lumberman, b. Lancaster, Ontario, Canada. He migrated to the U.S. in 1862, settling at Ford River, Mich., where from 1869 to 1882 he managed the Ford River Lumber Co. In 1882 he moved to Chicago, and in 1883, with A. W. Brooks, founded the Brooks and Ross Lumber Co., with offices in Chicago and a mill at Schofield, Wis. In the same year Ross moved to Wausau near the Schofield mill, and in 1910 became sole owner of the firm. Although a great deal of his time was spent outside the state, Ross became an influential stockholder in the Marathon Paper Mills, and in numerous other enterprises both in Wisconsin and in Illinois. His son, JOHN FRANKLIN ROSS, b. Ford River, Mich., came to Wisconsin with his father in 1883, settled permanently in Wausau, and in 1908 joined the Brooks and Ross Lumber Ca. He became president of the firm on his father's death in 1917 and sewed in this capacity until 1935 when the company was sold to the Yawkey-Alexander Co. of Wausau. Ross was also president of the Boulder Junction Building Material Co., the C. C. Collins Lumber Co., and the Wisconsin Building Material Co. of Schofield, and was vice-president of the Mosinee Paper Mills and the Tomahawk Kraft Paper Co. Known for his philanthropies in Wausau, he donated the Ross Memorial Nurses Home to the city, and in 1926 equipped a wing of the Wausau Memorial Hospital. M. M. Quaife, Wis. (4 vols., Chicago, 1924); Wausau Daily Record-Herald, Mar. 5, 1917, Mar. 24, 1936.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]