USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 27
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He was instrumental also in securing a vote of $750,000 for Philadelphia's new mint. In Congress his career furnished an example of the silent worker in contrast to the ever-ready orator. In many details of his character, Mr. McAleer resembled the statesman who had preceded him in representing the Third Dis- trict, Samuel J. Randall. He voted for the repeal of the Sher- man Silver-purchasing law, and unhesitatingly declared himself from the first as opposed to the measures of the Silver party. The regular Democratic nomination was denied him in 1892. He ran on an independent nomination, was endorsed by the Repub- lican Convention, and won by a plurality of 10,016, 7,000 more than his plurality at the former poll. Two years later he was not a candidate. Joseph P. McCullen was the Democratic
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nominee, but was defeated by Frederick Halterman, who received 6,437 majority. In 1896 he was a candidate against Mr. Halter- man, and was elected by a majority of 2,099. Mr. McAleer has been a member of the Southwark Literary Society; a Director of the Mechanics' Institute; for many years Vice-President and acting President of St. Philip's Literary Institute; a member of the Executive Committee of the Hibernian Society, and was once the President of the organization. Mr. McAleer formed a union of all the benevolent societies in Philadelphia, and is President of its " Board of Presidents." It is the only known organization in the world comprising men of all creeds, and representing the different nationalities. For many years he was President of the First Dis- trict Charity Organization. He has been a power in the Commer- cial Exchange for many years, and served as Director several times, and as Vice-President and as President. In 1880, when he was elected to the latter office, he also became a Director in the Chamber of Commerce.
W. J. McCAHAN.
ERSATILE genius and impetuous enthusiasm have ever been among the most prominent character- istics of the sons of Erin who have sought fortune in the Western World, and these traits are uni- versally acknowledged to have contributed, in a wonderful degree, to the cause of progress in their adopted land. The majority of the host of courageous Irishmen who have left the scenes of their childhood and undertaken the stupendous task of building up homes in a foreign land have not allowed their course to be impeded by encumbrances of any nature, and while, too often, the sole capital of these indomitable immigrants has consisted in natural ability and steady determination, there are those among them who have speedily won their way to the front of New World enterprises. The victory that brain and energy can win over poverty is more than ordinarily illustrated in the remark- ably successful career of W. J. McCahan, who left his native land and parental roof to seek success among a people with whom oppor- tunities of advancement are open alike to the rich and the poor. Coming to America a poor boy, with an energy that knew no abate- ment, and the mental strength and keen intellect for which his earlier Scotch ancestry had become famous, he has won success from the jaws of poverty and found fortune when a more easily daunted man would have reaped only defeat and disappointment, winning, by the exercise of the traits of heart and mind which have characterized his entire career, the confidence of his business asso- ciates and the respect of the entire community.
W. J. McCAHAN was born on the Ist day of April, 1832, in County Antrim, noted as one of the most progressive and enlight- 358
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W. J. McCAHAN.
ened districts of Ireland, and originally the home of so many of the families whose names figure on the pages of American history. His ancestors were Scots who settled in the Ulster Plantations in the Sixteenth Century. The subject of this sketch was the son of John and Peggy McCahan, and the youngest of a family of seven children. He attended the country schools in the neighborhood of his home and acquired a substantial common school education, dis- playing evidences of those talents which have since won him fame and fortune in a foreign land. After obtaining the best education that was there attainable, he was employed for two years in superin- tending his father's farm, but like so many of his courageous fellow countrymen, when but nineteen years of age he turned his eyes across the waters and, seeing opportunities there which could never be his in the land of his birth, he crossed the sea to make his home in a country where his undoubted talents would have ample scope. Settling in Philadelphia, he soon entered into business, succeeding so well that, for the six years between 1851 and 1857, he was engaged in the furniture business, as the senior member of the firm of McCahan & Cooper. In the latter year, however, he retired from the firm and, in conjunction with a partner, under the firm name of Scott & McCahan, began the grocery business, the firm later becoming, on the retirement of Mr. Scott, and the admission of another partner, McCahan & Cooper. Perceiving, however, an advantageous opportunity for a sugar refinery, as the head of the firm of W. J. McCahan & Company, he entered that branch of the business and is to-day President of the W. J. McCahan and of the Pennsylvania Sugar Refinery companies, and Vice-President of the Southern Cotton Oil Company.
On the 8th day of April, 1858, he was married to Sarah Cooper, who died in 1872; and, in 1877, to Lizzie Caldwell, a daughter of John Caldwell, a prominent merchant of Philadelphia and a member of the firm of Stuart & Brother, dry-goods importers. He has two sons and two daughters, Thomas C., W. J., Jr., Mar- garet J. and Elizabeth B. McCahan. Thomas C. is senior member of the firm of McCahan & Cooper, wholesale grocers, and W. J. McCahan, Jr., is assistant to his father in his extensive business,
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in which he is able to relieve him of many of his cares. He is Sec- retary of the W. J. McCahan Sugar Refinery. Mr. McCahan's chief interest at the present time is in the promotion of his extensive business interests in Philadelphia, and in fostering the hopes and aspirations and moulding the career of his two sons, whose suc- cess in life has ever been with him a matter of the greatest con- cern. He has always exhibited the deepest interest in the welfare and progress of his adopted home, and to increase the commerce of the port as far as lay in his power has invariably insisted that all goods consigned to him should be shipped direct to Philadelphia.
In political circles Mr. McCahan has never permitted himself to become very prominent. While he has always been an ardent and enthusiastic member of the Republican party, and has entered into its councils as became his eminent position in mercantile and manufacturing circles, he has never consented to occupy a place in the administration of the government of city, State or nation.
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PENROSE A. McCLAIN.
T HE municipal history of Philadelphia during the past ten years or so contains no name more thor- oughly identified with the municipality's general affairs than that of Penrose A. McClain, who was recently appointed by President Mckinley to be Collector of Internal Revenue of the First District of Pennsyl- vania. Mr. McClain for a number of years has been a prominent business man in the lower section of Philadelphia, but it is chiefly through his political interest in the progress of his city that he is well known.
PENROSE A. McCLAIN was born at Front and Wharton streets, Philadelphia, November 10, 1844, and with the affairs of the southern section of the city he has all his business life been actively identified. His father was Andrew McClain and his mother Eliza McClain. This parentage was Scotch-Irish, Mr. McClain uniting in his character some of the most admirable traits of both races. He received his early education in the public schools of the First District, and when he entered into the busi- ness field it was in the capacity of a Grain Measurer for the city and county of Philadelphia. That was before the advent of the grain elevators practically abolished such posts, and afterwards he branched out in the flour, feed and grain business on his own account, meeting with decided success. He opened an establish- ment at the corner of Third and Tasker streets in 1868, and has ever since been recognized as a thoroughly successful business man. His first knowledge of the grain business was obtained when he was a boy of fifteen, at which time he was engaged with James Barrett & Son, grain and commission merchants, at
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404 South Delaware Avenue. It was while there that he was appointed a Grain Measurer. He was but a short time in busi- ness when he became a member of the Commercial Exchange, and in this organization served for some time on the Board of Direc- tors. Mr. McClain, however, has probably won his chief laurels through his connection with the political affairs of Philadelphia and in his participation in its general advancement. However, he is still engaged in the flour and feed business and continues an active member of the Commercial Exchange.
Mr. McClain from his earliest manhood was always active in the political affairs of the city, but his practical participation therein really dates back to 1889, when he was elected to Select Council from the First Ward. Not only did he gain, in being elected, a distinction for himself, but he rendered his party an inestimable service. The Republican organization in that section of the city was disrupted by a factional fight, and Mr. McClain's consent to be a candidate for Select Council was the only thing which saved the party from defeat. He was re-elected in 1892 and was again sent back to Select Council in 1895. During his course of service in the upper branch of the local government, he was always on the alert to advance the interests of the city, and many important measures tending to this end had his warm sup- port. He was the first to engage in the needed improvement of League Island Navy Yard, and he served as Chairman of the Joint Committee of Councils to visit Washington for the purpose of interesting Congress in the development of this highly valuable and favorably situated naval station. It was chiefly through his efforts that a liberal appropriation was obtained from the last Congress for improvements at the Yard, and his energy was, in a large measure, responsible for the recognition by the Federal Government of the usefulness of League Island. In Councils Mr. McClain was also active in extending such advantages as the water supply, electric lighting, fire service and telephone and transportation facilities to League Island. All during his career as Councilman, in fact, Mr. McClain was strongly desirous of providing for the people who deputized him to represent them, all
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the improvements and comforts possible, especially those within the boundary of the First Ward. He gave particular attention to highway improvements and the creation of public parks. It was he who presented ordinances in Councils to create and improve John Dickinson Square, Mifflin Square and Greble Park. It was chiefly through his efforts that the original plans of the League Island Park were revised and a large portion of it located in the . First Ward, thereby permitting the improvements on both sides of Broad Street.
On April 3, 1897, Mr. McClain's services to the Republican party and his fealty to the best interests of his community were recognized by President Mckinley in his appointment to the office of Collector of Internal Revenue of the First District of Pennsyl- vania, it being the first appointment of President Mckinley's administration applying to the city of Philadelphia. The First Internal Revenue District embraces the counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery and Schuyl- kill, and the Collector has a large number of subordinates. He was also appointed, by the Secretary of the Treasury, Custodian of the Post-Office Building and the United States Court House, in which capacity he has about forty additional places at his disposal. Mr. McClain was a Delegate to the National Convention held at St. Louis at the time Mr. Mckinley was placed in nomination. He served as Delegate to several important conventions prior to this and was a Representative from the First Ward to the City Republican Executive Committee. As a business man and an active citizen of Philadelphia who is warmly interested in bringing to it many important improvements, Mr. McClain's position to-day is one of deserved prominence.
JOSEPH P. McCULLEN.
S INCE the days when jurisprudence in America was in its infancy, the Bar of Philadelphia has enjoyed an enviable reputation for the high standard of its membership, for thorough legal training and per- sonal integrity, and there has probably never been a time when some of its number were not sitting in colonial, State or national councils. Of late years, however, one of the most notable changes in the legal world has been the rapid advancement of the younger element-the fact that gray hairs are no longer considered essential to wisdom, but that singleness of purpose, integrity of character and earnestness of endeavor, even when coupled with youth, can claim and obtain the attention and respect of the public and of their fellow members of the Bar.
Prominent among the junior lawyers who have achieved fame and won wide reputations for legal learning is JOSEPH P. McCULLEN, the subject of this biography. Born in Philadelphia on the 7th of February, 1861, he attended the public schools of his native city, and, after completing their course, chose the law as his pro- fession, and entered the office of George H. Earle, Sr., and Richard P. White, as a student, but remained with them in the responsible position of chief assistant for two years after his admission to the Bar, in 1882. Even while still with his preceptors, he showed remarkable aptitude at his chosen work and gave every sign, even at so early an age, that his career would be noteworthy, and that the profession of his choice was one for which he was particularly well fitted.
In 1884 Mr. McCullen entered into a copartnership for the practice of law with the late Senator Joseph P. Kennedy, which
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was, unfortunately, terminated by the latter's death, two years later. Mr. McCullen then returned to the offices of his preceptors, but this time as a partner, the firm, upon his admission, taking the title of White, White & McCullen. All the while rapidly forging to the front by natural ability, coupled with earnest enthusiasm, he had gained for himself such an enviable reputa- tion that when the firm of which he was a member was dissolved by the retirement of Mr. Earle, and he opened business on his own account, he at once secured a large and influential clientage, which has been steadily added to.
He has always been an earnest and consistent Democrat, having imbibed his Democracy from as near the fountain head as is possible for one of the younger generation, since Thomas Earle, the father of his preceptor, George H. Earle, Sr., was a close personal friend of Thomas Jefferson. Having thus been early imbued with the time-honored principles of his party while still a student, it is not strange that he has always stood for, has always insisted on the traditions of his party, honestly and faithfully carried out. As an orator at the Bar, he had been well known through his many arguments before bench and jury in cases that more than ordinarily attracted public notice, while as a lecturer he could command attention as an exponent, as well as a thinker. So that his reputation was won even before the banquet tendered President Cleveland, at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, in 1891, when, after such eminent orators as President Cleveland himself, the Secretary of State, Thomas F. Bayard, ex-Governor Pattison and Congressmen Russell and Breckinridge had made addresses, Mr. McCullen rose to respond to the toast of "The Young Democ- racy." The selection of Mr. McCullen for this task was an apt one-his own personality could well have been his theme-and he gained not a few laurels by the earnest and impressive manner in which he dwelt on the high purposes and patriotic endeavors of the young standard bearers of the party of Jefferson and Jack- son and Cleveland.
Steadily winning recognition, not alone as a barrister and an orator, but as a politician, and rapidly rising in the esteem of the
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public and his party friends, he was, in 1896, the Congressional candidate of the Democracy in the district formerly represented by Samuel J. Randall.
Mr. McCullen's career as a lawyer has been a peculiarly suc- cessful one. Hardly had he been admitted to the Bar when he encountered, as opposing counsel, so eminent a man as William Henry Rawle, the case being one involving the intricate and deli- cate law of trusts, but so able was his argument that the bench publicly commended him for the "most favorable impression he made upon the court," by his "learning, skill and ability." That this unusual compliment was a well earned and justly deserved one is proved by his subsequent legal triumphs. Among the many cases of public importance in which he has acted as counsel on behalf of the Commonwealth and the City of Philadelphia, there may be mentioned the prosecution of the Almshouse Fraud cases; the case of the Mercantile Appraisers, where the entire Board of Mercantile Appraisers were arraigned, and made to plead guilty to malfeasance, and were dismissed from office; the Hunter Elec- tion Fraud case; the case of De Camp, in which De Camp, a Councilman, was ousted from office because of his interest in the contract of a corporation dealing with the city of Philadelphia, and the case of Herbert Welsh, the prominent reformer, against the Mayor and other officials of Philadelphia to prevent payment from the City Treasury for the celebrated leaking Queen Lane Reservoir. In the latter case, time has justified all that was urged and argued by Mr. McCullen and his client, Mr. Welsh.
Mr. McCullen is a member of the Young Men's Democratic Association, the University Extension Association, of the Law Association, and the Law Academy, of which he was an officer for several years. He is the Solicitor for the American Catholic Historical Society, and for the Women's Directory of Philadelphia; and he is counsel for a large number of estates, firms and cor- porations, and by a close personal attention to all the details of his clients' affairs, and a thorough devotion to their interests, has built up a really remarkable practice.
JOHN R. McGINLEY.
A AMONG those enterprises which were founded in the Keystone State and which have drawn both the necessary capital and mechanical ability, as well as business management therefrom, may be prom- inently mentioned the industries bearing the name of "Westinghouse," The Philadelphia Natural Gas Company, The East Pittsburg Improvement Company, The Atterbury Glass Company and a number of similar institutions, with all of which John R. McGinley is actively connected in the most important positions.
JOHN R. McGINLEY was born September 14, 1851, at Cresson Springs, Pennsylvania. His father was John McGinley, superin- tendent of the Old Portage Railroad between Cresson Springs and Hollidaysburg, which, at or near that time, was the only railroad crossing the Alleghany Mountains. His wife, Mary Logan McGin- ley, the mother of the subject of this biography, was the daughter of Robert Rainey, a man of considerable prominence as a lawyer in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The father died in August, 1851, three weeks before the son was born. Until he was thirteen years of age, the latter attended the village school in New Alexandria, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where his mother and family resided. He was always a bright youth while in school and gave early promise of attaining that start in life which his ambition had marked out for him. At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to a merchant in Stoystown, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and served three years in a general store with a view to learn the business. At the same time he learned telegraphy, being operator in the village during his apprenticeship.
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THOMAS MCKEAN.
N Pennsylvania there are a number of families who have not only given the State many of its leading citizens, but who have served to make its history and to affect its entire policy for more than a century. Quite a number of the landmarks of the State bear the names of some of these families, and towns, coun- ties, and in almost innumerable instances, streets have been named after them. Thus the very topography of Pennsylvania is con- nected with the personality of some of these leading families. No house stands out more prominently in this respect than that of McKean, and the members of this notable family have through several generations attained high honors in their State, while to-day also, their later descendants rank high in their communities as either business or professional men. In the city of Philadel- phia the McKeans are notably prominent, and the subject of this biography, Thomas Mckean, who has long been identified with the city's largest corporate interests and its social life, is one of the most thoroughly representative descendants of an old and honored family.
THOMAS MCKEAN was born November 28, 1842, at 356 Spruce Street, Philadelphia. That was under the old style of numbering when the house was situated in what was then the most fashion- able portion of the city. His father was Henry Pratt Mckean, a gentleman highly connected in his city and closely interested in the affairs of the Commonwealth. His mother was Phebe Warren McKean, who was of one of the leading families of Troy, New York. Thomas Mckean was sent to the Germantown Academy to receive his earlier education, and he there acquired a practical 370
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knowledge of the minor branches of learning which fitted him for a University course. After leaving the Academy he went to the University of Pennsylvania in the class of 1862, which embraced a large number of students who have since risen to the highest position in the State, politically, professionally and commercially. In fact, the class of which Mr. Mckean was a member gave to the Keystone State many of its most progressive men and some who have since made brilliant records. While Mr. McKean, as a representative of an old Philadelphia family, was always prominent in the social affairs of Philadelphia and was actively earnest in public affairs, especially such movements as were calculated to advance the general prosperity, yet he developed in his youth a business ability which he put to considerable use after leaving the University. He entered into the business of sugar refining, and in this large enterprise he continued for a number of years. The firms of which he was a member and with which his name has generally been identified in the commercial world were Davis, McKean & Company and Mckean, Borie & Company, but, while Mr. McKean devoted most of his time to his refining business, he yet became largely interested in financial and railroad corporations. As President of the North Penn Railroad Company, he is to-day especially active in the promotion of passenger traffic. He was especially well acquainted with the details of finances, and a number of years ago connected himself with several of Philadel- phia's most important institutions of this nature. He has been connected as Director or officer for a number of years with the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, and has held the same office in the Insurance Company of North America. In the affairs of the Fidelity Insurance, Trust and Safe Deposit Company Mr. McKean is closely interested, and his counsel, judgment and clear foresight have often been very valuable to that institution. In the North Penn Railroad Company one of Mr. Mckean's largest interests is found, and he is connected with the Philadel- phia & Reading Railway Company in the capacity of Director. Another of his offices in this important branch of Pennsylvania industry and its progress is a Directorship in the Chesapeake &
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