Levi Addison Ault
No record of the successful men of Cincinnati would be complete without adequate mention of Levi Addison Ault, whose name is associated with one of the most important manufacturing enterprises in the city. For more than thirty years he has been engaged in the manufacture of printers' inks and colors and the Ault & Wiborg company of which he is the head is now the largest concern of the kind in the world. He was born at Mille Roches, Ontario, Canada, November 24, 1851, a son of Simon W. and Caroline (Brownell) Ault. The father was a cloth manufacturer and it was from him that the son inherited the talent which he has applied with such good effect in his life vocation. The ancestry of the Ault family has been traced to Ault, Picardy, France. At the time of the Huguenot massacre in France members of the family escaped to Holland and thence in 1780 came to America, settling in Canada. The Brownell family is of English origin. The early progenitors in America arrived in Connecticut in Colonial times. Being friendly to the King of England, in 1776 the descendants fled to Canada.
Mr. Ault of this review received his early education in the common schools and the Cornwall grammar school. After laying his books aside he devoted his attention for five years to bookkeeping and in 1878 began on a modest scale in the manufacture of printers' inks. As the years passed the business grew and the Ault & Wiborg Company now occupies one of the most complete plants of the kind that has ever been erected and sends its products to all the civilized countries of the globe. Mr. Ault has witnessed various fluctuations I the course of his business life but never yielded to discouragement. By the application of strict business principles, good judgment and fair dealing the company has reached the front rank. Its achievements are the result of harmonious cooperation of the various departments under the constant care and watchfulness of competent leadership and its great success has been honorably gained and is well deserved. In addition to his manufacturing interests Mr. Ault is a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank.
On the 23rd of October, 1878, at Cincinnati, he was married to Miss Ida May Holtzinger, a daughter of Henry E. and Angie Holtzinger, the latter of whom died when her daughter was four years of age. They have one son, Lee Brownell, who married Miss Hildegarde von Steinwehe.
Politically Mr. Ault is an adherent of the republican party in national affairs but he is an advocate of a business administration in city government and at home elections votes independently. He has taken a great interest in beautifying the city and was appointed by the mayor in 1906 as president of a commission of leading citizens to develop a park system for Cincinnati. This work was completed in 1908 and Mr. Ault has served most acceptably for three years as president of the first park commission. In May, 1911, he donated to the city of Cincinnati a tract of land comprising approximately one hundred and fifty acres and overlooking the Ohio river on Madison Road. This great tract is to be known as Ault Park and is a splendid addition to the park system of the city. Mr. Ault is a valued member of the Commercial, Queen City and Country Clubs and in religious belief adheres to the Unitarian Church. He has through his ability, integrity and public spirit won an honorable place in his adopted city and has no cause to regret his selection of Cincinnati as a home, for here he has found friends and fortune.
From Cincinnati, The Queen City, Vol. 3; Rev. Charles Frederic Goss, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1912