Profiles in Time

An Update...

2011-11-14T07:39:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to the more than 20,000 who have visited and continue to read this blog.

My hope is that it will be of help to the descendants of the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Several of you have related that The Club and The Flood were never mentioned in your homes as you were growing up, and that it has been through other, serendipitous ways that you first became aware of your connection to these fascinating people.

May I suggest that if you do have family information about your ancestor's membership in the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, especially if you have old photos or other artifacts, that you consider making these available to the outstanding Johnstown Flood National Memorial. It is situated at the farm of Colonel Elias Unger, near the remains of the failed dam. If you have not visited there and toured the Clubhouse which is still standing, you really should.

To see what The Club looked like before The Flood, don't miss the outstanding photos by Louis Semple Clarke:

Louis Semple Clark Collection

Also, I am incorporating your newest comments as time permits.

To All Who Have Commented...Thank You!

2009-08-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you to each and every one of you who have made comments during the past two years.

I am so very grateful for the kind attention you have given to this blog since the initial postings were put in place in 2007, as well as for the corrections, insights and questions that your comments have provided. I am especially grateful to have heard from family and friends of those who were part of the Club--how good of you all to take the time to respond!

In the next few weeks I will try to respond to them all. Thank you for being patient--I have been busily otherwise occupied and it has kept me from the South Fork research as well as reading and responding.

David McCullough* has said that once the South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club and the Johnstown Flood gets hold of one, it is for keeps. True. It is my intention to add to and make this blog more helpful to South Fork Club family members, researchers and those who have a compelling interest in this gripping story.

*The best book about the Flood with many fine insights about the Club is McCullough's "The Johnstown Flood". I encourage you all to read it. It is a treasure.

JOHN JACOB LAWRENCE

2007-03-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

John Jacob Lawrence
March 7, 1827 – March 27, 1898

John Jacob Lawrence was born on March 7, 1827 in Washington County, Pennsylvania, the son of Congressman Joseph B. Lawrence and his second wife, Sarah (AKA Marie) Bucher. (More about Congressman Joseph B. Lawrence: In 1838 he was a candidate for Congress, defeated by seventeen votes, but elected in 1840. He died in Washington, D. C., April 7, 1842.).

John Jacob Lawrence served during the Civil War, to whit: JOHN JACOB LAWRENCE Captain 125th Penna. Infantry Aug. 15, 1862; Major Aug. 16, 1862; honorably mustered out May 18, 1863. Colonel 46th Penna. Militia Infantry.

John Jacob Lawrence was involved with paint and color manufacturing and was for a time a partner of Moses B. Suydam. The parent factory was located on Rebecca (Reedsdale) Street. Originally engaged in the manufacture of Dutch-processed white lead, other products of the paint industry gradually were added as the firm expanded under a series of reorganizations. Successively it became W. G. Stockton and Company; Suydam, Lawrence and Company (1878); M. B. Suydam and Company (1885), and the M. B. Suydam Company (1900). Each company in turn prospered and each served as the spring-board from which the next was formed. The paint products of the M B Suydam company were used by many of the largest bridge building firms in Western Pennsylvania, including, Carnegie Steel and Jones and Laughlin Steel.

John Jacob Lawrence was a director of the Masonic Bank, along with SFF&HC members Robert Pitcairn, E. A. Myers, Aaron French and John Caldwell.

At the time of the Flood, Colonel J. J. Lawrence, was Vice-President of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

John J. Lawrence married Anna E. ?

Here is their Allegheny PA household in 1880…(the enumerator misspells the last name as “Laurence”)…

Household:

J J Lawrence – age 53 – Lead and Oil Manufacturer (born 1827)

Anna E. Lawrence – age 50 – Keeping House (born 1830)

W. W. Lawrence – age 21 – Clk Manufacturer

Teresa M. Lawrence – age 19 (born 1861)

Anna M. Lawrence – age 16 (born 1864)

J. J. Lawrence Jr. – age 14 (born 1866)

Mary S. Lawrence – age 12 (born 1868)

* * * * *

John Jacob Lawrence, Jr. married Louise Andrews.

Their children include:

Louise Lawrence ()

John Jacob Lawrence III ()

William Watson Lawrence ()

Miriam Lawrence ()

Their home in Sewickley was called “Glen Osborne”.

John J. Lawrence was involved with railroads. On Feb 20, 1870, the Allegheny Valley Railroad was opened to Oil City proper. And two years later extensive terminal facilities were acquired. In 1873, Colonel William Phillips was still president of the road, and J. J. Lawrence was its general manager.

He was also listed as a general superintendent of the Erie and Pittsburgh Railroad. President-W. L. Scott. General Superintendent--John J. Lawrence. General Ticket Agent--J: A. Burch. General Business Office-Erie, Pa.

* * *

William Watson Lawrence...

Q. When was the Paint and Varnish building at the foot of the Duquesne Incline abandoned, and what's the plan for it? -- Dennis Bateman, Corliss

A. At the turn of the century, William Watson Lawrence was probably Pittsburgh's most respected paint manufacturer. But today he is remembered not for the buildings his paint protected and beautified, but for the building he left behind -- a once-handsome structure whose badly weathered exterior is now perhaps the worst advertisement imaginable for "W. W. Lawrence & Company Paints and Varnishes."

There's a lesson for us all in this little irony. Lawrence founded his company in 1884, and enjoyed considerable success: A 19th-century advertisement boasted that in addition to various military contracts, "Last spring by order of the Secretary of the Treasury every Light House on the Atlantic coast was painted with The Lawrence Paints."

By the late 1800s, Lawrence was himself a beacon of Pittsburgh business. He expanded his operations into a massive South Side factory, which was completed in 1902. Topped by a white wooden tower containing water tanks for the paint and the building's sprinkler system, the facility boasted six floors and 100,000 feet of floor space. Those floors were some 10 inches thick, supported by oaken columns each more than three feet square. Such heavy construction was necessary to support the massive vats needed to mix and store the paint -- which in those days contained large amounts of lead.

The paint factory closed in 1973, and at first developers were anxious to renovate it. The site, after all, is ideal: Its view of the Point makes it perfect for luxury apartments or offices, while its proximity to the Duquesne Incline makes it a natural site for a restaurant or tourist attraction such as a museum or urban mall. The interior offers exciting possibilities as well. Developers wistfully spoke of the "forest of wood" inside the building. In a 1988 treatise on the factory kept on file by the Heinz Regional History Center, Carnegie Mellon student Natalie Gillespie observed that its interior was dominated by "massive oak pillars and high balconies or mezzanines with circular openings for paint vats" -- gaps that "could be incorporated in the building design for dramatic effect."

So far, however, what's been most dramatic about the building are the failures of those who've tried to renovate it. It's as if once they set foot inside, they contract the lethargy that comes from snacking on too many lead paint chips. Plans to turn the building into luxury condominiums, office space, a history museum, and shopping destination for tourists have all languished, largely because the sheer mass of its wooden floors and beams have made it too costly to renovate .

Nor has there been much progress since Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises acquired the factory along with the Station Square complex in 1994. The company did once tell the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it hoped to decide what to do with the building "soon" ... but that was in 1995. "We really haven't even addressed it yet," confirms Eve Bursic, Forest City's Station Square general manager. She does say there are no plans to tear it down -- which, given the building's history and appealing facade, would be a terrible loss -- but beyond that, "nothing has been decided."
So for now, at least, the future of the W. W. Lawrence Paint factory looks to be about as exciting as watching paint dry. Or, in this case, fade. -- Chris Potter, "You Had To Ask";

Source: http://incline.pghfree.net/asklawrencepaint.htm

JAMES McGREGOR

2007-03-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

James McGregor
1835? – After 1895

James McGregor is one of the more elusive members of the Club in spite of the fact that he made one of the most callous comments to the press immediately following the Flood. The National Flood Memorial says he was an attorney and had obtained the rank of major. If that is so, then the other historic records of Pittsburgh’s contributions to the Civil War indicate that Pittsburgh lawyer James McGregor was mustered in on April 24,1861, enlisting as a lieutenant and rising to the rank of major.

In addition, here is what we do know about James McGregor…

The SFF&HC member James McGregor was a director of the Allegheny National Bank along with fellow SFF&HC member John Caldwell Jr.

James McGregor married Margaret Mackey, who was born in Scotland in 1852. Margaret was the daughter of William (born 1823) and “Sabilla” (probably Isabella) (born 1820) Mackey, who with their family had immigrated to Pittsburgh sometime after 1860 but before 1870. They lived in the City of Allegheny, where William was enumerated as a skilled professional saddler.

James and Margaret Mackey McGregor had at least the following child:

Lyda “Lide” G. McGregor (born circa 1875) She married George L. Farrell (born circa 1872) of Columbus Ohio on October 7, 1896 in Pittsburgh, PA.

In the Pittsburgh and Allegheny Blue Book of 1895 Mrs. James McGregor (nee Margaret Mackey) and her daughter Lide G. McGregor are listed as living at 362 Highland Avenue, in the East End. Mr. McGregor is not listed with them, which suggests that either he had died or they had divorced by this time.

A separate listing for James McGregor in the 1880 census has him in a boarding house on Penn Avenue, enumerated as a self-employed lawyer and as married, even though no spouse is listed at the same address. This suggests the possibility that a short-lived marriage between James and Margaret may have occurred, sometime after 1870 and was over by 1880.

* * *
If James and Margaret were indeed divorced, there is a possibly that James McGregor had sometime after 1889 (when we KNOW he was in Pittsburgh, given his idiotic comment to the newspapers about the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club's dam), gone west to Utah, as there is a James McGregor who served a director of the Crescent Mining Company in the 1890s, as the following indicates…

“The annual meeting of the Crescent Mining Company was held on Wednesday the 15th at Salt Lake; James McGregor, who has been superintendent of the company for the past year, is now elected also to the Executive Committee. (Pitchard, Park Record, Park City, 18 October 1890) ...”
”An item which notices that James McGregor is the managing director of the Crescent Mining Company. (Pitchard, Salt Lake Daily Herald, 22 March 1891)”

These would be in keeping with the fact that earlier a James McGregor had been superintendant of the Loyalhanna Mine of the Loyalhanna Coal and Coke Co. in Western Pennsylvania.

* * *
Further speculation…

The census records for Pittsburgh and Allegheny are interesting but not specifically helpful.

If we look at the records for the 1870 census we find a James McGregor who is in charge of the U. S. Pensions Office in Pittsburgh, an important post coordinating the pensions of Civil War survivors and their spouses. He is enumerated as age 35 (so would have been born in 1835) and married to an Eliza ? with two children: Frances age ten (born in 1860) and Margaret age eight (born in 1862). If this is one and the same as the SFF&HC member than he was married twice, first to Eliza and then thereafter to Margaret Mackey.

In the 1880 census James is enumerated as a self-employed lawyer, as mentioned above and living at a boarding house on Penn Avenue. This having been said, he is also listed as age 49, which would mean either that one of the census records is incorrect or that one of these is not the SFF&HC James McGregor.

JOHN KING EWING

2007-03-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

JOHN KING EWING
1857- after 1904 (?)

John King Ewing was the son of John K. and Ellen L. Ewing. They made their home in Uniontown, Fayette County. There, John K Ewing began his career in the real estate business, but by 1884 he had removed to Pittsburgh and continued his career there.

Mr. John K. Ewing established himself in the business of real estate, rents and loans in 1884, the firm later becoming John K. Ewing Co; the members of which are John K. Ewing and his cousin, James C. Ewing. They have handsome office premises at No. 64 Federal Street, Allegheny, and advertised themselves, creative, as “Authority on Allegheny real Estate.”

John King Ewing married Mary B. “Birdie” Stockdale, the daughter of Jackman Taylor Stockdale and Mary J. Calhoun. (Jackman Stockdale held interests in Standard Oil).

John K and Birdie Ewing had at least one child:

Mr. John King Ewing, II ()

In 1904 their home was at 1023 North Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh.

HILARY J. BRUNOT

2007-03-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hilary J. Brunot
July 24, 1824 – June 9, 1900

Hilary Jackson Brunot was born on 24 Jul 1824 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA. He died either on June 9, 1900 or on June 10, 1899 in Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA, depending on sources.

Hilary J. Brunot was educated in Sewickley Academy and Western University of Pittsburg. Leaving school he was engaged for a short time in the white lead business. In 1845 he engaged in civil engineering and assisted Nathan McDowell to make test surveys for slackwater navigation on the Monongahela river. In 1849 he went with a Pittsburg company to California, where he remained two years.

In 1851 he returned to Pennsylvania and helped locate and survey the Allegheny Valley Railroad. In 1854 he resigned from the engineer corps and went to Indiana, where he married and then purchased a stock farm in Rock Island county, Illinois, upon which he resided for five years.

In 1859 he removed to Fayette county. Pennsylvania, where he was engaged in farming and speculation in coal lands until 1873, when he came to Greensburg. Since then he has been dealing in coal, oil and gas lands. He was one of the pioneers of the natural gas business, and with the Haymaker brothers put down the first well at Murrysville.

In 1883 he started the Daily and Weekly Press, one of the leading papers of the country, which now has far more than a local circulation. During the late war, Mr. Brunot was mustered into the service of the United States at Camp Howell., July 2, 1863, and served until August 16, 1863, when the. regiment, the fifty-fourth, Pennsylvania Volunteers, was disbanded and he was discharged.

Hilary J. Brunot married, at Boone Grove, Indiana, July 12, 1855. Mary Bissell. Mary Bissell was born on 27 Jul 1834 in Mercer Co, PA, the daughter of Sarah Cory and William Bissell. Mary Bissell Brunot died on 5 Sep 1910 in Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA.

Mary Bissell and Hilary Jackson Brunot were married on 12 Jul 1855 in Boone Grove, Porter Co, IN.

Their children were:

- Ann Elizabeth, wife of Hilary B. Brunot, Brevard, North Carolina

- Mary Caroline, widow of Dr. I. P. Klingensmith, of Blairsville, Pennsylvania

- Hilary Sanson, United States consul at St. Etienna, France. He was born on 4 Jun 1860 in Fayette Co, PA. He died on 14 Aug 1928.

- Sarah Louisa; William B., died at the age of nineteen years. She was born on 4 Jun 1860 in Fayette Co, PA. She died on 7 Mar 1932 in Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA.

- Felix R., a broker of Greensburg, Pennsylvania

- Melusina B., wife of Joseph K. Barclay, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania

- James Thompson, died in 1902, and was survived by his wife, Rose Latta Brunot

- (and an infant son), James T. Brunot

- Indiana Traner, died in infancy. She was born on 21 Jul 1876 in Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA. She died on 2 Nov 1877 in Greensburg, Westmoreland Co, PA.

- John Breton, of whom later.

* * *

Hilary J. Brunot died June 9, 1900.

* * *

John Breton Brunot, son of Hilary J. and Mary (Bissell) Brunot, was born at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, November 6, 1878, and received his education at the high school, Grove City College and University of Michigan. At the last named institution he took a three year law course, graduating June 19, 1902. He was admitted to the practice of his chosen profession in Westmoreland county, May, 1904. Shortly thereafter he became associated with J. R. Spiegel, under the firm name of Spiegel & Brunot, whose office is in the Press building at Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Politically Mr. Brunot is a supporter of the Republican party, and in church affiliations is an Episcopalian. He married, August 26, 1903, Alice E. Turner, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, daughter of John B. and Mary B. Turner. The father was an early settler and prominent business man of Cedar Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Brunot have one son, John B. Brunot, Jr., born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, November 9, 1904.

Source: Page(s) 135-137, History of Westmoreland County, Volume II, Pennsylvania by John N Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906.

* * *

Brunot Family Ancestry, from the same source...

THE BRUNOT FAMILY is one of the old families of France, which first came into national prominence during the period of the religious wars in that country in the sixteenth century. Major Sanson Brunot (great-great-grandfather) was a distinguished officer in the French army and has a coat of arms (still in possession of the Brunot family), which was bestowed on him for meritorious conduct on the field of battle. His son, Dr. Felix Brunot (great-grandfather), was born in Parish Morey, France, January 9, 1752, and was a foster brother of General LaFayette. He was originally intended for "orders" by his uncle, a Catholic bishop, but experiencing an aversion for that calling he was permitted to enter upon the study of medicine. After graduation from one of the first medical schools of France he joined General LaFayette in his espousal of the patriotic cause in America. He came to this country in 1777, was appointed surgeon in the Continental army under Washington, and rendered invaluable service at the battle of Brandywine and on many other battle fields during the revolutionary war. At the close of that great struggle he was recognized as one of the most successful physicians and skillful surgeons in the new-risen Republic, in whose cause he had patriotically risked his life, and with whose destiny had unhesitatingly cast in his fortunes. No warmer hearted and more earnest friend of freedom than Dr. Brunot ever came to this continent, and no man's service was ever rendered in the cause, of American independence more devotedly than his. After the declaration of peace between Great Britain and the "Thirteen Colonies." Dr. Brunot located at Annapolis, Maryland, but soon removed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he enjoyed a large practice and remained until 1797. In that year he came to Pittsburg and selected his place of residence on a beautiful island (now known as "Brunot's Island") in the Ohio river, a short distance below that city. At his island home he entertained his foster brother and comrades in arms, General LaFayette, and George Rogers Clarke and Herman Blennerhasset and many other prominent characters of American history. He subsequently removed to Liberty street, Pittsburg, where he died May 23, 1838. He was a public-spirited citizen, and after coming to Pittsburg always took a great interest in the growth and prosperity of that city. Dr. Brunot was twice married. His first wife was a lady of Annanolis, by whom he had one daughter, who married but died without issue. His second wife, Elizabeth Kreider, of Philadelphia, whom he married December 17, 1789, bore him six sons and one daughter. Of these sons, Breton and Casper were physicians: Sanson was a prominent minister in the Episcopal church and at one time was in charge of the church at Greensburg: Hilary served as a lieutenant in the United States army, and the other two, Felix and James M., became lawyers and settled in the southern states. James M. Brunot was the father of Hilary B. Brunot, now practicing law in Brevard. North Carolina. Susan Louisa was the only daughter.

Lieutenant Hilary Brunot (grandfather) was the fourth son and was born July 14, 1795, in a house that is still standing in Philadelphia, on the bank of the Schuylkill river. When quite young he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, and was a member of one of the early classes which was graduated front that institution. After graduation he was commissioned as lieutenant in the United States regular army, and was wounded in the sortie at Fort Erie during the war of 1812, and was promoted to first lieutenant for gallantry in this battle. After the close of that struggle he was stationed respectively at Fort Snelling, Mackinaw, Green Bay and Newport. From the latter place, Kentucky, he was stationed at the Allegheny arsenal in Pittsburg. In 1825 resigned his command in the army and was engaged in the manufacture of white lead for many years. His works occupied the entire square upon which the Union depot in Pittsburg now stands. Lieutenant Brunot retired from active business in 1850, and died March 26, 1872. He was an earnest Christian, a man of great force of character, and was very active in politics. He was a Whig and later a Republican, and served for many years as a member of the city councils of Pittsburg. He married, May 6, 1819, Ann Tankard Reville, a daughter of Randell and Margaret Reville, of Newport. Kentucky. The Revilles were early settlers of Somerset county, Maryland. To Lieutenant and Mrs. Brunot were born nine children, of whom none are living. Felix R. Brunot, of Pittsburg, one of the children, was one of the most noted philanthropists of his day. (This Felix R. Brunot was the SFF&HC Hilary J. Brunot’s brother).

JESSE H. LIPPINCOTT

2007-03-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

JESSE H. LIPPINCOTT
February 18, 1842 - April 18, 1894

Jesse H. Lippincott was a millionaire who had made his fortune from the glass industry.

He was born on 18 Feb 1842 in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania the son of Joseph Lippincott and Eliza Strickler. He died on April 18, 1894 in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. He married twice, first to Mary Richardson () and secondly to Lily Richardson (). With his first wife he had at least two children.

Jesse H. Lippincott served in the Union Forces during the Civil War, as recorded: Jesse H. Lippincott, 28, B, Private, Transferred to Company H, 28th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers on April 29, 1864.

Lippincott was engaged in the glass making business. The Rochester Tumbler Company, which was the principle employer in Rochester, for 27 years, was organized in the spring of 1872. J H Lippincott was secretary and treasurer of the company as well as a director. At the peak of its success the company was making 150,000 tumblers a day and employed 1100 people. In 1899 it was taken over by the National Glass Company. On Feb 12, 1901, the entire factory was destroyed by fire.

Lippincott was associated with the Banner Baking Powder firm which became part of Nabisco (see the page on S S Marvin).

He was a director of the First National Bank of Rochester, in Beaver County. Jesse H Lippincott and P C Knox were directors of the Fifth National Bank of Pittsburgh, located at 16 Sixth Street, founded in 1871. And he was on the board of the Fifth National Bank of Pittsburgh along with another SFF&HC member: Jesse H. Lippincott, Geo. W. Huff, James C. Clark, John Lloyd, Richard Coulter.

In 1888, Jesse Lippincott for a million dollars took over the commercial exploitation of the Phonograph and the Graphophone (Alexander Bell’s invention) for a franchise of dictating machine companies. The North American Phonograph Company.

Edison’s laboratory, by 1887, had a workable prototype, based on a glass cylinder with a compound of steric acid, beeswax and ceresin as the recording medium. This attracted the interest of Jessie H. Lippincott, who was already in the glass business and saw an opportunity. Lippincott pulled off what Alexander Bell could not. After reaching an agreement between Gilliland, Bell and Tainter, Lippincott formed the North American Phonograph Company on March 29, 1888. In the process, he put the rivalry between Edison and Bell on the back burner, along with any patent issues.

MinutesOF THEThe North American Phonograph Company

CERTIFICATE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PHONOGRAPH COMPANY. RECEIVED in the office of the Clerk of the County of Hudson on the 14th day of July, A.D. 1888 at 12 o'clock M., and recorded in Book 8 of Clerk's Records for said County, page 229, (Signed) Dennis McLaughlin, Clerk. Filed July 16, 1888.(Signed) Henry C. Kelsey, Sec'y of State.

CERTIFICATE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PHONOGRAPH COMPANY.

THIS IS TO CERTIFY that we, Jesse H. Lippincott, Thomas R. Lombard, George S. Evans, George H. Fitzwilson and John Robinson do hereby associate ourselves into a company under and by virtue of the provisions of an Act of the Legislature of New Jersey, entitled "An Act concerning corporations" approved April 7, 1875, and the several supplements thereto, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, and to that end we do by this, our certificate set forth:

FIRST -- That the name which we have assumed to designate such Company, and to be used in its business and dealings, is THE NORTH AMERICAN PHONOGRAPH COMPANY.

SECOND -- That the place in this State where the business of such Company is to be conducted is the City of Jersey City in the County of Hudson.

THE PRINCIPAL part of the business of said Company within this State is to be transacted in the said City of Jersey City in the County of Hudson, which is to be the principal place of business of said Company, and the place where its principal office is to be located. And the places out of this State where the same is to be conducted are the City of New York in the State of New York, and elsewhere throughout the United States and Canada.

AND THAT the objects for which the Company is formed are to manufacture, trade in, buy, sell, rent, lease and otherwise acquire, hold and dispose of Phonographs, Phonograph-Graphophones and Instruments of every other kind or description designed, made or used for, intended for the recording and reproducing of sounds and any or either of them or any part thereof and any and all supplies, appliances, materials and articles now used or required and that may be hereafter used or required in the manufacture, use or operation of said Phonographs, Phonograph-Graphophones and instruments and any and either of them and also for the purpose of renting, leasing, selling or otherwise disposing of to other firms, persons or corporations, the right or rights to manufacture, trade in, buy, sell, rent, lease or otherwise dispose of said Phonographs, Phonograph-Graphophones or Instruments or either of them or any part thereof or of the right to use the same either generally or in any specified State, locality or territory or in any general or limited manner; and also for the purpose of acquiring, receiving, owning and controlling by lease, rental, purchase, invention or otherwise any patent, patents, applications for patents, contracts devices, designs, instruments and formulas or any or either of them, relating to the art or science of recording and reproducing sound and for the purpose of purchasing materials therefore and any other purposes incidental to the business, trading and manufacturing aforesaid.

THE PORTION of the business of said Company which is to be carried on out of this state is the manufacture, trading in, buying, selling, renting, leasing and otherwise acquiring and disposing of the Phonographs, Phonograph-Graphophones and Instruments above described, and the supplies, appliances articles and materials, as above specified so far as the business of said Company may require, and the renting, leasing, selling or otherwise disposing of rights as above specified and other business incidental to the business of the Company which must necessarily be transacted outside of this State.

THIRD -- That the total amount of the capital stock of said Company is SIX MILLION, SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS; the number of shares into which the same is divided is SIXTY SIX THOUSAND; and the par value of each share is ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. The amount with which the said Company will commence business is FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, which is divided into FOUR HUNDRED SHARES of a par value of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS each.

FOURTH -- The names and residences of the stockholders and the number of shares held by each are as follows, to wit:

Jesse H. Lippincott, New York City, Eighty (80) Shares.Thomas R. Lombard, New York City, Eighty (80) Shares.George S. Evans, New York City, Eighty (80) Shares.George H. Fitzwilson, New York City, Eighty (80) Shares.John Robinson, New York City, Eighty (80) Shares.

FIFTH -- The period at which said Company shall commence is the Fourteenth day of July, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, and the period at which is shall terminate is the First day of May, A.D. one thousand nine hundred and thirty-eight.

* * *

Businessman Jesse H. Lippincott assumed control of the phonograph companies by becoming sole licensee of the American Graphophone Company and by purchasing the Edison Phonograph Company from Edison. In an arrangement which eventually included most other phonograph makers as well, he formed the North American Phonograph Company on July 14, 1888. Lippincott saw the potential use of the phonograph only in the business field and leased the phonographs as office dictating machines to various member companies which each had its own sales territory. Unfortunately, this business did not prove to be very profitable, receiving significant opposition from stenographers.Meanwhile, the Edison Factory produced talking dolls in 1890 for the Edison Phonograph Toy Manufacturing Co. The dolls contained tiny wax cylinders. Edison's relationship with the company ended in March of 1891, and the dolls are very rare today. The Edison Phonograph Works also produced musical cylinders for coin-slot phonographs which some of the subsidiary companies had started to use. These proto-"jukeboxes" were a development which pointed to the future of phonographs as entertainment machines.In the fall of 1890, Lippincott fell ill and lost control of the North American Phonograph Co. to Edison, who was its principal creditor. Edison changed the policy of rentals to outright sales of the machines, but changed little else.Edison increased the entertainment offerings on his cylinders, which by 1892 were made of a wax known among collectors today as "brown wax." Although called by this name, the cylinders could range in color from off-white to light tan to dark brown. An announcement at the beginning of the cylinder would typically indicate the title, artist, and company. Advertisement for the Edison New Standard Phonograph, in Harper's, September 1898.In 1894, Edison declared bankruptcy for the North American Phonograph Company, a move that enabled him to buy back the rights to his invention. It took two years for the bankruptcy affairs to be settled before Edison could move ahead with marketing his invention. The Edison Spring Motor Phonograph appeared in 1895, even though technically Edison was not allowed to sell phonographs at this time because of the bankruptcy agreement. In January 1896, he started the National Phonograph Company which would manufacture phonographs for home entertainment use. Within three years, branches of the company were located in Europe. Under the aegis of the company, he announced the Spring Motor Phonograph in 1896, followed by the Edison Home Phonograph, and he began the commercial issue of cylinders under the new company's label. A year later, the Edison Standard Phonograph was manufactured, and then exhibited in the press in 1898. This was the first phonograph to carry the Edison trademark design. Prices for the phonographs had significantly diminished from its early days of $150 (in 1891) down to $20 for the Standard model and $7.50 for a model known as the Gem, introduced in 1899.

Source: Scripophily .com (note that his signature is on the stock certificate showing clearly that the last name is spelled with an I not an E although it appears both ways in contemporary works).

* * *

R. C. CRAWFORD

2007-03-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

R. C. Crawford
[] –[]

Those who study the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club have long puzzled over the identity of a man who was listed as a member by the name of “A C Crawford”. There has not been enough evidence to determine what the “A C” stands for and thus who “A C Crawford” may have been. Indeed, one wag has created an entirely mythic “A C Crawford” complete with photography that was for a time available to be read on the internet. This having been said, the likelihood is that the A in “A C Crawford” is a typo.

R C Crawford was the owner of Crawford Coke and Coal of Leckrone, PA. in Fayette County, in the Pittsburgh metro area. Chartered on April 12, 1865 Crawford Coal Company, the charter and list of subscribers of the company are available as record group 26. RG-26, Records of the DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

R C Crawford was a fine looking gentleman, and (like H C Frick) thought of as a Pittsburgher even though his base of operations was the coke fields of the Connellsville region. His Pittsburgh office was in the House Building.

A photo and caricature of R C Crawford can be seen in the book, Our friends: how we caricature them; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Newspaper Cartoonists of Pittsburgh, 1916.; which is to be found at this website:

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pitttext;cc=pitttext;q1=crawford%20coal;rgn=full%20text;idno=00aah1813m;didno=00aah1813m;view=image;seq=0144

Crawford Coal & Coke Co., of Lekrone, PA, used 42 gauge Heisler engines for their trains.

FRANK B. LAUGHLIN

2007-03-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

FRANK B. LAUGHLIN
1835 – []

Frank B. Laughlin, iron manufacturer, was born in 1835 in Pennsylvania. Both of his parents were born in Ireland.

He married Margaret B.

In 1880 their household included:

- Frank B. Laughlin, 45

- Margaret B. Laughlin, 42

- A. Bailey Laughlin, son, 19 (printer) (married Mary F. Jones before 1895)
- Maggie (Margaret) B. Laughlin, daughter, 16 (married Mr. John M. S. Allison, the son of Dr. James A. Allson of whom more below, who died in 1894). Their son and his namesake becam ea professor at Yale and the Margaret Laughlin Marshall-John M.S. Allison Traveling Fellowship at Yale was established in their honor.

- Frank M Laughlin, son, 9 (married Annie J. Jenkinson before 1895)

- Harry M. Laughlin, son, 6 (married Eleanor Seymor before 1912)

The Laughlins lived on Penn Avenue opposite Murtland in the 22nd ward of Pittsburgh and near neighbors included the SFF&HC members: Woodwells, Aaron French and John Leishman’s future bride Julia Crawford (at her parents’ home, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Crawford). Thomas & Lucy Carnegie also lived near by.

Laughlin was associated with the Lucy Furnace Company (the first Lucy furnace, so called after the wife of Thomas M. Carnegie, the daughter of Mr. Coleman,). 1877, August 12-The Lucy Furnace Company. Organized by Andrew Carnegie, Thomas M. Carnegie and Henry Phipps, Jr. He was also the secretary of the Solar Carbon and Manufacturing Company.

Frank B. Laughlin was a member of the Duquesne Club, organized June 11, 1873. Laughlin, H C Frick and George Dillworth were the three founding members who appeared for the chartering, before the Allegheny County recorder of deeds.

The Social Mirror of 1888 says, “Mrs. Frank Laughlin is a Western woman. Margaret, Mrs. Laughlin's daughter, several years ago married Mr. John M. S. Allison. His sad death a year ago has left her a young widow.”

* * *

Dr. James A. Allison...

James Allison, D.D., Pittsburgh, is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., born September 27, 1823. James Allison, Sr., his father, was born in 1792 in the Cumberland Valley, and was of old Scotch Presbyterian stock. He came to Pittsburgh in 1811, and was married there to Elizabeth, daughter of George and Lydia Brickell. The Brickell family settled in Pittsburgh in 1760, and owned and farmed a large amount of property in Birmingham. James Allison was a tanner, and later in life a farmer in Deer (now Richland) Township, Allegheny County, Pa., where he died aged seventy-five years. Politically he was identified with the whig and afterward with the republican party. Dr. Allison graduated at Jefferson College, class of 1845, and at the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny, in 1848, after which he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Sewickley for sixteen years, and for several years was connected with the late Rev. Dr. McKinney as editor of the Presbyterian Banner. Dr. Allison, in 1864, along with Robert Patterson, bought the Presbyterian Banner, which they have published and edited ever since, and its circulation has been quadrupled under their management. Dr. Allison is a director of the Western Theological Seminary; trustee of Washington and Jefferson College; one of the managers of the Pennsylvania Reform School at Morganza, which position he has filled fourteen years. He has been a member of the Presbyterian General Assembly seven times; from 1865 to the present time he has been a member of the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen; has been a member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce for several years, and has always taken an active part in public movements in church and state. He has been twice married; first, Aug. 20, 1851, to Miss Mary Anderson, of Sewickley, Pa., and second, November 6, 1856, to Miss Caroline Snowden, of Pittsburgh. His only son, John M.S. Allison, seven years connected with him in the Banner, a young man of great ability and high promise, died of typhoid fever Dec. 27, 1887. His only daughter now resides in Boston, the wife of S.W. Reinhart, general auditor of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad.

AMERICUS V. HOLMES

2007-03-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

AMERICUS VESPUCIUS HOLMES
March 16, 1847 - []

Americus Vespucius Holmes, capitalist banker, was born March 16, 1847 in the present downtown district of Pittsburgh, on Marberry Street which became Second Street. His parents were Dr. Shepley Ross Holmes and Mary Skelton. Mr. Holmes came from one of the oldest Pittsburgh pioneer families. His father was a distinguished physician who also stood high in Masonic circles.

Americus V. Holmes as a boy attended the Second Ward public school where J. B. Meades was principal. In 1863 and 1864 he attended Col Hyatt’s Military Academy at West-Chester. For one year he was a student in the Iron City College.

In 1868 Mr. Holmes came of age and at once took charge of the Holmes family’s important real estate holdings in Pittsburgh including a business block at 226 Fifth Avenue.

Although young when taking full charge of business affairs, Mr. Holmes was unusually well prepared for this responsible position. His home training was of the best. Both father and mother from his earliest boyhood taught him habits of industry and honesty. On account of his high standing in the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Holmes as a youth associated much with men of affairs. Being naturally of a receptive and inquiring turn of mind he early familiarized himself with business matters and by training to be successful in business than many men double his age.

At the time Mr. Holmes took charge of the Holmes properties he opened an office at 226 Fifth Avenue and remained established there throughout his business career. Not content with looking after his personal property Mr. Holmes’ keen and active mind compelled him to seek other channels of endeavor. Soon he became interested in banking. He commanded the attention of the banking institutions of Pittsburgh and Mr. Holmes was elected vice president and first trustee of Dollar Savings Bank and a director in the Anchor Savings Bank.

His wife was the former Catherine “Cassie” A. Cain of Philadelphia PA. They were married April 22, 1880.

Although the census enumerator was very poor in spelling, the family can be found in the 1880 census. The census must have been taken later in the year that they were married. Their household included:

Americus V. Holmes, age 33

Cassie Holmes, age 22

Francis B Nimick, age 39, brother-in-law (traveling salesman)

Caroline H. Childs, age 12, neice

William H. Childs, age 19, nephew (collegian)

George P. Balmaine, age 35, Nephew-in-law (purchaser for stationery house)

Margaret A. Balmaine, age 35, neice

Their home was in the 22nd ward, Pittsburgh. Near neighbors include newspaper editor Thomas Link, dry goods merchant Charles Arbuthnot, attorney William Frew, and members of the Holmes, Howe and Childs families Newspaper editor Eugene O'Neil is about six houses away.

SFF&HC member Aaron French a few doors beyond. As are the Woodwells and SFF&HC member Frank Laughlin.

Note about Franis B. Nimick, he was married to Eleanor Howard Howe, the daughter of Thomas Marshall Howe and Mary Ann Howe. Elenaor's sister Clara married James W. Brown of the SFF&HC. Eleanor's half-sister Mary Howard Howe married Col. James Henry Childs.

Thus Americus V. Holmes was the half-uncle of Adelaide Childs Frick.

A. V. Holmes looked somewhat like present-day film critic Gene Shallot, with big eyes and a larger handlebar moustache.

GEORGE FRANKLIN HUFF

2007-03-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

George Franklin Huff

July 16, 1842 - April 18, 1912

George Franklin Huff, son of George and Caroline Boyer-Huff and George Huff IV is widely known as one of the most enterprising and public spirited men in Westmoreland county, and is closely identified with nearly all of its many industrial and financial enterprises. When four years of age he accompanied his parents to Middletown, where he attended the public schools until 1851, when his parents moved to Altoona. There he attended the public schools until seventeen years of age, when he entered the car shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Altoona and learned the car finisher's trade. So faithful and true to every duty was he that three years later he was, without soliciation on his part, highly recommended by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to a banking house in Altoona, that of William M. Lloyd and Company. He accepted the position and in 1865 his employer sent him to Ebensburg to establish a bank there. He succeeded remarkably well and a year later was re-called to Altoona.

In 1867 he removed to Greensburg, where he established the banking house of Lloyd, Huff and Company, know as the Greensburg Deposit Bank, and having branches at Latrobe, Irwin, Mount Pleasant and Ligonier. The panic of 1873 caused these several institutions to go out of business, but their property paid their full indebtedness with interest.

In 1871 Mr. Huff establishsed the Farmers' National Bank of Greensburg with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. He was its first president and remained as such until 1874, when he became the active manager of the house as its cashier under General Richard Coulter as president. By Act of Congress the bank was reorganized as the Fifth National Bank of Pittsburgh, Mr. Huff being elected its vice-president, which position he held until 1876, when he resigned.

In 1874 he, with others, organized the Greensburgh Banking Company, which soon became a leader in the rural banking business of Western Pennsylvania. He was cashier of this bank until 1887, during which time through his untiring efforts and business sagacity, a very large volume of business was secured. In 1881 the First National Bank of Greensburg was chartered, and Mr. Huff became one of its most potent directors, which position he still retains. Since then the First National Bank has absorbed the Greensburg Banking Company, and has now a larger deposit and surplus than any other institution in the county.

Mr. Huff also became largely intereted in coal and coke industry of Westmoreland county. He was the prime mover in organizing the Greensburg Coal Company, the Alexandria Coal Company, Mountain Coal Company, the Argyle Coal Company, the United Coal and Coke Company, the Mutual Mining and Manufacturing Company, the Manor Gas Coal Company, the Madison Coal Company, the Salem Coal Company, the Latrobe Coal Company, Carbon Coal Company, and several others.

Most of these companies were since consolidated in the Keystone Coal and Coke Company, of which Mr. Huff is president. It and the companies with which he is connected, employ about 7,500 men an produce now in the neighborhood of six millions of tons of coal per year, or twenty thousand tons per day. He was also one of the organizers of the Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the main line of which passes through the Connellsville coking coal region, he being its treasurer until the offices were removed to Philadelphia. He was one of the founders of the Greensburg Electric Street Railway Company, the Greensburg Fuel (artificial and natural gas) Company, and the Greensburg Steel Company. He was formerly president of the Greensburg Electric Light and the Westmoreland Water Companies.

The development of the Jeannette natural gas region also felt his potency as well as the general upbuilding of that sprightly town. He donated seven acres of valuable land for manufacturing purposes at Burrell, a Station near Greensburg. The thriving towns of Youngwood, Southwest Greensburg, and other outlying sections of Greensburg were laid out largely by his efforts, and he has always been financially interested in the Kelly & Jones Company and its various improvements. He is also a director of the American Surety and Trust Company of Washington, D. C., the President of the Westmoreland Hospital Association, and is further interested in coal companies outside of the Keystone Coal and Coke Company in nearly every section of the bituminous region in Pennsylvania.

Adjoining Greensburg he has a large landed estate containing about 500 acres, upon which the family residence is built. It consists of highly cultivated farm land and original forest, all of which is beautified by a system of landscape gardening and parks ; and through the entire farm there are winding driveways of over four miles in length, which are kept up by Mr. Huff and are at all times thrown open for the public to enjoy. Mr. Huff is a progressive Republican. His political career began in 1880 when, as a member of the Chicago Republican Convention, he was one of the 306 who supported Geneal U. S. Grant for a third term as President. In 1884 he was a candidate for the office of State Senator in the Thirty-ninth Senatorial District, composed of the County of Westmoreland. He was elected by a majority of seven hundred although the county had for long years been regarded as the Democratic stronghold of the West. Since then the county has been generally Republican.

In 1888 Mr. Huff was nominated for Congress by the Republicans of Westmoreland county, but another was selected under the conferee system. In 1890 he was chosen as Congressional candidate by the Republicans in the district and elected by a large majority, representing the counties of Westmoreland, Indiana, Armstrong and Jefferson. He served in Congress until 1893, and in 1894 was elected Congressman-at-Large from Pennsylvania. In 1902, 1904, and 1906 he was returned to Congress, and now represents the counties of Westmorland and Butler. During his service in the National House of Representatives, Mr. Huff has proved his ability to well represent the large and varied interest of his constituents, and no member of Congress from the Commonwealth stands higher than he. He is now prominently mentionee as a candidte for the Governorship in 1906.

On March 16, 1871, Mr. Huff was united in marriage with Henrietta Burrell, a daughter of the late Jeremiah M. Burrell, twice President Judge of the Tenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and later United States District Judge for the Territory of Kansas. Judge Burrell died at Greensburg, October 21, 1856. (See Sketch of Judge Burrell in that part of the first volume of this series relative to the Westmoreland Bench).

Mr. and Mrs. Huff are the parents of eight children, four of whom are living, namely, Lloyd Burrell, Julian Burrell, Carolyn Burrell and Burrell Richardson.

Source: Pages l thru 5 History of Westmoreland County, Volume 1, Pennsylvania by John N. Boucher. New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906

* * *

Here is his congressional biography...

HUFF, George Franklin, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Norristown, Montgomery County, Pa., July 16, 1842; attended the public schools in Middletown and later in Altoona; at the age of eighteen worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad car shops in Altoona; moved to Westmoreland County in 1867 and engaged in banking in Greensburg, Pa., later becoming largely identified with the industrial and mining interests of western Pennsylvania; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1880; member of the State senate 1884-1888; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-second Congress (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1893); elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1895-March 3, 1897); was not a candidate for renomination in 1896; again elected to the Fifty-eighth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1903-March 3, 1911); chairman, Committee on Mines and Mining (Sixtieth and Sixty-first Congresses); was not a candidate for renomination in 1910; died in Washington, D.C., on April 18, 1912; interment in St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Pa.

* * *

Huff donated the altar rail in the chapel at Seaton Hill.

WALTER FRANKLIN FUNDENBURG

2007-03-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Walter Franklin Fundenburg
1828 – ? before 1921

Dr. Walter Franklin Fundenburg was a man of remarkable achievement. He was born in Lewistown, Maryland, and was a son of Daniel Fundenburg and Rebecca Fahnestock and a grandson of Walter Fundenberg. He received his early education in his native state and was graduated from Baltimore Medical College. He later took up dentistry, but was a finished master of both professions. He was appointed surgeon in the French army during the Crimean War, and had reached Paris when the war ended.

He returned to Wheeling West Virginia and went from there to Pittsburgh where he became one of the leading professional men of his day. In 1861 he gave up practice in order to serve in the Civil War, being appointed assistant surgeon of the 136th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and later surgeon of the 176th. He saw service until broken health compelled his resignation. Following service in the war he spent six years on his Maryland farm, when, his health regained, he returned to practice in Pittsburgh. In the social life of Pittsburgh and vicinity he was widely popular and was one of the influential men of the city. He was a member of the American Medical Association and Allegheny County Medical societies and a member of the American, State and County dental associations.

Walter Franklin Fundenburg married on October 4, 1855, Eliza “Liddie” I. Cox, born in Somerset, PA, daughter of Joshua F. and Maria Armstrong Cox, who died before 1880. Their children include:

- Walter Hullihen Fundenburg, D.D. Born August 23, 1856 (He became a dentist)
- E. C. Fundenberg. Born 1858.
- Kate Fundenberg. Born 1866.
- Charles Fundenberg. Born 1868.

Dr. Fundenburg married (2) Mary ? before 1880. She was born in 1843 and must have died before 1904.

Dr. Fundenburg married (3) according to “The Social Directory” of 1904, Agnes Whitaker Risher.

JAMES S. McCORD

2007-03-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

JAMES McCORD
1822-1894

James McCord was a hatter. McCord owned the McCord and Company, wholesale hatters, “the oldest house west of the mountains in this line of business”. He was a director and vice president of the Armenia Insurance Company, along with SFF&HC member Wm T Dunn. He was also a director of the Third National Bank of Pittsburgh and he served as a corporator of Allegheny Cemetery in 1884-1894.

He and his wife Sarah Thompson (1827-1869) had at least the following children:

- Arthur Parke McCord (1858-1929)
- Joseph E. McCord (1860)
- James McCord (1867)

In 1880 they lived next door to C J Clarke and family and Asa P. Childs lived three doors along.

James S. McCord died in 1894 and was buried in Allegheny Cemetery. Many of the McCord family are buried there, to whit:

McCord, Adelaide, w/o Lucian McCord, 1915 - 1957, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Anna E., April 16, 1844 - Sept. 8, 1921, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Annie Benney, w/o W.L., 1852 - 1916, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Arthur Parke, 1858 - 1929, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Charles C., [mason emblem], 1846 - 1922, (Source: jf69)
McCord, J. Edwin Jr., Oct. 7, 1881 - Aug. 6, 1923, (Source: jf69)
McCord, James E., Oct. 27, 1840 - Aug. 3, 1904, (Source: jf69)
McCord, James S., 1822 - 1894, (Source: jf69)
McCord, John D. Jr., 1902 - 1989, (Source: jf69)
McCord, John D., Dec. 4, 1808 - July 1, 1900, (Source: jf69)
McCord, John D., husband of Josephine Neal, 1872 -1948, (Source: jf69)
McCord, John D., Sept. 12, 1872 - Apr. 9, 1903, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Josephine Neal, w/o John D., 1878 - 1941, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Julia L., Sept. 17, 1867 - June 13, 1922, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Lucian Gray, Cpl 551st AAA BN, Enl. Oct. 29, 1943, Disc. Oct. 29, 1945, Born June 14, 1909, Died April 14, 1952, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Margaret McCandlish, w/o John D., born April 12, 1810 - died April 10, 1845, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Marguerite Barber, 1904 - 1989, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Rosanna Blaine Robinson, w/o John D., born Aug. 13, 1821 - died Dec. 18, 1886, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Sarah Thompson, w/o James S., 1827 -1869 (Source: jf69)
McCord, Sue Stephenson, w/o James E., June 9, 1845 - Jan. 10, 1924, (Source: jf69)
McCord, Susan D., April 2?, 1835 - Aug. 3, 1911, (Source: jf69)
McCord, W.L., [gravestone almost buried,] 1854 - 1893, (Source: jf69)

Oliver McClintock, Walter L. McClintock and Frank T.McClintock

2007-03-08T07:19:00.000-08:00

McClintock Family

The McClintock family is extensive and three of its members belonged to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. This will offer a brief overview of the family and the Club members, Frank Thompson McClintock, Oliver McClintock, and Walter L. McClintock – all three were associated with Oliver McClintock and Company, a mercantile house who made their fortune selling uniforms to the Union Army. Walter L. McClintock was a charter member of the Club.

* * *

Samuel Thompson, the maternal grandfather of Oliver McClintock and his brothers, made uniforms for the soldiers in the war of 1812. Shortly after 1830, Samuel Thompson who by that time conducted a dry goods business specializing in carpet, in Pittsburgh bought, from SFF&HC member Henry Holdship, a property at the corner of Liberty and Market where the succeeding McClintock business continued throughout the 1800s.

In 1837 the firm of Samuel Thompson was succeeded by the firm of W. McClintock & Company, headed by Washington McClintock, who was Thompson’s son-in-law, in partnership with Thompson’s son, Robert D. Thompson. In 1854 Washington admitted his brothers Alexander and George Ledlie McClintock into the business, assuming the name McClintock Brothers. In 1855 the name reverted to W. McClintock and it remained that until seven years later when having bought out their chief competition in the carpeting business, it was reorganized as Oliver McClintock & Company, the partners being Washington, Oliver and George (Sr.) McClintock.

Walter Lowrie McClintock – the second son of Washington McClintock – was admitted to the firm in 1864.

Washington McClintock died July 8 1870.

Washington McClintock’s fourth son, Thompson McClintock was admitted to the business in 1874; and Frank Thompson McClintock, the fifth son of the founder was admitted in 1884 upon the retirement of George (Sr).

After the flood, in 1897, the firm was dissolved and renamed the Oliver McClintock Company.

* * *

The three McClintock brothers who were members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club are:

* * *

Oliver McClintock
October 20, 1839 - ?

Oliver McClintock was the eldest of seven children of Washington and Ella Thompson McClintock. He graduated from Yale in 1861. He served as corporal in Pennsylvanian Company D 15th Emergency Pennsylvania Militia, which saw action during both of Robert E Lee’s invasions of Pennsylvania. .

Oliver McClintock served as the president of the YMCA, as an elder in Second Presbyterian Church, as trustee of the Western Theological Seminary, He and his brother in law A H Childs were founders of Shady Side Academy. Director of the chamber of commerce, member of the Duquesne club (and the University Club of New York).

Oliver McClintock married on June 7, 1866, Clara Courtney Childs the daughter of Harvey and Jane Bailey Lowrie Childs. Their children:

- Norman McClintock (June 13, 1868-); Yale 1891; married Ethel Lockwood in 1906 (born circa 1845 in Massachusetts). In 1900, single and still living with his parents, Norman was enumerated as a bookkeeper. In 1910, 1920 and 1930, Norman, Ethel and family were living in Pittsburgh, Ward 7, Pennsylvania, where Norman was listed in the rugs and carpet business in 1910 (page 13B); enumerated as a lecturer in natural history in 1920 (page 6A), and as a university teacher (University of Pittsburgh) in 1930 (page 17A). Norman's field was ornithology—typing his name into your search engine will bring up some of his studies. For example...
From the Wilson Bulletin, March 1926 (Cincinnati). . .Mr. Norman McClintock, the well-known cinematographic photographer of birds and animals, has recently been added to the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. It is the University's purpose to make Mr. McClintock's lectures available to the general public. . .Also with the family in 1910, 1920 and 1930 was Ethel's mother, Ellen Lockwood, born circa 1845 in Massachusetts. Children of Norman and Ethel known from the federal censuses (all born in Pennsylvania): (1) Eleanor L. McClintock born circa 1907; (2) Oliver McClintock, born circa 1908; (3) Henry McClintock, born circa 1916; and Emma McClintock, born circa 1918.

- Walter McClintock (April 2, 1870-); graduated from Yale in 1891; Walter did not marry. In 1900, Walter, single was living with his parents and enumerated as a manager of a ?tile company. In 1910 and 1920, single and with his parents, Walter was listed as an ethnologist. In 1930, single, living next to his brother Norman and family in Pittsburgh, Walter was enumerated as a lecturer and writer of ethnology. Walter was an early historian and ethnologist, who lectured at the University of Pittsburgh. He was an internationally acclaimed authority on the culture of Blackfoot society. He lived amongst the Blackfeet for several years and wrote extensively on their culture. Probably his most valuable and best known work is Walter McClintock, The Old North Trail or Life, Legends and Religion on the Blackfeet Indians (London: MacMillan and Co., 1910). The book (in paperback) is still available from book dealers, and there is an online version: (http://www.1st-hand-history.org/ONT/album1.html). Walter dedicated the book "To My Father whose interest and encouragement have been unfailing, the book is affectionately dedicated." In the Preface, Walter acknowledges his brother Norman for assistance in photographic matters and identification of birds. In the front matter is the often-reproduced painting The Sentinel: see (http://www.1st-hand-history.org/ONT/ONT00002i.jpg). The following from Browning Newspaper Notes 1948 - 1949 (http://prairiemary.blogspot.com/2005/05/browning-newspaper-notes-1948-1949.html):
April 8, 1949McClintock, Author, Dies in Pittsburgh; Indian Historian Writing to Claude Schaffer, curator of the Museum of the Plains Indian, John Ewers, former curator of the institution and now in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. said that Walter McClintock, author of “The Old North Trail,” died recently at his home in Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. McClintock continued hale and hearty in his advanced years and made his last visit to Browning last summer. “The Old North Trail” is one of the popular and authentic pieces of historic literature dealing with the Blackfeet Indians, the author spending a number of years in research in creating it. He was a likeable personality and for many years had continued his occasional visit to this section.

- Emma Childs McClintock (Sept 25, 1874-); Mrs. Thomas Darling of Wilkes Barre, PA. Four children: Thomas, Edward, Clara and Elsie. Thomas Darling; born circa 1864 in Pennsylvania. The family lived in Wilkes-Barre, Ward 7, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where Thomas was enumerated as a lawyer in 1920 (page 8B). Thomas had died by 1930, when Emma was listed as a widow, still living in Wilkes-Barre (page 16B). Children known from the 1920 and 1930 federal censuses (all born in Pennsylvania): (a) Thomas Darling, born circa 1904; (b) Edward Darling, born circa 1906; (c) Clara C. Darling, born circa 1908; and (d) Elsie L. Darling, born circa 1915.

- Harvey Childs McClintock (July 16, 1882-); Yale 1903, married Fannie Brower; two children: Harvey Childs McClintock Jr. and Bailey Brower McClintock. In 1930, Harvey, Fanny and family were living in Yonkers, Westchester, New York (page 9A), where Harvey was listed as a lawyer, general practice. Children known from the 1930 federal census: (a) Harvey C. McClintock, born circa 1913 in Pennsylvania; and (b) ?Bailey McClintock, born circa 1919 in New York.

- Elsie Thompson McClintock [twin with Jeannette] (April 19, 1886-); Mrs. Frank Dwight Nicol, Detroit MI. The family lived in Milford, Oakland County, Michigan in 1920 (page 3A), when Frank was listed as a banker, investment; in 1930 the family was in Novi Township, Oakland County, where Frank was listed as a broker, stock and bonds. Children known from the federal censuses (both born in Michigan): (a) Jeannette Nicol, born circa 1919; and (b) Clara C. Nicol. A family member has helped clarify this line for me (in "comments"), as follows...

"Frank Dwight Nicol ...had his own investment brokerage firm called "Ford & Nicol", which eventually merged with Watling Lerchen, a prominent Detroit brokerage firm, still in existence today. Frank & Elsie retired to Longboat Key, Florida in 1954, and Frank passed away in 1963 at the age of 80. My mother was their second child, Clara Childs Nicol Moore, who passed away in 1979 at 54 years old. Their older child Jeannette is still alive and just turned 90 years old. Elsie's twin sister Jeannette McClintock Osborne died in an auto accident near Sarasota around 1957."

- Jeannette McClintock (April 10, 1886-); married Wallace N. Osborne vice-president of Gemmer Manufacturing Company of Detroit MI, sometime after 1910. She and her sister Elsie were both musicians.

The family owned a cottage at Huron Mountain Club in Marquette MI.

* * *

Walter Lowrie McClintock
1841 – March 3, 1911

The son of Washington and Ella Thompson McClintock. He graduated from Yale in 1862. W L McClintock was a charter member of the S F F & H C.

Walter Lowrie McClintock married Mary Garrison.

Their children included:

- Evan Garrison McClintock (1868-)

- Abraham Garrison McClintock; Yale 1900. Married Georgiana Armide de Saulles of St. Louis MO. Their children were: Walter L. McClintock, Mary Garrison McClintock and Katherine Garrison McClintock (1896-1982; married Franklin Henry Ellis)

- C. O. McClintock

Their home was at 929 Ridge Avenue in Allegheny. Their summer home was in Castine Maine and winter home in Ormond, Florida.

* * *

Francis "Frank" Thompson McClintock
May 1853 - ?

The son of Washington and Ella Thompson McClintock. He graduated from Yale in 1875.

Frank Thompson McClintock married Stella Updike.

Their children included:

- Bowdin Updike McClintock (March 10, 1885 - March 1972); lawyer not know to have married.

- Frank Stockton McClintock (January 3, 1887-January 1981); mechanical engineer, not known to have married.

- Kenneth McClintock (April 26, 1890-October 1979); engineer; not known to have married.

- Madeleine McClintock (October 1893-?)

- Rodman McClintock (Sept. 26, 1986-Dec. 1957); a writer, not known to have married.

They lived at 805 Amberson Avenue in Shadyside.

* * *

SAMUEL REA

2007-03-08T04:45:00.000-08:00

Samuel Rea
1855-March 1929

Samuel Rea was born in Hollidaysburg in 1855. His parents were James D. Rea and Ruth Blair Moore. His paternal grandfather General John Rea was in Congress from Bedford and Franklin PA during the terms of Jefferson and Madison. Through the marrige of his father's siblings he was related to the Childs and therefore Frick families. Samuel's father James D. Rea died in 1868.

Samuel Rea began his connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1871. Except for an intermission from 1875 to 1879 (when he worked for the P&LE Railroad), he served continuously on the Pennsylvania Railroad until his retirement from office as President in 1925.

Samuel Rea married Mary Black, the daughter of Jane Black. IN 1880 Samuel and Mary lived with her widowed mother and family in Allegheny PA. Their children, born after 1880, include:

- George Rea

- Ruth Rea

(Source: century and a half of Pittsburg and her people / by John Newton Boucher ; illustrated. Vol. 4. 1908.1854-1933. page 223)

In 1886, Samuel Rea became a member of the New York Stock Exchange—being the first seat held in the city of Pittsburgh. He remained a member for 12 years.
In 1888 he published a book called “The Railways Terminating in London: With a Description of the Terminating Stations”.

After the Flood, Rea removed to Bryn Mawr PA, to an estate called Waverly Heights; it now serves as Waverly Heights, a lifecare community in Gladwyne.
Rea was reared in the Presbyterian faith and said he preferred reading Prof. Moffet’s translation of the Bible.

* * *

Samuel Rea, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad system, will retire in 1925 at the age of 70. His probable successor is W. W. Atterbury, Vice President, in charge of operation.
General Atterbury, except during his service with the A. E. F. in France, has been connected with the Pennsylvania ever since he was graduated from Yale in 1886. He began as apprentice in the Altoona, Pa., shops, became road foreman, assistant engineer, master mechanic, general superintendent of motive power, general manager, Vice President.

Samuel Rea began as a clerk in a country store. At 16 he went railroading, and 31 found him, mature, assistant engineer in the construction of chain suspension bridges over the Monongahela at Pittsburgh. Finally, as head of the 12,000-mile system employing 250,000 men, he became one of the three or four dominating powers in American transportation. He is considered largely responsible for many features of the Esch-Cummins Transportation Act, whereby the roads were returned to private control in 1920.

(Source, Time, Jan 4, 1924)

* * *

Since 1880 six men have been president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. They were: Roberts, 1880-1897 Thompson, 1897-1899 Cassatt, 1899-1906 McRea, 1906-1913 Rea, 1913-1925 Atterbury, 1925- Fifth on the list in point of time, but not of stature, is Samuel Rea, who died last week in his home at Bryn Mawr, suburb of Philadelphia. Of him said Frederick D. Underwood, onetime (1901-26) president of Erie Railroad: "I have known four presidents of the Pennsylvania preceding Mr. Rea ... he stood head and shoulders above them all."

Tremendous, indeed, were the changes in the Penn system during the 50 years in which Mr. Rea was associated with it. He began as a rodman in 1871, at a time when the Penn road had hardly outgrown its original (1846) charter which provided that it should extend from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh. Not only did he see the road pass through the greater part of the expansion which has made it a 12,000-mile system, but it was directly through his efforts that the Pennsylvania secured access to Manhattan. He planned a bridge across the Hudson from Jersey City to Manhattan. When other roads refused to cooperate, he went under instead of over the water and built the Hudson River tubes. Later he made an arrangement with the New York, New Haven & Hartford and built the Hell Gate Bridge, and still later got control of the Long Island Railroad and connected it to the Penn with tunnels under the East River.

In his later years, as head of a great railroad, Mr. Rea was not only rail tycoon but public figure as well. Thus many a person knew that he belonged to the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, that he supported Alfred Smith in the late campaign. He was famed, too, as a woodchopper and as a collector of English antique silver. Doubtless many of the thousands who this week passed through Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station realized that in it Samuel Rea has an enduring and a fitting memorial.

(Source: Time, April 1, 1929)

* * *

Pennsylvania Station was built to accommodate as many as half a million daily passengers, and soon after it opened, Samuel Rea, by this time the president of the Pennsylvania, found himself defending his work against charges that it had been wastefully overbuilt. Time was to prove him right. By 1919 the station was accommodating almost thirty-five million a year, eclipsing Grand Central Terminal as the busiest New York station. Less than a decade later more than sixty million used it annually, enough to make it the most heavily used railroad station in all North America. By 1939 its yearly traffic had reached a then record level of almost sixty-six million passengers.

(Source, American Heritage: “Penn Station Lives!” by William D. Middleton, Fall 1997)

* * *

A statue of Samuel Rea, by Adolph A. Weinman, ca. 1910, was placed just west of the entrance to Penn Station at 32nd St. and 7th Ave.Rea was responsible not only for supervising the building of the magnificent Pennsylvania Station (completed in 1910), but for the whole project linking the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Jersey City terminal with Manhattan, which included construction of railroad tubes under the Hudson under the East River to the sprawling railroad yards in Sunnyside, Queens. It was one of the most massive engineering projects of the early twentieth century, matched only by the construction of Grand Central Terminal a few blocks away. See a photo of the statue, here:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.forgottendelights.com/gifts/greetings/LaborDay2004_files/image004.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.forgottendelights.com/gifts/greetings/LaborDay2004.htm&h=436&w=207&sz=13&hl=en&start=7&tbnid=wHZvxr5UGZgLfM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=60&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522samuel%2Brea%2522%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den

A photo of Samuel Rea can be seen here:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12649/12649-h/images/fig23.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12649/12649-h/12649-h.htm&h=567&w=450&sz=31&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=dBygJ5-EkFrY5M:&tbnh=134&tbnw=106&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522samuel%2Brea%2522%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den

* * *

JAMES B. WHITE

2007-03-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

JAMES B. WHITE
Circa 1840 - After 1895

On the 29th day of April, 1882, the Virginia Manganese Company entered into a contract under seal with James B. White, Myron C. Davis* and S. M. Donald, ... Considerable high-grade manganese ore was produced at the Houston (Virginia) mine in the late eighties, at which time it was being operated by James B. White & Co. ...

* * *

In the Sept. 5, 1884 issue of the “American Manufacturer” of Pittsburgh PA.

During the last 2 or 3 weeks blast furnace A of the Edgar Thompson Steel works has been producing ferro-manganese instead of spiegeleisen… On Monday last we were shown a specimen of this ferro-manganese which contained a small fraction over 92 per cent of manganese... it comes from the Crimora mine of Va., which is leased by James B. White & Co. of this city (Pittsburgh). ...

James B White was an Episcopalian and Treasurer of the Board of Missions of the Dioceses of Pittsburgh.

MR. JAMES B. WHITE’s offices were in the Bissell Block, at the corner of Seventh Ave. and Smithfield St. in Pittsburgh, Pa.

(His daughter?) Mary de Vere White married James Howard. In his old age James B. White lived with them. (circa 1895)

(His son?) James B White b 1882 married Ethel Beatty the daughter of Charles Norman Beatty 1859 – 1931 and Daisy ? Richards 1869 – 1949

* * *

* MYRON C. DAVIS. Born in Rutland, Massachusetts, March 4th, I847; died January i8th, 1887, at Santiago, Cuba. Mr. Davis was member of the Iron City ...

SYLVESTER STEPHEN MARVIN

2007-03-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

Sylvester S Marvin
November 18, 1841 – May 12, 1924

Sylvester S. Marvin was an industrial baker mogul whose S S Marvin Co. bakery was one of the key concerns that merged to become Nabisco.

Sylvester S Marvin was born in Ogden, Monroe County New York on November 18, 1841, the son of Aaron and Lucy Stephens Marvin. He grew up on the Lockport family farm leaving there at the age of 13, when he went to live with his uncle Warren K. Marvin, who dealt in farm implements; there S S Marvin began his commercial training.

Thereafter the family moved to New York City and he continued his training at the Marvin Safe Company. Thereafter for a time he lived in St Joseph Missouri where he served as a collector on a Missouri riverboat.

From 1860-1862 he served with the 28th New York Volunteer Company K during the Civil War. Sergeant Marvin was wounded at the battle of Cedar Mountain. Only six members of Company K survived that battle without being killed or severely maimed.

Marvin arrived in Pittsburgh in 1863 at which time he established himself in the cracker business, and founded the house of S. S. Marvin Co., one of the largest concerns of its kind in the United States.

S S Marvin -Manufacturers of Crackers, Cakes and Bread; Liberty Avenue, was the successor firm of a business originally established at 9I Liberty street in I831 by John Davis, who was later succeeded by the firm of R. J. Davis, followed in 1866 by Messrs, S. S. Marvin and C. B. Rumsey under the present firm style (1889). Their products embrace every description of crackers, cakes and bread and in crackers, the business of the firm extends to every part of the United States. Employment is given to a force of 250 hands.

Marvin was called “The Edison of Manufacturing” for his innovations in the bakery business – by 1888 the largest in the United States – and the organization of the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco). in 1889 his factory employed about 250 people. Thereafter he founded the Pittsburgh Chocolate Company.

S S Marvin was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Commercial Bank, and president of the Western Pennsylvania Exposition Society. He was a benefactor of the Western Theological Seminary (Presbyterian) and also augmented the pensions of retired Presbyterian ministers.

A life-sized painting of Marvin by William Merritt Chase was originally intended to be hung in the Carnegie Art Gallery in Pittsburgh. Having been sold at auction in 2004, it is now on loan and on exhibition at the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida. With his white moustache and goatee, he somewhat resembles Col. Sanders.

Sylvester Stephen Marvin married Mathilda Rumsey of New Rochelle NY in 1870; They had two sons:

Walter Rumsey Marvin ()

Earle E. Rumsey (Nov 26, 1874-) – a graduate of Andover ’93 and Yale ‘96. He followed his father as an executive in the Nabisco and P Chocolate Co.

“Mrs. S. S. Marvin, whose husband is said to have made a fortune in the MARVIN. cracker business, has a comfortable home, prettily furnished, in Shadyside...” (The Social Mirror, 1888)

The Marvins were members of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church. In later years, S. S. Marvin’s leisure hours were spent in a charming home, "Merimont," at Bryn Mawr, Philadelphia. Following the Flood he helped coordinate food relief to the disaster zone. He died at his home "Merimont" in Bryn Mawr on May 12, 1924.

Marvin was 49 the year of the Flood.

THOMAS S. CLARKE

2007-03-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

Thomas S Clarke

Thomas S Clarke is the name of two men from the same prominent Pittsburgh family, who were grandfather and grandson. The middle generation was SFF&HC member Charles J Clarke, who is profiled elsewhere in this work

Thomas S. Clarke
1801 -1867

THOMAS SHIELDS CLARKE, the subject of this sketch, was born at Canonsburg, Pa., Jan. 18, 1801, and passed away at his home in Oakland, Pittsburgh, Oct. 19, 1867.

Thomas S Clarke was William Thaw’s brother-in-law and partner pre 1856; in 1856 Thomas S. Clarke and William Thaw joined forces to undertaken the conduct of the freight traffic of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Pittsburgh to all points west. At that time there was no system through bills of lading or through cars as later prevailed, and each railroad worked ‘upon its own hook’. The whole business of freight transportation was in an almost chaotic state. In about 1864 the Pennsylvania railroad devised a system of through transportation over different lines, Clarke and Thaw helped bring this about.

His photo may be seen here:

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pitttext;cc=pitttext;q1=thomas%20s%20clarke;rgn=full%20text;idno=00afq9167m;didno=00afq9167m;view=image;seq=0213

You can read more about him, here

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pitttext;cc=pitttext;q1=clarke;rgn=full%20text;idno=00afq9167m;didno=00afq9167m;view=image;seq=980;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset

On July 5, 1831, Thomas S. Clarke married Eliza Thaw, the daughter of John Thaw and sister of William Thaw, the father of SFF&HC member Benjamin Thaw. The son of Thomas S. Clarke and Eliza Thaw Clarke was SFF&HC member Charles J Clarke and their other child was a daughter was Agnes Shields Clarke.

Thomas S. Clarke
1860-?

Thomas Clarke (2) was the grandson and namesake of Thomas S. Clarke (1) who was born to Charles J Clarke and Louisa Semple in 1860. Along with is father and brother Lewis Semple Clarke, he was a member (charter member) of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

He was 29 years old at the time of the Flood.

2007-03-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

REUBEN MILLER

Reuben Miller is the name of three men - father, son and grandson - who were prominent Pittsburghers during the 19th century.

Reuben Miller (1) was born in 1805 in Pennsylvania. He graduated from St James College and spent his life in the iron business. He was a clerk with the foundry of Christopher Cowan who was the first person to create a rolling mill in Allegheny County (in 1811-1812). Reuben Miller was selected by Cowan to make a trip to Nashville to learn about the process.

Reuben Miller (1) (born 1805-) married Ann L.? …

Here is their family in 1850:

MILLER, REUBEN - 45
MILLER, ANN L. - 45
MILLER, HARVEY - 23
MILLER, WILSON - 21
MILLER, REUBEN - 11
MILLER, JOSEPH L. - 9
MILLER, LAMETT - 5

In 1834, The Pittsburgh Savings Institution was brought into being by an act of the Pennsylvanian Legislature and Reuben Miller was among those who were named to be its directors. Also named were SFF&HC members or relatives Thomas S. Clarke, John Caldwell. Son and SFF&HC member Reuben Miller Jr. (born in 1839) was listed as the treasurer. The name of the bank was later changed to The Farmers Deposit Bank of Pittsburgh. Reuben Miller was also a director of the Exchange Bank with SFF&HC members and relatives Harvey Childs and James W Brown. Miller was also elected to the organizing board of the Mechanics Bank (1855) and upon election, became its first president.

Reuben Miller (2) (born in 1839) was the son of Reuben (1) and Ann L. Miller. He continued in the same line of work as his father, and listed his occupation as a steel maker.

Reuben Miller was a director of the Fidelity Trust Company, serving along with these SFF&HC members: C B Shea, Robert Pitcairn, Frank Semple and James H. Reed. He was a member of the Americus Club (as were many SFF&HC members. Miller served on the Central Board of Education for the Pittsburgh Public Schools and served as its first treasurer. He served as president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. And he served on the board of Homewood Cemetery.

Reuben Miller (2) married Mary L. Fleming. Their children include:

Reuben Miller Jr., (3) a graduate of Yale 1892, married Rachel Larimore (thereby a connection with the Mellon family)

Ruth Lindley Miller

Lois Fleming Miller

Harvey Miller (his children include Harvey Miller, Jr. and Frances Miller)

[One of the daughters of Reuben and Mary Miller became Mrs. Cameron B Waterman of Grosse Pointe MI; their children include Cameron B Waterman Jr., Reuben Miller Waterman and Mary Elizabeth Waterman]

Their summer home was Rockmont, Beaumaris, Lake Muskoka, Ontario.

Here is the household of Reuben and Mary in 1880, or nine years before the Flood:

MILLER, REUBEN - 42
MILLER, MARY - 28
MILLER, REUBEN - 8
MILLER, FLEMING - 6
MILLER, HARVY - 5
MILLER, RUTH - 1

HENRY B. PATTON

2007-03-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

HENRY B PATTON
October 25, 1836 – June 7, 1926

Henry B. Patton was born in Smithfield, Fayette County, Pa on October 25, 1836, the son of John Lockwood Patton and Nancy Bowell. He married Mary Adele Hamilton of Beaver County, PA (March 11, 1845 - ?)

Their children were:

James Hamilton Patton (March 8, 1866-Jan 14, 1945)
Viola S Patton (?-?)
Harry Clyde Patton (March 24, 1882-?)

* * *

Henry B. Patton was mustered into service October 15, 1861, as a private in the 85th regiment, Company G and during the civil war rose to the rank of sergeant. As a member of the 85th regiment, company F, his service taking him as far a field as Hilton Head Island, where on April 21st, 1863 he was one of those awarded a special medal of honor for distinguished conduct in trenches at the face of Fort Wagner.

Henry B. Patton was associated with the Pittsburgh Glass Works, A. and D. H. Chambers, manufacturers of glass products including bottles and vials, as well as window glass. The business was originated by Alexander and D H Chambers in 1843. D H Chambers died in 1862 and Alexander continued the business unit 1875 at which time it became the property of James A Chambers and Henry B. Patton, who conducted it retaining the old and honored name by which it had built up such a fine business.

Mr. Henry B. Patton, was a practical and experienced glass manufacturer.

He died on 7 Jun 1926 in Albion, PA (buried in Monogahela Cemetary). Mary Adele Hamilton was born on 11 Mar 1845 in Beaver County, PA. She died on 14 Aug 1914 in Greensboro, PA .

JAMES MARTINUS SCHOONMAKER

2007-03-05T18:59:00.000-08:00

James Martinus Schoonmaker
June 30, 1842 – October 11, 1927

Col James M. Schoonmaker was the vice president of Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway Company, whose grand Pittsburgh terminal now serves a new era as Station Square.

A contemporary study of his life is the book, Col. J. M. Schoonmaker and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroad; a study of personality and ideals, by Harrington Emerson.

He enlisted at age 18 in the Union Army and served during the Civil War, as Colonel of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry.

Having greatly distinguished himself in his youth as a soldier during the Civil War, the late Colonel James Martinus Schoonmaker during his later career became eminent as a coal and coke operator, banker and railroad executive. A native and life long resident of the Pittsburgh district, he did much to develop t his section of Western Pennsylvania by his courageous building of railroad lines and by his able management of them. Few men of his generation rendered services of a greater importance to their native state and few men enjoyed .to a greater degree the respect, confidence and admiration of their fellow-citizens.

James Martinus Schoonmaker was born at Allegheny, now a part of Pittsburgh, June 30, 1842, a direct descendant of the early Dutch setters of New York. His parents were James Schoonmaker and Mark Clark Stockton. James was a student at the Western University of Pennsylvania when the Civil war broke out and enlisted in a local company of recruits which was assigned to the 1st Maryland Cavalry. During the ensuing thirteen months, he proved himself repeatedly in battle and in command of his troops.

On August 31, 1865. At the first Memorial Day ceremony of the Grand Army of the Republic, Colonel Schoonmaker was one of its leaders and for the next sixty years he paid homage to his comrades.

In commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg in 1913, Colonel Schoonmaker was selected, as the outstanding Civil War veteran of the State of Pennsylvania.

When World War I broke out in 1914, Colonel Schoonmaker was one of the organizers of the Pittsburgh branch of the National Security League.

(Source, Title: Vol.5 Pittsburgh of today, its resources and people, by Frank C. Harper.)

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pitttext;cc=pitttext;q1=schoonmaker;rgn=full%20text;idno=05agf0269m;didno=05agf0269m;view=image;seq=0438

Colonel James M. Schoonmaker married Rachel Cook of Cincinnati. They called their estate on the corner of Ellsworth and Moorwood Avenues “Vollenhouse”.

Their children were:

- Gretchen Vandervoort Schoonmaker (circa 1890 -?) Miss Schoonmaker was a noted sculptress.

- William Henry Schoonmaker (circa 1890 - ?); lived in Montclair NJ

- James M Schoonmaker Jr (Jan, 2, 1888 - Dec, 1 1940) married Mary C. ?

* * *

Col. Schoonmaker was director of Mellon Bank, the Union Trust Company and a member of the Duquesne Club.

He died Oct. 11, 1927 of peritonitis following an appendectomy.

Col. Schoonmaker was 47 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

MARVIN F. SCAIFE

2007-03-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

MARVIN F. SCAIFE
1856 – 1921

Marvin Frisbee Scaife was born in 1856, the son of William Borrett Scaife (Sept 5, 1812-April 2, 1876) and Mary Frisbee; they were married Dec. 23, 1834.

He became associated with Associated with W. B. Scaife and Sons, a producer of iron products. In 1834 his father had organized the William B. Scaife Company and by the age of 26 he was its sole proprietor. Among other things he invented and produced the prevalent style of Victorian era kitchen range.

Marvin Scaife came from a large family. In addition to his mother Mary, at home in Allegheny in 1880 were four sisters, Cora R (age 40), Mary R (age 37), Alice L (age 34)and Lois E (age 27), as well as brother Walter Bell Scaife (age 21) who was at that time a law student. Also among his siblings but no longer at home: Oliver Perry Scaife (1837-1903), Charles Cook Scaife (born in 1845-1915), William Lucian Scaife (born in 1854; became chairman of the Scaife foundry) and Lauirson L. Scaife (-1926; an attorney of Boston Mass.).

Marvin Scaife graduated from Pittsburgh High School in 1875.

With his brothers, Marvin continued the Scaife family business into its third generation, Jeffrey Scaife having founded it in 1802. In 1888 Marvin was listed along with brothers Oliver and Charles as partners in the business, located at 119 First Avenue, providing structural iron work, roofing, etc.

Marvin F. Scaife married Jennie M Boyle they lived at 3063 Amberson Place in Shadyside in 1920.

Marvin Scaife was a member of the Duquesne Club. He served as vice chairman of the Reception Committee for the Pittsburgh sesqui-centennial celebration, July 4, September 27-October 3, November 25, 1908. He was active in the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and served as a director of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce in 1918-1920.

* * *

Of course now the Scaife and Mellon families are linked through the marriage of Sarah Cordelia Mellon - daughter of Richard B. Mellon and niece of SFF&HC member Andrew W. Mellon - and Alan Magee Scaife (1900-1958)* - the grandson of Marvin Scaife's brother Charles Cook Scaife (his parents were James Verner Scaife and Mary Magee). They had two children Cordelia Scaife (May) and Richard Mellon Scaife (owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review). During World War II, while Richard and Cordelia's father, Alan Scaife, served in Europe in the OSS, as temporary head of the OSS Secret Intelligence Branch in London, the Scaife family lived in Washington. (Note that SFF&HC member John G A Leishman's grandson Henry B. Hyde was also an OSS officer.)

*August 4, 1958... Died. Alan Magee Scaife, 58, Pittsburgh industrialist and serviceman in both world wars, board chairman of Scaife Co., president of the board of trustees of the University of Pittsburgh, fellow of Yale University's Yale Corporation; of a myocardial infarction; in Pittsburgh. Marrying Sarah Mellon of the banking Mellon family, Scaife stayed with his family firm, became a vice president of T. Mellon & Sons, and member of a dozen big corporate boards, was one of the civic leaders who helped carry out the postwar redevelopment of the city's famed Golden Triangle. He wrote the book: Scaife Company, 1802-1952, oldest manufacturing firm west of the Alleghenies; father to son for five generations. 1952.

CHRISTIAN BERNARD SHEA

2007-03-05T14:08:00.000-08:00

CHRISTIAN BERNARD SHEA
1835 - 1900

Christian Bernard Shea was the brother-in-law of and founding partner with Joseph Horne of The Joseph Horne Company (along with Major and A. P. Burchfield).

C Bernard Shea was a very dignified looking fellow, with a full moustache and mutton chop sideburns which he kept neatly trimmed He was involved with both halves of the family business, retail (Joseph Horne Co. Department Store) and wholesale (Pittsburgh Dry Goods Company). Their family belonged to the Episcopal Church.

Christian Bernard Shea (1835-1900) married Elizabeth Galway (1837-? before 1895); in 1880 they lived in Allegheny and Elizabeth’s sister Mary Galway lived with them:

Their children include:

- Joseph Bernard Shea (June 2, 1863-January 7, 1930) who married Clara Bell Morgan.

Their son was Christian Bernard Shea Princeton class of 1916, who married (1) Miriam McDonald (2) Irene Ciemnolonski of Duquesne, Pa., the daughter of Julius and Catherine Nowaczynski Ciemnolonski. A nurse by training, Mrs. Shea was a major contributor to the new Hillman Cancer wing at Shadyside Hospital. Also, in 2000, Mrs. Irene Shea gave a $4 million gift to create the magnificent new Princeton Boathouse in hher husband's memory: The C. Bernard Shea Rowing Center. As the Princeton athletic department reported at that time:

"We are deeply grateful to Mrs. Shea for this generous gift," said Princeton President Harold T. Shapiro. "Bernard Shea was himself an enthusiastic oarsman at Princeton, and generations of Princeton rowers will remember him and benefit from this tribute to his memory." When boating sports began at Princeton, the team practiced on the nearby Delaware and Raritan Canal - a difficult process since the canal still had a steady stream of commercial traffic. It was not until 1906 that Andrew Carnegie, from the Sheas' hometown of Pittsburgh, funded the construction of a dam, creating what is now called Carnegie Lake. Having the lake for both practices and competitions greatly strengthened the University's rowing program, which grew continuously in strength and variety.

Lightweight crew was introduced in 1922, women came on board in 1972 and women's lightweight crew was added in the fall of 1997.

"I have wonderful memories of returning to campus with my husband in the 1950s to watch the crew races," said Mrs. Shea, "and it is especially meaningful to me to help the many students who love rowing and Princeton, just as my husband did."

Mr. Shea, who died in 1961, served with the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps during World War I and was vice president and director of the Joseph Horne Co. of Pittsburgh. A member of the Graduate Council of Princeton University, he was a director and trustee of many charitable institutions, including Shadyside Hospital of Pittsburgh and the Fairview Hospital of Great Barrington, Mass. (Princeton Athletic Communications; Release: 06/18/2006)

Mrs. Shea has also made a wonderful contribution to young people's education through the Irene C. Shea Endowed Scholarship Fund.

- George Shea (1866-)

C B Shea was 54 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

DURBIN HORNE

2007-03-05T12:31:00.000-08:00

DURBIN HORNE
July 15, 1854 – 1916

Durbin Horne was the son of department store magnate Joseph Horne, whose dry goods business expanded to the point that it became the most fashionable of the seven large department stores in Pittsburgh by the late 1800s. It was the preeminent department store throughout the following century. Its demise at the end of the twentieth century is lamented by most Pittsburgh natives, and its Christmas window displays and Christmas tree will long live in Pittsburghers hearts.

Abby Mendelshon has an outstanding biography of Joseph Horne at this site:

http://www.alleghenycemetery.com/noteables/noteable_horne.htm
The outlines are these: Joseph Horne was born in Bedford County PA in January 1826, the son of Henry Horne, who had served in the Continental Army, Henry intended his son to be a physician. Joseph had other plans, moved west to Pittsburgh and found his first job in the retail trade with Christian Yeager, the father of SFF&HC member H. C. Yeager. Soon, Joseph moved to the F.H. Eaton store, and first became a partner and then bought out he business in 1849, and renamed it The Joseph Horne Company, a name it would bear for more than 130 years. Horne was 23. He joined forces with Messrs. Shea and Burchfield, whose distinguished families intermarried and entered the business, and brought a hauteur to his emporium that has never been equaled in Pittsburgh. In 1881 the firm built their new building designed by Charles Tattersall Ingham at Wood and Liberty. In 1891, at age 65, he sold the wholesale side to the Pittsburgh Dry Goods Company.

Joseph Horne married twice: (1) Mary Elizabeth Shea and (2) Emma Galway, he sired numerous children, some of whom, like son Durbin, born in 1854, followed his father into the business. Joseph Horne died in 1892.

* * *

Durbin Horne, son of Joseph and Mary Elizabeth Shea Horne, born in Pittsburgh PA, on July 15, 1854. He attende Pittsburgh public schools, the Newell Institute and Yale. After graduating from Yale in 1876, he returned to Pittsburgh and by 1882 was a partner in the firm.

On June 1, 1889, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported tht Durbin Horne was off to Johnstown and quite anxious as three of his family members were in the disaster zone.

Durbin Horne became the second Horne to preside over the business; he became president of The Joseph Horne Company in 1901. He was a trustee of Alleghenny Cemetery (elected 1896) and manager of the same 1904-1909. Pargtner of The Joseph Horne Company and S F F & H C member Christian Barnard Shea and his wife Eliszabeth Galway Shea were Durbin Horne’s aunt and uncle.

Durbin Horne retired in 1915 and died in 1916. He was succeeded, in 1946, by his son Joseph, the last Joseph Horne to head the company, which he did until his passing, unmarried and childless, two years later.)

In Durbin Horne married Mary T. Andrews the daughter of A. H. Anderws of Cincinnati, Ohio (?-1923).

Their sole surviving child:

Joseph Horne (1889-1948); did not marry. He was a graduate of Yale and an active member of Christ Episcopal Church, in the East End.

The Durbin Horne family home, called "The Gables," 7408 Penn Avenue, is located in Point Breeze; the three-story brick mansion designed by Charles Tattersall Ingham is now home to the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

ROBERT PITCAIRN

2007-03-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

Robert Pitcairn
May 6, 1836 - 1909

Robert Pitcairn – like his boyhood friend Andrew Carnegie – was a Scottish immigrant who rose from messenger boy to a position of prestige and power. But their similarities end there.

Robert Pitcairn was born in 1836 in Johnstone, near Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of John and Agnes Pitcairn. With his parents he immigrated to Pittsburgh and settled there. The Pitcairns and Carnegies were friends in Scotland and came to America on the same sailing vessel.

As with Andrew Carnegie, he began his business life as a messenger boy—they worked together for the Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Company. In 1853, Carnegie helped Pitcairn obtain his first job for the Pennsylvania Railroad as ticket agent at the Mountain House at Hollidaysburg, from there he was transferred to Altoona. And when Carnegie left the PRR, Pitcairn replaced him as head of Pittsburgh operations, there. He was general agent and superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Unlike Carnegie, however, Robert Pitcairn was a deeply religious man and he lived his Scots-Presbyterian beliefs as a founder, long time member and leader of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church.

Before the congregation built its current building, for many years, Pitcairn served as its choir director. Stop and let that sink in a moment. A leading businessman of the city (and country) serving as a choir director of his local congregation. How many of today’s famous business leaders, Fortune 500 and so forth, can say that they do something of similar commitment to their church out of a compelling desire to do so?

It would be a fascinating study for some historian to do a book long exploration of the relationship between Pitcairn and Carnegie and to ask the hard question of which man was truly the more successful in the things that really matter.

Carnegie had no interest in the Christian faith other than to take pot shots at it and insist that it was passé. Carnegie's self-promoting writings and speeches are full of screeds about Christianity—Carnegie thought himself wiser than the wisdom of the ages.

Robert Pitcairn, on the other hand, was personally devout and his faith convictions were born out in the way that he lived every week. Pitcairn did not worship out of convention or show, but rather was involved in the life of his congregation both to give and to learn. The records of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church and the long term memory of its members are quite clear about this, and Pitcairn and his descendants established a foundation at Shadyside for the long term well being of the church and community, called the Pictairn-Crabbe Foundation. Trustees of the church are also directors of the Pitcairn-Crabbe Foundation, which oversees the grant-making decisions of this charitable foundation.

In addition to his association with the Pennsylvanian railroad, Pitcairn was a director and vice president of the American Surety Company and held the same offices for the Fidelity Trust and Title Company. He was a director of the Masonic Bank, Citizen’s Bank, First National Bank of Greensburg, and the Western Pennsylvania Exposition. He was also a friend and financial backer of George Westinghouse.

He inspired appreciation and respect and a level of fondness that is worth noting. Pitcairn's business associates called him "Uncle Robert", he was known all along the railroad lines as "RP", Andy Carnegie called him Bob.

In 1880, Pitcairn ordered construction of a rail yard along Turtle Creek near Pittsburgh that would become the largest rail yard in the world. The borough of Pitcairn, PA, located adjacent to the yard, was named in his honor. Originally part of Versailles Township, it is named for Robert Pitcairn, a former superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Robert Pitcairn was instrumental in locating switching yards, an engine roundhouse and car repair shops in the area in the 1880s near what was known as Wall Station. With the expansion of the rail yards, several plans of lots were laid out to accommodate railroad workers. As the village grew, it was given the name Walurba, meaning a suburb of Wall. In 1893, residents decided they wanted to form their own community, separate from what were then Patton Township and Wall. The petition was approved the following year and in 1897 Walurba Station was changed to Pitcairn. The depot is now a municipal parking lot and the railroad yards are gone. Pitcairn has the distinction of being the only municipality in Allegheny County to provide its own electric and cable television service. In March of 1899, a right-of -way was granted to the Turtle Creek Valley Electric Company, later Duquesne Light Company, to erect a pole line to provide electricity for homes. In January 1902, council enacted an ordinance to float a $20,000 Bond Issue to erect a light plant and distribution system. In the fall, a drive began to sign up customers for electricity when the plant would be ready for operation. As an inducement to applicants, a free light was granted for the front porch of each home, which of course also improved street lighting. In 1936 and 1937, at the height of the Great Depression, the municipality sent residents an electric bill marked 'Paid in Full' as a Christmas present. The borough still redistributes electricity to its residents and provides its own cable television service. (Source: Borough of Pitcairn website)

Pitcairn’s pre-Flood concern about the condition of the dam at Lake Connemaugh was well recorded. Indeed he had asked his friend Joseph P Wilson, the superintendent of the Cambria Mine at South Fork, to keep a watchful eye on conditions at the dam and to let him know if there were any problems or concerns. It is well documented that Wilson did send a warning telegram from South Fork via Johnstown to Robert Pitcairn at Pittsburgh that the dam was about to fail. The telegraph handset from South Fork is on display at the Unger Farm which is now the main building of the Johnstown Flood Memorial. The post-Flood testimony of both Pitcairn and Wilson can be read on their website.

Read Robert Pitcairn’s entire statement:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/jofl/robpitca.htm

Joseph P. Wilson’s statement:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/jofl/wilson.htm

Robert Pitcairn’s response to the Johnstown Flood is also well worth noting. In spite of (and one could argue as a corrective to) the vow of silence of the SFF& HC members in reaction to the Flood, and as head of the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Pitcairn knew he was in a position to do something and do something he did.

Pitcairn assembled a Relief Train that was the first to head from Pittsburgh to Johnstown with the people and resources needed to respond to the disaster. McCullough gives an outstanding account of it in his book. As Robert Pitcairn said…

“The whole Pennsylvania Railroad was put at the disposal of the public to the detriment of their prompt repairing and re-establishing their own lines. In fact, the public had full possession of the Pennsylvania Railroad line west of Johnstown, and the committee acted with myself in the relief of the people.”

This is a far cry from the SFF&HC members who hid behind the stony silent facades of their East End mansions and speaks volumes about the true character of Robert Pitcairn who was one of the real heroes during that sad time. In contrast, Andrew Carnegie did not show up in Johnstown until the mess was cleaned up, the bodies were all buried and the sun was brightly shining again, to dedicate his new library, which replaced the one that South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club member and Johnstown resident Cyrus Elder had built for the city, and which had been destroyed by the Flood. These are simply the facts of the matter and they show the contrasting elements of both men’s character vividly.

On July 26, 1856, Robert Pitcairn married Elizabeth Erb Riggs (1841 - ) of Altoona. Their home was at the corner of Ellsworth and Amberson Avenues in Shadyside.

Their children:

Agnes Laurene Pitcairn (1857) married Omar S. Decker (Nov. 22, 1856-). They lived at 517 Amberson Avenue in Shadyside. Their children:

- Omar Scott Decker () his daughter:

- Dolly Decker

Susan Blanche Pitcairn (1868) Married Victor Lee Crabbe on Dec. 2, 1897. Their home was Cairncarque on Ellsworth Avenue in Pittsburgh’s East End. Their children include:

- Elizabeth Pitcairn Crabbe ()

- Susan Lee Crabbe ( - 1939) Married Mr. Hunt. The remainder of the Pitcairn fortune was left to granddaughter Susan Lee Hunt. In her Last Will and Testament dated May 20, 1939, the late Susan Lee Hunt created the Pitcairn-Crabbe Foundation to perpetuate the memory of her mother, Susan Pitcairn-Crabbe, and her grandparents, Robert and Elizabeth E. Pitcairn. And on December 23, 1940, the Pitcairn-Crabbe Foundation was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation by order of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Lillian Pitcairn (1859); as a child she went by "Lydia". Married Charles Lewis Taylor (April 3, 1857 - February 3, 1922; who was a Carnegie Steel executive and retired in 1901 upon the sale of the company to become U S Steel), on October 31, 1883. The Taylor family lived at 5533 Ellsworth Avenue. Their children:

- Lillian Taylor (); Married (1) Russell L. McIntosh of Westfield NJ, (2) Albert Edward Savage. Russell L. McIntosh was a leading citizen of Westfield. He served Westfield's vice-chairman of the Liberty Loan program during W W I. Lillian Taylor McIntosh served as a volunteer nurse duing the influenza epidemic.

Robert Pitcairn, Jr. (October 2, 1874 - ); graduated from Princeton in 1897; married Marion McLean Sellers in Pittsburgh, Nov 4, 1903 . She was the daughter of Jennie P. McLean and stepdaughter of H D W English; this family was related to the Leishman family. They moved to Pasadena CA.;he was on the board of Pasadena hospital.

For several winter seasons the Pitcarins vacationed at Greens Hotel in Pasadena California. In 1906 Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pitcairn Jr. built a house in Pasadena California designed by the outstanding architectural firm Greene and Greene: The Pitcairn house would combine the entire lexicon of their mature design elements: a shingled exterior; a roof pitch of three feet, ten inches in twelve feet; major interior and exterior timbers; deeply overhanging eaves; exposed rafters, purlins, and beams that project significantly beyond the eaves; “Malthoid” roofing that integrates the roof with the rain gutters; an up-swept “lift” in the ends of the ridge beam; basement ventilation made of Chinese blocks of green-glazed terra-cotta; and casement windows. Most important were the terraces and sleeping porches that extend the outdoor living space on the upper level. They adapted Japanese construction themes to Pasadena’s regional conditions and their own aesthetic sense. They used keyed scarf joints to decoratively join and strengthen in-line long timbers and used wedges to fix rails to posts for the first time in their designs. They also pioneered the artistic use of wrought-iron straps to bundle posts and corbels. This was the first time all of these design elements came together in one house. The presentation drawings for the house show an American Indian Navajo theme in the lead glass designs, but these designs were abandoned during construction in favor of plain glass.

HENRY CLAY FRICK

2007-03-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Henry Clay Frick
December 19, 1848 – December 2, 1919

“The King of Coke” and the creator of what is now the Frick Collection in New York, Henry Clay Frick was the sometime partner and sometime adversary of Andrew Carnegie and the lifelong friend of Andrew W. Mellon.

There is a good book about Frick by his great-granddaughter Martha Frick Symington Sanger (Henry Clay Frick: An Intimate Portrait) that tells most of the story well. Some of her grandfather’s business machinations, however, are downplayed to place him in a more favorable light than the facts might warrant, especially his role in ousting SFF&HC member John G A Leishman from the chairmanship of Carnegie Steel and his similar role in the Equitable Insurance Scandal, in which James Hazen Hyde (Leishman's future son-in-law) was similarly treated.

It is fair to say that Frick was a genius at making money. It is also fair to say that his interpersonal skills were not of the first calibre, especially those beyond his immediate family. He was good at networking with others to bring about hoped-for business outcomes. He did not bother making or maintianing congenial relationships with people unless it would benefit his own goals and projects.

Henry Clay Frick was born in a modest little springhouse on the grounds of his maternal grandfather’s estate in West Overton, Pennsylvania. The house remains as do all of the other signs of Grandfather Abraham S. Overholt’s successful whiskey brewery business, and can be visited by the intrepid tourist. See this website for more information...

http://www.westovertonmuseum.org/

A Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite, Abraham S. Overholt had come from the area around Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, westward, and had Americanized his Oberholtzer surname. His daughter Elizabeth married John Frick.

The John and Elizabeth Overholt Frick family was impoverished and the contrast between their humble lives in the shadow of Grandfather Overholt’s prosperity played on the impressionable “Clay”. He vowed that he would be a millionaire by the time that he was thirty and he in fact reached that goal.

Frick did so by ingratiating himself to the Pittsburgh elite of the day. He was for a time a clerk in a retail establishment, where he waited upon the well-to-do ladies of the city, and did so in such a way that he endeared himself to them. He went to Andy Mellon, whom he had befriended, for a loan of $20,000 to buy up some of the coke ovens in the Connellsville area. Andy took the idea to his father Judge Thomas and together they agreed to make the loan event though the fellow had no collateral.

As Frick’s fortunes improved he lived at the Monongahela House in Pittsburgh. Some of his future South Fork club memebers were also guests at or had buisness connnections with this hotel.

On December 15, 1881 Henry Clay Frick married Adelaide Howard Childs (1859 - 1931) in one of the notable weddings of the season...

For a portrait of Adelaide, scroll down to the last painting on this web page:

http://www.frickart.com/programs/exhibitions/detail/76.html

H C and Adelaide went to New York City as the first stop on their honneymoon and spent it visiting Andrew Carnegie at his hotel there (every bride’s dream, isn’t it?), and clinching the deal that brought Frick Coke under the wing of Carnegie Brothers and Frick under Carnegie’s watchful eye, if not thumb. This partnership ensured that Carnegie's steel mills had an adequate supply of (presumably reduced priced) coke. As a result of this agreement Frick eventually became chairman of the Carnegie Steel company. Cantankerous old Mrs. Carnegie felt there was not much in it for the Carnegie interests and told her still-bachelor son so. What poor sweet Adelaide thought of all of this remains unrecorded but we can guess.

It was Frick who formed the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club and began gathering its charter members. His share in the enterprise is sometimes minimized and it ought not to be. The first members were his especial friends and some were relatives connected through the huge and prolific Childs family.

H C Frick and Andrew Carnegie were both aggressive business competitors. It may have been inevitable that their partnership could not last.

The Fricks had four children but two died in infancy...

Childs Frick (1883-1965) all of the Frick family descend through him; he married Frances Shoemaker Dixon (1892-1953).

Martha Frick (1885-1891); baby Martha ingested a pin and died from compliactions of infection.

Helen Clay Frick (1888-1984) Miss Frick lived to be 95 and never married (see below)

Henry Clay Frick, Jr. (1892-1892)

Adelaide Childs Frick lapsed into chronic ill health and depression after the death her daughter Martha in 1891 and infant son H C Frick Jr. in the summer of 1892.

The Frick family moved to New York City in 1905.

The Flood, the death of little Martha, the Homestead Strike and the assassination attempt by Alexander Berkman (foiled by John G A Leishman, see the separate posting called “The Man Who Saved H C Frick”) all took their toll on Henry Clay Frick, a man who assumed that the millions he had vowed to make would somehow make him immune from life’s share of troubles. Bested by Carnegie in a much publicized lawsuit (which Carnegie claimed paid for his beloved Skibo Castle) Frick did as others had don and left for Manhattan with summers in Mount Desert Maine, thereafter. The family kept Clayton but returned to only for visits until Miss Helen Frick made her home there in her later years.

Frick was one of a number of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club members who abandoned Pittsburgh as soon as they could, following the flood. More so than some, Frick kept his hand in Pittsburgh, and there are many architectural monuments that remind the 21st Century visitor of Frick’s presence. In addition to the Frick Building (built to cast a shadow on the Carnegie Building) which was designed by the leading architect of the day, Chicagoan Daniel Burnham, and togged out with a John Lafarge stained glass window of “Fortune at Her Wheel”, there are also the Union Trust Building, the William Penn Hotel and not one but two Frick Art Galleries. One is in the Oakland cultural district sandwiched between SFF&CHC member Andrew Carnegie’s library and music hall and Phipps’s Conservatory. The other stands on the Point Breeze grounds of the Frick family mansion, Clayton.

The reason for there being two different Frick art gallery buildings within five miles of each other in Pittsburgh is somewhat droll. Miss Frick gave the gallery in Oakland in her parents memory. As it was about to be finished she let it be known that she had selected paintings from her father’s Pittsburgh collection to hang in the gallery, now called The Frick Fine Arts building. You can read about it, here...

http://www.umc.pitt.edu/tour/tour-060.html

Miss Frick was informed that the gift of the building was most welcome but that the paintings (most of which were considered not of the first quality) were not required. And so in 1969 Miss Frick more or less duplicated the building in her own back yard at "Clayton" in Point Breeze, and hung her father’s pictures there, instead. Both can be toured today. Read more about it, here...

http://www.frickart.org/home/

Former Carnegie Steel boss Henry Clay Frick died in New York on December 2, 1919, at age 69, leaving $20 million to public, educational, and charitable institutions at Pittsburgh. Not long before, his erstwhile business partner Andrew Carnegie had invited him to come a mile up Fifth Avenue for a visit in which they might make their peace, but Frick allegedly replied, "We'll meet in hell, to which we are both going."

Frick was buried in a small, private ceremony and then interred with exaggerated style at Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh, within hallooing distance of Clayton.

H.C. FRICK BURIED: Pittsburgh, Dec. 5,- The funeral of HENRY CLAY FRITH took place at the family residence, Clayton, at noon today, none but relatives and a few intimate friends of the family being present. The Rev. Dr. Edward J. Van Etten, of Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, stood beside the plain coffin with its one wreath of flowers as he read the services and the music was by Mrs. Christine Miller Clemson*, of one of Mr. Frick's former business associates. Interment was in Homewood Cemetery.

*[Second wife of Daniel Clemson (1853-1936), a partner of Carnegie and a vice president of U.S. Steel Corp. His concert soloist second wife, some 23 years his junior, sang at Henry Clay Frick's funeral. Apparently Mr. Clemson was so enchanted by the church choir singing of Christine Miller that he anonymously paid her tuition to a leading conservatory. The pair married years later when Mr. Clemson, in true dramatic Victorian fashion, revealed that he had been Christine's secret benefactor. ]

The coffin iteslf was oversized and inordinatly heavy. It was interred in a vault that was then filled with tons of concrete. Frick wanted to be sure no one bothered him again.

One wonders if all the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club papers from the "missing" Johnstown Flood defense room at Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay might have been encased in that tomb with him?

About to be deported, Alexander Berkman, Frick's would be assasin, was dining in Chicago with his fomer love anarchist Emma Goldman when told of the news of Frick's death. He replied that Frick had been "deported by God. I'm glad he left the country before me."

Frick's dutiful daughter Helen Clay Frick spent the many years of her long life keeping her father's image beautifully polished and hastened to sue anyone who breathed even a word of criticism about Henry Clay Frick. As a keeper of her father’s flame and a throwback to an era when all of Pittsburgh bowed in her fathers wake, Miss Frick was a formidable force of nature.

Little Pittsburgh society maidens of several generations – some of them SFF&HC descendents – were taken by their mothers and grandmothers for tea with Miss Frick – it was an agonizing and stultifying experience to hear them tell of it.

To her 15 grandnieces and nephews, Helen Clay Frick was a delightful but demanding maternal figure who dubbed herself "Grantie" for them. She served Earl Grey tea in the music room of "Clayton" her parents' Point Breeze estate, every afternoon and took them on memorable art tours of Europe's great museums. Although she was a formal Edwardian woman who shunned publicity, the diminutive heiress never shrank from a fight, especially to defend the image of her father, Henry Clay Frick, the oft-vilified tycoon whose hard-nosed tactics helped provoke the Homestead steel strike of 1892.

There are those who insist that the well-to-do family in the Phillip Barry film “Holiday” staring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant is based principally on the Frick family.

* * *

The real life Frick Family count these as members:

Dr. Henry Clay Frick II, son of Childs Frick and grandson of Henry Clay Frick, and his family:
-- Dr. Henry Clay Frick II of Alpine, N.J., previous longtime chairman of the board
-- Emily "Pemmy" Frick of Alpine, N.J., wife of Dr. Frick and trustee of The Frick Collection
-- Adelaide F. Trafton of Topsham, Maine, daughter of Dr. Frick and chairwoman of the

Helen Clay Frick Foundation Board and the board of the Frick Art & Historical Center
-- Henry Clay Frick III of Alaska, son of Dr. Frick and an environmentalist

Children of Frances Burden, daughter of Childs Frick and granddaughter of Henry Clay Frick:
-- I. Townsend Burden III of Washington, D.C., businessman and secretary of the foundation
-- Dixon Frick Burden of Telluride, Colo., businessman
-- Frances "Dixie" Burden of Rockport, Mass., who leads spiritual retreats for nuns and priests
Children of Martha Frick Symington, daughter of Childs Frick and granddaughter of Henry Clay Frick
-- Helen Clay Chace of Mt. Kisco, N.Y., also president of The Frick Collection in New York and docent at The Cloisters
-- Arabella Dane, a Boston horticulturist
-- J. Fife Symington III of Phoenix, former Arizona governor (refused request to resign from the board after he was convicted on six counts of fraud)

Son of Adelaide Blanchard, daughter of Childs Frick and granddaughter of Henry Clay Frick
-- Peter Blanchard III of New York City, environmentalist and trustee of The Frick Collection board

There is a photo of Adelaide Childs Frick in the L S Clarke series of photos of the Club that can be seen here:

http://www.pennhighlands.edu/library/digital/louisclarkesffhc%20025.jpg

ANDREW CARNEGIE

2007-03-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Andrew Carnegie
November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919

The rags-to-riches Scottish immigrant who fashioned what would become United States Steel and then withdrew to verdant Scotland.

The name Andrew Carnegie is well known; indeed he is one of the triumvirates of luminaries who make up the most illustrious members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club—along with Mellon and Frick. The bare outlines of his life are offered here; the reader can find many outstanding resources to flesh out the man and his contributions to American life, most notably in the comprehensive biography by David Nasaw.

If Andrew Carnegie had not lived, Horatio Alger would have had to invent him. He rose from a life of almost unspeakable tawdriness in Scotland to become a buttonholer of Presidents. Along the way he was praised, emulated, cartooned, consulted, celebrated and vilified. He ignored his father, whom he saw as a failure, and had an unusually close relationship with his mother Margaret who would remain his main confidant until her death. He concentrated on his rise to success in the rough-and-tumble industrial world of Pittsburgh to the detriment of all relationships other than familial.

As Carnegie said,

"The business career is a stern school of all the virtues. The business man pursues fortune."

Once having achieved that success, he then allowed himself to complete his late and long courtship of his eventual much-younger bride Louise Whitfield.

The wheeling and dealings that brought Carnegie to prominence in the aggressive world of Pittsburgh industrial escalation took him from errand boy to telegraph operator to indefatigable inside-trader and back-room dealer and then ruthless crusher of competitors. He was an expert at navigating the choppy waters of capitalism (and a stern critic of any of his employees who utilized similar tactics). As Carnegie said...

"The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell."

In 1851, he became a telegraph messenger boy in the Pittsburgh Office of the Ohio Telegraph Company, at $2.50 per week, which was more than most day laborers were making—Carnegie was 16. Carnegie quickly learned to distinguish the differing sound the incoming signals produced and learned to transcribe it by ear without having to write it down, Thomas A. Scott of the Pennsylvania Railroad employed Carnegie as a secretary/telegraph operator starting in 1853, at a salary of $4.00 per week. Carnegie began a rapid advancement through the company, eventually becoming the superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division. Scott also introduced Carnegie to the concept of making money without working, that is, his first investments. In 1855 he was able to invest $500 in Adams Express. Later he invested money in sleeping cars for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and bought part of the company making the wagons, which again turned out to be most profitable.

The handsome dividends he received from his oil investments enabled him to go into the iron and steel business. In 1865 he helped form a company to replace wooden railway bridges with iron bridges. At the same time he became a partner in a small iron-forging company in Pittsburgh.

Reinvesting his money in railroad related industries (iron, bridges, rails) he was able to slowly earn his first big capital, which would be the basis for his later success, as he concentrated on iron and steel manufacturing and the industries (raw materials, power and transportation) that fed his mills. In this he set up many companies in which he was the silent but majority stockholder.

He also expected his competitors to bow to his wishes and it was Carnegie’s custom that if they were granted contracts he would be in touch with them immediately and let them know that he expected to be given half of the contract for his own factories. To quote him again...

"Whatever I engage in, I must push inordinately."

When troubles came, in the form of The Johnstown Flood and The Homestead Steel Strike, Carnegie took infinite pains to distance himself as much as possible from any hint of involvement or blame. To this day, attempts are made to state that he was not a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club—no matter, these will not bear close scrutiny. He also reminded people again and again that he was off in Scotland during that little bit of unpleasantness at Homestead. Right. Off at Scotland but, as was his custom, connected electronically hour-by-hour and pulling the strings of his enterprises and minions via telegraph. Yet, he made every attempt to place all the blame on Frick and did his best to smile benevolently as he dedicated in Johnstown and Homewood some of his 2,500 eponymous libraries.

Carnegie was nothing if not disingenuous and self-indulgent. Usually, the public smiled back at him--glad for the crumbs from his table. They had had precious little in the way of wages or benefits, since Carnegie's oft-repeated managerial watchword was, "Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themseves."

No doubt few of the mill families in the crowds on dedication days knew of Mr. Carnegie's dictum:

"And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department."

By 1899, when he consolidated his interests in the Carnegie Steel Company, he controlled about 25 percent of American iron and steel production. In 1901 Carnegie sold his company for $250 million to a syndicate formed by financier J P Morgan.

Having achieved all the wealth he could manage and more, Carnegie abandoned Pittsburgh, the smoky city that he helped in no small part to create, for a fantasy life as a pseudo-laird in Scotland and as a plutocrat in Manhattan. Occasionally he would throw money Pittsburgh’s way and thereafter there were many other charitable acts of the elderly Carnegie, as well as his attempts to be seen as a world peacemaker. Among his benefactions, Carnegie Tech (now part of Carnegie Mellon University), the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Peace Palace in The Hague, the Pan American Union Building in Washington DC and the Carnegie Hero's Fund.

These were, perhaps, his way of doing penance for the way he had made his millions.

There was a famous exchange between representatives of Frick and Carnegie that occurred late in their lives, when Carnegie had softened and hoped to make a rapprochement between them. Both were living in Manhattan, and Carnegie sent word to Frick that he would like for them to meet. The famous response to which was Frick’s, “Tell Mr. Carnegie I will meet him in hell, to which we are both going!” The exchange speaks volumes about both men. In contrast to almost every other South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club member, Carnegie seems to have had no religious affiliation during his long life.

Carnegie was too much of an age with Frick to be seen as a father figure, and Frick was far too successful already by the time they combined business forces for Carnegie to be accepted as Frick’s mentor. They were at times allies, then rivals and adversaries, competing in the small piece of turf that both had imagined that if labeled would have been called “The World’s Most Influential Man”. Neither really deserved the appellation. Frick was too cold and unbending and as the years progressed was out of touch with ordinary human life; Carnegie was too impressed with public opinion and lived too much in his Highland fantasies. As one observer has said, in the end, they were the elephants in each other's living rooms. Their cheerless twilight years were lost in bizarre competition.

In 1887 when Andrew Carnegie was 52 years old, he married Louise Whitfield of New York (7 March 1857 - 24 June 1946), whom he had courted for more than a decade. The extraordinarily long-suffering Louise was 22 years his junior; indeed, Louise’s father and Carnegie were the same age.

They had one daughter, Margaret Morrison Carnegie (1897-); married Roswell Miller.

The daughter of Margaret and Roswell Miller:

Margaret Miller () married Gordon Thompson.

The Carnegies purchased a vast estate in northern Scotland and built the castle of Skibo. Here each summer, Carnegie entertained the people who interested him most, particularly those in the world of literature, science, and education. It is now an ultra exclusive resort -- one may not stay there more than once without buying a membership. If you have to ask what a membership costs, you cannot afford it.

The Carnegie descendants live in Scotland and visit in the US from time to time.

Carnegie once suggested for his own epitaph, “Here lies a man who was able to surround himself with men far cleverer than himself.”

* * *

More on Louise Whitfield Carnegie...

On Tuesday, June 24, Mrs. Andrew Carnegie died at her home in New York City, in her eighty-ninth year. This brought to an end a long and exceptional life of great distinction and fine living. Although since the death of her husband in 1919 Mrs. Carnegie had seldom visited Pittsburgh, she was known to many here for her high purpose, kindliness, and nobility of character. Notwithstanding the great wealth and prominence of her husband, she played her individual part in all his philanthropies as a counselor and an enthusiastic co-planner in his hopes for the betterment of the human race. She was self-effacing in her own benefactions, which were many, but fully lived up to what she felt to be the responsibilities placed upon her by her opportunities for service. A true lady in the old fashioned sense of the word, she was most gracious and kindly to all with whom she came in contact and could well be taken as an outstanding example of American womanhood.

Mrs. Carnegie Dies at 89 in New York. Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, 89, widow of the steel maker and philanthropist, died today at her Fifth Ave. mansion in New York City, according to an Associated Press report. A retiring woman, whose philanthropies always were conducted quietly, she had been in failing health for more than a year. A daughter, Mrs. Roswell Miller of New York, was at her bedside. A granddaughter, Mrs. Gordon Thompson, flew from England May 12 to be with her.

Visited Pittsburgh.

During her last public appearance in Pittsburgh, years ago, Mrs. Carnegie looked at the institutions of learning and culture her husband had given the city, and declared: "Here is the best conception of the idea of the brotherhood of man. I have never enjoyed a visit to any part of the world as I have this visit to Pittsburgh. "The former Louise Whitfield of New York, she had married Mr. Carnegie in 1887--38 years after he came to Pittsburgh from Scotland to work as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory. He had hitched his wagon to the rising stars of iron and steel and was a wealthy but lonely man.

Gave Away Half Billion.

Soon after their marriage he became the richest man the world has ever seen and one of the happiest. Speaking of his life with his 'beloved Lou,' Carnegie said: "Why, oh why, are we compelled to leave the heaven we have found on earth and go we know not where?" With his wife's help Carnegie also became a great philanthropist. In the 18 years from 1901 to 1919 he gave away the bulk of his fortune of half a billion dollars at the rate of $25,000,000 a year.

Many Beneficiaries.

His beneficiaries included old employees, old friends, educational institutions, organizations for world peace, several nations, a United States President, three President's wives, a British prime minister and the City of Pittsburgh. The various money-giving corporations which he established still pour out from four to five million dollars a year. One night in August, 1919, after Mrs. Carnegie had said good night to her husband, he sank into his last sleep. He was buried on top of a small hill in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery near Tarrytown, N.Y.

Lived in Scotland.

During the last 27 years, Mrs. Carnegie led a quiet, retiring life in New York and Scotland. She met annually with the members of her late husband's corporations, made suggestions, and took great pride in their work. Meanwhile, she kept giving away sums of her own money. On the occasion of the Carnegie Centennial in 1935, a little gray-haired lady with a kindly voice, she reminisced: "Pittsburgh has a warm place in my heart. I have so many recollections of the lovely, affectionate friends whom I knew there." Her last public appearance with Andrew had been in Pittsburgh. He had said of her: "Peace and good will attend her footsteps wherever her blessed influence extends."

* * *

Andrew Carnegie was 54 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

ANDREW W. MELLON

2007-03-03T07:15:00.000-08:00

Andrew W. Mellon
March 24, 1855 – August 27, 1937

Banker, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 through February 12, 1932 and U. S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James (1932-1933).

Andrew Mellon’s name is well known; indeed he is one of the triumvirate of luminaries (Carnegie, Frick, Mellon) who make up the most illustrious members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The bare outlines of his life are offered here; the reader can find many outstanding resources to flesh out the man and his contributions to American life, most notably in the new biography by David Cannadine, which I recommend enthusiastically. Also well worth reading are Judge Thomas Mellon’s autobiography and Paul Mellon’s autobiography, Reflections in a Silver Spoon.

Andrew William Mellon was born on March 24, 1855, the son of Judge Thomas Mellon and his wife Sarah Jane Negley. The Negleys had been leading citizens of Western Pennsylvania, and the Mellons were becoming influential Pittsburghers at the time of Andrew’s birth; yet no one could have guessed just how influential they would be, thanks primarily to the way that Andrew built upon his father’s wise judgment and success as an investment banker. He rose to become a national leader—the best known Secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton. Both celebrated and vilified in that roll (as the Great Depression set in) Mellon was also one of the nation’s great benefactors, in his gift of the National Gallery of Art and his fine paintings that formed the nucleus of its collections.

His was a stern Scots-Irish Presbyterian boyhood as he grew up on what had been the Negley farm. As a young man he formed a strong partnership with his father as they made one successful investment after another. The symbiotic relationship between father and son remained strong throughout the Judge’s life. As Andrew grew older, the guiding question about what enterprise to engage in shift from “What would Father do?” to “What would Andrew do?” One after another giant enterprises such as Alcoa, Koppers, Gulf Oil, and the like, were added to their vast holdings until their wealth could truly be called “incalculable”.

Andrew W. Mellon was a lifelong friend of Henry Clay Frick; yet inexplicably, both men addressed one another formally as “Mr. Mellon” and “Mr. Frick.”

Not as long in proposing as the sluggish Carnegie, Andrew Mellon nonetheless was well into a settled middle age by the time he and the vivacious Nora McMullen became engaged.

In Hertford, England in 1900, Andrew W. Mellon married Nora McMullen (1881-1973). He was 45; she was 19. Then, he brought her home to Pittsburgh.

From the start things were difficult. Nora is described as being appalled by Pittsburgh in general and repulsed by the hulking house that Mellon had bought and furnished for them as a newly married couple. Pittsburgh, which can be so friendly, does not count among its charms a mild climate nor at that time did it offer much in the way of natural beauty for those who were unwilling to go a bit afield in order to find it. Even today many buildings of the city have not yet been stripped of the soot and grime that turned pale limestone into what looks like buildings carved out of anthracite. It must have been depressing for Nora and inexplicable to Andrew, who had grown up in the city and found it congenial.

She was an enchanting young Englishwoman who was no doubt doted upon and spoiled by her family. Andrew was charmed by her loveliness and perhaps blinded by it as well—missing the realities of her personally that would be revealed later. Nora’s affair and their ensuing divorce draped a pall over the remainder of their lives, and the lives of their children.

Among the unsolved mysteries of Mellon’s life is the question of the identity of a certain "M___". Mellon’s day book for the post-divorce years between 1912 and 1917 listed over sixty appointments with this “M____”, and his biographer has not been able to determine who that was.

Andrew W. Mellon and Nora McMullen Mellon had two children:

Ailsa Mellon (June 28, 1901-August 25, 1969); born in Pittsburgh she served as her father’s official hostess during his Secretary of State years. She married David K. Bruce in 1926 (divorced in 1945). One daughter:

Audrey Bruce ( - 1967) married Stephen Currier. Both died in the same plane crash. Their children are:
- Andrea Currier
- Lavinia Currier
- Michael Currier

Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) married twice:

(1) Mary Conover Brown
Their children:

- Catherine Conover Mellon (now Conover) married John Warner (US Senator from Virginia; they had three children—Virginia, John and Mary; Warner’s second wife was Elizabeth Taylor the actress and his thrid wife is Jeanne Vander Myde)

- Timothy Mellon

(2) Rachel Lambert Lloyd (“Bunny”) of the Lamberts of Warner-Lambert

* * *

Andrew W. Mellon was 34 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

ELIAS J. UNGER

2007-03-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

Elias J Unger
1830 – September 29, 1896

Elias J. Unger was born in Dauphin County, PA, in 1830 or 1831, the son of David B. Unger and Catherina Eisenhower...

As many have said, the title “Colonel” was not one that Unger had earned, but rather one that he had appropriated somewhere along the way.

For a while, Unger was an employee of different jobs for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was later the manager of the Seventh Avenue Hotel in Pittsburgh.

The Morning Tribune, Altoona, Saturday, December 6, 1879:

“Mr. Tyler to Take Charge of the Mountain House: Colonel E. J. Unger, proprietor of the Pittsburgh Seventh Avenue Hotel and Superintendent of the Mansion House, the popular summer resort of the Keystone Hotel Company at Cresson, has resigned the latter office after a service covering several seasons. Mr. W. D. Tyler, Superintendent of the Logan House in this city, will have charge of the Mansion House hereafter. Colonel Unger will retain his position as Superintendent of the Union depot restaurant in Pittsburgh. His resignation has been in the hands of the company for a long while back, and was caused by his desire to devote his entire attention to his own hotel. Colonel Unger was in the city at the Logan House last evening, accompanied by Mrs. Unger, and the arrangements have been completed for the transfer of the hotel to Mr. Tyler, under whose management it cannot fail to retain its well known reputation.”

In 1887, Unger was listed on the board of directors of the Woodruff Sleeping and Parlor Coach Co. board of directors. In 1888 he had become involved in the Keokuk Scientific Society in Iowa (geological exploration). Unger was a director of the Pittsburgh Exposition Society along with other SFF&HC members SS Marvin and Robert Pitcairn:

Most chroniclers of the flood say that Unger was a retired hotel proprietor. However in so far as he was the president of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club he was not truly retired, but rather had broad ranging responsibility for being the on site manager of the Club both in and out of season.

As stated on the National Flood Memorial site:

“Colonel Elias Unger probably never had a military record. He was, however, the manager of hotels along the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Seventh Avenue Hotel in Pittsburgh. These accomplishments did not get him much notoriety after his death in 1896, but what did was one of the worst disasters in United States history.”

Here is David McCullough on E J Unger:

“When the rains began on the afternoon of Thursday, May 30, 1889, there was only one club member at the lake. He was Colonel E. J. Unger, a retired Pittsburgh hotel proprietor, who was president of the club and lived on a farm along the lakeshore. With him was twenty-three-year-old John Parke, who had been recently hired as a resident engineer. There was also a superintendent of the grounds, and a gang of Italian workmen who had been hired to dig trenches for a new indoor plumbing system. It was a busy time for Colonel Unger. The season was soon to begin, and some two hundred visitors were expected.” (Run for your Lives! American Heritage magazine, June 1966)

The statement of Elias J Unger is available on line at:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/jofl/unger.htm

Unger’ farm is now the main building for the National Flood Memorial and well worth a visit.

Elias J. Unger married Annie C. Steel (born July 26, 1834), in Harrisburg. Annie was the daughter of Israel Steel and Mary R. Geiger (b. October 21, 1814, at Harrisburg; d. January 17, 1848).

Elias J. and Annie C. Steel Unger had one daughter:

- Mary C. Unger (); married George C Wilson the son of William White and Mary Murphy Wilson

“Mr. Wilson married Mary G. Unger, a daughter of Elias J. and Annie C. (Steele) Unger. He has two sons and one daughter: Unger, George and Annye. In politics Mr. Wilson is a Republican. He resides at the corner of Rebecca and Friendship Avenue, East End (302 Friendship Avenue).” (Source: Biographical review; v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburg and the vicinity, Pennsylvania, 1897)

The 1880 census lists them thus:

Geo C. WILSON - 28, Lawyer
Mary WILSON - 28, Keeping H

- William WILSON - 2

- Unger WILSON - 1

- George WILSON - 1

(George and Unger must have been twins. What happened to William?)

Their summer home was called “Marlan Farms” in Mifflin, Juniata County, PA.

Elias J Unger is listed as on the church site selection committee for Christ Episcopal Church in 1891…along with C B Shea & Durbin Horne.

Unger died in Harrisburg, PA on September 29, 1896. Some alternative sources say the location was Pittsburgh.

JOHN WEAKLEY CHALFANT

2007-03-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

John Weakley Chalfant

December 13, 1827 - December 28, 1898

John Weakley Chalfant, one of Pittsburgh's most prominent business men, was born at Turtle Creek, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on December 13, 1827. His father Henry Chalfant came from near Philadelphia in 1827 and settled at Turtle Creek where he purchased a farm. He married Isabella C. Weakley, daughter of Samuel and Hester Weakley of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Ten children were born to this union, of which John W. was the eldest.

Chalfant's parents remained on the property that became the borough of Chalfant in Wilkins. Many Chalfants are buried in Beulah Cemetery (Presbyterian) in Churchill.

John Weakley Chalfant grew to maturity on the home farm, attending the district school which was supplemented by a course in Jefferson College at Cannonsburg. Graduating from that institution in 1850, he entered the employ of Zug & Painter, iron manufacturers of Pittsburgh, where he remained until 1855-56 when he purchased an interest in the firm of Spang & Company, iron manufacturers, an iron and steel manufacturer that was instrumental in the settlement of Etna. In 1858 the firm name was changed to Spang, Chalfant & Company, the firm being composed of Charles H. Spang, John W. Chalfant, Campbell B. Herron, Alexander M. Byers and A. G. Lloyd. George A. Chalfant, a brother of our subject, became a member in 1863.

During the life of John W. Chalfant, he was associated with nearly every enterprise that had for its purpose the upbuilding and the development of the financial, manufacturing and social interests of Pittsburgh and vicinity. He was the promoter and organizer of the Pittsburgh and Western Railroad, also of the Pittsburgh Junction Railroad. He was one of the organizers and was for years president of the People's National Bank. He served as president of the Manufacturers and Merchants Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, and was a director of the People's Savings Bank; Spang, Chalfant & Co.; Isabella Furnace Company; Pittsburgh Locomotive Works; Western Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb; Western Pennsylvania Hospital and Allegheny General Hospital. He was one of the founders and for many years served as the president of the Duquesne Club. When it was decided to hold a sanitary fair in Pittsburgh for the benefit of the soldiers in the field in our Civil War, Mr. Chalfant with two others was sent to Cleveland Ohio to negotiate for buildings that had been used for similar purposes in that city. Upon their arrival they found that, if secured, the bargain must be closed at once, and without waiting to confer with the home mission they assured all the risks and gave their individual notes for ten thousand dollars. This was a large amount for these young men. The project proved a great success and over a quarter of a million was realized.

John W. Chalfant was for many years president of the board of trustees of First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Chalfant was probably the first man in the world to use natural gas for manufacturing purposes. The gas was piped to his iron mills before other manufacturers utilized it.

On May 31, 1860, John W. Chalfant married Miss Ellen Quigley McCrea, daughter of William and Liberty M. McCrea. (William McCrea lived only eight years after his marriage. His widow lived on one of her farms until her death. She and her husband were members of the Beulah Presbyterian Church, which was in sight of their home).

To Mr. and Mrs. Chalfant five children were born, all of whom are living [in 1913]:

(1) (Margaret) Mary Chalfant [McKee] (born Apr. 8, 1861) married George Wilson McKee. Major George McKee, U. S. A., who d. Nov. 30, 1891, while in command of Frankford Arsenal, Penna. To Major George Wilson McKee and Mary Liberty Chalfant McKee was born one child: Their daughter Georgiana Wilson McKee born Apr. 25, 1892. Their descendents:

Georgiana Wilson McKee married William B. Blair II; their children:

- Mary Mckee Blair

- William B. Blair III

- George McKee Blair

(2) Isabella Campbell Chalfant (born Sept. 23, 1865)

(3) Henry Chalfant (born Sept. 17, 1867 - died 28 Aug 1928 ); m. May 14, 1901, Harriet BeckwithWatson, of Allegheny, Penna. at St. George's Hanover St., London, England (Harriet died: 17 Jan 1937 in Baltimore, MD). Henry was graduated from Harvard in 1899 and succeeded his father in the firm of Spang, Chalfant & Co., they lived at 915 Ridge Avenue in Allegheny. To Henry Chalfant and Harriet Beckwith Watson Chalfant were born:

(a): Eleanor Chalfant; b. Jan. 10, 1903. Eleanor married John Crossman Cooper. Their children were:

- John Wilson Cooper

- Harriet Cooper (born May 30, 1931)

- Louisa Cooper (born 1939)

(b) Martha Sewel Chalfant b: 05 Dec 1905 married Clarence Watson, Sr.; their children:

- Clarence Watson, Jr. b: 31 Jan 1931

- Martha Hungerford Watson b: 17 Apr 1936

(c) Henry Chalfant b: May 1909 married Nancy Means Doyle; their daughter:

- Alice Barnard Chalfant b: 17 Apr 1936

(4) Eleanor McCrea Chalfant (born Dec. 2, 1879) called "Ellen";

(5) Annie Chalfant (June 8, 1882) Married Walter S. Mitchell. Lived at 5028 Moorewood Place.

Their home was at 308 North East Avenue, Allegheny.

Mr. Chalfant died on December 28, 1898.

Source: The Book of Prominent Pennsylvanians; A Standard Reference. (1913)

* * *

Note that the Pittsburgh Blue Book of 1904 also has:

John W. Chalfant, Jr. who married Elizabeth Gerry Briggs and had one son Charles Briggs Chalfant--they lived at 129 Lincoln Avenue, Edgewood Park, PA. This must have been a nephew named in his honor.

C A CARPENTER

2007-03-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

Casper Augustus ("C. A.") CARPENTER
September 4, 1836 – May 6, 1892

Casper Augustus Carpenter was born in Pennsylvania, as were his parents, James Jackson Carpenter (Feb. 16, 1800 - Feb. 27, 1852) and Eliza McKee (Feb 11, 1808 -Feb 27, 1886). He was one of nine children: Caroline, Albert, Edward, Mary, Harriet, Hannah, Wilson and an earlier "Caspar Augustus" who had died as an infant.

His wife Mary A. Clement was born in Ohio, as were her parents, although there is an indication that her mother may have been born in England. Before her marriage to C A Carpenter, Mary was married to a Mr. Shaw and for a time lived in Sharpsburg, PA.

C. A. Carpenter rose to the position of purchasing agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad. He was also on the founding board of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, founded on July 8, 1876. Also on the board were other SFF&CH Members or family including S S Marvin, T Howe and JK Moreland. Carpenter’s name appears almost endlessly in historic works about Pittsburgh but oddly enough, always and only on lists of those who served on the Chamber of Commerce. Although he must have been proud of that fact, one wonders what else he may have done tht might be worth mentioning.

C. A. Carpenter married Mary A Clement Shaw of Sharpsburg. Their family lived in Sewickley in 1876. In 1880 the C A and Mary Carpenter Household included:

C. A. Carpenter (born Sept. 4, 1837); age 43; PA R R Agent

Mary A. Carpenter (born 1843); age 37; Keeping House

Edwin Stanton Carpenter (born February 16, 1862); age 18; at School (Chester Pa, military school there)

Bessie Lincoln Carpenter (born October 19, 1869); age 11; (Bessie was baptized Feb. 5, 1870 at First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh)

Helen Grant Carpenter (born 1871); age 9; (Helen was baptized on Feb. 1, 1873 at First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh)

Alice I. W. Carpenter (born 1873) age 7;

Anna Clement (born 1819) age 61; mother-in-law (Mary's mother)

From the Social Mirror of 1888:

“Mrs. C. A. Carpenter previous to her present marriage was Mrs. Shaw, of Sharpsburg. Miss Bessie Carpenter the eldest daughter of the house, finished school last June and makes her first bow to society this winter.”

Here it is important to mention that C. A. Carpenter was one of the initial core group of charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

For the record, the charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were:

R F Ruff; T H Sweat; Charles J Clarke; Thomas Clark; W F Fundenberg; Howard Hartley; H C Yeager; J B White; H C Frick; E A Myers; C C Hussey; D R Ewer; C A Carpenter; W L Dunn; W L McClintock; A V Holmes.

(For a number of years B. F. Ruff served as president and John A Harper as secretary-treasurer.)

C. A. Carpenter was one of the small committee of people who were entrusted with the duty of inspecting the dam in 1880 and who thereafter reported their findings to Benjamin Ruff. This event is chronicled on the Johnstown Flood Museum website, and can be read there.

http://www.jaha.org/edu/flood/why/dam_club_era.html

The officers of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club in 1889, at the time of the Flood, were:

Colonel E. J. Unger, President
Colonel J. J. Lawernec, Vice President
Louis Irwin, Treasurer
E. A. Myers, Secretary

WILLIAM T DUNN

2007-03-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

William Thompson Dunn
1825 – [? After 1895]

“William Thompson Dunn, contractor, Allegheny, was born at what was then called Georgetown, Mercer County, PA. In 1825 the son of James and Maria (Thompson) Dunn who were born in Crawford County PA in 1800 and 1802 respectively. His grandfather Alexander Dunn was born in Eastern Pennsylvania, and was for many years a justice of the peace. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Dunn was carried off by Indians while on a survey in Crawford County and held for ransom. The father of William T. Dunn was a carpenter and died in Allegheny in 1874. His wife died in 1865. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. William received his education in the public schools and at Allegheny College, Meadville PA., graduating in 1852. He then went south in 1853 and taught school in Louisiana for three years. Returning in 1856 he in July 1857 began reading law with Judge Wilson McCandless, and in 1860 was admitted to the bar in Pittsburgh where he practiced law until 1867. He then associated with the late Edward Allen, as contractors and builders of sewers, etc. On April 25, 1861, Mr. Dunn was married to Amelia Frances Allen, the daughter of [SFF&HC member] Edward Allen (deceased). Her mother resides with Mr. Dunn. In 1884 Mr. Dunn purchased property at Emsworth, and has a beautiful home. He and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.”

(Source: History of Allegheny County, 1889).

William T Dunn was associated with the William T. Dunn and Company, which sold building supplies—chiefly terra cotta products such as sewer pipe. They were also cement dealers. Their offices were located at W. T. Dunn Co. 41 Federal Street.

William T Dunn served on the Committee of Public Safety in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh riots (as did Joseph Horne). Dunn served on the board of directors of the Armenia Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, along with SFF&HC member James S McCord. He was named an honorary member of the Hampton Battery Veterans’ Association. William T Dunn was a member of the exclusive Linden Club located on Boulevard Place, as were these SFF&CH members and relations, HC Frick, HP and JL McClintock, AW Mellon, JE Schwartz, Henry K Thaw, and WK Woodwell. Along with many other SFF&CH members, Dunn was also a member of the Sportsmen’s Association of Western Pennsylvania, which may have been the SFF&HC after the Flood (the membership list is from 1895); see the separate posting about the Sportsmen’s Association of Western Pennsylvania elsewhere on this blog.

For the record, the charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were:R F Ruff; T H Sweat; Charles J Clarke; Thomas Clark; W F Fundenberg; Howard Hartley; H C Yeager; J B White; H C Frick; E A Myers; C C Hussey; D R Ewer; C A Carpenter; W L Dunn; W L McClintock; A V Holmes.

Listed in the Pittsburgh and Allegheny Blue Book of 1895, William T. Dunn and his wife Amelia Frances Allen lived at a home called ‘GLEN CRAGIE’ in the East End, which seems to have been owned by their married daughter and her husband, the Moores.

William and Amelia Dunn’s daughter Amelia Marie Dunn married Frank Moore.

From the Social Mirror of 1888: “Mrs. Frank Moore, nee Amelia Dunn, daughter of W. T. Dunn, of Laurel Station, is pretty, bright and entertaining and sings and plays excellently. In instrumental music she took a medal at the Pittsburgh Female College several years ago.” (Page 64) ...Mrs. Frank Moore, of Allegheny, the handsome wife of Mr. Frank MOORE. Moore, cashier of Odd Fellows' Bank, is a finished artist, some of her decorations ranking with the highest” (101)..

One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dunn, Amelia Maria, wife of Frank Moore. The children of Amelia and Frank Moore include:

Frank Moore Jr.

The Dunns were among the founding families of Ben Avon in 1891.

WILLIAM K. WOODWELL

2007-03-01T17:28:00.000-08:00

William K. Woodwell
1831 - ?

William K. Woodwell was the son of Joseph and Joanna Woodwell. He was the brother of SFF&HC member Joseph R. Woowell.

Joseph Woodwell & Co. Dealers in hardware. Corner of Wood Street and Second Avenue. This prominent and old established business was founded in I847 by Mr. Joseph Woodwell, who was, in I884, succeeded by his sons, Messrs. W. K. and Joseph R. Woodwell, the present proprietors of the business. This house carries the largest variety of goods in the hardware line in this part of the country, their stock embracing everything in the line of builders’ machinists’, railway, cabinet and general hardware in large supply and complete assortment. Mining and mill supplies and house furnishings and goods of every description are also handled ... Mr Joseph Woodwell, the founder of this house was for many years one of Pittsburgh’s most successful hardware merchants… His sons ,who have resided in Pittsburgh all their lives have been raised to this business and continue it with the same success that has always attended it from its inception. Mr. Joseph R. Woodwell is one of the best known artists in Pittsburgh.

He married Charlotte Anchutz (born 1842 in Ohio - died before 1900). She was the daughter of William J. Anchutz (1812-1885) and Gertrude Woodwell (?-1850).

They lived on Penn Avenue. Among their neighbors of interest were his parents, next door, Frank Laughlin of J & L Steel 2-doors away, Julia Crawford who would soon marry John G A Leishman, 2-doors further away… And in the opposite direction, Aaron French 3-doors away and newspaperman Eugene O'Neil 2 beyond that.

Here is their household in 1880:

WOODWELL, WILLIAM - age 49

WOODWELL, CHARLOTTE - age 38

WOODWELL, WILLIAM ENSTON. - age 22 (born in 1858) married Hester Elizabeth Murtland in 1892 (alternate wedding date given is April 22, 1889). Their childlren were Elizabeth Woodwell (married Curtis Whittlsey McGraw) and John Knowles Woodwell (married Alice Herron, they had at least one son John Knowles Woodwell, Jr.1925-2000).

WOODWELL, JOHN - age 20 (BORN 1860 - ) married Bertha Murtland.

WOODWELL, LEE - age 17 (son) (October 1863-March 3, 1906)

WOODWELL, MARION V. - age 15 (daughter)(born April 1868); married Reece Stuart. They had the following 3 children: William W. Stuart (born 1887) who married Jean Clark and Reece Stuart Jr called Ted (born 1889), who married Ruth Bewsher (they had sons Reece Stuart III and Hamilton Stuart) and Charlotte Stuart (born 1892).

* * *

More "connections"...

Thomas Hartley married Frances G Anchutz, the sister of Charlotte Anchutz Woodwell. Frances' second husband was Capain Jacob Jay Vandergrift.

Source: http://henri.eisenbeis.free.fr/gene/anshutz/pdf-ANSCHUETZ-OUTLINE-DESCENDANT-REP.pdf

JOSEPH R WOODWELL

2007-03-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

Joseph R. Woodwell

1843 - 1912

Joseph R. Woodwell was the son of Joseph and Joanna Woodwell. He was the brother of SFF&HC member William K Woodwell.

Joseph Woodwell & Co. Dealers in hardware. Corner of Wood Street and Second Avenue. This prominent and old established business was founded in I847 by Mr. Joseph Woodwell, who was, in I884, succeeded by his sons, Messrs. W. K. and Joseph R. Woodwell, the present proprietors of the business. This house carries the largest variety of goods in the hardware line in this part of the country, their stock embracing everything in the line of builders’ machinists’, railway, cabinet and general hardware in large supply and complete assortment. Mining and mill supplies and house furnishings and goods of every description are also handled ... Mr Joseph Woodwell, the founder of this house was for many years one of Pittsburgh’s most successful hardware merchants… His sons ,who have resided in Pittsburgh all their lives have been raised to this business and continue it with the same success that has always attended it from its inception. Mr. Joseph R. Woodwell is one of the best known artists in Pittsburgh.

Joseph R. Woodwell was in addition, an Iron City National Bank director; a director of The Bank of Pittsburgh; and a director of the City Deposit Bank (this last, along with SFF&HC founder H C Frick).

Joseph R. Woodwell, in the fifties, painted some fine landscapes and marine views in Pittsburgh, and was considered a leading artist in Pittsburgh throughout his lifetime.

Joseph R. Woodwell married Margaret E. Sellers (born in 1844)

This is their household in 1880, which was on Walnut Street in Shadyside…

WOODWELL, JOSEPH - age 37
WOODWELL, ME - age 36

WOODWELL, JOSIE - age 9 (daughter)
WOODWELL, MARGURE - age 0 (daughter)

One of their daughters became:

- Mrs. Johanna K. W. Hailman (who was also artistic)

Later, their home was at Penn Avenue near Lang (in 1904); and their summer home was in Magnolia, Mass.

MAXWELL K. MOORHEAD

2007-03-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Maxwell K. Moorhead
September 5, 1831 - ? sometime between 1897 and 1904

Maxwell K. Moorhead was born on September 7, 1831, he was the son of James Kennedy Moorhead of Dauphin, PA, and Jane Logan of Lancaster, PA. Col. James K. Moorhead was a contractor on the Pennsylvania Canal, 1827-38, when he became interested in the Pioneer Packet Line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He was extensively engaged in business in that city for many years, and amassed a large fortune. He was a representative in Congress, 1859-69.

Maxwell K Moorhead was involved in the development of the iron industry in Pittsburgh. The McKeesport Iron works were erected in 1851by Richard E Gilpin and W. Dewees Wood of Wilmington, DE, for the manufacture of American-Russia sheet iron under a process patented by Wood. Mr. Gilpin disposed of his interests in 1855. And the firm was continued under the name of Wood, Moorhead and Company until January 1859. The manufacture of smooth, refined and galvanized sheet iron being added during this period. In January of 1859, W D Wood leased the works to M K Moorhead and George F McCleane retaining their ownership in connection to Mr. Gilpin. The lease expired in 1862 and in July of that year W D Wood and Alan W. Lukens, under the title of Wood and Lukens recommenced the manufacture of American-Russia and black, smooth, refined sheet iron.

Among other uses, Moorhead’s company supplied the plating for PASSACONAWAY (one of the MONITOR class ships). It was ordered from M. K. Moorhead & Co. of Pittsburgh. Pa.

Maxwell K Moorhead was also a part owner of an iron ore mine – this was a common custom among the Pittsburgh iron and steel men, to purchase ore and other raw materials by owning them outright. "The Watson Iron Company", with holdings in Michigan, was incorporated in 1873 and included among Max Moorhead’s partners. SFF&HC members or family, John W. Chalfant, Thomas W. Howe, James W. Brown and C G Hussey. Read more about it at this website:

http://books.google.com/books?id=7MAJAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA18-PA55&lpg=RA18-PA55&dq=%22mk+moorhead%22&source=web&ots=PBcYwVOczF&sig=GCxeFSkYwV86VseuMOsheZ1WiFE

Maxwell K. Moorhead was also the President of the Monongahela Navigation Co., Pittsburgh. Pa. circa 1897.

Maxwell K. Moorhead was involved in many civic organizations. He was president of the seventh ward Pittsburgh School Board, he served on the board of commissioners of the Pittsburgh fire company. He was also on the Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary of Pittsburgh board. He was a charter member of the Duquesne Club and he may be seen in this early photo of Duquesne Club members along with SFF&HC member John W. Chalfant:

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:VnOsyqbeRPMJ:www.lifeinwesternpa.org/viewDetail.asp%3FdateID%3D2%26offset%3D12%26ID%3D131+%22m+k+Moorhead%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

On April 24, 1855, Maxwell K Moorhead married Mary Heberton (born in 1838). They lived 5221 Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside and they were the parents of at least the following children:

* * *

Children of Maxwell K. and Mary Heberton Moorhead include the following:

Marie Moorhead (); married Bruce Millard, a graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Bruce Millard was a member of the Duquesne Cub and Allegheny Country Club. They lived at 906 Amberson Avenue, Shadyside, and were the parents of at least the following...

- Marie C. Millard (()

- Romaine Millard ()

- Constance Millard ()

- Max Moorhead Millard ()

Maxwell K. Moorhead Jr ()

Elizabeth "Lizzie" H. Moorhead () The extended family includes more than one Elizabeth Moorhead. It is possible that she did not marry, that she wrote a book of memoirs called "Whirling Spindle," and that she served in France during W W I, perhaps as a nurse.

William Halsey "Willie" Moorhead () This may be his son or grandson...

MOORHEAD, William Singer, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa., April 8, 1923; attended Shady Side Academy; graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1941 and from Yale University in 1944; served in the United States Navy from 1943 until discharged as a lieutenant (jg.) in 1946 with service in the Pacific Theater; graduated from Harvard Law School in 1949; was admitted to the bar in 1949 and commenced the practice of law in Pittsburgh, Pa.; assistant city solicitor of Pittsburgh 1954-1957; member of Allegheny County Housing Authority 1956-1958 and Pittsburgh Art Commission in 1958; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-sixth and to the ten succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1959-January 3, 1981); was not a candidate for reelection in 1980 to the Ninety-seventh Congress; resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C.; was a resident of The Plains, Va., until his death in Baltimore, Md., on August 3, 1987

* * *
In the 1880 census, Maxwell K Moorhead's sister Jennie Moorhead Murdock and her husband James B. Murdock, MD, lived next door in Pittsburgh, PA.

Following Mr. Moorhead's death, Mrs. Moorhead continued to be active in Pittsburgh social circles and was, for instance, a member of the Pittsburgh Golf Club.

DAVID NEVIN RANKIN

2007-02-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

David Nevin Rankin
October 28, 1833 – January 1, 1900

David Nevin Rankin was born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania on October 28, 1833. He was one of twelve children, several of whom also ended up, as adults, living in Pittsburgh. Rankin’s parents were Dr. William Rankin and Caroline Olivia Nevin. David N. Rankin was baptized in Shippensburg on January 5, 1834. David Rankin followed in his father’s footsteps and became a doctor; he received his M. D. from Jefferson Medical College in 1854 and began his practice in his father's office, in about 1855. During the Civil War, he lived in Washington DC.

Here is a biographical sketch of Dr. Rankin, from Appleton's Encyclopedia...

"RANKIN, David Nevin, physician, born in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, 27 October, 1884. After graduation at Jefferson medical college in 1854, he practised with his father in his native town until the beginning of the civil war, in which he served as acting assistant surgeon, and aided in opening many of the largest United States army hospitals during the war, among which were the Mansion-house hospital in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Douglas hospital in Washington, D.C. Afterward he was made one of the thirty surgeons in the volunteer aid corps of surgeons of Pennsylvania, which rendered efficient service. In 1864-'6 he was medical examiner of the United States pension bureau, and since 1865 he has been chief physician of the penitentiary of western Pennsylvania. Dr. Rankin was a member of the British medical association in 1884, a delegate to the 8th and 9th International medical congresses, and is a member of various medical societies. He has contributed numerous articles to medical journals."

Dr. David Nevin Rankin was original member of the NATHANIEL BEDFORD MEDICAL SOCIETY which became the PITTSBURGH ACADEMY OF MEDICINE. Indeed, the first meeting of this society was held December I, I864, at the office of Dr. D. N. Rankin. He served as the physician for the Western Penitentiary as well as the physician for the Pennsylvania Reform School. He was a delegate to the Medical Society of Pennsylvania, meeting in Philadelphia in 1867, representing the Allegheny County Medical Society.

On May 7, 1863, in Allegheny, PA, David Nevin Rankin married Anne Katherine (Kate) Irwin (1843-March 14, 1926), the daughter of Henry Irwin and Elizabeth Peterson. Kate Irwin was the sister of SFF&CH member Lewis Irwin, as well as the sister of Maria Irwin who was the wife of SFF&HC member Henry Holdship.

As reported in "The Social Mirror" (1888): "Mrs. Rankin, wife of Dr. D. N. Rankin, of Lincoln Avenue, Allegheny, is descended from one of the oldest families in Pittsburgh. Miss Kate Irwin was her name previous to her early marriage, her father being the late Henry Irwin, and her great-grandfather Major John Irwin of the Revolutionary army. Mrs. Howard Childs and Miss Edith Rankin are daughters, the latter being one of the prettiest of the coming society belles." (page 137).

The children of David Nevin Rankin and Kate Irwin include:

Elizabeth RANKIN b: 14 APR 1864 (married Howard Childs, see below A)

Henry Irwin RANKIN (1868 - 1914) M.D.

Edith Nevin RANKIN (26 OCT 1872 - 2 DEC 1926) (married Plumer see below B)

- - - -
Here is their household in the 1880 census...

David N. RANKIN; 44; born in PA; Doctor M. D.
Cathrien RANKIN; 36; born in PA; Keeping House
Lillia I. RANKIN; 16; born in PA
Harry I. RANKIN; 11; born in PA
Edith N. RANKIN; 7; born in PA

The household also included several servants...

More on Rankin line:

Elizabeth Rankin married Howard Childs (a relative of Adelaide Childs Frick)

(Again, from "The Social Mirror"): "Mrs Howard Childs, nee Lily Rankin, is a beauty of the brilliant type. She is a brunette of rich yet delicate coloring, and the animation of her expression when she is interested in the conversation is not the least of her charms. She was one of the October brides of a year ago, and her elegant wedding is still talked about in the 'Cotillion' set. She is a daughter of Dr. D. N. Rankin of Allegheny, and during the four or five years of her young ladyhood was one of the most admired belles of the city." (page 13)

Marriage 1 Howard CHILDS

The children of Howard Childs and Elizabeth Rankin:

David Rankin CHILDS b: 3 AUG 1888

Howard CHILDS b: 23 AUG 1889

Adelaide CHILDS b: 23 AUG 1891

James CHILDS b: 1 JAN 1893

- - -

Henry Irwin Rankin, M.D., married [unknown]

- - -

Edith Nevin Rankin married Henry A. Plumer

Marriage 1 Henry A. PLUMER

The child of Henry A. Plumer and Edith Rankin is:

Catherine A. PLUMER b: 15 JUN 1907

(See more of the genealogy of Rankin-Irwin family at: http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=rickpetersen&id=I1219)

- - - - -

LEWIS IRWIN

2007-02-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

LEWIS IRWIN

Lewis Irwin was the son of Henry Irwin (November 12, 1813 – February 9, 1885) and Elizabeth Peterson Irwin of Allegheny PA, an old Pennsylvania family.

His sister Maria Irwin was the wife of SFF&HC member Henry Holdship.

His sister Anne Katherine (Kate) Irwin was the wife of SSF&HC member David Nevin Rankin.

Lewis Irwin was involved in the oil trading business. In 1865 a firm involving Henry Holdship was reorganized as Holdship & Irwin, Mr. Holdship taking into partnership his brother-in-law, Lewis Irwin. This association continued until I886, when ill health required Mr. Holdship to retire...

Lewis Irwin was a director of the Iron City National Bank.

Lewis Irwin was part of the Enterprise Base Ball Club, organized 1865, and served as its vice president. (Note John Irwin also among its directors).

Lewis Irwin married Emma Riddle.

Their Longfellow, Alden and Harlow designed home was located at 805 Western Avenue (now numbered 825 Western, at Irwin Avenue), Allegheny, Pa. The home was built in 1887 and includes stables. (Per “Architecture after Richardson”).

Their children include the following…

Gertrude Irwin ()

Ida Irwin (); Married Arthur Bacon Jones; lived in [] in Versailles, Pa.

Possibly,

David King Irwin (); married Mary Baggeley; they lived on Kentucky Avenue, Pittsburgh.

JAMES ERNEST SCHWARTZ

2007-02-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

James Ernest Schwartz
March 9, 1843 – May 16, 1900

James Ernest Schwartz was born March 9, 1843 in Allegheny. He was the son of Jacob Loeser Schwartz and Evaline McDowell. He received his education in the Pittsburgh schools and at the Western University, now Pitt. At the age of 18 he began his business career in his father's office, but the Civil War interrupted--he served in the 14th Pa. Regt. Volunteers and re-enlisting, in Knapps Pennsylvania Battery A. His eventual rank was captain.

James Ernest Schwartz was president of the Pennsylvania Lead Company, which had as an antecedent firm Fahnstock, Hazlett and Schwartz (the Schwartz being Jacob, James’ father). The Pennsylvania Lead company, J. E. Schwartz, president; B. W. Doyle, secretary; Robert Wardrop, treasurer; F. C. Blake, superintendent, was organized in 1872, for the purpose of refining lead, silver and gold. The works comprise nine acres at the junction between the Pan Handle and the Pittsburgh, Chartiers and Youghiogheny Railroad. The' President of the company is J. E. Schwartz; Secretary, J. B. Arnold. The works are located at Mansfield Station, on the Panhandle....

He was President of the Pittsburgh, Chartiers and Youghiogheny railroad. The company was incorporated in October, 1881, and organized with J. E. Schwartz, president; George S. Griscom, vice-president and general manager; R. T. Hill, secretary. (It connected Pittsburgh with the coke regions).

He also purchased the Mingo Furnace of Salt Lake City, Utah, and remained president of it as well, until this and the Pennsylvania Lead Company were consolidated into the American Smelting and Refining Co. in 1898.

He was a member of the Duquesne Club. And one of the original subscribers to the Pittsburgh Orchestra. And a member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. Schwartz served on the board of the Pittsburgh and Allegheny Free Dispensary along with other SFF&HC members: A V Holmes, J A Lippincott, Reuben Miller, John Ewing.

* * *

In 1868, James Ernest Schwartz married Emma Nicholson, in Pittsburgh, PA.

Their family included the following:

John Loeser Schwartz (1869-) married Julia Lewis Clark (the daughter of Robert Neilson Clark and Mary Ann Lewis of Philadelphia, who was born on 6 Feb. 1885 in Leadville, Colorado). They had at least the following children:

- Mary Clark Schwartz (1911-) (later Black)

- John Loeser Schwartz, Jr. (1914-2000) (later Black).

Jack died Jan. 16 in Wyndmoor, Pa. He prepared for Princeton at St. Albans and Kent School. At Princeton he majored in economics, rowed on the 150-lb. crew freshman through junior years, became assistant coach in his senior year, and was a member of Colonial Club. He and the former Mary Timanus were married on Feb. 18, 1939. Their first son, John L. C. Black '63, was born two years later. Then came WWII. Jack joined the Navy, was assigned to Pacific Naval Air Operations, and emerged in 1945 as a lt.-comdr. He and a partner founded Alcorn & Black, a fuel and farm supply firm in Ambler, Pa., and the Blacks moved to nearby Blue Bell. In the late 1970s, Jack sold his interest in Alcorn & Black and he and "Timmy" moved to Springhouse Estates, a retirement community in Lower Gwynedd, Pa. They spent five years running the Blue Bell Country Store; Jack also operated a tree nursery and served briefly as acting director of the nearby Morris Arboretum. The Blacks' eldest son, J. L. C., died in 1993. "Timmy" died in Dec. 1998-just two months before they could celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Survivors include three other sons (Timothy, Robert, and Herbert), 11 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Princeton: The Class of 1935PAW June 7th, 2000

Their summer home was “Hillcrest” at Port Hope, Ontario. There is some indication that by 1920, possibly as a reaction to anti-German sentiment during the Great War, the family had Americanized their last name to Black, black being the English equivalent of schwartz. They were by that time living in Washington DC.

More about "Hillcrest"...The story of The Hillcrest is steeped in romance. It begins in 1874 when James Gooderham Worts built it for his daughter Emilie Ardelia Worts. She married David Smart, a Port Hope barrister, and the Hillcrest was their wedding gift. The home was sold out of the Smart family and in 1900, Norman B. Gould of Port Hope sold Hillcrest to Frank N. Schwartz and James E. Schwartz, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A deed poll dated 1917 is the first document to refer to the home as Hillcrest. Hillcrest remained in the Schwartz/Black family until the 1970's. The Hillcrest is one of Port Hope's most architecturally stunning houses. It is perched atop 15 acres of land overlooking Lake Ontario. Throughout the centuries, this exquisite home with its pillared portico, picket fences and lushly landscaped grounds has been an unforgettable landmark on the horizon. Bringing us to the present, The Hillcrest opened its doors as a fully equipped inn and spa in 2000 as a sister location to the Ste. Anne’s Spa. In 2004, Robin Dines purchased The Hillcrest and started a new chapter in its history, branching off as its own stand-alone destination spa. We invite you to stop by for a visit and see the beautiful house and grounds for yourself!

Website: http://www.thehillcrest.ca/The_History_-78920.html

- - -

Frank Nicholson Schwartz (1873-) Graduated from Yale. married Leila Clarkson, lived at 5600 Northumberland Avenue. Was a member of the Pittsburgh Club and the Pittsburgh Golf Club. Had at least the following children:

- James Ernest Schwartz (1902) (later Black) They are listed in the New York Social Register of 1930 at the home of Mr and Mrs E F Darrell, as follows: (Darrell, Mr. & Mrs. Edward Fairbairn, 133 E. 64 & "Cove Lawn," Stonington, Ct. Mr. & Mrs. James Ernest Black Mr. Richard D. Darrell Mr. George H. Darrell Mr. Edward F. Darrell, Jr.)

More about Edward Fairbairn Darrell...(Obituary, notice that the Blacks are not named indicating that a death or divorce may have occured)...The New York Times, January 23, 1941, excerpted: obituary of Edward F. Darrell, died day before (?) Edward Fairbairn Darrell of 133 E. 64th St., New York City and Stonington, Connecticut. Died St. Luke's Hospital, N.Y.C. In 1902 founded E.F. Darrell & Co., New York City. Member of New York Produce Exchange, President of St. George's Society. Born: Hamilton, Bermuda, son of former chief justice Richard Darrell of Bermuda and Mary Anne Moore Godet Darrell. Leaves a widow, former Sarah Stone McEckron and sons, Richard D. Darrell, Edward F. Darrell, Jr., George H. Darrell, daughters Mrs. Dorothy Harvey and Mrs. Emily Atwood. (Source: New York City Public Library)

- Clarkson Schwartz (1904) (later Black).

Their summer home was Sutherland Farm, Cobourg, Ontario. As with his brother, the last name was changed to Black before 1920.

* * *

In the spring of 1900, James Ernest Schwartz went to Europe as a rest cure, to recover from a partial stroke. However, he suffered a second stroke and died abroad, in Dresden, Germany, on May 16, 1900.

James Ernest Schwartz was 46 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

BENJAMIN THAW

2007-02-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

Benjamin Thaw
March 14, 1859 – August 9, 1933

Even though they are less well known than the Carnegies, Fricks and Mellons, the Thaws were among the most prominent of the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

Benjamin Thaw was the son of William and Mary C. Thaw of Allegheny, PA. William Thaw’s father John Thaw came to Pittsburgh from Philadelphia in order to establish a branch of the United States Bank of Philadelphia. John Thaw was associated with that institution for the remainder of his life. The Thaws were major stockholders in that enterprise.

Their son, transportation and banking genius William Thaw was born in Pittsburgh on October 12, 1818 and died in Paris the same year as the Johnstown Flood, on August 17, 1889. He began his business career as a clerk in his father’s bank. Thereafter he worked for McKee, Clark and Co.

In 1841, William Thaw married Eliza Burd Blair (she died in 1863). In 1842, he and his brother-in-law established themselves in as transporters and owners of steam canal boats. Competition was rife but Clarke and Thaw controlled the Pennsylvania and Ohio line. Their business grew to include canal, portage railroad and steamboat lines. As canal changed to rail transportation, William Thaw engaged in the new technology while divesting himself of the canal business. He was a founder of the Pennsylvania Company, which managed the interests of the Pennsylvania railroad west of the mountains, and was therefore an advisor to and the constant when the transitions occurred by successive Pennsylvania railroad presidents, Thompson, Scott and Roberts. While he concentrated mainly on the financial aspects of the railroad after 1873, William Thaw also helped to establish the first international steamship line, the Red Star Line, to which was later added the American line. He underwrote Prof. Langley’s expiation to Mt Whitney and the building of the Allegheny Observatory for John Brashear. The telescope that his son provided in his memory is considered to be one of the ten best in the world...

NUMBER 7 — 30-inch William Thaw Telescope by John Brashear, Allegheny Observatory, Pittsburgh PA; 1914. Number 7 is the youngest in this list, the 30-inch by Brashear at the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh. Railroad tycoon William Thaw was friendly with observatory director Samuel Pierpoint Langley, and had donated generously to the Observatory. The 30-inch was the gift of his son in his memory in 1914. It is a photo-refractor of 46-feet focal length and was used for one of the most extensive studies of stellar parallax.

William Thaw was a Presbyterian and his church, Third Presbyterian, was a frequent beneficiary of his support.

William Thaw was the majority stockholder in the Pennsylvania and served on its board of directors. (Many of the S F F & H C members had ties to the Pennsylvania Railroad). Thaw had similiar investment in other railroads, as well. Thaw was known not so much for his fortune as for the admirable ways in which he had spent it, endowing science fellowships at Harvard and Princeton and bestowing lavish gifts on art and education.

William Thaw's efforts extended well beyond Western Pennsylvania. When the East St. Louis and Interurban Water Co. turns on city's first water mains, it was courtesy of William Thaw. The company was run by Thaw (who had been encouraged to come to East St. Louis by John Bowman) who later also ran the city's first gas company. About one hundred families availed themselves of this service when it was first offered.

* * * * *

Benjamin Thaw, the son of William and Eliza Thaw, was born on March 14, 1859. Following the death of Eliza Burd Blair Thaw (1863), William married Mary Sibbet Copley, the daughter of Josiah Copley (who was one of the founders of Kittanning and at one time the editor of the Pittsburgh Dispatch).

Benjamin had the following siblings:

Children of Wiliam and Eliza Thaw:

- William Thaw, Jr. (1853-1892) married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Dohrmann (1854-1948), their son was Wililam Thaw III.

- Mary Thaw (?) married William Reed Thompson in 1879; they had five children. Their daughter Helen Thaw Thompson married John Crossan Dilworth.

- Blair Thaw (1861-) married a Miss Dawes from Boston.

Children of William and Mary Thaw:

- Harry Kendall Thaw (February 12, 1871 - February 22, 1947) - married Evelyn Nesbit, murdered Stanford White (about which, more, below)...

- Edward "Eddie" Thaw (January 1, 1873-May 17, 1924) - In an infamous case of 1887, his aunt Mrs. Bunnell was charged with poisoning her nephew, Eddie Thaw. George Elphinstone City Attorney of Allegheny, appeared in this case as prosecuting attorney. Eddie survived, and married Freida Lawrence Marsh in April of 1896.

- Josiah Copley Thaw (June 13, 1874 - ) As noted below I have made this correction on the wife of Josiah Copley Thaw: Her name was Mary Harrington Thomson, born 18 Jun 1880 in Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan, daughter of John Webster Thomson and Ida Harrington. Mary met Josiah Copley Thaw when visiting the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Rice in St. Clair, Michigan, and they were married in Grace Episcopal Church, Port Huron, 18 Nov 1903. Mary died in New York City 23 Feb 1947 and is buried in Southampton, New York. J.C. Thaw surrounded himself with exquisite accoutrements in a massive European-style seaside mansion built in Southampton, Long Island in 1911. Josiah Thaw and H C Frick were the chief benefators of the new building for Third Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, which stands at Wilkins and Fifth Avenues (The building it replaced stood where the William Penn Hotel now stands--Frick bought the old church so he could build the hotel there.)

- Margaret Copley Thaw (January 9, 1877 - January 9, 1942) married George Lauder Carnegie (1876-1921), the son of Andrew Carnegie's brother Thomas Morrison Carnegie (1844-1886) and his wife Lucy Ackerman Coleman (1847-1916), therefore Andew Carnegie's nephew. Their island is now Cumberland Island National Seashore. Settled by this branch of the renowned Carnegie family in 1881, Cumberland Island became a national park in 1972. Along with the wild horses and the ruins of Lucy Carnegie's home Dungeness, Cumberland Island is the home of Plum Orchard – a 1898 Georgian Revival mansion built by Lucy Carnegie for her son, George and his wife, Margaret Thaw. This mansion was donated to the National Park Foundation by the Carnegie family in 1971. SFF&HC member Cyrus Elder's son George Reuben Elder and family were their friends and frequent visitors. George Carnegie's mother gave each of her children a piece of the island and the money to build any type of home they chose if they agreed to live there and raise their children. Of course, living there meant staying there for about 6 months of the year before retiring to their other residences in the Northeast. She retained possession the parcels of land and the homes; controlling them even after her death by not allowing any property to be sold until the youngest of her children passed away... Margaret and her sister Alice were their mother's supporters in the courtroom during the trial of their brother Harry K Thaw. Margaret married (2) Count Roger Perigny on Nov. 1923 in Paris, France. They divided their time between Paris and their farm in Kenya. Margaret Copley Thaw Carnegie died in Kenya at "Kongoni Farm", on her 65th birthday.

Here are George Carnegie and his siblings, who themselves made interesting marriages...

Children
William Coleman Carnegie - b: 24 APR 1867
Frank Morrison Carnegie - b: 12 SEP 1868
Andrew Carnegie II - b: 1 JUN 1870 in Pittsburgh, PA [his granddaughter Nancy Campbell Sherlock Carnegie married James Stillman Rockefeller great-nephew of John D. Rockefeller]
Margaret Carnegie - b: 1872 [The hotel on Cumberland Island, GA known as Greyfield Inn was built in 1901 as a wedding present from Lucy Coleman Carnegie to her daughter Margaret who married Oliver Ricketson.]
Thomas Morrison Carnegie Jr - b: 6 JAN 1874
George Lauder Carnegie - b: 1876
Florence Nightengale Carnegie - b: 1879
Coleman Carnegie - b: 24 JUL 1880
Nancy Trovillo Carnegie - b: 1881

- Alice Thaw (January 2, 1880 - ? March 1969) - Baptized 11 DEC 1881 at 3rd Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania Alice Cornelia (Thaw) Seymour Whitney; in a much talked of international match, she became the Countess of Yarmouth. She married George Francis Alexander Seymour (20 October 1871, d. 16 February 1940), the son of Hugh de Grey Seymour, 6th Marquess of Hertford and Hon. Mary Hood, on 27 April 1903 in Pittsburgh. It is said that the earl extorted money from her at her wedding and promptly deserted her. Her marriage to George Francis Alexander Seymour was annulled in 1908. He was styled Lord Hertford; he died in 1940, aged 68 and childless, and his titles passed to his nephew. Later (before 1914), Alice Thaw became Mrs. Geoffrey G. Whitney (Geoffrey Gordon Whitney was born July 21, 1882 in Boston). Their estate was at Woods Hole.

By 1880, William and Mary Thaw’s Allegheny household was both a large and lavish one, they kept at least nine household servants including two nursemaids, a cook, a housekeeper, a waiter and a coachman. Thereafter they removed to an estate called "Lyndhurst" on Beechwood Boulevard.

Benjamin Thaw attended the Western University (now Pitt) (A.B. I878), and Yale. Not surprisingly, Benjamin Thaw started his business career as a clerk with the Pennsylvania railroad. Thereafter he entered into the coke business, in partnership with his elder brother and the Darsie brothers, organizing the Heda Coke Company. This firm was merged with SFF&HC member Henry Clay Frick’s Frick Coke Company in 1905; thereafter Benjamin Thaw withdrew from active participation in the coke company and concentrated his attention on managing the William Thaw estate, as well as engaging in philanthropic activities.

On January 28, 1886, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Benjamin Thaw married Elma Ellsworth Dows (October 13, 1861 - November 13, 1931). Elma was the daughter of Stephen Leland and Henrietta (Safely) Dows; her sister was Elizabeth Holroyd Dows who became Mrs. Thompson McClintock of Pittsburgh.

Their children were:

- The Rev. Stephen Dows Thaw (April 12, 1887 - ) a graduate of Shady Side Academy and Yale (Class of '07). His wife's first name was Elise; Alexander Blair Thaw III (see below) was their son.

- Benjamin Thaw (Dec. 11, 1888 - March 5, 1937) Known as Benny. Secretary of the American Legation in Brussels, Belgium; later, First Secretary of the Embassy at Santiago, Chile and secretary to the US Embassy in London from 1930-1933; he married one of the three glamorous Morgan sisters, Consuelo Morgan. They were the daughters of Harry Hays Morgan, an American diplomat who was U.S. consul in Buenos Aires and in Brussels, and his half-Chilean, half-Irish-American wife, Laura Delphine Kilpatrick. Consuelo's twin sisters were more famous than she: Thelma Morgan (August 23, 1904 – January 29, 1970), the wife of Marmaduke, Viscount Furness (who was the mistress of and introduced Wallis Simpson to the future Edward VIII); and Gloria Morgan, the wife of Reginald Vanderbilt (mother of the jeans designer; and grandmother of news anchor Anderson Cooper). Here is their wedding notice from TIME, June 4, 1924: Married. Consuelo Morgan, divorced wife of the Comte de Maupas du Juglart, daughter of Harry Hays Morgan, American Consul General at Brussels, and sister of Mrs. Reginald C. Vanderbilt, to Benjamin Thaw, Jr., acting chargé d'affaires of the American Embassy, at Ixelles, Belgium. Theirs was a happy marriage. After Benjamin Jr's death, Consuelo would marry again, see this notice from TIME, May 11, 1942, Married. Consuelo Morgan Thaw, 40, sister of Mrs. Reginald Vanderbilt (mother of Gloria), of Lady Furness, of Harry Hays Morgan Jr.; and Alfons Beaumont Landa, 44, law partner of Joseph E. Davies; she for the third time, he for the second; in Beverly Hills. However, she would be buried with the Thaw family in Allegheny Cemetery (see below).

- Henrietta Thaw (Slade) (April 19, 1891 - January 1, 1942) married Lawrence Slade (August 7, 1891 - April 11, 1942). The Sunday Journal and Tribune Knoxville, Tennessee: January 3, 1915: Displayed is a photo of Miss Henrietta Thaw with title "Engaged to Wed". The text: "Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Thaw, of Pittsburg, have announced the engagement of their daughter, Miss Henrietta Thaw, to Lawrence Slade, of New York. Miss Thaw is a granddaughter of Mrs. William Thaw. Her brothers are Mr. Stephen D. Thaw, Mr. Benjamin Thaw, Jr.; Mr. William Thaw, 2nd, an aviator, who offered his services to the French government when the war in Europe started, and Mr. Alexander B. Thaw, 2nd. Mrs Benjamin Thaw was Miss Elena Dows. Mrs. Thaw and her daughter returned from Europe in September. Mr. Slade's home is in New York. He is the Paris representative of the Equitable Trust Company and is now in Paris. He is a member of an old New York family." (Note that SFF&HC member John G A Leishman's daughter Marthe married (2) James Hazen Hyde the son of the founder of Equitable).

- William Thaw, Jr. (August 10, 1893 - April 22, 1934) Called "Bill". Also a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. He wrote of his European travels which were published in the university’s “Journal”. Rose to the rank of Major in W W I and was a member of the famous Lafayette Escadrille. Abandoning his studies at Yale in 1913, Thaw obtained a pilot's certificate from the Curtiss school and became a flight instructor. When war broke out in Europe, he volunteered for the French Air Service but was rejected. Instead, on 4 September 1914, he joined the French Foreign Legion and served in the trenches. Despite poor vision, defective hearing and a bad knee, Thaw was permitted to join the French Air Service in December 1914. After serving as an observer/gunner, he received flight training and was reassigned to the Escadrille Americaine on 28 April 1916. By the time this squadron was disbanded in February 1918, Thaw had achieved two confirmed victories. While serving with the 103rd Pursuit Squadron, he scored three more victories to become an ace. The first American to be cited for gallantry and promoted by the French, Thaw may well have been the first American to participate in aerial combat during World War I. When the war ended, he returned to the United States and became an insurance agent. Married Marjorie Everts of St. Louis.

"For extraordinary heroism near Reims, France, 26 March 1918. Major Thaw was the leader of a patrol of three planes which attacked five enemy scouts and three two-seaters. He and another member of the patrol brought down one enemy plane and the three drove down out of control two others and dispersed the remainder." DSC citation.

"For extraordinary heroism in action near Montaigne, France, 20 April 1918. In the region of Montaigne, Major Thaw attacked and brought down burning an enemy balloon. While returning to his own lines the same day, he attacked two enemy scouts, one of which he shot down in flames." DSC Oak Leaf Cluster citation.

"Voluntarily enlisted for the duration of the war. Remarkable pilot by his spirit, skill and scorn for danger. Recently, he had eighteen aerial combats at close quarters. On the morning of 24 May [1916], he attacked and downed an enemy plane. The same evening, he attacked a group of three German planes and pursued them from 4,000 meters to 1,000 meters. Severely wounded during the course of the combat, he succeeded, by the grace of his strength, skill and audacity, to return to our lines with his plane severely damaged and landed normally. Already cited twice in orders." Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur citation, 18 June 1916.

- Alexander Blair Thaw (Dec. 23, 1895 – Aug. 18, 1918) Lt. A. Blair Thaw, CO of the 135. th. Observation Squadron was killed in an air crash during World War I; Alexander Blair Thaw was an early advocate of aviation along with his brother Wm. Jr.:

LIEUTENANT THAW IS AN AVIATION VICTIM

Brother of Major Thaw Has Engine Trouble and Plane Collapses Upside Down With the American Army in France,

August 22. - (By the Associated Press) - Lieutenant Blair Thaw, of Pittsburg, a member of the American aviation service, was killed Sunday evening when his airplane fell as the result of engine trouble. Lieutenant Thaw, who was a brother of Major William Thaw and a son of Benjamin Thaw of Pittsburg, was traveling in a pursuit group near the front toward Paris. The engine trouble developed at an altitude of 2,000 feet and the machine when it fell struck a number of telephone wires and collapsed, upside down. Thaw was instantly killed and his companion aviator was badly injured. Thaw, although less well known than his brother, had just been promoted to command a flying squadron and was on his way to take over the squadron when he fell to his death. His body was taken to an evacuation hospital, where impressive funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon. The body was buried in the same plot where the remains of Major Raoul Lufbery are interred. (Altoona Tribune, Friday morning, August 23, 1918, page 9).

Their family home on Moorewood Place in the East End...

5010 Morewood Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The house was built in the very early first decade of the 1900's at a significant cost of $135,000 with some $15,000 alone going into just one of the carved marble fireplaces imported from Italy and dated from the year 1500. It was a three-and-one-half story building, of grey brick, erected at a time when houses were built to stay up; the exterior walls were two feet thick. There were 20 rooms and eight baths, and a six-car garage in the basement.

On the first floor was the entrance hall, two lounging rooms, dining room, butler's pantry, kitchen, a servant's sitting room and a lavatory. All of the rooms were extra large. The walls of the first floor rooms were covered with tapestry, as were the walls of the hallways throughout the house. The second floor had six study rooms and five baths. The third floor had three study rooms, two sleeping rooms, two baths, a servant's suite of three rooms, and a game room. The game room took up the whole front part of the third floor and measured 50 by 20 feet. Its walls were covered with deep red tapestry. It was furnished with a pool table, a ping-pong table, a piano, a radio and several lounging chairs and sofas.

Once the scene of some of the city's most glittering social affairs, the Thaw home was lavishly furnished with eighteenth-century French and English furniture, Goebin tapestries, priceless rugs and sculptures that were museum pieces. The Thaw family enjoyed their home for some 30 years.

Most of the treasures were distributed to the family following Benjamin Thaw's death in 1933. But at the time it was bought by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternty in 1936, the walls of the drawing room were still covered with a deep green tapestry and there hung a lone portrait of Andrew Carnegie.

The stone and marble mantles, centuries old, the tapestry covered walls and rich dark woodwork was all that remained. This suggesting the elegant, more leisurely days when Pittsburgh's first families lived and entertained in huge dwellings, modeled after European palaces..

In the early 1900s, the Thaw family also had a home at 854 Fifth Avenue, New York, which had undergone extensive remodelings by the architectrual firm of Lamb and Rich in 1891.

Benjamin Thaw was a member of the Duquesne Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Club and the Aero Club of America. He served as a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh from 1890 until his death in 1933. Their summer home was "Beach Mound" (sometimes spelled "Beachmond") at Newport, RI; it is still standing.

* * *

Sadly, the best-remembered member of the Thaw family is Benjamin's brother, the ill-fated Harry K. Thaw, who shot society architect Stanford White over Mrs. Thaw the former Evelyn Nesbit. Evelyn, a Pittsburgh native, had been an artists' model in New York and served as the original of Charles Dana Gibson's "Gibson Girl". She was photographed by Burr McIntosh (son of the SFF&HC member) and also appeared on stage as one of the celebrated "Floradora" Girls from the Broadway show of that name.

There are many fine resources in print and on line about this tragic event, including the novel “Ragtime” as well as a study of Stanford White's life by one of his descendents, "Architect of Desire".

Evelyn Florence Nesbit was the daughter of Winfield Scott Nesbit and Florence Evelyn McKenzie. Afer her father' s death, she and her mother went to New York. Subseqnetly, her mother married C J Holman.

Harry K. and Evelyn Nesbit Thaw were wed by the Rev. W. L. McEwan in the parsonage of Third Presbyterian Church on April 4, 1905 after much speculation in the press regarding their relationship, his mother, Mrs. William Thaw having been opposed to the match and Pittsburgh society having snubbed Evelyn.

At the time of his arrest for the shooting, Thaw said, "I would appreciate if you would tell Burr McIntosh, or ex-judge Hornblower, or Joseph H. Choate of what has happened."

They had one son, Russell William Thaw. Here is his biography as it appears in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Russell William Thaw (25 October 1910 in Berlin, Germany - 6 May 1984 in California) was a racing pilot who fought in World War II. Thaw was the son of Evelyn Nesbit and, legally, he was also the son of her husband Harry K. Thaw. The Thaw-Nesbit couple became notorious after Thaw murdered Stanford White, Nesbit's former lover, at Madison Square Garden in 1906. Born in Berlin, Germany, Russell William Thaw was treated indifferently by the man supposed to be his father, as Harry K. Thaw never accepted Russell William as his son—quite reasonably, as Russell was born four years after his putative father had been incarcerated in the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Thaw's mother, who initially testified that Russell was Harry's son, eventually admitted he was not, but refused to name his actual biological father. As a child, Russell Thaw co-starred with his mother in at least five films: Threads of Destiny (1918), Redemption (1917), Her Mistake (1918), The Woman Who Gave (1918), I Want to Forget (1918), and The Hidden Woman (1922). Thaw participated in two of the cross-country Bendix trophy races, which were instituted in 1931 and held annually to promote and encourage the achievements of U.S. aviation. Flying the Gee Bee "Model R-2" - P&W Wasp, he withdrew from the 1933 race. Flying the Northrop Gamma - Wright Cyclone, he came in third in the 1935 race from Los Angeles to Cleveland (ahead of Amelia Earhart in 5th place). Around this time, he also was the private pilot to the Guggenheim family. On 17 July 1936, he married Katherine "Kay" Roberts, whom the New York Times described as a Beverly Hills debutante and a graduate of Radcliffe College. After their wedding, they moved to White Plains, New York. They separated on 15 March 1939, when Katherine Thaw sued her husband for cruelty and "refused to live with her." Their divorce was finalized on 8 July 1941, with Katherine Thaw stating that her husband had separated from her because he said he could not support them both. During World War II, Russell William Thaw became one of the most noted American pilots, obtaining five air victories, three of them as part of the 103rd Squadron. In his later years, he served as the postmaster of a small town in Connecticut. He died in Santa Barbara, California.

* * * *

Here are the Thaws who are buried in Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh:

THAW, Agnes, Aug 7, 1883-Jan 1, 1885 (daughter of William and Mary)

THAW, Albert Copely, Jan 7, 1869-July 4, 1869, son of William and Mary

THAW, Alexander Blair III, Jan 13, 1920-Feb 14, 2001, born in Pittsburgh, died in Washington DC, beloved son of Elise and Stephen Dows Thaw, beloved husband of Thelma"Sandra" Thaw

THAW, Alexander Blair, Jr., Dec 22, 1898-Aug 18, 1918, St. Mihiel, France

THAW, Benjamin, Jr., Dec 11, 1888-Mar 5, 1937

THAW, Benjamin, Mar 14, 1859-Aug 9, 1933

THAW, Edward, Jan 1, 1873-May 17, 1924

THAW, Eliza Burd Blair, June 17, 1822-Apr 7, 1863, (first) wife of William Thaw, married June 17, 1841

THAW, Elizabeth Dohrman, 1854-1948, wife of William Jr.

THAW, Elma Dows, Oct 13, 1861-Nov 13, 1931 (w/o Benjamin)

THAW, Henry Kendall, Feb 12, 1871-Feb 22, 1947

THAW, John Alexander, July 19, 1852-Jan 6, 1853, son of William and Eliza

THAW, Laura Consuelo Morgan, Dec 17, 1901-Aug 26, 1979, wife of Benjamin, Jr.

THAW, Louisa, May 10, 1842-Aug 19, 1843, daughter of William and Eliza

THAW, Marjorie E., Dec 4, 1890-Mar 15, 1936

THAW, Mary Copely, June 14, 1842-June 9, 1929, (second) wife of William Thaw, I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.

THAW, William Jr., 1853-1892

THAW, William, Oct 21, 1818-Aug 17, 1889 (died in Paris, France)

SLADE, Henrietta Thaw, Apr 19, 1891-Jan 1, 1942, wife of Lawrence, buried on Benjamin Thaw lot

SLADE, Lawrence, Aug 7, 1891-Apr 11, 1942, buried on Benjamin Thaw lot

MOSES BEDELL SUYDAM

2007-02-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

Moses Bedell Suydam
January 13, 1832 - January 14, 1895

Moses Bedell Suydam (born on January 13, 1832 in Newtown, Queens, New York) was the son of Moses Suydam (born 1784) and Mary Schoonmaker. His paternal grandparents were Hendrick Suydam (born 1751) and Phoebe Bedell, of Hallett s Cove, Long Island. Hendrick and Phoebe's daughter (Moses Bedell Suydam's aunt) Mary Suydam married Henry Whitney the sucessful New York City merchant; Henry was a branch of the famous Whitney family of New York.

Moses Bedell Suydam was affiliated with M. B. Suydam and Company. The bustling early years of the borough when construction was reaching new peaks, saw the solid foundation of the paint industry laid in old Allegheny. Pioneering the firm was the Pittsburgh White Lead works, organized in 1832 by W G Stockton. “In 1832, James Schoonmaker also built and operated white lead works, which subsequently passed into the ownership of W A Stockton and CO., and is now carried on by M B Suydam and Co.” (Allegheny County’s First 100 Years, 1888) James Schoonmaker was the maternal uncle of Moses Bedell Suydam (Sr.).

The parent factory was located on Rebecca (Reedsdale) Street. Originally engaged in the manufacture of Dutch-processed white lead, other products of the paint industry gradually were added as the firm expanded under a series of reorganizations. Successively it became W. G. Stockton and Company; Suydam, Lawrence and Company (1878); M. B. Suydam and Company (1885), and the M. B. Suydam Company (1900). Each company in turn prospered and each served as the spring-board from which the next was formed. The paint products of the M B Suydam company were used by many of the largest bridge building firms in Western Pennsylvania, including, Carnegie Steel and Jones and Laughlin Steel.

In 1947 M B Suydam Co. became a division of Pittsburgh Plate Glass.

SFF&HC members James Willock and M B Suydam were directors of the Second National Bank of Pittsburgh, located at Ninth and Liberty, founded in 1859.

Moses Bedell Suydam married Emma Copeland.
Their Children:
Miss Emma Suydam
Miss Mary Suydam (the future Mrs. “Alex” Alexander Parker Lyon of Sewickley)
Mr. Richard S. Suydam
Mr. Moses Bedell Suydam, Jr.

More about the children:

EMMA SUYDAM is said never to have married.

MARY SUYDAM. Married on December 7, 1882, Alexander Parker Lyon (Dec. 27, 1859-March 3, 1892) of Sewickley, PA, the son of Alexander Parker Lyon, Sr., and Eliza T. Dennison. They had the following children: Emma Lyon, Copeland Lyon, Alexander Parker Lyon (III), Katharine T. Dennison Lyon.

RICHARD SCHOONMAKER SUYDAM. Richard S. Suydam, executive head of M. B. Suydam, paint manufacturers, Pittsburgh, was born April 22, 1872, on the North Side section of Pittsburgh which was then known as Allegheny City. His parents were M. B. and Emma C. (Copeland) Suydam. He was educated at Phillips-Andover Academy, Andover, Mass., and at Yale University. Mr. Suydam began his business career in 1893. In October of that year he was engaged as a mechanical engineer for McConway, Torley & Co. with which concern he remained until January 1895. From February, 1895, to the present time, he has been president and a director of the M. B. Suydam Company, manufacturers of paint and varnish, which business was founded by his father in 1832. He is also president and director of the T. H. Nevin Company, paint manufacturers, Pittsburgh, Pa. Mr. Suydam is a member of the Duquesne, Pittsburgh, and Allegheny Country and Pittsburgh Golf Clubs and Pittsburgh Athletic Association. He is also a member of the New York Railroad Club. On November 15, 1899, Mr. Suydam married Mary E. Dilworth of Pittsburgh. Children: Elizabeth D. Suydam and Louise D. Suydam. Residence: 5416 Darlington Road...

MOSES BEDELL SUYDAM. “Moses B. Suydam, vice-president of the M. B. Suydam Company, paint and varnish manufacturers, Pittsburgh, was born in Allegheny City, Pa., on February 6, 1876, a son of Moses B. and Emma (Copeland) Suydam. He was educated at Shady Side Academy, Pa., and at Phillips-Andover Academy, Andover, Mass. He began his business career with the M. B. Suydam Company in 1896, as a general clerk, and has since been continuously identified with that company. The M. B. Suydam Company was founded in 1832, and in 1895, M. B. Suydam, this subject, and his brother, R. S. Suydam, entered the business, which was incorporated in 1900 with R. S. Suydam as president, M. B. Suydam, vice-president, and H. V. Natcher, secretary and treasurer. In addition to being vice-president and a director of the M. B. Suydam Company, Mr. Suydam is a director of the Allegheny Valley Bank, treasurer and a director of the Regal Paint & Oil Company, vice-president and director of the T. H. Nevin Company. He is a member of the Pittsburgh, Duquesne, and Pitts-burgh Golf Clubs and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association of Pittsburgh and of the Allegheny Country Club. He is a Master Mason, member of Fellowship Lodge. Mr. Suydam married, in 1901, Laura Catherine Liggett of Pittsburgh. Children: Laura Catherine, Mary Bedell and Margaret Liggett Suydam. Residence: 5130 Pembroke Place. Office: 61st and Butler Streets, Pittsburgh, Pa.

H. C. YEAGER

2007-02-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

H. C. Yeager –
1848 – ?

Henry C. Yeager, known as Harry, was born in 1848. He was the son of Christian Yeager and Elizabeth E. Harman Yeager, both of whom were also born in Pennsylvania. Christian Yeager was one of the leading merchants in Pittsburgh in the pre Civil War era and beyond. The firm was called C. Yeager and Company. They advertised themselves as importers and jobbers of dry goods and notions; their dry goods and trimming wholesaler business was located at 110 Market Street, Pittsburgh. Joseph Horne, the founder of the Pittsburgh department store dynasty and the father of South Fork Fishing & Hunting Club member Durbin Horne, worked for Christian Yeager when he first arrived in Pittsburgh from Bedford PA.

The dry goods business was in their genes. Here is a biographical sketch for H C Yeager’s maternal grandfather, Daniel Harman:
_ _ _
Daniel Harman, father of Mrs. Reuben A. Baer, was born in Lancaster county, and died in 1862 at the age of seventy-two years. He was buried in Woodward Hill cemetery, Lancaster. The parents of Mr. Harman were John and Esther (Kendrick) Harman, farming people of Lancaster county. For many years Daniel Harman was well known in the city of Lancaster, where he was a successful merchant, conducting a large store, his stock including dry goods, groceries, china, etc. On account of failing health, he retired from active business some years prior to his death. He was one of the leading, active members of St. John's Lutheran Church, and was one of its most liberal supporters. Mr. Harman was at the time of his death regarded as one of the wealthy and prominent citizens who had always done his full duty in the advancement of the best interests of Lancaster.

Daniel Harman was married in Lancaster, to Miss Susannah Herbst, who was born in Philadelphia, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Herbst, of that city. Mr. Herbst, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia settled in Lancaster after his retirement, and there passed the remainder of his life. Mrs. Herbst died in 1871, at the age of seventy-two, and was interred by the side of her husband in the beautiful Woodward Hill cemetery in Lancaster. The children born to Mr.. and Mrs. Harman were as follows: Henry, who died in Lancaster; William Beates, who died in Cairo, Ill. during the Civil War, having been a soldier of Co. B. 1st Pa. Reserves; Elizabeth E., who died in 1901, the wife of Christian Yeager, a prominent retired merchant of Allegheny, Pa.; Anna M., who is the widow of William W. Wills, of Wilkinsburg, Pa., who carried on a wholesale and retail variety business; Mary L., widow of Reuben A. Baer; Susannah who died unmarried; and John and Samuel, who removed from Pennsylvania, the former becoming a merchant in Maryland, where he died, and the latter dying in California. These families are among the leading ones in Lancaster, and are truly representative of its commercial prosperity and social importance.
_ _ _

The Christian and Elizabeth E. Yeager had at least six children. Here is the family in 1870 living in Allegheny, PA.

Christian Yeager; age 54
Elizabeth Yeager, age 46
William Yeager, age 45
Harry C. Yeager, age 22
Edward H. Yeager, age 20
Lillie Yeager, age 18
Mary H. Yeager, 15
Frederick, age 12
Charles K.; age 10

More about Christian Yeager:

Circa 1859…
A group of 31 leading citizens of Pittsburgh whose interest in astronomy was awakened by the discovery of Donati’s comet, including Christian Yeager, formed the Allegheny Telescope Association, the precursor of the Allegheny Observatory. (Thomas Howe, C G Hussey, Felix Brunot and John H Shoenberger were also among this group).

In 1867 Christian Yeager was listed as a board member of Dollar Bank (chartered in 1855)… John H Shoenberger is also a director of the bank. Christian Yeager was a director of the Merchant’s bank founded in 1864 and of the Mechanics Bank, of which H S McKee was also a director. Christian was also a deacon of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Pittsburgh and then a charter member of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Allegheny, which became Trinity Lutheran Church. Christian served as the treasurer of the Pennsylvania Reform School.

H C Yeager would have been 41 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

HENRY PHIPPS, JR.

2007-02-24T04:12:00.000-08:00

Henry Phipps, Jr.

September 27, 1839 - September 22, 1930

Henry Phipps, Jr. was the son of an English shoemaker who came to America in the early part of the 19th century and lived for a time in Philadelphia before settling in Pittsburgh.

Henry Phipps grew up in poverty, and was a boyhood friend and neighbor of Andrew Carnegie. Like others of the SFF&HC, including John Leishman and Andrew Carnegie, Phipps began his busiess career as an office boy. He then became a bookkeeper. Phipps was a capable financier and served as Carnegie's business partner in the Carnegie Steel Company, which would make him him very wealthy, indeed, the company's second largest shareholder. At the time that Carnegie sold his steel business to the J. P. Morgan interests in 1901, Phipps was said to have made about $50 million.

Phipps was also a successful real estate investor and developer.

After the sale of his Carnegie Steel stock, Phipps set up the Bessemer Trust, named for the steelmaking process, in order to protect the inheritance of his five children. The Bessemer Trust is now one of three banks overseen by the Bessemer Group, whose clients include Phipps family descendents and other high worth investors. About $19 billion of assets are under their management. Grandchildern Howard Jr. (vice chairman of the Bessemer Board) and Anne Phipps Sidamon-Eristoff are among the trust's major beneficiaries. Mrs. Sidamon-Eristoff is one of the three copyright holders of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." More than 100 fifth generation Phippses, including Guests, Mannings and Martins, share the rest of the fortune.

After the sale of Carnegie Steel, Henry Phipps devoted a great deal of his time and money to philanthropy.

On 6 Feb 1872, Henry Phipps married Anne Childs Shaffer, the daughter of a Pittsburgh manufacturer, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. Through the Childs family they are related to S F F & H C member H C Frick, whose wife was before her marriage Adelaide Childs. The Phippses had two daughters, Amy (Mrs. Frederick Guest) and Helen (Mrs. Bradley Martin), plus three sons, John Shaffer Phipps, Henry Carnegie Phipps, and Howard Phipps.

More about each of the five children of Henry Phipps, Jr.:

* * * *

1. Amy Phipps (1876-1959); in 1905 Amy married Captain Frederick E. Guest (1875-1937), who was both the grandson of the seventh Duke of Marlborough and also Winston Churchill's first cousin. (And thereby related by marriage to Consuelo Vanderbilt)

About their home in Palm Beach...

"White Eagle," was completed in 1918 at a cost of $1,102,000 and required a staff of 29 to look after its needs and those of Mr. and Mrs. Du Pont. Mrs. Du Pont, born Alicia Bradford Maddox, died unexpectedly in 1920. Upon remarrying, Alfred Du Pont sold the mansion in 1926 to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick E. Guest. Mrs. Guest, the daughter of Carnegie Steel Company partner, Henry Phipps, renamed the mansion "Templeton" when her husband, who was Winston Churchill's first cousin and the grandson of the seventh Duke of Marlborough, died 1937. When her parents gave up their Fifth Avenue residence in Manhattan, she had the marble entry hall and stairs removed to "Templeton." Upon her death in 1959, the mansion was passed down to her son, Winston Guest, who was well known as an international polo player.

More about Frederick E. Guest:

Frederick Edward "Freddie" Guest DSO (14 June 1875 – 28 April 1937) was a British politician best known for being Chief Whip of Prime Minister David Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party between 1917 and 1921. He was also Secretary of State for Air, 1921-22. Frederick Guest was the third son of Ivor Guest, 1st Baron Wimborne (1835–1914) and Lady Cornelia Spencer-Churchill (1847–1927), daughter of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. The Wimbornes were Conservatives who had been friends of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. Frederick was first cousin of Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), son of Lady Cornelia's brother, the controversial Conservative politician Lord Randolph Churchill. In 1905, Guest married Amy Phipps (1873–1959), daughter of American industrialist Henry Phipps.
Guest's four brothers were also politically active, notably Ivor Churchill Guest, 2nd Baron and 1st Viscount Wimborne (1873–1939), a junior minister and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In addition, Henry Guest (1874–1957) and Oscar Guest (1888–1958) were Members of Parliament, while Lionel Guest (1880–1935) was a member of the London County Council.
Educated at Winchester School, Frederick Guest chose the military profession. After apprenticeship in the militia, Guest became (1897) an officer in the 1st Life Guards. He was sent to Egypt in 1900, was decorated for bravery in the South African War (served 1901–02), and rose to captain before retiring from active duty (1906) to become private secretary to his cousin and close friend, Winston Churchill, a junior minister in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's Liberal government.

In 1904, during the controversy within the Conservative Party over adopting protectionism, Guest and other members of his family followed Churchill into the Liberal Party in support of free trade—and perhaps also to accelerate their political careers. Guest attempted three times to enter the House of Commons before winning the East Dorset seat in the Jan. 1910 general election. Although unseated because of election irregularities by his constituency agent, he was reelected in December 1910. Known in the political world as "Freddie Guest," he was a popular backbencher, became a Liberal Party whip in 1911, the same year was elected a charter member of the cross-bench Other Club of political insiders, and was appointed Treasurer of the Household (Deputy Chief Whip) in 1912.

When W.W. I began in August 1914, Guest returned to active service as aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Sir John French (see below for additional family connection to French), commander of the British Expeditionary Force in France. Guest performed confidential missions for French, liaising with the War Office and with political leaders. Later (1916) Guest served in the East African theater and was awarded the DSO. After being invalided out of the army following serious illness, Guest resumed his political career. In May 1917 he joined Lloyd George's Coalition government as joint patronage secretary of the treasury, or chief whip for the Coalition Liberals. In 1920 Guest became a Privy Counsellor and in 1921 was promoted to Secretary of State for Air, a post he held until the Coalition fell from power in October 1922. In the general election of November 1922 Guest lost his seat but in 1923 was returned for Stroud, then in 1924 for Bristol North. After losing as a Liberal in the 1929 election, he rejoined the Conservative Party, and sat as a Conservative from 1931 until his death from cancer in 1937 for Plymouth Drake.

Freddie Guest was an amateur motor racing driver and airplane pilot. In 1930 he became deputy master of the Guild of Air Pilots, and master in 1932. He also played polo, was a big-game hunter in East Africa, and was a celebrated man-about-town in London and New York City society. Guest's wife—who was prominent as a women's suffragist, philanthropist and aviation enthusiast—owned valuable property in Long Island. The couple were frequent visitors to the U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s. Their two sons, who became American citizens, were Winston F. Guest (1906–82), a polo great, and Raymond R. Guest (1907–91), United States Ambassador to Ireland 1965–68.

The children of Amy Phipps and Frederick Guest:

- Winston F. Guest (1906-1982) AKA Capt. Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, U.S. Marines. Married 1934-1944 (1) Helena Woolworth McCann [children: Winston Guest and Frederick Edward Guest]; Married (II) Lucy Douglas "CZ" Cochrane [children: Alexander Michael Dudley Churchill Guest and Cornelia Cochrane Guest]. At Old Westbury is a painging by J S Sargent of Mrs. Phipps with her grandson Winston Guest...

http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/10086.htm

Mr. Winston F. Guest's first wife Helena Woolworth McCann, the granddaughter of Frank W. Woolworth of Five and Dime fame...

"Remembering Woolworth's" 1999 by KarenPlunkett-Powell; Page 136 says...

"Frank's eldest daughter, Helena Woolworth McCann, lived a more sedate and gracious life. The McCanns spent much of their time in their country home, Sunken Orchard, located in exclusive Oyster Bay, Long Island. Helena and Charles also devoted much of their time to fund-raising events, and for a short period, Charles McCann served on the board of directors for the F. W. Woolworth Co. Helena died in 1938. Of her three surviving children, Frazier was a gentleman farmer in Connecticut; Constance married Willis Roseter Betts Jr., and Helena married Winston Guest, a well-known polo player. All of the McCann children were considered generous. In 1963, for example, Frazier and his sister, Helena McCann Charlton, were the major contributors of the Woolworth Center of Musical Studies in Princeton, New Jersey, which they named in memory of their grandfather. However, neither Frazier, Constance, nor Helena became involved in the F. W. Woolworth Co. business."

Mr. Winston F. Guest's second wife known as "CZ" was considerd in her own circle to be one of the most stylish women of the age. Here is an obituary tribute...

("The London Independent", November 10, 2003) STYLE, C.Z. Guest once observed, "is about surviving, about having been through a lot and making it look easy". Tribulation, it is fair to say, was not the characteristic most commonly associated with her gilded existence. But style she possessed in yachtloads. Through her rich and varied life - as skilled horsewoman, gardening columnist, fashion icon and noted beauty, and friend or relative to everyone from Truman Capote and Winston Churchill to the British monarchy - style was the constant. If New York society had a queen in the middle and late 20th century, it was her. She was born Lucy Cochrane, the second of five children of Alexander Cochrane, a wealthy Boston investment banker. To her siblings however, she was "Sissy", a moniker that quickly contracted to "C.Z.". Her course in life was quickly set. She came out in 1937, and two years later was voted "glamour girl" of the Massachusetts North Shore, and for a few years toyed with showbusiness - if only, as she later remarked, "to be a successful enough actress to get myself thrown out of the Social Register". By her own admission, her thespian talent was zero. Guest's looks however were more than noteworthy. She was an American classic along the lines of Grace Kelly, blonde, patrician and martini- cool. Her beauty, the writer Jill Gerston once noted, is indigenous to socially registered enclaves like Palm Beach and Southampton, a sporty, outdoorsy look that eschews make-up, hairspray and anything trendy. She has an outspoken, coolly self-assured manner and a throaty, well-modulated voice with a trace of a British accent.
The British aspect extended well beyond her looks. Her husband was Winston Frederick Churchill Guest - not only an international polo star and heir to the Phipps steel fortune, but also second cousin to the greatest scion of Britain's greatest political dynasty. Later the couple became close friends with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who became godparents to their two children. By the time of her marriage in 1947, C.Z. already seemed to know everybody. The ceremony took place at Ernest Hemingway's house in Cuba, with the author serving as best man. For more than three decades, until Winston Guest's death in 1982, she travelled the world with her husband, with a place by right in the great social salons of the day.
In her latter years she gained a new and different kind of celebrity, as a gardening columnist. From her youth, Guest had been interested in gardening, and to the Windsors she would dispense advice on matters horticultural. But after a riding accident in 1976, she turned to writing about gardening in earnest. A column for the New York Post (a rather downmarket outlet for so upmarket a lady) began in 1978. She wrote simply but authoritatively - a style evident in her best-selling First Garden of 1987, complete with illustrations by her "very dear friend" Cecil Beaton and an introduction by another "dear, dear friend", the author Truman Capote. There followed a children's book, Tiny Green Thumbs (2000). At its height, the column was syndicated in 350 papers across the United States. Over the years, C.Z. Guest on gardening developed into a minor industry, with its own website and branded accessories for the gardener who wanted a dash of elegance as well.
"A cool, vanilla lady," was how Capote described her, an image re- inforced in 1982 when she appeared on the cover of Time magazine, as emblem of American high society. The article sealed Guest into the national subconscious, part of an untouchable, eternal horsey set, clad in jodhpurs, patrolling a beautiful Long Island estate on shimmering summer afternoons, trailing handsome hunting dogs in her wake. Despite her death, the family's traditions are in good hands. Her daughter Cornelia in 1982 was anointed "Deb of the Year" by Life magazine, and "Deb of the Decade" four years later. Following in her mother's footsteps, Cornelia is an accomplished horsewoman, a minor celebrity and an indefatigable socialiser in her own right.
Lucy Douglas "C.Z." Cochrane, socialite and gardening writer: born Boston, Massachusetts 19 February 1920; married 1947 Winston Guest (died 1982; one son, one daughter); died Old Westbury, New York 8 November 2003.

The New York Social Diary obituary for C Z Guest may be found at:

http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/socialdiary/2003/socialdiary11_17_03.php

She was often photographed by society photographers, for instance from 1947 by George Platt Lynes:

http://www.style.com/print/slideshow850/type/STANDALONE/photo/0

Down to the year of her death 2003, by Bruce Weber.

Mrs. Winston Guest and her son were subjects of a beautiful and famous photograph...

Slim Aarons' "The Good Life", Mrs. F.C. Winston Guest (CZ) and her son Alexander Michael Douglas Guest in front of Grecian temple pool on their ocean front estate, Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, FL.Courtesy: Staley-Wise-New York:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.artnexus.com/images/content/webimages/2004/u0004347med.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.artnexus.com/ANnewsdetail/13978&amp;amp;h=163&w=161&sz=5&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=Un7EKKhwWr5nmM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=97&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522winston%2Bguest%2522%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den

She also appeared on the cover of Time, on July 20, 1962, in riding clothes with her weimerimer in front of Westbury House, L.I.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine/archive/covers/1962/1101620720_400.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101620720,00.html&amp;amp;h=527&w=400&sz=48&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=JHah11_el8VOuM:&tbnh=132&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522winston%2Bguest%2522%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den

- Raymond Guest ()

Here is more on Raymond Richard Guest...

Raymond Guest played in the Golden Age of Polo, when the best players in the world were amateurs competing for honor, glory and a good bit of fun. He, along with his immortal brother, Winston Guest, competed and excelled in all of the major high-goal events in the pre-World War II era. A perennial all-star in both the arena and the outdoor versions of the sport, he first achieved an 8-goal outdoor handicap in 1933 playing for his Meadow Brook Polo Club. As part of the famed Templeton team, he won the U.S. Open in 1932 and 1934 and the Monty Waterbury in 1931 and 1934. His defensive skills were legendary, and he was accorded the honor of playing Back for the East team in the legendary 1933 East-West series.

Obituaries on Raymond R. Guest's son and namesake...
NY Times, Published: April 19, 2001
GUEST-Raymond R. (Andy). Died of Lymphoma, April 2, 2001 at his home, Rock Hill Farm, in Front Royal, Virginia. He was born September 29, 1939, the son of the late Ambassador Raymond R. Guest and Elizabeth (Lily) Polk Guest. Mr. Guest attended the Pomfret School, and was graduated from Yale University in 1964. He served in the U.S. Marine Corp Reserve and spent his adult life farming in Virginia. In 1971, Mr. Guest was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, an office he held until he retired in 1999. He served on the Committees on Conservation and Natural Resources; Agriculture; Roads and Internal Navigation; Appropriations; and Rules, and served as Minority Leader from 1986-1992. He was also a member of the Virginia State Crime Commission and the Virginia Industrial Development Authority. Mr. Guest served on the Board of Directors of Bessemer Trust Companies and Bessemer Securities Corporation. Survivors include his wife, Mary Scott Derrick Guest of Front Royal; three children, Mary Elizabeth Looney, Raymond R. Guest III, and William G. Yarborough III; three sisters, Elizabeth Guest Stevens, Virginia Guest Valentine, and Laetitia Guest Oppenheim, a brother, Achille Murat Guest and six grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the St. Luke's Community Clinic, 842 North Shenandoah Avenue, Front Royal, VA. 22630, or Cunningham Chapel, Millwood, VA. 22646.

FRANCIS "FRANK" SEMPLE

2007-02-24T03:05:00.000-08:00

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.)

DUNCAN CLINCH PHILLIPS

2007-02-24T02:57:00.000-08:00

Duncan Clinch Phillips
1838 – 1917

Duncan Clinch Phillips (the son of Elias Phillips and Mary Mahon Ormsby) was born in March 1838 at the Ormsby family homestead called “The White House” in what was later the South Side of Pittsburgh. He was educated at St James College in Maryland and Brown University, in RI. During the civil war, Phillips rose to the rank of Major of the Company M, 4th PA cavalry. D C Phillips was associated with Phillips and Company, a window glass manufacturer.

He married twice.
His first wife: Florence Ebbs of West Chester, PA (?-February 4, 1870)
Married October 18, 1866
Their children did not survive childhood:
- Arthur Ormsby Phillips (July 1867– October 1867)
- Florence Ebbs Phillips (April 12, 1869 – September 17, 1878)
His second wife: Eliza Irwin Laughlin, daughter of James Laughlin of Jones and Laughlin Steel. Married June 14, 1883.
Their children:
- James Laughlin Phillips (May 30, 1884 - 1918)
- Duncan Clinch Phillips (II) (June 26, 1886 - ?) married Marjorie [?] He worked as an essayist, book reviewer, and art lecturer. To display his art collection, in 1918 he founded the Phillips Memorial Gallery in Washington, DC (now the Phillips Collection) in honour of his father and brother. He directed the gallery (1918–66) and wrote several books on art, notably The Artist Sees Differently (1931).

[Duncan Clinch Phillips (I)’ brother John Ormsby Phillips was the father of Mary Ormsby Phillips who married SFF&HC member Louis Semple Clarke on Jan 14, 1891]

Genealogy source: A Short Account of the Family of Ormsby of Pittsburgh. By Oliver Ormsby Page. Albany, N. Y., J. Munsell's Sons, 1892.

About their legacy, The Phillips Collection in Washington DC…

The two Phillips brothers were so inseparable that when James, the older, was ready to leave home for Yale in 1902, he waited 2 years so that Duncan, the younger, could graduate from secondary school and accompany him. The brothers, who were full of energy and talent, spent their early years in Pittsburgh, where their maternal grandfather, James Laughlin Phillips, had achieved success as a banker and cofounder of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. Seeking a milder climate because of his health, the boys' father, Major Duncan Clinch Phillips, relocated the family to Washington, DC. In college, Duncan (the son) was elected an editor of the Yale Literary Magazine. Soon after college, James was appointed assistant treasurer of the Republican Party. Both developed a passionate love of contemporary art, and in 1916 their efforts to identify and purchase modern paintings had become so successful that James requested an annual stipend of $10,000 from their parents for the purchase of works of art for their growing collection.
But war had already broken out in Europe, and in 1917 the United States entered it. The brothers' patriotism overtook them, and they tried to enlist, even though they were pacifists at heart. Both were rejected for service. Duncan, turned down by both the Army and the Navy, was 30–40 pounds under the desired weight for his height, which suggested to recruiters the possibility of a chronic disease he in fact did not have. James had had prior bouts of pneumonia, and his military rejection may have been related to questions about his pulmonary status. Disappointed, James nonetheless arranged to marry his sweetheart Alice, with Duncan as best man.

But as was the case for so many in those dark years, the world was beginning to unravel. Their father died suddenly not long after the wedding. Surrounded by war and loss, James and Alice moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland, near the headquarters of the American Red Cross, where James became associate director of the Bureau of Personnel, in charge of applications for overseas war service. Then, in the fall of 1918, the "Spanish flu" struck James, and on October 21, he died in the family home in nearby Washington, DC. Her son's death broke the health of their mother, who became a semi-invalid. His secure world shattered, Duncan's health broke down too, and he gave in to despair.

"There came a time when sorrow all but overwhelmed me," he later wrote. "Then I turned to my love of painting for the will to live. Art offers two great gifts of emotion—the emotion of recognition and the emotion of escape. Both emotions take us out of the boundaries of self…. So in 1918 I incorporated the Phillips Memorial Gallery… to create a Memorial worthy of… my father… and my brother, James Laughlin Phillips, an idealist… a keen student of men and social conditions—a broad-minded, warm-hearted, lovable and very noble American".
And so as a direct consequence of the death of his brother James from influenza, the 32-year-old Duncan Clinch Phillips, Jr (1886–1966) dedicated his life to creating a living memorial to him and to their father, and to establishing one of the finest public museums of modern art in the world. The collection, assembled over the next 5 decades, showed his remarkable taste, vision, and prescience in recognizing great works before others had suspected their greatness. Duncan's creative expression of feeling, the product of an artistic spirit, is reminiscent of similar creative expressions in literary form: the beautiful stories of Thomas Wolfe and Katherine Anne Porter, both of whom wrote about death and suffering from influenza. Wolfe's remarkable scene in Look Homeward, Angel records the death of his own brother Benjamin from Spanish influenza, 2 days before the death of James Phillips. In Pale Horse, Pale Rider, Porter wrote a surrealistic but harrowing account of her own near death from influenza in 1918 and her belated discovery of the death from influenza of the lover who had cared for her. In each case, unbearable tragedy and loss were ennobled by art.

The collection assembled by Duncan Phillips and his wife Marjorie, herself a painter, focuses on modern art and its sources. The nearly 2,500 items included works by many now-famous 20th-century artists (van Gogh, Degas, Homer, Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse, O'Keeffe, Rothko) as well as earlier artists whose work Phillips believed anticipated modern art (Chardin, Goya, El Greco, Daumier). Phillips also championed many artists who were not well known at the time (Milton Avery, Pierre Bonnard, Karl Knaths, John Graham, Nicolas de Staël) and sometimes provided stipends to them (Arthur Dove, Augustus Vincent Tack).

Today The Phillips Collection is still housed in the family home, where James died, at 21st and Q Street, in northwest Washington, DC. The building itself is a work of architectural accomplishment, built in Georgian Revival style by Hornblower and Marshall in 1897. The paintings are exhibited in a warm intimate setting that encourages reflection and contemplation. Even though The Phillips Collection was conceived in sorrow and loss, Duncan Phillips wanted the viewing experience to be "joy-giving and life-enhancing".

Source: Influenza and the Origins of The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. David M. Morens and Jeffery K. TaubenbergerNational Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA; and Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC, U

While the legacy of another SFF&HC member, Andrew Mellon, may be more grand -- The National Gallery of Art -- The Phillips Collection (which is currently chaired by Duncan and Marjorie's son, Laughlin Phillips) is an equally lasting, but more intimate and personal creation. It is one man's gift to the nation financed by Pittsburgh steel.

There is a Duncan Phillips story that is worth telling. It has the founder standing with Dr. Albert Barnes in front of the Renoir masterpiece "Luncheon of the Boating Party."

"That's the only Renoir you have, isn't it?" asked the redoubtable Dr. Barnes, whose idiosyncratic more-is-more art collection is in the Barnes Foundation.

Phillips's reply was succinct: "It's the only one I need.”

CALVIN WELLS

2007-02-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

Calvin Wells

December 26, 1827 - August 2, 1909

Calvin Wells was born in Genessee County NY on December 26, 1827. Wells came from sturdy New England stock, from which he derived those sterling qualities which have distinguished him through life. His father and mother were both of New England birth. His maternal grandfather Rev. Samuel Taggart, a Presbyterian minister, was a man of mark in his day, wielding a strong influence upon the political as well as the religious affairs of the community. He represented the western district of Massachusetts in Congress for thirteen years. Mr. Wells’ father’s family was very prominent in Greenfield. His grandfather was Col. Daniel Wells, on of whose sons Calvin Wells the father of the subject of this sketch, settled in Western New York, and bought a half interest in a mill and also engaged in farming. Calvin Wells, Sr. was a justice of the peace for many years and was an elder in the Congregational Church and afterward of the Presbyterian Church. His wife was a woman of strong mental powers and deep religious convictions and her teachings and influence did much to shape the future of her children. She died when her son Calvin was but fourteen years of age. In 1842 the latter entered the store of his brother-in-law, P. S. Church, a Detroit merchant, and two years later he went back to Batavia NY where he remained until 1847. He had always wished for a better education than had been afforded to him, and for this reason wrote to a brother in Pittsburgh, Rec. Samuel Taggart Wells, a Presbyterian clergyman, who responded with an invitation to come hither, and make a home with him and attend the Western University. This invitation he gladly accepted and packing his goods in a pine box, took a boat to Erie PA going thence by canal to Beaver, and then by boat to Pittsburgh. Here he landed November 19, 1847, his worldly possessions being worth probably twenty-five dollars.

Mr. Wells entered the Western University and remained there until the winter of 1848-49. Early in the latter year he entered the dry goods store of Benjamin Glyde as bookkeeper. The next year (1850) Mr. Wells was thrown into connection with Dr. C. G. Hussey, who had then commenced the copper business, having a mill and warehouse in Pittsburgh. Mr. Wells continued in this line until 1852, when Dr. Hussey started him in a bacon and pork business, the firm name being Hussey & Wells. This was continued until 1858 or 1859,when the firm became Hussey, Wells & Co. engaged in the manufacture of steel, and this was laid the foundation of one of the great industries that have done so much to build up the city of Pittsburgh. Mr. Wells was made manager of the new business and went east to learn all he could regarding the manufacture of steel. On his return he gave his entire attention to the enterprise which grew rapidly receiving a wonderful impetus during the rebellion, and demonstrated that England had at last found a competitor in the manufacture of steel.

Mr. Wells sold out his interest in this concern in 1876 and thus ended his long association with Dr. Hussey. in 1865 Mr. Wells became interested in railway elliptic springs and owned a half interest in the firm of A. French & Co., then engaged in their manufacture. This business was a success and grew to large proportions. On leaving the firm of Hussey, Wells & Co., Mr. Wells gave his entire attention for a year or two to the spring company. In January 1878, he was chosen president and treasurer of the Pittsburgh Forge & Iron Company and yet holds these positions. In 1884 he sold out his interest in the firm of A. French & Co. In 1877 Mr. Wells was induced to join in the purchase of the Philadelphia Press, founded by the late John W. Forney. At first he expected that his associates would manage the affairs of the concern, but a couple of year’s experience convinced him of the necessity for a change, and he took hold of the paper with the same good judgment, business tact and energy that have distinguished him in other enterprises. The result is that the Press is now not only one of the ablest but one of the strongest and most influential newspapers in the country. It is especially noteworthy for its advocacy of a protective tariff, for Mr. Wells is thoroughly convinced that protection is a great blessing to all parts of the country as well as to Pennsylvania.

He has other interests engaging his attention. In 1888 he was led to investigate the subject of spelter. His practical knowledge of metals and his study of this branch of metallurgy led him to unite with some friends in the establishment of the Illinois Zinc Company, at Peru, LaSalle County, Illinois, with a capital of $50,000. From the inception of the enterprise Mr. Wells has been president and treasurer of the company which has grown to $400,000. He has been for a number of years and is now a director in the Exchange National Bank of Pittsburgh. He was at one time a director in the Consolidated Gas Company, and was also connected with the Chartiers Natural Gas Company.

All that Mr. Wells has and is are the products of his natural forces. He possesses special skill as an organizer, in systematic management, and in his ability to read and understand men and to put the right man in the right place. He is a man of strong will, resolute courage, and in great tenacity of purpose, fertile in resources, alert to take advantage of circumstances as they occur. With all these advantages in business life, he has proven himself of kindly disposition and generous purposes. Though keeping himself posted upon political questions he has been too busy to take an active part in partisan politics or enter public life. His father was a Henry Clay Whig and the son is a consistent Republican.

Mr. Wells was married on July 5, 1854, to Annie Glyde, daughter of Benjamin Glyde. She died in 1859 and in 1861 he was married to Mary Chaffey, a sister of his first wife. Tow sons and two daughters have been born to him. His eldest son was born in 186? And died in the same year. His two daughters are married, laving him, his wife and his youngest son to constitute the family. Mr. Wells is a member of the Third Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a trustee for a number of years.

Calvin Wells married twice as noted below:

1. Anne Glyde (Jan. 23, 1835 - March 13, 1859); married, July 5, 1854.

Daughter of Calvin Wells and Anne Glyde Wells:

Anne Glyde Wells; born May 6, 1855;

Married:

Robert Johnson Cook; born March 21, 1849 in Fayette Co, PA.;

Robert Johnson "Bob" Cook, born March 21, 1849. He was graduated from Yale in 1876, was captain of the Yale boat crew from 1873 to 1876. He was sent by Yale to England in 1873 to learn the English stroke. Cook read law in Greesburg, PA, with A. M. Fulton, Esq., in 1877, and completed his course in the office of Hon. John H. Baily, of Pittsburgh. He was admitted to the Pittsburgh bar in 1878. He marrried Miss Annie Wells of Pittsburgh, April 26, 1881, and in 1882 took a special course in a German university. The 1924 Yale Boathouse was dedicated in his honor.

1870 was the year that Bob Cook, then a sophomore and captain of the Yale crew, went to England for three months to study rowing at London, Cambridge and Oxford. Returning, he brought with him an understanding of the English Orthodox style of rowing, which he introduced to Yale and to America at large. Cook would later become head crew coach at Yale and produce an extraordinary record of success from 1872 until his departure in 1899. During the time that he coached at Yale the team was bested only four times, in ‘75, ‘78, ‘79, and ‘91. To this day, no other college in America has produced an amateur alumnus crew coach with such an outstanding record of success. In 1924 Yale opened a new boathouse at Derby, abandoning crew on New Haven Harbor. Designed by famed architect James Gamble Rogers and named after legendary Bob Cook, the boathouse was used by Yale until 1999 and is now demolished. But for 75 years, the Bob Cook boathouse on the Housatonic River stood as a monument to his significant contribution to American collegiate crew. Bob Cook, Yale's grand old man of rowing, once called Averell Harriman "easily the most promising crew coach in America." According to Chauncey Depew, while at Yale, Bob Cook was assaulted with an ax wielding ruffian who plunged the ax into Cook’s head. Cook seized his assailant, nearly knocked the life out of him, carried him a prisoner to the police station and only thereafter pulled the ax out of his head and called for a doctor.

The children of Robert Johnson Cook and Anne Glyde Wells Cook:

Elsa COOK b: 17 FEB 1882 in Leipsic, Germany (married Charles Edward Greenfield)

This is probably Charles Edward Greenfield, and isn't the only connection that the Club members have to the sinking of the Titanic:

Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1912
Can't Collect For Lives Lost
Titanic Owners Not Liable For Deaths on Sea.

If Precedent is Followed Company Will Probably Settle for Property Loss Without Dispute, but Admiralty Lawyer Says It Cannot Be Held Further
Chicago, APRIL 16—[Exclusive Dispatch.] Relatives of the 1232 passengers who lost their lives in the wreck of the Titanic will be unable to collect a single dollar in damages according to Charles E. Greenfield of Kremer and Greenfield, admiralty attorneys, with offices in the Fort Dearborn building.
If the White Star line follows precedent it will settle without legal dispute for the loss of property, but as this was insured the company will lose nothing on that score.
“There is no law which fixes liability for loss of life on the high seas,” said Attorney Greenfield today. “About ten years ago several suits were filed in the Federal court here, but they were dismissed because of the lack of any statute fixing liability.
“Suits for loss of property very seldom follow disasters of this kind. The steamship companies are usually covered by insurance, and in the past nil have generally settled without going to court.”
Mr. Greenfield added that some States and nations have laws fixing liability for loss of life in wrecks, but they are not applicable to the high seas. The Titanic was on the “high seas” at the time it foundered.
It is estimated that the passengers on the Titanic carried in money, bonds, jewelry, and other securities approximately $6,000,000.

Helen Chaffey COOK b: 1 JAN 1885 in Philadelphia, PA (married Daniel Stephenson)

He was born in Sharon, PA.

Dorothy Glyde COOK b: 20 JUL 1890 in Bryn Mawr, PA (married Harry Grant)

After an unhappy marriage, Harry Grant became manager and Chairman of the Board of the "Milwaukee Journal". Here is information about Harry Johnson Grant and Dorothy Glyde Cook:

Society Wedding: The fiber of Harry Grant's independence threads back through his entire life. He was born in Chillicothe, Mo., the son and grandson of stable owners. The family moved to St. Louis, and when Grant was 15, his father killed himself, leaving Grant's mother to make ends meet by teaching dancing. Harry Grant quit high school after his freshman year, went to work as a $5-a-week railway messenger. He was earning $60 a month as a ticket clerk when he quit to make more as a bookkeeper and cattle checker in Swift & Co.'s stockyards. He bought schoolbooks and studied at night, and by the time he was 22, he had saved enough money to enter Harvard as a special student.
In his first year, with his usual energy, Grant took seven courses (four was standard), lived in an attic, wore secondhand clothes and did odd jobs to add to his savings. By the end of the year, his money ran out, so Grant took a job selling roofing in the Southwest until he saved enough for a second try at Harvard. After struggling through the second year, he gave up and moved to a cheap room in Hoboken, having lost his "illusions about what an education could do for me." By limiting himself to 11¢ a day for lunch and not much else, he held out until he found a job he liked, working for N. W. Ayer advertising agency in Manhattan. Grant moved through every department, was so able at whatever he turned his hand to that in three years he was sent to London to represent the agency.
In Europe he met Dorothy Cook, a wealthy American girl, whom he married the same year at what he describes as a "goddamned society wedding." Grant felt that his in-laws wanted him to be "a gentleman of leisure." He had different ideas, and his marriage was unhappy. (Mrs. Grant died in 1923.) Grant went to Chicago to work for O'Mara & Ormsbee, Inc., the Journal's advertising representative. There he quickly rose to vice president and caught the eye of Lucius W. Nieman, owner of the Journal. Nieman hired Grant for $250 a week as business manager, with a promise of stock in the paper if things went well.

Source: "The Fair Lady of Milwaukee", Time Magazine, February 1, 1954

Additional information exists on ths Cook line of the Wells family.

2. Mary Glyde (March 8, 1836 - May 31, 1904)

Married: 13 Sep 1861 in Christ Methodist Episcopal Church Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

Their children:

George Duncan Wells born Jan. 20, 1866 died July 27, 1866

Benjamin Glyde Wells born Nov. 8, 1868; died May 6, 1929
Married:
Louise Dewey born August 11, 1873; died October 12, 1939

The children of Benjamin Glyde Wells and Louise Dewey Wells:

Mary Glyde Wells (1897)

Calvin Wells II (1898)

FYI Descendent Calvin Wells III is a NASCAR owner, Bobby Hamilton Jr. drives his "Tide" Chevy.

Lois Badger Wells ()

Elizabeth Dewey Wells (1903-1988); married Rowland Erving.

More on Elizabeth Dewey Wells:
Rowland Erving died Dec. 18, 1995, at his home in Fox Chapel, Pittsburgh, Penn. He was born Apr. 22, 1905, and was a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh. Before Princeton, Rowly prepped at Choate School and Babson Institute. He married Elizabeth Dewey Wells in June 1930. She died in June 1988. He retired from the McKay Co. as a v.p. in 1968 after nearly 40 years with the company. Rowly spent his summers with his family in Beaumaris in Ontario, where his family has vacationed since the turn of the century. He maintained friendships throughout the years with classmate Doug Hannah and others. Rowly was a boatsman, accomplished painter, and golfer. He was a member of the Fox Chapel Golf Club. Rowly was above all a family man and a consummate gentleman. He was kind, considerate, very positive, and had a cheerful word for everyone. He will be missed by his family and friends. The class extends its sympathy to Rowly's family: sons Rowland Jr. and Rev. William D. and his wife, Mimi; grandsons Richard T. and David Y.; granddaughter Mary E. Humenik; and two great-grandchildren.
Princeton: The Class of 1930PAW March 6th, 1996

Husband of Mary E Humenik is Dr. Mark J. Humenik DDS of Northbrook, IL. The Rev. William D. Erving is serving / living in Portersville, near Grove City.

Note that the new vacation spot at Beaumaris, Ontario, was the choice of more than one Club member.

FREDERICK H. SWEET

2007-02-21T14:57:00.000-08:00

FREDERICK H. SWEET
February 6, 1844 – [? After 1920]

Although further research is needed to confirm that the F. H. Sweet of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club is indeed Frederick H. Sweet of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the prospect seems most likely.

Frederick H. Sweet, who for most of his life went by F. H. Sweet or Fred H. Sweet, was born in 1844 in Athens, Pennsylvania which is within a few miles of New York State in Bradford County. Sweet himself gave New York State as his place of birth in the 1880 census. Both of his parents were listed as New York natives as well. His wife Mary Jane Sharar (born in 1846, died somtime after the death of her father which was in 1897) was a Pennsylvania native, as were her parents Mr. and Mrs. William (Rebecca States) Sharar.

The Rev. J. B. Polsgrove officiated at the marriage of Fred H. Sweet and Mary Jane Sharar on July 11, 1870.

The Sweets had two children:

Harry Sweet was born in Pennsylvania in 1871. He was married in April of 1894 to Kate Fegley, the Rev. W. H. Graff officiating. Less than two years later Harry H. Sweet died, in late August or September 1, 1895.

Alice Sweet was born in Pennsylvania in 1878. Alice Sweet married Chester Rice Misner, (born 6 September 1879 in Indiana. His parents were William J. Misner (1852 - ?) and Sarah C. Rice. In 1880 Chester resided with his parents at Richland Township, Madison County, Indiana. By 1900 he resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as boarder, still single. By 1920 he and his wife Alice and his father- in-law Fred H. Sweet lived in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Chester Rice Minser was a mechanical engineer. In 1920 Fred H. Sweet was listed as widowed and the manager at the wood company.

F. H. Sweet was engaged in pattern making for the woodworking industry. Here is more about his business…

The Williamsport Machine Company was organized as a limited concern, March W, 1882, with a capital stock of $6,000. In 1878 Thomas and John H. Millspaugh, who had done business since 1875 at the corner of Hepburn street and the canal, purchased from Oliver Watson a small building located on the site of their present works. Here they did general repairing and manufactured engines and saw mills until March 30, 1882, when Fred H. Sweet was admitted as a partner. The firm manufactures all kinds of improved woodworking machinery. The building been enlarged until they now occupy a floor space of 42,000 square feet. The capital stock is $225,000. The company is officered as follows: John H. Millspaugh, chairman; F. H. Sweet, general manager; Thomas Millspaugh, secretary and treasurer. The office and works are located on West Third and West streets. From ninety to one hundred men are employed.

Another account of the business follows here…

Following the 1875 dissolution of Millspaugh, Rowley & Millspaugh, Thomas Millspaugh and John H. Millspaugh started a business manufacturing and repairing engines and saw mills. They were joined in 1882 by Fred H. Sweet (who had been working at Rowley & Hermance, and Williamsport Machine Co. was organized as a limited concern, with a capital stock of $6,000. The developed a complete line of woodworking machinery, and by 1892 they had 42,000 square feet of space, and a capital stock of $225,000. At that time the company officers were John H. Millspaugh, chairman; F. H. Sweet, general manager; Thomas Millspaugh, secretary and treasurer. From ninety to one hundred men were employed.

Williamsport Machine Co. was one of the eleven companies that merged in 1897 to form American Wood Working Machine Co. Williamsport's jointers, at least, continued to be made by the merged company. A "Happy Thought" planer badged with both the Williamsport and American names is reported.