Monday, January 29, 2007

Aaron French

Aaron French
March 23, 1823 - March 24, 1902



Aaron French, president of the A. French Spring Company of Pittsburgh, controlled one of the largest industries of Western Pennsylvania, manufacturing springs for cars in this country and in Europe. French was born in Wadsworth, Medina County, Ohio, on March 23, 1823 (1880 census indicates 1826), a son of Philo and Mary (McIntyre) French, and was named for his paternal grandfather.

Philo French, his father, was born in West Springfield Mass in 1795. After receiving his education in the public schools, he engaged in powder-making with his father. The mill in which father and son were interested exploded about 1817, and they moved to that part of Ohio then known as the Western Reserve of Connecticut, settling at Wadsworth. The place at that time was a wilderness, and the highways for commerce and travel were paths through the woods marked by blazed trees. Philo French cleared a farm in Wadsworth, and he added to his income by traveling as agent for an Eastern powder-house. He died in October 1823, aged 28 years. His wife was a daughter of William McIntyre, a Highland Scotchman. She was the youngest of a family of 14, all of whom lived to be of 75. She herself attained the advanced age of 91, passing away in 1877. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Her union with Mr. French was blessed by 3 children: Philo, born February 11, 1819; Henry who died a the age of 27; and Aaron, the subject of this sketch. After Mr. French’s death, she married David Stearns of Ohio, by whom she had seven children – John M (deceased) and Lucy (twins), William L. David E, Frank N. Daniel M. (deceased) and Charles L.

Aaron French attended school until 12 years of age, and then went to work on the farm. He began to learn the blacksmith’s trade when he was 13 year old and followed it a few years, next entering the employ of the Ohio Stage Co. at Cleveland, with whom he remained two years. The following year he was employed in the Guyaoso House Memphis Tenn. And he was next engaged as agent in the West by the American Fur Company. While earning his livelihood he did his best to make up for the defects in his early education, and the year that he was 20 he attended the Archie McGregor Academy at Wadsworth, Ohio. He left the academy in the fall of 1844 to vote for Henry Clay, and after the election was over, went South. In 1845 he was in St. Louis and he was subsequently engaged in the manufacture of wagons with Peter Young in Carlyle, Clinton County, Illinois. Here he was attacked with chills and fever and was ill three or four months. Carried back to Ohio by his brother, he spent four years in comparative idleness, being too weak to attend to business. After his recovery he entered the employ of the Cleveland, Columbus and Lake Shore Railroad Co. at Cleveland, Ohio. His first work for them was the erection of the iron work of the Painesville Bridge. He was connected with this company until the summer o f1854, hen he went to Norwalk, Ohio. There he worked in a blacksmith shop during the year of the cholera epidemic, being the only able-bodied man to remain through the season; and the following year he had charge of the blacksmith department at the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad at Wellsville. His nest position was that of superintendent of the blacksmith business of the Racine & Mississippi Railroad at Racine, Wis.; and a part of the time he acted as master mechanic. When the war broke out he offered his services but he failed to pass the physical examination. In 1862 he was elected Sheriff of Racine County, Wisconsin; and he was in office two years.

Before the expiration of his term of service, he started in the manufacture of car springs in Pittsburgh, with (future fellow South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club member) Calvin Wells as partner, using the firm now name so widely known, the A. French Spring Company. When he started in business, he rented a small place opposite the Union Depot, forty by one hundred feet in dimension, and employed only eight or ten men. The manufacture was at first limited to elliptic springs of the Hazen patent. In four years the business had increased so that the firm was obliged to provide larger accommodations and erected the part of their present plant known as No. 1; and in 1893 the working force was over three hundred. The output at present (1897) embraces all styles of spiral and elliptical spring for locomotives and passenger and street cars. Quantities of springs are sent to Sweden, and until recently this company furnished all the Pullman equipment in Europe. It is said that this is the largest manufactory of the kind in the world. The works occupy two blocks between Nineteenth and Twenty-first Streets. Mr. Wells was a member of the firm for 20 years. After his withdrawal the company was reorganized and regularly incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania with the present name, the A. French Spring Company. It is hardly necessary to state that Mr. French is one of the ablest businessmen in the country. He is a prominent member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce.

In 1843 he was married to Euphrasia Terrill of Liverpool, Modina County, Ohio, who died in 1871. She was the mother of five children:

- Lucie, wife of Carl Retter

- Ida (deceased), wife of William Phillips

- Clara, wife of Charles Kaufman of Lancaster, Pa.

- Philo N.

- Aaron (deceased)

Mr. French subsequently married Caroline B. Skeer of Chicago, by whom he had one child:

- Mary A. (who died at age 18)

In politics Mr. French is a strong Republican. He was made a Mason in Racine Lodge, No 18, in Racine Wis., and is now Past Master of St. John’s Lodge of Pittsburgh, belonging to Zerubbabel Chapter of Pittsburgh and is Past High Priest of the Chapter in Wisconsin. He is also a member of Tancred Commandery of Pittsburgh and he belongs to the Duquesne Club. He attends and supports the Calvary Episcopal Church of Pittsburgh of which is wife is an active worker.

Source: Biographical Review, volume 24; 1897.

* * * * *

In 1880, the family lived in Allegheny (the North Side) where S F F & H C members James W. Brown and A V Holmes were near-neighbors.

Aaron French died the day after his 79th birthday on March 24, 1902 in his home at 6826 Penn Avenue, in Pittsburgh.

Aaron French was 66 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

You may see a portrait of Mr. French at the following website:

http://www.library.gatech.edu/gtbuildings/french/afrench.htm

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Daniel R. Euwer

Daniel R. Euwer
1857 - ?


Daniel R. Euwer was born in 1857 Pennsylvania and followed his father, Danel Euwer (the elder) into the lumber business in Western Pennsylvania. Euwer’s father, Daniel Euwer (Sr) was born in Ireland; his mother, Martha Bryant Euwer, was born in Pennsylvania, but of Irish extraction. See more about Martha Bryant Euwer's family below.

The Euwer name was originally Yourd in Ireland. It starts with Archibald Yourd, who came from Ireland. He had 3 sons, Patrick (unmarried), Samuel who married Jane ?, John who married Nancy McMillan. John was the father of Daniel Euwer (the elder).

For the record, the charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were:R F Ruff; T H Sweat; Charles J Clarke; Thomas Clark; W F Fundenberg; Howard Hartley; H C Yeager; J B White; H C Frick; E A Myers; C C Hussey; D R Ewer; C A Carpenter; W L Dunn; W L McClintock; A V Holmes.

Daniel R. Euwer was associated with Euwer and Brothers, lumber dealers. Daniel Euwer was a director of the Iron City National Bank of Pittsburgh.

Euwer was 23 in 1880 and lived in his parents’ Allegheny (North Side) household which included:

- Daniel Euwer - father - 70
- Martha Bryant Euwer – mother - 68*
- Hayes Euwer – 40
- Jennie Euwer - 25
- Daniel Euwer Jr – 23 - who was at that time in the lumber business
- Beckie Euwer – 21
- Joseph Euwer – 20

Daniel R. Euwer was 32 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

- - -

Henry Grier Bryant, scientist, explorer and the author of many valuable treatises which are the result of wide scientific research and original investigation, was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, November 7, 1859. His father, Walter Bryant (the brother of Martha Bryant Euwer), was a native of New Hampshire and of English ancestry. The American branch of the family was founded in New England early in the seventeenth century and representatives of the name in later generations participated in the Revolutionary war. Walter Bryant became one of the early merchants of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to which city he removed in 1829, there engaging in the wholesale leather business. He was also associated with his brother-in-law, Daniel Euwer, in lumber interests, owning large tracts of timber land in northwestern Pennsylvania, which they operated successfully. The mother of Henry Grier Bryant bore the maiden name of Eleanor Adams Henderson and was of Scotch-Irish lineage. She was born in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and died in 1896. Henry Grier Bryant was educated in private schools of Philadelphia, to which city his father had removed in 1868, and at the Phillips Exeter Academy of New Hampshire, where he continued his studies from 1876 until 1879. In the fall of the latter year he matriculated in Princeton University and was graduated A. B. in 1883, while in 1886 the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him. Following the completion of his classical course he spent a year in travel abroad and in the fall of 1884 entered the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1886 with the LL. B. degree. For some time thereafter he gave his attention to settling his father's estate and in 1889 became secretary of the Edison Electric Light Company. His knowledge of law has mainly been used as an asset in the management of business affairs and not as a source of revenue. He has spent much time in travel through the west, his chief desire being to follow up lines of scientific research and exploration. This led to his organization of an expedition to investigate the Grand Falls of Labrador in 1891. This attracted widespread public attention at the time and the results of the expedition were published in the Century Magazine. His deep interest in exploration led him to join the Peary relief expedition of 1892, of which he was second in command, while in 1894 he was made commander of the Peary auxiliary expedition, which brought home the Peary party and which was the only successful expedition in the Arctic regions that year. In 1897 Mr. Bryant organized and conducted an expedition to the Mount Saint Elias region of Alaska and later made extensive travels into the Rocky mountains of Canada. His explorations have won him many honors and his contributions to geographical literature have been of wide interest. He is now serving for the seventh term as president of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia and his work has received international recognition in his election to a fellowship in the Royal Geographical Society. He has also been made honorary corresponding member of several foreign geographical societies, including the Geographical and Anthropological Society of Stockholm. He also received the decoration of Officer of the Academy from the French government. He has attended a number of international geographical congresses as a representative of the Philadelphia Geographical Society. His contributions to the press, as appearing in some of the leading periodicals of the country, have included Notes on Early American Arctic Expeditions and articles descriptive of travels in Java and French Indo-China. His name is associated with that of Admiral G. W.Melville in an interesting experiment with drift casts to determine the direction and speed of circumpolar currents. He spent the summer of 1909 on the Labrador coast and visited the hospitals founded by Dr. Grenfell and the Moravian missions. Mr. Bryant attends the Presbyterian church, and while a republican in politics where national issues are involved, is strongly allied with the independent movement in the consideration of municipal questions. While he is identified with various organizations for scientific research, he is also a popular member of various societies of a purely social character, belonging to the University, Art, Racquet, Corinthian Yacht and Princeton Clubs. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Society and has been the secretary of the American Alpine Club since its organization. In the twentieth century, other things being equal, the men of substance are the stronger forces in the progress of the world. America is fully alive to the opportunity for scientific research and investigation and Henry Grier Bryant is prominent among those who have been making history in that field.

- - -

*Martha Bryant Euwer, died 12-12-1889, as reported in the New Castle, PA, Guardian.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Sportsmen's Association of Western Pennsylvania


* * * * *

Sportsmen’s Association of Western Pennsylvania


Although South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club member Benjamin Ruff protested that the title “Sportsmen’s Association of Western Pennsylvania” was incorrect when reviewing testimony regarding the dam vis a vis the Flood, the fact remains that just such an organization not only existed but persisted for at least six years following the Flood. Although Club members abandoned the Lake Connemagh location after the disaster (after all there was not much reason to return to a dry lake bed and to repair it would have caused undue attention) the Club continued at a Pittsburgh location, Sixth and Smithfield Streets.
* * * * *
“The Pittsburgh and Allegheny Blue Book of 1895" (Volume 9) lists, on page 21 and 22, the Sportsmen’s Association of Western Pennsylvania with 244 members. 34 of them are members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. The clubs are likely one and the same, by 1895 “all grown up” and filled out with other leading Pittsburghers.

Because there has been inadequate documentation about Andrew Carnegie’s membership of the S F F & H C, it is noteworthy that Andrew Carnegie is listed as one of the 1895 members of the Sportsmen’s Association of Western Pennsylvania. By that time Carnegie had more or less abandoned Pittsburgh for New York and his summers in Scotland. There would have been scant reason for him to belong to a Western Pennsylvania club unless he had been a member for some time, and his membership in the club persisted long after he ceased to call Pittsburgh his home.

Here are the members of the Sportsmen’s Association of Western Pennsylvania (1895) who were also members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club:

James W Brown
John Caldwell Jr
Andrew Carnegie
John W. Chalfant
Charles J Clarke
W T Dunn
A French
H C Frick
W F Fundenberg
John A Harper
Howard Hartley
Henry Holdship
A V Holmes
Durbin Horne
Lewis Irwin
P C Knox
J H Lippincott
F T McClintock
W L McClintock
W A McIntosh
H Sellers McKee
Andrew W Mellon
M K Moorhead
D C Phillips
H Phipps, Jr
Robert Pitcairn
B F Ruff
C B Shea
Benj Thaw
Calvin Wells
Jas B White
J Wilcox
W K Woodwell
H C Yeager

William Ambrose McIntosh

William Ambrose McIntosh
December 7, 1837 - ? (sometime after 1892)


William Ambrose McIntosh was born in Ohio in 1837, his parents were both listed as Ohio natives in the 1880 census records. Wife Minerva was also born in Ohio, as were both of her parents. The McIntosh children were born in Ohio, but by 1880 the McIntosh family had moved to Pittsburgh, and lived in Allegheny PA (the North Side).
Their children were:

- John S. McIntosh – born in 1861 (age 28 at the time of the Flood)
- Burr W. McIntosh – born in 1862 (age 27 at the time of the Flood)
- Nancy B. McIntosh – born in 1866 (age 23 at the time of the Flood)

William Ambrose McIntosh was president of the New York and Cleveland Gas Coal Company.

Here is a biography about William Ambrose and Minerva McIntosh's daughter Nancy:

Nancy McIntosh
Born Cleveland, Ohio 1874 (sic 1866 per 1880 census), died London 20 Feb 1954
Buried: Saint John the Evangelist Churchyard Stanmore, England
Her grave may be seen at:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8156

The daughter of Pittsburgh gas company president W. A McIntosh and his wife Minerva, Nancy was fifteen (sic see 1880 census at which time she was 14) at the time of the disastrous Johnstown Flood, if not caused by, certainly exacerbated by the failed earthen dam at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club of which her father William Ambrose McIntosh was a member. To distance himself physically as well as emotionally from the Flood, as well as to assist Nancy in her musical aspirations, W. A. McIntosh brought her to England in 1892, where after three years, her voice and stage presence prompted W. S. Gilbert to engage her for the role of Zara. She became the Gilberts’ adopted daughter and was their heir.

A good biography of Nancy McIntosh may be found on this page with a photo:
http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/M/McIntoshNancy.htm

W. S. Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan fame hired the American soprano, Nancy McIntosh, for the starring role of Zara. She had been in London for three years, accompanied by her father. He was there, in part, to escape the memories of a disaster at home. He was a member of the hunting and fishing club whose dam had burst and allowed a river to roar down and obliterate Johnstown, Pennsylvania, beneath it.

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~melbear/potted7.htm
(A photo of Nancy may be seen at this site)

Nancy became the adopted daughter of William S. Gilbert and his wife and was heiress to their estate, royalties, etc.


* * * * *


W. A. and Minerva McIntosh's son John S. McIntosh remained in business related to that in which his father had been engaged, in the Pittsburgh area.

By 1903 John S. McIntosh was a director of the Turtle Creek Savings and Trust Co. of Pittsburgh and an officer of the Pittsburgh Steel Holloware Co. in Cheswick, PA (up the Allegheny River about 15 miles from Pittsburgh). More about the "...factory at Cheswick, Pa. This company was incorporated in 1893, with a paid-up capital of $50,000, Mr. John S. McIntosh being the president and Mr. Jos. McNaugher, Jr., secretary and treasurer. Mr. McIntosh lives in Wilmerding and is also treasurer of the Spring Hill Gas and Coal Company."

Pittsburgh Steel Hollowware Co.


Pittsburgh Steel Hollowware Co. - Manufacturers of rolled steel gongs and rolled coulter blades; corner, North and Irwin Avenues, Allegheny. An important branch of industry in the city of Allegheny is that of the manufacture of rolled steel gongs, bells, skillets and rolled coulter blades, the demand for which is rapidly increasing in all sections of the country. A representative and successful concern in this line is that known as the Pittsburgh Steel Hollowware Co., whose office is located corner North and Irwin Avenue, Allegheny with factory at Cheswick, Pa. The company was incorporated in 1893, with capital of $50,000, Mr. John S. McIntosh being the president and Mr. Jos. McNaugher, Jr. secretary and treasurer. Mr. McIntosh resides at Wilmerding and is also the treasurer of the Spring Hill Gas Coal Company; while Mr. McNaugher lives in Allegheny and is likewise a member of the firm McNaugher & Lyons, wholesale grain and feed dealers.

* * * * *

JohnS. McIntosh's wife was Lily Stewart Boyd the daughter of Eli Wilson Boyd and Sara Shaw of Turtle Creek, Pa.


* * * * *


W. A. and Minerva McIntosh's son Burr McIntosh:

Burr McIntosh
Born: Aug 21, 1862 in Wellsville, Ohio
Died: Apr 28, 1942 in Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Photographer, Aviator, Actor

One of the most indelible images of the entire silent era is of Burr McIntosh as Squire Bartlett, heartlessly banishing Lillian Gish from his home and into the freezing Maine winter in D.W. Griffith's evocative melodrama Way Down East (1920). A graduate of Princeton, the hefty, 6' McIntosh had starred in the legitimate theater as Svengali in Trilby and on lengthy tours of The Gentleman From Mississippi prior to entering films with All Star in 1914. The following year, he produced and starred in the Civil War drama Colonel Carter of Cartersville but his screen career did not really come alive until Griffith cast him as Squire Bartlett. The role reunited him with Lillian Gish, opposite whom he had appeared in several touring companies almost 20 years earlier. According to Miss Gish, McIntosh was a gentle giant, who "was always apologizing for having to treat me so cruelly in Way Down East." There were many good character roles to come -- including that of General Blythe in the popular WWI romance Lilac Time (1928) -- but his talkie appearances were minor and he retired in 1934. Burr McIntosh died of a heart attack. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:xxUetyrTbn4J:www.answers.com/topic/burr-mcintosh+%22burr+mcintosh%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5

Biographical Note:

Burr McIntosh had an eclectic career. He was known, at different points in his life, to be a lecturer, photographer, movie studio owner, actor, author, publisher, reporter and a pioneer in the early movie and radio business. While many of these endeavors were short-lived, they gained him prestige and popularity among the stylish set.

He was born William McIntosh August 21, 1862, in Wellsville, Ohio, and attended Lafayette College, 1880 - 82, and Princeton, 1882 - 83. After Princeton, McIntosh was in the coal business in Pittsburgh for a brief time and then followed this up with a short stint as a reporter for the Philadelphia News. He came to New York and made his theatrical debut in Bartley Campbell's "Paquita" in August 31, 1885, beginning his most successful and memorable career, as an actor on the theatrical stage. He adopted a stage name at this time, changing his first name to Burr.

His biggest success came playing the character Talbot "Taffy" Wynne in the original 1895 Broadway production of "Trilby" at the Garden Theatre. He repeated this performance in major Broadway revivals in 1905 and 1915, as well as in a production in London at His Majesty's Theatre. McIntosh also appeared in a number of Augustus Thomas' plays, beginning with "Arizona" and "In Mizzoura."

In 1898, Burr McIntosh went to Cuba to cover the Spanish-American War for Leslie's Weekly as a reporter and photographer. Defying orders forbidding any newspapermen to land in Cuba until every soldier in the Army had landed, he jumped over the side of a boat and swam to shore in time to get the only photographs of the troops coming ashore at Daiquiri. In Cuba, he became ill with "yellow jack" (a form of yellow fever) and was out of action. He eventually recovered and wrote of his exploits in a 1901 book, What Little I Saw of Cuba.

The year 1901 also saw the establishment of his first photographic studio on West 33rd Street, conveniently located across from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, a meeting place of many of the society and theatrical people whose portraits would be taken by the studio. This work led McIntosh to found the Burr McIntosh Monthly, which ran from 1903 to 1910, and offered portraits of theater idols, scenes at fashionable athletic events, picturesque genre and nature studies, and discussions of photography as art.

His photographs record some of the most famous people of society, politics and the arts of the early years of the 20th century. Copies of his magazine are highly sought collectibles.

In 1908, McIntosh declared bankruptcy and ceased publishing in May 1910.

In addition to acting and publishing, Burr McIntosh accompanied Secretary of War William H. Taft's 1905 peace trip to the Philippines as the official photographer.

In 1910, Burr McIntosh announced an elaborate plan to found an artists' colony with the fortune he hoped to make from the early movie industry. To accomplish this goal, he moved to California to organize his own film company. He also announced his retirement from the stage after his 1909 national tour in "The Gentleman from Mississippi." This retirement was not permanent as McIntosh appeared on Broadway six more times between 1914 and his last play, "Robert E. Lee," in 1923, including his successful revival of Taffy in "Trilby" in 1915. Neither the fortune from the movie industry nor the artists' colony ever materialized. His movie career began in 1914 recreating his stage performance in "In Mizzoura." The following year he starred in the title role of the movie " Colonel Carter of Cartersville," which was the only film that he ever produced. His work as an actor in movies stretched from the silent movies of 1914 until the era of sound movies, ending with "The Richest Girl in the World" in 1934.

McIntosh took time away from movies during the First World War when he lectured on patriotism and the role of the United States in the war at venues around the country, including the Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall in New York. He also entertained as a YMCA worker in army camps in France and Germany. After the war, he supported Leonard Wood for the Republican presidential nomination with further speaking appearances.

In the disastrous year of 1929, Burr McIntosh declared bankruptcy. His wife, the former Jean Snowden of Saratoga, whom he had married in New York in 1914, attempted suicide. According to an interview that McIntosh gave to the New York Times at this time, she had succumbed to her serious disappointment that McIntosh's work in Hollywood had not produced the financial returns they had anticipated.

From 1930 until his death in Los Angeles on April 28, 1942, Burr McIntosh was known as the "Cheerful Philosopher" as the host of a radio programs and in a series of lectures offering optimistic views on life. He had one daughter, named for her aunt: Nancy McIntosh.

* * * * *

William Ambrose McIntosh was 51 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

Louis Semple Clarke

Louis Semple Clarke
1867 - 1957


Lewis Semple Clark was one of Charles John Clarke’s sons. He was 22 at the time of the Flood, his brother John S. Clarke was 18.

Louis Semple Clarke is probably most famous for the spark plug he developed for use in gasoline engines. He also perfected the drive-shaft system for use in automobiles and was the first to design a useful oil circulation system.

Lewis Semple Clarke was a member of Pittsburgh's elite Duquesne Club.

Louis Semple Clark was a mechanical genius and was particularly interested in the automobile. He was the founder of the Pittsburgh Motor Company, later the Autocar company, which then became White Trucks and exists to this day as a subsidiary of Volvo. It was Clarke's insistence of placing the driver on the left hand side of the vehicle that led to that standardization throughout most of the automotive industry worldwide, as well as the consequent result that we drive on the right side of the road.

So when you get in your car today, and it starts (spark plug) and runs (oil circulation) and no one coming toward you crashes into you (sit on the left, drive on the right), you have Louis Semple Clarke to thank! Happy Motoring!

* * *

Louis Semple Clarke and his wife Mary Phillips Clarke are buried at Allegheney Cemetery...

CLARKE, Louis Semple, 1866-1957

CLARKE, Mary Phillips, 1870-1952

* * *


Thanks to the good graces of one of Louis Semple Clarke's family members, and the tireless work of the ranger at the Johnstown National Flood Memorial in preparing and scanning them, an outstanding collection of photographs of the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club at play that were taken by Mr. Clarke can now be viewed on line at:

http://www.pennhighlands.edu/library/digital/people.htm

Mr. Clarke is the dashing looking young man in the naval suit and moustache (his brother John is the fellow sans moustache with him also in the nautical uniform).

If you look carefully you can see the shutter trigger wire in Clarke's hand in several of the photographs. He built an electric powered motor launch to cruise the waters of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club's Lake Connemaugh. You can also see him a few years later, driving one of his cars, in the "Miscellaneous" section of the photos.


Read Charles Guggenheim’s excellent article from "American Heritage" about the discovery of these photographs at this site:
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1992/7/1992_7_120.shtml


About the time of the turn of the century Clarke removed to Philadelphia’s Main Line where the family lived thereafter.

Louis Semple Clarke was 22 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

Charles John Clarke

Charles John Clarke
March 15, 1833 - December 5, 1899


Charles John Clarke had already retired in 1874 from a transportation business called Clarke and Company. He kept himself busy by investing in real estate, railroads, and securities. He was 56 at the time of the Johnstown Flood and was the father of Club member Louis Semple Clarke.

Charles John Clarke was a member of the Duquesne Club. Charles J. Clarke, Ruben Miller and H. Sellers McKee were directors of the Western Insurance Co, established in 1849. Henry Phipps, Charles Clarke and William Thaw established the Pittsburgh School of Design.

For the record, the charter members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club were:R F Ruff; T H Sweat; Charles J Clarke; Thomas Clark; W F Fundenberg; Howard Hartley; H C Yeager; J B White; H C Frick; E A Myers; C C Hussey; D R Ewer; C A Carpenter; W L Dunn; W L McClintock; A V Holmes.

As described by Martha Sanger in her book on Henry Clay Frick, it was at Charles John Clarke's home that the Pittsburgh members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club gathered when they learned the news about the Johnstown Flood.

Advised by their attorney members James Hay Reed and Philander Chase Knox, the members established a public face for their meeting and their response to the disaster, forming what they called the "Pittsburgh Relief Committee". About half of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club members made donations toward disaster relief as a result, some of their contributions quite generous.

The private face of the meeting was to pledge not to speak of the Club or of the Flood thereafter. The members kept that promise so well that many of their descendants grew up knowing nothing about the Club whatsoever.

The Clarke family included:

- Mrs. Charles John Clarke (Louisa S.) born in 1839

- Thomas S. Clarke, born in 1860

- Louis Semple Clarke, born in 1867 (see his separate biography on this site)

- Agnes Clarke, born in 1868

- John S. Clarke, born in 1871

- James K. Clarke, born in 1874

- Mable Clarke, born in 1876

Charles John Clarke was 66 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

* * *

Allegheny Cemetery is the preferred place of burial for the Clarke Family, as follows:

CLARKE, Charles J., Mar 15, 1833-Dec 5, 1899

CLARKE, Eliza Thaw, died Aug 11, 1864, aged 61 years, wife of Thomas Clarke

CLARKE, James King, Apr 23, 1874-Jan 2, 1958

CLARKE, John Thaw, died Oct 16, 1841, aged 6 months

CLARKE, Louis Semple, 1866-1957

CLARKE, Louisa Semple, Nov 20, 1833-Apr 9, 1916, wife of Charles Clarke

CLARKE, Mary Phillips, 1870-1952

CLARKE, Thomas S., Jan 18, 1801-Oct 19, 1867, born at Cannonsburgh, PA

CLARKE, Thomas Shields, Apr 25, 1860-Nov 15, 1920

CLARKE, Thomas William, died Oct 5, 1840, aged 3 years, (Source: MLGreen)

John Caldwell, Jr.

John Caldwell, Jr.
1827 - 1902


It is uncertain which John Caldwell from Pittsburgh joined the SFFHC due to lack of strong documentation. However, it is probable he was the John Caldwell who was treasurer of the Philadelphia Company, a firm involved with natural gas.

Along with his father, John Caldwell, John Jr. was a member of the Duquesne Club. John Caldwell was a director of the Masonic Bank, 531 Smithfield Street, founded in 1869.

John Caldwell, Jr. married Sarah E Miller. The Caldwells are described in this way in the year before the Johnstown Flood:

“Mrs. John Caldwell has experienced the pleasure of having her pin money doubled, trebled and quadrupled over and over again all in a very short space of time. It is not so many years ago since her husband's yearly income was but $1,200, and now it would be hard to calculate just how large it is. Mr. Caldwell is in the Philadelphia Company and is Mr Westinghouse’s confidential friend, a fact that goes far to explain his rapid strides to fortune. Their residence at Edgewood cost from $50,000 to $65,000 or more and is one of the handsomest in the place. Mr. Caldwell is a millionaire.”

(The Social Mirror, 1888)

* * *

John and Sarah Caldwell are buried in Allegheny Cemetery; with them is buried Mattie M. Caldwell, who died before her 20th birthday. Mattie was probably their daughter:

CALDWELL, John Jr., 1827-1902, h/o Sarah S., Sect. 11

CALDWELL, Sarah S. (Miller), d: Dec. 19, 1912, w/o John Jr., Sect. 11

CALDWELL, Mattie M., Aug. 25, 1863-July 5, 1882, Sect. 11

Thursday, January 25, 2007

James Hay Reed

James Hay Reed
September 10, 1853 – June 17, 1927


Born in Allegheny City (now the North Side), James Hay Reed was the son of Dr. Joseph Allison Reed and Eliza Hay Reed. He was educated in the public schools and the Western University of Pittsburgh (now the University of Pittsburgh) graduating in 1872. He studied law with his uncle, David Reed, a leading Pittsburgh lawyer, and was admitted to the Allegheny County Bar on July 17, 1875. Soon thereafter, he became a member of he firm Knox and Reed, the senior member being Philander Chase Knox, later Attorney General of the United States, Secretary of State and United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Reed succeeded the Hon. Marcus W. Acheson as Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, appointed by President Harrison, on February 20, 1891. Within a year he resigned this office, resuming his membership in Knox and Reed.

The firm was dissolved on the acceptance of Mr. Knox of the above-mentioned Federal offices, and a new firm was formed, Reed, Smith, Shaw & Beal, later, Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay. Judge Reed was for many years the General Counsel and Vice President of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad Company. He was the organizer and President of the Pittsburgh, Bessemer & lake Erie Railroad Company, financed by Andrew Carnegie. In 1899 he prepared the charter for the Consolidated as Company of Pittsburgh of which he became President. He retired from that position in 1919 but continued his connections wit the company as Senior Vice President and Director.

Reed handled the various legal and other technicalities incident to the sale of the Carnegie interests to the Morgan interests and on the organization of the United States Steel Corporation, he became a Director.
Age 45 at the time of the Johnstown Flood, it was Reed along with Philander Knox, whose firm successfully defended the S F F & H Club after the Flood.

Reed’s other activities included the following:
- Chairman, Board of Directors, Farmers Deposit National Bank
- Director, Farmers Deposit Savings Bank
- Director, Farmers Deposit Trust Company
- Director, Fidelity Title and Trust Company
- Director, Gulf Oil Corporation.
- President and Director, Reliance Insurance Company of Pittsburgh.

Reed entered into Carnegie service January 1, 1887 as General Counsel, he also occupied the positions of:
- President of the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad Co.
- President of the Union Railroad Co.
- Director of the Carnegie Steel Co.
-
A member of the Duquesne, Oakmont Country, Allegheny Country, Fox Chapel Golf and Longue Vue Clubs, Reed was involved in many benevolent activities in Pittsburgh and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church.

He received two LL.D’s, from Princeton in 1902 and from Pitt in 1919.

Reed was married to the former Kate J Aiken. Their children were:
- David A Reed – husband of Adele Wilcox - US Senator from Pennsylvania
- James H Reed – husband of Anica B. Humbird
- Katherine Reed – wife of John G Frazer.
James H. Reed was 36 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.
Many of the Reed family are buried in Allegheny Cemetery:
REED, Anica B. Humbird, 1885-1965, w/o James Hay Reed, Jr.
REED, Annie, 58, b: 04 Aug 1853 in Virginia, d: 09 Mar 1912
REED, James Hay II, 1884-1930
REED, James Hay III, 1914-1962
REED, James Hay, 1853-1927
REED, Jerry, Nov 26, 1942, s/o Louise Snowden and James Hay Reed III
REED, Joseph Hay, 1879-1881
REED, Joseph P., Apr 13, 1853-Feb 23, 1925
REED, Kate Jones Aiken, 1857-1945, wife of James Hay Reed
REED, Louise Snowden, 1916-1961, wife of James Hay Reed, III
REED, Margaret Anshutz, 1861-1955, wife of Joseph P.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

George Harvey Christy

George Harvey Christy
January 22, 1837 - 1909


Christy was an attorney from Pittsburgh. Born in 1837 in Kinsman, OH, he died in 1909. He and his wife Sarah A. Marshall Christy (who was born in NH) had at least the following children: Marshall Andrews Christy, born January 12, 1871; Bayard H. Christy, born 1872; Lucy H. Christy; born 1875; daughter Ethel W. Christy born 1876. In 1904 Mr. and Mrs. George H. Christy lived at 403 Frederick Avenue, Sewickley (also at home at that time were Bayard H, Ethel and Abby F. Christy).

“George H Christy, attorney, Pittsburgh, is a native of Trumbull County, Ohio, and was educated in Western Reserve College, where he graduated in the class of 1859. The same year he came to Pittsburgh, where subsequently he read law with Judge Veech. Shortly after the breaking out of the war he volunteered in the three-months service, and was quartermaster sergeant in Knapp’s battalion, P. V. Afterward he re-enlisted and became lieutenant and adjutant of the 22nd regiment U S colored troops, serving in the 18th and later in the 25th Army Corps. Previous to the war Mr. Christy was assistant editor of the Evening Chronicle, and later was one of he proprietors and editors of the Commercial Journal. For six months he was clerk in the post office at Pittsburgh, and for two years was professor of Mathematics in the Western University of Pennsylvania. In 1866 Mr. Christy was admitted to the Allegheny County Bar, and for ten years was a member of the law firm of Bakewell, Christy and Kerr, in patent law practice, and in which latter branch of the law he has been engaged ever since.” (History of Allegheny County, page 364)

George H. Christy was a member of the Duquesne Club. He was an elder and a Bible Class teacher for more than 25 years in the Presbyterian Church of Sewickley. He represented George Westinghouse’s patent interests up until the time of his death in 1909, most notably in the conflicts with Thomas Edison.

From the “The Social Mirror” of 1888 by Adelaide Mellier Nevin (page 179): “Mrs. George H. Christy has a pleasant home situated in the very heart of Sewickley. She is the mother of an interesting family and evidently takes great pleasure in the company of her sweet young daughters and tall sons. With her husband she does a great deal of traveling. They are said to be quite wealthy. Miss (Martha) Marshall, Miss Christy’s aunt, makes her home with the Christys."

By early 1920 Mrs. Christy was widowed (she was the former Sarah Haskell Marshall). With daughters Ethel W. Christy and Abby F. Christy and son Bayard Henderson Christy, she lived at 403 Frederick Avenue, Sewickley. Son Marshall Andrews Christy (Mrs., nee Irene Butler McVay) and family (Sarah Marshall Christy and Annie Huntington Christy) lived at 305 Bank Street, Sewickley.

Son Marshall Andrews Christy married Irene Butler McVay (who died on 4-11-1920). They had two daughters: Sarah Christy and Annie Huntington Christy. Sons Marshall and Bayard were both attorneys and continued as partners in the firm that their father had founded.

* * * * *

The George Harvey Christy Family:

George Harvey Christy – born 22 Jan 1837 in Kinsman, Ohio
Sarah Haskell Marshall – born 8 Jun 1841 in Nashua, New Hampshire

Their Children:

(Unk Son) CHRISTY b: 3 Jan 1868 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Marshall Andrews CHRISTY b: 12 Jan 1871 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Bayard Henderson CHRISTY b: 21 Apr 1872 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Lucy Haskell CHRISTY b: 4 Jul 1874 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Ethel Wood CHRISTY b: 5 Dec 1875 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Peggy Kendall CHRISTY b: 25 Oct 1878 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Abby Fuller CHRISTY b: 10 Apr 1880 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania

* * * * *

The Marshall Christy Family:

Marshall Andrews Christy – born January 12, 1871 - ? (after 1922)
Irene Butler MCVEY b: 16 Mar 1867 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Married: 21 Apr 1897 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania

Their Children:

Sarah Marshall CHRISTY b: 21 Dec 1898 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania
Marriage Melvin Pierce DICKINSON b: March 14, 1898
Married: April 7, 1923

Children of Melvin and Sarah Dickinson:
Irene DICKINSON b: Dec. 5, 1924
Melville Pierce DICKINSON b: March 5, 1928

Annie Huntington CHRISTY b. Nov. 24, 1900
Marriage James Scott BURKE

Children of James and Annie Burke:
James Scott BURKE b: July 4, 1922
William BURKE b: Sept. 26, 1923
Michael BURKE b: Oct. 15, 1927

* * * * *

The Lucy Haskell Christy Family:

Lucy Haskell CHRISTY – born 4 Jul 1874 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania; d: April 1, 1933
Frank Scott WILLOCK b: 30 May 1868 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Married: 10 Jun 1903 in Sewickley, Pennsylvania

The children of Frank and Lucy Willock:

Virginia WILLOCK b: March 24, 1919
Ruth WILLOCK b: July 31, 1911
Roger C. WILLOCK b: Jan. 12, 1914

* * * * *

George Harvey Christy was 51 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.

John G A Leishman: The Man Who Saved Henry Clay Frick

The Man Who Saved Henry Clay Frick:
John George Alexander Leishman



On July 23, 1892, an assassination attempt in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania rocked the international business world and changed the course of American diplomacy. On that day, Alexander Berkman, a darkly intense Russian Jewish intellectual and self-proclaimed anarchist, sought to destroy Henry Clay Frick, the man Berkman blamed for the carnage of the Homestead steel strike in the preceding weeks. Armed with a pistol and a sharpened rat-tailed file, Berkman gained easy access to the headquarters of Carnegie Steel and found his way into the second floor private office of the chairman, 43-year-old Henry Clay Frick.

“He had forced his way into Frick's private office on the heels of a Negro porter who had taken in his card. He had immediately opened fire, and Frick had fallen to the ground with three bullets in his body. The first to come to his aid, the paper said, was his assistant Leishman, who was in the office at the time. Workingmen, engaged on a carpenter job in the building, rushed in, and one of them felled Berkman to the ground with a hammer. At first they had thought Frick dead. Then a cry was heard from him. Berkman had crawled over and got near enough to strike Frick with a dagger in the thigh. After that he was pounded into unconsciousness. He came to in the station house, but he would answer no questions. One of the detectives grew suspicious about the appearance of Berkman's face and he nearly broke the young man's jaw trying to open his mouth. A peculiar capsule was found hidden there. When asked what it was, Berkman replied with defiant contempt: `Candy.'” (Emma Goldman, “Living My Life”).

Henry Clay Frick, who continues to be well known to historians and whose name is recognized by many non-historians, was a south central Pennsylvanian of Mennonite ancestry who had monopolized the manufacture of coke, an essential ingredient in the production of high-grade steel. His business success had brought Frick to the attention of Andrew Carnegie, which resulted in a business alliance between the industrial tycoons, which would have more than its share of symbiotic cooperation, and bitter enmity over the years. Frick had been Carnegie’s on-the-scene administrator during the disastrous Homestead strike. Carnegie was off in Europe, far from the mĂŞlĂ©e, as Frick enforced what he believed to be Carnegie’s wishes.

As the anarchist Emma Goldman relates, at the moment when Berkman entered the room with murderous intent, Henry Clay Frick was not alone. In the office with him was a man who has vanished from historic memory: John George Alexander Leishman. Leishman, then thirty-five, was an eight-year veteran of the fabulous growth era of Carnegie’s steel empire. Often overlooked completely (some of the Berkman assassination attempt accounts condescend to call him an "assistant" while others do not even use his name), Leishman was in reality not only a pivotal member of the inner-workings of the Carnegie enterprise, he would also go on to notable accomplishments on the international scene.

John George Alexander Leishman had been born in Pittsburgh on March 28, 1857, the only son of Scots-Irish immigrants. His father John B. Leishman had drowned in the Allegheny River the same year in which he was born. In nearly as dramatic a fashion as the older Andrew Carnegie, little Johnny Leishman, also a Scot, also a diminutive lad who looked to be no more than a kindergartner, began a lifetime of work at age ten, as an assistant for a Pittsburgh physician. Over the next seventeen years, Leishman would, like some real-life Horatio Alger hero, work his way to become a trusted confidant of both Frick and Carnegie.

Prior to his entry into the Carnegie service, John Leishman had been in the service of Shoenberger Steel Company, as what was termed a "mud clerk". Mud clerks were the steel industry’s representatives on the river wharf, responsible for tracking the shipping of good: the arrival of raw materials and the departure of finished products. To guarantee efficiency and success, mud clerks lived 24 hours a day in small sheds on the riverbank. Personable well liked and efficient, Leishman gained the trust and respect of Mr. Shoenberger, who was a noted Pittsburgh civic leader.

John Leishman’s expertise in this work led first to an unsuccessful venture as an independent steel broker and then, later a successful partnership in the same kind of enterprise. Joining with his friend and colleague from their Shoenberger Steel days, William Penn Snyder, John Leishman rose to become the senior partner in the firm of Leishman and Snyder, Iron and Steel Brokers. It was in this capacity that Leishman first caught the attention of Andrew Carnegie, who subsequently convinced Leishman to leave his own firm. Leishman did so, by entering Carnegie's service on October 1, 1884, as Special Sales Agent. Thereafter, William Penn Snyder continued their former partnership in what became known as Shenango Steel. William Penn Snyder’s descendants continue to be business and philanthropic leaders in 21st Century Pittsburgh.

As has been noted, John Leishman was an undersized man of Scottish heritage, not unlike Carnegie himself. All indications suggest that Andrew Carnegie saw more than a little of himself in the younger man, John Leishman. Indeed, throughout his life, Carnegie continued to think of Leishman as one of his “boys” and included Leishman in the official “History of the Carnegie Veterans Association”, (a roster from which H. C. Frick is noticeably absent). Leishman’s success in his association with Carnegie is similar to and a precursor of Charles Schwab’s career with Carnegie. John G. A. Leishman rose to occupy the following positions: Vice Chairman, Carnegie Brothers & Company, Ltd.; Vice President and Treasurer, Carnegie Steel Company and President, Carnegie Steel Company.

At the moment when Leishman joined the Carnegie enterprises in 1884, Carnegie Brothers & Company was in an expansive phase. Carnegie’s indispensable steel making genius, Captain Bill Jones, was at that moment booming the production of steel rails and John Leishman served as the Special Sales Agent brokering every lucrative deal with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Leishman’s subsequent success was based upon this exclusive relationship he forged between steel and the railroad.

Leishman's period of business successes coincided with personal joys. On September 9, 1880, at Homewood Chapel, he had married Julia Crawford, the daughter of Edward Crawford of Pittsburgh, and his wife, Nancy Fergussen, of Scotch-English Protestant descent. Julia Crawford and her sister Jean, who lived with the Leishman family throughout their married life, were described by a society observer of the day as big blondes who possessed many expensive diamonds. By the mid 1880s the Leishmans had settled in a mansion in Pittsburgh's ultra fashionable East End, with Mellons, Fricks, Joneses and Laughlins as their friends and neighbors. Their social and business connections also provided the Leishmans entrĂ©e into an extraordinarily exclusive circle of sixty-odd families. Called the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, it was conceived as an idyllic summer colony, bought and developed by Henry Clay Frick in Cambria County, a short, convenient train ride away from the infamous smoke and soot of Pittsburgh’s industry.

To create the summer colony, an abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad earthen dam was rebuilt and increased in size to create a vast mountaintop reservoir for pleasure boating, which was named Lake Connemaugh. The Club’s holdings grew to include a large multi-storied clubhouse, which served as a dining room and lodge, as well as more than a dozen private summer cottages of generous size, facing the artificial lakefront. Fishing, picnicking and socializing took place each summer season in this mountaintop aerie. Lake Connemaugh was so large it could even accommodate motor launches and a small steamer. Among the Club’s members were Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon and Leishman’s former employer, Shoenberger. Also members of the Club were the future inventor of the Autocar, the founder of Nabisco, several future U. S. Congressmen, a future U. S. Attorney General, the developer of the earliest phonographic dictation system, many leaders in the nation’s steel, glass, and railroad industries and the creator of the U. S. national income tax. The vast majority of the members were Pittsburgh millionaires. Among the members of this exclusive social circle were John and Julia Leishman.

This idyllic setting described by the only Johnstown member of the Club, Cyrus Elder, as “the mountain of a dream” masked a ticking time bomb; since the dam (the largest structure of its kind in the world) was poorly maintained and rarely inspected. This lack of attention contributed to its failure on May 31, 1889, following a week of record rainstorms. The classic account of its failure has been chronicled by David McCullough, detailing how the dam melted away and a wall of water plunged down from South Fork, resulting in one of the worst disasters on American soil, the Johnstown Flood. At least 2200 lives were lost-about one third of the bodies were never identified. Only three of the immediate family of any of the South Fork Club members were among the fatalities. The press was quick to point accusations at the exclusive club, but few legal consequences resulted. The South Fork members distanced themselves from the place immediately-never returning to their summer cottages that would forever stand high and dry above the abandoned lakebed. Some of the summer homes have recently been restored due to visionary efforts of “The 1889 South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club” and can be visited today as part of the US Government’s Johnstown Flood National Memorial.

The members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club who were in Pittsburgh were hastily assembled in an ad hoc meeting and formed into what was called “The Pittsburgh Relief Committee.” Two decisions were made at that meeting which affected the lives of all of the Club members thereafter. One was to make immediate, generous and tangible gifts to help the flood relief efforts. The other was a pledge never to speak of the Club or the Flood in public or in private. Thus resulted a strange situation where children and grandchildren of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club members were brought up knowing nothing about their family’s association with the sad events of May 1889.

The stratagem of not talking about the Club approved effective. As hard to believe as it may seem to modern observers, there were almost no lawsuits brought against the membership of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. All litigation was handled by attorneys Philander Knox and his partner James Reed, both of whom were themselves South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club members. At their law firm Knox and Reed, a special room was established to deal with all matters concerning the Flood. The firm's history states that the contents of this room were destroyed when the firm moved to a new building in 1917. Twenty-eight years afer the disaster, the door was closed on the aftermath of the Flood.

John and Julia Leishman, similarly, closed the door on those summers at Lake Connemaugh. For only a few more years, would they center their attention upon his work at Carnegie, socializing with the same select group of friends, drawn uncomfortably close by a shared pledge of silence.

While some modern observers have suggested that John G. A. Leishman was too weak and ineffectual to have served as President of Carnegie Steel for long, the accounts of his role in foiling the Frick assassination attempt do not describe a man who was either weak or ineffectual. Amid the growing rancor between Frick and Carnegie, Leishman attempted to steer a middle course until he retired from Carnegie service in June 1897, to accept appointment by President McKinley, as United States Minster to Switzerland. Leishman’s appointment as United States Minster to Switzerland removed him from the subsequent intense wrangling at the post-Homestead Strike Carnegie Steel, where Frick and his party were at loggerheads with Carnegie (off at his beloved Skibo Castle in Scotland but still very much in charge). Leishman attempted the delicate task of remaining cordial with both of his illustrious friends throughout the remainder of his life. Sadly, over time, the friendship with Carnegie was the only one that lasted. A lingering rancor developed between Frick and Leishman, while on the other hand, Carnegie continued to “pension” Leishman after his retirement from US diplomatic service.

Also, Leishman’s daughter Martha’s second husband was the socialite and insurance scion James Hazen Hyde, whose fall from the head of Equitable Life Insurance (a company his father had founded) was brought about by a scheming board member whose name happened to be Henry Clay Frick. Frick, too, was bested in the ensuing scandal and had to resign as did all the Equitable board members. The scandal changed forever the insurance business in the United States and catapulted Charles Evans Hughes to national fame. It was one of the more unsavory episodes in Frick’s life; one that many historians have chosen not to tell, perhaps fearful of the ire of “Miss Frick” (Helen Clay Frick), a formidable semi-recluse who for most of her 96 years used her vast inherited fortune to relentlessly pursue anyone who ever said anything unkind about her father. Especially if what was said happened to be true.

Leishman had made the friendship of, by then U. S. President William McKinley. Their friendship predated April 1886, when the Leishman’s elder daughter Martha was baptized at fashionable St. Stephen Episcopal Church in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, a verdant residential Pittsburgh enclave nestled on the north bank of the Ohio River. The future President stood as Martha's godfather. Leishman and McKinley had come to know one another through their mutual friend Philander Chase Knox. Knox was the senior partner in the Pittsburgh law firm Knox and Reed (its successor firm remains a leading law firm in Pittsburgh). Knox and McKinley were college friends, having graduated in the same year from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. Knox, as a South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club member, was the attorney for all of the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. His efforts were crucial in shielding his friends and fellow South Fork members from litigation following the Johnstown Flood. Interestingly, although the account of the history of the law firm states that the room devoted to all the material and litigation regarding the South Fork club was discarded in 1917, to this day there hangs on the wall in one of the conference rooms at Knox’s old firm, a group photograph of the members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club.

Philander Chase Knox went on to political prominence in McKinley’s administration and held positions of power and influence in Washington through every administration after that, until Wilson was elected. It is likely that Knox and McKinley thought of Leishman as a good candidate for U. S. ambassador to Switzerland and they may have understood the wisdom of extracting Leishman from the leadership struggles at Carnegie Steel. Leishman graciously accepted the President’s invitation and off he went to Switzerland, then on to Turkey, Italy and finally Germany, as U. S. ambassador. While serving in Switzerland, Leishman is described as living lavishly, with guilded plates and footmen at every place for the dinner parites he hosted. The family spent much time in Paris where they were intimates of the Rothschilds, and became patrons of the arts. Leishman purchased the famous painting called “The Madonna of the Streets.” Its current whereabouts is unknown but it is one of the most reproduced paintings in the world and can be seen easily in any image search on the web.

On December 19, 1900, in a cipher telegram, he responded to the Secretary of State: “Please advise the President that I am under renewed obligations for the promotion and gratefully accept the post as Minister to Turkey.” Leishman’s years in Turkey were hugely successful, personally and diplomatically. They include the incident of our nation’s purchase of the first United States embassy owned by our government, the Embassy in Istanbul, the Palazzo Corpi. Up till then, it had been the practice to lease the buildings housing United States embassies around the world. John Leishman thought that practice ridiculously wasteful, and tried to convince the American government to buy the Palazzo Corpi. Finding his idea rebuffed, Leishman went forward and bought it with his own funds. Then, he resorted to a stratagem to have Congress buy it from him. Throwing a lavish banquet and card party in Washington, attended by many members of Congress and the administration, Leishman first lost heavily. Then, at a crucial moment he wagered that if he won, Congress would purchase the Embassy. Leishman indeed won the evening and so our first United States-owned embassy was the result of a wager at the card table. (Leishman enjoyed cards and gambling, up until the night before he died). Also while in Turkey the Sultan decorated not only Leishman but also his wife and daughters. Leishman was responsible for the safe release of several kidnapped missionary women whilst he was serving in Turkey. In 1904, he presented the demand that the American citizens should have the same rights and privileges in Turkish Dominions as were granted to certain favored nations; and that the American minister should have direct access to the Sultan. In 1906, his grade was raised to that of Ambassador. In 1909, he was transferred by President Taft, as Ambassador to Italy.

Ambassador Leishman’s brief tenure in Italy seems to have passed without major incident, but the same cannot be said of his ambassadorship in Germany, which began in 1911. By that time his younger daughter Nancy Louise had become a lovely young woman and caught the eye of the young men in the German capitol. Family oral tradition relates that one of those whose imagination and heart she conquered was Crown Prince Wilhelm, heir to the throne. This infatuation was recounted by Nancy herself, years later, to a distant cousin; yet it appears to have been a closely guarded secret. However, what is very well documented in the society pages of European and American newspapers is Nancy’s much-publicized engagement to the hereditary Prince von Croy. The young and good-looking Prince, of the highest German nobility and descended from an old Polish noble house, held a hereditary rank which made him the social equal of European heads of state such as the Kaiser and Emperor Franz Josef, to whom he was related. At the time of their engagement, Nancy was 19 and the Prince 24. The engagement was to have been kept secret but apparently Mr. Leishman made a comment about it at a private dinner party. Word of the engagement leaked out and caused general pandemonium at the Berlin Court. The Kaiser was reported to be furious. He certainly was under pressure from various royal an noble cousins, including Karl's imfamous aunt Isabella who had previously objected to the marriage of the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne; and so, Wilhelm II refused to give his permission for the Prince to wed Nancy. Even so, family lore says that Nancy and the Prince von Croy were more or less thrown together by the Kaiser’s behind the scenes plotting, so as to get Nancy out of the Kaiser’s son’s system. At any rate, the Prince and Nancy were wed, amid much publicity, in Switzerland. The Prince’s family attended, thereby “defying” the Kaiser. This was in 1913, and about that same time John Leishman was recalled as Ambassador. The offical line in Berlin and among the crowned heads of Eastern Europe was that the wedding was not sanctioned by them; consequently, the Kaiser refused to see Leishman for his official farewell.

Nancy had been named for her maternal grandmother Nancy Fergusson Crawford. Nancy was born in Sewickley, on October 2, 1894 and was baptized at the Church of the Ascension (Episcopal), Pittsburgh. She was married to the 13th Prince von Croy amid much international press coverage on October 28, 1913, the civil ceremony preceding the religious ceremony by one day. The marriage occurred at the church of St. Joseph in Versoix, a leafy enclave near Geneva, Switzerland. Nancy wore white velvet and old lace and her mother's bridal veil.

John G. A. Leishman’s less than auspicious leave taking from Germany may also have been clouded by the fact that Leishman had profited by what we might call insider trading from information he gleaned while serving in Germany-there was a lawsuit in New York and Leishman was required to pay damages of about $75,000 - a tidy sum in 1913. He and Julia retired to Monte Carlo for the remainder of their lives. Although they lived chiefly abroad, Mr. Leishman was particular about being listed in Pittsburgh’s social directories, noting his private club memberships, which included the Union League Club of New York, the New York Yacht Club, the Metropolitan Club of New York, the Washington Club, Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Club (Leishman was a charter member), the Pittsburgh Club, the Travelers Club, Paris and the Circle d'Orient, Constantinople.

The First World War found the Leishmans in an odd situation. Daughter Martha (who as an adult insisted on the French spelling of her name, Marthe) was by then married for a second time, to James Hazen Hyde, who served as a heroic volunteer ambulance corps leader. Daughter Nancy was married to a member of the Kaiser’s troops. After the war, Nancy and her Prince’s marriage did not survive long. His pre-war holdings in six or seven European countries included beautiful estates in France from which both he and Nancy were barred due to his wartime service in Germany. She was dubbed “The Woman Without a Country” by the press; since the French courts decreed that she was a woman of “undetermined nationality.” Her divorce from the Prince was precipitated by divergent expectations regarding her role as the wife of a high-ranking nobleman. Karl felt she should remain at their large estate, in the role of dutiful wife and mother quetly sequestered from all but Karl's family. Nancy longed for the more exciting life of high society. Their growing rift was exacerbated by Nancy’s discovering the Prince’s affair with their children’s young American governess, Helene Lewis of Albany, New York, to whom to make matters worse, the Prince had attempted to give Nancy’s furs. Fed up at last, the beautiful and vivacious Nancy rented a villa in Wiesbaden, and led the high life for a number of months, surrounded by members of cafĂ© society, spending the Prince’s money liberally. The couple was divorced in 1922. Fourteen years later, Nancy married Andreas d'Oldenberg, minister of Denmark to France and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. He died 9 Sept 1939. Nancy lived in Copenhagen at the time of her death in 1983. The Prince later married and divorced a second American, Miss Lewis, who fared no better as an Amerian duchess than did Nancy; Karl was married twice thereafter.

John Leishman’s grandson, Martha and James’s son, Henry Baldwin Hyde, became a decorated O.S.S. officer in World War II. (He ran Operation Penny Farthing). The Prince and Nancy’s only son, Prince Karl - almost the exact contemporary of his first cousin H. B. Hyde - must have served in the army of the Third Reich. Julia Leishman died first (1918) and then John (1924). Both are buried in the Cemeterie de Monaco.

- - - -

Sources:
"History of Carnegie Veterans Association” by William B. Dickson, 1938.
“Who Was Who in America,” 1897-1942, page 720.
“The Romance of Steel: The Story of a Thousand Millionaires,” by Herbert
N Cassar, page 149.
“The Turk and His Lost Provinces,” by William Elery Curtis, Chicago:
Fleming, Revell Co., 1903.
“The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me,” William Allan White
The Associated Press, Sketch #2459, issued July 1, 1936: “James Hazen
Hyde.”
Saxon, Wolfgang, “Henry Hyde is Dead at 82: Wartime Spymaster for
O.S.S.”, “New York Times,” 8 April 1997.
“J. G. Leishman Dies: A Former Diplomat,” “New York Times, March 28,
1924.* * *

Philander Chase Knox

Philander Chase Knox
May 6, 1853 - October 12, 1921

Philander Chase Knox - An attorney in the firm Knox and Reed (now Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay) with a distinguished political career, he was Secretary of State from 1901 to 1921 and twice elected to the Senate. He was a member of the Duquesne Club. Jesse H Lippencott and P C Knox were drictors of the Fifth National Bank of Pittsburgh, located at 16 Sixth Street, founded in 1871. Frick, Mellon and Knox were directors of the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce founded in 1864 located at Sixth and Wood Streets. Knox was a lifelong friend of William McKinley. His nickname was “Sleepy Phil” which is said to have been a) because he drowsed during board meetings or b) because Knox was cross-eyed making it difficult for his two eyes to track together.


Timeline:

1853—May 6—born in Brownsville, PA
1872—Graduated from Mt Union College, Alliance, Ohio (befriended Wm. McKinley there)
1872—Entered law office of H. B. Swope, Pittsburgh PA
1875—Admitted to the Bar.
1889—May 31—Johnstown Flood.
1901—April 5, 1904—appointed US Attorney General by President McKinley
1904—June 10—Appointed to fill US Senate post by Gov. Pennypacker of PA.
1905—Elected to US Senate for a full term.
1909—Resigned US Senate seat, became Secretary of State under Pres. Taft. (served till 1913)
1916—Reelected to US Senate. (4-Mar-1917 to 12-Oct 1921, his death)
1920—Delegate to Republican National Convention from PA.
1921—October 12—died in Washington DC; buried near his home, at Washington Memorial Cemetery, Valley Forge PA.

* * *

(US State Department Biography)
Forty-Fourth Attorney General 1901-1904



Philander Knox was born on May 6, 1853, in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio in 1872, entered the law office of H. B. Swope in Pittsburgh and was admitted to the bar in 1875. Knox was appointed Attorney General of the United States by President McKinley on April 5, 1901, and continued in that office under President Roosevelt until June 30, 1904. Governor Pennypacker appointed Knox to fill the United States Senate post vacated by the death of Honorable M. S. Quay. He took the seat on July 1, 1904 and in January of 1905 was elected by the legislature for a full term. Knox resigned his Senate seat to become Secretary of State under President Taft in 1909. He was reelected to the Senate in 1916. During his Senate career, he was responsible for drafting legislation which created the Department of Commerce, Department of Labor and for giving the Interstate Commerce Commission regulatory authority over railroad rates. Knox died in Washington, D.C. on October 12, 1921.

Knox, Philander Chase (1853-1921) -- also known as Philander C. Knox -- of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pa. Born in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pa., May 6, 1853. Republican. Lawyer; U.S. Attorney General, 1901-04; U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1904-09, 1917-21; resigned 1909; died in office 1921; candidate for Republican nomination for President, 1908, 1916; U.S. Secretary of State, 1909-13; delegate to Republican National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1920. Died October 12, 1921. Interment at Washington Memorial Cemetery, Valley Forge, Pa. See also: congressional biography.
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Congressional Biography below:


KNOX, Philander Chase, a Senator from Pennsylvania; born in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pa., May 6, 1853; attended the University of West Virginia at Morgantown, and graduated from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio, in 1872; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1875 and commenced practice in Pittsburgh, Pa.; assistant United States district attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania in 1876; president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1897; appointed Attorney General of the United States in the Cabinet of President William McKinley in 1901; reappointed by President Theodore Roosevelt and served until June 1904, when he resigned, having been appointed as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Matthew S. Quay; subsequently elected to fill the unexpired term and for the full term in 1905 and served from June 10, 1904, until March 4, 1909, when he resigned to enter the Cabinet; chairman, Committee on Coast Defenses (Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses, Committee on Rules (Sixtieth Congress); appointed Secretary of State by President William Taft 1909-1913; again elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1917, until his death in Washington, D.C., October 12, 1921; chairman, Committee on Rules (Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses); interment in Washington Memorial Cemetery, Valley Forge, Pa.
“Mrs Knox (nee Lillie Smith) is the daughter of Andrew Smith of the firm Smith, Sutton and Co. Mrs. Knox does a lot of social visiting” (The Social Mirror, 1888). They had at least one son: Philander Chase Knox. I have been in touch with members of this family.
There is a summary of Knox’s career at this website:
http://www.givemeliberty.org/features/taxes/philanderknox.htm
The legal biography at this site is also very good:
http://www.answers.com/topic/philander-c-knox

John George Alexander Leishman


John George Alexander Leishman
March 28, 1857 – March 27, 1924



(Bio from “History of Carnegie Veterans Association” by William B. Dickson, 1938)



Born at Pittsburgh PA March 28, 1857, and entered into the Carnegie service, October 1, 1884, as Special Sales Agent. He later occupied the following positions:


- Vice Chairman, Carnegie Brothers & Company, Ltd.

- Vice President, Carnegie Steel Company.

- President, Carnegie Steel Company.

He retired from Carnegie service in June 1897, to accept appointment by President McKinley, as United States Minster to Switzerland. He was later transferred to the same position in Turkey, in 1900. In 1904, he presented the demand that the American citizens should have the same rights and privileges in Turkish Dominions as were granted to certain favored nations; and that he American minister should have direct access to the Sultan. In 1906, his grade was raised to that of Ambassador. He was transferred by President Taft, as Ambassador to Italy, and in 1911, as Ambassador to Germany.



Prior to his entry into the Carnegie service, he has been in the service of Shoenberger Steel Company, and later, Senior partner in the firm of Leishman and Snyder, Iron and Steel Brokers.
He was the son of John B. Leishman, of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian descent, and Amelia Henderson, daughter of William Henderson, of the Henderson family of Belfast, a member of which owns the daily newspaper, “Belfast News Letter”, and which has given two Lord Mayors to Belfast.



The father, John B. Leishman died in Pittsburgh, leaving a young widow who later married Mr. Batson.



John G. A. Leishman, on September 9, 1880, at Homewood Chapel, married Julia Crawford, Daughter of Edward Crawford of Pittsburgh, and his wife, Nancy Fergussen, of Scotch-English Protestant descent. Mrs. Leishman died in Monte Carlo, Monaco, November 22, 1918, and is buried in the cemetery of Monaco.


Their Children:

John George Alexander Leishman, Jr. Married (1) to Elizabeth Gardner Demarest; (2) to Anna Verelpen. No children.


Martha. Married (1) to Louis Comte de Gontaut-Biron, who died; (2) to James Hazen Hyde. One son, Henry Hyde.

Nancy. Married (1) to Charles, Duc of Croy, of whom were born:
- Charles, Prince de Croy, born 1914
- Antoinette, Princesse de Croy.
- Marie Louise, Princess de Croy.
Married (2) to Andreas d’Oldenburg, Danish Minster to France, Grand Officer of the Legion d’Honneur, etc. Of this marriage, no children.

Mr. Leishman’s clubs:
- Union League Club of New York.
- New York Yacht Club.
- Metropolitan Club of New York.
- Washington Club.
- Duquesne Club [Charter Member]
- Pittsburgh Club
- Travelers Club, Paris
- Cercle d’Orient, Constantinople.


He retired from the diplomatic service in 1913.

Died in Monte Carlo, March 27, 1924, and is buried in Monaco cemetery.

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[His Obituary in the Friday March 28, 1924 “New York Times”. Page 17]:

J. G. Leishman Dies; A Former Diplomat
Found Dead in Bed of Heart Attack in Hotel at Monte Carlo



MONTE CARLO, March 27.—John G. Leishman, former American Ambassador to Germany, was found dead today, presumably of heart disease, in his bed in his suite at the Hotel Parc Palace. Last night he displayed no sign of illness, entertaining friends at dinner and playing bridge. He would have been 67 years old tomorrow morning. He stared in life a poor boy, working first in the office of a physician and later entering the steel business, where he caught the attention of Mr. Carnegie.

Mr. Leishman was President of the Carnegie Steel Company when he took the post of Minister to Switzerland in the McKinley Administration. Subsequently, he was made Ambassador to Turkey, Italy and Germany, resigning the post at Berlin in 1913. Since that time he had not been in public life and had led a retired life abroad. Not long before he left Berlin he was involved in litigation with a New York stock brokerage firm in regard to a judgement against him for $75,158, the suit giving rise to discussion of the use by diplomatic representatives of information obtained in the course of their official labors.

The Leishman daughters made European marriages that were much talked of. Martha, the elder, married in 1904 Count Louis de Gentaut-Biron, and for a time entertained a good deal in Paris society. A divorce action was started in 1907, but the Count died before it was tried. In 1913 she became the wife of James Hazen Hyde, former Vice President of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, who had lived in Paris since 1904. The second daughter, Nancy, married the Duke of Croy at Geneva in 1913, despite the disapproval of the Kaiser and the Duke’s relatives, who though Miss Leishman was not sufficiently aristocratic. The son, John G. Leishman, Jr., married in 1917, at Lake Como, Italy, Helene Demarest, daughter of the Warren G. Demarests of this city.




John G. A. Leishman was 32 at the time of the Johnstown Flood.


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One of his distinguished descendents...


HYDE, HENRY B


Obit Notice: Henry Baldwin Hyde, 82, a former spy chief who paved the way for the Allied landinds in France. He was head of the O.S.S. in France and Switzerland, He was the spy master of "Operation Penny Farthing", a network the provided information on German troop movements and helped the U.S. high command plan and execute the landings in Normandy and in the south of France.

Death Notice, New York Times, Published: April 8, 1997
HYDE-Henry B. On April 5, 1997. Beloved husband of Liza, father of Lorna de Wangen and Isabel Jasinowski, stepfather of Anastasia Piper and Kelly Piper, grandfather of Stephanie de Wangen and Anne-Marie and Paul-Henry Jasinowski and step-grandfather of Nicholas Locker and William and Belle Laure Piper. Service Friday, 10 AM, at St. James Episcopal Church, Madison between 71st and 72nd. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to The French Institute/Alliance Francaise or the Hospital for Special Surgery, NYC.



HYDE-Henry B. The Board of Trustees, Medical Staff and Administration of the Hospital for Special Surgery mourn with deep sorrow the death of Henry B. Hyde. Mr. Hyde joined the Board in 1975 and served with distinction on its Research, Development, Public Relations and Administrative Committees. He was a truly dedicated Trustee whose leadership and expertise will be greatly missed. We extend our deepest sympthy to his wife Liza, and to his entire family. Richard L. Menschel Winfield P. Jones Co-Chairmen of the Board of Trustees John R. Ahearn, President Russell F. Warren, M.D., Surgeon-in-Chief


HYDE-Henry. The Board of Trustees and staff of the French Institute/Alliance Francaise is deeply saddened by the passing of Henry Hyde, a dear colleague and friend. A trustee for nearly fifty years and a devoted Francophile, Henry Hyde chaired the successful campaign to build Florence Gould Hall in 1988, one of the pivotal events in FIAF history. His love of French culture was inspirational to all of us and his wisdom lead us through many difficult moments. We give thanks for the energy and spirit he shared with us and we extend our deep condolences to his wife Liza and their family. John H. F. Haskell, Jr., President David S. Black, Exec Director
HYDE-Henry B. On April 5, 1997. Beloved husband of Liza Prokoff Piper, father of Lorna de Wangen and Isabel Jasinowski, stepfather of Anastasia Piper and Kelly Piper, grandfather of Stephanie de Wangen and Anne-Marie and Paul-Henry Jasinowski and stepgrandfather of Nicholas Locker and William and Belle Laure Piper. Service on Friday, 10:00 A.M., at St. James Episcopal Church, Madison Ave. between 71st and 72nd. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to The French Institute/Alliance Francaise or the Hospital for Special Surgery, NYC.


More on Henry B. Hyde…


Read Patricia Beard's "After the Ball : Gilded Age Secrets, Boardroom Betrayals, and the Party That Ignited the Great Wall Street Scandal of 1905" It tells some of the story but not all of the story. You can find some useful information there, although it mainly examines Hyde's role in the Equitable scandal of 1905 and his subsequent life abroad. James Hazen Hyde's son by Martha Leishman, Henry B. Hyde married Baroness Marie Emilie "Mimi" de la Grange at the New York City home of the George D. Wideners in 1941. She was musically inclined and described as "the daughter of an important French senator". The couple met at a Tuxedo Park, NY house party. Marie de la Grange was editor with the broadcast section of the French Division Office of War Information and came to the US in 1939. In April 1941 she married Henry B. Hyde at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. She was given away by her uncle, George D. Widner, Jr. of Philadelphia. Henry and Mimi had two daughters, Lorna Hyde Graev and Isabel Hyde Jasinowski but divorced when the girls were young. Both are active in business and society circles, Ms. Graev is often seen on ‘Page Six’ and Ms. Jasinowski is an executive for a large corporation. Some observers insist that the main character in the 2006 film “The Good Shepherd” draws much of its inspiration from the life of Henry B. Hyde.



(More on the same subject)…


Intelligence Assets By Daniel McKivergan



Before the Rangers stormed Omaha Beach, a scene so powerfully captured in Saving Private Ryan, American soldiers were already on the ground engaged in an operation critical to the success of the Normandy invasion. Code named Operation Penny Farthing, it was conceived by Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Major General William J. Donovan, the founder and director of the Office of Strategic Services and one of the most extraordinary figures in American history.


Penny Farthing was an OSS-run network of agents—from social anarchists to aristocrats and farmers—operating in Nazi-occupied France. The network provided crucial intelligence on the strength, location, and movement of German army divisions prior to the Normandy landing. The OSS officer in charge of Penny Farthing was Henry Baldwin Hyde, the grandson of the founder of the Equitable Life Insurance Company and later the first director of the William J. Donovan Memorial Foundation in Manhattan.


Nicknamed "Wild Bill" by his hometown newspaper for his heroism in World War I, Donovan became convinced in the late 1930s, as dictators gobbled up nations, that America needed a centralized spy agency. Donovan overcame fierce opposition from Army and Navy brass to win FDR’s approval in early 1942. Before long, the 13,000-strong OSS (predecessor of the CIA) would be collecting and analyzing intelligence and conducting clandestine military operations in virtually every theater of the war—from Europe, the Balkans, and North Africa to Burma, China, and the jungles of Southeast Asia.


Before the war Donovan had been a wealthy New York lawyer who defended dozens of oil and coal companies against federal antitrust suits. The list of his OSS recruits, wrote author Joseph Persico, "read like the Social Register: Junius and Henry Morgan of the house of Morgan, Alfred Du Pont, Lester Armour of the meat-packing fortune, the diplomat David Bruce and Paul Mellon." But, like the melting pot of freedom the OSS defended, many more of its soldiers were ordinary citizens—mechanics, journalists, cops, carpenters, artists, electricians—all engaged in the grand struggle against totalitarianism.


Fifty-four years after the fall of Hitler’s Berlin, the William Donovan Memorial Foundation’s mission remains clear, explains foundation president Geoffrey Jones, an 82nd Airborne paratrooper and OSS operative who trained French commandos behind enemy lines. "We want to keep General Donovan’s name alive by promoting his lifelong commitment to liberty through our work."


The foundation’s roots go back to 1947 when Donovan (who also helped form the American Legion) and his soldiers created the Veterans of the OSS (VOSS), an association dedicated to ensuring that the close friendships forged in war continued in peacetime. In 1982, the VOSS was rolled into the William J. Donovan Memorial Foundation, a brand-new 501(c)(3). Today, with a small staff, no endowment, and an annual budget of about $30,000 raised through individual donations, the foundation promotes the shared bonds of OSS veterans and their descendants and other "friends of Donovan" who believe in spreading and defending freedom across the globe.


The foundation sponsors reunions among OSS veterans as well as with their counterparts who served in foreign intelligence organizations, Special Forces units, and partisan groups inside occupied countries. Funded by the Ford Foundation and others, the foundation cosponsors conferences and seminars on topics such as "Revolution in National Security" and "The Missed Opportunity of 1945 in U.S.-Vietnam Relations." The foundation also fulfills requests from archivists and historians seeking verification of OSS members and war operations and even advises producers of films and television programs, including an episode of A&E’s Biography on the life of Chef Julia Child, herself an OSS alumna.


Since 1961, one of the biggest yearly events for the foundation has been the presentation of the Donovan Award to a public servant "who rendered distinguished service in the interests of the democratic process and the cause of freedom." The list of recipients is impressive, ranging from General Dwight Eisenhower in 1965 to Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush, the onetime CIA chief and current honorary chairman of the Donovan Foundation.


But as a tumultuous century draws to a close, the Donovan Foundation has opened a new chapter in its history, "to ensure that our work continues in the decades to come," says foundation president Jones. With a new crop of younger board members, including former ambassador and undersecretary of state Frank Wisner, whose father was one of Donovan’s first OSS recruits, and Jack Devine, a 30-year CIA veteran, the foundation is in the midst of its biggest undertaking yet—raising $1 million in private donations in the coming months to support "Donovan Fellowships in Foreign Affairs."


The idea sprang up four years ago when Geoffrey Jones and William Colby, the late CIA director and then-chairman of the Donovan Foundation, decided it was time to "come up with something that would be a permanent memorial to General Donovan’s service to the free world," says Jones. In the end, they decided to create a fellowship program that would send smart young Americans to emerging nations in the same way Donovan had done years earlier for the Rockefeller-funded American War Relief Commission and as an emissary for President Woodrow Wilson.


In 1916, Donovan visited France, Germany, and Poland on behalf of the Commission’s famine relief efforts. Again in 1920, President Wilson sent him back to Europe to get a bird’s eye view of how much private capital would be needed to rebuild the continent’s war-ravaged economies. There, as he traveled among the elite and the working classes, Donovan compiled area reports (similar reports are still being produced today by the CIA) addressing cultural, political, social, and economic issues. The reports were then used by U.S. officials to formulate post-war policies.
Similarly, Donovan fellows will establish ties with local peoples and their institutions and leaders to get a firsthand view of the impact the United States or organizations like the United Nations are having on the respective nation. Fellows will be expected to ask questions like "Could the local U.N.-run health facility be doing a better job?" or "Is targeted American economic aid making a difference?" Fellows will inform Americans on their findings through newspapers, magazines, television and radio, books, policy journals, and the Internet. In the process, it is hoped; Americans will gain greater insight into foreign cultures and the impact of U.S. foreign policy and U.N. activities on other nations. U.S. policymakers and business executives would also gain valuable information to make better decisions and, as a bonus, inherit a talented pool of Donovan fellows for future employment.


Columbia University’s Pulitzer Graduate School of Journalism, which graduated Donovan in 1915, has agreed to administer the program, and today the Donovan Foundation is raising funds to put its first five or six fellows into the field and to cover start-up costs. Remaining funds would be deposited into a dedicated endowment. "Once we raise the funds we can move forward," says Jones, "but always in memory of General Dovovan."


He was a man, remarked CIA director George Tenet at a Donovan Foundation event last fall, who "didn’t just report events or timidly accept the status quo. He stayed ahead of events, grasped the trends." This legacy will enable the Donovan Fellows to do the same.


(Daniel McKivergan is associate editor of Philanthropy).