Bixby Family

Bixby Family
Source: A Bixby family history (familysearch.org)

Lizzie Bixby Campbell knew little of her family prior to her father, Edwin Bixby, a jeweler in Ironton, Ohio. It was her belief that the Bixby’s came to America much later than the Campbell’s although this has been found untrue.

During the summer of 1932, while the writer was engaged with the U, S. Bureau of Reclamation in Denver, Colorado and engineering associate brought to his attention the fact that Mr. Kenneth B. Keener’s middle name was also Bixby. At that time, Mr. Kenner was assistant to the Senior Engineer in charge of the design of dams. Some years later he was promoted to Chief of the Design Division of the Bureau and became prominent in the civil engineering profession.

In a discussion with Mr. Keener in 1932, it was learned that both he and my mother were elderly and both living in Columbus, Ohio. We wrote to our mothers advising each of the other’s addresses. From that time, Anna Bixby Keener and Lizzie Bixby Campbell became close friends. Mrs. Keener conducted my mother on a trip to the old cemetery near West Broad Street and showed her the grave of her grandfather Rufus Bixby.

Rufus Bixby. 18, crossed Lake Champlain by sleigh on the ice when the family moved westward. As Rufus’ and Lucy’s fourth child was born at St. Albans, Vt. in June 1831, and the fifth child was born at Cleveland, Ohio in August 1833, it is likely that Rufus and his family crossed Lake Champlain in January or February 1832. There was a heavy migration westward to the rapidly growing state of Ohio at that time. Much of the travel was probably made by the water as the barge canal from Albany to Buffalo was completed in 1825.

Travel from Buffalo to Cleveland was commonly done by lake vessels. The 1830 census shows that the population of Cleveland was 1,076, while that of Columbus was 2,435, or more than double. The Ohio Canal was opened from Cleveland to Newark, thirty miles east of Columbus by 1830.

Rufus Bixby’s wife, Lucy, died in Columbus, Ohio on July 28, 1835. In the newspaper called Ohio 5tate Journal on October 25, 1865, under the heading “Died” and reads as follows: “On Sunday morning, October 22. 1865 at 4 o’clock., Rufus Bixby, age 68 years.

The funeral services will be held at the Baptist Church this afternoon at 2 o’clock. The friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend.” It is worthy of note that Rufus Bixby 18 was a Baptist. Rev. R.H. Bixby who compiled the Bixby record, Bixby was pastor of the Cranston Street Baptist Church in Providence, R. I.

The American Baptist organization originated in Rhode Island in 1639. There were probably numerous Baptists among the New England Bixby’s. Rufus Bixby is buried in Columbus, Ohio, at Greenlawn Cemetery, Lot 12, Section G, and grave 3. Rufus’ second wife Mary Stone Bixby is buried in Grave 4.

According to the Ironton Register Newspaper, Edwin Bixby came to Ironton, Ohio, in 1854. He started a jewelry business in a room back of the old Second National Bank, with but one showcase and $500 worth of merchandise.

The business prospered and was moved to a house that he had bought in the Center Block, south of the business district of that time. Edwin’s jewelry store continued there until 1889 when he built a new store at Third and Vernon Streets. Sometime later, the business was moved to 106 South Second Street where it was operated by his son, Frank Bixby in the 1920s.

Edwin Bixby married Elizabeth Wilson at Ironton, Ohio, on 22 Nov. 1855. They had eight children, five of which had their own children. It is known from old letters that Edwin was in Ripon, Wisconsin in the fall of 1861. The Bixby record states that Edwin’s younger brother, Albert Stone Bixby married Helen Patton at Ripon in 1866. Edwin and Elizabeth had three children: Edwin Lizzie and Walter.

Edwin died in 1906 in Ironton, Ohio, and was buried in Woodland Cemetery. Edwin has been credited with having been one of the principal promoters of the establishment of Woodland Cemetery.

Elizabeth Wilson Bixby came from a remarkable family, judging by the outstanding careers of two brothers: Edward Stansbury Wilson and Henry Bramble Wilson. Edward was born in Newark, Ohio in 1841. It is believed that Edward’s older sister, Elizabeth was also born in Newark in 1836. Henry B. Wilson was born in 1847.

Their parents were Henry and Elizabeth Bramble Wilson. Henry Wilson, the father, was born in Morgantown, WV. He was a saddler by trade and was known to be an ardent church worker. Henry and Eliza Wilson moved their family to Ironton, Ohio. Their daughter Elizabeth Wilson married Edwin Bixby in 1855.

Edwin and Eliza’s other children were Edward S. Wilson, Henry B. Wilson, and Sue Wilson. The latter child Sue married Burton Burr, who was a son of Halsey Burr, a banker. Edward S. Wilson was born in Newark, Ohio on 6 Oct. 1841 the family moved to Ironton, Ohio, in the early 1850s and he attended Ironton public schools. E.S. Wilson studied law before the Civil War and during his military service.

The 91st Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry received his enlistment in 1862. During the war, he rose to the rank of lieutenant with the brevet rank of captain. The title of “colonel” was bestowed on him in later years by friends in Columbus, Ohio. He was wounded at the Battle of Stephenson’s Depot, near Harpers Ferry, Virginia on July 20, 1864. He was furloughed and. admitted to the bar in the same year, but he never practiced.

In August 1865, E. S. Wilson bought the Ironton Register with money he had saved from the Army pay and a loan. It was then a small-town weekly newspaper, but the business prospered. E. S. Wilson married George Anna Wilson, on 20 Oct. 1870. He sold the newspaper in 1900 and it became a daily newspaper soon afterward.

He was a staunch Republican and as a newspaper editor, became prominent in politics. E.S. Wilson served as a presidential elector in 1844 and as a delegate to the Republican Convention in 1888 which nominated Benjamin Harrison. He served four years as a school examiner for Lawrence County, Ohio, and was a Trustee for the Ohio Hospital for Epileptic 1890-1900.

Late in 1900, E. S. Wilson was appointed by President McKinley as US Marshall to Puerto Rico. He served capably and was reappointed by President Roosevelt in 1905. However, he decided to leave the tropics and resigned from his post that year.

In the meantime, Edward and Georgia Wilson’s daughter, Florence married Robert O. Ryder, who had become editor of the Ohio State Journal. In 1905 he arranged for his father-in-law to become editor of the Ohio State Journal.

E.S. Wilson was the author of four books during his lifetime. “Oriental Outing” 1894 was a collection of dispatches to the Ironton Register during a cruise of the Mediterranean countries. “Keynotes of Education” 1898 was stimulated by his actives as Lawrence County School Examiner and was widely read. “Political Development of Puerto Rico” 1906 was based on his experiences while serving as US Marshall. “Poetry of Eating” 1908 is a collection of Ohio State Journal editorials, which were liberally interspersed with humor.

Col. Wilson died on 18 Dec. 1919 at the age of 93 and was survived by his wife and three daughters. Mrs. Robert E. Ruedy, Cleveland Height, Ohio, Mrs. Robert O. Ryder, Columbus, Ohio, and Mrs. Charles C. Hammond, Pittsburgh. E. S. Wilson is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Ironton, Ohio.

Henry B. Wilson was born in Newark, Ohio in 1847. He married Mary (Molly) E. Willard of Ironton, Ohio, the daughter of George Willard, a director and President of the First National Bank of Ironton.

Henry Wilson became a cashier of the First National Bank in 1872 at the age of 25 and served in that capacity until 1888. He became Vice-President of that bank from 1885-1890.

Henry Wilson became a wealthy man through his association with Emerson McMillan, a truly remarkable man. The latter quit school at age 10 and during the Civil War, he enlisted and served in the 18th Ohio Infantry. After the war, McMillan tried the mercantile and coal businesses. He worked as a laborer for the Ironton Gas Works. In the later part of the 19th century, artificial gas was produced by heating coal. It could be used for lighting with the help of a gas mantle, for domestic cooking and heating, and for industrial power by means of the old Corliss engine.

Emerson studied chemistry and was promoted to superintendent of the gas works. He devised a new method of gas purification and became the general manager of the gas company. He also served on the City Council for a while. Before leaving Ironton, he acquired a fortune by buying municipal gas companies, increasing operating efficiencies, and earnings, and then selling the companies.

According to the obituary of Henry B. Wilson in the New York Times, he went to New York City in 1890 and established the banking firm Emerson McMillan and Company which was to have offices at 40 Wall Street.

Henry B. Wilson died on 7 March 1909 and was survived by his wife and three daughters: Mts. T.R. Fell, Mrs. Sterling Beardsley of New York City, and Mrs. Paul Comstock of Richmond, Indiana. His wife, Mary W. Wilson died in 1930. Both are buried in Woodland Cemetery, Ironton, Ohio.

Lizzie Fisk Bixby was born in Ironton, Ohio, on 17 Dec. 1858, the second child of Edwin and Elizabeth Wilson Bixby. She graduated from Ironton High School and attended the Young Ladies Institute at Granville, Ohio during 1876-1877.

She married Harry H. Campbell on 28 May 1878 and took a honeymoon to Niagara Falls and New York City. At this time Harry was a member of the firm of H. (Hiram Campbell and Sons. The company-built Sarah Furnace in 1877 and operated it until it took bankruptcy in 1888. The family lived in a two-story frame house on South Second Street built by John Clarke in 1874. Harry Campbell built a new brick house on the northwest corner of South Fifth and Jefferson Street ca. 1906.

Lizzie Campbell outlived her husband, who died on 17 Jan. 1924. She then moved to Columbus, Ohio in 1926 to live with her oldest child, Marian C. Mitchell at 322 West Ninth Avenue. Elizabeth Campbell died of pneumonia in Columbus, Ohio 6 March 1934 and is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Ironton, Ohio.

Walter Albert Bixby was the third child of Edwin and Elizabeth Wilson Bixby. He was born in Ironton, Ohio, on 28 April 1861. During his youth, Walter worked in clerical positions for Buckhorn Furnace, in Lawrence County, Howard Furnace in Scioto County, and Clark Furnace in Tennessee.

Walter moved to Galena, Ohio, in 1883 for a position with the Galena Gasworks. He was married there to Lizzie LeComte Holmes on 8 Oct. 1885. Walter died at Springfield, Mo., on 11 June 1912 and is buried in Hazelwood Cemetery. His wife, Lizzie H. Bixby lived until 28 Dec. 1935, and is also buried in Hazelwood.

Lawrence Henry (Hal) Bixby was the fourth child of Edwin and Elizabeth Wilson Bixby. He was born in Ironton, Ohio 6 Jan. 1864. He managed Chattanooga, Tennessee Water Works for forty years before his retirement in 1927.

It is interesting to speculate whether Hal Bixby was engaged as a young man of 22 years to represent McMillan interests in Chattanooga. At one time, Hal was associated with the American Water Works and Electric Corp., which could have been one of McMillian’s holdings.

Lawrence Bixby married Myrtle Willey at Chattanooga, there was one child, Ethan Willey Bixby. Hal Bixby died at Chattanooga, on 16 Dec. 1931, and was survived by his wife and son. His wife died in Chattanooga on 25 Jan. 1940.

Clara Allison Bixby was born in Ironton, Ohio, on 8 June 1866, the fifth child of Edwin and Elizabeth Wilson Bixby. She graduated from Ironton High School and attended Denison University. She moved to Belton, Texas in 1893 to take a position as an instructor at Baylor University. Clara died unmarried in Dallas, Texas, on 19 Oct. 1921 and was buried in Ironton, Ohio, Woodland Cemetery, Lot #31, Section 7.

Frank A. Bixby was born in Ironton, Ohio 31 August 1868 Ironton, Ohio, the sixth child of Edwin and Elizabeth Wilson Bixby. He started working for his father in the Bixby Jewelry Story. An Ironton Register article 1892, states Frank Bixby was in charge of the spectacle department and that he was an optician of skill and experience.

Frank married Minnie Moffatt who was born in 1868. Minnie had a good soprano voice, and a newspaper article shows her in a photograph as having had a leading part in “The Mikado” at the Ironton Opera House in 1907.

Minnie outlived Frank, who died in 1944. They had no children, and in her elder years, she lived with her sister-in-law, Grace B. Justice in Covington, Virginia.

Grace Bixby married Dr. Harry B. Justice of Ironton, Ohio. Dr. Justice’s early practice was in industrial medicine with a steel company at Clifton Forge, Virginia. In later years, Dr. Justice was in private practice in Covington, Virginia. Grace died 4 Aug. 1951 and Dr. Justice died 1 Nov. 1952, there were no children from this marriage.

Howard Bixby was born on 24 May 1875, in Ironton, Ohio, the eighth and youngest child of Edwin and Elizabeth Wilson Bixby. He married Jessie Kirker of Ironton on 15 June 1896.

They lived there for 4-5 years while Howard was employed by his uncle Harry H. Campbell at the Ironton Wood Mantel Company. Howard remained in the insurance business until his death at St. Paul on 29 Dec. 1929. He is survived by his wife and three sons. Jessie Bixby died 7 Jan. 1970.

Addition tidbits from area newspapers, from The Lawrence Register Archives

BIXBY SQUARE

• IR Aug. 2, 1866 – Bixby, the Jeweler, has been enlarging and improving his storeroom.  For neatness and taste, it is without a rival in the city.
• IR Sept. 11, 1873 – E. Bixby now owns the roundhouse in what was the old fairground.  He bought a square there.
• IR Nov. 10, 1887 -Levi Henry has made a contract with Mrs. Urich to build a residence for her on the Bixby square, just below Lynd’s upper grocer.
• IR May 5, 1892 – Harwood & Crawshaw, the insurance agents, have rented the first-story office in Bixby’s new building.
• IR Oct. 5, 1893 – E. Bixby has added ten feet to the jewelry store building.