USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 21
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THOMAS L. HICKS.
of time evidenced Mr. Hicks' pronounced ability as an organizer, and when, on September 20, 1897, he was appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia, the people of the city, irrespective of party, recog- nized that in his administration their interests would be well guarded. Mr. Hicks' appointment was urged by the leading members of the Republican party, and was largely the outcome of his splendid service as Chief of the Bureau of Highways.
Mr. Hicks is a member of several prominent political organi- zations, including the Union Republican Club and the Young Republican Club of Philadelphia. During the time of his connec- tions with the Fifth Street Market he was also engaged in the real estate business. He is a man of strong will and determination, and notwithstanding his occupancy of public office, and his active part in municipal politics, has few enemies, but a legion of friends. Socially, and in both political and business life, Mr. Hicks is an esteemed and popular man.
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A.E.Francis & EM
GEORGE B. HILL.
ROM the days of the Civil War until the present time there have been numerous opportunities afforded men of ambition and determination to advance themselves along the highway of life it they but possessed the necessary knowledge to avail themselves of such openings as have been presented by the combinations of industrial and commercial interests. George B. Hill, who is one of the leading financiers of the State, and a banker and broker whose business in Pittsburg is counted among the largest interests of the kind, began life as a real estate dealer and bill broker in 1867, and, solely through his own determina- tion to succeed and his watchfulness and care, he has attained a prominence in the financial world to-day which classes him among the most progressive men of the Keystone State.
GEORGE BURTON HILL was born in Wheeling, West Vir- ginia, on the Ist day of August, 1847. He traces his parentage back to early American ancestry. His father, John Hill, was born September 18, 1804, in Sussex County, Delaware. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Rickards, and she was born Decem- ber 15, 1805, also in Sussex County, Delaware. The son, George, received his education in the county schools, attending, through the ordinary course, from his eighth year until he reached the age of seventeen. In 1867 he entered the real estate business, and, meeting with success, branched out as a bill broker. For a period of five years he continued in this field of labor, and, as the opportunities for profitable dealing were by that time very large, Mr. Hill rapidly attained a high standing in financial fields, and established upon a foundation of prominence and prosperity
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the house which has since become one of the leading institutions of its kind in Western Pennsylvania, and which now bears his name.
In October, 1872, Mr. Hill formed a partnership with James N. Hill, of Dubuque, Iowa, and C. H. Love, of Pittsburg, to transact a general banking and brokerage business. This firm continued in existence until July, 1874, when its affairs, by mutual consent of the partners, were settled, and Mr. Hill devoted his undivided time to his own individual interests. When Mr. Hill first entered the business field, he conducted operations under the firm name of George B. Hill & Company, which he has con- tinued individually ever since. He made his brokerage business a very large and successful one, and in the financial operations which have been the natural outcome of the great commercial and industrial progress of the State, he has largely figured as an important factor. From 1876 to 1880 Mr. Hill was engaged in the constructing operations of the Pittsburg and Lake Erie Rail- road, of the Pittsburg, New Castle and Lake Erie railroads, and the Grayville and Mattoon Railroad, of Illinois. In June, 1881, he admitted William I. Mustin, and, in 1885, admitted J. D. Nicholson, as partners, the present firm being composed of George B. Hill, William I. Mustin and J. D. Nicholson, dealers in stocks and bonds.
In the financial operations which have found their natural centre in Pittsburg Mr. Hill has been an important factor, and he is actively engaged with many of the leading institutions of the Iron City, particularly those connected with its banking and broking interests. He is a Director of the Second National Bank of Allegheny, is a Director in the Standard Underground Cable Company, and is connected with several other large corporations. Mr. Hill takes a warm interest in the advancement of his section of the State, and finds an outlet for his energies in this direction as a member of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, one of the most successfully conducted bodies of the kind in the United States. In the development of certain resources of Pittsburg and its neighboring city, Allegheny, Mr. Hill has been an active par-
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ticipant. He is President and Director of the Pittsburg, Alle- gheny and Manchester Traction Company, and occupies the same office in the Allegheny Traction Company, a corporation which, under his direct management, has met with great success.
Mr. Hill was married on November 1, 1870, to Margaret J. Nicholson, of Allegheny. They have had two children, one of whom, Charles K. Hill, is now living and is connected with the Pittsburg, Allegheny and Manchester Traction Company. He bids fair to follow in the footsteps of his father as a financial magnate and a thoroughly representative man of affairs.
EDWARD C. HUMES.
B ELLEFONTE may be justly proud of the many men it has contributed to the grand army of progress under whose brilliant banner the State of Penn- sylvania has marched to the front rank of the Commonwealth. A comparatively small town and numbering but a few thousand inhabitants, it has given to the great Keystone State three of its most justly renowned executives -Andrew G. Curtin, the famous War Governor, General James A. Beaver, now on the Bench of the Superior Court, and General Daniel H. Hastings, the present incumbent of the highest office within the gift of the people of Pennsylvania. Besides these eminent statesmen, the annals of Bellefonte teem with the names of many men whose conspicuous public services have won for them the encomiums of their fellow townsmen. Of these, none has been more deserving of the respect and confidence of the com- munity than Edward C. Humes, for years one of its most active and influential citizens.
EDWARD C. HUMES was born on August 23, 1810, at Belle- fonte, Centre County. He was the son of Hamilton and Ann Elmira Bailey Humes, who came from Lancaster County, Penn- sylvania, in the early days of the Republic and settled in Centre County. For many years the family has been ranked among the most prominent in that section and was connected either by blood or by marriage with most of the county's influential families. The subject of this review was one of six children and survived all of his three sisters and two brothers. His earliest education was acquired while a student at the Bellefonte Academy, and, upon the completion of his course in this preparatory school, he was
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EDWARD C. HUMES.
enrolled as a student in Dickinson College, located at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This was when that celebrated institution was still in the hands and under the control of the Presbyterian Church, in the affairs of which the family have, for many years, been especially prominent.
After his graduation from Dickinson College, he returned to Bellefonte and became associated with his father in the mercantile business in that town, under the firm name of H. Humes & Son. The establishment prospered, doubtless largely due to the energy and determination which the younger man bestowed upon its affairs. So competent did he prove himself and so thorough was his interest that his father soon retired from the concern and the son continued the business with his younger brother under the part- nership title of E. C. Humes & Brother. Some years later the Centre Bank, of Bellefonte, having gone out of existence, Mr. Humes, in connection with ex-Governor Curtin, James T. Hale and H. N. McAllister, founded a private banking institution, the firm taking the title of Humes, McAllister, Hale & Company, which became widely known in the financial circles of the section and had a reputation throughout the State of being one of the most successful banking houses in the Commonwealth. It may justly be said that the foremost position which was won by this institution was large achieved through the careful and eminently able management of Mr. Humes, whose financial foresight was promptly recognized not alone by his business partners, but by the community at large.
This institution was merged, at a later date, into what is to-day one of the most successful banking institutions in the cen- tral portion of the State, the First National Bank, of Bellefonte. The stockholders and directors of this latter corporation, recogniz- ing Mr. Humes' capability and thorough fitness for the position, promptly elected him to the Presidency. From its foundation this institution has always sustained the high character that distin- guished the private bank which it succeeded and has met with as great a measure of success, and in which, from its start, he was also a Director and its largest stockholder.
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EDWARD C. HUMES.
Mr. Humes was the first Treasurer of the Farmers' High School, of Pennsylvania, which was afterwards known as the Agri- cultural College and still later as the Pennsylvania State College. In fact, the success of the college was largely attained through his persistent efforts in connection with H. N. McAllister, Judge Hale, Judge Burnside and ex-Governor Curtin, all of Bellefonte; Judge Heister, of Harrisburg, Judge Watts, of Carlisle, Judge Miles, of Erie, Craig Biddle, of Philadelphia, Andrew Gregg, Gen- eral James Irvin, ex-Governor Pollock, Moses Thompson and a few others. General James A. Beaver, General Francis Jordan and a few other prominent Pennsylvanians are at the present time taking a great interest in this institution. Mr. Humes, although a Repub- lican in politics and loyal to his party, particularly when he believed it to be in the right, was not what might be termed a strict partisan, and so had the confidence and respect of all political organizations at his home. While he never aspired to public office, or had any desire for political preferment, he was considered emi- nently fitted for any honorable and responsible position which could have been presented to him even by a national administration.
Mr. Humes was married by Rev. James Linn, at Bellefonte, to Miss Lucy Alexander, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Alexander, of Lycoming County, and niece of the late Hon. W. W. and Mrs. Lucy Winters Potter, of Bellefonte, the latter being a sister of Mrs. Alexander. By this marriage they had three children, William Potter, Ann Elmira and Hamilton. The two former are the only survivors of this entire family.
Mr. Humes died on the 28th day of March, 1895. At the time of his death he was said to be the oldest bank President in the United States and the oldest elder in the Presbyterian Church, of Bellefonte, of which he had, for many years, been one of the most liberal supporters. He was always a very liberal man and stood among the very foremost in giving to enterprises which he believed would be for Bellefonte and Centre County's best interests, as well as to charity without the least desire or expec- tation of a return. He was also a most domestic man, being very kind to his friends and most devotedly attached to his family.
WILLIAM P. HUMES.
B ANKING circles in the interior of the State of Pennsylvania have had among the most active factors the subject of this biography, William P. Humes. A considerable part of his early life was spent in the employ of Humes, McAllister, Hale & Company, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, his father being the honored head of that institution. He was later associated with the First National Bank, of Bellefonte, of which his father was the President for many years, as well as its largest stockholder. Although Mr. Humes still manifests great interest in the con- tinued success of the First National Bank, of Bellefonte, which has recently chosen Colonel James P. Coburn, of Aaronsburg, Pennsylvania, as the active successor of the elder Humes, he has been compelled to give up very largely active service in connection with it. His time is much taken up with the betterment of his father's estate, as well as other outside business matters. Mr. Humes, however, is still connected with the Bank as one of its Directors and largest stockholders in line with his father's interest which is still held in the Bank.
WILLIAM P. HUMES was born in Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania, on the 21st day of September, 1844. He was the eldest son of the late Edward C. Humes and Lucy Alexander Humes. His early education was acquired while a student at the Bellefonte Academy, in which institution he made such commend- able progress that he was entered for a course in what was then known as the Farmers' High School, later as the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, which now has acquired a wide reputa- tion under the better known appellation of the Pennsylvania State
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College. He was here when the War of the Rebellion broke out. The fact that his uncle, his father's younger brother, had enrolled himself in the Union army compelled the son's return to Belle- fonte for the purpose of assisting his parent in attending to his varied business interests, which included connections with both Humes, McAllister, Hale & Company and the First National Bank.
Aside from the place Mr. Humes has taken in financial affairs, his name has recently been brought into public notice, in connec- tion with his several business interests, as a Pennsylvania candi- date for the position of United States Commissioner of Railroads to succeed General Wade Hampton, of South Carolina. Although there was a large number of prominent applicants from several States for this honorable position, it was said that the strongest competitor of the subject of this biography was General Long- street, of Georgia. Mr. Humes had the distinction and honor of being supported by nearly all the State Republican leaders and openly opposed by none, as well also as having the highest testi- monials from several members of the Superior and Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, both United States Senators and several members of Congress, the present Mayor and the ex-Mayor of Philadelphia, the Governor of Pennsylvania, with a number of private letters from leaders of both political parties through the State, as well as from several friends of the President, of his own State of Ohio. It was probably largely on account of the commendable course of General Longstreet since the close of the Civil War in supporting the union of all the States, and under many adverse circumstances, that President Mckinley appointed him to the place.
In social, as well as in banking and political circles, Mr. Humes has made many friends. He has for many years been an active member of the Union League, one of Philadelphia's best known social organizations, and is still identified with other organi- zations both of a business and social nature. Mr. Humes was married on the 27th day of December, 1877, to Miss Eliza Dob- bins Harris, by Rev. William Laurie, at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. They had one daughter, Lucy Hamilton, who lived but six months. Mrs. Humes was the daughter of the late James D. and M. A.
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Harris, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and was one of six children, five daughters and one son. She died very suddenly at the home of her brother-in-law, Judge Hoy, at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of the Ist day of July, 1881. In a history of Centre County and its inhabitants, published some years ago, Mrs. Humes' father was spoken of as one of the greatest civil engineers whom Pennsylvania has ever produced. So great was his repu- tation in his particular line of work that he was selected as the Chief Engineer engaged in the construction of the Pennsylvania Canal, to connect the eastern and western waters.
Mr. Humes and his sister, Miss Ann Elmira, are the only survivors of their family, their younger brother, Hamilton, having died five years ago. They occupy the old homestead at Bellefonte, where one of the most remarkable feats ever known in the build- ing line was concluded with the greatest success. The old stone mansion, about one hundred years old, was raised four or five feet and moved back some twelve feet without injury to any part of the building.
Mr. Humes is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of Belle- fonte, of which his father was an honored Elder and is one of the largest contributors to its support. He, too, has been a most domestic man, never caring for prominence himself, but always seeking for the welfare of his friends and particularly for those in his own home bound by ties of kinship and friendship.
Following in the footsteps of his father, he has been most liberal in giving towards the advancement and best interests of his own town and county, and the worthy poor and destitute find in him a warm and generous friend.
JOSEPH B. HUTCHINSON.
HE development of the railroad facilities of Penn- sylvania has been so rapid during the past few decades that the brightest efforts of some of the most able men of the Commonwealth have, of a necessity, been directed toward it. The various waste lands and hitherto useless districts of the State have been converted into commercial centres largely through the efforts of such men as Joseph B. Hutchinson, the subject of this biography. He is pre-eminently a railroad man, and, ever since his entrance into the business world, the extension of traveling facilities has been his main study. As a member of that fraternity of railroad men which has so well taken care of the leading interests of the State, he is a Pennsylvanian of the highest repute, and is one of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's most trusted managers. Mr. Hutchinson unites in his official administration all the quali- ties of the progressive business man and the railroader thoroughly proficient in all the details of the extension of traffic and the per- fection of inter-state commerce.
JOSEPH BALDWIN HUTCHINSON, General Manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad system east of Pittsburg and Erie, was born at Bristol, Pennsylvania, March 20, 1844. His father, Joseph B. Hutchinson, was a native of Bristol, and his mother, Miss Selina Knapp, of Arlington, Vermont. He received his early education at the hands of a private tutor, who fitted him for entrance to the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania. He gradu- ated from this institution in 1861, and, in order to perfect him- self in the knowledge of machinery and applied mechanics, entered the Delamater Iron Works, of New York, in the spring of 1862.
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JOSEPH B. HUTCHINSON.
He continued here until the fall of the same year, when he passed an examination by the Board of Inspectors of New York City, and received a certificate as Third Assistant Engineer. Upon receipt of this certificate he at once entered the service of Messrs. Hargous & Company as Third Assistant Engineer on one of their steamers plying between New York and Havana, in which capacity he continued until the steamer was sold to the United States Government in the early part of 1863. In June, 1863, he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany as rodman, in the Construction Corps, on the Mifflin and Centre County Railroad. Two weeks later he secured leave of absence from the President to enter the army. He served through the Gettysburg campaign, and was honorably discharged in Sep- tember, 1863, when he resumed his duties in the service of the railroad as rodman in the Construction Corps on the Western Pennsylvania road.
In August, 1864, he was advanced to the position of Assistant Engineer of that road, and in May, 1865, to the position of Assistant Engineer, Maintenance of Way and Construction. From March, 1868, until July, 1870, he was consecutively Assist- ant Engineer of the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad and the Butler Extension. In July, 1870, he was appointed Principal Assistant Engineer of the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad, and, on July 1, 1877, he was made Assistant Superintendent of the road. On January 1, 1879, Mr. Hutchinson was promoted to the position of Superintendent of the Lewistown Division, after which he was consecutively, to March 1, 1893, Superintendent Frederick Division, Superintendent Altoona Division, Superinten- dent Western Pennsylvania Division and Superintendent of the Maryland Division of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, and the Washing- ton Southern Railway. On March 1, 1893, he was promoted to the position of General Superintendent of Transportation, being the second incumbent of that office.
In this position he had general supervision over all train movements on the entire system east of Pittsburg and Erie, the
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looking after all the freight cars belonging to the company, as well as those of foreign roads used in its service, and such other duties as might be assigned to him by the General Manager. He also acted as the General Manager in the latter's absence. On February 12, 1897, upon the re-organization of the company, after the death of President Roberts, Mr. Hutchinson was chosen General Manager of all the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad east of Pittsburg and Erie. As General Manager he is the head of the Transportation Department, responsible for the safe and economical management of the roads and canals of the company, the maintenance of way, and the condition of the rolling stock and floating equipment. He has direct control over all matters relating to the operation of the road, and is one of the most important officers of the company. He is the executive officer of the organization, and, in addition to his specified duties, performs such other duties as the Third Vice-President, the President and the Board of Directors may assign him.
In this office Mr. Hutchinson demonstrates his thoroughness to a degree which not only fits him for a high responsibility, but which places him among the most representative of the Penn- sylvanians to-day connected with the leading conditions of pros- perity. Mr. Hutchinson, in a word, is a thorough business man, and possesses many qualities which demonstate his worth.
A.EFrancis &Co
W. K. Hoyde.
WILLIAM H. HYDE.
IN prosperous and ambitious Elk County, Pennsylvania, there is no more successful town than Ridgway, which is a city of manufactures and industries that are known all over the Keystone State. This splendid Pennsylvania town is the home of one of the best known legislators, manufacturers and business men in the State, William H. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is President of a large number of corporations, has a controlling interest in many indus- trial enterprises, and is widely known also for his connections in banking circles, as well as his public works.
WILLIAM H. HYDE was born in Ridgway, May 27, 1849, and is a son of the late Joseph S. Hyde, who was one of the settlers of that city. The Hyde family is a prominent one in Pennsyl- vania, and especially in Elk County, where it has always played a part very important to the interests, business and otherwise, of the State. In early life the subject of this biography learned the lessons of hard work, and, under the splendid tutelage of his father, who, at that time, was a business man of high standing, being one of the largest lumbermen in the State, he imbibed a knowl- edge of affairs which has since largely tended to his substantial success. His education was a thorough one. He attended the Ridgway public schools until he received the groundwork of his wider knowledge, and then spent four years at a school in Pains- ville, Ohio. At the Lewisburg University, Lewisburg, Pennsyl- vania, he completed his education, after which he became associated with his father. In later years, the elder Mr. Hyde, by his energy and remarkable ability, amassed a fortune. The son became a most important adjunct to the large business thus established, and,
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during the latter years of his father's life, practically managed the entire affairs of the firm.
William H. Hyde's business career has been marked by a series of advancements which may be considered truly wonderful, with the result that he is now connected as chief officer with many great business enterprises.
At the age of eighteen, Mr. Hyde became a partner with his father in the lumber and mercantile business at Ridgway, Penn- sylvania, in which he has been actively engaged ever since. As he advanced in years, he became interested in other industrial concerns in Ridgway, and in Elk County. In the meantime, Mr. Hyde did much, through the means at his disposal, to advance the material prosperity of his native place, and it may well be said that no man has done more for his city than Senator Hyde. In the local political affairs of the county, Mr. Hyde entered with the same tenacity of purpose which made him succeed in other lines. He has always been a staunch Democrat, and has never lost an opportunity of demonstrating his political feeling. While he did much active work in his party, he was never an office-seeker, and it was only in 1893 that his services were recognized, unasked, by his election to the State Senate. On November 7th of that year Mr. Hyde was chosen by the people of his district to serve out the unexpired term of Harry Alvin Hall, resigned. So well did he execute the duties of this office that, in 1894, he was again elected State Senator from the Thirty-eighth Senatorial District, which post he still occupies to the satisfaction of all his constitu- ents. Senator Hyde is outspoken and determined in his views on all questions concerning the welfare of his people, and is always found on the side which is to their advantage. He cannot do enough, apparently, for the benefit of his native place, and in all works of a benevolent and public character, he takes an active part. His generosity is proverbial in Ridgway, and he is, indeed, a citizen whom all delight to honor, and who is universally recog- nized as a thoroughly upright and kindly man.
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