Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 274] deceased, ex-president of the First National Bank of New Castle, was born in Butler Co., Pa., in 1830, and was a son of Norbert Foltz, who was born in Strausburg, Germany, Nov. 4, 1774, and died at the age of ninety-five at his home in Butler County.
Norbert Foltz learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, and followed the same throughout his life; he emigrated to this country when a young man, and settled in Butler, Pa., where he met and married Elizabeth Riddle, in 1825. Naturally industrious, he was a hard worker, and saved with true German thrift most of what he earned, and became a wealthy man for those times and that section of the country, being one of the largest land owners in Butler County. Norbert Foltz and his good wife reared to Manhood and womanhood seven children, as follows: Mary; James Madison; Samuel; John Adams; Francis Marion; Julia; and Horatio Nelson.
Samuel, the third child, was born in 1830, and was brought up and received an education in his native town. At an early age he formed a desire to become a lawver, and so studied the fundamental principles of legal procedure under the direction of his wife's uncle, Charles C. Sullivan, and was admitted to the bar from that gentleman's office. Our subject became interested in the iron business in the fifties, and with his father-in-law, William Stewart, owned and operated the Margaret and Will-Roy furnaces in Butler and Lawrence Counties respectively, until 1865, when Mr. Stewart moved to Pittsburg, and Mr. Foltz came to the city of New Castle, where he made his home until death, which resulted Oct. 22, 1878, from injuries he received in a runaway accident. During all the years of his residence in New Castle he retained large interests in the various industries that are related to the manufacture or iron. In 1873 he orgnized the private bank of Foltz & Long, and a year later bought stock in the First National Bank of New Castle, becoming president of the latter bank, and remaining in that position until his death. He married Amanda G. Stewart, daughter of William Stewart, and their union was blessed with the following children: William Stewart, Le Roy Sullivan; Margaret Stewart (Brown); Samuel; Richard; David; and Mary Amanda, the last three deceased. His business interests did not suffer from being handled by strange hands, but were taken up where he left them, and admirably looked after by his three sons—William S., Le Roy S., and Samuel. They were associated with him in the private banking business previous to his death, and afterwards carried on the Foltz Bank until 1883, when it was consolidated with the First National Bank. Upon our subject's death, his oldest son, William S., was elected president of the First National Bank, in which capacity he is still retained; Samuel is connected with the same institution as cashier.
William Stewart, who has been mentioned above as our subject's father-in-law, and also business partner for a number of years, was born on Squirrel Hill, now the city of Pittsburg, Pa., Oct. 11, 1802, and was a son of William and Elizabeth (Caughy) Stewart, both natives of Glasgow, Scotland. William Stewart, Jr., entered the employ of the Butler Sentinel at the age of fourteen years, and worked there for a period of several years. He married Margaret Sullivan, daughter of Charles Sullivan, a soldier of the American Revolution, who settled in Butler County. In 1848, William Stewart engaged in the iron business, at first operating the Margaret Furnace in Butler County, near Centerville, and later the Will-Roy Furnace in Lawrence County; subsequently he returned to Butler County, purchased and operated the Winfield Furnace. In 1865, he moved to Pittsburg, where he lived until 1884, when he came to New Castle, where be continued to live until his death, June 29, 1888. His wife, bright and active, enjoyed almost perfect health to the day of her death, which occurred May 20, 1884, aged eighty-seven years, having been born March 30, 1797, at Chartiers, Allegheny Co., Pa. In politics Mr. Stewart was a Whig and later a Republican; in his younger years he served very acceptably as cashier in the State Treasury Department under State Treasurer Gilmore; he also was honored with an election to the State Legislature, representing Mercer, Butler, and Lawrence Counties as one district. He was a man of excellent judgment and business qualifications and was a regularly ordained local minister in M. E. Church for forty years. In view of the steady rise he made from an humble beginning we feel certain that the term self-made admirably describes him and his career in business. His first business venture was the building of a portion of the Erie Canal. He was well-posted not alone to his immediate surroundings and walks in life, but also in a broader sense; read- ing was almost his sole recreation, and he made it also a source of great profit. He possessed strong personal characteristics, was stern in his decisions and positive in his opinions. He was director of the First National Bank of New Castle for several years prior to his death, that event terminating his office. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were blessed with five children, as follows: Elizabeth; Mary (McKee); Amanda (Foltz), the wife of our subject; Melissa P. (McKee); and Charles William, who died in infancy. No man was ever held in higher respect by those he employed than Mr. Stewart.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 18 May 2001