In 1880 , Knox married Lillian " Lillie " Smith , daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Darsie Smith . Her father was a partner in a steel company known as Smith , Sutton and Co . The company eventually became a part of Crucible Steel . Knox and his wife had several children , including Hugh Knox . His extended relatives include a nephew , " Billy " Knox . Knox was admitted to the bar in 1875 and practiced in Pittsburgh . From 1876 to 1877 , he was Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania . Knox became a leading Pittsburgh attorney in partnership with James Hay Reed , their firm being Knox and Reed ( now Reed Smith LLP ) . In 1897 Knox became President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association . Along with Jesse H. Lippencott , a fellow member of an elite hunting club ( see South Fork below ) , Knox served as a director of the Fifth National Bank of Pittsburgh . With Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon , he was a director of the Pittsburgh National Bank of Commerce . As counsel for the Carnegie Steel Company , Knox took a prominent part in organizing the United States Steel Corporation in 1901 . Knox was a member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club , which had a clubhouse upriver of Johnstown , Pennsylvania . It maintained an earthen dam for a lake by the club , which was stocked for fishing . The dam failed in May 1889 , causing the Johnstown Flood and severe losses of life and property downriver . When word of the dam 's failure was telegraphed to Pittsburgh , Frick and other members of the South Fork Club gathered to form the Pittsburgh Relief Committee for assistance to the flood victims
Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
Philander C. Knox