Chapter 11

Robert Gilmor (1748-1822), born in Paisley, was the founder of the East India trade in this country. He also assisted in founding the first bank in Baltimore (the Bank of Maryland), and the Maryland Historical Society. His son Robert (1774-1848) was also prominent in Baltimore business and was President of the Washington Monument Association which laid the foundation for the Washington monument in Baltimore in 1815 and completed it in 1829. Henry Eckford (1775-1832), shipbuilder, was a native of Irvine, Ayrshire. On the outbreak of the War of 1812 he built several ships for the American Government for use on the Great Lakes. In 1820 he was appointed Naval Constructor at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and there built six ships of the line. In 1822 he built the steamer "Robert Fulton," which made the first successful steam voyage to New Orleans and Havana. Angus Neilson Macpherson (1812-76), born at Cluny, Inverness-shire, was builder of the frigate "Ironsides," and designer of the furnaces for heating large plates and the method of affixing them to the sides of the vessel. Donald Mackay (1810-80), born in Nova Scotia, grandson of Donald Mackay of Tain, Ross-shire, established the shipyards at East Boston, and constructed a number of fast sailing ships, and during the Civil War a number of warships for the United States Government. The beauty and speed of his clippers gave him a world wide reputation as a naval constructor. Thomas Dickson (1822-84), President of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Co., was born in Lauder. William Grey Warden (1831-95), born in Pittsburgh of Scottish ancestry, was a pioneer in the refining of petroleum in Pennsylvania, and the controlling spirit in the work of creating the great Atlantic Refinery consolidated with the Standard Oil Company of Ohio in 1874. George Gibson McMurtry (1838-1915), born in Belfast of Scottish descent, steel manufacturer and philanthropist, was "one of the big figures of that small group of men which established the industrial independence of the United States from the European nations of cheap labor." James Edwin Lindsay (1826-1919), lumberman, was descended from Donald Lindsay, who settled in Argyle, New York, in 1739. John McKesson (b. 1807), descended from the McKessons of Argyllshire, was founder of the, wholesale drug firm of McKesson and Robbins; and Alfred B. Scott of the wholesale drug firm of Scott and Bowne was also of Scottish descent. Edmond Urquhart (b. 1834) was one of the pioneers in the creation of the cotton seed oil industry. To Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), born in Dunfermline, "the richest and most free-handed Scot who ever lived," more than anyone else is due the great steel and iron industry of the United States. His innumerable gifts for public libraries, etc., are too well known to need detailing here. To New York alone he gave over five million dollars to establish circulating branches in connection with the New York Public Library. In the development of the steel business of Pittsburgh he was ably seconded by James Scott, George Lauder (his cousin), Robert Pitcairn, Charles Lockhart, and others--all Scots. James McClurg Guffey (b. 1839), oil producer and capitalist, was of Galloway descent. He developed the oil fields of Kansas, Texas, California, West Virginia, and Indian Territory. The town of Guffey, Colorado, is named in his honor. His brother Wesley S. Guffey was also prominent in the oil industry. John Arbuckle (1839-1912), merchant and philanthropist, known in the trade as the "Coffee King," was born in Scotland. Robert Dunlap (b. 1834), hat manufacturer and founder of Dunlap Cable News Company (1891), was of Ulster Scot origin. William Chalk Gouinlock (1844-1914), physician and manufacturer, of Scottish ancestry, was one of the first to establish the salt industry in Western New York (1883), and in 1887 established the first salt-pan west of the Mississippi (at Hutcheson, Kansas). Edward Kerr, born in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire, in 1842, was founder of the Laurenceville Bronze Company (1891); and William Mackenzie (1841-1914), born in Glasgow, was founder of the Standard Bleachery at Carlton Hill, New Jersey. Hugh J. Chisholm (1847-1912), capitalist and manufacturer, was of Scottish parentage. James Smith Kirk (1818-86), soap manufacturer in Chicago, was born in Glasgow. George Yule, born in Rathen, Aberdeenshire, in 1824, was distinguished in manufactures. William Chapman Ralston (1826-75), developer of California, was of Scottish ancestry. William Barr (1827-1908), merchant and philanthropist, founder of one of the largest dry goods firms in the Middle West, was born in Lanark. Matthew Baird (1817-77), born in Londonderry of Ulster Scot parentage, a partner in the Baldwin Locomotive Works, in 1865 became sole proprietor besides being a director in several other important corporations. James Douglas Reid (1819-1901), born in Edinburgh, superintended the construction of many of the most important telegraph lines in the United States and founded and edited the "National Telegraph Review." Theodore Irwin (b. 1827), grain merchant, manufacturer, and bibliophile; and Edward Henry Kellogg (b. 1828), manufacturer of lubricating oils, were of Scottish descent. James Abercrombie Burden (b. 1833), ironmaster and manufacturer, was son of the great Scottish inventor, Henry Burden. William Sloane (d. 1879), came to the United States in 1834 and established the great carpet firm of William Sloane and Sons. The development of the tobacco industry which so enriched Glasgow in the middle of the eighteenth century, drew large numbers of Scots to Virginia as merchants and manufacturers, and, says Slaughter, "it is worthy of note that Scotch families such as the Dunlops, Tennants, Magills, Camerons, etc., are to this day (1879) leaders of the tobacco trade of Petersburg, which has grown so great as to swallow up her sisters, Blandford and Pocahontas, which were merged in one corporation in 1784." David Hunter McAlpin (b. 1816) was one of the largest tobacco manufacturers; and Alexander Cameron, born in 1834 at Grantown-on-Spey, had an extensive share in the tobacco business, with four large branch factories in Australia. Alexander Macdonald (b. 1833), born at Forres, Elginshire, was President of the Standard Oil Company of Kentucky and Director in several other important business enterprises. James Crow, Kentucky pioneer, (c. 1800-1859), born in Scotland and graduated as a physician from Edinburgh University. In 1822 went from Philadelphia to Woodford County, Kentucky, where his knowledge of chemistry enabled him vastly to improve the methods of distilling whiskey, and he became the founder of the great distilling industry of that state. Walter Callender, born in Stirling in 1834, was founder of the firm of Callender, McAuslan, and Troup, of Providence. E.J. Lindsay, born in Dundee in 1838, was manufacturer of agricultural implements in Wisconsin. Alexander Cochrane, born at Barrhead in 1840, was a great chemical manufacturer. Edwin Allen Cruikshank, born in 1843 of Scottish ancestry, was a real estate operator and one of the founders of the Real Estate Exchange in 1883. George Harrison Barbour, born in 1843 of Scottish parentage, was Vice-President and General Manager of the Michigan Stove Company, the largest establishment of the kind in the world. William Marshall, born in Leith in 1848, was founder of the Anglo-American Varnish Company (1890). Robert Means Thompson, born in 1849 of Scottish ancestry, was President of the Orford Copper Company, one of the largest producers of nickel in the world. William James Hogg (b. 1851), carpet manufacturer in Worcester and Auburn, Massachusetts; and Francis Thomas Fletcher Lovejoy, Secretary of the Carnegie Steel Company were of Scottish descent. William Howe McElwain (b. 1867), shoe manufacturer in New England, is of Argyllshire descent; and the Armours of Chicago, descended from James Armour, who came from Ulster c. 1750, claim Scottish ancestry. William Barbour (b. 1847), thread manufacturer, was grandson of a Scot who moved from Paisley, Scotland, to Lisburn, Ireland, in 1768, and in 1784 established what is now the oldest linen thread manufacturing establishment in the world. George A. Clark (1824-73), born in Paisley, established the thread mills at Newark, New Jersey, the business of which was carried on by his brother William (b. 1841), who came to the United States in 1860. The great Coates Thread Mills at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, are a branch of the firm of J. and J. Coates of Paisley. Hugh Chalmers (b. 1873), President of the Chalmers Motor Company, of Detroit, is descended from Thomas Chalmers who came from Scotland early in the nineteenth century. Ramsey Crooks (1786-1859), fur trader, born in Greenock, Scotland; came to America and settled in Wisconsin. In 1809, he entered the service of John Jacob Astor and made, with Donald Mackenzie and Robert Stuart, the memorable 3,500-mile trip to Astoria, on the Pacific Ocean. In 1834, he settled in New York and engaged successfully in business. During his residence at Mackinac Island, Mich., and on his adventurous trips he was a great friend and confidant of the Indians. Black Hawk said he was "The best paleface friend the red men ever had." Mention may also here be made of the Anchor line of Steamships founded by Thomas and John Henderson of Glasgow. The ships of this line began service between Glasgow and New York in 1856. In 1869 they established a North Sea service between Granton, Scotland, and Scandinavian ports and through this channel introduced many thousands of industrious Scandinavian settlers into the United States. In 1870 they established the first direct communication between Italy, southern Europe and the United States, and in 1873 they inaugurated, and were the principal carriers of, the live cattle trade between the United States and Europe.

SCOTS IN BANKING, FINANCE, INSURANCE AND RAILROADS

In the financial and commercial field in this country the Scots have held a foremost place and stand unrivalled for integrity, energy, fidelity, and enterprise. Many jibes are made at the expense of the Canny Scot, but American business men have realized his value. In business and commercial life the success of the average Scot is remarkable and many of the guiding spirits among America's successful business men are Scots or men of Scottish descent.

James Blair (b. 1807), brother of John Inslee Blair, was largely identified with the development of banks and railroads in Pennsylvania. George Smith (1808-99), born in Aberdeenshire, founded the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company (1839) and was later a prominent banker in Georgia. Alexander Mitchell (1817-87), financier, railroad builder, and one of the Commissioners of Public Debt of Milwaukee, was born near Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Brown Brothers, bankers in New York, was founded by Alexander Brown (1764-1834) who was born in Ballymena of Ulster Scot parentage. George Bain (1836-91), merchant, banker, and director in many railroads, banks, and insurance companies, was born in Stirling, Scotland. Robert Craig Chambers (b. 1831), miner, financier, and State Senator of Utah, was of Scottish descent. John Aikman Stewart (b. 1822), President of the United States Trust Company and Assistant Treasurer of the United States, was born in New York city, son of a native of Stornoway, Hebrides. Alonzo Barton Hepburn (b. 1847), descendant of Patrick Hepburn who came from Scotland in 1736, President of the Chase National Bank, a distinguished New York banker, has written much on financial subjects. Thomas William Lamont (b. 1870), whose forefather came from Argyllshire, is a member of the firm of J.P. Morgan & Co., and prominent in international finance. Walter Edwin Frew, President of the Corn Exchange Bank, New York, and President of the New York Clearing House is of Scottish parentage. He was a pioneer of the branch banking system in New York. James Berwick Forgan, born in St. Andrews, in 1852, President of the First National Bank of Chicago, is a pillar of finance. Andrew Glassell (1827-1901), descendant of a Dumfriesshire emigrant of 1756, was a prominent lawyer and banker in Los Angeles. James Alexander Linen (b. 1840), President of the First National Bank of Scranton, was of Scottish parentage. George Rutledge Gibson (b. 1853), of Scottish descent, has written largely on questions of foreign finance. John Hall McClement (b. 1862), railroad and financial expert, is of Scottish parentage. Duncan MacInnes, born at Inveresk, near Edinburgh, has been Chief Accountant of the City of New York for many years, and is one of the best equipped men in municipal finance in America. Robert Graham Dun (1826-1900), mercantile credit expert, was grandson of Rev. James Dun, minister in Glasgow, who emigrated to Virginia, c. 1815.

Robert Burns Beath (1839-1914), President of the United Firemens' Insurance Company of Philadelphia, and author of the "History of the Grand Army of the Republic" (1888), was of Scots parentage. William C. Alexander (1806-74), President of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, was second son of Dr. Archibald Alexander of Princeton. His son James Waddell Alexander (1839-1915), was also President of the same Company. John Augustine McCall (1849-1906), President of the New York Life Insurance Company, was of Ulster Scot descent.

Men of Scottish birth or Scottish descent have had a prominent place in the development of the railroads of the United States from their inception to the present day. It was a Scot, Peter Fleming, Surveyor of the upper part of New York city, who laid out the grades for the first railroad in the state. John Inslee (or Insley) Blair (1802-99), founder of the Lackawanna Coal and Iron Company (1846), financier and founder of the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad, was a descendant of Samuel Blair who came from Scotland in 1720. Blairstown, New Jersey, is named in his honor. He gave half a million dollars to various Presbyterian institutions. Samuel Sloan (1817-1907), President of the Delaware and Lackawanna Railroad (1867-99), was born in Lisburn of Ulster Scot ancestry. John T. Grant (1813-87), railroad builder in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, was of Scottish origin; and so also was Thomas Alexander Scott (1824-81), Vice-President and President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Assistant Secretary of War (1861-62), and President of the Texas Pacific Railroad. James McCrea (b. 1836), descended from James McCrea, an Ulster Scot who came to America in 1776, was one of the ablest Presidents of the Pennsylvania Railroad. John Edgar Thompson, third President, Frank Thompson, sixth Vice-President of the Pennsylvania system, were also of Scottish descent. Alexander Johnson Cassatt, seventh President, was Scottish on his mother's side. Another prominent Scot connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad was Robert Pitcairn, born at Johnstone, near Paisley, in 1836. Angus Archibald McLeod (b. 1847), re-organizer of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was also a Scot; and George Devereux Mackay (b. 1854), banker and railroad builders, was descended from John Mackay who came from Caithness in 1760. John Allan Muir (1852-1904), railroad promoter of California, was of Scottish parentage.

SCOTS AS JOURNALISTS, PUBLISHERS AND TYPEFOUNDERS

The first newspaper printed in North America, _The Boston News-Letter_ for April 24, 1704, was published by a Scot, John Campbell (1653-1728), bookseller and postmaster of Boston. John Mein and John Fleming, the founders and publishers of _The Boston Chronicle_ (1767) were both born in Scotland. The paper was printed "on a new and handsome type, a broad faced long primer, from an Edinburgh foundry, and typographically far surpassed any paper that had appeared before it in New England." David Hall (c. 1714-1772), born in Edinburgh, emigrated to America shortly after 1740, became a partner of Benjamin Franklin in 1748. He was printer of the _Pennsylvania Gazette_, one of the few leading newspapers of the day, and one of the founders of the St. Andrew's Society of Philadelphia. His son, William (died 1831), who carried on the printing business, was one of the original members of the "Light Horse of the City of Philadelphia," afterwards known as "The First City Troop," and served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Robert Aitken (1734-1802), born in Dalkeith, Scotland, printer and publisher in Philadelphia in 1769, was publisher of the _Pennsylvania Magazine_ from January 1775 to June 1776, the first magazine in Philadelphia containing illustrations, most of which were engraved by Aitken himself. He also published, at his own expense, in 1782, the first English Bible printed in America. Major Andrew Brown (c. 1744-1797), born in the north of Ireland of Scottish parents, was publisher of the _Federal Gazette_, later (1793) changed to _Philadelphia Gazette_. He is credited with being the first newspaper man to employ a reporter for the debates in Congress. It may here be mentioned that the publisher of the first directory of Philadelphia and its suburbs (1782), was a Scot, Captain John Macpherson (1726-92). James Adams, Delaware's first printer (1761), was an Ulster Scot who learned the art of printing in Londonderry and founded the _Wilmington Courant_ in 1762. Col. Eleazer Oswald (1755-1795), of Scottish origin, though born in England, rendered brilliant service on the side of the colonies during the Revolution. In 1779 he became associated with William Goddard in the _Maryland Journal_, the first newspaper printed in Baltimore. Later removing to Philadelphia he issued the first number of the _Independent Gazetteer, or the Chronicle of Freedom_, April 13, 1782, and at the same time he also conducted in New York _The Independent Gazetteer, or New York Journal_ (1782-87). The first daily paper published in Baltimore (1791) was by David Graham. Alexander Purdie, a native of Scotland, was editor of the _Virginia Gazette_ from March 1766 to December 1774. Shortly after this date he started a Gazette of his own, and in the issue of his paper for June 7, 1776, he printed the heraldic device of a shield, on which is a rattlesnake coiled, with supporters, dexter, a bear collared and chained, sinister, a stag. The crest is a woman's head crowned and the motto: _Don't tread on me_. Adam Boyd (1738-1803), colonial printer and preacher, purchased the printing outfit of another Scot, Andrew Stuart, who had set up the first printing press in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1763. In 1769 (Oct. 13) Boyd issued the first number of the _Cape Fear Mercury_, and continued it till 1776. James Johnston, born in Scotland, was the first to establish a printing press in Georgia (1762) and in April, 1763, began publication of _The Georgia Gazette_, which was published by him for twenty-seven years. His successor (1793) was another Scot, Alexander M'Millan, "Printer to the State." Robert Wells (1728-94), born in Scotland, was a publisher and bookseller in South Carolina for many years, and published the _South Carolina and American General Gazette_. John Wells, Florida's first printer (1784), born in Charleston, served his apprenticeship at Donaldson's printing house in Edinburgh. Matthew Duncan, son of Major Joseph Duncan, of Scottish ancestry, introduced printing into Illinois in 1809, and published the first newspaper there. Major Nathaniel McLean, brother of John McLean, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, was one of the first publishers in Minnesota (1849, the same year in which printing was introduced into the state). The township of McLean, Ramsey county, was named in honor of him. There is mention of a printing press being set up in Michigan in 1785 by Alexander and William Macomb, but nothing further is known of it. The first book printed in Montana was in 1864, and in August of the same year John Buchanan founded the _Montana Post_ at Virginia City. John Dunlap (1747-1812), an Ulster Scot born in Strabane, was Congressional Printer and first printed the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Ritchie (1778-1854), born of Scottish parentage. He wielded a powerful influence for good in both the national and state politics of Virginia, and his funeral was attended by nearly all the distinguished men of the times, including the President. Ritchie County, West Virginia, was named in his honor. Francis Preston Blair (1791-1876), political writer, negotiator of peace conference at Hampton Roads in 1864, and editor of the Washington _Globe_, was a descendant of Commissary Blair of Virginia. James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872), born near Keith, Banffshire, pioneer of modern American journalism and founder of the New York _Herald_, a newspaper which has long wielded a great influence on political affairs. Horace Greeley (1811-72), founder of the New York _Tribune_, unsuccessful candidate for the Presidency in 1872, anti-slavery leader, and author of "The American Conflict" (1864-66), was of Ulster Scot descent. Of the same origin was Joseph Medill (1823-99), proprietor of the Chicago _Tribune_ (1874); and Robert Bonner (1824-99), founder of the New York _Ledger_ (1851), was born in Londonderry of Ulster Scot origin. James Thompson Callender (d. 1806), a political exile from Scotland, a controversial writer of great power, a severe critic of the administration of John Adams, founded the _Richmond Recorder_, predecessor of the _Richmond Enquirer_. John Swinton (1829-1901), born in Haddingtonshire, was editorial writer for the New York _Times_ (1860-70), and _Sun_ (1875-83, 1893-97). He took an active interest in social and industrial questions and was Progressive Labor Party's candidate for State Senator in 1887. James Redpath (1833-91), journalist and author, born in Berwick-on-Tweed, was prominently identified with the abolition movement, was organizer of the school system of South Carolina, founder of the Boston Lyceum Bureau, war correspondent for Northern newspapers during the Civil War, and author of several histories and biographical works. William Andrew Ure (b. 1839), of Scottish parentage, by his energy made the Newark, New Jersey, _Sunday Call_, one of the leading newspapers in the state. Whitelaw Reid is noted under Ambassadors. St. Clair McKelway (b. 1845), who became Regent and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the State of New York, was of Scots parentage. Andrew McLean, born in Renton, Dumbartonshire, in 1848, is editor-in-chief of the _Brooklyn Citizen_, which under his guidance has become an influential paper. Washington McLean and his son, John R. McLean, established one of the greatest newspapers in the Middle West, the _Cincinnati Enquirer_. David Alexander Munro (1848-1910), a native of Maryburgh, Ross-shire, educated at Edinburgh University, editor for many years of the _North American Review_. John Foord, born in Perthshire, came to the U.S. in 1869; became editorial writer on the _New York Times_ and later editor-in-chief; after 1883, editor and publisher of the _Brooklyn Union_; editor of _Harper's Weekly_; leader writer on _Journal of Commerce_, and editor of _Asia_. Other journalists who may be mentioned are William Cauldwell (b. 1824) of New York, of Scottish parentage on both sides; George Dawson (1813-83) of Albany, born in Falkirk, Scotland; William Wiston Seaton (1785-1866) of Washington, D.C., a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution; and George Horace Lorimer (b. 1867), journalist and author of "Letters from a Self-made Merchant to His Son" (1902), etc. John J. McElhone (1832-90), famous as a stenographer and chief Official Reporter of the House of Representatives, was of Scottish ancestry.