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Steven S. Boyle was an Irish immigrant. He served as President of Boyle, Miller & Co. until his death in 1865.
William McRoberts then became principal owner until his death in 1876. McRoberts was also Irish-born and emigrated to Cincinnati in the 1840's as a result of the potato famine. He started working for Mr. Boyle as a "drayman", driving the company wagon. He worked his way up to principal owner and lived on Millionaire's Row on Dayton Street.
On December 27, 1867, the business premises of Boyle, Miller & Co. was destroyed by fire. The building held 9,000 barrels of whiskey and the intensity of the fire was such that it caused the stone walls to literally crumble with the loss of $450,000. The Spencer House in the rear of the building was seriously threatened by the flames but fortunately was saved. This apparently was the second major fire at the company: the Cincinnati Firefighters Diary records a serious fire at "Boyle Wholesale Liquors" at 53 E 2 nd on Sept. 11, 1859. The loss during this fire amounted to $150,000 and three firefighers were injured.
McRoberts died of an "accident in the home" at the age of 51. His will left everything to two of his children by his first wife. His second wife, Ellen Barker, was very wealthy and her father, Thurston Gardner Barker, was a rich liquor dealer/investor in Peoria. She took her children and went back to Peoria after William's death.
Information kindly provided by Lynn-Marie Dixon, great-great-granddaughter of William McRoberts Business name timeline:
Boyle, Miller & Co.
Address timeline:
53-59 E 2 nd | | Business category timeline (abbreviations decoded below):
D, V
Years that company appeared in directories
Years directories were consulted
Cincinnati directory notes
Appearance in
directories:
1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870
Directories
consulted:
1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873. 1874, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918
Cincinnati directory
notes:
V= Wine & Liquor (Wholesale), V-R = Wine & Liquor (Retail), W = Whiskey (Wholesale), L = Liquors (Wholesale) D = Distiller, DA = distiller's agent
1879: Wines & Liquor listings not available, now just Whiskey, Wholesale, 1882: new business directory, 1884, 1885, 1886, partial wines, 1887, 1888 no wines, 1889 partial wines, 1890-1918 no wines, 1896: major street renumbering affecting all addresses
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