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Michael Geary |
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MICHAEL GEARY, proprietor of the Arlington hotel, president of the Oil City Tube Company, and one of the owners of the Oil City Boiler Works, is a signal example of that push and energy, that undaunted resolve, which all men admire so much. Born in Ireland September 26, 1844, Mr. Geary first set foot on American soil at the age of four years. His father died of the cholera soon after arrival, leaving the subject of this sketch the legacy of only a sound constitution and inherent pluck. The widowed mother, with her little ones, sought a home in Buffalo, New York. The educational opportunities that he had, meager at the best, ceased altogether so far as schools were concerned, when, at the age of thirteen, with that loftiness of purpose which has always marked his career, he began to earn his own bread. Though but a child, he realized his position in life, and labored with his childish might to better it, labored in a way known to the generation of to-day but by hearsay. Thus uneventfully ran his career until the close of the war, when he entered the employ of the Erie City Iron Works. Seven years of close application to the positions assigned to him in this institution found him thoroughly acquainted with every detail of the iron industry necessary for the successful management of such an establishment. During the following year, 1871, he went to Titusville, and later was employed as manager of the iron works of Runser & Company, at Sharon, Mercer county, subsequently becoming a partner in that business concern. In 1876 he removed to Oil City, and in company with B. W. Vandergrift and Daniel O’Day, started the Oil City Boiler Works. He and Daniel O’Day are now the sole owners of these works, and the marvelous growth of the enterprise is referred to in Chapter XXIII. Mr. Geary is one of the largest stockholders of the Brush Electric Light Company of Buffalo, New York, president of the Oil City Tube Company, and a director of the Oil City Trust Company. He was the first president of the Oil City Enterprise Milling Company, and in 1885 was chosen president and a director of the Oil City Opera House Company, which position he still holds. In 1878 he purchased the Collins house, changed the name to the Arlington, and refurnished it at a cost of forty thousand dollars, making it one of the best in northwestern Pennsylvania. He is also largely interested in the production of oil in the state of New York. Under his management the Oil City Tube Company and the Oil City Boiler Works now give employment to more men than all other manufactories of Oil City combined. His past career has indeed been a prosperous one, and a young man still, his future gives promise of more than the average man attains.
History of Venango County, Pennsylvania
: its past and present, including its aboriginal history, the French and
British occupation of the country, its early settlement and subsequent
growth, a description of its historic and interesting localities, its rich
oil deposits and their development, sketches of its cities, boroughs,
townships, and villages, neighborhood and family history, portraits and
biographies of pioneers and representative citizens, statistics, etc.,
etc.
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