USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of the state of Pennsylvania with a compendium of history. A record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume II > Part 15
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Mr. Hinkson died at Chester. May 17. 1890. aged sixty. Midway of the east transept of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church in Chester is a three panelled stained glass window, rich in colorings and beautiful in detail, representing the Crucifixion, which is in loving memory of lim. October 10, 1872, Mr. Hinkson married Katherine R. Taylor, daughter of Joseph and Hannah ( Berdett) Taylor, who are probably in the Taylor line descendants of Christopher Taylor, one of William Penn's provincial council and president judge of the court of Chester in 1684. Mrs. Hinkson's grandfather on the paternal side was Israel Taylor, of Aston, who married Ann Malin. of Upper Providence. where her father was born. The young couple shortly afterwards re- moved to the ancestral estates in AAston. Her maternal grandfather
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was Joseph Taylor, of Upper Providence, a soldier of the Revolution, who was captured by the British, and with other prisoners of war was transported to St. Johns. New Brunswick, where he was held awaiting exchange until the close of the war brought him release. He married Esther Hewes, of St. Johns, whose father, Joseph Taylor, was a noted surveyor and mathematician. In 1844 he was elected prothonotary, recorder and register of Delaware county, which necessitated his re- moval to Chester, then the county seat. On the expiration of his official term he resumed the practice of his profession. For the late Hon. John Locker. Jr., he platted most of the present second, fourth and fifth wards, and when the city was incorporated he became the first sur- veyor, an office he held for a number of years. He was also surveyor for the county of Delaware and the borough of Darby, and laid out the Chester Rural Cemetery, of which he was one of the projectors. Joseph Taylor died February 27, 1884. in his eighty-second year. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry M. Hinkson, Alice N., who died in infancy. Mrs. Henry M. Hinkson is an active member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church, treasurer of its Dorcas Society, and a director of the J. Lewis Crozer Home for Incurables. She is also active in Charitable work, and is one of the early members of the New Cen- tury Club of Chester.
CHARLES C. SCAIFE.
Charles C. Scaife, one of the leading iron manufacturers of Pitts- burg. Pennsylvania, is a member of a family. in the third generation, that has been established in this city for over a century, and which has also done more than any other one family to build up the industrial interests of the city which so long held a title of being "the gateway of
MIScarte
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OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
the west." Denmark and England were the earliest seats of the paternal side of the house. Grandfather Jeffery Scaife settled in Pittsburg in 1802. There was only a village there then. The site of the handsome new railroad station was far out in the country, and the portion now known as East End was almost out of the bounds of civilization. Jeffery Scaife was one of the pioneer manufacturers here. He set up a shop for the making of tin and slicet-iron work, and. he being a workman out of the ordinary, his products soon gained a reputation for excellence and durability, a reputation which it is a pleasure to say has since been maintained by the son and grandson.
William B. Scaife, the son of Jeffery, was born in Pittsburg in Sep- tember, 1812. With few opportunities in his youth for gaining an edu- cation, he made the best use of what he had. and throughout life was known as a student and thinker, being well posted on the current history and especially fond of metaphysics. His technical training was obtained in his father's shop, and a proof of his precocity in things mechanical is found in the fact that when he was nine years old he fashioned articles which were offered for sale with those of the other workmen in his father's employ. In 1834 the firm of William B. Scaife & Company was formed, the company consisting of the well known McClurg and Wade of the Fort Pitt ordnance works. Four years later, in 1838, the company was dissolved, Mr. Scaife buying out his partners' interest. Thus at the age of twenty-six he was at the head of an important industry.
At this time the steamboat trade was one of Pittsburg's greatest interests, and Mr. Scaife gave much of his attention to the manufacture of the tin, iron and copper parts of steamboats, and from this he began the building and equipping throughout of steamboats, many from his plants being the handsomest packets on the river. He was one of the first to inaugurate the system of towing coal down the river
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instead of floating it. according to the method in vogue up to that time. During the hard times of 1857-58, in order to provide employment for his men, Mr. Scaife began the manufacture of iron roof frames and of corrugated iron roofings and sidings. This proved a very profitable branch of the business, and orders came from all parts of the country.
William B. Scaife educated his sons to his business so that they might relieve him of the burden which he had carried so long and so well. Consequently, in 1870 the name was changed to William B. Scaife and Sons, and the sons thereafter. till their father's death, took the principal responsibility of the business. Mr. Scaife always took much interest in labor-saving machinery, and was continually designing articles that might accomplish the end without so much labor. The reputation that his father had made for square dealing was continued by him, and every transaction was a matter of conscience with him, and every product of his factory was made in the best and most thorough manner. He was a strong believer in temperance, and followed out this conviction even to the extent of never manufacturing any machinery that might be used in the making of spirituous liquors. Years before his death he organized a debating society in Pittsburg, which was known as the Philo Institute, and which possessed a fine library. Many of the prominent citizens of Pittsburg can look back with pleasure to the hours they spent in the "institute," in study and thought, and some may date from that time a change in their careers. Mr. W. B. Scaife died in 1876. leaving behind a name without stain and a business to be con- ducted by his sons in the same honorable manner which characterized both father and grandfather. There were thirteen children of the family, and eleven are living at the present time. At the father's death Charles C. Scaife became the head of the firm, but the name remains unchanged as William B. Scaife and Sons.
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Charles C. Scaife was born in Pittsburg. September 8. 1844, and was educated in the public schools there. He early became interested in the business of his father. and thoroughly familiarized himself with its every detail. And that the business has prospered under his manage- ment will be apparent to anyone who would visit the great plant at Oakmont, where steel-frame mill structures, water filtration and purify- ing plants, and sheet-iron products are manufactured. There are three or four acres of buildings, on sixteen acres of ground, and about five hundred men are employed. Mr. Scaife is also president of the Con- struction Steel Works.
Mr. Scaife. as may be inferred from the foregoing, has had a busy life. but he has yet found time to devote to the demands of society and religious affairs. He is a member of the Duquesne Club and the Allegheny Country Club, and is very popular in the social circles of Pittsburg and Allegheny. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics has always been Republican, with considerable acquaint- ance among some of the leading politicians of the country. In 1867 Mr. Scaife was married to Miss Priscilla M. Verner, a daughter of James Verner. Three sons and one daughter have been born of this union, and the sons. J. Verner and William B., following the previous good ex- ample of their father and grandfather, are associated with their father in the business.
CROZER FAMILY.
The Crozer family in America was planted by five brothers-James. Samuel, John. Robert and Andrew,-who emigrated from the north of Ireland early in the eighteenth century. They were of Huguenot extraction and had been driven out from France by the revocation of
45
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the edict of Nantes. James Crozer, after his arrival, about 1720, mar- ried a member of the Gleave family, of English descent. residing in Springfield, Pennsylvania, and these were the parents of John Crozer.
Jolin Crozer was a man of strong character, in attainments and purposes far in advance of the generality of the men of his day. He was a carpenter and builder by occupation, and he followed his calling in Philadelphia until after his marriage, and also built in Upland, Dela- ware county. Notwithstanding his humble trade, he was a man of excellent education, a good Latin, scholar and familiar with the classic authors. He was not attached to any church, but he inclined to the doctrines of the Society of Friends. He married Sarah Price, a daugh- ter of John Price. of Marcus Hook, Delaware county. of English de- scent. She had been brought up in the Church of England, as it was known in America until after the Revolution. She regarded a written creed as of little efficacy in the formation of character or in the govern- ment of individual life. She was, however. a firm believer in practical Christianity, and gave an exemplification of her faith in the beauty of her own character, and in the influence which she exerted by precept and conduct. The two, husband and wife. were sincerely in accord in all things, and they were true helpmeets in the rearing of their chil- dren. upon whom they impressed their own personality in marked de- gree. These were Elizabeth, who became the wife of John Lewis: James : Sarah, who became the wife of Samuel V. Campbell : John Price : and Samuel. During the early days of their married life, John Crozer and his wife made their home on a farm belonging to the estate of John Knowles, of which Mr. Crozer was the executor. This was not for long. however, for he soon purchased the farm at Springfield which afterward became the property of Swarthmore College. Here was born his second son and fifth child, John Price Crozer, January 13, 1793,
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and it is worthy of remark that in the same house was born, more than a half century before, one of the most celebrated of American painters in the person of Benjamin West.
The name of John P. Crozer will ever hold an honored place in the history of Pennsylvania, and more especially in that of Delaware county. A man of great nobility of character, he was wonderfully useful in his day. His activities were not circumscribed, but extended to every line of effort which could add to the well being of the community and of the state. A man of splendid abilities, without seeking fame. he made himself famous as a captain of industry before that now hackneyed term was known. But he was more than this : he was humanitarian and philanthropist, and he so disposed of his means as to conduce to the moral as well as the material advancement of the people. not only in his own day, but in after time, through works which do of a certainty live after him. There was that in his character which would seem to afford support to the views of those who hold to the theory of heredity. In his viens was the blood of the ruggedly framed and conscientiously minded Scotch covenanters, and also of the persistent but more elastic English. These virile streams blended more freely under the freer air of America than on the parent soil of either race, and the product com- prised what was best of either.
His educational advantages were exceedingly meagre. When six years old he began attending a little stone schoolhouse nearly a mile from his home, and here were spent all his school days except during a period of three months when he attended a somewhat more preten- tious school about two miles distant. But the curriculum afforded by either went little if any beyond the rudimentary branches, or, as they have been called. "the three R's-readin', 'ritin', and 'rithinetic." But the young student was ambitious, and he made the best possible use of
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such advantages as were afforded him. He had other advantages, however. His home contained a small but carefully selected stock of books, and his parents afforded him the aid of their knowledge and encouragement, and he studied at home, so that he eventually acquired a broader education than was attained by the generality of the young people of that time in that region. . And so, under the tender watchcare of his parents, was young Crozer reared and in greater part educated, and so was his character formed. And, also in his boyhood, when he was but fourteen years of age, he professed religion under the minis- trations of the Rev. Dr. Staughton, of Philadelphia, of whose church (the First Baptist ) he became a member, and from that day through- out his life he was the sincere Christian, free from fault and exemplary in all things.
From his early boyhood he had been accustomed to perform such share of the farm labor as his strength would admit, and when he was seventeen years of age the care of its management was devolved almost entirely upon him. On his coming of age, his father, in consideration of his previous service, gave him a one-third interest in the profits. But this arrangement was not of long continuance. Two years later (in 1816) his father died, and his mother survived her bereavement only one year. Young Crozer was now twenty-four years old. He was de- sirous of keeping the farm, but finding this impracticable he leased it, pending the sale, and (in 1820) made a journey as far westward as Illinois, making the distance there and back, about two thousand seven hundred miles, almost entirely on horseback, and occupying a period of about seven months. On his return he found that the farm had been sold. His share amounted to about $2,400, and this, added to his savings, made him about $3,400 as his capital upon which to really begin life.
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His first venture in business was operating a saw and grist mill at Leipersville, Delaware county, in partnership with its owner, Judge G. G. Leiper, who was his partner in the business. The two contributed an equal amount of capital, and Mr. Crozer set off his personal services against Mr. Leiper's rent account for the use of the mill. Somewhat later this partnership was dissolved, and he engaged in cotton manu- facturing in Leiper's mill on Brown creek. At the beginning the busi- ness was small, but it developed gradually. and soon into great pro- portions under the masterly direction of Mr. Crozer, who now assumed its entire direction.
In 1825 Mr. Crozer bought the Mattson paper mill, on the west branch of Chester creek, which he altered and to which he removed his cotton machinery. In 1845 the noted old Chester mills, which provided foodstuffs for the patriot army during the Revolutionary war, were brought to sale in the orphans' court, and were sold to John W. Ash- mead, who sold them, together with a land tract of upwards of sixty acres, to Mr. Crozer. The next year Mr. Crozer built on the Chester mills grounds the cotton mill known as No. I. a stone structure of five stories, one hundred and thirty-eight feet long by fifty feet wide, and also a number of stone dwellings for the workmen. In 1847 the fac- tory contained one hundred and fifty power looms, and six thousand spindles, and there were forty-six tenements on the property. In 1852 Mr. Crozer built mill No. 2, somewhat larger than No. 1, and con- taining one hundred and fifty looms and seven thousand spindles. In 1863 he erected mill No. 3. two hundred and twenty-two feet by fifty- two feet, four stories in height, and containing one hundred and fifty looms and six thousand spindles. These combined mills would work up ninety bales of cotton weekly, and their producing capacity was eighty-two cases of goods weekly. After the death of Mr. Crozer, in
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1866, the mills were divided among his sons, Samuel A. Crozer taking No. 2, and Nos. 1 and 3 being operated by the three other brothers- J. Lewis, George K. and Robert H. Crozer-under the firm name of J. P. Crozer's Sons.
While Mr. Crozer was thus building up a gigantic industrial and mercantile establishment-a monument to his own sagacity, industry and enterprise and a boon to his fellow men who derived their support from the employment he afforded them,-he was also extending his tireless energies into fields which were to prove as fruitful in moral and social ways as that was in material ways. And here he was to have as helpmeet a noble Christian woman animated by sentiments en- tirely in harmony with his own.
Mr. Crozer was married. March 12, 1825, to Miss Sallie L. Knowles, the daughter of James Knowles, who had been neighbor of his parents. She was a woman of such disposition as was his own mother, and was highly educated. Mr. and Mrs. Crozer made their home at West Branch until April 19. 1847, when they removed to the Flower estate, about two miles from Chester, which Mr. Crozer had purchased in 1845. and to which he gave the name of Upland. Here he erected a splendid mansion which became noted as a seat of culture, hospitality and benevolence. It witnessed, in all probability, an inter- course between husband and wife, the inception of each one of the many benevolent and charitable enterprises which its master instituted. Among the earlier of these was school establishment. Upland was without a school until 1849, and the children in the neighborhood were obliged to go considerable distances to the schools at Sneath's Corner. or Cartertown. In the winter season, the roads were frequently in such bad condition that children were unable to attend for days at a time. In the year named Mr. Crozer erected a school building entirely at his
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own expense, and this was used by the directors for a period of nine years, and until larger buiklings were provided at public expense.
Mr. Crozer was founder of church as well as school at Upland. As has been stated, he was a Baptist in religion, and he provided for religious services in a building adjoining his factory. In 1851 he began the crection of a church edifice, and this was completed Novem- ber 17, 1852, when it was publicly recognized as a Baptist house of worship, several prominent clergymen of that denomination taking part in the ceremonies. In 1860 an addition was built, and in 1873 a fur- ther enlargement was made at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars. In 1855 Mr. Crozer built a substantial brick parsonage. From its be- ginning the church performed a highly useful work, and from it has grown four other churches in the neighborhood as population has in- creased from time to time.
In 1857 Mr. Crozer. ever interested in education, entered upon the work of establishing a normal school, and to this end he expended forty-five thousand dollars in the erection of what is the main building of the present Crozer Theological Seminary. In the following year it was opened as a high-grade academy, and was continued as such until the breaking out of the Civil war, which closed so many insti- tutions of learning. But during that tremendous conflict, the academy building, as it was then known, served a most useful purpose. In- tensely patriotic and tenderly humane, Mr. Crozer was among the first to urge the organization of that beneficent organization known as the Christian Commission, and he, with Mr. George H. Stuart. repre- sented the city of Philadelphia in the meeting in New York City. on November 14. 1861. when that body had its origin. The summer of 1862 found the land deluged in blood, every train and vessel from the southern states bringing northward its burden of wounded soldiers. In
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this extremity Mr. Crozer tendered to the government the use of the academy building free of expense. conditioning only that the property should come back to him in as good order as when it left his control. The offer was accepted, necessary interior changes were made, and on June 18, 1862, the building was opened as a hospital. On the same day the ladies of Uptand and neighborhood formed the Soldiers' Re- lief Association, of which Mrs. Samuel A. Crozer was the first direct- ress. Mrs. J. Lewis Crozer assistant secretary and Mrs. John Crozer treasurer ; the lady last named was the wife of Mr. Crozer, and the two others were his daughters-in-law. The other officers were Mrs. Abby Kerlin, assistant directress, and Mrs. Samuel Arthur, secretary. For some time the hospital patients were supplied entirely by this asso- ciation with those delicacies which were so well suited to their con- dition. The hospital contained a thousand beds, and also afforded accommodations for about three hundred mirses, attendants and guards. The patients were almost exclusively Union soldiers until after the battle of Gettysburg, in July, 1863, when the great number of wounded and sick left by General Lee made it necessary for particular provision for the Confederates, and the Chester Hospital was designated for that purpose. During the war more than six thousand patients were pro- vided for. When peace was restored in 1865. the building was re- possessed by Mr. Crozer, who leased it to Colonel Theodore Hyatt.
Mr. Crozer closed his remarkably useful and eventful life on March 11. 1866. and his death was deplored as a personal bereave- ment by the entire community, while throughout the state the press and. associational bodies gave expression to the common grief at the passing away of one who was loved and revered as a model Christian gentle- man and public benefactor. Shortly afterward his widow and chil- dren, as a memorial to the husband and father, set apart the academy
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land and building for a particular educational purpose, to be known as the Crozer Theological Seminary, placing it under Baptist control. and the formal dedication took place October 2, 1868. The Theo- logical department of the Lewisburg University was removed here and added to it. Mrs. Crozer died August 3, 1882, aged eighty-two years, leaving a beautiful memory for her loveliness of character and her count- less henefactions .. In the year of her decease, her children devoted fifty thousand dollars to the endowment of a professorship as a memorial to her. The family name is further associated with the Seminary in the beautiful building known as Pearl Hall, founded by Mr. William Buck- nell in memory of his deceased wife, who was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Crozer: her name was Margaret, of which Pearl is the Latin equivalent. At a later day Mr. Bucknell gave a sum of ten thousand dollars for the purchase of books for the Pearl Hall Library, conditioned upon the library being perpetually free to the young men of Delaware county.
To Mr. and Mrs. John P. Crozer were born nine children: Sam- uel A .: Margaret who became the wife of Mr. William Bucknell, and who died in March, 1870: Elizabeth: J. Lewis: Sallie K., who died in August. 1852; James, who died October 25, 1838: George K. : Robert H .; and Emma Crozer.
SAMUEL ALDRICH CROZER.
Samuel Aldrich Crozer, eldest son of John Price and Sallie L. (Knowles) Crozer, was born at West Branch, .Aston township, Dela- ware county, December 25, 1825. There, the year before, his father had purchased the old Mattson paper mill. then dilapidated, which he had changed into a cotton mill, giving to the locality the name "West
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Branch," from its situation on the west branch of Chester creek, and there he laid the foundation of the enormous fortune he subsequently acquired. The son received his primary education in the country school in the neighborhood, but in his home life he was peculiarly fortunate, for his mother was a cultured, refined, gentle woman, the influence of whose teachings and example exerted an influence that has continued throughout all his well-rounded useful carcer as a business man and exemplary citizen. His father, although denied the advantages of a liberal education in youth, devoted much of his spare time in man- hood to reading and study of carefully selected instructive books. The diary which John P. Crozer kept during a large part of his life indi- cates the thoroughness with which he pursued these volumes, which gave to him precision in expression, and a forceful, easy style in writing. Hence the atmosphere of Samuel A. Crozer's early life was conducive to the upbuilding and development of a well-rounded, strong character in the lad who was reared amid such environments.
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