Biographical Sketch of Alexander Loxley MASSEY; 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"
Publisher:  S. H. Clark; Philadelphia; 1912.     Vol. 3, page 498
Author, Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer
 
ALEXANDER LOXLEY MASSEY

     Because of a retiring disposition Alexander Loxley Massey did not perhaps 
receive that recognition which he merited as one of the prominent business men 
of Philadelphia.  He was so quiet and unostentatious in manner that it was only 
those who came in close contact with him in business or social relations that 
realized the full force of his character, his ability and his genuine worth.  He 
was, however, one of the prominent representatives of mining interests in the 
western part of the state, his connection with the business world being that of 
president of the Penn Gas Coal Company.

     Mr. Massey was a native of Pennsylvania and a son of Charles Massey, Jr., a 
member of the Society of Friends, who was in the shipping business engaged in 
trade with China.  Reared in a home of culture and refinement, Alexander L. 
Massey had the opportunity of attending private schools of Philadelphia and 
therein qualified for the onerous and responsible duties which came to him in 
the business world.  He became a civil engineer by progression and all through 
his life he was identified with mining interests in the western part of the 
state, becoming president of the Penn Gas Coal Company, which owned and operated 
large mining properties in the rich coal regions of the mountain range.  Largely 
through his instrumentality a fine business was built up and Mr. Massey 
manifested the keenest discernment in shaping the policy and guiding the destiny 
of the enterprise.  He built the gas-works at New Bedford just after his 
marriage in 1853.  He had the fullest respect and confidence of his business 
colleagues and associates, who entertained for him the highest admiration 
because of the keen discernment which he ever displayed.

     On the 19th of April, 1853, Mr. Massey was married to Miss Anna E. Bingham, 
of Philadelphia, a daughter of John Bingham, manager for the Adams Express 
Company in this city.  They became the parents of four children, two of whom are 
still living.  He was a lover of home life and gave much of his time to the 
society of his wife and children.  He never sought to figure prominently in 
public affairs outside of his business connections, yet the weight of his 
influence was always cast on the side of moral and political progress and in 
support of many measures which he deemed of benefit to the public.  He voted the 
republican ticket and was thoroughly conversant with the issues and questions of 
the day.  He held membership in the Walnut Street Presbyterian church of West 
Philadelphia, of which Rev. Stephen W. Dana, D. D., was pastor, and was a 
generous contributor to its support and also to various benevolent movements.  
Thus his worth as manifest in his business, and home life and his church 
relations made him a valuable citizen of Philadelphia.  He died in London, 
England, June 30, 1882, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and was buried in 
Westlawn Hill cemetery.