Bios: HENRY BOOKSING,: Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

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  Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lawrence Co transcribers.
  Coordinated by Ed McClelland

  Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.
  http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
 
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  Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
  Lawrence County Pennsylvania
  Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
  
  An html version with search engine may be found at 
  
  http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/lawrence/1897/
  
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    HENRY BOOKSING,
    
    [p. 169] widely known through Western Pennsylvania as the superintendent of
  the Bessemer Limestone Quarries, located at Bessemer, North Beaver township,
  Lawrence County, was born on the 14th day of February, 1851, near
  Hesse-Cassel, Germany. His father, Jean Pierre Booksing, was an expert smith
  by trade, and in his native land had acquired, even before his early death at
  the age of forty-six, no mean reputation as a skilful and reliable mechanic.
    
    Henry Booksing spent his first years in the schools of his Fatherland; than
  these schools none are better on the face of the earth. At seventeen years of
  age, the lad, whose sole capital was a good head, a willing heart, and a
  ready hand, came to the United States. His first position was in the planing
  mills at Youngstown, Ohio. It took the young man but a short time to master
  the carpenter's trade, and to become a proficient worker in wood. Turning his
  attention to mechanics and engineering, he soon was familiar with the
  practical part of those sciences, so that on coming to Bessemer in 1887 he
  was qualified to take charge of the locomotive used in the quarries. He
  followed this line of work for nine years. Such was his faithfulness to duty,
  and to such good use had he employed his powers of observation, that in 1896
  the company made him their superintendent. This position Mr. Booksing is now
  filling with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the company,
  whose headquarters and main office are at Youngstown, Ohio. Mr. Booksing
  believes that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. When you enter
  a pursuit, study its details from every standpoint, and learn all there is to
  learn about each one of them. Study your engine from the largest casting down
  to the smallest screw or bolt. Know your business in its every element,
  whether it be great or small. These principles have placed our subject in the
  position he now holds.
    
    The Bessemer Quarries were first opened in 1887. Here is found a high grade
  of limestone, which is quarried and shipped to iron furnaces far and wide; its
  purity and evenness make it of the greatest value to the iron-master. Mr.
  Booksing has charge of a force of 150 men at these quarries, and for the
  housing of these men the company has erected a small settlement of fourteen
  double and twelve single tenements. An immense and powerful stone crusher,
  and every other sort of machinery that modern ingenuity can devise, are in
  use. Mr. Booksing is conducting one of the largest industries of its kind in
  the United States.
    
    Our subject was married several years since to Miss Lizzie Myers, daughter
  of Michael Myers of Sodom, Ohio, and six children have blessed their union,
  of whom three are living at the present time. The names of the living
  children are: Willie, Lillie, and Cassie May. The dear ones, whom death
  claimed were: Freddie, Barbara, and Christina.
    
    Henry Booksing comes from a notable ancestry. Far back in the history of
  the family, the name was spelled Boucsein. The family as the name indicates
  was of French extraction. When the persecutions of the Huguenots, the
  Protestants of France, were instituted by the Catholic hierarchy, and
  rebellion ensued, the forefathers of our subject were among the thousands who
  were forced to flee for their very lives. They found a refuge in Protestant
  Germany, where they were permitted to pursue their peaceful vocations, and
  worship their Creator as their consciences dictated.
    
    Mr. Booksing is truly a self-made man. Being thoroughly acquainted with the
  conditions that surround the workingman, he is a fair and good master, and no
  complaint is made by those under him of unjust dealings with them. Perfectly
  familiar with his work, he makes a faithful and reliable officer for his
  superiors. As a citizen and as a man he is public-spirited, and high minded.
  The respect in which he is held shows the influence which he wields
  personally. He is a kind father, a good neighbor, and a stanch friend. Those
  who go to him for counsel find him possessed of keen judgment and a true
  knowledge of men and affairs. He is an eminent, worthy, and useful member of
  society in the locality which he has chosen for his life work.