USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. X > Part 10
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In addition to the presidency of the above concern, Mr. Lehman is actively identified as an official and stockholder with various other enterprises. He is a director in the Ransome Mixer Company of New York, director in the Carpenter- Beale Company, Incorporated, of New York, director of the McWhirk Engi- neering Company, and in 1912 helped organize and became president of the Hoboken Land Campany. In politics, Mr. Lehman is a Republican, but has always refused office, preferring to con- centrate his energies on the details of hit many offices. Of social nature, he is a
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member of Westmoreland Country Club, which he helped organize and was presi- dent of for the first four years of its existence; member of the Harvard Club of Pennsylvania; the Harvard Club of New York; the Friars Club of New York; the Concordia Club of Pitts- burgh, the Army and Navy Club of Pitts- burgh, a member of Rodef Shalom con- gregation.
Mr. Lehman married, January 9, 1902, Seidie, daughter of Charles and Caroline (Frank) Adler, of Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Lehman are the parents of a son, Murray C., born August 5, 1905. Mrs. Lehman is active in the philan- thropic work of her city, and is a mem- ber of the Children's Bureau, and a direc- tor in the Hebrew Aid Society of Pitts- burgh.
Albert C. Lehman is an admirable rep- resentative of the Pittsburgh manufac- turer, inasmuch as in his character and record he gives evidence of the vitalizing energy and spirit of progress which has ever distinguished the Pittsburgh man of affairs, and it is by men of this type that its prestige will be maintained and increased in the years that are to come.
Charles Adler, father of Mrs. Lehman, was born December 8, 1839, in a little mountain town near Cassel, Germany, son of Simon and Lalchen (Stern) Adler. He attended the public schools until the age of fifteen, when he came to America, arriving in Maryland and settling in Montgomery county, where he conducted a store until 1864. In February, 1865, Mr. Adler went to Baltimore, Maryland, and entered the wholesale shoe house of H. Frank & Company, when the name of the firm was changed to Frank & Adler, which has grown to one of the large enterprises of Baltimore. Mr. Adler mar- ried, February 19, 1865, Caroline, daugh- ter of Henry Frank, of Baltimore, and
their children were: Simon C., Mrs. Robert M. Laupheimer, Mrs. Albert C. Lehman, as above stated; Harry, and Blanche.
VAN DERMARK, Welbon W., Business Man, Agriculturalist.
Although all his life a business man and most successful in his undertakings, Mr. Van Dermark, of Wilkes-Barre, also ranks with the agriculturists of the Wyoming Valley, although of that to be envied class then referred to as "Gentle- man Farmers." Yet he is as practical in the management of his four farms as of his business, his pet hobby-fine Hol- stein cattle-being the most practical of fads as they are the foundation of the herds that make his a model dairy farm. One of these farms is the old Van Der- mark homestead in Dorrance township, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, the others adjoining. Mr. Van Dermark is a man of energy and ability, held in high esteem by his business associates, friends and acquaintances of a lifetime. His life has been quietly spent, his greatest interest his home and private business affairs.
Mr. Van Dermark is of an ancient Dutch family, his American ancestor, Benjamin Van Dermark, coming from Holland to New Amsterdam (New York) about the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury (1740-1760). From New York he drifted over into New Jersey, as did many Hollanders, finally making settlement near Princeton, where he married Sarah Brink, and they are the founders of the branch of the family in this country. They were the parents of Benjamin (2), Brink, Sarah, John and Jeremiah. Before Indian troubles were over they were greatly harassed in their Jersey home and finally moved to Eastern Pennsylvania, Benjamin obtaining a farm on the banks
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of the Delaware, which with his sons he cultivated for some years. Finally the family located in the Wyoming Valley, where a farm was purchased in Newport township, Luzerne county. There Ben- jamin (1) Van Dermark ended his days, leaving a family who had inherited his love of the soil, being farmers in each generation down to the present. W. W. Van Dermark turning to agriculture after success had been attained in the business world.
The line of descent in this branch is through the eldest son of the founder, Benjamin (2) Van Dermark, a substan- tial farmer, and of deeply religious life. He married Margaret Simms, of English parentage, and at the homestead in New- port township, prayer meetings were often held. The land these early Van Dermarks owned were underlaid with rich veins of anthracite coal, but they tilled the surface, perfectly content, know- ing nothing of the riches beneath nor did any one else until they had passed out of the family ownership. Benjamin (2) and Margaret (Simms) Van Dermark were the parents of: John, Sarah, Daniel, James, David, Simon, Peter, Elijah, Simms, and Moses, his love for the Bible and his respect for Bible characters showing forth in the names given his nine sons, the only daughter being given the beautiful name of Sarah, signifying Princess, that being the name borne by the wife of Abraham.
The line of descent continues through Moses, youngest of the sons of Benjamin (2) Van Dermark. He was born in New- port township, Luzerne county, Penn- sylvania, and eventually became a large landowner, his holdings including some of the richest veins of anthracite in the Wyoming Valley. He was unaware of these coal deposits and finally disposed of all his property, going to the State of
Indiana, where he ended his days in peace and contentment, tilling his own acres as he had done in Pennsylvania. He mar- ried, in Newport, Sallie Cocher, and they were the parents of Simon Peter, Fred- erick, Wilson, George and Jacob, the last named the father of Welbon W. Van Der- mark, of Wilkes-Barre.
Jacob Van Dermark was born in New- port township, Luzerne county, Penn- sylvania, in 1833, died in 1883. He was educated in the district schools, and was his father's farm assistant until becom- ing of age, then chose for himself and for some time followed boating on the Susquehanna river during the open months for river driving of logs and raft- ing of lumber to down river markets. Later he became interested in coal min- ing, but unfortunately the family lands had all been sold, and he entered the serv- ice of the Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company at Wanamie, refusing to accom- pany his parents to Indiana. He was appointed outside superintendent of the company's mines at Wanamie, and in that position continued until his death in 1883, at the age of fifty years. He was a man of strong character, and rendered a good account of his life. He married Frances Russell, and they were the par- ents of Carrie, married C. E. Moore, M. D., of Alden, Pennsylvania, and has a son, Charles Moore; Josephine, married Albert Stair, of Alden, and has five sons ; Ruth, married C. C. Rosser, superin- tendent of the Susquehanna Lumber Company of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania ; Welbon W., and Harvey H.
Welbon W. Van Dermark, son of Jacob and Frances (Russell) Van Dermark, was born in Newport township, March 23, 1865, and was educated in the public schools. At the age of twelve years he began working at the coal mines and so continued for five years. After his fath-
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er's death, in 1883, he left the mines, and LAUCK, John E., for the following eleven years was clerk in the general store of the Alden Com- pany at Alden. He then resigned and located in Wilkes-Barre, which has since been his home and the scene of his busi- ness activity. His first position in Wilkes-Barre was with Lazarus & Lang- feld, as clerk in their department store, but later and until 1901 he was a success- ful agent for the Prudential Life Insur- ance Company. This was the last posi- tion he ever held under another, as in August, 1901, he purchased the old Wilkes-Barre Laundry and started that company on a career of unusual pros- perity. The business in time outgrew its quarters, although several additions had been made, and in 1910 he erected a spe- cially constructed and modernly equipped building for its reception at Nos. 362-368 South Main street, Wilkes-Barre. The same year he incorporated the business as the Wilkes-Barre Laundry Company, W. W. Van Dermark, secretary and treas- urer. The business continues its pros- perous career, Mr. Van Dermark dividing his interest between his business and his four farms in Dorrance township, the homestead of eighty-two acres, and three adjoining tracts of one hundred and two, forty and fifty acres each. He conducts these as a general dairy farm, his cattle chiefly highly bred Holsteins. Every modern improvement in dairy farming and dairying is installed at the farms, the reputation of the products of the herds being very high. In politics, Mr. Van Dermark is a Republican, a member of the First Presbyterian church, Wilkes- Barre, but his home was his club and his lodge, and there he was content, without club nor society memberships.
Mr. Van Dermark married, in 1897, Mary E. Rankin, who died October 19, 1916, daughter of Joseph Rankin, of Wilkes-Barre.
Manufacturer.
Prominent among the manufacturers of Pittsburgh is John E. Lauck, general manager and director of the Mckeesport Tin Plate Company, and officially con- nected with various other enterprises.
John E. Lauck was born in Lexington, Kentucky, January 14, 1862, son of Edwin and Emma (Nichols) Lauck. He received his early education in the schools and col- leges of his section, and his first employ- ment was with the Adams Express Com- pany, Lexington, Kentucky. He next spent two years with the dry goods firm of Appleton, Lancaster & Duff, and four years with the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail- road Company, being advanced during that time to chief clerk and cashier of the Lexington office. In 1887 he left Ken- tucky and became teller of the Bank of Wichita, Kansas. The bank which was run by Kentucky people, was afterwards reorganized as the Fourth National Bank, Mr. Lauck being elected its cashier, which office he held until 1890. Return- ing then to Kentucky, he assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Middlesborough, and the Bank of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, and became interested in the Middlesborough Town and Land Company and the American Association, concerns with a capital of $22,000,000.00. In 1892 Mr. Lauck re- turned to his old home, Lexington, Ken- tucky, where he engaged in the broker- age business, and invested in gas prop- erty and real estate in Anderson and Alexandria, Indiana. At the same time he became interested in the tin plate busi- ness at Middleton, Indiana, and upon leaving there came to Pittsburgh, Penn- slyvania, where he assumed the manage- ment of the Star Tin Plate Works. In 1896 he gave up this position and became general manager of the United States
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Iron and Tin Plate Manufacturing Com- pany, at Mckeesport. He remained with this concern until January 1, 1902, and during this time doubled the capacity of the plant. Mr. Lauck then became gen- eral manager and director of the Mc- Keesport Tin Plate Company, which offices he holds to the present time. His initiative and ability have been among the causes of the great growth of this concern, one of the large enterprises of the Pittsburgh District. His training qualified him for carrying on a large bus- iness enterprise, and his close application to the business of his firm has given him remarkable success. The industry which he has helped build up is of great value in itself and of relative importance in the industrial development and permanent prosperity of Pittsburgh. A man of sin- gularly strong personality, he has exerted a deep influence on his associates and sub- ordinates, and toward the latter in par- ticular his conduct has ever been marked by a degree of kindness and consideration which has won for him their loyal sup- port and hearty cooperation. Force and resolution, combined with a genial dis- position, are depicted in his countenance. and his simple, dignified and affable man- ners attract all who are brought into con- tact with him. He is one of the men who number friends in all classes of society. Mr. Lauck is also a director of the Wash- ington Tin Plate Company; member of the Oakmont Country Club, the Pitts- burgh Athletic Association, Field Club, Pittsburgh Country Club and vice-presi- dent of the Youghiogheny Country Club ; member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Order of Elks. In politics he is a Republican.
On September 25, 1886, Mr. Lauck married Katherine, daughter of David and Mary (Williams) Clohesey, of Lex- ington, Kentucky, and they are the par-
ents of two daughters; Katherine, wife of J. S. Lanahan, of Pittsburgh; and Mary E., wife of Samuel R. Parke, of Philadelphia.
John E. Lauck's career may be summed up in one word-success-the result of his own unaided efforts. He furnishes a true picture of the manufacturer, one who creates and adds to the wealth of nations while advancing his own interests. His record is one that will endure.
QUIN, Robert A.,
Mine Operator.
One of Pennsylvania's sons, whose energy and talent have been devoted to the development of the coal mining industry, Mr. Quin has in that field reached a position of prominence, as this review of a busy, useful life will show. He is a son of Augustus Quin, born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1831, died in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in 1902. He was reared on a Berks county farm, but early in life settled in Pottsville, and there resided until his death, a contractor of mason work and plastering. He mar- ried, at Pottsville, Anne Williams, born in 1835, died in 1902, they the parents of William, now a resident of Washington, D. C .; J. Harrison, deceased, of Potts- ville; Margaret, deceased, wife of Sam- uel Dyer ; Robert A., to whom this review is inscribed; Theodore, of Pottsville ; Susan, married Thomas Birch, of Ches- ter, Pennsylvania; Anna, deceased.
Robert A. Quin, son of Augustus and Anne (Williams) Quin, was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, January 17, 1864, and there passed through the grade and high schools, finishing with gradua- tion in the class of 1881. He began busi- ness life as junior clerk in the offices of the Pottsville Iron & Steel Company, but very shortly after left the office employ
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of the company to enter the engineering corps of the Lehigh Valley Coal Com- pany at Lost Creek, Pennsylvania, where the corps was then operating. He re- mained with that corporation four years, then located in Reading, Pennsylvania, as engineer in charge of the field work A. Harvey Tyson was conducting. Later he joined the Second Geological Survey as a member of the engineering corps, and for two years was engaged with that corps, having his headquarters at Scranton, Pennsylvania. From Scranton he was transferred to the Pottsville office, there remaining until the survey was com- pleted. With the severance of his con- nection with the survey, Mr. Quin became associated with A. B. Cochran & Sons, mining engineers of Pottsville, and until January 1, 1898, was manager in charge of their field work. He held high rank as mining engineer, and from the bottom every step upward had been won by per- sonal merit, hard work, and persevering effort.
With his retirement from the employ of Cochran & Sons, January 1, 1898, he began his efforts in another field of oper- ation, the management of coal mining companies as superintendent. While from the engineer's standpoint he was per- fectly familiar with coal mines and min- ing, he had little experience as a produc- ing operator. But he quickly grasped the points unfamiliar to him, and from the superintendency of the Shipman Coal Company, af Shamokin, Pennsylvania. he went forward to great position and higher honors. On April 15, 1899, he was ap- pointed superintendent of the Susque- hanna Coal Company, William Penn Col- liery, going thence to the superintend- ency of the Mineral Railroad and Mining Company, now a constituent company of the Susquehanna Company of Shamokin. On October 14, 1903, he was promoted to
the position of manager of the Susque- hanna Coal Company, now the Susque- hanna Collieries Company, with head- quarters at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. This record of a trifle over a quarter of a century as a manager and super- intendent of coal producing properties is a most creditable one, and stamps Mr. Quin as a man of forceful character and strong managerial ability. To achieve reputation as a skillful, resource- ful engineer is the work of a life time, and to attain admission to the ranks of suc- cessful mine operators many men have spent their active lives. Yet Mr. Quin has accomplished both and is but in the prime of his splendid powers.
He is a member of the American Insti- tute of Mining Engineers and the Ameri- can Mining Congress; member of the Wyoming Historical and Geological So- ciety ; is a Republican in politics, and an attendant of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkes-Barre. His fraternities are the Masonic and Odd Fellows, his clubs the Manufacturers of Philadelphia, the Cresco of Shamokin, the Pottsville of Pottsville, the Country, Hazleton, the Westmoreland, Wyoming Valley and Franklin of Wilkes-Barre. Genial, cour- teous and friendly in spirit, he makes many friends, and in all circles which he touches is welcomed and honored.
Mr. Quin married, July 16, 1886, Min- nie E. Thickins of Shenandoah, Pennsyl- vania they the parents of: 1. Herbert T., born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 26, 1888; a graduate of Harry Hill- man Academy and of Lehigh University, class of 1912; married Louise Stites, daughter of Dr. G. M. Stites, of Williams- town, Pennsylvania, they the parents of a son, Herbert T. (2). 2. Margaret C., born April 7, 1890; educated at Wilkes- Barre Institute and Lady Jane Grey School of Binghamton, New York. 3.
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Robert D., born February 15, 1893; edu- cated at Harry Hillman Academy, Le- high University and Philadelphia Tex- tile Schools. 4. William, born October 5, 1898; educated at Harry Hillman Academy, Wilkes-Barre, now a student at Mercersburg Preparatory School, Mer- cersburg, Pennsylvania.
This review of the life work of an earn- est man of energy and ability reveals the fact that his way has been won fairly, without the aid of fortuitous circum- stances or governmental favor or influ- ential friends save those he has won by an honorable, manly course in his upward journey. He has been the architect of his own fortunes, and he may, with satis- faction, cast a retrospective view over his past life. Sons and daughters gladden his life, and he is a fine type of the success- ful American business man.
SCHNEIDER, Francis Raymond, Steelmaster, Inventor.
The supremacy of Pittsburgh among the industrial cities of the world is the supremacy of superior brain-power, and describing a man as a leading Pittsburgh manufacturer is equivalent to saying that he possesses intelligence of a high order. A man of this type is Francis Raymond Schneider, for over twenty years super- intendent and director of the Superior Steel Company, which position he held until December, 1916, resigning after the company was taken over by the Superior Steel Corporation. Mr. Schneider has gained some note as an inventor.
Francis Raymond Schneider was born November 29, 1857, in Old Allegheny (now North Side, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania), son of Anthony and Sophia (Hirtz) Schneiderlochner. He received his education in the schools of his city, and his first employment was with the
firm of Carnegie, Kloman & Company, in 1871, as pull-up boy, at the Twenty- ninth street mill. He had not been work- ing long before he chose the field of me- chanics as his occupation, and from 1874 until 1879 he learned the machinist's and roll-turning and roll-designing trade at Carnegie, Phipps & Company's Thirty- third street mill. During 1879 he took charge of the roll-turning and roll-design- ing at the Superior Rail Mill, operated by the late Andrew Kloman. In 1882, shortly after the death of Mr. Kloman, he returned to the Thirty-third street works of Carnegie, Phipps & Company, as de- signer of rolls and head turner, under the management of the late William H. Born- traeger, remaining in that position until 1892. From 1892 to 1896 he had entire charge of the roll-designing and roll- turning of the famous Homestead Steel Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, under the management of Charles M. Schwab during that period. In 1896 Mr. Schneider became connected with the Superior Steel Company, and through rolls, designed by him for the hot-rolling of material, it was enabled to produce a greater range of sizes from a standard- sized billet than is possible to obtain from any other method of rolling. The Superior Steel Company (now the Su- perior Steel Corporation), is one of the large hot and cold roll strip steel con- cerns of Pittsburgh, having a large plant at Carnegie, Pennsylvania, and is equipped with the latest methods of production. A man of strong personality, he has exerted a wonderful influence on his associates and subordinates, and toward the latter in par- ticular his conduct has ever been marked by a degree of kindness and consideration which has won for him their loyal sup- port and hearty cooperation. Force and resolution, combined with a genial dis- position, are depicted in his countenance,
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and his simple, dignified and affable man- ners attract all who are brought into con- tact with him. He is one of the men who number friends in all classes of society.
Seldom is it that a man as active and successful in business as Mr. Schneider takes the keen and helpful interest in civic affairs to which his record bears testimony. He is a director of the Car- negie National Bank, member of the Knights of Columbus, Americus Republi- can Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. In politics he is a Republi- can, but has never held office. A man of action rather than words, he demon- strates his public spirit by actual achieve- ments which advance the prosperity and wealth of the community. He is a mem- ber of St. Philip's Roman Catholic Church of Crafton.
On November 30, 1882, Mr. Schneider married Josephine, daughter of the late Joseph and Gertrude (Hune) Sohl, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and they have been the parents of ten children, six of whom survive: I. Clara, wife of Carl J. Lutz, of Pittsburgh, and the mother of two children: Albert F., born October 5, 1915, and Rosemarie. 2. A. Andrew, born January 4, 1888, graduate of Car- negie Technical School, Mechanical En- gineer, unmarried. 3. Lawrence E., born November 9, 1889, married Hannah Nora Grey, and father of two children: Fran- cis D., born April 23, 1916, and Lawrence E., Jr., born July 27, 1917. 4. Edwin J., born August 6, 1899, unmarried. 5. Jose- phine M., unmarried. 6. Leo A., born November 13, 1903.
Francis R. Schneider's career may be summed up in one word-success-the result of his own unaided efforts. In com- mon with his city, he seems to possess that secret of perpetual energy which science cannot explain. Happily gifted in manner, disposition and taste, enter-
prising and original in business ideas, personally liked most by those who know him best, and as frank in declaring his principles as he is sincere in maintaining them, his career has been rounded with success and marked by the appreciation of men whose good opinion is best worth having.
WATSON, William L., Financier.
Although born in Scotland, Mr. Wat- son came to the Wyoming Valley at so early an age that his recollection em- braces no other home than Pittston, Pennsylvania. There he was educated, there began his business life, and there he has won his way from a junior clerk- ship through succeeding promotions until reaching the presidency of the First Na- tional Bank of Pittston, a strong financial institution with which as a boy and man he has been connected for forty-six years as clerk, teller, cashier, vice-president and president, having held the executive office since July 1, 1905. Such a rise in position is not unknown by any means, but usually influence or friendship has been responsible in some degree, but President Watson began as a practical stranger, and every promotion was based upon merit. He filled each position so faith- fully and well that he was always the log- ical candidate for the next highest posi- tion in which there was a vacancy. He comes of an honored Scotch family of Dumfrieshire.
William Watson, grandfather of Wil- liam L. Watson, of Pittston, Pennsyl- vania, was born in Dumfrieshire, and there passed his years, seventy-nine. He was a smith by trade and until incapaci- tated by age was engaged at his shop. He married Margaret Crawford, also born in Dumfrieshire. They were members of
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