USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 44
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
(IV) James W. Bell, son of James (2) and Elizabeth (Fairley) Bell, was born July 4, 1824, at Mansfield (now Carnegie), Pennsylvania, and was originally a black- smith and later a farmer, but has now re- tired. He is a Republican and from 1875 to 1884 served as director of the Alle- gheny county poor board. He is a mem- ber of the Union United Presbyterian Church of Robinson township. Mr. Bell married, August 10, 1848, Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Peggy (Hall) McCurdy, of Robinson township, Alle-
gheny county, Pennsylvania, and their children were: James H., born August 8, 1849, farmer of Robinson township, mar- ried Mary Davis Young and has five daughters; Anna Mary, wife of Professor Samuel Andrews, of Pittsburgh; Eliza- beth Jane, died 1874, in her twenty-sec- ond year; William Wallace, mentioned below; Henderson Joseplı, born 1856, married Eliza Jane Scott, and died 1896, leaving four children ; John Washington, born 1859, farmer of Findlay township, Allegheny county, married Ella Aiken and has three sons; and Robert Wilson, born 1862, farmer of Findlay township, married Sadie Conway and has four chil- dren.
(V) William Wallace Bell, son of James W. and Elizabeth (McCurdy) Bell, was born January 7, 1855, in Robinson township, Allegheny county, Pennsylva- nia, and received his education in the public schools of Robinson township and at the Iron City Business College. On August 9, 1871, he became connected with the Temperanceville and West Pitts- burgh Savings Bank, and on August I, 1872, entered the service of the famous old banking firm of N. Holmes & Sons, filling the position of cashier for a num- ber of the thirty-three years during which he maintained his connection with the house. In this simple statement is con- tained the fullest and most conclusive evidence as to his ability and integrity. On July 1, 1905, the firm consolidated with the Union National Bank and Mr. Bell was made assistant cashier of the latter institution, a position which up to the present time he has continuously re- tained.
In politics Mr. Bell has always been a true Republican and has served for some years on the school board of the Thad- deus Stevens district of Pittsburgh. He holds the office of elder in the First United Presbyterian Church. The per-
254I
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
sonality and appearance of Mr. Bell are those of a quiet, forceful and very earnest man, an astute financier, a good citizen, a kind neighbor and a warm friend.
Mr. Bell married, September 27, 1888, Bertha E., daughter of Charles and Amanda E. (Ferguson) Sprung, of Pitts- burgh, and granddaughter of Dr. James Ferguson, a noted physician of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Bell have been the parents of four children: Charles James, born March 9, 1890, attended Pittsburgh pub- lic and high schools, graduated in 1912 at Princeton University and is now with the Riter-Conley Manufacturing Com- pan; Edith, attended Pittsburgh public and high schools and graduated at Smith College, class of 1916; Dorothy Eliza- beth, died March 19, 1909; and William Wallace, born December 25, 1896, gradu- ated from Pittsburgh High School, class of 1915, and entered Princeton in Sep- tember, 1915. Mr. Bell is devoted to the ties of family and friendship and is pecu- liarly happy in his domestic relations. Mrs. Bell is president of the Kindergar- ten Society of the West End, Pittsburgh, and is a charming home-maker and hostess.
Good citizenship has ever been a dis- tinguishing characteristic of the family of which Mr. Bell is a representative, what- ever might be the vocations of the differ- ent members, and he himself, as an able and upright banker, has worthly main- tained the ancestral tradition.
MILLER, Charles Ransome, Governor of Delaware.
A native son of Pennsylvania and a member of the Philadelphia bar, Govern- or Miller has since his marriage in 1884 been an honored resident of the State of Delaware, a Commonwealth of which he has been chief executive since 1913; his home since 1884 the city of Wilmington.
Although an LL. B. of the Law Depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, it is as a successful business man and public official that he is known to his fellow men, his legal practice having been largely confined to the affairs of many corporations with which he has been con- nected. His public service has been rendered entirely in behalf of the city of Wilmington and the State of Delaware, as State Senator, water commissioner and Governor. As a legislator, his course was one of close adherence to the in- terests of the Commonwealth and con- servative legislation, while his three years' of administration in the Govern- or's chair have been marked with a spirit of loyalty to the State's best interests, and the economical adminstration of the various departments and State institu- tions, without in any way decreasing their efficiency or usefulness.
Governor Charles R. Miller was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1857. After ample preparatory courses he entered Swarthmore College, whence he was graduated with the Bachelor's degree, class of 1879. Deciding upon the profession of law, he entered the Law Department of the University of Penn- sylvania, there pursuing a full course until graduation in 1881 with the degree of LL. B. He was admitted to the Phil- adelphia bar the same year, but the fol- lowing thirty years were largely spent as an officer and director of railway, mining. gas, electric light and water power corpo- rations in various parts of the United States, then retiring from active manage- ment, closing his connection with most of them during the years 1910 and 1911, although he is still a director in many companies and is president of the Farmers' Bank of Delaware, an institu- tion founded in 1807. A majority of the stock of the Farmers' Bank is held by the State of Delaware as an investment, and
2542
Isaudr . Frank
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
a minority of the board of directors repre- sents the State's interest, they being ap- pointed by the General Assembly every two years. His business career was marked by unvarying success, and he is yet regarded as a man whose judgment and advice may be safely relied upon.
Until 1910 Governor Miller took little active part in public affairs, although re- garded as one of the able leaders of the Republican party in Delaware. In 1910 he was elected State Senator for a term of four years, resigning that office on Au- gust 24, 1912, to accept the nomination of his party for Governor. He had been a water commissioner of the city of Wil- mington, an office he resigned July 1, 1912. He was elected Governor of Dela- ware at the November election of 1912 by a majority of 1,285, and was the only Republican on the State ticket to escape defeat. He was inaugurated January 21, 1913, for a term of four years.
He is president of the Delaware Hos- pital, Wilmington ; a trustee of Delaware College, Newark; member of the Penn- sylvania Society of New York, and of the Philadelphia clubs: Union League, Art, Racquet, Bachelor, Barge and Down Town; of the Wilmington Country, Delaware, and Automobile of Wilming- ton ; and Automobile of Germantown. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian. Governor Miller had conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws by Dela- ware College, June 14, 1916.
He married, December II, 1884, Abi- gail Morgan Woodnut, of Richmond, In- diana, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but edu- cated at Swarthmore College. There she met Governor Miller, and at the end of her college year they were married, Wil- mington, Delaware, having since been their home. Mrs. Miller is of distin- guished Colonial ancestry, is secretary of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, and deeply interested
and active in the patriotic societies. She is closely identified with educational movements in her State, charitable and philanthropic institutions also claiming her attention.
FRANK, Isaac W.,
Manufacturer, Financier.
It has been a source of much satis- faction to Pittsburghers to observe the continued success of Pittsburgh engi- neers in the management of large cor- porations. One of the most prominent of Pittsburgh engineers is Isaac W. Frank, president and director of the United En- gineering & Foundry Company, and prominent in all that most vitally con- cerns the welfare of the city. The United Engineering & Foundry Company is one of the most successful of the many con- solidations, and a large share of its suc- cess is due to its conservative manage- ment ; it put itself on record as refusing to make war munitions for the European belligerents, but holds itself ready to manufacture for the United States in time of need.
Isaac W. Frank was born in Pitts- burgh, December 2, 1855, son of the late William and Pauline (Wormser) Frank. His early education was obtained at the public schools, at Newell Institute and at the Western University of Pennsyl- vania (now University of Pittsburgh). Mr. Frank graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, at Troy, New York, as a civil engineer, in 1876. Shortly after his graduation from this latter in- stitution he entered the service of the Keystone Bridge Company as a draughts- man. He remained with this company for more than a year, and during this time was engaged on the plans for the New York Elevated Railway. He was afterwards an inspector of materials on the Elevated, under Walter Katte. In
2543
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
1879 and 1880 Mr. Frank was engaged in mining and mine surveying in Lead- ville, Colorado, and later turned his at- tention to the manufacture of rolls, roll- ing mill and steel works machinery. He was both secretary and engineer of the Lewis Foundry & Machine Company, of Pittsburgh. In October, 1892, Mr. Frank assisted in the organization of the Frank Kneeland Machine Company, which soon became one of the most prosperous con- cerns in the country. Its success led to the formation of the United Engineering & Foundry Company, a consolidation of the leading manufacturers of rolls and rolling mill machinery in Pittsburgh. Mr. Frank was made president and direc- tor, which office he holds to the present.
Mr. Frank was associated with the Moores in the formation of the American . Sheet Steel Company, now part of the United States Steel Corporation. For some years he held the office of treasurer and director of the Empire Coal Mining Company. Mr. Frank was one of the founders of the National Founders' As- sociation, and for six years was chairman of the Third District, and later served as vice-president and president. He is a director of the Bank of Pittsburgh Na- tional Association, the Damascus Bronze Company, the Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Company, and many other industrial and financial concerns; at present president of the Pittsburgh Employers' Asso- ciation, a member of the Pittsburgh Smoke Prevention Advisory Board.
In politics Mr. Frank is a Republican, and while he has never consented to hold office is nevertheless somewhat active in political circles, and always as a citizen gives loyal support to measures cal- culated to promote the welfare of Pitts- burgh and to facilitate her rapid and substantial development. No good work done in the name of charity or religion
appeals to him in vain, and by his in- fluence and means he has actively aided a number of institutions, serving as a member of the advisory and finance com- mittee of the Pittsburgh Association for the Improvement of the Poor, as vice- president and trustee of the Irene Kauf- mann Settlement, and as vice-president, director and member of the executive committee of the Montefiore Hospital. He is also a member and trustee of Rodef Shalom Congregation. A man of social nature, Mr. Frank is a member of various clubs, among them being the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Concordia Club and Americus Club.
Mr. Frank married, November 15, 1883, Tinnie, daughter of Jacob and Lena (Hirsch) Klee, of Pittsburgh, and they are the parents of three children: Bessie, now Mrs. S. J. Anathan ; William K., age twenty-six, married, and Robert J., age twenty.
Throughout his career Isaac W. Frank has been animated by the spirit of progress, ever pressing forward and seek- ing to make the good better and the better best. He has furnished a true picture of the ideal manufacturer, one who creates and adds to the wealth of nations while advancing his own inter- ests. The great industrial organizations which he has founded and developed are monuments to his far-sighted business ability, but no less are they monuments to his philanthropy. He has given to hundreds employment and opportunities for self-culture and self-development, and the wealth which has come to him he has held in trust for the less fortunate of his fellows. While increasing the material prosperity of the community he has labored for its moral and spiritual betterment. Manufacturer, financier, philanthropist-he is one of those of whom future generations will say: "The world is better because he lived."
2544
Richard & Brenneman.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
BRENNEMAN, Richard Emmor, Physician, Surgeon.
Dr. Richard Emmor Brenneman, a well known representative of the younger generation of Pittsburgh surgeons, is now in the fifteenth year of his practice in that city. Before coming to Pittsburgh Dr. Brenneman had already begun to estab- lish a reputation which has steadily in- creased with the lapse of the intervening years.
(I) Jacob Brenneman, great-grand- father of Richard Emmor Brenneman, came from Hesse Cassel, Germany, to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.
(II) Christian Brenneman, son
of Jacob Brenneman, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and married Eliza- beth, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Groff) Nessly. Jacob Nessly came to Virginia from Switzerland, in 1785, and took up seven thousand acres of land on the Ohio river, which tract is at the present time in possession of his descend- ants. These descendants, in 1885, cele- brated the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of their ancestor on the banks of the Ohio, fifty miles below Pittsburgh.
(III) Richard Brown Brenneman, son of Christian and Elizabeth (Nessly) Brenneman, was born in West Virginia, or rather in that part of Virginia which later became a separate State. To Mr. Brenneman belongs the distinction of having drafted the resolutions the pas- sage of which resulted in the formation of that State, and he is also entitled to the honor of having been numbered among the earliest Abolitionists. Mr. Brenne- man married Kezia Wells Allison, a cousin of Mrs. William Walker, of Pitts- burgh, whose husband was president of the Farmers' National Bank, and whose daughter is the widow of D. T. Watson, also of Pittsburgh. Biographies and
portraits of Mr. Watson and William Walker appear elsewhere in this work. Mr. Brenneman died March 4, 1879, in West Virginia, and his widow passed away February 8, 1893.
(IV) Dr. Richard Emmor Brenneman, son of Richard Brown and Kezia Wells (Allison) Brenneman, was born April 5, 1873, at Arroyo, West Virginia, and re- ceived his preparatory education in the schools of Wellsville, Ohio, graduating from the high school in 1889. He then entered Bethany College, West Virginia, where he remained three years. In 1900 this institution conferred upon Dr. Bren- neman the degree of Master of Arts. After studying for a time at the Univer- sity of Chicago he matriculated in Harvard Medical School and in 1900 graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While in Boston Dr. Brenne- man served six months as externe at the Massachusetts General Hospital, six months as externe at the Boston Lying- In-Hospital and one year as interne at the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh. He then opened an office in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, and entered upon the general practice of his profes- sion, also serving as surgeon at a private hospital. In February, 1902, Dr. Brenne- man removed to Pittsburgh, where he has since continuously remained, devot- ing himself to the practice of general sur- gery. Since 1902 he has been surgeon to the Passavant Hospital and from 1904 to 1912 he was connected with the surgical department of the Presbyterian Hospital. His practice is large and steadily increas- ing.
Among the professional organizations of which Dr. Brenneman is a member are the Allegheny County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical Asso- ciation, the American Academy of Medi- cine, and the American Medical Asso- ciation. He belongs to the College of
2545
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Physicians and in 1912-13 served as its president. In 1906 he was and is now (1916) president of the Alumni Asso- ciation, Pittsburgh branch of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He takes an active interest in the various medical organizations to which he belongs.
In politics Dr. Brenneman is an Inde- pendent and never fails to take the inter- est of a public-spirited citizen in local and national affairs. He affiliates with Fort Pitt Lodge, No. 634, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and belongs to the Di1- quesne and University clubs and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. He is a member and elder of the Sixth Presby- terian Church.
Dr. Brenneman married, December 6, 1900, Alice M., daughter of the late Rev. David B. and Eliza (Mitchell) Updegraff, of Mount Pleasant, Ohio. Mrs. Brenne- man, who is a woman of charming per- sonality, was educated at Oberlin Col- lege. She and her husband, who is the genial host as well as the able physician, enjoy a high degree of social popularity, delighting to gather their friends about them at their attractive East End resi- dence and at "Riverside Farm," their beautiful summer home in West Virginia.
Though neither a Pennsylvanian nor a Pittsburgher Dr. Brenneman has be- come thoroughly identified with the city and has achieved an assured position in the medical profession.
MOYAR, Charles C., M. D., Specialist in Electro-Therapeutics.
The tendency of our age toward specialization is perhaps particularly marked in members of the medical profes- sion, and the annals of Pittsburgh furnish many instances of physicians who have achieved success by devoting themselves to one department of their chosen work. Among the best known of the younger
specialists now practicing in the Iron City is Dr. Charles Clinton Moyar, who gives the greater portion of his attention to electro-therapeutics and x-ray work. Dr. Moyar has spent the last ten years of his life in the city which is now his home, and has become in all respects a thorough Pittsburgher.
Charles Clinton Moyar's great-grand- father came from Germany to Centre county, Pennsylvania, subsequently set- tling in Armstrong county, in the same State, where he engaged in farming. John Moyar, grandfather of Charles Clinton Moyar, was also a farmer, but later became a successful oil operator.
(III) William, son of John Moyar, was born October 16, 1855, in Armstrong county, and received his education in local schools. Since the age of seventeen he has been associated with the oil busi- ness, and is now president of the Midland Oil & Drilling Company, the Oil City Drilling Company, and the Rouseville Drilling Company. He has held director- ships in various financial institutions, and he and his brother, S. N. Moyar, control many oil leases. Mr. Moyar married, in 1880, Detta, daughter of Clinton and Marie Longwell, of McKean county, Pennsylvania, Mr. Longwell being iden- tified with the oil industry. Mr. and Mrs. Moyar are the parents of the following children : Charles Clinton, mentioned below; W. Franklin, an attorney of Oil City, Pennsylvania, married Ella Bosick, and has two children; and John H., an oil operator of Oil City, married Minna Louise Downing, and has one child. Mr. Moyar, the father, is a resident of Oil City, but at times makes his home in Oklahoma.
(IV) Dr. Charles Clinton Moyar, son of William and Detta (Longwell) Moyar, was born September 2, 1881, in Mckean county, Pennsylvania, and was educated in local public schools, the township high
2546
Eno by E & Wiliams de Ny
C. C. Maya
1 一
Sam
John HPartons
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
school, and the Oil City High School, graduating from the last-named institu- tion in 1901. He then entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and in 1905 graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Shortly afterward he did post-graduate work under Drs. DeKraft and Snow, in New York City.
For one year after graduation Dr. Moyar served as interne in the Allegheny General Hospital, and then established himself on the South Side, where he entered upon a career of general practice. He early secured recognition both from the public and the profession, and at the end of five years and a half removed his offices to the Diamond Bank building, in the downtown part of the city, where he has since remained. He has for some time made a specialty of electro-thera- peutics and x-ray work, and has met with most gratifying success. While practic- ing on the South Side, Dr. Moyar was on the staff of St. Joseph's Hospital. He belongs to the American Medical Asso- ciation, the Pennsylvania State Medical Association and the Allegheny County Medical Society.
In politics Dr. Moyar is a Progressive, and he takes a public-spirited interest in his fellow-citizens which prompts him to assist to the best of his ability any move- ment or institution which makes for the betterment of conditions. He affiliates with Fraternal Lodge, No. 483, Free and Accepted Masons, of Rouseville, Penn- sylvania, and is a member of the Presby- terian church. He keeps in touch with his old student life, belonging to several college fraternities.
Dr. Moyar is a true type of the phy- sician of aggressive temperament and well balanced, and everything about him -face, voice and manner-indicates the man of purpose. Geniality is one of his dominant traits as the number of his friends bears abundant witness.
On July 23, 1907, Dr. Moyar married Rowena, daughter of Dr. William, C. Tyler, of Rouseville, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Moyar, who has a most attractive per- sonality, is a member of the Women's Club of Crafton, the suburb in which is situated the charming home over which she presides and which is associated in the minds of many with gracious and tactful hospitality.
Western Pennsylvanians have long coupled the name of Moyar with busi- ness ability of a high order, but it has remained for Dr. Charles Clinton Moyar to cause them to identify it with profes- sional excellence. This he has already succeeded in doing and his career, thus far, promises more abundant results in the time to come.
BARBOUR, John B., Jr., Stock and Grain Broker.
The prestige of the name of Barbour has been ably upheld in Pittsburgh by John Baxter Barbour, Jr., and he has been an important factor in the business, financial, athletic and social life of the city. He is a brilliant, fertile-minded man, and combines with these qualities executive ability of a high order.
John Baxter Barbour, Sr., was born near Belfast, Ireland, September 26, 1836, son of Joseph and Margaret (Baxter) Barbour, and came to the United States when eighteen years of age, at the same time as his parents. Bright and ener- getic from his earliest years, he had no difficulty in finding employment of a suitable kind. His first position was with Lyman, Wilmarth & Company, of Pitts- burgh, which he left in order to accept an engagement with the Allegheny Valley Railroad Company. This position he held until the outbreak of the Civil War, which made changes throughout the business world. The oil refining business
2547
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
had begun to be one of great importance by this time, and after the close of the war Mr. Barbour formed a connection in that line with Brewer, Burke & Com- pany, subsequently engaging in the same line of industry independently and very successfully, and continuing in it until his plant was merged into the Standard Oil Company. The spotless character of Mr. Barbour was reflected by his reputation as a business man, and he was called upon to fill many important offices. His connection with the National Transit Company secured for that cor- poration a number of rights owing to the foresight, energy and sound business judgment of Mr. Barbour. For a number of years prior to his death, Mr. Barbour held office as superintendent of the right of way department of this corporation, and in this capacity secured the right of way to the seaboard of the company's great trunk pipe lines. Strong, decisive and firm in his convictions, Mr. Barbour held independent views on political mat- ters, although he gave his support to some extent to the principles of the Democratic party.
In matters concerning religion Mr. Barbour was as sincere and earnest as in all the other affairs of life. He gave sub- stantially both of time and money to the Sixth Presbyterian Church, in which he served as trustee for years, and to what is now the East Liberty Presbyterian Church, of which he and his wife were members. His fraternal affiliations were with Franklin Lodge, No. 22, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was a life member .
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.