William Haith McCormick
Submitted by Richard McCormick 14 June 2018
A HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS By E.
POLK JOHNSON 1912 The Lewis Publishing Company
Transcribed by Kim Mohler
WILLIAM HAITH MC CORMICK – For over thirty years William Haith McCormick has been prominently identified with the business life of this part of Kentucky, as a dealer in furniture for public buildings, with headquarters in Cincinnati, and for a long time he held the field without any competition whatever. Previous to that time he followed the river life, a vocation inherited from his father, William Taylor McCormick, who possessed a fifty-four year record as river captain and steamboat man, which, it is needless to say, has not been excelled, if equaled.
Mr. McCormick was born in Campbell County, Kentucky, on a farm situated near the mouth of Twelve Mile creek, on the 3rd day of April, 1846. His father had been born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his mother, Maria (Young) McCormick, had first seen the light of day at California, Campbell county, Kentucky. Mr. McCormick’s ancestry is interesting and in its typically American annals is included much that is patriotic and inspiring. There is a mingling of the Scotch and Irish elements in it, and the first member to come to America emigrated early in the Colonial period.
John McCormick, the
great-grandfather of the subject of the biography, was a soldier in the
Revolution and held a colonel’s commission, the coat of his uniform having been
a prized possession of Mr. McCormick’s father. This ancestor was born in Ireland
in 1748, came to America when a youth, and died at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. His
descendants may claim affiliation with the Societies of the Colonial wars, for
he was a member of the militia which protected the frontier. During the French
and Indian wars one of the McCormick homes was stockade and called Fort
McCormick.
William T. McCormick, Mr. McCormick’s father, came to Kentucky in 1837, when a
young man, and located on a farm in Campbell county, near the town of
California. Shortly after attaining his majority he secured a position as mate
on a steamboat plying between Cincinnati and New Orleans. He was subsequently
promoted to the office of captain and, as said before, followed the life of a
steamboat man for over half a century in the navigation incident upon southern
trade. His record was one of the longest known to Ohio and Mississippi river men
and he enjoyed a remarkably wide acquaintance. He was a vigorous, energetic man
and during all his years upon the river also managed and maintained a farm with
success. He retired from navigation business and retired to his country
homestead only about a year previous to his death, which occurred September 14,
1890, his years at the time numbering seventy-six.
William T. McCormick was three times married. His first union was with Mrs.
Elizabeth Dunlap Cross, a native of California, Kentucky, who bore him one
child, a daughter named Adelia, who is now the widow of L N Rouse, of Covington,
Kentucky. A brother of the first Mrs. McCormick was Milton Dunlap, a soldier in
the Mexican war who lost his life in that struggle near Monterey, in Mexico. His
second marriage was with Maria Young, also a native of California, and the
daughter of a pioneer Kentuckian. Five children, three daughters and two sons,
blessed this union, and of the number two survive at the present day, Mr.
McCormick and Mrs. J W Baldridge, of Covington, Kentucky. Mrs. Nancy (McCormick)
Cormack became the third wife and was the mother of four children, of whom three
are living at the present day.
William H. McCormick passed his boyhood years upon the farm and received the
advantages of a liberal education, being graduated in 1861 from Cold Spring
Academy. After completing his educational training he continued upon the farm
for a couple of years and then went on the river with his father. Having
followed the river life in various capacities, he finally assumed the highly
responsible position of pilot, his route lying between St. Louis and New
Orleans. He made his adieux to this vocation in 1875 and located at New
Richmond, Ohio, where he conducted a hotel and livery for a couple of years. In
1877 he sold out and became connected with a school furniture company as
salesman.
For many years he has conducted a
successful business in opera house and church furniture and has maintained
offices and salesrooms in the Queen City for more than thirty years. He
conducted the first distinct church furniture business in the United States and
for a long period had absolutely no competition. He is one of the oldest, best
known and most successful men in his line, which has experienced decided growth,
and he has handled many large contracts. He has not limited his energies and
executive ability to this one line, among his accomplishments being the
organization of the Bank of Dayton, of whose board of directors he has been a
member from the first.
In politics Mr. McCormick pays fealty to the Republican party and is a close
student of public affairs. He is the friend of good education and it is indeed
appropriate that he should be serving as president of Dayton’s board of
education. He finds much pleasure and profit in his lodge affiliations, which
extend to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.
On September 15, 1870, Mr. McCormick was united in marriage to Mary E. Dawson, a
native of Brown county, Ohio, and a daughter of Amos Dawson, a man well known in
that community, who served at one time in the Ohio legislature. To this union
were born five children, four sons, all of whom are living, and a daughter who
died in infancy. The sons are: William Courtney, a dentist of Manchester, Ohio;
Frank Earle, a physician and surgeon of Memphis, Tennessee; Orville Allen, of
Cincinnati; and Byron Lowell, who resides at home. The wife and mother died
September 18, 1905. Mr. McCormick’s second marriage was contracted July 12,
1910, with Nellie May Bissell, a native of London, Canada, and a daughter of
William Bissell, who resided in Newport, Kentucky, for several years, and who is
now a citizen of Norwood, a suburb of Cincinnati.