USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of the state of Pennsylvania with a compendium of history. A record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Volume I > Part 38
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WILLIAM L. HUNTER, M. D.
.At an early epoch in the development and settlement of Pennsyl- vania the Hunter family was established within its borders. The great- grandfather of Dr. Hunter became one of the pioneer settlers of Unity township, Westmoreland county, and upon the farm which is now the old family homestead three successive generations of the family were born .- Samuel Hunter, the grandfather, James Hunter, the father, and the Doctor. Agricultural pursuits claimed the attention of the different members of the family through many years. James Ilunter married Annise Lightcap, a lady of Scotch lineage, and the Hunters also came of Scotch ancestry. To James and Annise Hunter, on the 8th of Feb- ruary, 1844. in Unity township. Westmoreland county, was born a son, to whom they gave the name of William Lightcap.
At the usual age William Lightcap Hunter entered the public schools, and after attending the academy at Elder's Ridge a short time and while at school there, on the 3d of September, 1864. he was enrolled with the Sixth Regiment of Heavy Artillery, Pennsylvania Volunteers, to serve the United States one year or during the war. He was appointed regimental quartermaster, serving in that capacity until the close of the war, when he began preparation for the practice of medicine under the direction of Dr. James McConanghy, of Mount Pleasant. Pennsyl- vania. His preparatory work was further continued in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, of New York city, which he entered at the age of twenty-four years, therein pursuing a course in chemistry and toxicology. Subsequently he became a student in Dr Richardson's School of Pharmacy. in Philadelphia, and later matriculated in the Jef- ferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, being graduated in the latter institution with the class of 1868. In the same year Dr.
OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Hunter entered upon his professional career, opening an office in the town of Turtle Creek, Mlegheny county, where he has since remained in the enjoyment of a constantly growing practice. His business has increased not only in volume but importance, leaving him little leisure time for social pleasures. His skill and ability were soon recognized. and as the years have advanced he has also progressed in knowledge and efficiency, keeping in touch with the onward movement which is constantly being made in methods of medical and surgical practice. In addition he also holds the position of president of the First National Bank of Turtle Creek.
Dr. Hunter was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Huey McMas- ters, a daughter of John McMasters, who for many years was prom- inent as proprietor of a hotel in Pittsburg, and thus gained a wide ac- quaintance. The Doctor gives his political support to the Republican party, and he and his family are members of the United Presbyterian church. In matters of citizenship he is as progressive as he is in his practice, doing much to aid in measures for the general good and the substantial progress and upbuilding of his community. His circle of friends is extensive, owing to his genuine personal worth as well as to his prominence and success in his chosen line of work.
WESLEY WOLFE. M. D.
AAmong those who have attained distinctive prestige in the practice of medicine and surgery in the city of Mlegheny, and whose success has come as the logical sequence of thorough technical information and skill, as reinforced by natural predilection and that sympathy and tact which are the inevitable concomitants of precedence in this noble profession, stands Dr. Wolfe, who is a man of scholarly attainments
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and who has made deep and careful research into the two sciences to which he is devoting his life, being one of the prominent repre- sentatives of the Hahnemann or homeopathic school of medicine, whose methods and principles are becoming more highly appreciated and approved year after year, the system being beneficent in the applica- tion of remedial agents of such potency as to assist nature in restoring health without impairing the physical system by undne physiological reactions from the drugs administered.
Dr. Wolfe is a native son of the state of Pennsylvania, with whose annals the name has been identified for several generations, the original American progenitor having emigrated hither from Germany in the colonial epoch of our national history and having taken up his residence in the oldl Keystone state, whose advancement and gratifying prosperity have been fostered in large measure by representatives of the stanch old German stock.
Dr. Wolfe was born in Kittanning, Armstrong county, this state, on the 16th of January, 1851, being the son of Noah C. and Mary ( Patterson) Wolfe, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Wilmington, Delaware, and of Scotch-trish lineage. Noah C. Wolfe was prominently identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth until within about a decade of his death, when he retired from active labors. He died in 1896, at the age of seventy-eight years, having been a man of spotless integrity and having ever held the respect and confi- dence of his fellow men. In politics he was a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, but he never sought public office, the only preferment of the sort which he ever consented to assume being that of township supervisor. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife was also a devoted member. She died on the 6th of June, 1902, aged eighty-five years.
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Noah C. and Mary ( Patterson ) Wolfe became the parents of six children, namely: Sarah J., who is the wife of William R. Huston, of Homestead, Pennsylvania: Findley P., who is a leading attorney of Kittanning, this state: Perry F., who died in 1874. at the age of twenty-eight years : Joseph A .. who died in infancy : Wesley ; and Dorcas C., who maintains her home in Kittanning.
Dr. Wolfe was reared under the sturdy discipline of the farm. and his preliminary education was acquired in the public schools of Kittanning. Ile early manifested a predilection for the medical pro- fession, and as soon as he could arrange his affairs in a satisfactory way began his work of technical preparation. In 1877 he secured as preceptor Dr. W. W. Smith, an able practitioner of Kittanning, and under his direction carried forward his reading for one year, at the expiration of which period he matriculated in the Homeopathic Hospital Medical College in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, where he completed the prescribed course under the most favorable auspices and was graduated as a member of the class of 1880, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Ile had been a close and indefatigable student and had shown marked discrimination in his technical investigation and clinical work, so that he was well fortified for the practical duties of his pro- fession when he left the well known institution which figures as his alma mater. He began the practice of his profession forthwith in Freeport, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, where he succeeded in build- ing up an excellent business. At the expiration of four years he re- moved from that place to the city of Pittsburg, and a year later estab- lished his residence and professional headquarters in Allegheny, his office being located at 24 North Diamond street, where he has ever since continued in active practice, having gained a high reputation for
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skill and fidelity in his chosen profession and having a clientele of repre- sentative order.
He holds membership in the Allegheny County Medical Society. the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and the Hahnemann Hospital College Society, composed of alumni of the college in which he was graduated. The Doctor is prominently identified with munerous fraternal organizations in his home city, and in each of these he enjoys marked popularity. He holds membership in lonic Lodge No. 525. 1. & A. M .: Allegheny Chapter No. 217. R. A. M .; and Pennsylvania Consistory Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and the Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine. Syria Temple, while the other organizations with which he is identified are as follows: Darling Council No. 888, Royal Ar- canım: Guiding Star Conclave No. 273. Improved Order of Hepta- sophs; Triumph Circle No. 101. Protected Home Circle: Allegheny Lodge No. 946, Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order: Allegheny Lodge No. 339. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Allegheny Lodge No. 16, Order of Americus: Iroquois Lodge No. 14. Order of Iroquois: and Golden Rod Council No. 56. Junior Order of United American Mechanics. In his political proclivities Dr. Wolfe advocates the basic principles of the Democratic party, but he maintains a some- what independent attitude in this line and is not constrained by strict partisan lines. He and his wife are honored members of the North Avenue Methodist Episcopal church.
On the 14th of June. 1899. Dr. Wolfe was united in marriage to Miss Ada Byron Swindell, a daughter of the late William Swindell. a well known citizen of Allegheny. and they have a pleasant home at 2236 Perrysville avenue. They have two children : William Edward. born May 22. 1900; and Harold Swindell, born September 8. 1903. The following appreciative estimate of the Doctor is given by Mr.
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.A. D. Armstrong, an old and trusted official of the city of Allegheny : "The Doctor's friends are legion, and I can speak for them when ! say that he is a thorough gentleman and a man of strict integrity in all the relations of life: that he is kindhearted and liberal, and also that he is considered to be at the head of his profession."
JAMES MCFADDEN CARPENTER.
Mr. Carpenter is a painstaking, conscientious attorney, who has devoted all his adult years to his profession. He gives close attention to duty and does his work thoroughly. His briefs and legal papers are models of brevity and force, and during his practice of twenty-nine years he has had a good and steadily growing clientage, much of his business involving complex and important questions of law and some of it large sums of money, as well as principles of vital consequence to thousands of people. To have administered such trusts with success and entire satisfaction to the parties concerned is ample proof of both business and legal ability. No apology, therefore, is necessary for giv- ing such detail of his biography as may prove of interest to his friends and the general public.
Zimmerman, it seems, is the word used by the Swiss to denote what in English is understood by "carpenter," and a transference to American soil naturally brought about a change or rather a translation of surname: thus when Heinrick Zimmerman came over from Switzer- land and bought land in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania, his name was written in the deed of purchase as plain Henry Carpenter, and by this patronymic all the descendants have since been known. An intermar- riage between the Swiss element and the natives of the British Isles made that popular genealogical combination of Swiss and Scotch-Irish
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which the Carpenters boast as the richest blood in their ancestral pedi- gree. The descendants of this original emigrant long retained a hold on their Pennsylvania patrimony, and to this day the Carpenters are found in that state, though some found lodgment in the new territories of the west during its formative period. Among the number who were born and bred in Pennsylvania and remained during life in the old home state was Jeremiah Murry Carpenter, who, by his marriage with Eleanor McFadden, became the father of the gentleman whose memoirs constitute the subject of this writing.
James McFadden Carpenter was born in Murrysville, Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania. January 30. 1850, but was reared on a farm in Plum township. Allegheny county. Ilis experience was that of thou- sands born without wealth. but he had a determination to succeed. a determination not belonging exclusively to poverty or wealth. As he grew up he was given the benefit of such advantages as are afforded by the public schools, and when sixteen years old was sent to an acad- emy located at Murrysville. A year later he began teaching, and for four terms continued in that vocation, attending the academy at inter- vals. After leaving school he followed surveying and engineering, but meanwhile studied law in the office of Hopkins & Lazear. this dual occupation continuing from 1872 to 1874 inclusive. With this prepara- tion he was admitted to the bar in October. 1874. and from that time on never ceased in his devotion to what one of the famous law writers calls "a jealous mistress." The principal part of Mr. Carpenter's legal career has been spent at Pittsburg. where he is recognized as one of the leading members of the bar. While his practice has been generally in the civil courts. his specialty has been the law relating to real estate. oil and mining rights and mechanics' liens, in which he is a recognized
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authority. He has conducted a number of important cases involving the construction of wills and settling titles to real estate.
A celebrated case, involving the rights of oil producers and coal operators, in which Mr. Carpenter was counsel. is worthy of more de- tailed mention. From time inmemorial it had been the custom that when, in drilling for oil, a scam of coal belonging to third parties was reached the drilling must either cease or the lessees pay heavily for the privilege of continuing. Many suits had been brought and compro- mised to the disadvantage of the oil producers, but finally a case involv- ing this knotty problem was brought against one of Mr. Carpenter's clients, and under his advice was fought to a finish. Mr. Carpenter succeeded in getting a decision establishing the right of lessees to drill through the coal of third parties, and it is estimated that this victory was worth untold sums to oil men, who had suffered great loss under the old rulings.
Another case worthy of special mention was one in which Mr. Car- penter succeeded in preventing the overthrow of Pittsburg's common school system, which is conducted under special legislation. \ new scheme was proposed, and so far carried out that an act of assembly was passed. the effect of which was to put all schools under the con- trol of a few politicians. To head off all opposition another act was passed, which was quite brief and repealed the special act. Good law- vers advised that even if the first act was unconstitutional the repeal- ing act could not be attacked. Mr. Carpenter took a different view of the matter, and in the legal battle which followed succeeded in throw- ing out both acts as unconstitutional. This is probably the first time a mere repealing act was stricken down by the courts in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Carpenter has had business with the supreme court every year since he was first admitted to practice. He is noted for brevity in the
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presentation of his arguments, which are always to the point, and in this respect is regarded as exceptional-lawyers as a rule not being noted for brevity, which Shakespeare tells us is "the soul of wit." The quality alluded to makes his services especially valuable before a body like the supreme court, which above all things abhors prolixity of state- ment and slovenliness in methods.
On the 24th of June. 1876, Mr. Carpenter was united in mar- riage with Mary, daughter of John L. L. and Rebecca H. Knox, who died July 2. 1899. after becoming the mother of four children: Alice L., Rebecca Knox ( deceased). Bertha Eleanor and James McFadden. Jr. Mr. Carpenter, though a busy man, finds some time for the social side of life, and in the best circles of Pittsburg society is esteemed both as an entertaining and instructive companion.
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