Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 2

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Centre County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Clarion County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Clearfield County > Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1 > Part 2

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In 1886 Gen. Beaver was again elected the unanimous choice of his party for the chief mag- istracy of the State, and after an exciting canvass, in which the Prohibition party took an unusually active part, he was elected by a plurality of over 40,000. He was inaugurated January 18, 1887, and it may be truly said that no man ever assumed office with a greater or more sacred sense of the obligation which he then took upon himself. He entered upon his duties with a fearless determi- nation to faithfully execute the laws for the whole people, and his administration certainly proved that no pressure or crisis ever made him swerve from his resolve. His administration was char- acterized by a familiarity with the conditions of society, and a knowledge of the wants of the people, which were acquired by an active partic- ipation in their every-day life, through the varied means offered him for such a purpose. Provision for industrial education, in connection with the common-school system of the State, was strong- ly urged in his inaugural address, and throughout his administration this subject received his care- ful consideration, and was insisted upon on every proper occasion. During his term of office. a commission to consider the whole question of industrial education was, at his suggestion, ap- pointed, and their report on the subject forms one of the most important and valuable contri- butions to the practical solution of this question which has yet appeared. In his first message to the Legislature he called special attention to the necessity for improvement in the roads of the State, and, as essential thereto, a reform in the road laws. The subject was immediately taken up by the governors of many other States, and is now one of the foremost questions demanding a practical and successful solution.

On May 31, 1889, there occurred in the Cone- maugh Valley, on the western slope of the Alle- ghanies, a catastrophe which has probably no

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

parallel, by which some 3,000 lives were lost by reason of extraordinary heavy rains, and the giv- ing away of an immense reservoir in the mount- ains sustained by a dam originally built for supplying the canal system of the State with water, and which had more lately been main- tained for fishing purposes by an outing club. In response to the, appeals made for the be- reaved and destitute people of this region some three millions of dollars poured into the hands of the Executive, which were distributed through a relief commission appointed by him. He also assumed the responsibility of borrowing $400,- 000, which provided, through the agency of the Board of Health, for the removal of the debris in the valley, which, owing to the particular cir- cumstances of the case, seriously endangered the health of the remaining inhabitants. This work required months of unusual labor and most care- ful forethought in plan and execution. Subse- quent events proved that the emergency was wisely and energetically met and mastered. Gov. Beaver was deeply interested, during his official term, in the project to connect the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio river by a ship-canal. He co- operated very zealously with a commission which was appointed by him to inquire as to the expe- diency of such a highway, and in his last message to the legislature gave expression to views which, in the light of subsequent developments in regard to the Canadian canal system, show his grasp of the subject. He said in relation to the subject: "If the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio were connected by a canal such as proposed and shown to be entirely feasible, and if the present canal from Albany to Buffalo were enlarged so as to admit vessels of the same size, these links would secure a chain of inter-waterway commu- nication between New York and New Orleans which would be invaluable for commercial pur- poses, and in time of war would furnish an en- tirely safe means of communication between these important termini and all other interior points. It would, in addition, give us control for defensive purposes of our lake front, which we do not now have, and which it is doubtful whether we can secure in any other way under present treaty stipulations."

His was a practical business administration without any effort at show, but with an earnest attempt to secure results calculated to advance the welfare of the people. Rev. Dr. Keady, of Alabama, who lost an arm in the Confederate service, and who is a warm personal friend of Gen. Beaver, at a meeting of their college class in 1891, thus summed up his administration, "in the words of one who watched his course

closely: 'His administration was high-toned, conscientious, diligent, and clean, without even the shadow of a suggestion of scandal or of sub- jection to improper influences. He was consid- erate of all legitimate interests, scrupulous in his selections for appointment to office, and un- flinching in his exercise of the veto power when- ever his judgment so directed, even in the case of measures supported by his best personal friends. His career has indeed furnished a true and honorable type of the American citizen and public official.'

In the attempt to reorganize the militia of the State of Pennsylvania after the war, Gen. Beaver was appointed a major-general by Gov. Geary, and took a prominent part in securing by legislation and practical effort such reorganiza- tion. It required great labor and persistence. He with a-few others, however, including Gen. Hartranft, who was afterward elected governor, and other general officers, gave much time and effort, and finally succeeded in organizing the Na- tional Guard of Pennsylvania. Gen. Beaver was continually in service, either as brigadier-general or major-general, until the election of 1886, when he became ex-officio commander-in-chief, and appeared at the head of the Guard at the Constitutional Centennial Celebration in 1887, in Philadelphia, and at the celebration of the Centennial of Washington's Inauguration in 1889 in New York. He was thus, either as brigade or division commander or as the commander-in- chief, connected with the National Guard of Pennsylvania for over twenty years, and is now on the honorably retired list, with the rank of major-general. Upon his return to private life he again resumed the practice of law with his former law partners, J. W. Gephart and Jno. M. Dale. Mr. Gephart retiring from the firm in 1893, the practice was continued for a time by Beaver & Dale, until the Governor retired from active practice. He was for several years pres- ident of the Blubaker Coal Co., which is the owner of a large and valuable body of bituminous coal lands in Cambria county, Penn., and which has had a phenomenal growth and development. He is specially proud of his State and her history. and is an earnest and efficient advocate of any and all improvements tending to advance her in- terests and the welfare of her people. He has for many years taken great interest in the Penn- sylvania State College, has been a member of its board of trustees for nearly twenty-five years, and is chairman of the executive committee which has practical direction of its affairs. He has been largely instrumental in aiding in the wonderful development of this institution, which ranks sec-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ond to none in laying broad and deep founda- tions upon which a great industrial university is to be built. He has been a member of the board of trustees of Washington and Jefferson College -his alma mater-and of Lincoln University, in Chester county, Penn., an institution for the education of colored young men. He has also been president of the Alumni Association of Washington and Jefferson College for a number of years. In college he was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, and he is also a mem- ber of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 1889 Dickinson College, of Carlisle, Penn., and Han- over College, of Indiana, both conferred upon him the honorary literary degree of LL. D.

The General possesses a large and valuable library, and makes a specialty of collecting books and data of all kinds relating to the war. He was selected to act as grand marshal of the ceremonies at Washington in connection with the inauguration of Gen. Benjamin Harrison as President of the United States. Like most other great men who passed through the war, he is strongly in favor of burying all sectional ani- mosity connected with it, and in his address of welcome at Gettysburg, in 1888, by the Army of the Potomac, to the Confederate soldiers, said, among other patriotic and appropriate remarks:

I have often busied myself in thought and have some- times spoken on some phases of the question, "Do the results of the war pay for its cost?" It is difficult for us to look at your side of that question. It was a great price that we paid on both sides for that decision. Think of the blood; think of the tears; think of the treasure; think of the prop- erty; look at the graves in yonder cemetery; think of the scene of the conflict. Oh, what a cost! and yet, my country- men, think of the result. Think of the new birth of freedom; think of the new hopes and the new aspirations for the future; think of the career which opens up before us as we face the future; think of the generations to come; think of the herit- age we are preparing for them; think of the great settlement of great questions settled, and only to be settled, by the sword; think of the saving of blood and of tears, and of treasure, because we took up the sword, and did not leave it for other generations who were to come after us, when feel- ing would be intensified, when greater numbers would be involved, and when the conflict would have been more pro- longed and more deadly. The finite mind loses itself in contemplation of these questions. We can bow to the de- cision; and I think we are learning to say more and more, as the days go by that, great as was the cost, infinite as was the price, the result pays -- pays now and will pay much more in the future. I cannot particularize as to the questions which we face-the great questions of public policy which we must settle in this generation. I see a grand future for my coun- try. Do I say " my country?" Your country -our country, North and South. I see a great development of her material resources; I see a grand upbuilding of her intellectual power; I see a broad extension of her influence among the nations of the earth; } see her glorious fag floating at the topmast in every harbor of the world; I see the principles upon which she is founded, extending and deepening and widening for the benefit of mankind; I see the glorious Chris- tanity which underlies and characterizes her civilization, car- ried by human lipsof her commissioning throughout the world, for the healing of nations. And. as this vision arises, the ques- tion is not " What of the past? " but " What of the future? "

How shall we meet its responsibilities? How shall we an- swer its demands? How shall we rise to the heights of its great possibilities? O, my countrymen of the Gray and of the Blue, these are the questions about which we should be concerned. And because the consideration of these ques- tions is pressing and imminent, we who wore the Blue have invited you men who wore the Gray, to join us here on this historic field. We welcome you because we need you; we welcome you because you need us; we welcome you because we together must enter in and possess this future, and trans- mit this heritage to the oncoming generations. Are we ready? If so, "Let the dead past bury its dead."

In July, 1895, Gov. Beaver was appointed Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, which had been authorized by an Act of the Leg- islature then lately passed. He was subsequently nominated by the State Republican Convention for the full term of ten years from January, 1896, and was elected at the general election in No- vember which followed. Judge Beaver at his home is looked upon as a most exemplary citizen and no one takes a deeper interest in the affairs of his home town. Some five years ago he was elected by a handsome majority at the borough election as one of the councilmen of the borough, and was one of the most active workers in that body. He is a bright example for any young man. He is the embodiment of Christian cour- age, of all that goes to make a true and pure life. His time, his talents, his money, have been sac- rificed for the good of his country, his State and his home community. Still in the strength of a noble manhood, with a will to work, and intelli- gence to direct, he will continue to fill the same position of usefulness while he lives. When the true worth of this illustrious citizen is fully ap- preciated, no citizen in the history of this Com- monwealth will occupy a more exalted position in the annals of the State than Ex-Governor and General and Judge James A. Beaver.

On December 26, 1865, Judge Beaver was united in marriage to Miss Mary Allison McAllis- ter, daughter of the late Hon. H. N. McAllister, of Bellefonte. She is a lady of fine culture and education, and an air of refinement and taste surrounds her home. An enthusiastic American, she is proud of her soldier husband and his rec- ord, and she has the supreme satisfaction of knowing that she has proved herself a worthy helpmeet to him. They have two sons living- Gilbert Addams and Thomas, both bright and talented young men, who give promise of useful and helpful lives. A third son, Hugh McAllister, died August 2, 1897. He was a very remarkable young man, and although only in his twenty-fifth year had accomplished more.in influencing others toward right living than often falls to the lot of much older men. His untimely death was uni- versally mourned in his home community, where he was greatly esteemed and beloved.

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

S ENATOR HENRY PETRIKIN, of Belle- fonte, Centre county, died at the "Merchants Hotel" in Philadelphia, November S, 1849. He was the first white child born in Bellefonte, in the year 1798, a printer by profession, and for many years editor of the Bellefonte Patriot. He was a member of the House in 1828-30, State Senator in 1826 for Judge Burnside's unexpired term, and Senator in 1831-35. He was Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth from 1839-42, and from 1845-48. At the close of his life he was superintendent of the railroad around the Inclined Plane. He was buried at Harrisburg, according to his own request.

ON. JOHN HOLDEN ORVIS, who died at his home in Bellefonte on November 6, 1893, was one of the town's most prominent and distinguished citizens. He was descended from Puritan ancestry upon both his father's and his mother's side, the original ancestor of the Orvis family being among the emigrants in the second vessel that landed on the shores of New England in 1653. The family subsequently re- moved to Connecticut.

Jesse Orvis (1), many years before the Re- volution, removed from Connecticut to the State of New York. Several of his sons served in the armies of the United States in the Revolution. Jesse Orvis (2), the youngest son, born in 1774, married Susan Holden, and removed with his family to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, in 1806. Prior to this, Jesse Orvis (3), their third son, was born April 4. 1804. Jesse Orvis (3) married Elizabeth Rowley, the seventh child of Dr. Reuben Rowley, who served with personal and professional credit in the Revolutionary army as a surgeon. The Doctor's home during the war, and for some years subsequently, was in the pres- ent State of Vermont. Having married Susan Campbell, he removed, in 1803, from Vermont, to the vicinity of Albra, Bradford Co., Penn. Dr. Rowley died July 6, 1834, in his eighty- third year; and his wife on February 13. 1840, in her eighty-first year.

The children of Jesse Orvis (3) and wife were: Rev. Edward Everett Orvis, a distinguished divine in the Christian Church; Susan, married to Samuel Gillette; Lydia, married to Francis Warner: Irene, married to Victor Gillette: Jolin Holden, subject of this sketch; Jesse Kilburn; Augusta, married to Nathan McCloskey: and Sam- uel, who died in childhood. The mother, Eliza- beth, died March 2, 1842, a victim of an epi- demic, and Jesse Orvis (3), in 1844, married El- mira . Austin. Prior to 1850 he lost his property

in Tioga connty by reason of some defect in the original title. Impoverished and somewhat dis- heartened by this event he, in 1853, removed with his second wife and their children to Harris- ville, Wis., where he resided until his death in 1881, when he was aged seventy-eight.

John Holden Orvis was born in Sullivan, Tioga .Co., Penn. Owing to his mother's un- timely death, followed by the financial misfortunes of his father, he was forced at an early age to be- gin his own support. While yet a boy of twelve years, he came to reside in Howard, Centre county, with his half-brother, Orrin T. Noble; attended the common schools and at the early age of fifteen years became a school teacher in Curtin township, and as such assisted in the or- ganization of the first teachers' institute of the county, at Oak Hall, October 1, 1850. In 1851 he went to Baltimore, and there learned the art of printing in the office of R. J. Thachett. From thence he went to Chester county, Penn., where he worked at his trade near New London, and attended a term at the New London Acad- emy. Returning to Centre county, he followed his trade of printing, also teaching school, notably one term, 1853-54, at Rock Hill school house, in Harris township. Just before this he took charge of an engineer corps for the purpose of running an experimental railroad line for the P. & E. R. R. west through the Brush Valley narrows into Centre county past the villages of Rebersburg. Centre Hall and Oak Hall, and ending near the present site of the Pennsylvania State College. This he did to the satisfaction of his employers, but the line was never adopted. It is said that this was the first railroad survey in Centre county. In public schools he was noted for his infallibility as a speller, and was the wonder of his school- mates in mental aritlimetic. In his academic course of one month at a little academy in Ches- ter county, he began algebra, then to him an unknown science, and passing rapidly two classes, finished the higher algebra with the graduating class at the end of four weeks. About the same time he recited the nine books of geometry in nine lessons, concluding in so incredibly a short period of time the work of several years in the ordinary academic training of boys. He always intended to make the law his profession, and when nineteen years old arranged to read under the tutorship of Nathan L. Atwood, of Lock Haven. He was born a lawyer. Every instinct of his nature led him to it: during his preparation he drank deeply from the well-springs of the En- glish common law; Coke was an especially fav- orite, and he familiarized himself with the lead- ing cases and decisions of the great chancellors

Inv. 26. Orvis

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

and judges of the English courts. He also thoroughly acquainted himself with the intrica- cies of special pleading and of technical practice, so that when he was admitted to the Bar in February, 1856, then just of age, he was grounded in all the general principles of the common law. As soon as admitted, he mapped out and entered upon a wide range of legal, political, historical and forensic literature. His memory was so re- markable that he could repeat long poems, such as "Lalla Rookh", or the "Lady of the Lake". His voluminous reading was done in the early years of his married life. So intense was his application to his books that at one time he al- most lost his eyesight; this happened particularly from his reading aloud to his young wife the five volumes of Macaulay's "England" in four weeks time. So retentive was his memory that what he had read in early years became part of his mental self, and he retained the power of apt quotation from the masters of English literature, that, while rarely indulged in, always surprised his audience.

At the time of his admission the Clinton County Bar was composed mostly of men not far advanced in life, and he at once took a leading position among them. He read deeply and care- fully the laws of the State, for the purpose of familiarizing himself with the lines of decisions in the Pennsylvania courts. In this he was so successful that in later years no leading case or general principle laid down in Pennsylvania could be sprung upon him as a surprise. So complete was his work in this direction that, when ques- tioned upon it by a brother lawyer within a year before his death, he stated that "he believed he could truthfully say, and without egotism, that he was acquainted with all the leading legal principles laid down and reported by the Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania from the beginning of the Commonwealth to the present time. Yet he was not so engrossed in the law but that he did not deeply interest himself in the political wel- fare of his country. His family had been Dem- ocratic from the time of Jefferson. He there- fore naturally identified himself with the great party, and just as naturally took a prominent part in shaping its councils in the county of Clinton. During the intense agitation preced- ing the war of the Rebellion he took a conserva- tive view of the Calhoun doctrine, and advocated the rights of the States as opposed to the ex- treme views of the opposite party. While doing this, he did not sympathize with armed rebellion. When, in 1861, President Lincoln made his his- toric call for the three-months' men, John Hol- den Orvis at once responded, leaving his prac-

tice and his family, and enlisted as a private soldier in Capt. Jarret's company raised in Lock Haven. This company was attached to the 11th P. V. I., and at once went to the front. Mr. Orvis was engaged in the battle of Falling Wa- ters, the first -of the bloody drama that followed, and by his side was killed the first Union soldier in actual fight. As his company was held in re- serve a few miles away from the battle of Bull Run, he was saved from sharing in the doubtful honor as well as danger of that great defeat. He was a good soldier, and performed good serv- ice on the Potomac and in the vicinity of Mar- tinsburg, Va. Unfortunately, from exposure to the fierce heat of the early summer, he received a sun-stroke that for a time rendered him unfit for service. He returned home at the end of his service in the uniform of a lieutenant, and held a promotion to a captaincy. He resumed his practice at Lock Haven, and in December, 1862, removed his family to Bellefonte. At the first court in December he took charge of twenty-five cases and won twenty-four, losing only one. The great ability with which he conducted the cases, and the remarkable success that crowned his efforts, placed him at the head of the Bar, where he had but one rival, the late Hon H. N. McAllister. Mr. Orvis at once formed a part- nership with the Hon. C. T. Alexander, subse- quently State senator from the district-a part- nership that remained undisturbed until the elevation of Mr. Orvis to the Bench. Before the law firm was dissolved, it was enlarged by the addition of Mr. C. M. Bower.

Being an ardent Democrat, and finding the county in the hands of Republican office holders, he earnestly threw himself into the work of re- forming and reviving the Democratic party. Be- tween the terms of court he zealously advocated the principles of his party in every village of the county, and demonstrated his powers as a polit- ical organizer by at once changing the Democratic minority to a strong and unfailing majority. He was the author of the rules which govern the party organization to the present time. It was his leadership, zeal and service that, more than other causes, saved the county to his party. In 1872 he was unanimously nominated by his party to the State Legislature, and that fall was elected by a flattering and decisive majority; this election permanently settled the numerical supremacy of his party in Centre county. As a member of the Legislature he immediately rose to the front. His party instinctively gave him the leadership on the floor. The State administration, though of opposite party affiliation, consulted with him upon all proposed important legislation of a non-

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

partisan character, and in fact entrusted him with the introduction and conduct of most important bills. His work in the committee-room and on the floor became so great that he was compelled to employ a private secretary, and pay him a salary equal to his own as a legislator, so that he actually served the people without compensation and at his own expense. As his term of office immediately preceded the adoption of the new constitution, that has lopped off much of legis- lative abuse and corruption, he was necessarily thrown in opposition to a mass of corrupt and iniquitous bills mostly of a private nature, now fortunately no longer possible. With the alert- ness of a lynx he detected every job, and danger- ously corrupt "rider," and with the boldness of a lion opposed and exposed them in the House. In the midst of unusual legislative corruption he commanded the respect of his compeers, and came out of his term without a suspicion on the part of his enemies. In 1873 he was re-nomi- nated and re-elected by a phenomenal majority. He received the compliment of his party's nomi- nation for the speakership, and was the acknowl- edged Democratic leader on all partisan questions and the acknowledged leader of the House upon all non-partisan ones. During this session he was more than usually active in attacking and pun- ishing bribery in the "lobby" and the "house," exertions which lead the impeachment and expul- sion of the most guilty.

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Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania : including the counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion, Pt. 1, Part 2

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1358

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1358