Alfred Compton

As printed in 1905

ALFRED COMPTON.

The subject of this sketch was born on a farm near Pleasant Run, Hamilton county, Ohio, on the 16th of July, 1833. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of southern Ohio, as appears more fully in the sketch of his brother, Freeman Compton, in this volume. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the reader is referred as above indicated.

Alfred Compton was the seventh child in a family of ten born to Abraham and Abigail (Phillips) Compton. His education was acquired in the district schools of his native locality in the well-remembered old school house at Pleasant Run. At the age of about sixteen years he became an apprentice to the carpenter’s trade in Hamilton. Later he worked at the business for a time in Piqua, Ohio, and from the latter place he went to Iowa, which state was then rapidly developing with the impetus of westward emigration. Mr. Compton located at Columbus City, in the Hawkeye state, and there began his career as a contractor and builder. After ten years thus spent, he returned to Ohio and in 1864 located at Symmes Corners, a village four miles south of Hamilton, and, from that point as headquarters, he continued the work of contracting and building for ten years. He then moved to Hamilton and for a short time he was in partnership with his brother Freeman. On the 1 st of June, 1875, the brothers dissolved their business relations, since which time Alfred Compton has given his entire attention to the lumber business. He has occupied a very desirable and convenient location at the southwest corner of Third and Sycamore streets for nearly thirty years and enjoys a fine trade in all kinds of lumber and building materials. Mr. Compton has been phenomenally successful in a financial way and stands in the front rank of Hamilton’s corps of able business men. The site upon which his yards are located represents quite a fortune in market value, while he carries a heavy stock of goods at

Google all times. In addition to this his rentals from numerous residences in the city yield him a handsome income. His possessions are wholly the result of his own well-directed energies and business sagacity.

While a resident of Iowa, Mr. Compton was married to Miss Nancy Jane Luckey, a native of Piqua, Ohio, born on the 4th of February, 1835. This union was solemnized at Columbus City, Iowa, on the 30th of March, 1854, and proved a most happy marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Compton have had six children born to them, two of whom died in infancy. Francis, a prominent young man of eighteen, lost his life as an employe of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company. The living children are Lester and Thomas L., engaged in business with their father, and John A., a transfer man in Hamilton. Lester is unmarried and lives at home with his parents. Thomas married Martha Jane Green, and their three children are named Mary Jane, Thomas Alfred and Paul Dewitt. John married Miss Laura Frazier and their only living child is Alfred. Thus the ancestral name Alfred is to be perpetuated through succeeding generations.

The subject of this review and his estimable wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on the 30th of March. 1904. It is a pleasant duty to record the fact that this event, which is of seldom occurrence in these days of “divorces for trivial cause,” only emphasized the wisdom of their first choice, and shows that in spite of the lapse of half a century, the “old, old story” of love, trust and confidence was reaffirmed and intensified at the nuptial altar of 1904.

Mr. Compton has been an active member of the Church of Christ for many years and is a zealous and conscientious worker in the cause of Christianity. Nearly all the years of his membership have been spent in some official capacity in the church, but mostly as a member of the official board. Mrs. Compton is also a member of the same religious organization, a devout Christian lady and an active member of the various ladies’ societies connected with the church. In political affiliations Mr. Compton has been a lifelong Democrat, but has never allowed his name to go before the people as a candidate for any public office. He regards politics as a “necessary evil,” as the affairs of the political parties are usually conducted, and has no place in his make-up for the chronic office seeker. Social orders, or lodges, he classes in the same category as politics, withholding the word “necessary.” But he is not aggressive in forcing his views upon others, giving to all the same privileges which he claims for himself.

As printed in Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio (1905). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.