USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 34
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In the affairs of York Mr. Shindel is one of the most prominent figures of the town, not alone as one of its leading financiers and business men, but as a citizen who takes an active interest in the
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R. HATHAWAY SHINDEL.
good government of the municipality. He served in Common Council under the first city charter, in 1887, and his able work while a member of that body as well as his business ability and high order of integrity being recognized by his constituents, he was elected in 1889 to the important post of City Treasurer of York. While the incumbent of this office Mr. Shindel organized many reforms and inaugurated a number of new methods which were highly conducive to the good of the city. It was not to be wondered at, therefore, that in 1894 his appreciative fellow citizens elected that he should again be their City Treasurer, and Mr. Shindel was returned to that office for a second term. In 1896, after a well managed and exciting contest he was elected a National Delegate to represent York County in the Republican Convention at St. Louis. He was honored by being named the Presidential Elector from the Nineteenth Congressional District of Pennsylvania, and cast his vote in the Electoral College for Mr. Mckinley. Mr. Shindel is a recognized political leader in his section of the State, and commands the respect and admiration of the opposition as well as of his friends.
In 1882 Mr. Shindel was married to Elizabeth M. Schall. daughter of J. D. Schall, the President of the First National Bank of York. They have no children living. He is one of those men whose activity is a chief characteristic and his future seems fraught with the opportunities for many further advancements, especially as new political honors have been mapped out for him by his admiring constituents and friends.
SAMUEL R. SHIPLEY.
HEN the Quakers settled in Pennsylvania they left branches of their stock in various sections of the State to take root in the kindly soil, flourish and grow; and to-day the descendants of these early colonists are among the most progressive of the Pennsylvania families.
SAMUEL R. SHIPLEY was born in the city of Philadelphia, on January 8, 1828, of Quaker ancestors, and his family traces its genealogy back to the year 1680 or thereabouts. Mr. Shipley's grandfather on the paternal side, William Shipley, emigrated from Staffordshire, England, in 1750, and settled in Philadelphia; an uncle of his having come to America about twenty years before. This uncle married Elizabeth Levis, of Springfield, Pennsylvania, and settled at Wilmington, Delaware, where he built the first mill. A descendant of this branch of the family was Joseph Shipley, who was long connected with the American Banking House, in London, of Brown, Shipley & Company. The son of the William Shipley who settled in Philadelphia, in 1750, was Thomas Shipley, and he was the father of the subject of this biography. Thomas Shipley was one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, and at his decease, in 1836, was President of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, the first President of which was Benjamin Franklin. His wife was Lydia Richards, a descendant of John Sharpless, one of the emigrants with William Penn to Pennsylvania.
Samuel R. Shipley received his education in the Friends' Schools, in Philadelphia, and at Westtown, Chester County. At fourteen, he chose a mercantile career, and within a few years after
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arriving at manhood was made a member of the importing house of C. W. Churchman & Company, in Philadelphia. While with them he made many trips to Europe, acquiring a wide reputation as a merchant of the highest standing. He devoted his leisure moments to the completion of his education, especially in literary branches, efforts that are reflected in his later writings. After 1857 Mr. Shipley became associated with the firm of Shipley, Hazard & Hutchinson, a commission house handling Philadelphia- made goods.
After seven successful years Mr. Shipley retired with a modest competence. During his business career, and, since that time, he has given much attention to the city's public charities and to works of a benevolent nature, not only among the Society of Friends, but throughout the city at large. He has long been connected with the Preston Retreat, the House of Refuge, the Home Missionary Society and other Quaker City charities. He is also Treasurer of the Free Library of Philadelphia. The connection in which he is best known, however, and through which his name is honored as that of a splendid financier and remarkable manager, is his Presi- dency of the Provident Life and Trust Company. The great suc- cess of the Friends' Provident Institution, of Bradford, England, had attracted the attention of prominent members of the Society of Friends in this country, and the idea was conceived of organ- izing a similar company to popularize life insurance among Friends in the United States. Owing to the fact that the peculiar training of Friends inclined them to great care in business matters, and especially as there was a general prejudice against life insurance, it was supposed that to place a life insurance company under the management of prominent Friends would be the surest way to induce the members of the Society to avail themselves of so desir- able and necessary a protection for their families and dependents. It was decided, however, that the membership should not be con- fined to Friends, but extended to all persons of like careful habits. The design of the promoters of the Provident Life and Trust Com- pany was that the business should be conducted upon the mutual plan; that is, that the members should be insured at actual cost,
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the difference between the premium charged and the actual cost as ascertained at the end of each year to be applied to reduce the next following premium. It was decided further to combine with life insurance the trust business. The first company of the kind was organized in 1812, since which time the number has been largely multiplied, and they now occupy a high standing among the financial institutions of the country. Their business consists principally in the management of the estates of deceased persons and the discharge of similar duties. These are so delicate and sacred that only companies managed with the highest skill and integrity can hope for favor and patronage. The reputation of the Provident Life and Trust Company is of the highest, and to Mr. Shipley, who was elected President at the organization, much of this is due. He has continued as President to the pres- ent time, and it does not detract from the value of the assistance which he has received from his associate officers to say that much of the success of the company has been due to his courage, fore- sight and great administrative ability.
Mr. Shipley has been twice married. His first wife was Anna Shinn, daughter of Earl Shinn, of Philadelphia, and a descendant of Thomas Shinn, the first Surveyor-General of New Jersey. She died in 1888. In 1890 Mr. Shipley married Agnes Gillespie Evans, the daughter of William D. Evans, of Pottstown, Pennsyl- vania, and a descendant of Henry Paul Mallet-Prevost, one of the bodyguard of Louis XVI., who, leaving France at the time of the Reign of Terror, settled in Frenchtown, New Jersey, in the latter part of the last century.
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HENRY R. SHOCH.
HE opportunities offered to those possessed of ambition and enterprise in such a State as Pennsylvania are open to all alike, no matter how humble their beginning may be. Henry R. Shoch, the subject of this biography, who is now one of the most successful Philadelphians, a man who has been the recipient of many honors, began his business career as a carpenter's appren- tice, and gradually worked himself up in his chosen trade until he reached the top round of the ladder. Being the fortunate possessor of all those qualities which usually bring success, he not only devoted himself to the acquiring of a competence, but gave considerable of his time and attention to the political affairs of his community, with the result that he has attained a prominence in this field as well as in building and real estate circles.
HENRY R. SHOCH, who now resides at 1503 North Sixteenth Street, Philadelphia, was born in Upper Merion, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, September 16, 1844. His father, James R. Shoch, was one of the best known residents of that part of the State, and a man of high character. His grandfather and great- grandfather on the paternal side were born in Frankford, Pennsyl- vania, and were of German descent. Each bore the name of Henry R. Shoch, which was a well known one for several genera- tions in the eastern part of Pennsylvania. His grandmother's father was a Roberts, and the members of that family were Welsh Quakers. His great-grandfather Roberts was in the Revolutionary War, rendering important services to his country in the fight for independence, his maternal grandfather shouldering the musket
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when only seventeen years old. Mr. Shoch's mother was born in England, near Hudderfield. Her maiden name was Mary Ann Thornton, and she came to this country when eight years old. Her mother's name was Dyson, and they were also English people. Mr. Shoch's ancestry, therefore, combines some of the most desirable traits of several sturdy races.
Henry R. Shoch received his early education in the public schools of Upper Merion, in addition to which his home training was of a nature calculated to inspire him with a thorough deter- mination to devote himself with all his energy to such life-work as he might map out for himself. When but seventeen years of age, he came to Philadelphia, where he learned the trade of car- penter. For ten years he devoted himself entirely to his trade and worked at it actively during that time. When he was twenty- seven, he embarked into the building business on his own account, and the same qualities which made him a thorough apprentice also made him a successful and prosperous builder. He was in the building business from 1871 to 1889, in that time construct- ing some of the most beautiful residences in the city. Mr. Shoch not only as a business man won recognition, but in political matters he was made the recipient of many honors. In 1884 he was elected to serve in Select Council from the Twenty-ninth Ward and he was a member of that body for three years, repre- senting faithfully the interests of his constituents. A few years ago Mr. Shoch became interested in land, and he is at present one of the largest dealers and promoters in building lots in the eastern part of the State.
On December 18, 1870, Mr. Shoch was married to Sarah E. Myers, daughter of Tobias and Paolita Myers, well known German residents of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Shoch have two daughters and one son: Nettie Aurelia, Bessie Claire and James R. Shoch. Mr. Shoch's home life is a very happy one, for he is a man of great domestic habits. In social circles and in clubdom Mr. Shoch is highly popular and he is an active member of several prominent organizations. While he has given most of his attention to his real estate and land business,
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JOHN SLINGLUFF.
place, and has remained continuously in the service of this insti- tution ever since. Mr. Slingluff has risen steadily through the positions of Cashier and Vice-President, which he held from 1867 to 1875, to the post of President, the responsibility of which position he assumed in the latter year. But although he has devoted much of his energies and ability to the bank, he has still found opportunity to engage in many other enterprises. Among the well known corporations which owe their existence to him is the Montgomery Insurance, Trust and Safe Deposit Company, the first of its kind in that county. This institution was organ- ized by Mr. Slingluff in 1884, and the stockholders and directors elected him its first President. He remained with the company in this capacity until 1890, when he permitted himself to be over-persuaded by a friend and tendered his resignation as Presi- dent, remaining, however, a member of the Board of Directors. Under Mr. Slingluff's administration it paid six per cent. annual dividend, accumulating thirty-two per cent. as a surplus fund. As executor, administrator, trustee and assignee he has settled a number of the largest estates in the county. The high position which he has taken in his municipality and his public spirit is illustrated in his Presidency of the Norristown Insurance and Water companies, and in his office as Treasurer of the Norristown Gas Company, the Montgomery Cemetery Company, the Second Saving Fund and Loan Association, the Firemen's Association of Pennsylvania, Director in the Norristown Woolen, the Times Publishing and the Norristown Electric Light and Power companies. He holds Directorships in the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad, the Perkiomen Railroad, the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York Railroad, the Plymouth Railroad and the Norristown
Junction Railroad, of which latter he is President. He has also held the position of President of the Norristown School District, President of the Citizens' Passenger Railway and Treasurer of the Borough of Norristown. He has been a member of the Montgomery Hose and Steam Fire Engine Company since 1857, and was the first Chief of the Norristown Fire Department.
Mr. Slingluff is the oldest continuing Inspector of the Mont-
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gomery County Prison, and has been President of the Board since 1880. He was three years Trustee of the State Hospital for the Insane, at Norristown, having been appointed to succeed ex-Gov- ernor Hartranft, at the death of the latter, in 1888. Mr. Slingluff's military record is comprised in his service as a private soldier in Company E of the Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, who enlisted under the call of June, 1863.
Mr. Slingluff is very prominent in Free Masonry, in which he has held the appointment of Representative in the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania from the Right Worshipful Grand Lodges of West Virginia and of Georgia, and the appointment as District Deputy Grand High Priest for the counties of Bucks, Chester and Montgomery. He has represented his local body in the Grand Holy Arch Chapter of Pennsylvania, and is now the rep- resentative of Charity Lodge, No. 190, in the Grand Lodge of the State. He is a member of the Finance committees of both Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter; is Treasurer and a Past Master of Charity Lodge and Past High Priest of Norristown Chapter, No. 190; Past Eminent Commander of Hutchison Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar, and Thrice Illustrious Past Grand Master of Palestine Council, No. 8. He is a thirty- second degree member of Pittsburg Scottish Rite Consistory.
Mr. Slingluff was married, September 3, 1862, to Wilhelmina, daughter of Frederick and Mary Gilbert. Their children are Mary S., now the wife of Howard Boyd, a son of Hon. James Boyd; William H., cashier of the Montgomery National Bank, and Helen G. Slingluff. Mr. Slingluff was an old-line Whig from his youth until the disruption of the party, in 1860, when he allied himself with the Democratic party. In 1880 he was the candidate of his party in the Seventh District of Pennsyl- vania for Congress, but suffered defeat with General Hancock, the Democracy's Presidential candidate. In 1886 he joined the Repub- lican party.
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S. MACCUEN SMITH.
MONG the most successful members of the medical fraternity in Pennsylvania are those who have taken specialties in the treatment of diseases peculiar to various organs of the body. The development of this class of practice has been of inestimable benefit to humanity, and, as well, to the furtherance of the best interests of the profession. Dr. S. MacCuen Smith, who is a mem- ber of a well known Pennsylvania family and the son of a physician, has succeeded in making his name synonymous with progress in the treatment of diseases of the ear, throat and nose, not only in private practice, but as one of the most valued members of the Jefferson College Medical staff.
S. MACCUEN SMITH was born in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, March 6, 1863, and came of a family which was noted for the fact that many of its members were connected with the early history of Blair County. Dr. Smith's father was George W. Smith, a practicing physician of Hollidaysburg, and his mother was Eliza- beth MacCuen, daughter of Judge Seth MacCuen, also of Hollidays- burg, whose ancestors came to America from Scotland and were among the first to locate in Blair County. On both sides of the family there were members who were identified with the earliest history and progress of the State. Dr. Smith was educated in the Hollidaysburg Academy and by private instructors. After having completed his literary and classical course of studies, he entered Jefferson College, at Philadelphia, from which he graduated with honor in 1884. Immediately after his graduation, owing to the fact that he had evidenced such a thorough knowledge of medicine, particularly in the practical branches, he was elected Resident Phy-
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sician of the Germantown Hospital and was re-elected for a second term because of his thoroughness in performing the duties of this important post. He served one-half of the second term, when he assumed the duties of private practice in Germantown, where he speedily won recognition as a member of the medical fraternity in whom much confidence could be placed both by reason of his natural abilities and the thoroughness of his modern medical education. After continuing in private practice in Germantown for five years, he gave up general medicine and engaged in a specialty in the treatment of diseases of the ear, nose and throat. While Dr. Smith was attending to his private practice he gave especial attention to these diseases and made such rapid progress in their treatment that, in 1886, the Department of the Ear, Throat and Nose of Germantown Hospital was established and he was placed in charge of it, a position which he still holds. In 1886 he was also elected Clinical Chief of the Department of Otology at the Jefferson College, the duties of which he continued to perform until 1893, when he was elected Clinical Lecturer of Otology in the same institution. Dr. Smith was so thorough in his educa- tional methods and had such an able understanding of his special- ties that Jefferson College became noted for its Department of Otology, largely through his participation in the development of this branch. He continued to perform the duties of Clinical Lecturer until 1894, when he was elected Clinical Professor of Otology and given a place in the faculty. In his college work he has made great advancement, and beside this his progressive nature has from time to time been outlined in important discov- eries of a semi-surgical nature, made for the benefit of science. Dr. Smith was among the first specialists to perform operations upon the middle ear, which was up to a few years ago regarded by the surgical profession as hazardous, but which to-day is well recog- nized by the profession not only as a proper scientific procedure, but many times as an imperative operation. In 1887 Dr. Smith opened offices in Philadelphia for the practice of his specialties, establishing himself at 1502 Walnut Street, where he now has his offices. In the treatment of patients he has progressed as rapidly
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and has made as great a success as in his professional demonstra- tions. His reputation as a physician, consequently, has grown proportionately with his recognition in scientific fields as a prac- tical investigator. He has won the confidence and respect of his students and succeeded in impressing upon their minds the strength of his theories by conveying to them such comprehensive ideas of general and special practice as must result in the advancement of many desirable members into the ranks of the profession. Dr. Smith is a frequent contributor to medical literature, particularly as connected with the branches of practice of which he has made a special study. Several years ago he made a European tour, visiting the chief hospitals for the purpose of noting the improve- ments there and of securing whatever suggestions might tend to the treatment of the diseases of the ear, throat and nose. Among the treaties which he has furnished to the literature of medicine are: "Incipient Inflammations of the Ear in Early Life and their Sequela," "Furunculosis of the External Auditory Canal," "Mastoid Empyema Without the Usual Objective Symptoms," "The Necessity for Early Recognition and Treatment of Suppurative Diseases of the Tympanum," "Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media," and many others.
Dr. Smith was married on October 24, 1889, to Virginia Allen, daughter of John Allen, a well known Germantown manu- facturer. He has two children, both living. The Doctor is a member of the Union League, the Germantown Cricket Club and various medical societies. As a lecturer and demonstrator he has always preferred practical clinical instruction to theoretical review, his entire course of teaching in Otology having been conducted by lectures in which practical operations have been performed in the presence of the class.
EMERSON B. SNYDER.
NTERPRISE in its mercantile circles may be truly considered as the backbone of Philadelphia's phe- nomenal progress, and the utmost credit is due to the men whose shrewdness and keen business sense have been so largely instrumental in making it the Keystone City of the Keystone State. Since the days when Girard and his contemporaries put the Quaker City in a foremost place their successors have not allowed it to drop behind in the race, but to the building up of its commerce, both foreign and domestic, many of them have devoted their lives, acquiring, as a just reward for their labors, ample fortunes and the respect and esteem of their fellow citizens alike in social and commercial circles. A shrewd judgment and quick perception, coupled with the enterprise to profit by every opening, traits which have ever char- acterized the prominent merchants of Philadelphia, is exhibited in a remarkable degree by Emerson B. Snyder, whose well balanced mentality and acknowledged business sagacity have made him a prominent figure in the trade circles of the city where he has for over a quarter of a century been a conspicuously successful manu- facturer and wholesale dealer in clothing, bringing his house from a comparatively small beginning to the proud position it at present occupies in the forefront of the manufacturing and whole- sale establishments of the Quaker City.
EMERSON B. SNYDER was born in Frankford, Philadelphia, on the 15th day of February, 1857. He was the son of Simon R. Snyder and Mary A. Stearly, both of whom were native Philadel- phians and the descendants of families who had been in this country for several generations and had earned a prominent place
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in its annals. His father was a well known dealer in dry-goods and clothing and a conspicuous figure in the mercantile life of the city, besides being prominently identified with its political affairs and standing high in the councils of his party, having once been honored with a nomination as their candidate for the responsible office of City Treasurer of Philadelphia. The educational training of the son occurred at the old Friends' School, at Fifteenth and Race streets, Philadelphia, where he acquired the groundwork upon which he has since, by the observation which is natural to a keen-witted business man, built up a sound commercial education. In this institution, however, he had the benefit of but a few years of schooling, being compelled to take upon himself the cares of business at an early age, having not yet attained manhood. He was but a boy, when, in the year 1870, he entered the establishment of his father, at No. 525 Market Street, Philadelphia, which same location is now occupied by the corporation of which his son is a prominent member. During the almost thirty years that have since elapsed he has connected himself with no other enterprise, preferring to devote his entire time and attention and the whole force of his energy to the one business in which he has worked with such success. How well he has accomplished the task of building up a thriving trade is forcibly illustrated by the fact that to-day his products are known throughout the entire United States. In the South, especially, is the trade phenomenally large, although the bulk of the company's immense product is disposed of in the State of Pennsylvania.
First entering the concern with his father and under his exper- ienced tutelage acquiring the details of the dry-goods and hosiery business, then, as his successor, narrowing the scope of the estab- lishment and confining his trade exclusively to the manufacturing and selling of men's clothing, and finally, as the virtual head of the well known corporation of Snyder, Harris, Bassett & Company, which he organized to more thoroughly carry out his business plans, he has had an eminently successful career. To Mr. Snyder's unerring labor and close application more than to any lucky combination of circumstances or favorable trade conditions, this is
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