John Means

John Means (September 21, 1829 – February 14, 1910) was a mayor of Ashland, Kentucky and a leader in the banking and iron industries. He helped organize the Cincinnati and Big Sandy Packet Company, laid out Ashland Cemetery, built furnaces, served as vice-president of the Ashland National Bank, and served then led the growing iron business of the Means family. The Kentucky Encyclopedia of 2015 described the Means-owned iron empire as having "created massive enterprises out of the disorganized and weakened industry that emerged from the Civil War." Early life Means was born to Sara Ellison and Thomas W. Means of North Carolina, a settler of Hanging Rock, Ohio. Through his paternal great-great-grandmother, he was a relative of Isaac Newton. In his youth, his uncle Hugh often worked with his father, Thomas. Thomas built the Buena Vista Furnace in Kentucky, with Hugh as a stockholder, and, in 1856, the Means brothers became directors of the Kentucky Iron, Coal & Manufacturing Company. That spring, they helped organize the Bank of Ashland, and Means became cashier, serving as such from 1866 to 1869. Business career Mean's career began in 1849 when he worked for his father's company, Sinton & Means. In 1854 he was a co-incorporator of The Kentucky Iron, Coal, & Manufacturing Company. In 1856 he helped his father and uncle begin the Cincinnati and Big Sandy Packet Company, starting with one boat, called the Scioto, but soon expanding all the large freighters in the iron region. The Means were responsible also for initiating the ferryboat service in Ashland, Kentucky. Others involved in the organization of the company included Washington Honshell, David Gibson, and Hiram Campbell. The line was known as the White Collar Line, and built a number of steamers, starting with the Telegraph and later the Fleetwood.