USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 22
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JOHN LIPPINCOTT KINSEY was born in Philadelphia, August 29, 1846. His father, William Kinsey, for many years was a well known merchant of Philadelphia, being engaged in the leather business, and his mother was Mary S. Lippincott, who was the seventh in descent from Richard Lippincott, who was made a free- man of Boston in 1649. The Kinsey family was well known in early Philadelphia history, a grandfather being one of the early settlers of Frankford, in which section of Philadelphia the subject of this biography was born. John L. Kinsey attended several years at school in New Jersey, after which he graduated from a select seminary in Philadelphia. He then prepared to enter the Junior class at Yale College, being desirous of obtaining a thorough edu- cation as the first step toward a successful career. However, he abandoned his original intention in this respect and, instead of completing his collegiate course, he entered upon the study of law. In October, 1872, he was admitted to the Bar and at once 286
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began to make himself known as an attorney in civil practice chiefly, for which branch of law he has especially fitted himself.
While John L. Kinsey devoted himself chiefly to civil courts, yet his talents brought him into notice in other cases as well. Among the noted criminal cases of Mr. Kinsey's earlier days was that of the Commonwealth vs. Sayre and the Commonwealth vs. Malden, in both of which he was assigned by the court to defend, and both of which attracted a great deal of attention at the time. Mr. Kinsey, while advancing himself in his legal affairs, began to participate in the management of municipal matters, and he evinced such an able grasp of knowledge relative to the govern- ment of the city and its resources that he soon came into promi- nence as one of the most promising of the entire younger mem- bership of the Republican Party. Mr. Kinsey from his earliest youth was an ardent supporter of the principles of Republicanism, and after he had been admitted to the Bar his efforts in behalf of the party were both zealous and unremitting. In 1881 he was appointed Third Assistant District Attorney under George S. Graham, a post for which his experience at the Bar and his undeniable ability eminently fitted him. He served the office faithfully, and, in September, 1882, so favorably had he impressed the Republicans of Philadelphia, that he was nominated without oppo- sition for the office of Register of Wills, but was defeated by 576 votes, the smallest majority ever given against a candidate and, in 1896, was elected City Solicitor by the enormous majority of 83,997, the largest ever given to a candidate for a city office. Prior to this, however, he had held office in the interest of Philadelphia, although on a much smaller scale. In 1879 he was chosen a member of the District Board of School Directors, and was President of that Board for some years. He was also chosen a member of the Philadelphia Board of Public Education, in which important body he served for thirteen years. Before he was forty years old, John L. Kinsey was a prominent Philadelphian, and from the time of his nomination for the office of Register of Wills until his most recent advancement in municipal affairs and the estimation of the public he has been continually in the front of all progressive movements.
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In April, 1895, it became necessary for City Councils to elect a City Solicitor, and in view of Mr. Kinsey's active participation in the affairs of Philadelphia, as well as his legal acumen and familiarity with all the details of the law, and his sincerity and earnestness of purpose, his selection was the most natural one. In 1896 the regular election for several large and important city offices occurred, among them being that of City Solicitor. Mr. Kinsey was regularly nominated, and a marked tribute was paid his administration of the municipality's legal interests and his personal integrity and ability, and his conduct of the office during his year's probation, when he was elected by the magnificent majority as above stated. In the management of the affairs of his department Mr. Kinsey takes a great interest, and he is gen- erally admired for his straightforwardness and his faithful ad- herence to his professional and official duties.
On June 19, 1873, Mr. Kinsey was married to Janet Bellas, daughter of Thomas Bellas, formerly of the firm of Craig, Bellas & Company. Mr. Kinsey is domestic in his tastes and passes much of his leisure time in his comfortable and elegant home. He is of a literary turn of mind, and has a miscellaneous library of several thousand books in which he is greatly interested. In addition to the duties of his office he finds time to keep in touch with the general progress of legal affairs, and as an attorney he has been very successful. In fact, his later successes were out- lined when he was holding office as Third Assistant District Attorney, when he was widely known in the legal profession for the accuracy and skill with which he prepared bills of indictment and attended to other details of his office. A staunch Repub- lican, he always takes a great interest in County, State and National politics.
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WILLIAM H. LAMBERT.
D URING the trying times of the War of the Rebel- lion, many of Pennsylvania's best and greatest men were developed, their characters being moulded in a crucible which put all to the severest test. Major William H. Lambert, who, as the General Agent in Philadelphia of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York, and as President of the Board of Charities and Cor- rection of Philadelphia, has attained a civic prominence which has made his name familiar in the widest fields, is one of the best known heroes of the Civil War.
WILLIAM H. LAMBERT was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1842. When he was very young his parents removed to Philadelphia, in the public schools of which city he was educated. He entered the Central High School and graduated therefrom as the valedictorian of his class in 1859. Shortly before the out- break of the war he began the study of law, which he was com- pelled to relinquish, however, as he entered the military service in the cause of the Union at almost the beginning of the Rebel- lion. He enlisted as a private in the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, August 16, 1862, serving in Pennsylvania and Maryland during Lee's invasion. He participated in some of the hottest battles of the war, and was in the front during the battle of Antietam, afterward accompanying the regiment to Louisville, Kentucky. Here he was discharged November 24, 1862, and accepted a position as First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Twenty-seventh New Jersey Volunteers. In December, 1862, he was present at the battle of Fredericksburg, and was honorably mustered out July 2, 1863. He was appointed as Lieutenant and
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Adjutant of the Thirty-third New Jersey Volunteers, and, in Sep- tember of the same year, the regiment joined the Army of the Potomac, being assigned to the Eleventh Corps. Lieutenant Lam- bert took an active part in the battles at Chattanooga, in which his horse was killed under him, and in the notable campaign for the relief of Burnside at Knoxville. On January 14, 1864, he was commissioned Captain in his regiment, and, in May, was appointed Aide-de-Camp upon the staff of Brigadier-General Geary, commanding the Second Division, Twentieth Corps. He was sub- sequently appointed Assistant Inspector-General upon the staff. Captain Lambert took part in the action at Pine Hill, and here again had his horse shot under him. In the famous march to the sea and the campaign from Goldsboro to Raleigh, North Carolina, he accompanied his division, and participated in the grand review at Washington which celebrated the close of active hostilities. He was assigned to duty upon the staff of General Wilcox, commanding the district of Washington when Sherman's army disbanded.
On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted Major for gallant con- duct during the war, and, on April 17, 1865, was honorably mustered out of service with his regiment. The medal of honor, under resolutions of Congress, also was awarded him "For dis- tinguished service during the War of the Rebellion." When his active military duties were over, he once more became the man of business, and turning his attention to the centres of finance and trade, he became associated with the Philadelphia General Agency of the Mutual Life Insurance Company, of New York, in 1866. He was admitted to partnership in the management of the agency in 1872, and for fifteen years he gave to the affairs of that office such careful attention that, in 1887, he became its head as General Agent, which position he still holds.
In military and social life Mr. Lambert is a prominent figure. He is a member of Post 2, Grand Army of the Republic, Depart- ment of Pennsylvania, and the Commandery of the State of Pennsylvania, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, of which he was Junior Vice Commander in 1887 and 1888; of the Union
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League, Art, Penn, United Service and Germantown Cricket clubs, and he is Treasurer of the Mercantile Library. In 1879 he delivered the Memorial Day address before Post 2, of Philadelphia, since which time his services have been in frequent demand for similar occasions and at military reunions. Among the more notable of his addresses may be mentioned that on the " American Navy" at the grand camp-fire in the Philadelphia Academy of Music in 1887, and that at the unveiling of the monument in the National Cemetery at Antietam in 1880. Major Lambert has a deep interest in the city of Philadelphia, which is outlined in his Presidency of the Board of Charities and Correction of Philadelphia, to which he was appointed September 30, 1892. Early in that year he was made a member of the Board, and his earnest efforts to advance its work led to his appointment at its head. In the execution of his official duties therein he has evinced a spirit of philanthropy entirely in keeping with his character.
W. H. LANIUS.
HE development of the city of York, Pennsyl- vania, owes more, perhaps, to W. H. Lanius than to any other of its prominent citizens, for Mr. Lanius has been connected with nearly every great enterprise which has marked the progress of that energetic city for the last twenty years or more. In the entire State of Pennsylvania there can be found few men who have deserved more honor than the subject of this biography, for, from his young manhood, when he served his country through the Civil War, until to-day, when he occupies a place as one of the leading business men of the State, his every performance has been fraught with the highest credit and has distinguished his career as that of a man of admirable principles and high purpose.
W. H. LANIUS was born November 26, 1843, at Long Island, New York. His father was Henry Lanius, a descendant of Jacob Lanius, who was born in Meckenheim, in the Palatinate, 1708, and came to America in 1731, with his wife, Juliana Kraemer, who was born in Eisenheim in 1712. His mother was Angeline Lanius. Henry Lanius was born in York in 1809, and his wife, Angeline, was born in Flushing, Long Island, and was the daugh- ter of Charles Miller, of that place. W. H. Lanius received his early education in the common schools of York, Pennsylvania, finishing his scholastic career after taking a liberal course at the York County Academy. At the age of sixteen he was clerk and salesman for his father in the retail lumber business in York, and, in 1867, was engaged in the retail lumber and coal trade at the same city on a larger scale. In 1871 he engaged in the wholesale lumber trade at Wrightsville, and, in 1880, at Williams-
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port, Pennsylvania, associated with Edwin Brillinger, under the firm name of W. H. Lanius & Co. In 1882 Mr. Lanius embarked in an extensive real estate venture, comprising the development of farming lands, which now constitute one of the most important industrial and finest residence sections of the city of York. This enterprise was the nucleus of the West End Improvement Com- pany, which he organized in 1884, remaining its President until 1890, when its charter was surrendered. This corporation was merged into the York Trust, Real Estate and Deposit Company in 1890, with Mr. Lanius as President and active Manager, in which capacity he has continued ever since. With the steady growth of the city in population and extent, it became apparent that a street railway was needed, and, in 1886, he aided in organ- izing the York Street Railway Company, becoming its President and Manager, which position he still retains. In the meantime a competing line of railway was greatly desired in York, and he became active in aiding the Western Maryland Railroad Company to extend its lines to York, and, in 1888, the Baltimore and Harris- burg Railway Company (Eastern Extension) was organized with W. H. Lanius as President. He continues in this capacity to the present time. To meet the demands of the traveling public, in 1889, the York Hotel Company was organized, and soon after the "Colonial," one of the finest hostelries in interior Pennsylvania, was erected. Mr. Lanius has been a Director of the Company ever since its formation. Mr. Lanius's enterprise and business energy may be summed up in his connection with the following com- panies : H. Lanius' Sons, Lumber and Coal; William H. Lanius & Company, Wholesale Lumber; West End Improvement Com- pany of York, The York Street Railway Company, The York Trust, Real Estate and Deposit Company, and others. Between the years 1877 and 1880, and 1885 and 1886 Mr. Lanius served in town Council from the Second Ward.
In 1888 he was elected to the Common Council from the Eleventh Ward of the city of York. In 1884 he was elected a Delegate to the Republican National Convention, at Chicago, and was President of the Blaine and Logan Republican Club of York
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the same year. In 1886 he was active in the organization of a Board of Trade of the city of York, and was elected the first Presi- dent of that organization. Mr. Lanius's social connections are numerous. He is a member of the York Lodge, No. 266, Free and Accepted Masons; of Post 37, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Loyal Legion, Commandery of Pennsylvania, Trustee of the York County Academy, Trustee of the York County His- torical Society.
The career of W. H. Lanius is a notable one, and aside from his progress as a business man and as a promoter of the interests of the city of York, he is entitled to a prominent place among Penn- sylvania's representative men for his war services. He enlisted at York at the age of seventeen, as a private in Company A, Eighty- seventh Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry (volunteer service) on August 25, 1861. In September following he was transferred to Company I, as First Sergeant ; in March, 1863, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant; he was then made First Lieutenant, and in the summer of 1863 acted as Adjutant of the Eighty-seventh Regi- ment. In June, 1864, he was advanced to the rank of Captain, commanding Company I, of that regiment. He was wounded July 9th, while acting as aide on the staff of Colonel Truax, com- manding the First Brigade, Third Division, Sixth Corps, at the battle of Monocacy. On October 13, 1864, he was mustered out of the United States service. On November 1, 1864, when not yet twenty-one years old, he was made local Special Agent of the United States Treasury Department, having charge of some very important war work. He organized the " Boys in Blue," in York, in 1866, and was elected President of this strong Republican organization, which did much effective campaign work in the years following. In 1867 he organized the General Sedgwick Post, No. 37, G. A. R., being chosen its first commander. He continues to take a lively interest in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has been a Delegate to many national and State encampments and army conventions. In 1867 Mr. Lanius was married to Lucy Smyser. They have had three children : Mary S., Grace A., and Percy L.
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EDWARD LAW.
HE ranks of the leading Pennsylvanians of to-day embrace many leaders in their particular branches who have introduced into the commerce of the State new features and departures to such a marked extent that they have attained that promi- nence which belongs to pioneers. Edward Law is one of the leaders in the combination of art and commerce which controls a vast portion of the granite and marble output of Pennsylvania and directs its architectural and decorative employments. He is a man of marked enterprise and one of the most representative of his class.
EDWARD LAW was born at Greenfield, Yorkshire, England, in 1838, his father being a large contractor, employed principally by the London and Northwestern Railroad Company, which was then constructing its extensive system of railroads in that part of Eng- land. On his mother's side he is connected with the Bottomly family, who were very large manufacturers of woolen goods and who had extensive dealings with the United States Government, supplying it with woolen cloths for uniforms and filling many similar orders. The son, Edward, was educated at a private school, and early showed his predilection for art, especially for designing of a novel and original type. Not alone art, but kin- dred subjects, received his earnest attention. In the study of monumental designing he was particularly successful. After leaving school he was apprenticed to the stone-cutting business under his father, with whom he served for a few years, but, becoming desirous of seeing more of the world, at the age of nine- teen he came to America and settled in Philadelphia. Here he
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at once found a position with the Hobbs family, serving with them until he was twenty-one years old. He increased his knowl- edge and experience in every direction, and, while still a young man, gained a large grasp of business details as well as a thor- ough knowledge of the several branches in which he was interested. A few years after attaining his majority he was offered a position with the Fales Granite and Marble Works, of Philadelphia, as Superintendent, and he remained associated with Mr. Fales until the latter retired from the business. About that time the late Governor Bodwell, of Maine, who was largely interested in granite quarries, suggested to young Mr. Law the advisability of taking up the business. This he concluded to do, and, associating him- self with Mr. Thomas Burwell and Charles A. Barker, and backed by the Governor, they formed the now well known Philadelphia Granite and Blue Stone Company, of which Mr. Law is President, Mr. Barker the Treasurer, and Mr. Burwell the Superintendent. From the very first the business of the company has been a suc- cess, and the members of the firm can point with pride to a host of works erected by them, among which may be mentioned the Real Estate Trust Company Building, the Record Building, both on Chestnut Street, and a number of others of equally large and important proportions.
Mr. Law's artistic temperament, combined with his practical business ability, united to form a combination of qualities which could not fail to make him successful, and, upon entering the business through which he has become so well known, he at once decided to take up some special lines. In consequence, the firm is now well known for those branches of stone work particularly their own, one of their specialties being the designing and erec- tion of mausoleums and monumental structures. In this, probably, Mr. Law has had more experience than any of his associates in this line, and his work may be found in various parts of Penn- sylvania, principally in the numerous cemeteries in and around Philadelphia. For beauty of design and excellence of construction, the George W. Childs mausoleum in Central Laurel Hill Ceme- tery, designed and erected by Mr. Law, is regarded by all authori-
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ties as one of the finest structures of the kind in the United States. He recently designed and received orders for another magnificent mausoleum of the same character for P. A. B. Widener. Among other notable operations of Mr. Law are similar structures for A. B. Rorke, General Thayer, R. I. Dobbins, Michael Ehret, William M. Singerly, Henry Gibson and others. He has designed monuments as memorials to Charles H. Graham, the late Mayor Fitler and a number of others.
Mr. Law has been married twice. He has no family. His first wife was a sister of his partner, Mr. Burwell. The present Mrs. Law was Miss Sarah Wood, daughter of William Wood, a well known business man of the Quaker City.
G. MORTIMER LEWIS.
C ENTRAL Pennsylvania's industrial enterprises and their developments have certainly had a vast influence upon the general trend of prosperity in the State. G. Mortimer Lewis, the subject of this biography, who is one of Philadelphia's leading lawyers, is widely known for his participation in the progress which has marked the past score of years in and around Luzerne County.
G. MORTIMER LEWIS was born in Wyalusing, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, his parents being Augustus and Sarah Lewis. His mother's maiden name was Stone, and she came of a family well known in that section of the State. The first Ameri- can Lewis came to Swansea, Massachusetts, from England, in 1630, and his descendant, Thomas Lewis, was born at New Lon- don, Connecticut, in April, 1745. There were four children in the family, two daughters and two sons, and all attained con- siderable prominence. Thomas married Mary, daughter of Captain James Turrell, of Connecticut, who was the son of Daniel Turrell, of Milford, one of the original proprietors, in 1768, and there were nine children born, one of whom, Justus Lewis, the grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Wyalusing in 1777. Thomas Lewis and his brother John were among the bravest of those who battled for the independence of the United States, and history tells of many of their good deeds. After the Revolu- tionary War had reached its triumphant conclusion, Thomas Lewis crossed the mountains to the wilds along the Susquehanna River and settled in Wyalusing. In 1814 he united with the Presbyterian Church and became one of its most active and efficient workers,
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and was one of the pioneers in the cause of temperance. During his entire life he was influential in the politics of his section, but never aspired to office. One of his sons, Augustus Lewis, who was born at Merryall, named from his father's native place, Merryall, in Litchfield County, Connecticut, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was, for many years, a prominent merchant at Wyalusing, and was afterwards largely interested in the lumber industry, becoming one of the leading business men of his time. Not alone, however, as a manufacturer did Augustus Lewis attain a notability in the ranks of progressive Pennsylva- nians of the day, but he was enterprising, and labored to improve the general prosperity of the Commonwealth. When the North Branch Canal was first opened the first canal boats which passed through were built by him as necessary in connection with his business operations.
On the maternal side, G. Mortimer Lewis is descended from a distinguished line. His great-grandfather, Jonas Ingham, was of Quaker origin, whose father was so thoroughly opposed to the principle of war, that he disinherited his son, Jonas, because as Captain of a company he took an active part in the War of the Revolution. Jonas married Rebecca Beaumont, of Bucks County. His mother's name was Bye, who, with her people, came on the vessel with Penn and Logan. His nephew became the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States under Jackson. The daugh- ter of Jonas, Sarah, married Rafael Stone, who had come into Pennsylvania with the first settlers from Litchfield, Connecticut.
G. Mortimer Lewis, after receiving a home training of the most thorough character, was sent to the Wyalusing Educational Union, where he was especially prepared for college by his uncle, Rev. Darwin Cook. After this he went to Lafayette College, where, after three years, he graduated in 1873. He determined to adopt the profession of the law, and in the office of the late Edward P. Darling, one of the State's most distinguished lawyers, he attained the necessary technical knowledge, being admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County, September 6, 1875. For a number of years he was a member of the law firm of Ryman & Lewis,
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which became one of the best known in Pennsylvania through the extent and importance of their cases. Of late years, however, Mr. Lewis has practiced alone as far as the practice of law is concerned. He has given a great part of his time to the organi- zation and management of general business enterprises, and as a promoter of important industrial movements he has attained a wide prominence. In the prosecution of the latter work his name became a familiar one, not only in Luzerne County, but through- out the State of Pennsylvania. Politically, Mr. Lewis is known as a prominent Republican, but he does not take any active part in the details of politics. Mr. Lewis was one of the originators of the Electric Light Company of Wilkes-Barre. He also made the combination of the street railways, comprising the system known under the name of the Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Valley Traction Company, and was one of the original Directors. This system- one of the most notable in the State of Pennsylvania-combined the Wilkes-Barre and Kingston, Wilkes-Barre and West Side, Coal- ville Passenger, Wilkes-Barre and Suburban, Pittston Street Car Company, West Pittston and Wyoming, Pittston, Mooise and Pleas- ant Valley, and the Plymouth Street Railway companies and other street railways, covering, to a large extent, the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, and having a trackage complete of sixty miles and upwards. Mr. Lewis was the organizer and became and remains the President of the Mt. Vernon Coal Company. Mr. Lewis has always been a very active man, and, notwithstanding the importance of the interests mentioned, has given his attention to other larger enterprises. He is a Director in the famous Colo- rado Marble and Slate Companies and also the Elk Mountain Railway Company, of Colorado, developing large and valuable tracts of land in Gunnison and other counties in the State of Colorado.
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