FRANCIS "FRANK" SEMPLE

Francis "Frank" Semple
1842 - 1908

Frank Semple the son of John Bonner Semple and Mary Jane Blair was educated in Pittsburgh, clerked in a dry goods store and later in a bank after which he entered Yale College. Later he accompanied Prof. Benjamin Sillman of Yale College as private secretary, inspecting the mines of California. Frank Semple’s father John Semple was a partner in the private banking firm of Semple & Jones which Frank continued after his father’s death in 1873 (it was for a time thereafter called Semple & Thompson).

At the time of the Johnstown Flood, Frank Semple’s principal client was William Thaw. During the Spanish American war he served on the executive committee of the Red Cross, along with SFF&HS members and their relatives: H D W English, H C Frick, Mrs. William Thaw and C B Shea. Additionally, Frank Semple was the treasurer of the Homeopathic Medical and Surgical Hospital and Dispensary of Pittsburgh located at 146 Second Street in Pittsburgh. Frank Semple was a director of the Fidelity Title and Trust Company, of which Reuben Miller, James Hay Reed, C B Shea and Robert Pitcairn were all directors as well. He was also a director of the Union National Bank of Pittsburgh, which included other Club members on the board. In 1908 Frank Semple died and was buried in Sewickley Cemetery. By 1912 Frank Semple Jr. was serving as secretary of the Edgeworth Club, Sewickley.

From The Social Mirror of 1888: “Mrs. Frank Semple, a charming blonde, nee Annie Wilcox, was in her girlhood a noted belle. She is still so young and pretty looking that it is hard to realize the two young ladies of the house are her daughters. Leila and Annie both inherit their mother’s beauty. They are both demi-blondes with rose leaf complexions and red-gold hair. Through their father they belong to one of Pittsburgh’s finest families.” (page 191) Additional information comes from family research as noted in the comments section below: "Annie Semple was my great grandfather, Charles Wilcox's sister. She was very pretty. I have pictures of both she and Frank. My records do not have her as Hanah Sarah but as Ann or Annie Sarah?"

In 1880 their household consisted of the following:

Frank Semple (38)

Annie Semple (36); given name was Hanna Sarah ("Annie Sarah") Wilcox

Their Children:

- Leila Semple (13); married Dale Bakewell (1864-1916); their children included Hazel Bakewell and Paul Bonner Bakewell. Hazel Bakewell married Irving Stanislaus Fellner and had five children by him: Anita (married Frederick Swetland), Irving Stanislaus Jr (married Shirley ?); Hazel (married Charles Dinsmore Tuttle); Leila (married Thomas Hugh Lenagh); and Dale Bakewell (married Betsey ?). Hazel died on 13 November 1974 in Greenwich Connecticut.

- John B. Semple (10); A director of the John B. Semple and Company, John B Semple was a Trustee of the Carnegie Museum and collected many birds on a 1926 expedition to Hudson Bay, and subsequent expeditions to Michigan (1936) and Mexico (1939) etc. The Semple's Florida home was designed by the architects of the main buildings at Rollins College, Kiehnel and Elliott of Pittsburgh, Penn . Dubbed "La Brisa", Mr. & Mrs. John B. Semple Residence 1, 3551 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL.

- Frank Semple (9) (twin)

- Annie Semple (9) (twin)

- Herbert Semple (4)

Frank Semple’s sister was Louisa Semple Clarke, the wife of SFF&HC member Charles J. Clarke. (Mary Ormsby Phillips, m. 14 January, I89I, to Louis Semple Clarke, son of Charles J. Clarke of Pittsburgh, by his wife Louisa Semple.)