USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 26
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHIY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
istration of the office, from which he retired upon the accession of a Democratic administration. In the business life of Pittsburgh Mr. Dravo has been for many years a conspicuons and honored factor, and has freely lent his personal and material aid to building up the city's institutions. He has been a Director in the Tradesmen's National Bank and the People's Insurance Company, and has been various- ly connected with other corporations of note. He was one of the prominent originators of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway, taking an active part in its construction-a railway that has paid satisfac- tory dividends to the original stockholders from the first year of its existence. In educational work likewise he lias always taken a deep interest, and as Trustee of the Allegheny College at Mcadville, and President of the Beaver Female College, has won distinction by his earnest and intelligent labors. For four years he rendered valuable service as Vice- President of the State Reform School, and for eight years served as a Director of the Allegheny County Home, one of the most worthy local charities. A friend of Mr. Dravo, one who is perfectly capable of an impartial judgment despite his friendship, says of him : " He is honest to a fault, and no citi- zen of Allegheny or Beaver Counties stands higher in the estimation of the people. Every position held by him has been faithfully and honestly guar- ded, and on retiring there has been no stain or sus- picion attached to his good name. He is beloved and respected by all who know him, and his rela- tions in and out of the family circle are what all good, true and honest men are proud of." Mr. Dra- vo married, in 1842, Miss Eliza Jane Clark, daughter of Robert and Margaret Clark, of Allegheny Coun- ty, with whom he has spent nearly a half century of happy wedded life. Ten children have blessed this happy union, of whom five are living.
CHARLES W. BATCHELOR.
IN the latter part of the seventeenth century there came to this country from Ireland one Dr. J. Batch- clor, who settled in Philadelphia, where he married a widow by the name of Sarah Young, whose maiden name was Sleigh, a Quakeress by descent. So far as known, they had but one child, a son, named Joseph S. (the S is presumed to be for his mother's maiden name) who, on attaining the proper age, was apprenticed to the firm of Gilmore & Redsheats to learn the trade of cabinet making. When twenty-two years of age, Joseph S. Batchelor and his mother left Philadelphia in a wagon, drove
across the mountains, and, in October, 1810, finally settled in the town of Steubenville, Ohio. He bought a lot on which was a one story log house, which he used for a shop, and began the manufac- ture of furniture, which was loaded on flat boats and taken down the river to be sold. On the oppo- site corner of the lot from his shop he built a one story clapboard house, for a dwelling. This latter house became the kitchen for the homestead from that day to this, and is still standing and used for that purpose. In 1812 the Indians commenced their depredations and the Government called for volunteers. In response to this call Nicholas Mur- ray organized a company with Joseph S. Batchelor as orderly sergeant, and the command was mus- tered into service under General Harrison. Dr. J. Batchelor, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a physician in Ireland before coming to America, and the old door-plate bearing his name as a physician is in possession of the family of this generation. Captain Batchelor's great-grandfather, on the mother's side, was one Lord Murray, who bore the title of Earl of Athol, and was a Scotchman by parentage. Having incurred the displeasure of the King of England, during the Rebellion, he had to flee his country and come to America. Tradi- tion says he was smuggled away by being headed up in a hogshead and taken on board a ship. There are no records to show who his wife was, nor how many children they had, further than one, Nicholas Murray, the grandfather, on the maternal side, of our subject. Nicholas Murray was a sea captain and married Temperance Bond, of Baltimore, Maryland. Of this marriage there were eight chil- dren. The Bond family of Baltimore, the parents of the grandmother of Captain Batchelor, is of that family of Bonds who were supposed to have a claim for a certain piece of land in Baltimore of great value. The father of the subject of this sketch married Sarah Murray, daughter of Nicholas and Temperance Murray. Of this marriage there were born eleven children; eight sons and three daughters. Captain Charles W. Batchelor, the sub- ject of this sketch, was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1823, and received his early education at private schools in his native town. In 1841 he apprenticed himself to Captain Henry Mason of Wheeling, on the steamer " Tioga," to learn to be a pilot. In 1845 he became a full pilot, and, in 1849, he bought the interest of Captain John Klinefelter in the steamer " Hibernia No. 2" of the Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Packet line, and assumed command. In 1852 he took command of the famous " Allegheny " in the same line, but sold his interest in that boat in 1854, and built the " Americus" for the Pittsburgh and
Chuf. M. Bar chilin
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Nashville trade. In 1855 the "Americus " was burned, and Captain Batchelor left the river to be- come the active Vice-President of the Eureka In- surance Company, of Pittsburgh, and acted as General Agent in settling marine losses. In 1861 he was appointed, by President Lincoln, as Sur- veyor of the Port and United States Depository at Pittsburgh, where he remained until September, 1866, when he was removed by President Johnson, because he would not become a "Johnson man." During his connection with the latter office, he disbursed over one hundred millions of dollars and wound up with the Government in his debt. In 1867 he became President of the Eagle Cotton Mills Company of Pittsburgh, where he continued until 1873. In 1868 he was made President of the Ma- sonic Bank of Pittsburgh, where he continued until 1884, when he resigned to become acting Vice- President of the Keystone Bank, and President of the Pittsburgh Petroleum Exchange. He continues his connection with the Keystone Bank, but re- signed the Presidency of the Oil Exchange. He is now the President of the Natural Gas Company of West Virginia, and Secretary and Treasurer of the Natural Gas Company (Limited) of Pittsburgh, -the first gas company that ever handled gas for manufacturing purposes, which was iu 1875. He is also President of the Manufacturers' and Mer- chants' Insurance Company, of Pittsburgh. In 1885 Captain Batchelor was made Chairman of the Com- mittee of Arrangements and Commodore of the fleet, for the celebration of the opening of Davis Island Dam, at Pittsburgh. Captain Batchelor has been a prominent Mason for years, and has received the thirty-third degree, the highest that can be con- ferred by that Order. He has likewise held the position of R. E. Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of the State of Pennsylvania. In 1855 Captain Batchelor built the steamer "Eunice " for the Collier Brothers of Steu- benville, Ohio. In the fall of 1855 and winter of 1856 he built the steamer "W. I. Maclay." In 1859 he built the steamer "Lucy Gwin," called after a daughter of Senator Gwin of California ; in 1860 he built the steamer "Emma Duncan; " in 1861 the "George W. Graham;" in 1862 the steamer " Mary E. Forsyth," and in the spring of 1863 he built the stcamer "W. R. Arthur," also the steamers "Darling " and "Norman." In 1864 he built the steamer "Guidon," and was an owner in the "Lac-LaBelle," the latter, for the Lake Superior and Cleveland trade. In 1878 he built for Joseph Leighton and himself the steamer "F. Y. Batchelor," named for his dead brother. In 1887 Captain Batchelor edited and published a work en-
titled, "Incidents in the life of Charles W. Batche- lor," and dedicated it to his wife, daughter, and her family, brothers and sisters and all kindred and friends. In it arc carefully preserved all communi- cations in regard to the noted "Bond Claim " of Baltimore, Maryland, iu which his family are inter- ested, together with letters received at various times from some of the most eminent men known to National history. The entire work throughout shows the value of his business relations in what- cver enterprise he was engaged in. In this connec- tion it will not be amiss to give an account of Cap- tain Batchelor's early aspirations and efforts, in his own words as published in the volume mentioned :
" The time had arrived when we boys saw the necessity of putting our shoulders to the wheel, and, in justice to father and ourselves, do what we could to help him provide for the family, and thereby as- sist him in his business. I was then twelve years old. The first work I did was in Whan's foundry, where I went to learn to be a moulder. I had been in the foundry but a short time, when an incident occurred that was the key note to my whole life. The foundry was situated on the river bank, and one day a boat landed there. In those days the appearance of a steamboat was something to cause everybody to leave their work, or business, and run to see it. The day the boat landed in front of the foundry, I noticed with a good deal of interest, the Captain running around the deck, giving his orders, which made him a very conspicuous person, and, in my estimation, a great man. I thought a good deal over the matter, and how I would like to be the captain of a steamboat. I nursed that idea, and never gave up thinking until I found myself on the upper deck, and was captain of one of the fin- est and the fastest boats that had ever landed at the same wharf, where I had been infatuated by look- ing at the captain mentioned. When I was less than thirteen years old I obtained the consent of my parents to allow me to go on the river, which I did by going with Captain Lucas as cabin boy on the steamer " U. S. Mail"-running between Steu- benville, Wheeling and Wellsville, at the enor- mous salary of six dollars per month. I had now got started on my hunt for higher honors on the river. A short time after that the crew of the "U. S. Mail" was transferred to the steamer "Post Boy " in the same tradc. Ouc day, just at the foot of "Twin Island," Captain Lucas called me into the pilot house, and asked me if I did not want to learn to steer. I had been about the river long enough to know that pilots, as a general thing, were put in command of steamboats, so when I got hold of the "Post Boy's " wheel, I felt that one more rung in my efforts to climb the marine ladder had been passed. I seemed to take to the wheel quite naturally, and was soon, what Captain Lucas called, a good steersman. In the spring of 1845, I went on the steamer "Fulton," Captain E. D. Col- lier, to stand my own watch as a pilot. That was the first time I had the responsibility of a full pilot. Captain W. J. Kountz was my partner."
At the opening of the new Oil Exchange in Pitts- burgh, which attracted an unusual throug of
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Pittsburgh business men, Captain Batchelor pre- sided, and extended to all a cordial greeting and a hearty welcome. The following preamble and res- olution were presented to Captain Batchelor, com- ing from the members of the Exchange at Pitts- burglı, and referring to the celebration of the opening of Davis Island Dam.
" PITTSBURGH, October 8, 1885. C. W. BATCHELOR, Esq.,
Dear Sir :- At a meeting of the Exchange held this day at 3 P. M. to give expression of our feel- ings towards you, as a fellow member and ex- President, to whom as Commodore of the "Davis Island Dam" fleet, we are greatly indebted for the success of the celebration, the following preamble and resolution were passed without a dissenting voice :
1 ' Whereas: The signal success of the celebration of the opening of " Davis Island Dam " on the 7th day of October, 1885, was largely due to the efforts of C. W. Batchelor, Esq., Commander of the fleet, we hereby congratulate him on the satisfactory termination of the festivities ; also :
' Resolved, That the thanks of this organization be tendered to Captain C. W. Batchelor for courtesies extended to our members and friends in connection with this event, which was one that will long be remembered in the annals of Pittsburg.'
Very respectfully,
J. K. BARBOUR, Secretary. JOHN E. SHAW, President."
During the recent visit to Pittsburgh of the Dele- gates to the Pan-American Congress, on their tour of inspection through some of the principal sections of the country, Captain Batchelor was Chairman of the Entertainment Committee, presented the medals to the Delegates, and in many ways aided materi- ally in making the occasion one long to be remem- bered by all who participated therein. Honest, earnest and loyal in all his dealings, Captain Batchelor is recognized as one of Pittsburgh's most energetic and public-spirited citizens, and has won in an unusual degree the confidence and esteem of the community generally. Every enterprise, tend- ing to the advancement of the best interests of the city, commands his hearty, active and most efficient support. The same progressive sptrit which actu- ated and inspired his youth has steadily grown with his years and developed all the laudable qualities of the ideal citizen. His business capacity is phe- nomenal, and his cnergy unwavering and unceasing. Never swerving from an intelligent conception of right and duty, he carries into every undertaking in which he may be connected, a fixed and definite purpose, whose aim is success, and whose results are beneficent. Captain Batchelor married, No- vember 16, 1846, Miss Eliza Vandergrift, daughter of Captain John Vandergrift, and a descendant of the family of that name which emigrated from Hol-
land and settled on Manhattan Island, New York. Captain John Vandergrift was the inventor of the present application of steam power for stern whecl boats, with two engines working on opposite cen- ters on the same shaft. Captain Batchelor has one child, a daugliter, now the wife of R. McD. Cam- pau, of Detroit, Michigan.
LEWIS F. WATSON.
HON. LEWIS F. WATSON, Member of the Fifty-first Congress from the Twenty-seventh District of Pennsylvania, was born in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, April 14th, 1819. His parents, John Watson and Rebecca Bradley, were natives of the State of Delaware, and descended from a Scotch- Irish ancestry. The early education of the subject of this sketcli was such as the educational advanta- ges of Crawford County afforded during his boy- hood. At the age of thirteen he entered a store at Titusville in the capacity of clerk, and remained in that occupation there and at Franklin and Warren until 1837, his residence in the latter place having commenced in 1835. At the close of his last en- gagement in 1837, he entered the Prothonotary's and Register's office in Warren, where he remained until 1838, shortly after which he commenced a coursc of study at the Warren Academy, then under charge of Mr. Rasselas Brown, who subsequently became President-Judge of this judicial distriet. Upon leaving the Academy, Mr. Watson entered upon mercantile pursuits in the borough of Warren, in partnership with Archibald Tanner and S. T. Nel- son, under the style of Nelson, Watson & Co. At the termination of this copartnership, in 1841, he continued his mercantile pursuits, sometimes on his own account, and sometimes with others, until 1860, when, closing this business, he turned his attention more directly to the manufacturing and marketing of lumber. In the autumn of 1859, in company with his brother John, and Archibald Tanner, he engaged in the development of the petroleum busi- ness, by drilling wells on his brother's farm at Ti- tusville, Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1860 this firm opened what was known as the Fountain Oil Well, the first flowing well in that district, and prob- ably the first in the country. Since the date of the above mentioned discovery Mr. Watson has, at in- tervals, engaged in the production of petroleum, and has continuously engaged also in extensive operations in pine timber lands, and in the manu- facture and sale of lumber, up to the present time. Enterprises of more public importance have at
Lewis A Nation
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
various times occupied his attention. In 1864 he was one of the original stockholders of the First National Bank of Warren, and for several years acted as its Vice-President. In 1870 he organized the Warren Savings Bank, of which he was the first President, a position he continues to hold. In 1871 he organized the Conewango Valley Railroad Com- pany, now known as the Duukirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh, and was elected its first President. It was mainly through his efforts that the Cone- wango Valley road was constructed. In 1877 he purchased a large tract of land in Cass County, Da- kota, and at once commenced the cultivation of wheat and other agricultural products. At the present time he has over two thousand acres under cultivation. Since the organization of the Repub- lican party, Mr. Watson has at all times supported the political principles which have distinguished that great body-principles that have more firmly cemented the bonds of the Union ; which have pro- tected the American laborer from competition with the degraded labor of foreign nations, and which have established and sustained the conservative financial policy that has secured so much prosperity to the country, and insures the extinguishment of the public debt without distress to the people. Al- though not a politician by profession or practice, his unswerving loyalty to his party, his known pa- triotism, his energy, his perspicacity, and his success in the various enterprises which he had undertaken, led, in 1874, to the unanimous recommendation of Mr. Watson, by the Republicans of Warren County, to the district convention, as a candidate for Repre- resentative to Congress. At the meeting of the district convention, Mr. Watson's name as a candi- date was withdrawn at his own request, to effect au unanimous nomiuation of Hon. C. B. Curtis, the sitting member of the House from the Twenty-sev- enth Pennsylvania Congressional District, for a sec- ond term. Mr. Curtis was defeated at the polls by his Democratic competitor, by a small majority. Two years thereafter, in 1876, Mr. Watson was nominated by the Republican Convention, held at Franklin, as a candidate for Representative to the Forty-fifth Congress from the above district, and he was elected by the overwhelming majority of 3,547, against William L. Scott, the Democratic nominee, notwithstanding the election of a Democrat for the preceding term of 1874-'76. In 1880 he was again elected to Congress. His Congressional duties were performed with the same assiduity and zeal that he displayed in private affairs. In the Forty-fifth Congress he introduced a bill to regulate inter-state commerce, and to prohibit unjust discrimination by common carriers. This bill aimed to correct one of
the crying evils of the times. In the House it elici- ted discussion which its importance merited, and it was widely commented upon by the leading news- papers of the country, in a manner which indicated the deep interest felt in this proposed reformatory legislation by the people at large. The bill passed the House, with some unimportant amendments, by a large majority, but reached the Senate too late for action during that session of Congress. That its passage through the House, by a large majority, should be ascribed to the energetic and skillful ef- forts of Mr. Watson, is apparent from the fact that a similar bill, introduced in the Forty-sixth Congress, did not reach a vote in either the House or the Sen- ate. Mr. Watson was elected to the Fifty-first Con- gress in the new District of Cameron, McKean, Venango and Warren Counties, in 1888, receiving 4,212 plurality against a plurality for President Har- rison of 4,013. In 1842 Mr. Watson married Elvira McDowell, whose death occurred in 1849. No children of this marriage survive. In 1856 he mar- ried Miss Caroline E., daughter of Hon. N. B. El- dred, of Wayne County, Pennsylvania. Of the children born of this marriage Annie Bartlett alone survives. At the date of this publication Mr. Wat- son continues actively engaged in the various busi- ness pursuits which have absorbed so many years of his life,-banking, the manufacture of lumber, operations in pine timber lands, the production of petroleum and grain growing. While increas- ing his lumber interests, he has gradually become, probably, the largest land owner in Warren Coun- ty, and latterly he has acquired extensive tim- ber tracts on the Pacific slope. These various and absorbing pursuits have not diminished his concern in public affairs, nor have they dulled his lively in- tercst in the successes, or lessened his sympathy in the misfortunes of his neighbors, and his large and ever-increasing circle of acquaintances. On the contrary, he contemplates the various political schemes of the time with all the ardor of earlier days, but with a judgment and wisdom ripened by wide and varied experience. Happy in his own do- mestic life and successes, he is ever ready to con- tribute to the happiness of the less fortunate, by his quiet sympathy in their distress, or by extending the hand of unostentatious charity.
WILLIAM C. CULBERTSON.
HON. WILLIAM C. CULBERTSON, of Girard, Member of the Fifty-first Congress from the Twen- ty-sixth Pennsylvania District, comprising the coun- ties of Crawford and Erie, was born at Edinboro,
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Erie County, Pennsylvania, November 27, 1825, and is of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock. After re- ceiving a common school education he engaged in the manufacture of lumber on the Alleghany River, and afterwards established mills at Covington, Ken- tucky, where he removed with his family iu 1850. IIe remained here until 1863, when, being a North- ern mau by birth and sympathy, he returned to Erie County, Pennsylvania, making his home at Girard, where he has since resided. Mr. Culbertson has continued actively in business since that date, and has lumbering and farming interests at various points throughout the West and in Pennsylvania. In 1888 he was elected to the Fifty-first Congress as a Republieau, by a plurality of 3,072 votes, over his opponent James P. Burns, Democrat. Mr. Cul- bertson is a member of the Congressional Commit- tees on Expenses in Department of Agriculture, Patents, and War Claims.
WILLIAM R. JONES.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM RICHARD JONES, late General Superintendent of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, at Braddock, Pennsylvania, was born in Hazleton, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1839, and died from an aceident September 28, 1889. He was of Welsh descent, his father, the Rev. John G. Jones, having, with his wife and two ehildren, emigrated from Wales to America in 1832, and first settled in Pittsburgh. His parents removed from Pittsburgh to Scranton, and from there to Wilkes-Barre, and afterwards to Hazleton, Pennsyl- vania. Owing to the ill health of his father, young William had to begin work at a very early age, and with but a limited education. He began by serving as an apprentice to the moulder's trade. At the age of ten he was apprenticed to the Crane Manufactur- ing Company, at Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. He was placed at first in the foundry department, aud later in the machine shop, and by the time he was four- teen years of age he had made such great progress, that he was already receiving the customary wages of a journeyman machinist. He then left Catasau- qua and entered the employ of James Nelson at Janesville, Luzerue County, as a machinist. In 1856 he moved to Philadelphia, and went to work there in the machine shop of J. P. Morris & Com- pany. From there he journeyed to Tyrone, where he obtained employment as a lumberman, raftsman, and farm hand, until the spring of 1858, and from thence he worked his way to Clearfield County. In 1859 he went to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and
worked at his trade for the Cambria Iron Company for three months. He then went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, having received an offer from Colonel Jiles Edwards to help erect a blast furnace, in the capacity of master mechanic. On April 14, 1861, he was married to Miss Harriet Lloyd, and a few days after, the secession feeling having become very strong, and having had several personal eneouuters with secessionists, he, accompanied by his youthful bride, left Chattanooga during the night in which the Government works at Harper's Ferry were de- stroyed by Lieutenant Jones. He returned to Johnstown, and again went to work in the Cambria Iron Company's works. On July 31, 1862, he en- listed as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers, for nine months' service, and in September was mustered in as sergeant. He served with this regiment until his time expired, and participated in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, where he was badly wounded, but refused to leave his regiment during the battle. On the expiration of his term of serviee he returned to Johnstown, and once more went to work for the Cambria Iron Company. Dur- ing the Gettysburg campaign he raised Company F, One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Pennsylvania Regi- ment Emergency Men, of which he was mustered in as Captain, July 20, 1864. He was transferred as Captain of the Independent Company, Ninety- seventh Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, and was stationed at Baltimore as Captain commanding the Provost Guard until the elose of the war, under the command of General Lew Wallace. The Indepen- dent Company was considered one of the finest dis- eiplined aud best drilled companies in the service. and entered into competitive drill against the Eleventh Indiana at Monumental Square, Balti- more. General Lew Wallace viewed the contest, and complimented Captain Jones with having one of the finest drilled companies in the service. De- siring to join the regiment during the Fort Fisher campaign, his request was refused, the Provost. Marshall declining to endorse it, stating that it was to the best interest of the service that Captain Jones remain with his command. At the elose of the war he was honorably mustered out of the service, after which he spent a few months in the oil regions dur- ing the Pit-Hole excitement, and then, at the request of Mr. George Fritz, he again returned to Johns- town, and once more entered the machine shops of the Cambria Iron Company. In 1872 Captain Jones was promoted to the position of assistant to Mr. Fritz, the General Superintendent of the Cambria Iron Works, on the death of whom, in 1873, he re- signed his position in Johnstown, and went to
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