USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. VII > Part 2
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size, executed by F. Wellington Ruck- stuhl, was placed in front of the capitol building, Harrisburg, in 1899. On the front of the monument is the inscription : "John Frederick Hartranft. The hero of Fort Stedman. Born December 16, 1830. Died October 17, 1889." On the northern side : "Colonel 4th Pennsylvania Infantry, April 20, 1861-July 27, 1861. Colonel 5Ist Pennsylvania Infantry, November 16, 1861-July 2, 1864. Brigadier-General United States Volunteers, May 12, 1864- January 15, 1866. Brevetted Major-Gen- eral, March 25, 1865." On the southern side : Commander 3rd Division, 9th Corps, Army of the Potomac, 1864-1865." On the rear, "Auditor-General, May 1, 1866- November 8, 1872. Governor, January 21. 1873-January 18, 1879." He died in Nor- ristown, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1889.
CAMERON, Simon,
Cabinet Official, Diplomatist.
Simon Cameron was born in Donegal, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1799, son of Charles Cameron, whose ancestors of the third generation had im- migrated to Pennsylvania from Scotland. His father, who was a country tailor, had a continual struggle with proverty, and at last his failure in business caused a dispersion of his family.
Simon Cameron, then but nine years of age, was adopted by a physician, whose idea of fitting the boy for a medical career determined him at the age of ten years to apprentice himself to a printer, and after learning the trade he worked as a jour- neyman at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, also at Harrisburg, and in the government printing office at Washington. While employed in the office of the Harrisburg "Republican" he met Samuel D. Ingham, then Secretary of State for Pennsylvania, and owner of the Doylestown "Demo- crat," which had fallen on evil days. He
was invited by Mr. Ingham to undertake the editorship of the paper, and so clever- ly did he fulfill the requirements of the position that the journal was shortly re- stored to popular favor, and he became a popular figure in local political circles. In 1821 he purchased the Harrisburg "Re- publican," which he renamed the "Intel- ligencer." This paper he conducted with great ability, and his bold and vigorous advocacy of high tariff, and of John C. Calhoun as a candidate for the presi- dency, commanded the attention of states- men and politicians everywhere. With increasing fame came increasing profits, and he came to have command of suf- ficient funds to enable him to undertake large business operations, which soon netted him a handsome fortune. He was cashier of a bank, president of two rail- road companies, and Adjutant-General of the State.
In 1845, upon the resignation of James Buchanan as United States Senator, Mr. Cameron was elected to fill the unexpired term, and acted with the Democratic party. He retired from the Senate, March 3, 1849. In 1854, upon the repeal of the Missouri Compromise bill, Mr. Cameron left his party and helped to form the People's party. In 1857 the new party controlled the State Legislature and elect- ed Mr. Cameron to the Senate, to succeed Richard Brodhead. During his second term he took a conspicuous part in the discussion of the vital question of the hour, and he was so pronounced in his advocacy of peace and conciliation that his loyality to the Union was at the time questioned. He was one of the presiden- tial candidates who had a strong support in the convention of 1860, and he failed of securing the nomination of Vice-Presi- dent on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln through a lack of harmony in the Penn- sylvania delegation. Immediately upon Mr. Lincoln's election, Mr. Cameron was
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called to a place in his cabinet, and, re- signing his seat in the Senate, March 4, 1861, became Secretary of War. After the attack upon Fort Sumter, realiz- ing that war was inevitable, Secretary Cameron advocated strenuous war meas- ures, and went so far as to favor a procla- mation of emancipation of all slaves who would desert their masters and enlist in the Union army. In this he stood alone among his associates, and, feeling that his usefulness would be impaired by their op- position, he resigned his portfolio in January, 1862, and was at once appointed by President Lincoln Minister to Russia. In November, 1862, he resigned this office as well, but during the short term of his occupancy he had succeeded in en- listing the friendship of Russia in the Federal cause. He was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention of 1864, and to the Loyalists' Philadelphia Convention of 1866, and he was again returned to the Senate in 1867, succeeding Edgar Cowan. In 1873 he was elected to the Senate for the fourth time. Not being in sympathy with the civil service policy inaugurated by President Hayes, and feeling inade- quate to the undertaking of a conflict of such magnitude at his advanced age, he resigned his seat in 1877, and his son, James Donald Cameron, was at once elected his successor. Simon Cameron's control of his party in his own State was well-nigh absolute, and his consummate ability as a political leader was univer- sally acknowledged. He became known as the "Czar of Pennsylvania politics." He died at his home in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, June 26, 1889.
STEVENS, Thaddeus,
Distinguished Statesman.
Thaddeus Stevens was born in Dan- ville, Vermont, April 4, 1793, son of Joshua (a shoemaker) and Sallie Stevens,
who removed from Methuen, Massachu- setts, about 1786, and settled in Danville. His father died while Thaddeus was a boy, leaving his family in extreme poverty. Thaddeus was sickly and un- fitted for work, and his mother, notwith- standing her poverty, sent him to Pea- cham Academy and the University of Vermont; later he entered Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated in 1814. He removed to Pennsylvania, studied law, supporting himself in the meantime by teaching in an academy in York, and practiced in Gettysburg. He attained high rank as a lawyer, and sup- ported the Anti-Masonic party in 1829.
He was Representative in the Pennsyl- vania Legislature, 1833-35 and 1837-38; and was a member of the State Constitu- tional Convention of 1838, but refused to affix his name to the proposed constitu- tion, objecting to it as constructed on partisan lines. He removed to Lancaster in 1842, and practiced law there, 1842-49. He was a Whig Representative in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second con- gresses, 1849-53; and opposed the com- promise measures advocated by Henry Clay in 1850. He practiced law in Lan- caster, 1853-55, and was a Representative in the Thirty-sixth, Thirty-seventh, Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth and Fortieth congresses, 1859-68. He was one of the foremost advocates of emancipation. As chairman of the committee of ways and means, on July 7. 1861, in order to provide means for carrying on the war for the Union, he procured the passage of a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to borrow $250,000,000; another to ap- propriate $160,000 for the army, and a naval appropriation of $30,000,000. He also advocated the issue of legal tender paper currency, and, in spite of strenuous opposition on the part of the Democratic members, he saw the bill through the House and Senate. On February 22,
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1868, he proposed that "Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be im- peached of high crimes and misdemean- ors in office." The resolution of impeach- ment was passed, February 22, 1868, and he was made chairman of the committee of impeachment.
The honorary degree of LL.D. was con- ferred on him by Jefferson College, Penn- sylvania, in 1849, and by the University of Vermont in 1867. He died in Wash- ington, D. C., August II, 1868, and was buried in the humble cemetery at Lan- caster. His epitaph, prepared by him- self, reads: "I repose in this quiet and secluded spot, not from any natural pref- erence for solitude, but finding other cemeteries limited as to race by charter rules, I have chosen this, that I might illustrate in my death the principle which I advocated through a long life, equality of man before his Creator."
WEST, Benjamin,
Famous Artist.
Benjamin West was born in Spring- field, Chester county, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 10, 1738, son of John and Sarah (Pear- son) West, members of the Society of Friends. He acquired a good education, and displaying a talent for drawing he received aid in pursuing his art studies from Samuel Shoemaker and from a Mr. Pennington, a well-known merchant of Philadelphia. He devoted himself to por- trait painting, and it was not until 1759 that he undertook historical composition.
His first notable canvas, "The Death of Socrates," was painted at the suggestion of William Henry, who recognized the youth's genius, and read to him Plut- arch's account of the philosopher, about whom Benjamin West knew nothing. This composition attracted the attention of the Rev. William Smith, provost of the College of Philadelphia, at whose invita-
tion West went to Philadelphia, where he studied classical literature, and under Dr. Smith received "such a sketch of the taste and character of the spirit of antiquity as would have all the effect of the regular education requisite to a painter." He joined the expedition for the relief of General Braddock in 1755, and on his re- turn painted in Philadelphia, 1756-58, and in New York, 1758-60. He visited Rome, Italy, 1760-63, settling in the latter named year in London, England. His painting, "Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus," for Dr. Drummond, the Archbishop of York, gained for him a presentation to King George III, and sub- sequent paintings by order of the Crown won for him great popularity and favor. He was one of the founders of the Royal Academy in 1768, and in 1792 succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as its president, which post he held until 1815. He de- clined the honor of knighthood tendered him about 1792. In 1780 he projected a series of pictures on the progress of re- vealed religion, to be in four divisions, the antediluvian, the patriarchal, the mo- saical and the prophetical, and to consist of thirty-six subjects. Twenty-eight paintings were completed, when on the illness of the king he was removed from the office of painter to the crown, and suspended work on the series. He later began a new religious series composed of: "Christ Healing the Sick" (1802), which hangs in the Pennsylvania Hospi- tal; "The Descent of the Holy Ghost on Christ at Jordan ;" "The Crucifixion ;" "The Ascension ;" "The Inspiration of St. Peter;" and "Death on the Pale Horse." Among his other important works are: "Cimon and Iphigenia ;" "Angelica and Medora :" "The Parting of Hector and Andromache;" "Return of the Prodigal Son;" "The Departure of Regulus from Rome ;" "The Death of General Wolfe;" "The Death of Epanminondas;" "The
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Death of Chevalier Bayard ;" "Cyrus Lib- erating the Family of the King of Arme- nia ;" "Segestes and his Daughter before Germanicus;" "Edward III. Embracing his Son on the Field of Battle at Cressy ;" "The Installation of the Order of the Garter ;" "The Black Prince Receiving the King of France and his Son;" "Pris- oners at Poictiers ;" "St. George and the Dragon ;" "Queen Phillippa Interceding with Edward for the Burgesses of Ca- lais;" "King Edward Forcing the Pass- age of the Somme;" "King Edward Crowning Sir Eustace de Ribaumont ;" "The Treaty of Penn;" "Battle of La Hogue ;" "Christ Rejected;" and many illustrations of Shakespearian scenes.
His portrait was painted by George H. Harlow and by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and a copy of the latter by Charles R. Leslie, and a portrait by Washington All- ston, are owned by the Boston Athe- naeum. He died in London, March II, 1820, and was buried in St. Paul's Cathe- dral. A commemorative tablet was un- veiled at his birthplace, known as the "West House," in Swarthmore, Pennsyl- vania, in June, 1898. He married, in London, England, in 1765, Elizabeth Shewell.
GIRARD, Stephen, Philanthropist.
Stephen Girard was born in France, near Bordeaux, May 20, 1750, eldest son of Pierre and Anne Maria (Lafargue) Girard. His father was an officer in the navy of France, and in 1744 was knighted by Louis XIV. for bravery at Brest, when France and England were at war.
When about fourteen, Stephen Girard rebelled at the authority of a stepmother, and with 16,000 livres in his pocket was placed as cabin-boy on a merchant ship making voyages to the West Indies. He was promoted to lieutenant and finally
made master of a small vessel trading with New Orleans, of which he soon be- came part owner. He made his residence in Philadelphia in 1776, when the war with Great Britain put a stop to his busi- ness, and he opened a grocery store and liquor business, his customers being largely Continental soldiers. He became a citizen of the Republic, taking the oath of allegiance, October 27, 1778. In 1780 he resumed trade with the West Indies. He obtained $50,000 deposited on his ships by Haytian planters for safekeep- ing during the insurrection on the island, the owners and their families being vic- tims to the wholesale massacre. He in- vested in real estate leases, in the stock of the Bank of the United States, in the bank building, and in the banking busi- ness as successor to the government. He advanced large sums to the government for the purposes of carrying on the War of 1812, and to pay interest on the war debt amounting to $5,000,000. When the new Bank of the United States was established, in 1816, he became a director and its practical manager. At the time of his death his property was estimated at $9,000,000, which entire sum was left to public benefactions in Philadelphia and New Orleans. He gave to the city of Philadelphia thousands of dollars for public improvements, and supported charities and Christian churches, not- withstanding his avowed atheism. In the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 he was un- tiring in his personal care of the sufferers and after helping to organize the Bush Hill Hospital he was its acting superin- tendent for sixty days until a suitable manager could be obtained, and he liber- ally helped to support the families of the fever victims. His will is a most busi- nesslike document, and contains the mi- nutest directions for the disposal of his vast estate. His provision for expending $2,000,000 for the erection of a college
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building for white male orphans, in which no ecclesiastic, missionary or minister of any sect whatever is to be employed or even admitted to the premises as a visitor, was explained by the benefactor as limi- tations "to keep the tender minds of the orphans, who are to derive advantages from this bequest, free from the excite- ment which clashing doctrine and sec- tarian controversy are so apt to produce," awaiting the period of active life to de- termine "such religious tenets as their matured reason may enable them to pre- fer." The Girard estate, as left in trust to the city of Philadelphia, was placed under the management of the board of directors of city trusts of the city of Phil- adelphia, and the estate continued to pro- duce under this management a net annual income which supported the college and various hospitals and other institutions provided for in the will. See "Annual Reports of the Board of Directors, &c.," "Life of Stephen Girard," by Stephen Simpson (1832), and "Girard College and its Founder," by Henry W. Avery (1860). On May 20, 1897, the board of directors of city trusts of Philadelphia unveiled on the west plaza of the city hall a statue of the illustrious benefactor, Stephen Girard, of heroic size, and on January 3. 1898, the semi-centennial of the college was celebrated, the exercises including an ora- tion by Thomas B. Reed, speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Mr. Girard was married in St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church, June 6, 1777, to Mary Lumm, daughter of a shipbuilder of Philadelphia. His wife showed signs of mental derangement in 1785, and was placed in a Pennsylvania hospital, while Mr. Girard went to the Mediterranean. She again entered the hospital in 1790, and while there in 1791 their only child was born and soon after died. She died in 1815, and Mr. Girard never remarried. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
December 26, 1831. He was baptized and confirmed a Roman Catholic and was buried in the graveyard of Holy Trinity (Roman Catholic) Church, Philadelphia, by simple Quaker rites.
SMITH, Lee S.,
Business Man, Distinguished Mason.
Few successful business men, even in Pittsburgh, have as wide and varied a range of interests as Lee S. Smith, presi- dent of the Lee S. Smith & Son Company. Mr. Smith has been officially connected with other important enterprises and is notably distinguished as a representative of the Masonic order.
Lee S. Smith was born April 24, 1844, in Cadiz, Ohio, and is a son of the Rever- end Wesley and Mary Eliza (Ford) Smith, and a brother of the late Bishop Charles W. Smith. Lee S. Smith receiv- ed a public school education and after- ward studied dentistry in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1864. Not immediately did the young man enter upon the practice of his profession. The call to arms sounded in his ears more loudly than the appeal of his chosen work, and in the spring of 1864 he enlisted in the First Battalion, Pennsylvania Artillery, later joining the IOIst Regiment Pennsylvania Infantry, with the rank of sergeant. At the close of the war Mr. Smith did not lose his in- terest in military matters, but aided in re- establishing the National Guard of Penn- sylvania. He was made adjutant-general with the rank of major, in the Second Brigade, National Guard, being afterward elected major of the Fourteenth Brigade, Pennsylvania Infantry.
In January, 1866, Major Smith or- ganized the firm of Lee S. Smith, dealer in dentists' supplies, his establishment being situated on Fourth and Market streets, Pittsburgh. He proved himself possessed of fine judgment and much ex-
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ecutive ability, building up a large busi- ness, and not only doing that, but also creating a demand for his stock, being a pioneer in this field. In the course of time the concern underwent various changes, and in 1890 W. Linford Smith, Mr. Smith's son, became associated with the business. Mr. Smith is now president of the Lee S. Smith & Son Company, his son being vice-president.
In 1908 and 'og Mr. Smith was presi- dent of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Com- merce, and is now a director. He is a Republican, and while living at West Bellevue was a member of its council, but has never yielded to entreaties to accept office in Pittsburgh. He has taken an ac- tive part in civic work, is well known as a lecturer and has made several trips around the world. He is a member of Christ Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has served for years as trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school. In 1866 Mr. Smith was initiated in the Masonic fraternity, and he is now past master of Franklin Lodge, No. 221, Free and Accepted Masons; member of Du- quesne Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; past commander of Allegheny Commandery, No. 35, Knights Templar; past grand commander of the Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania, and deputy grand master of the Grand Encampment of the United States. He is past commander-in-chief of the Pennsylvania Consistory, and in 1890 received the thirty-third degree. In De- cember, 1914, he succeeded automatically, by the death of Colonel Arthur Mac- Arthur, in Troy, New York, to the office of grand master of the Grand Encamp- ment of Knights Templar, thus becoming the head of the Knights Templar in the United States. This has thus far been the crowning honor of Mr. Smith's long and illustrious career in Masonry.
The personality of the man is distinc- tive, and his appearance no less so. White
liair and moustache are the only indica- tions of advancing years, for the face ex- presses all the animation of youth com- bined with the strength of character and steadiness of purpose which we associate with full maturity. His manners are dignified and genial and the number of his friends would defy computation.
Mr. Smith married (first) October 18, 1868, Agnes, daughter of Captain John and Mary Wolf, of Allegheny, now North Side, Pittsburgh, and they became the parents of one son : W. Linford, who was educated at Chester Military Academy and Allegheny College, and married Louise Allen, of Corry, Pennsylvania. They have two children, Lynn Allen and Agnes Louise. October 16, 1905, Mrs. Lee S. Smith passed away, and on De- cember 5, 1912, Mr. Smith married (sec- ond) Mrs. Mary C. (Ashworth) Apple- gate, of Glen Osborne. Mrs. Smith, who was the widow of Samuel C. Applegate, has two sons by her former marriage: Robert Ashworth and George Gorman Applegate.
Mr. Smith, who is devoted to the ties of home and kindred, has been, since the death of his brother, Bishop Smith (who officiated at his second marriage), the eldest of his family. His senior was Mrs. Olivia J. Norcross, who died in De- cember, 1915, wife of Dr. H. Norcross, while those younger than himself are the Reverend Homer J. Smith, of Wyoming. Delaware; Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, wife of W. A. Lewis, a Pittsburgh lawyer ; and Mrs. Mary Virginia Hollister, widow of J. J. Hollister, of Pleasantville, Iowa. Mrs. Hollister has two children.
Often do we hear it said of a man that he has "a well-rounded career." Not in- frequently this is a mere phrase, but in the case of Lee S. Smith it is most emphatic- ally true. As citizen and man of affairs Mr. Smith has touched life at many points and has "touched nothing that he did not adorn."
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McCORMICK, John Shoenberger, Successful Business Man.
The city of Pittsburgh, possessed of great manufacturing plants, and unlimnit- ed opportunities, has formed the back- ground for the life-work of many clear- thinking and far-sighted men. All men are not successful in business no matter · how great their advantages may be. But the man who can forsee the possibilities of a business enterprise, and can make those possibilities grow and expand into realities is the man that every city is fortunate to count among its own. Such a man is John Shoenberger McCormick, who claims Pittsburgh as his home city by right of birth. He is the only son of the late David Cummings and Cecelia (Grant) McCormick. As a boy John S. McCormick attended the Pittsburgh public schools, later completing his edu- cation at Western University of Pennsyl- vania (now University of Pittsburgh) and at Media, Pennsylvania, where he re- mained two years. He then entered the employ of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad, remaining with that company three years. While still a young man he formed, with Robert Anderson, the firm of Anderson & McCormick, which suc- ceeded Robert Wightman in the manu- facture of foundry equipment and sup- plies. The firm of Anderson & McCor- mick continued for five years, when Mr. McCormick took over the entire business, the firm becoming J. S. McCormick & Company, and in 1903 the business was incorporated under the firm name of The J. S. McCormick Company, and the present plant, which has been greatly enlarged, is situated on Twenty-fifth and Railroad streets, Pittsburgh, and the busi- ness has grown to large proportions.
In the exhibits of foundry products, held in various cities by the Foundry and Machine Exhibition Company, to ac-
quaint the public with their uses, no one can be said to take a greater or more helpful interest than Mr. McCormick. He is also connected with various other con- cerns and associations, among them the Central Trust Company, of which he is vice-president. Although never an office- seeker, Mr. McCormick is a staunch ad- herent of the principles of the Republican party. He attends the Episcopal church. Although clearly a business man, Mr. McCormick has found time to become a member of the Duquesne Club and the Pittsburgh Athletic Association. Frater- nally he is identified with the Masons, having attained to the thirty-second de- gree.
On August 23, 1906, Mr. McCormick married Catherine, daughter of C. L. Conkling, of Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. McCormick is active socially and in club life, and is a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. McCor- mick have one child, a daughter named Cecelia.
Much honor is heaped upon the achieve- ments of the men of the past. In the present, when things are constantly being done, people never look for honor, they search rather among the records of the past. Were they to look in their own age, they would find men who are ex- amples of achievement fit to rank with those who have gone before.
McKEE, Frederick W.,
Lawyer, Enterprising Citizen.
In the death of Frederick W. McKee, the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sus- tained a loss which cannot easily be over- estimated. He was a man of versatility, and the field of endeavor to which he di- rected his energy was benefited thereby. In law, as in industrial and civic matters, he held a prominent place, and his coun-
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