USA > Pennsylvania > The Book of Prominent Pennsylvanians; a standard reference > Part 20
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WILLIAM B. RODGERS.
William B. Rodgers was born at Franklin, Pa., February 27, 1851, his parents being Joseph and Charlotte Rodgers. He received a public school education, then engaged him- self in the affairs of life. He became interested in the sand business, and is president of the Rodgers Sand Company, Pittsburgh, as well as president of the Allegheny Trust Company. Mr. Rodgers is a member of the Duquesne Club.
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Harry Summers Estep, son of Thomas S. and Jessie S. Estep, was born in Pittsburgh on November 18, 1872.
HARRY He was educated in the public schools of the city and by private tutors. At an early SUMMERS age Mr. Estep entered the office of a promi- ESTEP. nent Pittsburgh architect and from then on devoted himself exclusively to the study of architecture. For twenty-five years he studied the practical side of his profession, working with best architects of the city. In this time he has designed theaters, school houses and other public buildings, apartment houses, houses for fra- ternal organizations and other work of a similar nature. His work has distinctive and original features and his buildings have a reputation for art. Mr. Estep is familiar with the full range of his profession, making him a thoroughly practical architect. He is not limited to a specialty, but engages in the general practice of arch- itecture.
Among the leading architects of the Pittsburgh dis- trict is John P. Brennan, a man who has gained consider- able prominence as a city architect. Mr.
JOHN P. BRENNAN. Brennan was born in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, January 25, 1855. He is the son of Dominick C. and Margaret Brennan. An excellent education was gained by Mr. Brennan before he entered the business world. He was trained in public schools and La Salle College, Philadelphia. His preparation for the calling of an architect was extensive, he having studied with E. F. Duran, a leading architect in Philadelphia. To his credit is some of the most expert and most difficult architectural work extant in the Pittsburgh district. In Pittsburgh he is a member of the Young Men's Repub- lican Tariff Club, in which organization he is a prominent member. His experience has covered a wide range of architectural work and has won him much consideration.
Charles J. Rieger, the well-known architect, is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and the
CHARLES Boston School of Technology, and since he began the practice of architecture he J. RIEGER designed some of the most imposing buildings in Pittsburgh and a few other cities. It was he who designed the Washington Trust Company build- ing, the New Kensington school building, the Pitts- burgh Stock Exchange, Senator Langfitt's residence, the Western Savings and Deposit Company's bank and many other buildings in different parts of the State. Mr. Rieger is a Mason and belongs to all the Masonic branches, including the Knights Templar and the Shriners. Likewise he holds membership in the Pitts- burgh Athletic Association and the German Club. His offices are located in the Germania Bank building.
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LOUIS J. D'ISA.
Whatever some people turn their hands to, they make a success of. It rarely hap- pens that a man grown to maturity can do three different things for a livelihood, at three different times, of course, and do them equally well. And this applies particularly to aliens, for they are gen- erally handicapped, no matter what they undertake.
In Louis J. D'Isa, president of the contracting firm of that name, Pitts- burgh has a man, and incidentally an alien, who has done just this very thing. Like hundreds of other individuals from foreign shores, he landed in America and immediately went in quest of work. In the course of time he succeeded.
By a strange coincidence the pa- rents of Mr. D'Isa bore similar names. His father's name is Angelo, and that of his mother is Angelina. They lived to- gether in the town of Formicola, in Italy, and there it was that on July 24, 1879, the man that later came to Amer- ica for a job was born. Fortunately, he was given the advantages of a good schooling in Italy. In various schools and colleges in that picturesque city of Naples he was given an excellent tech- nical and commercial education and, thus equipped, he crossed the seas to make his fortune in rapidly growing America.
It was just 11 years ago, or, to be precise, in November, 1902, that he reached the shores of the United States. Upon arriving here he set about to show his good judgment by not tarrying in the overcrowded cities along the coast line. He came direct to Pitts- burgh.
Educated Italians were exceedingly rare here at that time, and so he found himself confronted with one opportunity after the other. Because of his excellent equipment and his good character in Italy, he was appointed secretary to the Italian consul in Pittsburgh. He remained there for a time, but he longed to be an American in every sense of the word, and so he sought and found an opening with American employers. The next position that presented itself to him was that of clerk in the foreign depart- ment in the First National Bank of Braddock, Braddock National Bank and Union Sav- ings Bank. There he was so successful that, had he remained, he probably would be hav- ing a bank of his own today.
However, he kept his eyes open for other opportunities. He observed that contrac- tors were accumulating large amounts of money and so he associated himself with F. A. Masselli and went into the contracting business. After two years his business had grown to such proportions that he felt justified in raising his capital stock and applying for a charter. Accordingly his firm was incorporated, and is now doing a lucrative busi- ness under the name of the D'Isa Construction Company, with Mr. D'Isa as president.
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Thomas H. Scott was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, September 7, 1865, the son of John H. and Ann Scott. He was educated in the THOMAS public schools of Washington county. H. SCOTT. When only 22 years old, young Scott left Washington county to seek a bigger field of en- deavor. He came to Pittsburgh and opened an office as an architect, after studying that profession for a due period of time. His success was immediate, and by hard work and originality of ideas, Mr. Scott secured a handsome business. Since establishing himself in Pittsburgh, Mr. Scott has designed the Machesney building, a large downtown office structure; the Wil- kinsburg High School, the Standard Steel Car Com- pany's office building at Lindora, and has been the architect for the Denny estate for 20 years.
R. M. Trimble was born in the old Sixth ward, on the North Side, May 15, 1871, and is the son of John H. and Elizabeth McA. Trimble. He at-
ROBERT
MAURICE tended the Sixth Ward school and Alle- gheny high school, graduating in 1887.
TRIMBLE. After a short course at the Western University of Pennsylvania, he entered into the con- tracting business with his father, remaining with hini until 1892, when he commenced the study of archi- tecture in the office of a Pittsburgh architect. He con- tinued as a draughtsman in this office until 1898, in which year he opened an office and began the inde- pendent practice of architecture. During the active practice of fifteen years he has designed and erected, in addition to a large number of residences, many buildings of different types, such as banks, churches, apartment houses, schools, commercial buildings, hos- pitals, etc., throughout Western Pennsylvania.
Samuel Kennedy Hazlett, manager of the Du- quesne Marble Company, was born in Kansas, May 11,
SAMUEL 1887. His parents were Addison Haz- lett and Annie F. Hazlett. To his west- KENNEDY HAZLETT. ern parentage he owes the vim and vigor which he has put into his business life in Pennsylvania. His early education was re- ceived in the Washington county public schools. He is a graduate of the Iron City Business College. His first permanent position was with the Ben Avon Lumber Company, at Ben Avon, Pa. He remained with this company from 1904 until 1910, when he secured a bet- ter position with the Duquesne Marble Company. As general manager of this large corporation he has done much to place the fine marbles which it handles in the walls of residences, banks and office buildings through- out New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The plant is on the North Side, Pittsburgh.
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STEEL CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY.
The Steel Concrete Construction Company was established in Pittsburgh, June 9, 1909, by E. E. Wick, Don Rose and J. H. McCoy for the manufacture of monolithic con- crete of all kinds. The firm is comprised of E. E. Wick, who serves in the capacity of president; Don Rose, who is vice-president, and J. H. McCoy, who is secretary, treas- urer and general manager. The corporation took over the business of John H. McCoy and largely operates the vari- ous patents of which Mr. McCoy is the patentee. The Mc- Coy Silo Form Company was incorporated the present year under the laws of Pennsylvania to take care of the demands of the trade for forms of various kinds. The Construction Company caters principally to the trade on water tanks, smoke stacks, silos, etc., but builds anything of concrete. From a small business the company has increased 100 per cent. annually, until it is now one of the largest corporations in the con- crete trade. The com- pany does nothing but EUGENE E. WICK first-class work. At times hundreds of men are employed in the business. The engineering force is a large one and competent to manage a contract of any size. The age of concrete building has just arrived, and the Steel Concrete Construction Company has added greatly to the advance of the business through its specialties. Notable pieces of concrete contracting work are monuments to the impor- tance, skill and excellence of output of this com- pany.
One of the engineering staff of the company is Oscar J. West, civil engineer, who is the western representative of the company, with offices in the Peoples' Gas building, Chicago. John H. Mc- Coy, patentee, is one of the most important members of the Steel Concrete Construction WATER TANK At Chicago Junction, Ohio. built by Steel Concrete Construction Co. for the B. & O. Railroad. Company. He was born in Ripley county, Mis- souri, December 22, 1870, of Scotch, Irish and English ancestry. He is an in- ventive genius and an expert in the concrete line. He has spent a large part of his life in perfecting concrete patents and in inventing new processes for the use of the ma- terial. President Wick is a member of a well-known Youngstown, O., family. He is an aggressive, energetic member of the firm. Mr. Rose is the legal member of the company. Mr. Rose is of Scotch-Irish descent, has been admitted to the Allegheny county bar, and is counsel for the Pittsburgh Coal Company, one of the largest coal corporations in the world.
JOHN H. MCCOY
2II
PETER JOSEPH FURLAN.
It has been said that America is still too young and undeveloped to foster European art as it should be fostered, and that is probably the reason why men skilled in the use of the brush and chisel turn their talents into more commercial occupations. A poet laureate would make but a bare subsistence here. So with the sculp- tors and mosaic artists. Little market for their products is to be found here, but in spite of that, stupid indeed is he who cannot find some means of turning his talents to good account after he arrives.
For its art schools, and its natural beauty that has fed them and their stu- dents from time immemorial, there is probably no city in the whole world to compare with Venice, in Italy. Its dark blue skies, its grand canals and its vari- colored buildings of all shapes and sizes, have been the despair of artists for cen- turies. Few have been able to paint these grandeurs as they are, but none have ever looked upon them without feeling a longing to reproduce some of their glories in places less endowed with the beautiful. No native of Venice has ever lived and come to America without, in some measure, contributing to the improvement of their new land.
In that city, in 1880, Peter Joseph Furlan, now of Pittsburgh, was born. His an- cestors had lived there for generations, and there it was that he received his early educa- tion in the public schools. While still studying he acquired a taste for works of art, as everybody in Venice does, and in his boyhood he spent much time drawing pictures and sketches of the picturesque architecture that he daily looked upon. But he was preparing to emigrate to America, and for that reason was obliged to abandon what he most loved to do.
After he arrived here, however, he found that his studies had prepared him to earn a fairly good income after all. He entered into ornamental plaster of paris and cement work, and as he accumulated money and studied American architecture he gradually found himself among the builders of fine dwellings, theaters, churches and kindred struc- tures. Appreciating the need of more contractors for a city the size of Pittsburgh, he en- tered the business of concrete construction, and from the beginning has made a success of it. He is located in the Lyceum building now, where he is constantly kept busy figuring on construction work of a costly nature. Among some of the buildings he helped erect are the Margaretta Church, at Carrick; the Pittsburgh Synagogue, the First Pres- byterian Church of Bellevue; the Kenyon Opera House of Pittsburgh, the Church of the Ascension of Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Technical Schools, and many others.
Mr. Furlan is the treasurer of the International Commission Company and holds a membership in the Louata Operaia, at East Liberty.
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Samuel Holmes has for twenty-eight years been identified with the building of modern Pittsburgh. The
SAMUEL Pittsburgh Athletic Club is an example
HOLMES. of the stone work for which Mr. Holmes is noted. He is contractor for all of the masonry work on the School of Applied Design and Machinery Hall, the beautiful buildings of Carnegie In- stitute of Technology, located in Schenley Park. Among a wide range of buildings done by Mr. Holmes there are over thirty churches to his credit in Pitts- burgh, also the Watson building, Fairmont, W. Va. Office buildings, bridges, churches and other structures in large numbers throughout Pittsburgh and its adja- cent territory bear Mr. Holmes' workmanship. He is the owner of the finest stone-cutting plant in the Pitts- burgh district, located in Wilkinsburg.
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PITTSBURGH ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION.
Thomas Ralph Pittock is one of Pittsburgh's foremost capitalists and real estate dealers. He was born in London, England, 76 years ago, a son of Frederick Pittock and Susanna Bonner Pittock. His parents removed to Pennsylvania when Mr. THOMAS Pittock was a boy, and he was educated in the public schools of the State.
RALPH
Mr. Pittock has engaged in the real estate business for years, and his PITTOCK. success through latter years extended his business and field of endeavor until now he is one of the city's best known promotors and capitalists.
Mr. Pittock is a brother of John W. Pittock, who founded the Pittsburgh Leader, ir October, 1864. Another brother is the publisher of the Portland Oregonian, at Portland, Ore. Mr. Pittock was not a favored son of fortune by birth. He worked for everything he now has, and is a self-made Pittsburgher.
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Daniel E. Jones was born in Pittsburgh, a son of Evan Jones and Elizabeth Jones. He attended the public schools, and was a student at the DANIEL E. JONES. Western University of Pennsylvania. He was graduated from Duff's College,
Pittsburgh. Mr. Jones entered the firm of Evan Jones & Company, of which his father was president, as su- perintendent, and later became manager and treasurer, which position he now holds, being the active head of the concern. The firm does general contracting for public works, being the pioneer contracting firm of Pittsburgh now existing to undertake public work. This feature of contracting was taken up shortly after the Civil War, and has been carried on ever since. The company is well known as brick manufacturers, also making Ligonier paving block, on which it specializes, and also handles contracting for railroad ballasting.
Herman Rath, general contractor, was born May 3, 1878, in Germany. His parents were Charles and Anna Rath. The boy was brought to the United HERMAN RATH. States by his parents when he was but three years old. He was educated in the public schools of Allegheny county. In 1893 he started in the contracting business with his father, and 10 years later took over the management of the entire business. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1911 and served one term. He was a member of the following committees : Accounts, Municipal Corporations, Military, and Public Health and Sanitation. Mr. Rath is a member of the Masonic Fraternity. He is married and has three chil- dren. His present home is in Pittsburgh, 5223 Duncan street. Mr. Rath is a staunch Republican in politics, and has always been known for the earnestness with which he supports a cause, and the thoroughness of all his un- dertakings.
GEORGE HOGG.
A leader among Allegheny county Scotchmen and one of the most progressive build- ing contractors of the county, George Hogg, of Edgewood, head of the firm of George Hogg Company, has gained an enviable reputation in the years he has spent in this coun- try. Mr. Hogg came from Scotland to America more than a quarter of a century ago.
He received a public school education in his native land, which prepared him for the building business into which he embarked in America. Many of the largest con- tracts for building construction in Braddock and surrounding boroughs were given Mr. Hogg, who also owns considerable real estate in that town.
He is a director of the First National Bank of Braddock and of the Braddock Trust Company. He is a member of the Burns society and a member of several Masonic orders.
The offices of the George Hogg Company, contractors and builders, of which Mr. George Hogg is the head, are located in the Keystone building, Pittsburgh.
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FRANCIS E. McGILLICK.
As an example of success which may be attained by hard work, study and persever- ance, none is more entitled to mention than Francis E. McGillick. He was born in Blairs- ville, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1864. His father, Peter McGillick, came from county Meath, and his mother, whose maiden name was Bridget Nolan, from county Wick- low, Ireland; they were of the sturdy, honest Irish type, frugal and indus- trious.
Mr. McGillick received his early education in the parochial school, Blairs- ville, conducted by the Sisters of Charity, and in which they were the in- structors. In the mornings and even- ings, young McGillick drove the family's cows and those of neighbors to and from the pasture fields, and worked in his father's garden. After school hours and during vacations he engaged in any kind of work he could find in the town or among the neighborhood farmers. As Blairsville at that time was a small place, positions were hard to get, the boy helped teamsters to haul coal, lum- ber and other commodities. He worked in a brick yard, in a woolen mill, on the township roads, in ice cutting and pack- ing, and in digging cellars. He also performed services as helper for plasterers and brick and stone masons. A choice job was that of harvesting, for which young McGillick re- ceived pay at the rate of $2 a day. For a time he worked for as much as 35 to 50 cents per day.
At the age of 17 young McGillick entered the employment of the Pennsylvania Rail- road, working on a gravel or work train. He made application and was promoted to a carpenters' gang, the work being to build and repair wood and iron bridges, stations, water towers and other structures along the road from Blairsville to old Allegheny City during the summer and in winter was employed as brakeman and fireman. After two years he got employment at building houses and in 1886 began business at Blairsville as a contractor and builder. In nine years he built over 300 structures. During four years of this time he also carried on a mercantile establishment, selling groceries and hardware.
Mr. McGillick came to Pittsburgh in 1895 and for 12 years engaged in business as a contractor and builder, most of the time having as many as 200 men in his employment. In 1907, he quit the contracting business, to confine his attention to his real estate and other interests. He has offices in the East End Trust Building, at Penn and Highland avenues. Mr. McGillick was married September 2, 1891, to Margaret A., daughter of Louis and Anne Botzem, at Latrobe, Pa. Mr. McGillick lives in a handsome residence at Margaretta and St. Clair streets, Pittsburgh. He takes pride in the fact that although he was compelled to relinquish his school education in early life, he never has ceased to per- fect himself as much as possible in after years, even to the extent of indulging in a three years' law course by correspondence. He is a member of Duquesne Council, Knights of Columbus. He has three sons-Francis E., Charles A. and Louis J .- all at college, and one daughter, Marie Elizabeth.
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George J. Hagan has established himself as one of the specialists in the manufacture and treatment of
GEORGE J. metals in Pittsburgh. A large number
HAGAN. of appliances now in use among manu- facturers bear his name. Mr. Hagan started work as a contractor, making a specialty of erecting furnaces. Next he put up his own gas pro- ducers and stokers, rolling mills and steel plants. For years he has made a study of fuel economy and has perfected a large number of appliances. Among these are the Stoker Fired Furnace for special high grade work, where the heat treatment is a special factor in the conversion operation. Practically all manufactur- ers making such a product are using his equipment. Mr. Hagan is the sole owner of the firm doing business under the name of George J. Hagan.
Lakin Clarkson Taylor was born at Batesville, Noble county, Ohio, November 20, 1862, the son of Dr. LAKIN John Clarkson Taylor and Margaret CLARKSON Lakin Taylor. When aged 17 Mr. Tay- lor taught school and later was assist- TAYLOR. ant postmaster of Cambridge, Ohio. He organized and was first secretary and treasurer of the American Rolling Mill Company, at Middletown, Ohio, organized and built the Cambridge Rolling Mill (now Inter-State Steel Company), at Cambridge, Ohio, and other important mills. He has just completed the or- ganization of the Pittsburgh Sheet & Tin Plate Com- pany, of Pittsburgh, of which he is secretary and treas- urer. He also organized banks in Columbus, Cincinnati and Louisville. He is secretary and treasurer of the Buena Vista Land Company, and carries on various large building operations in Pittsburgh, besides build- ing and financing steel mills.
P. M. PFEIL, President, Iron City Sand Company, Pittsburgh.
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SE ERST KENOVAL BANK OF PITTSBURGH
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK BUILDING, PITTSBURGH, PA.
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JOSEPH WILLIAM BRYAN.
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JOSEPH WILLIAM BRYAN.
Even in so unpoetic a field of endeavor as banking and life insurance writing one must be talented in order to be thoroughly successful. To have a natural fondness for a particular occupation helps greatly in making that occupation never a drudgery, but a well-paying proposition. This has always been recognized in the learned professions, but in business the impression, that has always been most general, was that a sound ground- ing in office work was all that was necessary.
That this is really not true, and that genius has much to do with the success of a business man, has been proved so many times over by one of the younger generation of Pittsburgh insurance men, that no further argument is necessary. This Pittsburgher is in reality not a Pittsburgher, for he was born in that delightful section directly south of the Mason-Dixon line, that in song and story has become noted for the beauty of its land- scape and the hospitality of its people.
Joseph William Bryan is a native of old Virginia. His father, Dr. L. W. Bryan, was a practicing physician in the little town of Bristol, and there the subject of this sketch was born. To enter a business career seemed to be his early inclination. When he at- tended the public schools in his native town he gave particular attention to his mathe- matical studies, and as soon as he left school he began to prove that he was fitted for insurance work.
The first thing of importance that he started out to do was pack five years' work into eight months. He actually did this, and old, white-haired insurance men the country over "sat up and took notice," to use a common expression. They wondered, and quite justly, too, what this beginner in the insurance field was going to do next. They have been watching him ever since, and have seen him make upward moves that only one endowed with a rich genius could make. To be more explicit, Mr. Bryan sold insurance in the State of Texas for the International Life Insurance Company, of St. Louis. The com- pany was a new one, and the State of Texas was a big State. However, in eight months' time the novice in the insurance business sold one round million dollars worth of insurance. This feat is usually regarded as a good five years' work for an ex- pert. What makes it particularly remarkable, and more in Mr. Bryan's favor, is the fact that $800,000 of this business has paid a third renewal business. For this wonderful piece of work he was sent to Pittsburgh to take charge of the office in that city, and although he has been there only two years, he has built up an agency force that is writ- ing one million dollars worth of insurance annually. Immediately before coming to Pittsburgh he served a brief period of time as superintendent of agents for this concern.
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