USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 28
USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 28
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Judge Fisher comes of one of the oldest and most respectable families of the State. Born in Harrisburg, May 6, 1806, he is the son of George Fisher, Esq., and Ann Ship- pen, daughter of Robert Strettell Jones, of Burlington, N. J. He was babtized Rob- from 1741 for twenty years. Robert Strett- ell was a member of the Provincial Council from 1741 for twenty years. Robert Strett- ell Jones, his grandfather, was a member of the New Jersey legislature and secretary of of the Committee of Safety in 1776. His great-grandfather, Isaac Jones, was twice mayor of Philadelphia (1767 and 1768,) and a member of the common council in 1764. His great great grandfather Fisher was one of the original company of Quakers, who came from England with William Penn, in 1682, and who laid out the city of Philadel- phia. His grandfather, George Fisher, re- ceived from his father a large tract of land in Dauphin county, upon which he laid out the borough of Middletown. Judge Fisher was twice married, and in the quiet scenes of domestic life he always experienced great satisfaction. His first wife, Catharine, daughter of Horatio Gates Jameson, M. D., became the mother of eight children, and died in 1850. In 1853 he married Mary
Sophia, daughter of Ebenezer Caldwell, of Northbridge, Mass., who bore him two children. His eldest son, George Fisher, Esq., is a well established member of the York County bar, and his other son, Rob- ert J. Fisher, Jr., having been for several years connected with the patent office, is now one of the three examiners in chief. In matters of religion, Judge Fisher has al- ways been eminently catholic. From child- hood his associations have been largely with the Protestant Episcopal Church, al- though particularly charitable toward those of different faith and order, and a frequent attendant at their services. In 1870, he became a communicant member of St. John's Church, in York, was for many years a vestryman, and was the first chan- cellor of the diocese of central Pennsyl- vania.
O LIVER STUCK, ESQ., the subject of this sketch, was practically a self- made man, and who by perseverance, thrift and industry made his mark in the world, achieving success in his profession of jour- nalism. From a very tender age he had been a hard worker, and the success with which he met in life is all owing to the hab- its of industry and frugality he formed in his youth. Oliver Stuck was born in the borough of York, September 19, 1817. His father was Capt. Charles Stuck, a carpenter by occupation. Capt. Stuck was a member of the famous company of volunteers which marched to the defense of Baltimore under Capt. Michael H. Spangler, on August 29, 1814, and were attached to the Fifth Mary- land Regiment, and participated in the bat- tle of North Point, September 12, 1814.
The mother of Oliver Stuck, our subject, was Rebecca Snyder Stuck, a most estima- ble lady, who lived to the advanced age of eighty-two years, dying in the year 1877, October 15, at the home of her daughter,
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in Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa. Oli- ver Stuck, at the early age of scarcely twelve years, was apprenticed to the print- ing business with Messrs. King & Barnitz, then proprietors of the old York Gazette, June 20, 1829, serving an apprenticeship of five years very faithfully. At the expira- tion of his term of service he worked in the same office as a journeyman for a number of years, after which he went to Harrisburg, and worked in the State printing office on the Legislative Record. There being no railroad in those days between York and Harrisburg, Mr. Stuck used to walk the twenty-six miles distance intervening be- tween the two points, in his frequent visits home to his parents, whose principal sup- port he was. From the early age at which he entered upon his apprenticeship, it will be observed that he did not possess the ad- vantage of securing an education in the schools, and really attended school very little, gleaning all the knowledge he pos- sessed in that great college, the printing of- fice, and by the reading of useful books. His ambition was to become the editor and pro- prietor of a newspaper, and with that end in view he applied himself vigorously to work, and his efforts were finally rewarded with success. In the year 1839 he became one of the editors and proprietors of the York Democratic Press by the purchase of a half interest in the paper, and continued as such until he became finally the sole proprietor by purchasing his partner's interest, and conducted the paper in his own name and interest ever since. The Press iespoused the principles of the Democratic party, and as an exponent of those principles, and a disseminator of news, has proved a very acceptable paper to the people; and its edi- tor, by hard work and the practice of the most rigid economy, has made it a success financially.
In the year 1843, April 17, he was mar-
ried to Margaret Gilberthorpe, daughter of the late William Gilberthorpe, Sr., deceased. He has reared a family of six children (two sons and four daughters), one of which, the eldest, is Edward Stuck, the editor of the York Age. Oliver Stuck held several im- portant positions of honor and trust. In November, 1852, he was appointed State agent, on the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, by the board of Canal Commis- sioners, of Pennsylvania, the State, at that time, owning what is now known as the Pennsylvania Railroad. This position he held until August, 1857-when the road passed out of the hands of the State into the possession of the present owners by pur- chase-with credit to himself and an unim- peachable record as a faithful and efficient officer. During his connection with the railroad he still devoted all his spare mom- ents to editing his newspaper, and upon re- tiring from the road gave his entire atten- tion to the newspaper business. He kept the Press fully abreast of the times, and succeeded in placing it beside the most in- fluential weeklies of the State. He had al- ways taken an active part in the politics of the county, and was the champion of the reform wing of the Democracy, denouncing the methods of those who did not consider holding office a public trust but simply for their own pecuniary advantage. Against all politicians of this class he wielded his pen, denouncing the extravagance and cor- ruption which disgraced the records of of- ficeholders and reflected upon the fame of the Democratic party. Much of the credit for the healthy state of affairs in this county is due to his efforts, through the Press, to bring about this great and wholesome change, and to the sterling gentlemen who rallied around his paper in its work for re- form. In June, 1880, he was nominated by his party as their candidate for Register of Wills of York County, and ran on the
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same ticket with Gen. Hancock for Presi- dent, receiving the highest number of votes of any candidate upon his ticket. He en- tered upon the duties of his office in Jan- uary, 1881, and filled it acceptably to the people, and at the end of his term was com- plimented by the Auditor-General of Penn- sylvania, for the excellent manner in which the affairs of the office were administered.
Oliver Stuck died at his residence, in York, Pennsylvania, February 3rd, 1890.
H ON. FREDERICK WATTS. This man of great and varied promi- nence, for many years, in the affairs of the community in which he lived was the de- scendant of men equally prominent in the Province, and subsequent State of Pennsyl- vania. His grandfather, Frederick Watts, a native of Wales, came to America about 1760. He became an active advocate of the rights of the colonies, and was Colonel of one of the first regiments raised and sub- sequently held the commission of General. He served in the Assembly, and also as a member of the Supreme Executive Council. His maternal grandfather, Gen. Henry Mil- ler, as lieutenant of a company from York participated in the battle of Bunker Hill, was an active officer during the Revolution- ary War, and was in command of troops at Baltimore in 1812. His father, David Watts, an only son, was in the first-class graduated from Dickinson College. He was not only one of the most distinguished lawyers and prominent politicians of his day but was noted for his great learning and general culture. The subject of this sketch, one of twelve children, was born in Carlisle, May 9th, 1801. He was gradu- ated at Dickinson College in 1819, and passed the two subsequent years with his uncle, William Miles, in Erie County, en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, which pos- sessed an attraction for him throughout his
long and busy life. In 1821 he was en- tered as a law student with Andrew Car- others, Esq., of Carlisle, and was admitted to practice in 1824. He became the part- ner of his preceptor, and at once took a high position at the bar. From 1829 to 1854 he was a reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The first three volumes of reports were pub- lished in connection with Hon. C. B. Pen- rose, then ten volumes by him as sole re- porter, and subsequently nine volumes in connection with Henry J. Seargeant, Esq. In 1845 he was made President of the Cum- berland Valley railroad, then in a very bad condition financially and physically. By his energetic and intelligent management he brought it to a high degree of efficiency and productiveness, and rendered it an im- portant factor in the development of the Valley. He retired from the presidency in 1873, but was continued as a director until his death in 1889. In 1849, by the appoint- ment of Governor Johnston, he became President Judge of the Ninth Judicial Dis- trict, composed of the counties of Cumber- land, Perry and Juniata, and continued in office until succeeded by an elected succes- sor in 1852. From 1824 to 1828 he was secretary of the Board of Trustees of Dick- inson College and from 1828 to 1832 a member of the board and took an active part in the proceedings of that body. In 1854 he was influential in establishing the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania in Centre County, now State College, and was elected first president in its Board of Trus- tees and served as such until -. In the same year he projected the Gas and Water Works of Carlisle, and was elected presi- dent of the company formed. In 1860 the taste for agricultural pursuits, early mani- fested and cultivated during a busy profes- sional life asserted itself, and he removed to one of his farms near Carlisle, and grad-
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Jacob Florey
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ually withdrew from the active practice of law. In 1871 he was induced to accept the appointment of Commissioner of Agricul- ture, made by President Grant, after having at first declined it, and continued in the of- fice until the close of Gen. Grant's second term. His administration of the depart- ment was able and systematic, and under it accurate and detailed information could be readily obtained. He died in Carlisle, Au- gust 17th, 1889, at the age of 88 years, in full possession of his mental faculties. Per- haps no man has left a profounder impres- sion upon the community in which his long and industrious life was passed. As a law- yer he had occupied a front rank for nearly half a century. There is not a report of the Supreme Court of his State for forty-two years, except whilst he was on the bench that does not contain his name as counsel. In his practice in the adjoining counties he frequently encountered Thaddeus Stevens then in the full vigor of his professional ca- reer. The two were warm friends.
His success as a lawyer rested largely upon his great powers of concentration and discrimination, his self-reliance, and indom- itable persistence. He possessed unusual influence with a jury, a result not more of a clear, forcible, dignified presentation of his case, than of general belief in his integrity and honor as a man, and in his fairness in conducting a trial. He possessed the re- spect of his fellow members of the bar to an unusual degree. As a citizen in the com- munity and in public life the same qualities combined with large public spirit made him in many instances foremost in projecting and most influential in carrying out meas- ures of public interest and utility.
ACOB FORNEY, who filled so large a place, while living, in the esteem of the people of Hanover, where his life's work was principally done, was a man of
superior mind, spotless character, and dis- tinguished for his practical sense and un- effected piety. He was a son of Adam and Rachel (Shriver) Forney, and was born on the old Forney homestead near Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, February 1, 1797. He was a direct descendant from John Adamı Forney who with his wife and four children came to Philadelphia in 1721, from Wachenheim near the Hartz moun- tains, in the Palatinate, Germany. From family tradition, John Adam settled first in Lancaster county, and remained there un- til 1734 in which year he became a settler in what was known as "Digges Choice" in the Conewago settlement and a part of his land embraced the site of the borough of Hanover. Philip, one of eight children in- habited a portion of this tract. Philip For- ney was born September 29, 1724, and on May 8, 1753, married Elizabeth Sheads, the date of whose birth was 1730. To them were born six sons and six daughters, and their eldest child was Adam Forney, who inherited a section of the lands of his ances- tors and erected the old homestead house which now stands on Frederick street in the borough of Hanover. Adam Forney was born June 15, 1754, served as a soldier under Washington in the Revolutionary War, and afterward built one of the first tan- neries in the southern part of York County. He was a tanner by trade and did a very profitable business as a tanner and farmer during his active years of life which ex- tended up almost to the time of his death, which occurred June 29, 1822. He was a strict member of the Reformed church, and on October 26, 1784, wedded Rachel Shriver, who died December 7, 1843, aged 76 years. Their children, none of whom are now living, were: Lydia (Mrs. Jacob Welsh), David, Samuel, Lewis, Peter, Ja- cob, Rebecca, (Mrs. Eli Lewis), Sally (Mrs.
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Henry Winebrenner) and Susan (Mrs. Dan- iel Barnitz).
Jacob Forney was reared on the old homestead, and made good use of the lim- ited educational privileges of his day. He learned the trade of tanner with his father with whom he remained until the death of the latter. He then turned his attention to the cultivation of land and was so successful as to make it very valuable in a few years. In the meantime, in the march of material progress, came the steam railway and Mr. Forney was one of the first to perceive the importance, convenience and value of a railroad in the southwestern part of the county. With him, to think was to act, and in 1849 he immediately undertook the mat- ter with his accustomed energy, securing rights of way, and obtaining subscriptions of stock for the Hanover branch railroad. Of this company he served as president in 1852, and during the remainder of his life was ever ready and active in its support in any emergency or time of difficulty. When the Civil War came and swept out of exist- ence the Old State banking system, Mr. Forney was one of the first to comprehend clearly the changed financial conditions of the country and moved quickly in the inter- ests of Hanover when provisions were made for the present National banking sys- tem. He, in connection with F. E. Metz- ger and H. M. Schwenk secured the estab- lisliment of First National bank which was organized November 20, 1863, and is one of the oldest National Banks in the United States. Mr. Forney was its first president and served in that capacity until 1875. Mainly instrumental in securing to Han- over its railway and its banking facilities, he was likewiseforemost and active in all other movements for the benefit or progress of the borough. He rounded out a long and useful life with deeds of kindness. and acts of public benefit.
He died January 4th, 1882, aged 84 years.
On June 25th, 1829, Mr. Forney married Elizabeth Winebrenner, who was a daugh- ter of Peter Winebrenner and died Nov. 17th, 1861, aged 58 years. Their children were: Anna M., Adam, Jacob and David, who all died in infancy; Sarah who passed away in early woman hood; Mary, now re- siding on the old homestead; Emelia, wed- ded to W. S. Young; and Elizabeth who married George Young, who passed away October 16th, 1895.
Jacob Forney was a Whig and a Repub- lican in politics, and a member for many years of the Reformed church. While ac- tive in the business interests and moral and religious growth of his borough and county, he was no politician or office seeker. He was a man of great force of character, splendid executive ability and excellent judgment. He was a gentleman in the best and truest sense of the word, gentle but manly, the enemy of nothing but what was wrong and the friend of every- thing noble, true and right. He was a representative business man, and a noble spirited citizen, who enjoyed the respect of all who knew him. He possessed a strong love for home and for the domestic circle, and preferred the society and endearments of his family and devoted friends more than the honor of political life, or the meed of popular applause. Earnest, noble and faithful in life, he passed calmly and trustingly into the valley of the shadow of death, and his spirit left its earth- clay casket on January 4th, 1882. His re- mains were interred with appropriate cere- monies in a beautiful spot in Mount Olivet cemetery. No man's death for many years . in the southwestern part of York county was more generally felt or called forth such an outspoken expression of sorrow, for he was deeply loved by his family and wide circle of friends, and singularly fortunate in
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the possession of the esteem of the com- munity.
J AMES UNDERWOOD, deceased, late a prominent resident of Carlisle, was a son of John and Sarah (Morri- son) Underwood, and a native of the town of his residence. He was born October 14, 1739, and died November 8th, 1834. He was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his father John Underwood, having been born in county Antrim, Ireland, of Scotch Presby- terian parents. The grandfather was a mere boy when he left Scotland. His grandmother's maiden name was Nancy Henry. The father of James Underwood left Ireland in 1775 and after his arrival at Philadelphia in June of that year, settled in Lancaster county, eight miles east of the town of Lancaster, and served in the War of the Revolution. His first commission from the Assembly of the colony, which is still treasured by his descendants as a prec- ious heirloom, bears date of March 15, 1776, and is signed "John Morton, Speaker." It appointed him ensign of the fifth battalion of associates of the county of Lancaster for the defense of American liberty. Later he served as captain in the Continental army. He was twice married first to Janet Mc- Cord, of whose children William B. Under- wood, born in Lancaster County, March 8, 1779, alone survived. William was a stu- dent of the class of 1800 at Dickinson Col- lege, became a printer and in 1814 estab- lished the American Volunteer at Carlisle, associating with him as editor and proprie- tor, James, the subject of this sketch, a half brother, being a son by his father's second wife, Sarah Morrison, who was also a na- tive of county Antrim, and like the Under- woods of Scotch Presbyterian parentage. She came to America with her brother John Morrison. In 1788 John Underwood re- moved to Carlisle and engaged in general
merchandizing. He became the father of six children by Sarah Morrison: James, Janet, Sally, Morrison, Joseph and Ann. Janet and Sally died in infancy. Joseph was born April 8, 1798, and died unmar- ried February tenth, 1823.
James Underwood served one year on the Niagara frontier during the war of 1812. He was a member of Captain J. H. Moore's company, First Baltimore volun- teers and participated in the battles of York and Fort George, Canada. September 8, 1813, he was honorably discharged at Lew- iston, his term of service having expired. In 1818 he was married at Carlisle, Penna., to Catherine, a daughter of Thomas and Mary Scott Goddard. Thomas Goddard was born of English parents in Boston, Mass., and Mary Scott was a native of Lon- don, England. They were married at Hal- ifax, Nova Scotia, and removed to New York in 1785. Their daughter Catharine, wife of James Underwood, was born in 1796. Six children were born to the Un- derwoods: Sarah Morrison, Mary Scott, Martha Ker, Anne Harriet, Edmund and John Morrison, only two of whom are liv- ing at this time: Mary, widow of Dr. Isa- iah Champlin Loomis, who resides with her daughter, Mrs. S. T. Milbourne, at Cambridge, Maryland; and Anne Harriet Underwood, who lives in the old home in Carlisle, Pa. Of Mrs. Loomis' children Edmund U., an officer in the U. S. Navy was lost on the ill-fated ship Huron, in 1877.
Martha Ker Underwood, the 3rd dangh- ter of our subject, graduated from the Steubenville, Ohio, seminary and taught in the Carlisle schools for thirty years. For sixteen years she was principal of the girls' High School. She died in 1890. Her sis- ter, Anne, taught from 1858 to 1873 in the same schools. Edmund the eldest son was born in 1828-he served with the volun-
14
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feers in Mexico, in Captain E. C. William's "Cameron Guards." In 1848 he was ap- pointed a regular army lieutenant. In 1852 he married Mary Beardsley of Otsego Co., New York. He was stationed at various army posts on the Pacific Coast until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he was ordered east to active service. He died at Utica, New York, September 5, 1863, from sickness brought on by exposure in the line of duty. He had been mustering and disbursing officer for some time just prev- ious to his death and had attained the rank of major. A son, Edmund Beardsley Un- derwood, is now lieutenant in the navy and instructor at the naval academy, Annapolis, Md. His wife was Charlotte, only daugh- ter of Professor E. J. Hamilton, of Oswego, New York. His brother Champlin Loo- mis Underwood married Deborah Cress- well, of Overbrook, Pennsylvania. John Morrison Underwood, youngest son of James and Catherine Underwood, was edut- cated in the public schools and at Dickin- son College, class of '53, Carlisle, studied law, located at Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1855, elected District Attor- ney in 1856. His health failing, he return- ed to Carlisle in 1861. He died in 1862.
Morrison Underwood, a brother of James, the subject of this sketch, became a promient business man and banker at Greensburg and Pittsburg, but after the death of his wife in 1876, he returned to Carlisle, his native place, where he died in 1885. His sister Ann married Ephraim Steele in 1831. They had eight children, three of whom survive. Mrs. Ann Steele died in 1880.
The remains of John Underwood, father of our subject, and of the majority of the descendants repose in the old graveyard southeast of the borough of Carlisle which was originally given by the Penns for the purpose of a burial ground.
R EV. JACOB BOAS was born in Read- ing, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1815, and died of paralysis of the heart in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, April 4, 1884, aged sixty-eight years, four months and nineteen days.
He was of German ancestry and his great- grandfather, who was a Reformed minister, emigrated from the Fatherland to this coun- try. Here he labored faithfully in the ser- vice of his church and was a highly re- spected and God-fearing man. He had a son named Daniel who was the father of our subject. Daniel married Catharine Goodman. Our subject was converted at the age of fifteen and when but seventeen and a half years old attended the Eastern Conference of the United Evangelical church held at Orwigsburg, June 3, 1833, and was admitted into the itinerancy, being the youngest man ever known to have been received into traveling connection with the church.
In 1844 he married Rebecca Kurtz, who survives him. Five children were born to him: D. K., A. D., J. E., E. B., and Mrs. L. B Hoffer. The eldest daughter is the wife of the late Rev. J. M. Ettinger. In 1834 Rev. Boas traversed Lake Circuit, New York; 1835, Indiana Circuit; 1836, Erie Circuit; 1837, Miami Circuit. This year he was sent by the presiding elder to Illinois, where he formed the first circuit of his church, west of Chicago. He served Canton Circuit, Ohio, in 1838. Bedford cir- cuit 1839, and from 1840 to 1841 was mis- sionary to Baltimore. Here his labors re- sulted in laying the foundation of the sub- stantial and prosperous work of his church in that city. In 1842 and 1843 he traveled Cumberland circuit; 1844 and 1845 Gettys- burg circuit; 1846 Baltimore city; 1847 York; from 1848 to 1851 was presiding el- der of the Baltimore district; from 1852 to 1855 Centre district and in 1856, Baltimore
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