USA > Pennsylvania > The Book of Prominent Pennsylvanians; a standard reference > Part 4
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Ingram & Gibson built seven of the great coal plants in Western Pennsylvania. The new company has also built several such plants, and in addition some of the best buildings in Uniontown, including the Uniontown high school at a cost of $150,000, the North Uniontown high school, St. John's parochial school, the new West Penn terminal station, the Gaiety theatre on Main street and many of the big- gest residences, including those of F. M. Semans and M. H. Bowman.
He has also built the new Tuberculosis Hospital and the Isolation Ward Nurses Home. In the course of the last 12 years Mr. Gibson has supervised the construction of more than 6,000 homes at the coke plants of the large operating coke companies.
The South Penn Building Company, of which Mr. Gibson is president, occupies a large property almost in the heart of Uniontown, and also operates a large and modern sawmill. To Mr. Gibson's remarkable energy is largely due the success he has made early in life.
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CHARLES LEIDY SNOWDON.
Charles Leidy Snowdon is one of Brownsville's well-known business men. He was born in Brownsville June 25, 1854, and is a son of J. N. Snowdon and Eliza J. Snowdon. Charles L. Snowdon was educated in his native town, completing his studies in the high school. His first business ex- perience was obtained in a general store at Brownsville, where he remained from 1870 to 1876. He was next appointed teller of the Brownsville Dollar Savings Bank, where he remained two years.
In 1878 he was employed as a clerk in the Brownsville & Geneva Packet Company, in which capacity he was en- gaged for two years. In 1880 he be- came interested in the coal trade and connected himself with J. S. Cunning- ham & Co., the firm operating the Um- pire mines at Brownsville. In 1881 he purchased Mr. Cunningham's interest in the mine and became its managing owner. This mine is located above the mouth of the Redstone Creek. In 1885, in connection with his brother-in-law, F. T. Hogg, he developed the Albany mines, near Brownsville. In 1899 he sold all these interests to the Monongahela River Company.
Mr. Snowdon is a man of rare busi- ness qualities, quick to discern, deliberate in his decisions and enjoys the entire confidence of his fellow citizens, who have shown him marked tokens of their esteem. In 1887 he was elected a director of the Brownsville Gas Company. In 1889 he was made a director of the Monongahela National Bank, Brownsville, and in 1893 he was chosen president of that institution, an office which he still holds. This bank is one of the oldest money insti- tutions in the State west of the mountains, and since its charter, in 1812, it has never sus- pended specie payment, and has paid dividends continuously since 1813. In 1890, Mr. Snowdon was elected a director of the Pittsburgh, Brownsville & Geneva Packet Company, and in 1898 was made its president. In 1892 he organized the Brownsville and Bridgeport Water Companies, of both of which he was elected president. The Queen City Coal Com- pany, of Cincinnati, was organized in 1889, at which time he was elected a director, and in 1890 he was made its president. In 1892 he was elected president of the Pacific Coal Company, which was organized to transport the product of the Queen City Coal Company to the cities.
Mr. Snowdon is a staunch Republican. He has declined proffered opportunities for office, once for the nomination for Congress from his district, and several times for State offices. But he takes a keen interest in politics, and particularly in matters looking to the advancement of Brownsville. He has served for 15 or 20 years on school board and coun- cil, and is president of the latter.
Mr. Snowdon married Miss Elizabeth B. Hogg June 26, 1879. They have six chil- dren. Mr. and Mrs. Snowdon are communicants of Christ Episcopal Church, of which the former has been a vestryman for 30 years and senior warden for 15 years. He is a thirty- second degree Mason, a member of the Duquesne Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Associa- tion, a director of the Exchange National Bank, Pittsburgh, and has other large interests.
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William H. Smart was born September 4, 1869, in New York State, a son of Thomas and Jane Smart. He was educated in the public schools of
WILLIAM
H. SMART. the State, and as his family was in the glass industry, he learned the me- chanical and practical sides of the business. At the age of 18 he had served his apprenticeship. At 24 he was manager of a large bottle manufacturing plant at Bradford, Pa., and since that time has been employed as manufacturing manager and sales manager for various concerns until 1907, when, with his brother, he founded the Keystone Bottle Manufacturing Company, of Uniontown. Mr. Smart is president and general manager of the concern. His brother, George W. Smart, is superintendent. Mr. Smart travels exten- sively, to solicit trade, and is well known in the terri- tory supplied by his company, including New York and even the New England States.
Henry Fusarini was born in Milan, Italy, June 18, 1869, a son of Dominick and Julia Fusarini. He was graduated from the University of Naples,
HENRY
as a civil engineer, and after practicing as FUSARINI. an engineer for years became professor in the High Technical school in Naples, occupying that posi- tion for three years. Then he came to the United States, in 1900. Two years later he went to Uniontown, where he established an agency for the various steamship com- panies. Mr. Fusarini is the proprietor of this agency. He is associated in Uniontown with the Fayette Title & Trust Company. Mr. Fusarini is a splendid example of the success of intelligent enterprise by a foreigner in the United States. He is widely known, having a host of friends all over the world, as he has traveled extensively.
Thomas Calvin Jones was born in Pittsburgh, Sep- tember 2, 1860, a son of David Jones and Elizabeth (Con-
THOMAS way) Jones. He was educated first in the
CALVIN public schools of that city, Mckeesport Academy and Waynesburg College; he
JONES. took the law course at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and was graduated in 1884. He was admitted to the Allegheny county bar in 1885 and opened and now maintains offices in Mckeesport and in Pittsburgh. He was appointed by Governor John K. Tener as judge of the County Court in 1911, serving that year. For some years he was city solicitor of Mckees- port and is president and a trustee of Mckeesport public library. In 1908 Governor Stuart appointed him a mem- ber of the Perry Memorial Commission and he was re- tained by Governor Tener. He is secretary of the Com- mission. He is a member of the various Masonic orders. He married Miss Minnie E. Muse in 1889, and has two sons and one daughter.
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JOSEPH CAUFFIEL.
Joseph Cauffiel, prominent business man and reform progressive mayor of Johns- town, Pa., is one of the most picturesque figures in the State, due to his career as chief executive of Johnstown. He was born in Jenner township, Somerset county, October 8, 1870, being the seventh son of Daniel M. and Mary (Hammer) Cauffiel.
His birthplace was a log house on his father's farm, and he engaged in work on farms until he attained his majority. While he worked he also at- tended school and secured a good ele- mentary education. Mayor Cauffiel says his father left him a legacy money cannot buy, namely, the training "al- ways to do what is right." His work on the farm left him rugged in health and strenuous in disposition. In Janu- ary of 1892 he moved to Pittsburgh and attended the Iron City Business College. After that Mayor Cauffiel re- turned to Johnstown and entered the real estate and loan business April 4, 1892. He now conducts an extensive real estate and loan business. In his personal control he has nearly $6,000,- 000, and claims no individual in the State conducts a business of such dimen- sions. He has nearly 9,000 clients throughout the country, who invest in mortgages through him. Although in business under the firm name of Cauffiel Brothers, Mayor Cauffiel runs the business exclusively and has since 1902. For 17 years he has fought the political gang interests of Johnstown, and was elected reform Mayor of Johnstown on the Keystone and Progressive Republican tickets in 1911. He has always fought for the rights of the people, but never mingles in ward politics. When he entered the race for Mayor it was the result of a popular demand.
His defeat of the "organization" was a triumphant victory. His has been a clean civic administration. The notorious "red light" district of Johnstown has been entirely wiped out, and in this movement he has been supported by the good people of Johnstown. In the dispensing of justice Mayor Cauffiel has been fearless and intelligent. He is considered mayor of the police force as well as mayor of the city.
The mayor was highly instrumental in having the commission form of city govern- ment in cities the size of Johnstown provided for by the last Legislature. He has long advocated the municipal ownership of public utilities. He has just been instrumental in completing a satisfactory agreement with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company by which that concern is to make improvements in Johnstown and vicinity aggregating ap- proximately $3,000,000. The improvement is to include elevated trackage, a new stone bridge over the river and a $200,000 station. This very municipal problem has baffled Johnstown mayors for years. He has a winning personality and has always been a forci- ble and effective advocate of the square deal. While he fights the vested interests when they are wrong, they are assured fair play when their questions are up before him for executive consideration. The mayor has a family of four children. He is active in pro- gressive political circles throughout the State.
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JAMES W. OVER.
James Watson Over, judge of the Orphans court, Fifth Judicial district, Pennsylvania, was born April 11, 1843, in Clarion county, Pa. His parents were John Over and Sarah (nee Wat- son) Over. In his youth he industri- ously taught school. Then he studied law with Hon. Christopher Heydrick and J. D. Hancock. In 1862 he enlisted in the Fifteenth regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, and served throughout the war. In 1867 Mr. Over located in Pittsburgh and studied law under Judge John M. Kirkpatrick and John Mellon. He was enrolled a member of the Alle- gheny county bar March 17, 1868. In 1881 an additional judge was provided for the Orphans Court of Allegheny county, and Governor Hoyt commission- ed Mr. Over to the new judgeship. Every ten years thereafter he has been elected to the same position. Mr. Over was married October 6, 1870, to Miss Nancy Shurtleff. He resides in the bor- ough of Osborne and is the father of six children.
J. J. MILLER.
J. J. Miller, Judge in Orphans' Court, and Equity in Common Pleas Court, was born in Somerset county, near Somerset, August 22, 1857, the son of Jacob D. and Barbara Miller. Judge Miller was educated in the public schools, Somerset county, and began teaching in 1871 at the age of 14. He later attended Somerset Academy, the Indiana State Normal School, from which he was graduated, and the law department of the University of Vir- ginia. Recently the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on Judge Miller by the University of Pittsburgh. While teaching school Judge Miller read law under William J. Baer, president judge of the Somerset district. In 1884 he was admitted to the bar of Allegheny county. In 1901 he was elected to the bench, and in addition to his work in Or- phans' Court he heard and disposed of 161 cases in Common Pleas Court in Equity.
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JUDGE CHARLES D. COPELAND.
Judge Charles D. Copeland, of the Westmoreland County Orphans' Court, was born in Penn township of that county, July 24, 1871. He is the son of William J. and Caroline Rosensteel Copeland. Unfor- tunately, his mother died when he was but eleven years old. This clouded his early life and made his struggle for edu- cation and advancement in his youth extremely difficult. He attended the public schools in West Newton and Greensburg, and was afterwards a stu- dent at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. During his summer vacations, beginning in 1886, he worked with the Engineering Department of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and was able, in a few years, to take complete charge of a corps of railroad engineers. In the fall of 1893 he began the study of the law under the late D. S. Atkinson, and in 1896 was admitted to the West- moreland county bar. In the meantime he had been a member of Company "I" of the Tenth Regiment, and when the Spanish - American War broke out, though just beginning to reap the hard- earned fruits of professional life, he closed his office and went with the regi- ment to Manila. Returning in 1899, he resumed the practice of law, and has been constantly engaged in it, and has been remark- ably successful. In 1911 he was endorsed by the Democratic party for the office of Judge of the Orphans' Court, and in a hard-fought battle won a victory over his opponent, being elected in a strongly Republican county by a majority of 1,235 votes. He assumed office on the first Monday of January, 1912, and has handled the immense business of the county in the Orphans' Court in a manner that has pleased and gratified his supporters.
Richard Smith Holt, president judge of the Beaver county court, is the son of Samuel J. Holt and Mary A.
RICHARD Taylor Holt, formerly of Vanport, where he was born December 15, 1860. SMITH He was reared on a farm in Brighton HOLT. township, Beaver county, and educated in the public schools, Peirsol's Academy, at Bridge- water, and at the State Normal School, at Edinboro. After finishing his law studies, Mr. Holt was admitted to the bar of Beaver county May 7, 1888, and since then his rise has been rapid. As an ardent Republican, he was selected from among a number of possibilities as good judicial timber, and on November 6, 1905, he was elected as president judge of Beaver county. Judge Holt holds membership in the Order of Independent Americans, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Knights of the Golden Eagle and the Woodmen of the World.
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W. D. HINCKLEY.
Watson D. Hinckley, president judge of the Thirty-seventh judicial dis- trict of Pennsylvania, was born in Fre- donia, Chautauqua county, New York, March 17, 1854, the son of George Dex- ter Hinckley and Roseanna J. Hinckley. He was graduated in 1878 from the Uni- versity of Michigan with the degree of Ph.B. He then removed to Bradford, Pa., and began the practice of law in 1881. July 1, 1882, he removed to War- ren, Pa., practicing law in Warren coun- ty. There he became a member of the firm of Whetmore, Noyes & Hinckley. This firm later changed to Noyes & Hinckley, and afterward it became known as Hinckley & Rice. In July, 1910, Governor E. S. Stuart appointed him president judge of the Thirty- seventh district, and he was elected to the same office in November, 1911, for a term of ten years. He is a trustee of the Struthers Library building, and is a member of the Warren Shakespeare Club, the Conewango Club and is a communicant of the First M. E. Church.
HON. JOHN W. REED.
John Walker Reed, Judge of the Fifty-fourth District, was admitted to the bar in Clarion, Pa., in 1875. Fol- lowing his admission he went to Brook- ville, where he continued in the practice of law for two years, and then returned to his native town of Clarion and prac- ticed there until 1883. After a stay in North Dakota he returned to Clarion in 1884, practiced there until 1895, when he moved to Brookville. Judge Reed was born in Clarion May 13, 1853: he was educated at schools there and by home study. He was nominated for the bench on the Republican ticket June 17, 1895, within two months after moving into the newly created Fifty-fourth Dis- trict, and appointed by the Governor the same day. He was elected at the polls, and in 1905 he was re-elected. As a judge few of his decisions have been reversed by the Appellate Courts. He is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, and a member of the Brook- ville Country Club.
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JOHN MOFFITT KENNEDY.
John Moffitt Kennedy, distinguished attorney and for 20 years a Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Allegheny county, comes of cultured and sturdy stock. Often wealth inherited from a father proves the undoing of a son. But no inherit- ance of health, right living and honesty, however large, ever handicapped a young man in the battle of life. On his father's side Judge Kennedy is of Scotch-Irish descent. His grandparents were God fearing, upright citizens of a tiny hamlet in the north of Ireland. In 1795 they emigrated to Baltimore, Md. The grandfather rendered distinguished services in the war of 1812. A soldier ancestor is usually an inspiration to a young man. Judge Kennedy is no ex- ception.
Judge Kennedy's father was a physician, graduating at St. Mary's College in Baltimore. Later Dr. Ken- nedy moved to Oxford, Chester county, Pa., where he practiced his profession till his death. Judge Kennedy's ma- ternal grandparents came from Scot- land and settled in Cecil county, Mary- land, subsequently moving to Chester county, Pa. Dr. John Kennedy and Mary Dickey were married in Chester county in 1826, and there the subject of this sketch, their son, John Moffitt, was born on September 19, 1833.
Judge Kennedy graduated from Jefferson College in 1855 and then taught school at Boonville, Missouri, while he studied law under the direction of Judge Miller, whose daughter he afterward married. After practicing law at Boonville for a year he came to Pittsburgh in 1864 and entered the office of A. H. Miller, a prominent member of the Allegheny county bar.
By his personal magnetism, absolute integrity, strong common sense and unusual judgment of human nature, as well as by his close attention to business, Judge Kennedy won the confidence and respect of all who came in contact with him. His practice steadily grew till it became one of the best at the bar. While that practice was gen- eral, he became especially proficient as a practitioner under the bankruptcy act of 1867, in which field he stood at the very front of the bar.
In 1891 a third Common Pleas Court was organized in Allegheny county, and he was selected as the representative of the majority party. On the bench he brought to the discharge of his official duties a thorough knowledge of law and equity, a passion for justice, a rigid integrity, a business experience and strong common sense which made his administration a signal success, and brought him a practically unanimous re-election.
At the close of 1911 Judge Kennedy, in spite of the urgent protests of the bar and the community, declined a re-election, and after 20 years on the bench, retired to private life, taking with him the affection of the bar and the esteem of the community.
Judge Kennedy belongs to few clubs, caring little for formal organizations for the purpose of promoting good fellowship, preferring to call all men his friends.
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JAMES H. BEAL.
The Keystone State boasts of some lawyers of national repute, whose discerning practice has brought them extensive recognition, and among this coterie of legal experts is James H. Beal, a practitioner of Pittsburgh. In the large number of lawyers practic- ing at the Allegheny county bar, possibly none has a higher rating than Mr. Beal.
He is the son of William and Mary Livingston Beal. For years he has been a prom- inent figure in the important activities of the Smoky City. His education was secured mainly in the public schools. This was largely amplified by private study and the read- ing of law, preliminary to Mr. Beal's admission to the bar.
In Pittsburgh Mr. Beal is associated with the firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw & Beal, one of the most prominent coalitions of lawyers in the entire State of Pennsylvania. The firm, of which he is a leading member, occupies a unique place in Allegheny county, where it has attracted considerable attention by reason of its history.
The predecessor of the prosperous firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw & Beal, and the coali- tion from which the latter firm sprung up, was the prominent firm of Knox & Reed. That organization was the one in which former United States Senator P. C. Knox, one of Pennsylvania's representatives in the higher congressional body, was a leading mem- ber. The entry of Mr. Knox into public life finally caused a serverance of his connec- tion with the Pittsburgh firm, for he was forced to give up his practice of the law when he became Secretary of State.
Accordingly this leading firm, with Mr. Beal as one of its most prominent members, was organized. Mr. Beal, with his firm associates, has conducted some of the most im- portant and exacting legal actions brought in this country. He is considered an expert in corporation practice, and has established an enviable record in his representation of some of the biggest corporations in important legal actions.
It was in January, 1892, that he was admitted to the Allegheny county bar, and his rise to a place of prominence was rapid. Just four years after his admission to prac- tice, in 1896, he became assistant city attorney for Pittsburgh. This place he filled with success until 1899. While serving in that capacity considerable prominence was attached to Mr. Beal and his ability was generally recognized.
Mr. Beal has not entirely confined his efforts to the practice of the law, but has been a prominent figure in the business life of the Smoky City. He is at present a director in the Pittsburgh Coal Company. In banking circles his influence is extensive. He is a director in the Lincoln National Bank. The same unusual ability and shrewdness has attached to his business ventures as to his legal practice.
In the club life of Pittsburgh and that of New York city Mr. Beal also occupies a prominent place. He at present retains membership in the following organizations: The Duquesne Club, University Club, Pittsburgh Athletic Association, Pittsburgh Coun- try Club, the Oakmont Country Club and the Union Club, all of the Pittsburgh district; the New York Athletic Club and the Lawyers' Club of New York city.
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J. H. BEAL.
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DAVID T. WATSON.
David T. Watson is not merely a Pittsburgher, but he is an American lawyer of international reputation. He was born in Washington, Washington county, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1844, and spent the early part of his life in that town. He attended the public schools and then enrolled as a student at Washington and Jefferson College, in Washing- ton, an institution which has the unique reputation of graduating perhaps more famous men for the size of its student body than perhaps any other American college.
Mr. Watson graduated high in his class-that of 1864. Even now, students at W. & J. are told that Mr. Watson, when a student, was taught by this or that professor still identified with the college, and that he frequented this or that class room, as a sort of good omen for the present-day students who "sit" under like circumstances.
While at Washington and Jefferson, Mr. Watson decided to take up the study of law, and to enter Harvard law school. In the meantime, the Civil War broke out, however, and he considered it to be his first duty to serve his country. Accordingly, he enlisted in Company B, Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Emergency Regiment. Later, he left that organ- ization to become a member of Battery D in Knapp's Battalion of Independent Artillery companies.
Mr. Watson saw considerable service during the course of the two years during which he was enlisted as a soldier, and in the fall of 1866 decided to resume the studies he had been induced to leave with the drum call. He, therefore, made his plans to enter the Harvard law school, which he did in the fall of 1866, proving to be one of the most bril- liant students in that famous institution.
Mr. Watson graduated from the law school the same year in which he entered, a re- markable performance. He then took the examination for admission to the bar in Boston, Mass., passing it successfully and being admitted to practice without any difficulty. Mr. Watson was admitted to the bar before he had been graduated from Harvard-another unusual performance and one that carries with it a great amount of honor and distinction.
After practicing in Boston for a period covering several months, Mr. Watson decided to return to Pennsylvania, his native State, and to apply for admission to the Allegheny county bar. Successfully passing this examination, also, he was admitted in January, 1867. He established himself in Pittsburgh, where he has continued to practice ever since.
Since beginning his professional career in Pittsburgh, Mr. Watson has been indenti- fied with some of the most interesting and complicated legal cases that have ever come before the judges of Allegheny county, and for many years has been looked upon as one of the leading legal authorities of the entire country.
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