USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Warwick's Keystone commonwealth; a review of the history of the great state of Pennsylvania, and a brief record of the growth of its chief city, Philadelphia > Part 36
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family, and so was his father, who died when the son was ten years of age. His grandfather was a member of the legal profession, and contributed largely to Mr. Sullivan's mental training.
After arriving in Philadelphia, he at- tended the public schools here, and sub- sequently entered the Crittenden Business College, from which he graduated in 1859, with a thorough knowledge of bookkeeping and other studies necessary to a business career. After graduation, he became connected with a wholesale hosiery and notion house, and his tire- less energy and quick absorption of de- tail carried him through the successive gradesof bookkeeper, salesman and buyer. He had determined to learn every phase of the business and become a wholesale merchant. This self imposed task, al- though seemingly Herculean, was accom- plished in just six years, for on January Ist, 1866, the firm of Sullivan & Brother was launched, his partner being Mr. James F. Sullivan, now president of the Market Street National Bank. The high esteem in which Mr. Sullivan was held by his old employer was attested by the nam- ing of a son for him, two years after he had left his service. The new firm, al- though starting business at the close of the Civil War, a period when conditions were considerably below normal, was successful from the start. The store was at Nos. 112 and 114 N. 4th street, and in 1868 the business had grown to such proportions that a larger building was leased at No. 236 Market street. In 1878 the building at 410 Market street was purchased, and this accommodated the constantly growing trade until 1801, when the building No. 629 Market street was purchased, and the business was con- tinued at this location until 1006, when Mr. Sullivan and his brother retired from mercantile pursuits. During the forty- seven years they had been connected with the business, they had built up a reputation enjoyed by few firms. It was a cardinal principle of the house to pay cash for all goods purchased, never to give a note or to make settlement in any way except by cash payment. This unusual promptness gained for them the highest rating for honorable dealing and strict business integrity, with the result
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that, during the panic years of 1873, 1883 and 1893, men who had goods to sell anxiously sought Sullivan & Brother, be- cause they knew the firm always dis- counted its purchases. In 1872, Mr. Sul- livan became the owner, by purchase, of some street railway stock, and in 1881, he was chosen a director of the Frankford and Southwark Street Railway Company. In 1884 he was tendered the presidency of the company, but refused to accept the position, preferring to give his un- divided attention to his mercantile inter- ests. In January, 1889, he was induced to reconsider his declination, and finally accepted the presidency, a position he has held for twenty-five years. This was the parting of the ways, and eventually led to his retirement as a merchant and his active entry into street railway af- fairs. In 1891 the Frankford and South- wark Company bought the Lehigh Ave- nue Passenger Railway, and the same year the Lombard and South Street Com- pany was merged with the Frankford and Southwark Company. In 1892 this com- pany leased the Citizens Passenger Rail- way Company, which operated the Tenth and Eleventh Street Line, and one year later it acquired control of the Second and Third Street Line. At that time it had become apparent that electricity was to be the motive power of the future for street car propulsion, and in order to meet the new conditions a charter was obtained from the State of Pennsylvania for the Electric Traction Company, of which Mr. Sullivan became president. This new corporation was capitalized at $8,750,- 000. When a lease was made of the Frankford and Southwark Line, and all of its leased companies, the entire sys- tem was rebuilt, streets were repaved, power houses erected and equipped with machinery for generating electricity, and new cars purchased. In financing this project, the management acted most lib- erally, every shareholder of the leased lines being given the right to subscribe, pro rata, to the stock of the Electric Traction Company. Most of the stock- holders of the underlying companies availed themselves of this privilege. This put them into the Electric Traction Com- pany on perfect equality, with uniform interests, and resulted in the stock of the
company always commanding a premium. In 1895 the Union Traction Company was formed by the leasing of the Phila- delphia, the Peoples and the Electric Traction Companies. Mr. Sullivan was one of the incorporators, and upon the merging, he turned over to the leasing company the sum of $325,000, which the Electric Traction Company had left after the completion of its final construction work. Mr. Sullivan has retained an in- terest in the Union Traction Company since its formation, and has been its president since 1909. Ile is also a direc- tor of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company.
In 1899 Mr. Sullivan was tendered, and accepted, a directorship in the American Railways Company. This is a holding company, and, as such, controls street railways, electric light, gas and water power companies in ten States. In 1902 he was made president of the company, and still retains that position. Under his wise and careful guidance, the company has been remarkably prosperous, and for the past eleven years has paid dividends of six per cent. and made a good surplus from the earnings. In addition to these connections, Mr. Sullivan has been one of the managers of the Beneficial Savings Fund since 1882, and a director of the Philadelphia Electric Company since its organization. He is the owner of several parcels of valuable city property, and is interested in, and a director of, about eighty companies. He is an ardent mem- ber of the Catholic Church, and is inter- ested in many charities. Of robust con- stitution and perfect health, Mr. Sullivan is tireless in his routine duties, which, as may be imagined, are multitudinous. Yet in spite of this activity, he always finds time to do his fellowman a good turn, when possible.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, he joined the Gray Reserves, as Sergeant of Company G, and was in the service of the United States at the time the Battle of Antietam was fought. He belongs to the G. A. R. In 1876 Mr. Sullivan married Miss Ann V. Patterson, and the union has been blessed by nine children, eight of whom are living. His eldest son is a member of the Philadel- phia Bar. The two sons next in age are
V. tenhle
smith
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in the banking firm of Sullivan Brothers & Company, and the youngest two are at college. There are five sons and three daughters.
I lis city home is at 1910 Walnut street. He thinks that Pennsylvania is the best State in the Union, and Philadelphia the best city in the world.
EDWARD T. DAVIS.
Edward T. Davis, whose interests are many and varied both in the West and Fast, is a native Philadelphian, having
been born in the old district of Northern Liberties, November 19, 1849. Ile was educated in the public schools, afterwards entering the Central High School and completing his education at the Philadel- phia Business College, where he took a course in bookkeeping and finance. His entry into business life was as clerk and bookkeeper with the firm of Young. Moore & Co., and upon its dissolution as head bookkeeper with the succeeding house of Henry C. Moore & Co., where
he remained until the business was dis- continued, near the close of the Civil War.
Mr. Davis then enlisted in the Un- ion Army and was made Sergeant of Ordnance, under Colonel Woodward, and stationed at Washington, D. C. He was subsequently in charge of the Record and Revision division of the Surgeon Gener- al's office until 1873, when he was honor- ably discharged and returned to Phila- delphia, where he entered the wholesale tobacco business, but was compelled to re- tire in 1876 on account of ill health. Two years later he entered the employ of Pow- ers & Weightman and was soon after- wards made secretary to Mr. Weightman, a position he filled for twenty-six years. up to the time of Mr. Weightman's death in August, 1804. In this position he was given charge of the vast financial invest- ments of Mr. Weightman, and after that gentleman's death, continued in the same capacity with the executrix of the estate, until he decided to retire, January 1, 1905, and devote his time to individual in- terests. Mr. Davis had been a fortunate investor in real estate, mining and West- ern ranches and at this period he made a trip to Arizona where the Twin Buttes Mining and Smelting Co., of which he is president, and his ranch of 17,500 acres, needed his personal attention. This ranch, which includes some of the finest grazing land in the Western country, is thirty miles from Tacoma and twelve miles dis- tant from Mr. Davis' mine. In addition to these interests he is vice-president of the Delaware Storage and Freezing Co., of Philadelphia, and is a director in sev- eral financial and manufacturing corpora- tions throughout the East. He is a Ma- son of high degree, a member of the Mys- tic Shrine, the Odd Fellows, and Ancient Order United Workmen. He was chair- man of the Building Committee of the Athletic Club of the Schuylkill Navy and is a member of the Art, Columbia, Phila- delphia Turf, Belmont Driving, Philadel- phia Automobile, Philadelphia Yacht and Pen and Pencil Clubs of Philadelphia, and the Automobile Club of America, the National Arts Club, the Lambs Club of New York, Milwaukee Club of Milwau- kee, and the old Pueblo Club of Tucson, Arizona.
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MATTHEW BAIRD.
By his personal relations through many years to one of the greatest loco- motive manufacturing establishments of the world, by the application of his in- ventive genius to the improvement of va- rious railway appliances, and by the in- vestment of capital for the development of railway enterprises, Matthew Baird, for years one of the honored citizens of Philadelphia, well earned a place antong the prominent railroad men of America. He began manhood at a time when the steam-horse made his advent in America, and was one of those industrious and inventive young men who took the crude and cumbersome ideas of the pioneers of steam and developed them into the fin- ished and practically perfect machines that to-day traverse the continents, climb the mountains of East and West and perform miracles of speed and strength with such certainty that the wonder of it is lost in the case with which it seems to be performed. He fully performed his share of the labor required to produce
these wonderful results, and to him a portion of the honor belongs.
Mr. Baird was born near London- derry, Ireland, in 1817, the son of Scotch- Irish parents, from whom he inherited the best qualities of both races. When he was but four years of age, the family removed to America and, coming to Phil- adelphia, made their home on Lombard street. The father was a skilled work- man, a coppersmith by trade, and being desirous that the son should commence life with as good equipment as his means would allow, he was educated in the com- mon schools of the day. Ilis first em- ployment was in a brickyard, but an opening of a more congenial character came, when he became an assistant to one of the professors of chemistry in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. In 1834 he went to New Castle, Delaware, and en- tered the employ of the New Castle Man- ufacturing Company, which owned and operated copper and sheet iron works. Ile was soon after made superintendent
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of the railroad shops located there, but in June, 1838, entered upon the main work of his life, by accepting the position of foreman of the sheet iron and boiler de- partment of the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Philadelphia. He remained in this establishment until 1850, advancing all the time in skill and mechanical knowl- edge, and performing his important du- ties with a faithfulness and industry that won him the confidence and regard of all about him. While yet employed with Mr. Baldwin, in March, 1845, he entered into co-partnership with Richard French, Sr., Superintendent of Motive Power of the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norris- town Railroad Company, and Harry R. Campbell, an attorney at law, under the firm name of French & Baird, for the manufacture of locomotive spark arrest- ers. These were made under a combina- tion of three patents, issued to James Stimpson of Baltimore, Maryland, April 17, 1837; William C. Grimes of York, Pennsylvania, February 12, 1842; and Richard French of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, March 28, 1845. The combina- tion of these patented improvements made a thoroughly efficient spark ar- rester, which was extensively used throughout the United States, Canada and other countries, being of especial ser- vice in the cotton growing States of the South. The patents and business was sold to Radley and Hunter of New York in August, 1850.
From 1850 to 1852, Mr. Baird was en- gaged in the marble business with his brother, John Baird, in Philadelphia ; but in 1854, he returned to the establishment where he had been so long employed, as partner with Mr. Baldwin, under the firni name of M. W. Baldwin & Co., Mr. Bald- win, from the founding of the works in 1831 up to that time, having remained in business by himself. His sound business judgment, combined with unusual me- chanical skill, made him a valued mem- ber of the firm, and many instances might be related of the manner in which he made his presence effectively felt. One only will suffice : By 1854 the use of coal, both bituminous and anthracite, as a fuel for locomotives, had become a practical success. The economical combustion of the bituminous, however, engaged consid-
erable attention. It was felt that much remained to be accomplished in consuni- ing the smoke and deriving the maximum of useful effect from the fuel. Mr. Baird made this matter a subject of careful study and investigation. An experiment was conducted under his direction by placing a sheet iron deflector in the fire- box of an engine on the Germantown and Norristown Railroad. The success of the trial was such as to show conclu- sively that a more complete combustion resulted. As, however, a deflector form- ed by a single plate of iron would soon be destroyed by the action of the fire, Mr. Baird proposed to use a water-leg pro- jecting upward and backward from the front of the fire-box under the flues. Drawings and a model of the device were prepared, with a view of patenting it, but subsequently the intention was abandon- ed, Mr. Baird concluding that a fire-brick arch as a deflector, to accomplish the same object, was preferable. This was accordingly tried on two locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany in 1854, and was found so valuable an appliance that its use was at once es- tablished, and it was put on a number of engines built for railroads in Cuba and elsewhere.
After the death of Mr. Baldwin, when Mr. Baird had become sole proprietor of the works, the business was reorganized in 1867, under the name of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, M. Baird & Co., pro- prietors. Mr. Baird associated with him- self as partners, George Burnham and Charles T. Parry, who had been connect- ed with the establishment from an early period, the former in charge of the fi- nances and the latter as general superin- tendent. Three years later, Messrs. Ed- ward H. Williams, William P. HTenszey and Edward Longstreth also became members of the firm.
Early in 1873, Mr. Baird sold his in- terest in the works to his five partners and retired from active business life, al- though still retaining his interests in nu- merous- public and private enterprises. Hle was for years a member of the Board of Directors of the Central National Bank of Philadelphia, and at the time of his death was director of the Texas and Pacific Railway Company, the Pennsyl- vania Steel Company, the Andover Iron
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Company, the Philadelphia and West Chester Railroad Company and the Phil- adelphia Academy of Fine Arts. He was one of the incorporators and directors of the American Steamship Company and was a large investor in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He was recognized by all as a citizen of eminent public spirit, and there were few enterprises for the general good, or of a charitable character, in the city of his home, among whose promoters and supporters he was not numbered. He was a manager of the Northern Home for Friendless Children, and contributed much to other benevolent institutions. To borrow the language of one who knew him well, uttered when at the head of the great concern that will forever be associated with his name :-- "Mr. Baird, by reason of long and inti- mate connection with the trade, practic- al experience as a manufacturer, wealth and social position, rightfully is the head of the establishment and referred to in all matters of importance, both in the pro- duction and selling of engines. He began his efforts in these works in their infancy and his own early manhood, and they have literally grown with his own mental and bodily powers. He shared all the re- sponsibilities and hopes of the illustrious Baldwin, whose mantle has with entire appropriateness fallen upon his should- ers. Mr. Baird is a man of large figure, with a head in massive proportions to suit his ample body. His features are regular, and expressive of a far-reaching mind and of agreeable qualities of character. His manners are quiet and self-possessed. Fl'e is not inclined to show or boastful- ness in any particular, but delights in the exhibition of honest virtues and noble purposes. Rising to his present position of business and social influence by indus- try and an honorable life, his sympathies are always with the toiling masses. In the midst of his vast interests and the ir- resistible tide of business, he shows him- self constantly thoughtful of his army of workmen, and does much by counsel and benevolence to encourage them in their station. Ile is esteemed and beloved by all who know him in personal relations, and his mechanical labors and enterprise make him worthy of an enduring fame."
Ilis busy and useful life came to an end on May 19, 1877.
J. ERNEST RICHARDS.
In a little over a decade, J. Ernest Richards, vice-president and director of the West End Trust Company, has be- come an important figure in the indus- trial, financial and social circles of Phil- adelphia. Mr. Richards was born in Elizabeth, N. J., in 1881 and was edu- cated at the University of Pennsylvania from which he graduated in 1992. After the completion of his education he be- came interested in the Ridge Avenue Bank, and became its cashier, a position he relinquished to become assistant to the President and a director of the West End Trust Company. Upon the organization of the Independence Trust Company, he became the vice- president and an active director. Recognizing the vast possibilities of con- solidation and centralization of capital, he was one of the prime movers in the successful effort to consolidate the Inde- pendence and West End Trust compan- ies. When this was finally completed, on May 1st, 1913, Mr. Richards became vice-president of the West End Trust Company and was gratified to see the
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latter company become, by reason of the jointure, one of the important financial institutions of the city. Mr. Richards is a son of Joseph T. Richards, Chief En- gineer of Maintenance of Way of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and is of Quaker ancestry, one of his fore- bears, Joseph Richards, coming to this country from Oxford, England, and landing at Plymouth in 1660. From that period the family was prominent in the social life of New England and active in the Colonial wars and all pre-Revolution- ary events. Subsequently branches of the family were established in Delaware County, Pa., and Cecil County, Md. Mr. Richards's mother was Miss Martha Elizabeth Ernest, and she was also de- scended from one of the oldest families, her father having large iron interests in Maryland and being related to the Coop- ers of New Jersey. While a student at the University, Mr. Richards was very active and popular. He took part in the Mask and Wig Dramatic Club's produc- tions and in his Freshman year rowed on his class crew which won the Intercol- legiate races at Poughkeepsie. At the preliminary school which he attended he was captain of both the football and base- ball teams, but after entering college cur- tailed his sports to devote more time to sindy. He is a member of the Zeta Psi Fraternity and president of the graduate body of the Sphinx Senior Society, an unusual honor as only twenty men out of each senior class are elected to this position. Mr. Richards's phenomenal success in the business world, in the short period that has ensued since at- taining his majority is attested by his many connections. Ile is a director of the American Pipe and Construction Company, the George B. Newton Coal Company, the Central, West Virginia and Southern Railroad Company, the New York Interurban Water Company and the Buffalo and Depew Railroad Company, in New York State, and several other corporations. His clubs are the Union League, Racquet, Markham. Philadel- phia Barge and Merion Cricket. He is also a member of the New England So- ciety and the Sons of the American Rev- olution.
. ALBERT E. TURNER.
Albert E. Turner, who has been active in civic affairs for over twenty years was born in Philadelphia, January 220, 1865, the son of Charles Brinckley and Mar- garet ( Bow- en ) Turner. lle was edu- cated in the public schools, after wards taking a course in the I n ternational Y. M. C. A. College, of Springfield. Mass. He was general secre- tary for the Young Men's Christian . As- sociation for several years AI BERT E. TURNER. and then entered the employment of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company at Columbus, Ohio. He returned to Phila- delphia in 1802 and became a newspaper reporter and later was financial editor of one of the morning dailies.
In 1906 he entered the banking busi- ness with E. B. Smith & Company, and in 1912 he became a member of the Stock Exchange and of the firm of Harper and Turner. Mr. Turner was active in the old Municipal League, the Committee of Seventy and the City Park movement. He is presi- dent of the Home and School League, a director of the City Club, the Keswick Colony of Mercy, the Pastorius Build- ing and Loan Association and the Cen- tral Branch of the Y. M. C. A. Ilis clubs are the Art, Overbrook Golf. City Club of New York and the Rotary Club. He also holds membership in the American Academy of Political and Social Science and the Civil Service Reform Associa- tion.
lle has devoted much time to writ- ing and has been a voluminous contribu- tor to campaign literature. Mr. Turner married Miss Dora E. Botsford, of Lock- port, N. Y., in 1887 and has six children. Ilis home is at Overbrook.
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Il. H. HOUSTON.
Henry Howard Houston came from an honorable and distinguished ancestry and traced his lineage back to the days of chivalry in Scotland when the brave and fearless Wallace attempted to win independence for the Scottish people. The clan of Houston originated, how- ever, in the time of Sir Hugo de Pad- vinian, the laird of the lands of Kilpeter in Strathgrief, about the year of 1160. The baronetcy is now held by George Ludovic Houston, of Johnstone, Ren- frewshire, Scotland. The younger sons of the original family migrated from their native land to the north of Ireland in the early part of the seventeenth cen- tury and their descendants are now to be found in the counties of Antrim, Tyrone and Londonderry. From Ireland came the descendants of the family in Lan- caster County, Pennsylvania, where set- tlement was made between 1730 and 1735. From this same Irish branch was descended the Houstons of Tennessee and the famous Sam Houston, the first
president of the Republic of Texas, Henry Howard Houston was born near Wrightsville, York County, Pa., October 3, 1820, and was the youngest son of Samuel Nelson Houston and the last liv- ing grandson of Dr. John Houston, of Lancaster County, who after studying at Glasgow University in Scotland, return- ed to his Pennsylvania home in 1766. He later graduated from what is now the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania in 176 and four years later married Susanna, daughter of John Wright, of York County. When the Colonists attempted to win indepen- dence from England, Dr. John Houston joined the army as a surgeon and with four brothers fought through the war, thus aiding in establishing the Republic. ITis son, Samuel Nelson Houston, was distinguished for his splendid physical manhood. After attending Burlington College, he studied medicine and phar- macy but relinquished a prospective pro- fessional career to become an active
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