David Sinton
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David Sinton (26 June 1808 – 31 August 1900) was an Irish-born American pig-iron industrialist, born in
County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...
, Ireland, who became one of the wealthiest people in America.


Early life

Sinton was the son of linen manufacturer John Sinton, of Unshinagh, a
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
(he was a cousin of Irish Quaker industrialist brothers
Thomas Sinton Thomas Sinton, JP (February 1826 – 20 August 1887) was an Irish industrialist and magistrate. Sinton made a significant impact upon the Irish linen trade; not least establishing the village of Laurelvale, County Armagh. Thomas Sinton was born ...
and John Sinton), and Mary McDonnell. In 1811, the family came to America from Ireland and settled in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
when he was three years of age. Sinton had one brother (Dr. William Sinton, a physician) and two sisters (Isabella Eliza, who never left Ireland and Sarah, who married John Sparks, a banker).


Career

In the 1830s, Sinton was a manager of the ironworks at Hanging Rock, Ohio. In 1846, he managed to become the owner and made his headquarters in Cincinnati. A man of "irregular education",Hess, Stephen, ''America's Political Dynasties'', P. 306 his business interests centered on the manufacture of iron; his furnaces were in
Lawrence County, Ohio Lawrence County is the southernmost county of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,240. Its county seat is Ironton. The county was created in 1815 and later organized in 1817. It is named for James Lawrence, t ...
.Historical Collections of Ohio: Pages 843-847
/ref> Much of his fortune was made by
stockpiling A stockpile is a pile or storage location for bulk materials, forming part of the bulk material handling process. Stockpiles are used in many different areas, such as in a port, refinery or manufacturing facility. The stockpile is normally cr ...
pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate good used by the iron industry in the production of steel. It is developed by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with si ...
, waiting for the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, and selling that iron on at inflated prices. He eventually acquired the majority of stock in the Eureka Company, and at the time that Oxmoor merged with the DeBardeleben Coal and Iron Company, he owned most of Oxmoor. He was described as "a large, strong person with strong common sense, and therefore moves solely on the solid foundation of facts." His residence, at Cincinnati, was the old Longworth mansion on Pike Street, built by Martin Baum early in the 19th century. Mr. Sinton's only surviving child, Annie, was the wife of
Charles Phelps Taft Charles Phelps Taft (December 21, 1843 – December 31, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician who served as editor of the '' Cincinnati Times-Star,'' and owned both the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs baseball teams. From 1895 to 18 ...
, editor of the ''Times-Star'' and brother of
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
; Sinton money was said to have financed the presidential bid.


Personal life

Sinton married Jane Ellison (1826–1853), a daughter of John Ellison (1779–1829), at Union Landing, Ohio. They had two children: * Edward Sinton (1848-1869) * Anna Sinton (1850-1931), who married
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
Charles Phelps Taft Charles Phelps Taft (December 21, 1843 – December 31, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician who served as editor of the '' Cincinnati Times-Star,'' and owned both the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs baseball teams. From 1895 to 18 ...
(1843–1929), the older brother of
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
, the 27th
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
and 10th
Chief Justice of the United States The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Appointments Clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution g ...
. Sinton died on August 31, 1900, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Upon his death, he left $20,000,000 (the 2011 equivalent of this is about $500,000,000) to his daughter; he was Ohio's richest man at the time. His home is now the
Taft Museum of Art The Taft Museum of Art is a fine art collection in Cincinnati, Ohio. It occupies the 200-year-old historic house at 316 Pike Street. The house – the oldest domestic wooden structure in downtown Cincinnati – was built about 1820 and housed ...
.


Descendants

Through his daughter Anna, he was the grandfather of Jane Taft Ingalls (1874–1962), David Sinton Taft (1876–1891), Anna Louise Taft Semple (1879–1961), and Charles Howard Taft (1885–1931). He was the great-grandfather of First World War flying ace
David Sinton Ingalls David Sinton Ingalls (January 28, 1899 – April 26, 1985) was the US Navy's only flying ace of World War I, with six credited victories; thus he was the first ace in US Navy history. Early life Ingalls was born on January 28, 1899, in Clevela ...
.


Legacy

During his lifetime, Sinton was philanthropic in his donations to the arts and the
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
church, yet his own father's grave was not marked with a headstone; "but David Sinton is wiser in his generation than they who seek to stab his character in such a paragraph s erecting an ornate sepulcher">sepulcher.html" ;"title="s erecting an ornate sepulcher">s erecting an ornate sepulcher He is one of God's noblemen." The town of Sinton, Texas, is named in his honor (given that he was the majority stock holder in Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinton, David Businesspeople from County Armagh 1808 births 1900 deaths American Civil War industrialists Irish Quakers Businesspeople from Cincinnati Taft family Irish emigrants to the United States 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American philanthropists