USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial and revolutionary families of Pennsylvania; genealogical and personal memoirs, Volume IV > Part 12
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I. George, born August 21, 1843; married Mary Hosack Rodgers, daughter of F. Kearney Rodgers of New York.
2. Algernon Sydney, born October 11, 1847; married, June 28, 1879, Frances Robinson. 3. Arthur, of whom further.
(Ibid., p. 187. Family data.)
(VII) ARTHUR BIDDLE, son of George Washington and Maria (McMurtrie) Biddle, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1852. He received his preparatory education in Dr. Fairies' School, afterward entering Yale Univer- sity and graduating in 1873 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later, he received his Master's degree, and for the following eighteen months studied law in Europe. On his return home, Mr. Biddle read law in his father's office, and then associated himself with H. La Barre Jayne, and later Mr. Biddle and Mr. Jayne became associated with George W. Biddle in the practice of law, the son maintaining the latter connection as long as he lived, the firm name being Biddle and Ward. From the first he showed himself admirably fitted for the profession he had chosen. In unraveling the most difficult problems which the law presented to him he took
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genuine delight, and as a speaker he possessed a clarity of diction, a sequence of thought, and a lucidity of expression rarely met with in lawyers of far greater experience. With such precision were his facts set in order and so cogently were his ideas presented as to make it apparent that his viewpoint was the result of long study. As a contributor to the literature of his profession, Mr. Biddle was widely and favorably known, being the author of several valuable works, among them: "The Law of Stockbrokers," "The Law of Insurance," "Warranties in the Sale of Chattels," the latter used as a textbook at Harvard College Law School.
A Democrat in political principle, Mr. Biddle was always keenly public-spirited, but would never accept any office with the exception of school director. He was an organizer and director of the Philadelphia Free Library, and the aid he extended to charitable causes and institutions, though very quietly bestowed, was both lib- eral and discriminating. Mr. Biddle and his family were members of the Protes- tant Episcopal Church. Possessing as he did an intellect luminous and vigorous, Mr. Biddle combined with it a genial, kindly disposition and a rare modesty. He seemed, in fact, anxious to hide behind a very lovable personality the great wealth of character and learning which commanded the admiration of the legal profes- sion and the public at large.
Arthur Biddle married, November 18, 1880, Julia Biddle, born May 16, 1858, daughter of Thomas Alexander and Julia (Cox) Biddle, granddaughter of Thomas and Christine (Williams) Biddle, and great-granddaughter of Clement and Rebekah (Cornell) Biddle. Children :
I. Edith Frances, born October 8, 1881.
2. Julia Cox, born December 16, 1882, died same day.
3. Alfred Alexander, born December 19, 1885.
4. Julian Cornell, born April 19, 1890, killed in France August 18, 1917, while serving as a pursuit pilot in the Escadrille Lafayette.
On March 8, 1897, Mr. Biddle died, being then in the prime of life and in the full maturity of his remarkable powers. The Philadelphia bar mourned the loss of one of its brightest ornaments, and men in all classes of society sorrowed for a citizen whose public and private life had presented an example of every virtue. Had it been given to Arthur Biddle to attain to greater fullness of years, his career would, undoubtedly, have equalled in brilliancy that of his father. Even as it was he left behind him work which will live, and a reputation both as lawyer and citizen which embodied the best traditions of the old name of Biddle.
(Ibid., p. 187. Family data.)
Cabralaber
Prominent among the distinguished Philadelphians of the last seventy-five years was the late John Cadwalader, a typical lawyer of the old school, a brilliant man of affairs, and a courtly gentleman. Mr. Cadwalader was always a staunch supporter of Democratic principles, and during the first Cleveland administration held the office of Collector of the Port of Philadelphia.
(I) JOHN CADWALADER, founder of the American branch of this ancient family, was born about 1677, in County Merioneth, Wales, and in 1697 came to the Province of Pennsylvania, bearing testimony from the Friends of Pembroke- shire in regard to his proficiency as a scholar and his excellent character. He set- tled on the "Welsh Tract," near Philadelphia, and on December 26, 1699, married Martha Jones, daughter of Dr. Edward and Mary (Wynne) Jones, the latter a daughter of Thomas Wynne, a physician who came with William Penn on the "Welcome." Dr. Edward Jones came from Wales in 1682, being one of the first immigrants from that country. After his marriage John Cadwalader settled in Philadelphia, where he was first an instructor and later a merchant. In 1718 he was elected a member of the common council, and in 1729 a member of the Cen- tral Assembly. His death occurred July 23, 1734.
(II) THOMAS CADWALADER, son of John and Martha (Jones) Cadwalader, became a noted physician, receiving his professional education for the most part in England. After practicing for a time in Philadelphia, he took up his abode in Trenton, New Jersey, becoming, in 1746, its first burgess under the charter granted to Governor Belcher. In 1750 he returned to Philadelphia and there rose to eminence in his profession, also serving in many positions of honor and trust. He was an ardent patriot and is known in history as Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, the "Councillor," having served with Chew and Mifflin as a member of the Provincial Council from November 2, 1755, until the Revolution. He also served from 1751 to 1774 as a member of the Philadelphia Common Council. He was one of the original incorporators of the Philadelphia Library Company, founded in 1731, and served as a director in the years 1731-32-33, 1739, 1752, 1769, 1773-74. He mar- ried, June 18, 1738, Hannah Lambert, daughter of Thomas Lambert, of New Jersey, and their two sons, John, mentioned below, and Lambert, both attained distinction in business, military and official life. Their daughters married distin- guished men of their day, the only exception being the youngest, Elizabeth, one of the flower girls at General Washington's reception in Trenton, in 1789. who died unmarried ten years after that event, aged twenty-nine years. Mrs. Cadwalader died in Philadelphia, in 1786, aged seventy-four, and was interred in the Friends' Burying Ground at Sixth and Arch streets. Dr. Cadwalader, at the age of seventy- two, died November 14, 1779, at his farm, Greenwood, about one mile from Trenton, New Jersey.
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(III) JOHN CADWALADER, son of Thomas and Hannah (Lambert) Cadwalader, was born January 10, 1742, and was a merchant in Philadelphia in association with his brother, the firm being known as John and Lambert Cadwalader. In 1771 he erected a large double house on Second Street, below Spruce, with gardens extend- ing to Third Street. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he was captain of the company of Philadelphia, an organization familiarly known as the "Silk Stocking Corps," many members of which became officers of the Continental Line. He was a member of the Committee of Safety, colonel of a city battalion and brigadier-general in command of Pennsylvania troops. He led one of the divi- sions of General Washington's army that crossed the Delaware, December 26, 1776, remaining on the New Jersey side, fought at Princeton, January 2, 1777, and won from General Washington the encomium: "A man of ability, a good disciplinarian, firm in his principles and of intrepid bravery." In 1777 he declined the appointment of brigadier-general and a later appointment by Congress of brigadier-general of cavalry of the United States, believing the war practically over and preferring to remain in command of Pennsylvania troops. Later, at General Washington's request, he organized the militia of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, joined the army under General Washington, fought at Brandywine and Germantown as a volunteer, and performed valiant service at the battle of Mon- mouth, June 28, 1778. Not long after he fought a duel with General Conway, characterized by General Washington as a "dangerous incendiary." General Cad- walader was uninjured, but wounded his adversary. In 1779, he succeeded his father as trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and returned to his home in Maryland, becoming a member of the Assembly of that State. He married (first) Elizabeth Lloyd, daughter of Edward Lloyd, of Wye House, Talbot County, Mary- land, and (second) Williamina Bond, daughter of Dr. Phineas Bond, of Philadel- phia, and granddaughter of John Moore, Judge of the Admiralty in Pennsylvania. His daughters by both wives married men of distinction and rank. General Cad- walader died February 10, 1786, at Shrewsbury, Kent County, Maryland.
(IV) THOMAS CADWALADER, son of John and Williamina (Bond) Cadwala- der, was born October 29, 1779, being the only son to survive infancy. His father, who was the possessor of great wealth, gave him every advantage of educa- tion, and in 1795 he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar, but on becoming trustee of the Penn and other large estates he withdrew from active practice. In 1799, he served with the cavalry sent to quell an insurrection in Pennsylvania caused by resistance to the enforcement of a law levying a tax to defray the expenses of the French War. In the War of 1812 he was a lieutenant- colonel of cavalry, being also in command of the "advanced light brigade" and later major-general, First Division, Pennsylvania Militia. Though solicited by President Monroe to accept the diplomatic appointment of Minister to England he declined that and other civic positions. In 1826 he was appointed with General Scott and Colonel (afterward President) Taylor to revise the tactics of the United States Army. He published numerous articles in various journals, and his house at Ninth and Arch streets, Philadelphia, was a resort of the most accomplished scholars of the country. He married, June 25, 1804, Mary Biddle, daughter of Colo- nel Clement Biddle (q. v.), assistant quartermaster-general of the Revolutionary
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Army from Pennsylvania, and United States Marshal, and they were the parents of five sons :
I. John, mentioned below.
2. George, brevetted major-general in the United States Regular Army for gallant conduct at Chapultepec, Mexico, and major-general of volunteers for service during the Civil War, a large landowner and man of affairs, died February 3, 1879, in Philadelphia.
3. Thomas, died in 1844.
4. Henry, an officer in the United States Navy, died in 1844.
5. William, died in 1875.
General Cadwalader died October 31, 1841.
(V) JOHN CADWALADER, son of Thomas and Mary ( Biddle) Cadwalader, was born April 1, 1805, in Philadelphia, and in 1821 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. At the age of sixteen he began the study of law, and on September 20, 1825, was admitted to the Philadelphia bar, albeit he had not yet arrived at legal age. Not long after he became solicitor for the Bank of the United States, and was soon conspicuous even among the brilliant men of that day who composed the Philadelphia bar. He was retained by the Gov- ernment in the famous Blackburne "Cloth Cases," and with Walter Jones and Dan- iel Webster represented the complainants in the Girard will case. When twenty- eight years old he was admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, and from 1833 to 1853 he was vice-provost of the Philadelphia Law Academy. In 1844 he commanded a well-known company of Philadelphia militia that served during the riots and disturbances of that year. He was active in securing the con- solidation of the several districts of which Philadelphia was formerly composed, and in 1854 was elected to Congress after a hotly contested canvass in the Fifth District, then composed of Montgomery County and Kensington. He served with honor, but declined renomination. In 1858, he was appointed by President Buchanan to succeed Judge John K. Kane, deceased, as Judge of the United States District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania, a position which he held to the close of his life. During the Civil War the jurisdiction of the court was greatly extended and afterward, by the internal revenue acts and the bankrupt law, its scope was still further enlarged. In 1870 the University. of, Pennsylvania conferred upon Judge Cadwalader the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, and in 1867 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In politics he was a Democrat.
He married (first), in 1828, Mary Binney, daughter of Horace and Elizabeth (Cox) Binney, and their children were :
1. Mary Binney, married William Henry Rawle.
2 .. Elizabeth Binney, married George Harrison Hare.
Mrs. Cadwalader died in 1831. In 1833, Judge Cadwalader married (second) Henrietta Maria (Bancker) McIlvaine, widow of Bloomfield McIlvaine, and daughter of Charles N. Bancker, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia. By this marriage Judge Cadwalader became the father of the following children:
I. Sarah Bancker.
2. Frances.
3. Thomas, died in childhood.
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4. Charles Evert, graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts ; enlisted in 1861 in the First City Troop and later was first lieutenant, Sixth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel on the staff of General Meade.
5. Anne, married the Rev. Henry J. Rowland.
6. John, mentioned below.
7. George, died young.
Judge Cadwalader died January 26, 1879.
(VI) JOHN CADWALADER, son of John and Henrietta Maria ( Bancker) Cad- walader, was born June 27, 1843, in Philadelphia, and received his preparatory education in schools of his native city. In 1862 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, receiving, in 1865, that of Master of Arts. In 1912 his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1864 he was admitted to the Philadelphia bar and thenceforth was, for half a century and upward, actively connected with the legal profession, prac- ticing in all State and Federal courts of the district. During his long career as lawyer and man of affairs, Mr. Cadwalader acquired large financial interests and was identified with many Philadelphia institutions, philanthropic, patriotic and social. From 1889 to 1897 he was president of the Trust Company of North America, and from 1891 to the date of his death, was president of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Steamboat Company. He was president and manager of the Penn- sylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, and also president of the Chapin Home for the Aged Blind, and from 1875 to 1885 served as school director.
In his younger days Mr. Cadwalader took an active interest in politics, and while his activities were relinquished with advancing years his interest remained unabated in governmental affairs and questions of public policy. He was proud of his Jeffersonian Democracy and at various times was a candidate of his party for city council, State Legislature, Congress and other offices. He was president of the Young Men's Democratic Association, the leading Democratic organi- zation from 1880 to 1890. In 1885 he was appointed by President Cleveland Collector of the Port of Philadelphia and held that office until 1889, when the administration became Republican. He was jury commissioner, United States Circuit Court, and in all things honorable, upright and honored. During President Cleveland's second term it was understood that the appointment of Mr. Cadwalader as Ambassador to Italy was under consideration. In 1881 he refused the Demo- cratic nomination for mayor of Philadelphia. He held several war-time posts of responsibility. He served as chairman of the Appeal Board for the First District of Philadelphia under the Draft Act and risked his health during the hot summer of 1917, when far from well, in performing this very onerous duty.
For upward of a century and a half each succeeding generation of the Cad- walader family, except his father, who declined the honor, has been represented on the board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Cadwalader, in due course, occupied this position. In 1876, he served as chairman of the legal committee of the Philadelphia Centennial.
Through the distinguished services of his ancestors, Mr. Cadwalader gained admission to the patriotic orders, being president-general of the Society of the War of 1812 and of the Pennsylvania Society of the same name, and also belonged to the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution. He held membership
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in the American Philosophical Society and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and in 1918 was elected president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia. His clubs were the Metropolitan of Washington, the University of Phila- delphia (president, since 1896), the Rittenhouse, Art, Penn and Philadelphia Coun- try and the Reform and Manhattan clubs of New York. He was president of the York Harbor Reading Room, and the York Country Club, also affiliating with the Delta Phi and the Phi Kappa Beta fraternities, and the Philomathean Society. Mr. Cadwalader was a regular communicant of the Episcopal Church, a vestryman for forty-two years of St. Peter's, one of the three original parishes of the Province, and was a trustee of Trinity Church, York Harbor, Maine. He was a delegate to the Convention of the Diocese of Pennsylvania for many years, and took an active part in all matters connected with the church.
For more than a century the name Cadwalader has been synonymous with social leadership in Philadelphia, and Mr. Cadwalader, despite his staunch Jef- fersonian Democracy, was an acknowledged leader of society in that city. He was related by blood or marriage to the prominent families of New York, Boston, Washington, and Baltimore. He was a member and had been one of the managers of the Philadelphia Assembly, but in recent years had waived most society func- tions by reason of advancing age.
Mr. Cadwalader married, April 17, 1866, Mary Helen Fisher, daughter of Joshua Francis Fisher and Eliza ( Middleton) Fisher, and a descendant of James Logan, and their children are:
I. Sophia.
2. Mary Helen.
3. John.
4. Thomas Francis, of Baltimore.
It had long been Mr. Cadwalader's wish to die, as he expressed it, "in harness," and his wish was granted. On the evening of March II, 1925, he attended a meeting of the board of directors of the Mutual Assurance Society held at No. 240 South Fourth Street, the house in which he had been born nearly eighty-two years before, and while there suffered a heart attack. Half an hour after he was removed to his home, No. 1519 Locust Street, he passed away. Never had his native city a more devoted son. A member of one of Philadelphia's oldest and most distin- guished families, associated long before the Revolution in the management of Pennsylvania affairs, his life invested with additional luster the pages of his ances- tral record.
Among the many tributes offered to the character and work of Mr. Cadwalader was the following editorial which appeared in the "Philadelphia Ledger":
It may be overflattering to the community which he dignified and adorned to rate John Cadwalader as quintessentially Philadelphian. Certain it is, however, that those attributes of character, those qualities of seasoned culture, matured discernment, taste, inherited breeding and responsiveness to the humanities which the city would like to regard as typical were in this honored gentleman long unaffectedly represented.
To the wide circle of his friends, John Cadwalader was, of course, more than a symbol. The range of his activities, conducted almost up to the very day of his death, was broad and his contacts with the worthiest of the phases, artistic, intellectual, political and social, of the life about him was invariably responsive and subtly stimulating.
The individualistic side of his engaging personality was revealed in his loyal and consistent attachment to the basic principles of the Democratic party. If the handful of his fellow-par- tisans in this city failed often to sustain these ideals, John Cadwalader did not waver in his
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philosophical allegiance. Politically he was a Jeffersonian of the old school, a rarity as seldom encountered today as that blend of true aristocracy of intellect and courtliness for which he will be affectionately remembered.
The tribute which follows was published in the "Philadelphia Inquirer" and expresses with peculiar felicity the popular feeling :
In the death of John Cadwalader, Philadelphia loses one of its most eminent citizens. Of distinguished ancestry, he was never unmindful of the obligations his position imposed upon him. He had a long and honorable career as a member of the bar, observing scrupulously the best traditions of the profession. Nor was his interest confined to his legal work. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of which he was president, and he took an active part in various patriotic bodies. He was a man of fine culture. No phrase better describes him than that well-worn one, a gentleman of the old school.
As a Democrat he had practically no opportunities for political preferment, though Presi- dent Cleveland made him Collector of the Port. But his influence in public affairs was not circumscribed by party lines. His opinions had the weight his character gave them, and those who differed from him most widely respected his moral sincerity and his intellectual ability. He was a strong champion of the Allies in the early years of the war, despite the fact that his attitude compelled him to criticise a Democratic President. All that was best in the life of one of America's historical cities was typified in him, and he was a force for good that will long be missed.
Many long years will roll by and successive generations pass away ere these words cease to find an echo in the heart of every Philadelphian.
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Baird
Much of intense interest attaches to the Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry of O. Hopkinson Baird, of Philadelphia, a well-known railroad executive, which is as follows :
(I) On the maternal side, O. Hopkinson Baird is descended from THOMAS HOPKINSON, founder of the Philadelphia family of that name, born in London, England, April 6, 1709, died in Philadelphia, November 5, 1751. He was a law- yer and a man of high scholastic attainments, and served in a number of important provincial and Philadelphia public offices of a legal and governmental character. He was one of the originators of the Philadelphia Library, an original trustee of the College of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania), and the first president of the American Philosophical Society. From the time of his arrival in Philadelphia, he was prominently identified with the political and social life of the Quaker City. Thomas Hopkinson married Mary Johnson, born in New Cas- tle, August 4, 1718, died in Philadelphia, November 9, 1804, daughter of Baldwin and Jane (Dyer) Johnson. They were the parents of eight children, of whom was Francis, see further.
(II) FRANCIS HOPKINSON, eldest child and son of Thomas and Mary (Johnson) Hopkinson, was born in Philadelphia, September 21, 1737, died May 9, 1791. His home life and education were developed in an environment of culture and refine- ment. His academic training having been finished in the College of Philadelphia, he took up the study of the law in the office of Benjamin Chew, noted Philadel- phia barrister, and was admitted to practice in 1761. He was of caliber fitted for public service, into which he was called in his early manhood. As secretary of a commission to negotiate a treaty with the Indians in 1761, he showed marked ability. While in this office he was inspired to write the poem, "The Treaty," which afterwards was published. He was secretary and librarian of the Philadel- phia Library for a time. As a composer of music and performer upon the harpsi- chord he became very proficient. It is said that he was the first native poet- composer of the United States. He wrote and composed a number of hymns, and was but seventeen when he produced his "Ode to Music." From a year's study in Ireland and England, where he made the acquaintance of a number of notables, he returned to the United States, to be commissioned later as Collector of Customs for Newcastle.
Again settled in Philadelphia, he practiced law and conducted a store. Having been made a member of the Provincial Council of New Jersey, he resigned that office and all offices under the Crown that he might accept a delegateship in the first Continental Congress. He was a member of the committee to draft articles of federation; he voted for independence of the American Colonies; and was signally honored by selection as one of the Signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence for New Jersey. During the Revolution he contributed a number of satires which were considered as extremely serviceable in the cause of independ-
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