| Other People | Frank J. Bradley | Olive Rambo Cook | Jerry Litton | | |||
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Past and Present of Livingston County Volume 2. Biographies by Major A. J. Roof. 1913 |
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Page 17-19
The business interests which constitute the commercial importance of Chillicothe are not the result of the labor of one or even a few individuals but of the aggregate effort of the many, and yet there are certain men who are acknowledged leaders in the business world -- men of energy, capable of forming original plans which they carry forward to successful completion and capable also of embracing the opportunities which arise in the course of their careers. To this class belongs J. M. Seiser, general contractor and builder in Chillicothe, and his life record contains many lessons which may profitably be followed by all who seek progress in the business world. He was born in Ashland, Ohio, February 25, 1866, and is a son of Mathias and Phebe J. (Huff) Seiser, the former for many years a marble and granite monument manufacturer in Chillicothe. He died January 16, 1891, at the age of fifty years, and his wife followed him on the 22d of August, 1893, her death occurring when she was fifty-five years of age. Both were representatives of German families and are buried in Edgewood cemetery.
At the usual age J. M. Seiser entered the public schools of Chillicothe and followed the complete course, graduating from the high school at the age of eighteen. He immediately began his independent business career, engaging as a manufacturer of brick and giving evidence even at that early day of the spirit of business daring and initiative upon which his present success is founded. It is a remarkable fact that the first contract which he accepted in 1900 was for the manufacture of six hundred thousand bricks to supply the large Marmaduke concern. Mr. Seiser made these bricks by hand and delivered them at the required time, and since then has been making steady advancement in the business world. He built a plant of his own in 1902 and in it manufactured vitrified brick, conducting this enterprise with increasing success until 1905, since which time he has given all of his attention to the contracting and building business, The territory in which he operates extends for several hundred miles in all directions from Chillicothe and westward to Los Angeles, California, where he built the Seiser Piper building, one of the largest structures in that city. Mr. Seiser owns a large amount of valuable real estate, including business and residence property in Chillicothe, and he built his own residence, which together with many other attractive and beautiful dwellings and practically all of the prominent buildings in the city and county stand as a monument to his skill and ability.
On the 25th of February, 1895, Mr. Seiser was united in marriage to Miss Addie L. Culling, the daughter of Frank and Lizzie (Vanstane) Culling, the former a pioneer farmer of Chillicothe. He and his wife now reside at Alhambra, California.
Mr. Seiser is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally is identified with the Knights of The Maccabees and the Modern Brotherhood of America. He gives his allegiance to the progressive party and is actively interested in all movements for the general good. He is a man of broad culture, of excellent business and executive ability and practical judgment and his life of industry has brought him rich reward in the high estimation in which his acquaintances hold him as a business man and as a citizen.