Edgar O. Selby

Edgar O. Selby. . , In a review of the life record of Edgar O. Selby it will be noted that every business enterprise with which he has become connected has been crowned with success, and while he has promoted his individual interests he has contributed in substantial measure to the city's growth and improvement, so that Coshocton may well number him with her builders and promoters., He was born May 30, 1857, at Spring Mountain, in Coshocton county, his parents being Joseph Benson and Isabella (Sturgeon) Selby. His father was at that time principal of the very flourishing Spring Mountain Academy and he was reared in an atmosphere of intellectual culture and refinement. Early in his business career he became connected with the dry-goods trade in Coshocton and afterward consolidated his interests with those of the firm of Moore and Caton, under the firm style of Selby, Moore and Caton. The business was later incorporated under the name of the Fountain Dry Goods Company, and the enterprise has become the pride of Coshocton. Along the lines of gradual and healthful advancement the business has reached proportions which would make it a creditable business concern in a city of much larger size than Coshocton. Its methods are in keeping worth the most modern ideas of trade and, quick to utilize any new idea for the advancement of its interests, the company has also instituted many original plans which have been factors in its substantial growth., In 1895 Mr. Selby erected the Selby building, the largest structure used for mercantile purposes in Coshocton. This building, as every other undertaking with which Mr. Selby has been connected in the thirty years of his successful business career in Coshocton, has proved a profitable investment and is a credit to the city. A man of broad enterprise and of varied resources Mr. Selby has extended his efforts into many fields, all of which have profited by the stimulus of his intelligently directed efforts. He became actively associated, with the Meek Company in 1898, and is treasurer of the Realty Company and an active member of the Board of Trade, which organization is doing so much for Coshocton's development, accomplishing results that seem almost magical., Much of the prosperity of the large Methodist church of Coshocton is also due to the faithful work of Mr. Selby. A Spring Mountain boy, raised in economy, the years have watched his gradual advancement in a uniformly successful career and his life is a story of inspiration. All of his energies and accumulations are now directed to building and manufacturing interests, and while he thus promotes his individual success Coshocton shares in the good results which follow his efforts. The Selby summer home, known as Orchard Heights, is situated at Roscoe hill in a beautiful spot, where the valleys are in view and the wind-swept hills are a constant delight., from Centennial History of Coshocton County, Ohio, Vol. II-pgs 401 and 402 by William J. Babmer, 1909, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago