Allen Lee Thuma
Developing his powers through practical experience, Mr. Thuma has forged his way forward until he has achieved large and worthy success in his chosen field of endeavor, and he is recognized as one of the representative business men of the younger generation in the City of Ironton. the thriving metropolis and judicial center of Lawrence County. Through his own ability he has advanced to his present important position as one of the valued executive officers of the Ohio Valley Electric Railway Company, of which he is superintendent, and to the affairs of which he acords the most scrupulous attention.
Allen Lee Thuina was born at Milton, Cabell County. West Virginia, on the 20th of July, 1878, and is a son of Chapman J. and Adelia (Oakes) Thuma. the former of whom was born at Bridgewater. Virginia, in 1857, and the latter of whom was born at Collins, near Charleston, West Virginia, in 1855. The father was a carpenter by trade and became a successful contractor and builder, the family removal to Ironton, Ohio, having ocurred when Allen L., of this review, was a child. Chapman J. Thuma died in the year 1886, and bis widow long survived him. the closing years of her life having been passed in Ironton. where she died in 1904. Of the three children the eldest is he whose name introduces this article; John Clifton is barn superintendent for the Ohio Valley Electric Railway Company; and Bonnie likewise resides at Ironton.
The public schools of Ironton afforded to Allen L. Thuma his early educational advantages, and in the same he continued his studies until he had attained to the age of fifteen years. He then obtained a position in the Ironton offices of the Fort Wayne Electric Light Company, and with this company and its successor he has continued to he actively identified during his entire business career. From the position of office boy he made his way forward to positions of constantly increasing responsibility, and in the meanwhile he gained a thorough knowledge of all details of the line of enterprise along which he has effectively directed his energies. Since the year 1900 he has held his present important executive office, that of superintendent of the Ohio Valley Electric Railway Company, a corporation whose progressive policies and liberal enterprise have done much to further the civic and material prosperity of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of the fine old Buckeye State. Mr. Thuma is a director of the Ironton Electric Company, is a practical electrician of distinctive ability, and as a citizen he is essentially loyal and public spirited. He is the owner of his attractive residence property at Ironton and has identified himself fully with the interests of the city that has represented his home from his childhood days. In politics he is found aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the republican party, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. At the time of the Spanish-American war Mr. Thuma served as a member of Company I, Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and he is now identified with the veteran association maintained by those who participated in that memorable conflict. Mr. Thuma is well known in Ironton and vicinity and has a wide circle of friends in both business and social circles.
Mr. Thuma married Miss Nora Jane George, daughter of William E. George, who has been chief of the Ironton Fire Department since 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Thuma have an adopted daughter. Alma.
From "A Standing History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio" by Eugene B. Willard, Daniel W. Williams, George O. Newman and Charles B. Taylor. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, 1916