Cabell County, West Virginia Biography of Edward L. ZIHLMAN ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , May 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 148 EDWARD L. ZIHLMAN is president of the Huntington Tumbler Company, one of the important manufacturing concerns lending to the industrial and commercial prece- dence of the City of Huntington, and he is one of the lib- eral and progressive business men of this city. Mr. Zihlman was born at Cumberland, Maryland, Feb- ruary 5, 1883, and is a son of Anthony and Charlotte (Schindler) Zihlman, the former of whom was born in Switzerland, in 1840, and the latter of whom was born in Switzerland Township, Monroe County, Ohio, in 1845, her death having occurred at Cumberland, Maryland, in 1888. Anthony Zihlman was reared and educated in his native land and there gained his initial experience in connection with glass manufacturing. He arrived in the United States on the 17th of March, 1866, and found employment in a glass factory at Bellaire, Ohio, one of his fellow employes and friends at that place having been a man named Owens, later distinguished as the inventor and patentee of an im- proved machine for the blowing of bottles. By actual ex- perience of practical order Anthony Zihlman learned all details of glass manufacturing, and in 1881 he removed to Cumberland, Maryland, and established the Cumberland Glass Works, his associate in this enterprise having been his brother Joseph. They continued to operate this fac- tory until 1900, when Anthony Zihlman came to Hunting- ton, West Virginia, and organized the Huntington Tum- bler Company, of which he continued the president and general manager until his death, in 1912. He was a man of resourceful energy, and developed a substantial and successful manufacturing industry that is being continued under the executive direction of his son. He was a demo- crat in politics and was a communicant of the Catholic Church, his first wife having been a member of the Luth- eran Church. Of their three children the two daughters died young, and thus Edward L., of this review, is the only surviving member of the immediate family. For his sec- ond wife Anthony Zihlman married Miss Margaret Rank, who was born at Cumberland, Maryland, and who contin- ued her residence at Huntington. Of the second marriage were born five children: George, a skilled artisan in the factory of the Huntington Tumbler Company, served in the Signal Corps with the Eighty-first Division (known as the "Wildcats") with the American Expeditionary Forces in France in the World war, he having been in active serv- ice in the Argonne sector and having been with his com- mand in France for a period of eighteen months. Charles, vice president of the Huntington Tumbler Company, like- wise was in the nation's service in the World war, he hav- ing been a radio electrician in the navy and having as- sisted in the laying of mines in the North Sea, his service of eighteen months having been principally on the United States ship "Roanoke." William is foreman in the dec- orating department of the plant of the Huntington Tum- bler Company. Henrietta and Clara remain with their wid- owed mother. Edward L. Zihlman acquired his early education in the rural schools of Switzerland Township, Monroe County, Ohio, and under the direction of a private tutor at Cumber- land, Maryland, where also he was graduated in the Cen- tral Commercial College in 1898. Under the able direction of his father he thereafter learned the trade of glass- blower, and in the passing years he gained experience in all details of glass manufacturing, so that he was well forti- fied in a technical and executive way when the death of his father led to his assuming the office of president of the Huntington Tumbler Company, the plant and offices of which are situated at the corner of Madison Avenue and Fifteenth Street. In this factory, of the best modern equipment, are manufactured tumblers, goblets, bar glass- ware, tankards, nappies and a general line of lead-blown tableware. The factory is a substantial brick structure cov- ering one-half of a city block, employment is given to 170 workmen, and products are shipped to all parts of the United States, as well as to Cuba, Porto Rico, England, Holland and even far-off Java. Mr. Zihlman is president of the company, his brother Charles is vice president, and Charles W. Kerr is secretary and treasurer. The democratic party receives the loyal allegiance of Mr. Zihlman, and his religious faith is that of the Lutheran Church. In the Masonic fraternity his affiliations are as here noted: Huntington Lodge No. 53, A. F. and A. M.; Huntington Chapter No. 6, R. A. M.; Huntington Com- mandery No. 9, Knights Templars; West Virginia Con- sistory No. 1, A. A. S. R., at Wheeling, in which he has received the thirty-second degree; and Beni-Kedem Tem- ple of the Mystic Shrine at Charleston. He is a member also of Huntington Lodge No. 313, B. P. O. E., and holds active membership in the local Chamber of Commerce and the Guyan Country Club. His name still remains enrolled on the list of eligible bachelors in Cabell County.