Biography

10/22/1857 - 02/08/1947

Henry Durston Saylor (R12) Montgomery County 1895-1898

Early Life:

Henry Durston Saylor, born October 22, 1857, borough of Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; son of Isaac and Leah Renninger Saylor; Pottstown High School; University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1882; admitted, Philadelphia bar, 1882, admitted, Montgomery County bar, 1883; attorney 1893-1947; member, town council, borough of Pottstown, 1885-1891; solicitor, borough of Pottstown, 1891-1893; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1895-1898; member, United States Diplomatic Corps: American Consul, Matanzas Cuba; Dawson City, Yukon Territory; Coburg, Germany; married, Dora B. Gerhard, 1885, children, Albert, Harold, Dorothy S. Saylor Hallowell; died, February 8, 1947 (aged 89), at home, Pottstown; interment, Mount Zion Cemetery and Mausoleum, North Coventry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Read law with Thomas J. Ashton, Esquire, and Edward Coppée Mitchell, Esquire, of Philadelphia, professor, and Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Law practice with his son, Harold D. Saylor and real estate development, Pottstown, 1893-1947. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Member, town council, borough of Pottstown, 1885-1891. 

Solicitor, borough of Pottstown, 1891-1893.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 12th district, Montgomery County, 1895-1898; committee assignments, Appropriations, Game and Fisheries, Judicial Apportionment, Judiciary Special, Public Health and Sanitation, Public Supply of Light, Heat and Water.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

United States Diplomatic Corps:  American Consul, Matanzas Cuba; United States Senate confirmed President William McKinley’s appointment of Saylor as United States consul in Mantazas, Cuba, a port city about 50 miles east of Havana, January 17, 1898; on February 15, 1898; less than two weeks after his arrival, the USS Maine blew up in Havana’s harbor. War with Spain appeared imminent, and within a few weeks Harry Saylor was back in Pottstown.

United States Diplomatic Corps:  Dawson City, Yukon Territory; United States Senate confirmed his nomination by President Theodore Roosevelt, United States consul in Dawson City, Canada’s Yukon Territory, 1900-1903.

United States Diplomatic Corps:  Coburg, Germany, 1904-1905. 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members S". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) (1898) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1163, 1169-1171, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1139.

Henry Durston Saylor (1857-1947) - Find a Grave Memorial