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biography
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Brickell. David Z., vice-president and treasurer of the Chambers and McKee Glass Company
at Pittsburg, comes of Scotch-Irish origin. The Scotch-Irish family is traced back to a Scotchman, who is alleged to have been drived from his own country to Ireland by religious
persecution. From the Emerald Isle in after years four of this ancestor's descendants, brothers, emigrated to America, all locating at first in Redstone, Pa., whence afterward one
went to Steubenville, Ohio, and another to Columbus. All were men of deep religious convictions, being United Presbyterians, or Covenanters. George Brickell, the grandfather of David Z.,
was born and reared in Redstone, Fayette County. From there he came to Pittsburg, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. He served his country as a soldier in the
War of 1812. One of his brothers, John Brickell, when a boy was taken prisoner by the Delaware Indians, and help a captive for four and a half years, being liberated at Fort Defiance
shortly after the treaty at Greenville. The grandfather married Lydia Lovejoy, of Boston, Mass., of whose children by him ten attained maturity; namely, Sarah, Elizabeth, John, William,
Susan, Samuel, Robert, James, Zachariah, and Lydia. Elizabeth married James Allison, father of Dr. James Allison; Susan became the wife of Enoch Holmes, of this city; and Lydia successfully
married James Evans and James Craig. With the exception of James all of the sons here mentioned were pioneer steamboat engineers and captains. Robert and Samuel removed to Cincinnati, whence they ran river boats to New Orleans.
John Brickell, the father of David Z., was born in Pittsburg, December 7, 1796. Having completed his education in the subscription schools of the city, he learned the machinist's trade.
He was then engaged as an engineer on the river steamers for a time, after which he received charge of a boat, being one of the earliest steamboat men in this vicinity. In 1832, at the mouth of Sook's Run,
he built the steamboat "Boston," and ran it between Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and St. Louis. During the Mexican War, while going by the Rio Grande River to Mexico no the steamer "Rough and Ready,"
a government transport boat, he was stricken with the Chagres fever, which reduced him to the condition of an invalid and finally resulted in his death in 1861, after his return to his home.
He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Milner Lodge, F. & A. M., of Pittsburg. On December 5, 1822, at the Smithfield Methodist Episcopal Church, by the Rev. Richard Tidings,
a noted preacher of that day, he was united in marriage with Miss Catharine E. Zilhart, daughter of David Zilhart, of Pittsburg. Born in Stuttgart, Germany, August 4, 1800, she came with her parents
to Pittsburg at the age of five and died here, December 1, 1892. She bore her husband five children, four of whom grew to maturity. These were: David Z., the subject of this sketch; John who died
in San Francisco, November 27, 1894, leaving a family; William B., whose death occurred December 23, 1894; and Anna B., the first-born; who is the widow of the late William Stone. Both parents were members of the Liberty Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
David Z. Brickell is also a native of Pittsburg. Born October 7, 1825, he was educated in the public and private schools of his native city. In the week following the big fire of 1845, when his
uncle Samuel came to Pittsburg and bought the steamer "Manhattan," he went with his uncle in the capacity of second clerk on that boat. He had been employed in that position nine months when the steamer sunk at Devil's Island,
on the upper Mississippi. Returning then to Pittsburg, he clerked in a broker's office for more than a year, then purchased an interest in the steamer "Highlander," and went on board it as clerk under
Captain Henry Force. He continued in the steamboat business until after the war, serving as pilot and captain for twenty-one years. In company with Captain W. W. Martin, he built and ran a number of river steamers.
At intervals throughout the war, having charge of the "Florence," he transported troops and supplies for the government from Cincinnati and Columbus to Parkersburg by way of the Big Kanawha River.
On the day that Tennessee seceded, after stopping at Memphis with the steamer "Nevada," he continued on his way to New Orleans, arriving there on the day preceding that of the Mardi Gras,
unloaded his vessel, and succeeded in getting above Cairo, Ill., on his return trip, in season to avoid the blockade. Mr. Brickell was at Milliken's Bend during the siege of Vicksburg.
Subsequently he carried his boat up Hatchies River in company with other transports under the protection of gunboats, having a brief encounter on the way. In 1865 he retired from boating, and with others bought
the Kittaning Rolling Mills, and under the firm name of Martin, Oliver & Brickell was in business until the burning of the mill three years later. Going then to Smartville, Cal., to visit his brother John, he
spent six months in that locality. On his return to his native city he accepted the position of right-of-way commissioner for the Pittsburg, Virginia & Charleston Railroad Company, and held it for two years.
During the ensuing three years he was superintendent of the Castle Shannon coal road, after which he had charge of the South Side Gas Works for five years. In 1891 Mr. Brickell became a member of the Chambers & McKee Glass Company,
with which he has since been officially connected, as mentioned above. The company manufactures window glass at the rate of twnety-four hundred boxes evey twenty-four hours, their plant being the
largest of the kind in the world, and giving employment to about fourteen hundred men. Mr. Brickell has also other financial interests. In 1873 he was elected president of the South Side Railway Company,
a position of the South Side Railway Company, a position which he retained until the road was absorbed by the Pittsburg & Birmingham line, in which he is still interested. He is likewise a director of
the Manufacturers' Bank, the Mercantile Bank, the Mercantile Trust Company, and the First National Bank of Jeannette, Pa.
On December 23, 1851, Mr. Brickell married Miss Mary N. McCarty, daughter of John McCarty, of Steubenville, Ohio. Of the three children born of the union, but one is now living; namely, William D. Brickell,
the owner and publisher of the Columbus Evening Dispatch, of Columbus, Ohio. Mrs. Brickell lived but a few years after her marriage, passing away July 12, 1856. She was a most estimable woman
and a devoted member of the Methodist Protestant church. Mr. Brickell belongs to St. John's Lodge, No. 219, F. & A. M., of this city. In politics he votes for the best men, regardless of party. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church on Smithfield Street.
Who's who in Pennsylvania: A biographical dictionary of contemporaries edited by John W. Leonard, 1908, Submitted by Nancy Piper.
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