USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52
After serving two years as interne at the West Pennsylvania Hospital, Pitts- burgh, Dr. Jones, in April, 1880, began practice in Allegheny, now North Side, Pittsburgh. He has in the course of years built up an extensive clientele, acquiring at the same time an assured reputation both with the members of his profession and with the general public. He has been since March, 1881, examining phy- sician for the Provident Life Insurance Company, and since 1883 has served as physician in charge of the Protestant Orphan Asylum of Pittsburgh and Alle- gheny. He is a member of the staff of the Presbyterian Hospital. The profes- sional organizations to which Dr. Jones belongs are the Allegheny County Med- ical Society, the Pennsylvania State Med- ical Association, and the American Medical Association.
In politics Dr. Jones is a Republican and, despite the engrossing demands of his profession, has never failed in the faithful discharge of the duties of citizen- ship. He is a director of the Dollar Sav- ings & Trust Company. His religious affiliations are with the Society of Friends.
Any description of the personality and appearance of Dr. Jones would be clear- ly superfluous in a work of this character. They are familiar to two generations of Pittsburghers and the pencil of the artist will make his features known to posterity.
Dr. Jones married, April 14, 1881, Han- nah M., daughter of Marshall and Han-
nah (McCreery) Short, Mr. Short being a farmer of Washington county, Penn- sylvania. Dr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of two daughters: Virginia, educated in Pittsburgh schools and at Bryn Mawr College; and Margaret Ben- nett, a graduate of Pittsburgh schools. Mrs. Jones, a thoughtful, cultured woman of inherent strength of character, has ever been her husband's true comrade and best helper, and the time which the calls of duty permit Dr. Jones to spend in his home are his happiest and most restful hours.
On January 1I, 1916, Dr. Jones was elected president of the Allegheny County Medical Society, having the solid support of the members of the Alumni Association of the University of Penn- sylvania. The event was a memorable one, constituting an epoch in the history of this representative organization. The feeling which prompted this tribute on the part of his professional brethren is shared by the community which honors Dr. Jones both as physician and citizen.
HAYDON, James C., Enterprising Citizen.
There are now few, very few, individual coal operators left in the anthracite coal district, but during the sixties and seven- ties there were many to whom the little "Coal Baron" was applied not in an offen- sive sense, but to indicate their rank as producers and operators in the coal field. One of the last of these to disappear was James C. Haydon, of Jeanesville and Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a prominent operator until the railroads and coal com- panies purchased the coal mines. He was also an influential manufacturer and well- known in the large eastern cities.
James C. Haydon was born in Philadel- phia, on December 5, 1833, died at Jeanes-
2513
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ville, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1915. His youth was spent in Philadelphia, where he attended public schools, and later en- tered Burlington College at Burlington, New Jersey, there completing his educa- tion. He became a practical civil engi- neer, and from 1852 until 1857 was en- gaged on railroad surveying and con- struction. He was with the Northern Pennsylvania, 1852-55, until the comple- tion of that road to Bethlehem, Pennsyl- vania. From 1855 until 1857 he was in the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, under Robert H. Sayre. He abandoned railroad engineering in 1857, and the same year became superintendent of the Buck Mountain Coal Company's mine at Rockport, Pennsylvania, their breakers there then being furnished with power by a water wheel twenty-five feet in diameter. He continued with that com- pany for ten years, becoming thoroughly familiar with anthracite coal mining and marketing, and forming a wide acquaint- ance in the coal fields.
In 1867 he became interested in the organization of the Spring Mountain Coal Company at Jeanesville, Pennsylvania, in association with Governor Randolph, of New Jersey, and others, and after that company was organized operated their mines as superintendent until 1874, their property comprising about eight hundred acres of coal bearing land, several mines in operation, and two and a half miles of railroad extending from Coleraine to Jeanesville, which was bought in 1874 by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. After the sale, Mr. Haydon, who was then considered one of the best author- ities on coal mines and mining, formed a partnership with Francis Robinson, of New York, and leased the mines from the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, operating the mines very profitably until 1894, also conducting an office under the firms name
of Robinson, Haydon & Company, at No. I Broadway, New York City, for the sale of their product and general transaction of their business. In 1894 the Lehigh Valley Coal Company repurchased the lease, and paid Robinson, Haydon & Company for all improvements they had installed, Mr. Haydon then retiring from coal mining business.
In 1894 he organized the Jeanesville Iron Works Company, erected a plant for the manufacture of hydraulic machin- ery, conducting a prosperous business at Jeanesville until 1903, when the company moved its works to Hazleton, erecting on a twenty acre plot a large modern plant employing two hundred men. Mr. Haydon continued his connection with the company until his death, and was interested in other Hazleton enterprises.
He was charitable and philanthropic in a quiet way, contributed liberally to the church, and always willing to aid good causes. He did not make a selfish use of his wealth, but had a helping hand for those less fortunate than he, and was ex- tremely public spirited where the inter- ests of his community were concerned. He was a member of the Episcopal church, and was a warm friend of St. Peter's Parish, Hazleton, and vestryman for many years. He held membership in- leading clubs in New York City, Phila- delphia and Washington, D. C .; in the Westmoreland Club of Wilkes-Barre, the Country Club of Hazleton, the Hazleton Club, the New York Yacht Club, and the Union League Club of Philadelphia. He confined his energy to his business and never accepted political office. His friends were legion, and everywhere he was known he was held in high esteem for his many sterling qualities, his up- right life and social graces.
Mr. Haydon married, in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, October
2514
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
28, 1858, Ellen F. Newton, born April 28, 1835, daughter of Baxter B. and Flora Newton, of Norwich, Vermont. Mrs. Haydon survives her husband, with whom she spent fifty-five years of happy married life, and resides at Jeanesville. Three children were born to them: Percy Howard, deceased; Bertha, mar- ried John G. Morris, and resides at Haverford, Pennsylvania; Mary, married John V. Hansen, of Washington, D. C.
BENNER, Thomas M., Jr., Lawyer, Public Official.
The history of the legal profession in Pittsburgh is the history of a force not less potent than that of its factories and furnaces. Prominent among the younger generation of attorneys is Thomas M. Benner.
Thomas M. Benner was born in Alle- gheny City (now North Side, Pittsburgh) May 7, 1873, son of Thomas M. and Mary (Armstrong) Benner, the former a native of Tioga county, Pennsylvania, who spent his entire life in Allegheny county and for many years was connected with the iron industry of Pittsburgh. During the Civil War, Thomas M. Benner, Sr., served in the 110th Regiment Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and later was promi- nently identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of Post No. 88, of Allegheny, until his death, May 28, 1898. Mary Armstrong Benner, wife of Thomas M. Benner, Sr., was born in Dundalk, Ireland, but has lived prac- tically her entire life in Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania.
Thomas M. Benner, Jr., received his education in the common schools of Alle- gheny, and then matriculated at the Law Department of the University of Michi- gan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1896, with degree of Bachelor
of Laws. Subsequently he completed his studies in the offices of Richard B. Scand- rett, of Pittsburgh. As an attorney Mr. Benner has a broad, comprehensive grasp of all questions that come before him, and he is particularly fitted for affairs requiring executive ability. At present, he is assistant city solicitor of the city of Pittsburgh, and trys a large number of important cases for that client. He is generally recognized as one of the most skillful trial lawyers at the Alle- gheny county bar. Mr. Benner also rep- resents numerous corporations, and has built up a large practice.
A Republican in politics, he takes an active interest in that phase of politics which makes for the highest good of the community. Of social nature, Mr. Ben- ner is a member of various clubs, among them being the Duquesne Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. He is a member of Christ Methodist Episcopal Church. His genial nature and cour- teous disposition have drawn around him a host of steadfast friends.
In September, 1910, he was married to Miss Charlotte Consalus, daughter of the late John Consalus, of Troy, New York. Mrs. Benner is a descendant of Don Emmanuel Gonzalez, a Spanish noble- man who settled in Saratoga county, New York, early in the eighteenth century, and also of Anneke Jans, one of the his- toric characters of Knickerbocker New York, whose great estate is now in the possession of the Trinity Church of New York City.
CHRISTY, Marshall A., Patent Law Expert.
Marshall Andrews Christy, of the law firm of Christy & Christy, has long been recognized as the leader of the Allegheny county bar in cases involving the prac-
2515
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
tice of patent law. Mr. Christy has thus far been a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh and is identified not with her professional interests alone, but with all the elements which are most essential to her best wel- fare and truest progress.
Marshall Andrews Christy was born January 12, 1871, in the beautiful suburb of Sewickley, and is descended from an- cestors who were among the early set- tlers of New England. A record of the Christy family is to be found elsewhere in this work. Marshall Andrews Christy received his classical education at Prince- ton University and was fitted for his profession by two years' study at the Harvard Law School. In 1895 he was admitted to the Allegheny county bar. Immediately after his admission to the bar, Mr. Christy entered the office of his father, Mr. George Harvey Christy, now deceased, who had practiced law in Pitts- burgh for many years, confining his at- tention mainly to patent law, in which he had built up a large practice and ob- tained a wide reputation. Since the death of his father in the year 1909, Mr. Christy has been at the head of the firm which succeeded to his practice, composed of his brother and himself.
From the outset of his career Mr. Christy has been successful. He has directed special attention to the subject of patent law, with the result that he be- came in this particular one of the lead- ing practitioners at the Allegheny county bar. The peculiar wisdom of the suc- cessful practitioner of patent law has been fully exemplified in Mr. Christy's method. He has always made it a rule to examine to the smallest detail the many laws bearing on the numerous principles involved in patents. By this means he has been enabled to exercise what we have spoken of as the "peculiar wisdom" of attorneys of his class-the
wisdom of effecting a compromise. in cases where it was apparent that a long period of litigation was otherwise in- evitable. It is to his success in prevent- ing law suits hardly less than in winning them that he owes his high standing at the bar and the implicit confidence with which he is regarded by the community.
As a citizen Mr. Christy has always taken a keen and active interest in affairs both local and national, and he has never failed in due regard for the amenities of social life. Professionally he is as well known in other great cities of the East as he is in Pittsburgh. His appearance and personality need no description. They are those of the lawyer and the gentleman.
Mr. Christy married Irene Butler Mc- Vey, and they are the parents of two daughters: Sarah Marshall and Annie Huntington. Mr. and Mrs. Christy have a charming suburban home in Edgeworth and are active and popular socially. Mr. Christy belongs to the Pittsburgh, Edge- worth and Allegheny Country clubs, and Mrs. Christy, a woman of culture and of most attractive personality, is a member of the last-named organization.
Mr. Christy's position at the bar has long been assured, but the many years of activity which in all probability lie before him, involve possibilities of expansion and elevation which the present vaguely but unmistakably indicates.
SPENCER, Samuel W.,
Merchant, Veteran of the Civil War.
The name of this old Scotch-Irish fam- ily, now resident in Pittsburgh for nearly a century, is known and honored through- out Western Pennsylvania. Among its representatives was the late Samuel W. Spencer, manager of the Glenshaw Coal Company.
2516
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
(I) John Spencer, grandfather of Samuel W. Spencer, was a dry goods merchant of Derry, Ireland, and was de- scended from ancestors who were resi- dents of that city during the famous siege.
(II) Samuel Spencer, son of John Spencer, was born in 1796, near Derry, Ireland, and at the age of eighteen emigrated to the United States, settling in Philadelphia. In 1821 George McClel- land, a merchant of that city, sent him as a partner to Pittsburgh with a stock of goods, and in a short time he became one of the well known business men of the then infant metropolis. For many years he was a director of the Bank of Pittsburgh, and a member of session of the First Presbyterian Church of which he was treasurer. Mr. Spencer married (first) Sarah Wilbur, who died in 1825, aged twenty years, leaving two sons, Joseph W. and John. Mr. Spencer mar- ried (second) Mary J. Condell, of Phil- adelphia, becoming by this union the father of two children: Thomas and Samuel W., mentioned below. Mrs. Spencer died in 1840, and the death of Mr. Spencer occurred March 12, 1856.
(III) Samuel W. Spencer, son of Samuel and Mary J. (Condell) Spencer, was born January 16, 1837, in Philadel- phia. He received his education in Pitts- burgh schools. He early made choice of a business career and in youth and early manhood was a merchant of Zanesville, Ohio, even then giving evidence of the abilities for which he became so well known in after years. The outbreak of the Civil War interrupted a career which gave every promise of success and temporarily diverted the course of the young man's life and energies into another channel. He was among those who responded to President Lincoln's first call for troops, and at Fort Donelson he served under General Grant as captain
of Company C, Seventy-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteers. Failing health obliged Captain Spencer to resign his commis- sion, but when the Governor of Ohio called for volunteers to deal with the raids of Kirby Smith and Morgan the young soldier again took the field. After peace was declared Mr. Spencer returned to mercantile life, becoming general manager of William Sample's dry goods house, Allegheny, and later holding the same position with McCrum, Glyde & Company, of Pittsburgh. The latter years of Mr. Spencer's active life were devoted to the development of the coal industry. As manager of the Glenshaw Coal Company he filled a very respon- sible position in the most efficient man- ner, showing himself possessed of execu- tive and administrative ability of a high order. Upholding the principles of the Republican party, he ever had an eye single to the general good. He was largely instrumental in organizing the Presbyterian church of Glenshaw, in the organization of which he was elected a member of session.
Mr. Spencer married (first) Elizabeth, daughter of Adam Peters, of Zanesville, Ohio, who died leaving one child, Eliza- beth, now the wife of Dr. F. S. Brush, of Berkeley, California. Mr. Spencer married (second) Mary, born January I, 1837, daughter of Thomas W. Shaw, of Glenshaw, a representative of one of the old families of Western Pennsylvania. A full account of the Shaw family else- where in biography of Dr. Thomas W. Shaw, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Spencer were the parents of two children: I. Sara Scott, wife of Finley Hall Lloyd, whose biography and portrait, with those of his father, appear elsewhere in this work. 2. Charles Arbuthnot. Mrs. Spen- cer passed away on August 6, 1906. The death of Mr. Spencer occurred July 31, 1905.
2517
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
FLOWERS, George W.,
Attorney-at-Law, Financier.
Among the prominent attorneys now practicing at the Pittsburgh bar is George W. Flowers, of the well known firm of Lewis & Flowers. In addition to his professional standing, Mr. Flowers has a high reputation as a business man, being officially connected with various financial and manufacturing enterprises.
The Flowers family came from Eng- land, having originally located after the Norman Conquest in Oakham, Rutland- shire, which county was represented for many years in the English Parliament by William Flower and his son Roger. The first of the family in this country came with William Penn and settled in Phila- delphia in 1683. The first institution of learning in Pennsylvania was the school established by Enoch Flower or Flowers in Philadelphia in that year. A nephew, Henry, settled in Philadelphia and a brother, William, in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, where many of his de- scendants still live. A number of their descendants fought in the ranks of the Continental army during the War for Independence ; and one of them, Richard Flower, was a member of the Committee of Safety during that struggle, and at least two of them laid down their lives on the field of battle.
(I) George Flowers, great-great- grandfather of George W. Flowers, was also a soldier in the Revolutionary War, being a member of Captain Christian Schaffer's company of the Fifth Regi- ment of Foot commanded by Major Rich- ard Salter. After the war he went into business as a flour and feed merchant in Philadelphia, residing for many years at the corner of Eighth and Race streets, where he died in 1819. His wife, Hannah Flowers, survived him several years.
(II) Jacob Flowers, son of George Flowers, was born in Philadelphia in 1762, and when a young man moved to Harrisburg, where he married in 1789. Later he moved to Allegheny county and purchased a farm on the Brownsville road, about three miles south of Pitts- burgh, and in 1804 erected there a stone house which is yet standing. Here he engaged in agricultural pursuits and was also for some years the proprietor of a hotel. He died in 1831 and his wife Elizabeth, in 1833.
(III) George (2) Flowers, son of Jacob and Elizabeth Flowers, was born at Harrisburg in 1797, and was a small boy when the family moved to Allegheny county. Later he became a farmer of that county, purchasing about two hundred and seventy acres of land a short distance south of White Hall, where he lived until his death in 1877. In politics he was a Republican, and in religious belief a Lutheran. Mr. Flowers married Eliza- beth, daughter of Christopher and Eliza- beth (Mantell) Horning, of Allegheny county, and their children were: Jacob; John Horning, mentioned below ; Lavinia, wife of Frederick Olenhausen, of Alle- gheny county ; Priscilla, married John Aber, of Allegheny county ; Martha, mar- ried Herman H. Niemann, of Pittsburgh ; Sophia, wife of Charles Meyran, also of Pittsburgh; and Mary, married J. C. Matz, of Allegheny county.
(IV) John Horning Flowers, son of George (2) and Elizabeth (Horning) Flowers, was born February 24, 1821. He received his education in local schools. He also was a farmer and resided until 1869 in Allegheny county, removing in the latter year to Westmoreland county. He was a Republican and for a number of years filled the various local offices of township supervisor, school director and councilman. He was one of the organ-
2518
That's bu Inhuston
فاثات
"amis "Esterica" Tot
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
izers and a member of the first board of directors of the Equitable Building & Loan Association of Irwin, Pennsylvania. He was a member and trustee of the First Reformed Church of the same place. Mr. Flowers married, June 21, 1855, Sarah, daughter of Joseph R. and Elizabeth (Baughman) Lenhart, of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and five children were born to them: I. Joseph F., of Wichita, Kansas, married Emma Mc- Intyre and has four sons, Charles Clar- ence, James J., Harry E. and Willis A. 2. George W., mentioned below. 3. Grant L., of Ottumwa, Iowa, married Bertha E. Jones and their children are, Edmund H., Dwight L. and George H. 4. Sarah Anne, married William H. Crock, of Irwin, and is now deceased. 5. John H., in plumbing business in Pitts- burgh, married (first) Caroline Colerick, and (second) Margaret M. Broderick ; children by first marriage, John II (3) and Leonard Colerick. The death of Mr. John Horning Flowers occurred April 28, 1898. Mrs. Flowers, who was born De- cember 25, 1834, passed away December 12, 19II. Her great-grandfather, Chris- tian Lenhart, of York county, Pennsyl- vania, was an ensign or second lieutenant in the Third Company, Eighth Battalion of the Continental line commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel James Ross in the Revolutionary War. Andrew Byerly, her great-great-grandfather, was one of the first settlers west of the Allegheny moun- tains, having located in 1759, with his wife and family of small children, near the Forbes road at Bushy Run, a short distance north of the present town of Irwin, Pennsylvania. His nearest neigh- bor was at Fort Ligonier, twenty miles east. At that time he was an express rider, carrying messages between the commandant at Fort Pitt and Philadel- phia. Four years later, on August 5,
1763, he rendered signal service under Colonel Boquet at the important and decisive battle with the Indians at Bushy Run, in which he was a member of the advance guard, two-thirds of whom fell at the first fire.
(! ; George W. Flowers, son of John Horning and Sarah (Lenhart) Flowers, was born May 15, 1860, near White Hall, six miles south of Pittsburgh, and re- ceived his earliest education in local public schools, passing then to Irwin Academy and then entering Washington and Jefferson College, where he spent one year. At the end of that time he matricu- lated at Yale, graduating in 1884 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The legal studies of Mr. Flowers were pursued under the guidance of Judge Alexander D. McConnell, of Greensburg, Pennsyl- vania, and the Hon. George W. Guthrie, of Pittsburgh, now Minister to Japan. In 1886 he entered the prothonotary's office in Greensburg as chief deputy. After serving two years he was appointed prothonotary of Westmoreland county and at the close of his term was admitted in 1889 to the bar in Westmoreland county, and the same year to the bar of Allegheny county. Two years later he was admitted to practice in the United States courts. In 1890 Mr. Flowers be- gan practice in Pittsburgh, and in the course of time built up a large clientele, devoting himself largely to corporation law, in which branch of the profession he has long been a recognized authority. He belongs to the Westmoreland, Alle- gheny County, Pennsylvania State and American Bar associations.
In conjunction with the essential quali- fications of a successful lawyer, Mr. Flowers possesses talents as a financier. In 1892 he was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Irwin, Penn- sylvania, becoming a member of its
2519
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
board of directors, and for the last seven years has been its vice-president. In 1902 he was instrumental in the organiza- tion of the Manor National Bank of Manor, Pennsylvania, and has been for a number of years a member of its board of directors. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, and of the First National Bank of Trafford City, Penn- sylvania, serving for some time on their respective boards. He was one of the organizers of the Parkersburg Iron & Steel Company in 1900, and from the be- ginning has been a member of its board of directors. He is also a director and officer of a number of other successful industrial and financial institutions. In 1891 he established the Irwin "Repub- lican" and for a dozen years was its owner and part of the time its editor, showing that journalistic ability was also one of his endowments. Eventually he purchased the Irwin "Standard," con- solidated the two papers under the name of the "Republican-Standard" and later disposed of it to the present owners
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.