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 43
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374
WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMON WEALTH.
WILLIAM WEIGHTMAN.
A history of chemical manufacturing would be incomplete without reference to the late William Weightman, who for nearly seventy-five years was closely iden- tified with that industry. Mr. Weight- man was born in Waltham, Lincolnshire, England, September 30, 1813, and when sixteen years of age came to America at the suggestion of his uncle, John Farr, who was founder of the firm of Farr & Kunzi, chemists. This uncle was the first manufacturer of sulphate of quinine. When Mr. Kunzi retired from the firm in 1836, Thomas Powers and William Weightman were admitted to partner- ship, the name being changed to Farr, Powers & Weightman and upon the death of Mr. Farr in 1847, the firm was again changed to Powers & Weightman. This house soon won international recog- nition for the quality of its products and the immense business continued without interruption until 1878 when Mr. Pow- ers died, at which time Mr. Weightman assumed full direction of the business in addition to his duties as chemist. Ilis two sons, Dr. John Farr Weightman and Dr. William Weightman, Jr., were ad-
mitted to partnership in 1883 and were active in the conduct of the business until the time of their deaths. In 1893, Rob- ert J. C. Walker, Mr. Weightman's son- in-law was made a partner in the firm and so continued until his death in 1903, when his widow became a partner of her father and assumed full control of the gigantic business upon Mr. Weightman's death, which occurred August 25, 1904. In December of the same year the busi- ness was, consolidated with Rosengarten & Sons, former competitors, under the name of Powers-Weightman-Rosengar- ten Company. Mr. Weightman was a skilled chemist and many of the firm's products were his discoveries. It was due to his efforts that sulphate of cin- chona became widely used as a substi- tute for quinine at a time when the price of the latter drug was almost prohibitive. In 1875 the firm was awarded the Elliott Cresson gold medal by the Franklin In- stitute for the introduction of an industry new in the United States and perfection of the result in the product obtained in the manufacture of citric acid. The same medal was awarded for the ingenuity and skill shown in the manufacture and for the perfection of workmanship displayed in the perfection of the cheaper alkaloids of the cinchona bark. Mr. Weightman made large investments in both improved and unimproved realty, which appreciated to a marvelons extent during his life- time and he became one of the largest property owners in the city and one of the wealthiest men in the State. He con- tinned in active command of the business until the time of his last illness when he was ninety-one years of age. On the 17th of March, 1841, he married Miss Louise Stelwagon, and of three chil- dren by this union but one survives, Mrs. Frederick C. Penfield, who is one of the wealthiest women in the United States.
Mr. Weightman was a director of the Philadelphia Trust Company, the North- ern Trust Company and the Commercial National Bank. He was a member of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy for forty-eight years. Ilis recreation from active business was obtained at his beau tiful country seat, Raven Hill, School Lane, Germantown, the grounds of which were beautifully laid out and under the highest state of cultivation.
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WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTH.
W. ATEEE BURPEE.
Washington Atlee Burpee, who is con- ceded to be the leading mail-order seed- man in this country and whose product has achieved an international reputation for its excellence, was born April 5, 1858, at Sheffield, New Brunswick, the son of David and Ann Catherine ( Atlee) Bur- pee. He was brought to Philadelphia when a child and received his education at the Friends School and the University of Pennsylvania. He started the seed business in 1876, with two partners, but two years later embarked alone under the firm name of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. Mr. Burpee determined at the commence- ment of his business career, that the ex- cellence of his product should be his sole appeal to the users of seeds. This was a
stupendous task at that time, for in the early days he did not raise his own seeds and to secure the grade he insisted on meant hard work in careful inspection of, and selection from crops grown by others. The result of his accurate judg- ment is shown by the phenomenal growth of the business. "Burpee Quality" was recognized from the start. Success made it possible for Mr. Burpee to grow seed on his own farms and under his own su- pervision, and the thirty-seven years that have ensued since his humble beginning, have been tirelessly spent in experimenta- tion that has produced almost perfection. The business has in consequence grown to be the greatest of its character in the world. Mr. Burpee has now six farms
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WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTH.
where all tests and trials are made in or- the women employees and smoking rooms der to produce high grade seeds. These for the men. A dining room was installed where meals can be obtained at actual cost. Umbrellas are provided for the em- ployees in case of sudden storms and the lounging rooms contain rocking chairs, tables and couches, newspapers, magazines and writing materials. Each year Mr. Burpee issues a handsomely il- histrated catalogue and offers prizes that keep the users of seeds constantly inter- ested. farms are located at Doylestown, Pa., Swedesboro, N. J., and in the Lompoc Valley, California. The Doylestown farms, called "Fordhook" after Mr. Bur- pee's ancestors' estate in England, con- tain over 200 acres, devoted to the cul- tivation of tomatoes, corn, sweet peas, the smaller vegetables and flowers. "Sun- nybrook,". the Swedesboro farm, is used for the development of tomatoes and mel- ons, the soil and climate being best adapt- ed for that purpose. The California farm, known as "Floradale," is at Lom- poc in Santa Barbara County; where the Burpees grow one hundred and fifty acres of sweet peas alone each season.
The warehouses in Philadelphia, like the farms, are large and particularly adapted to the business. They include a large block of buildings at the inter- section of York Road and Fifth street, where three hundred employees are kept busy handling the large daily business, using a system formulated by Mr. Bur- pee, to ensure the highest degree of effi- ciency. Between five and six thousand mail orders are received daily and none are allowed to remain unfilled more than twenty-four hours. This is one of Mr. Burpee's inflexible rules and adherence to it has greatly added to the reputation of the house.
The progressiveness of this model business house is not only shown in the conduct of the vast business, but in the consideration and treatment of its em- ployees it has kept ahead, not merely abreast, of the times. Mr. Burpee has not waited for humanitarians to tell him what should be done along this line, for he solved the problem himself, and when he fitted up the warehouses he made every provision for the comfort of his work- people. Rest rooms were provided for
In addition to his seed business, Mr. Burpee has many other interests and is a director in the Market Street Na- tional Bank, the Northern Trust Com- pany, and the Colgate Company. He is a director of the Wholesale Seedmen's League, ex-president of the American Seed Trade Association, director and ex- president of the American Sweet Pea Association, and vice-president of the National Sweet Pea Society of Great Britain. Ile is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Philadel- phia Board of Trade and is a trustee of the Howard Hospital, the Sanitarium As- sociation and the National Farm School. He is a director and ex-president of the Canadian Society of Philadelphia and is a life member of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain, the Societic Nationale Horticulture de France, and the Transatlantic Society. Flis clubs are the Union League, Art, University, City, Racquet, Bachelors' Barge and Poor Richard, of Philadelphia, the Country Club of Lansdowne, Pa., the Merion Cricket Club, and the National Arts and City Clubs of New York City. Mr. Burpee married Miss Blanche Simons in 1892, and they have three children : Da- vid, Washington Atlee, Jr., and Stuart Alexander Burpee. He resides at "Ford- hook," his beautiful estate near Doyles- town, Pennsylvania.
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377
JOHN GRIBBEL.
John Gribbel, sole proprietor of the gas meter manufacturing plant of Jolm J. Griffin & Co., was born in Hudson City, - N. J., March 29, 1858. Ilis education was received in the College of the City of New York and the Wesleyan University, the latter institution conferring the M. A. degree upon him. After the completion of his schooling he entered the employ of the Importers and Traders Bank, New York City, in 1876 and remained with that concern until 1877 when he accepted an advanced position with the Leather Manufacturers National Bank. He re- tained this connection until 1883 when he was appointed New York agent for Har- ris, Griffin & Co. John J. Griffin & Co. succeeded this firm in the manufacture of gas meters and Mr. Gribbel was admit- ted to partnership in 1800. Mr. Griffin was taken seriously ill the same year and Mr. Gribbel removed to Philadelphia to give his personal attention to the firm's interests, and upon the death of Mr. Grif- fin, he became sole owner of the extensive works. In addition to the business of John J. Griffin & Co., which has been largely extended under Mr. Gribbel's personal supervision, he is interested in a score of financial and commercial enter- prises. He is a director and second vice- president of the Curtis Publishing Com- pany of Philadelphia, director and vice- president of the Brooklyn Borough Gas Company of New York, president of the Royal Electrotype Company of Philadel- phia, president of the Helena Gas and Electric Company of Helena, Arkansas, president of the Athens Gas Company of Athens, Georgia, director of the Girard National Bank and Real Estate Trust Company, of Philadelphia, president of the Fairmount Savings Trust Company, of Philadelphia, director and vice-presi- dent of the "Public Ledger," director of the United Gas and Electric Corporation of New York, director of the Lancaster Gas and Electric Company, of Lancaster, Pa., and president of the Tampa Gas Company, of Tampa, Florida.
Mr. Gribbel is of English ancestry and is a son of James and Anna ( Simmons) Gribbel. On January 8, 1880, he was mar-
ried to Miss Elizabeth B. Wood, of New York City. Ile is deeply interested in Colonial and early English history, and has a valuable collection of American portraits, documents and autograph let- ters. His collection of early English ob- jects includes seventeenth century engrav- ings and rare books of the fifteenth, six- teenth, seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
JOHN GRIBBEL.
turies. Mr. Gribbel has a handsome resi- dence at Wyncote, l'a., in which is housed the almost priceless objects which he lias spent years in collecting. He has a sum- mer home at Camden, Me., where he spends a part of each year and being fond of outdoor life finds recreation between seasons in the wildest and most pictur- esque spots in the country. He is a mem- ber of the Union League, of Philadel- phia, and the Lotus Chib, of New York City. He is a Republican of a pronounc- ed type but takes no part in politics be- yond giving his moral and financial sup- port to the party whose principles he ad- vocates.
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378
WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTH.
DANIEL BAUGHI,
379
WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTH.
DANIEL BAUGIL,
Devoting every spare moment from an active business career for the advance- ment of Art and Science, Daniel Baugh has been rewarded by the progress made in the fields in which he has labored as- siduously. Mr. Baugh was born in Ches- ter County, Pa., October 22d, 1836, the sou of John Pugh and Hannah ( Krauser ) Baugh. His ancestors on both sides were German and the families have been prominent in Chester County for nearly three centuries. He was educated in a private academy in the locality in which he was born and then attended Tremont Seminary, Norristown, Pa., for several termis but did not enter college as his father's business demanded his attention at this period. The family had been for generations engaged in the tanning busi- ness, but the introduction of improved machinery made primitive methods un- profitable and his father turned his at- tention to crop fertilization by chemical process. For the manufacture of this commodity, known as super-phosphates, the firm of Baugh and Sons, consisting of the father and the sons Edward P. and Daniel, was formed in 1855. The product became at once popular and one year later a special plant was erected at Downingtown, Pa. In 1860 the plant was moved to Philadelphia and the Dela- ware River Chemical Works established. The father died in 1881 and in 1887 the business was incorporated with Edwin P. Baugh as president. The latter died in 1888, and since that time Daniel Baugh has been the active head of Baugh & Sons and the subsidiary companies, which includes, in addition to the Dela- ware River Chemical Works, the Baugh Chemical Company, of Baltimore, Md., and the Chemical Works at Norfolk, Va. Under Mr. Baugh's direction the busi- ness has expanded wonderfully and the products have attained a world-wide rep- utation. Despite his business activity, Mr. Bangh has found time to devote to many objects for the betterment of man- kind. Ile is a trustee of the Rush Hos- pital, was a member of the Board of Managers of the Howard Hospital, and
is a trustee of the Jefferson Medical Col- lege and Hospital. His work for this institution was of such a character that President William Potter referred to him as the most valuable man ever on the Board, and this is unquestionably so, for in addition to his interest in the institu- tion's welfare he has helped it in a ma- terial way. When the faculty found the college building inadequate for the pro- per teaching of anatomy, Mr. Baugh pur- chased the property at Eleventh and Clin- ton streets and fitted it up with every modern scientific apparatus at a cost of nearly $200,000. This was turned over to the college September 26th, 1911, and at the dedicatory services it was named by special action of the trustees the Daniel Baugh Institute of Anatomy of the Jefferson Medical College as a "Me- morial to a man who is true, generous, sympathetic and a prince among men."
Mr. Baugh is a member of the Per- manent Relief Committee, was president of the Sanitarium Association for twelve years and has been president of the School of Design for Women for twen- ty-five years. His devotion to Art has been shown by his work as one of the or- ganizers of the Art Club and his activity as its treasurer and as president for a pe- riod of ten years. He was also one of the organizers and first president of the Art Federation which had for its object the beautification of the city and the con- struction of a Boulevard to Fairmount Park. This has since been merged with the Parkway Association and a portion of its objects consummated. Mr. Baugh is ex-president of the Department of Ar- chacology and Palaeontology of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania and during his term of office a new building was erected in which is housed a large collection of Egyptian, Babylonian and Mediterranean objects. He also aided in the establish- ment of the Philadelphia Medical Jour- nal. Mr. Baugh is a director of the Gir- ard National Bank, the Delaware Insur- ance Company, the Philadelphia Bourse, the Philadelphia Museums and the Belt Line Railroad Company. His clubs are the Union League, Art, Penn, Racgnet, Merion Cricket. Corinthian Yacht and Philadelphia Country.
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380
WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTH.
STEPHEN GREENE.
Stephen Greene was born in Bain- bridge, Chenango County, New York, September 25th, 1831. He was three years old when his parents removed to Pennsylvania and three years later he was sent to the public schools which sys-
STEPHEN GREENE.
tem had been organized in the State one year previously. From that period until 1845, he attended schools in Marietta, Co- lumbia and Washington, in Lancaster County and during the vacation period was given private instruction. He taught a district school in Hellam Township, York County, for a term and deciding to become a printer, he secured employment in the office of the Pennsylvania Intelli- gencer, at Lancaster. He had become an expert printer when in May, 1848, he re- moved to Philadelphia and entered the
printing establishment of William S. Young, as a compositor, "subbing" at night on the Daily News, then published on Third street below Chestnut. In the Fall of the same year he returned to Co- lumbia, Pa., to take charge of the me- chanical department of the Columbia Spy. and in 1853 became one of its editors and proprietors, acquiring sole ownership in 1855. He sold the plant in 1856, and two years later returned to Philadelphia and organized the firm of Ringwalt & Brown. He retired from this firm in 1860 and then became superintendent of the print- ing house of the late Henry G. Leisen- ring. He introduced in Philadelphia the first presses for printing consecutively numbered railroad and other tickets, and in 1871 became a member of the firm of Helfenstein, Lewis and Greene, eventu- ally becoming sole proprietor of the ex- tensive business, which he incorporated in 1900 as the Stephen Greene Company, becoming the president and retaining the position until the time of his death. The large plant at 16th and Arch streets was erected in 1902 and the business largely extended under Mr. Greene's careful management. In 1800 he became inter- ested in the development of Wenonah, N. J., instituting the Wenonah Military Academy there, and acquiring much real estate in that locality. He was a mem- ber of the Franklin Institute for many years and was for a long time a member of its Board of Managers. He was for twenty-five years one of the trustees of Drew Theological Seminary and long ac- tive in the affairs of Philadelphia School of Design, being at one time its presi- dent. Ile was a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the Union League, Manufacturers' Club and the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Greene married in 1853, Miss Martha Mifflin Houston, of Colum- bia, Pa.
WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTH.
381
HOWARD BARCLAY FRENCH.
Iloward Barclay French, who has, for more than forty-five years, taken a lead- ing part in promoting the civic, commer- cial and political advancement of Phila- delphia, was born in Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, September 3d, 1848, the son of Samuel Harrison and Angelina ( Dunseth ) French. On the paternal side he is descended from Thomas French, a member of the Society of Friends, who, in 1680, in order to escape religious perse- cntion, came from Northamptonshire, England, and settled near Burlington, N. J.
Mr. French was educated in Friends' schools, and graduated from the College of Pharmacy. He then entered the em- ploy of his father's firm, French, Rich- ards & Company, wholesale druggists and paint manufacturers, established in 1844. In January, 1883, the manufacturing and drug departments of the concern were separated, and Howard B. French with his brother William A., joined with their father, Samuel 11. French, and John L. Longstreth in forming the firm of Samnel
11. French & Company, which succeeded the manufacturing branch of the old firm. William A. French died in 1886, and Samuel 11. French in 1895. Upon the re- tirement of John 1 .. Longstreth in 1901, Mr. French became sole proprietor of the business, under the name of Samuel 11. French & Company.
Mr. French is a member of the Phila- delphia Paint Manufacturers' Club, and was president of the National Paint, Oil and Varnish Association. He is treasur- er of the Central Committee of the Paint and Varnish Manufacturers' Associations of the United States, and treasurer and director of the Paint Trade Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He was president of the Equitable Trust Company from 1902 until 1912. lle is a director of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he is first vice-president. In 1896 he was ap- pointed by the Governor a delegate to the Convention at Tampa, Florida, to devise coast defenses for the Gulf and South At- lantic Harbors ; also a member of the Ex- ecutive Committee of the Tennessee C'en- tennial Commission of Philadelphia. Ile has served as secretary of the Union Committee on Transportation, Manufac- turing and Commercial Interests of Phila- delphia ; as a member of the Advisory Board of the Commercial Museums, and is now a member of its Board of Trus- tees. He was a director of the Manufac- turers' Club, of the Franklin Institute and served on the sub-committee in the selec- tion of a site for the new United States Mint. Hle was a member of different committees prominent in the Founders' Week Celebration, October, 1908, of the Committee on Transportation and Rail- road Terminals co-operating with the Mayor in an effort to provide facilities for the enlargement of trade, of the commit- tee of the organizing Commission for the Twelfth Congress of the Permanent In- ternational Association of Navigation Congresses, and a delegate to the Fifth Annual Convention of the Atlantic Deep- er Waterways Association, New London. Conn., 1912, at which he also represented the Commercial Museum and Chamber of Commerce. He was chairman of the Finance Committee of the Historical Pa-
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WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTHI.
geant of Philadelphia, 1912, chairman of the Citizens' Committee of Ninety-five for Good City Government, a member of the Business Men's Republican League, of the Civil Service Commission of Phila- delphia, of the Mckinley and Hobart Business Men's National Campaign Com- mittee, president of the National Repub- lican League of Business men, of several committees superintending arrangements for the National Republican Convention held in Philadelphia, delegate to the Na- tional Republican Convention, Chicago, and chairman of the Taft and Sherman Business Men's National Campaign Com- mittee
lle is one of the managers and trus- tees of the Philadelphia Southern Home for Destitute Children ; a manager of the Home Missionary Society ; a member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Chari- ties, trustee of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and for the past thirteen years, its president.
He is a member of the Union League of which he was a direc- tor and second vice-president ; direc- tor of the Bath Portland Cement Com- pany, and the Continental Equitable Title and Trust Company, member of the At- lantic Deeper Waterways Association, a director and former president of the New Jersey Society of Pennsylvania, a member of the Ohio Society of Philadelphia, mem- ber of the American Pharmaceutical As- sociation, the Historical Society of Pen- sylvania, the Colonial Society, the Merion Cricket Club, Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, and the Pen and Pencil Club of Philadelphia. Ile is deep- ly interested in genealogical research, and has published the "Genealogy of the De- scendants of Thomas French, 1630- 1913." 2 vols.
Mr. French married in 1882, Miss lda Colket, daughter of Coffin Colket of Phil- adelphia. One child, a daughter is living. and a son died in infancy.
EDWIN H. FITLER.
Edwin 11. Fitler, first Mayor of Phila- delphia under the Bullitt Bill, was born in that city. December 2, 1825. Ile re- ceived an academic education and began the study of law in the of- ficeof Charles E. Lex, but laid aside his text books for mercantile pursuits and entered the Cordagehouse of George J. Weaver, mas- tering every detail of the business and becoming : EDWIN H. FITLER. member of the firm in two years. He later purchased Mr. Weaver's interest and changed the firm name to Edwin 11. Fitler & Co. The business .grew to such proportions that a mammoth plant was built at Bridesburg where much labor saving machinery of Mr. Fitler's designing was installed. Mr. Fitler was a Republican in politics and was at one time mentioned for the United States Senatorship and for the Governor- ship of the State. At the National Con- vention in 1888 his name was presented for the presidential nomination and he re- ceived the solid vote of the Philadelphia delegation. Mr. Fitler was a director of the National Bank of Northern Liberties and was vice-president and president of the Union League. At the time of his nomination for Mayor he received the en- dorsement of nearly all the representative business men as a candidate whose wide experience and integrity would enable him to carry into effect the radical gov- ernmental features contained in the new city charter.
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WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTH. 387
mechanical engineers of his time. After becoming a journeyman, he was employed in the machine shop of Fairbanks, Ban- croft & Co., Providence, Rhode Island. for three years and in 1848 he began the manufacture of tools and machine gear. . ing in Philadelphia. Hle subsequently be- came a member of the firm of Bancroft
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