USA > Pennsylvania > Dauphin County > Commemorative biographical encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania : containing sketches of prominent and representative citizens and many of the early Scotch-Irish and German settlers. Pt. 1 > Part 73
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Benjamin Matthias Nead was born in An- trim township, Franklin county, not far from the town of Greencastle, on the 11th of July, 1847, and the following year was removed to Chambersburg, where his father and mother then took up their abode. His pre- liminary education began in the Chambers- bnrg Academy, continued during the last year of the war under the private tutelage of the Rev. James F. Kennedy, of Chambers- burg. He then took a year at the New Haven Hopkins' grammar school, followed by a four years' course in Yale University, from which institution he gradnated in 1870.
After his graduation Mr. Nead returned to Chambersburg and studied law in the office of the Hon. Francis M. Kimmel, ex- judge of that judicial district, and was ad- mitted to practice in the several eourts of Franklin county on June 4, 1872 .. He con- tinued the practice of his profession at the , bar of his native county until the year 1875, when he was appointed to take charge of the State tax desk in the office of the auditor general of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- vania at Harrisburg. This position held until 1881, when in May of that year he re- tired to resume the practice of his profession in the city of Harrisburg, where he has con- tinued in active practice ever sinee.
The practical knowledge of State tax law acquired by Mr. Nead, through his service in the auditor general's department, led him, upon his retirement from that service, to make a specialty of practice in State tax and corporation cases, before the departments of government and in the State courts at Har- risburg. In this practice he has been largely successful and has made for himself a repu- tation throughout the State in this line of business. He is a local counsel at Harris- burg for a number of corporations, and has been employed in a number of important cases, notably the cases in which the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania enjoined the Pennsylvania Railroad Company from the purchase of the Sonth Pennsylvania and Beech Creek railroads, and the suits insti- tuted by the Commonwealth against the counties of Philadelphia and Allegheny to re- cover large amounts of fees claimed by the State. In the former cases he was associated with Attorney General Cassidy, and in the other suits with Attorney Generals Hensel and McCormick, on behalf of the Common- wealth.
In addition to his services in the account-
ing departments, Mr. Nead has represented the State in a number of other capacities. On the commission of which the Hon. Thomas V. Cooper was chairman, appointed to revise the revenue laws of the Commonwealth, and report a new system of taxation to the Leg- islature of 1883, Mr. Nead served by special appointment and gave the commission the benefit of his knowledge of the tax laws of the State, and the experience acquired by him in the practical work of their execution. He was also a member and secretary of the commission of six expert accountants ap- pointed by Governor Pattison, under the act of 1883, to devise a new system of keeping the accounts of the State.
During the two terms of Governor Patti- son's ineumbeney in office, Mr. Nead also filled by his appointment the position of State financial agent for Pennsylvania at Washington.
In September, 1894, Mr. Nead was ap- pointed by the comptroller of currency, at Washington, to take charge as receiver of the defunct National Bank of Middletown, Pa., and to settle up its affairs. In the adminis- tration of this trust and the allied trusts which accompanied it, and in the practice of his inereasing legal profession he is now actively engaged.
Mr. Nead was twice married, 1875, to Lib- bic J. Hayes, youngest daughter of David Hayes, of Shippensburg, who died in 1883, leaving to survive her, two sons: Benjamin Frank Nead, born 1877, and Robert Hayes Nead. born 1880. In 1892 Mr. Nead mar- ried Annie E. Zollinger, the youngest dangh- ter of the late Nicholas Zollinger, of Harris- burg.
In the field of literature Mr. Nead has at- tained no inconsiderable reputation. In the earlier years of his residence in Harris- burg he was the trusted political correspond- ent of a number of leading Democratic newspapers in the country. During the year 1887 he was the editor-in-chief of the Har- risburg Daily Patriot, and subsequently, 1SSS-S9, in connection with his brother, Dr. Daniel W. Nead, owned and edited the Har- risburg Morning Call. Endowed with a love of historical research, his leisure time has been much devoted to the preparation and publication of a number of historical sketches, monographs and compilations, the principal of which are: " Ilistorical Sketches of Frank- lin County, Pennsylvania ;" "Historical Notes on the Early Government and Legisla-
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tive Councils of Pennsylvania (1628-1722)," and "A Brief Review of the Financial History of Pennsylvania, and of the Methods of Au- diting Public Accounts (1682-1881)." In ad- dition to these he has written quite a number of newspaper and magazine sketches of an historical character, and has delivered inter- esting addresses before the "Pennsylvania German Society " and the "Scotch-Irish Congress of America." He is a member of the Pennsylvania State Historical Society, and of the Dauphin County Historical So- ciety. Also, of the Pennsylvania German Society and of the Pennsylvania Sons of the Revolution.
To the literature of his profession Mr. Nead has also been a painstaking contribu- tor. One of a commission of three, he as- sisted in the compilation of the "Colonial and Provincial Laws of Pennsylvania," prior to that time unpublished, covering the years 1676 to 1700. This work was published by the State. He is also the author and pub- lisher of " Nead's Guide to County Officers," a compendium of general and special laws, governing the assessment and collection of State taxes.
In politics Mr. Nead has always been an ardent Democrat, being descended from old Democratic stock, and has taken an active part in political work during the past twenty- five years, either through his connection with the organization of the party or upon the stump. He was chairman of the Demo- cratic committee of Franklin county during the exciting Greely and Buckalew campaigns in 1872. He was secretary, by appointment, of the Democratie State Committee, under chairman John Miller, in 1874, and when the new rules for the party were adopted in 1887, and the office of permanent secretary was created, Mr. Nead was elected to fill the office which he did so acceptably, that he held the office by re-election for seven sue- cessive years, when under the rules of the party lately adopted the office was made an appointive one under the State chairman. In 1894 Mr. Ncad was tendered the unani- mous nomination for Congress by the con- ference representing the Democracy of the Fourteenth Congressional district of Pen- sylvania, consisting of the counties of Dau- phin, Lebanon and Perry. Having just been appointed a bank receiver, with exacting duties, he was compelled to decline the honor conferred upon him.
-CHAMBERLIN, JAMES I., attorney-at-law, Harrisburg, Pa., was born in Milton, North- umberland county, Pa., November 13. 1817. He is a son of Moses and Jane H. ( Watson) Chamberlin. He was reared in Milton and educated in the Milton Academy and at Dick- inson Seminary, Williamsport, Pa. Hletook a preparatory course at Tuscarora Academy. Juniata county, Pa., and was graduated from the academical department of Yale College in the class of 1873. He read law with Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, of Harrisburg, and was admitted to the Dauphin county bar April 29, 1875. He at once entered upon the practice of law in Harrisburg, and has se- cured an extensive business.
Mr. Chamberlin's political views are Re- publican. He served for five years in the board of city schools and as president one year. He is a stockholder in the Steelton Flouring Mill Company, the First National Bank of Harrisburg and the Common- wealth Guarantee Trust and Safe Deposit Company. Hle is prominently identified with the Jackson Manufacturing Company, of which he was the president for twelve years. He is also interested in many other industries of the city.
Mr. Chamberlin was first married to Miss Eliza J., daughter of John and Maria Halde- man, of Harrisburg. She died June 22, 1881, leaving one child, Maria Haldemau Chamberlin. His second marriage, Decem- ber 25, 1895, was to Miss Jean Bosler, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. J. Herman Bosler, of Carlisle, Pa.
MITCHELL, WILLIAM, lawyer, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Zearing) Mitchell, was born September 17, 1814, in Harrisburg, Pa. He was educated in Dickinson College prepara- tory school and took a partial course in Dickinson College, where he studied civil engineering. He was prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleasand clerk of the Quar- ter Sessions of Dauphin county two terms, 1855-61. He married, March 15, 1849, An- gelica, daughter of Christian and Mary F. Ehrman, and their children are: Mary Augusta, who married Rev. S. Hubbard Hoover, William Sullivan, Ehrman Burk- man and Samuel Morton. Ehrman B. Mitchell, son of the foregoing, was born April 11, 1854, in Harrisburg, Pa. He was graduated from Dickinson College in 1874. and admitted to the Dauphin county bar in
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1875. He was elected prothonotary and clerk of the Quarter Sessions of Dauphin county in 1879, and re-elected in 1SS2.
MITCHELL, EHRMAN B., attorney-at-law, was born April 11, 1854, in Harrisburg, Pa., son of William and Angelica (Ehrmau) Mitchell. Hereceived his literary education in the public schools of his native city and at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., having been graduated from the latter institution in 1874. After completing his law studies he was admitted to the Dauphin county bar in 1875, and has since practiced his profession in this city. Mr. Mitchell very successfully and efficiently performed the duties of pro- thonotary of the Court of Common Pleas from 1879 to 1886, and also served as clerk of the Quarter Sessions Court. Mr. Mitchell was attorney for and one of the directors in the organization of the Harrisburg Electric Light Company, and is at present a director in the Guarantee Safe Deposit Company, of Harrisburg, and the Harrisburg Steam Heat and Power Company. In politics he is a Republican, and takes an active interest in party matters. He is identified with the Masonic order. His marriage occurred in 1892 with Regina Calder, daughter of Will- iam Calder. He and his family belong to Grace Methodist Episcopal church.
PEARSON, WILLIAM, attorney-at-law and prothonotary of Middle district of Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and prothonotary of the Harrisburg district of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, was born in Harrisburg, August 9, 1854, son of John J. Pearson, late judge of this judicial district, and of Mary H. (Briggs) Pearson, the latter still living and residing in Harrisburg. IIe received his primary education and was prepared for college in the city schools and the Harris- burg Academy; and was afterwards grad- uated from the college at Princeton, N. J., in the class of 1876. His professional studies were pursued under the direction of his dis- tinguished father, and he was admitted to the bar of Danphin county in 1876, and to practice in the Superior Court of Pennsyl- vania, May 17, ISSO. His appointment to the office of prothonotary was made January 1, 1882. Mr. Pearson is nnmarried. In his political views he is a Republican.
-HERMAN, JOHN ARMSTRONG, attorney-at- law, was born in Cumberland county, Pa., November 28, 1853. Ile is a son of Chris- tian B. and Mary (Armstrong) Herman, both natives of Cumberland county, the former of whom died in April, 1863; the latter still survives and makes her home with her son in Harrisburg. His great-grandfather on his mother's side, Gen. Johu Armstrong, was a major general in the Revolutionary war, and the great-grandfather, Martin Herman, was also a Revolutionary soldier. The par- ents were early settlers in Cumberland county. The father in early life was engaged in agricultural pursuits, but during his latter days led a retired life on the old Herman homestead near New Kingston, Cumberland county. The parents had born to them three children, of whom John A. is the only one living, a brother and sister having dicd in infancy. The father was a very popular man in his region. John A. received his primary education in the public schools of his native county. He also attended the Edgehill School at Princeton, N. J., and was graduated from Princeton University with the class of 1874. He entered the office of Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, Hon. John D. Mc- Pherson and Hon. Lyman D. Gilbert, of Harrisburg, and read law for over two years. In the spring of 1877 he was admitted to the bar of Dauphin county and has practiced here since that time. Mr. Herman is un- married. In politics he is Republican. He is a member of State Capital Lodge, No. 70, I. O. O. F., the Society of Colonial Wars of New York and Pennsylvania, Sons of the Revolution of Pennsylvania, and of Dau- phin County Historical Society. Ilc attends the Market Square Presbyterian church. He is a popular and successful attorney and is sceretary and treasurer of the Mckee Water Company, secretary of the Cumber- land Water Company, and also secretary of the Hagerstown Railway Company.
- KUNKEL, GEORGE, attorney-at-law, was born at Harrisburg, Pa., March 11, 1855. He was educated at the academics conducted respectively by Professors Gauze and Seiler, of Harrisburg, and at Franklin and Mar- shall College, Lancaster, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1876 as sec- ond honor man of his class, having been designated to deliver the Franklin oration. Choosing the law for his profession he pur-
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sued his studies in that science under the tutorship of IIon. J. W. Simonton. In 1878, two years after his graduation from college, he was admitted to the bar of Dauphin county, and forthwith entered upon the ac- tive practice of his profession, and with suc- cessful results that at once demonstrated his fitness for his chosen calling. Engaging in important cases his practice soon led him from the lower courts into the Supreme Court, where his comprehensive knowledge of the law and his extraordinary faculty for concise and forcible reasoning brought him exceptional success.
Some years after his admission to the bar Mr. Kunkel paid a visit to England and availed himself of the opportunity to study the conduct and methods of the English couris. He attended the session of every court from the Nisi Prius to the court of the House of Lords. Ile familiarized himself with the practice in all of them and gath- ered knowledged that has stood him in good stead in his home practice. In 1885, after one of the most exciting contests ever had in the county, he was made the can- didate for district attorney by the Re- publican party, and was elected by a handsome majority. ITis administration of the office exceeded the expectation of his friends and won for him high commenda- tions from his fellow-members of the bar. In 1888 he was unanimously renominated and was re-elected by the unprecedented majority of 3,700, receiving 1,600 majority in Harris- burg, his home. He brought to the admin- tration of his second term the experience gathered in the first, conducting the business with marked ability and retiring from the office with the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens, which was shortly afterwards, in 1892, manifested by his choice as the can- didate of the Republican party to represent the city of Harrisburg in the State Legisla- ture. Although opposed by a most popular Democrat for this office, and in the face of the fact that he had been placed upon the ticket to fill a vacancy caused by death only a few days prior to the election, Mr. Kunkel was elected by a majority of over seven hun- drcd.
In the House he at once attracted atten- tion by his courtesy, ability and attention to business, and soon won the esteem and con- fidence of his associates. His committee work has been of great service and his judg- ment upon legislation generally accepted by
members with entire satisfaction. In 1894 he celipsed all previous records by securing a plurality of over 2,400 for re-election. This more than anything else attested his high standing both as a legislator and a man. Mr. Kunkel was a formidable candidate for speaker of the House of Representatives at the last session. He gave way, however, to his opponent for the sake of harmony. Ilis popularity was evidenced by his appointment as chairman of the committee on insurance and a member of the judiciary general, city passenger railways, ways and means, and railroad committees. At present writing (1896) Mr. Kunkel's friends are rejoicing over another political victory won by hin which gives him the Republican nomination for a third term as representative for the city of Harrisburg in the lower house of the Leg- islature.
If Mr. Kunkel's success has been phe- nomenal it is none the less permanent and deserved. Ilis sense of honor, his perse- verance, his honesty, his tenacity, all that render him effective and reliable, he has made the principal points of his life's work. He is a steady and uniform friend of hu- manity. Much of his success in public is due to his quick and ready perception of faets and a memory unusually tenacious and retentive, and his remarkable power to rapidly draw logical conclusions, which is one of the strongest points of the lawyer. With his strong voice and splendid phy- sique, Mr. Kunkel is deservedly popular as a public speaker. Naturally intelligent and widely read, he is rich in illustration and both professionally and politically he is classed among the first orators in the State. In his conduct of criminal cases, and he has been connected with those of the greatest importance at this and neighboring bars. his arguments show him to be a master in marshalling facts, while powerful and con- vincing in the presentation of the salient points to a jury.
The law firm of Kunkel & Millar. of which Mr. Kunkel is the senior and leading member, is recognized as one of the foremost at the Dauphin county bar. Politically, Mr. Kunkel is a Republican and has always advocated the principles of that party. Io has considered it a duty to study the leading questions of the day, so as to be able to dis- cuss them intelligently; thus, and through his active participation in the contesis of his party, he has come to be recognized as
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a leader both in local and State politics at the present time.
In his home life Mr. Kunkel is most happy. In the fall of 1891 he was married to Miss Mae Minster, of West Philadelphia, and their union has been blessed with three children, three bright little boys: George, Jr., William Minster, and Daniel Herr.
- ALLEMAN, JOHN SYLVANUS, attorney-at- law, son of Samuel and Ann Elizabeth (Holman) Alleman, was born at Harrisburg, Pa., May 22, 1855. He is a descendant of distinguished paternal, as well as maternal, German ancestry.
His great-great-grandfather, John Chris- tian Alleman, came to America with two brothers, Hiram (or Hermon) and Jom Friederich Christian, from Hamburg, on the ship Leathley, Captain John Lickley, and took the oath of allegiance to the then gov- ernment, on September 19, 1753. He settled in what was then Swatara township, Lan- caster county, Pa., and died, July 4, 1790. His tombstone is still to be seen in the Lu- theran churchyard at Middletown, Pa.
His son, John Alleman, great-grandfather of John S., was a distinguished Revolution- ary soldier, in the company of Capt. Joseph Sherer, Fourth battalion, of Lancaster county, commanded by Col. James Burd, and in the New Jersey campaign of the spring and summer of 1776 frequently met the British, particularly in a severe cavalry charge at Amboy. After the independence of the United States had been secured, he settled down to the peace and quiet of agri- cultural pursuits, on a farm located about three miles east of Middletown, having for his neighbors the Crouches, Eshenours and Jordans. He acquired prominence and in- fluence among those sturdy early settlers, and at his decease left an estate valued at nearly $20,000, which, in those times, was no insignificant sum. He was also pos- sessed of lands in Ohio, receiving a patent for the same from President James Madison. He was married to Barbara Eshenour, and died, October 16, 1811, leaving a numerons family, among whom was his son, John Al- leman, a farmer, born October 22, 1793, and who died in 1865. The latter was married, July 16, 1816, to Elizabeth Mockert.
From this marriage sprang Samuel Alle- man, father of John S., who was born Feb- ruary 2, 1818, and who, by close application and assiduous industry, carned for himself a
liberal education at Pennsylvania College, Gettysbing. He was admitted to the prac- tice of law at the bar of Dauphin county, August 19, 1815; to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, June 22, 1848; was deputy secretary of the Commonwealth under Gov. Francis Shunk; moved in 1856 with his family to Snyder county, then newly organ- ized; was superintendent of public schools there in 1862; elected member of the Legis- lature in 1864-65; was collector of internal revenue of the Fourteenth district ; and, after enjoying the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens for many long years, his life-work ended by his death, February 28, 1881.
On May, 18, 1846, he married Ann Eliza- beth Holman, whose ancestry in America dates back to the very dawn of the eigl :- teenth century, when we find them embark- ing for the New World from Amsterdam. She was the oldest child of Samuel Holman, architect and builder, of Harrisburg, Pa., and who was a soldier of the war of 1812, in Capt. Thomas Walker's company, First regi- ment, First brigade, Pennsylvania militia, under command of Col. Maxwell Kennedy, and who, when Harrisburg was threatened in the perilous times of 1863, marched out with the "Old Defenders " for the protection of his home and family. His son, William S. Holman, was in the service of the Federal Government on board the " Monitor," when she foundered off Cape Hatteras, but es- caped with the rest of the crew to the " Iron- sides."
John S. Alleman, when but an infant, was taken to Middleburg, the county seat of Snyder county, spending his boyhood days there, until February, 1865, when his father removed to Selin's Grove, and purchased the old Governor Snyder stone mansion, built about 1817. There he received his primary education at the Missionary Insti- tute, preparing himself for Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, which he entered in the fall of 1872, and from which he gradu- ated with honor in the class of '76, of which he was the class historian, and received the degree of B. A. Three years later the same institution conferred upon him the degree of M. A.
In the autumn of 1876 he began reading law in the offices of his father, and in the fall of 1877 entered the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, at Phila- delphia, having as his preceptor the late
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E. Spencer Miller. He was graduated from the University with the class of 1879, re- ceiving the degree of LL. B .; was admitted to the bar of Philadelphia, June 14, 1879; to the bar of Dauphin county, August 27, 1879; and to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, June 2, 1890.
By strict integrity, and manly indepen- dence, he has built up an extensive practice, frequently filling positions of great trust. He began practice without financial assist- ance, but by frugality and industry has risen to a prominent position in his chosen profession and in the community. He has avoided politics.
October 11, 1882, he was married to Cor- delia I. Domer, daughter of Rev. Samuel Domer, D. D., of Washington, D. C. Mrs. Alleman was born at Selin's Grove, and to them have been born two sons: Coleridge Domer, born October 9, 1SS3, died February 5, 1894; and Roscoe IIarold, born May 3, 1888.
Mr. Alleman is a staunch Republican in politics, casting his first vote for President Rutherford B. Hayes. The family are mem- bers of the Fourth Street Lutheran church, to which his paternal ancestors belonged at its foundation, in 1785; and has represented his church at various synodical conventions, and being sent as a lay delegate from the East Pennsylvania Synod to the General Synod of the Lutheran Church, held at Ha- gerstown, Md., June 5, 1895.
"-NISSLEY, HARMON L., attorney-at-law, was born at Landisville, Lancaster county, Pa., August 1, 1851. He is a son of Samuel E. and Annie (Long) Nissley, the former of Swiss origin, the latter of German. The former died June 25, 1887, the latter No- vember 15, 1863. The father was a promi- nent farmer of Lancaster county, where he spent his life. The parents had ten chil- dren. Those living are: Jonas L., Abra- ham, Samuel, Harmon, Benjamin Franklin and Lincoln, all of whom reside in Lancas- ter excepting Harmon, who lives in Harris- burg, and Lincoln, who lives in Los Angeles, Cal. Harmon received his primary educa- tion in the common schools of Lancaster county, and also attended select schools at Manheim and Lancaster and the Normal School at Millersburg. He is a graduate of the latter. He received his professional training at the Columbia Law School, New York City, graduating with the class of
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