USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 14
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William Cramp, the founder of this great enterprise, died at Atlantic City, where he was temporarily sojourning, July 6, 1879. In his death the city of Philadelphia and the company's thousands of employés sustained a loss which was keenly felt. He was always a great promoter of commercial advancement and public prosperity, and he took a vital interest in the affairs of his State and the nation. He was one of the founders of the Union League of Philadelphia, and with many other societies and associations he was actively identified as one of the most powerful factors in bring- ing about success. Aside from the personal qualities of the man and his fame as a builder of naval wonders, he has left behind him in the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company a monument which will probably exist as long as the nation lives.
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JOSEPH U. CRAWFORD.
HE development of the railroad system of Pennsyl- vania has called into service the talents of some of the brightest men of the Commonwealth. Those foremost in every professional walk of life, as well as the most notable artisans and mechanical ex- perts, have from time to time been identified with the work of extending the system and perfecting it. The Pennsylvania Rail- road has been particularly fortunate in this respect, for it has enjoyed the co-operation of a large number of the most able and progressive men of the times. One of these is Joseph Ury Craw- ford, who is Engineer of Branch Lines of the Pennsylvania Rail- road system, and a man well known throughout the entire State for his progressive character.
JOSEPH URY CRAWFORD, of "Ury," Fox Chase, Philadelphia, was born at his present place of residence on August 25, 1842. His father was Stephen Rowan Crawford, of Glasgow, Scotland, and his mother was Jane Wilson, of Edinburgh, Scotland. They were among that sturdy colony of Scotch who, settling in Penn- sylvania early in the century, helped to develop its industries and gave the Commonwealth some of its most active men. His family lived in Girard Street, in Philadelphia, during the winter months and at "Ury" farm during the summer. He attended the Classical Institute, and from there went to the University of Pennsylvania in the class of 1862, but, though he was a young man imbued with every sense of the desirability of attaining a thorough education and the ambition to secure the same, yet, when the war broke out, he felt himself filled with a martial spirit, in accordance with the workings of which he enlisted, in
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April, 1861, in the Seventeenth Pennsylvania Regiment. He served with the Washington Grays, of which Captain Parry was the commander, through the three months' time of enlistment. He afterwards joined the Sixth New Jersey Infantry as Second Lieutenant of Company B, in September, 1861, and was promoted to the First Lieutenancy at the Battle of Williamsburg, May 5, 1862. In service he was an active soldier, and his bravery always distinguished him as a member of that patriotic body of the Union's defenders. He was made Captain at the battle of Seven Pines, June 30, 1862. He was then with Company A, Sixth New Jersey Regiment. He was the Engineer Officer of Field Fortifi- cations on General Hooker's staff, at Fair Oaks, upon the Penin- sula, in 1862, and served with his company as Captain through the Pope and Gettysburg campaigns. Through the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Petersburg campaigns he served as Engineer Officer on Major-General Gershom Mott's staff, and several times received honorable mention in the United States Army reports. When the war ended Mr. Crawford decided to follow the pro- fession of engineering, and was first identified with the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company as Senior Assistant Engineer of the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railroad during 1871 and 1872. He became Principal Assistant Engineer and afterwards Chief Engineer of the California Division of the Texas and Pacific Rail- road under Colonel Thomas A. Scott, being sent by the latter as Consulting Engineer to the Government of Japan in 1878. Mr. Crawford's services were of such a high order and so thoroughly appreciated that at the close of his engagement in Japan he was decorated by the Emperor with the Order of the Rising Sun. When he returned to America his fame as an engineer had already preceded him, for it had been greatly added to during his sojourn in Japan. He was at once employed by the late Jay Gould to make transcontinental examinations and surveys between the Pacific Coast and Salt Lake City, as well as in Wyoming and Nebraska Territories. In the fall of 1882 he once more entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as Chief Engineer of the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad. During 1886 and 1887
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he built the Piedmont and Cumberland Railroad. His services were recognized with a substantial appointment in August, 1889, when he was made Assistant to the Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, an office in which his practical abilities were of great value. Upon the death of John DuBarry, Second Vice-President, he was appointed Engineer of Branch Lines. Mr. Crawford's career in the Pennsylvania Railroad is outlined in the following roster of promotions: His first official position was that of Chief Engineer of the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad; he was then Chief Engineer of the Trenton Cut-Off Railroad; was made Assistant to the Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Chief Engineer of the Southeastern and Atlantic Railroad, a direct connection of the New York, Phila- delphia and Norfolk Railroad, and is now Engineer of Branch Lines on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Mr. Crawford is also a Director in the Pennsylvania Railroad Coal companies and several of their branch lines. The Trenton Cut-Off Branch of the Penn- sylvania Railroad, from Glenlock to Trenton, was built under his supervision and direction, while he occupied the position of Assist- ant to the Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, during 1890 and 1891. In the capacity of Engineer of Branch Lines he devotes all his attention to furthering the interests of the organization and is one of the most valuable officials in the company.
On May 1, 1874, Mr. Crawford was married to Harriett Cutler Henriques, at San Diego, California. They have nine children : Harriett Jean, Joseph E., Agnes Arthur Ethel, Alice R., Jessie H., Sarita H., Harry Cutler, Stephen Rowan, and Henriques; in all, five daughters and four sons. Mr. Crawford is very fond of home life, and, though a man of social inclinations and a prominent member of the Philadelphia Club and the Loyal Legion, spends much of his leisure time with his interesting family.
CONRAD B. DAY.
NATIVE of the principal city of Pennsylvania, A identified with Philadelphia's business interests for upwards of two generations, having advanced from an apprenticeship in a great business establish- ment to its proprietorship, and possessed of exten- sive social qualities and many personal attributes which demand admiration, Conrad B. Day is in every sense fitted to exemplify the spirit of progress in the State. This was even said of Mr. Day thir- teen years ago, when the Democracy of Pennsylvania chose him as its representative in a contest with the dominant party for the State Treasurership. If it was true then, it is more than true now, for since that point in his career Mr. Day has made still greater advancement, and has won further laurels and equal distinction.
CONRAD B. DAY was born July 3, 1832, in the old district of Kensington, now the Eighteenth Ward of Philadelphia. His father, William Day, was born near Haddonfield, New Jersey, and his mother, Mary M. Baker, was born in Kensington, where she lived for eighty-eight years, within a square of the house wherein she was born. Mr. Day received his early education in the public schools, among them being the Palmer Street Grammar School, now called "Adaire School." From there, in July, 1845, he went to the Philadelphia Central High School, graduating in July, 1847, after a two years' course. In December, 1847, then being fifteen years of age, he went to work for W. P. Wilstach, at 2812 North Third Street, to learn the saddlery hardware and carriage material business. From his very entrance into the establishment, he attracted the attention of the firm by his close application and dili- gence, as a result of which he mastered the many details of the
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business, and succeeded beyond the ordinary degree. On January I, 1861, he became a member of the firm, which was then known as W. P. Wilstach & Company. On January 1, 1867, the firm became Scott & Day, and, on January 1, 1877, Conrad B. Day was the sole proprietor of the large business, trading as Conrad B. Day & Company. Having made his establishment one of the best known in the trade throughout the United States, Mr. Day retired from business in December, 1889, and, early in 1890, he was elected President of the Commonwealth National Bank. In 1891 he was chosen President of the Seventh National Bank, the Com- monwealth having united with the Seventh National Bank, and he still retains that high office. To the administration of the affairs of both of these financial organizations, Mr. Day gives the same careful supervision and conscientious attention as that which char- acterized his entire business career. He became one of the leading figures in the financial world, and other companies selected him to hold offices in various capacities, in recognition of his superior- ity and special fitness for such positions. He has been a Director of the Fidelity Mutual Life Association of Philadelphia since 1890, and a Director of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women since 1894. This practically sums up the business life of Conrad B. Day, but it furnishes only a detail of his career. So complete was the trust imposed in him, that he had charge of the financial affairs of Mrs. W. P. Wilstach from 1870, when the estate was worth about one and a quarter millions, until her death, in 1892, when he became one of the executors of the estate, in that capacity settling up and dividing over four millions of dollars. The busi- ness was closed in less than four years after her death. Since that time, Mr. Day has been chiefly interested in financial matters, and, as President of the Seventh National Bank, he is still iden- tified with the progress of this important branch of general pros- perity. In public life Conrad B. Day has been a prominent figure. When Matthew S. Quay was a candidate for the office of State Treasurer, Conrad B. Day was the nominee of the Democratic State Convention. His splendid reputation for honesty and stead- iness of purpose, as well as his business ability, led to his selec-
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tion as the one man fully capable of representing the Democracy in that contest. That was in 1885, when the same platform upon which Grover Cleveland had been elected President was chosen by the Democracy of Pennsylvania to support Conrad B. Day for State Treasurer. However, the Republican organization was too complete to permit of triumph in that year, and, after a brave battle at the polls, Democracy met with defeat. In 1893 Mr. Day was appointed an Inspector in the Eastern Penitentiary, and he was re-appointed in 1895, still serving in that position.
On May 20, 1854, Mr. Day was married to Sarah D. Hall, who died February 1I, 1884, and to whom five children were born, one daughter and four sons. Three sons are still living, and give promise to follow in the footsteps of their distinguished father. Mr. Day was married again on April 17, 1888, to Emma J. Eisen- bise, who is still living. Socially, Mr. Day is very popular. He has always been active in the Masonic Fraternity, and in a num- ber of other institutions he is a leading member. He was elected and served as Right Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Penn- sylvania for the years 1883 and 1884. This is the highest honor to be obtained in Freemasonry, to which very few attain, and is only reached after years of faithful service, personal worth, and great popularity with the Craft. Since his retirement as Grand Master, he has occupied the responsible position of Chairman of the Committee on Finance, one of the most important in the Grand Lodge. On October 1, 1890, Harmony Lodge, No. 52, Free and Accepted Masons, held a special meeting in the Masonic Temple for the purpose of unveiling a life-size oil painting of the oldest on the roll of living Past Masters of the Lodge, Past Grand Master Conrad B. Day. This was an unusual tribute, and it served to show the esteem in which Mr. Day was held as a Mason. Since that time he has attained even greater prominence. In fact, viewed from every standpoint, Conrad B. Day unites in his personality all those qualities which lead to success. After a long career of usefulness and leadership, he is well entitled to a foremost place in the ranks of prominent Pennsylvanians.
Henry ho Dechert
HENRY M. DECHERT.
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EARLY all the well known men of the present day date their achievements from the close of the Civil War, and it is but a comparatively small number of the prominent Pennsylvanians now identified with the march of progress who were numbered among the leading men of the ante-bellum days. But Henry M. Dechert, the subject of this biography, who is now widely known in the financial world as President of the Common- wealth Title Insurance and Trust Company, and who is one of Philadelphia's leading lawyers, was prominent in public life in the city of Philadelphia two score years ago.
HENRY M. DECHERT was born March 11, 1832, in Reading, Pennsylvania. His father was Elijah Dechert and his mother was Mary W. Dechert, who was the daughter of Robert Porter, Presi- dent Judge of the Berks and Northampton districts. His mater- nal grandfather was a lieutenant in the Pennsylvania line during the Revolution, and was the son of General Andrew Porter, who was Colonel of the Fourth Pennsylvania Artillery during the War of the Revolution. Thus Mr. Dechert traces his ancestry back to ante-revolutionary days, and his parentage unites several families which were of notable standing for many generations in Pennsyl- vania. He received his early education in the Reading schools and was sent after this to Yale University, from which he gradu- ated in 1850. After leaving the University he taught school for two years and then read law with Charles B. Penrose, in Phila- delphia. When a young man Mr. Dechert made up his mind to enter the legal profession, which he deemed best suited to such talents as he possessed, and once he turned his energies in this
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direction success was by no means slow in following. After a few years of study he was admitted to the Bar of Philadelphia in 1854.
Mr. Dechert has practiced law for a number of years, and in late years he has been engaged in the legal profession in connec- tion with his son, Henry T. Dechert, who, when he reached man- hood, was also admitted to the Bar. Far back before the Civil War began Henry M. Dechert's name was a prominent one in Philadelphia. In 1860 he was the Democratic candidate for City Solicitor. He was Assistant City Solicitor and School Director from 1856 to 1860, and at that time he was numbered among the young leading legal lights of the city and State. But, when the War of the Rebellion broke out, he forsook the pen to take up the sword and enlisted as a volunteer, in 1862-63, in the Fortieth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. He was mustered in the United States service with his company, serving through some of the most trying times in that great period of internecine strife. He is now a member of the George G. Meade Post, No I, Grand Army of the Republic. After the war Mr. Dechert returned to the practice of his profession, and as years went by he became greatly interested in the largest business and financial organiza- tions of the city. One of the offices which he holds is the Presidency of the State Asylum for the Chronic Insane, and he is also Presi- dent of the Midnight Mission and a Trustee in several other charitable institutions. He is also President of the West Phila- delphia Institute.
Mr. Dechert is a Director in the Delaware Insurance Com- pany and in several other corporations, but he is chiefly known in the financial world as President of the Commonwealth Title Insurance and Trust Company. In this capacity he is an impor- tant figure in the financial affairs of the State, and few men in Philadelphia are more eminently fitted to hold such an office of honor and trust. His knowledge of the statutes and his peculiar adaptability to the exigencies of the legal work of such a corpora- tion as the Commonwealth Title Insurance and Trust Company fit him especially for the direction of its and other large interests.
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In 1857 Mr. Dechert was married to Miss Esther S. Taylor, who died in 1890. Three children were born from this marriage: Henry T. Dechert, Edward P. Dechert and Bertha M. Dechert. The former son is well known as a lawyer and public man in Philadelphia. Mr. Dechert is now chiefly engaged in the exercise of his duties as President of the Commonwealth Title Insurance and Trust Company, which is composed of prominent lawyers and conveyancers, and he is also engaged in the practice of his pro- fession. He is a member of the Grand Lodge of Masons, and this, with his connection with the Grand Army of the Republic and several other club affiliations, constitutes the chief detail of his social life. Being essentially a business man, Mr. Dechert gives most of his time and energy to the development of his organiza- tion's resources, and in this, as well as through his participation in legal affairs, he has attained a prominence which places him well in the front ranks of progress.
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HENRY T. DECHERT.
HE Junior Bar of the Commonwealth has in its ranks some of the brightest men in the State ; representatives of the law who, while they have yet scarcely reached their prime, can point to many notable achievements which dot their careers as instances of their spirit of enterprise and progressiveness. Henry T. Dechert, the subject of this biography, is one of them. As a lawyer he has won recognition for his able talents, and as a public man is generally recognized as a thoroughly representa- tive type of the progressive Pennsylvanians of the Nineteenth Century.
HENRY T. DECHERT was born in 1859, in Philadelphia, and ever since his entrance into professional life his native city has been the scene of his very active and busy career. His father is Henry M. Dechert, who, as far back as 1856, was prominent in Philadelphia's political circles, and who is to-day one of Philadel- phia's leading financial men and most prominent lawyers. Henry T. Dechert's mother was Esther S. Dechert, who came of an old American family. He received his education at Rugby School and then went to the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he graduated in 1879. After receiving a thorough academic education he decided to adopt the profession of law as the most auspicious outlet for his energetic and ambitious tem- perament. Accordingly he went to the Law School of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, after graduating from which he was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar. When he became a lawyer his father and he became partners, and the firm became known as one of the most successful in legal affairs in Philadelphia.
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Mr. Dechert's forefathers were people of superior intellectual and physical condition. His great-grandfather, Robert Porter, was President Judge of the districts of Berks and Northampton, and was First Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania line during the War of the Revolution. His grandfather, Elijah Dechert, was a noted man in his time and one of the most representative sons of the Keystone State. His father, Henry M. Dechert, also has attained a good position at the Bar, so that Henry T. Dechert is the scion of a house of notable professional men.
Mr. Dechert, in his young days, has taken a large interest in the military affairs of the State as expressed in the develop- ment of the National Guard. He allied himself with this splen- did body of civil soldiery a number of years ago, and his activity in promoting the advancement of the National Guard was event- ually recognized by his appointment to the post of Lieutenant- Colonel of the Second Regiment. As the incumbent of this office he is well known in military circles. It is, however, more as a professional man that Mr. Dechert's merits are generally recognized. He has been counsel in some of the most notable cases in recent years in the civil courts, to which his practice is chiefly confined. In addition to this the financial world recog- nizes his name as that of one of its most active and able advo- cates, for he figures largely as counsel for a number of the largest corporations in the State of Pennsylvania. He has a logical mind and is a close reasoner, and those mental qualifica- tions have made him thoroughly successful in the management of difficult cases. He has an easy and pleasant style of address to juries and the court, and, in fact, is one of the ablest lawyers of the Junior Bar.
In social life Mr. Dechert is also a prominent figure. He is affiliated with some of the leading clubs of his city, and in their management and direction takes an active part. Although still a young man he has already attained many notable achievements, and his friends say that he is destined to become in his later years a worthy follower in the progressive footsteps of his progeni- tors, for even now he is identified with the State's leading interests.
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Mr. Dechert is married, his wife's maiden name being M. Louise Howard. The marriage has resulted in one child, a son, Robert Dechert. While an active participant in the public affairs of his city, Mr. Dechert is thoroughly devoted to his home life. He is one of those who, while thoroughly imbued with the spirit of enterprise, always has time for participation in the advancement of his fellow men.
James S. Dilan
JAMES S. DORAN.
N the development of ocean transportation during the latter half of the century, James S. Doran has been a prominent figure. It has always been his hope to see the American flag floating over the larger share of this class of the world's business. He has been connected with international navigation and with the biggest companies in the country ever since he was a young man, and he is now Superintending Engineer of the International Nav- igation Company, which controls the American Line and the Red Star Line.
JAMES S. DORAN was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, February 2, 1835, his parents being William Shreeve and Mary Eyre Doran. His father was born in Burlington County, New Jersey, and was raised with the family of James Shreeve, a farmer near Mount Holly. At the age of maturity he went to Bucks County and continued his occupation as a farmer. His wife was of the family of Eyres, prominent in the early history of Chester, Pennsylvania, and her father was a ship builder, carrying on that business in Kensington in company with George Lendell, early in the present century. When James S. Doran was about thirteen years old, his parents moved to Wyoming Valley, where he worked on a farm in the summer and attended the best schools in the vicinity in winter. At the age of seventeen he left home and came to Philadelphia, apprenticing himself to the trade of machinist, where he served until twenty-one years of age. After several years spent in the West, where he worked for a number of manufactur- ing machinists, he became disabled through some trouble with his eyes and returned to his parents' home at Wilkes-Barre. In 1858 I .- 13.
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he began to go to sea as an engineer in the employ of a Phila- delphia company, and after a little time in this trade he joined the steamer " Keystone State " as an Assistant Engineer. It met with many adventures during the Rebellion, being finally converted into a cruising man-of-war by the Navy Department of the Gov- ernment. Mr. Doran was in the United States service for some time, and after his resignation from the navy joined another Phila- delphia-owned steamer, "The Continental," then employed as an army transport between New York and New Orleans, serving as Assistant Engineer. He soon after obtained a place as Chief Engi- neer on the "Mariposa," also in the Government service as an army transport. Shortly after the war he transferred his service to New York as Chief Engineer, and served for several years. After this, however, having obtained a thorough and broad knowl- edge of the general foundry and machine industry as well as of the sea-going branch of his business, Mr. Doran embarked in the former occupation at Passaic, New Jersey. He found it necessary to return to sea, however, and entered the service of Commodore Garrison, where he served as Chief Engineer of several steamers, finally accepting a place as Chief Engineer with the firm of T. Alexander & Sons, of New York City.
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