The Dickey Family of Montgomery County, Ohio

WILLIAM DICKEY, deceased. Among the successful self-made men of Dayton, few were better known or more thoroughly respected than the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this biography. His father, Adam Dickey, was born in county Antrim, Ireland, in the year 1768, where he lived until seventeen years of age, then, with that love of freedom characteristic of his race, he emigrated to America, 'eating in Pennsylvania, where, about 1790, he was married to Mary McKee, and nine years later, with his wife and three children, he started for the West and settled at Fort Washington (now Cincinnati), where he was afterward joined by two of his brothers, who had also left their oppressed fatherland to seek a home in the New World, Here he began the manufacture of brick, making the brick for the first house of that kind erected at that point. He followed brick-making until about 1804, when he removed to near Middletown, Butler County, Ohio, where he engaged largely in billig, farming and distilling, building his own flatboats and shipping the produce to New orleans, following this business until 1828, in which year he died, his wife surviving jm about fifteen years and dying in 1844. Adam Dickey was a very successful bushes man, but, owing to reverses by fire and otherwise, his affairs were crippled to such ii extent as to render him a comparatively poor man previous to his death. The sublet of this sketch was born near Middleton, Butler County, Ohio, August 10, 1805, ad was the seventh in a family of eleven children, of whom only one survives. His cilities for obtaining book learning were exceedingly meager, but, reared upon the soil d injured to hard labor, he acquired, by contact with the world, that practical know- %e which is the indispensable condition of success. Having arrived at his majority, he took a contract for work on the Miami Canal, and of all the contractors on that public work he was the last survivor. He was subsequently engaged, for several years, in a similar capacity on the Ohio Canal. On April 19, 1832, he married Miss Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Van Cleave, of Butler County, and for some years was employed in farming, having a short time previous purchased, in connection with his brother, the homestead of his father. In April, 1839, he became a resident of Dayton, where he engaged respectively in the manufacture of brick, in contracts on the Miami & Erie Canal, and, in connection with his brothers, in quarrying limestone in the vicinity of Dayton. This last industry has since attained great magnitude. For a number of years succeeding, he conducted a line of canal packets between Cincinnati and Toledo and between the latter city and Terre Haute, Ind. During some twenty years of frugal industry, he saved up quite a respectable capital, and in 1850 became a private banker, in company with Joseph Clegg, Esq., and Daniel Beckle, Esq., the latter since deceased. He was subsequently, in connection with the above named gentlemen, one of the organizers of the Miami Valley Bank, of Dayton. He was one of the incorporators of the Dayton Gaslight and Coke Company and for some twenty years its President He was also one of the organizers of the Ohio Insurance Company, in 1865, of which he was President until his death. In 1866, he had the misfortune to lose the sight of his right eye by cataract, and nine years afterward his left eye became similarly affected, so that he was entirely deprived of the power to read and could distinguish his friends only by their voices. Mr. Dickey was a man of sound judgment and thoroughly good sense. Though deprived of the polish that education gives, he was characterized by great kindness of heart, decidedly modest manners and a quiet benevolence that never publishes its deeds to the world. He was distinguished for sterling integrity from his youth to his death. His caution and prudence, combined with the industry of his business life, have rendered his career a gratifying success, so that he ranked amoiij the wealthiest citizens of Dayton. He died July 15, 1880, leaving a wife, son and two daughters. The son, Samuel A., who was President of the gas company and a prominent, coal merchant, died in August following the death of his father. The daughter: are Mrs. Henry C. Graves, of Dayton, and Mrs. Charles B. Oglesby, of Chicago.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

OBERT R. DICKEY, president of the Dayton Gas Light & Coke company, has been a citizen of the Gem City for over half a century, and for the greater part of that time has been closely identified with the business interests of the city. Mr. Dickey was born near Middletown, in Butler county, Ohio, on October 26, 1816, and is the son of Adam and Mary (McKee) Dickey. Adam Dickey was a native of county Antrim, Ireland, where he was born in 1768. He came to America in about 1784, and located near Mc- Connellstown, Pa., where in the year 1790 he married Mary McKee, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and was second cousin to George Washington. In 1799 Adam Dickey, with his wife and three children, and in company with an uncle, whose name was Doyle, came to Ohio and settled at Cincinnati, then Fort Washington. They made the trip down the Ohio river in two flat boats built by Mr. Dickey, on which he brought two four-horse teams and two wagons. He lived in Cincinnati for four years and while there was joined by two brothers, who came over from Ireland. While in that place he was engaged in making brick, and the first brick house erected in Cincinnati was built from brick made by Mr. Dickey. In 1803 he removed to Butler county, and settled near Middletown, where he engaged in farming, milling and distilling, building his own flat boats and shipping his produce to New Orleans markets. His death occurred in 1828, his wife surviving him until

Robert R. Dickey was but eleven years of age when his father died. Although a successful man, his father, toward the close of his life, met with reverses through fires and other misfortunes, and left his family in poor circumstances. Thus it was that at the above tender age the son was thrown upon his own resources and was compelled to begin the struggles of life at a time when he should have been at school. However, his lack of early schooling was compensated for by an experience with the world and with people, that stood him in good stead in afterlife. Following the death of his father young Dickey was employed in a brick yard, where he worked an average of fourteen hours a day, receiving the sum of $4.87 per month for his labor. Afterward he worked upon a farm for $5 per month. In 1830 he was employed upon the public works of Ohio and Indiana by his brothers, who were contractors, and at the age of seventeen was made superintendent of a large gang of men. In 1842 he located in Dayton, and in connection with his two elder brothers — John and William — was engaged in quarrying stone until 1853. In 1847 he was connected with the firm of Dickey, Doyle & Dickey in placing a line of packet boats on the Wabash & Erie canal, and later, under the firm name of Doyle & Dickey, he built the locks at St. Mary’s and at Delphos. In 1845 Mr. Dickey was one of the organizers of the Dayton bank, and was for several years one of its directors. In 1852 he became a partner in the Exchange bank with Messrs. Jonathan Harshman, Valentine Winters and J. R. Young. In 1853 he became one of the largest stockholders in the Dayton Gas Light & Coke company, of which he was elected president in 1855. Three years later, ill health compelled his retirement from the presidency of the company, though he continued as a director. At the annual election in 1880, however, Mr. Dickey was again chosen president of the company and has held that office continuously up to and including the present time. During the years 1854-55-56 Mr. Dickey was president of the Dayton & Western Railroad company. He was one of the original stockholders of the Dayton National bank in 1865, and has been one of the directors of that concern since 1868. Since January 1, 1894, Mr. Dickey has been president of the Dayton Globe Iron works, one of the leading manufacturing institutions of the city.

On June 17, 1850, Mr. Dickey was married to Martha J. Winters, who was born in Dayton and is descended from one of the leading pioneer families of the city. Her father was Valentine Winters, who was one of the most prominent citizens and successful financiers of the community during his life, and her grandfather was the Rev. Thomas Winters, a pioneer minister of the Miami valley. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Dickey three sons have been born, as follows: William W. Dickey, born in 1852, died on July 15, 1896; Valentine Winters, born in 1855, died March 30, 1890; Robert R. Dickey, Jr., the only survivor, is one of the prominent young business men of Dayton.

Both in point of residence and in age Mr. Dickey is one of Dayton’s oldest citizens. He is likewise one of the most prominent representative men of the city. During his residence of fifty-five years he has witnessed the growth of the Gem City from a small place of about 6,000 people into one of the largest and most prosperous and beautiful cities in Ohio, and towards this growth and development he has contributed his full share. His life has been a most active and successful one, and his efforts have all been made along lines that have proved of material benefit to the entire community, so that success to him has meant something to the city. His business career has been a most remarkable one and points a moral, demonstrating what can be accomplished by man’s efforts, energy and perseverance when supported by native ability. Beginning life’s battle at the age of eleven years, with no capital save his energy, pluck and determination to get on in life and better his condition, Mr. Dickey has succeeded in gaining a place in the very front rank among the leading and successful citizens of Dayton. All of this has been accomplished by his own unaided efforts. As a financier, Mr. Dickey is considered one of the ablest and most sagacious in the city. Shrewd and courageous, yet careful and conservative, his management of the affairs of the concerns of which he has been the head has been both strong and wise. As a citizen he has always discharged to the fullest extent the duties incumbent upon all good citizens. As a man he is kind and considerate, genial in disposition, with a desire to do justice to all men, and his many sterling traits of character have won for him a large circle of warm friends.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

R. R. DICKEY, President of the Gas Light and Coke Company, Dayton, was born near Middletown, Ohio, October 26, 1816, and is the son of Adam and Mary (McKee) Dickey who are spoken of in the sketch of William Dickey, deceased. Our subject was che youngest of a family of eleven children, and is to-day the only survived. At the age of eleven years, through the death of his father, he was thrown upon his own resources, and at this tender age he became employed in a brick yard, working fourteen hours per day at $4.87 per month, and, afterward worked upon a farm at $5.00 per month, where he became imbued with that spirit of industry which has characterized him through life. Under those circumstances his advantages for an education were very limited, but by observation and rough contact with the world he acquired that knowledge of men and affairs that cannot be gained in the school room. When but a lad, he began working upon public works in Ohio and Indiana, for his elder brothers, who were prominent contractors, and at the age of seventeen he was made superintendent of a large gang of men, continuing for several years on the public works of those States. In 1842. he became a resident of Dayton, where he engaged with his brothers, John and William, in quarrying stone, which he followed until 1853. In 1847, he was Connected with the firm of Dickey, Doyle & Dickey, in placing a line of packet boats on the Wabash and Erie Canal, and under the firm name of Doyle & Dickey built the 'reservoir lock at St. Mary’s, and the locks at Delphos. In 1845, he was one of the organizers of the Dayton Bank, and for several years was one of its Directors. In 1852, he became a partner in the Exchange Bank with Messers. Jonathan Harshman, V. Winters and J. R. Young, and in 1853, became one of the largest stockholders in the Dayton Gas Light & Coke Company, of which he has ever since been a Director. Mr. Dickey served as President of the Gas Company from 1855 to 1858, retiring on account of ill health, but at the annual election in August 1880, he was again elected President, and is at present filling that position in such a manner, as to reflect much credit upon his business capacity and integrity. In 1852, he became identified with the Dayton Insurance Company, and also held an interest in the Dayton & Western R. R., being President of the latter company from 1854 to 1856, inclusive. In 1856, he went to Kansas and invested largely at the first sale of the Delaware Indian trust lands, and the following year put two hundred acres under cultivation, raising the largest crop of corn grown in the State up to that time. Mr. Dickey was one of the organizers of he Dayton National Bank in 1865, and, since 1868, one of its Directors. By this it vill be seen that R. R. Dickey has been one of the most active and prominent business nen of this city for nearly forty years, doing his full share toward building up its moral md material interests. He was married June 27, 1850, to Miss Martha J. Winters, daughter of Y. Winters, Esq., of Dayton, of which union three sons have been born, the eldest, William W. and Valentine B., being now extensive stock-growers in Colorado. From the rough experience of his early life Mr. Dickey learned the virtues of self-reliance, industry and frugality, clear-headed, shrewd and cautious in business affairs. Seis, withal, a man of genial manners and generous impulses, one who is trusted and /expected throughout the community of which he has been so long a leading citizen.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected.

SAMUEL A. DICKEY, deceased. The skill of the workman chisels the rough marble block into a shaft of beauty and fashions the letters that tell of the birth, ag( and death of the silent sleeper beneath, but age defaces the inscription, covering tin monument with the misses of decay, while history preserves in its pages a record o the departed one that time renders more prized and valuable. In the gentleman whose name heads this sketch we have a member of one of the leading families of Dayton and although he had but reached the meridian of life when stricken down by disease and death, had yet attained, by his own exertions and business capacity, a commanding position in the commercial arena of the Miami Valley. He was born in Dayton, Ohio March 16, 1840, and was the son of William and Sarah Dickey, a sketch of when will be found in this work. His boyhood days were passed in attending the schools of his native city, going thence to Wittenberg and Oxford Colleges, receiving a thorough English education. He began his business career by starting a wholesale and retail coal and general fuel depot, which he operated successfully for about seventeen years or until failing health compelled him to retire from active business. He was married October 12, 1865, to INI iss Sarah E. Ilayner, the daughter of Lewis Hayner. of Troy Ohio, to whom was born two children: Bessie H. and Arthur C. In business circles Samuel A. Dickey was always recognized as one of the most energetic, practical men of Dayton, and in August, 1866, he was elected a Director of the Dayton Gas Company, and President of the same May 10, 1876, which he held until his death. The sad event occurred August 9, 1880, from what is known as progressive locomote ataxia, with which he had suffered for about two years. Mr. Dickey was a man of quiet, unassuming disposition, kind and charitable, devoid of all ostentation, a ma of actions rather than words, whom the poor and afflicted never sought help from t vain, and in his home he was ever the fond father and affectionate husband. As President of the Gas Company he was looked upon as a shrewd, efficient and capable official, firm and unyielding in what he believed to be just, and exhibiting a knowledge jot men and affairs far beyond his years; but the brightest page in his record was that his honesty and integrity were never doubted, his word always being considered as good as his bond.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

ROBERT R. DICKEY, JR.

It has been said that the most difficult position in which any man can be placed is that in which he must stand comparison with a successful and honored ancestry, for the world is apt to judge of his work not by its individual merit but rather to claim that its accomplishment has its rise in inherited tendency or in favorable influence. In the control of important business interests, however, Robert R. Dickey, Jr., has proven his own strength and given indication of his enterprise, his initiative spirit and a strong and stalwart purpose. Born in Dayton in 1867, his youthful days were spent in the home of his father, Robert R. Dickey, Sr., and his preliminary education was acquired in the public schools. The father determined that the son should not be handicapped by a lack of education as he was in his youthful days and sent him to a preparatory school in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Desirous of enjoying still higher educational facilities, Robert R. Dickey then entered Yale University, from which he was graduated in 1888.

Following his return to Dayton, he started in business life as assistant secretary in the Dayton Globe Iron Works, continuing in that position until 1893, when his previous experience and developed powers led to his selection for the position of secretary. Four years later, in 1897, he was chosen president and treasurer of the company and now occupies this dual position, in which connection he is devoting his energies to executive control and administrative direction. In other fields of labor he has also given proof of his keen business discernment and powers of systemization. He was one of the organizers of the Acme Sign Printing Company in 1894, became its first president and so continued for eleven years, while at the present time he is secretary and treasurer of the American Board & Box Company, their successors. He is also the vice president of the Cooper Hydraulic Company and from 1899 until 1908 was secretary of the Dayton View Hydraulic Company. For four years he has been director and for two years vice president of the Winters National Bank, is a director in the Oakwood Realty Company, in the City Railway Company and in the Dayton Country Club Company, while since 1907 he has been president of the Dayton Gas Light & Coke Company. In all these positions he has proven that he is liberally equipped with the force of character and ambitious spirit that are necessary in the accomplishment of results in the business world, and in all of his undertakings he keeps in close touch with the spirit of modern business enterprise and progress.

In 1894 in Dayton Mr. Dickey was married to Miss Myrtle Thacker, a daughter of Newton Thacker, and they have one son, Robert R. Dickey, In. The parents hold membership in the Episcopal church, in which Mr. Dickey is serving as a vestryman, and their attractive personal qualities have won them notable social prominence.

As printed in the source³. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.