USA > Pennsylvania > The Book of Prominent Pennsylvanians; a standard reference > Part 11
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The boy's romance began on May 21, 1879, when he got a "job" at the Edgar Thom- son Steel Works as a water boy. His first real rise was in 1885, when he was employed as a telegraph operator at the plant. A short time later he became a machinist at the Pittsburgh Locomotive Works, in old Allegheny, working there until 1888.
In 1889 Mr. Dinkey, then an expert machinist, worked for the McTighe Electric Company, in Pittsburgh. In the same year he became secretary to the superintendent of the Homestead Steel Works of the Carnegie Steel Company. He continued in this capac- ity until 1898, when he was advanced to the superintendency of the electric light and power plant, serving until 1899. In that year he was made assistant to the general superintendent. He became general superintendent in 1901, serving until 1903.
He attained his ambition and present position on August 1, 1903, when he was elected president of the company by the directorate, and has served in that capacity since.
During his work he became a member of the American Society of Electrical Engi- neers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania. Also, he is a member of the Engineers' Club of New York City, as well as of The Pilgrims Society; and the Duquesne, Country and Union Clubs of Pittsburgh. In addition, he is a trustee of the Carnegie Institute and of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
John McLeod was born May 30, 1855, at Wilmington, Del., the son of Alexander and Sarah A. McLeod, and was
JOHN educated in the public schools of Wilming- M'LEOD. ton, at a preparatory school there and at the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania, graduating as a mechanical engineer in the class of '75. He entered the employ of the Edgemore Iron Works, now part of the American Bridge Company, and then joined the forces of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad in the engineering department. Subsequently, Mr. Mc- Leod was identified with other roads, and in 1892 became assistant to the engineer of tests of the Carnegie Steel Company. He rose to the position above him and then was made assistant to the president of the company, be- coming a partner in the business. He is one of the mem- bers of the famous Carnegie Veterans' Association. Mr. McLeod is married and has three sons.
109
L. H. BURNETT.
"Go West, young man, go West," was Horace Greeley's counsel to young men. The advice, however, did not ap- peal to L. H. Burnett, assistant to the president of the Carnegie Steel Com- pany, who came East and made a suc- cess of himself. As the son of William R. and Mary C. Burnett, he was born in Springfield, Ohio, September 14, 1874, where, after leaving the public schools, he entered Kenyon Military Academy in 1889, and graduated from Kenyon Col- lege seven years later. After two years at the Columbia Law School, he came to Pittsburgh. He was admitted to prac- tice at the Allegheny county bar in Sep- tember, 1899, and for several years de- voted his time to private practice. In 1901 he entered the law department of the Carnegie Steel Company. During his twelve years with the Carnegie Company he rose rapidly to the impor- tant position of assistant to the presi- dent. He is a member of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the Duquesne Club and Pittsburgh Country Club.
DAVID S. KENNEDY.
David Stewart Kennedy, superin- tendent of the structural mills of the Homestead works of the Carnegie Steel Company, was born in Youngstown, Ohio, February 15, 1862. He is the son of J. R. Kennedy and Mrs. Elizabeth Kennedy (nee Bird). Mr. Kennedy was educated in the public schools of Youngstown, and took a special course at the Poland Seminary at Poland, Ohio. He entered the furnace business at Hazelton, Ohio, and after he had familiarized himself with the trade he went to Struthers, Ohio. Then he be- came connected with the Isabella Fur- nace at Etna, and later with the Home- stead Steel Works. He was elected a member of Council in Homestead. Later he served as Burgess of Munhall. Now he is one of Allegheny county's repre- sentatives in the State Legislature. Mr. Kennedy is also a director in the Mo- nongahela Trust Company of Home- stead ; a director in the Homestead Lum- ber Company, and the secretary and treasurer of the Homestead Realty Com- pany.
IIO
W. W. BLACKBURN.
In William Wallace Blackburn, second vice-president and secretary of the Carnegie Steel Company, there are embodied the two arguments, that by perseverance man can rise to heights of prominence, and that Pittsburgh is still one of the lands of uncommon opportunity. He came to Pittsburgh while still a young man and began work as a clerk for one of the Carnegie organizations.
Mr. Blackburn was born in Hollidaysburg, Pa., February 1, 1859. His father was Joseph H. Blackburn and his mother's maiden name was Miss Sarah J. McConell. When he was six years old the future Carnegie Steel Company official entered the public school of his native town, and there he received the foundation of such an education as he later gave himself by burning much midnight oil.
To work in an office seemed to be his particular desire from the time he left school, so after acquiring a knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting, he entered the offices of the Hollidaysburg Iron & Nail Company, where he remained two years. Later he de- cided to seek larger fields. He knew there was a growing demand for competent office help in the rapidly growing Pittsburgh, and so he went there. He obtained employment in the offices of Wilson, Walker & Co., operators of the Lower Union Mills. These mills, together with all of their equipment and some of their employes, were in the course of time taken over by the Carnegie Steel Company. Mr. Blackburn was one of those to be singled out to remain. He gradually rose in rank until he became the company's secretary and second vice-president.
Even though he has spent the greater part of his 54 years rising in his chosen work, Mr. Blackburn has found time to attend to many social duties and works of charity. He is a member of the Duquesne club, Union Club, University club, Country club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. He is also a trustee of the Children's Hospital. Mr. Blackburn lives at 205 Lexington avenue, Pittsburgh.
H. P. BOPE.
A prominent figure in the business life of the city of Pittsburgh is Colonel Henry P. Bope. His birth place was Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. He is the son of Philip and Eliza A. Bope. His education was procured in the pub- lic schools, which training he amply supplemented by private study. In 1880 he became associated with Carnegie Brothers & Company and has remained with the Carnegie interests ever since. He is first vice-president and general manager of sales of the Carnegie Steel Company, and is a director in the same concern, in the United States Steel Products Company, and in the Colorado Yule Marble Company. He is Colonel of the Third Pennsylvania Regiment, United Boys Brigade, and Major and Ordnance officer of the National Guard of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Duquesne, the University, the Coun- try and the Americus Republican Clubs of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association and the Republican and Railroad Clubs of New York City.
III
Louis C. Bihler, born August 6, 1867, the son of Alois and Augusta A. Bihler, was educated in the Pitts-
LOUIS C. burgh public schools. He held his first po-
sition with the Duquesne Engine works
BIHLER. and from then until he succeeded George E. McCague as Traffic Manager of the Carnegie Steel Company and was also put in charge of the Eastern traf- fic department of the Universal Portland Cement Com- pany, both of which positions he now holds, he occupied the following positions : chief clerk of the Erie railroad, contracting agent of the St. Louis Southwestern railroad and then general freight agent of the Carnegie Steel Com- pany, where he was advanced to the position of Assistant Traffic Manager. He was advanced to his present posi- tion in the Carnegie Company January 1, 1904, and his position with the cement concern was added January 1, 1907. Mr. Bihler is a member of the Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh Country Club, Pittsburgh Athletic Associa- tion, the Railway Club of Pittsburgh and the Traffic Clubs of Pittsburgh, of Chicago, of New York and of Philadelphia. Every position Mr. Bihler has ever held from his boyhood days has always been a step forward.
Charles J. Graham is among the young business men of Pittsburgh who are ranked at the top. He is secretary of the Graham Nut Company of that city.
CHARLES J.
He was born in Pittsburgh March 13,
GRAHAM. 1878, the son of Albert Graham and Anna Belle Graham. His education was received at the public schools and the Pittsburgh Academy. Mr. Graham's first employment with the Graham Nut Company was in 1896 and it was in 1903 that he was made secretary. He is a director of the Graham Nut Company and also of the Davis Brake Beam Company of Johnstown, Pa. Mr. Graham has prominent social affiliations and is a mem- ber of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the Duquesne, Country, and Oakmont Country Clubs of Pittsburgh, of the Chicago Athletic Association and the Masonic Order. He is married and resides in the East End, Pittsburgh.
James John Campbell, auditor and assistant secre- tary of the Carnegie Steel Company, was born in Wash-
ington, D. C., December 6, 1865, the son of
JAMES JOHN Joseph and Elizabeth J. (Gamble) Camp- bell. He was educated in the public school CAMPBELL. of his native city. After working as clerk in a grocery store, the auditor's office of the Pennsylvania Company, and for a planing mill and lumber company, he entered the service of the Carnegie Steel Company (then Carnegie Bros. & Co., Limited), on February 1, 1886, as clerk and stenographer to the purchasing agent; in 1888 he was transferred to the accounting department; was made assistant auditor in 1895, and was made a junior partner, auditor and assistant secretary in 1900. After the United States Steel Corporation acquired the Car- negie Steel Company he continued to hold the positions of auditor and assistant secretary of the last named com- pany, and similar positions in several allied subsidiaries.
II2
JAMES WHITE ANAWALT.
That it does not require colleges and universities to make a man succeed and grow extremely prosperous in life is exemplified in no man in Pittsburgh and vicinity more than in James White Anawalt, President of the Union Supply Company and the United Supply Company. Mr. Anawalt started life with only such an equipment as a common school education could give him, and at the time he attended school, public education was still crude and in- adequate at its best. It was not exactly the log school house of New England poetic fame that Mr. Anawalt attended in his boyhood, but in its curriculum it was not much better. With what he learned there, however, Mr. Anawalt began life. He began work with one concern and has stuck to that concern ever since, elevating himself to its high- est offices.
This president of two big business organizations in Pittsburgh was born in Lavansville, Somerset county, Pennsyl- vania, August 31, 1863. His parents, John ad Mrs. Rachel Anawalt, were old- time residents of the community and were held in high respect. Learning what he could at neighborhood schools, and further equipping himself by special study at night, at the age of sixteen he decided to enter life seriously. First, served an apprenticeship at his father's store. At the end of that time, he began the foundation of what subsequently turned out to be his life work.
At 23 years of age Mr. Anawalt entered the general offices of the Union Supply Com- pany, at Scottdale, and for a year or more worked as a bookkeeper. Keeping books in those days was a profession for which a great deal of preparation was required. Expert accountants were not turned out in wholesale lots over night, and Mr. Anawalt was one of the best in the employ of the Union Company. Opportunity was at flood tide in those days, too, and five years after entering the employ of his concern he awoke one morning to find that his employers had appointed him to the position of superintendent in charge of the operating department. After serving six years more in this capacity, during which time he inaugurated many improvements in the policy of the company, he was rewarded for his perseverance and hard work by being made general superintendent. In 1903 he was elected to the vice-presidency of the company, and that happened about the time that several men prominent in business organized and set afloat the prosperous United Supply Company, a concern similar to the Union Supply Company, operating in West Virginia. Mr. Anawalt, now thoroughly familiar with the business, was prevailed upon to give his attention to the new concern, so he accepted the vicepresidency of that company also, and changed his headquarters to Pittsburgh, where the executive depart- ments of both organizations are located. In 1906 he became president of both concerns.
Mr. Anawalt is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Knights Templar. He is also an Elk and holds membership in numerous clubs and societies. He is a com- municant of the Wilkinsburg Baptist Church, and is also the president of the board of trustees of that congregation.
II3
ROBERT J. MCKAY.
ROBERT J. M'KAY, President, James McKay Company, Pittsburgh.
W. H. CASSIDY.
The name of W. H. Cassidy has long been linked with successful busi- ness affairs in Pittsburgh. A native of that place, he is also a product of its public schools; he also received an aca- demic education in that city.
Mr. Cassidy early became inter- ested in banking, and he continued in this business with increasing success for sixteen years. Like many others of Pittsburgh's noted sons, he heard the call of steel; he then gave up banking and became an iron and steel manufac- turer. His business interests in this line were indentified with the South Side, Pittsburgh.
Success continued with him as a manufacturer. Mr. Cassidy was en- abled to retire from active business in 1901. He retains a deep interest, how- ever, in affairs.
II4
I. WALTER JENKS.
When the full history of the steel and iron industry in America is written it will be found that not a few Englishmen, familiar with the business from youth, played an im- portant part in its development. From the big steel centers of Great Britain emigrated many well informed indi- viduals to whose knowledge can be at- tributed the foundation of what later became the great steel manufacturing center of the United States, namely Pittsburgh.
Not the least notable among these is I. Walter Jenks, one of the managers of the Carnegie Steel Company. Mr. Jenks is now in the fifty-sixth year of his age, but he is well and hearty, and what is more important still, he occu- pies no small place among steel and iron experts in this vicinity.
As the son of Joseph and Mary Ann Jenks, he first saw the light of day in the town of Wolverhampton, in Eng- land, May 9, 1858. Wolverhampton is one of the many smaller manufacturing cities in England, and the greater por- tion of its population earns its liveli- hood in the various industries there. Among these manufacturies was a small plant owned and operated by Mr. Jenks' uncle, and there he went after leaving the public schools, to acquire what knowl- edge of the iron business he could. He was only thirteen years old when he left school and began to learn his trade, but he was strong for his age and, like other boys of his community, took readily to work in the steel mills.
In that small shop in Wolverhampton Mr. Jenks worked till he had passed his twen - ty-first year, and then he decided to come to the United States. Pittsburgh was then becoming famous as an iron and steel city, and the one intention and desire of Mr. Jenks was to go there and take advantage of some of the opportunities that others were rapidly becoming enriched by.
In 1880 Mr. Jenks came to America with a small amount of baggage and absolutely no friends nor companions. He knew where Pittsburgh was located, and he knew he wanted to get there, so he came to this region immediately after leaving the ship.
Once in Pittsburgh he sought a position and soon found one with the firm of William Cox, Sons & Co., at Lawrenceville. After a brief period there, he was offered and ac- cepted a similar position with the La Belle Steel Works in Allegheny, then a separate municipality. There his worth as a manager became recognized, and although he was not given such a post by his employers, other operators, constantly scouting for men able to take charge of their several departments, sought him out. Next Mr. Jenks became man- ager of the American Steel Hoop Company, and in 1901 he took charge of the bar de- partment of the Carnegie Steel Company, and that is the position he holds now.
Mr. Jenks is recognized among steel men as one having valuable knowledge of the industry. He holds a membership in the American Iron & Steel Institute and the Engi- neers' Society of Western Pennsylvania.
115
Edgar Webster Summers, the president of the Summers Steel Car Company, was born in Bellbrook,
Greene county, Ohio, October 25, 1858.
EDGAR Since coming to Pittsburgh to engage in
WEBSTER
SUMMERS.
the manufacture of steel cars, he has
been signally successful. He lives at 5848 Solway street, and has his offices in the Oliver building.
Mr. Summers is well connected socially, and holds membership in a large number of organizations, many of them being trade societies. He is a member of the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Rail- way Club of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Athletic As- sociation, the Wilkinsburg Automobile Club and the American Automobile Association.
Charles S. Belsterling, attorney, publicist and business man, was born May 31, 1874, in Philadelphia. His parents were William F. Belsterling
CHARLES S.
BELSTERLING. and Ida (nee Sutterle) Belsterling. He is a graduate of the Philadelphia High School and was admitted to the bar. He became traffic manager for the American Bridge Company and he has held this position for many years. Mr. Belsterling is also a director of the Pencoyd & Philadelphia Railroad and the Wissahickon Bridge Company. He is a writer of authority on laws governing interstate commerce. He has written many articles printed in legal journals and traffic publications. Mr. Belsterling is a member of the Duquesne and Traffic Clubs of Pitts- burgh, the Traffic Club of New York City, the Ralston Club, and the Masonic order; president of the board of trustees of Asbury Methodist Episcopal church, Pitts- burgh, and a member of the faculty of LaSalle Univers- ity, in Illinois.
C
John Winslow Hubbard was born December 18, 1865, being the son of Charles White and Cleo Jane
JOHN Hubbard, in Pittsburgh. The public WINSLOW schools first demanded his attention, HUBBARD. after which he attended the Western University of Pennsylvania. In 1885 Mr. Hubbard was graduated from the Pennsylvania Military College. He at first entered business with Hubbard, Bakewell & Company, manufacturers of axes, shovels, saws and hoes. The firm was later changed to Hubbard & Company, with which concern Mr. Hubbard has been associated ever since. He is now its president. He is president of the National Bolt & Nut Company, the Pittsburgh Ice Company, the Hubbard Steel Company and the Mississippi Naviga- tion Company. His club affiliations embrace the Du- quesne Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Country Club, the Old Club of Detroit and the Chicago Yacht Club. He resides in Pittsburgh.
II6
HOMER D. WILLIAMS.
Homer D. Williams was born in Johnstown, Pa., August 19, 1863. His parents were James and Jane (nee Hamilton) Williams. He attended the public schools until 1880, in which year he was employed as carbon boy in the laboratory of the Cambria Iron Company.
He remained there five years, be- coming assistant chemist, and left there to take a special course in chemistry and metallurgy at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.
After completing this course he was employed for two years as chemist at the Colby mine, Bessemer, Mich.
For five years he was with the Col- orado Fuel and Iron Co., Pueblo, Colo., first as chief chemist and later as night superintendent of the steel works, two years as superintendent of the rail fin- ishing department of the Maryland Steel Company, Sparrow's Point, Md., leaving there to take charge of the Bes- semer department of the Homestead Steel Works.
Shortly after he was promoted to assistant general superintendent of that plant, and in 1903 was made general superintend- ent of the Duquesne Steel Works and Blast Furnaces of the Carnegie Steel Company, which position he now holds.
Mr. Williams is a member of the Duquesne club, the University club, the Pittsburgh Athletic association, the Country club, the Press club and the German club, in Pittsburgh.
George E. McCague, of Pittsburgh, was born No- vember 16, 1857, in Lawrence county, Pa. His parents were Robert McCague and Jane (nee GEORGE E. Harkle) McCague. In 1884 he was ap- M'CAGUE. pointed general agent of the New York Central Railroad Company for the Pittsburgh district. He became traffic manager for the Carnegie Steel Com- pany in 1891 and held the position until 1904. During this time he was general manager of the Union Rail- road, and a director of the Bessemer & Lake Erie Rail- road Company. Mr. McCague retired January 1, 1904. Subsequently he was elected a director of the Philadelphia Company and of many banks. He founded the Sewickley Valley Hospital in 1911 and was its first president. He belongs to the Duquesne, Oakmont, Allegheny Country, Edgeworth and other clubs. He was married in 1887 to Miss Georgie Marie Smith. There are three children.
II7
Charles Richard Bryson, president and general man- ager of the Electro Steel Company, was born in Pitts-
CHARLES burgh, Pa. He is the son of Isabel Cuddy Bryson and Charles Houston Bryson.
RICHARD
BRYSON. Mr. Bryson was educated in the com- mon schools of Pittsburgh. After leaving school he began work as an apprentice boy in the steel mills of Pittsburgh. This was in 1880. He worked in the mills many years and successfully filled all positions of trust or importance through which he was advanced. He became General Superintendent of Works 1903, Man- ager of Sales 1906, was admitted to the firm 1910, and at- tained his present position in 1911. Mr. Bryson is a mem- ber of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Press Club, Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the Stanton Heights Golf Club, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Automobile Club and the Second Presbyterian Church.
The son of Culbertson and Susan Sherrard Orr, Rob- ert S. Orr was born in Clarion county, October 14, 1867. He received his education in the public ROBERT S. ORR. schools of his native county and then at- tended Washington & Jefferson college, at Washington, Pa., from which institution he was gradua- ted with the class of 1891. After leaving college he be- came principal of the ninth ward school, North Side, Pittsburgh, for a time. Mr. Orr then entered the service of the Allegheny County Light Company, in February, 1904, as general contracting agent. He became general superintendent and later general manager of the com- pany, now the Duquesne Light Company. Mr. Orr was President of the Pennsylvania Electric Association for 1912, and is a member of the executive committee of the National Electric Light Association. He is a member of the University Club of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Athletic As- sociation, and a director of the Ohio Valley Bank. He mar- ried Miss Beryl Riggs, of Pittsburgh, October 23, 1912.
Cecil Glenwood Rice was born at Harrisville, W. Va., November 15, 1878, the son of A. O. and Harriet Rice.
CECIL GLEN- He attended the schools of Fairmont, W. Va., and the Fairmont State Normal WOOD RICE. School, afterwards entering the Univer- sity of West Virginia, at Morgantown. He later studied law at the offices of his uncle, the late Senator R. E. Fast, and his brother-in-law, W. W. Scott. During this period Mr. Rice was engaged in special newspaper work. In 1898 he went to Parkersburg, W. Va., as city editor of the Parkersburg Daily News. In 1900, he came to Pitts- burgh, where he engaged in newspaper work for several years, later being employed in special work for the City of Pittsburgh with the title and authority of a city detec- tive. Mr. Rice for a time was Credit Manager of the Co- lonial Trust Company, also being a member of the Pitts- burgh Stock Exchange. In July 1909, he was appointed Superintendent Claim Department of the Pittsburgh Railways Company, the Allegheny Light Co. and the Beaver Valley Traction Co.
118
AMBROSE NEVIN DIEHL.
Whoever knows anything about the steel and iron industry knows that chemists alone are responsible for the production of various grades of metal. Through work in the laboratories mechanical engineers have been aided as nothing else could aid them, and the engineers in turn have saved their employers millions that they would have invariably lost without them and their work.
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