Frank L. Minor
As manager and superintendent of the large manufacturing plant
operated by the Postville Clay Product Company, Frank L. Minor
occupies a prominent place in industrial circles of Postville and
the vicinity, a position which he has achieved by reason of
special skill and long training in the line of work to which he
is now devoting his attention. He was born in Jefferson county,
Ohio, September 28, 1867, and is a son of Samuel D. and Hannah
(Garlick) Minor, The former born in what is now West Virginia, in
the Panhandle district, October 28, 1828, and the latter in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1840. In early life the father
worked as a pilot on boats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers but
later became a brick manufacturer, operating a large fire brick
factory at Empire, Ohio, for twenty-two years and finally
retiring from active life and moving to Wellsville, where he
continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 25th
of December, 1912. His wife has also passed away, her death
having occurred in the same place, May 7 1900. The father never
sought to figure in any way in public life, never seeking
political office and even refusing to accept a first
lieutenant’s commission offered to him during the Civil war.
He preferred to concentrate his attention upon his business
affairs and these became extensive and profitable, bringing him a
comfortable competency and a high place in industrial circles of
the city. He and his wife became the parents of seven children,
the subject of this review being the fourth in the order of
birth.
Frank L. Minor acquired his early education in the public schools
of Empire and he afterward attended the Ohio State University at
Columbus, graduating as a ceramic engineer with the class of
1891. When he became of age he entered his father’s factory
as manager and superintendent and continued in that position
until his father’s retirement, proving an expert in
everything relating to his special line of work and also a
far-sighted, discriminating and able business man. When Samuel D.
Minor sold his factory the son continued in the employ of the
purchasing company as manager and superintendent but after four
years resigned his position and went to Leavenworth, Kansas,
where he became manager for the Pitttsburgh Paving Brick Company,
being afterward transferred to Fairmont, West Virginia, where he
worked in the same capacity for two years. At the end of that
time he established himself in business as a ceramic engineer and
soon built up a profitable and extensive patronage, erecting
brick works at Spokane and Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon;
Oakland, California; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as well as in
Port Credit, Canada. After accomplishing a great deal of
important work along this line and winning for himself a
reputation as an expert in every branch of industrial ceramics he
abandoned his independent interests and identified himself with
the Postville Clay Product Company as salesman and erecting
engineer. He came to Postville in August, 1911, and erected in
the city the plant for the company he represented after its
completion remained in charge as manager and superintendent,
positions which he has occupied since that time. The Postville
Clay Product Company manufactures all kinds of hollow building
blocks and fireproof building material and controls an important
and growing trade throughout the middle west. To the local branch
of the business Mr. Minor devotes his entire time and much of the
credit for the continued growth and expansion of the Postville
factory is due to his initiative spirit, his modern and practical
methods and the skill with which he applies his knowledge of
everything pertaining to the business to the further advancement
of his employers’ interests. He is today considered one of
the most able business men in Postville and the place which he
occupies in business circles has been well earned and is richly
deserved.
Mr. Minor married, on the 27th of June, 1894, Miss Ida McLean,
who was born in Toronto, Ohio, on the 5th of February, 1868. She
is a daughter of James and Eliza (Jackman) McLean, the former a
native of Scio, Ohio, and the latter of Knoxville, in the same
state. In early life James McLean learned the hatter’s trade
but he never followed this occupation, turning his attention to
general farming and continuing to engage in it during his active
life. He served in the Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry for
three years during the Civil war and during all of that period
was never wounded or confined in a hospital. He and his wife
became the parents of twelve children, of whom the wife of the
subject of this review is the fifth in the order of birth. Mr.
Minor gives his political allegiance to the republican party and
fraternally is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the
Masonic lodge. Although one of the later arrivals in Postville,
he is interested in the welfare of the community and has already
won for himself a creditable position as a valued citizen and
business man.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
Return to 1913 biographies index