USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 26
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
On September 7, 1871, Mr. Mishler was married to Louisa C. Halbach, of Philadelphia, and is the father of two daughters and a fifteen-year-old son. He is socially, as well as professionally, popu- lar, and is pointed out with pride by the citizens of Reading as one of their leading residents, and most liberal, charitable and res- pected business men.
James moir
The Rembrandt Eng. Co. Philn.
JAMES MOIR.
HE steep sides of Pennsylvania's almost inacces- sible hills, useless for any other purpose, have been the pasture fields of thousands of fleece- bearers which have brought wealth to the farmers and employment to the shepherds, while the weav- ing of the wool which these docile creatures have contributed to man's good has furnished employment for many thousands of toilers. From the spinning wheel of our grandmothers to the immense factories that now dot the Commonwealth is a long road, but it is one that the industry has traveled largely through the aid of such men as James Moir, of whom this sketch is written. Born amid humble circumstances, he came forth from comparative obscurity in a foreign land, to occupy a high place in the business which owes much of its development and expansion in Pennsyl- vania to his Scotch solidity and active and conscientious work.
JAMES MOIR was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the 18th day of July, 1820. He received but a limited school education, which reading and self-study has since supplemented until to-day he possesses a fund of knowledge which is surpassed by few college- bred men. His keen intellect soon perceived that in his native land he would be hedged in by every barrier that can be thrown around poverty, and as a child he had dreamed of a career in far-off America -a dream which the years that have passed have proved to be a prophetic one. In 1841, as soon as he had attained his majority, he crossed the ocean and settled in Watertown, Jefferson County, New York. He resided in New York State for fourteen years, during which time he turned his energies to manufacturing. In 1856 he removed to Philadelphia and three years later to Conshohocken,
343
344
JAMES MOIR.
where he became Superintendent of the establishment of Thomas Kershaw, who, in 1861, sold out to Bullock's Sons. He remained with the new firm as manager of their extensive business until 1871, when he was admitted as a member of the firm, forming, with George and James Bullock, the partnership of George Bullock & Company. The firm continued business under this name until 1881, when a joint stock company known as the Conshohocken Worsted Mills and the Norristown Woolen Mills was organized. Mr. Moir went to France to examine and study the French worsted machinery which was afterwards introduced into the Conshohocken Mills. Up until 1888, practically the whole burden of the conduct of the affairs of the company fell upon Mr. Moir, who was Superintendent and General Manager of all the mills. In that year he retired from its management, but remained a Director of the corporation. George Bullock died in 1889 and Mr. Moir was appointed Assignee of the company and took charge of its business pending the settlement of the estate, which he effected in a highly satisfactory manner.
In 1891 Mr. Moir organized the Conshohocken Woolen Com- pany, of which he is President and which his energies have brought to a foremost place among the textile industries of the Keystone State. Their plant is a thoroughly equipped one, and they have thirteen sets of machines which have a capacity of seven thousand yards per week. In the production of their goods they employ a force of 270 men and manufacture diagonals, tweeds and Govern- ment blue cloth.
But the Keystone State does not claim the whole of Mr. Moir's attention, for he is largely interested in an extensive cotton manufacturing establishment which is located at Piedmont, Ala- bama. His manufacturing interests have not engaged the whole of his efforts. Besides being thoroughly interested in the pros- perity of his borough and county, he has taken an intense interest in several other lines of business and commercial activity, and, of late years especially, has attained considerable prominence in the banking world as a stockholder in the Montgomery Trust Company, the First National Bank of Conshohocken and the First
345
JAMES MOIR.
National Bank of Norristown. That he is a thoroughly progres- sive citizen of Conshohocken is shown by the prominent part he has taken as a member of the company which controls the gas works of the place. He is also a member of the Longmead Iron Company, besides owning a stock farm of six hundred acres in Goochland County, Virginia, upon which he raises a large number of blooded horses, cattle and other live stock.
Although he has long been a Republican, he is in no sense a politician and has never been prominent in the practical part of partisan politics. Having himself been denied the benefits of an early education, he has long taken a deep interest in the instruc- tion of youth and for eighteen years served as a member of the West Conshohocken School Board, over which body he presided for several terms. Social to the highest degree, he has for many years been a prominent Freemason and has passed through Lodge, Chapter, Commandery and Consistory, and is now a Scot- tish Rite Mason of the Thirty-second Degree.
JOSEPH WINFIELD MOYER.
0 NE of the most important chapters in the history of Pennsylvania is that which deals with the open- ing and development of the vast coal fields which have proven such a prolific source of wealth to the State. The indefatigability and enterprise of the pioneers in the coal mining regions was one of the largest factors in the successful development of the great State for a new line of progress. Joseph W. Moyer, the subject of this biography, bears the proud distinction of having played an important part in the opening of the rich coal fields centred around Pottsville, Pennsyl- vania. He was one of the first to see the possibilities of compe- tition in the handling of coal, and by his energetic business methods gathered the capitalists and made the competitive rail- roads possible. Further than this, the opening of new mines gave to Pottsville the impetus that was largely instrumental in estab- lishing it upon its present basis of permanent prosperity.
JOSEPH W. MOYER was born in Mount Pleasant, then a prosperous village of Foster Township, Schuylkill County. His grandfather, George Mayer, which was the original family name, was born in France, near the German border line, not far from Worms, and was one of Napoleon's Black Hussars. He was one of the handful of men who survived the invasion of Russia and the horrors of the retreat. He came to America on his discharge, and settled first in Northumberland County, and later in George- town, Dauphin County, taking for his wife Christiana Sheiley, of Stone Valley, near Harrisburg, the daughter of a soldier of the Revolution. Their son, Joseph W. Moyer's father, was a builder and a skilled mechanic, being the inventor of several agricultural
346
A EFFANCIS & Lavado
oyen
347
JOSEPH WINFIELD MOVER.
implements and one of the first large coal breakers in the anthra- cite regions. He and his family moved from Mount Pleasant to New Hamburg, Mercer County, shortly after the birth of their son, the subject of this sketch, and the boy received his education in the common schools of that place. By attendance at the State Normal School at Edinboro, Erie County, and by determined self- preparation, he fitted himself for the study of law, in 1873 being admitted to the office of White & Jackson, in the Mercer County Seat. He taught school to defray his expenses and pursued his studies in spare moments. Early in 1874, by the suggestion and aid of an uncle, he moved to the Schuylkill County Seat, and was received as a student by the law firm of Hughes & Farquhar, of Pottsville. The young man had the benefit of the example and advice of Francis W. Hughes, who, in those days, had few equals as a lawyer and statesman. In November, 1876, Mr. Moyer was admitted to the Schuylkill County Bar, and in May following, when he opened an office at Pottsville, found himself at once with more than a living practice, the reward of his effective service with his preceptors. There were still vast virgin tracts of anthracite coal land lying on all sides of Pottsville, particularly to the westward. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, which then controlled the field, when it had cars destined for tide- water at New York, had to haul them by way of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley road, then in course of con- struction, did not shorten the route. Years previous there had been a prospect of a shorter route by a connection between the Lehigh Valley, near Lehigh Gap, and the Mine Hill branch of the Philadelphia and Reading at Schuylkill Haven. The Reading, seeing that part of its enormous tonnage would be diverted, acquired control of the proposed line and, soon after grading was begun, abandoned its further construction. After many failures by others to secure the construction of the abandoned line, Mr. Moyer succeeded in interesting the necessary capital, and, on October 4, 1886, the Schuylkill and Lehigh Valley Railroad Com- pany was organized through his agency, Mr. Moyer becoming its General Counsel.
348
JOSEPH WINFIELD MOYER.
Three years later the Lehigh Valley Railroad purchased the line, then in an advanced condition of construction, completed it at a cost of $2,000,000 and acquired the ownership of the coal lands around and west of Pottsville for many millions more. This brought a new and energetic rival railroad to Pottsville and opened a new era of prosperity to the town. Mr. Moyer, being largely interested in real estate in New Jersey in 1892, went to New York, intending to reside there permanently and practice his profession, though he still had his office at Pottsville. He was admitted to practice in all the courts of New York on December 14, 1892, but in the following spring the business panic obliged him to give his personal attention to his affairs at Pottsville. He returned to that city, and has remained there ever since, in legal practice. He still has important interests in New York.
Mr. Moyer is a charter member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, member of its Committee on Education, a non-resi- dent member of the Lawyers' Club of Philadelphia, and for many years past has been the Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary and Law Reform of the Schuylkill County Bar Association. In politics, Mr. Moyer has always been a Republican, as were all the other members of his family, but during President Cleveland's first term he changed his politics, through dissension with the tariff doctrines of his party, and has since then espoused the Democratic cause. In 1880 he was the Republican nominee for the Legislature and was defeated by a small majority. From that time on he has repeatedly been sought as a candidate, but has never consented to offer himself as such. He has, nevertheless, taken an active part in every election, in local politics especially, and has stumped the county from its four corners for the party of his fealty, and is now (1898) a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, and Chairman of the Democratic party of Schuylkill County.
Pacolhyun
JACOB MYERS.
HE building interests of Philadelphia, and this fact is easily recognized, have contributed more, perhaps, than any other department of progress to the city's national fame. Throughout the country Philadelphia is freely accorded the title of the "City of Homes," and its builders are among the most energetic men of the Commonwealth. Active in all the movements tending to increase the general prosperity, they have kept pace with the most rapid strides in their own trade, while at the same time participating in the general advancement of the community. Jacob Myers, the subject of this sketch, has to his credit the erection of a large number of the finest buildings in Philadelphia. These include many handsome residences, but his chief operations have really been the erection of office buildings and public institu- tions. Mr. Myers is a Philadelphian born and he takes much pride in the progress of his city.
JACOB MYERS was born in the city of Philadelphia, on Vine Street, above Eighth, June 24, 1842. His father was Jacob Myers, and his mother Charlotte Myers, the former having been an American of German descent, while his mother was an American of English descent. Mr. Myers' father was an accountant and a man of high mathematical training. Being a great believer in the value of education, he sent his son to the public schools of the city as soon as he was able to appreciate their advantages. Young Jacob, however, found his natural bent in the direction of a con- genial trade wherein he could exercise his active disposition and his mechanical instincts. He was apprenticed, in 1858, and after serving for some time became foreman for John Crump, the builder,
349
350
JACOB MYERS.
in which responsible position he served for eleven years. By that time he had realized the fact that success was more likely to visit him as a result of operations upon his own basis, and seeing that there was a splendid opportunity in the building interests for a man of energy and ambition, he established a trade of his own. He conducted business under this arrangement until January, 1896, when he took with him his sons, forming a general partner- ship. This firm is now one of the most prominent of the contract- ing and building concerns in the country.
While Mr. Myers was always chiefly interested in his own business, he yet found time to become associated with several important corporations, particularly those of a financial nature. The development of the suburban districts of the city of Philadel- phia always had a particular interest for him and consequently his identification with financial operations naturally found root in these districts. He has acted as Director, for a number of years, in the Bryn Mawr National Bank, and is also a Director of the Merion Trust and Title Company. He has always been a hard worker and has been indefatigable in his endeavor to establish his business upon a basis of permanent success. To all the details of his affairs he has given close attention, and this factor in his business life has been the one chiefly instrumental in making him one of Philadelphia's leading builders and contractors. Among the well known buildings erected by Mr. Myers the following are representative of his general style of work: The Academy of Fine Arts, a building which was the first fire-proof structure erected in Philadelphia; the Franklin Building, on Twelfth Street above Walnut; the Mechanical Building of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Mt. Airy, Pennsylvania, and the Hale Building, Juniper and Chestnut streets. In all of these Mr. Myers bought out some new phase in the modern style of building, and they will probably stand as monuments to his skill as a representative Philadelphia builder. Among the other notable structures which Mr. Myers erected are the following: Mrs. Matthew Baird's house, Merion, Pennsylvania; Church House, Twelfth and Walnut streets ; Home of the Merciful Saviour, Forty-fourth and Baltimore Avenue; Den-
35I
JACOB MYERS.
beigh Hall, Bryn Mawr College; Chemical Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania ; Veterinary Hospital, University of Pennsylvania ; Kelsey Oriental Bath Company Building, 1104 Walnut Street ; Lippincott, Johnson & Company building, 1021 Walnut Street ; Church for Parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania ; two houses for Mary M. Potts and Francis L. Potts, of Wyebrooke, Chester County, Pennsylvania; University Club, 1316 Walnut Street, and many other buildings.
Mr. Myers was married on March 4, 1863, to Miss Lucy New, of Wilmington, Delaware. They have had four children, two boys and two girls, all of whom are living. The sons are now in part- nership with their father and are closely following in his progres- sive footsteps. Mr. Myers deserves all the success he has won, and his prominence is not confined to Philadelphia alone, but extends through the State, where he is widely recognized as a man of thorough zeal in his business, and one possessing an admirable strength of purpose.
ALONZO P. MACLEOD.
U PON the roll of honor which comprises the list of prominent and representative Pennsylvanians are many self-made men. Alonzo P. Macleod, the subject of this biography, has made his way to the front by his own efforts solely, and he is to-day one of the foremost attorneys of his section of the State.
ALONZO POTTER MACLEOD was born May 29, 1861, at Clear- field, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. His father, Alexander Mac- Leod, a son of Archibald Macleod, once Mayor of Aberdeen, Scotland, was born in Canada in 1800, and died in Meadville, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1877. He was a physician in his early life, and later served as Chaplain in the Eighty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and in the regular army from 1866 until his death. Margaretta Howell Fenwick was Alonzo P. Macleod's mother. She was a daughter of Col. Athanasius Fenwick, of St. Mary's County, Maryland, was born at Cherryfields, Maryland, in 1821, and is still living. The son Alonzo's schooling was obtained at an army post school at Fort Delaware from 1867 to 1871, and Fort Larned, Kansas, from 1871 to 1872. His father, as a Chap- lain, frequently removed from one post to another, and, while this robbed the son of the joys of a permanent home, it inured him to climatic changes and the severities of travel. From 1872 to 1875 he continued his education in the public schools at Mead- ville, also taking a course there in a business college. He went to the preparatory department of Allegheny College, at Meadville, from 1876 to 1879, and graduated from the high school at Clear- field in 1879. He also spent some time in the preparatory depart-
352
.
alonzo & Mc Leod
353
ALONZO P. MACLEOD.
ment of Lehigh University, and taught country school in Clearfield County in 1879 and 1880. He registered as a law student in the office of G. R. & W. Barrett in 1882, being admitted to the Bar in Clearfield County in 1884, to the Bar in Cambria County in 1888, to the Blair County Bar in 1888 and the Supreme Court of Penn- sylvania in 1889. From his admission to the Bar until the pre- sent time he has continually advanced, and he has a large prac- tice in the various courts of his section, besides which he is a recognized authority on commercial law.
In February, 1895, Mr. Macleod went to Coalport, Clearfield County, and continued there until the early part of 1896. At the present time his name is a familiar one in legal circles through- out the western part of the State. He has his offices in the Mateer Building, Altoona, and also at Coalport, Clearfield County. His practice is extended into Blair, Cambria and Clearfield coun- ties. Mr. Macleod was Solicitor for the Coalport Building and Loan Association from 1887 to 1896, and was elected Burgess in 1895, serving two years. His first case in the Supreme Court was that of Buck & Company vs. the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which was finally won by him without any assistance. It was a notable case, and was followed by many of a like nature. He has made a specialty of uncovering fraudulent transactions, meeting with unusual success. Mr. Macleod has always been a hard worker for the Republican party, but has never asked for any office or preferment of any kind whatever, at the same time being recognized as one of the strongest of the young men in the party. Mr. Macleod's career, although in point of years it is yet only in its middle stage, has already given indication of the fact that the manner of his youthful development was of great advan- tage to him. He had experienced almost every phase of human existence, and, born in a small town, his infancy and early boy- hood were influenced by the environments of life in Philadelphia and the subsequent military life and its commercial adjuncts. When he entered the professional field he noted that the natural sources of commercial advancement for the country around him were coal and timber; consequently, in his capacity as an attor-
II .- 23
354
ALONZO P. MACLEOD.
ney and promoter of business enterprises, he became closely con- nected with these interests. In June, 1897, he was elected Solicitor of the Pennsylvania Building and Loan Association to succeed Col. D. J. Neff, the President of said Association being Josiah D. Hicks, Member of Congress from that District, which position he still occupies. By an act of Congress the Commissioners of the United States Circuit Court were taken away, and Commissioners were authorized to be appointed for the United States District Court. On July 1, 1897, Mr. Macleod was appointed a United States Commissioner for the Western District of Pennsylvania for a term of four years, to reside at Altoona. Upon the transfer of the business of the Commonwealth Building and Loan Association from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, and the subsequent change of name to the Commonwealth Savings Fund and Loan Association, he was chosen President and General Counsel, and at once the Asso- ciation entered upon a most prosperous career. He has been an active worker in Masonry, and an interested member of the Odd Fellows for the past ten years. One of his most notable legal battles in equity was won for the Borough of Coalport, for which he was Solicitor for seven years. It involved the law of right of waterways. His successful conduct of this case brought him many valuable clients. Mr. Macleod has never married, and he has given all his time to his profession, in which his activity and ability place him among the most progressive sons of the Commonwealth.
Hmm- Eller.
The Rembrandt EngLo Eula
WILLIAM McALEER.
HE exigencies of Pennsylvania politics have developed, in many instances, legislative abilities of the high- est order, and in the person of William McAleer, the subject of this biography, these qualities are united to a great extent. Mr. McAleer is the Democratic representative from the Third Congressional District, and is the successor of Samuel J. Randall in that office.
WILLIAM MCALEER was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, January 6, 1838, and, in 1851, came to this country with his parents, who settled in Philadelphia. He had attended school in Tyrone from his seventh year, and, after two years more of study in the public schools of Nicetown, became an attendant in a grocery store. He learned the business thoroughly, and, when nineteen years of age, assisted his father and brothers in the establishment of a produce and commission business on Second Street above Bainbridge. In 1861 the firm moved from that loca- tion to 618 South Second Street. The youngest son, as the years passed, gradually assumed active management of the business, but the old firm still retains its original name, John McAleer & Sons. The present members are John McAleer, Jr., and William McAleer. In 1870 he made his start in his political career. For years he had been a leader in various lyceums and other institutions, and had the friendship of the best men in the southern part of the city. He was the Democratic nominee for Common Councilman in the Fifth Ward in 1870, and was elected. After serving one term, he declined a re-nomination, and was elected by Select and Common Councils to the Board of Guardians of the Poor, to which he was returned by them for five successive terms. He was Vice-
355
356
WILLIAM McALEER.
President, and later President, of the Board. In 1886 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Senate of Pennsylvania for four years, unopposed. In 1889 the Democratic members of that body honored him by nominating him for President pro tempore. His term in the State Senate at an end, he was regularly nominated to succeed Richard Vaux, who was elected for the unexpired term in the seat in the United States House of Representatives so long and honorably occupied by the late Samuel J. Randall. He carried the election by 3,000 votes, though Mr. Vaux was an indepen- dent Democratic nominee, and placed upon the Republican ticket. He set himself to the task of securing a better harbor for Phila- delphia, having a practical knowledge of the enormous business lost to Philadelphia by a river channel so wretchedly unfit for the modern merchant marine, and was, with his colleagues, successful in obtaining the appropriation for the removal of the river obstruc- tions. The improvement of League Island Navy Yard was also the object of his earnest work in Congress. He received an appointment on the Committee of Naval Affairs, and secured appropriations aggregating $275,000 for permanent improvements. He also interested himself with great effect in securing for Phil- adelphia the building of the cruiser and battleships that have been built, and are being built, in the Cramp Shipyards, also the first steam tug that League Island has had.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.