USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 2
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WILLIAM HENRI ADDICKS was born in Philadelphia on the 4th day of March, 1854. He was the son of John E. Addicks, a prominent and highly respected citizen of the Quaker City, and Margaretta McLeod Addicks. His early education was acquired in the Episcopal Academy, one of the best institutions of its class in Philadelphia. After completing his studies at this school, he took a course in the University of Pennsylvania, where he amply upheld his reputation as an earnest and conscientious student, and one determined to take high rank in whatever field of endeavor he should conclude to enter. Finally, he decided to take up an additional course in some other institution of the highest rank, and, having selected Princeton College, enrolled himself as a student in
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that venerable institution. Upon the completion of his college course Mr. Addicks concluded that the profession of law was best suited to his tastes and talents, and was the one that offered to him the greatest advantages. Accordingly, he entered the offices of George L. Crawford, a prominent attorney of Philadelphia, and began to prepare himself for the practice of the profession of his choice, and the one in which he has since achieved such a wide and growing reputation. Under the guiding hand of his able instructor he pursued his legal studies with all the assiduity and fervor for which he had become noted during his collegiate course, and, aided as he was by a most excellent education and talents that early marked him out for a successful career, he made rapid progress in acquiring legal lore. With such good results did he apply himself while a student that, in 1878, he was admitted to practice in the courts of his native city. Once in the actual pur- suit of the profession in preparing for which he had spent so many hours of diligent study and examination, Mr. Addicks found both his broad and liberal education and the practical experience gained in his preceptor's office of incalculable value; but he did not then cease his studies, as do so many upon admission to the Bar. Even to-day, after twenty years of successful practice, he is earnestly seeking to acquire the true wisdom of his profession. His exten- sive personal acquaintance in financial circles soon brought to Mr. Addicks a number of cases involving the laws of corporations, and his success in handling them was so great that he early deter- mined to make a specialty of this class of causes. The result has been that he has, by energy and effort, acquired an ever growing practice in this branch of the profession, and is now known as one of the most learned of the lawyers at the Philadelphia Bar who devote themselves to corporation cases. Among the many compa- nies that entrust their legal interests to the care of Mr. Addicks are the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a number of its leased lines and the P. & W. Railway.
His constant contact with corporations has naturally resulted in his taking a more than lawyer's interest in their management, and he has become prominent, too, in the Directorate of the Bal-
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timore and Philadelphia and of the Schuylkill River East Side Railroad companies, to the affairs of which roads he devotes a considerable share of his time and thought.
His eminent standing both at the Bar and in financial circles has won for Mr. Addicks the esteem of the general public and of his party friends, and although the bulk of his time has been taken up by his legal and corporation interests, he has neverthe- less devoted considerable of his attention to the legal side of political affairs. His recognized grasp of law led to his selection, in 1878, soon after his admission to practice, as Assistant City Solicitor. Here, as in every legal field in which his efforts have been engaged, he proved the possession of that peculiar analytic turn of mind which is so necessary to an attorney who hopes to rise above the rank and file of his profession, and his close atten- tion to the duties of his position won the respect and commendation of the public to such an extent that for ten years, until he resigned, in 1888, he continued in the place. Mr. Addicks' chief interests at the present time are centered in his legal practice and in the laws governing corporations, especially as they touch upon the many questions arising out of the exercise of the powers of Eminent Domain by municipal and other corporations.
ROBERT ALEXANDER.
N its lawyers Philadelphia has a bulwark of strength-strength that is supplemented by the individual brilliancy that has made the Bar of the city famous throughout the country. There- fore it is the individual in whom we are most
interested. Robert Alexander, the subject of this biography, has been identified with some of the most notable cases in the Phila- delphia courts, and his reputation in the profession is widely recognized.
ROBERT ALEXANDER was born in Bucks County, Pennsyl- vania, July 3, 1846. When old enough to embrace the advan- tages of the free system of education, he attended the public schools of the county during such portion of the year as he could spare from farm labor, for, his father having died, Mr. Alexander was obliged to earn his own living. Afterwards he went to Car- versville Normal School, from which he graduated with high honors. When the rebel army entered Pennsylvania, in 1863, Mr. Alexander left school and joined the Forty-fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Emergency Volunteers, and served until the regiment was discharged. After graduation at the Normal School he spent four years in teaching school. For the scholastic pro- fession he had been practically fitted by his Normal School train- ing, and he became one of the most successful teachers in his section. His higher aspirations, however, were for the legal pro- fession, and, coming to Philadelphia, he entered, as a student, the law office of Hon. D. Newlin Fell, now a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He pursued his studies con- scientiously and earnestly, and, in 1871, was admitted to the Bar.
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ROBERT ALEXANDER.
He at once entered upon an active practice, and early attained a reputation as a member of the junior Bar. Within a few years this reputation extended and grew until he became one of the accepted leading attorneys of Philadelphia. He has been con- cerned as counsel and has taken part in the arguments of many of the most important cases before the Pennsylvania courts during late years. In fact, Mr. Alexander's practice has been so large and extensive as to make him one of the busiest men in the pro- fession.
When Charles F. Warwick was made Assistant District Attorney of Philadelphia, Mr. Alexander became associated with him as law partner. In this capacity he attended to the private business of the firm and greatly advanced its interests. Sub- sequently, in 1884, Mr. Warwick was elected to the office of City Solicitor, and he immediately appointed Mr. Alexander as his first assistant. This action upon the part of the present Mayor of Philadelphia was the result of his full appreciation of Mr. Alexander's legal knowledge and forensic ability. During his term of duty in this office the organization of the city govern- ment in accordance with the requirements and provisions of the Bullitt Bill took place. Under this charter an entirely new adjustment of municipal affairs resulted, and out of this many important and difficult questions arose; legal problems, the work- ing out of which required all the ability available in the City Solicitor's Department. In the disposal of these intricate questions and matters of infinite detail Mr. Alexander took an active part. At this time, perhaps, more than at any other until that period of his career, Mr. Alexander demonstrated his capability as a lawyer and his ripe judgment in public affairs, as well as his complete mastery of technicalities and details of municipal law.
During the period of his official service many important mat- ters of litigation, to which the city was a party, fell into the Solicitor's hands, and in all these his assistant took part with that skill and ability for which he was then, and is still, noted. He gained particularly high commendation for his vigorous efforts in the city's behalf in the suit instituted to prevent the Philadel-
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phia and Reading Railroad Company from building its line through the city without obtaining the consent of Councils. After two terms of duty in the office of the City Solicitor, extend- ing over six years, Mr. Alexander withdrew from official service and returned to his private practice, which demanded all his time and attention.
Since that time Mr. Alexander's services at the Bar have been both wide and varied. One of the most noted instances was his connection with the Bardsley case, in which he acted as coun- sel for the derelict City Treasurer. Though the case was hope- less from the start, public sentiment and judicial condemnation of the defendant being too potent for successful defence, Mr. Alex- ander handled the complicated civil and criminal case with a fine ability and judgment, and, by his persistent efforts, subsequently obtained a pardon for his client. As a lawyer he is well read, abundantly trained and completely and thoroughly equipped in his profession. He is a careful and painstaking worker, his infinite capacity for detail being exhibited in his briefs, while in the management of cases he attends strictly to every point, and is keen and searching in the examination of witnesses. In 1890 Edward W. Magill became associated as law partner with Mr. Alexander under the name of Alexander & Magill.
John. Alle.
JOHN ALLEN.
P ENNSYLVANIA is justly noted among the States of the Union for its numerous manufacturing interests, one of the most important of which is the hosiery industry. The history of the rise and progress of this branch of manufacturing cannot be better traced than in the advancement and development of the Sherwood Knitting Mills. The firm of J. & B. Allen is known as one of the most progressive in the State, and John Allen, the senior member and the subject of this biography, is fully repre- sentative of Pennsylvania's leading industrial interests.
JOHN ALLEN was born in England, March 10, 1829. His father was William Allen, who was a native of England, as was his wife. William Allen had a common school education, which was his sole source of scholastic training, for at an early age he entered the business field. John Allen's parents came to the United States on October 17, 1843. It was in this country that he received his early education, attending the public schools in Germantown, where his parents took up their residence. In 1857, after passing through various experiences, Mr. Allen entered the field of independent business activity as a partner, with his father and brother, in the manufacturing of hosiery, the firm being known as William Allen & Sons. That the hosiery industry of Pennsylvania is an important one is generally recognized, and it is equally a fact that the Sherwood Knitting Mills, which is the establishment now conducted by Mr. Allen and his brother, is one of the largest and most modern of the manufactories devoted to this product. The making of hosiery was begun by William Allen, the father of John, as far back as 1844. At that time he
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had but two small machines which had been brought over from England. But he was bound to succeed, and, as a result of his enterprise and industry, he developed into large results a business that in those days was but in its infancy. William Allen strug- gled manfully, and through slow and tedious work he gradually increased his facilities for supply. The first mill of which he became proprietor was a building one story high and twenty by twenty feet in size. It was an improvement over his first effort, however, and he kept step with the rising industry, always being found at the front, ready to make use of all new and worthy inventions. He died in 1877, having retired from the business in 1864, when the new firm of J. & B. Allen was started by his sons. As is usually the case, the progress thereafter was rapid, for the younger men brought into the business the new ideas of their generation. The departures of modern invention and science, and the experience and judgment which had been imparted to them by their father, were of great benefit to them. From that time on John Allen has been one of Philadelphia's leading manu- facturers, and is to-day a representative member of that body of Pennsylvanians which is closely connected with the progress of the State as a centre of industry and commerce.
Mr. Allen has never engaged in any other business. He has given all his time and attention and his constant energy to the affairs of his firm, in conjunction with his brother and part- ner, Benjamin Allen. However, as a representative business man and a considerable investor, he has naturally taken some interest in various financial institutions, and he is occupying the office of a Director in some of the most successful companies of that kind in Philadelphia. He is a Director of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Germantown, having served as such since 1887, and in its management he takes an active interest. While he watches closely the trend of public affairs, and is well acquainted with all topics of interest to manufacturers and business men, particularly those treating of economic principles, he has never aspired to any office whatever in public life or political preferment. His chief attention has been given to the development of the business of
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the Sherwood Knitting Mills, and the fact that its progress lias been so rapid is due largely to the individual efforts of Mr. Allen in this direction. Shortly after the establishment of the firm it was found necessary to erect several factories to supply the increasing demand, and finally the present extensive works were organized. The Sherwood Knitting Mills now occupy seven dis- tinet buildings, and with all these facilities it is necessary to run them to their fullest capacity. The buildings are of several dimensions, two of them being one hundred feet in length by twenty-five to forty feet wide. There are numerous machines, among them being eight fifty-four feeder eireular heads, one liun- dred and fifty single heads, as they are known in the hosiery industry, and numerous others. The annual output of wool and cotton is something enormous, for hosiery is by no means the only production of the Sherwood Mills. Among the other articles which Mr. Allen and his brother have so largely placed on the market are fancy knitting woolens, cardigan jackets, ladies' coats, nubias, basques, and other articles of all grades. Over two hundred hands are employed. The firm of J. & B. Allen has salesroonis in Philadelphia, and in New York it occupies the buildings Nos. 35 and 37 Thomas Street.
In July, 1853, John Allen was married to Elizabeth Morgan, of Germantown, Philadelphia, and they have had four children, two sons and two daughters. Mr. Allen's family and his business take up his entire time, and lie is continually active in their com- bined welfare. Through his connection with the development of one of Philadelphia's leading industries he has come to be recog- mized as a Pennsylvanian of the most progressive type.
v.T.
IVAN E. AMILON.
N appreciation of the importance of perfect sanitation, as well as of gymnastics and calisthenics, Sweden is entitled to the first place among European nations. Her hospitals are the best in the world and her kindergarten system and the close connection main- tained between gymnasium and class-room make education there on almost totally different lines from those pursued in other lands. It is in the domain of physical culture, however, that she particularly excels. When the specialty of his race is taken into consideration, it is not surprising that Dr. Ivan E. Amilon, now of Philadelphia, but a native of the Land of the Midnight Sun, where he spent the years of his youth, should have turned his attention, upon his entrance into the medical profession, to reme- dial gymnastics and won wide fame as an expert in mechano- therapy.
IVAN E. AMILON, of Philadelphia, was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on the 6th day of July, 1866. His father was Rudolph A. Amilon, a well known resident of the Swedish capital. His mother, Julia Mathilda Möller, was descended from a long line of prominent people, among whom were the owners of a castle called Riddersvik, which adjoined the regular castle of Drottningholm. His father's father was an officer of the Swedish army and held an important post in the military service of his country. It will thus be seen that Doctor Amilon's ancestry was among the best people in the Fatherland and that he inherited the qualities which have won him success in his adopted home. The first few years of the Doctor's education were spent in the hands of a French gov- erness, as is the custom in the wealthy families of Sweden. Two
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years in a preparatory school followed. A course which covered five years was then taken at the High School of the city, after which he entered Realläroverket College, where he took a four years' course. Upon his graduation from this institution he had instruction by Prof. Hjalmar Berg, of the Royal Central Gym- nastic Institute, and also at the hands of Dr. Ernst Schildt, of Doctor Wide's Orthopedic Institute, of Stockholm. Upon the completion of these courses he determined to come to America and qualify himself for the medical profession. Accordingly, he chose Philadelphia as the scene of his career as a physician, and for the purpose of fitting himself for the profession of his choice, after due consideration, he matriculated at Jefferson College, from which, after three years of diligent study and close application, he graduated, taking the prize for the best examination on the phys- iological action of drugs. In 1889 he began the practice of mechano-therapy in Philadelphia, devoting his attention exclusively to remedial gymnastics and medical electricity, in which branches he rapidly won a reputation as a thoroughly equipped expert. The hard work necessitated by his attention to these specialties, however, soon compelled Doctor Amilon to abandon that branch of practice and devote his time and energies to the diseases of the eye, in the treatment of which he has become remarkably skilful, now being as well known as a specialist in this branch as he had been in the former field of mechano-therapy. So successful has he been in the branch to which he has given his latest attention that he is now connected with the Eye Department of the Jeffer- son Hospital and is Chief of the Eye Clinic of the Southern Dispensary.
He was married, on March 11, 1897, to Mrs. Ella Pauli De Vidal, widow of his Excellency, Sebastian Vidal.
The Doctor is a self-made man, who, by his persistent efforts against heavy odds, has attained his present high position in the medical fraternity. He is a man of ripe and varied learning and speaks German, English, French and Swedish fluently, while he has read the literature of Norway and Denmark in their original tongues. Personally, he is an attractive and engaging conversa- II .- 2
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tionalist. His wife is a refined and polished lady who has trav- eled extensively throughout the world, and, the two being of domestic temperament, find much pleasure in the congeniality of each other's high literary learning. Doctor Amilon is a member of the Philadelphia Philosophical Club, and has been for several years the only authorized representative in the city of Philadel- phia of the Zander method of medico-mechanical gymnastics, a high honor and one which of itself would stamp the Doctor as an expert in this branch of therapy. He has acquired, during the short time he has been engaged in the pursuit of his profession in Philadelphia, a large and lucrative practice among the best classes of the city and has made, by his attractive personal char- acteristics, many close friends and ardent admirers. He is still a young man, and the eminence he has achieved so early in life would seem to predict even greater fame as his energetic efforts and rare talents attract wider notice and more universal recogni- tion. His progress, indeed, seems wonderful when it is remem- bered that but a few years ago he came to a foreign land and settled among strangers. That he has achieved prominence in his profession is therefore solely the result of his own ability and determination.
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John M. anderson
JOHN M. ANDERSON.
OHN M. ANDERSON, the subject of this biography, who is now the Treasurer of Allegheny County and has served the people's interests frequently and well, was born on the 12th day of April, 1856, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, his parents being John Ayers Anderson and Catherine Anderson, whose maiden name was Miller. His father came from Manayunk, Pennsylvania, about 1838 and settled in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, where with his brother, David, he started woolen mills. Selling out, he went to Baden, in Beaver County, where he and his brother practically established the town. His father eventually became the Superin- tendent of the Penn and Eagle Cotton Mills, Allegheny City, and he gave his son much excellent mechanical training, and sent him to the public schools of Pittsburg to receive his education. John M. Anderson graduated from the public educational institutions and left the high school after a term in the year 1873. In 1876 and 1877 he took a special course in analytical chemistry in the Western Pennsylvania University. About that time his father's deatlı occurred and he secured a position in the Moorehead & McClane Works. He soon took charge of the mills and continued in a managerial capacity until 1881, when he became Manager of the Brownsville Iron Works and, in 1883, of the Canonsburg Iron and Steel Works. His natural abilities, however, sought a larger and wider field, and so, in 1885, he became identified with the Pennsylvania Natural Gas Company, as General Superintendent. This company supplied the cities of Pittsburg and Allegheny and all the manufacturers in that district with gas. It was bought out by the Philadelphia Natural Gas Company in the latter part
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of 1885, at which time it was that Mr. Anderson first entered into the strife of the political world. In 1886 he became a Clerk in the office of the Treasurer of Allegheny County and, in 1887, he became County Bond Clerk, continuing in this position 'until 1896, when he became Deputy County Comptroller. In each of these offices Mr. Anderson demonstrated his high integrity and a thorough acquaintance with the duties incumbent upon him. So satisfactory was his administration of affairs that his large con- stituency expressed themselves as most thoroughly satisfied when, in November, 1896, they elected him Treasurer of Allegheny County for three years. In this important office he has already justified the confidence imposed upon him by the people and has evidenced a most admirable managerial capacity and official excellence.
In the city of Pittsburg, Mr. Anderson has been honored, both socially and politically, upon many occasions. In the year 1885 he was elected by a large majority to the Select Council of that city from the Fourteenth Ward, and so satisfactory was his repre- sentation of and attention to the interests of his constituents in that office that he was continued therein until he tendered his resignation in order to take the position of Treasurer of Alle- gheny County, after an uninterrupted service of almost twelve years. In a business way, too, Mr. Anderson has likewise attained high standing. In 1886 and 1887 an appreciation of his financial abilities led to his having been made assignee for the Second Avenue Street Railway Company of Pittsburg, a post which he filled with his usual fidelity.
In 1881 Mr. Anderson was married to Miss Clara C. Steel, daughter of John R. Steel, of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, and two children have resulted from the union. Miss Steel's father, who was a prominent man in Armstrong County, was a brother of Thomas Steel, the late Collector of the Port of Pitts- burg, and also a brother of Mrs. Magee, mother of Christopher L. Magee. Mr. Anderson is an honorary member of the Amalgamated Iron and Steel Workers and is very popular with this element, as has always been shown by the vote cast for him when he has been a candidate for office. He had long been an active member until
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he reached the office of Superintendent, when his popularity resulted in the bestowal of honorary membership upon him. Mr. Anderson is a prominent member of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons, having taken the Thirty-second Degree; he also is a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine.
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