BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
* Centennial History of Columbus, and Franklin Co., Ohio
 by William Alexander Taylor
 - Vols. I  & II -
1909
 

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

IJ

K

L

M

N

O

PQ

R

S

T

UV

W

XYZ

< CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO  1909 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >
< CLICK HERE TO GO TO LIST OF BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES >
 

	ALEXANDER E. N. JANTON.  Death is regarded as the natural conclusion of old age, but there is always a feeling of protest when it carries off the young, especially when the individual possess notable abilities and marked promise.  When death claimed Alexander E. N. Janton, then thirty-two years of age, a feeling of most deep and widespread regret was felt throughout the city of Columbus, where he had spent his entire life, and where his salient qualities of heart and mind had gained him the friendship of all who knew him.      He was a representative of a well-known German-American family, was educated in the city schools, was reared under the parental roof, and after completing his education had joined his father, George Janton, Sr., in the soap manufacturing business. This was one of the leading productive industries of the city, and after familiarizing himself with the business in various ways, Mr. Janton, of this review, was elected to the presidency of the company, operating under the name of George Janton & Sons Company.  He displayed good business ability, keen discernment and unfaltering enterprise, and accomplished what he undertook.  He did not follow along the methods which others had marked out, but initiated new plans and was recognized as a strong and forceful factor in business circles.      It was in 1902 that Mr. Janton was united in marriage, at Covington, Kentucky, to Miss Ella Wagner.  She was a native of Columbus and much of her life was passed in this city, although she was a resident of Covington at the time of their marriage.  Her father was Philip Wagner, long well known here, but now residing in Waverly, Ohio.      Unto Mr. and Mrs. Janton were born two children, Alexia and Minnie.      Mr. Janton, like most people of German nationality, or descent, was fond of music and possessed considerable talent in that art.  He was a member of the Columbus Maennerchor, and also held membership with the Bismarcks.  He was like wise one of the organizers of the Schwasteka Club, and fitted out the club rooms himself.  He held membership with the Eagles, and in all these different organizations enjoyed the friendship and good will of those with whom he came in contact.  Although for many months prior to his death he was incapacitated for business, in was only during the last two weeks of his life that he was confined to his bed, passing away April 27, 1908.  For years to come his memory will be enshrined in the hearts of those who knew him, for he had a cordial disposition and friendly manner that endeared him to his business and social associates. (Source: * Centennial History of Columbus, and Franklin Co., Ohio by William Alexander Taylor - Vol. II - 1909 -  Page 44)
	JOSEPH A. JEFFREY.  The manufacturing interests of this country have no more worthy representatives than Joseph A. Jeffrey, president of the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, of Columbus, and a man who has been actively connected with various other business enterprises to the benefit of all.  There is no man in Columbus who occupies a more enviable position than does Mr. Jeffrey in industrial and financial circles, not alone on account of the brilliant success he has achieved, but also on account of the honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed.  He possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution, and his close application to business and his excellent management have brought to him the highest degree of prosperity which is today his.      Mr. Jeffrey was born at Clarksville Clinton county Ohio Jan. 17, 1836.  His father, James Jeffrey, was a native of Monmouth county, New Jersey, and was a farmer and trader.  He married Angeline Robinson, a daughter of David Robinson, one of the early settlers of Warren county, Ohio, who was well known at Lebanon.  Joseph A. Jeffrey passed his school days at St. Mary's, Ohio, where he completed his education in the high school after which he spent four years as a clerk in a general store.  Later in life he removed to Columbus, where on the 21st of August, 1858, he secured a position in the office of Rickley & Brother, private bankers.  There he remained until 1866 in the various positions of bookkeeper, teller, and cashier, and in the year mentioned he left the capital city and removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged in the wholesale and retail carpet and furnishing business until 1869, as a member of the firm of Rickley, Howell & Company, having a fourth interest in the concern.  He disposed of his interest in the carpet business to J. J. Rickley and returned to Colu8mbus, where, in connection with S. S. Rickley, then of the firm of Rickley & Brother, bankers, he organized and established the Commercial Bank at High and Long streets, now the Commercial National Bank.      A year later Mr. Rickley sold his interest in the Commercial Bank to Orange Johnson and F. C. Sessions, these gentlemen, with Mr. Jeffrey forming a general partnership under the name of the Commercial Bank, with Mr. Sessions acting as the president, while Mr. Jeffrey became cashier.  HE held that position until 1883, when he disposed of his interest to Mr. Sessions and acquired a controlling interest in the Lechner Mining Machine Company of Columbus.  This enterprise was incorporated in 1878 with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, which has since been increased successively to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to three hundred thousand dollars and to three million dollars; and Mr. Sessions, who was previously connected with Mr. Jeffrey in the banking business, became the first president but was succeeded by Mr. Jeffrey, who has since been the president and general manger of the enterprise.  The company has been known successively as the Lechner Mining Company, the Lechner Manufacturing Company and the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company.      The scope of its operations has been broadened a good deal in successive stages of this history and it now manufactures all kinds of heavy mining and electrical machinery, which is shipped throughout the United States and to foreign countries.  The company ahs an extensive manufacturing plant housed in large stone, brick and steel buildings and employs from twenty-five hundred to three thousand men, a large majority of whom of necessity are skilled workmen, as some of the machinery turned out requires the highest possible finish.  The plant covers about thirty acres of ground and is located on the tracks of the Big Four Railway system, which affords first-class shipping facilities.  The company manufactures electrical machinery, dynamos, motors, under-cutting coal-mining machinery, electric and airpower drills, chain belting, elevators, conveyors, rope transmissions and coal washing and crushing machinery.      The efforts of Mr. Jeffrey have not been confined alone to one line, for his opinions carry weight in business circles generally, where he is known as a man of sound judgment and unquestioned ability.  He is president of the Ohio Malleable Iron Company of Columbus, Ohio; he is a stockholder, vice president and director in the Commercial National Bank of Columbus; is also a stockholder and director in the Ohio Trust Company; and is connected directly and indirectly with many other business enterprises of Columbus.      Mr. Jeffrey was united in marriage to Miss Celia C. Harris, daughter of Joseph and Deborah (Clark) Harris, the wedding being celebrated on the 2d of October, 1866.  They now have sic children:  Minnie G., Florence, Robert H., Agnes, Joseph Walter and Malcolm Douglas.   The eldest son, Robert H., is vice president and assistant general manger of the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company.  Joseph Walter is vice president and manager of the Ohio Malleable Iron Company, and the youngest son is assistant manager of the advertising department of the Jeffrey Company.  The eldest daughter, Minnie G., is a graduate of Gannett Institute, of Boston, Massachusetts, and is the wife of R. G. Hutchins, vice president of the Jeffrey Manufacturing Companyh.  Florence was graduated in the Smith College of Northampton, Massachusetts, and is now the wife of William Wilson Carlile, a lawyer of Columbus, Ohio.  Agnes is a graduate of Smith College and is now the wife of Frederick Shedd of Columbus.      Mr. Jeffrey served for five years as a trustee of the Protestant Hospital of Columbus, the Godman Gild House of Columbus, the Humane Society of Columbus, the Children's Hospital of Columbus, and also fo the Woman's Hospital of this city.  He is a director and trustee in the First Congregational church, of which he and his wife and children are members.  HE likewise holds membership in the Columbus Club, the Ohio Club of Columbus, the Arlington Country Club, the Columbus Country Club and the Middle Bass Club of Lake Erie.  In politics he is an outspoken republican.  His business career has been indeed very creditable, having established his present business, the Jeffrey Manufacturing Company and mainly through his efforts and direction having seen it grow from a very small beginning, the employment of a half dozen men, to its present large proportions with a capital and surplus of over four million dollars, employing when running full over-three thousand men, demonstrating the truth of the saying that success is not the result of genius but the outcome of a clear judgment and experience. (Source: * Centennial History of Columbus, and Franklin Co., Ohio by William Alexander Taylor - Vol. II - 1909 -  Page  790)
	GEORGE HEREODH JONES.  Among the members of the Columbus bar whose records reflect credit and honor upon the history of the judiciary of Ohio George H. Jones is numbered and his reputation bas been won through earnest effort in a calling which demands keen intellectuality. ready discrimination and careful analysis. He was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, June 9, 1857. The family comes of Welsh ancestry, the father, David D. Jones, having been a native of Wales. When seventeen years of age he became a resident of Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1843 removed to Ohio, engaging in merchandising at Portsmouth. He was for many years closely identified with the commercial interests of that city. where he maintained his residence until his death, which occurred in 1889 when he was eighty years of age. He held some local political positions and was well known in his county as a. substantial and prosperous citizen, noted as well for his uprightness and sturdy character. He wedded Margaret Griffith. who was of Welsh descent. and died February 21, 1904, at the age of eighty-nine years and six months.      George H. Jones, continuing his education through successive grades in the public schools of his native city, eventually completed the high-school course and tool: up the study of law in the office of Jones & Thompson, the senior partner being Colonel H. E. Jones; who commanded the Fifty-sixth Ohio Regiment, while the junior partner was Judge Thompson of the United State.- district bench. He afterward went to Cincinnati, where he attended law school and at the same time received practical training in the office of Judge Harmon. He was graduated from law college with the class of 1877, but as he had not as vet attained his majority he could not be admitted to the bar. At the invitation of Judge Slack, circuit judge at Huntington, Indiana, he went there to practice law and remained for a year, He then received a sub-judicial appointment with the collector of customs at Puget Sound, making his headquarters at Port Townsend, Washington. Shortly afterward he entered upon the practice of law and was chosen deputy prosecuting attorney for the entire section of western Washington, filling the position until 1883. He then devoted hi. energies to a. private law practice and was accorded a liberal clientage that was indicative of the ability which he displayed in handling the work of the courts.      Mr. Jones had come to he recognized as one of the leading representatives of the republican party and therefore was prominent in public affairs. In 1889 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention and while thus serving aided in framing the present organic law of the state. He represented an historic district. a part of which was San Juan islands. His knowledge of law and his study of the science of government well qualified him for the excellent work which he did in connection with the constitutional convention. He was very active in politics, attended all of the conventions of the republican party and was influential in shaping its policy. He also did considerable correspondence for the managers who sought to nominate William McKinley for the presidency. A chairman of the Jefferson county executive and central committees he called the first republican convention in the state of Washington, which endorsed the candidacy of Major McKinley and elected delegates to the state convention and sent delegates to the national convention which nominated McKinley in St. Louis in 1896. In 1898 President McKinley tendered him an appointment as special United States attorney in the judiciary department and he accepted it. After completing this appointment he was tendered an appointment as an assistant attorney at Washington, D. C., in the same department, but declined to serve. He was called to local office as president of the school board, and was also city attorney of Port Townsend for two terms. His practice extended to all parts of the state of -Washington and he also did considerable admiralty practice before the United States courts.      It was in 1900 that Mr. Jones established his law office in Columbus and has since been numbered among the ablest members of the capital city bar. In November 1902, he was appointed, without solicitation on his part, to the office of assistant attorney general by Attorney General Judge Sheets, and continued in that capacity until the close of the term in January. 1904. Mr. Jones was then made first assistant attorney general by Wade Ellis and served during his first term or until March, 1901, when he resigned to enter the active practice of law. He makes a specialty of corporation law and has a large and distinctively representative clientage of this character. He is also special counsel for the Columbus, New Albany & Johnstown Railroad, an electric interurban line. Few men have more intimate knowledge of corporation law or are more accurate in applying its principles. Both as an advocate and counselor Mr. Jones enjoys a high reputation and as an honored member of the Ohio State Bar Association.      On the 25th of October, 1883, in Portsmouth, Ohio, Mr. Jones was married to Miss Ada B. Finch, of that city. He is fond of fishing and makes it his principal source of recreation. While in the west he served as captain of Company I, of the First Regiment of the Washington National Guard for three years. Strong in his individuality he never lacks the courage of his convictions but there are as dominant elements in his individuality a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, have naturally gained to him the respect and confidence of men. In whatever relations of life he is found in the government .service, in political circles, in business or in social relations -he is always the same honorable and honored gentleman, whose worth well merits the high regard which is uniformly given him. (Source: * Centennial History of Columbus, and Franklin Co., Ohio by William Alexander Taylor - Vol. II - 1909 -  Page  15)

.