BIO: Charles W. WRIGHT, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 421-422. _________________________________________________________________ CHARLES W. WRIGHT, superintendent of the Aliquippa Steel Works, is the youngest man in the country occupying a position of that kind in a plant of such magnitude, and has established a reputation throughout Western Pennsylvania in that capacity. The Aliquippa Steel Company was organized in 1892, and has been the, means of transforming what was a small country way-station into one of the most important manufacturing towns in Beaver county. Although the town is but seven years old, it is now a borough; it possesses excellent natural advantages, located, as it is, in the great Beaver Valley. The officers of the company are as follows: Joseph G. Vilsack, president; J. C. Russell, vice president; C. A. Fagan, secretary and treasurer; Alexander Thomas, general manager; and Charles W. Wright, superintendent. The general offices are located at No. 512-513 Times Building, Pittsburg, and the plant covers fifteen acres of land at Aliquippa. They manufacture open hearth and crucible steel, taking the pig iron and manufacturing the finished product; they make tool steel for all purposes, - principally for circular saws, disks and cross cut saws (surpassing in this every other firm in the country), agricultural blades, and for round and hexagonal tools. The plant consists of three buildings and a boiler house, which is constructed of corrugated steel, with seven immense boilers of the latest and most serviceable pattern, which feed the 500 horse-power engine. The dimensions of the three buildings are respectively as follows: 210 feet x 40, 230 x 40; and 160 x 40. The works employ three hundred and fifty men, and run all of the time, a feature which is of material benefit to the borough. They have in use the six-ton steam hammer, a machine of stupendous power, which has revolutionized the manufacture of steel. They also operate numerous heavy shearing machines, punches, and several furnaces, using gas fuel from a well on the grounds. The subject of this biography was not yet thirty years of age when he was called to assume the responsibilities of superintendent of these works, and having had a thorough training, he understands the business in all of its phases. He has displayed wonderful ability in the manner of handling the large force of men under his direction, - not only getting their best efforts, but gaining their good will, as well. He possesses the confidence of his employers to a marked degree, and is held in the highest esteem by his employees. A young man of enterprise, he has worked his way from the lowest step in the business to his present enviable position, and his future life presents a bright prospect. Charles W. Wright was born in Pittsburg, Pa., December 23, 1868, and was intellectually trained in the public schools of Pittsburg, graduating from the high school with the class of 1885. He at once went to work in 422 BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES the mill of Park Bros., beginning at the bottom, and continued in their employ for eight years, as general mill clerk. He acquired a thorough knowledge of the business that made his services valuable, and then resigned to accept the position of assistant superintendent of the Aliquippa Steel Company. His efforts in that capacity met with such favor that, four years after, he was promoted to the general superintendency, which he now holds. He is gifted with the eye of an expert in judging the quality of steel, - deciding at a glance with as much accuracy as a chemical test would determine it, - thus saving time and expense. Mr. Wright resides in East End, Pittsburg, Pa., where he has many friends. He was united in marriage with Catherine Clark, a daughter of Dr. H. H. Clark, the well-known physician, and they have two children: Bessie, born in 1893; and Catherine, born in 1897. Politically, he is a Republican, but is too busy to participate actively in partisan affairs. He is a member of the order of the Royal Arcanum.