USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > Lancaster's golden century, 1821-1921; a chronicle of men and women who planned and toiled to build a city strong and beautiful > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
92
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
County is also making its contribution to the State in the services of Wm. H. Keller, Esq., Justice of the Superior Court.
Two sons of Lancaster County have graced the office of Governor of the State, Simon Snyder in 1808 and our present Governor, William C. Sproul, who was born at Octoraro. The Hon. Frank B. McClain filled the positions of Speaker of the House and of Lieutenant-Governor of the State. Amos H. Mylin was Auditor-General. The Hon. W. W. Griest was Secretary of the Commonwealth and is serving on important Com- mittees in Congress. Worthy of mention, too, is the name of Simon Cameron, born in Maytown, elected United States Senator in 1856, appointed Secretary of War by President Lincoln, and later selected as Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia.
To medicine Lancaster County has contributed Dr. John Light Atlee, one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Medical Society in 1848 and presi- dent thereof in 1857, one of the organizers of the American Medical Association and president thereof in 1882, professor of Anatomy and Physiology in Franklin and Marshall College, a man who for sixty-five years practised successfully in surgery. Another of the most widely known surgeons in the United States, also a son of Lan- caster County was Dr. Daniel Hayes Agnew, founder of the School of Operative Surgery in Philadelphia. Dr. Agnew received his prepara- tory course in medicine under his father who was
93
NOTABLE MEN AND WOMEN
then a physician of high repute in Lancaster County. Few men have received higher distinc- tion than he in the medical world. He was one of the surgeons who attended President Garfield, after he was shot. Then there was Dr. Frederick Augusus Muhlenberg, who in earlier days was a student under Dr. Benjamin Rush and later be- came one of Lancaster's noted physicians; also Dr. B. S. Barton who succeeded Dr. Rush. Dr. John H. Musser, of Philadelphia, noted specialist and Dr. John B. Deaver, of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the greatest living authori- ties in certain lines of surgery, trace their im- mediate ancestry to Lancaster County.
In contributions to theology, Lancaster has maintained a leading place through the labors and printed contributions of men who have in- fluenced thought in a wide area, notably Dr. John W. Nevin, Dr. E. V. Gerhart, Dr. Thomas G. Apple, Dr. F. C. Gast, Dr. Wm. Rupp, in a former generation. Their work is being con- tinued by Dr. George W. Richards, president of the Theological Seminary in Lancaster and by his colleagues. All these men have made recognized contributions to the literature of American Theology.
To education, Lancaster has given the services of three State Superintendents of Public Schools, James P. Wickersham, E. E. Higbee, and Nathan C. Schaeffer; of Thomas H. Burrowes, the father of the free school system of Pennsylvania; of
94
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
Dr. John S. Stahr, for many years president of Franklin and Marshall College; of Dr. Henry H. Apple, president of the college since 1910, a member of the College and University Council of Pennsylvania, former president of the Association of College Presidents of the State; of John Beck, pioneer educator and of his grandson, Professor H. H. Beck, whose articles on ornithology have been reprinted by the Smithsonian Institute; of Dr. H. J. Roddy, who has written an illuminating work on the physical and industrial geography of Lancaster County ; of Miss Emma Bolenius, whose text-books on English are used throughout the nation ; of Dr. R. K. Buehrle, for many years city superintendent of education, and of Dr. J. P. McCaskey, editor for many years of the Penn- sylvania School Journal and principal of the Boy's High School.
To scientific scholarship Lancaster has also given in the line of National History the services of David Ramsay, one of the first American Historians, and in the development of the History of the Commonwealth, Dr. J. H. Dubbs, Frank R. Diffenderfer, Litt.D., the Hon. W. U. Hensel, and the Hon. Charles I. Landis. Other notable names in scholarship are those of Lindley Murray, the English grammarian, whose grammar of the English language was for years the best authority on the subject ; of F. V. Melsheimer, the father of American Entomology; of S. S. Rathfon, whose researches in Entomology extended through-
95
NOTABLE MEN AND WOMEN
out the world, and who was recognized by numer- ous foreign societies for his attainments as a naturalist; of S. S. Haldeman, noted naturalist and linguist, author of 150 different works, one of which on " Species and their Distribution " was favorably commented upon by Charles Darwin in the preface of his work " The Origin of Species "; of John K. Small head Curator of the Herbarium of New York Botanical Gardens, author of a number of books and hundreds of monographs on Botany, one of which, " The Flora of Lancaster County " is of especial interest to this community.
In the field of literature we are proud to men- tion that Lloyd Mifflin, one of the masters of American song, acknowledged by two continents as the foremost living writer of sonnets, is a native and resident of Lancaster County. In fiction there belong to the credit of Lancaster County the realistic and popular novels of Reginald Wright Kauffman, the stories of Mary Brecht Pulver and John W. Appel's charming narrative of " The Light of Parnell." It is also worth not- ing that Helen Reimensnyder Martin, one of whose works has been dramatised and played by Mrs. Fiske, is a native of Lancaster.
To hymnology Lancaster has given the songs of Henry Harbaugh, notably, " Jesus, I live to Thee "; Muhlenburg's, " I would not Live Al- way "; Higbee's Ascension Hymn " Jesus O'er the grave Victorious ", and Miss Alice Nevin's stir- ring hymn tune to the words, "The Lord of Life is Risen ".
96
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
To art, Lancaster has contributed the portrait painter Jacob Eichholtz, who was a student under Gilbert Stuart and who painted more than 250 portraits. Among his subjects were Chief Justices Marshall and Gibson and many of the foremost people of his day. Then there was Lewis Rein- gruber, a distinguished fresco painter and decor- ator; and Leon Von Ossko, who had a studio in Lancaster for twenty years ; and J. Augustus Beck, who is represented in the Pennsylvania Historical Society Galleries by over fifty portraits of promi- nent people of the state and in the Washington Monument by a group of sculptured figures repre- senting "Hippocrates Refusing the Bribe." Among the living representatives of Lancaster County in the field of art we note Miss Blanche Nevin, sculptress of the statue of Muhlenburg at the Capitol in Washington, D. C., Helen Mason Grose and Helen Thurlow whose delightful il- lustrations in leading American magazines were largely produced on the soil of Lancaster County.
Associated with business of a decidedly more than local nature are the names of a long list of men connected either by birth, training or resi- dence with this community. Among those whose influence has reached over the widest area are Frank W. Woolworth, founder of the Woolworth chain of stores, Edwin M. Herr, the head of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co., and Joseph H. Appel, head of the Wanamaker store of New York. Worthy of note, too, is the
97
NOTABLE MEN AND WOMEN
fact that Mr. J. W. B. Bausman has served as president of the Pennsylvania Bankers' Associa- tion and that Mr. Eugene L. Herr as president of the American Booksellers' Association and the late Isaac H. Weaver as President of the Ameri- can Cigar Leaf Tobacco Association.
To journalism Lancaster has given Colonel J. W. Forney, founder of the Philadelphia Press and the charmingly intimate essays of " Bob " Risk. To military affairs she has given a legion of gallant men from the days when John Joseph Henry started out for Quebec and gave us the most interesting account written of Arnold's ex- pedition to the days of Major-General William Murray Black, Chief of the Engineers of the U. S. Army, senior member of the board charged with raising the wreck of the U. S. S. Maine from Havana Harbor, awarded the D. S. M. for es- pecially meritorious and conspicuous service in planning and administering the engineering and military railway services during the recent great war.
Next to President Buchanan, probably the most widely known names associated with Lancaster County are those of Baron Steigel, Robert Fulton, and Thaddeus Stevens. We feel that a more de- tailed discussion of these characters is justifiable.
Henry William Steigel came to this country in 1750 and brought about forty thousand pounds with him. He travelled for a time over Penn's province in search for a suitable location and of a
98
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
favorable opportunity for the profitable invest- ment of his money. For a time he lived in Phila- delphia and while there married the daughter of an ironmaster. Then he came to Lancaster county and built an iron furnace which he named Eliza- beth in honor of his wife. He entered upon the manufacture of stoves. Some of them are still found with his name upon them. A thriving settlement grew up around his furnace. In 1762 he founded the town of Manheim. Shortly there- after he built an imposing structure with brick imported from England. This was perhaps the most costly residence in Lancaster County at the time. The interior of this nobleman's castle was elaborately decorated with colored tiles and woven tapestries. Over the old-fashioned fireplace were square plates of delf set in cement representing landscapes. Upon the top of the chateau was a balcony upon which a band of musicians would be placed to play favorite airs as soon as the Baron's return home would be announced by the firing of a cannon. In one of the upper rooms of the castle, it is said, the Baron would preach to his laboring hands on Sunday. About this time he established a glass factory of large dimensions, also built of imported brick. The purpose of this factory was to encourage men to locate in his new town. It was the only one in America at the time and the wares made in Steigel's glass works were considered very superior. Many of these wares are still in existence and are highly cher-
99
NOTABLE MEN AND WOMEN
ished by antiquarians. After a while, however, the limits of his financial ability were reached, he lost all his fortune, and was thrown into prison for debt. He died in poverty at the age of fifty- three. His grave is unknown, but the fame of Steigel glass still exists.
Concerning Robert Fulton, one of the foremost living masters of English verse has written the following lines :
" A child of Lancaster, upon this land,
Here was he born, by Conowingo's shade ; Along these banks our youthful Fulton strayed, Dreaming of Art. Then Science touched his hand, Leading him onward, when, beneath her wand, Wonders appeared that now shall never fade : He triumphed o'er the winds and swiftly made The Giant, Steam, subservient to command."
Robert Fulton was indeed a child of Lancaster. He was born in the southern part of Lancaster County. Robert Fulton was indebted for the rudiments of a common English education to the town of Lancaster. He early bent his energies in the direction of drawing and painting. At the age of seventeen he was practising that profession in Philadelphia. Later he sailed for England, continued his study of painting under Benjamin West with whom he lived. Even while in Eng- land he became interested in the improvement of inland navigation and transportation. Then he went to Paris to study modern languages, mathe-
100
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
matics and natural philosophy. There he di- rected his attention to the application of steam for purposes of navigation and was the first who successfully applied a powerful engine to this branch of human industry. He invented a tor- pedo which was rejected by the French and English governments. He came to Washington and the American government appropriated five thousand dollars to enable him to experiment with the torpedo. Fulton regarded the torpedo at the time as a greater invention than steam navigation for he believed it would establish the "liberty of the seas." In 1807 he perfected his steamboat for navigating the Hudson and in September of that year the Clermont made a successful voyage at the rate of five miles an hour from New York to Albany and back. The triumph of his genius was complete and from that day forward the name of Fulton was destined to stand enrolled among the benefactors of mankind.
On September 21, 1909, the Lancaster County Historical Society arranged a celebration at the birthplace of Robert Fulton to Commemorate the centenary of the trip up the Hudson River of " The Clermont ". On the old stone house in which Fulton was born have been placed two tablets, the one of dark bronze, bearing a mural bust in low relief of Fulton, the other in the form of a conventional shield representing the Clermont under which is the following inscription :
IOI
NOTABLE MEN AND WOMEN
Clermont Robert Fulton 1807 Here, on November 14, 1765, was born ROBERT FULTON Inventor, Who on the waters of the Hudson,
August 11, 1807, first successfully applied steam to the purposes of navigation. At this place he spent the first years of his life.
Without a monument, future generations would know him. Erected by the Lancaster County Historical Society, At the Centenary celebration of his Achievement, September, 1909.
Thaddeus Stevens, " The Great Commoner," as men delighted to call him, lived in the city of Lancaster during the greater portion of his life. He came here in 1842 in the vigor of his intellect and manhood, because he desired a larger field of operation than was possible in Gettysburg, where he had begun his career as a young lawyer. His reputation as a brilliant leader had preceded him. He had already been a member of the lower House of the State legislature and by his elo- quence at a critical point in the struggle for the common school law of 1834 had won the victory for free schools in what he later considered the most effective speech he ever made and the crowning utility of his life. In Lancaster he was nominated by the Whig party and elected to Congress in 1848 and at once threw himself into the arena as the aggressive foe of slavery. In 1850 he made his first great speech against the slave curse and proved himself a foeman worthy
IO2
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
of the steel of the most prominent men of the anti-slavery party. He followed his profession as lawyer in Lancaster from 1853 to 1859, and was then elected by the Republican party to Congress, where he immediately became the leader of his party. Throughout the Civil War he was chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means and one of the most strenuous advocates of emancipation. From the beginning of the war to the end of his life he was scarcely absent a day from his seat in Congress and for most of that time his labors were herculean. He was an able counselor of President Lincoln and an ardent opponent of the reconstruction policy of President Johnson. It was Thaddeus Stevens who pre- sented in Congress a resolution declaring that Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crime and misdemeanors in office. After three days of debate the resolution passed, but Stevens was broken down in health. A month after Congress adjourned in the summer of 1868 Stevens was dead. A noted historian recently said, " In the Congress of the United States from the time of its first officer, Frederick Augustus Muhlenburg, to this day, there was just one man who when he occupied a seat in that body held more power than any man in the government, and that man was a citizen of Lancaster county, Thaddeus Stevens."
In the Lancaster County District the primary election for Congressman had been fixed for the
103
NOTABLE MEN AND WOMEN
end of the week at whose beginning Thaddeus Stevens had died. At the election although all the voters knew that their representative in Con- gress was dead, every vote as a tribute of respect was cast for Thaddeus Stevens. A eulogy on the dead statesman was pronounced before the Senate by Charles Sumner in which the Massachusetts Senator said, " Not a child, conning his spelling- book, beneath the humble rafters of a village school, who does not owe him gratitude." Sumner further said, " It is as a defender of human rights, that Thaddeus Stevens deserves our homage. Already he takes his place among il- lustrious names, which are the common property of mankind."
On a monument in a cemetery in the heart of Lancaster City at the corner of West Chestnut and Mulberry streets, where his body was laid, is the inscription composed by the Great Commoner himself,
" I repose in this quiet, secluded spot, not from any natural preference for solitude, but, finding other cemeteries limited by charter rules as to race, I have chosen it that I might be enabled to il- lustrate in my death the principles which I have advocated through a long life-the Equality of Man before his Creator ".
In an address in the House of Representatives Stevens had expressed the following wish which throws a light on his motives and character: "I
104
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
will be satisfied if my epitaph shall be written thus: 'Here lies one who never rose to any emi- nence, and who only courted the low ambition to have it said that he had striven to ameliorate the condition of the poor, the lowly, the downtrodden of every race and language and color.' I shall be content with such an inscription on my humble grave."
In his will, Thaddeus Stevens left money to erect, establish and endow an institution for the relief of homeless indigent orphans, in which needy and ambitious boys should be carefully educated in the various branches of English, and in all industrial trades and pursuits. With this bequest as a nucleus and with later additional subscriptions and state grants there was erected as a memorial to his distinguished services, the Thaddeus Stevens Industrial School, located on East King street, Lancaster, Pa.
CHRISTOPHER HAGER
CHAPTER VII
CENTENARY BUSINESS FIRMS
N no direction has Lancaster made greater progress than in the size and character of her business houses. The city has the unique distinction of hav- ing a number of firms that have been in continuous existence for over One Hundred Years. Of these, at least three or four have been doing business under the same family name, at practically the same location for a century or more.
The most recent Lancaster addition to the " Centenary Firms and Corporations of the United States " is the Department Store of Hager and Brother. Founded in 1821, the Hager Store enjoys the 'distinct honor of being the oldest Department Store in America, under the same family name, ownership and management, con- ducting business on the same site throughout the whole period of its history.
106
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
Just One Hundred Years ago, there appeared in the Lancaster Gazette and Farmers' Register, issue of Tuesday, October 9, 1821, the following notice :
" Fresh Fall Goods C. Hager & Co.
Respectfully inform their friends and the public that they have lately received
A general and extensive assortment of Dry Goods,
Adapted to the approaching season, which, to- gether with a good assortment of
Queensware and Groceries,
They are now offering at the most reduced price, at their store, corner of the market, form- erly occupied by David R. Barton."
On the basis of this documentary evidence, the Hager Store celebrates in this year 1921 the One Hundredth Anniversary of its Founding. The story of the origin and growth of the Hager Store is typical of the substantial and remarkable com- mercial growth and development of Lancaster. This unbroken record of One Hundred Years, through a half dozen periods of panic and de- pression, through the Mexican, Civil, Spanish- American and World Wars, is a remarkable tri- bute to the ability, industry and integrity of the four generations of men who have successively
107
CENTENARY FIRMS
had in charge the development of this successful commercial enterprise.
The Hager family has been one of the most honored and respected in Lancaster for a period of one hundred and fifty years. Christopher Hager, senior, the founder of the family in America, came from Hesse-Darmstadt, and sailed from Rotterdam, September 22, 1764, in the ship " Britannia," Captain Thomas Arnot, carrying 260 passengers. He at once settled in Lancaster,
where he resided until his death. Here he married Caroline Biehl, daughter of Philip Biehl. The records show that he owned considerable land in and about Lancaster. From 1778 until 1807, he resided at the northeast corner of East King and Christian streets, which property was then sold to Robert Coleman, and later became the home of James Buchanan. Mr. Hager was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, and is buried in the old graveyard, in the rear of the church, on Mifflin street.
The youngest son, named after his father Christopher Hager, was the founder of the Hager Store. Christopher Hager was so closely identi- fied with every phase of the advancing life of Lancaster up to the time of his death in 1868, that it is well worth while to enumerate some of the activities in which he was engaged. He was al- together a remarkably sagacious and progressive merchant, banker and citizen, noted for his in- tegrity and public spirit.
108
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
Just One Hundred Years ago, under the sign of C. Hager & Co., he opened the doors of his place of business in a store room twenty by twenty-five feet, located on the corner of West King and Market streets, in the upper south- eastern portion of the present Hager Building. There was a small warehouse in the rear for stor-
age purposes. Four times a year he went to the Philadelphia market. As auction sales were fre- quent in those days, he often bought quantity lots of merchandise. Two purchases of this kind are worthy of mention : the one, a hundred hogs- heads of molasses, was strung around the curb of West King street for half a square, in lieu of a better place for storage. The other a full cargo of coffee, which had become drenched, though not damaged by sea water, was quickly bought in by the good housewives, who appreciated a bargain a hundred years ago, even as they do now. Up to 1834 goods were brought from Philadelphia over the King's Highway in the famous Cones- toga Wagons, with their blue-painted bodies, white tops and teams of sturdy horses equipped with bells. Lancaster was a stage town, which meant in those days great bustle and activity.
The business of Christopher Hager flourished and became a recognized store, especially on the first day of April, the great settlement day in Lan- caster County. Banks were few in those days, and actual money was used for adjusting accounts. The Hager Store was one of the principal meeting
CENTENARY FIRMS
places for people making their settlements, and became somewhat of a private banking establish- ment. As the young merchant developed a reputa- tion for probity, the substantial farmers loaned their surplus cash to him, realizing that it would be secure. Purchase terms of credit then prevail- ing were six months, with the privilege of an additional six months. Gold payments were al- ways made by C. Hager, and this fact, particularly during the era of "shinplasters " gave his house unlimited credit. In 1846 Christopher Hager took his son, John C. Hager, into partnership, under the firm name of C. Hager and Son. After this the store was much enlarged, and the business was confined to the selling of dry goods and men's clothing.
In 1848 Christopher Hager was chosen presi- dent of the Farmers' Bank, and in consequence, retired from the mercantile firm. He was presi- dent of the Farmers' Bank during the trying financial period of the Civil War, and his patriotic services in raising the National Loan were con- sidered invaluable. In 1856 he changed his resi- dence to Abbeville, west of Lancaster. He was largely interested in real estate in the southern and western parts of the city. It was also largely through his instrumentality that the cotton mill industries were located in Lancaster, and the Lan- caster Locomotive Works. It was because of his interest that the Fulton Opera House was first built. He was for many years a trustee of Frank-
LANCASTER'S GOLDEN CENTURY
lin and Marshall College, and was a member of the Building Committee when the first college buildings were erected in Lancaster. He was Treasurer of Lancaster County, elected on the Whig Ticket. He was so enthusiastic for the election of Henry Clay to the presidency that tra- dition says he bet his whole store on the election of Clay and lost. The winner, however, returned the store out of pure joy in the satisfaction of winning. At the dissolution of the Whig party, his sympathies carried him into the Republican ranks.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.