USA > Pennsylvania > Cumberland County > Centennial biography : Men of mark of Cumberland Valley, Pa., 1776-1876 > Part 41
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He was married February 10th, 1852, to Miss Matilda S. Grey. His record is indeed that of a busy life, in which the characteristics of the Scotch-Irish blood may be easily traced. Hard work, hard words or self sacrifices have never daunted him. An acknowledged leader, he has ever been found at the front. As a public speaker, lecturer, or legal advocate, he can at all times command the attention of an ; audience, and he is strong in his powers to convince. His prepared speeches, carefully digested, have always been remarkable for the soundness of their arguments, and the power of eloquence and earnestness with which they have been delivered. He is a ready and able debater, never failing to impress his hearers. Intimate with, and his valuable services acknowledged by, men high in power, he could have held many offices of great emolument had he sought them ; but he has never permitted his name to be used in connection with any such position, his only desire in obtaining and retaining office seeming to be to secure the " greatest good for the greatest number." He is now the editor of The Times, a daily paper published in Philadelphia, and conducted with marked tact and ability.
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RICHARD ALEXANDER F. PENROSE, M. D., LL. D.
HE subject of this sketch was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, March 24th, 1827, the second son of Hon. Charles B. and Valeria Fullerton Penrose. His father was distinguished for brilliancy of intellect, energy of character, and vivacity and urbanity of manner ; his mother, for intelligence and great moral excellence.
Most of the carly part of Richard's education was received at Dickinson College, where he graduated with the degree of A. B., in July, 1846. Soon after this he matriculated at the Medical Depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, where he attended lectures, graduating with distinction and receiving the degree of M. D., in March, 1849. In a little time he was elected Resident Physician of the Pennsylvania Hospital, which position he faithfully filled for three years. He began the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, in April. 1853. He rose rapidly to professional eminence, and very soon few practitioners had a more extended practice, or held a more enviable position among the most respected and wealthy families of the city. The wards of the Philadelphia Hospital (which had been closed for a number of years to the profession) were opened to medical instructions in 1854, mainly through his influence and energy, aided by several other energetic and rising medical men. About the same time, he was elected Consulting Physician to the institution, and commenced his clinical lectures on discases of women and children. Here it was that Dr. Penrose first distinguished himself as a medical teacher, by his clear elucidation of truth. It was his custom to introduce numerous illustrative cases, selected from the wards he was instrumental in having opened, and he endeavoured to strengthen the effect of his description by the exhibition of the very patient before the student.
In 1856, Dr. Penrose was one of the founders of the Children's Hos- pital of Philadelphia, contributing to its success much of his time, energy, and pecuniary resources. He was for a number of years a very successful private teacher of medicine. His private course of lectures on Obstetrics was so concise and practical, that many young men about to enter into the profession, were attracted by the forcible way he had of putting things. He was even at this time a fluent and accurate speaker, and when under the impulse of high principle or strong feeling, was often really eloquent, attracting the fixed attention
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of the students, and carrying their whole sympathy along with him. No detailed account of the mode and spirit of his instruction could with propriety here be given. Suffice it to say, that he always proposed to the students a very high standard of medical attainment, warned them against the dreadful evils of professional ignorance, pointed out with paternal wisdom and kindness the temptations and perils which beset the physician, and the snares into which so many are entrapped, and especially medical men who are not firm in their moral convictions. These, and kindred lessons, he instilled into the minds of his pupils. not less by example than by precept. He was before them from year to year, a model of the accomplishments, duties and responsibilities he inculcated. In his social relations in the class-room with the students, every one could see the beautiful harmony between his teachings and his life, and learn how solicitous he was to make those under his tuition not only able practitioners, but useful citizens, and good men. His views on all the subjects which engaged his attention were clear, com- prehensive, and of a salutary tendency, and in this mould he laboured to fashion the character of the students under his care.
Appreciating his marked merit as a private teacher, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, in 1863, elected Dr. Penrose to the Professorship of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, lately made vacant by the resignation of the illustrious and beloved Professor Hugh L Hodge. As a lecturer, Dr. Penrose is dignified. graceful and affectionate, but the pouring out unreservedly all that he thinks and feels constitutes the chief charm of his professional instruc- tion. Ilis system of treatment in his peculiar branch is principally original, and on this account his teaching mainly consists of vivid pictures of his experience, in which the pupil is enabled to see the very events as they pass, and to see them, too, with the trained eyes of their Professor. His lectures become in fact to his pupils a sort of experience of their own. Through them there frequently runs a vein of good nature, enlivened with touches of humour, which adds much to their attractiveness, and renders their impression more permanent. Notwithstanding his busy life, he has contributed various medical papers to the journals, all characteristic of his practical turn, and each written with his usual gracefulness, facility, and extraordinary clear- ness and force.
Dr. Penrose is a gentleman of culture, strong convictions, and great decision of character. He possesses powers of quick and accurate observation, and a sound, cautious judgment. He is a faithful friend. a man true to his calling, honourable in all things, conscientious and
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upright in his profession. Towards the sick his deportment is mnost happy. The cheering smile with which he accosts his patients, his soothing kindness, his sympathy, his encouraging and confident manner while there is ground for hope, remain indelibly impressed on many grateful hearts in the city of his residence. He is scrupulously careful never to violate professional confidence.
By his professional brethren Dr. Penrose is regarded as notably skilful in diagnosis, and perhaps in no respect does he appear to greater advantage than in his relations with medical men. It is one of his maxims, that no physician can have a satisfactory professional · standing, who disregards the good will and good opinion of his fellow- practitioners. Being himself in every sense a gentleman, he is strictly obedient to the code of medical ethics. He is often consuhed by patients from great distances in obscure and difficult cases, and very often is called in consultation by other practitioners. He has none of those petty jealousies which would lead him to fear a rival in any person with whom he may be associated in attendance, nor of the arrogant self-esteem which owns no fallibility of judgment. Towards the junior members of the profession he always conducts himself in a manner calculated to win their affection as well as their respect. Instead of affecting or assuming any superiority, he takes them by the hand as young brothers, and is ever gratified with an opportunity of promoting their interests and aiding their professional advancement.
In 1875, Dickinson College conferred upon Dr. Penrose the degree of LL. D. This title reflects creditably on his professional status, and literary attainments. When we consider his character and ability, the important stations he has filled and now' fills, the variety and magni- tude of his labours, and the numerous powerful agencies he sets in motion by his sound instruction in the science of Obstetrics, it is not easy to measure the influence he exerts, and will exert upon the world. For many years he has been engaged in training and educating medi- cal men. Many thousand doctors have been brought, for a longer of shorter period of time, under the joint instruction of himself and colleagues. To estimate aright the useful results of such a life, one must be able to gather up the results of theirs, to trace out the influence of this army of co-laborers in the medical profession, one by one, and then their influence again in all the forms in which influence radiates. Thus only can we estimate properly the great good of a sound, judi- cious, and practical teacher, whose experience and attainments are ever augmenting the stream of human happiness.
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DAVID FLAVEL WOODS, M. D.
HE subject of this sketch, a son of Richard and Mary Jane (Sterrett) Woods, was born in Dickinson township, near Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa.
When about twelve years of age, he was sent to board with his uncle, the Rev. David Sterrett, at McVeytown, Pa., where he might have the advantage of the academy as a preparation for entering college. In due course of time he entered the Sophomore Class in Dickinson College, Carlisle, and graduated at that institution in 1859.
Soon after leaving college, young Woods entered the banking house of Bell, Garrettson & Co., at Huntingdon. Not finding this business congenial to his taste, or furnishing a sufficiently large scope for his educational attainments, at his earnest solicitation his father sent him to Philadelphia to study medicine under Drs. Levis. Hunt and Penrose.
Having pursued his studies for three years, and attended the lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, he graduated at this celebrated school of medicine in 1862. Shortly after this, he was elected Resident Physician to Blockley Hospital, which position he filled for one year, when he was elected Resident Physician to the Episcopal Hospital for eighteen months.
In April, 1865, Dr. Woods opened an office for practice at 107 South .Thirteenth Street. About the same time he was associated with Drs. Boardman and Black in the instruction of medical students in the different branches taught in connection with the University of Pennsyl- vania. He was a successful teacher and practitioner of medicine, and very soon acquired a large practice. In September, 1869, he removed from Thirteenth Street to 151 North Fifteenth Street. The following October he married Helen R. Stewart, daughter of B. D. Stewart, Esq .. of Philadelphia. In 1872, he gave up the instruction of students, his practice having grown so large as to require most of his time.
Dr. Woods has been highly prospered in his profession. He was elected Surgeon to the Dispensary Staff of the Episcopal Hospital, and Visiting Physician to the Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia, and still continues to perform the duties connected with this latter institution. He is also a member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and of the Pathological Society of the same city.
During his academical career. Dr. Woods connected himself with
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the Presbyterian Church at McVeytown, and has ever since honoured his profession of faith by a consistent life. He is yet in the prime of life, and apparently has a very bright future of usefulness and eminence before him. Though of a modest and retiring disposition, his sterling professional worth, instead of being concealed, grows rapidly in the public estimation. Dr. R. A. F. Penrose, his preceptor and personal friend, pays to him the following deserved tribute: "Dr. Woods possesses to a marked degree the peculiar qualities of his race, (Scotch-Irish Presbyterian,) energy, self-reliance and intelligence, con- trolled, as in him, by a religious conscientiousness as beautiful as it is rare. All these traits enter into and make his professional character, and the result has been, that no man in Philadelphia has risen more . rapidly to professional eminence than he. An enthusiastic worker and learner in the arduous and ever advancing science of medicine, he brings to his patients not only knowledge and experience, but an · unselfish devotion to their welfare which seldom is met with. Firm in his convictions, he holds them tenaciously and defends them with force and marked ability. In fine, we have in the character of Dr. Woods, honesty, truth, reliability. As a man, he is thoroughly manly; as a physician, learned, popular, successful ; as a Christian, one who tries to resemble his Divine Master."
MAJOR JOHN M. POMEROY.
JOHN M. POMEROY was born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, on the ist of April, 1823. The name and family are of Norman origin, Pomeroy, in French, signifying royal apple. For several generations his parentage has been Scotch-Irish, so that there is little of the Huguenot remaining except the name. His earliest ancestor, to whom his origin can be clearly traced, was a classi- cal teacher in the family of a nobleman in Paris, who, being a Protestant or Huguenot, effected his escape from the French Capital, on the night of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. He was aided in effecting his escape by one of his pupils, the daughter of his patron, and he succeeded in getting on board a fishing vessel on the coast, and reaching Ireland in safety. This young lady soon afterwards joined him in Ireland, and they were married. A descendant of this couple, Thomas Pomeroy, a merchant of moderate means in Liverpool, Eng- land, immigrated when a young man to America, and located among the earliest . settlers of Cumberland valley, about the year 1730, in Lurgan township, Cumberland, now Franklin, county. Some of his · descendants have continued to reside there continuously until the present time, the late Judge Thomas Pomeroy, of Roxbury, having been a member of the fourth, and the subject of this sketch of the fifth gen- , cration, from the original settler.
Both the parents of Major Pomeroy having died in his childhood, his uncle, the late Honourable Joseph Pomeroy, took charge of him at Concord, Franklin county, where he grew to manhood. After acquir- ing a fair academic education, his uncle trained him to mercantile pursuits, and made him his partner in business at the age of nineteen. He was a young man of mark and influence in his own locality before he attained his majority, as was shown by the unusual event of his having been elected a school director before he was a voter, the citizens of his township being fully aware of his minority ; by his having been made executor of an important estate while yet a minor ; and by his having settled several cases of litigation by his skill and dexterity as a land surveyor. When twenty-two years of age he was elected to the Legislature from Franklin county, and was re-elected the following year. The position was then one of honour and distinction, the office seeking the man, rather than the man seeking the office.
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MAJOR JOHN M. POMEROY.
In 1853, Major Pomeroy removed to Philadelphia, where he con- tinued in mercantile pursuits until 1860.
In 1859, he represented the Tenth Ward of the city in Common Council. In 1860, he represented the Second Congressional District of Philadelphia in the National Republican Convention, at Chicago, Illinois, and supported the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. At the breaking out of the war, in 1861, President Lincoln appointed him a Paymaster in the army, which position he filled for two years with zeal and fidelity, when he resigned. He dis- bursed several millions of dollars in small sums to the soldiers, and at the settlement of his accounts with the government, there was found to be a balance due him of thirty-two dollars, which was an exceptional case with disbursing officers, although few, comparatively, proved to be defaulters.
In 1865, Major Pomeroy having acquired some property in Chester county, Pennsylvania, located upon it, and became identified with rail- road enterprises in eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Penn- sylvania and Delaware Railroad, running from Pomeroy, (named after him,) on the Pennsylvania Railroad, to Delaware City, Delaware, was built mainly through his efforts. In August, 1874. he became the editor and proprietor of the Franklin Repository, at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, which he is now conducting with much ability. He is · warm in his attachments, earnest in his nature, active in his habits, and as a politician, exerts a marked influence upon public opinion, by his consistency, dignity, decision and unfaltering devotion to his principles.
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A. H. SENSENY, M. D.
R. ABRAHAM H. SENSENY is eminently entitled to mention among the remarkable men of the valley. For forty years he has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine at his native place, and has won a reputation for professional skill wide as the state.
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· The Doctor comes from a stock of noted physicians. His grand- father, Abraham Senseny, went to Chambersburg from New Holland, Lancaster county, in 1781, and practised in the former place until he was smitten to death by apoplexy, February, 1844, when he had nearly completed his eighty-third year. For a period of two years he was the only physician in the village. He was highly esteemed in the com- munity for his abilities and his amiable disposition. In the year 1809, Dr. Jeremiah Senseny, son of Abraham, commenced the practice in his birthplace, and continued in the service until his death on the 6th of August, 1863, aged 75 years. He enjoyed a fine reputation, and did a larger business than any of his contemporaries. During the late war with England, he volunteered twice. He marched with Captain Reges' Company, on the way to the northern frontiers, as far as Meadville. when he was selected assistant to the Surgeon-in-Chief, but was obliged to resign soon after on account of ill health. In 1814, he re-enlisted " and went to Baltimore in the company of Captain Finley. He was a man of vigorous constitution, strong mental powers and great kindness of heart.
Dr. Abraham H. Senseny, of whom we propose to furnish a brief sketch, is the son of Jeremiah, and was born in Chambersburg, February, ISI, and was brought up and educated there, receiving the usual classical education afforded in first rate country academics.
Graduating in Medicine at Jefferson Medical College in 1835, he began the active practice of his profession the same year. At once, he inherited an extensive business, which his splendid ability increased and has retained until the present day. We have no doubt that he has had a larger and more varied experience than any physician who has ever practised in his neighbourhood. For more than forty weary years, he has laboured with scarce a relaxation, practising all the branches of his profession, adding lustre to the family name, which, for
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A. H. SENSENY, M. D.
almost one hundred years has been renowned in the medical annals of Franklin county.
Too busy in ministrations to the sick to give much time to composi- tion, he has nevertheless contributed occasionally to medical periodicals, is an habitual reader of new medical publications, and somehow finds leisure hours for the perusal of leading works in literature, for which he has a decided taste. By a rare faculty of mental endosmosis-to borrow a word from the science-he absorbs the leading points in a book, which a singularly retentive and well trained memory presents for ready use. A record of the interesting forms of disease which have come under his observation would be a treasure to the profession, and would rank high as a treatise in clinical medicine. In every respect he is competent to the task, being a discriminating observer, a judicious therapeutist, and a clear and expressive writer.
The peculiar characteristics of Dr. Senseny are quickness and acuteness of perception, promptness of action, and unwearying energy. With intuition he perceives the nature of a disease, and with great rapidity brings his resources to bear upon its relief.
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The Doctor is eminently a social personage, of strong attachments and prepossessions. In the care of the seriously sick, he is all gentle- ness and affection, but emphatic and positive to the querulous and intermeddling. No member of his community is more quoted for racy · anecdotes, and quaint and pungent sayings. His great reputation fills his rooms with patients, takes him long journeys from home in con- sultations, and draws numbers of students to his office.
Three of his sons have entered the profession ; the eldest, William D. Senseny, M. D., a youth of rare virtues, a few months after com- pleting his course, died from a rapid illness, contracted from a too severe application to his studies; the remaining two, Dr. B. Rush and Edgar N., survive, and we hope will transmit the medical fame of their ancestry unsullied to future historians.
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HON. ALEXANDER THOMSON.
MONG the men who, by force of character and purity of life, have exerted a lasting influence upon the people and the prosperity of. the Cumberland valley, we cannot omit to mention the Ilon. Alexander Thomson. Ile was a descendant of one of the early settlers upon the Conococheague, in Franklin county, about five miles from Chambersburg. Alexander Thomson, his grandfather. emigrated from Scotland in 1771, embarking from Greenock with his wife and twelve children, and arriving in Boston in September of that year. He was a farmer, and his sturdy character may be gathered from the perusal of a long letter written by him in August, 1773, to a friend in Scotland, from his farm which he called " Corkerhill," after the name of his ancestral home. He states that he wished to settle two of his sons upon farms in Scotland, and that for five years he looked around for such as would answer their purpose. He says: "I traveled through the country for twenty miles around the place where I lived, but, though I found plenty of vacant farms, I told you before and I declare it again on the word of an honest man, that I could see no farm for which the laird did not ask more than double the rent it was worth, so that if I had meddled with any of them I saw well that my sons would not be able to pay the rent, and that in three or four . years I would not have one shilling to rub upon another. After I had spent so much time and labour to no purpose I confess that at length I conceived a sort of distaste for the lairds."
The spirit and sentiments which actuated the Scotch emigrants of whom Alexander Thomson was a noble type, are best gathered by further extracts which we proceed to make from this letter. After "having given an account of the selection of his farm and its improve- ments, he goes on to say : "This is the best poor man's country in the world, for the price of provisions is cheap and the price of labour is dear. The richest soil in all North America is on the rivers Ohio and Mississippi, and I intended to have gone and settled there at first but my wife did not incline to go so far back at that time, and that was the reason I made a purchase so soon and did not take Dr. Witherspoon's advice ; but I made the purchase on the road that leads to the Ohio river, and, as I am told, I am just 150 miles from Fort Pitt ; as soon as we have this plantation put into some order, I
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and one of my sons will go back and take up a large tract for the rest of my children. # # We are in no fear that any harm will be done us by the Indians. I have seen many of them, and by all that I can hear, they are a harmless people excent they be offended or wronged. I hope we shall not have any bickerings with them, but it would not be a small number of enemies that would terrify us or even those about Fort Pitt, for besides a well trained militia we all have guns in our hands, for there is no disarming act or game act as with you. We have the privilege of choosing our ministers, school- masters, constables and all other parish officers, for laying and collect- ing all necessary assessments. In our law courts the poor are in no danger of being browbeaten and borne down by the rich. With respect to our laws, they are made by those who are not nominally only but really our representatives, for without any bribes or pensions they are chosen by ourselves, and every freeholder has a vote. # I might write to you at large about the religious liberty which is enjoyed in this province in the most extensive manner."
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