USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Biographical review : v. 24, containing life sketches of leading citizens of Pittsburgh and the vicinity, Pennsylvania > Part 3
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was the first to distil oil. Their product was the first Oil Creek oil to come down the Alle- gheny River. In May, 1860, Mr. Lockhart began to carry samples of crude and refined oil to Europe. He had a friend in Liverpool who introduced him to leading chemists, and by the following winter the oil was shipped in large quantities to coal oil distillers in Great Britain. In the fall of 1860 the com- pany struck some very productive wells. In 1861 Messrs. Lockhart and Frew bought out their partners, and built the Brilliant Refinery, the first important refinery erected. It had a capacity of seventy-eight thousand barrels of oil per week, all produced from their own wells. The supply seems inexhaustible, for the land, which was first opened in 1853, is still yielding oil. During all this time it has belonged to Mr. Lockhart, who is the oldest oil producer living to-day. In 1865 Messrs. Lockhart and Frew and William G. Warden built the large Atlantic Refinery in Philadel- phia, which now produces thirty-six thousand barrels per day. At first they did business under the firm name of Warden, Frew & Co. Afterward a stock company was formed. Mr. Lockhart added little by little to his holdings until he was the largest owner in this vicin- ity. One of his early purchases was a large share in Clark & Sumner's refinery, now known as Standard No. I. In 1874 the supply exceeded the demand, and rival com- panies by competition lowered the price. A meeting of the Cleveland, Ohio, and Pennsyl- vania men, to adjust matters on a more satis- factory basis, was held at Saratoga, the dele- gates being John D. Rockefeller, William G. Warden, Henry M. Flagler, and Charles Lockhart. The four combined laid the foun- dation of the Standard Oil Company, which was eventually incorporated under the laws of Ohio. The Atlantic Refinery, of which Mr.
Lockhart had been President, was merged in the Standard Oil Company, and he was one of the first directors of this now famous corpora- tion. When the Ohio law compelled them to divide their business, the Pennsylvania sec- tion was merged in the Atlantic Refinery of Philadelphia, in which Mr. Lockhart is still the largest Pennsylvania shareholder.
Mr. Lockhart is interested in a number of other financial enterprises. About twenty years ago he became a member of the firm of Hubbard, Bakewell & Co., saw, axe, and shovel manufacturers. When he became con- nected with them, they had two factories. Later they erected a large plant on Railroad Street, Pittsburg, which was subsequently burned. Messrs. Hubbard and Lockhart, after this catastrophe, purchased a number of smaller plants of the same kind, and established an axe manufactory at Beaver Falls, moving the shovel department to Sharpsburg Bridge. The axe department was finally merged in the American Axe and Tool Company, which had the largest factory in the county. The shovel factory, which was burned in January, 1896, is again in operation, under a stock company, Mr. Lockhart owning within one share of half the capital stock. He is a director of the Pittsburg Locomotive Works; a stockholder of the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company; of the Jackson Lumber Company, which owns one hundred and thirty thousand acres of land in Alabama; and of a number of smaller enter- prises. He is president of the Lockhart Iron and Steel Company, which gives employment to four hundred men ; was one of the original directors of the Pittsburg Bank of Commerce, of which he is now president; and he is a di- rector in several large silver and gold mining companies of Colorado and Idaho, having bought his first mining stock in 1865 in Idaho. A guiding rule of his life, from the
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days of his clerkship in the grocery store, has been never to contract a debt; and though the accumulation of his millions is, of course, due in a large degree to natural sagacity and fore- thought, his unvarying success is without doubt attributable to this principle.
On June 24, 1862, Mr. Lockhart was mar- ried to Miss Jane Walker, also a native of Scotland. They have five children, namely: James Henry and John Marshall, who are in business with their father; Janet W., the wife of John R. McCune, of Pittsburg; Martha Frew, the wife of Lee Mason, of Pitts- burg; and Sarah Eleanor, who is yet with her parents. Mr. Lockhart cast his first vote with the Whigs in 1840, and has been a Re- publican since 1856. He belongs to one so- cial organization, the Duquesne Club. He is a church member, connected for a great many years with the United Presbyterian Church of this city. Mr. Lockhart's family home for the past twenty years has been a palatial resi- dence at the East End.
ILLIAM A. YOUNG, of Millvale Borough, who is a Notary Public, and conducts a prosperous business in insurance, real estate, and loans, was born in Pine township, Allegheny County, De- cember 15, 1850, son of Henry and Cath- erine (Wyland) Young. His paternal grand- father, Henry Young, of Germany, who served as a soldier in the German army, was three times married, had three children, one by each marriage, and lived to an advanced age. The father, born in Hesse Darmstadt, Ger- many, came to America in 1837. He located in Pine Creek, where he met Catherine Wy- land, who was living there with her parents. She was born in Alsace, then a province of France, daughter of Peter Wyland, a French
soldier, who came to Pine Creek in 1827, and died in 1843, at the age of eighty-nine years. Henry Young, Jr., and Catherine were mar- ried in 1840, after which they removed to East Deer township, where he carried on farming. He was also a shoemaker by trade. Both he and his wife were members of the German Methodist church, and Mr. Young was' class leader. Their children were: Henry L., of Pitcairn; Margaret C., the wife of George Pflasterer, of Braddock ; Mary A., the widow of John McClelland, of Pittsburg ; William A. and Samuel T., both of Bennett. After the mother's death in 1870, her hus- band married Mrs. Mary A. McMaster, the widow of Joseph McMaster and a daughter of Joseph Kelker, who bore him one child, Ralph B.
William A. Young spent his boyhood on his father's farm in the township of East Deer, and was sent with the other boys of the neighborhood to the district school. After leaving school William learned shoemaking from his father, and worked at that trade in Oil City until 1880. In 1881 and 1885 he was elected Justice of the Peace at Bennett, to which place he had moved. After that he went into the real estate business, in which he has since been engaged. Besides filling the position of Justice of the Peace, he has also served two terms as Notary Public. On February 17, 1897, he was elected Burgess of the borough of Millvale for three years, be- ginning March 1, 1897.
On January 1, 1873, Mr. Young was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Steckman, who died in 1879. Her children are: Emma E. and William Clarence. . In 188: Mr. Young married Miss Kittie Becker, daughter of Henry and Margaret (Walter) Becker, both of whom were natives of Hesse Darmstadt. Germany. By the second marriage there were
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three children - Lillian E., Walter M., and Lincoln Earl. Politically, Mr. Young is a Republican. In religious faith he is a Meth- odist. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum, the Order of United Workmen, the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and to the Knights of the Mystic Chain. Mr. Young's home and office are at 54 Grant Avenue, Mill- vale, a borough of nine thousand inhabitants. He is widely known and respected as a man of unquestioned integrity.
EV. ALBERT - D. LIGHT, the pastor of Millvale Borough Presby- terian Church, was born at Leb- anon, this State, November 1, 1856, his par- ents being Asa and Catherine (Snyder) Light, both natives of Lebanon. On both sides of the family Mr. Light is descended from early settlers of German origin, who came to Penn- sylvania about the time of the Revolution. His paternal grandfather, David Light, born in Lebanon County, after following the occu- pation of farmer for some time, lived in retire- ment. David had a family of six sons. The maternal grandfather was Jonas Snyder, also born in Lebanon County. Both grandfathers died at about the age of seventy-two, and both their wives are still living. Asa Light, who was a coach-maker of Lebanon, served in the Union artillery during the late war, and died in 1864 in the hospital at Baltimore from an injury caused by a kick by a horse. He was a member of the Evangelical Association, as is also his wife, who is still living. She mar- ried for her second husband John Gilbert, and bore him two sons - Harry and Grant Gil- bert. The children of her first marriage were : the Rev. Albert D., Aaron, and Amelia Light.
The Rev. Mr. Light spent his boyhood in
Lebanon, and there prepared for college in the high school. He then attended Lafayette College at Easton, Pa., graduating in 1880. Later he took a course of study in Drew Theo- logical Seminary at Madison, N.J., from which he graduated in 1882. He then taught school for three years, being principal of the Betts Military Academy at Stamford, Conn., for a year, and of Sewickley Academy for two years. On June 10, 1885, he was ordained and installed pastor of the Millvale Presbyte- rian Church, which had at that time a member- ship of only one hundred and eighty-four per- sons. Since Mr. Light has been pastor the membership has increased to three hundred and ninety, the last two years being years of especial progress. In the last year more members were added to the church than to any other society in the district. Mr. Light be- longs to the Presbytery of Allegheny, of which he was the moderator from 1894 to 1895. He is unmarried. A natural talent for music possessed by him has been devel- oped by a fine musical training. His voice teacher was Mr. Clement Tetedoux, who is well known in Pittsburg as having trained many of the finest vocalists of the city. The Rev. Mr. Light's voice is a tenor. He has taught vocal music since he was seventeen years of age, a period of twenty-three years, thereby supporting himself at college during bis literary and theological courses. His home is at 47 Lincoln Avenue, Millvale.
ORGAN EDWARDS GABLE, the editorial manager of the Pittsburg Times and Pittsburg Daily News, is a son of William H. and the late Sarah Ann (Morgan) Gable. Born April 18, 1862, at Strasburg, Lancaster County, he comes of German origin. His ancestors were intelli-
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gent, progressive, and broad-minded men. His father was one of the most prominent teachers in the public schools of Eastern Pennsylvania for thirty years, and his mother before her marriage was an instructor in the Linden Hall Seminary at Lititz, Pa.
Morgan E. Gable became self-supporting at an unusually early age. When only nine years old he was employed as a slate picker in the anthracite coal region at Tamaqua. . When fourteen years of age he began a four years' apprenticeship on the Tamaqua Courier. His first regular employment in newspaper work was in 1881, when he became connected with the Shenandoah Herald. Since that time his career in the press has been phenomenal. Only a little more than a year after his em- ployment on the Shenandoah Herald, in Au- gust, 1881, when but nineteen years of age, he became managing editor of the Reading Herald. In this position he gained valuable experience, developing the critical judgment and the quickness of discrimination necessary to the person who has to select the staff for any newspaper. On November 8, 1883, while making his record on the Herald, he married Margaret Brunson, daughter of the Hon. M. P. Fowler, of Shenandoah, Pa. His connection with the Reading paper had lasted nearly six years when he became the tele- graph editor of the Pittsburg Commercial Gasette, and later the city editor. In 1889 he resigned the latter post and became special correspondent at Pittsburg for twenty-one of the leading newspapers of the United States. Nearly all the important despatches sent out from Pittsburg that were published in the daily press of the country, passed through his hands. Considering the commercial impor- tance of Pittsburg, this was a position of great responsibility. In December, 1891, Mr. Gable became city editor of the Pittsburg
Times, and on May 1, 1892, the managing editor. Mr. Gable has also the editorial management of the Pittsburg Daily News, an afternoon paper controlled by the owners of the Pittsburg Times.
ON. HENRY P. FORD, the Mayor of Pittsburg, was born at Hudson, N.Y., October 15, 1837, son of John and Susan (Carpenter) Ford. During their residence in Hudson the family resided on the John Phoenix place. They removed in 1838 to Clarion, Forest County, Pa., where the father was a lumberman for a time. He came to Pittsburg, and died there about 1852, leaving his son Henry an orphan.
Henry P. Ford received a good education in Pittsburg, and attended different mercantile colleges. . At the age of sixteen he found em- ployment with a large book concern as book- keeper. By close attention to business he made for himself a wide reputation as an ac- countant of ability, careful and exact. His next position was with the Associated Fire- men's Insurance Company, which he filled with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all, until the company closed up its affairs. He was next the head book-keeper of the Eureka Insurance Company till 1861, when he went with Singer, Nimick & Co., with whom he remained for ten years. In 1871 he severed his connection with this firm to embark in business for himself. On this oc- casion he formed a partnership with Mr. Emerson for the manufacture of saws at Beaver Falls. He was actively engaged in this enterprise until 1876, when he sold his interest, and became book-keeper for the Cres- cent Tube Company, in which capacity he served until he was elected secretary and treasurer of the company. In 1881 the firm
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became the Pennsylvania Tube Company, with whom he remained as book-keeper for about a year. Then illness obliged him to give up business entirely. Owing to the death of a relative he became connected with an exten- sise lumber business. A disagreement of partners before Mr. Ford entered the firm re- sulted in one of the most remarkable lawsuits ever tried in Pennsylvania, in which many in- teresting law points were settled. After three years of litigation the suit was brought to a successful termination, and Mr. Ford sold his interest to other parties. He has not been in business since 1885.
Since he was seventeen years old Mayor Ford has been interested in politics. He was the youngest man who has ever served on a School Board in Pittsburg, having been secre- tary of the old Seventh Ward Board when but nineteen. Afterward he held a position on the Board for several years. In 1881 he was elected to the Councils from the Eleventh Ward, and successively re-elected at the end of each term until he was elected Mayor, in which capacity he took his seat in the city government on April 6, 1896. Beginning on April 2, 1888, he was President of the Select Council until he vacated that office for his present one. He has been a trustee of the Carnegie Library for some time, and is serv- ing on some of its most important committees. By virtue of his office as Mayor he is now a trustee of the Western Pennsylvania Univer- sity and a member of the Allegheny County Prison Board. Early in his career he was the vice-chairman of the Allegheny County Re- publican Committee. He has been a member of Franklin Lodge, No. 221, F. & A. M., since 1870, and he was secretary of the lodge until his business took him to Beaver Falls. He is also a member of Duquesne Chapter, No. 193; of Tancred Commandery, No. 48; 1
Syria Temple of the Mystic Shrine; and of several other secret organizations.
In June, 1870, Mr. Ford married Miss Re- becca Gillespie, daughter of John Gillespie, of Philadelphia, an old and well-known busi - ness man there. They have three children : Sarah, now Mrs. Joseph H. Hunter; Mary G .; and Catherine G. No man in the city is more intimately acquainted with its needs and resources than Mayor Ford, and his long experience in public affairs has qualified him amply to meet every exigency that may arise in the course of his administration.
RANK C. WHITESELL, of the firm Whitesell & Sons, a long-established and prominent law firm of Pittsburg, was born August 14, 1852, in Allegheny City, this county, son of the late Jacob Whitesell. He comes of an old and prominent family of the county. His paternal grandfather, George Whitesell, who acquired the title of General in the War of 1812, was a direct descendant of Admiral Wertz, of Germany. General Whitesell was well known throughout this section of Pennsylvania as a benevolent man, yet of a resolute character, straightforward and upright in all of his dealings. He was very successful and able in financial matters, having been engaged as a capitalist for many years. The General was an active member of the Cross Roads Presbyterian Church, in which he served as an Elder. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-five years.
Jacob Whitesell was one of a large family of children born to his parents. He was reared and spent his entire life in Allegheny County. After his admission to the bar he was engaged in a general law practice in Pittsburg for twoscore or more years, acquir- ing a wide reputation as a lawyer of skill.
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His death, which occurred at his home in Sewickley, February 2, 1884, was a loss to the legal profession. He took an active part in politics, having been a leading member of the Democratic party. He was also an Odd Fellow. In the American Protestant Asso- ciation he took a foremost position, having been Grand Master of the organization. He was deeply religious, belonging to the Pres- byterian church of Sewickley, of which his widow is still a member. He married Mar- garet Neill, a daughter of Thomas Neill, who was born and bred in Belfast, Ireland. Emi- grating to the United States in 1828, Thomas Neill settled at first in Paterson, N.J., where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits for sev- eral years. In 1835 he came to Pittsburg, of which he remained a resident until his death, at the venerable age of ninety-five years. He was made a Mason in Belfast in 1825, three years before coming to this country, and was afterward connected by membership with Lodge No. 45, of Pittsburg. The children of the parental household now living are as fol- lows: Frank C., the subject of this sketch; William W., an attorney; George C., who is the general agent of the accident department of the AEtna Life Insurance Company, a mem- ber of the Board of Fire Underwriters, and carries on a general insurance business; Anna and Amelia; and Dr. Hallie W. White- sell, who graduated at the Western Pennsyl- vania Medical College on March 25, 1897, and .on July 23 of the same year passed the examination of the State Board Medical So- ciety of Pennsylvania.
Frank C. Whitesell received his elementary education in the public schools of Allegheny, where he resided until 1860, going at that time with his parents to Sewickley. Contin- uing his studies in the public schools of that place for a time, he was fitted for the Se-
wickley Academy, from which he was gradu- ated in 1872. He began the study of law in his father's office, and on November 18, 1876, was admitted to the bar. Since that time he has had an extensive and successful practice, belonging to the firm above mentioned. He still continues his residence at Sewickley, liv- ing with his widowed mother and her family. He was formerly a member of the Fourteenth Regiment, N. G. P., serving on the staff, and holding the rank of Captain. In politics Mr. Whitesell has always been a Democrat, be- longing now to the party supporting the gold standard. He is a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows; of the American Mechanics' Association ; of Ionic Lodge, No. 525, F. & A. M., of Allegheny; of Royal Arch Chapter, No. 217, of the same city; of the Allegheny Commandery, No. 35, K. T .; and of Allegheny Lodge, B. O. P. Elks, No. 339, Allegheny. In 1883 Mr. Whitesell rep- resented Allegheny Commandery in the grand Triennial Conclave, Knights Templar, held in San Francisco in the month of August. His brothers, William and George C., are also prominent in Masonic circles, being members of Ionic Lodge and Allegheny Chap- ter and of Pittsburg Commandery, No. I, Pittsburg, Pa.
Mr. Whitesell was married August 2, 1892, to Miss Lillian B. Reed, daughter of Will- iam A. and Elizabeth F. (Fleming) Reed, the nuptials being solemnized in Allegheny, at the residence of Mrs. Andrew Easton, a sister of the bride. The practical, system- atic, and energetic side of Mr. Whitesell's character was 'shown on this auspicious occa- sion, when, according to data furnished, he worked on the day of his wedding until three o'clock p. M., was married at four o'clock, with the bride partook of the wedding dinner at five, said farewell to their friends at six,
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took the cars at seven, reached New York at nine next morning, were on board the steamer "City of Paris" at ten o'clock on the follow- ing morning, sailed at eleven, arrived at Queenstown the next Monday morning, were at Liverpool next morning at eleven, took the midland route at noon for London, arriving there at six o'clock Tuesday evening, and were guests at the Metropole Hotel, London, at seven o'clock, one week from the time of starting. After this they took a most enjoy- able trip through the British Isles, Germany, and France, visiting the more important points of interest in each, and after an ab- sence of two months were warmly welcomed home by their numerous friends and well- wishers. Mr. and Mrs. Whitesell are the parents of two children : a bright and active little lad named Frank; and an infant that was taken from earth "when life and love were new." Both Mr. and Mrs. Whitesell are members of the Sewickley Presbyterian Church. In literary, social, and musical circles the Whitesell family are well known, all being talented and musically inclined.
AMES GABBEY TEMPLETON, A. M., D.D.S., Dean of the Pittsburg Dental College, was born November 10, 1833, in the township of Independence, Washington County, son of Alexander and Margaret N. (Gabbey) Templeton. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, being fifth in descent from Alexander Templeton, who, born near Perth, Scotland, settled in Lifford, County Donegal, Ireland. Alexander Templeton married a Miss Crawford; and their son Jo- seph, Dr. Templeton's great-grandfather, im- migrated to this country, settling in Lancas- ter County, Pennsylvania. Joseph's son John, who located in Cross Creek township,
Washington County, married Ann Templeton, of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Alexander Templeton, a son of John and the father of Dr. Templeton, was born in Cross Creek township, June 7, 1806, and was educated in the common schools of his native town. He devoted the most of his active life to farming and sheep-raising, and was ranked among the well-to-do citizens of Cross Creek. His wife was a daughter of James Gabbey, of Antietam, Md. Both were members of the United Presbyterian church. Their children were: John, who died aged thirteen years; James G., the subject of this sketch; Thomas B., who died in the Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington, D.C., in 1864, and is buried in Arlington Cemetery; Jane Ann, the wife of David Brown Lee, of Washington County; Hugh A., also deceased; Esther M., the wife of John Scott, of Washington County; Mary Emily, of whom there is no special record; and Alexander Brown, who died when eighteen months old.
James Gabbey Templeton attended Cross Creek Academy and Westminster College, acquiring in those institutions the solid foun . dation on which the superstructure of his technical knowledge was firmly established. During seven years of his student life he taught school, reading medicine in the vaca- tion time. He subsequently studied dentistry in the office of Dr. Sill, now of New York City, and practised for eight years in New Castle, Pa., in the meantime attending lect- ures. In 1869, after a course of study at Jefferson Medical College, he entered the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, from which he graduated in 1870. In the same year Westminster conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. He remained in New Castle until December, 1872, when he opened an office in Pittsburg, where he has
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now been in practice for a quarter of a cen- tury. Dr. Templeton has a broad knowledge of the theory and practice of medicine, and he is a skilful and conscientious dentist. He keeps in touch with the progress of the day, and has few equals in his profession. Hav- ing attended meetings of dental associations in all parts of the country, he is well known and highly respected among his fellow- workers. He is also connected with several important professional organizations. A member of the Northern Ohio Dental Asso- ciation, he has been honored with election to the office of vice-president, and he has read some interesting papers before the society. He was a member of the Lake Erie Dental Association, and was vice-president and pres- ident of the Pennsylvania State Dental So- ciety, of which he is still a member. He was active in organizing the Odontological Society of Western Pennsylvania, and filled the president's chair for some time; and he is a member of the American Dental Association. Dr. Templeton was married June 3, 1863, to Laura Jane, daughter of Russell Van Orsdel, of Allegheny. She died March 12, 1896, leaving three children. These are: Anna M., the wife of Robert S. Smith, of Pitts- burg; Nannie Belle, the wife of Walter M. Lindsay, attorney of Pittsburg; and Mary Etta. Mrs. Templeton was a member of the United Presbyterian church of this city, in which the Doctor has been Ruling Elder for twenty years, and for a long time the super- intendent of the Sabbath-school.
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