Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 2

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1026

USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 2
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 2

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adopted as a text book in Yale Uniersity, both in the academic and theological departments.

Colonel Boies' conception of citizenship in the local and civic sphere led him to devote a large part of his time to the public good. He was the inspiring leader of the Scranton Munici- pal League and organized repeated crusades against the violators of the law. He was presi- dent of the Tax-Payers' Protective Association, a trustee of the Albright Public Library, a mem- ber and president of the Board of Trade, one of . the founders and supporters of the Home for the Friendless, a member of the advisory board of the Hahnemann Hospital and the Lackawanna Bible Society, and was more or less identified with every movement looking toward better citi- zenship and the improvement of public morals. From its earliest days Colonel Boies was asso- ciated with the Scranton Young Men's Christian Association, being elected its president in 1869. His sympathy and identity with that work were largely responsible for the phenominal growth of the association in Scranton, and it was under his leadership as chairman of the trustees that the present magnificent building was erected. He was a member of the state, the national and the international committees.

From the time of taking up his residence in Scranton Colonel Boies was a member of the First Presbyterian Church until 1874, when he helped to organize the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was the chairman of the board of trus- tees for many years, and likewise superintendent of the Sunday school. He was also chairman of the special committee of the Lackawanna Pres- bytery for the work among the foreign speaking people, a position in which he served his denom- ination with exceptional wisdom. Colonel Boies was an extensive and studious traveller. He vis- ited the various parts of his own country, Mexico, Cuba, Porto Rico, the countries of Europe, Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, and Greece; the Ha- waiian Islands, China and Japan. He filled his home with interesting curios and trophies of these journeys and also wrote and spoke of his obserations. His home, Breezymont, was the

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scene of generous hospitality and many enter- tainments, both social and philanthropic.

Colonel Boies was of striking personal ap- pearance ; a man of many private and public vir- tues ; intimate and catholic in his friendships ; and an ardent advocate of all causes that won the approval of his intellect and the sanction of his conscience. His death occurred in Wilkes-Barre, December 12, 1903. He was buried in the fam- ily vault, Dunmore cemetery, Scranton, Penn- sylvania. December 16, 1903.

At the time of his death Colonel Boies was a member of the following organizations and clubs : Academy of Political and Social Science, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Mining Engineers, Ameri- can Social Science Association, American Associ- ation of Inventors and Manufacturers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geographical Society, American Sta- tistical Association, American Sunday School Union, American Society for the Extension of University Teaching, American Institute of Civ- ics, American Protective Tariff League, Chari- ties Organization Society, Lackawanna Bible So- ciety, Municipal League, Scranton : National Municipal League, New England Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania, National Civic Ser- vice Reform League, National Conference of Charities and Correction, National Prison Asso- ciation, Scranton Board of Trade, Wyoming Commemorative Association, Peter Williamson Lodge, No. 323, F. and A. M .; Society of Amer- ican Authors ; Military Service Institute, Gover- nor's Island, New York; Civic Service Reform Association of Pennsylvania, Franklin Institute ; Second Presbyterian Church, Scranton ; Sunday League of America,. Scranton Young Men's Christian Association. Clubs-Country Club of Scranton ; Lawyers' Club, New York city ; Scran- ton Engineers' Club: Scranton Club ; Union League Club, New York city; Union League Club, Philadelphia ; University Club, New York city : University Club, Philadelphia ; Engineers' Club, New York City; Graduate Club Associa- tion, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut.

JAMES A. LINEN, president of the First National Bank of Scranton, numbered among the safest and most capable financiers in the state, and one of the foremost residents of his city in all pertaining to its interests and advancement, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Greenfield township. Lackawanna county, June 23, 1840, son of George and Sarah Linen.

His father, George Linen, was one of the most accomplished artists of his day. He was born in Greenlaw, Scotland, April 29, 1802, the tenth in a family of eleven children, of whom eight came to maturity. He gave early evidence of artistic tastes, and was sent to the Royal Scottish Academy at Edinburgh, where he re- ceived masterly training in the line of his inborn predilection. Crossing the border into England, he there gave some years to the practice of his profession, and with gratifying success. He was attracted to the United States, however, whither he came in 1834, at the age of thirty-two. years, locating in the city of New York. He there opened a studio, and the fame of his tal- ents rapidly spread through the city and con- tiguous region. His special field was cabinet portrait painting, and his opportunities were only bounded by his physical ability for labor. It was before the days of photography, and his portraits, which were famous for their surpassing beauty and rare delicacy, were sought by the wealthiest and most discriminating of the people of the me- tropolis. At the same time they won for their creator the commendation of the most critical connoisseurs, and only five years after his com- ing he received a medal for the best specimen of cabinet portrait painting from the National Acad- emy of Design at the annual exhibition. Among his masterpieces were cabinet portraits of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, painted from life, and which were of such faithful portraiture and ex- quisite execution that from them have been cop- ied the vignettes of the former great statesmen named, which appear upon certain United States treasury notes of high denominations. George Linen was a prime favorite in the best social cir- cles, where he was admired for his deep knowl- .

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edge of literature and history as well as of art, and for his brilliant powers as a conversationalist. Strongly marked with the characteristics of his race, he was unspoiled by popularity, and, while he maintained a high social position, he at the same time carefully husbanded his means and acquired a modest competence. He purchased a farm at Bloomingdale, New Jersey, to which he gave the name of "Glenburne," meaning "the rivulet by the ravine," in tender remembrance of his Caledonian home, and to which he retired after closing his studio. Here he passed his later years in peace and contentment, occasionally painting a portrait of one of his children or a dear. old friend. He was a devout christian, a member of the Reformed Church at Pompton, and an ideal gentleman. By his marriage with Sarah Davis he became the father of nine chil- dren :

I. Mrs. Peter H. Ballentine, of Newark, New Jersey.

2. Mary, who became the wife of Ichabod W. Dawson, died in 1866.

3. John R., born at Dundaff, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1837, died January 10, 1893, at Buf- falo. His early life was passed in New York and its vicinity. In 1864 he bought a controlling interest in the Buffalo Scale Company, of which he was president for many years. He was trustee for many years of the Lafayette Street Presby- terian Church, a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, of the Idlewood Asso- ciation, and of the Merchants' Exchange. He was an excellent business man, a consistent chris- tian, an enterprising citizen, and a sympathetic charitable man. He married Frances Chestnut- wood, and to them was born a son, George G.

4. James A. See forward.

5. Elizabeth, born 1842, died 1859.

6. William G., died January, 1894, at Bloom- ingdale, New Jersey.

7. Georgiana. Mrs. Zabriskie Ryerson, of Bloomingdale, New Jersey.

8. Thomas Dickson, dicd 1851.

9. Helen Watt Fordham, died 1889, Lin- married.

James A. Linen, fourth child and second

son of George Linen and Sarah (Davis) Linen, was reared in Newark and in New York city, and in those places acquired an education which extended to a high school course. In early youth he entered the office of a note broker in Wall street, where he remained for five and a half years, and gained such an insight into monetary affairs as to afford him a sure foundation for his future usefulness and success. His entrance upon an independent career was delayed, how- ever, by the breaking out of the Civil war. His patriotism awakened, he enlisted September 19, 1862, at Newark, New Jersey, in the Twenty- sixth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, as a private, but was soon promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He served for nine months in the Army of the Potomac, his services including the battles of Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, and his brigade was the first to shed blood in the Gettysburg campaign. Lieutenant Linen was subsequently transferred to the Western Depart- ment, and served for eighteen months at Camp Nelson, Kentucky, in the quartermaster's de- partment, as disbursing clerk for Captain T. E. Hall, chief quartermaster of the Ninth Army Corps. After the restoration of peace he was ac- tively identified with the National Guard of Penn- sylvania, as a member of Company D, Thir- teenth Regiment, being elected first lieutenant at the organization of the company, and rising to the rank of captain. He served in all six years.

In February, 1865, shortly after his return from the field, Mr. Linen accepted the position of teller in the First National Bank of Scranton, and in June following was advanced to that of cashier, and served as such during the busy and eventful years in which the institution attained the high rank in banking circles which it now occupies. It was during a critical period of in- flated values and inevitable return to a general re- adjustment and a surer basis, and it was largely due to his effort and sagacity that impending dis- asters were averted, and the bank was not only enabled to protect itself, but at the same time to afford greatly needed assistance to various com- mercial and industrial enterprises of the first magnitude. After serving in the cashiership for

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a period of twenty-six years, Mr. Linen was elected to the presidency in October, 1891, a po- sition which he has occupied to the present time. In his higher place he has accomplished further advancement for the institution of which he is the head, and which is recognized throughout the state as one of its foremost and safest financial houses. The First National Bank of Scranton, an old and time-honored institution, was one of the first national banks organized in the state, and the first in the city. It was incorporated in 1863, and for more than forty years has occu- pied a most stable position in the industrial and financial growth of the community. It exceeds all other financial institutions in the city in amount of capital stock and surplus, stands first in the aggregate of business transacted by the banks of Scranton, and is one of the strongest in the United States, few banks even in metropolitan centers exceeding it as a success. Its stock is un- purchaseable except at a fabulous price ; while the par share value is $100, $1,600 is absolutely no temptation to the owner. From the first, each year has been one of steady progress, not only attesting its sound management but the satis- factory industrial and business conditions in the field in which it stands as a foremost factor. In 1864 the first dividend was declared, ten per cent., and since that time the dividend has in- creased from time to time until it is now paying an annual dividend of sixty per cent., the largest dividend ever paid by any Scranton corporation. A recent statement made the following splendid showing: Capital, $200,000 ; surplus, over $1,500,000 ; undivided profits $543,837.97; cir- culation, $50,000 ; deposits, over $10,000,000. Its banking house is one of the chief architectural ornaments of the city. The officiary of the bank is as follows : James A. Linen, president ; George L. Dickson, vice-president ; Isaac Post, cashier ; directors-George L. Dickson, W. R. Storms, WV. F. Hallstead, W. W. Scranton, George B. Smith, Charles H. Welles, Thomas F. Torrey, J. A. Linen. These names are regarded as syn- onymous for commercial prosperity as well as substantial wealth, and their connection withi the bank gives it a foremost position among the

solid, well-managed banks of the country, and assures for it a yet broader and larger career of usefulness in the future.

Aside from his business prominence, Mr. Linen is ranked among the first citizens of Scran- ton in all those attributes and efforts which are conducive to the development of public inter- ests along the lines of material enterprise, edu- cation and morals-alll that goes to the making- up of a prosperous city, desirable as a home, as well as for the business opportunities it presents. In all these directions he is unsparing of effort, and liberal in all outlays necessary to whatever purpose may be in hand. He has been entrusted with many responsible duties calling for the ser- vices of an experienced financier, among them the assigneeship of the defunct Scranton Trust Company and Savings Bank, and the. executor- ship of many valuable estates. He is a member of the Second Presbyterian Church ; a compan- ion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Pennsylvania Commandery ; and a member of Ezra Griffin Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and the Country Club, both of Scranton.

December 17, 1889, Mr. Linen married Miss Anna C. Blair, daughter of James Blair, of Scranton. Of this marriage have been born five children : 3. Mary Belle, who was educated at Miss Master's School at Dobbs Ferry. 4. Frank Insley, a graduate of Princeton College, and now connected with the First National Bank of Scranton. 5. James A., Jr., who is attending Williams College. Two died in childhood : Mar- garet Clark (I) ; and James Blair (2).

THOMAS DICKSON. The name of Thomas Dickson will ever be honorably pre- served as a principal founder of the city of Scranton as it is known today throughout the world-one of the great industrial centres of America. He came to the place when it was in a transitional state, its first railroad just opening, and from that time until the day of his death he devoted his splendid energies to its larger development. His largest accom- plishment was the establishment of what has ever since been one of the most important in-

1 PINW YYUMK

This. Dienow

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dustries of the valley-the Dickson Manufact- uring Company, machinists, founders and builders of railway locomotives. While this great enterprise claimed his principal atten- tion, he also afforded his aid to the inaugura- tion of various commercial and financial in- stitutions, and, in brief, bore an active part in every movement looking to the greater pros- perity of the community. Nor was his interest bounded by material considerations. He was an earnest practical christian, and his influ- ence and means were freely extended in behalf of churches, schools, and organized charities -- in short, all that would conduce to the de- sirability of his city as a place of residence as well as of strenuous toil, and ameliorate the conditions that are the necessary concomitants of a great industrial centre. The story of his life is one of unusual interest, and bears lessons well worth the telling, for he carved out his own career, without adventitious aids, and he preserved throughout his life, in face of temp- tations and obstacles, that excellent behavior which was becoming to him as a worthy son of worthy ancestors.

Mr. Dickson's ancestry has been briefly outlined in the accompanying sketch of his brother, George L. Dickson. He was born March 26, 1824, in Leeds, England, where his parents were temporarily sojourning. He was. however, essentially Scotch in every fibre, physical and mental, by parentage and heri- dity, and his parents shortly after his birth returned to their family home in Lauder, Ber- wickshire, Scotland, so that his every impres- sion prior to his coming to America was that which was made in the land of the heather. When he was eight years old his parents came from Scotland to Canada, and two years later (in 1834) to Pennsylvania, to Elk Mountain, Susquehanna county, and here remained while the father went to Carbondale to seek employ- ment. During his absence of nearly two years, Thomas Dickson, as the eldest son, took so far as he could the place of the parent, aiding the mother in her care of the family, though he was but ten years old. To this time he had

little if any school instruction, but had learned to read under his mother, a woman of strong character and considerable intelligence. He now entered school at Carbondale, kept in a log house, lighted by means of oiled paper in lieu of window glass, and puncheon benches serving for seats. His teacher was an irasci- ble character whose petty tyranny young Dick- son would not endure, and he left school. Thereafter his education was in greater part self-supplied through private reading, but his ambition was stimulated and well directed by Silas S. Benedict, an accomplished scholar, who took up his abode in Carbondale about this time, and gave his efforts to interesting the youth of the village in books, literary composition, declamation and public debate. A club being organized for the latter purpose, young Dickson took an active and shortly afterward a foremost part. How well he de- veloped is evidenced by his subsequent broad knowledge, surpassing that possessed by many a collegiate. His deep interest in books found expression in his personal acquisitions, begin- ning with his first wage-earning, and con- tinued throughout his life, not a year passing but he devoted a certain amount to new pur- chases, always made with careful discrimina- tion. At his death his library numbered many thousand volumes, covering the broadest fields and including all the standard authors, with whose works he had become entirely familiar. A key to his character is found in his peculiar love for the domestic poets, American and foreign, but, before all others, the bards of Scotland, Burns, Tannehill, Scott, and those who rank worthily with them. What de- lighted him he unselfishly sought to make de- lightful to others. When he first embarked in business in Carbondale he gathered books at his own expense and established a circulat- ing library, adding to the collection from time to time, and he conducted it during his entire residence there, making it of real advantage to the entire community. While he was thus educating himself and others he was at the same time developing literary ability of no

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mean order. As a writer he became a master of diction, and in the ripeness of his powers dictated correspondence with rare facility. He had acquired a considerable knowledge of law, which was of vast advantage to him when he came to the charge of the large business of his mature years, and in preparation of legal papers relating to transactions involving in the aggregate millions of dollars, dictated with an accuracy of legal expression which seldom afforded room for modification by the best equipped commercial lawyer. Indeed, one of the most talented lawyers at the Lackawanna bar was accustomed to say that Mr. Dickson's legal papers were as complete as he himself could draw up. In his hours of leisure his ample knowledge, discriminating observation and command of language, aided by a gen- uinely poetical temperament, enabled him to indite, in an epistolary way, compositions which were gems of literary construction. While making a tour of the world he wrote lionie a series of letters which he subsequently made the basis of a number of lectures which he prepared by invitation and delivered with great acceptability in various places: these were invariably given in behalf of some ben- evolent interest, and generally for the Young Men's Christian Association, in which he was deeply interested, and which he constantly aided with his means.

Mr. Dickson's business career began with his leaving school, and his first labors had for their object the assistance of his mother in the absence of the father. Applying to George A. Whiting for employment, his determination was exhibited in his proffer to perform any description of labor whatever. Admiring the spirit of the lad, Mr. Whiting set him to driv- ing a mule harnessed to the sweep for lifting coal out of the mine of the Delaware & Hud- son Canal Company. Shortly afterward he attracted the attention of Charles T. Pierson, a merchant in Carbondale, who offered him a place in his store as a clerk and boy of all work. This led in time to his employment as a clerk in the store of Joseph Benjamin, one

of the principal business men of the place. Here he acquitted himself so creditably, and gained such a knowledge of the business that, when the late Frederick P. and Galusha A. Grow (late congressman at large) in firm of Grow Brothers, became the owner, made the purchase conditional upon Mr. Dickson re- maining with them. Two years later he be- came a partner of his former employer, Mr. Benjamin, who had engaged in the foundry and mercantile interests, and took charge of the mercantile end of business, at the same time giving such attention as he could to the foundry business, and eventually devoted him- self almost entirely to the latter interest, the management of the store devolving upon his brothers, John A. and George L. Dickson.

Mr. Dickson was now thoroughly ac- quainted with all pertaining to the iron in- dustry, and realized as did few others the pos- sibilities for development conditioned upon improved machinery and suitable transporta- tion facilities. He therefore conceived the organization of a manufacturing company to be under his own control, and which he could conduct after his own well methodized plans, and his purpose was consummated by the formation of a partnership comprising his father, his two brothers, (John A. and George L.). and, subsequently. Charles P. and Morris Wurts, Joseph Benjamin, Peter J. Du Bois, Charles T. Pierson and John Dorrance. All these contributed to the capital of the firm styled Dickson & Company, and of which Thomas Dickson was chosen as manager. In April, 1856, a site was selected at Scranton, and Mr. Dickson purchased a suitable tract of ground at Pine Brook, at the point where that stream empties into the Lackawanna, and this marked the beginning of the present great manufactories. May 1, 1862, the firm was succeeded by the incorporated Dickson Manufacturing Company, with Thomas Dick- son as president and manager, who inaugu- rated the great enterprise, and wrought it out to its highly successful and permanent estab- lishment. At first the works were limited

THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

to the construction of engines and machinery for the mines, but through gradual expansion the product was extended to include all de- scriptions of foundry work and engines, in- cluding railway locomotives. Under Mr. Dickson's masterly management the company safely weathered the great financial panic of 1857, and was even able to aid the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, which, owing to its greater age, was burdened with a large amount of uncollectable assets. In 1859 George T. Oliphant, president of the Delaware & Hud- son Company, sought the aid of Mr. Dickson in opening coal mines and building railroads for that corporation, with the result that Mr. Dickson accepted the position of coal superin- tendent of the company named, retaining, how- .cver, the presidency of the Dickson Company. These two positions he occupied until 1867, when the business of both companiess had so largely increased that it was inpracticable for ·one individual to care for both, and he resigned the Dickson Company presidency in favor of his brother, George L. Dickson, but retaining his stock interest and his place in the direc- torate for the remainder of his life.

After becoming associated with the Dela- ware & Hudson Canal Company Mr. Dickson established the offices of that corporation in 'Scranton, (adjoining the works of the Dick- son Manufacturing Company) and devoted himself to its interests to such a degree that he was generally regarded as the embodiment of its powers. Among its enterprises which he personally conducted were the building of the railroad from Carbondale to Scranton, with branches and tracks to all the breakers, as fast as they were set up; and the construction of the road from Green Ridge to connect with the Lehigh & Susquehanna and the Jersey Central at Wilkes-Barre. Mr. Dickson was elected vice-president of the Delaware & Hud- son Canal Company in 1867, and two years later was advanced to the presidency, in which he continued until his death.

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 2

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1026