John Andrew Wiseman's story is one of rags-to-riches. Born into a humble German family in Philadelphia in 1805, he was indentured at age ten to learn "the art and mystery of a shoemaker." John ran away from his guardian five years later and began working in Cincinnati.
Not content with life as a shoemaker, John sought a higher station in life. He worked his way up through the ranks of public service from constable to justice of the peace, to judge and attorney. He shrewdly invested his hard-earned money and provided a very comfortable life for his family.
John A. Wiseman seemed to be well-known, good-humored, and well-likedÑjudging by the number of anecdotes about John or his family that were published in newspapers of that time. This short biography will shed some light on the life of John A. Wiseman in nineteenth-century Cincinnati.