USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 15
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When the American Steamship Company's steamers, the "Penn- sylvania," "Ohio," "Indiana," and "Illinois," were built, Mr. Doran, being ambitious to figure in so important an industry as the starting of a line of transatlantic steamers from his native city, applied for a position and was appointed to be Chief Engi- neer of the "Ohio." After making a few voyages he was kept on shore at Philadelphia to assist the Company's then Superintending Engineer, J. W. Marshall.
By this time the American Steamship Company had been absorbed by the International Navigation Company, which had had its steamers for the Red Star Line, trading between Philadelphia and Antwerp, built in England. Shortly after, upon the death of Mr. Marshall, Mr. Doran succeeded him as Superintending Engi- neer of the company, and as motives of economy and convenience necessitated the bulk of the repair work, as well as construction
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of new boats, being done in England, Mr. Doran was unavoidably kept much of his time abroad, though greatly against his will, and all the while earnestly deploring the condition of trade which compelled the company to adopt the policy of spending their money outside of this country. The Inman Steamship Company, of Liver- pool, which was sold, was purchased by the International Naviga- tion Company, who immediately proceeded to re-establish it in public favor by building the first large ocean mail and passenger twin screw steamers, "New York " and "Paris." Mr. Doran's supervision of these steamers from their inception to the present time has made him one of the busiest men in his State, and when the efforts of the International Navigation Company to have the "New York " and "Paris" admitted to American registry were crowned by success by the act of Congress of 1892, which enabled them to raise the American flag over these steamers on the con- dition of building an equal amount of tonnage in the United States, Mr. Doran was actively employed in supervising the plan- ning and construction of those two now well known steamers, “St. Louis " and "St. Paul."
In all of these notable improvements, tending to advance the United States among the nations of the world, Mr. Doran has been an important factor. His part in bringing about the past improvements in existing speed of ocean vessels has been an active one. He was in a large measure responsible for the introduction of such great improvements as forced boiler draught on board of ocean steamers, an innovation which has resulted in largely improving the speed of vessels without increasing weight and bulk of apparatus. He is recognized everywhere as a man of thor- oughly progressive ideas, and the fact that the scene of his chief labors has been on Pennsylvania soil has greatly added to its fame and the advantage of its interests.
HENRY R. EDMUNDS.
T HE several departments of the law all have their representative leaders, and these men occupy high places of activity in the Commonwealth which closely identify them with the chief interests thereof. In the practice of Admiralty law and that branch of the legal profession which is closely connected with the commercial interests of the merchant marine, Henry Reeves Edmunds is a recognized authority and one of the most eminent practitioners. As a United States Commissioner he has occupied a conspicuous place in public life since 1883, and by these and other connections he has during his career demonstrated his ability and progressive spirit to such an extent that he is to-day among the most prominent men of his city and State.
HENRY REEVES EDMUNDS was born in Philadelphia, January 17, 1840. His father was Franklin D. Edmunds, who was born at Cape May, New Jersey, March, 1814, and died in 1859. His mother was Ann Marshall Stanger, who was born at Marshallville, New Jersey, February 11, 1815, and died March 18, 1897. On his paternal side Mr. Edmunds inherited English blood; while his mother's ancestors came from Holland. His father's people came from England in 1636, and settled first at Lynn, Massachusetts, then at Sag Harbor, Long Island, and just before the Revolution they moved to Cape May, New Jersey, which was at that time but a scarcely known hamlet by the sea. It was a farming district, and there many of the well known Edmunds family were raised through several generations. Mrs. Edmunds, mother of the sub- ject of this biography, was descended from the seven Stangeere brothers, who came from Holland before the Revolution and estab- I86
Sthey R. Edmunds
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lished the first glass manufactory in the Colonies. Through their introduction of this new industry they became identified with the subsequent commercial advancement of the entire country. From these ancestors Henry Reeves Edmunds inherited many admirable qualities and a progressive temperament that greatly tended to advance him in his career.
He received his early education in the public schools of Phila- delphia, and, after passing through the entire course, entered the Central High School, from which he graduated in July, 1856. Thoroughly prepared by a complete education, he decided to study law, and, accordingly, applied himself assiduously to attaining the knowledge of this profession in all its details. He was admitted to the Bar January 19, 1861. At that time a very favorable open- ing was offered in connection with marine law, and Mr. Edmunds made a special study of it. In the course of years he acquired such a thorough knowledge of the intricacies of this branch of the profession that he was secured by the Vessel Owners' and Captains' Association as their counsel, and he represented this organization for twenty-five years. During this period he won a number of notable cases for his clients, and became the accepted authority on those points of the law which dealt with marine legislation and controversy. He is now counsel for many of the leading steamship lines and marine insurance companies of the country. From the business point of view he also saw an opportunity for advancement, and he became a Director in a number of organiza- tions. He is a Director of the American Dredging Company, and in a legal capacity is identified with several similar concerns.
Aside from his professional career Mr. Edmunds has won recognition as a man of public spirit. In social life he has for some time been a rather prominent figure, and in charitable work is an important factor. He is a Director of the Children's Homœo- pathic Hospital, and is Vice-President of the American Hospital for Diseases of the Stomach. Since December, 1889, Mr. Edmunds has been a member of the Board of Education, and during his entire connection with this important body he has displayed his warm interest in the affairs of the city which concern the scholas-
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tic training of the younger generation. On April 4, 1883, Mr. Edmunds was made a United States Commissioner, and in this office he is widely known, having served ever since with a marked degree of ability and general satisfaction.
Mr. Edmunds is married, his wife being Anna H. Welsh, daughter of Charles Welsh, Manager of the American Bank Note Company. They have four children-Charles Welsh Edmunds, Franklin Davenport Edmunds, Adeline Welsh Edmunds and Anna Grace Edmunds. The eldest son is a member of the Bar, and the other is a graduate of the Architectural Department of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Edmunds, while he gives considerable attention to the duties of his office and charitable institutions, finds his chief inter- ests in the practicing of Admiralty law and in the management of the legal matters of those companies with which he has been so long connected. The affairs of legal moment which come under his supervision are certain to be cared for admirably, and he has won a deserved recognition as a prominent and progressive Penn- sylvanian.
JOHN P. ELKIN.
T is not alone the material interests of the State which demand of its sons their greatest care and atten- tion, but the making of this history concerns as thoroughly the intellectual progress of the rank and file of citizens. The legal profession has done much in this important work, and from a scholastic point of view the century has been productive of some of the best teachers and most advanced thinkers in the history of the country. John P. Elkin, the subject of this biography, has served faithfully in both of these fields. In his early life he was a teacher in the schools of our Commonwealth, and later he entered the broader field of law and equity, where he has rapidly risen to a position of promi- nence.
JOHN PRATT ELKIN was born at West Mahoning Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on January 11, 1860. His father was Francis Elkin and his mother Elizabeth Pratt Elkin. The former was the son of William Elkin, who died not long ago at the ripe old age of ninety-two years. John P. Elkin's early edu- cation was received in the common schools at Smicksburg, Indiana County, and his early training, both of an intellectual and busi- ness nature, was given him by parents fully equipped in every way for such an important task. His father, in 1874, founded, with others, at Wellsville, Ohio, the American Tin-Plate Company, which erected the first tin-plate mill in this country; and it was in this establishment that the son, John P. Elkin, worked for sev- eral years in his boyhood. He was later sent to the Indiana Nor- mal School of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated. Although but fifteen years of age, he was endowed with rare qualities of
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mind, and, armed with his diploma, he entered the common schools as a teacher, but, in 1882, matriculated in the Law Department of the University of Michigan. So great was his ability, and so unflagging his attention to his studies, that two years later he was graduated with honor from the University, being the orator of his class.
In 1885 he was admitted to the bar of Indiana County, where he speedily acquired a large practice, in the management of which he has been unfailingly diligent and remarkably successful. He is an earnest advocate, a forceful pleader and an untiring worker in his profession.
He has not permitted his legal studies to occupy all of his time, and since his admission to the bar has taken an active interest in political affairs. He began making speeches in politi- cal campaigns before he was seventeen years of age, and although a young man he is considered an old-time campaigner. In 1884, when but twenty-four years of age, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania and, in 1886, was re-elected by an increased majority. In the session of 1887 he was Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Reform and had charge of the joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. He was a delegate to the Convention which nominated Judge Mitchell for the Supreme Bench in 1887, was also a delegate to the Convention of 1890, and was Permanent Chairman of the Convention which nominated General Gregg for Auditor-General and Captain Morrison for State Treasurer in 1891. He was appointed to the position of Deputy Attorney-Gen- eral in 1895, which post he resigned in September, 1897. He was a delegate to the St. Louis Convention in 1896, representing in part the Twenty-first Congressional District, and was an enthusi- astic supporter of Matthew Stanley Quay for President. To crown his record of splendid party service he was elected Chairman of the Republican State Committee in 1896, and conducted the cam- paign for Mckinley and Hobart with rare tact and good judg- ment. Under his leadership Pennsylvania stood at the head of
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the column for sound money and good government with the mag- nificent plurality of 300,000, being the greatest plurality ever recorded in a political contest in any State in the Union.
Mr. Elkin still takes a keen interest in educational matters. For several years he has been President of the Indiana School Board, and has been a member of the Board of Trustees of his Alma Mater, the Indiana Normal School, of Pennsylvania, since 1886. It has been said of him that he has been connected with schools and school work either as pupil, teacher, student, director or trustee since he was six years of age. At the last meeting of the Directors' Association of Pennsylvania, held in the city of Harrisburg, he was unanimously chosen President.
In the business world, the subject of this biography has like- wise demonstrated a progressive spirit. When a very young man he was elected President of the Farmers' Bank of Indiana, which position of trust he held for several years. He is one of the active managers of the Clearfield and Cush Creek Coal and Coke Company, which is the pioneer coal company of Indiana County.
On June 17, 1884, Mr. Elkin was married to Adda Prothero, and this union has been blessed with two children, Helen P. and Laura Louise. Mr. Elkin is domestic in his tastes and habits, and popular in social circles.
WILLIAM L. ELKINS.
EW men have been accorded the long and unbroken continuity of successful achievement which has marked the singularly fruitful career of William L. Elkins. Few men, too, have been gifted with his tireless energy, forceful push, quick judgment, clear foresight, and really notable executive ability. These qualities have made him a prominent figure in the industrial, commercial, financial and railroad movements of not only Pennsylvania, but of other States as well. Although not a native of the State, he has been a resident of it since boyhood.
WILLIAM LUKENS ELKINS was born May 2, 1832. The Elkins family is of English origin, and first appeared on this con- tinent with the early Puritan settlers of New England. His maternal ancestors were identified with the western part of Vir- ginia. Although of Quaker parentage, his mother's grandfather, the Rev. John Watts, was conspicuous in the annals of the Baptist denomination, and was the founder of the first Baptist Church in Pennsylvania. His great grandfather, Silas Yerkes, was married in Christ Church. The father of William L. Elkins was George W. Elkins, a pioneer in paper making in this country. He came to Philadelphia with his wife and children in 1840, when the subject of this sketch was but eight years old. Young Elkins was educated in the public schools. When fifteen he became a clerk in a counting room. He was a bright and well informed youth, and always eager to perform promptly any task assigned him. But he was always ambitious to think and act for himself. In 1852 he joined Peter Saybolt in the produce and shipping business and began to deal extensively in agricultural products. In 1861
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Mr. Saybolt retired. About 1862 his attention was directed towards the oil regions. He was successful in his early ventures, and for twenty years was an important factor in the oil industry. He organized many corporations, being one of the organizers of the Standard Oil Company in 1872. He was among the first to appreciate the value of refined oil as an illuminant. He quickly realized that extensive purchases of the crude material, and its manufacture under economical conditions, would result in a mammoth industry. Establishing in Philadelphia a small plant, he soon added thereto those of several rivals, and finally the Bel- mont Works were leased, and the control of the oil-refining busi- ness in Philadelphia was secured. Starting with an output of about twenty-four hundred barrels per month, the works were soon developed so as to produce nearly ten times this quantity. To keep them supplied with the crude oil, Mr. Elkins secured an interest in many wells and opened others. His refining plants were several times destroyed by fire, but each time they were promptly rebuilt, often with considerable extensions, and furnished with the most improved machinery. It is recorded that "the first gasoline ever made was produced in Mr. Elkins' works." Mr. Elkins pushed his refining industry in other places than Phila- delphia. At one time he owned the Riverside Oil Refining Works, on the Allegheny River, and, in 1875, he became a partner in the Standard Oil Company. He disposed of his interest in the latter in 1881. Mr. Elkins has been specially conspicuous in the development of street railway systems, his first interest in these being as an investor in the stock of Philadelphia companies in 1873. Believing consolidation would lead to better service at a reduced cost of operating, he brought about the organization of the Philadelphia Traction Company. This company was quick in meeting the needs of the city, and so strengthened and extended its lines as to give an efficient service to all parts. This system is now the principal money earner of the Union Traction Com- pany. His success in Philadelphia led him to other cities. Among the companies which he helped to organize, and in each of which he is a Director, are the Metropolitan Traction Company of New
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York, the West Side and the North Side Traction Company of Chicago, the Baltimore Traction Company, and the Pittsburg Traction Company. He was one of the organizers, and is one of the directors, of the famous United Gas and Improvement Com- pany (capitalized at ten million dollars), which owns and controls about seventy plants for the manufacture of illuminating gas. Many corporations were eager to obtain his valuable services as an officer or director, but he has contented himself with assuming duties of this character in those with which he is identified by his own choice. Among these are the Globe Gas Light Company, the Edison Electric Light Company, and the Continental Railroad Company, in all of which he is President; and the Pennsylvania Heat, Light and Power Company, in which he is a Director. He is also a Trustee of the famous Girard estate, and a Director of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Following the example of the Astors and Rhinelanders in New York, Mr. Elkins, in company with his friend, P. A. B. Widener, has recently turned his attention to real estate investments in the Quaker City, and, together, they have purchased large tracts of land in the northern section upon which they have erected upward of three thousand houses.
While Mr. Elkins has always been a consistent Republican he never aspired to public office, although, in 1873, he was per- suaded to go abroad in a semi-diplomatic capacity as a Commis- sioner from Philadelphia to the Vienna Exposition. Mr. Elkins resides on North Broad Street, Philadelphia, occupying one of the finest and most stately mansions of that city. His wife (who was Louise Broomall) and he are noted for their hospitality. Mr. Elkins has always taken a deep interest in the Fine Arts, and his house contains an uncommonly fine collection of paintings. In order to encourage American Art he instituted a prize of $5,000 for the most meritorious painting exhibited by an American artist at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Mr. Elkins has two sons, George W. Elkins and William L. Elkins, Jr., and two daughters, Mrs. Eleanor Elkins Widener and Mrs. Ida Elkins Tyler; the first named the wife of George D. Widener, and the last named of Sydney F. Tyler.
James Lever
The Rembrandts Do In
JAMES ELVERSON.
AMES ELVERSON, publisher, was born in Eng- I land, in 1838, but removed with his parents to Newark, New Jersey, in 1847. He obtained a com- mon school education, and, at the age of fourteen, began his business career as a messenger boy in the Magnetic Telegraph Company's office, in Newark. This was in the early days of telegraphy, and foreseeing that the business was to assume great proportions, he set out to master it. At six- teen he was an operator, and, before he was twenty, was manager of the consolidated offices in Newark, Associated Press agent, and instructor of operators. Having mastered all that was then known of electrical science, he assisted in the construction of new lines throughout the State. At the breaking out of the Civil War Mr. Elverson was made Manager of the American Telegraph office, near the departments where most of the important business was transacted, in which capacity he came into friendly relations with President Lincoln, Secretaries Cameron, Stanton and others. Throughout the war he conducted this important office with great fidelity. In 1865 he removed to Philadelphia, and, in company with a former associate, established the Saturday Night, a journal which was conducted in the interest of municipal reform. The next year Mr. Elverson was convinced that there was room for a publication similar to the New York Ledger, and Saturday Night was made exclusively a story paper. Entirely new methods were employed, and it soon reached a circulation of 300,000 copies, dis- tributed over every section of the American Continent. Two ideas, which were novel and the foundation of success, consisted in allowing news agents to return unsold copies, and in printing the
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business card of every individual agent in the country on sample copies for free distribution. These revolutionized the entire news- stand business and made their originator a handsome fortune. Since 1879 Mr. Elverson has been its sole proprietor. In 1880 Mr. Elver- son established the Golden Days, a weekly publication for boys and girls, starting it in a way characteristic of his business foresight. Three million copies were printed of the first number, and, through a system established after months of labor, and an outlay of $50,000, these were distributed simultaneously in every town and hamlet in the United States from Maine to California. The sec- ond number had 52,000 subscribers, a figure which steadily increased to over 100,000. It was eagerly sought by parents as an antidote to the abundant pernicious literature. In February, 1889, Mr. Elverson purchased a controlling interest in the Phila- delphia Inquirer, a two-cent morning paper with a small circula- tion, meagre news facilities, and a small editorial force. Again he displayed rare business foresight. He established the Inquirer in a new building, bought new presses and type, trebled the editorial force, engaging good men in every branch of the business, dis- tributed special correspondents through the country, secured an unsurpassed foreign service; in short, brightened and strengthened the paper in every way possible. A Sunday edition was added in the fall of the same year. In 1890 he reduced the price to one cent, increased the size to eight pages of eight columns each, put in the largest illustrating plant in the State, and extended the news service still farther. Thereupon the circulation increased to 70,000 daily, with a corresponding increase in business patronage. Editorially the Inquirer took strong Republican ground on State and national issues, but in municipal matters left itself free to indorse such candidates as seemed best to meet the city's needs, without regard to political affiliations. The Inquirer was the first one-cent eight-page morning journal ever published, but Mr. Elver- son insisted that the selling price should have no reference to its quality, and has never hesitated to spend money without stint to improve it.
In 1894 Mr. Elverson purchased a large building on Market
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Street, fitted it out with all manner of improvements at a cost of about $300,000, making it at that time the most complete news- paper plant in America. The size of the Inquirer was increased to twelve pages, the price remaining at one cent, and its value increased by additions to the editorial staff and news facilities. In a short time the circulation increased to over 130,000, taxing the facilities of the plant. Mr. Elverson then took out the presses that had cost him $125,000 and replaced them with six of the finest Hoe presses in existence, with a capacity of 144,000 sixteen page papers per hour, and increased the size of the Inquirer to sixteen pages daily without any increase in price, but with a large addition to the editorial force and a great extension of news facil- ities. The Inquirer now has the largest circulation of any Repub- lican newspaper in the United States.
Incidentally it may be mentioned that the Inquirer was the first newspaper in the country to run its entire press-room by electricity, having the largest private electric plant in Philadel- phia, and also the first to discard, whenever possible, the telegraph for the long-distance telephone, a matter involving new outlays, but better results. Although a millionaire, Mr. Elverson has never been connected with any corporation but the Inquirer, has never borrowed a dollar in his life, never lived beyond his income, and up to this time has never let go of the active management of the editorial and financial details of all his publications. He owns a handsome country seat on the heights of Georgetown, Washing- ton, D. C., and, since 1873, has spent every summer in Europe. His daughter is married to the French Ambassador to this coun- try, who was, in 1898, promoted to Madrid. His son is the general manager of the Inquirer.
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