USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 37
USA > Pennsylvania > Adams County > Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of the Nineteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania > Part 37
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1855, his remains being interred in Pros- pect Hill cemetery. Eleven children result- ed from this union: Henry, Martin D., Lewis, Jere, Sarah, wife of Christian Ben- der, of York, Mary A., married to Peter Wolford, Lydia, wife of Joshua Green, Eli- zabeth, and Andrew, and two who died in infancy. All these children are deceased with the exception of our subject.
Jere Carl was reared to habits of econ- omy and thrift, was educated in the com- mon schools and at an early age became an apprentice in the office of the York Democratic Press, where he learned the trade of printing, which, however, he never followed. At the close of his apprentice- ship, he was made a clerk in the store of his brother, Lewis, at York, and remained with him for seven years. On January I, 1853, he secured a clerkship in the old York bank, which he held up to January I, 1867. In the latter year he formed a part- nership with Charles Weiser and Charles S. Weiser, under the firm name of Weiser, Son & Carl, bankers. This firm continued to do a private banking business until Jan- uary 1, 1889, when their bank was consoli- dated with the York County National Bank, with which institution he has since remained as an officer and director. Mr. Carl also turned his attention to other busi- ness concerns and projects, some of which he has controlled ever since. He has been a leading spirit in the advocacy of good roads, and to his efforts largely is due the present meritorious condition of a number of the best roads in York county. He is president of the York and Gettysburg turn- pike company, treasurer of the York and Chanceford turnpike company, and has been for some years secretary of the Wrightsville turnpike company. He is also president of the York Water Company, which has now in process of erection a new system of water works on the most im-
der Land,
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proved modern plan, which when finished, will be second to none of their kind in the State in point of utility, effectiveness and completeness. The York Water Company has a capital stock of half a million dollars and is accounted one of the most substan- tial concerns in the city of York. The new water works will have a capacity of 40,000,- 000 gallons, and have been planned not on- ly to satisfy present needs, but to meet fu- ture contingencies and increase of popula- tion.
On January 10th, 1861, Mr. Carl was uni- ted in marriage with Adaline Weiser, a daughter of Charles Weiser, of York. To their union were born 3 children, two sons and a daughter: One son died in infancy; Charles, who died on February 27, 1882; and Bella married on November 5, 1896, to William A. Keyworth, cashier of the First National Bank, of York. Mrs. Carl died on February 23rd, 1897.
Mr. Carl has been uniformly active in re- ligious matters and in various philanthropic and charitable movements. He is a mem- ber of St. Paul's Lutheran church, has been the lay representative to the General Synod to that church on several occasions, is a member of the Board of Church Extension and is also a member of the church council. He is also a member of the various Ma- sonic bodies, and in earlier years was one of the chief spirits in the organization of the various branches.
In politics he is a Democrat, was elected Chief Burgess of the Borough of York in 1875, 1876 and 1878, but has carefully eschewed partisan politics as an office seeker or promoter.
Mr. Carl is held in the highest esteem as a business man of integrity and public spirit. He is always approachable, kind and gentle in his manner and devoid of ostenta- tion. Few men have so quietly and steadily won success in business life, and yet main-
tained with Mr. Carl's equanimity the at- tributes of good citizenship and the graces of Christian character.
R ICHARD E. COCHRAN, ESQ., sen- ior member of the law firm of Coch- ran & Williams, of York, is a son of Hon. Thomas E. and Anna (Barnitz) Cochran, and was born in the city of York, York county, Pa., January 6, 1857.
Hon. Thomas E. Cochran, who was not only active but distinguished in profes- sional and political life, was a native of the State of Delaware and was the oldest son of Dr. Richard E. Cochran. In 1824 his father and family removed to Columbia, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared and educated. In 1834, at the solicitation of Thomas C. Hambly he came to York to edit and publish the Republican, of which he had charge until 1833. Simul- taneous with his connection with the Re- publican he contributed valuable editorials to the leading newspapers of the State and country. During his editorial life he be- came a student-at-law with the late Hon. Charles A. Barnitz, and was admitted to the York County Bar on December 6, 1842. Two years prior to this, however, he was elected to the State Senate from the 20th Senatorial District, then composed of the counties of York and Lancaster, and con- tinned to represent that district until the year 1844. A writer of that day referring to Mr. Cochran's career says: "Mr. Coch- ran is inferior in point of native talents to no man in the Senate. This is admitted by his contemporaries, who are competent judges in these matters, for they speak of that which they themselves do feel." In 1856 Mr. Cochran was the Anti-Buchanan candidate for canal commissioner and in 1859 was elected auditor general of the State and served until 1862, a period bur- dened with grave responsibility and peculiar
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difficulties. With the expiration of his term as auditor-general he partly withdrew from political affairs and gave his time largely to the practice of law. For nearly forty years he was an active practitioner in the courts of York and adjoining counties, and distin- guished himself in various parts of the State as well. At the time of his death he was next to the oldest member of the York County Bar, Hon. Robert J. Fisher being his senior. In 1860 he associated with him in the practice of law, William Hay, Esq., who continued to be his partner until the time of his death. In 1860-64 and 1868 Mr. Cochran was a delegate to the Republican National Convention and in 1872 became a member of the State Constitutional Conven- tion, in which latter body he was chairman of the committee on "railroads and canals" and a member of the committee "on ac- counts and expenditures" and "on print- ing and binding." In addition to these pub- lic positions of honor he performed the dut- ies of many offices of trust and exhibited an unusual public spirit. He possessed great industry, energy and firmness of character and was not easily driven from the course he believed to be right, nor forced from it when once convinced that it was the path duty pointed out. He was a man of good judgment, ample intellectual endowment, wise in state-craft, possessed a spirit of Christian philanthropy and was an orna- ment to his profession. Born March 23, 1813, his eventful and useful life drew to a close on May 16th, 1882, and his remains are entombed in Prospect Hill cemetery.
On April 14, 1853, Mr. Cochran married Anna M. Barnitz, a daughter of General Jacob Barnitz, of York county, by whom he had one son, Richard E., the subject of this sketch, and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Cochran were members of St. John's Episcopal church with which he was offi- cially connected for many years.
Richard E. Cochran was brought up in the City of York and received his education in the York County Academy and the York Collegiate Institute. Subsequently he de- termined upon law as his life vocation, read with his father and was admitted to the York County Bar on September 15th, 1879. He pursued the independent practice of his profession for a period of three years, when he formed his present co-partnership with Smyser Williams, Esq., under the firm name of Cochran & Williams. This firm is known as one of the leading law firms of York county and maintains a deservedly high standing in the various courts with which it sustains professional relations. Mr. Cochran is an active and influential Repub- lican in politics and has been twice hon- ored with a nomination to public office by his party. In 1880 and again in 1886 he was made the candidate for District Attor- ney, but the county being strongly Demo- cratic, he suffered defeat in both instances. In 1891 he was nominated and elected a member of the proposed State Constitu- tional Convention, but the convention never having been held, the project was defeated.
Mr. Cochran married on November 3, 1886, Mary E. Dickey, a daughter of Hon. O. J. Dickey, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Cochran died August 30, 1887.
Fraternally Richard E. Cochran is one of the prominent Masons of his city and county, being Past Master of York Lodge, No. 266, Free and Accepted Masons, a member of Howell Chapter, No. 199, Royal Arch Masons, and the present Captain Gen- eral of York Commandery, No. 21, Knights Templar.
N. SARGENT ROSS, ESQ., senior · member of the legal firm of Ross & Brenneman, and one of the leading mem- bers of the York County Bar, is a son of Rev. Joseph Alexander and Mary Jamison
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(Harvey) Ross, and was born in Northum- berland, Northumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, May 3, 1858. The paternal great- grandfather of our subject came from Scot- land to the United States some time prior to the Revolutionary . war and his son, James H. Ross, served as an officer in that conflict. After the close of the war for In- dependence, in which he rendered noble and patriotic service, the latter settled down as a civilian in Mifflin county, Pennsyl- vania, where by thrift and industry during the succeeding years of peace he accumu- lated quite a competency. It is supposed that the wife of the original ancestor was also a native of Scotland and accompanied him to the new world. On the maternal side Mr. Ross' progenitors were among the old- estand most conspicuous settlers of Luzerne county. The Harveys are of English stock, the grandfather of N. Sargent Ross, being one Benjamin Harvey, of Harveyville, Lu- zerne county, the founder of that place and by occupation a farmer, merchant and mill owner of prominence. Subsequent descend- ants of this family occupied commanding positions in the professional and business life of Luzerne county, and have been iden- tified with many of its industrial enterprises and material development. The Rosses were Scotch Presbyterians in religious be- lief while the Harveys were adherents of the Methodist Episcopal church.
One of the sons of James H. Ross was Rev. Joseph Alexander Ross, father of N. Sargent. The former was born on July 4, 1816, in McVeytown, Mifflin county, Penn- sylvania, where he grew to manhood and obtained his elementary education. He sub- sequently studied theology and entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which he labored faithfully for many years. Shortly after his installation he was assigned to several churches successively in Pennsylvania and Maryland,and in 1860and
1861 became pastor of the Beaver Street Methodist church, of York. A short time subsequent he removed to Carlisle, Cumber- land county, was appointed chaplain in the United States army and remained in the federal service during the Civil war. After his retirement from the United States army in 1866, he again entered the itinerancy, filling various appointments in the Cen- tial Pennsylvania conference of the M. E. church. He continued active in the work of the ministry until about two years prior to his death, which occurred on his farm near East Waterford, Juniata county, Penn- sylvania, February 14, 1888, after fifty years of untiring service in the cause of Christian- ity. He was followed to his grave by a large concourse of people, and his funeral cortege was one of the most notable in the history of Juniata county. He was united in marriage with Mary Jamison, a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Nesbit) Harvey, of Luzerne county, which union was blessed with six children: Elizabeth, deceased wife of Dr. I. T. Andrews, of Lewistown, this State, who at her death left surviving a son and two daughters; William H., a resident of Petersburg, Huntingdon county; Jose- phine Alexina, wife of Joseph Erwin, a resi- dent of Concord, Franklin county; Sarah, wife of Dr. William Shull, of Hummels- town, Dauphin county; N. Sargent, sub- ject; and Frank S., engaged in clerical work in the city of Philadelphia.
N. Sargent Ross, although born in North- umberland county, was brought up at dif- ferent points in Pennsylvania to which his father had been assigned as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. He re- ceived a college education and subsequently read law in the office of Judge Jeremiah Lyons, of Mifflintown, Pa., and was admitted to the Bar of Juniata county in 1882, and later, on October 4, was admitted to prac- tice in the courts of York county. He had
I8
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orginally begun the practice of his profes- sion at Mifflintown, Juniata county, which latter place he left in March, 1883, to be- come a resident of York. Subsequent to his removal to York, he went into the office of Edward W. Spangler, Esq., with whom he practiced successfully up to the year 1896, when his present alliance with H. C. Bren- neman, Esq., was formed under the firm name of Ross and Brenneman.
On April 12th, 1890, Mr. Ross united in marriage with Sue W. Sanks, a daughter of Rev. James Sanks, of York. To this union one child has been born, Ruth C., who died on July 12th, 1892.
In the political field Mr. Ross has, since his residence in York county, been recog- nized as a leader and counsellor of the Re- publican party of ability. In 1885 he was elected a delegate to the Republican State convention, and in 1892 he was made the nominee of his party for its representative in Congress from the Nineteenth Congres- sional District. The traditional Democratic majority was large and immobile and con- sequently he was defeated by the Hon. F. E. Beltzhoover, late Democratic representative from Carlisle, Cumberland county. While closely wedded to his professional career, still Mr. Ross has found time and pleasure in a number of business enterprises and pro- jects. He is a stock-holder and director of the City Bank of York, has various minor business interests and has always manifested a commendable degree of activity in the public welfare, material progress and moral improvement of his adopted city. For a number of years he has been prominent in secret and fraternal organizations, and is a member of the following named orders: Harmonia Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Crystal Lodge, Knights of Pythias; York Lodge, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, of which he is a charter member. He is also a prominent
Mason, being past master of York Lodge, No. 266, Free and Accepted Masons; Past High Priest of Howell Chapter, No. 199, Royal Arch Masons; Eminent Commander of Gethsemane Commandery, No. 75, Knights Templar, and a member of Lulu Temple, Ancient Order of the Mystic Shrine, Philadelphia.
W TALLACE PETER DICK, M. A., the second president of Metzger College, Carlisle, Pa., is of Scotch descent and was born in Lowell, Mass., September 9, 1857. His father, a native of Scotland was the Rev. John Wilson Dick, a Baptist clergyman, well known in New England. His mother, Mrs. Eveline M. Dick, still living in Boston, Mass., was Miss Eveline Maranda Spoor, a native of Vermont. Presi- dent Dick thus combines the qualities of the Scotch with the sturdy New England char- acter.
After receiving his elementary education in the schools of his native city he was pre- pared for college in the famous Woodstock Academy, Woodstock, Conn., and entered Brown University, Providence, R. I., in 1875, then presided over by the distinguish- ed educator, the late Rev. E. G. Robinson, D. D., LL. D. Mr. Dick took the four years' classical course and was graduated in 1879, with the degree of A. B. While making a special study of languages, he was an all-round student and during his Junior year received the Howell Premium of sixty dollars awarded, annually, to the student having the "highest rank in mathe- matics and natural philosophy for the pre- vious two years and a half."
He received the first honor of his class in the appointments for Commencement, con- cluding his graduating oration, "Discon- tent an Incentive to Inquiry," with the vale- dictory addresses, formerly given on such occasions. He received several of the high-
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est college honors, and holds high testi- monials from the faculty of Brown. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society, having been received at the end of his jun- ior year. At the Junior oratorical exhibi- tion of his class in 1878, he delivered an original Latin oration upon the theme, "Ni- hil mente praestabilius."
Early in his college course, Mr. Dick de- cided to be a teacher, and during the first year after graduation he was principal of the public schools of Wickford, R. I. The Principalship of the High School, Wake- field, R. I., was then tendered to him and was accepted. His teaching here was in the department of languages. From time to time he instructed classes in Higher Eng- lish, Latin, Greek, French and German. Mr. Dick introduced music and physical train- ing into the High School and lectured once a week to the entire school on subjects of general importance, especially, on "Civil Government." While here, in 1882, he re- ceived the degree of M. A., in course, from his Alma Mater. During his stay in Wake- field, he was active in church and Sabbath school work, having been Superintendent of the Sabbath school the two years prior to his leaving Wakefield.
After four years' service as Principal of the High School, Mr. Dick accepted a State Normal School Professorship in the South- western State Normal School, located at California, Pennsylvania. His chair here was English, exclusively, and he was a most popular instructor. In 1885, Prof. Dick ac- cepted the position of Professor of Natural Sciences and Modern Languages in the Central State Normal School, Lock Haven, Pa. He was soon elevated to the vice prin- cipalship and taught Latin, History and Pedagogics. While here he was in constant demand as instructor at County Institutes.
In 1891 he was called to the Chair of Languages in the State Normal School,
West Chester, Pa. Various considerations induced him to accept this position, after much deliberation. On the occasion of his resignation in 1895, a leading daily of West Chester paid him the following tribute: "Professor Wallace Peter Dick, who for the past four years has ably filled the Chair of Classical and Modern Languages at the State Normal School, has resigned to ac- cept the Presidency of Metzger College to which he was recently elected. Professor Dick came here in 1891 from Lock Haven and his record in West Chester is one to be envied, as he has raised the standard of Latin in the Normal School, teaching sev- eral times the amount required by law."
In July, 1895, President Dick entered upon his new duties at the head of Metzger College for young ladies at Carlisle, Pa. The institution was suffering somewhat from the depression of the times, but, by making numerous improvements, by selecting a strong Faculty, by issuing a beautifully il- lustrated catalogue setting forth the new and enlarged courses of study and by vari- ous other means, Prof. Dick has succeeded in bringing the merits of the college to the favorable attention of a still wider number of those who have daughters to educate, or who are interested in the higher education of girls.
President Dick is a popular and efficient lecturer at County Institutes, as his work in the various counties of the State during the last twelve years will attest. His subjects are drawn mainly from language, science and pedagogy. He has never ceaseď to be a student. In 1889 he took a year's course, by correspondence, in the school of Peda- gogy of the University of the City of New York, and in private study, has cov- ered a large part of the work required in Latin and Pedagogy at the best universities for the degree of Ph. D.
Prof. Dick is much interested in music as
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a diversion. He plays the piano and organ and is an excellent baritone singer. He has filled the position of church organist and also that of precentor. He has written sev- eral pieces for the piano and several songs. Very few of these have yet been published. Of two of his best songs, "Little Sunbeam" and "Light of My Life" he composed both words and music.
Prof. Dick has been too much engrossed with the work of teaching to write much of a literary character for publication. He published some years ago a little pamphlet, "Topical Outlines in Natural Philosophy." He has also projected a Latin book for be- ginners embodying the results of his study and experience and a work on Pedagogy. He is a poet of natural ability and has fur- nished numerous poems for special occa- sions.
Prof. Dick is thus a gentleman of versa- tile powers-a thorough scholar and a prac- tical educator. His work at Lock Haven and West Chester, covering a period of ten vears, was of great value in making the Normal School so powerful a feature in the field of education, and under him Metzger College ought to take high rank as an in- stitution for the higher education of girls. President Dick is a member of the Presby- terian church and President of the Cumber- land County Sabbath School Association.
He was united in marriage, in 1885, to Miss Ida May McConnell of Elizabeth, Pa. Their only child, a son, died at the age of two months.
D R. JAMES A. DALE, President of the York County National Bank and senior member of the wholesale drug house of Dale & Hart,of York, is a son of Alpheus and Catharine (Thrush) Dale, and was born in Shippensburg, Cumberland county, Pa., on March 9, 1845. Both the Dale and Thrush families are of German lineage, but
their early history in Pennsylvania cannot at this time be supplied. Alphens Dale was a native of Centre county, Pennsylvania, but removed to Cumberland county in 1842, where he still lives at Mechanicsburg. He was a millwright contractor by occupation, and made a specialty of bridge-building. During the late civil war he entered the em- ploy of the United States Government as an expert bridge-builder to repair and con- struct bridges in the Southern States, where the Union armies were operating. He mar- ried Catharine Thrush, a daughter of Solo- mon Thrush, of Shippensburg, to which un- ion seven children were born, four sons and three daughters. James A. Dale was educated in the common schools of Cum- berland county, and at an early age secured a clerkship in the post office at Mechanics- burg, where he remained for a year. He then became a clerk in the drug store of J. B. Herring, of Mechanicsburg, where he spent an additional six years, during which time he mastered the details of the retail drug trade. With this preliminary qualifi- eation he left Mr. Herring in 1868, and came to York, where he soon tormed a partnership with Dr. Jacob Hart, under the firm name of Dale & Hart, and opened one of the earliest wholesale drug houses in the place. The establishment prospered from its very inception, and from time to time its proprietors were compelled to enlarge their establishment to accommodate an in- creasing volume of business. In July, 1894, Dr. Hart was drowned in the Yougho- gheny river, which fatality necessitated a change in the firm. It was accordingly re- organized by the admission of Samuel S. Long and Charles W. Brandt and Guy H. Boyd to the partnership under the title of Dale, Hart & Company. Since Dr. Hart's death. the executive management of the business fell to the care of Dr. Dale, which has been in no wise permitted
REV. HERMAN HENRY WALKER, D. D.
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to fall below the high standard originally set. In addition to the drug business, Dr. Dale has embarked successfully in other in- dustrial enterprises. He is public spirited in a high degree, and throws himself ener- getically into any project or enterprise pro- mising well for the growth and welfare of his adopted city. He is a director of the York Opera House Company, President of the York Hotel Company, President of the York County National bank, to which latter position he was elevated in January, 1897, upon the death of Dr. William S. Roland. He is also the owner of large real estate in- terests, and is President of the York City Market Company being the original pro- moter of this enterprise. The Colonial Ho- tel, whose erection was effected through the York Hotel Company, is one of the finest and best appointed hotels in the State, erected at a cost of $175,000, exclusive of furnishings. The completion of this project was due in the largest degree to the person- al efforts of Dr. Dale, who, by personal so- licitation, obtained the stock subscriptions to insure its success. He also was the mov- ing and directing spirit in obtaining the stock necessary to erect the York City market house, which was erected in 1878, at a cost of $45,000.
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