USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 22
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in Chicago, and made their chimneys there until the Pittsburg men decided to go to work. Challinor, Hogan & Co. had carried on an extensive business for fifteen years, when, the works proving too small to meet the constantly increasing demand, and it being impossible to purchase adjoining land, they closed the fac- tory. Then was formed the firm Challinor, Taylor & Co., which thereupon established a factory at Tarentum, Pa., in the vicinity of land where natural gas was then being ob- tained. Here the firm built one of the largest furnaces ever erected, with sixteen fonts and two tanks, besides tanks for colored glass, and afterward made all kinds of glass-ware, em- ploying as many as two hundred decorators at a time. This plant flourished for ten years, and was instrumental in building up the town. In the last three years of its exist- ence, the firm was merged in the United States Glass Company, a combination of six- teen of the best concerns in the country for the purpose of controlling the market. Mr. Challinor was a director in the United States Glass Company and the superintendent of the plant at Tarentum. In 1892 the factory was destroyed by fire, and he then retired from business. While active as a glass manufact- urer, he was a director in the First National Bank of Birmingham, Pittsburg, South Side, and in the Pittsburg Clay Pot Company, which manufactured the glass pots, brick, etc., used in glass factories.
Mr. Challinor married Mary F. Fawcett, daughter of James Fawcett, of Birmingham, South Side, Pittsburg. Mr. Fawcett was one of the pioneer coal operators on the Monon- gahela River, shipping his coal by steamboat to Pittsburg; and he was the president of the First National Bank of Birmingham. Mr. and Mrs. Challinor had a pleasant home on the South Side for twenty years, and there
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their children were born. Their oldest son, James F., now the superintendent of one of the United States glass factories, married Miss Emma Welsh, who died leaving one child, Oliver. He subsequently married Miss Carrie Broad, of Brooklyn, N. Y. The second son, Thomas Fawcett Challinor, a printer, artist, and business man, and a member of the firm Challinor, Dunker & Co., of the South Side, married Miss Maggie Alexander, of Wilmington, Del., and has two children - David and Lloyd. The other children of Mr. and Mrs. Challinor are: Lizzie, the wife of the Rev. J. T. Riley, of Oklahoma City, Ok. Ter .; Margaret Jane, who resides with her parents; Samuel, who is studying medicine; and George Oliver, who is a dentist. The home of the family is a palatial residence on Oakland Avenue, near Bates Street, with grounds covering two acres running through to Boquet Street, in the centre of the city. Mr. Challinor votes the Republican ticket. Both he and his wife have been members of the Bingham Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South Side, for nearly half a century. He has been class leader and steward in the society; and he is still a trustee, though now living at a distance from the church. Mrs. Challinor is active in church, hospital, and temperance work.
OHN SCOTT FERGUSON, one of the most successful of Pittsburg's lawyers, was born in that city, January 24, 1842, son of Charles and Mary A. (Hamilton) Ferguson. Charles Ferguson, who was born in Washington County, came to Pittsburg in early life, and became a well-known contrac- tor and builder of that city. He erected many fine buildings, both within and without the city, including the present Municipal
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Hall, for which he was the original contrac- tor. His wife was a daughter of James Ham- ilton, who settled in Pittsburg about the year 1800. Both the Hamiltons and the Fergusons are of Scotch-Irish descent. Of the six chil- dren of Charles Ferguson, John Scott is the only son now living. Both parents were members of the First Associate Church, now Dr. Reid's church. The father died in 1869, at the age of sixty years.
The grandfather, John Ferguson, born at Londonderry, N.H., was among the youngest of the soldiers who fought for American inde- pendence. He was but seventeen when he took part in the battle of Bunker Hill. At the close of the war he settled on a farm in the outskirts of the borough of Washington, Washington County, where he remained throughout the rest of his life, and died in 1842, at the age of eighty-five. His second marriage was made with Mary Woods, of Washington County.
John Scott Ferguson was educated in the grammar and high schools of the city and at the Allegheny City College. He began to read law immediately after leaving school, first studying with Robert Woods, Esq., and afterward with Mr. Sol. Schoyer, Jr. He was admitted to the bar on April 9, 1863. Mr. Schoyer and Mr. Ferguson then formed a partnership, which lasted three years. At the end of that time they separated, and Mr. Ferguson went into business independently, practising almost entirely in the civil courts. Between 1872 and 1874 he was in practice with James W. Murray, Esq. After 1874, and until his son joined him in business in 1889, he again did business alone. In 1874 he was in the noted Indian ejectment cases. He has also figured prominently in many of the great law cases since. The firm, of which he is the principal, under the style of J. S. &
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E. G. Ferguson, carry on a very extensive business, both in court and outside it. They are members of the County and State Bar As- sociation, the father being one of the charter members of the County Association.
Mr. Ferguson was married September io, 1863, to Nancy A. Graham, daughter of Hugh M. Graham, of Pittsburg. They have five children, namely: Edwin G., who is now in partnership with his father; Mary, the wife of H. Watts; Areta. S .; John S., Jr. ; and Anna L. Their father is a regular attendant and a liberal supporter of the East Liberty Presby- terian Church, of which his wife is a member. Mr. Ferguson's exclusive devotion to his pro- fession has made it impossible for him to accept many public positions of trust. How- ever, he has been a School Director for a num- ber of years. In politics he is an active Re- publican. His singleness of purpose and never-flagging interest in his business have made him one of the most eminent members of the State bar.
ILLIAM S. HOSACK, M.D., of Allegheny, one of the veteran sur- geons of the late war, was born in Indiana County, near Blairsville, October 7, 1832, son of John and Sarah (Russell) Hosack. His grandfather, who was of Scotch- Irish parentage, and came from the north of Ireland, died in extreme old age. John Hosack, the father, was a farmer in Westmore- land County, and died there in 1867, seventy- four years of age. His wife lived to be eighty-three years old. Both were members of the Presbyterian church, of which he was an Elder for twenty years. They had nine children, six of whom are living; namely, Hannah, John M., James R., Joseph T., Alexander B., and William S.
William S. Hosack spent his youth in Westmoreland County, and attended the dis- trict schools for the usual period. Subse- quently, after studying in the academy at Saulsburg, he began the study of medicine. Having completed a course at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, he began practice in Dayton, Armstrong County, where he remained for two years. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted as Assistant Surgeon, and served for three years in the Seventy-eighth Regiment, Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Infantry. He was for sixty-three days a prisoner in Libby. After the war he re- turned to Dayton. In 1873 he removed to Oakland, where he had spent fourteen years in successful practice when he came to Alle- gheny. He was the resident physician of the Western Penitentiary at Allegheny City for two years. After his term expired, he again took up a general practice in the city.
In May, 1865, Dr. Hosack married Miss Caroline S. Hamilton, daughter of Captain J. K. and Eliza Hamilton. Of their five chil- dren Lillie May and Nina Carlotta are de- ceased. The others are: Ona Blanche, Nor- man Frank, and Walter Russell. Both par- ents are members of the Presbyterian church. The Doctor is a member of the G. A. R. Post, No. 162.
ILLIAM IRWIN MUSTIN, a prominent business man of Pitts- burg, was born in this city, June 8, 1860, son of James G. and Frances (Irwin) Mustin. On the paternal side he is descended from. French Huguenots, who were forced by religious persecution to take refuge in Eng- land, where the family name, which was prob. ably Moustam, was changed to the present form of spelling. The great-grandfather of Will-
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iam I., and the first ancestor to emigrate to America, became a merchant in Philadelphia. Anthony Mustin, the grandfather, was the first to establish what is known as a "trim -. ming store" in the Quaker City; and the family were identified with that branch of trade for many years.
James G. Mustin, a native of Philadelphia, was for some years engaged in the trimming business. In 1840 he came to Pittsburg, where he became connected with the Logan- Gregg hardware company, and continued in that business until his death, which occurred in March, 1864. His wife, Frances, who was born in Pittsburg, daughter of the Hon. Will- iam Wallace Irwin, died here on February 24, 1897. Her grandfather, John Irwin, who em- igrated from Ireland in 1772, resided in Car- lisle, Pa., until 1790. Coming to the then village of Pittsburg, John opened the first dry-goods store in the town, on the corner of Fourth and Market Streets, and continued in business for the rest of his life. He died in this city in April, 1830. William Wallace Irwin was prominent in the political and so- cial circles of Pittsburg in his day. He was a member of Congress, was Mayor of Pittsburg in 1839, and he was United States Minister to Denmark by the appointment of President Tyler. In politics he was a Whig and later a Democrat. He died in Pittsburg in Sep- tember, 1856. Mr. and Mrs. James G. Mus- tin were the parents of five children, three of whom are living, namely: Caroline Denny, the wife of George W. Nicholson, of Pitts- burg; William I., the subject of this sketch; and Edwin T., a travelling man of this city.
William Irwin Mustin was educated at home under the direction of his mother. He was still a lad when he began to learn the printer's trade with W. G. Johnson & Co. On October 9, 1871, he entered the employ of
George B. Hill. His aptitude for business soon created a favorable impression with his employer, who advanced him rapidly; and in 188t he was admitted to partnership, which relationship still continues.
On April 12, 1883, Mr. Mustin was united in marriage with Sarah Isabel Dorrington, daughter of John and Sarah Dorrington, the former of whom was in the grocery business" in this city. Mrs. Mustin is the mother of three children - Burton Hill, Eleanor Dor- rington, and Agnes Mahon. Politically, Mr. Mustin is a Republican. He is now serving his third term in the presidency of the Ameri- cus Club, was elected vice-president of the Mozart Club in January, 1890, was president of the Pittsburg Stock Exchange in 1893, and he has advanced in Masonry to the Com- mandery.
AJOR FELIX CASPER NEG- LEY, a retired coal operator of Pittsburg, has been one of the leading business men of this section, and is widely known on account of his honorable an- cestry and his loyal and patriotic services in support of the Union. He was born in But- ler, Pa., February 28, 1825, son of John and Elizabeth Ann (Patterson) Negley. All the Negleys in America are descended from John Negley, born in the canton of Berne, Switzer- land, who preached the Reformation in Ger- many with Zuinglius, and settled in Carles- ruhe about the year 1655. Some members of the family settled in Frankfort and other parts of Northern Germany; while three brothers - John, Casper, and Benjamin Negley - started with their families for America. Benjamin died on shipboard, and was buried at sea. The three families reached this country safely, and settled in Germantown, l'a.
Alexander Negley, the father of John, born
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in 1739, was a native of Bucks County, where he was engaged in farming until the Revolutionary War, in which he served for two years. During the second year his com- pany was sent by General Washington over to Fort Pitt to help the settlers against the Ind- ians. He was so well pleased with the coun- try then that later he moved his family West, and became the first white settler in East Liberty valley, where he acquired a large tract of land, which was known for a long time as Negleystown. His homestead was within the grounds now known as High- land Park. Here he resided until his death in 1819. He married Mary Ann Berk- streeser, and eleven children were born to him. Both he and his wife were Lutheran in religious belief.
John Negley, who was born at Fort Ligonier, April 6, 1778, received such edu- cation as the schools of his day afforded. While a young man he sold a tract of land in Pittsburg which he had inherited, and invested the proceeds in property on the site of the present. Butler City. Together with John Cunningham, he owned the whole of the town of Butler; and the two men surveyed and laid it out. Mr. Negley carried on a grist-mill there until 1837. He also owned and oper- ated two lumber-mills, and built a large fur- niture factory, the first one in this section of the country .. He was the leading business man in his county, and continued to be active until his ninety-first year, when he became partially paralyzed as the result of injuries re- ceived from a fall on ice. In the War of 1812, during the siege of Fort Black Rock by the British and Indians, when the garrison succeeded in getting word to the settle- ment that, unless food and ammunition could be sent to them, the place must surrender, Mr. Negley took charge of four six-horse
teams, helped to load them with goods from his own store, and succeeded in passing the enemy's lines, after which the besiegers re- tired. Mr. Negley served in both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature. While a man of quiet and modest demeanor, he possessed great executive ability. He was a safe coun- sellor, and it is said that he was consulted on all important political questions. In 1816 he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Patter- son, who was reputed to be the first man to practice law in Pittsburg before Allegheny County was organized. This marriage was blessed in the birth of ten children, seven of whom attained maturity ; namely, Mary, Susan, John H., Felix, Minerva, James A., and Albert Gallatin. Both parents were ac- tive members of the Lutheran church, and were always ready to give needed financial support to any worthy cause. The father died in 1870, and the mother in 1835.
Major Felix Negley received his early edu- cation in Butler Academy, after which he was engaged in engineering and general survey- ing. In 1849 he caught the gold fever, and, organizing a company of three hundred men, he started for California. Crossing the Rocky Mountains, they reached Hangtown, now known as Placerville, Cal. Here a de- sirable location was found, and the company were soon actively engaged in mining for the precious metal. Major Negley, being the only engineer in the party, took charge of lay- ing out a road seven miles long up an almost impassable mountain side. While in Placer- ville, it was suggested by Dr. Calvin S. Truesdale that much labor might be saved by washing the dirt from the hillside instead of using pick and shovel. Acting on this sug- gestion, Major Negley constructed what was probably the first hydraulic mining flume used in California. His method was after-
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ward adopted all through the State wherever there was a suitable water supply. After the company split up into divisions, Major Negley was appointed business manager of his divi- sion, comprising about a dozen men. Having spent two years profitably in the new Eldo- rado, he returned to Pittsburg, and here asso- ciated himself with a firm which was the first to engage in the enterprise of mining and shipping coal by railroad, and which afterward acquired a large business.
When the war between the North and the South broke out, Major Negley, desirous of sustaining the Union, besides assisting in or- ganizing and equipping a battalion of cavalry, enlisted for service as a volunteer. With this battalion, and holding the rank of Captain of Negley's Independent Company of Cavalry Scouts, he was ordered to recruit a regiment of cavalry. Six companies had been enlisted when the order came to march to the front, as the Southern army was moving toward Gettys- burg. He went as Major in the First Battal- ion of the six months' cavalry. After these six months expired, he enlisted for the re- mainder of the war, and was sent by Governor Curtin to Alabama, where he spent nearly a year in charge of a recruiting party to enlist colored troops. Major Negley contributed fifty thousand dollars for the defence of the Union. He earned for himself the reputation of an able and intrepid soldier. At the close of the war he returned to Pittsburg, and was engaged in mining and shipping coal until his retirement in 1884. Solicited repeatedly to accept candidature for public office, he has always declined. In the system of common schools, however, he has taken the warmest in- terest, and for more than thirty-one years has served as School Director. He is a member of General Alexander Hayes Post, No. 3, G. A. R., of which he is also Past Commander.
On October 12, 1848, Major Negley mar- ried Miss Margaret A., daughter of Thomas Dickson, of Pittsburg. Twelve children were born to them, ten of whom reached maturity. These were: John D., Mary Elizabeth, Mar- garet, Minerva, Felix C., Jesse, Henry, Anna, William G., and Alice.
William George Negley, born July 26, 1872, attended the public schools of his native city. After his graduation he entered the law office of his uncle, William B. Negley, one of the foremost lawyers of his time. He had passed the examinations for the bar previously, but was not admitted to practice until he came of age. Then he opened an office, and has since been busily engaged in his profession. He has been active in reform movements, is a prominent participant in the work of the Y. M. C. A., and is a Councillor of the Ben- jamin Franklin Council. He is a communi- cant of the First Presbyterian Church. Major Negley, also a member of the Presbyterian church, is a liberal giver to all benevolent and charitable enterprises.
EV. ROBERT J. COSTER, D.D., rector of Bishop Bowman Institute and rector of Grace Church, Mount Washington, was born near St. Leonard's, Cal- vert County, Md., October 20, 1836, son of William and Eliza Jane (Wilkinson) Coster. His great-grandfather, John Coster, whose ancestors came from Holland and settled in the State of New York, went from New York to Patuxent River, Calvert County, Maryland, about 1725. John, Jr., son of the first named, was born in Calvert County, Maryland, in 1755, and died in 1810. His wife, to whom he was married about the year 1780, was Dor- othy Miller, who, with her brother, David Miller, came from Aberdeen, Scotland, and
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settled at Patuxent River. William Coster, son of John and Dorothy, was born October 24, 1794, and died December 30, 1846. He was a landed proprietor in Calvert County, and also owned the packet "Ann and Mary," which ran between Leonard's Creek and Bal- timore. An extended account of the ancestry of the Coster family may be found in " Ameri- can Ancestry," vol. viii.
Robert J. Coster was the second of eight children born to his parents, the others being as follows: Joseph, William Francis, Somer- ville, Leonard, Dorothy J., Susannah, and Drusilla E. He was educated at the College of St. James in Maryland, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from that institution in 1862. The college closing on account of the breaking out of the Civil War, he took his Master's degree from Trinity College, Hartford, in 1868. After first graduating be studied theology at St. James, and was made Deacon in 1863 and priest in 1866 by Bishop Whittingham, of Maryland. From 1862 to 1864 he had charge of the grammar school at the College of St. James; and during the fol- lowing year he taught in a private school at Annapolis, Md., under the patronage of Gov- ernor Bradford.
In 1866 he came to Pittsburg at the solici- tation of Bishop Kerfoot, who had been his in- structor at St. James, and took charge of the Bishop Bowman Institute, a collegiate school for young ladies, under the direction of the Episcopal church. It was founded in 1862, and was chartered in 1866, the same year in which Mr. Coster took charge of it. It has grown to be one of the leading educational in- stitutions of the city, and in it a large num- ber of young women from Pittsburg and Alle- gheny have been educated. It was first car- ried on in the building on the corner of Penn Avenue and Fourth Streets, which is now oc- |
cupied by the Americus Club; and for the past few years it has been located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Dithridge Street. The in- struction in the literary department has been supervised by Mrs. Coster, who is a lady of fine literary ability and attainments. Only instructors of acknowledged merit are en- gaged, and the appliances for teaching are the best that can be secured. Soon after coming to Pittsburg, Mr. Coster took charge of Grace Church at Mount Washington; and he has since been its rector, his pastorate having covered twenty-eight years. He was for twenty years secretary of the Diocesan Con- vention, and in that capacity prepared the yearly journal issued by the meeting. Dur- ing the last eighteen years he has been a mem - ber of the Standing Committee of the Dio- cese, the Bishop's Advisory Board, and for the past two years has been president of the Standing Committee. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the Western Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1897. He is now the longest resident rector in Pittsburg.
On April 3, 1866, Dr. Coster was united in marriage with Helena Marie Wardenburg, a native of Baltimore, and daughter of Wilhelm Frederick and Anna Maria (Price) Warden- burg. Mrs. Coster's paternal grandfather was a clergyman of the Lutheran church, and was chaplain to the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, Prussia. He was brother of Major-general Frederick Wardenburg, of Oldenburg, who commanded a division of troops in the Prus- sian army, under Marshal Blücher at the bat- tle of Waterloo. Wilhelm Frederick War- denburg, father of Mrs. Coster, was for some years a Lieutenant in the Prussian army. He was born February 4, 1804. Coming to America, and settling in Baltimore in 1853, after a time he there began the prac- tice of criminal law. He died in Baltimore,
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December 21, 186 !. His wife was a daugh- ter of John and Sarah E. (Frye) Price, and grand-daughter of James and Elizabeth Frye, the latter being a daughter of Henry Boteler. John Price was a prominent ship-builder of Baltimore.
Dr. and Mrs. Coster have three sons: Mar- tin Kerfoot, attorney-at-law at the Pittsburg bar; William Hooper, a chemist in Pittsburg; and Charles Calvert, living at home with his parents. Dr. Coster spent the summers of 1878 and 1881 in Europe, his wife accompany- ing him on the second visit.
G EORGE R. WALLACE, an attorney- at-law located at 410 Smithfield Street, Pittsburg, and the title officer of the Pennsylvania Title and Trust Company, is a wide-awake, energetic young man, possessing much executive ability, and constantly prominent in matters pertaining to financial, local, or political affairs. Born in Newville, Pa., December 5, 1865, son of William L. Wallace, D.D., he comes of distinguished Revolutionary stock. His great-grandfather, Colonel William Wallace, fought for independence under Washington. His grandfather, John Wallace, who was born in Virginia, removed to this part of Pennsyl- vania when a young man, being an early set- tler of Pittsburg. Soon after John embarked in the jewelry business, in which, after hav- ing carried it on for a number of years, he was succeeded by Reed & Co. He died at a good old age in 1865.
William L. Wallace, D.D., was born and educated in Pittsburg. Subsequently, after studying for the ministry, he was ordained in the United Presbyterian denomination. He was pastor of the church at Sewickley, this county, from 1879 until 1886. This pastor-
ate he then resigned to become president of the Norfolk College at Norfolk, Va. His death occurred two years later. He married Elizabeth Riddle, a native of this city and a daughter of George R. Riddle, who now re- sides in Denver, Col. Mr. Riddle was for- merly a lawyer and an extensive coal operator in Pittsburg. He was a son of George McKee Riddle, one of the earlier lawyers of this city and the editor of the first Pittsburg directory. The children of Dr. and Eliza- beth Wallace were: Mary L., George R., Louisa B., Anna M., and Elizabeth B. The widowed mother and all her family are resi- dents of Sewickley, where all are held in high regard.
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