Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 83

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
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HARRY LAMBERTON. As president of the Lamberton National Bank of Franklin, the leading national bank of that city, and director of the Lamberton National Bank of Oil City, one of the strongest financial institutions in western Pennsylvania, Harry Lamberton is ranked with the authoritative figures in bank- ing circles in this end of the State, and at the

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same time exemplifies in his individual career the characteristics associated with the Lamber- tons generally since their advent into Venango county. Mentally they have been conspicuous for breadth of intellect and the imaginative qualities necessary to keen foresight, well bal- anced with practical gifts of perseverance and executive ability, as well as rigid principles re- garding their relations with their fellow men. In its application to the history and progress of the county this strong personal makeup has been well adapted to distinguish the represen- tatives of the name for extraordinary achieve- ments. With both the courage and the enter- prise to follow their own lines of vision, the Lambertons have at the same time contributed largely to the general welfare, which, to their credit, has been included in their various plans for the carrying out of ambitious undertak- ings of many kinds. On Harry Lamberton and his brothers devolved the responsibility of con- tinuing the work which their father started, and the fact that they have adhered to the high standards laid down by him and shown no lack of ambition in forwarding the interests of their times would indicate that with pros- perity has come no diminution of either the mental or physical energy which has made them dominating factors in this region for so many years.

Hon. Robert Lamberton, the father of Harry Lamberton, was born March 20, 1809, in the North of Ireland, and died at his home in Franklin, Pa., Aug. 7, 1885, in his seventy- seventh year. He had lived there from 1830, identified prominently with its industrial de- velopment, its social advancement, and the ad- ministration of public affairs. But he is most particularly remembered as the founder of the first bank at Franklin, and a full account of his activities in this respect, together with a his- tory to date of the financial institutions which he established, will be found elsewhere in this work, in the biography of his son Robert Gil- fillan Lamberton. In that article also are in- cluded the other details of his life and work. as well as an account of the early records of the Lamberton family.

Harry Lamberton, youngest of the family of Hon. Robert and Margaret (Seaton) Lam- berton, was born at Franklin Feb. 13, 1858, and acquired his early education in the public schools of that city. He subsequently at- tended a preparatory school at Lawrenceville, N. J., and in 1878 entered upon his first expe- rience in the banking business in the Lamber- ton bank at Franklin then known as the Lam- berton Savings Bank. He has been connected

with it ever since. In 1883 he and W. J. Lam- berton purchased the interest of R. L. Cochran in this institution and the former succeeded him as cashier, joining his brother, R. G. Lam- berton, and brother-in-law, Calvin W. Gil- fillan, in the management. It continued in op- eration as a savings bank until 1899, when it was reorganized under the present title, the Lamberton National Bank of Franklin, Harry Lamberton becoming vice president under the new arrangement. In 1901, upon the death of Mr. Gilfillan, he succeeded to the presidency. which he has since filled. This is the oldest bank in Venango county and from the days when the business was conducted by "R. Lam- berton, Banker," has had unsullied prestige for soundness of financial operations and safe- guarding the interests of patrons, having been on the "Roll of Honor" for a number of years. In addition to his duties as president and di- rector of this bank, Mr. Lamberton has those of director of the Lamberton National Bank of Oil City (which was also started by his father), also a "Roll of Honor" bank. As a financier his abilities are undisputed, and he has had some notable successes in other busi- ness connections, having formed interests in the oil fields of the locality and in various commercial ventures.

On Feb. 17. 1886, Mr. Lamberton married Virginia Ella Hughes, daughter of Capt. Henry M. and Frances A. (Richardson) Hughes. They have had three children: Harold Hutchinson. born Aug. 9, 1889: Virginia Hughes. born Feb. 1, 1892. who died Dec. 24, 1899; and Richard Hughes, born Jan. 26, 1901.

CAPT. JOHN TONKIN, of Oil City, has been well known in that section of Pennsyl- vania for a half century or more in his promi- nent association with oil and gas interests and the leading figures in their development. For a number of years during this period he made his home at Tidioute, Warren county, and since 1894 has resided at Oil City.

Captain Tonkin is a son of John and Mar- garet Tonkin, and was born March 31, 1837, in eastern Pennsylvania. where his father was engaged at coal mines for a time. John Ton- kin was a boy when the family moved to Ten- nessee, where he was reared and educated, ob- taining a common school training, and later studying two years at Hiawasse College, Mad- isonville. Tenn. After leaving college he was employed as a clerk at the copper mines in that State, continuing thus until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted in September, 1861, in the Confederate service, becoming

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second lieutenant of Company A, 43d Regi- ment, first attached to the Western army under Gen. E. Kirby Smith, through the Kentucky campaign. In May, 1862, he was promoted to captain. After returning from the cam- paign mentioned his division was sent down to Vicksburg, Miss., in December, 1862, under General Stevenson, remaining there until the surrender in July, 1863. When Captain Ton- kin had been declared exchanged he was at- tached to General Longstreet's command, then at Knoxville in eastern Tennessee, and at the end of the winter was sent to the valley of Virginia under General Early, participating in the campaign of the summer of 1864. The winter of 1864-65 was passed principally in the upper part of eastern Tennessee, and at the salt works in southwestern Virginia. Upon receipt of the news of Lee's surrender his com- mand went over to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, of North Carolina, and was ordered to escort President Jefferson Davis, who left them a few days before his capture. They surren- dered May 10, 1865, at Washington, Georgia.

The war over, Captain Tonkin came North to New York to interview a number of his father's friends regarding business prospects, the devastation and utter ruin which prevailed generally in the South leaving little promise for him there. For eleven months he was located near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., as agent of a new coal mine under development, and in November, 1866, settled at Tidioute, Warren Co., Pa., where he made his home during the next twenty-two years, becoming superintend- ent of the Dennis Run and New York Oil Company. In 1887 he went to Ohio as man- ager of the Northwestern Ohio Natural Gas Company and was in that State six years al- together, five years of that period at Toledo. When he removed to Oil City, Pa., in 1894, he took the position of assistant general man- ager of the natural gas interests of the Stand- ard Oil Company, and remained in that con -. nection until the death of E. Strong, when he was made president and general manager of the Oil City Fuel Supply Company and of the Mountain State Gas Company of West Vir- ginia, as well as the River Gas Company of Ohio, vice president of the United Gas Com- pany and vice president and general manager of the Clarksburg Light & Heat Company of West Virginia, on the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company retiring from all of the above positions except his association with the Clarksburg Light & Heat Company, which he resigned in November, 1915. Meanwhile Captain Tonkin also acquired interests of his

own in that line in the Kentucky fields, being President of the Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company, furnishing gas to Lexington, Winchester, Mount Sterling, Paris and other small towns. Joseph Seep, of Titusville, is president of the company. During his resi- dence at Tidioute Captain Tonkin was engaged in the production of oil on his own account. operating in that vicinity and in the Bradford field in McKean county. He was also promi- nent in the administration of civil affairs, serv- ing a term as councilman and two terms as burgess of that borough, and he has always been active in the councils of the Democratic party, having represented Warren and Ven- ango counties on the State committee.

Captain Tonkin married Mrs. Margaret (Barnett) Ferguson, widow of Charles Fer- guson, who had two children by her first mar- riage : Charles C., now a resident of Cleve- land, Ohio; and Col. Harry T., of the 37th Regular Infantry, U. S. A., now engaged in border service. To Captain and Mrs. Tonkin have been born the following children: Fran- ces is married to H. T. Egbert, who is with the United Natural Gas Company of Oil City, and they have three children, Margaret, Wini- fred and Mary. John B., vice president and general manager of the People's Natural Gas Company of Pittsburgh, married May Simp- son. Wade Hampton, agent of the Hope Natural Gas Company, Parkersburg, W. Va., married Blanch Keller. Margaret Winifred lost her life in a railroad accident near Boston in 1901. Mary C. is the wife of Archibald C. Perry, of Mannington, W. Va., a civil engineer engaged in construction work for the Hope Natural Gas Company; Mr. and Mrs. Perry have one child, Margaret. Loring L., mechan- ical engineer in charge of compressing stations for the Hope Natural Gas Company, residing at Clarksburg, W. Va., married Norma Smith and has two children, Margaret and Mary. Captain Tonkin and his family are identified with the Episcopalian Church, which he has served as vestryman.

DANIEL GRIMM, of Franklin, has been a business man of the first rank in that city for several decades. The story of his career is a typical record of advancement through self- help, of the realization of early ambitions by sturdy effort toward progress. It is this which makes Mr. Grimm's life especially interesting, the fact that he has achieved the objects which brought him to this country when a mere boy to begin life where he had reasonable pros-

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pects of attaining a substantial position and make such associations delightful. He is a himself reaping the rewards of his industry.

Born Aug. 23, 1838, in Rhenish Bavaria (the Palatinate), on the French border, he is a son of Abraham and Caroline (Koehler) Grimm. His early training and education were acquired in his native land, where he remained until twelve years old, crossing the ocean in 1850 in order to avail himself of the superior advantages open to youth in America. On landing he proceeded at once to Meadville, Crawford Co., Pa., and was soon at work as clerk in a grocery store. His humble begin- ning in no wise discouraged him. He went ahead steadily, assuming new responsibilities as he gained experience and became fitted for them, and after several years in his original location came to Franklin in 1861, to engage in merchandising on his own account. He con- tinued in that line successfully for several years, until the developing oil business at- tracted him from it, and in 1869 he entered the new field as a producer, in which capacity he has been engaged therein ever since. Oil pro- duction has been his main business for almost forty years, and his most valuable interests are in the Franklin Heavy Oil, the finest grade of oil known. Incidentally he has also ac- quired some very desirable gas holdings, being a director of the Pennsylvania Gas Company. The promotion of other business enterprises conducive to improving the general prosperity and commercial facilities of his adopted city has always had his cooperation. Thus he became one of the first stockholders of the Exchange Bank of Franklin, originally established in January, 1871, and which has had an uninter- rupted career of prosperity. Among the first officers were John L. Mitchell, president, and P. McGough, cashier, and Mr. Grimm was made a director shortly after the organization. During the first year the quarters were in the "Exchange Hotel" building, whence the bank removed to the present location. It was in- corporated June 20, 1888, under the State law, with a capital of one hundred thousand dol- lars, and has been operated on that basis since. Mr. Grimm has been president since Jan. 6, 1912. His fellow officers are: George B. Woodburn, vice president : E. K. Myers, cash- ier : and Mr. Grimm and Mr. Woodburn are also directors, with J. Howard Smiley, C. C. Miller, John F. Leasgang, W. M. Bell, Clayton WV. Cone, John L. Nesbit and E. E. Grimm.

Mr. Grimm has formed a number of social and fraternal connections and enjoys their privileges to the full, having the companion- able qualities and sociable disposition which

member of the Washington Club and the Franklin Club, and a Knight Templar Mason, _affiliating with Myrtle Lodge No. 316, F. & .A. M .; Venango Chapter No. 211, R. A. M .; Keystone Council No. 42, R. & S. M .; and Franklin Commandery No. 44, K. T. He is also well known in political circles as a Demo- crat of established convictions, and was for- merly quite active in the party.

In 1866 Mr. Grimm married Carolyn F. Weyman, daughter of William Weyman, of New York City, and the following children have been born to them: Charles D., who died at Hot Springs, Va. (he served in the Spanish- American war) ; Eugene Eaton, who is en- gaged in business as an oil producer (he re- sides at the family home in Franklin) ; Stella K., wife of Thomas J. Blair, of Pittsburgh, Pa .; Louise, wife of Harry W. Rowland, liv- ing in Franklin; Marietta, wife of Emile Koos, with the government in New York City ; Eve- lyn, wife of Edw. E. Jenkins, of Pittsburgh ; Lida, wife of Andrew A. Thompson, of Union- town, Pa .; and Edna, wife of Rodman W. Moorhead, residing in Pittsburgh. The fam- ily has a summer home in Sugarcreek town- ship, Venango county, where Mr. Grimm owns a fine farm of one hundred acres.

HON. CHRISTOPHER HEYDRICK was born in French Creek township, Venango county, May 19, 1830, and was the third son and child of Charles H. and Mary Ann (Adams) Heydrick. He was a direct de- scendant of Balthasar Heydrick, who with one hundred and eighty-three others fled through Holland from religious persecution in Silesia and landed in Philadelphia on Sept. 22, 1734; thence they soon scattered throughout the eastern counties of Pennsylvania. At least one of Judge Heydrick's ancestors performed valuable services on the side of the revolting colonies during the Revolutionary war.

His early days were spent upon a farm, where he acquired the health and strength which enabled him to endure the arduons du- ties of his subsequent life. When still quite youthful he was sent to the Grand River In- stitute in Ohio, and from there entered Alle- gheny College at Meadville, Pa., where he was graduated with honor in 1852. After graduation he went to Kentucky and com- menced the study of law, and at the end of two years was there admitted to the bar. In a short time he returned to Venango county, and on Jan. 27, 1854, was admitted to the bar in Franklin, where he continued to reside until

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Hon. Christopher Heydrick, LL. D.

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his death. His father was by profession a sur- veyor, of pronounced skill and integrity, and for several terms had been county surveyor of Venango county. He was often assisted by his son, who under his instruction acquired great skill in both drafting and field work, and thereby formed those habits of accuracy which he retained throughout his future professional life and which gave him special eminence in land cases. In 1857, in connection with Hon. Richard Irwin, he made a detailed map of Venango county which became and has con- tinued to be the standard map of the county. The close relations of friendship thus formed with Judge Irwin were followed June 20, 1860, by his marriage to Frances Helen Irwin, eldest daughter of the latter.

At that time and for a considerable period afterward the legal business of Venango coun- ty was light in amount and of small impor- tance, so that as a young lawyer Mr. Heydrick availed himself of the opportunities thus given to acquire the great stores of legal knowledge which thereafter bore such ripe fruits both to himself and his clients. In 1859 petroleum was first found in merchantable quantities in Venango county, and soon developed into a great industry. His ability and acquirements then met with the appreciation which they de- served from those engaged in the develop- ment of the great interests of his own ard adjoining counties. His reputation grew rap- idly until he attained far to the front among the members of the bar of Pennsylvania. His practice extended not only to many counties in western Pennsylvania but to the courts of other States and of the United States : in par- ticular his name, more than that of any other lawyer of the country, can be found connected with cases of great importance relating to petroleum, and more than any other lawyer he was instrumental in the application and development of the law relating to the many intricate problems connected with the oil busi- ness in all its forms. Largely on this account, in 1891, he was appointed by Governor Pat- tison to fill a vacancy in the Supreme court in which he served with satisfaction to the public for one year, and was then nominated by the party to which he belonged for the full term of twenty-one years; but owing to the great majority of the opposing party was defeated at the ensuing election, and thereupon returned to the active practice of his profes- sion, in which he continued until about a year before his death, which occurred Oct. 9, 1914, at the age of eighty-four years.

Judge Heydrick was distinguished not only as a lawyer, but also as a man of affairs. He was from time to time engaged in banking, in the manufacture of oil into its various prod- ucts, and in public utilities such as water and bridge companies. He was a member of the commission to select the site for a hospital for the feeble-minded, and when it was se- lected became a member of the board of trus- tees. While it was his lot sometimes to suffer serious reverses, he quickly recovered from them, and his sound judgment was the main reliance of his associates; and in the public positions which he filled he performed the du- ties imposed upon him with marked fidelity.

A philosopher has declared that law, eco- nomics and morals are different applications of moral science, which consists of a body of rules of conduct, derived through experi- ence of our relations to nature and to our fel- low beings; and that no national or individual prosperity can endure which is not founded upon these rules. The conduct of Judge Hey- drick in his business relations seems to have been governed by these rules ; and though he was compelled to meet more than is ordinary the storms of life, although he never attained to those phenomenal heights which opportu- nity affords to unscrupulous ambition, with an unstained record he closed his life in the well earned sunshine of real prosperity.

In physical appearance Judge Heydrick was stalwart and above the middle height; his eyes were dark and piercing, his countenance de- noted firmness, refinement and intellectuality ; thus his superiority was manifest even where his record for achievement was unknown.

In disposition he was diffident, reserved and reticent to an extent which gave a tone of austerity to his manner and repelled intimacy by strangers; but after these outward guards were passed, he became a genial companion to his friends. His temper was quick and strong, but usually held under firm control; but when aroused by fraud, falsehood or crime, it was like a mountain torrent, and swept away all obstacles to redress and pun- ishment. His firmness was so pronounced that it sometimes seemed to pass into obsti- nacy. He was extremely careful in reaching conclusions, but after they were formed his convictions, especially upon political and re- ligious subjects, were so strong that no par- tisan exigency could impel him to condone an error which he deemed to be material. We can not say that he was free from all the faults and errors which are common to man-

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kind, but we affirm that taken as a whole his life furnishes an example to and reflects honor upon his profession, his family and his country.

Judge Heydrick is survived by his wife, who resides in Franklin with her daughter Miss Harriet Heydrick. Their family consisted of five children, namely: Carl I., formerly a lawyer in Franklin; Harriet; Frederick P., deceased; Eva, deceased; and Helen. The family are associated with the Presbyterian Church.

Hon. George S. Criswell, president judge of Venango county at the time of Judge Hey- drick's death, paid him the following tribute : "It is well and fitting that the Court and Bar should mark the passing and closing of a ca- reer so distinguished as was that of Judge Heydrick. The differing talents and char- acteristics of men ordinarily restrain and pre- clude attempts at comparisons one with an- other. It is believed, however, that it may be said of Judge Heydrick, without a suggestion of undue praise in the mind of anyone who knew him, as he was known to the Court and his associates at the bar, that in profound and accurate knowledge of the law, precision of statement and discrimination in the use of language he had, during the active period of his life, no superior and but few if any peers at the bar.

"Avoiding the sensational and not given to courting the applause of the many, he was best known to those who met him intimately and encountered directly the fibre of his char- acter. His was the distinction probably of no other private citizen of the Commonwealth, of suggesting to the State Constitutional Con- vention of 1873 one of the most important and far-reaching provisions of the instrument pre- pared by it and adopted by the people of the Commonwealth as their constitution. By the constitution of the United States the several States were forbidden to enact any law im- pairing the obligation of contracts, and the Supreme court of the United States had held. in the Dartmouth College and other cases, that a charter granted to a corporation was such a contract and that once granted a State had no right by legislative act to impair it. The convention was desirous of bringing under legislative and administrative control corporations which had theretofore procured charters with unusual powers from the Com- monwealth which it was claimed were inimical to the public welfare, and the problem was to bring them under such control without en- countering the principle ruled in the Dart- mouth College case. While in this dilemma

and as yet unable to devise a solution, a mem- ber of the convention consulted Judge Hey- drick, who suggested a remedy and method which he was requested to put in writing for submission to the proper committees of the convention. This he did in a paper of some length, suggesting a requirement that corpo- rations should be governed and controlled by general laws only and concluding with this language relating to then existing corpora- tions: 'I would forbid all legislation except such as imposed burdens until they should surrender their present charters, and require the common law and statute penalties to which they may be liable to be rigidly enforced until they should be driven to seek shelter under the general laws to be provided.' This paper was submitted to the appropriate committees of the convention and the extent to which it was adopted may be learned by an examina- tion of Section 2, Article XVI, and Section 10 of Article XVII, of constitution as finally adopted and now in force, where, with but little change of language, the remedy suggested was incorporated. That it was effective has been demonstrated by the extent to which such corporations have been compelled by changing conditions and increased business and traffic to accept such provisions of the constitution, thereby placing themselves under the general laws of the Commonwealth and subject to its control. This incident is referred to as illustrating the comprehensive, master mind of our deceased brother, to which might be added many others known to the bar and the Court.

"Being the senior member of our bar and officer of the court, with a membership extend- ing over a period of sixty years, we have been accustomed to venerate and accord to him that respect and esteem which, by reason of his learning and high character as brother and citizen, were his due. We shall miss him, but shall revere his memory as that of one who in life, in an exceptional way, adorned our com- mon citizenship and the profession we love."

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Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People (Volume 1), Part 83

Author: Babcock, Charles A. Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: Babcock, Charles A.
Publication date: 1879
Publisher:
Number of Pages: