USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Braddock > The unwritten history of Braddock's Field (Pennsylvania) > Part 19
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BRADDOCK TRUST CO.
the time of his death, which occurred while he was on a visit to Florida in February, 1912. Mr. Dowler was one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Braddock. He was engaged in the lumber business here for many years. Being a keen business man, he was well fitted for the responsible position to which he was elected.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Mr. George C. Watt(1) was elected president to succeed Mr. E. R. Dowler.
Mr. George Nash was elected as vice president and H. M. Scott as secretary and treasurer, and J. M. Clifford, assistant treasurer.
The Trust Company was located in what was formerly the Masonic building at the corner of Braddock Avenue and Library Street, but which is now owned and occupied by the Famous Department Stores. The bank- ing room being small, it became necessary in a short time to look for a larger one, hence they moved to the Braznell building, just across Library Street. They continued in business in that place until May, 1907, when they purchased the Union National Bank and moved to the present loca- tion at No. 816 Braddock Avenue, Braddock, Pa.
The Braddock Trust Company took over the Citizens Bank of Brad- dock in April, 1905.
The deposits on Jan. 1st, 1911 amounted to $720,000.00 and in- creased to $1,166,000.00 January 1st, 1917. The total resources January 1st, 1917 were $1,400,000.00.
In addition to doing a regular banking business, the Braddock Trust Company has well equipped real estate and trust departments, which are under the management of Mr. W. S. Heath, real estate and trust officer.
This was the first bank in Braddock to take up the trust work, act- ing as executor, administrator, guardian, trustee, etc., of estates. This did away with the old and unsatisfactory method of having inexperienced persons handling this very important work, thius saving large sums of money which might otherwise have been lost.
The present officers of the Braddock Trust Company are:
President-George C. Watt.
Vice presidents-Harry W. Benn, George Nash and A. J. Spigel- mire.
Secretary and treasurer-E. C. Striebich.
Real estate and trust officer-W. S. Heath.
The present directors are: H. W. Benn, F. G. Bishoff, L. A. Katz,
(1) Mr. Geo. C. Watt was elected cashier of the First National Bark in 1897, being at that time one of the youngest men in the United States to hold such a position. On the death of his father, Mr. W. H. Watt, in August, 1903, Mr. Geo. C. Watt was made the executive officer of the bank, which position he has held continuously since. The growth of the bank and of the Braddock Trust Co., which is under the same management, during the last fifteen years is the evidence of Mr. Watt's ability as a financier and executive. That Mr. Watt is recognized by the bank- ing fraternity as a man of unusual executive force is shown by the fact that he has been called upon to serve a term as president of Group Eight (Pittsburgh Division) of the American Bankers' Association .- ( Ed.)
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J. J. Keller, W. A. Kulp, Louis Lorch, Jr., M. J. McBride, Geo. Nash, Jas. A. Russell and A. J. Spigelmire.
STATE BANK OF BRADDOCK, PA.
The State Bank of Braddock, Pa. received its charter July 1st, 1897, and opened for business on July 17th, 1897.
Mr. R. M. Holland was elected the first president and served in that capacity until the time of his death.
Mr. C. A. Stokes, the well known and highly respected real estate and insurance agent of Braddock, was the first vice president, and later was made president at the time of the death of Mr. Holland.
Mr. H. C. Shallenberger, Sr., was elected the first cashier and later succeeded Mr. Stokes as president, in which office he has remained to the present time. Mr. Shallenberger is one of the oldest and best known resi- dents of Braddock. He was always interested in the things that tend to make a better community. He served six years as Burgess.
The bank is located at No. 801 Braddock Avenue. This location was one of the old land marks of Braddock. It was known to many of the older residents as the little Octagon House, and was built by Mr. Parker. Mr. Parker was one of the first settlers of old Braddock's Field.
The bank has a capital of $50,000.00 and a surplus and undivided profits of $30,000.00.
The deposits at the end of the first year amounted to $102,119.67, increased in ten years to $318,550.00 and continued growing until today, when they have a total of $700,000.00.
The present officers are:
President-H. C. Shallenberger, Sr.
Vice president-H. M. Glenn.
Cashier -- C. L. Masters.
Directors-P. D. Remington, Geo. L. House, H. M. Glenn, W. R. Magill, Geo. Weil, H. J. Learn and H. C. Shallenberger, Sr.
THE UNION NATIONAL BANK.
The Union National Bank began business June 1st, 1903. The bank was located at No. 737 Braddock Avenue. They continued in busi- ness there until their new building at No. 816 Braddock Avenue was com- pleted. Mr. Jas. H. McCrady, president of the McCrady Bros. Co., was elected president, Mr. Chas. Zugsmith, Jr., vice president and Mr. A. A. Mckinney, cashier.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
They had a paid up capital of $102,500 and increased same to $200,000.
Mr. Geo. Hogg succeeded Mr. Zugsmith as vice president.
Directors: J. H. McCrady, Chas. Zugsmith, Jr., M. J. McBride, A. L. Sailor, W. M. Holmes, Jos. Wolf, John K. Skelley, Geo. Hogg, Emanuel Weiler, J. M. Horner and L. A. Katz.
The bank was taken over by the Braddock Trust Company in 1907.
THE CITIZENS BANK OF BRADDOCK, PA.
The Citizens Bank of Braddock was organized June 5th, 1903, with A. S. Braznell, J. M. Clifford, C. W. Braznell, J. J. Keller and F. S. Ben- nett constituting the stockholders.
Mr. A. S. Braznell was elected president, Mr. J. M. Clifford, vice president, H. G. Getzel, cashier, and J. M. Clifford, Jr., assistant cashier. Mr. F. S. Bennett, attorney, was elected as solicitor.
The following directors were elected : A. S. Braznell, J. M. Clifford, J. J. Keller and F. S. Bennett.
The bank was located at No. 721 Braddock Avenue and continued in business there until May, 1904, when they moved to the Masonic build- ing. They stayed there until April, 1905, when the Braddock Trust Co. took over all the assets and assumed all the liabilities of the bank.
A resolution was passed August 1st, 1905, by a unanimous vote of the stockholders, wherein it was decided the institution would go into liqui- dation.
BOM
LIBRARIAN -- GEORGE H. LAMB.
THE CARNEGIE FREE LIBRARY, BRADDOCK, PA.
THE OLDEST CARNEGIE LIBRARY IN AMERICA.
THE CARNEGIE FREE LIBRARY. THE OLDEST CARNEGIE LIBRARY IN AMERICA.
BY GEO. H. LAMB.
In the early eighties, Mr. Andrew Carnegie began his wonderful career of library exploitation by building at Braddock, Pa., the first of the Carnegie libraries in this country. The dominant idea at that time was the equipping of a library for the Carnegie employees and their families ; and it was referred to in the newspapers of the period as the Edgar Thomson Works library.
The Braddock library began the circulation of books in March, 1889, with 2,153 volumes on its shelves, and had a circulation during that month of 998. The total circulation for the balance of the year 1889 was 18,738. There were added during that year after the opening, 1,981 volumes, thus starting the year 1890 with 4,134 books.
The library was formally dedicated, and turned over to the com- munity at a public meeting, attended by more than 2,000 people, held in Leighton's rink (the auditorium was not built until 1893) on the evening of Saturday, March 30, 1889.
On that occasion, Mr. Carnegie made an address of considerable length, a few brief quotations from which are here given. The address in full was published in pamphlet form, and is entitled, "An Address given at the Dedication of the Edgar Thomson Works Library." Mr. Carnegie said :- "I hand this library over to you and your successors forever. I have no desire to accumulate more money. We will never be the first to reduce labor. We never have been. The fatal enemy of labor is labor, not capital. I may be ranging the earth, but my heart must ever be directed to the home of my youth, and my thoughts to the prosperity of those industries in which I have not been afraid to invest, and am not now afraid to let my capital remain."
He added further :- "I trust you will not forget the importance of amusements. I hope the room upstairs is to be provided with all the means possible for the playing of a game of billiards and so forth, and for gym- nastic exercises. Life must not be taken too seriously. We must have our hours for laughter and frolic. It is a great mistake to think a man who works all the time wins in the race. Have your amusements. Learn to play a good game of whist, a good game of draughts, or a good game of billiards.
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"I venture to predict that when generation after generation shall have passed away, this Library will remain and be recognized as a center of light and leading; a never failing spring of all good influences; and perhaps it may serve to remind those generations that are to come, that the duties of capital towards labor, even in this age, are not altogether forgotten.
"Fellow workmen, I now hand over the Library to you and your successors forever."
Mr. Samuel Sweet Green, in his "Public Library Movement", on page 102 says : "In 1881 Mr. Carnegie began his great work of founding and aiding libraries by announcing in the spring of that year his purpose of establishing a free library at Braddock for the benefit of his workmen". Several years were consumed in promoting plans and constructing the building, so that it was not until late in 1888 that everything was ready to be turned over to the management of a Library Board. On December 14, 1888, the Board was organized with the following named gentlemen : Mr. Jas. Gayley, President; Mr. Wm. J. Vance, Vice President ; Mr. J. A. Lapsley, Secretary; Mr. W. R. Balsinger, Treasurer; Messrs. Watt Ed- wards, Wm. A. McDevitt, Thos. McDonald, Wm. M. C. Jones, and Profs. Samuel Hamilton, Edwin Twitmyer, and C. D. Coffey. Prof. E. Twit- myer, on leaving Braddock, was succeeded, July 2, 1889, by Mr. W. E. Morrow. On August 4, 1890, Mr. J. A. Lapsley resigned and Mr. W. L. Lapsley was chosen to fill the vacancy. Mr. B. H. Taylor succeeded Mr. Thos. McDonald, June 3, 1890, and Mr. W. W. McCleery succeeded Mr. W. R. Balsinger, December 9, of the same year. Mr. Wm. M. C. Jones re- signed July 7, 1891. His place was left vacant until March 26, 1892, when Mr. Thos. Addenbrook was appointed to fill the vacancy. Mr. Adden- brook is still on the Board, after a period of continuous service of more than twenty-five years, a longer term than that of any other member up to the present time.
March 31, 1894, Mr. W. S. Brown and Mr. D. F. Collingwood were appointed to places left vacant by the resignations of Mr. McDevitt and Prof. Coffey, and A. B. Stevenson, Esq., succeeded Mr. Watt Edwards, March 5, 1895. On April 2, 1895, Mr. E. H. Anderson, the retiring li- brarian, accepted a position on the Board of Trustees. On December 15, 1897, W. S. Dalzell, Esq., was chosen to fill the vacancy that had ex- isted since the resignation of Mr. W. L. Lapsley, July 12, of that year.
On May 19, 1899, the Board of Trustees was reorganized with the following members: Mr. Thos. Addenbrook, Mr. Chas. A. Anderson, Mr.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
W. S. Brown, Col. Thos. Cosgrove, W. S. Dalzell, Esq., Mr. Fred W. Edwards, Mr. Jas. Gayley, L. F. Holtzman, Esq., Mr. D. G. Kerr, Mr. Jas. H. McCrady, Mr. Thos. Morrison, Mr. W. E. Morrow, Dr. A. W. Schooley, Mr. C. M. Schwab, Edward J. Smail, Esq., A. B. Stevenson, Esq., Maj. R. E. Stewart, Mr. Wm. J. Vance.
Mr. Jas. Gayley, who served the Board of Trustees as its president from its organization in 1888, having moved away from Braddock, re- signed the presidency and membership on the Board, January 14, 1902. Mr. Thos. Morrison was elected president and Mr. Jas. E. Mitchell was chosen to membership on the Board. A little later the resignations of Mr. Schwab and Mr. Morrow were accepted and Mr. Chas. E. Dinkey and Mr. G. E. F. Gray were appointed to the vacancies. In 1906, Mr. John F. Lewis became a Trustee in the place of Mr. Kerr, resigned. Mr. Morri- son retired from the presidency of the Board in April, 1907, but continued as one of its members. At the same time Messrs. Mitchell, Anderson and Dalzell resigned, and Messrs. P. A. K. Black, F. F. Slick, and A. E. Mac- coun were elected in their respective places. Mr. Chas. E. Dinkey was then chosen as president of the Board, which position he has held con- tinuously since.
The year 1910-1911 witnessed three changes in the personnel of the Board. Maj. R. E. Stewart, who had been a member of the Board since 1899, died March 30, 1910. Mr. W. J. Vance, who had served on the Board from its inception in 1888, a continuous term of twenty-two years, moved to Missouri, and A. B. Stevenson, Esq. also left Braddock, resigning after a continuous service of twelve years. Messrs. Reuben Abbiss, H. W. Benn, and Leo A. Katz were appointed to the vacancies thus created. In 1912, on April 30, occurred the death of Mr. Fred. W. Edwards, after thirteen years of service as Trustee. Mr. C. A. Stokes took his place on the Board. March 2, 1913, death claimed Col. Cosgrove, a member of the Board since 1899. Mr. F. A. Power succeeded him.
In the twenty-eight years of active library work there have been six librarians, and the work has twice been directed for short periods by the first assistant librarian. The first librarian was Miss Rose Phillips. She was succeeded in July, 1890 by Mrs. Anna M. Hay, who continued in charge until November, 1891. The work of the library was then directed by Miss A. W. Hezlep, assistant librarian, until May, 1892, when Mr. Edwin H. Anderson took up the work and continued it until he was called to organize the Pittsburgh library in 1895. Mr. Anderson was succeeded by Miss Helen Sperry, who resigned to organize the Homestead library in
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
1898. The Carnegie Club was first opened in 1893, and while occupying a part of the library building, and under the same Board of Trustees, it had a separate management, and was a distinct institution. On January 1, 1898, the duties of Chief Librarian and Superintendent of Club were merged into one office, and the late Mr. Walter Crane was appointed as head of the combined institution. Mr. Crane continued in this position until his death, which occurred suddenly October 19, 1902. The work was then continued under the direction of assistant librarian, Mr. Chas. L. Cummings, until March 1, 1903, when Mr. Geo. H. Lamb assumed the duties of Librarian and Superintendent of the Carnegie Club, which po- sition he has held continuously since.
The Braddock library has three distinct branches in as many sur- rounding towns, Wilkinsburg, Turtle Creek, and Monongahela, and a sta- tion at Elizabeth, Pa. These several municipalities provide rooms for the branches and pay the salaries of the local librarians, the main library sup- plying the books and doing the work of cataloging. The Wilkinsburg branch was opened September 10, 1899; Turtle Creek branch, April 16, 1900; and Monongahela branch, May 7, 1902.
The Braddock library was one of the earliest to come into active co-operation with the schools, and for years has done and is still doing a vast amount of such work. The work of this library in this field has been somewhat different from that of most libraries, in that it began by placing the most elemenatry reading books obtainable in the hands of the young- est classes that could use them, whereas most libraries introduce the work first into the upper grades, reaching the little people after some years of the advanced work, if at all. This library pursues this school work along three distinct lines. First, the library supplies supplementary reading matter in sets of thirty copies of a classic, for class use. In later years the library has encouraged the schools to provide many such readers for them- selves, thus relieving the library of a part of this expense. Second, it pro- vides books in cases, well adapted to the various grades, 45 books to the case. These are placed in the school room at the beginning of the school year, the teacher acting as assistant librarian, are given out to the children weekly to be taken home, read, and returned to the school. The books remain in the school as long as desired, or until the close of the term. Third, the library has for some years given systematic class in- struction to the High school pupils in the content and use of the library. This instruction comprises a series of eight or ten lessons, outlined by the library and printed in pamphlet form. The class comes to the li-
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
brary for this instruction, doing regularly assigned laboratory work in research, and receiving credit for the same as part of the regular course in English.
The period of time covered by the Braddock library has witnessed nearly all there is of Public Library history. The first tax-supported free public library was founded in the town of Peterboro, Mass., in 1833, fol- lowed thirteen years later by the town of Orange, Mass., and four years after that by the town of Wayland. The purpose and aim of all of these was distinctly didactic. The members and patrons were to be instructed in useful knowledge, and those in charge of the libraries were to select the books with that end in view. The effect of this method was to limit the use of the library to persons of studious habits, or to those who had some definite purpose to serve. A library that should provide amusement and recreation for its patrons as well as instruction was not conceived until a later date, was first propounded in Boston in 1851, and was not put to the practical test until some years later. This is the type of the free public library as it is known to-day.
When the foundations of the Braddock library were laid in 1887, there were only 2,981 libraries in this country, and of these only 649 were free and tax-supported. Of the whole number 440 had between 5,000 and 10,000 volumes each; 353 had from 10,000 to 50,000, while only 47 li- raries in the entire country had more than 50,000 volumes. Braddock li- brary now has nearly 70,000 volumes, being larger now than any library in the entire United States was when it was organized, with the exception of less than a score.
Another matter that seems strange to people of to-day is that not only were there no free libraries in Pennsylvania when Braddock library was built, but there was no statute law even permitting a free library to be supported by taxation. The first enactment legalizing such a tax levy was passed in 1887, and applied only to cities. The levy then was per- missible only for maintenance of an existing library, but not for erecting a library building. It was not until 1895, six years after the Braddock library began circulating books, that the universal library law was en- acted making it legal for a borough or school district to build, equip, and maintain a free public library at the expense of the tax payers. At that, Pennsylvania was not far behind most other states, for in 1887 it was one of twenty that had library laws of any kind; and its law of 1895 was the most liberal and the most far-reaching of any that had been enacted in any state up to that time.
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The period covered by this library's history has witnessed many other changes that have been revolutionary in this field. The library school, the trained librarian, uniform systems of classification and rec- ord keeping, library indexing, open shelves, children's libraries and child- ren's librarians, State free library commissions, State Library Associa- tions, all these have had their origin and development within this less than a third of a century. While the American Library Association, the one force that has been the most potent instrument of all for the develop- ment and unification of library work had its origin as late as 1876, and has done all of its important work within the time limit named. It is thus seen that the Braddock library has been a participant in nearly all of library history in this country, and has been a pioneer blazing the way, and going forward without chart or compass in many of its activities.
It has often been remarked that the tendency of library reading is to lead the patron to a better and better grade of literature. Not all of fic- tion is trifling, and not all of classed literature is heavy or really worth while. But the dividing line is usually made between fiction and non- fiction. By this record, this library has repeated the history of others, in that the percentage of fiction has gradually been reduced from more than 80 to less than 50.
On April 29, 1914, the library held its silver jubilee celebration in honor of its twenty-fifth year of active work, and, as this is the "Oldest Carnegie Library in America", the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Car- negie Library Movement.
Braddock has been the scene of many important gatherings and startling and stirring events, from the day of its christening in a baptism of fire on that weltering July 9, 1755, down through the gathering at the time of the Whiskey Insurrection, past the recruiting of troops at Camp Copeland in civil war times, and civic and industrial gatherings of later days, but Braddock as a community never entered more heartily or with greater unanimity into any single undertaking than in this twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the library.
Previous to the day of the celebration, three triumphal arches had been erected, one at the foot of Library Street, and two on Braddock Avenue. These were beautifully decorated and illuminated. Every busi- ness house in the town was profusely decked with flags and bunting, while enlarged lithographs of Mr. Carnegie were to be seen everywhere. Pri- vate residences, especially those along the line of march of the parade, were also dressed in holiday attire. All business houses in Braddock and
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all the schools were closed during the afternoon, the town making of it a holiday.
The celebration had three distinct features; first, the parade, sec- ond, the meeting in the auditorium, third, the banquet.
A reviewing stand was erected in front of the library on which were seated Mr. Carnegie, the library Trustees and invited guests. Past this stand marched the immense parade consisting of the police and fire departments of the three boroughs, a bagpipe band, clans and orders, the officials of the three boroughs and the G. A. R. men in carriages, Sons of Veterans and Boys' Brigades, thousands of mill workers, and several thousand children from the public and parochial schools, with many bands and drum corps interspersed, all succeeded by a long line of beautifully decorated automobiles.
Each of the school children carried a flag, a pennant, or a banner having a large lithograph of Mr. Carnegie as its dominating feature. As the schools passed the reviewing stand they were massed there and under the direction of Mr. Geo. S. Speidel, sang "America" and "Auld Lang Syne." The automobiles left the line of march after passing the review- ing stand and took a longer route than the marchers, rejoining them at the lower end of Braddock Avenue. After the parade was over all the bands, more than a hundred pieces, were massed and gave an open air concert for the thousands of people who were unable to gain admittance to the auditorium.
While the audience was being seated in the Hall, Mr. Carnegie took his place on the platform where he met many of his friends of former years, the old time employes of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. For it is to be remembered that not only was Braddock the recipient of the first Carnegie library in America, but the steel mills of Braddock were the first to bring fame and fortune to the great iron master and his co- partners.
At this meeting, Mr. Chas. E. Dinkey, President of the Board of Trustees, presided. Prof. W. L. Mayer rendered musical numbers on the great organ. Addresses were made by Col. H. P. Bope, vice president of the Carnegie Steel Co., by Dr. John A. Brashear, the great scientist of Pittsburgh, and a life-long friend of Mr. Carnegie, by Mr. C. M. Schwab, the first President of the United States Steel Corporation, a former Braddock man, and at one time a member of the Board of Trustees of the library, by Dr. Samuel Hamilton, Superintendent of the Allegheny County Schools, and by Mr. Carnegie.
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Mr. Carnegie's address was full of tenderness and breathed of his love for the scenes of his early successes and for the friends who were with him at that time. Much of his address contained reminiscences of his early friend, the late Capt. William R. Jones. He could not have touched on a theme that would please a Braddock audience more than by re- ferring to the great Captain. Although Captain Jones has been dead for more than a quarter of a century, to this day, a public speaker in Braddock is sure of at least one round of applause if he can under any pretext bring the Captain's name into his address. For Mr. Carnegie to relate anecdote and incident in the Captain's life was to carry his audience right with him back to that early day.
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