J. K. Wylie
J. K. Wylie, proprietor of a flourishing hoop and stave manufactory at Delaware, is a son of Abraham P. and Sarah E. (McConnell) Wylie, and a grandson, on the paternal side, of Robert and Elizabeth (Patterson) Wylie. The grandparents were early settlers in Logan County, Ohio, Robert Wylie being an industrious and successful farmer. They professed the faith of the old Scotch Covenanters and were earnest Christian people.
Abraham Patterson Wylie, son of Robert and father of the subject of this article, was born in Richland Township, Logan County, Ohio, and is now living (1908) at the age of 67 years. He has followed the trade of lumberman all his life. During the Civil War he served in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After its close he became proprietor of a portable sawmill. About 1883 he located at Bell Center, where he was engaged in the milling business until the spring of 1904. He is now a resident of Lawrence County, Tennessee, and is still actively engaged in business pursuits. His wife Sarah, who was a native of Pennsylvania, died about five years ago at the age of 63. She bore her husband two children—J. K., born January 2, 1869, who is the subject of the present notice; and Margaret P., who is now the widow of J. C. Todd, of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Mr. Wylie's parents, like his grandparents, were members of the Covenanters' Church.
J. K. Wylie was educated in the district school. When old enough to enter the industrial ranks, he began to learn the milling business with his father, and by application and industry he graduallv acquired a very thorough knowledge of it. In 1904 he started in the business for himself in Wyandotte County, Ohio, where he continued until December, 1906. He then purchased his present plant in Delaware of Keyes & Worlogs, of New York City, and has since taken rank among the prosperous manufacturers of the county. He has doubled the capacity of the plant, manufacturing about thirty thousand hoops and thirty-six thousand staves daily, and shipping his product to all parts of the country. He gives employment to about 30 men on an average, and has worked up such a large and profitable business connection, that he no longer has occasion to advertise. His goods command a steady market, and he never has any difficulty in disposing of all that he can produce. He is one of those who act up to the maxim—"Push your business and your business will push you." He shows an intelligent interest in local affairs, though without caring to take office.
Mr. Wylie married Mary P.. daughter of William and Sarah Stough, of Bellefontaine, Logan County. Ohio, and has two children—William A. and Dwight G. The family are members of the United Presbyterian Church at Belle Centre.
From 20th Century History of Delaware County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens, Edited and compiled by James R. Lytle, Delaware, Ohio, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908