USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
Mianti. Lic MAg & Engratis To N.Y.
Dr.G. Elliot
163
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
steel vessels could be turned into cruisers practically at a moment's notice." That the experience re- quired to stand at the head of this great establish- ment is that of no common worker or manufacturer, and that the brain power necded to supervise and manage it is of no ordinary character, needs no further proof than the statement of facts. John B. Roach may be said to have inherited his position, but he first proved worthy of the inheritance and has since demonstrated his fitness for the responsi- ble and exacting post, by rising equal to every emergency and carrying on with zeal, judgment and unchallenged skill, the enterprise founded by his father. On December 12, 1861, Mr. Roach married Miss Mary Caroline Wallace, daughter of David and Gertrude Wallace, of Staatsburgh, Dutchess County, New York. The mother of Mrs. Roach belonged to the Paulding family, which has lived on the Hudson for many generations and has numbered among its members not a few who have achieved distinction, prominent in the list being the statesman and author, James K. Paulding. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Roach five survive, viz :- Sara E., Emeline W., Mary Garretta, John Roach, Jr. and Wm. M. Roach. The eldest daughter married Mr. Charles E. Schuyler of New York City. Personally Mr. John B. Roach is one of the most popular of men. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of New York City, a member of the Board of Trade of Chester, Pennsylvania, and a Trustee of the Pennsylvania Military Academy, at the same place. He is also connected with a number of manufactur- ing corporations, in several of which he holds the office of Director. In all the relations of life, domestic, social and business, he is justly esteemed for his many excellent qualities of head and heart.
WILLIAM G. ELLIOT.
WILLIAM G. ELLIOT, a well known manufac- turer, and manager of the National Paint Works, of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, was born in that city July 19, 1840. He is the son of Ralph and Mary Gibson Elliot. His father was one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Williamsport. He was born November 22, 1798, in the town of Fritlick, County Tyrone, Ireland, and came to America with his parents, on board the sailing ship " Radies," in 1812. The voyage was an adventurous one, lasting twenty-seven days, during three of which the ship lay entangled among ice-fields. On arriving in New York the Elliots went to Philadelphia, and settled at Kensington, and there the young Ralph went to
work in a cotton factory, where he remained six months, receiving only one dollar per week wages. At the end of that time he managed to get some schooling, and when not engaged in his studies, worked on his father's farm. He remained in Ken- sington until 1820, when he settled in Newberry, and carried on a store there for two years, with such success that he was able to remove to Williamsport, and build a handsome brick structure, where he car- ried on a mercantile business until 1841. In the meantime, May 22, 1832, he married Miss Mary Gib- son, daughter of William Gibson, of Armstrong township, Lycoming County, who became the mother of William G. Elliot. Mr. Ralph Elliot re- moved in 1841 to a farm beautifully situated on the banks of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, in Armstrong township. On March 1, 1855, Mrs. Elliot died, and in 1864 he sold his farm and moved into Williamsport. Two years later he purchased the large brick house in that city, where he died, after having been long retired from active business. When his father removed to Armstrong township, William G. Elliot was an infant. He lived on his father's farm until he reached an age when his schooling could properly begin, and attended the district schools, and afterwards Dickenson Seminary at Williamsport, where he was prepared for higher education. This he received by passing two and a half years in the higher graded schools at Philadel-" phia. The next two years of his life were passed on his father's farm, and he then went to Canton, Missouri, forty miles from St. Louis, and started in life for himself. He was now eighteen years old, and his first business experience consisted in clerk- ing in a dry goods house. In 1859 he returned to Williamsport and engaged in farming, until the War of the Rebellion broke out, when he enlisted in the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company A., this being one of the first regiments included in the Government's call for " three months " men. At the close of his term of service Mr. Elliot was hon- orably discharged. He made a good record, and participated in the battle of Falling Waters in Vir- ginia. For the next five years he was engaged in mercantile business in Williamsport, and then be- came interested in the excitement caused by the rapid growth of the oil production and went to Oil City and engaged in that business. Here he pros- pered, and in 1870 built the Academy of Music block in Williamsport, one of the most valuable pieces of property in the city, containing fine stores and a theatre, 208 feet long, which was opened De- cember 10, 1870. In 1872 Mr. Elliot was appointed Express Manager for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, with liis office at Williamsport.
164
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
He remained in the employ of the company until | in Mexico, died while on duty at New Orleans, in the spring of 1879, when he began the manufacture of paint, out of which has grown the enormous in- dustry now known as the National Paint Works of Williamsport, of which he is President, and which is more widely known among the railroads and to bridge building corporations than any other simi- lar manufacturing establishment in the country. Mr. Elliot was married January 2, 1862, to Miss Emily M. Ellis. They have had five children, of whom three are living. The family live in one of the finest residences in the city of Williamsport, the property of Mr. Elliot, who is an example of suc- cess reached by persistent industry, natural aptitude ; for business and recognized integrity.
HENRY SHERWOOD.
HON. HENRY SHERWOOD, a leading citizen and lawyer of Wellsboro, Representative in the Forty-Second Congress of the United States from the Eighteenth District of Pennsylvania, and, since 1882, President of the Pine Creek Railroad Com- pany, was born at Bridgeport, Connecticut, Octo- ber 9, 1813. He was the eighth of a family of eleven children, nine of whom were boys. His mother, whose maiden name was Phoebe Burritt, was the daughter of John H. Burritt, of Weston, Connecticut. She was born at Stratford, near Bridgeport, Connecticut, and died at Bradford, Penn- sylvania, in 1870. Mr. Sherwood's father, Salmon Sherwood, also a native of Stratford, was a soldier in early life, serving under General Sinclair in the Indian War, and participated in the disastrous fight on St. Mary's River, in which his commanding officer was killed, being himself wounded twice. In the force of one thousand men which, in 1815, proceeded down the Ohio River to reinforce General Jackson at New Or- leans, he was captain of a company and commanded it all through the famous battle at that place. In 1817 he removed from Connecticut to New York, and settled in old Tioga County, now Schuyler County. In 1836 he removed from there to Bradford, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1854. Of his nine sons four died while in the service of the National Government. The eldest son, Dr. Burritt Sherwood, a physician and surgeon in the United States Army, died in 1855, at New York City, while attached to that post. Another son, the Hon. Charles Sher- wood, who held the office of United States Consul at Naples, Italy, under President Polk, died at his post in 1848. A third son, George Sherwood, an engineer officer who served under General Scott
1852. The fourth, Lieutenant Walter Sherwood, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, was scalped and killed by Indians, in the Everglades, Florida, while serving under Gen- cral Arbuckle in the campaign of 1840. Henry, the subject of this sketch, went to live with his rela- tives at Catharines, in early life, and attended school at that place. When lic was about sixteen years of age lie accompanied his elder brother to Columbus, Ohio, where the latter was in business. Here he spent two years. In 1836 lie enlisted with other adventurers and sympathetic young men to fight for the independence of Texas. He was com- missioned Colonel by the gallant President of the Lone Star Republic, General Samuel Houston, and remained in the field until after the battle of San Jacinto. He then returned to the North, and soon afterwards established himself in business in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. In 1845 he began the study of law under Judge White, of Wellsboro, and on Sep- tember 7, 1847, was admitted to the Tioga County bar. He entered upon the duties of his profession immediately, opening an office at Wellsboro, then as now the county seat, and, with the exception of the time spent in Congress, has remained in active practice at that place down to the present time. In 1858 he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for Representative in Congress from the Eighteenth Congressional District of Pennsylvania, comprising the counties of Bradford, Tioga and Potter, but was defeated by his Republican opponent, the Hon. Galusha A. Grow, who won the election by a ma- jority of nearly four thousand votes. During the Civil War there was no uncertainty in Mr. Sher- wood's allegiance. With the firing of the first gun he ranged himself on the side of the National Gov- ernment, and as a " War Democrat" was unfalter- ing in his efforts to sustain it during the long and bloody struggle. His earnest personal efforts and no small share of his means were freely given to aid in the work of enlisting and forwarding troops. His services were of the highest value to the coun- try, as well as to the National Government. In 1870 he was a second time placed in nomination for Congress, in the district composed of Tioga, Lycom- ing, Centre, Clinton and Potter Counties, and in this campaign won the election by a small majority, defeating William H. Armstrong, the Republican nominee. This was a remarkable victory, as the district was Republican by five thousand at the least. In 1872, at the expiration of his first term, . he was again re-nominated, but was defeated by about two thousand. Nothing more fully- attests his great hold upon the confidence and esteem of
1
165
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the voters of this Republican stronghold, than the magnificent support accorded him in these two campaigns. For many years Mr. Sherwood has taken a most active interest in, and has labored hard to promote the development of railroad facili- ties in Tioga and adjacent counties, and that en- tire section of State is greatly indebted to his able and untiring efforts for the improvements effected in this direction. He was chosen President of the Lawrenceville and Wellsboro Railroad when it was first built, and served as such with high efficiency for several years. He is now one of the leading Directors in the Fall Brook system. He took an especially active part in the promotion of the Pine Creek Railroad, and, in 1882, was chosen its Presi- dent. In this responsible position he has been re- tained to the present day by annual re-election. That Mr. Sherwood's high integrity is not the least of his many good qualities all his neighbors and fellow- citizens could cheerfully testify. He is public- spirited in the true sense of the term, always ready disinterestedly to serve the interests of the people, and never taking his own comfort or convenience into account. He is a man of extraordinary physi- cal powers, and at many critical periods has proven himself capable of great endurance. He has held office for the good of the public, but has never cared for it himself. His friends are in all parties, for he is neither narrow in his views, nor arbitrary in his estimates of those of others. He still prac- tices law, and is an honored figure in the courts when he attends. His friends are as numerous as his acquaintances, for all who come in contact with the man detect without effort his sterling worth of character, and are impressed by his manliness, modesty and mentality. Mr. Sherwood married, in 1843, Miss Sarah M. Allen, daughter of Edward Allen, Esq., of Cortlandtville, New York, who bore him one son, Walter Sherwood, born November 20, 1843, at Tioga County, Pennsylvania, and now the law partner of his father under the style of H. Sher- wood & Son. In 1873, two years after the death of his first wife, he married her sister, Miss Levancia Allen, the present partner of his domestic life.
S. C. LEWIS.
HON. SANFORD CLARENCE LEWIS, a dis- tinguished citizen and business man of Franklin, ex-Mayor of that city, and President of the Eclipse Refining Company, was born on March 13, 1846, in Cleveland, Ohio, where his father, the late Sanford J. Lewis, was a prominent wholesale dry goods mer-
chant. His grandfather, Chittenden Lewis, was one of the early settlers of Cleveland, coming there from Vermont in 1830. He was educated in the public schools of his native city, and was graduated from the high school in his nineteenth year. While pur- suing his youthful studies, he had in mind the pro- fession of medicine as a life vocation, and was mak- ing preparation to enter a medical college, when his father was overtaken by mercantile reverses, and the young man's plans, of necessity, were interfered with. Compelled in a measure to provide for his own sup- port, he quickly abandoned his pet project, and go- ing to St. Joseph, Missouri, entered the service of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company. In 1868, yielding to the spirit of adventure, he gave up his railroad position, and joined a gold-hunting ex- pedition which went to the United States of Colom- bia. Owing to the unsettled political condition of that Republic, and the frequent occurrence of revo- lutions, very little could be accomplished, and he and his associates returned to Cleveland, after an absence of one year. Shortly after his return he se- cured a position as Secretary and Treasurer of the People's Gas Company of Cleveland, and for seven years filled it with high satisfaction to all concerned. Warned by the condition of his health that he should relinquish indoor work, he resigned this position, and began preparations for a sojourn on a cattle ranch in Texas. Just as he was about to leave the city, the Standard Oil Company made overtures to him to enter their service, and somewhat reluctant- ly he gave up his projected journey to the South and accepted their offer. His impression at the time of doing so was that after a few months' trial he could resign if the position was not to his liking. Engaging with the company, he was sent to the city of New York as eastern agent of the Eclipse Refin- ing Company, a corporation owned and controlled by the Standard Oil Company. Here he was placed in charge of all export sales. He remained in New York seven years. Before the close of this period he was made Vice-President and Treasurer of the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company, then re-or- ganized for the manufacture of vaseline. In 1882, following the consolidation of the oil refining inter- ests at Franklin, Pennsylvania, effected by the Stan- dard Oil Company, he was chosen President of the Eclipse Refining Company at that place, the works of which are to-day the largest in the country. These works, at the time he came to the Presidency of them, gave employment to eighty men and pro- duced eight hundred barrels of refined oil daily. At the present time, having been greatly enlarged, and provided with every added facility and improve- ment that modern science can supply, they give
I 66
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
steady employment to a force of nearly five hun- dred men, and manufacture every commercial pro- duct made from petroleum. They have, besides the refinery at Franklin, three others, located at Erie, Olean aud Oil City. The output in refined oil alone amounts to about five thousand barrels daily. Mr. Lewis, as the President of this large corporation, has, one would think, all that a man could do to manage its affairs. Yet, like all earnest workers, he has everything systematized, and the operations proceed almost with the regularity of clockwork. With genuine public spirit, Mr. Lewis has identified himself with most of the prominent enterprises of Franklin, which, since 1882, has been his home .; He is a Director in the Franklin Natural Gas and Fuel Company, was one of the organizers and in- corporators of the American Oxide Lead Works, now controlled by the Lead Trust, and also one of the organizers of the Liege (Belgium) Anglo-Ameri- can Oxide Company. He holds a Directorship also in the First National Bank of Franklin, and in the Franklin Pipe Line Company, both leading corpor- ations. He is largely interested in the recently or- ganized American Axe Company, (a consolidation of all the axe companies in the United States) ; also in several mining companies in Montana and Colorado; a bank in New Jersey and a bank in North Carolina, and several other manufacturing enterprises. Occupied so extensively and with such important interests in his keeping, he refrained from taking any special part in politics until 1887, in which year he was nominated for Mayor of Frank- lin, by both the Republican and Democratic con- ventions. His election was virtually unanimous, for in all the city, after the most careful canvas of the votes, only seventeen ballots were found deposi- ted against him. This remarkable showing is one of the best proofs of his great personal popularity, and is largely owing to his well known regard for the rights and interests of the whole people. His administration was distinguished for its business- like methods. The public business was expedited and all measures aud appropriations scrutinized with the same good sense and care that would mark transactions in the counting-room of a great cor- poration. It is needless to say that the results merited, as they received, the warm approbation of the public. In every position that he has held Mr. Lewis has demonstrated fitness for responsible du- ties. His rise has been rapid, and has been based upon soliti qualities and not upon meretricious claims. He is still a young man, and the possibili- ties of his career can only be measured by his op- portunities. But should he never exceed the hon- ors that have already been bestowed upou him, he
may well be proud of the confidence and respect which these imply. Mr. Lewis married in 1870 Miss Nellie Hayward, daughter of Judge Joseph Hay- ward, of Cleveland, Ohio. By this marriage there have been two children ; Marjorie and Anna Hay- ward Lewis. The latter is now the wife of W. B. Cockran, formerly of Franklin, Pennsylvania, but now a resident of New York State. Mr. Lewis is thoroughly an American by descent, he being of the tenth generation of his family in this country, the founder, Richard Lewis, coming to Rhode Is- land in 1662. One of Mr. Lewis' direct ancestors was killed with Montgomery at Quebec. Another was Captain of a company all through the Revolu- tionary War.
-
CHARLES MILLER.
CHARLES MILLER, of Franklin, was born June 15, 1843, in a small village in Alsace, France, near the birth-place of ths famous painter, Doré, and not far from the birth-place of the great Bartholdi, whose brain evolved the design of the Statue of Liberty to be seen in the Bay of New York. His paternal ancestors were mechanics for many gen- erations ; and his ancestry, both paternal and maternal, traced directlyto the Huguenots. He lived with his father in Alsace until 1854. His paternal grandfather and a goodly number of the family having emigrated to America, it became the wish of his father and other members of the family to seek a new home in this country ; but his mother, as is natural with French women, had become so strongly imbued with a love of her native land that she would not consent to leave it. The mother died in 1853, and in 1854 the family, consisting of the father, eight brothers and one sister, the latter only one year old, left their native land for America. They embarked at Havre, in the sailing vessel "Robert," and after a tiresome journey of forty-five days, they landed in New York. From New York they went by rail to Buffalo, near which, in the town of Boston, Erie County, New York, the father purchased a farm and began life anew as a farmer. The subject of this sketch, having had four years schooling in his native country, where he studied French and German, spoke both languages with ease. Upon his arrival in this country, he was, of course, anxious to learn the language of the people by whom he was surrounded, and for three months of each succeeding winter he attended the common school of the town in which he lived. He succeeded well and could soon converse with his new neighbors in their own
167
CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
language. At the age of thirteen, not suited with a farmer's life, he engaged himself to a country store-
keeper at a salary of $35 a year, besides which hc was to have what he could eat. He held this position
of clerk in a country store for four years. He was paid the second year $50; for the third $60, and for
the fourth $100, during all of which the expense of his boarding was bornc by his employer. At the
end of four years he had made up his mind to seek a larger field and greater possibilities, having pre- viously concluded that a mercantile life agreed with his tastes. He was offered and accepted a position
in a dry goods store in Buffalo, at a salary of $175 a
year, from which he was to pay his boarding. For
the second year he was paid $250, at the end of
which time he was offered a much more desirable
position in one of the largest houses in Buffalo, and he accepted it at a salary of $6 a week. His salary
in this store was increased to $8 a week, which was
the most he was ever paid while he followed the dry goods business as an employee. In 1861 he enlisted in the New York National Guard, and in 1863 en-
tered the United States service. On June 18, 1863, he married Miss Adelaide A. Sibley, only daughter of
Dr. J. C. Sibley, of Bath, New York. The children
of this marriage are Miss Addie Sibley Miller, the oldest, and Miss Metta E. Sibley, the youngest of the family, and between them three living sons, born
in the order named : Charles Joseph Sibley Miller ; Leroy S. Miller and Julius French Miller. Henry S. Miller, born between Charles and Leroy, died in infancy. In July, 1864, with a capital of $200, saved from his pay while in the army, he purchased a small stock of goods and commenced business for
himself in the same store in which he first engaged as a clerk. He did quite a business; and his father- in-law, Dr. Sibley, was so pleased with his enter- prise and success, that he furnished him $2,000 capital, with the request that he purchase his goods in New York. In 1866, Dr. Sibley having died, Mr.
Miller sold the store, the profits of the business hav- ing amounted to about $1,000, over and above the
living of the family. Looking for a place to begin again, he visited Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he arranged to go into business; but owing to the failure of the party with whom the arrangement was made to live up to his agreement, Mr. Miller came to
Franklin, Pennsylvania. Here he rented a room just finished, from Mr. M. A. Plumer. The lease was to run five years, at an annual rental of $1,100. His capital, including his wife's money, after all
the expenses of removal, etc. were met, was about
$2,000. With this amount of money, it was a big undertaking; but having to return to Buffalo, it chanced that he met a friend who had an equal
amount of money which he wished to invest, and the partnership of Miller & Coon was formed. For three years the firm did a successful dry goods business in the city of Franklin; but the great de- pression in prices almost ruined them, inasmuch as their loss by reason of it was almost equal to the original capital and the profits of the three years successful business. In May, 1869, the partners of the firm of Miller & Coon were so influenced by their conviction that there was money in the oil business, that they decided to go into it. They purchased a small works, and with a patent bought from a Mr. Hendricks, of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, began
the manufacture of Galena Oils. They paid Mr.
Hendricks $1,000, with the understanding that if at the end of two months the business was not a suc- cess they were to forfeit the money paid, and the property was to revert to the gentleman from whom
they purchased it. Mr. Miller began his career as salesman of Galena Oil with so much faith in the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.