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William K. Ballantyne Cincinnati, The Queen City, Volume III, 1912 Pages 190 - 191 Transcribed by: Kimberly Graman William K. Ballantyne, who has been identified with the industrial activities of Cincinnati since 1903, being a member of the firm of Selser & Ballantyne, is a native of Pennsylvania. He was born in Easton, Lehigh County, on the 17th of April 1865, and is a son of William G. and Ellen (Freeland) Ballantyne. His father was engaged in the wholesale grocery business in Easton for several years, but later became an agent for the Warren Foundry & Machine Company, of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, with offices located at Elizabeth, New Jersey. His brothers, Robert, James and Thomas, were veterans of the Civil War. The Ballantyne family is of Scotch origin, the grandfather having immigrated from Peebleshire, Scotland, to the United States in the early ‘20s. William G. Ballantyne passed away on the 26th of July 1905, at the age of seventy-four, and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Easton, Pennsylvania. The mother still survives and continues to make her home at Elizabeth, New Jersey.
 The boyhood and youth of William K. Ballantyne were spent in Easton, Pennsylvania, and Elizabeth, New Jersey, his education being acquired in the public schools of the latter place, which he attended until he was seventeen. In 1882 he took a position as stock clerk with the firm of Rose, McAlpin & Company, who were engaged in the leather business. He was identified with them for five years; withdrawing he went to Philadelphia to take a position as traveling salesman with Mitchell & Peirson. Eight years thereafter he resigned leaving their service in order to become identified with McDermott & Howard in a similar capacity. He terminated his connection with the latter company that he might become identified with the business in which he has ever since been engaged in Cincinnati. They are dealers in leather and cotton goods for the shoe manufacturing trade. Their warehouse and main offices are located at 232 East Eighth Street, Cincinnati, where they have been established since 1903.
 Mr. Ballantyne was married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of June 1905, to Miss. Grace Ringwald. To Mr. and Mrs. Ballantyne have been born three children: Robert Ringwald, who was born on the 7th of August, 1906; Rosalie, who was born on the 24th of March 1908; and Eleanor Freeland, whose birth occurred on the 27th of November 1909. The family home is located at No. 3415 Stettinius Avenue, Hyde Park, where Mr. Ballantyne has erected a very pleasant and attractive residence.
 The religious faith of the family is manifested through their affiliation with the Seventh Presbyterian Church, while politically he is a Republican. Mr. Ballantyne has met with very satisfactory returns from the enterprise with which he is connected, and is recognized as one of the able businessmen of the Queen City.

Captain John Barnes< Cincinnati, The Queen City, Volume III, 1912 Pages 433 - 434 Transcribed by: Kimberly Graman, Dayton, OH Captain John Barnes to whom close application and aptitude for successful management have brought a measure of success the will enable him soon to retire from active connection with commercial interests, has for a long period been known in the trade circles of Cincinnati as a dealer in tobacco. He came to this city in 1850 from Xenia, Ohio, where he was born and spent his youthful days. In early life he learned the printer’s trade which he followed at various places and with varied success until 1861. Eleven years prior to that period he had established his home in Cincinnati and was connected with the field of journalism here, but with the outbreak of the Civil war he felt that duty to is country was paramount to all else and joined the Union army as a private of the Twenty-third Kentucky Infantry, on the 27th of November. He was made first lieutenant of his company and on the 16th of May 1863, was promoted to the rank of captain in recognition of bravery and meritorious conduct. He served as captain of a Color Guard Company throughout the remainder of the war. He was with the Army of the Cumberland on its Atlanta campaign and during his service at the front participated in seventy-five battles and skirmishes including some of the most important engagements of the entire conflict. It was at the battle of Stone River that he was promoted to the rank of captain. He also participated in the engagements of Perrysville and New Hope Church and at the latter the Union troops lost sixteen hundred and eighty men in twenty minutes. He was in the battles of Resaca and of Chikamauga, where he was left on the field for dead and was so reported. He took part in the engagements at Kenesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Columbia, Franklin and Nashville, which was the last engagement in which he participated, being mustered out in March 1865. He was indeed a creditable record, for he never faltered in the performance of any duty, whether called to the firing line or stationed on the lonely picket line. He has since maintained pleasant relations with his old army comrades in his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic and in the Union Veteran Legion.
 When the war was over Captain Barnes returned to Cincinnati and for three years was connected with the Enquirer. He was also associated with the United States mail service two years and in 1879 turned his attention to the tobacco business as senior partner of the firm of John Barnes & Company. From the outset the new undertaking prospered and capable management brought it to a prominent position in connection with the trade in this city, such being the prosperity that has attended Mr. Barnes that he expects to retire from business in the fall of 1911. He was the originator of the La Auroa brand of tobacco, which he has handled for a number of years. It is a hybrid of Mexican and Havana tobaccos and in grown in Claremont county, Ohio. The plant is a large one, thoroughly equipped with modern machinery necessary for the conduct of the business, and the most amicable relation s have ever been maintained with the trade because the methods of the house are thoroughly reliable and honorable.
 In 1866 Captain Barnes was married to Miss Arabella Osterhouse and they now have two daughters: Winifred, the wife of A.H. Reader, of Dayton, Ohio; and Esther, the wife of Dr. T. McLaughlin, of Cincinnati. For sixty years Captain Barnes has been a resident of this city and comparatively few are more familiar with its history than he, having been a witness of the changes that have occurred and the improvements that have been wrought. At all times he has manifested a sympathetic and at many times an active interest and has always done his full duty on the work of progress and improvement and in the conduct of his personal interests he has aided in upholding the commercial stability of the city.

Frederick Closs Cincinnati, The Queen City, Volume III, 1912 Pages 140 - 141 Transcribed by: Kimberly Graman, Dayton, OH

        For more than twenty years Frederick Closs has been engaged in the practice of law at Cincinnati and has gained high rank, the value of his judgement being recognized by members of the bar as well as by many that have sought his advice. His application and ability have been productive of gratifying returns and he enjoys a competency to which he is fairly entitled by conscientious devotion to the duties of his chosen calling. Born at Cincinnati August 13, 1868, he is a son of Frederick and Regina Closs, both of whom are deceased.
        Frederick Closs acquired his early education in the public schools of this city and in the schools of Franklin County, Indiana. As he grew to manhood he decided upon the pursuit of law as his life vocation and entered the Cincinnati Law School from which he was graduated with the degree of LL.B. in May 1890. He immediately began practice in Cincinnati and has ever since continued in this city. As a lawyer he has been from the start highly energetic and capable and has had any important cases entrusted to his care, discharging every responsibility with a fidelity which gained the approval of clients and reflected upon himself the highest credit. Endowed with a large capacity for work, excellent judgement and common sense, his energies have been wisely directed and he has gained more than an ordinary measure of prosperity. In addition to his law practice he has made a special study of investments and as a result of carefully conducted inquiries and investigations he is a firm believer in Cincinnati real estate. He has made extensive investments in Cincinnati property, no man having greater faith in the benefits to be ultimately derived from real-estate improvements in this city. He regards Cincinnati as one of the great coming interior cities of the country.
        On the 27th of October 1897 at Cincinnati, Mr. Closs was married to Miss. Florence E. Franz, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Franz. The parents are of good German stock and are prosperous and highly respected. They reared six children in their family. To Mr. and Mrs. Closs four children have been born: Regina, Margaret, Dorothy and Freda. In politics Mr. Closs accepts the principles of the republican party as being in harmony with advanced ideas of government, but he is a stanch advocate of honesty and recognized ability as qualifications for candidates and his efforts are always directed, especially in local elections, in favor of the best man irrespective of party affiliation. Fraternally he is a valued member of the Masons and Odd Fellows, and being of a genial, sociable disposition, he can claim a host of friends outside of all organizations.

Henry Baer Cincinnati, The Queen City, Volume III, 1912 Pages 241 - 242 Transcribed by: Kimberly Graman, Dayton, OH

        Among the well established practitioners at the bar in Cincinnati who stand high in the estimation of the people and give promise of continued usefulness for many years to come may be named Henry Baer.
        He is of good German stock in both paternal and maternal lines of the family and was born in Cincinnati, November 29, 1857, being a son of Henry and Barbara (Humbert) Baer. The father was born in Hessian, Germany, May 22, 1820, and the mother in Bavaria, November 26, 1830. Mr. Baer Sr., became a mechanic and, desiring to seek more favorable conditions than he could hope to find in the old country, crossed the ocean to America in 1852, locating at Cincinnati, which was then one of the most prominent river towns and gave every promise of developing into a large and important city. At the time of the Civil War Mr. Baer responded to the call of President Lincoln for soldiers and enlisted as a member of Company A, Ninth Ohio Volunteers, under Colonel Robert L. McCook. The regiment saw considerable active service and distinguished itself in the battle of Mill Spring, having previously engaged in battle at Rich Mountain and Carmfax Ferry. Sergeant Baer proved a good soldier and was never found wanting when duty called, but he lost his health from exposure and was discharges on a surgeon’s certificate in 1862. There were four children, three sons and one daughter, in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Baer, three of whom are now living: Henry, of this review; William J., an artist who makes his home in New York City; and George A., a wholesale furrier of Cincinnati.
        Henry Baer grew up under the restraining influences of a well ordered home and secured a good preliminary education in the public schools. He pursued the study of law in the Cincinnati Law School, graduating in 1878. He at once began practice in this city and has always practiced alone. He devotes his attention to general civil law and, being a man of acknowledged force of character, breadth of mind and proven ability in his profession, he is meeting with the measure of success which his merits richly deserve.
        In 1882, at Cincinnati, Mr. Baer was united in marriage to Miss. Catherine R. Tucker, a daughter of James H. and Catherine (Huenfelt) Tucker, the father being a carpenter and builder. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Baer, namely: Lillian; Laura J.; Henry T.; Blanche; and Humbert. The eldest son, Henry, is an active member of the First Regiment, Ohio National Guards.
        Professionally Mr. Baer is connected with the Cincinnati Bar Association and the Ohio State Bar Association, and politically he adheres to the Republican Party. He has never served in public office except as member of the city council, having been elected for two years in 1891 from the first ward. In religious belief he is a Protestant and socially he is identified with the Old Fellows and the Blaine Club. He entered upon his life work more than thirty years ago with an abundant stock of indomitable energy and a firm determination to succeed, and his early ambition has largely been realized, as he is today practically independent financially and is respected as one of the influential members of a large and growing city. In the full vigor of life and in the prime of his mental powers, he enjoys the confidence of his fellow citizens, which he has gained through years of conscientious effort in the pursuit of worthy ideals.