USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 29
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Personally, Joseph T. Richards is an admirable man, whose character abounds with praiseworthy qualities. He is judicious, prudent, possesses sound judgment, and is distinguished both as a man of business and a philanthropist of benevolent nature. In religion he is a member of the Society of Friends. He is a Director of the West End Trust and Safe Deposit Company and other associations. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia, of which he is President. He is also Chairman of the Building Committee and a member of the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Railroad Department, Young Men's Christian Association. The new granite building, located at Forty-first and Westminster Avenue, Philadelphia, is probably the most complete structure in America as a home for benefiting railroad employés.
On November 26, 1873, Mr. Richards was married to Martha Elizabeth Ernest, daughter of Henry Wooster Ernest, of Chester- town, Kent County, Maryland. Their children now living are Mercy Richards Essig, wife of Norman S. Essig, D.D.S., of Phila- delphia; Joseph Ernest Richards and Amy Richards.
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MAX RIEBENACK.
HILE not a native of Pennsylvania, MAX RIEBENACK, W Assistant Comptroller and Auditor of Passenger Receipts of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, is, by adoption, continued residence and business pursuits, a Pennsylvanian. His father, Roman Riebenack, and his mother were natives of Germany, whence they came to America in 1850. Mr. Riebenack's early life, from his fifth to his nineteenth year, was passed in Blair County, Pennsyl- vania, first at Hollidaysburg and later at Altoona. During the Blair County Semi-Centennial celebration, in June, 1896, his name figured among the early residents of the county who had subse- quently become representative men in other places. The rudi- mentary education of the public schools of Altoona was followed by two years' study at Hollidaysburg Academy. A special course in the Normal School, at Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, came next. In 1863, when Blair County was threatened by the rebels, Mr. Riebenack, then in his teens, joined the county's emergency men, identified with the Altoona regiment raised at the time, and remained with the regiment until they were driven out of McConnellsburg by the Confederates under General Imboden.
On October 19, 1863, Mr. Riebenack first became identified with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, as clerk to the military agent stationed at Altoona, and the relations then begun have continued uninterruptedly for a period of over thirty-four years. He held the same position in Philadelphia from June, 1864, to 1866, when he was appointed Chief Clerk and Cashier to the General Passenger and Ticket Agent, and so remained until June 1, 1869, after which date and until April 1, 1872, he was Chief Clerk of I .- 25.
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the Foreign Ticket Department. He was then appointed Assistant Auditor of Passenger Receipts, which office he held until April, 1880, when marked official standing was conferred upon him by his appointment as Auditor of Passenger Receipts, of which office he is still the able incumbent. On October 12, 1881, his valuable services received further recognition by his appointment as Assistant Comptroller, which he still is. Apart from his connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad, he is also Assistant Comptroller and Auditor of Passenger Receipts of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and West Jersey and Seashore Railroad, and Assistant Comptroller of the Junction Railroad, Summit Branch Railroad, the Susquehanna Coal Company, Mineral Railroad and Mining Company, Lykens Valley Coal Company, Pennsylvania Canal Company, Camden and Philadelphia Steamboat Ferry Com- pany, West Jersey Ferry Company and Port Richmond and Bergen Point Ferry Company. The system of accounting in a railroad must be a perfect one, for upon it the directors and stockholders rely for prompt and adequate collection of the corporation's earn- ings and the accurate and methodical disbursement of its funds. The Pennsylvania Railroad system of accounting is admittedly without a superior; it has been of gradual growth, and Assistant Comptroller Riebenack's personal energy and business conception have materially aided in bringing about its present efficiency. The supervision and control of passenger and freight traffic revenue and the disbursement, with all the contingent details, are his duties. Constant and unflagging attention, in conjunction with his native abilities, alone enables Mr. Riebenack successfully to accom- plish this task. As Assistant Comptroller his duties are really of a judicial character and demand a broad comprehensiveness and an understanding of all departments. Railway affairs, indeed, have practically been Mr. Riebenack's life study. He has served twice as President of the Association of American Railway Accounting Officers, and was Chairman of the Special Committee to which was assigned the duty of formulating a uniform classification in con- formity with the recommendations of the Inter-State Commerce Commission. He has been prominently connected with the various
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accounting committees of the Joint Traffic Association, particularly as Chairman of the Association's Board of Chief Accounting Offi- cers ; as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Pennsylvania Railroad Volunteer Relief Department, serving as Chairman of the Supervisory Committee. The Pennsylvania Railroad Department of the Young Men's Christian Association is indebted to him for numerous gifts in the shape of valuable books. He also contributes frequently to the railway literature of this country.
So broad and liberal a mind as Mr. Riebenack's is capable of energetic projections into various fields, and his business enterprise is marked by connections as Director in the West End Trust and Safe Deposit Company and Union Transfer Company, of Philadel- phia, the National Railway Publication Company, and a number of other organizations. In politics he is a Republican, but he has never held office. He is a member of the Union League, of the Powelton Club, the German Society of Philadelphia, the Philadel- phia Yacht Club, and the Belmont and Germantown Cricket clubs, of Philadelphia, and the Transportation Club, of New York City. While so thoroughly imbued with a social spirit and at the same time given to considerable philanthropic work, yet he is a worker pure and simple, possessing, in fact, a remarkable business grasp and aptitude for the summarization of details. In 1869 Mr. Rie- benack was married to Miss Eleanor Gertrude Simpson, daughter of Thomas M. Simpson, who was connected with the early and leading dry-goods establishment of Thomas M. Simpson & Brother. Mrs. Riebenack's grandfather on her mother's side was Michael Curby, prominent as a manufacturer and as a leading spirit of the War of 1812. They have five children-Eleanor J., Henry Gwinner, Max, Jr., William B. and Edwin Earl. After thirty-four years' devotion to the best interests of the company in whose service he originally enlisted, manned by a single-minded purpose, Mr. Rie- benack to-day is in the prime of vigorous manhood with a bright future still ahead of him.
WASHINGTON RIGHTER.
HE subject of this biography, WASHINGTON RIGHTER, is the second son of Washington and Elizabeth Mayer Righter, and was born in Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, April 10, 1846. His paternal great-grand- father was a German who settled near Philadelphia and who, though a comparatively few years in America, served through the Revolutionary War in the Continental Army. His grandfather, Jacob Righter, resided in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where his father, Washington Righter, was born. Jacob Righter's wife was a granddaughter of Evan Evans, a distinguished Quaker preacher who emigrated from Wales in the Eighteenth Century and who had married Elizabeth Musgrave, an English woman and a cousin of William Penn. Doctor Righter's maternal grandfather was of Scotch-Irish descent and his maternal great-grandmother was of German origin, being a direct descendant of Melchoir Mayer, Stadhauptmann of the Free Imperial City of Ulm. Doctor Righter's father located in Columbia, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and began the lumber business, in which he was engaged until 1872, when he retired. In 1867 he took his son, Washington, into part- nership with him under the firm name of Washington Righter & Son. In 1872 Joseph C. Righter entered the firm and the name was changed to Washington Righter's Sons.
Doctor Washington Righter was educated at Phillips' Acad- emy, Andover, Massachusetts, and at Princeton College, after which he read medicine in the office of Dr. C. D. Hottenstein, of Col- umbia, Pennsylvania. In 1866 he graduated from the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. He immediately, however, entered upon a commercial life, as an opportunity presented itself of 378
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securing an interest in a wholesale drug house in Philadelphia, which he was strongly urged to accept by his friends. After one year he sold his interest in this business and returned to Col- umbia to become a partner with his father. Doctor Righter, whose interest in medicine rapidly grew, was for a number of years an active member of the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, State and National Medical societies. His interest in the financial affairs of his community were indicated during his residence in Columbia by his service as a Director of the First National Bank of that city and of its Water Company, while he also held several other positions of trust, which he filled with credit to himself and profit to the institutions until the large increase of his business made it necessary for him to move his family to Philadelphia.
In 1890 the firm was enlarged by the addition of three mem- bers and the name was changed to Washington Righter's Sons & Company, with offices in Philadelphia and Williamsport, Pennsyl- vania. At the latter place the firm owns and operates a large steam saw mill with an annual producing capacity of twenty million feet of lumber. They also handle the output of several other mills in the western part of the State. While their opera- tions are so extensive in Williamsport and the surrounding dis- trict, the principal office is located in Philadelphia, and here Doctor Righter gives the firm's interests his personal attention. Shortly after his removal to Philadelphia he began to take a large interest in the city's affairs ; not alone as connected with the advancement of the firm's business, but in the general conduct of the munici- pality. He has held several positions of trust and honor, one of which has been a Directorship in the Seventh National Bank during several years. He also served several terms as Director of the Trades League. However, the lumber trade has been his chief study, and he has spent thirty years of his life at it. He is yet in his prime, vigorous in health and a hard worker, being honorable and upright in all his dealings and in every way a model and representative citizen of his native State.
Doctor Righter was married to Miss Annie B. Hershey, who died six years after, leaving two children: Frederick Cottrell
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Righter, who is a partner in the firm of Washington Righter's Sons & Company, and Wilmer Hershey Righter. His second marriage was to Miss Jennie E. North, and they have one son, Walter Washington Righter. Domestic in his habits and tastes, Doctor Righter has ever been devoted to his family and is a kind and indulgent father. In character he is conservative both by nature and early training, and, while he is reserved and quiet in his bearing, making friends slowly, yet his nature is such as to secure him a firm friendship with those for whom he forms a liking. Self-reliant and a thorough business man, he has a prac- tical knowledge of all the details of his trade and he makes its success the object of his life.
Doctor Righter, while he is pre-eminently a business man and one to whom the study of commerce has ever been an interesting pursuit, yet retains his old affection for the medical fraternity, and he keeps informed upon all matters connected with it. There is no doubt that he could have attained a large fame as a prac- titioner had he continued to pursue this vocation in its larger fields. However, the business established by his father was such an important one that Doctor Righter could not forsake its inter- ests. His connection with Pennsylvania and the promotion of its prosperity is a unique one; a business man, yet a professional one, a student of the divine art of healing and yet a close fol- lower of the innumerable details of commerce, in the making of the State's history he is a factor well in the foreground.
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JOHN S. RILLING.
HE political history of Pennsylvania abounds with notable examples of what the ambition of youth, coupled with determination and natural ability, can accomplish. In the legislative halls, at the Bar, on the Bench, and in the important func- tions of party politics, the young men of the Commonwealth have been well in the front. John S. Rilling, of Erie, Pennsylvania, has had the honor and distinction not only of having played an important part in the history of the Democratic party in Western Pennsylvania, and of having participated in the most important councils of his party, but of having been a candidate on the Democratic ticket for Lieutenant-Governor of the State.
JOHN S. RILLING was born in Mill Creek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1860. For a man of his age, he has made since that time a progress which, considered from all points, is remarkable. His parents were Christopher and Elizabeth Rilling, who came of German stock. They had many admirable traits, which were communicated to their son, John, along with a home training which served in a great measure to develop his character to that point of excellence which materially helped to gain success in later years. He received a common school edtica- tion in the township where he was born, and afterwards he went to the State Normal School at Edinboro, Pennsylvania, which was at that time one of the most important educational institutions of the State. He taught school for one year, and then he entered the office of S. A. Davenport, since elected Congressman-at-Large from Pennsylvania, to study law. He was admitted to the Erie County Bar on February 19, 1885, and speedily proved himself
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well equipped for his profession. He acquired, within a short time, a large and profitable practice for one of his years, and, although a young man, his talents and application to his profes- sion brought him into prominence both professionally and, later on, politically.
Not alone as an attorney did Mr. Rilling win a competence, but in certain business fields he attained a like success. Being established in Erie, he devoted considerable of his time and atten- tion to the commercial and industrial affairs of that city, as well as to his professional duties. Mr. Rilling took an active part in the progress of his chosen city, and devoted much time and energy to the furtherance of its interests. He became identified with several manufacturing establishments in Erie, and he also became interested in the electric light business. His connections here came to the same successful issue which marked all his other affairs. In matters political, however, Mr. Rilling won his most notable triumphs, for it seemed that his natural talents, allied with his professional acumen, made a combination most desirable to one who was interested in the work of his party, and who subse- quently became an important factor thereof. Mr. Rilling's first connection with the affairs of the Democratic organization was in 1882, when he was made Chairman of the County Committee, which conducted one of the most notable campaigns ever held in that part of Pennsylvania. It was at the time when John C. Sibley was elected to Congress, against a most adverse Republican combination. Mr. Rilling was Chairman of the Committee during that campaign. In 1894 Mr. Rilling was honored by his party throughout the State with the nomination for Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania on the ticket with William M. Singerly as can -. didate for Governor, and the home endorsement he received proved how strong he was with his own people. In 1896 he was a Delegate-at-Large from Pennsylvania to the Chicago National Democratic Convention. He is now engaged in his large law practice in Erie County. At the same time he still retains his position of eminence in the ranks of Western Pennsylvania Democracy, and is actively identified with its interests.
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On October 27, 1887, Mr. Rilling was married to Miss Stella Armstrong, of Erie, . Pennsylvania. They have two children, Merion E., born October 4, 1891, and Ruth A., born July 5, 1893.
EZRA H. RIPPLE.
S INCE the time of the Civil War, opportunities have been frequent for advancement in the Keystone State to those who have possessed the natural ability and willingness to take advantage of them. Many of the bravest soldiers of the Rebel- lion displayed the same courage, quickness of perception and energy which made them successful in martial life, when they entered the business world, and accordingly won success. The subject of this biography, Colonel Ezra H. Ripple, bears the proud distinction of having made an admirable record in the Civil War, and afterwards attained high prominence in the commercial field; a combination of qualities which makes him to-day one of the most prominent and progressive men of the State.
EZRA H. RIPPLE was born in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1842. Pennsylvania was his birthplace, and it has been his place of residence ever since. His parents were Silas and Elizabeth Ripple, and on his father's side he claimed German ancestry, the first of his predecessors having settled on American soil between 1750 and 1770. His maternal ancestry combined several national connections. His grandfather was English and his grandmother was of Irish descent. Until he was eleven years old, the son, Ezra, attended public school at Buck Mountain, Car- bon County, Pennsylvania. He then went to Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, Pennsylvania, until he was fifteen years of age. He attended public school for one term, in 1859, at Hyde Park, Penn- sylvania. During the Rebellion he entered the ranks of the Union's defenders, and on his return from the war took a business course at Eastman's College, Poughkeepsie, New York, where he 384
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acquired an excellent insight into commercial usages. He was brought up in the hotel business until the death of his father, in December, 1861, when he engaged in the retail drug business. In 1866 he was employed by William Connell, Superintendent of the Susquehanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad and Coal Company in a responsible position. In 1869 he determined to engage in business with some individual interest, and became a member of the firm of F. L. Hitchcock & Company, crockery dealers, with which he was identified until 1872. He then entered the firm of William Connell & Company, coal operators, wherein he still remains, and in the administration of which company's affairs he still finds his chief interests.
In political life Colonel Ripple has been prominent for a number of years. His sound business judgment, high integrity and general trustworthiness secured him, in 1879, a very import- ant public trust, for he was then elected Treasurer of Lackawanna County. He served with honor until 1882, giving great satisfac- tion in the administration of the affairs of that office. In 1888 he was made an elector on the Republican National ticket, and upon a number of other occasions his party tendered him an earnest of the esteem in which he was held. In 1886 Colonel Ripple was nominated for the Mayoralty of the city of Scranton, and was triumphantly elected. He served from that year until 1890, and while he was Mayor, Scranton enjoyed one of the best civic admin- istrations it had ever had. While for the last few years he has given his chief attention to business, Colonel Ripple is still warmly interested in his party, and in the civil government of Scranton.
In the operating of coal mines, and the distribution of their products, Colonel Ripple is still chiefly engaged. He is a Direc- tor, however, in the Scranton Axle Works, and a Director of the Tribune Publishing Company, of Scranton. In these offices he is actively identified with the promotion of his city's advancement, and there are few men in that section of the State who exemplify more progressive ideas or practical accomplishments. The same ambitior and determination to succeed made Ezra H. Ripple a notable figure during the Civil War. He served in the Thirteenth
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Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia during 1862, and in the year fol- lowing entered the Thirtieth Emergency Regiment. From March 24, 1864, to June 30, 1865, he served in the Fifty-second Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and, as an unfortunate result of his bravery and fearlessness, he was made a prisoner of war and was incarcerated in the Andersonville and Florence Military prisons from July 3, 1864, to March 1, 1865. His record as a soldier was an admira- ble one, and the martial spirit which animated him by no means died out when the Rebellion ended, for he joined the National Guard of Pennsylvania not many years after. He was Captain of Company D, Scranton City Guard, from August 14, 1877, to October 10, 1878, and was Major of the Thirteenth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, from October 10, 1878, to Octo- ber 10, 1883. He advanced rapidly in the State Troops, receiving a number of promotions. In 1883 he was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, serving for five years, when he was made Colonel, and, as such, continued with the National Guard until April, 1895. He was then made Commissary-General on the staff of Governor Hastings, and has since served in that capacity. On the Ist day of July, 1897, President Mckinley appointed Colonel Ripple to be Postmaster of Scranton, an office he still holds.
Colonel Ripple was married April 24, 1874, to Miss Sarah H. Hackett, daughter of Richard M. Hackett and Susan Hackett, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. They have had five children, one of whom, Mary M., died, at the age of four, in 1879. The others are Hannah H., Ezra H., Jessie C., and Susan E.
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John Roach
JOHN B. ROACH.
OR two generations the name of Roach has been prominent in the annals of the American Navy and merchant marine, and John B. Roach, ship builder, of Chester, is the second of the name, being the son and successor of John Roach, who has been called "The father of iron ship building in America."
JOHN BAKER ROACH, the second in a family of nine children, was born in New York City, December 7, 1839. His father was born at Mitchellstown, County Cork, Ireland, on Christmas day, 1813, and at the age of sixteen came to America. He was the oldest son of a large family whose lineage embraced many names which had been prominent in the history of Ireland. He began his life in the new world as a moulder at the Allaire Works, at Howell, New Jersey, and closed it as one of the leading ship builders of the new world. While at Howell John Roach married, in 1836, Emeline Johnson, the daughter of William H. Johnson, and the mother of the subject of this sketch. He advanced in his trade, and eventually went to Illinois, working his way back to New York, however, to start anew at his trade. He received a dollar a day for making castings for marine engines, but by dint of fru- gality saved a small sum, and, with three of his fellow employés purchased the Etna Works, paying $4,700 for the plant. His partners becoming discouraged, he was shortly sole proprietor of the industry. At last fortune smiled upon him, and from time to time he advanced until, in 1871, when he entered ship building, he was one of the greatest iron workers in the country.
John Baker Roach, the son, received a good education in the common schools of New York, and completed his training in the
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Ashland Collegiate Institute, in Greene County, New York. He then went to the wholesale coffee establishment of John D. Kin- sey, later entering the office of his father. His health being poor, he went to a large farm owned by his father in New York State and took care of it. In 1867, after his father purchased the Mor- gan Iron Works, and the firm title of John Roach & Son had become famous, he became his principal assistant. The establish- ment had on the roll over one thousand employés, and, in 1871, when the plant of Reaney, Son & Archbold, at Chester, was pur- chased, the son, John, was placed in charge, though then but thirty-two years of age. This ship yard was developed by John Roach & Son under the firm name of the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, and, at times, more than two thousand employés were engaged. For twenty-six years John B. Roach has given the business the closest and most persistent attention. The great ship building plant was largely developed through his foresight, and the new firm started at once to obtain contracts for ship building, shortly attaining wide recognition. The first vessel contracted for was the "City of San Antonio," for C. H. Mallory & Company, of New York, which was launched in 1872, and is still plying regularly. The same company has since placed orders for fourteen large steamships with the Roach firm. In 1872 the Pacific Mail Steamship Company gave the firm con- tracts for the building of two large iron vessels. The specifications required that compound or double expansion engines should be used. This they successfully accomplished, and the Pacific Mail Steam- ship Company had the distinction of possessing the first compound engines ever built in America. Other contracts of a similar nature followed, one coming from the Pacific Company calling for two steamships which were to be the largest vessels afloat with the sole exception of the ill-starred "Great Eastern." These ships were the "City of Pekin" and the "City of Tokio," which were launched in 1874. The vessels of the Pacific Mail, Mallory, Old Dominion, Alexandre, Ocean Steamship Company, of Savannah ; Cromwell, Ward, Old Colony, Oregon Navigation Company, Brazil Mail and other corporations famous in American maritime enter-
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