USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Volume I > Part 25
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of Plymouth township. She survived him until November 21, 1846.
The Dickinson ancestry is traced to Ivar, general to Halidan Herbein, king of Norway, in the year 700. His descen- dant, Gaultier or Walter De Caen, was with his kinsman, William the Conqueror, when he invaded England in 1066. From him sprang John De Kenyon, clerk in chancery during the reign of Edward I. From John sprang Hugh Dickinson, of Kenson Manor, near Leeds, 1422-1473. In lineal descent from Hugh was John Dickinson, born 1624, who came to Vir- ginia in 1654, subsequently moving to North Point, Maryland, thence to Talbot county, Maryland, where he owned three hundred acres of land. His son William, born 1669, married, in 1690, Saralı Harri- son, and moved to Darby, Pennsylvania, the same year. In 1703 he came to Rad- nor, later purchasing a large tract of land in Plymouth township, Montgomery county, where he lived until death. Joshua, born 1699, his fifth child, married Elizabeth Morris, and had a son Joseph, born 1729, married Hannah Wright. Their fourth child, Hannah, married Jo- seph Corson.
Dr. Hiram Corson, ninth child and sixth son of Joseph and Hannah (Dickin- son) Corson, was born in Hickorytown, Plymouth township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1804, died at Maple Hill, his residence during nearly his entire adult life, March 4, 1896. In late life Dr. Corson wrote a history of the Corson family, from which the fore- going has been largely drawn. In the following pages he tells in part his own story :
"My mother died when I was six years of age, but I received almost a mother's care from my sisters Mary and Sarah. My early education was received at the Friends' school at Plymouth Meeting, under Joseph Foulke, a minister in the Friends' Meeting at that place; later with my brother, Alan W. Corson,
who was talented in mathematics and the natural sciences; and finally, when nearing manhood, at the Friends' Select School in Philadelphia, under Benjamin Moore. After leaving school I was engaged in my father's store at Hickorytown until May 9, 1826, when I entered as a student of medicine in the office of Dr. Richard D. Corson (his consin) at New Hope, Bucks county. The following winter I attended lectures at the medical de- partment of the University of Pennsylvania. I graduated in the spring of 1828. After a few weeks' rest at home I was invited by my father's family physician to join him in the practice of medicine. Dr. Leedom was well advanced in years and desired to be relieved of some of the arduous labors of his profes- sion. After a three months' trial, the idea of a partnership was abandoned, but, Dr. Leedom desiring me to remain in the neigh- borhood, I did so, and was soon in posses- sion of a good practice, extending over a large extent of country. Light carriages were not then much used, physicians making their journeys mostly on horseback. The Schuyl- kill river had no bridges at Conshohocken nor at Spring Mill, but there was a Shackley ferry boat at the latter place. At Consho- hocken the river had to be forded, and some- times, when it was swollen with freshets, it was a very hazardous undertaking; so too, the Wissahickon had to be crossed, and often with great risk of life. In 1832 the Asiatic cholera made its appearance in this country, first being observed in Quebec. When it reached Philadelphia, July 5, 1832, I felt it to be my duty to my patients to visit the hospitals and learn what I could of the disease and its treatment. It was deemed by my friends a hazardous thing to do, but I went and saw the patients, and felt well repaid for my visit in the personal inspection I had of the terrible disease. In a week from that time the epidemic reached Conshohocken, and in a most violent form. For many nights in suc- cession I was at the bedside of the sufferers, nearly all of whom found relief only in death (This was also true of the cases in the two improvised hospitals in Philadelphia under the charge of Drs. Joseph Parrish and Samuel Jackson). Scenes of suffering such as I wit- nessed at that time can never be forgotten, but remain in perfect clearness as long as memory lasts. On the 26th day of December, in the year 1833, I married Ann Jones Foulke, a daughter of Edward and Tacy Jones (Foulke) of Gwynedd township, Montgomery
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county, Pennsylvania. We were married in Philadelphia, by Mayor Joseph Watrous, and soon afterward began our married life in the house which I had built during the preceding summer and fall, situated a short distance from Plymouth Meeting. There we lived for fifty-six years, when death came to my wife, leaving me to make the rest of life's journey without her comfort, sympathy and support, upon which I had placed the greatest reliance. 1 may say of her that she was a woman of the purest character, kind, gentle, and sweet in disposition; seldom has fate given to hus- band and children a more lovable and more loving wife and mother. Her nine chil- dren brought up under her care and wise instruction, idolized her, and to her I always turned for counsel in many impor- tant incidents of my professional life. When- ever I prepared a paper for publication, I invariably read it to her before sending it to the publishers, and none was ever sent without her approval. No home was ever blessed with a wife and mother more devoted to the happiness of the family. She died on the 25th of June, 1888, and was buried in the beautiful cemetery at North Laurel Hill.
"I still live in the home in which our mar- ried life was commenced and completed, and the place to which I long ago gave the name of "Maple Hill" (on account of the large num- ber of maple trees, most of them planted by myself about the lawn), has been dear to me these years; and now, as my life's pilgrimage draws to a close, I look upon it with still more tender affection and sweeter memories. My life has been a busy one, devoted mainly to my profession, yet with a good share of my energies given to the interest of public morals and of human rights and justice. My professional experience covers a period of about sixty years, from 1828 to 1888, at which last named date 1 retired from active practice. During that long period 1 contributed to the literature of the medical profession, through various medical journals, the "Transactions of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society" and the "Transactions of the Ninth International Medical Congress," about sixty-eight medical papers and two important pamphlets, the one a "History of the Long Waged Struggle for the Recognition of Women Physicians," the other on "Procuring a Law to have boards of trustees of all Hospitals owned by the State to appoint women physicians to have the ex- clusive medical control of the female insane in those hospitals." This last named pamph-
let contained about fifty pages. In conjunc- tion with the faculty of the Woman's Medical College, I had one thousand copies of it printed and distributed. In addition to the above, papers on special diseases and sub- jects, reviews and criticisms of papers pub- lished by others, were frequently given to the medical public. That many of my views, so greatly at variance with those long held, were strongly opposed, is admitted, especially so was the innovation introduced, by giving to children, ill with the measles, freely of cold water as a remedy-a thing unheard of be- fore that time (1829), yet as time rolled on and the great value of the cooling treatment was shown in that and in other febrile af- fections, denunciations of it were allayed, and now (1895) the cooling treatment which I so strongly advocated is universally used among enlightened physicians. But faithful and con- tinuous as were my labors as a physician, never in a single instance in the sixty years, was I failing to give as prompt attention to the calls of the poorest as to those of the richest. I do not regard those labors as the great work of my life. My efforts, successful ones, to have women physicians recognized by the medical profession, and to procure a law to have the female insane in Pensylvania to be cared for medically and otherwise by fe- male physicians, I regard as my great work. 1 was fifty-six years old when 1 began my op- position to the doings of the Philadelphia County Medical Society against medical women and the Woman's Medical College; sixty-seven when the embittered struggle for the recognition of female physicians was accomplished; seventy-two years old when I began my efforts to procure the law to have only women physicians to have medical care of the insane of their own sex in our State Hospitals; and seventy-five when that law was procured. The struggle was carried on with intense earnestness and conscientiousness dur- ing these many years, yet the very men, many of the most eminent in the State, who so ear- nestly opposed the so-called reform after the battle was over, not only acquiesced in the decision, but joined in doing honor to me. In 1883 twelve leading male physicians and twelve women, the faculty of the Woman's Medical College, joined hands in giving a reception to me at the Bellevue Hospital, Philadelphia, during the time of the State Medical Society's meeting, which in that year was held in Philadelphia. The reception in every way was a great success; hundreds of
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the profession were present. I was in my Association of Obstreticians and Gynecol- seventy-ninth year, and still in active prac- ogists, 1894. tice."
The positions held by Dr. Corson and the honors received are here tabulated : Graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, 1828; elected junior member of the Philadelphia County Medi- cal Society, 1828; founded and became a member of Montgomery County Medical Society, 1847; became a member of the Medical Society of the State of Pennsyl- vania, 1848; elected president of the Montgomery County Medical Society, 1849; elected president of the Pennsyl- vania State Medical Society, 1853 ; elected corresponding member of the Page Liter- ary Society of Millersville, Pennsylvania, 1858; became a member of the American Medical Association, 1862; elected cor- responding member of Meigs and Mason Academy of Medicine of Middleport, Ohio, 1873; elected associate member of Philadelphia Obstetrical Society, 1874; elected associate fellow of College of Phy- sicians of Philadelphia, 1876, (this honor was greatly appreciated, as only residents of the city can become fellows, and there can be but thirty associate fellows in the United States, and only twenty abroad) ; elected life member of the Alumni Asso- ciation, University of Pennsylvania, 1879, vice-president, 1894; elected honorary member of Harrisburg Pathological Soci- ety, 1881 ; elected member of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1884; appointed trustee of Insane Hospital at Harrisburg, by Governor Hartranft, 1877, reappointed by Governor Hartranft and Governor Hoyt, 1882; appointed by Board of Pub- lic Charity, official visitor to Montgomery Jail and Almshouse, and after many years' service was in 1884 appointed to the same office in the great Southeastern Hospital for the Insane at Norristown, but on ac- count of advanced age declined to accept the new appointment and resigned the old; elected honorary member of National
The following testimonial from the Woman's Medical College of Phila- delphia, dated January 26, 1881, signed by the chairman of the committee, Frances Emily White, and transmitted to Dr. Corson under the signature of the dean, Rachel Bodley, was one of his most cherished possessions : "The Faculty of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, believing that the present useful and honorable position of women physicians is mainly due to the disinterested persistent and energetic ef- forts of Dr. Hiram Corson, of Plymouth Meeting, desires to convey to Dr. Corson, with mutual congratulations, their hearty thanks and expressions of highest es- teem."
For over half a century Dr. Corson was the recognized leader of thought in the community in which he lived, and "ex- emplar of the highest type." He was from youth an earnest and active oppo- nent of human slavery, and his home at Maple Hill was a well known station on the "underground railroad." At his death, leading papers and in adjoining counties published extended and lauda- tory sketches of his life and work, and beautiful editorial comments on his life and character. The Montgomery Medi- cal Society, of which he was founder, president and always an active member, held a special meeting, at which resolu- tions of condolence and respect were passed and eulogies delivered. A memo- rial meeting was held in the court house at Morristown, May 22, 1896, when ad- dresses were delivered by many promi- nent men on the life and character of Dr. Corson. His funeral was held on Mon- day, March 9, 1896, and with one or two exceptions was the largest ever held in Montgomery county. From far and near came his friends to have a parting look upon the face of their translated friend.
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Peorgell Conarroz
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There were beautiful tributes to his mem- ory from several friends, and the body was borne to its final resting place in Laurel Hill Cemetery. There the "good Doctor" rests-his ninety years on this earth well accounted for; his memory a rich heritage to his children; his life an inspiration to every reader.
Two of his sons adopted the medical profession. The eldest, Dr. Edward Foulke Corson, was a surgeon in the United States Navy during the Civil War. The second son, Dr. Joseph K. Corson, was a surgeon in the United States Army during the Civil War, then in practice with his father until 1867, then enlisted in the United States regular army as surgeon, serving thirty years until 1897, when he retired. The third son, Charles Follen Corson, was an emi- nent lawyer of the Philadelphia bar until his deathı.
The ancestry of Ann J. Foulke Corson, wife of Dr. Hiram Corson and mother of Mrs. Susan Foulke Corson Lukens, traces to Edward Foulke, who came to Pennsylvania from the parish of Lland- derfel, Wales, in 1693. His ancestry has been traced by means of Welsh records and other sources of information through sixteen generations to Colwyn ap Mor- rerddig, King of Gwyredd. Edward Foulke married, in Wales, Eleanor, daughter of Hugh ap Cadwallader ap Rhys, of the parish Skyter, Derbighshire. Their eldest child, Thomas, born in Wales, married, in 1706, Gwen, daughter of David Evans, of Radnor, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. Their second child, William, born 1708, married Han- nah Jones, August 15, 1734. Their fifth child, Amos, born 1740, married 1778, Hannah, daughter of Owen Jones, of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Their sec- ond child, Edward Foulke, born Novem- ber 17, 1784, married, December 11, 1810, Tacy Jones. The eldest of their twelve children, Ann Jones Foulke, born Septem-
ber 15, 1811, married, December 26, 1853, Dr. Hiram Corson. She was of the twen- ty-first recorded generation of the Foulkes in Wales and America.
CONARROE, George Mecum,
Lawyer.
Among the eminent lawyers of the last half a century that have practiced at the Philadelphia bar, was Thomas Dunlap, also for several years president of the Bank of the United States, and his son- in-law, George M. Conarroe, husband of Nannie D., youngest daughter of Thomas and Anne (Wilkinson) Biddle, and grand- daughter of Colonel Clement and Rebekah (Cornell) Biddle. Colonel Clement Biddle was an officer of the Revolution, and a descendant of William Biddle, pioneer ancestor of the Biddle family of Philadelphia. Rebekah, his wife, was the only daughter of Gideon Cornell, Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice of Rhode Island at the time of his death, 1765.
George M. Canarroe was a descendant of Luigi Cornaro, a noble Venetian, de- scended from one of the illustrious famil- ies of Venice, who died at Padua in 1565, aged about one hundred years. Luigi Cornaro, at the age of eighty years, pub- lished a book "The Advantages of Tem- perance," in the Italian language, that was translated into Latin and later into English by Timothy Smith, an apothecary of London, and published in that city in 1743. An original copy of this quaint old work can be found in the Philadelphia Library.
George M. Conarroe, son of George W. Conarroe, an artist of prominence, was born in Philadelphia, November 9, 1831. After completing his classical education he chose the legal profession, preparing under the guidance of Charles E. Lex, and was admitted to the Philadelphia bar May 14, 1853. He rose rapidly in his pro-
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fession and continued in active practice be done, he was determined of purpose and would not be turned aside.
until several years prior to his death, when he retired to his beautiful estate at York, Maine, high on the bold rocks of the coast overlooking the sea. There he spent in contentment, peace and deep enjoyment, his latter years, and died August 25, 1896. Considered as a lawyer, he had no superiors in his special line of practice-real estate and the adminis- tration of trusts. While a student he was careful and accurate, and, even before ad- mission to the bar, possessed a deep knowledge of legal principles. He gained speedy recognition from his professional brethren, by whom he was held in highest esteem during his forty years' association with the Philadelphia bar. He was pre- eminently learned in the law of real es- tate, and acquired a large practice, espe- cially in the management of large estates and administration of trusts. He was the legal mentor, rather than the advo- cate, and was especially valuable in counsel. His mind was clear and logical, and his use of the English language ex- act, as is shown in his legal opinions, which treat of many intricate and im- portant questions. His deep knowledge of the law and trained judicial mind, coupled with his experience, would have made him an admirable judge in a probate court. Contrary to the opinion generally held of professional men, he was an able business. man, managing the interests of others, as well as his own, with much profit and advantage. His guidance to clients in financial difficulties often saved, where in the hands of others there would have been failure. With all his learning and experience he could not have been the successful lawyer that he was, save for the additional qualities he possessed to an unusual degree-earnestness and per- severance. Having once undertaken a case, no trouble or labor was too great, and, in anything that he believed should
He was never a politician, preferring personally the life of a private citizen, but took the deepest interest in public affairs, with which he was thoroughly conver- sant, also being on terms of intimacy with many public men of the day. He affili- ated with the Republican party ; was one of the early members of the Union League of Philadelphia ; an ardent worker for the preservation of the Union; and maintained an unabated interest in public affairs, even after becoming an invalid. He was most anxious for the success of Mr. McKinley's candidacy for the presi- dency, but did not live to know of the election of his favored leader. In reli- gion, he was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, both by conviction and inheritance, and, although a man of re- tiring domestic tastes, took an active part in the affairs of the church. He was a vestryman of St. Mark's Church, and of the Church of St. James the Less of Phil- adelphia ; was often a delegate to conven- tions of the church, and took a leading part as a layman in such conventions. He was learned in ecclesiastical law, and was much sought in counsel by bishops and clergy. The position he occupied in the church is best attested by the large num- ber of clergymen from various places who showed him the last mark of respect by their attendance at his funeral, held at the Church of St. James the Less, and where amid its solemn rural beauty he awaits the second coming of his Master.
As a friend, Mr. Conarroe was of the truest type. His friendship was not only that of sentiment, but he earnestly desired to be of benefit to his friends, and spared no effort to advance their hopes and am- bitions. Many a man owes to Mr. Conar- roe's friendship and aid, elevation to a position of honor, or a successful issue to an undertaking.
Himself the descendant of a Revolu-
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tionary officer, Mr. Conarroe was proud of everything American and proud of the history of his country. He was one of the early members of the Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Revolution, and par- ticularly gave his aid to those undertak- ings of the society which tended to keep alive the memory of Revolutionary times, believing these monuments, tablets and memorials the best lessons in patriotism. He was a member of the society's board of managers until his death. Although not a clubman in the sense usually meant, he enjoyed social intercourse with friends, and was a member of the Philadelphia and Penn clubs.
Mr. Conarroe married, February 4, 1868, Nannie Dunlap, youngest daughter of Thomas and Annie Wilkinson (Biddle) Dunlap, who survives him, a resident of her native city, Philadelphia. This mar- riage was one of the happiest and most truly helpful. They shared each other's sorrows and joys, bore each the other's burdens, and each held the other's inter- est paramount. Mr. Conarroe was wont to speak of the goodness and sweetness of his wife, whose helpful sympathy he proudly acknowledged. His memory is lovingly cherished by her, and with jus- tice can it be said that his life is both an inspiration and an example worthy of emulation, viewed either as the life of a professional man or as a private citizen. He did all things well, and fought well the great battle of life.
JOHNSON, Alba Boardman, Locomotive Manufacturer
Commercial or manufacturing fame may be either local, national or world wide. Philadelphia has given to the na- tion "Disston's," whose tools are used in every hamlet, village, town and city; to the world; "Cramp's," whose ships have visited every port; but her greatest es- tablishment, "Baldwin's," has a fame lo-
cal, national and international. Their im- mense works on Broad and Fifteenth streets, and the clanging bells of great locomotives as they rush over, under and across city streets, are familiar sights to every Philadelphian. In every State in the Union, locomotives bearing the name "Baldwin" rush on glistening rails, over rivers, under mountains, and across tree- less prairies, drawing the products of mill, mine and farm, in endless variety ; while more carefully groomed monsters of power and speed hurl "mile-a-minute" passenger trains between the great cen- tres of population. This also is true of the countries of the world; the name "Baldwin" being found in every clime and in every land traversed by railroads, from the frozen north to the sun-kissed sands of the Soudan; east, west, north or south-in Europe, Africa, South America, or the Isles of the sea, "Baldwin" is the magic name that symbolizes power, speed and safety, and, always accompanying it, are the words "Philadelphia, U. S. A."
With this great industry now known to the world as "The Baldwin Locomo- tive Works," Alba Boardman Johnson has been associated since boyhood as clerk, partner, vice-president, treasurer and president. With the exception of two years, his entire business life has been spent with "Baldwin's," his contin- uous service covering a period of thirty- three years, 1879 to 1912.
Alba B. Johnson was born in Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, February 8, 1858, son of Samuel Adams and Alma Sarah (Kemp) Johnson, a descendant of Lieutenant Timothy Johnson, a colonial officer who settled in Massachusetts in 1677. Samuel A. Johnson was one of the pioneer oil producers and refiners of the Pennsyl- vania oil field until a destructive fire swept away his refineries and buildings near Pitsburgh. Unable to rebuild he came, in 1862, to Philadelphia, where he was superintendent of a refinery owned
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by Logan Brothers. In the spring of closely applied himself mentally to mas- 1863 he entered the employ of Burnham, ter the scientific principles underlying mechanical construction, his library con- taining the best standard works and ar- ticles on practical engineering, and rare volumes on early mechanical discovery and invention. Parry, Williams & Company (M. W. Baldwin & Company), then engaged in the building of locomotives, becoming foreman of a department. The lad Alba entered the public schools of Philadel- phia, passing through the intermediate But this is only one side of his literary activity ; historical, scientific, botanical and purely literary works make up his library, concededly one of the finest in the country, devoted to private use. His knowledge of botany is unusual and his magnificent country seat at Rosemont, Pennsylvania, called Castaña, the Span- ish name for a chestnut tree, so named from an aged and very large tree of that variety growing thereon, is a wonderfully beautiful example of the skill of the land- scape gardener. The growing trees, shrubs and flowers give him rare delight, and many are the varieties found on the broad acres of Castaña. Outside his of- ficial duties as president of "Baldwin's," he holds directorships in the Standard Steel Works, the Fourth Street National Bank, the Philadelphia National Bank, the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities, and the Philadelphia Saving Fund. Mr. Johnson actively supports many societies of local and national importance. He was presi- dent of the Presbyterian Social Union in 1906-1907 ; president of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia 1907-1909; presi- dent of the New England Society of Pennsylvania, 1912-1913; trustee of Jef- ferson Medical College and Hospital ; member of the American Academy of Po- litical and Social Science; the American Master Mechanics' Association; the His- torical Society of Pennsylvania; and the Pennsylvania Society of The Sons of the Revolution. His clubs are: The Union League of Philadelphia; the Merion Cricket of Haverford; and the Railroad of New York City. In political prefer- grades until he reached Central High, whence he was graduated, class of 1876. He began business life May 14, 1877, as junior clerk in the office of Burnham, Parry, Williams & Company, the firm then operating the Baldwin Locomotive Works. In 1878 he associated with the Edgemoor Iron Works of Wilmington, Delaware, continuing about two years. He then returned to his first employers, and, rising step by step, through sheer merit, assuming each time greater respon- sibility, but always proving equal to every demand made upon him, until 1896, when he was admitted to a partnership in the firm of Burnham, Williams & Com- pany, successors to Burnham, Parry, Wil- liams & Company. In this capacity he became the principal outside member of the firm, his being the task of securing contracts in sufficient quantity to keep the great plant busy. The growth of the busi- ness during this period testifies to the value of his efforts in securing new busi- ness. His quiet yet forceful manner, his thoroughly practical understanding of the business he represented, and his knowl- edge of the mechanical and scientific per- fection of the Baldwin locomotive, were factors which won him success in the competitive field. When the business of Burnham, Williams & Company was in- corporated as The Baldwin Locomotive Works, July 1, 1909, Mr. Johnson was elected vice-president and treasurer, and in 1911 he was elected president of the great works he had entered as a boy thirty-three years earlier. Of his fitness there is none to doubt, and that his eleva- tion was deserved, all agree. He has
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