USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 43
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ff Vandergrift
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
South Side, Pittsburgh, where they lived thercafter. The subject of this sketchi began his education at the age of six years in a school conducted by Mrs. Demars, on Third avenue ncar the site of the Dol- lar Savings Bank. A year later he was sent to the Second Ward School, conducted by Mr. J. B. Meeds. This was the first public school opened in Pittsburgh, and was in the old cotton factory on the bank of the Monongahela River, on the site now occupied by the Monongahela House. At the age of thirteen the young pupil was placed in a school on Fourth avenue (where the front of the Dollar Savings Bank now stands), the principal of which was Squire Thomas Steele-familiarly called " Tom- mie Steel "-a noted politician in his day and quite a "character," under whose tuition he sat two years. He then entered upon the career in which he subsequently achieved both fame and fortune, as cabin boy aboard the steamboat Bridgewater, commanded by Captain Washington Ebbert. At the end of the season he engaged as cabin boy with his uncle, John Vandergrift, who was a boat builder and owner of the small steamer "Pinta," which ran between Pittsburgh and Sunfish, Ohio. In 1844 he made several trips down the river on coal boats, which were floated like a raft, and, in 1845, engaged on the steamboat " Herald," running from Pittsburgh to St. Louis, Mo. He reached Pittsburgh on his return from this trip a few days after the disastrous fire of that year, and had great difficulty to find his people who, as previously stated, had been driven from their home by the con- flagration. Jacob's next engagement was as mate of his uncle John Vandergrift's steamboat "Prairie Bird," which was shortly afterward sold to Levi Miller, of Wheeling, W. Va., in whose employment he continued as her mate for about two years. From this vessel he went to the steamboat "Rhode Is- land " (under Captain David Green), which he re- built and re-named "Hail Columbia." After run- ning this boat for some time between Pittsburgh and Lafayette on the Wabash River, he sold her for her owner, Capt. Green, and then accepted the position of mate on a large steamer commanded by Capt. Jabez Smith, plying between Pittsburgh and St. Louis. After leaving this boat he served in the same capacity on several others, and then went into the packet trade on the steamboat Allegheny, under Capt. C. W. Batchelor, who had married his cousin, a daughter of his uncle John Vandergrift. He left this vessel in 1853, to take command of the steamboat "Black Diamond," a side-wheeler, one hundred and fifty feet long, built at New Albany, Ind., the year previous, by Messrs. Daniel Bushnell and N. J. Bigley, exclusively to tow coal to Cincin-
nati, Ohio, being the first constructed solely for that purpose. This boat liad been run by Captain Bigley the first year, Mr. Bushnell attending to the mines, but the firm's business grew so large that Captain Bigley was at lengthi compelled to go to Cincinnati to live, in order to give it the attention it required. Until this time, coal barges in tow were placed only on both sides of the tow boat, the space at the front not being utilized. Finally it occurred to Mr. Bushnell that this space could be advanta- geously occupied by coal barges, with additional safety to the fleet and a decrease in the transporta- tion of coal. To test his theory he built six barges to be towed ahead of the boat exclusively. Although this method is common now-in fact the only one used in transporting coal down the river-it was un- known then, and when the idca was mentioned it was characterized as "absurd," "impossible," etc. There were not lacking mathematicians capable of demonstrating the utter impossibility of carrying out this plan, but then, as ever, pushing, practical men paid little heed to mere theorists, and the at- tempt was made, although not without opposition and delay. Many old steamboat captains, prudent and conservative, regarded the idea as a " crazy notion " and no one among them could be found to risk his reputation in attempting to put it into execution. At last Capt. Bigley recommended Mr. Bushnell to engage Vandergrift, assuring him that the young captain would carry out his orders to the letter even if it sunk the fleet. Barges at the present day generally hold about ten thousand bushels of coal, but at that time the usual load was from five to six thousand bushels. Captain Vandergrift being engaged for the service, assumed command of the "Black Diamond," and on the initial trip took four barges of coal down the river. At first only a small amount of coal was taken, but afterwards the quan- tity was increased to one hundred and fifty thou- sand bushels each trip. On the second trip an ugly smash-up occurred at Beaver Shoals, and two barges were lost; but it is worthy of record that in the following seven years the firm lost only one more. This progressive method of transporting coal proved a complete success, and to Mr. Bushnell belongs the great credit of having conceived it ; while Cap- tain Vandergrift enjoys the distinction of being the first one with sufficient courage and address to put it in practice. After running one season as captain, young Vandergrift, then but twenty-five years of age, added to his duties those of pilot, and in this double capacity served for several years. In 1858 he purchased one-third interest in the steamboat " Red Fox," and, shortly afterwards, one-quarter interest in the steamboat "Conestoga," of which
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Mr. D. Bushnell was part owner. Placing Captain Briggs in charge of the former, he himself took command of the latter, which until the opening of
the Civil War was engaged in towing coal from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. At the close of about two years' service on the "Conestoga " his interest in the oil business was awakened by the glowing
newspaper accounts which fell under his notice, and, hiring a competent person to act as captain in his
place, he went into West Virginia, and began opera- tions in the petroleum district. He had been thus engaged but a short time when his plant fell a prey
to the military operations of the Confederate forces, causing him to abandon the field. He then re- turned to Pittsburgh and sold the "Conestoga " and his barges to the National Government. After its sale he took the steamboat to Cincinnati, Ohio, and
superintended her transformation into a gunboat. He then took her to New Albany, Indiana, where he put armor aboard of her and turned her over to Commodore Foote, U. S. N. Returning again to Pittsburgh, he bought out the other owners of the
between that city and Oil City. This steamboat's " Red Fox," and put the vessel into the oil trade
first work in the oil trade was in November, 1861, towing two large coal boat bottoms from Pittsburgh to Oil City, with four thousand empty barrels in them as freight, consigned to various oil operators.
When delivering these barrels to the consignees,
Captain Vandergrift bought five thousand barrels of crude oil from the Maple Grove Oil Company, on Blood Farm, to be delivered at buyer's option by July 1st, following. The problem which presented itself was how to get the oil to Pittsburgh. Cap- tain Vandergrift returned home and formed a con- nection with Mr. Daniel Bushnell. While the two partners were figuring to get barrels to bring the oil to market, the first "bulk boat" ever run (owned by Richard Glyde) arrived from Oil City. Inspection at Allegheny City convinced the partners that this was the cheapest and most feasible method of transporting oil, as it had all to come by water at that time. Captain Vandergrift then explained the plan to an intimate friend, a boat-builder named John Redman, and the latter agreed to build for the partners twelve of the "flats" or "bulk boats," eighty feet long, fourteen feet wide and three feet deep, with an individual capacity of about four hundred barrels, at a cost approximating to two hundred dollars each. After construction, in the spring of 1861, these boats were taken up to Oil
City, and by July of the same year they had more than paid for themselves, and proved to be the be- ginning of a very profitable business. As an ex- ample, one fleet of oil purchased at point of produc-
tion in 1863 at one dollar per barrel, was sold a little later in the same year at Pittsburgh for twelve dol- lars per barrel, at a profit of seventy thousand dol- lars. After running the " Red Fox" to Oil City for a year, Captain Vandergrift put his brother Benja- tow of coal to Nashville, Tennessee. As the " Red min aboard of her as captain, and sent him with a Fox" was returning to Pittsburgh, the United States Quartermaster at Smithland pressed the ves- sel into the Government service and directed her commander to report with boat and crew to the Quartermaster at Paducah, Kentucky, for orders. Arriving at this point the vessel was placed at work
for two months towing forage and provisions to
Pittsburgh Landing; and was then ordered to Cairo, where the Post-Quartermaster employed her in towing coal to the fleet of gunboats at "Island No. 10." After making several trips to the fleet, the boat was ordered back to Cairo, and Captain Benjamin Vandergrift and his crew, being mustered out of the service, returned to Pittsburgh. Shortly after this the Government authorities again took possession of the " Red Fox" and manned her with an independent crew. On her second trip, while making a landing, the vessel struck a sunken barge in the river at Cairo and sank, becoming a total loss. Up to this writing no indemnity has been awarded the owners for her loss. About this time Captain Vandergrift began to acquire interests in oil producing "up Oil Creek." As his partner, Mr. Bushnell, preferred to confine his operations to the less hazardous business of transportation, the two separated, Mr. Bushnell then taking as associate his son Joseph. Captain Vandergrift now took up his residence at Oil City, and threw himself with vigor into the work of producing oil and developing the oil country. Associated with Mr. W. H. Ewing of Pittsburgh in 1863 and 1864, he formed one or two companies for producing oil which met with mod- erate success. His next important enterprises were in connection with a railroad and a pipe-line. The first pipe-line for oil transportation was laid in 1865 by an operator named Van Sickle, and extended be- tween Pithole and "Shafer Farm," a distance of about six miles. The Oil City and Pithole Railroad,
organized in 1869 by a number of capitalists in Oil City and Pittsburgh, proved unsuccessful by the Pennsylvania Railroad taking possession of the road-bed from Oil City to Oleopolis, and was placed in the hands of Mr. George V. Forman, as receiver. In partnership with this gentleman Captain Van- dergrift equipped and ran a line of tank cars, called the "Star Tank Line," carrying oil from Pithole to Oil City. In order to secure business for the road, in which Captain Vandergrift was a heavy stock-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
holder, the firm of Vandergrift and Forman laid a pipe-line from West Pithole to Pithole, a distance of about four miles. This line, which was named " The Star Pipe Linc," was the real commencement of the gigantic system which now prevails under the name of the " National Transit Company." In 1871 the firm of Vandergrift and Forman, of which Mr. John Pitcairn, Jr., of Philadelphia, had re- cently become a member, laid another pipe-line, four miles in length, from Fagundas to the Warren and Franklin Railroad, on Allegheny river, at a point named Trunkeyville. This linc, first known as the " Trunkeyville," was afterwards named the "Commonwealth Pipe Line." The firm next laid the "Sandy Pipe Line," twelve miles in length, from Oil City to East Sandy, and followed it by the "Milton Pipe Line," four miles long, from the Milton Farm or Bredensburg to Oil City. Later construc- tions by the firm were the "Western Pipe Line," from Shaw farm to the new Imperial Refinery, above Oil City, about three miles; and also the "Franklin Pipe Line," for collecting oil from the dis- trict around Franklin. The Imperial Refinery, hav- ing a capacity of two thousand barrels per day, and considered a huge enterprise at that time, was built by Captain Vandergrift and his partners. Another enterprise which Captain Vandergrift was promi- nent in organizing, was the Oil City Trust Com- pany, the capital of which was one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Forman was Presi- dent of this company, which had its bank and of- fices in Love's Block, Centre street, Oil City, and Mr. Vandergrift and a number of other leading oil men and merchants were directors and stockholders. The next enterprise of Captain Vandergrift was the organization of pipe-line systems in Butler and Ve- nango Counties, severally named the "Fairview Pipe Line," "Raymilton Pipe Line," "Cleveland Pipe Line" and " Millerstown Pipe Line," all con- trolled by Vandergrift, Forman and Company. When perfected, these lines were united as one gen- eral system under the name of the "United Pipe Lines of Vandergrift, Forman and Company," and this system was in April, 1887, consolidated with sundry other pipe-lines, and incorporated under the title of the "United Pipe Lines." This company gradually absorbed all the remaining competing lines in the "Lower oil regions," and shortly after the first development of oil at Bradford entered that district also, and became its great system. A recent writer on the subject refers to Captain Van- dergrift's connection with this company in the fol- lowing words :
" Of the United Pipe Lines, Captain Vandergrift has always been President, and to him, therefore, is
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attributable a very large share of the unbounded and well-merited confidence the company has always possessed, from not only the producers and holders of oil, but also the banking institutions of the country. The latter are accustomed to accept its certificates for petroleum for collateral as readily as Government bonds. In fact, the 'United Pipc Lines ' have been considered as 'above suspicion.' In compliance with the demands of some dissatis- fied producers, on two occasions, 'the doors were flung wide open ' for investigation ; the affairs and every tank of the company were most thoroughly examined by these opponents and their agents, without restriction of any kind, and from the in- quiry the reputation of the company came, if pos- sible, even more untarnished than ever. To illus- trate the unsullied integrity of this company in its trust as storers of oil, it is sufficient to add that at its own original suggestion in order that the storing of oil should always be set about with the utmost safeguards to the public, and to prevent unscrupu- lous people engaging in the business, there is an Act of Assembly in Pennsylvania, that at the in- stance of any holder of certificates for ten thousand barrels of oil, any pipe line company's affairs can be at any time thoroughly investigated and every tank of oil gauged, to ascertain the exact quantity on hand."
At the incorporation of the company, Mr. John R. Campbell, of Oil City, became its Treasurer, and in that capacity has continued to the present time, proving a most efficient assistant to the President in the company's affairs. To his remarkable skill as an accountant the company owes its present ad- mirable system of records, checks and counter- checks, which may be said to render fraud impos- sible. The Vice-President of the company is Mr. Daniel O'Day, of Buffalo, New York, a gentleman whose wonderful administrative and executive abilities have been exerted in its service with the most brilliant results. Although still maintaining its own organization, The United Pipe Line Com- pany was, in 1884, merged into and made a division of the enormous system represented by the National Transit Company, the capital of which is thirty millions of dollars. At the time this union was ef- fected the reasons for it were fully and satisfactorily explained. In the producing of petroleum, "now the third staple of the world," Captain Vandergrift has for many years been specially prominent. In 1872 he was one of several capitalists organizing the firm of H. L. Taylor & Co., for the development of oil lands in Butler and Armstrong Counties, Pa., and also the "Argyle Savings Bank," at Petrolia, Butler County. Both these enterprises were highly successful. The first named eventually gave birth to the Union Oil Company, with its immense busi- ness interests. The bank, during its existence, was honored by the public confidence to an extent which was truly remarkable, and at the same time ex-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
tremely complimentary to its incorporators, for notwithstanding that its capital was but fifty thou- sand dollars, its deposits at times reached the' enormous aggregate of a million and a half. In 1876 the firm of Vandergrift, Forman & Co. was dissolved, Mr. Forman withdrawing. Its succes- sor, organized at once, was the firm of Vander- grift, Pitcairn & Co., of which Messrs. Edward Hopkins, J. R. Campbell and W. J. Young (the last uamed now President of the Oil City Trust Co.) constituted the " company." Mr. Pitcairn with- drew subsequently, and the remaining members of the firm re-organized under the style of Vandergrift, Young & Co. Captaiu Vandergrift was the prime mover in the organization of the Forest Oil Com- pany (capital $1,200,000), of which he has been President since its incorporation. His associates in the management of this great oil-producing corpor- ation are Mr. W. J. Young, Vice-President, Mr. J. R. Campbell, Treasurer, who, with Mr. Joseph Bushnell, compose the Executive Committee. Prom- inent among other companies in which he is heavily interested are the Auchor Oil Company and the As- sociated Producers' Company, each with a capital of one million dollars. He is also a large individual producer of oil. In 1881 Captain Vandergrift re- moved from Oil City, where he had lived many years, to his present large and beautiful property on the bluff skirting Fifth avenue extension, East Liberty, about five miles from the business portion of Pittsburgh. This removal was the result of his growing manufacturing interests. In the develop- ment of natural gas, fraught with such astounding changes and benefits to the industrial world of Pittsburgh, Captain Vandergrift is entitled to rank as a pioneer and arch-promoter. As early as 1875, in association with John Pitcairn, Jr., and Captain C. W. Bachelor, of Pittsburgh, and others, under the name of the Natural Gas Company, Limited, he laid the first natural gas line of any importance, connectiug, by a six inch pipe, gas wells near Sax- onburg with the great iron mills of Spang, Chalfant & Co., and Graff, Bennett & Co., thus practically demonstrating to the manufacturing world the great value of this wonderful natural product. About the same time, in association with Mr. Pitcairn and Mr. A. C. Beeson, he constructed and operated suc- cessfully the Butler Gas Lines. With his removal to Pittsburgh his interest in natural gas received additional impetus, for, perceiving at once the mag- nificent possibilities of this wonderful product, he then became one of the foremost advocates of its general employment for industrial and fuel purpo- ses, and proceeded in a more effective manner to place it conveniently at the disposal of the public.
Through his active initiative or co-operation were formed the Penn Fuel Company, the Fuel Gas Co., the Bridgewater Gas Co., the Natural Gas Co. of West Virginia, and the Chartiers Natural Gas Co., all corporations of large capital and exten- sive connections, and in each of which he became a leading director. Had he rendered no other service to the business interests of the State of Pennsylva- nia, his activity and enterprise in this direction alone would entitle him to distinguished consideration. Of his multitudinous business enterprises in Oil City and Pittsburgh a volume might be written. In both places he lias the reputation of being one of the most alert and active of business men. He was among the projectors of the Oil City and Pe- troleum Bridge and the Venango Bridge, both of which span the Allegheny River, the former con- necting North and South Oil City, and the latter West and South Oil City. He was for some time President of both companies. Another of his en- terprises, in which his partners were Mr. O'Day and Mr. M. Geary, was the Oil City Boiler Works, prob- ably the largest industrial institution in the oil country. These works have already constructed iron tankage to a capacity of nearly thirteen million bar- rels, aud also an enormous number of engines and boilers. Soon after arriving in Pittsburgh he was associated with Mr. Joshua Rhodes and others in establishing the Pennsylvania Tube Works, capital twelve hundred thousand dollars. Having been a member of the oil exchanges at Oil City and Titus- ville he quite naturally joined that at Pittsburgh. With rare business perception he saw that this or- ganization was weak, and therefore resolved to strengthen it. Meeting with no assistance from tlie members he concluded to found a new exchange, and in 1883 he obtained a charter for one from the local court. Hc then selected a site on Fourth ave- nue, opposite the Dollar Savings Bank, and erected thereon a magnificent building, which cost, together with the site, one hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars. While it was being constructed he organized the Pittsburgh Petroleum Exchange; and in spite of the most virulent opposition and abuse from in- terested members of the old exchange, he fiually perfected it. In April, 1884, the new exchange went into operation, by purchasing the new building, paying Mr. Vandergrift for it in cash. Besides the banking institutions already named, Captain Van- dergrift has aided in founding and organizing others, including the Seaboard National Bank of New York, and the Keystone Bank of Pittsburgh. He is President of the last named. In the Alleghe- ny National Bank of Pittsburgh also, he was at one time a director. His name is likewise connected
Лапшев МГале
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
with various iron enterprises in Pittsburgh ; and of course is intimately associated with the Standard Oil Company, of which he early became a member by taking stock in the company for his Imperial Refinery near Oil City, and for several years was a director. In natural gas, in addition to companies named, he has been the promoting spirit in organ- izing the United Oil and Gas Trust, of which he is President ; the Toledo Natural Gas Company, capi- tal two million dollars, and the Washington Oil Company, and in extending the Pennsylvania Tube Works, and the Apollo Iron and Steel Company, cquipping the latter with open hearth furnaces and extensive galvanizing works, and increasing the general capacity to rank with the largest sheet iron manufacturers in the United States. As may be inferred from this account, Captain Vandergrift is a man of extraordinary vigor and energy. In phy- sique, being rather short and stout, he shows his capacity for hard work and concentrated thought. He may be said to have grappled successfully with nearly every problem that has confronted him. His shrewdness and judgment in business transactions are exceptionally excellent, and they have been so carefully and efficiently called into play that almost every enterprise their possessor has entered upon seems to have yieldcd golden returns. In all his business relations Captain Vandergrift is a model of uprightness and honor. His kindness of heart is something remarkable, and to those who knew him intimately it seems as if he would never weary of doing good, although the greater number of his kindly and philanthropic acts have, through his natural modesty, never been heralded to the public. It may be said that no really deserving applicants for assistance have ever been dismissed unaided. The claims of strangers as well as friends are deemed valid, and neither race nor creed debars from his sympathy. In the cause of religion he is and al- ways has been generous to a fault. Some of his acts in aid of the church have been princely. One, the gift of a number of thousand dollars (over half its cost) to the First Presbyterian Church of Oil City, towards the construction of the edifice in which it now worships, was of this character. Through Mr. Vandergrift's munificence, this con- gregation is out of debt, and worships God in a free church to which all-rich and poor alike-are wel- come. Captain Vandergrift is generally somewhat reserved in manner, but in the company of friends or in society he is most agreeable and entertaining, more especially when interested, and at times " jovial and the life of the party." He is a good friend, but like most men of positive character, is strong in his dislikes. Captain Vandergrift has been singularly
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