David Sinton was a pig-iron industrialist, born in County Armagh

County Armagh

-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, who became one of the wealthiest men in America.

Sinton was the son of linen manufacturer John Sinton, of Unshinagh, a Quaker (he was a cousin of Irish industrialist Thomas Sinton

Thomas Sinton

Thomas Sinton, JP was an Irish industrialist and magistrate. Sinton made a significant impact upon the Irish linen trade; not least establishing the village of Laurelvale, County Armagh....

), and Mary McDonnell. The family came to America, from Ireland, and settled at Pittsburgh when he was three years of age. Sinton had one brother (Dr. William Sinton, a physician) and two sisters (Isabella Eliza - never left Ireland and Sarah, married John Sparks - a banker).

A man of "irregular education", his business interests centered around the manufacture of iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

; the location of his furnaces was Lawrence County, Ohio

Lawrence County, Ohio

As of the census of 2000, there were 62,319 people, 24,732 households, and 17,807 families residing in the county. The population density was 137 people per square mile . There were 27,189 housing units at an average density of 60 per square mile...

. Much of his fortune was made by stockpiling

Stockpile

A stockpile is a pile or storage location for bulk materials, forming part of the bulk material handling process.Stockpiles are used in many different areas, such as in a port, refinery or manufacturing facility. The stockpile is normally created by a stacker. A reclaimer is used to recover the...

 pig iron

Pig iron

Pig iron is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with a high-carbon fuel such as coke, usually with limestone as a flux. Charcoal and anthracite have also been used as fuel...

, waiting for the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and the selling that iron on at inflated prices.
He was described as "a large, strong person with strong common sense, and therefore moves solely on the solid foundation of facts." His residence, at Cincinnati, was the old Longworth mansion on Pike street, built by Martin Baum

Martin Baum

Martin Baum was an American businessman and politician.The son of German immigrants Jacob Baum and Magdalena Elizabeth Kershner, Baum fought with General Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.After settling in Cincinnati, Baum became active in civic affairs, and was elected mayor in 1807...

 early in the nineteenth century. Mr. Sinton's only surviving child, Annie, was the wife of Charles Phelps Taft

Charles Phelps Taft

Charles Phelps Taft I was an American lawyer and politician.-Biography:He was born on December 21, 1843 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Alphonso Taft, and his brother was President William Howard Taft....

, editor of the Times-Star and brother of William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft

William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...

; it was said that Sinton money financed the presidential bid. He was the great-grandfather of First World War flying ace David Sinton Ingalls

David Sinton Ingalls

David Sinton Ingalls, DSC and DFC was the only United States Navy Flying Ace of World War I, with six credited victories; thus he was the first ace in U. S. Navy history. He was the son of Albert S. Ingalls; his mother, Jane Taft, was the niece of President William Howard Taft...

.

Upon his death, age 93, he left $20,000,000 (the 2011 equivalent of this is c. $500,000,000) to his daughter, he was Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

's richest man at the time. His home is now the Taft Museum of Art

Taft Museum of Art

The Taft Museum of Art is a house museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The building which houses the museum was built as a villa on the edge of Cincinnati about 1820 for Martin Baum and then was the residence of Nicholas Longworth. David Sinton lived in the house with his daughter Anna, who...

. During his lifetime it was remarked that Sinton was philanthropic in his donations to the arts and the Presbyterian church, yet his own father's grave was not marked with a head-stone; "but David Sinton is wiser in his generation than they who seek to stab his character in such a paragraph [as erecting an ornate sepulcher]. He is one of God's noblemen."

Sinton married Jane Ellison at Union Landing, Ohio. They had two children; Edward (1848-1869) and Anna Taft (1850-1931).

The town of Sinton, Texas

Sinton, Texas

Sinton is a city in San Patricio County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,676 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of San Patricio County...

is named in his honor (given that he was the majority stock holder in Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company, as is the Sinton Hotel, a famous Cincinnati hotel.