History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 85

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323

USA > Pennsylvania > Venango County > History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including > Part 85

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JOHN MINICH, deceased, was a native of Alsace, France, and immigrated to this country in 1848, settling at Fryburg, Clarion county, Pennsylvania. He was an architect and builder by trade, but after locating at Fryburg he engaged in the brewing business. He erected a brewery at that point which he operated until 1858, when he came to Cranberry township, Venango county, and built and operated the first brewery in this county, and manu- factured the first beer within its limits. He also built in connection with

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BIOGRAPHIES OF FRANKLIN.

his brewery a distillery, which he carried on at the same time. In 1861 he removed to Franklin, and located on the corner of Water and South Park streets, where he established a brewery now owned by Philip Grossman. He was married in 1840 to Maria Steiner, a native of Germany, by whom he had five children: Josephine, wife of Philip Grossman; Joseph, of Brad- ford, Pennsylvania; John, of Kansas; Aaron, of Bradford, and Mary, wife of Peter Hauk, of Meadville. Mr. Minich met his death by drowning in French creek April, 12, 1865. His widow survived him until 1879. Politi- cally he was a Democrat, and a member of the I. O. O. F.

PHILIP GROSSMAN, son of John F. and Christina (Fass) Grossman, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany. . He came to this country with his parents in 1850, who located in Allegheny county, three miles south of Pittsburgh, where his father died in 1860 and his mother in 1885. Philip learned the trade of baker, and worked in various parts of the country until 1861, when he settled in Franklin and started the first bakery in the place. In August, 1861, he sold his business and removed to Rynd Farm on Oil creek, and en- gaged in merchandising, where he remained until the death of his father- in-law, John Minich, when he returned to Franklin and purchased the brewery which he has since conducted. Mr. Grossman was married in Feb- ruary, 1862, to Josephine, daughter of John Minich, and by this marriage six children have been born: John F., Edward F., Joseph P., Louisa, Vic- toria, and Philip, Jr. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., I. O. R. M., and the A. O. U. W., and in politics is a Democrat.

CHRISTIAN BRECHT, brewer, son of Karl and Christina (Bohn) Brecht, was born December 31, 1854, in Wurtemberg, Germany, and came to this country with his parents in 1857. His father first settled in Saegertown, Crawford county, Pennsylvania. He was a brewer by trade, and in 1859 removed to Clarion county, and in connection with J. B. Lutz established a brewery. He then connected himself with Nicholas Dritz in the same business, and subsequently went to Fryburg and operated a brewery for two years. In 1861 he settled in Plumer, Venango county, Pennsylvania, and built a brew- ery, and purchased a farm. He afterward changed his business into a dis- tillery, which was destroyed by fire, since which time he has followed farm- ing. Christian Brecht is the eldest son of a family of four sons and four daughters. He was taught the trade of a brewer, and followed the busi- ness for a number of years, working for George Ober, of Allegheny City, and other brewers. In 1876 he returned to Plumer and engaged in the brewing business. In 1879 he entered the employ of F. L. Ober & Brother, where he remained until 1883, when he came to Franklin and purchased the Snell brewery, just outside Franklin, in Sugar Creek township, and has since conducted that business. He was married June 8, 1882, to Miss Mary C., daughter of George Ober of Allegheny City, and by this union they have had two children, one of whom is living, Rosie. Mr. Brecht is a member of the I. O. O. F., and politically a Democrat.

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

CHAPTER XLVII.

BIOGRAPHIES OF OIL CITY.

JACOB JAY VANDERGRIFT .- There is probably no man whose name is so widely known and so intimately connected with the great petroleum and natural gas industries of Pennsylvania and the adjoining states as the sub- ject of this sketch, who was not only one of the earliest pioneers in the petroleum business, but has continued to prosecute its various branches with uniform success to the present time. No one has contributed more than he to the development of this great industry, and he is to-day one of the most important characters in the oil country. He has attained this eminence not by any caprice of fortune, but by the force of his genius, energy, and perseverance, and above all, by the sterling qualities of his character and his upright and honorable dealings throughout a busy and active life.

Captain Vandergrift was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 10, 1827, the second child and eldest son of William K. and Sophia (Sarver) Vandergrift, the parents of both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. His early life was passed in that city, and there he obtained his education at the public schools of the Second ward, of which James B. D. Meeds was principal, and under the tuition of "'Squire" Thomas Steele. At the age of fifteen, choosing the path of life which naturally opened before him, he entered the steamboat service, then the principal means of intercommunica- tion between Pittsburgh and the West. By intelligent application and faithful attention to duty he rose in ten years from the humble position of cabin boy to that of captain. During this period he introduced the method of towing coal barges that has since been employed in the river coal traffic, an innovation that attracted wide attention at the time and gave a great impetus to mining operations in the Pittsburgh coal field. When the civil war broke out he was still engaged in business on the river, principally in the transportation of oil, and was the owner of the steamboat Red Fox, which was chartered by the United States government and lost on the Ohio river near Cairo. At this time he was also concerned in oil ventures in West Virginia, but sustained severe losses in the destruction of his property by the Confederate forces. Through his connection with the transportation of oil from the Venango oil field he became interested in various producing and

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BIOGRAPHIES OF OIL CITY.

other enterprises which required frequent personal attention, and in 1863 he took up his residence at Oil City.

In the special work of petroleum production he was first associated with Daniel Bushnell, and was engaged for a brief period in the formation of oil companies. He was an active member of the firm of H. L. Taylor & Com- pany, from which the Union Oil Company originated. As a member of the firm of Vandergrift & Forman, Vandergrift, Pitcairn & Company, and Van- dergrift, Young & Company, his knowledge of the business, united with his irrepressible energy, finally led to the organization of the Forest Oil Company, of which he is president, and which has always held a foremost place among the large and successful. oil companies. He also organized the United Oil and Gas Trust and the Washington Oil Company, of which he is president, and has been an active promoter of the Anchor Oil Company. The names of these companies and their success are an unqualified tribute to the pecu- liar ability which Captain Vandergrift contributed to their promotion and development.

While an enterprising and successful producer, it was left to Captain Vandergrift to develop the solution of the problem of oil transportation. At the inception of the oil business the methods employed were exceedingly primitive, barrels and bulk boats constituting the only means of shipment. The increasing production attracted railroads to the oil region, each hoping to secure a portion of the traffic, and, impelled by the same motive, Captain Vandergrift and others organized the Oil City and Pithole Railroad Company, of which the history is given in the chapter on "Internal Improvements," in this work. In connection with George V. Forman and others he equipped a line of cars, the "Star Tank Line," for transportation between Pithole City and Oil City, and constructed a pipe line, the "Star Pipe Line," from West Pithole to Pithole. This was the first successful pipe line, and may be regarded as the real beginning of that gigantic system of oil transporta- tion now carried on under the name of the National Transit Company. The development of the "lower oil country" opened a new field for pipe line extension, and, with Captain Vandergrift as the leading spirit, a number of lines were constructed in Venango, Armstrong, Butler, and Clarion coun- ties, which were finally consolidated under the name of the United Pipe Lines of Vandergrift, Forman & Company. To Captain Vandergrift's busi- ness integrity and wise forethought are due not only the complete develop- ment of this mode of transportation, but the open and honest methods by which it has been conducted. Throughout its entire history he was presi- dent of the United Pipe Lines, and later of the United Pipe Lines division of the National Transit Company, which position he has but recently resigned.

The manufacturing industries incident to the oil business have also received a due share of Captain Vandergrift's attention. He was the pro-

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

jector of the Imperial refinery, the largest enterprise of its kind ever attempted in the oil regions, as shown by its modern and complete equip- ment, its improved machinery, and a daily capacity of two thousand barrels. By its sale to the Standard Oil Company he became a stockholder in the lat- ter, in which he was until recently an officer. His ability and experience have also contributed to the planting and development of the Oil City Boiler Works, the Pennsylvania Tube Works, and the Apollo Iron and Steel Company.

Any one thus interested in a special product and its industries must of necessity. be identified with its finance. Captain Vandergrift founded the Oil City Trust Company, one of the most prosperous and successful banking institutions of western Pennsylvania. He also founded the Keystone Bank of Pittsburgh, having previously been a director in the Allegheny National Bank of that city. He was active in the organization of the Seaboard Bank of New York, of which he is at present a director, and held a similar posi- tion in the official board of the Argyle Savings Bank at Petrolia during its brief but successful history. At the formation of the Oil City Oil Exchange he became a large stockholder, and in great measure through his vigorous action the Pittsburgh Oil Exchange was established on a sound financial basis.

Since his removal to Pittsburgh in 1881, Captain Vandergrift has given a large share of his energies to the introduction of natural gas as a fuel. The Penn Fuel Company, the Bridgewater Gas Company, the Natural Gas Company of West Virginia, the Chartiers Natural Gas Company, the United Oil and Gas Trust, the Toledo Natural Gas Company, and the Fort Pitt Natural Gas Company were founded and incorporated under his guidance and general direction, and these enterprises, representing millions of capi- tal, have performed an incalculable service in developing the fuel that has proven a veritable philosopher's stone for the iron industries of western Pennsylvania.

To no single man identified with the production and application of pe- troleum and natural gas is greater credit due than to Captain Vandergrift. It has frequently been said of him that he was a pioneer of these industries, but, after all, that is scant praise to one who was indeed a pioneer with suf- ficient forethought to see the possibilities of his venture and sufficient cour- age to stand by those possibilities and follow his forethought to complete success. Captain Vandergrift was a pioneer and deserves all the laurels of a pioneer, and at the same time the story of his business life is but the his- tory of the petroleum and natural gas industries. From the days of spring- poles and bulk barges and pond freshets, through all the rapid changes of the most remarkable industrial development the world has ever seen, until to day, when thousands of derricks stand like ghosts in the moonlight, and thousands of pipe lines cover the ground like spider-webs, Captain Van-

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BIOGRAPHIES OF OIL CITY.

dergrift has stood by and led the fortunes of the great oil industry. Never a day has his hand been off the wheel, and never an atom of his energy and ability has he begrudged to the favored and favoring pursuits of his life.

Captain Vandergrift never forgets. The past scenes of his life are dear to him still, and many a time he beguiles the hours for his friends, and is himself beguiled from weariness, as he casts the lead of his memory into the stream of his life and dwells with pleasure upon the " old days on the river" when life flowed as quietly as the Ohio, or met the dangers incident to a high flood of the Mississippi. He is never too busy to give a warm welcome and a cheery hour to an old comrade who shared the joys and trials of his boating days. Nor has he ever lost touch with men as men. Never has he felt that spirit that kills in too many successful men sympathy with the struggling or the unsuccessful. The trials and misfortunes of his own life, as well as its triumphs and successes, have been fountains of helpfulness, and many a cheering word and many a helpful hand does he give to those with whom he shared the past vicissitudes, and with whom he is ever ready to share the present blessings. With the conviction firmly rooted in his heart that wealth is the gift of God for high and noble use, he has never withheld his hand, and the public enterprises of religion and philanthropy, as well as the private necessities of poverty and misfortune, have always shared largely in his most generous and most unostentatious giving. In his private and social life, into the sacredness of which we may not intrude here, Captain Vandergrift is of the most genial and happy disposition, as hundreds of his friends can testify, and his home has always been a center of gladness and a source of joy. To look at the man and take the measure of his success reveals to us some of the characteristics and secrets of his life and career. His entire business life has been marked by the strictest integrity and honesty of both principle and practice. Doubtful plans and purposes have had no place in his policy, but to the least details of business his integrity and honesty have always descended. His instinctive love of fair play has always made him mindful of the rights and privileges of other men and has helped him, at the same time, to recognize and reward talent in others, and this power to discover talent has not only contributed to his own success, but has opened the way for very many others. His friends are as dear to him as his own life, and many a man has found an unexpect- ed door opened before him, unlocked by the captain's cherished memory of some act of friendship in the past. Coupled with these most noble traits of manhood he possesses a keen power of discernment and a large experi- mental knowledge of human nature. In addition to these qualities of heart and life, Captain Vandergrift has that mental grasp which foresees the pos- sibilities and contingencies of his chosen business, takes in the details of every department of his work, and anticipates and meets contingency and possibility with matured and practical plans. Most of all, he has the cour-

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

age of his convictions, and while he stands ever ready to yield his own opinion to a clearer light, his courage has carried him forward to that complete success which has thus far crowned his busy, honorable life. It is not given to every man to follow his own chosen path to wealth and prove himself even in that very path a public benefactor. But such has been Cap- tain Vandergrift's experience. While yet in the vigor of life he gives his best energies and high talents to his business, gladly shares the joys and profits of it with his friends and the needy, and still sees the triumph of his life's labor issue in the general good of the community and contribute to the comfort of mankind. The story of his life and labor is told wher- ever the flame of natural gas glows in the white heat of a furnace, wher- ever the yellow gleam of a petroleum lamp brightens and cheers a home.

ANDREW CONE, deceased, was twice consul of the United States, first at Para, from February, 1876, to July 24, 1878, and subsequently at Pernam- buco, Brazil, till November, 1880. His father, Andrew Gayler Cone, a descendant of that stalwart old "Sentinel of Puritanism," Conant Cone, was born in May, 1785, at Westminster, Vermont, and served his country in the war of 1812. He came to New York in 1817, and buying three hun- dred acres of land in Wheatland, Monroe county, he became a farmer. Af- terward he bought three hundred acres in Riga and built a home there for himself, to which he brought as his wife, January, 1820, Polly Lewis, daughter of Nathaniel Andrews of New Britain, Connecticut. Another daughter of Nathaniel Andrews became the wife of President Charles G. Finney of Oberlin College, whose oldest daughter, Helen, is now the wife of General Jacob D. Cox, ex-governor of Ohio, and a younger daughter, Julia, the wife of James Monroe, who represented his state in congress, and the United States abroad, as consul general at Rio Janeiro, Brazil, from 1864 to 1868. A son of Nathaniel Andrews, George Andrews of Syracuse, New York, is the father of Bishop Edward Andrews of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of Charles Andrews, judge of the court of appeals of New York.

On their land in Riga Mr. and Mrs. Cone endured the hardships of pioneer life whilst changing the forest into the cultivated fields of their beautiful farm. Here their two sons were born; the oldest, Edward A., September, 1820, and Andrew, August 7, 1822. Here the parents spent the remainder of their useful lives, enjoying the fruits of their labor, and the esteem of all who knew them, for they were excellent people in word and deed.

Edward A. Cone, M. D., left home early, married Miss Mary A. Mudge, and settled in Milford, Michigan, in the practice of his profession. Andrew re- mained on the farm with his parents, where he received a good common school education, and afterward spent a few terms at Middleburg Academy, Wyoming county, New York. When only twenty-one years of age he mar- ried Miss Mary E. Hebbard of Frederick county, Maryland. He managed

Af Vandergrift

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BIOGRAPHIES OF OIL CITY.

the farm successfully and took care of his parents through years of declin- ing health till death released them, and paid to his brother, Doctor Cone, his portion of the estate. Andrew Gayler Cone died October 13, 1847. His widow, Polly Lewis, died December 26, 1848. After losing his parents, Andrew Cone sold his farm, and removing to Milford, engaged in commer- cial business. Here, April, 1858, he lost his young wife, who left one child, Anna Hebbard Cone. In June, 1859, Mr. Cone married Belinda S., daughter of Calvin Morse of Eaton, New York. This estimable lady died also at an untimely age, leaving two infant daughters, Lizzie M., and Jessie G. After various vicissitudes, Mr. Cone removed to Oil City, then in its infancy, in February, 1862, where he became prominent as one of its pioneers; he was superintendent of the United Petroleum Farms Association, owner and pub- lisher of the Oil City Weekly Times, vice-president of the Oil City Savings Bank, and among the founders of the Baptist church of Oil City, being one of its deacons and superintendent of its Sunday school. He enjoyed con- siderable reputation as a writer, his principal work on a book entitled, "Petrolia " being a review of the oil speculating agitation and a history of the oil fields of Pennsylvania. In October, 1868, Mr. Cone married Mary Elvisa, eldest daughter of Isaiah Thropp of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a cultured essayist and magazine writer, and the authoress of "The Valley Forge Centennial Poem."

In April, 1873, Mr. Cone was appointed as state commissioner to the Vienna World's Exposition by Governor Hartranft. Accompanied by his wife he sailed in the steamship Pennsylvania, the first of the line from Philadelphia. After fulfilling his official duties so creditably that he elicited praise from the Vienna papers, Mr. and Mrs. Cone traveled through Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, and Great Britain, Mrs. Cone writing letters meanwhile, as foreign correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Oil City Derrick. In the beginning of 1876, Mr. Cone's health fail- ing, he was advised to seek a warmer climate and of the five consulates of- fered him by President Grant, he chose that of Para, Brazil, especially as he had entertained the Brazilian emperor, Dom Pedro, during his visit to Oil City. Mr. Cone discharged his arduous and responsible duties on the Amazon for two and a half years, with the same indefatigable fidelity and correctness that marked the performance of every duty in life. In July, 1878, he was appointed consul of the United States at Pernambuco, Brazil, where he remained over two years. September 30, 1880, he returned on his first leave of absence to New York, after nearly five years of hard service, hoping rest and change would restore his shattered health. This leave of absence proved final, for in Philadelphia, November 7, 1880, he entered in- to rest.

Mr. Cone's high social qualities and attractive manners drew around him many admiring friends. An innate gentleman, he was refined and courteous

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HISTORY OF VENANGO COUNTY.

as he was fearless and liberal. Modest as the gentlest of women, he ever kept himself in the background, and the dross of envy, meanness, and pre- judice was not in him. "He was pure gold all through"; in the truest sense he was a Christian, manifesting a daily beauty in his life, in his rever- ence for age, his tenderness for women and children, his faithfulness in all things. His record at the department of state is said to be among the best there, and he was already marked for promotion. Certainly the United States government had in its service no more loyal or conscientious repre- sentative, and no consul or officer has ever been more sincerely esteemed at home or abroad.

JOHN R. CAMPBELL. - The subject of this sketch is a native of New Bed- ford, Massachusetts, his father, Alexander H. Campbell, being from New- buryport, and his mother, Abby T. Russell, from the first named place. The family removed to Philadelphia in 1839. After receiving the practical education usually enjoyed by the youth of his day, young Campbell gradu- ated in 1847 at the celebrated school of Reverend Samuel Aaron, at Norris- town, Pennsylvania. To the teaching and example of that noble apostle of temperance and anti-slavery is, no doubt, due his ardent Republicanism in mature years. Refusing a collegiate course he entered the locomotive works of M. W. Baldwin, in Philadelphia, and during five years of appren- ticeship obtained a practical knowledge of mechanics. At the death of his father, in 1852, who had been actively engaged in a general commission business in Philadelphia, he took charge of and closed up the affairs of the estate. His first business venture was in Philadelphia, in the manufacture of printing inks, in partnership with William L. and Charles H. Lay, both now residents of Oil City. After a few years he was compelled to relinquish this on account of failing health, and in 1859 went to western Texas to re- cuperate. He returned to Philadelphia in 1860 and entered into the gen- eral commission business there in 1861. He was married to Emma Ford, of Philadelphia, May 12, 1863. In March, 1865, Mr. Campbell visited the oil country in the interest of some oil companies in which he held stock, and in August of the same year removed to Oil City, where he has since been a resident. For the first four years of his residence here, in addition to attending to his oil interests, he filled acceptably other positions, being successively publisher of the Oil City Register, notary public, and treasurer for the receiver of the Oil City and Pithole Railroad Company. In 1867 he became book-keeper for Vandergrift & Lay, oil shippers, and afterward held the same position with J. J. Vandergrift, and still later with the firm of Vandergrift & Forman. In 1868 he was appointed treasurer of the sev- eral pipe lines owned and controlled by this last named firm, and so re- mained until the incorporation of these into the United Pipe Lines in 1877, when he was elected treasurer of that corporation. When the United Pipe Lines Company was merged in the National Transit Company he was

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BIOGRAPHIES OF OIL CITY.

elected treasurer of its United Pipe Lines division, which position he still holds.

With the pipe lines of Vandergrift & Forman began the system of oil transportation that at the present day stands unequaled in magnitude and efficiency. To Mr. Campbell is largely due the completion and perfection of the accurate and comprehensive system of pipe line accounts and methods now universally adopted. Enjoying from the beginning to the fullest extent the confidence and esteem of his business employers and associates, none have been more ready than they to give cheerful evidence of his character- istic talents as an organizer, and to-day he is the trusted treasurer of more than a "baker's dozen " of corporations. Having an abiding faith in the permanency of Oil City from the first years of his residence here, Mr. Camp- bell has ever been prominently identified with its best interests, the advance- ment and perfection of which he has most materially encouraged. In fact, they largely owe their success to the aid he has liberally given, and to his practical business management and counsel. When the disaster occurred soon after the beginning of the building of the first bridge projected over the Allegheny at Oil City by the Oil City and Petroleum Bridge Company in 1865, he was elected the secretary and treasurer of the same. He reorgan- ized the company, obtained new subscriptions, and assisted in the completion of that structure, placed it in a sound financial condition, and served in the official capacity mentioned for some years. He was also a charter member, and secretary and treasurer of the Venango Bridge Company from Novem- ber 10, 1874, until April 13, 1886. Mr. Campbell has been for a number of years vestryman and treasurer of Christ Episcopal church of Oil City, and aided in building the present beautiful church edifice. He was a charter member of the Ivy Club, one of the finest social organizations in this part of the state, and is now serving his third term as its president. His means and counsel have always been freely given to every enterprise. Mr. Camp- bell is in the prime of his business usefulness, and no eulogy could add to the high estimation in which he is held wherever known.

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History of Venango County, Pennsylvania : its past and present, including, Part 85

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868- Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co. Number of Pages: 1323

Author: Bell, Herbert C. (Herbert Charles), 1868-
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Brown, Runk & Co.
Number of Pages: 1323