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 38
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York, to Miss Elizabeth Cowan, a daugh- ter of Anthony and Fanny ( Edwards) Gilkison of Brooklyn, New York. The mother was a direct descendant of Jona- than Edwards, the eminent New England divine.
THIRODORE EDWARD WIEDERSHEIM.
General Theodore E. Wiedersheim who for nearly half a century has been prominent in financial and military cir- cles, was born in Petersburg, Ohio, but was brought to Philadelphia by his pa- rents when a child. He attended the public schools here and afterwards grad- uated from the Central High School. Upon the completion of his education he entered the employ of a mercantile house but in 1862 he responded to President Lincoln's call for troops and entered the Union Army as a private in Company F of the Gray Reserves and rose through the intermediate grades to a captaincy. As a member of the 32d Regiment he
participated in the campaign in the Cum- berland Valley and was present at the shelling of Carlisle, Pa., by General Fitzhugh Lee, on July 1, 1863. After the war he became a member of Com- pany D), First Regiment and served con- tinnously in the National Guard for twenty-five years. He was a Second Lieutenant during the riots at Susque- hanna Depot in 1874 and was in com- mand of his company during the labor disturbances at Eckley, Pa., in 1875 ; also acting as Provost Marshal during the riots and strikes in Luzerne County. He was elected to a captaincy in 1876 and with his company took an active part in the restoration of peace at Scranton and Pittsburgh in 1877. He was chosen Col- onel of the First Regiment in 1878 and was re-elected in 1883. General Wieder- sheim was a member of the First Bri- gade Board which examined all the offi- cers commissioned at the time of its cre- ation and those subsequently elected. lle was also active in the preliminary work which led to the building of the regiment's new armory and was a mem- ber of the military committee of fifty that arranged for the Bi-Centennial parade in 1882. Ile was secretary of the Citizens' Committee having in charge the Consti- tutional Centennial Celebration in 1887. and was Adjutant-General on the staff of General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A., in the Peace Jubilee Parade in 1898. Gen- eral Wiedersheim was for many years a member of the well known banking and stock brokerage firm of Fell, Wray & Co., and retired from this connection to become cashier of the Independence Na- tional Bank. When that institution was merged with the Girard National Bank, he became one of the vice-presidents of the last named concern and still occupies that position. He was elected a director of the Union League in 1880 and was vice-president and chairman of its House Committee from 1880 to 1003. Business duties led to General Wiedersheim's res- ignation from the National Guard some years ago, but he still retained his inter- est in his old command, and in 1893 was elected commander of the First Regiment Veteran Corps.
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DIM NER BEEBER.
Prominent for years in the public af- fairs of his native State, the career of Dinner Beeber has been characterized by an unswerving adherence to the high- est ideals of citizenship. Ile was born at Muncy, Lycoming County, Pa., March 8th, 1854, the son of Teter D. and Mary Jane ( Artley ) Beeber, who were of Ger- man ancestry. Ilis great grand-father, John Beeber, who had settled in Berks County, Pa., in 1768, fought in the Amer- ican ranks during the War of the Revolu- tion. llis services were rewarded by a grant of land in the valley of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, in what is now Lycoming County. Upon this tract he established his home after the war, and for three generations his de- scendants lived there. Mr. Beeber at- tended the Selinsgrove Academy and then entered Pennsylvania College, Gettys- burg, from which he graduated in 1874 with the B. A. degree. While a student he developed a taste for the study of English classics and became interested in history and biography, making special study of the lives of great lawyers and public men. Upon graduation in 1874, he began the study of law with his brother, J. Artley Beeber, at Williams- port, Pa., and was admitted to the Bar in 1876. He moved to Philadelphia al- most immediately and began practice. In 1884 he became a member of the law firm of Jones, Carson & Beeber-his partners being Hampton L. Carson, afterwards Attorney General of the State, and J. Levering Jones, a well known jurist.
The firm was subsequently dissolved and Mr. Beeber practiced alone. He was appointed Judge of the Superior Court to fill a vacancy by Governor Hastings in 1899 and served until the office was filled by election. Judge Beeber is a Republican in politics, but has not hesitated to act in- dependently, when, in his judgment, such
DIMNER BEI BER.
a course would best serve the public good. He is an eloquent speaker and has been prominent in every political campaign since the election of Garfield in 1880. Princeton University conferred the de- gree of A. M. upon him in 1902 and he has been honored with the LL. D. de- gree by his Alma Mater. In 1889 he was urged for the nomination of District At- torney and the testimonial urging his can- didacy was signed by seven hundred law- vers. Ile is president of the Common- wealth Trust Company and a director of the Tradesmen's National Bank and the Fire Association of Philadelphia. He has been a member of the Board of Education since 1910. Judge Beeber is a mem- ber of the American Bar Association, the State Bar Association and is an honorary member of the Phi Beta Kanna Society. Ile is also a member of the Union League, of which he was presi- dent from 1906 to 1908, and of the Rit- tenhouse and Philadelphia Country Clubs.
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SYDNEY L. WRIGHT.
The senior member of one of Phila- delphia's most conservative banking firms, Sydney Longstreet Wright, has been identified with some very important financial transactions throughout the country. Mr. Wright, who is a member of the firm of S. L. and W. R. Wright, was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, August 4th, 1852, and was educated in the public schools and at Calvary Church Academy. When eighteen years of age he entered the employ of William P. Clyde & Co., steamship agents, as a clerk in the Philadelphia office. This was in 1870, and nine years later he had so fa- miliarized himself with every detail of steamship transportation, that Peter Wright & Sons made him their Balti- more manager. This firm was the largest in its line in the country and the position was one of great responsibility. In 1883 Mr. Wright resigned the position to ac- cept the presidency of a mining and smelting enterprise in Idaho in which large sums of Philadelphia money had been invested. For eight years he han- dled the western company in a most suc- cessful manner and in 1890 entered the banking business, specializing in and giv- ing particular attention to bonds and other investment securities and becoming a member of the Philadelphia Stock Ex- change in 1895. For years Mr. Wright has been interested in the organization and management of public utility cor- porations and has been eminently success- ful along this line of endeavor. He was president of the Beaver Valley Traction Company, now part of the Pittsburgh System of Railways and the Baltimore Electric Light Company which was merged in the formation of the Consoli- dated Electric Light and Power Com- pany of Baltimore, Maryland. He was
also vice-president and treasurer of the Philadelphia Export Exposition in 1890 and held the same position with the Phil- adelphia Commercial Museum of which he is still a trustee. Mr. Wright is of English ancestry and numbers among his forebears, Stephen Bachiler and Christo- pher Hussey, who were among the orig- inal founders of the Commonwealth of New Hampshire; Richard Borden, one of the first settlers of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and John Fisher, who came to Philadelphia in the ship "Welcome" in 1682, and who figured prominently in the founding and subsequent history of the colony of which Penn was the directing head and spirit. Mr. Wright is a Repub- lican in politics. He is a member of the Rittenhonse and the Germantown Cricket Clubs and the Welcome Society of Phila- delphia, the Maryland Club of Baltimore, Md., and the Lotus Club of New York City. His home is on Carpenter Lane, Germantown, a beautiful section of Phil- adelphia's ideal suburb.
ROLAND LESLIE TAYLOR.
As a banker and public-spirited citi- zen, Roland L. Taylor stands high among Philadelphia's notable men. Ile has been active in financial affairs all his life, hav- ing grown up in the banking business and has been identified with several of the largest institutions in Pennsylvania. In addition to his varied business interests, he has found time to do his share in for- warding the cause of good government. llis advice is sought in connection with nearly every important movement and his attitude of unswerving probity has made his influence felt. He was born in Philadelphia, July 3, 1868, the son of I. J. and Anne Elizabeth ( Alkins) Taylor, both of whom were of English ancestry.
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Ilis education was received in the public schools and the Central High School, and when nineteen years of age he com- menced his active business career, in the employ of Barker Bros. & Co., bank- ers and brokers, with whom he remained until February, 1891, spending the next
ROLAND L. TAYLOR.
five years with the Trust Department of the Real Estate Trust Company, serving the latter part of this time as assistant secretary. On June 12, 1906, he was elected vice-president and a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadel- phia Trust, Safe Deposit and Insurance Company, succeeding to the presidency on June 13, 1910, and retaining the posi- tion until December, 1911, when he re- tired to become a member of the banking firm of William A. Read & Co., of New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and London. In addition to this connec-
tion, Mr. Taylor is a director of the In- dependence Insurance Company and di- rector and chairman of the Finance Com- mittee of the Young, Smyth, Field Com- pany. He has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Trust Com- pany Section of the American Bankers Association and has always taken a deep interest in the affairs of that organiza- tion. He also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsyl- vania Bankers' Association. In National affairs, Mr. Taylor is a Republican, but in State and City politics he is thoroughly independent and strongly advocates any needed reform. He served as an officer of the First Battalion of the Naval Re- serves for eleven years. He is a member of the Episcopal Church and is deeply in- terested in the Children's Seashore Home, Atlantic City, N. J., being one of the managers and treasurer of that most worthy charity. He is devoted to out- door sports and is a member of the Ger- mantown Cricket Club, of which he is one of the Governors; the Huntingdon Valley Country Club, the White Marsh Valley Country Club, the Racquet Club and the City Club. He was married Jan- uary 27, 1897, to Miss Anita M. Stein- metz and they have three children. He resides in Germantown, a beautiful sub- urb of the city, and his office is in the Morris Building.
G. WALLACE SIMPSON.
A knowledge gained by many years of practical experience, has made G. Wal- lace Simpson an expert in Philadelphia real estate values. Mr. Simpson was born in Philadelphia, July 22, 1877, and was educated at the Lauterbach Acade- my, from which he graduated in 1807. Immediately after the completion of his schooling, he entered the employment of Simpson & Catanach, of which firm his
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G. WALLACE SIMPSON.
father, L. P. Simpson, was senior mem- ber, and upon the dissolution of this firm, became a partner of his father in L. P. Simpson & Son. The father had started the real estate business in 1870 in the lower section of the city and being impressed with the possibilities in south- ern realty, acquired large tracts of va- cant territory and commenced building, soon being recognized as the pioneer creator of small homes of a better qual- ity than had been built in that section previously. These were intended for families of moderate means and were as handsomely appointed as the larger ones in more expensive localities. In all, about 6,000 dwellings were erected and when L. P. Simpson died, April 22, 1908, the son. G. Wallace Simpson, became the sole directing head of the business. In addition to its large building operations, the firm had a large rental list, but in the last few years Mr. Simpson has de-
voted nearly all of his time and energy to the placing of mortgages. . His ex- perience as a builder and as the agent of large realty interests has made him an expert in the determination of values throughout the city and country and his opinions are seldom disputed. Ilis busi- ness in this one line alone amounts to about $6,000,000 per year and extends throughout the entire United States, one of his latest negotiations being as far away as Salt Lake City, Utah, while a large portion comes from New York City and . the Middle West, and Mr. Simpson makes frequent trips to these points to personally look after the busi- ness. Ile married, in 1900, Miss Char- lotte E. Livers, of Boston, Mass., a daughter of Captain John Livers, of the United States Army, and they reside in Germantown, Philadelphia. He is a Re- publican in politics and holds member- ship in the Art Club.
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WILLIAM POWELL WILSON.
The eminence obtained by years of ac- tivity in scientific and educational fields is but a small part of the life work of Dr. William P. Wilson, who as organizer and director of the Philadelphia Com- mercial Museum has imparted to the en- tire world a knowledge of the excellence of American manufactures and largely in- creased the export trade of the country.
Dr. Wilson was born in Oxford, Michi- gan, October 17, 1844. He graduated from the High School at Battle Creek, Michigan, and began teaching in public schools in the West about 1863; about two years later, entered the Michigan State Agricultural College, and from there entered Harvard University from which institution he graduated in 1878, receiving the degree of B. S. While at Harvard he acted as instructor in botany under Professor George L. Goodale, and was tutor in zoology, paleontology, com- parative anatomy and geography. Ile then went to Germany, entering the Uni- versity of Tübingen, and graduated in 1880, receiving the degree of Sc. D. After taking this degree, opportunity was of- fered for original investigation in lines of plant physiology which he was already conducting and he spent two years in this work, the result of which was pub- lished in Germany.
Upon his return from Germany, he was appointed Professor of Plant Physiology in the University of Pennsylvania, and after the death of Dr. Leidy, became Di- rector of the School of Biology in that in- stitution.
llis special study has been in various lines of natural history and work in plant anatomy, physiology, and fiber work, and in economic botany and zoology. For two years, while occupying a professor- ship at the University of Pennsylvania,
he made a series of investigations on the effect of climate on plants in the tropics, for Professor Ilarrington, then Chief of the Weather Bureau. He has always been interested in social and educational subjects, and with Dr. Mary J. Safford and Mr. Hyde, he established the first
charity kindergartens in Boston, which were adopted by the city in 1876.
Dr. Wilson's life has been replete with effort and accomplishment in the line of research but the most remarkable work in his career is the organization, develop- ment and entire building up of the Phila- delphia Commercial Museum, 34th street below Spruce. The idea presented in the Commercial Museum, which is the exhi- bition of all kinds of products and ma- terials from a given country, to show up its present condition, resources, progress and ethnographic development, is unique in itself. No other institution in the
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United States covers this ground. The Museum, possessing a collection of ex- hibits valued at $2,000,000, is carried on practically under three divisions :
First. A large museum with collec- tions from more than fifty foreign coun- tries, which attempts in each country to show up the habits and customs of the people, progress and resources of the country and raw materials of use to our manufacturers. This division is support- ed by the city.
Second, A department of education, in which lectures are given daily, except Sunday, to any of the schools of the city, private or public, on subjects selected by the teachers in a line with the work of the classes.' These lectures are beauti- fully illustrated with lantern slides. After the lecture, the children are taken in groups to the exhibits from the countries studied and the actual objects shown and explained to them. Lectures, carefully written, illustrated by lantern slides with screen and lantern, are being circulated all over the State of Pennsylvania to the remote and small schools.
Small museums are sent to thousands of schools, without cost to them, through- out the State of Pennsylvania and writ- ten lectures illustrated with lantern slides are sent free to all the remote district schools in the state. This educational work is supported by the State.
Third. The Foreign Trade Bureau, with thirty-five, often more, employes, is working to aid American manufacturers to secure foreign trade. This work is not limited to Pennsylvania or Philadel- phia, but extends all over the United States. This Bureau has put hundreds of manufacturers into foreign trade, who had none before its skillful work aided them. The Foreign Trade Bureau has been copied by Japan and a number of other countries. It stands alone in its methods over any similar institution in the world. This work is supported by the nominal fees paid by the manufacturers whom it is aiding.
In 1897, Dr. Wilson organized and car- ried through the First International Com- mercial Congress. The Congress was outlined and subjects suggested to dele- gates from foreign chambers of com- merce and others from each of the coun- tries of South and Central America and
Mexico, which delegates, fifty-one in number, came together for a ten-day dis- cussion and conference in Philadelphia and were afterward taken by special train to twenty of the largest cities of the United States. In 1899-1900, a Second International Commercial Congress was organized and carried through. This largely exceeded the first, being attended by about three hundred foreign delegates and between four and five hundred repre- sentatives from the United States. This Congress was accompanied by the Na- tional Export Exposition, of which Dr. Wilson was Director-General, and which brought together from all parts of the United States, for the information of these foreign delegates, the manufactur- ed materials which were or might be ex- ported from the United States. This was the largest commercial Congress, and second of its kind, both stinmilated and carried through under Dr. Wilson's direction.
In 1002, President Roosevelt appointed Dr. Wilson Commercial Attache to the Pan American Congress held in Mexico City. Ile was also appointed by the Phil- ippine Commissioners, Chairman of the Philippine Government Board for the St. Louis Fair in 1904, and had entire charge of the exhibit made by this insular pos- session. Under the direction of William H. Taft, then Commissioner General of the Islands, Dr. Wilson constructed the necessary buildings for the exhibit which covered seventy acres of ground, with fully 100 buildings, including one for ag- riculture, one for commerce, one for art, one for education, one for a general ex- hibit, and full representation of more than twenty tribes from the Philippines, many of which constructed their own vil- lages in native style. Dr. Wilson went to the Philippines in 1903, and organized committees and machinery to produce this exhibit, perhaps the greatest single coun- try exhibit which has ever been brought together in a foreign or domestic exhibi- tion.
Dr. Wilson is a member of the Acade- my of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Die Botanischen Gesellschaft, Germany, The Botanical Society of America, The Washington Academy of Sciences, The City Club of Philadelphia, National Geo- graphical Society, Geographical Society,
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Philadelphia, American Academy of Po- litical and Social Science, The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, and corresponding member of more than fifty foreign societies and chambers of com- merce in Europe and various parts of the world.
SAMUEL MATHEW'S VAUCLAIN.
Possessed of a natural bent for me- chanics and having had a long practical experience in railroad shops, Mr. Samuel MI. Vauclain entered the field of loco- motive manufacture equipped with a comprehensive knowledge of every de- tail and requirement of locomotive con- struction. As the result of this thor- ough grounding and the executive ability which he has displayed, he has risen from foreman of shops of The Baldwin Loco- motive Works to his present position of vice-president, in which capacity he is the efficient head of the manufacturing and engineering departments of the cor- poration, and occupies an important place in the industrial world of the period.
Samuel Mathews Vauclain was born May 18, 1856, at Port Richmond, Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Andrew
C. and Mary (Campbell ) Vauclain. Through the paternal line of his ancestry he is of French, and through the maternal line, of Scotch-Irish descent.
Hlis education was obtained in the pub- lic schools of his native place, and he has since been honored by receiving the de- gree of Doctor of Science from the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Vauclain began his active career at an early age, starting to work in 1872 in the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Altoona, Pennsylvania. His connection with the firm of Burnham, Williams and Company, of Philadelphia, then proprie- tors of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, began July 1, 1883, when he took the po- sition of foreman of the Seventeenth street shop. In November, 1885, he was promoted to be superintendent of equip- ment of plant, and on February 10, 1886, was advanced to the position of general superintendent of plant. He became a member of the firm on January 1, 1895, and remained a partner until the reor- ganization of Burnham, Williams and Company, which, in 1909, was incorpor- ated as The Baldwin Locomotive Works. Mr. Vauclain was made vice-president of the latter corporation July 1, 1911, hav- ing charge of engineering and manufac- turing, and in this office he has since con- tinued to serve.
In addition to being vice-president and a director of The Baldwin Locomotive Works, Mr. Vauclain has many other corporation interests. He is a director of the Standard Steel Works, the Bucyrus Company, director and half owner of the Southwark Foundry and Machine Com- pany, director of the Philadelphia Trust, Safe Deposit and Insurance Company and of the Philadelphia Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
Ile is a member of the American Philo- sophical Society, Geographical Society, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers, American Society of Civil Engi- neers, American Society of Mining Engi- neers, Institution of Civil Engineers of London, Franklin Institute, Concrete In- stitute, American Railway Master Me- chanics' Association, Traveling Engi- neers' Association and Fairmount Park Art Association.
ITis clubs include the Union League,
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Engineeers, Manufacturers' and the Merion Cricket Clubs, of Philadelphia : the Railroad Club of New York, and the Western Railroad Club, of Chicago.
Mr. Vauclain was married April 17, 1870, to Miss Annie Kearney and has a family consisting of two sons and three daughters.
THOMAS MAY PEIRCE, A. M., PII. D.
The number of men throughout the country, who owe their commercial suc- cess to the careful business training im- parted by Thomas May Peirce, are le- gion ; those who were the recipients of his generous bounty are innumerable and the young men and women who were in- fluenced by his wise counsel and example are many. Every moment that could be spared from his business interests, was devoted to the alleviation of suffering and the uplift of mankind and his death on May 16, 1896, was the occasion of genuine grief by thousands whom Mr. Peirce had befriended. He was born at Chester, Pa., December 10, 1837, of Eng- lish ancestry and was educated in the pub- lic schools of Philadelphia, graduating from the Central High School when but sixteen years of age with the A. B. de- gree and receiving the Master of Arts de- gree from his Alma Mater five years later. Upon attaining his majority he taught school in Montgomery County, Pa., and the ability displayed brought hin the appointment of principal of the High School at Norristown. He filled similar positions in several Philadelphia schools and in 1865 he established the Peirce School, which from a small beginning has, according to the United States Com- missioner of Education, grown to be the largest private school in the United States, with an annual enrolment of up- wards of 3,000 students. The course of the Peirce School includes everything necessary to a thorough business training, and it is estimated that more than 35,000 students have been benefited by the Peirce method. Dr. Peirce was, early in his career, a bank examiner and was also re- garded as a handwriting expert, his knowledge in these connections bringing him as a witness in many important cases of a civil and criminal character. He served as president of the Business
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