Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 2

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978

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Philadelphia, April 27, 1780.

"The bearer, my friend Dr. John Foulke, is a Whig in his principles, has sub- scribed the Test to this State and though from the singularity of the tenets of the Quakers, he has not been active in the field, yet in the line of his physical profes- sion, has been useful in the hospitals. His intention in visiting France is to improve himself in Surgery and Physic; but being a perfect stranger in Paris, will stand in need of recommendation to the most eminent in the Medical branches, as well as for favorable introductions into the hospitals. Will you therefore, my good sir, as my friends is of unimpeached morals, and his relatives long known for good citi- zens, take him by the hand and recommend him to those gentlemen who can be most useful to him? I know you will, and in this happy thought

I subscribe myself, Respectfully, etc.,

Joseph Wharton."

To his Excellency, DR. FRANKLIN."

While abroad, Dr. Foulke visited also, Germany and Holland, and gathered much useful knowledge, professional and otherwise. He was elected member of American Philosophical Society, in 1784, and was one of its secretaries in 1786, when Franklin was president.

Dr. Foulke m. May 8, 1788, Eleanor, dau. of Richard and Lydia Parker, who survived him sixty-four years dying in the summer of 1860. Of their three chil- dren only eldest Richard Parker Foulke, left issue, among whom was William Parker Foulke, the eminent philanthropist, and scientist, b. May 31, 1816, d. June 18, 1865.

Evan Foulke, fourth son of Edward and Eleanor, b. in Wales, received from his father, a farm of 250 acres in Gwynedd, and lived thereon to his death, 1745. He m. (first) 1725, Ellen Roberts dau. of Edward of Gwynedd, and had one dau. Margaret, who m. John Evans of Gwynedd. Evan m. (second) Anne Coulston and left surviving him one daughter Esther, who m. (first) a Yaxley, and (second) a Johnson.

Gwen Foulke, b. in Wales, m. Dec. 6, 1703, Alexander Edwards, Jr., son of Alex- ander Edwards of Montgomery township, and had children Edward, Alexander, Thomas, Joseph, and Jane;

Grace Foulke, b. in Wales, m. May 6, 1707, John Griffith, eldest son of Griffith John, of Merion and had children, Griffith, John, Evan and Susannah Griffith;

Jane Foulke, b. in Wales, Jan. 10, 1683-4, m. June 5, 1713, Ellis son of John Hugh of Gwynedd, and they settled in Oley township, Berks Co., Pa .; she d. Aug. 7, 1766, and her husband Jan. II, 1764. They had issue, John, William, Rowland, Samuel, Edward and Margaret;

Catharine Foulke, b. in Wales, m. June 5, 1713, Theophilus Williams, son of John of Montgomery, and had issue, John, Benjamin, Mary and Eleanor;

Margaret, b. in Wales, m. May 23, 1717, Nicholas Roberts, son of Robert Cadwala- der, of Gwynedd, and had issue, Jane, Eleanor and Elizabeth.

THOMAS FOULKE, eldest son of Edward and Eleanor (Cadwalader) Foulke, born in Merionethshire, Wales, August 7, 1685, married at Gwynedd Meeting House, June 27, 1706, Gwen, eldest daughter of David Evans, of Radnor, and set- tled on a part of his father's lands at Penllyn, erecting the house so long occupied by his great-grandson, William Foulke, and during the Revolution occupied by the widow and unmarried children of his son, William Foulke, and the family of

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Daniel and Lowry (Jones) Wister, including Sally Wister, whose delightful "Journal" was written there.

Here Thomas and Gwen Foulke lived their quiet and uneventful life, she dying in 1760, and he in 1762. His sister, Gwen Edwards, was evidently living in a house on the same premises, as Thomas Foulke's will devises her "the use of the house she now lives in." His second son, William, is devised the home plantation of two hundred and thirteen acres, unless his eldest son chooses to accept twenty-five acres in lieu of a legacy of one hundred pounds.

Issue of Thomas and Gwen (Evans) Foulke :--

Edward, b. 1707, d. 1770; m. (first) Gainor Roberts, dau. of Edward of Gwynedd, who d. Sept. 14, 1741; and (second) on Oct. 25, 1750, Margaret Griffith, daughter of Hugh of Gwynedd, who survived him. Edward Foulke was man of ability and prominence and served for some years as clerk of Board of Trustees of the Pa. Loan Office, of which board his brother-in-law, Rowland Evans, was one of members.

Edward and Gainor (Roberts) Foulke, had issue:

Joshua, b. 1731, m. (first) Catharine, dau. of John and Eleanor (Ellis) Evans, of Gwynedd; and (second) Hannah Jones, daughter of John of Gwynedd. His descendants are widely scattered through the west and south.

Ann, b. Aug. 22, 1732, m. John Ambler, and had issue :

Joseph Ambler, m. Elizabeth Forman; no issue.

Edward Ambler, m. Ann Mather, and had issue.

John Ambler, Jr. m. (first) Priscilla Naylor; (second) Mary Thomas. Issue by first marriage :

Jesse Ambler, m. Ruth Roberts; no issue.

Gainor Ambler, m. Isaac Jones, of Montgomery township, where he d. 1840, aged 93 years, and Gainor on June 20, 1847, in 92d year; Isaac Jones was son of Isaac Jones, who came to Montgomery, when a young man, from Merion, being son of David and Katharine Jones, who came from Wales in 1698, and settled in Merion. Isaac was b. Sept. 5, 1708, and m. 1728, Elizabeth, dan. of George Lewis, then eighteen years of age, with whom he lived for seventy years, both dying in Montgomery he in 1798, and she in 1800, both 90 years of age.

Tacy, dau. of Isaac and Gainor (Ambler) Jones, m. Dec. 11, 1810, Edward, son of Amos and Hannah (Jones) Foulke, of whom later;

Tacy Ambler, m. Joseph Shoemaker, and lad issue six children;

Susanna Ambler, m. Jesse Lukens of Towamencin, and had issue, nine children ;

Eleanor, b. Sept. 15, 1735, m. May 14, 1767, Edward Ambler, son of Joseph Ambler of Montgomery.

Issue of Edward and Margaret (Griffith ) Foulke (2d wife) :-

Hugh, b. Feb. 21, 1752, d. Feb. 23, 1831; lived all his life at Gwynedd, and was earnest and consistent member of Gywnedd Meeting; m. Ann Roberts, and had issue :

Cadwalader, of White Marsh, m. Ann Shoemaker;

Hannah, for many years teacher at Westtown School;

Sarah, m. Alexander Forman, Jr., of Montgomery;

Joseph, of Gwynedd, minister of Society of Friends, for many years con- ducted private school for boys at Gwynedd;

Hugh, of Gwynedd, (1788-1864) m. Martha Shoemaker, and was father of Thomas Foulke (1829-84), for fourteen years Supt. of Swarthmore Col- lege, m. Phebe Shoemaker; and of Hugh Foulke, prominent educator, first at Gwynedd, later in N. Y.

Alice, b. July 15, 1754, d. inf .;

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Hannah, b. Sept. 20, 1755, d. June 24, 1781; m. Edward Stroud and had issue, Edward, Margaret and Tacy.

Cadwalader, b. 1758, d. Feb. 27, 1808; m. (first) Phoebe Ellis, and lived in Phila. until death of his wife of yellow fever in 1802; went to Wheeling, West Va. in 1806, where he m. (second) Ann Chirington; later went on trading voyage down Ohio river, and is supposed to have been robbed and murdered by river pirates;

His only dau. by first wife, Sarah Foulke, went west with her father and m. there Dec., 1809, William Farquhar, d. Nov. 8, 1810, and she returned to Pa. and was teacher at Westtown Boarding School, 1811-16; m. (second) Jan. 11, 1816, James Emlem of Phila., and had by him seven children;

WILLIAM FOULKE, b. 1708, d. 1775, m. Hannah Jones, of whom presently;

Ellen, b. Aug. 18, 1710, m. William Williams, and had eight children;

Evan, b. Aug. 27, 1712, d. Feb. 11, 1748-9;

Margaret, h. May 22, 1715, d. Nov. 23, 1734, unm .;

Susanna, b. March 17, 1720-1, d. Phila., March 1, 1787; m. at Gwynedd Meeting House, Nov. 15, 1748, Rowland Evans, born 1718, died August 8, 1789; son of John Evans of Gwynedd, b. in Denbighshire, Wales, 1689, by his wife, Eleanor Ellis, b. near Dolgelly, Merionethshire, Wales, dau. of Rowland Ellis, distin- guished Welsh preacher among Friends, who is referred to elsewhere in these volumes. John Evans was son of Cadwalader Evans, b. 1664, d. at Gwynedd. 1745, youngest of four sons of Evan ap Evan, who came to Pa., 1698, with Edward Foulke, by his wife Ellen, dau. of John Morris, of Bryn Gwyn, Den- bighshire, Wales, whom he m. in Wales. Cadwalader was eminent preacher among Friends, at Gwynedd.

Rowland Evans, b. at Gwynedd and resided there, on father's lands, until 1766, when he removed to Providence township, and in June, 1784, in to Phila, that he has "lately removed from his former residence in Providence township, Phila. Co., and is prepared to draw Deeds, Mortgages, Articles of Agreement, and other Instruments of Writing at his house on the East side of Fourth St., a few doors above Race Street." He was appointed justice of peace of Phila. Co., 1749, 52, 57, 61, and was member of Provincial Assembly, 1761-71. On Sept. 14, 1785, appointed one of Commissioners of General Loan Office of Pa., and held that position to his death, Aug. 8, 1789. He was elected member of American Society for Promotion of Useful Knowledge, prior to its coalition with American Philosophical Society in 1769, and took deep interest in scien- tific research. An obituary notice of him in Gacette at time of his death, says among other things, "previous to the Revolution he was for many years a member of the Legislature and a Justice of the Peace, both of which he filled with great ability, dignity, and applause." All of his six children died without issue.

Sarah, b. March 17, 1720, (twin to Susanna), m. William Jones, and left issue, a dau. Sarah, who m. David Green.

Caleb, b. Aug. 13, 1722, d. July 7, 1736.

WILLIAM FOULKE, second son of Thomas and Gwen ( Evans) Foulke, born at the old homestead at Penllyn, Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, in 1708, and spent his whole life there, having inherited from his father nearly two hun- dred acres of the land taken up by his grandfather, Edward Foulke, in 1698. He was for many years an Elder and Overseer of Gwynedd Meeting, and a memorial of him was adopted by the Monthly Meeting at his death in 1775. By his will probated November 6, 1775, the home plantation was devised to his son, Jesse, and to his son, Levi, "the plantation where he dwells," while his sons, Caleb and Amos, and his three daughters receive bequests in money.

William Foulke married at Gwynedd Meeting House, October 15, 1734, Han- nah, daughter of John Jones, "Carpenter." son of Rees John William, and Han- nah Price, some account of whom and their emigration from Wales, is given in our sketch of Robert Lloyd, who married his daughter Lowry.

John Jones, "Carpenter," as he was known, to distinguish him from others of the name, came to Gwynedd township from Merion, about 1710, and became a large land owner there and was a prominent, active and valuable citizen.

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He was born in Merion, June 6, 1688, and was married at Gwynedd Meeting House, June 9, 1713, to Jane Edwards, daughter of Edward Griffith. She died May 14, 1757. John Jones died December 30, 1774; Gwynedd Monthly Meeting adopted memorials of both him and his wife. They were parents of ten children of whom but four married and left issue, viz: Hannah, above mentioned, who married William Foulke; Priscilla, who married Evan Jones, of Merion; Evan and Jesse, the latter settling in Bucks county.

Issue of William and Hannah (Jones) Foulke :-

Jane, b. Aug. 22, 1735, m. 1757, George Maris of Gwynedd, son of George Maris of Springfield, Chester Co., and had issue ten children of whom five d. unm .;

Caleb, b. Feb. 5, 1736, d. in Phila., Jan. 25, 1811; went to Phila. in early life and became prominent merchant there, first with his younger brother, Amos, and later with his son Owen, under the firm name Caleb and Owen Foulke; doing a large business in foreign trade; he was signer of Non-importation Agreement Oct., 1765. He purchased farm on Swedes Ford road in Montgomery Co., 1776, and made his home there during the British occupation of Phila. He m. in Phila., Jan. 21, 1762, Jane, eldest daughter of Owen Jones, Provincial Treas., by his wife Susanna Evans; Jane d. in Germantown, 1815.

Caleb and Jane (Jones) Foulke had issue :-

Owen, b. Phila. June 27, 1763, bur. at Gwynedd, Aug. 30, 1808; for time partner with his father in Phila., later practicing attorney-at-law, at Sun- bury, Pa. He was member of First City Troop, Phila., 1798.

Caleb, Jr., b. Phila. Aug. 8, 1770, d. Oct. 15, 1823; merchant; m. (first) Nov. 26, 1795, Margaret Cullen, and (second), 1814, Sarah Hodgkiss, widow, of Germantown; five children of first marriage survived infancy;

Charles, m. Eliza Lowery, but left no issue;

Jane, d. unm .;

Hannah, d. unm .;

Lowry, m. (first) Samuel Miles and (second) her cousin Evan Jones of Gwynedd, son of Evan and Hannah.

Levi, b. May 20, 1739, d. June 27, 1815; lived and d. on part of old Foulke home- stead; m. Ann, dau. of Thomas Evans, of Gwynedd, by his second wife, Hannah Morris. They had issue, one son, William, b. 1767, d. 1833, m. Margaret McIlvaine, and had issue.

AMos, b. Jan. 5, 1740-1, m. Hannah Jones, of whom presently;

Jesse, b. Jan. 9, 1742-3, d. unm. March 16, 1821; lived with his unm. sister, Priscilla, in old house at Penllyn;

Priscilla, b. Dec. 3, 1744, d. Jan. 25, 1821, unm .;

Margaret, Sarah and Judah, all d. inf.

Lydia, b. Apr. 9, 1756, m. John, (1756-99) son of Jacob and Hannah (Jarrett) Spencer, of Moreland; grandson of Samuel and Mary (Dawes) Spencer; and great-grandson of Samuel Spencer, who came from Barbadoes and was merchant in Phila., at his death in Dec., 1705, by his wife, a dau. of Robert Whitton. John and Lydia (Foulke) Spencer had nine children.

AMOS FOULKE, third son of William and Hannah (Jones) Foulke, born at the old homestead at Penllyn, Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, January 5, 1740-I, came to Philadelphia when a young man and engaged in the mercantile business with his elder brother Caleb, under the firm name of Caleb and Amos Foulke. He died in Philadelphia, and was buried as shown by Jacob Hiltz- heimer's diary, August 7, 1791. He married, May 20, 1779, Hannah, daughter of Owen Jones, Provincial Treasurer, by his wife, Susanna Evans. Hannah (Jones) Foulke was born in Philadelphia, December 28, 1749, and is said to have died of the yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1793.

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Issue of Amos and Hannah (Jones) Foulke :-

Susan, b. Oct. 11, 1781, d. Feb. 1, 1842, unm .;

EDWARD, b. Nov. 17, 1784, d. July 17, 1851; m. Tacy Jones, of whom presently; George, July 23, 1786, July, 1848, unm.

EDWARD FOULKE, eldest son of Amos and Hannah (Jones) Foulke, born in Philadelphia, November 17, 1784, was reared from childhood by his uncle and aunt, Jesse and Priscilla Foulke, at the old family homestead at Penllyn, where his great-great-grandfather, Edward Foulke, had settled in 1699. The house in which his childhood was spent being the scene of "Sally Wister's Journal," in which the home life of Jesse Foulke and his unmarried sister, Priscilla, in the old family mansion, is beautifully portrayed.

Edward Foulke succeeded to the old homestead and spent the remainder of his life there, dying July 17, 1851. He married, December 11, 1810, Tacy, daugh- ter of Isaac and Gainor (Ambler) Jones, of Gwynedd, Montgomery county, grandson of Isaac Jones, born in Merion, Philadelphia county, in 1708, who re- moved to Gwynedd when a young man, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of George Lewis, a native of Wales. Isaac Jones Sr. was a son of David and Katharine Jones, who came from Wales in 1699, and settled in Merion. Gainor Ambler, the wife of Isaac Jones Jr., and mother of Tacy (Jones) Foulke, was daughter of John Ambler by his wife, Ann, daughter of Edward and Gainor (Roberts) Foulke, of Gwynedd, and great-granddaughter of Edward Foulke, the founder of the family in America.

Issue of Edward and Tacy (Jones) Foulke :-

ANN JONES FOULKE, b. Sept. 15, 1811, d. June 25, 1883; m. Dr. Hiram Corson; of whom presently ;

Jesse Foulke, b. June 23, 1813, d. Feb. 15, 1892, unm .;

Charles Foulke, b. Dec. 14, 1815; studied medicine, and on graduation located at Gwynedd, removing to New Hope, Bucks Co., 1842, where he succeeded to prac- tice of Dr. Richard Corson, whose daughter, Harriet Mathews, he had married; a sketch of Dr. Corson and his ancestry follows; Dr. Charles and Harriet M. (Corson) Foulke had issue :

Dr. Richard Corson Foulke of New Hope; m. Louisa Vansant;

Edward Foulke of Washington, D. C., m. Eliza Van Horn;

Thomas Foulke;

Susan Foulke, b. July 18, 1818, d. Nov. 2, 1886, unm .;

Owen Foulke, b. 1820, d. inf .;

Priscilla Foulke, b. Oct. 10, 1821, d. Dec. 28, 1882; m. Thomas Wistar, son of Thomas, and had issue :

Susan Foulke Wistar;

Edward Foulke Wistar;

Elizabeth Wistar; Anne Wistar;

Jonathan Foulke, b. 1825, d. inf .;

Lydia S. Foulke, b. Feb. 18, 1827, d. Aug. 27, 1861; m. Charles Bacon, son of John, and had issue :

Anna Bacon, m. Robert Neff, Jr.

REBECCA JONES FOULKE, b. May 18, 1829; m. 1857, Col. Robert Rodgers, son of Dr. Richard Corson, of New Hope; of whom presently;

Hannah Jones Foulke, b. Sept. 18, 1831; m. May 20, 1862, Francis, brother of Charles W. Bacon, who m. her sister Lydia; they had issue :

Lydia Foulke Bacon, b. Dec. 27, 1863; m. Apr. 1890, Thomas H. Miles, who d. Nov. 18, 1893;

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Francis Llewwllyn Bacon, b. March 16, 1868;

Albert Edward Bacon, b. Sept. 27, 1869; m. Oct. 15, 1902, Ella G. Kitchin, and had issue :

Margaret Webb Bacon, b. Apr. 29, 1904; Francis Bacon, Jr., b. Jan. 20, 1907;

Emily Foulke, b. Dec. 2, 1834; d. Aug. 23, 1892; m. Charles Lawton Bacon, son of Charles W. Bacon; he d. in 1862;

Owen Foulke, b. 1838, d. inf.

ANN JONES FOULKE, eldest daughter of Edward and Tacy (Jones) Foulke, born September 15, 1811, married, December 26, 1833, Dr. Hiram Corson, of Maple Hill, Plymouth township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, one of the most prominent physicians of his time. He was born at Hickorytown, Plymouth township, Montgomery county, October 8, 1804, and was seventh child and fifth son of Joseph and Hannah (Dickinson) Corson, and of prominent and influential family, early settled in Bucks county.

Benjamin Corson, came to Bucks county from Staten Island in 1726, and purchased a farm in Northampton township, where he died in 1741, survived by his wife, Eleanor, and two sons, Cornelius and Benjamin.

Benjamin Corson, second son of Benjamin and Eleanor, was born on Staten Island in 1718, and came with his parents to Bucks county at the age of eight years. He married, January 2, 1741-2, Maria Suydam, of a prominent Holland family, long settled on Long Island, from whence several representatives had mi- grated to Bucks county prior to the arrival of the Corson family in that county. In the same year as his marriage, Benjamin Corson, second, purchased a farm in Northampton township, on which he lived until his death on March 19, 1774. His widow survived him and died February 15, 1792, aged seventy-one years, three weeks, and four days. They were the parents of eight children, six sons and two daughters; the second son, Richard Corson, being the father of Dr. Richard D. Corson, of New Hope, before referred to.

Benjamin Corson, third, eldest son of Benjamin and Maria (Suydam) Corson, was born in Northampton township, Bucks county, March 6, 1743, and married there, in 1761, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Ohl) Dungan, a descendant of the Rev. Thomas Dungan, the founder of the first Baptist church in Pennsyl- vania, coming from New York to Bucks county in 1684. Benjamin and Sarah (Dungan) Corson lived for a time in Lower Dublin township, Philadelphia county, where most of their children were born, later residing in Makefield town- ship, and finally in Wrightstown township, Bucks county, where they both died in 1811, he on October 2, and she on July 2. They had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, all of whom lived to mature age and married.

Joseph Corson, the father of Dr. Hiram Corson, was second son of Benjamin Corson, third, by his wife, Sarah Dungan, and was born in Dublin township, Philadelphia county, March 15, 1764. He was reared on a farm and received a common school education. In 1785 he removed with his friend Samuel Maulsby (son of Hannah Maulsby, who became the second wife of Richard Corson, uncle to Joseph, of whom hereafter) to Plymouth village, Montgomery county, and in the following year married Hannah, daughter of Joseph Dickinson, of White Marsh township, Montgomery county, and great-granddaughter of William Dick- inson, of Maryland, who had come to White Marsh from Maryland about a cen- tury earlier. They followed farming in Plymouth township, locating at Hickory-

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town in 1800, where Joseph Corson engaged in store-keeping in connection with the conduct of his farm until his death, April 4, 1834. His wife died December 17, 1810, and he married (second), in 1812, Eleanor Coulston, niece and name- sake of the second wife of David Rittenhouse, the astronomer. She survived her husband and died in Norristown, November 21, 1846.

Joseph and Hannah (Dickinson) Corson were the parents of eleven children of whom Dr. Hiram Corson was the ninth; Hiram Corson, LL. D., the distin- guished scholar and author, was his nephew.

Dr. Hiram Corson received his early education in the Friends' School at Plymouth Meeting, under Joseph Foulke, and later under his eldest brother Alan W. Corson, an eminent scholar and mathematician. He later attended the Friends' Select School in Philadelphia. After leaving school he assisted his father in the store at Hickorytown until May 9, 1826, when he began the study of medicine in the office of his cousin, Richard Davis Corson, in New Hope, Bucks county, and the following year attended lectures in the Medical Depart- ment of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received his medical degree in the Spring of 1828. He at once began to practice in his native neighbor- hood, and soon built up a large practice, becoming one of the best known physi- cians of eastern Pennsylvania. He founded the Montgomery County Medical Society in 1847, and was its president in 1849, and during his whole life one of its most active and prominent members. He hecame a member of the Medical Society of Pennsylvania in 1848, and was elected its president in 1853; became a member of the American Medical Association in 1862; became a member of the Philadelphia Obstetrical Society in 1874; elected Associate Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1876, an honor conferred upon but very few phy- sicians outside of the city ; life member of Alumni Association of University of Pennsylvania, 1879, vice-president, 1849; elected honorary member of Harris- burg Pathological Society, 1881 ; and of the National Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 1894. He was one of the trustees of the Hospital for Insane at Harrisburg, 1877-82. He became a member of the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania in 1884, and contributed a number of papers to its archives. He con- tributed a large number of papers to the "Transactions of the Pennsylvania Medical Society" and the "Transactions of the Ninth International Medical Con- gress." The great work, however, to which he devoted years of effort, was the recognition of the Women's College and its graduates by the medical fraternity and its associations, and securing the passage of laws to have only women physi- cians to have medical care of the insane of their own sex in the State Hospitals. When in 1858 the Board of Censors of the Philadelphia County Medical Society reported their disapproval of any member of the Society holding professional intercourse with the professors or alumni of the Women's Medical College, Dr. Corson took the question before the Medical Society of Montgomery county and, securing the adoption of strong resolutions against the action of the Philadel- phia Society, carried them as delegate to the State Medical Society in 1860, where it met with violent opposition. The breaking out of the Civil War, distracted the attention of the medical fraternity, and the matter remained in abeyance until the meeting of the State Society at Wilkes-Barre in 1866, when Dr. Corson renewed his efforts to secure for the Woman's College the proper recognition of the pro- fession, and continued to agitate the matter until 1871, when the obnoxious reso-

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lution of the Philadelphia Society was rescinded, and in 1877 he began the fight for women physicians in Insane Hospitals and secured the enactment of a law to that effect in 1879. For over half a century Dr. Corson was the recognized leader of thought in the community in which he lived and "an exemplar of the highest type." He was from his youth an earnest and active opponent of human slavery and his house was one of the prominent stations on the Underground Railroad. He retired from active practice in 1888, and died at Maple Hill, his residence during nearly the whole of his adult life, on March 4, 1894, in his ninety-second year. Leading newspapers of Philadelphia and adjoining counties published extended notices of his death and sketches of his life and work, and many of them had beautiful editorial comments on his life and character. The Montgomery County Medical Society held a special meeting, at which resolutions were adopted, and eulogistic addresses delivered, and a Memorial Meeting was held in the Court House at Norristown, May 22, 1896, where addresses were delivered by many prominent men on the life and character of Dr. Corson. From one of these we quote the following extracts. "Dr. Corson may not have been a great man in the sense of a world-wide reputation, yet he towered above his fellows in many points. He was as true as steel to his convictions and maintained them in the face of almost overwhelming opposition. * He was original in his methods in dealing with either questions of reform or the treatment of disease." He was one of the first to practice and advocate the use of cooling drinks and the application of ice in the treatment of fevers, and active in the crusade against the use of hot liquids that had largely prevailed in the earlier years of his practice.

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Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 2

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 978

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978