Mathias Saxman and Susan Armel

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Husband Mathias Saxman ^{1 2}

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           Born: 22 Nov 1836 - near Latrobe, Westmoreland Co, PA 3 4
     Christened: 
           Died: 15 Oct 1913 - near Latrobe, Westmoreland Co, PA 4
         Buried:  - Unity Cemetery, Latrobe, Westmoreland Co, PA

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         Father: Peter Saxman (1803-1872) 3 4
         Mother: Barbara Butt (      -      ) 3 4

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       Marriage: 1858 3 5

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   Other Spouse: Catherine "Kate" Wilson (      -      ) 3 6 - 1862 3 5

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   Other Spouse: Mrs. Anna Wilson (      -1912) 3 5 - 1896 3

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Wife Susan Armel ^{3 5}

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 M James Albert Saxman ^{3 5}

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General Notes: Husband - Mathias Saxman

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He was born at the Saxman homestead, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and there, after years of contented retirement, died. His boyhood was spent in much the same manner as those of thousands of the boys of the Ligonier valley spent theirs, and there was little during the first thirty-five years of his life to indicate that he was to depart from the hitherto family occupation. He attended public school in the orthodox way, then began farming. Although his father had not heeded the hidden riches lying beneath the surface of his land, he considered them and at last, awakening to their importance, tapped the long dormant source of wealth and brought about the conditions which converted his section into a veritable "hive of industry."
In 1865 he interested Philadelphia capital and organized M. Saxman, Jr., & Company, which built the first coke ovens in Derry township. They were first fired in 1869, and their success was the beginning of a succession of companies organized by Mr. Saxman or inspired by his genius. Among the Westmoreland men whom he interested in his enterprises was John Covode, then a Congressman, and George F. Huff, a later-day Congressman and capitalist. In 1873 the Saxman Coal and Coke Company was organized, and in 1887 the Derry Coal and Coke Company, which Mr. Saxman long controlled, his son, Edwin F. Saxman, its superintendent. He next aided in the organization of the Superior Coal and Coke Company, followed by the Latrobe-Connellsville Coal and Coke Company. In June, 1905, these companies were merged as one, under the corporate title of The Latrobe-Connellsville Coal and Coke Company, Mathias Saxman, president; his son, Marcus W. Saxman, general manager. He remained the executive head of the vast interests his genius for organization and leadership had created, but in his later years he gradually withdrew from the burdens of management and spent his concluding years on the old homestead which he loved, and in travel.
His interest in the welfare of those in his employ was unusual. He was not content to simply see that they always received their wages, but tried to have them practice economical living, to save and to invest their savings in homes. For many of them he built comfortable houses and allowed small payments to be made in return. He was deeply interested in the Latrobe Hospital, which he aided to found and which he served as president from its organization. All Latrobe's public institutions had his generous support and he was greatly interested in the welfare of the city.
He loved the great out-of-doors and nature in all her varied works and moods delighted him. He was a keen observer, loved the society of his fellowmen, and the evening of his life was spent amid the hospitable surroundings of the home he had erected upon the old homestead, which was ever his abiding place, as it had been of three generations of his ancestors. His extensive travels, his keen powers of observation and wide sources of well selected reading had made him a well informed man, and he was a charming companion as well as a most instructive one.
The fraternal orders attracted him and he held high honors in Odd Fellowship, being a past noble grand of Latrobe Lodge, No. 541, and a past district deputy grand master. He was also a member of Milnor Lodge, No. 287, Free and Accepted Masons, and in his life exemplified the best tenets of the institution. In Scottish Rite Masonry he held all degrees up to and including the thirty-second. Formerly a member of the German Reformed church, he later affiliated with the First Presbyterian church of Latrobe, and in his political allegiance was a Republican. He took little part, however, in political affairs.

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General Notes: Wife - Susan Armel

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She died after the birth of her only son.

1 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 488.

2 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 219.

3 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. III (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 489.

4 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 266.

5 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 267.

6 Fenwick Y. Hedley, Old and New Westmoreland, Vols. III & IV (New York, NY: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1918), Pg 219, 267, 269.