Message on a bottle, Part 2
By Steve Roush
HCP columnist
Ladies and gentlemen, in our last offering, we were talking about an old McKeehan, Hiestand Grocery Co. of Hillsboro glass bottle that turned up in the haymow of my family’s barn.
The McKeehan of the business was Milton McKeehan, who was born June 4, 1837, and the Hiestand was Joseph Miles Hiestand, who was born Oct. 3, 1832. Both were born in Sinking Spring. We discussed their backgrounds and the early part of their lives, but we ran out of time before we got to where they went into business together.
Let’s go ahead and do that, shall we?
In 1876, the two teamed up and the McKeehan, Hiestand & Co. began operation in Hillsborough. For several years, McKeehan and Hiestand ran a wholesale and retail business, and as the business grew, they bought out the firm of H. Rhoades & Co. and established an exclusive wholesale trade. The business was first located in a room in a building that some may remember as the old Murphy-Benham Hardware Co.
Then, in 1891, the firm was incorporated on Dec. 1 of that year as the McKeehan, Hiestand Grocery Co. In 1892, they erected a new and substantial building on the northeast corner of West Main and Northwest streets. C.S. Bell, famous for the C.S. Bell Co., was a stockholder. The edifice contained the general offices and sample department on two floors, and the warehouse was two stories high, with a cellar under one half of the building.
The McKeehan, Hiestand Co. employed 12 people in the establishment and four traveling salesmen who traveled to neighboring towns within the county and trade centers in adjoining counties.
The officers of the company were Milton McKeehan, president and manager, J.M. Hiestand as vice president, and Otway C. Morrow, secretary/treasurer. The board of directors included Milton McKeehan, Joseph Miles “J.M.” Hiestand, C.M. Overman, Otway Morrow and Frank McKeehan, the son of Milton McKeehan. Frank was a clerk for his father before becoming a partner.
More than a decade later, both Milton McKeehan and Otway Morrow died in 1903. McKeehan was 65 years old and was buried in the Hillsboro Cemetery. After McKeehan passed away, C.S. Bell was elected president of the company, Frank Murdock was named secretary/treasurer, and Frank McKeehan was named manager. Frank, however, passed away in 1905 at the age of 41 and was succeeded by F.L. Evans, who came to Hillsboro from Parkersburg, West Virginia. The same year, C.S. Bell died and was succeeded as president by Joseph Miles Hiestand, who ended up passing away in 1908 at the age of 76.
Jospeh Miles Hiestand erected the two-story brick house located on the southwest corner of West Walnut and Vine streets in Hillsboro. He was also buried in the Hillsboro Cemetery.
After Joseph Miles Hiestand’s death, Col. L.B. Boyd took over as president until his death in 1937. At that time, Blair Boyd was the final president of the company as the McKeehan, Hiestand Grocery Co. went out of business more than three decades later in 1941. Cliff M. “C.M.” Lacy was the final manager of the company. He secured a position with the company in 1903 and succeed Evans as manager in 1909. In 1906, Lacy had been named secretary/treasurer when Murdock resigned and moved to California. Since 1909 and into the early 1940s, Lacy had been both manager and secretary/treasurer.
It should be noted that for two years, 1906 and 1907, the company operated a branch location in Blanchester, managed by Lacy.
Let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next time.
Steve Roush is president of the Highland County Historical Society and served as chairman and vice chairman on the HCHS Board of Trustees for two terms, a board member of the Highland District Hospital Foundation, a vice president of an international media company and a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.
