USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. III > Part 8
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of school terms, and the Brooks high license law, which resulted in passing the bills. In 1888 he was a candidate for renomination to the House, but was defeated. In the fol- lowing campaign he was on the stump for his successful rival, and later was engaged by the Republican National Committee as a speaker in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. In 1889 he secured the nomination for State Senator from the Ninth Senatorial District, winning the honor on the first bai lot over Jesse M. Baker and James Watts Mercur. In this contest he was antagonized by the liquor interests and by those control- ling federal patronage. He led a success- ful fight, and as the "People's Candidate" completely changed the complexion of the old-time Republican rule in the county, also establishing himself as a leader in State politics. He won over his Democratic com- petitor, Hiram C. Hathaway, by 1559 ma- jority, and served with great honor as Sena- tor. While in the Senate in 1890 he was nominated on the Republican ticket for Con- gress in the Sixth District, comprising Ches- ter and Delaware counties. His opponents were Dr. J. L. Forward, of Chester, and Captain Isaac Johnson, of Media. He was renominated and elected twice afterwards, serving in all six years-in the Fifty-second, Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth congresses.
Mr. Robinson is one of the most trenchant and vigorous political leader-writers in his State, and both pen and voice have often been used in aid of great reformatory meas- ures. Staunchly Republican, he is not so partisan as to smother independence, nor is he in the slightest degree a demagogue. He has opposed men and measures in his own party and has always had the support of the voters of his district to a large degree. As a speaker he is logical and convincing, often rising to the heights of true eloquence. He has delivered many memorable addresses in different cities, and one yet spoken of in praise was delivered at the reunion of the veterans of the 97th Pennsylvania Volun- teers in November, 1889, at West Chester,
Pennsylvania. He has also gained success as a writer. While in the naval service he wrote a series of brilliant letters for the "Commercial Gazette" of Pittsburgh, and has since been a frequent and welcome con- tributor to the leading New York and Phil- adelphia journals. In 1881-82 he was chief editorial writer for the "Delaware County Gazette," of Chester, then owned by Au- gust Donath. In the winter of 1880, Mr. Robinson made his first essay on the lecture platform, beginning a career of success that brought him into prominence as a lecturer.
Mr. Robinson is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; the Amer- ican Protestant Association; Knights of Pythias ; Order of Chosen Friends ; Knights of the Golden Eagle; Improved Order of Red Men; Independent Order of Me- chanics; Bradbury Post, No. 149, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was elected commander in 1884; and holds mem- bership in various other societies. A man of fine natural talents, developed in contact in political and professional life with the best association, blessed with a comprehen- sive education greatly extended by foreign travel, Mr. Robinson has used his gifts wisely and well. He illustrates in his own life the peculiar characteristics of the best birthright of the best type of American citi- zenship, the ability to succeed in political and professional life without resource to trickery. After a public and professional life of nearly forty years, Mr. Robinson, from the heights of success, can truly say that every step of his way has been hon- estly won, and that principle was never sacri- ficed for sordid gain. Since 1900 he has held the position of United States Marshal in the Philadelphia District.
Lieutenant Robinson married, in St. Louis, Missouri, October 29, 1874, Eliza- beth Waddingham, daughter of Charles L. Gilpin, then of St. Louis, Missouri, grand- niece of Mayor Charles Gilpin, of Philadel- phia, a lineal descendant of Joseph Gilpin, of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England, who
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came to Pennsylvania in 1696, settling in Birmingham township, Delaware, then a part of Chester, county. Joseph Gilpin was of the sixteenth generation from Richard de Gueylpin, who had a grant in the reign of King John ( 1206) of the estate of Kent- mere, in the county of Westmoreland, Eng- land. By the union of Mr. Robinson and Miss Gilpin there were seven children born, four of whom survive: Mrs. Elizabeth Wyckoff, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Adele Gilpin Miller, Mrs. Helen Robin- son Anderson and Miss Mildred Robinson, the three last named of Media, Pennsyl- vania. These children through their mother trace through twenty-one recorded genera- tions of Gilpins to the days of Magna Charta. The family home of the Robinsons, the "Gayley," is in Media, Pennsylvania.
Besides the before named offices held by Mr. Robinson, he was appointed by Presi- dent Mckinley, May 1, 1900, United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Penn- sylvania, was reappointed in 1905 by Presi- dent Roosevelt, and again reappointed in 1912, by President Taft, and served until December 1, 1913, when he was succeeded by Frank S. Noonan, a Democrat, appointed by President Wilson. During the time Mr. Robinson was marshal he was elected a national delegate to the Republican Conven- tion in 1908, which nominated Mr. Taft for President. Of other offices held by Mr. Robinson was the presidency of the Repub- lican League of Clubs of Pennsylvania, dur- ing the years 1891, 1892 and 1893, succeed- ing the first president of the league, Hon. Edwin S. Stuart. He has been a candidate for minor offices, among those for lieu- tenant-governor of the State in 1894, being defeated for the nomination, although elect- ing ninety-seven delegates against the com- bined opposition of all the prominent leaders of the party in the commonwealth. He was an unsuccessful applicant for the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In 1897 President Mckinley appointed Theo- dore Roosevelt through the influence of
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Mrs. Bellamy Storer, one of the Longworth family of Cincinnati, Ohio.
During Mr. Robinson's service in Con- gress he was on the Columbian Exposition Committee and the Naval Committee, and twice was a member, by appointment of the speaker, to the board of visitors to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. In 1896 in this position he was president of the board, and delivered the annual address at the commencement of the graduating class. His public record, State and Na- tional, covers a period of over forty years, and he is yet, although a private citizen, one of the most active and influential of the Re- publican leaders of the county of Delaware, and the State in which he resides.
KOONS, Tilghman Benjamin, Prominent Railway Official.
The achievement of Tilghman Benjamin Koons, vice-president of the Central Rail- way Company of New Jersey, illustrates what may be accomplished by the pluck and perseverance of an ambitious person. With- out any special preparation for such work, or the influence of "pull" with officials or otherwise, he has progressed from telegraph operator and a wayside station agency, to that of an important official of the company. In carly life he designed to fit himself for teaching along certain lines and branches, and with that end in view, shaped his studies. Through a sort of chance he was led into what has proven to be his life work; and that too for which he has shown a natural aptitude.
His father, Daniel Koons, was a builder and cabinet-maker, who during a number of years of his active life was located at the village of Kuntzford, later changed to Treichlers in Northampton county, Pennsyl- vania, from thence he moved to Walnut- port, same county, where he resided during the latter years of his life and died in March 1913, aged eighty-seven years. He married Sarah Shipe, daughter of Jacob and Eliza-
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beth (Bush) Shipe, from near Laubachs, in Northampton county, now Northampton, Pennsylvania, and had issue, among others, two sons, namely: Tilghman Benjamin Koons, of whom more hereafter; and Mil- ton Alfred Koons, born in 1853, at Treich- lers, Pennsylvania. He is auditor of coa! traffic for the Central Railroad of New Jer- sey ; resides at Walnutport, Pennsylvania ; married Laura Yundt, of Weissport, Penn- sylvania, and has one son, Dana Koons.
Tilghman Benjamin Koons, son of Dan- iel and Sarah (Shipe) Koons, was born May 29, 1852, at Treichlers, a small village in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, about forty miles northwest of Easton. His early education was such as was afforded by the public schools of Pennsylvania; he then studied under Professor Atwater, of Brown University, Rhode Island, and after- ward took a special business course at East- man's Business College, of Poughkeepsie, New York. During his vacation from school work he studied telegraphy, and en- tered the employ of the Delaware, Lacka- wanna & Western Railroad in the latter part of 1869 as telegraph operator. In 1870 he became a clerk in the General Freight Agent's office of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road, at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, and continued with that company until 1876, when he resigned on account of impaired health.
After several years spent in recuperation, he again took up railroad work in the latter part of 1880, by which he became Soliciting Freight Agent of the Central Railroad Com- pany of New Jersey, with headquarters at Elmira, New York, and covered territory north and west of Elmira, to and including Buffalo. In 1887 he was advanced to Gen- eral Agent of the Central Railroad of New Jersey ; then to Division Freight Agent, and afterward to Division Freight and Pass- enger Agent, with an office at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania. In 1893 he was ad- vanced to the position of General Freight Agent of the Central Railroad of New Jer- sey, with an office at 143 Liberty street,
New York City ; and on December 23, 1902, he was appointed Freight Traffic Manager, which position he held until January I, 1913, when he was elected Vice-President and Freight Traffic Manager of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. He has been with that company now for more than thirty- three years of continuous service, and has thus become generally known to the ship- ping public as a genial and affable repre- sentative of the Jersey Central.
On May 30th, 1876, he married Cornelia Elizabeth Benjamin, daughter of David and Cornelia (Smith) Benjamin, of an old New England family, who moved some years previous from Connecticut to Beavertown (now Lincoln Park), Morris county, New Jersey. She was born May 16, 1851, at the village of now Lincoln Park, Morris county, New Jersey, and is the mother of three children, namely: I. Olive, born at Slating- ton, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania ; married Dr. Norman Hayes Probasco, of Plain- field, New Jersey, and has one child, John Tilghman Probasco. 2. Chauncey Ben- jamin, born at Walnutport, Pennsylvania, married a daughter of Ex-Judge William Vreeland, of Orange, New Jersey. 3. Lucius Tilghman, born at Slatington, Le- high county, Pennsylvania, married Olive Bogardus, of Plainfield, New Jersey.
The early ambition of Mr. Koons was to devote his life to educational work, but his necessities diverted him to railroad business, for which he developed a natural aptitude ; hence he has continued with an unusual de- gree of success. He is a member of the Railroad Club of New York City, and of the Pennsylvania Society of New York. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party; and is a consistent member of the Presbyterian church.
DESHLER, Oliver R.,
Large Copper Operator.
The field of business is limitless, its prizes are many, and yet comparatively few who enter the "world's broad field of bat-
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tle" come off victors in the struggle for suc- cess and prominence. This is usually due to one or many of several causes-superficial preparation, lack of close application, or an unwise choice in selecting an avocation for which one is unfitted. The reverse of all these has entered into the prosperity and prominence which Mr. Deshler has gained as a representative of the industrial manu- facturing interests of Bangor. He was thoroughly trained for the pursuit which he has always followed and in which he embarked as a young man, and his native talent and acquired ability seem to have especially fitted him for this business, the manufacture of high hall clock cases and piano trusses.
Mr. Deshler is descended from one of the old families of the Lehigh Valley. His grandfather, David Deshler, was a man of the highest respectability, who enjoyed the full confidence of his fellow citizens. To him and his wife Sophronia were born three children : 1. Tilghman. 2. Sarah, wife of Solomon Kline, of Allentown, and they have four children: Elmina, Charles, Emma, and Amanda. 3. Reuben Deshler, the father of our subject, who was born in Cedarville, Pennsylvania, in 1842. He became a blacksmith, and in addition to the conduct of his shop he owned and culti- vated a small farm. He was a good me- chanic, but is now living retired. His wife bore the maiden name of Henrietta Ritter, and to them were born four children: Charles D., Henry D., Emma D., and Oliver R. The mother departed this life in 1877.
Oliver R. Deshler was born at Emaus, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1861, and was reared and educated in his native town. In early life he learned the cabinetmaker's trade in Easton, Pennsyl- vania, to which city he removed in 1880, there spending eight years. In 1888 he went to Philadelphia, where he spent less than a year. Returning then to Easton, he entered the employ of W. J. Daub, with whom he remained for a year and a half. In 1891
he removed to Belvidere, New Jersey, where with his brother, Henry D., he en- tered into the wholesale and retail furniture business, being successfully engaged in that for nine years. In 1901 he came to Bangor, and began the manufacture of tall clock cases and piano trusses, in addition to the slate industry. In this he was associated with J. S. Moyer, but the slate work proved detrimental to the wood working business of Mr. Deshler, and in the following year (1902) he built and equipped his present plant. He uses a forty-two horse-power engine, together with a sixty horse-power boiler, and thirty-seven men are employed in the works. The business herein con- ducted amounts to $30,000 per annum, and the capacity will allow an increase to $75,- 000. Already Mr. Deshler has become widely known as the proprietor of this manufactory, and is building up a business which is increasing steadily to a most grati- fying extent.
Mr. Deshier does not, however, confine his attention wholly to this work, for he is also a large stockholder in the Pahaquarry Copper Company. The properties of the corporation comprise fee-simple title to 1,602 acres of valuable copper lands in Pahaquarry township, Warren county, New Jersey, more than three and one-half miles in length, and with an average width of about a half a mile. The many copper bearing veins run the entire length of the property, outcropping nearly five hundred feet above the Delaware river, at an angle of forty-five degrees. Calculations show fifteen or sixteen million tons of ore, con- taining nearly four million pounds of cop- per, without going below the water level. The mines were rudely developed by the Dutch and Indians as early as 1660, and the product was carried over a wagon road cut through the forest for more than one hun- dred miles to Esopus (now Kingston), whence it was shipped to Holland for treat- ment. The mines were purchased by the Allegheny Mining Company in 1862, but
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were not adequately worked, and were sub- sequently abandoned. In recent years it was discovered that the mines had been worked only to a limited extent, and that they still contained an abundance of ore-in fact, a greater quantity than had ever been dreamed of. In 1902 the property was purchased by Mr. Deshler and his brother, Henry D. Deshler, who are the largest stockholders in the Pahaquarry Copper Company, of which O. R. Deshler is presi- dent, and H. D. Deshler is secretary. They erected buildings and installed a new plant with a capacity of two hundred tons per diem, having the same completed before the expiration of 1904. The Pahaquarry Copper Company also owns in fee simple two hun- dred and fifty acres of valuable mineral property on the east slope of Blue Moun- tain, near the great offset at Tott's Gap, Pennsylvania, which contains well defined veins of gold and silver bearing rock assay- ing from a few dollars to $36 per ton-the same class of rock as is found at Leadville, Colorado. A tunnel of one hundred and forty feet was driven across several veins, and the property developed.
On November 12, 1881, occurred the marriage of Mr. Deshler and Miss Carrie A. Balliet, who was born September 26, 1863, in Emaus, Lehigh county, Pennsyl- vania. To them have been born eight chil- dren : 1. George Oliver, born May 12, 1884. 2. Harry Herbert, born January 9, 1886. 3. May Knauss, born November 22, 1887, died April 28, 1892. 4. Edna Naoma, born June 19, 1890. 5. Walter Balliet, born May 13, 1892. 6. Ruth Olive, born March 27, 1894. 7. Dorothy Elbertha, born July 29, 1896. 8. Beatrice Ellen, born August 16, 1899.
Mr. Deshler is a member of Belvidere Lodge, I. O. O. F., also belongs to the en- campment, and is a past chief officer in both branches. He is likewise a member of the grand lodge of the State of New Jersey, and holds membership relation with the
Woodmen. He stands to-day as one of the representative business men of Northamp- ton county-strong in his honor and good name, strong to plan and to perform, and now successfully controlling interests of considerable magnitude in the business world.
THOMSON, Wilmer Worthington, Journalist, Artist.
Wilmer Worthington Thomson, editor of the "Daily Local News," West Chester, Pennsylvania, was born March 26, 1842, in Willistown township. His parents, Aaron B. and Harriet (Evans) Thomson, were also born in the same township, and his paternal grandparents, David Thomson and Phebe Thomas, were natives of Chester county.
Aaron B. Thomson was educated in the common schools, but he was taught so thoroughly and added so largely to his knowledge through private studies, that he became a well equipped teacher and gave his long life most usefully to school work in Chester county, and almost to the time of his death, at the age of eighty-two years. To him were born four children, of whom three were also teachers for longer or shorter periods.
I. Joseph Addison Thomson, who, after teaching school for some years, entered the consular service in Washington City. In 1870 he became editor of the "Chester News." He subsequently returned to ac- cept appointment as postmaster at Media, and died while occupying that position. He married Rebecca L. Owen, and they be- came the parents of one son and three daughters, all of whom are living except one daughter.
2. Mary Emma was also a teacher prior to her marriage to John O. K. Robarts, of Phoenixville, editor of "The Messenger." To them were born three children, of whom one is living.
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3. Milton Wilson Thomson, deceased, was a teacher for many years and afterward a machinist in the Phoenixville Iron Works. He married Emaline Wersler, and they be- came the parents of six children.
4. Wilmer Worthington Thomson was educated in the public schools and labored for a time in the iron works in Phoenixville. Circumstances, however, soon led to the profession in which he found his life work. While yet a workman in the iron works he wrote correspondence for county papers, and he also published an advertising sheet, "Everybody's Business," having the print- ing done in Philadelphia, and distributing the paper himself in Phoenixville and Potts- town. This paper was discontinued after a year, and Mr. Thomson then began the publication of the "Weekly Legal Tender" at Phoenixville, a local sheet, which was continued for one year. Somewhat later he took up correspondence for the "West Chester Jeffersonian," and six months after- ward (in August, 1871,) became local editor of the paper, a position which he relin- quished in the following year to assist in founding the journal with which he has since been uninterruptedly connected.
The germ of the "Daily Local News" was the publication by Mr. Thomson of the "Daily Institute News," during the five days session of the Teachers' County In- stitute in the early fall of 1872. This was a small four-page sheet issued each morn- ing, containing the program for the day, and several columns of local news, with some advertisements. The little journal, which was distributed free, met with such favor in the eyes of the business community, as well as of the teachers, and its discon- tinuance when the occasion for its publi- cation had ended, evoked such expressions of regret, that Mr. Thomson was en- couraged to essay the introduction of the "Daily Local News," in association with Mr. William H. Hodgson, its publisher. The first issue on November 19, 1872, was
a diminutive four column folio with a page size of 121/2 by 83/4 inches. The enterprise was entered upon without solicitation of a subscription or an advertisement, and the first two issues were distributed gratui- tously. It is not the province of the writer of these pages to present a history of the journal which had so modest a beginning. Suffice it to say that it steadily grew in favor, soon acquiring a large patronage and making repeated enlargements, until it has long been known as one of the most im- portant journals in the State, outside the great financial and commercial centers. It has steadfastly adhered to the principles which actuated its coming into existence- that of being fair and liberal to all parties, sects and creeds. This policy has found appreciation in such generous patronage that the paper was long since obliged to in- stall a plant of metropolitan pattern and extent, with perfecting presses, linotype machines, and a complete stereotyping out- fit. It is of interest to note in this connec- tion that this was the first inland newspaper in the United States to call to its service a perfecting press. Through all these years from its initial number to the present time, Messrs. Hodgson and Thomson have been the sole conductors of "The News." The former named in the capacity of proprietor and the latter named in that of editor.
A facile and forceful writer, Mr. Thom- son has not confined his labors to his own newspaper, but has been an industrious con- tributor to various other journals. For a long time he was local correspondent for the "New York Herald," and he was for twenty-two years correspondent for the "Philadelphia Times," and for eleven years for the "Philadelphia Ledger." For several years past he has been the local correspondent for the "Philadelphia North- American" and "Philadelphia Inquirer," and he has been the West Chester repre- sentative of the Associated Press and "The Philadelphia Evening Telegraph" for
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several years past. He gave evidence of artistic taste in his early youth, and later in life became a pupil of Carl Weber. Paint- ing in oil and water colors is his favorite pursuit in leisure hours, and his works have long been in demand for presentation pur- poses.
Mr. Thomson enlisted in the Civil War, May 20, 1861, as a musician in the Phoenix Military Band of Phoenixville, and served through the first three months service period. In 1862 he became chief clerk to Captain John F. Hazleton, A. Q. M., Sec- ond Brigade, Third Division, Third Army Corps, (later of the Sixth Corps), and for several months was chief clerk to Captain McKee, C. S., of same brigade. In 1864 he was given the position of roll clerk to Captain J. C. Mann, Post A. Q. M., at Winchester, Virginia, and remained in that position until May 24, 1865, when the cler- ical corps was disbanded at Camp Stone- man, near Washington. Immediately fol- lowing his discharge there, he was appointed chief clerk to Major Forsythe, on General Kirkpatrick's staff, then preparing to go to Texas, but sickness interfered and he was released from his obligation.
Mr. Thomson was married to Miss Frances O. Wilson, daughter of Alexander Wilson, of Newark, New Jersey, who was a merchant, at one time a member of the legislature, and at the time of his death was connected with the New York City post- office. Mrs. Thomson was educated in the public and select schools in Newark, and in the Somerville (New Jersey) Seminary. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thom- son were: I. Nellie G., who became the wife of Charles H. Morgan (now de- ceased), of West Chester; children : Francis W., Donald T. 2. Elizabeth Wil- son, at home with parents. 3. William Hodgson, on reportorial staff of "Daily Local News"; married; children: Marian Lewis, Wilmer W., Robert A., Osborne. 4. Rachel P. Thomson, at home with parents.
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