USA > Pennsylvania > The Book of Prominent Pennsylvanians; a standard reference > Part 12
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This much in the way of introduc- tion. Now for the biography, or to be more exact, such small part of it as this space will allow, of a chemist who came to Pittsburgh to work in the labora- tories of the most important industries in and around Pittsburgh and who made a success of himself and his work.
That individual is Ambrose Nevin Diehl, superintendent of the blast fur- naces of the Duquesne Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, and a director in the Duquesne Trust Company, at Du- quesne. Mr. Diehl comes from old York county stock, for his parents, Andrew K. Diehl and Sarah L. Diehl, and their ancestors, lived in that section for many years. The present Pittsburgher was born in the historic old city of York, October 20, 1876, and after a course in the public schools he entered York Collegiate Institute and graduated there in 1894. Immediately thereafter he entered the class of '98 of the Pennsylvania State College, and after a four-year course of study left that institution a full-fledged chemist.
For the sake of obtaining something in the way of practical knowledge of the science of chemistry, and partly because the State needed somebody to fill a vacancy, Mr. Diehl applied for and obtained the position of assistant chemist in the State Experi- mental Station. He began work there as soon as he got his sheepskin at the State Col- lege, where the experimental station is located, but he remained there only one year.
In 1899 the Duquesne Steel Works and Blast Furnaces claimed him and he has been there ever since. For the first year there he worked in the laboratory. During that year he showed such marked familiarity with the steel industry that he was made assistant superintendent in the blast furnace. In twelve months time he outgrew that position, too, and then he was given charge of the entire department. Mr. Diehl is a member of the University Club of Pittsburgh, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the En- gineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania and the American Iron and Steel Institute.
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Alexander Scott McQueen, coal man and railroad expert, was born in Ontario, Canada, April 18, 1879.
ALEXANDER After graduating from a college in On-
SCOTT tario he engaged in the coal business in M'QUEEN. Elmira, N. Y., in 1900. The next year he went to New York city to accept a position with the Fairmont Coal Mining Company which was aft- erwards merged with the Consolidation Coal Company. In a short time he resigned to become sales manager for the Island Creek Coal Sales Company at New York. In 1910 he left this concern to accept a better position with B. Nicoll & Company, of New York. In 1912 he came to Pittsburgh as sales manager in the Pittsburgh district for B. Nicoll & Company, which is the selling agent for the Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad and Coal Company. Mr. McQueen belongs to the Union Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the Pittsburgh Country Club, the Canadian Society of New York and the Traffic Clubs of Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
Harry Howard Patterson, dealer in coal lands and expert corporation attorney, was born in Beaver Falls, December 13, 1874. His parents were HARRY HOWARD Samuel R. Patterson and Jane (nee Stew- art) Patterson. He had his preliminary PATTERSON. training in the public schools, graduated from Geneva College in 1892, and the University of Mich- igan, law department, in 1894. In 1896 he was admitted to the Allegheny county bar and for 10 years followed his profession, making a specialty of corporation law. He then took up the business of handling coal lands, which now occupies his entire time. The title to millions of dol- lars of coal property has passed through Mr. Patterson's hands since he has taken up this work. Mr. Patterson belongs to the Delta Chi Fraternity, the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association and the Beaver Valley Country Club. He married Helen Vir- ginia Corbus, of Beaver Falls, and they have two children.
Benjamin S. Hammill was born in Preston, Ontario, Canada, on October 4, 1865. His parents are Thomas
BENJAMIN and Jane Hammill. He was educated in the public schools and went to work when
S. HAMMILL. he was 14. In 1899 Mr. Hammill went in- to the coal business, as salesman with the Henderson Coal Company of Pittsburgh ; he then took a position in charge of the Marine Coal Company, and in 1905 Mr. Hammill was made General Manager of Sales of the Monongahela Consolidated Coal and Coke Company. His next position was with the Pittsburgh Terminal Railroad and Coal Company as sales manager, in 1909. In 1912 he went into the business for himself, becoming president of the B. S. Hammill Coal Company, Inc. He was also elected president of the Meadow Lands Coal Company. Mr. Hammill actively manages both of these companies.
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EDWARD J. HAMILTON.
While it is true that no industry has been so conducive to making millionaires as the steel industry, none of those who succeeded in raising themselves from the ranks be- came prominent in the industry without hard work. Much midnight oil was burned by those who rose in later life. Naturally, when such men changed their positions they always improved their condition with each change. In the steel trades the men in the mills and the men in the offices have equal chances, for opportunities abound on every hand and he who is ready when those opportunities present themselves is the man to be pushed ahead.
Such a man is Edward J. Hamilton, now, after 32 years in the steel business, the assistant general superintendent of the Duquesne Steel Works of the Car- negie Steel Company. He was no more than 14 years old when he began to work in the steel mills, and by applying himself diligently to his tasks, year in and year out, he loomed ahead of many another man less diligent than himself.
Mr. Hamilton was born in Johns- town, Pa., the city that much later ex- perienced the misfortune that attached to it the appellation of the "Flood City." There, in the public schools, including the high school, Mr. Hamilton received the founda- tion of his education, but he had not yet been out of school when he worked at frequent intervals in the well-known Cambria Steel Works of Johnstown. It was in November, 1881, when he was 14 years old, that he began to earn his way in the mills of the Cam- bria Company. He remained there for six years, and in 1887 he accepted a more lucra- tive position with the Lorraine Steel Company at Johnstown, and he was there when the devastating floods that made reading matter for years swept that thriving town. Mills and dwelling houses alike were destroyed, or at least rendered temporarily useless, and those who survived the floods found homes elsewhere.
Four months after the flood had passed into history Mr. Hamilton began life all over again with the Carnegie Steel Company, and was put to work at the Edgar Thom- son Steel Works. He remained there till July 15, 1892, when he was transferred to the Homestead plant of the same concern. After spending five years there he was singled out from among a number of possibilities and sent to the Duquesne works as assistant general superintendent. He has been there and working in that capacity ever since.
While working his way upward in the steel business Mr. Hamilton associated him- self with the Duquesne Trust Company, of which he is the first vice-president now. He also occupies the vice-presidency of the Carnegie Library at Duquesne. Mr. Hamilton has given comparatively little attention to fraternal and social matters, but he holds a membership in the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, the Country Club and the German Club of Pittsburgh.
I2I
George W. Theiss, director in the Pittsburgh Coal Company and one of the organizers of the Mononga-
GEORGE W. hela River Consolidated Coal & Coke
Company, was born at Sardis, Monroe
THEISS. county, Ohio, February 3, 1857, the son of George Theiss and Elizabeth Barbara Fuchs Theiss. Mr. Theiss came to Pittsburgh 15 years ago and be- came partner in the firm of C. Jutte & Company, en- gaged in mining and transporting coal. He took an active part in the organization of the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal & Coke Company, and was di- rector, secretary and president until January, 1912. He is a director of the Duquesne National Bank, of the Pittsburgh Coal Company and a member of the Cham- ber of Commerce. Mr. Theiss is a member of Masonic fraternities; a member of the Bellefield Presbyterian Church and the Duquesne Club.
William Y. Humphreys, president of the Bessemer Coke Company, with offices in the Oliver building, Pittsburgh, is descended from old English Crusader stock. On his father's side, his family played no small part in American history, and his WILLIAM Y. great-grandfather, Colonel George Humphreys, bore an honorable part in HUMPHREYS. the first battle of the American Revolution at Concord.
Mr. Humphreys was born in St. Louis, Mo., May 8, 1861, where his father, George D. Humphreys, had successfully launched the first glass industry west of the Mississippi. After finishing his education in the public and private schools, he came to Pittsburgh in 1887, and organized the firm of Humphreys, Griffin & Co., iron brokers. In 1896 he or- ganized the Bessemer Coke Company, and a year later organized the Empire Coke Com- pany. These organizations, together with the Columbia Coke Company, the Duquesne & Millboro Coke Company and several minor concerns, were merged into the present Bes- semer Coke Company in 1904. He has been president of this large concern ever since.
With the gigantic merger, the Bessemer Coke Company has extended its operations over a wide area of territory. At present the concern owns five mines in the Connellsville region and one in West Virginia, and is the second largest independent coke producer in the Connellsville region. Throughout the year it keeps 1,061 coke ovens in operation and employs about 1,200 men.
Reed Fairman Blair, the son of John K. Blair (of the original firm of Boggs, Blair & Buhl) and Julia A.
REED FAIR- (Fairman) Blair, was born in Allegheny MAN BLAIR.
City, Pennsylvania, October 10, 1868. He attended the public schools of his na- tive city then learned telegraphy, and later was private telegraph operator for Thos. M. Carnegie, chairman of Carnegie Bros. & Company, Limited. His next posi- tion was assistant cashier with the same company; later, private secretary to William L. Abbott, chair- man of Carnegie, Phipps & Company, Limited. He left the Carnegie interests in 1894, and entered the iron and steel brokerage business, under the firm name of Reed F. Blair & Company, with present offices in the Frick building. He is a director in the Marshall Foundry Company. He is a thirty-second degree Mason. He married April 7, 1892, Miss Jane Bracken- ridge Adams, of Franklin, Pa.
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WILLIAM BACON SCHILLER.
William Bacon Schiller, president of the National Tube Company, was born in Pittsburgh July 7, 1859, the son of John G. Schiller and Ann J. (Queen) Schiller.
When a child Mr. Schiller was taken to Youngs- town, Ohio, to live. He was educated in the public schools of that city. In 1876 Mr. Schiller began work as an office boy for R. W. Hitchcock & Company, Youngstown, Ohio. His career was marked by a series of advancements. From office boy he worked as clerk in a bank and did every kind of work in the banking es- tablishment. He has a complete knowledge of every line of industry connected with his manufacturing interests.
In 1880 Mr. Schiller became a clerk in the Second National Bank of Youngstown. In 1883 he became bookkeeper for the Brier Hill Iron & Coal Company, and after three months' service was promoted to the secretaryship of the same company.
In 1886 he was made treasurer and general man- ager of the Youngstown Coke Company and of the Bessemer Limestone Company, leaving this work and coming to Pittsburgh in August, 1889, as general man- ager of the Monongahela Furnace Company.
Mr. Schiller held this position three years, when he became manager of the Blast Furnaces and Steel Works, which position he held until 1892. When the National Tube Company was organized Mr. Schiller became manager of all the works at Mckeesport, Pa.
The National Tube Works are the largest tubing supplies factories in the Pittsburgh district. About 8,000 men are employed in the mills at Mckeesport alone. The National Tube Company has much to do with the improvements and innovations that have been made in the manufacture of tubular goods. The organization has been so successful in its experiments that today, as a consequence, it is the leader in the world's production, not only in quality and variety, but in quantity.
Besides the Mckeesport plants other up-to-date plants operated by the National Tube Company are : Lorain Works, Lorain, Ohio; Kewanee Works, Kewanee, Illinois; Syra- cuse Works, Syracuse, New York; Riverside Works, Wheeling, W. Va .; Pennsylvania Works and Continental Works, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Of this corporation Mr. Schiller became a director and vice-president in 1900 and president in 1902.
Mr. Schiller is an enthusiastic welfare worker and has been instrumental in install- ing many sanitary and safety devices in the company's mills in Mckeesport and other cities. He planned and installed the swimming pool at Mckeesport, encouraged and aided in the inauguration of summer playgrounds in that place and elsewhere, and was a member of a committee of the United States Steel Corporation which met and deliberated on the six-day working schedule for employes. This committee finally was instrumental in passing a rule for the corporation and all subsidiary companies to prohibit work of employes for more than six days a week.
Mr. Schiller is a member of the Duquesne, Pittsburgh, Union and Pittsburgh Golf Clubs of Pittsburgh, and of the Allegheny Country Club of Sewickley, Pa. He is a di- rector of the Kingsley Home Association. At the present time he is building a mag- nificent home on Sewickley Heights. His town residence is at 5075 Forbes street.
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THOMAS McCAFFREY.
The Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania leads all the States of the Union in coal and coke industrial activities and naturally numbers among her citizens some of the biggest men in these under- takings. Among these coke promoters of prominence is Thomas McCaffrey, of Brier Hill, Pa. Mr. McCaffrey was born in Niles, Ohio, April 4, 1874, being the son of Manus and Ann McCaffrey. In the public schools he received the ground work for his busy career. When he finished his schooling he became identi- fied with the Brier Hill Iron & Coal Company, Youngstown, O., at the age of 16 years. He worked at the furnace for 10 years. Mr. McCaffrey then became identified with the Brier Hill Coke Com- pany, and now for 10 years has been secretary, and for six years secretary and manager of that big concern. He is a member of the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh. His views of the coke in- dustry are thoroughly practical and he has met with unusual success in that business.
B. F. OVERHOLT.
Benjamin Franklin Overholt, coal and coke operator, was born in West Overton, Pa., the son of Henry S. Over- holt and Abigail C. Overholt. He is an expert on the mining of coal and the production of coke. He is president of the Cambria Fuel Company, Cambria, Wyoming, and of the Overholt Coal & Coke Company; director in the follow- ing: Grafton Fuel Company, the West- ern Maryland Coal Company, the Na- tional Coal Company, the Scottdale Sav- ings & Trust Company, the Donohoe Coke Company, the Western Coal & Coke Company, the Wilbur Coal & Coke Company, the United States Cast Iron Pipe & Foundry Company, the Val- ley Coal & Coke Company, the Ridgway Machine Company, the Scottdale Foun- dry & Machine Company, the Ridgway Advocate, the Scottdale Independent, and the Thompson Coal & Coke Com- pany. He is a member of the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh, the Pike Run Coun- try Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic As- sociation and the Marion Hall Associa- tion.
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TAYLOR ALLDERDICE.
Identified with a number of Pittsburgh's most prominent financial and philanthropic institutions, Taylor Allderdice has reached an enviable position in the esteem of his fel- low citizens in Western Pennsylvania.
Of sterling character and superior mental powers, Mr. Allderdice is recog- nized as possessing unusual qualifica- tions for any private or public task which may arise before him from time to time. His participation in various affairs in the past only has served to emphasize his remarkable attainments and to draw added attention to the high value of his services.
Mr. Allderdice was born in Phila- delphia, March 1, 1863, the son of James and Mary Allderdice. His earlier edu- cation was had in the public schools of the Quaker City and then the ambitious young man began his life's work with the Centennial National Bank, of Phila- delphia, where the excellence of his work speedily was recognized. Seeking other and better opportunities, the young man came west and entered the Home- stead plant of the Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Company, which concern later was absorbed by the Carnegie Steel Com- pany. Here Mr. Allderdice devoted that amount of intelligence and perseverance to his work which have been the cause of his rapid and substantial advancement through the years that have followed.
In a short time after the beginning of his employment with the Pittsburgh-Bessemer Company, Mr. Allderdice was elevated to the position of superintendent at the plant. He continued his tireless work and as a reward for these services was made superintendent of the Pottsville Iron & Steel Company, at Pottsville, Pa. But Mr. Allderdice was destined to progress to greater things, and accordingly he was next seen at the National Tube Works Company, as it was called at that time, as a superintendent.
Today Mr. Allderdice is third vice-president of the National Tube Company, and popularly liked by all those with whom he has occasion to come in contact.
Along with his advancement and activity in the world of manufacturing, Mr. Allder- dice has become identified with a number of other interests which are considerably di- versified in character. Among other things, he is a director of the South Side Trust Company, and has become recognized as a man of high influence in affairs of a financial character.
Mr. Allderdice bears proof of the esteem in which the public holds him, in that he is a member of the Board of Education of Pittsburgh and vice-president of that body. He has appeared at various times in positions affecting the public conduct of affairs with the greatest possible amount of credit to himself. Since his residence in Pittsburgh, he has been connected prominently in club circles, and has been a familiar figure in the city's higher social life.
The best evidence of Mr. Allderdice's unusual success since coming to Pittsburgh to live has been the large number of friends he has made.
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JOHN M. JAMISON.
John M. Jamison, president of the Jamison Coal & Coke Company, is the son of Robert S. Jamison and Mrs. Caroline Jamison, whose maiden name was Wible, and was born in Westmore- land county, Pa., March 3, 1864. After preparing himself for a college career he entered Princeton University, and after his graduation there he was ad- mitted to the practice of law in the courts of Westmoreland county. Re- cently he served a term in the Pennsyl- vania State Senate.
In 1892 he and his associates or- ganized the Jamison Coal & Coke Com- pany and of which he became the sec- retary and treasurer. In 1903 he was elected to the presidency of the com- pany and has held that office ever since.
A. C. STICKEL.
The success of August Charles Stickel indicates what ambition can ac- complish on a small beginning. Mr. Stickel was born at Mill Run, Fayette county, March 7, 1880, the son of Au- gust and Catherine Stickel. His early education was received in the Mill Run school, his subsequent training being re- ceived in the commercial career to which he devoted his attention. Mr. Stickel started work early, being employed in the grocery business and then as a street car conductor. Less than 10 years ago, he borrowed a small amount of money and started a coal venture at Evans Sta- tion, the concern being known as the Superba Coal Company. Eight years ago, he entered the lumber business. Today Mr. Stickel is head of the Evans Coal & Coke Company, treasurer of the Connellsville Coal & Coke Company, treasurer of the Stickel & Stickel Lum- ber Company, treasurer of the Ligonier Lumber Company, president of the Stewrton Lumber Company and identi- fied with other highly successful in- terests. He resides in Connellsville.
I26
WALLACE HURTTE ROWE.
Wallace Hurtte Rowe, President of the Pittsburgh Steel Company and actively interested in many other business enterprises, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, February 15, 1861. His parents were Judge Joseph Rowe and Margaret (nee Boyce) Rowe. He was educated in private schools and colleges of Missouri.
Mr. Rowe, even as a boy, showed great aptitude for business and during his school days was ever anxious to get into active business life. When only 22 years old he secured a position with a firm in St. Louis, engaged in the manu- facture of wire, and ever since his chief occupation has been the manufacture of wire and other iron and steel products. Seeing little future in St. Louis for the iron and steel business, Mr. Rowe, with former associates, came to Western Pennsylvania in search of a better loca- tion for a wire plant. After consider- able investigation, they decided upon the Pittsburgh district and organized the Braddock Wire Company. Mr. Rowe became treasurer and general manager of the new company. The construction and organization of a steel plant, a diffi- cult task for even an experienced busi-
ness man, was entrusted to the young general manager. Notwithstanding his youth and inexperience, Mr. Rowe soon had a prosperous plant in operation at Rankin.
His work was so satisfactory that when the Braddock Wire Company was merged with other companies into the Consolidated Steel and Wire Company, of Chicago, in 1892, Mr. Rowe was placed in charge of all Pennsylvania interests of the larger corporation.
At that time Mr. Rowe believed that the best interests of the steel industry lay in close co-operation among the different manufacturers, and he was active in the organiza- tion of the American Steel & Wire Company, with which the Consolidated Steel & Wire Company was merged. In 1901 the American Steel & Wire Company was absorbed by the United States Steel Corporation. Mr. Rowe remained for a short period with the new corporation, and lent his best energies to promoting the corporation's interests. However, he at last resigned and disposed of his holdings.
With his usual energy Mr. Rowe at once undertook the organization of another com- pany for the manufacture of iron and steel products. The result of his efforts was the Pittsburgh Steel Company, of which he was elected president. Not content with one line of activity, Mr. Rowe has interested himself in other enterprises and has met with a large measure of success in all of them. He is president of the Pittsburgh Steel Products Company, vice-president of the Pittsburgh Ice Company and director of the Duquesne National Bank. Mr. Rowe is a member of the Duquesne, University, Pittsburgh Golf and Allegheny Country Clubs of Pittsburgh. He has always taken an interest in clean sports and is a member of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. Few men have taken more interest in promoting the general welfare of Pittsburgh than Mr. Rowe, and few men have stuck as consistently to one line of business.
I27
JOHN W. BOILEAU.
John Wesley Boileau, consulting en- gineer and coal expert, was born Octo- ber 27, 1873, in Athens county, Ohio. His father was George H. Boileau and his mother Hannah (nee Gibbons) Boi- leau. He was educated in the public schools of Morgan county, O. For the most part, however, he is a self-educated man, being a keen observer along both scientific and practical lines. In 1892 he secured a position in a store as a clerk. Next he became a teacher and later a principal in the schools of Westmoreland county. In 1895 he took up engineering and contracting work. From 1897 on- ward he has specialized in the handling of coal lands. His office resources ar- ranged for service in the Park building, Pittsburgh, include an extensive library, maps, charts, samples of coal and coke from the various fields and geological data from which estimates and reports may be compiled showing the possibili- ties, extent and value of the coal fields of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky and other States.
O. W. KENNEDY.
O. W. Kennedy, recently deceased, banker and promoter of Uniontown, Pa., was born August 20, 1854, at Kennedy's Mills, a village in Lawrence county. He was educated in the public schools and then began an apprenticeship in the milling trade, at which he worked for a time. Then, in 1874, he went to Pitts- burgh, Pa., as a clerk in the freight de- partment of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Although he rose very rapid- ly, he resigned in 1899 to enter the of- fices of the Frick Company. For them he went to Scottdale, and in 1895 to Uniontown. When H. C. Frick resigned the presidency of the company in 1897 a move upward was made, and Mr. Ken- nedy was made general manager. Later he resigned, and became the president of the Fayette Title & Trust Company and general manager and director of the Orient Coke Company, Uniontown. He held these positions at the time of his death. He was a thirty-second de- gree Mason.
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