USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 38
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Mr. Widener was married on August 18, 1858, to Miss H. Josephine Dunton, a woman of unusually fine disposition and character. She died a short time ago, after a happy married life,
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in which she had been a true helpmate to her husband. She was noted for her unostentatious charities, and hundreds of poor fami- lies in Philadelphia were for years recipients of her unstinted bounty. Three children were born to them, all boys, two of whom are living. George D. Widener, the second son, is married to a daughter of his father's inseparable friend, William L. Elkins, and he is identified with the elder Widener in many of his most important enterprises.
P. A. B. Widener has been an extensive and observing traveler in his time, both in this country and in Europe; he is a most interesting conversationalist, and a forceful and convincing speaker. He is well grounded in the higher branches of literature, and is the possessor of a splendid library which is handsomely quartered in his magnificent mansion, at the corner of Broad and Girard Avenue, Philadelphia. Here, too, may be found a superb collec- tion of the leading achievements in modern art. This superb building Mr. Widener has just presented to the city for the use of the Free Library of Philadelphia-a princely donation that eloquently exemplifies his benevolent and philanthropic nature and which, alone, would insure that his name will be long and grate- fully remembered by the people of the Quaker City. Mr. Widener has been a most liberal patron of painters, and his fine gallery con- tains some of the noted gems of the century. As a financier his opinion has weight and influence, and the venerable Joseph Sailer, for many years the financial editor of the Public Ledger, signaled him out as being among those best informed upon the finances of the city and State. Mr. Widener is an active Director in many street car corporations ; he is one of the Commissioners of Fair- mount Park, and at this writing he has been recommended as a most available candidate for the Republican nomination for Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania. He has always been noted for his firm, strong friendships, and is credited with the admirable quality of never forgetting any favor that has been shown him. He is as easy to approach to-day as when a comparatively poor man. His circle of friends is an unusually extended one.
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EDWARD N. WILLARD.
NIQUE and attractive in his personality, interesting and recondite in his conversation, thoughtful and sagacious as a Judge, Edward N. Willard, who but a short time ago resigned a seat on the Superior Court Bench of the State, has been prominent in the front rank of the most progressive Pennsylvanians of his genera- tion. His career as a lawyer and as a member of the Bench will long serve as a monument to his rare qualities of mind and heart.
EDWARD N. WILLARD was born in the town of Madison, in the county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, April 2, 1835. His father was James Willard, the son of Hiel Willard, who, through several generations, traced his ancestry back to Major Simon Willard, who was a leading spirit in the early history of Massachusetts. Major Willard was a member of the General Court and a prominent civil and military officer in the colony from 1634 to the time of his death, in 1676. Edward N. Willard was educated in the common schools of his native town and at Lee's Academy. After leaving the academy he taught school for two years, and then studied law with Ralph D. Smith, of Gilford, Connecticut, finishing his preparation for the Bar at the Yale Law School. He was admitted to the Bar of New Haven County in the fall of 1857, and to the Bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, on November 17, 1857. He practiced his profession at Scranton until 1864, when he was mustered into the military service of the United States as Captain in the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh United States Colored Infantry, being mustered out in the fall of 1865. After participating in the assault upon the Confederate lines at Petersburg and the engagements that resulted in the cap-
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ture of Lee's army at Appomattox Court House, he was appointed Judge Advocate of Division on the staff of General R. E. Jackson, which position he retained until mustered out of the service. Returning to his home in Scranton he resumed the practice of his professon. He was interested in politics, but was never a candi- date for public office until elected to the Bench of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on November 5, 1895, which office he resigned September 1, 1897. In 1867 he was appointed Register in Bankruptcy for the Western District of Pennsylvania and held that office until appointed by Governor Hastings to the Bench of the Superior Court on July 1, 1895. In the election which made him a Judge of the Superior Court Mr. Willard received 457,700 votes, 3,122 votes less than Charles E. Rice, of Luzerne County, who led the Republican State ticket and 2,955 votes more than the head of the ticket received for State Treasurer. In his own county, Lackawanna, Mr. Willard received 10,158 votes, 1,449 ahead of the ticket.
During his residence in Scranton he has been engaged in various business associations, being President of several coal and other companies. On the election of John Handley to the Bench he succeeded him as President of the Scranton Savings Bank and Trust Company, and held that position for twenty-two years, until appointed to the Bench, when he was succeeded by L. A. Watres as President of the bank. On January 1, 1898, he resumed his place in the law firm of Willard, Warren & Knapp, and he very much prefers the practice of his profession to a position on the Bench. In the accumulation of property he has been fairly suc- cessful, but has always been disposed to share with his less fortu- nate fellow men, and to contribute of his means to worthy objects of charity.
Mr. Willard was married on June 4, 1860, to Ellen C. Hower, a resident of the city of Scranton. He has one daughter, who is the wife of his law partner, Major Everett Warren. Colonel Frank J. Fitzsimmons, Chairman of the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee, in the campaign of 1897, in his Scranton paper, wrote, in part, the following of Mr. Willard on his retirement: "When
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the Superior Court was established he was prevailed upon by his myriad of admirers, including not only the leading lawyers of the State, but the Governor, to accept an appointment as one of the judges of that dignified and important tribunal. In deference to their wishes he yielded. Having accepted an appointment he regarded it his duty to take a nomination and go before the voters of the State. On the Bench he brought all his splendid, varied and profound legal learning and knowledge into action. He sus- tained with becoming dignity the honors of the Bench, and wrote many opinions which will take high rank in the thoughtful and imperishable jurisprudence of the State, for accuracy of interpreta- tion, precision of construction, nicety of reasoning, intellectual vigor and elegant legal, literary style. He found the work of the Bench congenial, but absence from a happy home where worldly posses- sions abounded, and affectionate faces cheered him, was incon- venient. Having satisfied a commendable ambition and gratified his admirers who wanted to see him win State distinction, he gracefully tendered his resignation to the Governor and again became a private citizen of the city he loves so well and which is proud of him."
MORGAN B. WILLIAMS.
IT is a fact generally known that many of the Keystone State's most successful men have come from the Scotch-Irish race, which settled here many genera- tions ago, but it is equally true that the Welsh settlers in Pennsylvania have left, in the general strata of population, a strain which stands out boldly in many prominent and progressive men. In the splendid city of Wilkes- Barre, which is the centre of much of the State's material wealth, there are several of these men, and foremost among them is Morgan B. Williams, a native of Wales, but a resident of the Keystone State for thirty-five years. He is identified with many of the chief interests of eastern Pennsylvania, and his industrial enterprises employ hundreds of men, and add yearly to the income of the State and to his own private fortune.
MORGAN B. WILLIAMS was born September 17, 1831, at Rhandir-Mwyn, Parish of Llanfir-Ar-Y-Bryn, Carmarthenshire, Wales. He attended the public schools of his native town during his youth, and acquired there the foundation for his later success. He emigrated to Scranton in March, 1862. Here he turned his attention to work in the mines, securing employment in one of the large Scranton collieries. In September, 1865, he removed to Wilkes-Barre, and his activity and close attention to the duties demanded by his employment secured for him the appointment to one of the most responsible positions within the gift of the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Company. He was made Mine Superin- tendent for this company, and held the position for fourteen years. During this time he met with an accident, through the explosion of gas, which nearly cost him his life. Shortly afterwards, imbued
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with the idea that he might direct his energies into a more remu- nerative field, he leased a tract of coal land in the vicinity of Wilkes-Barre for the purpose of operating it on his own account. Mr. Williams was possessed of many sterling business qualities, and an experience which enabled him to look after much larger interests, and so he organized a company known as the Red Ash Coal Company. Within a few years this organization became one of the most successful operating in the coal regions. Mr. Wil- liams is at present the Vice-President and General Manager of the Company, and has been ever since its organization. He is not a man, however, to devote himself entirely to the affairs of one concern, when by his energy and talents he might strike out into other channels of industry with simultaneous success. He therefore set about the establishing of other companies to develop the natural resources of the great State, of which he is a most progressive representative. To-day, as a consequence, he is Presi- dent of the Williams Coal Company, of Pottsville, a Director of the Wilkes-Barre Deposit and Savings Bank, of the Spring Brook Water Supply Company, the Kingston Savings Bank, of Kingston, and the Powell River Coal and Iron Company, of Virginia. He is also identified with many other industries and institutions in the Wyoming Valley.
In the city of his choice, Morgan B. Williams has indicated, just as thoroughly as in his business pursuits, the steadfastness of his aims and his ability to carry them out. In public life he is widely and favorably known, and his services have been recog- nized by his townsmen in the tender of several public offices. He has been a member of the School Board for several terms, in which capacity his knowledge of educational matters, and his keen, ripe judgment have materially advanced the intellectual standard of Wilkes-Barre's rising generations. For ten years he has served as a member of the City Council, and at present is a member and Chairman of the Public Property Committee. Politically Mr. Williams is known throughout his district as a staunch Republi- can, and he has served with honor and distinction as a represen- tative of his party many times. He was an Alternate Delegate to I .- 33.
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the National Republican Convention, held in Chicago in 1884, and the same year he was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania by a majority of over twelve hundred in a district which usually gave an adverse Democratic majority of fifteen hundred or more. Mr. Williams was a member of the World's Fair Commission, and in that capacity he helped to no little extent to bring about the vast success of that great exposition. He is a widely traveled man, and one of his most important journeys was a tour of Australia, undertaken several years ago, when he gathered an immense fund of information concerning that interesting country.
Upon November 3, 1896, Mr. Williams received from the people of his region that political recognition which he deserved as a man of progressive principle, and for the services which he had rendered the State. He was elected to the Fifty-fifth Con- gress by a vote of 20,920 against 17,976 for John M. Garman, the silver candidate, and 234 votes for D. O. Coughlin, the Peo- ple's Party candidate. In his new capacity Mr. Williams will undoubtedly continue in that line of success and good work which he has mapped out for himself, and to which, in every walk of life, he has conscientiously adhered.
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graved by HEFranc: Phila.
JAMES H. WINDRIM.
ORN and raised in Philadelphia, James Hamilton B Windrim was endowed from his earliest days with a pride in his native place and an ambition to rise to a high position in its business affairs. As the years went by, to his natural talents and a determination which has ever been one of the strongest points of his character, he added business experiences and executive tact, gained in years of professional work. All these things combined fully to fit him for the important duties of the offices which he afterwards filled, and for the exercise of a Chief's authority in the construction of some of the finest buildings in the United States, for Mr. Windrim is an architect in the most complete sense of the professional term.
JAMES HAMILTON WINDRIM was born in Philadelphia, July 4, 1840, and his youth was spent in the city of his birth. Being left an orphan at an early age, he was admitted to Girard Col- lege, where the peculiar talents he evinced in the study of math- ematics, and his love of art, pointed plainly to the profession of architect, his teachers encouraging him in his purpose. Upon leaving the College, in 1856, he was indentured to John W. Torrey, and commenced the study of his profession under John Notman, an architect. At twenty, he had made so great progress in his calling, and so deep an impression upon those who knew his work, that he was selected by the Hon. John Welsh from among a number of older and more widely known architects to take full charge of the construction and erection of the Epis- copal Hospital, at Front Street and Lehigh Avenue. The work was done with a finish and thoroughness that impressed his
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employers still more deeply, and upon its completion he reaped the result of his care in the form of an appointment to the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company's architect corps, being given the actual planning and erection of the railroad's Union Depot at Pittsburg. At a later date the distinguished financier, Jay Cooke, engaged him as the architect of his country seat, "Ogontz; " and the Cooke mansion, which owes its imposing effect to Mr. Wind- rim's early talent, is still one of the most admired in Philadel- phia's suburbs. Having achieved reputation, he found his services in constant demand for important and costly public buildings, stores and private residences. The buildings numbered in the former class include some of the first of the great structures that now tower in all parts of the business portion of the city. The edifices planned by him are noticeable among those of a later construction as having a more artistic appearance, exterior beauty and consistency of style. Among these monuments to his skill and taste are the Fourth Street offices of the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company, the National Bank of Northern Liberties, the Tradesmen's National Bank, the original building of the Fidelity Trust Company, the buildings of the Philadelphia Trust Com- pany, the Western Saving Fund of Philadelphia, the Real Estate, Title Insurance and Trust Company, and the new building of the Bank of North America ; to which list may be added another edifice in Harrisburg, the equally imposing State Library Building. The large structures planned by him are by no means limited to Philadelphia or Pennsylvania; nearly all the large cities of the East numbering among their chief ornaments some example of his ability. His masterpiece is undoubtedly the Masonic Temple, at Broad and Filbert streets, on the northern side of the City Hall plaza-one of the most imposing buildings of the kind in America. The important commission placed in his hands by the Masonic Order was undertaken with a realization of the responsi- bility and of the difficulty of the task, but with confidence never- theless. Before the building was completed its construction and interior decoration had cost more than $1,250,000. The Masonic Temple alone is enough to bring him lasting distinction.
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In recognition of his merit and ability in his chosen field, the Board of City Trusts of Philadelphia, in 1871, appointed Mr. Windrim architect for the famous Girard Estate. In that capacity he designed and superintended the improvements to its real estate throughout the city, and the erection of new buildings in the grounds of Girard College. He is now engaged in superintending the construction of the Stephen Girard office building, designed by him in 1895, which will be, when completed, one of the largest and most thoroughly equipped buildings of this kind in the city. In 1889, upon the recommendation of Hon. John Wanamaker, Mr. Windrim was appointed, by Secretary of the Treasury Win- dom, Supervising Architect of the United States. He held that position until April 7, 1891, when he resigned to accept the office of Director of the Department of Public Works of Philadelphia, tendered him by Mayor Edwin S. Stuart. This position he retained until the end of the Stuart administration, April, 1895, when he resumed the practice of his profession. Mr. Windrim has been entrusted, under the will of the late Richard Smith, the well known type founder of Philadelphia, with the erection of a colossal monumental memorial to the memory of soldiers and sailors of Pennsylvania who earned distinction in the Civil War. The will set aside the sum of $500,000 for that purpose.
ISAAC JONES WISTAR.
S OME of the most important chapters in the history of Pennsylvania are those which deal with the state of military affairs prevailing during the War of the Rebellion, and it was then that the laurels of fame were won by many of the State's noblest sons. General Isaac Jones Wistar, Sc.D., the subject of this biography, has a war record which inspires the greatest admiration and esteem. When the smoke of battle had finally cleared away, and the Ship of State was sailing undisturbed through smooth waters, he evidenced the same characteristics in the business world as those which had brought him to the front in times of war.
ISAAC JONES WISTAR, Brigadier-General of Volunteers in the Army of the United States, was born in Philadelphia, November 14, 1827, being the eldest son of Doctor Casper Wistar, a distin- guished physician of the city, and his wife, Lydia Jones, the oldest daughter of Isaac C. Jones, a lineal descendant of Griffiths Jones, the second Mayor of Philadelphia, in 1704. The Wistars and Wisters of Philadelphia are descendants from an ancient Austrian family, which, at a very early period, established a branch in the Electorate, now the Grand Duchy of Baden, where they held hereditary office for many generations. Casper Wistar, of the Baden branch, arrived in Philadelphia in 1717, and was natural- ized as Wistar by special Act of the Provincial Assembly in 1824, his brother following soon after, and retaining the ancient spelling of Wister. Both left many descendants, and the peculiar circum- stances of two numerous families in Philadelphia with names of different spelling, though of the same origin, is thus explained.
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General Wistar's early education was received at the Friends' Boarding School at Westtown and at Haverford School, now Col- lege. From his earliest youth, he was of an adventurous spirit. He went to California in 1849 with a party of thirteen men. After suffering severe losses on the road from failure of provisions, Indian hostilities and other casualties, only eight of the number survived the journey. Though successful in placer mining, Gen- eral Wistar's curiosity respecting other countries led him to make several voyages on the Pacific, in which he served before the mast. He left the sea, and engaged in the business of "packing " sup- plies on mules to the mines further North, but, after making sev- eral successful trips through a hostile Indian country, he was attacked by an overwhelming force, in the vicinity of the Upper Klamath, lost six of his eight men and all his "pack train," escaping himself with a severe wound. After traveling in that condition, supported only by roots and berries, for more than one hundred miles, he finally reached a mining camp. His next ven- ture was made in the far North as a free trapper of the Hudson's Bay Company, then in its fullest power and success. He passed through innumerable adventures, and finally repaired to California, where, while conducting a ranch, he studied law with Crockett & Page, eventually entering into law partnership with Colonel Edward D. Baker, of Illinois. Their practice became large and important, but when Colonel Baker was elected the first United States Sena- tor from the newly-admitted State of Oregon, Mr. Wistar returned to Philadelphia. Success was smiling upon him here when the Civil War broke out. In conjunction with Baker, and under a special order obtained by him from the President, he raised and organized a regiment of two battalions of sixteen companies, which soon became widely known as the "California Regiment," with Baker as Colonel and Wistar as Lieutenant-Colonel. Some of the fiercest battles of the war were engaged in by this force of hardy and adventurous spirits, particularly that of Ball's Bluff, Virginia, when Baker and Wistar's battalion was literally cut to pieces, the former killed, and the latter severely wounded. He became the Colonel, and continued in command. This was but one of many
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such conflicts in which General Wistar distinguished himself, and for his services at Antietam he received the appointment of Brig- adier-General.
After the War General Wistar declined an appointment in the regular army, and became President of the Union Canal Company, and, in 1867, of all the lines of canal controlled by the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company. In business, as in military matters, he evidenced remarkable superiority and quickness of perception, and his connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company has been a considerable factor in the success of that great corporation. Since 1869 he has been Manager of all the coal mines belonging to it, which produce more than eleven per cent. of all the anthra- cite coal mined in the United States. General Wistar was an executive of the Civil Service Reform Association, and a leader of the revolt from Democratic ranks in 1881, when an independent Mayor was nominated and elected. During the years 1890 and 1894 he was President of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of Philadelphia, and he is a Councillor of the American Philosoph- ical Society ; Manager of the Library Company of Philadelphia ; was a Commissioner for Fixing the Monuments at Antietam; is President of the Wistar Biological Association ; one of the original managers of the Zoological Society; a Sc.D. of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Member and Secretary of the Board of Inspec- tors of the Eastern State Penitentiary. General Wistar has written many valuable papers on the subjects in which he is interested, but the work that will probably be most indissolubly associated with his memory is the permanent endowment of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. This museum is undoubtedly superior to any other in the country, and is the resort of hun- dreds of students and post-graduates from every quarter of America. It is, no doubt, General Wistar's greatest pride, but is only one of many monuments which attest his eminence as a soldier, a scientist, and a promoter of public prosperity.
R. A. F.
AERIENEIS ELL.
William Witherow
WILLIAM WITHEROW.
HEN the history of a century of progress of Penn- sylvania comes to be written, the stories of those of its sons who earned the distinction of being self-made men must appear among the brightest pages of all. The western portion of the great Commonwealth affords many striking instances of this in some of the most prominent men of the State. William Witherow, who has become identified during the past quarter of a century with the political history of Pennsylvania and has demonstrated his capacity and enterprise in the business affairs of the State, is numbered among the Keystone State's most representative citizens. He is one of those men, who, starting out in life with but little encouragement, have advanced step by step to the goal of their ambition and won permanent prosperity and public recognition.
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