|
ROBERT
McCURDY. For more than a quarter
of a century the late Robert McCurdy was the president of the
First National Bank of Youngstown, one of the most important
institutions of northern Ohio. He was much more - an
honorable, upright citizen, a man of sterling worth in every
relation of life, and a stanch supporter of everything that related
to the well-being of the city of Youngstown. He was born at
Castle Finn, county Donegal, Ireland, June 24, 1842, and was the son
of Dr. Robert McCurdy, who came to America when Robert Jr.,
was a child of 11 months. Settling on a small farm near Crab
Creek, Mahoning County, Ohio, he practiced his profession as
opportunity offered, and also cultivated his land, in order to
provide for the needs of his eight children. Of these still
three survive, namely: Dr. John McCurdy, Mrs. Mary Bentley
and Samuel D. McCurdy.
Robert McCurdy had very little of what may be
termed a helpful childhood. His surroundings were not those to
encourage leisure as soon as he became self-supporting, and probably
he was earning his own keep in the world when other lads, not much
better off, were scarcely thinking about it. In after years
Mr. McCurdy was disposed to look upon his early trials as good
discipline, and it is certain that in his case habits of industry
and economy were so early implanted that they greatly assisted him
through life. From the public schools he sought
self-supporting work in the neighborhood, and, in August, 1861, he
accepted a position in the old Mahoning County Bank. While he
retained his humble place, he performed its duties with the same
thoroughness that later characterized his management of the First
National Bank.
In becoming even a humble accessory to an important
business, a certain standing is assured, and so well did Robert
perform the duties assigned him that he attracted the attention of
his employers, among whom were some of Youngstown's most eminent
citizens. Before Long a clerkship was found for him when the
First National Bank was organized on June 2, 1863. On June 20,
1865, he was made cashier, in which position he served with such
ability and fidelity that when changes came about in the management
of the bank, early in 1877, Mr. McCurdy was elected
president, which office he served continuously from that time until
his death. During this period, covering some twenty-seven
years, Mr. McCurdy gained for the bank a reputation
which increased its usefulness and added materially to its strength.
Although Mr. McCurdy's primary business was
banking, he wa on numerous occasions interested, for a short time,
in some of the city's various important industries, and had a few
tentative interests at other points. He was, however, a
citizen devoted to Youngstown and took more interest in forwarding
her enterprises than in investing elsewhere, however flattering the
outlook might seem.
During the Civil War
Mr. McCurdy was an active supporter of the
Government. At its outbreak he enlisted as a member of the
155th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served three months in
Virginia before he was stricken with typhoid fever, which resulted
in his being discharged for disability. He was always a stanch
supporter of the Republican party, and took an active part in its
campaign work. On many occasions he served as a delegate to
various important conventions.
On Sept.
19, 1878, Mr. McCurdy was married to Isabella
Porter, a daughter of the late William Porter. Mrs.
McCurdy and their three children still survive. They
had two daughters, Isabel and Florence,
and a son, Robert H. The eldest daughter,
Isabell, is the wife of J. L.
Grandin, a business man of Boston, Massachusetts.
Mrs. McCurdy resides in one of Youngstown's finest
residences at No. 726 Wick avenue.
From
early manhood Mr. McCurdy was a consistent member
of the First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown, serving its needs in
many capacities - as Sunday school teacher, as clerk of the session
and as elder for the twenty-six years preceding his death. In
recalling Mr. McCurdy's many
spheres of usefulness, his fellow citizens must always associate his
memory with the Young Men's Christian Association, the Reuben
McMillan Public Library Association, and the Rayen School. In
1869 Mr. McCurdy became a member of the first committee that met to
organize a branch of the Young men's Christian Association.
Throughout the remainder of his life never did he lose his
enthusiastic interest in the organization, over which he presided as
president for five consecutive years. At the time of his
decease, Mr. McCurdy was one of the trustees of the
Reuben McMillen Public Library Association and it was mainly through
his efforts that Youngstown acquired the fine library that it now
possesses. He served from 1877 as one of the trustees of the
Rayen School and was continually concerned in its improvement and in
the maintenance of the high school standard for which it is noted.
He was vitally interested in many other noble and uplifting agencies
in his city and gave to them the best that was in him.
Mr. McCurdy was most charitably inclined, and never
turned a deaf ear to an appeal on behalf of a worthy cause.
His privates charities were known only to those closest to him; the
amounts so expended in relieving want and destitution were large
indeed, and constituted the greater part of his benefactions.
When contributions were solicited for the help of those who had been
the victims of any public calamity, his name invariably headed the
list with the largest amount.
Personally
Mr. McCurdy attached others to himself
irresistibly. He commanded admiration for his fearless outlook
on life and his untiring, energetic and thoroughly sincere struggle
against anything that interfered with his convictions of right.
He was one who was always known as a dependable man, one who could
never be swayed from the right course by sophistry or by an appeal
to his personal feelings. All those who knew him were not his
friends, because he was not in sympathy with much that he found in
the mass of his fellow citizens, but none could be found who did not
entirely respect him. His death occurred Mar. 25, 1904, at his
home in Youngstown, Ohio, after an illness of two years from
Bright's disease. A portrait of this admirable citizen appears
in connection with this article.
(Source: 20th Century
History of Youngstown and Mahoning Co., Ohio and Representative
Citizens, Publ. by Biographical Publishing Co. - Chicago, Illinois -
1907 - Page 436)
|
WILLIAM
BONNELL McELEVEY, dealer in real estate, stocks and bonds and
insurance, with quarters in the Dollar Bank building, at Youngstown,
is one of the city's representative business men. He was born
in 1866, at New Castle, Pennsylvania, and was 15 years of age when
he came to Youngstown.
Mr. McElevey
was educated at the public schools and was a student in the Rayen
School. During the early years of his business life he was in
the iron trade for a time and for five years was assistant
superintendent of the Mahoning Valley Iron Company. He then
went to Chicago as secretary and treasurer of the Lake Side Nail
Company, at Hammond, Indiana, and later was a broker in coal, coke
and pig iron. He spent ten busy business years in Chicago and
then left that great metropolis and returned to Youngstown.
Here he embarked in a general insurance and real estate business.
HE deals also in stocks and bonds and handles safe investments.
In his insurance risks he represents these companies; North British
and Mercantile, of New York; the Girard, of Philadelphia; the New
Brunswick, of New Brunswick, New Jersey; the Providence Life and
Trust Company, of Philadelphia; the Employers' Liability Assurance
Corporation, of London; the American Surety Company, of New York;
and the Etna Indemnity Company. Mr. McElevey is also
interested in other business enterprises of this locality.
For a number of years Mr. McElevey had been a
member of the First Presbyterian Church of this city. He
belongs to the Youngstown Club and to the Mahoning Golf Club. |
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. |
JOHN
McGILL came from Pennsylvania the same year and bought two
hundred acres where the village of Lowellville now stands. He
lived and died upon the farm. His sons were: James, Joseph,
Fenton, Robert, John, and William. There were also several
daughters. John and Robert died some years ago at Lowellville,
and probably none of the original family are now living.
(Source:
History of Trumbull & Mahoning
Counties
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches Vol I -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro. 1882 - Poland Twp. - 59) |
EMERY LAWSON McKELVEY,
secretary and treasurer of The G. M. McKelvey Company of
Youngstown, was born at Armagh, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, Sept.
27, 1866, and is a son of Nathaniel W. and Mary (McFeaters)
McKelvey, both parents being natives of that town.
Nathaniel W. McKelvey was for many years
extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits in Indiana County,
Pennsylvania. He served nine months in the Civil War, in
Company F, Second Battalion, Pennsylvania State Volunteers, taking
part in some of the most bloody battles of that long protracted
struggle. He lived to the age of 56 years, dying in Canton,
Ohio. The mother of E. L. McKelvey, who is the wife of
Hugh St. Clair, a retired farmer of Vinton, Iowa, had eight
children, of whom four are now living. |
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. |
GEORGE
M. McKELVEY, for a number
of years stood at the head of a score of the most successful
business enterprises of Youngstown, Ohio, and, until ill health
caused a partial retirement, was a notable example of the result of
perseverance and enterprise. Mr. McKelvey obtained his
education in the schools of his native county and for a time engaged
in teaching, which occupation he alternated with farming until 1869,
when he came to Youngstown. Having relatives already
established here, he became associated in dry goods and grocery
enterprise with his cousin, Lawson McKelvey, opening a store
on the corner of Mahoning and Oak Hill avenues, but subsequently
removing to Federal street, where for a time he conducted the Red
Hot Cash Store. By this time he had shown those business
qualifications which so marked his management of later and
larger enterprises. He then went to Hubbard, where the
Andrews & Hitchcock Iron Company had established a general
store, and became their manager, and continued to be
interested in that concern until his death.
Upon his return to Youngstown in 1882, Mr. McKelvey,
in association with L. E. Cochran and the late C. H.
Andrews, bought out the business of the E. M. Gillen
Company, which later underwent re-organization, Mr. McKelvey
becoming president of G. M. McKelvey & Company, with L. E.
Cochran, who is now president, as vice-president, and E. L.
McKelvey as secretary and treasurer. Mr. McKelvey
assumed the duties of general manager of this business and built up
one of the largest department stores in this section of the country,
one known over and beyond the state. There was no element of
chance in the remarkable success that he achieved.
Thoroughness in organizing and extending his great business was
joined to what may be termed almost genius in choosing his fellow
workers - and many of these were associates in other important
organizations as well as in his great mercantile business.
With C. H. Andrews, L. E. Cochran and others he was deeply
interested in the organizing of the Commercial National Bank, of
which he was president at the time of his death. He was one of
the organizers of the Standard Table Oilcloth Company, of which he
was director and chairman of the executive board; he was
vice-president of the Youngstown Iron & Steel Roofing Company;
vice-president of the Mahoning Foundry & Machine Company;
vice-president of the Edwin Bell Company, now of Pittsburg;
and director in the Ryan-Parker Construction Company of New
York.
In September, 1876, Mr. McKelvey was married to
Leah M. Brownlee, of Struthers, Ohio. He is survived by
his widow and five children, namely: Mrs. Letitia Morris, Lucius,
Mrs. Catherine Owsley, Florence, and Gertrude.
Mr. McKelvey was essentially a business man.
During the accumulation of his own fortune, he assisted in the
building of others by encouraging industries and enterprises in
which he had no interest beyond that of a sincerely public-spirited
citizen. He was always ready and willing to promote movements
for the public welfare, but in an intelligent and wise manner,
making no vain show of his wealth and prominence. He was a
member of the Youngstown Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of its
committee on public improvements.
For many years Mr. McKelvey was a leading
member of the Tabernacle United Presbyterian Church and a liberal
contributor of the support of its many charitable enterprises.
His fraternal relations were mainly with the Masons, he being a
member of Hillman Lodge No. 481, F. & A. M.; Youngstown Chapter, No.
93, R. A. M.; and St. John's Comamandery, K. T. He was also an
Elk; and belonged to the Royal Arcanum and the National Union.
His portrait is herewith presented.
Source: 20th Century History of
Youngstown & Mahoning Co., Ohio
and Representative Citizens - Publ. Biographical Publ. Co. -
Chicago, Illinois - 1907 ~ Page 615 |
| |
JAMES
McNABB was an early settler. His son James
lived upon the old place until his death in the year 1865. His
widow still resides there.
(Source:
History of Trumbull & Mahoning
Counties
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches Vol I -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro. 1882 - Poland Twp. - 61) |
| |
WILLIAM B.
MORAN is the son of Francis and Bidnigh E. (Taylor) Moran,
and was born in Leitrim county, Ireland, July 11, 1846. He
emigrated to America with his parents in 1852, locating in Trumbull
county. By his own efforts Mr. Moran secured a good
education, afterwards spending some time in teaching. In 1870
he began the study of law, and in 1872 entered the office of
Hutchins, Tuttle & Stull. He was admitted to practice
Sept. 28,1874, locating in Vernon. He has once or twice been a
candidate before the Republican convention for the nomination for
prosecuting attorney.
~Page 205 -
History of Trumbull & Mahoning
Counties
with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
Vol I -
Publ. Cleveland: H. Z. Williams & Bro. 1882 |
| |
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