USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 1 > Part 40
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Dr. Horne has a happy faculty of showing teachers how to do a great amount of work in the way of experiments, and do it well, at very slight expensc. He is an admirable educator, combining excellent instruction with sufficient enter- tainment to hold the attention and impress the lesson on the mind of every one present.
Dr. Horne is a clergyman of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and has served congregations in connection with his educational work ever since 1859, when he was ordained. No less than fifty men are now in the ministry of various denomi- nations who were directed and encouraged to enter the sacred office by him. Ile has always firmly defended the doctrines of the Bible and of Evangelical Christianity. In ISS2 he engaged in a discussion at Doylestown, Pa., with the distinguished free-thinker, B. F. Underwood, which continued three nights, and in which he defended the doctrines of the Bible with great success. At teachers' institutes, in addition to his instruction in methods, Dr. Horne also delivers lec- tures on Common Science, illustrated with experiments. He has written a book, "Experiments Without Apparatus," thousands of copies of which have been sold. Being a Pennsylvania German, he also wrote and published a book which was especially designed for and successfully accomplished the purpose of enabling those of the community who spoke that language to learn E .. glish. He is also the publisher of a small book for students of botany. In his National Educator, a semi-monthly which he has edited and published continuously since 1860, he disseminates a large amount of information for old and young-teachers, parents and pupils. His articles on "Common Sense in Teaching," " Health Notcs," " Experiments Without Apparatus" and " Useful Information " are very exten- sively copied and read. There is not another educational publication in the country that has been so long (twenty-eight years) under the same management. Dr. Horne devotes himself to his paper, to institute work, and to lecturing and preaching. lle serves at present as pastor four congregations in the vicinity of Allentown. He is often called quite a distance to officiate upon special occasions, speaking both in English and German. His institute work extends over Penn- sylvania and other States, and during the summer months of the past few years he has been one of the instructors at the Normal School at Niagara Falls. Dr. Horne is a good type of a farmer's son, who, despite the lack of advantages enjoyed by
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many other youths, has won his way in the world by industry and perseverance backed by inherent ability. It is stated regarding him that he has never been sick, has not had a cold for twenty years, never loses a night's rest, has a stento- rian voice, and is always in a good humor.
In 1857 he married Jemima Emelia, daughter of David I. and Sarah Yerkes, of Bethlehem, both of whom are yet in the enjoyment of good health, though past fourscore years of age. The offspring of the marriage are Sadie J., married to Rev. Joseph W. Mayne, of Dublin, Bucks county ; David R. Horne, attorney-at- law, Wichita, Kan .; M. Luther Horne, attorney-at-law, Allentown ; Thomas K. Horne, business manager of the National Educator ; Augustus F. Horne, student at Lafayette College; and Ilattie B. Horne, attending public school at Allen- town.
Dr. Horne's wife, who has shared the joys of his busy life for a quarter of a century, has taken a deep interest in his labors, and they are now granted the additional happiness of seeing their children grow up to honor them with the results of practical teaching of the way they should go.
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JAMES E. GARRETSON, M. D.
JAMES EDMUND GARRETSON.
o truly epitomize the life-work of a man who does not care to proclaim him- self to the world as one of the world's benefactors, even though there exists living testimony of his skill and beneficence, is an undertaking that is as delicate as it is difficult.
Out of regard for decided views expressed in his works by the subject of this sketch that "it is not wise to praise any man until at least six feet of earth cover him," and furthermore " that individuals are nothing-the matter of life being with the work," it is deemed best to record simply those matters which relate the subject with the public.
JAMES E. GARRETSON, eminent as a surgeon and as a philosopher, was born in Wilmington, Delaware, in the year 1828. His boyhood did not differ materially from that of other boys. He climbed as many trees, tore the knees out of as many pairs of pantaloons, and presumably was as full of fun and mischief as his companions, or boys the world over. Before reaching his majority, however, young Garretson had sobered down wonderfully, and instead of becoming, as most lads of nineteen or twenty years do, a reader of trashy literature, the young man began diving into works of worth and solidity. Possessing not only a remarkably retentive memory for what he read, but a mind that, as years came on, proved itself to be philosophically analytical in a marked degree, it was but natural that he should pull himself out of the every-day rut and seek for a place on higher, broader paths where trod men whose genius spurred on his ambition and made brighter his way.
Young Mr. Garretson, after finishing his school days, came to Philadelphia. This was after he had spent several years, unmarked by special incident, in his native State, and in New Jersey. In 1856 the young man, who had a predilection for close study several years before, made up his mind that he would study the profession of medicine. He had thought over it often ; he had reasoned out that the profession was an honorable one, and that it was one that benefited humanity ; for, young as he was, he had already become a philosopher. There was nothing mercenary in the conclusion at which he arrived. He had read and studied over the doctrines of Aristotle ; he had analyzed the pungent aphorisms of Plato, and had pretty thoroughly digested the inwardness and purpose of Stoic philosophy. Despite this triumvirate of mental giants opposing each other as they did in the young man's mind, he proved himself to possess sufficient indi- viduality to map out a plan of action that should be his own, and only his own. He began to study, and with him study did not mean a skiniming over of text books. It did not mean a three hours' spasm of hard work, and a six hours' relaxation given over to questionable recreation in a great city. The young man was determined to attain the object of fitting himself to be useful. He econo-
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mized the minutes. He systemized his time and worked steadily and courage- ously, without other hope of reward than that which could be attained should he find himself able to serve the needy.
In 1859 he graduated at that time-honored institution, the University of Penn- sylvania. His industry and close attention to his studies had attracted the attention of the professors during the course and after his graduation, and he was so highly spoken of that in 1861 he was made Lecturer on Anatomy in the Philadelphia School of Anatomy, Prof. D. Hayes Agnew and himself conducting the departments. From that time on Dr. Garretson became a human sponge. He absorbed everything that related to his profession, and even the most minute details did not escape his notice. He had never been a man to negleet little things, and as he grew older he saw the necessity of regarding trifles; so in the profession of medicine nothing was trivial. To every idea advanced he gave careful consideration, and possessing those much-to-be-admired mental qualifica- tions-analysis and synthesis-he was able to separate the wheat from the chaff, and turn the wheat to the very best advantage.
Dr. Garretson did not cease to be a student after his graduation, but on the contrary he worked harder than ever. While others were taking needed recreation, or had settled down with the idea that they had little else to learn, he was poring over his books, gaining new ideas and making new ones of his own. Although never intending to be a specialist, he gradually became interested in a particular branch of study, and some time about the close of the war he had made up his mind to give greater attention to the seience of oral surgery than had been given in the past by practitioners generally. It was this determination that made him what he is to-day-one of the most skilful diagnosticians of diseases of the mouth, jaws, face and associate parts in the United States. This line of study was faithfully followed up, and in the year 1869 he was made Oral Surgeon to the University of Pennsylvania, and Surgeon in charge of the Oral Hospital. It was between the years 1865 and 1866 that Dr. Garretson, after carefully weighing the worth of the opinions of the authorities on the subject, determined to write a book himself. Attending closely to his practice, which had then become quite extensive, and neglecting none of the ordinary courtesies of life, he performed the task of writing a book of 1,000 octavo pages, entitled, "The Sys- tem of Oral Surgery," a work that is now in its fourth edition, and is the accepted authority on the subject among English and American physicians, having also, as I am informed by the publishers, a fine sale in every civilized country on the globe. Dr. Garretson was asked one day how he managed to get through such an enormous amount of work, and yet never appear to be in a hurry. " It is not at all difficult," he replied, "providing one follows out a very simple plan. Do not neglect the minutes, and use every opportunity that presents itself. Ascer- tain what part of the day best suits your brain for a certain line of work, and then do that work methodically, and not by fits and starts."
It was this principle, to which he adhered closely, that enabled him to compile
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JAMES E. GARRETSON.
a work whose tedious character would have discouraged many other authors with far more leisure time than he. "The System of Oral Surgery," while a most valuable addition to surgical literature by Dr. Garretson, represents but a part of the work of his pen in the matter of scientific writing. He is the author of a great number of clinical lectures on general surgical subjects, the publish- ing of which has been continued in the various medical and dental jour- nals issued in this country and in Europe; but the labor which can be denominated his professional monument is certainly the treatise on oral sur- gery which belongs to Lippincott's Physicians' Reference Library. The subject stands to-day as the result of his work, and as a specialty is as fully developed as ophthalmology.
To Dr. Garretson belongs the credit of having introduced into general surgical practice and made familiar the surgical engine, a plan of operating which has worked a revolution in the methods of operation upon the bony system. He has, after some opposition on the part of his professional brethren, successfully demonstrated the cure of epithelial cancer by means of what is professionally known as the "flap transfer," an operation that now obtains generally among skilful practitioners. An operation of large signification, which consists in removing the os coccyx without disturbing the true perineum, is his invention, and has attracted wide attention, both here and abroad. He has devised several operations in ex-sective nerve surgery, notably the removal of exposing cords requiring to be cut at the base of the skull. Operations for ablations of the whole or parts of the maxillary bones without resulting scars are devices for which much is owing him by the surgical world. One operation designed and practised by him, and conceded to be one of the high refinements of surgery, is the removal of the inferior maxillary nerve, as it lies in its canal, without injuring the face. As a practitioner he confines his attention to surgical cases, but he is sought in consultation by eminent physicians in general medical practice. The place in which he stands pre-eminent, however, is as a consultant and operator in surgery.
There are few physicians of to-day who, while devoting their attention to their profession, have found time to become literary men. Dr. Garretson has found time simply because he has " never neglected the minutes." English history is full of doctors whose very recreation consisted in serving their fellows, either by instructing or amusing them. Among the most prominent are such men as Johnson, Goldsmith, Sir Thomas Brown, Akenside, Keats, Erasmus, Darwin, Percival, and the author of "Noctes Ambrosianie." In the literary world Dr. Garretson leaves his professional name behind him and becomes " John Darby," a grower of potatoes and a dealer in philosophy. It is as a writer that the man's individuality shines forth, and he is brought, as it were, face to face with his reader. His fondness for philosophical thought and his powers of contrast are shown in one of his most interesting books, "Brushland," where he portrays, with great vividness, the two-fold life which a man can lead. The reader is con-
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fronted with broadcloth and patent-leather boots on one page, and with corduroy and horsehide brogans upon another. "Brushland " is in the author's happiest vein. It can be taken as a keen satire, or digested and enjoyed as a philosophi- cal discussion between Broadcloth and Corduroy-two creations strikingly bold and distinctive in their individualities. In one portion of the book there is a soliloquy, which has attracted the attention of nearly every critic who has read it. The passage is pregnant with the beauties of philosophic thought, and runs as follows : " Back into the town is back into the whirl. Oh, blessed solace of solitude! How full of company it is to be absolutely alone! Here upon Elmer bridge I am the world, the world is me. Let the villager barter. Let the brushman clear the drain. Here face to face with nature the God runs into me driving everything else out. Here in contact with creation I know myself all bigness, all littleness. Lifted up I am the bloom of a plant ; buried I am its vital root. I rejoice in an undertaking of myself. That I know not exactly the how and the whereas, the why and the wherefore of man, is nothing to me. I know that man moves, and I know how he moves. The mystery of the sensorium is an arcanum. Let arcanum remain arcanum.
"' U'p or down, bloom or root, one is one ; zenith is nadir, nadir is zenith.'"
"Thinkers and Thinking," another of Dr. Garretson's works, has been pro- nounced by an eminent reviewer of books as philosophy in a nutshell. " It is not," says he, "merely mere metaphysics, nor a wordy speculation ; not mere guesses at truth, but telling the reader about eminent thinkers of the past and present time, and checking off their theories by the author's full and keen practical and physical as well as mental knowledge."
"Odd Hours of a Physician," "Two Thousand Years After," "Hours with John Darby," are from the pen of the same author, and have received the kind- liest treatment from the hands of competent critics. The book, "Two Thousand Years After," is a continuation of Plato's " Phodo," being an attempt to demon- strate the distinction between mind and soul, and to show the identity of the latter with God himself; hence, its immortality. To accept the teachings of this book is to reconcile, not only all differences as to creeds and religions, but is to settle at once and forever the disputes of agnostics and theologians.
" Hours with John Darby" is founded on a verse in Timon's " Images." referring to the philosopher Pyrrho:
" These things, my heart, O Pyrrho, longs to hear, Ilow now enjoy such ease of life and quiet, The only man as happy as a god."
The chapters of the book treat on different matters related with life and living, commencing with the important subject of women and ending with reflections on death.
"Odd Hours of a Physician " is now in its fourth edition. This book main-
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tains the pleasures of simplicity, and corresponds closely in its manner of looking at things with the writings of Franklin and Cobbett, with whose works it has been classed by the late George Ripley, the eminent book critic of the New York Tribune. Perhaps no publication of its kind was ever more warmly lauded by all kinds of people. Its popularity continues unabated.
"To get into your own life as many other lines as possible," says our author in his book, " Brushland," " is to get the most out of life ;" and truly in himself is a striking illustration of the capability to keep out of ruts.
Dr. Garretson's latest work is " Nineteenth Century Sense," a masterful gem of philosophic thought. In it the author comes nearer to the Universal than he has in any of his previous arguments on the why and wherefore of man. He takes a high ground, and discusses things as they are and as they seem. It is in reality a marvellous piece of work. The thread of logic that runs through it, from the first page to the last, has strung along it such an abundance of collateral issues that the reader must ponder thoughtfully over each of the pregnant phrases that finally group themselves together and make one harmonious whole. " Nineteenth Century Sense " is not one of those books that can be read over lightly. It must be digested, and, in the simulation of the pabulum that it affords, the skeptic as well as the credulous man finds a restfulness that lifts him beyond the dross, and permits him to commune with the Ego of the author, and see the beauties of the God in man as he sees it.
Dr. Garretson, as a physician, attends to an extensive private practice, both medical and surgical, and conducts a large and responsible clinical service, which is particularly noted for the character and gravity of the operations per- formed-in this respect unexcelled, certainly, by any hospital work done in this or any other country. As " John Darby," he is to be thought of as a dreamer by the fireside ; as a lover of dark woods and quiet country lanes ; as a sturdy worker, toiling amongst brush and ditches ; and as an Alexandrian of the type of Plotinus, who aspires to keep his head in the clouds, let his feet be where they may.
The book " Clover Leaves," published by the Clover Club, contains a chapter from the pen of Dr. Garretson on the relativity of good and evil, which is not less illustrative of his manner of looking at things, and his individuality as to style, than any of his various writings.
Dr. Garretson is Dean of the Faculty of the Philadelphia Dental College, and is President of the Medico-Chirurgical College of that city. He was one of the founders of the latter institution, and is assisted in its conduct by a faculty com- posed of professors of like prominence to himself in their respective specialties. Under their able charge it is growing rapidly in importance and taking rank among the established medical institutions of Philadelphia, and will still further strengthen the claim of Pennsylvania's metropolis to being the centre of medical education in America.
VINCENT S. COOKE.
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THOMAS MACK ELLAR.
THOMAS MACKELLAR.
T HIOMAS MACKELLAR, a prominent type founder and author of Philadelphia, was born in New York, August 12, 1812. His father was a Scotsman, once a midshipman in the British Navy. His first maternal ancestor in New York was Henry Bresier (afterward Brasha), who married Susanna Watkens in 1644. Governor Kieft issued to him a patent for thirty-three acres of land outside of the city wall, in a strip running northwardly to what is now Franklin Square and Cherry street. When fourteen years old young MacKellar learned to set type in the office of the New York Spy. On the failure of this paper, which had only a brief life, he found an engagement with the great publishing house of J. and J. Harper, where his ability quickly marked him for speedy advance- ment. He was promoted to the responsible post of proof-reader when in his seventeenth year. Death carried off his father and mother when he was eigh- teen years of age, and he sought to rescue some portion of the old family lands.
Reluctantly relinquishing this task, he acted on the advice of the Quaker law- yer, Clark, who counselled him that, if he would stick to his work, he would make a fortune before he could recover the old one. His future carcer justified the prediction, and when he left the Harpers' establishment, in 1833, he was a thoroughly skilled printer. Coming to Philadelphia he began work, on May Ist of that year, in the type and stereotype foundry of Johnson & Smith as proof- reader. His valuable qualities were soon recognized by Lawrence Johnson, senior member of the firm, who made him foreman of the department comprising the composing-rooms of the stereotype foundry.
In 1845 he was taken into the business as a partner, together with the two sons of George F. Smith, who had retired a short time previously. The style of the house then became L. Johnson & Co. He removed his residence to Ger- mantown in 1856, partly on account of his health, which had been somewhat impaired by his arduous devotion to business, and the loss of his oldest daughter in her nineteenth year. In 1860 Mr. Johnson died, and the surviving partners formed a new firm, adding the name of Peter A. Jordan, under the style of Mac- Kellar, Smiths & Jordan. Ever since Mr. MacKellar was associated with it, it has increased in the magnitude of its transactions until it is now the most cele- brated type foundry in the world. The Specimen Books, showing the numerous varieties of types made in this foundry, were got up under his special direction. The matter was mostly original, and being uniquely adapted to the conformation of the different styles of the types exhibited attracted the attention of printers everywhere. An edition of three thousand copies of the quarto volume of Specimens cost about $40,000. The book fancier of the future will doubtless consider this work a striking feature in his collection. Years ago $50 were offered for a copy.
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In 1866 he published a work entitled "The American Printer." This proved to be the most popular work on typography ever printed, the fifteenth edition having been lately issued. In 1856 he established the Typographic Advertiser, for the purpose of showing the reproductions of the foundry. This elegant sheet is known throughout typographic Christendom.
In 1883 Mr. MacKellar celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his connection with the foundry, and the employés presented him a massive silver vase, the designs of which were symbolic of the art of type making and printing. Shortly afterward he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wooster, Ohio.
Early in life Mr. MacKellar evinced a great fondness for reading and no little fitness for authorship, but constant duties then allowed him almost no leisure for the gratification of such tendencies. In his maturer years, however, he has become widely known as a graceful and popular poet. His first production, " The Sleeping Wife," was published in the Public Ledger. For nearly two years he contributed to Neal's Gasette, under the signature of "Tam," poems that elicited much critical attention. He has published several volumes; the first was " Droppings from the Heart," then came "Tam's Fortnight Ramble," fol- lowed with " Lines to the Gentle and Loving." In later years he revised these works and compiled them with other writings, and issued them with the title of " Rhymes Atween-Times." Since then he has published a work containing his Hymns and Metrical Psalms. A deep religious feeling pervades his produc- tions. He was for many years an elder of the old Pine Street Presbyterian Church, which office he now holds in the First Presbyterian Church of German- town. One of the earliest mission schools was started under his supervision in one of the vilest sections of Philadelphia, and some of his best years were spent in endeavors to benefit outcasts and the lowest classes of society. He was for twenty-five years Corresponding Secretary of the Philadelphia Bible Society, and wrote its annual reports. He is Director of several insurance and trust companies. He is President of the Philadelphia Book Trade Association, and also of the Type Founders' Association of the United States. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Pennsylvania Museum of Art, the St. Andrew's Society, and the Philadelphia Typographical Society.
In 1834 Mr. MacKellar married Miss Eliza Ross, daughter of Samuel Ross, of Philadelphia, who was a staunch Scotch-Irish Presbyterian. His wife proved a true helpmeet, and aided him in his settled purpose never to contract a debt, and never to buy anything that he could not at once pay for. The union continued thirty-seven years, until her death, in 1871, and resulted in a family of two sons and eight daughters, of whom one son and four daughters survive. He has not married again, but finds his home enjoyments in the company of his children and grandchildren.
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