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 he 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.

Means helped organize in 1864 the Ashland Coal Company and also the Hanging Rock Iron & Coal Company. In 1864, Princess Furnace, about ten miles from Ashland and on the L. & B. S., was put into operation. In 1869 he was instrumental in organizing the Eastern Division of the Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad Company, and in 1870 was elected to become its president, serving that role until 1891. The Ashland Furnace Company was owned by the railroad, the furnace being built under Means' supervision. When completed, it was the largest in the United States. Means' two daughters had the honor of "firing" it for the first time on August 30, 1869.

Philanthropy and politics During his business career, Means was a patron of education, owning the property where the Ashland Academy was located and promoting and supporting the Beech Grove Academy. He also donated the land where the Ashland school for African-American children was located. In 1874 Means was a candidate for United States Representative of Kentucky.

Personal and legacy Means was married to Harriet Perkins of Marietta, Ohio, daughter of Samuel Prescott Hildreth, on October 25, 1854. (US$23 million in 2024 values)

The school that Means had donated operated as the John Means School in Ashland in from 1905 until 1960. The three-story building was demolished in 1969.