USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
67
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
SATZMER, WILLIAM II., Railroad Promoter | defined; costly litigation was unavoidable; and the im- and Manager, was born July 22, 1807, near mense labor of organization had all to be performed without the light of precedent or example. The Com- pany justly recognized that one mind must control the whole, untranimelled by interference or conflicting opinion ; and the brothers Stevens rightly judged that such a mind could be found in their late employee. Hence for years he may be said to have been the autocrat of the road, appointing and deposing any subordinate officer, carrying his plans and wishes through the Board of Directors with little opposition, and withal using this extensive authority with such discretion that neither employees nor stock- holders ever preferred just grounds of complaint against his management. The Company obtained control, early in its history, of the Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad, to secure the direct all-rail route between Philadelphia and New York; and ran a steamboat, first to Bristol, and then to Tacony, in connection with this line. They also became proprietors of the ferry between Philadelphia and Camden, and of several freight and ferry lines on the Delaware. From these beginnings, the road extended Somerville, Somerset county, New Jersey. On the paternal side he is of German descent, his father having emigrated from Coburg, in 1794, and settled, first in Bustleton, near Philadelphia, and later in Somerset county, New Jersey, where he had charge of the Campbell Mills. Ilis limited means did not permit him to furnish his son other educational advan- tages than those of a country village, but these were so well used that, at the age of twelve years the latter was qualified to fill the situation of clerk in a country store. A year later he entered a more extensive establishment at Somerville. Here he remained for five years, displaying such business qualifications that the entire management of the house was confided to him, and the proprietor was desirous that he should acquire a partnership interest. To this, however, his want of capital was a bar, and believing that the knowledge of some trade would render him more secure of winning success in life, he left the store, and entered a printing office in the same town. The oppor- tunities for self-culture which such a position offers were the area of its branches in all directions, so that it finally received the transportation of nearly one-half the territory of New Jersey. The smaller connecting roads which were from time to time constructed, were supplied with funds and credit by the Camden and Amboy, and gener- ally managed in accordance to the advice of its efficient not neglected by him, and he soon acquired, not merely a practical acquaintance with the trade, but a general knowledge of science and literature. Thus provided, a rational ambition prompted him to seek a wider field than that of a country village, and, supplied with high testi- monials of character and ability, he applied successfully superintendent. Nor was his influence bounded by the limits here defined. The Belvidere and Delaware Rail- road, one of the important connecting branches of the Camden and Amboy, approaches the vast coal regions of Pennsylvania. The extensions required to unite this with the coal fields was the Lehigh Valley Railroad and its branches, projected by Judge Packer, of Pennsylvania; and certain privileges and assistance essential to that important undertaking were, by his advice, granted the Lehigh Valley Company by the Camden and Amboy, services warmly acknowledged by Judge Packer. In 1867, Edwin A. Stevens having resigned the Presidency to the wealthy steamboat firm of Stevens Brothers, of New York City, for a situation. At that date, 1830, they controlled the principal trade of the North River, and they placed him as chief clerk on the " North Amer- ica," then the finest boat afloat on the New York waters, where he distinguished himself by his executive skill and agreeable manners. The brothers Stevens were at this period engaged in constructing the Camden and Amboy Railroad, a charter of which had been granted by the Legislature of New Jersey, in 1830. In 1833, having completed the eastern sections of the line, they transferred him to the steamboat route between New York City and of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, that honor was conferred, by unanimous consent, on him who, for thirty-seven years, had been the faithful and successful steward of the Company's interests. In this year the. New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company was South Amboy, which position he occupied about three years. After the completion of the road from Amboy to Camden, a responsible position was assigned to him in the office in Philadelphia, by the same firm. Its duties he fulfilled so satisfactorily, that soon, not merely the amalgamated with the Joint Companies of New Jersey, management of the Philadelphia office, but of the whole and the public works of the State embraced in the Dela- ware and Raritan Canal Company, the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, and the New Jersey Railroad Company, were managed by a Joint Board through the respective Presidents. He was appointed Chairman of the Passenger and Freight Committee, and Secretary of the Joint Board and Executive Committees, which posi- tions he held until the lease of the works to the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company. To this lease he was opposed, interests of the Company were entrusted to him. It is not easy at this day, when the railroad system is thoroughly organized and acknowledged successful, to appreciate how onerous and responsible those duties were. The Camden and Amboy Railroad was the first great through line com- pleted in this country. By many sound and cautious men it was deemed a hazardous and even chimerical experi- ment, likely enough to bankrupt its stockholders. The respective rights of the public and the road were yet un- land stated the reasons for his opposition in a forcible
68
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
argument entitled, Views upon the Proposition to lease the Public Works of New Jersey to the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company, read before the Joint Board of Directors, at their meeting at Trenton, New Jersey, April 20th, 1871. The lease, however, was finally ratified and executed by the Presidents of the Companies, by directions of the Joint Board, his views of its inexpedieney remaining nevertheless unchanged. In May, 1872, his official con- nection with the United Canal and Railroad Companies of New Jersey, and as President of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, ceased. His connection with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, of which he was a Director as early as 1853, continues, and he was elected unanimously its Consulting Manager. When twenty-two years of age he married Eliza A. Campbell, of New York City, and has had the pleasure of witnessing an exemplary family grow up around him. His personal character has not merely been conspicuous for fair dealing and sincerity-qualities essential to the posts he has filled -but also for uniform courteousness, and a freedom from the irritability which so frequently mars the manners of the best men when overworked and weighted with the cares of a complex business. The capacity of very rapid labor, and the power of occupying the mind with more than one topic of attention at a time, are traits he . has manifested in a universal degree, and explain the facility with which he could transact, without errors, such. varied affairs.
AUST, DAVID, Merchant and Banker, was born in Allen township, Northampton county, Penn- sylvania, October 27, 1814, his father being of German descent and a farmer. A portion of his homestead farm is now occupied by the town of Catasauqua. What education he received was at the country school of his neighborhood, in which, at that day, instruction was given wholly in the German language. In his fifteenth year he entered a country store, where he remained until 1833, when he removed to Phila- delphia to seek his fortune in that city. Very limited in means, and speaking English but imperfectly, the outlook was not bright. He obtained, however, a position in the hardware store of Reeves, Buck & Co., where his strict attention to business and determined efforts to please secured his early advancement by his employers.' In 1838, he was admitted as junior partner to the firm, which changed to the style of Reeves & Fraley, and later to Allen R. Reeves & Co. In 1842, he retired from this partnership, and associating with himself D. S. Wine- brenner, established the hardware house of Faust & Wine. brenner, which, in 1861, became David . Faust & Co. Business, meanwhile, had prospered, and the reputation of the firm in mercantile circles increased, so that, in 1864, he was enabled, after over thirty years of commercial life,
to retire from that branch of industry on a well-earned competency. A life of case, however, was not his desire, and the next year, 1865, he was chosen President of the Union National Bank, an institution of which he had been one of the original corporators and on its Board of Directors since its organization. In such publie enter- prises he has always manifested an active interest, con- tributing as far as in his power to the success of the former steam lines to Charleston, South Carolina, Rich- mond, Norfolk, and other Southern ports, and also to that of the Pennsylvania and North Pennsylvania Railroads. Of the gentlemen with whom he was associated during his mercantile career, Frederic Fraley, the only surviving member of the old firm of Reeves, Buck & Co., is the President of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, and D. S. Winebrenner is now a member of the firm of Arm- strong & Winebrenner. His marriage occurred May 2, 1839, and he enjoys in the relations of social life the same esteem which the commercial community are unanimous in according him. As a bank president his financial insight and ready appreciation of the monetary deminds of the period, are acknowledged by all who are brought in contact with him.
AUL, DAVID B., Merchant and Banker, was born at Germantown, Pennsylvania, June 8th, 1820. He is the son of Abraham HI. Paul, of the same place, and grandson of Abraham II. Paul, one of the first settlers of Germantown. He had but little education in his early days, being hard at work with his father in the butchering business in Phila- delphia. At the age of fourteen, by reason of his father's loss of sight, the almost entire care and protection of his father and mother with their seven children devolved upon him. Hle proved himself fully equal to the heavy task. Quick and reliable in business he, although so young, commanded the confidence of his customers, and the concern increased and prospered under his good management, judgment, and ability, becoming so produc- tive and profitable that the family were comfortably provided for until he had attained his twenty-second year. . Then his younger brother took his place, though he still continued to do much for the comfort of his family. He commenced business for himself in 1842, in a small way, at Fifteenth and Market streets, without a dollar of capital, but with a good credit, which his excellent charac- ter and principles, tried during the previous eight years, had gained for him. He remained in the same location, extending his operations with every year until 1857, when a new market house was erected at Sixteenth and Market streets, and he was elected its President. In the same year, so well had his business abilities and inflexible integrity become known, he was chosen President of the West Philadelphia Savings Fund. At the time the institution
Galaxy Pub. C. PEdad .
Yours Truly DJauch
2
Galaxy Fub. Co. Philade.
----
69
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
seemed likely to prove a failure. He, however, had every confidence in the soundness of the scheme, and took hold of it with all his characteristic energy and earnestness. He deposited his own personal account with the Philadelphia Bank, as collateral, in case of a run or misfortune. This gave the concern stability, and under his able direction of affairs it was gradually brought out of all its difficulties and placed upon a thoroughly strong and prosperous basis. From the time that he took charge, until, in 1864, it was dissolved by the courts, it maintained a good position. His great success in this undertaking pointed to him as the most suitable man to bring the Hestonville & Callowhill Passenger Railway Company out of troubles in which it had become involved. Its affairs had been placed in the hands of a sequestrator, and it was without horses, conve- niences, or management. Under these circumstances, he was in 1861 elected as its President. He accepted the heavy responsibility, went to work with a will to disentangle its affairs, succeeded in bringing it out of financial mire, and stood by it until all its obligations had been paid, and it was placed on a firm and flourishing basis. This was in 1864. At the time of his election, the liabilities of the company amounted to $500,000. The undertaking of these two tasks, and the successful accomplishment of them, required great nerve and signal ability. To bring two almost de- funct concerns of such a character out of trouble, and to place them in a prosperous condition, is no ordinary achievement. Only financial and administrative capacity of a high and rare degree could have resulted in the pay- ment of so large an indebtedness as that of the railway. company, in the arrangement of such 'heavy embarrass- ments as those of the bank, and in the establishment of both on a strong and prosperous basis. It should be re- membered also that he was called to the management of the affairs of the bank during a year of almost unprece- dented financial disaster, the country being then in the crisis of 1857. That his success was appreciated in finan- cial circles, was very promptly evidenced. In the same year that the West Philadelphia Savings Institution was closed, he was chosen President of the Third National Bank, the third of the new series of Philadelphia national banking institutions. He was one of the chief promoters and one of the heaviest investors in the enterprize. The stockholders felt that they were consulting their best inter rests in putting at the head of affairs one who had provedl- himself so competent to grapple even with the most diffi- cult financial problems. And their confidence has been fully justified. It started upon a capital of $100,000, and with a deposit line of $86,000 in the first week. At the close of the first month, the deposits had risen to $140,000, and have continued to advance steadily, until now they amount to an average of $900,000 and $1,000,000. This is ample testimony as to the skill and judgment by which his management has been characterized. The original organi- zation of the institution was affected by the election of
David B. Paul, James B. Ferree, Adam Warthman, Willian C. Allison, Thomas K. Peterson, C. P. Morton and George Cookman, as Directors; D. B. Paul as President and R. Glendinning as Cashier. During all this time, and down to January, 1871, he continued to serve as President of the Western Market Company, being the only one the corpo- ration ever had. The building was then sold to the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, and the charter of the com- pany annulled. He was married in November, 1855, to Martha Louisa, daughter of Charles Mckellar, of Phila- delphia, by whom he has seven children, all young. He has never been a politician, contenting himself with the conscientious and unobtrusive discharge of his duty as a citizen. From his youth he has been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and in good standing. He had its principles instilled into him by his parents, and he has al- ways worked for and in the cause, giving liberally to all schemes instituted by the church. A guiding principle of his life has been, never to borrow or lend, or to endorse notes. He has adhered closely to the policy of strict and straightforward business habits. Naturally, therefore, he is highly esteemed in mercantile circles, and this esteem fol- lows him in his social relations.
COLLIER, DANIEL LEWIS, Lawyer, was born in' Litchfield, Connecticut, January 19th, 1796. His father, Thomas Collier, of Boston, was a man of fine literary culture, and prominent as an editor. Ilis 'parents being in limited circum- istances, he was taught at an early age self-reli- ance and the necessity of independent exertion. He com- menced as an apprentice to the printing business; afterwards served as a clerk, and in his twentieth year, started for the West to seek his fortune in what was then a wilderness. Stopping at Steubenville, Ohio, he became a student in the law office of the Hon. John C. Wright, and was admitted to the bar in August, ISIS. Associating himself as a part- ner with his tutor, his abilities soon gained him a promi- nent position among the many able lawyers of that city. During the many years of active pursuit of his profession, he was engaged in most of the leading cases that came be- fore the court of that district. After a long and prosperous career, he removed, in 1857, to Philadelphia; where, re- tiring from professional life, he devoted his time to works of benevolence and religion. He was a member of the Board of Managers of the House of Refuge, the Blind Asylum, and the Colonization Society; Vice President of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and a member of its Executive Committee. In the latter years of his life, he was a ruling elder in the West Spruce Street Church, and frequently appeared in the Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly. He was married in 1823 to Hattie Lorri- more, a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania. His
.
70
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
death occurred March 30th, 1869, and he left a large circle of friends to mourn his loss. Among these was the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, who had been a student in his office, and whose beautiful tribute to his memory merits quotation, as giving a summary of his estimable character with the hand of a master :
" There were certain professional qualities belonging to Mr. Collier which distinguished him, and made his walk and conduct an example that cannot be too strongly im- pressed upon younger members of the profession. He was not only my legal instructor, but was my guardian after my father's death. This relation not only enabled me to know his personal and private virtues ; but also gave me facilities for observing his professional qualities, to a greater extent perhaps than any other person enjoyed. As a lawyer, Mr. Collier was fitted for the highest walks in the profession ; but singularly free from all personal ambition, he found his chief happiness in the domestic and social circle."
Such was the testimony also of most of those who were brought into close personal relations with this eminent jurist. Both in the Eastern States and the valley of the Ohio he left many to cherish his memory as that of a just and able advocate and a kind friend.
GIBSON, JOHN, Merchant, was a native of Ireland. Ile was born in the vicinity of Belfast, and re- ceived a liberal education in the schools of that city. When about twenty-two years of age, he eame to America in search of better opportunities for making his way in the world than were of- fered in the old country. He was without friends or influ- ence of any kind, and was entirely dependent upon his own efforts; but his pleasing address and fine business qualifi- cations speedily secured him a large circle of acquaintances and profitable employment. Being appointed Note Clerk in the Mechanics' Bank, of Philadelphia, he performed the duties of the position in an eminently satisfactory manner for a number of years, until he went into business for him- self in the wine and liquor trade. Shortly after becoming attached to the Mechanics' Bank, he published a Treatise on Book-keeping, which was received with marked favor by the mercantile portion of the community. In the year 1856, he erected the Gibsonton Mills Distillery, on the Monongahela River. This distillery is considered the finest establishment of the kind in the country, and its pro- ducts have long enjoyed a very wide celebrity. The repu- tation which. the distillery has gained is largely due to the sagacious management of its founder, who devoted him- self to his business with the most untiring energy. He was an excellent representative of a class which has done much to advance the material interests of the State of Pennsyl- vania. His uncompromising integrity, the suavity of his manners, his remarkable business talents, and his many
| other noteworthy personal qualities, caused him to be cor- dially estcemed and respected by the community in the midst of which he resided, and elicited the warmest ex- pressions of regret at his death, which occurred on the 11th of March, 1865. By this event the extensive business devolved upon his son, Mr. Henry C. Gibson-who con- tinues at the head of the firm of which his father was the founder.
ILLIAMSON, PASSMORE, Conveyancer, born February 23d, 1822, in West Town Township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, was a son of Thomas Williamson, a member of the Orthodox branch of the Society of Friends, and at that time Librarian of West Town Boarding School, in which his mother had been a teacher of marked ability. They subsequently removed to West Chester, and thence in 1832 to Philadelphia, where Passmore received the greater part of his cducation. In 1836, he entered his father's office as a clerk, and studied conveyancing. After the burning of Pennsylvania Hall, he became identified with the Radical Abolitionists of the Liberty Party. On the 18th of July, 1855, William Still, a prominent colored citizen of Philadelphia, entered his office at Seventh and Arch streets, and laid before him a note informing him that there were three slaves at Bloodgood's Hotel who wished to claim their freedom. Being at that time Secretary of the Acting Committee of the Pennsylvania Abolition So- ciety, he sought them out and found them on board a steamer bound for New York, en route for Central America. He informed the woman that she and her two children were free; and although her master, John H. Wheeler, of North Carolina, the United States Minister to Nicaragua, attempted to restrain her by force, she and her boys, assisted by some negroes, reached the wharf and with some of her friends entered a carriage and were driven away. Their liberator having given his name and ad- dress to the former master, quietly returned to his office. The master, feeling that his rights of property had been in- vaded, obtained upon petition to J. K. Kane, Judge of the District Court of the United States in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a writ of habeas corpus directed to Passmore Williamson, commanding him to produce in court the bodies of the three slaves. Asserting, in his re- turn to the court, that he had not in his possession the bodies of the former slaves, and hence could not produce them, he was adjudged to have refused, or at least to have failed, to answer the command of the law, and was ordered by Judge Kane to be imprisoned for a contempt of the court. In vain Edward Hopper, Charles Gilpin, and Wil- liam M. Meredith sought his release, Ellis Lewis, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, pleading want of jurisdiction, declined to act upon the decision of the District Court, and for three long months this man
Galaxy Pub. Co Thilada.
Jungle cassidy
71
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
languished in prison, proving his fidelity to the principles he. had imbibed and so earnestly advocated. Ile refused to allow the grateful woman to return from Boston and give herself up to secure his freedom, and at last public opinion forced the discharge of the prisoner, and a nolle prosequi was entered. Amid the congratulations of friends, he re- turned to his home more than ever devoted to the humane mission upon which he had entered. Later in life, he was a warm friend of the Female Suffrage movement. The offices of the Female Suffrage Society, of Pennsylvania, were his gift. He takes a deep interest in all benevolent schemes, and especially those involving the rights and liberties of his fellow men.
ASSIDY, LEWIS COCHRAN, Lawyer, was born in New York City, October 17th, 1829. When but three months old, his parents removed to Philadelphia, where he has resided ever since. His father was a type founder, and one of the first who cast "music " and "old English " in this city; he was a skilled and intelligent workman, and was highly respected. He died in 1839, leaving a widow, with but slender means, and one son. The lad was at first educated by his mother, a woman of great decision of char-" acter and indomitable will; he afterwards attended the Moyamensing public school, Eighth and Fitzwater streets, and lastly the Philadelphia High School, while Professors A. D. Bache and John S. Hart had charge of the same. In 1847, he commenced to study law in the office of Hon. Benjamin II. Brewster, and was admitted to practice in 1850, not yet having attained his majority. In 1851, he was elected a member of Assembly to represent, in part, the County of Philadelphia in the State Legislature, where he was appointed Secretary of the Judiciary Committee, also serving as a member of the only other law committee of the House, that of Estates and Escheats. He took .so active a part in the proceedings of the session, that his con- stituents wished to re-nominate him, the next year, but this he declined, and entered at once into the practice of his profession. In 1852, he was elected Solicitor of the Dis- trict of Moyamensing, which honor the next year he de- clined, owing to his business engagements, which were constantly increasing, and those of Mr. Brewster, then on a European tour, which he undertook. In 1854, the degree of A. M. was conferred on him by Princeton Col- lege. In 1856, he was elected District Attorney for the consolidated city, although only twenty-seven years of age. He soon acquired great professional distinction by his able prosecution of the leading homicide cases of West, English, Shurlock and others, who had secured, as counsel, the then leaders of the bar. Ilis election to this position having been contested, after holding the office a year, he was dis- placed, receiving from President Judge Thompson (since two distinguished bodies just named, he finds time to
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.