USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > The Wyoming Valley, upper waters of the Susquehanna, and the Lackawanna coal-region : including views of the natural scenery of northern Pennsylvania : from the Indian occupancy to the year 1875 > Part 28
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Susquehanna > The Wyoming Valley, upper waters of the Susquehanna, and the Lackawanna coal-region : including views of the natural scenery of northern Pennsylvania : from the Indian occupancy to the year 1875 > Part 28
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Much information that would properly belong to a chapter on the company will of necessity be given in the biographical sketches of the men who have figured so extensively in the upbuild- ing of this thrifty and promising corporation.
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
HON. SAMUEL SLOAN.
" Yet still one joy remains, that not obscure Nor useless all my vacant days have dowed From youth's gay dawn to manhood's prime mature."-WARTON.
We shall give, in this sketch, the career of one of the ablest railroad men who has ever figured in the history of Northeastern Pennsylvania, and withal a self-made citizen. The man who springs from no elevated rank in life, and becomes opu- lent, and of high social consideration, by dint of his own unaided efforts-and if to that be added high political preferment and offices of responsi- bility and power, conferred spontaneously by those who appreciate his worth-has a higher claim upon popular admiration, everything else being equal, than one of aristocratic lineage and ancestral estate.
A truly representative man of this class is the Hon. Samuel Sloan, now President of the gigantic corporation known as the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company. He was born on the 25th of December, 1817, in the beautiful little town of Lisburn, within seven miles of Belfast, in the north of Ireland.
When about two years old his parents, who belonged to the Scotch Presbyterian church, emigrated to this country, and settled in the city of New Yook. His father, William Sloan, em- ployed in the old-established Bristol House of William Cowley, in Water Street, New York, died June 25, 1830, much regretted, as he was justly esteemed for his strict integrity and devo- tion to the interests of his employers. In 1798, however, some of his ancestors, owing to the political troubles of their native land, emigrated and settled in the State of Kentucky, where they and their numerous descendants have distin- guished themselves for their devotion to repub- lican institutions.
At an early age Samuel became a pupil in the first public school, No 1, of New York. Subse- quently he entered the Grammar School of Col- umbia College and pursued his studies until he was about fifteen years of age, when, owing to the sudden death of his father, leaving his widowed mother with five orphan children almost exclu- sively upon their own resources, he was compell- ed to abandon his career as a student and turn his attention to some more practical mode of supporting himself and those in a great measure depending upon him.
He entered the counting house of one of the most extensive English importing houses in New York, and soon after became a clerk in the old established house of McBride & Co., the founder of which, James McBride, now deceased. was for ncar half a century engaged in the Irish and English trade, and everywhere known for his strict integrity of character. Young Sloan re- mained in this house as clerk till 1845, when he became partner under the firm name of George McBride, Jr., & Co.
On the 1st of January, 1857, the firm was dis- solved, but Mr. Sloan having in December, 1855, been elected President of the Hudson River Railroad Company, retired from business and devoted his whole attention to the interests of the company ; and as the chief executive officer of that corporation, successfully carried it through the financial crisis of 1857, one of the severest trials experienced in railroad manage- ment.
In the spring of 1844, he married Miss Mar- garet Elmendorf, of Somerset County, N. J., a
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member of one of the oldest families in that section of the country, and removed to Brooklyn. In 1852 he was elected as Supervisor of Kings county, and in 1853 was appointed one of the Commissioners to form a charter for the consoli- dation of Brooklyn, Williamsburg and Bushwick. In these positions he discharged his duties with entire satisfaction to the people of the district he represented.
In 1852 he was a candidate for nomination in the Democratic Congressional Convention of his district, but although the largest number of dele- gates were elected favorable to his nomination, he was by some unfair means defeated by two votes.
He was never ambitious of political preferment, always preferring to devote his whole time and attention to his own favorite affairs, but in the fall of 1857, the Democrats of the Second Sena- torial district of New York, successfully urged upon him the nomination for State Senator. The district was then strongly Republican, and his competitor, Hon. Abijah Mann, Jr., enjoyed a high reputation as a legislator, but the contest resulted in the election of Mr. Sloan by a large majority.
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The Long-Island College Hospital, of which he was the first, and for many years, President, owes its organization and the beautiful property on which it is located to his personal interest- and responsibility. This institution first inaug- urated the school or elinie instruction, blending teaching and practice, now becoming so popular and successful elsewhere throughout the country.
Mr. Sloan has always been a Democrat of the National stamp. He is a prominent member of the Dutch Reformed Church, and has always been actively connected with the various bene- volent and religious associations. In his general With sentiments of personal regard and esteem-we have the honor to be, deportment he is quiet and unassuming ; a skill- Very respectfully, Your obedient servants, MOSES H. GRINNELL, WILLIAM KELLY, L. W. JEROME, - Committee of Board of Directors. ful and correct business man ; and when in public life was a reliable legislator. As a citizen he occupies a high position in the city where he resides. In person he is somewhat tall and slender ; has dark hair and eyes ; a flushed face, To Hon. Samuel Sloan, President of the Hudson and an honest, thoughtful countenance. River Railroad Company, New York.
Having arisen by his own exertions to the distinguished position he now occupies, his whole history is another striking illustration of the
glorious influence of free republican institutions in assigning to merit and genius their proper place and reward.
The following pleasant correspondence and action of friends shows in what estimation his associates regarded his connection with the Hud- son River Railroad Company :
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Hudson River Railroad Company held at their office in the city of New York, January 5th, 1864, it was on motion unanimously
Resolved, that a committee be appointed to prepare a suitable service of Plate to be presented to Mr. Sloan, with a written testimonial of the appreciation which this Board entertains of his valuable services to this Company, and that a sum not exceeding seven thousand five hundred dollars be appropriated for that purpose. Messrs. Grinnell, Kelly and Jerome were appointed such a committee.
THOMAS M. NORTH, Secretary.
The resolution read as follows :
It affords us much pleasure to be the medium of conveying to you the subjoined resolution recently adopted at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Hudson River Railroad Com pany, and also the accompanying service of silver plate, which has been procured in pursuance of the purpose expressed in that resolution.
In presenting to you these evidences of the appreciation with which your associates in the Board regard the valuable and important services which in your office of President, you have for so many years rendered to the Hudson River Railroad Company, and of the unfeigned respect which they all entertain for you personally : Permit us to add that it is the unanimous sense of the Board that to your energy and fidelity and to your judgment' and ability it is mainly due that the financial and material concerns of the Company have been brought to the present con- dition of prosperity and strength.
Mr. Sloan remained President of this Com- pany until 1867, when he, with the Directors, who had been identified with the construction
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and successful result of the enterprise, retired from the management of the Company. At the time he accepted the Presidency, the stock was selling at seventeen dollars per share ; when he left, after about ten years of hard labor, amid the most severe competition with the Hudson River Road on the one hand, the Harlem Road on the other, and want of sympathy from the New York Central, its natural connection, it sold at one hundred and forty dollars per share, and paying dividends.
About one year after this, Mr. Sloan was urged to act as an arbitrator, and by a unanimous vote was elected on the Commission of the Trunk Railroad-consisting of the New York & Erie, Baltimore & Ohio, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Railroad Companies, in which ca- pacity he acted with entire satisfaction for two years, settling difficulties arising out of interests in the passenger and freight traffic of the roads mentioned.
Mr. Sloan was elected President of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Com- pany, in February, 1869. He had been a direc- tor since 1864. When he commenced his ad- ministration as chief executive officer of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna and Western, the only outlet and connection was the New Jersey Central at the Junction, since which time, leases and ex- tensions have been made commencing with the - Morris & Essex Railroad from Washington, N. J., to New York city ; a controlling interest in the Syracuse & Binghamton Railroad to Syracuse, the lease of the Oswego & Syracuse Railroad to Oswego; the lease of the Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railroad to Utica and Richfield Springs.
In addition to all this, which commends him to the inhabitants of the Northern Anthracite Coal Basin, for having aided so largely in de- veloping our resources, he is a stockholder, and
has always taken an interest in all the companies about Scranton, using his means to the more complete developement of all our industries.
He is a Director in several Banks, Insurance Companies, and other heavy institutions in New York City.
Having summed up in brief the inost conspic- uous events of his life, and referred, although superficially, to his public career, it only remains for us to present a hasty and imperfect view of the attributes of his character and the estima- tion in which he is held by those among whom his days have been spent, and who arc qualified to appreciate his excellence and the beneficent influence which he has constantly exerted upon society.
As a man of sound sense and practical wisdom in all that relates to the every-day concerns of life, Mr. Sloan is pre-eminent among his fellows. He is a man of quick perception, fine facultics, with a power of generalization quite extraordin- ary. His reasoning powers are uncommon, and he has a ready, thorough appreciation of the force of an argument presented in a controver- sial discussion, a trait which exhibits as strongly as any his Irish lineage. He writes fluently and with precision, conveying his meaning in tersc, well chosen and clearly defined language. IIe has great ability, and the functions of his high office are performed with that degree of skill, intelligence, and integrity which insures a suc- cessful administration. He enjoys the unmixed respect and estcem of his neighbors and, lias troops of warm friends to whom he has endcared himself by acts of humanity and kindness. He has a sound constitution, is full of activity and vigor for his years, and leads a life illustrated by intelligent benevolence and a warm heartcd friendship emanating from the blood of his nationality.
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CHAPTER XXXIV.
MOSES TAYLOR AND WM. E. DODGE.
And courage never to submit or yield, And what else is not to be overcome. . - MILTON.
In continuing our sketches of prominent men whose lives and characters fitly exemplify the honorable traits of the class to which they be- long, we have chosen for our subject a man who, in many respects stands foremost among the active and intelligent business men who have aided in developing this Northeru Coal region, and the lesson of whose life is fill of interest and instruction.
There are few men connected with the coal, and interests of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, or the growth and prosperity of Seran- ton to whom so much is due for energy, enter- prise and wealth as Moses Taylor, for he is now, and always has been the largest stockholder in the varied enterprises which have developed this teeming section.
He is now the President of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, which position was urged upon him on the decease of the late Joseph H. Scranton, and the local interests and institutions of this city have ever found him a willing friend, always ready to invest his money with them. He became identified with the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Co., as Director, Aug. 4th, 185S ; as Vice-President, August 4th, 1865; Treasurer, May 27th, 1869 ; President, August 7th, 1872.
Moses Taylor was born in New York City, January 11th, 1806. He is deseended, to the third generation, from an Englishman of the same naine, who emigrated to this country from London in 1736. Upon the occupation of New York City by the British forces the grandfather
of our subject took up his residence in New Jersey. During his residence here the father of Mr. Taylor was born. He was named Jacob B. Taylor, and, true to the predominant instinct which has indicated itself in eachi succeeding generation of his family, he cast his lot in the city, and spent his entire life there. Many per- sons now living remember Mr. Jacob B. Taylor. His spare and erect figure, his grave but open countenance, were as well known in the walks of business as the excellent qualities of his character were appreciated there. He was distinguished through life for his entire faithfulness, his scrupulous honesty, his unswerving truthfulness, and his untiring activity. Whatever he did was done conscientiously, whatever he asserted was absolute verity, and his zeal and industry were such that, it may be truly said of him, that, in whatever he undertook, he knew no such word as fail. These qualities attracted, as was natural, the notice and respect of the community in which he lived; and for many successive years, during a period when civic distinctions were con- ferred upon the worthiest and not upon the basest citizens. A reference to the records of those days will show with what fidelity he discharge i his public trusts, and how well in him appeared
" The constant service of the antique world When service sweat for duty, not for meed."
It is no wonder, then, that Mr. Taylor feel-, as he does, an honest pride in his progenitors; and that the inheritance of a good name, which he has received from them, is esteemed by him as of more worth than untold material riche ..
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The house in which Mr. Taylor was born stood at the corner of Broadway and Morris Strect, and here he passed his carlier childhood ; but in 1813 his father removed his residence to a house in Broadway, nearly opposite to what is now the New York Hotel, and continued to reside there until long after his son had taken his departure from the paternal roof. Doubtless the remote- ness of this residence from the compact portion of the city-for it was then quite out of town- was the occasion of a habit which is still con- spicuous in Mr. Taylor, and to the constant practice of which, during half a century, his vigorous health, notwithstanding his exhausting labors, is mainly to be attributed. We refer to his invariable habit of using his own legs for the purposes of locomotion. That practice has made him perfect in this respect may be readily seen by any one who will observe him, even at this day, as with quick and elastic step he darts through the crowds of Wall and South Streets ; and is often experienced by some stiffer limbed acquaintance, who believes in omnibuses, but who sometimes vainly endeavors to accompany him in his daily walk down or up Broadway. The schools which he successively attendcd, during his boyhood, were those of Pickett in Chamber Street, Forrest & Slocum in Church Street, and Kellogg in Thames Street, and, as these were all nearly two miles distant from his father's house, and as his undeviating custom was to go to and return from them on foot, the habit of rapid walking, which he still keeps up, was then commenced. His school days were marked by the same energy and punctuality which characterized his subsequent life ; he was never a truant; he shirked no duty; he left no work unperformed ; but was ever prompt in his attendance, diligent in his studies, and faith- ful and thorough in the work which was imposed upon him at school. Although the character of his mind is practical rather than reflective, and exercises itself with the methods by which prac- tical results are educed, rather than with specu- lations upon any mere abstract subjects, yet he possesses so vigorous an understanding that there is no reason to doubt that if his inclinations had led him toward the paths of scholarship, he
would have attained to the same distinction in them as he has gained in the course of life which he actually pursued. But either his own choice, or those other potent influences which exercise a directing control over the purposes of men, determined that he should be a merchant and not a bookworm ; and accordingly, at the age of fifteen, with such an education as the training of a common school affords to a boy of that age, he threw aside his satchel, abandoned the sports of boyhood, and, bidding adieu to his school- mates, entered at once upon the serious business of his life.
At first he entered the house of J. D. Brown, but he remained there but a short time, and then became a clerk in the mercantile establishment of Messrs. G. G. & S. Howland. At this time, and indeed during the whole period in which Mr. Taylor remained in their service, the Messrs. Howlauds were engaged in a very extensive and varied foreign commerce. Their correspondence and business relations extended to every part of the world ; and the head of the house, Mr. Gar- diner G. Howland, a very energetic and intelli- gent merchant, was ever ready to enter upon new fields of commercial enterprise. They own- ed and employed many vessels, which sailed upon every sea and visited every shore. Freighted with assorted cargoes, made up of every variety of domestic and foreign article, they went forth upon their distant voyages and returned laden with the products of the countries which they had visited. To all parts of Europe, to India, China, the Mediterranean, to the West Indies, South America, the West Coast, to every quarter of the globe in fact, to which American enter- prise had pushed its commerce, these mercantile adventures were carried; and the system of credits prevailing in those days, both in reference to the purchase of outward cargoes and to the payment of dutics upon importations, helped to enlarge and amplify them, so that young Taylor set to work. Ilis industry and intelligence soon attracted the notice of his employers. Always cheerful, ready and zealous, quick, active and vigilant, it was perceived that he brought to the performance of his duties not only that steady application to the routine and details of business
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which is the commou requisite of a good clerk, but that, beyond these, he comprehended the bearing and significance of the thing in hand, and was ever prompt to anticipate and prepare for the succeeding step.
As he rapidly passed through the various gradations of counting-house promotion, new spheres of duty and activity were opened to him, and additional demands were made upon his energetic and indefatigable powers; yet his quickness of apprehension, and his steady deter- mination to be always " ahead of his work," rendered him equal to these demands. Indeel nothing gratified him more than to be able, as he most always was, to reply to his employers suggestion of work to be performed, " It is done, Sir."
At the present time, the commerce of New York has attained to such vast proportions, that each partieular branch of it constitutes, in many instances, a separate business in itself, and many of its operations and details are turned over to brokers and other agents who make them the objects of their special occupation. It is diffi- eult, therefore, for the young gentlemen, who now rass a few hours a day in a counting.house, to realize the extent and variety of labor which, at the time when Mr. Taylor was a clerk, had to be performed by their predecessors. Each house had then to depend [upon its own force and facilities for the performance of every thing which its business required, and the post of eustom-house clerk, shipping clerk or salesman, in an establishment like that of the Messrs. Howlands, was no sinecure. It it not to be won dered, then, that the candle upon his desk was often burning beyond the time of night when the bells of old Trinity struck the "shutting up" hour of ten o'clock. The day was devoted to out-door work-to vessel, wharf, custom-house and market. The night was employed in record- ing what had been accomplished during the day, and in the necessary preparations for the mor- row.
Notwithstanding these severe demands upon his industry, he yet found time to test the value of his mercantile education, by methods which not only confirmed the lessons that he had learn-
ed, but which also afforded some remuneration for the diligent faithfulness that he had bestowed upon them. With the concurrence of his em- ployers, he frequently engaged in small adren- tures upon his own account. Guided by his own judgment, he would make up consignments, which he would entrust, under instructions, to the captains and supercargocs voyaging for the house ( with whom he was always a favorite ), and these, sold by them, and their procceds in- vested in foreign products, frequently yielded him a double profit. Indeed so much judgment- and foresight were displayed in these operations, and their details were so carefully and judicious- ly managed, that they may fairly be said to have beeu the forcrunners of his subsequent mercan- tile success. They yielded him the capital which enabled him afterwards to enter upon his larger sphere of business on his own account. Always exact and orderly, he opened, at this early day, a set of books in which all these adventures were recorded by " double entry." A friend who has seen these accounts informs us that they are models of neatness and accuracy.
With such preparation, and after such experi- ence, Mr. Taylor arrived at that period of life when. so far as he was concerned, its business and affairs were to be carried on by him upon his own responsibility, and for his own benefit. His salary as clerk had always been small, bnt the adventures which he had undertaken, whilst he was in that capacity, had yielded him altogether fifteen thousand dollars; and, with this sum as his capital, and the respect and good wishes of his employers, and the confidence and esteem of all who knew him, he, in 1832, at the age of twenty sis, set up in business upon his own account.
Although " he put up a sign" temporarily over the store 55 South street, his really first place of business was at 44 South street. That portion of South street seems to have had pecu- liar attractions for him, and, indeed, for those also who came under his influence-for, as he once remarked to some friends, five of his clerks who were, at the same time, in his employ, and who, without a single failure, had had eminent success in different lines of business, were then
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established within one hundred feet on either side of his store. So far as external circum- stances were concerned, the beginning did not seem to be an auspicious one, for the cholera was then raging in New York, and was exercising its depressing influence upon human affairs. Death, not the concerns of life, seemed to occupy the thoughts of men. But Mr. Taylor was never- theless not deterred, by this eireumstance, from carrying his plans into execution; and he entered upon his business with so much energy and dili- gence, so much capacity and judgment, that it almost immediately developed a successful issue. It had, however, been just fairly put under pros- perous headway, when, in the devastating fire of December, 1835, his store with all its contents was destroyed; involving him, as he then sup- posed, in the loss of all he possessed. On his way home, after a night of exhausting toil, in in which he had been able to save little besides his books of accounts, he met his father, to whom he stated the apprehension that he was ruined. " Never mind, Moses," said the sturdy alderman, " you have good health, try it again." " I will, sir," said the son; and dispelling all feeling of despondency, which was ever unnatural to him, the same day saw him at work again. He opened an office immediately in the basement of his house in Morris strect, and, soon afterwards, securing temporary accommodations in Broad street, this terrible disaster, which created so great a disturbance of all of the business con- eerns of the city, can hardly be said to have pro- duced any serious interruption of his affairs. The difficulties of his condition merely served to call forth, in a greater degree, an exereise of the , powers which were necessary to overcome them ; and the result was, that the ruin which threat- ened him was entirely avoided. It turned out that a greater sum was realized from his fire policies than he had hoped to obtain upon them.
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