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BIOGRAPHICAL 



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Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania 

BIOGRAPHY 



BY 

JOHN W. JORDAN, LL.D. 

Librarian Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Author of "Colonial Families 

of Philadelphia;" "Revolutionary History of Bethlehem," 

and various other works. 



ILLUSTRATED 



VOLUME IV 



NEW YORK 

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1915 









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»»)» „•««, 9 






ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



WADE, William, 

Man of Affairs, Philantliropist. 

Masterful and impressive figures were 
the industrial magnates of old Pittsburgh, 
and as, through the gathering mists of 
years, their commanding forms rise before 
our retrospective vision, none looms larger 
or more majestic than that of the late Wil- 
liam Wade, for many years a member of 
the firm of Mackintosh, Hemphill & Com- 
pany, one of the oldest iron manufacturing 
houses in the city. Mr. Wade, as a capital- 
ist, was inseparably identified with Pitts- 
burgh during the long years of a useful and 
honorable life, and in his work as a philan- 
thropist he was no less intimately associated 
with the city of his birth. 

The Wade family is an ancient one, and 
the fact that its motto is in the Welsh lan- 
guage is reason for supposing it to be of 
Cambrian origin. Following is the descrip- 
tion of its escutcheon: Arms — Azure a 
cross argent saltire between four escallops 
proper. Crest — A rhinoceros passant proper. 
Motto — Y fynno dwy y fydd. 

(I) Benjamin Wade, founder of that 
branch of the family known as the "Jersey 
Wades," was born in 1646, in Pembroke- 
shire, Wales, as seems probable, although 
tradition has always claimed England as his 
birthplace. The year of his emigration is 
not stated. He married Ann Looker, by 
whom he had three sons — Robert, men- 
tioned below; John, born in 1688; and Ben- 
jamin. Benjamin Wade, the father, was a 
farmer of the better class, and died in 1700. 

(H) Robert, son of Benjamin and Ann 
(Looker) Wade, was married twice. The 
names of his wives are unknown, and the 
record of the first marriage is incomplete. 



The children of the second marriage were 
five sons, including Robert, mentioned be- 
low, and three daughters. 

(HI) Robert (2), son of Robert (i) 
Wade, served under General Wolfe in 
the French and Indian War, dying in a 
French military prison. He married, and 
among his children was James, mentioned 
below. 

(IV) James, son of Robert (2) Wade, 
was born October 10, 1730, and was known 
as Captain Wade. He married Hannah 
Hinman, and they had, among other chil- 
dren, Isaac, mentioned below. Captain 
Wade died June 4, 1774. 

(V) Isaac, son of James and Hannah 
(Hinman) Wade, was born February 19, 
1763, and married, November 15, 1786, 
Lois Osborn, born February 9, 1766. They 
were both natives of Union township, Essex 
county. New Jersey, and soon after their 
marriage removed to the adjoining town of 
Springfield, where they became the parents 
of the following children: EHzabeth, born 
December 15, 1787, died August i, 1847; 
William, mentioned below; Phoebe, born 
November 15, 1791. died December 26, 
1891 ; Jane, born March 12, 1794, died Feb- 
ruary 6, 1814; James, born February 18, 
1796, died April 3, 1800; Elias, bom 
September 25, 1798, died in 1880; Sarah, 
born August 21, 1800, died January 19, 
1890; Hannah, born August 28, 1802, died 
January, 1853; Mary B., born November 
23, 1804, died June 12, 1862; and Isaac 
E., born October 13, 1807, died April 21, 
1850. Isaac Wade, the father, died from 
an accident. Among his various business 
interests was a tannery, and on the refusal 
of his men to skin a cow which had died on 
his place, he performed that office himself. 



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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



dying in consequence of blood poisoning, 
September 14, 1809. His widow passed 
away August 9, 1830. 

(VI) William, son of Isaac and Lois 
(Osborn) Wade, was born November 17, 
1789, in Springfield, New Jersey, and was 
wont to say that the earliest historical 
events of importance which he distinctly 
remembered were the death of General 
Washington and the first election of Thomas 
Jefferson to the Presidency of the United 
States. The boy was educated in the village 
school, becoming especially proficient in 
mathematics, and in his thirteenth year be- 
gan to assist his father in the tannery and 
in shoemaking. On reaching his fifteenth 
year he told his father that he should prefer 
the trade of a carpenter, and in 1804 he was 
apprenticed to the son-in-law of a Spring- 
field neighbor who had recently removed to 
New York. In the autumn of that year 
yellow fever appeared in the city and its 
vicinity, and his father went to New York 
and took the lad home. After the alarm 
had subsided he returned to the city, but his 
employer declined to receive him and he 
entered the service of Joel Chapman, a 
house carpenter. In 1806 Mr. Chapman 
returned to Peekskill, where he had for- 
merly lived, and the youth accompanied 
him, residing five years in his family and 
receiving the kindness and attention which 
would have been accorded to a son or a 
brother. 

Among the customers of Mr. Chapman 
was General Pierre Van Cortlandt, a de- 
scendant of one of the ancient Dutch fam- 
ilies of New York and a son-in-law of 
George Clinton, then Vice-President of the 
United States. In 1809 General Van Cort- 
landt made extensive alterations and re- 
pairs in his house, which stood in the midst 
of a large landed estate in the neighborhood 
of Peekskill, and Mr. Wade was placed in 
charge of the work. The manner in which 
he executed it was extremely pleasing to 
General Van Cortlandt, and was highly ap- 
proved by Vice-President Clinton, who was 



then visiting the family. This incident in 
the career of the young man exerted an im- 
portant influence on his future life. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Wade was active in other 
directions. He organized a night school for 
the farmer boys who were his equals in 
years but his inferiors in knowledge. The 
school was continued during the winter 
months for two years, and Mr. Wade ac- 
quired local renown by his proficiency in 
mathematics, being distinguished among the 
youths of the neighborhood as the "larned 
one." In May, 1810, Mr. Wade's term of 
apprenticeship expired and he went to New 
York, where he entered the service of John 
Fream, who was a very active party poli- 
tician of the Jefferson school and a mem- 
ber of the Tammany Society, to a branch 
of which Mr. Wade had belonged at Peeks- 
kill. He now became a zealous member of 
the New York society, and assisted in lay- 
ing the cornerstone of the renowned Tam- 
many Hall, which was later so conspicuous 
in the political history of the City and State 
of New York. He was not, however, in 
sympathy with the organization, and felt 
that his time was better spent at his work, 
in which he was making rapid advance- 
ment. Mr. Fream obtained a contract from 
the city authorities to make the window 
sashes for the new city hall in the park. 
About one-half the sashes had circular 
heads and these, as the most difficult to 
construct, were assigned to Mr. Wade and 
all the window sashes of that description, 
now in that building, are the work of his 
hands. 

In June, 181 2, Congress declared war 
against Great Britain, and Mr. Wade, who 
had for three years belonged to the New 
York militia, applied for an appointment in 
the Ordnance Department. Before doing 
so, however, he wrote to General Van Cort- 
landt, who was then a member of Congress, 
soliciting his recommendation. In answer 
to this he received from General Van Cort- 
landt a very strong testimonial to his char- 
acter and abilities, enforced by the quota- 



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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tion of some words of approval from Vice- 
President Clinton. Armed with this power- 
ful weapon, he presented his application, 
and in March, 1813, he received an appoint- 
ment as first lieutenant of ordnance, having 
meanwhile served in the vicinity of New 
York as a volunteer sergeant of artillery. 
One of Lieutenant Wade's first duties was 
the superintendence of the building of the 
Pittsburgh Arsenal, and he also conducted 
a body of troops from that city to Platts- 
burg. New York. 

After remaining in the service nearly 
twenty years, Lieutenant Wade, in 1832, 
tendered his resignation, and settled in Pitts- 
burgh, where he engaged in the foundry 
business as a member of the firm of Mc- 
Clurg, Wade & Company. In 1839 he was 
sent by the United States Government to 
Europe as a member of a commission to 
examine the foreign systems of ordnance, 
and on his return he reentered the service 
as superintendent of construction of can- 
non. For several years he was employed 
in this capacity at various gun factories in 
the United States in the examination of 
metals and processes, devising, testing ma- 
chines, superintending proof, and similar 
operations. Under authority of the Gov- 
ernment he published the results of his re- 
searches in a volume, "Experiments in 
Metals for Cannon," a work which led to 
the great improvements made by the Ord- 
nance Department in the material used in 
cannon construction. 

In 1852 Mr. Wade again went into busi- 
ness, retiring in 1857. In politics he was 
first a Whig, and later a Republican, and 
at one time served as a highly valued mem- 
ber of the Pittsburgh city council. He was 
appointed by the Governor a member of a 
commission to fix and declare the high and 
low water marks of the rivers in Allegheny 
county. During the last few years of his 
life he spent much time in writing, at the 
request of the Ordnance Department, "Ord- 
nance Notes," a work so highly appreciated 
that the Government caused it to be printed 



as part of a series to be preserved among 
the archives of the department, and also to 
be circulated by special distribution. Dur- 
ing his business career he was one of the 
proprietors of the Fort Pitt Cannon Foun- 
dry. In the service of the Government he 
rose to the rank of major. 

Major Wade married Susan, daughter of 
Nicholas King and granddaughter of Rob- 
ert King, of Pickering, Yorkshire, England, 
who came in 1797 to Washington, D. C, 
but in three or four years returned to his 
native land and died in Yorkshire. Major 
and Mrs. Wade were the parents of a son, 
William, mentioned below. 

The death of Major Wade, which oc- 
curred January 24, 1875, removed one who 
for the space of half a century had played 
an important part in public affairs and had 
rendered distinguished services to his city, 
his State and his Nation. The following 
article, which appeared in the Pittsburgh 
"Gazette," is expressive of the esteem in 
which he was held : 

No man that has lived or died among us for 
many years was more venerated for his intelli- 
gence and virtues. He was, during his long Hfe, 
the exemplar of all the attributes of a noble man- 
hood. His mind was a storehouse of knowledge, 
an encyclopaedia of general and especially of prac- 
tical scientific intelligence. His life was one of 
constant study and research as well as of business 
in the various private enterprises and public serv- 
ices in which, from time to time, he was engaged. 
He was a gentleman whom it was always pleasant 
to meet and profitable to know. He possessed 
much mechanical genius and admired this trait 
when he found it in the humblest laborer or 
artisan. He was accessible to all such and was 
glad to converse with and aid them. His society 
was much sought and greatly enjoyed by the 
eminent men who were his contemporaries. 

Take him all in all, we have never known a 
man more blameless, symmetrical, even tempered 
and pure, whether in public or in private life, in 
the thoroughfares of business or in the sanctuary 
of his family and home. The public, scarcely less 
than the stricken family, will always mourn when 
such a man is gathered, even at so ripe an old 
age, to his fathers. 



(VII) William (2), son of William (i) 



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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and Susan (King) Wade, was born No- 
vember 29, 1837, on Penn avenue, Pitts- 
burgh, and was educated in public and pri- 
vate schools of his native city. After a 
short time spent as clerk in the offices of 
the Fort Wayne railroad, he became asso- 
ciated with the manufacture of iron, acquir- 
ing a thorough knowledge of every detail 
of the business and maintaining his connec- 
tion with it to the close of his life. Early 
developing those remarkable abilities by the 
exercise of which he was destined to achieve 
distinction, he advanced steadily and rapidly. 
As a member of the firm of Mackintosh, 
Hemphill & Company his industry and 
energy, his clear sighted judgment and his 
aggressive yet wisely conservative methods 
were of inestimable value in building up the 
business and enlarging the scope of its 
transactions. His integrity was never ques- 
tioned. His word was as good as his bond 
and his name was a guarantee of honorable 
dealing. 

It is seldom that a man as active and suc- 
cessful in business as was Mr. Wade takes 
the keen and helpful interest in civic affairs 
which he ever manifested. Citizenship was 
to him a term indicating individual respon- 
sibility as well as privilege. Identified in 
politics with the Republicans, he never took 
any active part in public affairs, but asso- 
ciated himself to some extent with local 
matters, at one time serving as a member 
of the borough council. He steadily re- 
fused to accept any other office, preferring 
to concentrate his energies on the impor- 
tant matters of business which constantly 
claimed his attention. He was a director 
of the First National Bank of Verona, 
Pennsylvania, and his advice in regard to 
questions of finance and business was fre- 
quently sought, his far-sighted conservatism 
rendering him a safe counsellor. He was 
a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
church, serving for many years as a vestry- 
man of St. Andrew's, Pittsburgh, and later 
associating himself with St. Thomas', at 
Oakmont. 



It is a mistake to think of Mr. Wade 
chiefly as a business man. The fact that 
his exceptional success never interfered 
with his steadfast devotion to the highest 
purposes of his life is, to those who know 
human nature, the strongest proof of his 
commanding intellect and capacious heart. 
He was, in the unobtrusive manner char- 
acteristic of his essentially modest and un- 
assuming disposition, a philanthropist of 
sound judgment and comprehensive sym- 
pathies. No good work done in the name 
of charity or religion appealed to him in 
vain, but such was his abhorrence of public- 
ity in matters of this nature that the full 
number of his benefactions will, in all prob- 
ability, never be known to the world. 

Notable among Mr. Wade's philanthropic 
acts was his deep interest and assistance in 
the education of Helen Keller, whose 
achievements, in view of the fact that since 
early childhood she has been bereft of sight, 
speech and hearing, constitute one of the 
marvels of the modern world. Miss Keller 
frequently visited Mr. Wade at his Oak- 
mont home, and the interest with which she 
inspired him extended to others similarly 
afflicted. Mr. Wade encouraged their edu- 
cation and efforts to be useful, supplying 
them with books, typewriters, sewing ma- 
chines, printing presses for raised print, 
and becoming well acquainted with many 
through personal correspondence. Their 
teachers, also, were frequently remembered 
with gifts. Nor did his benefactions stop 
with the blind-deaf. In a number of schools 
which he visited there were deaf children 
who regarded him almost as a loving father, 
and not only did he maintain a voluminous 
correspondence with the blind-deaf and 
their teachers, but for years he contributed 
to the papers published at schools for the 
deaf throughout the country articles upon 
every conceivable subject. A number of 
years ago, after obtaining all the informa- 
tion possible in regard to the blind-deaf and 
the steps taken for their education, he pub- 
lished the result in a beautifully gotten-up 



1080 





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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



book which he called a monograph. Be- 
coming interested in the double-hand alpha- 
bet, he secured all the variants of the let- 
ters known and used in this country and 
England and had cuts struck of them which 
he distributed among the schools. 

Another of Mr. Wade's philanthropies 
originated in his interest in old-fashioned 
coverlets. After collecting several it oc- 
curred to him that the art of weaving them 
might be revived and his search for a 
weaver was rewarded by the discovery in 
New York of a Swedish woman competent 
to undertake the work. She procured a 
loom from Sweden and now instructs classes 
in weaving at a Kentucky college with the 
hope of providing a cottage industry for 
the mountain people. 

The personality of this large-hearted and 
many-sided man conveyed the impression 
of immense force of character combined 
with a genial, optimistic disposition that 
illumined the ever-widening circle of his 
influence. This union of qualities was 
plainly written on his strong, noble, sensi- 
tive face and found eloquent expression in 
the dark eyes whose glance was at once so 
keenly searching and so tenderly sym- 
pathetic. His snowy beard and moustache 
and calm, dignified bearing invested him 
with an air of singular distinction and his 
unvarying courtesy and kindly considera- 
tion for others attracted and won all who 
approached him. In public and in private 
he was actuated by one high motive, the 
welfare of all whom he served and of all 
with whom he served. With faith in his 
friends — and they were numberless — and in 
humanity, with a purpose to make the best 
of everything and to see the good that is in 
all rather than the evil, with a helping hand 
and a word of cheer for all who needed to 
have their pathways made smoother, he 
won a place that was all his own in the 
hearts of all who knew him. 

Mr. Wade married, March i, 1864, Eliz- 
abeth, daughter of John R. and Lydia (Gib- 
bons) Hoopes, of Beaver Falls, Pennsyl- 

108 



vania, and they became the parents of the 
following children: Lydia Lois, wife of 
George S. Macrum, of Oakmont, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Joseph H., who died in childhood; 
John Ross, of California; and William A., 
of Kentucky. Mr. Macrum was born in 
1856, his father, grandfather and great- 
grandfather having borne the name of Wil- 
liam. The family was transplanted to this 
country from county Armagh, Ireland. Mrs. 
Wade, a thoughtful, clever woman of cul- 
ture and character, takes life with a gentle 
seriousness that endears her to those about 
her. She is one of those rare women who 
combine with perfect womanliness and 
domesticity an unerring judgment, traits of 
the greatest value to her husband, to whom 
she was not alone a charming companion, 
but a trusted confidante. Mr. Wade was 
devoted in his family relations, ever finding 
his highest happiness in his own home. For 
many years he resided on the North Side, 
moving thence to "Robinswood," a beauti- 
ful estate of thirty acres at Oakmont. He 
was an enthusiastic horticulturist and a 
noted breeder of fine mastififs and bob-tail 
sheep dogs. He had at "Robinswood" a 
kennel of mastiffs, many of which were 
prize-winners, and he was also interested in 
horses and ponies and fond of hunting, 
holding the office of president of the Na- 
tional Fox Hunting Association. After his 
retirement from business he divided his 
time between his Oakmont home and his 
summer home in Maine. Possessed of a 
rich fund of information on many subjects, 
he was an instructive and interesting con- 
versationalist, even as he was a concise, 
virile and logical writer. With fine native 
ability and liberal education and culture, he 
was, in the broad sense of the term, an ex- 
ceptionally well informed man, and in re- 
gard to the education of the deaf he was 
probably the best known and best posted 
man on the continent who was not actively 
engaged in the work. 

On April 22, 1912, Mr. Wade passed 
away, "full of years and of honors," leav- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ing the memory of an upright life — the life 
of one honorable and generous in business, 
sincere and true in his friendships, radiating 
the brightness of spirit that expressed the 
pure gold of character. 

The life of William Wade was conse- 
crated in its entirety to the service of 
humanity. Able business man, public- 
spirited citizen — these he was, as his city 
can testify, but his noblest title is that of 
"one who loved his fellowmen" — 

And till Time ends, may his name grandly shine 
On the great Roll of Greathearts and their deeds. 



TRIPP, George Brown. 

Prominent Electrical Engineer. 

The story of the life of George Brown 
Tripp, vice-president and general manager 
of the Harrisburg Light & Power Com- 
pany, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and an 
operating executive of the various compa- 
nies controlled and operated by the United 
Gas & Electric Corporation, No. 6i Broad- 
way, New York City, is one of steady and 
persistent effort toward worthy ambitions, 
and of the success which has been won by 
his industry and talents. Occupying a rec- 
ognized and enviable position among the 
well known citizens of Harrisburg, he might 
point with pride to the fact that he has 
gained this place owing to no favor or acci- 
dent, but to his own native ability and good 
judgment, and to the wise foresight by 
which he carefully fitted himself for the 
work toward which his inclination directed 
him. High ideals have been coupled in him 
with that tenacity of purpose and with that 
force of character which inevitably bring 
forth fruit in a well merited success. 

The early history of the Tripp family is 
one full of conservative achievement, first, 
as members of a band of settlers from Con- 
necticut and Rhode Island, who purchased 
land from the State officials of the Com- 
monwealth of Pennsylvania, and then set- 
tled on the same. This property was located 
in the famous valleys of the Lackawanna 



and the Wyoming. Second, as farmers who 
developed the agricultural resources of this 
rich section. And third, as business men, 
the natural result of the general develop- 
ment of the northeastern part of the State 
of Pennsylvania. 

Benjamin Tripp, grandfather of George 
Brown Tripp, was born in the City of 
Scranton, Pennsylvania, April 13, 1812. 

William Henry Harrison Tripp, son of 
Benjamin Tripp, was born in Scranton, De- 
cember 19, 1839, and was engaged in general 
commercial business in that city and in Phil- 
adelphia. He married Jeannette L. Oram, 
and raised a family. 

George Brown Tripp, son of William 
Henry Harrison and Jeannette L. (Oram) 
Tripp, was bom in Scranton, June 18, 1871. 
He was educated in the public schools of 
Philadelphia and Scranton, and also at the 
School of Lackawanna, in the last men- 
tioned city. His electrical career com- 
menced when he took a practical course of 
instruction in the shops of the Weightman 
Electric Company of Scranton, which in- 
cluded work in the foundry, the machine 
and electric shops of this concern. In 1891 
he accepted a position in the Engineering 
Department of the Edison General Electric 
Company, of New York, which was after- 
wards consolidated with the Thomas-Hous- 
ton Company, of Lynn, Massachusetts, thus 
forming the General Electric Company. 

During 1894 he was employed as an en- 
gineer with the Howard Electric Company 
of New York, which during its short exist- 
ence, started the development of the long 
burning enclosed arc lamp which has done so 
much since to revolutionize the arc lamp in- 
dustry. Since that time Mr. Tripp has been 
engaged in Central Station work, serving in 
various official capacities with the Cleveland 
Electric Illuminating Company, of Cleve- 
land. Ohio ; as general manager of the Colo- 
rado Springs Electric Company, Colorado 
Springs, Colorado ; also as an official of 
other electric companies in Colorado, in- 
cluding the Central Colorado Power Com- 



1082 




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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



pany, the Leadville Light & Power Com- 
pany and the Las Animas Electric Com- 
pany. The high esteem in which Mr. Tripp 
and his services were held is shown in the 
following extract from a Colorado news- 
paper, printed at the time when Mr. Tripp 
was about to leave the city in order to take 
up his duties in the East : 

Mr. Tripp has been in this city (Colorado 
Springs) since 1901 and his approaching depar- 
ture is viewed with regret in business circles. 
The Harrisburg company was recently pur- 
chased by the same New York interests which 
control the Colorado Springs Light, Heat & 
Power Company, so that Mr. Tripp's new posi- 
tion is merely in the way of a transfer. In all 
schemes for the advancement of the city's inter- 
ests Mr. Tripp has played a foremost part in the 
last ten years, and in club life he has been 
equally prominent. He is a trustee and treas- 
urer of the El Paso Club, and has the honor 
of having inaugurated the annual dinner feature 
that, for the last eight years, has been such a 
success. He is one of the governing board of 
the Elks' clubs and was formerly president of 
the Colorado Polytechnic Society. He is a 
member of the Board of Control of the Cham- 
ber of Commerce, and was active in the reor- 
ganization of that body, and its amalgamation 
with the other civic bodies, last winter. 

Mr. Tripp was elected as the first presi- 
dent of the reorganized commercial body of 
business men of Harrisburg, called the Har- 
risburg Chamber of Commerce, and is now 
occuj-ying that honored position. He was 
also president of the Colorado Electric 
Light, Power and Railway Association of 
Colorado. Among other business organi- 
zations of which he is a member may be 
mentioned : The National Electric Light 
Association, the American Institute of 
Electrical Engineers, the American Gas In- 
stitute and the National Commercial Gas 
Association. His social affiliation is with : 
Colorado Springs Lodge, No. 309, Benevo- 
lent and Protective Order of Elks; Harris- 
burg and Harrisburg Country clubs ; Engi- 
neers' Club of Pennsylvania. He is a Re- 
publican in his political opinions, and the 



members of his family belong to the Bap- 
tist church. 

Mr. Tripp married in Pittsburgh, Sep- 
tember 2, 1896, Katharine, a daughter of 
Dr. Henry S. and Lida (Smith) Hibbard, 
and they have children : George Brown Jr., 
bom May i, 1901 ; John Hibbard, born 
February 3, 1908. 



HUNT, Alfred E., 

DistinguiBlied Metallurgist, Soldier. 

Among the distinguished Pittsburgh busi- 
ness men of the last quarter of the nine- 
teenth century whose names have now 
passed into history, there is one whose 
memory is invested with a unique and 
peculiarly inspiring interest. It is that of 
Captain Alfred Ephraim Hunt, founder of 
the great Pittsburgh Reduction Company 
<ind commander of the famous Battery B, 
National Guard of Pennsylvania. For 
twenty years Captain Hunt was a resident 
of Pittsburgh, and his record as skillful 
engineer, able business man and brave sol- 
dier, constitutes one of the most brilliant 
episodes of that period. He was born in 
East Douglass, Massachusetts, March 31, 
1855. His father was Leander B. Hunt, 
of East Douglass. His paternal grand- 
father established the Hunt Axe and Edge 
Tool Works at East Douglass ; another an- 
cestor served with distinction in the Revo- 
lution ; and it would thus appear that his 
fondness for metallurgical and military 
matters was inherited. He was descended 
in the eighth generation from William 
Hunt, who in 1635 came from Salisbury, 
England, and was one of the original set- 
tlers of Concord, Massachusetts. His 
mother was Mrs. Mary H. Hunt, of 
Dorchester, Massachusetts, well known 
from Maine to California for her devotion 
to the cause of temperance. 

Captain Hunt was prominent in the mem- 
bership of various technical societies ; he 
had been president of the Engineers' Soci- 



1083 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ety of Western Pennsylvania; vice-presi- 
dent of the American Institute of Mining 
Engineers ; and was a member both of tlie 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers 
and of the American Society of Civil Engi- 
neers. In 1893 he received from the last 
named society the Norman gold medal for 
his paper on methods of testing structural 
steel. He was also a member of the British 
Iron and Steel Institute and of the Institu- 
tion of Civil Engineers of Great Britain. 

He took an active part in the promotion 
of good government in Pittsburgh, was in- 
fluential in starting the movement for puri- 
fication of its public water supply, and at 
the time of his death was associated with 
the eminent scientist, John A. Brashear, on 
a commission appointed by the city to in- 
vestigate remedies for the smoke nuisance. 
He was urged by prominent men of both 
parties, on his return from Porto Rico, to 
accept the nomination for mayor of Pitts- 
burgh, but declined, feeling that, with the 
pressure of his private business, his health 
would not stand the strain. He was in all 
ways a most thoroughly alive man. Quick 
to see the signs of renewed commercial 
activity, on returning from the war he at 
once began upon enlargements of the al- 
ready extensive works of the Pittsburgh 
Reduction Company, doubling the capacity 
of their rolling mill near Pittsburgh and of 
their electric smelting works at Niagara ; 
he was planning also the development of 
new bauxite mines in Arkansas, and worked 
without ceasing, almost until he dropped. 
He realized that his strength was impaired, 
and arranged to take a few days' recreation 
with his wife and mother, and had started 
for Atlantic City, when, stopping for a few 
days in Philadelphia, he was taken seriously 
ill, rapidly became worse, and passed away, 
April 26, 1899, before the friends who had 
witnessed his constant activity had realized 
that he was not a well man. 

In his student days at the Institute of 
Technology he became warmly interested in 
the course in military science and tactics 



given by Lieutenant (later captain) E. L. 
Zalinski, Fifth Artillery, United States 
Army, and was given command of one of 
the companies in the Institute Battalion. 
Before graduation he had enlisted in the 
Ninth Massachusetts, and rose rapidly from 
private to corporal, sergeant, lieutenant 
and captain. He resigned on removal from 
Boston to Nashua, but soon enlisted in the 
New Hampshire militia, was appointed first 
sergeant, six months later was made lieu- 
tenant, and a month later captain; resigning 
on moving to Pittsburgh in 1881. About 
fifteen years before his death he organized 
in Pittsburgh Battery B, enrolling first as a 
private and soon being elected captain. 
Under his captaincy this quickly became 
one of the best military organizations in 
the State. In the effort to bring the dis- 
cipline of his battery to the highest stand- 
ard, he visited, as opportunity offered in 
the course of business travel, the militia of 
other States, and repeatedly attended bat- 
tery drill of the United States Regulars and 
inspected the English military evolutions at 
Aldershot. In forming this battery an un- 
usually excellent grade of men was re- 
cruited; the drivers were many of them 
young, active teamsters, thoroughly familiar 
with the care and training of horses; the 
gunners and men who manned the Catlings 
were recruited largely from the good me- 
chanics in which Pittsburgh abounds. The 
battery had recently been equipped with 
modern steel guns, and when mustered into 
the national service it had among the United 
States volunteers no superior in equipment, 
discipline, or personnel. 

Within twenty-four hours of President 
McKinley's call for troops, its members had 
met, and every man, without a single ex- 
ception, voted "Yes." The battery was thus 
the earliest to volunteer for the Spanish 
War. Captain Hunt himself had large busi- 
ness interests which, owing to the long com- 
mercial depression were just at that time in 
a critical condition, and imperatively de- 
manded his personal care, but his patriotism 



1084 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was instant and supreme. Himself a skilled 
chemist and sanitary expert, he sought un- 
remittingly from the first day of camp life 
to inculcate, encourage and command com- 
plete obedience to sanitary precautions. Al- 
though himself worn out and invalided 
home from Chickamauga, and again over- 
come with malarial fever in Porto Rico, he 
had the deep satisfaction of bringing back 
with him to Pittsburgh every man tliat he 
led away. The peculiar resources of this 
command, with an experienced engineer in 
charge, and a corps of trained and skillful 
bridge erectors in the ranks, were found 
useful at the landing at Arroyo, where they 
promptly constructed a long pier on which 
the guns were taken ashore, and at a deep 
ravine on the line of march across Porto 
Rico, through whose waters the skillful 
teamsters of Hunt's Battery were the first 
to lead the way. A day later, Hunt, his 
bridge crew supervising and with many 
willing hands assisting, constructed in about 
eight hours' time a crude bridge over this 
ravine, strong enough to withstand a troop 
of cavalry at full gallop, and over which 
the remainder of the army train crossed 
with comfort and ease. At the request of 
the editors of "The Technology Review," 
he presented a brief outline sketch of some 
of these experiences, in the issue of March 
2, 1899. 

At the close of the war, the members of 
this battery were actors in a very dramatic 
incident, described in the first number of 
"The Technology Review." The Spaniards 
were disputing the way of General Brooke's 
division ; the Mauser bullets were already 
whistling; this battery had the head of the 
line, and was drawn up for action, with 
guns loaded, and with the intention of open- 
ing fire immediately in what promised to be 
a very active engagement, when a messen- 
ger, hastening forward, handed General 
Brooke a cablegram announcing the protocol 
and cessation of hostilities. "Harper's 
Weekly" published a Hfelike illustration of 
this scene. Captain Hunt's likeness does 



not appear in this picture, because of the 
fact that the artist was some miles in the 
rear when the event occurred, and when 
the battery, at the request of the artist, 
posed for its photograph some days later, 
the captain was flat on his back with ma- 
larial fever. He was, in fact, standing at 
the side of General Brooke, and in front 
of his battery, when the cablegram was re- 
ceived. 

Captain Hunt will be long remembered 
as the leading personality in the develop- 
ment of the aluminum industry, but his 
whole professional life had been active, 
broad, and useful to an unusual degree. He 
was graduated with the class of 1876. Dur- 
ing the latter part of his senior year he 
busied himself during the afternoons with 
analytical and metallurgical work for the 
Bay State Steel Company of South Boston, 
and continued with them for some time 
afterward, assisting in the erection of the 
second open hearth steel plant in the United 
States. 

Soon after graduation, at the suggestion 
of the manager of these works, he was sent 
West to investigate some newly discovered 
ore deposits in Northern Michigan, and his 
favorable reports had an important bearing 
on the development of mines which are a 
part of those now forming the most active 
and profitable iron mines of the world. In 
1877 he went to the Nashua Steel Company 
as metallurgist, and continued there in 
charge of chemical and metallurgical work 
for their open hearth department until 
1881, when he resigned to become metal- 
lurgical chemist and superintendent of the 
heavy hammer department for Park 
Brothers & Company's Black Diamond 
Steel Works at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
In 1883 he resigned, and, associated him- 
self with Mr. George H. Clapp, who had 
also been trained in the Park Brothers' 
Works, established a chemical and metal- 
lurgical laboratory, acted as consulting 
metallurgists for many of the mills about 
Pittsburgh, and did the chemical work for 



1085 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory, estab- 
Hshed in the same year by William Kent 
and W. F. Zimmerman ; Hunt & Clapp later 
bought the complete control of the Pitts- 
burgh Testing Laboratory and greatly en- 
larged its field of work. This testing lab- 
oratory may be regarded as the pioneer 
establishment of its class. Under Captain 
Hunt's earnest and aggressive management 
the business became highly prosperous, a 
corps of fifty or more chemists, metallur- 
gists, inspectors, and assistant engineers be- 
ing at times employed. Notwithstanding 
the demands of business on his time and 
vitality. Captain Hunt always retained the 
most lively interest in technology affairs, 
found openings for many of its students, 
extended warm hospitality to any "Tech" 
man that he found in Pittsburgh, and for 
years conducted the local examinations at 
Pittsburgh for entrance to the institute. 

Meanwhile Captain Hunt's services as a 
skillful chemist and metallurgist were in 
constant demand in the courts, in consulta- 
tion, and in the perfecting of metallurgical 
processes, and it was in the latter capacity 
that he had the Hall Process for the reduc- 
tion of aluminum brought to his attention. 
He was quick to see its merit, although a 
very prominent metallurgical concern had, 
after trial, given it up. So soon as he had 
convinced himself of its possibilities, he 
organized a company among his personal 
friends to purchase the control of patents 
and erect the first works of the Pittsburgh 
Reduction Company. As illustrating his 
marvellous energy and quickness of action, 
as well as the confidence of his friends 
in his judgment and integrity, it may be 
mentioned that it was only half a day 
from the time that he decided to try to 
secure the rights to this process until he 
had the subscription of funds and the as- 
signment of the patent rights secured and a 
plan of operation outlined. Aluminum was 
then selling at fifteen dollars per pound ; to- 
day, the ingots sell at twenty cents per 
pound. It was then a very rare metal, occa- 



sionally used in a small way by an instru- 
ment maker for some service demanding 
special lightness ; to-day, the concern of 
which Captain Hunt was president is mak- 
ing over fifty million pounds per year. The 
name of the concern has been changed from 
the Pittsburgh Reduction Company to 
Aluminum Company of America. The 
metal is to-day actively disputing the place 
of copper and brass for large long-distance 
electric conductors, kitchen utensils and 
hundreds of minor purposes. He was quick 
to see that the lower the cost, the greater 
might be the profit, and that if any large 
output was to be sold, it must be manufac- 
tured at a price to compete with copper; 
therefore, by persistent search for the best 
mineral, the cheapest power, and the best 
factory appliances, he brought the price 
down to from ten to twenty per cent, below 
that of brass or copper, measured bulk for 
bulk, or for equal electric conductivity. 
While due credit must be given to the pro- 
found chemical skill of Mr. Hall, in invent- 
ing and perfecting the process, it was Cap- 
tain Hunt's marvellous energy, combined 
with bold business judgment and scientific 
knowledge, that secured the commercial 
success and brought about the widely ex- 
tended use of this metal. 

Few men had so wide a circle of ac- 
quaintances and friends, and it is as a friend 
and for his rare personal qualities that the 
loss of Captain Hunt was widely felt. 
Never too busy for a quiet joke or a hearty 
laugh, with no bitterness or malice toward 
those who had crossed his path in business, 
a joyous good nature was the safety-valve 
that relieved the high pressure at which he 
worked. If sometimes his enthusiasm made 
him appear for the moment visionary, if 
once in awhile he was forced to cover a 
broad subject too quickly to study it deeply, 
there was a sincerity and openness in the 
statement of his views which saved mislead- 
ing. For his straightforward integrity, 
open as the day, free-hearted generosity 
and kindness, of which pages might be filled 
086 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



with anecdote by those who knew him most 
intimately ; for a fervent loyahy to his coun- 
try, his alma mater, his family, and to his 
friends ; for a merry and hearty spirit which 
lightened the work of all around him, all 
those who knew him loved him and mourn 
his loss. 

Captain Hunt married, October 29, 1878, 
Maria T., daughter of Joseph and Eliza- 
beth (Lund) McQuesten, of Nashua, New 
Hampshire, Mr. McQuesten being one of 
the prominent citizens of that place. Cap- 
tain and Mrs. Hunt were the parents of one 
son — Roy Arthur, born August 3, 1881. A 
devoted husband and father, Captain Hunt 
was peculiarly happy in his domestic rela- 
tions, passing his hours of greatest enjoy- 
ment in the home circle and the campanion- 
ship of his friends. 

Roy Arthur Hunt is now superintendent 
of the Aluminum Company of America and 
a director of the Aluminum Castings Com- 
pany, the Aluminum Goods Manufacturing 
Company and the Pittsburgh Testing Lab- 
oratory Company. He is also a member of 
various clubs. Mr. Hunt married, June 11, 
1913, Rachel McMasters, daughter of 
Mortimer C. and Rachel (McMasters) 
Miller. As a young business man of Pitts- 
burgh, Mr. Hunt is worthily following in 
the footsteps of the distinguished man 
whose talents he inherits and ably maintain- 
ing the honorable traditions of the old 
colonial family of which he is a representa- 
tive. 

While still in early middle life, and with 
all his splendid powers at their zenith. Cap- 
tain Hunt passed away. Thus vanished 
from the scene of his activities one who had 
at all times stood as an able exponent of 
the spirit of the age in his efiforts to advance 
progress and improvement — a high-minded 
man of noble aims who, realizing that he 
would not pass this way again, conformed 
his life to the loftiest standards, and left a 
record wholly in harmony with the history 
of an honorable ancestry. 

Among the many tributes to the life and 

I 



work of Captain Hunt was the following, 
which formed part of an editorial in a Pitts- 
burgh paper : "Captain Hunt, besides being 
a soldier, was a business man of conspicu- 
ous ability. As the moving spirit in the 
Pittsburgh Reduction Company, he may be 
regarded as the originator of the aluminum 
industry, which has grown to vast propor- 
tions. He will be mourned here, at his 
home, by thousands of friends who had 
learned to appreciate him, and his memory 
will be honored wherever it is known. 
Pittsburgh has suffered a great loss in his 
death in the prime of his mature manhood." 
The active career of Captain Hunt was 
less than a quarter of a century in duration, 
but into that comparatively brief period he 
compressed much — an amount of achieve- 
ment which seldom results from the labors 
of fifty years. Two States were entitled to 
feel a just pride in the man and his work. 
By birth and lineage he belonged to old 
Massachusetts, but Pennsylvania, by right 
of association with his scientific attainments 
and his military achievements, claims him 
with eager and afifectionate exultation, and 
in Pittsburgh, the city of his home, his 
memory is cherished in the hearts of his 
friends and neighbors and his fellow sol- 
diers. 



JEFFERIS, Plummer Edward, 

Master Builder, Financier. 

A resident of Chester county, Pennsyl- 
vania, from early youth, Mr. JefTeris has 
been identified with the borough of West 
Chester from his seventeenth year. He has 
in the years since elapsed risen to a high 
position in the regard of his townsmen, and 
is now serving them as chief executive. In 
business he has risen from apprentice boy 
to master builder, and in other departments 
of borough life fills positions of trust and 
honor. 

Plummer Edward Jefiferis was born near 
the city of Wilmington, Delaware, Decem- 
ber 27, 1 85 1. When he was quite young his 
087 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



parents moved to Newlin, Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, where he attended the pub- 
lic schools and resided until seventeen years 
of age. He then located in West Chester, 
where he served a regular apprenticeship 
at the carpenter's trade, working as learner 
and journeyman until 1879 when he began 
contracting. He has been very successful 
as a master builder and is firmly established 
in public esteem as a capable, honorable 
contractor and builder. He has erected 
many of the fine residences in West Ches- 
ter and vicinity and public buildings of im- 
portance, including the public school build- 
ing on High street and some of the build- 
ings forming the State Normal School 
group. He has for a long time been associ- 
ated with the Dime Savings Bank as trus- 
tee; with the First National Bank as direc- 
tor; with the West Chester Building and 
Loan Association, of which latter he is now 
president; and with the Penn Fire Insur- 
ance Company, of which he is treasurer. 

Despite the demands of business as here 
indicated, he gives much of his time to pub- 
lic affairs of church and borough. He is a 
trustee of the Baptist church ; trustee of the 
West Chester State Normal School ; trustee 
of the local Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation, and the present chief burgess, elect- 
ed in 1909. He is a man of great energy 
and high purpose, of a genial and generous 
nature, helpful and upright, and one looked 
up to as a leader. In fraternal life he is 
connected with the Masonic order. Red 
Men, and Junior Order of American Me- 
chanics. A Republican in politics, he has 
always been active and influential, repre- 
senting his district in the House of Assem- 
bly in 1896, and being returned by his con- 
stituency in 1898. He served with credit as 
a legislator, was unceasing in his efforts to 
serve his State with fidelity and retired with 
an untarnished record. As chief burgess 
of West Chester, he is zealous in behalf of 
the best interests of the borough and applies 
to town affairs the same careful business 
methods as in his own private enterprises. 



Wherever tested he has proved his mettle 
and has earned by faithfulness and zeal his 
position as a recognized leader. 

Mr. Jeff er is married, in 1876, Fannie, 
daughter of Elwood C. Hickman, of West 
Chester; children: Jay H., Charles Rodney 
and Mary H. 



MARRON, John, 

Xiatiryer, Prominent Citizen. 

The history of the legal profession in 
Pittsburgh is the history of a force not less 
potent than that of its factories and fur- 
naces. The members of the bench and bar 
of the Iron City, as factors in the moulding 
of her destiny, have been the equals of her 
steel kings and her oil magnates. Among 
the foremost of those engaged in practice 
for years, and prominently identified with 
affairs of his city, was the late John Mar- 
ron, for many years head of the law firm 
of Marron & McGirr. 

John Marron was born on Fulton street, 
Pittsburgh, August 27, 1854, son of James 
and Elizabeth (McKeown) Marron. He 
was educated in the public and private 
schools of Pittsburgh and Allegheny (now 
Northside, Pittsburgh), and graduated from 
the high school, in all of which he proved 
himself a bright student. He then entered 
the law offices of John Emery, and later the 
office of Judge Charles F. McKenna, and 
completed his studies in the office of Mar- 
shall Swartzwelder. He was admitted to 
the bar of Allegheny county in December, 
1875, and immediately gave evidence of 
legal talent which later developed so strik- 
ingly. For several years Mr. Marron was 
the partner of William Readon, with offices 
in Grant street, near Diamond street. Later 
he formed a partnership with F. C. Mc- 
Girr, which existed until Mr. Marron's 
death. In the preparation of his cases Mr. 
Marron was very thorough and pains- 
taking, and displayed keen analytical power, 
logical reasoning and careful deductions. 
Few men were his equal as a brilliant and 



1088 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



effective speaker. He was counsel in some 
of the most famous criminal cases in the 
Allegheny courts, but during later years he 
assumed the practice of civil cases, being 
equally successful in this branch of the law. 
He and Judge John C. Haymaker were spe- 
cial prosecuting attorneys in charge of the 
reform wave in old Allegheny some years 
ago that resulted in many officials being 
convicted. One of the most marked char- 
acteristics of Mr. Marron was his persist- 
ency. He seldom failed to accomplish a 
purpose. 

Ever alert and enterprising, Mr. Marron 
took a keen interest in municipal affairs, 
lending his hearty cooperation to all plans 
having for their object the welfare and ad- 
vancement of his home city. In politics 
he was a staunch Democrat, and took an 
active part in many campaigns. In the best 
sense of the term, Mr. Marron was a promi- 
nent Pittsburgher ; sound, cool and un- 
afraid, he was a man to trust and a friend 
on whom to rely. A lover of books outside 
of the law, he was an authority on many 
phases of literature, science and history. 
A lover of flowers, he had a collection of 
many rare specimens in his Sewickley gar- 
den, which was a veritable beauty spot. Of 
genial nature, he was a member of the 
Crucible Club of Pittsburgh, the Knights 
of Columbus, and Columbus Club. He was 
a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church, 
Northside, and was engaged in a movement 
at the time of his death to form Bible classes 
among the Catholic laymen. 

Mr. Marron married, June 9, 1897, Miss 
Gertrude, daughter of James D. and Mar- 
garet C. (McCloskey) Kelly, of Pittsburgh. 
By this marriage Mr. Marron gained the 
life companionship of a charming and con- 
genial woman and an ideal helpmate. Chil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Marron: Gertrude; 
Frances ; and Eleanor Marron. 

On January 9, 1914, Mr. Marron passed 
away. He was deeply and sincerely mourn- 
ed by all classes of the community as a 
public-spirited citizen whose penetrating 



thought had often added wisdom to munici- 
pal movements and measures and as a large- 
hearted man who had endeared himself to 
all who were in any way associated with 
him, irradiating the ever-widening circle of 
his influence with the brightness of spirit 
that expressed the pure gold of character. 
The bar of Pittsburgh, distinguished from 
the beginning, has reason to be proud of the 
late John Marron, for many years one of 
its most brilliant members. 



MUSSER, Frank B., 

Transportation Official. 

Every community has its leading citizens 
in whom are focused the enterprise, the 
dignity and the upbuilding of the place ; 
men whose efforts and deeds are matters 
of public interest, and whose memory will 
live long after they shall have been laid in 
the dust. Worthy to hold an important 
position in this class is Frank B. Musser, 
president and general manager of the Har- 
risburg Railways Company. 

Andrew J. Musser, his father, was born 
March 2, 1841, and died February 16, 1914, 
at Columbia, Pennsylvania. He was a mer- 
chant in Columbia, Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and one of the organizers of the 
Fairview Milling Company, of which he 
was president until he resigned from that 
ofiice. For many years he was also presi- 
dent of the Central National Bank of Co- 
lumbia, but resigned from that office. He 
was a director of the Columbia Trust Com- 
pany, and prominent in a number of other 
enterprises in his section of the country. 
He was in active service during the Civil 
War, and was a member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, General Welsh Post, 
No. 118, of Columbia. He was also a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity, and affiliated 
with the Methodist church. He married 
Cassandra E. Shenberger, of Lancaster 
county. 

Frank B. Musser was born in Columbia, 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, February 



1089 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



19, 1864, and was educated in the public 
schools of his native town. He was still a 
youth when he formed a connection with 
the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Com- 
pany, which was uninterrupted for a period 
of nine years. He was then one of the 
organizers and assisted in erecting the plant 
of the Columbia Light and Power Com- 
pany, becoming superintendent of said 
plant, and holding this position for three 
years. In 1889 Mr. Musser was appointed 
superintendent of the East Harrisburg Pas- 
senger Railway Company, remaining with 
them until 1895, and was then superintend- 
ent of the Harrisburg Traction Company 
till 1903, when he became president of the 
Central Pennsylvania Traction Company. 
This was merged into the Harrisburg Rail- 
ways Company, which had been organized 
to take in all the underlying lines of surface 
railways operative on the Dauphin county 
side of the Susquehanna river. In 1913 Mr. 
Musser was elected vice-president and gen- 
eral manager of this federation, and March 
2, 1914, was elected president, an office he 
is filling at the present time, and in which 
he has displayed executive ability of an un- 
usually high order of merit. His political 
support has always been given to the Re- 
publican party, and his fraternal relations 
are with Perseverance Lodge, No. 21, Free 
and Accepted Masons, in which he held the 
office of master in 1903 ; Perseverance 
Council, Royal and Select Masters ; Harris- 
burg Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; Harris- 
burg Engineers' Club, of Harrisburg. He 
is also a member of the Harrisburg Cham- 
ber of Commerce and of its board of direc- 
tors. Mr. Musser married, at Columbia, 
Pennsylvania, in 1886, Susanna R. Nowlen. 
It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Mus- 
ser possesses the respect and confidence of 
the business world. Sound judgment and 
exceptional capacity for business are com- 
bined in him with public spirit and high- 
mindedness. In his intercourse with his 
business associates his opinions are deliv- 
ered in short, decisive remarks, which verge 



upon abruptness, yet contain an element of 
good fellowship. Any enterprise which he 
undertakes to support, is certain to have 
this given in a whole-hearted and vigorous 
manner, which invariably makes for suc- 
cess. 



MUSSER, John S., 

Leader in Electrical Supplies Industry. 

In the various lines of business that have 
claimed the attention of John S. Musser, 
whether it was mercantile pursuits, the 
legal profession, or manufacturing, one 
characteristic has always prevailed, his 
faculty for imparting a measure of his own 
vigorous energy into the enterprise with 
which he has been connected, infusing 
strength into its arteries or in rousing it 
from its torpid somnolence. Such has been 
his record with the Dauphin Electrical Sup- 
plies Company, the following chronicle 
dealing with his business life that has led 
him to the presidency of that concern. 

John S. Musser, son of Andrew J. and 
Cassandra E. (Shenberger) Musser (see 
preceding narrative), was born in Colum- 
bia, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, June 
5, 1862, and obtained a public school edu- 
cation. In young manhood he became asso- 
ciated with his father in the upholstering 
business, continuing so until 1884, in which 
year he established in the same line inde- 
pendently, moving to Aurora, Nebraska, in 
1889. He here entered the law offices of 
ex-Lieutenant-Governor A. W. Agee and 
E. J. Hainer as a student, being admitted 
to the bar at Aurora in 1891, after passing 
successfully the tests of the examiners. His 
profession claimed him for but four years, 
at the end of which time he returned to the 
eastern part of the country, making his 
home in Philadelphia, where for four years 
he was engaged in his former business, up- 
holstering. In 1897 ill-health compelled his 
abandonment of this line and, purchasing 
a farm near Emporia, Virginia, he spent the 
three following years in the open, following 



1090 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



agricultural pursuits. Nature's remedies 
were, as always, effective, and, restored to 
health and strength, in 1901 he disposed of 
his Virginia property and came to Harris- 
burg, becoming identified with the Arrow- 
smith Electrical Company in the capacity 
of general manager. This position he held 
until 1905, in which year he purchased the 
interests of the members of the Arrowsmith 
Company, incorporating the business the 
following year as the Dauphin Electrical 
Supplies Company, being elected president 
and, because of his familiar acquaintance 
with the, processes and systems of the con- 
cern, retaining his former position as gen- 
eral manager. Since that time the company, 
which under its former title led but an un- 
stable and lethargic existence, has steadily 
grown and waxed strong in a new era of 
prosperity and progress, holding a leading 
position among establishments of its kind, 
and favorably regarded as a concern pur- 
suing advanced methods, animated and con- 
trolled by individuals with a high sense of 
business and personal honor. Mr. Musser 
holds membership in the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows; the Artisans' Order of 
Mutual Protection, of Columbia, Pennsyl- 
vania ; the Modem Woodmen of the World ; 
the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce, and 
the Engineers' Society of Pennsylvania. 
His clubs are the Harrisburg Rotary, of 
which he is president, and the Colonial 
Country. He is a Lutheran in religious be- 
lief, and belongs to the Camp Hill Church 
of that denomination. 

Mr. Musser married, February 18, 1896, 
Gertrude, daughter of WilHam and Matilda 
(Beaverson) Kerr, of Wrightsville, Penn- 
sylvania, where Mr. Kerr is prominent in 
banking circles, and vice-president of the 
Wrightsville National Bank. Children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Musser: Cassandra E., Ger- 
trude, Andrew J., and Franklin B. 



DALZELL, William S., 

Prominent Lia'vryer. 

The bar of Pittsburgh, distinguished 
from the beginning,' has grown in lustre 

109 



with the passing years, and among those of 
its members who now stand for all that is 
best in jurisprudence, practice and culture 
William Sage Dalzell, senior partner of the 
widely known firm of Dalzell, Fisher & 
Hawkins, holds a foremost place. Mr. Dal- 
zell has thus far throughout his entire career 
been identified with his native city, and is 
an earnest promoter of all her best interests. 

John Dalzell, father of William Sage 
Dalzell, was born April 19, 1845, i^i New 
York City, and is a son of Samuel and 
Mary (McDonnell) Dalzell, who, about 
1840, emigrated to the United States from 
county Down, Ireland. In 1847 they re- 
moved to Pittsburgh, and it was in the com- 
mon schools of that city that the boy re- 
ceived his preparatory education, passing 
thence to the Western University of Penn- 
sylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) 
and at the age of twenty graduating from 
Yale University. He read law with John 
H. Hampton, and in 1867 was admitted to 
the bar, at once beginning practice in part- 
nership with his preceptor. For twenty 
years he acted in association with Mr. 
Hampton as attorney for the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company and its western leased 
lines, and was also solicitor for numerous 
corporations, among them those in which 
George Westinghouse Jr. was a moving 
spirit. He is a director of the Braddock 
National Bank and is interested in other 
progressive and profitable institutions of 
the county. 

In 1886 Mr. Dalzell was elected by the 
Republicans a member of the Fiftieth Con- 
gress and at once distinguished himself in 
that body, being returned in 1888 by a large 
majority. In 1912 Mr. Dalzell was de- 
feated for reelection, and in April, 1913, 
being again approached on the subject, de- 
clared, "My period of public service is fin- 
ished." That it has been a period of honor 
and usefulness his fellow citizens can abun- 
dantly testify. Mr. Dalzell married, in 
1867, Mary L., daughter of Peter Duff. 
Mr. Duff is the founder of that widely 
known institution. Duff's Business College. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Mr. and Mrs. Dalzell are the parents of the 
following children: William Sage, men- 
tioned below ; Bessie M. ; Samuel ; and Rob- 
ert D. Mr. Dalzell's home is at Swissvale, 
where he and his family attend the Presby- 
terian church. A flourishing social and polit- 
ical club, called the Dalzell Republican Club, 
is established in handsome quarters in this 
pleasant suburb of Pittsburgh. 

William Sage Dalzell, son of John and 
Mary L. (Duff) Dalzell, was born August 
17, 1868, in Pittsburgh, and received his 
preparatory education in the schools of his 
native city, afterward entering Yale Uni- 
versity and graduating with the class of 
1891. His legal education was acquired in 
the law schools of Harvard University and 
the University of Pennsylvania, and he also 
read law in the office of George Tucker 
Bispham. In 1893 Mr. Dalzell was admit- 
ted to the bar of Allegheny county, and at 
once entered upon the practice of his pro- 
fession, building up, by force of innate 
ability joined to thorough equipment and 
enforced by strict adherence to princi- 
ple and unremitting devotion to duty, a 
large and lucrative clientele and a reputa- 
tion which has steadily increased with the 
lapse of years. In 1898 he became a part- 
ner in the firm of Dalzell, Scott & Gordon. 
In February, 1906, in consequence of the 
death of Mr. Scott, the firm was dissolved, 
Mr. Dalzell becoming senior member of the 
firm of Dalzell, Fisher & Hawkins. Mr. 
Dalzell is a member of the Allegheny Bar 
Association, the State Bar Association, and 
the Duquesne, University and Oakmont 
Country clubs. He is a member of the 
Third Presbyterian Church. 

As a true citizen Mr. Dalzell has ever 
been loyal in his support of all measures 
calculated to promote the best interests of 
Pittsburgh, and her benevolent and charit- 
able institutions have always received from 
him substantial aid and influential encour- 
agement. The personality of Mr. Dalzell 
is essentially that of the successful lawyer. 



He has the legal mind which finds enjoy- 
ment in exact statements, nice distinctions, 
the formation of principles and the defini- 
tion of rights and duties. Also, he pos- 
sesses the judicial instinct — perhaps the 
most valuable weapon in the whole legal 
armory — which makes its way quickly 
through immaterial details, seizing infalli- 
bly upon the essential points upon which 
the determination of a cause must turn. In 
argument Mr. Dalzell is logical, forcible 
and, above all, convincing. An earnest stu- 
dent and a prodigious worker, he yet keeps 
closely in touch with every phase of life, 
and his countenance is expressive of the 
breadth of thought and liberality of senti- 
ment thus engendered and cultivated. His 
eyes are at once keen and reflective, and 
his manner, dignified and genial, conveys 
the impression of the astute lawyer and the 
polished gentleman. 

Mr. Dalzell married, October 4, 1893, 
Mary Ruth, daughter of Joseph T. and 
Zettie B. (Bishop) Hough, and they are 
the parents of the following children: Fran- 
ces; Katharine Hough; John (2) ; and Mar- 
jorie. By his marriage Mr. Dalzell gained 
the life companionship of a charming and 
congenial woman, one fitted by native re- 
finement, a bright mind and thorough edu- 
cation for the duties of her social position, 
and withal of an ideal domesticity. The 
beautiful home in the East End over which 
she presides is a centre of hospitality, it 
being one of the chief pleasures of Mr. 
Dalzell's life to entertain his friends. In 
taste and feeling he is thoroughly domestic, 
passing his happiest hours at his own fire- 
side. Mr. Dalzell has, by his own unaided 
efforts, made for himself a position in the 
front ranks of the bar of his native city. 
Unlike his father he has never entered the 
political arena. Were he to do so honors 
would doubtless be his and his record as a 
lawyer justifies the belief that in his chosen 
profession further distinction awaits him 
in the future. 



1092 






'sS3\. 



5?ii!?^" 







^te 



XJ 



Jh^ S' ^^ 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



NISSLEY, John C, 

Latryer, Lecturer. 

Among those whose abilities class them 
with the leading lawyers of Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania, is John C. Nissley, who has 
gained a foremost place at the bar by rea- 
son of his force in argument, his logical de- 
ductions, his familiarity with the principles 
of law and his devotion to the interests of 
his clients. He is a direct descendant of 
Jacob Nissley, the original settler of the 
family in this country. Jacob Nissley emi- 
grated from the Palatinate, Germany, in 
1719, when Lancaster county was formed 
by Dauphin and Lebanon counties together, 
and was naturalized in 1729. He resided 
in Mount Joy township, Lancaster county, 
married, and had children : John, Martin 
and three daughters. 

John C. Nissley was born near Hummels- 
town, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, Feb- 
ruary 8, 1856. The district schools of his 
native town furnished him with an educa- 
tion until he had attained the age of six- 
teen years, when he commenced teaching 
schools, and was thus occupied four years. 
He then matriculatel at the State Normal 
School at Shippensburg, and at the end of 
four years became a student at the State 
Normal School, Indiana, Pennsylvania, 
where he prepared himself for college. En- 
tering Bucknell University in 1879, he was 
graduated in the class of 1883, and in 1891 
the honorary degree of Bachelor of Philoso- 
phy was conferred upon him. He then 
commenced reading law in the office of 
Mumma & Shoop, of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, was admitted to the bar as an attor- 
ney in 1886, and commenced the active 
practice of his profession in association 
with the late Elias Hollinger. During the 
first year of this association, Mr. Nissley 
prepared a series of popular lectures which 
were highly commended by those best able 
to judge. Of his lecture on "Great Men," 
Dr. Edward Brooks, of Philadelphia, said : 
"It is a worthy effort ; spicy, practical, inter- 
esting, and executed in a pleasing manner. 



with unusual vigor and earnestness." Mr. 
Nissley is a clear thinker, and a forcible 
and graceful speaker. As a criminal law- 
yer he has frequently won laurels, is widely 
known and deservedly popular. As a public 
speaker he has been in frequent demand at 
religious gatherings and is widely known. 
At political meetings, and to render memo- 
rial addresses, whether in English or Penn- 
sylvania Dutch, he is equally eloquent. For 
more than twenty years he has been presi- 
dent of the board of trustees of the First 
Baptist Church of Harrisburg, and for 
twenty years superintendent of its Sunday 
school. He is a trustee of the Pennsylvania 
Baptist General Convention, a charter mem- 
ber of the convention, and instrumental in 
the formation of the Harrisburg Associa- 
tion of the Baptist Church, serving as its 
clerk since its organization. He was one of 
the first in Dauphin county to take an active 
interest in the construction of good roads. 
His fraternal affiliations are with Robert 
Burns Lodge, No. 464, Free and Accepted 
Masons, of Harrisburg; Corn Planter 
Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. 
Nissley married, November 10, 1909, Sarah, 
a daughter of Isaac Stauffer, a descendant 
of an old Mennonite family of Dauphin 
county. They have one son: Joseph, born 
October 15, 1910. At the primary election 
of May, 1914, Mr. Nissley was nominated 
by a very large vote on the Republican 
ticket in the Second Legislative District of 
Dauphin county for member of the Legis- 
lature. His life has been well spent in 
conformity with the rules of moral conduct, 
and his professional and social associates 
entertain for him the highest regard. He 
is a broad-minded man, of strong character 
and pleasing personality. 



DULL, Andrew Jackson, 

Iron Master, Financier. 

Andrew Jackson Dull was born near Mc- 
Veytown, Miffiin county, Pennsylvania, 
August 22, 1830, son of Casper and Jane 

093 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



(Junkin) Dull. He is of German and Irish 
descent — German through the Dulls, who 
came from Hesse-Darmstadt to America in 
1739 and settled in Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania; of Irish descent through the 
Junkins, who came from the North of Ire- 
land in 1740 and settled in the Juniata Val- 
ley, Pennsylvania. 

His early education was received in the 
common schools and he was fitted for col- 
lege at Tuscarora Academy, Juniata county, 
Pennsylvania, and in Strasburg Academy, 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He enter- 
ed the sophomore class of Princeton in the 
beginning of the second session, graduating 
with the class of 1852. While in college he 
was a member of Clio Hall and of the Chi 
Psi fraternity. For several years he was 
engaged in the construction of public works, 
and built part of the Washington Aqueduct 
under Captain Meigs. In 1863 he joined in 
forming the firm of Reese, Graff & Dull, 
to erect mills for the manufacture of iron in 
Pittsburgh. The business was largely ex- 
tended, and before Mr. Dull retired from 
the firm, was manufacturing all grades of 
iron and steel, and had made and fitted the 
plates for two of the celebrated Monitors. 
The firm joined with Graff, Bennett & Com- 
pany and Robinson, Rae & Company in 
organizing the Grafton Iron Company, and 
built a large blast furnace at Grafton, Ohio. 
Mr. Dull was made president of the com- 
pany. Owing to overwork and failing 
health, he sold out his entire interest in the 
firm and retired from business in 1870. 
Mr. Dull has been president of the Chicago 
& Block Coal Railroad Company, of Indi- 
ana; vice-president of the Corpus Christi, 
San Diego & Rio Grande Railroad Com- 
pany, of Texas; director of the Kansas 
City, Topeka & Western Railroad Com- 
pany, of Kansas, and of the Norfolk & 
Western Railway Company, of Virginia ; 
president of the Pulaski Iron Company, 
with blast furnace at Pulaski, Virginia, and 
coal and coke works in the Pocahontas 
region. West Virginia; president of the 



Virginia Mining Company ; president of the 
Empire Lumber &. Mining Company ; vice- 
president of the Pulaski Mining Company. 
Mr. Dull is giving less attention to the de- 
tails of the iron and coal business of late, 
and is giving more attention to the separa- 
tion of magnetic and non-magnetic minerals. 
He is president of the Electric Ore Sepa- 
rator Company. He has been a member of 
the board of managers of the Harrisburg 
Hospital for many years. 

Mr. Dull helped to organize and was 
president of the Harrisburg Club for sev- 
eral years, and is a' member of the Ingle- 
nook Club and the Country Club of Harris- 
burg, and also of the Union League and 
Manufacturers Club of Philadelphia. 



DEWHURST, James B., 

Prominent Merchant and Citizen. 

The commercial prosperity of Pittsburgh, 
like that of every other great city, has al- 
ways depended upon the ability and integ- 
rity of her business men, and both the past 
and the present abundantly prove that the 
metropolis of Pennsylvania has been richly 
blessed in this class of her citizens. In their 
foremost ranks, for over a quarter of a 
century, stood the late James D. Dewhurst, 
of the widely known firm of Haworth & 
Dewhurst, one of the largest wholesale gro- 
cery houses in Pittsburgh. Mr. Dewhurst 
was a lifelong resident of his native city and 
was closely and influentially identified with 
her most essential interests. 

James B. Dewhurst was born November 
16, 1838, in Allegheny, now North Side, 
Pittsburgh, and was a son of Richard and 
Eliza (Cubbage) Dewhurst. Mr. Dewhurst 
died November 17, 1890, aged eighty-two 
years. James B. Dewhurst was educated in 
schools of his native city and his first busi- 
ness position was that of confidential clerk 
to the firm of R. Robison & Company, 
wholesale grocers on Liberty street and 
during the sixties one of the most promi- 
nent houses of the kind in the city. The 
094 , 







c^^-^ya,^. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



experience which he gained here stood him 
in good stead in after years, developing the 
ability by which he was always distin- 
guished and imparting added strength to 
those principles of rectitude which consti- 
tuted the foundation of his character. 

After spending several years with R. 
Robison & Company, Mr. Dewhurst formed 
a partnership with his brother-in-law, Jehu 
Haworth and a Mr. McDonald, of Wells- 
ville, under the firm name of Haworth, Mc- 
Donald & Company, wholesale grocers. 
The enterprise was successful, but shortly 
after its inception the firm was reduced by 
the death of Mr. McDonald. A reorganiza- 
tion was effected with the style of Haworth 
& Dewhurst, and under this name the busi- 
ness flourished for many years. The fact 
that it flourished was mainly due to the re- 
markable sagacity, clear judgment and un- 
wearied energy of Mr. Dewhurst who, for 
a number of years previous to his death, 
sustained the whole burden of its manage- 
ment, Mr. Haworth, owing to advanced 
age, being unable to take any active part. 

In all concerns relative to the welfare of 
Pittsburgh, Mr. Dewhurst ever took a keen 
and helpful interest and no good work done 
in the name of charity or religion sought 
his cooperation in vain. In politics he was 
a Republican, but never manifested any am- 
bition for office, preferring to concentrate 
his energies on the important matters of 
business constantly claiming his attention. 
He was a member of the United Presby- 
terian church. With business ability of a 
high order Mr. Dewhurst combined those 
personal qualities which attached men to 
him and gained for him the warm affection 
of a host of friends. His countenance was 
expressive of strength of intellect, force of 
character and kindness of heart, his eyes, 
keen and searching though they were, were 
yet gentle and benevolent, and every one 
who met him felt the influence of his good 
will. He was a true and kindly gentleman 
and an upright, courageous man. 

Mr. Dewhurst married, October 23, 1873, 



Amanda M., daughter of Edwin and Susan 
(Jones) Miles, and they became the par- 
ents of two daughters, who died young, and 
one son, Richard M. 

Exhausted by the ever-increasing burden 
of the extensive business the responsibilities 
of which devolved solely upon him, Mr. 
Dewhurst closed his career almost in the 
prime of life, passing away March 27, 1898. 
He left to his native city a record over 
which there falls no shadow of wrong nor 
suspicion of evil — that of a man who ful- 
filled to the letter every trust committed to 
him and was generous in his feelings and 
conduct toward all. An able merchant, a 
public-spirited citizen, a noble man. To 
these simple but comprehensive words what 
could be added? We meet, now and then, 
with a life which is its own eulogy and such 
a life was that of James B. Dewhurst. 



KNISELY, Archibald Gribble, 

Financier, Man of Large Affairs. 

During an exceedingly active and useful 
life, Archibald Gribble Knisely stood as one 
of the leading and influential residents of 
Harrisburg, his extensive and important 
business interests giving him recognition as 
a representative of importance in many 
directions. His native talent led him to 
large worldly successes through the oppor- 
tunities which are the pride of our Amer- 
ican life. His success, however, was not to 
be measured by material standards alone, 
for he developed that type of character 
which makes for high ethical ideals in busi- 
ness and in society. 

Mr. Knisely, who was a son of Levi G. 
and Mary CruU (Herman) Knisely, was 
born at Siddonsburg, York county, Penn- 
sylvania, December i, 1859, and died sud- 
denly January 22, 1913. He received a 
thorough common school education in the 
public schools of Harrisburg, and was still 
very young when he was apprenticed to 
learn the trade of bookbinding, in which he 
became so proficient that he was considered 

095 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



as one of the best artisans in that line in 
the State. In later years Mr. Knisely, who 
was of an enterprising and far-sighted turn 
of mind, realized the possibilities to be 
found in the real estate business, and, turn- 
ing his attention in that direction, gave it 
his best effort and soon came to be recog- 
nized as a first authority in that line. It 
was largely through his efficient work that 
Allison Hill and the western section of 
Harrisburg were developed. After the pass- 
age of the Capitol Park Extension Bill, 
Governor Tener appointed Mr. Knisely one 
of the three members of the Harrisburg 
Public Park Commission, of which he was 
chosen president, and in that capacity he 
took the initiative and directed the negotia- 
tions for the purchase of the Eighth Ward 
realty, the area added to Capitol Park. His 
labor in connection with the park was a life 
work, into which he threw his whole soul, 
and without any compensation. He was 
also a member of the Fort Hunter Road 
Commission, now out of existence. Mr. 
Knisely was primarily instrumental in the 
development of all that section of the west- 
ern part of the city of Harrisburg from 
Maclay street to Division street, and in the 
laying out of the streets, their grading, and 
in beautifying that portion of the city — 
labors which amply testified to his wise 
judgment, and appreciation of the public 
needs. 

For a number of years and until his 
death, Mr. Knisely occupied the position of 
county prison inspector, under appointment 
by the Dauphin County Court. He had 
previously (1892-94) represented the 
Fourth Ward of Harrisburg in the Com- 
mon Council, and he was later elected 
county treasurer, in which important office 
he acquitted himself with fidelity and signal 
ability. Throughout his active career he 
was a leader in various important enter- 
prises — one of the incorporators and direc- 
tors of the Harrisburg Trust Company ; a 
director of the East Harrisburg Railway 
Company, the first electric railway in the 
county; and he took a leading part in the 



merger of the East Harrisburg, Citizens', 
and Harrisburg Traction and Central Penn- 
sylvania Traction Companies with the Har- 
risburg Railway Company, of which he was 
a director, and a member of the executive 
committee. He was a member of the Har- 
risburg Board of Trade; a director of the 
Lalance Grosgens Tin Plate Company, the 
Morehead Knitting Company, the Gordon 
Manufacturing Company, the Pennsylvania 
Surety Company and the People's Bridge 
Company; a director and the treasurer of 
the Harrisburg & Hummelstown Street 
Railway Company, and a director in the 
Linglestown & Blue Mountain Railway 
Company. His religious affiliations were 
with Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and he was a member of the advisory board 
and of the board of directors of the Chil- 
dren's Industrial Home. In politics he was 
a Republican. He was a member of Robert 
Burns Lodge, No. 464, Free and Accepted 
Masons, and of the Harrisburg Club. He 
married Emma Pennebecker, daughter of 
Samuel and Esther (Kuhn) Pennebecker, 
and to them were born children : Albert P., 
Mary E., Archibald G. and Elizabeth 
Knisely. 

Mr. Knisely was a man of strong intel- 
lectual qualities, and his attention was by 
no means confined exclusively to his busi- 
ness affairs. He was a close observer of 
men and events, and his reading covered a 
wide range. In business transactions he 
was notably prompt and exact, reliable and 
energetic, forming his plans clearly and 
readily, and following them to their con- 
summation with determination. He ac- 
quired wealth, but this was not the only 
goal for which he was striving, as the ad- 
vancement of the general prosperity was 
one of his first purposes, and to which he 
was loyally devoted throughout his life. 



WENDT, John S., 

Prominent Liai^yer. 



Among the lawyers of the Allegheny 
county bar who have attained distinction 



1096 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and success is John Scott Wendt, who for 
the last fifteen years has been prominent in 
the practice of his profession. 

Frederick Wendt, great-grandfather of 
John Scott Wendt, emigrated from Han- 
over, Germany, after the Revolutionary 
War, and prior to 1800, settling for a short 
time in New^ York, and then coming to 
Pittsburgh, vi^here he was employed in the 
glass works of James O'Hara. Later, in 
association with several others, among 
whom were William Eichbaum and Chris- 
tian Ihmsen. he established the Birming- 
ham Glass Company, at what was then 
Birmingham, but is now known as the South 
Side, Pittsburgh. The enterprise was suc- 
cessful, and Mr. Wendt maintained his con- 
nection with the business to the close of his 
life. He acquired a large amount of South 
Side real estate and was identified with 
various concerns. Mr. Wendt married 
(first) Charlotte Eichbaum, a sister of Wil- 
liam Eichbaum, and (second) Nancy Gates, 
of Hagerstown, Maryland, a niece of Gen- 
eral Horatio Gates, becoming by this mar- 
riage the father of several children. 

(II) Frederick (2), son of Frederick 
(i) and Nancy (Gates) Wendt, was born 
in 1799, in Birmingham (now South Side, 
Pittsburgh), and succeeded his father in 
the glass business. He married Almira 
Taylor Brock, a relative of General Brock, 
of the English army, and they became the 
parents of two children : Almira, who mar- 
ried John W. Patterson; and Christian I., 
mentioned below. Mr. Wendt died April 
22. 1848, having been engaged all his life 
in the manufacture of glassware, and leav- 
ing the highest reputation for business 
probity. 

(III) Christian I., son of Frederick (2) 
and Almira Taylor (Brock) Wendt, was 
born July 24, 1840, in Birmingham (now 
South Side_, Pittsburgh), and practiced 
medicine in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, 
where he took a prominent part in public 
aflFairs. In 1875 he was elected by the Re- 
publicans to represent his district in the 



State Legislature. Dr. Wendt, on May 2, 
1867, married Agnes, daughter of John and 
Mary (Walker) Scott. Mr. Scott was an 
associate judge of Beaver county, and 
prominent in the affairs of that county. He 
was descended from James Scott, of Rox- 
boroughshire, Scotland, who emigrated to 
Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary 
War and settled for a short time in Pitts- 
burgh, afterward moving down the Ohio 
river and making a home on land which he 
had acquired on the Broadhead road, in 
Beaver county. His wife, Mary Walker 
Scott, was a granddaughter of William 
Ewing and Major Isaac Walker, both early 
settlers in Robinson township, Allegheny 
county. Dr. Wendt and his wife had the 
following children : John Scott, mentioned 
below ; Edwin F., now a member of the 
board of engineers engaged under the direc- 
tion' of the Interstate Commerce Commis- 
sion in the physical valuation of the prop- 
erty of interstate common carriers ; Charles 
I., a physician of Pittsburgh ; and Almira, 
of New Brighton, Pennsylvania. Dr. 
Wendt died October 23, 1883. He was a 
man much respected both in and out of his 
profession, and his record in politics was 
an honorable one. His widow passed away 
January 29, 19 12. 

(IV) John Scott, son of Christian I. and 
Agnes (Scott) Wendt, was born March 
29, 1868, at New Brighton, Beaver county, 
Pennsylvania, and after receiving an ex- 
cellent preparatory education in the high 
school of his native town entered Geneva 
College, graduating in 1887 with the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts. Choosing to follow 
the profession of the law, he studied in 
Pittsburgh under the guidance of William 
R. Blair, Esq., and in 1890 was admitted 
to the Allegheny county bar. Since that 
time Mr. Wendt has practiced continuously 
in Pittsburgh, building up a large clientele 
and establishing a reputation second to 
none for honorable dealing and devotion to 
duty. From 1897 to 1904 he was asso- 
ciated with D. T. Watson and Johns Mc- 



1097 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Cleave. A biography and portrait of Mr. 
Watson appear elsewhere in this work. In 
1904 Mr. Wendt formed a partnership with 
Johns McCleave under the firm name of 
McCleave & Wendt, the organization being 
counsel for the Baltimore and Ohio rail- 
road and at the same time conducting a gen- 
eral practice. In 1909 the connection was 
dissolved and Mr. Wendt has since prac- 
ticed alone. 

Politically Mr. Wendt has generally ad- 
hered to the RepubHcan party, but his inde- 
pendence has caused him never to hesitate 
in opposing the tenets or candidates of that 
party when he deemed them inimical to the 
welfare of the State and Nation, and while 
he has never consented to hold office, has 
ever been interested in public aflfairs and 
has lent his support to measures calculated 
to benefit the city and State and promote 
their substantial development. He belongs 
to the University, Union and Duquesne 
clubs. His paternal ancestors were mainly 
Lutherans and his maternal ancestors 
Scotch and Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and 
early in life he joined the LTnited Presby- 
terian church, of which his parents were 
members. In later years his religious sym- 
pathies and convictions have broadened, 
and he has not been a strict adherent of any 
particular sect. 

Although fond of books, music and some 
sports (principally lawn tennis), the per- 
sonality of Mr. Wendt is essentially that 
of the lawyer — the lawyer destined by 
nature and education to achieve success in 
his profession. He possesses the judicial 
instinct, and his mind is keenly analytical, 
his conclusions being based on his own 
logical deductions. His countenance is ex- 
pressive of these intellectual qualities and 
also of the self-reliance which is one of his 
salient characteristics. The eyes have the 
clear, direct and yet thoughtful look which 
denotes at once the astute observer and the 
profound reasoner. Always considerate 
and courteous, and in disposition frank, sin- 
cere and genial, he is liked most by those 
who know him best. 



GEORGE, Charles T., 

Promineiit Pharmacist, Public Official. 

Charles T. George, a well known busi- 
ness man of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
whose drug store is one of the finest and 
largest in the State, has been a prime mover 
in many affairs which have tended to the 
improvement and advancement of the com- 
munity. The cause of religion has been 
especially furthered by him, to the great 
advantage of the city in many ways. His 
family was an old and honored one in Ger- 
many, where his grandfather, Frederick 
George, was killed in battle at a time of 
French invasion. His father, Theodore 
George, was born in 1812, and died in 
Harrisburg in 1897. Although married, he 
came to this country alone in 1849 in order 
to make a home for his wife and children, 
which he succeeded in doing, revisiting Ger- 
many in 185 1 in order to bring them safely 
to their new home. He was occupied in 
various business enterprises until 1869, in 
which year he associated himself with his 
son, Charles T. George, in the drug busi- 
ness, and was connected with this until ad- 
vancing years compelled him to lead a re- 
tired life. He was a Democrat, and a mem- 
ber of St. Michael's German Lutheran 
Church. His wife was Antoinette, daugh- 
ter of Augustus Scheffer, and they had 
seven children. 

Charles T. George was born in Hom- 
berge, Landgravate of Kuhr-Hessen, Ger- 
many, February 2, 1845. He was but six 
years of age when he came to this country, 
and had attended the schools of his native 
land only a very short time, so that prac- 
tically his entire education was acquired in 
this country. The first public school he 
attended in Harrisburg was under the super- 
vision of a Miss Bailey, while the high 
school was under Professor Daniel Burns. 
Having decided upon pharmacy as the pro- 
fession he wished to follow, Mr. George 
found employment in the drug store of J. 
Martin Lutz, with whom he remained for 
one and a half years, during this time ob- 



1098 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



taining a practical knowledge of the rudi- 
ments of the profession. He went to Phil- 
adelphia in 1861, and there found employ- 
ment with Henry Cramer, who conducted a 
pharmacy at No. 320 Race street, and re- 
mained with him until 1869. The Philadel- 
phia College of Pharmacy conferred upon 
him the honorary degree of Master of Phar- 
macy, April 6, 1895. Upon his return to 
Harrisburg he established himself in the 
drug business independently, purchasing the 
store of Dr. D.. Wagner, at Fourth and Wal- 
nut streets. The following year he removed 
to No. 1306' North Third street, where he is 
still carrying on the business. He had his 
entire establishment remodeled and newly 
equipped in 1900, every modern appliance 
known to the business being installed, and 
his store is one of the largest and most com- 
plete in the city. His line of drugs and 
kindred supplies can not be surpassed in 
any store in the trade, and in addition he 
carries a full line of fancy articles pertain- 
ing to the toilet, etc. After the death of his 
father-in-law, John Pyfer, he purchased the 
property of the latter, and is also owner of 
a quantity of other valuable property in the 
city. Mr. George has a number of other 
business affiliations, among them being the 
C. Day Rudy Company, manufacturers of 
ornamental glass and church frescoing, in 
which he is a stockholder, and also in the 
Central Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit 
Company. He was a member of the Penn- 
sylvania State Board of Pharmaceutical 
Examiners, and secretary for twenty years ; 
was president of the Pennsylvania State 
Pharmaceutical Association, 1885-86; mem- 
ber of the Philadelphia College of Phar- 
macy ; honorary member of the Alumni 
Association of the Philadelphia College of 
Pharmacy, and of the Alumni Association 
of the University of Western Pennsylvania. 
His fraternal associations are with Perse- 
verance Lodge, No. 21, Free and Accepted 
Masons ; Perseverance Chapter, Royal Arch 
Masons ; Harrisburg Council, Royal and 
Select Masters ; Harrisburg Consistory, An- 



cient Accepted Scottish Rite; Zembo 
Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of 
the Mystic Shrine ; and Harrisburg Lodge, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of 
which he has been treasurer from its found- 
ing. He was one of the leading organizers 
of Bethlehem Lutheran Chilrch, and served 
continuously as a trustee for a quarter of a 
century, and still occupies that position. His 
interest in the Sunday school has been con- 
stant and useful. He has been a teacher of 
the Bible class since the church was a mis- 
sion, a period of more than thirty years. 
Education in every form has always made a 
strong appeal to him, and he has done all 
that lay in his power to advance that cause. 
He was a member of the Board of School 
Directors of Harrisburg from 1871 to 1877, 
and served as president during the last year 
of his official term. Strong in his individ- 
uality, Mr. George never lacks the courage 
of his convictions ; but there are, as domi- 
nating elements in this individuality, a lively 
human sympathy and an abiding charity 
which, taken in connection with his sterling 
integrity and nobility of character, have 
gained for him the respect and confidence 
of men. 

Mr. George married, December 13, 1870, 
Sarah C, daughter of John and Catherine 
(Reel) Pyfer. Their only child died in in- 
fancy, and Mr. and Mrs. George adopted a 
daughter, Bertha M., who is now the wife 
of Raymond E. Reed, a druggist, and they 
have two children — Sarah Helen and 
Charles T. George Reed. 

Mrs. Sarah C. George passed away Sep- 
tember 17, 1913, aged seventy-one years. 
She had been connected with Bethlehem 
Lutheran Church from the time it was 
founded as a mission, and for many years 
taught the girls' class in the Sunday school. 
She was a liberal contributor to the Chil- 
dren's Industrial Home, and a charter mem- 
ber of the Ladies' Guild of Bethlehem Lu- 
theran Church, to the maintenance of which 
she generously contributed. Her death was 
deeply mourned by the many friends with 



1099 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



whom she was associated during her long 
and useful life and the tributes to her 
memory were fervent and many, and of 
which the following may serve as examples : 

Dear Dr. George: I have thought of you a 
great deal since your sorrow came, and every 
thought is one of very tender sympathy. It is 
hard to think she is gone, and Bethlehem has 
lost a jewel surely. Yet why should we sorrow 
as those who have no hope? Is not our hope in 
Christ the sure ground to rest upon, the unfail- 
ing strength in times like these? We shall see 
her again. You suffer her loss a great deal, 
dear friend. Nothing, no one, can take her dear 
place. I trust you will be brave, and I pray 
God's comfort to keep your heart steady and 
strong. With all kind regards, your sincere 
friend, Rev. J. Henry Harms (President New- 
berry (S. C.) College). 

Dear Mr. George: I have learned with real 
personal sadness of the passing away of your 
dear wife, and my sympathies are with you at 
this time of heaviness and sorrow. How well I 
remember her, and how well I recall her many 
kindnesses to me. She was a noble woman, an 
"elect" lady. By sore experience I know through 
what long hours of loneliness you are passing, 
and my heart goes out to you. I wish I could 
be with you to give you a strong handgrip, and 
assure you that I sorrow with you in your grief. 
May He who has cared for you through all the 
years give you grace to sustain you, and may 
He have you and all your loved ones forever in 
His keeping. Cordially yours, W. H. Fishburn 
(a former pastor of Bethlehem Church, now of 
Los Angeles, Cal.) 

Dr. George: My dear, dear friend: I cannot 
tell you how much I was shocked to-day when 
Mrs. Kline told me the sad news she had learned 
from Mrs. Cox. Our hearts go out in deepest 
and sincerest sympathy to you and your family, 
for you have all been sorely bereaved of Heav- 
en's precious gift — a devoted wife and a loving 
mother. I have always thought of your dear 
sainted wife as an ideal Christian, wife and 
mother, devoted to her husband, her home, her 
family and her church, living absolutely for these 
and for these alone. She was an example to the 
whole community by her beautiful life and char- 
acter — quiet, unassuming, genial, kind to every- 
one, her life was one most rare, and one that 
we shall sorely miss. Never will I forget her 
loving kindness to me when I was your and her 
pastor in all those years. Her kindness and 
Christian love were unfailing, and I shall always 
treasure your and her memory as most precious. 

I 



Thank God, she was His child, and so we "sor- 
row not as others which have no hope." She 
has just gone "home" a little while before you, 
to make ready the Heaven Home for you. This 
was her chiefest earth joy — to make you a home, 
and she will be as always, "Over There." To 
you and your loved ones Mrs. Kline joins me in 
tenderest sympathy. Your friend in Christ, 
Marion J. Kline (former pastor of Bethlehem 
Church, now of Altoona, Penna.) 



OENSLAGER, John Jr., 

Physician, Surgeon. 

Among the eminently successful and 
thoroughly equipped physicians and sur- 
geons of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who 
have achieved distinction as a result of their 
unremitting labors, is John Oenslager Jr., 
M. D. During the twenty years of his prac- 
tice he has not alone earned the confidence 
of a large number of patients, but his effi- 
cient and conscientious work have gained 
him the esteem of his professional brethren, 

John Oenslager Sr., his father, was a son 
of George Oenslager, of Rimbach, Hesse- 
Darmstadt, Germany, born in that town, 
February 20, 1820, died in Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania, November 12, 1898. He emi- 
grated to America in 1833, locating in Har- 
risburg three years later, and there learned 
the trade of making watches, clocks and 
mathematical instruments. Later he owned 
a jewelry store on the present site of the 
Bergner building. He was an ardent Abo- 
litionist, assisting escaping slaves on every 
opportunity, and served several terms as a 
member of the common council. He mar- 
ried Harriet, a daughter of Abraham and 
Catherine (Richards) Freaner; grand- 
daughter of John Freaner, of Hagerstown, 
Maryland ; great-granddaughter of Dr. 
James and Eva Maria (Sattelthalerin) 
Freaner, the former a sergeant in the First 
Regiment, Pennsylvania Line, and a 
dragoon in Stephen Moylain's troop of 
cavalry; and great-great-granddaughter of 
John Freaner, who came to America in the 
ship "Jamaica Galley," from Rotterdam, in 
1739. In the maternal line, Mrs. Oen- 
100 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



slager was a granddaughter of Jesse and 
Katharine (Hoomer) Richards; and great- 
granddaughter of Aquilla Richards, born in 
Wales in 1723, an associator, a member of 
Captain William Bell's company, Fourth 
Battalion, Lancaster county militia. 

Dr. John Oenslager was born in Harris- 
burg, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1868, and 
received his elementary education in the 
public schools of his native city. This was 
supplemented by attendance at the Harris- 
burg Academy, and the Philips Exeter 
Academy, which he entered in 1885, and 
from which he was graduated in 1887. He 
obtained his Bachelor's degree from Har- 
vard University in 1891. Having prepared 
himself for his professional work at the 
medical department of the University of 
Pennsylvania, he was graduated in the class 
of 1894, the degree of Doctor of Medicine 
being conferred upon him. He at once 
established himself in the practice of his 
profession in the city of Harrisburg, where 
his reputation has been a constantly grow- 
ing one. He has served as president of the 
Harrisburg Academy of Medicine, and is a 
member of the Dauphin County and Penn- 
sylvania State Medical Associations, and a 
fellow of the American Medical Associa- 
tion. He is a member and vestryman of St. 
Stephen's Episcopal Church, and a mem- 
ber of Harrisburg Lodge, No. 629, Free 
and Accepted Masons ; Harrisburg Con- 
sistory, and Zembo Temple, Ancient Arabic 
Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. 

Dr. Oenslager married, April 22, 1897, 
Jane Laura, a daughter of George W. and 
Anna (Willard) Connely, and a lineal de- 
scendant of Simon Willard, the founder of 
Concord, Massachusetts. Another direct 
ancestor of Mrs. Oenslager was General 
Joseph Dwight, who was made a brigadier- 
general for his services during the expedi- 
tion against Louisburg. Another ancestor 
is Rev. John Sherman, of Watertown, Mas- 
sachusetts. Still others are: Colonel Wil- 
liam Pyncheon, one of the first inhabitants 
of Springfield, Massachusetts ; George 



Wyllys, Governor of Connecticut in 1642; 
Samuel Willard, president of Harvard Col- 
lege, and the second preacher at Old South 
Church, Boston. 

Dr. and Mrs. Oenslager have had chil- 
dren: John Willard, born March i, 1898; 
Donald Mitchell, March 7, 1902; Beatrice 
Ross, July 26, 1905. The time of Dr. Oen- 
slager is generally busily employed with his 
professional duties, but such leisure hours 
as are at his disposal are spent in study and 
the reading of current literature in connec- 
tion with his chosen profession. 



EASTBURN, Hugh B., 

Lairyer, Educator, Banker. 

The surname of Eastburn, originally de 
Eastburne, has its origin in the Manor 
Esteburne, created in Yorkshire, England, 
in the eleventh century, the name signify- 
ing east stream; the proprietors of the 
manor, prior to the common use of sur- 
names, being known as de Eastburne, sig- 
nifying "of" Eastburne, which soon after 
the date above mentioned became a fixed 
family name. The name being frequently 
written in early Pennsylvania records East- 
bourne, some members of the family have 
concluded that that was the original mode of 
spelling, but this does not seem to be borne 
out by the English records. 

Robert Eastburn, the first Pennsylvania 
ancestor of the subject of this sketch, was 
a son of John Eastburn, of the parish of 
Thwaite-Keighley, Yorkshire. He married, 
May 10, 1693, Sarah, daughter of Jonas 
Preston, of the parish of Rostick, near 
Leeds, and eight of their nine children were 
born in Yorkshire. On February 6, 1713- 
14, Robert Eastburn secured from Brigham 
Friends Meeting, Yorkshire, a certificate 
for himself, his wife and children to 
Friends in Pennsylvania, and emigrated to 
Pennsylvania, settling near Abington, now 
Montgomery county, where he died Sep- 
tember 24, 1755, and his widow, Sarah, 
August 31, 1752. Their eldest son Benja- 

lOI 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



min was Surveyor General of Pennsylvania, 
1733-1741, and as such participated in the 
Indian Walk of 1737 from Wrightstown, 
Bucks county, to the summit of the Blue 
mountains in Carbon county, by which the 
younger proprietaries secured the Indian 
title to the lands about the "Forks of the 
Delaware." Robert Eastburn, the youngest 
son, was captain of a company in the French 
and Indian War of 1756-58, and in 1756 
was captured by the Indians and carried to 
Canada. He, however, escaped, and return- 
ing to his command in November, 1757, 
was able to assist in wresting the country 
south of the Great Lakes from French 
dominion. He also was active in the patriot 
cause at the outbreak of the Revolution. 

Samuel Eastburn, third son and fifth 
child of Robert and Sarah (Preston) East- 
burn, born in Yorkshire, April 20, 1702, 
seems to have been more faithful to the 
peaceful tenets of the faith of his fathers 
than his brothers. He married, in 1728, 
EHzabeth, daughter of Yeamons Gilling- 
ham, of Oxford township, Philadelphia 
county, and in the following year removed 
to Solebury, where he acquired 250 acres of 
land about Centre Hill. He brought his 
certificate from Abington Monthly Meet- 
ing of Friends to Buckingham Monthly 
Meeting in 1729, and soon thereafter be- 
came an elder, and eventually an accepted 
minister of the society, travelling exten- 
sively "in the service of Truth," visiting 
meetings in New York, New Jersey and the 
southland. He was an early and earnest 
advocate of education, and one of the earli- 
est public school houses in Solebury was 
erected on land donated by him. He died 
in 1785. 

Robert Eastburn, youngest son of Sam- 
uel above named, was born in Solebury, 
August 23, 1739, inherited a part of his 
father's plantation and lived thereon until 
his death in 1816. He married (first) No- 
vember 23, 1763, EHzabeth Duer, and (sec- 
ond) Rachel Paxson. 

Moses Eastburn, second child and eldest 



son of Robert and Elizabeth (Duer) East- 
burn, was born in Solebury, April i, 1768, 
inherited his father's plantation in Solebury 
and was an active and consistent member 
of the Society of Friends, filling the posi- 
tion of elder of the Solebury Monthly Meet- 
ing and taking a more or less active part in 
public affairs, filling a number of local posi- 
tions of trust. He married Rachel, daugh- 
ter of John and Mary Knowles, and grand- 
daughter of Robert Sotcher, a son of John 
Sotcher and his wife Mary Lofty, Penn's 
faithful stewards at Pennsbury Manor 
House. John Sotcher was also a justice of 
the county courts and a member of the Pro- 
vincial Assembly. Mercy Brown, the wife 
of Robert Sotcher, was the youngest daugh- 
ter of George Brown, who came from 
Leicestershire in 1679, and settled in Falls 
township. He was the first justice of the 
peace of Bucks county, and served as a jus- 
tice of the court at Upland in 1680, before 
the grant of Pennsylvania to William Penn. 
Moses Eastburn, son of Moses and 
Rachel, was borfi in Solebury, May 9, 181 5, 
and died there September 27, 1887. He 
was a worthy .representative of a very 
worthy family, possessing in a marked de- 
gree the best elements of good citizenship, 
quiet and unassuming in character, but un- 
swerving in his devotion to principle and 
right. Though never a public officeholder, 
he held many positions of trust, and was 
active in the promotion of local enterprises. 
He was an ardent supporter of the public 
school system, and served many years as a 
director of the local schools. He was for 
many years manager and for a time presi- 
dent of the Bucks County Agricultural So- 
ciety ; a manager and president for many 
years of the Doylestown and Buckingham, 
and of the Lahaska and New Hope Turn- 
pike companies ; manager and many years 
president of the Farmers and Mechanics 
Mutual Insurance Company, and manager 
of Lambertville National Bank. He was 
one of the organizers and most active mem- 
bers of the Solebury Farmers Club. Like 
102 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his ancestors, a consistent member of the 
Society of Friends, he filled the position of 
clerk of Solebury Monthly Meeting for a 
number of years. He married Mary Anna, 
daughter of Hugh B. and Sarah M. (Olden) 
Ely, of Buckingham, and, inheriting the 
farm on which he was born, spent his whole 
life there. 

Hugh B. Eastburn, the subject of this 
sketch, is the only son of Moses and Mary 
Anna (Ely) Eastburn, and was born on his 
father's farm in Solebury, February ii, 
1846. He was educated at the local schools 
and at the Excelsior Normal Institute at 
Carversville, in his native township. He 
taught in the Boys' Grammar School and 
Central High School of Philadelphia for a 
few years, in the meantime taking up the 
study of law in the office of Hon. D. New- 
lin Fell, now Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court, who had been his school mate and 
was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1870. 
At this time, however, Mr. Eastburn had 
no intention of practicing law. On his ad- 
mission to the bar he returned to Solebury, 
intending to take up agricultural pursuits. 
Fate decided otherwise, and in the autumn 
of the same year he was induced to accept 
the appointment by State Superintendent 
Wickersham to the position of superintend- 
ent of public schools of Bucks county, to 
fill an unexpired term of two years. At the 
end of the term in 1872 he was elected to 
the same position without opposition for 
the full term of three years, and again in 

1875. These elections were the first to go 
uncontested since the creation of the office 
in 1854, and therefore constituted a recogni- 
tion of the eminent fitness of the incumbent 
to fill the position. He resigned in July, 

1876, and after a year's course in the law 
department of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania was admitted to the Bucks county bar 
in 1877, and at once began the active prac- 
tice of his profession, which has continued 
to the present time. 

Always actively interested in political af- 
fairs, Mr. Eastburn was elected to the office 



of district attorney in 1885, on the Repub- 
lican ticket, by the handsome majority of 
seven hundred and sixty-eight votes, though 
the county was then normally Democratic 
by a small majority. In 1888 and 1889 he 
was chairman of the county committee, and 
successfully managed those two campaigns. 
He has also been a delegate to several State 
conventions of his party, and a delegate to 
the national convention of 1896 which nomi- 
nated William McKinley for the Presi- 
dency. He was for many years county 
solicitor ; is vice-president of the Pennsyl- 
vania State Bar Association, and of the 
Bucks County Bar Association, and has 
been for many years president of the 
Farmers and Mechanics Mutual Insurance 
Association, one of the largest local mutual 
insurance associations in the State. Mr. 
Eastburn was one of the organizers of the 
Bucks County Trust Company in 1886, and 
was one of the original board of directors; 
he became its trust officer in 1892 and its 
president in 1895, and has filled both posi- 
tions to the present time. 

Though for thirty-seven years a lawyer 
in active practice, and for many years one 
of the acknowledged leaders of the bar, Mr. 
Eastburn has devoted much of his time and 
energy to the advancement of education. 
During his six years incumbency of the 
office of county superintendent he did much 
to raise the standard of the public schools, 
and his interest in their welfare and im- 
provement has never abated. On removing 
to Doylestown in 1890 he was elected to the 
borough school board, and has continued a 
member of that board to the present time, 
serving for many years as its secretary and 
for the last twelve years as its president. 
It is needless to say that the high standard 
maintained by the Doylestown High School 
is largely attributable to his loyal and un- 
tiring efforts in its behalf. He was presi- 
dent of the State School Directors Associa- 
tion in 1899-1900; was for many years a 
trustee of the West Chester Normal School 
before it passed to the control of the State, 
103 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and was one of the first board selected by 
the State authorities. He has been one of 
the committee in charge of the George 
School at Newtown since its establishment, 
and his voice and pen have been enlisted in 
every movement for the advancement of 
popular education in the county and State 
at large since his school days. 

Reared on the farm, Mr. Eastburn has 
maintained to a marked degree his interest 
in the tilling of the soil, and he gives much 
personal attention to the management of 
his Solebury farms, and is one of the most 
active and earnest members of the Solebury 
Farmers Club, one of the oldest and most 
practically efficient institutions of its kind 
in the State. 

Mr. Eastburn was married, in 1885, to 
Sophia, daughter of the late John B. Pugh, 
Esq., and his wife, Elizabeth S. Fox. Their 
two sons, Arthur M. and Hugh B., are both 
members of the Bucks county bar. 



ATKINSON, Thomas Ogborn, 

Banker. 

Of the families representing the solid 
conservative people who accompanied Wil- 
liam Penn, the great founder, to the shores 
of the Delaware and assisted in founding 
the Province of Pennsylvania on principles 
of equality and toleration, which their de- 
scendants so perpetuated and perfected that 
they became a part of the concrete law of 
the United Colonies, quite a number have 
survived the vicissitudes of two and a half 
centuries and continue to represent the 
same solid conservatism in the social, polit- 
ical, religious and business life of the found- 
er's own county of Bucks. This is especially 
true of the Atkinson family and of the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

Thomas Ogborn Atkinson, of Doyles- 
town, Bucks county, was born in Wrights- 
town township, Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania, October 12, 1834, on the homestead 
plantation at Penns Park, that had been the 
home of his paternal ancestors since 1744. 

II 



He is a son of the late Edmund S. and 
Ruth (Simpson) Atkinson, and a descend- 
ant in the eighth generation from William 
Atkinson, of Scotforth, Lancashire, who 
was one of a little group of converts of 
George Fox, who, while holding a religious 
meeting at Swarthmore Hall, Lancashire, 
on January 24, 1 66061, w€re arrested and 
confined in Lancaster Castle for holding an 
unlawful conventicle; seventh in descent 
from John and Susanna (Hynde) Atkin- 
son, of Scotforth, who after purchasing of 
William Penn, in 1698, land to be laid out 
in Philadelphia, secured from the Monthly 
Meeting of Friends at Lancaster, for them- 
selves and their three children, letters 
recommending them to the care of Friends 
in Pennsylvania, and in April, 1699, em- 
barked for the Delaware river in the ship 
"Brittanica," but both died on the voyage. 
John Atkinson, son of John and Susanna, 
born in Lancashire, November 25, 1695, 
with his brother and sister, was cared for by 
the Friends of Middletown Meeting in 
Bucks courrty, under the guardianship of his 
maternal aunt, Alice (Hynde) Stockdale, 
during his minority, and on October 13, 
1717, married Mary, daughter of William 
and Mary (Croasdale) Smith, and settled 
on a large plantation in the Manor of High- 
lands, Upper Makefield township, most of 
which was until recently in the tenure of his 
descendants. William Smith, the father of 
Mary Atkinson, came from Lancashire, and 
arriving in the Delaware river September 
28, 1682, in the ship "Friends' Adventure," 
was one of the first settlers in Wrightstown 
township. His wife, Mary Croasdale, ac- 
companied her parents, Thomas and Agnes 
Croasdale, to Pennsylvania in the "Wel- 
come," with William Penn, in the autumn 
of 1682. 

Through the intermarriages of his later 
paternal ancestors, Thomas Ogborn Atkin- 
son is seventh in descent from Thomas 
Canby, from Thorn, Lancashire, one of the 
most eminent Pennsylvanians of his time, 
a leading minister of the Society of Friends ; 
04 




^^^-^^$-^-^t^-^^^^^^S^^-«>^2^^iS^;_ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



justice of Bucks county courts, 1719-1741 ; 
and member of Colonial Assembly, 1721- 
1740; seventh in descent from Edmund 
Kinsey, another eminent minister of the 
Society of Friends, by his wife, Sarah 
Ogborn ; sixth in descent from Joseph Fell, 
many years a justice of Bucks county courts, 
and member of Colonial Assembly, 1721- 
1734; sixth in descent from Robert Smith, 
a prominent surveyor of Colonial times, and 
his wife Phebe Canby, also an eloquent 
minister of the Society of Friends ; and 
sixth in descent from Thomas Iredell, of 
Horsham, now Montgomery township, who 
brought a certificate from the monthly 
meeting at Pardsay Cragg, county Cumber- 
land, England, dated June 17, 1700. Thomas 
Atkinson, son of John and Mary (Smith) 
Atkinson married October 18, 1744, Mary 
Wildman, of another prominent family of 
lower Bucks, and in the same year located 
on a plantation of two hundred acres in 
Wrightstown, which still remains in the 
tenure of his descendants and was the birth- 
place of the subject of this sketch. 

On the maternal side, Thomas Ogborn 
Atkinson is a great-great-grandson of John 
Simpson, of Scotch ancestry, born in the 
North of Ireland in 1712, who came to 
Pennsylvania at the age of eighteen years, 
and in the year 1736 married Hannah De la 
Plaine, born May 4, 1714, died June 16, 
1803, daughter of Jacques (James) de la 
Plaine and his wife Hannah Cock, of Eng- 
lish ancestry, and granddaughter of Nich- 
olas de la Plaine, a native of France, who 
married in Holland, Susanna Cresson, 
daughter of Pierre (Peter) Cresson, also a 
native of France, and emigrated to Long 
Island with other Huguenots. Jacques or 
James Delaplaine, as the name came to be 
known, was married to Hannah, daughter 
of James Cock, at a Friends' Meeting in 
New York, in 1692, but soon after removed 
with his mother's relatives, the Cressons, 
to Germantown, where John Simpson met 
and married their daughter. John Simpson 
erected and operated the mill on the Dela- 



ware river at the lower point of Solebury 
township long known as Neeley's Mills, and 
died there in the autumn of 1747, leaving a 
widow Hannah, who married Robert 
Thompson, and five children — two sons, 
John and James ; and three daughters. 

Hannah Delaplaine had one child by Rob- 
ert Thompson, Elizabeth, who married Wil- 
liam Neeley, the ancestor of the subse- 
quent owners of the mill. Both John and 
James Simpson, sons of John and Hannah, 
became eminent ministers of the Society of 
Friends. John, born December 23, 1739, 
lived in Solebury until within a few years 
of his death, when he removed to Ohio, 
where he died August 30, 181 1. He mar- 
ried, June 13, 1764, Ruth Whitson, born 
March 23, 1733, died March 21, 1805, 
daughter of David Whitson and his wife 
Clemence Powell, both natives of Long 
Island, where both the Whitson and Powell 
families were among the earliest English 
settlers. David Whitson and his family re- 
moving from Long Island to Solebury in 
1761. 

John Simpson, the maternal grandfather 
of the subject of this sketch was the third 
child of John and Ruth (Whitson) Simp- 
son, and was born in Solebury township, 
August 5, 1769, and died October 4, 1835. 
He married, October 14, 1795, Elizabeth 
Blackfan, a descendant of Edward Black- 
fan and his wife Rebecca Crispin, daugh- 
ter of Captain William Crispin, and his 
wife Ann Jasper, sister to Margaret, the 
mother of William Penn. The marriage 
certificate of Edward Blackfan and Re- 
becca Crispin, dated October 24, 1688, 
signed by William Penn, is still in posses- 
sion of their descendants in Solebury. Cap- 
tain William Crispin, an uncle of the great 
founder, was named by him as his first 
commissioner in Pennsylvania, but died on 
his way to Pennsylvania to assume the 
duties of that ofifice in 1681. Edward and 
Rebecca Blackfan were for a time residents 
at Pennsbury Manor House, but Edward 
died soon after hi^ arrival, and his widow 



1 105 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



later married Nehemiah Allen. Her son, 
William Blackfan, married Eleanor Wood 
and settled in that part of the Manor of 
Highlands lying in Solebury township, in 
which township the family have since been 
seated. Ruth Simpson, the mother of 
Thomas Ogborn Atkinson, was the eighth 
child of John and Elizabeth (Blackfan) 
Simpson, and was born December 26, 1808. 
She married Edmund S. Atkinson, Novem- 
ber, 1831, and died March 5, 1839. 

Thomas Ogborn Atkinson was reared to 
manhood on the homestead farm in 
Wrightstown, and acquired his education at 
the local schools under the care of Friends, 
finishing at Tremont Seminary, Norristown, 
conducted by the noted educator. Rev. Sam- 
uel Aaron. He remained on the home farm 
until the age of twenty-four, but for several 
years taught in the public schools, working 
on the farm during his vacations. In Au- 
gust, 1858, he joined his brother, J. Simp- 
son Atkinson, in a mercantile venture in 
Mound City, Kansas, but returned to 
Wrightstown in December, 1859, and took 
charge of the general store at Penn's Park, 
near his old home. He was proprietor of 
this store and did a large business until 
1871, when he sold out and removed to 
Doylestown, where he has since resided. 
He engaged in the real estate business in 
1 87 1 and continued until 1886, doing a large 
business in the sale of real estate, negotia- 
tion of loans, and the transaction of general 
business along these lines. In the latter 
year, with the late Judge Richard Watson 
and a few others, he was one of the active 
men in organizing the Bucks County Trust 
Company, of which he became the first 
secretary and treasurer, filling those posi- 
tions to the present time. He has served 
several terms as president of Doylestown 
borough council, and filled many other posi- 
tions of trust. Like all his ancestors for 
nine generations, he is a member of the 
Society of Friends and is an elder of the 
local Monthly Meeting of that society. In 
politics he is a Republican. Mr. Atkinson, 

I 



as before stated, is a true representative of 
a worthy ancestry, who belonged to the in- 
fluential office-holding class during the first 
century of the history of Pennsylvania, and 
from that time to the present have consti- 
tuted the conservative element in business 
and political life. One of the best known 
business men in his native county, he stands 
deservedly high in the estimation of the 
people as a man of sterling worth and in- 
tegrity, and a business man and banker of 
wide experience and exceptional ability. 

Mr. Atkinson married, in March, 1861, 
Mary B. Heston, daughter of Jacob and 
Sarah (Smith) Heston, who was in the 
true sense of the word his helpmate until 
her death, February 19, 1905. They had 
no surviving children. He married (sec- 
ond) October 5, 1914, Miss Eleanor D. 
Smith. 



EMMERLING, Charles H., 

Physician, Author. 

The Old World, as the parent of the New, 
has given lavishly of her wealth for the en- 
richment of her offspring, and among the 
historic lands which have sent of their best 
across the sea Germany stands preeminent. 
Not only has she given us men who have 
developed our industries and built up our 
financial institutions, but from her univer- 
sities have come scientists and members of 
the learned professions to extend our knowl- 
edge and broaden our intellectual horizon. 
In this respect no city in the United States 
has been more highly favored than Pitts- 
burgh and among the men of learning and 
enlightenment who have come to her from 
the Fatherland none stands higher than Dr. 
Charles Henry Emmerling, the dean of the 
Pittsburgh medical profession by right of 
having been for more than half a century in 
active practice in the Iron City. During his 
long residence there, Dr. Emmerling has 
stood in the front rank of her sterling citi- 
zens, giving to all her most vital interests 
loyal and public-spirited support. 
106 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Charles Henry Emmerling was born Jan- 
uary 31, 1834, in Rudolstadt, Germany, a 
son of August Wilhelm and Wilhelmina 
(Weiss) Emmerling, the former a land- 
owner in his community. The early edu- 
cation of Charles Henry Emmerling was 
received in the vicinity of his home, and 
later he entered Jena University, graduating 
in 1857 with the degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine. He also took a special course at the 
University of Berlin, and thus thoroughly 
equipped determined to seek his fortune in 
the New World. Immediately after his 
graduation Dr. Emmerling came to the 
United States, bringing with him no capital 
but his education and $135 in money. For 
a man of his type, however, this was ample 
provision — his energy and ability would 
more than supply all that was lacking. And 
so it proved. Settling in Butler, Pennsyl- 
vania, he built up, within six months of his 
arrival, a good practice, but after six years, 
discerning greater possibilities in Pittsburgh, 
he removed in 1863 to that city, where he 
has since been continuously engaged in the 
active duties of his profession. To these he 
has devoted his life and the success with 
which he has been rewarded has never been 
purchased at the expense of science and 
truth, but is the result of patient, arduous, 
unremitting toil, unfaltering courage and 
unwavering loyalty to the highest ideals. 
For over seventeen years Dr. Emmerling 
served on the staff of the Western Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital, and also on that of the East 
End Hospital. During these years of labor 
his pen was not idle, and he frequently con- 
tributed to medical magazines articles of 
distinguished merit. He belongs to the 
American Medical Association, the Alle- 
gheny Medical Society and the German 
Leseverein Reading Society. 

Politically Dr. Emmerling is an Independ- 
ent Republican, but has never been induced 
to become a candidate for office, preferring 
to concentrate his energies on his profes- 
sional responsibilities. His charities are 



numerous but unostentatious. He is a mem- 
ber of the German Lutheran church. Of 
strong convictions and possessing the cour- 
age of those convictions, Dr. Emmerling is 
a man of many kindly impulses, and his 
countenance is expressive of all these char- 
acteristics. His strong and resolute features 
bear the imprint of a powerful and luminous 
intellect and all his life he has been a dili- 
gent and thoughtful student, not only keep- 
ing well abreast of the times, but often find- 
ing himself in advance of his contemporaries, 
his moustache, beard and side whiskers 
have been whitened by time, and are a silver 
gray, and his eyes, patient, kindly, humor- 
ous and philosophical, are rich and wise 
with the life which they have looked upon. 
Of dignified presence, he has a most mag- 
netic personality, attracting all who ap- 
proach him and inspiring at once the most 
profound respect and the sincerest affec- 
tion. Among the younger members of the 
medical fraternity of Pittsburgh he is known 
as "The Beloved Physician." 

Dr. Emmerling married, April 21, 1858, 
in Butler, Pennsylvania, Wilhelmina, daugh- 
ter of John and Wilhelmina Lange, and they 
are the parents of the following children: 
EHzabeth, widow of John K. Ahl, has three 
daughters — Willa, Caroline B. and Marie 
E., and one son, Charles ; Henry C, in feed 
business, Pittsburgh, married Charlotte 
Froehlich and has two children — Louisa 
W. and Charles E. ; Karl August, physician 
of Pittsburgh, married Julia Anne Mackey, 
and has one child, Julia Anne; and John 
Frederick, architect, Pittsburgh, married 
Margaret Jane Beeson, and has two chil- 
dren — Gretchen W. and John Frederick. 
Mrs. Emmerling, a thoughtful, clever 
woman of culture and character, who takes 
life with a gentle seriousness that endears 
her to those about her, is an ideal helpmate 
for a man like her husband, the governing 
motive of whose life is love for his home 
and family and who is never so happy as at 
his own fireside, where he delights to enter- 



PA— 3 



1 107 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tain his tnends. He iias been abroad three 
times, on each occasion visiting his old home 
and university. 

Dr. Emmerling is a true German, and a 
staunch American citizen, loyal alike to the 
land of his birth and the country of his 
adoption. In both he is affectionately hon- 
ored and the city which has been, for more 
than half a century, the scene of his labors 
and his achievements, cherishes his record 
with peculiar pride. There is in all Pitts- 
burgh no man more deeply loved and ven- 
erated than Dr. Charles Henry Emmerling. 



GORGAS, William Luther, 

Prominent Man of Affairs. 

One of the most popular and widely 
known citizens of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, is William Luther Gorgas, and his 
life history is one of great interest. It 
shows a mastery of expedients and utiliza- 
tion of opportunities that have enabled him 
to overcome difficulties and conquer ob- 
stacles in the path to success. Tracing his 
career, we note the persistent purpose with 
which he has attended to the duties that 
various positions have entailed upon him, 
and find that his fidelity was rewarded. The 
family from which he is descended came to 
this country from Holland, and the line is 
here given. 

John Gorgas, born in Holland, came to 
this. country prior to 1708 with his brothers 
and located in Pennsylvania. He settled at 
Germantown and became a member of the 
Mennonite church. He married Sophie 
Rittenhouse, whose paternal grandfather 
was William Rittenhouse, who established 
the first paper mill in this country. 

Jacob Gorgas, son of John and Sophie 
(Rittenhouse) Gorgas, was born in Ger- 
mantown, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1728, 
and died at Ephrata, Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, March 21, 1798. During the 
War of the Revolution he served as ser- 
geant in Captain John Jones' company. 
Colonel Peter Grubbs' battalion, Lancaster 



County Association. He was famous for 
the eight-day clocks of his construction, 
many of which are still in excellent running 
condition. He married Christina Mack. 

Solomon Gorgas, eldest son of Jacob and 
Christina (Mack) Gorgas, was born at 
Ephrata, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1764, 
and died in Cumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, September 21, 1838. He removed to 
the last mentioned county in 1800, settling 
on a farm he had purchased near White 
Hill. He was a prosperous farmer, and a 
stone barn which he erected is still stand- 
ing, bearing the inscription "Solomon Gor- 
gas, 1833," on its gable, and is considered 
one of the landmarks of the section. He 
was also the proprietor of a country store, 
which he conducted successfully, and repre- 
sented his county in the Legislature. He 
married Catherine Fahnestock. 

Hon. William Rittenhouse Gorgas, son of 
Solomon and Catherine (Fahnestock) Gor- 
gas, was born in Lower Allen township, 
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, May 8, 
1806, and died in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
December 7, 1892. His education was ac- 
quired at Mount St. Mary's College, Em- 
mitsburg, Maryland. For some years he 
had charge of the management of the home- 
stead farm, then turned his attention to 
politics as a staunch supporter of Demo- 
cratic principles. He was elected to the 
Lower House of the State Legislature in 
1836, was reelected twice, serving through 
the period known as the "Buckshot War." 
He was elected State Senator in 1841 from 
Cumberland, Adams and Franklin counties, 
and after the expiration of his term devoted 
his time to the affairs of business life, for 
which he had marked ability. He was one 
of the founders and first directors of the 
banking firm of Merkle, Mumma & Com- 
pany, which later became the First National 
Bank of Mechanicsburg, and was a director 
of the Harrisburg National Bank from 1845 
until his death. He held numerous other 
official positions in the financial world, 
among them being those of director in the 
108 





V^<Vl^l^ ^ 




i^^-ty^^^^ 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Harrisburg Bridge Company, the West 
Harrisburg Market House Company and 
the Harrisburg City Passenger Railroad 
Company; president of the Allen and East 
Pennsboro Fire Insurance Company and 
the Harrisburg Burial Case Company. He 
removed to Harrisburg in 1877, ^"d five 
years later was the Democratic nominee 
there for the Legislature ; the city was gen- 
erally Republican by a plurality of five hun- 
dred votes, but owing to the business and 
personal popularity of Mr. Gorgas, he lack- 
ed only eight votes of election. He was a 
member of the Park Commission of Har- 
risburg, and a member of the Advisory 
Board of the Children's Industrial Home. 
His religious allegiance was given to the 
Seventh Day Baptist church, of which he 
was a devout member. Mr. Gorgas mar- 
ried, March 5, 1840, Elizabeth Hummel, of 
Harrisburg, and among their eight children 
now living were: William Luther, George 
Albert, Kate F. and Mary E. 

William Luther Gorgas, son of Hon. Wil- 
liam Rittenhouse and Elizabeth (Hummel) 
Gorgas, was born in Lower Allen township, 
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, June 23, 
1848. The public schools of that section 
furnished his preparatory education, and he 
then became a student at the Cumberland 
Valley Institute, at Mechanicsburg. He 
was remarkably gifted as a teacher, and 
spent several terms in this occupation in 
Cumberland county. He had inherited the 
mechanical ability of his lineal ancestors, 
and in furtherance of this line of industry, 
commenced an apprenticeship to the machin- 
ist's trade with Daniel Drawbaugh, the sup- 
posed inventor of the telephone, at Eberly's 
Mills, Cumberland county. Subsequently 
he abandoned mechanics for a line of work 
which would give more occupation to his 
mental powers, which are of an unusually 
high order. In 1869 he became teller of the 
Second National Bank of Mechanicsburg, 
and filled this position capably until 1873, 
at which time he resigned it in favor of a 
clerkship in the Harrisburg National Bank, 



which had been tendered him. From this 
he was advanced to the still more responsi- 
ble office of cashier in 1892, which position 
he still retains. He was one of the organ- 
izers of the Harrisburg Trust Company in 
1893, and was elected secretary and treas- 
urer of the corporation. His other official 
positions are as follows : Director in the 
Harrisburg Bridge Company, the Harris- 
burg National Bank, and the West Harris- 
burg Market House Company ; treasurer of 
the Harrisburg City Passenger Railroad 
Company, first underlying company of the 
Harrisburg Railways Company, and of the 
City Hospital ; president of the Harrisburg 
Burial Case Company and the Camp Hill 
Cemetery Association. 

Like his father, Mr. Gorgas is a staunch 
supporter of the Democratic party. In the 
Congressional District composed of Dau- 
phin, Lebanon and Perry counties, which is 
one of the strongholds of the Republican 
party, he was defeated by a very much re- 
duced majority when he was a candidate 
for Congress in 1890. He was elected a 
member of the Select Council of Harris- 
burg in 1883, served six years, and during 
the first three terms was honored with elec- 
tion to the presidency of this honorable 
body. From 1901 to 1905, inclusive, he was 
a member of the Board of Public Works 
of Harrisburg, and during this period the 
Paxton Creek Intercepting Sewer and the 
Filter Plant on Hargest Island were con- 
structed. The plan was also formulated for 
the construction of a dam in Wildwood 
Park to prevent the flooding of lands along 
the Paxton Creek, and the necessary prop- 
erty acquired. In 1913 Mr. Gorgas was 
elected a member of Harrisburg's first City 
Commission, his term expiring January i, 
191 5, and he is serving as secretary of Ac- 
counts and Finance. 

Mr. Gorgas is a member of the Dauphin 
County Historical Society, the Pennsyl- 
vania German Society, and the Pennsyl- 
vania Society of New York. He was for- 
merly connected with the Knights of Honor, 
109 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and his present fraternal affiliations are ex- 
tended ones. He became a member of Eu- 
reka Lodge, No. 302, Free and Accepted 
Masons, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, 
March 6, 1871 ; junior warden, 1876; senior 
warden, 1877; master, 1878; admitted to 
Perseverance Lodge, No. 21, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, January 11, 1886; served as worship- 
ful master, 1887. Was appointed district 
deputy grand master of the Second Ma- 
sonic District, December 27, 1888, and 
served in this office until December 27, 1905, 
at which time he was installed as junior 
grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Penn- 
sylvania; December 27, 1907, he was in- 
stalled as senior grand warden ; December 
27, 1909, installed as deputy grand master; 
December 27, 191 1, installed as grand mas- 
ter of Masons of Pennsylvania ; retired 
from this office, December 27, 1913. He 
has taken an active interest in the estab- 
Hshment of a home for the relief of Ma- 
sons, their wives, widows and children, and 
while in office as grand master dedicated, 
June 5, 1913, the home established for this 
purpose at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. 
Plain and unassuming in his manner, Mr. 
Gorgas is a gentleman whose sterling worth 
has gained him the esteem of all with whom 
he has had dealings, whether of a public or 
private nature. He is deeply interested in 
everything that pertains to the public wel- 
fare, and is a faithful and devoted friend 
in social life. 



eastern Hospital Association, member of the 
Philadelphia Turngemeinde, the Columbia, 
Twentieth Century, City and- Auto clubs of 
Philadelphia; also the Manufacturers' Club, 
Free and Accepted Masons, and Independ- 
ent Order of Americans. 

For many years Mr. Edmonds was best 
known as the head of the George W. Ed- 
monds Coal Company, one of the city's 
largest enterprises of the kind. Later Mr. 
Edmonds combined the interests of this con- 
cern with the George B. Newton Coal Com- 
pany, and has since then been a director of 
that company as well as many other leading 
and important manufacturing and industrial 
enterprises. 

While Mr. Edmonds has held progressive 
ideas and is always ready to urge such legis- 
lation as he considers best for his State 
and country at large, his politics are those 
of a Republican, although when he was first 
nominated to the Sixty-third Congress 
during the strenuous campaign of 1912, he 
was endorsed by the Republican, Keystone, 
Lincoln and Washington parties, and at the 
election he received twice as many votes 
as did his three opponents combined. 

Mr. Edmonds was married a little over 
fifteen years ago. He has three brothers — 
Samuel, John and Frank Edmonds — who 
are actively engaged in business and legal 
circles of Philadelphia. 



EDMONDS, George W., 

Man of Affairs, Congressman. 

George W. Edmonds was born in Potts- 
ville, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1864, ^nd 
received his education in the Philadelphia 
public schools, including the Central High 
School, of which he is a graduate. He is 
also a graduate of the Philadelphia College 
of Pharmacy (1885). He was a member 
of the Common Council of Philadelphia for 
six years. He is treasurer of the North- 



EHRET, Michael, 

Manufactnrer, Financier. 

A conspicuous figure in the business life 
of Philadelphia for over half a century was 
the late Michael Ehret. He was born May 
12, 1838, son of Michael and Sophia (Ring) 
Ehret. His grandfather, also of the same 
name, was the original ancestor in this coun- 
try, having come from Germany in the 
year 1810. He became a well known builder 
in and about Philadelphia, and one of the 
buildings erected by him was forty years 
later occupied by the grandson. 

Mr. Ehret received his early education in 



mo 




yptu^a4^ O-^uJ- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the public schools of Philadelphia, and while 
still in his teens began his business career, 
being associated with his father as a builder 
until the age of twenty-two. During these 
years he came to realize the need of a much 
more substantial roofing than what was then 
in use and, being of an ingenious turn of 
mind, he invented what has ever since been 
known as "Ehret's Slag Roofing." He began 
the manufacture of this material at the age 
of twenty-two on capital loaned him by an 
uncle. Colonel John Neukumet. The first 
place of business was located at 1922 North 
7th street, and in 1876 was removed to 13th 
and Cumberland streets. The roofing proved 
its merit, and Mr. Ehret achieved success 
and fortune from its manufacture. More- 
over, that it was a roofing material of great 
value, has been fully attested by its exten- 
sive use throughout the country. 

In 1883 Mr. Ehret became interested in 
the manufacture of coal tar in a large way, 
and with the late George D. Widener and 
George W. Elkins as partners formed the 
firm of M. Ehret Jr. & Company. They 
were pioneers in the manufacture of coal 
tar materials, and later were merged into 
the Barrett Manufacturing Company and 
the American Coal Tar Products Company. 
He did not abandon the manufacture of the 
slag roofing, but the same year he organized 
the coal tar concern, he formed the Warren 
Ehret Company, which continued the man- 
ufacture of the roofing material. 

While the foregoing gives Mr. Ehret's 
more important business connections, it by 
no means measures the full extent of his 
activities. He had many and varied inter- 
ests and aided many enterprises with capital 
and cooperation. He was president of the 
Excelsior Brick Company, now out of ex- 
istence ; was an official of the Crew Levick 
Company; the Vulcanite Portland Cement 
Company; Houston Manufacturing Com- 
pany ; Ehret Magnesia Manufacturing Com- 
pany; director of the National Bank of 
Northern Liberties, and many other organi- 
zations. 



His recreation was given over to various 
sports. He was a great lover of horses 
and owned a number of them. Nothing 
gave him keener delight than a brush on the 
road with one of his favorite trotters. He 
was devoted to both hunting and fishing as 
well, and often went on extended trips by 
way of diversion from his business cares. 
These habits of outdoor life no doubt fitted 
him to cope the more successfully with the 
many arduous tasks that claimed his atten- 
tion. He was a man of tremendous busi- 
ness capacity, an incessant worker, and one 
of that generation of inveterate plodders 
who are fast passing away. He possessed 
indomitable energy, was quiet but keen and 
the very essence of integrity. 

Mr. Ehret was married February 12, i860, 
to Miss Ellen Cathcart, of Philadelphia ; she 
died in July, 1893. Their five children sur- 
vive them — Mrs. Charles Clipperton, of 
Rouen, France ; Harry S. ; Mrs. Edwin J. 
Sellers ; Alvin M. ; and Mrs. Henry E. 
Howell, of Philadelphia. Mr. Ehret was 
married the second time to Mrs. Douglas 
Hilger, formerly Anna Ridgway Worrell, 
of Philadelphia. Their marriage took place 
on January 6, 1897, at St. James Church, 
22nd and Walnut streets, Philadelphia. 

Mr. Ehret held membership in the Union 
League, Historical Society, and Country 
Club. He was also a member of the Colum- 
bia Club, and one of its founders. 

A business associate of Mr. Ehret for 
many years has given the following estimate 
of his life and character : 

I was in business with him for thirty years 
and associated with him in several companies as 
director. I have met many men in the course 
of my business and private life, men of high and 
low degree, men of weaUh, men of education, 
men in every walk of life, but never met a finer 
character than Michael Ehret. He was a man of 
great tenacity of purpose, and once he made up 
his mind to follow a certain course nothing could 
change him or influence him; always considerate 
of the opinion of his associates and ready to 
acknowledge his faults when shown to his satis- 
faction that he was wrong. Impulsive, quick to 
II 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



form an opinion, he was seldom wrong for one of 
his decisive character. Honest to a degree that 
is to his everlasting credit; generous to a fault, 
and beloved by all who knew him and true to his 
friends. I know of no finer character a man 
could leave as a heritage to his children. 

The following are the resolutions passed 
by the board of directors of the Crew 
Levick Company : 

Mr. Ehret was elected the Secretary and Di- 
rector of this company May 23, 1891, and con- 
tinued to serve in that capacity until the time of 
his death, which occurred on the 17th of this 
month. Possessed of a broad and diversified 
business experience extending over many years, 
with keen perception and sound judgment, an 
indomitable will and the courage of his convic- 
tions, he had the faculty of quick decision and 
prompt action. These qualifications made him a 
valuable director, a wise counselor and a staunch 
friend whose presence we shall sadly miss, and 
who by his wise counsel and fidelity contributed 
to a large degree to the success of the Company, 
and who by his sterling and great kindness had 
endeared himself to all with whom he came in 
contact. 

There was perhaps no business connec- 
tion that felt the loss of Mr. Ehret as a 
director more keenly than did the National 
Bank of the Northern Liberties which 
passed the following resolution : 

The Directors of the National Bank of the 
Northern Liberties assemble in sorrow to-day to 
record the loss of the second colleague within a 
few months. Of Michael Ehret it can be said 
truthfully, that his distinguishing common sense 
and practical turn of mind, added to his sturdy 
courage and loyalty, made him an unusually val- 
uable member of the Board. Never was .le 
found wanting in sincerity and ever was he true 
to his promises. In counsel with his fellow 
members he easily proved himself to be a master 
of the underlying principles of business, and his 
early love for the Bank and his abiding devotion 
to it enlisted his best efforts to the day of his 
last illness. Such a man will surely be missed 
wherever he labored. 

In sadness and sympathy, his brother directors 
join those who were the recipients of his affec- 
tion in treasuring the inspiration which the 
memory of such a life bequeaths to his associ- 
ates. 



Many other tributes were paid to Mr. 
Ehret by the various organizations with 
which he was connected, but are too numer- 
ous to be recorded here. He had been a man 
who was absolutely true to every trust re- 
posed in him and honorable in all his rela- 
tions with men. In his death, which 
occurred February 17, 1913, the business 
life of Philadelphia suffered a distinct loss. 



BROOKS, James H. A., 

MannfactnTer, Esteemed Citizen. 

The late J. H. A. Brooks, of Philadelphia, 
was one of the younger generation of busi- 
ness men of his time, who, although taken 
away in his very prime, had attained to a 
position in the business life of the city 
seldom reached by a man of his years. He 
was not only a leading figure in the leather 
trade, but was called upon to share in the 
burden of civic responsibility, and as a 
member of the Trades League, now the 
Chamber of Commerce, he rendered a most 
valuable service and earned the appreciation 
and esteem of his co-workers. 

Mr. Brooks was a native of Philadelphia, 
born July 4, 1868, son of William and Annie 
(McCasky) Brooks, being one of seven chil- 
dren. Mr. Brooks' father was of English 
descent, and his mother was the daughter of 
Andrew McCasky, a native of Dublin, Ire- 
land, and a Methodist minister of Ebenezer 
Church, Fourth and Christian streets, Phil- 
adelphia. An account of his life may be 
found in the book telling of the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of the church. The 
paternal grandmother, Catharine Van Dyke, 
was bom in Scotland, and after coming to 
America, lived in Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Mr. Brooks' early years were years of 
hardships. His father had met with certain 
financial reverses, but the struggle that fol- 
lowed doubtless had a wholesome influence 
upon the boy's life, and probably contributed 
much to his success in later years. After 
completing his education in the Grammar 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and Central High School, from which he 
graduated in 1886, he began his business 
career at the age of eighteen in the ofhce of 
Charles Brockius, a morocco manufacturer 
at St. John and Willow streets, where he 
remained until 1888. Mr. Albert Gnigs, 
the celebrated morocco manufacturer, se- 
cured his services, but he remained there 
only a short time. He then became identi- 
fied with McNeely & Company, Fifth street 
and Columbia avenue, and remained with 
that company during the year 1889. About 
1890 a better position was secured with 
Charles W. Landell & Company, and he 
continued in the service of that company 
until March, 1896. During the latter part 
of his connection with Landell & Company 
he had an interest in the business, but the 
firm discontinued for a time, and while idle 
he sought a new connection, which was 
brought about soon after. In IMarch. 1896, 
G. H. McNeeley & Company started as 
morocco manufacturers, with Mr. M. G. 
Price as the practical expert leather manu- 
facturer, and Mr. Brooks as expert assorter 
and business manager, which special arrange- 
ment continued operative until 1901, when 
the style of the firm was changed to Mc- 
Neely, Price & Brooks, under which name it 
continued until the time of the unfortunate 
accident in which Mr. Brooks lost his life. 

Mr. Brooks was married, October 11, 
1892, to Miss Flora Truitt, daughter of 
Henry K. Truitt. She died about one year 
later, leaving a daughter Dorothy. Mr. 
Brooks was then married, September 17, 
1896, to Miss Florence Doak, daughter of 
James Doak Jr., of Philadelphia. Two 
daughters were born to this union — Kath- 
eryn and Margaret. The family residence 
is at 6400 Woodbine avenue, Overbrook. 

Mr. Brooks was a blending of the English 
and the sturdy Scotch-Irish stock, and he 
inherited the best characteristics peculiar to 
each. He always said what he meant, and 
he never used any uncertain or diplomatic 
expressions to hide his thoughts. He was, 
however, always considerate of the opinion 

II 



of others, but once his mind was made up, 
nothing could deter him from his course. 
He was a wonderfully ambitious man and 
to that end he labored with untiring zeal 
and with a well balanced and cultivated 
mind. He was a stickler for perfectly clean 
business methods, and this aided very largely 
in establishing a very prosperous business. 
An intimate friend of Mr. Brooks said of 
him : "I never knew a man of kindlier 
feeling for friend or stranger. He was a 
model son, brother, friend and neighbor. I 
knew him intimately for twenty-five years, 
while a school boy and also during his early 
struggles for place and position, and I feel 
that no matter what I say in his praise, I 
could not convey to you a correct idea of 
the noble character of the man." 

Aside from being prominent in the leather 
trade, Mr. Brooks was an active member 
of the Trades League, now the Chamber of 
Commerce, and a director of the Corn Ex- 
change Bank. He was a Repubhcan and 
a member of the Union League Club, and 
was an adherent to the Presbyterian faith. 
He had always been a man of generous 
impulse, and this found expression in a 
broad charity, which for years had devoted 
one-tenth of his income to benevolent pur- 
poses, and in his last will and testament he 
bequeathed one-tenth of his entire estate to 
charity. At the time of Mr. Brooks' death, 
the Trades League adopted the following 
resolution : 

The Board of Directors of the Trades League 
has learned with profound sorrow of the death 
of Mr. James H. A. Brooks, for several years 
their esteemed, respected and beloved co-worker, 
and a zealous and active member of the Board of 
this organization. He was magnanimous, gen- 
tle, courteous in his dealings, and lovable in dis- 
position. He was keenly interested in all move- 
ments for the benefit of his fellow men, and all 
who have been associated with him must feel, 
with the deep sorrow of the occasion, a thank- 
fulness for having had the privilege of his friend- 
ship. We realize that in his death the com- 
munity has experienced a distinct loss, and that 
this loss will be keenly felt by those who have 
enjoyed his help and cooperation. Therefore, be 

13 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



it Resolved, that we extend to his bereaved fam- 
ily our sincere and heartfelt sympathy with them 
in their affliction, and be it further Resolved, that 
a copy of this minute be suitably prepared and 
forwarded to the family as a further token of 
respect. 

The Philadelphia Morocco Manufacturers 
Association passed the following resolution : 

Whereas on the first of November, in the year 
of our Lord, 1905, by a most sudden visitation of 
Divine Providence, Almighty God caused to be 
removed from our midst our fellow member, 
James H. A. Brooks, and Whereas, in all that 
constitutes a true and noble manhood, in all 
those qualities of heart and mind which go to 
make a sterling character, Mr. Brooks was ever 
foremost, faithful, sincere and devoted as a 
friend, earnest, zealous and forceful as an advo- 
cate, and a man of clean heart and clean mind, 
he served his chosen occupation with fidelity, 
ability and untiring industry. Whereas, as an 
officer, he was faithful to every trust, affectionate 
as a husband and father, sympathetic and helpful 
to his fellows, and extremely charitable in char- 
acter, ever ready to give to a worthy cause. Be 
it Resolved, therefore, that the members of the 
Philadelphia Morocco Manufacturers Associa- 
tion have sustained a great loss and are bowed 
down with grief. Resolved, that in the minute 
book of this Association there be set aside a 
page in memory of the sterling character and 
worth of Mr. Brooks, and be it Resolved that 
to his family the members of this Association 
offer their profound sympathy in this great 
affliction, with the sincere assurance that they 
are mourning with them. 



SEYMOUR, Warren I., 

Laiiryer, Public Official. 

The bar of Pittsburgh, distinguished from 
the beginning, has grown in lustre with the 
passing years, each successive generation 
of its members ably upholding the high 
standards of their predecessors. During 
the last fifteen years there was none among 
the younger lawyers of the metropolis who 
achieved more brilliant success than the late 
Warren Ilsley Seymour, head of the well 
known firm of Seymour, Patterson & Sie- 
beneck. For several years Mr. Seymour 
filled with distinguished ability the ofifice of 



assistant district attorney, his work in the 
cause of municipal reform winning the en- 
thusiastic approval of all good citizens. He 
was prominent in the social life of his home 
city and few men enjoyed greater personal 
popularity. 

Warren Ilsley Seymour was born August 
27, 1873, in Buffalo, New York, and was a 
son of Samuel L. and Henrietta I. (Mer- 
rick) Seymour. In his early childhood the 
family removed to Williamsport, and it was 
in the public schools of that city that he 
received his primary education. In 1889 
they came to Pittsburgh and the boy at- 
tended Shady Side Academy, graduating 
189 1. In the autumn of that year he entered 
Princeton University, and in 1895 received 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Having 
chosen to devote himself to the legal pro- 
fession, he entered Harvard Law School, 
graduating in 1898. In December of the 
same year he was admitted to the Allegheny 
county bar. The unusual ability of the 
young lawyer did not fail to receive speedy 
recognition, and it soon became evident that 
a brilliant future opened before him. He 
was especially efifective in appeals to the 
jury, and it was as a trial lawyer that he 
achieved his greatest distinction. In 1904 
he was appointed second assistant district 
attorney imder District Attorney Robert E. 
Stewart, and filled the office in a most satis- 
factory manner until the close of Major 
Stewart's term in 1907, when he resumed 
the practice of law as a member of the firm 
of Seymour, Patterson & Siebeneck. 

In 1909, when the councilmanic graft 
cases were brought before the public, Mr. 
Seymour was special counsel for the Voters' 
League, and in January, 1910, he was ap- 
pointed first assistant district attorney by 
District Attorney William A. Blakeley. Mr. 
Seymour practically assumed charge of 
the graft cases, tried them before the grand 
jury, before the regularly impaneled juries, 
and finally followed and argued them be- 
fore the Appellate Division of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania. Largely as a re- 

14 




Zs-^s 7l^afrr;^,/rK3- i" 



3^jr£:a^/4^,'^ ^Br^ A^ 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



suit of his efforts, many of the bribers were 
convicted and sentenced. Mr. Seymour's 
work was of the greatest service to the com- 
munity and was partly responsible for his 
appointment as first assistant district attor- 
ney. This office he held until April i, 1912, 
when he was forced to resign in order to 
attend to his private practice. 

Despite the engrossing demands and 
heavy responsibihties of his strenuous pro- 
fessional career, Mr. Seymour maintained 
during the greater portion of the time an 
active connection with his alma mater. For 
ten years he returned to Princeton each 
summer and conducted a school for stu- 
dents, making a specialty of mathematics, 
in which he had always taken a particular 
interest. 

For several years Mr. Seymour was presi- 
dent of the Pittsburgh Law Club, an organ- 
ization formed from the younger members 
of the Allegheny county bar. He was also 
president for four years of the Princeton 
University Alumni Association of Western 
Pennsylvania. He served as chairman of 
the law club committee on bar association 
relations, and was for a time a member of 
the executive committee of the Allegheny 
County Bar Association. He also belonged 
to the State Bar Association. His official 
connection with a number of these organi- 
zations was a result not only of his excep- 
tional ability and high professional stand- 
ing, but also of his great personal popu- 
larity. He affiliated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity, and was a member of the Duquesne 
and LTniversity clubs, the Oakmont Country 
Club, the Pittsburgh Press Club and the 
Pittsburgh Athletic Association. He was 
a member of the Shady Side Presbyterian 
Church. 

With a strong and luminous intellect, Mr. 
Seymour combined a keen insight into char- 
acter and a rapidity of apprehension which 
grasped all situations almost intuitively. He 
possessed much of the magnetic force of 
the orator and his appeals to juries, while 



based on sound and logical arguments, were 
colored and vivified by the vigor of his per- 
sonality. His countenance was a reflex of 
his temperament. His well moulded fea- 
tures bore the stamp of a strong and at the 
same time a sensitive nature, and his eyes, 
piercing though they were, held in their 
depths the glint of humor. A predominant 
geniality and kindliness of disposition im- 
parted to the whole face an expression more 
than ordinarily winning and caused the ob- 
server to exclaim, "This is a man who draws 
men to him !" His integrity was without 
blemish and the purity of his motives was 
never questioned. He was a high-minded 
lawyer, a true gentleman and a loyal friend. 

Mr. Seymour married, June 27, 1901, 
Emily Miltenberger, daughter of the late 
Isaac and Cornelia (Craft) Sproul, of Pitts- 
burgh, and they became the parents of two 
children : Emily Sproul, and Henrietta 
Lansing. In his domestic relations Mr. Sey- 
mour was peculiarly happy, finding in his 
wife, a woman of charming personality and 
many social gifts, an ideal helpmate, sym- 
pathizing with his lofty purposes and mak- 
ing his home a place of sure refuge and 
perfect repose from the stress and conflict 
of public duty and professional responsi- 
bility. The governing motive of Mr. Sey- 
mour's life was love for his wife and chil- 
dren and never was he so content as when 
surrounded by the members of his house- 
hold and by the friends whom he delighted 
to gather about him. 

In early middle life and while his remark- 
able powers were still in the opening period 
of their fruition Mr. Seymour closed a 
career which promised to be one of more 
than ordinary brilliancy, passing away Feb- 
ruary 16, 1914. The announcement was re- 
ceived with expressions of heartfelt sorrow 
from all classes of the community, espe- 
cially from the members of the bench and 
bar who felt that their profession had sus- 
tained the loss of one of its brightest orna- 
ments. Among the many tributes to the 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



character and work of Mr. Seymour was 
the following editorial which appeared in 
the "Gazette-Times" : 

Warren I. Seymour was one of the men of 
this community of whom a great deal was ex- 
pected. The people had had his service for a 
time and his quality had been proven to their 
satisfaction. He was invaluable during one of 
the most important series of prosecutions in the 
history of Pittsburgh. When he retired from 
public office to devote himself to private practice 
it was with the sincere regard of his chief and of 
the people whom he had served so well. The re- 
spect and confidence of the public which were 
his in full measure at his retirement remained 
undiminished at his death. If Mr. Seymour had 
lived there would have been another call to serv- 
ice, undoubtedly. He was the sort of man that 
people delight to honor. They felt that their 
interests had been and always would be safe in 
his hands. They felt that his sympathies were 
on the side of right and righteousness. They 
knew that he was possessed of the necessary 
ability as well as the disposition to employ it for 
the best ends. Times come in all communities 
when some one man is unfailingly indicated by 
the finger of destiny for some large civic service 
and there has been a feeling that the time would 
come when Warren I. Seymour would be so indi- 
cated and that he would respond to the call. 
This adds to the keenness of the regret that a 
man of his character and talent should be taken 
from the scenes of human activity in the very 
prime of life and possibilities for usefulness. 
Few men have had the good opinion of their 
fellow men in so large a degree and none more 
than he merited the high esteem in which he was 
held. 

Editorially "The Telegraph" said : 

A career of unusual brilliancy is cut short by 
the death of Warren Ilsley Seymour, who as first 
assistant district attorney under William A. 
Blakeley, rendered service placing him in the 
front rank of the legal profession. At a time 
when the district attorney's office was a storm 
centre, the famous councilmanic graft inquiry 
being under way and the law officers of the 
county being under a tremendous strain, Mr. 
Seymour proved an invaluable coadjutor to the 
public prosecutor. Clear headed, resourceful and 
courageous, he handled the trial of the graft 
cases in a most effective manner, enabling a com- 
plete vindication of justice. It was, in fact, by 



reason of his equipment for this special work, 
previously demonstrated in his service as counsel 
for the Voters' League, that Mr. Seymour was 
called to the district attorney's assistance and the 
mark of confidence thus given him found ample 
justification. 

Aside from his equipment as a lawyer Mr. 
Seymour was a man of extensive attainments. 
A graduate of Princeton University and of the 
Harvard Law School, his mastery of mathematics 
and other branches of learning qualified him to 
act as an instructor, and his first independent 
work was in this capacity. His abilities, however, 
demanded a wider field and this he found in the 
practice of law, his success in which was rapid 
and decisive. 

No inconsiderable factor in Mr. Seymour's 
advancement was his character as a man and a 
practitioner. Frank, square and open in all 
things, he was of the type that compels confidence 
and invites friendship. He was trusted implicitly 
by those who had relations with him and he 
never violated a trust. Such men are few and 
far between and when one of them passes from 
among us the sense of loss must needs be pro- 
found. 

Warren Ilsley Seymour was a fine type 
of the citizen-lawyer — the man in whom in- 
tense public spirit is combined with a high 
order of professional ability. His fairest 
laurels were won in a victorious fight with 
fraud and corruption and it is as a fearless 
champion of the cause of good government 
that he will be held in honored remem- 
brance by his beloved city. 



LONGSTRETH, Edward, 

Expert Steel Manufacturer. 

From the days of William Penn there 
have been Longstreths in Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, the original settler, Bartholo- 
mew Longstreth, coming in 1698. He was 
a member of the Society of Friends, and a 
native of Yorkshire, England, son of Chris- 
topher Longstreth, of Longstreth Dale, and 
was there born Augvist 24, 1679. 

Edward Longstreth, of the fifth Amer- 
ican generation, although born in Warmins- 
ter, Bucks county, resided in Philadelphia 
from his eighteenth year until his death in 
[16 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1905, and as superintendent of the Baldwin 
Locomotive Works was well known in the 
business and mechanical world. In his pub- 
lic career he was associated with the men 
who were striving for better civic conditions 
in Philadelphia, while in meeting and phil- 
anthropic work he was both active and use- 
ful. 

While Warminster was the family seat in 
Bucks county, it was on Edge Hill that 
Bartholomew Longstreth first settled in 
1698. That locality did not please him and 
he decided to return to England, but altered 
his decision after selling his Edge Hill tract. 
He bought five hundred acres from Thomas 
Fairman in Warminster, for £175, and in 
1710 moved into the township. To this he 
later added until he owned one thousand 
acres. He built a log house on his property, 
and afterward a stone mansion was erected, 
the second one in that neighborhood. In 
1727 he married Ann Dawson, of Hatboro, 
then called Crooked Billet. He was forty- 
nine years of age at the time of his marriage, 
his wife twenty-three. He died August 8, 
1749, and was buried at Horsham. Ann, 
his widow, married (second) Robert Tom- 
kins, and survived until 1785. 

Daniel, eldest of the eleven children of 
Bartholomew Longstreth, was born in 1732. 
He inherited the homestead farm and suc- 
ceeded his father in his business and church 
activities. He married (first) Grace Mich- 
ener, who bore him nine children. Daniel 
died in 1803, and was succeeded by his son 
Joseph. 

Joseph, son of Daniel Longstreth and his 
first wife, Grace Michener, was born in 
1765, inherited the old homestead and there 
died in 1840. He became a hat manufac- 
turer, and was engaged for several years in 
that business at the Crooket Billet. He mar- 
ried, in 1797, Sarah Thomas, who bore him 
six children. 

Daniel, eldest son of Joseph and Sarah 
(Thomas) Longstreth, was born at the 
Longstreth homestead, in 1800, and there 
died March 30, 1846. He was a man of 

I 



education and culture, maintaining a boards 
ing school in his own home for several 
years, devoted much time to conveyancing 
and surveying, was an extensive writer for 
the county press, and was possessed of con- 
siderable mechanical ability. He married 
(first) January 4, 1827, Elizabeth Lancas- 
ter, of Philadelphia, who bore him John L., 
a prominent business man of Philadelphia 
for many years, and Elizabeth L. He mar- 
ried (second) October 25, 1832, Hannah 
Townsend, and had issue : Joseph T., Sarah, 
married Charles R. HoUingsworth ; Moses 
Robinson ; Edward, of further mention ; 
Samuel T. ; Anna, married Robert Tilney; 
and David S. With the children of Daniel 
Longstreth this narrative changes to Phil- 
adelphia. Five generations of Longstreths 
owned and cultivated the Warminster 
homestead farm, and were noted among the 
progressive farmers of the township, each 
in his day. Joseph Longstreth is said to 
have used the first hay rake in the county 
in 1812, and his father, Joseph, about 1775 
used lime on his land. The central part of 
the homestead was built by Bartholomew 
Longstreth in 17 13, and the east end by his 
son Daniel, in 1750. The west end was 
built in 1766, and when finished the Long- 
streth homestead was considered the finest 
in that section. In 1850 the farm passed 
out of the family name. 

Edward, fifth child of Daniel Longstreth 
and his second wife, Hannah Townsend, 
was born in W^arminster township, Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, June 22, 1839, and 
died at his home. No. 1410 Spruce street, 
Philadelphia, February 24, 1905. He re- 
sided at the home farm until eighteen years 
of age, and during those years obtained a 
good English education. He inherited his 
father's mechanical genius and a corre- 
sponding dislike for farm work, and on 
October 4, 1857, left home, going to Phila- 
delphia, where a month later he began his 
long connection with the famous Baldwin 
Locomotive Works. He entered the works 
under a five years' agreement, and as an 
117 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



apprentice made a most remarkable record, 
being full of energy and possessing traits 
of character that won him promotion while 
yet in his novitiate. It is said that during 
his five years of preparation he was never 
known to be late, and when only three years 
in the works he was made assistant foreman 
of a department and later foreman of the 
second floor of the works. On August i, 
1867, having been then but ten years in the 
works, he was promoted to the position of 
foreman of the erecting shop ; on January 
I, 1868, was made superintendent of the 
entire plant; and on January i, 1870, was 
admitted a partner of the firm M. Baird & 
Company, later Buraham, Parry & Com- 
pany, owners and operators of the Baldwin 
Locomotive Works. He continued an active 
member of the firm until January i, 1886, 
when impaired health caused him to retire. 
During these years Mr. Longstreth brought 
out several valuable patents, some of them 
still characteristic features of the Baldwin 
Works. After his admission to the firm he 
continued in control of the mechanical and 
industrial departments, superintending the 
work of three thousand men. He was an 
expert machinist and worker in steel, and 
was in many particulars in advance of his 
day. He was progressive, a deep thinker, 
and always a student. He was deeply inter- 
ested in the Franklin Institute, serving at 
one time as vice-president, and was also a 
director of the Williamson Free School of 
Mechanical Trades, giving much time to the 
latter institution. He was a Republican in 
politics, but in 1884 was one of the most 
active and energetic members of the com- 
mittee of one hundred, which made possible 
the election of Samuel G. King to the 
mayoralty, and to a great degree defeated 
gang rule. He was a member of the Mer- 
chants' Fund until his death, director of the 
Delaware Insurance Company, a member 
of the Union League and the Engineers' 
Club. In religious belief he clung to the 
simple faith of his fathers, and was an earn- 
est member of the Society of Friends, affili- 

II 



ated with the Meeting at Fourth and Green 
streets, Philadelphia. 

In his prosperity and business activity he 
did not forget the home of his youth, but 
was a member and for several years one of 
the trustees of the Bucks County Historical 
Society, taking active part in the work of 
preserving the records and archives of the 
county of his birth, and the home of four 
generations of his ancestors. He took a 
deep interest in the proper marking of his- 
toric spots, and it was through his liberality 
that many of them were so preserved, in- 
cluding the spot on the old York road in 
Warminster, where John Fitch first con- 
ceived the idea of steamboat navigation, 
now designated by an appropriate tablet. 
He also donated the first tract of land 
owned by the society, upon which to erect 
a building for their use as library and 
museum. He ever maintained a large ac- 
quaintance in his boyhood home, and there 
he was as highly esteemed as in his Phila- 
delphia home, where his business interest 
lay. His years of retirement, 1886-1895, 
were spent as indicated, and, freed from 
business cares he made them years of hap- 
piness, helpfulness, and usefulness. 

Mr. Longstreth married, June 7, 1863, 
Anna C. Wise, who died September 18, 
1899. Children : Charles, Howard, and 
Ella W., married W. L. Supplee. 



SCANDRETT, Richard Brown, 

Liawyer, Financier. 

The bar of Pittsburgh, which hadi its be- 
ginning before the American Revolution, 
has grown in lustre with the passing years, 
and to-day stands unrivalled in all that 
makes for the best in jurisprudence, prac- 
tice and culture, and all the elements that 
enter into the qualification of the modern 
pleader and attorney. Conspicuous among 
its leaders at the present day is Richard 
Brown Scandrett, of the well known firm 
of Scandrett & Barnett. The entire pro- 
fessional career of Mr. Scandrett has thus 
18 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



far been identified with his native city, and 
with her best interests he has, for many 
years, been intimately associated. 

Richard Brown Scandrett was born June 
30, 1861, in Pittsburgh, and is a son of Wil- 
Ham A. and Mary (Brown) Scandrett, the 
former a native of Ireland and the latter 
of American birth and English parentage. 
The boy received his preparatory education 
in the public schools of Pittsburgh and 
Allegheny, passing thence, successively to 
Western University (now University of 
Pennsylvania), to Adrian College, Michi- 
gan, and Washington and Jefferson College, 
and in 1885 graduating from the last named 
institution. During his student years he 
was from force of circumstances engaged 
in occupations which developed his execu- 
tive abilities and brought him a fund of 
valuable experience. At the age of four- 
teen he was employed as office boy by a 
local real estate firm, from 1877 to 1879 
he was a page in the State Senate, and in 
1880-81 served as clerk in the same body. 
From 1885 to 1887 he was an instructor in 
the Allegheny High School, and from 1887 
to 1892 served as secretary of the board of 
school controllers of Allegheny. The last 
office, however, belongs to the professional 
period of his life, and therefore is not to 
be counted among his educational experi- 
ences. 

In December, 1889, Mr. Scandrett was 
admitted to the Allegheny county bar, and 
has since been continuously engaged in 
active practice in the local courts. His legal 
learning, his anal;yi:ical mind and the readi- 
ness with which he grasps the point in an 
argument combine to make him one of the 
most capable jurists that has ever graced 
the courts of Pittsburgh. Strong in reason- 
ing, forceful in argument, his deductions 
follow in logical sequence, and the success 
v/hich has hitherto attended him gives prom- 
ise of new laurels to be gathered by him in 
the legal arena. 

Brilliant, forceful and experienced, Mr. 
Scandrett is a dominant factor in the city's 



affairs, and any plan for civic betterment 
finds in him an enthusiastic supporter. A 
Republican in politics, he is frequently con- 
sulted in regard to affairs of public moment. 
He was one of the counsel for the commit- 
tee in charge of the reorganization of the 
Mobile, Jackson and Kansas City Railroad 
Company, afterward the New Orleans, Mo- 
bile and Chicago railroad, and a director in 
the same corporation. He is also a director 
in the Pittsburgh Transfer Company, High 
Grade Oil Refining Company, president of 
the Hydraulic Vacuum Cleaner Company, 
and counsel for the Dominion Trust Com- 
pany. 

The influence of Mr. Scandrett has been 
uniformly exerted in behalf of those inter- 
ests which promote culture and work for 
the Christianizing of the race in recognition 
of the common brotherhood of man. No 
work done in the name of charity or re- 
ligion seeks his cooperation in vain, and in 
his work of this character he brings to bear 
the same discrimination and thoroughness 
which are manifest in his professional life. 
He is a member of the Americus Repub- 
lican Club, the Duquesne Club, the Pitts- 
burgh Country Club, the Allegheny Turn- 
Verein, the Heptasophs, the Royal Ar- 
canum, the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the 
Republican Club, Pleiades Club, Twilight 
Club of New York, and Pennsylvania So- 
ciety of New York. 

The personality of Mr. Scandrett is that 
of a man of deep convictions and great 
force of character. Energy and intensity 
are strongly depicted in his countenance 
as are executiveness and will power, con- 
centration, fidelity and tenacity. Affable 
and genial in nature and manner and liberal 
in views, he has drawn around him a large 
circle of friends who are devoted to him 
with the loyalty which is one of his own 
striking characteristics. His sterling qual- 
ities of manhood command the respect alike 
of his professional brethren and of the en- 
tire community. 

Mr. Scandrett married, July 8, 1890, at 

19 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Slippery Rock, Butler county, Pennsyl- 
vania, Agnes, daughter of James E. and 
Clara (Johnson) Morrow, and they are the 
parents of three children: Richard Brown; 
Rebekah ; and Jay Johnson Morrow. 

In his professional career of less than a 
quarter of a century, Mr. Scandrett has 
accomplished much, but he is in the prime 
of life, and is, moreover, one of the men 
who live in deeds rather than in years. 
Rich as is the past, the future holds greater 
things in store. 



BAILEY, Arthur Hamilton, 

Manufacturer, Public Official. 

Arthur Hamilton Bailey is a leading rep- 
resentative of the manufacturing interests 
of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and one of 
the best known business men of the city. 
Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty 
of purpose, the ability to execute the right 
thing at the right time, joined to everyday 
common sense, are his chief characteristics. 
He is a descendant of an honored family of 
Scotland who came to this country early in 
the nineteenth century, and located in Penn- 
sylvania. Hamilton Bailey, his father, was 
born in Scotland, June 8, 1833, and was 
brought to this country in early childhood 
by his parents, who settled in Schuylkill 
county, Pennsylvania, where he was edu- 
cated in the district schools of Tremont. 
Having completed his school education, he 
was apprenticed to learn the wheelwright's 
and blacksmith's trade, with Silas Ball, of 
Tremont, and established himself independ- 
ently in this business in Tremont, in 1858. 
He was continuously engaged in business 
for a period of more than forty years. He 
was a man of much natural ability and of 
an inventive turn of mind, qualities which 
enabled him to turn out work of a very 
superior order. He invented and patented 
the "Eureka" elevating coal wagon, which 
has been found so practical that it is now 
in general use throughout the United States, 
and established a factory for the manufac- 



ture of this, which is now being carried on 
by his son. After some years he removed 
to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and there en- 
gaged in the coal and wood business, in 
which enterprise he was also successful. 
Public-spirited and patriotic, he took a deep 
interest in whatever concerned the public 
welfare of the community, and gave his 
strong political support to the Republican 
party. His reHgious membership was with 
the Grace Methodist Church, Harrisburg, 
Dauphin county. Mr. Bailey married Cath- 
erine, daughter of George and Margaret 
(Wright) Pinkerton, and their three chil- 
dren were : Arthur Hamilton, whose name 
is at the head of this sketch ; Milton R., now 
deceased, who was a physician in Peoria, 
Illinois, and Minnie E. 

Arthur Hamilton Bailey was born in 
Harrisburg, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, 
September 4, 1869. The public schools of 
his native city furnished him with an ex- 
cellent, practical education, and he was 
graduated from them with honor at the age 
of eighteen years. Having become inter- 
ested in scientific studies, he took up the 
study of pharmacy at the Philadelphia Col- 
lege of Pharmacy, and was graduated from 
this institution in the class of 1893. He 
then formed an association with J. H. 
Boher, pharmacist of Harrisburg, remain- 
ing with him for one year, and then became 
associated with his father in the manufac- 
ture of the "Eureka" coal wagon, which 
has become very popular for the transporta- 
tion of anthracite coal. Since the death of 
his father. May i, 1913, he is in sole charge 
of this important industry, established by 
his father, and his conduct of affairs is dis- 
tinguished by marked executive ability. In 
spite of the manifold and important de- 
mands made upon the time of Mr. Bailey by 
the nature of this business, he has devoted 
much attention to public affairs, in which 
he has always displayed a keen interest. 
He was very young when he first pledged 
his allegiance to the principles of the Re- 
publican party, and he has never wavered 
120 




Modia/i ^. Junkie 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



in the least particular. For eight years he 
served as a member of the Swatara town- 
ship school board, representing his district 
(Paxtang), being twice honored with the 
office of president of this honorable body. 
In 191 1 he was elected treasurer of Dau- 
phin county for a term of four years, and 
i? serving in this office at the present time, 
and enjoys the confidence of all his fellow 
citizens. The cause of religion has also 
found in him an able and enthusiastic advo- 
cate, and he is a trustee as well as member 
of the Paxtang Presbyterian Church. His 
fraternal affiliation is as follows : Persever- 
ance Lodge, No. 21, Free and Accepted Ma- 
sons, of Harrisburg; Harrisburg Chapter, 
Royal Arch Masons ; Pilgrim Commandery, 
No. II, Knights Templar; Harrisburg Con- 
sistory, Royal and Select Masters ; Zembo 
Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles 
of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Bailey married, 
in 1895, Eliza Wilson, a daughter of John 
A. Rutherford, a farmer of Paxtang, Dau- 
phin county. 



DUNKLE, Samuel F., 

Man of Affairs, Pnblic Official. 

Samuel F. Dunkle, a distinguished repre- 
sentative of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, 
is widely known throughout the country for 
the many and valuable services he has ren- 
dered in the industrial world. In the public 
affairs of his county he has gained no less 
a reputation, and the numerous responsible 
duties which have devolved upon him have 
always been discharged in a most capable 
manner. The Dunkle family is of German 
origin, and the name was probably origin- 
ally spelled Dunkel, meaning "dark." The 
family was founded in this country by three 
cousins, who settled in various parts of 
Pennsylvania. 

George Dunkle, grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was born in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1791, and died in 
1847. He removed with his parents to 
Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, at so early a 

I 



date that they were among the pioneer set- 
tlers of the section, and for some years his 
main occupation was farming. In later life 
he was a merchant, and largely engaged in 
woodworking, as a designer and boat 
builder. He showed his love for his coun- 
try during the War of 1812, at which time 
he was an active participant in military 
service, under General Foster. Possessed 
of a bright mind and general information 
of wide scope, it was but natural that he 
should become one of the influential men in 
the community in which he resided. Mr. 
Dunkle married Susan, who died in i860, a 
daughter of Andrew Greiner, of Dauphin 
county. Children : George ; Amos, a sol- 
dier in service during the Civil War, and 
commended for gallant conduct ; Jacob ; 
John; Washington; Susan; Henry; Josiah 
A., of further mention ; Peter, a contractor 
and builder, of Steelton, Pennsylvania. 

Josiah A., son of George and Susan 
(Greiner) Dunkle, was born in Dauphin 
county, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1834, 
and died at Steelton, Pennsylvania, Febru- 
ary 6, 1897. The public schools of Dau- 
phin county furnished his education, and 
upon its completion he was apprenticed to 
learn the carpenter's trade. He gradually 
branched out into contracting and building, 
and his business was an extensive one in 
those directions. In connection with this, 
the value of real estate was impressed upon 
him in 1865, and he acquired considerable 
tracts of land. In 1866 he constructed the 
first complete house which was erected in 
Steelton, which was known as Baldwin at 
that time. Steelton, Highland, Benton and 
Oberlin were largely laid out by' Mr. 
Dunkle, and in association with Mr. Ewing 
he laid out Eastmere, now the Thirteenth 
Ward of Harrisburg. He resided in Ober- 
lin many years, then removed to Steelton. 
The lumber trade and coal engaged a share 
of the attention of Mr. Dunkle, and among 
the other enterprises in which he was 
actively interested were: The Harrisburg 
Boiler and Manufacturing Company, of 



121 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



which he was one of the organizers and 
directors, serving in this office many years ; 
a director in the Steelton Light, Heat and 
Power Company from 1890 to 1894; was 
one of the organizers and promoters of the 
Citizens' Passenger Railway Company, run- 
ning from OberHn, via Steelton, to the upper 
part of Harrisburg, and he was president of 
this corporation until it was merged in the 
Harrisburg Traction Company ; senior part- 
ner in the firm of Dunkle & Company, furni- 
ture dealers ; and was also largely interested 
in a hardware and stove business. The 
cause of education had a great friend in 
him, and he was a trustee of the Gettysburg 
Theological Seminary, and a generous con- 
tributor to it. The uplifting of the colored 
race was another matter he had closely at 
heart, and he will long he remembered in 
Steelton, for his successful efforts in this 
direction. He served as trustee in the Lu- 
theran church, and his large and frequent 
donations were of material assistance in en- 
larging the scope of the work of this insti- 
tution. In political matters he was a Re- 
publican. Mr. Dunkle married, April 30, 
1857, Mary, born August 19, 1838, a daugh- 
ter of William and Catharine Bishop, of 
Swatara township, now Oberlin, Pennsyl- 
vania, and they had children : Ellen, mar- 
ried Dr. J. H. Snavely, of Steelton; Kath- 
erine, married Abraham Dunkle ; Samuel 
F., of further mention ; Mary, married O. 
L. Eppinger ; Elizabeth, married F. H. Alle- 
man ; Amos W. ; Margie I. 

Samuel F., son of Josiah A. and Mary 
(Bishop) Dunkle, was born in Swatara 
township, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, 
May 3, 1862. Having attended the public 
schools of his native township, he became 
a student at Seller's Academy, and upon 
leaving this, took a course in the Harrisburg 
Business College. Thus well equipped for 
the battles to be encountered in a business 
life, Mr. Dunkle became associated with his 
father in the hardware business, under the 
firm name of J. A. Dunkle & Son, and con- 
tinued this for some years, after which he 
purchased the interest of his father, and 



carried on the business alone for several 
years. In 1889 he became president and 
manager of the Star Steam Heating Com- 
pany, later merged into the Harrisburg 
Boiler and Manufacturing Company. Sub- 
sequently he was elected to the presidency 
of the last mentioned corporation, in 1897. 
He is also president of the Moreton Truck 
and Tractor Company ; director in the Har- 
risburg Railways Company, and a member 
of the finance committee of this corpora- 
tion ; and is an extensive holder of real 
estate in Harrisburg. His religious affilia- 
tions are with the Lutheran church, and his 
political support has always been given to 
the Republican party, in whose interests he 
has been an active worker. He served as 
justice of the peace for Steelton for four 
years ; has been a delegate to State and 
county conventions on numerous occasions; 
was elected sheriff of Dauphin county, serv- 
ing a term of three years, 1906-09; was a 
member of the Steelton school board for 
ten years, during which period he was treas- 
urer of the board for some years, and chair- 
man of the building committee. He is a 
member of Harrisburg Lodge, No. 629, 
Free and Accepted Masons ; Harrisburg 
Consistory, Royal and Select Masters ; 
Zembo Temple, Ancient Arabic Order 
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Dunkle 
married, at Fairfield, Adams county, Penn- 
sylvania, Jessie, born November 28, 1874, 
a daughter of Charles J. and Isabelle 
(White) Sefton, of Fairfield, the former of 
whom was a general merchant, and served 
during the Civil War ; and a granddaughter 
of Joseph Sefton, who was born in Eng- 
land, and was the first of his family to emi- 
grate to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. 
Dunkle have had children : Isobel, born 
May 25, 1897, and Charles J., born March 
24, 1899. 



DUNKLE, Amos W., 

Man of Affairs. 

Amos W. Dunkle, second son of Josiah 
A. and Mary (Bishop) Dunkle, was born 
at Churchville, now Oberlin, Dauphin 
122 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



county, Pennsylvania, February 13, 1868. 
Having completed the course in the public 
schools of Dauphin county, he became a 
student at the Steelton high school, and was 
graduated from that institution with honor 
in the class of 1885. This liberal education 
was supplemented by attendance at the 
Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, 
New York, from which he was also gradu- 
ated. Thus well equipped for a business 
career he entered business as an associate 
of his father in the conduct of the real 
estate business which was operated under 
the firm name of J. A. Dunkle & Company. 
The name was later changed to read J. A. 
Dunkle, Sons & Company, and the pro- 
gressive methods of Amos W. have much to 
do with furthering the extensive projects 
of the concern. A portion of his time was 
also given for a period of five years to the 
hardware and stove business at Steelton, 
and he was a member of the firm of Dunkle 
& Eppinger, grocers. He was one of the 
organizers of the Citizens' Passenger Rail- 
way Company, was chosen secretary of that 
body, and later elected to the dual office of 
secretary and treasurer. In April, 1894, he 
was obliged to resign from this office, as his 
unremitting exertions had impaired his 
health, and he therefore devoted more of 
his time to his real estate interests, as this 
took him out of doors more frequently. He 
served for many years as secretary and 
treasurer of the Dunkle & Knoderer Under- 
taking Company, the finest concern of its 
kind in the county. When the Morris 
County (New Jersey) Traction Company 
was organized, Mr. Dunkle was made sec- 
retary and treasurer. He is the general 
manager of the Paxtang Consolidated 
Water Company, and of the Lebanon Val- 
ley Consolidated Water Supply Company, 
and is a director in several of the Paxtang 
and Lebanon Valley Consolidated Water 
Supply Underlying Companies. The polit- 
ical allegiance of Mr. Dunkle is given to the 
Republican party, and he has been an active 
worker in its interests to the full extent of 



his powers. In 1900 he was appointed jus- 
tice of the peace to serve the unexpired term 
of S. F. Dunkle, and was then elected to a 
full term of five years, which he served with 
credit to himself and benefit to the commun- 
ity. Mr. Dunkle married, December 7, 
1888, Jennie K., born July 30, 1869, a 
daughter of Augustus W. and Cassandra 
(Dintaman) Barnet, of Middletown, and 
they have had children: Miriam B., born 
December 26, 1892; Josiah A., born Octo- 
ber 29, 1899; Richard B., born April 11, 
1905. 



PA-4 



II 



COWDEN, Matthew B., 

Civil Engineer. 

It is indeed a tribute to thoroughness of 
training and mastery of a profession when 
one man, a graduate of an old school, holds 
a position of such importance and responsi- 
bility as that of city engineer of Harrisburg 
through a period of forty years, a record all 
the more worthy of hearty admiration when 
the long strides and great advances along 
the lines of municipal engineering are con- 
sidered. To have been the successful in- 
cumbent of this office for four decades, 
such a man must have had stored in his 
mind complete knowledge of the engineer's 
profession, and to this lore have been con- 
stantly adding by deep and constant study, 
keeping well in the van of progress in his 
line. Such is true of him whose name heads 
this record and whose life follows. 

John W., father of Matthew B. Cowden, 
was born in Lower Paxtang, Dauphin 
county, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1817, and 
was there educated, passing his entire life 
in that county. Prior to 1857 John W. 
Cowden was a farmer and surveyor, in that 
year moving to Harrisburg, there follow- 
ing civil engineering, serving as surveyor 
for the city for several years. His death 
occurred July 22, 1872. He married Mary 
Hatton, a native of Dauphin county, and 
had children, his wife's death taking place 
in 1872. Children: Margaret, married 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Samuel N. Hamilton, of Beaver county, 
Pennsylvania ; Frederick H., deceased ; 
Sarah, married Homer H. Cummins, of 
Harrisburg; Elizabeth B., married Mat- 
thew B. Beck, deceased, of New Jersey; 
Matthew B., of whom further; Ellen J., 
deceased, married Stephen Hubertis ; Jo- 
sephine W., deceased, married Stephen Hu- 
bertis, husband of deceased sister Ellen J.; 
William K., deceased, married a Miss 
Pierce. 

Matthew B., son of John W. and Mary 
(Hatton) Cowden, was born in Susque- 
hanna township, Dauphin county, Pennsyl- 
vania, December i, 1851. His family made 
their home in Harrisburg when he was five 
years of age, and he obtained his educa- 
tion in the public schools of that city, com- 
pleting his studies in the Polytechnic Col- 
lege of Pennsylvania, graduating from that 
college in the class of 1872. He imme- 
diately entered the civil engineering field 
and for one year followed this line in Texas, 
employed by the Texas Pacific Railroad 
Company, at the end of that time returning 
to Harrisburg, where he has since held a 
prominent place in engineering circles. In 
1874 he was elected city engineer, and the 
past forty years have witnessed his capable 
and faithful administration of the duties of 
that office, during which time he has pitted 
his knowledge and skill against engineering 
problems perplexing and difficult, finding a 
solution and gaining the supremacy in every 
instance. Mr. Cowden holds membership 
in the Engineers' Club of Pennsylvania, the 
Harrisburg Social Club, and fraternizes 
with several orders, among them Harris- 
burg Lodge, No. 12, Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks; Capital Lodge, No. 
70, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and 
the Masonic order, in which he holds the 
thirty-second degree. His political faith 
has ever been Republican. 

He married, in 1875, Mary H., born in 
Dauphin county, daughter of Charles and 
Sarah (Hoover) Buehler, both deceased. 
Their children: i. Nellie E., deceased. 2. 



Edward C, born in 1879; a civil engineer 
with offices in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; 
married, June 16, 1906, Louise Conover; 
children : Mary Louise, Nancy, and Mat- 
thew B. Cowden Jr. 



ELY, John Wesley, 

Physician, Cancer Specialist. 

The history of the medical profession in 
Pennsylvania, on the pages of which, as 
representatives of different periods, the 
names of Rush and Mitchell shine resplen- 
dent, is continued with no diminution of 
ability and devotion by physicians of the 
present day. Among the foremost of these 
stands Dr. John Wesley Ely, of Washing- 
ton, a leader of his profession in Western 
Pennsylvania, and discoverer of a means 
of subjugating one of the most dread dis- 
eases by which humanity is afflicted. 

George Ely, father of John Wesley Ely, 
was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and after his marriage removed to 
Greene county, where for half a century he 
engaged in farming. He was a man of 
prominence in his community, and for fifty 
years was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, serving for thirty-four years 
as trustee, and having an influential voice 
in its councils. He married Mary Warrick, 
a native of Washington county, and their 
children were: John Wesley, mentioned 
below ; Jones, also a physician, died in 1900 ; 
Tillie, married Rev. James Hickling, and 
resides in Illinois ; Elizabeth, became the 
wife of Rev. E. S. White, of Washington, 
Pennsylvania ; Euphen, married J. S. Hoy, 
of Greene county; Caleb, also of Greene 
county; and W. C, deceased. George Ely, 
the father of the family, died in Greene 
county, November 8, 1897, aged eighty-one 
years, his wife having died in 1887. Like 
her husband, she was a devout member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Dr. John Wesley Ely, son of George and 
Mary (Warrick) Ely, was born September 
24, 1855, in Waynesburg, Greene county, 
124 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Pennsylvania, and during his boyhood at- 
tended the public schools, also assisting his 
father on the farm. At the age of sixteen 
he entered Waynesburg College, and after 
leaving taught for three years in the public 
schools of his native county. During this 
period he decided to devote himself to the 
profession of medicine, and in addition to 
his school work pursued a course of medical 
study. After abandoning teaching as a pro- 
fession he engaged in mercantile business 
in Newton, Greene county, but still, despite 
all obstacles, continued his medical studies. 
When he had exhausted all means of private 
study he entered Pulta Medical College, 
Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating in the class of 
1882 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
He at once began practice in Waynesburg, 
where during the eight years following he 
achieved a gratifying measure of success, 
establishing both with his professional 
brethren and with the general public an 
enviable reputation — a reputation which 
was justly merited, and which has from that 
period to the present time rapidly and stead- 
ily increased. 

The extensive practice which Dr. Ely had 
built up necessitated much hard riding and 
driving, which in the course of time seri- 
ously affected his health. His condition de- 
manded heroic treatment, nothing less than 
a complete abandonment of his plans for a 
professional career in Waynesburg, and 
prompt removal to Uniontown, Pennsyl- 
vania. There, while still continuing the 
practice of his profession, he did not as 
formerly devote to it his entire time, but 
gave his principal attention to the real estate 
business, developing that talent for affairs 
which constitutes one of his dominant char- 
acteristics. He purchased outlying prop- 
erty which after improvement was added 
to the city area and became popular resi- 
dence sections. Notable among these is 
"Mountain View Park," a highly popular 
and extremely beautiful suburban neighbor- 
hood. He was also active in securing for 
Uniontown a street railway service which is 



now part of a most excellent system. An- 
other of the benefits Uniontown received 
from the coming of Dr. Ely was the laying 
out and beautifying of Oak Grove Ceme- 
tery, in association with a few other public- 
spirited citizens. During the whole period 
of his residence in Uniontown, Dr. Ely 
showed himself to possess, in addition to 
his professional qualifications, those of a 
keen, aggressive business man, quick to dis- 
cern dormant possibilities and prompt to 
develop them. 

In February, 1897, Dr. Ely removed to 
Washington, Pennsylvania, where he has 
since been in continuous practice, but in a 
way that has not made undue demands upon 
his health or strength. Here also his talents 
as a man of affairs have found a field for 
their exercise. He is interested in the de- 
velopment of the oil industry in Washing- 
ton county, and has large interests in Colo- 
rado and Mexico. He is president of the 
Hale Mining and Milling Company, with 
an extensive plant near Lake City, Hinsdale 
county, Colorado, the company having rich 
gold and silver deposits on its own prop- 
erties. The oil wells owned by Dr. Ely in 
Washington county are good producers, and 
his real estate holdings in that county are 
valuable. He is recognized not only as of 
high rank in his profession, but as one of 
the business leaders of his part of the State. 

The great achievement of Dr. Ely's pro- 
fessional career has been the discovery of 
a remedy for cancer. He has made a spe- 
cial study of this disease and its treatment, 
and by his success has established a repu- 
tation which extends far beyond the limits 
of his own city. His remedy is the result 
of long research in regard to this disease 
and has been the cause of many cures. He 
is familiar with all scientific discoveries and 
recent experiments, but his remedy requires 
neither the use of the knife, the treatment 
prescribed by Dr. Doyen, nor the employ- 
ment of the Finsen light. The agency of 
radium is also dispensed with. This dis- 
covery, which has already been the means 

125 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of restoring to health many of the afflicted, 
seems destined to be a source of wide-spread 
blessing. 

In politics Dr. Ely is a strong Republican, 
and, while he has neither sought nor held 
public office, has always lent his influence 
to the cause of good government, and has 
done his part as a citizen in securing it. 
He belongs to the Washington Covmty His- 
torical Society, in the work of which he is 
deeply interested, and he affiliates with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

Dr. Ely married, June 23, 1878, Lucie 
Ellen, daughter of Godfrey and Elizabeth 
(Crane) Gordon, of Waynesburg, Penn- 
sylvania, and they are the parents of one 
child : Mary Ruth, born in Waynesburg. 
Mrs. Ely, a thoughtful, clever woman of 
culture and character, is endeared to those 
about her by the gentle seriousness and 
winning sweetness of her disposition. 
While his professional duties make too great 
a demand upon his time to allow him much 
active participation in social affairs. Dr. Ely 
is nevertheless known as a man of genial 
nature and great capacity for friendship, 
and he and his family are prominent in the 
social circles of their city. 

The members of the noble profession to 
which Dr. Ely has devoted his life are, as 
one of the conditions of their enrollment in 
its ranks, pledged to the relief of suffering, 
but to a comparatively small number is it 
given to accomplish this consecrated mission 
by a discovery which entitles them to the 
gratitude of the human race in every quar- 
ter of the globe. Among these world bene- 
factors must be numbered Dr. John Wesley 
Ely. 



FELL, David N., 

Distingnislied. Jurist. 

David Newlin Fell, Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, belongs to 
a family that has been prominent in the 



affairs of his native county since the days 
of William Penn, the greater founder of 
the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and 
numbers among his ancestors several jus- 
tices of its early colonial courts and mem- 
bers of Colonial Assembly. Judge Fell was 
born in Buckingham township, Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1840, 
son of the late Joseph Fell and his wife, 
Harriet WilHams. 

Joseph Fell, the founder of the family in 
Pennsylvania, was born at Longlands, par- 
ish of Uldale, near Carlisle, county of Cum- 
berland, England, October 19, 1668, and in 
1698 married Bridget Wilson, daughter of 
John and Elizabeth Wilson, of Greanary, 
parish of Caldbeck, Cumberland, and in the 
year 1704 came to Pennsylvania and in the 
following year settled on a large plantation 
in Buckingham, one mile east of Doyles- 
town, the present county seat of Bucks 
county. He was a member of the Society 
of Friends, and early became one of the 
prominent and influential men of the county 
and province. He was elected to the 
Provincial Assembly in 1721, and several 
times reelected, serving his last term in the 
year 1734. He was also elected and com- 
missioned at about the same date one of the 
justices of the county court, and served in 
that capacity for a number of years. His 
wife Bridget died July 7, 1708, after bear- 
ing him two sons and two daughters ; and 
on May 10, 171 1, he married Elizabeth 
Doyle, daughter of Edward Doyle and his 
wife Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Thomas 
Dungan, and a sister to the founder of 
Doylestown, the present county seat of 
Bucks, by whom he had seven other chil- 
dren. He died June 9, 1748. 

Joseph Fell, eldest son of Joseph and 
Bridget above named, was born at the old 
Fell homestead of Longlands, county Cum- 
berland, England, June 29, 1701. He mar- 
ried, March 4, 1735, Mary, daughter of Ed- 
mund Kinsey, an eminent minister of the 
Society of Friends at Buckingham, and his 
wife, Sarah Ogborn, of a prominent New 
126 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Jersey family, and settled on a plantation on 
the Durham road, in Buckingham, where he 
resided until his death, February 22, 1777. 
Joseph Fell, son of Joseph and Mary, was 
born on the Buckingham plantation Octo- 
ber 31, 1738. Soon after arriving at man- 
hood he removed to Upper Makefield town- 
ship, where he had purchased a plantation, 
and where he resided until his death, March 
26, 1789. Like his father and grandfather, 
he was a consistent member of the Society 
of Friends, and, true to the tenets of their 
faith as non-combatants, took no part in the 
active struggle for national independence. 
He married, October 21, 1767, Rachel Wil- 
son, born in Buckingham, June 5, 1741, died 
March 8, 1810, daughter of Samuel Wilson, 
and his wife, Rebecca Canby, daughter of 
Thomas Canby, a prominent member of 
Buckingham monthly meeting of Friends, 
and one of the most prominent men of his 
section in colonial times. He was one of 
the justices of the county courts, 1719-1740; 
a member of Provincial Assembly, 1721- 
1740; and filled numerous other positions 
of honor and trust. Samuel Wilson was 
also prominent in the local affairs of his 
section. He was a son of Stephen Wilson 
and his wife, Sarah Baker. Stephen Wil- 
son, though he resided the greater part of 
his life in New Jersey, near the Falls, was 
a member of Falls monthly meeting of 
Friends in Bucks county, and was the 
builder of the first permanent meeting house 
at the Falls, and also built the first Friends' 
meeting house at Buckingham in 1706. His 
wife, Sarah Baker, was born in Lancashire, 
October 18, 1672, and was a daughter of 
Henry Baker, one of the most prominent 
men of Bucks county and Penn's colony on 
the Delaware, one of that little coterie of 
earnest and influential men to whom the 
great founder entrusted the affairs of his 
colony while he was detained in England 
with his own tangled financial affairs and 
affairs of state. He was a member of the 
Provincial Assembly from Bucks county 
almost continuously from 1685 to 1698; jus- 



tice of the county courts from 1689 for 
several years ; and filled a great number of 
minor official positions. He was one of the 
commissioners appointed in 1692 to divide 
Bucks county into townships. 

David Fell, M. D., second son of Joseph 
and Rachel above named, and grandfather 
of Judge Fell, was born in Upper Make- 
field township, Bucks county, July i, 1774. 
He received his medical degree at the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania in 1801, and prac- 
ticed medicine in his native township and in 
Buckingham for a half century, building up 
a large practice and a reputation as a learn- 
ed and successful practitioner. He died 
February 22, 1856. He married, March 16, 
1803, Phebe Schofield, born September 26, 
1774, died January 10, 1858, daughter of 
Samuel Schofield, of Solebury, by his wife 
Edith, daughter of Nathaniel Newlin, of 
Concord, Delaware county, and his wife, 
Esther Metcalf ; granddaughter of Nathan- 
iel Newlin and his wife, Jane Woodward; 
great-granddaughter of Nathaniel New- 
land and Mary Mendenhall ; and great-great- 
granddaughter of Nicholas Newlin, who 
with his wife Elizabeth and children, Na- 
thaniel, John and Rachel, emigrated from 
Mount Melick, county Tyrone. Ireland, in 
1682, and settled in Concord, where he died 
in 1699. He was made a member of Gov- 
ernor's Council in 1685, and a justice of 
Chester county courts, 1684. His son Na- 
thaniel, born December 18, 1665, was com- 
missioned a justice in 1703, and was one of 
the presiding judges of the county court 
until 1726 ; was a member of Provincial As- 
sembly in 1698, and continued a member of 
that body until 1723. His son Nathaniel, 
born November 19, 1690, died February, 
1731-32. The Newlin family was for sev- 
eral generations one of the most prominent 
and influential ones in Chester county. 

Joseph Fell, only surviving son of David 
and Phebe Fell above named, and father of 
Judge Fell, was born at Lurgan, Upper 
Makefield township, Bucks county, March 
12, 1804, and died in Buckingham, March 
127 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



II, 1887. He was one of the best known 
and highly respected men in his native 
county. In early life a teacher in the schools 
maintained by subscription in his own neigh- 
borhood, and later an instructor in Gum- 
mere's Academy at Burlington, New Jer- 
sey, and the Friends' School at Buckingham, 
raising the latter to a high grade of efficiency 
he became a special champion of popular 
education. As a member of the State Legis- 
lature in 1837 he was actively interested and 
identified with the adoption of the common 
school law of Pennsylvania, and rendered 
valuable services in putting it into effect in 
his native county. He was elected a mem- 
ber of the first public school board of Buck- 
ingham township, and served as its secre- 
tary for many years. In 1854, when the 
office of County Superintendent of Public 
Schools was created, he was selected as the 
first incumbent of that office and placed it 
on a high plane of usefulness. The Pennsyl- 
vania Germans of the upper half of Bucks 
county looked upon the enactment of the 
public school law with suspicion, and it was 
due to the plausible and practical explana- 
tion of its true functions by our first super- 
intendent that it was as readily accepted in 
this section. In the second year of his in- 
cumbency of the office he established the 
Bucks County Teachers' Institute, now such 
an important factor in public education, it 
being the natural outgrowth of the local 
association of teachers so earnestly urged 
by him. At the end of his first term of 
office he declined reelection, but continued 
his active interest in educational matters to 
the close of his long and useful life. He 
was for many years a director and trustee 
of the Hughesian Free School, and held in- 
enumerable other positions of trust. A life- 
long member of the Society of Friends, in 
which his ancestors had held membership 
for six generations, he took a lively interest 
in the social reforms for which that society 
had long stood sponsor. He was an out- 
spoken advocate of the abolition of human 
slavery, and his home in Buckingham was 

II 



one of the stations of the "Underground 
Railroad." He was a man of high intel- 
lectual ability, keeping in touch with the 
development of public opinion on great pub- 
lic questions, and fearless in the expression 
of his opinion and convictions in relation to 
the public weal. He married, March 28, 
1835, Harriet WilHams, born September 25, 
1807, died March 28, 1890, daughter of 
Samuel and Sarah (Watson) Williams; 
granddaughter of Benjamin Williams, by 
his wife Mercy Stevenson, of a prominent 
New Jersey family; and great-granddaugh- 
ter of Jeremiah Williams, by his second 
wife, Mary Newbury, with whom he re- 
moved from Westbury, Long Island, to 
Kingwood, New Jersey, in 1743, from 
whence his son Benjamin removed to Nock- 
amixon township, Bucks county, about 1760, 
and the latter's son Samuel removed to 
Buckingham in 1804. 

Hon. David Newlin Fell, Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, was 
the second son of Joseph and Harriet (Wil- 
liams) Fell, and was born on his father's 
farm in Buckingham, November 4, 1840. 
He received his primary education under 
the direction of his father, and entered the 
First State Normal School at Millersville, 
Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 
the class of 1862. In August, 1862, he en- 
listed as second lieutenant of Company E, 
One Hundred and Twenty-second Regiment 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, recruited at Lan- 
caster by Colonel Emlen Franklin, Com- 
pany E being mainly recruited from the 
students of the Millersville Normal School. 
The regiment, enlisted for nine months serv- 
ice, was immediately ordered to Washing- 
ton and arrived there August 16, 1862, and 
until December was stationed at different 
points, participating as part of the Third 
Corps in the defence of the approaches to 
the National Capital. In December it par- 
ticipated under General Burnside in the at- 
tack on Fredericksburg, and in May, 1863, 
under General Sickles, passed through the 
scathing fire of the fierce battle of Chan- 
28 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



cellorsville, where the regiment lost heavily. 
At the close of the battle the One Hundred 
and Twenty-second Regiment acted as escort 
to the body of General Whipple, slain in the 
battle, to Washington, and, its term of serv- 
ice having expired, was ordered to Harris- 
burg, where it was mustered out May 15, 
1863. 

At the close of his military service. Judge 
Fell returned home, and soon after began 
the study of law in the office of his brother, 
William W. Fell, in Philadelphia, and was 
admitted to the Philadelphia bar March 17, 
1866. After eleven years successful prac- 
tice in Philadelphia and the several courts 
of Pennsylvania, he was appointed on May 
3, 1877, '^y Governor Hartranft, judge of 
the court of common pleas of Philadelphia 
county, and in the following November was 
elected for the full term of ten years, at the 
expiration of which in 1887 he was unani- 
mously reelected, being the nominee, as in 
1877, of both the Republican and Demo- 
cratic parties. Prior to his election he was 
a member of the city council for the Twen- 
tieth Ward. He also served as a member 
of the municipal commission created by act 
of Legislature to devise plans for the better 
government of cities of the commonwealth. 
Judge Fell is a member of Post No. 2, 
Grand Army of the Republic, of Philadel- 
phia, and has served as senior vice-com- 
mander and judge advocate general of the 
Grand Army of the Republic of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Judge Fell was elected to the Supreme 
Bench in 1893, ^^'^ became Chief Justice in 
January, 1908. As Judge of the Common 
Pleas Court, Judge Fell was intensely popu- 
lar with the local practitioners and officers 
of the court as well as with litigants, by 
reason of his uniform courtesy to every one 
having business with the court, and his deci- 
sions and opinions in both the lower courts 
and Supreme Court have been marked by 
their clear and concise interpretation of the 
law, and brevity, rather than by forensic dis- 
play of legal phraseology ; evidencing a con- 

I 



servative discrimination between the legis- 
lative and judicial functions of government. 
Applying to each case in hand a profound 
knowledge of the scope and application of 
the law, conscientiously earnest, with a keen 
appreciation of its responsibilities, few men 
have filled the high position for a score of 
years with more honor. 

Many years ago Judge Fell purchased of 
his brother a portion of the Buckingham 
homestead on which he was reared, and, 
erecting a country home overlooking the 
beautiful Buckingham Valley, spends his 
summers in his native county. Judge Fell 
married, September i, 1870, Martha P. 
Trego, daughter of Smith and Anna (Phil- 
lips) Trego, of a family as old and promi- 
nent in the annals of Bucks county as his 
own. Their surviving children are : Anna 
T., wife of John H. Ruckman, of Solebury; 
David Newlin, a lawyer of Philadelphia; 
Edith Newlin ; Emma Trego, and Edward 
Watson. 



DARRAGH, Robert Weyand, 

La-wyer, Capitalist. 

This prominent lawyer and business man, 
who began his practice in Beaver with the 
beginning of the century and is connected 
in various ways with so many of the city's 
larg^t institutions, is of old time Penn.syl- 
vania and New Jersey ancestry, being a de- 
scendant on the maternal side of John Hart, 
of New Jersey, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence. His paternal 
grandfather, Major Robert Darragh, was 
born in Ireland, in 1776, and, coming to 
this country in 1798, was one of the earliest 
pioneers of Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 
Fie landed at Philadelphia when a boy of 
only twelve years of age, direct from the 
old home in Darraghstown, county Ferma- 
nagh, Ireland. Remaining in Philadelphia 
a short time, he came to Carlisle, Pennsyl- 
vania, and then to Beaver county, where he 
obtained employment on a farm on Raccoon 
creek. He was naturalized in this county, 
129 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



August 3, 1807, settling on the south side. 
The first building in Bridgewater was erect- 
ed by him, and he also opened a store there, 
building a warehouse, and entered upon the 
boating business. He met with consider- 
able success until he incurred the loss of a 
pirogue, or flatboat, which, heavily laden 
with merchandise, was caught in an ice floe 
near the mouth of Chartiers creek and sank, 
he himself barely escaping death. In order 
to meet the heavy loss, he was compelled to 
teach school in Beaver county for a time ; 
also going to Ohio for a short time, where 
he worked in the salt mines in the daytime 
and taught school at night, until he had re- 
cuperated from his losses. He returned to 
Bridgewater, which in those days was 
known as Sharon, and immediately entered 
merchandise business ; later he built an iron 
foundry, which he conducted successfully 
in partnership with his four sons — John 
Stafford, Hart, Mattison, and Scudder 
Hart, under the name of R. Darragh & 
Sons. The two eldest sons afterward with- 
drew from the firm, and in 1848 he also 
retired, leaving the business in the hands of 
the remaining two sons, who continued it 
until the year 1902. In this year the part- 
ners, on account of advancing years, sold 
out and retired, their store and foundry 
having been for many years among the 
largest and most successful in the neighbor- 
hood. 

Robert Darragh was public-spirited and 
patriotic to a great degree. When, during 
the war of 1812, the massacre of women 
and children near Warren, Ohio, was re- 
ported, he sent arms and supplies to the 
relief of the city from his own warehouse 
and at his own expense. In 1846 he was 
elected to the State Senate of Pennsylvania, 
serving one term ; and, though himself a 
Whig, voted for Simon Cameron, the Demo- 
cratic candidate for the United States Sen- 
ate, because their ideas in regard to a pro- 
tective tariff were in agreement. He be- 
came prominently identified with the finan- 
cial, mercantile and manufacturing inter- 



ests of the Beaver Valley and of Western 
Pennsylvania ; and was a liberal supporter 
of the church and charitable institutions. 
He was one of the pioneers of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church in this part of the 
State, and was one of the founders and first 
trustees of the church at Beaver which was 
erected in 1829, rendering the same service 
to the Bridgewater Methodist Episcopal 
church, which was erected later. Before 
the erection of these two churches he was 
a member and one of the first trustees of 
the old church at Sharon, located on the 
hillside, not far from the end of the present 
toll bridge. 

He died July 21, 1872, at the age of 
ninety-six years. His wife was Deborah 
Hart, granddaughter of John Hart, of New 
Jersey, the signer of the Declaration to 
whom previous reference has been made. 
Six sons were born to them : John Stafford, 
Jesse, James, Hart, Mattison, and Scudder 
Hart; also two daughters; Martha A., who 
married Hiram Stowe; and Cynthia B., 
who married Dr. Milo Adams. With the 
exception of Jesse, who died in infancy, 
these children all lived long lives, the young- 
est son, Scudder Hart, still residing in 
Beaver county. 

Scudder Hart Darragh, father of Robert 
Weyand Darragh, was for many years a 
prominent manufacturer of this county, and 
was also interested in oil development and 
banking; a man of affairs, and of high 
standing in the community during his active 
business life, he retired some years ago 
with a competency, and is now enjoying the 
fruits of his long years of usefulness. He 
was always extremely active in public life 
and in politics, being a member of the Re- 
publican party; though never an office 
seeker he has held some minor offices, and 
has always been alert and attentive to the 
public welfare. His wife, who was Miss 
Anna Catherine Weyand, a native of Som- 
erset, Pennsylvania, and daughter of Hon. 
Daniel Weyand, a prominent lawyer of that 
place, died in 1903. 
130 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Robert Weyand Darragh, son of Scudder 
Hart and Anna Catherine (Weyand) Dar- 
ragh, was born July 15, 1870, at West 
Bridgewater, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. 
He grew up on the old place, receiving his 
primary education in the public schools of 
the county, and graduating from Beaver 
High School in the year 1889. He then 
entered Allegheny College, at Meadville, 
Pennsylvania, and graduated with the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Arts in 1893. He also 
obtained the degree of Master of Arts from 
this college, as well as fellowship in the Phi 
Beta Kappa fraternity, an organization 
based entirely upon scholarship. After his 
graduation he became an instructor in 
mathematics at Beaver College, continuing 
thus for awhile ; then^ taking up the study 
of law in the ofifices of Judge Richard S. 
Holt and John F. Reed, of Beaver. By 
application and industry he rapidly acquired 
the principles of a legal education, and was 
admitted to the bar April 21, 1901. He be- 
gan practice at once in Beaver, and met 
with success from the outset, his profession 
proving exceedingly lucrative and bringing 
to him esteem, honors and public responsi- 
bilities. He has an active practice in the 
Court of Common Pleas, in the Orphans' 
Court, and in equity cases ; and is regarded 
as one of the ablest lawyers in this locality, 
being admitted to practice in all of the State 
and Federal courts. He is a member of the 
Beaver County and State Bar associations, 
and is connected in various capacities with 
almost all of the leading corporations and 
institutions of this place. He is president 
of the Beaver Land Company ; secretary 
and treasurer of the Beaver Realty Com- 
pany; secretary and director of the Beaver 
Cemetery Company ; secretary and trustee 
of Beaver College ; director of the Beaver 
County Telephone Company; director of 
the Monaca National Bank ; and vice-presi- 
dent and director of the Fort Mcintosh 
National Bank, of Beaver. He has also 
served for twelve years on the borough 
school board. 



As an ardent member of the Republican 
party he has been very active in political 
matters, having been a member of the Re- 
publican county committee and a frequent 
delegate to State and district conventions. 
For three consecutive years, 1905, 1906, and 
1907, he represented the county as a dele- 
gate to the Pennsylvania State Republican 
convention ; and has been very active and 
effectual on the stump as a campaign orator. 
He is an eloquent and popular speaker and 
succeeds in making his point of view accept- 
able to the crowds whom he addresses. Be- 
sides his membership in business and polit- 
ical organizations, Mr. Darragh also belongs 
to a number of fraternal and social clubs 
and societies. He is past master and mem- 
ber of St. James" Lodge, Free and xA.c- 
cepted Masons, and a member of Eureka 
Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and belongs 
to the Descendants of the Signers, and 
to the Fort Mcintosh Club, a social organ- 
ization. He is also very active in the 
work of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
of which he and his family are all members ; 
as assistant superintendent of the Sunday 
school he has been very devoted and suc- 
cessful, advancing the interests of the 
church and serving on the official board. 
Mr. Darragh is also a member of the Phi 
Delta Theta fraternity and the Forestry 
Association. 

On November 14, 1901, he was married, 
in Washington, Pennsylvania, to Jessie Ben- 
ton Hawkins, daughter of General Alex- 
under L. and Cynthia (Greenfield) Hawkins, 
of that city. General Hawkins was a sol- 
dier of the Civil War, also of the Spanish- 
American War, serving during the latter in 
the Philippines as colonel of the Tenth 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and. dying 
in 1899, on board the transport, on his way 
home. He was at one time treasurer of 
Washington county, and represented that 
county in the State Senate. Mr. and Mrs. 
Darragh have two children: Alexander 
Hawkins, born in 1902 ; and Elizabeth 
Greenfield, born in 1907. Mrs. Darragh is 

131 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



a graduate of the Western Female College, 
Oxford, Ohio ; and is a woman of culture 
and refinement. She is influential in the 
social set in which she moves, and is a mem- 
ber of the Woman's Club, of Beaver; also 
regent of Fort Mcintosh Chapter, Daugh- 
ters of the Revolution, to which she belongs. 
Like her husband, she is interested in all 
kinds of educational, social and benevolent 
work. Mr. and Mrs. Darragh and their 
family have a delightful residence at No. 
255 College avenue, in Beaver, and are most 
hospitable in their entertainments and social 
functions. 



BARNEY, Charles Dennis, 

Financier, Public Spirited Citizen. 

Although not a native born Pennsyl- 
vanian, probably no name is better known 
in Philadelphia financial circles than that of 
Charles D. Barney, founder of the banking 
firm of Charles D. Barney & Company, 
banker and brokers, and for thirty-four 
years its capable head. This position was 
reached through progressive steps beginning 
in September, 1867, as clerk in the office 
of Jay Cooke & Co., Jay Cooke, its head, 
being one of the ablest financiers this coun- 
try has ever produced. Fortunate, indeed, 
in his early association with such a man, 
yet Mr. Barney's success has come to him 
through native ability and a wise exercise 
of his own powers. 

The Barneys in America spring from 
Jacob Barney, who sailed from England in 
1634 and settled at Salem, Massachusetts. 
Charles D. is a son of Charles Barney, born 
in New York State, a grain merchant of 
Sandusky, Ohio, where he died of cholera 
in 1849, 3.t the early age of thirty-eight 
years. He was a well known charitable 
worker, giving generously of his means, con- 
tracting his last sickness while ministering 
to those in need who had been stricken with 
the dread disease, then epidemic in the land. 
In early life he enjoyed the warm personal 
friendship of Jay Cooke, a friendship that 



descended to his son. He married Eliza- 
beth Caldwell Dennis, whose maternal uncle 
was a lifelong friend of Eleutheros Cooke, 
the father of Jay Cooke, and emigrated with 
him to Ohio about 1817. 

Charles Dennis Barney was born in San- 
dusky, Ohio, July 9, 1844, second in a fam- 
ily of five. He was educated in the public 
schools of Sandusky, and later entered the 
University of Michigan, remaining about 
one year. He then left college to enlist in 
the one hundred days' service, doing guard 
duty near Washington during that period. 
His elder brother, Henry C. Barney, had 
also enlisted and was mortally wounded at 
the battle of Shiloh. After being mustered 
out, Mr. Barney returned to Sandusky, 
where he secured a position in the Second 
National Bank, under President Lester S. 
Hubbard, who was also the first employer 
of Jay Cooke. Mr. Barney remained with 
the Second National Bank until September, 
1867, as a clerk and bookkeeper, then came 
to Philadelphia, where on September 18, 
1867, he entered the employ of Jay Cooke 
& Co., bankers. He continued with that 
firm until 1873, when in connection with 
Jay Cooke Jr. he established the house 
of Charles D. Barney & Company, bankers 
and brokers. This house has had a very 
successful career and has become one of the 
best known and reliable firms in the city. 
The firm he founded in 1873 and served as 
senior partner until July, 1907, still con- 
tinues under the old firm name, with J. 
Horace Harding, Jay Cooke (3rd) and 
others as the present partners under the old 
name. 

Among other business interests, Mr. Bar- 
ney is a trustee of the Penn Mutual Life In- 
surance Company and a director of the 
Equitable Life Assurance Society, Hunting- 
ton and Broad Top Railroad and Coal Com- 
pany. He is also deeply interested in the 
work of the Hahnemann Medical College 
and Hospital, which he serves as president. 
He is one of the oldest vestryman of St. 
Paul's Episcopal Church (Cheltenham), 
32 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Ogontz, succeeding Jay Cooke as rector's 
warden in 1905. He is an ardent Sunday 
school worker, and since 1900 has served 
St. Paul's Sunday school as superintendent. 
His permanent home is "Eildon," on the 
York road, at Ogontz, Pennsylvania, an 
old historic property named in memory of 
the Eildon Hills, near Melrose, Scotland, 
the grounds covering eight acres adorned 
with grand old trees. Here Mr. Barney and 
family resided from 1877 until 1880, when 
the old house was burned and replaced by 
the present mansion. The summer home is 
at Gibraltar Island, Put-in Bay, Lake Erie, 
an island of eight acres, purchased by Jay 
Cooke in 1863, and made famous by Perry's 
occupation before his famous naval battle 
on Lake Erie. The house is built near the 
cliff called "Perry's Lookout," from which 
Perry viewed the enemy's fleet and laid his 
plans for the battle in which he won undy- 
ing fame. 

Mr. Barney married, April 22, 1869, 
Laura E., eldest daughter of Jay Cooke, at 
the family residence, Ogontz, now the site 
of the Ogontz school for young ladies. Chil- 
dren: Dorothea, married J. Horace Hard- 
ing, of New York ; Elizabeth, married John 
H. Whitaker, of Chestnut Hill ; Katherine, 
married Joseph S. Bunting, of Jenkintown; 
Emily, married Baron Friederich von Hiller, 
now residing in Mexico City; Laura, mar- 
ried Henry M. Watts, of Ogontz ; Carlotta, 
married Archibald B. Hubard, of Jenkin- 
town. There are also eleven grandchildren. 



COLTON, John Milton, 

Financier, Public Benefactor. 

Among the financiers of Philadelphia of 
the passing generation, no one filled a more 
noteworthy place than the late John Milton 
Colton. He was one of those men who had 
not only achieved a marked degree of suc- 
cess in his chosen field of activity, but who 
had made a systematic effort to share the 
fruits of his labors with many charitable 
and philanthropic movements that he deemed 

II 



worthy of his support. Mr. Colton was 
born in Philadelphia, October 25, 1849. His 
parents were Sabin Woolworth Colton, of 
Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and Susanna 
(Beaumont) Colton, of New York City. 

The original ancestor in this country was 
George Colton, who came to America in 
1644, later attaining the rank of quarter- 
master in the Colonial army. His descend- 
ant. Major Luther Colton, served with dis- 
tinction in the War of the Revolution, add- 
ing new laurels to the patriotic record of 
the family. By virtue of this illustrious 
lineage, therefore, John Milton Colton was 
a Son of the Revolution, and held member- 
ship in the Society of Colonial Wars, in the 
Patriots and Founders and was a member 
of the New England Society. His deep in- 
terest in genealogy was manifested by his 
devoting the greater part of the last four 
years of his life to the arduous task of com- 
piling and publishing a most exhaustive and 
authentic family record, entitled "Quarter- 
master George Colton and His Descend- 
ants." 

Although the school days of Mr. Colton 
ended when he was sixteen, his education 
continued all through life. He was pas- 
sionately fond of reading and study, pos- 
sessed an intellect of far reaching capacity, 
and was what might be deemed an unusually 
well informed man on all topics. He seemed 
to thoroughly assimilate every word that he 
read. Upon leaving school he entered the 
banking house of E. W. Clark & Company, 
with whom he was closely and actively iden- 
tified for a period covering forty years. His 
abilities were soon recognized, rising step by 
step, when, in 1881, he was taken into part- 
nership, which fact alone suffices as to the 
degree of confidence he had established in 
his employers. He had displayed a peculiar 
fitness for finance. His was a quick clear 
insight, with the result that he could meas- 
ure the possibilities of an investment with 
remarkable accuracy. A master of details, 
a man of business through and through, Mr. 
Colton merited the prosperity that came 
33 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



through his own efforts and through the 
connection with this well known house. 

On January i, 1907, finding that he de- 
sired to live the remaining years of his life 
without the streets and call of active busi- 
ness, he voluntarily and against the wishes 
of his partners, retired from the firm of 
E. W. Clark & Company. From that time 
until his death, on June 5, 1913, he lived as 
he had always dreamed of living. His fond- 
ness for out-of-doors took him to many 
haunts of the ardent fisherman; he was an 
indefatigable traveler, spending as much as 
six months at a time away from home and 
in foreign climes. He was a devoted and 
valued member of the Presbyterian church, 
it being to the church and its affiliated 
boards that he gave so generously of his 
time, his energy and his money. Perhaps 
Mr. Colton's deep interest in and service to 
the Presbyterian church might best be 
summed up in naming some of the various 
positions of trust in the church held by him 
— Member of the board of trustees and 
chairman of the finance committee of the 
General Assembly, member of the Board of 
Publication and Sunday School Work, and 
member of Advisory Board of Presbyterian 
Home for Widows and Single Women. For 
twenty-seven years he was a member of the 
Abington Presbyterian Church, also an 
elder and secretary of the board of trustees. 
He was a trustee of the Preston Retreat, a 
member of the Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania, of the National Geographical So- 
ciety. He held membership in the following 
clubs : Union Leagv:e, Art Club, Hunting- 
ton Valley Country Club, and the Down 
Town Club. Mr. Colton was a lover of 
music and interested himself in the devel- 
opment of it in Philadelphia. At its incep- 
tion he became one of the guarantors of the 
Philadelphia Orchestra, continuing as one 
until his death. 

In January, 1880, Mr. Colton married 
Miss Mary Roberts, of Philadelphia, who, 
together with the following children survive 



him : Milton Beaumont Colton, of Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Bayard Hand, 
of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Mrs. 
Elliot C. R. Laidlaw, of Plainfield, New 
Jersey. The family residence is at "Wynd- 
hurst," Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. 

Perhaps no more fitting tribute to the 
memory of Mr. Colton could be written than 
in the words of the Rev. James W. Wil- 
liams, who officiated at the funeral services 
of the deceased, and whose remarks were in 
part as follows : 

In the death of J. Milton Colton, Providence 
has trken from us no ordinary man, but a man 
of might and courage and resource, a man of 
truth and reliableness and lifelong integrity, a 
man of sympathy and large hearted benevolence. 
In making search for the strong foundation of 
Mr. Colton's life there are a few characteristics 
that were very prominent and need special men- 
tion. He was a man of convictions, a man com- 
pacted of positives, invariably clear in opinion 
and firm in attitude. When he came to appre- 
hend the realities of life, illumined by the reali- 
ties of divine truth, it was in no negative mood 
but with a vivid experience and seizure of soul 
that made them his own. He had a burning 
indignation for all that is false and a burning 
sympathy v/ith all that is good. He could "re- 
prove, rebuke and exhort." He did this with an 
authority that only goodness can command. 
Then, too, he was a man noted for faithfulness. 
You could always depend upon him. His word 
was as good as his bond. * * * But his devo- 
tion to his church was his chief distinction. His 
church was very dear to him and his religion 
was not a garment to be worn but an influence 
absorbed. There was no ostentatious parade of 
his devotion. He said little but acted much. His 
piety was that of principle rather than emotion 
and it was too much occupied in conduct to 
have any energy to spare for display. To the 
cause of Missions, both foreign and domestic, 
and to all the varied benevolences, he was a 
generous contributor. Many a large gift was 
made, known only to the receiver and his imme- 
diate family. Quite a number of buildings at 
home and abroad stand to-day as monuments of 
his generosity and kindness of heart. Let his 
example teach us that the cause of truth and 
justice and charity and piety are well worth 
living for. 



1 134 





mAASJ^y^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



JOYCE, James A., 

Department Store Proprietor. 

Mr. James A. Joyce has been called the 
most pubHc-spirited citizen of Pittston; he 
is in every respect a self-made man, begin- 
ning life as a slate picker in the mines, and 
rising by dint of his own energy and enter- 
prise to the enviable position which he holds 
to-day as head of one of the largest general 
department stores in this part of the State. 

Mr. Joyce was born in Pittston, Pennsyl- 
vania, January 13, 1866, being the son of 
Patrick and Hannah (Dignon) Joyce; his 
father, who is now deceased, was a coal 
miner of Pennsylvania. Mr. Joyce, who 
had but few advantages as a youth, received 
nevertheless an excellent education. His 
primary studies were at St. John's Parochial 
School, and after this he entered Wyoming 
Seminary at Wyoming, Pennsylvania. At 
the age of twenty years, his education being 
then completed, he engaged in business at 
his present location; and so great has been 
his aptitude for the work, combined with 
energy, pluck and a remarkably keen judg- 
ment, that his success has been almost 
phenomenal. He now not only carries on 
his large business with its steadily increasing 
growth, but is esteemed one of the most 
able public men whom Pittston has ever pro- 
duced. 

For the past three years Mr. Joyce has 
been president of the Pittston Merchants' 
Association. In 191 1 he was elected on the 
Reform ticket as a six-year member of the 
city school board, and he has taken the lead 
since in revising the entire school system of 
Pittston. It is owing entirely to his efiforts 
that the old demoralizing conditions have 
been completely removed, and many changes 
of administration already effected, with a 
saving to the city of over $40,000. His wis- 
dom in financial matters and his foresight in 
all requirements and methods of reform 
have won for him a wide spread approba- 
tion in civic circles, where he is looked upon 
as one of the leading spirits of the present 

II 



generation. Mr. Joyce is a very prominent 
man in the Democratic party, and is keen 
and quick in his political insight. His inter- 
est in public affairs embraces everything that 
touches the welfare of the country. For the 
past three years he has been president of the 
Father Matthew's Society in Pittston ; and 
he is an ex-grand knight of the order of the 
Knights of Columbus, having been a dele- 
gate to various State conventions. He is a 
most liberal Catholic, as well as a liberal 
contributor of time and money to the cause 
of the Catholic church and to the city at 
large. 

His wife was a Miss Bridget Walsh, of 
Pittston, being the daughter of Joseph and 
Catherine Walsh, also residents of Pittston. 
They have one daughter. Miss Mary Joyce, 
who is a graduate of St. John's School, and 
now a student at Pittston High School. Mr. 
Joyce has a most comfortable home at No. 
213 North Main street, where he lives with 
his family and enjoys to the full the fruits of 
good citizenship and the esteem of the entire 
community. The family have a wide circle 
of friends and acquaintances, and contribute 
much to the social life of the city which has 
been the recipient of Mr. Joyce's public 
spirited generosity. He is a citizen whom 
Pittston could ill spare from her midst. 



COWAN, Rev. Edward P., D. D., 

Clergyman, Prominent in Freedmen Work. 

Among the distinguished divines of the 
Keystone State, whose work has made them 
of national reputation, is Rev. Edward P. 
Cowan, D. D., corresponding secretary of 
the Board of Missions for the Freedmen of 
the United States of America. His busy 
life has been full of achievements, and to- 
day he is held in genuine admiration by the 
people of America. He needs no eulogy, 
for the simple record of his career tells its 
own story. 

Edward P. Cowan was born at Potosi, 
Missouri, March 31, 1840, son of Rev. 
John F. and Mary (Enghsh) Cowan. Dr. 

35 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Cowan's family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
and all its members have been Presbyte- 
rians. The great-grandfather was Hugh 
Cowan, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
who lived to be eighty years of age. His 
son, Adam Cowan, who died at the age of 
forty years, was a soldier in the Revolution. 
The Rev. John F. Cowan, who was born in 
Chester county, in 1801, graduated from 
Jefiferson College, Washington county, and 
in 1828 from Princeton Theological Semi- 
nary. In 1829 he was ordained to the Pres- 
byterian ministry, and went as home mis- 
sionary to Missouri, where he spent the rest 
of his life engaged in his sacred calling, a 
period of thirty-three years. In connection 
with his last pastorate, at Carondelet, St. 
Louis, he was commissioned by President 
Lincoln as post chaplain to the House of 
Refuge Hospital ; and he was army chap- 
lain at the time of his death in 1862. His 
wife Mary was a daughter of James R. and 
Alice (Conover) English, and a descendant 
of the family that settled in Englishtown, 
New Jersey. Mr. English was a staunch 
Presbyterian and an elder in the old Tenant 
church. When a boy he was captured by 
the British, and was threatened with hang- 
ing, if he would not tell where the Ameri- 
cans were keeping their powder. Though 
but sixteen years old at the time, he allowed 
his captors to string him up without flinch- 
ing. He was afterward set free, and the 
British were no wiser for having met him. 
Of his family of nine children, Mary was 
next to the youngest. Having survived her 
husband twenty-five years, she died in 1887 
at Pittsburgh, being then eighty-one years 
old. She had five children, namely : James, 
of St. Louis, Missouri ; John F. Cowan, D. 
D., who is professor of modern languages 
in Westminster College, Missouri ; Alice, 
deceased ; William, deceased ; Edward P., 
see forward. 

Edward P. Cowan, the youngest of his 
parents' children, attended Westminster 
College, in Missouri, and graduated there 
with honors in i860, taking the degree of 



Bachelor of Arts. After teaching school 
for a year he entered Princeton Theological 
Seminary, from which he graduated in 1864. 
He was shortly afterward ordained by the 
Presbytery of St. Louis, and began his first 
pastorate at Washington, Missouri, in one 
of the churches which his father had for- 
merly served. He remained at Washington 
for three years, and subsequently preached 
for a year at St. Joseph, Missouri, and for 
a year and a half in St. Louis. He was then 
called to the pastorate of Market Square 
Presbyterian Church, at Germantown, Penn- 
sylvania, and remained there for more than 
twelve years. In 1882 he was invited to 
preach in the Third Church in Pittsburgh, 
with the prospect of a call to a probable 
vacancy in its pulpit; and on September 13, 
1882, the night on which the previous pas- 
toral relations were dissolved, he was unan- 
imously called to that church. He remained 
pastor of the Third Church for ten years. 
He is a man who possesses in no small 
degree that mysterious and magnetic charm 
which, intangible as the spirit of life itself, 
yet manifests itself with dynamic force in 
all human relations, to differentiate its pos- 
sessors from the commonplace. Dr. Cowan 
was a trustee of the University of Pitts- 
burgh, of Pennsylvania College for Women 
for many years ; a director and secretary of 
the directors of the Western Theological 
Seminary, and a trustee of the Pittsburgh 
Presbytery, an incorporated body. He is 
also a member of the board of colportage 
and of the executive committee. While Dr. 
Cowan was pastor of the Third Church, an 
average of ten members were added to the 
church at each communion, giving a total 
of over four hundred; and the annual 
amount of contributions increased from 
$23,625 in 1882-83, to $54,383 in 1891-92. 
During this time Dr. Cowan had become a 
member of the Freedmen's Board and had 
been for four years its president. In this 
work he was the man of affairs, with an 
easy, simple manner which did not at once 
suggest the strength and tenacity of char- 
136 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



acter which a closer acquaintance with him 
reveals. His most marked characteristics 
are great industry, the practical bent of his 
mind, a very clear sense of values, the 
power of organization and good business 
judgment, and it was his possession of these 
qualities that brought about his election to 
the position of corresponding secretary of 
the Freedmen's Board, in 1892, upon the 
death of Dr. Allen, the former correspond- 
ing secretary. Upon assuming the duties of 
this position. Dr. Cowan resigned his pas- 
torate, in order to devote himself wholly to 
his new work. At the next annual meeting 
of the Third Church congregation the fol- 
lowing resolutions were adopted : 

Whereas, the Rev. E. P. Cowan, D. D., our 
beloved pastor, has tendered his resignation, and 
has asked the congregation to join with him in 
consenting that the Presbytery shall dissolve the 
pastoral relations now existing, and, having 
heard and considered his reasons for this re- 
quest, and believing that our Lord is leading the 
way, 

Therefore, Resolved, that, expressing our 
affection for and confidence in our pastor, and 
in gratitude for his faithful labors in the con- 
gregation and his tender pastoral care for us 
individually, we consent to his request that the 
pastoral relations may be dissolved by the Pres- 
bytery, to take effect January i, 1893. 

Commendatory resolutions were also 
passed by the Presbytery. Since ceasing his 
official relations with the Third Church, Dr. 
Cowan has given his whole time to his work 
for the Freedmen, being also treasurer of 
the Board since 1903. He has the oversight 
of three hundred and ninety-eight churches, 
two hundred and forty ministers, and one 
hundred and thirty-one schools, twenty of 
which are boarding-schools, including Bid- 
die University at Charlotte, North Carolina. 
A man of impressive personality and aggres- 
sive character, he has throughout his life 
displayed such courage, self-assertion, and 
mental as well as moral force, as are seldom 
met with in any calling. 

On August 7, 1872, Dr. Cowan married 
Miss Anna M., daughter of George D. and 

I 



Emmeline (Fisher) Baldwin, of New York 
City. Mrs. Cowan's family settled origi- 
nally in Milford, Connecticut, in 1639, and 
all its descendants have been staunch Pres- 
byterians. Her great-grandfather was a 
prominent member of the church at Con- 
necticut Farms, New Jersey. Her grand- 
father was a member of the First Church 
at Newark, and her father, George D., was 
a Presbyterian elder for forty years in New 
York City. George D. Baldwin had one 
other child, Joseph T., of New York City. 
Mrs. Cowan's maternal great-grandfather 
was Colonel David Chambers, who served 
throughout the wnole of the Revolutionary 
War, and who fought with Washington at 
Trenton and Monmouth. Mrs. Cowan was 
a woman of thorough education, tactful and 
charming in manner, the ideal helpmate for 
Dr. Cowan in his work, and her death, 
which occurred July 24, 1896, was the cause 
of much sorrow to her almost numberless 
friends. Children of Dr. and Mrs. Cowan: 
Emehe, Elaine and Irene. 

Dr. Cowan's industry and energy, his 
courage and fidelity to principle, are illus- 
trated in his career, and brief and imperfect 
as this sketch necessarily is, it falls far short 
of justice to him, if it fails to excite regret 
that there are not more citizens like to him 
in virtue and ability, and gratitude that there 
are some so worthy of honor and of imita- 
tion. Such men are the glory of America. 



OFFUTT, Lemuel, 

Physician, Man of Affairs. 

The medical profession is well repre- 
sented in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, by Dr. Lemuel Offutt, of Greens- 
burg, a man of keen intelligence and pos- 
sessing a most thorough knowledge of the 
work with which he has identified himself. 
He is of Scotch descent and the earnestness 
and determination which are so character- 
istic of the Scotch nation are not lacking in 
the character of Dr. Offutt and have helped 
to shape his career successfully. 
137 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



William Offutt, great-great-great-grand- 
father of Dr. Lemuel Offutt, settled in 
Prince George county, Maryland, and died 
there in 1734. He married Mary Brock. 
Their son William died in Maryland in 
1737. He married Jane Joyce, who survived 
him and married (second) Dr. James Doull. 

William, son of William and Jane (Joyce) 
Offutt, was born in Montgomery county, 
Maryland, February 14, 1729, and died in 
1786. He married, in 1750, Elizabeth 
Magruder, born November 8, 1730. Eliza- 
beth (Magruder) Offutt traced her ancestry 
to Alexander Magruder, born in Scotland 
in 1569, married Lady Margaret Deum- 
mond, daughter of "Laird of Avernchiel, 
Clan Campbell." Alexander, son of Alex- 
ander and Lady Margaret Magruder, was 
an ofificer under Charles II., emigrated to 
Calvert county, Maryland, in 1652, and died 
in 1677. Samuel, son of the second Alex- 
ander Magruder, held high official position 
in Maryland, married Sarah Beall, and died 
in 171 1. Nimian was a son of Samuel and 
Sarah (Beall) Magruder. Samuel, son of 
Nimian Magruder, was born in Maryland 
in 1708, died in 1786, married Margaret 
Jackson, and had a daughter Elizabeth, who 
married William Offutt. 

James, son of William and Elizabeth 
(Magruder) Offutt, was born April 23, 
1753. Their son James was born near Great 
Falls, Maryland, October 3, 1803, and died 
in 1857. He was a farmer and a contractor. 
He married, March 17, 1849, Mary, a daugh- 
ter of Samuel White, of Olney, Maryland, 
whose ancestors came from England. Mr. 
and Mrs. Offutt had several children. 

Dr. Lemuel Offutt was born on a farm 
between Darnestown and Seneca Mills, 
Montgomery county, Maryland, May 8, 
1851. His earlier years were passed on the 
homestead farm, where he assisted his 
father in the farm labors at such times as 
he was not attending school. He studied at 
the public and parochial schools, completing 
his classical education in the Andrew Small 



Academy. Three years were then occupied 
with teaching school, and at the same time 
he commenced reading medicine under the 
preceptorship of Dr. C. H. Nourse, of 
Darnestown. He then matriculated at the 
medical department of the University of 
Maryland, from which he was graduated in 
the class of 1876. He served an interneship 
of eighteen months at the Maryland Infirm- 
ary, after which he located at Penn Station, 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, May 
8, 1876, and there engaged in active prac- 
tice. In December, 1883, he removed to 
Greensburg, where he is still enjoying a 
lucrative practice. From his earliest years 
he had been thrown upon his own resources, 
as his father had lost his entire fortune and 
was unable to give him any financial assist- 
ance. Dr. Offutt not alone ranks high in 
his profession, but has achieved successes in 
the business world, and had he chosen to 
devote himself to financial affairs exclu- 
sively, would undoubtedly have made his 
mark along that line. As it is, he is con- 
nected with a number of business enter- 
prises. He was one of the organizers of 
the Westmoreland Trust Company, and one 
of the organizers of the Red Cross Phar- 
macy, and since its organization has served 
as president of this corporation. In political 
matters he has always been a Democrat, but 
has never, had any desire to hold public 
office. He is a member of the Westminster 
Presbyterian Church in Greensburg, was for 
many years a trustee, and is now serving as 
elder. Dr. Offutt married (first) in Janu- 
ary, 1877, Sarah E. Dukes, of Baltimore, 
Maryland, who died in December, 1900. He 
married (second) in June, 1904, Leola R., 
a daughter of Rev. Charles Edwards, of 
Alliance, Ohio. By his first wife he had: 
James H., a contractor; Mary E., married 
I. C. Ruffner; Lemuel, died in childhood; 
Sarah D. ; Susan R. ; William G., died in 
infancy; Courtney C, died in infancy; 
Rose E. 

138 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



PORTER, Henry Kirke, 

Manufacturer, Liegislator, Humanitarian. 

A citizen whose activities have included 
participation in nearly every leading interest 
of his city and State, and who has rendered 
good and notable service in every sphere 
with which he has been identified — this 
is Henry Kirke Porter, of Pittsburgh, 
president of the H. K. Porter Company, and 
former Congressional Representative from 
the Thirty-first District of Pennsylvania. 
For nearly half a century Mr. Porter has 
been a resident of the Iron City and is inti- 
mately associated with her financial and edu- 
cational institutions, and with her political, 
religious and social life. 

Henry Kirke Porter was born November 
24, 1840, in Concord, New Plampshire, a 
son of George and Clara (Ayer) Porter. 
The early education of the boy was received 
in public and private schools and he was 
prepared for college at the New London 
(New Hampshire) Academy. In i860 he 
graduated at Brown University, Providence, 
Rhode Island, and in 1861-62 studied at 
Newton Theological Seminary. The call 
to arms, however, appealed too strongly to 
the patriotic instincts of the young loyalist 
to allow him to remain in scholastic seclu- 
sion, and he enlisted in the Forty-fifth Regi- 
ment Massachusetts Volunteers. After 
making an honorable record he was mus- 
tered out in July, 1863, and during the fol- 
lowing winter served in the United States 
Christian Commission, at the close of the 
war resuming his professional studies at 
Rochester Theological Seminary. 

Time, however, wrought a change in the 
life plans of the soldier-student, and in May, 
1866, he came to Pittsburgh, engaging in 
the business of manufacturing light locomo- 
tives. In this venture he achieved a rapid 
success, his products, by reason of their 
great excellence, finding a market in all 
parts of the world. On January i, 1899, 
the business was incorporated as the H. K. 
Porter Company, with Mr. Porter as presi- 

PA— 5 I 



dent. American trade annals, telling as 
they do of many men who have been the 
architects of their own fortunes, contain no 
record more creditable by reason of un- 
daunted energy, well formulated plans and 
straightforward dealings than that of Henry 
Kirke Porter. His untiring energy and his 
enthusiastic manner of forging ahead are 
the envy of the younger men about him and 
his employes have always shown him a rare 
devotion, the result of the justice and kind- 
liness which have marked his conduct toward 
them. He is a member of the Pittsburgh 
Chamber of Commerce, and at one time 
was president of that body. 

Brilliant, forceful and experienced, Mr. 
Porter is a dominant factor in the city's 
affairs, and any plan for civic betterment 
finds in him an ardent supporter. No good 
work done in the name of charity or re- 
ligion seeks his cooperation in vain and he 
brings to bear in his work of this character 
the same discrimination and thoroughness 
which are manifest in his business life. 
From 1868 to 1887 he was president of the 
Young Men's Christian Association of 
Pittsburgh, and since 1875 has been a mem- 
ber of its international committee. From 
1895 to 1897 he was president of the Amer- 
ican Baptist Home Mission Society, from 
1901 to 1904 he held the same office in the 
American Baptist Missionary Union, and 
since 1871 has served on the board of trus- 
tees of the Crozer Theological Seminary. 
He was superintendent of the First Baptist 
Bible School from January, 1867, to about 
1900, since that honorary superintendent, 
and in 1913 was given this honorary posi- 
tipn for life. He was on the original board 
of trustees of the Carnegie Library when 
organized, and then of the Carnegie Insti- 
tute from the time of its organization. Since 
1899 he has been a member of the board of 
fellows of Brown University, and since 1887 
has served as a trustee of the Western Penn- 
sylvania Institute for the Blind, having 
been elected president in 1904. He is a 
member of the American Geographical and 
139 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Archaeological Societies and belongs to a 
large number of clubs and social organiza- 
tions in New York and Washington, as well 
as in Pittsburgh. 

In politics Mr. Porter is identified with 
the Republicans, and in 1903 was elected to 
represent the Thirty-first Congressional Dis- 
trict, an office which he filled for a number 
of years. His record as a legislator can be 
best given in the brief but forcible statement 
that it was honorable to himself and satis- 
factory to his constituents. 

The personality of Mr. Porter is that of 
a man possessed of remarkable financial 
acumen and with marvelous knowledge of 
men, a director and stockholder in numer- 
ous monetary institutions, one who has 
managed high and responsible business af- 
fairs with a brilliancy that has won for him 
the admiration of his fellow citizens. A 
fine looking, genial man, his mind is alert, 
his eye piercing and his step resilient. His 
countenance radiates an optimistic spirit and 
the briefest talk with him reveals his ability 
and the versatility of his talents. Tempera- 
mentally calm, careful, considerate, cour- 
teous and amiable, his personal qualities 
have endeared him to his associates. 

Mr. Porter married, November 23, 1875, 
Mrs. Annie (de Camp) Hegeman, daugh- 
ter of Abram and Anne (Perrot) de Camp, 
and their beautiful home, "Oak Manor," in 
the East End, is a scene of much entertain- 
ing, as is also their residence in Washing- 
ton, District of Columbia. Mrs. Porter, a 
woman of charming personality, is admir- 
ably fitted by mental endowments, thorough 
education and innate grace and refinement 
for her position as one of the potent factors 
of Pittsburgh society. She is a member of 
the Art Society and the Civic Club. 

The life of Henry Kirke Porter, true New 
Englander and loyal Pittsburgher, is one 
singularly well-rounded and complete. In 
the annals of his city, his State and his 
country his record stands : Business man, 
citizen, legislator, soldier — honorable in all. 



MACKINTOSH, William S., 

Physician, Mannfactarer. 

The dazzling glory with which Pittsburgh 
is now invested as the capital of the steel 
industry has perhaps a tendency to render 
the public comparatively oblivious of the 
work of the pioneers, but if we turn our 
gaze to the past we shall see, rising before 
our retrospective vision through the gath- 
ering mists of the fast-receding years, the 
Titanic forms of that earlier time. Con- 
spicuous among them we discern that of the 
late Dr. WilHam Smith Mackintosh, of the 
noted old firm of Mackintosh, Hemphill & 
Company, even at the present day a power 
in the steel world. For a quarter of a cen- 
tury Dr. Mackintosh was prominently iden- 
tified with all the most essential interests of 
his home city. 

William Smith Mackintosh was born De- 
cember 2, 1818, in Columbia county, Ohio, 
and was a son of Daniel and Catherine 
(Smith) Mackintosh. The boy was edu- 
cated in public schools and subsequently 
studied medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, graduating from the Pennsylvania 
Medical College. His early manhood was 
devoted to the practice of his profession for 
which he was thoroughly equipped both by 
natural endowments and technical training. 

These years were spent by Dr. Mackin- 
tosh in Wellsville, Ohio, but in 1857 he 
came to Pittsburgh and there the current of 
his life was diverted into a new channel and 
his energies found another field for their 
exercise. He became interested in the busi- 
ness of engine-building, developing execu- 
tive abilities of a high order and meeting 
with very exceptional success. Upon en- 
gaging in this business of engine-building, 
his first venture was as partner in the firm 
of Cridge & Wadsworth. In 1859 he 
founded the firm of Mackintosh, Hemphill 
& Company, associating with himself James 
Hemphill and Nathan F. Hart, and to the 
furtherance of this enterprise he devoted his 
entire time. In 1878 the firm purchased the 



1 140 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



old Fort Pitt Works, at Twelfth and Etna 
streets, and most marvelous was the growth 
and expansion of the business under the 
leadership of Dr. Mackintosh. The Fort 
Pitt Foundry, the company's plant, is one 
of the oldest in the Pittsburgh district and 
has had a memorable history, taking its 
place among the historic concerns which 
have made Pittsburgh the leading steel city 
of the world. To his associates Dr. Mack- 
intosh was ever kindly and considerate, 
while his conduct toward his subordinates 
was marked by a justice and benevolence 
which showed him to be the great-hearted 
man he was. In this respect, as in many 
others, he was indeed an ideal business man. 
The goal of his ambition was success, but 
he would succeed only on the basis of truth 
and honor and no amount of gain could lure 
him from the undeviating line of rectitude. 

Notwithstanding the engrossing demands 
and onerous duties devolving upon Dr. 
Mackintosh as head of the great enterprise 
with which he was identified by name, his 
wonderful facility in the dispatch of busi- 
ness enabled him to give due attention to 
numerous other interests. While practicing 
his profession, early in life, he became in- 
terested in various business enterprises. 
Later on he saw the possibilities of coking 
coal in Fayette and adjoining counties, 
and became interested in them. He was 
also interested in oil developments and 
took quite a lively interest in minerals gen- 
erally. He was a member of the firm of 
Zug & Company, iron manufacturers, and 
was a stockholder in a number of financial 
institutions. He was one of the owners of 
the Bessemer Steel Works at Homestead, 
later known (the world over) as the great 
works of the Carnegie Company. He was 
also one of the projectors of the Carrie 
Furnace, but subsequently sold out his inter- 
est. 

Dr. Mackintosh was a very versatile man, 
always having been a student, writing for 
religious and secular papers and journals, 
and in all concerns relative to the city's wel- 



fare his interest was deep and sincere, and 
he ever supported with influence and means 
any movement which in his judgment 
tended to promote that end. A Republican 
in politics, he was without aspirations to 
ofiice, but as a vigilant and attentive 
observer of men and measures, holding 
sound opinions and taking liberal views, his 
ideas carried weight among those with 
whom he discussed public problems. Ever 
ready to respond to any deserving call made 
upon him, the full number of his benefac- 
tions will, it is extremely probable, always 
remain unknown, for his charity was of the 
kind that shuns publicity. He was a promi- 
nent member of the Chamber of Commerce. 

Honorable in purpose and fearless in 
conduct. Dr. Mackintosh was preeminently 
a man to lean upon — a man upon whom men 
leaned. His ripe and varied experience and 
his careful observation rendered him the 
trusted counsellor of his friends at all times 
and under all phases of their lives. He was 
indeed a man nobly planned, possessing gen- 
erous impulses, chivalrous honor, and ardor 
and loyalty in friendship. The old adage, 
"His word was as good as his bond," was 
not infrequently quoted in giving an esti- 
mate of his character, when his memory was 
referred to. For dissimulation or intrigue 
he had no toleration. His temperament was 
cheerful, his apprehension acute and saga- 
cious, and his influence was ever given to 
those interests which promote culture and 
work for Christianizing of the race in recog- 
nition of the common brotherhood of man. 
He was a member of the Shady Side Pres- 
byterian Church. Endowed with a great 
wealth of character, learning and ability, he 
possessed also a most lovable personality 
and in his countenance, bearing and manner 
showed himself to be the man he was. 

Dr. Mackintosh married Martha R., 
daughter of Joshua and Rachel (Fleming) 
Hart, and sister of the late Nathan F. Hart. 
Dr. and Mrs. Mackintosh were the parents 
of two sons and three daughters : Josephine 
E., who married Edmund M. Ferguson, de- 



1141 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ceased; John M., deceased; Elizabeth B. ; 
Martha R. ; and William S., deceased. Mrs. 
Mackintosh, a thoughtful, clever woman of 
culture and character, takes life with a 
gentle seriousness that endears her to those 
about her. Dr. Mackintosh was devoted to 
his home and family and peculiarly happy in 
his domestic relations. He delighted in en- 
tertaining his friends at his home, where 
Mrs. Mackintosh was the presiding genius, 
and which was a centre of gracious and 
refined hospitality. Of cultured tastes and 
genial in disposition, Mr. Mackintosh was, 
as all who were privileged to be his guests 
can testif)'', an incomparable host. 

The death of Dr. Mackintosh, which 
occurred January 21, 1885, deprived Pitts- 
burgh of one of her most eminent and 
valued citizens, one whose career was illus- 
trative of the essential principles of a true 
life. A man of valiant fidelity, his every 
action was in accordance with the loftiest 
principles, he fulfilled to the letter every 
trust committed to him and was generous 
in his feelings and conduct toward all. 

Pittsburgh is largely the creation of the 
Scotchman — valiant, indomitable and invin- 
cible in the New World as in the Old — and 
among those who made the Steel City what 
she is to-day must be numbered that aggres- 
sive, steadfast and high-minded descendant 
of Scottish ancestors — Dr. William Smith 
Mackintosh. 



REILY, George Wolf, 

Financier, Man of Affairs. 

Worthy to hold an important place in the 
class of men whose efforts and deeds are 
matters of public interest and benefit is the 
name of George Wolf Reily, vice-president 
of the Harrisburg Trust Company, and 
holding official position in many other enter- 
prises of equal importance. He represents 
a family which has been resident in this 
country since the first half of the eighteenth 
century. 

John Reily, the American progenitor, was 



born near Stevens Green, DubHn, Ireland, 
emigrated to America, and became a scrive- 
ner and conveyancer in Philadelphia. He 
was a member of Christ Church, Philadel- 
phia, and one of the organizers of St. Paul's 
Protestant Episcopal Church, erected in 
1760. His will, dated November i, 1765, 
is recorded in the register's office in Phila- 
delphia in 1776. By his first wife he had a 
daughter Sarah, who married Captain John 
Ross. He married (second) Mary Hill- 
house, and had sons : John, Samuel. 

John, eldest son of John and Mary (Hill- 
house) Reily, was born April 10. 1752, and 
died May 8, 18 10. He acquired his educa- 
tion at the Academy of Philadelphia, now 
the University of Pennsylvania, and at Lan- 
caster City, and was admitted to the bar in 
Philadelphia, York, Lancaster and Dauphin 
counties. He was commissioned captain in 
the Twelfth Pennsylvania Line of the Con- 
tinental army, October i, 1776, under Colo- 
nel William Cooke, and was transferred to 
the Third Line of the same army under 
Colonel Thomas Craig. Owing to disabil- 
ities from wounds received in New Jersey, 
he was transferred to the Invalid Regiment, 
August 12, 1780, under Lewis Nichols, com- 
mander, but retained his rank, and was 
finally discharged in 1783. He was one of 
the original members of the Society of the 
Cincinnati. He married. May 20, 1773. 
Elizabeth, a daughter of Isaac Myers, 
founder of Myerstown, Pennsylvania, Rev. 
Thomas Barton, rector of St. James' Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church, performing the 
marriage ceremony. He had children : 
Isaac, died in infancy; John, born 1775, 
died 1822; Isaac Myers, born 1777, died at 
Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 1823; John Myers, 
born 1784, died 1822; Anna Susanna, born 
1786; James Ross, born 1788, died in York, 
Pennsylvania, 1844; Eve, born 1790; Wil- 
liam, born 1792, died at Harrisburg, 1843; 
Luther. 

Dr. Luther Reily, youngest child of Cap- 
tain John and Elizabeth (Myers) Reily. 
was born at Myerstown, Pennsylvania, De- 
142 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



vember 7, 1794, and died at Harrisburg, 
February 20, 1854. In the War of 1812 he 
was a private in Captain Richard M. Grain's 
company of volunteers who marched to 
pjaltimore, Maryland, and was later detailed 
as assistant surgeon. Resuming his prac- 
tice in Harrisburg at the close of the war, 
he was at the head of his profession there, 
and a leader in public affairs, subsequently 
becoming a member of the Twenty-fifth 
Congress. He married Rebecca, a daugh- 
ter of Henry Orth, and had children: Eliz- 
abeth, died unmarried ; Emily, married Dr. 
George W. Porter ; John W. ; George Wolf, 
of further mention ; Caroline, died unmar- 
ried. 

Dr. George Wolf Reily, son of Dr. Luther 
and Rebecca (Orth) Reily. was born at 
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, November 31, 
1834, and died February 8, 1892. With the 
exception of a short time when he lived in 
Pittsburgh, all of his life was spent in the 
city of his birth. His preparatory education 
was acquired at the Harrisburg Academy, 
then in charge of Rev. Mahlon Long, one 
of his schoolmates being Professor J. F. 
Seller. He then matriculated at Yale Col- 
lege, from which he was graduated in the 
class of 1854, and then devoted one year to 
employment in a banking house in Pitts- 
burgh. Returning to Harrisburg, he took 
up the study of medicine with Dr. Edward 
L. Orth, an associate of his father, and, 
having attended lectures at the L^niversity 
of Pennsylvania, was graduated from the 
medical department of that institution in 
1859 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
Devoted to his profession and the cause of 
humanity, when he engaged in medical prac- 
tice he met with immediate success. He 
made it an important part of his practice to 
devote ample time to treating patients of 
the poorer classes, to whom he not only 
gave the benefit of his skill without accept- 
ing remuneration, but assisted them liber- 
ally, as he found occasion demanded, from 
his private means. Subsequently he aban- 
doned his medical practice and devoted his 



energies to various financial and other busi- 
ness enterprises, in the conduct of which 
his success was equally marked. Septem- 
ber 28, 1870, he was elected president of 
the Harrisburg National Bank, succeeding 
Judge Valentine Hummel. His official con- 
nection with other corporations was as fol- 
lows : President of the Harrisburg Gas 
Company, and of the Harrisburg Boiler 
Manufacturing Company; a director of the 
Harrisburg Academy, City Passenger Rail- 
way Company, Harrisburg Burial Case 
Company, Harrisburg Furniture Company, 
Kelker Street Market Company, Harris- 
burg Bridge Company, and a number of 
others. In political opinion he was a Demo- 
crat, and he had for many years been a de- 
vout member of the Market Square Pres- 
byterian Church. Domestic in his tastes, all 
his leisure time was spent with his family 
in the beautiful home he had provided for 
them. His library was a very fine one, 
chosen with rare discrimination, and Dr. 
Reily found his chief form of recreation 
among his beloved volumes. Dr. Reily mar- 
ried, February 8, 1861, Elizabeth Hummel, 
born February 8, 1841, daughter of Wil- 
liam M. and Elizabeth (Hummel) Kerr, the 
former at one time president of the Harris- 
burg Bank ; granddaughter of Rev. William 
Kerr, pastor of the Presbyterian church at 
Donegal, and Mary (Wilson) Kerr; grand- 
daughter of James and Mary (Elder) Wil- 
son ; and great-granddaughter of John 
Elder, a prominent resident of the county 
and State ; also a granddaughter of Judge 
Hummel, of Pennsylvania. Dr. and Mrs. 
Reily had children: Elizabeth Hummel, 
born October 13, 1867, married Edward 
Bailey, and had three children ; George 
Wolf, of further mention ; Caroline, and 
Mary Emily. The death of Dr. Reily was 
deeply and sincerely deplored by all classes 
of society, in all of which he had personal 
friends. It was one of the pleasures of his 
life to render assistance in an unostentatious 
manner, to young men struggling against 
adverse conditions, and there are many now 

14.3 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



in the highest circles of the city who owe 
their real start in life to the timely aid re- 
ceived from Dr. Reily. 

George Wolf Reily, son of Dr. George 
Wolf and Elizabeth H. (Kerr) Reily, was 
born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Novem- 
ber 21, 1870, and attended the Harrisburg 
Academy, from which he was graduated. 
He then matriculated at Yale University, 
from the scientific department of which in- 
stitution he was graduated in the class of 
1892, with the degree of Bachelor of Philos- 
ophy. Having determined upon following 
a business career, he accepted a clerkship in 
the Harrisburg National Bank, and later 
held a similar position with the Harrisburg 
Trust Company. He was appointed Na- 
tional Bank Examiner by President Cleve- 
land, February 24, 1897, and held this office 
under Presidents Cleveland, McKinley and 
Roosevelt, until his resignation. May 15, 
1902, in order to assume the duties of the 
office of secretary and treasurer of the 
Harrisburg Trust Company, which he held 
from 1903 to 1907, inclusive. He has held 
the offices of secretary and vice-president 
from 1907 to date. The list of his official 
connection with important corporations is 
an unusually large one, and is in part as fol- 
lows : Secretary, director and vice-presi- 
dent of the Pennsylvania Surety Company 
of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; director and 
vice-president of the Harrisburg City Pas- 
senger Railway Company; secretary and 
director of the Southwestern Missouri Rail- 
way Company; director of the Harrisburg 
Bridge Company, Harrisburg Shoe Com- 
pany, Harrisburg Burial Case Company, 
Chestnut Street Market House Company; 
director and a member of the executive com- 
mittee of the Harrisburg Railways Com- 
pany; director of Eaglesmere Land Com- 
pany, Harrisburg Traction Company, More- 
head Knitting Company, Pennsylvania Dye 
and Bleaching Works, New Cumberland 
National Bank, Harrisburg National Bank 
and East End Bank of Harrisburg. His 
connection with social and fraternal organ- 



izations is also an extensive one. He is 
president of the Harrisburg Benevolent As- 
sociation; member of board of governors of 
Associated Charities of Harrisburg; mem- 
ber of first City Planning Commission of 
Harrisburg; vice-president of the Young 
Men's Christian Association ; secretary and 
treasurer of the Pennsylvania State Lunatic 
Asylum; member of the Harrisburg Club, 
and president, 1904-05 ; member of the 
Inglenook Club, and president in 1907 ; 
treasurer of Harrisburg Chapter of the 
American National Red Cross Association ; 
member of the Harrisburg Country Club, 
Dauphin County Historical Society, Univer- 
sity Club of Philadelphia, University Club 
of New York City, Yale Club of New York 
City, Graduates' Club of New Haven, Penn- 
sylvania Society of New York, Pennsyl- 
vania Scotch-Irish Society, Sons of the Rev- 
olution, and the Pennsylvania Society of 
Colonial Wars. As a trustee of the Market 
Square Presbyterian Church he has ren- 
dered excellent service to that institution. 

Mr. Reily married, April 29, 1903, Louisa 
Haxall, a daughter of Charles K. Haxall 
Harrison, of Baltimore, Maryland, and a 
descendant of the Virginia Harrisons. They 
have one child: George Wolf Reily (3rd), 
who was born December 27, 1905. 

While still a young man, the life of Mr. 
Reily has already been so varied in its activ- 
ity, so honorable in its purposes, so far- 
reaching and beneficial in its effects, that it 
has become a part of the history of Harris- 
burg, and has left its impress upon the 
annals of the State and Nation. 



GILKYSON, Hamilton H., 

Lawyer, Journalist, Public Official. 

Colonel Hamilton Henry Gilkyson, of 
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, one of the 
leaders of the Chester county bar, and 
prominent in State and county affairs, num- 
bers among his ancestors men of position 
in the colonial history of America as far 
back as 1640. He is a descendant of the 



1 144 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Gilkyson family who have been identified 
with the history of Bucks county since the 
beginning of the war for independence. 

James Gilkyson, great-grandfather of 
Colonel Gilkyson, came from the North of 
Ireland as a young man and settled in 
Wrightstown township, Bucks county. He 
was a Presbyterian of Scotch descent, and 
in 1775 he became a member of the Asso- 
ciated Company of Wrightstown, under 
Captain John Lacey. On May 6, 1777, he 
was commissioned first lieutenant of the 
First Company in the Fifth Battalion of 
Bucks county militia, under Colonel Joseph 
Mcllvaine, and with this company he doubt- 
less was in active service. Prior to the 
Revolutionary War, James Gilkyson mar- 
ried Rachael, daughter of Nicholas and 
Esther (Craven) Gilbert, of Warminster 
township. The Gilbert family were among 
the first settlers in that township, Samuel 
Gilbert, an Englishman, having settled there 
before 1700. Here James Gilkyson pur- 
chased a small lot on the site of the famous 
Tennent Log College, on the Old York road, 
and then later moved to "Attlebury," now 
Langhorne, where he lived until 1794. In 
April of that year he purchased a farm of 
one hundred and fifty acres, near the pres- 
ent village of Edgewood, Lower Makefield 
township, and here lived for forty-six years, 
until his death in November, 1840, at the 
extreme age of ninety years. The old eight- 
day clock that belonged to James Gilkyson 
still marks the hours for his great-grandson 
in Phoenixville. 

Elias Gilkyson, grandfather of Colonel 
Gilkyson, was the eldest son of James and 
Rachael Gilkyson. He was born in 1789, 
and, like his father, was also a landowner 
and resident of Lower Makefield township. 
He was a man of considerable position and 
importance in the county. In 1825 he was 
county commissioner, and from 1836 to 
1839 served the county as prothonotary. 
He was a colonel in the Pennsylvania militia. 
March 14, 181 1, he married Elizabeth Wyn- 
koop, a member of one of Bucks county's 



most prominent families, founded in Amer- 
ica by Peter Wynkoop, who came from Hol- 
land in 1639 and settled in "Rensselaer- 
wyck," near Albany, New York. Gerardus 
Wynkoop, grandfather of Elizabeth Wyn- 
koop Gilkyson, was a lieutenant of the Asso- 
ciated Company of Northampton, in Bucks 
county, during the Revolution, and was a 
member of the Pennsylvania Assembly from 
1774 to 1794, serving several years as 
speaker of the house. Elizabeth Wynkoop 
Gilkyson was also a direct descendant of 
Cornelius Wynkoop, "Schepen" or magis- 
trate from 1672 to 1674, in Ulster county. 
New York; Garrett Wynkoop, ensign of a 
New York provincial regiment in Ulster 
county. New York, in 1700; and a cousin 
of Judge Henry Wynkoop, first representa- 
tive from Bucks county in the United States 
Congress. Through her mother, Ann Strick- 
land Wynkoop, she was descended from the 
Strickland family, one of whom, Amos 
Strickland, was sheriff of Bucks county in 
1749. Both Elias Gilkyson and his wife 
were Presbyterians, and they are buried in 
the Presbyterian graveyard at Newtown, 
Bucks county. Elias died March 23, 1873, 
in his eighty-fourth year, and his wife, Sep- 
tember 8, 1876, in her eighty-ninth year. 
An excellent oil painting of Elias Gilkyson, 
made in his youth, is in the possession of 
his grandson. Colonel Hamilton Henry 
Gilkyson. 

James Gilkyson, the father of Colonel 
Gilkyson, of Phoenixville, was the eldest 
son of Elias and Ehzabeth Wynkoop Gilky- 
son. He was born February 15, 181 5, in 
Lower Makefield township, Bucks county. 
He was deputy prothonotary under his 
father, Elias Gilkyson, in 1839, while study- 
ing law in the office of E. T. McDowell. 
After his admission to the bar in 1841 he 
opened an office in Doylestown, the county 
seat, and built up a large practice, especially 
in the Orphans' Court and in transfers of 
real estate. He married Anna E. Henry, of 
New Brittain township, March 28, 1848. 
James Gilkyson was for many years a jus- 

145 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tice of the peace, and in i860 was elected 
district attorney of Bucks county. He was 
captain of the Doylestown Greys from 1850 
to 1858, and in 1862 he was commissioned 
colonel of the Seventeenth Pennsylvania 
Regiment, and served with this emergency 
command for a short period. Again in July, 
1863, he went out as major of the Thirty- 
first Regiment of Pennsylvania militia. 
James Gilkyson was an active member of 
the Episcopal church in Doylestown, serv- 
ing for many years as vestryman and 
warden. In politics he was a Republican, 
and was its standard-bearer for the office 
of State Senator in the '70s, but the county 
being heavily Democratic at the time he was 
defeated at the polls. He owned a fine old 
house in State street, Doylestown, and here 
he died May 24, 1899. 

Anna E. Henry, wife of James Gilkyson, 
was the daughter of William Hamilton 
Henry, who had moved from Germantown 
to his farm in New Brittain township, near 
Doylestown. It is from his mother's family, 
the Henry family, that Colonel Gilkyson in- 
herits his most prominent characteristics. 
His grandfather, William Hamilton Henry, 
was born February i, 1781, and graduated 
from the University of Pennsylvania in 1799 
with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and 
Master of Arts. May 28, 181 1, he married 
Eliza Neale, who lived with her uncle, 
Thomas Armat, at "Loudoun." that famous 
old colonial residence built by him in Ger- 
mantown. Tradition holds her as one of 
the most beautiful girls of the period, and 
her portrait, painted in her wedding dress, 
by Sully, bears evidence of this. 

William Hamilton Henry was the son of 
Hugh Henry, who was born in Balinteer 
House, Colerain, Ireland, in 1740. He came 
tc Philadelphia on the packet ship "Trepi- 
ter" in 1765, with a flattering certificate of 
character from the mayor and aldermen of 
Colerain. With him came his sister, Mrs. 
Ann Dunkin, widow of Captain Robert 
Dunkin, of the Royal Navy. She occupied 
rather a prominent position in the city in 

I 



colonial times, and her daughter married 
John Sanders Van Rensselaer, of Van Rens- 
selaer Manor, in Albany, New York. Hugh 
Henry married. May 4, 1769, Phebe Morris, 
at Christ Church, Philadelphia. He served 
as a private in the Continental army during 
the Revolutionary War until the battle of 
Long Island, and after the war the Phila- 
delphia directories show him to have been 
a shopkeeper. He owned various properties 
in Philadelphia, and during the years 1804- 
05 he was one of twelve prison inspectors 
empowered by an act of Legislature to sell 
vacant lots in Philadelphia belonging to the 
State for the benefit of the prison. For 
many years Hugh Henry was an elder of 
the First Presbyterian Church in Philadel- 
phia, and in that graveyard he was buried on 
February 7, 1825. The old Henry clock and 
many interesting books and papers of the 
Henry family are in the possession of Colo- 
nel Hamilton Henry Gilkyson. 

Colonel Gilkyson is the eldest son of 
James and Anna E. Henry Gilkyson. He was 
born December 19, 1848, in Doylestown, and 
was educated in private schools there and 
at Pennington Seminary, where he gradu- 
ated in 1865. For a few years he taught in 
the west, and then returned to Doylestown 
and studied law in his father's office. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1872, and at 
once opened an office in Phoenixville, Ches- 
ter county, which has been his home ever 
since. Possessed of a keen mind and a 
forceful personality Mr. Gilkyson soon built 
a large practice in Chester county, and he 
has been known as one of the leaders of the 
bar in that section for years. 

Reared as a Republican in politics, he has 
always been an ardent supporter of the 
principles of that party. He has not been 
content, however, to accept the dictation of 
whatever clique of politicians who might 
be in the ascendency in the State and county, 
insisting on purity and fair play in the selec- 
tion of candidates, and has therefore been 
classed as an Independent Republican. In 
this capacity in 1884 he organized the oppo- 
146 




yG/cy<^c^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



sition to Smedley Darlington, the regular 
nominee for Congress, that resulted in the 
election of James B. Everhart. He was also 
prominently identified with the revolt of 
1898 and that of 1901. Again in the cam- 
paign of 1906 he was prominently associated 
with Albin Garret and others in the purifica- 
tion of politics in Chester county. He has 
persistently refused to allow the use of his 
name as a candidate for public office except 
in 1880, when he was elected alternate 
national delegate to the Republican conven- 
tion that nominated James A. Garfield. He 
was also a national delegate-at-large from 
Pennsylvan'a at the famous Taft-Roosevelt 
convention in Chicago in 19 12, and sup- 
ported Colonel Roosevelt. Mr. Gilkyson 
served for many years as borough solicitor, 
president of the school boards, and with 
other institutions in Phoenixville. He was 
one of the founders of the Chester County 
Trust Company, and has served continu- 
ously as one of its directors. He organized 
and is president of the Phoenixville Pub- 
lishing Company, the owner and proprietor 
of the only daily paper in Phoenixville. In 
1904 Governor Pennypacker appointed him 
delegate from Pennsylvania to the World's 
Fair at St. Louis. 

Mr, Gilkyson is keenly interested in the 
affairs of the day, and his incisive logic and 
fine humor have won for him a reputation 
unequalled in the county as a public speaker. 
He is president of the Paoli Memorial Asso- 
ciation, which annually commemorates the 
massacre at Paoli during the Revolutionary 
War. Earlier in life he was identified with 
the National Guard of Pennsylvania, and, 
like his father and grandfather, is known as 
Colonel Gilkyson. During the Pittsburgh 
riots in 1877 he was adjutant-general of the 
Ninth Division, and was stationed at Pitts- 
burgh during the disturbance. 

Colonel Gilkyson married, March 4, 1880, 
Nellie H. Trego, daughter of Thomas W. 
Trego, one of the best known citizens of 
Bucks county. On the paternal side, Mrs. 
Gilkyson is a descendant of Peter Trego, a 

I 



Frenchman who settled in Pennsylvania in 
1685. On her maternal side Mrs. Gilkyson 
is descended from Captain Richard Betts, 
who settled on Long Island about 1648. He 
was one of the most prominent of the Eng- 
lish colony ; a member of New York Assem- 
bly, 1665; high sheriff, 1668- 1 681 ; and a 
judge of the High Court of Assizes. 
Through the Betts family, Mrs. Gilkyson is 
also a direct descendant of Major Daniel 
Whitehead and John Burroughs, both of 
whom held positions of honor in the early 
history of Long Island. Through her grand- 
mother, Margaret Baker Betts, Mrs. Gilky- 
son is a descendant of Henry Baker, who 
was one of the commissioners to divide 
Bucks county into townships, and his son 
Samuel Baker, who was for many years a 
member of the Colonial Assembly and com- 
missioner of the county in 1722. She is 
also, through this connection, a descendant 
of Samuel Richardson, of Philadelphia, a 
member of the Governor's Council in 1688; 
William Hudson, mayor of Philadelphia in 
1725 ; and John Head, the wealthy merchant 
of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary 
War. 



RIPLEY, Daniel Campbell, 

Leader in Glass Industry. 

The manufacture of glass in the United 
States has its centre, as what industry has 
not, in Pittsburgh, "the Workshop of the 
World." This ancient industry, which had 
its origin in Egypt, was brought to the west- 
ern hemisphere in 1608, the year after the 
founding of the Jamestown colony. Thence 
if- spread to other parts of the country, and 
in 1796 the first glass works in Pittsburgh 
were established at the base of Coal Hill, 
now Mount Washington, but it is only 
within the last half century that the manu- 
facture has attained to its present gigantic 
dimensions. Among its leading pioneers 
during this period was the late Daniel Camp- 
bell Ripley, president of the United States 
Glass Company, and prominently identified 
147 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



with a number of other industries of the 
Iron City as well as with her fraternal, social 
and religious interests. 

Daniel Campbell Ripley was born Janu- 
ary I, 1850, in Lynn, Massachusetts, son of 
Daniel and Olive A. (McLaughlin) Ripley. 
In 1857 his parents removed to Pittsburgh, 
where his father founded the glass firm of 
Ripley & Company and was a prominent 
figure in the business life of the city. It was 
in the public and private schools of Pitts- 
burgh that Daniel C. Ripley received his 
education. He early became associated 
with the glass industry of his father, and 
was soon a recognized influence in business 
circles, possessing a weight of character and 
a keen discrimination which made him a 
forceful factor among his colleagues and 
associates. Succeeding his father at his 
death as president of the firm of Ripley & 
Company, glass manufacturers, he became 
known as a liberal, clear-headed man of 
affairs, of broad views and superior busi- 
ness methods, always possessing sufficient 
courage to venture where favorable oppor- 
tunity offered, his sound judgment and 
even-paced energy generally carrying him 
forward to the goal of success. 

In 189 1 Ripley & Company was consoli- 
dated with the United States Glass Com- 
pany, and Mr. Ripley became president of 
the latter concern, holding the position for 
some time and eventually retiring. It was 
not long before he received the tribute of 
a reelection, but ill health forced him to re- 
sign and to seek rest and recuperation in 
travel. Having partially recovered, he again 
engaged in business, being connected with 
the firm of Ripley & Company, of Connells- 
ville, Pennsylvania. He was identified with 
a number of other Pittsburgh industries, 
and was a member of the Chamber of Com- 
merce. For twenty-four years he was a 
director of the Western Pennsylvania Ex- 
position, at one time served as its president 
and when he died held the office of treas- 
urer. He was also vice-president from 



Pennsylvania of the National Association 
of Manufacturers. 

In politics Mr. Ripley was a Republican, 
and while taking no active part in public 
affairs, was moved by a generous interest in 
his fellow citizens. No plan which he 
deemed calculated to promote their welfare 
failed to receive the benefit of his influence 
and support, and no good work done in the 
name of charity or religion appealed to him 
in vain, albeit the full number of his good 
deeds was known only to himself and the 
beneficiaries. He was a thirty-second de- 
gree Mason, affiliated with the Shriners and 
the Knights Templar, belonged to the 
Duquesne, Lakewood and Pittsburgh Coun- 
try clubs, and was a member of the Shady- 
side Presbyterian Church. A man of at- 
tractive personality, he was endowed to an 
unusual degree with the qualities which win 
and hold friends. 

Mr. Ripley married, January i, 1872, 
Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew B. and Kath- 
erine (Cameron) Stevenson, and they were 
the parents of three children : Abbey M., 
wife of James D. Loughrey ; Elizabeth May ; 
Daniel Andrew. Mrs. Ripley, a woman of 
charming personality, is one of the social 
factors of Pittsburgh, and the beautiful 
home over which she presides has ever been 
a centre of refined and gracious hospitality, 
both she and her husband delighting to 
entertain their many friends. To Mr. Rip- 
ley his own fireside was, indeed,, the dear- 
est spot on earth, made so by the one in 
whom he ever found a true and sympathiz- 
ing helpmate. 

On June 19, 1912, Mr. Ripley passed 
away, a man of stainless character in every 
relation of life, one whose motives were 
never questioned, ,a true Christian gentle- 
man. The Pittsburgh Chamber of Com- 
merce, at a special meeting, passed the fol- 
lowing resolution: "Resolved, That in the 
death of Daniel C. Ripley the city of Pitts- 
burgh loses one who was foremost in its 
business affairs, and a citizen of the high- 
148 




^^'-♦o 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



est public spirit, and the Chamber of Com- 
merce and this board an active, useful mem- 
ber." 

Mr. Ripley helped to make his adopted 
city the headquarters of an industry which, 
from very ancient times to the present day, 
has ranked among the first in the civilized 
world. Truly he may be called one of 
the "Makers of Pittsburgh." 



LYON, Rear Admiral George Armstrong, 

Distinguished Naval Officer. 

Deeply important in the history of our 
country are its naval victories in which a 
responsible part was taken by one of Penn- 
sylvania's representative native sons, Rear- 
Admiral George Armstrong Lyon, who saw 
active service in most of the engagements 
during the Civil War. 

Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Decem- 
ber 23, 1837, the son of Rev. George A. 
Lyon, D. D., for forty-two years (1829 to 
1871), pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Erie, and Mary Sterritt Lyon, 
he was fortunate in having the best of home 
influences and this, together with a good edu- 
cation and splendid native qualities, de- 
veloped a character that was at once lovable 
and admirable. He received his early edu- 
cation at the Erie Academy, and after grad- 
uation there entered Dartmouth College as 
a sophomore, graduating with the class of 
1858. In i860, at the age of twenty-two, 
he was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. 

The profession of the law was extremely 
congenial to one of his studious tempera- 
ment and with his excellent mental equip- 
ment, his habits of painstaking thorough- 
ness, his felicity of expression, and his 
stalwart probity, a large success would 
undoubtedly have been his in the practice 
of the law. But he was always a public- 
spirited citizen, imbued with the highest 
ideals of patriotism and public service, and, 
when the Civil War broke out, which 
changed the destinies of thousands of men 
of his age and condition, he volunteered. 

I 



This step entailed great personal sacrifice 
and the surrender of many ambitions, as 
well as giving up the life work which he 
had chosen and in which he would have 
been happiest ; but his decision to take the 
step is a striking example of the unselfish- 
ness and devotion to principle which distin- 
guished Admiral Lyon's character. He was 
essentially a man of peace, but he believed 
that the war was to preserve the Union, and 
that the cause was a just one for which to 
fight, and he responded to the call of his 
country by offering his services unrestrict- 
edly, and on June 11, 1862, was appointed 
assistant paymaster in the United States 
Navy. His preference was for more active 
service, but a slight lameness militated 
against his availability and he was well sat- 
isfied to give his best to whatever branch of 
the service could use him. 

The day when Admiral Lyon entered 
upon his exacting duties marked the begin- 
ning of a long and honorable career in the 
naval service of the United States. He 
was present in all the most important naval 
engagements of the Civil War, serving on 
various vessels that fought in that terrible 
struggle, when, as at Vicksburg and Fort 
Fisher, the land forces of the North could 
not have prevailed without the assistance of 
the navy, and through almost forty years 
of consecutive service rose in rank first to 
paymaster, then fleet paymaster, then pay 
inspector, then pay director, and at last in 
the fulness of time he was retired in 1900 
with the rank of rear-admiral, in recogni- 
tion of his services during the Civil War. 

It is interesting to review Admiral Lyon's 
service during the four years from 1862 to 
1865, as it offers a chronology of the sea 
fighting during the war. In his first year 
he served on the "Lexington" and "Tus- 
cumbia" of the Mississippi flotilla. He took 
part in the attack on Haine's Bluff in De- 
cember, 1862; in the capture of the Con- 
federate ship "Arkansas" six months later ; 
and in several engagements on the Cumber- 
land and Tennessee rivers in the spring of 
149 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1863. He was with the flotilla that ran the 
Vicksburg batteries on the night of April 
16, 1863 ; fought in the battle of Grand Gulf 
two weeks later ; and took part in all of the 
engagements of the Mississippi squadron 
during the siege of Vicksburg. In 1864-65 
he saw service on the sloop "Pontoosic," of 
the North Atlantic blockading squadron, 
participating in both attacks on Fort Fisher 
and in the subsequent attacks on Cape Fear 
river, which resulted in the surrender of 
Wilmington, North Carolina. After this 
he served on the James river in Virginia 
until the fall of Richmond. 

After the war he was placed on the re- 
ceiving ship "Potomac" and raised to naval 
paymaster. He was with the Gulf squadron 
in 1866-67, the Asiatic squadron 1867-70, on 
the "Worcester" in 1871, the "Michigan" 
1871-74, and inspector in the Washington 
navy-yard, where he remained until 1883, 
when he was transferred to the "Trenton," 
of the Asiatic fleet. He served as paymaster 
for the fleet until 1886, when he was trans- 
ferred to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and 
advanced to pay inspector. In 1890 he was 
sent to San Francisco, remaining until 1893, 
when he was brought back to Washington 
on special duty. In 1894 he went to the 
navy pay ofiice at Boston. Two years later 
he was sent to sea again, on the "New York," 
and became paymaster for the North Atlan- 
tic fleet until the following year, when he 
was returned to Washington as a member of 
the naval examining board. For the last 
years before his retirement in December, 
1899, with the rank of rear-admiral, he was 
pay director at the naval pay offices in Phil- 
adelphia. After his retirement he made his 
home in Philadelphia until his death on 
March 6, 1914. 

Admiral Lyon was married, on June 27, 
1877, in Pittsburgh, to Rose Vincent, the 
daughter of Bethuel Boyd Vincent, of Erie. 
She was born in Erie, in 1847, and died 
November 18, 1894. Two sons survive — 
George A. Lyon, of Boston, and Dr. B. B. 
Vincent Lyon, of Philadelphia. 



Rear-Admiral George A. Lyon was one 
of the last representatives of a generation 
which produced what we love to speak of 
as "a gentleman of the old school." He 
was a man of force, of probity, of intellect 
and of character, with winsome manners, 
high courtesy and a magnetic personality. 
He was a Christian who lived his faith; a 
man of broad sympathies and a warm heart, 
without petty meannesses ; unselfish, self- 
sacrificing and generous to a degree, for 
which those dependent upon him have rea- 
son to bless him. Kindliness, simplicity and 
gentleness were perhaps his most striking 
qualities, but he was stern and uncompromis- 
ing when principle was involved. 

One of his college classmates says of him: 
"No member of '58 was more universally or 
cordially beloved than Lyon and his loyalty 
to the class and the college was perfect and 
unfailing to the close of his life. Flis fine 
and winsome manhood and his noble spirit 
of service and friendliness extended to 
every relation and obligation. He was a 
devoted member and elder of the Presby- 
terian church, in which he was brought up." 

The place that Admiral Lyon held in the 
estimation of his friends can perhaps be 
best realized from the following tribute of 
one of them: "'Inform any friends still 
living' so ran the telegram announcing Ad- 
miral Lyon's death, and it gave me a sudden 
jolt at the thought of how very few Erie 
people can recall my dear, dear friend. But 
who that knew him intimately would ever 
forget that charming, genial, delightful 
friend? Can you ever forget the 'Michigan' 
receptions and Lyon's presence there, and 
wherever he went his marvelous atmosphere 
of cheer — but here I am rambling on and 
have no audience. I forget how little to- 
day cares for forty years ago but for all 
that I rise to bless the day that brought 
Lyon into my life; and standing at his open 
grave I shall still say he is not dead, and 
as he sets me thinking of the Calm Land 
beyond the Sea and his safe landing, some- 
how it makes it all the easier to know that 



1 150 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



with the same delightful personality, the 
same cheerful habits and with his good, 
noble, Christian character, he has entered 
into the Eternities; and to my dear old 
friend I lift my voice and cry, 'Ave et vale':" 



JENKINS, Howard M., 

Journalist, Author. 

Howard Malcolm Jenkins was a member 
of a Welsh family founded in America by 
Jenkin Jenkins (born about 1659), who 
came to this country about 1729. On No- 
vember 17, 1730, Jenkin Jenkins bought 
from Joseph Tucker three hundred and fifty 
acres of land in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, 
"reaching from the Gwynedd line nearly or 
quite to the Cowpath road, and from the 
Montgomery line about to the road running 
from Lansdale to Colmar." On this he set- 
tled, and he was "of Hatfield" when he 
made his will in 1745. He had bought, in 
1738, from the proprietaries, the Penns, 
three hundred and fifty-seven acres of land 
on the Conestoga, in Earl township, Lan- 
caster county, closely adjoining the Welsh 
settlements of Carnarvon and Brecknock. 
Jenkin Jenkins died September 15, 1745; 
his wife Mary, born in 1690, died November 
27, 1764. They were the parents of four 
children — two sons and two daughters. 

John, son of Jenkin and Mary Jenkins, 
was born in Wales, February 15, 1719, and 
died in 1803 or 1804. He was the progeni- 
tor of all of the name claiming Jenkin Jen- 
kins as their American ancestor, for his 
brother, Jenkin, junior, had no married 
male issue. John Jenkins was a man of 
prominence in Gwynedd township, Mont- 
gomery county. He bought land adjoining 
Lansdale in 1746, and was at one time 
assessor of the township. He married Sarah 
Hawkesworth (born in England in 1720, 
died January 16, 1794), daughter of Peter 
and Mary Hawkesworth, and was the father 
of eight children, his eldest son and child, 
John, holding an officer's commission in the 
colonial army in the Revolutionary W'ar. 



Edward, son of John and Sarah (Hawkes- 
worth) Jenkins, was born July 12, 1758, 
and died in 1829. He married Sarah, 
daughter of Theophilus Foulke, of Rich- 
land, Bucks county, and had issue, one of 
his sons being Charles Foulke, of whom 
further. 

Charles Foulke, son of Edward and Sarah 
(Foulke) Jenkins, was born March 18, 1793, 
and died February 5, 1867. He was edu- 
cated in Enoch Lewis' Academy, at New 
Garden, Chester county, and there gained, 
besides a sovind primary education, the de- 
sire and love for learning that made him of 
a studious nature all his life, and was the 
cause of his reading, with intelligence and 
zest, over a wide range of subjects. For 
fourteen years he was engaged in mercan- 
tile pursuits in Philadelphia, and in 1830, 
soon after the death of his father, returned 
to Gwynedd and undertook the manage- 
ment of his father's store, which he con- 
ducted until near the close of his life. He 
was interested and influential in public af- 
fairs, was for many years a school director, 
and served as the candidate of his party, 
which had been long in the minority, for the 
State Legislature. Energetic in advocating 
and largely instrumental in obtaining the 
turnpike from Spring-House to Sumney- 
town, he was elected first president of the 
turnpike company, holding that office from 
the completion of the road in 1847 i-intil 
1859, when, upon his resignation, his son, 
Algernon S., was elected his successor. 
Charles F. Jenkins was also secretary of the 
Bethlehem Turnpike Company, director of 
the Bank of Montgomery County, and direc- 
tor of the Montgomery County Mutual Fire 
Insurance Company. He was financially 
interested in numerous other business enter- 
prises. He married Mary Lancaster, of 
Whitemarsh, Montgomery county, and had 
issue. 

Algernon Sydney, son of Charles F. and 
Mary (Lancaster) Jenkins, was a lifelong 
resident of Gwynedd, Montgomery county, 
and died there in 1890. A farmer in calling, 



1 151 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



he was for forty years also a justice of the 
peace, and long the wiUing legal adviser of 
his friends in that locality. He succeeded 
his father in several business positions, well 
sustaining the reputation established by 
Charles F. Jenkins for uprightness in all 
such relations, and like him, qualifying 
highly for leadership. Algernon S. Jenkins 
married (first) Anna Maria, daughter of 
Spencer and Hephzibah (Spencer) Thomas, 
who died in 1864, mother of Howard M., 
mentioned below, and (second) Alice A. 
Davis, who bore him one son, George Her- 
bert. 

Such is the American stock whence sprang 
Howard M. Jenkins. Their pure and use- 
ful lives could not but have made their im- 
press upon his and their virtues of faith, 
courage, and determination flowed in an 
ever-widening stream throughout his life, 
carrying a message, an inspiration, and a 
blessing to those whom he touched. 

Howard M., only son and child of Al- 
gernon S. Jenkins and his first wife, Anna 
Maria Thomas, was born in the home of his 
ancestors, Gwynedd, Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania, March 30, 1842. His boy- 
hood was passed in the physically healthful 
influences of the farm and he was likewise 
fortunate that his outlook was broadened 
by the proximity of town and city, and by 
the activities of his grandfather's general 
store, which was in many respects the cen- 
ter of life in the neighborhood. His grand- 
parents also exercised no small pressure 
upon the formation of his habits, for both 
were of intellectual and religious bent, and 
a family tradition exists to the effect that 
the boy Howard twice read the Bible aloud 
to his grandmother from cover to cover. 
He attended the Friends' School of Gwy- 
nedd Meeting, and later spent three years 
at Gwynedd Boarding School, a few miles 
away, then maintained by Hugh Foulke. 
Here he met Wilmer Atkinson, who was to 
become his business associate, and whose 
sister he afterward married. For one win- 
ter after leaving Hugh Foulke's, he taught 



the public school at New Britain. The im- 
pressionable years of his youth fell at the 
period of heated political discussion that 
preceded the Civil War. With a keen inter- 
est in public affairs, and writing as he did 
with fluency and force, he was naturally 
drawn to journalism as a profession. A 
journalist he was to the end of his life, and 
it was as a journalist and a historian that 
he most desired to be remembered. 

In 1862 the young firm of Atkinson and 
Jenkins purchased the "Republican," of 
Norristown, which they conducted for two 
years ; it was then merged with the "Norris- 
town Herald and Free Press." At this time 
Howard M. Jenkins believed it his duty to 
enter the emergency service of the Pennsyl- 
vania militia, was called out in 1862 and 
again in 1863, and although within hearing 
distance of the great battles of Antietam 
and Gettysburg, participated in neither. 

There being at that time no daily paper 
in the State of Delaware, Howard M. Jen- 
kins proposed to his partner entrance into 
what appeared to be an excellent field, and 
on October i, 1866, appeared the first issue 
of the Wilmington "Daily Commercial," the 
first daily paper in the State of Delaware. 
Ten years later Wilmer Atkinson withdrew 
from the firm (which later had included 
Francis C. Ferris) and in 1877 became the 
founder of the "Farm Journal." Two years 
afterward the "Daily Commercial" became 
the property of the "Every Evening," an- 
other Wilmington daily. According to a 
close acquaintance of Howard M. Jenkins 
at this time: "In spite of the confining 
duties of the editor of a daily newspaper 
and the cares of a growing family, he took 
an active part in politics, labored strenu- 
ously for justice to the negroes, and used 
voice and pen to urge the abolition of the 
whipping post in State prisons. In the 
sometimes embittered factional contests of 
the party to which he belonged he was often 
found on the losing side, but always on the 
right side. It was, indeed, largely his in- 
sistence on what he believed to be right and 



1152 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his refusal to act from motives of policy 
that prevented the newspaper from achiev- 
ing a permanent success." 

It was during this period that he was 
honored with the friendship of the poet, 
author and diplomat, Bayard Taylor, who, 
during the administration of President 
Hayes, did all in his power to secure the 
appointment of Howard M. Jenkins to a 
consulship in France, but without result. 
The Wilmington period of his life was sad- 
dened by the loss of a son in early boyhood. 

In 1879 he established his home in West 
Chester, Pennsylvania, where he resided for 
seven years. During this time, as editorial 
contributor to the "Village Record," the Phil- 
adelphia "Times," and other newspapers, 
he gave much time and attention to the 
State political campaigns, especially to that 
of 1882, against gang rule at Harrisburg. 
In 1 881 he was at the State capital as news- 
paper correspondent, and aided in the elec- 
tion to the Senate of John I. Mitchell, a 
victory for the Independents. About this 
time, also, he filled the position of message 
clerk to the Pennsylvania State Senate. 
Early in 1881 some articles on political sub- 
jects contributed to the Philadelphia "Amer- 
ican" led to his official connection with this 
journal as associate editor with Robert Ellis 
Thompson. During these years (1882- 
1890) he became more occupied than ever 
with national politics. In 1884 and 1888 he 
was present unofficially at the Republican 
National Conventions and came into inti- 
mate contact with the forces that move and 
control these great bodies. The editors of 
the "American" aimed not only to maintain 
an intelligent outlook upon national and 
State politics, but also to review foreign 
affairs and to follow the current movements 
in literature, science and art. Howard M. 
Jenkins' constant contributions to all of 
these departments of the journal will re- 
main as evidence of his extensive knowl- 
edge of what is excellent in literature and 
scholarship, and of his humane interest in 



all efTorts toward the betterment of social 
conditions. 

Late in 1890 the issue of the "Amer- 
ican" was discontinued ; when it resumed 
for a few years, in 1895, Howard M. Jen- 
kins was no longer connected therewith. 
He had, meantime, become associated with 
Charles Heber Clark in the management of 
the "Manufacturer," a weekly journal issued 
by the Manufacturers' Club, of Philadel- 
phia. To this much less congenial labor he 
brought the same conscientious fidelity that 
characterized all his work. A bank failure 
attendant upon the business depression of 
this period had seriously involved him, and 
burdened as he was with other duties, he 
undertook for a New York firm the writing 
of a history of the city of Philadelphia. 
This work was completed in 1895. It con- 
sists of a narrative and critical history of 
the city from its first settlement to the date 
of issue, and was to constitute the first 
volume of a memorial history of the city in 
three volumes, the second and third being 
the work of others. 

It was during his residence in West Ches- 
ter that his interest was particularly aroused 
in the history and present standing of the 
Society of Friends. He was collecting ma- 
terial at this time for his "Historical Collec- 
tions Relating to Gwynedd," and the two 
subjects met and crossed at many points. 
He perceived the great influence that a 
journal, judiciously conducted, might exert 
by unifying and directing effort within a 
society whose membership was compara- 
tively small and at the same time widely 
scattered. With this thought in mind, he 
purchased, in 1884, from Dr. Joseph Gib- 
bons, the "Friends' Journal," a weekly 
paper issued at Lancaster, later at Philadel- 
phia. This periodical he published for a 
few months, when it was proposed to unite 
it with the "Friends' Intelligencer," an older 
journal which had been conducted for many 
years by a committee of Philadelphia 
Friends. His co-laborers in this work found 
in him wide knowledge and good judgment, 

153 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



united with a kindness and courtesy that 
made the connection of over seventeen 
years one of pleasure and profit to them- 
selves, as well as benefit to the Society of 
Friends which he so loved and honored. 
In May, 1885, Howard M. Jenkins became 
editor-in-chief of the combined journals, a 
position he filled until the end of his life. 
His long experience in journalism was of 
great value in developing the usefulness of 
the paper along various lines. Under his 
oversight space was more freely given to 
many activities within the society which 
welcomed a convenient means of securing 
the general attention — the First Day schools, 
the Young Friends' Associations, the Bi- 
ennial Conferences, George School, Swarth- 
more College, and many others. 

In 1886 he moved from West Chester to 
Gwynedd, where his father, anxious to have 
his elder son near at hand in his own de- 
clining years, had built him a house. This 
closer association, so greatly enjoyed by 
both, was cut short in a few years by the 
accidental death of Algernon S. Jenkins, in 
1890. While here residing, Howard M. 
Jenkins acted as superintendent of the 
First Day school at Gwynedd, and took 
effective steps to secure the improvement of 
the meeting house grounds. 

There fell to him in 1893 the responsible 
duty of preparing an account of "The re- 
ligious views of the Society of Friends," 
to be read at the World's Congress of Re- 
ligions at Chicago. The publication of this 
well-known paper brought him the acquaint- 
ance and later friendship of an English 
Friend, John William Graham, whose visit 
to this country in 1896 was undertaken 
largely through his encouragement. He was 
the guest of this valued friend during his 
trip to England in the summer of 1899, a 
visit which he valued especially as an op- 
portunity to become acquainted with influ- 
ential English Friends and to observe the 
methods by which the membership of the 
society is preserved and extended in the par- 
ent country. This visit to England was be- 



sides a great source of pleasure to one 
whose extensive reading had for years past 
made him familiar with the persons and 
places famous in English history, and espe- 
cially with those associated with the rise of 
Quakerism. 

To the layman in antiquarian and his- 
torical subjects it is a difficult task to make 
a competent estimate of the permanent 
value of his addresses, pamphlets, and books 
upon historical subjects, but ex-Governor 
Samuel W. Pennypacker, a historian of 
acknowledged competence and an able judge 
in such matters, pronounced the "Historical 
Collections Relating to Gwynedd" a work 
almost perfect of its kind. Beginning thus 
with the annals and genealogies of a single 
township, the author's view grew to com- 
prise the whole history of the Quaker City. 
From the city to the founder of the State, 
in his volume on the "Family of William 
Penn," and from both of these to a 
projected and partially completed history 
of the State of Pennsylvania, were natural 
transitions. "A Genealogical Sketch of the 
Descendants of Samuel Spencer of Penn- 
sylvania" is the development of a short 
sketch of the Spencer family which is found 
in the volume of Gwynedd collections. 
Among his many contributions to the period- 
icals of the day, two of the best known are 
the "Battle of Brandywine," which appeared 
in Lippincott's Magazine in 1877, ^"^ the 
"Mother of Lincoln," published in the 
American IMagazine of History and Biog- 
raphy in 1900. 

He was known by all as a man of con- 
viction and strong individuality, but the 
serious purposes of his life were enlivened 
by a fund of ready humor. His exactness 
of thought and expression were noticed by 
all, and he maintained a judicial mental 
attitude that was not infrequently mistaken 
for lack of enthusiasm. This he himself 
recognized, and he at times laughingly re- 
marked, "I should have made a good law- 



yer. 



At various times Howard M. Jenkins was 



1 154 




^-''s'=^---'=^''9^^""r 



y-0i/>^f7i^^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



associated in dififerent capacities with the 
following organization : The Historical So- 
ciety of Pennsylvania ; the Welsh Society 
of Philadelphia; Philadelphia Yearly Meet- 
ing's Committee on George School ; the 
Pennsylvania Forestry Association ; the 
Universal Peace Union ; the Friends' Book 
Association ; the Mohonk Conference of 
Friends of the Indian ; the Bucks County 
Historical Society; the History Club of the 
University of Pennsylvania; the Phi Beta 
Kappa Chapter of Swarthmore College; the 
Celtic Association of Philadelphia; the Con- 
temporary Club ; the Browning Society ; the 
Franklin Inn Club ; the Pennsylvania Soci- 
ety for the Abolition of Slavery (reorgan- 
ized) ; the Buck Hill Falls Company; the 
board of managers of Swarthmore College ; 
and the Pennsylvania State Editorial Asso- 
ciation. 

Howard M. Jenkins met an accidental 
death while on a pleasure trip to Buck Hill 
Falls, October lo, 1902, in company with 
Isaac H. Clothier, of Philadelphia. He fell 
from a plank on which he was endeavoring 
to cross the creek immediately above the 
rim of the falls. The grief caused by his 
death was the sorrow that comes with the 
realization that one upon whom many leaned 
would no longer serve as supporter, guide 
and friend ; from all quarters came spon- 
taneous testimonials of admiration of his 
upright and helpful life. Individuals, organ- 
izations, and the press of the country united 
in honoring him, the common note from all 
being a recognition of the nobility of his 
nature and the powerful influence he wielded 
for good. 

Howard M. Jenkins married, Mary Anna 
Atkinson, daughter of Thomas and Hannah 
(Quinby) Atkinson, and had issue: Charles 
Francis, born December 17, 1865; Anna 
Mary, born January 7, 1867, married I. 
Daniel Webster, M. D. ; Thomas Atkinson, 
born May 24, 1868; Edward Atkinson, born 
July 8, 1870; Algernon Sydney, born Octo- 
ber 21, 1874, died January 21, 1878; Flor- 
ence, born September i, 1876; Arthur Hugh, 
born December 5, 1880. 

PA— 6 



HEMPHILL, James, 

Prominent Manufacturer, Inventor. 

One of the strong men of the Old Pitts- 
burgh — one of those Titans of trade whose 
heroic proportions seem to dwarf their suc- 
cessors of the present day — was the late 
James Hemphill, president of Mackintosh, 
Hemphill & Company, one of the strongest 
and most influential machinery experts in 
the iron and steel business, and inventor of 
many valuable improvements in the steel in- 
dustry. Mr. Hemphill was a man who 
touched life at many points, and his great 
abilities and sterling traits of character 
caused him to be regarded by the entire 
community with feelings of profound ad- 
miration. 

James Hemphill was born in Mechanics- 
burg, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, 
July 22, 1827, son of John and Anne Longs- 
dorff Hemphill. He was of Scotch-Irish 
origin on his father's side, and his mother 
was of German descent. Both parents were 
of Revolutionary stock, and he inherited 
from these strong people many of their 
sturdy qualities. His early life was spent 
on a farm, and at the age of eighteen he 
learned the blacksmith trade and later ac- 
quired a general knowledge of mechanics. 
The family settled in Tarentum, Pennsyl- 
vania, in 1846, and in 1850 young Hemphill 
came to Pittsburgh. Being endowed with 
a fine physique and a clear mind, coupled 
with industry, application and economy, and 
having a natural aptitude for mechanics, his 
ability was soon recognized and he was 
offered a position as assistant engineer of 
the Pittsburgh Water Works, under Joseph 
French, one of the best hydraulic engineers 
of his time. He filled this position for about 
eight years with credit, and at the same 
time studied mechanical engineering with 
such success that later in life he became an 
expert and was regarded as an authority 
throughout the United States. While still 
in the water works in the latter '50s, Mr. 
Hemphill spent the evenings in casting bag- 
gage checks, which he made and sold to the 

155 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



railroad. He practically established the 
baggage checking system used in the United 
States. 

In 1859 Mr. Hemphill entered into part- 
nership with W. S. Mackintosh and Nathan 
F. Hart in the engine building business in a 
shop at the corner of Twelfth and Pike 
streets, Pittsburgh, the firm being known as 
Mackintosh, Hemphill & Company, and he 
devoted his whole time to that enterprise. In 
1878 the firm removed to the old Fort Pitt 
Works, Twelfth and Etna streets, Pitts- 
burgh. From this was formed Mackintosh, 
Hemphill & Company, Incorporated, one of 
the great industries that has greatly helped 
to give the Iron City its reputation as the 
leading steel city of the world. Mr. Hemp- 
hill was one of those men who seemed to 
find the happiness of success in his work a 
reward more than sufficient to compensate 
him for any expenditure of time and 
strength. His singularly strong personality 
exerted a wonderful influence on his asso- 
ciates and subordinates, and to the former 
he showed a kindly, humorous side of his 
nature which made their relations most en- 
joyable, while the unfailing justice and 
kindliness of his conduct toward the latter 
won for him their most loyal service, never 
having had a "strike" in his works. 

In blast furnace construction, Mr. Hemp- 
hill held supremacy. He was part owner of 
the "Carrie" furnaces (in recent years ab- 
sorbed by the Carnegie interests), and to 
the construction and management of which, 
as well as to the other large furnaces 
through the United States, he brought skill- 
ed workmanship and expert advice. He 
was interested in the designing and erection 
of the majority of the great furnaces of the 
country, if not the actual builder. The 
patents taken out by Mr. Hemphill for blast 
furnace construction alone were over one 
hundred, while his other patent claims, re- 
lating to his special work in the machinery 
line, most of which proved to be very use- 
ful and some of them almost indispensable, 
were many. So highly was his opinion held 

I 



by manufacturers, that his plans and sug- 
gestions were considered as final. He was 
the first man to design and build massive 
high-grade engines equipped with his well- 
known patent slide valve, which has stood 
the test for half a century. For fifty years 
his name was an authority in all that per- 
tained to blast furnaces and engine construc- 
tion, and general machinery for all kinds of 
rolling mill work. He was also interested 
in the Star Tin Plate Company. Mr. Hemp- 
hill's many-sided character was shown by 
his success in lines of business entirely re- 
moved from his original field, evidenced in 
1893, when he accepted the presidency of 
the newly organized National Bank of West- 
ern Pennsylvania, of which he was also one 
of the founders, and which his character 
for prudence and good business judgment 
lent no small strength. To those who knew 
him it is superfluous to say that above even 
his abilities as an engineer were his unquali- 
fied integrity, business honor and sense of 
the strictest justice. He took an active part 
in public aft'airs, and served on the finance 
committee of the city of Pittsburgh. He 
was widely but unostentatiously charitable, 
and his public spirit and rapidity of judg- 
ment enabled him, in the midst of incessant 
business activity, to give to the affairs of the 
community effort and counsel of genuine 
value. A Republican in politics, he was active 
in the movements of the organization, his 
penetrating thought often adding wisdom to 
public measures, but was never numbered 
among office-seekers. He helped to purify 
and build up the municipal system and pub- 
lic institutions. And he did even more. 
He gave to his city a daily example of public 
and private virtue, the picture of a noble 
and blameless life — the life of a kindly, hon- 
orable, high-minded Christian gentleman. 

Mr. Hemphill married, in 1849, Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Horace and Maria (Clark) 
Frink, of Rome, New York. He is sur- 
vived by five children : Newton A. ; Wil- 
liam A. ; Katherine, who became the wife 
of William A. Hoeveler, whose biography 

156 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and portrait are elsewhere in this work ; 
Alice, wife of George W. Baum, of Pitts- 
burgh ; and Horace F., of Philadelphia. 

On August 7, 1900, this gifted and lov- 
able man passed away, mourned as sincerely, 
by high and humble, as ever falls to the lot 
of man. He was one of the men who, by 
force of character, kindliness of disposition 
and steady and persistent good conduct in 
all situations and under all the trials of life, 
take possession of the public heart and hold 
it. His sympathy for humanity was so 
broad that it extended to all who came in 
contact with him, and his name will be per- 
petuated not only by his works, but by the 
far sweeter monument of grateful memories. 



FRENCH, Howard Barclay, 

Prominent Manufacturer, Man of Affairs. 

Although born in Ohio, Mr. French has 
been a resident of Philadelphia since his 
fourth year, and since his graduation from 
the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 
1871 has been intimately connected with 
drug and paint manufacture, as employee, 
partner, and sole owner of the present con- 
cern, Samuel H. French & Company, a 
house that dates from 1844 under various 
names. He succeeded his honored father 
in business, having been associated with him 
from 1 87 1 until the death of the elder 
French in 1895. Notwithstanding his long 
and honorable connection with Philadelphia 
business interests as a manufacturer, that is 
but one of his activities. His public service 
has been so extended and valuable that 
one is lost in wonder at the energy re- 
quired to so worthily serve his city in the 
dual capacity of public-spirited citizen 
and successful man of affairs. But he 
comes rightfully to the high place he fills 
in public and private life, his father, Sam- 
uel Harrison French, having been one of 
Philadelphia's recognized captains of indus- 
try in the best sense of the expression, a 
man whose honest, pure life extended over 
a long period of years and a man who repre- 



sented the highest type of honorable busi- 
ness men. The father of Samuel Harrison 
French was Uriah French, a sterling business 
man of Mullica Hill and Swedesboro, New 
Jersey, a son of Samuel French, a prosperous 
farmer of Gloucester county. New Jersey, 
a member of the New Jersey Legislature, 
1 795- 1802, son of Charles (2) French, a 
farmer of Burlington and Gloucester coun- 
ties. New Jersey, known as "Straight roads" 
French, from his vigorous advocacy of 
direct highways and his promotion of pub- 
lic improvements, son of Charles (i) 
French, a man of great activity and influ- 
ence, who resided most of his life in upper 
Burlington county. New Jersey, but for a 
time in Gloucester county, third son of 
Thomas French, the founder of this branch 
of the family in America. 

Thomas French, the founder, was born in 
October, 1639, and was baptized November 
3 following, at the Church of Saints Peter 
and Paul, Nether Heyford, Northampton- 
shire, England. He early became a mem- 
ber of the then new religious sect, the Soci- 
ety of Friends, being actively identified 
therewith, and at different times paid in 
suffering the penalty for his faith, serving 
several years in prison for refusal to pay 
tithes. He came to America in the ship 
"Kent," sailing from London about August 
I, 1680, and settled upon a tract of six hun- 
dred acres of good land lying along the 
banks of Rancocas creek, about four miles 
from Burlington, New Jersey. He pros- 
pered, increased his holdings to two thou- 
sand acres, and for twenty years was a lead- 
ing citizen of the county, was twice married, 
and reared a large family of children, in- 
cluding four sons, all of whom were trained 
in ways of sobriety, industry and religion, 
they in turn founding families in whom the 
same traits of strong character were mani- 
fest. His first wife, Jane Atkins, he mar- 
ried in England ; his second wife, Elizabeth 
Stanton, was a member of Philadelphia 
Monthly Meeting, Society of Friends. 

Charles French, third son of the founder 



"57 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and his first wife, was born in England, 
March 20, 167 1. He administered his 
father's estate, and in this connection visited 
England in 1699 and several times there- 
after. He was a prosperous farmer, a man 
of prominence and had interests in both 
Burlington and Gloucester counties. He 
was twice married and left male issue. 

Charles (2) French was born August 12, 
1714, died January 15, 1785. He settled in 
Moorestown, New Jersey, about 1740, 
where he became a landowner and overseer 
of Chester Meeting, Moorestown, and active 
in the affairs of the Society of Friends. In 
1771 he purchased one thousand acres of 
"land and swamp" with saw mill, farm 
houses, etc., located about three miles from 
MulHca Hill, New Jersey. His will shows 
that at the time of his death he was a man 
of large possessions, and the records cite his 
intelligent attention to public affairs. He 
married Ann, daughter of Jacob and Ann 
(Harrison) Clement, a descendant of Greg- 
ory Clement, of London, England, member 
of the Cromwell Parliament and one of the 
judges who tried and condemned Charles I. 
in 1648. Maternally she was a granddaugh- 
ter of Samuel Harrison, mariner, of Glou- 
cester county, New Jersey, who tradition 
says was a son or grandson of General 
Thomas Harrison, one of the signers of the 
death warrant of Charles I., and who was 
executed after the Restoration. 

Samuel French, second son of Charles 
(2) and Ann (Clement) French, was born 
in Waterford township, Gloucester county, 
New Jersey, September 17, 1748, died July 
8, 1 8 14. He became a large landowner, 
prosperous farmer and public man, serving 
in the New Jersey Legislature from Glou- 
cester county in 1795-96-97, 1800-01-02. He 
was devoted in his allegiance to the Society 
of Friends, and throughout a manhood of 
half a century manifested the qualities of 
his conscientious, vigorous, industrious and 
honorable ancestry. He married Sarah, 
daughter of Jacob (2) and Agnes (Buck- 
man) Heulings, of Evesham township, Bur- 



lington county, New Jersey. She was a 
great-granddaughter of William Buckman, 
who came to Pennsylvania in 1682 from 
England with William Penn in the "Wel- 
come ;" also a great-granddaughter of Wil- 
liam Heulings, a justice of the peace for 
Burlington county in 1703. 

Uriah French, eldest son of Samuel and 
Sarah (Heulings) French, was born July 
13, 1770, died September 27, 1825, "fifty 
minutes past three o'clock in the afternoon." 
He was his father's assistant for several 
years on the farm and saw mill property 
located near Mullica Hill, New Jersey, and 
although inheriting this property in 1814, 
he sold it within the same year. About 1817 
he moved to Swedesboro, New Jersey, 
where he engaged in mercantile business, 
and there resided until shortly before his 
death in 1825. His home and store was a 
large brick building with commodious base- 
ment, built about 1784, a wharf a few feet 
from the basement door extending into Rac- 
coon creek, affording facilities for receiving 
and shipping goods. He married Mary, 
daughter of Isaac (3) and Hannah (Tilton) 
Ivins, of Salem county, New Jersey. Her 
great-grandfather (Isaac Ivins) for half a 
century kept a general store and trading 
post at Georgetown, BurHngton county, 
which was the resort of Indian and white 
trappers. Mary Ivins French survived her 
husband and spent her widowed years at 
^lullica Hill. 

Samuel Harrison French, second son and 
seventh child of Uriah and Mary (Ivins) 
French, was born September 25, 181 6, died 
at his residence. No. 228 West Logan 
Square, Philadelphia, February I, 1895, and 
is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Camden, 
New Jersey. He was but nine years of age 
when his father died at Swedesboro, and 
from that time his home for several years 
was Mullica Hill, New Jersey. He attend- 
ed Harmony School there until he was six- 
teen years of age, then came to Philadelphia 
as an apprentice to his cousin, vVilliam 
Hazleton French. About 1837, having dem- 

158 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



onstrated his faithfulness and efficiency for 
larger responsibilities, he was sent to Salem, 
Ohio, to look after business in that locality, 
and meeting with more than ordinary suc- 
cess, he decided to locate there, remaining 
in Salem until 1852. During this period he 
married and returned to Philadelphia in 
1852 with four children. In 1844 French 
&: Richards had established a wholesale 
business in drugs, paints and oils, at the 
northwest corner of Tenth and Market 
streets, and after his return to Philadelphia, 
Samuel and Clayton French established a 
manufacturing branch of that firm under 
the firm name of C. French & Company, 
with location at York avenue, Crown (now 
Lawrence) and Callowhill streets. The 
business prospered to a marked degree, but 
on the night of October i, 1854, their plant 
was destroyed by fire, involving a loss of 
$45,000, the insurance being but $13,000. 
The firm at once rebuilt, and by February, 
1855, was installed in a new four-story 
factory, and in that same year the firm title 
became French, Richards & Company. In 
1857 they erected a five-story brick and iron 
building at the junction of York avenue. 
Fourth and Callowhill streets ; in 1864 a 
storehouse on Noble street, between Fourth 
street and York avenue ; the following year 
a commodious stable on York avenue, be- 
low Buttonwood street ; and otherwise made 
provision for their growing business. In 
the division of responsibilities arising from 
the great growth of French. Richards & 
Company, Samuel H. French gave the manu- 
facturing department his personal super- 
vision, while Clayton French assumed gen- 
eral management of the sales department. 
The firm, on the night of October 3, 1865, 
sustained another severe loss by the destruc- 
tion of the large warehouse at the northwest 
corner of Tenth and Market streets, the fire 
raging for several hours and causing a loss 
of $300,000, the insurance amounting to less 
than $200,000. Samuel H. French first 
learned of this calamity when coming to 
business the next morning from his summer 

I 



home on the White Horse Pike. His only 
remark was, "That's too bad." Business 
was at once resumed in temporary quarters 
at 630 Market street, but feeling the need of 
larger quarters, pending the rebuilding at 
Tenth and Market streets, the Franklin 
market house, now the site of the Mercan- 
tile Library building, was occupied by 
French, Richards & Company for nearly 
two years. A large building, one of the 
finest commercial structures in the city, was 
erected on the site of the burned warehouse, 
and all departments of the business rapidly 
increased after the removal to that build- 
ing in the fall of 1867. On January i, 1883, 
Samuel H. and Clayton French dissolved 
the partnership that had existed for more 
than thirty years, the latter continuing the 
wholesale drug business at Tenth and Mar- 
ket, the former continuing the manufacture 
of paints, oils, varnishes, etc., at Fourth and 
Callowhill streets, as Samuel H. French & 
Company. This firm was composed of 
Samuel H. French, his sons — William A. 
and Howard B., and John L. Longstreth, 
the last named having been connected with 
the business since 1852. On April 11, 1886, 
William A. French died; in 1895 occurred 
the death of Samuel H. French ; and in 
1901 Mr. Longstreth retired, leaving How- 
ard B. French as sole owner of the busi- 
ness. 

During an active business career of nearly 
sixty years, Samuel H. French rose to the 
greatest heights of efficiency, integrity, and 
progressive business methods. The loss 
sustained at his death can best be expressed 
by the resolutions passed by the Paint Club 
of Philadelphia: "Resolved, That the Paint 
Club, recognizing the loving hand of the 
All Wise Father that governs life and death, 
reverently bows to this decree. We are 
thankful for the honest and pure life of Mr. 
French, who in a marked degree seemed to 
have sanctified his business life, extending 
through a period of over fifty years, with 
the calm peace of the God of his revered 
Quaker fathers, thus illustrating the weight 

159 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and value of moral character in business." 
Mr. French was a devoted friend of the 
Union, and practically expressed his senti- 
ments. As a young man in Ohio he con- 
ducted a station on the "Underground Rail- 
road," and was a life member of the Home 
For Aged Colored Persons, in Philadelphia. 
He was a lifelong member of the Society 
of Friends, and most exemplary in his re- 
ligious life. While devoted to business he 
loved the country, and in 1876 celebrated 
the centennial of his Nation's freedom by 
planting one thousand shade trees along 
the roads surrounding his country home in 
Camden county, New Jersey. He won the 
hearts of all men, his children were his 
happy companions, his business associates 
leaned on him at all times, relied upon his 
counsel, respected his admonitions, and his 
chief partner, his younger brother Clayton, 
fondly regarded him as without an equal 
in the affairs of men. His life, one of 
singular purity, fidelity and devotion to the 
best ideals, is an inspiration and encourage- 
ment to those who follow him. 

Samuel H. French married, October 6, 
1842, in Salem, Ohio, Angelina, daughter of 
Alexander and Henrietta (Needles) Dun- 
seth. She was born July 6, 1820, died at 
the family home, "White Mansion," on the 
White Horse Pike, three miles from Cam- 
den, New Jersey, February 26, 1884, and 
is buried in Evergreen Cemetery. Children : 
Emmor Davis, deceased ; William Alex- 
ander, deceased ; Howard Barclay, of whom 
further ; Mary Harriet ; Eliza, deceased, and 
Clara AngeHna, deceased. 

Howard Barclay, third son of Samuel 
Harrison and Angelina (Dunseth) French, 
and of the seventh generation of his family 
in this country, was born in Salem, Ohio, 
September 3, 1848. W-^hen four years of 
age he was brought to Philadelphia by his 
parents, was here educated in Friends' 
schools, and has here spent his entire life 
from that age. He served an apprentice- 
ship of three and one-half years in the retail 
drug store of William B. Webb, and dur- 



ing this period completed a course at the 
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, gradu- 
ating in the class of 1871. A month after 
graduation he entered the employ of his 
father's firm, French, Richards & Com- 
pany, wholesale druggists and paint manu- 
facturers, and in July, 1872, was trans- 
ferred to their manufacturing department. 
He aspired to the medical profession, and 
in 1879 entered Jefferson Medical College, 
but the strain of office duties and study was 
too severe and the profession was aban- 
doned. It was then decided to separate the 
manufacturing department of the business 
from the drug department ; and in January, 
1883, Howard B., with his brother WiUiam 
A., joined with their father, Samuel H. 
French, and John L. Longstreth in forming 
the firm of Samuel H. French & Company, 
which succeeded the manufacturing branch 
of the old firm, French, Richards & Com- 
pany. In 1901, death and retirement left 
Mr. French sole proprietor of the large 
business he had been a potent factor in up- 
building. He is still at the head of Samuel 
H. French & Company, a house that has 
occupied a leading position in the drug and 
paint trade under the French management 
for seventy years. 

For twenty-five years Mr. French has 
been chairman of the executive committee 
of the Philadelphia Paint Manufacturers' 
Club, and is an ex-president of the Na- 
tional Paint, Oil and Varnish Association. 
He is treasurer of the central committee of 
the Paint and Varnish Manufacturers' As- 
sociation of the United States, and treas- 
urer and director of the Paint Trade Mu- 
tual Fire Insurance Company. In 1890 he 
was chosen director of the newly organized 
Equitable Trust Company, of Philadelphia, 
and was its president from 1902 to 1912. 
Upon its consolidation in the latter year 
with the Continental Company, forming the 
Continental-Exjuitable Title and Trust Com- 
pany, Mr. French declined the presidency, 
but remained a member of the board of 
directors. In many other commercial organ- 
160 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



izations he has taken active interest. Since 
1890, the year of its organization, he has 
been a director of the Trades League of 
Philadelphia (now Chamber of Commerce) 
and is first vice-president of same. He has 
served as chairman of many of the most 
important committees of this organization, 
and through his instrumentality Philadel- 
phia largely ov^es her high pressure water 
system for fire service and her recreation 
piers along Delaware avenue. He served by 
appointment of Governor Hastings, as a 
delegate to the convention held in Tampa in 
1896 to devise a more complete system of 
defence for Gulf and South Atlantic ports, 
and was a member of the executive commit- 
tee of the Tennessee Centennial Commis- 
sion of Philadelphia. He was secretary of 
the Union Committee for the transporta- 
tion, manufacturing and commercial inter- 
ests of Philadelphia, is a trustee of the Com- 
mercial Museum, formerly a director of the 
Manufacturers' Club and of the Franklin 
Institute. He was chairman of a joint com- 
mittee of the commercial organizations of 
Philadelphia, also of a sub-committee on the 
selection of a new site for the LTnited States 
Mint, the energetic action of the committee 
being largely responsible for Philadelphia's 
retaining the Mint. 

Numerous and weighty as have been his 
duties as private manufacturer and repre- 
sentative of the business interests of his 
city, they have not precluded an active par- 
ticipation in the work of purely charitable 
institutions. For many years he has served 
as one of the managers and trustees of the 
Philadelphia Southern Home for Destitute 
Children, the oldest institution of its kind 
in Pennsylvania, also as a manager of the 
Home Missionary Society, and by appoint- 
ment of the Governor is a member of the 
Pennsylvania State Board of Charities, and 
treasurer of same. His relations to the 
board are most intimate, much time and at- 
tention being given to this important trust. 
For forty years he has been a trustee and 
since 1901 president of the Philadelphia 

I 



College of Pharmacy, the oldest and largest 
institution of its kind in the world. He is 
also a director of the Bath Portland Cement 
Company. 

A Republican in politics, Mr. French has 
been active in public life, and ever an up- 
holder of the highest political standard. 
For over forty years he has been a member 
of the Union League, and director and vice- 
president for a number of years. He was 
chairman of the Citizens Committee of 
Ninety-Five for good city government, also 
a member of the Business Men's Republican 
League of 1895. During Mayor Warwick's 
administration, 1895-1899, he served as a 
member of the Civil Service Commission; 
was vice-president of the McKinley and 
Hobart Business Men's Campaign Commit- 
tee of 1896, and after the successful termi- 
nation of that campaign President McKin- 
ley and National Chairman Mark Hanna 
made grateful acknowledgment, both in per- 
son and by letter, of the effective service 
rendered. In 1898 he was president of the 
National Repubhcan League of Business 
Men, and in 1900, at the time the Repub- 
lican National Convention was held in Phil- 
adelphia, he served as member and chair- 
man of several committees of prominent 
citizens who made suitable preparation for 
the entertainment of delegates and leading 
men from all parts of the country attending 
the convention. He took prominent part in 
the Founders' Week Celebration, October 
4-10, 1908, commemorating the two hun- 
dred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the 
founding of Philadelphia, and in 1910 
II cooperated with the Mayor of the city 
in the effort to place Philadelphia in her 
proper place as a leading business center. 
In June, 1912, he was regularly elected dele- 
gate to the Republican National Convention 
that met in Chicago, and took prominent 
part in its deliberations. Later he was a 
potent force in organizing the Taft and 
Sherman Business Men's National Cam- 
paign Committee, serving as its chairman, 
M'ith John Wanamaker, Alba B. Johnson 
161 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and Isaac H. Clothier as vice-chairmen. In 
all of his political work Mr. French has 
labored as the patriotic citizen, never as the 
office-seeker, nor has he accepted political 
position either elective or appointive. 

As an advocate, and able exponent of 
better navigation facilities for our inland 
v/aterways, Mr. French has rendered valu- 
able service. He is a member of the At- 
lantic Deeper Waterways Association, was 
one of the committee of the Organizing 
Commission for the Twelfth Congress of 
the Permanent International Association of 
Navigation Congresses, represented Penn- 
sylvania by appointment of Governor Tener 
as delegate to the Fifth Annual Convention of 
the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association, 
held in New London, Connecticut, Septem- 
ber 4-6, 1912, and again at the Seventh An- 
nual Convention, New York, September 22- 
26, 19 14, also representing the Commercial 
Museum and the Chamber of Commerce of 
Philadelphia at these meetings. 

This record of a useful, busy life, won- 
derful in its scope and so rich in results, 
only touches the more important of his 
activities. There seems to be no phase of 
city life that has not profited by his hearty 
support. He was one of the originators and 
president of the New Jersey Society of 
Pennsylvania, organized in 1907, and is now 
a director ; is vice-president of the Ohio So- 
ciety of Philadelphia ; member of the His- 
torical Society of Pennsylvania, the Colo- 
nial Society and the American Pharmaceu- 
tical Association. In 1912 he was chairman 
of the finance committee of the Historical 
Pageant, illustrating notable events in the 
history of Pennsylvania, held in Fairmount 
Park. He has ever been interested in the 
early history and landed affairs of New 
Jersey, the State in which his ancestors first 
settled and where six generations of his 
direct family resided. He is a member of 
the Council of Proprietors (of that State), 
which holds the right of proprietorship in 
unlocated lands. This right of proprietor- 
ship has succeeded from generation to gen- 



eration for more than two hundred and 
thirty years. He is also a member of the 
Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane 
Society, Pen and Pencil Club of Philadel- 
phia, and the Merion Cricket Club. 

Mr. French married, November 9, 1882, 
Ida Colket, born in Philadelphia, Septem- 
ber 23, 1851, daughter of Coffin and Mary 
Pennypacker (Walker) Colket. She is a 
direct descendant of Tristram Coffin, born 
in England in 1609, so intimately connected 
with the history of Nantucket, Massachu- 
setts, and of Edward Colcord (finally 
spelled Colket), born in England in 1616, 
an early and prominent settler of the State 
of New Hampshire. Children of Howard 
B. and Ida (Colket) French: Coffin Colket, 
born November 20, 1883, died January 19, 
1884; and Annah Colket, married Edgar S. 
McKaig, Esq. 

The beautiful summer home of Mr. 
French, "Alderbrook," in Upper Merion 
township, Montgomery county. Pennsyl- 
vania, overlooking the picturesque, historic 
Chester Valley, was totally destroyed by 
fire, April i, 1908. The present "Aider- 
brook," an imposing mansion. Colonial in 
design, was erected on the site of the burned 
homestead. A marked and interesting char- 
acteristic of Mr. French's nature is his ex- 
treme fondness for flora-culture. So intense 
and refined is this sympathy with plant life, 
that the careless treatment of the most in- 
significant member of the family causes him 
distress. The spacious grounds surround- 
ing his country home, afford him ample op- 
portunity for an intimate association with 
these exquisite creations of nature. The 
winter residence of the family is No. 2021 
Spruce street, Philadelphia. 

A crowning glory of Mr. French's later 
years and an inestimable boon to all stu- 
dents of family history, as well as a beauti- 
ful tribute to his honored sires, was the pub- 
lication, in 1909 and 191 3, of two hand- 
somely illustrated quarto volumes of fam- 
ily genealogy, entitled "Descendants of 
Thomas French." 
162 




^^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



HAMILTON, William, 

Manufacturer, Representative Citizen. 

Pittsburgh is largely the creation of the 
Scotch-Irishman. On each of the city's 
leading industries we find deeply impressed 
the stamp of his aggressive personality, and 
his indomitable spirit animates the entire 
life of Western Pennsylvania. Conspicuous 
among those representatives of his race who 
during the latter half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury helped to dominate the business world 
of the Iron City, was the late William Ham- 
ilton, president of the National Casket Com- 
pany. Mr. Hamilton was closely identified 
with the essential interests of Pittsburgh, 
being specially associated with her fraternal 
and religious life. 

William Hamilton was born November 
30, 1831, in county Tyrone, Ireland, and 
was a son of William and Jane (Crumley) 
Hamilton. When the boy was fifteen years 
old the family emigrated to the United 
States, settling in Pittsburgh, and it was in 
the schools of that city that he received the 
greater part of his education. 

In 1862 Mr. Hamilton organized the firm 
of Hamilton, Lemmon, Arnold & Company, 
casket manufacturers, and upon its incor- 
poration became president of the company. 
This concern consolidated with the Excel- 
sior Casket Company, being the first casket 
factory west of the Allegheny mountains, 
the combination forming the National Cas- 
ket Company, and of this very large organ- 
ization Mr. Hamilton was president until 
his retirement in 1903. The marvellous suc- 
cess which attended the enterprise was 
largely due to the capable management, 
sagacious foresight and aggressive methods 
of Mr. Hamilton. His ability to read the 
future was of incalculable value in the up- 
building of a great business, and his enter- 
prising spirit was always tempered by a 
wise conservatism. Another potent factor 
in his success was the uniform justice and 
kindliness which marked his conduct 
towards his employees. Nothing gave him 
more pleasure than the recognition of merit 



among his subordinates, and his promotions 
were based wholly upon ability and faith- 
fulness. 

As a citizen Mr. Hamilton was intensely 
public-spirited, belonging as he did to that 
class of distinctly representative men whose 
private interests never preclude active par- 
ticipation in movements and measures which 
concern the general good. Politically he 
was a Republican, but steadily refused to 
become a candidate for office. A liberal 
giver to charity, such was his abhorrence of 
publicity that the full number of his bene- 
factions will in all probability never be 
known to the world. He was of high de- 
gree in the Masonic fraternity, and a mem- 
ber of the old South Common Methodist 
Episcopal Church (now the Buena Vista 
Street Methodist Episcopal Church), serv- 
ing as president of the board of trustees. 

In conjunction with great strength of 
character and tenacity of purpose Mr. Ham- 
ilton possess'^d much personal magnetism, 
a quality which exerted a wonderful influ- 
ence on his business subordinates and on all 
who were in any way associated with him. 
His countenance gave evidence of deeply 
imbedded convictions as to right and duty, 
and his whole career testified to the fact 
that he possessed the courage of those con- 
victions. His sterling qualities of manhood, 
together with a genial disposition which 
recognized and appreciated the good traits 
of others, surrounded him with warm and 
steadfast friends. 

Mr. Hamilton married, November 30, 
1852, Mary, daughter of John and Jane 
Mullen, and the following children were 
born to them : William D. ; James J., a 
prominent dentist of Northside ; A. G., of 
Meadville, Pennsylvania ; and Mary McJ., 
who married Charles Lockhart. 

In his domestic relations Mr. Hamilton 
was singularly fortunate. His wife was in 
all respects fitted to be his true helpmate 
and their home was an abode of peace and 
a centre of hospitality. Mrs. Hamilton was 
born in Ireland in 1827, and later crossed 
163 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



to America, coming direct to Pittsburgh. 
She was a charter member of the South 
Common Methodist Episcopal Church, the 
name of which was changed later to the 
Buena Vista Street Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and at the time of her death, which 
occurred March i, 1914, was a member of 
Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The death of Mr. Hamilton, which oc- 
curred January 21, 1906, removed from 
Pittsburgh one of her pioneer manufac- 
turers, a man whose business capacity was 
of a high order and whose integrity was 
never questioned. Devoted in his family 
relations, sincere and true in his friendships 
and of absolute fidelity to his written or 
spoken word, he was mourned as a man 
of broad views, large faith and a great 
heart. The career of William Hamilton was 
one of quiet achievement in its results. His 
work went to the development of Pitts- 
burgh's industrial and commercial interests 
and to the elevation and strengthening of 
those principles and ideals which form the 
basis of the true life of a municipality. 



GORMLY, Charles M., 

Representative Citizen. 

Among the many interesting and note- 
worthy types to be found among Pittsburgh 
business men is that of the man of culture 
and refinement, of gentle breeding and an- 
cestral traditions, and of this type the late 
Charles M. Gormly furnished a conspicuous 
example. Mr. Gormly was founder and for 
many years senior partner of the Sedgwick 
Street Steam Laundry Company, and as a 
life-long resident of his native city was long 
and intimately identified with her most es- 
sentially vital interests. 

John Gormly, grandfather of Charles M. 
Gormly, came from the North of Ireland to 
America, where he married Elizabeth, 
daughter of John Gill, who had settled in 
Versailles township, Allegheny county, be- 
fore the Revolution, and who entered the 
Revolutionary Army in 1771. John Gormly 
had one of the first iron foundries in Pitts- 



burgh, it being situated where the Park 
Building now stands, at Smithfield and 
Fifth avenue. 

Samuel Gormly, son of John and Eliza- 
beth (Gill) Gormly, was born December 8, 
1801, on Second street, below Market street 
(now Second avenue), Pittsburgh. He was 
educated at Jefferson College, and read law 
with Henry Baldwin. He was admitted 
April 23, 1823, on motion of Charles Shaler. 
In the year foUov.dng Mr. Gormly was ap- 
pointed prothonotary of the Supreme Court 
for the Western District of Pennsylvania. 
He retired from practice early in life and 
became secretary of the Fireman's Insur- 
ance Company. In 1867 he was elected 
secretary and treasurer of the Allegheny 
Cemetery Company and held that position 
until his death, which occurred at his home 
in Pittsburgh, December 30, 1871. He was 
a lifelong member of Trinity Episcopal 
Church, serving on its vestry for many 
years. He married Hannah Madeira, and 
among their children was a son, Charles M. 
Gormly. 

Charles j\I. Gormly was born June 12, 
1836, in a house which stood at the junction 
of Third and Market streets, Pittsburgh, 
this situation being then in the centre of the 
residence district. He received his prepara- 
tory education at the Sewickley Academy, 
also known as the Travelli School, from the 
name of the head master. It was an estab- 
lishment which numbered among its pupils 
many boys who as men played prominent 
parts in the history of Pittsburgh. Later 
Mr. Gormly entered St. James' College, 
Maryland, of which the Rev. Dr. J. B. Ker- 
foot (afterward first bishop of Pittsburgh) 
was then president. After leaving college 
Mr. Gormly was for some years associated 
with the Cliff Mining Company on Lake 
Superior. In 1862 his business career, like 
that of many another young man of that 
generation, was interrupted by the call to 
arms. In that year he enlisted as a private 
in Hampton's Battery, but a few months 
later was transferred to Washington and 
164 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



appointed private secretary to Edwin M. 
Stanton, Secretary of War. This position 
Mr. Gormly held until the close of the Civil 
War. 

After his return to Pittsburgh he served 
for a number of years as secretary to what 
was then the City Passenger Railroad Com- 
pany. Intensely progressive and alert to 
opportunity, he seized the right moment for 
an independent enterprise and founded the 
Sedgwick Street Steam Laundry Company. 
The result justified his foresight and to the 
close of his life he was senior partner in 
this widely known concern. His influence 
in business circles was great and was owing 
no less to his weight of character than to 
his talents. 

As a citizen with exalted ideals of good 
government and civic virtue, Mr. Gormly 
stood in the front rank, and no project for 
the betterment of conditions in his home city 
found him unresponsive. He advocated the 
principles of the Republican party, but was 
destitute of political ambition. Widely but 
unostentatiously charitable, no good work 
done in the name of philanthropy or re- 
ligion sought his cooperation in vain. He 
was a trustee of Allegheny Cemetery. Dur- 
ing his entire life Mr. Gormly was identi- 
fied with Trinity Protestant Episcopal 
Church, having been baptized there Novem- 
ber 30, 1836. In April, 1877, he was elected 
a vestryman of Trinity parish and served 
throughout the remainder of his life, a 
period of thirty-two years. In 1897 he was 
chosen junior warden of the parish and 
filled that position with great dignity and 
unassuming fidelity. 

With energy of mind and aggressiveness 
of disposition, Mr. Gormly combined a na- 
ture so genial and sympathetic as to possess 
a rare magnetism. Those who can recall his 
fine personal appearance cannot fail to re- 
member how well it corresponded with his 
character. His white hair and moustache 
accentuated patrician features, the chin 
rarely expressive of decision and the lines 

I 



of the mouth speaking of will and achieve- 
ment. The eyes, piercing though they were, 
yet beamed with benevolence and gentle- 
ness. His manner was that of a gentleman 
of the old school, ever dignified, courteous 
and considerate of others. His well modu- 
lated voice had in it a deep undertone that 
bespoke strength and determination and 
naturally associated itself with a man of 
purpose. In every relation of life he was 
the soul of honor. His friendships were 
ardent and few men have been so sincerely 
liked and respected. 

Mr. Gormly married (first) 1867, Georgi- 
ana, daughter of John and Louisa (Wil- 
liams) Fuller, of Bangor, Maine. On Novem- 
ber 8, 1878, Mrs. Gormly died leaving one 
daughter. Georgiana Fuller, who became the 
wife of D. L. Schwartz, of Philadelphia. Mr. 
Gormly married (second) 1883, in Phila- 
delphia, Henrietta Andrews, who died 1910. 
A devoted husband and father, Mr. Gormly 
passed his happiest hours in the home circle. 
The ties of consanguinity were sacred to 
him and a strong attachment existed be- 
tween himself and his brother and sister — 
George Gormly, of Pittsburgh, and Miss 
Grace Gormly, also of that city, and a mem- 
ber of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Daugh- 
ters of the American Revolution. He de- 
lighted in the exercise of hospitality and ir- 
radiated the ever-widening circle of his in- 
fluence with the brightness of spirit that ex- 
pressed the pure gold of character. 

On August 21, 1909, Mr. Gormly passed 
away, his death removing from Pittsburgh 
a splendid type of the alert, energetic, pro- 
gressive business man whose public and 
private life were one rounded whole — two 
perfect parts of a symmetrical sphere. It 
is impossible to estimate the value of such 
men to a city. Their influence, like the 
forces of Nature, is that of quiet but un- 
ceasing beneficence. 

The family of which Charles M. Gormly 
was a representative has been an honored 
one in Pittsburgh, and throughout his career 

165 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



he ably maintained its traditional prestige, 
his record furnishing an illustration of that 
exceptional talent and those sterling traits 
of character which have ever been asso- 
ciated with the name of Gormly. 



STRAUB, John H., 

Manufacturer, Financier. 

To her German-American citizens Pitts- 
burgh owes a great and lasting debt of 
gratitude. By them in large measure have 
her industries been developed, her com- 
merce broadened, and the various elements 
of her life deeply enriched. Among her 
business men of German descent a prom- 
inent place will ever be accorded to the 
late John H. Straub, for many years treas- 
urer of the celebrated Straub Brewing Com- 
pany, and a conspicuous figure in the com- 
mercial circles of the city. Mr. Straub was 
a lifelong resident of Pittsburgh, and zeal- 
ously promoted to the utmost of his power 
the most essential interests of the metropolis. 

John H. Straub was born December 19, 
1851, in the Straub homestead on Troy 
Hill, Pittsburgh, and was a son of the late 
John N. and Elizabeth (Lang) Straub. The 
boy was educated in the schools of his 
native city and the Western University and 
then went to Darmstadt, Germany, where 
he studied chemistry and music, and on 
completing his course of study became asso- 
ciated in business with his father, who was 
the founder of the Straub Brewing Com- 
pany. The son early gave evidence of in- 
herited ability, showing himself to be pos- 
sessed of talents which would enable him 
not only to maintain the enterprise founded 
by the father, but to strengthen its connec- 
tions and enlarge its scope. 

Throughout the many years during which 
Mr. Straub held the office of treasurer of 
the company, he displayed, in conjunction 
with extraordinary tenacity of purpose and 
power to overcome obstacles, an all-pervad- 
ing sense of justice and a benevolence of 
disposition which endeared him alike to his 



associates and subordinates. His name was 
widely and honorably known in the business 
world until the concern was absorbed by the 
Pittsburgh Brewing Company, when he re- 
tired from active participation in commer- 
cial affairs. 

In politics Mr. Straub was a Republican, 
and while he never consented to hold office, 
he was yet somewhat active in the organiza- 
tion, ever giving loyal support to all meas- 
ures calculated to promote the welfare and 
advancement of Pittsburgh. Always ready 
to respond to any deserving call made upon 
him, his acts of charity were many, but ex- 
tremely unostentatious, the knowledge of 
them being limited in the majority of in- 
stances to those who were the recipients of 
his bounty. He affiliated with the Masonic 
fraternity, and was a member of Grace Re- 
formed Church. 

Along with strong mental endowments 
and a rare treasury of common sense, Mr. 
Straub possessed a broad grasp of affairs 
which enabled him to penetrate the future 
and discern whither events were tending. 
This keen vision and comprehensive judg- 
ment were potent factors in his success and 
their imprint was deeply stamped upon his 
countenance, imparting to his well moulded 
features an expression of calm confidence 
and conscious power. His disposition was 
genial, kindly and humorous and was re- 
flected in his eyes, which, despite the keen- 
ness of their glance, spoke eloquently of 
those personal qualities which win and hold 
friends. He was a man of broad views, 
large faith and a great heart. 

Mr. Straub married, April 26, 1877, Car- 
oline E., daughter of Carl John and Louise 
(Hatry) Schultz, and they were the par- 
ents of a son and a daughter: Walter S. ; 
and Louise Emilie, who is now the wife of 
Henry Oliver Evans. Mrs. Straub, a 
woman of much sweetness of disposition 
and a devoted wife and mother, was in all 
respects an ideal helpmate for a man like 
her husband, the ruling motive of whose 
life was love for home and family, and 
166 




' ^^^^^KSwar iS^ra- A^Tl^ 



C^^^ ^ ^fr-nLX^ 



^^«-«- ^:r,s/^i-K^^ ^ui. ^^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



whose happiest hours were passed at his 
own fireside. In. her widowhood Mrs. 
Straub maintains a quiet but earnest inter- 
est in the charitable work in which she and 
her husband were so long united. 

Ere he had completed his fiftieth year 
Mr. Straub was removed from the scenes 
in which he had been so long and so honor- 
ably active, passing away on May 9, 1901. 
In losing him Pittsburgh was deprived of 
one of her most influential citizens, and 
one who had ever studied her welfare and 
prosperity. He possessed the highest sense 
of honor, fulfilled to the letter every trust 
committed to him and was generous in his 
feelings and conduct toward all. An able, 
honorable business man, a progressive, pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, a kind neighbor, a loyal 
friend — such a man was John H. Straub. 
Would that Pittsburgh had more like him! 



SINNICKSON, Charles Perry, 

Prominent Coal Operator, 

Long before William Penn sailed up the 
Delaware and gave his name to the great 
commonwealth, now the "Keystone" of the 
Union Arch, Anders Sinichsen, the ances- 
tor of Charles Perry Sinnickson, of Phila- 
delphia, was tilling his own abundant acres 
in Salem county. New Jersey. The spelling 
of the founder's name varies greatly in early 
records and documents, but in this record 
the name will be used in its anglicized form, 
Andrew Sinnickson, although it was not 
until the third generation that that form 
was generally adopted. Just as the records 
of Salem county, New Jersey, show large 
lands and possessions held in the family 
name as early as 1645, so do those of nearly 
three centuries later contain often the name, 
in many cases making the descendants of 
those pioneers the present holders of land 
cultivated by their fathers generations re- 
moved. Truly, when Andrew Sinnickson 
came to America from Denmark and found- 
ed his line in New Jersey, he did build 
for "all time," and although numerous fam- 
ily names planted in New Jersey at that 

I 



and later times have become extinct and 
long forgotten, that of Sinnickson has in- 
creased and flourished, giving to the state 
and nation men of strong moral fibre. From 
the time of the founding of the family in 
its new home until the Revolutionary period, 
there was little in the lives of the members 
thereof that greatly distinguished them 
from their neighbors. The work they then 
performed was not of a spectacular nature, 
for the building of homes and the establish- 
ing of a community are tasks requiring hon- 
est industry and energy rather than talent 
or brilliance, but when the misrule of Great 
Britain roused the colonies to indignation, 
protest, and war, then did many bearing the 
name Sinnickson come into their own as 
patriots and leaders. At this time, so in- 
fluential were they in colonial councils, that 
two of Andrew Sinnickson's sons, Andrew 
and Thomas, were placed upon a list of 
twenty of the citizens of Salem as the "first 
objects to feel the vengeance of the British 
nation," and Lord Howe placed a price of 
iioo upon the head of Thomas Sinnickson, 
"dead or alive." These lists, as deadly as the 
proscription lists of Marius and Sulla, were 
veritable rolls of honor in American eyes, 
and testified eloquently to the patriotism 
and sturdy independence of those whose 
names there appeared. Legislative service, 
prominence at the bar, distinction on the 
bench, and honorable record everywhere, is 
attributed to the line of Charles Perry Sin- 
nickson, and the following brief chronicle 
will be ample justification for such renown. 
Long of Danish residence, the theory of 
Germanic origin is advanced by one mem- 
ber of the family, although unsubstantiated 
by record. The "Danish Book of Heraldry" 
shows that Andreas Sonnichsen in 1450 
was ennobled by Duke Adolph, of Sleswick. 
and in 1452 a coat-of-arms was granted him 
by King Christian I., of Denmark. In 1550 
a descendant, Sinnich Sonnichsen, was ad- 
vanced to the rank of noble by King Ferdi- 
nand II., of Denmark, and was granted 
Hestrip in Angeln, Denmark, as his estate, 
167 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and in 1600, through the death of Sinnich 
Sinnichsen, his son, Carlen, became ownei 
of the property. Carlen was the father of 
Anders Sinichsen, as his name appears, the 
American ancestor of this line. Anders 
Sinichsen (Andrew Sinnickson) came to 
America about 1638 with sons Anders and 
Broor, in company with the earliest Swed- 
ish immigrants, and sailed up the Delaware 
river to now Wilmington, Delaware, and 
about 1640 settled in the locality now known 
as Lower Penn's Neck township, Salem 
county, purchasing a large tract of land in 
the section called by its Indian name, Obis- 
quahassit. Upon the arrival in 1675 of 
John Fenwick, who came to take up his 
lands in West Jersey, Andrew (2), son of 
the founder, secured a quit-claim from the 
new proprietor by the annual payment of 
three shillings. Broor (Brewer), son of 
the immigrant, who accompanied him to 
America, became the ancestor of a large 
Delaware family, who favor the spelling 
Sinnixon. The Salem family descends from 
Andrew, the immigrant, through Andrew 
(2), Andrew (3), Sinnick, Andrew (4), to 
Andrew (5). 

Andrew (4) Sinnickson, great-great- 
grandfather of Charles Perry Sinnickson, 
last of mention in this record, was born in 
1718, and died August 20, 1790. He enter- 
ed the law, gained prominence in his com- 
munity, was raised to the bench, and from 
1762 to 1790 was judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas at Salem, part of the time 
under the royal rule of George III.- He was 
a deputy to the Provincial Congress of New 
Jersey, May 23, 1775, a deputy to the State 
Convention in the following year, and was 
a member of the legislative council which 
formed the State government of New Jer- 
sey in 1776. So active was he in the cause 
of American independence that Colonel 
Mawhood, of the British army, in his proc- 
lamation of March 21, 1778, marked two 
of his sons, Andrew and Thomas, among a 
score of citizens of Salem for special pun- 
ishment for their "treason." Andrew (4) 



Sinnickson married Sarah Giljeansen, and 
at his death bequeathed valuable properties 
to his children. His son, Thomas, raised 
and commanded a company of Salem County 
Militia in the Continental army, fought at 
Long Island, Monmouth, was appointed a 
naval commander of the western district of 
New Jersey, was present at the battles of 
Trenton and Princeton, and participated in 
the engagements around Gloucester. It was 
he for whom, dead or alive. Lord Howe 
offered one hundred pounds, but despite the 
royal displeasure he continued in his coun- 
try's service and was a member of both 
provincial and state legislatures and a mem- 
ber of the first United States Congress after 
the adoption of the constitution, also serv- 
ing as congressman in 1797-99. For many 
years he was treasurer and sheriff of Salem 
county, justice and judge, and resided in 
Salem, where he had important business and 
mercantile interests. 

Andrew (5), son of Andrew (4) and 
Sarah (Giljeansen) Sinnickson, was born 
on the old Obisquahassit estate, in 1749, and 
died in Salem. July 20, 1,819. He was a 
captain of the First Battalion, Salem Militia 
Company, fought at Princeton and Mon- 
mouth, and paymaster for Salem, Cumber- 
land and Cape May counties. He was four 
times married. His son Thomas (a child 
of his second wife, Margaret Johnson, who 
was a daughter of Judge Robert and Mar- 
garet (Morgan) Johnson), was born in 
Lower Penn's Neck township, Salem county. 
New Jersey, December 13, 1786, and died 
February 17, 1873. His early educational 
opportunities exhausted, he became identi- 
fied with the mercantile establishment of 
his uncle, Thomas Sinnickson, and became 
his partner, retiring from business in 1810 
to devote himself to agriculture and the 
care of his large estate. He was prominent 
in public affairs and for several years occu- 
pied the position of president of the court 
of common pleas, also being judge of the 
Court of Errors and Appeals of New Jer- 
sey. A member of the State Legislature, 
168 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



he was elected to membership in the Twen- 
tieth National Congress, serving in both 
bodies ably and faithfully. He was one of 
the most prominent leaders of the Federal 
party in Salem county, and subsequently 
yielded allegiance to the Whig and Repub- 
lican parties, remaining throughout the Civil 
War a loyal and ardent union supporter. 
For many years he was a warden and ves- 
tryman of St. John's Protestant Episcopal 
Church, which his fathers attended from 
the time of its establishment. Thomas Sin- 
nickson was a man of masterful bearing and 
imposing presence, yet despite a dignified 
reserve required by his station in life was 
delightfully cordial and pleasantly genial. 
He married Elizabeth, daughter of John 
and Mary (Brinton) Jacobs, of Chester 
county, Pennsylvania, born August 3, 1786, 
died August 19, 1849. Children: i. Dr. 
John Jacobs Sinnickson, a graduate of Jef- 
ferson Medical College, under Dr. George 
McClellan ; was brigade surgeon in the 
Texan army when Texas was fighting Mex- 
ico for her freedom, was captured in battle 
and after his release came north, engaging 
in business with his brother Charles ; he died 
in Salem, New Jersey, in 1889, unmarried. 
2. Margaret Johnson Sinnickson, married 
Thomas Jones Yorke, of Salem county. 3. 
Charles, of further mention. 4. Andrew, an 
eminent lawyer of the Salem county bar ; 
died in Salem, December 2, 1902, aged 
eighty-five years ; he married Louise Booth, 
who survives him, a resident of Salem. 

Charles, second son and third child of 
Judge Thomas and Elizabeth (Jacobs) Sin- 
nickson, was born in Salem, New Jersey, in 
1816, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
March 7, 1876. He was educated in Salem 
Academy, and later pursued courses in civil 
engineering. He rose to high rank as an 
engineer, and was so engaged until 1840, 
holding positions under the United States 
government as surveyor of lands for the 
Cherokee Reservation, and was connected 
with the engineering departments of rail- 
roads in Tennessee and with the Philadel- 



phia, Washington and Baltimore railroad. 
In 1840 he began his activity, later so ex- 
tensive, as a coal operator and mine owner, 
becoming a member of the firm of Rogers, 
Sinnickson & Company. The mines owned 
by the company were in the anthracite 
region of Pennsylvania, principally in 
Schuylkill county, the large output being 
shipped to many points. Subsequently he 
associated with him his sons, Charles Perry 
and Thomas, and continued in the coal busi- 
ness until his final retirement. He was 
eminent in business circles, served for sev- 
eral years as a director of the old Pennsyl- 
vania Bank, and was otherwise interested 
in Philadelphia business enterprises. But 
business was not the all-absorbing interest 
of his life. He was intensely public-spirited 
and deeply interested in public affairs, orig- 
inally as a Whig, later as a Democrat, but 
ever as a loyal, patriotic citizen of his adopt- 
ed State. He was of a strongly social 
nature, preserved the rare quality of attract- 
ing and holding men, and was one of the 
popular, prominent members of the Phila- 
delphia Club. His name was a synonym 
for uprightness, and in all Philadelphia's 
commercial world no man was held in 
higher esteem. His rich qualities of busi- 
ness efficiency and rectitude of life were 
transmitted to his sons, both of whom rose 
to prominence as able, energetic men of 
affairs and perpetuated the virtues of their 
honored father. He married Caroline Eliz- 
abeth, daughter of Charles and Sarah Hufty 
Perry; she was born October 17, 1818, died 
December 19, 1905. Children : Charles 
Perry, of whom further; and Thomas. The 
latter, after a business life in association 
with his brother, retired in 1876 to Salem 
county. New Jersey, where he passed his 
later life, engaged in the management of his 
farms and in furthering the business enter- 
prises of Salem, his home. He married 
Frances Forman Sinnickson. daughter of 
J. Howard and Sarah Elizabeth (Forman) 
Sinnickson. 

Charles Perry, elder of the two sons of 
169 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Charles and Caroline Elizabeth (Perry) 
Sinnickson, was born in Philadelphia, Octo- 
ber I, 1844. He prepared for college at the 
Episcopal Academy (Locust street, Phila- 
delphia), and in 1861 entered the Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania, taking a special course 
that he completed in June, 1862. He then 
became associated with his father in his 
coal operations, later continuing the busi- 
ness most successfully in company with his 
brother Thomas and Thomas J. Yorke, 
operating as Sinnickson & Company. In 
1876 Thomas Sinnickson retired from the 
firm, but Charles P. continued in business 
until 1882, when he retired from all active 
participation. Mr. Sinnickson is a member 
of the Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the 
Revolution, his patriotic New Jersey sires 
having left to posterity a record of constant 
valuable service in Liberty's cause. He is 
an interested valued member of the Library 
Company of Philadelphia, belonging also to 
other organizations of the city that appeal 
to his quiet social nature, including the 
Philadelphia and Racquet clubs. He is a 
member of the Episcopal church, and in 
political faith a Democrat. He reviews a 
long and well spent life of active purpose 
and one that in all things has been worthy 
of the honored name he bears. 

Mr. Sinnickson married, November 24, 
1869. Emma Rosengarten, born November 
15, 1847, died June 20, 191 1, and is buried 
in St. John's Episcopal Cemetery at Salem, 
New Jersey. Children: i. Caroline Perry, 
married Brigadier-General Offley Bohun 
Stoven Shore, of the English army, now on 
staff duty at Simla, India. 2. Elizabeth R. 
3. Charles, a member of the Philadelphia 
bar ; married Rebecca M. Wallace and has 
a daughter Priscilla. 4. George R., now 
superintendent of the Schuylkill division of 
the Pennsylvania railroad ; married Mary 
Louise Lippet and has children — Louise 
and Andrew. 5. Clinton, died in infancy. 
6. Fanny R. 

The family residence is at No. 230 West 
Rittenhouse Square. 



EBERHARDT, William, 

Manufacturer, Financier. 

Pittsburgh is largely the creation of the 
German. It is to a great degree by men of 
Teutonic origin that her industries have 
been developed, her commerce broadened 
and all the elements of her life enriched and 
strengthened. Conspicuous among these 
sons of the Fatherland who have helped to 
make the Iron City great and powerful, was 
the late William Eberhardt, for a quarter 
of a century one of the most progressive 
men to be found within her limits. Not 
only was Mr. Eberhardt officially connected 
with a number of the leading industrial and 
commercial organizations of Pittsburgh, but 
he was ever counted among her sterling 
citizens and to none of her essential inter- 
ests did he fail to render generous support 
and zealous cooperation. 

Conrad Eberhardt, father of William 
Eberhardt, was of Wiirtemberg, Germany, 
where he was engaged in business as a 
brewer. About 1846 he emigrated to the 
United States, settling in the old Seventh 
Ward of Allegheny (now North Side, Pitts- 
burgh), and there in 1848 he established a 
brewery, thus laying the foundation of a 
most successful business. During the Civil 
War Mr. Eberhardt gave striking proof of 
loyalty to his adopted country, raising a 
company of volunteers and serving as its 
captain throughout the four years' struggle. 
Mr. Eberhardt married Salome Blesse. and 
their children were : William, mentioned 
below ; and two daughters who married, re- 
spectively, John P. Ober and Edward Wet- 
tach. The death of Mr. Eberhardt occurred 
in 1875, and was mourned as that of an ag- 
gressive and prominent citizen and a man 
of extremely philanthropic disposition. Mrs. 
Eberhardt passed away December 20, 1882. 

William Eberhardt, son of Conrad and 
Salome (Blesse) Eberhardt, was born April 
20, 1844, in Alsace, France, and was two 
years old when brought by his parents to 
the LTnited States. His education was re- 
ceived in the schools of Pittsburgh and he 
170 




A'a.it^^i^s ^^mjar 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was early associated by his father in the 
latter's business. He rapidly developed the 
keen vision, sound judgment and boldness 
of operation so essential to the successful 
business man, and in 1870, when his father 
retired, he became the head of the house. 
With him was associated his brother-in-law, 
John P. Ober, now deceased, whose biog- 
raphy and portrait appear elsewhere in this 
work. They continued the business in the 
father's name, William Eberhardt being 
president of the company, until 1883, and 
then organized a stock company, consolidat- 
ing with the J. N. Straub Brewing Com- 
pany. A few weeks before the death of Mr. 
Eberhardt this concern was merged in the 
Pittsburgh Brewing Company. 

The versatility of Mr. Eberhardt's talents 
and his facility in the dispatch of business 
enabled him to identify himself with a num- 
ber of other interests, giving to each its due 
portion of attention and neglecting none ot 
the many responsibilities imposed upon him. 
He was treasurer of the Fort Pitt Bridge 
Works, and a director in the United States 
National Bank, the Pittsburgh Brewing 
Company, the T. H. Nevin Paint Works, 
the Sixteenth Street Bridge Company, the 
Pittsburgh Tinplate Mill and the Allegheny 
Safe Deposit Company. Politically he was 
a Republican, and took an active part in the 
affairs of the organization, his opinions, as 
those of a vigilant observer of men and 
measures, carrying weight among those with 
whom he discussed public problems. For 
two terms he represented the Seventh Ward 
in the Common Council of Allegheny. No 
good work done in the name of charity or 
religion sought his cooperation in vain, but 
so quietly were his benefactions bestowed 
that their full number will, in all probability, 
never be known to the world. He affiliated 
with Jefferson Lodge, Free and Accepted 
Masons ; Granite Lodge, No. 652, Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows ; Koerner Lodge, 
Knights of Pythias ; and the Ancient Order 
of United Workmen, and belonged to the 
Allegheny Turners and the Teutonia Maen- 

PA-7 1 1 



nerchor. He was a member of the Voegtley 
Lutheran Church, and occupied a seat on its 
board of directors. 

The personality of Mr. Eberhardt was 
that of the forceful, sagacious, self-reliant 
business man with whom obstacles are but 
an incentive to greater activity. He pos- 
sessed the highest sense of honor and the 
record of his business life is free from the 
slightest blemish. His open manly counte- 
nance bore the stamp of a strong mentality 
and of the noble attributes which made him 
what he was. His clear searching eyes re- 
garded the beholder with a gaze which, 
despite its keenness, expressed a genial na- 
ture and a friendly disposition. Intensely 
magnetic, his very presence invited confi- 
dence and compelled friendship. Of valiant 
fidelity in every relation of life, he was im- 
plicitly trusted by all and sincerely loved by 
many. 

Mr. Eberhardt married (first) Amelia 
Heppler, and they became the parents of 
one child who died in infancy. Mr. Eber- 
hardt married (second) February 22, 1874, 
Wilhelmina, daughter of Charles F. and 
Anna (Steinheiber) King, and the follow- 
ing children were born to them : George W., 
Alexander M., William Robert John, Wil- 
helmina H., Lillian B., wife of Charles J. 
Clark; Alma Louise, and Salome Hilda. 
George W. Eberhardt, who has inherited a 
full measure of his father's business ability, 
is head of the banking and brokerage firm of 
George W. Eberhardt & Company, and also 
vice-president and director of the Alle- 
gheny Traction Company. 

In his domestic relations Mr. Eberhardt 
was singularly fortunate. His wife, a think- 
ing woman, possessing much individuality 
and distinction, is withal invested with a 
charming home-making genius and caused 
his home to be the place where he passed 
his happiest hours. A devoted husband and 
father, Mr. Eberhardt was never so content 
as when surrounded by the members of his 
household. Both he and his wife were 
"given to hospitality," and to their charm as 



71 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



host and hostess all who were ever privi- 
leged to be their guests can abundantly testi- 
fy. In her widowhood Mrs. Eberhardt con- 
tinues the charitable work in which she and 
her husband were so long united. 

In the prime of life and in the full ma- 
turity of all his powers Mr. Eberhardt 
closed his useful and honorable career, pass- 
ing away March 25, 1899. His death de- 
prived Pittsburgh of one of her foremost 
business men whose success had been ac- 
companied by an unvarying recognition of 
his obligations to his fellow men, who ful- 
filled to the letter every trust committed to 
him and was generous in his feelings and 
conduct toward all. Many years have pass- 
ed since William Eberhardt was last seen 
among us, but in the city which was so dear 
to him and for which he accomplished so 
much he is still a living influence. His 
works follow him and the memory of his 
high-minded endeavor and noble living re- 
mains to animate and inspire the genera- 
tions of his successors. 



LOGUE, Charles M., 

Financier, Man of Iiarge Affairs. 

Prominent among the men who during 
the last quarter of a century were leaders 
in the promotion of insurance and other 
interests of Pittsburgh, was the late Charles 
McClellan Logue, founder of the widely 
known firm of C. M. Logue & Brother, and 
officially connectel with a number of impor- 
tant business enterprises and financial insti- 
tutions. Mr. Logue, during the greater por- 
tion of his hfe, was a resident of Pittsburgh, 
and rendered the loyal support of a good 
citizen to all the elements essential to her 
welfare as a municipality. 

John Logue, great-grandfather of Charles 
McClellan Logue, was born in 1758, in Ire- 
land, and while still a youth emigrated to 
the United States, settling in Chester county, 
Pennsylvania. On July 11, 1777, he enlisted 
in the Continental army as a private in Cap- 
tain John Ramsey's company, Chester coun- 



ty, Pennsylvania, militia. He married, and 
died June 6, 1833. 

Charles, son of John Logue, was born in 
Toby township, Clarion county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and followed the calling of a farmer. 
He married Rachel Morgan. 

Thomas M., son of Charles and Rachel 
(Morgan) Logue, was born in 1844, in 
Clarion county, Pennsylvania, and like his 
father was an agriculturist. He married 
Mary A. Krozier, and their children were: 
Charles McClellan, mentioned below ; Laura 
Rachel, married James A. Hetrick, one 
child, John J. ; Jennie, married J. E. Wilson, 
four children ; Minnie, married William 
McK. Callear, one child, Cora Mae ; Harry 
A., mentioned below; Herbert L. Logue, 
married Emma Hartman, children : Mil- 
dred, Helen, Mary and Charles ; and Nellie 
Irene, married L. E. Stewart, one child. 
Thomas M. Logue died August, 1903. 

Charles McClellan Logue, son of Thomas 
and Mary A. (Krozier) Logue, was born 
July 19, 1863, in Toby township, Qarion 
county, Pennsylvania, and as a boy assisted 
his father on the farm, attending succes- 
sively the Independent public school, the 
West Freedom Academy at West Freedom, 
Pennsylvania, the Callensburg Academy at 
Callensburg, Pennsylvania, and the Rimers- 
burg Institute at Rimersburg, Pennsylvania, 
all in small villages in the vicinity of the 
farm. At the age of fifteen he began teach- 
ing school, first at Meyers school house, 
Toby township, Clarion county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and then at Blackfox, Perry town- 
ship, Clarion county, Pennsylvania. The 
following year he took charge of one of 
the schools at Clarion, the county seat of 
Clarion county, and entered the National 
Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, sub- 
sequently graduating from that institution. 
In 1882 the Hon. James Mosgrove, of Kit- 
tanning, Pennsylvania, member of Congress 
from Mr. Logue's district, appointed him 
to a cadetship at West Point, but as he was 
still under twenty-one years of age, the gov- 
ernment required him to secure the consent 
172 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of his parents, and this being refused, he 
was unable to accept the appointment. With 
characteristic generosity he exerted himself 
in behalf of another, and it was at his re- 
quest that Mr. Mosgrove appointed in his 
stead Charles Farrensworth, who entered 
West Point and later graduated with honors. 

Somewhat later, Mr. Logue became a 
candidate for County Superintendent of 
Public Schools of Clarion county, but in 
view of the fact that he was not yet of age, 
the State Superintendent refused him a 
commission. About this time Mr. Logue 
engaged in the fire insurance business in 
Clarion, with the firm of John F. & G. E. 
Brown, and the success which attended him 
from the start attested his capabilities. In 
November, 1886, he came to Pittsburgh and 
proved his powers in a wider field thus 
opened to him. 

In 1889 Mr. Logue was joined by his 
brother, Harry A. Logue, and the two en- 
gaged in the produce and commission busi- 
ness, this being managed and conducted 
largely by the younger partner, INIr. Logue 
continuing to devote himself to fire insur- 
ance. In December, 1902, the produce and 
commission business was abandoned, Harry 
A. Logue joining his brother in the fire in- 
surance business, under the firm name of 
C. M. Logue & Brotlier. The organization 
became a permanent power in the insurance 
world. 

In 1901 Mr. Logue, in association with 
a number of New York and Philadelphia 
capitalists, formed the United States Cigar 
Company, with a capital of $5,000,000. 
This concern eventually took over and 
bought out the Union American Cigar Com- 
pany, the Collins Cigar Company, Ltd., and 
several other leading factories throughout 
the United States, in the same line, Mr. 
Logue being elected as president of the new 
corporation — The United States Cigar Com- 
pany. A few years later this concern was 
absorbed by the American Tobacco Com- 
pany, the consolidation resulting in the 
organization of the American Stogie Com- 

I 



pany, with a capital of $12,000,000, head- 
quarters in New York, and warehouses and 
factories all over the United States. On the 
formation of this new company, owned by 
the American Tobacco Company, Mr. Logue 
was elected its president, but after holding 
the office for several years was forced by 
failing health to resign. After spending 
about a year recuperating, he returned to 
Pittsburgh to continue the business with his 
brother, Harry A. Logue. In addition to 
handling some of the largest manufacturing 
plants in the United States, they made a 
specialty of installing automatic sprinklers 
for their clients, and succeeded in building 
up one of the largest offices in the State of 
Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Logue was for several years director 
in the German-American Savings & Trust 
Company, the Guarantee Title & Trust 
Company and the Iron City National Bank, 
all of Pittsburgh. At the time of his death 
he was a director in the Bank of Pittsburgh, 
N. A., the oldest bank in the United States 
west of the Allegheny mountains ; the 
Homewood Peoples Bank, East End, Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania; the American Stogie 
Company of New York; and the Union 
American Cigar Company of New York. 
He was likewise interested financially in 
several leading manufacturing and mercan- 
tile concerns of Pittsburgh. 

In early life he served six years in the 
National Guard of Pennsylvania. He affili- 
ated with Allegheny Lodge, Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons ; Allegheny Chapter, Royal 
Arch Masons ; Chartiers Commandery, 
Knights Templar; and the Syria Temple of 
the Mystic Shrine ; also the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows and the Order of 
United Americans. He belonged to the 
Sons of the American Revolution, and his 
clubs were the Duquesne Club, Pittsburgh 
Athletic Association, Pittsburgh Country 
Club and Americus Republic Club, all of 
Pittsburgh, and the Aldine Club of New 
York. He was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

173 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Mr. Logue married, February 20, 1890, 
Ella M. Hendrickson, daughter of H. D. 
and Jeannette (Collins) Hendrickson, of 
Pittsburgh, and of four children born to 
them, two are living — Edward A., now at 
the Culver Military Academy, and Alice 
Jeannette. 

During the last years of his life, Mr. 
Logue was in failing health, and March 28, 
1914, he passed away. His death deprived 
Pittsburgh of a man of extraordinary in- 
dustry, wonderful capacity for accomplish- 
ment, and great financial sagacity^ — one who 
had at all times stood as an able exponent 
of the spirit of the age in his efforts to 
advance progress and improvement, making 
wise use of his opportunities and conform- 
ing his life to the highest standard of recti- 
tude. 



LOGUE, H. A., 

Insurance Undenvriter, Financier. 

H. A. Logue was born in Toby township. 
Clarion county, November 28, 1874. He 
attended Independence school, in Toby 
township, and the West Freedom Academy, 
in West Freedom, Pennsylvania, a small 
village near his birthplace. He left the 
farm in 1889 and entered into partnership 
with his brother, Charles McClellan Logue, 
in the produce and commission business, 
and also in the insurance business, at Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania. In 1902 the produce 
and commission business was abandoned, 
and he devoted all of his time to the insur- 
ance business. During the time he con- 
ducted the produce and commission busi- 
ness, he attended and graduated from Duff's 
Business College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

He entered the National Guard of Penn- 
sylvania in 1892 as a private, and was called 
for duty a few days later at the famous 
Homestead strike. On April 27, 1898, he 
entered the United States service and served 
as a sergeant in the Spanish-American War, 
with Company E, Fourteenth Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, under the command of Captain 



Harry D. Fowler, and later was promoted 
to first lieutenant in the same regiment. He 
is affiliated with the Homewood Lodge, Free 
and Accepted Masons ; Mispah Chapter, 
Royal Arch Masons ; Chartiers Command- 
ery. Knights Templar; Syria Temple of the 
Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Sons 
of the American Revolution, Pittsburgh 
Country Club, and is a life member in the 
Pittsburgh Athletic Association. He is also 
a member of the Insurance Society of Pitts- 
burgh and the Insurance Society of New 
York City. Immediately after the great 
earthquake in San Francisco, in 1906, he 
was selected by several large companies to 
look after the adjustment of losses in that 
district, and spent about one year at that 
place. 

He is a member of the executive commit- 
tee of the Allegheny County Board of Fire 
Underwriters, vice-president of the Auto- 
matic Sprinkler Equipment Company, and 
president of Logue Brothers & Company, 
Inc., which is one of the largest insurance 
agencies in Western Pennsylvania. He is 
also a prominent member of the National 
Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents, 
being an officer and on several important 
committees. 

In 1903 he married Miss Marie Ogden, 
daughter of Alexander and Eleanor Ogden, 
of Pittsburgh, formerly of Owen Sound, 
Canada. 



LAUBACH, William, 

Easton's Mercantile Nestor. 

Christian Laubach, accompanied by his 
wife, Susan Laubach, and six children, sail- 
ed in August, 1738, from the Palatinate, 
Germany, and landed in Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, September 16, 1738, on the ship 
"Queen Elizabeth." They settled on the 
banks of a small stream in Saucon township, 
Northampton county, Pennsylvania, where 
he shortly afterward erected a saw and grist 
mill. Christian Laubach was a blacksmith 
and iron dealer, and furnished large quan- 

174 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



titles of material to the Durham furnaces. 
Subsequently he became the owner of five 
tracts of land which are still in the posses- 
sion of his descendants. 

John George, son of Christian and Susan 
Laiibach, was born November 4, 1723, mar- 
ried, and reared a family. He received 
£100 as his share in the estate of his father. 
Children: Susan, born November 7, 1757; 
Michael, born November 28, 1759; John, 
born August 25, 1761 ; John Christian, born 
June 30, 1762; Anna Mary, born October 
21, 1764; Adami, of further mention; John 
Conrad, born March 3, 1768; Ann Mar- 
garet, born January 19, 1770; Catherine, 
born February 26, 1772; John George, Jr.. 
born March 5, 1774; and Walter, born Feb- 
ruary 15, 1776. 

Adam, son of John George Laubach, was 
born December 23, 1766, and settled in 
Saucon township, where he was a farmer 
and a blacksmith. He married, and had 
children : Jacob, who died at the age of 
eighty-five years; John, born October 2, 
1789, died at the age of eighty-two years ; 
Christian, died at the age of eighty-three 
years; George, born November 14, 1794, 
lived to be seventy-five years of age ; Sam- 
uel, born May 24, 1796, died at the age of 
thirty^eight years ; Joseph, attained the age 
of sixty- four years ; Daniel, born August 
12, 1801, died at thirty-five years of age: 
Elizabeth, was eighty-three years old at the 
time of her death ; Isaac, born March 8, 
1806, died at the age of sixty-five years ; 
Abraham, of further mention. 

Abraham, >x)ungest child of Adam Lau- 
bach, was born in Williams township, North- 
ampton county, Pennsylvania, November 
19, 1808, and died September 15, 1890. In 
early life he served an apprenticeship to the 
trade of harnessmaking, which he pursued 
in the township of Plainfield for about fif- 
teen years, after which he returned to Wil- 
liams township and engaged in farming and 
milling. Being successful in both of these 
enterprises, Mr. Laubach acquired a suffi- 
cient competence to enable him to retire 



from active business pursuits, and he located 
in the city of Easton, where he spent his 
declining years in the enjoyment of ease and 
luxury. He was a deacon and elder in the 
Reformed church of Williams township. 
Mr. Laubach married Lydia Beidleman, 
who died April 30, 1895. They had chil- 
dren : William, of further mention ; Pegg)' 
Ann, born July 12, 1835, married Richard 
Deemer; Robert, born April 27, 1837; Ste- 
phen, born June 9, 1839, became a physi- 
cian ; Susan, born February 19, 1842; Abra- 
ham A., born May 3, 1844; Owen, born July 
16, 1846, died September 24, 1888. 

Elias Beidleman, great-great-grandfather 
of Mrs. Lydia (Beidleman) Laubach, was 
born in the Palatinate, Germany, Septem- 
ber 27, 1707, and arrived in the city of 
Philadelphia in September, 1730. He re- 
mained in Philadelphia county a number of 
years, removing in 1748 to Springfield town- 
ship, now Pleasant Valley township, Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania. There he built the 
first mill in the northern part of Bucks 
county, and resided in that vicinity until his 
death, which occurred October 25, 1781. 
Elias, son of Elias Beidleman, married Cath- 
erine Kiss, of Lower Saucon township, and 
later removed from that locality to Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania. Samuel, son of the 
second Elias Beidleman, was born in 1748, 
resided in Chestnut Hill township during 
the French and Indian War, and joined 
Sullivan's army when that command went 
against the Six Nations. He subsequently 
settled in the Chemung Valley, New York, 
where he resided until his decease in 1836. 
Abraham, son of Samuel Beidleman, and 
father of Mrs. Laubach, was born Novem- 
ber 26, 1772, and, while a lad in his teens, 
returned to Penn.sylvania, where he first 
settled in Plainfield township. Later he re- 
turned to Williams township, and there be- 
came the possessor of a large tract of land 
in the vicinity of Raubsville, Northampton 
county, where his death occurred, April 11, 
1857.' 

William, eldest son of Abraham and 



"75 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Lydia (Beidleman) Laubach, was born in 
Plainfield township, February i8, 1833, and 
died of general debility after an illness of 
almost a year, at his home, Second and 
Bushkill streets, Easton, Pennsylvania, July 
30, 1914. His health had been declining for 
some time, and May 18 and 19 witnessed 
his presence for the last time in the estab- 
lishment he had built up in his very active 
business career. He had been in active busi- 
ness in Easton for a period of fifty-four 
years. April 6, 1910, the firm celebrated its 
fiftieth anniversary in an appropriate man- 
ner, devoting two entire weeks to the ob- 
servance. His success as a business man 
was founded on close application, absolute 
thoroughness, careful attention to details 
and personal supervision. He originated 
the one-price system in Easton, and built up 
his business by thoroughness and reliability 
in dealing with his trade. He was an honor- 
able man in all his transactions, was cordial 
in his greetings to customers and business 
associates, and possessed a wide circle of 
acquaintances who all deeply and sincerely 
regretted his death. 

In his boyhood Mr. Laubach attended the 
district school and worked on the farm of 
his father. When he was fifteen years of 
age he took a position in a country store at 
Kesslersville, where he remained until 1853, 
when he came to Easton and entered the 
store of the late Jacob Hay, then a promi- 
nent dealer in dry goods, with whom he re- 
mained about five years, fitting himself 
under his employer's methodical manner of 
conducting business, for a more extended 
experience later. A short time after this 
Mr. Laubach entered the establishment of 
Jacob Rader, then among the oldest and 
most extensive business houses of Easton, 
as clerk. Here he continued for about one 
year. 

April 6, i860, Mr. Laubach decided to en- 
gage in business for himself, and, in spite of 
limited resources, opened a dry goods store 
in a room only twelve by forty feet in size, 
on a part of the site of the huge business 



house which he occupied in his later years. 
In the spring of 1861 the young merchant 
moved his stock to the building at Fourth 
and Northampton streets, on the site of the 
present Northampton National Bank build- 
ing. The store remained there until No- 
vember, 1872, when Mr. Laubach erected a 
building on Northampton street, on the 
present site, twenty-eight by one hundred 
and seventy feet, the front of which was 
three stories high and the rear one story. 
On November 21, 1872, what was then 
"Laubach's Trade Palace" was opened. 
Many Eastonians will recall that special 
opening, which was held in the evening. 
No goods were sold, and an orchestra fur- 
nished music, which was something alto- 
gether new and original with the shopping 
public of our city in those days. In 1881 
an addition of fifty feet was added to the 
rear, giving the store a depth of two hun- 
dred and twenty feet, with a uniform width 
of twenty-eight feet. In 1891 the property 
known as the Hunt building, on the corner 
of Bank and Northampton streets, was 
added to meet the demand for greater space. 
Again, in 1895, an extensive addition was 
made to the Laubach store. The M. J. 
Riegel building, on the west side, was ac- 
quired, giving a seventy-four foot frontage 
on Northampton street. 

Even that fine, large, spacious store was 
soon outgrown, and 1899 found Mr. Lau- 
bach again engaged in adding a basement 
department for the housing of stocks of 
china and glassware, bric-a-brac and various 
lines of house furnishing goods. Two years 
later, in November, 1901, Mr. Laubach pur- 
chased the Timmins and Hess properties 
on the west side of his store. It was not. 
however, until 1905 that other improve- 
ments were made which brought the front- 
age of the store to a total of one hundred 
and seven feet, as it is now. In 1910 fur- 
ther improvements were made to the store 
building by adding a large building in the 
rear, and also tearing down the Hunt prof>- 
erty on the east, and a handsome building 
76 




imL^_^ 






ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was erected thereon to conform with the 
remainder of the property fronting on 
Northampton street, making a uniform 
building with three floors and basement 
throughout and a frontage of one hundred 
and seven feet. The entire property, as the 
store now stands, is occupied by the firm. 
It has a floor space exceeding sixty thou- 
sand square feet. As compared with the 
original selling space of four hundred and 
eighty square feet, the size of the present 
store makes the growth seem almost mar- 
velous. 

George A., the eldest son of William Lau- 
bach, entered the business as an employe, 
July I, 1881, and was taken into the tirm 
in 1889. The firm was then known as Wil- 
liam Laubach & Son. In 1908, his five sons 
became partners in the business, and the 
firm was incorporated under the name of 
William Laubach & Sons. The four young- 
er sons are : WiUiam H., Charles M., Fred- 
erick H. and Henry B. 

William Laubach was prominent as a 
Mason, his fraternal connection being as 
follows: Easton Lodge, No. 152, Free and 
Accepted Masons; Easton Chapter, No. 
173, Royal Arch Masons; Hugh De Payens 
Commandery, No. 19, Knights Templar, of 
Easton ; Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic 
Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of 
Reading. For sixty years Mr. Laubach was 
a member of the First Reformed Church, 
and took an active interest in all the afi'airs 
of the congregation. He served for many 
years as an officer and member of the con- 
sistory. In the old borough days he was 
elected a member of the school board from 
the Seventh Ward, and served one term. 
He was a director in the Northampton Na- 
tional Bank for twenty-eight years ; a mem- 
ber of the Pennsylvania German Society, 
and of the Easton Board of Trade. He 
was always interested in everything which 
promised to uplift the business, industrial, 
educational, moral and spiritual welfare of 
the community. His counsel was often 
sought, and his opinions were freely ac- 



cepted, although he was deferential, and he 
never advanced his persoiaal ideas except in 
a modest and courteous manner. He was 
of inestimable service to the community, 
and held the respect, and in his latter days 
the veneration, of the people of the entire 
section. He was a liberal donor to the 
church, and his charity in this community 
was only limited by his good judgment. 
Historians will ever refer to William Lau- 
bach as a shining light in the mercantile life 
of Easton. 

Mr. Laubach married, August 19, i860, 
Mary Frances Horn, born in Easton, Penn- 
sylvania, February 5, 1839, a daughter of 
George and Annie Horn. Children: i. Ed- 
ward Horn, born June 9, 1861, died De- 
cember 15, 1861. 2. George A., born Octo- 
ber 10, 1862; married Laura Louisa Grim, 
born September 30, 1865, and has had chil- 
dren: George A. Jr., born May 9, 1892; 
Frances Louise, born June 18, 1894; Don- 
ald Grim, born September i, 1898. 3. Annie 
B., born April 29, 1864; married John Wes- 
ley Nute, who died October 5, 1908; chil- 
dren: George H., born October 7, 1889; 
William Laubach, born December 29, 1890; 
Harold Nute, born June 2, 1894. 4. Jennie, 
born February i, 1866; married Lieutenant- 
Colonel Edgar Jadwin, Linited States army, 
and has children : Charlotte Frances, born 
August 23, 1894. and Cornelius C, born 
March 22, 1896. 5. Sarah, born August 20, 
1867, married Harry A. McFadden, of 
Hollidaysburg, who died September 15, 
1910; children: Harriet Elizabeth, born 
April 8, 1895 ; Harry A. Jr., born Septem- 
ber 19, 1896; Mary Frances, born Novem- 
ber I, 1902. 6. Mary, born January 10, 
1870, died November 20, 1909; she married 
Samuel K. Green, who died January 6, 
1910. 7. William H.. born May 8, 1871 ; 
married Lydia Gano ; children : John Wes- 
ley, who died September 12, 1901 ; Rich- 
ard G., born January 10, 1903. 8. Ella, 
born February 14, 1874; married, February 
7, 1905, A. Goldsmith ; children: John Fran- 
cis, born March 5, 1906; Robert, born Janu- 
177 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ary 21, 1914. 9. Frank Edward, born Feb- 
ruary 27, 1876, died April 20, 1884. 10. 
Charles Madison, born March 2"], 1878; 
married Sallie Leyrer, of Easton ; children : 
Mary Louisa, born May 18, 1907 ; Elinor, 
born April 5, 191 1. 11. Frederick H., born 
June 29, 1880; married, June 15, 1904, 
Zelda Wilhelm ; children : Frederick H. 
Jr., born August 11, 1905; Dorothy W., 
born November 8, 1908, died August 25, 
1910; Mary Elizabeth, born June 7, 191 1. 
12. Henry B., born November 29, 1881 ; 
married, April 30, 1907, Edith Bixler. 



HULINGS, Willis J., 

Lawyer, Legislator. 

Willis J. Rulings comes of one of the 
oldest Pennsylvania families, his ancestors 
having settled on the Delaware in 1636. 
Marcus Rulings (i) lies buried at Mor- 
latten, Philadelphia. Marcus (2), a famous 
Indian scout, settled at the mouth of the 
Juniata in 1745; served with Braddock in 
his ill-fated expedition ; was one of the gar- 
rison of Fort Pitt in 1763; became a mem- 
ber of the Committee of Safety, Northum- 
berland county, in 1775 ; and with his son 
Marcus (3) served in the Revolutionary 
army. Marcus (3) after the Revolution 
settled at Pittsburgh, on the south side ; 
built what was afterwards known as Jones' 
Tavern, opposite the foot of Liberty street, 
and established a ferry there. Re married 
Matsey Daugherty, famous as an intrepid 
frontier's woman. Afterwards he was one 
of the first five settlers at Franklin, Penn- 
sylvania, and built a log house at the foot 
of what is now Twelfth street. The earli- 
est tombstone in the old Franklin grave- 
yard shows that his son, Michael Rulings, 
died August 9, 1797, aged twenty-seven 
years. Ris son John was born on "Smoky 
Island," in the confluence of the Mononga- 
hela and Allegheny rivers (now all washed 
away) ; he married Sarah Bell, daughter of 
a Virginian who settled early at Pittsburgh. 
John Rulings was a trusted employee of 



the government, carrying supplies from 
Pittsburgh to Erie and to Cairo. John's 
son, Marcus (4), was a soldier in the war 
of 1812. 

Marcus (5), son of Marcus Rulings (4), 
was an architect and builder. Re was a 
man of great character and untiring energy. 
Immediately after the discovery of petro- 
leum, he became actively and successfully 
engaged in its production and in the pipe 
line business. Re married Margaret Mc- 
Elwee, a direct descendant of the McDer- 
mott of Londonderry fame. She was an 
Irish woman of great ability. She bore him 
eleven children. Their oldest child, 

Willis J. Rulings, was born in Clarion 
county, Pennsylvania, July i, 1850, and ob- 
tained an excellent education in private 
schools and the Philadelphia University, 
and a legal education in New York City, 
with Frederick A. Ward, and later with 
Gilfillan & Lamberton, of Franklin. Re 
was admitted to the Venango county bar in 
1877, and later to the Allegheny county bar, 
and the bars of West Virginia and Arizona. 
Re engaged in practice for several years, 
and was connected with many important 
cases. Retiring from the law, he became 
extensively engaged in oil, lumber and min- 
ing enterprises in the United States and 
Mexico. 

In 1881 Mr. Rulings was elected a mem- 
ber of the Rouse of Representatives of 
Pennsylvania, and served for three terms. 
In this body his independence and straight- 
forwardness made him a noted figure. Be- 
lieving that the government must control 
the corporations or the corporations would 
control the government, he attacked the 
practice of railroad discriminations and re- 
bates in freight rates, and secured the pass- 
age of the anti-discrimination law. In 1906 
he was elected to the Pennsylvania State 
Senate, serving until 191 1. Re conducted 
the famous fight for the civil service bill, 
and secured the passage of the bills for the 
purchase of water plants by municipalities, 
a measure that for twenty years the water 
178 



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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



companies had successfully resisted; and 
the appointment of a commission to equal- 
ize taxes. 

He has been a lifelong Republican, but 
when the Republican leaders had ceased to 
be Republicans, he took his Republicanism 
with him and joined the Progressive party 
in 1912; was a delegate of that party at Chi- 
cago, and became the candidate of the party 
in the Twenty^eighth Congressional Dis- 
trict, and was elected by a small plurality 
in a three-cornered fight. As congressman, 
he secured recognition as a speaker, and a 
thinker. He was appointed to the impor- 
tant Military Affairs and Revision of Laws 
committees ; is a member of the Board of 
Visitors to the United States Military Acad- 
emy. His speeches upon the Tariff, Mexi- 
can situation, Naval appropriations. Pro- 
gressive party and Farm Loans were nota- 
ble, commanding the attention of the House ; 
especially has the painstaking study and 
ability of his speeches upon Farm Loans 
attracted attention. 

General Hulings enlisted in the National 
Guard of Pennsylvania in 1876, and served 
in all the grades from private to general, 
until 1912. He was colonel of the famous 
Sixteenth Regiment, National Guard of 
Pennsylvania, for twenty-one years ; volun- 
teered with the regiment in April, 1898, in 
the United States service ; commanded a 
brigade of five regiments at Chickamauga, 
in the First Division, First Corps; joined 
General Wilson's expedition to Porto Rico, 
in command of the Sixteenth Regiment, 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry ; com- 
manded the advance guard ; was promoted 
to brigadier-general "for meritorious con- 
duct in action at the battle of Coamo, Au- 
gust 9., 1898; was honorably discharged 
January i, 1899; reorganized the Sixteenth 
Regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania, 
and assumed command ; was promoted to 
brigadier-general of the National Guard of 
Pennsylvania, August 28, 1907 ; commis- 
sion expired August 28, 1912. 

General Hulings married Emma, daugh- 



ter of George W. Simpson, of New York 
City, and has eleven children: Marcus (6), 
civil and mining engineer ; Willis J. Jr., 
chief chemist, Tennessee Copper Company; 
George S., manufacturer, Pittsburgh, Penn- 
sylvania ; Clark S., lawyer, Kittanning, 
Pennsylvania; Joseph S., lieutenant United 
States navy; Garnet O., ensign. United 
States navy; Courtland S., collegian; Nor- 
man, M. D., collegian; Florence, librarian; 
Bess, married H. A. Heilman; Emma S., 
married F"rank Stuart. 



JOHNSTON, Simon, 

Business Man, Public Official. 

The men who controlled the business in- 
terests of Pittsburgh during the exciting 
years of the later fifties, the dark days of 
the Civil War, the trying period immediately 
succeeding, and the era of restored prosper- 
ity which followed constituted, indeed, a 
notable group. One of its conspicuous 
figures — seen now through the mist of 
years — was that of the late Simon Johnston, 
for more than a third of a century an ac- 
knowledged leader in the drug business. 
During the many years of Mr. Johnston's 
residence in the Iron City he was numbered 
among the steadfast supporters of her most 
essential interests. 

Originally the family of Johnston came 
from Scotland to Ireland. Robert Johns- 
ton was the brother of the Laird of Brack- 
enside and heir to his estate. His wife was 
a Graham, by whom he had two sons, Alex- 
ander and Thomas, who were born in Scot- 
land. In the time of "Good Queen Ann" 
he came to Ireland and settled in Ulster. 
Thomas Johnston, grandfather of Simon 
Johnston, married Miss Isabella Armstrong, 
daughter of Andrew Armstrong, of Lough- 
terish. He had three sons : Alexander ; An- 
drew ; and Thomas, father of Simon Johns- 
ton. 

Simon Johnston was born February 9, 
1828, in county Fermanagh. Ireland, and 
was a son of Thomas and Margaret Johns- 

79 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ton. His education was received in his 
native land, and in 1850 he came to seek 
his fortune in the United States. SettHng 
in Pittsburgh, he attended Duff's Cohege 
for one term, and then entered the service 
of B. A. Fahnestock, head of a wholesale 
drug establishment. His keen intelligence 
soon mastered every detail of the business 
and this, in conjunction with executive abil- 
ity of a high order and unremitting devo- 
tion to duty, placed him, in a few years, in 
circumstances which justified him in going 
into business for himself. 

In 1859 Mr. Johnston purchased the store 
of L. Wilcox, at the corner of Fourth ave- 
nue and Smithfield street, and there carried 
on a flourishing business until 1876, when 
he removed to Third avenue and Smithfield 
street, remaining, to the close of his life, 
in the active proprietorship of this establish- 
ment. His record as a business man is free 
from the slightest blemish. His integrity 
was never questioned and he was a just and 
kind employer, winning the warm attach- 
ment and zealous cooperation of his subordi- 
nates. In all concerns relative to the city's 
welfare, Mr. Johnston ever took a deep 
interest. In politics he was a Democrat 
with independent tendencies. For a time 
he represented the Second Ward in the City 
Council, and occupied a seat on its school 
board. He also served as guardian of the 
poor. No good work done in the name of 
charity or religion sought his cooperation 
in vain, but so quietly were his benefactions 
bestowed that their full number was known 
to none except the recipients. He was a 
member of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal 
Church. 

The countenance of Mr. Johnston bore 
the impress of a vigorous intellect and a 
powerful will, the keen yet thoughtful 
glance of his eyes speaking of a nature un- 
ceasingly observant and at the same time 
profoundly reflective. His habitual expres- 
sion gave evidence of the genial disposition 
which was one of his most marked char- 
acteristics. He was richly endowed with 

II 



the personal traits, the warmth of heart and 
social qualities which win and hold friends. 
To those who did not know him intimately 
he seemed at first brusque, but they soon 
learned that this was only the outer shell of 
an ardent and generous nature, one, more- 
over, true as steel and unfailingly to be re- 
lied on. Few men enjoyed to a greater de- 
gree the warm affection and high regard of 
their fellow citizens. 

Mr. Johnston married, January 28, 1858, 
Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. James 
Logan and Mary (Shannon) Read, and 
three sons and four daughters were born 
to them : Mary Rhodes ; Anne Read ; Alicia 
Maxwell ; William Alexander ; Elizabeth ; 
Robert Sproul, who died July 25, 1891 ; and 
Edwin Van Deusen. Mrs. Johnston is one 
of those rare women who combine with per- 
fect womanliness and domesticity an un- 
erring judgment, a union of traits of the 
greatest value to her husband, who found in 
her not alone a charming companion but 
also a trusted confidante. Mr. Johnston 
was a man to whom the ties of family and 
friendship were sacred, and never was he 
so content as when surrounded by the mem- 
bers of his household. Both he and his wife 
were "given to hospitality," and to their 
charm as host and hostess all who were ever 
privileged to be their guests can abundantly 
testify. Mr. Johnston possessed rare con- 
versational powers, his talk being enlivened 
by flashes of the rich and brilliant wit pecu- 
liar to his countrymen. He was a lover 
of literature and it was said that his col- 
lection of books was one of the finest in 
Pittsburgh. He made frequent trips to 
Europe, but was always glad to return to 
his Pittsburgh home. 

By the death of Mr. Johnston his home 
city was deprived of one of her most influ- 
ential citizens, one who had ever studied 
her welfare and labored for her prosperity. 
On April 16, 1891, he passed away, leaving 
the record of a life singularly complete and 
a name that had ever stood as a synonym 
for all that is enterprising in business and 
80 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



progressive in citizenship. The old-time 
business men of Pittsburgh are still warmly 
cherished in the memories of many and none 
is more vividly recalled than Simon Johns- 
ton. His name is held in honored and grate- 
ful remembrance and the influence of his 
fine abilities and noble character will long 
be felt in his beloved city. 



RAMSEY, Charles Cyrus, 

Large Steel Manufacturer. 

The antecedents of Charles Cyrus Ram- 
sey, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are sup- 
posed to be of Scotch origin, though they 
may have come from Ireland as the family 
possessed traditions of Irish places. Soon 
after the year 1700 there was a large Scotch- 
Irish emigration to Pennsylvania; among 
them was William Ramsey, who settled with 
his family in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
and is said to have been of the lineage of 
Sir Thomas De Ramsey, of Dalhousie, 
Scotland. The first Ramsey came to Scot- 
land in the train of the Earl of Huntingdon 
from England, and held property in Hunt- 
ingdonshire, Scotland, from which he took 
the name De Ramsey. This family claims 
descent from William Ramsey, who fought 
under Robert Bruce for the independence of 
Scotland, and was one of the nobles who 
subscribed to the celebrated memorial ad- 
dressed to the Pope in 1320, wherein was 
set forth the rights and liberties of Scotland. 

(I) William Ramsey, of Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, was of Scotch ancestry, and 
probably came to America by way of Ire- 
land. He had seven children, namely: i. 
James, born 1692 or 1701 ; was ancestor of 
Major James Ramsey, of Ligonier, Penn- 
sylvania. 2. William, born 1698, probably 
in Ireland; died October 19, 1787, in War- 
wick township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. 

3. Jean, born 1699, died September 17, 1781 ; 
married (first) Robert Mearus, who died 
in 1730, married (second) Hugh Huston. 

4. Robert, who owned land in Antrim town- 
ship, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, 1738- 
1749. 5. Alexander, of Bucks county. 



Pennsylvania. 6. John, of Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania, who settled in the 
Cumberland Valley. 7. Thomas, of whom 
more hereafter. 

(II) Thomas Ramsey, son of William 
Ramsey, the emigrant, was born about 1710, 
probably in Ireland. He settled in Nocka- 
mixon township, Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania, about 1725-1730; was a large land- 
owner there, and an active participant in 
local political affairs. He died intestate in 
Bucks county, in 1751. He married Sarah 
Darrah Johnston, daughter of James Johns- 
ton and Mary Darrah Johnston; the latter 
was the daughter of Thomas Darrah, an 
Irish colonist, who lived in Bedminster 
township, Bucks county. Pennsylvania. The 
widow of Thomas Ramsey moved to Tini- 
cum township, Bucks county, where she 
died. Issue of Thomas and Mary Darrah 
(Johnston) Ramsey: i. William, of whom 
further. 2. David, born March, 1735 ; in 
1795 was in North Carolina. 3. Robert, 
born May, 1739; was in Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1795. 4. Thomas, born 
1742, and in 1795 was in Northumberland 
county, Pennsylvania. 5. Samuel, born 
1751 ; was in Sussex county. New Jersey, in 
1795. Perhaps other children. 

(HI) William Ramsey, son of Thomas 
and Mary Darrah (Johnston) Ramsey, was 
born in November, 1732, probably in Nock- 
amixon township, Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania. He was a soldier in the French and 
Indian war, 1755-1756, from Bucks county, 
and attained the rank of captain ; he re- 
moved from thence to Cumberland county, 
Pennsylvania, soon after his marriage, and 
settled first in Antrim township, but later in 
Hamilton township, where he remained 
until 1795, after which he lived in North 
Carolina. He married Margaret Allen, 
daughter of William Allen, of Bensalem 
township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. 
They had children as follows: i. Benjamin, 
born 1754, died in 1809, on a farm near 
Washington, Washington county, Pennsyl- 
vania. 2. William, born January i, 1756; 
1181 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



joined the Continental army at the age of 
sixteen, and in 1800 moved to Washington 
county, where he died January i, 1841. 3. 
Thomas, emigrated to Kentucky, and in 
1802 his name appears on records of that 
State. 4. John, of whom further. 5. Jane 
or Jeannett, born 1759; married, in 1780, 
Joseph Eaton Jr., who was a soldier of the 

Revolution. 6. Margaret, married 

Henry. 

(IV) John Ramsey, son of Captain Wil- 
liam and Margaret (Allen) Ramsey, was 
born probably in Cumberland county, Penn- 
sylvania, and lived in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania. He married Martha Shields, 
a twin sister of Mary Shields, and daughter 
of Matthew Shields, who was a son of Mat- 
thew Shields, both soldiers in the Conti- 
nental army during the war of the Revolu- 
tion. They had four children: i. William, 
who died sine prole. 2. John, of whom fur- 
ther. 3. Elijah, who married Elizabeth 
Ayres. 4. Robert, who married, April 21, 
181 1, and died in 1847. 

(V) John Ramsey, son of John and Mar- 
tha (Shields) Ramsey, was born January 
3, 1799, at Bentleyville, Washington county, 
Pennsylvania. He is supposed to have been 
a farmer in Washington county in early 
life, removed to Allegheny City about 1850, 
engaged in banking and died there in 1875. 
He married Jane Moore, February 25, 1822, 
who was born February 25, 1797. They had 
children : John ; William, married Isabel 
Cassidy; Martha Jane, married Moses 
Montgomery ; James Shields, married Ruth 
Thorne ; Elizabeth, married Isaac Hill ; 
Robert Shields, married Margaret Wil- 
liams ; Anna M., married John Swan ; Cyrus 
Washington, mentioned below. 

(VI) Cyrus Washington Ramsey, son of 
John and Jane (Moore) Ramsey, was born 
July 20, 1835, at Cross Creek Village, Wash- 
ington county, Pennsylvania. He resided in 
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and was en- 
gaged in business in Pittsburgh. He mar- 
ried (first) Ellen Miller, who was born 
February 21, 1842; (second) Jane Kefover, 
May 30, 1887, at Pittsburgh. Issue by first 



wife: I. Charles Cyrus, of whom further. 
2. Arabella Neilson, born January 20, 1864; 
married, June 6, 1904, Jan Koert, who died 
February 6, 191 1. 3. Lide Severance, born 
March 25, 1866; married, January i, igo2, 
William Arrott, who died July 13, 1909. 4. 
Nina Blanche, born March 28, 1868; mar- 
ried, December 23, 1891, Bond Valentine 
Somerville. Issue by second wife: 5. Frank 
Howard, born May 30, 1888, in Allegheny 
county, Pennsylvania. 

(VII) Charles Cyrus Ramsey, son of 
Cyrus Washington and Ellen (Miller) 
Ramsey, was born February 25, 1862, in 
Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools of Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, and received technical in- 
struction thereafter. In time he became 
president and director, and a member of 
the executive committee of the Crucible 
Steel Company of America. He is also 
president of the Crucible Fuel Company of 
Pittsburgh ; and is vice-president of the 
Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Company. He 
married Grace Schureman Keys, daughter 
of Elijah Crawford and Elizabeth Holme 
(Mapelsden) Keys, June i, 1905, in New 
York City. She was born December 24, 
1875. Elijah Crawford Keys was born 
January 29, 1844; Elizabeth Holme Mapels- 
den was born May 4, 1844; they were mar- 
ried, June 30, 1866, in New York City. 
Children of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey: Eliza- 
beth Mapelsden, born February 15, 1907, 
in New York; Ellen, born November 19, 
1909, in New York City ; Cyrus Keys, born 
November 8, 1913, in Sewickley, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Mr. Ramsey is a member of the Alle- 
gheny Country Club and of the Duquesne 
Club of Pittsburgh ; also of the New York 
Athletic Club, the Pennsylvania Society and 
the Engineers' Club of New York City. He 
is a descendant of an armigerous colonial 
family entitled to armorial insignia as fol- 
lows : Arms — Argent, an eagle displayed 
sable, beaked and membered gules. Crest 
— A unicorn's head couped argent. Motto — 
Semper victer. 
182 




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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



McClelland, Wllliam Black, 

Laxpyer, Ideal Citizen. 

Among the young and brilliant members 
of the bar who, a quarter of a century ago, 
graced the courts of Pittsburgh, was one 
whose record is invested with a peculiar 
interest both by reason of its unusual prom- 
ise and its melancholy brevity. It is that 
of the late William Black McClelland, who, 
throughout his career, worthily maintained 
the traditions of a family long known and 
highly honored in the metropolis of West- 
ern Pennsylvania. 

William Black McClelland was born June 
26, 1854, in Pittsburgh, and was a son of 
James H. and Elizabeth (Black) McClel- 
land, whose other sons were : John B. and 
James H., both deceased; and Robert W., 
a prominent physician of Pittsburgh. John 
B. and James H. McClelland were also 
members of the medical profession and 
biographies and portraits of the father and 
these three sons appear elsewhere in this 
work. 

The early education of William Black 
McClelland was received in public and pri- 
vate schools of Pittsburgh, and he subse- 
quently entered Washington and Jefiferson 
College, graduating from that institution. 
On September 13, 1880, he registered as a 
law student, his preceptors being John H. 
Hampton and John Dalzell. On June 30, 
1883, he was admitted to the bar of Alle- 
gheny county on motion of James C. Doty. 
The professional career of Mr. McClelland 
opened with the brightest prospects. Pos- 
sessed of innate ability of a high order and 
armed with the most thorough equipment, 
he entered upon the discharge of his duties 
under peculiarly advantageous circum- 
stances. Nor did his early efforts fail to 
receive speedy recognition and appreciation. 
His advancement, based on talent, knowl- 
edge and strict adherence to the loftiest 
principles of integrity was rapid and steady 
and older members of the bar, watching 



with interest his upward course, prophesied 
for him a brilliant future. 

It was, however, only eight years after 
his admission to the bar that failing health 
forced Mr. McClelland to remove to Colo- 
rado. His courage, nevertheless, was un- 
daunted and his energy undiminished, and 
in his new abode he entered with zeal upon 
the practice of his profession, meeting with 
the success which seldom fails to attend 
men of this type. He also found oppor- 
tunities of exercising to advantage his mark- 
ed business ability. 

In politics Mr. McClelland was a Repub- 
lican, but always steadily refused to be- 
come a candidate for office, preferring to 
concentrate his energies upon the discharge 
of his professional duties and obligations. 
He was, nevertheless, somewhat active in 
political circles, and ever gave loyal support 
to all measures which he deemed calculated 
to promote the welfare and advancement of 
Pittsburgh. During his residence in Colo- 
rado he was not less zealous in the fulfill- 
ment of the duties of citizenship. His char- 
ities were numerous but extremely unosten- 
tatious. 

The personality of Mr. McClelland was 
in many respects that of the ideal lawyer. 
His intellect was luminous and vigorous, 
and he possessed that judicial instinct which 
makes its way quickly through immaterial 
details to essential points. In argument he 
was ever logical, forcible, clear and, above 
all, convincing. With strong mental en- 
dowments he combined those personal qual- 
ities which win and hold friends and these 
different attributes were plainly impressed 
upon his countenance, imparting to his 
finely-cut, sensitive features a look of in- 
tellectual power and indomitable determina- 
tion softened by the impulses of a kindly 
nature and a genial disposition. His eyes 
had the piercing glance of one accustomed 
to look below the surface and penetrate all 
disguises, but withal there was an expres- 
sion of benevolence and at times a glint of 
humor. He looked what he was — a warm- 

183 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



hearted, thoroughly well-balanced man, 
gifted, noble, honest and true. 

Before many years had elapsed the heroic 
stand made by Mr. McClelland against the 
encroachments of physical infirmity had to 
be abandoned. His brother. Dr. James H. 
McClelland, brought him from Colorado to 
his home in Pittsburgh, and there, on the 
evening of the day of his arrival, December 
lo, 1900, he passed away, mourned both in 
his native city and in the faraway home of 
his latter years. 

Three brothers of the name of McClel- 
land, two of whom have passed into history, 
are prominently identified with the prestige 
of the medical profession in Pittsburgh. 
The fourth brother, William Black McClel- 
land, whose record, also, is wholly of the 
past, invested the family name with the 
lustre derived from distinction at the bar, 
and although but half the years of his too 
brief career were associated with his native 
city she claims him as her own and cherishes 
his memory with just and affectionate pride. 



RHODES, Marion W., 

Business Man., Manufacturer. 

When in the course of years the scope of 
a business grows from a moderate begin- 
ning to a large output per annum, it argues 
that there must be a very capable leading 
spirit to control its afi'airs, and it is of such 
a man, Marion W. Rhodes, of Stroudsburg, 
Pennsylvania, that this sketch treats. Faith- 
fulness in the performance of his duties and 
a strict adherence to a fixed purpose, have 
been his main guides in life, and the suc- 
cess which has attended his efforts is proof 
of the wisdom of this course of action. 

The Rhodes family is an old one in this 
country, its first member here having come 
from Germany prior to the Revolution, in 
which he took an active part, and was killed 
at the battle of Brandywine. His name, 
however, has not been preserved. His son, 
Jacob Rhodes, was born and reared near 
Bethlehem, Northampton county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he married and reared a family. 



Adam, son of Jacob Rhodes, was born on 
the Rhodes homestead near Bethlehem, 
where he remained until his marriage. He 
then removed to what is now Hamilton 
township, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, 
where he purchased what was then the Wil- 
liams farm. This was only partly cleared, 
the remainder being covered with timber, 
and on this he made many improvements 
until it was a fine homestead at the time of 
his death in 1846, at which time he was liv- 
ing with his son Jacob, in Stroud township. 
He married Catherine Beasecker, who died 
in February, 1864, and they were the par- 
ents of : Adam, Nancy, Abraham, John, 
Leah, Thomas W., of further mention ; 
Rachel, Jacob and Eliza. 

Thomas W., son of Adam and Catherine 
(Beasecker) Rhodes, was born in Hamil- 
ton township, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, 
August 10, 181 1, and died January 25, 1891. 
His education was but a meager one, being 
limited to attendance for a few months each 
winter at the district schools. At the age 
of seventeen years he was apprenticed to 
George Keller to learn the carpenter's trade, 
his apprenticeship expiring at the end of 
three years. He was then occupied as a 
millwright for a period of nine years, in 
the employ of Mr. Linton, holding the posi- 
tion of foreman during three years of this 
term. He next established himself in busi- 
ness independently, erecting many mills in 
Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and from 
1849 to 1855 had charge of the lumber busi- 
ness of Williams Brothers & Comfort, after 
after which he retired from business three 
years. In 1858 he built the Stroudsburg 
Bank building; in 1865, the Stroudsburg 
Woolen Mills; and in 1869, the Lutheran 
church. In 1856 he assisted in organizing 
the Stroudsburg Bank, of which he was a 
director many years. In 1865 he became a 
director of the Stroudsburg Woolen Mills, 
and was elected president in 1868. He also 
served many years as director, manager and 
surveyor of the Monroe Mutual Fire Insur- 
ance Company ; was an elder and trustee of 
184 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the Lutheran church ; and a staunch sup- 
porter of the RepubHcan party. 

Mr. Rhodes married (first) January i, 
1836, Mary Ann, who died January 4, 1853, 
a daughter of Solomon and Mary (Ben- 
inger) Heller; he married (second) July 5, 
1853, Catherine, a daughter of Peter and 
Elizabeth (Heller) Keller. Children by the 
first marriage : Sydenham H., Charles L., 
Marion W., whose name heads this sketch ; 
Ellen A., Edward H., George H., Martha 
S., Johnson G. Children by second mar- 
riage : Stewart T., Erwin J., Mary M., 
Jennie L., Anna C. and Mildred F. 

Marion W. Rhodes was born in Stroud 
township, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, 
April I, 1 84 1, and the district schools of his 
native town furnished his elementary edu- 
cation. This was supplemented by one term 
in the Stroudsburg Seminary, after which 
he taught school one term in Hamilton town- 
ship and another term in Eldred township. 
During the Civil War he served nine months 
as a substitute for his brother, Sydenham 
H. Rhodes, being a member of Company 
C, Captain Warner commanding, 176th 
Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. 
In 1865 he engaged in the lumber business 
for Judge E. M. Paxton, at Spruce Mills 
Grove, and was thus occupied until 1868, 
when he came to Stroudsburg and there 
opened a general store which he conducted 
successfully for some time. His next busi- 
ness venture was as a drover, when he trav- 
eled throughout the western and middle 
States, and about 1885 commenced the 
manufacture of cigars, with which he has 
been identified since that time. He has 
made an undoubted success of this line of 
industry. 

January 2, 1866, Mr. Rhodes was made 
a member of Peter Williamson Lodge, No. 
323, Free and Accepted Masons, of Scran- 
ton, Pennsylvania ; and he is also a member 
of Wallenpaupack Lodge, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, of Newfoundland, 
Pennsylvania. 



BROOKS, Jeremiah, 

Prominent Physician, Professional In- 
structor. 

The history of Pittsburgh has no figures 
more nobly conspicuous than those of her 
physicians, and among those who, during 
the middle decades of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, upheld and increased the prestige of 
the medical profession none stood higher 
than the late Dr. Jeremiah Brooks, for more 
than thirty years one of the leading physi- 
cians of the Iron City. Dr. Brooks was a 
representative of the old Brooks family of 
New Jersey, where bearers of the name 
are still numerous, and whence members of 
the race have widely dispersed, planting 
branches in different parts of the United 
States. 

Ananias Brooks, probably the progenitor 
of all the American branches of the family, 
came from the North of Ireland and was 
of Scotch parentage. He married Martha 

, and in the first half of the eighteenth 

century sailed from Belfast for the Amer- 
ican colonies. His son Thomas married, in 
1753, Catherine Smith, of Dutch descent, 
who was born at sea in 1735, and died in 
1831. Their son John, born February 23, 
1772, married, June 24, 1802, at Arch Street 
Friends' Meeting, Philadelphia, Elizabeth, 
daughter of Samuel Baker and Elizabeth 
(Head) Scatterwood. Samuel Baker Scat- 
terwood was of Bucks county and Phila- 
delphia, and his wife was the daughter of 
John Head, a prominent merchant of Phila- 
delphia, born October 20, 1723, died Sep- 
tember 2, 1792. Jeremiah Mayberry Brooks, 
son of John Brooks, married, May 13, 1840, 
Emma, born September 3, 1821, in Hills- 
boro, North Carolina, daughter of Charles 
and Rebecca (Shinn) Harbert, the latter a 
member of the old Shinn family of New 
Jersey. 

Jeremiah Brooks, probably a lineal de- 
scendant of Ananias Brooks, the immigrant, 
and father of Dr. Jeremiah Brooks, of Pitts- 
burgh, was born in Bridgeton, New Jersey, 

185 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



March 13, 1754, and died February 3, 1834, 
in Warren, Ohio. He married, November 
30, 1775, Dorcas Smith, born in New Jer- 
sey, January 23, 1759, died July 17, 1838, 
and their children were: i. Phoebe, married 
the Rev. Sidney Rigdon, for years pastor 
of the Fourth Avenue Baptist Church of 
Pittsburgh. 2. Richard Smith, married, in 
1810, Rachel B. Davis; children: Sibley; 

Amarilla, married (first) Seifer- 

held, (second) Bacon; Lydia, mar- 
ried Potter ; Rachel Davis, married, 

in 1841, Samuel Preston Shriver; Nancy, 
married McBrier ; Margaret ; Wil- 
liam. 3. Jeremiah, mentioned below. 4. 
Sarah, married John Sibley, of Bridgeton, 
New Jersey, and is survived by a grand- 
daughter, Mrs. Enoch Taylor, of Philadel- 
phia. 5. William, of Warren, Ohio, among 
whose descendants are Mrs. Edwin Biggs 
and Mrs. William F. Church. Mr. Church, 
who is of Salem, Ohio, is a cousin of Sam- 
uel Harden Church, of Pittsburgh, whose 
biography and portrait appear elsewhere in 
this work. 

Jeremiah Brooks, son of Jeremiah and 
Dorcas (Smith) Brooks, was born Febru- 
ary 24, 1797, at Bridgeton, New Jersey, and 
received his early education in his native 
state and at Warren, Ohio, whither his 
parents removed while he was still a boy. 
In the course of time he entered Jeflferson 
College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, subse- 
quently becoming a student at Jefiferson 
Medical College, Philadelphia. After re- 
maining at the latter institution a year and 
a half Dr. Brooks began practice at Monon- 
gahela City, removing, in 1830, to Pitts- 
burgh, where he rapidly rose into promi- 
nence, taking the leading place which he 
held thenceforth to the close of his life. 
His first place of residence was on Fourth 
avenue, whence he moved to Liberty, and 
after the great fire of 1845 took up his 
abode on Sixth avenue. He was of high 
rank and popularity not only as a family 
physician, but also as a surgeon. His con- 
spicuous success was the result of more 



than ordinary intellectual power and an 
eminent degree of skill combined with a 
strong will, a resolute nature and a purpose- 
ful spirit. 

Politically Dr. Brooks was first a Whig 
and later a Republican, adhering staunchly 
to the principles of the organizations and 
ever a leader in all that tended toward pub- 
lic improvement. His charities were numer- 
ous, but in their bestowal he constantly 
sought to shun the slightest appearance of 
ostentation. In his zeal for the creation of 
higher medical standards Dr. Brooks drilled 
many students, exerting in this way an in- 
calcuable influence. With Rev. William A. 
Passavant he was instrumental in establish- 
ing the first Passavant Hospital, in Pitts- 
burgh, and was connected with it until his 
death. He belonged to a Doctors' Club 
which was the forerunner of the present 
Allegheny County Medical Society. 

Those who were familiar with the fine 
personal appearance of Dr. Brooks cannot 
fail to remember how well it illustrated his 
character. His eyes, clear and magnetic, 
were those of a man who had seen and 
thought and done, and his habitual ex- 
pression was one of calm forcefulness. His 
intercourse with other members of his pro- 
fession was marked by the most scrupulous 
regard for their rights and feelings, and to 
the physicians of the younger generation 
he was particularly kind and generous. His 
estimate of the character of the profession 
was most exalted, constituting the very 
essence of honor, dignity, benevolence and 
usefulness. He was a distinguished physi- 
cian and a true gentleman. 

Dr. Brooks married, October 31, 1820, 
Martha Clarke, daughter of Walter and 
Elizabeth (Clarke) Buchanan, of Canons- 
burg, Pennsylvania, whither Mr. Buchanan 
had removed from Lancaster county. An 
agriculturist, he was also extensively en- 
gaged in business as a miller. His wife, born 
May 27, 1764, was a daughter of Thomas 
and Martha (Dunlop) Clarke. Thomas 
Clarke was born in 1712, in county Antrim, 1 
186 




'. *-^^ !i^/&,7,S ^jS-^./fej" 



— ''y 



^/-^^f^y 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Ireland, and his descendants constitute one 
of the noted families of Pennsylvania, dif- 
ferent members in the successive generations 
having done much for the Keystone State 
and the City of Pittsburgh (see Clarke). 

The foUov^ing children were born to Dr. 
and Mrs. Brooks : Julia Huntington, de- 
ceased, married the Rev. William S. Liv- 
ingston, of Ohio ; Eliza Buchanan, deceased, 
married the late Prof. Joseph F. Griggs, of 
Pittsburgh ; Jane Francis ; Emma Clarke, 
married David Sterrett, of Lewistown, 
Pennsylvania, who died in 1907. Miss Jane 
Frances Brooks, a woman of culture and 
social grace, resides in Pittsburgh, where 
she is the centre of a large circle of warmly 
attached friends. Miss Brooks is active 
in benevolent work, being animated by a 
spirit of genuine philanthropy. The mar- 
riage of Dr. Brooks might truly be said to 
have crowned his life, for his wife was a 
woman, who by her gracious tact, thought- 
fulness and endearing kindness, imparted 
inspiration to his lofty purposes and made 
of his home a place of serene delights. She 
passed away May 10, 1886. Dr. Brooks 
was devoted to the ties of family and 
friendship, regarding them as most sacred 
obligations. 

On August 18, 1865, his home city and 
the medical fraternity throughout the state 
were called to mourn the passing of a man 
of brilliant attainments and noble char- 
acter. Honorable in purpose and wholly 
devoted to his great work Dr. Brooks had 
stood for many years before the public as 
an eminent physician and valued citizen. 
The record of his life remains as an inspir- 
ation to his profession and to the commun- 
ity, and the thought of what he was as a 
husband and father constitutes a sacred 
memory. 

Dr. Brooks was among the last survivors 
of a bygone generation of physicians. Noble 
men they were, devoting their physical and 
mental energies to the service of their fel- 
lowmen and consecrating their skill and 
learning to the relief of suffering humanity, 

PA-8 I 



and of no one of them was this more em- 
phatically true than of Dr. Jeremiah 
Brooks. 

(The Clarke Line). 

The surname of Clerk, Clark or Clarke, 
a common one throughout Europe, is in 
Scotland one of great antiquity, and was 
probably assumed from some office bearing 
the designation. It is interesting to note 
that in very early times, there were many 
free barons and men of great possessions 
and power who bore the name of Clarke 
or Clark. Sir James Dalrymple cites a 
cliarter, prior to 1180, of King William, 
of a donation to the abbacy of Holyrood 
House, and among the witnesses (all men 
of rank) are Hugo Clericus Regis, Hugo 
Clericus Cancellarii, Johannes Clericus, and 
others of similar form and signification. 

In 1296 Richardus Clerk submitted to 
Edward the First, and in the same year 
Benedict Clere, a man of rank and promi- 
nence, was carried captive to London for 
refusing to swear allegiance to the English 
monarch. At the battle of Durham, Wil- 
liam Clerk was taken prisoner and remained 
in captivity until 1357, when he was re- 
leased with his sovereign, David the Sec- 
ond. The Clan Chatton and some of the 
best Highland families are descended from 
the Clerks, and from charters under the 
great seal it appears that different families 
of the name have held extensive possessions 
from a very remote era, some of these lands 
being situated in Perthshire. 

Thomas Clark, who lived in England 
from 1650 to 1680. is the earliest ancestor 
of record of the Clarke family of Western 
Pennsylvania. He had several sons, the 
youngest of whom, John, served as a lieu- 
tenant in the army of William, Prince of 
Orange. At the siege of Derry, Lieutenant 
Clark was one of those who volunteered 
to cut the boom in the harbor. This boom 
prevented the landing of ships sent with 
provisions to the relief of the besieged who 
were dying of starvation and disease in the 
fortress. The boom was broken by a shot 
187 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



from the besieging army of James the Sec- 
ond and at the same time was struck by one 
of the rehef ships, thus ending the famous 
siege of Derry. The following year Lieu- 
tenant Clark was slain at the Battle of the 
Boyne, July 12, 1690. After this decisive 
victory the lands of nobility and officers in 
the army of James the Second were con- 
fiscated and awarded to meritorious men in 
the service of the Prince of Orange. One 
of these estates was given to the family of 
Lieutenant Clark, and they accordingly left 
England and settled in county Antrim, Ire- 
land. 

Thomas Clarke, probably the grandson 
of Lieutenant John Clark and founder of 
the American branch of the family, was 
born in 1712, in county Antrim. He had 
one brother, Francis, who was captain of 
a sailing vessel and married in Ireland, 
Mary Green. The Clarks lived in Cole- 
raine and had amassed wealth, being exten- 
sively engaged in the linen business and 
owning a bleaching ground at Sandal 
Mount, near Coleraine. About 1753 Thomas 
Clarke immigrated to the American colon- 
ies, landing at Wilmington, Delaware, and 
purchasing land at Chadds Ford on Brandy- 
wine Creek. After an absence of seven 
years he returned to Ireland for his wife 
and child, and in 1761 again landed in the 
colony, where thenceforth he made his 
home. 

At the beginning of the revolutionary 
war Thomas Clarke was neutral (his father 
having been an English officer) and be- 
lieved that the Continentals could not pre- 
vail against the British Army — that they 
were engaging in a hopeless struggle. While 
witnessing the Battle of Brandywine he 
was taken prisoner and compelled to serve 
in the ranks of the British. Because he 
would not fire a cannon he was tied to one 
and kept there all day. After the battle 
he was released. His farm lay in the path 
of both armies and was stript of nearly 
everything, and when battles were fought 
on his own land he cast in his lot with the 



patriots and drew his sword in defense of 
his hearthstone. 

Being obliged to entertain both Tories 
and Federalists, Thomas Clarke decided to 
keep an inn which he called the Black Horse 
Tavern. This was a large stone house sit- 
uated not far from the battlefield and is 
still in good preservation. When General 
Lafayette was wounded in the leg he was 
taken with other wounded into Mr. Clarke's 
house, and until his recovery made it his 
headquarters. John Clarke, a lad of nine, 
had the honor of holding the general's 
horse. General Washington also made his 
headquarters here, and as Bancroft says, 
"he charged them to take as good care of 
Lafayette as if he were his own son." Eliza- 
beth Clarke was at this time thirteen years 
of age and remembered both commanders 
well to the close of her life. She said Wash- 
ington was the handsomest man she ever 
saw. Lafayette was lame (in consequence 
of his recent wound), had red or sandy hair 
and squinted. He told the negro cook that 
the coffee did not suit him, and she tried in 
vain to please him until one day when it 
was accidentall}' smoked in the wood fire. 
He said then, doubtless to her surprise, 
that it was good, but too much smoked. 
After that she smoked it a little, and he 
was satisfied. Elizabeth Clarke said that 
they "heard the firing all the day of the 
battle ; the creek was red with blood, and 
the Federalists retreated, walking across 
the bodies of the slain." 

After the war Thomas Clarke sold his 
farm at Chadds Ford, taking in payment 
colonial money, some of which is still in 
possession of his great-granddaughter, Mrs. 
Edwin R. Sullivan, of Pittsburgh. In 1788 
Mr. Clarke removed to Canonsburg, Wash- 
ington county, Pennsylvania, whither his 
son W^illiam had preceded him. They called 
the place Clarkesville. It is south of Wash- 
ington, not far from Waynesburg, and near 
the line of Washington and Greene coun- 
ties. The year of their removal there was 
a great drought, and cattle were driven to 



Hi 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Laurel Hill for pasture. The Clarkes had 
grain to sow sufficient to provide them with 
food for a year, but when it was ripening, 
so great was the necessity that women went 
into the fields and gathered it, and after 
shelling it, parched or boiled it for food. 
Game, however, was abundant. 

Thomas Clarke married, about 1750, in 
Ireland, Martha Stuart Dunlop. The Dun- 
lops were Scotch Calvinists who fied from 
their native land in consequence of religious 
persecution, taking refuge in the compara- 
tively unmolested regions of Ulster. This 
incident in their history was often related 
by Mrs. Clarke to her children and grand- 
children. The Dunlops were allied to the 
•"^♦^uarts, Mrs. Clarke being related to S'*" 
James Stuart, the first Earl of Bute, and 
also to Charles Edward Stuart, called by 
his enemies, "The Young Pretender," by 
his friends, "The Young Chevalier," and 
famous in song and story as "Prince 
Charlie." 

Following are the children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Clarke : Mary, born February 5, 1753, 
in Ireland; Samuel, born June 27, 1761, on 
the voyage to xA.merica ; Elizabeth, born 
May 27, 1764; Thomas, May 25, 1766; 
John, November 23, 1768, married Rebecca 
Zane, of Wheeling, West Virginia ; Wil- 
liam ; Robert, August 25, 1773, engaged in 
mercantile busmess in Brownsville, Penn- 
sylvania; Charles; and Francis. All these 
children with the exception of Mary and 
Samuel, were born at Chadds Ford, Penn- 
sylvania, near Wilmington, Delaware. 

John Clarke, son of Francis Clarke, 
brother of Thomas, on coming to America, 
wanted to marry his cousin Mary. Her 
father objected because of his dislike of 
the young man's mother, and this opposition 
led to the elopement of John and Mary. 
It may be mentioned here that the "e" was 
added to the Clark name after coming of 
the family to America, probably to distin- 
guish them from another of the same name. 

John Clarke, nephew and son-in-law of 
Thomas Clarke, was a hatter and furrier 



and lived in Wilmington, Delaware, amass- 
ing a large fortune. "One hundred years 
ago only cocked hats were worn and there 
was but one manufactory in America." 
This was after the war from which he had 
emerged a very poor man, a captain's pen- 
sion being his only remuneration for val- 
uable services. He had raised an inde- 
pendent company, armed and equipped at 
his own expense, and had served in the 
battles of Brandywine and Red Bank. At 
the Battle of Brandywine his life was saved 
in a remarkable manner. His dog followed 
him to the battlefield and ran against him, 
throwing him to the ground just as the man 
immediately behind him was struck by a 
bullet and killed. 

Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Mar- 
tha Stuart (Dunlop) Clarke, married Wal- 
ter Buchanan, of Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and their children were : Marie, 
who became the wife of Rev. William 
Smith, D. D. ; Juliet Galbraith ; Martha 
Clarke, who married Dr. Jeremiah Brooks, 
of Pittsburgh ; Jane Work, who married 
Judge Andrew Dempsey of Ironton, Ohio: 
Eliza, who married the Rev. Noah Gillett. 

It is recorded that Thomas, son of 
Thomas and Martha Stuart (Dunlop) 
Clarke, was lost at sea. Having a great 
desire to visit the old country, he set sail, 
probably with his uncle Francis. One night 
after his departure his mother dreamed 
that he came to her dripping wet. She 
wakened, and on again falling asleep had 
the same dream. It made such an impres- 
sion on her that she told her husband who 
immediately arose and wrote down the date. 
A year after the captain of the vessel vis- 
ited the parents and told them that on the 
voyage out Thomas was sent up into the 
rigging to take in sail, was blown off into 
sea and could not be rescued. He was 
drowned on the night of his mother's 
dream. 

Thomas Clarke, the father, died May 11, 
1802, at the home of his son, William, 
in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. In the old 
189 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



country he had been a member of the 
Church of England. Mrs. Clarke passed 
away September i6, 1807, at the age of 
eighty-three. Her latter years were 
clouded by a famine which prevailed in Ire- 
land, as she feared that her sisters whom 
she had left in the old home might suffer. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Clarke are interred in 
the cemetery of Chartiers or Hill Church, 
of which Dr. John McMillan was pastor 
for fifty years. Mrs. Clarke died at the 
home of her daughter, Mrs. Buchanan, at 
Buchanan's Mills, near Canonsburg, Penn- 
sylvania. 



MOORE, Delano Riddle, 

Enterprising Business Man. 

The majority of the business men of 
Pennsylvania have ever been of that alert, 
energetic, progressive type to whom ob- 
stacles are but an impetus, and during the 
latter decades of the nineteenth century 
there could be found throughout the length 
and breadth of the state no more perfect 
specimen of the type than the late Delano 
Riddle Moore, of Altoona, long a recog- 
nized authority in the lumber business. Mr. 
Moore, during his almost lifelong residence 
in Altoona, was ever ready to do all in his 
power to advance the best interests of his 
home town. 

John Moore, grandfather of Delano 
Riddle Moore, was of Leinster county, Ire- 
land, and was forced by political trouble 
to leave his native country and take refuge 
in the United States, landing at Alexandria 
(Virginia?). He was a member of the 
Presbyterian church. He was accompanied 
to this country by his three children : Rob- 
ert ; Johnston, mentioned below ; and Ann. 

Johnston Moore, son of John Moore, 
was a farmer in Morrison's Cove, Blair 
county, Pennsylvania. He married Maria 
Jane Wilson. Their children were : Itha- 
mar, died in 1905 ; Theodosia, married 
Thomas B. Delo, of Elmira, New York, 
and died, leaving two children, Roy B. and 
Johnston Moore, a physician of Philadel- 



phia ; Cassandra, married James P. Stew- 
art, now deceased, banker and prothono- 
tary, of HoUidaysburg, later a resident of 
Webb City; Delano Riddle, mentioned be- 
low ; Charles W., a businessman of Al- 
toona, married Mary Aiken, of Melroy, 
Pennsylvania, and died November 5, 1914; 
and Samuel T., of Harrisburg, chief for- 
ester of Pennsylvania, married Anna 
Swartz and has two children, Erma and 
Mary. 

Delano Riddle Moore, son of Johnston 
and Maria Jane (Wilson) Moore, was born 
March 14, 1843, ^^ Morrison's Cove, near 
Williamsburg, Pennsylvania. He received 
his primary education in the public schools 
of Altoona, afterward attending the State 
College. His inclinations were for mer- 
cantile life and at the age of sixteen he went 
to Altoona and there entered upon the 
career which was to bring him not only 
pecuniary profit but a most enviable repu- 
tation. In association with his brother Itha- 
mar he established the lumber business 
which he conducted to the close of his life. 
Under his capable management the con- 
cern gradually enlarged the scope of its 
transactions, eventually operating five mills 
in Cambria county. Mr. Moore was the 
owner of extensive lumber and coal lands 
and devoted all the energies of his vigorous 
and well balanced mind to the guidance 
and control of the great enterprise which 
owed its success and magnitude chiefly to 
his aggressive boldness and wise conserva- 
tism. 

As a citizen with exalted ideals of good 
government and civic virtue Mr. Moore 
stood in the front rank. His political affili- 
ations were with the Republicans, but he 
never took an active part in the affairs of 
the organization, matters of business en- 
grossing his entire time and office-seeking 
being foreign to his nature. He was ever 
ready to do all that lay in his power for the 
betterment of conditions in his community 
and his charities were numerous but in- 
variably bestowed in the quietest manner 
190 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



possible. He was a member of the First 
Presbyterian Church. 

In early manhood Mr. Moore, like so 
many other young men of his generation, 
abandoned business pursuits in order to 
respond to the call to arms and enlisted in 
the Union army, but conditions frustrated 
his intention of going to the front. 

The personality of Mr. Moore was that 
of a genial, kindly, warm-hearted, thor- 
oughly well balanced man, of strong mental 
endowments and exceptional capacity for 
judging the motives and merits of men. 
He was of medium height and stout figure, 
but alert and active in his movements, 
always preserving his youthful energy. His 
hair and whiskers were light and his well 
moulded features were expressive of his 
dominant traits of character. His eyes, 
piercingly keen, held in their depths a hum- 
orous gleam which told of the fund of dry 
humor for which he was noted and which 
was one of his most attractive qualities. 
His business transactions were conducted 
in accordance with the highest principles 
and he was widely beloved, numbering 
friends in all classes of the community, and, 
it might be added, among the noblest of 
the brute creation, for he delighted in dogs 
and horses and they returned his affection. 

Mr. Moore married, December 7, 1864, 
at Altoona, Emma L., daughter of Judge 
Benjamin Franklin and Eliza (Addleman) 
Patten. The following children were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Moore : Cora Estella, who 
died in infancy; Helen, wife of David 
Frank Gibson Crawford, of Pittsburgh, 
general superintendent of motive power of 
Pennsylvania Railroad Lines West ; Marie 
Jessie, wife of Roland Eldridge Hoopes, 
freight and passenger agent at Denora, 
Pennsylvania. By his marriage Mr. Moore 
gained the life companionship of a charm- 
ing and congenial woman, a true helpmate 
for one the governing motive of whose 
life was love for wife and children and who 
delighted in the exercise of hospitality. 
Mrs. Moore, in her widowhood, resides in 



Pittsburgh, where she takes an active part 
in charitable work, from time to time seek- 
ing enjoyment and recuperation in travel. 
When scarcely past the prime of Hfe Mr. 
Moore closed his honorable and useful 
career, passing away March 9, 1904, leav- 
ing a record strikingly illustrative of the 
essential principles of a true life, a solid, 
simple, strong and serviceable life, the life 
of a noble and upright man who fulfilled to 
the letter every trust committed to him and 
vvas generous in his feelings and conduct 
toward all. The lumber trade in Pennsyl- 
vania constitutes one of her chief sources 
of revenue and forms an integral part of 
her commercial greatness. It has been made 
what it is by such men as Delano Riddle 
Moore. 



CAUFFIEL, Hon. Joseph, 

Man of Affairs, Pnblie Official. 

Hon. Joseph Cauffiel, mayor of Johns- 
town, Pennsylvania, is an example of that 
species of success which makes a man a 
public benefactor by reason of the broad- 
minded and advanced ideas he has and 
which he enforces for the good of the com- 
munity. By diligent application of his 
natural gifts and powers, he has advanced 
steadily, until he is now one of the repre- 
sentative men of his section of the country. 
In his relations to the community — com- 
mercial, civil and social — he has exhibited 
those qualities which mark the true citizen, 
exerting his influence and energy not for 
individual ends, but for the general good. 

The ancestors of Hon. Cauffiel were 
Scotch-Irish, and he has in his possession 
a Bible that is four hundred years old, and 
which belonged to his great-great-grand- 
father. John Caufiiel, his great-grand- 
father, and three of his sons, were killed 
by the Indians, and his wife was the first 
white woman to cross the Allegheny moun- 
tains. John M. Cauffiel, grandfather of 
Hon. Caufiiel, was a farmer, had three 
sons — James, Edward and Daniel M., his 



1191 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



father. James served as private in a Penn- 
sylvania regiment durfng the civil war. 

Daniel Mattock Cauffiel was born in 
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Sep- 
tember 7, 1819, and died in Somerset 
county, Pennsylvania, March i, 1899. He 
was a farmer by occupation, and was 
among the first to build charcoal furnaces 
in his section of the country. He married 
Mary, daughter of Solomon and Elizabeth 
(Barefoot) Hammer, and they had chil- 
dren: Mary Jane, born in Indiana county, 
Pennsylvania, married Jacob Thomas ; 
Charlotte Elizabeth, born in Somerset 
county, Pennsylvania, October 9, 1874, mar- 
ried Harry Slaglo, and has four sons and 
two daughters ; Amanda Bell, died at the 
age of sixteen years ; James Hammer, born 
at Black Lake, Indiana county, Pennsyl- 
vania, is manager of the American Machine 
Company, Toledo, Ohio, married Jennie 
Sellers and has four sons and two daugh- 
ters ; Joseph, whose name heads this sketch ; 
John, born in Somerset county, Pennsyl- 
vania, married Rachel Roades ; Solomon 
Hammer, born in Somerset county, is in 
the coal business, at Johnstown, Pennsyl- 
vania, married Elizabeth Keim, has four 
sons and one daughter ; Daniel, born in 
Somerset county, is an agent and salesman 
for the Du Pont Powder Company, Wil- 
mington, Delaware, married Elizabeth Lev- 
entry and has four sons and three daugh- 
ters ; David, died in infancy ; Alexander, 
married Lucinda Rose and has three sons 
and one daughter. 

Hon. Joseph Cauffiel was born in Somer- 
set county, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1870. 
Having graduated from the public schools 
of his native county, he attended the nor- 
mal school for two terms, and then worked 
for a number of years as the assistant of 
his father on the homestead farm. At the 
age of twenty-one years he started for him- 
self in the real estate and loan business, in 
which he has achieved remarkable success. 
For the purposes of loan he commands a cap- 



ital of three millions of dollars, and has one 
of the largest and best established enterprises 
of this kind in the state of Pennsylvania. 
Since 1902 Mayor Cauffiel has been con- 
ducting this business alone. His fraternal 
affiliations consist of membership in the 
Junior Order of American Mechanics, and 
Maker Lodge, No. 1044, Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, of Johnstown, Pennsyl- 
vania, of which he is a charter member. 
From the time he cast his first vote he 
was a member of the Republican party, 
and gave that his active support until 
he joined the Progressive and the Wash- 
ington parties, with which he is now asso- 
ciated. He and his wife are members of 
the Presbyterian church. 

Mayor Cauffiel married, June 15, 1898, 
Brinton Sellers, born in Indiana county, 
Pennsylvania, March 21, 1877, a daughter 
of Frederick and Rebecca (Real) Sellers. 
They have children, those of school age 
attending the public schools : Margaretta 
Cumb, born April 5, 1899; Meade, born 
August 7, 1902 ; Mary H., born July 7, 
1908; Eleanor, born February 7, 1912. 

Hon. Joseph Cauffiel was elected mayor 
of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, November 7, 
191 1, as an Independent for Good Govern- 
ment, this being the first political office he 
ever held. He is a believer in the city own- 
ership of public utilities. He appeared be- 
fore the Pennsylvania Legislature together 
with the mayors of Pittsburgh, Chester, 
New Castle and other cities, to urge reform 
measures and laws. He was in favor of 
the "Commission form of Government" for 
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and secured it. 
This became operative, December i, 191 3. 
He is a true reformer, and we cannot do 
better than to give a few extracts from his 
second annual message: 

Our city continues to increase in population, 
but the civic improvements are not commen- 
surate with our growth. We must provide bet- 
ter sewage and street improvements of all kinds 
for the protection of the health of our citizens. 



1 192 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Our city stands among the first in the State in 
the manufacture of steel, iron and the production 
of coal. We must not, however, overlook the 
important relations which we bear to the main- 
taining of these conditions. We, as representa- 
tives of the people, should have legislation in 
their behalf, and should represent the city as a 
whole and not any one ward or district. The 
time is at hand when we must dissolve any and 
all sectional feeling into the greatest good to the 
most people. We must broaden the scope of 
our civic horizon. We have great responsibili- 
ties and important duties to perform, and the 
people look to us to guide the municipality 
wisely and safely. It is not only during our 
term of office, but the work goes on for ages to 
come. I have called your attention to our city 
prison, which is entirely too small to accommo- 
date the large number of prisoners. What we 
should have is a public safety building, where 
they could have the proper accommodations and 
enable the prisoners to be kept in a clean and san- 
itary condition. * * * I feel that every father and 
mother should be educated how to care for their 
children during the outbreak of contagious dis- 
eases, not allowing their families to mingle or 
congregate with others. It will require a 
thorough schooling of the parents, more partic- 
ularly among the foreign element, who do not 
understand our language and the treatment of 
children when once infected with these dreadful 
diseases. Consider the vast sums that would 
be given to our public improvements, including 
parks, playgrounds, and social centers, baths and 
public street improvements, sewers and other 
greatly needed things that are now denied the 
people, because there are no funds and the 
taxes are as high now as the people will stand 
for. All these public utility corporations that 
are now owned by private capital should be 
owned by our municipality. These funds that 
are being sent east and elsewhere, so far as the 
municipality is concerned, should be kept at 
home for the benefit of those who contribute it, 
instead of contributing it to entire strangers who 
have no interest in our ciy except to exact 
profits. The time has fully arrived when the 
people of this city should give serious attention 
to the subject of social welfare, and should 
provide for the construction of social centers 
for the protection of the present young men 
and women, and to my mind this is the highest 
duty with which the community is to-day 
charged. * * * i want to call your attention to 
one important thing that has been overlooked. 
The young women of our city have not been pro- 



vided for in this structure (The Young Men's 
Christian Association Building). The young 
women of our city have no place to go unless to 
some cheap show, and these young women who 
are growing up now will be the mothers of our 
city in a few years, and they should receive the 
same encouragement (if not more) as the young 
men. I recommend that a suitable place be 
secured and a Young Women's Christian Asso- 
ciation established. 

Among improvements and changes most 
strongly advocated by Mayor Cauffiel are 
the following: No more free franchises; 
the railroad grade crossings must go, the 
tracks be depressed or elevated; a com- 
plete sewer system ; all wires underground ; 
all telephone, telegraph and electric light 
wires should be assessed for a certain 
sum per mile for each single strand of 
wire, and a certain sum per cable per mile; 
police flashlight signal system ; a home for 
homeless boys and girls ; a public bath and 
swimming pool and toilets ; defining the 
width of rivers; dredging the Stonycreek 
and Conemaugh rivers at the Stone bridge ; 
municipal ownership of water, gas and 
light ; a systematic assessment of business 
licenses; a sealer of weights and measures; 
a building inspector; an inspector of gas, 
electric light and water meters ; drinking 
fountains ; a system of parks should be 
added as well as playgrounds established, 
throughout the various sections of the city. 
He adds: 

These matters cannot be accomplished too 
soon for the betterment of the health and pro- 
tection of our citizens. Let us cooperate heartily 
and unselfishly in every movement that may be 
projected for the benefit of the city, for in a 
few years the results will be surprising to us all. 
The financial condition of the city is one thing 
that concerns everybody and requires the close 
attention of men of experience, with knowledge 
of values, so that the taxation should be equit- 
able between all taxpayers, and not become bur- 
densome on any one property-holder or on all. 
We should use our best judgment in the expen- 
diture of the taxpayer's money and let it be 
placed where it will do the most good for the 
people. 



1 193 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



SEIP, Harry G., 

Business Man, Public Official. 

Harry G. Seip, a widely known politician 
and successful business man of Easton, is 
a good example of the able, reliable and 
public-spirited citizen, whose presence is a 
conserving force, and a bulwark of justice 
and truth for his native city, where his 
entire life has been spent. He was born 
November 28, 1870, son of Roseberry and 
Emma Seip. 

Roseberry Seip was a native of Easton, 
Northampton county, Pennsylvania, born 
March 30, 1843, died April 22, 1913, at the 
age of three score years and ten. During 
the Civil War he served in the 129th Regi- 
ment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, re-enlisted 
in the Pennsylvania Cavalry, and served 
throughout the entire conflict, having an 
excellent record for bravery in the most 
trying moments. In 1886 he moved to 
Brooklyn, New York, and while a resident 
of that city became a member of Ford Post, 
Grand Army of the Republic. At the expir- 
ation of eighteen years he returned to his 
native city of Easton. In 1873, when the 
government began the free delivery of mail 
in Easton, Mr. Seip was appointed the sec- 
ond carrier, filling that position for many 
years. He also served as a constable of 
the First Ward for three years, and in the 
days of the old volunteer fire department 
Mr. Seip was a member of the old Humane 
Fire Company and the Southwark Hook 
and Ladder Company. He was always 
active in Republican politics in the First 
Ward, where be acted as party leader many 
years ago. He married Emma Glessner, 
and among their children was Harry G., of 
whom further. 

In early boyhood Harry G. Seip began 
work by selling newspapers in his native 
city, then clerked in stores and drove wagons, 
and in 1888 entered the employ of Mr. 
Garren, who conducted a restaurant in a 
two-story frame structure, his task being 
the opening of oysters. In 1902, upon the 
death of Mr. Garren, who previously be- 

I 



came his father-in-law, Mr. Seip became 
the proprietor of the business, and it is a 
noteworthy fact, highly creditable to the 
executive business ability of Mr. Seip, that 
the business has grown rapidly and is now 
widely known as one of the high class restau- 
rants of the Lehigh Valley. During these 
years the modest frame structure was re- 
placed by a brick building, commodious and 
well-appointed in every respect, which the 
numerous patrons have thoroughly enjoyed, 
but the proprietor, not being satisfied with 
this, started the erection of a magnificent, 
modern, fire-proof building, representing 
an investment of $100,000, now (1914) 
completed. This accommodates over five 
hundred people, who have all the advan- 
tages of the most modern improvements 
and service, even to water drawn from an 
artesian well on the premises, and the entire 
structure is conspicuous for its beauty and 
usefulness. Mr. Seip is a striking example 
of a self made man, winning his way to suc- 
cess through laborious work, persistency 
and perseverance, and his career should 
prove an incentive to many a boy on the 
threshold of life. 

Politically, Mr. Seip has been prominent 
for many years. In the days when the late 
General Reeder was Republican county 
chairman, Mr. Seip was one of his trusty 
lieutenants. In 1900 Mr. Seip was appointed 
Supervisor of the Census, including Car- 
bon, Lehigh and Northampton counties, and 
in 1910 he was appointed Supervisor of 
Census under President Taft for the Con- 
gressional District composing Northampton, 
Carbon, Pike and Monroe counties, by the 
Hon. Boies Penrose. He served on the 
City Council of Easton for ten consecutive 
years, and was the originator and instru- 
mental in having several city ordinances 
passed, namely: The taking in of projecting 
signs and awnings ; no bay windows ; no 
m.ore brick pavements. Mr. Seip is now 
serving in the capacity of Republican 
county chairman, and member of the Re- 
publican State Committee, and during his 
194 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tenure of office has sought to serve his fel- 
low-citizens and benefit his native city. He 
advocated the site for the new Post Office, 
and was instrumental in securing an appro- 
priation of $100,000. 

Mr. Seip affiliates with St. John's Luth- 
eran Church of Easton, and fraternally he 
belongs to the following organizations and 
clubs : Easton Board of Trade ; Northamp- 
ton County Law, Order and License 
League ; Sons of Veterans ; Dallas Lodge, 
Free and Accepted Masons, in which he 
holds a life membership, joining in Decem- 
ber, 1892; Easton Chapter, Royal Arch 
Masons, in which he holds a life member- 
ship, joining at the same time; Hugh De- 
Payen Commandery, Knights Templar, in 
which he holds a life membership, join- 
ing at the same time ; Caldwell Consistory, 
thirty-second degree, of Bloomsburg, Penn- 
sylvania ; Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic 
Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in 
which he holds a life membership, 1910; 
Lehicton Lodge, Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows; Easton Lodge, Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks ; Saranac Tribe, 
Improved Order of Red Men ; Fraternal 
Order of Eagles ; Loyal Legion, Triple 
City Council ; Improved Order of Hepta- 
sophs ; Humane Fire Company, of Easton; 
Franklin Fire Company ; the A. A. A. Club 
of America ; Optomistic Club, of New 
York; the Manufacturers Club, of Phila- 
delphia ; Pen Argyl Republican Club ; Lin- 
coln Republican Club, of Bethlehem ; Nor- 
thampton Republican Club, of Easton ; Mc- 
Kinley Club, of Easton. 

Mr. Seip married. May 12, 1909, Helen 
M. Barron, born October 6, 1886, daughter 
of Philip H. and Emma Barron. Children : 
Raymond J., Jacob G., Harry G., Jr. 



JENKINS, Edward Elliotte, 

Prominent Mercliant, Humanitarian. 

A man who may be said to have come in 
with the century inasmuch as it was with 
the advent of the new era that he first be- 
gan to rise mto prominence as a Pittsburgh 

I 



business man, is Edward Elliotte Jenkins, 
of the old and well known firm of Thomas 
C. Jenkins. Actively public-spirited, Mr. 
Jenkins is identified with the leading inter- 
ests of his native city and for their pro- 
motion does all that is possible for a man 
whose time is so fully occupied with the 
cares of business. 

Edward Elliotte Jenkins was born Janu- 
ary 6, 1874, in Pittsburgh, and was a son 
of the late Thomas Christopher and Eleanor 
Katherine (Elliotte) Jenkins. A biography 
and portrait of Mr. Jenkins appear else- 
where in this work. Edward EUiotte Jen- 
kins received his primary education in the 
Third Ward schools of Pittsburgh, passing 
thence to the Belmont School at Belmont, 
Massachusetts, and then entering Harvard 
Scientific School, class of 1897. After the 
completion of his studies Mr. Jenkins de- 
cided to devote himself to a business career 
and in accordance with this resolution asso- 
ciated himself with the large wholesale 
establishment of which his father was the 
head. Beginning at the bottom, he acquired 
a thorough knowledge of every detail of the 
wholesale grocery business, rising from the 
position of shipping clerk to that of assistant 
general manager and bringing to each suc- 
cessive post of duty the fullest and most 
complete equipment. A year before his death 
the head of the firm retired and his two sons, 
Edward Elliotte and T. Clifton, succeeded 
him, forming a co-partnership which still 
continues under the old and honored firm 
name of Thomas C. Jenkins. A biography 
and portrait of T. Clifton Jenkins ?ppear 
elsewhere in this work. The firm carries 
on an extensive and constantly increasing 
business, its flourishing condition being 
largely due to the fact that to its manage- 
ment Edward Elliotte Jenkins devotes his 
entire time, having no other commercial 
connections, but concentrating the whole 
force of his energies on this one important 
enterprise. 

In politics Mr. Jenkins is a Republican 
and, while he has never allowed himself to 
195 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



be made a candidate foi" office, gives the 
loyal support of a good citizen to all meas- 
ures which, in his judgment, are calculated 
to further the welfare and advancement of 
Pittsburgh. Ever ready to respond to any 
deserving call made upon him, he is widely 
charitable, always, however, seeking, in the 
bestowal of his benefactions, to avoid even 
the slightest publicity. He belongs to the 
University, Duquesne and Oakmont Clubs 
and is a member of the Calvary Protestant 
Episcopal Church. 

The personality of Mr. Jenkins is that 
of a man of quiet force, cool, aggressive 
and determined, but never rash, befoie ad- 
vancing always first making sure of nis 
ground, and maintaining in his projects and 
their execution a certain degree of con- 
servatism. The keen, clear eyes tell of an 
alert observer and a deep thinker, a man of 
sound judgment and the highest order of 
integrity. His strong, well moulded feat- 
ures bear the imprint of his dominant traits 
of character and his dignified bearing is that 
of the man of influence and action. His 
nature is genial and his manner courteous. 
He is a loyal friend and a man in every 
sense of the word. 

Mr. Jenkins married, June 2, 1903, 
Evelyn, daughter of Daiiial and Caroline 
(Weyman) Grimm, of Franklin, Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr. Grimm is the third in the line 
of descent to bear the name of Daniel. His 
father was Burgomaster of Guttlehausen, 
Baden, Germany, and he himself left his 
native land at the age of sixteen to seek his 
fortune in the New World. He settled in 
Franklin, where he is now an extensive 
oil operator and president of the Exchange 
National Bank. Politically he is a Demo- 
crat. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins are the parents 
of two children: Richard Elliotte, born 
June 24, 1904, now receiving his education 
at St. Luke's School, Wayne, Pennsylvania ; 
and Edward Kenneth, born August 18, 
1908. Mrs. Jenkins, a woman of winning 
personality and many social gifts is withal 
an accomplished home-maker, this combin- 



ation of attributes fitting her most admir- 
ably to be the wife of a man like her hus- 
band, possessor of strong domestic tastes 
and affections and delighting in the exercise 
of hospitality. 

The busy men of Pittsburgh have never 
been talkers and Edward Elliotte Jenkins 
is in this respect a typical son of the Iron 
City. He is essentially a doer, leaving his 
works to speak for him and this they do and 
will continue to do with ever-increasing 
emphasis as the years go on. 



GOSSLER, Philip G., 

Promixtent Electrical Engineer, Financier. 

The Gossler family of Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, is of German origin, repre- 
sented in the present generation by Philip 
G. Gossler, to whom belongs the distinction 
of having preserved the name in the annals 
of local history. The family traces its gene- 
alogy to Johann Christoph Friedrich Schil- 
ler, one of the greatest poetical geniuses of 
Germany, born at Marbach, Wurtemberg, 
1759, died 1805. He was the author of "Die 
Rauber," "Fiesco," "Cabale und Liebe," 
"Don Carlos," "Lied an die Friede," "Der 
Geist — Sieher," "Briefe uber Asthetische 
Erziehung," "Der Spaziergang," "Lied der 
Glocke," "Wallenstein," "Maria Stuart," 
"Die Jungfrau von Orleans," "Brant von 
Messina," "Wilhelm Tell." 

Captain Philip Gossler, the first of the 
line herein followed, was born October 25, 
1757, in Germany, whence he emigrated to 
the New World in 1798, and there spent the 
remainder of his days, his remains being 
interred in the Bemegas church graveyard, 
located eight miles from York, York county, 
Pennsylvania. His oldest child, Mary (Mrs. 
William Vicary) claimed the family Bible 
which contained the earlier dates and 
names, and this is known to have been 
lost. 

Jacob Gossler, son of Captain Philip Gos- 
sler, was born October 22, 1788. He mar- 
ried at Donegal cliurch, which is very his- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



toric, April i6, 1811, Catherine Stump, the 
ceremony being performed by Rev. Colin 
McCharker. Their children were: Juha 
Anne, Catharine, Frederick Stump, Mary, 
Susan and Charlotte, twins, Jacob, Philip, 
of whom further. 

Philip (2) Gossler, son of Jacob Gossler, 
was born in 1817, lived at Columbia, Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, was an attor- 
ney-at-'aw, and died there in 1873. He mar- 
ried Fmily Washabough, and had four chil- 
dren, namely: Philip G., of whom further; 
Katharine, who married L. K. Von Der 
Smith, and lives at Highfield, Pennsylvania ; 
Sarah, who married Lieut. Pague ; and Ann, 
died unmarried. 

Philip G. Gossler, son of Philip (2) and 
Emily (Washabough) Gossler, was born 
August 6, 1870, at Columbia, Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania. He received elemen- 
tary instruction in the public schools of his 
native town ; attended the Columbia High 
School; then took a course at the Pennsyl- 
vania State College, Pennsylvania, from 
which he graduated in 1890 with the Bach- 
elor of Science degree; and in 1892 received 
the honorary degree of Electrical Engineer. 
He also took post graduate work at Colum- 
bia University, New York, in 1892-93. Dur- 
ing the years 1891 and 1892 he was em- 
ployed in the engineering department of the 
Chester Foundry & Machine Company ; also 
of the Edison General Electric Company at 
New York; and from 1892 to 1895 was 
assistant engineer of the United Electric 
Light & Power Company, New York City. 
From 1895 to 1901 he was general super- 
intendent and engineer of the Royal Elec- 
tric Company at Montreal, Canada, and 
general superintendent and engineer of the 
Montreal Light, Heat & Power Company 
from 1901 to 1904. From 1904 to 1909 he 
was second vice-president of the J. G. 
White & Company, Incorporated, New 
York City, and since the last mentioned 
date has been interested in various public 
utility enterprises and associated with the 



firm of A. B. Leach & Company, Bankers, 
149 Broadway, New York City. 

Mr. Gossler was president of the Tri- 
City Railway & Light Company and of the 
Eastern Pennsylvania Railways Company. 
He was president and director of the San 
Juan, Porto Rico, Light & Transit Com- 
pany ; of the Monterey, Mexico, Light & 
Power Company ; of the Porto Rico Power 
& Light Company ; and director of the 
Porto Rico Railway Company. Also he 
was second vice-president and director of 
the Canadian White Company, Limited; 
vice-president and director of the Wilkes- 
Barre Gas & Electric Company. He is 
president and director of the Helena, Mon- 
tana, Light, Power & Railway Com- 
pany ; of the Georgia Light, Power & Rail- 
ways Company, Macon, Georgia; the Long 
Acre, New York, Electric Light & Power 
Company ; of the South Carolina Light, 
Power & Railways Company, Spartanburg, 
South Carolina; and of the Virginian 
Power Company, of Charleston, West Vir- 
ginia. He is vice-president and director 
of the Cumberland County Power & Light 
Company, Portland, Maine; of the Central 
Georgia Power Company, of the Macon 
Gas Company and of the Macon Railway 
& Light Company, Macon, Georgia. He is 
director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Rail- 
ways Company; of the Portland Electric 
Company, Portland, Maine; of J. G. White 
& Company, Incorporated, New York City ; 
of the Cincinnati, Newport & Covington 
Railway Company and the South Coving- 
ton & Cincinnati Street Railway Company, 
Covington, Kentucky; also chairman of the 
board of directors of the Columbia Gas & 
Electric Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, and of 
the Union Gas & Electric Company, Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

Mr. Gossler is identified with a number 
of social and technical organizations. He is 
a member of the American Institute of 
Electrical Engineers ; of the Canadian So- 
ciety of Civil Engineers ; of the National 
197 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Electric Light Association ; of the Canadian 
Electrical Association, being ex-president of 
same; and of the New York Electrical So- 
ciety, being past vice-president. He is a 
member of the St. James Club, Montreal, 
Canada; of the Cherokee Club, Macon, 
Georgia; of the Greenwich Country Club, 
Greenwich, Connecticut ; of the New Can- 
aan Country Club, New Canaan, Connecti- 
cut ; and of the Metropolitan, the Lawyers, 
the Engineers, the Recess, the Lotos and of 
the New York Athletic Clubs of New York 
City. He is a member also of the Pennsyl- 
vania Society of New York City ; and of 
the Pilgrims Society of America. 

Mr. Gossler married, November 26, 1895, 
in BrooklvTi, New York. Mary Claflin, 
daughter of Henry C. Claflin. She v»ras 
born July 27, 1873, in Brooklyn, New York ; 
and had issue, three children, namely: 
Mary, born March 5. 1897, in Montreal, 
Canada ; Katherine. born June 2, 1900, in 
Montreal, Canada: Philip, born September 
27. 1901, in Montreal, Canada. 



SUTTON, Robert Woods, 

Prominent Latryer. 

The future of Pittsburgh is in the hands 
not of her industrial leaders and potentates 
alone, but also in those of the men who 
preside and argue in her courts — who ad- 
minister justice and plead for redress of 
wrongs. Her standing in the years to come 
depends largely on the maintenance, by her 
judges and advocates, and for that main- 
tenance she looks to such men as Robert 
Woods Sutton, one of the acknowledged 
leaders of the younger generation of Pitts- 
burgh lawyers. The professional career of 
Mr. Sutton has thus far been associated 
exclusively with his native city and he is 
intimately identified with her essential in- 
terests. 

Robert Woods Sutton was born May 7, 
1879, in Allegheny, now North Side. Pitts- 
burgh, and is a son of John A. and Annie 
G. (Woods) Sutton. Mr. Sutton is vice- 



president and director of the Crucible Steel 
Company of America and exerts a potent 
influence in the affairs of the Steel City. 
Robert Woods Sutton received his prepara- 
tory education at Shadyside Academy, 
graduating in 1897. In 1901 he received 
from Princeton University the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts, and in 1904 graduated 
from the Pittsburgh Law School. He read 
law in the office of Watson & McCleave, 
and since 1904 has been associated with the 
firm of Watson & Freeman, composed of 
David T. Watson and John M. Freeman, 
the biographies and portraits of whom 
appear elsewhere in this work. In 1904 
Mr. Sutton was admitted to practice in the 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and in 
1910 was admitted to the Supreme Court of 
the United States. On January i, 19 14, he 
became a member of the firm of Watson 
& Freeman, the firm with which he had 
been so long connected. Possessing thor- 
ough equipment enforced by innate ability 
and unremitting devotion to duty, Mr. Sut- 
ton has made for himself, entirely by his 
own efforts, a place of high standing among 
his professional brethren. Thorough and 
painstaking in the preparation of his cases, 
he is clear and forceful in their presentation, 
his arguments being remarkable for depth 
of insight and lucidity of expression. 

As a true citizen Mr. Sutton takes a keen 
and active interest in everything pertaining 
to the welfare of his native city and his 
support and co-operation are never with- 
held from any project which, in his judg- 
ment, tend to further that end. His political 
affiliations are with the Republicans, but he 
has no desire for place or preferment, find- 
ing, in devotion to his chosen profession, 
the most congenial sphere for the exercise 
of his energies. His charities are numerous, 
but in their bestowal be ever seeks to shun 
the gaze of publicity. He belongs to the 
American Bar Association and the Pennsyl- 
vania State Bar Association, his clubs are 
the University, Allegheny Country, and Law 
Club of Pittsburgh and he is also identi- 
198 




^.^.-^ j\rj^ 



^^SV»%\ V^ t^^MU*V^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



fied with the Pittsburgh Athletic Associ- 
ation. He is a member of the Presbyterian 
church. 

The personality of Mr. Sutton is that of 
a true lawyer — strong and at the same time 
magnetic. He has the legal mind, fitted to 
appreciate formal logic, exact statements 
and nice distinctions and delighting in the 
formation of principles and the definition 
of rights and duties. Considerate and cour- 
teous, he always conveys the impression 
that behind his affability is an inflexible 
determination to do as he deems best. His 
temperament is social and he is a pleasing 
and interesting conversationalist. The fact 
that he possesses a large number of per- 
sonal friends is proof that he is ardent and 
loyal in his attachments. 

Ten years have elapsed since Mr. Sut- 
ton began practicing at the bar of his native 
city and brief as that period is when con- 
trasted with the long careers of many mem- 
bers of the profession it affords ample scope 
for decisive judgment as to a lawyer's qual- 
ity and prospects of advancement. Mr. 
Sutton has given abundant proof of his 
capabilities and the degree of attainment at 
which he has arrived in these compara- 
tively few years holds the promise of an 
extended career of more than common dis- 
tinction in the field of his chosen profes- 
sion. 



BROOKE, Hunter, 

Prominent Business Man. 

An honored merchant of Philadelphia for 
nearly half a century, Hunter Brooke in 
military and civil life displayed strong qual- 
ities of mind and spirit that made him one 
of the useful and highly esteemed men of 
his day. He was well equipped, physically 
and mentally, for the battle of life, and 
during his seventy years, man's allotted 
age, he bore well his part wherever sta- 
tioned. He was a man of quiet, retiring 
nature, but of high ideals, and possessed 
the gift of not only making many friends. 



but of holding them to him. He traced to 
a long line of English ancestors, and 
through intermarriage the Brooke, Wayne, 
Holstein and Thomas families were inti- 
mately connected. 

John Brooke, the American ancestor, 
came from Yorkshire, England, with sons, 
James and Matthew, in the latter part of 
the seventeenth century. He had purchased 
in Yorkshire seven hundred and fifty acres 
of land to be laid out in Pennsylvania, and 
came to take possession of the same. He 
died at the house of William Cooper of 
Pine Point (Camden), New Jersey, leaving 
a will dated October 25, 1699. 

James and Matthew Brooke, sons of John 
Brooke, later settled in Limerick township, 
Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania, and there James Brooke died 
in the year 1720. 

Jonathan Brooke, son of James and 
grandson of John Brooke, the founder, 
married Elizabeth Reece, of Welsh descent, 
and left a will probated October 11, 1771. 

James Brooke, son of Jonathan and 
Elizabeth (Reece) Brooke, was born in 
1723, died in June, 1787. He married Mary 
Evans, also of Welsh descent. 

Captain Benjamin Brooke, son of James 
and Mary (Evans) Brooke, was born at 
Limerick township, September 24, 1753, 
died at his home, Gulph Mills, Upper Mer- 
ion township, Montgomery county, Penn- 
sylvania, September 7, 1823. He was a 
distinguished patriot, and as lieutenant 
and captain served his country until inde- 
pendence was gained. He was commis- 
sioned captain of a company of Foot, Sixth 
Battalion of Associators of Philadelphia 
county. May 12, 1777, that company having 
previously been known as the Third. Cap- 
tain Brooke married, April 25, 1776, Ann 
Davis, of Welsh ancestry, who bore him 
sons and daughters. 

Nathan Brooke, son of Captain Benjamin 
and Anna (Davis) Brooke, was born Feb- 
ruary 8, 1788, died in Lower Merion town- 
ship, February 5, 1815, a fanner and prom- 
199 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



inent business man of Lower Merion. He 
married, October ii, 1804, Mary, daughter 
of Hugh Jones, of Chester county, and 
granddaughter of Hugh Jones, the original 
owner of "Brookfield," later owned by 
Wayne Mac Veagh. 

Hugh Jones Brooke, son of Nathan and 
Mary (Jones) Brooke, was born December 
27, 1805, died December 19, 1876. He was 
one of the prominent men of Delaware 
county and of the city of Philadelphia, 
holding for over half a century important 
public positiorr. He was State Senator for 
many years, was the incumbent of other 
places of trust and honor, and was closely 
identified with the public improvements of 
his day, notably the construction of the 
Philadelphia, Media & Westchester Rail- 
road, the Pennsylvania School for Feeble 
Minded Children, and Brooke Hall Female 
Seminary, erected by him in Media. Strong 
in intellect, powerful in ability, and wide 
in interests, his influence pervaded many 
fields, and whether in legislative halls, in 
gatherings of financiers, or among philan- 
thropists, he was fitted for leading position, 
and as a leader, performed works of im- 
portance and splendor. His residence was 
Radnor, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, 
but his business interests were largely in 
Philadelphia, where for many years he was 
president of the Farmers' Market Com- 
pany. 

Hugh Jones Brooke married, April 16, 
1829, Jemima Elizabeth Longmire, born in 
Nottingham, England. One of his sons. 
Colonel Benjamin Brooke, was a distin- 
guished officer of the Civil War, serving 
from the beginning until wounded in front 
of Wilmington, one of the last battles of 
the war. He was lieutenant-colonel of the 
203d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer In- 
fantry, and after the war was offered a 
commission in the regular army, 'but 
declined. Another son. Hunter Brooke, is 
of further mention. 

Hunter Brooke, son of Hugh Jones and 
Jemima Elizabeth (Longmire) Brooke, was 



born in Radnor, Delaware county, Pennsyl- 
vania, December 7, 1842, died at the Pres- 
byterian Plospital, Philadelphia, January 
31, 1913. He was a man of education, 
although his college course was interrupted 
by the Civil War. He enlisted in the Union 
army and served until the close of hostili- 
ties, with the 1 2th Regiment, Pennsylvania 
Volunteer Infantry. He saw hard service, 
fought at Antietam, Gettysburg, and many 
other historic battles, attaining the rank of 
first lieutenant. 

After the war Lieutenant Brooke re- 
turned to Philadelphia and there soon en- 
tered business life as a member of the 
firm of Brooke and Pugh. Later he formed, 
in association with his brother, the grain 
brokerage firm of F. M. and H. Brooke. 
Subsequently he organized the wholesale 
grain house of Brooke & Pennock, of which 
he was the honored head until his death. 
He was highly regarded among business 
men and was one of the oldest members of 
the Commercial Exchange, having been a 
member since 1865. No better evidence 
of the high esteem in which he was held by 
his business contemporaries can be given 
than is contained in the fact that, although 
not a member of the board of directors, 
the Exchange held a special meeting and 
paid a high tribute to his memory in the 
form of speeches and resolutions. 

Mr. Brooke ever delighted in the com- 
panionship of his comrades of the Civil 
War, and with them was affiliated in Gen- 
eral Meade Post, Grand Army of the Re- 
public, and in the Military Order of the 
Loyal Legion. The Revolutionary services 
of his ancestors gained him admission to the 
patriotic order of the Sons of the Revolu- 
tion, and in all these orders he was deeply 
interested. He was a member of the His- 
torical Society of Pennsylvania, the Union 
League, and the Country Club. He was a 
communicant of Holy Trinity Protestant 
Episcopal Church, and was interested in 
all that tended to make men better. He 
continued in active life until seventy years 



1200 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of age, all of his mature years having been 
spent in Philadelphia. His home was at 
No. 1905 Spruce street, and from there he 
was buried, Rev. Floyd Tompkins, rector 
of Holy Trinity conducting the services. 
He is buried in beautiful Laurel Hill Ceme- 
tery. 

Hunter Brooke married, February 25, 
1874, Mary Amies Thomas, daughter of 
General William B. and Emily W. (Hol- 
stein) Thomas, of Philadelphia. Children: 
I. Helen, married, January 21, 1905, George 
Callendine, son of Colonel Jonathan Mc- 
Gee and Mattie (Callendine) Heck, of Ra- 
leigh, North Carolina ; children : George 
Callendine Heck, born November 10, 1907; 
and Marie Brooke Heck, born January 13, 
1914. 2. Mary, married, April 14, 1909, 
George W., son of William P. and Emme- 
line Hill Clyde, of New York ; children : 
Mary Brooke Clyde, born July 20, 1910; 
and Himter Brooke Clyde, born March 22, 

1913- 

Mary Amies (Thomas) Brooke descends 
from a long line of Welsh ancestors and 
from Rees Thomas, who came from Wales, 
settled in the Welsh Tract, Merion town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
and married Martha Aubrey at Haver ford 
Meeting, April 18, 1692. Rees Thomas was 
a prominent man, serving several times in 
the Colonial Assembly, and was a justice of 
the peace of Philadelphia county. Martha, 
his wife, was an elder of the Society of 
Friends, beloved and respected. From Rees 
and Martha Thomas, Mary Amies (Thom- 
as) Brooke descends through William and 
Elizabeth (Harry) Thomas; their son, 
Rees and Priscilla (Jermon) Thomas ; their 
son, William and Naomi (Walker) Thom- 
as; their son, Reese and Rebecca (Brooke) 
Thomas ; their son, General William B. and 
Emily W. (Holstein) Thomas. This Re- 
becca Brooke, wife of Reese Thomas, was 
a descendant of John Brooke, also the an- 
cestor of Hunter Brooke, of previous men- 
tion. 

General William B. Thomas was a noted 



Union officer, of whom "Harper's Weekly" 
of June 9, 1866, said: "His military record 
would be honorable to any soldier : it is 
doubly so as that of a man holding respon- 
sible civil position under the National Gov- 
ernment." He died in Philadelphia, De- 
cember 12. 1887, honored and lamented. 
General Thomas married, September 26, 
1836, Emily Wilson Holstein, and lived to 
celebrate their golden wedding in Philadel- 
phia, September 26, 1886. Emily Wilson 
was a daughter of Colonel George Wash- 
ington and Elizabeth Wayne (Hayman) 
Holstein and a paternal descendant of Mat- 
thias Holstein and Brita Rambo, early set- 
tlers on the Delaware. 

Elizabeth Wayne (Hayman) Holstein 
was a descendant of Captain Anthony 
Wayne, of Yorkshire, England, and Ches- 
ter county, Pennsylvania, also the ancestor 
of General Anthony Wayne, of the Revo- 
lution. Mrs. Brooke was a great-great- 
granddaughter of Isaac Wayne. Mary 
x\mies (Thomas) Brooke survives her 
husband and continues her residence in 
Philadelphia. 



WOODCOCK, William Lee, 

TiSL'wyeT, Active in Community Affairs. 

William Lee Woodcock, Esq., a promi- 
nent representative of the Altoona bar, who 
has been engaged in practice in that city for 
forty-four years, during which long period 
he has gained and maintained an eminent 
position, is a descendant of an old English 
family. In Phillip's "Dictionary of Bio- 
graphical Reference" we see the name fav- 
orably mentioned in the early part of the 
fifteenth century — Sir John Woodcock being 
the Lord Mayor of London in 1405. 

In the "Dictionary of Natural Biography" 
we find another member of this family — 
Martin Woodcock, a Franciscan martyr. 
He was educated first at St. Omer and then 
at Rome. He was admitted among the 
Franciscans at Douai in 1631 and was pro- 
fessed in 1632. In 1643 he was sent on an 
201 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



English mission and landed at Newcastle, 
but while visiting his relatives in Lancashire 
he was apprehended and tried at Lancashire 
in August, 1646, for being a Catholic priest, 
and was convicted on his own confession 
and executed on August 7 of that year. In 
Baines' "History" he is counted among the 
worthies of Lancashire. 

Another early member of this family is 
"John Woodcock of Kureden, Gentleman," 
whose name appears among the jurors in 
many inquisitions in the former half of the 
seventeenth century. A contemporary. Dr. 
Kureden, a well-known antiquarian, says 
"there is another fayr-built house upon the 
lower Kureden Greene, in the Parish of 
Leyland Co., Lancaster," commonly called 
the Crow Trees, being the ancient inherit- 
ance of Mr. John Woodcock and his family 
for four or five hundred years. His father, 
Thomas Woodcock, was the owner of Crow 
Trees in 1609, and was probably the son of 
Richard Woodcock, of Leyland, who died 
in 1592, to whose children part of the tithes 
of Kureden were paid in the early part of 
the seventeenth century. John Woodcock, 
of Kureden married Margaret Fox, and had 
two sons — William and Thomas. These 
three names — John, William and Thomas — 
have been family names since the earliest 
records, appearing in every generation from 
the fifteenth century to the last decade of 
the nineteenth century. In 1738 Thomas 
Woodcock married Ellen Spencer, heiress 
of the Newburg property in the parish of 
Ormskirk, Lancashire. Her father, James 
Spencer, when repairing the house now 
known as "Woodcock Hall," claimed the 
right of using supporters to his shield, claim- 
ing to belong to the Cadet branch of the 
noble family of Spencers. 

Burke's "Encyclopedia of Heraldry" con- 
tains only the names of persons who enjoy 
hereditary titles and are entitled to bear a 
coat-of-arms. The right to bear arms is the 
true criterion of nobility. These Wood- 
cocks of Lancaster, England, exercised this 
right and bore a coat-of-arms. These are 



fully described in Burke's "Encyclopedia of 
Heraldry," above named, which is in the 
Congressional Library, Washington, D. C, 
U. S. A. These Woodcocks also supported 
a crest which is used by many Woodcock 
families to-day, and which consists of a 
pelican feeding her young. The mother is 
represented as having been out in quest of 
food and returns with her beak well filled 
and lights gracefully upon the nest. She 
expresses her delight by elevating her wings 
and drops the food into the open and wait- 
ing mouths of her offspring. The nest is 
resting on a scroll on which is inscribed the 
motto — Gcsta pracz'enient verbis (deeds are 
better than words). 

Robert Woodcock, who was one of the 
Woodcocks of Lancashire, England, was 
born about 1692. When a boy, his parents 
moved from Lancaster, England, to Ireland, 
as we see from O'Hart's "Irish Pedigrees," 
volume 2, page 22. 704-743. The name 
Woodcock came into Ireland at the close of 
the seventeenth century. His parents prob- 
ably settled in Kellurin, county of Wex- 
ford, Ireland, and here on the 19th day of 
January, 17 18, in the Lambetown meeting 
of the Society of Friends, county of Wex- 
ford, Ireland, he married Miss Rachel Ban- 
croft, daughter of Jacob and Ruth Ban- 
croft, born 4th mo. 12, 1693. From this 
union we have secured a direct and well 
authenticated line of descent or lineage 
down to September, 1912. 

This Robert Woodcock was the great- 
great-grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch. He came to America with his wife 
and children (then born) in 1726. Robert 
and Rachel Woodcock were the parents of 
five children, as follows: William, born il 
mo. 3, 1719; Anthony, born i mo. 4, 1724; 
Ruth, born 10 mo. 27, 1727; Robert, born 
4 mo. 28, 1729; Bancroft, born 7 mo. 18, 
1732. The three last-named children were 
born in W^ilmington, Delaware, in which 
city the parents located on their arrival in 
America. 

The four brothers married, and their de- 
202 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



scendants settled in Delaware, Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia, and other southern states. 
There are Woodcocks living in Virginia and 
Kentucky at the present day, several of 
whom stand high in the professions, one 
being a bishop of the Episcopal church, now 
residing in Louisville, Kentucky. One is a 
law judge in Virginia, and another a promi- 
nent physician, resided in Winchester, Vir- 
ginia, of whom the following interesting 
article was secured by the subject of this 
sketch, which later appeared in the ''Wash- 
ington Post :" 

In one of the apartments of the Hotel Raleigh, 
now occupied by Philip W. Avirett, is a remark- 
able relic which has history of great interest. It 
is nothing more or less than the strong iron box 
of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, the first lord propri- 
etary of Virginia. The box, or chest, is made 
of heavy wrought iron, into which have been 
welded iron straps, crossing each other at right 
angles. The slight ornamentation on the front 
of the box shows it to be of Italian workman- 
ship. The box is in a state of remarkable 
preservation. The keyhole is in the center of the 
massive lid, and a large, heavy key, black with 
age, turns easily in it. A wonderful thing about 
the lock is that the key in turning sends sliding 
bolts out from all sides of the lid to cling 
beneath heavy extensions of the four sides of the 
box itself upon precisely the same principle as 
that upon which the modern bank vault lock in 
universal use to-day is managed. 

The history of the relic is romantic. The 
strong box was buried by Lord Fairfax at his 
home, Greenaway Court, near Winchester, Vir- 
ginia, where he died. The reason that Fairfax 
buried it was that he had filled it with money 
collected by him in the shape of revenues for 
the crown, but he died before he had an oppor- 
tunity to take it up and enjoy the treasure. The 
only person who knew about the burial of the 
box was Dr. Thomas Woodcock of Winchester. 
After the death of Lord Fairfax, Dr. Wood- 
cock dug it up and took it to Philadelphia, where 
he gave it to the agents of the bank of England, 
who sent it to England still filled with money 
and muniments of title. When the contents had 
been removed, the box was given to the Fairfax 
heirs in England. Dr. Thomas Woodcock mar- 
ried into the Fairfax family. 

The Fairfax heirs sent it back to Dr. Wood- 
cock filled with silver plate and the strong box 
eventually passed from Dr. Woodcock to Mrs. 
PA— 9 



Hannah Dunbar of Winchester. At Mrs. Dun- 
bar's death she willed it to her daughter, Mrs. 
Philip Williams of Virginia, during her lifetime, 
and provided that it should then descend to Mrs. 
Williams heirs, among whom was Mrs. Avirett, 
wife of Rev. James B. Avirett, formerly of Sil- 
ver Springs and now of North Carolina. 

During the late war the chest was again buried 
by those who had it in possession at Winches- 
ter, and a large quantity of valuable plate was 
placed in it in order to protect it from possible 
seizure by the soldiers. Several years ago the 
box was dug up again, its whereabouts having 
been discovered through information received 
from a former slave named Granderson who had 
helped to bury it, but who preserved the secret 
of its location until he found death was near, 
when he divulged it to the proper party. The 
heirs of Mrs. Philip Williams gave the strong 
box to Philip Williams Avirett, who now has it 
in his possession. 

Among the treasures which were contained in 
the strong box at the time it was buried during 
the late war was a miniature portrait of the late 
Philip Williams, painted on ivory by Rembrandt 
Peale. The miniature is incased in a quaint oval 
silver locket, and is also in the possession of 
Mr. Avirett. Authorities on such matters have 
expressed the opinion that the miniature is as 
fine a specimen of Peale's marvelous art in por- 
trait painting as there is extant. 



In the early history of the Woodcocks of 
Lancashire, England, most of them were 
members of the Established church of Eng- 
land. Some were adherents of the Scotch 
Presbyterian faith. The Bancrofts, how- 
ever, were members of the Society of 
Friends from time imiiiemorial, and when 
Robert Woodcock married into this old 
family in 1718 he joined the society with 
his wife. Rachel Bancroft, and from this 
union this branch of the Woodcock family 
adhered to the Society of Friends for sev- 
eral generations, the children of Robert and 
Rachel Bancroft Woodcock became mem- 
bers, with their parents. This relation was 
maintained in their Christian experience for 
several generations, Isaac Woodcock and 
several of his children being members of 
the Society of Friends. Finally, however, 
this branch of the family commenced to 
divide in their religious faith, some of them 
1203 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



being Methodists, others EpiscopaUans and 
some Presbyterians. 

The four sons of Robert and Rachel, 
namely, William, Anthony, Robert and 
Bancroft, lived contemporaneously with the 
war of the Revolution, and were probably 
in the war ; if not, it was because they had 
conscientious scruples as regards war, being 
Friends. 

Bancroft Woodcock, youngest son of 
Robert and Rachel Bancroft Woodcock, 
and the great-grandfather of William Lee 
Woodcock, Esq., was born in Wilmington, 
Delaware, July i8, 1732. He married Ruth 
Andrews, June 28, 1759. Their son, Isaac 
Woodcock, the grandfather of the subject 
of this sketch, was born August 6, 1764, in 
Wilmington, Delaware, and died in Wells 
Valley in 1849, aged 85 years. He was the 
father of nine children, among whom was 
John Woodcock, the father of the subject 
of this review, who was born in 1800, died 
at Altoona in 1873, aged seventy-three 
years. He married Sarah Alexander, and 
was the father of seven children, the young- 
est of whom is the subject of this sketch, 
William Lee Woodcock, Esq., who was 
born October 20, 1843. He was educated 
in the public schools and at Rainsburg and 
Martinsburg academies, where he prepared 
for college. Heeding his country's call he 
left school and enlisted in the army and 
served twenty-three months in the Civil 
War. He was in the battles of Murfrees- 
boro and Pittsburg Landing, being a mem- 
ber of Company F, Seventy-seventh Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers, and when, a few years 
ago, the State erected a monument to the 
Seventy-seventh Regiment, Mr. Woodcock 
was chosen to make one of the principal 
addresses at the unveiling of the monument 
on the scene of that sanguinary conflict. 
The latter part of his service was in the 
Signal Service, where he ranked as lieu- 
tenant. After the war he resumed his 
studies and taught school for some years, 
having been the principal of the high school 
of Phillipsburg for one year. He entered 



upon the study of the law under the tuter- 
age of his brother Samuel, then a success- 
ful practitioner in Altoona, Pennsylvania, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1868, from 
which time he engaged in the practice of 
his profession with unyielding assiduity 
until about 1895, at which time he had a 
large and lucrative practice, but of recent 
^ears he has so many other matters to en- 
gage his time and attention that he is gradu- 
ally retiring from the active practice of the 
law, giving more attention to other matters. 

Mr. Woodcock, in a legitimate business 
way, has acquired a large amount of valu- 
able realty in Altoona, Hollidaysburg, Flor- 
ida and Cuba, and is vice-president of the 
Second National Bank of Altoona. He re- 
sides m Hollidaysburg, but retains his busi- 
ness office in the Central Trust Building, 
Altoona, devoting his time mainly to the 
mxanagement of his large real estate inter- 
ests, to Sunday school work, and lecturing 
on temperance and other live topics. Al- 
though identified wnth the Republican party 
he has never taken an active part in politics, 
finding other matters more to his liking and, 
moreover, he has been too busy a man to 
be a politician. Had he given a fragment 
of the time and energy to politics which he 
has given to church and Sunday school 
work, he would have undoubtedly succeeded 
in the political arena. 

Aside from his prominence in his pro- 
fession, however, and his standing as a 
capitalist, Mr. Woodcock is widely known 
and esteemed on account of his philan- 
thropic and uplift work. He is what may 
be best described as a practical Christian, 
and while his efforts were commenced in 
connection with his interest in the work of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, they have 
expanded into other avenues of good will, 
beneficence, and benevolence, and his in- 
fluence cannot be overestimated. Mr. Wood- 
cock has proven himself a model Sunday 
school superintendent, and to this work has 
given his enthusiasm, his time, and his 
capital for fifty years, having served as 



1204 




William ^.'Wocdeoek 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



superintendent for forty years. He organ- 
ized a mission Sunday school in 1889, and 
built, out of his own private means, Bel- 
nore Hall, in which to hold the school. The 
city knows the results of his concentrated 
efforts in Altoona, but of the individual 
benefits of this mission work the public 
has never learned one-half. He remained 
with this school as superintendent for ten 
years, during which time it steadily grew 
until its average attendance was over three 
hundred, and the Walnut Avenue Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church (now Grace Church) 
is the result of his work in this mission 
school. At the expiration of a decade Mr. 
Woodcock declined to accept the superin- 
tendency any longer, the school having be- 
come a strong and vigorous organization ; 
also for the reason that his services were 
wanted again as superintendent of the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday school 
of Altoona, which he accepted and has re- 
mained in that position until the present 
time (1914) and has succeeded in bringing 
the school up until it now numbers over 
fourteen hundred pupils. He has been 
superintendent of Sunday schools for forty 
years, during which period, be has spent 
considerable of his time and energy in this 
direction, believing that it is the greatest 
work that presents itself to laymen in the 
field of Christian activity. Besides his 
practical work in the Altoona schools he 
contributes to a number of Sunday school 
papers and magazines, his efforts always 
being sought after, as they are the expres- 
sions of an earnest man, who through ex- 
perience is well qualified to write along 
those lines. His liberality has extended the 
cause of missions, educational institutions, 
and church enterprises. It was stated at 
the dedication of the First Methodist Epis- 
copal Church of Altoona, in 1907, that his 
liberal and timely giving made it possible 
to construct that magnificent church edifice, 
the finest Methodist church in Central Penn- 
sylvania at that time. He was honored by 
being twice elected to the General Confer- 

I 



cnce, which is the law-giving body of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, its meetings 
asserribling every four years and the ses- 
sions continuing for one full month. Mr. 
Woodcock is a trustee of the American 
University at Washington, D. C, to which 
he has contributed largely of his means, 
and he is also a trustee of Dickinson Col- 
lege, Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Woodcock has also been an exten- 
sive traveler, having journeyed through 
every State of the Union, the Islands of the 
Caribbean Sea and many countries of 
Europe. He has been abroad twice and 
during his last visit witnessed the "Passion 
Play" at Oberammergau. Since his return 
he has given several lectures on this mar- 
velous production which were well received 
by large and appreciative audiences. He is 
still in health and leading an active, busy 
and useful life. He expects to take a trip 
around the world as soon as the European 
war is over, spending some months in the 
Holy Land and writing a book of his travels. 



SEYMOUR, Samuel Lansing, 

Prominent Railroad Official. 

Samuel Lansing Seymour, division freight 
agent of the Pennsylvania railroad at Pitts- 
burgh, and universally regarded as one of 
the diplomats of the freight service, belongs 
to that notable class of men who are always 
fully abreast of their time. Mr. Seymour 
has been for nearly a quarter of a century 
a resident of the metropolis, and his well 
directed efforts for the promotion of her 
best interests have caused him to be num- 
bered among her representative citizens. 

The Seymour family is an ancient one of 
English origin, the Pittsburgh branch being 
distantly related to the one of which Lady 
Jane Seymour was a member. Cornelius 
Lansing Seymour, father of Samuel Lans- 
ing Seymour, married Lucy Kingsbury, and 
was for years general eastern freight agent 
of the Michigan Central railway at Buft'alo, 
New York, holding that position at the 
time of his death in 1862. 
205 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Samuel Lansing, son of Cornelius Lans- 
ing and Lucy (Kingsbury) Seymour, was 
born August 14, 1849, in Cleveland, Ohio, 
and attended the public schools of Buffalo, 
New York. At the early age of thirteen, 
in consequence of the death of his father, 
he was obliged to enter upon the active 
duties of life and was first employed in the 
milling business of George W. Tift. With 
characteristic enterprise and energy he fitted 
himself for a higher position, turning his 
attention to the field in which his father had 
successfully labored. In the course of time 
he became chief clerk to the general west- 
ern freight agent of the Northern Central 
railway at Buffalo. In 1876 he acted as 
western passenger agent of the Buffalo dis- 
trict. New York State and Canada, and in 
1S79 was made freight agent, holding both 
positions until December i, 1882, when he 
was appointed division freight agent of the 
Pennsylvania railroad at Williamsport, 
Pennsylvania. In June, 1890, he received 
the appointment of division freight agent at 
Pittsburgh. In the discharge of the duties 
of this office he has met with distinguished 
success, winning the highest esteem of the 
shippers and the sincere respect and loyal 
attachment of his subordinates. 

The cares of business have not caused 
Mr. Seymour to become neglectful of the 
duties of citizenship and he has always 
taken an active interest in municipal affairs, 
his penetrating thought frequently adding 
wisdom to movements which he deemed 
calculated to promote the public welfare. 
A Republican in politics, he has neither 
sought nor desired office, preferring to con- 
centrate his energies on the strenuous obli- 
gations and important responsibilities in- 
volved in the fulfilment of the vital trusts 
committed to his keeping. His charities are 
numerous but bestowed in the quietest man- 
ner possible. He belongs to the Duquesne, 
Americus' and Country clubs and he is an 
active member of the Shady Side Presby- 
terian Church. 

The self-reliance and indomitable perse- 



verance so strikingly manifested through- 
out Mr. Seymour's career are plainly in- 
scribed upon his countenance, as is also the 
genial and sympathetic nature which has 
surrounded him with friends. The clear, 
steady glance of his eyes shows him to be 
possessed of sound judgment and keen per- 
ception and withal not deficient in apprecia- 
tion of the humorous. Administrative abil- 
ity is one of his most conspicuous traits, 
going hand in hand with his insight into the 
motives and merits of men. Dignified and 
alert in bearing and manner, he looks what 
he is — a typical man of affairs and a thor- 
ough gentleman. 

Mr. Seymour married, December 24, 
1872, Mattie I., daughter of E. L. and Eliz- 
abeth (Ilsley) Merrick, of Buffalo, and 
they have been the parents of two sons: 
Warren I., deceased, whose biography and 
portrait appear elsewhere in this work ; and 
Lansing S., supervisor of the Pennsylvania 
railroad at Tyrone. Mr. Seymour is pecu- 
liarly happy in his home relations, his wife 
being a woman of charming personality and 
their fireside the centre of a gracious and 
refined hospitality. 

It has been well and wittily observed that 
freight is the staff of life of Pittsburgh, and 
it is a self-evident fact that its movement 
must, at times, form one of the greatest 
problems in the railroad business of West- 
ern Pennsylvania. It therefore follows that 
there are few greater achievements possible 
to a railroad man than that of winning his 
spurs as a freight official on an important 
line. It was on such a line that Samuel 
Lansing Seymour won his spurs, and he 
won them with abundant honor. 



LARRABEE, Marcellus Marshall, 

Merchant, Ornithologist, Taxidermist. 

Marcellus Marshall Larrabee, of Em- 
porium, Pennsylvania, is descended from 
New England families of the Colonial and 
Revolutionary periods. The surname Larra- 
bee is of undoubted French origin, or has 
206 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



long existed in France, and tradition states 
that the Larrabees, devoted Huguenots, 
fought for their reHgious rights under the 
brave Coligny. The family, once numerous 
in France, lost many of its members by rea- 
son of their being killed during the Hugue- 
not wars, or being driven from the country 
at that time. 

The first persons in New England bear- 
ing the name, of whom there is an authentic 
record, were either brothers or near rela- 
tives. A Greenfield Larrabee was before 
the court as "a mariner" in New London, 
Connecticut, for going on board his vessel 
on a Sunday, in 1637, in order to save it 
during a severe storm, the rigid "blue laws" 
then in force forbidding any work on Sun- 
day, no matter what the circumstances were 
or how great the necessity. There is also a 
record of a William Larrabee being in New 
London in 1647. Charles H. Larrabee, in 
the Hathaway genealogy, says : "The Rev. 
Charles Larrabee was a Huguenot pastor 
wIk) escaped with a portion of his flock from 
the south of France during the massacre 
which followed the Revocation of the Edict 
of Nantes, October 16, 1685, and landed at 
Baltimore, Maryland. From him have 
sprung all of the name in America. Some 
of the descendants are in Baltimore, some 
in Connecticut, one branch went to Maine, 
and one to Vermont." But the two facts 
cited above show that Greenfield Larrabee 
was in New London in 1637, and William 
in 1647. ''^"y tradition that makes the Rev. 
Charles Larrabee the American ancestor 
must place his coming before and not after 
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 
1685, as members of the family were surely 
here in 1637. This is attested by various 
excellent authorities. 

The New England family of Larrabee 
are, according to the best evidence obtain- 
able, descendants of Greenfield Larrabee, 
styled "an original emigrant," who ap- 
peared in Connecticut as early as 1637, 
when he was brought before the court, as 
before related. He is mentioned as a sea- 



man, belonging to the "Phoenix," in 1647. 
His name often appears on the old docu- 
ments at subsequent periods. He married 
Phoebe Brown, widow of Thomas Lee. 

John, second son of Greenfield and 
Phoebe (Brown-Lee) Larrabee, was born 
February 23, 1649. He removed to Wind- 
ham, Connecticut, from Norwich, with a 
family. In 169 1 he had broken land, built 
a house, and established himself upon a 
tract granted him upon condition that he 
build upon it and run a ferry for seven 
years. He was admitted an enrolled in- 
habitant of Windham, May 30, 1693. 

John (2), son of John (i) Larrabee, of 
Windham, was born in Windham, it is 
thought about the year 1700. He was a 
soldier of the colonial army, and was killed 
at the battle of Louisburg, Canada, in the 
war against the French. His wife Hannah 
died in Windham, August 15, 1756. It is 
said she sat up nights and spun to earn 
money to buy the communion service for 
the old Congregational church in Windham. 
On a monument in Windham, Connecticut, 
there is an inscription to her memory, and 
beneath the following: "John Larrabee, 
husband of Hannah, died in battle at Louis- 
burg, March, 1746." 

John (3), son of John (2) and Hannah 
Larrabee, was born about 1740, and lived 
for a short time in Plainfield, Connecticut, 
where he married, December 16, 1762, Mar)' 
Spaulding, born January 17, 1732, in Plain- 
field, daughter of Benjamin and Deborah 
(Wheeler) Spaulding. Three children are 
recorded there, namely : Timothy, born 
February 6, 1764; John Spaulding, Febru- 
ary 2, 1766; Sarah, April 5, 1768. They 
also had a son, William H., said by family 
tradition to have been born in Plainfield, 
and probably Ozias. John Spaulding Larra- 
bee, son of John (3), was a pioneer settler 
in Pownal, Vermont, where he remained 
two or three years, and then removed to 
Shoreham, same State, settling at the point 
on the shore of Lake Champlain, still known 
as Larrabee's Point. He was an educated 



1207 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



man, a surveyor, and prominent in many 
ways. 

Ozias Larrabee, undoubtedly a son of 
Jolm and Mary (Spaulding) Larrabee, born 
about 1770, was also a settler in Pownal, 
Vermont, where he remained some time, 
removing to the adjoining town of Wil- 
liamstown, Massachusetts. There were 
several of the name in that section, but only 
one family figures in the records of Wil- 
liamstown. Ozias Larrabee was in Pownal, 
March 15, 1797, at which time he sold 
forty-one and one-fourth acres of land by 
deed which is on record there. He re- 
moved from thence to Williamstown. His 
wife bore the baptismal name of Sarah, and 
they had children : Preserved, who lived in 
Williamstown; Eleazer, in Pownal till 1837; 
Thomas, resided in Pownal ; Willet, men- 
tioned below ; Dolly, married D. Balcomb, 
of Adams, Massachusetts, in Pownal ; 
Orpha, married Joseph James. 

Willet Larrabee, son of Ozias and Sarah 
Larrabee, was born in Pownal or Williams- 
town, and married (first) Lucy Alexander, 
who was the mother of three children ; 
(second) February 9, 1826, Rosanna, 
daughter of Joseph and Mary (Amsden) 
Smith, born December 7, 1802, in Winfield, 
Herkimer county. New York, died Febru- 
ary 6, 1865, in Whitesville, Allegany county, 
same State. He was educated in an eastern 
college, and became a lawyer. About 1825 
he removed to Allegany county. New York, 
where he practiced his profession for many 
years, won a leading position at the bar, 
and was elected judge of the county. He 
was a Democrat in politics, and an attend- 
ant of the Presbyterian church. He resided 
in Almond, New York, and later in life at 
Coudersport, Pennsylvania, where he died 
December 22, 1863. Children : Dr. La- 
derna, born 1822, died 1878, in Anderson 
county, Missouri ; Calpherus ; Lovinia ; 
Lucy, born June 22, 1827, married, in 1854, 
Samuel Chamberlain ; Hon. Don C, a law- 
yer and railroad man, married Mary Grid- 
ley, died in 1889; Marilla, born March 13, 



1832, married, in 1855, George White; 
Charlotte E., December 25, 1833, married, 
in 1854, Job Burdick; Roselle, April 9, 
1835, married, in 1856, Valorus Forsyth; 
Martin V., March 31, 1837, resided in Rou- 
lette, Pennsylvania; Marianna, October 31, 
1838, married, in 1857, Lorenzo Wilson; 
Marcellus M., mentioned below ; Cyrenus 
A., of Port Allegany, Pennsylvania, a sol- 
dier of the Civil War. 

Marcellus M. Larrabee, son of Willett 
and Rosanna (Smith) Larrabee, was born 
December 7, 1842, in Almond, Allegany 
county. New York. During his boyhood 
he removed to Whitesville, New York, 
where he continued to reside until the Civil 
War. In July, 1862, he and three of his 
boyhood companions from Whitesville, 
Forsyth, Wilson and Tallman, went to El- 
mira. New York, via Wellsville and the 
Erie railroad, where on July 10 all four 
young men enlisted in Company F, 109th 
New York Infantry, under command of 
Captain Mount and General Benjamin F. 
Tracy. In August of that year he went 
with his company to New York, and after 
remaining at the Park Barracks, that city, 
for a few days, embarked on the transport 
ship ''George Brooks" for Norfolk, where 
they arrived after a five days' trip. They 
then proceeded up the Potomac to Wash- 
ington, D. C, and from there his company 
was taken to Annapolis Junction, where he 
was placed on detached duty, guarding the 
Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Mr. Larra- 
bee continued on duty in that vicinity for 
several months and was then sent to Falls 
Church, Virginia, where he remained some 
time, and from thence he was sent to Ma- 
son's Island, across from Georgetown, where 
he remained until the spring of 1864. His 
regiment was then assigned to the Ninth 
Army Corps, under General Burnside, and 
they started on their march into Virginia. 
After crossing the Rapidan river at Ger- 
manna Ford, on May 5, they plunged into 
the wilderness where Lee and his army 
were awaiting them. The battle of the 



1208 




^yfutycef/uA ^yM- l£a/y^aAe 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Wilderness opened shortly after noontime 
that day and raged until the next night. 
Young Larrabee was wounded late in the 
afternoon of the second day's fight by being 
struck on the right hand by a piece of a 
bursting shell. His hand was badly shat- 
tered and it was found necessary to take 
him to the field hospital and amputate the 
first and second fingers. He was then placed 
in a train of ambulance wagons and taken 
to Fredericksburg, where he received treat- 
ment in an improvised hospital. From 
there he was taken to Belle Plain, where he 
took a hospital ship for Washington, D. C, 
where he was placed in the Lincoln Hos- 
pital for a short time, thence he was sent to 
the Nicetown Hospital at Philadelphia. As 
soon as his wound had healed he was de- 
tailed as a messenger to carry dispatches 
from the Nicetown Hospital to the army 
headquarters, situated on Girard street, also 
to conduct squads of wounded soldiers from 
the Nicetown Hospital to other hospitals 
located in West Philadelphia and at Chest- 
nut Hill. He remained on this duty till dis- 
charged in January, 1865. Of the three 
boyhood companions who enlisted with him 
at Elmira in July, 1862, two of them, Wil- 
son and Tallman, were killed at the battle 
of the Wilderness, and Forsyth alone sur- 
vived uninjured. Shortly after the close of 
the war Mr. Larrabee located at Emporium, 
Pennsylvania, where he was one of the 
pioneer merchants and is still in business at 
the age of seventy-two. From boyhood Mr. 
Larrabee has been a devoted hunter and 
fisherman, and a keen student of nature. 
He has given much of his time to ornithology 
and taxidermy, and has mounted several 
collections of birds and animals. Among 
his specimens is a remarkably fine pair of 
wild pigeons which he killed and inounted 
over thirty years ago, and are now highly 
prized because of their great rarity. When 
Dr. B. H. Warren, the noted ornithologist 
of Pennsylvania, was gathering data and 
information for his well-known book, 



"Birds of Pennsylvania,'" he spent several 
days with Mr. Larrabee, at Emporium, and 
received from him considerable information 
as to the habits, the time of the annual 
arrival and departure, and other interesting 
data relating to the birds of that section of 
Northern Central Pennsylvania. Dr. War- 
ren credits Mr. Larrabee as being the first 
living naturalist in Pennsylvania to have 
found and recorded "the bold Goshawk" as 
a native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Larrabee 
having found this hawk in the wilds of 
Cameron, Potter and McKean counties in 
the early days before the forests of timber 
were removed, and he killed and mounted 
specimens of the same. Audubon, the great 
naturalist, in his book, "Birds of North 
America," claimed that this bird reared its 
young in this State, but certain modern 
natural history writers appeared to doubt 
Audubon's statements. The breeding of 
the Goshawk, as claimed by Audubon, was 
proven by Mr. Larrabee, and a few years 
later Dr. Warren, now the director of the 
Everhart Museum of Scranton, Pennsyl- 
vania, also found the Goshawk breeding in 
a primitive forest in Sullivan county, Penn- 
sylvania. Mr. Larrabee is also an authority 
on the fur-bearing animals of Northern 
Pennsylvania, as he has been one of the 
large fur buyers in the northern tier coun- 
ties, having purchased the various furs from 
trappers and hunters in that section of the 
State for the past thirty-five years. He 
has served as justice of the peace for 
twenty-five years. 

Mr. Larrabee married, September 20, 
1871, Georgianna Mayo, daughter of Cap- 
tain Bartlett S. and Mary Ann (Murch) 
Mayo ; she was born in Hampden, Maine, 
July 27, 1847, and died in Emporium, Penn- 
sylvania, October i, 1910. She was an un- 
usually gifted and cultured woman, was 
accomplished in art and music, and the 
gentle influence of her daily life and deeds 
made a marked impress for good on the 
community in which she lived. Their chil- 



1209 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



dren are : Marian Eugenia ; Don Marshall, 
mentioned' at length in this volume ; and 
Clifton Sage — all born in Emporium. Penn- 
sylvania. 



LARRABEE, Don Marshall, 

Prominent La'nryer. 

Don Marshall Larrabee, a prominent law- 
yer of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is de- 
scended from several old New England 
families, and preserves in his character the 
leading features of the New England stock. 

He was born in Emporium, Cameron 
county, Pennsylvania, on March ii, 1877. 
the son of Marcellus M. and Gcorgianna 
(Mayo) Larrabee. (A reference to his 
Larrabee ancestry is contained in the pre- 
ceding sketch relating to his father, Mar- 
cellus M. Larrabee. in this volume). He 
was graduated from the high school of his 
native town in 1894. In the fall of 1895 ^^ 
entered Allegheny College at Meadville, 
Pennsylvania, where he pursued a special 
course of study for two years in preparation 
for the study of law. In October. 1899, he 
entered the Law School of the University of 
Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated 
in 1902. During his second year at the Law 
School he was business manager of the 
"American Law Register," a monthly jour- 
nal, published under the supervision of the 
Law School faculty. For three years ensu- 
ing he acted as agency director for the New 
York Life Insurance Company at Philadel- 
phia, and for two years following that at 
Harrisburg. Pennsylvania, where he had 
supervision of the company's jusiness in 
twenty-one counties. In June, 1902, he was 
admitted to the Philadelphia bar. and before 
the Supreme Court of Pcnnsjdvania in Jan- 
uary. 1903. In September, 1907. he began 
the practice of his profession in Williams- 
port, where he has continued to the present 
time, being associated in practice with Nich- 
olas M. Edwards, Esq. 

From 1909 to 1914 he devoted a part of 
his time to the affairs of the Williamsport 
Board of Trade, acting as manager of that 



organization. Mr. Larrabee is an earnest 
Republican, and acted as chairman of the 
Republican Committee for Lycoming county 
in 1909 and 1910. He is a member of the 
college fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, 
and of Williamsport Lodge, No. 106, Free 
and Accepted Masons. He is also a mem- 
ber of Lycoming Chapter of Royal Arch 
Masons ; of Williamsport Consistory ; and 
of Baldwin Commandery, No. 22, Knights 
Templar, of Williamsport. He is a member 
of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the 
Revolution, of the Howard Club of Knights 
Templar of Williamsport. and of the Hare 
Law Club, an undergraduate club of the 
University of Pennsylvania. With his fam- 
ily he is connected with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. He married October 7, 1903, 
at .Summerville, Pennsylvania, Olive Eliza- 
beth Moore, born August 27, 1876, at Cor- 
sica, Pennsylvania, daughter of David K. 
and Martha (Carrier) Moore. Mr. Moore 
is a lumberman and farmer, and has chil- 
dren : Olive Elizabeth, Darius C, Milli- 
cent M., and Malcolm D. Mr. and Mrs. 
Don M. Larrabee have two sons — Don Lin- 
coln, born in Philadelphia, February 13, 
1905 ; and David Marcell. in Williamsix)rt, 
June 24. 1909. 

Through his father's people, Mr. Larra- 
bee is a lineal descendant of Isaac Miller 
Jr., who, as stated in Hemenway's "Ver- 
mont Historical Gazetteer." was a sturdy 
American patriot of the colonial period, and 
was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 
1708. He was a staunch Republican during 
the troublesome times preceding the out- 
break of the Revolution. Being a surveyor 
by profession, he became useful in the set- 
tlement of the then new country north of 
Massachusetts, and in 1770 he moved with 
h.is family to Dummerston, Vermont, which 
town he surveyed and settled. He had 
twelve children, and several of them were 
apparently destined for careers more or less 
associated with military affairs. Four of 
his sons served in the Revolutionary War, 
and three of his daughters married soldiers 
10 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



who fought in the RevoUition. Of his sons 
who served in that war, as is shown by the 
Revokitionary War Rolls of Massachusetts, 
two of them, Joseph and WilHam, rose to 
the rank of major; Isaac Miller (3rd) be- 
came a captain ; and John served as a pri- 
vate. The son, Isaac Miller (3rd), had 
conducted a military training school in Mas- 
sachusetts for a period prior to the Revolu- 
tion. Through the marriage of Isaac Mil- 
ler Jr.'s daughter, Rosanna, with Major 
Joseph Negus of Petersham, Massachusetts, 
three of his descendants married officers in 
the United States Army ; one of them be- 
came the wife of General George B. Mc- 
Clellan ; another married General R. B. 
Marcy ; and a third one was the wife of 
Major W. B. Russell. 

Through his mother, Mr. Larrabee de- 
scends from the Mayo family, one of the 
oldest in New England, and is a direct lineal 
descendant of Rev. John Mayo, (Elder) 
William Brewster, Governor Thomas 
Prence, Stephen Hopkins, and others noted 
in New England history. Rev. John Mayo, 
the immigrant ancestor of the family, was 
born in England, ediicated there, and came 
to New England in 1638. In that year he 
became teacher in Mr. Lathrop's church at 
Barnstable, Massachusetts, and was admit- 
ted a freeman in March of the following 
year by the General Court of Plymouth. 
He was among those gathered in a church 
at Eastham, Massachusetts, and became its 
minister. He remained there until 1655, 
when he was called to Boston to occupy the 
pulpit of the Second (or North) Church, 
and was ordained there November 9th of 
that year. He preached the election sermon 
before the General Court in June, 1658. In 
1670, because of physical infirmity, he was 
assisted by the teacher, Rev. Increase 
Mather, who succeeded him as pastor of 
that church and who afterwards became 
president of Harvard College. In April, 
1672, Rev. John Mayo went to reside with 
his daughter in Barnstable, and died at Yar- 
mouth, May 3, 1676. His widow, Tamsen, 

12 



survived him nearly six years, dying Febru- 
ary 3, 1682. Their son, Nathaniel Mayo, 
married, February 13, 1650, Hannah 
Prence, daughter of Governor Thomas 
Prence, whose wife, Patience, was a daugh- 
ter of Elder William Brewster. 

It was (Elder) William Brewster, Wil- 
liam Bradford and John Carver, who were 
the leading .spirits in establishing the first 
colony of Pilgrims in America, at Plymouth 
in 1620, and Elder Brewster was the teacher 
and preacher of the colony at Plymouth for 
many years. Thomas Prence was the fourth 
governor of the Plymouth Colony, serving 
by reelection for a period of eighteen years. 
He was a man of wealth and influence in 
the colony and died in 1673. He is credited 
with being the founder of the public school 
system of New England, and secured the 
passage of the law appropriating the profits 
of the Cape Cod fisheries to the support of 
a school at Plymouth. 

Several of the descendants of Rev. John 
Mayo were shipbuilders and mariners at 
ports in and about Cape Cod as well as 
along the Maine coast, and among these was 
Simeon Mayo, whose grandfather, Ebenezer 
Mayo, had moved with his wife Mercy 
Mayo and their children from Eastham, 
Massachusetts, to Hampden. Penobscot 
county, Maine, about the year 1780. Simeon 
Mayo was born at Ilampden, Maine, learned 
the shipbuilder's trade, and became a master 
shipbuilder. He engaged in the construc- 
tion of vessels in the shipyards along the 
Penobscot river and Maine coast, as did also 
his sons Isaac and Horace, the former of 
whom also became a master shipbuilder. 
Two of Simeon Mayo's sons became mari- 
ners — i. e., Bartlett and Greenleaf. Thus 
the Mayo family contributed several sons 
to that useful occupation so well described 
by Longfellow in his beautiful poem entitled 
"The Building of the Ship." Simeon Mayo 
served in the war of 18 12, and his grave is 
within a few rods of the position held by his 
company at a battle fought at Hampden, 
in that war. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Though the position of the United States 
merchant marine at present and for many 
years has not been in keeping with our 
progress as a nation in other lines, and in 
fact is far below that of the other world 
powers, nevertheless, it is gratifying to re- 
member that there was a period in our his- 
tory, namely, from 1845 to 1870, better 
known as the days of the "American clipper 
ships," when the United States merchant 
marine led the world, both in the volume 
of the carrying trade as well as in the speed 
and beauty of the ships. Several members 
of the Mayo family played a worthy part 
in this period of our maritime history and 
one of them, Bartlett S. Mayo, spent forty 
years at sea in the active service of our mer- 
chant marine. 

Bartlett S. Mayo, eldest son of Simeon 
and Susanna (West) Mayo, was born in 
Hampden, Penobscot county, Maine, Octo- 
ber 22, 1820. He was a strong, active lad, 
and when but eleven years of age went on 
a mackerel fishing expedition to Hingham, 
off Cape Cod. He was so well pleased with 
the first venture that he obtained his parents' 
consent to go to sea as a sailor boy before 
the mast, and after working his way through 
the various grades of ordinary and able 
seaman, and third, second and first mate, 
he was made master of a ship when he was 
twenty-nine years of age. The first vessel 
commanded by him was the clipper ship 
"Wellington," which cleared the port of 
New York on October 4. 1850. bound 
around Cape Horn for San Francisco, 
which was then a M'ild mining camp in the 
midst of the gold fever excitement. From 
thence he sailed to Shanghai, and returned 
from there via Cape of Good Hope, with 
a cargo of teas and silks. His career at sea 
covered a period of more than forty years, 
all of which was spent in the United States 
merchant marine, on vessels flying the 
United States flag. He was master of five 
ships sailing out of New York harbor. 
Among these were the "Wellington," "An- 
glo-Saxon," "Gray Feather," and "Kitty 



Simpson," all of which were full rigged 
American clipper ships of that period. 

During some of the early years of his life 
at sea he was connected with vessels en- 
gaged in the cotton and sugar trade between 
Mobile, New Orleans and Liverpool, and 
later he served as first mate on the "Mon- 
tezuma," "Roscius," and other ships in the 
famous "Black Ball Line" of packet ships 
plying between New York and Liverpool, 
under the management of Captain Charles 
H. Marshall. The Black Ball Line was 
established in 1816, and was the first regular 
line of packet ships established' between New 
York and Liverpool. It was the forerun- 
ner of the present Cunard and White Star 
lines, and for many years was the only reg- 
ular means of communication between the 
United States and Europe. On the front of 
the foretopsail of each ship of the Black 
r.all Line, a large black ball was painted, 
which, against the background of white 
sail, could be seen for miles at sea. The 
officers of these packet ships were the best 
that money could employ and into their 
hands were entrusted the lives of eminent 
men and women, as well as the government 
dispatches, the mails, and specie. No mat- 
ter what the weather conditions were, one 
of the Black Ball Liners sailed from New 
York for Liverpool on the first and six- 
teenth days of each month, and for many 
years these were the European mail days 
throughout the United States. However, 
the greater part of Captain Mayo's forty 
years of sea service was spent in the China 
and East India trade, during which period 
he circumnavigated the globe eleven times, 
in addition to other voyages, and during his 
sea career he visited the principal seaports 
of the world. Captain Mayo established a 
reputation as a very able navigator, and as 
master made several fast passages in his 
voyages around the world. In 1853, while 
on his second voyage as a captain, he madfe 
the passage in the ship "Wellington" from 
Shanghai to New York, by way of the 
Straits of Sunda and Cape of Good Hope, 
12 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



covering the distance of nearly fifteen thou- 
sand miles in the remarkably good time of 
ninety-eight days. On this trip he passed 
Anjer Point, Island of Java, on January i8, 
and arrived at New York on April ii, with 
a rich cargo of teas and silks consigned to 
Messrs. Allen & Paxson. Again on March 
i6, 1856, he arrived at San Francisco in the 
new clipper packet ship "Anglo-Saxon," of 
869 tons register, having made the trip from 
New York around Cape Horn in the fast 
time of one hundred and eighteen days. In- 
asmuch as shipping authorities considered 
one hundred and twenty days as a record 
run from New York around Cape Horn to 
San Francisco for vessels under a thousand 
tons register, it will be seen that Captain 
Mayo had thus made an unusually fine run 
in covering the distance. Ships of that 
period frequently consumed from one hun- 
dred and forty to one hundred and eighty 
days in making this voyage. From San 
Francisco the "Anglo-Saxon" proceeded 
across the Pacific, thence through the China 
Sea and Straits of Malacca to Calcutta, and 
after taking on a cargo there she sailed for 
the home port, arriving at New York on 
December 11, having made the passage from 
Calcutta to New York, via Cape of Good 
Hope, in one hundred and four days. On 
this voyage Captain Mayo was accompanied 
by his wife, and daughter Georgianna, who 
later married M. M. Larrabee of Empo- 
rium, Pennsylvania, and it was during their 
stay at Calcutta on this trip that Miss Mayo 
celebrated her ninth birthday anniversary 
on July 27, and a party was given in her 
honor that afternoon at a hotel where she 
and her parents were staying. The "Anglo- 
Saxon" was built at Rockland, Maine, in 
1852, and was rated as an A No. i clipper. 
Captain Mayo's younger brother, Greenleaf 
Mayo, was his third mate on this voyage. 
Again, in 1861, after having taken a cargo 
from New York to Melbourne in the ship 
"Gray Feather," Captain Mayo proceeded 
to the port of Colombo, Ceylon, where he 
took on a cargo and sailed for New York, 

12 



via Cape of Good Hope, arriving at New 
York on December 9 of that year, having 
made the passage from Colombo in one 
hundred and six days. It was on this voyage 
that William Morey, who was first mate of 
the "Gray Feather," and who was from 
Captain Mayo's native town of Hampden, 
Maine, was stricken with a tropical fever 
while the "Gray Feather" was taking on 
her cargo at Colombo. After waiting for 
some time for Mr. Morey to convalesce, 
Captain Mayo was obliged to sail for New 
York without his first mate. After recov- 
ering from this illness Mr. Morey decided 
to remain in Ceylon and engage in business. 
He married a native Singhalese princess 
there, and subsequently was appointed 
United States Consul for Ceylon, with 
headquarters at Colombo, which position he 
held from 1876 until his death in 1907. 

In March, 1862, Simpson Brothers, of 
New York, who owned the clipper ship 
"Kitty Simpson," showed their marked con- 
fidence in Captain Mayo's ability as a navi- 
gator by commissioning him to take the 
"Kitty Simpson" with a valuable cargo from 
New York to Shanghai. Such a voyage at 
that time was very hazardous, as it necessi- 
tated the risk of being captured by the sev- 
eral Confederate cruisers and commerce 
destroyers which were vigilantly patrolling 
the high seas and destroying so many ves- 
sels owned by northern shipping interests. 
Captain Mayo managed to elude these de- 
stroyers, and reached Shanghai safely that 
summer, with his cargo. He then remained 
absent in the far East for nearly two years, 
trading and freighting between the various 
ports there. It was when he was returning 
from Manila to New York from this voy- 
age in the fall of 1863, as he was about to 
round the Cape of Good Hope, the last of 
September, that he passed the heavily armed 
and much dreaded Confederate cruiser 
"Alabama," under command of Captain 
Semmes, headed for the China Sea for the 
purpose of destroying vessels flying the 
United States flag. Captain Mayo managed 

13 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



to pass the "Alabama" safely, arriving at 
New York on November 29 of that year, 
with a cargo of hemp, sugar and spice from 
Manila. While returning from Plavana in 
June, 1864, in the ship "Kitty Simpson," 
with a cargo of sugar and molasses, Captain 
Mayo one morning came upon a quantity 
of cotton floating on the ocean, which evi- 
dently had been thrown overboard the day 
before, through necessity, by some Confed- 
erate blockade runner. Captain Mayo hove 
to and picked up several bales of cotton and 
brpught them to Boston, where he and his 
crew shared a handsome sum received as 
salvage or prize money for the cotton. 

Captain Mayo was one of the mariners 
who gave active assistance to Lieutenant 
Matthew F. Maury of the National Observ- 
atory and Hydrographic Office at Washing- 
ton, in his highly valuable work of gather- 
ing data and compiling and arranging a 
complete chart of the ocean currents and 
trade winds, which afterwards proved so 
useful in aiding navigators in saving time 
and distance in their voyages. This assist- 
ance Captain Mayo rendered by keeping a 
careful record of his daily observations of 
winds and currents and noting the longitude 
and latitude of same, made during his early 
voyages, and delivering such records upon 
his return from each voyage to Lieutenant 
Maury for his reference and information. 
After retiring from the sea in 1874, Cap- 
tain Mayo made his home with his daughter, 
Mrs. M. M. Larrabee, at Emporium. Penn- 
sylvania, for several years, and died in 1898. 

Much of the foregoing data relating to 
Captain Mayo and his voyages was obtained 
from the records of the New York Customs 
House, the American Bureau of Shipping of 
New York, and from the files of the New 
York daily newspapers of that period. 

Captain Bartlett S. Mayo was married 
twice, the first time to Mary Ann Murch, of 
Hampden, Maine, and two children were 
born to them — a daughter, Georgianna, who 
married Marcellus M. Larrabee, of Empo- 
rium. Pennsylvania, and a son. Ernest B. 

I 



Mayo, a lumberman, who died in Minne- 
sota, in February, 1913. Captain Mayo's 
first wife died in April, 1858, and in i860 
he married Mary Rollins, of Orono, Maine, 
who died in 1868. 



HUFFMAN, Harvey, 

La-wyer, Liegislator, Financier. 

Whether the elements of success in life 
are innate attributes of the individual, or 
whether they are quickened by a process of 
circumstantial development, it is impossible 
to clearly determine, yet the study of a suc- 
cessful life is none the less interesting and 
profitable by reason of the existence of the 
same uncertainty. A man who measures up 
to modern requirements is Senator Harvey 
Huflfman, of the Fourteenth Senatorial Dis- 
trict, comprising the counties of Monroe, 
Pike, Carbon and W^ayne, 1910-14, who is 
a descendant of John and Mary Hufifman, 
early settlers in Bucks county, Pennsylva- 
nia, who migrated in the pioneer days to 
Monroe county, Pennsylvania. 

John Huff'man purchased a tract of land 
in Smithfield township, which he cleared 
and put under cultivation, and in addition 
he manufactured lumber for many years, 
ere'cting a saw mill on his property for that 
purpose. He was industrious and thrifty, 
therefore became possessed of considerable 
means, and was able to provide a comfort- 
able home for his family, which consisted of 
his wife and nine children, the names of his 
children being as follows : John, Frederick, 
Levi, James, Maria, Polly, Elizabeth, Susan, 
Samuel. John Hufifman came to his death 
by being struck by a Delaware, Lackawanna 
& Western train, while crossing the tracks 
in a carriage. 

Samuel Huff'man. youngest son of John 
and Mary Hufifman, was born in Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared 
and educated, and in 1841, upon attaining 
young manhood, accompanied his parents 
to Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and there- 
after his time was devoted to assisting his 
father in his farming and lumbering opera- 
214 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tions, which were conducted on an extensive 
scale and which proved highly remunera- 
tive. He was active in community affairs, 
and was highly regarded by all with whom 
he came in contact. He married Susan 
Detrick, born in 1817, and they became the 
parents of three children: Elias D., Mary, 
William. Samuel Huffman died in the year 
1863. 

Elias D. Huffman, eldest son of Samuel 
and Susan (Detrick) Huffman, was born 
in Upper Smithfield township, Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania. He attended the dis- 
trict schools, obtaining a practical education, 
and from the time he was able to work, until 
the death of his father, he assisted in the 
labors of the homestead farm. After the 
death of the elder Mr. Huffman, his widow 
and son sold the property and purchased an 
interest in the grist mill and store of Wil- 
liam Peters, at Marshall's Creek, where 
they took up their residence, and this proved 
a most successful enterprise, in due course 
of time Mr. Huff'man becoming one of the 
best known millers and merchants in this 
section of the state. In 1877 he erected a 
large hotel on his property, which he con- 
ducted with great credit to himself and 
which proved of great benefit to the com- 
munity. In 1866 he was appointed postmas- 
ter at Marshall's Creek, faithfully serving 
in that capacity for twenty years. He has 
always been a member of the Democratic 
party, the principles of which party he 
firmly believes to be the best for the gov- 
ernment of the people. He is a member of 
the Lutheran Church of Smithfield, and a 
member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows. He married, in November, 1866, 
Elizabeth Smith, of Smithfield, who bore 
him eight children, as follows : Laura, Har- 
vey, Eleithea, Jay, Norman, Flora, Melvin, 
Frances. 

Harvey Huffman, eldest son of Elias 
D. and Elizabeth (Smith) Huffman, was 
born in Smithfield, Monroe county, Penn- 
sylvania, May 19, 1869. His educational 
advantages were obtained in the district 



schools of his native town and the State 
Normal School at Kutztown, Pennsylvania, 
and at the University of Pennsylvania. On 
the completion of his studies he read law 
in the office of Judge J. B. Storm, of 
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, under whose 
competent preceptorship he made rapid pro- 
gress, and in 1896 was admitted to the bar 
of his native State at Stroudsburg, and in 
the following year was admitted to practice 
in the Supreme Court. In 1896 the firm of 
Eilenberger & Huffman was formed, which 
still continues, conducting a general law 
business, which has steadily increased in 
volume and importance with each succeed- 
ing year. Since attaining his majority Mr. 
Huffman has been identified with the Dem- 
ocratic party, in which he takes an active 
interest. From 1897 to 1903, two terms, he 
served as chief clerk of the commissioners 
for Monroe county; later served as county 
solicitor, as Democratic county chairman 
for two terms, and as delegate to State, 
County and Congressional conventions. In 
1910 he was elected State Senator, and was 
his party's nominee for Speaker pro tern. 
of the Senate. He served as a member of 
the judiciary general committee both ses- 
sions. He was a strong advocate of the 
non-partisan judiciary bill passed in 191 3, 
and performed a vast amount of work on 
the public roads committee. He was the 
Democratic minority leader in the Senate 
in the year 1913. He discharged the duties 
of his high public office to the entire satis- 
faction of his constituents, and year by year 
is constantly growing in public estimation. 

Senator Huffman, aside from the high 
popularity he has gained as an able and 
eminent member of the legal profession, is 
a prominent and successful citizen of 
Stroudsburg, interested in a number of suc- 
cessful enterprises of that city, as indicated 
by the following offices which he holds and 
in which he has rendered efficient service : 
Director and solicitor of the Stroudsburg 
National Bank and solicitor of the East 
Stroudsburg National Bank, and director 

215 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and ofificer of the Resica Realty Company, 
of Stroudsburg, Monroe Lumber Company, 
Cameron Engineering Company, Pocono 
Lake Ice Company, Highland Park Com- 
pany, and other local business companies. 
He is a member of the Pennsylvania State 
Bar Association, Monroe County Bar Asso- 
ciation, Harrisburg Club, of Harrisburg, 
Knights of Pythias, Knights of Malta and 
the Masonic order. He is an attendant of 
the Lutheran church. 



HUGHES, Rev. Bruce, 

Clergyman, Poet, Iiitterateur. 

The active ministry of the Rev. Bruce 
Hughes, covering a period of thirty years, 
is a record of continuous and devoted serv- 
ice in alliance with the Methodist Episcopal 
church, during which time his labors have 
been of signal value and productive of lim- 
itless good. It has been his lot to strive 
diligently for the upbuilding of his parishes 
and then to enjoy the fruits of his zealous 
toil in guiding the perfected work of the 
congregations, but because of his excep- 
tional talents as an organizer, his gift of 
leadership, and an irresistible enthusiasm, 
his work has been the founding of churches, 
the support of those in distress, and com- 
missions of a like nature. Known through- 
out the Central Pennsylvania Methodist 
Episcopal Conference as a preacher of 
power and sincerity, he is the author of sev- 
eral works of devotional nature that reveal 
at once purity of mind and beauty of 
thought, and have been a source of comfort, 
benefit and inspiration to many. And noth- 
ing could complete more fully the favorable 
impression made by the perusal of his life 
than to learn that Rev. Bruce Hughes, if 
offered felicitation for the Christian work 
he has accomplished, places all the credit to 
his early life in a Christian home, to the 
wise and firm guidance of an honored 
father, and the tender, loving, constant care 
and teaching of a mother, whose memories 



he reverences with the most enduring filial 
afifection. 

The English family of which the Rev. 
Bruce Flughes is a twentieth century repre- 
sentative, is supposed to be of Saxon and 
Norman origin. It had its seat in Hereford^ 
shire, England, where John Hughes, Sr., 
great-grandfather of Rev. Bruce Hughes, 
was born about 1740, in the Parish of Orle- 
ton. By his marriage with Hannah Davis 
he had children : i. John, who married Pru- 
dence Wells, of Leicestershire, England, 
and had children : Jane and Alice, who 
married, respectively, brothers, Thomas and 
John Meats, farmers in Wellington Parish, 
Herefordshire. 2. Hannah, married Benja- 
min Williams, a London tailor ; children : 
Catherine, married Parker, a law- 
yer, of Woebly, Herefordshire ; Mary, died 
in childhood. 3. Thomas, married Mary 
Furn. 4-5. Daughters, who died young. 6. 
William, of further mention. 

William, son of John and Hannah (Davis) 
Hughes, was born in Herefordshire, Eng- 
land, and after attaining man's estate, was 
for some years engaged in the dry goods 
and grocery business near the place of his 
birth. He married Mary Morgan, of Bac- 
ton, Herefordshire, England, who died in 
1857, and in 1832 he and his family em- 
barked from Liverpool, England, for the 
United States, the vessel in which they made 
the voyage crossing in thirty days. William 
Hughes became the owner of land in Deca- 
tur township, Clearfield county, Pennsylva- 
nia, the homestead property still in the pos- 
session of the family, and there he died in 
1869. and was buried in the cemetery of the 
old Union Church, at Philipsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania. His property was bought from 
Hardman Philips, from whom Philipsburg, 
Pennsylvania, takes its name. Children: 
John, of whom further; William, died in 
1849; James, who made his home near 
Kylertown ; Adam, died on the vessel bound 
for the United States, and was buried at 
sea : Richard, lived on the homestead with 
t6 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his father until the death of the latter, when 
he inherited this property, and married 
Nancy Kephart, of Decatur township, 
Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. 

John, son of William and Mary (Mor- 
gan) Hughes, was born at Kingsland, Here- 
fordshire, England, April 6, 1812. As a 
young man of twenty years he accompanied 
his parents to the United States, and soon 
after their arrival in Decatur township, 
Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, bought 
land adjoining his father's and cultivated 
the same until 1847. ^" ^his year he re- 
turned to the land of his birth, married 
P"lizal>eth Lewis, and within the year was 
once again at work on his farm in Pennsyl- 
vania. The prosperity that he gained in 
after years was the result of patient, dili- 
gent toil, and a more faithful and loving 
helpmate he could not have had. Together 
he and his wife shared tlie difficulties and 
privations of their early married years, and 
in the most perfect companionship enjoyed 
the comforts and luxuries that their subse- 
quent independent condition allowed. John 
Hughes rose to prominent position among 
his fellows, and became a recognized leader 
in matters of local importance. Particu- 
larly was he concerned in the welfare of 
the public schools, having been for several 
years a school teacher, and during the thirty 
years that he was a member of the school 
board of the township, and secretary of the 
same, maintained a keen interest in these 
institutions and fostered their growth and 
development, only resigning because of the 
approaching infirmities that heralded his 
death, which occurred July 10, 1884. A 
true friend of education, his children en- 
joyed the best opportunities that the region 
and his means afforded, and as his lines fell 
in increasingly pleasanter places, they reaped 
the benefit of his good fortune, in greater 
chances for self-improvement. Such a life 
as that lived by John Hughes could not be 
without wide influence among his fellows, 
and in their regard and favor he held high 
place. He was a Christian gentleman, in 



full possession of the many virtues which 
the term implies and, setting his house in 
order before his death, entered fearlessly 
and confidently into the presence of his 
Master. His widow, Elizabeth (Lewis) 
Hughes, youngest daughter of Thomas and 
Annie Lewis, was born in Dalas, Hereford- 
shire, England, February 26, 1823, and died 
at her residence in Philipsburg, Pennsylva- 
nia, May 31, 1899. Her English home was 
one surrounded by most pleasant circum- 
stances, her father a successful farmer, 
able and glad to supply his family with 
every comfort, and here she grew into 
noble, purposeful and beautiful woman- 
hood. From girlhood she was consumed 
with the desire to visit that land beyond 
the sea of which she heard such glowing 
reports, America, and when that oppor- 
tunity came, and with it a proposal from 
one of its manly, alert residents, she accepted 
both, and in the year of her marriage to 
John Hughes, returned with him to his 
Pennsylvania home. Life in her new home, 
and the unceasing struggle with the soil, 
brought out more strongly than ever before 
the womanly virtues and attributes that had 
won her the love and admiration of her 
husband, and in the duties of housewife and 
mother fairly shone with loving tenderness 
and gentle thoughtfulness. In time material 
worries ceased to confront her and, amid 
the watchful care of a devoted husband and 
the free love of children, she lived out her 
years, seventy-six in number. Her children 
learned their first lessons from her, and, 
while in childish minds were being placed 
the rudiments of elementary study, in little 
hearts were being instilled kindness, gen- 
tleness, and forbearance, and characters of 
strength and resistance were formed. She 
was a devout church worker, and the many 
organizations in her congregation with 
which she was connected well knew the 
value of her aid and the results her willing 
zeal accomplished. To the poor and needy 
she was a friend never forgotten, and from 
her insufficiency, as from her plenty, she 
217 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



gave to those whose misfortune had brought 
want. Thus her Hfe was passed in loving 
communion with all, and the sweetness of 
her spirit pervaded home, church and com- 
munity. Her memory is cherished by those 
who knew her, for her life was consecrated 
to the highest purposes, and in the change 
from time to eternity she entered into per- 
fect rest and peace. John and Elizabeth 
(Lewis) Hughes had children : Robert, de- 
ceased ; Emma ; Guy, who died in early 
manhood; Lee; Bruce, of further mention; 
Annie, who married Dr. A. J. Riegel, of 
Lebanon, Pennsylvania ; Harriet, who be- 
came a practicing physician in New York 
City, New York ; and Webster. 

Philip Lewis, grandfather of Mrs. Eliza- 
beth (Lewis) Hughes, married a Miss Guil- 
liam, a sister of Robert Guilliam, of Wain- 
herbert Farm, Newton, England. Children : 
James, lived at Trapton, Ewesharold ; Jane, 
married John Price, and lived at Cumcoched 
farm, and had a son, John ; Thomas, of 
whom further. 

Thomas, son of Philip and (Guil- 
liam) Lewis, and father of Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Lewis) Hughes, was a prosperous farmer, 
and was a member of the Local Volunteers 
of Herefordshire, England, and on one 
occasion was called into active service to 
suppress riots in Bristol, Gloucestershire 
and Somersetshire. He and his wife Annie, 
of Owen Dunlap's farm, were the parents 
of : Thomas, who emigrated to the United 
States in 1889, and died unmarried, two 
years later; Robert, married, and resided in 
Gloucestershire, on the Severn ; Philip, mar- 
ried Jones, of Newton, and remained 

in England; John, died young; Jane, mar- 
ried Thomas Rogers, died after her chil- 
dren had grown to maturity, after which 
Thomas Rogers came to the United States ; 
Sarah, married WiUiam Rogers, a brother 
of Thomas Rogers ; Annie, living on the 
homestead at Newton until 1889, when she 
came to the LInited States, and died here 
unmarried: Elizabeth, who married Mr. 
Hughes, as mentioned above. 



Rev. Bruce Hughes was born in Decatur 
township, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, 
May, 1856-58, on the John Hughes home- 
stead. As a boy he attended the schools 
near his home, and while still a youth at- 
tended the County Normal School, there 
taking a course in preparation for teaching, 
following this calling in Decatur township 
for two terms. During the summer months 
he pursued studies in Dickinson Seminary, 
at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and then 
taught for one term in the Powellton 
School, Rush township. Center county, 
Pennsylvania. Preparing at Carlisle for 
entrance to Dickinson College, he matricu- 
lated at this institution and was graduated 
a member of the centennial class of 1883, 
receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
He was one of the honor men of his class, 
a distinction which carried with it the honor 
of being one of the orators at the com- 
mencement exercises, and the address deliv- 
ered by Rev. Hughes on this occasion was 
of such excellence as to excite favorable 
comment from Rev. O. H. Tiffany, a well 
known divine and scholar of the past gen- 
eration. 

In the following year Bruce Hughes be- 
came a probationer of the Central Penn- 
sylvania Conference of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and was installed as pastor 
of the Jerseytown (Pennsylvania) church, 
where he remained for two years, at the 
end of that time being admitted to full 
membership in the Conference. In 1886 
Rev. Hughes was ordained a deacon at the 
Ridge Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, 
of Harrisburg, Bishop Mallien officiating, 
and in 1888 he was ordained an elder at the 
Pine Street Church, Williamsport, Pennsyl- 
vania, by Bishop Merrill. His next pas- 
torate was at Port Matilda, Center county, 
Pennsylvania, and one year later he became 
pastor of the Glen Hope Church, in Clear- 
field county, leaving this church two years 
later. For four years Rev. Hughes was in 
charge of churches near Blair's Mills, 
Franklin county, and during that time a new 

218 





i^ (i2^'^^'^«><^-c:/x^^^^,^.6^^^ 




/y^<^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



church was built under his direction at 
Waterloo ; and the membership of the con- 
gregations on the charge was increased by 
one hundred. During Rev. Hughes' minis- 
try congregations of which he has been the 
head have built four new churches, and' it 
has been his pleasure to be instrumental in 
the dedication of four others. He is a life 
patron of the Missionary Society of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in recognition 
of his services in securing subscriptions in 
one of his charges to the amount of five 
hundred dollars. 

Rev. Hughes was made a Master of Arts 
by Dickinson College in 1886, and shortly 
after this he took a postgraduate course, 
beginning it at Syracuse University and 
completing it at a southern institution, from 
which he received his degree of Th. D. 
He is a scholar of wide culture, a member 
of the consulting staff of subscribers to 
"Success Magazine," and his contributions 
to religious and devotional literature are the 
products of a brilliant mind and a skillful 
pen. Among these are the following: "Nug- 
gets of Gold," published in 1902; "Self- 
Renunciation," which appeared the follow- 
ing year; and "The Coveted Inheritance," 
published in 1907. The first mentioned of 
these, which came from the press of the 
Irving Company, won the hearty and enthu- 
siastic commendation of many noted divines, 
among them being Bishop Thomas Bow- 
man, late senior bishop of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church ; Bishop Neely, and the 
Rev. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler. He is also 
the author of several poems, and we may 
select for especial mention "The Song of 
Moses,' "Reveries," and "The Plea for 
Peace." Among the numerous noteworthy 
acts of Rev. Hughes is the placing of a sum 
of money at the disposal of the board of 
trustees of the Smithsonian Institute, at 
Washington, D. C, to found "The Bruce 
Hughes, John and Elizabeth Hughes Memo- 
rial Foundation, for the Advancement of 
Science, Knowledge and Learning Among 
Men." 



Rev. Hughes is a minister whose hearty, 
genial manner and social nature win him 
many close friends in the fields into which 
his duty calls him, and in manner he is un- 
affected, sincere and cordial. He is a mem- 
ber of Lumber City Lodge, No. 877, Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows; Juniata 
Lodge, No. 282, Free and Accepted Masons, 
of HoUidaysburg ; both of Pennsylvania. 
He is known widely, and loved wherever 
known. 



PA-10 



12 



COLLIER, Martin Henry, 

Physician, Surgeon, Prominent Citizen. 

Martin Henry Collier, M. D., a prominent 
citizen and a rising young physician of Wil- 
liamsport, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, 
is a member of an old Irish family, which 
has, however, resided for something more 
than a generation in America, the land of 
their adoption. His paternal grandfather, 
Martin Collier, was a native of Ireland who 
came to this country about the middle of 
the nineteenth century and settled in the 
State of Pennsylvania, and here at Big Run 
Mine, on June 30, 1864, James Francis Col- 
lier, the father of our subject, was born. 
James Francis Collier was a prominent man 
in his community ; he came to Williamsport, 
Pennsylvania, in the year 1889, and was 
well known in insurance circles here. He 
became associated with the Prudential In- 
surance Company, and rose to the rank of 
superintendent in its service. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Elizabeth McDowell, a daugh- 
ter of Philip McDowell, of Locust Gap, 
Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Collier 
were born six children, three sons and three 
daughters, as follows : Martin Henry Col- 
lier, our subject; Philip Francis CoUier; 
William Francis Collier, and Harold, all 
unmarried ; and the Misses Ethreda and 
Ancilla Collier. 

Martin Henry Collier was born Decem- 
ber 12, 1885, at Ashland, Pennsylvania, 
where he lived until four years of age, and 
was then taken by his father to his new 

19 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



home in Williamsport, in which place he 
has since made his home. He obtained the 
elementary portion of his education at the 
public schools of Ashland and Shenandoah, 
and at the Parochial School in Williams- 
port, at which last named school he re- 
mained three years, graduating in 1902. He 
then entered St. Charles College at EIHcott 
City, Maryland, where he took a two-year 
course. Upon completing his studies in 
these institutions, Dr. Collier first embarked 
upon a business career, securing a position 
with an insurance company in Williams- 
port, where he remained until 1907. During 
the time of this employment, however, the 
idea of the desirability of a professional 
career found lodgement in his mind, and as 
time went on, assumed larger and larger 
proportions. Accordingly, in 1907 he aban- 
doned his position in the insurance com- 
pany, and matriculated at the Jefferson 
Medical College at Philadelphia and took up 
the study of the profession of medicine. 
During his course in this institution Dr. 
Collier distinguished himself in many ways, 
notably through the writing of a paper on 
the "Pathology of Pneumonia." He also 
took active part in the life of the student 
body, and was a member of a number of 
the fraternities, these being the Alpha 
Kappa Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha. He 
graduated from the Jefferson Medical Col- 
lege with the class of 191 1, taking the degree 
of M. D. To acquire the requisite practical 
experience, Dr. Collier next entered as in- 
terne, first, St. Joseph's Hospital, Philadel- 
phia, where he remained fourteen months, 
and later at St. Christopher's Hospital for 
Children at Philadelphia for four months. 
Having completed this service he established 
himself in general practice in Williamsport 
in the year 1913. Dr. Collier is very active 
in his profession, and belongs to a number 
of medical organizations. He is a member 
of the Lycoming County Medical Society, 
the American Medical Society, the Cope- 
land Pathologic Society of Jefferson Col- 
lege, the Horwitz Surgical Society of the 



same institution, and the University Club of 
Williamsport. He is a Democrat in poH- 
tics and a member of the local Democratic 
Club. Dr. Collier is unmarried. He is a 
member of the Roman Catholic church, 
and attends the Church of the Annunciation 
of that denomination at Williamsport. 



CUNNINGHAM, S. Woodward, 

Attorney. 

Robert Cunningham, grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch, was born at Kroch- 
endoll, county Derry, Ireland, about the 
year 1784, and died at Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- 
vania, November 30, 1838. His wife was 
Elizabeth Wilson, and they were married in 
county Derry, Ireland, about the year 1804 
or 1805. After the death of Robert, his 
widow married William Lutton, and died at 
New Castle, Pennsylvania, February 11, 
1862. The children of Robert and Eliza- 
beth (Wilson) Cunningham were : Eliza- 
beth, became the wife of Gawin Dunlap; 
John, Robert Wilson, mentioned below ; 
Matthew ; Alexander ; Mary Jane ; William 
and James B. Cunningham. 

Robert Wilson Cunningham, father of 
the subject of this sketch, son of Robert and 
Elizabeth (Wilson) Cunningham, belonged 
to the Scotch-Irish stock which is repre- 
sented so largely in western Pennsylvania. 
He was born in county Derry, Ireland, on 
the 23rd day of January, 1817, and in child- 
hood was brought to this country by his 
parents. His early years were passed in the 
city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and they 
were years of toil and struggle. He had 
limited opportunities for education, but 
through his own efforts attained consider- 
able culture and familiarity with good liter- 
ature. When but a boy in Pittsburgh, he 
was so fortunate as to become associated 
with George W. Jackson, then a prominent 
manufacturer and merchant, a man of 
wealth, who was distinguished for his benev- 
olences and public spirit ; and this associa- 
tion resulted in a marked regard and friend- 



1220 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ship between the two, which continued un- 
abated until the death of Mr. Jackson in 
1862, and extended to his family after his 
death. About the year 1836, Robert W. 
Cunningham removed to what was then the 
borough of New Castle, in Lawrence county, 
Pennsylvania, and engaged in the business 
of forwarding merchandise to the west. 
Much grain, wool, glass, iron and steel 
passed through the forwarding and commis- 
sion warehouse which he established upon 
the old canal that disappeared many years 
ago. At the same time, Mr. Cunningham 
conducted a machine shop, and a foundry 
for the manufacture of machinery, plows 
and stoves. He was one of the pioneers in 
manufacturing cast iron pipe for oil wells, 
and also turbine water wheels. 

Having but small capital, he met serious 
difficulties in maintaining his business 
through the exigencies of the period pre- 
ceding the Civil War. One incident throws 
light upon his character as well as upon his 
experiences at this time. Although later in 
life he became in comfortable circumstances, 
he said that at different times in his business 
career he would have been glad to hav'e 
some one take everything which he pos- 
sessed and pay his debts. On one of these 
occasions he went to Pittsburgh and con- 
fided in his friend, George W. Jackson. Mr. 
Jackson offered to go into partnership with 
him ; and without an inventory or appraise- 
ment of assets, and, it is believed, without a 
formal contract, a business copartnership 
was formed between them about the year 
1845, which carried with it the benefit of 
Mr. Jackson's large credit. Some years 
later, after the financial storm had blown 
over, Mr. Cunningham went to Pittsburgh 
and bought out the interest of Mr. Jackson 
in the partnership business. It was ever a 
matter of pride with Mr. Cunningham that 
his wealthy friend Mr. Jackson had gone 
into partnership with him, and had after- 
wards sold out his interest without having 
an inventory of assets taken on either occa- 
sion. 



Robert W. Cunningham was one of the 
active promoters and one of the first direc- 
tors of the New Castle and Beaver Valley 
Railroad Company, New Castle's first rail 
connection with the world, and afterwards 
became its president. With two or three 
others he established the New Castle Wire 
Nail Company, and was for years its presi- 
dent, before it was merged into the Ameri- 
can Steel and Wire Company, which later 
was taken over by the United States Steel 
Corporation. He was a director in the 
National Bank of Lawrence County, at 
New Castle, and of other business corpora- 
tions. He never sought political preferment 
or social prominence, but gave strict atten- 
tion to his business. Domestic in his tastes 
and devoted to his home and family, he felt 
little inclination for club or society life. 
Yet he was public-spirited, and took an in- 
terest in those things which made for the 
prosperity and true welfare of the com- 
munity in which he lived, acting for years 
as city councilman without compensation. 
Appreciating the common schools and the 
value of education, he was for years a 
school director, and devoted much time and 
attention to his duties. He took an active 
part in the erection of a fine, large, public 
school building, beyond the immediate needs 
of the community ; and he stood for progress 
and improvement, not only in the schools, 
but in those other departments of civic life 
which contribute to the real uplift of the 
people. He was a man of irreproachable 
character, and left to his children a name 
for probity and trustworthiness of which 
they may well be proud. 

R. W. Cunningham was married twice. 
His first wife was Rachel S. Stokes, of 
Fallston, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, who 
died June 5, 1846. The names of their five 
children, born at New Castle, Pennsylvania, 
were: Frances, who became the wife of 
Pealer D. Burnes, and afterwards the wife 
of Otto Gehricke ; George Jackson ; Charles 
Pomeroy; Rebecca, who became the wife of 
Daniel H. Wallace; Robert Henry Cun- 
1221 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ningham. On October 25, 1848, he was mar- 
ried to Caroline Perry Woodward, of Taun- 
ton, Massachusetts, a lady of Puritan stock. 
Five children resulted from this marriage 
also, born at New Castle, as follows : Solo- 
mon Woodward, mentioned below ; John 
Parker Hale ; Lilian, who became the wife 
of Lucius M. Westlake; Letitia Jackson^ 
who died in infancy; Caroline, who became 
the wife of Dr. Robert A. Wallace. 

Solomon Woodward, father of Mrs. Cun- 
ningham, was born May 31, 1783, and died 
at Taunton, Massachusetts, April 13, 1877. 
His wife was Mary Wilbur, who was born 
February 19, 1784, and died at Taunton, 
February 10, 1865. The couple were mar- 
ried about 1803. The children of this mar- 
riage, born at Taunton, were : Solomon 
Woodward Jr. ; Mary Harris, who became 
the wife of James Babbitt, and after his 
death the wife of Charles Burbank; Ros- 
well ; Stimpson Harvey ; Julia Harriet, who 
became the wife of Shubal Wilder; Alden 
Bradford; Caroline Perry, mentioned above ; 
Rachel Lincoln, who became the wife of 
James Smith ; Henry Richmond Wood- 
ward. 

S. Woodward Cunningham, the subject 
of this sketch, was the eldest son of Robert 
Wilson Cunningham and Caroline Perry 
(Woodward) Cunningham, and was born at 
New Castle, Pennsylvania, December 11, 
1850. After having obtained a preparatory 
education at public and private schools, he 
became a student at Amherst College, from 
which he was graduated in the class of 
1873, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. 
He then matriculated at the Law Depart- 
ment of Columbia University, New York 
City, and was graduated in the class of 
1875, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. 
Having been registered as a law student 
with Davis B. Kurtz, Esq., a prominent 
attorney of New Castle, he was admitted to 
the bar of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, 
in October, 1875. He then removed to 
Pittsburgh, and was admitted to practice 
law in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, 



February 23, 1876, on the motion of Thomas 
C. Lazear, Esq. 

By thorough preparation and careful at- 
tention to the cases submitted to him, as 
well as by diligence, strict integrity and fair 
dealing, he secured and retained the respect 
of the bench and the bar, and reached suc- 
cess in his profession. Having a natural 
taste for problems and doubtful questions, 
the solution of a nice problem of law is to 
him a pleasure. He has been interested 
also in other questions, and has given some 
attention to finances, to manufacturing and 
to business generally. In such fields also 
he has met with fair success. Until it was 
purchased by the Pennsylvania system, Mr. 
Cunningham was the president of the New 
Castle and Beaver Valley Railroad Com- 
pany. He was vice-president and attorney 
of the New Castle Steel and Tin Plate Com- 
pany, which is now in the ownership of the 
United States Steel Corporation. He was 
also a director of the First National Bank 
of New Castle, and one of the directors and 
attorney of the Castalia Portland Cement 
Company, which had its principal office in 
Pittsburgh. As receiver he closed out the 
business of the J. C. Lappe Tanning Com- 
pany at Pittsburgh. In his disposition he is 
inclined to be somewhat reserved and retir- 
ing, and he has never striven for prefer- 
ment, along either professional or political 
lines, choosing rather the quieter fields of 
professional and private life. 

Domestic in his tastes and loving home 
life, like his father, he has never been what 
is known as a society or club man. He is, 
however, a member of the Stanton Heights 
Golf Club, the Iron City Fishing Club, a 
Hterary society called the Criterion Club, 
college fraternities, etc. Mr. Cunningham 
is much interested in matters pertaining to 
religion, missions, Sunday-school work, 
temperance and philanthropy, and has given 
to them a considerable portion of his time 
and attention, both professional and other- 
wise. He is an active member of Christ 
Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



is one of the trustees and a member of an 
important committee. He has been for 
many years the leader of the senior Bible 
study class for adults in the Sunday-school 
of that church, and enjoys the work greatly. 
?Ie is a member of the executive committee 
of the local Anti-Saloon League. He was 
for a considerable time a member of the 
legislative committee of the Pittsburgh Civic 
Commission, and acted also upon the legis- 
lative committee of the Chamber of Com- 
merce of Pittsburgh, of which he has for 
many years been a member. He is one of 
the board of directors of the Young 
Men's Christian Association of Pittsburgh, 
which has charge of the numerous working 
branches in that city. 

At New Castle, Pennsylvania, October 
23, 1884, Mr. Cunningham was married to 
Kate L., daughter of George W. and Cath- 
erine (Boyer) Crawford, of New Castle, a 
most charming woman, who presides over 
their home with graciousness and true hos- 
pitality. Their children are : Kenneth Reese, 
Lois, Crawford Boyer and Katherine Cun- 
ningham. 



CADWALLADER, Thomas Sidney, 

Business Man, Public Official. 

Thomas Sidney Cadwallader, of Yardley, 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, one of the 
most prominent business men of lower 
Bucks county, is the representative of as 
many prominent officials of his native county 
and State in Colonial times as any person 
now living in Pennsylvania or elsewhere, 
and in the case of most of the families of 
the time of the great Founder of Pennsyl- 
vania, through which his descent is traced, 
they have kept up their prominence in the 
aflfairs of the county, State and Nation, not 
only through the history of the Province, 
but down through the history of the State 
and county to the present time. 

The Cadwalader family was founded in 
Pennsylvania by John Cadwalader, a na- 
tive of Wales, who brought a certificate 



from the Monthly Meeting of Friends in 
Pembrokeshire, dated ist mo. 19, 1696-97, 
which was deposited at Radnor Monthly 
Meeting, now Delaware county, Pennsyl- 
vania. This certificate states that "he hath 
the reputation at school of an apt scholar 
and has now attained to a good degree of 
learning as any one in the school." He was 
at that date in his twentieth year, having 
been born in the year 1677. Locating on 
a large tract of land lying on both sides of 
the line between Bucks and Montgomery 
counties, near the "Crooked Billett," now 
Hatboro, he became a member of the Abing- 
ton Monthly Meeting on its organization 
out of Radnor. He was married at the lat- 
ter Meeting, in 1701, to Margaret Cassel. 

John Cadwalader became an accepted 
minister of the Society of Friends at an 
early age, and travelled extensively in that 
service, visiting Great Britain in 1721. He 
made long journeys to all parts of the colon- 
ies in America on horseback, and the great 
number of certificates returned to his meet- 
ing testify to the appreciation of his ser- 
vice in the cause of Truth in the Carolinas 
and other distant parts. In 1742 he made 
a religious journey to the West Indies, his 
certificate being dated 5th mo. 20, 1742. 
A later minute of the Abington Meeting 
shows that he reached the Island of Tor- 
tola, 9th mo. 4, 1742, in company with 
John Estaugh, of Haddonfield, New Jer- 
sey, and that he died there on the 26th of 
the same month, Estaugh dying a few days 
later. By a curious coincidence, Thomas 
Chalkley, the eminent English miniater of 
the Society who had been John Cadwal- 
ader's companion in many notable journeys, 
had ended his Gospel labors on the same 
island about two years earlier, and all three 
graves are represented in a painting hang- 
ing in the library of Swarthmore College. 

Jacob Cadwallader, son of John Cadwal- 
ader, above mentioned, acquired by deed of 
gift from his father and mother, dated De- 
cember I, 1736, 165 acres of land in War- 
minster township, Bucks county, and a few 



1223 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



years later, in 1742, purchased of his brother 
Joseph 166 acres, another part of the large 
tract taken up by his father. He and his 
wife Magdalen were almost lifelong resi- 
dents of Warminster, where Jacob died in- 
testate prior to the beginning of the struggle 
for national independence, leaving one son 
Jacob, and a daughter Alice, who married 
Benjamin Lukens. Jacob Cadwallader mar- 
ried Magdalen Cunard, as the name came 
to be spelled, daughter of Matthias Cunard 
and his wife Barbara Tyson. Matthias 
Cunard was born at Crefeld, on the borders 
of Holland, January 25, 1679-80, and came 
to Pennsylvania with his parents, Thones 
Kiinders (Denis Cunard) and his wife 
Ellen Streypers, in the "Concord," which 
sailed from London, July 24, 1683, and 
arrived at Philadelphia, October 6, 1683, 
with the thirteen families that became the 
founders of Germantown, the Cunard fam- 
ily being one of the thirteen. Thones Cun- 
ard was born in 1648, and died in German- 
town in 1729. Matthias Cunard married, 
July 29, 1705, Barbara Tyson, daughter of 
Cornelius Tyson, who was born at Crefeld 
in 1652, and died in Germantown, May 9, 
1716, and his wife Margaret. 

Jacob Cadwallader, Jr., son of Jacob and 
Magdalen, acquired by deed from his 
mother and father in 1757, a portion of the 
Warminster homestead, and at their death 
acquired and inherited together the balance 
thereof. He was a lifelong resident of 
Warminster, dying there in October, 1790, 
at an advanced age. Jacob Cadwallader, 
Jr., married Phebe Radcliffe, daughter of 
John RadclifTe and his wife Rebecca West, 
and granddaughter of Edward Radcliffe 
and Phebe Baker, and great-granddaughter 
of James Radcliffe, from Chapel Hill, Ros- 
endale, Lancashire, who with his wife Mary 
came to Pennsylvania in 1685 and settled in 
Bucks county, where James died, in 
Wrightstown township, March 29, 1690. 
His widow Mary later married Henry 
Baker, the father of Phebe above men- 
tioned. Henry Baker and his first wife, 

I 



Margaret Hardman, came from Darby, 
Lancashire, in 1684, and settled at what was 
long known as Baker's Ferry, now Taylors- 
ville, the scene of the crossing of Washing- 
ton and his little army of patriots on Christ- 
mas night, 1776, to attack the Hessians at 
Trenton. Henry Baker was the foreman 
of the first grand jury of Bucks county, 
and represented the county in the Provin- 
cial Assembly, 1685 to 1691, and again in 
1698. He was commissioned a justice of 
the Bucks county courts January 2, 1689-90, 
and served until his death in 1701. 

Jacob Cadwallader, son of Jacob and 
Phebe, above mentioned, was born Novem- 
ber 21, 1768, and was reared in Warmin- 
ster township, but on his marriage in 1792 
to Ann, daughter of Timothy Taylor, re- 
moved to Upper Makefield, where he lived 
until his death in December, 1842. 

Timothy Taylor, father of Ann (Taylor) 
Cadwallader, was born near Newtown, 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1729, and 
was a son of Benjamin Taylor, and grand- 
son of Philip and Juliana Taylor, who were 
early settlers in Tacony. Benjamin Taylor 
purchased large tracts of land in Newtown 
and Upper Makefield townships, and was 
one of the prominent men of his time. He 
died in 1870, at a very advanced age. He 
married, in 1719, Hannah Towne, daugh- 
ter of John and Deborah (Booth) Towne, 
and of a family prominently identified with 
the history of New Jersey and New York, 
whose paternal ancestors first settled in 
Massachusetts. Benjamin Taylor was 
commissioner of the county of Bucks, 1736- 
38, and again 1745-47, and Timothy Taylor 
filled the same position, 1787-89. Timothy 
Taylor married, January 19, 1792, Sarah 
Yardley, born April 17, 1751, died January 
17, 1786, daughter of William Yardley and 
his wife Ann Budd; and granddaughter of 
Thomas Yardley, of Rushton Spencer, 
county Stafford, England, and his wife Ann 
Biles. 

Thomas Yardley, or Yeardley, as the 
name was originally spelled, was a descend- 
224 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ant in the eighth generation from John 
Yeardley, of county Stafford, who in 1402 
married a daughter of Marburry, of Dades- 
bury. The latter was a descendant of Wil- 
ham Yeardley, who was a witness to the 
signing of the Magna Charta in 1215. 

WiUiam Yeardley, who married Mar- 
gery, daughter of John Lawton, and was 
the great-grandfather of Thomas Yardley 
of Rushton-Spencer, was a son of William 
Yeardley, living 1583, and his wife Eliza- 
beth, daughter of William Morton, of Mor- 
ton, county Chester, and a brother of Sir 
George Yeardley, who came to Virginia in 
the ship "Deliverance" in 1609, as a member 
of Her Majesty's Council in Virginia, and 
became governor of Virginia in 1618. 

William Yeardley, born 1632, son of 
William Yeardley and his wife Dorothy, 
daughter of Sir John Drake, and grandson 
of William and Margery, above mentioned, 
married Jane Heath, and with her and their 
three sons, Enoch, William and Thomas, 
came to Pennsylvania in the "Friends' Ad- 
venture," arriving in the Delaware river 
September 28, 1683. William Yeardley 
was a member of Governor's Council, and 
the Provincial Assembly, until his death on 
July 9, 1693. His three sons and the four 
children of the two who were married, all 
died in February, 1702-03, of the small pox, 
and the real estate taken up by W^illiam 
descended to his nephew Thomas, son of 
Thomas of Rushton Spencer, born 1630, 
eldest brother of William, and Samuel, an- 
other son. 

Thomas Yeardley, the nephew, came to 
Pennsylvania in 1704 with letters of attor- 
ney from his father and brother Samuel, 
and took possession of the land taken up 
by his uncle which was located in and ad- 
joining the present borough of Yardley, and 
a part of which has always remained in the 
family. Thomas Yeardley, with the pres- 
tige of his family, soon was called upon to 
take a prominent part in the affairs of 
state. He was elected to the Provincial 
Assembly in 171 5, and served several terms 



in that body. He was commissioned a jus- 
tice of the county courts in 1725 and con- 
tinued to serve until 1741, being present at 
nearly every sitting of the court. He be- 
came a very large landholder, acquiring 
large tracts in Newtown and Solebury, in 
addition to his large holdings about Yardley 
in Makefield. He died in 1756. He mar- 
ried, February, 1706-07, Ann Biles, daugh- 
ter of William Biles and his wife Joanna, 
who came to Pennsylvania from Dorset- 
shire, arriving in the river Delaware, June 
4, 1679. William Biles was an officer of 
the court at Upland before the arrival of 
William Penn, taking up his land on the 
Delaware in Falls, under the Duke of York. 
He was a member of the first Pennsylvania 
Assembly, of the first Governor's Council 
and justice of the courts of Bucks county. 
He was one of the most influential men of 
his time in Bucks county. 

William Yardley, first above mentioned 
as father of Sarah Taylor, was the sixth 
child and eldest son of Thomas Yeardley 
and Ann Biles, and was born at Yardley, 
Bucks county. May 25, 1716, and died there 
August 3, 1774. He served as sheriff of 
Bucks county October, 1753, to October, 
1755; county commissioner, October, 1756, 
to October, 1759; and justice of the county 
courts December 7, 1767, to November, 
1770. He married June 20, 1748, Ann 
Budd, of a prominent New Jersey family, 
a descendant of Rev. Thomas Budd, who 
resigned as rector of Martock parish, Som- 
ersetshire, in 1657, on becoming a convert 
of George Fox, and became a minister 
among Friends. His son, Thomas Budd, 
was associated with William Penn in the 
purchase of the lands of West Jersey, and 
emigrated to that Province as early as 1668, 
but returned to England for his family and 
was accompanied to New Jersey on the sec- 
ond trip by his brothers William, John and 
James. William Budd, one of these brothers, 
born 1649,- married Ann Clayput, born 
1655, and became a large landowner at 
Burlington. He died there March 20, 1721- 



1225 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



22. His son Thomas Budd, married De- 
borah, daughter of John LangstafF, of 
Whaledale, Yorkshire. Wihiam Yardley 
married, March 31, 1756, Sarah, daughter 
of Mahlon and Mary (Sotcher) Kirkbride. 

Ann Taylor, daughter of Timothy Taylor 
and Sarah Yardley, and' wife of Jacob Cad- 
wallader, was born January 15, 1772, and 
died in 1848. 

William Cadwallader, eldest son of Jacob 
Cadwallader and Ann Taylor, was the 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
He was born at Yardley, November 15, 
1792, and died April 10. 1875. He mar- 
ried, October 19, 1819, Susanna Stapler, 
daughter of Thomas Stapler, and his wife 
Achsah Yardley, daughter of William 
Yardley, above mentioned, by his second 
wife Sarah Kirkbride. 

Joseph Kirkbride, grandfather of Sarah 
(Kirkbride) Yardley, was born in the parish 
of Kirkbride, twelve miles west of Carlisle, 
county Cumberland. England, September 
29, 1662, and was a son of Matthew and 
Magdalena Kirkbride. His ancestors had 
taken their surname from the manor of 
Kirkbride, founded before the Norman 
Conquest. Joseph Kirkbride came to Bucks 
county December 11, 1681, in the ship 
"Bristol Factor," and was for a time in the 
employ of William Penn at Pennsbury. He 
became the largest landholder of any man 
in Bucks county, owning at the time of his 
death in 1738 vast tracts in all parts of the 
coimty, and in New Jersey, where he re- 
sided for a time. He was a member of the 
Colonial Assembly in 1698, was again re- 
turned in 1 71 2, serving from that date to 
1 72 1, when he was succeeded by his son 
Joseph, Jr. He was also a justice of the 
county courts from 1708 to 1726. and filled 
many important positions of trust. He was 
a noted surveyor, and surveyed the line be- 
tween New York and New Jersey in 1719. 
He married (first) Alice Blackshaw, and 
(second) December 17, 1702, Sarah Stacy, 
daughter of Mahlon Stacy and his wife Re- 
becca Ely, of Dorehouse, Handworth, York- 

I 



shire, who was another of the purchasers 
of West Jersey, arriving in the Delaware 
river in December, 1678, in the ship 
"Shield," and settling on the site of Tren- 
ton, where he erected a mill and dwelling, 
the first buildings on the site of the pres- 
ent city. Mahlon Stacy was one of the 
principal men in the government of New 
Jersey, serving as King's Councillor, assem- 
blyman, justice, and commissioner for sale 
of lands. 

Mahlon Kirkbride, only son of Joseph 
by his wife Sarah Stacy, was born Novem- 
ber 16, 1703. He was a member of Pro- 
vincial Assembly for fourteen years, being 
first elected in 1740 and serving his last 
term in 1756. Pie was also a justice of the 
peace and of the county courts for many 
years. He was one of the contributors to 
the Pennsylvania Hospital, and was named 
by the general assembly in 1754 as one of 
the board of visitors to that institution. He 
died November 17, 1776. He married, No- 
vember 12, 1724, Mary Sotcher, born Sep- 
tember 15, 1704, daughter of John Sotcher 
and his wife Mary Lofty, who accompanied 
William Penn on his second voyage to 
Pennsylvania in 1699, and were for a num- 
ber of years his stewards at Pennsbury 
Manor, Bucks county. They were married 
of the eve of Penn's departure for Eng- 
land in 1 701. John Sotcher was a member 
of Provincial Assembly, 1712-13, and 1715- 
1723, and also a colonial justice. He died 
January 19, 1728-30. 

Algernon Sidney Cadwallader, sixth child 
of William Cadwallader and Susanna Stap- 
ler, was born near Yardley, August 17, 
1828. He was educated at the local schools ; 
at Benjamin Price's famous boarding 
school in Chester county ; and at Attleboro 
Academy, Bucks county, under James An- 
derson. On his marriage he located in 
Yardley, on land taken up by his ancestors 
nearly two centuries before that date, and 
resided there all his life, in the old Yardley 
mansion erected in 1728. He was one of 
the active business men of his section, and 
226 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was identified with many of the local in- 
stitutions of the county. He was for many 
years active in the political affairs of the 
county, first as a Whig and later as a Re- 
publican. Pie was the party nominee for 
State Senator in 1861, and though the 
county was heavily Democratic was de- 
feated by only a few votes. He was an 
active and loyal supporter of the Union 
during the Civil War, serving on appoint- 
ment of Governor Curtin in 1862 as super- 
intendent of the enrollment of militia in 
the county. In 1865 he was appointed Col- 
lector of Internal Revenue for the Fifth 
District of Pennsylvania. In 1864 he was 
a delegate to the National Convention that 
renominated Abraham Lincoln for the 
presidency, and also to that of 1868, which 
nominated Ulysses S. Grant. He had also 
served as delegate to numerous State Con- 
ventions of his party. He was the party 
nominee for representative in Congress 
from the Bucks-Montgomery district in 
1878, and carried his home county against 
a strong adverse majority, but was defeated 
in Montgomery county. He was again a 
candidate for the congressional nomination 
in 1886, and was supported by the Bucks 
county delegates, but later withdrew in the 
interests of harmony. 

Algernon Sydney Cadwallader married 
in 1853, Susan Josephine Yardley, born 
June 2. 1834, died February 7, 1880. daugh- 
ter of William Yardley and his wife Sarah 
S. Hart ; granddaughter of Thomas Yard- 
ley (1763-1828), son of William and Sarah 
(Kirkbride) Yardley, before mentioned, by 
his wife Susanna Brown, daughter of 
George Brown, and his wife Elizabeth 
Field; granddaughter of Samuel Brown 
and Ann Clark, and great-granddaughter of 
George Brown who came to Pennsylvania 
in 1679, and was the first British justice of 
a colonial court in Pennsylvania, being com- 
missioned at Upland May 28, 1680. He 
settled in Falls township, where the family 
has been prominent in public affairs for 
many generations. 



Thomas Sidney Cadwallader was born 
at Yardley, January i, 1861, and was the 
fifth child and third son of Algernon S. 
and Susan J. (Yardley) Cadwallader. He 
was educated at the Yardley schools and 
the Friends Central School at Philadel- 
phia. In 1880 he entered the employ of 
the firm of Joseph Martin & Company, 
engaged in the lumber business at Yard- 
ley, as bookkeeper. At about this time 
the creamery business sprung up all over 
Bucks county and he assisted in estab- 
lishing and in 1891 took charge of cream- 
ery erected on the old Cadwallader home- 
stead, which he conducted until 1888. In 
that year he engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness in Yardley, which he continued until 
1897. In 1893, in company with his brother 
Augustus J. Cadwallader, and his brother- 
in-law George F. Craig, of Philadelphia, he 
purchased the flour mill at Yardley. On 
July 17, 1895, the firm was incorporated as 
the Yardley Milling Company, with T. Sid- 
ney Cadwallader and George F. Craig as 
principal stockholders, Augustus J., now a 
lumber merchant in Philadelphia, withdraw- 
ing from the business. From that time to 
this, Mr. Cadwallader has filled the position 
of treasurer and had entire charge of the 
business. The mill was early equipped with 
the most improved machinery and it had 
kept pace with the times by the installation 
of the most improved devices and equip- 
ment, and the mill with a daily capacity of 
two hundred and forty barrels of flour, has 
the reputation of turning out the best pro- 
duct of its kind, and is kept constantly run- 
ning. 

Mr. Cadwallader has for many years been 
one of the foremost business men of his 
section. He was one of the organizers of 
the Trenton & Lambertville street railway, 
which opened and operated an electric rail- 
way between the two cities named, and was 
president of the company until its reorgani- 
zation in 1912. He was elected to the office 
of register of wills of Bucks county in 
1907 and served a term of four years, in 
227 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the meantime conducting his milling busi- 
ness on a large scale at Yardley. He is 
president of the Yardley Water and Power 
Company, and has been for more than 
twenty years a member of the local school 
board serving for many years as its presi- 
dent. 

Mr. Cadwallader married (first) January 
14, 1886, Miss Ida R. Weeks, daughter of 
Mica j ah and Susan E. Weeks, of Millers- 
ville, Pennsylvania, by whom he had five 
children, two of whom died in infancy. 
Mrs. Cadwallader died June 19, 1896, and 
he married (second) September 6, 1905, 
Miss Sarah W., daughter of the late Ste- 
phen B. Twining, a prominent business man 
of Yardley, and his wife, Letitia Warner, 
of one of the oldest English families in 
Pennsylvania. Stephen B. Twining was a 
lineal descendant of William Twining, an 
English settler in Massachusetts, in 1640, 
and his grandson, Stephen Twining, the 
founder of the family in Bucks county in 
1699. Stephen B. Twining was a member 
of the firm of S. B. & E. W. Twining, who 
founded and for several years conducted the 
large stone business now operated by 
Charles Twining Eastburn. He was one of 
the organizers of the Yardley National 
Bank, and was until his death its vice-presi- 
dent and a member of the board of direc- 
tors. He was also one of" the organizers 
and an ofiicer of the Yardley Building & 
Loan Association, and during his whole 
life was actively identified with practically 
all the local enterprises of Yardley and 
vicinity. He died July 26, 1894. 



EVANS, James, 

liaivyer. Financier. 

Never was there an era in the history of 
the Pittsburgh district so richly fraught 
with possibilities of advancement as that of 
the closing decades of the nineteenth cen- 
tury and the opening years of the twen- 
tieth, and the man most largely instrumen- 
tal in the development of these possibilities 



— one who could, with truth, be styled, pre- 
eminently, the man of the hour — was the 
late James Evans, founder and for many 
years president of the National Bank of 
McKeesport. Mr. Evans was not only an 
exceptionally able financier, but a success- 
ful member of the bar and a brilliant man 
of afifairs. He was a lifelong resident of 
McKeesport and it is to his intense and dis- 
interested public spirit that she owes the 
phenomenal development of her leading and 
most essential interests. 

The Evans family is one of the most 
ancient in Pennsylvania and is supposed to 
trace its American origin from Thomas 
Evans, who in 1710, emigrated from Rhyd- 
willan, Caermarthenshire, Wales, to the 
province of Delaware, where he united by 
letter with the Welsh Tract Baptist Church. 
One branch of the family, tracing from 
Nathaniel Evans, settled in South Carolina, 
where they became people of prominence. 

(I) James Evans, the first of the family 
to settle in Western Pennsylvania, came in 
1798 from Wilmington, Delaware, and took 
up his abode in McKeesport. He made 
hats and sold them by retail. In public 
affairs he bore a conspicuous part, being 
appointed by the governor of Pennsylvania 
Justice of the Peace and holding the office 
until it was made elective, which was not 
until after he had served many years. He 
married Emily, daughter of William Alex- 
ander, of the Cumberland Valley, and their 
children were : Ann M., married Dr. 
George Huey ; John ; Emily, married Dr. 
Robert McClellan ; James; Hannah, mar- 
ried Hugh Roland ; Harriet, married David 
King; OHver, mentioned below; and 
George. James Evans, the father, died in 
1846. 

(II) Oliver Evans, son of James and 
Emily (Alexander) Evans, was born No- 
vember 16, 18 16, in McKeesport, Pennsyl- 
vania. He received his rudimentary edu- 
cation in the public schools, afterward study- 
ing the higher branches and languages 
under the instruction of his brother-in-law, 



1228 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Dr. Robert McClellan, of Mercer. He also to banking and organized the Bank of Mc- 



read medicine with Dr. McClellan, intend- 
ing to adopt that profession, but ill health 
frustrated his designs and he spent his en- 
tire after-life as a farmer. He was a Dem- 
ocrat of the old school, and a member of 
the Presbyterian church. Mr. Evans mar- 
ried, November 24, 1839, Mary Ann Samp- 
son, whose ancestral record is appended to 
this sketch, and the following children were 
born to them: James, mentioned below; 
Thomas S., died young; Cadwallader; 
Anna M., married J. W. Bailie ; and Olivier. 
The father of the family closed a long and 
useful life December 7, 1888. He was a 
man of great mental activity, always a 
student and keeping fully abreast of the 
times. His strict adherence to principle 
and great kindness of heart caused him to 
be loved and respected by the entire com- 
munity. 

(Ill) James (2) Evans, son of Oliver 
and Mary Ann (Sampson) Evans, was born 
November 24, 1840, at McKeesport, Penn- 
sylvania. He attended the public schools of 
his native city, passing thence to Elders 
Ridge Academy, where he was prepared 
for Jefferson College (now Washington and 
Jefferson), Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. In 
1861 he graduated from that institution and 
for a short time thereafter was engaged in 
teaching at Duff's College, Pittsburgh. In 
1863, having decided to study law, he en- 
rolled himself as a student in the office of 
James I. Kuhn, of Pittsburgh, and in 1865 
was admitted to the bar. For twenty years 
Mr. Evans practised his profession with 
distinguished success, building up an en- 
viable reputation for legal knowledge and 
skill and for his eloquence in presenting 
cases to the courts. His summing up of the 
situation was always masterly, the logic of 
his argument convincing and he was capable 
of inspiring his hearers with his own con- 
fidence in the righteousness of his cause. 
His entire career as a lawyer was the 
expression of his high professional ideals. 

In 1887 Mr. Evans turned his attention 



Keesport, an institution which later became 
the National Bank of McKeesport. From 
its inception to the close of his life he was 
its president, becoming a power in the finan- 
cial world and exerting therein a most salu- 
tary, inspiring and at the same time con- 
servative influence. In 1906 he organized 
the Glassport Trust Company, becoming its 
president and holding the office until five 
years previous to his death. 

Even before his entrance into the realm 
of finance Mr. Evans had begim to partici- 
pate in business transactions, having in 
1886, in association with others, purchased 
the McKeesport Grist Mills, forming the 
McKeesport Milling Company, and making 
extensive improvements in the property, in- 
creasing its capacity from fifty to two hun- 
dred barrels daily. The company con- 
ducted the mills with great success until 
December 9, 1887, when they were totally 
destroyed by fire. 

As the owner of a large amount of Mc- 
Keesport real estate, Mr. Evans always 
took an active interest in developing it in 
such a manner as would promote the public 
welfare. He laid out in the Third Ward 
a tract of fifty-six acres, dividing it into 
lots which are now regarded as among the 
most valuable in the city, the district being 
known as East Park. The Evans family, 
being large landowners, gave the land for 
the McKeesport Hospital and of this insti- 
tution Mr. Evans was president. He de- 
voted much time to the work of raising 
money for the building and was one of the 
principal donors of the land, the others 
being his brother, Dr. Cadwallader Evans, 
and his brother-in-law, J. W. Bailie. 

The most arduous and effective work 
ever performed by Mr. Evans in behalf of 
McKeesport was accomplished when the 
United States Steel Corporation notified 
George G. Crawford, then local manager, 
that the National Tube Company's plant 
would be abandoned unless more space 
could be obtained within a fixed time. The 



1229 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Tube Company was forced to do that to 
meet its expanding business and at the same 
time refused to pay more for the land than 
what they considered was reasonable. The 
Tube Company canvassed the owners of the 
properties and the best price obtained was 
$850,000, which the Tube Company could 
not afford to pay, and for that reason had 
decided to move the greater part of the 
plant to Lorain, Ohio. Mr. Evans having 
the welfare of the city at heart, interviewed 
the officials of the Tube Company and pro- 
posed to make an effort to obtain the lands 
needed by the company at a lower price. 
He undertook this work, and after arduous 
labor, obtained short-time options on the 
properties for about $700,000, but the Tube 
Company, represented by W. B. Schiller, 
could not see their way clear to take up the 
option even at the lower price. Mr. Evans 
then accepted the options himself and made 
all the cash payments necessary under the 
options, and finally took title to the property 
himself. A month or so later, after much 
work and financial strain, he succeeded in 
finally arranging with the Steel Corporation 
to turn the property over at the price he 
acquired it, but with the condition that a 
fund of $40,000 he raised by the city of 
McKeesport as a condition to the payment 
for the land before it would close the deal, 
which was finally raised, to which he con- 
tributed largely himself. The property was 
then turned over by him to the Steel Corpo- 
ration at the price he obtained it at, he 
never receiving any compensation for his 
valuable services rendered the Steel Corpo- 
ration and the city of McKeesport. The 
improvements and the developments were 
finally made and the crisis was passed. 

In politics Mr. Evans affiliated with the 
Republicans, but the only offices which he 
could ever be induced to accept were those 
of borough solicitor of McKeesport and 
county commissioner of Allegheny county, 
which latter position he held in 1902. He 
was instrumental in securing the Carnegie 
Library for the city, using his influence to 



have it properly endowed. His charities 
were numerous, but extremely unostenta- 
tious, and after his death it was said by one 
who had been his friends for a generation 
that no worthy applicant for help ever ap- 
pealed to him in vain. His interest in church 
work is illustrated by the fact that he was 
one of the founders of the Union Avenue 
Mission, from which sprang the Central 
Presbyterian Church. Of this church Mr. 
Evans was a member and ruling elder from 
the time of its organization until his death, 
and for years served as superintendent of 
its Sunday school. 

The countenance of Mr. Evans bore the 
imprint of that courage and fidelity to prin- 
ciple which were so strikingly illustrated 
throughout his career. His blue-gray eyes 
had the clear, steadfast gaze of a man who 
has seen and thought and done, and his 
finely-moulded features indicated strength 
of character and refinement of nature. His 
whole aspect was expressive of the genial 
disposition which readily appreciated the 
good traits of others. His mature judg- 
ment and ripe experience caused him to be 
much sought as an astute and capable adviser 
and there were many who blessed the hour 
in which they had turned to him for coun- 
sel. While not above the average height 
he had the simple, impressive dignity which 
is the expression of a strong personality and 
his manner was that of quiet, cordial cour- 
tesy. To the close of his life he was a true 
and kindly gentleman and a strong, simple, 
manly man. 

Mr. Evans married, January 27, 1874, 
Rebecca Elizabeth, daughter of David and 
Eleanor (Mellon) Stotler, whose ancestral 
record is appended to this sketch, and they 
became the parents of the following chil- 
dren : I. Thomas Mellon, mentioned below. 
2. John Kuhn, born July 4, 1880; educated 
at Shade Side Academy, Andover and Yak 
University, class of 1903; in 1908, in asso- 
ciation with his younger brothers, organized 
the firm of Evans Brothers, bankers and 
brokers ; chairman of the board of direc- 



1230 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tors of the National BanK of McKeesport, 
director of McKeesport Chamber of Com- 
merce, and trustee of the McKeesport Hos- 
pital; is a director and member of Pitts- 
burgh Stock Exchange and is a member of 
Duquesne, Union, Pittsburgh Country and 
University clubs and the Pittsburgh Athletic 
Association. 3. James, born July 24, 1883; 
educated at Shady Side Academy, Andover 
(Massachusetts) Academy, Chestnut Hill 
Academy, Philadelphia, and the Grofif 
School, New York ; for four years associ- 
ated with Glassport Trust Company, and in 
1908 became a member of Evans Brothers ; 
Republican ; belongs to Chicago Board of 
Trade and is a member of the Duquesne, 
University and Pittsburgh Country clubs 
and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. 
4. Alan Stotler (twin of James), born July 
24, 1883; educated at same schools and 
belongs to same clubs, with the exception of 
the Duquesne; is a member of Evans 
Brothers ; Republican ; married, September 
II, 1908, Anna M. Graff, of Kittanning, 
Pennsylvania, and has three children, Alan 
Stotler, Alexander and John. 5. Eleanor, 
died in early infancy. 

The father of these four sons, three of 
whom are now numbered among the aggres- 
sive young business men of Pittsburgh, was 
in his domestic relations singularly fortu- 
nate. Mrs. Evans, a woman of gentle 
breeding and unusual sweetness of char- 
acter, made his home a refuge from the 
stress and turmoil of the business arena, the 
place where he passed his happiest hours. 
His house was the abode of hospitality, and 
to the charm of himself and his wife as 
host and hostess all who were ever priv- 
ileged to be their guests can abundantly 
testify. The conversation of Mr. Evans 
was fascinating and at the same time in- 
structive, the expression of a mind replete 
with information and stored with some of 
the choicest treasures of literature. His 
death severed an ideal union of more than 
a third of a century. Mrs. Evans, in her 
widowhood, maintains her interest in the 

123 



church work and philanthropic enterprises 
in which she and her husband so long went 
hand-in-hand. Always an affectionate and 
exemplary mother, she is the object of the 
chivalrous devotion of her three surviving 
sons. 

On May 8, 1909, Mr. Evans passed away, 
leaving the record of a life so varied in its 
activity, so honorable in its purpose, so far- 
reaching and beneficent in its effects that it 
has become an integral part of the history of 
Pittsburgh and in law and finance has left 
its impress upon the annals of Pennsylva- 
nia. It was well said of him: "In a gen- 
eration that has wrought astonishing things 
he bore a man's part." 

James Evans was a man who touched life 
at many points. By his career as a lawyer 
he added to the prestige of the Pittsburgh 
bar, and his work as an astute financier and 
aggressive man of affairs is crystallized in 
the present prosperity of his native city. 
Over and above all this, he was a true phil- 
anthropist, the motive of all his labors was 
the betterment of his community and his 
proudest title is that of "one who loved his 
fellowmen." 

(IV) Thomas Mellon Evans, eldest child 
of James (2) and Rebecca Elizabeth (Stot- 
ler) Evans, was born October 23, 1875. 
He was educated at Shady Side Academy 
and Yale University, class of 1898. Upon 
the death of his father he became president 
of the National Bank of McKeesport and 
he was also treasurer and director of the 
American Tube Company, vice-president 
and director of the Glassport Trust Com- 
pany and director of the McKeesport and 
Port Vue Bridge Company, the Colonial 
Trust Company and the McKeesport Cham- 
ber of Commerce. He was interested in 
philanthropic work, serving as vice-presi- 
dent and trustee of the McKeesport Hos- 
pital. He was a member of the University 
Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Associa- 
tion, also the Youghiogheny Country Club. 
In addition to his other business connections 
he was treasurer of the Tempest Brick 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Company. Mr. Evans married, October i8, 
1900, Martha Scott Jarnigan, of Mossy 
Creek, Tennessee, and two children were 
born to them, Eleanor and James. The 
death of Mr. Evans, which occurred April 
26, 1913, in the prime of early manhood, 
was a loss not only to his family and per- 
sonal friends, but to the city which looked to 
him as one of those on whom she depended 
for the maintenance of her future business 
prestige. It was sad to think that his open, 
manly face, so expressive of the noble traits 
of character which made him what he was, 
would no longer be seen among us, and that 
we should never more be cheered by his 
sunny smile and the cordial grasp of his 
friendly hand. 

(The Sampson Line). 

Thomas Sampson was a farmer of Ver- 
sailles township, Allegheny county, Penn- 
sylvania. He married Anne Kuhn (see 
Kuhn line). Their children were: Adam 
Kuhn; Mary Ann, became the wife of Oli- 
ver Evans, as stated above; Letitia S. Fos- 
ter ; Harvey S. ; Susannah Neel ; John ; 
William; Margaret. Mrs. Sampson passed 
away November 5, 1881, or 1882. 

(The Kuhn Line). 

This family is of German origin, its name 
appearing at times incorrectly in the form 
of Coon. Adam Kuhn, born in Germany in 
1700, the progenitor of the Pittsburgh 
branch, embarked from Germany with his 
wife and a number of others, their desti- 
nation being New Amsterdam, in the prov- 
ince of New Netherlands. This was early 
in the seventeenth century. The ship was 
captured by a British privateer and taken 
to Derry, Ireland, being subsequently re- 
leased. It would appear, however, that the 
Kuhns remained in Ireland as a son, Adam, 
was born to them in that country. They 
finally reached what is now New Jersey 
about 1735. 

Adam Kuhn married (first) in Holland, 
Eve , and they became the parents 



of three sons: i. Nicholas, who after re- 
siding for a time in the Wyoming Valley, 
Pennsylvania, removed to what is now 
West Virginia, below Wheeling, where he 
was joined by his father, afterward going 
to Kentucky, where his descendants still 
reside. 2. Mansfield, who served in the 
Revolutionary army under Washington, 
and died in service, leaving no family. 3. 
Michael, mentioned below. The mother of 
these sons, after going to West Virginia, 
was killed by Indians while engaged in 
doing what so many pioneers' wives were 
accustomed to do, driving home the cows 
from pasture. Adam Kuhn married (sec- 
ond) , becoming by this union the 

father of one daughter, Mary. It is not 
known when this bold and indomitable 
adventurer ended his wanderings, but it 
must have been at an advanced age, for he 
was seventy years old when he left Western 
Pennsylvania. Just before his death he 
was visited by his son Michael to whom he 
gave the title papers to the land upon which 
Michael was living, saying that that would 
be his share of the paternal estate. Michael, 
in turn, gave these papers, for a like pur- 
pose, to his son John, who was so unfor- 
tunate as to lose them, this disaster entail- 
ing the loss of the property. Adam Kuhn 
was a man of integrity and great firmness 
of purpose. He spoke fluently German, 
French, Dutch and English, and is said to 
have travelled in almost all the countries of 
Europe, especially England and Ireland. 

(II) Michael Kuhn, son of Adam and 
Eve Kuhn, was born April 5, 1747, in New 
Jersey, and soon after his marriage accom- 
panied his father to Pennsylvania, settling 
first in Juniata county and afterward on the 
Susquehanna river, in the Wyoming settle- 
ment. Escaping from the massacre, as 
stated in the account of Adam Kuhn, they 
v/ent to Middletown and in 1783 settled in 
Allegheny county. After living for a few 
years upon a rented farm Mr. Kuhn pur- 
chased property in the same neighborhood, 
from Colonel Hugh Davidson, and there 
232 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



made his home for the remainder of his hfe. 
He married, in New Jersey, Catherine, born 
March 5, 1743, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
Archibald McCIarty, both of whom were 
born in Scotland and a short time after 
their marriage emigrated to South Carolina. 
Among their descendants was the famous 
General Sam Houston. Among the chil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn were the fol- 
lowing: Eve; Archibald; and Adam, men- 
tioned below. Michael Kuhn died January 
30, 1820; he was from early youth a pro- 
nounced Presbyterian, and possessed of 
strong traits of character. Mrs. Kuhn passed 
away July 12, 1823. Like her husband, she 
was a strict Presbyterian and both united in 
giving to their children the most careful 
training, as a result of which they became 
most exemplary members of society, four of 
the sons serving as elders in their respective 
churches. In addition to the children already 
named were the following : Samuel ; John ; 
Mary; David; and Nancy. 

(III) Adam Kuhn, son of Michael and 
Catherine (McCIarty) Kuhn, was born June 
13, 1774, and married Mary Deborah Mc- 
Junkin. The eldest of their children was a 
daughter, Anne, mentioned below. 

(IV) Anne, daughter of Adam and Mary 
Deborah (Mcjunkin) Kuhn, was born in 
1798, and became the wife of Thomas 
Sampson (see Sampson line). 

(The Stotler Line). 

Jacob Stotler (great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Rebecca Elizabeth (Stotler) Evans), who 
is supposed to have emigrated from Ger- 
many, died in Franklin county, Pennsylva- 
nia. In 1790 his widow came to Penn 
township, Allegheny county, with four sons 
and two daughters : Emanuel, mentioned 
below ; Henry ; John, Jacob ; Elizabeth, who 

married Reamer ; and Martha, who 

married Coon. 

(II) Emanuel Stotler, son of Jacob Stot- 
ler, was thirteen years old when he accom- 
panied his mother to Penn township, Alle- 
gheny county, where he passed the re- 



mainder of his life as a farmer. He mar- 
ried Elizabeth, daughter of Henry and Bar- 
bara (Hockman) Bowman, who were early 
settlers and came of German blood. The 
following children were born to Mr. and 

Mrs. Stotler: Jacob; Mary, married 

Snively ; Elizabeth, married Stoner ; 

Barbara, married Bright; Henry B.; 

David, mentioned below ; Ann, married 

Alter ; Martha, deceased ; Margaret, 

married Coon ; Emanuel ; Nancy, 

— Logan ; Eve, married 



Coon. 



married — 

Alter; and Catherine, married 

Emanuel Stotler, the father, died in 1868, 

his wife having passed away four years 

before, in her eighty-seventh year. 

(Ill) David Stotler, son of Emanuel and 
Elizabeth (Bowman) Stotler, was a farmer 
in Penn township, Allegheny county. He 
affiliated with the Republican party and 
was a member of the Presbyterian church. 
He married Eleanor, daughter of Andrew 
and Rebecca (Wauchob) Mellon, originally 
of Ireland and later of Westmoreland 
county, and sister of the late Judge Thomas 
Mellon, founder of the Mellon Bank of 
Pittsburgh, whose biography, together with 
a history of the Mellon family, appears 
elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Stot- 
ler were the parents of the following chil- 
dren: Andrew Mellon, a lawyer of Pitts- 
burgh; now deceased; Emanuel B., married 
Mary, daughter of J. C. and Mary (Dil- 
worth) Bidwell, and died in 1887; no chil- 
dren; Mrs. Stotler lives in Florida; Rebecca 
Elizabeth, married James Evans, as men- 
tioned above. 



SPEIDEL, John G., 

Mannfacturer, Inventor. 

There is no name more intimately asso- 
icated with the growth and development of 
iron manufacture in Pennsylvania, espe- 
cially of machinery and mechanical devices, 
than that of John G. Speidel, of Reading, 
Pennsylvania, whose whole life has been 
devoted to the invention and improvement 



1233 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of mechanisms of all kinds and hoisting 
contrivances in particular. Mr. Speidel was 
born in the beautiful and romantic kingdom 
of Wiirtemberg, Germany. The inhabitants 
of Wiirtemberg are of characteristic Ger- 
manic type, hardworking, industrious, 
thrifty and liberty loving, jealous of their 
rights and privileges, loyal and patriotic to 
a degree. Mr. Speidel's birth occurred De- 
cember 4, 1855, but a few years after the 
revolutionary disturbances of which his 
region was a center, and which drove so 
many of the most enterprising and gifted 
of his fellow countrymen to seek refuge in 
the United States, the composite people of 
which they leavened with a strong admix- 
ture of Germanic virtues and traits. Of 
these virtues and traits our subject is him- 
self most typical, and his successful career 
shows how highly they are valued in the 
"New World." 

The first sixteen years of his life Mr. 
Speidel passed in the "Fatherland," where 
he attended the local volkeschule for his 
education and later learned the machinist's 
trade. In very early life the qualities which 
afterwards won so great a success for him, 
began to display themselves and drew the 
regard of teachers and employers upon him. 
It is with excusable pride that he recalls the 
exhibition of the work of apprentices in the 
trades, to which he contributed work done 
by himself and for which he received a 
medal of merit from the King of Wiirtem- 
berg. It was the first but by no means the 
last prize his skill and genius were to win. 

In the year 1871, when Mr. Speidel was 
sixteen years of age, he decided to seek in 
this country the great opportunities which 
the common report of Europe declared were 
to be found here. He accordingly set sail 
for the United States, and, arriving in the 
port of New York, settled there for the 
time. He soon found employment in the 
line of his trade, but eighteen months later 
pushed on to Philadelphia, where he again 
found something to do as a machinist. He 
remained for some three years and a half 

12 



in this city, all the time gaining in knowl- 
edge and experience in American ways and 
methods and ever seeking to perfect himself 
in the work he had chosen for his life career. 
With this object still in his mind, he re- 
turned to Europe in 1876, and going to 
Switzerland, attended a first class technical 
institute at Wintherthur for three years. 
Having thus gained a high degree of pro- 
ficiency in the higher departments of his 
subject, he came once more to this country, 
and this time made his way to Philadelphia 
and later to Reading, Pennsylvania. The 
remarkable industrial growth of this town 
was already attracting attention and it was 
with one of the large concerns, the Scott 
foundry, that Mr. Speidel secured employ- 
ment. For three years he worked in the 
drawing department of this company, and 
then removed temporarily to Scranton, 
where he took a position as draughtsman 
with the Dickson Manufacturing Company, 
where he continued employed for a period 
of five years. At the end of this time he 
returned to Reading. His experience during 
these years was far from lost. Of an ex- 
tremely receptive mind he had been gaining 
most valuable experience, and it was upon 
his return to Re.ading that he first embarked 
in business for himself. This was in the 
year 1888 and the first venture was made in 
a small shop at the corner of Orange and 
Bingaman streets. The enterprise was suc- 
cessful from the start. Mr. Speidel brought 
to the conduct of his business, not only the 
greatest skill in the technical side of the 
work, but a business sense rarely equalled, 
and it was not long before his growing trade 
rendered the quarters inadequate. In 1893 
he removed to a larger shop on Cherry 
street, somewhat above Eighth, but here the 
same story was repeated and three years 
later he was forced to move again. It was 
in 1896 that Mr. Speidel removed to Eighth 
street below Chestnut, to much more spa- 
cious quarters. The great development of 
his business continued, however, and Mr. 
Speidel decided finally to erect his own fac- 

34 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tory, which he determined should be fitted 
with every latest contrivance for the most 
adequate carrying on of the work. In 
1900 the new plant was completed, consist- 
ing of a two-story brick building one hun- 
dred and thirty by ninety-five feet, equipped 
in the most modern manner down to the last 
detail, and with an extensive yard for the 
storage of iron, coal, wood and all stores 
used in the industry. In this new plant Mr. 
Speidel continues his great success, employ- 
ing thirty men and supplying a market 
which embraces the entire civilized world 
with machinery of his manufacture. His 
specialties are patent chain hoists of his own 
invention, cranes, overhead trainways, ele- 
vators, dumb waiters, special hoisting 
machinery and many other devices, upon 
all of which he holds patents, having him- 
self been their inventor. An adequate de- 
scription of these would of course be im- 
possible in a sketch of this kind, but a few 
words may be said concerning them. In 
the first place, Mr. Speidel's inventive 
genius has given to practically every ma- 
chine turned out by his plant some ingenious 
device which makes it an improvement over 
similar machines of different make. In the 
case of his "Simplex" chain hoists, for ex- 
ample, this advantage is most conspicuous. 
They are, in the first place, of the simplest 
imaginable design, a great desideratum in 
mechanisms of every kind, and they pos- 
sess the advantage, which will be readily 
appreciated by all who have used hoists, of 
very rapid action, and the power to be run 
at two speeds for full and half capacities 
respectively. What has been said of the 
hoists is equally true of all the other prod- 
ucts of his factory. His long training in the 
use of such machines, both theoretical and 
practical, has enabled him to perceive 
clearly what improvements the ordinary 
models on the market required to bring 
them up to a high point of efficiency, and 
his genius to supply their defects in his own 
devices. In addition to this he has never 
given away to the temptation to compete in 



price with inferior makes, his one object 
being to put such material into their con- 
struction and such care into their make, that 
quality alone will be subserved in the final 
result. It is these points that have given his 
machinery such a reputation not only in the 
United States but wherever machinery is 
used the world over. Their recognition is 
of the widest and the demand for them 
from all quarters is the most convincing 
tribute to their excellence. Were other 
proofs needed, the many medals and prizes 
awarded to Mr. Speidel wherever he has 
exhibited would furnish them. Among 
these was the John Scott medal, together 
with the premium of twenty dollars in gold 
presented to him as "the most deserving" 
for his improvements in portable hoists, 
"awarded by the City of Philadelphia" on 
the recommendation of the Franklin Insti- 
tute, 1891. Another significant award won 
by Mr. Speidel was at the World's Colum- 
bian Exposition held in Chicago to com- 
memorate the four hundredth anniversary 
of the discovery of America. The wording 
of the award follows in part : 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
By Act of Their Congress 
have authorized the World's Commission at the 
International Exhibition held in the City of 
Chicago, State of Illinois, in 1893, to decree a 
medal for specific merit, which is set forth below 
over the name of an individual judge, acting as 
examiner upon the findings of a board of inter- 
national judges, to J. G. Speidel, Reading, Penn- 
sylvania. Exhibit, a portable chain hoist. 

There follows a highly technical but com- 
plete description of the chain hoist of which 
something has been said above. On the 
same occasion he also received a diploma 
worded as follows : 

COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION 
Board of Lady Managers 
Of the World's Columbian Commission. 
By virtue of the authority vested in it by an act 
of Congress of the United States of America, 
confers this diploma of honorable mention upon 
John George Speidel, a certificate having been 



PA— 11 



1235 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



filed with said board stating that by his skill as 
an inventor he assisted in the production and 
perfection of the exhibit of J. G. Speidel, Penn- 
sylvania, wfhich was awarded a medal and 
diploma of the World's Columbian Exposition. 

Mr. Speidel has been phenomenally suc- 
cessful, and his success has been well de- 
served. He has won his way by dint of his 
own unaided efforts from his position as a 
youthful and inexperienced wanderer in 
foreign land, unable to speak the tongue of 
the country and without resources, to the 
position he holds to-day, wealthy, respected 
and one of the most prominent figures in 
the community he has adopted as his own. 
Many elements have gone to the making of 
this great success, most important among 
them being, perhaps, his unimpeachable in- 
tegrity, the steadfast pursuit of his objective 
through every difficulty and against every 
obstacle, his sense of justice and his frank 
and open fellowship, maintained not only 
with the friends and associates of his own 
class, but with all men, and notably with his 
employees in his great factory, a fact that 
has won him the strongest admiration and 
friendship of the whole community. 

John G. Speidel was married, April 5, 
1883, to Miss Sophie Weis, of Reading, 
Pennsylvania, a daughter of Andrew and 
Pauline (Buehrer) Weis, of that place. To 
them have been born five children, as fol- 
lows : Clara, who graduated from St. Jo- 
seph's College at Chestnut Hill, Pennsylva- 
nia, and is now the wife of W. J. Borne- 
man, vice-president of the Newark Em- 
broidery Works ; Marie, who graduated 
from St. Ann's Academy at Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania, and from the Convent School 
at Godesburg, Germany, and is now the wife 
of Mr. Frederick Keffer, of Reading; Lil- 
lian, who attended the Convent School at 
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania ; Florence ; and 
George, now a student at the University of 
Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Mr. 
Speidel has provided all his children with a 
liberal ediucation. He is a staunch Catholic, 



attending St. Paul's Church of that denomi- 
nation in Reading, and he has handed down 
his faith to his children. 



HILLIARD, Clinton, 

Progressive Business Man. 

Clinton Hilliard, one of Easton's most 
prominent and progressive business men, 
was born February 5, 1854. He was the 
son of Edward and Sabina (Sandt) Hil- 
liard, natives of Northampton county. 

Mr. Hilliard attended the public schools 
and high school of his native city, graduat- 
ing from the latter in the class of '70. He 
then entered Lafayette College and grad- 
uated as a civil engineer in 1874. He 
formed a partnership in 1880 with the late 
James R. Zearfoss, and engaged in the 
lumber business under the firm name of 
Zearfoss & Hilliard. In 1903 the business 
was incorporated under the name of the Zear- 
foss-Hilliard Lumber Company, with J. R. 
Zearfoss as president, and Mr. Hilliard as 
secretary and treasurer. In 1906, after the 
death of Mr. Zearfoss, Mr. Hilliard became 
president of the company. Under his able 
direction the business continued to prosper, 
and the company was recognized as a stable 
and progressive one in that section of the 
State. In addition to being at the head of a 
large lumber concern, Mr. Hilliard was vice- 
president of the Seitz Brewing Company, a 
director of the First National Bank and of 
the Northampton Trust Company, and sec- 
retary and treasurer of the Delaware Ice 
Company. 

That Mr. Hilliard did not live unto him- 
self can be evidenced in his service on the 
Board of Trade, his interest and support of 
various charitable organizations, and his 
keen interest and development of "Beautiful 
Eddyside," a choice location on the banks 
of the Delaware river, which Mr. Hilliard 
fitted up for public bathing, a favorite 
swimming place for Eastonians. The land 
now belongs to the Zearfoss-Hilliard Lum- 
'26 




^^^^t-fc^«^^;V /y'^--i^^^(^.-'^^''<--j=j 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ber Company, with a frontage of 1,500 feet 
along the North Delaware river road, and 
1,800 feet frontage along the river. The 
"Eddyside" soon won a place in the good 
opinions held by Eastonians, and thousands 
have enjoyed the fruits of Mr. Hilliard's 
labors in this direction. 

As a Mason, Mr. Hilliard was very prom- 
inent. He was a member of Dallas Lodge, 
No. 396, Free and Accepted Masons ; Fas- 
ten Chapter, No. 173, Royal Arch Masons; 
Pomp Council, No. 20, Royal and Select 
Masters; Commandery No. 19, Knights 
Templar ; and had the honor of being a past 
officer in each body. He was also a mem- 
ber of Lula Temple, Ancient Arabic Order, 
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Philadel- 
phia; and Grand Conclave, No. 123, Order 
of Heptasophs. He was also an active 
member of the Pennsylvania Lumberman's 
Association, and belonged to the Pomfet 
Club, Easton. He was a charter member 
of the Sigma Deutoron Chapter of the Phi 
Geamma Delta fraternity of Lafayette Col- 
lege, and an active member of Christ Luth- 
eran Church for many years. He was a 
Republican in politics, but never sought 
office. 

Mr. Hilliard married, in 1882, Miss Marie 
Louise Thieleus, daughter of Edward and 
Emma (Perrin) Thieleus, natives of L'ou- 
vain and Paris respectively. They have two 
children: i. Clinton T., born 1884, a grad- 
uate of Lerch Preparatory School, Easton, 
and of Lafayette College, class of 1904, now 
president of the Zearfoss-Hilliard Lumber 
Company, and has generally assumed his 
late father's large interests and responsibili- 
ties. 2. Marie Louise, born November, 
1896, graduated from Dana Hall. 

Mr. Hilliard died at his home in Easton, 
August II, 19 14. and is survived by his 
widow and two children. 



PARRY, William Blakey, 

Public Spirited Citizen. 

William Blakey Parry, one of the promi- 
nent business men of Langhorne, Bucks 



county, Pennsylvania, is a descendant on 
both paternal and maternal lines from fami- 
lies that have been prominent in the affairs 
of Bucks county from the founding of the 
province of Pennsylvania. 

On the paternal side he is a descendant 
of Thomas Parry, who was born in the 
county of Caernarvon, Wales, in 1680, 
whose ancestry can be traced through a 
long line back to the princes of ancient 
Britain. He was a son of Love Parry, of 
Wanfawr, sometime sheriff of Caernar- 
vonshire, and his wife Ellen, daughter of 
Hugh Wynn, of Penarth, and grandson of 
Colonel Geoffrey Parry and his wife, Mar- 
garet (Hughes) Parry, of Cefn Llanfawr. 
Thomas Parry came to Pennsylvania when 
a young man, and in the year 1715 married 
Jane Phillips, and in the same year settled 
in Moreland township, Philadelphia (now 
Montgomery county), near the present site 
of Willow Grove, where he took up large 
tracts of land, and resided until his death, 
September 30, 1748. His wife Jane sur- 
vived until September 6, 1777, dying at the 
age of eighty-two years. 

Philip Parry, son of Thomas and Jane 
Parry, was born in the "Manor of Moor- 
land," now Moreland township, January 18, 
1716-17. In the year of 1746 he purchased 
and settled on a tract of one hundred and 
seventy acres in Buckingham township, 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, part of which 
is now the summer residence of Hon. D. 
Newlin Fell, Chief Justice of the Supreme 
Court of Pennsylvania. He was one of the 
most prominent members of the Buckingham 
Monthly Meeting of Friends until his death 
in 1784. PhiHp Parry married, in 1740, 
Rachel Harker, daughter of Adam Harker, 
of Moreland, one of the most prominent 
and influential members of the Society of 
Friends in his day, a well known philan- 
thropist, and the founder of a number of 
schools for the education of youths under 
the care of Friends, among them the 
Friends School at Buckingham. 

John Parry, son of Philip and Rachel 
^Z7 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



(Harker) Parry, was born in Moreland, 
Pennsylvania, November lo, 1743, died in 
Buckingham, November 13, 1807. He mar- 
ried, April 17, 1771, Rachel Fell, daughter 
of Titus and Elizabeth (Heston) Fell, and 
granddaughter of Joseph Fell from Long- 
lands, Cumberland, England, who settled 
in Buckingham in 1707, was for many years 
a Colonial Justice and member of Provin- 
cial Assembly, by his second wife, Eliza- 
beth (Doyle) Fell, daughter of Edward 
Doyle, a native of Ireland, and his wife, 
Rebecca (Dungan) Doyle, daughter of the 
Rev. Thomas Dungan, the founder of the 
first Baptist church in Bucks county, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1688. Edward Doyle Jr., 
brother of Elizabeth (Doyle) Fell, was one 
of the first settlers on the site of Doyles- 
town, the county seat of Bucks county, and 
the town was named for his son, William 
Doyle, who establishedi the first inn there 
in 1745. Elizabeth (Heston) Fell, afore- 
mentioned, was the daughter of Zebulon 
Heston Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth (Buck- 
man) Heston, the latter named a daughter 
of William Buckman, who came from the 
parish of Billinghurst, county of Surrey, 
England, arriving in the Delaware river in 
October, 1682, in the ship "Welcome" with 
William Penn. Zebulon Heston Sr., father 
of Zebulon Heston Jr., came from Barn- 
stable, Massachusetts, to Burlington county. 
New Jersey, where he married, in 1698, 
Dorothy Hutchinson, daughter of Thomas 
and Dorothy (Storr) Hutchinson, of Hut- 
chinson Manor, the former named having 
been one of the principal proprietaries of 
the Province of West Jersey. Shortly after- 
ward Zebulon Heston removed to Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, where he was ex- 
ceedingly prominent in public affairs. 

Thomas Fell Parry, son of John and 
Rachel (Fell) Parry, was born in Buck- 
ingham, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1791. On 
arriving at manhood he engaged in mer- 
cantile business in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, and was an active business man of 
that city until 1848, when he removed to 



Langhorne, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
where he resided until his death, March 
27, 1876. He married, December 17, 1829, 
Mary Eastburn, born in Solebury town- 
ship, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, Septem- 
ber 13, 1800, died at Langhorne, June 5, 
1872, daughter of Moses and Rachel 
(Knowles) Eastburn. IMoses Eastburn, 
born 1768, died 1846, was a great-grand- 
son of Robert Eastburn, of the parish of 
Thwaite-Keighley, Yorkshire, and his wife, 
Sarah (Preston) Eastburn. who were mar- 
ried May 10, 1693, ^^^ came to Pennsyl- 
vania with their children in 1713, bring- 
ing a certificate from Brigham Friends 
Meeting, Yorkshire, which they deposited 
at Abington Meeting, from whence their 
son, Samuel Eastburn, the grandfather of 
Moses Eastburn, and his wife, Elizabeth 
(Gillingham) Eastburn, brought a certifi- 
cate to Buckingham Meeting, and settled 
in Solebury in 1729. Rachel (Knowles) 
Eastburn was a daughter of John Knowles, 
of Upper Makefield, by his wife, Mary 
(Sotcher) Knowles, daughter of Robert 
Sotcher, by his wife Mercy (Brown) Sot- 
cher, youngest daughter of George Bro\> 
who was born in Leicestershire, England, 
in 1644, and came to Pennsylvania in 1679, 
landing at New Castle, now Delaware, 
where he married his wife Mercy, who had 
accompanied him to America. They settled 
on the Delaware at the foot of Bile's Island 
in Falls township, Bucks county, obtaining 
a land grant from the court at Upland of 
which he was an officer three years before 
the arrival of William Penn in America, 
being the first English justice commissioned 
for Bucks county. He was not recommis- 
sioned by William Markham, being suc- 
ceeded, June 14, 1681, by William Biles, 
his neighbor, who had previously been sur- 
veyor and overseer of highways between 
the Falls and Poetquessing creek. Robert 
Sotcher, above mentioned, was a son of 
John and Mary (Lofty) Sotcher, Penn's 
faithful stewards at Pennsbury, whom he 
left in charge on his return to England in 
238 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



1701, after delaying his departure to see 
llicm married at Falls Meeting. John Sot- 
(her became a member of the Provincial 
Assembly in 1715 and served until 1723. 

lienry Crawford Parry, eldest son of 
Tliomas Fell and Mary (Eastburn) Parry, 
was born in the city of Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, March 23, 1834. His early edu- 
cation wsis acquired at private schools in 
that city, and on removal of the family to 
Bucks county, when he was fifteen years of 
age, he entered the seminary at Penning- 
ton, New Jersey, where he completed his 
education. At the close of his school days 
Mr. Perry engaged in farming in Middle- 
town township, which he continued until 
1876 when he engaged in the lumber and 
coal business in Langhorne, taking up his 
residence in the borough and conducting a 
large business for twenty-one years. He 
sold out the business in 1887 and lived 
retired until his death, December 22, 1913. 
Mr. Parry was always actively interested 
in public affairs. He was chief burgess of 
Langhorne borough for two terms and 
served two terms in the borough council. 
He was a director of the First National 
Bank of Newtown for a number of years. 
and on the organization of the People's 
National Bank of Langhorne he became one 
of its first board of directors and filled that 
position for eight years. In 1890 he was 
elected president of the bank, which posi- 
tion he held until his death. He was always 
interested in public improvements and was 
considered one of the solid, progressive 
business men of his locality. He was a 
member of the Society of Friends. 

Mr. Parry married, November 13, 1856, 
Susanna Gillam Blakey, daughter of Wil- 
liam Watson and Anna (Gillam) Blakey. 
William Blakey, the great-great-grand- 
father of Mrs. Parry, was an early settler 
in Falls township, and an elder of Falls 
Monthly Meeting of Friends from 1714 to 
1726; he died in 1737, and his wife Mar- 
garet died May 7, 1724. William Blakey 
Jr. was a resident in Penns Manor for 

I 



many years ; he married, at Falls Meeting, 
September 25, 1733, Jael Bickerdike, and 
their son, Joshua Blakey, was the father of 
William Blakey, born November 29, 1759, 
who married, October 17, 1792, Elizabeth 
Watson, born October 5, 1766, died June i, 
1845, daughter of Benjamin and Phebe 
Watson, of Falls, granddaughter of Mark 
and Ann (Sotcher) Watson, of Falls, the 
latter named a daughter of John and Mary 
(Lofty) Sotcher, afore mentioned, and 
great-granddaughter of Thomas Watson, 
of "Strawberry How," Falls township, and 
his wife, Rebecca (Mark) Watson, who 
came from the little town of Strawberry 
How, in the Cumbrian mountains, near the 
mouth of the river Cocker in the northern 
part of Cumberland county, England. He 
settled in Falls township, where his farm 
is still known as "Strawberry How" after 
the place of his birth in England, and he 
and his wife lie buried in a little walled 
graveyard on the farm, where also rest 
the remains of other members of the family. 
Thomas Watson was a justice of Bucks 
county, 1715-26, and a member of Assem- 
bly for practically the same period; and his 
son, Mark Watson, was a justice, 1741-50, 
and a member of Assembly, 1739-46. Mark 
Watson married Ann Sotcher, April 23, 
1729, and their son, Benjamin Watson, 
above named, was born November 14, 1730. 
Anna (Gillam) Blakey, mother of Mrs. 
Parry, was born August 12, 1812, was a 
daughter of William Gillam, of Middle- 
town township, born October i, 1786, died 
December 31, 1842, and his wife, Susanna 
(Woolston) Gillam, born November 18, 
17S7, died August 31, i860, daughter of 
Jonathan and Elizabeth (Harvey) Wool- 
ston. William Gillam was a son of Simon 
and Anna (Paxson) Gillam, of Middle- 
town; grandson of Lucas and Ann (Dun- 
gan) Gillam; great-grandson of Lucas and 
Lydia Gillam, early settlers in Middle- 
town township, where Lucas (2) Gillam 
was born in 1715. Ann (Dungan) Gillam 
was the only child of Jeremiah Dungan, 

239 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and a great-granddaughter of the Rev. 
Thomas Dungan, who came from Rhode 
Island in 1684 and founded the first Bap- 
tist church in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. 
Jonathan Woolston, above named, born 
May 30, 1744, died October 22, 1828, was 
a son of Samuel Woolston, born August 3, 
1720, and his wife, Hannah (Palmer) 
Woolston, born February 8, 1723-24, and 
grandson of Jonathan Woolston, who came 
from New Jersey and married, June 19, 
1707, Sarah Pearson. He was one of the 
first settlers on the site of Langhorne, and 
held the office of coroner of Bucks county, 
1726-30. Hannah (Palmer) Woolston was 
born in Makefield township, daughter of 
Jonathan and Sarah Palmer, and grand- 
daughter of John and Christian Palmer, 
who came from Clieveland, Yorkshire, ar- 
riving in the Delaware, November 10, 1683, 
in the ship "Providence" of Scarborough, 
Robert Hopper, master. She married, 
August 27, 1742, Samuel Woolston. 

William Blakey Parry, only child of 
Henry Crawford and Susanna Gillam 
(Blakey) Parry, was born in Middletown 
township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, May 
18, 1858. He was educated principally in 
Friends' schools in Middletown and Phila- 
delphia, concluding with a course in a Phil- 
adelphia business college. He was for some 
years associated with his father in the coal 
and lumber business at Langhorne, after 
which he took up fire insurance and has 
established a very large business in that line. 
He is one of the well-known, public-spir- 
ited men of his section and is interested in 
all that pertains to the best interests of his 
town and county. The building now owned 
by Mr. Parry was built by the celebrated 
Gilbert Hicks in 1763 ; the bricks used were 
imported from England, and the building 
was used as a hospital during the Revolu- 
tionary War. It was purchased by Mr. 
Parry and remodeled in 1902 as a store and 
office building ; it is located on the corner 
of Maple and Bellevue avenues. Mr. Parry 
enjoys the distinction of being the first man 



to construct a telephone line in Bucks 
county and to use the same, and on April 
15, 1896, he organized the company and ran 
the first trolley car in Bucks county, and his 
daughter, now Mrs. J. Augustus Cadwal- 
lader, was the first lady passenger to ride in 
the cars. Mr. Parry is a director of the 
Bristol Trust Company. 

Mr. Parry married, September 27, 1883, 
Elizabeth Moon, born July 2"], 1857, daugh- 
ter of William L. and Elizabeth Y. (Wil- 
liamson) Moon, and they are the parents of 
two children : Laura, wife of J. Augustus 
Cadwallader, of Yardley, Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, and Henry Crawford, born 
November 2, 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Cadwal- 
lader have one son, T. Sidney 2nd, born 
November 19, 1914. 

William L. Moon, born August 25, 1810, 
was a son of Daniel Moon, born July 5, 
1789, died August 21, 1869, and his wife, 
Mercy (Lovet) Moon, born July 17, 1789, 
died December 23, 1840; grandson of Wil- 
liam Moon, born February 5, 1765, died 
May 30, 1827; great-grandson of William 
Moon, born May 6, 1727, died October 4, 
1795, and his wife, Elizabeth (Nutt) Moon; 
great-great-grandson of Roger Moon, born 
16S0, died February 16, 1759, and his wife, 
Ann (Nutt) Moon; great-great-great- 
grandson of James Moon, who came from 
Bristol, England, with his wife, Joan (Bur- 
gess) Moon, in 1687, and settled in Falls 
township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
where the Moon family has been promi- 
nently identified with public afTairs to the 
present day. Elizabeth Y. (Williamson) 
Moon was born July i, 1819, died July 26, 
1891. daughter of Mahlon Williamson, born 
March 15, 1777, died July 8, 1848, and his 
wife, Charity (Vansant) Williamson; 
granddaughter of Peter Williamson, born 
January 17, 1735, died June 11, 1823, and 
his wife, Sarah (Sotcher) Williamson, 
daughter of Robert and Mercy (Brown) 
Sotcher, before mentioned ; great-grand- 
daughter of William Williamson, born 
1676, died 1 721, and his wife, Elizabeth 
240 




/K^^^^f^^^^^^^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Williamson, daughter of Jan Claeson, 
paerde couper, one of the early Swedish 
settlers on the Neshaminy before the arrival 
of William Pcnn ; great-great-granddaugh- 
ter of Duncan Williamson ("Dunk Wil- 
liams") also an early settler near the mouth 
of the Neshaminy, for whom Dunk's Ferry 
is named, and his wife, Wallery William- 
son, also of Swedish ancestry. 



BISSELL, John, 

Manufacturer, Financier. 

The Bissell family of Pennsylvania and 
Connecticut had its original home in Nor- 
mandy, France, where the name was spelled 
Bysselle. The progenitor of the American 
branch of the race embraced the doctrines 
of the Reformed Religion and at the time 
of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in 
1572, took refuge in England, settling in 
Somersetshire, where his descendants fig- 
ured prominently in local affairs and in sev- 
eral instances attained distinction in various 
walks of life. The family is a well known 
one in England, and has one coat-of-arms, 
which is of a religious rather than a war- 
like character. Burke describes it as : Arms : 
Gu. on a bend, or. ; three escallops, sa. 
Crest: A demi-eagle with wings displayed, 
sa. ; charged on neck with an escallop shell, 
or. 

(I) John Bissell, son of Thomas Bissell, 
the Huguenot ancestor (who died Septem- 
ber, 161 1 ) and his wife Margaret, was born 
in 1 591 in Huntington, Somersetshire, and 
in 1639-40 emigrated with his wife, who 
died on May 21, 1641, and three children to 
Plymouth or Dorchester, Massachusetts. In 
1640 he removed to Windsor, Connecticut, 
becoming the first settler on the east bank 
of the Connecticut river. He had charge 
of the Scantic ferry and was one of the 
leading men of the community. His death 
occurred at Windsor, October 3, 1677. 

(II) Thomas (2) Bissell, son of John 
Bissell, was born in England in 1639, and 
married at Windsor, Connecticut, October 

I 



11, 1655, Abigail, daughter of Isaac John 
Moore, of Windsor. It was in that town 
that Thomas Bissell died at the home of his 
son, July 31, 1689. 

(III) John (2) Bissell, son of Thomas 
(2) and Abigail (Moore) Bissell, was born 
January, 1660, at Windsor, and removed 
to Lebanon, Connecticut, where he became 
a man of prominence and repute. He mar- 
ried, November 12, 1689, Sarah (White) 
Loomis, born October, 1662, daughter of 
Lieutenant Daniel White, of Hatfield, Con- 
necticut, and widow of Thomas Loomis. 
He died at Lebanon, 1723-24. 

(IV) Benjamin Bissell, son of John (2) 
and Sarah (White-Loomis) Bissell, was 
born March 22, 1701, at Windsor, married, 
July 17, 1728, Mary Wattles, and died 
March 8, 1767, at Lebanon. 

(V) Joseph Bissell, eldest son of Benja- 
min and Mary (Wattles) Bissell, was born 
in Lebanon, July 2, 1731, and died in 1814, 
at Youngstown, Ohio. He married, March 

12, 1753, Hannah Partridge, born July 19, 
1730, died 1817. 

(VI) John Partridge Bissell, eldest son 
of Joseph and Hannah (Partridge) Bissell, 
was born March 9, 1757, and became a civil 
engineer and surveyor of remarkable ability, 
laying out the Western Reserve. He mar- 
ried, June 25, 1790, Temperance Stark, 
who was born October 25, 1767, daughter 
of General Nathan and Ann (Fitch) Stark. 
Mr. Bissell died March 16, 181 1, in Youngs- 
town, Ohio, and his widow survived him 
more than forty years, passing away April 
^ 1852. 

(VI I) John (3) Bissell, second son of 
John Partridge and Temperance (Stark) 
Bissell, was born January 8, 1797, at Leba- 
non, New London county, Connecticut, and 
was taken April, 1800, with his brothers 
and sisters, by his parents to the Connecti- 
cut Reserve of Ohio. In 1812 he came to 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a clerk to Wil- 
liam Semple, where he remained for two 
years. Then he formed' a partnership, in 
1814. with Robert Cochran in the manu- 

241 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



facture of sheet iron. In 1818 the firm 
sent a flat boat of the iron to New Orleans, 
John Bissell going with it. Having sold 
the goods for cash he bought a horse and 
joining a party of horsemen travelled 
through the Southern States back to Pitts- 
burgh. Shortly after his return he again 
joined with and became a partner of Wil- 
liam Semple. On October 24, 1835, in 
partnership with William Morrison and 
Edward W. Stevens, he bought the Juniata 
Rolling Mill in Allegheny from Silvannus 
Lathrop. Later the firm changed, William 
M. Semple taking an interest, the firm being 
Bissell & Semple. In January. 1845, Wil- 
liam Semple Bissell and John P. Bissell, 
sons of John Bissell, purchased the one- 
ninth interest of Edward W. Stevens, and 
in January, 1846, they purchased William 
Morrison's one-ninth interest. The rolling 
mill was carried on very successfully until 
the year 1855, when, owing to the slowness 
of their Southern customers in making 
their payments, and forseeing the struggle 
and worry to come, the business was closed 
up. The machinery was sold and removed 
to New Castle, Pennsylvania. 

John Bissell was a director of the old 
Bank of Pittsburgh, the Mechanics Na- 
tional Bank, the Exchange National Bank ; 
was member of the building committee of 
the Dixmont Hospital ; director of Western 
Pennsylvania Hospital, and a trustee of the 
Third Presbyterian Church. He was a 
very active man all his life, and conducted 
a large branch of his business in St. Louis. 
Possessing ability as a draughtsman, as 
recreation he would often draw plans for 
houses and warehouses, which he would 
then build and sell. In politics he was a 
Whig and later a Republican. He was active 
in all that tended to develop Pittsburgh. 

Mr. Bissell married, in 1820, Nancy, 
daughter of William and Anna (Bonner) 
Semple, of Pittsburgh, and their children 
were: William Semple, died May 27, 1885; 
John Partridge, died September 2, 1858; 
Annie M., died August 13, 1892, unmar- 



ried ; Thomas and Josiah, died young ; 
Charles Semple, died March 5, 1895, in 
Cleveland, Ohio ; Frank Semple, whose 
sketch follows ; Ellen C, married Dr. Alex- 
ander M. Speer, of Pittsburgh; Mary W., 
married Irwin B. Laughlin, of Pittsburgh, 
both d'cceased. 

The latter part of Mr. Bissell's life he 
spent at his country seat, "Maplewood," 
and it was there his death occurred, July 
15, 1S65. At the time of his death the 
Pittsburgh "Evening Chronicle" said : 

With pain we announce the death of this esti- 
mable gentlemen and good citizen, who departed 
this life this morning at his residence in Col- 
lins township, at the ripe old age of three-score 
years and nine. Mr. Bissell came to Pittsburgh 
at an early age, and for many years had been 
engaged in active business. Of him it may be 
most truly said, mark the perfect man and 
behold the upright. During every year of busi- 
ness life his name was synonymous with all 
that was truthful and honorable. Of his rela- 
tions as husband and father, we will not make 
reference. The void caused by his death in 
the hearts of his kindred will tell how truly, 
faithfully and lovingly all his duties were per- 
formed. For many years he has been an active 
member of the Boards managing and directing 
our most successful benevolent and other organ- 
izations, in all of which his wisdom, prudence 
and energy were appreciated by his associates. 

Editorially, the "Pittsburgh Gazette" 
said, in part : 

Very few, indeed, of those who will read this 
notice have been longer or more closely identi- 
fied with this city, or enjoy more generally the 
esteem of their fellow citizens than did the sub- 
ject of it, who exchanged a good for a better life 
on Saturday morning, July 15. For upwards of 
half a century Mr. Bissell had resided in Pitts- 
burgh, having come here in 1812. * * * From 
early life Mr. Bissell maintained the character 
and position of a humble, consistent Christian, 
one who, in every relation of life, was known by 
his fruits. Having a fine mind, he was ever un- 
obtrusively useful; but had he been less modest, 
and had he possessed more self-confidence, he 
might have been still more useful and distin- 
guished. But his calm and bright and beautiful 
life, which was extended to as great a length as 
a good man ought to desire, has closed, leaving 
a name around which grateful and affectionate 
memories will long cluster, and an example 
which it is safe to follow. 
242 




^i^* 



^ 




?^J'^/H//.a''zs ^C^fl-^ 




e'u^^^.^.,^^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



BISSELL, Frank Semple, 

Manufacturer, Financier. 

The citizenship of Pittsburgh has been 
recruited from many sections of the Union 
and from none more notably than from 
New England, which has contributed to the 
upbuilding of the Iron City much of the 
invincible tenacity of purpose that formed 
the cornerstone of the colonies of Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut. Prominent among 
those descendants of the Puritans who, dur- 
ing the latter half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, helped to make the history of Pitts- 
burgh, was Frank Semple Bissell, long and 
widely known as proprietor of the famous 
Eagle Foundry and an authority in the 
realm of iron manufacture. Mr. Bissell, 
who, some years ago, withdrew from the 
activities of the business arena, is closely 
and influentially identified with the philan- 
thropic, social and religious life of his home 
city. A full account of the genealogy of 
the Bissell family appears in biography of 
Mr. Bissell's father, the late John Bissell, 
which, with his portrait, precedes this in 
the work. 

Frank Semple, son of John (4) and 
Nancy (Semple) Bissell, was born Janu- 
ary 28, 1833, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
In 1854 he graduated at Williams College. 
Two years later, in association with his 
brother, Charles Semple Bissell, he engaged 
in the manufacture of stoves, the partners 
being successors to the firm of Paine, Lee 
& Company. As proprietor of the Eagle 
Foundry Mr. Bissell achieved a wide repu- 
tation as an iron manufacturer. The estab- 
lishment, one of the first of its kind in the 
city, prospered greatly under his capable 
management, enlarging the scope of its 
transactions and strengthening its already 
assured position. Some years ago Mr. Bis- 
sell retired from business. 

Since his withdrawal from active partici- 
pation in business afl^airs Mr. Bissell has 
dievoted much of his time and attention to 
the care of his extensive private interests. 
As a native Pittsburgher he has always tak- 
en a deep interest in the development of 



his city, never refusing aid and support to 
any movement which, in his judgment, is 
calculated to promote that end. His poli- 
tical affiliations are with the Republicans. 
He is and has been for forty-four succes- 
sive years a director of the Exchange Na- 
tional Bank, and belongs to the executive 
committee of Dixmont Hospital and the ad- 
visory board of the Industrial Home for 
Crippled Children. He was one of the 
original incorporators of the Western Penn- 
sylvania Exposition Society, of Pittsburgh, 
of which he is a life member. He is widely 
but unostentatiously identified with the char- 
itable work and institutions of the city, the 
Church Club of Pittsburgh and the Civic 
Club of Allegheny county. He is one of 
the senior wardens of St. Andrew's Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church. He is one of the 
directors of the Allegheny Cemetery. 

The personality of Mr. Bissell is that of 
a man quick and decisive in character, but 
always considerate of others. Fine-look- 
ing, courteous and dignified, he is a kindly 
gentleman and a courageous man whose en- 
tire record has been in harmony with the 
history of an ancestry honorable and dis- 
tinguished. 

Mr. Bissell married (first) 1856, Martha 
H., daughter of Dr. Henry Miller, of Pitts- 
burgh, and they became the parents of one 
son, Henry Miller Bissell. Mrs. Bissell 
died, and Mr. Bissell married (second) 1866, 
Anna M., daughter of George Whitten and 
Mary (Beard) Jackson, and sister of the 
late John B. Jackson. Biographies and 
portraits of Mrs. Bissell's father and 
brother appear elsewhere in this work. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bissell have two sons: George 
W. Jackson and John Bonner Bissell. 
Henry Miller Bissell, the eldest of Mr. Bis- 
sell's three sons, was born April 25, 1857, 
in Pittsburgh, graduated, in 1875, ^^ the 
Pennsylvania Military Academy, and sub- 
sequently went into business with his 
father; he married, June 7, 1888, Bessie 
Gray, daughter of Charles Taylor, and they 
were the parents of one child, Anna Paul! 
Bissell. Mr. Bissell died June 5, 1893. 



1243 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



George W. Jackson Bissell was born May WALKER, William Harrison, 



1 8, 1867; received his education in private 
schools of Pittsburgh, and became president 
of the Pittsburgh Stove and Range Com- 
pany; he married, May 23, 1898, Katherine 
Ameha Ewing, daughter of the late John 
Thomas Hogg, of New Haven, Pennsyl- 
vania, and they have two children : John 
Jackson Bissell, born June 30, 1903, and 
Frank Semple II., born February 22, 1913. 
While business ability and a talent for 
affairs have been for generations hereditary 
in the Bissell family, these characteristics 
have been combined with liberal and cul- 
tured tastes, and these latter traits have 
been specially exemplified in Mr. Bissell's 
third and youngest son, John Bonner Bis- 
sell, who is a member of the Academy of 
Science and Art. Mrs. Frank Semple Bis- 
sell, who is a thinking woman, possessed of 
much individuality and distinction, is a 
member of the Twentieth Century Club of 
Pittsburgh and the Civic Club of Allegheny 
county, also holding the office of vice-presi- 
dent of the Industrial Home for Crippled 
Children and serving on its board of man- 
agers ; she is also president of the Episcopal 
Church Home. Mrs. Bissell is withal an 
accomplished homemaker and both she and 
her husband are possessed of pronounced 
domestic tastes and affections, their happiest 
hours being always those passed at their 
own fireside. 

A true scion of New England stock and 
at the same time a typical Pittsburgher — 
that is what Frank Semple Bissell has in- 
variably proved himself to be. Of inex- 
haustible energy, untiring industry and in- 
vincible determination and, withal, utterly 
incapable of self-laudation, he has always 
been too busy to talk about what he was 
doing. Nor has it been necessary that he 
should. His work has gone to the making 
of his city and is incorporated not in her 
industries alone, but in all the other ele- 
ments essential to the true and permanent 
life of a municipality. 



Prominent La'wyer. 

W. Harrison Walker represents one of 
the best old Dutch families of Central Penn- 
sylvania, and reflects credit upon a credit- 
able ancestry. His grandfather, Daniel 
Walker, was a farmer in Miles township, 
Centre county. Pennsylvania, whose wife 
was Hannah (Erhart) Walker. Samuel 
Erhart Walker, a son, was born in Miles 
township, November 5, 1832, and was mar- 
ried to Amanda Elizabeth Brungard, daugh- 
ter of George and Elizabeth Wohlford 
Brungard, of Lamar township, Clinton 
county, Pennsylvania, and they immediately 
thereafter took up their residence on a farm 
in the east end of Nittany Valley, about 
i860, where they continued to reside until 
after the death of Mrs. Walker, July 6, 
1886. Mr. Walker then moved to Salona, 
in that township, where he continued to 
live until his death, October 9, 1912. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Walker were born the 
following named children, viz; i. Margaret 
Jane, born October 28, 1861, died May 11, 
1900 ; she was married to George B. McC. 
Stover, of Porter township, Clinton county, 
Pennsylvania, and the husband and follow- 
ing children survive : Meriam, Ruth, Esther 
and Glenn, all of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. 
2. Chestie A., born December 9, 1863, died 
December 30, 1863. 3. George Daniel, 
born November 9, 1864; resides at Lock 
Haven, Pennsylvania. 4. John Clement, 
born October 18, 1866; resides at Salona, 
Pennsylvania. 5. Charles Edward, born 
April 3, 1869; resides at Lock Haven, 
Pennsylvania. 6. William Harrison, born 
August 30, 1874. 

William Harrison Walker was born at 
the homestead premises in Lamar township, 
where he grew to manhood. His early edu- 
cation was received in the country schools 
of that township ; later he attended the 
Central State Normal School, at Lock 
Haven, Pennsylvania, and in 1891 and 1892 
v/as a student at the Missionary Institute, 



1244 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



now the Susquehanna University, at SeHns- 
grove, Pennsylvania. During the summer 
of 1894 he began the study of law in the 
offices of T. M. Stevenson, Esq., Lock 
Haven, Pennsylvania, and in the fall of that 
year entered the Dickinson Law School, 
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and graduated there- 
from June 8, 1896, receiving the degree of 
Bachelor of Laws. While at Carlisle he reg- 
istered as a law student in the office of Hon. 
W. F. Sadler now President Judge of the 
courts of Cumberland county. 

On June 9, 1896, Mr. Walker was admit- 
ted to the practice of the law in the several 
courts of Cumberland county and on July 
20, 1896, was admitted to the bar of Centre 
county. Pie located permanently in Belle- 
fonte, Pennsylvania, on August i, of that 
same year, since which time he has con- 
tinuously and successfully been engaged in 
the general practice of the legal profession. 
During the first eight years of his mem- 
bership at the bar he was the junior mem- 
ber of the law firm of Fortney & Walker, 
David F. Fortney, Esq., being the senior 
member of the firm. In November, 1904, 
the partnership was dissolved and Mr. 
Walker from that time has been practicing 
his profession independently. He has been 
admitted to the Supreme Court of Pennsyl- 
vania; also to the Circuit and District 
Courts of the United States. He is a mem- 
ber of the Pennsylvania State Bar Asso- 
ciation, takes an active interest therein, and 
has been serving for several years on im- 
portant committees of that association. He 
is also identified with many of the leading 
Commercial Law Associations. 

He has always taken an active interest 
in the public afifairs of his community. 
From March, 1903, to March, 1906, he was 
burgess of Bellefonte. In the campaign of 
1908 he was the Democratic nominee for 
Congress in the Twenty-first Congressional 
District, comprising the counties of Centre, 
Clearfield, McKean and Cameron, and al- 
though the district that year gave a Republi- 
can majority of over 8,000 for the national 

I 



ticket the personal popularity and aggress- 
iveness of this young man overcame a large 
portion of this and he was defeated by only 
a little over 2,500 votes. This high compli- 
ment to his personal worth is well deserved 
and bespeaks the high esteem in which he 
is held by the people of his county and dis- 
trict. 

Mr. Walker is active in fraternal work 
and is identified with a large number of 
social and fraternal organizations. He was 
master of Bellefonte Lodge No. 268, Free 
and Accepted Masons, in 1905, and in 1906 
was its representative to the Grand Lodge 
of Pennsylvania; a member of Bellefonte 
Chapter, No. 241, Royal Arch Masons; 
was eminent commander of Constans Com- 
mandery. No. ^t„ Knights Templar, Belle- 
fonte, Pennsylvania, in 1902, and repre- 
sentative of that Commandery in 1903 to 
the Grand Commandery of the State ; a 
member of Mountain Council, No. 9, Al- 
toona, Pennsylvania; also of Williamsport 
Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite 
Masons, Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He 
became a member of Irem Temple, Ancient 
Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, 
at Wilkes-Barre, in May, 1902, and when the 
Imperial Council granted a charter to Jaffa 
Temple, Altoona, Pennsylvania, he became 
a charter member thereof in October, 1903. 
In 191 1 Mr. Walker was elected one of 
four representatives to the Imperial Coun- 
cil which met that year at Rochester, New 
York. He is a member of the Delta Chi 
Legal fraternity, and was initiated into 
Dickinson Chapter while a student at the 
Law School in 1905. His interest therein 
has always been keen, and he has been 
deeply exercised about the welfare and 
progress of his fraternity. In 1908, at Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, he received the great honor 
and distinction of being unanimously elected 
chairman of the International Convention 
of his fraternity. Possessing a quiet and 
pleasing personality, a keen and analytic 
mind, combined with aggressiveness and 
ability, and being a constant worker has 

245 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



given him a leading position at the bar of 
Centre county. 

On September 25, 1901, he was married 
(first) to Caroline E., daughter of Alvah 
A. and Clara Hoffman, of Pleasantville, 
Pennsylvania. Mrs. Walker was born June 
13, 1875, and died September 15, 1907. He 
married (second) Charlotte Robb, daughter 
of Henry and Alice A. Robb, of Bellefonte, 
Pennsylvania, August 30, 1912. Mr. and 
Mrs. Walker, with their daughter, Mary 
Louise, born May 6, 1914, live on East 
Linn street, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. 



KEYSER, Naaman Henry, 

Dentist, Public Official. 

Membership in one of the oldest Dutch 
families in Pennsylvania, founded in Ger- 
mantown by Dirck Keyser in 1688, a line 
closely connected with many of the most 
noted of the early settlers in Penn's terri- 
tory from Holland, belongs to Naaman 
Henry Keyser, of Germantown, Philadel- 
phia. German ancestry is also his, the dates 
of the forbears of his line tracing far back 
into the history of both Holland and Ger- 
many. 

Dirck Keyser came from Amsterdam, 
Holland ; he was a direct descendant from 
Leonard Keyser, who was burned at the 
stake at Scharding, Bavaria, in 1527. Naa- 
man Henry Keyser's grandmother on his 
brother's side, was Isabella Provest, a de- 
scendant from Guilhelmus Prevost, who 
escaped the massacre of St. Bartholomew 
which occurred August 24, 1572, and settled 
in Holland where the name took the Dutch 
spelling Provoost. English and American 
descendants prefer Provost and Provest. 

Naaman Henry Keyser is a son of Alex- 
ander P. Keyser, born November 7, 1839. 
He passed his active life in Germantown 
and became prominent in public affairs, at 
the time of his death being crier in the 
Court of Common Pleas and a member of 
the Poor Board of Germantown, holding 
the oflfice of secretary of that board. He 



was a Republican in political action. Alex- 
ander P. Keyser married, November 7, 
1866, Emma Rosena, born February 27. 
1844, daughter of George John and Salome 
(Janney) Wolf. George John Wolf was a 
son of John George Wolf, who emigrateei to 
America from Wittemberg, Prussia, Ger- 
many, early in the eighteenth century. In 
the homeland his father's lands adjoined 
those formerly owned by Martin Luther. 
John George Wolf came to this country to 
avoid conscription, settling in Nockamixon 
township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and 
there became a farmer. He married and 
had children : Katherine, George John, of 
whom further, John, William, Samuel, 
Dorothy. 

George John Wolf, son of John George 
Wolf, was born in Wittemberg, Prussia, 
Germany, and when nine years of age ac- 
companied his parents to America. He 
learned the carpenter's trade and became 
a contractor and builder, erecting many 
houses in the vicinity of Cressonville and 
Germantown, Pennsylvania. He married, 
April 5, 1832, Salome, daughter of Jacob 
and Anna Maria (Schaub) Janney, her 
father a native of Basel, Switzerland, her 
mother born in Baden, Germany. Jacob 
Janney's passport for the United States, 
dated April 10, 1805, was signed by the 
President of the Swiss Council, and his 
certificate from the Reform church bears 
the date May 12, of the same year. The 
vessel, sailing from Amsterdam, on which 
he engaged passage, was wrecked, and he 
lost all of his worldly possessions, includ- 
ing a silk weaving machine, which he had 
brought from his native land. Because of 
this misfortune he and his wife were obliged 
to come as Redemptioners and were obliged 
to contract with William Bonnell for four 
years' service, he paying their indebtedness 
for passage. Children of George John and 
Salome (Janney) Wolf: Elizabeth; Kather- 
ine, died young; George, William, Hannah, 
Emma Rosena, of previous mention, mar- 
ried Alexander P. Keyser; Charles H., 



1246 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Mary Elizabeth, Martha W. Children of 
Alexander P. and Emma Rosena (Wolf) 
Keyser : Naaman Henry, of whom further ; 
Isabella Provest, Barton Mattis, Francis 
A. Provest. 

Naaman Henry Keyser, son of Alex- 
ander P. and Emma Rosena (Wolf) Key- 
ser, was born at Germantown, Pennsyl- 
vania, August lo, 1S67. After graduation 
from Germantown grammar school in 1883, 
he became an apprentice to a mechanical 
dentist, he afterward became a student in 
the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surg- 
ery. Pie received the degree of Doctor of 
Dental Surgery from that institution in 
1889, and since that time has practiced his 
profession with excellent success in the 
place of his birth. His training for his 
calling was of a most thorough and prac- 
tical nature, and the results that he has 
achieved therein are ample evidence of his 
skill in his profession. He is popular, with 
an extensive practice, and gives to it his 
entire time. Dr. Keyser is a Republican 
in political belief, frequently acting inde- 
pendently at the polls, without regard to 
party. He is a trustee of the Concord 
School House, a director of the Site and 
Relic Society, and a member of the execu- 
tive committee of the Pennsylvania Ger- 
man Society. His church is the Methodist 
Episcopal, and he fraternizes with Mitchell 
Lodge, No. 296, Free and Accepted 
Masons; Washington Council, No. i, Jun- 
ior Order of United American Mechanics ; 
Washington Camp, No. 345, Patriotic 
Order Sons of America ; and Germantown 
Assembly, No. 36, Artisan's Order of 
Mutual Protection. 

Mr. Keyser married, in Germantown, 
Pennsylvania, January 8, 1891, Emma Re- 
becca, born in Providence township, Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, daughter of 
George Hull and Franica (Koch) Gessle- 
man, her parents of Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- 
many. Children of Naaman Henry and 
Emma Rebecca (Gessleman) Keyser: Clar- 
ence Naaman, born October 10, 1892, a 

I 



graduate of Germantown Grammar School, 
class of 1907, Northeast Manual Training 
High School, class of 1910, and of Penn- 
sylvania State College, class of 1914, with 
the degree of Bachelor of Horticultural 
Science ; Pierson Dirck, born September 
16, 1898. 



WHITAKER, Thomas Drake, 

Progressive Business Man. 

Thomas Drake Whitaker, one of the most 
alert, enterprising and progressive young 
business men in Eastern Pennsylvania, was 
born January 13, i860, at "Cedar Grove," 
near Philadelphia, which has been the home- 
stead of the Whitaker family for a number 
of generations. He was the thirteenth 
child of William and Ann (Lord) Whit- 
aker. Robert Whitaker and Mrs. David 
Campbell Nimlet, the only surviving chil- 
dren of this large group, are still residents 
of Cedar Grove. 

Mr. Whitaker received his early educa- 
tion at the Delancy School, Philadelphia, 
after which he went to the University of 
Pennsylvania, and was graduated from that 
institution in the class of 1883 with the 
degree of Mechanical Engineer, after hav- 
ing paid particular attention to chemistry 
and electricity. His first business asso- 
ciation was with his brothers in the firm 
of William Whitaker & Sons, which had 
been established by his father, and they 
were engaged in the manufacture of cot- 
ton and woolen goods, carpets, rugs, etc. 
Their factories were located at Cedar Grove 
and Frankford, near Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania. While this line of industry gave 
him sufficient employment, both for mind 
and body, it was not the kind that appealed 
to his mind, which was of a more inventive 
and mechanical turn, as even in his boy- 
hood, while yet in his "teens," he had experi- 
mented in the building of flying machines, 
the models he created embodying excellent 
ideas, and being far in advance of the period 
in which he created them. 



247 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



While driving through a section of the 
State of New Jersey, in 1893, Mr. Whit- 
aker was impressed with the character of 
the clay formations which he noticed in 
Warren county, and foresaw the possibili- 
ties of the manufacture of cement. He 
erected a plant for this purpose in the sec- 
tion he had selected, experimented at his 
own expense, and it was but a short time 
before he had demonstrated the practical 
worth of his ideas. He then succeeded in 
interesting his father-in-law and others in 
the project he had in his mind, and the re- 
sult was the organization of the Whitaker 
Cement Company, now known as the Alpha 
Portland Cement Company, of Alpha, New 
Jersey, in 1893. This was the first Port- 
land Cement Company built in the State of 
New Jersey, and the second in the United 
States to manufacture Portland Cement by 
Rotary Kiln Method. Credit must be given 
Mr. Whitaker as being one of the pioneers 
in the cement industry in the Lehigh Valley. 
He had formed large and well-developed 
plans for the further exploiting of the 
cement industry in the state of New Jersey, 
but his untimely death cut short many of 
these ideas. He it was who interested the 
most prominent men in the state in these 
plans, among them being numbered such 
names as Colonel Harry C. Trexler, George 
Ormrod, Charles A. Matcham, and E. M. 
Young, who organized the Lehigh Port- 
land Cement Company of Allentown, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1898, now one of the largest 
cement manufacturing concerns in the 
country. 

Thomas D. Whitaker was a member of 
the Corinthian Yacht Club, and Franklin 
Institute of Philadelphia, and member of 
the Engineers Club of Philadelphia; also 
of the Manheim Cricket Club of German- 
town, Philadelphia; was also president of 
the Philadelphia & Bustleton Railroad, a 
branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad Sys- 
tem, and member of the American Institute 
of Mining Engineers of New York City. 
Mr. Whitaker was a man of retiring dis- 



position, at all times a student, yet full of 
vim and ardor in the developments of his 
business ideas. He inherited from his for- 
bears a keen interest in church matters, and 
was a member of the Old Oxford Church, 
near Philadelphia, where the Whitakers 
have maintained a family pew for five gen- 
erations. 

Mr. Whitaker married Catherine, the 
second daughter of George Ormrod, and 
they became the parents of one son, 
Francis, born March 14, 1885, who was 
educated at the Delancy School, Philadel- 
phia, and the Hill School at Pottstown, 
Pennsylvania. He is a member of the fol- 
lowing organizations : Union League Club, 
of Philadelphia ; Lehigh Valley Country 
Club, of Allentown ; Livingston Club, of 
Allentown ; Bethlehem Club, of Bethlehem ; 
Northampton Country Club of Easton ; 
Hill's School Alumni Association, of Potts- 
town, Pennsylvania ; Greenleaf Lodge, 
Free and Accepted Masons, and is a Knight 
Templar; also a member of the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks, and a vestry- 
man of Grace Episcopal Church, of Allen- 
town, Pennsylvania. 

Thomas Drake Whitaker. while on a 
hunting trip in the Pocono Alountains, in 
November, 1895, contracted a severe cold 
which resulted in his death, at Cedar Grove, 
near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 7, 
1896. He was buried in the Oxford Church 
Cemetery, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
Mr. Whitaker was a true and loyal Amer- 
ican citizen. He took a deep interest in all 
the movements calculated to improve and 
benefit the community and gave his hearty 
co-operation and substantial support to var- 
ious enterprises for the public good. 



JEFFERSON, James, 

Physician, Medical Author. 

James Jefferson, M. D., while of the 
younger generation of medical practitioners 
in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, has already 
shown himself possessed of more than 

248 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



average skill in his profession, and is 
endowed with intellectual powers of a high 
order. Thoughtful, but quick of discern- 
ment and prompt in action, he has been 
particularly successful in his practice, espe- 
cially along surgical lines, to which he is 
devoting himself with especial care. He is 
of Irish descent, his grandfather having 
been Matthew Jefferson, a native of Ire- 
land, among whose children were : Stephen, 
of further mention ; James, now living at 
South Denis, Cape May county. New Jer- 
sey; and Andrew, who lived for a time in 
America, and was drowned. 

Stephen Jefferson was born in Dublin, 
Ireland, in 1841, and came to America at 
the age of fifteen years. For a time he 
lived in Philadelphia, then made his per- 
manent home at Cape May, New Jersey, 
where he spent all his life except when his 
occupation as sea captain took him away. 
He married Lucinda Wales Sutton, born 
at Cape May, New Jersey, in 1841, a daugh- 
ter of William Sutton. They had children : 
I. James, of further mention. 2. Matthew, 
born in September, 1873; is prosecuting at- 
torney of Cape May county; married 
Beulah Ludlam, of Sea Isle City, New 
Jersey, and has one son, Thomas. 3. Ste- 
phen Paul, born in Cape May county, New 
Jersey, in August, 1877; is minister of the 
First Baptist Church at Amherst, Massa- 
chusetts ; married and has one child, Paul- 
ine, born in 191 1. 4. Edward Francis, was 
educated in the public schools, Walliston 
Seminary and Yale University, from which 
he was graduated in the fall of 1905 with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and is now 
master of English and mathematics at the 
Hotchkiss Preparatory School, Massachu- 
setts. 

Dr. James Jefferson, son of Stephen and 
Lucinda Wales (Sutton) Jefferson, was 
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, No- 
vember 22, 1874. He was very young when 
his parents removed to Cape May, New 
Jersey, and he received his early and college 
preparatory education in the public schools 



of that town, being graduated from the high 
school in 1891. For a time he taught in 
the grammar and high schools of Sea Isle 
City, New Jersey, then abandoned this call- 
ing in order to prepare himself for the medi- 
cal profession. Fle matriculated at Jeffer- 
son Medical College in Philadelphia in 1900, 
and was graduated with honor in the class 
of 1904, the degree of Doctor of Medicine 
being conferred upon him. He served his 
interneship at the Allegheny General Hos- 
pital, in Pittsburgh, and in 1906 removed to 
Johnstown, where he had been appointed to 
a position on the medical staff of the private 
hospital of the Cambria Steel Company, as 
assistant surgeon. He still retains this posi- 
tion, and in addition has gained a very ex- 
cellent private practice. 

Dr. Jefferson is a member of the Baptist 
church, he is also a member of the Country 
Club of Johnstown, being a m.ember of the 
board of directors of the club. His poli- 
tical support is given to the Republican 
party. His professional membership is with 
the American Medical Society, Pennsyl- 
vania Medical Society, Keene Surgical So- 
ciety, and the Phi Beta Phi fraternity. 
While at college he was the vice-president 
of his class. He is also a member of the 
medical staff of Mercy Hospital and Mem- 
orial Hospital, Johnstown. His favorite 
form of recreation is base ball, and he was 
a skillful player on his college team for a 
period of three years. From time to time 
Dr. Jefferson writes medical treatises, 
which have been published in medical jour- 
nals, and some of these have been read be- 
fore medical societies. Among these is a 
particularly noted one on "Traumatic Sur- 
gery of the Hand and Foot," which was 
read before the Section on Surgery, Medi- 
cal Society of the State of Pennsylvania, 
Harrisburg Session, September 26, 191 1. 
and printed in the Pennsylvania Medical 
Journal of May, 1912. In his intercourse 
with his professional brethren his conduct 
is marked by the most scrupulous regard for 
the rights and feelings of others, and his 



1249 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



estimate of the character of his profession 
is a most exalted one. His excellent work 
is rapidly making a name for him through- 
out the country. Dr. Jefferson is unmar- 
ried. 



LEECH, Malcolm W., 

Steel Company Official, Useful Citizen. 

Pillars of iron and steel support the pros- 
perity of Pittsburgh, and from base to cap- 
ital her wealth is real because it is the work 
of real men, not all of whom, however, lived 
to reap the full fruition of their labors. 
Most strikingly was this fact illustrated by 
the career of the late Malcolm Wilhams 
Leech, secretary of the Kirkpatrick Iron 
and Steel Company and treasurer of the 
Chartiers Iron and Steel Company. The 
entire period: of Mr. Leech's activities was 
but a brief span of twenty years, insignifi- 
cant in duration but rich in large results. 

Malcolm Leech, grandfather of Malcolm 
Williams Leech, was a prominent citizen 
of Pittsburgh and in 1826 was a member of 
the board of directors of the Bank of Pitts- 
burgh. 

Joseph S. Leech, son of Malcolm Leech, 
was a fine type of the Pittsburgh business 
man, head of the firm of Joseph S. Leech 
& Company, the other partners being his 
father, Malcolm Leech and John L. Leech. 
They were leading wholesale grocers, their 
store being situated on Liberty avenue. 
Joseph S. Leech ultimately disposed of the 
business to the Arbuckles. At the outbreak 
of the Civil War he enlisted in the Union 
army and was one of those who laid down 
their lives for their country amid the gloom 
and desolation of Libby Prison. Mr. Leech 
married Eliza Davis, and their children 
were: Maria, married Harry F. Lynch, of 
Crafton, Pennsylvania ; Jane, married Wil- 
liam Williams, of Pittsburgh, and is now 
deceased; Louis D.. married Anna Sutton, 
of Pittsburgh, and is also deceased ; Joseph 
E., living in the West ; and Malcolm Wil- 
liams, mentioned below. Mrs. Leech died 



October 24, 1870, in the forty-third year of 
her age. Joseph S. Leech was one of the 
men whose enterprise and integrity not only 
developed the trade and commerce of the 
Iron City but helped to strengthen its repu- 
tation for fair dealing and honorable 
methods. 

Malcolm Williams Leech, son of Joseph 
S. and Eliza (Davis) Leech, was born No- 
vember 20, 1859, in Pittsburgh, and re- 
ceived his education in the public schools of 
his native city. His first employment was 
with the firm of Lindsay & McCutcheon, 
iron manufacturers of Pittsburgh, with mills 
in the Soho district. It was at this period 
that Mr. Leech began to develop his re- 
markable business ability and he had already 
established a reputation as a young man of 
unusual promise when he entered the ser- 
vice of the Kirkpatrick Iron and Steel 
Company, Limited, of which his father-in- 
law, John C. Kirkpatrick, was head. Mr. 
Leech was made secretary and held this 
position to the close of his life. Its duties, 
arduous as they were, did not afford full 
scope for energies like his and he found 
time for the discharge of the obligations 
involved in the office of treasurer of the 
Chartiers Iron and Steel Company, Limited. 

As a business man Mr. Leech was quick 
and decisive in his methods, possessing 
sound judgment, keen vision and that ag- 
gressiveness of temperament which insures 
accomplishment of whatever is undertaken. 
His insight into character was another 
potent factor in his success as was also 
the unvarying justice and kindliness which 
marked his conduct toward his subordi- 
nates. In all enterprises which meditated 
the moral improvement and social culture 
of his community Mr. Leech ever mani- 
fested the active and earnest interest of a 
true citizen and no good work done in the 
name of charity or religion lacked his hearty 
and liberal cooperation which was always 
given with an entire absence of ostenta- 
tion. A Republican in politics, he neither 
sought nor desired office. He was a mem- 
250 




^^^^^^^^^^-^zS^XL. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ber of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, 
now the Third Presbyterian Church. 

Loyalty to his work, strength of character 
and fidelity, in all respects, to a high stand- 
ard of manhoodi — these were the dominant 
traits of Malcolm Williams Leech, as all 
who were in any way associated with him 
could abundantly testify. And they could 
also testify to the genial disposition and the 
rare capacity for friendship which made 
him not only one of the most popular men 
in Pittsburgh but one of those most sin- 
cerely beloved. These attributes spoke in 
the clear and steady gaze of his brown 
eyes and irradiated his strong yet sen- 
sitive features, accentuated by light brown 
hair and mustache. His manner, ever gentle 
and courteous though it was, indicated a 
nature firm, courageous and incorruptibly 
honest. 

Mr. Leech married, October 25, 1888, 
Susie, daughter of the late John C. and 
Flora J. (Wallace) Kirkpatrick. of Pitts- 
burgh. A biography and portrait of Mr. 
Kirkpatrick appear elsewhere in this work. 
Mr. and Mrs. Leech became the parents of 
two children : Dorothy, educated at Gleim 
Preparatory School, and at Westover, Mas- 
sachusetts, graduating in 1912; and Mal- 
colm Wallace, born August 13, 1893, edu- 
cated at Shady Side Academy, Pittsburgh, 
and at Andover, Massachusetts. In 1914 
he graduated from Yale University in the 
metallurgic course and is preparing to enter 
the steel business in which his father and 
maternal grandfather were so prominent. 
With inherited ability and thorough train- 
ing he will ably carry forward the work of 
his predecessors. Mrs. Leech, a charming, 
clever woman of culture and character, was 
in all respects admirably fitted to be the 
true and sympathizing helpmate of a man 
like her husband, who ever found her the 
inspirer of his highest aims and the sharer 
of his best endeavors. The governing mo- 
tive of Mr. Leech's life was love for home 
and family and his happiest hours were 
passed at his own fireside, surrounded by 

PA— 12 125 



the members of his househom. Mrs. Leech 
has a beautiful home in the East End and is 
prominent in the social life of Pittsburgh, 
also taking an active part in church work 
and philanthropic enterprises. 

While still in early manhood Mr. Leech 
closed the career which promised so bril- 
liantly, passing away November 16, 1896, 
mourned not only by his personal friends 
and associates but by the business world 
at large which had looked for great results 
from a man of his type. True to every 
trust, he was just and generous in word and 
deed. 

While it is undoubtedly true that the 
career of Mr. Leech was prematurely cut 
short it is equally true that his was a 
well-rounded life. The symmetrical devel- 
opment of his character — his business abil- 
ity, his public spirit, above all, his religious 
principle, all combined to render it more 
complete than the lives of many who have 
been granted greater length of days. Would 
that Pittsburgh had more men who, dying 
at thirty-seven, could leave records like that 
of Malcolm Williams Leech. 



HUGHES, James Roberts, 

Prominent Educator. 

The Hfe history of Professor James Rob- 
erts Hughes, A. M., of Bellefonte, Penn- 
sylvania, is so intimately and continuously 
connected with that of Bellefonte Acad- 
emy, the noted educational institution, that 
a sketch of one must of necessity include a 
sketch of the other, and a history of the 
academy will follow that of Professor 
Hughes, to whom it is so greatly indebted. 

Rev. James Potter Hughes, A. M., was 
born at Cape May, New Jersey, December 
15, 1827, and for more than half a century 
he has accomplished wonders in the cause 
of education. He was graduated from 
Princeton College in the class of 1850, with 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and the 
following three years were passed in the 
Princeton Theological Seminary. For thir- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ty-two years he held the position of prin- 
cipal of Bellefonte Academy, resigning in 
1900, at which time he was made Princi- 
pal Emeritus. He has now been uninter- 
ruptedly in service as an educator for more 
than sixty years, and during this long career 
has always maintained that the best and 
finest classic was the Bible. Rev. Hughes 
married, in June, 1861, Emily W. Roberts, 
of Brooklyn, New York, who died in 1889. 
They had children: Emma Sinclair, James 
Roberts, whose name heads this sketch, 
Elizabeth Rushton, Charles Stone, Marion 
Foster, Edward Lawrence, Luther Eld- 
ridge, Ottilie Roberts. All are now living. 
Professor James Roberts Hughes, A. 
M., was born at Cape May, New Jersey, 
December 29, 1864. His education was 
acquired at Bellefonte Academy, under 
the personal supervision of his talented 
father, and he was there prepared for en- 
trance to college. He matriculated at 
Princeton College when he was sixteen 
years of age, and worked his way through 
this institution, being graduated as honor 
man of the class of 1885, with the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts. Immediately after 
his graduation he entered upon his peda- 
gogical career. He became a teacher of 
Latin, Greek, French and German at Belle- 
fonte Academy, and was acting assistant 
principal of the institution until 1900, when 
he was made head master. He at once in- 
troduced a number of new ideas, one of 
them being the going after students in the 
various states of the Union. In March, 
1913, a new era commenced for the Belle- 
fonte Academy, when Professor Hughes 
became the sole owner of the institution, 
after an expenditure of about $60,000. Ad- 
ditions were made to the existing buildings 
and improvements introduced in the parts 
already standing, making it an ideal school 
for boys in every respect. The capacity of 
the school was doubled, and there never 
appears to be any difficulty in filling all 
vacancies. A large force of teachers is con- 
stantly engaged, and special individual at- 



tention to the pupils is the watchword of 
the hour. The development of the character 
of a student is particularly cared for. In 
every point Bellefonte, which is a strictly 
non-sectarian institution, is conducted on 
the most liberal and broad-minded ideas. 
Professor Hughes married, July 12, 1899, 
IVIary, daughter of Frank Potts Green, of 
Bellefonte. They have no children. 

BELLEFONTE ACADEMY. 

In 1795 James Harris and James Dun- 
lop laid out the town of Bellefonte. In so 
doing they had in mind three public neces- 
sities, first a pubhc square dedicated to the 
official buildings of the new county they 
proposed to have erected, next a place of 
worship for which they set aside two lots, 
and finally, the cause of education. Since 
the highest grade of primary and inter- 
mediate educational work was found in the 
academies, which the close of the eighteenth 
century saw established in large numbers 
throughout the State, these Scotch-Presby- 
terian founders determined that their insti- 
tution of learning should follow closely the 
lines of the "kirk," hence the lots adjoining 
the church were marked "For the Acad- 
emy." Later this location was changed, and 
a higher site chosen. 

On January 8, 1805, Bellefonte Academy 
was incorporated by act of legislature, with 
a board of trustees which was also the first 
board of management. During this year a 
rectangular, two-story limestone structure 
was erected, on the ground between the 
north and south wings of the present build- 
ing, this constituting the first academy. 
Colonel James Dunlop, of Revolutionary 
fame, was the first president of the board 
of trustees; Thomas Burnside, afterwards 
Supreme Court Judge, was the first secre- 
tary ; H. R. Wilson, the first regularly or- 
dained minister of the gospel in the section, 
was a member of the board, as were also: 
Roland Curtin, the great charcoal iron mas- 
ter; William Stuart and John Dunlop, 
prominent iron men and large landowners ; 
252 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



General James Potter ; Andrew Gregg, 
afterwards a United States Senator ; Rich- 
ard and Joseph Miles, the founders of 
Milesburg, who were sons of Samuel Miles, 
at one time mayor of Philadelphia. The 
members of the board of trustees of Belle- 
fonte Academy have always been among 
the foremost men of the community, and 
to the abilities of such men is due the credit 
of the survival of the school. Of forty-six 
academies chartered by the State between 
1800 and 1S05 only five others have sur- 
vived in the struggle with the heavily en- 
dowed public school system nourished by 
the patronage of the Commonwealth. The 
first acting principal of the academy was 
the Rev. H. R. Wilson, the Presbyterian 
pastor, who was succeeded in 1810 by his 
successor in the pastorate, Rev. James Linn. 
In 181 5 the number of students had so 
largely increased that Thomas Chamberlain 
was engaged as principal, and Mr. Linn 
selected as president of the board of trus- 
tees. Later the latter again took up the 
work of instruction, and many times acted 
as principal when the regular occupants of 
this ofiice were disqualified by illness, or 
when the institution was unable to secure 
teachers. Robert Baird, later celebrated as 
the founder of the Evangelical Christian 
Alliance, succeeded Mr. Chamberlain in 
1818, and in 1820 J. B. McCarrell, after- 
wards prominent in the Reformed church, 
held the position two years. The next in- 
cumbent was J. D. Hickok, followed by H. 
D. K. Cross in a few months. About this 
time a former student, whose name was not 
preserved, presented the academy with a 
Spanish bell, engraved "For Spain," and 
bearing a cross and the date 1802, which 
hung in the cupola until it was destroyed by 
the fire of 1904. 

Following is a list of the heads of this 
institution until 1868, with the length of 
their periods of service: Alfred Armstrong, 
of Carlisle, 1824-1831 ; S. G. Callahan, a 
few months; W. M. Patterson, 1831-1835; 
W. H. Miller, 1835-1837; J. B. Payne, 1837- 



1838; John Livingston, 1838-1845; David 
Moore, one year; John Philips, one year; 
Alfred Armstrong (second time), 1847- 
1852. At this time it had become more and 
more difficult to contend against the new 
public school system, and this feeling had 
become so strong that in 1853 it was pro- 
posed to use the building as a high school in 
connection with the public schools, although 
no immediate action was taken, and the 
academy existed on a hand-to-mouth policy 
for some years. In 1854 the Rev. F. A. 
Pratt became principal, was succeeded in 
1856 by George Yeomans, who remained 
until the outbreak of the Civil War, when 
J. D. Wingate opened a grammar school in 
the building. This was but a temporary 
experiment, and the property was leased to 
the Bellefonte School District until 1868, 
when possession was resumed and the Rev. 
James Potter Hughes was selected as prin- 
cipal of the institution. 

The new administration commenced its 
work with a reorganization of the board of 
trustees. General James A. Beaver, Judge 
Austin O. Furst and John P. Harris being 
among the new members of this body. By 
means of the collection of its small endow- 
ment fund and a popular subscription, suffi- 
cient money was raised to repair the old 
building, purchase an adjoining strip of 
land and to erect a brick addition which was 
completed in 1873. This was made possible 
through the devoted attention of the Rev. 
Alfred Yeomans, the president of the board, 
and to the untiring efforts of Mr. Hughes, 
in building up the teaching department. 
However, fifteen years later found the acad- 
emy again in financial difficulties, and with 
buildings insufficient to cope with its needs. 
At this stage J. Dunlop Shugert, a great- 
grandson of the original James Dunlop, be- 
came so interested in the work of the board 
of this institution that, encouraged by him, 
they not only met their obligations but 
undertook new and extensive improvements 
in 1890. The old annex was removed and a 
neat but commodious house was erected on 



f253 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the southern portion of the grounds adjoin- 
ing the old Friends' meeting property, and 
the main building was given up solely to 
educational purposes. 

In 1895 James Roberts Hughes, the eld- 
est son of the principal, was selected as an 
associate principal and, at his suggestion, 
the boarding school side of the academy 
was revived and gradually developed. The 
upper stories of the main building were 
fitted up as dormitories for boarding pupils. 
In 1900 the elder Mr. Hughes found the 
combination of teaching and management 
too great a task for him owing to the growth 
of the school, and also to his advancing 
age, and acting upon his advice the trustees 
selected his son as headmaster, retaining 
the father in office as principal emeritus. 
Owing to the excellent management of the 
institution, the scope of the academy has 
been developed to its present high standing 
by Professor James Roberts Hughes, and 
he has succeeded in making the boarding 
school department a principal feature in the 
success of the institution. In the summer 
of 1904 a disastrous fire, the first in its his- 
tory, destroyed the upper story of the main 
building. Trusting to the ability of the new 
regime to continue its remarkable success, 
the board of trustees decided to rebuild the 
academy in a manner befitting its past his- 
tory and the centennial of its establishment 
which was not far in the future, and the 
present edifice with its beautiful Grecian 
columns is the result. The academy cele- 
brated its one hundredth anniversary, June 
15-16, 1905, with very appropriate cere- 
monies, the principal address of the occasion 
being delivered by the late Hon. Charles 
Emory Smith, of Philadelphia. The next 
step in the development and enlargement of 
the academy was taken in the year 1913. 
On June 21 of that year the ownership of 
this institution was transferred from the 
borough to the present headmaster. The 
latter immediately proceeded to enlarge and 
improve the academy buildings, equipment 
and campus as heretofore suggested, making 



the Belle fonte Academy one of the best and 
most thoroughly equipped institutions of its 
kind in the State. 



JANNEY, Howard Taylor, 

Prominent La-wyer. 

Howard Taylor Janney, attorney-at-law, 
Williamsport, Lycoming county, Pennsyl- 
vania, is a member of one of the oldest 
families belonging to the Society of Friends 
in Pennsylvania. He is directly descended 
from Thomas Janney, an English Friend of 
some note in his day, who came over and 
took up one of the original Penn grants on 
the Delaware river, near Newtown, Bucks 
county, and subsequently, in 1683, became 
one of William Penn's privy council. A 
large part of the grant so taken up has ever 
since been in the possession of the Janney 
family and is known as the Janney home- 
stead. One of the traditions in connection 
with this place is that in the dining-room of 
the old stone house yet standing General 
Washington dined on his way to the battle 
of Trenton. 

Here was born and reared Joseph Janney, 
the grandfather of Howard Taylor Janney, 
who fitted himself for the practice of the 
law, but after marrying Mary Ann Taylor, 
eldest daughter of David Barton Taylor, 
one of Philadelphia's pioneer lumber mer- 
chants, he went into partnership with his 
father-in-law in the lumber business in 
Philadelphia and remained therein the bal- 
ance of his life. Joseph Janney and his 
wife, Mary Ann (Taylor) Janney, were the 
parents of seven children : The eldest was 
David Barton, who was a soldier in the late 
Civil War; Benjamin Taylor, who was mar- 
ried to Mary Scurrum, of Trenton, New 
Jersey, a daughter of General Scurrum, 
who was quite a distinguished member of 
the Revolutionary family of that name ; 
Samuel Sellers, who was the father of How- 
ard Taylor Janney ; Joseph Walker, lumber- 
man of Philadelphia ; Frances, intermarried 
with Joseph Lovett, now deceased, who 



1254 




QjmMMy lArzI^Jty 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



occupies the Lovett homestead at Emilie, 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, which was 
originally granted to the Lovett ancestor by 
Royal grant ; Elizabeth, who for many years 
was one of the faculty of the Friends' Cen- 
tral High School of Philadelphia ; and 
Emma, intermarried with Charles Walton, 
a member of the old Bucks county Friends' 
family of that name. 

Samuel Sellers Janney, the father of 
Howard Taylor Janney, was born in Phila- 
delphia, in 1842. He was reared there and 
educated in the Friends' schools. In 1862 
he was married to Ellen Hyndman, who 
was born along the Ban water, county 
Derry, Ireland, and was brought as a child 
to this country by her father, Alexander 
Hyndman, and mother, Esther (Hill) 
Hyndman, who was the daughter of John 

Hill and (Glove) Hill, his wife, a 

descendant of the noted Scottish family of 
Glover. 

Howard Taylor Janney, was born March 
14, 1863, in Woodward township, Lycom- 
ing county, Pennsylvania. He was educated 
in the public schools of the city of Wil- 
liamsport, following which he took a course 
of instruction under one of the faculty of 
the Friends Central High School of Phila- 
delphia. Immediately after he attained his 
majority he entered the law office of Robert 
P. Allen, at that time the leading corpo- 
ration lawyer of Williamsport, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar, October i, 1886. Sub- 
sequently he was admitted to practice in the 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on motion 
of Frederick Carroll Brewster, of Philadel- 
phia, and later admitted to practice in the 
Circuit Courts of the United States and in 
the various other Courts. Since his admis- 
sion to the bar be has given his attention to 
the practice of his profession and has be- 
come connected with a number of business 
enterprises and financial institutions. He 
has probably given the most of his atten- 
tion to real law and corporation law and his 
practice has most largely consisted of office 
practice, he seldom appearing in the courts. 



December 31, 1895, he was married to 
Laura Good Hill, born October 19, 1875, 
in the city of Williamsport, only child of 
William Brown Hill, a descendant of the 
old Revolutionary family of Browns, and 
Josephine Hortense (Good) Hill. Because 
of his wife's membership and interest there- 
in he is affiliated with the Central Presby- 
terian Church of Williamsport. Such in- 
terest as he has shown in politics has been 
for the success of Republican principles. 
He devotes considerable of his time to the 
reading and study of the literatures of the 
world and has given a great deal of atten- 
tion to the collection of a library of the 
same. He is also very much interested in 
gardening and the growing of the rarer 
plants. These two diversions provide rec- 
reation and constitute his pleasures. 



WELCH, Walter, 

Iiawyer, Public Official. 

Walter Welch, present District Attorney 
of Clearfield county, was born in Wood- 
ward township, Clearfield county, March 7, 
1875. son of Moses and Catherine Pettit 
Welch, pioneer settlers in the famous 
Houtzdale coal field, coming thereto from 
the anthracite when the Clearfield region 
was opened to development in the late six- 
ties. He attended the local schools until 
thirteen years of age, when he went into 
the mines to assist his father with the main- 
tenance of the family. Those were the 
days of "pluck-me stores" and little money 
was paid to the miner for his labor. Thus 
he labored for ten years, "trapping," driv- 
ing mule, and handling the pick. Night 
time and idle days he utilized endeavoring 
to obtain an education, and all he has today 
was obtained that way — by hard work, earn- 
est effort and untiring energy, bound to get 
what he was after, if possible under the cir- 
cumstances. 

When the Spanish-American War broke 
out he was the first man in his part of the 
county to offer his services, and the first 



I2SS 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



from all that big territory to enlist. He en- 
tered Company E, Fifth Regiment, Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers, recruited at Clearfield, 
and served honorably until the end of the 
war. When peace was declared he took 
his discharge and went into the service of 
Colonel E. A. Irvin, of Curwensville, as 
confidential secretary. That position opened 
up many different avenues of opportunity 
to a young, industrious, ambitious, honest 
man. Colonel Irvin was one of the largest 
land owners in the county and he was also 
one of the foremost lumbermen, as well as 
owning vast bodies of valuable coal. Soon 
Mr. Welch was in close touch with every 
line of the business and during the long 
period Colonel Irvin was ill he met every 
requirement in such manner that he earned 
the most sincere gratitude of those inter- 
ested, as well as the warm personal friend- 
ship of the Colonel's family. He had many 
tempting offers to remain in the business 
field, but having started out to become a 
lawyer he could not forego that desire and 
left what was a very comfortable and profit- 
able position to pursue his legal studies. 

He entered the law offices of Murray & 
O'Laughlin, at Clearfield, and was soon 
hard at work. In due time he had pursued 
his studies sufficiently to pass the State 
Board, being the first from Clearfield county 
to go through that, to a young student, har- 
rowing experience. About the time he felt 
able to ask for admission to the Clearfield 
bar he was offered a flattering position in 
the office of Sheriff-elect Cornelius Allen, 
and the duties being all along the line he 
expected to pursue in his profession, he ac- 
cepted. There he remained three years, and 
his record in that office is such that every 
man having dealings with that department 
of the court house during that period is a 
willing witness to the careful, clean, com- 
petent characteristics and methods of Wal- 
ter Welch in all he undertakes. 

At the end of Sheriff Allen's term he 
was requested by his successor to remain, 
although of different politics, but he had 
decided to go into the legal practice active- 

12 



ly and he declined. That same year he was 
nominated by the Democratic party for Dis- 
trict Attorney and was only defeated by a 
narrow margin. Four years later, in 1912, 
he was again the candidate of his party for 
the same office and was elected by a large 
majority, leading his party vote in almost 
every district in the county. 

Upon entering upon his duties as public 
prosecutor Mr. Welch was confronted with 
a crime wave which had resulted in ten 
homicide cases, which he had^ to get right 
into and prepare for trial the minute he had 
subscribed to the oath of office. This was a 
larger number than the county had been 
called upon to try in many years. But he 
met the responsibility as he had every other 
duty in his life, met it fearlessly and with 
determination to do that which was his to 
do, and do it in the proper way. The re- 
sult was that every case was off the list 
within a very short period, several being 
sentenced to the limit of the law, some of 
them first degree cases. 

That Mr. Welch has made good in the 
District Attorney's office everybody knows 
and even those who opposed him for elec- 
tion frankly admit. No man questions his 
ability, his integrity, his capacity or his in- 
dustry. He brought to the office a clean 
record and he will leave it just as clean in 
every respect. 

He is a member of the American and the 
Pennsylvania Bar Associations ; also a mem- 
ber of the Commercial Law League of 
America, and is secretary of the District 
Attorneys' Association of Pennsylvania. He 
is prominent in the Knights of Columbus, 
having served two terms as grand knight of 
Clearfield Council ; has filled the office of 
treasurer of the Clearfield Fire Department 
several terms, and also many honorary posi- 
tions in the Spanish War Veterans Asso- 
ciation. 

Mr. Welch was married, in 1904, to Min- 
nie Bilger, daughter of Alfred Bilger, of 
Curwensville. The Bilgers are of pioneer 
stock, natives of Pennsylvania several gen- 
erations back. 

56 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



GILMORE, Hugh, 

La'wyer, Government Official. 

Hugh Gilmore, one of the best known of 
the younger element of WilHamsport, Ly- 
coming county, Pennsylvania, is a descend- 
ant of a diversity of races, the union of 
which so aften results in a strong and cap- 
able type of man. One branch of his an- 
cestors on the paternal side came from Don- 
egal, Ireland ; another from The Nether- 
lands, while his mother's people are of Ger- 
man origin, his grandmother being born in 
Wurtemburg and resided for years in Hep- 
burn township, Lycoming county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where a large German emigration 
drifted and whose descendants are still liv- 
ing on the farms founded by these emi- 
grants. On both sides of the Gilmore name 
his ancestors fought in the Revolution and 
Colonel Daniel Gilmore saw service in the 
War of 1812. 

Hugh Gilmore was born July 26, 1869, 
at Williamsport, a son of Joseph Alexander 
Gilmore, a native of Lycoming county, 
where he was born in 1843, and of Mary 
Frederica (Miller) Gilmore, his wife. Mr. 
Gilmore was educated in the public schools 
of Williamsport, retiring from the High 
School after two years of service, when he 
began his worldly career at the age of six- 
teen years by assisting the law firm of Can- 
dor & Munson as a stenographer with 
whom he was continuously for twenty-seven 
years, acting in the meantime as notary 
public, bookkeeper and stenographer. Mr. 
Gilmore's most characteristic work, how- 
ever, has been done in the sphere of poli- 
tics. He devoted all his spare time from 
early youth in the advancement locally of 
his party, he being an enthusiastic Demo- 
crat. Being by nature a fighter, he always 
enlisted all his capacities in aid of the true 
advancement of his party, and yet such is 
the inherent justice and kindness of his 
character, that he numbers quite as many 
personal friends and admirers among his 
political opponents as among his allies. His 



efforts were always continually directed to 
encourage and preserve a progressive spirit 
in the Democratic party, especially amongst 
the younger element, and it has been largely 
due to his efforts that the Young Men's 
Democratic Club of Williamsport was kept 
up and prospered, now occupying its beauti- 
ful new club house, he being its secretary 
for a term of nine years, 1895- 1903, ^"^ its 
president three terms, 1904-1907; was its 
thirteenth president and served as such when 
mansion was accepted from the mover and 
builder. In connection with his progressive 
tendencies, it is but just to remark here that 
Mr. Gilmore was the "Original" Wilson 
man of Central Pennsylvania, who from the 
start perceived the possibilities of Wood- 
row Wilson's leadership and directed all 
his great energies to the furtherance of his 
cause in that region. He served as chair- 
man of the Lycoming County Democratic 
Organization for years, 1898-1903, and 
upon that and other progressive issues has 
waged many a hot factional battle with the 
success his powers merited. When, through 
the efl:'orts of such men as Mr. Gilmore 
throughout the country, Mr. Wilson's can- 
didacy for the Presidency became imminent 
and the Pennsylvania State Democratic 
Convention met in 1912, Mr. Gilmore at- 
tended as a spirited worker to assist in hav- 
ing the State instruct its delegates for 
Woodrow Wilson. He also subsequently 
represented the National Democratic Con- 
vention at Baltimore as majority delegate 
from the Fifteenth Congressional District 
and voted at that historic convention on 
every ballot for our President's nomination. 
It was a fitting recognition, therefore, both 
of his general qualifications and his political 
services, when on the 13th of May. 1913, 
President Wilson appointed him as twen- 
ty-fifth postmaster of that first class 
post office, the first appointment of that 
nature made by the new administration 
in Pennsylvania. Mr. Gilmore still retains 
his membership in the Democratic Club ; is a 
member of the Williamsport Wheel Club; 

257 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



devoted to out-door sports, and a communi- 
cant of the Protestant Episcopal church, at- 
tending Christ Church in Williamsport. 



FORTNEY, David Franklin, 

Laxtryer, Friend of Education. 

David Franklin Fortney, an attorney of 
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, has long been a 
leading resident of that town, and a potent 
factor in promoting its educational and 
moi'al interests. His grandfather, David 
Fortney, was a native of Lebanon county, 
and his father. David (2) Fortney, was 
born February, 1807, in Lebanon county, 
Pennsylvania. He was a carpenter and 
farmer, residing in Potter and Ferguson 
townships. Centre count}', Pennsylvania ; he 
died in the latter township April i, 1863. 
Flis wife Susan (Sellers) Fortney, born 
1812, in York county, Pennsylvania, sur- 
vived him twenty years, dying July 19, 1883. 
They had sons: John H., James G., David 
F., and George Williams, and (laughters, 
Mary and Sarah Ellen. They are now all 
deceased. John H. Fortney was a soldier in 
the Union army, serving in Company D, 
One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The ma- 
ternal grandfather of this family was a 
soldier, and died in the army in the War of 
1812. 

David Franklin Fortney was born Sep- 
tember II, 1843, ^n Potter township, and 
grew up on his father's farm, participating 
in its labors, and thus developing a good 
constitution and a strong frame. While 
pursuing his duties about the farm, he was 
accustomed to read and to observe some- 
thing of the world's progress, and early 
formed an ambition to become a lawyer. 
After attendance at the public schools and 
Pine Grove Academy, at the age of nine- 
teen years he enlisted as a Union soldier, 
August 19, 1862, becominga member of Com- 
pany D, One Hundred and Forty-eighth 
Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry, of which 
his brother was also a member. He was 



discharged before the close of the same year 
for disability, and subsequently was a stu- 
dent for two and one-half years at the Ver- 
inillion Classical School at Hayesville, Ohio. 
He began the study of law, April i, 1S66, 
in the office of Hon. John H. Orvis, of 
Bellefonte, and was admitted to the bar of 
Centre county, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1869, 
and immediately engaged in practice at 
Bellefonte, where he has ever since con- 
tinned with gratifying success. Mr. Fort- 
ney was elected district attorney of Centre 
county, and served from 1878 to 188 1. At 
various times he has been made solicitor 
of the county, and has served altogether in 
that capacity for a period of twelve years. 
From May i, 1894, to March 15, 1899, he 
was postmaster of Bellefonte. The public 
school system has been a matter of much 
study on the part of Mr. Fortney, and he 
has served continuously for thirty years as 
a member of the board of directors of the 
public schools of Bellefonte. His great work 
in this connection has been acknowledged 
by the people of the community and appre- 
ciated by educators of the State. He has 
made numerous addresses pertaining to edu- 
cational work, and one in particular, which 
appeared in the Pennsylvania School Jour- 
nal of April, 1901, is interesting and valu- 
able, entitled "The School Director as 
Leader of Public Sentiment." His advice 
that every school board should subscribe 
for and read the "Pennsylvania School Jour- 
nal" is timely and valuable, and it is to be 
hoped will be very generally observed. In 
tracing something of the growth and Penn- 
sylvania's public school system, he shows 
clearly that some enthusiasm and earnest 
work on the part of school officers is neces- 
sary in creating the public sentiment which 
will sustain them in progressive policies. 
At the dedication of the high school build- 
ing at Clearfield, Pennsylvania, in 1903, he 
gave a most excellent address on the sub- 
ject of education, and commended the people 
of the town for their enterprise and liber- 
ality in providing proper facilities for the 
258 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



education of their youth. In all his speeches 
and writings he endeavors to impress people 
with the fact that their most precious charge 
is the education of their sons and daughters, 
in properly preparing them for good citi- 
zenship. He has ever been opposed to nig- 
gardliness in handling school matters, and 
shows that while a municipality may pros- 
per fairly in inefficient administration of its 
lighting and street problems, it cannot afford 
to jeopardize the interests of its boys 
and girls by failing to provide a liberal form 
of education for the children. It is apparent 
that while Mr. Fortney is a good lawyer, he 
is also a good' citizen, and has at heart tne 
interest and welfare of his fellowmen. In 
political affairs he has always given his al- 
legiance to the Democratic party. With his 
family, he is affiliated with the Presbyterian 
church. 

He married, September 19, 1876, Sarah, 
daughter of Robert and Katy Huey, born 
May 26, 1843, ^t Pine Grove, Centre county, 
Pennsylvania. Her grandfather, Adam 
Huey, came to America from Ireland and 
settled in Potter township, Pennsylvania. 
He was descended from Pluguenot ances- 
tors, who were driven from France by the 
Edict of Nantes and went to Holland, 
thence removing to England and Ireland. 
Mr. and Mrs. Fortney had twin children: 
David Paul and Katy Huey. The latter died 
at the age of nine years. The son, born 
July II, 1877, was educated in the public 
schools of Bellefonte, and the Pennsylvania 
State College. Pie pursued the study of 
law in his father's office, and was admitted 
to the Centre county bar in March, 1906. 
He has since engaged successfully in prac- 
tice in association with his father, and was 
elected district attorney of Centre county 
in 191 1. He is now serving in that capac- 
ity. He married, May 4, 19 10, Alice M. 
Ishler, daughter of William A. Ishler, and 
they have a son, David Franklin Fortney, 
born November 13. 1912. 



GUNSAULES, William, 

Bank Official. 

William Gunsaules, cashier of the First 
National Bank of Stroudsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, a well known resident of that city, 
i? a descendant of a family which settled 
here in the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. Manuel Gunsaules, the immigrant 
ancestor, was a native of Spain, and he 
made his home in Bushkill, Pike county, 
Pennsylvania, where he married and had 
ten children. Manuel, son of Manuel Gun- 
saules, the immigrant, was born in Bush- 
kill, and there married Elizabeth Utt. They 
were the parents of children : Samuel, Mar- 
garet and Manuel. Manuel, son of Manuel 
and Elizabeth Utt, was also born in Bush- 
kill. He settled in Middle Smithfield town- 
ship, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, where 
he married Sarah Cortright, and had a num- 
ber of children. 

Emanuel, son of Manuel and Sarah 
(Cortright) Gunsaules, was born in Middle 
Smithfield township, June 6, 1819, and died 
February 13, 1897. He was a farmer and 
had one of the best farms in that section of 
the country. He was a leader in the local 
affairs of the township, giving his support 
to the Democratic party, and at various 
times fdled' the offices ot county commis- 
sioner and justice of the peace. He mar- 
ried Elizabeth Trach, who died in 1882, 
and they had ten children. 

William, son of Emanuel and Elizabeth 
(Trach) Gunsaules, was born in Middle 
Smithfield township, Monroe county, Penn- 
sylvania. March 22, 1842. There he was 
educated in the district schools, and upon 
leaving these assisted his father on the farm 
for some years. At the age of seventeen 
years he became a clerk at Dingmans Ferry, 
lor A. Kenner, remaining with him about 
a year. In 1862 he enlisted in Company I, 
I32d Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
Colonel Oakford, and participated in the 
battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and 



1259 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Chancellorsville, and several other engage- 
ments of the Civil War. He was honorably 
discharged, returned to his home, and for 
the next year was employed in a store in 
Analomink. In 1865 he removed to 
Stroudsburg, and accepted a position as 
clerk in the wholesale notion store of Son- 
theimer & Hermann, remained with this 
firm for years, and then became a clerk in 
the Stroudsburg National Bank, and during 
the next six years was advanced to the posi- 
tions of bookkeeper and teller. He resigned 
in 1876 in order to accept the position of 
teller in the First National Bank of Wash- 
ington, New Jersey, a position he filled 
nine years. He then returned to Strouds- 
burg, was appointed cashier of the First 
National Bank of that town, and is still the 
incumbent of this ofiice. He is independent 
in his political opinions, a member of the 
Methodist church, and has been secretary 
of the board of trustees of that institution 
for the past six years. 

Mr. Gunsaules married Catherine, a 
daughter of Richard Van Vleit, and they 
have children: i. Mary, who married Rev. 
Ralph E. Urban, Episcopal minister, of 
Trenton, New Jersey. Children : Richard, 
Joseph and William. 2. Bertha. 



METZGAR, George H., 

Business Man, Jnrist. 

George H. Metzgar, Associate Judge of 
Monroe county, Pennsylvania, has for many 
years occupied a foremost place among the 
men of large affairs in his city and county. 
He has been a prime mover in various im- 
portant financial and commercial enterprises 
which have redounded to the great advan- 
tage of the community, and has been emi- 
nently successful as a farmer. In public 
affairs he has exerted a wide and benefi- 
cent influence, and his personal life is an 
exemplification of all that is becoming to 
the irreproachable citizen. 

Casper Metzgar, his grandfather, came to 
America prior to the war of the Revolution, 



with his two brothers, and he served in this 
war as one of the associates of Berks 
county, Pennsylvania. Later he settled in 
Cherry Valley, Monroe county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he purchased a tract of four 
hundred acres of virgin land, cleared this 
and put it under cultivation. This greatly 
improved homestead is now occupied by 
Frank Marsh. Mr. Metzgar married, and 
his children were: Christian; Nicholas; 
Jacob; George, of further mention; Joseph; 
Peter ; Jonas ; and several daughters. 

George, son of Casper Metzgar, was born 
on the homestead in Cherry Valley, in 1768, 
and died in 1848. He succeeded his father 
in the possession of the farm, was thrifty 
and industrious, and highly esteemed and 
respected in the community. He was a 
Jacksonian Democrat in politics, and a 
member of the Lutheran church. He mar- 
ried Catherine Heller, and they had chil- 
dren: Abraham, of further mention; 
Charles, Rudolph, Peter, Jerome, Sidenham, 
George, Casper, and eight daughters. 

Abraham, son of George and Catherine 
(Pleller) Metzgar, was born on the Metz- 
gar homestead, in Cherry Valley, in 1814, 
and died in Bartonsville, Monroe county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1903. He was educated 
in the district schools of his native town, 
and at an early age was apprenticed to learn 
the blacksmith's trade, which he followed 
for a period of seven years in Cherry Val- 
ley. In 1845 ^16 removed to Bartonsville, 
and there purchased three hundred acres 
of land which he cleared and cultivated and 
converted into one of the best and finest 
farms in the country. He was occupied 
with this until his death. He gave his 
staunch political support to the Democratic 
party, and was honored with appointment 
to several local offices. His religious affili- 
ations were with the Lutheran church. Mr. 
Metzgar married Lydia Neyhart, who died 
in 1890, leaving one child: George H. 

George H. Metzgar was born on the 
Metzgar farm at Bartonsville, Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1845. The 
260 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



education he acquired was the usual one 
acquired by attendance at the country 
schools, but he supplemented this by well 
chosen reading and study at home, thus 
fitting himself for the responsible duties cvnd 
positions he has been able to fill in later 
life. At the early age of twenty years he 
assumed the management of his father's 
farm, and did this with a judgment and 
success which would have done credit to 
a man twice his years. The products were 
grain and live stock, and during this time 
he also conducted a general store at Bar- 
tonsville. About 1890 he engaged in the 
lumber and railroad-tie business, and with 
the assistance of his son Charles, operated 
the saw mill and utilized the product of 
their more than four thousand acres of 
timber land. In 1904 Mr. Metzgar was 
elected as a Democrat for a term of five 
years as Associate Judge of Monroe county, 
was appointed by Governor Pennypacker 
for a further year in the same office, and in 
1910 was re-elected for a term of six years, 
this expiring January i, 1917. He is a di- 
rector of the Stroudsburg Engine Works, 
of Stroudsburg. His religious connection 
is with the Bartonsville Lutheran Church, 
and he is a member of : Barger Lodge, No. 
328, Free and Accepted Masons, of Strouds- 
burg; Washington Tent, Patriotic Order of 
Sons of America, of Tannersville, Pennsyl- 
vania ; Fraternal Order of Eagles, of 
Stroudsburg. 

Judge Metzgar married in March, 1870, 
Martha J., a daughter of Manassas Miller, 
of Tannersville, Pennsylvania, and they 
have had children : Luther, married Nellie 
Swartwood, and has children, Norman and 
Stanley; Charles, married Rachel Spragle, 
has a daughter Mildred ; Mary, living with 
parents. 



DONALDSON, Harry James, 

Distinguished Surgeon. 

Dr. Harry James Donaldson, a prominent 
citizen and physician of Williamsport, Penn- 
sylvania, is a member of a family of old 



English and probably Welsh origin, and 
numbers many distinguished men among his 
progenitors. One of his immigrant ances- 
tors on the paternal side of the house is de- 
scended, according to the weight of evidence 
from John Rogers, the great Smithfield 
martyr, who sealed with his death his cour- 
ageous struggle for the cause of religious 
liberty, and was the first of the many vic- 
tims of "Bloody Mary." John Rogers was 
born in the region of Birmingham, England, 
in the year 1505, and graduated from Pem- 
broke College, Cambridge, in 1525. He 
published in 1537 the famous "Matthew's 
Bible," which he compiled from earlier ver- 
sions, notably those of Coverdale and Tyn- 
dale, and supplying the Apocrypha from his 
own translation. His adoption of the name 
Matthew was for obvious reasons in those 
troublous times. With the coming into 
power of the Roman Catholic church upon 
the accession of Queen Mary, Rogers openly 
denounced the religious tyranny exercised 
in England and preached against the domi- 
nant church at Paul's Cross. His splendidly 
courageous course soon met, however, with 
its only possible end in those days of scant 
tolerance, and he was arrested, tried as 
a heretic, and on the fourth of February, 
1555, was burned at the stake at Smith- 
field. His descendant, John Niles, was in 
all probability a native of Wales. He was 
born in the year 1603 and came to this 
country during the time of the great immi- 
gration in the early years of American colo- 
nization. The Niles family has continued 
to distinguish itself to the present time, Col- 
onel Niles having served in the Civil War, 
with the volunteer regiment of Bucktails, 
Pennsylvania, with which he enlisted in 
the year of 1861. The son of Colonel Niles 
is now a rear-admiral in the United States 
navy. 

The Donaldson line proper is of old 
Scotch Covenanter lineage. John Frazier 
Donaldson, grandfather of Dr. Harry James 
Donaldson, was a well known politician in 
his day in northern Pennsylvania, and it 



1261 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was in his generation that the relation with 
the Niles family was formed, his wife hav- 
ing been a Miss Niles. James Webster 
Donaldson, father of Dr. Harry James Don- 
aldson, was born in Wellsboro, Pennsyl- 
vania, in the year 1843, ^"'^' ^^^ many years 
held a responsible clerkship in a mercantile 
house at Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. As a 
very young man he enlisted in a Pennsyl- 
vania Regiment, during the excitement 
caused in the North at the time of the 
threatened invasion which ended abruptly 
with the battle of Gettysburg. He married 
Emma Houghton, a daughter of Pherez 
Houghton, of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, 
where she was born. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Donaldson were born four children. 

Dr. Harry James Donaldson was born 
December 28, 1873, at Wellsboro, Pennsyl- 
vania. He was educated at the local public 
schools, including the high school, and un- 
der the direction of a private tutor for some 
time. In very early childhood he conceived 
a great admiration for an uncle who was a 
prominent physician, and among the various 
ways in which his childish enthusiasm ex- 
pressed itself was the wish to imitate his 
model in everything, including the choice 
of a profession. As he grew in years and 
knowledge his desire "to be a doctor" grad- 
ually came to be based upon a vivid inter- 
est in the subject of medicine itself, and in 
October, 1892, he matriculated at the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania for a course in the 
department of medicine there. From this in- 
stitution he graduated with the class of 1895, 
taking his degree of Doctor of Medicine. 
In the same year as his graduation he was 
given the post of resident physician in Wil- 
liamsport Hospital, at Williamsport, Penn- 
sylvania, and in the meantime was a stu- 
dent at the clinics at the Johns Hopkins 
University, Baltimore. Maryland. He also 
established himself in a general private 
practice in Williamsport, which he con- 
ducted most successfully for a period of 
about eight years. In 1901 he took charge 
of a private surgical hospital in Williams- 

I 



port, and in 1903 he began to specialize in 
the direction of surgery, in which he soon 
established for himself an enviable reputa- 
tion for good judgment and skill. In 191 1 
he gave up his post as head of the private 
hospital, having received the appointment 
of abdominal surgeon at the Williamsport 
hospital, one of the largest institutions of 
the kind in the State of Pennsylvania, and 
containing two hundred beds. Dr. Don- 
aldson is a most successful surgeon, and has 
increased his reputation greatly in his new 
position, until he is without doubt one of the 
best known of the young surgeons in Penn- 
sylvania. He is greatly devoted to the ad- 
vancement of his profession, and has on a 
number of occasions read papers on various 
theoretical subjects before the societies of 
which he is a member. These are the Ly- 
coming County Medical Society, the West 
Branch Medical Society, the Pennsylvania 
State Medical Society, the American Medi- 
cal Society, and the International Clinical 
Surgical Association. Besides his impor- 
tant post with the Williamsport Hospital, 
he has been appointed consulting surgeon 
with the Danville, Pennsylvania, State 
Asylum, and was for a time a trustee of the 
Blossburg Hospital, at Blossburg, Pennsyl- 
vania. Dr. Donaldson is an Independant in 
politics, and takes a keen interest in public 
affairs. On November 16, 1914, he was made 
a Fellow of the American College of Sur- 
geons. 

Dr. Donaldson married, in March, 1899, 
Blanche Adelaide Schreiner, a daughter of 
John and Adelaide (Cress) Schreiner, of 
Philadelphia, in which city she was born, 
March, 1873. Mrs. Donaldson's family has 
also been distinguished in Pennsylvania, and 
one of her great-grandfathers was Hiliery 
Baker, who gave his life, as mayor of Phil- 
adelphia, while helping the small-pox vic- 
tims during the great epidemic in the city. 
More recently her father, while a student at 
Princeton University in 1861, recruited a 
company of volunteers from among the 
students of the institution, and with them 
262 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



enlisted with Colonel E. B. Grubb's regiment 
of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served in 
the Civil War. Mr. Schreiner lies buried in 
the National Cemetery at Arlington, Vir- 
ginia. To Dr. and Mrs. Donaldson have 
been born two sons, John Frazier, born in 
Williamsport, Pennsylvania, February 6, 
1906 ; and Paul Schreiner, born in the same 
city, September 25, 1908. 



DETRICK, Stewart T., 

Merchant, Financier. 

One of the most conspicuously useful 
and honored business men of Analomink, 
Monroe county, Pennsylvania, is Stewart T. 
Detrick, whose family has been well known 
in the State for a number of generations. 
They came to this country from Germany, 
and while they have adapted themselves 
thoroughly to the conditions prevailing here, 
they have also retained the sterling char- 
acteristics which characterized the members 
of this family in their native land. 

Elias Detrick, great-grandfather of Stew- 
art T. Detrick, was of German descent, and 
came to Monroe county, then Northampton 
county, Pennsylvania, in early manhood. 
He located at what is now Middle Smith- 
field township, purchasing a tract of land, 
which he cleared, and placed under culti- 
vation. He married Mary Mosey, and they 
had children, all of whom grew to maturity 
except Mary, as follows : Mary ; Daniel ; 
Phihp ; Jacob ; Elias ; Jesse, of further men- 
tion ; John ; Martin ; William ; Katie ; Mar- 
tha; Mrs. Julia Fleming; Mrs. Mary Eve 
Hoffman ; Mrs. Philip Le Bar ; Mrs. Sally 
Chambers ; Mrs. Susan Hoffman ; Joseph. 

Jesse Detrick, son of Elias and Mary 
(Mosey) Detrick, was born in Northamp- 
ton county, Pennsylvania, and spent his 
early youth in Middle Smithfield township. 
After his marriage he removed to Stroud 
township, where he purchased one hundred 
acres of virgin land and cleared this for a 
homestead, and there the remainder of his 
Hfe was spent, his death occurring in 1875. 



He married, in 1840, Catherine Kirendall, 
and they had children : Nelson K., of fur- 
ther mention; Mary; Depue, who married 
Amanda Le Bar; Dimmick, married Nora 
Dennis; James, killed in early life by an 
accident; Charles, married Alice Miller; 
John ; Amanda, married Samuel Arnold. 

Nelson K., son of Jesse and Catherine 
(Kirendall) Detrick, was born in Middle 
Smithfield township, June 18, 1842, and 
died in 1901. He grew to manhood in 
Stroud township, acquiring his education in 
the district school, and until the age of 
twenty years, hired out his services among 
the farmers of the vicinity. He then com- 
menced lumbering on contract, at the same 
time continuing to assist his father with his 
earnings, and in the clearing and cultivation 
of the homestead. In 1864 he established 
himself in the manufacture of hooppoles 
for the New York market, and subsequently 
formed a partnership with Mr. Delp in the 
hotel business in East Stroudsburg. He sold 
his interests in 1866, and opened a restau- 
rant in Spragueville, taking out a license 
after a time, and conducting it as a hotel 
and also opened a grocery store. For twelve 
years he continued this business, and in the 
meantime had become interested in real 
estate in Spragueville and its vicinity. In 
1879 he purchased the hom.estead of his- 
father, resided there until 1885, then re- 
moved to Bartonsville, where he again con- 
ducted a store for a period of two years. 
Removing to Spragueville in 1887, he trans- 
ferred his operations to that town, subse- 
quently being engaged in mercantile busi- 
ness in Henryville for four years, when he 
sold his store in the latter place to hi;5 son 
Stewart, and returned to Spragueville. He 
was also engaged in the manufacture of 
baskets, anJ in lumbering, possessed excel- 
lent timber land in Middle Smithfield and 
Stroud townships, and had real estate in 
Stroudsburg and Spragueville. Politically 
he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and in 
1892 was elected county commissioner for 
three years. He served two terms as su- 



1263 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



pervisor of Stroud township, and was also 
town auditor. He was a trustee of the 
Methodist church ; a member of the Pa- 
triotic Order Sons of America, of Sprague- 
ville; and a charter member of the East 
Stroudsburg Lodge, No. 946, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Detrick mar- 
ried, in 1867, Susan, daughter of Peter and 
Mary Reinhart, of Monroe county. They 
had childien: Vanorris, who married Car- 
rie Rinker ; Stewart T., whose name heads 
this sketch; Laura, married Warren Cram- 
er; William, married Sally Row; Lewis, 
married Mary Shififer; Robert J. and Her- 
bert P., twins ; and Charles. 

Stewart T. Detrick, son of Nelson K. and 
Susan (Reinhart) Detrick, was born on the 
old Detrick homestead, at Spragueville, 
Monroe county, Pennsylvania, February 10, 
1869. There he acquired a sound, practic'd 
education in the district schools, and became 
associated with his father in the mainifac- 
turing, lumber and mercantile interests of 
the latter. Some time prior to the death of 
his father Mr. Detrick purchased the store 
which was then being operated by him, and 
conducted this until he disposed of it in 
1913. From 1894 to 1898 he held the posi- 
tion of clerk in the Wallace store in 
Stroudsburg, his association in the various 
enterprises conducted by his father, having 
equipped him most thoroughly for all the 
branches of business life. He has dis- 
played exceptional ability in financial m.at- 
ters, and is a director of the First National 
Bank of East Stroudsburg. In political 
matters he supports the Democratic party, 
and he is a trustee of the Methodist church 
of Analomink. Fraternally he is a member 
of the J. Simpson Africa Lodge, No. 628, 
Free and Accepted Masons ; the Improved 
Order of Red Men ; and Patriotic Order 
of Sons of America. 

Mr. Detrick married Rosa, a daughter 
of Levi Warrick, of Bangor, Pennsylvania, 
and they have one son : Frederick H., at- 
tending the State Normal School, at East 
Stroudsburg. 



McQUOWN, Martin L., 

I/awyer, Legislator. 

Hon. Martin L. McQuown, an influential 
citizen of Clearfield, well-known throughout 
the State, has accomplished much in the 
more than sixty years of his life. He was 
born January 18, 1853, in East Mahoning 
township, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, 
where the first fourteen years of his life 
were passed. He then removed to New 
Washington in Clearfield county. He made 
the best possible use of the educational op- 
portunities afl'orded by the public schools of 
those days in the communities where he 
lived. In the summers of 1871-72, he at- 
tended the New Washington Academy, and 
occupied the winters from 1871 to 1879 in 
teaching school, meantime carrying along 
his studies in the academy and normal 
school. During the summers of 1874 and 
1875, he attended the Curwensville Nor- 
mal School, and maintained his position at 
the head of his class. He continued his 
studies in connection with teaching in the 
public schools, and in 1878 was elected super- 
intendent of the public schools of Clear- 
field county. His practical experience and 
his executive grasp enabled him to fill this 
position very satisfactorily, and in 1881 he 
was re-elected by an almost unanimous vote. 
His second term was even more successful 
than his first, and his contribution to the ad- 
vancement of educational interests in his 
home county is of no mean quality. 

Having determined to engage in the prac- 
tice of law, he engaged in the study of the 
primary principles in the office of Murray 
& Gordon, at Clearfield, completed his 
course in the spring of 1884, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar of Clearfield county, April 
23 of that year. His law practice was im- 
mediately successful, but in a few years his 
attention was turned to journalism, and in 
i8go he purchased the "Raftsmans Jour- 
nal," then the leading Republican news- 
paper of Clearfield county. To this he added 
new features and an aggressive policy, 
264 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



which not only maintained the leading posi- 
tion of that journal, but increased its pres- 
tige and popularity. It is probably the 
most widely read Republican weekly news- 
paper in the interior of Pennsylvania, and 
there is no doubt of its reliability. In order 
to facilitate its illustration, it is printed on 
book paper, and it presents a very hand- 
some appearance typographically as well as 
a most reliable and enterprising newspaper 
representing its community. 

Mr. McQuown has always taken a keen 
interest in political movements, and was 
selected chairman of the Republican County 
Committee in 1885, continuing to hold this 
position by reelection for five successive 
years. In 1894 his party sought a candi- 
date who might hope to overcome the pow- 
erful Democratic majority in his senatorial 
district, consisting of Clinton, Center and 
Clearfield counties, often called the three 
C's District. There was little encourage- 
ment for any Republican to spend time or 
money in the hope of securing an election 
in that district, but Mr. McQuown was nom- 
inated, and he determined to win the elec- 
tion, if possible. He made a complete can- 
vass of the district, where his genial nature 
and frank appearance and manners were 
already pretty well known, and continually 
made him friends. When the votes were 
counted in November, 1894, it was found 
that a complete revolution had taken place 
in the district, and Mr. McQuown had been 
elected by a majority of 6,500. Previously, 
for many years, the district had been over- 
whelmingly Democratic. His record as a 
member of the Senate was one to be proud 
of, and he introduced several bills among 
the most progressive, practical and advanced 
of the day. They included one legalizing 
the registration of physicians ; one provid- 
ing for the collection of interest on taxes 
returned to county commissioners ; a for- 
estry bill, and also one providing for a uni- 
form system of state roads, which passed 
the Senate by a vote of forty-two to six. In 



speaking of his career, 
"Evening News" said: 



the Harrisburg 



Without the least fear of truthful contradic- 
tion "The News" here states that never in its 
history was the Thirty-fourth Senatorial district 
better represented at Harrisburg than at present 
by Senator M. L. McQuown, of Clearfield. The 
district comprises the counties of Clinton, Cen- 
ter and Clearfield, known as the three C's, and 
was always strongly Democratic until Republi- 
cans with large and favorable acquaintances all 
over the district, such as Mr. McQuown, were 
placed in nomination by the Republicans. The 
voters of that district did themselves great honor 
when they elected their present Senator. Mr. 
McQuown was a delegate to the National Con- 
vention at Philadelphia in 1896 which nominated 
William McKinley for president, and is at pres- 
ent a member of the Republican State Central 
Committee of Pennsylvania. 

He married, December 25, 1878, Virginia 
Flegal, daughter of John A. L. and Mar- 
garet (Fulton) Flegal, born October 13, 
1854, in Goshen township, Clearfield county, 
Pennsylvania. Children: i. Alice, born Oc- 
tober 10, 1879, at Clearfield ; is now the wife 
of Fred R. Parties, of Williamsport, Penn- 
sylvania, a graduate of Lehigh College, 
1897; he was assistant engineer on the 
Panama Canal, 1905 to 1906, then joined 
the Northern Pacific Railroad, and became 
superintendent of its Middle Division, in 
December, 1913; they have two children: 
Virginia, born 1904; Alice, 1910. 2. Mary, 
born April 15, 1883, in Clearfield; married. 
May 5, 1909, Dr. Daniel P. Ray, of Ty- 
rone, Pennsylvania, and died January 28, 
1910. 3. John Flegal, born November 15, 
1885, at Clearfield ; was educated at the 
pubHc schools of that town, and attended 
the Pennsylvania State College, taking a 
course in the engineering department ; he 
aided in the construction of the Clearfield 
& Franklin Railroad, and was subsequently 
engaged with his father in the publication of 
the "Raftsmans Journal" until his untimely 
death, October y, 191 1. 



1265 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



GRAHAM, Newton Ellsworth, 

Journalist, Man of Affairs. 

William Graham, the first member of this 
family of whom we have any definite in- 
formation, was born in Scotland. He emi- 
grated to America, and the first known rec- 
ord of him is dated 1794, when he took out a 
patent for a tract of land on Ten-Mile 
creek, Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
but he is known to have settled previous to 
that time on old Chartiers creek, Wash- 
ington county, where he built and operated 
a grist mill and followed his trade as a mil- 
ler. A few years later he removed to the 
mouth of Bear creek, in Armstrong county, 
where he built the first grist mill in that 
section, and finally purchased a farm in 
Perry township, Clarion county, then a part 
of Armstrong county, below the mouth of 
the Clarion river and opposite the present 
town of Parker. It was later made a stop- 
ping place for steamboats on the Allegheny, 
and the property became known as Gra- 
ham's Landing. He resided here until his 
death in 1835. His wife's name was Sally 
Rogers, and the children were : James, Re- 
becca, William, referred to below; Mary, 
Samuel. 

William, son of William and Sally (Rog- 
ers) Graham, was born in 1796, in Arm- 
strong county, Pennsylvania. He inherited 
part of his father's farm in Clarion county, 
and purchased the holdings of the other 
heirs of the estate and lived in the old home- 
stead the greater part of his life, but moved 
in his later years to East Brady, where he 
died in 1S72. He was a Presbyterian in 
religion, and a Democrat in politics. He 
married (first) in 1826, Janet Wasson, who 
died December 28, 1828, leaving a son, 
Joseph W. Graham. In 1831 he mar- 
ried (second) Margaret, daughter of John 
Mechling, a Western Pennsylvania pioneer. 
They had the following children : George, 
referred to below ; Aaron, married Sid- 
ney Gibson, now living at Renfrew, 
Butler county, Pennsylvania ; Sarah, mar- 
ried William Jardine, of East Brady, 



died in 1876; Amanda, married John 
P. Forcht, now living in Butler, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

George, son of William and Margaret 
(Mechling) Graham, was born June 11, 
1832, in Perry township, Clarion county, 
Pennsylvania, died in East Brady, Penn- 
sylvania, March 6, 1899. He grew up on 
his father's farm, received a public school 
education, learned the trade of carpenter, 
and was a pilot on the Allegheny river. He 
served in the Civil War as a member of 
Company B, 169th Pennsylvania Regiment. 
After the close of his term of service he re- 
turned to Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania, where 
he reentered the employ of the Brady's 
Bend Iron Company as a carpenter, and 
was later made master mechanic and super- 
intendent of construction. On the failure 
of the Iron Company he engaged in the 
lumber business at Brady's Bend with 
Judge A. Cook, of Cooksburg, and in 1874 
removed to East Brady, where the lumber 
and planing mill business was operated on 
a large scale and under the firm name of 
Graham, Forcht & Company, later Graham 
& Cook, until 1890, when he sold his lumber 
interests to his son, Newton E. He mar- 
ried Margaret, daughter of Daniel Fritz, 
born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, died 
at East Brady, in 1902. Her father was of 
Pennsylvania Dutch parentage. The chil- 
dren of George and Margaret (Fritz) Gra- 
ham are : John William, married Ella Sed- 
wick; Ella Mary, married John F. Neely, 
now living at New Castle, Pennsylvania ; 
Newton Ellsworth, referred to below; Ida 
May, born 1864, died 1880; George, mar- 
ried Mollie Young, now living at Butler, 
Pennsylvania ; CeHa, married Joseph A. 
Neely, died 1910, leaving two children, 
Marion, and Joseph Applegate ; Frank 
Fritz, born 1868, died 1897. 

Newton Ellsworth, son of George and 
Margaret (Fritz) Graham, was born at St. 
Petersburg, Clarion county, Pennsylvania, 
July 2, 186 1. He moved at an early age 
with his parents to Brady's Bend. He re- 
266 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



ceived a common school education, and en- 
tered the employ of his father in the lum- 
ber business. In 1885 he founded the "East 
Brady Review," of which newspaper he 
was editor and pubHsher until 1890, when 
he purchased his father's interest in the 
lumber firm of Graham & Cook, at East 
Brady ; in 1902 he purchased the Cook in- 
terests and organized the Graham Lumber 
Company, which still continues. In 19CK) 
he was one of the principal organizers of 
the People's National Bank of East Brady, 
of which he was elected president, and be 
has held this office continuously since the 
organization. He is also president and prin- 
cipal owner of the East Brady Water 
Works Company, director of the Central 
Allegheny Valley Telephone Company, and 
interested in oil, gas and other industries. 
Always an active Republican, he has held 
a number of borough offices — county chair- 
man, delegate to State conventions and dele- 
gate to the Republican National Conven- 
tion at Chicago in 1904. He is a member 
of the Duquesne Club, Country Club, Ath- 
letic Association of Pittsburgh ; a Knight 
Templar and Shriner. 

He married, in 1886, Lenora, daughter of 
James Young and Mary (Wallace) Foster, 
and has one daughter, Maurine. 



ALLEN, Samuel G., 

TiSixryeT, Man of Affairs. 

Samuel Gordon Allen, son of Orren Cart- 
wright and Maria (Cook) Allen, was bom 
August 24, 1870, at North Warren, Warren 
county, Pennsylvania. He attended the local 
public schools of Warren county, including 
a course at Chamberlain Institute, where 
his father studied ; was a student two years 
at the Maryland Military and Naval Acad- 
emy, at Oxford, Maryland; and in 1887 
attended the Pennsylvania State College, 
where he continued for two years. 

He studied law in the office of Judge 
William E. Brown somewhat more than 
two years, and was admitted to the Penn- 
sylvania bar August 24, 1891, at Warren, 



where he entered at once upon the general 
practice of his profession, continuing until 
1901, when he became vice-president and 
general manager of the Franklin Air Com- 
pressor Company; he moved to Franklin, 
Venango county, Pennsylvania, and served 
in that capacity for two years. In 1903 the 
Franklin Railway Supply Company was or- 
ganized and Mr. Allen was made vice-presi- 
dent of that company, continuing in that 
capacity to the present time (1914), with 
offices in New York City, where the con- 
cern moved in 1908. He is also serving as 
president of the Sprague Safety Control & 
Signal Corporation ; vice-president of the 
Economy Devices Corporation ; treasurer of 
the Locomotive Superheater Company; sec- 
retary and treasurer of the American Arch 
Company, and secretary of the American 
Materials Company. He is a member of 
the Pennsylvania Society of New York City, 
Engineers' Club, and Phi Gamma Delta, a 
college fraternity. He has achieved suc- 
cess not only in the practice of law, but 
particularly in the management of industrial 
corporations with which he has been iden- 
tified. 

Mr. Allen married, October 14, 1896, 
Annie Lewis, born January i, 1871, in 
Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of Colonel S. C. 
Lewis, of Franklin, Pennsylvania. One 
child, Natalie, born April 28, 1900, died 
March 2, 1901, at Warren, Pennsylvania. 
Mr. Allen and his wife were members of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church at Frank- 
lin, Pennsylvania. 



ADAMS, George Crocket, 

Merchant, Financier. 

Success in business life depends so en- 
tirely upon individual merit that when one 
has attained a place of prominence, as did 
the late George Crocket Adams, of Strouds- 
burg, Pennsylvania, it is an unmistakable 
evidence of ability, natural and acquired. 
Mr. Adams was not only prosperous as a 
business man, but he was also influential as 
a citizen, and possessed in rich measure 



PA-13 



1267 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the implicit confidence and high esteem of 
his fellow townsmen. His family was one 
of the old ones of New Jersey, and he was 
a direct descendant of 

Alexander Adams, of Hunterdon county. 
New Jersey, who as a child was bound out 
to a hotel keeper and while still a young 
lad in 1730, settled in Knowlton township, 
Warren county, New Jersey, with his uncle. 
There he followed farming successfully all 
his life. He married Anne Bellis, had sev- 
enteen children, and at his death left a farm 
to each of them. 

Alexander, son of Alexander and Anne 
(Bellis) Adams, was born in Knowlton 
township, Warren county. New Jersey, De- 
cember II, 1780, and died September 2, 
1811. He was a farmer all his life. He 
married Phoebe, a daughter of George 
Lundy, of Hardwick, New Jersey, and had 
children : Esther, George, Daniel Curtis. 

Daniel Curtis, son of Alexander and 
Phoebe (Lundy) Adams, was born on the 
old Adams homestead in Warren county, 
New Jersey, September 18, 1807, and died 
December 14, 1891. He is buried in the 
Adams Cemetery at Fairview, Warren 
county, New Jersey. He was educated in 
the district schools of Hardwick, New Jer- 
sey, whither he had gone to reside with his 
maternal grandfather upon the death of his 
father, and there he remained until the age 
of sixteen years, when he learned his trade 
as a tanner and currier with A. McCoy, at 
Martin's Creek, near Easton, Pennsylvania. 
Later he worked at his trade and on farms 
at Batavia, New York; Greene county. 
New York; Elba, New York; Aurora, 
New York; Canada; and Lafayetteville, 
New Jersey. In the last mentioned place 
he formed a partnership with John Lundy, 
his maternal uncle, in the currying, harness 
and shoemaking business. In 1834 he re- 
moved to Knowlton township. Warren 
county. New Jersey, where he spent the 
remainder of his life. In 1833 he married 
Catherine, born September 17, 181 1, died 
March 17, 1892, a daughter of William and 



Sarah (Putnam) Snyder, the Putnams be- 
ing of Revolutionary Connecticut stock. 
Children : George Crocket, of further men- 
tion; William S., born January 10, 1837, 
died March i, 1864; John, born April 30, 
1842, now deceased; Sarah, deceased. 

George Crocket Adams was born on the 
Adams homestead in Warren county. New 
Jersey, September 30, 1835, and died Jan- 
uary 14, 1902. He was educated at Fair- 
view schoolhouse, in Knowlton township, 
and for some years assisted his father on 
the farm. Later he established himself in 
the grocery business at Stroudsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, but after a few years sold this 
to William Purington, and returned to his 
farm in Knowlton township. His business 
interests were large and varied, as he was 
the owner of several farms, also flour 
mills at Hainesburg, New Jersey, and val- 
uable real estate in the business section of 
Stroudsburg. He was at one time presi- 
dent of the Warren County Bank, at Belvi- 
dere. New Jersey ; was one of the organ- 
izers and directors of the First National 
Bank of Stroudsburg; was largely interested 
in the Warren Woodworking Company of 
Belvidere, New Jersey. He was also director 
at the time of his death and one of the organ- 
izers of the Stroudsburg Passenger Rail- 
road Company of Stroudsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania. His religious affiliation was with the 
Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends, 
and he was a generous supporter of this de- 
nomination. 

He married (first) in 1879, Lizzie Stra- 
han, of Cuba. New York, who died in the 
same year. He married (second) Lizzie 
Brown, born December 22, 1850, died De- 
cember 19, 1894, a daughter of Daniel and 
Mercy ( Halleck) Brown, of Shawnee, 
Pennsylvania. Children: Katherine Mary 
and Amy Elizabeth. 



REYNOLDS, Rodman W., 

Business Man, Financier. 

Rodman W. Reynolds, now retired from 
active business life, a resident of East 
>68 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, is widely known ary 7, 1892; Augusta, born November 6, 



and greatly respected by all with whom he 
has had dealings in the course of his long 
business career. He is one of those brave 
men who voluntarily sacrificed their per- 
sonal interests for the integrity of the Union 
and served heroically in the Civil War. The 
family from which he is descended is an old 
one in this country. Jeremiah Reynolds, 
his grandfather, was the owner of a large 
farm in Ulster county, New York, which he 
cleared and cultivated. He married Mar- 
garet Bentley, of Woodstock, New York, 
and of their seventeen children fifteen lived 
to maturity and his descendants are numer- 
ous. 

Isaac, son of Jeremiah and Margaret 
(Bentley) Reynolds, was born in the town 
of Woodstock, Ulster county. New York, 
February 13, 1804, and died at East Strouds- 
burg, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1895. He 
was educated in his native town^ and was 
still a very young man when he acquired a 
small farm of twenty-five acres, which he 
cultivated to excellent advantage. In con- 
nection with this he also carried on a 
butchering business, which was also profit- 
able. In 1864 he disposed of his property 
in Ulster county, and in 1866 settled in Mos- 
cow, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, where 
he was engaged in the butchering business 
for a period of fifteen years. In 188 1 he re- 
moved to East Stroudsburg, and lived re- 
tired from business until his death. He took 
a prominent part in church aflfairs, being 
steward and trustee of the Methodist 
churches at Woodstock and Moscow, and 
class leader for a number of years in the 
East Stroudsburg Methodist Church. Mr. 
Reynolds married, January 14, 1827, Eliza 
Stevens, born March 14, 1802, died May 
17, 1885, and they had children: William 
H., born August 9, 1829, died November 
30, 1837; Jerusha, born January 29, 1832, 
died December 14, 1886; Electa, born May 
4, 1834, married George Roney; Sarah A., 
born April 12, 1837, married Alfred Huf- 
ler, of Kingston, New York, died Febru- 



1839, married William Chalmers, deceased; 
Rodman W., of further mention ; Van 
Keuren, bom May 12, 1845, ^^^^ J^^X 28, 
1907. 

Rodman W. Reynolds was bom in 
Woodstock, Ulster county. New York, Oc- 
tober 12, 1841. The district schools of his 
native town furnished him with elementary 
educational training, and this was supple- 
mented by attendance at the Saugerties 
Academy, at Saugerties, New York. Early 
in life he became an assistant to his father, 
and continued as such until January, 1864, 
when he enlisted in Company E, 15th 
Regiment New York State Engineers, 
and served until July 16, 1865, when he 
was mustered out at Ehnira, New York. 
In 1886 he settled in East Stroudsburg, 
Pennsylvania, with the interests of which 
section he has since been identified. He be- 
came a clerk in the freight house of the 
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rail- 
road Company, and rose in rank until he 
was practically in control of the coal busi- 
ness of this corporation. In 1891 he re- 
signed from office and engaged in the fur- 
niture and undertaking business, which he 
conducted with success until impaired 
health compelled him to dispose of it in 
1907. Since then he has been retired from 
business life. He was one of the organizers 
of the First National Bank of Stroudsburg, 
and for ten years was a member of its 
board of directors. For several years he 
served as a trustee of the State Normal 
School at East Stroudsburg. He was one 
of the organizers and is at the present time 
a director of the Monroe County National 
Bank, at East Stroudsburg. For forty 
years he has been a member of the Metho- 
dist church, during thirty of which he has 
held official position, and he is a member of 
the local post of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. 

Mr. Reynolds married (first) in 1871, 
Hettie, who died in 1875, a daughter of 
Edward Brown, of East Stroudsburg; he 



1269 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



married (second) in 1879, Elizabeth D., 
daughter of James B. Morgan, a merchant 
of Stroudsburg, and they have children: 
Vernon M., teller in the Monroe County 
National Bank, East Stroudsburg; Claire 
H., still at school. 



PRICE, Theodore B., 

Business Man, Inventor. 

Theodore B. Price, of Cresco, Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania, has added greatly to 
the prosperity of the section in which he 
resides, and is the author of a number of 
inventions which have proved of great value 
in the lumber industry. His family was 
among the pioneer settlers of Monroe 
county. 

Joseph Price, great-grandfather of Theo- 
dore B. Price, settled on the Delaware 
river, at the point now called Shawnee, at 
a time when the Indians still held posses- 
sion of this section. There he purchased 
a large tract of land, cultivated the soil, 
and founded the Price homestead, residing 
on it until his death. He left children : 
Ichabod, of further mention ; George, John, 
Annie. 

Ichabod, eldest child of Joseph Price, was 
born on the Price homestead, at Shawnee, 
in 1798, and died in Barrett township, in 
1878. After his marriage he settled in 
Henryville, Monroe county, where he as- 
sisted his father-in-law in the operation of 
the latter's saw mills until these were de- 
stroyed by fire. He then purchased eleven 
hundred acres of timber land in Barrett 
township, where he erected a large saw 
mill on Brodhead creek, engaged extensive- 
ly in lumbering, rafting his lumber into the 
Delaware, and thence to Philadelphia. He 
erected a number of buildings on the farm, 
improved it in many ways, and resided on 
it until his death. He was a strong Jeffer- 
sonian Democrat politically, and filled with 
ability a number of local offices. Mr. Price 
married Nancy Henry, who died in 1883, 
and they had children : Jacob H., of further 



mention; Joseph H., Lavina, James, Ed- 
ward H., Lydia A., Hannah, Lizzie, Susan, 
Sarah J., Martha Ann, and Henry. 

Jacob H., son of Ichabod and Nancy 
(Henry) Price, was born on the Price 
homestead, in 1824, and was killed while 
unloading logs, in May, 1875. He was edu- 
cated in the country school of his section, 
and was associated with his father in the 
latter's enterprises until he was twenty-one 
years of age, when his father presented 
him with a farm of fifty acres. To this 
he later added a tract of one hundred and 
fifty acres purchased from the Campbell 
estate, and this he cleared and placed under 
cultivation. In the meantime he had been 
connected with his father in the lumber- 
ing business, and being naturally a me- 
chanic, had developed into a skillful mill- 
wright. He was a member of the Moun- 
tain Home Methodist Church, and of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. 
Price married Mary A., born in 1829, died 
in February. 191 1, a daughter of John 
Staymates, of Hamilton township, and they 
had children : Lavina, married Matthew 
Bush; Theodore B., of further mention; 
James, Rufus, Ella, married James Shoe- 
maker, Ichabod. 

Theodore B., son of Jacob H. and Mary 
A. (Staymates) Price, was born on the 
Price homestead, May 6, 1854. The dis- 
trict schools of Mountain Home furnished 
his edtication, and this was supplemented 
by one year's attendance at the Quarry 
School. Upon the completion of his studies 
he became an assistant to his father in the 
lumbering and other business enterprises of 
the latter until his father's death. When 
the estate was settled Theodore B. Price 
came into the possession of the homestead, 
and still owns and resides there. He en- 
gaged in the lumbering business independ- 
ently, then in the flagstone business for a 
period of twelve years, after which he re- 
turned to lumbering, buying standing lum- 
ber, and also from wagons. In connection 
with this he carries on a flour, feed and hay 



1270 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



business, and also cultivates his farm. Mr. 
Price, like his father, is of an inventive 
turn of mind, and among his inventions, 
which are extensively used in lumbering 
districts all over the country, are a tie 
notcher, a sprig making machine, a log 
roller for loading logs on cars, and others 
equally practical and necessary. Mr. Price 
has met with marked success in his under- 
takings in general, owing to the method 
which underlies all that he undertakes. 

He married Lizzie, daughter of Peter 
Heller, of Long Pond, Monroe county, 
and they have children : George, Mary and 
Amanda. 



SHORT, John Francis, 

Prominent Journalist. 

In presenting to the public a sketch of 
the life of John Francis Short, of Clear- 
field, Pennsylvania, a noted newspaper 
man, it is imperative to call attention to 
the superior force of character and energy, 
combined with ambition and a rare quality 
of executive ability, which make him a con- 
spicuous figure in public and private life. 
He has aided most materially in molding 
opinion throughout the country, and his 
work has been of inestimable value. He 
has been richly endowed with the spark- 
ling wit and fluency of speech so character- 
istic of the descendants of Irish ancestry, 
and these qualities have been intensified 
by constant association with others of 
equally brilliant intellect. 

His father, Francis Short, was born in 
Dundalk, county Louth, Ireland, May 15, 
1824, and emigrated to America, arriving at 
Philadelphia in 1846. He lived in succes- 
sion in York county, Lancaster county, 
Blair county, and lastly, Clearfield county, 
where he located, in 1848. He married, 
September 9, 1859, Annie Brady, born in 
county Armagh, Ireland, June 20, 1838; 
arrived at Philadelphia in 1849, and re- 
moved to Clearfield in 1857. She is a 
daughter of Felix and Mary Brady. Of the 

I 



children of Mr. and Mrs. Short, the name 
of John Francis heads this sketch, and an- 
other son, William Albinus, was born in 
Clearfield, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1864, 
was employed in a government department 
at Washington, District of Columbia, 
where he died May 5, 1895, unmarried. 

John Francis Short was born in Clear- 
field, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, De- 
cember 5. 1862. He attended the public 
primary, grammar and high schools of 
Clearfield, being graduated from the last 
named institution in the class of 1879. He 
was then engaged in the study of law for 
a time, but abandoned this in favor of jour- 
nalistic work, for which he considered him- 
self better adapted. Results have proved 
the wisdom of this decision. For several 
terms he taught school, then applied him- 
self to acquiring a knowledge of the print- 
er's trade, which he learned in a most thor- 
ough manner, from the position of "print- 
er's devil" up to the highest rung of the 
ladder. This was in newspaper oflSces in 
Clearfield, and so rapid was his grasp and 
comprehension of the subject, that at the 
end of the first year he was doing editorial 
work. At various times he was employed 
in the office of "The Patriot," in Harris- 
burg, Pennsylvania, and in several newspaper 
offices in Philadelphia, becoming an all 
around good newspaper man. He served for 
one year under Captain R. J. Linden, super- 
intendent of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, 
in Philadelphia, returning to Clearfield in 
the fall of 1883 and again devoting himself 
to newspaper work. In 1885 and a part of 
1886 he taught school, and March ii, 1886, 
in association with his brother, he pur- 
chased, and for two years managed and 
edited, the "Clearfield Democrat." The 
next two years were spent as general news- 
paper correspondent, after which he be- 
came editor and general manager of "Pub- 
lic Spirit," Clearfield, which succeeded the 
"Clearfield Democrat," continuing until 
February 15, 1896. He was then a mem- 
ber of the staflF of the "Pittsburg Times." 
271 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and did special work for that paper until 
May, 1907. He was with Bryan all during 
the Silver campaign and attended all the 
state and national conventions in the Cen- 
tral and Middle West. He was well 
acquainted with William McKinley, later 
president of the United States, and was 
located at Canton, Ohio, for many weeks 
on special newspaper work. He was the 
first outside reporter to locate in Canton 
for work on the 1896 campaign. After 
the death of George B. Goodlander, owner 
of the "Clearfield Republican," Mr. Short 
purchased this paper from the estate, and 
has since been very successful as manager 
and editor of this paper. During the politi- 
cal campaign of 1900, he accomplished some 
excellent special work for Philadelphia and 
Pittsburgh papers, visited all the debatable 
states east of the Mississippi river, and 
accompanied vice-presidential candidate 
Roosevelt in his political campaign. He has 
made special trips for newspapers and 
other large interests as far west as the 
Pacific coast, and to various parts of Can- 
ada, in order to obtain political and com- 
mercial information. He is now a corre- 
spondent of the "New York World," the 
"New York American," the "Philadelphia 
Record," and the "Pittsburgh Dispatch and 
Gazette." 

As a business man he is a member of the 
Clearfield Building and Loan Association, 
and has been honored by election to mem- 
bership in its board of directors. His con- 
nection with other organizations is as fol- 
lows: The Pennsylvania Society of New 
York City ; charter member of the Clear- 
field Historical Society ; Council No. 409, 
Knights of Columbus, has served two 
terms as grand knight, and two terms as 
district deputy. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of St. Francis Roman Catholic Church. 
He was chairman and secretary of the 
Democratic County Committee for several 
years, member of the Pennsylvania State 
Democratic Committee, is always actively 
interested in political questions, and is one 



of the best known men in the county. He 
is regarded as something in the nature 
of a living encyclopedia of political infor- 
mation and public events in the State 
of Pennsylvania, and is liberal and broad- 
minded in all his opinions. On public 
questions John Francis Short is abso- 
lutely fearless in matters which he thinks 
right, and having with calmness and judg- 
ment arrived at his own conclusions, he 
makes his ideas felt and respected by 
reason of their force and common sense. 
His only wish is to serve the community 
as honestly as it should be servea, and 
while his opinions may differ from those 
of others they are voiced with a sincerity 
that is generally convincing. 

Mr. Short married, November 28, 1885, 
Mary Veronica Parcell, born in Centre 
county, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1867, a 
daughter of John Parcell. They have one 
son : Frank William, born at Clearfield, 
Pennsylvania, June 29, 1886; attended the 
public and parochial schools and St. Thom- 
as' College, Villa Nova ; in 1906 he matricu- 
lated at the University of Pennsylvania, 
and was graduated in 1910 with the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Laws; for a time he 
was then engaged in newspaper work on 
the Philadelphia "North American," and is 
now a member of the staff of the Philadel- 
phia "Record"; he married. May 30, 1909, 
Anna R. Cleary, of Philadelphia ; they have 
one son, John Francis, second, born Sep- 
tember 30, 191 1. 



TURN, Charles R., 

Mannfactnrer, Financier. 

An essentially representative and ener- 
getic citizen of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 
is Charles R. Turn, treasurer and general 
manager of the International Boiler Works 
Company. He is well known as a man of 
sterling character and one who has ever been 
fair and honorable in his business dealings. 
The turning points inevery man's life, called 
opportunities, lead to ultimate success if 



1272 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPtlY 



taken advantage of at the proper moments. 
The career of Mr. Turn is a striking illus- 
tration of this statement. Ever alert for 
his chance of advancement, he has pro- 
gressed steadily until he is recognized at 
the present time as one of the foremost 
business men of the city. His family has 
been resident in Monroe county, Pennsyl- 
vania, since the latter part of the eighteenth 
century. 

John Turn, his grandfather, verbose par- 
ents were Germans and died young, was 
born at Mount Bethel, Montgomery county, 
Pennsylvania, and later settled in Monroe 
county, but the exact date of this settle- 
ment is not known. It is, however, known 
that he lived there in 1790, and was bound 
out to George Bush to learn the carpenter's 
and cabinetmaker's trade, and perhaps be- 
came one of the first undertakers in Mon- 
roe county. He followed his trade for a 
time, then purchased a tract of land of 
eighty acres in Middle Smithfield township, 
v%^hich he cultivated to such advantage that 
he was enabled to add to it from time to 
time, and at the time of his death was the 
owner of a fine farm of one hundred and 
seventy acres and another large farm in 
Wyoming county, Pennsylvania. That he 
was a thrifty and industrious man is a self- 
evident fact, and in the field of religion he 
displayed an equal amount of energy. He 
was one of the founders and for a long time 
an elder of the Middle Smithfield Presby- 
terian Church. He raised a company of 
militia for the war of 1812, in Pike and 
Northampton counties, of which he was 
made captain. He took this company to 
Philadelphia, and with three other small 
companies they were merged into one, and 
the captains drew lots as to who should 
take command of the body thus formed, 
the lot falling to Captain Dornblazer. John 
Turn married Julia Ann, a daughter of 
Henry Shoemaker, of Warren county, New 
Jersey ; a descendant of Colonel Abram 
Van Campen, of Sussex, New Jersey ; and 
a descendant of Nicholas Dupue, the first 

I 



settler of Shawnee, Pennsylvania. Chil- 
dren: Elizabeth; Henry S. ; John, of fur- 
ther mention ; Samuel S. ; Blandina. 

John, son of John and Julia Ann (Shoe- 
maker) Turn, was born on his father's 
farm in Middle Smithfield township, Mon- 
roe county, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1821, 
and died in 1905, at the home of his son 
Frank, in East Stroudsburg. He obtained 
the meager education which the district 
schools of the time afforded, and until he 
married, assisted his father in the cultiva- 
tion of the homestead farm, then rented the 
homestead for many years and was very 
successful in his management of it. After 
the death of his father the homestead passed 
into his possession, and he lived on it for 
fifteen years, after which he removed to 
East Stroudsburg and spent the remainder 
of his life there. He had made a number 
of additions to the farm, and at the time 
of his death it consisted of two hundred 
and seven acres. After his retirement from 
active conduct of farm operations he rented 
the land to his son Frank for a number of 
years, and two years prior to his death sold 
the property to his son Charles R. The 
residence situated on the homestead was 
erected by the elder John Turn, in 1832. 
Mr. Turn was an elder of the Middle 
Smithfield Presbyterian Church, and gen- 
erous in his support of this institution. He 
married Ency, a daughter of Melchoir 
Dupue, and a descendant of the Dupue 
family who settled in Sussex county. New 
Jersey, at an early date ; she was also a de- 
scendant of Emanuel Gonsaules and John 
DeWitt, of Ulster county. New York, who 
settled on land now in Monroe county, Penn- 
sylvania, and owned by Charles R. Turn and 
William DeWitt and others. Children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Turn: Henry. Sarah. M. 
Dupue, Samuel, William, George B., Frank, 
Elizabeth, Charles R. 

Charles R., son of John and Ency (Du- 
pue) Turn, was born on the old Turn home- 
stead, in Middle Smithfield township, and 
his earliest educational training was obtained 

273 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



in the district schools in his native town- 
ship. He then attended Blair Academy, 
Blairstown, New Jersey, from whence he 
went to Eastman's Business College, Pough- 
keepsie, New York, and was graduated in 
the class of 1884. Upon his return to his 
home he was actively employed on the farm 
for about one year, after which he went to 
East Stroudsburg and became bookkeeper 
for the East Stroudsburg Glass Company, 
a position he retained six years. He then 
became a partner in the firm of Seider & 
Company, boiler manufacturers, of East 
Stroudsburg, and upon the re-organization 
of the firm in March, 1900, the name of 
the concern was changed to the International 
Boiler Works Company. Mr. Booth and 
Mr. Seider retired from the corporation, 
and Mr. Turn was chosen as vice-president 
and general manager, a dual office he filled 
with exceptional ability for a period of 
seven years. At that time W. B. Eastman, 
the president of the corporation, died, and 
several changes were made, among them be- 
ing the election of Mr. Turn as treasurer 
and general manager, the office he is filling 
at the present time. He is connected with 
a number of other important business en- 
terprises, among them being the following : 
director of the Stroudsburg National Bank, 
and the Kitson Woolen Mills Company, of 
Stroudsburg. He is a member of the Pres- 
byterian church of Coolbaugh. Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Turn married Carrie, a daughter of 
W. F. and Mary J. (Rosencrans) Bush, of 
East Stroud'sburg, and they have had : Mary 
Ency, who married Harvey Blair, of Dela- 
ware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, and has 
children : Caroline and Elizabeth. 



TURN, Frank, 

Building and Real Estate Operator. 

Frank Turn, of East Stroudsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, is one of that class of men who are 
adapted to and succeed in whatever line 
of calling they may choose to enter, and 

I 



whose careers are worthy of emulation by 
all young men who would make a place for 
themselves in the world. He is a son of 
John and Ency (Dupue) Turn, an account 
of whom is to be found in the preceding 
sketch of Charles R. Turn. 

Frank Turn was born on the Turn home- 
stead, in Middle Smithfield township, Mon- 
roe county, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1857. 
The district schools of his native town fur- 
nished his early education, and this was 
supplemented by two terms at the Brodhead 
Academy, Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania. 
Upon the completion of his education he 
became associated with his father in agri- 
cultural pursuits on the Turn farm, and 
followed this occupation until 1892. While 
on a visit to the World's Fair at Chicago 
he was so badly injured in a railroad wreck 
at Battle Creek, Michigan, that he was 
obliged to abandon strenuous labor of all 
kinds. Upon his return to the east he re- 
moved to East Stroudsburg, where he pur- 
chased a tract of four acres. On this piece 
of land he erected a fine residence for his 
own use, and having divided the remainder 
into building lots, sold these to advantage. 
He then purchased a section of land on 
North Analomink street, erected about a 
dozen houses there, and resides in one of 
them. It was chiefly owing to his efforts 
that North Analomink street was laid out 
and since that time he has been devoted 
to real estate interests, to building, and his 
extensive lumber interests. Mr. Turn has 
been a strong supporter of the Democratic 
party since he attained his majority, and 
served his party as collector of East 
Stroudsburg in 1912-13. For many years 
he has been a member of the Middle Smith- 
field Presb}-terian Church, and his social 
affiliation is with the Order of Patriotic 
Sons of America. 

Mr. Turn married, December 21, 1883, 
Emma J., daughter of John Zimmerman, 
in his earlier years a farmer, then a mer- 
chant, and finally a saw mill owner of 
Pahaquarry, New Jersey. 
274 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



JACOBY, Benjamin S., 

Banker, Financier. 

Among the representatives of the old and 
honored famihes of Eastern Pennsylvania 
who with their respective ancestors have 
witnessed the settlement and development 
of the State of Pennsylvania from a primi- 
tive wilderness, inhabited by a primitive 
race, to thickly settled, prosperous and en- 
lightened communities, is Benjamin S. 
Jacoby, president of the Stroudsburg Na- 
tional Bank, and closely connected with a 
number of other enterprises of equal im- 
portance. Plis ancestors were what were 
known as Pennsylvania Dutch, who settled 
in the eastern part of Pennsylvania at an 
early date, and bore their part bravely in 
the hardships which the early settlers were 
called upon to endure. The sterling quali- 
ties possessed by these early settlers have 
been transmitted in rich measure to their 
descendants. 

John Philip Jacoby, father of the Mr. 
Jacoby of this sketch, was born about 1790, 
and died at Centerville, Northampton county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1872. He followed his 
occupation as a tanner all his life in Mon- 
roe and Northampton counties, and dis- 
played the patriotism so characteristic of 
his family by taking an active part in the 
war of 1812. He drew a pension from the 
State government until his death, for his 
services in this war, and the national gov- 
ernment acknowledged these services by a 
grant of one hundred and sixty acres of 
land. He was a member of the Reformed 
church in Centreville. Mr. Jacoby mar- 
ried Nancy Queer, and of their fifteen chil- 
dren the following nine attained maturity : 
William, James, Francis, Edwin, Benja- 
min S., the subject of this sketch; Moses. 
Caroline, Fian. Elizabeth. 

Benjamin S. Jacoby was' born in Han- 
over township. Northampton county, Penn- 
sylvania, August II, 1836, and was two and 
a half years of age when he removed with 
his parents to Buttermilk Falls. Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania, where he attended 



the public schools during the winter months, 
and assisted his father in his tanning and 
farming operations during the remainder of 
the year. He was of a naturally studious 
and thoughtful disposition, and all his spare 
moments were spent in reading and study 
so that in 1850, when they went to Wil- 
liamsburg, he was well equipped to teach 
school during four winters, and continued 
with his farm labors during the summers. 
Flis ambitious nature, however, was not 
sacrificed with this slow rate of progress, 
and in 1858 he established himself as a 
traveling photographer, going from town to 
town, and continued successfully in this 
line of business until 1863. In that year 
he settled in Stroudsburg, Monroe county, 
where he opened a photographic gallery, 
with which he was successfully identified 
until 1881. He then abandoned this enter- 
prise, having been appointed clerk in the 
Stroudsburg Bank, rose to the position of 
teller, then cashier, and in 1914 was elected 
to the presidency of this institution, and 
is still the incumbent of this responsible 
position. What was known as the Strouds- 
burg Bank when Mr. Jacoby was first con- 
nected with it was later reorganized as the 
National Bank of Stroudsburg. In June, 
1914, Mr. Jacoby was honored by election 
to the chairmanship of Group Three, State 
Bankers' Association of Pennsylvania. He 
is also president of the Stroudsburg Water 
Supply Company; and a mem.ber of the 
board of directors of the Stroudsburg, 
Water Gap & Portland Railway Company. 
He has given his active support to the Dem- 
ocratic party, and has served as county 
auditor, and several terms as school direc- 
tor. The matter of better and higher edu- 
cation is a subject which Mr. Jacoby has 
closely at heart, and it is largely due to his 
personal efforts in this direction, that the 
public schools of Stroudsburg are in their 
present fine condition. Fraternally he is a 
member of Barger Lodge. Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons of Stroudsburg. 

Mr. Jacoby married. May 9, 1870, Eliza- 



1275 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



beth O., daughter of Jeremy Mackey, at one 
time associate judge of Monroe county, and 
cashier of the Stroudsburg Bank for a num- 
ber of years. Children: i. Ralph M. 2. 
Mary B., married R. R. Coolbaugh, and 
has children: Sarah D. and Benjamin J. 3. 
J. Mackey, teller of the Stroudsburg Na- 
tional Bank. 

As Mr. Jacoby owes his rise in life to 
his personal efforts, he has formed the habit 
of estimating people at their intrinsic, not 
their extrinsic value. In all the relations of 
life Mr. Jacoby has displayed a most exem- 
plary character. A man of the strictest in- 
tegrity, warm-hearted and compassionate, 
he has contributed liberally of his means to 
the suffering and distressed, and has dis- 
pensed his benefactions with modesty and 
unostentation. 



FOSTER, William Sill, 

Civil War Veteran, Physician. 

Prominent among the men who, for the 
last half century, have been engaged in 
making the history of the medical pro- 
fession in Pittsburgh is Dr. William Sill 
Foster, who now stands in the front rank 
of the physicians of Pennsylvania. With 
the leading interests of the city which has 
been his home for so many years Dr. Fos- 
ter is thoroughly identified as an advocate 
of the wisest and most efficient methods to 
be employed in their advancement. 

Alexander Foster, grandfather of Wil- 
liam Sill Foster, came from Ireland, set- 
tling in Washington county, Pennsylvania, 
where he followed the calling of a farmer. 
In religious belief he was a Protestant. 
He married Sarah Davis. 

Walter Foster, son of David and Sarah 
(Davis) Foster, was born January 8, 18 10, 
on Bowery Hill, Washington county, Penn- 
sylvania, and was a farmer at Bridgeville, 
near Pittsburgh. He was first a Whig and 
later a Republican. He married Maria, 
daughter of Colonel Jesse and Elizabeth 
(Robinson) Sill, of McKeesport, Pennsyl- 



vania. Mr. Sill was a farmer and belonged 
to a family which migrated from New Jer- 
sey to McKeesport. Mr. Foster died De- 
cember 20, 1893, and his widow passed 
away December 31, 1903. 

William Sill Foster, son of Walter and 
Maria (Sill) Foster, was born August 26, 
1842, in Pittsburgh, and received his early 
education in the public schools of Mans- 
field (now Carnegie), Pennsylvania, pass- 
ing thence to Tuscarora Academy, Juniata, 
Pennsylvania. He then entered Jefferson 
College (now Washington and Jefferson 
College), but in 1861 abandoned his studies 
in order to enter the Union army, enlisting 
in Company K, First Pennsylvania Cavalry, 
later a part of General George D. Bayard's 
brigade. He served one year, rising to the 
rank of battalion adjutant, and on Sep- 
tember II, 1862, received an honorable dis- 
charge. During his service he took part 
in the battles of Cedar Mountain, Harrison- 
burg and Second Bull Bun, all in Virginia. 
Dr. Foster has also seen active service in 
the state militia; was brigade surgeon (with 
rank of major). Second Brigade Uniformed 
Militia, counties of Allegheny and Arm- 
strong, from January, 1873, to January, 
1878, his term of service including the riots 
of 1877. 

On his return home from the Civil War 
Mr. Foster began the study of medicine 
with Dr. W. J. Gilmore, of Bridgeville, 
Pennsylvania, and then entered Jefferson 
Medical College, Philadelphia, graduating 
in 1866 with the degree of Doctor of Medi- 
cine. The honorary degree of Master of 
Arts was conferred upon him by Washing- 
ton and Jefferson College, where the course 
of his studies had been interrupted by the 
outbreak of the war. In July, 1866, Dr. 
Foster began the practice of medicine in 
Pittsburgh, rising ere long into merited 
prominence and coming, in the course of 
time, to the position which he has now held 
for so many years, that of a recognized 
leader in his profession. He formerly 
served on the staff of the Passavant Hos- 



1276 




^2/^i5;^^T- 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



pital, the Allegheny General Hospital, the 
Presbyterian Hospital, and is now consult- 
ing physician on the staff of the West Penn- 
sylvania Hospital. From 1894 to 1900 he 
was a member and secretary of the Penn- 
sylvania State Board of Medical Examiners. 
During a period of forty-seven years he 
has at intervals attended medical meetings 
within a territory extending from New 
York to Portland, Oregon, and as far south 
as New Orleans. 

During the Spanish-American War Dr. 
Foster received from the Governor of Penn- 
sylvania the honor of an appointment as 
member of a Board of Surgeons, appointed 
by the Secretary of War to approve the sur- 
geons who accompanied the Pennsylvania 
regiments to the scene of hostilities. Of the 
three members composing the board two — 
Dr. William Pepper, of Philadelphia, and 
Dr. Foster — were selected by the Governor 
of Pennsylvania, and the third. Dr. John 
Hall, of the United States Army, by the 
Secretary of War. Among the professional 
organizations of which Dr. Foster is a 
member are the following: The Allegheny 
County Medical Society, the Pennsylvania 
Medical Association, of which he was presi- 
dent in 1895; the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, of which he was vice-president in 
1907, and the Academy of Medicine, which 
accepts only college graduates, but to which 
Dr. Foster was admitted on degree. 

An intensely public-spirited citizen, no 
project which, in his judgment, tends to 
promote the best interests of Pittsburgh, 
lacks the hearty cooperation of Dr. Foster. 
He is identified with the Republicans and 
once consented to serve as select council- 
man, but has no desire for office, preferring 
to concentrate his energies on his profes- 
sional duties. His charities are numerous, 
but extremely unostentatious. He belongs 
to Pennsylvania Commandery of the Loyal 
Legion and is a member of Calvary Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church. With much force 
of character and strong individuality Dr. 
Foster combines the quick perceptions and 



sound judgment which are among the essen- 
tials of success in the medical profession. 
His genial nature and sterling qualities of 
manhood have surrounded him with friends 
both in and out of his chosen sphere of 
action. With his well-cut features accentu- 
ated by gray hair and moustache, his eyes 
keen and yet most kindly in expression and 
his manner of unvarying dignified courtesy, 
he presents a perfect picture of the typical 
high-bred physician. He is still engaged in 
active practice and is frequently called in 
consultation in difficult cases. 

Dr. Foster married (first) November 21, 
1867, Amanda, daughter of John and La- 
vinia (Wright) Watt, and they became the 
parents of the following children: i. John 
Watt, born November 23, 1868, a Pittsburgh 
physician, died February 16, 1900. 2. Hal- 
sey Wright, born April 26, 1873, also a 
Pittsburgh physician, died April 14, 1895. 
3. Gertrude Sill, born October 6, 1874, died 
December 29, 1876. 4. Florence Bayard, 
born August 6, 1879, died July 26, 1881. 5. 
Bayard Dashiell, born August 2, 1882, and 
now engaged in the automobile supply busi- 
ness, having been educated at Shady Side 
Academy, Pittsburgh. He married, No- 
vember 24, 1906, Narcisse, daughter of the 
late Honorable John Moffit and Mary 
(Dickey) Kennedy, and they have two chil- 
dren, John Kennedy, born September 7, 
1910, and William Watt, born March 21, 
1913. Mrs. Foster, the mother of these five 
children, died December 8, 1892, and Dr. 
Foster married (second) December 31, 
1895, Mrs. Harriette (Dunglison) Huston, 
a thoughtful, clever woman of culture and 
character who takes life with a gentle seri- 
ousness that endears her to those about her. 
Mrs. Foster is a granddaughter of Pro- 
fessor Robley Dunglison, of Jefferson Med- 
ical College, and had, by her first marriage, 
one son, John Robley Dunglison Huston. 
Dr. Foster is essentially a home-lover and 
of most hospitable disposition, delighting to 
entertain his friends at his beautiful East 
End residence. 



1277 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Dr. Foster has consecrated his life to the 
work of a profession than which there is 
none nobler, and throughout his career of 
ability and usefulness has furnished an 
exemplification of the highest virtues of his 
calling. He has helped to make the history 
of medicine in the city of Pittsburgh and 
the State of Pennsylvania a history of 
honor. 



SHIFFER, Joseph, 

Building Contractor, Financier. 

So intimately is Mr. Shiffer connected 
with the business interests and civic affairs 
of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, that to enu- 
merate them is to almost chronicle the de- 
velopment of that town from his entrance 
into business life. Beginning his activities 
as a builder, he became a contractor, then 
expanded and began a line of general con- 
tracting that in turn led him into manufac- 
turing and general business. 

The Shiffcrs of Northampton county, 
Pennsylvania, are of German ancestry and 
difficult to trace beyond John Shiffer, grand- 
father of Joseph Shiffer of Stroudsburg. 
The family was early known in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania, and there is inter- 
marriage recorded with the Eby family 
springing from Theodore Eby, the Ameri- 
can founder, who came from Germany in 
the year 1717. The Ebys intermarried with 
the Brubakers of Lancaster county, that 
family springing from John Brubaker, who 
came from Switzerland to Pennsylvania 
about 1 7 10. John Shiffer, of Northampton 
county, was a descendant of the Lancaster 
family, but spent his life in Northampton 
and Monroe counties, Pennsylvania. He 
was a farmer, married and reared a family. 

Rudolph Shiffer, son of John and Betsey 
Shiffer, was born in Plainfield, Northamp- 
ton county, Pennsylvania, June 14, 1820, 
and died in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, 
March 29, 1890. The schools of that period, 
rude and imperfect as they were, furnished 
him an opportunity for obtaining knowledge 



that he well improved. At the age of 
eighteen years, in 1838, he accompanied his 
parents to Monroe county. There he 
learned the mason's trade, becoming a well- 
known builder, and conducting a large and 
prosperous business. He was the contractor 
and builder of the court house at Strouds- 
burg, a structure that stands as a monu- 
ment to his skill and ability. All over that 
section buildings large and small testify to 
his energy and to the wide scope of the 
business he transacted, aided in his later 
years by his capable sons, John and Joseph. 

In 1843 Rudolph Shiffer purchased a 
large tract of partly improved land in 
Stroud township, Monroe county, which he 
cleared and further improved by the erec- 
tion of a commodious home thereon, mak- 
ing that his residence until death. Adjoin- 
ing land was added to his original purchase, 
other buildings erected, and the property in 
time became a large, attractive and valuable 
estate. He was a member of the Presby- 
terian church, contributing to its support, 
and aiding in its every department of work. 
He was a member of Barger Lodge, Free 
and Accepted Masons, held in high rank and 
esteem, and buried by his brethren with all 
the honors of Masonry. In political life 
he was an active Democrat, and influential 
in the party. Rudolph Shiffer married, in 
1839, Sarah Strunk, of Smithfield township, 
Monroe county, who died January 9, 1899. 
Children: Mary Ann, Catharine, Hiram, 
Daniel, John, Etta, Joseph, Wesley, Irvin 
and Lewis. 

Joseph Shiffer, son of Rudolph and Sarah 
(Strunk) Shiffer, was born in Stroud town- 
ship, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1856. 
He was educated in the public schools, and 
on attaining suitable age served an appren- 
ticeship in Scranton, Pennsylvania, learn- 
ing the mason's trade in its various branches. 
After becoming a master workman he re- 
turned to Stroudsburg, there engaging with 
his father and brother in general contract- 
ing. The firm became widely known, and 
conducted an extensive business. After the 
278 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



death of Rudolph Shiffer, the founder of 
the business, the brothers continued under 
the firm name, Shiffer Brothers, as at pres- 
ent, the firm consisting of Joseph, John and 
Lewis Shiffer. Among the larger opera- 
tions of the firm may be named several in 
the immediate vicinity : The bridge across 
Brodhead Creek, connecting East and West 
Stroudsburg, before the present State bridge 
was built ; the first and second pipe lines 
constructed for the Stroudsburg Water 
Company ; the East Stroudsburg High 
School ; the Stroudsburg public school ; 
large public school at Belvidere, New Jer- 
sey; and many of the largest ice houses 
along the Delaware railroad. They have 
also built many miles of State roads and in- 
numerable private residences through the 
section of country with Stroudsburg as a 
center. Shiffer Brothers are widely known 
not only as contractors and builders, but as 
progressive citizens, upright and honorable 
men. 

Joseph Shift"er has many interests of im- 
portance outside of Shiffer Brothers' oper- 
ations. He is a director of the Stroudsburg 
National Bank ; president of Gibbs & Com- 
pany, manufacturers of cut glass ; vice- 
president of the Stroudsburg Ribbon Mill 
Company, and as stockholder is interested 
in nearly all Stroudsburg important busi- 
ness interests. He is a Democrat in politics, 
has served as school director and as council- 
man, and is a loyal, firm and steadfast pro- 
moter of all that will insure the public good. 
Mr. Shiffer, as a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, has ever been useful in 
the church ; for thirty-seven years has been 
a member, and a trustee thirteen years. He 
is a member of Barger Lodge, Free and 
Accepted Masons, also belonging to Chap- 
ter, Commandery and Shrine. 

Mr. Shiffer married Ella E.. daughter 
of Elijah Drake, of Stroudsburg. Children : 
I. Jennie, married J. R. Shotwell, of Bethle- 
hem, Pennsylvania; child, Josephine. 2. 
Mary, married James Arbogast, of Strouds- 
burg; child, Frances. 3. Russell, educated 

I 



at public schools and Bordentown, New 
Jersey, Military Academy. The family 
home is in Stroudsburg. 



PUTERBAUGH, Harrison S., 

Soldier, Retired Business Man. 

Harrison S. Puterbaugh, retired railroad 
man and merchant, of East Stroudsburg, 
Pennsylvania, is one of that class of men 
who are adapted to and succeed in whatever 
line of endeavor they may choose to enter, 
and whose careers are worthy of emulation 
by all young men who would make a place 
for themselves in the world. 

George Puterbaugh, grandfather of the 
above-mentioned, was a farmer in Nesco- 
peck township, and died in Dallas township, 
Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. He mar- 
ried Efifie Henry, a native of New England, 
and both were members of the Presbyterian 
church. They had children : Andrew ; John ; 
Joseph ; Samuel H. ; Isaac Trisbaugh, of 
further mention ; Margaret ; Elizabeth. 

Isaac Trisbaugh Puterbaugh, son of 
George and Efifie (Henry) Puterbaugh, was 
born in Nescopeck township, Luzerne 
county, Pennsylvania, December 22, 1822, 
and died at East Stroudsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, March 26, 1889. At an early age he 
made his home with his brother, Samuel 
H., who was a miller at Pittston, Pennsyl- 
vania, and remained there three years. This 
was followed by one year on the farm of 
Bishop Jennings, after which he went to 
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and there ap- 
prenticed himself for a period of three 
years to Hugh Fell, and after the death of 
Mr. Fell carried on the business for two 
further years. Later he conducted a shop 
of his own for some time, and after his 
marriage removed to Scranton. Pennsyl- 
vania, where he entered the employ of the 
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rail- 
road Company, and was engaged in building 
cars for this company. Later he served as 
a conductor on coal and passenger trains 
until 1865, when he removed to East 
279 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and there con- 
tinued his official relations with the com- 
pany, being principally employed as a train 
despatcher and claims agent. His name was 
well known all along the line, and he was 
noted for his sound judgment, and the dis- 
cretion he displayed in his management of 
men and affairs. So great was the pubHc 
confidence reposed in him that, when East 
Stroudsburg was first made a borough in 
1871, he was chosen as the first chief bur- 
gess on the Democratic ticket, and was re- 
elected for a term of two years. He also 
served as auditor and as school director. 
He was one of the organizers, and served 
as one of the directors, of the First Na- 
tional Bank of East Stroudsburg, and was 
treasurer of the silk mill. Mr. Puterbaugh 
married, in 1843, Elizabeth George, and 
had children: Harrison S., whose name 
heads this sketch ; Alice, died at four years 
of age. 

Harrison S. Puterbaugh was born at 
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, December 8, 
1845, ^rid received his early education at 
the district school of his native town, after 
which he became a student at Kingston 
Academy, Kingston, Pennsylvania. He ran 
away from this institution and enlisted in 
Company A, 143d Regiment Pennsylvania 
Volunteer Infantry, and saw service in the 
battles of the Wilderness, Poe River, Al- 
sop Farm, Laurel Hill, and Spottsylvania 
Court House, being wounded in the last 
mentioned battle. He was mustered out at 
York, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1865, while 
on provost duty. Upon his return to his 
home he found employment with the Dela- 
ware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad 
Company, and was connected with them un- 
interruptedly for a period of twenty-one 
years and four months, as brakeman, fire- 
man and passenger conductor, retiring in 
1889. He then engaged in the dry goods 
business in East Stroudsburg, but at the end 
of five years was obliged to abandon this by 
reason of ill health. He, therefore, dis- 
posed of his business and has since led a 



retired life. Like his father, Mr. Puter- 
baugh has always had the public welfare 
deeply at heart ; he also served two terms as 
chief burgess, and' was the first official to 
hold the three-year term. He served sev- 
eral years as treasurer of the borough, and 
for a period of six years was president of 
the school board. His fraternal associa- 
tions are as follows : Charter member of the 
J. Simpson Africa Lodge, No. 628, Free 
and Accepted Masons, of East Strouds- 
burg; member of the Stroudsburg Chapter, 
No. 281, Royal Arch Masons; S. S. Yohe 
Commandery, Knights Templar, of 
Stroudsburg ; Irene Temple, Ancient Arabic 
Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Wil- 
kes-Barre ; Keystone Consistory, Scottish 
Rites, of Scranton; he is a thirty-second 
degree Mason, and has filled all the chairs 
in the Blue Lodge ; is a member of Wads- 
worth Post, No. 150, Grand Army of the 
Republic, Department of Pennsylvania, 
Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and is past 
commander of same. In political matters 
he is an Independent, and in religion, a 
member of the Lutheran church. Mr. Put- 
erbaugh married May Lungar, of New 
Hampton, New Jersey. 



MORIN, Hon. John Marie, 

Man of Affairs, Congreasmaii. 

Hon. John Marie Morin, of Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, is numbered among the most 
prominent men of large affairs, and during 
a long and busy career has contributed in 
a great measure to the advancement of the 
industrial and financial interests of Western 
Pennsylvania, and has occupied various im- 
portant official positions. As a statesman, 
the vigor of the measures he recommends 
has won the sincere approval and commen- 
dation of his colleagues. He is a son of 
Martin Joseph and Rose (Joyce) Morin, 
both natives of county Mayo, Ireland, who 
came to America in 1863. 

Hon. John Marie Morin was born in Phil- 
adelphia, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1868, and 
280 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his rise to his present eminence is due to 
his own unaided efforts. For a time he at- 
tended the public schools of Pittsburgh, to 
which city his parents had removed, but his 
opportunities for acquiring a liberal edu- 
cation \vere limited, as he was obliged to 
work for his own support at an early age. 
His first position was in a glass factory, 
and afterwards he was employed in iron 
and steel mills. Laborious work for a 
young lad, but this could not dampen the 
ambition of Mr. Morin who spent his even- 
ings at the night schools, in spite of fatigue, 
and supplemented this with a course in a 
business college. This is characteristic of 
the man. Throughout his life he has been 
constantly acquiring knowledge — not neces- 
sarily by means of the study of books, but 
no moment is wasted, his mind is constantly 
on the alert, and he now finds in the rtudy 
of men and affairs an inspiration which en- 
ables him to solve many a knotty problem. 
In his early life he had many obstacles to 
overcome of which the young man of moans 
has no idea, but the very effort necessitated 
by this strengthened him mentally and phy- 
.sically for the more responsible tasks of 
his future life. In 1890 he removed to 
Missoula, Montana, having accepted a po- 
sition with the D. J. Hennisey Mercantile 
Company, of that town, and returned to 
Pittsburgh at the end of three years, and 
made his permanent home there. 

From the time he attained his majority 
Mr. Morin became an active worker in the 
interests of the Republican party. He was 
one of the leaders in the affairs connected 
with union labor and the members of 
Trades' Unions, and was for a long time 
a member of the Central Trades' Council 
of Pittsburgh. He was elected delegat': to 
every Republican State Convention from 
1905 to 1912 inclusive; was elected by the 
Fourteenth Ward to represent it in the 
Common Council, 1904- 1906. On April 5, 
1909, he was appointed director of the De- 
partment of Public Safety, in Pittsburgh, 
and held this office until his resignation 



February i, 191 3, at which time he took up 
his congressional duties. He was nomin- 
ated as representative-at-large by the Re- 
publican State Convention, his nomination 
being indorsed by the Bull Moose, Roose- 
velt Progressive and Washington parties 
and he was elected to the Sixty-third Con- 
gress by a majority of 260,975 votes, re- 
ceiving 618,537 votes, his closest opponent, 
a Democrat, receiving 357,562 votes. He 
is a director in the Washington Trust Com- 
pany, of Pittsburgh he is also a director 
of the Pittsburgh Hospital, the Roselia 
Foundling Asylum and Maternity Hospital. 
He was but a youth when he joined t'lc 
Central Turnverein, and in 1893 he became 
a life member of the Pittsburgh Press Club; 
he is a member of the Pittsburgh Academy 
of Science and Art, of the Fraternal Order 
of Eagles, being president of the State Ey- 
rie of Pennsylvania, and is amember of other 
prominent clubs of the city. He is an all 
round athlete, and has always shown an 
active interest in matters connected with 
this form of recreation. In the world of 
athletic sports he is best known by his repu- 
tation as a sculler. While living in Mon- 
tana, he assisted in organizing, and became 
a director of the Montana State Baseball 
League, acted as manager-captain, and 
played with the Missoula team, 1891-93. 

Mr. Morin married, in 1897, Eleanor Ce- 
cilia Hickey, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 
and is the father of eight children : Harry, 
deceased ; John William McCleary, Rose, 
Elizabeth, Martin J., William Magee, Mary 
and Margaret. 



ROGERS, George W., 

Prominent Criminal Tiaxryer. 

There was in the life of George W. Rog- 
ers, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, a fullness 
of accomplishment and an evenness of bal- 
ance that compelled both admiration and 
wonder. A lawyer of distinguished parts, 
during a career of unusual length and activ- 
ity he labored with diligence and fidelity, 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



attaining to prominence and position in legal 
circles ; his religious obligations he dis- 
charged with the most scrupulous devotion; 
financial fields felt his influence ; and, when 
he began to feel the pressure of his many 
connections, he severed these and enjoyed 
the fruits of his early and successful effort. 
His death was a distinct and sincerely 
mourned loss to the community and his host 
of friends. 

George W. Rogers was a descendant of 
the Rogers family of Connecticut, the first 
settler of his line in Pennsylvania being 
General William Charles Rogers, grand- 
father of George W. Rogers. General 
Rogers was a son of Dr. David and Susan 
(Tennant) Rogers, of Connecticut, both of 
English descent. 

General William Charles Rogers was 
born in Connecticut, May 28, 1776, and 
when quite a young man located in Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania. Several years larer 
he located in Warrington. Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farm- 
ing, although his early life had been spent 
on the sea in the Philadelphia-China mer- 
chant marine service. He served in the 
War of 1812, attaining the rank of briga- 
dier-general and commanding the volunteer 
troops stationed at Marcus Hook for the 
protection of Philadelphia and Delaware 
river towns. After moving to Bucks county 
he was chosen justice of the peace, holding 
that office for many years. General Rogers 
married, in 1796, in Philadelphia. Pennsyl- 
vania, Mary Hiltzheimer, born March 16, 
1 77 1, in a house at the corner of Seventh 
and Market streets, Philadelphia, where 
Thomas Jefferson later wrote the Declara- 
tion of Independence, that building owned 
by her father, Hon. Jacob Hiltzheimer, a 
member of the Pennsylvania Legislature 
and the incumbent of other official positions. 
He married, in 1761, Hannah Walker, a 
member of the Society of Friends. He died 
September 14, 1798. and was buried in the 
cemetery of the German Reformed Church, 
now a part of Franklin Square. The house 



at No. 700 Market street, in which Jetler- 
son wrote the Declaration of Independence, 
was demolished in February, 1883, the site 
now being occupied by the Penn National 
Bank Building. Jacob Hiltzheimer bought 
the house, a three-story brick structure, 
from Jacob Graff, July 24, 1777. 

David Rogers, third son of General Wil- 
liam Charles and Mary (Hiltzheimer) 
Rogers, was born in Warrington township, 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, November 5, 
1800, died in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 
1883. He was a farmer of Bucks county 
until 1858, then moved to Norristown, 
where he resided until his death. He was a 
member of the Presbyterian church, and a 
Democrat in politics, holding many local 
offices. He married, in 1828, Cynthia Wat- 
son, who died in 1879, daughter of Ben- 
jamin Watson, a soldier of the Revolution, 
who, as one of General Morgan's riflemen, 
participated in many of the historic battles 
of that war. He was discharged at the close 
of the war at Charleston, South Carolina, 
and being without funds, walked to his 
home in Pennsylvania. He died at the age 
of seventy-seven years and was buried at 
Neshaminy Presbyterian Church in Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania. Children of David 
Rogers : George W., of further mention : 
William C, a physician and surgeon ; Mary, 
married Henry Hibbs, of Wilkes-Barre, 
Pennsylvania. 

George W. Rogers, eldest son of David 
and Cynthia (Watson) Rogers, was born 
in Warrington township, Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, June 15, 1829, died in Nor- 
ristown, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1907. His 
early education was obtained in the public 
schools, his classical studies being pursued 
and finished at a private school in Bucks 
county. He taught school for three years, 
then began the study of law under Joseph 
Fornance, finishing under Judge David 
Krause. He was admitted to the bar, Jan- 
uary 24, 1854, and at once began practice 
in Norristown. He rose rapidly in public 
favor and soon became noted among the 
282 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



leading men of the Montgomery county bar. 
He was elected district attorney of the 
county in 1856, and in 1874 was a candidate 
of his party for additional law judge of 
Montgomery county and Bucks. He failed 
of an election by a small margin, as he did 
in 1888, his party, the Democratic, being 
in too great a minority for even as strong 
a candidate as Mr. Rogers to be elected. 
He was associated with many of the noted 
cases that came before the Montgomery 
county courts, and for nearly half a cen- 
tury was intimately engaged in active pro- 
fessional labor. He was most careful in the 
preparation of his cases, fought for his 
clients until every resource was exhausted, 
and as a criminal lawyer had no superior. 
His record was a remarkable one and 
stamps him as one of the strong men of his 
day. Mr. Rogers practiced assiduously for 
many years and also acquired important bus- 
iness interests in Norristown, but in 1894 
he resigned from the presidency of the Al- 
bertson Trust and Safe Deposit Company, 
now the Penn Trust Company, of which 
he was the first president, and formed a 
law partnership with Edward E. Long, and 
gave himself more time for travel and rec- 
reation. He had visited Europe in 1883, 
but after the formation of the firm of Rog- 
ers & Long he made four tours of Europe, 
also visiting Egypt and the Holy Land. His 
trips included all the principal countries of 
Europe, and he preserved valuable photo- 
graphic records of his journeyings, which 
later he had converted into stereopticon 
slides, using them to illustrate the several 
lectures he prepared and delivered on for- 
eign countries. His last European visit 
was made in 1907, when he was accompan- 
ied by his wife, the Holy Land also being 
included in this journey. In 1902, while 
Mr. Rogers was in Europe, the firm of 
Rogers & Long was dissolved, and Mr. 
Rogers did not again actively engage in 
practice. He subsequently toured Europe 
in 1905 and 1907, his death occurring 
shortly after his return from the last trip. 



Mr. Rogers was an ardent Democrat, and 
in 1854 was elected burgess of Norris- 
town. He served three years, 1856-59, as 
district attorney of Montgomery county, 
and had his political affiliations been dififer- 
ent would have been elevated to the bench. 
But a great criminal lawyer was thereby 
saved to the bar, and no political distinction 
could compare with the honor he won as 
an able, learned, skillful, upright lawyer. 
He was a member of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Norristown for many years, 
serving as trustee, Sunday school superin- 
tendent, and elder. Fraternally, he was as- 
sociated with the Masonic order, belong- 
ing to Charity Lodge, Free and Accepted 
Masons ; Norristown Chapter, Royal Arch 
Masons ; and Hutchinson Commandery, 
Knights Templar. The Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania State and American 
Bar Associations claimed him as a member, 
and he also belonged to the Lawyers' Club, 
of Philadelphia, and in all he was greatly 
beloved and esteemed. His years, seventy- 
eight, were active and useful ones, and in 
all that he undertook he was uniformly 
successful, his energy and ability forming 
a combination irresistible. 

Mr. Rogers married, July i, 1858, Cara 
C, only daughter of Jesse and Mary Bean, 
of Norristown. Children : Cara, married 
Clarence L. Blakely ; D. Ogden, a graduate 
of Lafayette College, class of 1882, admit- 
ted to the bar in 1883, died December 25, 
1894; G. Austin, died February i, 1877; 
Jessie B., a graduate of the Elmira 
Women's College, class of 1895, married 
John R. Van Campan, of Elmira, New 
York. 



SADLER, Lewis S., 

Lawyer, Financier. 

Lewis Sterrett Sadler, president of the 
Farmers' Trust Company of Carlisle, and 
for the last fifteen years conspicuously 
identified with almost every prominent 
project for the advancement and benefit of 



PA-14 



1283 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his native city, is a representative of a fam- 
ily of English origin which, for more than 
a century and a half, has been resident in 
Pennsylvania. Richard Sadler, the first an- 
cestor of record, came in 1746 from Eng- 
land to Pennsylvania, and settled in what 
is now Adams county, pre-empting land 
upon which he spent the remainder of his 
life and which is still in possession of his 
descendants; he died in 1764. His son 
Isaac married Mary Hammersly. 

(III) Richard, son of Isaac and Mary 
(Hammersly) Sadler, was a farmer and 
early in life removed to Centre county, 
where he lived for fifteen years, at the end 
of that time returning to Adams county, 
where he passed his latter years. He mar- 
ried Rebecca Lewis ; children : John L. ; 
Joshua, mentioned below ; William R. ; 
Isaac ; Elizabeth ; Rebecca, and Nancy. Dur- 
ing his young manhood Mr. Sadler was a 
member of the Protestant Episcopal church, 
his wife being a Presbyterian, but in after 
life both united with the Methodist Epis- 
copal denomination. Mr. Sadler was a man 
of vigorous personality and intellect and was 
eighty-two years old at the time of his 
death. 

(IV) Joshua, son of Richard and Re- 
becca (Lewis) Sadler, was born on the 
homestead in Adams county, and all his life 
followed agricultural pursuits. About 1841 
he moved into what is now Penn township, 
Cumberland county, and there passed the 
remainder of his life. He married Harriet, 
daughter of John Stehley, of Adams county, 
and they were the parents of two sons : Wil- 
bur Fisk, mentioned below ; and John L. 
Mr. Sadler was one of the founders of 
Christ (Protestant Episcopal) Church, at 
York Springs. He died in December, 1862, 
aged sixty-one years, and his widow passed 
away in January, 1868. 

(V) Wilbur Fisk, son of Joshua and 
Harriet (Stehley) Sadler, was born October 
14, 1840, near York Springs, Adams county, 
Pennsylvania, and received his earliest edu- 



cation in the country schools of the neigh- 
borhood, afterward attending Centreville 
Academy. He was then for a time engaged 
in teaching in the schools of Cumberland 
county, later becoming a student at the East- 
ern Seminary, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, 
from which institution he graduated in 1863. 
On returning home he found the southern 
portion of the State overrun by the Con- 
federate army, and at once enlisted in an 
emergency cavalry company, the regiment 
with which he was connected being muster- 
ed out of service in the autumn of the same 
year. He then began the study of law 
under the preceptorship of Mr. Morrison, 
of Williamsport, and later under that of 
A. P). Sharpe, of Carlisle. In 1864 he was 
admitted to the bar, and immediately began 
practice at Carlisle, where, by dint of un- 
wearied application joined to an exceptional 
degree of ability, he acquired a business and 
a reputation which steadily increased until 
his elevation to the bench. Early in his 
career Mr. Sadler became an influential 
factor in the affairs of the Republican party. 
In 1868 he was nominated for State Sena- 
tor, and, although not elected, made a show- 
ing that greatly contributed to his reputa- 
tion as a party leader. In 187 1 he was 
elected district attorney, and three years 
later was the Republican candidate for Pre- 
siding Judge of the Ninth Judicial District. 
In 1884 he was elected to this office by a 
large majority, and subsequently was twice 
a candidate for Supreme Court Judge, each 
time coming within a few votes of being 
nominated. In 1904 he was again elected 
Presiding Judge of the Ninth Judicial Dis- 
trict of Pennsylvania. In 1881 he was 
president of the Farmers' Bank of Carli.sle, 
and was connected with several corpora- 
tions from which he withdrew on his eleva- 
tion to the bench. He was a director of the 
public schools of Carlisle, a trustee of Dick- 
inson College, and filled other positions of 
trust and responsibility. 

Judge Sadler married, in 1871, Sarah E., 



1284 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



daughter of Rev. David Sterrett, a Presby- 
terian minister then living in Carlisle, and 
the following children have been born to 
them: i. Wilbur Fisk, Adjutant-General of 
the State of New Jersey, and president of 
the Broad Street National Bank of Tren- 
ton. 2. Lewis Sterrett, mentioned below. 
3. Sylvester B., graduated from Yale in 
1896, with second honors of his class, and 
from the Dickinson School of Law in 1898. 
He is editor of "Sadler's Reports," and the 
author of four text-books of laws that are 
in use in Pennsylvania. 4. Horace T., grad- 
uated in 1901 from the dental department 
of the University of Pennsylvania, and is 
now engaged in successful practice in Car- 
lisle. Mrs. Sadler passed away January 10, 

1895. 

(VI) Lewis Sterrett, son of Wilbur Fisk 
and Sarah E. (Sterrett) Sadler, was born 
March 3, 1874, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
and received his primary education in the 
common schools of his native city, after- 
ward entering Dickinson College, where he 
remained until the sophomore year. He 
then matriculated at Yale University, grad- 
uating with the class of 1895. I" ^896 he 
graduated from the Dickinson School of 
Law and the same year was admitted to the 
bar. For a short time he practiced his pro- 
fession in association with his father, and 
for one term was attorney for the Carlisle 
borough council. A career of distinction 
not inferior to that of his father seemed to 
await him, but his predominant talent was 
for business, and so strongly did this assert 
itself that, notwithstanding his bright pros- 
pects in the law, he abandoned his profes- 
sion and plunged into the arena of affairs. 
His record thenceforth has been largely 
identical with the history of his native city 
in so far as regards its financial growth and 
prosperity. He was one of the organizers 
of the Farmers' Trust Company, of which 
he is now president, and which has the 
finest and most attractive bank building in 
Southern Pennsylvania. Mr. Sadler also 



helped to organize the Cumberland Valley 
Traction Company, a $1,700,000 corpora- 
tion, and is a member of its board of direc- 
tors. He is president of the Carlisle Trust 
Company, and is connected with various 
other corporations. Public-spirited in the 
highest degree, he has been foremost in 
every effort for the furtherance of the best 
interests of Carlisle, and no good work done 
in the name of charity or religion seeks his 
cooperation in vain. In politics Mr. Sadler 
is a strong Republican, actively identified 
with the policy of the organization, and has 
attended, in the capacity of delegate, vari- 
ous State and county conventions. Despite 
the great number of interests which claim 
his attention, he is not unmindful of the 
amenities of social life and is personally 
very popular. He belongs to the Carlisle 
Club, the Harrisburg Club, the Harrisburg 
Country Club and the Union League Club 
of Philadelphia. He is a member of the 
Second Presbyterian Church, in which he 
has held the office of trustee. 

Mr. Sadler married, in 1902, Mary E., 
daughter of James W. and Helen W. 
(Beltshoover) Bosler, of Carlisle. "Thorne- 
wald," the home of Mr. and Mrs, Sadler, is 
an estate of fifty acres, situated on the out- 
skirts of the city. The magnificent resi- 
dence stands amid scenes of great natural 
beauty enhanced by a high degree of culti- 
vation. This home is the centre of a graci- 
ous and refined hospitality and within its 
walls many brilliant social functions have 
taken place. 

Mr. Sadler is the bearer of a name dis- 
tinguished throughout the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, and to the laurels gathered by his 
father on the bench and at the bar he has 
added those which always await the high- 
minded man of affairs. In everything he 
stands for progress — the progress which 
means advancement in all that makes for 
betterment, and which has been most fully 
and forcibly exemplified in all that he has 
accomplished for his native city of Carlisle. 
285 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



KING, Arthur, 

Prominent Business Man. 

Arthur King, of Middletown, Dauphin 
county, Pennsylvania, who is at the head of 
one of the leading industrial enterprises of 
that section of the country, and is connected 
with a number of others of almost equal 
importance, is of English descent. The 
American progenitor of the King family 
came from England early in the eighteenth 
century, made his home in Maryland, and 
was a civil engineer and land surveyor. He 
died in Loudoun county, Virginia, leaving 
a family. 

Richard King, son of the preceding, was 
born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 
1745, and died in 1819. He married Susan 
, born in 1749, died in 1810. 

Richard (2) King, son of Richard (i) 
and Susan King, was born in Frederick 
county, Maryland, in 1782, and died in 
1833. He married Elizabeth Redburn. of 
Sidling Hill, Maryland, a descendant of 
Lord Suttle, of England. Children: John 
H., of whom further ; Rebecca, Susan, Sam- 
uel, James. 

John H. King, son of Richard (2) and 
Elizabeth (Redburn) King, was born in 
Frederick county, Maryland, July 14, 1806, 
died at Hagerstown, Maryland, May 22, 
1891. He was but twelve years of age 
when he entered the service of the govern- 
ment at Harpers Ferry, now West Virginia, 
in the armory maintained at that point, and 
remained in this service for a period of 
thirty-two years. He became master arm- 
orer, and was the inventor of the process of 
inserting locks into the stocks of guns by 
means of machinery. In association with 
Captain Hall, he invented a breech-loading 
gun, the first ever known, which was known 
as "Hall's rifle." Upon leaving the armory 
he was given charge of the Fitz Agricul- 
tural Works, at Martinsburg, now West 
Virginia, and during the last fifteen or 
twenty years of his life lived in retirement. 
In his earlier years he was a Democrat, sub- 
sequently becoming a Whig, and finally sup- 



porting the Republican party. Mr. King 
married, in 1828, Mary, a daughter of James 
and Mary Greer, Irish and Scotch respec- 
tively. They settled at Germantown, Penn- 
sylvania, where Mr. Greer, who was a lock- 
smith, was in the government employ as a 
gunmaker. He invented the first machine 
for boring gun barrels, and was called by 
the United States to work in the armory at 
Harpers Ferry. Mr. and Mrs. King had 
children: i. Elizabeth. 2. Martha J. 3. 
Anna M., married Jacob Powles, judge of 
the Orphans' Court. 4. Amasa W., con- 
nected with the United States Coast Survey 
at Washington, went south and was appoint- 
ed a captain in the Confederate army at the 
commencement of the Civil War, had charge 
of the machinery taken by the Confederates 
from the armory at Harpers Ferry, and in- 
stalled and operated this at Fayetteville, 
North Carolina. 5. Mary Ellen, died in in- 
fancy. 6. Oliver Marshall, spent the greater 
part of his life in the service of the Balti- 
more & Ohio Railroad Company, as fore- 
man and superintendent of bridges, and re- 
tired on a pension in old age. 7. George H., 
in the employ of the Southern Express Com- 
pany. 8. Jacob. 9. Arthur, of whom fur- 
ther. 

Arthur King was born at Harpers Ferry, 
Virginia, July 9, 1841, removed with his 
parents to Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1852, 
and to Martinsburg, now West Virginia, five 
years later. He received his education at 
Harpers Ferry and Hagerstown, and dur- 
ing the five years he lived in Martinsburg, 
learned the machinists' trade thoroughly. 
During the progress of the Civil War he 
was employed at the Jenks' small firearm 
factory, in Philadelphia, and was also for a 
time with the Sharps Rifle Works of that 
city. When he removed to York, Pennsyl- 
vania, he became foreman of the car works 
of G. W. Ilgenfritz, a position he held 
twelve years. He obtained an interest in 
the car works at Middletown, Pennsylvania, 
in 1879, the concern being conducted under 
the firm name of Schall & King for many 



1286 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



years. In 1891 Mr. Schall failed and Mr. 
King succeeded to the business, conducting 
it alone until 1901, when it was formed into 
a stock company, of which Mr. King was 
chosen president. Under his able manage- 
ment they attained a great importance in the 
industrial world. As a mark of recognition 
for what Mr. King had done in the world 
of industry, Wittenberg College, Springfield, 
Ohio, conferred the degree of Master of 
Arts upon him in 1903. Among other im- 
portant connections of Mr. King are the 
following: He was vice-president of the 
old Middletown Bank; is president of the 
King-Lawson Car Company ; member of 
the Exporters' Association of New York ; 
member of the Pan-American Society of 
New York. He was formerly a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but 
at present has no fraternal affiliations. Since 
taking up his residence in Middletown in 
189 1, Mr. King has been an active mem- 
ber of the Lutheran church of that town. 
He is a member of the Board of Publication 
for the General Synod, and of the Board of 
Church Extension, and in the fall of 1905 
was a delegate to the General Synod and 
the Interchurch Conference in New York. 
While living at York, he was a member of 
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, was Sunday 
school superintendent there, a member of 
the Church Council, and has been a member 
of the Church Council since residing in Mid- 
dletown. Mr. King has always supported 
the Republican party politically, and while 
he has never been desirous of holding pub- 
lic office, he served as School Director and 
member of the City Council while living in 
York. 

Mr. King married, in York, December 
22, 1868, Lydia A., daughter of George W. 
and Isabella Ilgenfritz, and had children : 

1. Mary Belle, born in October, 1869; mar- 
ried Paul A. Kunkel, Esq., of Harrisburg. 

2. George Ilgenfritz, of whom further. 3. 
Marion, born in 1873; married (first) Har- 
old A. Clark, of Detroit, Michigan, now de- 
ceased; had one son, Arthur King; mar- 



ried (second) Dr. D. B. Deatrick, of Mid- 
dletown, Pennsylvania. 4. John E., born in 
July, 1877, died in infancy. 5. Anna Greer, 
born in October, 1881, also died in infancy. 
George Ilgenfritz King, son of Arthur 
and Lydia A. (Ilgenfritz) King, was born 
in York, Pennsylvania, April 9, 187 1. Edu- 
cated in the public schools of York, the 
York County Academy, and the York Col- 
legiate Institute, he was graduated from the 
last named institution in 1888 as valedic- 
torian of his class. In the latter part of the 
following year Mr. King became a student 
at the Institute of Technology at Boston, 
Massachusetts, with the idea of taking a 
four years' course. In the meantime his 
father had assumed control of the car works 
at Middletown, and Mr. King was recalled 
in order to assist him in 1891. Five years 
were spent as draughtsman and superin- 
tendent in the car works, and in 1896 he 
reentered the Institute of Technology, and 
remained there one year. Mr. King entered 
the employ of the Schoen Pressed Steel 
Company in June, 1897, as draughtsman, 
and at this time the company was construct- 
ing the first large lot of fifty-ton steel cars 
ever built in the United States. He severed 
the connection the following January in 
order to accept a similar position with the 
Michigan-Peninsular Car Company, of De- 
troit, Michigan, which was merged in 1899 
with the American Car & Foundry Com- 
pany. Mr. King was subsequently made in- 
spector of shops, and in this position his 
efficiency was of great benefit to the corpora- 
tion. He was appointed manager of the 
steel car department of the company in 
1900, but severed his connection with this 
company in the following year to assume 
the duties of vice-president and general 
manager of the Middletown Car Works. 
Mr. King is the inventor of numerous im- 
provements on steel cars and their various 
parts, and he has duly patented these, as 
they have proved their value. He has been 
active in many other directions. He was a 
member of the first board of directors of 



1287 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the Middletown Improvement Company; 
one of the organizers of the Citizens' Na- 
tional Bank of Middletown ; was the first 
president of the Board of Health of Middle- 
town ; one of the organizers, and later presi- 
dent, of the Country Club ; was president 
of the Young Men's Christian Association; 
a member of the American Society of Me- 
chanical Engineers ; member of the Alumni 
Association of the Institute of Technology 
of Boston, Massachusetts ; member of 
Prince Edwin Lodge, No. 486, Free and 
Accepted Masons. His religious member- 
ship is with St. Peter's Lutheran Church of 
Middletown. Mr. King married, Septem- 
ber 14, 1898, Emma, daughter of Joseph 
and Anna (Gingerich) Campbell, and they 
have had children : Marion Charlotte, born 
February 9, 1900; George Ilgenfritz Jr., 
January 22, 1902 ; Lucille Campbell, Decem- 
ber 2, 1904; Eleanor Campbell, February 8, 
1906 ; Robert Emmet ; John Snyder. 



WEAVER, Joseph Kerr, M. D., 

Prominent Physician and Surgeon. 

It has been said upon eminent and un- 
biased authority that no profession produces 
in such numbers men of the mental and 
moral calibre, men of the self-sacrificing de- 
votion to truth and to humanity, men of the 
wide-reaching and inspiring influence that 
is shown by the profession of medicine. Of 
such, and fulfilling the best traditions of his 
professional brethren, is Dr. Joseph K. 
Weaver, a noted physician of Montgomery 
county, Pennsylvania. 

Though born near Greensburg, West- 
moreland county, in the western part of the 
State, where his family had a homestead. 
Dr. Weaver has for many years been identi- 
fied with Montgomery county. He was 
born October 31, 1838, one of the ten chil- 
dren of John Weaver, whose father had 
been one of the early settlers of that region. 
John Weaver was one of six brothers, all 
of them sturdy patriots, and two of whom 
had served in the War of 1812. John 



Weaver had been a man of marked ability 
and force, locating while still comparatively 
young near Greensburg, and giving the 
place on the old national road between Balti- 
more and Pittsburgh (at which he did a 
large mercantile business) the name, 
Weaver's Stand, by which it has since been 
known. He was an extensive landowner 
and a large dealer in stock, and was ac- 
counted one of the successful men of his 
generation in that region. At that time most 
of the intercourse with the West was by the 
great Conestoga wagons, sometimes known 
as "prairie schooners," that slowly rumbled 
along the great national roads, and it was a 
wagon such as this upon which John Weaver 
carried on business. 

In 1842 John Weaver moved his family 
to Saltsburg, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, 
Joseph then being a boy four years old. His 
first schools were the public ones of thfe 
town, and the academy at Saltsburg, and 
later going to a private school for his pre- 
paratory work. So thorough was this pre- 
paration that he was able to enter, in 1858, 
the sophomore class of the university at 
Lewisburg, now known as Bucknell Uni- 
versity, in Union county, Pennsylvania. 
Graduating from this institution in 1861, he 
received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, 
followed in 1863 by the honorary degree of 
Master of Arts, conferred by the same uni- 
versity. Upon leaving college he received 
an appointment as principal of one of the 
public schools of Saltsburg, entering about 
the same time upon the study of medicine 
in the oflfice of S. T. Reddick, M. D., a well 
known physician of the place. His medical 
studies were, however, interrupted by the 
breaking of the war cloud that had been 
gathering for years. It took the country 
some months to realize that the hostilities 
meant war of the most serious kind, and 
then all of the vigorous and high spirited 
youth of the country flocked to the army. 
In August, 1862, young Mr. Weaver re- 
sponded to a new call for troops, and 
entered the army as first lieutenant of Com- 



1288 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



pany D, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, four brothers hav- 
ing previously entered the service. His regi- 
ment was sent to Washington, D. C, on 
provost and guard duty and Lieutenant 
Weaver was detailed for duty at the "Old 
Capitol Prison." After six months of this 
duty his regiment was ordered to the front 
and became a part of the First Corps of the 
Army of the Potomac, under the command 
of General Reynolds. This regiment look 
part in the Chancellorsville campaign, under 
General Hooker, and its time of service hav- 
ing expired, was mustered out May 24, 1863. 
Lieutenant Weaver then for a time resumed 
his medical studies, but it was difficult for 
the energetic and patriotic young man to 
study quietly when such stirring events, and 
the threat of invasion, had roused all the 
martial spirit of the country. He remained 
at his studies but a few months, reentering 
the service as captain of Company A. Fifty- 
fourth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and did 
service in Ohio during the raid of General 
John Morgan, of Confederate fame. In 
July, 1864, he was in command of a com- 
pany in the First Battalion of Infantry, 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, enlisted for one 
hundred days, and at the close of that period 
he accepted the command of a company of 
mounted troops, reenlisted from the original 
battalion, remained in the service doing 
scout and provost duty and was mustered 
out at the close of the war in August, 1865. 
During his period of service Captain 
Weaver's company served as an escort to 
the body of President Lincoln from the 
depot at Harrisburg to the State Capitol, 
where it lay in state over night. He was 
also present at the laying of the cornerstone 
of the monument to the dead in the Na- 
tional Cemetery at Gettysburg, as an aide 
on the staff of the commanding general. In 
the Spanish-American War, Captain Weaver 
was selected for service and was assigned 
to duty as brigade surgeon of the Second 
Brigade, Second Division, Second Army 
Corps, and acted as such until the close of 
the war ; he also had charge of the division 



hospital, and served on the staff of General 
Davis, U. S. A., commanding the division. 

His war service at an end. Captain 
Weaver was now at liberty to continue his 
interrupted medical education, and entered 
Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, 
and from this institution he was graduated 
with the degree of M. D., in June, 1867. 
During his last year in the medical school 
he had valuable experience as resident phy- 
sician in Charity Hospital. After his gradu- 
ation he entered upon a course of special 
study in diseases of the throat, lungs, eye 
and ear, after which he decided to locate in 
Norristown, Pennsylvania, to which place 
he removed and established himself in 1867. 
Here he built up a practice, which has been 
for over forty years one of the best in Mont- 
gomery county. Not only among a large 
body of patients has Dr. Weaver been held 
in high esteem, but he occupies a position of 
confidence and respect among his medical 
brethren and with the community at large. 
Though he has of late years retired, to a 
certain extent, from the more active labors 
of his profession, he still acts as consulting 
physician, does office work, and has given 
his services in many lines of State and 
benevolent work. 

For several years he was lecturer upon 
hygiene and physiology at the Norristown 
High School, making of it an interesting 
and valuable course. In August, 1874, he 
entered the National Guard, as surgeon of 
the Sixth Regiment, and has continued in 
service without interruption since that time. 
He also held the position of brigade surgeon 
and division surgeon, and since July 21, 
1904, has been surgeon-general, serving in 
that capacity during the administrations of 
Governor Pennypacker. Governor Stuart 
and Governor Tener. 

He is a member of the Grand Army of 
the Republic, Zook Post, No. 11. Norris- 
town, Pennsylvania, of which he was for 
several years surgeon and post commander, 
and has served also on the staff of the com- 
mander-in-chief. 

Under the administration of Governor 
289 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Stone he was appointed a member of the 
State Medical Examining Board, a position 
he held for six years. He has been con- 
nected with Charity Hospital at Norristown 
ever since its organization, both as trustee 
and as consulting surgeon, serving also as 
president of the medical board and as chair- 
man of the training school committee, under 
whose charge is the training of nurses. He 
is also consulting surgeon for the Insane 
Hospital at Norristown, and one of the 
board of trustees of the State Institution at 
Spring City, Pennsylvania, for the Feeble- 
Minded and Epileptic, appointed to the lat- 
ter by Governor Tener. 

He is a member of the Montgomery 
County Medical Society, of which he has 
been president; of the State Medical Soci- 
ety; of the American Medical Association; 
and of the Academy of Medicine, the last 
mentioned association having for its object 
the promotion of higher medical education, 
only those being eligible who have attained 
a Master's degree, or its equivalent. He is 
a member of the Loyal Legion, Philadelphia 
Commandery, and is a member of the Asso- 
ciation of Military Surgeons of the United 
States, of which, during 1910, he was presi- 
dent. He is a member of the Union League 
Club of Philadelphia, and is a trustee of 
Bucknell University. In politics Dr. Weaver 
is a Republican and in his religious beliefs 
a Baptist. He is a loyal member of that 
church, served for many years as a member 
of its board of trustees, as deacon thirty 
years, and as superintendent of the Bible 
school. 

Dr. Weaver married, November 2"] , 1872, 
Amelia R., daughter of Henry Lehman, 
Esq., one of the most prominent and 
esteemed citizens of Norristown. 



DENTON, David W., 

Glass Manufacturer, Leg^islator. 

Education and financial assistance are 
very important factors in achieving success 
in the business world of to-day, where every 

I 



faculty must be brought into play, but they 
are not the main elements. Persistency and 
determination figure much more promi- 
nently and a man possessed of these qual- 
ities is bound to win a fair amount of suc- 
cess. David W. Denton, whose name 
initiates this article, earned his own educa- 
tion and during the latter years of his life 
he has climbed to a high place on the lad- 
der of achievement. Pie is one of Roches- 
ter's prominent citizens, and at the present 
time is assistant to the vice-president of 
the H. C. Fry Glass Company. 

A native of South Wales, David W. Den- 
ton was born September 11, 1876, son of 
James and Eliza (Thomas) Denton, the 
former of whom was traffic superintendent 
of the Great Western railroad in Wales at 
the time of his demise, in 1879. Mrs. Den- 
ton survives her husband and is now re- 
siding, at the age of sixty-one years, in 
Wales. Mr. and Mrs. Denton became the 
parents of two children, both of whom are 
living, and of whom David W. was the 
younger in order of birth. 

To the pubHc schools of South Wales, 
David W. Denton is indebted for his early 
educational training, which has since been 
effectively supplemented by extensive read- 
ing and close association with men of afifairs. 
He was a child but three years of age at 
the time of his father's death and was early 
thrown upon his own resources. His first 
employment was in connection with the tin 
plate industry in South Wales. In 1895 he 
decided to seek his fortunes in the New 
World and accordingly bade farewell to 
native land and immigrate^l to the L^nited 
States, locating at Freedom, Beaver county. 
Pennsylvania, where a sister, Susan Mary, 
now Mrs. John E. Morgan, had previously 
settled. He was first employed in the old 
Rochester Tumbler Company plant, and in 
1896 he was advanced to the position of 
melter and glazier, and two years later was 
made foreman in the finishing department. 
So valuable did he become to this company 
that in 1901, when Mr. H. C. Fry estab- 
290 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



lished the H. C. Fry Glass Works on North 
Rochester Hill, he was the first employee 
asked to accept a position in the new plant. 
For four years he was superintendent of 
the finishing department, and in 1907 he was 
made assistant to the vice-president of the 
company, a position he still retains. 

In his political allegiance Mr. Denton is a 
staunch supporter of the principles of the 
Republican party, in the local councils of 
which he has long been an important factor. 
He has served as borough councilman of 
Rochester on several occasions and is now 
president of that body. In 191 2 he was 
nominated on the Republican ticket for rep- 
resentative in the State Legislature and was 
elected by a large majority. His service to 
his constituents has been characterized by 
honorable and upright methods and during 
his term in the Legislature he secured a 
great deal of important legislation for his 
district. 

In July, 1895, just prior to coming to 
America, Mr. Denton married Florence, 
daughter of James and Mary (Short) 
Courtney, of South Wales. They have two 
children, namely : Gertrude Mary and James 
Courtney. In their religious faith they are 
members of the First Baptist Church, in 
which he is a member of the board of trus- 
tees. He is affiliated with Rochester Lodge, 
No. 229, Free and Accepted Masons. 



STAMM, Alexander Carson, 

Liawyer, Leader in Public Improvements. 

Alexander Carson Stamm, of Harrisburg, 
a member of the law firm of Olmsted & 
Stamm, which for nearly twenty years has 
occupied its present high position at the 
Pennsylvania bar, is a representative of that 
sturdy Pennsylvania-German stock which 
more perhaps than any other one element 
has contributed to the upbuilding and de- 
velopment of the Keystone State and has 
left upon it an enduring racial stamp. 

Alexander Carson Stamm was born Oc- 



tober 22, 1863, in Elizabethtown, Lancas- 
ter county, Pennsylvania, son of Rev. John 
S. and Elizabeth (Brady) Stamm, and 
grandson of Rev. John Stamm. Mr. 
Stamm's education was obtained in the pub- 
lic schools of Mount Joy, Lancaster county, 
and Harrisburg, and under private instruc- 
tion, and when, after completing his course 
of study, he decided to devote himself to 
the legal profession, he pursued the cus- 
tomary line of reading in the office and 
under the guidance of M. E. Olmsted, who 
from 1897 to 1913 represented the Harris- 
burg district in the National Congress. The 
ability of the student did not escape the ob- 
servation of the preceptor, and after Mr. 
Stamm was admitted to the bar, he became 
the professional associate of Mr. Olmsted. 
Mr. Stamm has been admitted to practice 
in the Appellate Courts of the State and 
also in the United States Supreme Court. 

Mr. Stamm has found time to enter into 
projects for the well-being and advance- 
ment of Harrisburg. Shortly after attain- 
ing his majority he served as a member of 
the Common Council for four years, during 
the last of which he was president of that 
body. He also served for six years as a 
member of the Board of Public Works of 
Harrisburg, and during that time over a 
million dollars was spent by the board in 
public improvements, including the water 
filtration plant, the intercepting sewer in 
the Paxton Creek Valley and the reinforced 
concrete Mulberry street viaduct. Mr. 
Stamm is a director of the First National 
Bank, and also of the Commonwealth Trust 
Company. Mr. Stamm is a member of the 
State and County Bar associations, the 
Harrisburg Club, the Harrisburg and Colo- 
nial Country clubs and the Harrisburg and 
East End Republican clubs. He is a thirty- 
second degree Mason. 

Mr. Stamm married. May 17, 1904, Mary 
Maude, daughter of Charles and Julia 
(Terrill) Owen, of Mechanicsburg, Penn- 
sylvania. 



1291 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



WILMOT, David, 

Jnrist, Statesman. 

No man in Northern Pennsylvania 
achieved so nation-wide a reputation in his 
day and generation as David Wilmot. He 
was not a great lawyer, save before a 
jury ; possessed of fine voice, good address 
and an eloquent tongue, he relied upon his 
latent resources at the moment to over- 
come his lack of preparedness and his aver- 
sion to study. However, he possessed an 
analytical mind, was a deep thinker, quick 
of comprehension and ability to read faces, 
and with his eloquence carried juries with 
h;m, while others more thoroughly versed 
.n the law, were but little impressed save 
by his eloquence. Indeed, he is said to have 
had the ability to magnetize his hearers and 
in the use of his satire was a past master, 
yet infrequently gave offense. It was as a 
political leader and statesman that he rose 
to the greatest heights of prominence and 
in the stoimy days preceding the Civil 
War, he became a national figure. 

David Wilmot was born in Bethany, 
Wayne county. Pennsylvania, where he. 
spent his early days, and died at Towanda, 
Pennsylvania. March i6, 1868 // the age 
of eighteen he began the study of .'aw at 
Wilkes-Barre. Pennsylvania, was admitted 
to the bar there in 1834, and began prac- 
tice in Bradford county. He soon became 
a conspicuous figure and gained great in- 
fluence over the people, with whom he was 
always honest and sincere. He soon be- 
came — in fact with his character and dis- 
position it could not have been otherwise — 
a leading politician, taking sides with the 
Democracy in opposition to General Mc- 
Kean and his followers. He soon was a 
recognized leader in the county, and in 
1844 was elected to Congress as a "Free 
Trade" Democrat, and was the only member 
from Pennsylvania, who voted for the re- 
peal of the "tariff of 42." In common 
with the Democratic party, he favored the 
annexation of Texas. On August 4, 1846, 
President Polk sent to the Senate a con- 



fidential message asking for an appropri- 
ation to negotiate peace with Mexico. A 
bill was introduced into the House appro- 
priating $2,000,000, for the purpose speci- 
fied. It was to this bill that David Wilmot 
introduced his famous amendment known 
as the "Wilmot Proviso," which amend- 
ment provided that as an express and fun- 
damental condition to the acquisition of any 
territory from the. republic of Mexico by 
the United States, neither slavery nor i:;- 
voluntary servitude should ever exist in any 
part thereof. This amendment carried in 
the House, failed to pass the Senate, but it 
had done its work — had made the name of 
Wilmot immortal, and the principle set 
forth was adopted by the Free Soil party 
two years later and was the wedge that 
split the Democratic party on the slavery 
question. Yet the principle involved is 
found almost verbatim in President Jeffer- 
son's cession of the Northwest Territory 
to the Union of the United States. 

Daniel Webster, who voted for the "pro- 
viso" in the Senate, claimed at the Massa- 
chusetts Whig convention of 1847 that it 
contained nothing new, since he had taken 
the ground long before. Mr. Wilmot per- 
sisted in his course as a "Free Soiler" ; was 
elected to Congress in 1846 on the tariff 
issue over Judge White, a high tariff' Demo- 
crat, and again in 1848, mainly on the senti- 
ment contained in the proviso. In 1848 he 
supported Van Buren for the presidency, 
and in 1850 was a candidate for Congress 
as a Free Soil Democrat. He had awak- 
ened a strong opposition in his district 
which culminated in a split in 1850 and 
the nomination of a pro-slavery Democrat 
to oppose Mr. Wilmot. As the fight prom- 
ised disaster for both candidates, at the sug- 
gestion of Mr. Wilmot both withdrew in 
favor of Galusha A. Grow, who was elected. 
In 185 1 Mr. Wilmot was elected President 
Judge over William Elwell, the independent 
candidate, and sat upon the bench until 
1857, when he resigned to enter the race 
for the Republican nomination for governor 



1292 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of Pennsylvania. His competitor, William 
F. Packer, was elected, but the death knell 
of the Democratic party had been sounded 
and Judge Wilmot's popularity was greater 
than ever. He had not expected an elec- 
tion, and had expressed himself publicly, 
just after his nomination: "I well under- 
stand I cannot be elected, but the canvass 
will be the means of establishing a party 
of which the people will be proud and can 
rely upon." The speeches he made through- 
out the State awakened a deep interest in 
the principles of the then new Republican 
party, which in 1861 gained its first national 
victory. 

Judge Wilniot, while one of the fathers 
of the Republican party, hoped to accom- 
plish the same results through his own 
party and his "proviso" was introduced by 
him while a Democrat, and passed by a 
Democratic house. But he did not hesitate 
to make the break, and it must ever be 
remembered that this famous Democrat 
was one of the fathers of the Republican 
party, and that in Bradford county, in fact, 
in the entire "Wilmot district" of Pennsyl- 
vania — he made the Republican party ; also, 
that he was the first standard bearer of 
that party for the governorship of Penn- 
sylvania, and gave it a name and standing 
as a live party — rather than an abstract 
principle. He was a delegate to the Na- 
tional Republican Convention held in 1856 ; 
was chairman of the committee on resolu- 
tions and drew up the famous resolution de- 
nouncing ''slavery and polygamy as twin 
relics of barbarism." After his defeat for 
the governorship he was appointed to the 
office of President Judge, that he had re- 
signed to accept the nomination for gov- 
ernor, and held the office until 1861. He 
was a delegate to the Chicago convention 
of the Republican party in i860, the Penn- 
sylvania delegation being instructed by the 
State convention to support Simon Camer- 
on for the presidential nomination. After 
one ballot, Judge Wilmot saw that unless 
Cameron dropped out, Mr. Lincoln was 



beaten and Seward would be nominated. 
Thereupon the Pennsylvania delegation 
on the second ballot voted for Abra- 
ham Lincoln. This brought other states 
to Lincoln's standard, and on the third bal- 
lot he was nominated. Judge Wilmot, who 
foresaw the situation, and Mr. Cameron, 
who magnanimously withdrew, may be said 
to have been the most important factors in 
securing Lincoln's nomination. 

Judge Wilmot presided over the Thir- 
teenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania un- 
til 1 861, then again resigned, having been 
chosen by the legislature as United States 
Senator, to fill the place of Simon Cameron, 
who had been appointed Secretary of War 
by President Lincoln. He was a member 
of the Peace Commission, appointed by 
President Lincoln (who was ever his warm 
friend), but did not hope for much good to 
result, as on coming down from one of the 
meetings of the commission he said: "There 
is no use; we cannot agree, and I am not 
sure that a war would be the worst thing that 
could happen to this country. I fear it 
is near at hand." At the close of his sena- 
torial term. Senator Wilmot was appointed 
by President Lincoln a judge of the United 
States Court of Claims, an office he held 
until his death in 1868. 

Up to 1856, Judge Wilmot had been so 
successful in politics that he had never 
known defeat, although he sometimes ran 
counter to the party machinery. Indeed, so 
strong and influential was he that he vir- 
tually controlled the politics of Bradford 
county. After the organization of the Re- 
publican party, he kept up such a constant 
agitation of the slavery question that in 
1856 he gave Fremont 4,600 majority over 
Buchanan, the county having hitherto been 
Democratic by several hundred. The coun- 
ties known as the "Wilmot District" gave 
Fremont a majority of 10,000, which tells 
the story of how Judge Wilmot carried his 
old Democratic supporters along with him 
into the Republican camp. Yet he was 
never an Abolitionist, as is sometimes sup- 

293 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



posed, but, on the contrary, was opposed to 
that party. He never claimed a place with 
Wendell Phillips, Thurlow Weed, William 
Lloyd Garrison or Horace Greeley, for he 
fought slavery a long time from within his 
party, and hoped to maintain his position 
and influence while making the battle. 
Without doubt he had more to do with the 
overthrow of the Democratic party and the 
creation of the Republican party than any 
other man. In the South his "proviso" 
made him despised by the slave owner as a 
destroyer and usurper, but, while e\en 
school children were taught to hate him, the 
slaves learned of his efforts and held his 
name in reverence. The closing of this 
great man's career is unspeakably sad. Con- 
tinued ill health affected his mind, and he 
finally died of softening of the brain. He 
is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Towau-da, 
Pennsylvania, where a plain slab marks his 
resting place, inscribed : David Wilmot, 
born January 20, 1814, died March 16, 
1868, aged fifty-four years. 



TAYLOR, William Rice, 

Railway Official, Man of Affairs. 

The career of ISIr. Taylor furnishes an 
apt illustration of the heights of success to 
which the American young man may rise if 
he possesses the cardinal virtues, energy, 
industry and ambition. His recent action 
in withdrawing from a high position with a 
great corporation illustrates another trait 
of his character that is too seldom found 
among our captains of industry — unselfish- 
ness. But to those who know him best, it 
is not surprising that he should voluntarily 
surrender his position of honor, trust and 
dignity, while still comparatively a young 
man, to devote his remaining active years 
to pursuits far removed from the realm of 
business. 

William Rice Taylor, son of James K. 
and Almira (Trump) Taylor, was born at 
Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, May 22. 
1856. He was educated in the public 



schools of Philadelphia, and in 1871, at tiie 
age of fifteen years, entered the services of 
the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Com- 
pany, as junior clerk in the office of Frank- 
lin B. Gowen, then the president of the 
company. He continued with the Phila- 
delphia & Reading, winning the high regard 
of Mr. Gowen, until April 18, 1885, when 
he resigned and began the study of law in 
Mr. Gowen's office, the latter having, in 
the meantime, retired from the executive 
management of the company and resumed 
practice of his profession in Philadelphia. 
Upon the re-election of Mr. Gowen as 
president of the Philadelphia & Reading, 
January 11, 1886, Mr. Taylor, then under 
thirty years of age, was elected secretary 
of the company. Although young in years 
he was eminently qualified for the position 
through his years of service with Mr. 
Gowen, one of the greatest of railroad ex- 
ecutives. He continued as secretary of the 
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company 
until its dissolution in November, 1896, 
and was immediately elected secretary of 
its successor. The Philadelphia & Reading 
Railway Company. On February 17, 1897, 
he was also elected vice-president of the 
Reading Company, the proprietary company 
of the whole Reading system, and held these 
two important and responsible positions un- 
til his resignation, which took effect October 
14, 1912. At that time he was also presi- 
dent of the Philadelphia Grain Elevator 
Company ; president of the Eastern Real 
Estate Company ; director of the Catawissa 
Railroad Company and secretary of all 
branch lines of the Reading system. His 
term of service covered a period of forty 
years, dating from his entrance as little 
better than office boy and culminating in one 
of the highest positions in the company. 

The work of Mr. Taylor was not done in 
the public eye, but his intimate knowledge 
of the history and tradition of the prop- 
erty, and his thorough familiarity with its 
finances, acquired through his participation 
in the adjustments thereof in consequence of 
294 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



the several receiverships through which the 
property had passed, made his services most 
valuable, and the minutes entered upon the 
records of the company upon his retirement 
show that his services were appreciated. 
He brought to this work the skill of an ex- 
pert and a wisdom born of long experience 
and deep study. He was an authority on 
railroad financiering and a thorough master 
of the intricate problems met with in the 
affairs of the executive office. A feature of 
great interest to him outside his own spe- 
cial work was the welfare of the men in 
the company employ and their organization 
of the Railroad Men's Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association from the ranks. He 
mingled freely with the men of the road 
and was always a welcome and honored 
guest at their meetings, banquets and cele- 
brations. He preached to them the gospel 
of right living and progressive efficiency in 
the service of "their common father" the 
"Reading." He was elected, by the mem- 
bers of the Reading Railway Department 
of the Philadelphia Young Men's Christian 
Association, chairman of the committee of 
management, a position he accepted in a 
few well chosen remarks here quoted in 
part, as showing his feeling toward the 
members of the Reading army: 

I assure you that I fully appreciate the respon- 
sibility of that position. I know that I am ex- 
pected in that position to be your guide, your 
counsellor and your friend. As to my ability to 
be your guide and counsellor, time alone will tell 
what service I can be to you, but whatever abil- 
ity I may have to be your guide and counsellor, 
will be earnestly devoted thereto. But I can 
pledge myself to be your friend. I will always be 
a friend to every man who seeks to improve his 
condition, mental, moral or physical. I will 
always be a friend to every man who seeks to 
increase his own self respect by leading a life he 
himself knows to be worthy of himself, and 
finally I will always be a friend to every man 
who knows and appreciates his own responsibil- 
ity to himself, to be what is expected of him and 
to accomplish the purpose for which he was 
created. 



This was the key note to his own suc- 
cess and the central thought in all his public 
addresses, "Self improvement." In an ad- 
dress before the Pennsylvania Railroad 
branch of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation, on the occasion of their twenty- 
fifth anniversary, where Mr. Taylor repre- 
sented the Reading branch and carried 
the greetings of the board of management, 
he said in part : 

The success of corporations, either in a finan- 
cial way or in fulfilling the purpose for which 
they were created, depends entirely upon the 
proficiency of the men in the service, and the 
highest degree of proficiency in any line can be 
attained by a man only through the development 
of his own mental, moral and physical condition. 
It is, therefore, to the interest of large railroad 
companies to foster and encourage such work as 
these Young Men's Christian Associations are 
doing among the employees for the reason that 
it is absolutely certain that every man who is 
brought under the influence of these associations 
has a better opportunity to develop the best that 
is in him to make a better man of himself and a 
better employee, than if he were to drift without 
their guidance or example. No membership, 
however, of any Young Men's Christian Associ- 
ation or of any other association, can of itself 
improve and advance a man — he must labor and 
study to advance himself. People talk about the 
advantages to a man of family connection, 
wealth, and social position, but none of these 
things make a man valuable to large corpora- 
tions. It is what a man is himself and what he 
can do, that brings him position of responsibility 
and profit. Such associations insure that in the 
future these large corporations will continue to 
have back of the multitude of actions, men with 
trained minds, clear heads, and good judgment 
to insure prosperity and success, while employ- 
ees will be better men, better employees, and 
better citizens. 

These extracts show the attitude of his 
mind toward labor and reveal the main- 
spring or impelling force that caused his 
own rise from the ranks to commander, 
work, study and clean living. He was ever 
the worker and ever the student, and when 
at last he retired from public life it was to 
continue his studies. Mr. Taylor is a Re- 



1295 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



publican in politics, but never sougiit or 
accepted public office. In religious faith he 
and his family are members of the St. Ste- 
phen Protestant Episcopal Church. He 
married (first) in 1882, at Philadelphia, 
Sarah T. Willbraham, daughter of James 
and Ann (Hill) Willbraham. He married 
(second) in May. 191 1, Elizabeth May 
(Everhart) Gill, daughter of John Temp- 
lin and Mary (Leidy) Everhart, of West 
Pittston, Pennsylvania. Child, Annis Will- 
braham Taylor, born August i, 1889, and 
wife of Rev. John Edward Ewell, of the 
Episcopal diocese of Washington, D. C. 



EVERHART, John Templin, 

Pioneer Coal Operator. 

John T. Everhart, a wealthy and promi- 
nent citizen of Pittston, and proprietor of 
extensive coal fields at that place, was born 
at Chester, Pennsylvania, September 14, 
1818, and died at his family residence. West 
Pittston, Saturday, April 27, 1889. He 
was of the fifth generation of his family 
in this country. The founder of the family, 
Zachariah Everhart, was a native of Sax- 
ony, Germany, settling in Pennsylvania in 
1689, less than nine years after the found- 
ing of the colony by William Penn. His 
son, Christian Everhart, born the year of 
his father's arrival, became a man of con- 
siderable local prominence. Christian Ever- 
hart was the father of nine children, two 
of whom died at a tender age, while the sum 
of the years attained by the remaining seven 
was five hundred and seventy-four, an aver- 
age for each of eighty-two years. 

James Everhart, the third son of Chris- 
tian Everhart and grandfather of John T. 
Everhart, was born in 1760, died in 1852. 
Hale and vigorous from his earliest days, 
he enlisted in the ranks of the patriots at 
the beginning of the Revolutionary War 
and served with honor throughout the long 
and unequal struggle which won independ- 
ence for his native land. He was the father 
of three sons, WilHam. John and James, all 



of whom rose to prominence. The last 
named, who was the youngest son and who 
was born in 1789, was the father of John 
T. Everhart. He was an officer in the 
American forces during the War of 1812 
and served with distinction until its close, 
when he withdrew from military Hfe and 
engaged in mercantile affairs in Chester 
county, Pennsylvania. One of his enter- 
prises at that early day was the taking of 
a shipload of bark to England, there ex- 
changing it for merchandise. In 1820 he 
moved to Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
and became largely interested in agricul- 
tural pursuits and to a considerable extent 
also in the iron trade. He was one of the 
incorporators of the Reading Railroad, in 
1833. He married, in 1817, Mary M. Temp- 
Hn, the only child of Isaac and Catherine 
Templin, by whom he became the father of 
eight children. 

John Templin Everhart was the eldest 
of the children of this family. He received 
a good education, and quite early in life en- 
gaged in business pursuits in which he was 
moderately successful from the beginning. 
In 1 85 1 he went to Pittston to examine the 
coal fields in that vicinity, and in connection 
with his father made some purchases of 
coal lands. In 1853 he removed to Pitts- 
ton to superintend the large landed inter- 
ests of the family previously purchased by 
himself and father in what is now known as 
the anthracite region. This locality was at- 
tracting considerable attention about that 
period as a field for investment, and the 
so-called experts of a number of mining 
companies had been over it in the interests 
of the corporations they represented. Hav- 
ing in mind immediate and profitable re- 
turns, these experts reported favorably only 
when the indications were of the most satis- 
factory nature. Lands which gave no 
promise of quick results, or upon which 
considerable money would have to be ex- 
pended before paying results were attained 
were unhesitatingly condemned. These con- 
demned lands were in the market at a 



1296 





- ^isroricai J^b />. 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



low figure and they attracted the attention 
of Mr. Everhart immediately upon his ar- 
rival in Pittston. A careful examination of 
them convinced him that at the prevailing 
price they were not only cheap but also a 
desirable investment. Full of confidence in 
the future value of the lands, he visited his 
friends and relatives in Bucks and Chester 
counties and used his best powers of per- 
suasion to have them invest. He proved 
his own faith in the future of the Pittston 
fields by investing in them himself to the 
full extent of his means, and this too de- 
spite all that was said and hinted at as to 
the unprofitableness of the venture. The 
result was more favorable than could have 
been foreseen or even hoped. He always 
dealt on his own examination of the lands 
offered him and decided on his own judg- 
ment of their value. Acting in this way he 
built up a large fortune, indeed became the 
wealthiest man in the community. "In his 
business affairs," writes one who knew him 
well, "he was the soul of honor and integ- 
rity. He took no advantage of any man's 
poverty or distress to rob him of a cent or 
to do him a wrong. Amidst all the labors, 
mental and physical, he was called upon to 
endure in the conduct of his vast business 
affairs, and they were many, he was always 
possessed of the most equable conditions of 
mind, never fretful, never worrying, always 
hopeful of and expecting the best. He was 
a pleasant companion, full of anecdotes 
which he told in excellent style, and no one 
who enjoyed his acquaintance and confi- 
dence ever found a more congenial com- 
panion." 

Mr. Everhart was a man of fine personal 
appearance. He had none of the uncouth- 
ness of speech or exterior so often natural 
to or affected by men who have risen to 
eminence by or through their own exer- 
tions ; on the contrary he paid careful at- 
tention to his apparel, and having by years 
of diligent study, reading and observation 
gained a vast store of useful and solid in- 
formation, he was ready in speech on all 

I 



occasions. His bearing and manners were 
those of the democratic American business 
man, devoid of assumption yet never with- 
out the quiet dignity which is the natural 
outgrowth of self-respect and a conscious- 
ness of duty well performed. 

John T. Everhart was twice married. 
His first wife was Theresa A. Maguire, 
whom he married October 25, 1841, the 
daughter of John Maguire, of Philadelphia, 
by whom he had one son, James, born Jan- 
uary 28, 1843, <^'^d at the age of twenty- 
one years. His wife died February 4, 1843. 
The second wife was Mary Leidy, the 
daughter of Jacob Leidy, of Philadelphia, 
whom he married May 12, 1853, and by 
whom he had seven children, the youngest 
daughter, Elizabeth May (Everhart) Gill, 
whose second husband is William Rice 
Taylor. In the domestic relations Mr. 
Everhart was most exemplary, an affec- 
tionate husband and indulgent parent, de- 
lighting in the pure joys of the family circle 
and loved and venerated by all his house- 
hold. He was always deeply interested in 
the affairs of Pittston and in that commun- 
ity was known and admired as a public- 
spirited citizen of blameless ambitions and 
generous impulses. His death, the immedi- 
ate cause of which was Bright's disease, 
was felt as a personal loss by his fellow 
citizens generally; and his funeral was at- 
tended by a large concourse of people apart 
from his relatives and friends, whose sin- 
cere grief was a marked tribute to his high 
personal character and worth as a man. 



GROW, Galusha Aaron, 

Distingnislied Statesman. 

In 1875, "The New York Tribune," com- 
menting on the representative men of the 
country said: "Mr. Grow represents a class 
of public men that has almost become ex- 
tinct — men of strong moral sense and con- 
victions, unselfish purposes, and a patrio- 
tism which overrules all considerations of 
personal interest or partisan expediency," 
297 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Galusha A. Grow, a New Englander by 
birth, a Pennsylvanian by adoption, was 
born in Ashford (now Eastford), Wind- 
ham county, Connecticut, August 31, 1822, 
and died at Glenwood, Pennsylvania, March 
31, 1907. In 1834 he came to Pennsylvania 
with his widowed mother, who bought a 
farm in Lenox township, Susquehanna 
county, where she Hved with her six chil- 
dren. Here he worked on the farm, at- 
tended school, and assisted his brother in 
the small country store established through 
Mrs. Grow's energy, on the present site of 
the Glenwood post office ; also in the spring 
accompanying his brother in rafting lumber 
down the Susquehanna river to Port De- 
posit, Maryland. He obtained a good pub- 
lic school education, then entered Franklin 
Academy at Hartford, where he prepared 
for college. In 1840 he entered Amherst, 
whence he was graduated with high honors 
in 1844. During his senior year he made 
his first public political speech, and acquired 
reputation as a ready debater and an un- 
usually fine extemporaneous speaker. In 
the winter of 1845 he began the study of 
law with F. B. Streeter, and in 1847 was 
admitted to the bar of Susquehanna county. 
His first law partner was David Wilmot, 
the noted statesman and author of the "Wil- 
mot Proviso" that disrupted the Demo- 
cratic and led to the formation of the Re- 
publican party. In 1849 this partnership 
was dissolved, Mr. Grow's health demand- 
ing a season of outdoor work. He was en- 
gaged for a time in surveying, peeling bark 
and farm work, regaining his health in full. 
In 1850 he was nominated unanimously by 
the Susquehanna Democratic Convention 
as candidate for the legislature. This was 
the season when David Wilmot split his 
party and two Democratic candidates were 
in the field for Congress. At Mr. Wilmot's 
suggestion he and his opponent both with- 
drew, with the understanding that both 
wings, pro and anti-slavery, would support 
Mr. Grow for Congress, he at that time 
being unknown outside his own county. The 

121 



result was his election by 1,264 majority 
over his Whig opponent, John C. Adams, 
of Bradford. He took his seat in Decem- 
ber, 1 85 1, aged twenty-six years, the young- 
est member in Congress. His congressional 
career continued twelve years, he being suc- 
cessively returned from the "Wilmot Dis- 
trict," so called from the strong influence 
wielded in that district by David Wilmot 
until the fall election of 1862, when he was 
the victim of a gerrymander which united 
Susquehanna with Luzerne county, giving 
a strong Democratic majority in the dis- 
trict. His services in Congress covered 
twelve momentous years, a period in which 
grave questions of fifty years agitation de- 
manded conclusive settlement ; a period in 
which old parties were disrupted and new 
ones formed ; a period in which industrial 
questions assumed prominence and a period 
that found friends of a lifetime becoming 
enemies, and foes of long standing uniting 
in a common cause. 

Elected as a Democrat, Mr. Grow re- 
mained with his party until the repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise in 1854, then openly 
joined the opponents of slavery in the 
House, as yet without party organization, 
but bearing the despised name of Abolition- 
ists. He is forever endeared to the people 
of the west for his devotion to the cause 
of "land for the landless," a cause he fol- 
lowed with earnestness and persistency until 
he saw it adopted as one of the principles 
of his party. He was the author of the 
"Homestead Bill," and made his maiden 
speech in Congress in its support. He 
brought this bill before every Congress for 
ten years, and was its steady, consistent and 
unyielding champion. He made five set 
speeches in the House in its advocacy ; un- 
der his leadership four dififerent bills passed 
the House at four different sessions before 
it was finally concurred in by the Senate 
and became a law and he had the great 
pleasure of signing, as speaker of the House 
of Representatives, the bill he had intro- 
duced ten years previous. To the fact of 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



his long continuance in Congress, to his 
parliamentary skill and his persistent un- 
yielding devotion, the country owes its 
homestead legislation. 

His passage at arms with Congressman 
Keitt, of South Carolina, during the at- 
tempt to admit Kansas as a slave State, 
was a courageous, timely and appropriate 
answer to southern demands. He exhibited 
equal if not greater courage in his letter 
of reply to a challenge from L. O'Branch, 
Congressman from North Carolina, for 
words spoken in debate in the House on 
the bill of the Senate to increase postage 
rates. He fought the repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise ; was in the thick of the 
fight that resulted in the election of Banks 
as speaker ; was a free soil advocate during 
the Kansas trouble — in fact, he showed his 
mettle, both as member and speaker, during 
all that troubled' period prior to the Civil War 
and for the first two years of the war, and, 
while often victorious, was beaten on sev- 
eral occasions, notably in the case of a bill 
which, if passed, would have prevented 
non-residents acquiring title to any part of 
the public domain ; and the thousands of 
farms, timber claims and coal lands have 
been saved from alien ownership and been 
the homes of actual settlers thereon. On 
July 4, 1861, he was elected speaker of the 
House of Representatives, and at the close 
of his term was presented with a unani- 
mous vote of thanks, the first event of the 
kind in many years. On March 4, 1863, 
he retired from Congress in feeble health, 
with a nervous system almost prostrated 
from the severe labor and long strain of 
his twelve years service in Congress during 
the most exciting eventful period in our 
history. 

In 1864-65, Mr. Grow was engaged in 
lumbering in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, 
and in 1866-67 was in business in the oil 
fields of Venango county. He spent the 
summer of 1871 on the Pacific coast, going 
to Texas in the fall of that year, remaining 
until the spring of 1875, as president of the 



Houston & Great Northern railroad. Dur- 
ing these four years he never voted or took 
any part in politics, but on his return to 
Pennsylvania at once actively supported the 
candidacy of General Hartranft for gov- 
ernor; in the fall of 1875 ^"^ i^L 1876 as 
actively worked for the election of Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes to the presidency. In 1878 
he was urged for the nomination of gov- 
ernor by a large and influential portion of 
the State press, and was the choice of a 
majority of the Republican counties of the 
State. In 1879 he toured the Eastern 
States, beginning in Maine in August, and 
continuing without interruption until the 
fall election, speaking for the Republican 
candidates. In the fall of 1879 he declined 
the appointment of Minister to Russia, 
tendered him by President Hayes. In 1881 
he was a candidate for United States Sen- 
ator, and had the support of the members 
of the legislature from twenty-eight of the 
thirty-nine counties of Pennsylvania, and 
a majority of the press was in his favor. 
After a long contest, John I. Mitchell was 
elected as a compromise candidate. In 1894 
he was elected as congressman-at-large, 
and in 1896 he was elected by the largest 
majority ever given in the United States for 
a candidate for any office. He was again 
elected in 1898 and in 1900, making his 
congressional service cover a period of 
twenty years. But the latter terms were 
not like his first; quieter times had fallen 
on the nation, and as chairman of the com- 
mittee on education he labored in peace, 
although he was ever ready to champion 
any cause of progress that needed an ad- 
vocate. 

In 1903 he retired to his boyhood home 
in Glenwood, Susquehanna county, Penn- 
sylvania. He was held in high esteem by 
his old neighbors and the friends of his 
youth, who ever rallied to his support ; 
never but once did he go down in defeat when 
a candidate in his own district. In 1884 
Amherst College conferred upon him the 
honorary degree of LL. D. In 1887 he 



PA-15 



1299 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



received a little token of regard from the 
first beneficiary of his Homestead Bill. 
Daniel Freeman, who entered the first claim 
in the United States, took up through the 
land office a homestead of one hundred and 
sixty acres on the Big Blue river, near 
Beatrice, Nebraska, which was ever after- 
ward his home. The old man was very proud 
of his title of "first homesteader" and in 
1877 cut a small tree from his farm and 
had it fashioned into canes, one of which 
he forwarded to Mr. Grow. On a silver 
plate was this inscription: Galusha A. 
Grow, Speaker of Congress, 1860-1863, 
grown on the first homestead in the United 
States. Presented by the first homesteader, 
Daniel Freeman, Beatrice, Nebraska. 

After his retirement from Congress Mr. 
Grow lived the last three of his eighty-five 
wonderful years, honored and respected, in 
the old home where he cast his first vote, 
and ever afterward voted. He had fought 
well the battle of life, had brought harm 
to none, and happiness to many. He was 
represented in State and Nation and held 
in grateful memory by many. So as he 
reviewed in the quiet of his country home 
the scenes and happenings of his long 
eventful life, the retrospect could bring him 
naught but satisfaction. So he passed away, 
and to again quote the "New York Tri- 
bune :" "He was of a class of public men 
that has almost become extinct — men of 
strong moral sense and conviction, unself- 
ish purposes and a patriotism which over- 
rules all considerations of personal interest 
or partisan expediency." 



MILLER, Adolph William, M. D., Ph. D., 

Fhyaician, Mannfacturing Drnggiat. 

Bearing his years, seventy-three, like a 
man of forty and managing the large manu- 
facturing and importing business that he 
founded one-half of a century ago with 
ability and enthusiasm. Dr. Miller is one 
of the veterans of Philadelphia business 
and professional life whom it is a delight 



to honor. He is the son of a druggist, 
grandson of a druggist, and, as he remarks, 
was born in an atmosphere of drugs from 
which he has never escaped. His grand- 
father's apothecary was at Ankum, and he 
established a branch store at Berge, small 
towns in Hanover, Germany, placing them 
under the management of his son, Dr. Wil- 
liam H. Miller, an accredited and dulv qual- 
ified druggist. Dr. Miller married and re- 
sided at Berge until 1848, then came to the 
United States, establishing a drug store 
at Belleville, St. Clair county, Illinois, not 
far from St. Louis. He spent several years 
there, then moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, 
where he conducted a drug store until his 
death. Dr. Miller married Louise Von 
Lengerken, who accompanied him to the 
United States. 

Dr. Adolph William Miller, son of Dr. 
William H. and Louise (Von Lengerken) 
Miller, was born in Berge, Hanover, Ger- 
many, October 8, 1841, residing there until 
he was seven years of age. In 1848 he was 
brought to the United States by his parents, 
spending his boyhood and obtaining his early 
education in the schools of Belleville, Illinois. 
He was taught the rudiments of the drug 
business by his father, but the latter held 
the strong beHef that a father was not the 
proper one to teach his business to his son, 
therefore before moving to St. Paul he 
secured a position for his son with a drug 
firm in St. Louis, the lad then being twelve 
years of age. He continued as clerk in St. 
Louis and with his father in St. Paul from 
1853 to i860, and had become so thoroughly 
imbued with the spirit of the business that 
he determined on a thorough technical pre- 
paration for what he had decided should 
be his life work. In i860 he came to Phila- 
delphia, and after securing a position in the 
Fred Rollman drug store, Twelfth and 
Mount Vernon streets, enrolled as a student 
at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. 
After a few months with Rollman he en- 
tered the employ of H. O. D. Banks, an- 
other of the clerks being Frederick Aschen- 

300 



4?^ ^ 





ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



bach. Mr. Miller continued his studies at 
the college until 1862, when he was gradu- 
ated and invested with full professional 
dignity. In the meantime both he and Mr. 
Aschenbach had been admitted partners 
with Mr. Banks under the firm name, H. 
O. D. Banks & Company, each partner own- 
ing a one-third interest. About 1864 Mr. 
Banks, wishing to withdraw, sold his inter- 
est to his partners, the firm continuing as 
Aschenbach & Miller, wholesale druggists, 
manufacturers of pharmaceutical prepara- 
tions and importers. About 1905 the busi- 
ness was incorporated, Mr. Miller becom- 
ing president, Mr. Aschenbach, general 
manager, and John F. Besterling, secretary 
and treasurer. After the death of Mr. As- 
chenbach his place was taken by his widow, 
who retains an interest at the present time. 
The company is located on the northwest 
corner of Third and Callowhill streets and 
transacts a large wholesale, manufacturing 
and importing business in drugs, medicines 
of their own manufacture, and in allied 
lines. A large laboratory and a well equip- 
ped printing ofifice form part of the plant, 
which also includes the business of the 
Philadelphia Bird Food Company. The 
business of Aschenbach & Miller, Inc., is 
an extensive one, embracing many different 
lines of manufacture and very large whole- 
sale and importing departments. For fifty- 
three years Dr. Miller has been its active 
head, ably seconded by his associates, and 
is still alert, forceful and effective, giving 
little evidence of a desire for the "retired" 
list. 

Not satisfied with his technical equip- 
ment as a graduate in pharmacy, he deter- 
mined on a complete course in materia 
medica, and in 1870 enrolled as a student 
in the Jefiferson Medical College, and in 
1871 in the medical department of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, receiving his de- 
gree, M. D., from the latter institution with 
the class of 1871. In 1871 he entered for 
post-graduate courses and was graduated 
Ph. D. the following year. It must be re- 

I 



membered that during these years of phar- 
maceutical, medical and academic study he 
had also conducted his own private busi- 
ness enterprise and was as well known in 
business as in professional life. His pe- 
culiar qualifications, natural ability and 
adaption attracted especial attention, and as 
demonstrator and teacher of pharmacy 
from 1878 and as lecturer in materia medica 
he served the University of Pennsylvania 
until 1905, when he resigned, his duties as 
president of the newly incorporated house 
of Aschenbach & Miller, Inc., demanding 
more of his attention, that business having 
greatly expanded. 

Although never having had the time to go 
deeply into the science, Dr. Miller has ever 
had a love for botany, and more for the 
pastime than as an investigator has devoted 
many of his too few spare hours to that study, 
and for several years has been president of 
the Botanical Society of Pennsylvania. He 
is also president of the Society of Doctors 
of Philosophy, life member of the Phila- 
delphia Academy of Natural Sciences, life 
member of the Franklin Institute, member 
of the Philadelphia Natural History So- 
ciety, member of the Pen and Pencil Club, 
and for several years was president of the 
Philadelphia Drug Exchange, as well as 
corresponding secretary of the College of 
Pharmacy. Had Dr. Miller elected to serve 
his day and generation as a professional 
scientist he would have gone far, but what 
the scientific world has lost the business 
world has gained, his own effectiveness 
having been largely increased from the rich 
storehouse of his trained professional mind. 
He has made many sacrifices of personal 
desire and has given his long and honor- 
able life to the service of his fellowmen. 
That this has brought him honor and emolu- 
ment is most gratifying to those who know 
of his untiring energy and determination 
to follow the path of duty rather than that 
of inclination. 

Dr. Miller has made four hurried trips 
abroad, visiting the scenes of his childhood, 
301 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



England, continental Europe, Egypt and the 
Holy Land. In 1914 he was caught in the 
meshes of the German military measures 
made necessary by the outbreak of war 
with the Allies, but his American passport 
and his knowledge of the language pre- 
vented his suffering anything by the annoy- 
ance incidental to being without available 
funds for a time and the detention of some 
of his baggage. He returned to the United 
States at the earliest possible date on the 
ship "Nieuw Amsterdam" of the Holland- 
America Line. 

Dr. Miller married, in Philadelphia, Mar- 
garetta T. Ash, of Philadelphia, and has 
three daughters, all married and living in 
Philadelphia: Lillian, married Alden H. 
Weed; Laura, married William C. Helweg; 
Elizabeth, married Fenton H. Middleton. 



JUSTICE, Theodore, 

I<eading Authority on Wool Industry. 

The English origin of the family of Jus- 
tice following and the English birth of its 
American founder, John Justice, are alike 
certain, but of the history of the line in the 
homeland no documentary evidence is ob- 
tainable, although several probable con- 
jectures can be made. Tradition relates 
that the American ancestor, John Justice, 
was a sea captain, commanding vessels en- 
gaged in the mercantile trade between Eng- 
land and America, and that he became ac- 
quainted with his future wife, Mary Swan, 
while his vessel was in an Irish port, Ire- 
land having been her birthplace. Coming 
to America, they were for a time residents 
of Philadelphia, where they attended Christ 
Church, his wife dying in the Protestant 
Episcopal faith. They were the parents 
of eight children, this line of descent being 
through Joseph, of whom further. Mary 
Swan was of Scotch-Irish parentage, and 
with her brother. Colonel Swan, of the Eng- 
lish army sailed for Pennsylvania on the ship 
of which Captain John Justice was master; 
and tradition says that two of the passen- 



gers fell in love with Mary Swan and quar- 
reled and to settle the matter Captain Jus- 
tice married her. 

Joseph Justice, son of John and Mary 
(Swan) Justice, was born in Mount Holly, 
Burlington county, New Jersey, whither his 
parents had moved upon leaving Philadel- 
phia, in 1763, died in Chester township, 
Burlington county. New Jersey, June 28, 
1825. His occupation was that of plasterer, 
and his home was at one time in Philadel- 
phia, after which he moved to the farm in 
Burlington county, which he operated and 
on which he died, intestate, the owner of 
considerable property. His remains were 
interred) in the Friends' burying ground at 
Morristown, New Jersey, near his home. 
He married, in 1790, Esther, born in 1771, 
daughter of Jaconias and Sybilla (Eld- 
ridge) Warner. At the time of his mar- 
riage neither he nor his wife were mem- 
bers of the Society of Friends, but, upon 
application, both were admitted to Chester- 
field Monthly Meeting, Burlington county. 
New Jersey, September 6, 1791, later re- 
ceiving a certificate to the Philadelphia 
Monthly Meeting, Northern District, as fol- 
lows : 

To the Monthly Meeting of Friends at Phila- 
delphia, for the Northern District: 

Dear Friends: — Application being made to us 
by Joseph Justice for a Certificate of Removal 
for himself & Esther his wife with their infant 
child Phebe to your Meeting, now these may 
Certify in their behalf that they have a Right in 
Membership Amongst us, frequently attending 
our Religious Meetings and as far as Appears 
hath Settled his Outward affairs to Sattisfaction. 
Therefore we Recommend them to your Chris- 
tian Care and Attention and Remain Your 
Friends Brethren and Sisters. 

Signed in and on behalf of our Mo. Meeting of 
Friends held at Chesterfield in New Jersey the 
6 Day of the 12 mo. 1791, By 

Joshua Bunting, Clk. 
Lucy Abbott, Clk. 

Joseph Justice afterward became a rec- 
ommended minister of the Society of 
Friends and was prominent in its works. 



1302 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Joseph and Esther (Warner) Justice had 
seven children. 

Warner Justice, son of Joseph and Es- 
ther (Warner) Justice, was born in Phil- 
adelphia, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1808, 
died there November 6, 1862. He was 
reared' in the faith of the Society of Friends 
and with John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet, 
Daniel Neall, and others, formed the Penn- 
sylvania Anti-Slavery Society. So strong 
was the pro-slavery element in Philadelphia 
at that time that the Abolitionists were de- 
nied the right of holding meetings in the 
public halls of the city, and Warner Justice 
was treasurer of the Pennsylvania Hall As- 
sociation, which erected the auditorium on 
Sixth above Arch street for the use of that 
party. The hall was burned in May, 1838, 
a deed inspired by the frenzy of a pro- 
slavery mob. Warner Justice related that 
an uncle of his by the name of Warner 
(probably a great-uncle) "who at one time 
furnished bread to Washington's army, es- 
caped capture by British soldiers by having 
been concealed by his wife in one of a 
number of empty casks in his cellar. After 
smashing a number of them without find- 
ing him the British (to the great terror of 
his wife) were about to set fire to the place 
when they were driven off by the approach 
of an American troop. This uncle had evi- 
dently been an army contractor. He pos- 
sessed a trunk full of Continental money, 
received in return for valuable materials 
furnished to the commissary department. 
Warner Justice, as a lad, was especially in- 
terested in the contents of this cow-hair 
trunks, which he had often inspected with 
deep interest, as he had been informed that 
on account of his name he was to inherit 
it. At that time it had no value, but it was 
believed that at some future time a grate- 
ful and appreciative nation would redeem 
the currency issued by the Continental Con- 
gress." 

Warner Justice married, September 10, 
1834, Huldah, born in Bordentown, New 
Jersey, May 11, 181 1, died in Philadelphia, 



Pennsylvania, April 8, 1888, daughter of 
Isaac Jr. and Mary (Woolley) Thorn, a 
descendant of William Thorn, of Dorset- 
shire, England, who immigrated in 1630 to 
Lynn, Massachusetts, where he was a free- 
man in 1638; descendant of Thomas 
Foulke, of "Holmegate, in ye parish of 
Northwingfield, County of Derby, Eng- 
land," a friend of William Penn and an 
early convert to the faith of the Society of 
Friends. Children of Warner and Huldah 
(Thorn) Justice: Anna Roberts, married 
Edward T. Steel ; William Wirt ; Henry, 
married Josephine Bernard; Mary Thorn, 
married Henry M. Steel, a brother of the 
husband of Anna Roberts Justice ; Eliza- 
beth Bacon, married Rev. Joseph May, a 
retired minister of the Unitarian faith. 

Theodore Justice, son of Warner and 
Huldah (Thorn) Justice, was born in Phil- 
adelphia, Pennsylvania, April 9, 1841. The 
greater part of the activity of his business 
life is summed up in his connection with the 
American wool industry, his connection 
with which began as a wool-grower when a 
boy on the home farm, continuing as a 
manufacturer in the presidency of the Yea- 
don Woolen Mills Company, and then en- 
during as senior member of the firm of 
Justice, Bateman & Company, wool com- 
mission merchants, of Philadelphia. His 
services in the development of the Ameri- 
can wool-growing industry have been many 
and varied, and other than in the ordinary 
channels of business he has appeared on 
immerous occasions before Congressional 
committees planning tariff revision. His 
firm for many years prepared a wool cir- 
cular, which for that length of time moulded 
public sentiment in marked degree with re- 
gard to protective duties upon wool. Mr. 
Justice became a member of the American 
Protective Tariflf League, and aided in the 
construction of the McKinley and Dingley 
tariff acts, his services in consultation with 
the committees submitting these schedules 
being acknowledged gratefully from the 
floor of Congress. At the time of the for- 

303 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



mulation of the Wilson tariff act, which 
created such havoc in the American wool 
trade, he appeared before the committee on 
ways and means of Congress and presented 
strong arguments against the removal of 
the McKinley duties, his statements ably 
supported by facts and figures irrefutable. 
In 1897 he came before the same committee, 
then presided over by Mr. Dingley, and, 
with a more sympathetic audience, ad- 
dressed the committee on the same subject. 
The Hon. H. C. Grosvenor, then an impor- 
tant and influential member of the ways and 
means committee, recognized his assistance 
in strong terms of gratitude, stating, among 
other things, that the committee "have been 
aided at every step of the way by the in- 
valuable suggestions of Mr. Theodore Jus- 
tice," and that "he has more interest in the 
success of the American wool-grower than 
any other man in the United States." Mr. 
Justice prepared an exhaustive reply to the 
address of WiUiam R. Corwine, secretary 
of the New York committee of the Ameri- 
can Reciprocal League, opposing immediate 
revision of the tariff laws, which was read 
before the Trades League of Philadelphia, 
and widely praised as a worthy defence of 
the then existing tariff. 

His influence in matters of national im- 
port was not confined to issues affecting the 
woolen trade of the country, but he has been 
before other congressional committees in 
efforts to stimulate the upbuilding of the 
American mercantile marine, urging its 
value as an auxiliary to the navy in time of 
war. He was early alive to the extreme 
importance of our inland waterways, and 
took a conspicuous part in the movement to 
secure early action in their development, a 
work that has since been vigorously prose- 
cuted. 

Mr. Justice is favored with the ability to 
write well and entertainingly, as well as to 
speak earnestly and forcibly, and published 
a paper of more than usual merit on fox- 
hunting in England, as seen during a visit, 
on which he rode to the noted Cottesmore 



hounds, his composition abounding in local 
color and fully describing the British par- 
ticipating in that exciting sport. He is also 
the author of an account of a trip across the 
American plains from the Rio Grande to 
the Missouri rivers, a journey he made at a 
time when there were no railroads and when 
the original inhabitants of the region, wild 
animals and savages, persisted in numbers. 
These articles were favorably reviewed in 
the leading periodicals of the day and were 
universally pronounced welcome and worthy 
additions to the literature of sport. 

In his native city Mr. Justice has ever 
been closely allied with the best forces in 
civic life, and is a member of the Commit- 
tee of One Hundred, that well-known 
Nemesis of corruption in municipal politics. 

He married. May 11, 1871, Anna 
Vaughan, born in Philadelphia, July 28, 
1842, daughter of Daniel Jr. and Cecilia 
(Anderson) Neall. Children of Theodore 
and Anna Vaughan (Neall) Justice: Hilda, 
born March 5, 1874, authoress of "The Life 
and Ancestry of Warner Mifflin," Philadel- 
phia, 1905, a prominent figure in benevolent 
and educational work in Philadelphia ; Wil- 
liam Warner, born November 8, 1878. 

Mrs. Justice is a granddaughter of the 
celebrated philanthropist, Daniel Neall, the 
subject of a beautiful poetic eulogy by John 
G. Whittier, and whom Jean Pierre Brissot, 
the Girondist statesman, declared to be "an 
angel of mercy, the best man I ever knew." 
Daniel Neall married Sarah, daughter of 
Warner Mifflin, reformer, philanthropist, 
andi prominent member of the Society of 
Friends, whose activities and ancestry have 
been treated in "The Life and Ancestry of 
Warner Mifflin," by Hilda Justice, daugh- 
ter of Theodore Justice. He was a de- 
scendant of John Mifflin, of Warminster, 
Wiltshire, England, who came to America 
with his father, John Mifflin, settling among 
the Swedes on the Delaware between 1676 
and 1679, in 1680 moving to "Fountain 
Green," a tract of one hundred and fifty 
acres of land granted under the authority 

304 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



of the Duke of York by the Provisional 
Court, sitting at Kingsess, October 13, 1680, 
to the elder John Mifflin. John Jr. received 
a grant of like amount on the east bank of 
the Schuylkill, now included in Fairmount 
Park, the grant confirmed by a patent from 
William Penn, dated 5 month 18, 1684. 

Warner Mifflin, great-grandfather of the 
wife of Mr. Justice, was born in Accomac 
county, Virginia, August 21, 1745, died at 
his Delaware home, "Chestnut Grove." He 
attained a position of importance in the 
Society of Friendis, was a justice of the 
peace of Kent county, Delaware, and was 
one of the most ardent of Abolitionists, 
working tirelessly in that cause. He was 
the object of much criticism because, re- 
maining true to the peaceful professions of 
his sect, he refused to bear arms in the war 
for independence. The Yearly Meeting of 
the Society of Friends appointed him one 
of a delegation charged' with interviewing 
Generals Howe and Washington to decide 
upon means for ending the struggle with- 
out further blood-shed, and while in dis- 
charge of this mission he was taken captive 
by the British troops, soon being released 
upon order of General Howe, who treated 
him with the utmost courtesy and considera- 
tion. Another great principle for which 
Warner Mifflin stood that has since become 
a question of momentous national impor- 
tance was abstinence from alcohoHc bever- 
ages, and he was one of the first to discon- 
tinue the use of ardent spirits in the fields. 

The land upon which Fairmount Park is 
now located was the farms of the ancestors 
of Theodore Justice, also of his wife, and 
in the twentieth century Theodore Justice 
was appointed park commissioner of the 
park. The following is taken from "The 
Evening Bulletin" of Philadelphia of Octo- 
ber 7, 1912: 

The Fairmount Park Commission is one of the 
branches of the municipal system which have 
been administered with more than ordinary sat- 
isfaction to the public. In the course of its 
existence of more than forty years it has seldom 



incurred serious criticism and has been strikingly 
free of scandal. Most of its membership has 
been, and still is, made up of men in whose judg- 
ment and sincerity there is general confidence. 
In fact, from the time when it was first consti- 
tuted, a seat in the Commission had been viewed 
as a compliment or distinction for citizens who 
are willing to accept it in the light of an honor- 
able employment on behalf of the whole com- 
munity. For a time it even conferred a species 
of "social status" on the members, to use that 
phrase in a sense in which it was once expressed 
by Morton McMichael. Sometimes there have 
been Commissioners who seemed to have an 
absurd consciousness of their importance in this 
ornamental respect. But, as a rule, the Judges 
in selecting the members have found men who 
have had public spirit and the private tastes of 
gentlemen to commend them and who, usually, 
have exhibited collectively a good deal of com- 
mon sense in the management of the great 
domain. 

♦ *»*** 

It is well that this grade of fitness in the Com- 
mission should be maintained, for not only is that , 
body more important than it used to be in its 
relation to Fairmount Park and its latter-day 
uses by an ever-increasing population, but it will 
have much more to do hereafter. Thus in recent 
years there has come under its charge, in addi- 
tion to the old Hunting Park, the land of the 
Cobb's Creek, Morris and Fisher Parks and 
Wister Woods, and there is a growing sentiment 
that the other parks which are in course of con- 
struction or which are on the city plan should 
pass under its jurisdiction. Not long ago it also 
received from the Legislature the power of 
planting trees and caring for them on the streets 
throughout the city — a power which may be of 
much more value hereafter in the improvement 
of many parts of the residential quarters and 
perhaps, to some extent, of the business ones as 
well. Moreover, when the time shall come for 
determining the question of the control of the 
Parkway, it would seem as if that duty will fall 
more naturally within the province of the Com- 
mission than within the scope of any other body. 
****** 

It is thus, in considering not only what the 
Commission is, but what it is likely to be in the 
coming years, that the appointments which the 
Judges make are always noted with special inter- 
est by Philadelphians who value the best things 
in their municipal service. The latest choice is 
Theodore Justice, who takes the place made 
vacant by the death of Colonel Snowden — a 
place which the Colonel admirably filled when he 



1305 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was still in the vigor of his active years. Mr. 
Justice, it may be safely assumed, will take up 
with a very earnest sympathy the duties which 
will be assigned to him, and he is altogether 
likely to be disposed to introduce or suggest 
new ideas for the betterment of the region or 
regions which the Commission governs. He is a 
man of means; he has retired from active busi- 
ness pursuits at a time when age still sits lightly 
on his mental and physical faculties, and it will 
be with a most agreeable sense of employing his 
time for the benefit of the community that he 
will enter the Commission. For many years the 
Park has been to him a most congenial study; 
he has gone over it countless times on his horse, 
and I have heard him say that he felt that he had 
something almost like a personal acquaintance 
with every tree in it. With his keen business 
sense he has also the love of noble landscapes 
and of natural beauty; he is a veteran fox hunter; 
he has never lost his interest in wholesome 
athletic pastime, and even now he can hit out, 
little as one might suspect it from his outward 
manner, with the lightning-like quickness of a 
boxer. Consequently he is likely to look on the 
Park with a broad and healthy view of its pur- 
poses in public recreation in the varied life of a 
great city, although he is one of the last men 
who would be inclined to favor any laxity that 
might impair its primal worth as a domain of 
nature and cheapen it with vulgar and mischiev- 
ous pleasures. 

****** 

There is also a peculiarly sentimental interest 
in the Park on the part of the new Commis- 
sioner. It arises from the fact that as a de- 
scendant of some of the oldest Quaker stock of 
Philadelphia, he recalls how the earliest of his 
American forbears in it had their abode in what 
is now Fairmount Park. One was the Mifflin 
family; the other the Warner family, the names 
of both these strains uniting in that of one of the 
purest and most noted philanthropists of the 
Society of Friends in the Revolutionary days — 
Warner Mifflin. Indeed, the first of the MifHins 
made his appearance in New Jersey and in Penn- 
sylvania even before the advent of Penn; he 
lived under Swedish jurisdiction in the present 
Fairmount Park before Philadelphia was 
founded, and Fountain Green, in the East Park, 
between the Smith Playground for children and 
the Mt. Pleasant house of McPherson and 
Arnold memory, was long a landmark of the 
estate. The original Mifflins held about three 
hundred acres of land on the east side of the 
Schuylkill; some of their descendants were con- 
spicuous in the civil and military life of Pennsyl- 
vania in the eighteenth century, and even before 



the Revolution one of them wrote an account of 
what had then come to be viewed as their long 
identity with the city and its vicinity. 

****** 

On the other side of the Schuylkill, also imme- 
diately opposite, may be traced the habitat of 
some of the early Warners. Before Penn had 
thought of coming across the Atlantic and at a 
time when he had hardly more than ended his 
career as a young gallant and soldier, the region 
of Fairmount Park, the Lancaster turnpike and 
the Main Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 
Montgomery county had become familiar with 
the lonely footsteps of William Warner. He 
was there before even the Mifflins made their 
appearance on the Jersey shore of the Delaware, 
together with those other English Quakers from 
whom Burlington derived its existence and 
whose traditions and influence are still easily vis- 
ible there after the lapse of eight generations. 
It is believed that from him probably sprang the 
members of a stock which had included many 
of the most sterling inhabitants of the early 
counties of colonial Pennsylvania and whose 
name has been especially familiar along the orig- 
inal line of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, or 
in what was once known as the Welsh Barony. 
It was associated, too, with the characteristic 
virtues of the Quakers in point of industry and 
frugality and the habits which lead to long life; 
and the country between Philadelphia and Val- 
ley Forge on the other side of the Schuylkill was 
dotted with their farms or their households. It 
was Colonel Isaac Warner, one of them that 
upheld the Continental cause as a soldier, who 
told Washington at Valley Forge that the ear- 
liest of his ancestors he knew of was the Wil- 
liam Warner, of the Swedish or ante-Penn days 
in Pennsylvania and who was said to have been 
a captain in Cromwell's army; and it was this 
observation that led Washington himself to re- 
mark that he, too, was a Warner through his 
Virginia grandparent of the same name. 
****** 

The Warners, as we once before had occasion 
to show, were particularly associated with the 
present Fairmount Park in and about the Sweet- 
brier-Lansdowne-Belmont district. The land of 
that William Warner who was the first of the 
sovereigns of the soils to whom the fishermen 
and other jolly sportsmen of the Colony in 
Schuylkill first owed allegiance, and who, like 
the subsequent Isaac Warner, was thereby 
known as the Baron, was the scene of many 
years of their joyous fellowship when relaxing 
from their piscatorial labors in the river. There 
are probably few who have not heard the oft- 
told story of the annual ceremony in which they 



1306 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



paid tribute to the Warner barons by marching 
up to their home at Egglesfield with the first 
three fish that were caught at the opening of 
each season, proffering them to him on a tray, 
and exchanging with him a glass of wine in 
token of their baronial relation as loyal sub- 
jects. It was one of the Warner girls, too — 
Esther — of whom a tale has been told like that 
of Lydia Darrach, in giving a warning to Wash- 
ington of a plan for making an attack on him at 
Valley Forge which she had overheard some 
British officers discuss over their wine; and it 
was she who was the playmate of that Mif^in on 
the other side of the river whom T. Buchanon 
Read had in mind when he wrote his poem on 
"The Wild Wagoner of the Alleghenies." 
****** 

It is such memories as these that cluster around 
many a part of the great Park; and as busy 
a practical life as the new Commissioner has 
had, he has been wont to cherish them in his 
leisure hours. The historic pageantry which 
begins to-day at Belmont will doubtless be a 
beautiful pictorial review of the men and "epi- 
sodes" that have entered into the warp and 
woof of two centuries of the city's history. But 
it would be possible, and with no difficulty what- 
ever, to construct an imposing and not less pic- 
turesque series of scenes from the history of the 
persons and events that are associated with Fair- 
mount Park alone as it was in the elder days. 
It is these associations which impart to it a 
touch of the patriotic, the literary and the roman- 
tic charm such as no other public reservation in 
America has in anything like the same degree. 
.\s population around it becomes thicker and 
more pressing, it is not easy to maintain it in the 
gentle, tranquil, half-secluded beauty that some 
parts once had but do not have now. Still the 
memories of it in its ancient estate go far to 
cultivate for it an attachment among our people 
which it would not otherwise have, and the new 
Commissioner will be pretty sure to recognize 
the value of that sentiment in Philadelphia's 
pride and her relation to the Park. To-day the 
figures of William Warner and at least one of 
the MifYlins will be seen in the Pageant, and they 
will be marching over the very same ground at 
Belmont on which their prototypes of old looked 
down upon the Schuylkill, with only Swedes and 
Indians for their neighbors. 

****** 

And it is passing odd, in the flight of time, that 
a descendant of the two pioneers in that wilder- 
ness of the seventeenth century should now be- 
come one of its guardians in the twentieth. 

Penn. 



WATSON, Henry Winfield, 

La'wyer, Financier, Congressmaii. 

The year 1701 marked the date of the 
first settlement of the hne of Watson in 
Pennsylvania, and from that time to the 
present, 191 5, prominent position has been 
the fortune of the family, the year 1914 
witnessing the election of Henry W. Wat- 
son as Congressman from the Eighth Con- 
gressional District. 

This well-knov/n twentieth century repre- 
sentative of the family descends from Dr. 
Thomas Watson, who came to Pennsylvania 
from Cumberland, England, settling near 
Bristol at "Honey Hill" about 1701. He 
married Eleanor Pearson, who accompanied 
him to America, as did his sons, Thomas 
and John. He was a Friend, bringing a cer- 
tificate from Friends' Meeting at Parsday 
Crag, dated 7th month 23, 1701. In 1704 
he moved to Buckingham township, Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, there purchasing four 
hundred and fifty acres. On this tract he 
built a stone mansion in which he resided 
until his dieath in 1731 or 1732. He was a 
man of education and intelligence, took up 
the study of medicine, and at the time of 
his death had a large practice. His son 
John succeeded him in his medical practice, 
and' for sixteen years was a member of As- 
sembly. Thomas, the eldest son, died be- 
fore his father, leaving a son. 

John Watson, a noted mathematician and 
surveyor of colonial days, was regarded as 
one of the m.ost proficient men of that pro- 
fession. He was educated under Jacob 
Tyler, of Philadelphia, who later became 
surveyor-general of the province and ap- 
pointed his pupil deputy for Bucks county. 
John Watson did a large business as sur- 
veyor and conveyancer, was commissioned 
by Surveyor-General Nicholas Scull to as- 
sist in running the line of Delaware and 
Maryland, and on the death of Scull became 
surveyor-general. He was one of the strong 
characters of his day. 

On bis maternal side Congressman Wat- 
son descends from Nathaniel Bacon, an 



1307 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



early settler of Barnstable, Massachusetts, 
who was a grandson of Sir Nicholas Bacon, 
Lord Keeper to Queen Elizabeth. By inter- 
marriage the Watsons are connected with 
many prominent families, and in their own 
name and right have gained a sure and last- 
ing position in business, professional, social 
and public life. 

Henry Winfield Watson was born in 
Buckingham township, Bucks county, Penn- 
sylvania, June 24, 1856, grandson of Joseph 
and Mary (White) Watson, and son of 
Mitchel and Anna (Bacon) Watson. He 
was educated in private schools and chose 
the law as his profession, preparing under 
F. Carroll Brewster. He was admitted to 
the Philadelphia bar in 1881, and began 
practice the same year. At this time he is 
well known in the business world, and since 
1883 has been identified with large business 
interests. In 1883 he was an important 
factor in organizing the People's National 
Bank of Langhorne, his home ; was one of 
the organizers of the Langhorne & Bristol 
Electric Railway, was elected the first presi- 
dent of the company and drove the first 
spike in connection with the construction 
of the first electric road in the county, No- 
vember 20, 1895. Mr. Watson continued 
president of the road until 1898, the prop- 
erty then being sold. In 1900 he was ap- 
pointed receiver of the Washington & Po- 
tomac Railroad, and later was chosen presi- 
dent of the Washington, Potomac & Chesa- 
peake Railroad Company. He is a director 
of the Bucks County Trust Company, presi- 
dent of the People's National Bank of 
Langhorne, director of the Philadelphia 
Company for Guaranteeing Mortgages, and 
director of the Langhorne Electric Light 
and Power Company. As executive and 
director he has played no small part in guid- 
ing the destinies of these corporations, and 
stands in the business world as one of the 
solid, reliable, substantial men of his day. 
He was one of the organizers of the Lang- 
horne Library, and for several years was its 
efficient president. He is a member of the 



Philadelphia Club, the Union League of 
Philadelphia, and mmierous other clubs and 
societies. 

Mr. Watson has ever been a strong ad-- 
herent to Republican principles, was a fre- 
quent delegate to congressional and state 
conventions of his party, and in 1908 was 
alternate delegate to the National Conven- 
tion held in Chicago. In 1914 he was the 
nominee of his party for Congress from the 
Eighth Congressional District, and was vic- 
torious over both of his opponents. With 
his professional and business experience to 
guide him, a strong mind to determine his 
actions, and a patriotic desire to legislate 
wisely for all, there is nothing in the fore- 
cast of his congressional career but honor- 
able success. 



CASSATT, Alexander Johnston, 

Great Railroad Builder. 

On the banks of the Hudson river, in the 
city of New York, stands a dome-shaped 
building of graceful proportions, erected as 
a monument and a memorial to that great 
commander of military forces, General 
Ulysses S. Grant. Across the seas, in the 
capital of the France he loved so well, and 
underneath the dome of the beautiful Hotel 
de Invalides, rest the remains of another 
great commander, probably the greatest that 
ever assembled men to battle — Napoleon I. 
Across the channel in that greatest of all 
cities, underneath the towers and spires his 
genius created and amid the tombs of the 
greatest of England's dead, lies all that is 
mortal of Sir Christopher Wren, architect 
and builder of St. Paul's Cathedral. Again 
crossing the seas to the great metropolis of 
the new world, there is found a fitting mon- 
ument to a great commander and a great 
builder — Alexander Johnston Cassatt. His 
mortal remains do not lie beneath the struc- 
ture his genius created, but nevertheless 
every stone, every girder and detail, in the 
great Pennsylvania railroad station in New 
York speaks eloquently of a master builder 



1308 




^ 




mdiiY^, //^V^. 'r 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and creative genius, who, when its site was 
covered with buildings and teeming with 
■ population, saw in his vision a mountain 
pierced, a river tunnelled, a city traversed 
under ground, and a great building erected, 
where electric driven trains should arrive 
and depart, unseen and unheard, bringing 
from north, east, south and west the thou- 
sands daily that make the beautiful spaci- 
ous building the scene of greatest activity, 
and one of the striking sights of our Amer- 
ican Mecca. He was a captain of the 
armies of peace, a builder of works devoted 
to commerce and one whose victories were 
won in the interests of the great corpora- 
tion, whose masterful head he was, for 
seven years. Stricken at his post of duty, 
so well had he builded and so truly had he 
planned that the great corporation still 
moves along the lines he laid down, and of 
him it can truly be said : "Though dead he 
speaketh." 

Alexander Johnston Cassatt was of 
Huguenot ancestry, the family name hav- 
ing been de Cossart and borne by a Prot- 
estant family of France. He was the son of 
Robert S. Cassett, a wealthy banker and 
prominent business man of Pittsburgh, and 
the first elected mayor of Allegheny City 
(now Pittsburgh, West Side), later came 
to Philadelphia and established the banking 
house of Lloyd Cassatt & Company. His 
mother was Katherine, daughter of Alex- 
ander and Mary (Stevenson) Johnston, and 
granddaughter of Colonel James Johnston, 
a Revolutionary soldier. 

Alexander J. Cassatt began his educa- 
tion in the public schools of Pittsburgh, con- 
tinuing his studies in that city. Soon after- 
wards his father established a residence in 
Europe, and there the lad pursued a liberal 
course of study at the universities of Darm- 
stadt and Heidelberg, and in other conti- 
nental schools. After returning to the 
United States he decided upon civil engi- 
neering as a profession, and entered the 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, 
New York, whence he was graduated C. E., 



class of 1859. Immediately after gradu- 
ation he entered upon the active practice 
of his profession, his first position being 
upon the stafif of a Georgia railroad. He 
resigned at the outbreak of the war between 
the States and came to Philadelphia. In 
1 861 he was appointed rodman on the Phil- 
adelphia division of the Pennsylvania rail- 
road ; two years later he was appointed as- 
sistant engineer on the line linking the 
Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia & Tren- 
ton railroad. Here he began showing his 
true mettle, and in 1864 was made resident 
engineer of the middle division of the Phil- 
adelphia & Erie railroad, with headquarters 
at Renovo. His next promotion was to 
superintendent of motive power and ma- 
chinery at Altoona ; next he was general 
superintendent of the Pennsylvania rail- 
road between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. 
In 187 1 he was made general manager of 
the Pennsylvania lines east of Pittsburgh, 
and took up his residence in Philadelphia, 
and soon became known in the social as 
well as in the railway world. In 1874 he 
was madfe third vice-president of the Penn- 
sylvania railroad, and when Colonel Thomas 
A. Scott retired in 1880 he was advanced to 
the post of first vice-president. It was dur- 
ing this period of his career that he effected 
the control of the Philadelphia, Wilming- 
ton & Baltimore railroad, a blow to the Gar- 
retts and the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, 
which compelled them to seek alliance with 
the Philadelphia & Reading, also to build 
a line across New Jersey to gain entrance 
to New York City. 

Another great undertaking was the con- 
struction of the New York, Philadelphia & 
Norfolk railroad, by which fruit, vegetables 
and sea food are quickly transported from 
the Maryland and Virginia peninsula to 
northern markets. This was accomplished 
by building from Delmar to Cape Charles, 
ninety-five miles south. By means of power- 
ful transfer tugs, loaded trains are brought 
from Norfolk across thirty-six miles of 
water in three hours, placed upon the rails, 

309 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



landing fresh picked berries, fruits and 
ocean delicacies in Philadelphia and New 
York in time for the breakfast table. This 
railroad is one of the most valuable feeders 
of the Pennsylvania system in Maryland 
and Delaware, and is entirely due to Mr. 
Cassatt's creative brain. He resigned the 
vice-presidency September 30, 1882, and 
spent a year in foreign travel. September 
I, 1883, he was elected a director of the 
Pennsylvania railroad, but for the next fif- 
teen years took little part in the administra- 
tion of the great railroad he had been in- 
strumental in placing in so commanding a 
position, but as chairman of the road com- 
mittee kept in touch with the management. 
He became president of the New York, 
Philadelphia & Norfolk in 1885, and in 
1 89 1 president of a commission for build>- 
ing an intercolonial railroad connecting 
North and South America. In 1899 he was 
elected president of the Pennsylvania rail- 
road, to succeed Frank Thomson, deceased, 
and under his management the road came 
rapidly to the front and assumed the com- 
manding position in the railroad world that 
it yet so proudly occupies. 

President Cassatt was a great construc- 
tive engineer ; he was gifted with an almost 
prophetic vision and saw the future as it 
really came to pass. He planned great 
things for his road and the people of Phila- 
delphia, and the magnates of the country, 
came to know him as the man he really 
was. He found conditions existing that 
threatened the very life of the road, the 
worst being the system by which favored 
shippers received large sums of money in 
rebates. President Cassatt had had a tilt 
with Mr. Rockefeller at an earlier period 
and refused him further rebates. The re- 
sponse had been to cut off all Pennsylvania 
shipments and give Standard Oil freight to 
more complaisant roads. In one week the 
Pennsylvania was forced to yield or run 
empty trains. Now in his rightful position 
from which to wage battle, he issued his 
famous "no rebate" order. Andrew Car- 



negie, who shipped ten million dollars worth 
of freight a year over the Pennsylvania, 
protested, but President Cassatt stood firm, 
and Mr. Carnegie responded with the South 
Penn railroad proposition. This road was 
chartered and a great deal of construction 
work had' been done in the counties of 
Washington, Fayette and Somerset, the in- 
tention being to build through the coal and 
coke fields of Pennsylvania to tide water. 
The formation of the United States Steel 
Corporation and the retirement of Mr. Car- 
negie from business gave Mr. Cassatt his 
opportunity, an article of the trust agree- 
ment being the abandonment of South Penn 
construction. The Pennsylvania purchased 
the property and dismantled it, thus remov- 
ing a road that threatened the prosperity 
of the Pennsylvarlia and was a serious 
menace to its plans. He now began his 
wonderful work of expansion and improve- 
ment. The Pennsylvania was completely 
rebuilt, the line shortened by the removal 
of curves, grades lessened, stations rebuilt, 
roadbed improved and a great deal of the 
road four tracked between Pittsburgh and 
Philadelphia. Vast sums were spent to 
abolish grade crossings in the cities of New 
Jersey and Pennsylvania and interminal im- 
provements. The physical condition of the 
road was built up and strengthened in every 
particular, in fact the work done was equiv- 
alent to building a double track railroad 
from New York to Pittsburgh. The Long 
Island railroad was acquired, much to the 
chagrin of the Vanderbilts, although their 
close relations were not disturbed. A low 
grade freight road was constructed that re- 
lieved the main line of a great part of its 
burden east of Pittsburgh and made possi- 
ble the operation of the fast eighteen-hour 
trains between New York and Chicago. 
The maximum mileage passenger rate was 
lowered to two and a half cents per mile 
one way, a transferable mileage book at a 
flat two-cent rate issued, the company's 
dividend rate increased to seven per cent, 
per annum, and the salaries of all employees 



1 3 10 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



drawing less than $200 monthly increased 
ten per cent., thus adding $12,000,000 
annually to the pay envelopes of 185,000 
men employed on the lines east and west of 
Pittsburgh. To this great work must be 
added the plans for New York City termi- 
nals and the acquiring of two blocks of 
land in the heart of New York City, and the 
securing of the franchise necessary before 
the far-reaching plans of President Cassatt 
could be even commenced. He was held up 
at every point by thrifty councilmen in both 
Philadelphia and New York, but his strict 
orders in dealing with the unfriendly of 
both cities were: "No tribute." This finally 
became understood, and after delaying the 
work several months, all franchises and per- 
mits were granted. The great work of 
entering New York City, after passing 
under Bergen Hill, Jersey City, the Hud- 
son river, and depositing passengers in the 
great station, covering four city blocks, was 
not completed during his lifetime, but the 
work was finished from the plans formu- 
lated by him and his great work as a con- 
structive builder and great commander is 
emphasized in this, his crowning achieve- 
ment. 

This brief resume only touches the really 
great things accomplished in his seven and 
a half years at the head of the Pennsylvania 
— the electrification of the New Jersey and 
other lines ; the Union Station at Washing- 
ton; the "Trenton cut-ofif;" the thousand 
and one instances of progress ; the great 
training school at Altoona ; the planting of 
great forests of trees, later to be used as a 
source of tie supply; the water works sys- 
tem extending along the right of way — all 
these things must remain a part of the un- 
written history. The great fight with the 
Goulds is a matter of history, and while 
the Western Union was abolished from all 
Pennsylvania lines, they secured some of 
the fruits of victory. 

Mr. Cassatt was the seventh president of 
the Pennsylvania railroad, and it is no ex- 
aggeration to say that he was the greatest 

13 



of them all. Certainly as a builder and com- 
mander of men he has had no equal. In 
addition to his railroad duties he was en- 
gaged in financial operations to a large ex- 
tent. He was interested as director in the 
Philadelphia National Bank ; Commercial 
Trust Company; Fidelity Trust Company; 
Western Savings Fund Society ; Equitable 
Life Assurance Society ; Manhattan Trust 
Company ; Mercantile Trust Company, the 
former of Philadelphia, the latter four of 
New York City. He was officially con- 
nected with fifteen railroad companies be- 
sides being president and director of the 
Pennsylvania railroad, most of them being 
leased lines of the Pennsylvania. He was 
a director of the New York, New Haven 
& Hartford, holding that position in order 
to protect the interests of the Pennsylvania 
in New England. 

There was another side to this great 
man's character, that which endeared him 
to sport-loving people of both hemispheres 
— he loved the horse. Flis breeding farm, 
"Chesterbrook," near Valley Forge, Penn- 
sylvania, was the home of The Bard, Cadet 
and Gold Heels, familiar names to race 
goers, and equal in fame to the greatest of 
speed kings. He was an annual exhibitor 
at the great horse shows, and his specialty, 
the English hackney crossed with the Amer- 
ican trotter, always carried away the rib- 
bons in the hackney class. He took keen 
delight in exhibiting his horses, and while 
he retired from the turf with the passing of 
Monmouth Park, New Jersey, his breeding 
farm was continued, and Chesterbrook 
Farms became the nursery of scores of 
prize-winners. A favorite exercise was rid- 
ing and he adhered to the saddle until a 
few years prior to his death. 

Next to the horse, his strongest penchant 
was for yachting. He was a member of the 
Corinthian Yacht Club, and his orange pen- 
nant, studded with a blue star on his yacht 
"Scud," was often first to cross the finish 
line. At Bar Harbor, with other Pennsyl- 
vania railroad officials, he could be found 
II 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



at the helm of his favorite yacht, as eager 
as any for the summer colony yachting 
honors. It was this love for outdoor sports, 
his desire to live as close to nature as possi- 
ble that enabled him to live nearly the 
allotted three-score years and ten without 
suffering any of the minor ills incident to 
the life of the average captain of industry. 
His name was synomous with everything 
progressive in club life. He inaugurated 
reforms in the Merion Cricket Club, of 
which he had been president several years; 
in the Philadelphia Horse Show Associa- 
tion, of which he was a most active direc- 
tor and also lent his aid and support to the 
development of the Radnor Hunt and the 
Chester Valley Hunt Clubs, and the Farm- 
ers' Qub. 

In political faith he was a Democrat, but 
less known politically than many a man of 
lesser importance. Yet was a power in 
State and national politics. Officials high 
in the public service of the nation owe their 
elevation to President Cassatt, yet the only 
political office he ever held was supervisor 
of Lower Merion township, Montgomery 
county. He was first elected to this office 
in 1881 and was continuously reelected each 
year until 1899. He spent large sums of 
his own money to keep the roads in good 
repair, and set the fashion in other sections 
of the county for wealthy men to take up 
the burden and build good roads. Indeed, 
it can be ascribed to Mr. Cassatt that the 
Pennsylvania State Highway Bureau was 
established. He was held in highest regard 
by the farmers of Montgomery county, 
numbering among them many of his warm- 
est friends. 

In religious association he was a member 
of the Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal) 
at Bryn Mawr, and also held a pew in St. 
James' Episcopal Church, Twenty-second 
and Walnut streets, Philadelphia. He was 
practical in his religion, and encouraged his 
employees to become members of the Young 
Men's Christian Association. He contrib- 
uted generously to the work of that associa- 

13 



tion among railroad men, considering a 
good investment the money spent in estab- 
lishing railroad branches and reading rooms 
of the Young Men's Christian Association. 
Years of experience had taught him, he said : 
"That a man who allied himself with the 
great young men's movement, made a sober 
and reliable employee." 

Mr. Cassatt married, in 1868, Lois, 
daughter of Rev. Edward Y. Buchanan, D. 
D., rector for many years of Trinity Epis- 
copal Church in Oxford, Philadelphia ; she 
is also a niece of James Buchanan, Presi- 
dent of the United States, 1857-61. A beau- 
tiful altar in Christ Church, Philadelphia, 
is a memorial to Dr. Buchanan, erected by 
Mrs. Cassatt. The Cassatt country resi- 
dence at Haverford, "Cheswold," with its 
extensive grounds, attractive rooms, sur- 
rounded by great trees, was a comfortable, 
spacious home. Their city home was at No. 
202 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, which 
was occupied' during the social season only, 
the family preferring their country resi- 
dence. They were usually the first to leave 
the city in the spring and the last to return 
in the autumn. No family in the city held 
higher social position, Mrs. Cassatt being, 
until her retirement, two years prior to her 
husband's death, an acknowledged leader of 
society. 

Mr. Cassatt was a diffident man, and 
avoided as much as possible all social obli- 
gations, leaving this to his wife. It was 
his delight to assemble a coterie of con- 
genial friends at Chesterbrook Farm, and 
at many of the entertainments these friends 
enjoyed, he acted as chef. He had a cot- 
tage at Bar Harbor, on the coast of Maine, 
and while there spent much of his time on 
his yacht "Scud." He was very charitable, 
and hundreds can testify to his many 
thoughtful acts and timely aid. He be- 
longed to many clubs, among them the Phil- 
adelphia, Rittenhouse, Radnor Hunt, Rab- 
bit, Pennsylvania, Corinthian Yacht, Ger- 
mantown Cricket, and Philadelphia Coun- 
try. He also belonged to the New York 
12 




7::>t^r-ry(y^^^^^;C^ >^ 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



clubs — Union, Yacht, Tandem, and Turf 
and Field. He was a member of the Sons 
of the Revolution and the Society of the 
Cincinnati. 

Mrs. Cassatt is identified with many 
charitable enterprises and lias also been 
prominently connected' with women's clubs. 
She is a member of the Colonial Dames of 
America and is a governor of the Acorn 
Club. Children of Alexander J. and Lois 
(Buchanan) Cassatt are: Edward Bu- 
chanan ; Robert Kelso ; Eliza Foster, mar- 
ried to W. Plumkett Stewart, of Baltimore. 



FRITZ, W. Wallace, M. D., D. D. S., 

Father of Neuropathy. 

A regularly graduated Doctor of Medi- 
cine and Doctor of Dental Surgery, father 
of neuropathy, and dean of the only recog- 
nized school of drugless practice, Dr. Fritz 
is one of the strong and most interesting 
characters in the medical world. From 
1892, when he received the diploma of the 
Philadelphia School of Anatomy, until 1906, 
when he was elected Professor of Surgery 
of the Philadelphia College and Infirmary 
of Osteopathy, he followed the lines of 
practice laid down by the old school of 
medicine, and during that time many honors 
were showered upon him. From 1906 until 
the present time he has practiced drugless 
treatment, a form of practice in which he 
was the most prominent leader, and is now 
the head of the College of Neuropathy, an 
institution which stands alone in its relation 
to drugless practice. When Temple Uni- 
versity was about to annex a medical de- 
partment. Dr. Fritz organized the medical 
and pharmaceutical departments, instituted 
the first five years' medical course in the 
LTnited States, and was chosen the first 
dean. Wherever placed he has proved his 
worth, and while he remained in regular 
practice tasted to the full the honors that 
the medical fraternity covet. As the ex- 
ponent of the new school that has demon- 
strated how pathological conditions in all 

I 



parts of the body can be controlled by way 
of the vaso-motor system he has become 
equally prominent, from the day when he 
stepped boldly forward in the cause of 
humanity and furnished the new scientific 
movement with that which it so badly 
needed, a leader, and after years of study, 
research and hard work has perfected a 
method of treatment known as Neuropathy. 
W. Wallace Fritz was born at Elders 
Ridge, Indiana, April 25, 1872. Until the 
age of sixteen years he attended school and 
aided his father in farm labor, and after his 
graduation from Elders Ridge Academy 
with high honors he joined a civil engineer- 
ing corps as axeman, returning home in the 
spring of 1889 to assist his father. During 
hay harvest he was so injured by falling 
from a load of hay that his life was des- 
paired of. But he recovered, and during 
the period of convalescence began the study 
of anatomy, that study determining his 
future career. In the fall of 1891 he began 
medical study at Medico-Chirurgical Col- 
lege at Philadelphia and in 1892 received a 
diploma from the Philadelphia School of 
Anatomy for proficiency and research work. 
During his term of three years at Medico- 
Chirurgical College he was a charter mem- 
ber of the Webster Fox Ophthalmological 
Society and a member of the William East- 
erly Ashton Gynecological Society, also 
being Assistant Gynecologist in the dis- 
pensary service of the college and hospital. 
In 1894 he was graduated M. D., and was 
among those who took the first examination 
of the Pennsylvania State Medical Board, 
receiving from the board a license to prac- 
tice medicine and surgery. In 1895 he was 
Demonstrator in the Philadelphia School of 
Anatomy, and in 1896 was elected director 
and Dean of the School of Anatomy, also 
Lecturer of Anatomy in Medico-Chirurgical 
and Philadelphia Dental colleges. He was 
appointed Lecturer on Minor Surgery in 
Philadelphia Dental College in 1897, in 1898 
was elected surgeon on the staff of the Gar- 
retson Hospital of Philadelphia and also 

313 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



was admitted to membership in the Phila- 
delphia County Medical Society, in 1899 
was appointed Consultant Medical Chief of 
the Garretson Hospital, and in 1900, com- 
pleting his studies in dentistry, was gradu- 
ated D. D. S. from Philadelphia Dental 
College and was elected a member of the 
British-American Dental Society. During 
1900 he organized the medical and pharma- 
ceutical departments of Temple University, 
and was elected dean, serving for three 
years in that position and as Professor of 
Anatomy and CHnical Surgery. It was 
there that he inaugurated the five years' 
course of study for medical students. 
Temple University being the first univer- 
sity in the United States to require five 
years study. During this three years of 
connection with Temple he also served on 
the staff of the Samaritan Hospital as Sur- 
geon and as Professor of Anatomy and Sur- 
gery in the Philadelphia Normal Training 
School, becoming a member of the Amer- 
ican Medical Association in 1902 and of 
the Philadelphia Medical Club in 1904. 

Always a student and ever seeking more 
efficient means of relieving human ills, Dr. 
Fritz became interested in drugless treat- 
ment, accepting in 1906 the appointment as 
Professor of Surgery and Clinical Surgery 
in the Philadelphia College and Infirmary 
of Osteopathy, being elected in 1907 Pro- 
fessor of Obstetrics. In 1908 he organized 
the American College of Neuropathy, giv- 
ing to drugless practice a new name and a 
temple of learning. He was elected Dean, 
Professor of Anatomy, Surgery and Clinical 
Surgery and a member of the board of trus- 
tees, becoming in 1909 president of the cor- 
poration of the college. The new school 
and institution has prospered and in the six 
years it has been in existence has taken a 
recognized position as the champion of a 
treatment rational, scientific and efficient. 
In 1910 Dr. Fritz organized and was elected 
president of the American Association of 
Neuropathy, and also was chosen president 
of the Pennsylvania Neuropathic Associa- 



tion. In 1912 he organized and was elected 
president of the National Association of 
Drugless Practitioners. He is also a mem- 
ber of the New Jersey Neuropathic Assc^- 
ciation, to which he was elected in 191 1, in 
191 3 became an honorary member of the 
Luther Burbank Society, and in 1914 was 
elected a member of the Pennsylvania Drug- 
less Therapeutic Association, honorary 
member of the Naturopath Association and 
of the New Jersey Chiropractic Association. 
In 1895 he was appointed medical director 
of the Pennsylvania Mutual Life Insurance 
Company, and has long served that com- 
pany. 

It is difficult to see how more earnest, 
practical and successful work could be 
crowded into a period of twenty years, and 
its review leads to the conclusion that in the 
years of activity remaining to him. Dr. 
Fritz will create an unprecedented record. 



KNOX, Philander Chase, 

liaxryeT, Statesman. 

Philander Chase Knox was born in 
Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, 
May 6, 1853, son of David S. and Rebekah 
(Page) Knox; he was named after Phil- 
ander Chase, the renowned Episcopal 
bishop, of whom his father was an ardent 
admirer. 

At the age of fifteen be entered Mount 
Alliance (Ohio) Union College, from which 
be was graduated at the age of nineteen. 
He studied law under H. B. Swope, was 
admitted to the bar in 1875, and the next 
year was appointed assistant United States 
Attorney for the district of Western Penur 
sylvania by President Grant. This field was 
too narrow for his ambitions, and, having 
noticed with interest the wonderful expan- 
sion going on in the coal, glass, iron and 
steel industries, and in transportation, he 
resigned his office after a year's service and 
became a partner with James H. Reed, in 
the firm of Knox & Reed. In a brief time 
the firm had acquired the most important 



1314 




^^:~a Ji7sf^.-,ca//'uS Cc 



-y/uA/ i I r/f^ /' m ■ /ri 



lo-x.^ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and lucrative law business in Western Penn- 
sylvania, extending to all important indus- 
trial interests, and for some time Mr. 
Knox's personal retainers amounted to $75,- 
ooo a year. In 1897 President McKinley 
tendered to him the Attorney-General's 
portfolio, an ofifer which he declined be- 
cause he was unwilling to make so great a 
financial sacrifice as the position would de- 
mand. Mr. Knox's firm grasp of corpora- 
tion questions was abundantly demon- 
strated when Pennsylvania capitalists 
bought the Indianapolis street railway inter- 
ests, and rivals appeared with the claim that 
the franchise was about to expire, a claim 
which was conceded by the Pennsylvanians' 
attorneys, former President Harrison and 
Judge John B. Dillon. The matter was 
submitted to Mr. Knox, who after a careful 
examination decided that Messrs. Harrison 
and Dillon were in error, and that the fran- 
chise had a further life of several years — a 
conclusion in which Mr. Harrison agreed, 
after a further examination. In the trial 
of the case Mr. Knox took forty-five min- 
utes in presenting his case, while the oppos- 
ing lawyers took four and eight hours re- 
spectively. The suit was decided on the 
points presented by Mr. Knox, and he re- 
ceived a fee of $110,000 for his services. 

In April, 1901, President McKinley again 
ofifered to Mr. Knox the position of Attor- 
ney-General, and which he now accepted, 
and he was invited to remain in the position 
when Mr. Roosevelt succeeded to the presi- 
dency. His office had now come to be of 
tremendous importance. The entire people 
had seemed to have arisen against the so- 
called trusts and freight rate discriminations. 
Under the Sherman anti-trust law he 
entered proceedings against various corpor- 
ations, and while these were pending the 
Senate judiciary committee called upon him 
for an opinion as to what further legisla- 
tion was necessary to make governmental 
prosecutions more certain. He made an 
elaborate report, and Congress crystalized 
the essential points of his recommendations 

PA— 16 13 



into laws; the courts rendered permanent 
injunctions prohibiting railroads from 
granting rebates and making improper dis- 
criminations ; while the suit to dissolve the 
Northern Securities Company was success- 
ful, and the beef trust was prohibited from 
continuing the contested combinations. 

The mere conduct of his office, however, 
brilliant as it was, constituted but a small 
part of his work. On October 2, 1902, be- 
fore the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, 
he delivered a profoundly learned address 
on "The Commerce Clause of the Constitu- 
tion and the Trusts," in which he declared 
"the conspicuous noxiciis features of 
trusts, existent and possible, are these : over- 
capitalization, lack of publicity of opera- 
tion, discrimination in prices to destroy 
competition, insufficient personal responsi- 
bility of officers and directors, tendency to 
monopoly, and lack of appreciation of their 
relations to the people. He was also a con- 
structive force along other lines. Under his 
guidance a most favorable arrangement was 
made by the government with reference to 
the use of the Pacific cable. In a notable 
extradition case, under his direction an ap- 
peal was successfully taken from the deci- 
sion of the Canadian authorities to the Privy 
Council at London. His legal talents were 
also of great service in matters pertaining 
to the acquiring title to the Panama canal 
territory. 

On the death of Senator Quay, Governor 
Pennypacker appointed Mr. Knox to fill out 
the unexpired term. He took his seat at 
the beginning of the second session of the 
Fifty-eighth Congress, and the following 
year was elected for a full term. While in 
the Senate he was instrumental in framing 
the railroad rate law. His labors were so 
uniformly useful that President Roosevelt 
declared, "You have deeply affected for 
good the development of our entire political 
system in its relation to the industrial and 
economic tendencies of the times." In 1908 
Senator Knox was Pennsylvania's candidate 
for the presidency. 

15 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



President Taft was strongly desirous of 
having lawyers of the highest rank in his 
cabinet, and especially those well qualified 
to advise in corporation matters. He held 
Senator Knox in high estimation, and it 
seemed for a time that his desire to call him 
into his cabinet was not to be realized. 
While Mr. Knox was Senator, the salaries 
of cabinet officers had been increased, and 
this made him ineligible under the law. 
Anxiety on the part of the President and 
willingness on the part of Congress led to 
the enactment of another law which reduced 
the salary of the Secretary of State to what 
it had formerly been, and this was held to 
remove the difficulty. Therefore, Mr. Knox 
resigned his seat in the Senate, and became 
Secretary of State, and in which position 
he served with distinguished ability. His 
diplomatic service in relation to the South 
American States was particularly useful, 
bringing those countries into more intimate 
and satisfactory relations with the United 
States. 

Mr. Knox is a member of numerous lead^ 
ing clubs — the Duquesne of Pittsburgh, of 
which be was for three years president ; the 
Pittsburgh Club, the Pittsburgh Country 
Club, both of Pittsburgh ; the Castalia Ang- 
ling Club of Sandusky; the Union League 
and the Lawyers' Club of New York City; 
and the Lawyers' Club of Philadelphia. He 
married, in 1880, Lillie, daughter of An- 
drew D. Smith, of Pittsburgh. 



SPROUL, William C, 

Journalist, Mannfacturer, Liegislator. 

While the United States has produced a 
host of most versatile men of affairs, few 
have attained such remarkable success in so 
many different lines of activity as William 
C. Sproul — editor, ironmaster, manufac- 
turer, philanthropist and statesman. He 
springs from a Scotch ancestor, Robert 
Sproule, who left his native land and set- 
tled in the village of Castlederg, county 
Tyrone, Ireland, where he died in 1680, his 



being the oldest gravestone in the cemetery 
surrounding the Presbyterian church in the 
village. His American ancestor, Charles 
Sproul, a farmer of county Tyrone, Ireland, 
came to the United States in 1786, bringing 
a demit from a chapter of Royal Arch Ma- 
sons that commended him to his brethren of 
the order. He settled in Montgomery 
county, and also lived in Chester county, 
engaging in farming and in the operation 
of small iron furnaces or forges. His 
wife, Margaret Nelson, was also a native 
of county Tyrone, Ireland. 

Their son, James Sproul, born in Castle- 
derg, county Tyrone, Ireland, in 1780, was 
brought to Pennsylvania by his parents in 
1786, and died January 7, 1847. He ob- 
tained a good education, learned all his 
father could teach him of ironmaking pro- 
cesses, and became one of the more nota- 
ble of early Pennsylvania iron founders. 
He had a chain of three forges and a bloom- 
ary on Octoraro creek, and a large trade in 
finished iron, his principal store being in 
the city of Lancaster. He became one of 
the wealthiest men of that city and one of 
the largest landowners in the entire section. 
His widow Anne, daughter of William and 
Nancy (Dunlap) Johnson, of Steeleville, 
Chester county, survived until December 
21, 1889. Her dower rights, lasting for 
nearly forty-three years, covered much real 
estate in the two counties of Chester and 
Lancaster, which with her other property 
she handled with rare judgment. 

William Hall, son of James Sproul and 
his second wife, Anne Johnson, was born 
November 6, 1837. His early life after 
leaving school was spent in Kansas and 
Pennsylvania until 1874, when he moved 
to Negaunee, in the upper peninsula of 
Michigan, where he held an executive posi- 
tion with a mining and smelting company. 
In 1882 he returned to Pennsylvania and 
was interested extensively in the Chester 
rolling mills until his retirement. He mar- 
ried. May 5, 1862, Deborah Dickinson Slo- 
kom, daughter of Samuel and Mary 
316 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



(Walker) Slokom, and granddaughter of 
Thomas and Susan (Miller) Slokom. 

The Slokoms were of English Quaker 
descent, as were the Walkers ; the Millers of 
German descent, the ancestor coming with 
the Amish emigration of about 1728. Sam- 
uel Slokom was a banker and capitalist, re- 
puted at his death in 1889 to have been the 
richest man in Lancaster county. His wife, 
Mary (Walker) Slokom, died in Chester, 
April 20, 1893, aged eighty-seven years, and 
was buried in the Friends' burying ground 
in Sadsbury, beside the unmarked graves 
of her Quaker ancestors, and almost within 
sight of where she and her people for gen- 
erations and all her children and grand- 
children have been born. 

From such an ancestry came William 
Cameron, youngest of the three sons of Wil- 
liam Hall and Deborah Dickinson (Slokom) 
Sproul. He was born on the farm, near 
the village of Octoraro, Colerain township, 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, September 
16, 1870, and four years later his parents 
moved to Negaunee, Michigan, where his 
early life was spent. Before his sixth birth- 
day he entered a private school taught by 
a young lady, Miss Louise N. Mclntyre, 
who started the lad aright and inspired him 
with his first ambition to become a scholar. 
In 1 881 he entered Negaunee high school, 
being then eleven years of age, a year later 
the family returned to Pennsylvania, set- 
tling in Christiana, where he spent a winter 
in the high school. In March, 1883, they 
moved to Chester, where he finished his 
high school course and was graduated with 
the class of 1887, with a normal or teacher's 
degree. In the fall of 1887 he entered 
Swarthmore College, where he spent four 
useful years. He took the full scientific 
course; was editor of the "Swarthmore 
Phoenix" and of "The Halcyon," the col- 
lege annual ; was member and manager of 
the football team; president of the Euno- 
mian Literary Society ; charter member and 
archon of Swarthmore Chapter, Phi Kappa 
Psi; winner of one of the college oratorical 



prizes, and a participant in all student move- 
ments. He was graduated B. S. in 1891, 
and at once bought an interest in the Frank- 
lin Printing Company, an old-established 
Philadelphia house. His ambition was for 
journalism, and in March, 1892, he acquired 
a one-half interest in the "Chester Times," 
then as later the leading daily newspaper of 
Delaware county. This was the culmina- 
tion of an ambition that had beset him from 
the age of ten years, when with a school- 
mate, Fred Dougherty, in Negaunee, they 
invested in a small printing outfit, set the 
type, edited and printed a monthly journal, 
"The Amateur," with sixteen pages the size 
of a postal card. But "The Amateur" made 
money, and Mr. Sproul yet remembers with 
what pride the young owners found they 
had earned a profit of ten dollars during 
their first six months. Later, in Chester in 
1883 and 1884 he published "The Sun," an 
amateur paper, and became a member of 
the Pennsylvania Amateur Press Associa- 
tion. In 1884, while yet in high school, he 
began to do work for the "Chester Times," 
and attracted the attention of John A. Wal- 
lace, the owner, who decided he was worthy 
of encouragement, and oflfered to compen- 
sate him for work done after school and 
evenings. The lad thought twenty-five 
cents per day fair pay, and he began work 
in earnest at that rate. In the following 
year he became Chester correspondent of 
the "Philadelphia Press" under Mr. Dorr, 
then news editor. Mr. Dorr loved to tell in 
the latter years how in 1885 he sent for his 
Chester correspondent to give him some in- 
structions, and of his surprise to see a fif- 
teen-year-old boy come to the office in 
answer to his summons. He kept up his 
newspaper work while at Swarthmore, and 
in addition to the college publication con- 
ducted general college departments in sev- 
eral metropolitan journals, earning consider- 
able money in that way. When at last his 
hopes were realized and he was half owner 
of the "Times," and began his partnership 
with his early friend and employer, John 

317 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



A. Wallace, he threw his whole soul and 
energy into the work, learned the business 
thoroughly, developing into a forceful 
writer, as well as a capable business man- 
ager. 

In 1895 he had acquired such a reputation 
in business circles that he was elected a 
director of the First National Bank of 
Chester, and in 1898 was elected vice-presi- 
dent of the Delaware River Iron, Shipbuild- 
ing and Engine Works, formerly Roach's 
shipyard. In 1899 he resigned and at once 
began the organization of the Seaboard 
Steel Casting Company, incorporated with 
$500,000 capital. Mr. Sproul was elected 
president of the corporation, and on De- 
cember 31, 1900, the last day of the nine- 
teenth century, the first heat was poured 
from the furnaces of the great plant erected 
at the foot of Jeffrey street, Chester. This 
has been a most successful enterprise and 
one of great value to the city of Chester. 
But not even the field of journalism or of 
steel manufacture was sufficiently large to 
satisfy his boundless energy. He became 
interested in lumber, coal, railroad and 
banking companies and in shipping. In 
1900 he with others organized the Chester 
Shipping Company, with a line of steamers 
on the Delaware river, becoming president 
of that corporation and of the River Front 
Improvement Company, also of the Niagara 
Hydraulic Engine Company. Other Ches- 
ter companies, in which he is officially inter- 
ested are the Henry Roever Company, a 
large glycerine and soap manufacturing 
company, of which he is vice-president ; the 
Delaware County Trust Company, the First 
National Bank and the Delaware County 
National Bank, holding directorships in all 
these financial institutions. His lumber, 
timber, coal and railroad interests are 
largely in the State of West Virginia. He 
is president of the Coal River railway, the 
Camden Inter-State Railway of West Vir- 
ginia, the Kentucky & Ohio, the Kanawha 
Valley Traction Company, the Charleston 
& South Side Bridge Company, and of the 



Spruce River Coal Land Company. He is 
treasurer of the Kanawha Bridge and Ter- 
minal Company; treasurer of the Seaboard 
Fuel Company ; and in addition to the banks 
already mentioned, is a director of the Com- 
mercial Trust Company. This does not by 
any means cover the field of Mr. Sproul's 
business operations, but only the more im- 
portant, and would seem to be of sufiicient 
magnitude to employ the time of even the 
most energetic man. But not Mr. Sproul. 
These is another field, which few business 
men except those either retired or directly 
descended from statesmen of note, ever 
enter — the field of politics. 

Even before Mr. Sproul was of age, he 
was an active political worker and a strong 
partisan. After becoming part owner of 
the "Times" he became well-known as a 
rising man, and coincident with his advent 
into the business world was his entrance 
into official political life. In March, 1896, 
he was nominated by the Republicans for 
the office of State Senator to succeed Jesse 
M. Baker^ and was elected the following 
November by a majority of almost 10,000 
votes. He was then just past twenty-five 
years of age — the constitutional age limit 
for Senators, and for six years was the 
youngest man in the State Senate. Not- 
withstanding his youth and his pronounced 
independence, he was assigned to important 
committees and became prominent in con- 
nection with notable legislation. In 19CX) he 
was renominated and elected without seri- 
ous opposition. In the session of 1891 he 
was strongly opposed to the so-called ''rip- 
per" bills, for changing the form of govern- 
ment of cities, and although closely affiliated 
with the regular Republican State organiza- 
tion, strenuously labored to defeat the Pitts- 
burgh "ripper," which was the political sen- 
sation of that session. In 1903 Senator 
Sproul, after a careful study of the ques- 
tion of road improvement, drafted the bill 
for the general plan of State aid in high- 
way construction, which, combined with 
some features of a bill introduced by Sena- 



1318 





-z^^i^cA^^ 





ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



tor Roberts, of Montgomery county, was 
passed during the session of 1903. This 
bill forms the beginning of the highway im- 
provement movement that has converted 
many of the hitherto inferior roads of 
Pennsylvania into splendid modern avenues 
of travel, and is constantly spreading until 
the cause of "Good Roads" has become one 
of the most vital and important of all State 
improvements. In 1903 Senator Sproul 
was the unanimous choice of the Republican 
members of the Senate for president of that 
body, and was elected by the party vote. 
He was reelected by the Senate in 1904, and 
was again chosen president of the Senate 
by his party associates. He is the author of 
bills calling upon Congress to consider uni- 
form divorce laws and of other measures ; 
also has served upon several State commis- 
sions, and has rendered valuable service in 
his efforts in behalf of public charities and 
philanthropies. He is a member of the 
board of managers of Swarthmore College, 
his alma mater, and in 1903 was elected 
president of the Alumni Association. In 
March, 1907, he presented the college with 
funds sufficient to erect a building for an 
observatory, and to equip it with one of 
the largest and most powerful telescopes in 
the whole world. He is trustee of the 
Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble- 
Minded Children, at Elwyn, and most lib- 
eral in his private philanthropies. His fra- 
ternities are the Masonic order, the Elks, 
Patrons of Plusbandry, Phi Kappa Psi and 
the Book and Key, the two latter college 
fraternities. His clubs are the Union 
League, University, Corinthian Yacht, Pen 
and Pencil of Philadelphia, Manhattan and 
Engineers of New York, Penn of Chester, 
Harrisburg, Rose Tree Fox and Spring- 
haven Country ; also numerous political 
organizations. His favorite recreation is 
open-air sport, principally with rod, line and 
gun. He is also fond of travel, and has 
toured Europe, Alaska, Mexico and his 
native land. In religious faith he is a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends. 



He married, January 2, 1892, Emmeline, 
daughter of John B. Roach, the noted ship- 
builder of Chester, and his wife, Mary Car- 
ohne Wallace. Children : Dorothy Wallace 
and John Roach Sproul. The family win- 
ter home is in Chester, while their summer 
mansion is at Lapidea Manor, a historic and 
beautiful farm in Nether Providence, just 
beyond the city limits. 



DEARNLEY, John H., 

Manufacturer, Philantliropist. 

Prominent among the yarn manufacturers 
of this country was the late John H. Dearn- 
ley, of Philadelphia, who passed away De- 
cember, 1 91 3. While others may have done 
a larger volume of business and personally 
may have attained to a greater degree of 
prominence, no one in the trade has ever 
had a cleaner business record or realized 
any larger proportionate profits than he. 
At the time when the business was taken 
over by a corporation and Mr. Dearnley 
was obliged to show profits for the preced- 
ing five years, the earning capacity of his 
plant proved to be the largest of its size for 
his line of business in the country. His 
system of estimating the cost of production 
was not only original, but was conceded by 
experts to be the most accurate method 
known to manufacture. 

Mr. Dearnley was a native of Mont- 
gomery county, Pennsylvania, May i, 186 1, 
son of Isaac and Hannah (Grindrod) 
Dearnley. The family was of English de- 
scent, and among the forbears were many 
clergymen, notably one Robert Dearnley, 
who attained to a considerable degree of 
eminence, and was one of the prominent 
preachers of his time. After completing his 
education at the public schools of Mana- 
yunk and later at the Tremont Seminary of 
Norristown, Mr. Dearnley became associ- 
ated with his father in the cotton brokerage 
business. This was not at all to his liking, 
and at the age of twenty he decided to en- 
gage in the business of manufacturing 

319 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



worsted yarns. He became associated with 
Mr. William Craven under the firm name 
of Craven & Dearnley, and at the early age 
of twenty-three built his first yarn mill at 
Eighth and Somerset streets, Philadelphia. 
Mr. Dearnley showed a genius for inven- 
tion as well as for organization, and many 
of his devices were used in connection with 
the machines at the mill. In 1892 Mr. 
Craven retired, and Mr. Dearnley continued 
under the name of the Dearnley Worsted 
Spinning Company. The business grew and 
expanded, and Mr. Dearnley met with a 
marked degree of success. Finally, in 191 1, 
he sold out his entire interest to the John 
& James Dobson Company of Philadelphia. 

Mr. Dearnley was a quiet and most un- 
assuming man, and only those who knew 
him intimately were able to get any idea of 
his mental strength and force of character. 
No man ever came into contact with him 
closely but could see how far-seeing and re- 
sourceful he was. An attorney who had 
charge of Mr. Dearnley's legal matters for 
many years said, "I never had a client to 
come to me so thoroughly prepared. He 
had a wonderful power of logical analysis, 
and when he made an examination of a 
subject, there was little more to be said 
about it. Moreover, Mr. Dearnley was the 
very essence of integrity. He was most 
conscientious and absolutely honest. When 
asked to make returns of his property for 
taxes, he never withdrew a dollar." 

Mr. Dearnley was a member of the Union 
League and a Mason. He was one of the 
managers of St. Timothy's Hospital, and 
for many years was a member of the board 
of education. He was a man of philan- 
thropic nature, and was constantly giving 
of his means in a very quiet way, insisting 
that his name should not be associated with 
the gift. 

On July 7, 1886, Mr. Dearnley was mar- 
ried to Elizabeth Schofield, of Philadelphia. 
She with three children survive him: John 
Schofield, Charles Edwin, Irene Elizabeth. 



SNYDER, Charles A., 

Lawyer, Leg^islator. 

The two bodies of the Pennsylvania 
Legislature have at different times in their 
existence housed a galaxy of statesmen 
who have formed laws of wisdom and far- 
reaching effect — men whose talents, abilities 
and opportunities have carried them far be- 
yond the limit of the politics of the State 
and have made them men whose fame has 
been nation wide and the story of whose 
works has been told beyond the seas. 

Since the legislative session of 1903 it 
has been the privilege of Charles Brua Sny- 
der to hold membership in the Legislature 
of Pennsylvania. In 1902 he was returned 
from the polls a representative in the Legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania, for the Fourth Dis- 
trict of the county of Schuylkill, having 
been the candidate of the Republican party, 
with which he has ever been identified. He 
was reelected to the lower branch of the 
Legislature in 1904 and 1906. In 1908 he 
was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania, 
his years of experience in the lower house 
especially fitting him for the more respon- 
sible duties of the Senate. He was re- 
elected to the Senate in 1912. In all justice, 
truth and fairness it may be stated that his 
part in the Legislature, both as a Represen- 
tative and a Senator, has been productive of 
benefit to the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
vania, and for the cause of ideal govern- 
ment. 

Charles A. Snyder, christened at birth 
Charles Brua Snyder, his middle name being 
that of his maternal ancestors, but who has 
always used the former name, descends 
from a race of German and Irish ancestors, 
who made their advent in Berks and Lan- 
caster counties, Pennsylvania, about 1718, 
and was born at Pillow, Dauphin county, 
Pennsylvania, April 16, 1867. After a pub- 
lic school education he at once took up the 
study of law, entering the office of W. J. 
Whitehouse, a very prominent attorney of 
Pottsville, and noted as a great criminal 



1320 




^^^^^^ ^ S^-V-^--;^^^^^'^ 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



lawyer ; and passing successful examina- 
tions, was adtaitted to practice at the bar 
of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, in 1889. 
Since that time he has been engaged in 
active practice, and is universally known as 
an advocate of high standards, one whose 
reputation is beyond the slightest reproach, 
and one whose talents and deep legal knowl- 
edge compel complete trust and confidence. 
Numerous local ofifiices have been placed at 
his feet, and the duties of each have received 
the scrupulously careful attention that 
would have been given the most important 
private case, the fee for which would equal 
the entire annual emolument of the office, 
among them being those of deputy district 
attorney; city solicitor of Pottsville, Penn- 
sylvania ; controller of Schuylkill county ; 
and county solicitor for the county of 
Schuylkill. Mr. Snyder has served an en- 
listment in the Pennsylvania National 
Guard; is a member of the Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks, the Order of In- 
dependent Americans, the Knights of the 
Golden Eagle and other fraternal societies. 
On May 21, 1891, he married Laura, 
daughter of Charles D. Arters, born in Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, Jvme 18, 1867. 
She is a graduate of Kutztown State Nor- 
mal School, Pennsylvania, and the Teach- 
ers' Training School of Chicago; before her 
marriage she was for several years a suc- 
cessful school teacher, a profession which 
her father before her followed, and for 
which her normal school education prepared 
her. They are the parents of: i. Ruth Ar- 
ters, born at Tremont, Schuylkill county, 
Pennsylvania, a graduate of La Salle Semi- 
nary, Auburndale, Massachusetts, and 
Temple University, Philadelphia. 2. Droz 
Brua, born at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, 
April 12, 1901, and now a student at Mer- 
cersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Franklin 
county, Pennsylvania. 



DONALDSON, William Francis, 

Leader in Anthracite Indnatry. 

The late William Francis Donaldson, of 
Philadelphia, who for many years was one 



of the leaders among the independent coal 
operators in the anthracite fields of Penn- 
sylvania, was a man of excellent judgment, 
great integrity and rare executive ability, 
meriting the high esteem in which he was 
held by all who had the honor of his ac- 
quaintance. He became identified with the 
coal interests more than half a century ago, 
and although he closed out his business be- 
fore the time of the Centennial, he had con- 
tributed greatly to the growth and develop- 
ment of the industry. 

William Francis Donaldson was born at 
Tamaqua, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, 
December 24, 1838, son of William and 
Maria Frances (Redfearn) Donaldson. The 
former-named ,was a representative of the 
Donaldson family of Glencoe, Scotland, and 
the latter of the family of Redfearn of 
Cumberland county, England. William 
Donaldson was a miner for a number of 
years in Middleton-in-Teesdale, Durham, 
England, but learning of the discovery of 
anthracite in the State of Pennsylvania, he 
emigrated to the United States, located in 
Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, in the year 
1830. His well directed efforts met with a 
large degree of success, and he was thus 
engaged up to the time of his death at the 
age of fifty-five years, in the prime of life. 
Teesdale Redfearn, father of Maria Fran- 
ces (Redfearn) Donaldson, was a miner in 
the lead mines of Allston, county of Cum- 
berland, England, for a number of years, 
but subsequently emigrated to this country, 
settling in Tamaqua, Schuylkill county, 
Pennsylvania, where he worked in the coal 
mines, and where both he and his son were 
killed. 

William Francis Donaldson enjoyed the 
advantage of an excellent education, a most 
valuable asset in a business career, and 
upon the completion of his studies he 
directed his attention to the same line of 
work as that in which his father was en- 
gaged, beginning at about the age of twenty 
years. In 1862 he formed a partnership 
with his brother, John Donaldson, conduct- 
ing their operations under the title of J. & 



1321 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



W. F. Donaldson. Mr. Donaldson was a 
type of gentleman that is fast passing away. 
He had that gracious bearing and courtli- 
ness of manner that is indeed a rare virtue 
in these times of hurry and strife. Promi- 
nent socially, he possessed those qualities of 
mind and heart that won for him a host of 
friends that were loyal and true. He was 
a member of the Union League, and was 
affiliated with the Second Presbyterian 
Church. He also held membership in the 
United Service Club, an organization com- 
posed mostly of army and navy officers, 
only one-tenth of the membership consist- 
ing of plain citizens. Mr. Donaldson was 
among this one-tenth, but he might have 
easily been taken for a military officer, his 
appearance being most commanding, and 
this was combined with an attractive per- 
sonality which made his presence welcome 
wherever he went. He was a wonderful 
man in many respects, retaining his facul- 
ties unimpaired until the end, which came 
on February 5, 1914, after an illness of only 
a few days. 

Mr. Donaldson married, September 22, 
1864, Elizabeth A. Heaton, daughter of 
Reuben A. Heaton, who was successfully 
engaged in the coal business for many years. 
The Heatons were of English descent, and 
traced their ancestry to Colonial times. 
Children of Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson: 
Francis Donaldson, of Philadelphia; Mrs. 
W. R. Innis; Mrs. G. M. P. Murphy; 
Keith Donaldson, of New York. 



CHAAPEL, Victor Piolette, 

Educator, Physician. 

One of the prominent citizens and dis- 
tinguished physicians of Northern Pennsyl- 
vania is Dr. Victor Piolette Chaapel, a de- 
scendant of old English stock and a mem- 
ber of the family of Chaapel or Chapel, as 
the name was originally spelled, which for 
many generations were prominent in New 
England, a region where a large branch of 
the family still resides. 



George Chapel, the first of the name to 
come to the New World, sailed in the year 
1635, from London, England, in the good 
ship "Christian," when but twenty years of 
age, and brought with him to the untried 
land his young wife Margaret. The youth- 
ful couple settled in New London, Connecti- 
cut, where they were the parents of three 
children. Mary, Rachel and John, from the 
latter of whom are descended the Connecti- 
cut and Massachusetts branches of the fam- 
ily, as well as the Chaapels of Pennsylvania, 
of whom Victor P. Chaapel is the repre- 
sentative. 

The removal of a portion of the Chaapel 
family to Pennsylvania, from New Eng- 
land, occurred in the time of Isaac Chapel, 
the great-grandfather of Dr. Chaapel, who 
was born February 28, 1761, at Sandisfield, 
in the lovely Berkshire region of Massa- 
chusetts, whither his parents had gone from 
Connecticut the preceding year. The jour- 
ney to Pennsylvania was made in March of 
the year 1800, in company with his wife 
and four children, and their first choice of 
a home was Towanda, in the present Brad- 
ford county. This was but a temporary 
home, however, and they later pressed on 
through what was then largely a dense wil- 
derness, to Le Roy, a settlement in the same 
county, their means of travel consisting of 
sleds and a team of oxen. Isaac Chapel be- 
came a prominent man in the region of his 
adoption, and, though the assessment of 
his property, as it appears in an old tax list 
of Burlington township, as Le Roy was then 
called, seems to modern ears primitive 
enough, with forty-eight acres of land, two 
improved ; one house, valued at fifteen dol- 
lars ; one horse, two oxen and a cow to his 
credit, he was nevertheless a man of mark, 
and was commissioned, November 20, 1804, 
by Governor McKean, of Pennsylvania, a 
justice of the peace for Burlington and Wy- 
sox townships. This office he held until 
the time of his death. May i, 1817, at the 
age of fifty-six years. 

The father of Dr. Victor P. Chaapel was 



1322 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



Franklin Buckley Chaapel, a grandson of 
Isaac Chapel, just mentioned, and a son of 
Chauncey and Lury (Crofut) Chaapel. He 
was born February 22, 1831, at Le Roy, and 
lived his life in the region of Lycoming 
county, following the occupation of farmer 
and lumberman until his death, January 7, 
1902. He married Mahala Wheeland, a 
daughter of David Wheeland, of Lycoming 
county, Pennsylvania, where she was born, 
near Williamsport, February 10, 1828. To 
them were born five children, as follows : i. 
\^an Amburg. born January 4, 1853; now 
residing unmarried at Proctor, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he operates a farm. 2. Laura, 
born July 13, 1854, at Le Roy, now Mrs. 
John R. Calvert, of Williamsport, Pennsyl- 
vania. 3. Lucy, born August 9, 1857, at 
Le Roy; became the wife of Warren G. 
Winner; died in 1882. 4. Chauncey, born 
October 15, 1859, at Le Roy; a farmer; 
married Emma Folk. 5. Victor Piolette, 
of whom further. 6. William Lawrence, 
born January 4, 1872, at Rose Valley, Ly- 
coming county, Pennsylvania ; married 
Mary Plank. 

Dr. Victor Piolette Chaapel was born 
March 25, 1865, at Le Roy, Pennsylvania. 
He obtained his education at the Lycoming 
county public schools, later attending the 
Muncy Normal School in Lycoming county. 
Following his intention of making teaching 
his profession, he taught for six years in the 
public schools of Lycoming county. Dur- 
ing this period, however, his thoughts and 
attention were more and more turned 
toward medicine as a profession. He ac- 
cordingly took up the study of this subject 
in the office of Dr. M. T. Milnor, of War- 
rensville, Pennsylvania, and also took a 
course in the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons at Baltimore, from which he gradu- 
ated with the class of 1892. The same 
year he was admitted to practice, and be- 
gan his professional career at Irvona, Clear- 
field county, Pennsylvania, where he re- 
mained untiri896. In this year he went to 

I 



New York City for the purpose of taking 
a post-graduate course at the Polyclinic 
School in that city. This accomplished, he 
returned to Pennsylvania and established 
himself in practice in Newberry, Lycoming 
county, where he has since remained, and 
where his practice and reputation have 
grown rapidly to their present proportions. 
Newberry is really a portion of the city of 
Williamsport and it is with this important 
place that Dr. Chaapel's career has been 
identified. Besides his personal practice, 
he is deeply interested in general medical 
questions as well as those of a theoretical 
nature and has, on a number of occasions, 
read papers before the various associations 
of which he is a member. His specialty is 
in children's diseases, upon which he is con- 
sidered a leading authority. He is a mem- 
ber of the Lycoming County, the Pennsyl- 
vania State and the American Medical As- 
sociations. Despite his onorous professional 
duties, Dr. Chaapel finds time for other 
interests and activities. He was one of the 
organizers of the Bank of Newberry and 
served for several years on its board of 
directors. He is a man of independent 
mind and in the matter of politics is known 
as an independent Democrat. He has for 
long been interested in educational ques- 
tions, and has served at various times on the 
school board of Clearfield county, Penn- 
sylvania, and on the school board of Wil- 
liamsport, the latter from 1902 to 1904. 

Dr. Chaapel married, February 14, 1893, 
Jennie Campbell, the eldest child of John L. 
and Matilda (Black) Campbell, of Watson- 
town, Pennsylvania, where she was born 
June 9, 1864. To Dr. and Mrs. Chaapel 
have been born three children, as follows: 
Victoria, born June 22, 1900; Eloise, born 
October 19, 1902 ; Helen Margaret, born 
February 26, 1907. Dr. Chaapel and his 
family attend the Presbyterian church, but 
he is himself as independent in matters of 
religious belief as he is in politics and every 
other sphere of thought. 

323 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



BAY, J. G. M., 

Manufacturer, Financier. 

Among the business men of Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania, who have contributed promi- 
nently to the prosperity of the city in many 
directions, is J. G. M. Bay, now living re- 
tired from many of the important business 
enterprises with which he was formerly 
connected. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, 
and a son of Thomas and Cenith Anne 
(McClure) Bay, of Maryland. Thomas 
Bay was a blacksmith, and a man of influ- 
ence in Harford county, Maryland, and in 
later life was elected chief justice of the 
Orphans' Court of that county. He was a 
devout member of the Presbyterian church. 

J. G. M. Bay was born in Harford county, 
Maryland, October 27, 1831, and received 
his education in the public schools of his 
native town. He learned the blacksmith's 
trade at the forge, under the personal super- 
vision of his father, and followed this occu- 
pation until he attained his majority. In 
1852 he removed to Harrisburg, where he 
learned the trade of iron molding, and was 
engaged as an iron molder until 1863. In 
that year he became associated with his 
brother, William F., in the foundry and 
machine business, the name of the firm 
being William F. Bay & Brother, and this 
association continued for a period of five 
years. The land on which their foundry 
was built had belonged to their uncle, James 
M. Bay, and upon the uncle's death it passed 
to Mr. Bay, his brother and sister. Even- 
tually it was purchased by J. G. M. Bay & 
Brother, who erected a shoe factory on the 
site. In 1868 the Monaghan-Bay Shoe 
Company was organized, the members of 
the corporation being J. G. M. and William 
F. Bay, H. M. Kelley and James Monaghan. 
The name of the corporation was later 
changed to read The Bay Shoe Company, 
and finally went out of business. Mr. Bay 
was at one time largely interested in real 
estate matters, owning about fifty houses, 
but he has disposed of his property and 
lives retired. He still holds official position 



in a number of corporations, being a direc- 
tor of the Harrisburg National Bank, the 
Harrisburg City Passenger Railway Com- 
pany, and the West Harrisburg Market 
House Company. In political matters he is 
a staunch supporter of the Democratic 
party, and represented the Ninth Ward in 
the Harrisburg Common Council two terms. 
He takes a great interest in all that con- 
cerns the city from its earliest days, and is 
an ardent member of the Dauphin County 
Historical Society. Mr. Bay is a man of 
deep and broad sympathies, and holds his 
wealth in trust for the less fortunate of his 
fellows, practicing a charity that evades the 
gaze of the world. He is a man of mature 
judgment, and his life has been one of un- 
abating energy and unfaltering industry. 



HEWITT, Rev. John, 

Clergyman, Church OfS.cial. 

The Rev. John Hewitt, rector of St. 
John's Episcopal Church, Bellefonte, Penn- 
sylvania, is the last representative of two 
successions in the ministry, one running 
through ten generations of his father's fam- 
ily line and the other running through five 
generations of his mother's family line. The 
former of these successions began with Gug- 
lielmus Hewit (1522-99), who was a pre- 
bendary of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, 
England, and was buried in its crypt at a 
spot which is marked by a recumbent effigy 
of him. 

In this succession there were five Johns, 
one of whom was a prebendary of Galway 
Cathedral, Ireland. The last of these Johns 
and the subject of this sketch, is the oldest 
son of the late Rev. Horatio Harrison 
Hewitt and Susannah Bradwell (Reaves) 
Hewitt, his wife. He was born in Sheffield, 
England, in 1844. At his birth he was dedi- 
cated to the ministry by his mother, and in 
1847 came to this country with his parents 
under the following circumstances : His 
father had promised a dying brother that 
he would become his substitute in keeping 
up the family succession in the ministry. 
324 




^'^-tA^.^ 




ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



At that time the law required degrees at 
either Oxford or Cambridge University for 
entrance upon the ministry in the Church 
of England. Horatio, being the third son, 
had no inheritance from his father's estate 
and was not possessed of sufficient means 
to carry him through a theological course 
at either of the institutions named, and at 
the same time meet the living needs of his 
wife and two children. In the American 
Episcopal Church there was no law requir- 
ing collegiate degrees for entrance to its 
ministry. Hence he determined to come to 
the United States and pursue his studies 
under the direction of his wife's uncle, a 
clergyman of the Church of England then 
living as a recluse near Nantahala Moun- 
tain, in the extreme western part of North 
Carolina. This clergyman, an "honor man" 
of Cambridge University, a literary friend 
of Sir Walter Scott, of John Kenyon, and 
of James Montgomery, left England in 
1819 as a political refugee in consequence 
of his having aided and abetted the Lanca- 
shire yeomanry in their struggle for repre- 
sentation in Parliament, and, by a strange 
combination of circumstances, after settling 
in North Carolina, became the political tutor 
of Andrew Johnson, who became President 
of the United States. 

In the seclusion of the Carolina moun- 
tains, in a log cabin home, the Rev. John 
Hewitt passed the earlier years of his life, 
receiving instruction " from his mother, 
whose education had been directed by James 
Montgomery, her maidenhood guardian, 
and from the clerical uncle above referred 
to. School supplies were found on the spot. 
From the family Bible John was taught the 
alphabet, spelling, reading, and the rudi- 
ments of English grammar. A sheet of 
shale was his slate, a piece of soap-stone 
was his pencil, blank pages of letters served 
as copy book for lessons in writing, pens 
were made of wild goose quills, and ink 
was squeezed from poke-berries and red 
oak-galls. The wilderness was his play- 
ground, and, besides his younger brother, 



a few Indian boys from a Cherokee village 
less than two miles away were his playmates. 
At fifteen he was sent to St. James' College, 
Maryland ; at seventeen he entered the Con- 
federate army ; at nineteen became a candi- 
date for the ministry and pursued his studies 
for the same, partly while working on a 
farm in Maryland and partly while serving 
as tutor in Burlington College, New Jersey ; 
at twenty-two was ordained, and thereupon 
became chaplain and tutor in a school for 
boys in Mississippi. In 1868 he became 
principal of the Huntingdon Academy at 
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and minister in 
charge of the Episcopal church in that place. 
In 1870 he became rector of St. Paul's 
Church, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and 
while there organized church missions at 
Catawissa, Coles Creek, Berwick and La 
Porte, besides serving also during two years 
as principal of the Bloomsburg State Nor- 
mal School. 

In 1877 he became rector of St, John's 
Church, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and while 
there established Episcopal church services 
at the Pennsylvania State College. Going 
to Nebraska for reasons of health in 1885, 
Rev. Hewitt served first as general mission- 
ary, then as rector consecutively at Fre- 
mont and Lincoln, building a church at each 
place named, and at the latter place also an 
Academy for Boys. From 1896 to 1908 he 
was rector of St. Paul's Church, Columbus, 
Ohio, where he built one of the finest 
churches in the middle west. In 1908 he 
returned to Bellefonte as rector of St. John's 
Church and minister-in-charge of St. An- 
drew's Church, State College. At the latter 
place his plans for the building of a church 
and a parsonage have been successful. 

Among the prominent positions he has 
held in the church are: Trustee of General 
Theological Seminary, New York, and of 
Kenyon College, Ohio ; dean of convocation, 
president of standing committee, and deputy 
to nine general conventions. Charitable: 
Chairman Executive Committee Associated 
Charities, Lincoln, Nebraska, and Colum- 

325 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



bus, Ohio ; State secretary Ohio Red Cross 
Society ; manager of Children's Hospital, 
Cokimbus ; chairman Ohio State Commis- 
sion to establish home for crippled children. 
Military: Confederate soldier, honorary 
member of Gregg Post, No. 95, Grand 
Army of the Republic, Bellefonte, Pennsyl- 
vania; organizer and chaplain of Ohio 
Camp, No. 1181, United Confederate Vet- 
erans ; chaplain of Fourth Regiment Ohio 
National Guard. Masonic: Member and 
past officer of all York and Scottish Rite 
Bodies, save the Scottish Rite Thirty-third, 
and now grand prelate Knights Templar of 
Pennsylvania. 

Family: In 1866 he married Margaret 
Jane Pearson (still living), daughter of An- 
drew and Catherine Pearson, of Baltimore, 
Maryland, and through her mother is a 
direct descendant of the Mars and Fergus- 
sons of Scotland. By this union came six 
children, four of whom died in childhood. 
The two now living are Charles Fergusson, 
railway superintendent, Des Moines, Iowa ; 
and Strafford Reaves, mechanical engineer, 
Atlanta, Georgia. The former married 
Edith Barnes, of Albany, New York, grand- 
daughter of Hon. Thurlow Weed. Of this 
marriage came two children, both living: 
John Kenneth and Ada Montagu. Strafford 
Reaves married Carolyn Dudley Barbour, 
of Louisville, Kentucky, daughter of Pol- 
lock Barbour, of the Virginia family of the 
same name. Of this marriage came six 
children, five of whom are now living: John 
Pollock Barbour, Dudley Fergusson, Emma 
Reaves, Caryl, Merton Sykes. Charles 
Hewitt, a younger brother of John, a phy- 
sician residing and practicing medicine at 
Wakefield, Kansas, married Jean, a daugh- 
ter of John Everett and Clark, of 

Washington, D. C. Of this union came 
three sons: Walter, John Everett and 
Reaves, all now residing at Wakefield, Kan- 
sas. Susan Reaves, a sister of John, now 
residing in Clay Centre, Kansas, was mar- 
ried to Frederick Spencer Delves-Brough- 
ton, the seventh son of Major-General 



Broughton, of the British army. Of this 
union came five children, three of whom are 
living: Elizabeth, Horatio Hewitt, Mada- 
line Mendel. EHzabeth Swan, John's 
youngest sister, married Eben William 
Greenough, of Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Of 
this union came three children, two of whom 
are living: William Hewitt Greenough, of 
Sunbury, and Mary Catharine, now residing 
in Paris. 



BERGNER, Charles H., 

Journalist, Lairyer. 

Charles H. Bergner, of Harrisburg, Penn- 
sylvania, who has been for many years a 
leader of the Dauphin county bar, is a son 
of the late George Bergner, who, in his day 
and generation, was a man of note. In 
1856 he established the "Harrisburg Daily 
Telegraph," of which he became both editor 
and proprietor, and which he rendered a 
power in the support of John C. Fremont 
for the Presidency. Mr. Bergner was ap- 
pointed by President Lincoln postmaster of 
Harrisburg, and for political reasons was 
removed by President Johnson. He was 
tendered by President Grant the office of 
Postmaster-General, but declined the honor, 
and accepted the postmastership of Harris- 
burg, which he held during the remainder of 
his life. Mr. Bergner married Catherine 
Uhler, and his death occurred August 5, 
1874. 

Charles H. Bergner, son of George and 
Catherine (Uhler) Bergner, was born Oc- 
tober 20, 1853, in Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, and received his preparatory educa- 
tion in the private school presided over by 
Robert McElwee, at the Harrisburg Acad- 
emy, and at the Edge Hill Boarding School, 
Merchantville, New Jersey. He afterward 
entered Princeton University, graduating 
with the class of 1874. After graduation 
Mr. Bergner began the study of law in the 
office of Hon. A. J. Herr, of Harrisburg, 
and upon the death of his father succeeded 
him as editor of the "Harrisburg Tele- 



1326 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



graph." This position he retained six years, 
the discharge of its duties necessarily inter- 
rupting and retarding the prosecution of his 
legal studies. These, however, were not 
entirely abandoned, and on March 6, 1883, 
he was admitted to the bar. The same year 
he was admitted to practice in the Supreme 
Court of the State of Pennsylvania. Octo- 
ber 14, 1894, he was admitted to practice in 
the Supreme Court of the United States. 
He has now been continuously engaged for 
nearly thirty years in the active practice of 
his chosen profession, acquiring a large and 
lucrative clientele and building up an envi- 
able reputation for learning, probity and 
skill as an expert practitioner. In politics 
Mr. Bergner maintains the traditions of his 
family, steadily adhering to the Republican 
party. He has been affiliated with the Ma- 
sonic fraternity since 1875, and is a mem- 
ber of the Harrisburg Club, the Harrisburg 
Country Club, and the Social Club of 
Harrisburg. 

Mr. Bergner married, April 26, 1877, at 
New Bloomfield, Perry county, Pennsyl- 
vania, Anna V., daughter of the Honorable 
William A. and Elizabeth T. (Burkholder) 
Sponsler, of New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, 
and they are the parents of three children : 
William S. ; Eloine, and George Bergner. 

Mr. Bergner's entire career, thus far, 
both as a lawyer and a citizen, has been 
identified with his native city, and his 
strongest energies have ever been steadily 
and earnestly devoted to the maintenance 
of her professional prestige and the de- 
velopment and furtherance of all her best 
interests. 



HOOD, Samuel, 

Man of BnsinesB. 

Samuel Hood, a well-known business 
man and highly esteemed citizen of Strouds- 
burg, Pennsylvania, where he has been en- 
gaged in business for almost half a cen- 
tury, has attained distinctive success 
through his own well directed endeavors. 
His well stocked establishment is fully 



equipped with every convenience for turn- 
ing out the best class of work, only the most 
skilled workmen are employed, and he has 
gained a reputation for the superior quality 
of the work he does. The result is that he 
has built up a prosperous business, and has 
the patronage of the leading concerns and 
individuals of the city. His family has been 
resident in Pennsylvania for some genera- 
tions. 

Henry Hood, his father, was probably 
born near Bath, Northampton county, Penn- 
sylvania, where he was the owner of a 
small farm of twenty-eight acres, which he 
cultivated in addition to following his trade 
as a carpenter. He was a well known mem- 
ber of the Petersville church, and held a 
high rank in the respect of his fellow citi- 
zens. He married Margaret Biechey, and 
had children : William ; Julia ; Rebecca ; 
Abram ; Reuben ; John ; Samuel, whose 
name heads this sketch; Peter; Mary; 
Sarah ; Henry. 

Samuel Hood was born near Bath, North- 
ampton county, Pennsylvania, May 23, 
1842. His education was acquired in the 
district schools of his native town, and for 
some time he assisted his father in the culti- 
vation of the homestead farm. This, how- 
ever, was not congenial occupation for the 
ambitious lad, and he decided to learn the 
tinsmith's trade, and accordingly became 
an apprentice to Joseph Laubach, of Easton, 
Pennsylvania. Later he found employment 
at his trade in Tamaqua, and then in Read- 
ing, Pennsylvania, and finally settled in 
Stroudsburg, in 1865, where he was in the 
employ of William Flory, a tinsmith. Two 
years later he established himself in this 
line of business independently, on Main 
street, below the Washington House, where 
he remained but a few months, then re- 
moved to the next block and on the other 
side of the street, where he owned a lot on 
which he had erected a frame building. He 
carried on his business in this location until 
1884, when he removed to the brick build- 
ing which he now occupies, which he had 



1327 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



had erected for this purpose, in which he has 
now been located for more than forty years. 
Being a thoroughly progressive man of busi- 
ness, he branched out in various directions 
as the years passed by, and now has a 
plumbing, steam fitting and heating, and 
carpet department, in addition to the origi- 
nal tinsmithing business. It was Mr. Hood 
who soldered the copper ball on the Metho- 
dist church spire, one hundred and sixty 
feet above the ground, which was consid- 
ered a wonderful feat at the time, forty 
years ago. Great executive abihty has been 
one of the distinguishing characteristics of 
Mr. Hood all his life, and foresight is an- 
other, so it was but natural that the growth 
and development of the town in which he 
lived should engage a considerable share of 
his attention. He made, from time to time, 
judicious investments in real estate, which 
have become very valuable in the course of 
years, and now owns about thirty buildings. 
He is a member of the board of directors of 
the Commonwealth Building and Loan As- 
sociation of Stroudsburg, was treasurer of 
this organization for many years, but finally 
resigned from this office. He has also been 
prominently identified with church affairs, 
is a liberal contributor to the support of the 
Zion Reformed Church of Stroudsburg, and 
has served as elder and treasurer for many 
years. Mr. Hood takes great pride in the 
fact that his first vote was cast for Abra- 
ham Lincoln. He is a member of the local 
Order of Odd Fellows, and the Improved 
Order of Red Men. He married, December 
6, 1866, Susanna, born October 23, 1840, 
a daughter of Melchior and Hannah (Ar- 
nold) Bossard, of Bossardville, Monroe 
county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Bossard was a 
very prominent man in his day, having been 
a farmer, a brick manufacturer, and the 
owner of the famous Indian Queen Hotel, 
in Stroudsburg. He was elected sheriff of 
Monroe county in 1857, on the Democratic 
ticket. Mr. and Mrs. Hood have had chil- 
dren: William C, of further mention; and 
a son, who died in infancy. 



William C. Hood was born in Strouds- 
burg, July 9, 1873, and was educated in the 
public schools, from which he was grad- 
uated with credit to himself and teachers. 
From the outset of his business career he 
has been connected with his father, and the 
greatest harmony has always existed be- 
tween them. He has had much to do with 
bringing and keeping the business up to its 
present standard, and this has been realized 
by Mr. Hood, Sr., so thoroughly that in 
1909 William C. Hood was admitted to a 
partnership in the business, the firm being 
now known as Samuel Hood & Son. For 
the past five years he has been president of 
the Monroe County Agricultural Society, 
and by his strenuous personal efforts, in 
association with others, he has made num- 
erous improvements, and placed the Society 
on a sound, financial basis. He is one of 
the directors of the Security Trust Com- 
pany, of Stroudsburg, and a member of the 
Improved Order of Heptasophs. He has 
given his stanch support to the Democratic 
party, and in 1914 was elected a member 
of the Stroudsburg Town Council. His 
religious affiliation is with the Zion Re- 
formed Church, and he is serving as deacon 
of this institution. 

Mr. Hood married Bessie, a daughter of 
James W. and Emily V. (Givler) Weaver, 
now secretary and treasurer of the Thomas 
Iron Company, of Easton, Pennsylvania, 
and they have one child : Charlotte, born 
June 10, 1904. 



HAMILTON, Philip E., 

Lianryer. 

Philip E. Hamilton, a promising young 
lawyer in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, 
maintains offices at Beaver and Beaver 
Falls. Although he has been engaged 
actively in legal work for only one year, he 
has already built up a large and lucrative 
clientele, and is rapidly gaining prestige as 
one of the leading young attorneys in this 
section of the State. 

A native of Tyrone, Blair county, Penn- 
328 





./ 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



sylvania, Philip E. Hamilton was born Feb- 
ruary 9, 1884, son of James C. M. and Eliza 
Ann (Wilson) Hamilton, the former of 
whom is a prominent dentist at Beaver 
Falls, where the family home has been main- 
tained since 1895. Philip E. Hamilton re- 
ceived his early educational training in the 
public schools of Tyrone and Beaver Falls, 
in which latter place he attended Geneva 
College, from which institution he was 
graduated with honors as a member of the 
class of 1906, duly receiving his degree of 
Bachelor of Science. In the autumn of 
1906 he became principal of the Fallston, 
Pennsylvania, public schools, and after 
serving in that capacity for a period of four 
months he was appointed principal of the 
Slippery Rock Model High School of the 
State Normal Institution, where he re- 
mained for two years. In the fall of 1908 
he was matriculated at the University of 
Pennsylvania, in the law department of 
which he was graduated in 191 1, with the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws. During the 
last year of his law course he was associated 
in legal work with Hon. Henry J, Scott, of 
Philadelphia. After graduation he came to 
Beaver Falls, and on admission to the Penn- 
sylvania State bar, February 3, 1912, he 
entered into a partnership alliance with 
Hon. J. Sharp Wilson, of this placet On 
May I, 19 1 2, this partnership was dissolved 
and he is now practicing alone, and is doing 
a splendid legal business in Beaver Falls. 
Mr. Hamilton is a valued member of the 
Beaver County Bar Association, and is 
affiliated with the Sons of Veterans, his 
father having served as captain of Com- 
pany D, One Hundred and Tenth Regiment 
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, during 
the entire four years of the Civil War. In 
his religious faith he is a member of the 
Presbyterian church, to whose charities he 
is a most liberal contributor. In politics 
he accords allegiance to the principles and 
policies for which the Republican party 
stands sponsor ; and, while he is not an 
office seeker, he is ever on the alert and 



enthusiastically in sympathy with all meas- 
ures and enterprises projected for the gen- 
eral welfare. 



REED, George Edward, 

Educator and Clergyman. 

Prominent among educators and equally 
eminent as a minister of the Gospel is Dr. 
George E. Reed, fifteenth president of 
Dickinson College, a position to which he 
was elected m 1889. 

Dr. Reed was born in Brownville, Maine, 
March 28, 1846. His father, a Wesleyan 
Methodist minister of Devonshire, England, 
came to the United States with his family 
in 1840, joining the East Maine Conference 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
continuing actively in ministerial work until 
his death in 1852. Through his mother, 
Ann Hellyer, Dr. Reed descends from Mrs. 
Rose, a celebrated local preacher, who 
taught under the supervision of John Wes- 
ley, the founder of Methodism. Soon after 
the death of her husband, Mrs. Ann (Hell- 
yer) Reed moved with her nine children to 
Lowell, Massachusetts. Here the son at- 
tended public schools, working during the 
intervals between terms in stores or upon 
neighborhood farms. Lack of means finally 
compelled him to leave school, and he be- 
came a "runner boy" in the office of the 
Lawrence mills, later becoming "bobbin 
boy" at the same mills. He had improved 
every opportunity for study, however, and 
in January, 1865, he entered Wilbraham 
Academy, where in the incredibly short 
period of six months, working early and 
late, twenty hours out of each twenty-four, 
he prepared for college. In September, 
1865, he entered Wesleyan University at 
Middletown, Connecticut, whence he was 
graduated with honor in 1869. He designed 
upon the Holy profession and pursued his 
studies in divinity in the Theological school 
of Boston University, and in 1870 was or- 
dained a minister of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. He joined the Providence 
Conference (now New England, Southern) 

329 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and received his first appointment to the 
church at Willimantic, Connecticut, where 
he remained two years, that being then the 
limit for the itinerant minister of the Meth- 
odist Church. 

His next charge was Fall River, Massa- 
chusetts, 1872-1875. He then transferred 
to the New York East Conference, and was 
stationed at Hanson Place Church, Brook- 
lyn, 1875-1878; Stamford, Connecticut, 
1878 to 1881 ; Nostrand Avenue Church, 
Brooklyn, 1881-1884; again to Hanson 
Place Church, Brooklyn, 1884 to 1887; 
Trinity Church, New Haven, 1887-1889, 
continuing until his election to the presi- 
dency of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn- 
sylvania, in 1889. 

As a minister. Dr. Reed, was one of the 
strong men of his church, and rendered 
distinguished service in different fields. On 
leaving Hanson Place Church. Brooklyn he 
was honored with a public reception ten- 
dered by friends outside the religious body 
with which he had been associated, but who 
wish to testify to the value they felt he had 
been to the community in the fields of re- 
ligion, philanthropy and reform. This re- 
ception was held in the great Brooklyn 
Tabernacle, and eulogistic addresses were 
made by the pastor, Rev. T. DeWitt Tal- 
mage, and the Rev. Doctors Cuyler and 
Thomas and Colonel A. S. Bacon ; and 
commendatory letters were read from Rev. 
Doctors Storrs, Cuthbert Hall and others. 
At the close of the speaking. Dr. Reed was 
presented with an elegant testimonial com- 
memorative of the occasion. 

His administration of the affairs of Dick- 
inson College has been productive of great 
good to that institution, the enrollment of 
students constantly increasing, the college 
retaining and increasing its prestige each 
succeeding year. A man of splendid phy- 
sique, fine presence and agreeable manners, 
of remarkable power both in the pulpit and 
on the platform, he has demonstrated an 
extraordinary power to attract and influence 



young men. These qualities, coupled with 
indomitable energy and powers of organi- 
?a,tion, have all contributed to his success 
in the ministry and as head of this well 
known institution of learning. Nor has 
either college or pulpit absorbed all his 
interest. For many years he engaged in 
platform work, was State Librarian of 
Pennsylvania and editor of the "Pennsyl- 
vania Archives," 1898 to 1902 ; president of 
the Pennsylvania Anti-Saloon League, 1906 
and 1907 ; and a member of the General 
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, 1908. He is president of Todd's 
Hospital, Carlisle, and for twelve years 
member of the State executive committee 
of the Pennsylvania Young Men's Christian 
Association ; and also belongs to many edu- 
cational, charitable and philanthropic asso- 
ciations. He is an Independent in politics ; 
a member of the Phi Beta Kappa frater- 
nity ; and passionately devoted to outdoor 
sports, including horseback riding and walk- 
ing. 

He married, in Norwich, Connecticut, 
June 20, 1870, Ella Frances Leffingwell, and 
has a son, George Leffingwell Reed. Various 
institutions have conferred evidences of 
their esteem upon Dr. Reed. He received 
from Wesleyan University the degrees of 
A. B. in 1869 and A. M. in 1872, and LL. 
D. from Lafayette in 1899. He still re- 
mains (in 1914) the honored, popular pres- 
ident of Dickinson, and with many more 
years of usefulness before him, should such 
be the Divine decree. 



STAPLES, Charles Boone, 

La-wyer, Jurist. 

Hon. Charles Boone Staples, President 
Judge, Forty-third Judicial District of 
Pennsylvania, is a native of this State, born 
in Stroudsburg, Monroe county, November 
24, 1853, son of Richard S. and Mary Ann 
Staples. His father was a merchant and 
contractor, and filled various public stations. 



^330 




CuJ!ikdlu 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY 



and served as a member of the lower house 
of the Pennsylvania legislature. 

Charles Boone Staples received his ele- 
mentary education in the public schools, and 
then entered Dickinson College, Carlisle, 
Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated 
in 1874, in his twenty-first year. He studied 
for his profession in the office of William 
Davis, Esq., at Stroudsburg, and he was 
admitted to the bar of Monroe county in 
1876. Entering upon the active practice of 
his profession, he was appointed in 1892 
to the office of district attorney of Monroe 
county. In 1885 he was appointed Collector 
of Internal Revenue for the Twelfth Dis- 
trict of Pennsylvania, and served as such 
for a period of four years. In 1904 he was 
elected President Judge of the Forty-third 
Judicial District of Pennsylvania for a term 
of ten years, and on the bench so demon- 
strated his judicial abilities that on Novem- 
ber 5, 191 3, he was reelected for another 
term of ten years. 

Judge Staples is a Democrat in politics. 
He is affiliated with Barger Lodge, No. 325, 
Free and Accepted Masons, of Stroudsburg, 
of which he has twice been worshipful mas- 
ter; Monroe Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; 
Hugh de Payen Commandery, Knights 
Templar; Lodge No. 319, Benevolent and 
Protective Order of Elks, of East Strouds- 
burg; the Knights of Pythias, and is a mem- 
ber of the Chi Phi college fraternity. He is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

He married, March 7, 1878, Althea Wil- 
liams, daughter of Jerome and Mary Eliz- 
abeth Williams. Children : Richard S., 
born April 6, 1881 ; Jane W., October 12, 
1883; Mary Ann, April 2, 1890; Millard 
Fillmore, October 19, 1893. 



PRICK, Henry Clay, 

Carnegie Steel Co. Official. 

While not as spectacular as the careers 
of some of America's great captains of in- 
dustry, there is in it the element of tragedy 
PA-17 133 



that nearly ended his wonderful career ere 
it reached its zenith. The life of Mr. Frick 
teaches again the lesson that pluck and not 
luck wins all life's battles that are really 
won, and again shows the possibilities open 
to the American boy, if rightly improved. 

The family ancestry is Swiss, the emi- 
grant coming from Switzerland in 1750 
and settling in Eastern Pennsylvania. His 
son, George Frick, was a farmer, married, 
and in 1796 his son, Daniel Frick was born. 
He married, in 1819, Catherine Miller. 
Their son, John Wilson Frick, was born in 
1822. He was a farmer of Ohio and Penn- 
sylvania, settling in Fayette county, Penn- 
sylvania, at Broad Ford. He married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Abraham Overholt, a 
wealthy farmer and distiller, and one of 
the largest land owners in Southwestern 
Pennsylvania. 

Henry Clay Frick, son of John Wilson 
and Elizabeth (Overholt) Frick, was born 
at West Overton, Pennsylvania, December 
19, 1849, the second of five children. His 
father was not a success in business, and 
the lad was practically adopted by the Over- 
holts when he was twelve years of age. He 
was educated in the public schools, which 
he attended several years, supplemented by 
a short term at Chester Military Academy 
and a few months at Otterbein University 
in Ohio. He began business life at the age 
of sixteen years as clerk in a dry goods 
store in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, 
later becoming a bookkeeper in his grand- 
father Overholt's office at Broadford, going 
from there to Morgan & Company, coke 
dealers, there gaining an insight into the 
business that later he was to dominate. At 
the age of twe