USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Volume I > Part 8
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The work of Dr. Lamberton was not confined to the institution over which he presided. He was a director of the Le- high Valley Railroad Company and of the Harrisburg Bridge Company, and a trustee of the estate of the late Asa Packer, a great benefactor of the uni- versity. He also served as a trustee of the State Lunatic Hospital at Harris- burg, Pennsylvania, of St. Luke's Hos- pital, and of the Bishopthorpe School for Young Ladies, at South Bethlehem, and of the General Theological Seminary, New York. He was one of the founders of the Harrisburg Hospital, and was for some years a prominent member of the School Board. In 1873 he presented the first public drinking fountain to the city of IIarrisburg, which was erected in front of the court house. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the Pennsyl- vania Scotch-Irish Society, and the His-
torical Societies of Pennsylvania and of Dauphin County.
He was one of the ablest lawyers in the state, clear and forceful in argument, and an eloquent and winning speaker ; and as an executive and administrator he was very successful. A man of wide reading and culture, he was a brilliant conversationalist, and added to great natural ability a charm of manner which won him many friends, and attracted to him people in all walks of life. He died suddenly in the midst of a career of great usefulness, at South Bethlehem, Septem- ber 1, 1893, and was buried at Harris- burg, September 5th, after services in the University Chapel and at St. Stephen's Church.
Dr. Lamberton married, September 14, 1852, Annie, daughter of the late William Buehler, of Harrisburg. The following children survived him: William B., a member of the Dauphin county bar, who died July 5, 1901; James M .; and Nan- nie B., who married Rollin H. Wilbur, vice-president of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.
LAMBERTON, James McCormick, Lawyer, Masonic Writer.
James McCormick Lamberton, son of the late Hon. Robert Alexander Lamber- ton, LL.D. (q. v.) and his wife, Annie (Buehler) Lamberton, was born in Har- risburg, Pennsylvania, May 21, 1856. He was named for his father's law preceptor and friend, James McCormick, Esq., one of the ablest lawyers of his day.
On the side of his mother, who is the daughter of the late William Buehler, of Harrisburg, Mr. Lamberton is descended from Lieutenant Henry Buehler, who was an officer in the French and Indian Wars and the War of the Revolution, and whose father came in 1737 from the Rhenish province of Prussia and settled at Warwick (now Lititz), Pennsylvania ;
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and from Nicholas Snider, who came to this country from Germany in 1755, and settled in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Lamberton received his early edu- cation at private schools and at the Har- risburg Academy. He prepared for col- lege at St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, and entered Yale University in September, 1874, and was graduated with the class of 1878 with honors. After graduation and until 1881, he was a master in St. Paul's School, Concord, at the same time studying law under his father, upon whose motion he was on August 25, 1880, admitted to the bar of Dauphin county. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Penn- sylvania on June 3, 1884, on motion of the late Judge John H. Weiss, and, when the new United States Federal Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania was organized, May 6, 1901, he was admitted to practice there. From 1881 to 1887 he practiced his profession in Harrisburg in partnership with his brother, the late William B. Lamberton, Esq. In Septem- ber, 1887, he again became a master in St. Paul's School, Concord, teaching his- tory chiefly, remaining there until June, 1899, when he reopened his office in Har- risburg.
He was instrumental in securing in 1900 the adoption in the local courts of the custom of the bar and all present rising at the opening of the court, and in obtaining and placing in Court Room No. I, portraits of the late Judges Pear- son and Simonton, in 1903. He was also instrumental, in 1907, in securing the passage of a joint resolution by the State Legislature for the display of the State flag on the Capitol, and of resolutions for the display of both the National and State flags in the Senate and House of Representatives of Pennsylvania; both flags were placed in the Executive Cham- ber through his efforts. He was ap- pointed chairman of the committee se-
lected by the mayor in 1907 to design a flag for the city of Harrisburg. By ap- pointment of Governor Pennypacker, he was a delegate to the National Confer- ence on Immigration, held in New York, December, 1905.
He is a member of the American Bar Association, a charter member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and a member of the Dauphin County Bar As- sociation; a member of the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, the Military Or- der of the Loyal Legion of the United States, the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society, the Pennsylvania-German So- ciety, and the Pennsylvania Society of New York; the National Municipal League, the American Civic Association, the Civil Service Reform Association of Pennsylvania, the American Historical Association, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Church History So- ciety ; for some years was treasurer, and since 1902 has been corresponding secre- tary, of the Historical Society of Dau- phin County, Pennsylvania, and chair- man of its committee on publication ; the Board of Trade, the Municipal League, and the Civic Club, of Harris- burg; for some years a member, and, since 1903, secretary, of the board of managers of the Harrisburg Hospital, secretary of the Harrisburg Training School for Nurses, a director of the Har- risburg Benevolent Association and of the Harrisburg Bridge Company ; a charter member of the Harrisburg Club, and its secretary from its organization in 1884 until 1887; a member of the Inglenook Club, the Country Club of Harrisburg, the University Club of Philadelphia, the University Club of New York, the Authors' Club of London, Eng- land, the Yale Alumni Association of Central Pennsylvania, and the standing
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committee of the Alumni Association of the St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire.
He is a member of Perseverance Lodge No. 21, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, and of Perseverance Chapter No. 21, Royal Arch Masons; an honorary member of the Lodge of King Solomon's Temple, No. 3464, England, and a mem- ber of the Correspondence Circles of the English literary lodges, Quatuor Cor- onati Lodge, No. 2076, of London, and the Lodge of Research, No. 2429, of Leicester, England; senior grand deacon, chairman of the committee on corre- spondence, and a life trustee of the Thomas R. Patton Memorial Charity Fund of the Grand Lodge of Pennsyl- vania. In 1895 he took a leading part in the revision of the "Ahiman Rezon," for which he received the thanks of the Grand Lodge. He is also a member of the Scottish Rite bodies in Harrisburg. He was first vice-president of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, 1911-1913.
In politics, he has been an independent Democrat, but favored the election of McKinley in 1896 and 1900, and of Roosevelt in 1904. In 1892, he was nom- inated, without being previously con- sulted, for the New Hampshire Legis- lature from the seventh ward of the city of Concord, a safe Republican ward, and was defeated, although he ran ahead of his ticket.
afterward repeated at Masonic Celebra- tions in Carnegie Music Hall, Pitts- burgh; the Dixie Theatre, Scranton; and the Masonic Hall, Harrisburg. He de- livered the address to the graduating class of the Harrisburg High School at Commencement, in 1904, and of the Har- risburg Academy in 1912.
He has written "An Account of St. Paul's School," 1898, and, with the late Dr. William H. Egle, the "History of Perseverance Lodge No. 21, F. and A. M., Pennsylvania." He edited the Me- morial Volume of the Washington Ses- qui-centennial Celebration of November 5, 1902, and the Memorial Volume of the Franklin Bicentenary, 1906, issued by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, F. and A. M., and writes its annual report on cor- respondence. He has compiled a "List of Special Acts of Assembly Relating to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania," and edited a "Digest of the Ordinances of the City of Harrisburg."
When the late John Addison Porter, Esq., became secretary to President McKinley, he resigned his position as secretary of the class of '78, Yale, and Mr. Lamberton was elected his suc- cessor, and as class secretary prepared in 1898 the Vicennial Record, and in 1904 the Quarter-Centenary Record of the class, which latter was considered the most complete class history yet issued at Yale, and in recognition of his services he was presented by his classmates with a magnificent silver loving-cup; and he issued, in 1909, a Tricennial Supplement. He was elected president of the Yale Association of Class Secretaries in 1905, and re-elected annually until 1911, when he declined a further re-election.
He has made a number of scholastic, political and Masonic addresses. At the celebration on November 5, 1902, at the Masonic Temple, Philadelphia, by the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, of the Sesqui-centennial Anniversary of the In- itiation of Washington into the Masonic He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and has been for years a vestryman and for more than eleven years was treasurer of St. Stephen's Church, Harrisburg, and one of its dele- fraternity, he delivered the address on Washington as a Freemason, following President Roosevelt, who spoke on Free- masonry and Citizenship. The address on Washington as a Freemason was gates to the Convention of the Diocesc.
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He was a lay deputy from the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania (now Bethle- hem) to the General Convention at Bos- ton, in 1904; and was assistant secretary of the Convention of that Diocese in 1887 and 1888. He was active in the organization of the Diocese of Harris- burg, and was a lay deputy from that Diocese to the General Convention at Cincinnati, in 1910, when he secured the addition of page numbers to the table of contents in the Book of Common Prayer. He is a trustee of the Society for the Advancement of Christianity in Pennsyl- vania. He was president of the Church Club of Central Pennsylvania from its organization in 1902 until 1905, when he declined a re-election, and, later, vice- president of the Church Club of the Dio- cese of Harrisburg, and was the vice- president of the National Conference of Church Clubs in the United States, in 1905-1906, and its president in 1909-1910.
MILLER, William Edward,
Soldier, Merchant, Public Official.
Among the most honored citizens of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, must be num- bered Captain William Edward Miller, who has been for more than forty years prominently identified with the indus- trial and financial interests of his com- munity. In his early manhood Captain Miller was one of those who rallied to the defense of the Union, and in later years he served his State with honor in positions of public trust.
Christian Miller, founder of that branch of the family now represented by Cap- tain William Edward Miller, of Carlisle, came in 1730 from Germany, landing in Philadelphia from the ship "Joyce," No- vember 30 of that year. He was accom- panied by his wife, Anna Margaret, and their three children: Andrew, mentioned below; Anlis; and Anna Barbara.
Andrew, son of Christian and Anna
Margaret Miller, was a pioneer of that part of Lancaster county which has since been erected into Lebanon, receiving a warrant for land within its limits as early as 1743. During the French and Indian wars he served as a lieutenant in Captain Matthew Dill's company, Colonel Benja- min Chambers' regiment. He married, November 5, 1738, Margaret Funk, and their children were: Abraham, mentioned below; Jacob; Andrew; and Christina. Andrew Miller died in 1754, and his widow married Christian Burkholder.
Abraham, son of Andrew and Mar- garet (Funk) Miller, inherited the greater portion of his father's real estate, and in 1762 laid out upon it the town now known as Annville, six miles from the city of Lebanon, and known for many years by the name of Millerstown. About 1777, Abraham Miller moved to the banks of the Yellow Breeches, not far from Lisburn, Cumberland county. He married Rebecca, daughter of John Philip and Elizabeth Eprecht, of Harris- burg, and the following children were born to them: Joseph; Abraham, men- tioned below; Isaac; Jacob; Andrew; John; Philip, and Rebecca. Abraham Miller, the father, died in 1805, at an ad- vanced age.
Abraham, son of Abraham and Re- becca (Eprecht) Miller, passed the greater part of his life near the place where his father settled in 1777. He operated a fulling-mill which had been built by his father, and which a few years ago was still in existence. In later years he moved to Mechanicsburg, and subse- quently to Abbottstown, Adams county, engaging in both places in mercantile business. He married (first) Catharine, daughter of Frederick Boyer, a Revolu- tionary soldier, son of Joseph and Mary Boyer, of York county; (second) Eliz- abeth Boyer, a sister of his first wife. His first marriage was without issue, and by his second wife he was the father of
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the following children: Joseph; An- drew G., mentioned below; Martin; John; Eliza; Catharine; and Daniel.
Andrew G., son of Abraham and Eliz- abeth (Boyer) Miller, was born June 7, 1811, in Allen township, Cumberland county, and followed at first the calling of a fuller, afterward engaging in differ- ent places in mercantile business. He was one of the organizers of the Farm- ers' and Mechanics' Bank at Shippens- burg, becoming first cashier and after- ward president. He was a potent factor in politics as well as in business, and in 1868 was elected senator from the dis- trict then composed of Cumberland and York counties. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Miller mar- ried Eleanor Umberger, whose ancestral record is appended to this sketch; the following were their children: William Edward, mentioned below; Mary Eliz- abeth, died in infancy; John Roberts ; Sarah Eleanor; Henrietta M .; and An- drew George. Mr. Miller died February 14, 1880, at Shippensburg, where the lat- ter years of his life had been spent, and his widow passed away February 2, 1896, at Carlisle.
Captain William Edward Miller, son of Andrew G. and Eleanor (Umberger) Miller, was born February 5, 1836, at West Hill, Cumberland county, and re- ceived his education in the schools of the neighborhood, meanwhile acting as as- sistant to his father on the farm. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, known as "Young's Kentucky Cavalry," the name being afterward changed to the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry. Upon the organization of the company, Mr. Miller was made second lieutenant. In the winter of 1861-62 his regiment was sta- tioned at Camp Marcy, Virginia, where it underwent a rigid course of training by Colonel W. W. Averill, a West Point graduate, and the following spring it was
sent to Yorktown, where its mettle and discipline were put to a severe test. During the period of preparation for the capture of Richmond, Lieutenant Miller was detailed to ascertain and make maps of the roads which led to the James river, his duty leading him at times as much as twenty miles into the enemy's country.
Lieutenant Miller's regiment led Gen- eral Hooker's advance across Antietam creek, and Company H, as a detail, drew the first fire of the enemy in that ever- memorable battle. For this daring ac- tion he was afterward promoted to the captaincy of his company over all the first lieutenants in the regiment. He took part in the battles of Brandy Sta- tion, Aldie, Middleburg, Upperville, Hay- market and Gettysburg. At Gettysburg, Captain Miller was in command of a squadron of four companies, and his ex- traordinary and most gallant conduct is thus described by Arthur L. Wagner, U. S. A., in his work on "Organization and Tactics":
"In the great cavalry battle at Gettysburg, Cap- tain Miller, of the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, seeing an opportunity to strike Wade Hampton's column in flank as it was charged in front by Custer, turned to his lieutenant with the remark : 'I have been ordered to hold this position, but if you will back me in case I am court-martialed for disobedience, I will order a charge.' The charge was opportune and effective, and no men- tion of a court-martial was ever made. Its im- portance and the brilliancy of its execution were recognized by the government, and Captain Miller was awarded first a bronze, and later a gold medal, bearing the following inscription: 'The Congress to Captain W. E. Miller, Company H, Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, for gallantry at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.''
At the close of the war Captain Miller engaged in the hardware business in Carlisle until 1898, in which year he was elected to the State senate from the dis- trict composed of Cumberland and Adams counties. During his term of service he had the honor of being his party's nominee for president pro tem. of the senate. Captain Miller has long been known as an uncompromising Dem-
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ocrat, and in 1877 and 1888 served as 1733, landed in Philadelphia from the chairman of the Democratic county com- mittee. In 1878 he was a member of the Democratic State central committee. In 1882 and 1883 he was elected chief burgess of Carlisle, and for twelve years was a member of the Carlisle Board of Health, serving four years as president of that body. He was at one time secre- tary of the Carlisle Board of Trade.
In Grand Army circles Captain Miller has always been active and prominent, and was the first commander of Captain Colwell Post, No. 201. He is a member of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and has held various positions of trust. He is now secretary of the Ham- ilton Library Association of Carlisle, and is a local historian of some note, being the author of "Troops Occupying Car- lisle, July, 1863," and "Operations of the Union Cavalry on the Peninsula," in which some Cumberland county soldiers took part.
Captain Miller married (first) Eliz- abeth Ann, daughter of John and Eliz- abeth (Henry) Hocker, of Hockersville, Penn township. Mrs. Miller died Sep- tember 8, 1859, leaving two daughters: Carrie Olivia Rankin, now the wife of George K. McCormick; and Elizabeth, who died in infancy. Captain Miller married (second) June 25, 1868, Anna De Pui, daughter of J. S. Bush, of Tioga, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Mil- ler died August 4, 1894, leaving no chil- dren. She was a writer of acknowledged ability, a contributor to literary period- icals, and author of a book entitled "Who and What."
A career like Captain Miller's renders comment needless. His record is its own eulogy-the record of a good citizen and a brave soldier.
(The Umberger Line).
ship "Hope." Michael, son of Henry Umberger, married, October 18, 1784, Rev. John Casper Stoever officiating, Anna Maria Rambler, of Tulpehocken. Adam, son of Michael and Anna Maria (Rambler) Umberger, married Mary Gertrude Vernon. David, son of Adam and Mary Gertrude (Vernon) Umberger, married Dorothy Maish, and lived in York county, Pennsylvania. Eleanor, daughter of David and Dorothy (Maish) Umberger, became the wife of Andrew G. Miller, as mentioned above.
THOMAS, Robert H., Journalist, Publisher.
Robert H. Thomas, junior, editor and publisher of the "Mechanicsburg Journal," Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, comes of a sturdy ancestry, Welsh-Eng- lish on one side and Scotch-Irish on the other, a combination which has produced some of the finest minds of the present generation.
In paternal lines (Welsh-English) his great-great - great -grandmother, Ruth (Morton) Nicholson, was a sister of John Morton, one of the signers of the Declar- ation of Independence. In the next gen- eration, Mr. Thomas's great-great-grand- mother, Ruth (Nicholson) Harper, lost her birthright in the Quaker meeting be- cause of her marriage with Edward Harper, an officer in the British army, and a Church of England man. Elisha Thomas, great-great-grandfather of Rob- ert H. Thomas, junior, married Ann Waln, a sister-in-law of Thomas Mifflin, governor of Pennsylvania in 1790, and through this union became connected with some of the minor affairs of State.
Robert, son of Elisha and Ann (Waln) Thomas, was born October 4, 1777, five miles from Germantown, the day being the ever-memorable one of the battle be-
Henry Umberger, founder of the American branch of the family, was born in 1688, in Germany, and on August 28, tween the Continental army under Gen-
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eral Washington and the opposing force commanded by General Howe.
Edward H., son of Robert Thomas, was born in Philadelphia. Losing his father when a mere boy, he was obliged to de- pend upon himself for his education, the widowed mother having all she could do to care for the physical needs of the family, even with the aid of the older boys; consequently young Edward gained the substantial part of his fine education by burning the midnight oil. After his ordination he was placed in charge of a congregation at Lancaster City, later coming to Mechanicsburg and taking charge of the Church of God. He married Charlotte Ann, daughter of An- drew Nelson, Esq., who belonged to a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian family in the North of Ireland. Rev. Mr. Thomas died in 1869.
Robert H., son of Edward H. and Charlotte Ann (Nelson) Thomas, was born January 28, 1834, in Philadelphia, and received his education in the public schools of Lancaster city. When sixteen years old he decided to fit himself for future usefulness and independence, and apprenticed himself to learn the trade of house and sign painting, including wall decorating. This business he followed for some years during the summers, teaching school during the winters, but impaired health interrupted his busy life and warned him to engage in some other pursuit. He then turned his attention to merchandising, and in 1850 took up his abode in Mechanicsburg.
During the Civil War Mr. Thomas be- came very prominent in his active sup- port of the Government, and he loyally served in a number of emergency regi- ments, resuming his duties at home as soon as the exigency which had called him to the front subsided. From 1862 to 1866 he efficiently served as deputy collector of internal revenue for the Fif-
teenth District of Pennsylvania. On June 30, 1863, he was appointed by Gov- ernor Curtin special aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, and was assigned to duty in the department commanded by General Smith, of Harrisburg. When the Confederate forces had been driven south of the Potomac, he resigned the position and returned to business pur- suits. General George H. Thomas, of Civil War fame, was his cousin twice re- moved.
In 1869 Colonel Thomas entered the newspaper field, purchasing the "Valley Democrat," and changing the name to the "Valley Independent." Two years later he purchased a rival paper, the "Cumberland Valley Journal," and con- solidated the papers and offices under the new title of the "Independent Journal." In the autumn of 1872 he began to espouse the cause of the Patrons of Hus- bandry, an agricultural order then com- ing into prominence in the State, and during the following summer he organ- ized a number of subordinate granges. Upon the organization of the State Grange, at Reading, in 1873, Colonel Thomas was elected secretary, a position he most capably held until 1896. On January 1, 1874, Colonel Thomas began the publication of the "Farmer's Friend and Grange Advocate," as the organ of the Patrons of Husbandry, an agricul- tural journal of high character and great literary merit. It has an immense cir- culation, not by any means confined to members of the Grange. Colonel Thomas had always been a man of progressive ideas and philanthropic instincts, and he became impressed with the feeling that there ought to be a better understanding between the farmers and manufacturers of the country. Accordingly, in 1874 he originated and organized the Inter-State Picnic Exhibition at Williams' Grove, Cumberland county. This venture proved very popular and has yearly increased
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in interest, becoming a very important movement through the agricultural re- gions of Cumberland county.
Colonel Thomas, many times honored by his editorial associates, ever main- tained with them the most cordial rela- tions. He served as president of the State Editorial Association, and for some years was its secretary and treasurer. He was also one of the officers of the International Editorial Association, and its president at its convention in Galves- ton, Texas, in 1897. His influence was that of a broad-minded, thoughtful stu- dent of the great problems of the day. He was commissioned from the State of Pennsylvania to the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition held at New Orleans in 1884-85, and was like- wise appointed a commissioner to the American Exposition held in London, England, in May, 1887. Mrs. Thomas filled the position of lady commissioner in 1884-85 at New Orleans. Since 1851 Colonel Thomas had been a Mason. He became in that year a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, and in 1864 one of its officers, serving for thir- teen consecutive years as district deputy grand master, and as representative of his home lodge to the Grand Lodge for fifty years consecutively.
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