USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 50
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GARRETT B. LINDERMAN.
GARRETT BRODHEAD LINDERMAN, M.D., of Bethlehem, in early manhood a skillful and suc- cessful practitioner of medicine, but during the last twenty-five years of his life one of the principal factors in the great manufacturing, miuing and rail- way interests of Pennsylvania and prominent also as a fiuancier, was born in Lehman Township, Pike County, Pa., October 13, 1829, and died at his resi- dence on Fountain Hill, South Bethlehem, Septem- ber 28, 1885. His ancestry on both sides was of high respectability. His father, Dr. John J. Linder- mau, was a physician of character and ability, with a large practice in Pike County, where he ranked among the leading citizens. His mother, born Ra- chel Brodhead, was a woman of great personal worth, whose gentle nature and kindly sympathies earned for her the esteem and love of the circle in which she moved, and the high appreciation of many beyond it, to whom her husband was both friend and physician. The boyhood of the subject of this sketch was spent in his native place. He obtained his early education in the local schools, and at the hands of his father was fitted for the study of medicine, which lie began in his office. In 1847, after having pursued the usual collegiate course of study, he was graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For several years he acted as assistant to his father, but in 1853 he established himself at Unionville, a small town in New Jersey near the New York line, where he prac- ticed independently for a period of about two years. In 1853 his elder brother, Dr. Heury R. Linderman, who was physician to the Nesquehoning Coal Com- pany, received an appointment as Chief Clerk of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, and having accepted it relinquished the position under the coal company, which Dr.G. B. Linderman was immediate- ly called to fill. Shortly after he liad entered upou this new sphere of professional labor, the cholera broke out at Mauch Chunk. Without delay he proceeded
thither, and devoted himself night and day to bat- tling with the dread epidemic. His courage and zeal " won all hearts, and the citizens of the town were so grateful to him that they, with almost one voice, called him to Mauch Chunk, where he at once acquired a large and lucrative practice." During the ensuing ten years Dr. Linderman's practice steadily increased and his skill extended his reputa- tion far beyond the limits of his field of operations. But conditions arose which, in a measure, obliged him to give his attention to great business interests. These grew in part out of his becoming, in 1856, the son-in-law of the distinguished and wealthy philan- thropist, the late Judge Asa Packer, with whose affairs he then became more or less connected. In 1863 his personal business interests had attained to such importance that he relinquished the practice ef medicine in order to give them the care and su- pervision they demanded. In 1866, upon the organ- ization of Lehigh University, founded at South Bethlehem, Pa., by the distinguished liberality of Judge Packer, Dr. Linderman was elected a mem- ber of its Board of Trustees. He became Chair- man of the Executive Committee of this Board, aud also a member of its Building Committee, and in both capacities labored zealously in the work of rearing and developing this now famous iustitution of learning. His interest and activity in this great work were of the highest service and were main- tained undiminished until his death. In 1870 Dr. Linderman built a fine mansion on Fountain Hill, South Bethlehem, which became his permanent res- idence. Here and in the neighboring town of Bethlehem he became very heavily interested in a business way, and for both places and their people he always entertained the warmest feelings. In the year 1877 the Bethlehem Iron Company, being in straighteued circumstances, accepted his offer of a loan of a large sum of money, and elected him its Managing Director and subsequently its General Manager. Through this timely assistance, and his active and intelligent labors, this corporation was safely brought out of a state of threatened bank- ruptcy and placed on a prosperous basis. Dr. Lin- derman remained at its head until his death ; and it is no exaggeration to assert that to his skillful di- rection of its affairs is largely due its present ex- ceptionally high status in the business world. Dr. Linderman was largely instrumental in founding the Association of the Bessemer Steel Companies of the United States, and from its inception was a member of the Board of Control. He was Chairman of the Wilbur Mining and Manufacturing Company of On- tario, Canada, and also of the organization of indi- vidual coal operators of the Lehigh Valley. He
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Organized and for some years was Chairman of the Jaraugua Iron Company, Limited, of Cuba, but resigned the office shortly before his death. One of his most valuable business interests was in the firm of Linderman & Skcer, operators of extensive coal mines at Stockton and Humboldt; and to the man- agement of the affairs of this firm he gave close attention. The enormous extent of his business interests obliged him to maintain permanent offices in New York city (in Washington Building, on Broadway,) where he was as well known commer- cially as in Pennsylvania. Quite naturally he ac- quired with his business experience a very thorough knowledge of finance, which he improved by closc study and observation. As the outcome of this knowledge and as a means of investment for a part of his rapidly increasing wealth, he organized the Lehigh Valley National Bank of Bethlehem, of which he took the principal share of stock. He be-
principal stockholder in the Linderman National office at the time of his death. He was also the came President of this institution, and held that
Bank of Mauch Chunk, a large shareholder and a director in the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and a mem- ber of and prominent in a number of other leading corporations and institutions. An institution in
which he took a warm interest was St. Luke's Hos-
pital, of which he was a trustee for a number of years. Early in life he became connected with the Masonic fraternity and always manifested a hearty interest in its welfare. He was a Past Master of Barger Lodge, one of the most representative in
Mauch Chunk. In religious belief he was an Epis-
copalian, and a prominent member of the Church of the Nativity at Fountain Hill, which he attended with his family, regularly. He was an ardent Dem- ocrat in political faith, and although greatly en- grossed in his important business operations, always managed to give some time to the service of his
party in its various campaigns. In 1878 he was a candidate for the nomination for Congress in his district, but was unsuccessful. He was afterwards frequently mentioned in connection with the posi- tion, but feeling that his usefulness in the commu- nity would be better subserved by his devoting his attention to his business interests, he invariably de-
clined. In the Hancock campaign he took a par-
ticularly active part in organizing the Democracy
in South Bethlehem, and was the President of the Central Club. On the occasion of the large parade
election that fall, he presided at the meeting and and mass meeting in Bethlehem, just before the
made a tariff speech from a Democratic standpoint. His interest in the affairs of the borough in which he lived, and in those of the neighboring town of
Bethlehem, was always active and warm, and his advice was frequently sought and greatly valucd by those intrusted with the management of municipal affairs. He was quick to discover merit, and being a man of large sympathies and generous impulses, was always ready to extend a helping hand to en- terprising and energetic young men in whose integ- rity and honesty he had confidence. A local writer familiar with the facts has asserted that a great many successful business men in Bethlehem and vi- cinity are largely indebted to him for financial as- sistance and wise counsel. Of his large fortune he gave liberally to those objects of charity and reli- gion which commended themselves to his heart and judgment. One of his striking qualities was his fidelity in friendship. Through good and evil report he stood by his friends. Another extraordi- nary quality was his capacity for labor. He posses- sed fine executive ability, was tenacious of purpose, and gifted with a singularly clear judgment, particu- larly in business affairs. The hold he had upon the regard of the people was founded fully as much upon respect as upon affection. His large wealth never had the effect of extinguishing his sympathy for the people, or of removing him from close con- tact with the normal life of the community. He was a thorough believer in democracy and had the courage of his convictions. His tastes, carefully cultivated in early life in a home of refinement and intelligence, were such as to lead him to appreciate the pleasures and advantages of domesticity, and as a consequence his home life was all that could be desired. The immediate cause of Dr. Linderman's death was congestion of the brain. During the summer preceding his final illness he had spent a
great portion of his time at Long Branch with his family, paying attention to business affairs only as required. In connection with the combination of
steel producers formed that season, he did some im-
portant work and was at Bethlehem late in August,
and at the Iron Works, of which he was General
Manager, on September 1st. Although feeling ill at the latter date he returned to Long Branch, but on the 10th was again at his home in South Bethle- hem. His illness proved progressive and he passed away on the 28th of September. His death was widely regretted and caused a void in business cir- cles which those best informed were agreed would not soon be filled. Dr. Linderman was twice mar- ried. His first wife, to whom he was united Aug.
21, 1856, was Lucy Packer, a daughter of the widely known and universally esteemed philanthropist and friend of education, Judge Asa Packer. This kind- hearted and well beloved lady died in July, 1876, leaving a daughter Sallie, now Mrs. Warren A. Wil-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
bur, and two sons, Robert P. Linderman and Gar- rett B. Linderman, Jr. Both the sons have inherited their father's taste for business, and already give evidence of possessing no small share of the capac- ity which so greatly distinguished their father and grandfather. Although young, each is quite prominent in the business world, the elder, Robert, being the Vice-President of the Bethlehem Iron Company and President of the Lehigh Valley Nation- al Bank of Bethlehem. On March 16, 1880, Dr. Linderman married Miss Frances Evans, daughter of Mr. George A. Evans, of Brooklyn, N. Y. By this marriage there are three daughters : Lilian, Ida and Helen.
ELISHA P. WILBUR.
ELISHA PACKER WILBUR, President of the Lehigh Valley Railroad (a position which he occu- pies by virtue of well tried merit), was born in Mystic, Connecticut, January 31, 1833, and was a son of Henry and Eveline (Packer) Wilbur, natives of that State and both belonging to families long settled in New England. His father was a sea cap- tain and followed that calling until 1838, when he came to Pennsylvania and settled at Mauch Chunk, where he remained in the employ of Asa Packer until his death in 1863. His wife, a sister of Judge Packer and the mother of our subject, died in 1868. In the meantime Elisha Packer Wilbur had obtained his education, principally in the public schools of Mauch Chunk, and in 1847 went to Nesquehoning, the then new coal mining town, where he remained about five years in the employ of Mr. Packer, in the store which supplied the miners and the people scattered throughout the region for miles around. In 1852 he joined as rodman the corps of engineers who made the first survey for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and so began in a very humble way his connection with the great corporation of which he is now the head. Very soon after taking this posi- ion he was placed in charge of the railroad com- pany's accounts and was intrusted with the dis- bursements of its moneys, and in that capacity he acted until the completion of the railroad in the fall of 1855. During all this time he was the employe of Asa Packer, who was the originator and master mind of the Lehigh Valley Railroad project, and he obtained his knowledge of business methods and management from the great General whose forces developed the valley of the Lehigh, and placed its products in the markets of the world. The business discipline which he obtained under this great crea- tor and organizer of transportation facilities was
the foundation of his ability and success-the need- ful and proper school for the development of his native talent for the management of large affairs. In the spring of 1856 Mr. Wilbur went to Philadel- phia and was placed in charge of Mr. Packer's office (which was also the principal office of the Lehigh Valley Railroad), and in that capacity he had charge of all accounts and acted as confidential clerk and Private Secretary for Judge Packer. This intimate business relationship was maintained until the death of Judge Packer, in 1879, and dur- ing the long business intimacy thus engendered Mr. Wilbur had the best of opportunities for gaining a thorough knowledge of the railroad business and a minute acquaintance with the affairs of the Lehigh Valley Road. Upon the death of Asa Packer, Mr. Wilbur was made one of his executors and one of the five trustees of his vast estate. He was ap- pointed by that body acting trustee and in that capacity has had almost supreme control of the money and property of the deceased railroad maker - and manager,-a position the bestowal of which was complimentary alike to his business judgment and integrity. He has had charge of all the affairs of the estate and administered them to the satisfac- tion of the people interested, and the public. From the time of Judge Packer's death, Mr. Wilbur was virtually the manager of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and served officially as a director. Early in 1884 he was elected to the Presidency of the company, which office he still holds and will, doubtless, dur- ing his life or until resignation, for his capability is unquestioned. The varied duties he has performed for the company, the several positions he has held and his close relations with the projector of the Lehigh Valley Railroad have fitted him for the place of honor which he now holds as its chief executive, and his administration is satisfactory to the stockholders, directors and all concerned. In fact his management has resulted in an increased prosperity of the road and an extension of its line which was probably never contemplated until he was placed in command of the business. His man- agement has also developed many tributaries of the main line which have largely increased its profits. He is President of the Eastern & Amboy Railroad, Lehigh Valley, the Pennsylvania & New York Canal & Railroad Company, the Geneva, Ithaca & Sayre Railroad, together with numerous tributaries, all included in the great Lehigh Valley Railroad system of which he is the executive head. Mr. Wilbur has a beautiful home in South Bethlehem, and has for years taken a deep interest in the welfare, material and moral, of that flourishing borough. He was for several years Burgess, or Mayor, of the borough,
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
and is now its Treasurer. There is probably no more popular citizen in the borough, and the envi- able position in which he stands has been attained by numerous good deeds benefiting directly or indi- rectly the town. In addition to his duties as Presi- dent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Mr. Wilbur carries many other business burdens, and is identi- fied with several large concerns in official capacity. He has been for many years one of the directors and Chairman of the Advisory and Finance Committees of the Bethlehem Iron Company; has been Presi- dent of the South Bethlehem Gas and Water Com- pany since its organization, and is the head of the house known (since 1887), as the E. P. Wil- bur Trust Company, though originally organized as the E. P. Wilbur & Co. banking house, in 1870. He is one of the directors of the Lehigh Valley National Bank, of Bethlehem, and is one of the ten trustees of the Lehigh University. He is, and has been since its organization, President of the Coplay Iron Company, which has an extensive plant in the Lehigh Valley above Allentown, a director of the Northampton Iron Company, and is a leading owner of the Lucy Furnace. He has also large coal interests and is President of the Jefferson Coal Company, owning valuable lands in Jefferson County. He is likewise interested in, and is Treasurer of the Franklin Coal Company. Besides being one of the trustees he is also Treasurer of St. Luke's Hospital, of South Bethlehem. Mr. Wilbur was married, May 11, 1858, to Miss Stella M. Abbott, of Bethlehem, and of this union there are eight children living. The eldest son, W. A., is Vice- President of the E. P. Wilbur Trust Company, and the second son, R. H., is assistant to the General Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
WILLIAM E. DOSTER.
GENERAL WILLIAM EMILE DOSTER, a dis- tinguished citizen of Bethlehem and a leading member of the Northampton County bar, was born at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1837. He is the seventh son of Lewis and Pauline Louisc Dos- ter. His honored mother was the second daughter of Matthew Eggert, of Bethlehem, and granddaugh- ter of Christian Eggert, who had joined the Mora- vian Brotherhood at Berbice, Guiana, and came to this country in 1749, settling at Bethlehem. William's education began in the Moravian school at Bethle- hem, where he was prepared for college by Professor Benjamin Van Kirk. He entered " Yale " in 1853, and having completed the course with honor was
graduated as Bachelor of Arts with his class, in 1857. He then entered the Law School of Harvard College, and at the expiration of the usual two years' course received, in 1859, the degree of Bach- elor of Laws and had also the honor of being cho- sen to deliver the annual oration before his class. His studies at the law school had been amplified by a very careful course of reading in the law office of ex-Governor A. H. Reeder at Easton, Pa., and to a young man of ordinary mind this training would have seemed abundant preparation for professional work. But with his characteristic love of thorough- ness the young student decided upon a period of European application, and, in 1859, he went to Hei- delberg, where for a year he delved deep into the mysteries of the civil law, perfecting himself mean- while in the German tongue, and on leaving there went to Paris, where he devoted himself an equal length of time to the study of the Code Napoleon and to acquiring a mastery of the French idiom. In 1860 he returned to America and, going to Phila- delphia to round out his studies by practical obser- vation and experience in the famous law courts of that city, was thus engaged when the Civil War broke out. His sympathies were entirely with the National Government, which he instantly resolved to support at all hazards. Although a novice in the art of war, he hastened to his home in Bethlehem and busied himself in rallying his fellow citizens to the National defense. Knowing the importance at- tached to cavalry by European nations, he rightly concluded that by raising a corps of this arm he could render a most valuable service to the Govern- ment. Pushing the work with all the zeal of a patriot, and the fire of impetuous youth, he soon had a full company at his command, and without delay offered its services and his own to the Secrc- tary of War. With a fatuity that was soon regret- ted the authorities at Washington declined to accept them on the ground that no call had been made for troops of that arm. The disaster at Bull Run hav- ing convinced the Government of its mistake, which it promptly acknowledged by calling for more troops, young Doster again came to the front and at once establishing headquarters at Sand Island, near Bethlehem, engaged a second time in the work of recruiting. In a very short space of time he had enlisted a corps of one hundred and sixteen men, and on August 15, 1861, this corps was mustered into the service of the United States, under the command of Captain W. E. Doster, as Company A, Harlan's Light Cavalry. It was afterwards designa- ted as " A " Company, Fourth Pennsylvania Caval- ry. Captain Doster proved in every way worthy of the commission he had received. Constantly in the
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
field with his command, he shared its privations and dangers with enthusiasm, and won the love and re- spect of all with whom he came in contact by his true soldierly qualities. He was promoted to the rank of Major, October 18, 1861. Less than a year later, October 13, 1862, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and attached to the headquarters of Major-General Keyes, and placed in command of the General's body-guard. In Feb- ruary, 1863, he was appointed to succeed General Andrew Porter as Provost-Marshal at Washington, D. C., where he had in his command one cavalry and three infantry regiments, as well as the Chesa- peake flotilla under Commodore Harwood. This service, so different from active life in the field, to which he had been accustomed, proved absolutely distasteful to him, and at his own request he was shortly afterwards relieved and immediately re- joined his regiment, which he commanded all through the bloody campaigns of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, being invested at times with the command of the Second Brigade of the Second Di- vision, Cavalry Corps, of which brigade his regi- ment formed a part. During this period of his service his horse was killed under him in the en- gagement at Ely's Ford, and at Upperville he was taken prisoner, but was enabled to make his escape during the fight by striking down his guard. At Gettysburg, on the second day of the battle, his command supported the batteries on Cemetery Ridge, and on the fifth of July he led the pursuit, encountering Fitzhugh Lee in a severe fight at Marion. At Amissville, Virginia, he was attacked by typhoid fever so severely as to compel him to resign his commission October 18, 1863. Upon his recovery he was offered the commission of Colonel of the Fifth Pennsylvania Cavalry, but declined it, as he was in no condition to take the field. His gallantry and meritorious services during the Re- bellion were appropriately rewarded by the brevet rank of Brigadier-General of United States Volun- teers, conferred upon him March 13, 1865. In the spring of 1864 Colonel Doster was formally admitted to the Northampton County bar. Shortly after- wards he established offices in Washington, D. C., and while there conducted the defense of Payne and Atzerodt, implicated in the assassination plot and charged, respectively, with attempt to murder Sec- retary Seward aud Vice-President Johnson. Leav- ing Washington, General Doster settled at Easton, Pa., and in 1867 was appointed Register in Bank- ruptcy for the Eleventh Congressional District of the State. In 1871 he returned to Bethlehem and since then has made his home there. His high at- tainments as a lawyer have earned for him a large
and valuable practice. Among his clients are many of the principal corporations and firms of the State, including the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, Bethlehem Iron Company, Lehigh & Lackawanna Railroad Company, Wind Gap & Delaware Railroad Company, Old Bangor Slate Co., First National Bank of Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley National Bank, Bethlehem; Cutter's Silk Mill, Bethlehem; Bethle- hem Silk Mill, Nazareth Hall; Dodson Coal Com- pany, Weston, Dodson & Company, and George D. Myers & Company ; also the Moravian Congrega- tion at Bethlehem, and the Provincial Elders' Con- ference of the Unities Fratrum of the Northern Diocese in the United States of America. His busi- ness interests are very extensive. He is one of the largest real estate owners in Bethlehem, and is also a heavy stockholder in the Times Publishing Com- pany, owners and publishers of the Bethlehem Daily Times, which he, in conjunction with Mr. D. J. Godschalk, founded in 1866. This newspaper, the first daily sheet published at Bethlehem, is now a most popular and prosperous journal. Gen. Doster is a director in the Lehigh Bridge Company, and is President of the New Street Bridge Company of Bethlehem. He was the originator of the last named company, aud in conjunction with his brother, Mr. Heman A. Doster, carried to successful completion the enterprise which spanned the Lehigh at Bethle- hem with one of the best carriage bridges in Penn- sylvania. His experience at the bar has been active and varied, and covers a quarter of a century of practice, largely devoted to important work. His culture is broad and scholarly, and in conse- quence his reputation as a professional man is not the outcome of a few brilliant strokes of fortune, but is rather the result of a long series of well di- rected and successful efforts in purely legitimate fields. The higher qualities of manhood are pos- sessed by General Doster to a remarkable degree, and in the large and ever widening circle in which he moves, he wins and holds the respect of all. In po- litical faith he is a Republican, prominent in the councils of his party, aud, as Chairman of the County Committee, an active and influential force in the community. His religious affiliations are with the Moravian Church, and, conscientiously emula- ting the example of his worthy ancestors, he labors ardently in its work. His reputation for integrity is unblemished, and notwithstanding the number and varied character of his obligations, they are dis- charged with rare punctuality and fidelity. He re- sides in a pretty mansion on elevated ground over- looking one of the most picturesque locations in the Lehigh Valley. One of his greatest treasures is his fine law library, which is reputed to be without an
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