USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Centennial biography : Men of mark of Cumberland Valley, Pa., 1776-1876 > Part 18
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His father was John Ritner, who emigrated from Alsace, on the Rhine. During his carly years Joseph was employed upon his father's farm. The only school advantage which he ever enjoyed was during a period of six months in a primary school at the carly age of six years. At the age of sixteen he removed to Cumberland county, and was employed as a labourer upon the farm of Jacob Myers, near New- ville. In the year 1800, he married Susan Alter, of Cumberland county. Their offspring were six sons and three daughters. Soon after their marriage they removed to Westmoreland county, and finally became settled upon a farm belonging to the wife's uncle, David Alter, in Washington county. What was unusual for farmers of that day, the uncle possessed a good library. The books were principally German works of a substantial character. Gifted with strong native sense, and a wonderfully retentive memory, this library proved to him a mine of wealth. Here, during his leisure hours, he delved, and what was want- ing of privilege in school instruction, he, by diligence, himself supplied, affording a perpetual example to the young, of the fruits of industry and perseverance.
In 1820, Mr. Ritner was elected a member of the House of Repre- sentatives, from Washington county, and served in that capacity for a period of six years. In 1824, he was elected Speaker of that body, and was re-elected in the following year. In 1829, he received the nomina- tion for Governor in opposition to George Wolf. It was a period of much excitement respecting secret societies, and great antipathy was exhibited towards them, especially the Masonic fraternity. So strong was this feeling that a political party was built upon it, known as the Anti-Masonic, and by this party Ritner was supported. He received a handsome vote, but was defeated. In 1832, he was again put in nomination, and though again defeated, made a great gain over his former vote. He was for a third time nominated in 1835, and was elected.
Ever the firm and devoted friend of the common-school system down
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to the close of his life he manifested a lively interest in this system, attending Teachers' Institutes in the county where he lived, and acting as presiding officer when upon the verge of eighty. In 1861, the Nor- mal School at Edinboro'. Erie county, was recognized and adopted by the State. Dr. Burrowes, who was then Superintendent, appointed his old friend and associate of a preceding generation, as one of the inspectors. Though then at the age of eighty-three he accepted the appointment, and made that long journey of more than five hundred miles by rail and stage, with the alacrity and pleasure of a boy of six- teen. And when he appeared upon the platform of the great hall of the Institute, in the presence of a concourse of upturned faces. it could but excite tears of gratitude, that his life had been almost miraculously lengthened out to see the day when a great institution devoted to the preparation of common-school teachers, a crowning feature of that system, should be inaugurated upon a spot which was an unbroken wilderness when the law was originally passed in his administration.
Governor Ritner always regarded his connection with the school system with singular satisfaction, and viewed the consummation of its adoption as the crowning glory of his administration. Even the progress which was made during the three years in which he occu- pied the chair of state was a subject of congratulation, which he thus presents in his last Annual Message to the Legislature: "The condi- tion of the means provided by the State for general education is so flourishing, that little is required to be done by the present Legislature. Within three years the permanent State appropriation to this object has been increased from $75,000 annually to $400,000. Nor will this large outlay have been without its fruits. Instead of seven hundred and sixty-two common schools in operation at the end of the year 1835. and about seventeen academies, (the latter in a state of almost doubt- ful existence,) with no female seminaries fostered by the State, she has now five thousand common schools, thirty-eight academies, and seven female academies in active and permanent operation, disseminating the principles of literature, science, and virtue over the land. In addition to these, there are many schools, academies, and female seminaries of a private character, equally useful and deserving in their proper sphere."
Secretary Burrowes, ex-officio Superintendent of Common Schools, in his report to the Legislature at the same time that this message was delivered, pays the following just tributes : " The undersigned cannot close this report without bearing testimony to one fact alike honourable
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to the State and advantageous to the system. In his whole experience the blighting touch of party politics has never been detected upon it. All seem to forget their every-day differences, and to meet unitedly on this, as on a Sabbath ground of devotion to the public good. In no station of life has this right feeling been more obvious than among those in power. When the agitating divisions of the day shall have sunk into comparative insignificance, and names be only repeated in connection with some great act of public benefaction, those of GEORGE WOLF and JOSEPH RITNER will be classed by Pennsylvania among the noblest on her long list; the one for his early and manly advocacy, and the other for his well-timed and determined support of the FREE SCHOOL."
In the expression of his opinions in his messages upon national affairs, Governor Ritner was bold and outspoken, however unpalatable they might be to those whom he meant to reach. Upon the subject of slavery in any part of the national domain he uttered his condemna- tion in such clear and ringing tones that it arrested the attention of the philanthropist and the lover of freedom wherever it was read. His message of 1836 called forth from the Quaker poet, Whittier, the fol- lowing spirit-stirring lyric :
Thank God for the token !- one lip is still free- One spirit untrammeled-unbending one knee ! Like the oak of the mountain, deep-rooted and firm, Erect, when the multitude bends to the storm ; When traitors to Freedom, and Honour, and God, Are bowed at an Idol, polluted with blood ; When the recreant North has forgotten her trust And the lip of her honour is low in the dust- Thank God, that one arm from the shackle has broken ! Thank God, that one man as a freeman has spoken !
O'er thy crags, Allegheny, a blast has been blown ! Down thy tide, Susquehanna, the murmur has gone ! To the land of the South-of the charter and chain- Of Liberty sweetened with slavery's pain ;
Where the cant of Democracy dwells on the lips Of the forgers of fetters, and wielders of whips ! Where " chivalric " honour means really no more Than scourging of women and robbing the poor ! Where the Moloch of Slavery sitteth on high, And the words which he utters, are-WORSHIP OR DIE !
Right onward, oh, speed it ! Wherever the blood Of the wronged and the guiltless is crying to God ; Wherever a slave in his fetters is pining ; Wherever the lash of the driver is twining ;
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Wherever from kindred, torn rudely apart, Comes the sorrowful wail of the broken of heart ; Wherever the shackles of tyranny bind, In silence and darkness the God-given mind ; There, God speed it onward !- its truth will be felt -- The bonds shall be loosened-the iron shall melt !
And oh, will the land where the free soul of PENN Still lingers and breathes over mountain and glen- Will the land where a BENEZET's spirit went forth 'To the peeled, and the meted and outcast of Earth- Where the words of the Charter of Liberty first From the soul of the sage and the patriot burst- Where first for the wronged and the weak of their kind The Christian and statesman their efforts combined -- Will that land of the free and the good wear a chain ? Will the call to the rescue of Freedom be vain ?
No, RITNER !- her " Friends" at thy warning shall stand Erect for the truth, like their ancestral band ; Forgetting the fends and the strife of past time, Counting coldness injustice, and silence a crime ; Turning back from the cavils of creeds. to unite Once again for the poor in defence of the right ; Breasting calmly, but firmly, the full tide of wrong, Overwhelmed but not borne on its surges along ; Unappalled by the danger, the shame, and the pain, And counting each trial for truth as their gain !
And that bold-hearted yeomanry, honest and true, Who, haters of fraud, give to labour its due ; Whose fathers of old, sang in concert with thine, On the banks of Swatara the songs of the Rhine- The German-born pilgrims, who first dared to brave The scorn of the proud in the cause of the slave :- Will the sons of such men yield the lords of the South One brow for the brand -- for the padlock one mouth ? They cater to tyrants ?- They rivet the chain, Which their fathers smote off, on the negro again ?
No, never !- one voice, like the sound in the cloud, When the roar of the storm waves loud and more loud, Wherever the foot of the freeman hath pressed From the Delaware's marge, to the Lake of the West, On the south-going breezes shall deepen and grow, Till the land it sweeps over shall tremble below ! The voice of a PEOPLE-uprisen-awake- Pennsylvania's watchword, with Freedom at stake, Thrilling up from each valley, thing down from each height, "OUR COUNTRY AND LIBERTY !-- GOD FOR THE RIGHT !"
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At the expiration of his term of office Governor Ritner returned to private life, taking up his residence near Mount Rock, in the county of Cumberland. Possessed of a strong constitution and a powerful frame, he rarely complained of sickness, his system seeming to be proof against the ordinary inroads of disease. In 1840, however, he was attacked by cataract in both eyes, from the effect of which he was for some time entirely blind. By an operation performed upon the right cye, sight was completely restored so that he was able to read with case the finest print. So painful was the operation that no considera- tion could induce him to submit to one upon the left, and that remained sightless to the day of his death.
He continued to take a lively interest in politics, and rarely failed to deposit his vote in the ballot-box in every important election. In IS4S he was nominated by President Taylor, Director of the Mint at Phila- delphia, in which capacity he served for a short time ; but before his nomination was acted on by the Senate, President Taylor died, and he retired, to make room for the favourite of President Fillmore. He was a delegate fror .. Pennsylvania to the National Convention which nomi- nated John C. Fremont for Pesident, and to the close of his life con- tinued an active and ardent Republican.
Governor Ritner was endowed with a mind of great native strength. The faculty of memory was almost miraculous, for he seemed never to forget a name, an event, a date, or a fact. The impressions of his carly and active life were retained with remarkable clearness, and he could recall occurrences in his official life, and repeat debates with surprising accuracy. He was remarkably temperate in all his habits, never using in any form tobacco or spirituous liquors. He was a man of strong convictions, and his opinions when once formed were rarely changed. His conscientiousness naturally inclined him to caution, and every subject requiring his decision received mature deliberation. He fortunately lived long enough to see many of the cardinal princi- ples which he had advocated become the fundamental law of the land, and time, which "at last sets all things even," vindicated the soundness of his judgment. He died on the 16th day of October, 1869, in the ninetieth year of his age. His life was prolonged beyond that of any other Governor of Pennsylvania, though associated in this office with men wonderfully long-lived.
SAMUEL WYLIE CRAWFORD, D. D.
AMUEL WYLIE CRAWFORD, D. D., was born in Charles- ton, South Carolina, January 7th, 1793. He was descended from Scotch ancestry, and from a family distinguished for their various services in the annals of Scotland.
He received his education in Philadelphia, and was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1816. He commenced the study of medicine under the care of Dr. Samuel Smith, but soon relinquished it, and entered on the study of Theology under the Rev. Dr. Wylie, Professor of Divinity in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and was licensed in 1818.
In connection with preaching, Mr. Crawford taught the English and Mathematical department of Grey and Wylic's Academy, until 1822, when he was sent by his Presbytery to Northe:n New York, and was ordained at Duanesburg, May 15th, 1823.
In June, 1824, he accepted an unanimous call from a congregation in Franklin county, Penn., and was installed their pastor in August of the same year.
This congregation was composed of members living in four localities, Fayetteville, Scotland, Waynesboro' and Greencastle.
At Greencastle and Waynesboro' the Presbyterian churches were used to hold the services in, and at Scotland and Fayetteville the school houses.
Mr. John Thompson, one of the elders of the congregation, living near Scotland, having offered to give the ground on which to build a church, Mr. Crawford's family connections in Philadelphia and New York, contributed the amount necessary, with the exception of some small subscriptions made by the Presbyterians in the neighbourhood of Scotland, and some work done by members. The present stone church was erected, and though belonging to the Reformed Presbyterian body, is, when not occupied by them, open to Presbyterian clergymen for the performance of religious services. The members were descendants of early settlers of Franklin county; the Thomsons, Renfrews, Burnses, Kennedys, &c., men of character and standing, some of whom served their country during the Revolutionary war, and some during the war of 1812.
The peculiar principles which the Reformed Presbyterians held (in-
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stilled into their minds by their Covenanter ancestors) on the subjects of Slavery, Psalmody; Covenanting, close communion, and civil govern- ment, prevented any intimate ecclesiastical relations with the Presby- terians, though as individuals there were among them many strong friendships.
Mr. Crawford resided for a time on Federal Hill, near Chambers- burg, but the distance from the majority of his charge was too great, and he bought a farm four miles east of Chambersburg, near Fayette- ville and removed to it in IS24.
Scarcely had he made the change when his house, which had been thoroughly refitted, was burned to the ground and most of its contents destroyed. This calamity rendered another change necessary, and his family went to New York while he remained to superintend the building of another home.
He consented at this time to take charge of the Chambersburg Academy, which he taught until the fall of 1830, when he resigned it, and demitted the charge of the Conococheague congregation to accept an offer from the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to become the Principal of the Academical Department of that institution, which had been founded by Franklin. In this position Mr. Crawford was eminently successful, and the Academy soon assumed the highest grade, hundreds of young men having been prepared for different colleges, and not one of his pupils offered for examination ever having been rejected. Many of them have risen to positions of honour and trust as statesmen, and as soldiers, and in the different professions, and have often traced their success in after years to the care and training they had received from their revered preceptor.
Mr. Crawford was the Moderator of the Synod of 1832, when the division took place (on the question of civil government) in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and presided with dignity and judg- ment through very exciting scenes. He also installed the Rev. J. N. Mcleod as successor to his father, Dr. Alexander McLeod, in New York city. This was soon after the division, and the question of church property not having been decided, there was an attempt made by the seceding party to hold the church, resulting in great excitement and almost uproar during which Mr. Crawford, though threatened with per- sonal violence, proceeded with the installation service to its close, with determined courage.
In the beginning of his ministry Mr. C. was in the habit of preaching to the inmates of the Walnut street prison, Philadelphia, and became so interested in this work that on his return to the city, he, for several
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years, preached regularly in the Eastern Penitentiary and House of Refuge, visiting the cells and conversing with the prisoners. And very often through the week his afternoons were devoted to this good work, which he felt sure was blessed to the solitary inmates.
In July, 1835, a congregation composed of members from Dr. Wylie's congregation, and others, was organized at Fairmount, then a suburb of Philadelphia, and called Mr. C. to be their pastor. He accepted, and discharged the duties of this charge in connection with his Acade- mical duties for eleven years, when, his health failing from over exer- tion, he was obliged to resign. This congregation built for him the church at the corner of Twenty-Third and Callowhill streets. From the small beginning of nineteen members it had increased to a membership of more than one hundred, and had a large and flourishing Sabbath school. Mr. C. had laboured among this people with his whole soul was deeply attached to them, and left them with great regret.
The degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on Mr. C. in 1844 by the Indiana University, at Bloomington. This University subse- quently invited Dr. Crawford to be its President, which, though appre- ciating the honour, he was obliged to decline.
After an interval of more than a year, having regained his health, some of the members of Dr. Crawford's Fairmount church separated themselves from that connection, and with others were formed into a new organization over which Dr. C. was called to minister. This con- gregation erected a church edifice at the corner of Filbert and Seven- teenth streets, Philadelphia. He remained with them until 1856, when his failing health made it imperative for him to leave the city. To both of these churches Dr. Crawford contributed largely of his means; and the attachment of the people to him was great, and fully recipro- cated by him. In all his church relations he was earnestly seconded by his wife, whose sympathetic heart, active benevolence, and strong good sense made her well beloved and affectionately remembered by many.
Dr. Crawford for several years filled the chair of Church History and Pastoral Theology in the Theological Seminary, and, for two or three years after Dr. Wylie's death, the Professorship of Divinity ; Dr. Wylie's son filling the chair of History.
In a list of facts one fails to convey to the reader the influence which such a man as Dr. Crawford exerts by his decision of character, scholar- ship, integrity, fine presence, warm sympathy, elegant culture, gener- osity and hospitality. During the greater part of his ministry he received his salary only to return it, or to use it for the various benevolent objects, brought so constantly to his notice. He was con-
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nected with the different benevolent societies now to be met with in all communities; organized a juvenile missionary society, which was the instrument of doing much good, and was honoured by God in being made the instrument of bringing many to a knowledge of the truth.
Upon the breaking gut of the war Dr. Crawford was earnest in his patriotic support of the government. He saw that the issue forced by the South involved the very existence of the great principle for which he had contended through his whole life -- the abolition of slavery -- and he threw his whole soul into the struggle. Not content with seeing his three sons and son-in-law in the Union army, he sought and obtained a Chaplaincy for himself, and was only prevented from enter- ing upon its duties by advancing age. Upon the passage of Lee's army through Chambersburg to Gettysburg, he remained at his home alone, and never shrank from asserting his principles and patriotism even when surrounded by the rebel host.
Dr. Crawford still lingers among us, though burdened with the in- creasing infirmities of advanced life. His former pupils entertain for him high veneration, and he enjoys the marked esteem of the entire church, of which he was the honoured, eloquent and influential minister, as well as the profound respect of the communities in which he has so long lived and laboured.
Dr. Crawford still lives at his retired and attractive home near to Fayetteville, retaining much cheerfulness even under the infirmities of four score years. Throughout his whole career he has been noted for his promptness and firmness in advocating the right and opposing what he considered wrong.
.
,
HENRY R. WILSON, D. D.
HE REV. HENRY R. WILSON, was born in the neighbour- hood of Gettysburg, Adams county, Pa., on the 7th of August, 1780. He was graduated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, whilst the venerable Charles Nisbet, D. D., presided over that institution, in the days of its prosperity. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Carlisle in 1801. After labouring for some months in Virginia, as a supply, he removed with his family to Belle- fonte, Centre county, Pa., where Presbyterians had neither organized church nor house of worship. He commenced preaching in the Court House. His labours were greatly blessed in gathering here a church. as also another at Lick Run, twelve miles distant. Over these congregations he was installed pastor by the Presbytery of Huntingdon, in 1802.
In 1806, Mr. Wilson was chosen, at the early age of twenty-six, to fill the Professorship of Languages in Dickinson College. A part of the time, during his connection with the college, he preached to the Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, as colleague with President Davidson. In ISI4, a call was presented to him by the congregation of Silvers' Spring, which he accepted.
In 1823, Dr. Wilson received a call from the church in Shippens- burg. During his ministry there, the church enjoyed some precious seasons of refreshing, "and many were added unto the Lord." He was indefatigable and abundant in labours.
In 1838, Dr. Wilson was chosen the first General Agent of the Board of Publication, in which station he laboured arduously until 1842, when he resigned his office in that Board, and accepted a call from the church at Neshamony, at Hartsville, Bucks county, Pa. Here, with his accustomed fidelity. he continued to discharge the duties of pastor until the month of October, 1848, when, at his own request, the pastoral relation was dissolved.
For some months previous his health had become so infirm that he was seldom able to preach, except when carried from his bed to the church and placed in a chair, in which posture he delivered his message amidst much bodily weakness and suffering, but with his usual clear- ness of mind and earnestness of manner.
Dr. Wilson's health continued to decline, notwithstanding the
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cessation of his ministerial labours. After a sore conflict of forty-six hours, he died in Philadelphia on the morning of Thursday, the 22d of March, 1849, and was interred the day following, at Hartsville, the scene of his closing labours in the ministry. An appropriate discourse was delivered on the occasion by the Rev. Dr. Steel, of Abington, and the sympathies and affections of the people of his recent charge were abundantly shown toward one whom, though absent, they had not ceased to regard and love as their pastor.
The life of Dr. Wilson was an eventful one. More can be said of him than that he passed through scenes of some interest, grew old, and then died. From his carliest labours in the Gospel there was demand for a steadiness of purpose, and an energy of execution, that not every man is equal to.
The influence of such a man in the church we cannot duly estimate. He was a pioneer in the cause of the Gospel in central Pennsylvania, and his labours essentially contributed to lay firm and deep the founda- tions of those churches that adorn and bless the regions of his carliest toil. Ministers of Dr. Wilson's character stamp an impression upon the times in which they live. They give a fixedness to the order, the government, the instruction and standard of piety in the church, by which they, being dead, yet speak.
The ministerial labours of this venerable man were abundant. His preaching was in character with the man. It came down from a former generation, with all that seriousness of manner and weight of instruction that are the fairest ornaments of the Christian pulpit. His whole deportment and performance may truly be said to have been characterized by simplicity and godly sincerity. Eminently instructive, his preaching always made the impression, "these things are so, and religion is a serious and important matter."
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