USA > New York > New York State's prominent and progressive men : an encyclopaedia of contemporaneous biography, Volume I > Part 21
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It would be impossible in less space than a volume to tell adequately the story of Father Malone's long career. He made the church the center of every possible good work. He planted missions on every side. He labored for temperance, and indus- try, and law and order. When the Civil War broke out, in 1861, he placed an American flag on the spire of the church building and kept it flying there until the war was ended, as a token of his stanch patriotism. At the first Decoration Day ceremonies in Brooklyn he rode in the procession in the same carriage with three Protestant ministers, and spoke from the same platform with them-a sight not before seen in Brooklyn. On many other occasions Father Malone worked side by side with clergy- men of other faiths, and always commanded the utmost respect, reverence, and love of all, without regard to creed.
He was elected by the Legislature a regent of the University of the State of New York, on March 29, 1894. That was the golden jubilee of his priesthood. Beginning on Sunday, Octo- ber 14, 1894, the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination and his settlement over his parish were celebrated with religious ser- vices and with social festivities such as few men have ever been the subjects of. There was a practically universal outpouring of congratulation and praise from the press and pulpits and general public, regardless of political party or denominational creed. To the end of his life Sylvester Malone stood among the foremost Christian ministers of America, in length and value of services, in native worth, and in the esteem and con- fidence and love of his fellow-men. He died on December 29, 1899.
EBENEZER STURGES MASON
THE parents of Ebenezer Sturges Mason were Charles and Sarah Mason, both descendants of English families of high standing, which were transplanted to this country in the years preceding the Revolutionary War. The home of Charles and Sarah Mason was in New York city, and here their son, the subject of this sketch, was born, on April 14, 1843.
The boy was marked by his parents for a business career, and was educated and trained with that end in view. He was sent to the public schools of New York and Brooklyn, where his natural aptitude and earnest application enabled him to master the practical branches of study with admirable thoroughness. He was sent to no higher institution of learning, but went from the school-house directly into a business office.
His first engagement was as a clerk in a New York shipping house. In that place he served for several years, giving his em- ployers entire satisfaction, and acquiring for himself a most thorough and valuable practical acquaintance with sound busi- ness methods and principles.
From mercantile life he passed into financial occupations, as an assistant bookkeeper in the Bank of New York. This place he took on October 30, 1865, being at the time only a little more than twenty-two years old. He quickly displayed a decided fit- ness for the duties of a bank, and made rapid progress in the favor of his employers. Promotion followed promotion, in rapid succession, and he made his way steadily toward the highest rank in his calling, and to the highest place in the esteem and confidence of his business associates. He has a clear and far- seeing mind, especially in commercial and financial matters, and his knowledge of real-estate values is highly esteemed.
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Mr. Mason continues to this day his connection with the Bank of New York, but has extended his business interests to include various other important corporations. Among these latter may be enumerated the Real Estate Trust Company of New York, the Transatlantic Fire Insurance Company of Hamburg, and the Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad Company. To all of them he gives a considerable amount of personal attention, and he is an active factor in promoting their prosperity.
In political matters, Mr. Mason has always been an earnest Republican. His absorption in business has, however, left him no time for office-holding, or indeed for any political activities beyond the exercise of the privileges and discharge of the duties of an intelligent and interested private citizen.
He has found little time, either, and felt little inclination, for much participation in club life. He is a member of the Union League Club of New York, and is a welcome frequenter of its house. But his domestic tastes lead him to devote the major part of his leisure time to his own home. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York.
Mr. Mason was married, on April 14, 1875, to Miss Abbie Low Ranlett of New York city. The happiness of their home life has been augmented by the advent of a family of three bright and interesting children. These are a son and two daughters, named respectively Kenneth Mason, Evelyn Ranlett Mason, and Adele Sturges Mason.
WARNER MILLER
A MONG the early settlers in Westchester County, New York, about the year 1680, was one John Miller, a sturdy Dutch- man. He had four sons, named James, Abram, Elijah, and An- thony. Elijah had a daughter named Martha, and Anthony a son named William, and these two cousins married each other, and had a son, to whom they gave the name of Hiram. The last- named was the father of Warner Miller, the subject of this sketch.
Warner Miller was born in Oswego County, New York, on August 12, 1838. He studied in the local schools and at Union College, where he was graduated in 1860. That fall he became professor of Greek and Latin in the Collegiate Institute at Fort Edward, New York. At the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Fifth New York Cavalry as a private. He served in the Shenandoah Valley, and was promoted for gallant conduct until he became a lieutenant. At Winchester he was taken prisoner, and, while sick in the hospital, was paroled.
Mr. Miller then went back to Fort Edward, and entered the employment of some paper manufacturers, in time becoming superintendent of the mills. He next organized a company of his own, at Herkimer, New York, to manufacture paper out of wood-pulp. He invented the machines needed for that work, and made the first wood paper, and started an industry which has now risen to gigantic proportions. He did not try to keep a monopoly of the business, but made his processes public and sold his machines to all who would buy. Wood-pulp paper literally revolutionized the paper trade, and the newspaper and book-pub- lishing businesses as well, for the cost of the white paper was reduced from fifteen to three cents a pound. Mr. Miller amassed a fine fortune from the business, and established factories of his
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own at Palmer's Falls and Lyon Falls, besides those at Herkimer. At Herkimer Mr. Miller has a fine farm of several hundred acres, which it is his pride to make and keep a model farm in all respects.
In 1889 Mr. Miller became interested in the Nicaragua ship- canal. He became president of the company and devoted to it years of hard work and a large share of his fortune. It was his company that practically began the work. Unfortunate govern- ment policies permitted the company to become embarrassed and the work to be suspended, but there is a prospect of resumption of it under happier auspices, and a triumphant conclusion being made of this second great work of Mr. Miller's life.
Mr. Miller became interested in politics as a Republican at an early date. At a political meeting at Herkimer in 1867 he was called upon suddenly to take the place of a speaker who had failed to arrive, and acquitted himself so well that he at once became a leader. He was elected to the Assembly from Herki- mer County in 1873, and again in 1874. In 1878 he was elected to Congress, and was reëlected in 1880. His second term was interrupted by his election, in the summer of 1881, to the United States Senate. As Senator he secured the passage of the letter- carriers' eight-hour law, an important pension law, the "head- money " law regulating immigration, and the "alien contract labor" law. He also secured important improvements for the harbor of New York, and was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Agriculture and the Labor Bureau. In 1888 he was a leading member of the Republican National Convention which nominated General Harrison for the Presidency, and was himself the candidate for Governor of New York. His efforts secured the election of General Harrison, but he was himself de- feated. Since that time he has been a commanding figure in the councils of the Republican party.
Mr. Miller was married to Miss Churchill, a daughter of Henry Churchill of Gloversville, Fulton County, New York, whose ma- ternal grandfather introduced into this country the manufacture of gloves. They have had four sons and one daughter. Mr. Miller has, since his childhood, been identified with the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, to which his family has belonged for sev- eral generations, and he has devoted to its interests much of his strength, time, and means.
DARIUS OGDEN MILLS
F EW narratives are more fascinating than those which tell of the rise of men, by dint of native virtue and energy, from comparatively humble stations in life to vast wealth and influence and power for good among their fellow-men. The United States is notably the land where such careers are most to be found, and among those to be observed here there is not one more worthy of attention than that of Darius Ogden Mills. He comes of an old north of England family which at the middle of the last century came to this country and settled on Long Island, and then removed to Connecticut, near the New York line. Some mem- bers of the family, indeed, established themselves in Westchester County, New York, and there, in the last generation, James Mills was supervisor and justice of peace for the town of North Salem. He was a man of high standing in the community, and was successfully engaged in various lines of business, but, late in life, lost most of his property through unfortunate investments. He died at Sing Sing in 1841, leaving his sons to make their own fortunes.
Darius Ogden Mills, son of James Mills, was born at North Salem on September 25, 1825, and inherited the rugged health, mental acuteness, and flawless integrity that had distinguished his father. He received his education at the North Salem Academy, and at the Mount Pleasant Academy at Sing Sing, ex- cellent institutions of that rank. He left the Sing Sing school at the age of seventeen to complete his training in the wider and higher school of the business world. For several years he per- formed the duties of a clerkship in New York, bringing to them the qualities of person and character that assure - or, still better, deserve - success. In 1847, on the invitation of his cousin, E.
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J. Townsend, he went to Buffalo, New York, to serve as cashier of the Merchants' Bank of Erie County, and also to form a busi- ness partnership with Mr. Townsend. The bank was one of deposit and issue, under a special charter, and did a prosperous business. But in December, 1848, Mr. Mills decided to leave it and go to California, where the discovery of gold gave promise of untold gains for enterprising men. Mr. Townsend agreed to maintain, in any business which Mr. Mills might undertake in California, the same relative interest which they had in the bank, and to protect all drafts which Mr. Mills might make. And so Mr. Mills followed his two brothers to the Pacific coast, where he arrived in June, 1849.
It has not escaped observation that some of the largest for- tunes were made in California, not in digging gold, but in de- veloping the ordinary industries of the country. And the latter were, as a rule, the more stable. Adventurous men who went thither to pick up gold were often disappointed in their quest. Those who did make fortunes sometimes lost them again, on the familiar principle, "Easy come, easy go." The substantial for- tunes, or most of them, were made by those who set about sys- tematically to develop the general resources of the country, to create varied industries, and to promote trade and commerce.
To such latter enterprises Mr. Mills decided to devote his at- tention. His first undertaking, on reaching California, was to buy a stock of general merchandise and with it make a trading expedition to Stockton and the San Joaquin Valley. To this end, he entered into partnership with one of his fellow-voyagers, and together they bought a small sailing-vessel, loaded it with goods, and went to Stockton, where the cargo was sold at a profit. The two partners then separated, and Mr. Mills returned to Sacramento, deeming that the best center of trade with the miners. He opened a store of general merchandise, buying gold- dust, and dealing in exchange on New York. By November, 1849, he had cleared forty thousand dollars, and was so well pleased with his prospects that he decided to return to Buffalo, close out all his interests there, and make California his home. This he did, and in 1850 was at work again in Sacramento.
Thereafter his record was largely the financial and business record of the Pacific coast. He established a bank, called the
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Bank of D. O. Mills & Co., which is still the principal bank in Sacramento. A branch of it was opened at Columbia, under the management of his brothers James and Edgar. In 1857, owing to too close application to business, his health became impaired, and he went to Europe for rest. Returning with health and strength restored, he resumed his business with more energy than ever, and soon had on hand greater undertakings than he had yet known. It was owing to his reputation for judgment, decision, shrewdness, and absolute integrity that he was chosen president of the great Bank of California, when that institution was organized in 1864. It began with a capital of two million dollars, which was soon increased to five million dollars, and, un- der his wise management, it became known and trusted through- out the world, and was one of the chief factors in developing the greatness of the State. Mr. Mills had taken the presidency re- luctantly, and with the intention of soon resigning it, but he was prevailed upon to keep the place until 1873. Then he in- sisted upon retiring from active business. He left the bank in splendid condition, with capital secure, profits large, and credit unquestioned. Two years later he was called back to save it from utter ruin. Its former cashier, William C. Ralston, had been made its new president. He went to Mr. Mills and asked him to save him from individual failure. Mr. Mills loaned him nine hundred thousand dollars. Then it came out that the bank was in trouble, and two days later its doors were closed. It was found that there had been an overissue of twelve thousand shares of its stock, which had been taken in with Mr. Mills's loan and retired just before the failure. Mr. Ralston was asked by the directors to resign the presidency, which he did; and be- fore the meeting of the directors adjourned, his dead body was found in the bay - whether the victim of accident or suicide was never determined.
Mr. Mills again became president of the bank, serving without compensation. Its liabilities were then $19,585,000, including $5,000,000 capital stock and $1,000,000 reserve, while it had on hand $100,000 in cash, besides its general assets. Mr. Mills and the other directors raised a fund of $7,895,000, of which Mr. Mills subscribed $1,000,000. Mr. Mills, in conjunction with William Sharon and Thomas Bell, guaranteed payment of the
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outstanding drafts and credits of the bank; and on September 30, one month and five days after its suspension, the bank re- sumed business on a sound foundation. By Mr. Mills's timely and skilful management, the bank had been saved and a disas- trous panic on the Pacific coast had been averted. Having thus restored the bank's prosperity, Mr. Mills retired from its presi- dency in 1878.
During his residence in California, Mr. Mills identified himself with the general business interests of that State, and invested largely in land, mines, railroads, etc. He also identified him- self with the social and educational interests, becoming a regent and treasurer of the University of California, and endowing with seventy-five thousand dollars a professorship in that institution. He was also one of the first trustees of the Lick estate and the Lick Observatory.
In 1880 Mr. Mills transferred his home and much of his capi- tal to New York, and has since been chiefly identified with this metropolis. He retains, however, a fine estate at Millbrae, in San Mateo County, California, as well as many investments in that State. In New York he has become an investor in many substantial properties, and thus one of the great financial forces of the city. He has erected on Broad and Wall streets a great office building, which bears his name, and a similar building in San Francisco.
In 1888 Mr. Mills opened and gave to the city a fine training- school for male nurses, which he had founded and endowed in connection with Bellevue Hospital. In 1897-98 he built and opened in New York two great hotels, known as Mills Houses Nos. 1 and 2. These are equipped with the latest and best ap- pliances, and are intended for the transient or permanent homes of worthy men of moderate means, who cannot afford to pay the high prices of ordinary hotels, but desire something better than the squalor of the cheap lodging-houses. The houses accommo- date many hundreds of guests, and are always filled, and are justly to be ranked among the most beneficent institutions ever devised for the aid of the laboring masses.
Not almsgiving, but economy, is the key-note of the Mills houses. It is Mr. Mills's theory that industry, education, and economy are the three prime factors for the promotion of the
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popular welfare. No one has exemplified the first more perfectly than he has in his own career. The second he has generously promoted by his endowments of educational institutions. The third, and not least, finds concrete expression and effective prac- tice in the Mills houses. "We are too extravagant in this coun- try," said Mr. Mills, in discussing some social problems. "There is more waste here than in any other country. Persons of small means as well as persons of large means spend a great deal more money than is necessary in supplying their needs. The value of money is not generally appreciated, and anything in the direction of an object-lesson in that direction cannot fail to have a benefi- cial effect. One of my objects in establishing these model cheap hotels was to encourage men of limited means to practise economy by enabling them to live comfortably at a very small outlay."
It was in such a spirit of pure and practical philanthropy that Mr. Mills established these hotels. The first one, Mills House No 1, is in Bleecker Street. The second, Mills House No. 2, is in Rivington Street. Those are districts of the city marked at once with industry and with poverty. They are thronged with men who make just enough for a living, and who are danger- ously near the edge of pauperism or criminality. There are hundreds of industrious and well-meaning young men who have been unable, under the old conditions, to save any part of their small incomes. The establishment of these houses enables them to save, and assures them comfortable homes in surroundings that are sanitary both for the body and for the mind. Their wages are not increased, and they are not forced to curtail their desires or needs. But the purchasing power of their wages, for the satisfaction of their legitimate desires, is increased by the elimi- nation of waste and extravagance. That is the philosophy of the enterprise.
While thus providing for the welfare and advancement of the male wage-earner, Mr. Mills has not overlooked the interests of the families, the married poor, and the women of the masses. The Mills hotels are intended for single men; but he has built several model apartment-houses for the use of families of small means, in which cleanliness and order, good morals and good plumbing, decent associations and the conveniences of modern
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civilization, can be had at even a less price than has been paid for wretched quarters in the slums. His experience as a land- lord of such property has proved to Mr. Mills that even the poorest of the poor respond quickly to improved conditions and environments, and cooperate with their benefactors in striving to better their standard of life. It may be observed in passing that these institutions, founded by Mr. Mills, are serving as models for others of similar purport in other cities, so that we may properly regard them as the beginning of a general move- ment for the better lodging and better living of the poor, and of an increase of thrift among the wage-earners of America. In founding this great enterprise Mr. Mills assured for himself - though nothing was further from his purpose than self-glorifica- tion-a rank by the side of Peabody and the other most eminent philanthropists of the century, those philanthropists who have not only helped their fellow-men, but, what is best of all, have helped them to help themselves.
Mr. Mills was married, in 1854, to Miss Jane T. Cunningham, who died in April, 1888. She bore him two children, Ogden Mills, a well-known member of the social and business worlds, and Elizabeth, wife of the Hon. Whitelaw Reid. Mr. Mills is a member of the Century, Metropolitan, Union, Union League, Knickerbocker, and other clubs, and a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and of the Museum of Natural History, and is an active worker in and generous benefactor of various other insti- tutions and enterprises for the public good. He remains, as he has always been, a man of quiet tastes, of methodical habits, and of unflagging industry. He is in his own life a constant exemplification of the theories of industry, intelligence, and economy which he advocates, and he has himself demonstrated their beneficence to the individual and to the community. He gives close personal attention to all the departments of his vast and varied business interests, without ever permitting business to make him its slave. Commanding the gratitude of many and the respect of all, and maintaining his own integrity of physical health, intellectual acumen, and moral character, he embodies in himself a fine type of the successful and public-spirited American citizen.
JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN
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THE Morgan family, which for several generations has been conspicuous in commerce, finance, and the public service, is of Welsh origin, as the name implies. It was planted in this country by two brothers, Miles and James Morgan, who settled in Massachusetts in 1636. From the latter were descended Charles Morgan, the founder of the Morgan Railroad and Steam- ship lines ; Edwin D. Morgan, the merchant and famous War Governor of New York; David P. Morgan, the banker and broker; George Denison Morgan, Edwin B. Morgan, and other men conspicuous in business and public life. From Miles Mor- gan were also descended various men of note, foremost among them in the last generation being Junius Spencer Morgan, who, after a prosperous career as a merchant in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, became, in 1854, the partner of George Peabody, the famous banker and philanthropist. Ten years later he succeeded Mr. Peabody, and made the banking house of J. S. Morgan & Co. one of the foremost in the world. He married Juliet Pierpont, a woman of exceptional force of character, and a daughter of the Rev. John Pierpont of Boston. Their first child, born at Hartford, Connecticut, on April 17, 1837, is the subject of this biography.
John Pierpont Morgan inherited from both his parents the mental and spiritual characteristics which distinguished them, and at an early age inclined toward the business in which his father had achieved his greatest success. He was finely edu- cated, at the English High School in Boston, and at the Univer- sity of Göttingen in Germany. At the age of twenty years he returned to America to become a banker. With that end in view he entered the private banking house of Duncan, Sherman & Co., one of the foremost in New York city, and devoted himself
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to a thorough mastery of the business. This he achieved to so good purpose that at the end of three years he was appointed the American agent and attorney of George Peabody & Co., a place which he continued to hold after his father's firm had succeeded Mr. Peabody. In 1864 he engaged in banking on his own account, as a member of the firm of Dabney, Morgan & Co. of New York. This firm confined its dealings to legitimate in- vestment securities, and thus achieved much success and won enviable reputation for trustworthiness. Finally, in 1871, Mr. Morgan became the junior partner of the firm of Drexel, Morgan & Co., one of the foremost banking houses of America; and through the death of the elder partners he is now its head, and thus probably the greatest private banker in this country and one of the greatest in the world.
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