History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men, Part 73

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company
Number of Pages: 1102

USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men > Part 73

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'Immediately upon the opening of the July term of the Supreme Court of Nebraska, in 1878, after the death of Chief Justice Gantt, official notice was taken of his death, and something of the man may be learned from the opinion of the learned members of the court. Justice Marquett, opening the ceremonies, spoke of him as "The man who for near a quarter of a century has been with us as lawyer and judge, and who had not failed to attain the highest judicial honors of our state, commanding the greatest confidence of the community, and the affections of a large circle of friends, by a blameless and honorable life."

Upon presenting the resolutions of the State Bar Association, from among Justice Marquett's further remarks, are the following extracts :

"On the twenty-ninth day of May, 1878, Chief Justice Daniel Gantt died. He had lived in our midst for over twenty years, and during all that time, by a blameless life, he made many friends-but few enemies. A few days before his death I heard him say, in answer to the inquiry of another whether he did not think a recent decision of his would not in certain quarters elicit opposition : 'I care not for that, for I think I founded my decision upon correct principles.' To my mind this was the highest exhi- bition of manhood. This alone places him on a higher plane, which few

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men ever reach, in an atmosphere purer than men usually breathe. The 'old man' would rather be right than popular.

"But Daniel Gantt's eulogy is not to be pronounced by me. His best eulogy is found in the records of this court, and in his decisions, many of which are master productions. His was not the mind to find justice in an isolated case where justice appeared, but which was in reality a whitened sepulcher, and when once established as a precedent would lead to a long course of injustice. His mind dived deep and sought for golden lodes of truth far-reaching, opening up long pathways in which the future jurist might walk and find justice. He was my friend for twenty years without shade of differing."

George H. Roberts, Attorney General of Nebraska, as a part of his remarks, included this tribute to Justice Gantt, in reference to treatment of the younger members of the bar :

"Others have known the late chief justice longer, and more intimately than I, but no one appreciated more fully his kindness, his innate nobility of soul, his gentleness, his charity, his worth. To the younger members of the bar he was at once an elder brother, counselor, and friend. Here a word of caution, or reproof, so gently given that it left no sting behind ; and again words of encouragement and cheer-so dear and highly prized by those struggling in the rear ranks for place and recognition at the front. The pure bright gold of his heart and mind will abide forever, written with a pen of steel upon the foundations of the jurisprudence of a great young commonwealth."

Of his professional characteristics, Attorney E. Wakely said :

"He was a conspicuously upright citizen, and a just, conscientious man. In his profession, without claim to brilliancy of genius, or elo- quence of advocacy, and over modest in the estimate of his own powers, he had learning, industry, patience, solidity of judgment, and never- questioned integrity. These are aids which litigants learn to value and rely on, when sometimes, more captivating qualities have charmed the court, but lost the cause. On the bench he had never failing courtesy, equanimity, fairness, and love of justice, without ever an alloy or par- tiality, resentment or asperity. The opinions he has left here testify to his clearness of judgment, his research, his apprehension of legal principles, and his aptitude in applying them to the facts of the cause."

Chief Justice Maxwell, the successor of Chief Justice Gantt, in the course of his remarks said :

"In October, 1872, Judge Gantt and myself were elected Judges of this court. As the Judges at that time were also judges of the District Courts, nearly the entire business before the Supreme Court consisted of cases decided by local judges, a considerable number being up for review from Judge Gantt's district. He at no time manifested the slightest anxiety about the conclusions to be reached by the court in a case appealed from his decision. During the time that he acted as one of the Judges of the District Court his labors were constant and unre- mitting, and frequently burdensome. Throughout his career as Judge he seemed to be actuated by one motive, namely, to ascertain what the law was upon any question presented, and having arrived at a conclusion in that regard, he fearlessly declared it. His success as a lawyer and Judge was largely due-as it must be in all cases of real success in the legal profession-to a thorough mastery of legal principles, untiring in- dustry, and unswerving integrity."

PERRY COUNTY'S NOTED MEN

CHIEF JUSTICE HENRY CALVIN THATCHER.

There stands in the State Capitol at Denver, Colorado, a bust of Henry Calvin Thatcher-the first chief justice of that noted Commonwealth-a Perry Countian by birth, and one of the three native sons of the County to attain that distinction in three widely

HENRY CALVIN THATCHER,

First Chief Justice of Colorado. The third native son to become a Chief Justice. One of three brothers to become famous.

separated states of the Union. Justice Thatcher is of a noted family-one of the most noted which has ever gone out from Perry County. His two brothers, Mahlon D. and John A. That- cher, became, in a business way, the most successful men from among those born in Perry County, as well as the most noted in that imperial commonwealth west of the Mississippi.

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Chief Justice Henry Calvin Thatcher was the third son of Henry and Lydia Ann (Albert) Thatcher, and was born in New Buffalo, Perry County, April 21, 1842. After receiving the edu- cation afforded by the schools of the period, through the desire of his parents to see their children educated, he was enabled to attend Franklin & Marshall College at Lancaster, from which institution he graduated in 1864, taking the honors of his class. Choosing the law for his career he began reading law at Altoona. Pennsylvania, and at the same time he edited the educational col- uns of the Hollidaysburg Standard. In the spring of 1866 he was graduated from the Law Department of Albany University, of New York, and in the fall of the same year he went to Color- rado, located at Pueblo, and began the practice of law. There were no railroads then west of the Mississippi and the future justice made the pilgrimage by ox-team across the plains. It was a long and tedious journey.

Ilis first public service was in 1869, when President Grant ap- pointed him United States Attorney for the State of Colorado. After serving in that capacity for a little over a year he resigned. When Colorado gained statehood he was made a member of the Constitutional Convention from his district, upon a non-partisan ticket, with scarcely a dissenting vote. In 1876 he received the Re- publican nomination for the Supreme Court, and was elected to that high office. In drawing lots for terms, Judge Thatcher drew the short term of three years, and by the law's provision thus became the chief justice. He proved himself the peer of the most able members who have ever sat in the court of last resort, his decisions being marked by a masterful grasp of the most intricate problems presented for solution. In large measure he left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the history of the state, especially in connection with the framing and execution of the laws.

With his retirement from office he resumed the practice of law in Pueblo, becoming senior partner in the firm of Thatcher & Cast. That relation was maintained to the time of his death, which occurred in San Francisco, California, whither he had gone for the benefit of his health. Save for the three years when he was chief justice, he was in active practice in his adopted state from the time of his location there until his death, on March 20, 1884.

From a three volume History of Colorado, by *Wilbur Fiske Stone, himself an attorney of Pueblo and one of its first set- tlers, and who only recently passed away, we gain a pen picture of the life and characters of Chief Justice Thatcher. Speaking of him, Chief Justice Beck, of the Colorado Supreme Court,

*Judge Stone is credited with being a versatile writer, perfectly reliable, and better posted on men and affairs in Colorado than any other.

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said, among other things: * Ilis was a busy life, and he accomplished much in the period allotted to him here. Endowed by nature with a comprehensive mind, which had been well cul- tured and disciplined by his mental exercise, gifted with a good judgment and a strong practical sense, he had risen to a lead- ing position at the bar, and the force of his character and attain- ments has left an impress upon the fundamental law and upon the jurisprudence of the state. He gave valuable assistance in framing the one and in shaping the other, as the records of the constitutional convention and the opinions of the Supreme Court bear conclusive testimony. * * *" Judge Elbert thus portrayed him in part: "It was my good fortune to know Judge Thatcher intimately and well. For three years we came and went together in the discharge of our judicial duties. Purity in public life and purity in political methods found in him a zealous advocate. He was a most excellent judge. * * His in- vestigations were most thorough, and no fact connected with the case he was considering escaped his attention. Judge Thatcher never wrote a slovenly opinion. He knew distinctly and clearly the conclusions he had reached and the process of reasoning by which he had reached them, and his statement and his argument was always clear, accurate and logical. His mind was analytical and he treated the intricate mazes of a difficult legal question with a steady step and clear eye that made him a valuable member of any court. Above all he was pure and incorruptible, presenting a judicial character the purity of which was as the snow, and the integrity of which was as the granite. * * * Of the value of such a life there is no measure.

At a memorial meeting held by the members of the bar Judge 'T. T. Player, said in part: "* His epitaph might fairly be written in the one word 'excellent.' He was an excellent lawyer, an excellent citizen, and, above all, an excellent man. Judge Thatcher was essentially a modest and somewhat reserved man, and it is more true of him than of anyone else whom I ever knew, that his good qualities grew upon you day by day. * * " Attorney E.

J. Maxwell's tribute in part : " * * It was not because of his greatness as a lawyer, not by reason of his having been chief justice of the State, not because of personal popularity, it was the grandeur of his character alone which had impressed itself on this community-character alone, which, notwithstanding the slurs of the cynical and the skeptic, the world admires and venerates for itself alone." Of him Mr. Richmond, another member of the bar, said: " * * * He was recognized from the first as an able lawyer and an upright man, and among his professional brethren as one thoroughly conversant with the ethics of his profession. It always seemed to me that he recognized the fact that no man

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

could be truly a great lawyer who was not in every sense of the word a good man. He did not seek to shine with meteoric splen- dor, but hoped to achieve renown in the profession by studious habits and sterling integrity, believing that integrity and honor, with assiduity, would bring him fame in his profession and finan- cial independence. He would not swerve from truth or fairness in any particular, and from the first to the day of his death he was able to stand the severest scrutiny of the public."

It was altogether natural that, when Henry Calvin Thatcher had completed his law course at the Albany Law School and lo- cated at Pueblo, he should become the attorney and counselor of his brothers in their growing and diversified interests, and so continue until his death eighteen years later. In this new relation the utmost harmony prevailed, each treating the other with the highest courtesy, consideration and kindness in all their business relations, thus adding strength and stability to their business growth.

In 1869 Judge Thatcher was married, his first wife being Miss Ella Snyder. One son, William Nevin, was born to them, Decem- ber 3, 1870, but died in Chester, England, June 14, 1891, and there rest his remains. Ile had graduated and gone abroad with a party of college friends, when attacked with appendicitis. Two daughters passed away in infancy, and the mother in 1878. In 1879 Mr. Thatcher was again married, the bride being Sallie B. Ashcom, of Everett, Pennsylvania. Their only child, Coolidge, died in infancy.

*THIE NOTED THATCHER FAMILY.

Various Perry County families, notably the Blaine, Bigler, and Stephens' families, have had more than one noted descendant, but the Thatcher family not only had one, but three brothers of the same family who attained a preeminent place in their adopted State, as well as in that great section lying west of the Mississippi. Surely to the parents should go much of the credit for the foun- dation upon which these men builded. Their father, Henry Thatcher, was born in New Jersey, June 19. 1807, his father hav- ing come from the New England States, of Revolutionary stock.

*Mr. Wm. T. Albert, a cousin of the noted brothers, and less than six months the junior of the celebrated chief justice, has been associated with the Thatcher interests many years and has known them all his life. He and one other performed all the bank duties for several years. The force now comprises thirty-five men. Now in his eightieth year he is still daily at his post in the First National Bank of Pueblo. He was also personally acquainted with Judge Wilbur Fiske Stone, author of a History of Colo- rado, in three volumes, from whom we quote, and as late as August, 1920, shortly before the death of Judge Stone, had an interview of several hours at his office in Denver. Mr. Albert has kindly read the sketches of these noted brothers which appear in this book, and pronounces them to be cor- rect. That of Chief Justice Thatcher appears with the sketches of the other chief justices, Gibson and Gantt, immediately preceding this page.

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When a young man he came to Perry County, where he was a blacksmith upon the Pennsylvania Canal. He attended school and later became a teacher during his younger manhood. On the maternal side they are descended from William Albert, whose birthplace was in Switzerland and who came to America and settled in Northamptontown (now Allentown) during the period between 1720 and 1735. He had three sons, two of whom, Abra- ham and William, were Revolutionery soldiers. John Albert, the only son of Abraham, located in Adams County and married Charlotte Catharine Hykes, a daughter of George Hykes (of Swiss descent ), locating later in Perry, where was born Lydia Ann, the mother of these noted boys. She was the eleventh child of a family of thirteen children, eight daughters and five sons, and was born March 8, 1814.

Before locating in Perry county John Albert had resided in Adams County until soon after 1800. He then located upon a farm near Alinda, where he not only carried on farming, but during the winters manufactured "grandfather's clocks," having learned clock- making in Allentown. He was a justice of the peace and a highly respected citizen. Throughout Perry, Cumberland and Adams Counties, especially in some of the older homes, are to be found these highly prized grandfathers' clocks. During recent years, when offered for sale, they have often brought fancy prices. That many of them were made in Perry County may be news to many, but is a fact. John Albert was an expert clock-maker in his day, and his clocks indicated seconds, minutes, hours, date of the month and phase of the moon. His death occurred in 1834, the result of accidently inhaling poison fumes from molten brass, while about to cast wheels for clocks. He was aged 61 years and left a wife, four sons and eight daughters.

When Henry Thatcher taught school in Tyrone township three terms were at the school near the Benjamin Smith farm near Alinda. He boarded at Smith's and there he first met Lydia Ann Albert, his future wife, she being a sister of Mrs. Smith, first born of John Albert. On September 24, 1835. she was joined in wedlock to Henry Thatcher, the young school teacher. They im- mediately went to New Buffalo, then a thriving shipping point on the new Pennsylvania Canal, and entered the mercantile business. They were successful from the beginning and continued business there until 1847, when the rapid strides of the town of Newport caused them to change locations. The change also brought them closer to their people, who largely traded at Newport. In 1857 they again changed locations, moving to Martinsburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania. They were the parents of six children, John Albert, Elvina (died at the age of fifteen), Mahlon D., Henry Calvin, Sarah Catharine ( Mrs. Frank G. Bloom, living at Trini-

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HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

dad, Colorado), and Mary Caroline ( Mrs. Marshall H. Everhart, living at Martinsburg, Pennsylvania).

Mr. Thatcher was a good business man, and the aged people of Perry County still speak of Thatcher's store at Newport. That he had ability in selecting his help is verified by the fact that one of his early clerks was Rev. T. P. Bucher, who became the second county superintendent of schools of Perry County, largely through the good reputation he had attained as Mr. Thatcher's clerk. (See "The County Superintendency.") The parents of this noted family were very strict with their children along moral and religious lines and they were baptized in the faith of the German Reformed Church. Their mother and her sisters, in fact, the whole family, are traditionally noted for their kindness, even temperament and motherly ideals.

The plains, when the Thatcher sons first located in Colorado, were dangerous. Frank G. Bloom, vice-president of the First National Bank of Trinidad, Colorado, and associated with and in charge of the Thatcher cattle and land interests in southern Colo- rado and northern New Mexico, was employed by Henry Thatcher at his store in Martinsburg in 1861. For almost a year prior to 1865 he was in correspondence with M. D. Thatcher about locating in Colorado in the fall of that year. The Indians were then on the warpath, and during that fall they burned every stage station, save three, for a distance of 450 miles along the Platte River. Their mode of attack was to fire the haystacks connected with the stations, and when the stage employees would rush out they would be shot. Mr. Bloom left the following spring and saw lying by the trail the oxteams, with their yokes yet upon their frames, but the wooden parts of the wagons all burned. Flour was emptied over the prairies so that the redskins could take the sacks for shirts. On his way west his outfit was held up at Fort Kearney, Nebraska, until fifty wagons came up. There they elected a captain who had charge of the train until the arrival at Denver. The outfit was loaded with green apples, the wagons first being faced with chaff and burlap, and the apples packed in bran. At Denver the apples sold for twenty-eight cents per pound. Mr. Bloom landed in Den- ver April 15, 1866. During the following October he was sent by the Thatcher Brothers to Four-Mile Creek, near Canon City, to start a store. He was there ten months and sold $20,000 worth of goods without any help. In 1867 he located at Trinidad, and in 1869 returned to Pennsylvania and was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Catharine, a daughter of Henry Thatcher, the Mar- tinsburg merchant. On their arrival at Kansas City the trains only ran by daylight on account of the danger of Indian attacks. There were then no sleepers. On the train with Mr. Bloom and his bride, were General Custer and his wife. A curtain of blan-

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kets was rigged up and stretched across the car at nights, the ladies occupying the one apartment and the men the other, as they re- mained in the cars from Sheridan, Kansas, to Pueblo and Trini- clad. In that same year Mr. Bloom became associated with the Thatchers in a business way.

Throughout all their dealings the Thatcher Brothers were never interested in shady dealings nor in grafting. It is said of them that during their long business career they never foreclosed a mort- gage. What was the basis for the marvelous success attained by these three brothers, in their several spheres of activity and influ- ence? An illustration may help answer. When John A. Thatcher, after crossing the plains, arrived in Denver, in 1862, and failed to secure immediate employment, he became uneasy and restless. When his new-found friend from Pennsylvania suggested that he remain at the store, that his partner would be down from the tan- nery, about thirty miles away, and might be able to give him work for awhile, at the tannery, he replied, "You bet your life I will not go away." He there showed his desire not to be idle, and his will- ingness to do anything honorable his hands found to do. The habits of his youth, formed in his father's store in Perry County, thus seemed the bulwark of his life at that critical time.

When M. D. Thatcher, after leaving Perry County, resided with his parents at Martinsburg, he was in full communion with his church and took an active part in Sunday school work, being libra- rian and treasurer of the latter. He systematized the methods and being a fine penman kept everything connected with the library in perfect order, carefully, neatly and accurately, up to the time of his going West. He showed that nothing was too small to do and that what was worth doing was worth doing well. His compan- ions remember that when a school boy he would promptly and voluntarily return from school to his father's store and clear the counter of the miscellaneous mixture of dry goods usually found at the close of a busy day with customers. He there laid the foun- dation for his future career, doing all business throughout his busy life with the same careful accuracy and dispatch as was the habit of his youth.

When the last of these two brothers, associated so closely all their lives, had passed away, Alva Adams, their friend and former governor of Colorado, wrote thus to his friend, C. S. Morey :

"Although two and one-half years lay between the deaths of John A. Thatcher and Mahlon D. Thatcher, our tribute of appreciation and regret cannot be paid the one without including the other. The varied talents of the two men supplemented each other. Their business career was an ex- ample of the power of personal and financial confidence and harmony. Neither selfishness, envy, nor ambition ever broke the current of a com- mon kinship. David and Jonathan were not finer friends than these two brothers. They were the joint architects of a great career. They built up

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a business fabric of surpassing splendor and influence. Under the guid- ance of their strong hand and brain, the firm, 'Thatcher Brothers' became a citadel of commercial and financial stability-it is one of the institutions of the nation. Thatcher-integrity, stability, have been synonymous terms in our business world. This reputation should be prized as a richer her -- itage than their estate of gold. 'Empire Builder' is one of the stock phrases in Western obituary and history-John A. Thatcher and M. D. Thatcher were state and empire builders in the truest sense. For half a century, Thatcher Brothers have been without a rival in business leadership and success. This distinction came from faith in Colorado and Pueblo coupled with a financial genius of a high order.

"As young men, the Thatcher Brothers had a splendid dream of the ulti- mate destiny of this new land, and they lived to see that dream come true. They had vision-courage and confidence. Chance had little part in their success-hard work, good sense and probity were their masters of achieve- ment. They never read the ribbon of a stock ticker. Scheming and specu- lation were not in their business methods. They followed only legitimate channels of finance. They dealt in millions and every dollar was clean. For fifty years, these men walked the streets of Pueblo-their conduct and business open to every citizen-no stain ever touched their name or their business character. In their banking career, thousands became their debtor ; not one of the thousands can say that he was ever oppressed by Thatcher Brothers. They never turned from misfortunes of the worthy. To aid honest men, they often went beyond the limitations of legitimate banking. Not a few business men owe their solvency to the liberality and tolerance of this ideal banking firm. Though absorbed with great interests, they were not exclusive. To all the door of their office as well as the door of their home was open. To gossip and harshness they were strangers. They were careful of themselves as they were of their business. No criticism- no bitterness ever fell from their lips. With all their power, they were modest and unassuming. In their home life, they were gentle, kindly and considerate.

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History of Perry County, Pennsylvania, including descriptions of Indians and pioneer life from the time of earliest settlement, sketches of its noted men and women and many professional men, Part 73

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company Number of Pages: 1102

Author: Hain, Harry Harrison, 1873- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Harrisburg, Pa., Hain-Moore company
Number of Pages: 1102