JOHN WILLIAM ZOLLINGER, in whose death the city of Piqua lost one of its stalwart citizens and business men, was a member of the wholesale grocery firm of Zollinger and Company. He was a man of very wide acquaintance in this vicinity, and had the confidence and good will of the people to a remarkable degree.

Mr. Zollinger was born in the house in which he died, at the corner of Broadway and Ash streets, February 13, 1859, and was a son of the late John Zollinger, an early merchant of Piqua. After the completion of his schooling, he began work in his father's store and later acquired a one-fourth interest in the business. At the death of his father, he and his brother, Samuel Zollinger, became equal owners of the store, which was conducted by them under the firm name of Zollinger & Company. He was taken away in the prime of life, and although suffering with an affection of the heart for a little more than a month, his death was sudden and unexpected. He died April 4, 1905, aged forty-six years, one month and twenty-one days.

J. W. Zollinger, familiarly known as Will, was married November 13, 1883, to Miss Bessie Cottingham, who was born and reared in Troy, Ohio, where her family has long been prominent. She is a daughter of William A. and Henrietta (Jones) Cottingham.

W. A. Cottingham was born in Troy, July 20, 1829, on the present site of the Hotel Troy. There he grew to manhood, but at an early age located at Piqua to enter the drug business with his uncle, Judge M. G. Mitchell, now deceased. He was married in Piqua, December 8, 1858, to Miss Henrietta Jones, who departed this life, April 17, 1894. They were parents of three children, two of whom are living: Anna (Mrs. Dr. Faulkner of Montra, Ohio; and Bessie, widow of J. W. Zollinger. A son, James, died March 5, 1879. Mr. Cottingham became affiliated with Center Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Troy in 1861, and was active in fraternal work up to the time of his death, serving as treasurer for more than twenty years. He joined with the Mulberry Street Methodist Church, July 30, 1871, and was thereafter a consistent attendant and liberal in its support. He passed into the Great Beyond, September 15, l896.

Mr. and Mrs. Zollinger reared one son, John Cottingham Zollinger, who is connected with the wholesale grocery business, in which his father was a partner. Religiously, Mrs. Zollinger is a devout member of Green Street Methodist Episcopal Church.