Los Angeles herald., 1905-05-28
MOVED A PALACE
OF BROWNSTONE
HOW A MILLIONAIRE SHOWED
HIS INDIGNATION
DESERTED HIS HOME TOWN
John Stevenson Resented the Absorp-
ton of His Business interests
by the United States Steel
Corporation


ration has hung out its sign as sue
cessor to John Stevenson, jr, the Penn
sylvania iron, steel and tin plate man
ufacturer, multi-millionaire and prob
ably the only man of modern times
who. because he was angry with MS
partners, the steel trust and his Fellow
townsman, moved his palatial home to
another city In Sharon, Pa, his new
place of residence, he became the head
of the independent steel company
which, in spite of the fact that it -four
ished, fell into the NAV of the trust.
and for the second time the steel mas
ter found himself bereft of an indus
trial home though with millions OF
capital at his command. But 1t was
not for long He organized the Driggs-
Seabury Ordnance corporation. and is
now engaged in about the only pur-
suit free of trusts-the manufacture of
cannon.
When John Stevenson concluded he
had a grievance against New Castle,
a 1ourishing city in the Pittsburg val
lev. and decided he would move from
the trust-ridden city, the citizens were
stunned by the announcement that he
would tatke his mansion with him
not figuratively, but literally. Every
stone and every piece of wood work
was carefully numbered and packed
and removed to Sharon, twenty-one
miles away. Then the house was put
together again and Mr.. Stevenson and
his family are now living in it.
MOVING Cost 100000
The entire operation cost the steel
magnate 100000, so he now has
house that cost him 100000 and is one
of the finest residences in Western
Pennsylvania. When it was originally
built in New Castle the house cost
$780, 900; the contractor who accom-
plished the mammoth task Of moving
it charged s25,000, and the repairs made
in Sharon added $4,000 to the total.
New Castle is depressed over the
loss of Mr.. Stevenson and Sharon is
correspondingly elated. He was the
richest man in New Castle and the
head of all it's great enterprises and
the most extensive employer of labor.
Now all his allegiance has been shifted
to Sharon, and all that he did for his
old love he is doing for his new. The
day the magnificent house was re-
moved from New Castle is one that
will live in the annals of the town.
Vast crowds gathered on the sidewalks
and watched the work of demolition.
First the roof was taken off, and then
the hardwood furnishings were deli
cately displaced. The great stone
blocks that formed the walls were
loU4ed numbered and loaded on
heavy drays, but the worlmen had or
ders to stop at nothing. When the last
carload of stone was leaving New Cas-
tie the large frame barn which stood
near the house mysteriously caught
fire and was destroyed. Whether the
fire was the result of an accident or
the work of an incendiary has never
been determined, but people are not
wanting who suggest the latter eXpla-
nation.
Will Not Sell the Lot
Since Mr.. Stevenson moved there
have been three decisive attempts to
purchase the site of his former
grandeur in New Castle, but all offers
have been refused. Weed-grown and
with ragged. gaping hole in it's CEN
ter, the abandoned site stands in the
midst of the beautiful residence dis
trict, the rich mans blot upon the
town.
When John Stevenson reached New
Castle in 1883 he was not a rich man,
as men are accounted rich in the indus
trial world today. He possessed not
more than $4,000. but he had tact and
was a shrewd and careful business
manager. He became associated with
William Refs, the former president of
the National Steel company; William
Patterson. president of the leading
bank of New Castle, and John Berger,
a New Castle capitalist. They erected
the New Castle Nail works. Soon
came a wire mill. steel plant and tin
plate mill-the latter the largest in the
world-and then a blast furnace. Mr..
Stevenson's wealth began to pile up
and from a paltry $4,000 increased to
millions.
On his return from a trip to Europe
Mr.. Stevenson was indignant to learn
that in his absence his partners had
completed arrangements to sell the inn
mense plants at New Castle to the
United States Steel corporation. He
had left his affairs in the hands of his
partners. and they had not even OBJ
tained for him a dictatorship i'm the
mammoth trust. His partner, William
Refs, had taken all the plums and was
made the head of the National Steel
company by the trust managers. Then
began the feud between the million
aire, the trust and the city of New
Castle. Stevenson turned his vast
wealth into the Sharon Steel company, |
which was then a struggling corpora
tion. Then he called on a contractor. !
II am going to move my house to
Sharon" he said. How much will it
cost and how long viii it take?"
Big Job for Contractor
The contractor was dumfouhded.