USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 19
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Scranton Steel Company, founded in 1881, of which he is still a stockholder. In point of push and energy the city of Seranton has probably no supe- rior on the continent, and of this typical American hive of industry, Mr. Dickson is a truly typieal citi- zen. Of foreign birth, like many oceupying posi- tions from the highest to the lowest around him, he is an American in heart and sentiment and thor- oughly in accord with the institutions of the Re- public. His life has been devoted to business af- fairs and industrial developments, in which he holds high rank as a business man. His manners and ideas are democratic, and the wealth which has come to him as the result of years of energetic toil and effort, is still employed in developing the indus- tries of the city of Scranton and in maintaining a home in which comfort and refinement are united with all the domestie virtues and a sincere regard for religious privileges. Mr. Dickson married, Sep- tember 16, 1856, Miss Lydia M. Poore, daughter of the late Hon. John W. Poore, a leading citizen of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Three children were born to them, of whom one, a son, Walter M., survives.
WILLIAM MUTCHLER.
HON. WILLIAM MUTCHLER, Representative in Congress from the Eighth Congressional Distriet of Pennsylvania, and now serving his fourth term in the National Legislature, was born in Pennsylvania, at Chain Dam, on the banks of the Lehigh, Decem- ber 21, 1831. His parents were John and Margaret Mutchler, honest and industrious farmers of limited means, but rich in the possession of those sterling qualities upon which, more than upon wealth of any sort, the prosperity and greatness of the nation depends. In 1838 his father died. This blow de- volved the support of his widowed miother upon his elder brothers and himself, and, although he was but seven years of age at the time, he manfully undertook his share of the labor necessary in con- dueting the farm, occasionally, as he grew older, hiring out for a few days to some of the neighbor- ing farmers. The patient industry of the sons soon placed the family in comfortable circumstances, and William, who till now had only had a few months instruction each winter in the village school, was enabled to attend for two terms the Academy at Easton, Pennsylvania, over which Dr. Vanderveer presided. With the groundwork of knowledge thus obtained he began the study of law in the office of his brother, II. M. Mutchler, Esq., a prac- ticing lawyer at Easton, and in due time was ad-
mitted to the bar. In 1854 he was appointed Depu- ty Sheriff of Northampton County, and served as such until 1860, his marriage to Miss Louisa Cope, daughter of Sheriff Jacob Cope, of Northampton County, taking place in the meantime. Even as a youth Mr. Mutchler took a deep interest in polities, and on arriving at man's estate lie at once entered the lists as a full fledged politieian. Alert and ag- gressive in the interests of the Democratie party, with which he allied himself, he soon made his mark and attracted the attention of the local lead- ers. In 1860 he received the Democratic nomination for Prothonotary of Northampton County, and was elected by a flattering majority, and at the expira- tion of his first term re-elected for a second. From 1867 to 1869 he served as Assessor of Internal Reve- nue in his district, this appointment coming to him from President Andrew Johnson. All this time he had been steadily rising in the councils of his party, and in the fall of 1869 he was chosen to the Chair- manship of the Democratie State Committee. In the year that he occupied this responsible party po- sition occurred one of the most memorable eam- paigns in the political history of Pennsylvania. In its conduct he proved himself an astute, fearless and tireless manager, and met all demands made upon him in a manner that won the admiration of the ablest politicians. Since then he has held a leading place in the high councils of the party. In the fall of 1874 he was nominated for Congress by the Democratic party and was elected. In 1880 he was again elected to Congress, and at the expiration of this term, was re-elected and served a third term. In the fall of 1888 he was a fourth time chosen to represent his district. Through long service in the National Legislature he has acquired a mastery of Congressional routine, and has become conspicuous as one of the most useful and reliable among the working members. IIe has served on a number of the principal committees, and in 1883 was Chairman of the Committee on Reform in the Civil Service. Mr. Mutchler is recognized in political circles as "a born political leader, thoroughly versed in State and National politics, conversant with the history of po- litieal movements and quick to grasp the points of the main issue of the hour." His experienced judg- ment and sagacious counsel are of great value in party affairs, and have been used for years in Con- gress to the advantage of his constituency and the country at large. Mr. Mutehler is so highly esteemed in Northampton that there has never been any oppo- sition to his candidaey for any offiee he has filled. His friends are found among the best men in both of the great political parties, and all respeet him for his fidelity to every trust reposed in him.
E. S. Iloffat
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EDWARD S. MOFFAT.
EDWARD STEWART MOFFAT, M.A., M.E., General Manager of the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company, of Scranton, was born at Oxford, Ohio, January 5, 1844. James Clement Moffat, his father, a native of Scotland, came to the United States when quite young, received his education at Prince- ton College. New Jersey, and adopted the profession of teaching. In the early years of his professional life he taught at Lafayette College, Easton, Penn- sylvania : at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; at the Theological Seminary, in Cincinnati, Ohio ; at Princeton College, where he held the Professorship of Greek from 1853 to 1861; and since the latter year. at the Princeton Theological Seminary, in which he still holds the Professorship of Church History. He married, in 1841, Miss Ellen Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, of Easton, Pennsylvania. Their eldest son, Edward Stewart Moffat, the sub- ject of this sketch, received a most careful training in his boyhood and youth. and in his fifteenth year entered Princeton College ; his progress was rapid and brilliant, but although there was much in the way of honor to be gaincd in completing the course, he felt that the call of duty was not be ignored. Realizing that his country needed the services of her sons in the field to maintain the Union, he quit- ted college in the junior year, and on October 16, 1861, enlisted as a private soldier in Company K, Ninth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. He was soon afterwards appointed First Sergeant, and on March 9, 1862, was promoted to the Second Lieuten- ancy, but modestly declined the honor. On May 16. following, he was again offered the commission of Second Lieutenant and accepted it. He was de- tailed an anacting signal officer September 28, 1862; commissioned in the Signal Corps, United States Army, March 3, 1863, in which he remained until mustered out in August, 1865, when he received the brevet rank of Captain, United States Volunteers. Thus, Captain Moffat's services, which began a few months after the opening of the war, were faithful- ly rendered until a few months after its close. The following brief account of them is taken from "The History of the Ninth New Jersey Veteran Volunteer" by Captain J. Madison Drake, (Bt. Brigadier-Gen- eral, N. J.) " Captain Moffat accompanied the Ninth on the Burnside Expedition, and participated in the capture of Roanoke Island, the battle of Newbern, and the investment of Fort Macon. On General Foster's Goldsboro expedition he acted as a signal officer, and accompanied General Heckman on Fos- ter's expedition to South Carolina, returning to North Carolina with Heckman's Brigade, when it
was called to the relief of General Foster at Wash- ington, North Carolina. In July, 1863, he accom- panied Gen. Edward E. Potter's cavalry raid upon the Weldon Railroad, and in November, 1863, was placed in command of the outpost line of signal stations in North Carolina, with headquarters at Bachelor's Creek, where, on the first of February, 1864, five hundred Union soldiers belonging to the One Hundred and Thirty-second New York Volun- teers resisted General Pickett with seven thousand men and several batteries of artillery, and thus saved Newbern. During the engagement, Captain Moffat, who was cver without fear, unwittingly rode into a regiment of rebels, but escaped amid a shower of bullets. He was officially thanked for his valuable services in this battle. September 10, 1864, he was called to Newbern to act as chief signal officer of the Department of North Carolina, and while at Newbern was attacked with yellow fever. In February, 1865, he was stationed as signal officer at General Meade's headquarters before Petersburg, Virginia, and was actively employed during Lee's attack on Fort Steadman, in the Hatcher Run fight, the capture of Petersburg, in the line of battle at Sailor's Creek, April 6th, and was present with the Army of the Potomac at Appomattox, at the time of Lee's surrender. Captain Moffat, in all the posi- tions he occupied, was without ostentation. As First Sergeant and Second Lieutenant, althongh mild in his ways, he possessed the respect of all with whom he came in contact. He never had to repeat a command-the men appearing to anticipate his desires. He was noted for his graceful bearing and courtly manners, which gained for him the sobri- quet of the Chesterfield of the regiment, and when he left it to take a position in the Signal Corps, wherein he rose to prominence, his loss was keenly felt by all. In battle he was entirely self possessed -on a march capable of great fatigue." The fore- going, the testimony of a brother officer of "the Ninth," who was himself a brave participant in and cye-witness of the events referred to, gives un- mistakable evidence of Captain Moffat's ability and bravery as a soldier. For one so young at the time, the record is a brilliant one, and may be referred to with just pride. . After the war, Captain Moffat turned his attention to engineering, spending three years in scientific study at the School of Mines, Co- lumbia College, New York City, where he was grad- uated in 1868, with the degrec of Mining Engineer. In addition to this degree, he received those of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Prince- ton College. From 1868 to 1870 he filled the post of Adjunct Professor of Mining and Metallurgy in Lafayette College, when, owing to failing health, he
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sought a change of occupation. This he found in the active management of blast furnaces and iron mines in northern New Jersey, which he conducted until 1882, when lie removed to Scranton, Pennsyl- vania, to accept the position of Assistant General Manager of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Com- pany. This great company, the history of which is so closely intertwined with that of the village, bor- ough and city of Scranton, that mention of onc al- ways leads to mention of the other, was founded in 1840 by William Henry, and after him was owned by the firm of Scrantons, Grant and Company, and later by the firm of Scrantons and Platt. In 1853 it was incorporated under its present title. After passing through numerous crises, many of them sufficiently severe to threaten its existence, an era of prosperity set in, and to-day the company owns one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world. These plants comprise five blast furnaces, one Bessemer steel mill, two rolling mills, a machine shop, foundry, boiler shop, lumber mill and grist mill, all located at Scranton, and also other furnaces and ore mines in New Jersey and New York. Dur- ing the year 1888, the company made 103,967 gross tons of pig iron, 180,425 gross tons of steel ingots, 155,096 gross tons of steel rails of all kinds, large and small, besides a considerable quantity of mer- chant steel, billets and mine axles. In coal mines the company owns and operates the Capouse and Pine Brook Breakers, yielding about 50,000 tons of coal per month. The offices of the company are located at the corner of Lackawanna and Jefferson Avenues, at Scranton, and are in themselves a hive of industry. The New York office of the company is at No. 42 Wall Street, New York City. The cap- ital of the company, originally $3,000,000, is now worth $15,000,000. Altogether about 3,500 men are employed, and the wages paid monthly amount to close upon three quarters of a million dollars. Captain Moffatt assumed his duties as Assistant General Manager of this great company, well equipped in character and experience for their dis- charge. His worth was at onee apparent, and in 1886, after he had been but four years in the com- pany's employ, he was promoted to the responsible position of General Manager of the works, inclu- ding the Franklin Furnace, Sussex County, New Jersey, the Mount Hope Ore Mines, Morris County, New Jersey, and the Lilly Foster Ore Mines, Put- nam County, New York. Captain Moffatt is a gen- tleman of refined nature and scholarly instincts. His scientific attainments are of the first order, his character leading him to thoroughness in whatever he undertakes. Courteous in manner, he is also firm in execution, and under his calm and able man-
agement the business of the vast works over which he presides goes on like clock work. His sympa- thies are kindly and his impulses generous, and knowing this, the army of workmen under him move cheerfully to their allotted tasks, conscious that their interests are not neglected nor their just rights ignored. In the local affairs of the city of Scranton Captain Moffatt necessarily fills an important place, although the weight and extent of his business cares leave him no time for the dissipation of politics. In the best social circles he and his estimable wife- formerly Miss Anna R. McCartney, a daughter of the late Judge McCartney, of Easton, Pennsylva- nia-are well known and highly esteemed, and with- out attempt at show or the least evidence of patron- age, do their full share in all the local charitable, benevolent and religious work. They have three children living.
JAMES H. PERKINS.
MAJOR JAMES HILL PERKINS, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Williamsport, and for nearly half a century prominently identified with its business interests, was born March 13, 1803, at South New Market, New Hampshire, of which place both his parents were natives. His paternal grandfather, John Perkins, also a native of New Market, was a sea captain and served in the merchant service during the Revolution. His ma- ternal grandfather, General James Hill,* born at Kittery, Maine, was a boat-builder, and served in the French War. After he returned home he held a commission from the Government as inspector and purchaser of timber for the Navy Department. His daughter, Deborah Hill, married Robert Per- kins, son of John Perkins, named above. By this marriage there were eight children, of whom only one (Major Perkins) survives. During the second war for Independence, Robert and Deborah Hill died, the former in 1814, aged forty-two years, the latter in 1815, aged thirty-four years. James Hill Perkins, their third son, and the subject of this sketch, closed his schooling and farm life at the age of seventeen years, and began to learn the trade of millwright under Captain Paul of South New Mar- ket. At the age of twenty-one, having served his time as an apprentice, he engaged with Col. Board-
*Major Perkins has in his possession the diary kept by his grandfather, Gen. Hill, in which are noted many things in the latter's peculiar style, such as measurements of timber for boats, etc. Here also is recorded the date of Gen. Hill's birth, December 31, 1734, nearly two years after the birth of Gen. Washington. Gen. Hill died in August, 1811.
Las Alarking
Allante Publishing & Engie. 9 - NY
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
man and was sent to assist in putting up water wheels and building cotton mills in Nashua, Salmon Falls and other sections of New Hampshire. He then commenced on his own account, and remained thus engaged during five or six years, and acquired a mastery of all the details of mill construction and engineering. In 1830 he removed to Philadelphia to erect a calico print works, on the completion of which a company was formed under the name of Raugh, Perkins & Co., and purchased the property at forty-two thousand dollars, ($42,000) on time. The entire amount was paid up in four years, when the property had increased to sixty thousand dol- lars in value. The firm then became Perkins & Wendell. In 1844 Mr. Perkins sold out his interest to Messrs. Wendell & Co., and retired from busi- ness with what was esteemed in those days a snug fortune. In 1846, tiring of his inactivity, lie re- moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and pur- chased from its owners-a Philadelphia company -- the property known as "The Big Water Mill," which had not been a success under its manage- ment. In developing this enterprise, Major Per- kins had a number of serious difficulties to contend with, but his long experience in mill management had given him clear ideas of how the business should be conducted, and just as soon as he became the owner of the mill he procecded to put them in- to execution. The old time prejudices against " Yankees" were still very bitter in parts of Penn- sylvania, and Major Perkins came in for his share of them. But his sturdy manhood was unruffled by such puerilities as local prejudice or ignorant, un- reasoning opposition. One of the first blows he dealt his opponents, was the inauguration of a system of cash payment for labor. His immediate ruin was predicted. He followed up his first blow by a second, equally unlooked for-the payment of good wages. Such unheard of proceedings, born of sound business judgment and an ample experience, on the part of Major Perkins, could have no other result, so it was everywhere asserted, than in the speedy failure of all his projects. It was discovered, finally, that the Major was not only disposed to ignore all previous methods of doing business, but also that he possessed sufficient means to operate wholly independent of local sup- port, which had 1 been systematically withheld. Strange to say, even then his way was not made clear, and had he been a man of less vigor of body and mind and less force of character, he must have abandoned his plan. Major Perkins invested largely in timber lands and established a mill, going into the woods himself and personally superintending the cutting of his timber. His logs as they floated
down the Susquehanna were caught by men in boats and rafted. This latter method was trouble- some, expensive and dangerous to some extent. Perceiving the necessity for a log boom in the river, Major Perkins urged its construction, but in this project also he met with opposition. After great persistence he succeeded in awakening an interest in the scheme, and to insure its success offered to build the boom at his own expense, provided that the residents of the locality petitioned the Legisla- turc for a charter. This latter step was finally taken, and, true to his promise, Major Perkins em- barked his money in the enterprisc and constructed the first boom ever built in the Susquehanna River. The project had long been condemned as one utterly infeasible, owing to the swiftness of the current. Major Perkins completely disproved the popular belief, accomplishing the seeming impossibility by means of sunken cribs. The night after the com- pletion of the boom the logs ran full in seventeen feet of water. This was the foundation of the great industry of Williamsport, and to Major Perkins is undoubtedly due the credit of establishing it at that early day. Were it not for his courage and practi- cal common sense, nothing would have been done in this direction possibly for many years. When Major Perkins had demonstrated beyond all doubt that the method he advocated was a success, men came forward with offers of moncy and assistance, and, in 1850, a stock company was organized under the charter obtained and was named the Susque- hanna Boom Company. This corporation is still in a flourishing condition, and but few changes have been made in it down to the present time. In 1872 Major Perkins retired from active business. Since then he has confined his attention more particularly to banking. In 1858 he became a Director in the West Branch Bank, and is still an active member of the Board. In 1867 he was chosen Vice-President of the Williamsport Saving Institution, and in the following year was chosen its President. He is also President of the Hospital Board of Williamsport. His military title is derived from his connection with the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regi- ment, Pennsylvania Militia, of which he was elected and commissioned Major in 1842, while residing in Philadelphia. In politics he is a strong Democrat of the Jacksonian type. In religion he is a consci- entious member of the Episcopal faith and a war- den in Christ Church, Williamsport. Major Perkins has that will power and perseverance which never waver. Assured by his conscience that any pro- ject was right, and by his reason and experience that it was feasible, he entered upon it with a cer- tainty of success and pushed it to completion-
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whatever it was-with a vigor and determination which no obstacle or opposition daunted. Rugged and hearty in health and manner, and with mental faculties as alert and unclouded as in the best period of his business activity, he is to-day a splendid specimen of New Hampshire's sturdy sons. He married, July 30, 1844, Miss Mary Jane Smythe, of Holderness, New Hampshire. This estimable woman, the companion and counselor of her hus- band, during forty years of his life, died, childless, May 1, 1884.
JOHN L. ROBINSON.
JOHN L. ROBINSON, a prominent citizen and leading business man of Northern Pennsylvania, and one of the founders and since its organization, in 1864, President of the First National Bank of Wellsboro, was born January 6, 1813, at Hartwick, Otsego County, New York, of which place his parents, Jesse and Abiah Robinson, were old and respected residents. He received a better educa- tion than fell to the lot of many boys of his genera- tion, and was encouraged in his studies by parents who were themselves people of more than ordinary cultivation and of excellent moral character. At the age of fourteen, having exhausted the school facilities of the neighborhood in which he was reared, he obtained a situation as a clerk in one of the best stores in Otsego, New York, and remained in this employment until within a short time of ar- riving at his majority. Upon leaving the Otsego firm he branched out in a small way for himself, opening a store at Minerva, New York. In 1834, having accumulated a small capital, he removed to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, and engaged in business as a merchant. In a sparsely settled locality, sur- rounded by neighbors whose habits were alınost primitive, and whose self-reliance and absolute in- dependence of anything even approximating to the luxurious had the effect of restricting trade within well defined limits, the store-kceper's opportunities for fortune were not golden, as can readily be understood. Yet in these border localities, and amid such hardy surroundings, reasonable fortunes were made in those early days by energetic spirits among the pionecr settlers. Mr. Robinson belongs to that class of active, far-seeing, pushing men who seem capable of conquering fortune under any cir- cumstances. Early realizing the great possibilities of the lumber trade, he threw himself heart and soul into the work of developing it, beginning right in the section where his business interests were lo- cated and gradually extending his operations to
more distant localities in the northern part of the State. For more than a quarter of a century he combined the two occupations named, and became known and respected in a wide section of country. In 1862 he retired from the lumber business which, largely owing to his individual pluck, energy and ability, had become one of the most important in- dustries of Pennsylvania. The impetus given to this trade by Mr. Robinson worked beneficially in a variety of ways and extended far beyond the indus- try itself. But the habits of industry formed dur- ing his long years of effort were not easily aban- doned by Mr. Robinson, and when the National Banking Act was passed by Congress, he was among the first to embrace the opportunities it presented. In May, 1864, he drew the attention of a few of the principal business men of Wellsboro to the impor- tance of establishing more adequate banking facili- ties in the town, and as a consequence the organiza- tion of the First National Bank of Wellsboro took place. His brother stockholders in the enterprise gracefully recognized his financial skill by electing him to the Presidency of the institution, and he has ever since remained at its head, guiding it with rare judgment and discretion through the various monetary crises of the past twenty-five years, and building up its reputation for solidity and relia- bility until it is now widely recognized as one of the most stable financial institutions of the State. With a degree of public spirit as active to-day as at any previous period, Mr. Robinson has interested himself in every movement having for its object the advancement of the place of his residence and the welfare of its people. His endeavors have borne good fruit in a variety of ways and have earned for him the appreciation and gratitude of an intelligent community. His conscientious devotion to the best interests of the people without regard to wealth or social standing would have made political honors easy to Mr. Robinson had he ever had aspirations in that direction ; but he has preferred to serve the public in other ways, judging that his talents and energies were thus better employed in a growing country, where men of action rather than men of words are in such evident and constant demand. The passage of years seems in no way to abate or impair the activity or ability of Mr. Robinson. His place is never vacant and lie bears his duties both as a financier and a citizen share for share with the inost vigorous and youthful of his business associ- ates and contemporaries. Genial and hearty in his relations with all right-minded and lionorably acting people, and giving respectful and conscientious at- tention to his duties as a Christian, he stands among his fellow-men as a fine examplar of the best Ameri-
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