USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 25
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dent of the Pittsburgh Insurance Com- pany, and held this office until his death ; was also president and one of the trustees of the People's Savings Bank; one of the founders and a director in the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Bank; and president of the Safe Deposit Company for many years. The conscientious attention he had given to the conduct of the business of which he had been head for so many years, characterized all his work in con- nection with all of these institutions, and he was as careful of the trusts reposed in him as if they had been for his sole and individual benefit. It was this quality, and several others of like character, that won for him the esteem and confidence of all his business associates and of the en- tire community.
In political matters Henry Lloyd kept well in touch with the trend of the time, and give his adherence to the Republican party. He was never desirous of holding public office, but when he was convinced that it was for the best interests of the community that he should accept public office, he did not hesitate to accept the proffered honor. In 1868 he was elected to serve in the select council, and was re- elected several times. While in office he served as a member of the water com- mittee, being chairman of that body, and as a member of the finance committee. In these offices he displayed the sound com- mon sense and executive ability which had won success for him in the business world, and his ability was recognized by all.
In charitable and church work, the good accomplished by Henry Lloyd can scarce- ly be overestimated. Upon his removal to the East End, Pittsburgh, he, in associa- tion with several others of like opinions, organized a Sunday school, as there was neither Sunday school nor church in that section at that time. This was the seed
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from which grew the Bellefield Presby- terian Church, one of the largest congre- gations of the entire city. In his capacity of superintendent of the Sunday school, Alr. Lloyd was brought into close per- sonal touch with every inhabitant of the parish, and won their love. Not satisfied with this, he donated the site on which the present church structure was erected, and of the $20,000 necessary to build the church, he donated $15,000. In this con- nection may be mentioned that he also donated a sum of $10,000 to a denomina- tional college for girls, giving it, however, in the name of the Bellefield Church. This is but one example of his modesty in be- stowing gifts, as nothing was more obnoxious to him than to be publicly thanked. His direct personal charities will never be known, as they were be- stowed in the most unostentatious man- ner possible with a full investigation of the case in point. In the fitting words of one who was so situated as to gain knowl- edge of some of the charities of Henry Lloyd: "The only reward that he seemed to regard was that his sense for humanity and duty to God should be satisfied." For a long period of time he was a director of the American Sunday School Union, and president of the Presbyterian Committee of Missions in Allegheny county. He also served as trustee of the Western Theological Seminary, the Western Uni- versity of Pennsylvania (now University of Pittsburgh), and the Jefferson College.
Mr. Lloyd married (first ) September 3, 1845, Jane F., daughter of the Rev. David Mckinney, D. D., an eminent divine of his day, who was the founder and for many years the editor of the "Presbyter- ian Banner." Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd were the parents of eight children: I. Hetty Finley, born September 21, 1846, died September 12, 1848. 2. Eliza Mckinney, born June 12, 1848, died July 26, 1849. 3.
Thomas, born July 26, 1850, died Novem- ber 28, 1851. 4. David Mckinney, born October 28, 1852. 5. Henry, born May 14, 1855, died November 19, 1901. 6. Cathar- ine, born April 2, 1857, died January 19, 1859. 7. John Walter, born February 19, 1859. 8. William Finley, born March 20, 1861. Mrs. Lloyd was born March 19, 1826, and her death occurred February 15, 1863. Mr. Lloyd married (second), August 23, 1865, Elizabeth, born August I, 1830, died January 8, 1905, daughter of Samuel and Maria W. (Finley) Hall, of Newark, New Jersey. Samuel Hall was born December 5, 1789, at Basking- ridge, New Jersey, and his wife, Maria W. (Finley) Hall, was born at same place December 1, 1801. Children of Henry and Elizabeth (Hall) Lloyd: 1. Maria Finley, born July 4, 1866. 2. Davison, born July 5, 1868. 3. Finley Hall, born November 7, 1870, of whom a sketch follows.
The death of Mr. Lloyd, which occurred February 12, 1879, was as sincerely mourned by high and low of every degree as ever falls to the lot of man. The true and unaffected sorrow displayed by his employees was extremely touching, and the following extract from the tribute they placed reverently upon his tomb, well expressed their feeling : "With bowed heads and sad hearts, we, the employees of the Kensington Iron Works, have gathered to express our deep sorrow for the loss of one we loved so well. None knew his worth better, none will feel his loss more keenly than we. There was no man in his employ, no matter in what capacity, but that could approach him as easily as approaching a child. In the darkest days of our financial panic our money was waiting for us every Saturday afternoon. In the hottest days of summer, when we were fatigued and almost ex- hausted from the excessive heat, he would come among us with a pleasant smile and
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a cheerful word that would invigorate us and inspire us to perform our arduous tasks." The iron manufacturers of the city, at a special meeting, placed on record the following: "As a man he was emi- nently successful ; as a competitor he was the soul of fairness and honor; and, as an advisor in the difficulties that have surrounded our trade, he was safe, judici- ous and prudent. He was a man, kind, considerate, courageous, and of sterling integrity, bountiful charity, and noble generosity." The various and numerous charitable institutions, churches, financial and other institutions with which he was connected all sent fitting and sincere testi- monials of their sorrow and his worth. His sympathy for humanity was broad and elastic. He had the faculty of seeing the good in everyone and everything, and ignoring the evil or the tendency thereto, and in this manner, he was the salvation of many a young man who had taken the first steps on the downward path. His helping hand was ever outstretched for the erring or distressed to grasp, and the return clasp was a warm and lingering one. His record is one that Pittsburgh will never forget.
LLOYD, Finley H.,
Prominent Merchant, Representative Citizen.
Finley Hall Lloyd, president of the Pittsburgh Dry Goods Company, is one of the representative business men of the Iron City. In the political life and the philanthropic work of his community Mr. Lloyd has always taken an active part, and with its fraternal circles and its social world he is prominently identified.
Finley Hall Lloyd was born Novem- ber 7, 1870, in Pittsburgh, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Hall) Lloyd. A biography of Mr. Lloyd, who is now de-
ceased, together with a portrait precedes this in the work. He was one of Pitts- burgh's signal men, a man whose record will not be forgotten.
Finley Hall Lloyd received his educa- tion at Shady Side Academy, or rather his preparatory education, for he subse- quently entered Princeton University, graduating with the class of 1892. After taking his degree Mr. Lloyd returned to Pittsburgh, having chosen to follow a business career, and having also decided that his home city should be the scene of his activities. In August, 1893, he be- came a director of the Pittsburgh Dry Goods Company and, beginning at the bottom, thoroughly learned the whole business, becoming familiar with its every detail. In doing so he gained a fund of valuable experience, and also developed those talents for executive and administrative work and that knowledge of men and their motives for which he has since been distinguished among his contemporaries. The advancement of such a man was, as a matter of course, sure and steady. In January, 1902, he became president of the company, and its history from that time is sufficient evi- dence of the ability and faithfulness with which he has discharged the duties of the office. The concern is one of the largest in Pennsylvania, dealing in all kinds of dry goods and having a reputation second to none.
In large measure the success of Mr. Lloyd is explained by his personality. With great energy and strong mental endowments he combines a frankness and cordiality and an unvarying courtesy which have made him emphatically a man of many friends, and enlisted the loyalty of associates and subordinates. In the annals of Pittsburgh his portrait should stand beside that of his father.
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Fh:ts by Jjahnston
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A Republican in politics, Mr. Lloyd, while ever ready to do his utmost toward the betterment of conditions, has never accepted any office with the exception of that of councilman of Shields, the suburb in which he resides. He is a thirty-second degree Mason; his clubs are the Du- quesne, Pittsburgh, Allegheny Country and Pittsburgh Golf ; and he also belongs to the Princeton Club of New York. He is a member and trustee of the Shields Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Lloyd married, September 25, 1895, Sara Scott, daughter of Samuel W. and Mary (Shaw) Spencer, of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, and granddaughter of Thomas W. Shaw. A full account of the Shaw family appears in biography of the late Dr. Thomas W. Shaw, elsewhere in this work. Mr. Spencer was a business man and later a coal operator, spending most of his time in looking after his own coal interests. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd are the parents of two children: I. Elizabeth Hall, born May 30, 1898; educated at the Misses Masters' School, Dobbs Ferry, New York. 2. Finley Hall, born May 14, 1900 ; educated at St. Paul's School, Con- cord, New Hampshire, and expects to enter Princeton University. Mrs. Lloyd, a woman of culture and charm, belongs to the Twentieth Century, Allegheny Country and Pittsburgh Golf clubs, and is president of the Garden Club of Alle- gheny County. Both she and her hus- band are active in social and philanthropic circles, Mrs. Lloyd being a member of the board of managers of the Sewickley Hospital.
Mr. Lloyd is a man of quiet force, the force that accomplishes large results with little friction, the force that counts in the upbuilding, maintenance and true pros- perity of great cities and important com- munities.
MORRIS, Frederic S., Surgeon, Hospital Official.
The twentieth century has been called "the Age of the Young Man," and in a special sense this is true of the med- ical profession. Its ranks are largely recruited from men of the younger gen- eration, and among those who in recent years have established themselves in Pittsburgh is Dr. Frederic S. Morris, whose work as a general surgeon is favor- ably known.
Frederic S. Morris was born September 5, 1881, in Greensburg, Indiana, and is a son of George W. and Dorothy (Kam- merling) Morris. The boy graduated successively from public and high schools, and when the time came for him to choose a profession entered Hahnemann Medical College, graduating in 1904 with the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. After serv- ing for a time as interne in the Homœo- pathic Hospital, Pittsburgh, Dr. Morris applied himself to a course of post-gradu- ate work in the Medical School of the Boston University, and in 1906 began practice in Pittsburgh. From the first he devoted himself to general surgery, and his efforts have been attended with suc- cess. He is a member of the surgical staff of the Homeopathic Hospital.
Among the professional organizations to which Dr. Morris belongs are the American Institute of Homœopathy, the Pennsylvania State Homeopathic Medi- cal Association and the Allegheny County Homeopathic Medical Society, also the East End Doctors' Club. Politically Dr. Morris is a Republican, but takes no part in public affairs with the exception of voting like every other good citizen. He was formerly enrolled in the University Club, but withdrew in consequence of pressure of professional duties. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Morris married, April 6, 1910, Edith,
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daughter of Sebastian D. Holmes, of Lyons, New York. Mrs. Morris is a charming woman of culture and character and both she and her husband enjoy a high degree of social popularity. The mother of Dr. Morris, whose only child he is, is still living and has been a widow many years, her husband, who was a manufacturer of Cincinnati, having died when their son was quite young.
Thoroughly well read in his profession, alert, sagacious and in all things keeping step with the progress of the age, Dr. Morris looks and is a true type of the Pittsburgh surgeon of the present day.
REESE, Isaac,
Prominent Fire Brick Manufacturer.
"Among the business men of Pitts- burgh, no one has contributed more to the development of the iron, steel and brick industries of the Iron City than William Reese and his three sons," said a promi- nent iron manufacturer some years ago.
William Reese was born in Brecon, Southern Wales, in 1787. He was a cousin of the encyclopaedist, Dr. Abra- ham Rees, F. R. S., F. L. S., both great grandsons of the old Welsh clergyman of the Church of England who held the liv- ing of Penderyn, in Breconshire. Dr. Abraham Rees was a Presbyterian min- ister. He was president of the Presby- terian Board in London for many years, and an active member of the most of the charitable institutions of the metropolis. In his youth he was mathematical tutor at Hoxton, when Dr. Kippis was classi- cal tutor, and later at Hackney with Drs. Kippis, Price and Priestley. He edited "Chambers' Encyclopaedia" for ten years before his own, the "Rees Cyclopaedia," the pioneer of "The Brittannica" and "The Century ;" it contains forty-five vol- umes, quarto. He presented the address
of the dissenting denominations on the accession of King George IV, to the throne of England, and was present at a similar address to the late King in 1760. His portrait by Lonsdale is in the Na- tional Art Gallery, London. His portrait by Opie was taken from the British ,Museum some years ago to Dr. Williams' private library in Redcross street, London. He was a great favorite of the Duke of Sussex, who associated his portrait with that of Dr. Parr in his principal library at Kensington Palace. He took his degree of Doctor of Divinity from Edinburgh University at the express desire of Dr. Robertson, the historian. Dr. Abraham Rees is buried in a vault in Bunhill Fields. Almost a hundred years after the death of Dr. Abraham Rees, Dr. Stanley C. Reese, the son of Abraham Reese, and nephew of Isaac Reese, took similar honors to his grandfather's famous cousin. Dr. Stanley C. Reese is a Doctor of Philosophy of Princeton University, a charter member of the Astronomical and Astro-Physical Society of America, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science. William Reese's cousin. Sam., when only nineteen years of age, tutored the sons of English noblemen in mathematics and natural philosophy. These men induced Sam. and his brother John to move their academy from Wales to England.
William Reese was an iron worker, as was his father before him, the latter build- ing the first iron mill on the borders of France and Germany, and living there two years to manage it, returning to his native land. William Reese married, in Wales, Elizabeth Joseph. He, with his wife and seven children, crossed the ocean in the ship "Twin Brothers," which carried on this trip the first railroad iron, flat bars, ever brought to the United States. They landed in Philadelphia in
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Isaac Reese
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1832. William Reese found employment first in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where he was virtually the pioneer ironworker of the State. Later he erected a forge in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, which he managed for some time, subsequently he moved to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, where he built the first sand-bottom fur- nace, as applied to puddling, in the United States, and where the first "bloom" under the boiling process was made. He came to Pittsburgh in 1837, to the Southside, to the mill now known as the Fifteenth Street Mill. William Reese remained at this mill for about five years. Next he managed for fifteen years the Spang Roll- ing Mills in Pine Creek, in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. He then took over the man- agement of the business of Reese, Graff & Dull, in which concern his son Jacob was senior partner. He lived to the remark- ably advanced age of one hundred and four years, dying August 4, 1892, at Boli- var, Pennsylvania. His wife died April 12, 1874, in the seventy-sixth year of her age, at Apollo, Pennsylvania. William Reese and his wife were God-fearing people. In religious faith they were Baptists, and they established Sabbath schools and prayer-meetings in every com- munity they lived in, if they found none there. With the exception of ten years spent in farming in the west, William Reese lived practically the most of his business life in Pittsburgh, retiring from active business at the age of seventy-five years, when the employees of the Fort Pitt Iron Works presented him with a beautiful gold-headed cane, bearing the following inscription: "William Reese, From the Employees of the Fort Pitt Iron and Steel Works, 1871;" they also presented his wife with a silver tea-set.
William Reese and his wife were the parents of ten children, seven of whom were born in Wales. The children were as follows: I. Rachel, who remained at
home, a faithful and willing assistant to her parents in their younger and busier days, and later in their declining years. 2. Isaac, see below. 3. Leah, married Reese Williams. Left a widow by the burning of the Sharon mill, where her husband lost his life, she started a mer- cantile business in Sharon, Pennsylvania. At her death so great was her impress on trade and on the community that at the time of her funeral all places of busi- ness in Sharon were closed in respect to her memory. She left four children : Elizabeth, Mary, Daniel and Benjamin. Benjamin died some years ago; he mar- ried a Miss Burman, of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania ; his wife and one daughter survive him. Elizabeth married Malin Ewing, of Sharon; they have four sons. Mary married Samuel Buckwalter, and lives in Yankton, South Dakota. Daniel never married. 4. Jacob. 5. Rebecca, married Oliver Henderson ; husband. wife and son died many years ago. 6. Abram. 7. Joseph, lost his life at the charge on Stone river, during the Civil War; two sons, William and Abel, survive. 8. Mary Ann, married David Post, of New Eng- land Puritan ancestry. Two daughters survive this marriage, Katherine and Har- riet. 9. Benjamin Franklin, the youngest and only surviving son of William Reese and his wife, is a resident of Bolivar, Pennsylvania. He passed through four years of Civil War. For forty years he has been identified with the brick busi- ness, both as practical worker and as part proprietor, in brick concerns. He mar- ried Dora Berkey, of Bolivar, Pennsyl- vania ; one son, William, lives with his father. Mrs. Reese died in 1914. 10. Elizabeth, married Rev. Joel V. Stratton, in Pittsburgh. They have two children, Anna R. and William.
The family name, originally Rees, was changed to Reese in Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, on account of confusion over the
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mail, there being another Rees family, and letters were frequently opened by mistake. Isaac Reese, the eldest son of William Reese, was the last of the family to take kindly to the "e." His naturalization papers were taken out Rees, and all births and deaths in the family Bible record are written in his own handwriting "Rees" up to the date of the birth of his son Benjamin, in 1862, when he adopted the "e" for the first time.
Isaac Reese, the second child born to William and Elizabeth (Joseph) Reese, was the eldest son. He was born April 29, 1821, in Llannelly, Southern Wales. He was eleven years old when the family emigrated to America. At the age of seventeen he had learned the trade of "hammering." He then had two assist- ants under him and continued in this way for ten years. He afterward embarked in a blast furnace in Clarion county, but the panic of 1849 swept him from his feet. He returned to his trade, which was always lucrative, and after a few years had capital enough to embark in the coal business with his brother, Abram. This enterprise was soon abandoned, the finan- cial returns not being satisfactory. Mr. Reese was then asked to join the firm of Johnston, Taylor & Company, in the manufacture of fire-brick, which he did. He devoted his time and energy to the development of a better grade of brick, and discovered new clay from which, by a new process, he made better brick. Upon this brick he stamped the distinguishing word "Woodland." This was a fire-brick for crucible furnaces, superior to any which had heretofore been produced in Pittsburgh. He saw the possibilities of a great business, and he controlled for many years the exclusive sale of fire-clay brick in and around Pittsburgh for cru- cible furnace purposes. Three years after entering the firm he purchased all other
interests in the concern and controlled the business for fourteen years.
Due to the panic of 1873, Mr. Reese again failed, losing every dollar he had, but, as he said to a friend shortly before his death: "I have failed several times in my life, but my credit never failed me once. I borrowed five thousand dollars at sixty years of age, with only forty dollars cash in the world." This last venture was the most successful of his business life. It was in 1878 that he saw the necessity of a brick which would offer a greater resistance to intense heat, es- pecially for the heating furnaces for steel. He was the first to make a success of silica brick for furnace linings in the United States. His first experiment was made at the Apollo Works just previous to his business failure in 1873. (These brick were still in the kiln when the plant was shut down by the sheriff. They were sold to a contractor and built in a pud- dling furnace in Pittsburgh, where they stood over two years with but few re- pairs). When improvements were made in the process of making high-grade steel, there was a demand for a better fire-brick than could be made in the United States, and from 1863 to 1884 the fire-brick, espe- cially for open-hearth furnaces, was brought from Europe, at great expense. Mr. Reese continued to improve on his first experiment at Apollo, until in 1882 he sent his son George to Wales to learn a more economical way of burning the brick. On his son's return to Manorville, Pennsylvania, he brought the benefit of the Old World's experience, which added to his father's experience, was instrumen- tal in producing a brick superior to any known silica brick. This brick stood the test of five thousand degrees of heat, while no other brick was known to stand over three thousand degrees. This brick was called the "Reese Silica Brick," and
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its superiority over the European brick was so generally recognized that it re- placed the latter entirely in the home pro- duct. Of uniform weight and size and practically free from expansion and con- traction under varying temperatures, and giving the best satisfaction in the con- struction and use of glass, open-hearth steel, copper and other metallurgical fur- naces, the "Reese Silica Brick" found a market in every manufacturing State and territory of the Union, especially at the gold, silver and copper smelting works of Colorado. By using the old fire-brick in the cap, or arch, of the glass furnace the slack, or drippings, would run into the glass, while caps made of Reese Silica Brick will make the output of the furnace perfectly clean.
Mr. Reese established a large plant in Manorville, Pennsylvania, and later an- other plant in Cowanshannock, in the same county. These mills were called the Phoenix Fire-Brick Works, and Mr. Reese was the sole owner. He also made brick called "Phoenix" and "Globe," especially adapted for rolling-mill uses, and also for blast furnaces. In order to meet the great demand for his brick, he added two other plants at Retort, Pennsylvania, in Centre county, these plants being known as the "Retort Works." When his sons became of age, in about 1896, he took them into partnership with him. These sons were George W., Benjamin F. and Walter L. Reese, the firm name being then changed to Isaac Reese & Sons, and later still to Isaac Reese & Sons Company. In 1900 the business was incorporated under the latter name with Isaac Reese as president and general manager. This relation con- tinued until 1902, when the firm sold out to the brick trust, but retained stock in the same. There were thirty-four brick plants merged into the trust known as the Harbison Walker Refractories Company, into which the Reese plants entered. The
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