Culbertson, David

BIOGRAPHIES
1905 PAST and PRESENT OF GREENE COUNTY ILLINOIS

Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.


Page 481

DAVID CULBERTSON is a leading representative of the industrial interests of Greene county and for fifty years has been an active factor in business life. He is one of the pioneers in pottery manufacture in White Hall and for many years has contributed to the progress and upbuilding of the town through his conduct of an enterprise that has not only brought to him gratifying prosperity, but has also furnished employment to many workmen. With his son Leander E. Culbertson, he is engaged in the manufacture of pottery, and the annual output of the factory is extensive.

Mr. Culbertson is of English and Holland Dutch descent and the family was planted on American soil in colonial days. His grandfather, John Culbertson served as a member of the patriot army in the Revolutionary war, and died in the year 1837. His son, John Culbertson, Jr., father of David Culbertson, was born in 1798 and throughout his entire life followed the miller's trade. He married Miss Anna Miley, and in 1834 they removed with their family from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, to Ohio. The father died in 1848 at the age of fifty years, while his wife, long surviving him, passed away in White Hall, at the age of eighty-seven years. In the family were seven sons: Henry and John, both deceased; David; Aaron; Samuel, who was reared by his brother David and has worked for him in the pottery for thirty years; William; and Levi. There were also four daughters: Eliza, Sarah, Maria and Annie.

David Culbertson was only sixteen months old when his parents removed to Ohio from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where his birth had occurred on the 4th of February, 1833. He acquired a common school education and then learned the trade of a machinist and general blacksmith. In 1857 he became a resident of White Hall and for almost half a century has been identified with its business interests. In 1865 he began the manufacture of drain tile, being the first to introduce this industry in the town-an industry which has become of the utmost importance to White Hall, contributing in a large measure to its progress and upbuilding. August Pierce was at one time his partner and later T. A. Smith, a brother-in-law, was associated with our subject in business. In 1892 he admitted his son Leander to a partnership and he has since been active in the management of the enterprise. In 1885 Mr. Culbertson enlarged the scope of his enterprise by beginning the manufacture of potteryware. The output is now one million gallons of crockery, jars, etc., and thirty-five hands are employed throughout the year. The trade has constantly increased, owing to the excellence of the product and the demand equals the supply. Mr. Culbertson has ever conducted his affairs in a most energetic manner, in keeping with the modern progressive spirit, and his business has long since reached extensive and profitable proportions. He manufactures glazed potteryware, which is sold only to jobbers.

In 1855 Mr. Culbertson was first married, wedding Mary A. Sechrist. In 1866 he married Margaret Cobb Dinwidee, and in 1875 Fannie Whitmer became his wife. She is a native of Pennsylvania. Mr. Culbertson has three children living. Mrs. William T. Heater, the eldest, is a resident of Litchfield, Illinois, and has two sons, Arthur and Carl, and one daughter, Ruth. Her elder son, Arthur, is married and has one daughter-a great-grandchild of Mr. Culbertson. Mrs. N. T. Mason, the second daughter in the Culbertson household, is the wife of the deputy postmaster of White Hall and has two daughters, Amy and Mardie. Having little opportunity to secure an education, yet realizing its value, Mr. Culbertson provided his children with excellent advantages. Mrs. Mason is a graduate of the State Normal School at Bloomington and the other completed the high school course of White Hall. The son Leander also attended the University of Champaign and is a graduate of the Gem City Business College, of Quincy, Illinois, of the class of 1888.

In his political views Mr. Culbertson is a stalwart Republican, and fraternally is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a splendid specimen of the American business man-a man of character, brains, industry and purpose, forming his plans readily and executing them with dispatch, yet never displaying anything of the oppressive taskmaster. He is thoroughly honorable in his dealings, just and considerate to his employes, and through the most straightforward methods and unremitting diligence has achieved prosperity. Movements for public progress receive his endorsement and co-operation and he is a recognized leader in the ranks of the Republican party in White Hall.


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