USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of contemporary biography of Pennsylvania, Vol. II > Part 5
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edged and applauded the ability and brilliancy of that nominating address. George Alfred Townsend telegraphed to the Chicago Tribune that day :
"Sherman was best put in the field. The Penn- sylvania man who lives in the little mountain town of Bellefoute made the best speech which has been heard at this display. It was worthy of being the party platform. Hastings, who made it, they say will some day be heard in the Senate or run for Governor."
Murat Halstead, of the Cincinnati Commercial- Gazette, wrote his paper :
"As to the reception of the presentation of nom- inations, there was no marked preference shown for any candidate until the splendid oration of General Hastings, of Pennsylvania, nominating Sherman. Then things took a more decided shape. General Hastings has a magnificent appearance and delivery and his superb ringing sentences fell one after an- other, bright as new coin, each word clear as a bu- gle note; the mighty multitude felt the magic of oratory, of a man speaking worthily on a great oc- casion. There never was a finer speech made on such an occasion, and I remember Ingersoll's nom- ination of Blaine at Cincinnati. General Hastings walks up at once to a place among the few of our public speakers."
So marked was the impression made, that he was complimented by being called by the presiding officer to hold the gavel over that great assembly for the day, and invited to second the nomination of Hon. Levi P. Morton for Vice-President. It fol- lowed as a matter of no doubt that he was the favorite orator of the campaign that came after. He spoke in behalf of the nominees, and in defense of the principles of the Republican party, in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Michigan, and retired from his labors with success crowning his efforts and with the confidence of all the great leaders of the party. Only a short allu- sion to his services after the unparalleled disaster at Johnstown is proper in this sketch, as the news- papers carved the details of the work there in never- fading lines, while his wonderful sagacity, his good judgment and his kind heart cast a pleasant sun- shine over that appalling gloom. On Friday, May 31, 1889, General Hastings was at Hastings, a flour- ishing town in Cambria County, so called for him, looking after the interests of large coal-mining operations in which he is concerned, in connection with Governor Beaver, Robert Coleman and Colonel J. L. Spangler. The next morning he was awaken- ed by the landlord and told of the awful reports from Johnstown. Without a moment's hesitation he hired a team, and in company with Colonel. Spangler, started for the ill-fated city, driving the whole day long over flooded roads and broken bridges and arriving at Johnstown at 4 P.M. Tak- ing in the situation of affairs, he immediately tele-
Very truly yours Patterson
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
graphed to Governor Beaver to send up some tents and other necessaries, then took off his coat and went to work as a private citizen to help and succor the distressed. Promptly recognized by the sur- vivors of the disaster as the man for the place, by general consent he assumed the charge and respon- sibility of feeding and relieving the people, and sub- sequently managed the operations ordered by the State authorities, demonstrating his great executive ability, and, as well said by another, " Winning by his uniform kindness and sympathetic actions the gratitude of his fellow-citizens throughout the State." On the night of the 13th day of July, 1889, when General Hastings took leave of Johnstown, the old soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic fitly expressed their appreciation of the General's services by their presentation to him of a badge of their Order, beautifully set with diamonds, claiming that by labor and sacrifice on that field of desolation General Hastings had proved himself worthy to be enrolled as a "comrade" in honor. Colonel Thomas J. Stewart, in an eloquent address, made the presen- tation, and the citizens of Johnstown, represented by Colonel Linton and Cyrus Elder, publicly and cordially thanked the General for the great work he had been instrumental in accomplishing for Johns- town and in the valley of the Conemaugh. General Hastings' name has been frequently and earnestly canvassed as a candidate for the Gubernatorial nomination shortly to be made. Whatever may be the outcome of the nominating convention, no one will gainsay the fact that his successful in- dustry, ability and integrity commend him as worthy the suffrages of the people for any office in the gift of the Commonwealth. General Hastings was married, October 10, 1877, to Jane Armstrong Rankin, of Bellefonte, daughter of James H. Rankin, Esq., the present senior member of the Centre County bar. He has one child, a daughter-Helen.
ROBERT PATTERSON.
GENERAL ROBERT PATTERSON was born in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, in 1792, and died in Philadelphia, August 7, 1881. He was the son of Francis Patterson, a respectable farmer, who, having taken part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, deemed it prudent to emigrate to the United States. He located in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where he pur- sued his occupation of agriculturist. His son re- ceived a good English education, and was placed in the counting-house of Edward Thompson, at that period one of the leading merchants of Philadel- phia. From his earliest youth he was fond of mili-
tary matters. It was, therefore, an event not unex- pected by his relatives and friends, when the War of 1812 broke out, that he should ask employment in the military service of his country. At the com- mencement of the war, when only nineteen years of age, he was commissioned Lieutenant of Infantry in the Regular Army, and subsequently was promoted to a Captaincy. Though so young, he was already regarded as a brave and competent officer, and pos- sessed the entire confidence of his superiors in com- mand, and of his companions in the field. When peace was declared in 1815, he returned to mercan- tile pursuits ; but continued, however, to take a deep interest in military affairs, and mainly contri- buted to the efficient military organization of the volunteer service which the city of Philadelphia for many years possessed. Passing through the subor- dinate grades, he became the Major-General of the First Division in 1828, which rank he held for more than forty years. In the violent political disturb- ances which took place in December, 1838, in obe- dience to a requisition from the Governor of Penn- sylvania, he repaired to Harrisburg with his di- vision ; and, by his prompt, energetic and soldierly deportment, allayed the unhappy excitement which then prevailed at the Capital, and which, but for his forbearance and good conduct, might have pro- duced the most disastrous consequences to the Com- monwealth. In 1844 he rendered important military service in suppressing the disgraceful riots of that period, when a mad fanaticism seemed, for a time, to take possession of no inconsiderable portion of the people. When the war with Mexico broke out, in 1846, he was selected by the United States Govern- ment for a high command. The regular army was composed of but a few thousand men, yet, on the call for volunteers, thousands of additional troops ranged themselves under the flag of their country. At the first call, only one regiment was asked for from Pennsylvania, but Governor Shunk trans- mitted to the War Department offers sufficient to fill nine regiments. Finally, two regiments were accepted from the State. General Patterson was ap- pointed Major-General in the army, and was se- lected by the Government at Washington to com- mand the troops destined for Vera Cruz, thence to march upon the city of Mexico. Subsequently, however, General Scott was sent out for this pur- pose, and he became the second in command. When he first repaired to the field General Taylor assigned him to the duty of disciplining the new recruits that were assembled on the Rio Grande; and when that was well done, he took command of the expedition against Tampico, marching to that place via Santander, Sota La Morena, and Victoria,
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
over four hundred miles. His division bore its full share in the siege and capture of Vera Cruz, and also of the hard fighting at Cerro Gordo. To assume the command at this latter locality he was obliged to be lifted from a sick bed into the saddle, and for his conduct on that occasion received the commen- dations of the General-in-Chief. By the subsequent reduction of the army he was relieved from com- mand, and made a brief visit home, returning, how- ever, to Mexico in time to take part in the closing scenes of the campaign. Wlien General Scott was relieved from command he took his place as Military Chief of the army, his headquarters being in the city of Mexico. When peace was declared lie withdrew thc troops from that country, and on his return to the United States once more resumed the occupations of civil life. Still retaining his command as Major-Gen- eral of the First Division of Pennsylvania Volunteers, when the great War of the Rebellion broke out, he was called again into actual service. On the 15th of April, 1861, the President of the United States issued a requisition for seventy-five thousand men for three months, of which the quota assigned to Pennsylvania was sixteen regiments. On the 16th of the same month the Governor of Pennsylvania assigned to him the command of the troops. He immediately commenced the organization of the men for service in the field, relinquishing, at great pecuniary loss, the large commercial business in which he was engaged. While thus employed he was, by order of the Secretary of War, placed in command of the "Department of Washington," with headquarters at Philadelphia. Here he or- ganized an army, and regarding the route via An- napolis as the only tenable one through which to communicate with the seat of Government, he caused that place to be seized and held by our troops, and afterwards succeeded in reopening com- munication with the Capital. He subsequently or- dered the Frst Regiment of Pennsylvania Artillery, with Sherman's Battery, all under the command of his son-the late General Frank E. Patterson-to open the route through Baltimore, which had been closed since the attack on the Massachusetts Regi- ment. At this most perilous juncture he compre- hended the wants of the Government, and took the responsibility (April 25, 1861,) of making a requisi- tion on the Governor of Pennsylvania, to direct the organization, in that State, of twenty-five regiments of volunteers, in addition to those called for by the Secretary of War. The Governor promptly re- sponded ; but the Secretary of War -- even when the term of the "three months' men" was half ex- hausted-declined to receive any more regiments. Governor Curtin, however, subsequently induced
the Legislature to organize the twenty-five regi- ments. This was the origin of that fine body of soldiers, known as the " Pennsylvania Reserves," who were gladly accepted by the Secretary of War after the disastrous battle of Bull Run, and who, hastening to Washington, were mainly instrumental in preventing the Capital from falling into the hands of the rebels. General Patterson personally took command June 3, 1861, at Chambersburgh, Penn- sylvania. His troops consisted chiefly of Pennsyl- vanians, who had promptly responded to the call of President Lincoln. Here he organized his forces, and proposed, as the first measure, an attack on the insurgents at Maryland Heights, near Harper's Ferry. This recommendation, though approved at first by General Scott, yet on the eve of its being at- tempted, was countermanded by that officer, with directions to await reinforcements. Some while after, and as soon as permitted, he advanced with less than eleven thousand men, and although de- layed for a time by contradictory orders from Washington, he compelled General Johnston, by a flank movement, to evacuate Harper's Ferry, and then gallantly encountering the enemy under Gen- eral T. J. ("Stonewall") Jackson, just beyond Fall- ing Waters, routed them, after a sharp conflict, in which they lost sixty killed and a large number wounded, and drove them several miles. His sub- sequent strategy, though severely censured (when the country was smarting under the humiliation of the disaster at Bull Run), has been vindicated by time, and is now admitted by the ablest military critics to have been all that could possibly be re- quired of a faithful and competent officer. When the facts and orders of this campaign were pre- sented to President Lincoln, the latter said, " Gen- eral Patterson, I have never found fault with or cen- sured you ; I have never been able to see that you could have done anything else than you did do. Your hands were tied ; you obeyed orders, and did your duty, and I am satisfied with your conduct." As this part of his career has been the subject of misapprehension and misrepresentation, justice re- quires this statement. He published a narrative of his campaign in the Valley of the Shenandoah, which gives full details on this subject. At the close of his term of service he received an honorable dis- charge, and retired to private life. General Patter- son was a member of the Tenth Presbyterian Church, and was at the time of his death, and had been con- tinuously for a long series of years, President of the Hibernia Society of Pennsylvania, and of the Aztec Society, and was in 1880 the President of the Board of Visitors to the Military Academy at West Point, having also been a member of the Board in 1830.
PROPERTY OF
WEISSPORT CO. P.
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
THOMAS POTTER.
THOMAS POTTER, a distinguished citizen of Philadelphia, banker, and founder of the great man- ufacturing establishment of Thomas Potter-now conducted under the style of Thomas Potter Sons & Co .- and prominent for many years in public affairs, was born in the County of Tyrone, Ireland, August 17, 1819, and died at Philadelphia, Sunday, September 29, 1878. "The family of Potter, for- merly of Potterstown, County of Fermanagh, is descended from George Potter, an officer who ac- companied the army of Cromwell from England, and was compensated for his services in reducing Ireland to the rule of the Commonwealth by exten- sive grants of lands in the County Fermanagh. The lands thus granted were formerly the property of the Lord Marquis, Chieftain of Fermanagh, who, for his complicity in what is known as ' the Great Rebellion of 1641,' was convicted of high treason, his estate being confiscated to the English Govern- ment. Under the Act of Settlement and Plantation of 1660 (time of Charles II.) as may be seen in the public records of Ireland, George Potter was con- firmed in the possession of the lands of Oaghill, Mullinscarty, Garderghill, Tremern, and Cromey, all situated in the Barony of Maglierestepha, County of Fermanagh, which came thenceforward to be known and designated as Potterstown and Potters- rath. This property the Potter family continued to possess for many years until, as appears from a deed of conveyance now in the possession of the Right Honorable The Earl of Belmore, K. C. M. G., of Castlecool, County Fermanagh, Abraham Potter, son of the above-mentioned George Potter, disposed of the entire estate to James Corry, the son of a Scotch adventurer and the founder of the family of the present Earl of Belmore." This disposition of the paternal estates was the inevitable result of the heavy mortgages, which had been placed upon tbem in order to meet obligations caused by im- provident living, consequent upon the prevailing habits of the landed people of the period. The Potter family, although their interests in the estates originally granted to their ancestor was thus severed, continued to reside in the county. No longer members of the great landed aristocracy they, nevertheless, occupied a good position. In the year 1791 James Potter, at that time the representative head of the family, who resided in Ramaley in the County of Fermanagh, became possessed of a property at Rilaghquiness in the County of Tyrone. On his death he was succeeded by his son, George Potter, who, having decided to settle in the United States, disposed of his property in Ireland, and left
the county with his wife and three daughters and son Thomas, in the year 1828. George Potter ar- rived in Philadelphia with a moderate sum of money, in a few years was taken ill and dicd, leaving his family a small estate and limited means. His son Thomas had been desirious of entering the ministry and his parents were arranging to prepare him for college, but the death of his father caused him to forego this cherished hope, and forced him at once to maintain himself, as well as contribute to the support of his family. He learned the trade of manufacturing oil cloth with Isaac Macauley, pro- prietor of the Bush Hill Oil Cloth Establishment, the main building of which was the original manor house of James Hamilton, twice Colonial Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania. Appreciating, however, the importance of a thorough education, he devoted himself to diligent study at night under the tuition of his mother, and he acquired a broad and liberal framework of knowledge, the complete- ness and good purpose of which was shown in after life. While devoting his leisure hours to self-im- provement and study, he gave such diligent and valuable attention to his business that in a few years he was made manager by Mr. Macauley. In 1838, though then but nineteen years of age, he founded - the house of Thomas Potter-succceded by Thomas Potter Sons & Co .- and shortly thereafter purchased from Isaac Macauley the Bush Hill Oil Cloth Estab- lishment, in which he had served his apprenticeship. In 1870 he sold Bush Hill and purchased the ground and erected the extensive establishment at Second and Venango Streets, on the New York Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, since greatly enlarged, and where the business, still carried on by his sons, has so increased that it is now the most extensive of its kind in the United States. Mr. Potter married, on October 2, 1845, Miss Adaline Coleman Bower, a granddaughter of General Jacob Bower, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who served as au officer iu the Conti- nental Army from June, 1775, to the end of the struggle for Independence, in 1783, and was one of the founders of the Pennsylvania sectiou of the So- ciety (or Order) of the Cincinnati, and during the War of 1812 a Brigadier-General of Pennsylvania Militia. The children of this marriage were six sons and two daughters. Four of the sous survive and have succeeded to the business established by Mr. Potter, as noted above. Thomas Potter's civic life was marked by characteristic energy and he held many positions of trust and honor in the city of his adoptiou. A brief list of these will strongly exhibit the esteem with which he was regarded by his fellow-citizens. In 1853 he was elected a Com- missioner. Three years later, after the consolida-
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CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
tion, he was nominated by the Democratic party and elected to the City Councils and was immediately appointed to the Chairmanship of the Committee on Schools (having been also a School Controller and School Director). Two years later he allicd himself with the Republican party, and was nominated and elected on that ticket to the Common Council in 1858. Iu 1859-'60-'61, he represeuted the People's party in the same body. During these years he was Chairman of the School Committee and a member of the Finauce Committee, and he took an active and leading part in all municipal legislation. He was especially interested in the improvement of the Public School system, upon which subject he made several valuable reports, and was chiefly instrumen- tal in organizing the paid Fire Department of Philadelphia. In 1861 he originated and carried through the ordinance for the appointment of a Commissiou to assist in supporting the families of volunteers in the Union Army from the city of Philadelphia. He not only gave this project his un- tiring atteution, but tendered the use of his private office for the use of the Commission. In 1865 aud 1866 he was again elected to Councils; was made Chairman of the Finance Committee and was iustru- mental in passing the bill which secured to the city the eastern portion of Fairmount Park. He was also active in passing the bill which required the City Treasurer to pay City Warrants according to date and number, which had the effect of bringing them to par and strengthened the credit of the city. The bill providing for the revising of the assess- ment of real estate also received his hearty and earnest support. Mr. Potter carried through Com- mon Council a bill which, had it not been ulti- mately defeated, would have proved one of the most important ordinances ever passed in the city of Philadelphia : it was to provide for the passage of an Act of Assembly authorizing the public squares at Broad and Market Streets to be used for the erec- tion of an Academy of Natural Sciences, an Academy of Fine Arts and other educational institu- tions. He had many opportunities of holding more ambitious offices and positions of public trust, but his chief pride lay in trying modestly but diligently to further the material interests of Philadelphia by every means in his power. Mr. Potter's intense de- votion to his public duties and the demands of his private interests began to tell upon his strength, so that in 1868 he was obliged to resign his seat in Councils and travel in Europe, where he spent some time vainly seeking to recover the health which he had shattered chiefly in the service of his fellow-citizens. In 1871, after his return from Europe, he was elected President of the City
National Bank of Philadelphia, and held that posi- tion until his death, which took place at his resi- dence "The Evergreens," Chestnut Hill, Philadel- phia, Sunday, September 29, 1878. The value of his serviecs to the bank can best be recorded by giving extracts from the minutes of the Board of Directors, and from the resolutions passed by the Philadelphia Clearing House Association :
" Mr. Potter was alikc distinguished for his pub- lic and private virtues and evinced his interest in whatever cause he espoused by his zcal and devo- tion to it.
Iu private life he was a friend of the poor, a guide and counsellor to the young and dependent, a successful man of business, above all a man of strict integrity, a sincere and earnest Christian.
He was unremitting in his attention to the inter- ests of the bank, and, in the conduct of its affairs, always exhibited that union of sound judgment, calm temper, and courtesy of manner that marked his success through life.
He was cqually true to the many public trusts with which he was honored, and in his death the city loses one of its best. and purest citizens. His whole life commands admiration and should incite both old and young to emulate and imitate his many virtues."
The following is the resolution of the Clearing House Association :
" In the decease of our valued friend and associate, Mr. Thomas Potter, this Association has sustained the loss of one who, for the last seven years, has en- lightened our counsels and honored our member- ship, and we desire to testify our appreciation of his exalted character as a man of strict integrity and high personal houor, whose mind was ever ready to meet the most difficult question presented for our consideration. He was one of our most public- spirited citizens, always faithful and trusted, ever pure and true."
The following extract from the pen of Hon. Henry J. Williams summarizes bricfly and makes plaiuly evident the high standard of his life and character as a man :
" Mr. Potter was born in Ireland, but came with his parents to this country when only ten years old, and has been a resident of Philadelphia from that time to the day of his death. His activity, enter- prise and sound judgment made him very success- ful in his business and he soon realized a large for- tune, which he employed with great liberality in the service of his Master. He held many positions of trust and responsibility in our municipal and finan- cial corporations and has left behind him the char- acter of a Christian gentleman, remarkable for his purity, uprightness and generosity; without a stain to dim its lustre. He was gentle and courteous in his manner ; kind and affectionate in his disposi- tion; earnest and indefatigable in his efforts to pro- mote the cause of his Divine Master, and using his wealth with great liberality for the benefit of relig- ion. Like the centurion of old, he built at his own expense a church for his workmen and their families, and was also a munificent contributor to almost every institution of religion and charity."
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