USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. III > Part 2
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And then came the beginning of the end. This literary work finished, the laboratory built, his affairs in good order, Mr. Fritz began to fail. He suffered from recurring attacks of bronchitis, and finally an abscess formed on his chest. The abscess was opened by his physician, Dr. John H. Wil- son, in February, 1912. Mr. Fritz, in his weakness shrank from physical pain ; so the spot was frozen by the application of chlor- ide of ethyl before the knife was applied. When the patient heard the hissing of the gas, he turned languidly in bed towards Dr. Drinker, who stood by him, and said, "Doc- tor, that sound reminds me of my first Bessemer blow !"
moval of pus on his chest, blood-poisoning would set in and death must soon follow ; and Dr. Drinker was appealed to by the family to exert his personal influence as a friend to persuade Mr. Fritz to submit to the operation. In this he was successful ; and the operation was performed April 15, 1912, by Dr. William L. Estes, Mr. Fritz's old and intimate friend, with Dr. Edward Martin, of Philadelphia, as consulting sur- geon, and Dr. John H. Wilson as physician.
At this time Mr. Fritz again gave evi- dence of his characteristic sense of humor under any and all conditions. Every pre- caution was of course taken to ease the patient, and the surgeons arranged to bring from Philadelphia a special operator with apparatus to administer nitrous oxide, be- fore subjecting him to the influence of ether. When Dr. Drinker explained this to him, Mr. Fritz said, "All right, but don't let them pull out any of my teeth"-the joke being that he had not a natural tooth left. This from a man in a state of ex- treme weakness, following weeks of suffer- ing! The operation was highly successful in averting the immediate threatened danger. Mr. Fritz wished to live; and his life was prolonged until February 13, 1913, when he died quietly, without apparent pain, passing away in sleep. His funeral, held at Bethlehem on February 17, was attended by a large concourse of his friends ; and he lies at rest in the beautiful Nisky Hill ceme- tery of his home town, beside his only daughter, who died in childhood, and his be- loved wife. So lived and died a great man -strong, wise, brave, invincible; a good man-simple, generous, tender and true ; a loving husband; a loyal friend; a public- spirited citizen ; a real philanthropist, giving "himself with his gift!" To us who miss and mourn him now, the man shines even more illustrious than the famous engineer.
Mr. Fritz married Ellen W. Maxwell, born in White Marsh, June 8, 1833, died at Bethlehem, January 29, 1908. Their only
In March, 1912, his medical attendants expressed the opinion that unless he would submit to a drastic operation for the re- child, Gertrude, born in 1853. died in 1860.
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On March 28, 1913, the board of direc- tors of the American Institute of Mining Engineers unanimously adopted the follow- ing minutes :
John Fritz, one of the most distinguished of American mechanical and metallurgical engi- neers, won that position by the force of innate genius, indomitable industry, unstained integrity and unfailing sympathy, and generosity towards his fellow-men.
Self-educated in the hard school of practice, he appreciated nevertheless the advantages of technical instruction and discussion, and evinced this appreciation both by his membership and lively interest in this and other similar societies, and by his munificent gifts to engineering educa- tion at Lehigh University, and his long and faithful service as a Trustee of that institution.
As one of the foremost of those American engineers who, through their brilliant inventions and practical skill, developed here the modern iron blast-furnace and rolling-mill, and intro- duced and perfected the Bessemer process and other improvements in the manufacture of steel, Mr. Fritz contributed mightily to the chief de- partments of that industrial progress which characterized the Nineteenth Century.
Proud of his great achievements, we cannot but rejoice over his long and fruitful life, crowned with a peaceful death; but our praise and thanks are mingled with sorrow, as we recall the kindly face which we shall see no more on earth, and the loyal friendship and spontaneous good-will which led the love of his generation, and the reverence of the generation which followed, to regard him universally as "Uncle John Fritz."
CADWALADER, John, Lawyer, Useful Citizen.
A member of the Philadelphia bar since 1864, John Cadwalader in professional and social life enjoys a reputation fairly earned and one not depending on the fame of his distinguished ancestors. Since 1697 the Cadwalader name has been familiar in Pennsylvania history, and in every genera- tion men of eminence in civil life, the pro- fessions, and high in military rank, have contributed to the glory of their State and to the honor of the family name. Wealth, honors and position have been freely show- ered upon them and in the stirring scenes
that attend the birth of a nation all this wealth and prestige was employed to estab- lish its right to exist free and independent. Great as was its early fame the family in succeeding generations have proved no less worthy of the name they bear.
John Cadwalader, of Philadelphia, is of the sixth American generation of a family founded by John Cadwalader, of Wales, who came to Pennsylvania in 1697. He was born in county Merioneth, Wales, about 1677, and at the age of twenty years came to this country, bearing testimony from the Friends of Pembrokeshire that they had known him since his thirteenth year and that he "hath the reputation of an apt scholar and hath attained to as good a degree of learning as any at school." Furthermore they gave testimony that "his demeanor has been sober and innocent." The young man settled on the "Welsh Tract," near Phila- delphia, and on December 26, 1699, married Martha Jones, daughter of Dr. Edward Jones, who came from Wales with the first immigrants from that country in 1682. Dr. Jones married Mary Wynne, daughter of Thomas Wynne, a physician who came with William Penn on the "Welcome." After his marriage, John Cadwalader settled in Philadelphia, where he first was an in- structor, later became a merchant, was elected a member of the common council in 1718, and in 1729 a member of the General Assembly. He died July 23, 1734, leaving a son Thomas to perpetuate the family name-the only son to survive childhood.
Thomas Cadwalader became a noted phy- sician, obtaining his professional education largely in England. He practiced first in Philadelphia, then went to live at Trenton, New Jersey, where in 1746 he became the first burgess under the charter granted by Governor Belcher, of New Jersey. In 1750 he returned to Philadelphia and there rose to eminence in his profession, served in many positions of honor and trust. He was an ardent patriot, and lived an honorable, useful life that terminated November 14,
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1779, at the age of seventy-two years, at his farm "Greenwood," about one mile from Trenton, New Jersey. He is known in history as Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, the "Councillor," having served with Chew and Mifflin as a member of the Provincial Coun- cil from November 2, 1755, until the Revo- lution. He also served as a member of Philadelphia common council, 1751 until 1774. He was one of the original incor- porators of the Philadelphia Library Con- pany, founded in 1731, and was a director in the years 1731-1732-1733-1739-1752- 1769-1773-1774. He married, June 18, 1738, Hannah, daughter of Thomas Lam- bert, of New Jersey. She died in Philadel- phia, in 1786, aged seventy-four years, and was buried in Friends' burying ground at Fifth and Arch streets; Dr. Thomas Cad- walader was buried in Friends' burying ground in Trenton, New Jersey, in which city he had founded a public library. His daughters married distinguished men of their day, except the youngest, Elizabeth, one of the flower girls at Washington's re- ception in Trenton, in 1789, who died un- married ten years after that event, aged twenty-nine years. His sons-John, of further mention, and Lambert-both at- tained distinction in business, military and official life.
General John Cadwalader, eldest son of Dr. Thomas, the Councillor, was a merchant of Philadelphia in company with his brother, the firm being known as John & Lambert Cadwalader. In 1771 he erected a large double house in Second street, below Spruce, with gardens extending to Third street. At the outbreak of the Revolution he was cap- tain of the company of the Philadelphia, an organization familiarly known as the "Silk Stocking Corps," many members of which later 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 Pennsyl- vania troops. He led one of the divisions of Washington's army that crossed the Del-
aware, December 27, 1776, remaining on the Jersey side, fought at Princeton, Janu- ary 3, 1777, and won from General Wash- ington the encomium: "A man of ability, a good disciplinarian, firm in his principles and of intrepid bravery." He declined in 1777 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 Washing- ton's request, he organized the militia of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, joined the army under Washington, fought at Brandy- wine and Germantown as a volunteer, and performed valiant service at the battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. Soon after- ward he fought a duel with General Con- way, whom Washington characterized as a "dangerous incendiary." General Cadwala- der was uninjured, but wounded his ad- versary. In 1779 he succeeded his honored father as trustee of the University of Penn- sylvania, and returned to his home in Mary- land, becoming a member of the Assembly of that State. He died at Shrewsbury, Kent county, Maryland, February 10, 1786, just past his forty-fourth birthday. General John Cadwalader married (first ) Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Lloyd, of Wye House, Talbot county, Maryland, (second) Wil- liamina, daughter of Dr. Phineas Bond, of Philadelphia, and granddaughter of John Moore, judge of the Admiralty in Pennsyl- vania. His daughters by both wives mar- ried men of distinction and rank.
General Thomas Cadwalader, only son of General Jolin Cadwalader to survive infancy, was a child of the second wife, Williamina Bond. His father, a man of great wealth, gave him every advantage of education, and in 1795, he graduated A. B., University of Pennsylvania. He then studied law, was admitted to the bar, but becoming trustee of the Penn and other large estates he withdrew from active prac- tice. In 1799 he served with the cavalry
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troops sent out to quell an insurrection in Pennsylvania, which grew out of resistance to the enforcement of a law levying a tax to defray the charges of the French War. He was a lieutenant colonel of cavalry in the War of 1812, was also in command of the "advanced light brigade," and later major-general, First Division, Pennsylvania Militia. He was solicited by President Monroe to accept the diplomatic appoint- ment of Minister to England, but declined that and other civic positions. He was ap- pointed with General Scott and Colonel (afterwards President) Taylor in 1826 to revise the tactics of the United States Army. He was the author of numerous articles in various journals, and his man- sion at Ninth and Arch streets, Philadel- phia, was the resort of the most accom- plished scholars of the country.
He married, June 25, 1804, Mary, daugh- ter of Colonel Clement Biddle, Assistant Quartermaster-General of the Revolutionary army from Pennsylvania, and United States Marshal. General Cadwalader died Octo- ber 31, 1841, leaving five sons-John, of whom further; 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 in Philadelphia, February 3, 1879; Thomas; Henry, an officer in United States navy ; and William.
Judge John Cadwalader, the third in direct line to bear the name, was the eldest son of General Thomas and Mary ( Biddle) Cadwalader. He was born in Philadelphia, April 1, 1805, died January 26, 1879. He was a graduate of University of Pennsyl- vania, A. B., class of 1821. When sixteen years of age he studied law, and before arriving at legal age, was admitted to the Philadelphia bar. September 20, 1825. He soon after his admission became solicitor for the Bank of the United States, and soon became conspicuous even among the bril- liant men of that day who composed the
Philadelphia bar. He was retained by the government in the famous Blackburne "Cloth Cases," and with Walter Jones and Daniel Webster represented the complain- ants in the Girard Will Case. When twenty- eight years old he was admitted to the Sui- preme Court of the United States, in 1834. From 1833-1853 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 consolidation 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 com- posed of Montgomery county and Kensing- ton. 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. This honorable position he held until his death, a period of twenty-one years. During the Civil War the jurisdic- tion of the court was greatly extended, and afterwards by the Internal Revenue Acts and the Bankrupt Law. In 1870 the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania conferred upon Judge Cadwalader the honorary degree of LL. D. He was a member of the Amer- ican Philosophical Society, elected in 1867; and a Democrat in politics.
He married (first) January 26, 1879, Mary, daughter of Horace and Elizabeth (Cox) Binney, (second) Henrietta Maria, widow of Bloomfield McIlvaine, and daugh- ter of Charles N. Bancker, an eminent mer- chant of Philadelphia. Children: Mary Binney, married William Henry Rawle; Elizabeth Binney, married George Harrison Hare. Children by second wife: Sarah Bancker : Frances, deceased : Thomas, died in childhood : Charles Evert, graduate of University of Pennsylvania, A. B. and A. M .; enlisted in 1861 in First City Troop, afterwards was first lieutenant, 6th Regi-
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ment Pennsylvania Cavalry, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel on the staff of General Meade; Anne, married Rev. Henry J. Rowland; John, of whom further ; George, died young.
John, son of Judge John and Henrietta Maria (Bancker) Cadwalader, was born in Philadelphia, June 27, 1843, and has passed his life principally in the city of his birth. He prepared for college in the city schools, entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduated A. B., class of 1862, received A. M. in course in 1865; received the de- gree of LL. D. in 1912, and is a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1864, and has from that time been actively con- nected with the legal profession, practicing in all State and Federal courts of the dis- trict. He has acquired large financial inter- ests, and is identified with many Philadel- phia institutions, philanthropic, patriotic and social, and from 1889 to 1897 was president of the Trust Company of North America. He is president of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Steamboat Company ; manager and president of Philadelphia Institution for the Blind; served as school director, 1875-1885; was collector of the Port of Philadelphia, 1885-1889, appointed by Pres- ident Cleveland; was jury commissioner, United States Circuit Court; and in all things honorable, upright and honored. Through the distinguished service of his ancestors he gains admission to the patriotic orders, and is president-general of the So- ciety of the War of 1812, and belongs to Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Revolu- tion. He is also a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical Society, and vice-president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- delphia, serving as a member of the council. In political faith he is a Democrat. His clubs are the Metropolitan of Washington, the University of Philadelphia, of which he has been president since 1896; the Ritten- house, Art. Penn and Philadelphia Country.
He married Mary Helen, daughter of Joshua Francis Fisher, and a descendant of Logan Fisher; children: Sophia, Mary Helen, John, Thomas Francis. The family home is No. 1519 Locust street, Philadel- phia.
JOHNSON, Frederick Charles, Physician, Journalist, Litteratenr.
The subject of this sketch, though ac- tively interested in medical science, attained eminence as a journalist. He was of the sixth generation of his family in this coun- try. Thomas, Robert and William Johnson were the progenitors of the American branch.
Robert, who, April 3, 1655, deeded land to his kinsman Thomas (supra), was the an- cestor of those eminent educators and clergymen of the Church of England and United States: Rev. Samuel Johnson, S. T. D., first president of King's College, New York, 1754-63; and Rev. William Samuel Johnson, LL. D., first president of Columbia (formerly King's) College, 1792- 1800, and member of the Continental Con- gress, 1784, etc. Thomas came from Eng- land to New England with the Puritan immigration in a company headed by Eze- kiel Rogers.
William Johnson came from England about 1660, settled at New Haven, Con- necticut, and ten years later became one of the proprietors of Wallingford, and one of the signers of the compact. He married, in 1664, Sarah, daughter of John and Jane (Woolen) Hall, and died in 1716, his will being recorded in New Haven. They had thirteen children.
Rev. Jacob Johnson, grandson of Wil- liam and Sarah (Hall) Johnson, was born April 7, 1713, in Wallingford, and died on March 15, 1797, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsyl- vania. His record of public service was notable. He was a sergeant in the Walling- ford Train Band; deputy in the general court in 1732-33-36; graduate of Yale ; pas-
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tor of Congregational church, Groton, Con- necticut, from 1749 to 1772 ; first pastor of Wilkes-Barre Congregational (afterward Presbyterian) Church from 1772 to 1797. He made missionary excursions to the Six Nations, and preached to the Indians in their own tongue. He wrote the articles of capitulation following the destruction of the Wyoming Valley settlements by the British and Indians in 1778, and was a sturdy and selfsacrificing defender of the Connecticut title throughout the protracted land contest in the Wyoming Valley. Several years be- fore the revolution, at a public banquet dur- ing the treaty conference, he was called upon for an address, and made this pro- phetic response, matching the spirit of the famous words of Patrick Henry in Vir- ginia : "I drink to the health of George III. of Great Britain, comprehending New Eng- land and all the British colonies in North America, and I mean to drink such a health as long as His Royal Majesty shall govern the British and American subjects accord- ing to the great charter of English liberty, and so long as he hears the prayers of his American subjects. But in case His Brit- ish Majesty (which God in great mercy prevent) should proceed contrary to char- ter rights and privileges, and govern us with a rod of iron and the month of cannons, then I should consider it my indispensable duty to join my countrymen in forming a new empire in America." Rev. Jacob Johnson married, at North Groton, Con- necticut, Mary, a daughter of Captain Nathaniel and Mary (Williams) Giddings, of Preston, and they had a number of chil- dren. He was an extensive land and slave owner, and as attested by the foregoing was a man prominent in large affairs.
One of the sons of Jacob Johnson was Jehoida Pitt Johnson. The latter espoused the Connecticut side in the Yankee-Penna- mite struggle. He, with a hundred others, was arrested in Wilkes-Barre by the Penna- mites on the charge of "treason," and sent to jail. He had a large part in the public
affairs of the community. He married Han- nah Frazer, a relative of Sir Simon Frazer, the Scottish chieftain, known in history as Lord Lovat. Her father served with the British against the French before the Amer- ican Revolution, was wounded at Quebec, where he was a sergeant under Wolfe, and was in Colonel Obadiah Gore's regiment of Continentals during the Revolutionary War.
Wesley, son of Jehoida and Hannah (Frazer) Johnson, was educated for the law, and had attained distinction in practice when he abandoned it for a more peaceful mode of life than that of continual litiga- tion. He was one of the originators and leaders in the Wyoming Centennial Cele- bration of 1878; was secretary of the Wy- oming Commemorative Association from its inception to the day of his death, and the "Memorial Volume," compiled by him, is one of the standard works among the annals of Wyoming. He married (first) Cynthia Henrietta, daughter of David Sands and Mary (Tuttle) Green, and (second) Fran- ces Wilson, widow of Frederick McAlpine.
Dr. Frederick Charles Johnson, son of Wesley and Cynthia Henrietta (Green) Johnson, was born in Marquette, Green Lake county, Wisconsin, on March 2, 1853, and died at his home at Orchard Knob Farm, Dallas, Luzerne county, Pennsyl- vania, on March 5, 1913. His earlier educa- tion was secured in the public schools of Wilkes-Barre, and returning to his native State, Wisconsin, he took a partial course in Ripon College, with the class of 1873. Re- turning to Wilkes-Barre in 1871, he had ten years of business training, during which time he developed his taste for newspaper work, contributing to the local papers, and undertaking special correspondence from the coal regions for the "Chicago Tribune." One of these years he spent in Chicago, on "The Tribune" staff.
He was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, class of 1883, and following graduation obtained appointment on exami-
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nation as resident physician in Wilkes- Barre City Hospital. It was while attached as stated that he purchased, with the late Jo- sepli C. Powell, the "Wilkes-Barre Record," then an old established newspaper, and then, as since, a power for good in the community and in the newspaper world. At the time he became a joint owner, the paper had been faring precariously, and Dr. Johnson, with an enthusiasm born of his newspaper in- stinct, threw himself into the task of laying the foundation for a daily newspaper of larger scope and influence. To this great work he gave the best years of his life, the best intelligence of his mind, and the best idealism of his nature. And yet in the midst of such engrossing effort he found time to contribute a remarkable share in the general uplift work of the community.
Dr. Johnson married, at Oshkosh, Wis- consin, on June 25, 1885, Georgia Post, daughter of Joseph H. and Harriet (Green) Post, of Knoxville, Tennessee, and they had: Mrs. Ruth (Johnson) Morgan, Fred- erick Green (Cornell University, 1913), and Margaret. At the first and only re- union of the class of 1883 of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania Medical School, Dr. Johnson prepared the class history, which was afterward published in pamphlet form. Each year he furnished to the Luzerne County Medical Society the vital statistics of Wilkes-Barre. He wrote for the Wy- oming Historical and Geological Society papers on: The Pioneer Physicians of Wy- oming Valley, 1775-1825; Pioneer Women of Wyoming Valley ; Count Zinzendorf and the Moravian Movement in Wyoming Val- ley; Biography of Rev. Jacob Johnson; Memoir of Mrs. Ruth Tripp Ross; Pro- posed Exodus of Wyoming Settlers in 1783; Wallingford (Connecticut) John- sons; The Johnson Family, etc., etc., sev- eral of which have become permanent pub- lished records of the society. He also through a period of years compiled the Wy- oming Historical Record in fourteen vol- umes, a work rich in local history.
The foregoing, and other associations with general enterprises outside his routine, reveal a man of large public impulse, and one whose high intelligence and capacity in achievement made him for years a promi- nent and a controlling personality. He served on the committee appointed by the State Board of Public Charities to inspect the public institutions of Luzerne county. He was one of the prison commissioners of the county ; life member, and for a long time treasurer, of the Historical Society, and at the time of his death historiographer there- of. He outlined in an exhaustive paper read before the Luzerne County Medical Society, the projected enterprise of the free sanitarium for tuberculosis at White Haven, and his paper was used before the Pennsyl- vania Legislature when the question of the initial State appropriation was debated. Dr. Johnson was treasurer of the Wyoming Commemorative Association, and always an active worker: member of the Moravian Historical Society ; Minesink Valley Histor- ical Society ; Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution; New England Society ; Pennsylvania Society ; Westmoreland, Coun- try, Franklin, Automobile and Camera clubs ; American Medical Association; State and County Medical societies ; Society for Pre- vention of Tuberculosis; Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce ; State and National Editorial associations; Pennsylvania For- estry Association; Civil Service Reform Association; Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation (and director) ; Masonic Order, in- cluding Royal Arch Masons, Knights Templar and Nobles of the Mystic Shrine ; St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (and vestry- man), etc.
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