USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 33
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FRANCIS SCHUMANN.
member of the Franklin Institute; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and a corresponding member of the Ameri- can Institute of Architects.
Mr. Schumann married when twenty-three years of age. His wife, Augusta, was the daughter of Col. David Jung, who was one of the exiled Germans of 1848. One son has been the issue of the marriage. Mr. Schumann is still actively identified with the engi- neering profession and has published a number of monographs on technical subjects. Under his supervision as engineer a large number of the lighthouses on the Atlantic, Gulf and Lake coasts have been erected, and several government buildings; the south wing of the State, War and Navy departments, at Washington, D. C .; the metal work of the City Hall tower, of Philadelphia, and the design and construction of a noted steam engine to which the Franklin Institute awarded the highest premium, are also his pro- ductions. Mr. Schumann has always been a close student of the advances made in both civil and mechanical engineering and he is known throughout the country for his knowledge and experience, theoretical as well as practical-a knowledge which covers a wide field of technical science. He is in every way representative of the spirit of progress and enterprise which marks Pennsylvania at the century's end, and his worth and ability have secured general recognition.
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WILLIAM H. SEIF.
LLEGHENY County furnishes a bright example of A progress and ambition in WILLIAM HENRY SEIF, who was born September 11, 1859, in Ross Town- ship, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Philip Seif, his father, and Dorothy Roth, his mother, were both of German descent, and their respective family lines had for years been closely woven in the history of Allegheny County. They removed to Pittsburg when the subject of this biography was still in early childhood, and there, where he has lived from that time, and where he has built his success in public life, he received his schooling. His education was begun in the public schools of the city, and rounded out by a mercantile course at Duff's College. The training by which he was adapted for his forthcoming career was self-chosen. At fourteen his studies at the Business College ended, and he made his start in life, an humble one, as messenger and collector for a real estate agency. He rose in his employment, but too slowly for his satisfaction, and at eighteen, after four years in the real estate office, he became an employé of Foulk's Advertising Agency.
It was in this position that he received the groundwork of his knowledge of newspaperdom, on which field the foundation of his subsequent success was laid. In 1880, three years after his entry into the advertising office, he was engaged by the Pittsburg Dispatch as cashier, and remained in the employ of that journal for four years. His energy and talent in handling the business of the office did not pass unnoticed. Prominent newspaper owners saw his efficiency and made note of it, and, in June, 1884, he was called from the service of the Dispatch to assume the responsibili-
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WILLIAM H. SEIF.
ties of treasurer and business manager of the Pittsburg Times, with which paper he has ever since been identified. It was a heavy task which was thus intrusted to the young man, then less than twenty-five years of age, for the Times was a struggling, broken-down newspaper, with meagre advertising patronage, scarcely any circulation, and but little influence. He shouldered it with determination and confidence, for his four years in an active news- paper office had been fruitful of new ideas, and he had taken the management with plans of his own upon newspaper building. With what success he guided the paper's fortunes is now known throughout the United States. The Times ranks now with the best daily papers in the country, enjoys an extensive patronage, and boasts a wide circulation and a powerful influence.
Mr. Seif, as business manager of the Times, directed the erection of the magnificent steel and granite building in which the paper now has its home, and many of the details that have caused the building to be pronounced a model one for newspaper purposes are traceable to his judgment and familiarity with the practical work of publishing a daily. In February, 1896, he was chosen president of the Times Company, and a month later was elected treasurer of the Daily News, an afternoon publication con- trolled by the owners of the Times.
In April, 1894, Mr. Seif was chosen Chairman of the Com- mittee on Press, one of the twelve committees of the Citizens' Executive Board, in charge of the arrangements for the entertain- ment of the Twenty-eighth National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, held in Pittsburg in September of that year. The committee was made up of the representative news- paper men of Pittsburg, and Mr. Seif's selection to the chairman- ship was made by an overwhelming majority. In February, 1895, he was chosen a member of the Executive Committee of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association at its annual meeting in New York. He is at present (1897) Secretary of the Com- mittee in charge of the construction of zoological buildings pre- sented to the city of Pittsburg by C. L. Magee and his associates in the Fort Pitt Traction Company.
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WILLIAM H. SEIF.
It may readily be seen that Mr. Seif is not only a represen- tative business man and a model citizen, but one who combines talents and capacities rarely found in one individual. With so humble a beginning, so great a success, and such bright pros- pects ahead, a man of his calibre, now in the prime of his life, cannot well but feel proud of his life's achievements. Mr. Seif has demonstrated his abilities in so many directions that he may yet attain to the one great opportunity of his career, beside which his present record may seem to him but small. The esteem in which he is held by his townspeople has evidenced their appreciation of his energy and earnestness. He is, indeed, one of the city's best known men, and as a Pennsylvanian, is a bright example of what the soil of this good State can produce.
C. JAY SELTZER.
HE medical profession in the Quaker City has long been celebrated for the high order of ability pos- sessed by its members, and the exalted standard of excellence which is required to achieve pre-emi- nence in reputation and practice. This is probably due in a great measure to the superior schools of medicine which have been established in the city, and the facilities the student and young graduate is afforded by Philadelphia's many hospitals, dispensaries and clinics, in conjunction with or following the well chosen courses of study laid out by experienced instructors. But however this may be, the man who advances to a position of leadership in this most exacting profession must be abundantly supplied with intelligence, and must have made most excellent use of his opportunities. Among the well known physicians who, by aptitude and attainments, have acquired wide renown, is Doctor C. Jay Seltzer, a brief sketch of whose career in the medical world is here given. He came to Philadelphia an entire stranger, and, devoting himself heart and soul to his profession, has, in less than two decades, raised himself to a position whence he can view the results of his labor with pride and satisfaction. He is, too, one of those men who have been wise enough to keep pace with the spirit of the age and the trend of medical practice by devotion to a specialty, and by concentration of attention. His practice is now confined entirely to diseases of the nose, throat and ear.
C. JAY SELTZER, of Philadelphia, was born at Lisbon, in the southeastern part of Iowa, on the Ioth day of January, 1858. His parents, however, were native Pennsylvanians, but living in the former State between the years 1857 and 1865. His father is 448
The Rembrandt Eng Co Phila
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C. JAY SELTZER.
Peter Seltzer, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and his mother was Diana Fishburn, of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. His ancestry is strictly German, his great-grandparents on both sides being of that nationality, and, among that body of hardy pioneers, who, seeking an inheritance in the promised land, had settled in the interior of Pennsylvania, and, becoming devoted lovers of their adopted State and nation, have ever been foremost in public affairs. His earliest schooling was had in the public schools of Lisbon, Iowa, but, upon the return of his parents to their early home, he attended the schools of Lebanon County. There, by his comprehension of mind and his irrepressible desire for knowledge, he was soon prepared for and entered the Palmyra Academy, from whence, upon the completion of a course of study, he entered Lebanon Valley Col- lege. Choosing the healing art for his life work, he enrolled him- self as a student in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, where, after commendable application and thorough preparation, he was graduated. He made a satisfactory record in the many responsible posts he has held or is filling, and the place he has won for himself in the ranks of his profession. In 1882 he began the practice of medicine in the city of Philadelphia, and, although he had entered the city an entire stranger, without a relative, and almost without a friend, he was, the same year, appointed, by the Guardians of the Poor, District Physician for the region lying between Vine and Chestnut streets, and running between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. His appointments required eminent talents and conspicuous fitness, for without them certainly no young graduate could have secured the posts. Friends he had none, beyond those his affable personality and well recognized ability had gained for him. As a member of the Medical Institute, from 1882 until 1887, he quizzed the students in chemistry, holding the position of Assistant Demonstrator in Chemistry in the labora- tory of the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. Early determining to devote himself to one line of study, and giving the bulk of his attention to a few specialties, in 1885 and 1886, he secured the position of Chief of the Clinic of the Throat Department of the Polyclinic, and rapidly increased not only his
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C. JAY SELTZER.
knowledge of the diseases peculiar to the throat and larynx, but added to his reputation as a specialist in those delicate organs. For the eight years following 1886 he was the Eye and Ear Sur- geon at the Howard Hospital, of Philadelphia. He was appointed, by the Board of Directors of City Trusts, one of the Assistant Surgeons to Wills' Eye Hospital, of Philadelphia, one of the fore- most institutions of its kind in the country. His intimate knowl- edge of and large experience in treating diseases of the throat have since secured him the post of Laryngologist at the Philadel- phia Hospital. This place he still fills with zeal and success, holding as well a similar post in the Southern Home for Desti- tute Children, Philadelphia.
In addition to attending to the demands of the positions which he holds in the above-mentioned institutions, Dr. Seltzer has found time to accumulate a large and rapidly growing private practice, which has been built up by his personal popularity, not less, perhaps, than by his qualities of mind and his deep devotion to the profession to which he is giving his entire attention, and in which he is a remarkable example of individual achievement. I11 his struggle for a place on the topmost round of the ladder of success, his energy has acknowledged no obstacle, his life has known no leisure, and every day has been filled with labor and with thought.
المسلمة
J. FREDERICK SENER.
ENNSYLVANIA owes as much to the development of the lumber industry as to any of the many lines of activity that now engage her people. The untiring axe of the woodman has converted the forests of the valleys into fields of golden grain, and the flocks and herds of the husbandman roam the hillsides stripped of timber, and even the very mountain peaks have felt the hand of the hewer. The workers with the saw and hammer have been almost as numerous as those who delve with pick and shovel, and to-day the timber trade stands in the front rank of Pennsylvania's industries. Among the men who have contributed a life to the developing of this great business is J. Frederick Sener, who for almost half a century has been engaged in con- verting the giants of the forest to the uses of man.
J. FREDERICK SENER was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on April 2, 1833. He comes of a hearty and vigorous race of people, who, by their staunchness and strength of mentality, have made a distinct impress on the early history of the nation and were of the bone and sinew of the young republic. His father was Godlieb Sener, born April 23, 1800, and married, August 13, 1826, to Rebecca Zahm, who, born February 8, 1810, is still living. The son's education was acquired in the common schools in the neighborhood of his home, where he received the best education there attainable. Leaving his studies at the age of fifteen he made his entrance into the lumber business, that sphere of action in which he has since won distinction. He entered the office of his father in 1848 and devoted himself to the business with such marked ability and with so much faithfulness that, six years later,
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J. FREDERICK SENER.
when he had attained his majority, his father admitted him to the firm of G. Sener & Sons, which is still in existence in Lancaster.
In this company, in conjunction with his brother, William Z. Sener, he is now continuing, dealing in lumber and coal. In 1863, in association with his brothers, he founded the firm of Sener Brothers, Ephrata, which was dissolved but a few years ago. In his long career as a business man Mr. Sener has entered many fields of action, and in all of them has met with a uniform suc- cess that could have had its fountain head only in shrewdness, sagacity and a perseverance that stopped at no ordinary obstacle. The developing of his native city, too, has demanded a considera- ble share of his attention, and the inception of every public enter- prise has found him ready to lend both personal services and the strength inspired by the use of his name. He was a Director in the Northern Market and in the Eastern Market Company, and had been for several years President of the Western Market Com- pany. Good roads, too, have in him a most earnest advocate, and one who confines his support not alone to words, but who deals, as well, in works. As an instance of this, his prominent position as a Director in the Lancaster and Lititz Turnpike Company will suffice. He was, for fourteen years, a Director in the Farmers' National Bank of Lancaster, was a charter member of the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, and is a Director of the same at present, and, until a few years ago, was its President. The Lan- caster Gas Company also has him in its Directorate. He was one of the organizers of the Northern National Bank, and has been its President since its foundation. Mr. Sener is also connected as a stockholder and active member with the Hamilton Watch Company, besides having an interest in many similar enter- prises.
He was a charter member and a Past Master of Lamberton Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
Although he has always taken an intense interest in the wel- fare of his native city, and has done much in bringing it to its present state of prosperity, as is evidenced by the prominent posi- tion he has taken and is taking in local enterprises, he has invari-
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J. FREDERICK SENER.
ably declined to serve in public offices, although repeatedly solicited to allow the use of his name as a candidate.
He was married to Miss Kate J. Hamilton on December 23, 1856, but both she and their only son, Charles M. Sener, are dead. On April 30, 1868, Mr. Sener was married to Miss Elizabeth H. Keller. They have two children, a son, Frank K., and a daughter, Rose A. Sener. Mr. Sener is one of those patriots who believe in seeing their own country before traveling abroad and, although he has never crossed the Atlantic, he has traveled far and wide in the United States, and visited nearly every State and Territory of the nation and is intimately acquainted with their characteristics of climate and resources.
His chief interests at present are centered in the firm of G. Sener & Sons, lumber and coal dealers, and in the Northern National Bank, the Hamilton Watch Company, and the semi-pub- lic corporations having control of the electric lights and gas of his native city.
MORGAN M. SHEEDY.
S OME of the men most closely identified with the leading interests of Pennsylvania are but seldom heard of in the work-a-day world, as outlined in the commercial and industrial institutions of the State. Included among these are members of the ecclesiastical bodies of the country, who, while caring for the moral growth of their communities, have yet an active interest in the promulgation of general prosperity and the advancement of the body politic and its interests. Such a man is Rev. Morgan Madden Sheedy, one of the best known Catholic clergymen and writers in the State of Pennsylvania. His career points out a remarkable combination of qualities to be enjoyed by one man, and though he entered the priesthood imbued with the highest possible religious learning and moral fervor, yet he has throughout his life been actively attached to the literary progress of his generation and the educational growth of the entire community. At the age of nineteen he passed an examination for admission into the Eng- lish army, but he soon found that his vocation was not to kill men, but rather to save them. As an athlete at college he was distinguished, especially as a ball player and on the cricket field; and as his physical strength is allied with a high grade of men- tality, his entrance upon such arduous duties as those demanded in his present vocation was characterized by perfect ability. Deeply interested in social reforms, especially in civic matters, and closely identified with the progress of education, he occupies a place in the progress of Pennsylvania peculiarly and uniquely his own.
MORGAN MADDEN SHEEDY was born October 8, 1853, in Ire- 454
Morgan In Their.
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MORGAN M. SHEEDY.
land. His parents were Michael Sheedy and Mary Madden Sheedy, and he is the second of six sons, four of whom are still living. Three of his brothers are distinguished doctors, and, in fact, the entire younger generation of the family seemed to have exhibited the rarest kind of mental traits, a fact which is not uncommon with Irish parentage and American development, as has been shown in the large attainment to prominence and wealth of Irish-Americans and their descendants in the cities and towns of the United States. As a boy, Rev. Morgan Sheedy was remark- able for his quickness of perception and his diligent application to study. Blessed with these natural qualities and an aptitude for the reception of scholastic training, he combined rare qualities of mind with a splendid physical force, which enabled him to carry off the first honors during his classical and theological courses. He is still a comparatively young man, being in his forty-fourth year, but he has become one of the best known Catholic writers, having attained as well a high position in the ecclesiastical world. He is a graduate of Maynooth College, having studied there during the closing years of the Presidency of Dr. Russell, the uncle of Chief-Justice Russell of England and the friend of Cardi- nal Newman. Father Sheedy was ordained in the Pittsburg Cathe- dral by the late Bishop Tuigg, September 23, 1876, and was immediately assigned as Professor of Theology and History in St. Michael's Seminary, where he continued until the close of that institution's doors. As a successful pastor he became widely known through his work on educational lines. In Pittsburg, the school, hall, and free library that he established were centres of the very best influence, which made itself felt in the whole com- munity; and although pre-eminently an ecclesiastic, Rev. Father Sheedy attained distinction through his literary work, which was entirely distinct from that which was his own as a cleric, while, at the same time, it was toned and characterized by the highest moral spirit. He was the founder of the Pittsburg Polytechnic Society, and he is an active member of the Writers' Club, the Academy of Science, the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society, and a number of other literary bodies. In the temperance move-
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MORGAN M. SHEEDY.
ment he has always been one of the leaders, and for four years was the Vice-President of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America.
· Father Sheedy has demonstrated that he is a citizen of worth to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through the great work which he has done in the interest of literary and educational improvements, as well as by his moral influence. He has taken an active part in the development of reading circles and the Cath- olic Summer Schools ; he was the first President of the latter, and has been for years Chairman of the Directory of the Reading Circle Union. He has lectured for the Academy of Science at Pittsburg, at the Champlain Summer School, and for the first session of the Catholic Winter School in New Orleans, in 1894. He is the author of a number of books, one of the most impor- tant of which is "Christian Unity," and another, "Social Prob- lems," just published, which deals with the labor question. In addition to this, he is a regular contributor to various periodicals. To-day his chief interests are found in administering the affairs of one of the largest parishes in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that of St. John's Church, of which he is the permanent Rector. Not- withstanding the weighty cares and many pressing duties of this large parish, Father Sheedy still finds time for literary work and for the development of the moral influence of his community, in which he takes so large an interest. In a word, Father Sheedy is a man of broad views, while a thorough ecclesiastic; a progressive litterateur, while essentially a priest of the Catholic faith; and through his close relations with the moral as well as the educa- tional concerns of his fellow men he is recognized as a representa- tive citizen and a leading one of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
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R. HATHAWAY SHINDEL.
HE greatest strength of many of the interior cities and towns of Pennsylvania is centered in their financial institutions, and it is a noteworthy fact that the officials entrusted with their care have proved models of integrity and judgment in almost every instance. One of the most active and thoroughly representa- tive men of the State, and one long identified with the financial institutions of York, Pennsylvania, is R. Hathaway Shindel, the subject of this biography. He is ranked deservedly among the leading sons of the Commonwealth, who through their steadfast adherence to duty and by their thoroughly advanced business methods have established themselves and all their coincident interests upon a sound footing.
R. HATHAWAY SHINDEL was born in Selinsgrove, Pennsylva- nia, September 29, 1850. His father was Jacob G. L. Shindel, who was born at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and is still living at Selinsgrove, being engaged there in business as a drug- gist. His mother was Abigail Hathaway Shindel, who was born at Selinsgrove and died in 1890. Mr. Shindel can trace his ancestry back for a number of generations to very distinguished progenitors. J. P. Shindel, born in Odenwalt, Germany, February 28, 1732, was married to Mariah Gebhart, who was born Novem- ber, 1742. Both died at Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The second in line was J. P. Shindel, born at Lebanon, August 21, 1766. His wife was Mariah Menges. The third was J. P. Shindel, born at Lebanon, October 3, 1787, who moved to Sunbury, Northumber- land County, Pennsylvania, serving as a Lutheran clergyman for forty years. He was married to Susan McCullogh, who was born
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R. HATHAWAY SHINDEL.
at Lebanon also, and died at Sunbury, aged eighty-one. These were the grandparents of the subject of this biography. His mother's father, R. Hathaway, originally from Boston, Massachu- setts, settled in York State and came to Union County about 1819.
R. Hathaway Shindel, the subject of this sketch, was educated at Missionary Institute, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, the early and continued home of so many of his people. That renowned educa- tional institution is now known as the Susquehanna University. After he had passed through a complete course of studies he entered his father's drug store, in Selinsgrove, where for some years he held a clerkship, absorbing the business idea and receiv- ing an excellent training in essential mercantile details from his parent. He then became the telegraph operator and agent on the Sunbury and Lewistown Railroad, Selinsgrove, remaining there for some time. Mr. Shindel left the railroad company's employ to accept a position as Teller and Cashier in the Snyder County Bank in 1872. While connected with the Snyder County Bank Mr. Shindel obtained a large knowledge of banking and became thoroughly conversant with the financial methods and operations of the day. In fact, so notable was his progress along these lines that he was offered a position by the First National Bank of York as bookkeeper, and, in 1876, he connected himself there in that capacity, remaining for more than ten years, and severing his connection with the institution in 1887. Since 1887 he has been Cashier of the City Bank of York, and there are few men in that section who have a wider or more fruitful experience in banking affairs than Mr. Shindel. His methods have always been energetic, and he enjoys a wide reputation for integrity and trustworthiness. While his chief interests are necessarily those connected with his bank, yet Mr. Shindel finds time to direct his super-abundant energy into other channels of industry and finance. He is Treas- urer of the Westinghouse Electric Light Company, and of various other corporations and institutions in the city and county.
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