USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 25
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After remaining in Philadelphia some years, Robert E. Ho- bart removed with his family to Pottstown, Montgomery county, where in 1824 and 1825 he was elected a representative to the lower house of Assembly, and died at Harrisburg, while at- tending the latter session, on the 17th of March, 1826. He is interred at Pottstown.
The eldest of the children of Robert E. Hobart, Nathaniel P., was born in Philadelphia on the 3d of October, 1790, and educated there, being a graduate of the University. He studied
*The "Potts' Memorial," from which we have gathered some of the facts here re- corded, gives Captain Joshua Hobart as the great progenitor.
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HON. NATHANIEL P. HOBART.
law, went to Pottstown in 1811, and was appointed a Justice of the Peace by Governor Snyder. About that time he was mar- ried at Alexandria, Virginia, to Joanna H. Potts, of that place. Shortly after he removed to Reading, Pennsylvania, opened an office, and commenced the practice of his profession. The sec- ond war with England was then going on, and the British ships scouring our coasts kept the whole Atlantic seaboard in alarm. A large militia force was raised for home defence. Nathaniel P. Hobart enlisted in the Washington Blues of Reading, Cap- tain Keim, was chosen Sergeant, and for some time did mili- tary duty at Camp Dupont, near Wilmington, Delaware. At the conclusion of this service he returned to Reading, where he practiced law for several years. While living there he also filled the office of Clerk of the Orphans' Court and Quarter Sessions, and was deputy prothonotary under General John Adams, of that county. He was afterwards assistant clerk of the House of Representatives at Harrisburg for several ses- sions, during the chief clerkship of Francis R. Shunk.
He returned to Montgomery county, and was entered as an attorney at our bar in August, 1830. While a citizen of our county, in May, 1836, he was appointed Auditor General by Governor Joseph Ritner, which he filled with great fidelity and acceptance for three years.
Nathaniel P. Hobart left three sons and three daughters. Of the sons, John P. is a lawyer in Pottsville, and formerly Sheriff of Schuylkill county; Nathaniel P. is a civil engineer, and re- sides in Pottstown; Robert H. is a lawyer, and also lives in Pottstown, as do the sisters.
He had purchased of his grandfather, Samuel Potts, the right to some coal lands in Schuylkill county, which afforded an in- come, and he continued to reside at Pottstown in retirement till the time of his death, July 3d, 1860. His wife Joanna sur- vived him till January, 1867.
It may be proper to add further an account of the two bro- thers of Hon. N. P. Hobart, who have families. Robert E., the elder of the two, married Henrietta, daughter of General Rudolph Smith, of Philadelphia, and they had seven children : William S., Sarah M., Eliza, Robert, John Henry, Henrietta,. and Anna.
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265
JOHN D. APPLE, ESQ.
The younger brother, General John Henry, the well known lawyer of the Norristown bar, born in 1810, was admitted to practice in May, 1836. He was married to Mary J., daughter of William Mintzer, of Pottstown, and they had six children of whom all but three are deceased. Of these William M. was married to Elizabeth W. Rutter, David P. to Caroline Nichols, and John Henry to Laura Whitaker. General J. H. Hobart was District Attorney of our county, being elected in 1855, and is still practicing his profession in Norristown. His wife died in 1858.
JOHN D. APPLE, Eso.
The gay will laugh When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care Plod on, and each one as before will chase His favorite phantom .- Bryant.
John D. Apple was born in the city of New York, in 1808. He was the son of English emigrants to this country, and both his father and mother died soon after their arrival in America. Their son John D. came to Pennsylvania, and under the then existing apprentice laws of the State was bound out to learn the trade of a blacksmith, serving until he was twenty-one years of age. Instead of following his trade he educated himself till competent to teach school, after which he settled in the upper end of Montgomery county, where he soon became a promi- nent citizen and was elected a Justice of the Peace, holding that office for many years. In 1834 he was married to Sarah Bitting, and they had born to them five children, two sons and three daughters, namely: J. Wright, Lewis C., Mary, Hannah, and Jane.
John D. Apple, Esq., was for many years the most promi- nent Democratic politician in that section of the county, and the intimate and personal friend of Hon. John B. Sterigere, whose active adherent he was till the latter's death in 1852.
Mr. Apple was a self-made man, a great reader, and by rea-
18
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JOHN D. APPLE, ESQ.
son of his wide information on nearly all subjects, wielded a great influence among his neighbors and friends. His reading was extensive and his memory so retentive that he rarely for- got anything he had once mastered. He died April 9th, 1862, aged 54 years. He was a large-hearted, popular, and useful man.
We append a notice of his son,
J. WRIGHT APPLE, ESQ.,
who was born December 30th, 1845, in Marlborough town- ship, Montgomery county. His mother was of German de- scent. After receiving a good primary training in the public schools of the locality, he was sent to Frederick Institute and Freeland Seminary (now Ursinus College) to complete his edu- cation. After this, in 1867, he commenced the study of law in the office of George N. Corson, Esq., and was admitted to the bar on the 17th of August, 1869. For a young man he soon acquired a large practice, and on the Ist of January, 1876, was appointed Solicitor for the County Commissioners. At the general election in 1877 he was chosen District Attorney for three years. Very soon after entering upon the discharge of the duties of this office it was his business to assist in the second trial of Blasius Pistorius before the courts of Philadel- phia, where the case was carried on a change of venue. He assisted Henry S. Hagert, Esq., District Attorney of Philadel- phia, and the case was managed so well as to secure a second conviction of the prisoner.
Since Mr. Apple qualified as Commonwealth's attorney, he has directed the prosecutions in the Quarter Sessions with great industry and judgment, attending in the meantime to cases that need his attention as they arise under the purview of the Coro- ner. In the management of the Commonwealth's business he is faithful to the State, courteous to his brethren of the bar, and as he is talented, energetic, and industrious in his habits, doubtless has a promising future before him.
His younger brother, Mr. L. C. Apple, has been reappointed (January, 1879) Deputy Prothonotary of the county.
267
CHARLES FRONEFIELD, M. D.
CHARLES FRONEFIELD, M. D.
There is no death! The stars go down To rise upon some fairer shore; And bright in heaven's jeweled crown They shine forevermore .- Lord Lytton.
The Fronefields, like many others recorded in this volume, are of that sturdy German stock which emigrated to eastern Pennsylvania about the middle of the last century. The pro- genitors of this family are traced to Germany or Switzerland, and their descendants are widely scattered over our country. The genealogy of Charles Fronefield is reckoned from his grandfather, John Fronefield, who settled near Evansburg, in Lower Providence township, Montgomery county, where he married Mary Umstead, by whom he had the following named children: Jacob, John, Elizabeth, Hannah, and Mary, who married respectively Elizabeth Hallman, Edith Wolmer, Wil- liam Ziegler, Philip Yahn, and John Heiser. The children of the above named Jacob and Elizabeth Hallman Fronefield were Rachel, Mary, William, Ann, Elizabeth, Harriet, and Charles, the subject of this memoir. The children of John and Edith Wolmer Fronefield were Jacob, Jesse, George, and Joseph.
Charles Fronefield was born June 14th, 1809, in Evansburg, and while still a child was baptized by the rector of St. James', of that place. When young he enjoyed only the benefit of a common school education, but being of a studious turn of mind, ambitious and persevering, he was sufficiently advanced at an carly age to enter upon the study of medicine, which was his chosen profession, and graduated with high honors from the University of Pennsylvania in March, 1829, being then in his twenty-first year. Having worthily obtained a diploma, he set- tled at Harleysville, Lower Salford township. He had in this neighborhood several able competitors of long standing, but his abilities soon being recognized, together with his energy and public spirit, quickly brought him into prominence, and for many years he enjoyed a lucrative practice. Dr. Frone- field was preceptor to a large number of students of medicine, among whom may be mentioned Drs. Heist, Sloanaker, Smith,
268
CHARLES FRONEFIELD, M. D.
Spare, Royer, Heckel, Hough, Poley, Lambert, Moyer, Isett, Geiger, Scholl, and others.
In 1837 he married Rosa Linda Riker, who bore him four children, Isadore, Charles, Catharine M., and Rosa Linda. His wife died in 1846, nine years after their marriage. In 1848 Dr. Fronefield moved to Philadelphia and formed a copartnership with Dr. Breinig to carry on the drug business, still devoting a portion of his time to the practice of medicine. He sought this change as a relief from the labors of a country practice, and as necessary on account of a bronchial affection. In 1850, four years after the death of his wife, he was married to Wil- helmina C. Scholl, who now (1879) survives him. The child- ren by this union were Mary S., Henry S., and Horace.
Dr. Fronefield was a man of great firmness and decision of character, fixed and decided in his convictions on all matters of" duty, though at the same time always liberal and progressive- in his views. His disposition was social and genial towards all with whom he came in contact. He was a kind husband and father, a devoted friend, and a benefactor to the unfortu- nate. Many instances could be related of his kindness of heart and attention to the suffering poor where duty had called him, giving freely of his time and means to relieve their sickness. and destitution. His life was a busy and active one, constantly employed in what seemed present duties. He had a highly cultivated mind, and was a writer of no mean order. He was a frequent contributor of both poetic and prose compositions. to the Norristown Herald and Free Press and other periodicals, all his writings having that peculiar freshness, vigor and love of freedom which characterize "live men." He was a promi- nent Odd Fellow and Free Mason, and greatly respected in. both those orders. His death, which resulted from typhoid fever, occurred August 6th, 1865, when he was 56 years old. "He was not ashamed, if it should be God's will, to live; and he was not afraid, if God should so order, to die." There were many flattering tributes paid to his memory at the time of his death.
" E. W. H.," in an obituary notice of him in the Philadel- phia Ledger of August 10th, 1865, says:
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MAJOR GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.
"He was a man cast in Nature's finest mould, his very counte- nance beaming with kindness. He was a good neighbor, an upright citizen, an ardent patriot, a sincere friend, a lover of the Bible, and a believer in the doctrines of Jesus. In his honorable profession, the thousands whom his skill and proficiency have benefited bear testimony that by diligent study and investigation, and from the ample store-house of his own extensive field of observation, he had made himself deservedly eminent. He was withal modest and un- obtrusive, always deeming others better than himself. He led a ' quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty'; was gener- ous to a fault; sorrowed with the sorrowing; rejoiced with the re- joicing. He was, in the word's best and truest sense, a gentleman ; not a courtier with artificial mien, but gentle and manly-the en- emy of nothing on earth save of wrong and wrong-doing, and the friend always of all that was noble and right, and just and true. Other forms and faces, and words and deeds, may fade from our memory, but the recollection of the virtues and excellencies of Dr. Charles Fronefield, the ' beloved physician,' will remain fresh and green whilst life endures."
MAJOR GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.
War is a terrible remedy-nevertheless, a remedy .- Kossuth. Cowards die many times before their death ; The valiant never taste of death but once.
* *
* * * Now bid me run,
And I will strive with things impossible; Yea, get the better of them .- Shakspeare.
Major General Winfield Scott Hancock, son of Benjamin Frank- lin and Elizabeth Hancock, was born in Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania, February 14th, 1824. His parents removed to Norris- town, in that county, in 1828, where his father engaged in the study of the law, and subsequently commenced the practice of that pro- fession at the Montgomery county bar. Our subject received his early education in Norristown, attending the academy there, which was then conducted by Eliphalet Roberts, and subsequently pur- sued his studies under Rev. Samuel Aaron. By appointment of the Secretary of War, through Hon. Joseph Fornance, our member of Congress, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point on the Ist of July, 1840, and was a cadet at the same period with Grant, McCleilan, Franklin, John F. Reynolds, Burn- side, Reno, and William F. Smith.
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MAJOR GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.
He graduated June 30th, 1844, and the following day was ap- pointed a brevet Second Lieutenant in the Sixth Infantry. He- served on the Western frontier (Indian Territory) between two and three years, and was promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Sixth Infantry on the 18th of June, 1846.
During the Mexican war, from 1844 to 1848, he served with his regiment, being conspicuous for gallantry at the capture of San An- tonio on the 20th of August, 1847, Churubusco on the same day, Molino del Rey on the 8th of September, 1847, and the assault and capture of the City of Mexico on the 13th of September, 1847. He was made a brevet First Lieutenant on the 20th of August, 1847,. " for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, Mexico."
The following is an extract from the report of Captain William. Hoffman, of the Sixth Infantry, who commanded a battalion of that regiment at Churubusco on the 20th of August, 1847:
Major :- I have the honor of making the following report of the service of that part of the Sixth Infantry which came under my im- mediate command during the battle of to-day :
Our loss has been very severe, but I am unable to give the num- ber.
*
Among the officers who distinguished themselves I may be per- mitted, to mention Captain Walker particularly, who was conspicu- ous by his gallantry in the whole affair, and First Lieutenant Arm- istead and Second Lieutenants Buckner and Hancock, who behaved: in the handsomest manner.
WILLIAM HOFFMAN,
Commanding Sixth Infantry .. To Major B. L. E. Bonneville, Commanding Sixth Infantry.
Lieutenant Hancock served as Regimental Quartermaster in the Sixth Infantry from June 30th, 1848, to October Ist, 1849, and as Adjutant of the same regiment from October Ist, 1849, to Novem- ber 7th, 1855. On the 24th of January, 1850, he was married to Almira, daughter of Samuel Russell, Esq., a prominent merchant of St. Louis, Missouri. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in the Sixth Infantry on the 27th of January, 1853, and served as As -- sistant Adjutant General of the Department of the West, with head- quarters at St. Louis, Missouri, from June to November, 1855. On the 7th of November, 1855, he was promoted to Captain and As- sistant Quartermaster, and was on duty at Fort Myers, on the Ca- loosahatchee river, Florida, in 1856-7, during the hostilities of that period against the Seminole Indians, and thence was ordered to Kansas. In the spring of 1858 he marched with the Utah expedi-
271
MAJOR GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.
tion as Quartermaster on General Harney's staff, from Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas, to Fort Bridger, Utah Territory. Later, during the same summer, from August to November, he marched with the Sixth Infantry from Fort Bridger to California.
The outbreak of the rebellion in 1861 found him on duty in that capacity at Los Angelos, California, where he exercised a powerful influence to calm the storm of passion and fanaticism which threat- ened to separate California from its allegiance to the Union. At his own request he was relieved from duty in California, and has- tening to Washington reported for active service in the field. He was assigned as Chief Quartermaster on the staff of General Robert Anderson, then commanding our forces in Kentucky, but before entering on those duties he was, at the suggestion of General Mc- Clellan, then General-in-Chief, appointed by President Lincoln a. Brigadier General of Volunteers on the 23d of September, 1861, and assigned to a brigade of Smith's division of the Army of the Potomac. His brigade consisted of the Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, Forty-third New York, Fifth Wisconsin, and Sixth Maine Volun- teers, and was encamped at Lewinsville, Virginia, south of the Po- tomac, during the fall and winter of 1861-2. In March, 1862, he embarked with his brigade at Alexandria, Virginia, accompanying the Army of the Potomac to the peninsula, and was actively en- gaged in the siege of Yorktown from April 5th until the evacuation of that line by the enemy on the 4th of May, 1862. The next day he followed the retreating enemy towards Richmond, and the same evening, with three regiments of his own brigade, two additional regiments of infantry, and two batteries, fought a battle in front of Williamsburg, Virginia. At its close he led the brilliant charge which gained us the day, and caused the enemy to retreat during the night. For his gallantry and splendid success on this battle- field he was especially complimented in the dispatches of General McClellan.
His conspicuous services in command of his brigade during the seven days operations in June, 1862, at Golding's Farm on the 27th, Garrett's Hill on the 28th, Savage Station on the 29th, and White Oak Swamp on the 30th, led the General-in-Chief to urge his pro- motion to Major General of Volunteers. It was recommended by General McClellan, for his services in the peninsula, that the bre- vets of Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel in the regular army ' should be conferred upon him-three grades at once. When the Army of the Potomac returned from the peninsula he took part in
272
MAJOR GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.
the movement on Centreville, Virginia, in August and September, I862.
In the subsequent Maryland campaign of the same year he was present in command of his brigade at Crampton's Pass, South Mountain, Maryland, on the 14th of September, and on the battle- field of Antietam, on the 17th, he was highly distinguished by Gen- eral McClellan, who selected him to command the First Division, Second Army Corps, General Richardson, the former gallant com- mander, having received a mortal wound.
On the Ioth of October he commanded an important reconnois- sance from Harper's Ferry, Virginia, to Charlestown, in the same State, during which he drove back the enemy's line after some sharp fighting. The object of this movement being accomplished he re- turned with his forces to the lines at Harper's Ferry. On the 29th of November he was promoted to Major General of Volunteers.
At the bloody battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, on the 13th of December, Hancock's division took part in the assault on Marye's Heights and the celebrated stone wall, which was a part of the de- fences of that position. His troops pushed up so close to the wall that some of his dead lay almost touching it. It was too strong, however, to be overcome. Over two thousand dead and wounded from his division of a little more than six thousand men attested the fighting qualities of his troops. During the entire day's murderous combat, General Hancock, mounted, was conspicuous in the midst of his troops, encouraging them to their best efforts. He narrowly escaped death from a musket ball, which passed through his coat, just grazing his person. He commanded his division at Chancel- lorsville from the Ist to the 4th of May, 1863, taking an important part in that battle, during which his horse was killed under him. His troops were the last to leave that field.
On the Ioth of June, of the same year, he relieved Major General Couch in command of the Second Army Corps, and while on the march to Gettysburg, on the 25th of June, he was assigned by Presi- dent Lincoln to the permanent command of that corps. On the morning of July Ist the Second Corps moved to Taneytown, Mary- land, where General Meade, commanding the Army of the Poto- mac, had fixed his headquarters. Shortly after General Hancock arrived at that point, General Meade learned of the death or mor- tal wounding of General Reynolds, who was in command of all our forces then engaged with the enemy at Gettysburg. General Meade at once ordered General Hancock to transfer the command of the
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MAJOR GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.
Second Corps, and proceed to the scene of battle at Gettysburg, where, in the event of the death of General Reynolds or his disa- bility, the former would assume command of our forces on that field-the First, Third and Eleventh Corps, and the cavalry under General Buford. General Hancock was also directed to report to General Meade whether or not, in his judgment, Gettysburg was a proper place to fight the coming battle.
On his way from Taneytown to the battle-field General Hancock met an ambulance containing the body of General Reynolds. He arrived upon the field about three o'clock in the afternoon, and at once assumed command of all our forces there, checking the retreat of our troops, who were at that time falling back through the town in great confusion. Passing to the rear beyond Cemetery Hill, he made such dispositions as at once stayed the enemy's advance. He planted our infantry and guns in the positions on Cemetery Hill which they held during the entire battle, sent a division and some artillery to the right to take possession of Culp's Hill, and posted Geary's division on the high ground towards Round Top. When these dispositions were completed he sent word to General Meade that he would hold the position until nightfall, and that in his opin- ion that was the place to fight our battle. Later in the evening he wrote a note to General Meade giving him more detailed informa- tion concerning the position held by our troops, and upon these representations from Hancock, General Meade decided to deliver his battle at Gettysburg, and gave immediate orders for the move- ment of his remaining forces to that point. On the 2d and 3d of July General Hancock commanded the left centre of our army, and on the 3d his troops repulsed the grand final assault of General Lee upon our lines, and won the greatest and most important battle of the war, inflicting enormous losses in killed and wounded upon the enemy, capturing five thousand prisoners, thirty stand of colors, and many thousand stand of small arms.
At the moment of victory, General Hancock, upon his line of battle, fell desperately wounded, but did not quit the field until the enemy were entirely dispersed. He sent word at once to General Meade that the rebels were broken at all points, and we had gained a great victory. This message from General Hancock to General Meade, by one of his aids, was as follows:
"Tell General Meade that the troops under my command have repulsed the enemy's assault, and we have gained a great victory. The enemy are now flying in all directions in my front."
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MAJOR GENERAL W. S. HANCOCK.
To this General Meade sent the following reply :
"Say to General Hancock that I regret exceedingly that he is wounded, and that I thank him for the country and for myself for the services he has rendered to-day."
It should be stated here, too, that by a joint resolution of Con- gress, approved May 30th, 1866, General Hancock received the thanks of that body for his "gallant, meritorious and conspicuous share in that great and decisive victory."
Being disabled, he was borne from the line of battle to the field hospital of the Second Corps, in the rear of the Taneytown road, and thence to his father's house at Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he lay for many weeks suffering great agony from the wound. The ball was finally extracted, however, by a most skillful operation on the part of Surgeon Lewis W. Read, United States Volunteers, of Norristown, who was then at home on leave of absence, when he began to recover. He, nevertheless, went on crutches for many months, and was disabled from active duty until the following De- ecmber.
In a lecture delivered by Surgeon A. R. Dougherty, late Medi- cal Director of the Second Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, the following extracts, narrating the wounding of General Hancock in this famous battle, are appended. He says :
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