WILLIAM R. ALLISON
Since 1907 William R. Allison has been proprietor of
one of the largest retail hardware stores in Seymour and in
its management has displayed an ability, resourcefulness and
enterprising spirit which place him in the front ranks of
leading business men of the city. He is a native of Ohio, born in
Columbiana county, in 1866, and is a son of William G. and
Mary (Beal) Allison. The
mother of our subject died in 1869 and the father afterward
removed to Illinois, where he married Miss Crow and made his
home in Hamilton, where he resided until his death, which
occurred in 1903. William
R. Allison did not go to Illinois but after the death of his
mother made his home with his uncle, R. O. Allison, of
Seymour, the latter being a son of W. B. Allison, of West
Virginia. The
family is of Irish origin but has been established in America
since colonial times and can be traced back in a direct line
from W. B.
Allison to his father, Charles, and thence to his grandfather,
James Allison, who served in the Revolutionary war.
William R. Allison of this review acquired a
public-school education and in 1886 began his active career,
engaging as a clerk in the hardware store conducted by L. L.
Smith in Seymour. He
has never left this line of work and in it has attained a
success which comes of long familiarity and experience. When he resigned
his position with Mr. Smith he went to Allerton and spent one
year in that city before he engaged with Johnston & Tharp
as a clerk in their hardware store. This connection he
retained for ten years and then, in 1900, went to work for
Roth & Richardson. He
was active in their interests for seven years but in 1907
invested his savings in a business of his own, buying the
hardware establishment belonging to E. A. Rea. He has since
devoted his energies to the management of this concern and has
proved himself a reliable and capable business man. He has a fine
store, thirty-seven by one hundred and forty feet, and a
warehouse one hundred and forty by thirty-five feet and
carries all kinds of hardware, implements and furniture. Everything about
the place is kept in excellent condition, the lines of stock
are complete and up-to-date and the service intelligent and
directed by a spirit of courtesy. As a consequence Mr. Allison’s business
has extended rapidly and his patronage, which is constantly
increasing, has reached gratifying proportions at the present
time.
In 1890 Mr. Allison married Miss Ida Gale, and they
became the parents of three children, the eldest of whom died
in infancy. The
others are Cleo E., who is in business with his father; and
Colett, who lives at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Allison are devout members of the Baptist
church. Mr.
Allison is a firm believer in the value of prohibition and
gives active support to the prohibition party. Fraternally he is
connected with the Yeomen.
The years of his business activity in Seymour have
given him a high standing in the community, where he is
recognized as a man in whose character fidelity to high
principles has combined with business enterprise in making him
a valued and worthy citizen.