling business with David Gibson, at Lawrenceburg, Ind., and was successively employed at A. P. Hull's distillery, and with T. & J. M. Gaff at Aurora, Ind. For two years and a half he was in partnership in the malting and forwarding commis- sion business at Madison, Ind., with his brother. When the Lawrenceburg & Indianapolis railroad was built, he ran the first locomotive, the "General Anthony Wayne," over that line, and continued as engineer six years. He was then con- ductor until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he recruited Company D, Sixteenth Indiana Volunteers, of which he was captain, and served fourteen months. He was then appointed by the President provost-marshal of the North Indiana District. In 1863 he recruited the One Hundred and Twenty-third Indiana Infantry, of which he was commissioned colonel by Gov. Morton. Soon after entering the service he was appointed to the command of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, with which he participated in the Atlantic Campaign, until the fall of Atlanta. He then returned to Nashville, went to Washington by rail, and took ship

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to Fort Anderson, on the Cape Fear river. From this point, he marched through North Carolina, and at Goldboro rejoined Sherman's army. After the fall of Rich- mond he returned to Indiana, and was mustered out with the rank of brevet briga- dier-general. Three days after reaching home he resumed work as passenger con- ductor on the "Big Four," but was soon appointed to the charge of a division. When Mr. Ingalls became president of the " Big Four," he was appointed roadmas- ter of the main line, which he completely remodeled as to track, bridge building and water service. In the spring of 1884 he became connected with the Missouri Pacific railway. For two years he was employed in laying track on the Cincinnati branch of the Union Pacific, and was then made roadmaster of the western division of that line, with which he was connected nearly five years. For one year he travelled as agent for Fred C. Weir, manufacturer of railroad frogs, Cincinnati, and in May, 1890, assumed his present responsible position.

Col. McQuiston was married, January 16, 1844, to Frances A., daughter of George Bailey, of Lawrenceburg, Ind., and ten children were born to this union, seven of whom are now living: Eliza Jane; Fannie; John C., Jr., city passenger agent at Kansas City, for the Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis railroad; Brandt, local engineer on the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis railroad; Frank, who is superintendent of the Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth railroad; Walter and Wilbur, freight conductors on the road. Eliza Jane married Thomas Trimn and they had one child, Maud; after Mr. Trimn's death she married Benjamin H. Kehl, and they have one child, Thomton. Fannie married Jacob Jaffaga, now deceased, and three children were born to them, Jessie. Brandt and Maude. Mrs. Kehl and Mrs. Jaffaga reside at Springfield, Mo. Mr. McQuiston is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and a Republican in politics.

EZEKIEL W. WOODWARD was born in Westmoreland, N. H., December 14, 1828. His parents, Ezekiel and Mary Woodward, were industrious farming people among the New England hills. The son worked on the farm until about seventeen years old, except such time as he attended the common schools of the vicinity. His rail- road experience began about this time in the early survey of the line of the Cheshire railroad in New Hampshire, with which, and the construction of the road, he was connected as rodman and assistant civil engineer until early in 1850, when he came to Cincinnati and for a time assisted in laying the first "T" rail on the Little Miami railroad in place of the old "strap" rail then in use. After this he was engaged as assistant engineer in the location and construction of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, and made the preliminary surveys of the Dayton & Michigan railroad. In the summer of 1851 he commenced the location of the Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville railroad, in the construction of which he held the position of chief engineer. Leaving this road in the early part of 1855 he was part of that year superintendent of the Steubenville & Indiana railroad. Leaving this he made the survey of the LaCrosse & Milwaukee railroad and other surveys extending to St. Paul and Lake Superior. Upon the completion of this road to LaCrosse he went to the Ohio & Mississippi railroad as civil engineer in charge of improvements, and later became superintendent of the Eastern division. In June, 1860, he became connected with the Little Miami railroad as superintendent, and in 1867 was elected president of that road, serving as such until July 1, 1868. He next took a prominent part in the organization of the Cincinnati & Newport Bridge Company, and later in the construction of the bridge as consulting engineer. On March 22, 1871, he was elected president of the Indianapolis & St. Louis railroad, which position he occupied until July, 1875. Soon after this he was appointed agent for the receivers of the St. Louis Bridge and Tunnel Railroad Companies, and on December 20, 1878, as commissioner appointed by the United States court, sold the St. Louis bridge, after which he held the position of vice-president of the St. Louis Bridge and Tunnel Railroad Companies as organized until October 8, 1881,

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since then he has not been actively connected with railroad affairs, and has lived at. his country home near Morrow, Ohio. Soon after the completion of the Cincinnati Southern railroad, at the solicitation of the trustees, "E. W. Woodward and Asso- ciates " organized a company which leased and operated the road for some time. In 1855 Mr. Woodward was married to Harriet Miller, daughter of William Miller, a merchant of Circleville, Ohio. He has two children, Charles W. Woodward, who resides on Walnut Hills, and a daughter, Miss Miriam Woodward.

RICHARD CARROLL, general manager of the Queen & Crescent Route, was born in Ireland, March 14, 1847, son of Patrick and Nancy (Kelly) Carroll, who came to. America in 1849, and located in Cleveland, Ohio, where the mother died before the Civil war, and the father in 1873. They were the parents of three children, of whom Richard is the only survivor. He received a public-school education, and entered Western Reserve Institute, then under James A. Garfield. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served to the close of the war, during the last two years on detached service as clerk of the Department of Ohio. After the conclusion of the war he was brakeman one year on the Atlantic & Great Western railroad, now the New York, Pennsylvania &. Ohio, and then conductor on different roads until November, 1881, when he became trainmaster on the Queen & Crescent Route. He became assistant superintendent. of the same in January, 1882; superintendent July, 1883, and general manager in February, 1889, and is recognized as one of the leading railroad officials of Cincin- nati. In February, 1889, Mr. Carroll married Mary Louden, of Henry county, Ky. In politics he is a Republican.

THOMAS P. EGAN. Some men may rise by the force that is in them, and several of this class are residents of Cincinnati, one of the most prominent being Thomas P. Egan, president of the J. A. Fay & Egan Company, manufacturers of wood- working machinery.

Mr. Egan was born in Ireland-just where he does not recollect, as his father and mother crossed the Atlantic when the now millionaire was a mere infant of nine months. The father, who was a farmer of limited means, located near Hamilton, Canada, where he died at the age of eighty-four years.

Thomas P. Egan was born November 20, 1847, and was precocious and ener- getic from the first. He received a common-school education at the Canadian schools, and at the age of fourteen graduated from the Central Public High School of Hamilton, Canada. On the evening of the graduating exercises he was em- ployed by D. Smith, a dry-goods merchant, still living in Hamilton, to work at two dollars per week. This position the youth kept for two years, and then he turned his eyes toward the United States. The "Stars and Stripes," with the universal freedom and liberty it guaranteed, inspired the youthful employe, and he determined to try his fortunes in the South. He had a sister living in Cincinnati, and here was. his objective point; and, having a few dollars saved up, with a stout heart he bid good-bye to home and friends and took the train for Detroit. There he tried to find work, but failing hurried on to Cincinnati that he might arrive before his limited purse was exhausted. He came and found his sister, and in casting about discov- ered that it would not take him long to get work. Had he remained at the little dry-goods store he would at the end of ten years have received the highest wages paid, which was seven dollars per week; before ten years had passed he was receiv- ing in Cincinnati a salary of thirty-five dollars per week. Thus it will be seen that two dollars per week was not wages enough for a youth of sixteen, and he deter- mined when he secured a new position that he would get more money. He did; for William Kirkup, the brass worker and manufacturer, took the ambitious boy in, and paid him at the rate of three dollars per week. His duties were chiefly confined to running a lathe; but tiring of this monotonous work at the end of three months, he looked around for another position. He had received no increase in wages, and he

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

thought he should take a step forward. The desire was then to get $3.50 per week and to go to work on iron. One evening, dressed in his working clothes, he made the rounds of the various machine shops in the city, and at last walked into the office of Steptoe, McFarlan and Company, one of the earliest manufacturers of wood-working machinery in the United States, and at that time contemporaries of the J. A. Fay & Company, which was beginning to rise in the mercantile world. " What do you want a week ?" asked John Steptoe. "I am receiving three dollars per week now, and I want fifty cents more." That was about all the conversation held, and in a few moments the sturdy boy was told to come prepared to take a posi- tion the next week. He did come, and remained with the firm twelve years, or till his twenty-eighth year. Mr. Egan had been working but two weeks when an acci- dent happened to impair his physical powers to a certain extent, though it did not canse him to stop work. The loss was that of the left arm. While many people deliberately take advantage of such an accident to lie down and mourn, Mr. Egan did not pause, though the loss of the arm rendered it impossible for him to do hard manual labor as heretofore. The firm gave him an office position, and here came in the high-school training. He had studied bookkeeping for awhile, and now that he could not labor he determined to fit himself for his new life. To this end he entered the commercial college kept by a Mr. Gundry. The school was at night, and during the day the books of the firm were kept. This process was kept up for several months till every point in bookkeeping was mastered, and still the salary remained the same, three dollars and fifty cents per week. About the time a new suit of office clothes had been worn out Mr. Steptoe suggested that Thomas' salary be raised to five dollars per week. The move was made, and with the five dollars the young man was content for over a year. Matters ran on, and when he arrived at the age of manhood his name was down on the books as drawing eighteen dollars per week. One day a member of the firm made the remark to the young book- keeper, "I think you need a rest." " Well," was the reply, "let me try my hand at selling on the road." "So far as I am concerned you can try it," was the answer.

The members of the firm held a consultation, and only Mr. Steptoe was in favor of letting an inexperienced man go out. The heads of the firm had to that time done most of the traveling, and they did not see how a young man who had never even traveled for pleasure, and who they thought knew nothing of the country. could do any good on the road. Finally, to carry his point, Mr. Steptoe agreed to guarantee the firm any loss they might sustain by putting Mr. Egan forward. With this understanding the young man went to work on a new line. The fact that his expenses were guaranteed by an individual member of the firm encouraged him to get about and sell. He worked harder than he otherwise would have done, visit- ing Chicago, Indianapolis and Lafayette. He sent his orders in, not knowing just what was expected of him, but confident that he was doing the best he could. When he came home he found that his sales exceeded those of every other salesman, and, in fact, were the largest in the history of the firm. He was now sent out on the road, and stayed there seven years, his salary being raised to thirty-five dollars per week.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 128

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592