John Hoban
John Hoban is president of the city council of Dayton; and foreman of the brass foundry of the Buckeye Iron & Brass works, a business which was established in 1844, in small way, by Geo. W. Hoglen and W. H. Pease. Mr. Hoban's father, Patrick Hoban, died about 1878.
John Hoban was born in Dayton, May 31, 1857, and received his education in the public and parochial schools of this city. At the age of twelve years he left school and went to work for the Dayton Gauge company. After some time he became engaged in trimming carriages, and continued this line of work for about five months. Not being satisfied with this occupation, he became an employee with the Buckeye Iron & Brass works as cleaner of castings, and after a time became a core-maker and at last a molder. After serving four years at the molder's trade he was made foreman of the shops, a position which he has since held continuously for eighteen years, making a period of twenty-five years of unbroken employment in one establishment. This fact alone speaks volumes for the efficiency, faithfulness and skill of Mr. Hoban in a place of trust and responsibility. When he began working for this company there were but one molder and two boys employed, while at the present time there are sixty men in the shops, all under his supervision.
Mr. Hoban was married in October, 1881, to Mary Mescher, of Dayton, and to them there have been born seven children, all sons, six of whom are still living, as follows: Charles, John, William, Edward, Albert and Harry. The other died in infancy. Mr. Hoban is a member of the Catholic Church, of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, of the Knights of St. John, and of the National Union.
In the spring of 1891 Mr. Hoban was elected a member of the city council of Dayton from the Fourteenth ward as a democrat. In 1893 he was elected from the Seventh ward; and in 1895 was re-elected from the same ward. He was chosen president of the council in 1895, and is now filling that honorable position with credit and ability.
Mr. Hoban's long period of service with the Buckeye Iron & Brass works, his repeated elections to the city council, and finally his elevation to the presidency of that body, are all indicative of a strong personality, of thorough integrity and of a persistent devotion to principle, that are alike admirable and valuable to the community at large.
From Centennial Portrait and Biographical Record of the City of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio, A. W. Bowen & Co., 1897