cluded, the Koppel Company owned six hundred and eighty acres of land
just suited to their purpose, six miles north of Beaver Falls, on the Beaver
river, with the Pennsylvania railroad and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie
railroad near at hand. With one stenographer, Mr. Ellis opened an ofifice
in the Frick Annex in Pittsburgh, and arranged with Dodge & Day, con-
tractors, to start the construction of the plant. This, upon its completion
in 1907, included the following buildings : One building 200 by 50 feet in
dimensions, one building 75 by 75, one 75 by 122, and two buildings 75 by
50 feet, the last two named being used as power building and office,
respectively. This building equipment has been doubled since 1907, and
everything that has been done tliere has been according to the design and un-
der the direct supervision of Mr. Ellis, who has even bought all the machinery
and superintended its installation. When all was complete, he began the
active operation of the plant, originally with about seventy-five men, a
force which has since grown until it numbers at the present time from three
hundred and fifty to four hundred men. The product of this great es-
tablishment, which consists of contractors' equipment and industrial steel
cars, is disposed of largely in the United States, though some export bus-
iness is done, especially in the line of sugar cane and mine cars. Since its
origin the business has had a strong and steady growth and in this country
is carried on by registration instead of incorporation. Since the death of
Mr. Koppel in 1910, the name of the concern has been changed to the
Orenstein-Arthur Koppel Company, the combined value of whose works is
estimated at about $15,000,000. The whole concern is owned by Berlin
capitalists. Besides the European offices, there are American offices located
in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Mexico City and in Cuba.

As was to have been expected, there has grown up around the great
Koppel works a town of some twelve hundred inhabitants, and here again
was an opportunity for the engineer-manager-superintendent to exercise his
constructive genius. He it was who designed the town, laid out and named
and paved the streets, established waterworks and an electric light plant
and constructed some sixty houses, built by the company for its employees.
He it was also, who, when it came the time for the village to become a
borough in 1912, took the matter into court and procured its charter, and
his name appeared as treasurer in the list of first borough officials by the
express insistence of the council. Though very modest and prone to dis-
count his own achievement in the matter, it is very evident that Mr. Ellis'
genius is responsible for a large proportion of the advantages which Koppel,
as the town is called, enjoys. He has built for the future as well as the
present and his plans both for the town and company possess a farsighted-
ness as commendable as it is rare. Mr. Ellis is a member of the Tamaqua
Club, of the Koppel Country Club and of the Masonic order.

Mr. Ellis was married, in 1899, to Miss Edith Law, and to them have
been born two children, Edith and Alfred.



964 PENNSYLVANIA

Some men there are of interests so varied and talents so
WIGLEY versatile as to render the task of describing them extremely
difficult. Moving in so many spheres of endeavor and con-
spicuous in all they seem to belong in almost equal measure to each one.
Such was the case with the late Arthur Benjamin Wigley, for more than
thirty years manager of the Pittsburgh office of the R. G. Dun & Company
Mercantile Agency. Mr. Wigley was prominent not only as a business man
but also by reason of his long and close connection with the charitable in-
terests of the city, while his association with fraternal circles was so intimate
and conspicuous as to render the record of his career an essential part of
their annals.

Arthur Benjamin Wigley was born December 30, 1848, in Uttoxeter,
England, and was a son of Josiah and Mary (Steele) Wigley. His educa-
tion was received in his native country and in Canada, whither his parents
emigrated when he was but eight years old. At the age of eighteen he
entered the Toronto office of the R. G. Dun & Company Mercantile Agency,
where his faithfulness and ability soon attracted the notice of his superiors,
causing him to be steadily and rapidly advanced. In 1869, when he was but
twenty-one years of age, he was appointed manager of the office of the
Dun agency at Toledo, Ohio. Such was his efficiency in this position that
two years later he was promoted to the managership of the office in Louis-
ville, Kentucky, and in October, 1876, succeeded to the place which he filled
so successfully during the remainder of his life — that of manager of the
agency's office in Pittsburgh.

As Daniel Webster has said, "Credit has done more, a thousand times,
to enrich nations, than all the mines of all the world," and the necessities
of the merchant, the manufacturer and the bank brought into existence what
is known as the mercantile agency, R. G. Dun & Company being the oldest,
largest and most complete organization of its kind in the world. The
Pittsburgh office was established in 1852, and during Mr. Wigley's admin-
istration the business greatly increased, branches being set up at Wheeling,
Canton, Youngstown, Zanesville and East Liverpool. In all the positions
which he successfully filled he exhibited remarkable executive ability, an
astonishingly clear perception of the wants of the dififerent organizations and
a judgment that was seldom at fault when their financial policy was to be
considered. As manager of the Pittsburgh office his business interests were
of a most important nature, demanding the services of one whose ability
was of a superior order and whose well balanced forces were manifest in
sound judgment and a ready and rapid understanding of any problem that
might be presented for solution. He combined with capable management and
unfaltering enterprise a spirit of justice, and while the business was care-
fully systematized in order that there might be no needless expenditure of
time, material or labor, never did he make the mistake of regarding his
employees merely as parts of a great machine, but recognized their individu-
ality, making it a rule that faithful and efficient service should be promptly
rewarded with promotion as opportunity off^ered.




Offp^:^



BEAVER COUNTY 965

In all concerns relative to the city's welfare Mr. Wigley's interest was
deep and sincere and wherever substantial aid would further public progress
it was freely given. In politics he was a Republican, and, while steadily
refusing to hold office, ever gave loyal support to all measures calculated to
promote the best interests of Pittsburgh. Widely but unostentatiously
charitable, no good work done in the name of philanthropy or religion
sought his co-operation in vain. He was one of the organizers, when first
organized, of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Ascension, and was
a member until his death.

Among Mr. Wigley's most noticeable characteristics was the active
interest which he took in fraternal organizations. He was initiated in St.
John's Lodge, No. 219, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he became
master in 1893; and he was also prominent in Scottish Rite Masonry; in
1878 he became a member of Pittsburgh Commandery, No. i. Knights
Templar, several times held the office of eminent commander, and during the
triennial conclave held some years ago in Pittsburgh, was one of those who
made it such a brilliant success. He was president of the Masonic Country
Club and the Masonic Fund Society, and vice-president of the Masonic
Veterans of Pennsylvania, an organization of distinction in the order. He
was also a member of the Duquesne, Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Athletic
clubs.

Of fine personal appearance and imposing presence. Mr. Wigley's
resolute countenance and searching eyes were indicative of his energy of
mind, aggressive disposition and resourceful intellect, and they were also
expressive of a genial nature rich in those beautiful qualities which win and
hold friends. Courteous, dignified, kindly in manner and speech, quick and
decisive in character, but always considerate of others and exceedingly
generous, he was a gentleman in every sense of the word.

Mr. Wigley married, (first) in 1875, Anna Maria Lynch, of Brampton,
Ontario, who died in 1877. They had one child, Mary Anna. He married
(second) in 1880, Blanche Evans, of Bristol. England, who died in 1887.
They had three children : Chas., Alice Blanche, who married Arthur Vail
Spinosa, of Pittsburgh; and Grace Ellsmore. He married (third) July 27,
1892, Marion Louisa, daughter of George and Sarah (Thistle) Green, of
Brampton, Canada. They had six children: Norman, Walter Franklin,
Donald Thistle, Louis Alexander, Alan Benjamin, and Kathleen Phyllis
St. John Wigley. Mrs. Wigley is a woman of grace, charm and tact, and
gifted with foresight and business acumen of a high order. The beautiful
home over which she presides is noted for its refined and open-handed
hospitality.

The death of Mr. Wigley, which occurred March 16, 1910, removed
from Pittsburgh one who throughout his career was the soul of honor, dis-
tinguished by a loyalty to principle which won the unqualified respect and
regard of every associate and friend. Broad in views, buoyant in disposi-
tion, honest, sincere and self-reliant, he stood for many years as one of the
most eminent and valued citizens of Pittsburgh.



966 PENNSYLVANIA

Arthur Benjamin Wigley was one of those men who are widely re-
membered because they touched life at so many points. As business man
and citizen he rendered notable service to his community. As friend, as
neighbor, as member of fraternal organizations, he was loved as few men
have been, and today his memory is cherished in numberless hearts.



Charles F. Mount, a prominent citizen of Koppel, Beaver
MOUNT county, Pennsylvania, is a member of an old New Jersey
family, but was himself born in Henry county, Iowa, Janu-
ary 7, 1858, a son of Timothy and Ann E. (Hendrickson) Mount. His
paternal grandfather was also Timothy Mount, an old resident of Monmouth
county, New Jersey, where for many years he carried on his trade of shoe-
making, and where he lived a quiet and retired life, finally dying there.
He left a family of several children, all of whom remained in the East
with the exception of his namesake, Timothy, the father of our subject.
This son was born in Navesink, New Jersey, about 1820. He met and was
married to Miss Hendrickson, in New York City, where she was being
brought up by an uncle, and where they lived until the year 1857. They then
removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where Mr. Mount followed the trade of
carpenter, securing in time the position of head carpenter in the State
Insane Asylum, where he remained for thirty years. His death occurred
in 1898, and that of his wife in 1883. To them were born five children
who survived infancy, as follows: Aletta H., now Mrs. Alexander Mc-
Farland, of Ames, Iowa; Amelia, now Mrs. B. F. Stowe, of Rock Island,
Illinois ; Ella, now Mrs. Dillon Lehew, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa ; Charles
P., our subject ; and Maria, now Mrs. William Gilbert, a resident of the state
of Kansas.

Charles F. Mount was educated in the local schools of his native place,
and later at the Iowa State College, from which he graduated with the
class of 1878 with the degree of B. C. E. He later returned and took
a post-graduate course which procured for him the further degree of C. E.
the following year. His first choice of a career was that of teaching, and
he accordingly entered that profession and taught for thirteen years in the
Civil Engineering Department of the Iowa State College. During this
period he became greatly interested in the cultivation of fruit, and finally
determined to engage in that profitable culture, and for this purpose re-
moved to Howell county, Missouri, where he remained ten years. He later
went to Cleveland, Ohio, and engaged in engineering work of various kinds,
and enjoyed the distinction of being employed upon the construction of the
great Yerkes telescope, which at the time of its completion was the most
powerful instrument in the world. He later worked at steel construc-
tion for the Brown Conveying Machinery Company of Cleveland, and for
the American Bridge Company. In the year 1905 he left the employ of the
latter concern and removed to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where he has
remained ever since. In his new home he has engaged in a general con-



BEAVER COUNTY 967

tracting business, and also returned to his interest in agriculture, buying a
farm in Big Beaver township, where he is engaged in breeding full blooded
Percheron and Belgian horses. At the time of the establishing of the great
Koppel Works in that locality, a portion of Mr. Mount's farm was required
for the site of the plant and he accordingly sold one hundred acres of his
property to the Arthur Koppel Company, retaining the rest for his own
purposes. The coming of the great industry and the consequent appear-
ance and growth of the town of Koppel has increased greatly the demand
for Mr. Mount's engineering skill and he has found much employment in
the construction that has gone on and is continually going on there. Mr.
Mount is a Republican in politics and is active in the affairs of the com-
munity.

Mr. Mount was married in 1883, to Miss Minnie C. Clark, daughter
of Peter R. and Ellen Clark, of Iowa. To Mr. Mount by this union was
born one son, Charles T., who is now engaged in helping his father in the
conduct of his farm, and who married Miss Sarah Carpenter, by whom
he had one son, Frederick C. Mount. Mr. Mount, our subject, was mar-
ried a second time in 1893, to Mrs. Florence I. Randel, the widow of
Albert Randel, and formerly Miss Rathburn. There have been no children
born to this union.



Peter Shumaker, a native of Germany, came to America
SHUMAKER in early manhood and arrived at Charleston, South Caro-
lina. He made his way to the state of Pennsylvania, and
after his marriage settled in Beaver county. He was the proprietor of a
tavern, located on what is now Third street, Beaver. When he was quite
advanced in years he traveled alone to Kansas, and died at Atchison. He
married Polly Sudar, born in Union county, Pennsylvania, in 1805, died
in New Castle, Pennsylvania. They had children : David, of further men-
tion; John, who died in New Castle, Pennsylvania; Cal, who died in New
Castle, Pennsylvania, married Sheppard, who was killed on a gun-
boat at Vicksburg during the progress of the Civil War; Charlotte, widow
of George Miller, lives in New Castle.

(H) David, son of Peter and Polly (Sudar) Shumaker, was born east
of the Allegheny mountains, in Pennsylvania, and died in Beaver county,
Pennsylvania. He was a very young child when he was brought to Beaver
county by his parents, and the remainder of his life was spent there. He
was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, and followed this calling
for a number of years. Later, when Beaver commenced to grow, Mr. Shu-
maker established himself as a contractor, and in this capacity executed
some of the most important contracts in the town. He was also extensively
engaged as a coal operator and dealer, and was an excellent man of bus-
iness. He was active in the interests of the Republican party, served as a
member of the common council, and in a number of other local public
offices. Mr. Shumaker married Elizabeth Harton, a member of the Metho-



968 PENNSYLVANIA

dist Episcopal church. They had children: Stella, married Annon Mc-
Kinley, and died in Beaver, Beaver county ; Wilda, died in girlhood, in
Keokuk, Iowa; James Harton, of further mention; Marshal E., a resident
of Beaver, is in the real estate business and a building contractor; Ella,
married Colonel Reed, and lives in Vanport, Pennsylvania; Jesse, who
was in the real estate business, is now living retired in Rochester, Beaver
county; Joseph, is a dentist, and lives in Beaver.

James Harton, father of Mrs. Shumaker, was born in Scotland, and
emigrated to America after his marriage. He settled in Beaver, Beaver
county, Pennsylvania, where he conducted a brewery for a number of
years. Subsequently he retired to a farm in New Brighton township,

where his death occurred. Fie married, in Scotland, Elliott, born in

that country; after the death of her husband she sold the farm on which
they had been living and returned to Beaver, where she died. They had
children: John, a carpenter, who died in Beaver; Marshal, now retired
from business, lives at Vanport, Pennsylvania; James, a dentist, died at
Beaver Falls; Sarah, widow of Lemuel Edgar, lives in Beaver; Elizabeth,
married David Shumaker, as above stated ; Mary, married Samuel Dinsmore

and died in Cleveland, Ohio; Emma, married Miller, and lives in

Pittsburgh; Cornelia, married (first) Simeon Dinsmore, (second) .

(Ill) James Harton, son of David and Elizabeth (Harton) Shumaker,
was born in Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1855. He re-
ceived a sound, practical education in the public schools, and then com-
menced the practical study of dentistry under the preceptorship of his uncle,
a well known dentist. He commenced practicing his profession at an un-
usually early age, and displayed a remarkable proficiency from the very
beginning of his professional career. For a time he practiced as the as-
sistant of Dr. Spencer, of Pittsburgh, then in the same capacity for Dr.
Scott, also of Pittsburgh. About two years were then spent in various
cities of the South and West, among them being: Cincinnati, Ohio; Chi-
cago, Illinois; St. Paul, Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; Kansas City,
Kansas; Denver, Colorado; New Orleans, Louisiana; Cairo, Illinois; Nash-
ville, Tennessee; and Louisville, Kentucky. Upon his return to Beaver, he
established himself in the practice of his profession, and continued in it
until 1898. He then visited Nashville, Tennessee; and Charleston and
Ravenswood, West Virginia. He then spent a short time in Vanport, Penn-
sylvania, after which he established himself in Beaver Falls, Beaver county.
He is now the second oldest dentist in point of practice in the town, and
is well established in the public confidence for the excellence of his work.
Until recently he gave his political support to the principles of the Repub-
lican party, but now prefers to form his opinions without reference to party
ties. His fraternal affiliation is with the Knights of Pythias. Dr. Shumaker
married Mary E. Holt, a sister of the eminent jurist. Judge Holt. They
have two children : Mary and Jim.



BEAVER COUNTY 969

The name of Hicks has been on record since the early Puritan
HICKS days, when members of the family were among the early settlers

of New England. It is not a matter of certainty whether the
family here under discussion came to Pennsylvania from New England,
or whether they came to the State directly from Europe in later days.
The first generation of which we have record in Pennsylvania were old
residents of Westmoreland county, where Mr. Hicks was a farmer, cooper,
wagon builder and blacksmith. He was in active service during the War
.of 1812. He married, and had children: Wilson; Alexander; Edward;
Susan ; Emma ; William A., of whom further ; and a child whose name is not
on record.

(II) William A. Hicks, son of the preceding, was born in West-
moreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1844, and died in Johnstown, Pennsyl-
vania, in December, 1898. He grew to manhood in Westmoreland county,
and after his marriage he settled in Pittsburgh. About 1873 or 1874 he
moved to Philadelphia, and after living eight years in that city, removed
to Johnstown, where he followed his trade of coopering for a time, then
became watchman for the Cambria Iron and Steel Company. He was an
inventor of merit, and took out more than fifty patents. Among his in-
ventions was a form which enabled a man to turn out twice as many kegs
in a given time as had been possible previously; another was a railway
switch and frog, which was the first that would not break when put in use
on the main line. He was an uncompromising Republican, and he and his
wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Hicks married
Sarah C. Frazier, born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1848, died at
the home of her son, Frank C, in Beaver Falls, Beaver county, Penn-
sylvania, in 1909. Her parents were old residents in both Somerset and
Westmoreland counties and conducted a half-way house between Johnstown
and Cambria, in Cambria county. There Mr. Frazier died, when he was
more than seventy years of age, and his widow removed to Moxliam,
where she lived with a daughter, Mrs. Charles Wilson, and died when she
was over seventy years old. They had eight children, among whom were:
Jane, Sarah, Emma, Amanda and Maria. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks had chil-
dren: Harry, a farmer living in Pulaski, Pennsylvania; Frank C, of further
mention; Samuel, died in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; Elsie, died at the age
of nine years; Kate, married Edward Woods, and lives in Denora, Penn-
sylvania; Luella, died in infancy; William, lives in Granville, and is a
draftsman and architect in structural steel work ; Charles, is a tube worker
and lives at Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.

William A. Hicks has a very creditable record for service during the
Civil War. He was a soldier in Company K, Second Regiment Potomac
Home Brigade, Maryland Volunteer Infantry, and served three years as a
fifer and then re-enlisted. He was in many important battles, and was twice
wounded, once in a train wreck and once by a bullet. Owing to exposure
while on duty he was also a sufferer from typhoid fever for a time. He



970 PENNSYLVANIA

was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and, while in Johnstown,
organized the Grand Army of the RepubHc Drum Corps of Johnstown,
Pennsylvania; he also organized a militia drum corps. He was remarkably
gifted as a musician.

(Ill) Frank C., son of William A. and Sarah C. (Frazier) Hicks,
was bom in Meyersdale, Somerset county, Pennsylvania, December lo,
1867. He acquired his education in the public schools of Philadelphia,
and then learned the cooper's trade under the supervision of his father.
It did not, however, appeal greatly to him, and he abandoned it and ob-
tained employment in the Mining Exchange, and later in the Stock Ex-
change, for about four years. Removing with his parents to Johnstown, he
entered the service of the Cambria Iron Company as a cooper, later obtained
a position in the rod wire mill and finally as a firem.an. Four and a half
years were spent in working on the railroad, and he then worked in the
rod mill at Rankin, Pennsylvania. Removing to Braddock, he worked in
the same capacity for a time, then on the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie line. Re-
turning to Rankin, he worked on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad for a time,
then again on the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, la March, 1801, he came to
Beaver Falls, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and there entered the employ
of the Carnegie Steel Company. He lost a leg in 1893 ; and he established
a restaurant combined with a lunch counter, changing this in the course of
time to a restaurant and bakery, at No. 1524 Seventh avenue. In 1896 he
sold this and removed to No. 518 on the same avenue, where he continued
in the same line of business. He then purchased the music store at No.
517 Seventh avenue, and continued this until the increased demands of busi-
ness necessitated larger quarters, when he removed to No. 11 14 Seventh
avenue. When this building was sold Mr. Hicks removed across the street
and continued his business there. In 1906 he started a wholesale liquor
business at No. 577 Seventh avenue, and conducted this for six years.
His wife had supervised the music business until she sold the lease, then
removed to No. 807, and then to Nos. 1211-13 Seventh avenue, where the
business was known as the Arcade Music House, and in May, 1913, Mr.
Hicks having sold his liquor business, resumed charge of the store at the
old location. No. 517 Seventh avenue. Mr. Hicks has been a Democrat
in politics for many years, and has served one term as a justice of the
peace. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World; Fra-
ternal Order of Eagles ; The Owls ; Nonpareil Club ; Loyal Order of Moose.

Mr. Hicks married, in 1888, Barbara E., born in Pittsburgh, a daugh-
ter of William and Mary Welsh. They have had children: i. Lillian, mar-
ried Joseph Lewis, paying teller at the United States National Bank, and