Reuben R. Springer

Portrait of Reuben R. Springer by Thomas Satterwhite Noble. In the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum Reuben Runyan Springer (November 16, 1800 – December 10, 1884) At age 13 he left school to become a clerk at the local post office, under his father's supervision. In time, he succeeded his father as postmaster, but found himself disenchanted by the work. Drawn to life on the Ohio River, he got a position with the firm of Taylor, Kilgour & Company, who were wholesale grocers, as a store clerk on one of their steamboats, the George Madison, which transported food between Louisville and New Orleans. In 1826, he obtained a transfer to a better position on another of the company's boats, the George Washington.

In 1830, Springer married Jane Kilgour, the daughter of one of the firm's founders, and became a partner in the company. Within ten years, he had worked so hard that he had become very wealthy, not only in the grocery trade, but also through investments in real estate and the railroads. However, he had destroyed his health in the process.

He became a convert to Catholicism, and also contributed heavily to the Catholic Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral, located near his home.

Springer died childless in 1884 at his home, located at the northeast corner of Seventh and Plum Streets