USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. X > Part 28
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
On October 4, 1900, Mr. Simpson mar- ried Charlotte E., daughter of Captain John and Frances Livers, of Boston, Massachusetts.
MILNE, Caleb Jones,
Man of Affairs, Philanthropist.
If success is to be measured by indus- trial achievement, by distinguished effort in many public charities and benevolent projects, and by the holding of offices of responsibility and honor, the life of Caleb Jones Milne, of Philadelphia, conveys a lesson to those who would emulate his career.
The characteristics of his Scotch fore- bears, unceasing energy and insistent de- termination, were derived from his father, David Milne (1787-1873) who had come from Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1827; and through his mother, Beulah Thomas (Parker) Milne (1810-1887) of old Eng- lish Quaker ancestry, he inherited those qualities of mind and heart that have made the Quaker sect respected and es- teemed for its integrity and uprightness.
He was born January 4, 1839, at the family home, No. 7 Church street, Phil- adelphia, Pennsylvania, adjoining old Christ Church, the second son and third child of his parents. Even then, the boys' boarding school was popular, for at eight years of age he was sent with his brother, Francis Forbes, two years his senior, to "Inverary Farm," at New Britain, near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where George Murray, a noted Scotch educator, had about thirty scholars. In 1850-51 he was a pupil at the Episcopal Academy. Hav- ing slight inclination to study, but being exceedingly industrious by disposition, he entered in 1855 the mill of his father, "The Caledonia Factory," Nos. 1818-1830 Lombard street, a manufactory of cotton and woolen goods, where now stands the Polyclinic section of the Medico-Chir- urgical Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. The business had been established by his father in 1830, under the firm name of
194
Lewis Historical Pub. Co
Sag.by SiWabams & Bro NY
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
David Milne, changed to David Milne & Son in 1836 when his son, James Milne (1810-1865), became a partner. In 1859 David Milne retired and his three sons, James, Francis Forbes and Caleb Jones, continued the business as Milne Brothers. In 1865 James Milne died and upon the withdrawal of Francis Forbes Milne (1837-1912), in 1868, the firm name be- came C. J. Milne. About this time the mercantile office, which since the begin- ning had been at No. 21 Church alley (changed later to No. 227 Church street) was moved to No. 118 Chestnut street.
In 1886, eighteen years later, Mr. Milne took his two sons, David and Caleb Jones, Jr., the present members of the firm, into partnership and changed the title to C. J. Milne & Sons, under which style the business is continued by the third genera- tion of the Milne family. During this long period of nearly eighty years a great variety of goods have been made, dress goods, shirtings, flannels, linings, tick- ings, bunting, cotton cheviots, men's wear, silk goods and other classes of fabrics too numerous to mention.
During the Civil War, 1862-1863, Caleb Jones Milne engaged actively in the work of the United States Christian Commis- sion. Valuable services were rendered by him at Falmouth, Virginia, City Point, Virginia, Nashville, Tennessee, and at other places, in caring for the sick and wounded soldiers both in the field and in the hospital. At the close of the Civil War his energies were directed again to the promotion and enlargement of his textile interests. He acquired an addi- tional mill at Twenty-first and Naudain streets, and in 1883 leased part of the Bruner mill at Twenty-second and Ham- ilton streets, and also a mill in Frank- ford, Pennsylvania. In 1887 all of his textile interests were concentrated on the Brandywine creek, near Wilmington, Del-
aware, in what were then known as the "Brandywine Cotton Mills," where he continued to manufacture until 1895. In 1896 he occupied the extensive buildings he had built in Philadelphia on Washing- ton avenue, extending from Tenth to Eleventh streets, on the ground formerly occupied by the Macpelah Cemetery.
His activity in commercial life led him to invest in numerous industrial, mercan- tile and financial corporations. He was president of the American District Tele- graph Company, and for some years was president of the Peerless Brick Company of Philadelphia. This company was noted for the excellence of its pressed bricks and ornamental shapes which were manufactured on a large plot of ground (sixty-eight acres in extent) at Old York road and Nicetown lane. The ground is now occupied by the offices and car-barns of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Com- pany. In 1872-73 he served as president of the Bank of America when it was lo- cated at No. 306 Walnut street. He had assisted in organizing that bank, and he was one of the founders of the United Security Life Insurance and Trust Com- pany of Pennsylvania. In addition he held directorships in the Insurance Com- pany of the State of Pennsylvania, in the American Security and Trust Company, of Washington, D. C., and in the corpor- ation of Finch, Van Slyck & McConville, of St. Paul, Minnesota, the leading whole- sale dry goods firm of the Northwest.
Mr. Milne's philanthropy associated him with many charitable institutions. He was one of the incorporators and was president for thirty-three years (1878- 1912), of the Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men, the original insti- tution of its kind in the United States; a trustee for thirty-seven years (1875-1912) of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb; a manager of the How-
195
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ard Hospital for forty years; and he was for ten years (1883-1893), president of the Southern Home for Destitute Child- ren. He was a member of the advisory board of the Hahnemann Hospital, and was connected likewise with the Phila- delphia Home for Incurables. While president of the Pennsylvania Prison So- ciety he was appointed, in 1889, by Gov- ernor Beaver, one of the inspectors of the Eastern State Penitentiary, at Philadel- phia, at which time Richard Vaux was president of the board. In this executive position he assiduously aimed to accom- plish the moral and social regeneration of prisoners that they might be reformed and rehabilitated. The same year he was appointed a commissioner to represent the State of Pennsylvania at the Univer- sal Exposition held in Paris. In 1894 Governor Robert E. Pattison appointed him a delegate-at-large to represent the Commonwealth at the Congress of the National Prison Association of the United States.
Generous and liberal, his gifts to ben- evolent and charitable institutions were many, but the majority of his benefac- tions were unknown except to the recip- ients. There are records of free beds in perpetuity having been established by him in the following hospitals: The Hah- nemann, the Medico-Chirurgical, the Pennsylvania, the Polyclinic, the Pres- byterian and in the Philadelphia Home for Incurables. Numerous testimonials were passed after his death expressive of the esteem and regard in which Mr. Milne was held by the various boards of which he was a member. The following resolu- tion, passed by the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, on July 24, 1912, is one of many:
Resolved, That the Board of Directors hereby record the loss the Institution has sustained by
the sudden death, in London, England, of Mr. Caleb J. Milne, a member of the Board since February 3, 1875. During Mr. Milne's long serv- ice as a member of the Board he was punctual in attendance upon his duties and took the kindli- est and most generous interest in the work of the Institution. After his election he was assigned to duty upon the then Executive Committee and served as a member of that Committee until Feb- ruary, 1879, when he was appointed a member of the Committee on Buildings and Repairs. He served upon this latter Committee until 1881, when he was appointed a member of the Commit- tee on Household and upon this Committee he served continuously up to the date of his unfortu- nate death. As a member of the Board and of different Committees to which he was appointed, Mr. Milne was always a faithful member and ready and willing to do his utmost for the welfare of the Institution. Except when he was pre- vented by illness or absence from the City he never failed to perform the duties assigned to him, and during a period of more than thirty- seven years he gave freely of his time and means to help the Institution and make its teachers and pupils comfortable and happy. As a member of the Committee on Household he was especially scrupulous in the performance of his duty, and many of the little comforts that the pupils from time to time enjoyed were due to his forethought and liberality.
For nearly forty years he was a mem- ber and a bountiful contributor to the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, Nineteenth and Walnut streets, in which his memory is perpetuated by a handsome memorial window. His mem- bership in social, patriotic and other or- ganizations included the Union League, Rittenhouse Club, Art Club, Penn Club (a former director), Sons of the Revolu- tion, Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, Corinthian Yacht Club, Church Club, Metropolitan Club of Washington, D. C., Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Al- bion Society, Swedish Colonial Society, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Academy of Political and Social Science, and he was a member of Union Lodge, No. 121, Free and Accepted Masons ; Ka-
196
Judean Story Porset
David Milio
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
dosh Commandery, No. 29, Knights Tem- plar ; a Thirty-second degree Mason. For fifty-two years a member of Saint An- drews Society of Philadelphia, at one time its president (1886-87), he took a deep interest in its welfare. This society, established in 1749, the oldest purely Scotch society in the United States, es- pecially attracted him because it repre- sented the land of his ancestors. He as- sisted in increasing its permanent funds and in many other ways was helpful to the society. Chiefly through his instru- mentality its Historical Catalogue of 1907 was published, a volume of importance on account of the rare biographical records.
He traveled extensively both in the United States and in Europe. His first trip to the Continent was with his family in 1875. After that he crossed the Atlan- tic ocean eighteen times. One of the re- sults of his travels was a choice collec- tion of paintings and porcelains that adorned his town house, No. 2030 Walnut street. Genial and magnetic, cordial and companionable, travel was a source of great pleasure to him, and he was a wel- come guest wherever he went.
In 1883 he acquired from the estate of Archibald Campbell, "Roslyn Manor," a country seat on School House lane, Germantown, nine miles from Philadel- phia. The grounds, which include nearly fifty acres, border on the Wissahickon Drive of Fairmount Park and contain a large granite residence that almost over- looks the Schuylkill river. In 1858 he married Sarah Margaretta Shea, a daugh- ter of John Shea ( 1800-1864) and Susan- na Barbara (Wolff) Shea (1807-1886), of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They had two sons: David, whose sketch follows; and Caleb Jones, Jr., born 1861. Mrs. Milne died on July 30, 1896.
The summer of 1912 Mr. Milne went to Europe for recreation. The third day
after landing in Liverpool, in London, on June 30, he was knocked down by a taxi- cab at Trafalgar Square and was so seri- ously injured in the head that he died the day following at Charing Cross Hospital. After his remains were brought to the United States, services were held on July 13, 1912, at the family country place, "Roslyn Manor," and interment was made in his burial lot at West Laurel Hill Cemetery.
MILNE, David,
Manufacturer, Philanthropist.
David Milne was born in Philadelphia, July 24, 1859, son of Caleb Jones and Sarah Margaretta (Shea) Milne, and grandson of David and Beulah Thomas (Parker) Milne. He received his prelim- inary education at the Episcopal Acad- emy, Philadelphia, and was graduated with honors from the Department of Arts of the University of Pennsylvania with the degree of B. A. in 1881. In 1883 it conferred upon him the degree of M. A. and in 1885 the degree of Ph. B. He was treasurer of the class of 1881, rowed on various crews, and for some years was president of the College Boat Club.
He began his business career in the banking house of Robert Glendenning & Company in 1881-82. Since that time he has been connected with, a partner since 1886, and now is the senior member of the firm of C. J. Milne & Sons. The origi- nal firm was established in 1830 by his grandfather, David Milne, and is one of the most extensive manufacturers of tex- tiles in Pennsylvania and one of the old- est in the United States. In addition to this mercantile interest he was until re- cently one of the directors of Finch, Van Slyck & McConville, of St. Paul, Minne- sota, the largest wholesale dry goods cor- poration in the Northwest.
197
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
He was president of the board of trust- ees of the Medico-Chirurgical College and of the Medico-Chirurgical Hospital when they merged with the University of Penn- sylvania in 1916. They are now desig- nated "The Medico-Chirurgical College and Hospital Graduate School of Medi- cine of the University of Pennsylvania." He is a trustee of the University of Penn- sylvania ; is one of the past presidents of St. Andrew's Society of Philadelphia ; and for some years was secretary of the Num- ismatic and Antiquarian Society. He is a member of the boards of the University of Pennsylvania, the Hahnemann Med- ical College and Hospital, the United Se- curity Trust Company, the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia, the Pennsyl- vania Retreat for Blind Mutes and Aged and Infirm Blind Persons, the Polyclinic Hospital, the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, and is president of the Pennsylvania Working Home for Blind Men. He is a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Franklin In- stitute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science, the Athenaeum, the Photographic Society, the Philobiblon Club, the Pen and Pencil Club, the Zoo- logical Society, the Geographical Society, the New England Society, the Swedish Colonial Society and other organizations. In 1917 he was appointed by the National Red Cross, treasurer of General Hospital No. I, intended for Sailors of the United States Navy.
In lineage he extends in maternal lines to noted Colonial families of New Eng- land and Pennsylvania. He is ninth in descent from Nathaniel Sylvester in Long Island, 1652; eighth in descent from James Lloyd in Massachusetts, 1693; eighth in descent from John Hallowell in Pennsylvania, 1683 ; eighth in decent from Thomas Clark in New Jersey, 1692; sev-
enth in descent from Walter Newberry in Rhode Island, 1673; seventh in descent from Jedediah Allen in Massachusetts, 1646; seventh in descent through his grandmother, Beulah Thomas (Parker) Milne, from Richard Parker in Pennsyl- vania, 1684.
By right of his Colonial ancestors he holds membership in the Society of Col- onial Wars, and in the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania. Through the patriotic services of his great-great-great-grand- father, Joseph Parker, who was a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1776 and of the Committee of Safety, he was made a member of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. His out-of-door clubs are the Corinthian Yacht, the Philadel- phia Country, the Huntingdon Valley, the Germantown Cricket and the Merion Cricket, and his more purely social clubs are the University, Racquet, Union League, Art, Penn and the Metropolitan of Washington.
Mr. Milne married, April 29, 1896, Margaret Love Skerrett, daughter of Rear-Admiral Joseph S. Skerrett, United States Navy, and Margaret Love (Tay- lor) Skerrett, of Washington, D. C. He has four sons : Norman Forbes, born July 19, 1897 ; Sidney Wentworth, born Janu- ary 10, 1900; Gordon Fairfax and David Dudley, born November 10, 1903, and re- side at his beautiful and extensive coun- try place, "Roslyn Manor," on School House lane, Germantown, Pennsylvania, an estate comprising nearly fifty acres.
FERENBACH, Carl, Silk Manufacturer.
The passing of Carl Ferenbach, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, just in the full prime of his splendid manhood, was deeply regretted, not only by those who were near to him in family relation but by
198
Gal Tambach
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
all who had known him through business association or friendly intercourse. He was intimately connected with silk manu- facture, both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but had other important business interests in Wilkes-Barre and elsewhere. He was a native son of New Jersey, and of immediate Scotch ancestry, his father born in Scotland, although the family originally came from the town of Feren- bach, situated on the border line between Switzerland and Germany. There the Ferenbachs were noted clock makers, the town being named in their honor.
Gregory Ferenbach, father of Carl Fer- enbach, to whose memory this sketch is dedicated, was born in Scotland, and there lived until about his twentieth year, when he came to the United States, locat- ing his home in Paterson, New Jersey. He later became a publisher in New York City, and for many years conducted that business very successfully. He married Martha Cushier, who comes of French an- cestry, her grandfather a prominent ship builder of his day. They were the parents of Carl Ferenbach, of Wilkes-Barre.
Carl Ferenbach was born in Paterson, New Jersey, October 9, 1874, and died at his summer home at Glen Summit, Penn- sylvania, June 21, 1918. He was educated in Paterson graded and high schools, fin- ishing his education so far as school life was concerned with a course at the Mc- Chesney Business College. Paterson be- ing the principal seat of the silk industry in the United States, he naturally grav- itated into that line of business activity, becoming thoroughly familiar with all the details of silk manufacture and able to direct others. He remained in Paterson engrossed in the duties of the responsible positions which he held in the silk mills of the city until the year 1900, when he permanently located in Wilkes-Barre,
Pennsylvania. There he was manager of the Bamford Brothers' Silk Mill for the first six years of his residence in the city, but at the end of that period he formed a partnership with Henry Leon, of New York City, and himself became a silk manufacturer.
This last period of his life, 1906-18, was the most successful of his entire life and brought him prominently into the ranks of silk manufacturers. The partnership traded under the firm name, The Leon- Ferenbach Silk Company, and established their first mill in Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Fer- enbach was a practical mill man, and it was through their ability and energy that the company came to so proud a position. At the time of his death, twelve years af- ter the forming of the partnership, The Leon-Ferenbach Silk Company was op- erating five silk mills, the parent mill at Wilkes-Barre, one at Sugar Notch, Par- sons, and Bradford, all in Pennsylvania, and a fifth at Johnson City, Tennessee. Their business was immense, their em- ployees being numbered by the thousands. In addition to this large business built up and developed in an almost miracu- lously short time, Mr. Ferenbach was a director of the Luzerne County National Bank, director of the J. E. Barbour Com- pany of Paterson, New Jersey, and direc- tor of the Barbour Linen Thread Com- pany of Allentown, Pennsylvania. His standing in these companies was very high, and at his death fitting testimonials of respect and appreciation came from the directorates.
A man of pleasing personality he pos- sessed a wealth of friends whom he held to him in closest relation. He loved the sports of the open, and with rifle and rod usually spent his vacation periods where game and fish abounded. He was a mem- ber of the Hazleton Country Club, Hazle-
199
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
ton, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland, Frank- lin and Wyoming Valley Country clubs, member of the Chamber of Commerce, and Saint Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church, all of Wilkes-Barre. He was broad-minded and liberal in his views, deeply interested in all that concerned the welfare of his city, and always ready to lend a hand in any movement for civic improvement. He joined heartily in the movements connected with the entrance of his country into the World War, and of great assistance in the various drives to secure funds.
Mr. Ferenbach married, in New York City, January 22, 1899, Evelyn Campbell, ward of Colin Campbell, of New York City. They are the parents of four sons : Campbell, born January 24, 1900, who died in childhood; Gregory, born Febru- ary 2, 1901 ; John Cushier, born October 15, 1906; and Carl, born April 18, 1915.
Minutes of a meeting of the board of directors of the J. E. Barbour Company of Paterson, New Jersey, is as follows :
In the death of our fellow director, Carl Feren- bach, while yet in the fullness of his extraordi- nary powers, with great prospect of years of use- fulness before him, this Company has suffered irreparable loss. Since the organization of our Company he has devoted his attention with great carefulness and foresight to the management and welfare of our affairs. In private character he was admirable. His companionship, adorned with graces, was a pleasure to those who shared it. In every walk of life he bore a noble part, and there is no page of his past that his friends can wish to seal. In token of our esteem for the man, this Company presents this brief memorial of our member who in the flesh men knew as Carl Feren- bach ;
Be it Resolved : That this resolution be spread at length upon our minute book and a copy prop- erly engrossed be sent to his family.
J. E. BARBOUR COMPANY, FRANK S. HALL, Sec'y.
July 16, 1918.
Resolutions Adopted by the Luzerne County National Bank on the Death of Carl Ferenbach.
The president announced the death of Director Carl Ferenbach on Friday, June 21, and the following resolutions were duly adopted :
Whereas, Mr. Carl Ferenbach, a director of this bank, died at his Glen Summit residence on Fri- day last after an illness of several months.
And Whereas, It is the desire of this Board of Directors to place upon record an appreciation of his services as well as an expression of per- sonal loss.
Therefore, be it Resolved, That we extend to his widow and children our deepest sympathy in the death of a devoted husband and father, and that we commend them to the Father of All who alone can sustain them in their bereavement.
Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Ferenbach the bank loses one who was faithful in the dis- charge of duty and whose business judgment was of real value to the institution.
Resolved Further, That in the death of Mr. Ferenbach the community loses an upright citi- zen and one who by his cheerful disposition and kindly dealings endeared himself to his many friends and employees.
Resolved, That this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the board and a copy sent to Mrs. Ferenbach.
ANTHONY L. WILLIAMS, Pres. CHRISTIAN WALTER, Sec'y.
W. B. P.
Dated June 25, 1918.
IN MEMORIAM. CARL FERENBACH.
The silk industry was bereft of a prominent and progressive member in the death of Carl Ferenbach, of the Leon-Ferenbach Silk Company, Inc. Apparently healthy and robust since his recovery from a serious operation last Novem- ber, his death came as a distinct shock to his family and numerous friends.
We mourn the passing of a most popular mem- ber, one especially endeared to his employees by the friendly spirit always prevailing in his contact with them.
Mr. Ferenbach was born October 9, 1874, in
200
George Weaver von
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Paterson, New Jersey, and educated in that city. He gave active support to all patriotic move- ments, was a regular attendant of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, and a director of the Luzerne County Bank.
Since entering the Wilkes-Barre Silk Company as manager fifteen years ago, Mr. Ferenbach had thoroughly absorbed the details of the silk busi- ness and thereby made rapid strides in the indus- try.
Nine years ago, Henry Leon and Carl Feren- bach entered partnership, forming the Leon- Ferenbach Silk Company, and started a single mill. The company has since acquired four large mills and employs several thousand men and women.
At the time of his death Mr. Ferenbach was but forty-four years of age and a figure which commanded attention in the silk trade by reason of his practical experience as a throwster. He was the first man to change the present improved system of throwing organzine.
His family and friends will feel keenly the breach caused by his absence.
Be it, therefore, Resolved, That we, the Board of Managers of the Silk Association of America, do hereby give utterance to our grief at the death of our esteemed member, Carl Ferenbach, and it is hereby voted that this resolution be entered in our minutes and copy thereof forwarded to the family of the deceased.
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.