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SCIOTO CO., O. -
JOHN PEEBLES.
A man of indefatigable enterprise and marked fertility
of resource, John Peebles, of Portsmouth, has
long been identified with the advancement of the
commercial and industrial interests of this part of
Scioto County, and as the result of his ability and
efficient management has not only achieved distinction
in business circles, but has gained a comfortable
fortune. He was born at Pine Grove Furnace,
Lawrence County, Ohio, a son of
John Geddes and Martha
(Steele) Peebles, of whom an extended history
may be found on another page of this biographical work.
After leaving the public schools, John Peebles
attended Sewickley Academy, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania,
and the State Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio.
Entering then the employ of Johnson, Peebles
& Co., he was a clerk in the office of their hub and
spoke factory until 1873, when, in partnership with
Joseph G. Reed, he embarked in the whole sale dry
goods business, which he continued for a quarter of a
century. He then disposed of his interest in the
firm in order to devote his entire time and energies to
his father's business affairs, which were numerous, and
of much importance. In 1902 Mr. Peebles,
with characteristic enterprise and foresight, organized
the Peebles Paving Brick Company, of which he has
since been president. The Peebles family
still retain the interest of John G. Peebles in
the iron business, and Mr. John Peebles is
director and vice president of the Bellefontaine Iron
Works Company and of the Ashland Iron and Mining
Company. He also served as president of the
Portsmouth National Bank from the time of his father's
death until that institution was consolidated with the
First National Bank of Portsmouth.
Mr. Peebles was first married in 1870 to
Sarah Lynn Tewksbury, who was born at Wheelersburg,
Scioto County, a daughter of Moor Russell and Sarah
(Lynn) Tewksbury, and a granddaughter on the
paternal side of Ezekiel Tewksbury, a native of
Amherst, Massachusetts, who married Sallie Barron,
of North Haverhill, New Hampshire. On the maternal
side she was a granddaughter of Andrew and Jane Lynn,
of Brown County, Ohio. Mrs. Sarah L. Peebles
died July 7, 1881, leaving one daughter, Martha
Steele Peebles. Mr. Peebles married,
second, in 1888, Antoinette Lloyd. She was
born in Portsmouth, a daughter of Richard and Mary
Ella (Bentley) Lloyd, and a grand daughter on the
maternal side of Aholiab and Mary (McCauley) Bentley,
and great-granddaughter of Benjamin and Mary
(Baldwin) Bentley. By his second marriage
Mr. Peebles has two children, Miriam and Joseph
Bentley. Martha Steele Peebles married
Elmer Dover, and has one daughter, Mary
Elizabeth Dover. Miriam, his youngest
daughter, is the wife of Jay Lee Cross, and they
have one child, Jay Lee Cross, Jr.
Joseph Bentley Peebles married Ellen Vandervoert,
and they have one child, Martha Bentley
Peebles.
Mr. and Mrs. Peebles
are members of the Second Presbyterian Church, and have
reared their children in the same religious faith.
Fraternally Mr. Peebles is a member of Aurora
Lodge No. 48, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons;
of Mount Vernon Chapter No. 23, Royal Arch Masons; of
Solomon Council No. 79, Royal and Select Masters; of
Cavalry Commandery No. 13, Knights Templar; of the Ohio
Consistory; of Syrian Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of
the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and is a thirty-third
degree Mason, and an honorary member of Trinity
Consistory No. 2. of Nashville, Tennessee.
Source: A Standard History of The Hanging Rock Iron
Region of Ohio, Vol. II - Illustrated - Published by The
Lewis Publishing Company, 1916 - Page 799 |
 |
JOHN GEDDES PEEBLES.
A man of pronounced ability and forceful individuality,
John Geddes Peebles, for many years one of the
more prominent and influential citizens of Portsmouth,
was widely known as one of the original "iron masters"
of Lawrence County, and as a prime mover in the
development of one of the leading industries of his
times. A son of John Peebles, he was
born, Nov. 30, 1813, in Ross County, Ohio, about five
miles from Chillicothe, on a farm located on Lick Run,
coming from thrifty Scotch stock.
His paternal grandfather, William Peebles,
was born in Scotland, in the Town of Peebles, near
Edinburgh, and was but an infant when taken by his
parents to the North of Ireland, where he was reared and
educated. Coming to America in early manhood, he
settled in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and at the
breaking out of the Revolutionary war raised a company
of soldiers, which he equipped at a personal expense of
£400. Going to the front with his brave men, he
was wounded in a battle with the Hessians at Flat Bush,
Long Island, on Aug. 28, 1776, and died from the wounds
received on Sept. 5, 1776, his remains being buried on
Long Island. After his death the United States
reimbursed his family in Continental money, and also
gave to his family a deed to 2,000 acres of not very
valuable land. The widow and her three children
were left in such limited circumstances that it was
necessary to dispose of the land as early as possible,
regardless of price.
John Peebles was born in Shippenburg,
Pennsylvania, Nov. 21, 1769, and was scarce seven years
of age when his father was killed in battle. He
served an apprenticeship at the cabinet maker's trade
when young, and lived in his native state until after
his marriage. In 1807 he started with his family
for Ohio, traveling with wagons to Brownsville,
Pennsylvania, where he purchased a flatboat on which he
proceeded to Pittsburgh, from there coming down the Ohio
River to Portsmouth, Ohio, arriving in June, of that
year. Continuing the journey with wagons, he
settled in Chillicothe, where he followed his trade five
years. Subsequently buying land near Paint Creek,
he built a distillery, which he operated until it
burned. He then invested in a tract of timbered
land situated five miles from Chillicothe, on Lick Run,
and having erected a sawmill began to manufacture
furniture from the beautiful cherry and walnut timber
that was found in abundance on his place. Soon
trading that land for property in Chillicothe, he lived
there until 1819, when he started with his family for
the prairies of Illinois. Putting his household
goods on a keel boat, he sailed down the canal, landing
in Portsmouth, Ohio, Apr. 2, 1819. Mrs.
Peebles objected strongly to going to Illinois, and
as he was satisfied with Portsmouth and its future
prospects he decided to remain, and with that end in
view bought a hotel on Front Street. A short time
later he established a factory for the making of nails,
which was then a slow process, twenty-five pounds a day
being all that one man could make, and as the price of
nails ranged from 50 to 75 cents per pound the venture
was not profitable, and lasted but a brief period.
Soon after his settlement in Portsmouth, John
Peebles became active in public matters, and was
often chosen to offices of trust and responsibility.
He was a member of the first board of health of the
city; was custodian of standard measures of Scioto
County; was assessor; overseer of the poor; trustee of
Wayne Township; secretary of the county agricultural
society; and was a director of the Columbus and
Portsmouth Turnpike Company. He spent his last
years at Hanging Rock, Scioto County, his death
occurring Oct. 22, 1846. His wife, whose maiden
name was Margaret Rodgers, was a daughter
of Richard and Rachel Rodgers. She was born
in Shippenburg, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1777, and died in
Scioto County, Ohio, Aug. 28, 1847. They reared
nine children, as follows: William; Rachel R.
married Robert Hamilton; Elizabeth became
the wife of Dr. Hempstead; Fanny D.;
Jane F. married Robert Wood; Richard R.;
Margaret R.; Joseph S.; and John Geddes.
One child, Margaret, died in infancy.
John Geddes Peebles was educated in the pioneer
schools of Portsmouth, and at the age of fourteen years
entered the employ of his uncle, John McCoy, a
merchant in Chillicothe, with whom he remained eighteen
months. Returning then to Portsmouth, he was
variously employed until 1836, when, in company with
Capt. Francis Cleveland, he embarked in mercantile
pursuits. The panic of 1837 put him out of
business, as it did many others who had been much longer
established. In a paper bearing the date of Feb.
18, 1830, the following advertisement appeared:
"Removal
"Portsmouth Hotel and Stage Office.
"John Peebles has removed to the commodious and
well-known stand which he formerly occupied on the
corner of West and Water Streets, near the steamboat
landing (owned by E. Glover, deceased). The
establishment is now fitted up at considerable expense
and care, and he is prepared with accommodations more
extensive and more convenient than he has ever before
been able to offer the public. Persons desirous of
taking a passage on either stage or boats, or those
coming off at any time, day or night, will find this
stand conveniently suited, and attention will be given
at all hours. To those persons who have favored
him with their custom he returns his grateful thanks and
solicits a continuance, and assures every one who may
favor him with a call that no attention will be wanting
to contribute his utmost to their comfort and
convenience.
"The commission business is continued by John
Peebles as usual and attention paid to the landing
of steamboats. Those who may favor him with
consignments may depend on their business being
conducted with care and goods disposed of agreeable to
instructions at price as low as any regular house."
Mr. Peebles built up a very good business
as a commission agent, taking goods consigned to him on
a flatboat and trading along the river until he
converted them into cash. He was variously
employed until 1842, when he located at Pine Grove
Furnace, where he worked at carpentry, in the meantime
making a practical study of the iron industry. In
1844 he was made manager of the entire business at the
furnace, and continued in that capacity ten years.
In 1844, with his brother, Joseph S. Peebles, and
Samuel Coles, he invested his savings, acquiring
a half interest in both the Pine Grove Furnace and the
Hanging Rock Coal Company. Possessing excellent
business judgment and discrimination, and being wise in
the management of his affairs, Mr. Peebles
met with rare success in his ventures, in a few years
acquiring wealth and prestige in the business world.
He was also conspicuously identified with many other
commercial enterprises, among the most prominent of
which may be mentioned the following: the Belfont Iron
Works Company; the Ashland Coal Company; the Ashland
Coal and Iron Railway Company; the Lexington and Big
Sandy Railroad Company; and the Portsmouth National
Bank, of which he was a director and later president
from 1875 until his death.
Mr. Peebles was a resident of Ironton
from 1864 until 1865, when he returned to Portsmouth and
bought a commodious residence at the corner of Second
and Washington streets. His death was caused by an
accident, on Oct. 30, 1901. He was active in
business until his death, and devoted much of his time
and means to charitable works. Liberal in his
benevolence, he was ever ready to lend a helping hand to
any good work, being of a deeply sympathetic and
charitable nature and animated by the broadest spirit of
humanitarianism. He served as president of the
Board of Trustees of the Children's Home for many years,
and was deeply interested in its affairs. Greatly
interested in everything concerning the public, he took
much pleasure in clipping items of interest from papers
and magazines, and had in his library several volumes of
interesting articles that he had thus accumulated, and
from which Mr. Evans in his history of Scioto
County copied extensively.
Mr. Peebles married, June 10, 1835, Martha
Rose Steele, who was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, May 29, 1816, a daughter of Robert
Steele.
Of the nine children born
of their union, five grew to years of maturity, namely:
Robert, deceased; John, of whom a brief
sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume;
Margaret J., deceased; Mary E., and
Richard R., deceased. The daughters remained
with their father, caring tenderly for him in his old
age. Both were equally active with him in church
affairs and works of benevolence, ever ready to serve
the suffering and needy. Since the death of her
sister Margaret, Miss Mary Peebles has
traveled extensively both at home and abroad.
Source: A Standard History of The Hanging Rock
Iron Region of Ohio, Vol. II - Illustrated - Published
by The Lewis Publishing Company, 1916 - Page 914 |
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