USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 40
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JOHN LUCAS.
JOHN LUCAS, one of the representative, active and progressive citizens of Philadelphia, having very extensive interests as a manufacturing chemist, and whose painters' and printing ink mannfactures, colors and paints have a world wide reputation, was born at Stone, Staffordshire, England, Novem- ber 24, 1823. He is the oldest son of Thomas Lucas, and was named after an ancestor who resided at Ashbourn, Derbyshire, and was an intimate friend and companion of the celebrated angler, Izaak Wal- ton. Our subject received a liberal education at Fieldplace Commercial Academy, and afterwards spent some time in the store and counting room of his father, who was a grocer and tea dealer, but finding mercantile life distasteful he took up the study of agricultural chemistry, in which (and its kindred branches), his progress was so marked, that to it he may be said to owe his success as a manufacturer. In 1844, desirous of knowing some- thing of the advantages offered the business man in America, he determined to visit the United States and Canada before selecting his future home. He was so well pleased with the varied indncements which the former country held out to the industri- ous and energetic that he made the necessary arrangements for emigrating and becoming an American citizen. He finally left the "old coun- try" early in 1849, located in Philadelphia, and with that promptness which has characterized him through all of his life, entered at once (in the month of March) into the business of an importer of white
lead, paints and colors, and of the raw materials used in their manufacture, representing several large European houses. His first store was at 33 North Front street, selling exclusively to the dealer and manufacturer. Desiring to form an intelligent and practical idea of the absolute wants of the trade, he opened a general painters' supply store on Fourth street above Arch, which was then, as now, the chief distributing centre of paints. By this means he learned the actual requirements of the practical painter and found that one of the most important of them was a good green paint in lieu of the Paris or arsenical green, very deficient in body, and injurious to those using it. Here his knowl- edge of chemistry was of immense service to him, and after careful experimenting he succeeded in producing green pigments, which admirably served the purpose, known as Swiss and Imperial French Greens, and sccured patents on improved machinery for manufacturing the same. In the year 1852 he concentrated his two establishments at 130 Arch street, and for the purpose of extending his business took into partnership Joseph Foster, a relative, who was an old and experienced color manufacturer, and at about the same time purchased a tract of land on the head waters of Coopers Creek, an affin- ent of the historic Delaware. This land, which was destined to be the site of the flourishing village of Gibbsboro, had been made the scene of some im- provements more than a century and a half ago, and an old mill stood there when Mr. Lucas became the owner of the property. The chief valne of the purchase to the manufacturer, however, lay in the quality of the water of two handsome lakes, cover- ing many acres, which feed the creek. The pro- prietor found this water to be entirely free from lime and iron salts, an absolute necessity for pro- ducing unchangeable colors. The now celebrated Swiss and Imperial French Greens, which have revolutionized the green trade, were rendered pos- sible through this phenomenally fine water, and Mr .. Lucas' knowledge of chemistry. For a time the lakes gave ample supply for water power and manufacturing purposes, but the water wheel had soon to give place to steam, and now the water supply is drawn upon mostly for the purpose of making "dry " and "pulp" colors. The works were enlarged in 1852, and from time to time each year up to the present, as the demands for the pro- dncts were increased, and to the list of colors man- ufactured were added all of those formerly im- ported, and one of the most complete varnish plants was completed in 1887. Mr. Foster was succeeded as a partner by William H. Lncas, a brother of the founder, in 1857, and upon him devolved the entire
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charge of the sales and financial department, thus giving the senior partner the long desired oppor- tunity to devote his whole attention to the chemical and manufacturing departments. In 1863 the city store, warehouse and extensive offices were located at the present site, 141 and 143 North Fourth street, and 322 to 330 Race street, the building, which also runs through to Hillsdale street, being in the form of an "L." The whole forms a collection of build- ings larger than any other in Philadelphia, devoted exclusively to storage and office purposes, in con- ducting a paint, varnish and glass business (the latter, although not a new department, having been greatly enlarged in the past six or seven years). The office force is large and cosmopolitan in char- acter, correspondence, conversation and business being carried on in any of the commercial languages of the world, and all of the modern appliances for the despatch of business being freely used. A store and office were established in New York at No. 22 West Broadway in 1869, but the increase of busi- ness necessitated the removal to the present location, No. 89 Maiden Lane, corner of Gold street, in 1877; and there a full line of the productions of the house are now kept, enabling the filling of orders with as much promptness in the American metropolis as in Philadelphia. Returning to the manufacturing department, which, as has been intimated, has for years been under the personal control of John Lucas, it may be remarked that its progress has been unceasing and almost phenomenal in the his- tory of manufactures in Philadelphia and vicinity. Besides his triumph in producing the new greens, "Swiss" and "Imperial French," which revolu- tionized the trade, he has organized many other exceedingly useful articles. The perfection to which he has brought the white oxide of zinc through long continued and careful chemical exper- imenting, may be understood when we state that the best judges of the article have pronounced it to be not only the best made in the country, but equal to any of foreign manufacture, not excepting the world-renowned Vieille Montagne Company's pro- duction. The pulp steel, Chinese and laundry blues, and primrose chrome yellows have super- seded the English and French makes, and are now used by all the leading paper hanging manufac- turers in the United States. Mr. Lucas first took out letters patent for the better class of colors -- those used by paper makers-in October, 1870. In 1872 he obtained a patent for preparing the well known "tinted glass and pure linseed oil liquid paints," and in 1878 patented an improved process for corroding and manufacturing white lead, also sundry improvements in paint mills and "mixers."
His knowledge of chemistry and mechanics has been the means of bringing about great improve- ments in processes and apparatus, and the great manufactory at Gibbsboro, perhaps the best equipped for the purpose in the world, and cer- tainly in the United States, contains much machin- ery which the proprietor originated. Year after year he has added to his landed possessions about the Gibbsboro works, with a view of securing con- trol of the water supply and its surroundings, and thus maintaining its purity; and the works them- selves have undergone frequent enlargement. Five sons of the founder, John T., William E., James F., Albert and Harry S., now fill positions in the different departments of the manufacturing and sales business of this extensive house; Albert, a graduate of Yale and until lately a special student at Berlin and Strasbourg, and Harry S. being in special charge of the chemical and varnish depart- ments and laboratory, which, as may be imagined, are a very important adjunct of the manufactory. Mr. Lucas' large land purchases in the neighbor- hood of the manufactory have served a second and valuable purpose, which redounds to the advantage of his numerous employees. He has been enabled to sell, to such of them as wish to locate in the vicinity, building lots or tracts of land on a most liberal system of advances and easy payments, and any employee who is so disposed can, in a few years, provide himself with a house and many com- forts and pleasant, beautiful surroundings at a cost scarely felt. The interests of those engaged in the establishment have always been one of the aims of the proprietor, and both he and his estimable wife have done much for their well-being and the general good of the community. In the broadest and full- est sense of the term Mr. Lucas is an American citizen, and he has been unequivocally such since the time he took out his naturalization papers. Nobody has ever been in doubt as to which side of an important question of politics or public policy or morals he stood upon, and no one could have ever accused him of lukewarmness in any interest of his adopted country or city. He has been identified with every National movement, and an enthusiastic promoter of every important project for Philadel- phia's material and moral advancement, his activity in this line being such as should put to the blush many who seemingly think "it takes generations of residence in the land to make an American citizen or a true Philadelphian. No doubt we are the people, for our fathers and our grandfathers lived herc before us in the days when the city extended only from the Delaware to Seventh street." When the War of the Rebellion broke out he threw all of
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his energy, inspired by love of right and justice, into the support of the Union cause, and was per- sonally active in organizing, drilling and equipping volunteers for the army. Hc has been for some years a director of the Camden and Atlantic Rail- road Company, and was its President in 1876 and 1877. He is one of the largest shippers upon its line, aud he has also taken a warm interest in the development of the sea-shore city at its eastern ter- minus. Of the recently advanced colossal progress of au underground freight and passenger railway in Philadelphia, known as the Metropolitan Scheme, he was oue of the originators and most enthusiastic and persistent advocates. He is a firm believer in the ultimate realization of this gigantic scheme, and of its commercial aggrandizement of the city of Philadelphia. As recently as April, 1888, he made prominent mention of it in an exceedingly practical and eloquent speech on the needs of the city, deliv- ered at the annual banquet of the St. George's Society. In the manufacturing and mercantile community Mr. Lucas represents and embodies a great power, and his name stands as a synonym for honesty and integrity, while among the people gen- erally he is admired and respected as a staunch friend of right and progress. Socially he is genial and affable, and brings into the circles in which he moves the stimulus of strength, versatility, broadly scholastic tastes and general culture. He is a prominent member of the Union League, Manufac- turers' Club, the St. George and Albion Societies, and other well known organizations of a generally similar character. The marriage of Mr. Lucas occurred while he was still a young man, but not until he felt safely started upon the road to at least a moderate prosperity. He was united, upon Sep- tember 6, 1854, with Harriet Annie Bown (born May 27, 1836), only daughter of Abraham and Ellen Bown, both of Philadelphia, but natives of Eng- land. They have been the parents of fifteen chil- dren, twelve of whom are living, eight sons and four daughters, viz., John Thomas, William Ed- ward, James Foster, Albert, Harry Spencer, Joseph Wilson, Robert Suddards, Barton, Harriet Annie (Mrs. Charles A. Potter), Ellen Bown, Elizabeth Sanders and Frances Ethel. Mrs. Lucas has, in woman's domain, very much the same kind of activity and kindliness which are characteristic of her husband, and has been a marked force in various humane and charitable causes. She was instrumental in building the Episcopal Church-St. John's in the Wilderness-at Gibbsboro, and also the rectory adjoining. In Philadelphia she is iden- tified with the Chinese and Italian missions, and the Indian Right Society, and is manager in several
other institutions, one of the latest which has en- gaged her benevolence being the Haye's Mechanics' House on Belmont Avenue. She is also President of the Woman's Silk Culture Association of the United States.
JOSEPH HARRISON, JR.
JOSEPH HARRISON, JR., late of Philadelphia, mechanical engineer, railroad constructor and loco- motive builder, was one of those characters not satisfied with mere material success, but however large his undertakings, however favorable their consummation, had always an interest beyond, an apparautly insatiable and highly laudable desire to realize ideals, precisely similar to that which ani- mates the artist in color or in clay ; though iron, in which he wrought, is a so much more practical entity than the materials of the painter or sculptor that the idea of utility in it obscures from the vision of many the idea of beauty-the finer, higher beauty-that may also dwell there. The genius in iron may be as fine as any genius in art-and it is also stronger. Its workers may dream dreams as lofty and as dazzling as those which fill the mind of poet or painter, with the additional advantage that they are more often realized and have a practical value-often one that is stupendous and lasting in influence. These thoughts are directly suggested by reflection upon the life and hopes and accom- plishments of Joseph Harrison, who, beginning as a poor boy, still put into activity forces which are yet having effect on two Continents, and who, without any figure of speech, set in motion machinery whose rumble and thunder are heard and whose resistless energy is felt in the railroad systems of America and Russia. He was in some sense a dreamer, but his dreams gave birthi to actualities. He was in truth one of those who-
"Coined vast iron acts And welded the unpalpable dreams of seers Into utile lyric facts."
The boy Joseph Harrison began life without many of those conditions which are supposed to be advantageous. He was born September 20, 1810, at what he has himself described as the darkest hour of the family history. His grandfather, at one time a large landholder in New Jersey, had, upon entering the Revolutionary Army, sacrificed his personal interests so that when he died, in 1787, little was left to the family. His father, who came to Philadelphia when fourteen years of age, entered business, and married the daughter of his employer,
Jasehr Harrison
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Samuel Crawford, but found the business unprofit- able when it came into his own hands. So it came about that Joseph Harrison, jr., after obtaining what little schooling he could, had virtually to do for himself. The proper chord had been touched, however, in the education of the boy-the right direction had been taken. He displayed a strong inclination for mechanics, and entered upon the practical study of that science as an indentured apprentice to Frederick D. Sanno to learn steam- engineering. He passed through various vicissi- tudes, rising almost constantly, and in 1834 came the step which, perhaps at that time seeming no greater than the others, was the most important of his life. In 1834 he was engaged with Col. Long in building locomotives, and a year later he was foreman with Garrett & Eastwick, noted builders of these "steeds of commerce and the iron rail," and was intrusted with the designing of the locomotive "Samuel D. Ingham," which proved a success and was frequently copied. After having once set foot upon the rounds of the ladder he mounted fast. In 1837 he became a partner in the firm of Garrett, Eastwick & Co., contributing his skill as capital, and in 1839, Mr. Garrett retiring, the firm became Eastwick & Harrison. Only a year later two Rus- sian engineers (Cols. Melnckoff and Kroft), travel- ing in this country, were so favorably impressed with a locomotive of young Harrison's designing that they carried the plans to their own country, where it was found so satisfactory that the builder was inquired for, and after many negotiations the result was that Mr. Harrison, Mr. Eastwick and Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, entered into con- tract in the sum of $3,000,000 to construct the locomotives and rolling stock for the St. Petersburg and Moscow Railway. Mr. Harrison and his part- ners succeeded so well in performing their work (called for by the contract within five years), that they won the favor of the Emperor Nicholas, and Mr. Harrison, at the time the Neva was bridged, was presented with the ribbon of the Order of Saint Ann, on the massive gold seal of which are in- scribed the words, "For Zeal," which were pecu- liarly appropriate, considering the various forms of persecution and retardation on the part of Russian officials that had been withstood. Another great contract was entered into with the Russian govern- ment, in which Mr. Harrison was a leading spirit, viz., to maintain for twelve years the locomotives and rolling stock of the road which had been built between the Capital and Moscow. He returned from Russia in 1852, feeling the need of rest from his labors and the desire to gratify other cravings of his nature than those he had thus far had oppor-
tunity to indulge, and it was then that he built his beautiful house on South Eighteenth street, which he made so rich a receptacle of art that it became famous in the city and beyond. It was then, too, that he endeavored to effect a union of all the rail- roads terminating in the city and thus establish one central depot (a desideratum which can better be appreciated now than a quarter of a century ago). He went abroad again in 1860, and while traveling and engaged in various business enterprises per- fected a safety boiler, upon which nearly, if not all, of the elements of the sectional safety boiler of to-day are based. On his return in 1863 he erected a factory for the manufacture of these boilers. In recognition of his services in securing the safety of boilers he was awarded the Rumford gold and silver medals by the American Academy of Arts and Scienees in 1871. He had previously been elected a member of the American Philosophical Society and of other scientific bodies. He wrote upon various subjects connected with engineering and the con- struction of locomotives and boilers, and towards the close of his life gave evidence of his broad catholicity of taste and ability by writing upon various topics in the general realm of belles lettres, and composed a poem of merit on "The Iron Worker and King Solomon," designed to elevate in the common estimation the dignity of that line of employments too often unappreciated. His life, an unusually active and useful one, closed in his sixty-fourth year, and after a lingering illness he passed away on March 27, 1874. There are numer- ous mementoes of him, dear to the older class of Philadelphians, in the pictures, once so much loved by himself, with which he enriched the galleries of the Academy of the Fine Arts, to which there has probably been not more than one more liberal donor. Mr. Harrison was married, December 15, 1836, to Miss Sarah Poulterer, of Philadelphia. His wife and six children survived him, the latter being William Henry and Annie, who were born in this country before he went to Russia; Alice Mc- Neil, Marie Olga and Theodore Leland, born in Russia; and Clara Elizabeth, born in America after his return.
JOSEPH M. GAZZAM.
HON. JOSEPH M. GAZZAM was born in Pitts- burgh on December 2, 1842. He is the second son of the late Dr. Edward D. Gazzam and Elizabeth Antoinette DeBeelen. A long and distinguished lineage is an event in the genealogical history of a
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person in which they justly have a pride; this is especially so if the ancestry has been called upon to suffer persecution for honest conscience' sake. The subject of this sketch has the two-fold honor, inlook- ing back through the vista of family history, of hav- ing a distinguished lineage on one side, and upon the other side of having been persecuted for con- science sake. William Gazzam, the grandfather, was an English journalist of the liberal school. He published a newspaper at Cambridge, England, towards the latter part of the last century. Like Pitt, Burke and many other high minded and liberal Englishmen, he espoused the cause of the American Colonies, and in his writings expressed a love for freedom. These expressions greatly offended the Government, especially King George III. The lib- eral articles of William Gazzam at last became so offensive to the ear of the court that steps were taken to suppress them by having him arrested. Being warned through a friend of his prospective arrest he made a hasty flight from his country. Early in the year 1793 he sailed from England for America. The following letter will convey some idea how precipitous was his departure :
LONDON, February 7, 1793. To the Rev. Dr. Rogers, the Rev. Dr. Eusticks, of Philadelphia; the Rev. Dr. Foster, of New York ; the Rev. Dr. Edwards, of New Haven, Conn. ; the Rev. Dr. Sillman, of Boston ; the Rev. Dr. Hood, of Lexington, or any other of my American correspondents to whom this may come :
This is to certify that William Gazzam, the bearer of these lines, is an honorable member of the Con- gregational Church at Cambridge, under the pas- toral care of Rev. Mr. G- He has been driven from his own country, only for speaking in behalf of the rights of mankind-perhaps incautiously. So hasty was his removal that his much loved pastor had no opportunity to give him testimonials. He is united with one of our Baptist families, and with others of our friends, whose names would gladly be united in recommending him and his attention to our foreign friends, with the name of their obliged and affectionate brother and servant,
JOHN RIPPON.
The writer of the above letter was the celebrated Dr. Rippon, author of Rippon's Hymns, and a Bap- tist preacher of considerable note in England. In due course of time the English fugitive reached Philadelphia, where he settled and engaged in busi- ness. The directory of that city for 1796 contained this business line "Gazzam & Taylor, Merchants, No. - N. Front Street." The year following they moved and took in another partner, and the direc- tory of 1797 had this line, " Gazzam, Taylor & Jones, Merchants, No. 36 N. Front Street." About this time they established a branch house in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Some time about 1800 or 1801 the
second partner withdrew, and the title of the firm became "Gazzam & Jones." Business was also abandoned in Philadelphia on account of the loss of several merchant ships, which had been seized on the high seas by the French privateers. Messrs. Gazzam & Jones moved to Carlisle, where they con- tinued business. In 1802 the copartnership was dissolved and William Gazzam moved to Pittsburgh, having been appointed the first Collector of the Port, by President Madison, and was also appointed a Magistrate by the Governor, an office in those days which was held to be of greater importance and dignity than at present. Mr. Gazzam was twice married, his second wife being a Philadelphia lady. William Gazzam died in Pittsburgh in 1811, leaving several children. His fourth son, Dr. Edward D. Gazzam, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Pittsburgh in 1803, and studied law under the preceptorship of Hon. Richard Biddle, whose law partner he became after his admission to the bar. After practicing for about two years, he was on account of ill health forced to abandon his profession. He then commenced the study of med- icine and graduated at the University of Pennsylva- nia. Having a fondness for politics, Dr. Gazzam soon became an important factor in Pennsylvania politics. He was reared in the Democratic faith, but, like many of the same school, was opposed to the extension of slavery, and on this account sev- ered his allegiance with the Democracy, and in 1848, with Salmon P. Chase, afterwards Chief Justice Chase of the Supreme Court of the United States, and others, founded the Free Soil party in the notable Buffalo Convention. In the same year he became the Free Soil candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania. His opponents were William F. Johnson, Whig, who was elected, and Morris Long- streth, Democrat. In 1855 Dr. Gazzam was the Free Soil candidate for State Senator from Pittsburgh, but was defeated. The next year he was again put forward as the candidate of the Union Republican party, his opponents being Hopewell Hepburn, Democrat, and Paul A. Way, the Fillmore American candidate. Dr. Gazzam in this contest was elected by about one thousand majority over his opponents combined, and was, therefore, the first Republican State Senator from Allegheny County. He declined a re-nomination which, in that district, would have been equal to an election. In 1857 he was promi- nently mentioned and had a large number of coun- ties instructed for him as the Republican candidate for Governor, but withdrew from the contest before the convention met. When the Civil War broke out Dr. Gazzam, in conjunction with Dr. McCook, of Pittsburgh, were the first persons who took steps
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