USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume III > Part 36
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Oliver F. Hallman, son of Augustus and Mary (Conklin) Hallman, was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1856. After attend- ing the elementary and grammar schools of Phoenixville, he completed his education in the Phoenixville High School, and after the completion of
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his formal school training, found his first employment with the Phoenix- ville Iron Company, where, as a blacksmith's helper, he was engaged for a period of four years. At the end of that time he went to Mont Clare, and entered the employ of John Griffin. After a time, however, he decided to resume his connection with the Phoenixville Iron Company, and after somewhat enlarging his experience with that concern he again made a change and associated himself for one year with Jacob Street. At the end of that time he decided to engage in business for himself, and going to Phoenixville he opened a blacksmith shop of his own. Not altogether satisfied with his first business venture, he soon, in about twelve months, decided to try his fortune elsewhere. He removed to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and started a small machine shop and foundry. This enterprise was successful and for two years he continued in that line and in that locality His enlarged experience now enabled him to see that in Mont Clare there was opportunity for a new line of business activity and he returned to that place in order to establish a manufacturing business of his own. He engaged in the manufacture of ornamental iron, producing a general line of iron railings, sections of light structural work, and iron stoves and ornaments of various kinds. There was no manufacturing concern of the kind in Mont Clare, and Mr. Hallman found that he had wisely judged and that the field was a good one. From the time of the founding of the business in 1882 to the present time (1923) he has had a monopoly on his particular line of manufactur- ing in Mont Clare. About 1895 he purchased the foundry which had been established by John Griffin, but later sold that interest. Mr. Hall- man's enterprise is now among the well known and well established con- cerns of Montgomery county, and Mr. Hallman, himself, is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of his section of the county. Politically he gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Democratic party. His religious affiliation is with the Presbyterian church, which he has served as a member of the board of elders for the past twenty-three years. In his younger days he was the leader of and played the clarinet in the Phoenixville Military Band, and he has always retained his interest in local musical affairs.
In 1878, at Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Oliver F. Hallman married Susannah Longabough, daughter of Josiah and Ann Longabough, and they are the parents of four children: I. Adella, who was born in Octo- ber, 1879, and died in 1902 ; she married Harry Webber, of Mont Clare. 2. Furman, who resides in Village Green, Delaware, and is a draftsman for the Sun Shipbuilding Company. 3. Granville, who was born in 1886, and resides in Village Green, Delaware. 4. Emma Alva, who was born in 1888, and died in 1889.
SAMUEL GORDON SMYTH-Through his wide interest in mat- ters historical, his extended memberships in societies devoted to the preservation of historical information, political, ecclesiastical and genea-
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logical, and through his own writings, Mr. Smyth is widely known in Montgomery county and Eastern Pennsylvania. His writings, historical, biographical and genealogical, have appeared in various publications in pamphlet and book form, one of the most important being "The Gene- alogy of the Duke, Shepherd and Van Metre Family." He is a son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Ritchie) Smyth, his father having been a mer- chant of Philadelphia, later a farmer in Falls township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, a soldier of the Union army, drafted into the service but discharged for disability.
Samuel Gordon (S. Gordon) Smyth was born in Penns Manor, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1859. He was educated in the public schools and Newtown Academy at Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania. As a youth he spent three years in sea service with the Phila- delphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company on their transports. He entered the employ of the Moro Philips Chemical Company, of Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, in 1881, and continued with that company and its allied interests-banking, and land development-at Villa Nova, Penn- sylvania, until 1915. Since that year he has served in the clerical depart- ments of the steel plant of J. Wood & Brother, and the Lee Tire and Rubber Company at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Smyth is a Republican in politics, and has served as president of Town Council, borough auditor, and delegate in the county and State party conventions. In 1877 he was a member and a corporal of Company H, Sixth Regiment, National Guard of New Jersey, and was on duty during the labor riots at Homestead, Pennsylvania. He was the orig- inator of the Service Flag in popular use during the World War. In church relation Mr. Smyth is a Presbyterian, serving the First Presby- terian Church of Conshohocken as elder. He is a member of Imperial Lodge, No. 1095, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; past grand of Philadelphia National Lodge, No. 223, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, of Philadelphia ; member of National Palestine Encampment, No. 51, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and a past master of Fritz Lodge, No. 420, Free and Accepted Masons of Conshohocken. He is ex-president of the Montgomery County Historical Society of Norris- town, Pennsylvania; member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; the Historical Society of Bucks county, Pennsylvania; the Scotch-Irish Society ; and the Chamber of Commerce of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Smyth married, at Cape May, New Jersey, July 24, 1879, Mary Elizabeth Duke, daughter of Francis Kendrick and Sophia Louisa (Eldredge) Duke, her father a justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. Smyth are the parents of three children: 1. Francis Alison, born June 7, 1880, a veteran of the Spanish-American War. 2. Marion M., born May 16, 1885, a teacher in the Philadelphia schools, married James J. Wertz. 3. Samuel Gordon (2), born November 21, 1891, an illustrator and a veteran of the war with Germany, 1917-18; he went overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces.
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LOUIS WERNWAG READ, M. D .- Among the natives of Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, who have won a high place in the medical profession was Dr. Louis Wernwag Read, now deceased. He rendered valuable service in Russia during the Crimean War, was one of the faithful and skillful physicians of our Civil War, and after the close of the latter conflict was for twenty-nine years surgeon-general of Pennsyl- vania, with the rank of brigadier-general.
Dr. Louis W. Read was born in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1828, eldest son of Thomas and Sarah (Corson) Read, the latter being a descendant of Peter Coursen (later Corson), through (II) Cornelius (1); (III) Cornelius (2) ; (IV) Benja- min (1); (V) Benjamin (2); (VI) Benjamin (3); (VII) Joseph; (VIII) Sarah, daughter of Joseph, who married Thomas Read. Peter Coursen was of French Huguenot descent, and came to this country from Vendee, Holland, in 1612, settling on Staten Island. Dr. Hiram and Dr. William Corson, both eminent physicians in their day, were brothers of Sarah (Corson) Read, and uncles of Dr. Louis W. Read. Thomas Read was a native of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and Sarah (Corson) Read, of Montgomery county.
Louis W. Read spent his early youth at Read's Mill, in Upper Merion township, receiving his early education in the public schools of that district. He then attended Treemount Academy, then taught by the Rev. Samuel Aaron, a celebrated educator. When his school training was completed, he studied medicine under the direction of his uncle, Dr. William Corson, and then entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in the class of 1849. Upon the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, he offered his services to the Russian Government, was accepted and became a surgeon in the Russian forces during the remainder of the struggle. He was present at the famous siege of Sebastopol by the allied forces, and during his service in this war effected important improvements in the treatment of gunshot wounds, which were later adopted in army hospitals throughout the world. After the close of the war, Dr. Read spent six months in the hospitals of Paris, France, giving attention to serious wounds and diseases which were complicated in their nature, and then returned to Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the autumn of 1857, where he again engaged in medical and surgical practice. On the out- break of the Civil War he enlisted for service in the Union Army, and in May, 1861, was appointed surgeon, with the rank of major, of the Thirteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (First Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves), and served in that capacity until July 17, 1863, when he resigned to accept promotion as surgeon of United States Volunteers, being assigned to duty as medical director of the famous old division known as the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. In November, 1864, he was assigned to the McKim United States Hospital, in Balti- more, Maryland, where he remained in charge until March, 1866, when, the war having for some time been ended, he was mustered out of service
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with the rank of brevet lieutenant-colonel of the United States Volun- teers, his commission stating that his promotion was "for faithful and meritorious service during the War for the Union." His skill as a surgeon was demonstrated by the removal of a bullet from the leg of General Hancock after other physicians had failed. In 1866, after an absence of five years, Dr. Read returned to Norristown and resumed practice, continuing to minister to the needs of that locality for thirty years, during which time he won for himself a high place in the medical profession, and the honor and esteem of those whom he served. On May 15, 1874, he was appointed surgeon-general of Pennsylvania, with the rank of brigadier-general, Governor John Frederic Hartranft making the appointment, and that position he held by successive appointments until 1899.
Dr. Read took an active interest in the affairs of the county and State. He was a prominent member of the Historical Society of Phila- delphia ; the Philadelphia Country Club; the United Service Club, of Philadelphia; the Genealogical Society of Philadelphia; the Military Order of the Loyal Legion; the Society of the Sons of the Revolution; and the Union League, in all of which he was an active and enthusiastic supporter of the various activities to which they were individually devoted. At the annual meeting in Buffalo, New York, of the Association of Military Surgeons, at a time when he was absent, he was elected to serve as president of that organization, an official position which he accepted, although the honor was an altogether unsolicited and unexpected one. The kindly disposition as well as the superior skill and the faithfulness of Dr. Read greatly endeared him to a host of those who were associated with him both in professional and in social capacity, and his death, which occurred October 31, 1900, was deeply felt by the entire community.
Dr. Louis W. Read married, on June 3, 1858, Georgine Hurst, daugh- ter of Alfred and Wilhelmine Elizabeth (Smith) Hurst. She died August 5, 1885, leaving two children: Nina Boreiche Read; and Dr. Alfred Hurst Read, a practicing physician of Norristown, who is also president of. the Norristown Board of Health.
ISRAEL WISTAR MORRIS-The different elements and interests essential to the progress and well-being of a great city are frequently represented and strengthened by the same man, and a notable exempli- fication of wide-reaching and comprehensive force is furnished by the life of the late Israel Wistar Morris, of Philadelphia, who turned from activity in business affairs of large proportions to the quiet pursuits of literature and historical research, and gained in the latter field a satis- faction equal to his success in the commercial world as a mining engineer.
The Morris ancestral record is one of close connection with the history of Philadelphia since Anthony Morris came to Pennsylvania, and, as the associate of Penn, Logan and Shippen, laid out the city. Anthony Morris was appointed justice of the Provincial Court by Penn, and became the second mayor of Philadelphia, presiding as chief execu-
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tive for a number of years. From his day to the present, representatives of the name have borne an active and prominent part in moulding the destiny of the city. Samuel Morris, the most prominent member of the family in Revolutionary days, was captain of the First Troop of Phila- delphia Cavalry, serving as a body-guard to General Washington during the Revolutionary War in the campaign in and around Philadelphia.
Israel Wistar Morris was born June 1, 1833, in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, son of Caspar and Anne (Cheston) Morris. His education was supplemented by a thorough business training in the firm of Morris, Tasker & Company, iron pipe manufacturers, and in early manhood he became interested in the development of the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania. He devoted his talents as an engineer to that industry and became recognized as a leader. He operated mines in Schuylkill county prior to the Civil War, and at the time when anthracite coal for domestic purposes was unknown west of the Allegheny mountains, made an introduction of its use in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the progress of the Civil War, Mr. Morris became associated with Robert Hare Powel in both the anthracite and bituminous coal trade, and spent much time in Washington in connection with the preparation of tariff bills bearing upon the industry. Subsequent to the war he became president of the Locust Mountain Coal Company, the Coal Ridge Coal Company, and a number of lesser companies connected with the operations of the Lehigh Valley railroad. He made an examination of coal properties for the railroad and purchased for that company many of their most valuable holdings. Mr. Morris remained in charge of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company's coal properties until he had reached the age of seventy years, when he retired from active business. In politics Mr. Morris was first a Whig and later a Republican. He was earnestly interested in all enterprises for the improvement and social culture of his city, and actively aided a number of associations by his influence.
Upon his retirement from business life, Israel Wistar Morris there- after devoted his time to historical research, writing, the management of his private affairs, and the active participation in philanthropic work. He had a wonderful knowledge and memory regarding all local historical matters of interest to Philadelphians, and had long been a collector of books, prints and data relating to the history of the city. His library included a unique copy of Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia" extended, from the original two volumes as published, to six volumes by the insertion of rare engravings, prints, and illustrations of all sorts, of the history of the city. He was one of the most active and interested mem- bers of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, serving on its board of councilors and making daily visits to its headquarters. He belonged to the American Philosophical Society, the Society of Mining Engineers, and various other literary and scientific organizations. He was also a director of the Girard Trust Company.
Always a man of fine presence, the appearance of Israel Wistar Morris in his later years was strikingly courtly. He was just short of six feet
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in height, and of dignified bearing ; his head was crowned with iron-gray hair and his strong features were accentuated by a white moustache, side whiskers and beard.
On December 3, 1855, Israel Wistar Morris married his cousin, Annie Morris Buckley, daughter of Effingham Lawrence and Hannah (Morris) Buckley, of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Morris were the parents of a son, Effingham Buckley Morris, whose biography follows. The death of Mrs. Israel Wistar Morris occurred March 6, 1915.
The death of Israel Wistar Morris, which occurred December 18, 1909, deprived Philadelphia of one of her leading citizens, whose influence was always exerted in behalf of right and justice and who had ever, in the various relations of life, set an example in all respects worthy of emulation.
EFFINGHAM BUCKLEY MORRIS-The Girard Trust Company, of Philadelphia, takes rank among the great financial institutions of the United States, and the personality of the man who since 1887 has guided its fortunes is therefore recorded. Effingham B. Morris comes of a family of professional men, merchants and bankers, many of whom during the last two hundred and twenty-five years attained prominence during their lives in Philadelphia. Himself a lawyer by training, he also gravitated toward finance, although still maintaining his law offices in the Morris building, Philadelphia, and he has been identified with many banks and other corporations.
Effingham Buckley Morris was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 23, 1856, son of the late Israel Wistar and Annie Morris (Buck- ley) Morris. He received his early education in the classical school of Dr. John W. Faires, Philadelphia, and then entered the University of Pennsylvania, being graduated from the department of arts in 1875 with the degree of A. B., and from the department of law in 1878 with the degree of LL.B. He entered upon the practice of his profession in association with P. Pemberton Morris, LL.D., a professor of practice and pleading at law and equity in the University of Pennsylvania, and upon the retirement of Professor Morris succeeded to his practice. He was general attorney for the Lehigh Valley railroad from 1881, general counsel for the Girard Trust Company from 1885 until 1887, and has been counsel for various other corporations.
In 1887 Mr. Morris was asked as counsel for the Girard Trust Company to act as president, when his predecessor, John B. Garrett, became financial vice-president of the Lehigh Valley railroad. He agreed to do so on May 17, 1887, supposing his term of service was to be for a few months, until the board could find a permanent successor to Mr. Garrett, as Mr. Morris had then no thought of giving up the active practice of his profession. However, he became so much interested in the development of the company, that his temporary duties have now lasted more than thirty-five years, and he is now the longest in service of all presidents of financial institutions in Philadelphia. All those who
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were heads of all the banks, trust companies, and savings fund societies of Philadelphia when Mr. Morris took hold of the Girard Trust Company in 1887 have since then either died or retired from work. Mr. Morris still reaches his office at half past eight every morning, maintaining the habits of his early life.
The Girard Trust Company is, with one exception, the oldest of its kind in Pennsylvania. Under his direction it has grown to be the largest in extent of its business in the State. In 1887, when Mr. Morris was elected president, the Girard Trust Company had a capital of $500,000, deposits of less than $1,000,000 and trust funds of perhaps $5,000,000 or more. Its entire office force, including officers, was less than a dozen persons. In 1922 the staff had grown to more than four hundred persons. The capital, surplus, and. undivided profits of the Girard Trust Company in 1922 exceeded $13,000,000; its deposits, subject to check, are nearly $50,000,000 ; its trust funds over $290,000,000; and its corporate trusts about $1,900,000,000. The banking house of the Girard Trust Company with its large armor plate safe deposit and other similar vaults cost $1,500,000, and the entire amount was charged off the books, the cost having been defrayed out of current surplus profits, over and above divi- dends, made during the three years occupied in construction of the building. The property is carried by the company as an asset at the cost of the bare ground only.
Mr. Morris was chairman for many years of the Pennsylvania Steel Company, and also of the Cambria Steel Company, employing some 20,000 men, until the sale of these companies to the Bethlehem and Midvale Steel Companies, respectively, in 1916. He has been for twenty- five years a director of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and of its allied lines, also of the Franklin National Bank, Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, and other corporations. He is a trustee of the estate of Anthony J. Drexel, deceased.
The political service of Effingham B. Morris in Philadelphia has been limited to one term as member of the Common Council of Philadelphia, to which he was elected as a candidate of the "Committee of One Hun- dred," in the Eighth Ward in 1880-81. He was a trustee for the holders of Philadelphia city bonds secured on city gas works from 1882 until 1887, defeating David H. Lane in the election by the councils for that position. By appointment of the United States courts in 1886, he became receiver of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, and in 1888 arranged for the settlement of its affairs in the reorganization of the Reading railroad. He was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania for ten years, resign- ing in 1921. In March, 1917, Mr. Morris was appointed treasurer of the Council of National Defense and Committee of Public Safety of Pennsyl- vania, of which George Wharton Pepper was chairman, and was in active service with that committee during the entire World War.
Mr. Morris is a life member of the Union League and University Clubs ; a member of the Philadelphia, Rittenhouse, Racquet, and other
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clubs, the Sons of the Revolution, Colonial and other societies, and of the Chamber of Commerce of New York. Politically he is a Republican.
On November 5, 1879, in Philadelphia, Mr. Morris married Ellen Douglas Burroughs, the youngest daughter of H. Nelson and Caroline (Mitchell) Burroughs of Philadelphia. Mrs. Morris is a descendant of Dr. Samuel Fuller, who made the historic voyage on the "Mayflower," and was the first physician in New England. Mr. and Mrs. Effingham B. Morris are the parents of the following children: I. Rhoda, widow of George Clymer Brooke, of Philadelphia, who married, after his death, Trenchard E. Newbold, of Philadelphia. Her children are: Rhoda M. Brooke, George Clymer Brooke, Jr., and Trenchard E. Newbold, Jr. 2. Eleanor, wife of Stacy B. Lloyd, of Philadelphia. Her children are : Ellen Douglas Lloyd, Stacy B. Lloyd, Jr., and Morris Lloyd. 3. Caro- line, wife of John Frederick Byers, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her children are: Alexander M. Byers, John Frederick Byers, Jr., Nancy Lee Byers, and Buckley Morris Byers. 4. Effingham Buckley, Jr., whose biography follows.
EFFINGHAM BUCKLEY MORRIS, JR .- Effingham Buckley Mor- ris, Jr., was born August 26, 1890, in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a son of Effingham Buckley and Ellen Douglas (Burroughs) Morris.
Effingham B. Morris, Jr., attended Haverford School, graduating in 1907. In the autumn of that year he entered Yale University, and in 19II received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After leaving Yale Mr. Morris entered the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, grad- uating in 1915. The same year he was admitted to the bar, and in association with Harry Ingersoll entered immediately upon the active practice of law. This was interrupted by the entrance of the United States into the World War. On May 10, 1917, Mr. Morris received a commission as second lieutenant of cavalry, having since 1912 been a member of the First Troop of Philadelphia City Cavalry, which he joined just one hundred years after the death of his ancestor, Captain Samuel Morris, who commanded the troop during the Revolution, and died in 1812. On August 15, 1917, at the training camp at Fort Niagara, he received his commission as captain of cavalry and was assigned to duty with the infantry at Camp Meade, Maryland, where he commanded Company K, 313th Regiment, 79th Division. On July 8, 1918, he sailed for France with the Expeditionary Forces, and from September 13 to October 15 saw active service in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, where his company, under his command, was one of the two assault companies leading the attack of the 313th Regiment on the town of Montfaucon, September 26, 1918, which was captured September 27, 1918. On September 27, 1918 he was wounded in the leg, but remained on the field and took command of the 3rd Battalion, 313th Infantry, after the battalion commander and the ranking captain who succeeded him had both been wounded and evacuated. On October 20, 1918, he was given his majority. He returned to the United States in command of the 2nd
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