William Adolph Tappe
William Adolph Tappe, one of Mingo Junction's substantial retired business men, was born at Wheeling, W. Va., March 2, 1861, and is a son of Henry C. and Christina (Hartman) Tappe.
The parents of Mr. Tappe were born, reared and married in Germany and in 1853 came to America, settling at Wheeling, W. Va. Henry Tappe died there in 1880, at the age of sixty-eight years but his widow survived until 1907, her death occurring in her ninety-second year. They had six children: Hannah, Henry C, Lewis, George F., Charles H. and William Adolph, all of them having been born in Germany except the last named. Two of the family are deceased: Hannah, who was the wife of Adolph Knoke, and George F.
William A. Tappe grew to manhood at Wheeling where he attended the public schools and later took a business course in a commercial college and then entered the general store of Keller & Schreiner, with which he remained connected for seven years in the capacity of clerk. In 1884 he came to Mingo Junction and went to work with the old Junction Iron Company as a clerk and remained with that concern and its successors for twenty-three years, resigning in 1907. He had acquired other business interests in the meanwhile and was one-half owner of the S. V. Thompson Real Estate and Insurance Company, of Pittsburgh. In 1909 he sold his interest to Alfred J. Parker. He was also one of the organizers of the old Mingo Building and Loan Association, of which he was treasurer for eleven years, and was also one of the founders of the Mingo Junction Realty Company and served seven years as its secretary. Mr. Tappe owns valuable property at Buffalo and also at Mingo Junction, including his own handsome residence on Steuben Street.
On June 23, 1886, Mr. Tappe was married to Miss Margaret A. Ingler, a daughter of George M. and Emma F. (Garlick) Ingler, of Steubenville, the latter of whom is deceased. Mrs. Ingler was born in England and was brought to America when five years old. George M. Ingler was born at Steubenville and came to Mingo at an early date and worked in the first furnace put up here. During the gold excitement of 1849, he made two trips to California, walking the whole distance. Mr. and Mrs. Tappe have three children: James A. Garfield, who is a student of theology in Kenyon College, at Gambier, O.; Helen M. and Margaret Grace. Mr. Tappe and family are members of the Presbyterian Church. He gives support to the candidates of the Republican party.
From 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, by Joseph B. Doyle. Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910