USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 12
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twice delegate to the State conventions, first to that which nominated Mr. Jackson for State treasurer, and whom he supported. In 1895 he was delegate when Quay was nominated for State chairman. He has been for five years secretary of the Finance Committee of Alle- gheny County. He is a member of the Young Men's Tariff Club; and he is a director of the State Bank on Liberty Street, Pittsburg, of which he was one of the original organizers. Mr. Pearce handles considerable real estate, and was for seven years secretary of the Springdale Building and Loan Association, of which he is now president. While not the largest, this association is one of the most successful in the county ; and its president has taken an active part in directing its affairs. He was delegate from the Tariff Club to the National League of Republican Clubs at Buffalo in 1892; and he was delegate-at-large from this State at the meeting in Denver, Col., in the same year. While in the West in 1892, Mr. Pearce travelled quite exten- sively, visiting many of the strange corners of the country.
On October 29, 1884, Mr. Pearce married Miss Luella C. Mellon, daughter of Samuel G. and Matilda Mellon, of Springdale. Her grandfather, Joseph Mellon, now ninety-four years old and one of the oldest residents of Springdale, is one of the early property owners there, and, with her father, owns boats on the old canal. The father is now retired. They were both prominent in the early days of the United Presbyterian Church. Mr. Pearce is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has two children - Nellie and Eunice. The family has had a beautiful home in Springdale for several years.
Mr. Pearce is a Mason, a member of the Springdale Lodge, No. 1052, I. O. O. F., and was a delegate to the last Grand Lodge held in
1896. He is also a member of Sharpsburg Zaradatha Lodge, No. 484, F. & A. M., and Recorder of the Springdale Lodge, 1892, A. O. U. W.
UDSON SAMSON, a funeral director of Pittsburg and the owner of what is perhaps the finest crematory in his section of the country, was born at Pulaski, Oswego County, N. Y., April 29, 1840, son of Jonathan M. and Elizabeth (Draper) Samson. He comes of an old family of Nantucket, Mass. His grandfather, Samuel Samson, of Nantucket, married Nancy Tabor, who also belonged to an old family of that place. Both Samuel and his wife were Quakers.
Jonathan M. Samson was born in Saratoga County, September 29, 1810. Shortly after his birth he was taken by his- parents to Quaker Hill, N. Y., where he remained until he came of age. He learned the painter's trade in Lowville, Lewis County, N. Y., and then returned to his native town, where he resided throughout the remainder of his life. His wife, who was a daughter of Joel Draper, ~ of Lowville, formerly of New Jersey, died at Pulaski in 1867. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church; and, although her husband leaned to the faith of his fathers, he always attended divine service with her. Their two daughters died in early youth. Their sons, Hudson and Dexter, now reside in Los Angeles, Cal. Jonathan M. Samson was one of the original abolitionists; and he, with but two other citizens in the county, boldly voted for the abolition candidates in the days when that great movement was discouraged on every side. He died January 3, 1894, at the home of his son in Pittsburg.
Hudson Samson took a preparatory course at Pulaski Academy with the purpose of subse-
HUDSON SAMSON.
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. quently entering college; but, his health being delicate, the plan was abandoned. In Decem- ber, 1859, the young man came to Pittsburg, and there started in business for himself. He became a successful funeral director. The increase of his business in 1884 led him to build a very fine and extensive chapel under- taking-rooms on Sixth Avenue. In the fol- lowing year, having become deeply interested in the subject of cremation, he built a crema- tory in accordance with the most advanced ideas, containing the best of furnaces and sup- plied exclusively with natural gas. Also largely interested in real estate, Mr. Samson owns a number of houses in Allegheny and valuable property at the East End.
On February 4, 1862, Mr. Samson married Susan Gilmore, of Utica, N. Y. Of their six children Harry G. and Cora L. are living, both residing with their parents. Harry mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Sager, of Saegerstown, Pa., and has two sons - Howard and Hudson. Cora L. is one of the most active members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Sam- son has been the president of the Valley Camp Meeting Association since its organization. Many of the mission Sunday-schools and other church organizations owe their existence and usefulness to his efforts. He is one of the trustees of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, and is upon the Advisory Board of the Young Women's Christian Association. Church and church extension have been Mr. Samson's life aim, and outside of his business no other interests have so completely absorbed his attention. To live one's life actively for others has seemed to be his idea of a lifetime well spent. Few men in the city are more admired and respected. A Masor of the thirty-second degree, he has advanced through the different grades of the order up to the Pittsburg Consistory.
ILLIAM SANKEY, who is largely interested in the old firm of Sankey Brothers, Pittsburg, was born near Pottsville, Schuylkill County, September 16, 1836, son of Francis and Mary (Jackson) Sankey. The father was born in Shropshire, England, the home of his ancestors; and there he learned the coal mining business. He inarried Mary Jackson, of Lancashire, Eng- land, and came to the United States in June of the year 1836. He went to Pottsville, and there followed mining until the fall of 1847, when, packing his household effects in a coun- try wagon, he came to Pittsburg by way of Halifax, Hollidaysburg, and Johnstown, part of the journey being made by canal. Here Mr. Sankey established himself as a coal miner on the South Side. Later in life he opened the coal drift on Hillside for Messrs, Jones & Laughlin, who opened their works on the South Side in 1857. This work Mr. Sankey did in company with his son on con- tract ; and he managed the drift for about ten years, until within two years of his death, which occurred in 1870. His wife was a member of the Bingham Street Methodist Episcopal Church. They had six sons and six daughters, of whom five sons and four daugh- ters lived to maturity. The latter were: Hannah, now Mrs. Turner; Mary, the wife of George D. Siebert; Sarah, the wife of William Vogel, of Pittsburg; William: Thomas; and John, who served in the Fifth Heavy Artillery, and died in 1884; Francis, who was killed in the army; Matthew, who died in the army in 1861; and Martha, the wife of Thomas Davidson, who died thirty- nine years ago. The mother died in August, 1895, in the eighty-fourth year of her age.
William Sankey was educated in the public schools of Schuylkill County, and received most of his schooling before the age of eleven
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. in the public schools of Schuylkill County. At the night school in Pittsburg he gained some knowledge of book-keeping. Until April 1, 1860, he worked with his father in the mine. On this date, in company with his brother John, he opened a small hand brick works on the McChurg property; and later, upon coming of age, Thomas was taken into the firm. They first turned out from nine hundred thousand to one million bricks from what was called a two-gang yard, this being all hand work. In February, 1877, a machine was put into the works that made good brick, and gave practical results in every way. Other machines had been used ten years be- fore and proved inadequate; and this caused a prejudice against machine brick, so that Sankey Brothers were for several years the sole manufacturers of machine-made brick. They employed two machines, each of which turned out five million bricks yearly. They have since added a machine for pressed brick, making high-grade and fancy-shaped brick. It is claimed that the company has made more brick than any other firm in the city of Pitts- burg, controlling the best trade, and produc- ing the finest article made. Though still holding a large interest in the factory, Mr. Sankey and his brothers have left the manage- ment of the business to the younger members of the firm. He was for a time a stockholder in the South Side Planing Mills. This firm has built more than a hundred houses on the South Side, and still owns the most of them.
Mr. Sankey married Miss Mary Eynon, who came of Welsh ancestry. Her mother mar- ried a second husband, a Mr. Worthington, whose name Miss Eynon bore. Mrs. Sankey died March 3, 1896, at the age of fifty-seven. She had seven children, of whom William E., Thomas H., John F., and Walter M. are liv- ing. William E. is now the manager of the
business of Sankey Brothers. He has served on the Select Council, for two terms on the School Board, and he is a member of the Cen- tral Board of Education. He married Mar- garet Cary, and has had four children-Alice, Walter, Ethel, and Mary. Thomas H. Sankey is also connected with the business in which his father, uncles, and brothers are as- sociated; and he has also gone into real estate and insurance. His wife's maiden name was Miss Maud Clemens. John F. is with his father and his brother Thomas in real estate, under the firm name of William Sankey & Sons. He married Mrs. Mary Morgan, and has two children -- William and Thomas. Walter M. Sankey, the youngest living child of William, holds a good position in the brick- yard, and resides at home. Mrs. Sankey was a member of the Eighteenth Street Methodist Protestant Church. Mr. Sankey, who is the oldest member of the society, has attended service there since the day the church was opened. He was for several terms a member of the Board of Trustees. Lately he has de- clined re-election. He has been interested in the Sunday-school, and was for many years its librarian. He is most liberal in all his deal - ings, and a large contributor to public chari- ties, including the South Side Hospital. His fine house on Mission Street has been his resi- dence since 1874.
HOMAS SANKEY, a retired member of the well-known firm of Sankey Brothers, of Pittsburg, was born in Schuylkill County, near Pottsville, in June, 1843, son of Francis and Mary (Jackson) Sankey. The parents, both natives of Eng- land, born respectively in Shropshire and Lancashire, were married in their native land. The father was a coal miner there. Three years after his marriage he and his wife
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emigrated to America, and first settled in Pottsville, where their three eldest sons were born. In 1847 he brought his family to Pitts- burg, and bought land on the South Side, where the family has since resided. He be- came manager of the Hillside coal shaft, be- longing to Messrs. Jones & Laughlin, which position he retained until 1868. He died at the age of sixty in the year 1870. Of their twelve children nine reached maturity, namely: Hannah, now Mrs. Turner, of Pitts- burg; Mary, the wife of George D. Siebert; Sarah, the wife of William Vogel, of Pitts- burg; William, Thomas, and John, the origi- nal members of the firm Sankey Brothers; Francis, who was killed at Gaines's Mill while under General Mcclellan in 1861, in the Sixty-second Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment; Matthew, who also died in the war in 1861 ; and Martha, the wife of Thomas Davidson, who died thirty-nine years ago. The mother died in August, 1895, aged eighty-four years. She was a member of the Bingham Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
Thomas Sankey received a limited educa- tion in his early youth. After leaving school, he was employed in different ways until he was twenty-one years old, when his two brothers, William and John, formed a partnership with him, and engaged in the manufacture of brick, opening yards on the South Side. A progressive firm from the be- ginning, they introduced many new features in brick-making, building up an extensive and successful business in a comparatively short time. In 1877 machines were put into the factory, and operated .successfully several years before other manufacturers took up the idea. The firm became the largest manufact- urers of brick in Allegheny County. While making a specialty of fine pressed brick of different shapes, they were able to turn out
ten million bricks annually. Mr. Sankey has also been largely interested in real estate, and built extensively. One of his pet enterprises is a large poultry yard at Hamlin Station, sit- uated on the Panhandle Railroad, said to be one of the largest in the United States. A close board fence, a mile and a quarter in length, encloses the hill set apart for the poultry ; and this also includes a game preserve in the woods at the top of the hill. Within this enclosure is a southern slope for his buildings, and a gas well that supplies heat to the poultry, and light and heat to the six buildings, sixty feet long, and to the commo- dious house in which the manager lives. This farm, on which he raises choice breeds, is generally known as the Thomas & T. M. Sankey Poultry Farm. They also own two good farms in the same neighborhood, under one of which is two hundred acres of coal, not at the present time worked by the owner. Mr. Sankey votes the Republican ticket on general issues. He was a member of the Council for the borough before it was admitted to the city. He was one of the first directors of the South Side Hospital, the largest insti- tution in that part of the city, and was the first vice-president, holding that office until after the erection of the new building. Al- though he has declined election to the presi- dency of the hospital, he has been one of its most active supporters. While a generous supporter of other charities, modesty leads him to disguise his benevolence; and his phil- anthropic deeds are known only to the few.
Mr. Sankey married Miss Martha Ayres, of Pittsburg. They have five children now liv- ing: Thomas M., Mary Altha, Stella Mabel, Edith Hazel, and Albert Watson. Mr. Sankey has been a member of the Eighteenth Street Methodist Protestant Church for more than forty years. In his boyhood he was
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present at the first meeting of the society. Since then he has been a trustee and steward of the Board for twenty-five years past. He has always been associated with the Sunday- school, and for the last quarter of a century he has presided over the Ormsby Street Mission Sunday school in the Twenty-fourth Ward. That this undenominational school has flour - ished so long is generally attributed to the energy and unflagging interest of its superin- tendent and his assistant, Mr. John Gray.
ILLIAM C. HASLAGE, represent- ing the oldest firm of grocers in the city of Pittsburg, was born there, September 19, 1855, son of William and Car- olina (Mittler) Haslage. The grandfather, Frank Haslage, descended from an old and well-known German family, was a farmer of the parish of Rahden called Varl. He was a large farmer for that part of the country, and lived and died at Varl.
William Haslage, son of Frank, was edu- cated in the public schools of Rahden. He worked on his father's farm until 1845, when he left home for America, with a few dollars in his pocket. Upon his arrival in Pittsburg his money was stolen from him, and he was obliged to begin life in a strange country, ab- solutely without money or friends. He after- ward obtained a clerk's position in a grocery store. Some time after he started in business on the South Side; but, not succeeding in the venture, he sold out, and entered the employ of Reiss & Berger. When he again went into business for himself, he took as his first part- ners Mr. Luebee, Mr. Henry Luebee, and Christ Kuhlman, forming the firm Kuhlman, Haslage & Co. In 1863 they were completely burned out, losing everything except their good name. With this for the bulk of the
capital, business was again started on the Dia- mond, at the old stand, under the style of William Haslage & Co. In 1870 Mr. Has- lage bought the lot upon which the present es- tablishment stands. This store is thirty by one hundred and fifty feet, and five stories high. The firm occupies the entire building. When it was built, the partnership was some- what changed, Mr. Kuhlman removing with Mr. Haslage, and the Messrs. Luebee remain- ing at the old stand. After four years with Mr. Kuhlman the latter sold out his interest to Mr. Haslage, who thereafter conducted the business without a partner until about the year 1880. Then his son William became a member of the firm, and the firm name was altered to William Haslage & Son. He was a director of the German National Bank and of the Artisans' Insurance Company. His wife, Carolina, who was born in Germany, near the French line, at a little place called Saar Bruck, daughter of John Mittler, was very young when she came to Pittsburg with her parents. The latter have since resided here. The children of William and Carolina Haslage, all of whom survived their father, were: Sophia, William C., Frank S., Louise, Hermann C., Charles, Lena, and Emma. Sophia, who was the wife of Dr. Schenkel, and Emma are deceased. Frank S. lives in the West, and Lena is now Mrs. Charles Lappe. The father died December 25, 1881, leaving a valuable home in Allegheny City on Spring Hill, where his wife still resides. He was a member of the Smithfield Lutheran Church.
William C. Haslage, the second child of his parents, attended the schools of Alle- gheny City. At the age of seventeen he went abroad for a four years' course at Darmstadt, in order to complete his German education. Upon his return he finished a classical course
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WILLIAM J. REID.
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at the Ayres Latin School, and then entered his father's store to learn the business. When his father went for the benefit of his health to the Silurian Spring in Wisconsin, which the latter bought and spent about sixty thousand dollars upon, the management of the business devolved upon him. It was carried on by the family for some time after his death ; but the property needed too much attention, and it was sold. The firm now deals largely in fancy groceries, and carries a large stock of imported goods. A branch house at Sewick- ley, Pa., is under the same management.
In 1881, April 26, Mr. Haslage married Miss Amelia Porter Goehring, of Pittsburg, a daughter of Charles L. Goehring. They have had two children : Charlie L., who died at the age of seven; and Florence Amelia, who re- sides with her parents in Allegheny. The family are members of Dr. Goettman's Luth- eran Church on Stockton Avenue. Mr. Has- lage was made a Mason in McCaudless Lodge, No. 390. He also belongs to the Royal Arca- num,
EV. WILLIAM J. REID, D.D., pastor of the First United Presbyte- rian Church of Pittsburg and one of the leading divines of this city, was born at South Argyle, Washington County, N. Y., August 17, 1834. He is the eldest surviving son of the late John and Elizabeth (McQuarie) Reid, and is descended from the Scotch fam- ilies of Reid, of the Lowlands, and McArthur of the Campbell clan. A tract of land given by King George to the Duke of Argyle was apportioned to the Scotch; and John Reid, first, and the emigrant McArthur each re- ceived a share. William Reid, the great- grandfather of Dr. Reid, emigrated from Perthshire to New Jersey, removing to New
York State in 1768. He was by occupation a millwright. He died November 19, 1833, more than ninety-five years of age.
His son John, first, was born at Bascon Ridge, N.J., December 23, 1766. He was a millwright in early life, afterward engaging in agricultural pursuits, and was among the early members of the United Presbyterian Church of South Argyle. He married Miss Margaret McArthur in Washington County, New York, and had children, among whom was John, second, born March 14, 1798, a farmer of South Argyle and a member of the church of his forefathers. He married Octo- ber 22, 1829, Elizabeth McQuarie, the daugh- ter of Donald and Elizabeth (McIntire) Mc- Quarie, who came to this country about the close of last century. The children of this union were four sons, the eldest of whom died in infancy. The surviving members of the family are: Dr. Reid, of Pittsburg; Donald and John McArthur Reid -- the two younger sons being farmers. The father died July 18, 1881 ; and the mother, outliving her husband but two months, died September 17 of the same year.
William J. Reid prepared for college at Argyle Academy. He taught in several dis- trict schools of Washington County during the winters of 1850-51 and 1852-53, and en- tered Union College at Schenectady, N. Y., in the spring of 1853 as a member of the Sophomore class. He was graduated with the highest honors of his class in 1855, and three years later received the degree of Master of Arts, having taught throughout his col- lege course in Whitestown Seminary, Oncida County, New York, first as professor of math- ematics and later as professor of ancient lan - guages. Upon his completion of the four years' course at the Allegheny Theological Seminary he was licensed as a probationer
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for the ministry at East Salem, N. Y., and ac- cepted a call from the First United Presby- terian Church of Pittsburg in December, 1861, being ordained and installed pastor of that church by the Presbytery of Monongahela, April 7, 1862. This is the oldest church of the denomination in the city, having been organized in ISO1. Dr. Reid preaches at the old church edifice on Seventh Avenue, and also at the one more recently erected in Oak- land.
He is one of the most prominent ministers in the Presbytery, and for more than thirty- five years has figured conspicuously in the his- tory of the church. In 1864 he was sent as Commissioner to the General Assembly at Philadelphia, and was placed upon the com- mittee appointed to rewrite the "Book of Government." In 1867 he was made chair- man of the committee to rewrite the "Direc- tory for Worship"; was for several years, or until 1868, a member of the Board of Church Extension; was on the Board of Freedmen's Missions from the time of its organization until 1874; was elected clerk of Synod of Pittsburg for the years 1866-78; was corresponding secretary of Home Mis- sions, 1868-72; and in 1869 was elected a trustee of the Allegheny Theological Semi- nary, which office he still holds. He was commissioner to the Assembly at Monmouth, Ill., in 1869; in 1872 he declined the honor of the presidency of Westminster College; he served as financial agent of Monongahela Pres- bytery from 1865 until 1893; was treasurer of the Synod of Pittsburg from 1874, and has been a member of the Board of Home Mis- sions since 1872. The title of Doctor of Di- vinity was conferred upon him by Monmouth College at the Commencement of 1874. The following year he was commissioner to the General Assembly at Wooster, Ohio, where
he was elected principal clerk of the As- sembly; and the Assembly of 1876 appointed him chairman of a committee to prepare a "Digest of the Principal Deliverances of the Assembly at Philadelphia, 1876," which was completed, printed, and reported in 1879. Among the many valuable contributions to re- ligious literature from the pen of Dr. Reid may be mentioned as especially noteworthy his lectures on "The Revelation," published in 1878; Notes on the International Sabbath- school Lessons, published from time to time in the Bible Teacher and the Evangelical Repository ; and his "United Presbyterian," which appeared in ISSI.
On October 29, 1862, he married Miss Mary Bowen, of Troy, N. Y., by whom he has had four children. Two of the children died in infancy; and a daughter Anna died at the age of nineteen. The only surviving child is William J. Reid, Jr., now pastor of the United Presbyterian Church of Kittanning, Pa.
Dr. Reid visited Europe in the summer of 1884, and represented his Synod at the Pan- Presbyterian Council held at Belfast. Four years later, accompanied by his family, he visited the British Isles, France, and Switzer- land. In November of the year 1887, upon the death of Dr. D. R. Kerr and at his earnest request, Dr. Reid became the supervising edi- tor of the United Presbyterian, which was founded in 1842 by John T. Pressly, D. D., its first editor. It has a large circulation, and is widely influential, being the leading paper of that church.
ONATHAN DAVIS, for many years a prominent iron worker of Pittsburg, now retired, and a resident of Millvale borough, was born in Pittsburg, November 3,
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1825, son of Jonathan and Mary A. (Morgan) Davis. Mr. Davis's paternal grandfather was a farmer of Wales; and his maternal grand- father, Morgan Morgan, was an iron worker of Wales. His parents, both natives of the southern part of Wales, came to Allegheny County in 1820. The father was one of the first iron puddlers in Pittsburg. Seven chil- dren were born to him, of whom there are liv- ing: Rachel, the wife of .the Rev. Joseph Errett; and Jonathan. One of the sons, John, was a soldier in the Mexican War. The father died in Centre County in 1841, and the mother in 1839. Both were members of the Baptist church.
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