Biographical Sketch of Joseph Allison STEINMETZ (b. 1870); Philadelphia Co., PA Contributed to the PAGenWeb Archives by Diana Smith [christillavalley@comcast.net] Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* "Philadelphia, A History of the City and its People; A Record of 225 Years" Publisher: S. H. Clark; Philadelphia; 1912. Vol. 4, page 213 Author, Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer JOSEPH ALLISON STEINMETZ Joseph Allison Steinmetz, of the firm of Janney, Steinmetz & Company iron and steel merchants and engineers of materials at Fourth and Market streets in Philadelphia, was born in this city, March 22, 1870. His father, John Steinmetz, who died in 1877, was the grandson of John Steinmetz, signer of the "Nonimportation Resolutions" of 1765, which document was the forerunner of the Declaration of Independence. The father and grandfather of Joseph A. Steinmetz were both connected with the iron and steel business in Philadelphia. The mother of Joseph A. Steinmetz bore the maiden name of Frances Morris Janney. She is a native of Philadelphia, where she still resides, and is a descendant of Thomas Janney, a companion of William Penn and the first minister of the Society of Friends in Pennsylvania. In the maternal line Mr. Steinmetz is also descended from Dr. Thomas Wynne, who came to America with William Penn on the ship Welcome and ministered to the officers, crew and passengers on that vessel when smallpox broke out on the voyage. Mr. Steinmetz is likewise a descendant of Anthony Morris, who was William Penn's counselor, and of John Cadwalader of the Welsh colony in Pennsylvania. Through the Steinmetz family he is connected with the Kepelles and the Wistars. Joseph A. Steinmetz is indebted to the public school system for the early educational privileges which he enjoyed. After mastering the elementary branches of learning he attended the Central high school and subsequently pursued a special course in Lehigh University in metallurgy, having chosen as his special life work the use and application of the metal aluminum in the arts and sciences. He received his early business training with the firm of Thomas H. Parvin & Company, iron and steel merchants of Philadelphia, and remained with them for some time or until about 1893, when he joined Joseph A. Janney, Jr., in a partnership that has since been maintained under the present firm name of Janney, Steinmetz & Company. In the field in which they have operated they have built up an extensive business and the house sustains an unassailable reputation. They have recognized that the excellence of their products and the promptness and efficiency of the service of the house are the chief dements in success and are meeting requirements in these particulars, and they have been enabled to develop their trade, the extension of which has placed them with the leading iron and steel specialties merchants of Philadelphia. Aside from his connection with the iron and steel business Mr. Steinmetz is an officer and director in many corporations which profit by his valuable counsel and business discrimination. Moreover, he has given particular study to the future development and improvement of the Delaware and Schuylkill water fronts in Philadelphia and has closely investigated the possibilities of progress and improvement in other ways leading to the further growth and expansion of Philadelphia and her trade interests. On the 7th of January, 1903, Mr. Steinmetz was married to Miss Oma F. Fields, a daughter of Judge Fields, of Colorado Springs, Colorado. They have become the parents of two children: Joseph Janney, born in 1905; and Frances Margaret, born in 1909. Aside from business connections Mr. Steinmetz has figured prominently in public affairs in many ways. He was one of the organizers of the Naval Militia of Pennsylvania and for seven years was actively identified with that organization, rising to the commission of paymaster. During the Spanish-American war he acted as recruiting officer for a Battalion of Engineers with office in Philadelphia and afterward became detailed for Red Cross relief work in Cuba. He immediately took an active part in gathering up and caring for reconcentrado orphans, which work was concluded under the direction of Miss Clara Barton, assisted by the Associate Society of the Red Cross of Philadelphia. Since his return from Cuba Mr. Steinmetz has been active in Red Cross work and during the several years in which President Taft has been head of the Red Cross Society Mr. Steinmetz has held the position of secretary for Pennsylvania, and at the present writing he is chairman of Philadelphia Red Cross. A spirit of benevolence and broad humanitarianism has prompted his active work in this connection and in other relations whereby his fellowmen have been benefited. He has ever been interested in historical research and in the perpetuation of the memory of those who have taken an active part in formulating and shaping the history of the nation. He belongs to the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution, the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, the Historical Society, the Welcome Society, the Down Town Club, the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the Aero Club of America, and for many years has been a trustee of the Fairmount Art Association. Numerous patents of wide application have been granted him for mechanical devices. He is greatly interested in stamp collecting and has one of the largest and forest collections in the country. His interests, travels and activities are sufficiently wide and varied as to make him a man of well rounded and well balanced character. While in business life he has carefully directed his interests so as to attain a high measure of success, he has readily recognized the responsibilities and obligations of wealth and, appreciative of his duty toward his fellowmen, he has put forth a helping hand, not only in organized effort, but also in private charity, prompted only by a recognition of need and a desire to alleviate suffering. This file is located at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/philadelphia/bios/history/steinmetz-ja.txt