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The Book of PROMINENT PENNSYLVANIANS
A STANDARD REFERENCE
LEADER PUBLISHING CO. PITTSBURGH, PA. 1913 II.
153603A
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ALEXANDER P. MOORE, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, The Pittsburg Leader.
FOREWORD
By ALEXANDER P. MOORE
ENNSYLVANIA has produced and today pos- sesses as many men of prominence in all walks of 3 life as any state in the union. Her sons have shone in politics and the professions, in business and banking, as artists and artificers, in the world of letters and the realm of invention, as pioneers in time of peace and leaders in time of war.
This book is published to let all the people know who the men are of whose records Pennsylvania can be proud. Pictures are used because, often, a picture will tell the story of a man's personality far better than the dryer details of his life in printed words.
Pennsylvanians are a progressive people. Her sons are always trying to do something new or trying to do the same things better. Out of this comes leadership in the world's progress and pre-eminence in all lines of endeavor.
The men whose faces look out from the pages of this book have all borne their share of the burden-have performed their part of the duty.
Because of what they have accomplished, they are justly entitled to be called prominent men of Pennsylvania.
JOHN K. EMGE, MANAGING EDITOR The Pittsburg Leader.
THE LATROBE CONNELLSVILLE COAL & COKE CO. AND MARCUS WILSON SAXMAN.
In a field adjacent to the Saxman farm near Latrobe, the present gigantic corpora- tion known as the Latrobe Connellsville Coal & Coke Company had its inception in 1865.
There it was that Mathias Saxman, a descendant of an old pioneer family of that section, spent what time he could spare from his farm work by digging out of the ground, by means decidedly primitive, about 250 bushels of coal each day. This output was increased about 50 bushels in the next five years.
The mining and selling of coal was in those days a comparatively new in- dustry, the use of coke was practically unknown and the incorporation of coal digging concerns was just about begin- ning to occupy the attention of lawyers. Coal digging, rather than mining, in those days was conducted not unlike cel- lar excavating in a small town at the present time, and if a man had coal on his property and started to dig it with a large force of men it was considered very extraordinary.
Mathias Saxman began digging his coal on a decidedly modest scale. The running of a railroad switch into his mine was a thing undreamed of, so he M. W. SAXMAN provided himself with a large wagon and hauled his coal to the railroad station at Latrobe, where he unloaded his product with a shovel. In the course of a few months he employed a few men to help him, and with their aid his output grew considerably. About the year 1870 Mr. Saxman was shipping coal into Altoona, and three years later he had so far progressed as to form a company. He took into his partnership two other men, and the three conducted their business under the firm name of M. Saxman & Company.
With his company formed, Mr. Saxman began supplying the Pennsylvania Railroad Company with coal, but not till some time later were other large concerns furnished. Coke was comparatively little used at that time. It was being experimented with by the more progressive manufacturing companies, but the owners of the mills in Western Pennsyl- vania seemed to have a prejudice against it. The president of this new mining company, however, believed that it could be used to good advantage by the great iron and steel fur- naces and that it would eventually grow into use. He acted on that impulse and began, in 1880, to build coke ovens and burn coke. The manufacturing companies fell into his way of thinking in the course of time, and in 1890 he had 80 coke ovens going in full blast.
But the great development of the Saxman interests that had grown to considerable proportions by that time was still to some. The development and consolidation of their coal properties was undertaken by Marcus Wilson Saxman, son of Mathias Saxman and Katharine Wilson Saxman.
The present president of this large concern was born on the old farm near which the coal was first dug, December 24, 1867. The property had been owned by the Saxman family from the time of the taking out of the original deed from the State, and it has never been transferred. Mr. Saxman's early education was obtained in the country schools
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of Westmoreland county and later, as he advanced in his studies, he attended the public schools at Latrobe. Subsequently he entered Swarthmore College, where he brought him- self into popularity as one of the stars of the gridiron.
Upon leaving college he started in to become prac- tical. Sometimes he worked on his father's farm and at intervals he took a hand at mining coal.
For ten years after that he occupied his time in the mercantile business at Bradenville, Pa., but immediately after that entered upon his career as a coal operator. Superior Mine No. 1 was opened by him alone, and then in rapid succession, with the help of his associates, he began taking coal out of those mines that have since be- come and are now part of the immense merger known as the Latrobe Connellsville Coal & Coke Company.
In addition to being the president of this corporation, Mr. Saxman is the president of the Ligonier Coal Com- pany, the treasurer of the Cardiff Coal Company, the treasurer of the Unitey Coal Company, treasurer Kelso Smokeless Coal Company, a director Bessemer Coal & Coke Company, on Bessemer & Lake Erie R. R .; a director of the Greenwich Coal & Coke Company, of which he had M. SAXMAN for many years, and until recently, been president; a director of the Superior Fuel Com- pany, which is located on the Bessemer & Lake Erie railroad, where there is a big modern plant; president of the Citizens National Bank of Latrobe; a director of the Latrobe Trust Company ; treasurer of the Derry Glass Sand Company ; a director in the Latrobe Printing & Publishing Company, and President Latrobe Electric Steel Company. Mr. Saxman is a member of a number of clubs and societies. He belongs to the Union League Club of Philadelphia, the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. .
Among the seven largest coal mining companies in the country, ranks the Latrobe Connellsville Coal & Coke Company, with offices in the largest cities of the United States. J. E. Barnett is treasurer of the concern and E. M. Gross secretary.
In 1900 the various companies in the present organization were incorporated. In 1905 the great consolidation of the Saxman interests took place. These original compan- ies were the Saxman Coal & Coke Company, the Superior Coal & Coke Company, the Derry Coal & Coke Company, the Milwood Coal & Coke Company and the original La- trobe Connellsville Coal & Coke Company. They are all merged now under the name of the latter concern. The Derry Coal & Coke Company was originally the Saxman interests.
The plants now in operation are the Saxman mine, the Superior mines No. 1 and 2, Derry mines No. 1 and 2, Connellsville mine, Mellwood mine and the Greenwich property with its seven separate mines. The present monthly output of all these mines amounts to 125,000 tons. The mines are all strictly modern and model in equipment, and are fitted out with electric and compressed air machinery. Each plant is perfectly equipped, and there are no finer steel tipples in the world than the one that can be seen at the Derry No. 1 plant, which has a capacity of 1,000 tons daily and is operated by two men. The big company employs in all about 2,500 men.
The Latrobe Connellsville Coal & Coke Company has branch offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York, Baltimore, Boston, New Haven, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chi- cago and other principal Eastern and Western cities. Among its heaviest patrons are the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the Boston & Maine Railroad Company, the Delaware & Hudson River Railroad Company and other lines. The development, consolidation and growth of this immense concern has, to the exclusion of almost everything else, occu- pied the attention of M. W. Saxman, in whose work is now represented an accomplish- ment essentially American and a striking illustration of the advance of Pennsylvania industry.
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WILLIAM MUIR.
In order to estimate justly the life, character and genius of a man, it is necessary to possess some knowledge of the heredity that produced him, and the environment in which he was reared, as well as the conditions that surrounded him in later life.
William Muir was born in Carbon- dale, Pa., April 10, 1851, the son of John and Caroline (Smith) Muir. His father was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and came to this country in the year 1823. His mother was of American parentage. Their son William, who was the eldest of five children, inherited the kind, tender heart of his mother, togeth- er with the perseverence, integrity and loyalty of his Scotch father.
At the age of 12 he commenced earning his own livelihood, hiring out to a farmer at $8 per month. However, that work did not appeal to him, and he decided to make a change, whereupon he served three years at the marble cut- ting trade. This work did not agree with him physically, and he was forced to look elsewhere for employment.
Since he was naturally of a me- chanical mind, he next took up car- pentry work, and for two years pursued this trade under instruction. At the end of this time he began contracting and building for himself. One of his first contracts, and one which proved the turning point in his career, was the construction of a refinery for E. E. Hendrick, of Carbondale, Pa. Because of the knowledge of the refining busi- ness gained while constructing this plant, he became convinced that refining was more lucrative than the business he was following, and determined to become better acquainted with the oil business. This led to his becoming one of the important independent oil refin- ers of the country. However, his work in construction did not cease, for beside Mr. Hen- drick's plant he has completed five refineries: one at Corry, Pa .; two at Warren, Pa., and two at Titusville, and has followed the oil business along various lines since 1876, retain- ing large interests in the plants constructed at Warren and Titusville.
In the year 1872 he married Miss Martha Fuller, of Carbondale, Pa., and they are the parents of four children-two sons and two daughters. For the past 10 years Mr. Muir and his family have been residents of Titusville, Pa., where they have a handsome home on one of the most attractive streets in that city. During the 16 years previous to their coming to Titusville, they were residents of Warren, Pa. In both cities Mr. Muir has many important business interests.
Mr. Muir is today general manager of Crew Levick Co., a well-known firm of Phila- delphia, large oil manufacturers and jobbers, whose offices are located in nearly every known country, and whose products are likewise universally known. He is president of two refineries in Titusville, Pa., the Pennsylvania Paraffine Works and the Bessemer Re- fining Company, both large exporters of the various petroleum products. He is president of the Riverside Acid Works, of Warren, Pa., and also of the First National Bank, of War- ren, one of the oldest and most substantial institutions of that city.
Mr. Muir is characterized by his tenacity of purpose, upright business methods and absolute justice in all dealings. In him we find the rare combination of the successful business man and the kind-hearted, chivalrous gentleman.
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THE PENNSYLVANIA PARAFFINE WORKS.
Founded in 1893, the Pennsylvania Paraffine Works has developed and grown until even in far-off countries the plant is known because of its production of the "largest va- riety of output of any independent refining company in the world."
Occupying an ad- vantageous situa- tion in the center of the Pennsylvania oil fields, possessing ex- cellent facilities for transportation, Ti- tusville, largely through the enter- prise of the Penn- sylvania P a r affine Works and other factories, is becom- ing more and more noted as a manufac- turing city.
Flanked by rows of oil tanks of a combined capacity of 100,000 barrels, in a well chosen location in the East End of Titus- ville, stand the buildings of the company's new and extensive plant. Built entirely of brick and steel, fireproof and strongly constructed, the various buildings are arranged in groups most advantageous for the carrying on of refining and other operations.
In the plant in every department is installed the most approved machinery. In every . particular the equipment represents not only the best construction, but the attainment to the highest degree of success of the purpose for which it is intended. Beginning at the crude and the tar stills, where five 100 horse-power boilers with automatic feeders are placed, it is interesting to trace the crude oil and the tar through the various processes of clarification and segregation. Step by step they are transformed from liquids into vapors, from gases back again into liquids, then from the liquids the solids are precipi- tated; by chemical and mechanical action the work continues until finally are obtained the finished products, in form ranging from the lightest naptha down through the list of illu- minating oils, lubricants, neutrals and waxes to the solid waxtailings and coke.
Reduced to the last extremity the products of petroleum are almost innumerable. Of the various specialties of the Pennsylvania Paraffine Works the most important are:
Superior water-white oil, crystal water-white in color; extra prime white oil, water- white in color ; stove gasoline, deodorized, for use in vapor stoves, automobiles, gas engines, torches and for dry cleaning; deodorized naphtha, for paints and varnishes; steam re-
fined cylinder stock, especially prepared for locomotive and marine engine lubrication ; pale and lemon neutrals, prepared especially for the heaviest work on high-speed engines, dynamos, gas engines, thread-cutting machines, ice machines, elevators, general light lubrication, steam separators, spindles, looms, sewing machines, miner's oil, greases and adulterations; red neutrals, used for heaviest work on high-speed engines, dynamos and thread-cutting , for cordage oil and light lubrication.
In addition to the output, the Pennsylvania Paraffine Works makes various wood oils, gas and fuel oils, white and yellow wax, petroleum pitch, coke and numerous other deriva- tives from petroleum. In the compounding department of the company are carefully pre- pared a great variety of lubricants, either according to the formulas of the corporation, or as specified by customers.
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On Saybolt's instruments, according to the requirements of the Produce Exchange, are made the tests of the Pennsylvania Works. Manufacturing operations are directed by an experienced refiner, an expert in the business, a chemist who has more than kept up with the times. The maximum capacity of the stills of the Pennsylvania Paraffine Works is 1,500 barrels a day. In the refinery 50 men are employed. Through convenient con- nections with the Pennsylvania Railroad and with the Dunkirk and Allegheny Valley Rail- way, the company has especially good shipping facilities.
In the United States the Pennsylvania Paraffine Works maintains branch offices, sales agencies, in New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Savannah, Jacksonville, Warren, Ishpiming, Houghton, Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken and Trenton. Its foreign branches are located in London and Manchester, England; Glasgow, Scotland; Paris, France; Ant- werp, Belgium; Hamburg and Frankfort (on-the-Main), Germany; Barcelona, Spain; Bombay, India, and Kobe, Japan.
The officers of the company are: William Muir, president; L. J. Levick, vice-presi- dent, and W. F. Cowden, secretary and treasurer. The Pennsylvania Paraffine Works is capitalized at $500,000, but this sum now represents the original strength of the organiza- tion and not the proportions to which the business has grown.
THE BESSEMER REFINING COMPANY.
The Bessemer Refinery recently completed and with headquarters in Titusville, Pa., does an extensive business in the paraffine and oil trade. Aside from the usual work done in oil refineries, the Bessemer Company has added what is known as "Cold Test" stock.
The splendid new plant of the Bessemer Refining Company is fully up to the stand- ard in the quality and quantity of output. The plant is constructed of steel and iron and is fitted up with the most modern appliances and machinery.
In every particular the equipment represents not only the best construction, but the attainment to the highest degree of success for the purpose for which it was intended.
The Bessemer Refining Company manufactures high gravity gasolines, also high gravity refined oils, dark and filtered cylinder oils.
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ABRAHAM L. KEISTER.
Abraham L. Keister, of Scottdale, Pennsylvania, was born in Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, September 10, 1852; was educated in the public schools of Fayette county and in Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio; was admitted to the bar and practiced his
profession for a short time in Columbus, Ohio. He engaged in the manufacture of coke in 1881 in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and later in the banking business at Scottdale. He has resided at Scottdale since 1886. He was elected to Congress November 5, 1912.
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HON. JOHN M. MORIN.
John M. Morin, representative in Congress, labor leader and former baseball player, was born in Philadelphia, April 18, 1868. His parents were Martin Joseph Morin and Rose (nee Joyce) Morin, who came from Mayo, Ireland, to Philadelphia in 1862.
When Mr. Morin was but four years of age, his parents removed to Pittsburgh, and his first education was received in the public schools of that city. At an early age he went to work in a glass factory. The hours were long and the labor was exhausting. Many boys were unable to stick for more than a few days at the trying work. John Morin has a streak of gritty sand in his make-up, however. He not only worked each day in the factory, but in the evening he attended school and studied so diligently that he kept up with his more fortunate companions who did not have to quit school to go to work. Later Mr. Morin secured a better job in an iron and steel mill. He still continued to study at night, and at length completed a course in a business college.
When 21 years old, Mr. Morin, like many of his acquaintances, became interested in the great opportunities said to be open to a young man in the west. Possessing a little more ambition than the average young man, Mr. Morin went west to investigate for him- self. He reached Missoula, Montana, where he secured a position with the D. J. Hen- nessy Mercantile Company. He was there three years, then returned to his former home in Pittsburgh, Pa., in the fall of 1893, where he has since resided.
Having worked in glass factories and in iron and steel mills for many years, John Morin early learned to appreciate the value of trades unions to workingmen. After his return to Pennsylvania and while living in Pittsburgh he was impressed still more deeply with the value of labor unions as a defense of workingmen against the encroachments of greedy capitalists. For many years he was a member of the Central Trades Council of Pittsburgh, and gave liberally of his time and knowledge in assisting the various unions of the Pittsburgh district in their fight for the workingmen.
Mr. Morin has been a consistent member of the Republican party since he became old enough to cast a ballot. He is liberal in his views, however, and as an office holder gives of his time and ability unstintedly in the service of the entire population of the district he represents. Mr. Morin has been a delegate to every Republican State Con- vention in Pennsylvania from 1905 to 1912. From 1904 to 1906 he was a member of the Common Council of Pittsburgh, representing the old Fourteenth ward, now the Fourth ward of Pittsburgh. He acquitted himself creditably as a city legislator, and won not only the respect of his fellow councilmen, but the approval as well of his constituents.
In recognition of his sterling manhood and skill in organizing and handling men Mr. Morin was appointed Director of Public Safety for the city of Pittsburgh April 5, 1909. During the time he held this position many important and beneficial changes were made in the police system of the city and its efficiency was increased greatly. While still hold- ing this important office Mr. Morin determined, upon the urgent solicitation of his friends, to be a candidate for Congress at the 1912 election. He accepted the nomination for representative-at-large offered him by the State Convention at Harrisburg and was en- dorsed by the Bull Moose, Roosevelt-Progressive and Washington parties. He was elected to the Sixty-third Congress, receiving an overwhelming majority of 618,537 votes against the 357,562 received by his leading opponent, a Democrat.
His resignation from his position at the head of the Department of Public Safety was accepted with regret, although necessary to enable him to assume more important duties at Washington.
Mr. Morin is an all around athlete and has always taken a deep interest in clean sports, especially in baseball. While in Montana he was captain-manager of the Missoula Baseball Team from 1891 to 1893. He helped organize the Montana State Baseball League and served as a director until he returned to Pennsylvania. Mr. Morin is best known among athletes of Pennsylvania as a sculler. Mr. Morin was married to Miss Eleanor C. Hickey, of Pittsburgh, in 1897. There are seven children.
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JOHN M. MORIN AND HIS FAMILY.
S. G. PORTER.
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One of the most prominent figures in the field of politics and the legal pro- fession in the State of Pennsylvania is Stephen G. Porter, of the North Side, Pittsburgh. Mr. Porter has established an excellent record for himself both as a legal practitioner and as a politician, be- ing a member of the Sixty-third Con- gress, and having served in the Sixty- second Congress. Mr. Porter was born May 18, 1869, on a farm near Salem, Ohio. At an early age he came to old Allegheny city. He attended the pub- lic schools and Allegheny high school. For two years he studied medicine, but deciding that he was better fitted for a legal career he studied law and was admitted to the bar in Allegheny county in 1894. In 1903 he became city solici- tor of Allegheny and established an ex- cellent record in that office. At the pri- mary election in Pittsburgh, September 16, 1913, he was the mayoralty nominee who received the largest number of votes. He has always been a progres- sive in politics.
W. J. HULINGS.
Willis J. Hulings, engineer, attor- ney and reform leader in politics, was born in Clarion county, July 1, 1850. His parents are Marcus Hulings and Margaret McDermott (nee McCluee) Hulings. He was educated as a civil engineer and lawyer, and admitted to practice law in the courts of Pennsyl- vania, West Virginia and Arizona. He has been engaged extensively in mining and oil operations. He commanded the Sixteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Infantry, in the Spanish-Ameri- can War, and was promoted from Col- onel to Brigadier General for meritori- ous conduct in action by President Mc- Kinley. He was a member of the lower house of the State Legislature from 1881 to 1887, and of the State Senate from 1907 to 1911. For many years Mr. Hulings was a Republican. Later, he became a Progressive, and was elected to Congress from the Twenty-eighth District by a large majority as a candi- date of the Washington party in 1912. His wife was formerly Miss Emma W. Simpson. They have eleven children.
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HENRY COOPER.
From machinist to Senator is a fairly good jump for a man to make, for there are a great many men who earn their daily bread in the crafts and never try to do anything else. Many more there are who could not do anything else, no matter how many chances they might get.
Labor organizations, feeling the need of representation in the State Leg- islatures, naturally turn to their own number when in search for a man who can be depended upon to take care of the interests of the laboring class and labor unions, but apparently few are to be found.
One of those few, who, after serv- ing an apprenticeship in a machine shop. elevated himself in politics with signal success, is Henry Cooper, State Senator from Allegheny county. Senator Cooper has not only been a machinist, but a farmer, too, and the surprise of many is that he was not appointed as a member of the Committee on Agriculture when he was sent to the Senate. However, he served on committees enough for any one man, and these kept him constantly busy. During the term of 1911 he was a member of the Canals and Inland Navigation Committee, the Committee on Education, the New County and County Seats Committee, the Committee on Public Printing and the Committee on Public Supply of Light, Heat and Water.
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