USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 28
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ILLIAM MONROE BENHAM, a prominent attorney of Pittsburg, Pa., was born April 8, 1866, in Auburn, N. Y., a son of DeWitt C. and Cyn- thia (Arne) Benham. A more extended account of his parents and ancestors may be found on another page of this volume in con- nection with the sketch of his brother, the Rev. DeWitt M. Benham.
Mr. Benham received his preliminary edu- cation in the public schools of New Brighton, Beaver County, Pa., and was graduated from Geneva College in the class of 1887, being
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awarded the general excellency prize for the highest grade of any student in the institu- tion during that year. Having taken the classical course, the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon him. In the autumn of 1889 he entered the Columbia Law School, New York City, where he remained during the prescribed time of three years, graduating in June, 1892, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws cum laude. At the Commencement ex- ercises the committee on awards presented him with the first prize, two hundred and fifty dol- lars, for greatest knowledge and highest at- tainments in his law studies.
While in Columbia College, Mr. Benham read law in the office of Carter, Hughes & Kellogg, of New York City, and at a general term of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, held in the city of New York on December 7, 1891, was admitted to practice in the several courts of that State. During his first year at Columbia he was elected pres- ident of his class, and, upon the resignation of Dr. Theodore Dwight as warden of the Law School, was selected by his classmates to pre- sent to him the handsomely embossed me- morial.
Mr. Benham, after receiving his diploma, returned to Pittsburg, where in September, 1892, he was admitted to the bar. He at once commenced the practice of his profession in this city, and since the completion of the Car- negie Building has had his offices there. He has met with the success corresponding to his abilities, which are far above the average, his professional skill and perseverance winning him a large clientage, both in the civil and criminal courts, and from several corporations. Before the jury Mr. Benham is very success- ful, being an effective, forcible, logical, and eloquent speaker.
Mr. Benham was made a Mason at Cres-
cent Lodge, No. 576, in 1894, and also be- longs to the Pennsylvania Consistory, which gives him the thirty-second degree in Masonry. At the seventh anniversary of Crescent Lodge in July, 1896, he delivered the address of the evening, which has been considered one of the finest Masonic orations ever given in the city. On St. John's Day in December, 1896, his oration - before the Pennsylvania Consistory was regarded by many as the most comprehen- sive and eloquent production ever given before that body. Mr. Benham is also a member of the Bar Association, University Club, the Elks, and the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order. He has been for two years upon the Committee of Narrative of the Bar Associa- tion, and is Senior Seneschal in Pennsylvania Senate, No. 950, Knights of the Ancient Es- senic Order.
Politically, he is an ardent Republican, and one of its most effective workers on the stump. During the Blaine campaign he was corre- sponding secretary of the Young Men's Repub- lican Club of Beaver Falls, Pa., and was presi- dent of the same organization in Harrison's campaign. While at Columbia he took the stump for his party in New York City. He has since taken.a prominent part in every cam- paign, and is now president of the First Dis- trict Organization of the Twentieth Ward of Pittsburg and a member of the County Com- mittee. He has been delegate to various Re- publican conventions; and in June, 1897, he presided with great capability over the conven- tion that nominated a district attorney, assist- ant district attorney, and jury commissioner.
Mr. Benham works as faithfully and ear- nestly in religious circles as in professional, political, or social, and is one of the most active and influential members of the Presby- terian church. From boyhood he has been connected with the Sunday-school either as
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pupil or teacher; and, since the school of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church was organized, he has had charge of the Bible class, which has increased in attendance to one hundred and ten. At the annual teachers' meeting in July, 1897, he was elected superintendent of the school. He is a zealous worker in the Christian Endeavor cause, having been one of the organizers and the first president of the East End (Pittsburg) District Union; and in his own church he has organized one of the most flourishing and useful societies in the county, serving as its president for two terms in succession. He has helped the cause of Christianity in many capacities, having been chairman of the Missionary Committee, an interested worker at State and international conventions, and during the years of 1895 and 1896 president of the Allegheny County Christian Endeavor Union. He has been called upon to deliver addresses in different parts of the State on the various phases of the Christian Endeavor work, and has addressed numerous religious gatherings of all kinds. Mr. Benham is an Elder in the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, and was elected by the Pittsburg Presbytery as a commissioner to the General Assembly of his denomination at Saratoga in May, 1896. He is also a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, being one of its most faithful allies.
ILLIAM CRISWELL, a retired business man, living in Monteray Street, Allegheny, Pa., was born in Finleyville, Washington County, this State, February 13, 1829, son of James and Jane (Brownlee) Criswell. Mr. Criswell's pater- nal grandfather was a Scotchman, and was killed in one of the wars of last century. On his maternal side, also, Mr. Criswell is of
Scotch descent, although both of his parents were born in County Derry, Ireland. James Criswell came to America alone in 1819, at the age of twenty-seven years, taking passage on the ship "Constellation," which was wrecked off the coast of Nova Scotia. The passengers lost their all, but succeeded in saving their lives; and Mr. Criswell found a chance to work his passage to Philadelphia. From there he walked to Washington County, where he was glad to secure employment at four dollars and fifty cents per month and board, and take his pay in trade. Here he met and married in 1825 Jane Brownlee. After the birth of three children in Washing- ton County and the death of two he bought a farm lying in Clinton township, Butler County, Pa., where he lived for forty years, dying April 30, 1870. James Criswell was well known in that section and highly re- spected as a man of intelligence and probity, and in cases of dispute was often called in to act as peacemaker. He would take no office in church or State, although he helped to audit the books of the town, and was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church.
John Brownlee, Mr. Criswell's maternal grandfather, came to America when his only daughter, Jane, was ten years old, landing at Philadelphia. In those days the cost of trans- porting freight overland across the State of Pennsylvania was seven dollars and fifty cents in gold per hundred pounds. Little Jane Brownlee was weighed, and came at freight rates, her parents walking beside the wagon. The driver was thought to be remarkably good-natured because he allowed Mrs. Brown - lee to get on the wagon and ride down hills. The journey lasted fourteen days.
The children reared by James and Jane B. Criswell were: William; James, Jr., now liv- ing in Sharpsburg, Pa .; Letitia, deceased,
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wife of Moses Marshall; Joseph, who was in Captain McLoughlin's company during the war, and has just finished a term of six years as Clerk of Court for Butler County; Thomas, of West Elizabeth, this county; Eliza Jane (Mrs. Norris), deceased; John, who was in the war; Ross, who was also a soldier, and is now living in Washington, Pa., engaged in the oil-well business; and Susanna, wife of John Burtner, of Clinton. The mother, Mrs. Jane B. Criswell, died August 11, 1882.
While the Criswell children were growing to maturity, the public schools were just being inaugurated; and, although his father marked trees for the three miles to the school-house, William could attend but little on account of the distance and of the deep snow, his entire schooling amounting to but thirty days. So he was taught at home by his parents, who, although they had had but small opportunities, were very well educated, and gave him a good practical mental train- ing. The knowledge acquired in his youth Mr. Criswell has supplemented in later years by extensive reading and by constant inter- course with the leaders in the great mercan- tile and industrial affairs of this section. When seventeen years of age he came to Allegheny City, where he served an appren- ticeship of three years with Smith & Bungey, learning the carpenter's trade. Before his time was completed he had charge of their work, and he remained with them as their foreman for a number of years. He then spent three years in Minnesota, at that time a new and undeveloped country, sojourning in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Stillwater, and Tay- lor's Falls, also for one winter in the lumber camps, and a summer on a government survey to see something of the country. At the end of three years he came back to Allegheny, and took charge again of the work of Smith &
Bungey, remaining with them during the war, and after that being admitted to partnership in the firm of Smith, Bungey & Co. This partnership continued for two years, when Mr. Bungey withdrew, and the firm of Smith, Criswell & Co. succeeded. They did a large amount of work, Mr. Criswell's preference being for railroad and bridge work. They built Howard Block, on the corner of Smith- field Street and Fifth Avenue, and many rolling-mills; also many bridges over the Allegheny River and the Pittsburg & Con- nellsville Railroad station, houses, trestles, etc. The firm oftentimes had one hundred and twenty-five men on their pay-roll. After three years Mr. Smith retired, and Mr. Cris- well joined with Mr. Burgoyne for three years longer, still keeping up the reputation of the old firm and doing a large business.
Besides being connected with many busi- ness interests of the city, Mr. Criswell has been prominent in fraternal circles. He was made a Mason in Mckinley Lodge, No. 318, F. & A. M., in December, 1863, and was its Master in 1867; was a member of the Grand Lodge, Past High Priest of Allegheny Chap- ter, and Past Commander of Alleghany Com- mandery, K. T., and for some years has been treasurer of the last-named body. He was one of the active workers in securing the Ma- sonic Hall, and was superintendent of con- struction. Mr. Criswell is also a member of McFarland Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 30, has been one of its enthusiastic supporters since 1851, and has been a director of the Odd Fel- lows Endowment Association since the carly days of its existence. He has beautiful badges, which have been presented respec- tively by the Blue Lodge, Chapter, and Com- mandery ; also a beautiful watch given him by the Masonic Hall Association, and presented by Judge Arnold, of Philadelphia, in recogni-
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tion of his services on the Building Commit- tee, valued tokens of friendly regard and appreciation. On March 19, 1867, Mr. Cris- well was married to Miss Matilda Bradshaw, of Allegheny City. One child, a daughter, was born to them. She was named Mattie J., grew to be a young lady, and was living at home. She died January 31, 1895, after an illness of eighteen days; and October 13, 1895, Mrs. Criswell died after being ill only thirty-one hours. She was a devoted member of the First Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Criswell is one of the trustees. In poli- tics he has always been a loyal Republican, and has taken a deep interest in the affairs of the city. He has lived for thirty years in Monteray Street, which, when he first went there, was surrounded by a cornfield, and was without railroad, gas, or pavement.
AMES C. BERGSTRESSER, of Pitts- burg, the publisher of the Insurance World, an insurance journal with a world - wide reputation, was born July 15, 1851, at Elysburg, Pa., son of Samuel A. Bergstresser and a grandson of John Berg- stresser, both of whom were natives of Penn- sylvania. The latter served in the War of 1812. The great-grandfather, also named Samuel Auchmuty, served in the War of Inde- pendence from 1776 to 1782.
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The father was engaged in mercantile busi- ness in his earlier years at various points in the East. Afterward he became a banker at Mount Carmel, Northumberland County, where he is now living retired from active pursuits. For many years he was one of the leaders in politics, representing his district in the legislature two terms, and having been a delegate to the national Republican conven- tion that nominated Abraham Lincoln for the
presidency. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Kase, a lifelong resident of Pennsyl- vania. Out of his large family two children are now living - James C. and Samuel E. The mother died in 1866. She was a woman of deep religious convictions, and a member of the Presbyterian church, in which the father is an Elder.
James C. Bergstresser obtained his element- ary education in the public and private schools of his native State, and in 1871 was graduated from Lafayette College. His early ambition was to enter the United States Navy ; but, yielding to the earnest entreaties of his mother, he renounced the idea, and turned his attention to the study of law in the office of S. P. Wolverton at Sunbury, Pa. He subse- quently followed civil engineering for about a year, under the auspices of an uncle, William G. Case, who was then president of the Na- tional Railway. In 1874 he drifted into the insurance business, with which he has since been identified. After following the business for some time in Philadelphia, he came to Pittsburg, where he established the Insurance World in November, 1874. He now pub- lishes, in addition, all kinds of insurance liter- ature, and is a recognized authority on all questions connected with insurance. He en- deavors, as far as possible, to give his sub- scribers the benefit of his extensive knowledge. When one sends in a list of his policies to the publishing house, each policy is at once pro- nounced upon as to whether or not the com- pany is reliable; whether it is authorized to do business in the State in which the property is located; and whether, in the judgment of the house, the company is good, questionable, or bad. Further, the publisher keeps a care- ful record of the business of each subscriber, and promptly advises them of any circumstance arising that might affect the character of their
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policy. Questions regarding all forms of in- surance receive prompt attention. The pub- lisher has one of the most complete libraries in the world of works on insurance topics, and has unequalled facilities for obtaining reliable insurance information.
On April 20, 1881, Mr. Bergstresser married Miss Clara A. Duffy, a daughter of Colonel Charles and Amy (Covert) Duffy, of Philadel- phia. In politics he is independent, and votes for the best man for the office. A Mason in high standing, he belongs to Ascalon Com- mandery, No. 59, K. T., located at Pittsburg, Pa. He is likewise a member of the Penn- sylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolu- tion. Formerly he belonged to the Eigh- teenth Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard, and during the riots of 1877 was First Lieutenant of Battery B, N. G. P. Mr. Berg- stresser has travelled extensively in North and South America and Europe, and has crossed the Atlantic more than forty times. His high- est interest, however, centres in the work in which he has been engaged for more than a score of years; and he takes great pride in making his paper a wide-awake, up-to-date publication.
EV. DEWITT MILES BENHAM, PH. D., the pastor of the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, East End, Pittsburg, was born in Marysville, Cal., Sep- tember 8, 1862, son of DeWitt Clinton and Cynthia (Arne) Benham. On the maternal side Mr. Benham is descended from David Arne, who came to this country from Ger- many, and who fought in the Revolutionary War. David's son, who was born in Auburn, N. Y., became one of the most prominent phy- sicians in that section, and owned all the land where the town of Wolcott, N. Y., now stands. This ancestor was a Democrat, and
represented his town in the New York legisla- ture. Andrew Jackson was one of his personal friends. He married Miss Monroe, a daughter of Judge Monroe, of Elbridge, N. Y. The paternal great-grandfather of the Rev. Mr. Benham was James Benham, who lived at Bridgeport, Conn. He married Miss Sedg- wick, a cousin of Noah Webster, the lexicog- rapher. Their son Miles, born at Bridge- port, became a large property owner in Penn Yan, and prominent in business, political, and social life. In politics he was a Whig and a pronounced anti-slavery man. He was a member of the New York legislature for a time, and he also served in the office of County Sheriff. His wife, whose maiden name was Miss Mary Hackley, was a noble example of a Christian woman. Both she and her hus- band were Presbyterians. After her death the latter married again.
DeWitt Clinton Benham, who was born in Penn Yan, received a good education in the schools of his native town. At the age of sixteen, in company with a boy friend, he left home to go to Alabama. They sailed down the rivers in a skiff as far as Pittsburg, where they remained with friends for about six months. Then he took a steamer for New Orleans. Afterward he was in business in Alabama for some time before 1849. In that year he and a number of other young men went on horseback from New Orleans, across Texas and Mexico, by the Mazart route to the coast, and thence by sailing - vessel to San Fran- cisco. Here the life of a miner failed to attract him, and in six months' time he estab- lished a foundry for the making of steam- engines. In this business he was profitably engaged until the year 1865, at which time he came East as far as Auburn, N. Y. Shortly after taking up his residence there, he organ- ized the Auburn Coal Company, operating in
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Beaver County gas coal, and was subsequently the largest stockholder and the president of the company. Having superintended the work on the field until 1881, he retired from active life. For three years he made his home in New Brighton, Pa. Then he resided in Bea- ver Falls till 1890, when the family came to Pittsburg. A stanch and unwavering Repub- lican, he took an active interest in politics up to the day of his death. In California he held several political offices, and had large business interests outside his foundry. In December, 1861, he married Miss Cynthia Arne, daugh- ter of David Arne, M. D., a well-known phy- sician of Auburn, N. Y. The children of this union were: DeWitt Miles, Mary Arne, and William Monroe. Mary is now the wife of J. Duncan Dithridge, of Pittsburg; and Will- iam is an attorney of Pittsburg. Both parents were members of the Presbyterian church, of which the father was a trustee.
DeWitt Miles Benham prepared for college in the seminary at Beaver, under the Rev. James Kennedy, D. D. He graduated from Westminster College in the class of 1883, and during the following year taught Latin and Greek at Jefferson Academy in Canonsburg. He then entered the Western Seminary in Allegheny, and after two years there entered the Union Theological Seminary of New York. On graduating, in 1887, from that institution, he received a call to the Second Presbyterian Church at Kittanning. After remaining there for a year and eight months, during which he also preached at Appleby Manor, he was or- dained at West Lebanon, October 13, 1887. His next pastorate was the Point Breeze Pres- byterian Church at Pittsburg, which he filled for four years. Under Dr. Benham this church prospered wonderfully, growing from a membership of one hundred and forty-two to that of three hundred and forty-five. In Octo-
ber, 1893, he began a new work in the East End, the result of which was the Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, organized February 21, 1894, with a membership of two hundred and sixteen. The roll now shows more than six hundred members. This church was estab- lished upon the principle of general contri- bution; and its phenomenal prosperity has proved the wisdom of its pastor and trustees. Dr. Benham is a director of the Duquesne College and an esteemed member of the Pres- byterian Ministers' Association.
AMUEL HARDEN CHURCH .- The publication by G. P. Putnam's Sons, of New York and London, in June, 1894, of a book entitled "Oliver Crom- well: A History," has made its author, Sam- uel Harden Church, one of the noted histori- cal writers of America. In referring to the American men of letters who have written with felicitous choice on historic subjects, a Boston critic places Mr. Church in the same rank with Irving, Prescott, and Motley. Mr. Church was born in Caldwell County, Mis- souri, on Sunday, January 24, 1858, being the second son and fourth child of William and Emily (Scott) Church. He is of Scotch descent on both sides.
His paternal ancestors were Scots who set- tled in Coleraine, Ireland, in the seventeenth century. Dr. William Church, a nephew of Sir William Church, left Ireland in 1798 on account of the troubles of that vexed period, and came to America, first settling in Lancas- ter County, Pennsylvania. In 1822 he took up his residence in Pittsburg, and continued in the practice of medicine until his death, May 25, 1850. The family have resided in Pittsburg since the date of his arrival.
His son, Samuel, born February 5, ISoo,
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SAMUEL HARDEN CHURCH.
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was a successful manufacturer and one of the proprietors of the Kensington Iron Works, which now exists under another name. He also preached for the First Christian Church of Allegheny City for seventeen years, or until his death, on December 7, 1857. He married Mary Hannen, whose family, of Dutch extraction, had been residents of Penn- sylvania for one hundred years. They had twelve children, the first of whom, William, born April 25, 1826, married Emily Scott, January 1, 1849. She was born September 24, 1825, and was a daughter of Walter Scott, born in Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scot- land, October 31, 1798. This grandfather of Mr. Church sprang from the same stock that produced Sir Walter Scott, and the genius which made the one a great historical novel- ist made the other a great polemic orator. After perfecting a classical education he was graduated from the University of Edinburgh, and shortly came to America, in 1819, and settled in Pittsburg as a school teacher. His faith was that of the Scottish Cove- nanters; but he soon became dissatisfied with human dogmas and human formulations of creeds, and in co-operation with Alexan- der Campbell he preached the faith in its primitive simplicity with great power, and aided much in establishing the denomination known as the Christian, or Disciples, Church.
During the year previous to the birth of the subject of this sketch his parents had moved to Missouri, where the father had pur- chased a farm and saw-mill. But the cloud which foretold the outbreak of Civil War pro- duced distrust and disaster in the West, so that in 1859 the family returned precipi- tately to Pennsylvania, taking the boat down the Missouri River to St. Louis, and coming thence to Pittsburg by way of the Mississippi and the Ohio Rivers, no railroads yet reaching
to the West. The father became associated with the Pittsburg & Oakland Street Railway, and was its secretary and treasurer until his death, on March 11, 1863. This bereavement left the widowed mother with five young chil- dren - Walter, Emily, Mary, Samuel Harden, and Sarah. The eldest, Walter, was but thir- teen years old when his father died, and Samuel but five." The children were all put to school, although the two boys were forced to leave their studies at an early age in order to assist in the support of the family.
Mr. Church's first employment began in the dry-goods house of Joseph Horne & Co., where at the age of eleven years he became a cash boy at a salary of a dollar and a half a week. After a few months thus spent he went to school for two years in Bethany, W. Va. Dr. Pendleton was the president of Bethany College, and Mr. Church attributes much of his love of study to the refining literary atmosphere in which he lived for so long at the Pendleton home. On his return from Bethany he was employed by the Atlan- tic & Pacific Telegraph Company, but from this time on he was a diligent student of books. While at Bethany he had read the novels of Scott and Dickens with hearty ap- preciation; and soon after coming to Pitts- burg he began a regular course of night study, which lasted through several years, and included the reading of the whole of Shak- spere's works. After a few weeks in the telegraph service his uncle, John P. Scott, took him into the glassware store of James B. Lyon & Co., Mr. Scott being a member of the firm. He was a clerk in this store for about three years; and, as there were no tele- phones then, he was the telegraph operator on the Morse instrument which connected the store with the factory some three miles away. A summer vacation in 1874 was spent on an
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