USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 36
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The Rembrandt- - - Phile
Joseph R. Wainwright,
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JOSEPH R. WAINWRIGHT.
being wholesale grocers, importers and tea dealers. This was on the Ist day of January, 1864, and, during the twenty-two years that followed Mr. Wainwright gave close and unremitting attention to the business, and it was largely through his capable efforts that the business trade of the firm was greatly extended. On Decem- ber 31, 1885, he retired from the mercantile business, after which he devoted his attention to and succeeded to the Presidency of the Penn Chemical Works, of which plant he was the originator, and is now the owner. The organization of this company was effected in August, 1882, and even before Mr. Wainwright's attainment to the Presidency it had been, as a business concern, of active interest to him. The financial department is under his immediate control, and his keen foresight and business capability is largely respon- sible for the high position the establishment occupies in the com- mercial and manufacturing world. So thorough have been his business methods that the enlargement of the plant has been nec- essary several times since by purchase of adjoining properties, and the company now has a large and growing trade with almost every State in the Union ; large quantities of their products also find their way to foreign countries. The Penn Chemical Works was the first establishment to put upon the market, under letters patent, the now well known pulverized caustic soda, which to-day is a staple article. Indeed, there is scarcely a manufacturer who does not utilize it for some purpose or other. An American product, it has held the market against foreign competition. Mr. Wain- wright is a Director of the Trust Company of North America.
Mr. Wainwright takes a deep interest in historical and genea- logical matters, largely due to the fact that his progenitors on both sides were among the earliest English settlers in and around Philadelphia. He is a life member of long standing of the His- torical Society, and is a member of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. Out-door sports have in him an earnest advocate. He is a member of the Adirondack Club, Adirondacks, New York ; of the Merion Cricket Club, the Philadelphia Gun Club, and the West Island Fishing Club, of Newport, besides being a member of other social clubs in Philadelphia and New York.
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JOSEPH R. WAINWRIGHT.
On the 15th day of April, 1875, Mr. Wainwright was married to Miss Mary Bankson King, daughter of Francis King, a former shipping merchant of Philadelphia. They have two sons, one of whom is pursuing his studies at Princeton and the other at the University of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Wainwright was a member of the Society of Colonial Dames of America, having many ancestors who occupied prominent official positions in the Colonies. Mr. Wainwright and family spent several years on the Continent and in Africa, where he devoted as much of his spare time as possible in traveling in order to study and inform himself as to the habits and characteristics of the people in the various countries he visited.
To-day Mr. Wainwright's leading interests are centered in the development of the business of the Penn Chemical Works and in his various financial and social connections. In Philadelphia he is recognized as a man of sterling business qualities, and one who, notwithstanding his prominence, preferred the active life pertaining to commercial affairs to any participation in public government.
Thortwalker
THOMAS H. WALKER.
IN the history of a State so vast as Pennsylvania, and with its varied interests, there have been many episodes of a nature demanding keen judicial judg- ment. Thomas H. Walker, the subject of this biography, is among the Pennsylvanians who became important factors in many of the most critical periods of the State's latter history. One of the most notable of these was his occupation of the office of Judge during the trial of the infa- mous members of the "Mollie Maguire " gang.
THOMAS HUBLEY WALKER was born in Windsor, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on June 18, 1822. Mr. Walker, although he is now fairly well advanced in years, recalls plainly and dis- tinctly the events of his early boyhood days, and he looks back with pleasure to his youth and the training he then received at the hands of his parents and under the guidance of his early schoolmasters. He came of an old Pennsylvania stock, which gave to him as heritage some of the strong, admirable qualities which marked the early settlers in this State, and which tended in so great a measure to advance Pennsylvania to a foremost position in the ranks of the Colonies. Mr. Walker's ancestors settled in America in early colonial days, and some branches of the family were active in the War of the Revolution. His immediate fore- fathers came to Pennsylvania in the Eighteenth Century, and his great-grandfather, Colonel James Burd, served with distinction in the old French and Indian Wars, when valor and fearlessness were counted among the qualities which made the leading men of the times. It was not long until Thomas H. Walker gave ample evidence of the possession of these characteristics and of many
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other desirable traits united in his character. His early life was spent at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and he afterwards removed to Reading and later to Pottsville.
After receiving the usual primary education, Mr. Walker became a student at Lafayette College, Easton, and afterwards at the Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg. He turned his particular attention to civil engineering, the details of which mechanical pro- fession he thoroughly mastered. In 1842 he was in the engineer corps at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, in a very important posi- tion, having charge of the extension of the North Branch Canal. Two years later, in 1844, he returned to Pottsville, where he began the study of law in the office of Horace Smith, then a leading attorney of the Schuylkill County Bar. Mr. Walker had decided that, to a young man, the profession of law was the most encour- aging outlet for ability and determination. He studied earnestly for a few years, and, in December, 1846, was admitted to the Bar, speedily acquiring a fine practice. He was elected District Attor- ney on the Democratic ticket in October, 1856, which was, beyond a doubt, a splendid achievement for a man comparatively young in the legal profession. However, shortly after he was admitted to the Bar, he began to take an interest in politics, and, as he always has been a prominent and consistent Democrat, his election was held as a party victory as well as a personal triumph to Mr. Walker. This election was the stepping stone to a place of promi- nence in the ranks of the Democratic party, and from that time on, Thomas H. Walker was looked upon as one of its leaders in the State.
In 1860 Mr. Walker was made one of the electors of the Democratic party in Pennsylvania, and following this, for a period of several years, his wise counsels were heard and observed in the chief gatherings of the rank and file of the Pennsylvania Democracy. In 1871 he was nominated by acclamation in the convention and was elected Law Judge of the Twenty-first Judicial District of Pennsylvania. On the Bench he won great renown, and some of his decisions have been given a place in the most important law works of his day. He served in his judicial capacity until Janu-
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ary I, 1882. Four years before, in June, 1878, he was appointed, by Governor Hartranft, one of a Commission to attend the Inter- national Prison Congress, at Stockholm, Sweden, which was held in August, 1878. He was one of the most active members of the Commission, and his subsequent report to the State Department, embodying the results of his observations upon prison discipline and prison reform, was an instructive document in every respect. While in Europe, he visited the principal cities and added not a little to his store of useful knowledge.
In the later years of his life, Mr. Walker has been equally as useful to his community. He was appointed by Governor Pattison as a Delegate from Pennsylvania, to attend the National " Anti-Trust " Convention which met in Chicago, on June 1, 1893. Mr. Walker's professional duties have been considerable during recent years and his practice in the legal fields has been very large. He has been a resident for a long time of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, having associated with him his eldest son, Lewis Burd Walker. Mr. Walker's home life is a happy one. He was married on May 18, 1854, to Susan E., daughter of the late Daniel Schollenberger, and has two sons and one daughter still living.
HENRY F. WALTON.
NE of the best known figures in the higher political affairs of Pennsylvania is that of Henry F. Walton. Mr. Walton is a man who has risen from the ranks. He is " self-made," and such affiliation as he has gained among the political leaders in the State has been the result of his efficient services rendered as a public official and the recognition of his abilities by the people. Mr. Walton's career, however, has not been confined to politics, for he has been equally as successful in professional work. As a lawyer he has won an enviable reputation for learning as well as skill in the trial of causes.
HENRY F. WALTON was born in Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1858. His father was James H. Walton, who was a leading and accomplished member of the State Senate for a number of years, representing the district of which Monroe County formed a part, and was Director of the Mint at Philadel- phia in 1859. His mother's maiden name was Caroline Robb, who came of a well known Pennsylvania family. When Henry F. Walton was but little more than a year old his parents removed to Philadelphia, and there he received his early education in the public school and by private tutors. After his scholastic training had been completed, he entered the office of Wayne Mac Veagh and George Tucker Bispham as a law student in 1876. He was shortly afterward appointed Assistant Librarian of the Law Library. He also took an active part in the Law Academy, of which he is a member. Two days after his twenty-first birthday, October 4, 1879, he was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar and immediately entered the law office of Francis Rawle. In 1884, five years after
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his admission to the Bar, he was appointed assistant to City Solicitor Warwick. Mr. Warwick recognized Mr. Walton's abilities and retained his services until he was elected a member of the Legislature.
Mr. Walton devotes his time and talents entirely to his pro- fession and to such political duties as may devolve upon him. When still a young man he began to evince a particular interest in the political affairs of his city and State, and a number of movements of an important nature were marked by his participa- tion therein. For sixteen years Mr. Walton has been one of the most popular and progressive residents of the Twenty-eighth and Thirty-second wards of Philadelphia, an active worker in the Republican ranks and has performed yeoman service therein. Be- fore he attained his majority he made a brilliant address in favor of James A. Garfield's candidacy for the Presidency. In Novem- ber, 1890, Mr. Walton was elected to the House of Representatives from the Twenty-seventh District. He was re-elected in 1892 and was the choice of the Philadelphia delegation for Speaker. On the day of the Republican caucus, for the sake of harmony, he withdrew his name as a candidate, placing Representative Thomp- son in nomination for Speaker instead. In 1893 he was appointed Chairman of the Judiciary General Committee, and also served on others. He made such an excellent record in the Legislature that his selection for presiding officer of the House followed naturally, and, on January 1, 1895, he became the successor of Speaker Thompson without opposition, all other candidates having with- drawn before the caucus meeting.
In his capacity as Speaker of the House Mr. Walton won many high encomiums, and the recognition of his capabilities and justness of decisions have been general.
In 1896 the regular Republican Convention of the Fifth Senatorial District nominated Mr. Walton for the State Senate. He was endorsed by the leading citizens of the district as well as by many of the prominent men living in other parts of Philadel- phia. He was opposed by the candidate of an opposing faction, and, after a very energetic campaign, Mr. Walton was defeated by
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a small majority, whereby the State lost the valuable services of an able and conscientious legislator.
In the profession of law Henry F. Walton has won as great success as he has in political affairs. He was one of the counsel in the celebrated Queen Lane Reservoir case, and is engaged in other law matters of an equally important nature. Mr. Walton is a charter member of the Young Republican Club of Philadelphia and is one of the original members of the Torresdale Country Club, is ex-President of the Five O'Clock Club, and is also a member of the Columbia Club. His interest in club affairs, parti- cularly as identified with political and professional considerations, is indicated in his membership in the Union League and Lawyers' Club.
In 1882 Mr. Walton was married to Ella G. Norman, of Baltimore. They have had six children, four girls and two boys, all living.
Two-de Traction
150 Rembrandt Eng Co Phila
JOHN M. WALTON.
N the busy political life of the large cities of the country there have figured many prominent men who, although born and raised in the rural dis- tricts, have entered the larger fields afforded by city residence and have made themselves felt as leaders in their chosen communities. There is perhaps nothing which has offered more opportunities for the advancement of men who have the necessary qualities behind them than political life. The amount of prosperity which may visit a city or State is very frequently measured by the capabilities of the men who have been chosen by the people to represent them in the making and framing of the laws for their mutual government and advance- ment. Consequently, a man who enters into municipal politics has every opportunity to distinguish himself, a fact that is par- ticularly true when he has been endowed by nature and early training with such faculties and qualifications as would usually win success in other fields of endeavor. Such a man is John M. Walton, City Controller of Philadelphia, who is among the city's most highly regarded officials.
JOHN M. WALTON was born in Stroudsburg, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, in 1842, of parents who were widely and favorably known in that part of the State. He was educated at the well known Moravian School, at Lititz, Lancaster County. Late in the fifties he removed to Philadelphia with his father, who was Treas- urer of the United States Mint. In 1867 the son was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the Fourth Cavalry of the United States Army, and, in 1871, he was promoted to a First Lieutenancy. In 1879 he was placed upon the retired list on account of disabilities
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received in the line of duty. At that time Mr. Walton selected Philadelphia as his residence, and his capacity for executive work soon brought him into favorable notice in matters political. He was elected to Common Council from the Twenty-seventh Ward more than fifteen years ago, at a time when the city had by no means reached its present development. The many improvements which have since come to enhance the beauty and comfort of Philadelphia and to enlarge its business capacities have probably been owing to Mr. Walton as much as to any other man. And so well did he serve the interests of his constituents that his good services in behalf of the interests of the people were recognized in re-election after re-election. With the exception of a very brief interval he served the Twenty-seventh Ward in Common Council for thirteen years, during which time he was the recipient of the most cordial endorsement of such reform organizations as the Committee of One Hundred, the Committee of Fifty, the Com- mittee of Ninety-five and the Twenty-seventh Ward branch of the Municipal League. In Council his broad knowledge of municipal requirements and exhaustive acquaintance with the state of the city finances gained him the chairmanship of three of the most important committees-Highway, Survey and Finance.
But Mr. Walton was too valuable a man for the city's needs to remain in even so useful a place as the Councilmanic post, and was, on the Ioth day of April, 1895, appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania to the office of Controller of the County of Phila- delphia for the unexpired term of Thomas M. Thompson, who was made Director of Public Works. He was the nominee of his party the same year and elected on the 5th day of November, 1895, for the full term by the handsome majority of 74,636. His term does not expire until January, 1899, and by that time it is more than likely he will make a reputation for himself as great in his present office as that which attended him when he retired from Councils, for as City Controller he has evinced a conspicuous fitness for that important municipal post. Personally, he is one of the most affable of men, a clean cut military type of the old- school gentleman. He is widely known and generally respected.
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JOHN M. WALTON.
Among the organizations with which he is connected, three appeal to him with direct personal interest-the American Whist League, of which he was formerly the President; the Hamilton Club, in which he holds the position of Vice-President, and the Union League, of which he is a prominent member. He is also a Vestryman in St. Mary's Episcopal Church, of West Philadelphia.
CHARLES F. WARWICK.
ITHIN the last five years Philadelphia has made W very rapid strides of advancement, and the men who have been prominent in its public life during that period are naturally looked upon as active factors in this progress. Thoroughly representa- tive of this spirit of development is Charles F. Warwick, Mayor of Philadelphia.
CHARLES F. WARWICK was born in Philadelphia, February 14, 1852, on Market Street, west of Twelfth. His father was Edward Warwick and his mother was Anne Warwick, her maiden name having been Minshall. His father's progenitors originally came from Virginia, while his mother was born in England, her family coming from Shropshire. The son, Charles, was educated at the Zane Street Grammar School of Philadelphia, from which he passed an examination for admission into the Central High School. He did not enter the latter institution, however, although he prepared for college and was ready for the Junior Class, but became assistant bookkeeper in a business house, owing to family reasons. At the same time he continued his studies and entered the law office of E. Spencer Miller. He taught during that period, and also attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Bar in 1873, and within a short time was given a position in the City Solicitor's office. Even before he had attained his majority he was well versed in all the questions of the day, and, in 1875, when Governor Hartranft was a candidate for the second term, Mr. Warwick was requested by the Governor's political managers to take the stump in his behalf, which he did, and as a result, his speeches were notably strong in influencing
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Chas INawich
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CHARLES F. WARWICK.
the result of the contest. Mr. Warwick opened a law office at No. 22 North Seventh Street, where he practiced for some time, until George S. Graham, when he was elected to the office of District Attorney, determining to surround himself with young and able attorneys as his assistants, called Mr. Warwick from his sphere of labor and appointed him as assistant. Mr. War- wick had had some experience before in the law department with City Solicitor West, whom he had nominated in the convention and for whom he had headed the delegation from the Fifteenth Ward. During the Blaine campaign Mr. Warwick was heard in Ohio and Indiana and throughout several other sections, and everywhere his addresses were considered the strongest and most influencing of the campaign. In 1884 he was nominated for the office of City Solicitor, and after one of the severest political battles ever waged in the city up until that time, he was elected by a majority of 14,000, running 5,000 ahead of his ticket. In 1887 he was re-elected to the same office by a majority of 48,000. During his incumbency of the office of City Solicitor, Mr. War- wick argued some of the most important legal cases, among them being the five-cent fare question; the elevated railroad case; the question of the liability of the passenger railway companies for the paving of the streets, which he conducted from its beginning to the conclusion ; and also the question as to whether the railroad companies should pave the streets between the car tracks only or from curb to curb, his contention being that the latter proposition was the one to which they should be held, in which he was sus- tained by the courts. He was also prominent in cases connected with the Bullitt bill; the road law and the bills authorizing the building of the Belt Line and Philadelphia and Reading Ter- minal railroads.
In 1895 Mr. Warwick was nominated and elected Mayor of Philadelphia, and in this important office he has endeavored to give his city a just and equitable administration. Among the leading public events with which he has been actively identified since his election, have been the reception of Li Hung Chang, the distinguished representative of the Flowery Kingdom; the
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dedication of the Washington Monument, and President Mckinley's visit; the dedication of the Girard and Garfield monuments ; the opening of the Philadelphia Commercial Museum, with the second visit of the President, and the Convention in Philadelphia of the Eighteenth National Sangerfest. On this occasion Mayor Warwick assisted greatly in making the affair a notable success, and was elected an honorary member of the Pfælzer Casino and also honorary member of the Mannerchor Society. He has in his office elaborately engraved certificates of honorary membership in these and other noted organizations. During his administration Mayor Warwick has had to contend with factional struggles, street car strikes and other serious problems, but he has succeeded in adhering to his own ideas through all.
Mayor Warwick has been concerned in many movements tending to advance Philadelphia as a city, and personally is inter- ested in forestry and several other important branches of State and municipal progress. He is particularly concerned in the progress of Philadelphia, and during his administration has given much time and endeavor to its furtherance. The construction of the Reading Subway on Pennsylvania Avenue has made rapid progress during that time, and the work incident to the improvement of the Dela- ware river front has been begun, and when completed will add greatly to the commercial facilities of the city. Mayor Warwick has also given careful study to the question of the city's water supply, advocating early measures looking to its betterment. He was very active in securing for the city a loan of $12,200,000, part of which was to be used for this purpose, and part also for the establishment of a free library. He also endeavored to induce the State authorities to bring the Capitol to Philadelphia.
In 1873 Mayor Warwick was married to Miss Ella Kate Gracemer. They have had six children, two girls and four boys, their names being Clara Ella, Mary Edwards, Charles F., Jr., Edward, Nelson Dudley and Paul Reynolds. The eldest son is studying medicine. Mr. Warwick is a member of the Union League, the Young Republican Club, the Lawyers' Club, the . Five O'Clock Club, and Lodge No. 2 of the Masonic Fraternity.
The Reubrandt Eng. Co. Phi'y
LA Watres
LOUIS ARTHUR WATRES.
L ACKAWANNA County has produced few men more able or more popular than her distinguished son, Louis Arthur Watres, who has risen through many official positions in the gift of the people to the honorable post of Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Pennsylvania. A lawyer of note, an eminently successful financier, a political manager of more than ordinary astuteness, a public-spirited citizen who has done much to bring about the splendid development of Scranton and the surrounding region, his many qualities of intellect and the strong and noble fibre of his manliness have won him the applause which is so gracious a crown to labor well performed.
LOUIS ARTHUR WATRES was born April 21, 1851, at Mount Vernon, which is situated in Lackawanna County, about seven miles north of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Lewis S. Watres, who was one of the earliest settlers in the Lackawanna and Wyoming valleys, and who had long been prominent in the affairs of the City of Scranton. His mother was a gifted poetess who, under the nom-de-plume of "Stella of Lackawanna," had achieved considerable fame as the author of many beautiful poems which are still preserved in a little volume entitled "Cobwebs." The pathetic war song, "Send Them Home Tenderly," is a well known example of the work from her pen. Mr. Watres' early education was secured in the public schools, but at the age of six- teen he was obliged to leave his studies and seek employment. With the energy and determination that have characterized his whole career, and not satisfied thus to go through life without a better educational equipment, he attended night schools for three
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