USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 22
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Seci Houston
Allindir Polishing & Engraving & NY
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
. suggestion could induce him to employ his personal influence in his own interest. Dignified in carriage, of commanding presence, he was simple, modest, and unassuming in his manner, while the magnet- ism of his personality was remarkable even among the many popular officers whom the Rebellion made to be known and loved by their countrymen on both sides of Mason and Dixon's line. With these gentler qualities were combined a stern and uncompromis- ing adherence to duty, and intolerance of laxity or dishonesty, which caused his just displeasure to be feared and avoided. Profound and earnest in his patriotism, and loyal to his country and his position as a Union soldier, often under circumstances pain- fully distracting to a sensitive nature, he was not the less impressed by a deep sense of justice which would not permit him to employ the fortunes of war in unreasonable and unjustifiable oppression of a de- feated people. His broad wisdom also saw clearly that to accomplish a reunion of elements which had been so long discordant it was essential to accept as an inspiration the faithful and pathetic sentiment that was expressed by Lincoln when, in his second inaugural address he gave voice to the generous impulses of his heart in the words, "With malice towards none, with charity for all." Perhaps no better illustration can be offered of the lofty tone of General Hancock's convictions and his deep sensc of the responsibilities of his various positions in life than is furnished by the concluding words of his letter of acceptance of the Democratic nomination for the Presidency : "If elected, I shall, with the Divine favor, labor with what ability I possess to discharge my duties with fidelity according to my convictions, and shall take care to protect and de- fend the Union, and to see that the laws be faith- fully and equally executed in all parts of the coun- try alike. I will assume the responsibility, fully sensible of the fact that to administer rightly the functions of government is to discharge the most sacred duty that can devolve upon an American citizen."
LEVI HOUSTON.
LEVI HOUSTON, a prominent and public-spirited citizen of Montgomery, and founder and present head of the principal industries of that thriving vil- lage, was born August 21, 1835, at Enfield, New Hampshire, of which place his parents, John and Julia (Cox) Houston, were natives and respected residents. In the local public schools of Enfield, Levi Houston acquired the English branches usually
taught at that time, and at an age when boys more easily circumstanced are entering an academy, he began the work for which nature seemed to have best qualified him, as an apprentice in the famous Amoskeag Machine Works at Manchester, New Hampshire. Mastering the trade of machinist,-than which no other has played a more important part in the industrial history of the nation, he prac- ticed his highly useful craft successively in the great shops at Lawrence and Lowell, Massachu- setts, and at Smithville, New Jersey, in the last named place rising by superior skill and merit to the position of Superintendent. This responsible position involved not merely a knowledge of the trade in all its details, but also a comprehension of its powers and possibilities, and the ability to su- pervise the operations of a large force of skillful workmen. That Mr. Houston was adequate to all its varied requirements is attested by the fact that he held the position fourteen years. During this period he carefully laid by each month a portion of his earnings, and by persistent good habits and the practice of economy, succeeded in accumula- ting a small capital. With this as a basis of opera- tions, he looked about him for a favorable opening to start business on his own account, and finally decided to establish shops at Montgomery, Penn- sylvania, then a mere hamlet. His first step was the purchase of the site on which now stands his present extensive works. His early beginnings were small, but the foundation upon which they were laid was solid. At the end of a year or two the modest establishment was enlarged and the number of men employed was increased. As the business of the works grew in volume, additional facilities were provided and an extra force of work- men employed. By degrees the establishment be- camc one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Its present force of workmen exceeds two hundred, and the perfection of its equipment in the way of machinery and tools would be difficult to surpass. He has recently erected a large and com- plete brick structure, seventy-five by one hundred feet in dimensions, for the manufacture of sashes, doors and blinds and general mill work. This fac- tory, which occupies a site only seventy-five feet east of his machine shop, is equipped with the most modern machinery and improvements. He has also very recently erected a large first-class brick building for hotel purposes just opposite his store, which is arranged for the comfort and convenience of the traveling public; and as such accommoda- tions have long been needed, this appears to have been not only a sound investment, but a most use- ful addition to the village. From the start the out-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
put of the Montgomery shops has consisted almost wholly of wood-working machinery, in the con- struction of which Mr. Houston has embodied his own ideas and for which he has been granted many valnable patents. From the very first his works have exercised a potent influence over the fortunes of Montgomery, which has grown, since their es- tablishment, from a struggling hamlet with a few score inhabitants to a thriving village with a pros- perous and contented population of about fifteen hundred. Consequent upon, and complementary to the Houston shops, has been the establishment of planing mills, which have given steady cmploy- ment to a number of men. Stores have been opened to supply the every-day needs of the large force of workmen, and in various ways the village has taken on increased importance commercially, as well as numerically and mechanically. Mr. Houston has always personally interested himself in the welfare of the men employed iu his works, building homes for many of them and assisting others in the erection of dwellings; and in every part of the village may be found substantial evidences of his almost paternal re- gard for the comfort and advancement of those whose lives and fortunes are so closely interwoven with his owu. Mr. Houston is a man of rare executive talent, partly natural to him, but in no small de- gree the outcome of long years of experience as re- sponsible surperintendent and head of large estab- lishments. He has the happy faculty of successful muanagement, conductiug his immeuse volume of business with the minimum of friction, and ex- cludiug from it all influences ordinarily productive of annoyance or disorder. But his efforts are not confiued to what immediately coucerns his inter- ests. Actuated by broad aud liberal views and a kindly nature, he lends his active co-operation to .every euterprise for the advancement of the village. He has built iu it a lecture and exhibition hall, and has provided it with other conveniences which have greatly enhanced the comfort and pleasure of the residents. Indeed, everywhere in the village may be found evidence of his generosity and public spirit, and of the fact that he looks upon his em- ployers as liis wards, and watches over their interests with as much care and fidelity as he does over those of his own household. In proof of this the testimony of one of the leading newspapers published in Ly- coming County may be cited. Alluding to the spontaneous celebration of Mr. Houston's fifty- second birth-day by his employees and the people of the county generally, it said :
"A short time ago the two hundred employees in the machine works owned by Mr. Houston learned that his fifty-second birthday anniversary would occur on the 21st inst., and with a view to prove their ap-
preciation of him as a man among men, they re- solved to give a banquet in honor of the event, Invitations were sent to friends in various towns. and the result was that Montgomery had on the evening of the anniversary a large number of visi- tors. As the guests arrived in town they proceeded to the beautiful residence of Mr. Houston. At half- past seven in the evening, the employees, with the Committee of Arrangements, met at the Town Hall. Here a procession was formed consisting of the Committee, the guests and the employees, and to the music of several local bands procecded to the resi- dence of Mr. Houston. At eight o'clock the Hon. John J. Metzger announced the object of the great gathering, and invited Mr. Houston and family, and all invited guests to form in line and march to the Houston Machine Works, where a banquet awaited them. Arriving at the appointed place, it was found that the entire second floor of the large ad- dition to the works had been turned into a banquet- ing hall, there beiug uo other room in the towu large enough to accommodate the multitude. There were four tables, at least one hundred feet in length, beautifully decorated, and at the head of these another table for Mr. Houston, his family and the speakers. At the close of the banquet, speeches were made by some of the leading citizens of the country. Hon. H. C. McCormick, of Williamsport, responded to the toast, 'The Houored Guest of the Evening,' and his speech was one befitting the oc- casion and the guest. At its close le presented Mr. Houston the following testimonial and resolutions, beautifully engrossed on parchment, and embel- lished by a symbolic border representing Industry, the whole surmounted by the figure '52' in colors.
" Sunday, August 21, 1887, is the fifty-secoud anniversary of the birth of Levi Houston, of Mont- gomery, Pennsylvania, and it is desired by the em- ployees of said Levi Houston, that this occasion should not pass without some fitting expression on their part of their regard and esteem for him. We, therefore, his employees from shop, mill and store, about two hundred in number, in connection with the banquet tendered by us this evening, desire to express our sincere respect and admiration for him as an employer, citizeu and man. In all his deal- ings with us and with his fellow-men, he has beeu . fair, honest and above board, and his boundless charity and generosity have endeared him to the hearts of all of us. During the days when bnt few of the industries of the kiud couducted by Mr. Houston were in operation on account of financial distress throughout the country, we were given steady employment, and for fourteen years, con- tinuonsly, his shops have been in operation, aud during all that time it has been the pride of Mr. Houston to grant us favors and privileges before they were asked. To him and his industry the vil- lage in which we live is indebted almost entirely, for its rapid and substantial growth. This testi- monial, therefore, is intended to convey to Mr. Houston our sincere confidence in and regard for him, and to wish him in the future as great a meas- ure of success as lie has so well deserved and ob- tained in the past. (Signed),
ROBERT H. AINSWORTH, D. W. SHOLLENBERGER, W. H. FOWLER,
Committee.' "
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Atlante Publishing & Engraving CONY
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
In his reply to these glowing words of praise, compliment, congratulation, esteem and friendship, Mr. Houston modestly disclaimed the entire credit for the successes achieved. With houest pride he alluded to the fact that the manufactures of his shops had found their way to every civilized coun- try on the globe, but feelingly declared that the em- ployees no less than the employer deserved congrat- ulations on the result. After touching briefly upon the various economic aspects of trade and manufac- ture, he concluded as follows :
"I wrought with brain, while you wrought with hands, each equally striving for the highest achieve- ment, and it is, therefore, not to be wondered at, that we have in the little town of Montgomery, con- tented workmen, happy homes and smiling faces. * * * I know you, and I know your wives and children, and I am much prouder of you than you could possibly be of me. I thank you in behalf of myself, wife and children, for this testimony of your regard. I would add this tribute to the sobriety, good conduct and high character of this people, that never since I have been in Montgomery has she supplied a criminal for seutence by the Honor- able Court. If the rest of Lycoming County had done as well as this, we could have taken the stone from that gray castle at Williamsport, and built therewith a shop, for the employment of honest la- bor, and we could also have taken the iron iu its bars, bolts, grates and gates, and beaten it iuto plough-shares."
No higher tribute could be paid to Mr. Houston than the universal respect and good-will showu him by his employees in every department. By kindly interest, encouraging words, and quiet aid when necessary, he has endeared himself to all under him and to many depending upon them or subject to their influence. On all sides it is agrecd that he is the man of and for the place ; and it is not too much to assert that the memory of his great business capacity and many unselfish acts of kinduess will remain a treasured recollectiou and a powerful in- fluence for good, long after his busy brain and ac- tive hands have ccased from their noble task. Mr. Houston has been twice married. By his first wife he was tlie father of a son, who was drowned some years ago. On March 1, 1867, he married, as his second wife, Miss Louisa Mirick, of Henueker, New Hampshire. Two daughters have been born to this union, Miss Celia Mirick Houston and Miss Pauline Mirick Houston. Mr. Houston's home is oue of comfort, refinement and generous hospitality. In entertaining either friend or stranger, he impresses one that he has the happiness of others in view no less than his own, and that by this means lie fills his own life with peace and contentmeut. In liv- ing he has blessed and has been blessed, and in the language of one who has been close to him in a business relation for years, "it is a task to tell
wliere his good, generous deeds begin and where they leave off."
HENRY A. FONDA.
HENRY A. FONDA, of Milton, President of the First National Bank of that place, and likewise one of its most enterprising and public spirited citizens, was born in the town of Fonda, New York, which took its name from one of his ancestors. After graduating from the district schools of his native place, he entered the Homer Academy at Homer, where he devoted two years to the study of the higher branches of an English education. The science of engineering possessed an attraction for him which he made no attempt to withstand, and at the age of seventeen he adopted it as a career, en- tering upon his labors as an assistant in au engi- ueering car on the Utica and Syracuse Railroad. From this road he passed in a short time to the Erie, ou which he held at first the position of rod- man, but later that of Superintendent of Construc- tion on the section between Corning and Hornells- ville. In different capacities, some of them involv- ing great responsibility, he remained with the Erie road about six years. Upon leaving it he engaged with the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad, as Superintendent of Construction and Repairs. After filling this post two years he removed to Pennsylva- nia and accepted the position of Superintendent of Construction ou the Catawissa Railroad, then sixty- five miles in length. After being promoted to the position of Assistant Superintendent, and being ad- vanced from that office to the responsible post of Gen- eral Superintendent of the road, he closed his con- nection with it, then of five years' duration, to accept the office of General Superinteudeut of the Elmira and Williamsport Railroad, to the duties of which he devoted the ensuing three years. In 1864 he be- came Superintendent of the Lackawauna and Bloomsburg Railroad, then under the control of the Delaware and Western Railroad Company. After serving this corporation five years, he took a con- tract to build a railroad from Carbondale to Susque- hanna. This contract completed, lie took service with the Delaware and Hudson Railroad as Super- iutendent, and was placed in charge of all the liues of this large corporation from Carbondale to White- hall and Rutland, Vermont. At the expiration of four years' steady service under this company, lie retired from active duty and took up his residence in Philadelphia, where he speut several years. In 1887 he removed to Milton, where he established a permanent residence. Having definitely relin-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
quished engineering pursuits, he turned his atten- tion to farming and stock-raising. Hle is now the owner of a large stock farm and finc residence on Cayuga Lake, uear Aurora, New York, and also of five extensive stock farms in the vicinity of Milton. His barn ou the largest farm at Cayuga Lake is one of the finest in the State. Mr. Fonda has paid spe- cial attention to the breeding of Hambletonian stock, aud has raised mauy notable specimens of this strain. His success in his later departures as farmer aud stock-raiser is extremely gratifying to him. In them he finds agreeable and interesting relaxation, which is both welcome and beneficial, after so many years of active and absorbing rail- road work. Since 1888 Mr. Fonda has been Presi- dent of the First National Bauk of Miltou, and he divides his time between his duties as a fiuancier and his pleasures as a " gentleman farmer." His habits are those of a thorough business inan, every- thiug confided to his charge being attended to thor- oughly and with the strictest regard for the inter- ests of others, as well as respeet for their rights. At a time when real estate in Chicago was low in value and ou the rise, he invested largely in property in that city, and has reaped a rich reward as the re- sult of his euterprise and sagacity in this field. After the disastrous conflagration which, in 1880, destroyed so large an amount of property in Mil- ton, Mr. Fonda promptly loaued quite an amount of money to rebuild the place, and through this wise and timely action on his part it has rapidly recovered from the damaging blow it sustained, and is making rapid strides to a more prosperous and advanced conditiou. His public-spirited action in this and other matters has had a weighty influence upou the business interests of Milton, and has earned for him a reward in the general prosperity which gratifies him far more thau any pecuniary advantage he may ulteriorly reap in consequence. Mr. Fonda started in life without means, and has reached his present financial independence and leading position as a citizen, solely through his own unaided enter- prise and ability. So far from this fact operating to close his heart to the claims of his less fortunate and successful fellow-men, it seems to exert just the contrary effect, for it is a matter of public report that many struggling persons have been helped by his generosity, extended willingly, and from a sense of duty as a steward of wealth, rather than through any desire for notoriety or subsequent reward. Men gifted with sueh admirable qualities raise the stan- dard of life and living, both for themselves aud all who dwell within reach of their influence, aud may justly be styled the pillars of the community-the strong supports of the higher idcas of duty and cit-
izenship prevailing in a free and enlightened coun- try. Every dollar of Mr. Fonda's wealth has beeu amassed by straightforward business operations. Disdaining sharp practices, and resolutely declining to avail himself of any mean advantages, he has, nevertheless, acquired means far in excess of many who descend to petty, if not more culpable methods. IIc lives in a manner commensuratc with his ample fortuue and social position, aud not the least of his satisfactions is the consciousness that his success, with all that it implies and brings, is the outcome of au upright business life. His farms adjoining the town of Milton, containing in all seven hundred acres, are models, and upon them is to be found some of the finest stock in the Statc. In addition to his connection with the First National Bank, he is a Director in several other banks, and also of the Elmira and Williamsport Railroad Company. He has never held any political office, nor had any as- piratious iu that direction. Modest and retiring in disposition, he avoids rather than courts notoriety, although never withholding his uame or influence from any enterprise having for its object the benefit of mankind. His charities are bestowed quietly, and to many he has been a true friend in times of panic and distress. Mr. Fonda married, on January 1, 1862, Miss Caroline Louisa Brown, daughter of Isaac Brown, a prominent merchant of Milton. His only ehild, a son, Lawrence B. Fonda, a young man of twenty-three, was educated at the Universi- ty of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and has recent- ly completed a tour around the world.
EDWARD O. EMERSON.
EDWARD OCTAVIUS EMERSON, one of the principal operators iu oil aud natural gas in Penn- sylvania, aud a leading citizen aud business man of Titusville, was born at York, Maine, June 6, 1834. At the date of the birth of his father, Charles Oc- tavius Emerson, in 1799, York, of which he also was a native, was in the State of Massachusetts, which did not relinquish its sovereignty over what is uow the State of Maine until 1820. His mother, boru Harriet Phillips, and now living at the ripe old age of eighty-one, was a native of Portland, which at the time of her birth, was, like York, within the pale of Massachusetts. Mr. Emerson is a relative of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He is the possessor of a book which is itself over two hundred years old and which contains the names of his ancestry in a direct line back to the twelfth century. After the usual course of instruction in the schools of his ua-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
tive place, he was sent to Phillips Academy at An- dover, Massachusetts, at which famous institution of learning he was graduated in 1852. He chose to enter business life and soon after leaving the Acad- emy found employment in a dry goods house at Worcester, Massachusetts. After an experience here lasting three years, during which he mastered very thoroughly the most essential details of this great trade and became intimately acquainted with commercial methods, he removed to Portage City, Wisconsin, where he engaged in mercantile pur- suits. In 1858 he became interested in banking at Portage, Reedsburg and other points in the State and devoted his entire time to that business, hold- ing the positions of Cashier and President in differ- ent institutions. In the vigor and pride of his early manhood the young financier abandoned everything in the way of business to take service in defence of the Union. He entered the army as a Lieutenant in the Nineteenth Wisconsin Regiment of Infantry - entering the National service in 1861-and for three years and six months participated with it in all its glorious campaigns. This regiment did picket and garrison duty at Fort Dix, Battery Merris, York- town, Newport News and other places, and was at the front at Petersburg, where it remained until August, 1864, when it left for home on a veteran fur- lough, having bravely re-enlisted. It returned to the front at Chapin's Farm, and on the 27th of Octo- ber, 1864, was engaged in the assault on the ene- my's works at Fair Oaks, losing in the battle nine officers and one hundred and forty-five men out of one hundred and eighty-five, all told, engaged. The next day the remnant of the regiment resumed position on the Richmond front, where it remained until April 3, 1865, when it entered Richmond on its evacuation, being the first regiment to plant its colors in the Confederate capital. Mustered out with his regiment at the close of the war, he went direct to the great oil fields of Pennsylvania, and settled at Titusville, which has remained his home to this day. He was in Pithole in 1865, actively at work with hundreds of others pursuing " the bub- ble, fortune," and witnessed the remarkable rise and fall of that remarkable place. He was fortu- nate enough to dispose of his interests there before the final crash came, and returned to Titusville with something on the credit side of his ledger. It was the era of enterprise and speculation, and borne along in its almost resistless current he made ventures, first in one place and then in another, and finally the greatest and most successful of his life. His first operations after the Pithole disaster were on Church Run, where he obtained some fine wells. In 1872 he went to Butler County and met his
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