Eugene C. MacKenzie
Eugene C. MacKenzie,manager of the Fidelity Coal & Supply Company, of Lima, was born in 1856 at Kalida, Putnam County, and is a son of Judge James Mackenzie, whose biography appears elsewhere in this volume. The family came to Allen County in 1858 and here our subject was educated and grew to manhood.
Young Mackenzie had not yet attained his majority when he was chosen deputy clerk of Allen County in 1876, and he was still holding that position in 1882 when he was elected to the office of county clerk. He was reelected in 1885. After serving two terms, he retired from political life and purchased a flouring-mill, which he operated until it was burned down in 1892. After the destruction of his mill, he was tendered a position with the Manhattan Oil Company, and took charge of the shipping department of their refinery in Wood County, Ohio. He remained with them until the Fidelity Coal & Supply Company was organized in 1900, when he returned to Lima to act as their manager, and has been retained in that capacity since.
Mr. Mackenzie was married in 1880 to Ella Gorton, daughter of one of the pioneer business men of Lima, W. B. Gorton, the latter of whom was graduated from the Lima schools and is now studying architecture, preparatory to entering a school of architecture this year. Mr. Mackenzie is a 32nd degree Mason with membership in all the Lima bodies; he belongs to the Cincinnati Consistory.