USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > An historical catalogue of the St. Andrew's Society of Philadelphia, with biographical sketches of deceased members > Part 10
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14
While in the performance of his legislative duties at Har- risburg, Mr. McIlvaine died there on the date stated.
His brother, Charles Pettit McIlvaine, born January 18, 1799, shared with his father the distinction of preeminence among the members of the McIlvaine Clan in America. Educated for the church, he was in 1832 elected the Protes- tant Episcopal Bishop of Ohio.
WILLIAM MCILVAINE, a founder of the Society in 1749, Assistant 1749, Treasurer 1750-1756. The older brother of David, referred to above. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, March 31, 1722, and died at his country-place
I14
Biographies of Deceased Members
in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1770, and was buried in the graveyard of the Newtown Presbyterian Church.
His business association with his brother David is men- tioned above. He survived his brother a number of years, and was very active in all public affairs of his time.
In 1756, when through the alliance of the French and Indians many settlers on the outskirts were murdered and their properties destroyed, the Assembly refused to appro- priate sufficient money for defensive or offensive purposes, alleging that the Crown should provide the means. At this time William McIlvaine was one of the signers in a petition to the King to grant needed relief.
Various bodies of provincial troops were organized, and it is elsewhere recorded that members of The St. Andrew's Society were to be found in most of them. Mr. McIlvaine became a member of Captain John Kidd's Independent Com- pany of Foot. Mr. Kidd was also one of the founders of the Society.
Mr. McIlvaine was twice married, first in May, 1747, to Ann Emerson, daughter of Caleb Emerson. He was married a second time on November 3, 1766, to Margaret Cross, who survived her husband.
He was a member while in Philadelphia of the Old But- tonwood Church, as it was called, the First Presbyterian Church, then located on Market Street between Second and Third Streets. He was an elder of this church a number of years.
Besides his residence in Philadelphia, Mr. McIlvaine, having acquired a competency, purchased a plantation in Bucks County, Penna., where prior to the Revolution he set- tled permanently and there died.
In his will he named his wife and three children, William, Joseph, and Mary, as beneficiaries. The latter became the wife of Joseph Bloomfield, greatly distinguished in the his- tory of New Jersey as soldier, lawyer, and statesman. The oldest son, William, was in Scotland at the time of his father's death, studying medicine. He is referred to below as a member of the Society, 1786.
II5
Biographies of Deceased Members
DOCTOR WILLIAM MCILVAINE, member 1786, Physician of the Society 1793. Doctor McIlvaine was the eldest son of William McIlvaine, a founder of the Society, referred to in the preceding sketch. He was born in Philadelphia, July 8, 1750. In 1766 his father sent him to Scotland to complete his classical education and to study medicine, and he remained there until 1773, having taken his degree of M.D. at the University of Edinburgh in 1771.
Upon returning to America he established himself first at " Fairview," his father's country-seat in Bucks County, and was still there when the war for Independence broke out, when he promptly offered his services to the Colonial cause and was, on October 9, 1775, commissioned captain of a company of light infantry, or " Associators," organized in that county. Later he commanded a company in the Third Battalion at Philadelphia.
His time of duty having expired, he enlisted as a private, and as such took part in the Battle of Red Bank, New Jersey, October 22, 1777. Later he was commissioned surgeon in Colonel Charles Read's regiment, and was present at the Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. According to family tradition, he was taken prisoner in one of the battles in which he participated, and was confined in the dreaded prison ships.
The war being over, he retired to "Fairview," and on September 3, 1784, was appointed justice of the peace for Bucks County, and one week later was commissioned a justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the same county.
Subsequently he returned to his native city, Philadelphia, and here practised his profession a number of years, being associated with Doctor Benjamin Rush and other distin- guished medical practitioners.
When the yellow fever broke out in 1793, he removed his family to Burlington, where his sister Mrs. Bloomfield resided, but he remained at his post in Philadelphia and finally contracted the disease, and was nursed through it by a faithful negro servant, his family being kept in ignorance of his condition.
II6
HON. HUGH MCALLISTER NORTH, LL.D. Member 1900 Died at Columbia, Pa., December 20, 1907
Biographies of Deceased Members
Upon recovering he joined his wife and children at Bur- lington, and there established a permanent residence in a fine old house on the banks of the Delaware, which is still standing.
Doctor McIlvaine was three times married,-first, No- vember 6, 1773, to Margaret Rodman, of a distinguished Colonial family. She died February 22, 1781. He was mar- ried again in Christ Church, Philadelphia, December 2, 1782, to Rebecca, daughter of Judge William Coxe. This lady died September 13, 1783. Doctor McIlvaine's third mar- riage was on June 16, 1785, to Mary, daughter of Chief Justice Edward Shippen. This lady was one of the famous belles of the Revolutionary period. Thus Doctor McIlvaine had, within twelve years, formed matrimonial alliances with three of the most distinguished families of the time.
He died at Burlington, New Jersey, September 16, 1806, and was buried from St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church.
HUGH MCLEAN, member 1874. Hugh McLean was born June 29, 1829, in the Parish of Kirkhill, Inverness-shire, Scotland, the son of Alexander and Catherine (McCallum) McLean.
He died in Philadelphia, July 17, 1897, and was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery. Mr. McLean learned the saddlery trade in Scotland, and, on coming to Philadelphia in 1848, entered the employ of Messrs. W. S. Hansell & Sons, sad- dlers, as a salesman.
Later in that year he went to New Orleans as salesman for the branch house of that firm, and there remained until 1859, when he returned to Philadelphia, and was engaged as salesman for Messrs. McCallum, Crease & Sloan, carpet manufacturers.
In 1866 Mr. McLean entered the carpet business in Phila- delphia on his own account, and continued in it until he retired in 1877.
II7
Biographies of Deceased Members
During the Civil War, Mr. McLean served in the field in 1863 with the Landis Battery of Philadelphia.
He married, in 1864, Mary Frances Richardson of Philadelphia. His eldest son, William, is a Life member of The St. Andrew's Society.
Mr. McLean was a member of the Presbyterian Church, at one time a member of the board of trustees and treasurer of the Olivet Presbyterian Church, but, after removal to Germantown, he attended the Summit Presbyterian Church, and later until the time of his death the Mount Airy Presby- terian Church.
In the Minute relative to the death of Mr. McLean adopted by The St. Andrew's Society, he was pronounced a man of sound, sterling sense and special business capacity, and a member who had rarely missed attending its meetings.
DAVID CAMPBELL NIMLET, member 1889. Mr. Nimlet was born in Paisley, Scotland, July 7, 1846, and died at his home, Cedar Grove, Philadelphia, November 1I, 1912.
His parents, David and Jean Nimlet, were both of Scotch birth, and were married in Paisley on New Year's Day, 1840. They came to America in May, 1847.
Mr. Nimlet received his education at the Olney public school, and later at the Philadelphia high school, of which he was a graduate.
Mr. Nimlet was married on the 20th of January, 1870, at Cedar grove, to Miss Mary Whitaker, whose father, William Whitakery was a large manufacturer of cotton goods. He is survived by his wife and two daughters, Vir- ginia Campbell Nimlet and Marion Graham Nimlet Fuller, wife of Rev. Horace F. Fuller of Philadelphia.
Mr. Nimlet became associated in business with his father- in-law, and, some years after Mr. Whitaker's death, he be- came senior member of the firm of William Whitaker & Sons. He was affiliated with many business and financial interests. For many years he was treasurer of the Long Bros. Co., a director of the First National Bank of Phila-
I18
aucentre
1
-
Biographies of Deceased Members
delphia, the Second National Bank of Frankford, the Fire Association, Philadelphia, the Camden Iron Works, and the Arrott Steam Mills.
He was for nearly thirty years vestryman and account- ing warden of Trinity P. E. Church, Oxford, Philadelphia. He served as deputy to the Diocesan Convention, 1874, and filled all positions to which he was called with a tact and consideration which endeared him to all his associates and made his life one of great usefulness.
Mr. Nimlet was a member of the Union League, the Church Club, and the Down Town Club, + Ar en drewno stereste
HON. HUGH MCALISTER NORTH, member 1900. Born May 7, 1826, at McAlisterville, Juniata County, Pa. Died at his home in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pa., December 20, 1907.
The North family was prominent and influential throughout English history, in the active fields of law and politics and as students. One of the family was Francis, Baron Guilford, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under Charles II; another, Frederick, Lord North, was Prime Minister of England, under George III, during the American Revolution.
John North, an ancestor, accompanied Cromwell to Ire- land in 1650, and remained there. The first of the family to come to America was Caleb North, with his son Roger, in 1730, and in 1748 Roger became a lieutenant in the Pro- vincial service.
Roger North and his wife, Ann Rambo, had a son, Joshua, who married Mary Murray, and their son, John, was the father of Hugh McAlister North.
John North was married to Jane Houston McAlister, daughter of Hugh McAlister, and granddaughter of Major Hugh McAlister, of the Revolutionary service, and great- granddaughter of Hugh McAlister, who came to America from Ireland, whither his ancestors went with other Protes- tants from Scotland in 1730. Her grandfather, Major Hugh
119
Biographies of Deceased Members
McAlister, at the close of the Revolutionary War, retired to the Lost Creek Valley of Juniata County, and founded the town of McAlisterville.
Mr. North received careful early training, and gradu- ated at the age of twenty years from the Mifflinburg Acad- emy, and immediately began to study law, and was admitted to the Bar of Union County in 1849, and later in the same year was admitted to the Bar of Lancaster County, and located in Columbia, where he remained in active practice for almost sixty years. The Lancaster Bar, at that time, contained many men of distinguished ability and of national fame, and Mr. North, by his thorough preparation, marked ability, and sturdy character, soon won recognition and ranked among the leaders of his profession.
Entering fully into the life of the community, Mr. North mingled freely with all its people, acquainted himself with everything that concerned their interests, familiarized himself with local history, took an active part in public affairs, and joined with zest in whatever might promote the public good; and it was not long before he commanded a large and lucrative practice. He was for forty years solici- tor for the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and for thirty years solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and was also counsel for many other corporations and busi- ness concerns. In recognition of his talents and learning and character, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him in 1887 by Franklin and Marshall College.
He was zealous for the advancement of the standards of his profession, and was the first president of the Lan- caster County Bar Association and of the Law Library Asso- ciation, and as such was re-elected annually until he died. He was a member of the American Bar Association and of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association.
In politics Mr. North was a life-long Democrat, but he had no taste or inclination for participating in the manage- ment of a political party. In 1860 he was a delegate to the
120
number
Biographies of Deceased Members
Democratic National Conventions, both at Charleston and Baltimore, and was a leader in the stirring events of those days. He was also a delegate in the National Conventions of 1876 and 1904.
Mr. North was interested in many local business enter- prises, and gave his support to the charitable, literary, and social organizations of the community. He was president of the First National Bank of Columbia and a director in many other corporations. He was a Mason and a member of the Chapter ; he was also identified with other societies of a political and historical nature, and was one of the original members of the Hamilton Club of Lancaster.
For many years he had been a trustee of the Presbyterian Church in Columbia; but in 1887 he was confirmed, by the late Bishop Howe, in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and was a member of that Church thereafter, serving continuously as rector's warden and vestryman until his death, and being elected repeatedly a delegate to the Diocesan and General Conventions of the Episcopal Church.
On December 23, 1868, he married Serena Mayer Frank- lin, a daughter of the late Thomas E. Franklin, LL.D., of Lancaster, distinguished in legal circles in the State and twice Attorney-General of Pennsylvania.
He was survived by his wife and two children, Serena Mayer, married to Joseph B. Hutchinson, general manager of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Hugh McAlister North, Jr., member 1908, a graduate of Yale University, and a member of the Bar of Lancaster County.
In personal appearance Mr. North was a fine example of maturely developed manhood, of distinguished presence, tall and erect, of elastic step and buoyant spirits, dignified, but affable and friendly ; he always left an impression that was agreeable and inspiring. His funeral services in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Columbia, were largely attended, and were conducted by the local clergy, assisted by Bishops Tal- bot and Darlington, and he was buried at Lancaster, in the family lot in Woodward Hill Cemetery.
I2I
Biographies of Deceased Members
HECTOR ORR, member 1837. No particulars have been found of the date and place of birth of Mr. Orr. In 1832 he became a member of the Franklin Institute and took an active interest in its affairs. He served on the board of managers and for many years on the committee on science and the arts and contributed a number of articles on special subjects for its Journal. One of these favored the erection of a bridge across the Delaware at Philadelphia.
In early life Mr. Orr was in the employ of James Ronald- son, the type-founder. In 1832 he carried on business as a printer at 232 Arch Street. He was noted for his retentive memory and for his fund of information on many subjects. He was one of the founders of the Typographical Union, and at the time of his death was the oldest member of that body. He died October 6, 1887, after a long illness in the Hayes Mechanic's Home, Philadelphia.
THOMAS ORR, member 1790. " Died on Sunday (Feb- ruary 21, 1819), at the Pennsylvania Hospital, Mr. Thomas Orr, in the seventieth year of his age, a native of Scotland, late Merchant in this place. His friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend his funeral this morning at II o'clock from the Hospital to Arch Street Burying Ground."
[Daily Advertiser, February 23, 1819.]
COLONEL ELEAZAR OSWALD, member 1788. Colonel Oswald was kinsman to Richard Oswald, a noted British diplomatist, who was born in Scotland in 1705, and married Mary (Bonnie Peggy) Ramsey, celebrated in one of the songs of Robert Burns. Richard passed some years in America, but at the time of the Revolution was a merchant in London, and his standing may be judged from the fact that he was selected by Lord Shelburne, in 1782, as a diplo- matic agent to treat for peace with the American Commis- sioners in Paris, and he carried on successfully, as the records show, the greater part of the negotiations. John
I22
COL OSWALD
COLONEL ELEAZAR OSWALD Member 1788 Died in New York City, September 30, 1795
Biographies of Deceased Members
Adams, John Jay, Colonel John Laurens, and Benjamin Franklin represented the United States.
Eleazar Oswald is recorded as born in England in 1755; he came to America in 1770, and located first in New Haven, Connecticut. He had been well educated and became a brilliant, if not discreet, writer. He enthusiastically espoused the cause of the colonies in the Revolution and entered the military service as a volunteer, serving first in the capture of Ticonderoga under Colonel Ethan Allen.
He then accompanied General Benedict Arnold in the campaign against Quebec, with the rank of captain and serv- ing as aide-de-camp and secretary to Arnold. In the assault Oswald was in charge of a detachment to attack one of the barricades, where he led a forlorn hope in a charge after Arnold was wounded. This expedition failed in its purpose, and many prisoners were taken by the British, Oswald among them, and he was sent on a vessel to New York, where he was later exchanged.
In 1777 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Lamb's regiment of artillery, and in this earned a high reputation for skill and bravery, and after the Battle of Monmouth was specially commended by Generals Knox and Lee. Knox said of him, " he was one of the best officers in the service." His connection with General Charles Lee at this time no doubt led to troubles he afterward encoun- tered through his adherence to that officer.
Colonel Oswald resigned his commission soon afterward, and in 1779 became associated with William Goddard in the Maryland Journal, the first newspaper printed in Baltimore. In this paper Oswald printed strictures, by General Charles Lee, reflecting upon the military capacity of General Wash- ington. Lee had been publicly rebuked by Washington at Monmouth and had been suspended from command for dis- obedience of orders, resulting in his dismissal from the service.
These strictures in the Journal led to a popular demon- stration in Baltimore against Oswald, and to the issue of a
I23
Biographies of Deceased Members
challenge by him to Colonel Samuel Smith, who declined to fight a duel.
Oswald then removed to Philadelphia, where, on April 13, 1782, he issued the first number of the Independent Gazet- teer or the Chronicle of Freedom, a weekly paper, which attracted attention because of its violent partisan attacks and caustic criticism of public men and measures.
The advertisement of this paper read: " Printed by E. Oswald at his Printing Office near the Bunch of Grapes Tavern on Third Street."
When the adoption of a Constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation was before the people, Oswald attacked the proposed measure as monarchical in its pro- visions and no improvement upon the existing Articles. The proposed Constitution, ably supported by Alexander Hamil- ton and James Wilson, the latter then President of The St. Andrew's Society, was adopted, and Oswald again issued a challenge, this time to Alexander Hamilton; but friends of both interfered and prevented a meeting; Hamilton later being killed in the duel with Aaron Burr.
In February, 1783, Colonel Oswald reopened Bradford's London Coffee House in Philadelphia, " for the accommo- dation of the citizens in general," and, while conducting it, printed for Captain John Macpherson, as a monthly paper, The Price Current, the first mercantile paper published in the United States.
In August, 1786, Colonel Oswald offered to lead a volun- teer company of infantry, of which he was captain, to the northern frontier, in order to capture from the British the posts they occupied, he claimed, in violation of the articles of peace.
From 1782 to 1787 Oswald also conducted in New York City The Independent Gazetteer or New York Journal, re- vived, which had been formerly conducted by a kinsman of his wife.
At the time Oswald joined The St. Andrew's Society he commanded a volunteer company, which, with other militia
124
Biographies of Deceased Members
companies, was exercised on one occasion in military evo- lutions before Baron Steuben and General DuPlessis of the French Army. In 1792 he was in England, but, being in- fected with an intense feeling against that country, he went over to France and tendered his services to the republican army, was commissioned colonel of an artillery regiment, and so served under General Charles F. Dumouriez (see Burns, " Address to General Dumorier ") in the Battle of Jemappes, 1792. He was sent from France on a secret mis- sion to Ireland, to report on its political conditions and as to the feasibility of the projected French invasion, but nothing came of this scheme, and Oswald returned to the United States, and died of yellow fever in New York City, Sep- tember 30, 1795.
He was there buried in St. Paul's church-yard, and a monument was erected over his remains by a grandson, Dr. Eleazar Balfour, of Norfolk, Va., inscribed :
E. Oswald, Colonel of Artillery in the American Army; an officer of noted intrepidity and usefulness, a sincere friend and an honest man.
The Gazetteer was maintained in Philadelphia by his widow for about a year after the colonel's death, and was then disposed of to Joseph Gales, but upon his removal to another State the paper was discontinued.
Mrs. Elizabeth Oswald, the widow of Colonel Oswald, died in Philadelphia, September 20, 1797, and a daughter, Miss Anna L. Oswald, died in that city February 4, 1881, aged 91 years. Another daughter, Miss Sarah, died March 2, 1849, in Lancaster County in the 72d year of her age.
[Appleton's " Cyclopedia of Am. Biog.," McMaster's and Stone's " Penna. and the Federal Constitution," Cod- man's " Arnold's March to Quebec," Scharf and Westcott's " History of Phila.," et al.]
GEORGE PALMER, member 1811. "Died at New Or- leans, on the Ioth of February last (1817), Mr. George Palmer, late of this city, Printer. He was affected with a
125
Biographies of Deceased Members
pulmonary consumption and had gone southward for his health, and there, far from his relatives and friends he died. He was a man of respectable talents, correct deportment and unimpeachable integrity."
[Poulson's Advertiser, March 12, 1817.]
ROBERT PITCAIRN, member 1900. Mr. Pitcairn was born in Johnstone near Paisley, Scotland, May 6, 1836, and died at his home at Shady Side, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 25, 1909. He was a son of John and Agnes Pitcairn, who in 1846 emigrated to this country and settled in Pitts- burgh. There he obtained employment as a messenger boy for a telegraph company, through, it is said, Mr. Andrew Carnegie.
In 1853 he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company as assistant operator and ticket-agent at Duncansville, Pennsylvania, and when the road over the Allegheny Mountains was completed. in 1854, he was trans- ferred to the office of the superintendent at Altoona.
At this place Mr. Pitcairn filled various positions until 1861, when he was sent to the western division of the Pitts- burgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, where he spent a year. He was then appointed superintendent of the Middle Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and later superin- tendent of transportation.
While in that position Mr. Pitcairn organized and per- fected the systems of car records, car mileage, and other important departments in the administration of the affairs of the company. For some time he had charge of the middle and Pittsburgh divisions of the road and the Cumberland Valley Road, from Harrisburg to Hagerstown, Md.
In 1865 he was appointed superintendent of the Pitts- burgh Division and moved to Pittsburgh. Later his re- sponsibilities were increased by the additional appointment as general agent of the road. He was relieved later of his duties as superintendent and general agent and appointed resident assistant to President A. J. Cassatt. Mr. Pitcairn
I26
ROBERT PITCAIRN Member 1900 Died in Pittsburgh, Pa., July 25, 1909
Biographies of Deceased Members
held this position till he retired, May 31, 1906, having been actively engaged in the service of the company for fifty- three years.
Mr. Pitcairn originated the present efficient pension sys- tem of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and through his efforts it became the established rule of the company and is now adopted by other railroad and large business corporations.
Mr. Pitcairn was superintendent of the Pittsburgh Divi- sion when the great riots of 1877 broke out. His life was threatened many times during the riots.
Mr. Pitcairn was a life-long Presbyterian, and took an active interest in the affairs of the Shady Side Presbyterian Church.
When the great Johnstown flood swept down the south fork of the Conemaugh River and brought death and ruin to thousands and property loss running into the millions, Mr. Pitcairn showed his great executive ability and at once plunged into the work of succor and help. In spite of the fact that his company, of which he was an official, had lost mil- lions of dollars' worth of property, and the road was ruined in the vicinity of Johnstown, his first efforts were to succor the suffering and provide sustenance for those without food.
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.