HENRY JAMES BOOTH, General
Freight Agent of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, was born in
Marietta, Ohio, October 3, 1843. He received in boyhood a
public-school education, graduating from the high school in 1860, and
afterward for a few months taught in Belpre Township, Washington
County. In March, 1862, he went to Oskaloosa, Iowa, and entered
the store of Loring & Bro. as clerk, remaining in the employ of
that firm and D. W. Loring for seven years.
At the expiration of that period Mr. Booth
returned to Ohio, and in August, 1869, secured a position as a
bookkeeper for Messrs. Warner, McArthur & Co., who were
building the Marietta & Pittsburg Railroad. Upon the opening of
that road he was appointed General Accountant, and subsequently became
Auditor of the Marietta, Pittsburg & Cleveland Railroad, remaining in
that capacity until November, 1875. In March, 1880, he was
employed as Chief Clerk in the general freight and ticket office of
the Cleveland & Marietta Railroad, and on the 1st of January, 1882, he
was appointed General Freight and Ticket Agent of the same company.
The connection of Mr. Booth with the Wheeling &
Lake Erie Railroad dates from October, 1882, when he was appointed its
General Agent, retaining a similar position with the Cleveland &
Marietta Road. June 1, 1883, he removed to Toledo and accepted
the position of Assistant General Freight Agent of the Wheeling & Lake
Erie Railroad. His appointment to his present position, that the
General Freight Agent of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, was
received February 3, 1892, and in this responsible place he has since
served with ability and efficiency.
March 22, 1865, Mr. Booth married Eliza G.
Fletcher, who was born in April, 1845, and is the daughter of
David and Caroline (Jack) Fletcher, natives of Westmoreland
County, Pa., but afterward residents of Oskaloosa, Iowa, for many
years prior to their death. The eldest child of Mr. and Mrs.
Booth is Walter F., who was born in Oscaloosa, Iowa,
October 30, 1867, and is now Auditor of the Cincinnati, Jackson &
Mackinaw Railroad. Charles L. is Teller of the Citizen's
National Bank of Marietta, Ohio. William L. has
been employed for a time as clerk in a railway office in Toledo.
Mable V., Clarence M. and Harold E. are with their
parents. Though not an active politician, Mr. Booth has
always been a stanch Republican and never fails to discharge the
duties of citizenship. He has hosts of sincere friends, who hold
him in high regard for his sterling qualities.
James M. Booth, father of our subject, was born
in Manchester, England, April 12, 1788, and came to America in 1802,
remaining in New York until 1810. He then removed to Marietta,
where he made his permanent home. His death occurred at
Marietta, Ohio, in January, 166. His second wife, the mother of
our subject, was known by the maiden name of Mary Loring Beebe.
She was born in Washington County, Ohio, in November, 1817, and died
at Marietta in January, 1894. Her parents, Dr. and Mary (Loring)
Beebe were of New England birth and were among the early settlers
of Ohio.
( Source: Portrait & Biological Record of City of Toledo &
Lucas & Wood Counties, Ohio - 1895) |
