The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 1

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 894

USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 1

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.

, !!!

יצי

Gc 974.8 B51r pt.2 1957663

M. L.

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 3089

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015

https://archive.org/details/biographicalency02robs

4496

THE

BIOGRAPHICAL

ENCYCLOPÆDIA

PENNSYLVANIA Pa.

19th

Cento

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

pt. 2

PRINTERS

TYPERSEIFE

PHILADELPHIA: GALAXY PUBLISHING COMPANY.

I 874.

319

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

when II. M. Watts' name was submitted to their action, | the hostility ceased, and, a firm and undeviating advocate of the measures of President Lincoln's administration during the war, -and of the Congressional plan of recon- structing the Government, he received, as already stated, a unanimous confirmation. Ifis residence in Vienna was ex- tremely interesting, and he had the gratification of knowing that, both politieally and socially, Europe had been taught, by the splendid achievements of our military operations, by the collapse of the Rebellion, and the peaceful restora- tion of the united political power upon wider and firmer foundations, that the Union was no longer a rope of sand, and the infant Republic had grown to a colossal manhood in the family of nations. Our Minister was received by the Austrian Court with unusual deference upon all public occasions, and in his private intercourse assurance was given of the most friendly character. IIis position was .most favorable for observing the inner workings of a great empire, then just emerging from the stolid despotism of a stern feudal aristocracy, and for centuries oppressed by the Papal authority. The Emperor had dissolved the " Con- cordat," modified the objectionable regulations devised by the Roman hierarchy for the elementary teaching of chil- dren, and had introduced a policy more in accordance with the civilization and enlightenment of the world. Sinee his return to the United States, his attention has been given to the manufacture of iron, in which he is now extensively and usefully engaged, contributing by his energy to the wealth of the nation, and by his unexceptional character affording an instruetive example to his fellow eitizens.

OMIG, JOHN, M. D., of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, Janu- ary 3d, 1804. His parents were of German cx- traction, his paternal grandfather having come to this country about the year 1732. Ilaving re- ceived the degree of M. D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1825, he commenced to practise the same year in the town of Fogelsville, Lehigh county. In the spring of 1829, he removed to Allentown, and formed a partnership with Charles II. Martin, M. D. In 1833, he commenced the practice of homeopathy, and was one of the original members of the Northampton Homeopathic Medical Faculty, also one of the projectors and founders, in connection with Drs. Ilering, Wesselhaft, Detwiller, Freytag, and other prominent physicians, of the North American Academy der Homeopathische Heikunst, at Allentown, and after its incorporation by the Legislature of Pennsylvania, was chosen Vice-President. He also offici- ated as Professor of Obstetrics in its faculty, Dr. Hering being President. In the fall of 1838, he removed to Balti- more, with other practitioners of repute, to introduce home- opathy. Drs. Haynal and McManus, of that city, having

already made it a study, then to some extent practised the system. His stay in Baltimore covered two years; he then returned to Allentown to reside permanently. He has ever been an active temperance advocate since 1842, and was one of the projectors of the First Division of the Sons of Temperance, No. 7, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Since 1836, he has been an active and devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, also an elder in said church for a number of years. Ile has two sons-William H. and George M. Romig-now practising physicians; graduates of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as of the Hahne- mann College of Philadelphia, and now copartners with him. Ile is recognized as one of the most prominent practitioners of his school.

1957663

OOKE, JAY, Banker and Financier, was born at Portland (now Sandusky), Huron county, Ohio, August 10th, 1821. He is the second son of the late Eleutheros Cooke, a distinguished lawyer of the State of New York, who moved to Ohio in IS17, and subsequently represented his district in the State Legislature and Congress. The Cooke family trace their descent from Francis Cooke, one of the original Pilgrim Fathers, who erected the third house bu.h in Ply- mouth. Jay Cooke was educated chiefly at home by his father and mother, although he afterwards attended an excellent school, where he devoted himself especially to algebra and the higher mathematics. When but thirteen years old, he entered a store in Sandusky, where he proved to be an excellent clerk, and learned book-keeping. Re- maining here nearly a year, he was prevailed upon to go to St. Louis, but his employer becoming embarrassed, he was obliged to leave and returned home, and once more attended school. In a few months thereafter he accepted a position with his brother in-law, William G. Moorhead, who, at that time, was largely engaged in railroad and canal enter- prises, in Philadelphia. He remained there a year, when the firm was dissolved, and he once more returned home. Shortly after this time, his father received a letter from E. W. Clark, the founder of the eminent house of E. W. Clark & Co., Bankers, of Philadelphia, asking permission to take his son Jay and train him for a banker. He was not quite seventeen years old when he entered the house, but he so impressed the partners by his earnest zeal to understand thoroughly the intricacies of finance, and by his careful attention to business, that some time before he attained his majority, he was entrusted with full powers of attorney to sign the name of the firm; and when, in 1842, he was twenty-one years old, he was admitted as a partner, and so remained until 1858, being for the greater part of the time its active business manager, and for some time its real head. In the early part of 1861, he went into partnership with his brother-in-law, W. G. Moorhead, in the banking business,

320

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

the style being Jay Cooke & Co., their chief object being | pired. In the ensuing summer he was nominated by the to provide business careers for their sons. In the spring of IS61, when the Government issued the first of the War Loans, this house obtained and sent to Washington, with- out compensation, a large list of subscriptions, and despite the great financial and commercial depression under which the country was then suffering, succeeded in placing a large part of the par loan of Pennsylvania. The subsequent pros- perous condition of the house, and its happy success in placing the great loans authorized by Congress during the War of the Rebellion, are a matter of history, and made the name of the Financier of the Rebellion noted through- out the world. After the war closed the house continucd to prosper, until, in an evil hour, it became the Bankers and Fiscal Agents of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. To this Corporation it made heavy advances, trusting to be able to re-imburse itself from the sale of bonds ; but a finan- cial storm swept over the country, which the firm could not withstand, and it closed its doors, September i8th, 1873', and has since been placed by its creditors in bankruptcy.

LACK, JAMES R., Lawyer, and Brevet Major- General United States Volunteers, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, September 28th, 1818, and was there educated, his last attainments being acquired at the Acadenfy at Newtown. - At the age of nineteen years he emigrated to Dela- ware county, Indiana, with his father's family, and during the next two years remained on the farm assisting .his father, and there began the life of an agriculturist. During the win- ter of 1838 he taught school, meanwhile reading the law, as he had determined to enter the legal profession. In 1839, he joined a corps of engineers who were engaged in the construction of the Indiana Central Canal, and con. tinued in that employment until the State authorities sus-, pended the work. His whole energies were now concen- trated in pursuing his legal studies, and on the day when he attained the age of twenty-two years, after passing his examination before a committee of members of the bar, he was admitted to practice his profession of Attorney and Counsellor at Law. A few weeks thereafter he removed to Huntington, Indiana, wherein to commence life on his own account. The population of the entire county of Huntington was but 1560; that of the town but sixty-five souls, and the whole country thereabouts wa's literally a howling wilderness. His cash capital was but six dollars, and his wardrobe slender. But possessing energy and a determination to succeed, he commenced by teaching school, and after the term had expired he obtained employment in the County Clerk's office, where he continued for two years. The Legislature of the State having created the office of County Auditor, he was elected to that post in the summer of 1842, and re-elected twice thereafter, continuing to hold the position until March, 1851, when his official term ex-

Democratic party and elected to the State Senate, and held that position two term, immediately following the adoption of the new Constitution. At the expiration of his Sena- torial eareer, he resumed the practice of his profession, and did not again enter the political arena until the summer of 1854, when he was nominated as Representative in Con- gress by the Democratic party of his district, but owing to the joint efforts of the Anti-Nebraska element and the Know-Nothing movement he was defeated. In 1858, he again received the nomination of his party for the State Senate, was elected by a large majority, much larger than his party strength, and continued to fill that position for four successive sessions, and until May, 1861. As soon as the war became an established fact, he at once espoused the cause of the Union, and, by his fervid cloquence and deter- mined purpose, contributed largely to the raising of troops in various parts of the State. In the autumn of that year, he was appointed Colonel of the 47th Regiment Indiana Volunteers, by Governor Morton, and at once commenced the severe task of enlisting his command, his efforts being put forth only in his Congressional District-a task which many then deemed hopeless, as one regiment had already been raised in the district, and volunteering seemed indeed to have come to an end. By his energy and determination he soon overcame every obstacle, and, on December Ist, 1861, his regiment was filled. On the 13th of the same month; he was ordered to move with his command to Ken. tucky, where he remained two months. In February, 1862, he was ordered to Commerce, Missouri, there to report to General Pope, who was then concentrating a force to ope- rate on Island Ten and New Madrid. On his arrival at Commerce, he was placed in command of a brigade con- sisting of five Indiana regiments, and so continued until after the capture of Island Ten, when he proceeded to Tip- tonville, Tennessee, where he was placed in command of the District, embracing that point, Island Ten and New Madrid. While so situated, he assisted in the attack on Fort Pillow, in May, 1862. When Corinth surrendered, in June, the fort was evacuated, and he was now ordered to assume command at Memphis, which was in a very turbu- lent condition, where he remained until General Grant reached that city, in July, and was then relieved, and next [ appointed Post Commander at Helena, Arkansas. IIerc he was in quarters until December, IS62, when again being placed in command of a brigade, he took part in the White River Expedition, and at the close of that campaign parti- cipated in the celebrated Yazoo Pass Expedition. On his third return to Helena he was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, Twelfth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, and figured somewhat extensively in the celebrated campaign for the reduction of Vicksburg, being engaged in most of the severe battles up to that rebel stronghold, in one of which-the battle of Champion Hill-he lost nearly thirty per cent. of his command. On the advance of the

321

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Union Army on the entrenchments at Vicksburg, he was left on the east bank of Black river to resist the advances of the rebels under General Johnston, where he rested till relieved, and then moved immediately to the works of Vicksburg, and participated in the assault until the surrender, July 4th, 1863. The next day he advanced with his com- mand to Jackson, Mississippi, in an aggressive movement against the rebels under General Johnston, having the ex- treme right of the position. The struggle lasted seven days, when the enemy was dislodged and the Union forces marched triumphantly in. On the day following the sur- render of Jackson he returned to Vicksburg for a fortnight, and thence to Natchez, where he tarried two weeks, and proceeded to New Orleans, in which department he re- mained during the war, taking part in all the battles and campaigns of that army, closing with the last contest of the war in the capture of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely on the east side of Mobile Bay, and the surrender of Mobile two days thereafter. Ile then moved with his command to Spring Hill, six miles distant, where he remained till June Ist, 1865, when his men were sent to New Orleans, while he himself was ordered to report to Major-General Steele. IIe was thus separated from those with whom he had been associated for nearly four years, an association greatly intensified by the hardships of innumerable eam- paigns and the strife of many a bloody field. Soon after, he with General Steele started for Brazos Santiago, Texas, where he was placed in command of about 5000 men, the remnant of the Thirteenth Army Corps, stationed at Clark- ville, near the mouth of the Rio Grande, where he was en- trusted with the delicate charge of maintaining quiet and peace between the United States forces and the French army then in Mexico; part of the latter being located at Bagdad, a Mexican city on the opposite shore. After a two months' sojourn he was ordered to Brownsville, forty miles up the river, where he remained until the middle of September in the same command, when he was relieved from duty and ordered home, after four years of almost con- stant service in the field. Ile was made Brigadier-General in November, 1864, and Major-General by brevet in March, 1865. Ile was mustered out of the service in January, 1866, when he immediately resumed the practice of his profession at Huntington, Indiana. llis military career from its commencement to its close is worthy of the grate- ful remembrance of all his countrymen. Ile was wise in counsel, energetic in achievement, unflagging in zeal, ever vigilant, true, and unmurmuring. No officer looked more carefully after the interest and welfare of his command; hence their devotion to him to the last. Ile continued in the practice of his profession until April ist, 1873, when he was elected Judge of the Twenty-eighth Judicial Circuit. The district was heavily Republican, but notwithstanding this he was elected by 789 majority over his opponent. He had previously been selected by the Democrats as their candidate for Governor, but declined the nomination.

ARTSHORNE, CHARLES, Vice-President of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, was born in Philadelphia, September 2d, 1829, and is a son of the late Dr. Joseph Hartshorne, an eminent and respected physician of that city. Ile was educated primarily at Ilaverford School and College, an institution under the control of the Society of Friends, and subsequently entered the University of Pennsylvania as a member of the Junior Class, in Septem- ber, 1845, and graduated from the same in July, 1847, with the degree of A. B .; he took the degree of A. M. in 1850. Ile shortly afterwards turned his attention to the study of analytical chemistry, for which purpose he entered the labo- ratory of Professor James C. Booth, where he thoroughly mastered this science. Ile subsequently became interested in the development of the railroads of the coal regions. In June, 1857, he was elected President of the Quakake Rail- road Company ; and when the same organization extended the line and became the Lehigh & Mahanoy Railroad Company, he was chosen President of that corporation. In 1866, this last-named company was merged in that of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, becoming one of its feeders or branches, and with this change he became asso- ciated with the trunk line in the Board of Directors, and, in the spring of 1868, was elected Vice-President of the corporation, which position he still occupies. From 1860 to 1868, he was engaged in active mercantile pursuits, as a member of the firm of Yarnall & Trimble, importers of drugs, but was obliged to relinquish this avocation on ac- count of the duties pertaining to the position to which he had just then been elected. Ile is connected with several charitable and benevolent institutions of the city of Phila- delphia as Director and Manager. Ile was married, June Sth, 1859, to Caroline C., daughter of Edward Yarnall, and grand-daughter of the late Thomas P. Cope of Philadelphia.

IRNEY, DANIEL BELL, Lawyer, and ex- Major-General United States Volunteers, was born in Huntsville, Alabama, in the year IS25. Ile was a son of the late Ilon. James G. Birney, an Alabama planter and statesman, who emanci- pated all his slaves and went North, first to Cin- einnati and afterwards to Michigan, to advocate the enuse of freedom to the slave; and was the candidate of the Lib- erty Party, in 1844, for the Presidency. Ilis son received his academical education in Cincinnati, where he also studied liw, and was admitted to practice at the bar, but for two or three years was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1848, he removed to Philadelphia, where he associated himself with O. II. Davis, under the style of Birney & Davis, Attorneys at Law, and opened a law and collection office with a branch of their establishment in New York city. The firm acquired a large practice in the several

322

BIOGRAPIIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

courts of Philadelphia, beside having a heavy collection patronage extending to every State in the Union. General Birney was enamoured of military affairs, and carly con- nected himself with a volunteer company in Philadelphia, passing through all the grades up to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel of an infantry regiment when the War of the Re- bellion broke out. As his command was among the first to respond to the call for men, he marched with the rest and served for the three months they were in the-fiekl. At the expiration of this term of service, the regiment re-enlisted, with him as Colonel, and joined the Army of the Potomac. In February, 1862, he was appointed Brigadier-General, and served in all the battles of the Peninsula as well as those before Washington. In the battle of Fredericksburg, as also in that of Chancellorsville, he greatly distinguished himself, and in the latter action his brigade rendered effec- tive service in checking the advance of Jackson's troops after a panic in the Eleventh Corps. After the death of General Berry he took command of the Division, being pro- moted to the rank of Major-General, May 23d, 1863, and led it in the battle of Gettysburg after General Sickles was wounded. When the Second Corps had been, subsequently, recruited to about 40,000 men, he was assigned to com- mand one of its Divisions, and in the campaign of 1864 his bravery and skill called forth the warm commendations of his superior officers, In pushing Lee back from the Wilderness ; in the movements towards the North Anna, the crossing of that river, and the Pamunky ; in the actions of Hanover Court llouse and Bethesda Church; and in the battle of Cold Harbor, his Division was ever in the fore- most van and the post of danger. On July 23d, 1864, he was promoted by General Grant to the command of the Tenth Army Corps. Early in the following October he was attacked by bilious fever and ordered home. Ile reached Philadelphia on election day, and was carried to the polls so that he might deposit his vote, and then to his residence, where after a few days of suffering he died, October 18th, IS64.

CCLELLAN, GEORGE B., ex-Major-General United States Army, was born in Philadelphia, December 3d, 1826, and is a son of the late eminent physician and surgeon, Dr. George Mc- Clellan. When fourteen years old he entered the University of Pennsylvania, and shortly after- wards accepted a cadetship in the United States Military Academy, whence he graduated, in 1846, standing No. 2 in his class. lle entered the army, July Ist of that year, as brevet Second Lieutenant of Engineers, and was at onee ordered to Mexico. For services at Vera Cruz, while at- tached to Worth's Division, and at Cerro Gordo and the City of Mexico, while connected with Twigg's Division, he was especially commended. Ile won his brevet rank of

First Lieutentant at Contreras and Cherubuseo, and that of Captain at Chapultepec. After peace was declared, he was ordered to West Point as Director ot Fick Labors and Instructor of Bayonet Exercise, and while so employed translated from the French a Manual of Bayonet Exercise, which became the text-book of the service. His next sphere of duty was at Fort Delaware; subsequently he proceeded with the Expedition to Explore the Red River. In Septem- ber, 1851, he proceeded to Texas to survey the rivers and harbors of that State, and, in the spring of 1852, was ordered to Washington Territory, where he explored the Yakima Pass and other portions of the Cascade Range, and the most direct route to Puget Sound ; the first volume of the Pacific Railroad Surveys is made up of the Report of his observa- tions in that Territory. Ile soon after this was occupied in examining the Railroad System of the United States, with a view of obtaining such information relative to construc- tion, equipment and management as might prove useful in the successful operation of the Pacific Railroad. A secret mission to St. Domingo and other islands of the West In- dian group was entrusted to him, which he fulfilled to the benefit of the Government. In July, 1853, he was com- missioned First Lieutenant, and in March, 1855, promoted to a Captaincy in the First Cavalry. One year later he was sent to the Crimea, as one of three officers to study the or- ganization of the opposing armies. Ilis Report was pub- lished by order of Congress, and subsequently republished in Philadelphia. Ile resigned from the service, January 16th, IS57, removed to Chicago, and for three years filled the positions of Engineer and Vice-President of the Illinois Central Railroad Company. He afterwards became, first, the General Superintendent of the Ohio & Mississippi Rail- road Company, and two months later President of the Eastern Division of the same road, with his residence at Cincinnati. While so located, the War of the Rebellion broke out. Governor Curtin wished him to organize the Pennsylvania troops for service; but he had already been made Major General of Ohio Volunteers, and at once pro- ceeded to organize the Nine Months' men from that State, and was made Commander of the Department of the Ohio, May 10th. On the 14th of the same month, he was ap- pointed Major-General in the Regular Army. He left Cin- cinnati June ISth, and assumed command of the Union forces on the 20th. The campaign thus commenced was terminated in twenty-five days, resulting in the victories at Phillipi, Rich Mountain and Carricksford, and he reported that "Secession was killed in Western Virginia." One week later occurred the disaster at Bull Run ; and to him the Nation now looked as their future leader. Ile was sent for and reached Washington, July 25th. Ilis first effort was to restore the morale of the army, and then to organize that army properly. Ile laid his scheme of the war before the President, August 4th, which required a force of 300,000 men ; and he superintended the fortification of the Capital. During this month the brigade organizations were perfected ;

323

BIOGRAPIIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

two months later the divisions. The people at the North, the publie press, and the non-combatants at Washington, were all anxious that the Army of the Potomac should be doing something. Their Commander sought to perfect all his plans before making an advance, but the others vocife- rated, " On to Richmond," charging the late favorite with supineness. Against his better judgment, he ordered the advance, and the disaster at Ball's Bluff, October 20th, was the result. On the 24th the Union forces successfully re- crossed the Potomac. General Scott, on October 31st, re- signed from the command of the United States Army, and General McClellan was appointed in his place the succeeding day. On January 27th, 1862, President Lincoln assumed command of the military and naval forces of the country, and ordered a general advance, February 22d. General McClellan chose a southern route to move on the enemy. The President desired him to change it, and some time was occupied in the correspondence. Early in March, some of his troops, amounting to many thousand men, were ordered by General Ilalleck-now named General-in-Chief (Mc- Clellan being restricted to the Army of the Potomac)-to join General Fremont. The Peninsular Campaign was inaugurated, May Ist, by an assault on Yorktown, which the rebels evacuated on the 3d; and on May 6th he fought and won the battle of Williamsburg. On the 9th, Congress voted him and his command the thanks of the Nation. For over a fortnight thereafter there was constant skirmish- ing, and on the 25th the army crossed the Chickahominy. Then ensued a series of desperate battles-Hanover Court House, Fair Oaks, the Seven Days' Fight, and lastly his famous change of base to Ilarrison's Landing. On July 7th, he gave the President his views on the proper conduct of the war. In the following month he was ordered to move the army back to Acquia Creek, and, on September Ist, he was directed to turn over the command to General Pope, while he was assigned to the Command of the De- fences of Washington. The very next day the Union Army was defeated under General Pope, and in full retreat to Washington. Then ensued the Maryland Campaign, with the battles of Crampton's Gap, South Mountain and Antic- tam, where the flower of the rebel forces were conquered. Ile was ordered, October 5th, to cross the Potomac ; he was destitute of army supplies and demurred. Halleck insisted, but McClellan convinced him that the movement was not ad- visable. Still he had to be sacrificed to satisfy the whims of non- combatants, and was displaced from command. Two years later, he was nominated as the Democratic Candidate for the Presidency, but had a majority in three States only, though he received 44.91 of the votes polled. IIe resigned from the army on election day, November Sth, 1864. He then visited Eu- rope, and on his return was engaged for some time by the Ilo- boken Improvement Company. Ile has contributed various articles to serial publications ; his latest effort, on " Army Organization," will be found in Harper's Magazine, for April, 1874.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 1

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 894

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 894