USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 25
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ALEXANDER K. MCCLURE.
Whigs of Juniata County decided to start an organ, young McClure was recommended as its editor. In the fall of 1846, backed by the slim resources of second-hand type and an old-fashioned hand machine, The Juniata Sentinel saw the light of day, with young McClure in control. He was then but nineteen and he learned type setting and all the details of the office, being so equipped at the end of the year that he could dispense with experienced help. Even in his early days, his articles were marked by a vigor and force that few editorial writers possessed. While thoroughly con- versant with all the topics of the day, young McClure made a special study of politics and in this branch of review he probably has no superior. In 1848 he took an active part in the election of Governor Johnson, and when he reached his twenty-first year the Governor appointed him upon his staff with the rank of Colonel. In 1850, through the aid of Andrew G. Curtin, he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal for Juniata County. Soon after this he secured a half interest in The Chambersburg Repository and entered upon a wider field of editorial duty. His recognition as a political editor of force and logic immediately followed. In 1853 he was named as the Whig candidate for Auditor-General, and he was the youngest man ever nominated for a State office, in this State. The Whigs being in the minority, however, he was defeated. With the organization of the Repub- lican party, Colonel McClure took a conspicuous part. He was a delegate to the Convention that nominated Fremont, and he made many brilliant speeches in favor of the candidate. In 1856 he gave up journalism for the practice of law, in which study he had long been engaged. In 1857 he was elected to the State Legisla- ture and re-elected in 1858, and was sent to the Senate in 1859, after a dashing campaign in which his rare powers as an orator were strikingly exhibited.
There is no more brilliant record than that made by Senator McClure during his Senatorial term. His policy never wavered; he was always bold and vigorous in support of Curtin and the cause of the Union. As chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs his advice was often sought by the Governor. In 1860 he
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had taken a leading part in the Presidential and Gubernatorial campaigns; he organized the Republican party of the State and was the acknowledged leader in the active contest that gave Lincoln the election and sent Curtin to the Governor's chair. In national councils his advice was heeded all during the trouble- some times of the war, and a close intimacy with President Lincoln was established. In 1862 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant- General with the duty of enforcing the drafting in Pennsylvania. This was so ably done that the State's quota of regiments was quickly filled. The same year he re-purchased The Chambersburg Repository, and returned to his editorial duties, which he continued until 1864, when his office was burned by the Confederates and his entire fortune lost. In 1868 Colonel McClure went to Phila- delphia and entered upon the practice of law. For the time being he proposed to give up politics, but in the 1872 movement for reform within the lines of the Republican party, he took an active part and became a Liberal Republican Candidate for the State Senate. He was defeated, but contested the election and gained his seat by senatorial decision. In 1873 he was the candidate of the Independents for Mayor of Philadelphia, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1875 he resumed journalism in conjunction with Mr. Frank Mclaughlin, becoming Editor-in-chief of The Times, which position he has filled with so much distinction that its details require no mention here. The impression that he has made upon the journalism of the State has been deep and lasting. The force, the vigor and the aggressiveness of his style and methods have proved a revelation. It may be truthfully said that no editor of the day has so indelibly left his personal individuality upon the history of modern journalism.
FRANK MCLAUGHLIN.
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NE of the most representative men in the journal- 0 ism of the country, and one of the most important in the progress of affairs was Frank Mclaughlin, by whose death, in July, 1897, Philadelphia lost a foremost citizen, Pennsylvania one of its bright- est adopted sons and the newspaper world a commanding figure. Mr. McLaughlin was the publisher of the Philadelphia Times, and, in both a mechanical and literary sense, he had his finger tip upon the pulse of its progress, while during the numerous years of his busy career he was ever in touch with the general trend of advancement which marked the affairs of Pennsylvania.
FRANK MCLAUGHLIN was born January 28, 1828, in the County Tyrone, Ireland, where his father was born thirty-two years before. His mother's name was Ann Ralston, and when so many of Ireland's best sons left their native shores for the more favorable homes awaiting them in the new country, the older Mclaughlin and his wife came to America, bringing with them two boys, John, the older, and Frank, who was destined to attain an unwonted suc- cess on the soil of his new-found home. John and Frank Mc- Laughlin were educated together in the public schools of the old Fifth Ward, and they were subsequently entered as apprentices in the job printing office of the Public Ledger. This was distinctly a commercial branch of that newspaper, and, as they both showed remarkable aptitude for their work, they were shortly advanced to the plane of journeymen. Frank Mclaughlin's success as a typographer was remarkable, and his early life was full of minor advancements and triumphs of both a commercial and artistic nature, which pointed out the way of his future life. While still a young
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FRANK MCLAUGHLIN.
man he attained a local fame as one of the most artistic printers of his city, and, in conjunction with his brother, John, opened, on January 1, 1853, the printing house of Mclaughlin Brothers. This house is still in existence, with the same business sign. The Mclaughlin brothers were industrious, and displayed considerable shrewdness, and as an instance of the faith in which they were held by the representative business establishments of the city, it might be said that Morris & Tasker, the famous iron concern, gave them all of their printing, amounting to about six thousand dollars a year. Mr. Mclaughlin was ambitious, even in his youth, and when this desire to succeed did not take the form of some business enter- prise it was given expression by his acting in dramas. In fact, in his young days, he won quite a fame as an amateur player.
For a number of years Mr. Mclaughlin found the chief outlet for his energies in the affairs of his printing firm, and, in 1875, a new opportunity presented itself. Alexander K. McClure, in 1873, while still a senator from Philadelphia, announced himself as an independent candidate for Mayor. The Republican and Democratic parties recognized hardly any party lines at that time, and political deals were the order of the day; consequently, Mr. McClure's nomi- nation was fought on independent and honest lines, and was largely opposed by those to whom politics was merely a matter of machine work. It was then that the subject was broached of establishing a newspaper which would represent the reform movement and senti- ments of the city, and, as the same thought was in both Mr. Mc- Laughlin's and Mr. McClure's mind, the two put their heads together and established the Times Publishing Company, in which Mr. Mc- Laughlin was publisher and Mr. McClure editor. The first issue of the Philadelphia Times appeared March 13, 1875, and it was a con- tinuation upon new lines of the old Democratic organ, the Age. Under Mr. Mclaughlin's broad direction the Times prospered, and into the production of a representative journal he brought with him not only the knowledge of a master of the printer's craft and the shrewd judgment of a thorough business man, but the experi- ence of a Philadelphian who had prospered in the progress of his city for a decade before as well. The Age had been printed at
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Seventh Street below Market, but Mr. Mclaughlin was ambitious, and from place to place the Times was moved, until finally it reached its present home, at the corner of Eighth and Chestnut streets. The Times Annex, on Sansom Street, was afterwards constructed by Mr. Mclaughlin, and when, on April 29, 1892, it was burned to the ground, he showed his mettle and the stuff he was made of when, while giving directions for the publication of his paper the next morning, he was already planning for the con- struction of a new building. A few months later, phoenix-like, a new and better annex had risen from the ashes of the old, and it became the home of Mr. McLaughlin's enterprising journal.
Mr. Mclaughlin was married on December 8, 1852, to Sarah Copple, of a well known Philadelphia family. This union resulted in nine children, only one of whom, Vincent Mclaughlin, survives. He succeeded his father as President of the Times Publishing Com- pany. Mrs. McLaughlin died August 9, 1889. On December 25, 1894, Mr. McLaughlin married Mrs. Martha Holmes, who survives him. His social connections marked him as a man of pleasing character, and in business affairs he was noted for his unswerving integrity and great determination, which often gave him the appear- ance of severity. But in his home life he was of a genial dispo- sition. Personally, he was particularly attractive by reason of his powers of conversation, and his knowledge, which was self-acquired, made him very interesting in any gathering. He was a member of the Clover Club and of several other organizations, in all of which he took a large interest. Mr. McLaughlin won, during his life- time, the esteem of hundreds with whom he came in business con- tact, and throughout the State at large his name was synonymous with progress and earnest endeavor. In his death Philadelphia lost one of its best citizens and most admirable characters, and this was reflected in the numerous tributes and encomiums paid to him by the leading journals of the day and the most prominent men of the country.
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WILLIAM S. McLEAN.
R EPRESENTATIVE of one of the sturdiest families of Pennsylvania, educated in the leading institu- tions of his country, a close student of law and a splendid financier from his youth, WILLIAM SWAN McLEAN is in every sense both a prominent and progressive Pennsylvanian. He was born May 27, 1842, at Sum- mit Hill, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, of sturdy Presbyterian parents, who met and married in the United States, although born in the north of Ireland. His father, Alexander McLean, settled in Pennsylvania, and became one of the earliest operators in anthracite coal in the State. He was eminently successful, and among his possessions, when he died, in 1868, was a large and splendid farm, now within the limits of the city of Wilkes-Barre. The son, William S. McLean, has made that city his home since his boyhood days. He was prepared for college by Sylvester Dana, a graduate of Yale, and a member of the distinguished Dana family, a gentleman who took a great interest in the young McLean. Mr. Dana was a brilliant scholar, and he imbued his protege with a deep desire for learning, which has ever since dis- tinguished him. Mr. McLean entered Lafayette College in Sep- tember, 1861, and, while there, was an earnest and tireless scholar. He graduated at the head of his class in 1865 delivering the valedic- tory address. Even at that age his ability to lead was plainly indi- cated by his rapid scholastic advancements. In 1868 he received the degree of Master of Arts from his Alma Mater, and delivered, on that occasion, one of the two Masters' addresses. Law seemed to be the vocation for which he was best fitted, and, with a view to preparing himself for the legal profession, he entered the office I .- 22.
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WILLIAM S. McLEAN.
of G. B. Nicholson, a distinguished lawyer of his day, at Wilkes- Barre. He studied hard and earnestly, and was admitted to the Bar in 1867. Since that time Mr. McLean has been actively engaged in the practice of law and has successfully handled some of the biggest and most notable cases in his and adjoining coun- ties. While a college student, in 1862, he enlisted as Corporal with Company I, Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia. His Company was discharged at the expiration of its term, and he returned home.
Since entering the legal profession, Mr. McLean has been quite prominently identified with public life. He has been Solicitor of the city of Wilkes-Barre since 1874 by annual election of the City Councils, having time and time again demonstrated his fitness for that office and the superiority of his business methods. As a financier he is also notable, and, since 1889, has been President of the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre. For many years Mr. McLean was a member of the Board of Examiners for admission to the Bar. Further than this, for a long time, he held the posi- tion of Legal Adviser to the Commissioners of Luzerne County. Although his law practice is large and the demands of his legal offices call largely upon his time, yet he has some important busi- ness interests in addition to those of the bank of which he is President. He is President of the Wilkes-Barre Iron Manufactur- ing Company, a Director of the Williams Coal Company, and is interested as counsel or director in many other corporations.
Politically, Mr. McLean is a very prominent man in Luzerne County. He has always been a Democrat, and was a Gold Dem- ocrat in 1896. He was a Democratic candidate for Law Judge for Luzerne County upon two occasions ; in 1879, when he was defeated by reason of the labor reform greenback vote, and in 1895, when he was defeated by the general apathy existing in the party, although his popularity ran him two thousand votes ahead of his ticket. He was also one of the Democratic candidates for Delegate- at-Large to revise and amend the State Constitution in 1891. In 1883 he was Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions in the Democratic State Convention. The best interests of his party can always command William S. McLean.
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WILLIAM S. McLEAN.
In 1871 Mr. McLean married Miss Anne Stevenson Roberts, daughter of the late George H. Roberts, of the firm of Conrad & Roberts, one of the old and leading hardware firms of Philadel- phia. They have four children, three sons and one daughter. The oldest son, George R. McLean, is a practicing lawyer in Luzerne County, and a graduate of Lafayette College, and he bids fair to follow the way of his distinguished father. Mr. McLean's private life is full of instances of the earnest bent of his nature. If he has one hobby, it is the collecting of good books. He is very fond of the fine old standard works, and has one of the largest and best selected private libraries in his city. He takes great delight in reading these when he has the leisure. Mr. McLean has many private interests aside from those mentioned here. In addition to the demands made upon his time by his profession, his family life, the affairs of his business and his public offices, he yet finds some time for society and the common cause of humanity. He is benevolently inclined, and many charitable institutions have received his unostentatious aid.
BENJAMIN P. OBDYKE.
MONG the best known families in the United States is that which comprises the numerous descendants of a notable Holland stock known as far back as the Thirteenth Century as the Op den Dycks, and in Pennsylvania that branch which consists of the Obdykes has risen to a position of prominence. Benjamin P. Obdyke is familiarly known in the manufacturing interests of the country, and as a citizen of Philadelphia and one of its thorough- going business men, he has the esteem of the community. Mr. Obdyke, a man of progressive tendencies, has had an interesting career and is numbered among the deservedly successful men of the Commonwealth.
BENJAMIN PALMER OBDYKE was born June 3, 1838, in Phila- delphia. His father was Gershom P. Obdyke, who was born, in 1787, at Trenton, New Jersey. He married Sarah Ann Deeter. Gershom Obdyke served an apprenticeship at the shoemaker's trade, after which he went to Stillwater, Sussex County, New Jersey. In about 1836 he moved to Philadelphia, establishing himself in the boot and shoe trade. He and his sons differed from all others in spelling the name Obdyke, all other branches adhering to Opdyke, excepting a few who spelled it Updyke or Updike. The son, Benjamin, received a public school education at the Northwest Grammar School, Philadelphia, and, at the age of twelve, started out to make his own way in the world. He entered the well known wholesale saddlery hardware house of Stotesbury & Ayres, and from that branched out as a rising young business man, always endeavoring to increase his store of knowledge, and in the meantime to put something aside for his
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Benjamin P. Olayte
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BENJAMIN P. OBDYKE.
future financial needs. He was progressing rapidly when the course of his life was changed by the breaking out of the Civil War. He enlisted on the first call for troops in the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers and served three years and three months with the First Division, Sixth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, under General Sedgwick. The body of brave men with whom he was associated in the defense of the Union was known as Gos- line's Zouaves. He was tendered an Adjutant's commission, but declined because only a few months of his service were left and if he accepted it would have made three years more of active par- ticipation in the work of the troops. But as it was, the war ended a short time after Mr. Obdyke had returned to his home. This was at the conclusion of his more than three years' active services in the Army of the Potomac when, in November, 1864, he received his honorable discharge, being one of about eighty- three men out of fourteen hundred who returned, leaving behind only two hundred and fifty who had re-enlisted. The esteem in which Mr. Obdyke was held by his regiment was attested when, upon leaving the troops, he was given a testimonial of the highest character, signed by all the officers of the regiment. It was endorsed by a personal recommendation from the former Adjutant of the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, who had been detailed and was afterwards confirmed as Judge Advocate on the Staff of Major-General Wheaton, and is a document of which any man might well feel proud. On his return from the war he was engaged as bookkeeper and cashier by a prominent business concern in Philadel- phia until 1868 and then entered the well known business house of Austin & Obdyke and became a partner with Mr. Austin in 1872, as sheet metal workers and sole manufacturers of patent Corrugated Water Conductors. For twenty-five years this has been one of the leading industrial establishments of Philadelphia. In 1890 the old firm of Austin, Obdyke & Company went into liquidation and Mr. Obdyke purchased the Corrugated Water Con- ductor branch of the business, in which he is still actively engaged.
At the Bi-Centennial Celebration Mr. Obdyke was one of the members of the Executive Committee, and in the Constitutional
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BENJAMIN P. OBDYKE.
Celebration of 1887 he had charge of the Master Builders' Exchange Division. Mr. Obdyke has found time to take an active interest in financial affairs, and his services have been utilized as a bank director and in other ways. He has been a Director in the Pennsylvania Nautical School for some years, and was recently re-appointed by Governor Hastings for a new term of six years. He is also President of the Central Transportation Company. Mr. Obdyke is a member of St. John's Commandery, Knights Templar, of Philadelphia, and was made, by compliment, an honorary mem- ber of Palestine Commandery, of New York.
In politics Mr. Obdyke does not seek an active part, although he has the welfare of the city and its best administration at heart. He has had the honor of being solicited to accept the nomination for Councilman, but has always declined, rather preferring to attend to his business duties and his other public work than to accept the honors which politics might bestow on him.
Mr. Obdyke's chief interests at present are centered in his manufacturing concerns. He has a large specialty in the produc- tion of Corrugated Water Conductors, in the manufacture of which his was for many years the sole establishment engaged. He was, in fact, the pioneer in the trade, and his partner, Wm. Austin, was sole patentee of the peculiar process in the United States.
Mr. Obdyke's first wife was Josephine Austin, of Philadelphia, to whom he was married December 31, 1866. His second wife, now living, was Helen E. Latta, a sister of Wm. J. Latta, General Agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He had three sons by his first wife and one daughter by his second wife, all living. The eldest son married the daughter (and only child) of the Rev. J. Addison Henry, Pastor of Princeton Presbyterian Church, of Philadelphia, and is in business with his father. The second son, Harry P., is also with his father, while the youngest, Horace C., now aged about fourteen years, is at school in Law- renceville, New Jersey.
Rich ag Delle
The Rembrandt Eng Co Phile
RICHARD G. OELLERS.
E VERY city contains a number-but that number is limited-of specially gifted men who possess a marked executive ability for the management of the complicated finances of large corporations and establishments, and whose trained skill in looking after the smallest details connected therewith, being supplemented by integrity, foresight and judgment, makes their services simply invaluable to those utilizing them. Among those of this character in Philadelphia, none is more prominent than Richard G. Oellers, for three years the City Treasurer, one of the highest positions of trust in the gift of the people, and one which he filled with rare distinction and true fidelity to the best interests of the city. He went to the post, to which he had been selected by a tremendous majority, with an equipment that few have had who have been entrusted with this office. Mr. Oellers is pre-eminently a thorough business man and skilled financier, and his management of Phila- delphia's finances was along lines-mapped out by himself-that won him the warmest praise of the people.
RICHARD GARDINER OELLERS is a native of Philadelphia, and was born August 5, 1843. His father, James S. Oellers, was for many years actively engaged in the grain business at Pine Street and Delaware Avenue. His mother was the daughter of Dr. Richard Gardiner, who is remembered as one of the leading homœ- pathic physicians of the city. Their son was educated in the pri- vate schools, but when only fifteen years of age he ended his school life and asserted a strong inclination to enter upon a busi- ness career. His first experience in this direction , was with a wholesale dry-goods house. With this establishment he remained
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until May 14, 1870, when The Public Record newspaper was founded by William J. Swain, who offered him the position of Business Manager of the new journalistic enterprise. Mr. Oellers, therefore, has been actively identified with The Record, and its career, since the first number. In 1877 it changed its name and proprietorship, being purchased by Mr. William M. Singerly, its present owner, and he altered its title to The Philadelphia Record. Mr. Oellers had exhibited notable ability while the paper was under Mr. Swain's control, and he was therefore retained as Business Manager under Mr. Singerly, a position which he still holds, having now been with Mr. Singerly over twenty years. Even during his term as City Treasurer he remained with The Record.
Mr. Oellers has always been identified with the Republican party, and while never figuring as an active party man yet he has always asserted his rights as a citizen for the best interests of the community. His services have been frequently employed in offices to which no emoluments or salary were attached, and these he filled with great credit to himself. In 1875 he was elected a member of the Board of Managers of the House of Cor- rection to fill the unexpired term of Samuel R. Leonard. At the end of the term he was re-elected and subsequently re-elected for a third term which had not expired in 1887, when the Board was abolished by the radical changes made by the Bullitt Bill which then went into effect. Upon the organization of the Pennsylvania Nautical School for the education of young lads who wished to become seamen, Mr. Oellers was appointed by Mayor Fitler a member of its Board of Directors, a post to which he was subse- quently re-appointed by Mayor Stuart and again by Mayor War- wick, and he still serves in that capacity. In this connection Mr. Oellers' work has been of a very effective character and he has done much to make the school a success, while his active and hearty interest in the welfare of the boys themselves has been productive of the most satisfactory results.
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