USA > Pennsylvania > The Book of Prominent Pennsylvanians; a standard reference > Part 7
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68
W. T. TREDWAY.
William Thomas Tredway, of Cora- opolis, Pa., is a lawyer of Pittsburgh, and was born in Warsaw, Coshocton Co., Ohio., February 12, 1862, the son of Crispen and Melvina (James) Tredway. He received his elementary instruction at the Donley School of Bedford Town- ship, Coshocton county, Ohio, and later at the West Bedford public school. He taught in the Ohio public schools for one year. In 1886 he was graduated from Washington and Jefferson College. Mr. Tredway was admitted to the bar of Allegheny county in 1888, and in 1892 became associated with Stone & Potter, and remained with them until William A. Stone became Governor, and W. P. Potter a Supreme Court Justice of Pennsylvania. Mr. Tredway makes a specialty of corporation and municipal corporation law, and was for eleven years solicitor for the Borough of Cora- opolis, where he built and maintains his home. He was married March 14, 1894, to Cora Alice Watson, and they have two children. He has organized several banks and trust companies.
A. LEO WEIL.
Having as a lawyer attained prominence at the Pittsburgh bar, A. Leo Weil has yet a stronger claim to consideration by reason of his record in the work of advancing the cause of clean politics. Mr. Weil was born July 19, 1858, at Keysville, Charlotte county, Kentucky, the son of Isaac L. and Mina Weil. He was graduated from the high school of Titusville, Pa. Completing the the law course at the University of Vir- ginia, he was admitted to the bar of Vir- ginia, subsequently to the bar of Ohio, and later to the Pennsylvania bar. He moved to Pittsburgh from Titusville in 1888. He is a member of the City Club of New York, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the Pennwood, Westmore- land county and Edgewood Country clubs. He is a member of the executive committee of the National Municipal League, the Pennsylvania Civil Service association, the American Jewish Com- mittee, and of nearly all the national as- sociations engaged in civic and philan- thropic work.
69
W. T. PIERCE.
William Torrence Pierce, attorney and banker, was born in Jefferson town- ship, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1872. His parents were Joseph Pierce and Henrietta (nee Tor- rence) Pierce. He was graduated from the Pittsburgh academy in 1892. He took a course of bookkeeping in the Euclid Avenue Business college, Cleve- land, and was graduated from Westmin- ster college, at New Wilmington, in 1895. After studying law in Pitts- burgh, Mr. Pierce was admitted to the Allegheny county bar in 1902. He is engaged in the general practice of law, and is an authority on real estate law. His office is in the Park Building. Mr. Pierce is also a director of the National Bank of Western Pennsylvania, the First National Bank of West Elizabeth and the First National Bank of Monon- gahela. He is president of the Second National Bank of Elizabeth. Mr. Pierce is secretary of the board of trustees of Westminster College and president of the general alumni association.
J. S. WELLER.
John S. Weller, lawyer, of Pitts- burgh, was born in Somerset county, in the Keystone State, being the son of Dr. F. S. Weller and Mary A. Weller. He first attended the common schools, later Pennsylvania State College, and from the latter was graduated in 1889. Sena- tor Weller was admitted to practice dur- ing September, 1891, in Bedford county, Pa. He was district attorney there from 1894 to 1896. He entered the field of politics and was quickly recognized for his ability. During the sessions of the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1899 and 1901 he was a member of the State Senate, where his record was excellent. He is prominent in the business life of the Pittsburgh district, being a director of many corporations. He is a member of the Pittsburgh City Planning Com- mission, having been appointed to that position by Mayor William A. Magee in 1912. He is a member of the Free Ma- sons and Royal Arch, the Beta Theta Phi college fraternity, the Pittsburgh Coun- try Club, Duquesne and other clubs.
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70
JOHN M. HAVERTY.
John M. Haverty, attorney at law, with offices on the eighth floor of the Frick building, was born in Pittsburgh, September 27, 1877, the son of Thomas F. Haverty and Margaret H. Haverty. He graduated from the public schools, continued his studies at the Academic High School and at the Pittsburgh Academy, and in 1899 graduated from the Law School of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, receiving the bachelors degree in law. He took up the practice of law in Michigan, but a year later was admitted to the Allegheny county bar. Later he was admitted to practice in all the courts of the State and the Federal courts. Mr. Haverty was married June 30, 1903, to Miss Ida M. Farrell, formerly of Cumberland, Md. They have two boys and three girls. Mr. Haverty is president of the Greenfield Board of Trade, of Pitts- burgh ; the president of the Young Men's Republican Tariff Club of Pittsburgh ; a member of the Athletic Committee of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, and a member of the Elks.
OSCAR T. TAYLOR.
Oscar Thomas Taylor, prominent at- torney and soldier, was born in Brook- lyn, N. Y., February 10, 1870, the son of John A. and Margaret (Simpson) Taylor. He graduated from Washing- ton and Jefferson College, Washington, Pa., 1890, and from the law school of the University of Buffalo, Buffalo, N. Y., 1893; was admitted to the practice of law in New York state in 1894, and to the Allegheny county bar in 1902. He was attorney for the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo. He served throughout the Spanish-American war as Captain of Co. G, 202nd New York Voluntier Infantry. He is commander- in-Chief of the United Spanish War Veterans, and Adjutant of the Soldiers' Civic League of Allegheny county. He is assistant district attorney of Alle- gheny county. He is a thirty-second de- gree Mason, and belongs to the Odd Fel- lows, Elks, Moose, Naval & Military Order of the Spanish-American War, Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, Ro- tary Club of Pittsburgh and the Ara- bian Lords of the American Desert.
71
Fred W. Scott was born September 28, 1873, in Elizabeth township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania,
FRED W. the son of Samuel Scott and Eliza J. Scott. He received his education in the SCOTT. public schools and at Franklin College, New Athens, O., and read law with J. S. and E. G. Ferguson, in Pittsburgh. He was admitted to practice law in Allegheny county in April, 1902, and later ad- mitted to practice in the higher courts. He established himself in Duquesne, where he has maintained an of- fice, with one in Pittsburgh. Mr. Scott is vice-presi- dent and counsel for the First National Bank of Du- quesne; general counsel and director of the Standard Life Insurance Company; president of the Duquesne & Dravosburg Street Railway Company, and treasurer of the Duquesne-McKeesport Land Company. He served in the Spanish War, and is a member of the Youghiogheny Country Club.
Thomas E. Finley, attorney at law, was born De- cember 22, 1862, in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- THOMAS vania. His parents were Thomas G. Finley and Elizabeth Finley. He at- E. FINLEY. tended public and private schools in Westmoreland county. Mr. Finley was a public school teacher four years. Afterwards he attended Wash- ington & Jefferson College three years, and taught an academy at Murrysville, Pa., one year. During that time and for two years thereafter Mr. Finley studied law. He was admitted to the bar March 17, 1894, and has been engaged in active practice ever since. He is president of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Land Company, and vice-president of the J. E. Edmundson Company. He is a member of the Masonic Order. In 1905 Mr. Finley was married to Miss Elizabeth D. Edmundson. His offices are in Pittsburgh.
George Maurice Harton, corporation attorney and business man, was born in Pittsburgh 45 years ago,
GEORGE the son of Theodore Marshall Harton
MAURICE and Emily (nee Rinehart) Harton. He was graduated from Adrian College HARTON. with the degree of bachelor of philoso- phy, and in 1892 from the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, with the degree of bachelor of laws. Mr. Harton was admitted to the bar in December, 1892, and opened a law office in January of the following year. Not content with a legal practice which would have satisfied most men, he interested himself in manu- facturing, and as president of the Augusta Veneer Company he has built a prosperous and profitable busi- ness. He is a member of the Pittsburgh Athletic As- sociation, the Masonic Order and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity of his college.
72
GEORGE ALLAIRE HOWE.
George Allaire Howe, steel manufacturer and attorney, was born October 1, 1856, in Allegheny, now the North Side of Pittsburgh. Mr. Howe is descended from a long line of distinguished ancestors. His father, Thomas M. Howe, represented the Pittsburgh district in Congress from 1850 to 1856. He was the first president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Com- merce and a prosperous manufacturer of iron, steel and copper products. Mr. Howe's mother was Mary (nee Palmer) Howe. George Allaire Howe is the seventh in line of descent from John Howe, who came from England and set- tled in Sudbury, Mass., in 1638.
After studying in private schools for a number of years, George Allaire Howe entered Princeton university from which he graduated in 1878. He studied law in the offices of the Hon. George Shiras and Attorney William Scott, and in the law school of the University of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Allegheny county bar in 1882. He opened a law office at once and practiced law until 1888, when he retired from legal practice and became secretary of Howe, Brown & Company, manufactur- ers of crucible steel.
The qualifications which win success in the steel manufacturing business and in the practice of law are apparently entirely different .. Nevertheless Mr. Howe after winning a fair measure of success in the law quit his legal practice entirely and won wealth and success in the steel business. He remained with Howe, Brown & Com- pany until the company was consolidated with the Crucible Steel Company of America, in 1900. Not content to be an employe, Mr. Howe with the late James W. Brown, organized the Colonial Steel Company of Pittsburgh, manufacturers of high grade steel products. He served as vice-president of this company from 1902 until his resignation was ac- cepted in 1907.
Mr. Howe was president of the Princeton Alumni Association of Western Pennsyl- vania in 1899 and 1900. He belongs to the Pittsburgh Club, the Duquesne Club, the Pittsburg Golf Club, Pittsburgh Athletic Association, the University and Princeton Clubs of New York and to the Society of Colonial Wars.
Mr. Howe stands high in the Masonic fraternity and belongs to many Masonic or- ganizations. He became thirty-third degree Mason in Boston, Mass., in September, 1904. He is a member of the Scottish Rite bodies and belongs to Franklin Lodge No. 221, Free and Accepted Masons, Pittsburgh Chapter 268 Royal Arch Masons, Mt. Moriah Council No. 2, and Tancred Commandery No. 48, Knights Templar.
Mr. Howe was married in June, 1887, to Miss Martha C. Jones, daughter of Robert G. Jones, of Pittsburgh. Mrs. Howe died in October, 1910.
73
John Wilson Thomas, a lawyer with offices at 518 Fourth Ave., Pittsburgh, and a residence on Heinz Ter-
JOHN race, Sharpsburg, was born March 31,
WILSON 1868, son of John S. Thomas, deceased, and Frances Brown Thomas. He attended THOMAS. the public schools of Etna, graduated from the Lock Haven Normal School in 1891 and from Western University of Pennsylvania Law Department in 1897, with the degree of LL.B. He studied law in the offices of Hon. John D. Shafer and was admitted to the bar of Allegheny County June 19, 1897. He is a member of the Board of Examiners of the Allegheny County Bar, which position he has held for the past six years. He is attorney for Etna Borough, several townships and school districts and a director of and counsel for the Citizens' Deposit and Trust Company of Sharpsburg.
James Edward Hindman, attorney and business man, was born in Altoona, July 6, 1875. His parents JAMES EDWARD were John A. Hindman and Anna E. Hindman. He was graduated from HINDMAN. Lafayette College in 1900 with the de- gree of bachelor of philosophy, and in 1903 from the Pittsburgh Law School with the degree of bachelor of laws. Since June, 1903, he has been engaged in the general practice of law. He is an ex- pert in corporation law, and is solicitor for the Borough of Wilkinsburg, the school district of the Borough of Wilkinsburg and the Central National Bank of Wil- kinsburg; a director of the Fort Pitt Oil & Gas Com- pany, the Pittsburgh Photoplay Company, the Central National Bank, of Wilkinsburg, and James A. Mc- Ateer & Sons, Incorporated. He belongs to the Uni- versity Club of Pittsburgh, the Edgewood Country Club and the Wilkinsburg Club.
Marion Hayleigh Murphy, lawyer of Pittsburgh, was born and educated in that city. His mother,
MARION Elizabeth Polk Hayleigh, was a Tennes- seean and a grand niece of President HAYLEIGH MURPHY. James K. Polk. He read law in the of- fice of Judge Ambrose B. Reid, and was admitted to practice in all the State and Federal Courts, and since then has devoted his attention chiefly to civil practice and the Orphans' Courts. In the last several years Mr. Murphy has been instrumental in forming several corporations which he is now repre- senting. He was the secretary of the Democratic County Committee for several years, and was chair- man of the Campaign Committee at the time of the election of Judge Reid. Mr. Murphy is a Master of the Fourth Degree, Knights of Columbus, and is a mem- ber of the Pittsburgh Athletic Association.
74
JOSHUA G. SPLANE.
When one speaks of telephones operating in and around Pittsburgh the name of Joshua G. Splane is invariably linked with the subject, for from the time he was elected president of the Pittsburgh & Alle- gheny Telephone Company, and later its receiver and a director, wires have been extended to Maryland, West Virginia and the western part of Pennsylvania until every hamlet has been covered. From an obscure little concern with plenty of capital and charter, but abso- lutely no business nor subscribers, the Pittsburgh & Allegheny Telephone Com- pany has grown constantly.
Of course there was telephoning done after a fashion in Pittsburgh ever since 1879, for about that time two friendly firms in the Iron City strung a private wire between their respective places of business. Later other firms were put on the line, but telephones in small offices and private residences was a luxury entirely undreamed of.
In 1898 the incorporators of the then new company got together, and with a capital of $1,500,000 applied for a charter. To get business and build up the enterprise was the hard task before the officers and attaches of the new company, and Mr. Splane devoted all of his attention to this end. The reward of his labors now is a system so immense that more than 70,000,000 conversations are held over the P. & A. wires every year. The company is one of the youngest in this region, but one of the most useful in the country. That much of its success has been due to the esprit de corps of the personnel of the corporation and its attaches is generally conceded, and that Mr. Splane has been, and still is largely responsible for this feeling of good will, is ad- mitted on all sides.
Mr. Splane was born in Pittsburgh. After graduating from the public schools of that city he entered the University of West Virginia, and when he left the university in 1886 he began work in the clerical department of the Standard Oil Company.
In 1903 the new telephone company seemed on the fair road to prosperity, and so Mr. Splane left the Standard Oil concern to cast his lot with the new enterprise. He was elected president of the company, but in 1911, when it became insolvent, he was ap- pointed its receiver, and has served in that capacity ever since. In 1903, also, he became one of the organizers of the Home Trust Company, and immediately after its incorpora- tion became its treasurer, a position which he held for only one year, because a great many other local enterprises claimed his attention. For that reason also he refrained from actively engaging in politics, although in 1900 he was elected a member of city council. He remained there for only one year.
In addition to being a receiver and director of the P. & A. Telephone Company, he is a director of the Monongahela Tube Company, the Pittsburgh Silver Peak Gold Mining Company and the Republic Bank Note Company. In other capacities he is connected with a great many concerns of importance. Mr. Splane is also a member of the Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh Country Club, Americus Club and Tariff Club, of Pittsburgh.
75
DAVID AIKEN REED.
David Aiken Reed, attorney, of Pittsburgh, is the son of Judge J. H. and Kate J. Aiken Reed. He was born in Pittsburgh December 21, 1880, and is engaged now as one of the counsel for the United States Steel Corporation. He was graduated from Princeton in 1900 with the degree of A.B. He studied in the law school of Western University of Pennsylvania, and received a degree of LL.B. in 1903. In that year he en- tered the law firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw & Beal. In February, 1912, Mr. Reed was appointed by Governor Tener to be chairman of the Industrial Accidents Commission of the State. Mr. Reed has made a special study of workmen's com- pensation litigation. He was counsel for the United States Steel Corporation during the hearings before the Stanley Committee of the House of Representa- tives. Mr. Reed is a member of the Duquesne Club, University Club, Pitts burgh Golf Club and Pittsburgh Ath- letic Association.
THOMAS PATTERSON.
Thomas Patterson, attorney at law and business man, was born in Carroll township, Washington county, Penn- sylvania, November 14, 1856. His father was Robert Patterson and his mother Eliza (nee Baird) Patterson. After completing a course of study in the Ayers Latin School, in Pittsburgh, Mr. Patterson entered the Western University of Pennsylvania. He was graduated in 1876 with the degree of bachelor of arts. Three years later he was given the degree of master of arts, and in 1895 the honorary degree of bachelor of laws. Mr. Patterson began the study of law by registration in the office of his cousin, T. H. B. Patterson, and continued it at the Columbia Law School in 1879 and 1880, and was ad- mitted to the bar of Allegheny county in 1881. His offices are in Pittsburgh. He is a member of the Duquesne Club, the Allegheny Country Club, the University Club of Pittsburgh, and the University Club of Philadelphia.
76
JAMES J. FLANNERY.
In the beautiful section of Pittsburgh known as Oakland, that had originally been intended as an exclusive residence section only, there has of late years sprung up a number of handsome office buildings that, even though isolated as they are, buzz with all the industry and activity of similar buildings in the heart of the city. At Meyran and Forbes streets there stands such a structure. In those offices the affairs of the American Vana- dium Company and allied concerns transact their business, a business that is comparatively new, but that has had its part, and is still having its part, in the making of wealth beyond estimate.
With the discovery of the vanadium process of steel making there has sprung up all over the country, wherever steel is manufactured, sub- sidiary concerns, and among the men re- sponsible for the growth of this enter- prise none is more prominent than James J. Flannery, of Pittsburgh. Mr. Flannery lives near the offices that har- bor the many concerns with which he is connected. His city address is 3515 Forbes street. Mr. Flannery is not only at the head of the various vanadium concerns, but he holds the highest executive positions of other enterprises.
James J. Flannery is a West Virginian, and by his successes he has proved that it makes little difference where a man is born, in order to make a big figure of himself in the business world. It was in the little town of Hollidays Cove, January 18, 1855, that he first saw the light of day. At an early age he was brought to Pittsburgh, where he was placed in the Christian Brothers' School, and there he remained till he completed the rigid course of studies that has made that institution known far and wide.
On leaving school he interested himself in the manufacture of steel in Pittsburgh. He entered the employ of several different concerns. In 1877 he was married to Miss Harriet Rogers, daughter of Commodore John Rogers, of the United States Navy.
His rise in the vanadium steel industry was rapid. In turn he found himself at the head of many concerns, most of which have branch offices in many parts of the country. Of five of these he holds the presidency. These are the American Vanadium Company, the Vanadium Sales Company of America, the Flannery Bolt Company, the Oakland Sav- ings & Trust Company and the Collier Land Company. Besides being a Knight of Co- lumbus, he is a member of the Duquesne Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association.
Mr. Flannery, in a quiet and unostentatious way, has been more than ordinarily in- strumental in the building up of the Oakland section in which he lives and works. There has never been a booming compaign launched for the improvement of that section to which he has not contributed liberally, and much of his time that is not spent in his offices is spent among the boosters of Oakland, who never fail to receive his aid.
77
Frank Chew Osburn, barrister, whose office is in the Park building, was born in old Allegheny, now
North Side, Pittsburgh, son of Frank-
FRANK
CHEW
OSBURN.
lin Osburn and Henrietta Warner Os- burn, late of Sewickley, Allegheny county, Pa.
He was educated in the public schools and was graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Os- burn lived the greater part of his life at Glen Osborn (formerly Osburn) and at Sewickley, in this county; but is now a resident of the Fourth ward, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mr. Osburn was formerly president of the Alle- gheny County Bar Assoication, and also served this as- sociation as chairman of the committee which revised the indexes of deeds and mortgages in the Allegheny County Recorder's office.
Warren Ilsley Seymour, lawyer, was born in Buf- falo, New York, August 27, 1873, the son of Samuel L. and Henrietta I. Seymour. In 1895 he WARREN was graduated from Princeton Uni- ILSLEY versity with the degree of A.B. He en- SEYMOUR. tered the law school of Harvard Uni- versity and from the latter institution was graduated in 1898, with the degree of LL.B. In December, 1898, Mr. Seymour was admitted to the practice of law in Allegheny county, and he has practiced there con- tinuously since that time. In legal circles in the Pittsburgh district Mr. Seymour has attained dis- tinction. He was brought most prominently before the people of Allegheny county when for more than two years, beginning in 1910, he occupied the position of first assistant district attorney, displaying remarkable ability in espousing the cause of the commonwealth.
Andrew Wells Robertson, attorney at law and a director in a number of banking and real estate con- cerns in Pittsburgh, was born in Pan- ANDREW ama, New York, February 7, 1880. He WELLS ROBERTSON. was educated in the public schools in his native city, and then entered Alle- gheny College at Meadville, Pa., where he graduated in 1906 with the A. B. degree. He was principal of the Charleroi High School; entered the Law School of the University of Pittsburgh, and was admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania in 1910. While attending the law school he was part owner and one of the principals of the Boys' Collegiate School, corner Ellsworth avenue and Clyde street, Pittsburgh, Pa. In addition to prac- ticing law in Pittsburgh, he is also a director and trust officer of the Guarantee Title & Trust Company.
78
AMERICUS V. HOLMES.
Americus Vespucius Holmes, capitalist and banker, was born March 16, 1847, in the present downtown district of Pittsburgh, on Marberry street, now Second street. His parents were Dr. Shepley Ross Holmes and Mrs. Mary (nee Skelton) Holmes.
Mr. Holmes comes of one of the oldest pioneer families of Pittsburgh and has ever been active in promoting the best interests of the city. Dr. Holmes, the father, was a distinguished physician and one of the best known and most successful practitioners in early Pittsburgh. He stood high in Masonic circles.
Americus V. Holmes as a boy at- tended the old Second Ward public school when J. B. Meades was the prin- cipal. In 1863 and 1864 he attended Col. Hyatt's Military Academy at West- chester. For one year he was a student in the Iron City College.
In 1868 Mr. Holmes became of age and at once took charge of the Holmes family's important real estate holdings in Pittsburgh, including a business block at 226 Fifth avenue.
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