Samuel W. Traylor    

SAMUEL W. TRAYLOR, financier and president of the Traylor Engineering and Manufacturing Company, was born February 6, 1869, in Walker County, Tex. He was the son of S. E. and Cornelia E. (White) Traylor. At the age of sixteen years, with a meager education obtained in the public schools, Mr. Traylor went to Mexico, and entered the employ of the Edison Company as an erector of electric light plants. Later, while in Mexico, he was employed by a large mining company as master mechanic, being in charge of the building of the largest custom smelter in the republic of Mexico. Late in 1890, Mr. Traylor had saved sufficient funds to defray the expenses of a college education, and in 1891 he entered the University of Kansas to pursue a special course in mechanical engineering, chemistry, etc. Following the completion of the course, Mr. Traylor went to Colorado, and became connected with the building of gold mills in Cripple Creek, and other sections of the state. He located a number of valuable properties in the Cripple Creek district, but being unable to secure capital, could not develop them. These properties afterward paid millions of dollars to their owners, who relocated them.

Between 1893 and 1900, he was employed as mechanical engineer by the Colorado Iron Works Company, of Denver, Colo. In 1899 he became the con-suiting engineer for a mine now known as the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company. Mr. Traylor undertook the development and financing of this property. After full development by Mr. Traylor who proved the mine’s true worth, influential capitalists from Boston and New York were interested. A railroad was built, and, in all about $25,000,000 was spent for equipment. This investment has paid many times, and the property is still a big dividend payer. Mr. Traylor still retains stock in the company. He is also interested in other mining interests, the largest among which is the Arizona United Copper Company, in which he is the largest stockholder.

In 1902-08 Mr. Traylor incorporated the Traylor Engineering and Manufacturing Company. From the beginning he did only a general consulting engineering business. This proved so successful, however, that it seemed advisable to build a factory to take care of the machinery entering into the plans, designed by Mr. Traylor’s company. The first plant was located at Bellville, N. J., but the property was small and Allentown was finally decided upon as a more desirable place to establish this growing institution.

The business of the Traylor Company has prospered; the plant has increased continually, and it is now one of the largest institutions of its kind in Allentown. Mr. Traylor has given personal attention to the working out of machinery best suited for the reduction of ores, to such an extent that their product8 are sought throughout the world.

A new addition to their plant is that of the cement gun. This is one of the big things brought to Allentown during the last few years, and insures employment for a great many men.

Mr. Traylor is a public-spirited citizen, and aside from his manufacturing interests he is interested in the building of a large modern apartment house at the corner of Fifteenth and Hamilton Streets, which, when completed, will be one of the most up to date of its kind in the country.

He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and the following organizations. New York Press Club; the Machinery Club, of New York; the Southern Club, of Chicago, Ill.; the Essex County Country Club, of Orange, N.J.; the Lehigh Country Club; the Northampton Country Club the Livingston Club; the Allentown Writers’ Club, and the American Institute of Mining Engineers.

Men of Allentown, Allentown, Pa. by Fred L. Shankweiler, 1917, page 20. View the image of this page on line, Free Trial  More Lehigh County History Books   Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com