My Genealogy Hound

JOHN H. VAN CULIN, Sr., was born in 1821, in the town of Salem, Salem Co., N. J. His parents were John Van Culin, of German descent, and Sarah (Ware) Van Culin. John H. was but a small boy when his father died, and his subsequent boyhood’s days were fraught with a remarkably checkered experience. At the age of sixteen years, he decided to go west, and after reaching Pittsburgh, Penn., he found his limited means exhausted. He succeeded in securing a position as clerk in a dry goods store, and after three years of such employment, he obtained a clerkship on a steamboat. About 1841, he went to Hopkinsville, Ky., and obtained a position as book-keeper for Gant & Kinkead, but at the end of one year was elected to a clerkship in the branch Bank of Kentucky, next to cashier of that institution, in which he continued until July, 1854. He then went to New Orleans, and there engaged in a general commission business, which he conducted with marked success, accumulating a handsome fortune, which was mostly swept away by the results of the civil war. In 1869, Mr. Van Culin removed from New Orleans to Paducah, Ky., and engaged in mercantile business. In 1876, he established his present book business, and is now located at No. 107 Broadway. In 1858, he married Miss R. E. White, a native of Tennessee. They have a family of three sons, viz.: John H. Jr., a traveling salesman; Nolan W., assistant cashier in the Bank of Madison, at Jackson, Tenn., and David L. Van Culin, of Paducah.