History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 131

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

USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present > Part 131

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

A. J. GUNTER, manufacturer of plows, bellows, etc., Nos. 451 to 463 Hunt street, Cincinnati, was born April 10, 1850, in the State of Illinois, and is a son of Richard Raymond and Mary (Gillham) Gunter, both of whom were Americans. Our subject came to Cincinnati with his mother in 1856, and was educated in the public schools of this city, after which he learned the bellows-making business with the firm of C. L. English, with which firm he remained for a period of sixteen years. He after- ward started business on his own account, at No. 103 West Second street, also at No. 9 West Seventh street, in the former manufacturing bellows and in the latter

820

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

plows and other implements. While here he consolidated the branches of his busi- ness and removed to No. 614 Main street, where his business increased to such an extent that he had to seek larger and more spacious quarters in order to keep up with its growth. His present establishment, Nos. 451 to 463 Hunt street, has been newly equipped with all necessary tools and appliances, and a number of skilled workmen are kept constantly employed in the different departments of the business. The trade comes from all parts of the surrounding country, and a brisk business is carried on, in which he has no rival, as he makes the finest bellows in the market.

The business of which Mr. Gunter is now the owner was founded in Cincinnati in 1850 by Raymond, Hunt & Company, later Raymond, Roberts & Company, and still later Raymond, Hilsinger & Co., and in 1884 it came under the control of our sub- ject. He is well and favorably known, and as the head of a manufacturing estab- lishment sustains a high reputation in the community. He married November 15, 1871, Miss Laura A. Malone, of Adams county, Ohio. and three children were born to them, all of whom are dead. This wife died April 17, 1878. He was subsequently married, December 10, 1879, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Adam and Mary Adloff, and eight children have blessed this union, seven of whom survive, viz .: Elizabeth, Adam Jackson, Nellie, Martha, Augusta, Clarence Arthur and Florence. Our sub- ject and family are members of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, in which he is also an elder, and his political views are Republican. The father of our subject farmed in the State of Illinois, where he married Mary Gillham. Six children were born to them, four of whom still survive, namely: A. J., John, Mary and Maggie. The mother of our subject died November 27, 1869. The father married again, and is now living in South Dakota.

SAMUEL FIRST, secretary and treasurer of the Mowry Car Wheel Works, was born October 18, 1825, in Cumberland county, Penn., son of Peter and Elizabeth (Kaufer). First. The father died in 1840, and the mother in August, 1852. They were the parents of nine children, of whom the living are: Samuel, Nathan, Augustus, Ab- ner, and Mary Jane, wife of Moses Harris.

The subject of our sketch was reared and educated in Pennsylvania, and came to Cincinnati in 1848. In 1852 he began service with the Mowry Car Wheel Works, and gradually worked himself up to his present position of trust and responsibility. It is rare to find a man who has been in the employment of one firm for a period of over forty years, and rarer still to find one who has worked himself up from an humble position to that of secretary and treasurer. Yet such is Mr. First's record with this manufacturing company, and it is a record of which he has reason to feel proud. He was married, May 26, 1866, to Miss Harriet E. Wilcox, who died in Cincinnati in 1877, leaving no issue. He was again married, in 1883, this time to Miss Paulina Atkinson, whose father was born in Pennsylvania, and mother in Ohio. They are Presbyterians in religious belief. Mr. First is a past grand of the I. O. O. F., and politically he is a Republican.

JOSEPH PECKOVER was born January 16, 1816, at Chelmsford, near London, Eng- land, and was descended from a long line of English bankers. It was the intention of his father to have him (Joseph) enter the bank when arriving at a proper age, but possessing inventive genius and being of a mechanical turn of mind, he displeased his father very much by coming to this country in 1839, where he could pursue the even tenor of his way undisturbed. It was uphill work for years to the young man, but with great energy and indomitable will he arose to the top of the mechanical world, and left the " Alligator" stove, of which he was the inventor and patentee, as a monument of his success. Unfortunately he left no sons or male relatives to carry on the work so nobly begun. He came to Cincinnati in 1852 and soon after formed a partnership with F. C. Adams, and began the stove foundry business on Fourth street, just west of Smith street. Afterward they built the foundry at the south- west corner of Front and Central avenue, and their store at the southwest corner of

821

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Fifth and Elm streets. The firm name was changed to Pomeroy, Peckover & Com- pany, afterward to Peckover, Moore & Company. For twenty-six years he lived on Court street, west of Linn street, with his family, and there died in November, 1878, aged sixty-one years. His wife survived some years; they had two daughters: Ade- line, now deceased, who became the wife of Thomas W. Sutton, of Cincinnati, and Josephine, wife of W. G. Williams, a biographical sketch of whom appears else- where.

LOUIS JOHN MILLER, mill and freight elevator manufacturer, was born May 20, 1847, in Germany, and is the second of three surviving children born to Lewis Mil- ler by his first wife; the father and mother were both also born in Germany. The father is still living and resides in Cincinnati. The mother died in 1860, and is buried in Vine Hill Cemetery.

Our subject came to this city with his parents when but six years old, and was educated in the public schools. He served his apprenticeship at the machinist business with Messrs. Stanley & Johnson, and afterward worked for the Diamond Mill Company as foreman, going into business for himself in 1872. He was married to Barbara, daughter of Philip and Margaret Heid, natives of Germany; Mrs. Miller was born in Cincinnati. They have had born to them six children: Charles P., Louis, William, Margaret Amelia, Laura and Emma, all of whom are living. The brothers of the subject of this sketch, William V. and Christian, are still living, and reside in Cincinnati. Mr. Miller is the sole proprietor and manufacturer of the nonpareil crushing and grinding mill, for grinding all kinds of feed, roots, etc., and is also an extensive manufacturer of heavy and light freight elevators; he employs from ten to twelve men. All work is done under his personal supervision, and the success which has attended his business is a proof of the class of work turned out by him.

FRANK M. WEILAND, inillwright, a member of the firm of Freeman & Weiland, machinists and millwrights, whose place of business, located at Nos. 12 and 14 Ninth street, Cincinnati, is referred to in another part of this volume, was born August 7, 1839, in Bavaria, Germany, on the Rhine, and is a son of Michael and Frances (Hammer) Weiland, both natives of Bavaria. Our subject was educated in the schools of Bavaria, and came to America from his native home in 1867, reaching New York on the 26th of June, that year, and came to Cincinnati August 1, 1868. Before leaving his native land he worked at the carpentering business, and also in flourmills, and continued to follow the same occupations in the United States. He worked nine years for Frederick Wolf, three years for Frederick Schultz, six years for the Ross, Moyer Manufacturing Company, and several years for P. W. Reins- hagen previous to going into business in connection with Mr. Freeman.

He was married, May 17, 1869, to Margaret, daughter of John and Josephine (Winstel) Thomas, both natives of Bavaria, and two children have been born to them, one of whom, Carrie Augusta, still survives. Mr. Weiland is an expert in his busi- ness, in which he is ably assisted by his partner, Mr. Louis G. Freeman, and the firm enjoy the entire confidence of all who have had dealings with them.

GEORGE HEATLEY, tinner and hardware dealer, was born in Toronto, Canada, June 17, 1843, son of George and Mary (Verner) Heatley. His father was a native of · Ireland; his mother was born March 23, 1819. The father's business was that of a tailor, and he emigrated in 1838 to Canada, where he died in 1854. His widow re- sides in Cincinnati. Their family consisted of the following children: Thomas, John, George, William, Anthony (deceased), and Benjamin.

George, the subject of this notice, was reared and educated in Toronto, and at the age of eleven years was bound as an apprentice to learn the tinner's trade. When a young man he became a member of the " Queen's Own" Rifles, of Toronto, and served in the Fenian Raid of 1866. On September 25, 1867, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary, daughter of Martin Crosier, of near Scarboro, Cana- da, and the fruits of this marriage have been two children, Harry and Mable Pearl,

822

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

who both reside with their parents. About 1880 Mr. Heatley removed to Cincinnati, and began business at his present stand, No. 1537 Eastern avenue. Mr. Heatley is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Uniform Rank, and is also a Master Mason.1 He and his family are members of the Protestant Methodist Church. Politically he is a Republican.

JOHN HOYES MCGOWAN, president of the company which bears his name, was born February 19, 1830, in Aberdeen, Scotland, and is the son of John Henderson and Amelia Hoyes McGowan. His father came to America in 1831, and the follow- ing year sent for his wife and John, then the only living child, who arrived in New York in April, 1832. They proceeded via the Erie canal and the lakes to Detroit, in which city the Territorial Land Office was located, where they entered and took up government land in Monroe county, the patent of which, signed by Andrew Jackson, is still in the possession of Mr. McGowan. In 1835 the elder Mr. McGowan, who was a leather tanner and dresser by trade, engaged in business at Monroe, Mich. The tannery was located on the bank of the river Raisin, at the main dam, just above the mouth, but his property was entirely destroyed by the flood of the following year. Thomas McGowan, the grandfather of our subject, was also a tanner by trade and was well-to-do in Scotland. His maternal grandfather, John Hoyes, was a ship chandler, but later emigrated to Monroe county, Mich., where he engaged in farming.

In 1836 John Henderson McGowan left Monroe for Cincinnati, Ohio, and, as there were no regular means of transportation at that early date, most of the trip was made on foot. After reaching his destination, he at once resumed his trade as journeyman. In the following year his wife and four children-John, Theodore, Catharine and Helen-all of whom are now living, came to Cincinnati, via the lakes to Cleveland, and thence via the Ohio and Erie canal to Portsmouth, Ohio. As the stage of water in the Ohio was not sufficient to permit the regular boats to run, the family were compelled to take a flatboat to the point of their destination. They arrived at Cincinnati in the latter part of October, their trip occupying a little over one month. The husband and father of this flock died in 1871, at the age of sixty- six years. His widow, who still survives, lives with her son, John H. McGowan, and is remarkably well preserved at the age of ninety years.

Our subject's education was limited to the meager advantages offered by the pub- lic schools of his boyhood, and that only until the age of twelve years. His first start was made at the age of twelve years, his employer being a man engaged in the nursery business, and who at the same time carried on a dairy on a small scale. His duties were to deliver milk about the city during the winter months until work could be resumed in the nursery. The place was located on what is now known as Price's Hill, a little north and west of the present incline. The compensation was $3 per month and board, which at that time was considered good wages. His em- ployer was a friend of the McGowan family, and was looked upon by young John H. as a thoroughly conscientious man, so he allowed his wages to accumulate in his employer's hands. When entering upon the second year of employment it so hap- pened that John H. learned that his employer was bankrupt and was trying to dis- pose of his property. He immediately went and requested him to pay him the ' amount due, not having drawn one cent of pay during the time he was employed. He informed his employer of the report that was circulating regarding his finances, and not being able to secure the money, he informed him that he would take one of the cows as settlement. In less than five minutes his limited stock of clothing was tied up in a bandanna handkerchief, and he was on his way with the cow to his fath- er's home, on Plum street, between Ann and Mason. His family were amazed at this procedure, and upon being questioned by his mother in regard to it, he replied that their old family friend tried to beat him out of his hard earnings, but he was determined to save what he could, so he took the cow to offset his claim. After a

823

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

few months at school he was next employed in a grocery and provision store located on the northeast corner of Catherine and Baymiller streets, the salary agreed upon being the same as he arranged with his former employer. The hours of duty at this place were from 5 A. M. until 9 P. M. It was during his employment at this place that he concluded that the tricks of the trade did not snit him, and he determined to make preparations for bettering his circumstances. At this time he commenced to make a working model of a sawmill, devoting what spare time he had to this work, and as it happened his employer found the model and called him to account. He complimented him upon the accuracy of the work, but remarked that a merchant had no time to devote to mechanics, and informed him that if he persisted in work- ing on such things, he would dispense with his services. Shortly afterward he again found him working on the model, and took this opportunity to discharge him. He then got a situation as cook and tow-path driver on the Miami canal, at a salary of $10 per month, serving in this capacity for two months, when a friend secured him a place as apprentice with George L. Hanks in his bell and brass foundry. His first experience taught him to collect his wages promptly, which he did afterward as long as he had wages to draw. During his first year's apprenticeship he was paid $2.50 per week, $2 of which he paid to his parents, retaining the balance to help educate himself. The second year he retained $1 per week, paying $2 to his parents. He attended a class in mechanical drawing, and kept this up until he was twenty years of age. Before he was twenty-one years old he was given full charge of the factory, which employed about one hundred and fifty men, and remained in the employ of that company until they sold out to Nelson Newman & Co. It was in their shops in 1851 that the first successful experimental steam fire engine in the world was built, under the supervision of Mr. McGowan, Alex. Latta and Abell Shawk being the inventors, and Mr. McGowan the designer of the pumping engine with its appli- ances. When this engine was tested it was found, in a few seconds over four min- utes from the time the match was applied to the fuel, water was flowing from the .

nozzle at the end of three hundred feet of hose. Having viewed this, Mr. McGowan at once foresaw the revolution which the application of steam would make in fire machinery, and he advised his employers to change their business, which they did as soon as possible. Later the firm of Nelson Newman & Co. sold out to Ross & Rick- er, who afterward dissolved. Mr. McGowan was also connected with this company, as they were manufacturing under patents upon which he received a royalty. He was later superintendent for Winchell & Bro., and finally for Charles C. Winchell & Co., but continued to control his own patents, which were advertised as the John H. McGowan Pumps and Machinery. In 1862 Mr. McGowan formed a partnership with his brother, T. J. McGowan, who is now in charge of the branch house of the company at Richmond, Va. This partnership was dissolved in 1870, and Mr. Mc- Gowan continued the business alone until 1881, when the present company was in- corporated. The concern has always manufactured chiefly Mr. McGowan's inven- tions, which extend to all kinds of pumping and plug tobacco manufacturing machinery. As early as 1852 he received a medal from the Ohio Mechanics' Insti- tute for the best force and lift pumps. In 1855 they built the machinery for pump- ing the foundation and for cutting the timber for what is now Fort Jackson, near New Orleans, La., and during the war built extensively for the government. The whole civilized world has looked upon Cincinnati, Ohio, as the cradle of steam fire apparatus, and it is unquestionably one of the greatest centers of pumping ma- chinery in the world, which is largely due to the ingenuity and business energy of John H. McGowan.

Mr. McGowan is truly a self-made man, due to his own perseverance and integ- rity, and no employer of labor has ever treated his men with more consideration and fairness. No better proof of this is needed when it can be said that during his whole business career he has not failed to remember his employes with a substantial

824

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

present at the close of each year. He always manages to keep his business upon a sound financial basis. During his long term of business, although he passed through some of the most severe panics in the history of our conntry, he never had his paper go to protest. The business pays a large annual dividend, and is steadily growing. Four times within the last ten years has it outgrown its quarters. The territory over which they operate includes the entire world, consequently Mr. McGowan can truly say that the sun never sets on his machinery. In 1868 Mr. McGowan made an ex- tended tour of Europe, visiting, among other places, the island of Iona. He has also traveled all through Canada. In the winter of 1885-86, accompanied by his son, Robert B., he traveled through Mexico and along the Pacific coast of the United States and British Columbia, accomplishing the feat of visiting the Yosemite Valley in the dead of winter. Mr. McGowan was married June 27, 1855, to Miss Mary Ellen, daughter of James Green, of Cincinnati, who formerly lived in Virginia, his native State, but being opposed toslavery, liberated his own slaves and came north. Mr. and Mrs. McGowan have had born to them eleven children, seven of whom are living: Mrs. Clara Reiter, Mrs. Florence Mittelstaedt, Robert Bruce, Mary Ellen, Bertha Eleanor, Ida Martha, and John Harry. Robert Bruce is engaged in business with his father, and is vice-president of the company. The deceased members of the family are John Webster, Nelly Cora, William Wallace, and George Albert, who was engaged in business with his father, but met his death August 18, 1880, by drowning, while on a visit to other members of the family who were summering at Lake Chautauqua. He was in his twenty-first year, a splendid specimen of man- hood, and the loss was a very sad one. When the news reached his father he was nearly overcome, and even yet is deeply touched when he recalls the loss of his eld- est son. Mr. McGowan and family worship at the Methodist Episcopal Church and reside at Pleasant Ridge, Ohio. He is a member of the Caledonian Society of Cin- cinnati, was formerly a Whig in his political views and is now a Republican.

WALTER LAIDLAW, vice-president and general manager of the Laidlaw-Dunn- Gordon Company, manufacturers of steam pumping and hydraulic machinery, and brother of the president of that company, was born in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, Scot- land, March 21, 1847. He received his early education in the public schools of his native country, and at the age of fifteen years commenced an apprenticeship to the machinist's trade in Innerleithen, Scotland. He finished his apprenticeship at the age of twenty, and soon afterward entered the employ of Caird & Co., ship-builders, Greenock, Scotland, where he worked about two years building marine engines. Being desirous of gaining a larger experience, he went to London, and entered the employ of the old and well-known engineering firm of Robert Moreland & Son, and after being there a short time accepted a position in the English Lighthouse Depart- ment, where for a few years he was chiefly employed in the superintendence and construction of work around the English coast, erecting lighthouses, electric light plants and gas works in connection with the lighthouses. He assisted Prof. Tyn- dall in a long series of experiments on fog signals for the protection of the shipping trade around the British coasts, which experiments resulted in the adoption of the Steam Siren, presented to the department by the United States government. He erected the first dynamo electric machines used for lighthouse illumination, at the Lizard lighthouses in 1877, together with the other machinery at that station, and had charge of the station for about two years when he was promoted to the position of engineer in charge of experiments at Trinity House, Tower Hill, London, the headquarters of the English Lighthouse Department, which position he held for about two years. After serving ten years in the Lighthouse Department, he resigned his position to come to this country, arriving in May, 1881, and shortly afterward entered the employ of the John H. McGowan Co., as a machinist, but soon after was promoted to draughtsman. A few months later he accepted the position of draughts- man with the Lane & Bodley Co., in whose employ he remained about two years,

825

HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

when he accepted a position to make the plans for the new and extensive works of Procter & Gamble, at Ivorydale, the result of this work being the production of one of the finest and most complete plants in this country, and it will be a lasting mon- nment of his skill as a constructing engineer. When the works of Procter & Gam- ble were nearly completed, he, with his brother Robert Laidlaw, and John W. Dunn, organized the Laidlaw & Dunn Company, now the Laidlaw-Dunn-Gordon Company, a concern well known for its prosperity and rapid growth.

Mr. Laidlaw was married June 18, 1878, to Miss Jane Ewart, of Stobo, Scotland, and by this union he has one child, Robert Euman Laidlaw. Mr. and Mrs. Laid- law are members of the Bond Hill Presbyterian Church. He is a Royal Arch Mason; vice president of the Ohio Mechanics Institute; chairman of the Industrial and Art Schools, and was formerly instructor of this department. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a member of the Engineers' Club of Cincinnati. In his political views he is a Republican. He has been twice mayor of Bond Hill, president of the board of health, president of the school board, and member of council.

ROBERT LAIDLAW, president of the Laidlaw-Dunn-Gordon Company, manufac- turers of steam pumping machinery, was born in Innerleithen, thirty miles south of Edinburgh, Peebleshire, Scotland, March 22, 1849, and is a son of Robert and Janet (Euman) Laidlaw, both of whom are still living in their native country. Of their children, the following survive: Walter; Robert; Elizabeth, now Mrs. James Campbell, of Scotland; Isabella, now Mrs. William Russell, of Scotland; Helen, now Mrs. William Beveredge, of Scotland, and Henry, who is a traveling salesman for the above named company.

Our subject received his education in his native country, but left school at the age of eleven years to work in a woolen-mill, and afterward with his father who was in that line of business. At the age of twenty-two he was general manager of a large woolen-mill, but in 1875, having decided to seek his fortune in the New World, he emigrated to the United States, locating in Cincinnati, where he found employment in the office of John H. McGowan as shipping clerk, after one year being admitted as a partner. When the John H. McGowan Company was incor- porated in 1881, he became secretary and treasurer of the new company. In 1887 he organized the present company of which he has since been president. One very conclusive proof of the prosperity of this company is the fact that the number of their employes has increased from ten men in 1887 to over three hundred in 1893. Their machinery is fully abreast of the progress of invention. and is of the best material and workmanship. The territory over which they operate, and into which they are daily shipping their machinery, includes the whole world. Many large shipments having been made to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and all parts of Great Britain.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 131

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