USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. I > Part 64
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"That while testifying to the great gifts which made his co-operations so valuable to public enter- prises, the managers, as individuals, desire to cx- press their admiration and affection for Mr. Scran- ton as a consistent Christian gentleman and friend.
" Resolved, that better than words, his achieve- ments are his praise, and in the success of the numerous Christian and benevolent interests, and the varied public and private trusts identified with
the growth and prosperity of the city of Scranton, and in many kindred associations in which he was a leading mind, is his best eulogy."
The directors of the Dickson Manufacturing Com- pany, with which Mr. Scranton was long allied, assembled upon receiving the news of his death, and passed the following resolutions :
" That the loss which has been sustained by this board in the death of Mr. Scranton has impressed the hearts of its members with sentiments of pro- found regret, and they desire to put upon record their tribute of respect among its transactions, there to remain as a testimony to the esteem and high rc- gard in which he was held by them.
" Resolved, that while his genius contrived, and his name is connected with many of the most impor- tant enterprises of this vicinity, to his comprehen- sive knowledge of business and eminent executive ability is due in a great measure their success.
" Resolved, that his generous nature, public spirit, and tireless energy fitted him for a leader in all great enterprises, while his kindness of heart, be- nevolence, and strong, unchanging friendship en- deared him to all with whom he was associated.
" Resolved, that we shall keep in enduring memory the many virtues of our deceased friend and asso- ciate, sincerely mourning his death, and we most respectfully tender to the bereaved family and rela- tives, our condolence under this afflicting dispensa- tion of Divine Providence.
" Resolved, that as a token of respect to his memory, our general office be draped in mourning, the works closed on the day of the funeral, and these resolutions be entered on the minutes, a certi- fied copy transmitted to the family, and that they be published in the daily papers of the city."
Mr. Scranton will long be remembered as a com- manding figure among that stalwart and powerful group of men who within the present generation have built up the colossal industries of interior Pennsylvania. Forty years ago that extended re- gion was a savage wilderness, with only a stray habitation here and there, and mostly given over to the unchallenged dominion of the wolf and the bear. It is now one of the noblest territories on the globe. The wealth which the mines of California and Nevada have bestowed upon the world is but trivial in comparison with that ever augmenting tide of wealth which over a hundred iron ways rolls down the slopes and through the passes of the Pennsylvania mountains. The rails from its roll- ing mills have woven an iron network over the Continent ; the anthracite from its mines glows on a million hearths. The workers who have wrought these results seem to have come to us out of the he- roic age. Cities and marts seem to have arisen at their bidding, as of old they were fabled to have arisen to the sound of Amphion's lute, or as to an older and louder clangor, "Ilion like a mist rose into towers." Once, when Frederick the Great stood amid the coffins of his ancestors in the vaults
Caleblopes
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at Potsdam, he pointed to that in which reposed the ashes of William the Great Elector, and said to his attendants, "This one did a great work." It may with equal truth be said beside that quiet grave in Dunmore Cemetery in which the mortal part of Joseph H. Scranton rests from its labors. It was a great work indeed which he wrought, and oue which will long be honored among men. Nor will it be forgotten that he was foremost in all good works, that uprightness and integrity walked with him through the world, that his hand was ever open as the day to melting charity, nor that he was a Christian without a blemish or reproach, preferring the duties of his life " as even in his great task-mas- ter's eye." The memory of his life and virtues is a peculiar legacy to his family and bears its whole- some signifieanee to all men. A more extended rehearsal of the events and achievements of his busy life than such a volume as the preseut one permits is due to the eminence of his career and the magnitude of his labors. We have set them forth but briefly and inadequately, but our work would indeed have been ill performed if we had failed to assign to him a eonspieuous place among the greatest and most honored of the men who have wrought in building up the industries of Pennsylvania.
CALEB F. COPE.
CALEB FREDERICK COPE, merehant, finan- eier and philanthropist, was born in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, July 18, 1797. His father, William Cope, died when Caleb was very young, so that his training was eared for by his mother, Eliza- beth Rohrer by birth, and his maternal grandfather, Frederiek Rohrer, oue of the pioneers of Western Pennsylvania. Frederick Rohrer was a remarkable man. Born July 28, 1742, in Alsaee, then a part of France, he emigrated to Ameriea when he was sev- enteen years of age. He married Catherine Deemer in York County, in 1776, and afterward removed to Hagerstown, Md. It was in this year that he visited Pittsburgh, which then consisted of a fort and less than a dozen Indian huts, bringing with him some cattle, for which Geu. Arthur St. Clair gave him a traet of land in the Ligonier Valley. The next year he brought across the Alleghanies the first wheat ever imported into the westeru eountry, and this he planted on the banks of the Conemaugh, where he also boiled salt in an earthen pot, trading it to the Indians, having himself diseovered there the since valuable springs from whose water it was produeed. In 1771 the pioneer, with his family, was driven
away by the Indians. For a long time they had been the only white settlers in the county. He returned to Hagerstown, and thence he removed permanently to Greensburg, where he became Justice of the Peace. When he died, in 1834, he had nine ehildren, forty-two grandchildren and seventeen great-grand- children. The following interesting extract eon- cerning him is from a letter dated Jan. 21, 1822, from F. J. Cope to Thomas P. Cope. It relates to a full new set of teeth whieh unexpectedly blessed him in his eighty-first year :
"Grandfather Rohrer, respecting whom yon wished to know more about, had an addition of two teeth to the eleven which he had when I left home, making thirteen as handsome teeth as any I have seen in any young person. Those parts of the jaw where teeth have not appeared are exeeedingly pain- ful, which I presume is occasioned by the growing of the new teeth. They begin to be of material ser- vice to him, enabling him to eat that description of food which the want of them had long prevented him from enjoying the benefit of. His diet for some time had been confined to pap, which had reduced him to a mere skeleton. Sinee the new teeth began to be of service the greatest change has been ef- feeted, and instead of the frightening figure of a meagre man, we see a stout, healthy old man of eighty years of age, sitting at a window with a head almost white as snow, reading the newspapers with- out speetaeles."
Caleb Cope's paternal grandfather was Caleb Cope of Lancaster, respecting whom the following is re- lated by the subject of this sketeh :
"Major André (when Captain Andre) was eaptured at St. John's, Upper Canada, by Gen'l. Montgomery, on the 3d of November, 1775, and with other Brit- ish offieers, sent to Laneaster, Pa., as a prisoner of war. Caleb Cope was then residing in that plaee and filling the office of a Burgess. He was a mem- ber of the Society of Friends, a non-eombatant of eourse, and more disposed to yield to the pretentions of the British Government than to engage in a bloody war, believing that there would still be remaining blessings enough to be thankful for. It was under these eireumstanees that he offered the prisoners a shelter under his roof, when it seemed impossible for them to obtain aceommodations elsewhere. This act required the exereise of no little moral eourage, as the populace were greatly exeited against the prisoners, and soon gave evidence of their hostility by destroying every window in the house of their generous benefactor, an aet of violence, however, which was fully redeemed in after years, when the people of Lancaster liberally assisted tlie unfortu- nate owner in the reconstruction of his dwelling, which had been accidentally destroyed by fire. Among the ehildreu of Andre's benevolent host there was oue uamed John, then aged about thirteen years, in whom the former felt deeply interested. IIe had displayed a remarkable talent for drawing. * * * All the brothers (iueluding a fourth oue named William,) were then living under the same roof with Andre, and the elder ones were frequently eutertained by him iu games of marbles and other useful sports. Whilst Audre was a pris-
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oner at Lancaster, he proposed to the father of his "young disciple," as he called the boy artist, to take the latter to England and cducate him at his own expense for the profession of a painter. For this purpose (as he alleged) he proposed to sell his com- mission ; and on more than one occasion he stated that he had opportunities to dispose of it. Andre's friends believed that he longed to return to England, on account of his love affair with Honora Sueyd, (afterwards the wife of Richard Lovell Edgeworth), and that he made this proposition his excuse for abandoning the service. His offer, (I need scarcely say), was gratefully declined on conscientious grounds, after the counsel had been sought of es- teemed and reliable friends. A most unfortunate decision for both preceptor and pupil !"-" C. C." in American Historical and Literary Curiosities, John Jay Smith, 1860.
His father was John Cope, son of Oliver Cope, col- onist, who, with his wife Rebecca, had come to America in 1682, in the same ship with William Penn. He had previously been granted, September 8, 1681, two hundred and fifty acres of land, called "Backington," situate on Naaman's Creek, in New Castle County, and here he settled. They came from Auburn, Wiltshire, England, in which country the family had been prominent for many centuries, being originally of Saxon-Norman, and in part of Spanish and German stock. The European line is still far from extinct. Caleb Cope, the subject of this sketch, received a rudimentary education, suited to the times and locality, in a low, one-story, shingle roofed log cabin of rude construction, not larger than 18 by 24 feet, presided over by a pedagogue whose name was either Roseberry, James O'Harra, or Robert Williams. The only information about the particular individual which is obtainable, is that he was ultimately driven insaue by the tricks per- petrated upon him by his fifty male and female scholars. Among the books used were ancient readers, the Bible, " Æsop's Fables," and "Plu- tarch's Lives;" and whenever pens were wanted a goose chase was necessary. Whipping and "riding a broomstick " were the curious modes of punish- ment resorted to when it was necessary to enforce obedience. At the age of twelve or thirteen years, young Caleb was bound by his mother to John Wells, storekeeper, for a term of four years. At the termination of this period of apprenticeship he re- turned to his mother, who had re-married, being united to John Fleeger, a most worthy mau, who became a second father to Caleb. About this time he received a letter from his uncle, Jasper Cope, in Philadelphia, offering for himself and on behalf of his brother Israel, a home with them, which he accepted. Accordingly he left Greensburg on the 11th of June, 1815, then a town of perhaps seven hundred population. It was almost altogether a col-
lection of log huts. A court house, a brick market house, a few stores, a rude theatre at the " Dublin hotel," several churches, and an inn, the headquar- ters of the stage line and the Conestoga wagons, were also there. The stage-coach was a primitive affair. John Bach MacMaster thus excellently de- scribes it :
" The stagc-coach was little better than a huge covered box mounted on springs. It had neither glass windows, nor door, nor steps, nor closed sides. The roof was upheld by cight posts which rose from the body of the vehicle, and the body was commonly breast-high. From the top were hung curtains of leather, to be drawn up when the day was fine, and let down and buttoned when rainy and cold. Within were four seats; without was the baggage. Four- teen pounds of luggage were allowed to be carried free by each passenger. But if his portmanteau or his brass-nail-studded hair trunk weighed more, he paid for it at the same rate per mile as he paid for himself. Under no circumstances, however, could he be permitted to take with him on the journey more than one hundred and fifty pounds. When the baggage had all been weighed and strapped on the coach, when the horses had been attached and the way-bill made out, the eleven passengers were summoned, and, clambering to their seats through the front of the stage, sat down with their faces toward the driver's seat. On routes where no com- petition existed progress was slow, and the travel- lers were subjected to all manner of extortion and abuse."-History of the People of the U. S., page 560.
The journey was rough and tiresome and occupied six days. At night the stopping places were moun- tain inns, where the traveller was put to all manner of inconveniences. " If he demanded clean sheets," says a writer, " he was looked upon as an aristocrat, and charged well for the trouble he gave; for the bed-clothes were changed at stated times, and not to suit the whims of travellers." One place was kept by a Dutch landlord who became furious when his coffee was criticised. "Nothing ish wrong mit de coffee," he declared, " it ish all de same only de taste !" In a letter to A. J. Drexel, April 6, 1887, Mr. Cope makes these notes of his trip :
"It is now more thau three score and ten years since I left Greensburg, my native town, to come to Philadelphia. The late Isaac Lea was one of nine fellow passengers. There was no continuous turn- pike and the journey was a tiresome one which oc- cupied six days-now accomplished in about eleven hours by rail. At night we laid by and were so bruised by the ride of the day that we greased our- selves with the tallow of the candles that lighted us to bed, that we might be able to endure the thumps of the next day. The gentlemen passengers were frequently called upon to get out of the stage and walk up the hill. On the top of the Allegheny Mountains Mr. Lea busied himself in picking up small stones with marine shellimpressions on them. At a later period I found him busy in the rooms of the Academy of Natural Sciences in his favorite de- partment of Conchology. Mr. Lea was a Market
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street merchant at that time, doing business under the firm name of Thomas & Isaac Lea."
On the 17th of Junc, 1815, Philadelphia was reached-then the leading industrial, commercial and financial centre in the country. Thic city prop- er contained at that time 55,000 souls, and including Northern Liberties, Penn Township, Kensington, Southwark, Moyamensing and Passynnk, the popu- lation was about 100,000, and the number of dwell- ings 16,000. This was, of course, many years before the consolidation. The northern boundary was Vine street, the southern, Cedar, or as it is now known, South street. There were fourteen wards as follows : East of Fourteenth street, now Broad, the " middle boundary " of those days, there were Up_ per and Lower Delaware, High street, Chestnut, Walnut, Dock and New Market, and west of it there were North and South Mulberry, North, Middle, Sonth, Locust and Cedar wards, all these containing two hundred and fifty-two city squares. Market street was then known as High street, Arch as MnIberry and Race as Sassafras. Mr. Cope has made this note of his first meeting with his uncles, whom he afterwards succeeded in one of the larg- est mercantile concerns iu the country:
"I only knew one person in the city, who had been a merchant in Greensburgh for a short time. On the morning after my arrival I songht this gen- tleman diligently, and he kindly escorted me to the store of Israel and Jasper Cope, 165 Market street. I was kindly received by my uncles and the former said : 'Thee is to live with me at present, it having been agreed npon by Jasper and myself that half the period of thy minority is to be with our respect- ive families.' I was then within a few weeks of being cighteen years of age. In these families I was as kindly cared for as if I had been a son."
To the training which he received uuder these circumstances Mr. Cope has since declared he owed much of his success in after years. The "Cope Brothers " all achieved eminence. The senior member of the firm, Thomas Pine Cope, established the famous line of packet-ships between Philadel- phia and Liverpool in 1821, was a member of the City Council and the State Legislature, and was chiefly instrumental iu the establishment of the Mercantilc Library and in furthering the first efforts in behalf of creating Fairmount Park. He was the business rival of Stephen Girard, but was chosen by that philanthropist to be the principal executor of his estate. When he retired from active mercan- tile life, he had amassed what was at that time con- sidered an immense fortune. In these days Caleb Cope became active in the volunteer fire depart- ment, having been elected a member of the Penn- sylvania Fire Company as early as February 11, 1817,and of the more than two hundred persous who
were members in 1820, lie was the last survivor. He became President of the company ultimately, and upon resigning was presented by tliem with a hand- some silver memorial vase. In 1835 Mr. Cope visi- ited Enrope, and on his return was married to Miss Abby Ann Cope, his cousin, with whom he kept house for some years at the corner of Walnut and Quince streets. Her health was delicate, however, and in 1845 she dicd, as had also a daughter, born in 1839, and her only offspring. In 1836 Mr. Cope was elected a director of the Bank of the United States, and of all those who served with him in this capacity, until 1842, he was the last survivor. He has written, but not for publication, a history of the inner financial operations of the bank. For a time, during Mr. Biddle's absence in Washington, Mr. Cope acted as the President of the bank. Upon one occasion he was sent with Elihu Chauncey, Thomas Fassitt, James Martin, William Gill, John Strnth- ers, Samuel Comly, Joseph H. Dnlles, Thomas Fletcher, Gideon Scull, John Waters, Robert T. Potts, Benjamin Naglee, Henry Troth, Mordecai D. Lewis, Joseph Smith, Merrit Canby, John S. Warner, J. Fisher Leaming, Isaac Macauley, Joseph McIlvaine and Bela Badger, to present a petition to President Jackson praying for the re-chartering of the bank, and signed by over ten thousand leading citizens of Philadelphia. After the reading of the petition the President answered :
"I have as President no power to relieve the dis- tresses of the community. But the stockholders of the bank might effect the object by electing direct- ors who would conduct its affairs honestly and on principles of Christian benevolence. The present directors of the bank have violated its charter by giving the President the whole power ; a power to usc its funds withont voucher or receipt. I regard the bank as a monster of corruption, which I am determined to put dowu. It onght to be robbed of its powers. The very law creating it, in my opin- ion, is unconstitutioual. I have made up my mind irrevocably on these points, -Andrew Jackson never will restore the deposits,-Andrew Jackson never will recharter that monster of corruption, and nei- ther persuasion uor coercion, not the opinions of the people, nor the voice of the Legislature, can shake my fixed determinatiou "
At this point one of the delegates, who had a broad Irish brogue, lost all patience aud cried out : "Mr. Chauncey has spoken candidly, but not half as candi lly as he should, sor ! I tell ye, Mr. Prisi- dint that we're iu a terrible way in Philadelphia, and we blame Andrew Jackson for the whole of it !" Theu Jackson laid his loug clay pipe on the mantel, and his hair seemed to rise and staud on end as he commenced to reply with a tirade of abuse. "Go back," he said, "and tell Nicholas Biddle that soon- er than consent I would undergo thic tortures of teu
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Spanish inquisitions, and that sooner than live where such a power prevailed, I would seek an asy- lum in the wilds of Arabia." With all the private affairs of the bank Mr. Cope had an intimate know- ledge, and he was the trusted adviser of Mr. Biddle, notwithstanding the fact that they greatly differed in their views. He retired from the Board in 1842, anticipating morc trouble and also being dissatisfied with the management of Mr. Biddle's successor. About 1820 Israel and Jasper Cope had discontinued business, each having amassed a large fortune, and they conveyed all the merchandise theu in their possession to Caleb Cope, who had attained his majority, and Herman Cope, his cousin. The latter shortly retired and became agent for the Bank of the United States in Cincinnati. Marmaduke, a son of Israel Cope, took his place, withdrawing in a few years with $50,000 profit. John Flceger, Jr., a half-brother of Caleb Copc, was also for a short time conuected with the firm. Calcb Cope then be- eame associated with William Todhunter, William F. Jones and others, and at a later period with William Buck Johnston, Henry C. Howell, Isaac Kendrick, Samuel H. Smith and Thomas A. Myers, a most worthy gentleman. Their trade became the largest in its line-that of silks principally-in America, and the firm of Caleb Cope & Co. was re- garded as oue of the wealthiest. In 1853 a new store was opened at 183 (now 429) Market street, in the presence of the Mayor of the city and many in- vited guests, after which there was a banquet and speeches. It was then regarded as the most superb building for commercial purposes on the Continent; now such improvements are so frequent that they cause but little comment ; such has been the prog- ress of thirty-five years ! Mr. Cope at this time owned " Springbrook," a magnificent country seat, near Holmesburg, on the Delaware, and there he gave sumptuous entertainments throughout the year. On the grounds were fourteen conservato- ries, trout pools, woodlands, and the finest collect- ion of plants in the country. There also was grown successfully, for the first time in the United States, from seeds furnished by Sir William J Hooker, the Victoria Regia, or Great American Water Lily, which attracted thousands of visitors from all parts of the world. The following is an extract from Mr. Cope's diary :
"September 28, 1851 .- Springbrook is quite a scene of excitement this afternoon and evening. Hundreds of persons were in attendance to witness the final development of the flower which com- menced opening yesterday. The Committee on plants and flowers of the Penn. Hor. Soc. were present, and measured the flower, which they pro- nounced to be seventeen inches in diameter."
Several subsequent flowers were even larger. One of the leaves reached a yard in diameter, and it grew to be so powerful that it bore the weight of a child who was placed upon it. The Penn- sylvania Horticultural Society rewarded Mr. Cope's efforts by presenting him with the first gold medal it ever awarded. His gardener at that time was Thomas Meehans, who has since become one of the foremost of American botanists. But Mr. Cope's fortune was too good to last long. The panic of 1857 came, and the house of Caleb Cope & Co. failed, its fall hastened, if not caused, by dishonest partners, principal among whom was "Buck " Johnston, as he was called. They defrauded Mr. Cope of over $213,000, and the bankruptcy of some of those who had dealt with the firm raised the losses sustained by its head to $450,000. His auto- biography contains the following reference to this calamity :
" Although Johnston said that the indebtedness of the firm did not exceed $500. 000, I paid $750,000 in extinguishment of the principal and interest. I would be recreant to my duty if I did not acknowl- edge the great service rendered me by Samuel and William Welsh, who voluntarily loaned me $50,000 when they saw the condition I was in by Johnston's misconduct. I borrowed $40,000 and gave them a mortgage on one of my stores on Market street, which they never recorded. Cope Brothers loaned me at the same time $15,000, when I contemplated expelling Johnston from the firm."
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