USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 16
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
in meeting his college expenses, lic organized a pay school on the south side, Pittsburgh, and netted by the venture the sum of one hundred and fifty dol- lars, a magnificent sum at the time, for which he had many uses. After he graduated at college, hav- ing decided on the profession of law, he entered the office of Hon. Charles Shaler, ex-Judge of the Conrt of Common Pleas of Allegheny Co. In March, 1838, he secured a position in the prothonotary's office, where, besides carning a little needed money, he nequired a valuable knowledge of the intricacies of law and the methods of court procedure, which greatly facilitated his studies. In December, 1838, he was admitted to practice, after passing "a most creditable examination." He opened an office in Pittsburgh in June, 1839, and had no reason to com- plain of neglect. He had already shown himself to be a diligent and worthy student, and had made a good impression on the lawyers and litigants, while attending to his employment in the prothonotary's ofllee. His modest sign first made its appearance over offices at the corner of Fifth street and Market Alley. "Fifth street, now Fifth avenue," writes Mr. Mellon, in an article describing the location of the lawyers and law ofllces in those carly days, " was not then a business street, and mine was the first law office opened on it. The law ofllces were chiefly on the west side of the Diamond, behind the court-house-some few on Fourth street, between Market and Wood. It was before the courts were removed to Grant's Hill. That location, on which the new court-house was afterwards built, was yet a part of Lawyer Ross's apple orchard, and rather out of town. The old court-house stood where the Diamond market house, on the west side of Market street, now stands. It was an ancient-looking, square brick structure, with a cupola and bell on top, and a low one-story building on each side. That on the north side contained the office of the prothonotary and clerk of the orphan's and crimi- ual courts, all in one room, which was convenient enough, as those different official functions centered in one individual. The building on the left side contained the Register's and Recorder's office in one room and with one individual ofllciating for both purposes." Fairly launched in his profession, the young lawyer made rapid strides in public esteem. Gifted by nature with admirable common sense, well edueated, a close student, and acquainted to a considerable extent with the routine of the courts, he conducted cases committed to his care with re- markable success. The business community, in particular, seemed to appreciate his worth, and before long he was one of their favorites. In n comparatively short time he had all the business he
could attend to, and was making money. Ilis ac- quaintance enlarged, his fame extended, and for a score of years he was one of the busiest and most esteemed lawyers in the city. IIe became noted for the speedy manner in which he hastened proceed- ings to a termination. The tediousness of the " law's delay " was reduced to a minimum in cases under his management, as lie espoused the cause of his client as though it were his own. His legal prac- tice increased so rapidly that, in order to obtain some professional help, he admitted as a law partner Mr. Wm. B. Negley, a nephew of his wife, who had been his student. This connection was maintained during seven years. The burden of professional cares, however, finally becoming too heavy for him, he decided to give up the practice of law. But while lic was putting his house in order to take this step, his fellow-citizens were making arrangements to place him in nomination for a highly important judicial position, which had been created by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. This was the office of Assistant Law Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, who was given equal salary and powers with the President-Judge. "The two were author- ized to hold court separately or jointly, in all cases except for murder, in which they were re- quired to sit jointly." The sense of the legal pro- fession was very largely in favor of Mr. Mellon being placed in this position, and a committee of promi- nent lawyers called upon him and requested permis- sion to use his name. Never having sought any ofllec, nor taken any share in party politics, he was at first disinclined to accede to the proposition, but at length yielded to the demand and entered the fleld on the Republican ticket. Another strong man was nominated for the office, and the contest was a lively one. Mr. Mellon took no part in it personally, but his friends were active, the general public sentiment was in his favor, and he was elected. He assumed the duties of his position on the first Monday in December, 1859, his colleague on the bench being the "Hon. Wm. B. McClure, a gentle- man of the old school, pure and honorable, and of fine literary and legal attainments." Three years later Judge McClure died, and was succeeded by James P. Sterrett, who was associated with Judge Mellon until the close of the latter's term. Later in the term a third judge was added-Edwin HI. Stowe. Judge Mellon's judicial carcer was marked by con- scientious application and the strictest integrity. He devoted himself without reserve to his official duties and earned the encomiums of people in all walks of life by the singular purity, good sense and impartiality with which he discharged them. The War of the Rebellion filled fully half of the years of
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his term and, as a loyal citizen and an honored Judge, he unswervingly supported the Union cause. But before the close of his term of office his private interests had grown to such importance, and his boys, verging on manhood, being so desirous of enter- ing into business, that, at the close of his term of office he firmly declined to accept a renomination, and returned to private life at the opening of 1870, bearing with him the honor and respect of all. The bar of Pittsburgh tendered him a complimentary banquet on the occasion, "at which he was given renewed evidence of his high standing in the opinion of his professional associates as a lawyer, as a judge, and as a man." The foundation of Judge Mellon's fortune was laid by the judicious investment of his early savings as a lawyer. As the city grew in pop- ulation, wealth and importance, his possessions in- creased by natural causes. For a time he was in- terested to some extent in the coal business at Tarentum, Allegheny County, his partner being a gentleman named Benjamin Patterson. In 1859 he became a silent partner in the firm of J. B. Corey & Co., extensive producers and shippers of coal. Towards the close of the war he purchased the Osce- ola Coal Mines, and also became interested in the foundry and machine-shop business at Braddock. After leaving the bench he decided to engage in the banking business, being influenced in this direction by the design of providing position and employment for some of his younger sons. His banking house, situated on Smithfield street, was opened for busi- ness January 1, 1870. In the following year he purchased the lot on which now stands his present banking house, that of T. Mellon & Sons. Gradu- ally he became interested in other important finan- cial and business enterprises, among other things investing largely in coal lands on the lines of many of the railroads entering the city, and constructing some of the most extensive coal works now in oper- ation. His judgment in business affairs was rarely at fault and this fact, together with his large for- tune, early made him a potent commercial and finan- cial factor in the forces which have been and are still at work in the great industrial city of Pitts- burgh. Judge Mellon married Miss Sarah J. Negley, a daughter of one of the oldest and best families of Western Pennsylvania, on August 22, 1843. A large family blessed this union. Several of the sons are among the best and most substantial business men of Pittsburgh. Thomas A. and James R., compos- ing the firm of Mel'on Brothers, are engaged largely in the real estate and lumber business; Andrew W. is manager of the extensive banking business of T. Mellon & Sons, and Richard B. and George N., the latter now deceased, constituted the firm of Mellon
Brothers, Bismarck, Dakota. In company with his son George, and for the benefit, largely, of the lat- ter's health, Judge Mellon madc a trip to Europe in 1882, taking occasion while absent to visit his birth- place, and to spend some time beside the hearth where as a boy he used to stir the fire of nights to afford light to his father to read in the American Gaz tte glowing accounts of the richness and abund- ance of the lands, and the liberty and freedom of the people in the United States. Judge Mellon has also served his fellow-citizens of recent years as a member of the City Council. His life has been full of activity and good deeds, and it can be said with- out exaggeration that to the example and labors of such men as he the State of Pennsylvania owes in great measure not only her wonderful material prog- ress, but also the excellence and stability of her in- stitutions and laws.
HENRY C. FRICK.
HENRY C. FRICK, President of the H. C. Frick Coke Co., of Pittsburgh, was born at West Over- ton, Westmoreland County, Pa., Dec. 19, 1849. He came of German ancestry on his mother's side, his maternal grandfather being Abraham Over- holt, a man well-known in Westmoreland County, where he occupied a position of considerable promi- nence. Mr. Frick's father was a farmer in West Overton, sufficiently well-to-do to enable his son to pass the first twenty years of his life in acquiring an education, and in following the customary Amer- ican round of duties and pleasures appropriate to that period of a man's life. A portion of this time was occupied in the position of clerk in a dry goods store at Mount Pleasant. In 1869 young Frick became bookkeeper in his grandfather's flour mill and distillery at Broad Ford, Fayette County, but neither of these employments afforded any indica- tion of what was to be the young man's eventual destiny in life. The removal to Fayette County, however, brought to the knowledge of young Frick the vast business of the Connellsville coal country. At this time the business of making coke from the bituminous coal found in this district in enormous quantities was beginning to exhibit some signs of the wonderful commercial and financial future which was before it. A little railroad operation into which Mr. Frick entered enabled him to gather a small capital, and casting about him for an invest- ment, his shrewd foresight gave him the cue to place it in the line of the advancing coke industry. He accordingly purchased a small interest in some
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coal property near Broad Ford which seemed to be adapted to his purpose, and uniting with him some other young men as partners, the company built fifty ovens. The further he considered and inves- tigated this business the more satisfied was Mr. Frick with its promise for the future, and what was measurably, in the beginning, speculative on his part, grew into a determination to prosecute the industry with all his available capital, faith and energy to its fullest possible development. As soon as it was practicable the plant in use was doubled, by the erection of fifty more ovens, and soon after more land was purchased and still one hundred more ovens were added. By this time it was 1873, when the great financial panic fell upon the country, and Mr. Frick's partners, on account of endorse- ments, got into difficulties, and their interests in the coke ovens were sold. Mr. Frick took advantage of this opportunity by inducing certain of his friends, among whom the chief was Hon. Thomas Mellon, of Pittsburgh, to purchase these interests, and thus gained entire control of the plant. Mean- while the panic had disturbed a good many firms engaged in the coke business and had enfeebled speculation, so that many chances of adding to his works were thrown in the way of Mr. Frick and eagerly snapped up by him. Where he could, he built or bought ovens, and when this was imprac- ticable he leased from owners, who had been scared out by the panic. His enterprise and confidence met, naturally enough, with a good many obstacles in the way of adverse judgment on the part of many, who expressed pity for the young man who had been already so fortunate and now did not know when he was well off; but he had his own views, paid little attention to the gloomy represen- tations of those about him, and when the boom in cokc came shortly after, the yearly profit on his leased works amounted to more than the value of the works themselves. Mr. Frick continued to con- duct his business in his own name until 1878, when he sold an interest in it to E. M. Ferguson, of New York, the firm continuing under the name of H. C. Frick & Co., the brother of the gentleman above named being shortly after added to the concern. In 1882 the establishment was merged in the H. C. Frick Coke Co., a large interest therein being sold to Carnegie Bros., of Pittsburgh. This is the larg- est coke company in the world, owning and con- trolling over four thousand ovens, all located in the Connellsville region, and over twelve thousand acres of coal land, and employing over five tlious- and men. Its total daily product is estimated at about four hundred car loads, or seven thousand tons of coke. To accomplish this vast result more
than three million tons of coal are used annually. This coke goes into every part of the country, being used by manufacturers of iron, steel, brass, copper and silver, and by those using cupola furnaces, for iron castings and smelting ores. The article is admitted to be the best made, and towards this result no expense has been spared. In order that the purest water, free from sulphur and all other impurities, might be obtained, the company has erected, at a cost of $250,000, a system of water works at the beginning of the line of its ovens on the Youghiogheny River, from which all the ovens are supplied with water of the best possible quality, with the result desired. So much money has been invested in this direction because the result of the production of the best coke known largely depends upon it. The company owns eleven stores, and is probably, in all respects, one of the very largest, busiest, most useful and most important industrial establishments in the United States. The Connells- ville region is one of the most remarkable sections of this country, in its industrial extent and capacity, and the vastness of its relations to the manufactur- ing and commercial world. It is a black country about forty miles long by three wide, lying north- east and southwest across parts of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania. The tremen- dous capacity of this region has been picturesquely set forth by a recent writer in the following graphic language :
"Suppose we fork together the coke made dur- ing the last twelve months in the Connellsville region, load it on cars and hitch them together in a continuous train ; start the train going at the rate of twelve miles an hour, which is about a fair aver- age for freight trains, and run it day and night, without a moment's stop to cool hot boxes or the slightest slacking upon stiff grades. Stand beside the track and watch the train roll by, day after day, hour after hour. Night after night listen to the clank, clank of the wheels over the jointed rails, as every hour sees eighteen thousand tons of coke whirled past you. Toward morning of the ninth day the signal lamps on the last car will mark the end of the train, and you will begin to have a dreamy sort of notion of the magnitude of the coke industry which is blazing and smoking within an hour's ride of the city. The headlight of the train will be about twenty-four hundred miles away."
The object of making this quotation is to give, as far as possible, an impression of the nature and extent of the gigantic industry which Mr. Frick was one of the very first to set in motion. It is an extraordinary fact in business history to be able to record such an instance of foresight, determination and nerve as this incident presents. It is to be remembered that at the time when Mr. Frick deter- mined to change his plan of life and launch himself
Magazine of Western History
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
in a new direction, whose conclusion it was impos- sible to foresee, he was a young man but just of age, and with only the limited experience of a cus- tomary clerkship. It certainly argued natural gifts of a most remarkable quality that he should have had the daring and the judgment at once which propelled him in this new direction. It is not on record that any other man living saw so far into the future of the great Connellsville industry as he did. The men who were engaged in the coke business never thought of conducting it on the scale upon which he entered at once, and perhaps the great secret of his success, or at least a great portion of it, was the fact that after he had once made up his mind with regard to the possibilities of the coke business Mr. Frick burned his ships, and threw himself into it with all the ardor and force of his ardent and energetic nature. Having discovered what could be done with the crushed coke manu- facture, which is now one of the special features of the great corporation of which Mr. Frick is the head, he proceeded to add improvement after im- provement in order to sustain it at its best quality and meet the constantly growing demand, until now this article is used by manufacturers for house- liold purposes, for carriage making, for machinery- forging, furnaces for brass melting, stoves and ranges in hotels and boarding-houses, on railroad cars, and in many other places where its peculiar advantages as fuel are many and apparent. Not- withstanding the enormous work which Mr. Frick has accomplished in his own special department during the past ten years, he has not the less de- voted himself to financial and commercial duties of an entirely different character, and which have largely aided the prosperity of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. Thus he is a director in the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce, and is interested in many other important enterprises. The future of a man who has accomplished so much in a life not yet forty years in extent, could hardly be predicted. Indeed, it would seem almost impos- sible to over-rate or over-estimate the probabilities of his future career, judging from the past. " Bright, active and brainy," this young man has shown already the possession of the highest qual- ities of financial generalship and business manage- ment, and the fact that he is universally recognized as one of the most prominent men of Pittsburgh is sufficient to give promise of an exceptionally brilliant and useful future. Mr. Frick married Ada Howard Childs, daughter of Asa P. Childs, who was one of the prominent business men of Pittsburgh, of which union two children were born, a boy and a girl,
GEORGE WHITTEN JACKSON.
GEORGE WHITTEN JACKSON, a prominent citizen of Pittsburgh, and for nearly half a century identified with the business interests of that city, was born in Ireland in the year 1801, and died in the city of Pittsburgh, in the month of September, 1862. His father was John Jackson, a manufac- turer of soap and candles, who came to America with his family in 1806, and in the same year set- tled in Pittsburgh, which even at that early day was a thriving and busy place, already practically con- trolling the trade of the vast region west and south- west. Though not as yet a centre of population, its inhabitants numbering scarcely more than four thousand, Pittsburgh was growing rapidly, and intel- ligent traders and mechanics readily found within its precincts cheap homes and abundant employ- ment for their energy and skill. John Jackson was probably not troubled to any great extent by com- petition, as statistics show that down to 1808 there was but one other person of his calling in the place. He prospered in his useful occupation, brought up his family in comfort, and gave his children all the educational advantages the custom of the day de- manded. George, the subject of this sketch, fin- ished his studies under the skillful tutorship of a Mr. Moody, who was generally recognized as the most thorough and accomplished instructor in the town. Beyond the usual English branches, he ap- pears to have studied the French language, if not the classic tongues of Greece and Rome, and to have mastered the accomplishment of dancing. His father witnessed his improvement with a parent's satisfaction, and looked forward to the time when his manly and intelligent son would as- sist him in his business. But it happened that George detested this branch of manufacture, and to avoid being compelled to work at it ran away from home, going to Wheeling. Yielding to the importunities of his mother, conveyed in a fond letter brought to him by Mr. John Albree, a friend of the family, who followed him for the purpose of delivering it, and affected also by the persuasion of that gentleman, he returned to Pittsburgh and was immediately provided with a situation in a grocery store owned by Mr. Albree, at the corner of Market street and " the Diamond." In this con- cern, in which he became partner, he remained un- til 1826, when his father died and left him the busi- ness he had founded and successfully carried on for many years. To protect the interests of the estate for his mother he assumed the management of the business, but as his talents were not in that direc- tion, he disposed of it at the first opportunity. He
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then embarked his little fortune in the pork pack- ing business iu Pittsburgh, and speedily extended his operations to Cincinnati and Columbus. In this business he remained until his death-a period of thirty-five ycars-having as partner in the latter years of his life, his nepliew, Mr. George Jackson Townsend. As his wealth increased, Mr. Jacksou broadened his field of enterprise. In 1845 he asso- ciated himself with Mr. R. W. Cunningham of New Castle, Penn., with whom he remained connected until 1852. New Castle was a place of considerable importance at that time through its canal interests- railroads not having then been introduced-and the point was an excellent one for the sale of all kinds of heavy goods. Messrs. Cunningham and Jackson did an extensive business as dealers in grain, iron, stecl and glass. They also acted as general for- warders of merchandise, and in addition to their other enterprises, carried on a foundry. The busi- ness relations between the two gentlemen were founded in mutual respect and esteem. Among the earlier manufactures of Pittsburgh that of cot- ton spinning was quite generally regarded with high favor, and as affording a most promising out- look for investment. Mr. Jackson shared this be- lief in common with other wealthy citizens of Pitts- burgh, and in 1849 he bought a fourth interest in the Anchor Cotton Mills. Great improvements were subsequently made in this mill, much valuable machinery was added, aud for a score of ycars it prospered and paid satisfactory dividends. At length the competition of the mills in other parts of the country, notably in New England, diverted aud diminished the trade to such an extent that this property greatly depreciated in value, and in 1872 it was sold as it stood for $100,000, about its original total cost. It was then dismantled, and is now used as the machine shop of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company. In the finan- cial circles of Pittsburghi Mr. Jackson was well known as a gentleman whose sense of duty and honesty was of the most uncompromising charac- ter. He was associated in important monetary trusts with the ablest and best of his fellow citizens, and his judgment was held in the profoundest es- teem by his colleagues. As far back as the great financial crisis of 1837 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Merchants' and Manu- facturers' Bank. Although tlie institution was an exceptionally strong one and perfectly prepared to redeem its circulation, the majority of the Board voted to suspend. This step led Mr. Jacksou to re- sign his directorship, he holding that it was wrong for the bank to evade the fulfillment of its promises when able to keep them. With the Bank of Pitts-
burgh, the oldest banking institution in Pennsylva- nia, Mr. Jackson was also connected for many years, serving at different times as a member of its Board of Directors. His judgment early convinced him of the feasibility of constructing a railroad through the valley of the Allegheny, to connect Pittsburgh with the East, thus avoiding the steep grades of the mountains. He was one of the origi- nal party to examine the route, and upon the organ- ization of the road, the " Allegheny Valley R.R." in 1852, he was elected a director, and as such took a prominent part in the management of its affairs until 1859, when, owing to failing health, he was obliged to decline re-election. In 1836 Mr. Jacksou became a member of the Smithfield Street Bridge Board, and remained connected with it un- til his death, consequently during the building of the suspension bridge which replaced the barn bridge destroyed by the fire of 1845, and which in turn has given place to the present handsome struc- ture. He was an intimate friend of Mr. John A. Roebling, the engineer in charge, who afterwards became so widely known by the building of the railroad bridge over the Niagara River, and the Brooklyn Bridge. When the disastrous lesson of the fire of 1845 stimulated renewed interest in in- surance, Mr. Jackson took a prominent part in or- ganizing the Western Insurance Company, the orig- inal capital of which, $225,000, has since been in- creased to $300,000. He was an incorporator of this company, and was always zealous in promot- ing its interests. He was public-spirited to the last degree, and all his life eutered heart and soul into whatever promised helpfulness or usefulness to the city of Pittsburgh or its people. When the best class of citizens looked upon it as a sacred duty to man the fire engines of the town he was a member of the " Eagle," now known as "Engine No. 1," and for a time was captain of the company. When a young man he took considerable interest in local politics, and represented the Fourth Ward in the Council. In 1845, the year in which a fearful conflagration "destroyed the best half of the city of Pittsburgh," he was President of the Select branch of the Council; and after the fire he was one of a committee of three in whose hands was placed the pecuniary aid, amounting to more than $160,000, which was contributed from all sources for the re- lief of the suffering people of the desolated city. A Democrat in early life, Mr. Jackson passed in time from that party into the ranks of the Republicans. Previous to the election of Buchanan, he had iden- tified himself prominently with the colonization movemeut, taking an active part in seuding settlers to Kansas aud giving freely of his time, influence
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