Details
Title Dando, Thomas S. (Thomas Stotesbury)
Date January 21, 1856-July 31, 1921
Description Thomas S. Dando, printer, lithographer, publisher, and businessman was born on January 21, 1856 in Newark, New Jersey. Son of Joseph Clifford Dando, a Pennsylvania-born oil merchant and bookkeeper, Dando attended Friends schools in Philadelphia, and by the age of eighteen was employed as a printer at 307 Walnut Street. Some of his earliest works were maps distributed by general agents Peter Wright & Sons, also located at the Walnut Street address. In the late 1870s, he copartnered with Henry B. Davis to operate Thomas S. Dando & Co., and continued to produce catalogs, annual reports, pamphlets, and maps in addition to lithographed trade cards and advertisements from this location until 1885. Thomas resided with his parents and siblings at 1306 Master Street (Ward 20) during this period of his career.
On January 1, 1886, Dando Printing and Publishing Co. succeeded Thomas S. Dando & Co. in the building formerly occupied by Drexel & Co. at 34 South Third Street. Henry W. Brown served as president, Thomas S. Dando as vice president, and H. B. Davis as secretary and treasurer. Thomas's brother, Joseph Clifford Dando (b. ca. 1863) joined the business shortly after, filling the roles of secretary and treasurer, as Thomas managed the "Public Ledger' (600 Chestnut Street) and co-founded "The Sporting Life Publishing Company" (also located at 34 South Third Street). Thomas was a member the Union League, the Keystone Shooting League and the Riverton Gun Club, and, in addition to his publishing companies, he also served as a director for the Manufacturers' Casualty Insurance Company, incorporated in 1915 to protect employers of labor in Pennsylvania.
Thomas married Helena Jones (b. May 1865) in 1884 and together they had four children. The family moved several times, from Germantown to Moorestown, New Jersey and back to the Fairmount section of the city (Ward 15). By the time of his death on July 31, 1921, he resided on Montgomery Avenue east of Edgewood Road in Ardmore, Pa.
Is part of Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
Call number Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
Bibliographic citation Census 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910
Dando, Thomas S., June 21, 1879, Passport Applications, 1795-1905
Last, 178
Philadelphia City Directories, 1874-1921
Philadelphia Inquirer, December 21, 1885; August 1, 1921; August 3, 1921