CAPTAIN WILLIAM D. LIPPITT. One of the best-known and most widely
influential men in this region is Captain William D. Lippitt, who is the
treasurer of Alexander county. He represents an exceptionally extensive
acquaintance about Cairo through his long connection with river traffic on
the big rivers here and through his active citizenship and participation in
public affairs. He dates his residence in Cairo from 1875, and through all
these years he has been to the front. Like so many strong figures who have
made themselves felt in a multitude of communities, he was born in Ohio, the
date of his birth having been January 23, 1850, and the place having been
the thriving and prominent little city of Zanesville. His father was Arnold
Lippitt, a mechanic, who brought the first glass works west of Pittsburgh
and engaged in the manufacture of glass at Zanesville, where such works, as
well as extensive potteries and like establishments, have thriven ever
since. Arnold Lippitt prospered in his enterprise for a number of years but
the financial panic of 1857 engulfed him because of inability to realize on
outstanding accounts. At this time he was offered considerable land on
Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, in settlement of a claim against a debtor, but
declined this and thus missed a great opportunity, for Walnut Hills property
rose very rapidly in value and today land in that rich and beautiful suburb
is very costly.
Taking up the family history of the Lippitts
further, Arnold Lippitt was a son of George Lippitt, who came to Ohio from
Rhode Island and settled at Coshocton. He was a Methodist minister, and was
the father of six children. He died at Coshocton. Arnold, his first son, was
a glass manufacturer, and built two glass works at Zanesville. He was
married in Muskingum county to Martha, a daughter of William Cheagle, a
farmer on the Muskingum river. Among their ten children were: Adelia, who
married Charles Gallagher, a Muskingum river captain who came to Cairo
before the Civil war, and he and his wife died here; Louisa became the wife
of W. D. Terry, who was superintendent of the stage line from Wheeling, West
Virginia, to Columbus, Ohio, in pioneer days; Rose married George Lentze and
removed to Cairo, where both passed away; Helen was the widow of Captain
Reese W. Dugan when she died in Chicago in 1910; Arnold C. was a hoop
manufacturer and left a family at his decease, and Captain W. D., the
subject of this biography, was the youngest of ten children.
Arnold
Lippitt, the father of Captain W. D., removed in 1867 from Zanesville to
Jackson, Tennessee, and there engaged in the milling business. He ran a
custom mill for making breadstuffs and feed and he passed the remaining
years of his life at Jackson. He died in 1887, at the age of eighty-five
years at Cairo, Illinois. His wife passed away in 1889, aged eighty-five
years. Arnold Lippitt belonged to the old Whig party and then on the
organization of the Republican party he joined its ranks.
Captain
Lippitt, like many another strong and successful man, started upon his
active career with only a moderate amount of education from books. He chose
as the field of his first endeavors that of a railroad man, entering upon
this work at the age of seventeen years. Manifesting capacity in this
direction, he became assistant agent at Jackson, Tennessee, for the old
Mississippi Central. He followed railroad work until 1875, when he was
induced by his brother-in-law, Captain Reese W. Dugan, superintendent of the
Underwriters Company, which was patrolling the rivers as a "snagger," to
take service with him. He became clerk of Steamer T. F. Eckert and was
connected with it till 1880, when he was appointed assistant postmaster by
George W. McKeig, and he served under him for four years and under his
successor for three years. He then returned to the river, which had strong
attractions for him, and subsequently he spent twenty-one years on the
transfer boat at Cairo. He finally left the water in 1908 and engaged in
merchandising here. He retired from this field when he entered upon his
public duties as assessor and treasurer, to which position he was elected by
the Republicans in 1910.
On January 15, 1883, Captain Lippitt was
happily married in Cairo to Miss Fannie Pitcher, a daughter of W. F. Pitcher
and Minnie Paulison, of Trenton and Hackensack, New Jersey, respectively.
Mr. Pitcher came to Illinois in 1873, and Mrs. Lippitt is one of a family of
eight children. She was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and she and the Captain
have no surviving issue.
Captain Lippitt occupies a prominent place
in fraternal orders, being a past master of Masonry and a past eminent
commander of the Knights Templar, and he spent many years as Captain of the
Host of the Chapter. In church relations he and Mrs. Lippitt are
Episcopalians.
Extracted 15 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 History of Southern Illinois, Volume 2, pages 907-908.
| Cape Girardeau MO |
Union | |
 |
Pulaski | |
| Scott MO | Mississippi MO | Ballard KY |
