USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume III > Part 29
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JOHN B. SMITHMAN.
was extended to some valuable boiling mineral springs owned by Mr. Smithman, some five miles from the city.
As might be expected, these enterprises of Mr. Smithman seri- ously affected large opposing interests, and brought down upon him the bitter hostility of these concerns; and the fact that he, single- handed, successfully overcame the suits, injunctions and other appa- rently insurmountable obstacles in his way, has given him a reputation for far-seeing sagacity and for firm, resolute determination. The edifice of the Second Presbyterian Church, which adjoins Mr. Smith- man's residence in Oil City, owes its present excellence largely to his generosity.
Mr. Smithman was married, in 1874, at Paterson, New Jersey, to Julia Hathaway, a descendant of General Hathaway, of Revolu- tionary fame. They have four children, Albert Frederick, Mabel, Howard H. and Carlotta. Mr. Smithman has for years held a promi- nent place in the business and social life of the oil country, and is one of those conspicuous, unostentatious characters who have left their impress upon the oil country and have caused it to be known far and wide for the development of men of acumen and financial daring.
A. LOUDON SNOWDEN.
ITH a line of ancestry in Pennsylvania antedating W by many years the landing of William Penn, and possessing an exceptionally brilliant record as a faithful public official, an astute diplomat, a gifted orator and writer and an ever-zealous and enter- prising citizen, COL. A. LOUDON SNOWDEN, the subject of this sketch, is pre-eminently a representative Pennsylvanian with a conspicuous national reputation, particularly on monetary matters. He is a son of Dr. Isaac Wayne Snowden, who served as a surgeon under General Jackson, and is descended from John Snowden, one of the early settlers and largest land-owners in Philadelphia and New Jersey. His mother was a daughter of Archibald Loudon, a promi- nent citizen of Cumberland County, where Colonel Snowden was born and where his parents resided for many years. Following his preliminary academic education, he entered Jefferson, now Washington and Jefferson College, in Western Pennsylvania, from which institution he received the degree of Master of Arts. At the close of his collegiate course he entered the Law Department of the University of Pennsylvania, but soon after, at the request of his uncle, the late James Ross Snowden, then Director of the United States Mint, he entered that institution as Register. In 1866 he was promoted to the Chief Coinership, which he held continuously until 1877, when he was unexpectedly appointed Postmaster of Philadelphia by President Grant, and, in 1879, was returned to the mint service as Superintendent by the voluntary act of President Hayes, after having twice declined the appointment of Director of all the Mints, tendered him by the same President. The Senate invariably gave a unanimous confirmation when his
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name was presented. In the mint he became an authority on all subjects relating to coinage. As Chief Coiner and subsequently as Superintendent of the National Mint, covering a period of over twenty-eight years, he devoted his energy and skill in procuring, devising and suggesting machinery and appliances for the rapid, accurate and artistic production of our coinage. His administration of the Philadelphia Post Office was as highly creditable as his mint connection. Business methods were applied, old abuses corrected and unworthy employés dismissed, while the deserving were pro- tected in their places and promoted as opportunity was presented.
He has always been highly patriotic and public-spirited. At the outbreak of the Civil War he organized a regiment and was com- missioned its Lieutenant-Colonel. Pennsylvania's quota of troops being full, the companies composing the regiment were assigned to other organizations from various States. On the urgent solicitation of the Director he returned to the mint service, but subsequently participated in the skirmishes preliminary to the battle of Gettys- burg, as a member of the First City Troop of Philadelphia. Colonel Snowden was connected with the latter command for over fifteen years, passing through all the subordinate grades, and was com- missioned as its commanding officer in 1877. Quick of under- standing, ready of speech and with a clear intellect, he possesses remarkable executive ability, the test of which was shown in his creation and management of the great parade, on December 16, 1879, in honor of General Grant on his return from his journey around the world. The entire management of that public demon- stration was placed in his hands by the joint committee of the Councils of Philadelphia, and for the splendid work he accomplished he received the cordial thanks of the city authorities. His untiring energy, creative genius and administrative qualities were naturally recognized by the Constitutional Centennial Commission, by whom he was appointed to organize the Industrial and Civic Departments of the great processional celebration, which took place in Philadelphia on the 15th, 16th and 17th of September, 1887. The unparalleled success of this display was most flattering to Colonel Snowden and highly creditable to the nation.
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A new field of public duty was opened to him when he was appointed Minister-Resident and Consul-General to Greece, Roumania and Servia by President Harrison. Shortly after his appointment, as a compliment to him, the grade of the mission, by the unanimous act of Congress, was raised to that of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. Later he was voluntarily honored with a transfer from Athens to Madrid, where he successfully settled some grave diplomatic questions long pending with the Spanish Government. He received the special thanks of the Secretary of State for the tact and ability displayed in these negotiations. On his retirement from office, the Queen Regent, in recognition of his valuable services to the two governments, conferred upon him the Grand Cordon of Isabella, the Catholic, one of the highest orders of Spain, and later, being free to accept honors without the formal consent of Congress, he accepted from the King of Greece the Grand Cordon of the Saviour, the highest order of Greece, which was conferred by King George as a mark of his personal friendship, and from the King of Roumania the Grand Cordon of the Crown of Roumania.
Colonel Snowden occupies a prominent position in the literary and social life of Philadelphia, and is a member of the American Philosophical Society, St. Andrew's, Philadelphia Club, the State in Schuylkill, the Union League, and many other similar organizations. He was at one time President of the Fire Association, and for two years was President of the United Fire Underwriters of America. He was married, in 1864, to Elizabeth Robinson, daughter of Isaac Robinson Smith, of Philadelphia. Two daughters, Carolina S. and Mary Buchanan, and one son, Charles Randolph Snowden, are the result of this union.
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WILLIAM P. SNYDER.
IT is a generally recognized fact that Pennsylvania's legis- lative body, taken as a whole or individually, is among the brightest of those which severally govern the States of the Union. Professional men of expansive attainments, and the business leaders of the com- mercial and manufacturing world, have frequently participated in the legislative affairs of the State, with a result that has been highly beneficial to the community at large. Dr. William P. Snyder, the subject of this biography, who has served as a member of both the lower and upper branches of the Legislature, is well qualified to represent the progressiveness and ability of that administrative body, and all through his career his efforts have been marked by success, both unqualified and deserving.
WILLIAM PRESTON SNYDER was born in East Vincent Township, Chester County, October 7, 1851, and received his education in the common schools of that place, where, although the facilities were by no means broad, he secured a good educational foundation. He was a bright youth, physically sturdy and strong. His early training was received on a farm, and when still very young he became ambitious to branch into broader fields of life, meanwhile losing no opportunity of adding to his store of knowledge. He subsequently attended the Millersville State Normal School and Ursinus College, where he received a thorough advanced education, during the winters of 1868 and 1869 teaching school in his native township. He became a student in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and, after a thorough course of study, graduated in March, 1873. He at once returned to Chester County, locating in Spring City,
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where he now resides, and began the practice of his profession. He was notably successful, and continued as a practitioner until 1886.
About that time the Pennsylvania Railroad Company had its atten- tion attracted to Doctor Snyder's ability and excellent professional work, and offered him the position of Medical Examiner for the Relief Department of the Company. This he accepted and held the post for nearly two years, from February, 1886, until December, 1887. While Doctor Snyder was advancing so rapidly in his professional career he was also attaining considerable reputation as a citizen who took the warmest interest in the welfare of his city and State. While yet a young man, he began to take an active part in the Republican organi- zation, and was a participant in all of its campaigns. He was appointed to serve as Postmaster of Spring City from October, 1883, until August, 1885. In November, 1887, Doctor Snyder was nominated for Prothonotary of his county, and was elected by a large majority. His election was a great triumph, both personally and politically, and he served in the office for a period of four years, or until January, 1891. Exactly one year before his relinquishment of this office he was made Chairman of the County Republican Committee. At the county primaries, in the fall of 1890, while he was still serving as Prothonotary, Doctor Snyder was nominated for a member of the lower branch of the Legislature, a post for which he was fitted by a long. and active service and recognized ability. At the following election he was sent to the Legislature, and his term there was marked by many measures of considerable importance to his community. When nominated, he resigned the office of Chairman of the County Com- mittee. Notwithstanding this, however, he gave his full attention to the work of the campaign, and the successful outcome of that political issue was in no small measure due to his indefatigable efforts in the cause of Republicanism.
Doctor Snyder's political affiliations date back many years before his election to such important offices. In 1878 the Republicans of Chester County elected him a Delegate to the Republican State Convention which nominated Gen. Henry M. Hoyt for Governor of the State. His representation of Chester County's interests in this convention was marked by a warm fealty, which won for him the
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admiration of a large constituency, and, in 1882, he was again elected a Delegate to the State Convention which nominated Gen. James A. Beaver for Governor. After the expiration of Doctor Snyder's term in the lower house of the Legislature he was slated by his party for higher honors, and, at the general election in the fall of 1892, he was sent to the higher branch and enrolled among that active body of Pennsylvanians which comprises the State Senate. There had been a very warm contest for the nomination ; but after the friends of Doctor Snyder succeeded in placing his name at the head of the ticket, he received the entire support of the party. While a member of the State Senate he had the honor of serving on some of the most important committees. In the session of the Legislature of 1895 Senator Snyder was Chairman of the Committee on Health and Sanitation, one of the most responsible in the legislative body. In this office he did active work in securing many needed reforms, and his ability as a physician, together with his technical knowledge, enabled him to speak authoritatively upon the matters which he had in hand. Senator Snyder also was a member of the Committees on Appropriations, Railroads, Counties and Townships, Congressional Apportionment and on Finance and Insurance. Senator Snyder was re-elected in 1896, and during the session of 1897 served on Com- mittees on Appropriations, Congressional Apportionment, Education, Finance, Insurance, New Counties and County Seats, Public Health and Sanitation, and as Chairman of the Committee on Railroads and Street Passenger Railways.
Doctor Snyder, both as a member of the State Senate and as a leader in the medical affairs of the State, has attained a large promi- nence in Pennsylvania, and is generally recognized as one of the most progressive men of his day.
ISAAC N. SOLIS.
N the field of finance, as well as in the world of law and politics, few men in Philadelphia can point to a more active and successful career than Isaac N. Solis, the subject of this review. Careful training, with wide and varied experience as a member of the Bar, enabled him to attain marked prominence as a lawyer while yet a young man, and his ability in this direction peculiarly fitted him to take charge of a branch office of one of the largest banking and brokerage firms in the city of his nativity. Throughout social and political circles Mr. Solis has become known and highly respected for his cleverness, general ability and cordial disposition, in the same degree as he has attained flattering prominence as a barrister and broker. He is thoroughly representative of progressive Philadelphia. Born and reared amid ordinary surroundings in the Keystone State, he received his education in the public schools, and, after reaching the end of this course, entered work-a-day life as the maker of his own fortune, devoting himself studiously and energetically to the task. That his efforts have been crowned with well-deserved success, indis- putable evidence is furnished by his record as an honored member of the Bar, a bright financier and general favorite among a host of friends.
ISAAC N. SOLIS is a native of Philadelphia, being the second son of the late David Hays Solis, a prominent and respected merchant of this city, and his wife, Elvira Nathan. Mr. Solis can trace his ancestry back to an old Jewish family that figured prominently in Spain for many generations, and was expelled by the Inquisition. They took refuge in Holland, whence they came to America by way of England. His father's mother was Charity Hays, daughter of David Hays, of
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Westchester County, New York, a Revolutionary soldier referred to in a contemporary newspaper as the "dauntless Captain Hays." The Hays family settled in New Rochelle during early colonial times, seven brothers having sailed from Amsterdam in their own ship. His mother's grandfather, Simon Nathan, was likewise a Revolutionary patriot, being among those who removed to Philadelphia during the British occupation of New York. Mr. Solis was educated in the Central High School in Philadelphia and, after graduating from this institution, studied law under the preceptorship of Judge F. Carroll Brewster, and was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar about 1881. A year later he left Philadelphia for the West, locating in San Francisco, California, and afterwards in Portland, Oregon, remaining away, altogether, about five years on the Pacific coast. At the expiration of that period he returned to the East and resumed his legal practice in Philadelphia, establishing the law firm of Solis & Lowengrund. It was not long before he acquired an extensive and lucrative clientele, gaining marked distinction as a corporation lawyer. However, he did not confine himself to corporation matters exclusively, but gained equal prominence in the criminal courts and in jury practice. In the fall of 1894 he connected himself with Dick Brothers & Company, bankers and brokers, taking charge of the uptown office of that firm, to which post he now devotes his time and attention, occasionally, however, appearing in the courts in important matters.
In financial circles he has won a position of no less prominence and importance than he occupies at the Bar, and he has been active in certain corporation matters that attracted much interest. Mr. Solis is a man of exceptional ability and of an unusually acute and penetra- ting mentality. He is a barrister of infinite resources, tactful and at all times ready in emergencies, and possesses remarkable clearness, fluency and power as a pleader. In arguing points of law he shows great directness and incisiveness, always holding discussion to the question at issue. He is an exceptionally fine after-dinner speaker and public orator, and has won considerable distinction in amateur theatricals. By inheritance an ardent patriot, he is, in convictions and associations, a staunch Republican, and has done yeoman service on behalf of his party, both through his writings and speeches in many
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campaigns. He was especially active and untiring in the last Presidential contest, gaining much note as a stump speaker of considerable ability.
Personally, Mr. Solis is of an attractive disposition, genial, witty and appreciative, while he is also convincing in serious and earnest conversation. He has made many firm and lasting friends, not only at the Bar, but among all classes with whom he has come in contact. He is a Shakespearean student and an earnest lover of good literature.
Mr. Solis was married in 1880 to Marcia Morgan, of this city. They have one child.
ANDREW S. STEIGERWALD.
D ENTISTRY is a most important branch of medicine, and it has numbered among its followers many learned scientists and renowned professional men. Success as a dentist does not merely imply a knowl- edge of dental surgery, but it means that one must necessarily possess a thorough knowledge of human anatomy and physiology; and the dentists who have won for themselves fame and prosperity have, in all cases, been those who have mastered more than one branch of the healing art. Andrew S. Steigerwald, D.D.S., the subject of this biography, is one of these. Graduating from the Phil- adelphia Dental College in 1883, he has ever since devoted all his energies to the practice of his profession, and, having spent two years in the study of medicine, under so distinguished a preceptor as the late Prof. James E. Garretson, he is eminently qualified to be placed in the front rank of his profession.
ANDREW S. STEIGERWALD was born on the 9th day of February, 1862, in Philadelphia, and, with the exception of a brief interval during his boyhood, this city has ever since been his home. His father was Sebastian Steigerwald, and his mother Elizabeth Steigerwald, her maiden name having been Schantz. His grandparents on his maternal side emigrated to America in the early part of the century, and both lived to a very old age, having passed their eightieth year at the time of their death. In 1868, when Andrew was six years of age, his parents removed to Medford, New Jersey, where he received his pre- liminary training at the public schools and studied under the tutelage of Prof. Milton Allen. He remained in Medford until he attained his fourteenth year, when he returned to Philadelphia to pursue his private studies and complete his education. At the age of eighteen, so
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industriously did he apply himself, he matriculated in the Philadelphia Dental College. Here he evidenced marked ability and diligence as a student and gained the confidence and esteem both of his fellow-col- legians and instructors, among the latter being Prof. James E. Garret- son, then Dean of the Philadelphia Dental College and one of the founders of the Medico-Chirurgical College. He was famous as a scientist and writer, and by his kindly offices did much to encourage and assist the subject of this sketch. When young Steigerwald gradu- ated from the Philadelphia Dental College in 1883, Prof. Garretson, recognizing his true worth, prevailed upon him to pursue his studies still further, and insisted that he take up a course in medicine. Knowing, however, that the young man had not the necessary means to pay for his tuition, he offered to act as his preceptor. Doctor Steigerwald embraced this excellent opportunity and pursued the study of medicine until his own professional duties and constantly increasing practice prevented him from completing the entire course. Though not a graduate in medicine, Doctor Steigerwald is well versed in the healing art, ascribing his success, in a great measure, to the knowledge gleaned from the study of it.
Immediately upon graduating, Doctor Steigerwald commenced the practice of dentistry, which he has made his life work; and, during the fifteen years that have elapsed since his entrance upon this field, by his affable personality, uniform courtesy and through the skillful care which he has shown in the treatment of his patients, he has secured an exten- sive clientele, embracing all classes of people and numbering among them some of the best known families in the Quaker City. Doctor Steigerwald has always taken a deep interest in the improvement and advancement of operative and prosthetic dentistry, and ever since he first entered into the practice of his profession he has endeavored to accomplish more than the ordinary dentist. His improved and devel- oped dental instruments have been on exhibition at the Philadelphia Bourse, where they elicited much favorable comment, and the Doctor intends to exhibit them at the proposed Paris Exposition to be held in 1900, when he hopes to give the European dentists his latest ideas on improved dental appliances.
One of Doctor Steigerwald's chief characteristics is his inborn love
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for work. From the time he was fourteen years of age (his parents not having been in a position to support him, or continue his educa- tion), he has managed his own affairs with an ability and economy that augured well for his after success. He was compelled to support himself through college, and accomplished this feat by working for his subsistence during the evenings and studying hard and incessantly at all times, always having in view the goal of his ambition-to graduate with honors.
In 1889 Doctor Steigerwald connected himself with the Philadel- phia Prepared Chalk and Toilet Company, of which manufacturing concern he is now the sole proprietor. Doctor Steigerwald has been offered many opportunities to interest himself in other organizations, but this he has invariably refused to do, preferring to devote all his time to the profession of his choice. As a man of patriotic instincts and a citizen of Pennsylvania's foremost city, Doctor Steigerwald has exhibited a lively interest in the management of its municipal affairs, and especially in matters educational. In 1894 he was elected a member of the Sectional School Board from the Sixteenth Ward, which honorary post he still holds. He also takes an active interest in all charitable affairs, and, as officer and member of several charitable organizations, has done much to improve the condition of the deserving poor of his native city.
In 1885, Doctor Steigerwald was united in marriage to Frances Steinmetz, and this union has been blessed with six children, four boys and two girls, all living. They are : Clarence, Regina, Leo, Dorothy, Richard and Charles.
JACOB L. STEINMETZ.
·O review of the social and material progress of Pennsyl- vania, however exhaustive, would be complete if it did not pay its tribute to the worth of the sturdy German and Irish settlers of colonial times, who, by virtue of their important part in the development of its resour- ces, justly deserve the title of builders of the Commonwealth. Their racial characteristics of sterling integrity, patriotism and ability are happily reflected in the career of the subject of this sketch, a descend- ant of those pioneers, who, by his unassuming worth as a lawyer, citizen and financier, has done much toward making the thriving city of Lancaster the center of some of the most important industries of the State.
JACOB L. STEINMETZ was born, August 22, 1845, on the grange of his father, Jacob Steinmetz, in South Annville Township, Lebanon County, where he had previously moved from Lancaster County. In other branches of his ancestry were such names as Gross, Wright and Biever, families that for generations have been prominent in the public affairs of Lancaster County. His great-grandfather on the maternal side, John Wright, was one of the brave Irishmen who, in the last cen- tury, settled among the Germans in Ephrata, Lancaster County. When the American Revolution called patriots to arms he entered the struggle and, fighting through it with the valor of his race, emerged with the rank of Colonel. The boyhood of our subject was spent in the paternal manor. When but five years old his father died and his training devolved upon his mother, who instilled and fostered the traits and principles which formed the foundation of his after success in life. His early education was received in the primary schools of the county. He afterwards attended the Annville Academy and also Dickinson
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