BIOGRAPHIES
* Source:
Portrait & Biographical Record
of
City of Toledo and Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio.
Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company
1895
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JAMES G. KANEY.
A good citizen is ready to serve his country both in peace and war,
and he does it alike whether upon the battlefield or in pursuing his
usual occupation, and by a life of integrity and industry, helping
to build up the social and industrial interests of the city in which
he lives. A life thus spent is of benefit to all, and creates
a sentiment in behalf of both upright living and patriotic devotion.
Among the citizens of Toledo none are more highly respected for the
record they have made both, in peace and war, than the subject of
the accompanying notice, who is filling the responsible position of
First Assistant City Civil Engineer.
The family of which Mr. Kaney is a member
consisted of twelve children who attained years of maturity, he
being the fifth of the number. Their parents were Seraphen
and Hannah (Jackson) Kaney, the former of whom was a salt
manufacturer in Pennsylvania. It was during the residence of
the family in Tarentum, Pa., that James G. was born, Aug. 1,
1843. His father, realizing the benefit of a good education,
was desirous that he should have every possible advantage in order
to prepare for the active duties of life. At the completion of
his public-school studies, and a short attendance at a private
school, he took a commercial course in Pittsburg.
When less than twenty years of age, inspiréd with the
ardor of youth to a patriotic devotion to the Union, Mr.
Kaney enlisted with Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-third
Pennsylvania Infantry, Col. J. B. Clark commanding the
regiment. He was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Fifth
Army Corps. Among the engagements in which he participated
were those of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam and
Gettysburg, and he also took part in many minor battles where the
danger was equally great. though the results were not so important.
At the battle of Antietam he was severely wounded by a gun-shot in
the knee.
Upon being honorably discharged from the army, Mr.
Kaney returned home, and as soon as restored to health,
proceeded to Michigan, stopping in Port Huron, which was then in the
midst of its great oil excitement. However, he did not tarry
there long, but in 1867 came to Toledo and engaged in the hotel
business. In 1878 he was appointed assistant engineer of the
Maumee & Toledo (now the Clover Leaf) Railroad, and remained with
that company for three years. In 1881 he resigned in order to
accept the position of chief engineer of the Wheeling & Lake Erie,
also of the Belt Railroad. He continued to serve in that
capacity, his work giving the utmost satisfaction to his superior
officers, until 1888, when he transferred his interests to the
Tiffin & Fremont Railroad, of which he became chief engineer.
In 1892 he accepted the position of assistant engineer of the city
of Toledo, which he has since held. In the occupation to which
he has devoted all his active life, he is an expert, and his opinion
is deferred to in all matters relating to engineering.
The marriage of Mr. Kaney with Miss Ella F.
Ketcham was celebrated in 1869. The lady is the daughter
of Cornelius Ketcham, of Norwalk, Ohio. As might be
expected, Mr. Kaney is interested in Grand Army affairs.
He belongs to Forsyth Post No. 15, in the affairs of which he takes
an interest. Through his industry and executive ability he has
become the owner of valuable property, including his residence at
No. 225 Nineteenth Street.*
Source: Portrait & Biographical
Record of City of Toledo and Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio. Chicago:
Chapman Publishing Company, 1895 ~ Page 330
* Residence is no longer there. |
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JOEL W. KELSEY was born in the
state of Maine, on the 17th of December, 1819. His father,
Joseph Kelsey, and mother, Lucy (Lufkin)
Kelsey, were natives of Massachusetts. Joel
came to Toledo in July, 1845. He married Mary
Jane Ryder in August, 1849, and they had a family of four
boys, Joseph R., Edward W., Harry M.
and John M. Mrs. Kelsey died on the
15th of September, 1891.
Source: Portrait & Biographical
Record of City of Toledo and Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio. Chicago:
Chapman Publishing Company, 1895 ~ Page
245 |
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FRANK I. KING is the
surviving member of the firm of C. A. King & Co., who have obtained
a world-wide reputation for their crop and market reports, and who
are large dealers in grain and seeds. Mr. King was
elected President of the Produce Exchange in 1892, and in 1894
helped to organize the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is now
President.
A son of Frederic and Catherine (Pierce) King,
our subject was born in Paterson, N. J., in May, 1860. He
graduated from the high school of this city in 1877. In 1884,
he was elected to the City Council, and re-elected in 1886, without
any opposition, and served four successive years as President of
that body. In 1884 he became a member of the firm which is now
known as C. A. King & Co.
In October, 1882, Mr. King married Miss
Jennie Collins, and they have a family of four children,
Miriam, Adelaide, Frederic and Kate
Locke King. On questions of political bearings,
Mr. King is to be found on the side of the Republican
party.
Source: Portrait & Biographical Record of
City of Toledo and Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio. Chicago: Chapman
Publishing Company, 1895 ~ Page 213 |
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ALBERT
KIRK. There is nothing of more interest to the general
reader than a sketch of one who has won for himself both an enviable
reputation and handsome competence, though beginning without capital
or influential friends. According to this principle, a brief
account of the life of Mr. Kirk cannot fail to prove
interesting. He ranks among the retired business men of
Toledo, and has gained a sufficient amount of this world's goods to
make him easy and comfortable for the rest of his days through the
exercise of energy and sound judgment. A man of sterling worth
and superior intelligence, he has been closely identified with the
commercial and social prosperity of the city where he has made his
home since 1854.
A native of Ohio, Mr. Kirk was born in Stark
County, near the city of Massilon, Sept. 23, 1826. The family
of which he is a member originated in Germany, but has been
represented in America for a number of generations. His
parents, William and Maria (Miller) Kirk, were natives,
respectively, of Bald Eagle, York County, Pa., and Ohio, the mother
being a daughter of John Miller, one of the early settlers of
the Buckeye State. The parental family consisted of nine
children, who attained years of maturity, and of these eight are
still living.
Albert, who is the fourth child in order of
birth spent his boyhood years on the home farm, and alternated
agricultural pursuits with attendance at the district schools until
reaching his eighteenth year. Going at that time Canal Fulton,
Ohio, he served an apprenticeship of four years to the trade of a
tinner, and later spent one year in Medina County, this state, then
for three years he lived in Cleveland. The year 1854 witnessed
his arrival in Toledo, with the subsequent commercial history of
which he has been intimately associated. He began in the
manufacture of crackers with George Worts, the business at
first being very small, but as their capital increased they
increased the business until 1866, when the firm was changed to
Worts & Co., and so continued until 1873, when the firm was
changed to Worts, Kirk & Bigelow, and was operated under this
name until 1890, when it was merged into the United States Baking
Company. During these years Mr. Kirk gained a name as a
shrewd, far-seeing, discriminating and successful business man.
The plant was situated on St. Clair Street, and the machinery was
driven by a neat twenty-five horse-power engine. Constant
employment was given to thirty-or forty employes, and five traveling
salesmen represented the concern in the states of Ohio, Indiana and
Michigan prior to its becoming amalgamated with the United States
Baking Company. After having continued uninterruptedly in
business for twenty-six years, the partners finally, as stated
above, sold out their business, in 1890, still, however, retaining
their stock in the United States Baking Company, as well as their
real estate.
The lady who in 1855 became the wife of Mr. Kirk
was known in maidenhood as Miss Hannah S. Worts, and was a
resident of Toledo, being a daughter of Mannister C. Worts, a
resident of this city, but a native of England. Mrs. Kirk
was born in Detroit, and at the age of two years was taken to
Oswego, N. Y., where she was reared and educated, coming with her
parents to Toledo in 1853. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Kirk
resulted in the birth of six children, four of whom are still
living, as follows: Ezra E., Edward A., Bessie M. and
Arthur W. The family is one of prominence socially, and
is identified religiously with St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal
Church, in which Mr. Kirk has served as a Trustee for the
past thirty years. They have a pleasant home, which occupies a
valuable building site on Jefferson Street, one of the principal
residence streets of the city.
With everything pertaining to the progress of Toledo
and the welfare of his fellow-citizens Mr. Kirk is a hearty
sympathy, and his co-operation may always be relied upon to support
progressive measures. For two and one-half years he served as
a member of the City Council, and in other local positions has been
instrumental in promoting needed reforms. In his social
connections he is identified with Toledo Lodge No. 144, F. & A. M.
In politics Mr. Kirk has always been a stanch Republican.
The fine property which Mr. Kirk owns and the
comforts which surround his family are a creditable showing for one
who began in early youth with very little means and without
influence, and indicate the sturdy nature of the man top whose
determination and unflagging industry they are due. His
experiences have been diverse, his struggles hard and obstacles
many; but, undeterred by misfortune or hardship, he has worked
steadily onward, until he is now one of the well-to-do citizens of
Toledo. In all his enterprises he has received the
co-operation of his wife, a lady of refinement, to whom he owes no
small share of his success.
Source: Portrait & Biographical Record of City of Toledo and
Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company,
1895 ~ Page 419 |
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FREDERICK KOHLI, a
well-to-do farmer of Providence Township, was born in Switzerland,
June 8, 1855. His parents were Samuel and Eliza (Winkelman)
Kohli, both of whom were born, reared and died in Switzerland.
The father departed this life when our subject was an infant, but
his mother lived until 1885, when she, too, passed away. They
were farmers by occupation, and people highly respected in their
community.
Samuel Kohli was one of a family of nine
children, only one of whom survives. On attaining mature years
he came one of the more substantial citizens of his locality, and
was of much benefit to the community. His son, our subject,
spent his early life on his father's estate, and received a good
education. He became conversant with the French language, and
on emigrating to America soon mastered the English tongue. The
trip hither was begun May 18, 1877, and soon after landing in New
York he came direct to this state, locating on a farm with an uncle,
with whom he remained for three years, or until his relative died.
Our subject then purchased the place, which contained forty acres,
but the only improvement on it was a log cabin. His uncle had
come to America in 1851, and at the time of his decease was laboring
hard to clear his purchase. When the tract was taken
possession of by our subject, he continued the work of clearing it,
and lived in the little cabin until 1884, when his means made it
possible for him to erect a more substantial and comfortable
dwelling.
Mar. 17, 1881, Frederick Kohli married
Catherine Boyer, and their two children are Mamie E.,
born Oct. 11, 1882, and Frank, born Nov. 21, 1887. Our
subject has always been interested in educational matters, and has
done much to help on the good work in his district since he became a
member of the School Board. In politics he votes with the
Republican party. He is identified with the Lutheran Church,
and is held in the highest possible esteem by all who known him.
Source: Portrait & Biographical Record of City of Toledo and Lucas
and Wood Counties, Ohio. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1895 ~
Page 460 |
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CHARLES KOSCH.
Among the prosperous estates of Providence Township, Lucas County,
there is one comprising eighty acres on section 9, to which the eye
of the passer-by is at once attracted. Everything about the
place bears an air of neatness, and a complete set of excellent
buildings and the well kept fences add to the pleasing prospect
afforded by well cultivated fields. The place is owned and
occupied by the gentleman whose name opens this sketch, who was born
in Prussia, Germany, Sept. 17, 1849.
Charles F. and Henrietta Kosch, the parents of
our subject, were also born in the Fatherland, and after emigrating
to America, in 1860, located in Lucas County, on an estate in
Waterville Township. After two years' residence there, the
father purchased forty acres of timber-land in Providence Township[,
on which he erected a log cabin, making it his home until his
decease. His widow still survives, and lives on the old
homestead. Of their large family of ten children only four
survive.
Charles, who was the eldest of the parental
household, attended school for about five years prior to coming to
the New World with his parents. After arriving in this country
he attended school for part of three winters and gained a good
knowledge of the English language. He was married, May
10, 1874, to Rosa Sommer, who died June 7, of the following
year, leaving a daughter, Mary R., who was born May 20, 1875,
and who died Aug. 5 of that year. Mar. 28, 1880, Mr. Kosch
chose for his second wife Nellie Stamm, the daughter of
Philip and Eliza (Woolf) Stamm, natives of the kingdom of
Bavaria. Mr. and Mrs. Kosch's surviving children are:
Emma, who was born Jan. 18, 1883; Charles F., Nov. 17,
1885; Anna E., Mar. 21, 1888; Clara, in March, 1890;
and Alert, Aug. 28, 1893. William, the eldest,
born Oct. 1, 1881, died Sept. 19, 1893; and Nellie, born July
12, 1892, died Sept. 27, of the same year.
In 1870 Mr. Kosch made a purchase of eighty
acres of land in Providence Township, which he cleared, and erected
thereon suitable farm buildings, making of it one of the attractive
homesteads in the township. HE devotes his attention to mixed
husbandry, and thus far has been more than ordinarily successful in
the prosecution of his labors.
Prior to engaging in farm work, our subject employed on
the Wabash Railroad as a section-hand. In politics he is a
Democrat, and on that ticket he has served on two different
occasions as Trustee of his township. In 1895 he was elected
as Trustee of his township. In 1895 he was elected as Trustee
for three years. He has also been supervisor for period of
fourteen years, and in every capacity in which he has been before
the public has discharged his duties in a manner giving
satisfaction. He is a devoted member of the Lutheran Church,
and with his wife has many warm friends in this county, who highly
respect him for his upright and honorable life.
Source: Portrait & Biographical Record of City of Toledo and
Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company,
1895 ~ Page 428 |
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