Joseph J. McMaken
Joseph J. McMaken, city clerk, was born in Union Township, January 10, 1848. He is the youngest child of Mark C. and Martha (McCracken) McMaken. His family are among the oldest settlers in the county, having been here eighty-seven years, and his father is the oldest living native of the county. He was educated in the public schools in Hamilton, being occupied in farming for some time. He entered the United States Navy in the Fall of 1862, being in the lower Mississippi squadron, on the steamer Benton, at Vicksburg, and Grand River. Ill health compelled his removal to the hospital at Memphis, where he remained three months, then being discharged for disability. In December, 1864, he returned home, and entered the Miami University in 1866. He was there four years, and graduated in 1870. He read law in the office of James E. Campbell, and was admitted to the bar in 1873. The state of his health, however, did not permit him to practice. He became connected with the Cincinnati Enquirer about 1875 as a local writer. He now controls the branch office in Hamilton. He was appointed United States commissioner in 1876, and still occupies the position, and he is also city clerk, being elected to that place in 1881. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was married in 1871 to Miss Sarah Belle McElwee.
From A History and Biographical Cyclopædia of Butler County Ohio, With Illustrations and Sketches of its Representative Men and Pioneers, Western Biographical Publishing Company, Cincinnati Ohio, 1882.