COINERS.
Henry Voigt, the first Chief Coiner, was appointed by President Washington, January 29, 1793. He was selected on account of his mechanical knowledge and skill, being a clockmaker by trade. Many of our old families bear witness to the skill of Mr. Voigt in the affection they have for many an “old clock on the stairs,” for the manufacture of which timekeepers he was quite famous. Mr. Voigt held office until removed by death in February, 1814.
Adam Eckfeldt was born in Philadelphia, June 15, 1769. He was trained to mechanical pursuits by his father, who was a large manufacturer of edge-tools and implements. On the establishment of the Mint he was engaged to construct some of the machinery for it. He built the first screw-coining presses. The contrivance for ejecting the piece from the collar, together with some other mechanical appliances, were his invention.
In an old pay-roll of 1795 (see page 12), we find the name of “Adam Eckfeldt, Die Forger and Turner.” His official connection dates from January 1, 1796, when he was appointed Assistant Coiner by Director Boudinot, with the consent of President Washington. Upon the death of Henry Voigt, Mr. Eckfeldt was appointed to succeed him as Chief Coiner, and remained in that position until he resigned, in 1839. He continued to visit the Mint for some years after; and he is yet remembered as a hard worker in the Mint, without compensation. For half a century he was one of the central figures of the Mint service. His mechanical skill, his zeal, energy, and uprightness, brought him many distinctions, both as an officer and a citizen.
In his letter of resignation he warmly recommends the appointment of Franklin Peale, in the following terms: “I feel it my duty, in leaving office, to recommend that my place be filled by Mr. Franklin Peale, the present Melter and Refiner. Our close association as fellow-officers has made me acquainted with his peculiar qualifications, and I therefore know him to be fitted for the situation; and I do not know any other person that is.” He had a high ideal of what a chief coiner should be.
Mr. Eckfeldt died February 6, 1852, in his 83d year.
Franklin Peale was the son of Charles Willson Peale, the eminent artist and founder of Peale’s Museum. Born in the Hall of the American Philosophical Society, October 15, 1795, he was presented to the society by his father, when four months old, as “the first child born in the Philosophical Hall,” and with a request that the society should name him. He was accordingly named after the chief founder and first President of the Society—Franklin.
Young Peale early showed a taste for mechanics, and his father gave him every facility to improve himself in any direction in which nature seemed to lead him. Part of his general education was received at the University of Pennsylvania and part at the Germantown Academy. At the age of seventeen he entered the machine shop of Hodgson & Bro., Delaware. He soon grew to be a skilled mechanic and draughtsman. Some time after he became manager of his father’s Museum. He assisted Baldwin in the construction of the first locomotive built in this country. In 1833 Mr. Peale entered the Mint service, and was sent to Europe by Director Moore to examine into foreign Mint methods. He brought with him valuable apparatus for the Assay Department, together with other important improvements and suggestions. He was appointed Melter and Refiner in 1836 and Chief Coiner in 1839. He introduced the first steam coining press, the milling machine and some other of our more modern forms of Mint machinery.
Mr. Peale’s administration as Chief Coiner may be said to mark an era in the mechanic arts of Minting. Being specially fitted, by natural genius as well as education, for the position which he adorned, his mildness, integrity, gentlemanly bearing and high moral and mental culture constituted him a model officer. His connection with the service lasted until 1854. He died on the 5th of May, 1870.
George K. Childs, appointed December 12, 1854.
Lewis R. Broomall, appointed June 30, 1861.
John G. Butler, appointed November 30, 1863.
A. Loudon Snowden, appointed October 1, 1866.
(For sketch of A. Loudon Snowden, see list of Directors and Superintendents, page 92.)
Colonel O. C. Bosbyshell. On the 4th of May, 1869, Ex-Governor Pollock, then Director of the Mint, appointed Col. Bosbyshell Register of Deposits. His course in the Mint was so satisfactory that, without solicitation, he was made assistant coiner by Col. A. L. Snowden, the then coiner, on the 1st of October, 1872. Upon Col. Snowden’s appointment as Postmaster of Philadelphia, Col. Bosbyshell was appointed Coiner of the Mint by President Grant, on the 15th of December, 1876, and remained in that capacity until January, 1885, when, to the regret of all parties having business relations with him, he tendered his resignation to accept a responsible position in the Controller’s Office, tendered him by his friend, Col. Robert P. Dechert.
William S. Steel was born in the City of Philadelphia, on the 1st of March, 1841. He received a good common school education, and in 1856 entered the office of David Cooper & Co., at Girard’s wharves, remaining engaged in mercantile pursuits till 1861. At 19 years of age he was appointed by Colonel James Ross Snowden, then Director of the United States Mint, First Assistant Weigh Clerk. In this position he served continuously through Colonel J. Ross Snowden, ex-Governor Pollock, and Colonel A. Loudon Snowden’s administrations. In September, 1862, just before the battle of Antietam, Mr. Steele entered the State service, and served with the Thirty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, until discharged by expiration of term. When Colonel A. Loudon Snowden was transferred to the Post Office, January, 1877, Mr. Steele, upon the recommendation of the then Coiner, Colonel O. C. Bosbyshell, became Assistant Coiner, a position he filled in a most acceptable manner, until Colonel Bosbyshell’s retirement in February, 1885, when he was made Coiner.
Harry A. Chester, Assistant Coiner, was born in Philadelphia (Northern Liberties), September 10, 1852, and educated in the North East School, Sixth Section. He was an attachee of the National House of Representatives from 1876 to 1882, clerk in Register of Wills’ Office from January 1, 1883, until May, 1885, when he was appointed by Colonel A. Loudon Snowden as Assistant Weigh Clerk, and promoted by Hon. Daniel M. Fox in October, 1886.
Dr. Henry Leffmann was appointed Chief Coiner at the Philadelphia Mint January 10, 1888, by President Cleveland. Dr. Leffmann was born in Philadelphia September 9, 1847, and was educated in the public schools of Philadelphia, including four years at the Central High School. He devoted three years in practical study in the laboratory of Dr. Charles M. Cresson, and graduated at Jefferson Medical College in 1869, having been for some years assistant to the Professor of Chemistry at the College, and in 1875 was elected Lecturer on Toxicology, which position he held for a number of years. In 1876 he was elected to take charge of the laboratory of the Central High School, and remained in that position for four years. In 1883 he was elected Professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy in the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, a position which he still holds; and he has been for a number of years Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy in the Wagner Free Institute of Science. Dr. Leffmann has been engaged as chemical expert in patent and criminal cases, notably in the Goerson poisoning case and the chrome-yellow poisoning cases. He is a member of several American and foreign scientific societies, has contributed papers to current scientific literature, and has for the past five years been editor of The Polyclinic, a monthly medical journal. In 1880 he was a candidate for Coroner on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated, and in 1884 was appointed Port Physician for Philadelphia by Governor Pattison, and held that position until October, 1887.