USA > Pennsylvania > The Book of Prominent Pennsylvanians; a standard reference > Part 13
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I28
STEWART ARCHIBALD DAVIS.
Some ten miles west of the begrimed old industrial town of Apollo, and about 40 miles from Pittsburgh, there has of late years sprung up a community known on the postal and railroad map as Vandergrift. Its population is about 12,000, and those that live there are harbored in comfort- able dwellings, fitted out with all the modern sanitary conveniences, and sup- plied with gardens in which they raise their own table truck. There are no saloons in Vandergrift because, when the town was founded, it was the desire of its founders to remove from it and its people, as far as possible, those practices that are usually regarded as the prime cause of a toiler's poverty. Vandergrift is regarded as a model town for work- ingmen.
The little community has grown considerably since it was established for the employes of the American Sheet Steel Company, of Apollo, that earlier had absorbed the Apollo Iron & Steel Company and was later merged with the American Tin Plate Company and at last made a part of the United States Steel Corporation.
One individual who had no small part in the making of Vandergrift was Stewart Archibald Davis, now the first vice-president of the American Sheet & Tin Plate Company, who began work in a humble capacity away back in the 80's, and by slow stages since then succeeded in working his way to the front. Mr. Davis is one of the best known steel men in the country at the present time. His offices are in the Frick building, Pittsburgh. His residence address is the Bellefield Dwellings, Pittsburgh.
Mr. Davis is a native of Indiana county, or, to be more precise, Blairsville, where he was born July 21, 1867. His father and mother, Stewart Davis and Mrs. Amanda J. Davis, whose family name was De Vinney, sent him to the public schools of Blairsville, where Mr. Davis received his early education, and when he left school he sought and found employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. That was in 1884, and he remained there four years. Upon leaving the railroad company he decided that the steel business promised him a better future, and so he entered the clerical department of the Apollo Iron & Steel Company, of Apollo, Pa. He has been with that company and its suc- cessors ever since, elevating himself gradually to his present high position. In the course of time the American Sheet Steel Company took over the Apollo concern, and for the rea- son that the business of the company had outgrown its old quarters, the shop was moved to Vandergrift, where the model town of its employes was founded at the same time.
The company merged with the American Tin Plate Company and the firm became the American Sheet & Tin Plate Company. Mr. Davis was made district manager.
In the early 90s the American Sheet & Tin Plate Companies consolidated with the United States Steel Corporation, and since then Mr. Davis has successively been assistant to the vice-president, then the second vice-president, and afterward was given the first vice- presidency of the company.
Mr. Davis is a member of the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Amer ican Institute of Mining Engineers and the American Electro-Chemical Society. He is also a member of the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh.
129
John R. Byrne, coal miner, newspaper publisher and business man, was born April 23, 1858, at Bar-
JOHN R. nettstown, Huntingdon county, Pa. His
BYRNE. parents were John L. Byrne and Mary
Byrne. After attending the public schools Mr. Byrne went to work in a coal mine at the age of 14 years. In 1874 he moved to Fayette county, Pa., and in 1881 quit the mines. A year later he established the Scottdale Independent, a weekly news- paper. Still later he organized the News Publishing Company, of Uniontown, and took over the Standard, now the News-Standard. For three years he conducted a shoe store in Scottdale, Pa. He organized the Ever- son & Bradford Street Railway Company, now part of
the West Penn lines. He organized the Webster, Monessen, Bellevernon & Fayette City Street Railway Company and built the road. Mr. Byrne is vice-presi- dent of the Broadway National Bank of Scottdale, and treasurer for the Connellsville Mutual Coke Company and the Byrne Coal & Coke Company. He served for one term as member of the Pennsylvania State Legis- lature. He is married and has 12 children.
Harry W. Byrne, attorney-at-law, of Uniontown, Pa., was born at Everson, Fayette county, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Byrne. After at- HARRY W. tending the public schools, Harry W. BYRNE. Byrne entered St. Vincent College at
Beatty, Pa. Then followed the Ohio Northern Uni- versity, at Ada, Ohio, and in 1903 he was graduated from the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, with the degree of bachelor of laws. Mr. Byrne was ad- mitted to practice law in the courts of Fayette county, and now is a member of the firm of Byrne & Byrne, at Uniontown. He is a director in the Byrne Coal & Coke Company.
Percy E. Hunter, mechanical and civil engineer, is a graduate of Allegheny high school and the Western University of Pennsylvania. He is
PERCY E.
HUNTER. president of the Independent Bridge Company, National Manufacturing Company, National Erecting Company and a director of the Manchester Savings Bank and Trust Company, interests that are located on the North Side of Pitts- burgh.
130
ROBERT PAUL BURGAN.
While the Civil War was nearing its end, and post-bellum opportunities were pre- senting themselves on every hand, there came to this country, from different parts of Europe, artisans and others who, in the course of time, accumulated vast riches and made themselves notable in the com- munities in which they settled. Many large cities in the country have among the best part of their population men and women who flocked here as soon as hostilities were ended, to help in the work of restoring the business of the country to its previous prosperous con- dition.
Among those who came about that time, and who used his trade as an en- tering wedge, was Robert Paul Burgan, banker and coal operator. He came to the United States in 1864.
As the son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Paul) Burgan, he was born in Corn- wall, England, June 23, 1842. He re- ceived most of his education at the Bal- din National School at Baldin, Cornwall, As soon as he left his studies he entered an apprenticeship in the carpenters' trade, and after he learned the trade, and had worked at it for a brief time, he sailed for America.
He went to Kewaunee county, Michigan, where, for a year, he worked as a carpenter in the copper mines. At the end of that time he came to Pittsburgh. In that city, too, he worked at his trade, but only for a few months, for he went to Carnegie, then Mansfield. There he was married to Miss Elizabeth Waldie. After two years he saw the need of a planing mill, and immediately proceeded to build up such an industry. He operated the planing mill for eight years. In 1874 he decided to try his hand at bank- ing and engaged in that business, but in 1889 Jeannette, Pa., was in sore need of some one to purchase and manage their planing mill, and so Mr. Burgan went to that town and took hold of it. In addition to this, he operated a box factory for seven years. His bank- ing interests in Carnegie during this time were continued.
In 1897 he sold his mill and factory at Jeannette and joined in the organization of the Carnegie Coal Company, and has been at the head of this concern ever since. In 1902 he organized the Carnegie National Bank, of which institution he is also president. He is also the treasurer of the J. H. Sanford Coal Company, Carnegie Dock & Fuel Com- pany, Carnegie Supply Company, a director in the Carnegie Fuel Company and the Pittsburgh & Lehigh Dock Company, of Duluth, Minn .; president of Chartiers Mining Company, and interested in several other companies.
Mr. Burgan has been burgess of Carnegie for four terms, and for twenty years has been a member of town council. He is an old-line Republican, and a communicant of the United Presbyterian Church. Likewise, he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and holds membership in the Cornishman's Club. Mr. Burgan's offices are in the Park building, Pittsburgh, and his residence is in Carnegie, Pa.
I31
W. A. ROBERTS.
As the son of James Roberts and Mary Roberts, William A. Roberts, sec- retary of the Life Protective Savings & Loan Association, of Pittsburgh, was born in Richmond, Ohio, in 1863. Since coming to Pittsburgh, Mr. Roberts has associated himself with a large number of business enterprises. In ad- dition to his main occupation as secre- tary of the L. P. S. & L. Association, he is president of the Labelle Land Com- pany and treasurer of the Alvarado Con- struction Company, with plantations in Mexico. He is also a director of the Federal National Bank, a director of the Bankers Trust Company, a director in the L. P. S. & L. Association and the Labelle and Alvarado companies. Mr. Roberts belongs to the Duquesne Club, the Pittsburgh Country Club, the Pitts- burgh Athletic Association, the Colonial Civic Club and the Chamber of Com- merce. He is a communicant of the Smithfield Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
GEORGE E. PAINTER.
George Edward Painter, of Pitts- burgh, was born August 30, 1862, in Al- legheny city, now the North Side of Pittsburgh, the son of Byron Hays Painter and Mary Lothrop Painter. He entered Columbia College, New York, from which he was graduated in 1883. His entry into the business world was as junior partner in the firm of J. Painter & Sons. He remained in that capacity until that concern sold out to the American Steel Hoop Company, in 1899. For two years after Mr. Painter continued with the American Steel Hoop Company, until the company was merged with the Carnegie Steel Com- pany as part of the United States Steel Corporation. At present Mr. Painter is a director in the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, the Peoples Savings Bank, the Union Storage Company, the Mackin- tosh, Hemphill & Company and the Mo- nongahela Water Company. He is a member of the Duquesne Club, the Pitts- burgh Club, the Pittsburgh Golf Club, the Allegheny Country Club and the Herron Hill Gun Club.
I32
ยท
JOHN MORRISON HANSEN, President, Standard Steel Car Company, Pittsburgh.
133
FRANCIS H. DENNY.
Francis H. Denny, banker and owner of extensive Pittsburgh business and residence properties, was born in Pittsburgh November 28, 1858. His parents were John O'Hara Denny and Margaret (nee Stevenson) Denny. Mr. Denny comes of a long line of distin- guished ancestry, dating back to Sir Edward Denny, of Tralee castle, Ire- land, who was elevated to the nobility by an English monarch three centuries ago for services to his country. The Denny family is of Anglo-Irish descent.
After attending the grammar schools of Pittsburgh Francis H. Denny en- tered Newell's Academy, from which he graduated. He went to Princeton University, from which he graduated in 1880. Mr. Denny is interested in many business enterprises. Mr. Denny's beau- tiful home on Sewickley Heights is one of the show places of the Pittsburgh dis- trict. Mr. Denny is a member of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the Pittsburgh Golf and Union Clubs.
J. ROGERS FLANNERY,
Who is associated with the Flannery Enterprises.
...
I34
EDMUND WEBSTER MUDGE
Edmund Webster Mudge, a native of Philadelphia, is one of the most influential capi- talists of Pittsburgh, and a resident of the picturesque East End section. Mr. Mudge was born in the Quaker City January 12, 1870. His parents were Thomas Henry Mudge and Mary Emma (nee Shep- pard) Mudge. His training as a boy at home was strict. Sometimes a man may overcome a bad start resulting from the wrong kind of environment during childhood, but it is a good deal easier not to have this kind of a handicap. Mr. Mudge had the advantage of home as- sociations which ought to inspire any man to strive honestly for success, and his record as a business man proves that the influences lasted throughout life.
Like most boys of good family of his day, he was sent to a school con- ducted by the Society of Friends. The School was located at Woodtown, N. J., not many miles from his home. There he received his early training, and when he graduated he came to Pittsburgh, there to become interested in many coal and coke companies, steel manufactories and a bank.
In spite of the great pressure of his business, or rather businesses, Mr. Mudge has found time to join a number of exclusive organizations, and all of these he visits quite regularly. Personally Mr. Mudge prefers to be known as the chairman of the board of directors of the Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Company, and if that were his only business connection he could find enough to keep him busy. But he has other connec- tions, and there is quite a string of them.
To begin with he is the president of the Edmund W. Mudge & Co., dealers in pig iron and coke, of Pittsburgh. Also, he is president of the Youghiogheny and Cheat River Railroad Company. Then, too, he is treasurer of the L. P. Seeley Co., the Trimble Sheet & Tin Company, the North Preston Coal Company, the Pennfield Coal & Coke Company, the Pittsburgh Stove & Range Company and the Columbia National Bank of Pittsburgh.
That would be usually enough to keep an abnormally strong man out of mischief, but Mr. Mudge is a little stronger than that. When he started out to be a business man he made up his mind he was going to run as much business as he could. In addition to all these positions he is the president of the Westmoreland-Connellsville Coal & Coke Com- pany, vice president of the Best Manufacturing Company, vice president of the Weirton Steel Company and a director of the Keystone Bronze Company.
The clubs he belongs to are almost as numerous as the corporations he is connected with. He belongs to the Duquesne Club, the Union Club, the Press Club, the Oakmont Country Club, the Automobile Club, Country Club and Pittsburgh Athletic Association of Pittsburgh; the Union Club of Cleveland, and the Chicago Athletic Association of Chicago.
Mr. Mudge has offices in the Frick Building. As can be imagined, he is usually kept very busy, and unless one has businessof great importance an interview with Mr. Mudge is exceedingly hard to get. Mr. Mudge's home address is 5814 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh.
I35
J. A. RAY.
John Albert Ray is prominent among investors as a banker who handles Pennsylvania municipal bonds exclusively. Mr. Ray was born June 2, 1865, at Greensburg, a son of James and Elizabeth Ray. He attended the Greens- burg schools, and later entered the Railroad business, finally establishing a private business. In addition to con- ducting the investment brokerage con- cern, he is president of the Washington Investment Company of Pittsburgh. He is a well-known member of the German and Union Clubs of Pittsburgh.
F. H. RICHARD.
The success of Francis H. Rich- ard's life may be summed up in a few words. He rose from messenger to bank director. This is only what he did as a banker. His activities in constructive business lines have been of value to the Pittsburgh district. Mr. Richard was born in Pittsburgh December 5, 1871, a son of L. B. Richard and Sarah Robb Richard. His school life began in the grade schools, and ended on his gradua- tion from Pittsburgh high school. He worked for a few weeks with the Mc- Conway & Torley Company, and then entered the service of the First Na- tional Bank as a messenger. He worked for the bank for 23 years. Eight years ago he was chosen cashier, and when he resigned this position he also had been a director in the bank for some time. He is well known to Pittsburghers, espe- cially in banking and club circles, and is a member of the Pittsburgh, Duquesne and Country Clubs, and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. He also is promi- nent in the Masonic fraternity.
136
ERNEST TENER WEIR.
Ernest Tener Weir, son of James and Margaret Manson Weir, was born August 1, 1875, in Pittsburgh, where he has spent his life. Mr. Weir was educated in the public schools of his native city, where he pre- pared for the course he was to follow in life.
In 1890 he began employment with the Braddock Wire Company as a clerk, and a year later became identified with the Oliver Wire Company. He remained with this organization, serving in vari- ous capacities, until 1898. He then joined the ranks of the American Tin Plate Company, in 1899, where he was engaged for a number of years, after- wards organizing the Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Company, in 1905.
The Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Company purchased and rebuilt the plant of the Jackson Iron & Tin Plate Company at Clarksburg, W. Va., in 1905, this being an eight-mill plant. In 1908 four mills were added, giving it a total of 12 mills. In 1909 the plant at Weirton, W. Va., was started, 10 mills being built that year and another 10 mills added in 1910. At the same time the town of Weirton was started and developed by the Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Company on a comprehensive scale. The proposal to build the place was made public in extensive fashion, and Mr. Weir went ahead with the improvement of the prop- erty and the building of houses thereon. He met with highly gratifying success.
No expense was spared in development of the little city. Thousands of persons took up their abode in the town and the country roundabout, and Weirton was an actuality. In January, 1912, desiring to extend his holdings and add to his responsibilities, Mr. Weir purchased the property of the Pope Tin Plate Company, located at Steubenville, O.
Under his management the business with which Mr. Weir has been identified has grown to such proportions that today it is known as the largest manufactory of tin plate in the United States, outside of the United States Steel Corporation. This is regarded as a most complimentary condition because of the highly capitalized and influential competi- tion which any newly organized manufacturing company must face in this country from the outset.
The annual business of the Phillips Company amounts to $15,000,000. In wages, $3,000,000 is paid out each year, indicating the size of the payroll which must be met to keep the huge mill going. There are 3,700 employes actively at work in the Phillips mills. The town of Weirton also has continued to grow. Water, sewerage, electric lights, a bank, school house and other facilities are enjoyed by its people.
Mr. Weir is president of the Phillips Sheet & Tin Plate Company, of the Weirton Steel Company, of the Bank of Weirton and of the Weir Improvement Company. He is a director in the Pennfield Coal & Coke Company, the Best Manufacturing Company and the Pittsburgh Stove & Range Company. Mr. Weir belongs to the Duquesne, Union and Pittsburgh Country Clubs, as well as the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the Ft. Henry Club, of Wheeling, and the Triton Club, of Quebec, Canada.
I37
IRA S. BASSETT.
Everybody within a radius of 5,000 miles or more of Pittsburgh remembers the famous Trade Tour that was car- ried to a successful and profitable con- summation by Pittsburgh manufactur- ers not so very long ago. The Trade Tourists on that occasion occupied a train made and equipped in Pittsburgh, and the spaces not occupied by the tour- ists were filled with products of manu- facture that were given out en route. The object was to boost trade in Pitts- burgh, and that is exactly what it did. In charge of that tour was Ira S. Bas- sett, who also first suggested it. He was Traffic Manager of the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburgh from 1907 to 1913, and has just been appointed Com- missioner of the Pittsburgh Commercial Club, where he will have full charge of the workings of that organization. Born in Loudonville, Ohio, March 19, 1874, he entered the services of the Pennsylvania Lines West as telegraph operator at Freedom, Pa., in 1893. He was a traffic manager when he resigned in 1907.
A. J. KELLY, JR.
A. J. Kelly, Jr., was born on a farm on the National Turnpike, Washington county, this State, September 4, 1856, his parents being A. J. Kelly and Mar- garet (Mathews) Kelly. He attended the public schools and Jefferson Acade- my, at Canonburg, and had private tu- tors. He spent some time in the law of- fice of Lynch & Day, at Canton, Ohio, and in 1880 became associated with W. A. Herron & Sons, real estate agents of Pittsburgh, afterwards becoming a
member of the firm, and one of the in- corporators of the Commonwealth Trust Company of Pittsburgh. He is presi- dent of the Commonwealth Real Estate Company; director in the Common- wealth Trust Company; trustee of the University of Pittsburgh; one of the original members of the Pittsburgh Flood Commission, manager of the Alle- gheny County Industrial and Training School for Boys, and member of the Americus, Duquesne and University Clubs and of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association.
I38
J. GILMORE FLETCHER,
Pittsburgh,
President, Riter-Conley Manufacturing Co.
139
PHILIP ZENN.
Philip Zenn, banker and lumber dealer, was born in Mckeesport, Pa., November 26, 1848. His parents were George Zenn and Katherine (nee Huff) Zenn. He was educated in the public schools. At the age of 12 he went to work at boat building, then added the lumber and sawmill business. He at length became a partner in the firm of Neil, Blythe & Company in the same business at Monongahela City. In 1887 he returned to Mckeesport, where he was in the same business with John Shoup & Company. This firm sold out to the Monongahela Consolidated Coal & Coke Company in 1889. Mr. Zenn then became superintendent of a mill in Mc- Keesport belonging to that company, re- tiring in 1910. Since then he has lived in retirement in a beautiful home on Lincoln way, Mckeesport. He is vice- president of the Union National Bank, director in the Mckeesport Title & Trust Company, and in the Mckeesport Tin Plate Company. He is married and has three sons and two daughters.
ALEXANDER GRAY.
With a record of having been born, raised and lived all his life on one street, Alexander Gray is indeed a thorough Pittsburgher. He is superintendent of the Bureau of Light and has full charge of the Braddock street plant of the municipal light department, on the North Side. Mr. Gray was born in the Second ward of the old City of Alle- gheny on August 29, 1856. He secured his education at the public schools of that ward. He is married and has three children. He is a member of all of the Masonic bodies and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was em- ployed for 18 years as superintendent of motive power for the Standard Manu- facturing Company previous to his ap- pointment to his present position. In 1903 he was appointed superintendent of the light plant by the late James G. Wyman, of Allegheny, and has filled the position ever since, although Allegheny was annexed by Pittsburgh and munici- pal administrations have changed.
140
FRANK B. NIMICK.
Frank B. Nimick is a native Pittsburgher, born December 14, 1849, the son of Wil- liam K. and Elizabeth Nimick. He attended the public schools, later entering the old Western University of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburgh, where he received his training for after life. Mr. Nimick was a member of the firm of Singer, Nimick & Company when it was merged in the Crucible Steel Company of America. Mr. Nimick remained with the new concern about two years and then retired. He is a director in the Exchange National Bank and in the West End Savings and Trust Company, Pittsburgh. Mr. Nimick is a member of the Pittsburgh Club.
141
Eugene S. Reilly was born December 14, 1873, in Pittsburgh, a son of John C. Reilly and Ursula S.
EUGENE S. Reilly. He attended Holy Ghost College,
REILLY. Pittsburgh, and afterwards was a stu- dent at Fordham University, New York. Mr. Reilly then entered the real estate business as a broker. He is president of the American Steel Com- pany; president of the City Insurance Company; vice- president of the Washington Trust Company; vice- president of the Pittsburgh & Butler Street Railway Company; director in the Colonial Trust Company; vice-president of the Washington Real Estate Com- pany; director in the Freehold Real Estate Company and in the Harris Amusement Company; treasurer of the Pittsburgh Motor Service Corporation, and presi- dent of Eugene S. Reilly & Company. He is a mem- ber of the Duquesne, Union, Country and others clubs, and of the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange.
John Baxter Barbour was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1862, the son of John Baxter Barbour and Isabella McKelvy Barbour. JOHN He received his education in Pittsburgh. BAXTER He first engaged in the oil business. In BARBOUR. 1890 he became local manager for Rea Brothers & Company, stock brokers. When that firm retired, he assumed its business in his own name, in 1909 establishing the present firm of John B. Barbour & Co. He is a former president, and now a director of the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange, and is third vice- president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce; a member of the Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh Athletic As- sociation, Americus Republican Club and the Stanton Heights Golf Club. He is a thirty-second degree Ma- son, Knight Templar and Mystic Shriner. He was married in 1887 to Laura Belle Rogers and has two children.
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