Jacob Leonard Replogle (May 6, 1876 – November 25, 1948), usually known as J. L. Replogle, was a wealthy

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Biography

J. Leonard Replogle was born in

New Enterprise, Pennsylvania New Enterprise is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community is located along Pennsylvania Route 869, north-northeast of Bedford, Pennsylvania, Bed ...

on May 6, 1876, one of twelve children of Rinehart Zook and Mary Ann (''née'' Furry) Replogle. Rinehart was a Brethren minister, and moved his family away from New Enterprise to live in Johnstown. It was in Johnstown that Jacob grew up and went to school. Jacob quit his schooling when he was 13 years old, shortly after the Johnstown Flood, and went to work as a $5-per-week office boy in the general offices of the

Cambria Steel Company The Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a major producer of iron and steel that operated independently from 1852 to 1916. The company adopted many innovations in the steelmaking process, including those of William Kelly and Henr ...

. He went on to become a general supervisor at Cambria, rising through the ranks to finally become the head of Replogle Steel Co. In 1918, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine named him one of the wealthiest persons in the United States. He married Blanche Kenley McMillen on January 10, 1905. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he directed the steel supply for the

War Industries Board The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department (Department of the Army) and the Navy Department. Becaus ...

, organizing the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Chester with William Sproul,

Samuel Vauclain Samuel Matthews Vauclain (May 18, 1856 – February 4, 1940) was an American engineer, inventor of the Vauclain compound compound locomotive, locomotive, and president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works.

of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, T. Coleman du Pont, and

Edward V. Babcock Edward Vose Babcock (January 31, 1864 – September 2, 1948) was a logging, lumber industrialist who served as Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1918 to 1922. Biography Early life Edward Vose Babcock entered the lumber business from an early age. He ran ...

of Pittsburgh. After the war, he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army) The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

. He did similar work for the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was also head of the

Vanadium Corporation of America The Vanadium Corporation of America was a commercial producer of vanadium, a transition metal and a strengthening additive for steel. The company was founded in 1906 by Joseph M. Flannery and was headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The comp ...

, with

Charles M. Schwab Charles Michael Schwab (February 18, 1862 – September 18, 1939) was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second-largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturer ...

. In August 1942, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

established the Manhattan Engineer District (MED), also known as the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

, to develop atomic weapons and to procure the raw materials, principally

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

, necessary for their production. The MED contracted the Vanadium Corporation of America and the United States Vanadium Corporation (owned by Union Carbide) to procure and process uranium bearing ore. While in Paris in 1931 he and a friend, Paulding Fosdick, invented a form of the game

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

, which they called

Towie Towie may refer to: * Towie, Aberdeenshire * Towie Barclay Castle, Aberdeenshire * Towie Castle, Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire * Towie (game), a three-hand variant of Bridge * ''The Only Way Is Essex'', a British reality television series See also ...

. In 1935, he sought to make Towie a popular game in the United States, with limited success. The J. Leonard Replogle Elementary School in Loysburg, Pennsylvania is named after him. In his later years he entered into Republican politics. He was Presidential Elector for Pennsylvania, 1920; a delegate to Republican National Convention from Florida, 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944; and a member of Republican National Committee from Florida, 1940. J. Leonard Replogle died at the Savoy-Plaza Hotel in New York on November 25, 1948. He was buried in

Grandview Cemetery, Johnstown Grandview Cemetery is an American cemetery that is located at 801 Millcreek Road in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1885, the cemetery is one of Pennsylvania's largest, with more than 70,000 burials, including those of many victims of the 1 ...

References

External links

The Replogle Steel Company of Wharton, New Jersey.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Replogle, J. Leonard 1876 births 1948 deaths American industrialists People from Bedford County, Pennsylvania