Robert Pitcairn received his earlier education in the public schools of Scotland and of this country. It was necessarily meagre, as the circumstances of the family compelled him to go to work as soon as he was capable of earning anything; but he did not suffer from the disadvantage long, as subsequently, by private study and attending night school whenever the opportunity offered, he qualified himself for the struggle of life as thoroughly as the majority of the boys of his time. He earned his first dollar serving in a variety store. In 1848 or 1849 his friend Andrew Carnegie, then a messenger boy in the employ of the Atlantic & Ohio Telegraph Company at Pittsburg, obtained for him a similar position. This occupation took him into association with a number of bright, hardworking, ambitious boys employed in the same way, all of whom have since made honorable records. Among them he soon showed himself as bright and ambitious as they were. Referring to these lads and to Robert Pitcairn, James D. Reid, the pioneer manager and superintendent of telegraph lines in this country, in his interesting book, "The Telegraph," writes: "In Pittsburg were five messenger boys who merit special record, each of whom made a record of his own; . . . but Robert Pitcairn, he bore his character in his face, gentle, steady, prompt, true." While discharging his duties as messenger, Robert availed himself of every opportunity to acquire the art of telegraph operator. His pluck and persistence carried him to success, and he was one of the first persons who took telegraphic communications by sound. In due course he was promoted, by being sent to Steubenville, Ohio, as assistant operator and line repair man, returning to Pittsburg as operator on the Lake Erie telegraph line for a period. Then he entered the employment of the Atlantic & Ohio Railroad here in the same capacity. When in the service of the Atlantic & Ohio line, much railroad business passed through Mr. Pitcairn's hands, and he became desirous of engaging in railroading more intimately. In 1853 he succeeded in entering the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as telegraph operator and assistant ticket agent at the Mountain House, near Hollidaysburg, Blair County. In February, 1854, when the company had completed their track over the Alleghanies, he was transferred to the general superintendent's office at Altoona, there to wait an appointment to one of the mountain way stations then about to be opened.

About this period Mr. Pitcairn conceived the idea of becoming the superintendent of the Pittsburg Division of the road. Fortunately for this object, he was found so useful in Altoona that he was not sent to a mountain station, as was contemplated, where, there being no field for his abilities, he would very soon be forgotten. Excepting a period lasting about a year, spent upon the Western Division of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, while the road between Ptymouth and Chicago was in course of construction, he was retained in the superintendent's office at Altoona, filling different positions until 1861. In this year he was appointed superintendent of the Middle Division, which is the section of road lying between Conemaugh and Mifflin. Soon after, the four divisions into which the road had been divided were reduced to three, leaving Mr. Pitcairn without a division. But it was far from the company's intention to dispense with his services. At the same time a new department was created, that of transportation, and he was appointed its superintendent. In this capacity he organized the record system and the system of car mileage, besides conceiving and carrying into effect other of the methods with which the business of this department is conducted at present. During the Civil War his skill and energy were severely taxed by the large bodies of troops and immense stores of supplies for which he had to provide transportation. In 1862, after the battle of Antietam, in addition to the transportation of troops, he had charge of the general traffic between Harrisburg and Hagarstown, and at the same time was superintendent of the division between Harrisburg and Altoona, and of the Pittsburg Division, between Altoona and Pittsburg, and in charge at Harrisburg and divisions west during the battle of Gettysburg,. 1863.

Although by 1865 his services and standing in the company's employment entitled him to aspire to a higher post, Mr. Pitcairn was content to seek and obtain that of superintendent of the Pittsburg Division, thereby realizing his long-cherished ambition of returning, as the highest local official of the great corporation he served, to the city in which he had broken ground as a humble messenger boy. Ten years later his duties and responsibilities were largely augmented by his appointment as general agent at Pittsburg. He has filled these offices since greatly to the satisfaction and advantage of both his employers and the public. Mr. Pitcairn is also largely interested in other than railroad enterprises. He is the resident vice-president and a director of the American Surety Company of Pittsburg, and the second vice-president and a director of the Fidelity Title and Trust Company. He was one of the first directors of the Masonic Bank; is now a director of the Citizens' National Bank of Pittsburg, and of the First National Bank of Greenburg, and also of the Western Pennsylvania Exposition. Mr. Pitcairn assisted George Westinghouse, Jr., in introducing his celebrated air-brake, was one of those who organized the company engaged in its manufacture, and is now the vice-president of that company. He also assisted in the organization of the Philadelphia Natural Gas Company and of many of the corporations known as the Westinghouse plants, and is a director in each.

On July 26, 1856, Mr. Pitcairn was married to Miss Elizabeth E. Rigg. Mrs.Pitcairn is a daughter of John Rigg, who was a respected resident of Altoona, having previously come from Lewistown, Pa. By the marriage Mr. Pitcairn became the father of four children. These are: Mrs. Omar Decker, Mrs. Charles L. Taylor, Miss Susan Blanche Pitcairn, and Mr. Robert Pitcairn, Jr., all residents of Pittsburg. An earnest Presbyterian, the father takes a lively interest in the project of establishing a church and Sabbath-school in the vicinity of his home. While not in any sense a politician, he has been an unwavering Republican since the creation of the party. He was the secretary of the first Republican convention held in Blair County. His connection with fraternal societies includes a membership of long standing in the Masonic order, in which he once held the rank of Grand Commander of the Knights Templar of Pennsylvania. Now comparatively wealthy without having desired more than a competency, Mr. Pitcairn feels a justifiable pride in having been the architect and builder of his own fortunes. He is satisfied in having reached the goal he set for his career forty-five years ago in Altoona, and in having seen railroad construction conducted on scientific principles and develop to the vast dimensions it has not attained. Mr. Pitcairn is one of the leading authorities on railroading in this country today.

this county. He was born October 2, 1843, on a farm in Perry County, Ohio, son of James M. and Sarah (Orr) Porter. He comes of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock. His grandfather, Nathan Porter, a native of the north of Ireland, settled on a farm in Cross Creek township, Ohio, about the year 1800, and there spent the rest of his life.

James M. Porter was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, about 1812, and remained there until after his marriage. In 1842 he purchased from the government, at one dollar and a quarter per acre, one hundred and sixty acres of land in Perry County, to which he thereupon moved his family and household goods in a covered wagon. His purchase was on the head-waters of Sunday Creek, in the centre of the coal and oil fields of to-day. Knowing nothing of the mineral treasures hidden beneath his land, he worked industriously to cultivate it, but he had gathered only two harvests, when he died in 1844. His son, James J., now owns the land, holding the original patents from the government. His wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Thomas Orr, a Scotch-Irish immigrant, who came to this country in 1790. A man of energy and ability, Thomas Orr was an officer in- the War of 1812, Sheriff of the county in 1814, and an active and prominent church member. He died in 1828. He was married in Ireland to Catherine Johnston, who bore him twelve children. Mrs. Sarah Porter returned to her early home in Steubenville, Ohio, after her husband's death, and died in 1866.

James Johnston Porter, the only son of his parents, was educated in public and private schools in Steubenville. He obtained his first ideas of business in the store of G. Scott & Co., of Steubenville, dealers in dry goods, trimmings, and millinery, entering Mr. Scott's employ in 1860. Mr. Scott died in 1868, and in 1869 a new firm was formed, of which Mr. Porter was a member. The name was J. H. Hawkins & Co. They conducted a successful business for four years; and then, in 1873, two of the partners, Mr. Porter and Mr. Donaldson, opened a store in Pittsburg at 127 Wood Street, with the sign Porter, Donaldson & Co. All the members of the Steubenville house were interested in this establishment, and were soon in command of a flourishing trade. Two years after opening the establishment they moved to the corner of Fifth Avenue and Liberty Street. In the latter part of January, 1878, Messrs. Porter and Donaldson sold their shares in the Steubenville business, and bought all the stock of the Pittsburg store. The firm name was then changed to Porter & Donaldson. In 1882 they moved into their present commodious quarters, Nos. 820, 822, and 824 Liberty Avenue, where they occupy the whole of five floors and the basement. On January 1, 1892, Mr. Donaldson having retired, the firm name was changed to J. J. Porter & Co. During all the changes in management and location Mr. Porter has been a leading spirit in the enterprise, and much of its success is due to his ability and judgment. From fifty to one hundred and fifty hands are now employed in the establishment, according to the season; and the trade embraces a circuit of three hundred miles, extending into Indiana, Ohio, and Western Virginia.

Mr. Porter was married December 18, 1890, to Miss Mary Clokey, of Springfield, Ohio . He and his wife are members of the First United Presbyterian Church of Allegheny. In the society he has been an Elder since 1883, is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, and he has been the superintendent of the Sunday-school for twelve years. In 1883 he was the treasurer of the Quarter-centennial Commission of the United Presbyterian Church, taking an active part in raising the seven hundred thousand dollars which was that year devoted to missions and other church work. He is at present serving on the Board of the Young Men's Christian Association.

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