USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 3 > Part 22
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Mr. Patton is one of the oldest members of Columbia Lodge, No. 286, Free and Accepted Masons, this being the only society with which he is now connected. He is an ardent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has frequently represented the local congregation in the conferences of the de- nomination, and in his home church government has occupied the position of Class Leader, Steward, Trustee and Sunday-school Superintendent. He has given with a free hand to all church undertakings, and is a devoted friend of the cause of Foreign Missions, his benevolence in this line having swelled the col- lections of the congregation of which he is a member until it ranks second in the Philadelphia Conference outside of the city of Philadelphia.
Politically, Mr. Patton has always espoused the principles of the Democratic party. He has never aspired to public office, but has been called upon to repre- sent his party in county, State and national conventions, notably those two which nominated Horatio Seymour and Grover Cleveland for the Presidency.
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WILLIAM PATTON.
In 1862 Mr. Patton was the unanimous choice of the Democracy of the Erie District for Congress, but the death of his only son occurring after he was nom- inated, he changed his plans for the future, declined the nomination, and re- moved with his family to Columbia. An incident in this connection is worthy of relation. His opponent was Hon. John Patton, of Clearfield, and he also de- clined to run. Both declinations were made at the same time, and neither gen- tleman had any knowledge of the other's intention. He was also the nominee of the Democracy of Lancaster county in 1874 against Hon. A. Herr Smith for Congress ; but the county has always ranked as one of the invincible strong- holds of Republicanism in the State, and Mr. Patton was defeated.
In 1841 Mr. Patton married Susan, daughter of Joseph Withers, and grand- daughter of John Withers. The last-named gentleman served as a line officer un- der Colonel John Ferre's command in the Revolutionary War, and later settled in Strasburg township, Lancaster county, Pa. Mrs. Patton died in the Second street mansion, Columbia, now occupied by her husband, in May, 1884, aged sixty-three years. She had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for forty- four years, and during her lifetime the old homestead was an open house for the visiting clergy of that church. The couple entertained with a lavish hospitality, and were rarely without one or more of the prominent divines of that denomina- tion with them as guests. Ten children were the result of this union, four of whom, Emma, Anna F., Josephine and Mrs. DeWitt C. Denny, survive and re- side in Columbia. W. U. B.
F. GUTEKUNST
PHILA.
JAMES POLLOCK.
JAMES POLLOCK.
J AMES POLLOCK, one of the most enterprising and successful manufacturers of Philadelphia, was born, August 28, 1846, in County Derry, Ireland, of Scotch-Irish parents, and coming to America on June 1, 1861, settled in the district of Kensington, Philadelphia, and was educated at the public schools of that city. He graduated at the old Harrison Grammar School at Second and Master streets, where so many distinguished men received their early education, and then entered the dry-goods house of Riegel & Bro., Second and Callowhill streets, remaining there until 1877, when he entered into partnership with his father, James Pollock, Sr., for the purpose of manufacturing what was known as Venetian carpet. Four years later James Pollock, Sr., died, but the firm-name has been retained, and the business has continued to increase until it has grown to be the largest in the country for the making of their especial grade of goods.
Mr. Pollock early developed a taste for literary pursuits, and became a member of various literary and debating societies, and his early associates and intimates, many of whom now occupy prominent positions in public affairs, were the mem- bers of these organizations. He was for ten years the Philadelphia correspondent of the Carpet Trade, the first journal published in this country to represent the carpet and upholstery interests. The publication was edited by Berri & Bro., of Brooklyn, N. Y., and is now known as the Carpet Trade and Review.
Mr. Pollock early took an active interest in politics and public affairs gener- ally, and was Secretary of the Nineteenth Ward Association which advocated the adoption of the new Constitution of Pennsylvania. Upon the formation of the Thirty-first Ward out of a portion of the Nineteenth, he was nominated by the Republican party of the new ward for Select Council as a compromise can- didate ; but, owing to the disaffection caused by the nomination of an unworthy candidate upon the same ticket which created a division in the party, he failed of an election. In 1878 he was appointed by the Judges of the Court of Com- mon Pleas as a member of the Board of Public Education, to represent the Thirty-first Ward. He immediately identified himself with the reform move- ment which was at that time prevalent, and, as long as he remained in the Board, was active in all matters calculated to elevate the scope and character of the public schools of the city. Mr. Edward T. Steel was elected President of the Board of Education the same year, and Mr. Pollock was closely connected with him while he remained a member of that body. He was a member of the special committee appointed in 1883, to which was assigned the important duty of organizing the Department of Superintendence, which entirely revolutionized the management of the schools and the course of study in them. The committee visited the principal cities of the country in company with Mr. Steel, and, after having investigated the methods and systems of instruction in vogue in their
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JAMES POLLOCK.
schools, Mr. James MacAllister, of Milwaukee, was selected as Superintendent, and Mr. Pollock was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Superintendence, and held the position until he retired from the Board. He probably lent more efficient aid to President Steel in this connection than any other member of the Board. He was placed upon a number of other leading committees, and gave a very large share of his time to the public duties he had assumed in connection with the schools. He was greatly respected and esteemed by his colleagues, alike for his genial manners and efficient services. He served three terms, or a period of nine years, and declined a reappointment in 1888, owing to his removal from the Thirty-first Section. Resolutions, highly complimentary to him as a man and public official, were adopted by the Board of Public Education and spread upon the records of that body. The local boards of school directors also adopted and presented him with a series of resolutions, handsomely engrossed, acknowledging his valuable services, and the teachers of the section which he represented presented him with a beautiful etching, elegantly framed and mounted upon an easel, and a handsome album containing their photographs. Accompanying the gifts was an address signed by almost the entire corps of teachers. No member of the Board ever retired more universally esteemed, or with greater regret upon the part of all with whom he held relations.
He took an active part in several of the political campaigns, joining with the Committee of One Hundred during its existence, and served as a member of that body in the memorable contest in which Mr. William S. Stokley was defeated for Mayor, and which resulted in the election of Mr. Samuel G. King. Taking a great interest in national political contests he frequently attended the National Conventions of the Republican party, and in 1888 went to Chicago as a member of the committee of citizens appointed to urge upon the Platform Com- mittee of the Republican National Convention the absolute necessity of speaking out strongly and clearly upon the question of protection to American industries. The contest was fought out on that line, and ended in the triumph of that prin- ciple and the election of Gen. Benjamin Harrison.
Mr. Pollock's well-known public spirit was amply exemplified in the part he took in the great Bi-Centennial celebration, commemorative of the founding of Philadelphia by William Penn. The arrangements for this celebration had been for a long time in charge of a committee which failed to arouse any pronounced public feeling in its favor, when it was suggested to call a public meeting of citi- zens, to be presided over by the Hon. Samuel G. King, then Mayor, who promised to assist the committee in organizing and carrying out the celebration. The meeting was held, and the programme of the original committee was adopted, with the exception that Mr. Pollock, who suggested the idea, was appointed to organize the great trades' display which appeared upon the streets of Philadelphia, Wednesday, October 25, 1882. It is safe to assert that never before or since have the industries of Philadelphia, purely as industries, been more faithfully and efficiently exhibited than on this notable occasion. One of
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the leading daily papers, in an account of the display, said: "The demonstration yesterday made by the trades will be remembered for the effectiveness with which it illustrated the growth and extent of the industries and trade facilities of the city." The Bi-Centennial had many attractive and effective features, such as the representation of Penn's landing upon the Delaware river ; the demonstration of the civic organizations; the street exhibition at night of the historic and emblematic tableaux; the Knights Templar pageant, and the parade of the National Guard; but nothing arranged by the Executive Committee produced such permanent good as the trades' display, or created a more favorable impres- sion upon those who were in the city on that occasion. It advertised Phila- delphia and gave a practical illustration of the variety and extent of her produc- tions to over five hundred thousand visitors, and many incidents were related of sales effected and permanent business secured by reason of exhibits made in the great procession. Mr. Pollock, whose position as a successful member of that portion of the business community, and whose reputation for energy and enter- prise gave him great influence, enlisted the services of a large number of the · leading manufacturers of the city, who formed themselves into a committee, over which he was chosen to preside, and for four months they worked faithfully and indefatigably, in season and out of season, to make the portion of the affair under their particular charge creditable alike to the occasion and to Philadelphia.
The suggestion of grouping together the manufactures of Philadelphia in a great trades' display, and the consequent success of the affair, has been considered by some as originating the idea of forming an association of manufacturers to look after the interests of the great industries of Philadelphia. If this be so, then to Mr. Pollock should be accorded the honor of first suggesting the Manu- facturers' Club, of Philadelphia, which has since grown into such prominence. At any rate, Mr. Pollock was one of the original group of gentlemen who put into practical shape the idea of establishing the powerful organization known as the Manufacturers' Club, having, perhaps, more influence than any body of a similar kind in this country.
Mr. Pollock has been a Director since the start and a member of the Campaign Committee that rendered such efficient service in the election of General Harrison to the Presidency of the United States. While the club is non-partisan, it was felt that the issues involved in the election were of such paramount importance to the business success of the members, and the material good of the country at large; that a committee to look after the interests of the manufacturers was formed. Great numbers of documents were printed and circulated in every doubtful State, and large sums of money were collected, which aided very sub- stantially in the election of the successful candidate. Mr. Pollock was one of the most active members of this committee, and earned a full share of the honor and credit accorded the managers of the campaign.
After the failure of the Shackamaxon Bank, then the only institution of the kind in the north-eastern section of the city, Mr. Pollock, with a number of other
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well-known manufacturers and business men, organized the Ninth National Bank, and was Chairman of the committee that had charge of the building of the handsome structure now occupied by that establishment. He aided very mate- rially in laying the foundation of the New Industrial Trust, Title and Savings Company-a concern in which members of the working classes, men and women, can deposit their small savings and at the same time obtain interest thereon. Mr. Pollock and fourteen others of the most substantial citizens doing business in that part of the city were constituted a Board of Directors.
Mr. Pollock is a member of the Union League, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Bi-Centennial Association, the Hibernia Society, and the Albion Society-in all of which he takes an active and prominent part. Being of a genial and social disposition, he is also a member of several dining clubs, in which many pleasant associations and lasting friendships are formed.
Though liberal in his religious belief, Mr. Pollock has always adhered to the early training of pious parents. He has many of the characteristics of the sturdy race from which he sprung, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church, at all times contributing generously of his means to the charities of that and other denominations. He is now President of the Board of Trustees of Beacon Pres- byterian Church, which is not only noted for the religious work it accomplishes, but also for its support of a dispensary, where ten thousand people are treated annually for bodily ills.
Mr. Pollock was married on March 27, 1873, to Miss Margaret Cunningham. They have three children-a boy and two girls. He resides with his family at 1312 North Broad Street, Philadelphia.
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F. GUTEKUNST.
PHILA.
JOHN ROBBINS.
JOHN ROBBINS.
H ON. JOHN ROBBINS, a prominent iron manufacturer of Philadelphia and member of Congress for four terms, was born in Lower Dublin township, Montgomery county, in 1808. His parents were John and Mary Robbins, who came from Massachusetts and settled near Bustleton, where his father engaged in farming and dealing in cattle, in which occupation his oldest sons, John and Charles, assisted him. Mr. Robbins' education was obtained in the common schools of his neighborhood, and at the academy of John Gummere, the eminent mathematician and astronomer of Burlington, N. J.
His ambition prompting a wider field of operations than that offered at his home, he went to Philadelphia in 1840 and embarked in the business of convert- ing bar iron, mostly from Swedish ores, into steel by the old process of the converting furnace. He located on Frankford road, near Allen street, Kensing- ton, and was quite successful. In 1846, in addition to this business, he entered into partnership with John P. Verree, subsequently also a member of Congress, under the firm-name of Robbins & Verree, in a rolling-mill for manufacturing bar-iron and steel, located on Delaware avenue above Poplar street. This part- nership lasted until 1856, when Mr. Robbins retired from active business.
In 1848 he was nominated by the Democrats of his district as their candidate for Congress, and after a very exciting contest was elected, receiving six thou- sand six hundred and sixty-one votes against six thousand two hundred and fifty-one for his opponent, John S. Littell. At that time the absorbing question was as to the extension of slavery into new Territories, and whether the South, with its peculiar institution, should be the controlling power in the Union. This disturbing question, it was supposed, was finally settled by the compromise measures of 1850, in the support of which Mr. Robbins took an active part on the floor of Congress. In 1850 he was re-elected to the National House of Rep- resentatives by an increased majority over the same competitor, and in 1852 he was again renominated and elected to the Thirty-third Congress, receiving five thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven votes against three thousand three hun- dred votes for the Whig nominee (Sanderson). He thus served three consecu- tive terms in Congress, and then declined a re-election. He was subsequently a prominent candidate for the United States Senate, but was defeated by the active interference of President Buchanan in behalf of John W. Forney.
After his retirement from Congress and active business he devoted himself to serving his fellow-citizens in various ways, and filled many local offices. He was a Manager of the House of Refuge for twenty-five years, and an Inspector of Moyamensing Prison, a Guardian of the Poor, member of the Park Commission, Director of Girard College, President of the Board of Controllers of Public Schools, President of the Kensington Steam Ferry Company, and President, and
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for several terms Director, of the Kensington Bank. He was active in establish- ing literary institutes and reading-rooms in his section of the city, and was President of the Kensington Literary Institute, and for thirty-one years a promi- nent and active member of the James Page Library Company.
During the civil war Mr. Robbins was earnest and active in doing all he could to sustain the Government, and contributed freely of his means to aid and relieve the sick and wounded in the hospitals, and collected large sums of money for the benefit of the families of soldiers. His loyalty to the flag at that period, and his boundless charities, made him very popular among all classes.
In 1862 he was selected by the Democratic party as their candidate for Mayor of Philadelphia, but his personal popularity could not overcome the influences generated by the war issues, and he was defeated by the then incumbent, Hon. Alexander Henry, by about six hundred majority.
In 1874 the contest for the Republican Congressional nomination between the friends of Leonard Myers and Alfred C. Harmer became so bitter that each faction insisted that their nominee should remain in the field, and the result was that Mr. Robbins, who was again taken up by his Democratic friends, was elected to the Forty-fourth Congress, and served until March, 1877.
In the latter part of April, 1880, he was seized with congestion of the lungs, which terminated fatally on the 27th of that month. His death was sincerely mourned by his old neighbors and friends, and elicited expressions of deep regret from a much wider circle, to whom he was only known by name and reputa- tion. The James Page Library Company entered the following on its minutes : "Resolved, That in his death, not only the city, but the whole country, has lost one of its most honored citizens, the nation one of its truest patriots, society one of its brightest ornaments, and those in need one of their best friends."
A prominent journal voiced the sentiment of the whole community when it said :
" His life has been devoted, not to the selfish enjoyment of his well-earned fortune, but to the good of the city of his early adoption and to the cause of humanity. It has been a quiet, unostentatious, willing service ; not seeking office or distinction, and not shrinking from duty when pressed upon him. The respect that the pure and useful life of John Robbins commanded from all who knew him rose above all political differences and antagonisms. Bred in the Democratic faith, and repeatedly put forward into party leadership in exciting contests, he never forfeited the regard and esteem of his antagonists. Few men have filled so many positions of political service and influence in this city, and none have ever left a fairer record behind them. He enjoyed that peculiar kind of affectionate popularity that so few public men ever attain to, and that is never misplaced because it is the outgrowth of instinctive appreciation of all the best qualities of human nature. In his happy home, in the many institutions to which he has given so much of his useful life, in the large circle of his personal friends, and in the whole district which has so long regarded him as its first citizen, the death of John Robbins leaves a vacancy that can never be altogether filled."
In 1848 he was united in marriage at Mayor Swift's residence, in accordance with the Friends' ceremony, to Tacy W. Blakey, of Bucks county. His widow is still living, childless and in impaired health, treasuring in her heart his memory as the brightest and dearest recollection of her life. E. T. F.
PHILA.
F GUTEKUNST.
ISAAC A. SHEPPARD.
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ISAAC A. SHEPPARD.
SAAC A. SHEPPARD, a prominent manufacturer and President of the Board of
I Education of Philadelphia, was born in Cumberland county, New Jersey, July 11, 1827. His great-grandparents were among the first white settlers on the Cohansey river, and he is a direct descendant of two of the oldest families of New Jersey-the Sheppards and the Westcotts. His early boyhood was spent, like that of most country boys at that time, in doing " chores " on a farm, excepting in the winter months, when he attended school. In 1840 his parents · removed to Philadelphia; and shortly after his mother died, when the family became scattered, and Isaac was thrown upon his own resources. He had early become impressed with the truth of Franklin's adage " that he who hath a trade hath an estate," and he sought diligently for an opportunity to learn one, but the times were adverse, manufacturing industries depressed and tradesmen were not taking apprentices. In the meanwhile he accepted such honest employment as he could find to secure a livelihood, but never relinquishing his determination to learn a trade. Finally in July, 1843, he secured a situation in a brass and iron foundry to learn the trade of a moulder, with compensation sufficient to pay for his board and the privilege of working at night to pay for his clothing. By the sudden death of his employer in the following December, however, he was again thrown out of employment, but in January, 1844, he apprenticed himself to Charles W. Warnick & Co. to learn the stove and hollow-ware foundry busi- ness. By close application he thoroughly mastered the trade of a moulder before the expiration of his apprenticeship. On the completion of his contract as an apprentice he was publicly commended by his employer and given a job on some of the most particular work in the establishment, with the assurance that while they had work he should have it in preference to others. He con- tinued with the firm until its dissolution by the demise of the senior partner.
During all this period he sought to improve his mind by study and association with those whose character and culture would be of assistance to him in the acquisition of knowledge. He became early impressed with the idea that the formation of building associations would be of great benefit to mechanics and others, having read of such associations being in operation in Scotland since 1815, and in Frankford since 1831, and he united with others in establishing one of the first, if not the first, that was organized in this city.
In 1859 the firm of Isaac A. Sheppard & Co. began business on Girard avenue and Seventh street, his associates being James C. Horn, William B. Walton, Jonathan S. Biddle and John Sheeler. They made stoves, heaters, ranges and hollow-ware, and called their establishment the "Excelsior Stove Works and Hollow-ware Foundry," and succeeded admirably.
In 1858 Mr. Sheppard was selected by the People's party as their candidate for
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the Legislature, and was elected. He took his seat in January, 1859, and proved a useful and influential representative of the people; aiding in the passage of many important acts for the public welfare. He was twice re-elected to this body, and held several prominent positions therein. In January, 1861, he was made Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, and in that capacity had charge of the most important bills in that body, whereby the credit of the general government was strengthened and the State protected. In March, 1861, he was unanimously elected Speaker pro tem., and filled the chair with dignity and marked ability. In May, 1861, he was a member of the Committee that prepared and reported a bill entitled "An Act to Create a Loan and Provide for Arming the State," under which the fifteen regiments of the Pennsylvania Reserves were organized. He was also one of the Committee appointed to examine and report on the subject-matter of the attack on citizens of Pennsylvania in passing through Baltimore en route to Washington, and made an able report thereon.
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