From GREATER WHEELING AND VICINITY
By Charles A. Winegerter, 1912; page 579.
     
Contributed by Linda Fluharty.


     WILLIAM LEECE CALLIN, who died at St. Clairsville, Ohio, February 24, 
1903, was for many years a well known publisher and business man of Wheeling. 
He possessed a brilliant mind and the talents which secure recognition 
everywhere, and his death at a comparatively early age, deprived the social 
and business community of one of its most capable personal factors.
     He was born in Peel, on the Isle of Man, September 22, 1852, and was the 
son of William and Esther Callin, his father being a seaman and spending many 
years on the oceans. The late Mr. Callin was reared in his native island, and 
from an early age showed unusual ability as a  scholar. While still in his 
teens he was graduated from an Episcopal school with the highest honors of 
his class, and was then made an instructor in the school, continuing in this 
work for four years. He then came to America and located in Wheeling. For a 
time he was connected with the lumber business here, and in 1877 began his 
career as a publisher. Before coming to this country he had had some 
experience in directory work, and in Wheeling for a number of years he was 
engaged in the compilation and publishing of the city directory. He was also 
editor of "Great Men of West Virginia," a work that was published complete 
and with great credit to its compiler. 
     Mr. Callin was married at St. Clairsville, Ohio, October 26, 1886, to 
Miss Elizabeth J. Riley, who survives him and now resides on Chapline street 
and continues the business formerly conducted by her husband.