USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 3 > Part 34
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Socially, Mr. Keefer is a most charming and genial companion. With a mind well stored with useful information, happy conversational powers and a gener- ous nature, he takes pleasure in contributing to the enjoyment and prosperity of others. His personal popularity is shown in the estimation in which he is held by those associated with him in the Senate, and there is no man in the body who stands higher in the regard of the members or the public. Senator Keefer is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania College at Gettys- burg, and takes a deep interest in educational affairs. He was married, Novem- ber 27, 1855, to Anna E. Osler, daughter of Jehu Osler, of Pottsville. The issue of the union was six children, four of whom are still living. The oldest daugh- ter is married to Dr. H. F. Palm, of Camden, N. J., where she resides. The oldest son, Brua Cameron Keefer, is a lawyer in active and successful practice at Pottsville, Pa., where he is rapidly achieving an enviable reputation at the bar. The other children, a son and daughter, are still at home with their parents.
G. D. H.
F. GUTEKUNST.
PHILA.
ARTHUR D. MARKLEY.
ARTHUR DONALDSON MARKLEY, M. D.
S UCCESS is the result of force of character and intelligent industry, and the -
history of the world shows that the greatest triumphs in professional and commercial life have been achieved by those least favored in material resources. Among those Pennsylvanians who have distinctively worked out their own success none are more conspicuous than ARTHUR D. MARKLEY, M. D., of Hat- boro, Montgomery county, Pa.
Dr. Markley was born at Columbia, Lancaster county, April 28, 1832. His father, Jacob F. Markley, was born in the borough of Strausburg, Lancaster county, and his mother, a daughter of the late John Hamilton, Esq., of Leacock township, the same county, was a native of that township. His father being a practising physician, Arthur enjoyed good opportunities for acquiring an educa- tion, and, being possessed of an active and well-balanced brain, employed his advantages to the best purpose. His elementary training was in the public schools of Columbia, from which he was advanced to the Lancasterian School at Harrisburg. After a complete course in that excellent establishment he entered Captain Partridge's Military Academy in the capital city of the State, where he remained until the close of that institution. Thus admirably equipped for the battle of life, he obtained employment as a clerk in a wholesale drug store in Philadelphia, where he remained three years. Subsequently he spent five years at Phoenixville, where he had entire charge of a drug store, and acquired not only valuable experience, but very creditable proficiency as a pharmacist.
At the expiration of his employment at Phoenixville Dr. Markley commenced the study of medicine in the office of the late Dr. Samuel Soliday, and completed his studies with Dr. Joseph B. Dunlop, of Norristown. During this time he took a three years' course of study at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1857. Locating at Montgomery Square, Montgomery county, he at once began the practice of his profession with gratifying success, and continued there until the summer of 1861, when war between the States having been declared he volunteered in the United States navy, and served in the defence of the Union. He remained in the service until the autumn of 1862, when he returned to his home and family.
After his return from the navy Dr. Markley located at Worcester, Pa., where he resumed the practice of medicine and met with success until 1864, when he was nominated by the Democratic party and elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Pennsylvania Legislature. He served during the session of 1865, and was twice re-elected, serving in 1866 and 1867. In that body he occupied a prominent place. He was a member of the standing Committees on Education and Railroads, and of the special Committee on the Historical Paint- ing of the Battle of Gettysburg. At the organization of the session of 1867 he
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was nominated by the Democratic caucus for the office of Speaker, which was a substantial recognition of his ability and his standing as the leader of the minority on the floor of the House.
After the expiration of his term of service in the Legislature Dr. Markley engaged in railroad enterprises, and was made the first President of the Perkiomen Railroad, which position he held until about a year after the consolidation of that road with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. He was likewise one of the projectors of and a Director in the Stony Creek Railroad Company, and continued in that relation to the corporation until after its consolidation also with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.
From Worcester Dr. Markley removed to Norristown, where he engaged in the manufacture of paper at what was known as the Stony Creek Paper Mill. This enterprise he conducted for three years, at the expiration of which period he leased the mill to other parties. It was subsequently destroyed by fire. While in Norristown he served the public in the Board of Councils of the borough, and added to his reputation as a faithful and conscientious servant of the people. From Norristown he removed to New York for a temporary residence, and opened an office for the practice of medicine, and at the same time took advantage of the opportunity to take a post-graduate course in the Clinic Department of the Bellevue Hospital of that city. Having fulfilled his purpose there, he returned to Montgomery county and settled at Lansdale, where he remained two and a half years in the practice of his profession.
In 1876 Dr. Markley made his last change of residence by locating at Hat- boro. With the experience of several years' practice, an admirable equipment in the beginning, and a supplemental post-graduate course in the Bellevue Hos- pital, New York city, to recommend him, he soon acquired a large and lucrative practice, which he retained until 1884, when he retired from service and trans- ferred a large portion of his practice to his son, who has proved a worthy suc- cessor. The Doctor now occupies his time in the promotion of various corpora- tion enterprises, especially in the development of the property of the American Marine and Canal Propeller Company, of which he is President, and the affairs of which he personally directs. Whatever success it achieves, and the issue is no longer problematical, is due to his energy and ability. He has succeeded in enlisting the interest and attracting the attention of the leading naval contractors and marine experts, and in every instance in which the subject is investigated carefully the result is a verdict in favor of the method involved in his system. He has also taken an active interest in the explorations for the development of the oil production in his county, and is one of the five gentlemen who have undertaken the experiments in this direction in the neighborhood of Fitzwater- town.
In addition to his services in the Legislature and the honorary offices he has held, Dr. Markley has served the people in other important positions. During the time of Johnson's administration of the Presidency he was Collector of
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Internal Revenue for the Sixth District of Pennsylvania, and upon the accession of President Cleveland to office he was appointed Postmaster of Hatboro. For this office he was brought forward without his consent. Subsequently party factions interposed an opposition, and in order to prove the weakness of his enemies he began a contest for the place which resulted in his appointment. He filled the office with great acceptability until after the November election of 1888, when he resigned. He recommended a successor in the person of a gen- tleman in political sympathy with the President-elect, and upon that recom- mendation the present incumbent was appointed.
He has always been an active, energetic and efficient party worker, though never what is called an offensive partisan. Thoroughly imbued with the idea that the theories of the Democratic party are the safest guide for government, he has never hesitated to contribute both in counsel and through the more substan- tial medium to promote the success of that party. Among the active leaders of the party he is a valued adviser, widely known and universally respected for his sagacity and integrity. Without personal ambition for public place, he has often been pointed to as an eligible man for the most exalted stations. But he pre- ferred the position of independence which private citizenship affords to any official station, and, with the exceptions referred to, has refused to accept nom- inations for public office.
Dr. Markley is a member of William K. Bray Lodge, No. 410, A. Y. M., has served as Master, and in 1875 was the representative in the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. He is also a member of Hutchinson Commandery, K. T., sta- tioned at Norristown, and has been advanced to the Thirty-second Degree, A. A. S. R., Orient of Philadelphia. He is now the representative of his lodge to the Masonic Home of Eastern Pennsylvania, and is a member of Quaker City Lodge, No. 116, A. O. U. W., of Philadelphia, and one of the charter members of Lieutenant John N. Fisher Post, G. A. R., of which he subsequently served as Commander and Surgeon. He is likewise a member of the Philadelphia Com- mandery of the Loyal Legion of the United States, a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and a member of the Montgomery County Historical Society.
In 1882, after his retirement from active practice, Dr. Markley made a visit to Europe in order to obtain a needed rest from his labors, and such recreation as would conduce to the revival of his health, which had become somewhat impaired by overwork. In 1884 he was tendered the nomination for Congress in the Sixth District of Pennsylvania, so far as the Democracy of his own county could confer the honor. But he declined to engage in the laborious struggle, though every prospect of success was held out to him.
Dr. Markley was married, November 10, 1859, to Miss Juliet, daughter of Abraham P. Eyre, Esq., of Philadelphia, the officiating clergyman being Rev. Robert H. Pattison, father of ex-Governor Pattison. She died October 9, 1880, and was buried in the Hatboro cemetery. His second and present wife was Miss
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ARTHUR D. MARKLEY, M. D.
Hannah Jarrett, eldest daughter of Abel Penrose, Esq., proprietor of Græme Park Farm, Montgomery county. The marriage occurred November 16, 1882, in presence of ex-Mayor King, of Philadelphia, and was performed by Friends' ceremony.
He had by his first wife two sons-Paul H., who was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1882 and located in Hatboro, where he has a large practice; and Edwin, who is in the employ of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. The children by the second marriage are a son, Penrose, and a daughter, Ann.
G. D. H.
+. GUTERUNST.
+ 11H.1
WILLIAM J. MCKNIGHT
WILLIAM JAMES McKNIGHT, M. D.
D OCTOR W. J. McKNIGHT, State Senator from Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, from 1881 to 1884, was born in Brookville, Pa., May 6, 1836, and received a limited education in the common schools of that town. Thrown upon his own resources, at the age of eleven years he obtained work on a farm and remained in that employment four years. At the age of sixteen he entered a printing- office to learn the " art preservative," and a year later added to his duties of type- setting the reading of medicine. In this way, during a period of three years, he saved enough money to attend a single course of medical lectures, and in March, 1857, opened an office in Brookville, where he remained until 1859, when he joined with Dr. Niver, of Brockwayville, Pa., in practice. In 1863 he returned to Brookville and opened a drug-store with his brother, Thomas L. Templeton, as junior partner, under the firm-name of Mcknight & Bro.
In 1863 Governor Curtin appointed Dr. McKnight Examining Surgeon for Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, and subsequently he was appointed United States Pension Surgeon, in which capacity he served seven years. He served in the State militia during the war, in the emergency expedition against Morgan, enlisting as a private in Co. G, Fifty-seventh Regiment; was promoted to Orderly-Sergeant, and subsequently advanced to the rank of Quartermaster-Ser- geant, in which capacity he was serving at the time of the capture of Morgan.
With a desire to better qualify himself for the practice of his profession Dr. McKnight, in 1869, attended lectures in Philadelphia and received the degree of M. D. He supplemented this by attending two full courses at the Jefferson Medical College in that city, from which he was graduated in March, 1884. The same year he took a degree in the School of Anatomy and Surgery, and in 1885 a post-graduate course in the Jefferson Medical College.
Dr. McKnight entered politics at the early age of sixteen years, and when twenty-one years of age carried the delegates of his county for the office of County Treasurer over three good and influential citizens; but the older party leaders beguiled four of his delegates away, and secured his defeat on the fifth ballot. In 1876 he carried Jefferson county for State Senator over Hon. R. C. Winslow, but in order to preserve the peace of the party declined the district nomination. In 1880 Jefferson county again declared for him, but as Indiana county, which, with Jefferson, comprised the district, would not concede the Senatorship to Jefferson, he was declared the nominee by the State Central Committee and duly elected. In 1884 he was renominated by his party, and by the same authority was declared the district nominee; but Indiana county put an independent candidate in the field, who was elected.
During his term in the Senate Dr. McKnight took an active part in all impor- tant legislation before that body, and made a State-wide reputation, which is
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WILLIAM J. MCKNIGHT, M. D.
exceptional. He originated, and caused to be carried to success, reforms in the printing of public documents, which effect a saving annually of $40,000, and secured an increased appropriation of $125,000 for the public schools-the first increase under the new Constitution. It took hard and persistent effort to effect this, but the Doctor fought it through with his usual vigor. He called attention to the careless auditing of State accounts, and the improved methods which followed have brought into the treasury over $150,000. He carried through a reform in the commencement of the terms of township and borough officers, and gave hearty support to the Soldiers' Orphans' Schools. He received at the time the credit of carrying through Senate Bill No. 117, known as the Anatomy Bill, and received the heartiest congratulations on this measure, the venerable Judge Pearson being among the most earnest in its commendation. The most important mining laws of the State were passed at these sessions, and received his earnest support, as did all the legislation for the good of the people of the Common- wealth. In writing of the Senate of 1883 an able writer said of Senator McKnight: "He lucidly tells the story of his party's extravagance in printing, and makes needed reforms in party lines without kicking over the traces. Sharp, incisive and intelligent, he watches the chances for reform in his own household, and is not afraid to call to account any agent of the State."
Dr. McKnight took an active part in all Senate debates, and assisted in mould- ing and perfecting general legislation. He is a fair orator, speaks rapidly, and is a vigorous writer ; social and cordial to those he likes; has many warm friends as well as bitter enemies, and cares little for customs and usages, only so far as he deems them wise and just.
In a session term, in which so many interests were urgently pressed, numer- ous measures failed of necessity for want of time to complete them. Of those in which Dr. McKnight was interested that thus failed was the "act to classify the insane and insane criminals-to separate the criminal from the ordinary insane." In his speech on that measure, he said :
" It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first Continental Congress met. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the great Magna Charta of our liberties was written, signed, sealed and delivered to the world. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the fathers declared ' that all men are born free and equal, and are alike entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' It was on the soil of Penn- sylvania that the grand old Republican party was organized, and the declarations of our fathers reaffirmed and proclaimed anew to the world. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that Congress created our national emblem, the stars and stripes ; and it was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that fair women made that flag in accordance with the resolution of Congress. It was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that our flag was first unfurled to the breeze, and from that day to this that grand old flag has never been disgraced nor defeated. It was upon the Delaware river of Pennsylvania that the first steamer was launched. It was in Philadelphia that the first national bank opened its vaults to commerce. It was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that the first paper-mill was erected in America. It was upon the soil of Pennsylvania that Colonel Drake first drilled into the bowels of the earth and obtained the oil that now makes the ' bright light' of every fireside ' from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand.' It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first Christian Bible Society in the New World was organized. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first Soldiers' Christian Commission was formed. It was on the soil of
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Pennsylvania that the first school for the education and maintenance of soldiers' orphans was erected. It was on the soil of Pennsylvania that the first medical college for the New World was established. And now, Mr. President, I say to you that it was permitted to Pennsylvania intelligence, to Pennsylvania charity, to Pennsylvania people, to erect on Pennsylvania soil, with Pennsylvania money, the first insane institution, aided and encouraged by a State, in the history of the world.
" In the bill which is now before us Pennsylvania is simply expected to take another advance-step in the march of ciivlization. It is not a hasty step. It has been well considered, and is heartily approved by all those in the State having in charge the insane convicts and the criminal insane."
Probably the most important speech delivered by Dr. McKnight during his Senatorial term, and which received most universal commendation, was that on the amendment to the Constitution, introduced by him, to lessen the number of Senators and legislators, to increase the yearly salaries, and to extend the tenure of terms. The salary has since been fixed by legislative enactment, so the part relating to that feature of the proposition is left out of the extracts from the speech given below :
"It is certainly no exaggeration when I say that it takes fully one term, as the tenure now is, for a new member to familiarize himself with the usages, customs and rules of debate and legislation, and by the time he begins to feel a little at home in his work, begins to have some experience and assurance, and could appear creditably to himself and be of use to his State, then his term of office is at an end, and he is forced to step down and out to make room for some other novice in the art of making laws. It is a fact that about one hundred and fifty new members are elected to the House every session, and in saying this I wish it distinctly understood that I cast no reflection upon the character or general intel- ligence of the new members. They are, as a rule, highly respectable men of intelligence, honor and strict integrity. But, Mr. President, I do most positively assert that inexperience is ignorance; that ability may be inexperienced ; and I need not remind you that inexperience is weakness, and that dis- honor frequently lies in wait for weakness. Short tenures preclude all opportunities to gain that experi- ence, education and those enlarged views of men and measures which are indispensable for legislators in the management of public affairs. Experience is as necessary to law-makers as it is to doctors, lawyers, farmers and business men; for without it in any avocation there must be bungling results. I do not advocate trained professional law-makers .. I only believe that in calling a citizen to official life his tenure should be long enough to enable him to become acquainted with his official duties, so that he may be qualified to discharge those duties with credit to himself and profit to his country. If in our legislative bodies we could have more experience and better official knowledge, we would have purer and better laws. And further, our clumsy and ambiguous legislation, which has been so perplexing to the courts and the source of so much litigation, could and would be greatly improved, if not entirely remedied. As a matter of economy, the advisability of this change cannot be questioned. Mr. President, legislative work is performed by men governed by the same aspirations, ambitions, rivalries and hates that actuate and characterize humanity in every vocation of life, and who attempt to, and do, take advantage of their fellows in legislation precisely as they do in other spheres of life. Then you can easily see that oppor- tunity and shrewdness place a great lever in the hands of the experienced and unscrupulous member, by which he can use men of inexperience to assist him in accomplishing wicked and mischievous purposes. ' Knowledge is power.' Experience and knowledge must rule. Hence, we are forced, as the terms of office now exist, to have managers of men, or in other words, what is so obnoxious to the people, ' boss rule.' In the weakness of ignorance the inexperienced members are led like sheep. This deplorable condition of ' boss rule' can only be remedied through a longer term by which each individual member can acquire the experience and self-possession that will enable him to avoid the schemes of evil and designing men. In my opinion from this higher standpoint of tenure and experience will rest not only the future peace, welfare and safety of the State, but also of this nation. If advisable, one-half of the members and one-third of the Senators could be elected every two years; then at each session of the Legislature one-half the members and one-third of the Senators would come fresh from the people.
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WILLIAM J. McKNIGHT, M. D.
"One thing is sure, Mr. President, our State is becoming so great, and its machinery is so vast and complicated, that to be honestly and efficiently governed it must be ruled by experienced men-men of character and ability. But, Mr. President, such men are loth to submit to a struggle involving great personal sacrifice and the expenditure of large sums of money to obtain an election to an office of so short a tenure, and much less, I assure you, are men of character and ability willing to submit to a renewal of such a conflict, every two or four years, for an office involving great personal sacrifice and of no pecuniary profit."
In substantiation of his argument Dr. McKnight submitted the following points : ..
First. Important measures fail in the House every session because it is impossible for those who present them to have them considered by that body, owing to its great numbers. In fact, in the House, legislation is almost entirely performed by the Speaker and a few veteran leaders, who are chairmen of the committees. Hence, evils fail of correction, laws are passed that are hard to understand and easily misconstrued, simply from the confusion that results from numbers.
Second. The judgment, the honest conviction of nearly every Senator and member is, that each body is too large. Especially is this judgment clear in regard to the House. Every one will agree that the dignity of that body is lost, the opportunity for debate is limited, and the privilege to amend any legisla- tion that is offered is restrained, if not destroyed.
Third. Reflection of the public will is not accomplished by numbers. Five qualified men would, and could, reflect the will of a thousand people better and as faithfully as fifty would reflect the same. The Senate can do in one day work that would require two days' labor in the House.
Fourth. Large assemblies are always noisy and turbulent. The members cannot, and do not, become personally acquainted with each other. The body at times becomes uncontrollable-a perfect bedlam. The Speaker, ordinarily, arbitrarily recognizes whom he pleases. The members whose seats are in the rear of the floor find it impossible to hear and know what is going on, even when the House is ordinarily tranquil.
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