USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 36
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JAMES S. SWARTZ was born in Montgomery County, Penn- sylvania, on March 21, 1840. His family has been Pennsylvanian for several generations, and Mr. Swartz can trace his ancestry back to Holland to about the Seventeenth Century. The progenitors of the Swartz family in Pennsylvania came to the new settlement about that time, and many of them located in Chester County. It was there that both of Mr. Swartz's parents were born. His father was Christian Swartz, and his mother Eliza Simmons, and they communicated to him the high ideas of citizenship which possessed them in common with many of the sterling Pennsylvanians of their extraction. He was entered in the country schools of Chester County and attended them until he was about twelve years of age. He then entered the military school of Colonel John B. Batchelder, where he acquired a splendid training and discipline, after which
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he went to Philadelphia where he entered the High School and completed his academic education. At the conclusion of this term he decided to enter some business in an active capacity to fit himself for a career of progress along the most favorable lines. He entered the Reading Railroad office in 1859 as clerk and remained there for about one year. After this he obtained a situation in a wholesale house in Philadelphia, where he remained until 1863. By this time he had acquired a pretty thorough knowledge of business methods, and when an opportunity offered itself for advancement he was not slow to take advantage of it. In 1863 he accepted a position as Cashier with the Philadelphia and Eastern Transportation Company. This company was the origin of the Star Union, the National, the Empire, and the Anchor Lines. The first three were all rail, fast freight lines, established to run over the Pennsylvania Railroad and its Western connections, while the fourth was organized to place a fleet of steamships on the Great Lakes, and thus give the same road a direct connection by water with the north-western lake ports. Mr. Swartz was connected with all these organizations from their beginning. In 1889 he was elected Assistant-Treasurer of the Empire and the Erie and Western Transportation Companies, which positions he held until 1877, when he was elected to the important office of Treasurer of each company. In these offices he indicated a high order of ability, and his thorough knowledge of the requirements of his position gave him a recognized place in the leading transportation interests of the country. His ability as an official and manager enhanced his value to the company, and, in 1878, this was recognized when he was made Treasurer of the International Navigation Company, an office which he has ever since held with the greatest honor.
Mr. Swartz, from time to time has evidenced his progressiveness by associating himself with business concerns of a prosperous and important nature. He is a Director in the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Railway Company; in the Spring Garden Fire Insurance Company, and in the Sault Ste. Marie Pulp and Paper Company of Canada. In these connections he exhibits the same ambitious tendencies and attracts the same commendatory notice.
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The father of Mr. Swartz died in 1859, when the son was but nineteen years of age. This left him to look after his own affairs for the most part of his boyhood, but he proved equal to the task and steadily but surely advanced to the plane of success. Mr. Swartz has never married, and has given most of his attention to the business affairs with which he has been connected for so many years. He takes an interest, however, in many affairs not associated with his business. He has for a number of years been a member of the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Publication Society. He is also a member and a former President of the Philadelphia Baptist Social Union. A man of general culture and a lover of art and literature, he was made a member of the Board of Trustees of the Bucknell University, which institution has benefited by his general knowledge of financial affairs. He has been for a number of years a member of the American Social Science Association, the Art Club of Philadelphia and of various social organizations of New York and Philadelphia. His chief business interests are centred in the affairs of the International Navigation Company, and as Treasurer of that great corporation he is continually in the front of business enterprise, a fact which has gained him wide recognition as one of the most progressive and representative men of the Key- stone State.
J. S. THORN.
HE descendant of an old American family with an ancestry originally German, Jacob Steinmetz Thorn is to-day not only a representative citizen, but he is one of the leading manufacturers of the United States. His great-grandparents settled in Philadel- phia in 1751, and the family has continuously resided here ever since. In the manufacture of metal work and architectural iron for general building purposes Mr. Thorn's chief interests are centered, for that has been his life work. He began as a mere boy in a hardware and iron establishment and has, through his own industry, reached the topmost round of the ladder.
JACOB STEINMETZ THORN was born in Philadelphia, on North Fifth Street, near Poplar Street, in what was then the Northern Liberties, on August 1, 1837. He is a member of one of the oldest and most respected families in that part of the city, where they resided in the old residence for over sixty years. His father, George Thorn, was a well known brickmaker, and one of the first to ship Philadelphia press bricks to New York. He died at the age of forty-eight, leaving to the mother, Catharine Cousty Thorn, the care of three children. Mr. Thorn can trace his ancestry back for many years, through treasured family Bibles of both his father and mother, his father's dating back to 1732 and his mother's to 1721.
Mr. Thorn was educated in the public schools of Philadel- phia, principally at the Old Jefferson School, on Fifth Street, above Poplar, and he later received an academic education with instruction in architecture and engineering. During his boyhood he attended the old Central Presbyterian Church, formerly at
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Fourth and Coates streets, now Fairmount Avenue. His tastes were naturally in the direction of industrial and mechanical pur- suits, but his mother placed him, when a boy, in the extensive hardware and iron house of Messrs. Martin & Smith, on Market Street, in 1855. This firm transacted a large business, and young Thorn obtained a clear insight into its workings. He remained with them until the financial panic of 1857, and shortly after this engaged with the firm of Moore, Henzey & Company, in the same line of business, where he remained until the dissolution of that firm. Some time after he connected himself with the manu- facture of corrugated and arched iron and fireproof building work, and finally became identified with the iron building firm of J. P. Stidham & Company, remaining with their successors, the Phila- delphia Architectural Iron Company, then at Eleventh Street and Washington Avenue. There he learned the business thoroughly. Later they engaged in the manufacture of galvanized cornices, ornaments and metal building trimmings. While with this firm Mr. Thorn contracted for large and important government and private work throughout the country, and was connected with the construction of nearly every prominent building in the city. In 1878 the Architectural Iron Company retired from business, and, on January 1, 1879, J. S. Thorn, individually, succeeded them in the same line of business at Twelfth and Callowhill streets, thus continuing along the old lines what is now the oldest established firm in this branch of industry in the United States. By his own enterprise Mr. Thorn has built up the largest establishment of its kind in the country, covering fifty thousand square feet of floor space, filled with the most improved power machinery and giving employment to from three to five hundred hands. The firm, in 1894, was incorporated, and is now the J. S. Thorn Company, and is situated at Nos. 1223 to 1233 Callowhill Street. Mr. Thorn is President of this corporation, but his industry is by no means confined entirely to this field, for he has been connected with sev- eral other important manufacturing concerns, being President of the Thorn Shingle and Ornament Company and the Vulcan Company.
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Mr. Thorn's interests in trade and commerce are expressed not alone by his own business attainments, but through his mem- bership in a number of important trade organizations. He is one of the original members of the Manufacturers' Club; is a member of the Board of Trade and of the Trades League. When the project of the Bourse was broached he was one of the first to take the matter up, and is now a member. He is also a member of the Builders' Exchange and the Operative Builders' Associa- tion; the Franklin Institute; the Masonic Order; Veteran Masons, and the Veteran Fireman's Association. His interest in politics of a reform nature is expressed in his membership in the Muni- cipal League; he is also a member of the Columbia Club, the Zoological Society and many other organizations. Mr. Thorn has never held any public office, but has, nevertheless, taken an active interest and important part in political affairs for many of his friends. In former years he was numbered among the Democratic ranks, but he is now independent in politics. Mr. Thorn is pop- ular with a large circle of friends in the metal business all over the country. He has resided for a number of years on North Sixteenth Street, in the Fifteenth Ward of the city, and takes a great interest in all movements tending to better the conditions of Philadelphia. He was twice married, but has no children living.
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KERR BOYCE TUPPER.
HE interests of a remarkable church and the life- work of a remarkable man are connected in the pastorate of Rev. Kerr Boyce Tupper, D.D., LL.D., over the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, located at Broad and Arch streets. As one who has passed through a long series of educational courses and the practical work of a minister of the gospel, Dr. Tupper is emi- nently fitted to represent in his person and position the progress of Pennsylvania, ecclesiastically. He has traveled far and near, both in this and foreign lands, and, as pastor, preacher, lecturer and author led a most active life. His connection with ecclesias- tical history is a potent one, and under his management the First Baptist Church has continued in the line of that marked progress which has characterized its career ever since its establishment, just two centuries ago.
KERR BOYCE TUPPER was born February 2, 1854, in Wash- ington, Georgia, where his father, Rev. Dr. H. A. Tupper, was pastor for twenty years. His mother, Nancy J. Boyce, was the daughter of Kerr Boyce, of South Carolina, and sister of the Rev. J. P. Boyce, D.D., LL.D., President and founder of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, now located in Louisville, Kentucky. Kerr Boyce was President of the Charleston National Bank and prominent in the affairs of city and State. Dr. Tupper's father, one of the most distinguished men of the South, is at present Professor in Richmond College, Richmond, Virginia When the subject of this sketch was quite young, his parents moved to the Old Dominion, where his father was, for twenty years, Corresponding Secretary of the Foreign Mission Board of
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the Southern Baptist Convention. At the age of thirteen Kerr Boyce Tupper entered the Mercer University, Georgia, receiving a medal for oratory when fifteen and graduating in full at the age of seventeen. After learning something of accounts and book- keeping, he took a full theological course at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, prior to which, at the age of eighteen years, he was licensed to preach by the First Baptist Church, of Charles- ton, South Carolina, in June, 1872. His first settlement was at Charlottesville, where his proximity to the University of Virginia gave him new scholastic advantages. After serving here for three years he became pastor in Paducah, Kentucky, supplying for a year in Chicago. In 1885 he accepted the pastorate of the Foun- tain Street Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, whose membership numbered about 1,000. Here he was specially successful for five years, when, being called the second time, he took charge of the First Baptist Church of Denver, Colorado. Here he wrought for six years, declining several calls to Eastern churches, but accepting at last, after urgent solicitation, the call to his present charge in Philadelphia. This church, the historic "Old First," was organized December 16, 1698, in a storehouse formerly occupied by the Bar- badoes Company, northwest corner of Second and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia. When it came into existence there were but seven- teen others of the denomination in the colony, which was then but sixteen years old. The first pastor was Rev. Jenkin Jones, from May 15, 1746, until his death, in 1760. Since that time there have been fourteen pastors, the latest in line being Dr. Tupper, who, in 1896, succeeded the scholarly Dr. George Dana Boardman. This church has been the nucleus for the formation of a number of other churches, missions and philanthropic enterprises, and, therefore, its pastorate is one of the highest posts which any minister of the gospel in Philadelphia could hold. It has always been foremost in missionary and philanthropic enterprises and has proved itself an important factor in establishing such well known institutions as the American Baptist Missionary Union, Women's National Indian Association, Philadelphia Home for Incurables, Baptist Orphanage at Angora, and the Baptist Young People's Union of Philadelphia.
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Not the least important feature of its work has been its Bible school, organized October, 1815, and the second one in the city. At present this church, recently consolidated with the Beth-Eden Church, is looking forward to the expenditure of some $500,000 or $600,000 in an endowment fund and new buildings for worship and "institutional " work. Its membership is over 1,000, and its con- gregations tax the capacity of their present church building.
But it is not the church alone that fills the heart and the head of Dr. Tupper. With a deep sense of his responsibility for the highest interests of the city and of the State, he is found respond- ing, accepted on every hand, to a variety of calls for service, daily and endless. In social relations Dr. Tupper is affable; as a writer he is accurate, polished and logical; as a preacher he is scholarly, instructive, eloquent and thoroughly evangelical. He invariably speaks without notes and after careful preparation. His learning and scholastic training have been admirable, and his triumphs in educational pursuits have won him numerous degrees. He received the degree of A.B. from Mercer University, Georgia, in 1871; A.M. from the same College, his Alma Mater, in 1875; D.D. from Cen- tral University, Iowa, in 1886, and LL.D. from Mercer University, Georgia, in 1897. Dr. Tupper is also widely known as a writer on theological and other subjects. He is the author of "Robin- son's Living Thoughts," "Seven Great Lights," "Life of Diaz," " Gladstone and other Addresses," "Relation of Baptists to Litera- ture " and "Popular Treatises on Christian Baptism." As a lecturer he speaks on "The Shadow of Castle Garden," " Robert Burns," " Biographical Reading," "Be a Man " and "William Ewart Glad- stone." Dr. Tupper is chosen each summer to preach in the prominent churches of New York and Boston. He has traveled widely in Europe, Egypt and Palestine, and is a constant writer for many religious journals and magazines, and he is at present engaged in preparing a work on "English Synonyms."
On November 15, 1875, Dr. Tupper married Lucilla H. Sloan, of South Carolina, and they have had three children : Kerr Boyce, Jr., Frank B. and May Belle.
FREDERICK TURNBULL.
T would be hard to find in the Union a State in which the interests are so varied and the natural resources so immense as in the great Common- wealth of Pennsylvania. Not only has nature been kind to the Keystone State in the gifts of many resources, which are almost limitless, but it seems as though the stock from which Pennsylvania's sons have sprung has been of so sturdy and vigorous a growth as to make the opportunities more than golden. While its prosperity has been chiefly identified with those industries which have come into prominence through the utilization of the natural resources of the State, yet many foreign enterprises have been successfully grafted upon this growth. All his life Frederick Turnbull has been a manufacturing and commercial man, and since his entrance into the business field of Pennsylvania he has demonstrated his ability in a way which has brought him into the front rank. The firm of William J. Matheson & Company, Limited, is known all over the United States, and to Mr. Turnbull's important part in the management of its affairs this is in no small measure due.
FREDERICK TURNBULL was born near Glasgow, Scotland, September 21, 1847, his parents being Matthew Turnbull and Margaret Elizabeth Wilson, who were noted for their integrity and high character, and who, from his earliest boyhood, impressed him with high ideals and lofty purposes. After receiving a regular school education, he went to college and took a thorough academic course which fully fitted him for the work of his later years. In 1867, after graduating at the University of Glasgow, he took a course in chemistry under Professor Penny, graduating from the
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Andersonian University of the same city. He then branched out in the business of Turkey-red dyeing, bleaching and finishing, con- ducting both a foreign and domestic trade. His father was for many years prominently identified with the calico printing business in Europe, his ancestors for many generations having engaged in the same business. His grandfather on his mother's side was a man of means and started the first power loom in Scotland; the estab- ment was known as the Nursery Mills, and is still in existence. Frederick Turnbull was imbued from his earliest youth with all the instincts which go towards making a man successful, and he had behind him not only the benefit of generations of business traits, but inborn abilities and a determination which recognized no obsta- cles to success. Within a few years after embarking in mercantile pursuits he had thoroughly mastered all the intricacies of several trades, and had acquired an extensive knowledge of business methods in all its details.
After several years of success in Scotland, Mr. Turnbull met with a number of American capitalists who were beginning to interest themselves in the establishment of what was then a new industry in this country. They were endeavoring to secure the proper manager for such an enterprise, and of a number of emi- nently worthy business men they selected Frederick Turnbull as the one best fitted for the important post. He was induced to come to the United States, and inaugurate this new industry; and subse- quently became connected with the firm of William J. Matheson & Company, Limited, whose works are located in Long Island City, New York. Mr. Turnbull has been for a long time an active and honored resident of Philadelphia. The firm is engaged in the manufacturing and importing of coloring matter and chemicals, in which branches they are widely known throughout this country and in Great Britain. Mr. Turnbull has exercised his excellent judg- ment on many occasions while a member of the firm, and through his efforts the business has been largely extended. It has estab- lishments in New York City ; Boston, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charlotte, North Caro- lina ; and Montreal, Canada. Since coming to this country, Mr. II .- 32
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Turnbull has resided most of his time in this State, and so thor- oughly has he devoted himself to the extension of its material wealth and the best interests of his own city of Philadelphia, that aside from his splendid qualities as a business man he is thoroughly deserving of a place among progressive and prominent Pennsyl- vanians. Mr. Turnbull is politically and socially popular, and his name has been identified with many works connected with the welfare of the city.
On March 23, 1883, Mr. Turnbull was married to Nina Bryce, of Columbia, South Carolina, who is a descendant of the first Colonial Governor of Virginia and, through the same line of ancestry, of Patrick Henry and George Ross, the latter a signer of the Declara- tion of Independence. Mrs. Turnbull comes of one of the most aristocratic families of South Carolina and was known prior to her marriage as a leading belle of the South. She has spent some time in traveling throughout the world, being interested largely in archeology. She is fluent in modern languages and is a generally accomplished and cultured lady. Mr. Turnbull finds great delight in domesticity and has a lovely home in Germantown. He has one child living, a son, now eleven years old, who is at present attend- ing the Cheltenham Military Academy at Ogontz.
E. T. Jayson
The Reply. 2.1.570
E. T. TYSON.
T HE development of the northern section of Philadel- phia has engaged the active interest during the past half century of some of the brightest and most ener- getic men ever produced from the soil of the State, and it is a remarkable commentary upon their physical vigor and mental strength that of this small army of pioneers not a few are still in the land of the living, hale and hearty, and active as ever. E. T. Tyson, who, although eighty-two years of age, is still energetic and full of enterprise and progress, has been identified with the growth and prosperity of his native city ever since the time when Philadelphia was built up only as far as what is now Poplar Street, and when there was nothing beyond except great fields awaiting development to become a part of the municipality.
E. T. TYSON was born at 93 Market Street, October 15, 1815, his parents being Daniel Tyson and Sarah Tyson, and his family on the paternal side having an ancestral connection back to a Tyson who came over with William Penn and settled in Montgomery County. When he was seven years of age the youth went to live with an aunt on a farm in Chester County, returning to his native city when he was fifteen years old. That was the beginning of his career as a Philadelphian, and ever since 1831 he has lived within one hundred feet of his present residence, 2124 Germantown Avenue, while in all the years that have passed he has not slept away from home a dozen times. Back in those early years the Penn District was so large that it was subsequently divided into the North and South Penn, and, after that, various other divisions occurred until finally the consolidation of the city took place. With all of these
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movements Mr. Tyson was prominently identified. His first entrance into a business occupation was in February, 1837, when he estab- lished a grocery, flour and feed house, from which he retired in May, 1887, after exactly fifty years of active commercial life. In 1844 Mr. Tyson removed to Fairhill, which was only across the way from his early home, and this district was the old Norris Estate which had been incorporated. In 1847 Mr. Tyson was one of the body of Commissioners appointed by the Legislature to fix heights and levels, and under their direction the whole district was mapped out in streets. In 1848 these Commissioners met those of Kensing- ton and the two districts were consolidated. Of the Fairhill Board Mr. Tyson is the sole survivor. Two years later Mr. Tyson was again elected a Commissioner, and, in 1851, he moved back to the other side of the road, which was in South Penn, where he served as Treasurer at three hundred dollars per annum, the only salaried position he ever held. For many years he was a contributing member of the Cohocksink Volunteer Fire Company. When the Norris will was broken and the estate cut up, Mr. Tyson was the first purchaser, buying a hundred and fifty feet facing Germantown Avenue and running back to a small thoroughfare, afterwards named, in his honor, Tyson Street. He also bought other property, and in addition he inherited the old Spread Eagle Hotel, a famous hostlery of a half century ago.
Mr. Tyson's chief connection with Philadelphia's progress has been in the real estate branch. He is one of the recognized authorities on the valuation of properties and has complete records showing the great increase in the rates in various sections of the up-town districts. He was one of the pioneers in the development of building associations in this city, being connected with the first, The North Philadelphia Association, from 1848 to 1858. He has also served as President of the E. T. Tyson Building Association, as Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Association, organized by himself in 1862, and as a Director of the new North Philadelphia and Oak- dale societies. Mr. Tyson's business ability is evidenced by his connection with the Germantown Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he has for many years been one of the Managers.
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