Biographies
History of Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley, Ohio
Vols. 1 & 2
By Jos. G. Butler, Jr. -Publ. American Historical Society -
Chicago & New York
1921
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Transcribed by Sharon Wick
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ELMER E.
McKELVEY. While his brother, the late George M.
McKelvey, had a long and honorable career at Youngstown as a
merchant and banker, and founded the G. M. McKelvey Company
of that city, Elmer E. McKelvey has kept his interests
identified with the Village of Hubbard for over thirty years, and as
a merchant his name is synonymous with integrity and fair dealing.
Mr. McKelvey was born at Armagh, Indiana County,
Pennsylvania, Aug. 17, 1861, a son of Ephraim and Esther
(McCartney) McKelvey He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
Elmer McKelvey was only a child when his parents died, and a
guardian looked after the younger children and the old homestead.
Elmer E. McKelvey lived there until the age of seventeen, and
in 1879 went out to Illinois, where he followed farm labor two
years. In the meantime, in 1877, his brother George M.
had come to Hubbard as manager for Andrews & Hitchcock on
their mercantile business known as the Company Store. On
returning from Illinois, Elmer McKelvey attended the Normal
School at Indiana, Pennsylvania, and in 1886 joined his
relatives at Hubbard, where, in addition to his brother, his sister,
Mrs. B. E. Price, also lived. He at once became a clerk
in the company store, and in 1898 was promoted to manger for the
mercantile corporation, and so continued until 1917. For over
thirty years he had given his time and energies to one enterprise.
Then, in 1917, he established a business of his own as a grocery
merchant, and has since been reaping the advantages coming from so
long an acquaintance with the people who recognize his able business
qualifications and his fine personal character. Mr.
McKelvey has a host of friends around Hubbard, and has always
worked with the progressive people for better things in the
community.
For some years he served as village treasurer, is a
trustee of the Presbyterian Church, and for years superintendent of
the Sunday school, and filled all the chairs in the lodge of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1889 Mr. McKelvey
married Miss Carrie Momyer, of Erie, Pennsylvania, and they
had one child Stella, who died in infancy.
Source: History of Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley, Ohio - Vol.
II - Publ. American Historical Society - Chicago & New York - 1921 -
Page 187 |
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GEORGE M. McKELVEY. Among
the successful, self-made men of the past generation in Ohio whose
efforts and influence contributed to the material up-building of
their respective communities the late George M. McKelvey,
president of the G. M. McKelvey Company of Youngstown,
occupied a conspicuous place. Being ambitious from the first,
but surrounded by none too favorable circumstances, his early youth
was not especially promising, but, surrounded by none too favorable
circumstances, his early youth was not especially promising, but,
resolutely facing the future, he gradually surmounted the
difficulties in his way, and in the course of time rose to a
prominent position in the commercial circles of his community,
besides winning the confidence and esteem of those with whom he came
into contact, either in a business or a social way, so that for
years he stood as a representative citizen of the locality of which
this history treats. Strongly in contrast with the humble
surroundings of his early youth was the brilliant position which he
eventually filled in business circles. He realized early that
there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on
accomplishment. His life and labors were worthy because hey
contributed to a proper understanding of life and its problems.
There were in him sterling traits which commanded uniform confidence
and regard, and his memory is today honored by all who knew him and
is enshrined in the hearts of his many friends.
George McCartney McKelvey, whose death occurred
at Youngstown on Dec. 24, 1905, was born at Armagh, Indiana County,
Pennsylvania, on Aug. 17, 1849, the son of James McKelvey.
He was born amid humble surroundings, his early opportunities being
meager, but he was ambitious and took eager advantage of such
educational facilities as were provided by the common schools.
After undergoing the necessary examination he was given a teacher's
certificate and for several years thereafter the alternately taught
school and farmed. Having relations in Youngstown, Ohio, he
came here in 1869, and in partnership with his cousin, Lawson
McKelvey, embarked in the general mercantile business at the
corner of Oak Hill and Mahoning avenues. Later he operated on
his own account what was known as the Red Hot Cash Store on West
Federal Street, and it was about this time that he displayed the
keen business qualifications that characterized his after life.
For some time he conducted a store at Hubbard, Ohio, known as the
Hubbard Store Company, but in 1882 he returned to Youngstown, and in
association with Messrs,. Andrews, Cochran, William J. Hitchcock
and George J. Margarum, bought the mercantile establishment
of the E. M. McGillen Company. The new organization
became G. M. McKelvey & Company, a co-partnership, which was
successful from the beginning and soon became one of the most
important mercantile concerns in the city, as it became, still
later, of the state. In 1901 the concern was incorporated as
The G. M. McKelvey Company, of which he was chosen president,
holding that position up to the time of his death. Prior to
its incorporation he had been the general manager.
It can be said of Mr. McKelvey that he was a
striking example of that comparatively small class of men who find
their proper spheres in life. He loved his work and threw into
it all his energies. He was in the fullest sense of the word a
progressive, virile, self-made American citizen, thoroughly in
harmony with the spirit of the advanced age in which he lived.
He made good use of his opportunities, and prospered from year to
year, conducting all business matters carefully and systematically,
and in all his acts displaying an aptitude for successful
management. He did not confine his efforts solely to
mercantile pursuits. He helped to organize the Commercial
National Bank, of which he became president on the death of C. H.
Andrews, and continued as such until his death. He was
also one of the organizers of the Standard Oilcloth Company, now the
Standard Textile Products Company, of which he was a director and
the chairman of the executive board. He was vice president of
the Youngstown Iron and Steel Roofing Company, of the Mahoning
Foundry and Machine Company, and of the Edwin Bell Company,
now of Pittsburgh. Unquestionably his greatest success was in
the development of the great store bearing his name into a model
department store, of which he was justifiably proud.
Politically Mr. McKinley was a stanch adherent
of the republican party and his religious membership was with the
Tabernacle United Presbyterian Church. He was a appreciative
member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he had attained the
degree of a Knight Templar.
In September, 1876, George M. McKelvey was
married to Leah M. Brownlee, of Struthers, Ohio, and to them
were born five children, namely: Letitia who married and has
three children; Lucius B., who is the only male descendant of
his father; Katherine, the wife of Charles F. Owsley;
Gertrude, the wife of George Jones; and Florence,
the wife of George Clegg. Mr. McKelvey's character was
one of signal exaltation and purity of purpose. His character
was the positive expression of the strong nature and his strength
was as the number of his days. He lived and labored to worthy
ends, and as one of the sterling citizens and representative men of
Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley his memory merits a tribute of
honor on the pages of history.
LUCIUS B. McKELVEY
was born on Oct. 5, 1879, at Hubbard, Ohio, but has lived in
Youngstown since early childhood. After completing the public
school course he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
at Boston, where he made a special study of mining engineering.
Thereafter for two years he was engaged in mining in Idaho, but in
1903, owning to his father's failing health, he returned to
Youngstown and assisted him in looking after his various business
interests, particularly of the G. M. McKelvey Company.
He became president of this company in February, 1917, and still
fills that position. He is a worthy successor of his father
and has easily taken his place among the leaders of business in this
community. He is a man of impressive personality, broad of
mental ken and possesses the characteristics which ever beget
esteem, confidence and friendship.
On June 28, 1905, Lucius B. McKelvey was married
to Blanche McConnell, of Salem, Ohio, and to them have been
born four children, George M., Jane, Leah Margaret and
William B. Mrs. McKelvey is a member of the First
Presbyterian Church. Mr. McKelvey is a member of the
Youngstown Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
EMERY L. McKELVEY, vice president
and general manager of the G. M. McKelvey Company, was born
at Dilltown, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 27, 1866, and is
a son of Nathaniel W. and Mary (Peters) McKelvey, the former
of whom was a half-brother of George M. McKelvey. The
family moved to Mahoning County, Ohio, in 1871, and here the
father followed farming. During the Civil war he served in the
Union army, receiving an honorable discharge at the close of that
conflict. To him and his wife were born eight children, all
sons.
Emery L. McKelvey received his educational
training in the public schools of Youngstown. His first
employment was in a clerical capacity with Andrews Brothers &
Company at Hazelton and later with the Morse Bridge Company at that
place. In 1885 he came to Youngstown and has since been
engaged here in mercantile pursuits, in which he has been rewarded
with a satisfactory measure of success. He is now a director,
vice-president and general manager of the G. M. McKelvey
Company, which is capitalized at $100,000, and a director of the
Wheeler Mineral Springs Company. For a number of years
prior to the reorganization Mr. E. L. McKelvey served as
secretary-treasurer of the G. M. McKelvey Company.
On Sept. 13, 1893, Mr. McKelvey was married to
Emma Vogan, of Grove City, Pennsylvania, and they are the
parents of three children, Mary Louise, the wife of Thomas
J. Bray, Jr., of Youngstown, with the Republic Iron & Steel
Company, of which his father, Thomas J. Bray, is president;
Jane and Barbara. Fraternally Mr. McKelvey
is a member of the Masonic Order, in which he has attained the
degree of a Royal Arch Mason, and is also a member of the First
Presbyterian Church, the Young Men's Christian Association, the
Youngstown Club and the Youngstown Country Club. Because of
his sterling traits of character and his genial disposition he
commands the confidence and good will of all who know him. He
is public spirited and gives his support to all movements for the
betterment of the community.
Source: History of Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley, Ohio - Vol. II
- Publ. American Historical Society - Chicago & New York - 1921 -
Page 138 |
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William McKinley |
WILLIAM McKINLEY Source: History of
Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley, Ohio - Vol. II - Publ. American
Historical Society - Chicago & New York - 1921 - Page 8 |
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GEORGE
M. MONTGOMERY. The present county surveyor of Mahoning
County, and civil engineer whose expert services have solved many
technical problems for Mahoning Valley industries and have also been
utilized in the building of many good roads, is member of an
historic family of the Valley.
His great-grandfather, Robert Montgomery, son of
a Revolutionary soldier, took up his father's profession of
surveying and while fulfilling a professional engagement in Western
Pennsylvania, visited Youngstown. His second journey to Ohio
was about 1805, when he planned the building of a furnace on Yellow
Creek. This furnace was on John Struthers' land, and
the two were partners in the enterprise. This furnace was put
in place about 1807 and, while the second furnace in point of time,
was the first successful iron furnace in the Mahoning Valley.
Robert Montgomery married the widow of John Stark Edwards, a
woman of sterling worth whose name is frequently mentioned in the
early history of Trumbull County. The only son of their
marriage was Robert M. Montgomery, who spent his active life
as a farmer near Youngstown.
The father of the Mahoning County
surveyor was Lewis W. Montgomery, who was also a farmer and
died at Youngstown in 1912. He married Isabelle Cubbison.
George M. Montgomery was born at
Youngstown in March, 1873, was educated in public schools, the
Northern Ohio College at Ada and the State University at Columbus.
He took the civil engineering course and completed his college
training in 1897. Since then for over twenty years he has been
busily engaged in his profession. On leaving college he formed
a partnership with his cousin Edwin D. Haseltine, formerly of
Haseltine Brothers. The firm Edwin D. Hazeltine
Brothers & Montgomery later became Hazeltine & Montgomery,
and has long had an active practice in civil and mining engineering.
Robert M. Hazeltine of this firm was mining inspector of the
State of Ohio. Practically all the leading industries of the
Mahoning Valley have employed this organization for surveying and
solving of other technical problems.
George M. Montgomery was elected on the
republican ticket and served from 1900 to 1910 as county surveyor,
and was again elected to that office in 1918. He has also been
village engineer of East Youngstown and Struthers, and has been
resident engineer of the State Highway Commission since its
organization. His personal services have also been given to
the construction of many of the leading highways and streets of the
Mahoning Valley.
The old Montgomery farm where he spent his
boyhood has become an important industrial site for such plants as
the Youngstown Car Manufacturing Company, Republic Iron & Steel
Company and others. Mr. Montgomery's father was a Union
soldier and was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Montgomery is a member of the Ohio
Engineering Society and the Engineering Society of the Youngstown
District. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the
Elks. In 1897 he married Miss Ella A. Robinson,
daughter of James and Elizabeth Robinson of Niles, both now
deceased. They have two children: Mary, born in
1900, graduated from the Rayen School in 1919; and Robert M.,
born in 1902, graduated from Rayen School in 1920.
Source #2 - History of Youngstown & The Mahoning
Valley, Ohio - By Jos. G. Butler, Jr. - Vol. 2 - Publ. American
Historical Society - Chicago & New York 1921 ~ Page 59 |
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RANDALL MONTGOMERY. In
some men the business sense is remarkably developed and through it
they reach a place not attained by those who try to control affairs
for which they have no aptitude. It is now generally
recognized that no one reaches unusual success who works against his
natural inclinations, and when competition is so strenuous, men need
every assistance that developed talent can give in order to take
profitable advantage of offered opportunities and to be able to
develop legitimate business chances. Especially is this true
in Youngstown, where, although the field of operation is broad, the
rivalry is intense, and the man who distances others must be on a
constant strain to win the race of life. Such a man is
Randall Montgomery, vice president of the Youngstown Electric
Lighting Company, with which he has been connected since 1899.
Randall Montgomery was born in Mar. 6, 1851, a
son of Joseph and Nancy (Smith) Montgomery who came to
Youngstown from Erie County, Pennsylvania, and there Joseph
Montgomery worked as a saddler and harnessmaker. In time
he became a very prominent man and represented Mahoning County in
the State Assembly.
Growing up at Youngstown, Randall Montgomery
attended its schools, and in 1870 began his business career as clerk
for A. J. Morgan, a grocer, remaining with him for five
years. In 1875 Mr. Montgomery went with the
Fowler-Stambaugh Company as clerk, his period of usefulness with
that concern extending over ten years, and when the plumbing
department was added, he was made a partner, and the business became
Montgomery, Thompson & Co.
Following in the footsteps of his father, Mr.
Montgomery was active in politics and in 1888 was elected on the
republican ticket mayor of Youngstown, and re-elected in 1890.
It was during his administration that the electric alarm signal
system was installed in the fire department, and horse-drawn patrol
wagons put into use. Having made an enviable record as mayor,
he was the logical candidate of his party for the Legislature and
was elected on its ticket to the lower house in 1893 and again in
1895. In 1897 he was appointed city commissioner as a
republican and served for three years.
In 1899 he began his long connection with the
Youngstown Electric Company, as general manager, remaining with it
through the various changes until 1915, when he became vice
president at the time R. P. Stevens, was made president.
Mr. Montgomery has other interests, being president of the
Elks Building Company, of which he is a charter member; a director
in the Peoples Amusement Company which leases the Park Theater; and
director and treasurer of the Forsythe-Pattern Company. He is
a charter member of the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce, of which he
served as trustee for many years. In his fraternal relations
he mains membership with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows
and Elks, is one of the oldest members now living of the Youngstown
Lodge of the latter, and was a charter member of the Knights of
Pythias of this city. In the Masonic fraternity he has been
made a thirty-second degree Mason and is a charter member of the
Cleveland Consistory. He belongs to the Youngstown and Elks
clubs. In spite of the honors which have been conferred upon
him, Mr. Montgomery is very modest, unassuming and
approachable man, who is more occupied with the idea of giving the
people good service and a square deal than with his own importance.
Source #2 - History of Youngstown & The Mahoning
Valley, Ohio - By Jos. G. Butler, Jr. - Vol. 2 - Publ. American
Historical Society - Chicago & New York 1921 ~ Page 175 |
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EDMOND H.
MOORE is one of the most prominent members of the Ohio bar.
Distinguished honors have been bestowed upon him, and he has capably
discharged the added responsibilities as few men could, and declined
many other offered him, because he felt he could not accept them and
do justice to the duties already at hand. He was born in
Mahoning County on Oct. 16, 1862, a son of Alexander F. and
Elizabeth (Van Dalsem) Moore.
Alexander F. Moore was born at Milton, Mahoning
County, Ohio, a son of William Moore, who came from
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in 1810, to Mahoning County,
Ohio, and was here engaged in farming. It was on his father's
farm that Alexander F. Moore was reared, in the meanwhile
attending the neighboring schools. He read law at Canfield,
the old county seat of Mahoning County, with Samuel Gilson,
and after being admitted to the bar practiced his profession at
Canfield, Ottawa and finally at Youngstown. During his last
year he lived in retirement, dying at Canfield, to which place he
returned in 1893. He was prominent in democratic circles and
at one time was elected mayor of Canfield on the ticket of his
party. A man of exceptional ability as a lawyer and a
brilliant orator, he rose to a prominent height in his profession.
Edmond H. Moore is one of the two children born
to his parents, and after being graduated from the Rayen High School
of Youngstown, when only seventeen years of age, began teaching
school, and was so engaged for a period of eleven years. In
the meanwhile he read law, and was admitted to the bar when he was
only twenty-one years of age.. In 1891 he began to practice
his profession at Youngstown, and has been so engaged ever since
with the exception of the time occupied by him in holding office.
At present he is senior member of the legal firm of Moore,
Barnum & Hammond. In 1896 Mr. Moore was
elected on the democratic ticket mayor of Youngstown, and was
re-elected in 1898, serving in all four years. In May, 1911,
he was appointed state superintendent of insurance of Governor
Harmon, but resigned in February, 1914. He has been
democratic national committeeman from Ohio from 1912 to the present
time, and is recognized as one of the strongest men of his party in
this part of the state. Mr. Moore belongs to the
Youngstown Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and
the Knights of Pythias.
In November, 1890, he was married to Miss Emma
McKinney, of Petersburg, Ohio, who died in 1903, leaving two
children, Harold T. and Mark E. Both of these boys
served in the great war. Harold T. and Mark
E. Both of these boys served in the great war.
Harold was a lieutenant of Company A, One Hundred and
Thirty-Fifth Machine Gun Battalion, and served in France,
participating in the campaigns in the Argonne Forest and Belgium.
Mark was a sergeant in the Sixteenth Heavy Coast Artillery,
and saw service in the campaigns of Saint Mihiel and the Argonne
Forest.
Mr. Moore was married secondly on Nov. 9, 1905,
to Miss Martha Reznor, who died on Aug. 26, 1918.
Source: History of Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley, Ohio - Vol. II
- Publ. American Historical Society - Chicago & New York - 1921 -
Page 251 |
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JOHN JAMES MURRAY. In the
many years that he traveled, John James Murray was known from
coast to coast as an actor-manager, and his name has a high rank in
the realm of ministrelsy, vaudeville and comedy. At Warren,
where he has had his home for a number of years, Mr. Murray
has also been prominent as a theatrical manager, and his name is
also close linked with other business and civic interests.
He was born in the City of Chicago Apr. 7, 1867, son of
James and Ann (Dempsey) Murray. His parents were native
of Ireland, and both died when the son was a boy. Since he was
eleven years of age John James Murray has made his own way in
the world. While acquiring a limited education in the
parochial schools of Chicago, he sold newspapers on the streets and
did other work. In 1881, at the age of fourteen, he first
entered the amusement field, and for thirty-five years was active
and successful in all the different lines of the show business,
including the circus, minstrel, comedy and vaudeville, both as an
entertainer and manager. He and his companies played in all
the high class houses of the East and Middle West. In 1900
Mr. Murray & Mackey, and for several years owned and operated
the largest popular priced shows on the road. Their show was a
prominent feature at Warren during the Trumbull County Fair for many
years. Mr. Murray leased the Warren Opera House in 1908
and produced all the high class attractions until 1917, since which
time the opera house has been devoted exclusively to moving
pictures. In this field, largely due to the influence of
Mr. Murray, only the finest film features have been presented to
the people of Warren.
Mr. Murray is one of the most enthusiastic
believers in the great future of Warren as an industrial and home
center. He has associated himself with many of its
enterprises, being a director in the People's Savings & Trust
Company, and a stockholder in other concerns.
During the war he turned over his personal talents and
his resources to patriotic service and was active in the Liberty
Bond, Red Cross and War Chest campaigns, and was chairman of the
Trumbull County Labor Board. He is a charter member and
director of the Rotary Club and the Buckeye Club and has been a
member of the Order of Elks for thirty years, holding his membership
in Elmira Lodge No. 62. He is also a member of the Warren
Board of Trade.
Nov. 26, 1887, Mr. Murray married Miss
Florence Louise Long, a native of Cincinnati and daughter of
Louis and Catherine (Madenbach) Long. Mr. and Mrs. Murray
had three children, but the first two, Robert James and Florence,
are deceased. The only living daughter, Margaret Florence,
is now a student of the Ladies of Loretto Convent at Niagara Falls,
Canada.
Source: History of Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley, Ohio - Vol. II
- Publ. American Historical Society - Chicago & New York - 1921 -
Page 229 |
NOTES:
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