Biographical Sketch of John H. DINGEE; Philadelphia Co., PA

Contributed to the PAGenWeb Archives by Diana Smith 
[christillavalley@comcast.net] 

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Philadelphia, A History of the City and its People: A Record of 225 Years
Philadelphia: S.H. Clark, 1912; Vol. 3, page 237.
Author, Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer
 
JOHN H. DINGEE
 
     John H. Dingee, a well known business man of Philadelphia, with offices in 
the Arcade building, has for the past two decades devoted his attention to the 
supervision of his extensive coal and iron interests in Virginia, West Virginia 
and Kentucky.  His birth occurred in Philadelphia on the 2d of March, 1849, his 
parents being John H. and Mary (Stewart) Dingee, who were likewise natives of 
this city.  In the paternal line he comes of Huguenot stock, while on the 
maternal side he is descended from the Stewarts of Middlesex, England.  His 
mother was a daughter of William Henry Stewart, a manufacturer of Philadelphia.  
John H. Dingee, the father of our subject, was for many years engaged in 
business as a commission merchant in association with his brother Charles H. on 
South Front street.  He passed away in August, 1879, when seventy-three years of 
age, while his wife was called to her final rest in 1881, being at that time 
also seventy-three years old.
     In preparation of a college course John H. Dingee attended the private 
classical school of Dr. J. W. Faires and in 1865 entered the University of 
Pennsylvania.  On leaving that institution he accepted a clerkship in the 
banking house of E. W. Clark & company, remaining with that concern for a number 
of years.  Subsequently he embarked in the banking and brokerage business on his 
own account, becoming a member of the Stock Exchange, with which he was 
connected until 1890.  Since that time he has given his attention to his 
extensive coal and iron interests in Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.
     On the 21st of October, 1891, in Philadelphia, Mr. Dingee was united in 
marriage to miss Helen Massey, a daughter of the late Alexander L. Massey of 
Philadelphia.  Unto them were born two children but one has passed away.  The 
surviving child is Alexander L., now a youth of thirteen.
     Mr. Dingee has been a lifelong republican but has neither sought nor 
desired office as a reward for his party fealty.  The cause of public 
instruction, however, has ever found in him a warm friend and for the past ten 
years he has served as president of the board of education in Chester county, 
where he has made his home for the past quarter of a century.  Moreover, he has 
taken a prominent part in religious work, being one of the trustees of the 
general assembly of the Presbyterian church of the United States.  He is also a 
valued member of the Union League and Merion Cricket Clubs.  No breath of 
suspicion has ever assailed his good name and on the contrary he stands as a 
splendid type of the honorable, reliable, successful man, the public-spirited 
citizen and the trustworthy friend.