Inventor Name
Huston, Charles L.
Repository
Hagley Museum & Library
Manuscripts & Archives Department
P.O. Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
53 linear feet
Summary
Charles Lukens Huston was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania on July 8, 1856, the second son of Dr. Charles Huston (1822-1897) and Isabella Pennock Huston (1822-1889). His maternal grandmother, Rebecca Webb (Pennock) Lukens (1794-1854) had inherited the Brandywine Iron Works & Nail Factory founded by her father Isaac Pennock in 1810. After Rebecca Lukens' death the elder Huston assumed control as Huston, Penrose & Company. Charles L. Huston entered the family business as a bookkeeper in 1875. He was put in charge of the puddling mill in 1879, the plate mills in 1882 and the Open Hearth Department in 1891. He became a partner in 1879, and the firm was restyled Charles Huston & Sons in 1881. Upon incorporation as the Lukens Iron & Steel Company in 1890, C. L. Huston became second vice president. At his father's death, his brother Abram Francis Huston (1852-1930) became president and C. L. Huston vice president and works manager. Both brothers retired in 1925. Charles L. Huston took an active part in religious and civic affairs. He was Director of the Poor for Chester County from 1907 to 1940, in which capacity he was greatly involved in the work of the Chester County Home and Hospital for the Insane. He was involved for most of his life in the Young Men's Christian Association and in the organization of the Presbyterian Church. He was a member of the National Association of Evangelicals, vice president of the World's Christian Fundamentals Association (1920-46) and a strong supporter of the Church's foreign missionary work and the Prohibition movement. He died at Coatesville, Pa. on March 14, 1951. The Charles L. Huston Papers consists of Huston's personal papers and some fragmentary Lukens Steel business records. Series I consists of Lukens/Huston ancestral papers. It contains typescripts of Rebecca Lukens' autobiography, a framed 1837 letter between Rebecca Lukens and Hannah P. Steele, a statement relative to the settlement of her father's estate, and an 1844 deed of Solomon Lukens to Benjamin Miller. Also included are some personal and bank papers of Dr. Charles Huston, 1806-1900. Series II consists of the personal papers of Charles L. Huston (1870-1951) and documents his life-long active service in the Presbyterian Church and its missionary work. Major correspondents include: China Inland Mission, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Federal Council of the Churches of Christ of America, Montrose Bible Conference Association, Moody Bible Conference, the National Armenia and India Relief Association, Philadelphia School for Christian Workers, Philadelphia School of the Bible, and the Scripture Gift Mission. Also included are records documenting Huston's work for Prohibition both locally and nationally. These papers contain Huston's correspondence with the Anti-Saloon League of America, National Reform Association, the National Temperance Bureau, the National Temperance Society, the Prohibition National Committee, the Victorian Anti-Saloon League, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Charles L. Huston was a public figure of some prominence and his correspondence includes letters of Calvin Coolidge (1923-25) re Near East Relief, the World Court and the Ex-Servicemen Bonus Bill; Warren G. Harding (1922) re deporting Armenians; Herbert Hoover (1940) re Finland relief; Gifford Pinchot, Pennsylvania Governor (1923-27 and 1931-35); Franklin D. Roosevelt (1943) re "bombarding" the air to produce rain; Theodore Roosevelt (1917) re Huston's prohibition work; and Adm. Richard E. Byrd concerning his expedition (1931-34). The subject correspondence of Charles L. Huston (1888-1937) is filed by the following subjects: Chester County Home, Curran Estate, Pennsylvania Evangelical Association, Presbyterian Synods, and Temperance and Prohibition material. It also includes information on Huston's investments, including substantial information on the Belmont Iron Works of Philadelphia and the Florence Mining and Milling Company of Marysville, Utah. Subseries 3 is family correspondence and miscellany (1850-1946). The collection also documents Huston's professional activities (1898-1939). These files relate to his work with the American Iron and Steel Institute and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The last series, Series III, consists of Lukens Steel Company records (1878-1951).
