COLUMBIANA COUNTY OHIO - BIO: VODREY, William H. (published 1925)
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HISTORY OF OHIO, The American Historical Society, Inc., 1925
Volume V, Page 16

        WILLIAM H. VODREY.  Representing a name and family intimately
connected with pioneer and later developments of the great pottery industry
of East Liverpool, William H. Vodrey chose the law as his profession, and
for over a quarter of a century has been one of the able and dignified
members of the East Liverpool bar. He is also a director of the pottery
business established by his father and uncles.
        He was born at East Liverpool, Columbiana County, March 4, 1873.
The Vodrey family comes from the same locality in England, a great pottery
center, from which other pioneer American potters came. His grandfather
Jabez Vodrey was born at Burslem, England, came to this country when a
young man, and lived for a time at Louisville, Kentucky but about 1846
established his home at East Liverpool and helped make the beginnings of
the pottery industry there. He lived in East Liverpool the rest of his
life. His wife, Sarah Nixon, was also born at Burslem, England.
        Col. William H. Vodrey, father of the East Liverpool attorney, was
born at Liverpool, Kentucky, in August, 1830, spent part of his boyhood in
Troy, Indiana, and was sixteen years of age when his parents settled at
East Liverpool. For the rest of his life he lived in that Ohio city, and
after leaving school went to work for the pottery manufacturers Woodward,
Blakely & Mitchell. Subsequently he and his two brother, James N. and John
W., acquired part of the pottery plant in which they had been employed, and
this was the beginning of an industry with which the Vodrey name has ever
since been associated. For many years the firm was Vodrey Brothers, but in
1896 the business was incorporated as the Vodrey Pottery Company. Vodrey
products contributed to some of the remarkable fame attaching to East
Liverpool pottery. One of the founders of the business gave up his life as
a sacrifice to the cause of the Union in the Civil war. He was John W.
Vodrey, who was killed while the Union armies were near Atlanta. Col.
William H. Vodrey was also an officer, being commander of the One Hundred
and Forty-second Ohio Infantry, and was all through the war. He was a
staunch republican, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and for a quarter
of a century served as a member of the East Liverpool School Board. Colonel
Vodrey married Elizabeth Jackman, who was born in 1843 near Fredericktown
in St. Clair Township, Columbiana County. Her father, Rev. John Jackman,
was a farmer and also a minister of the Disciples Church. One Sunday
morning, when Gen. John Morgan was progressing through the southeastern
counties of Ohio in his memorable raid, Rev. Mr. Jackman dismissed his
congregation to join the volunteers to stop the raider. Col. William H.
Vodrey died at East Liverpool, November 15, 1896, and his wife, in 1911. Of
their three children William H. Vodrey is the youngest. Oliver C., the
oldest, is a fruit grower in East Liverpool. Mary, of East Liverpool, was a
Young Men's Christian Association worker in the canteen service in France
during the World war.
        William H. Vodrey attended public schools at East Liverpool, and in
1894 graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree from Bethany College at
Bethany, West Virginia. He received his law degree from the University of
Michigan in 1896, and in 1897 was again graduated in law, this time from
the Cincinnati Law School. Admitted to the bar in June, 1897, he has since
that date been identified with the general law practice of East Liverpool
and his offices are in the Potters Savings and Loan Building. Mr. Vodrey is
a director of the First National Bank of East Liverpool, is a director in
the Vodrey Pottery Company, and has some other property interests,
including his residence on Park Boulevard.
        In politics he has acted with the republican party. He was elected
and served two terms, four years, as city solicitor, and was also for two
terms, four years, prosecuting attorney of Columbiana County. He is a
member of the First Christian Church at East Liverpool, Riddle Lodge No.
315, Free and Accepted Masons, East Liverpool Lodge No. 379, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, East Liverpool Lodge No. 258, Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the Ohio State, the Columbiana
County and the American Bar associations.
        On May 16, 1902, at East Liverpool, Mr. Vodrey married Miss Dorothy
Kelley, daughter of Joseph M. and Margaret (Thompson) Kelley, now deceased.
Her father was an oil and gas producer. Mrs. Vodrey, who finished her
education in Wilson College at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, is the mother of
three children. William H. III, and Joseph K., are both in their second
year at Princeton University. Margaret Louise, the daughter, is a student
in the public schools of East Liverpool.


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