USA > Pennsylvania > A biographical album of prominent Pennsylvanians, v. 3 > Part 39
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Mr. Rorke has for many years taken an active part in politics. He has always been a Republican, and is a liberal and generous contributor to the campaign funds. His advice was frequently sought as to men and measures before he occupied any position in the councils of the party. He has at no time been a seeker for office, although upon the election of Mr. Fitler as Mayor he was strongly pressed for the position of Director of Public Works by many prominent business men, who appreciated his unusual executive ability and desired that the public should have the benefit of it, and his appointment was under serious consideration for a time.
When a majority of the Republican party determined, at the spring election of 1888, that there should be a new order of things in its management in Philadel- phia, it was decided that the chairman should be a business man of good repute and standing. Mr. Rorke at once became the unanimous choice of the members of the campaign committee, who did not favor the re-election of the gentleman
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who had occupied the position for some years. It was thought that the success of the party was endangered by the jealousies which had been engendered by the ambitions of those at the head of the different factions. Mr. Rorke was consequently elected by a large majority of votes, and since his induction into office, to which he has been a second time elected, the affairs of the committee have been managed under new methods, and the rules of the organization have been strictly adhered to. He commands the respect and confidence of the rank and file of the party, and, as its leader, uses every legitimate effort to obtain harmonious action and bring about the best results.
Although Mr. Rorke has accomplished so much, he is hardly yet in the flower of his capabilities. As a business man he has earned a reputation second to none, and the conscientious fulfilment of all his contracts has secured him the friendship and indorsement of the leading business men of the city; while socially he has many warm friends and a large personal acquaintance, who thoroughly respect and admire his sterling and manly qualities of character.
Mr. Rorke is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having taken nearly all the degrees of that order. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Legion of Honor, the Five O'clock Club, and of a number of political clubs and organizations.
Mr. Rorke was married when he was but twenty-one years of age, and he attributes to that fact much of his success in life. He says the responsibility thus assumed acted like the superstructure and weight placed upon the columns or uprights in a building, and served to steady him. He married Lizzie May- nard, who was born in Brooklyn, daughter of Thomas Maynard, a native of England. When quite a child she came with her parents to Philadelphia, in which city she was educated. Mr. Rorke has two sons, one of whom is about twenty and the other sixteen years of age. They are both attending school.
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PHILA.
ROBERT R. CORSON.
ROBERT RODGERS CORSON.
M OSES AUGE, in his " Men of Montgomery County," remarks in his terse style : "With few exceptions the whole Corson race have been culti- vated in mind and notorious for their love of free thought. True to their Huguenot origin, they have been outspoken for freedom, the deadly foes of sla- very, and most of them being life-long teetotalers." ROBERT R. CORSON, of Philadelphia, whose life we propose to sketch, is no exception to this rule. When a boy he heard the " great apostle of temperance," Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, dilate upon the benefits of total abstinence, and, heartily embracing his views, he has adhered to the principle by example and precept ever since, and has ad- vocated in a quiet way the cause of prohibition on all suitable occasions. When a lad he lived with his cousin, George Corson, whose house was a prominent sta- tion on the "Underground Railroad," where many fugitive slaves stopped for food and shelter on their way to freedom, and here the youth's sympathies be- came deeply enlisted in their behalf. When the war of the rebellion broke out, and troops from the North and East began to pour through Philadelphia for the defence of the national capital, many of them unprovided with rations or suitable clothing, a few public-spirited citizens formed themselves into commit- tees of relief, and elected Mr. Corson Corresponding Secretary of what was called the Union Volunteer Refreshment Committee. It is estimated that during the war over six hundred thousand soldiers were supplied with substantial meals, without money or price, at the tables of the "Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon " and its co-laborer, "The Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon."
As the war progressed it was found that many soldiers from distant States were lying sick or wounded in the hospitals of Philadelphia and adjacent places, without means even to purchase a postage stamp or material with which to write to their friends, and Mr. Corson took upon himself the labor of learning the names, residences, regiments and companies of such, and forwarding the list to the Governor of the State from which they came for publication in the news- papers in the town or county to which the men belonged, so that their friends might be enabled to communicate with them. This service was recognized by Governor Buckingham, of Connecticut, as exceedingly useful, and he solicited Mr. Corson to accept the position of Military Agent to care for the sick and wounded soldiers of his State, in hospital or field, and furnished him with means to relieve their immediate wants. His example was followed by the Governors of other States, and Mr. Corson soon found himself officially employed to look after disabled soldiers, by appointment and authority of the executives of thir- teen States. It became an important and laborious work, requiring his whole time and that of four or five assistants, who daily visited hospitals, conferred . with the men and looked after their comfort and letters and papers. As soon
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as the news of a great battle was received, like that of Antietam, Gettysburg, or the Wilderness, Mr. Corson would hasten to the field, and often spend days and weeks in distributing supplies, alleviating the sufferings of the wounded, cheer- ing and comforting the sick, and taking down in writing the last message of the dying to the loved ones at home. Probably the most painful experience that he encountered whilst engaged in this work was that at Annapolis upon the return of those who had been imprisoned at Belle Isle, Andersonville and other places. Occasionally thousands of exchanged prisoners would be received at a time, many of whom survived a few hours only after landing. On one occasion, after the arrival of several steamers, burial service was held over forty-one bodies at one time. A record of all these martyrs to liberty and the Union who were thus buried was made by Mr. Corson or his assistants, and forwarded to the States from which the men had come.
He continued in this arduous work for nearly four years, and retired from it with flattering testimonials from the executives of the States which he had served, and bearing with him the heartfelt gratitude of thousands whom he had befriended. In recognition thereof, on December 9, 1864, Governor Andrews, of Massachusetts, appointed him Assistant Quartermaster-General of that State, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, while Governor Smith, of Rhode Island, appointed him Aide-de-Camp on his staff, with the same rank, and Governor Gil- more, of New Hampshire, had previously appointed him to the same position on his staff, with the rank of Colonel. The Legislature of Rhode Island passed resolutions of " thanks to Lieutenant-Colonel Corson for his untiring energy and self-sacrificing devotion to the interests of our soldiers." Shortly after the battle of Gettysburg, Major Stearns, of Boston, came to Philadelphia with authority from the War Department to organize regiments of colored troops for United States service, and, appointing Col. Corson on his staff as his aid, placed him in charge of the main work. Through his exertions and that of the supervisory committee for recruiting colored regiments, composed of about sixty promi- nent citizens, over fourteen thousand soldiers were enlisted and sent to the front without cost to the government.
After the war had closed Mr. Corson spent five or six years in the service of the Pennsylvania Freedmen's Relief Association as its Corresponding Secretary, and at one time had the supervision of one hundred and twenty schools for the education of the freedmen and their children, located in Virginia and other Southern States. He also took a prominent part in establishing in Philadelphia a school for the education of the orphans of colored soldiers who had fallen in battle or died in defence of the Union.
During this period (in 1867) he aided in organizing the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and was its first Treasurer. He still continues in the Board of Managers.
When his labors in behalf of the Freedmen's Relief Association had been completed, Mr. Corson, true to his instincts and patriotic impulses, soon found
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himself drawn to act with those who sought to correct the political abuses then generally acknowledged to exist in the State and city governments. He was one of the twelve leading citizens who, on October 26, 1871, formed the Mu- nicipal Reform Association, and when the famous Committee of One Hundred was organized, nine years later, he was made one of the secretaries, and con- tinued as such during the several years of its active operations. In 1885, without his knowledge or solicitation, he was appointed by the judges of the Courts of Common Pleas of Philadelphia one of the Inspectors of Moyamensing Prison, and at the present time prison management and the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors are the chief reforms in which he manifests a special interest.
Having thus adverted to the leading incidents of what may be called his pub- lic career, we shall now briefly refer to his early and business life. The Corson family, as we have heretofore intimated, trace their descent from the Huguenots who fled from France upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which drove nearly all Protestants from that kingdom. Many of them came to America and settled in Bucks and Montgomery counties, in this State, where their descend- ants are quite numerous, and include several men distinguished in the learned professions and as scientists. Mr. Auge, before quoted, observes that they ex- hibit family peculiarities so marked that they remind him of some of the historic clans of Scotland. "The Corsons," he says, " will arraign each other sometimes sharply ; but to the outside world they are a unit. This results from the very commendable and warrantable pride of family, or esprit du corps, as the French phrase it. Almost all the race possess a keen, jocular and sarcastic turn of mind, and some of them a talent for mimicry and critical badinage peculiarly French." Robert R. Corson, who is strongly imbued with these family charac- teristics, was born at New Hope, Bucks county, in this State, May 3, 1831. His father, Richard D. Corson, was a leading physician of that place, and his mother was the daughter of Thomas P. Johnson, a distinguished lawyer of New Jersey. His preliminary education was obtained in the schools of his native town, and at the age of sixteen he was sent to Treemount Seminary at Norristown, where, for three years, he enjoyed the benefits of the tuition of Rev. Samuel Aaron, whom many of his pupils regard as the most eloquent speaker this country has ever produced, not excepting Clay or Webster. Upon leaving the Academy he went to live in Schuylkill county, near Pottsville. There he remained several years, his health being delicate ; but in 1856 he removed to Philadelphia, and engaged in the business of shipping coal to eastern markets, in which business he continued until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, and at one time he occupied three wharves on the Schuylkill river, and leased a mine near Pottsville to sup- ply coal. Of late years he has been engaged in the insurance business, and now has the custom and confidence of some of the largest mercantile firms and manufacturing concerns in Philadelphia. In 1881 he joined a syndicate to pur- chase and utilize the wonderful Luray Caverns at Luray, Va., and having been appointed General Manager, spent a considerable portion of two years superin-
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tending the erection of Luray Inn and in introducing electric lights into the caverns, which it is believed was the first attempt to utilize electricity for a pur- pose of this kind. Subsequently he was elected President of the Company.
In 1857 Mr. Corson married Rebecca J., daughter of Edward Foulke, of Gwynedd, whose paternal ancestor was one of the leading settlers of that name to pilot Welsh emigrant Friends to Montgomery, then Philadelphia county, in 1698. Mrs. Corson accompanied her husband on many of his journeys to the battle-fields of the late war, sharing in his labors, and she has always sympa- thized with his humanitarian views and benevolent impulses. They have no children.
1 END OF THIRD SERIES.
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