Existing comment:
The club claimed as members some of the most powerful businessmen and industrialists in America.
Were these men to blame for the failure of the South Fork Dam? Did they pay for the destruction and loss of life in the Johnstown Flood?
The courts said no. No one paid a penny in damages. Their lawyers argued successfully that the torrential rainstorm and not structural defects caused the dam to collapse.
Andrew W. Mellon -- banker, industrialist, philanthropist, Secretary of State, Ambassador to Great Britain
Henry Clay Frick -- established the H.C. Frick Coke Company and became chairman of Carnegie Brothers steel company
Andrew Carnegie -- amassed a fortune in railroads, oil, and steel and became famous for his philanthropy
Philander Chase Knox -- lawyer, Attorney General of the United States, US Senator, and Secretary of State
James H. Brown -- banker, iron and steel manufacturer, and US Congressman
Aaron French -- chairman of the A. French Spring Company, manufacturer of railroad springs, and a quiet philanthropist
Robert Pitcairn -- head of the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and a friend of Andrew Carnegie
John G.A. Leishman -- steel broken, president of Carnegie Steel, and an ambassador for the United States
Charles John Clarke -- investor in real estate, railroads, and securities and a humanitarian and philanthropist
Henry Holdship -- Pennsylvania oil man and a founder of the Art Society of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Orchestra
Sylvester Stephen Martin -- flour and cracker manufacturer and organizer of the National Biscuit Company
George Franklin Huff -- banker, investor in coke, coal, railroads, and utilities; and US Congressman from 1891 to 1911
James Hay Reed -- lawyer, law partner of Philander C. Knox, federal judge, and an organizer of the US Steel Corporation
Durbin Home -- director of the Union National Bank and the Joseph Home Company, wholesalers and retailers
James Ernest Schwartz -- president of the Pennsylvania Lead Company and the Pennsylvania Smelting Company
Moses Bedell Suydam -- founder of the M.B. Suydam Company, manufacturers of paints, oils and varnishes |