William Beckett

As printed in 1894

WILLIAM BECKETT. In the days when Butler County was almost in its infancy and every day witnessed some new incident of importance to the infant state, there came either and settled herein a family that from the days of pioneer settlement until the present has been prominent in the development of the resources of the community and has worthily represented its interests. One of the honored members of this family is the subject of our sketch, who has long been identified with the business interests of Hamilton and is widely known as the President of the Beckett Paper Company.

Born in Hanover Township, Butler County, Ohio, March 17, 1821, William Beckett is one of nine children (five sons and four daughters) born to the union of Robert and Mary (Crawford) Beckett, natives of Pennsylvania. Three of the sons are deceased, one of them, May. David Beckett, a man of superior ability and a graduate of Miami University, having been killed in the late war, at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. The children who survive are William, of this sketch; Eleanor, wife of John Y. Scouller, D. D., who has officiated as a minister at Fair Haven, Preble County, Ohio, for a half-century; Sarah, widow of Capt. John McKee, who enlisted in the Civil War and died from the effects of a wound l’received at Murfreesboro; Mary, wife of William E. Brown, of Hamilton; Martha, who married Rev. John Aten, of Madison, Ind.; and Robert, now living at Fair Haven, Ohio, but in feeble health as the result of the hardships of army life during the war. Besides the above-named children there were two other sons: John, who died in boyhood; and James, who passed away in Hamilton a number of years ago.

The father of this family came to Ohio with his parents in 1803, when Hamilton was a mere fort and trading-post, and about the time of the admission of Ohio into the Union. He was then a lad of eleven years, and from that time until his death, in 1863. at the age of sixty-nine years, remained a resident of Butler County. A man of energy and excellent judgment, he accumulated through his unaided exertions about twelve hundred acres of good land. He purchased the interest of the other heirs of the estate, and after the death of his father settled on the old homestead, where our subject was born, and where his own death occurred. His wife survived him about ten years, when she died, at the age of seventy-eight. In religious belief they were members of the United Presbyterian Church. Politically, he affiliated with the Whigs until the organization of the Republican party, to which he afterward gave his support. In this community he was a man of influence and considerable prominence, and greatly respected on account of his high standard of character and sympathy with every’ project that promised to advance the interests of the county. In him the poor ever found a friend, and from him the needy received practical assistance.

The paternal grandfather of our subject, James Beckett, a native of Ireland, emigrated to America about the period of the Revolutionary War. For a time he occupied a farm in Washington County, Pa., but this he sold, and in 1803, with his family, moved west to Ohio, and settled in Butler County. Purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land, he cleared and improved a farm, where he remained until his death, at an advanced age. In religious connections he was a Presbyterian. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Taylor, was a member of an influential family of western Pennsylvania; she survived him fourteen years and died at the age of seventy-seven years. In their family there were six children.

Our subject’s maternal grandfather, John Crawford, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Westmoreland County. He was a relative of the Colonel Crawford who was burned at the state. In 1812 he came to Ohio and settled near Middletown, in Butler County, where for many years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. On retiring from active business cares he moved to Hamilton, where his death occurred some time during the ’40s, at the age of about seventy years. He inherited from his Scotch ancestors the traits of industry, sociability and thrift characteristic of that nationality. His religious connections were with the Presbyterian Church, to which his wife also belonged.

We now come to the narration of facts immediately connected with the life of our subject. His youthful years were uneventfully passed in Butler County, and he was the recipient of the best educational advantages the state afforded. He is a graduate of Miami University of Oxford, from which institution at different times have been graduated five men afterward prominent as Governors of Ohio. After completing his course in the university he read law with his father-in-law, John Woods, an attorney of Hamilton, and, completing his studies, was then admitted to the Bar in this city in 1846. At once forming a partnership with his father-in-law, he continued for a time in this connection. He did not, however, possess a love for the profession, his tastes running in the line of trade and speculation, in which way he accumulated considerable property early in life.

It is with the Beckett Paper Company that the name of Mr. Beckett is most closely associated. In 1848 he built a paper mill, of which he has since been President. He is probably the oldest paper manufacturer in the United States, and the industry of which he is the head is a large concern, with a capacity of twelve thousand pounds of paper per day, and furnishing employment to sixty hands. In real estate, also, Mr. Beckett has been deeply interested, and has laid out eighteen additions to the city of Hamilton, having been one of the largest property owners of the place. He was one of the prime factors in the building of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Indianapolis Railroad, and also aided in building the various turnpikes of the county. In the development of the city, and in every matter calculated to increase its prosperity and develop its commercial resources, he has been warmly interested, and Hamilton owes as much to him as to any other resident.

While Mr. Beckett is well-to-do, he has met with many reverses and has not found the path to fortune an unchequered one. When the panic of 1873 fell upon the country he lost about $600,000, of which about one-half was security indebtedness; but in spite of this heavy loss he persevered until he has paid dollar for dollar upon a great portion of his debt, and the remainder he expects to pay. In all his business transactions he is strictly honest and reliable, and has therefore gained the confidence of business men throughout the state.

September 22, 1846, Mr. Beckett was united in marriage to Miss Martha, daughter of John and Sarah (Lynch) Woods, and there have been born to them eight sons and three daughters, namely:

Robert, Sarah, Frank, Eleanor, John, William, Thomas, Cyrus, Howard, David and May. Of these, Robert, Howard and David are deceased. Sarah, wife of Horace Woodruff, has three children, Howard, William and Frederick. Eleanor, wife of Robert McKinney, has one child, Dorothy. William first married Marion Beck, and this union resulted in the birth of two children, Alma and Henry. After her death he was united with Miss Ella Bonner, and they have two children, Margery and Guy Hamilton. Thomas, who is interested in the paper mill, being Secretary and Treasurer of the company, was married in October, 1894, to Miss Matie Millikin, daughter of Dr. Daniel Millikin, and a very accomplished and highly educated lady, who spent several years in Europe completing her education. May is the wife of Dr. Mark Millikin, and they have one child, Frances. The family is connected with the United Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Beckett is a Deacon.

In political matters our subject thinks deeply and feels strongly, but has never cared for official position. He was one of the delegates to the convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency in 1860 in the Chicago Wigwam. In public affairs it has been his aim, not to attain prominence as a partisan, but to vote for men of principle and power, men who will hold the office given them as a sacred trust from the people, to be used only in their behalf and for their trust and highest interests.

As printed in Memorial record of Butler County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of representative citizens of the county together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States (1894). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.