Lucius John Russell Siddall
Lucius John Russell Siddall, long the leading man in the leading industry of Bluffton, Ohio, the pioneer quarryman not only of Bluffton but of all Northwestern Ohio, was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, eight miles south of Salem. on the old mill property of the family, not far from the village of Ellsworth. July 29, 1838. His parents were Isaac and Rebecca (Altaffer) Siddall.
The father of Mr. Siddall was born in Virginia and the mother belonged to a well-known Pennsylvania-Dutch family. She died when our subject was nine years old. The ancestors on the paternal side were from Ireland, and Isaac Siddall possessed many of the qualities which have made natives of that land successful men the world over. He was the father of 16 children by his first marriage and of two by his second; 14 of these grew to maturity. For years he was engaged in the milling business, and never ceased his industry until stricken with paralysis. He died in 1872.
Lucius J. R. Siddall was 10 years old when his parents moved to Rockport, Ohio. A few years later he accompanied his father when the latter went to Mount Blanchard to run the Fahls' mills, and two years later to the National mills, four miles up the river. Our subject worked there some four years, all the time with his father, and in 1852 came to Bluffton, where his father bought a log grist-mill, run by water power, together with 17 acres of adjoining land. He worked hard under his practical, industrious father, and when the latter was disabled by paralysis in 1867, he ran the mill by himself or two and a half years. When is father died, he bought the mill at the appraiser's valuation, $2,250. Subsequently he sold the mill and turned his attention to the stone and lime business.
In 1872 Mr. Siddall, in partnership with Elijah Reese, under the firm name of Siddall & Reese, bought and developed a quarry and later took in another partner and formed the firm of Siddall & Company. Some years later Mr. Siddall bought out the other partners and operated the business alone, and still later opened up another quarry which covered seven acres. He took I. M. Townsend into partnership and the business was conducted as Siddall &Townsend for 18 years, when John Amstutz bought Mr. Townsend's interest and continued with Mr. Siddall for one season. Our subject then continued the operation of the quarry alone, adding a larger body of quarrying land, until the spring of 1905, when he sold out to the Buckeye Stone Company.
Since disposing of his quarry business, Mr. Siddall has been interested in a concrete business, having a large plant, with excellent facilities, producing a concrete which is used for cellars and other purposes, and making a fine macadam for roads. During his active operations he gave employment to some 50 men. Another line in which he has been interested in the manufacture of the "Eureka" fence post, one of the most durable posts ever placed before the market. For 50 years he has been a leader in business circles at Bluffton, and has been identified very prominently with the growth and prosperity of the town. He still owns 17 acres of land that is now within the town limits.
In 1865 Mr. Siddall was married to Mary Elizabeth Katherine Bridgeman, who was born in Hancock County, Ohio, about four miles from Bluffton, January 26, 1841, and is a daughter of George and Eliza (Grimm) Bridgeman, natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Siddall occupy a fine brick residence at Bluffton, which Mr. Siddall built seven years after his marriage.
Politically he has been a life-long Democrat, and on many occasions his fellow-citizens have chosen to show him honor and confidence. For six years he served on the Town Council and served several terms as a member of the Board of Education. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Bluffton Lodge, No. 371, and to Bluffton Encampment, No. 238. He is one of the oldest members of the subordinate lodge here, having joined the order in 1864.
A half century is a long period in any man's life, and to have passed through it, meeting competition in every side and overcoming obstacles as every business man must, and still, near its close, be able still to command the respect and esteem of one's fellow-citizens, reflects much credit and should bring pleasant reflections.