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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01145 2627
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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 VII
NEW YORK LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
1916
1607139
BIOGRAPHICAL
- James Buchananp
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
BUCHANAN, James, Diplomat, President.
James Buchanan, fifteenth President of the United States, was born at Cove Gap, near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791, second son of James and Eliza- beth (Speer) Buchanan. His father, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, came to America in 1783, was a clerk in Phila- delphia, and in 1788 set up in business on his own account. His mother was the only daughter of James Speer who immi- grated to Pennsylvania in 1756.
James Buchanan attended the schools of Mercersburg, and in 1807 entered Dick- inson College in the junior class. After graduating in 1809 he removed to Lan- caster, and was admitted to the bar in 1812. He was one of the first volunteers in the War of 1812, and marched to the defence of Baltimore. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives in the Pennsylvania Legislature, October 14, 1814, retiring at the end of his second term of service with a fixed determina- tion to abandon political life and devote himself exclusively to the practice of law. However, in 1820 he was elected by the Federalists a representative to the Seven- teenth Congress from Lancaster, York and Dauphin counties. In the following Congress he spoke twice on the tariff- March 23 and April 9, 1824. His views on protection were conservative. He uttered grave warnings against forming alliances with Mexico and the South American republics, and insisted on the great importance of Cuba, to the United States, both commercially and strategic- ally. During the canvass of 1828, in
which the supporters of the administration had taken the name of National Republi- cans, and the opposition that of Demo- crats, Mr. Buchanan was one of the most able and ardent supporters of General Jackson, and it was mainly through his influence that the twenty-eight electoral votes of Pennsylvania were secured for him. In 1829 he succeeded Daniel Web- ster as head of the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives, and in this capacity conducted the impeachment trial of Judge Peck. In March, 1831, he re- tired from Congress, with the avowed in- tention of resuming his law practice, but in 1832 President Jackson appointed him Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- potentiary to St. Petersburg, and urged his acceptance of the mission so strongly that he could not well decline. He sailed from New York on April 8, 1832, on board the "Silas Richards," and reached St. Petersburg the June following. His mission was to negotiate the first treaty of commerce between Russia and the United States, to establish a tariff system, and to provide for consuls. He perfected himself in the French language, which proved of invaluable assistance to him in conducting the negotiations. He was eventually successful in arranging a com- mercial treaty by which important privi- leges in the Baltic and the Black seas were secured for the United States. He began his journey homeward, August 8, 1833.
On December 6, 1834, Mr. Buchanan was elected United States Senator by the Democratic members of the Pennsylvania Legislature, to fill the unexpired term of Senator Wilkins, resigned, and he took
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his seat in the Senate on December 15, 1834. General Jackson was then in the second term of his office and Mr. Van Buren presided over the Senate. The op- position had become consolidated for that and classified under the name of the Whig party, as substituted for that of National Republicans; there was a third party known as the Anti-Masonic party ; and the Whigs controlled the Senate by a two-thirds majority. During the latter part of General Jackson's administration the subject of slavery began to be agi- tated, and numerous petitions were made to Congress for its suppression in the District of Columbia, among them one from the Quakers of Pennsylvania, which was presented by Mr. Buchanan. In 1836, when Michigan sought admission to the Union, Mr. Buchanan spoke in favor of admitting the territory as a State, and his entire career showed him to be preëmi- nently a State rights man. He supported President Jackson in his financial meas- ures, advocated the recognition by Con- gress of the independence of Texas, and at a later time its annexation. Mr. Bu- chanan supported the principal measures of the administration of President Van Buren, including the establishment of an independent treasury. He was reelected to the Senate in January, 1837, for a full term, being the first United States Sena- tor reëlected by the Legislature of Penn- sylvania. President Van Buren invited him to serve as Attorney-General, but he declined. In 1842 he opposed the ratifica- tion of the treaty between the United States and England. In 1843 the Legis- lature of Pennsylvania reëlected him Sen- ator for a third term, and in 1844 his poli- tical and personal friends were anxious to propose him as Democratic candidate for the presidency, but he withdrew his name in a public letter, and James K. Polk was nominated and elected, and Mr. Buchan- an accepted the position of Secretary of
State in his cabinet. Here he had some critical questions to adjust, including the settlement of the boundary line between Oregon and the British possessions, and the annexation of Texas, from which arose the war with Mexico. When the Whigs came into power in 1849, Mr. Bu- chanan retired for a time from politics, but in 1853, when the Democratic party regained its ascendancy, President Pierce offered him the position of Minister to England, which he accepted. Mr. Bu- chanan was the originator and one of the three members of the famous Ostend Conference that met in 1854 to consider the subject of the acquisition of Cuba by the United States, and with his colleagues maintained that on the principle of self- preservation from dangers of the gravest kind, armed intervention of the United States and the capture of the island from the Spaniards would be justifiable. He returned to the United States in April, 1856, and upon his arrival in New York was accorded a public reception.
Mr. Buchanan was nominated as the Democratic candidate for President by the Democratic Convention held at Cin- cinnati in 1856, and at the election re- ceived one hundred and thirty-nine elec- toral votes, which made him President of the United States. He was inaugurated March 4, 1857. The state of the country, when his administration was organized, was ominous to its peace and welfare. The preceding administration had left a legacy of trouble in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; the Kansas-Ne- braska act was a bone of contention be- tween the two factions of the Democratic party ; and the bill for an army increase was lost. However, there were compen- sations. The question of British domin- ion in Central America was settled dur- ing his administration under his advice and approval; he succeded in compelling the English government to recognize the
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international law in favor of the freedom of the seas; recommended to Congress sending aid to the constitutional party of Mexico; instructed the United States Minister to Mexico to make a treaty of "transit and commerce," and provide for a "convention to enforce treaty stipula- tions and to maintain order and security in the territory of the republics of Mexico and the United States." In 1858 Mr. Bu- chanan concluded a treaty with China which established satisfactory commer- cial relations between the two countries. On June 22, 1860, he vetoed a bill "to secure homesteads to actual settlers in the public domain, and for other pur- poses." In the same year he was author- ized by Congress to settle the claims against the government of Paraguay by sending a commissioner to that country, accompanied by a naval force sufficient to exact justice should negotiations fail.
In 1860 President Buchanan refused to receive the commisioners sent by the State of South Carolina to treat with him on the subject of secession, emphatically denying the right of any State to secede from the Union, and holding that the only remedy for a dissatisfied State was open revolution. He was warned against leaving the forts in the South without additional garrison forces but, as he had publicly denied the right of secession, he could not consistently reinforce the forts as if he anticipated revolution. He ad- hered to his policy of non-action, for which he has been greatly censured. After the actual secession of South Caro- lina, the President's chief aim was to con- fine the area of secession, and induce Congress to prepare for war. When his term of office expired, March 3, 1861, seven States had already seceded, and his successor, President Lincoln, found him- self sadly embarrassed by the apathy of Congress in not preparing for the con- flict, which could no longer be averted.
Mr. Buchanan remained in Washington until March 9, settling private affairs, and then returned to Wheatland, outside of the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he had previously acquired a small estate. He continued to take a deep in- terest in politics, and with his influence as a private citizen supported the war that was now raging for the maintenance of the Union. His declining years were saddened by the many calumnies with which he was assailed, but he bore all with a dignified fortitude, and was willing to leave the vindication of his course to a future day when perception would not be dimmed by sectional feeling. He pub- lished "Buchanan's Administration," a vindication of the policy of his adminis- tion during the last months of his term. He died June 1, 1868, and his remains were laid at rest in Woodward Hill Cemetery, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A simple monument marks his grave, in- scribed : "James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States, born April 23, 1791 ; died June 1, 1868.
The death of his sister, Mrs. Lane, in 1839, left to him the care and education of four children, of the youngest of them, Harriet, he was especially fond ; she was his guest for one year during his term as Minister to England, accompanying him upon his return voyage to this country, and when he became President she be- came the mistress of the White House, and proved herself admirably qualified to make the administration a social success.
PATTERSON, Robert, Soldier of Two Wars.
General Robert Patterson was born in Cappagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, Janu- ary 12, 1792. His father immigrated to the United States to escape punishment for complicity in the Irish rebellion, and settled in Delaware county, Pennsylvania.
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Robert Patterson attended the public .schools, and was employed in a Philadel- phia counting house. Upon the outbreak of the War of 1812 he was commissioned first lieutenant of infantry, and toward the end of the war served on General Joseph Bloomfield's staff. He returned to Philadelphia, was married to Sarah Ann Engle, and engaged in mercantile pursuits and in establishing cotton mills. He was a member of the convention that met at Harrisburg on March 4, 1824, and was Commissioner of Internal Improve- ments in Pennsylvania, 1827. In 1836 he was the Democratic elector for the First Congressional District of Pennsylvania, and in 1837 was president of the Electoral College that declared Martin Van Buren the president elect. He was commission- ed major-general of volunteers in 1847, and served throughout the war with Mexico. He commanded a division at the battle of Cerro Gordo, April 17-18, 1847, led the advance brigades in the pur- suit, and entered and captured Jalapa. He was honorably mentioned in General Winfield Scott's reports.
At the beginning of the war for the Union was major-general of the Pennsyl- vania militia, and on April 15, 1861, vol- unteered for three months' service, was mustered in as major-general of volun- teers, and was given command of the military department composed of the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- land and the District of Columbia. He crossed into Virginia, June 15, 1861, at Williamsport, and was instructed to watch the troops under General Joseph E. Johnston at Winchester, Virginia. When McDowell was preparing to en- gage the enemy at Bull Run, July 21, 1861, Patterson, not receiving promised orders from General Winfield Scott, fail- ed to detain Johnston by giving him battle, and Johnston marched to the as- sistance of Beauregard, Patterson taking
no part in the battle of Bull Run. He was honorably mustered out of service on the expiration of his commission, July 27, 1861, and resumed the charge of his im- portant cotton manufactures. He was a member of the original board of trustees nominated in the charter of Lafayette College ; was senior member of the board, 1826-35; again a trustee, 1874-81, and president of the board of trustees, 1876-81. He was the author of: "Narrative of the Campaign in the Shenandoah" (1865). He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 7, 1881.
SHARSWOOD, George, Jurist, Professional Author.
George Sharswood was born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, July 7, 1810, son of George and Hester (Dunn) Sharswood, grandson of Captain James and Elizabeth (Brebin) Sharswood, and great-great- grandson of George Sharswood, who sail- ed from England for America in the early part of the seventeenth century and set- tled in New Haven, Connecticut, where he died May 1, 1674. Captain Sharswood was an officer in the Revolutionary army, and became a prominent merchant and citizen of public affairs in Philadelphia, being a representative in the State Legis- lature; director of the Farmers' and Me- chanics' Bank, 1807-25; and member of the committee on the yellow fever epi- demic of 1793. George Sharswood, Sr., died in 1810, before the birth of his son, who was brought up and educated by his grandfather.
George Sharswood was graduated with honors from the University of Pennsyl- vania, A.B., in 1828, A.M., 1831; studied law with Joseph Rawle Ingersoll, and was admitted to the bar, September 5, 1831. He was a representative in the State Legislature, 1837-38 and 1842-43 ; Judge of the District Court of Philadel-
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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
phia, 1845-48; Presiding Judge of the District Court, 1848-67; Justice of the Su- preme Court of Pennsylvania, 1867-78, and Chief Justice, 1878-82. He was Pro- fessor of Law at the University of Penn- sylvania, 1850-52; Professor of the Insti- tutes of Law, 1852-68; a trustee, 1872-83; president of the Law Academy of Phila- delphia, 1836-38, its vice-president, 1838- 55, and provost, 1855-83. His "Legal Ethics" is required to be read by all ap- plicants for admission to the bar of North Carolina. He was a trustee of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, 1872-83; was president of the Alumni Society ; presi- dent of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, 1863-84; a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society in 1851. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Columbia Col- lege in 1856. He edited "Adams on Equity," "Roscoe on Criminal Evidence" (1835); "Russell on Crimes" (1836) ; "Byles on Bills" (1856) ; "Starkie on Evi- dence" (1860). He is the author of: "Legal Ethics" (1854) ; "Popular Lec- tures on Common Law" (1856) ; "Lec- tures on Commercial Law" (1856), and "Sharswood's Blackstone's Commenta- ries" (1859).
He was married to Mary, daughter of Dr. William Chesney Chambers, of Phil- adelphia, Pennsylvania. He died in Phil- adelphia, May 28, 1883.
GEARY, John White,
Soldier of Two Wars, Governor.
John White Geary was born in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, December 30, 1819, son of Rich- ard and Margaret (White) Geary. His father was principal of the academy where he was prepared for college. He matriculated at Jefferson College, Can- onsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1835, but was
not graduated, leaving to provide for his widowed mother by teaching school. In the meantime he studied law and civil enginering, and was admitted to the bar. He assisted in the survey of the Green River railroad and on public works for Kentucky, and thus earned sufficient money to discharge the debts left by his father. In 1846 he joined the volunteer army in the Mexican War, having recruit- ed the "American Highlanders," and as lieutenant-colonel of the Second Pennsyl- vania Regiment joined General Scott at Vera Cruz and commanded the regiment at Chapultepec, where he was wounded, and again later in the same day at Belen Gate, where he won the approbation of the commanding general, and upon the fall of the Mexican capital he was made the first commander of the conquered city and was promoted to colonel of the regi- ment. At the close of the war with Mexico he went to California, and in 1849 was made postmaster of San Francisco by President Polk, with general super- vision of the transportation of mails and establishing of post-offices and postal routes on the Pacific coast. The people elected him alcalde, and on the organiza- tion of a municipal government for the city of San Francisco he was elected the first mayor. He was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention and was an important factor in securing to the new State the exclusion of slavery. He returned to his farm in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and remained out of public life until July, 1856, when Presi- dent Pierce made him Governor of the Territory of Kansas. He effected peace between the rival factions striving to or- ganize a State government, and with the aid of United States troops convened the courts and restored confidence. This po- litical movement secured the election of Buchanan to the presidency, but when Governor Geary undertook the task of
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securing a Free-State constitution for Kansas the Democratic party failed to support him, and he resigned and left Kansas on March 4, 1857, and was suc- ceeded by Robert J. Walker, under ap- pointment of President Buchanan.
In April, 1861, at the outbreak of the war for the Union, Geary raised a regi- ment of fifteen hundred men and report- ed for duty to General Banks at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. He was wounded at Bolivar Heights; captured Leesburg, Virginia, March 8, 1862; was made brig- adier-general, April 25; and was twice wounded at the battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9. On recovering, he was placed in command of the Second Division, Twelfth Army Corps, and led the division at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He joined the Army of the Cumberland, was at the battles of Wauhatchie and Lookout Mountain, and was assigned by General Sherman to the command of the Second Division of the Twentieth Corps in the "March to the Sea." He was made mili- tary governor of Savannah on reaching the seacoast, December 22, 1864, the honor being accorded him for his conduct at Fort Jackson and in the capture of Savannah, he being the first general officer to enter the city. He was bre- vetted major-general of volunteers early in 1865, on being mustered out of the service. He was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 1866, his opponent being Hiester Clymer, Democrat, and he was reëlected in 1869. His administration was eminently successful, and on his death, eighteen days after the expiration of his second term of service, the General As- sembly of Pennsylvania began measures which led to the erection of a monument over his grave at Harrisburg.
Governor Geary married (first) Mar- garet Ann Logan, of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, who died in 1853. Their son. Edward Ratchford, a student
at Jefferson College, enlisted in the Fed- eral army in 1861, and was killed at Look- out Mountain, October 28, 1863, after fighting at Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Govern- or Geary married (second) in 1858, Mrs. Mary C. Henderson, of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania. He died at Ham- burg, Pennsylvania, February 8, 1873.
SCOTT, Thomas Alexander, Accomplished Railroad Manager.
Thomas Alexander Scott was born in London, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1824, son of Thomas Scott, the keeper of "Tom Scott's Tavern" on the old Limestone turnpike from Phila- delphia to Pittsburgh.
He attended the country schools in winter, worked on the farm in summer, and served as clerk in stores in Waynes- boro, Bridgeport, and Mercersburg. He was clerk to the toll collector at Columbia on the State road, 1841-47; chief clerk to the collector of tolls in Philadelphia ; and in 1851 entered the employ of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company. He served as general superintendent of the Moun- tain District, with headquarters at Dun- cansville, 1852-57; general agent of the Pittsburgh office. 1853-55 ; general super- intendent of the entire line, as successor to General Lombaert, 1855-59; and vice- president, 1859-61. He was appointed on the staff of Governor Andrew G. Curtin, and in 1861, with the aid of United States troops, opened the new line of railway from Washington to Philadelphia. He was commissioned colonel of volunteers, May 3, 1861, and was put in control of all government railways and telegraphs. He was Assistant Secretary of War under Secretary Cameron. 1861, and under Sec- retary Stanton until May, 1862. In that capacity he utilized the transportation of the northwest and of the western rivers
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for the benefit of the United States army. On September 24, 1863, he accepted a government commission to repair the rail- roads and superintend the transportation of the Eleventh and Twelfth Army Corps from the east through Nashville to Gen- eral Rosecrans at Chattanooga, a most re- markable achievement; and he served as assistant quartermaster general on the staff of General Hooker. He was chosen president of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania railroad in 1864, and in 1871 became president of the Pennsylva- nia Company, the agency through which the Pennsylvania railroad obtained leases of connecting roads to the west and of the "Pan-handle Route." He was also president of the Union Pacific railroad, 1871-72, and of the Pennsylvania railroad, 1874-80, resigning in 1880, on account of failing health. He was the founder and first president of the Texas Pacific rail- road. He died in Darby, Pennsylvania, May 21, 1881.
HARTRANFT, John Frederick, Civil War Soldier, Governor.
General John Frederick Hartranft was born in New Hanover, Pennsylvania, De- cember 16, 1830, son of Samuel E. and Lydia (Bucher) Hartranft. He was a student at Marshall College, 1847-49, and was graduated at Union College, A.B., in 1853, A.M., in 1856. He was admitted to the bar in 1859 and practiced in Norris- town, Pennsylvania.
In April, 1861, he recruited and was elected colonel of the Fourth Pennsylva- nia Volunteer Regiment, enlisted for three months' service, which expired the day before the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861. As his regiment had been ordered to Harrisburg, he obtained leave to serve on the staff of General William B. Franklin in that battle, and was mus- tered out with his regiment, July 27, 1861.
He recruited the Fifty-first Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment for the war, and was commissioned its colonel, November 16, 1861. He was in the Burnside expedition to North Carolina in 1862, led the attack on Roanoke Island, February 7, and in the battle of New Berne, March 14. With the Army of the Potomac he engaged in the second battle of Bull Run, and the battle of Chantilly ; in the Ninth Corps, he took part in the battle of South Moun- tain, and at Antietam he led the charge at the stone bridge. He commanded his regiment at Fredericksburg, then went with the Ninth Corps to Kentucky and was engaged in the battles of Campbell's Station and the defence of Knoxville. His part at Vicksburg, where he commanded a brigade, was protecting the besieging troops from an attack in the rear, and he went with Sherman to Jackson, Missis- sippi. Being transferred to Grant's army in Virginia, he commanded a brigade in the battles of the Wilderness and Spott- sylvania ; was commissioned brigadier- general of volunteers, May 12, 1864; took part in the operation before Petersburg; was given command of the Third Di- vision, Ninth Corps, July 2, 1864; and was brevetted major-general of volun- teers for his services in the recapture of Fort Stedman, March 25, 1865.
On May 1, 1866, General Hartranft was elected Auditor-General of Pennsylvania, and on August 29, 1866, refused a com- mission as colonel in the regular army. He was reëlected Auditor-General in 1868, and was Governor of Pennsylvania from January 21, 1873, to January 18, 1879. He removed to Philadelphia in 1879, was postmaster of the city by ap- pointment of President Hayes, 1879-80, and collector of the port of Philadelphia from August, 1880. He was major-gen- eral in command of the Pennsylvania Na- tional Guard, 1879-89. An equestrian statue in bronze, one and one-half life
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