USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 4
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36
HON. FREDERICK CONRAD ..
McKean Frederick Conrad received the appointment of Jus- tice of the Peace in 1807. In February, 1821, he received from Governor Hiester, Federal, the appointment of Prothonotary and Clerk of the Courts, and was reappointed by Governor Schultz in 1824, thus completing two terms of three years.
Frederick Conrad learned the trade of a blacksmith in his young days, and followed it for a time; but when not in pub- lic employment was farming till late in life, when he removed to Norristown. His farm and residence was located, as has been stated, near Centre Point, on the Skippack road, and was the resort of politicians and business men. The battalion and militia elections were also annually held at his house. He wrote a great many deeds, mortgages, and other instruments of writing, and being "'Squire" joined many couples in mar- riage. He was a member and officer of the Wentz congrega- tion (German Reformed), and is buried in its cemetery. After he removed to Norristown he felt a lively interest in the im- provement of the town, and is reputed to have been instru- mental in giving to DeKalb street the name it bears.
In person Frederick Conrad was stoutly built, corpulent, and® not quite medium height, with auburn hair. He was a man having excellent flow of animal spirits, lively in conversation, with a great fund of anecdote, which made him a pleasant com- panion and his company much sought in his day.
Frederick Conrad in his later years married a second wife,. Catharine Anslee, the mother of Elizabeth Anslee, who was married to his son Frederick, and when both women became widows they continued to reside together, during life, in Nor- ristown.
37
GOV. DAVID R. PORTER.
GOV. DAVID R. PORTER.
"Ah! whither now are fled those dreams of greatness? those unsolid hopes of hap- piness? those longings after fame? those restless cares? those busy, bustling days."- Thomson.
On the tablet that inscribes the noted men of Pennsylvania few are more justly distinguished than he whose name stands at the head of this article. We claim him as a Montgomery county man on account of birth and early education. His father, General Andrew Porter, was a noted officer in the war for independence, and a resident of our now borough of Nor- ristown, where he built the stately mansion on the Ridge turnpike occupied by Colonel Thomas P. Knox. General Porter was born in the neighboring township of Worcester, his father, Robert Porter, having emigrated from the north of Ireland and settled in that place before the middle of the last century, and died there in 1770. Here Andrew Porter was born in 1743. He was entrusted, in conjunction with David Rittenhouse, in 1785, with the commission to ascertain the boundary between our State and Virginia. He also, in con- nection with Andrew Elliot, ran the northern boundary two years later, and in 1809 Governor Snyder appointed him Sur- veyor General of the State, which post he held till his death in 1813.
His son, whose life we write, was born in the mansion just described, still standing opposite the entrance to Montgomery Cemetery, and received his education at Norristown Academy, a famous school in its day. His birthday was October 3Ist, 1788. His father, being on intimate terms with David Ritten- house, named his son after him, and intended him for the bar, but when grown, a want of robust health, added to a distaste for so sedentary an employment, led him to more stirring pur- suits. He went westward and settled in Huntingdon county, where he soon embarked in the iron business then just grow- ing into importance in our State. In 1821 he was elected to the Assembly from that county by the Democrats, of course, as the family had always adhered to what was called the Re- publican or Democratic party. After serving a term in the popular branch he was sent to the Senate from the same county.
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38
GOV. DAVID R. PORTER ..
Like his father, he was born for a leader, and though no speech- maker his influence in public affairs continued to increase, till. in 1838, in the midst of the financial conflicts and Public-Im -. provement wrangles he was brought forward by his party for- Governor and triumphantly elected. Few men ever reached a public office by running such a gauntlet of vituperation and bitter controversy, and yet at the close of his term he was re- elected, after another fierce contest, and by a majority nearly four times as great as at first. This was a noble testimonial in favor of a bold, brave man, who fearlessly performed the behests of his party, relying on the patriotism of the people for his vindication. There was adduced, however, much evidence of corruption, favoritism and mismanagement by his political opponents, much of which was doubtless true. He was an. active supporter of the extension of the canal and railroad sys- tem, then fairly getting under way, and it was to be expected' that rivalry and local jealousies would be rampant. Notwith- standing his integrity was constantly called in question, his: supervision of the finances of the State was eminently wise and judicious, nor was any peculation ever traced to his door. It was during his administration that what was called the " relief law" was passed, authorizing a loan by the banks to the State, upon the basis of paper issues to those banks, called " relief notes." These were very similar in inception to the greenback issues of the National government during the recent civil war, and the effect was similar in reviving the stagnated industries of the State, which soon enabled the Commonwealth to meet her obligations for interest, which from that time to this has never once been dishonored.
David R. Porter was a man of bold action, and a shrewd observer of men and things, and as a consequence his appoint- ments were generally wise and judicious. During his admin- istration the Native American or anti-Catholic riots occurred in Philadelphia, and his management of the State military and his co-operation in the restoration of order were so salutary that both branches of Philadelphia City Councils passed a vote of thanks in his commendation.
Having closed his Gubernatorial service of six years, he sur-
39
HON. GEORGE RICHARDS.
rendered the chair of State in 1845 to so mild and placid a suc- cessor as Francis R. Shunk, when he resumed his old business of smelting iron at Harrisburg, and was among the first to successfully put anthracite furnaces in operation in that part of the State. He continued this business very profitably till the financial storm of 1857 overtook the industry of the State, when he was made to suffer in common with others, which, however, he bore with the philosophy that always distinguishes men of strong minds.
When the great rebellion broke out in 1861, though not in sympathy with the party in power, he espoused the side of the government of the Union, and rejoiced to have one of his sons, General Horace Porter, take up its cause, and fight so many of its battles. Governor Porter's active, useful life was pro- tracted to the ripe old age of 79, and he died, surrounded by his family, in Harrisburg, August 6th, 1867. His remains lie in the Harrisburg cemetery, and a handsome monument, com- memorating his life and public services, has been erected thereon.
HON. GEORGE RICHARDS.
So mayst thou live, till, like ripe fruit, thou dropst Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease gathered .- Milton.
George Richards, merchant, farmer and Senator, was born in New Hanover township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, on June 17th, 1788. His ancestors were German Lutherans, and identified with the early history of this county. His father was a member of Congress during Jefferson's administration, a member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, and a State Senator one term under Governor Mckean.
George Richards was educated in his native county, and on attaining his majority went to Philadelphia, where he entered a counting house as clerk, and was interested as such and part owner for several years. In 1811 he made a mercantile voy-
40
HON. GEORGE RICHARDS.
age to the island of Cuba as supercargo and part owner, land- ing at Santiago de Cuba. During the same year he made a like venture to the island of Porto Rico, which proved suc- cessful. In the spring of 1812 he made his third and last voy- age, during which he nearly lost his life. This time he sailed to La Guayra, the sea port of Caraccas, the capital of Vene- zuela, South America. On the 15th of March he proceeded to the city of Caraccas, crossing the eastern extremity of the Andes, and arrived in time to see the memorable earthquake in that city. He was an eye-witness of all the horrors of that terrible scene. He saw the earth open and shut before him, walls of houses tumbling down, and thousands of people buried in the ruins. The violent concussion threw him on his knees, and the deplorable catastrophe so shook the country as to leave its sensible marks on the surface two hundred miles from the sea coast.
On his return home, finding the country engaged in war, he volunteered in a company which marched to Port Deposit under General Cadwallader. He returned to Philadelphia the next year. In 1815 he again embarked in mercantile pursuits, in connection with the iron business, in New Jersey. In 1820 he returned to his native county, and commenced farming, sur- veying and conveyancing. He acted many years as Justice of the Peace, and was much engaged in settling up estates. In 1833 he removed to Pottstown. He was much interested in politics, and in 1846 was elected to the State Senate. He married in 1820, and had five children-three sons and two daughters.
He took an active part in all local improvements and enter- prises. He with others established the Pottstown Academy, which continued to be a successful educational institution for many years. He was an active friend of the adoption of the common school system when it was submitted to a vote of the people. He was connected with the Lutheran church from the age of 17 years until his death, which occurred August 19th, 1873. He died at the ripe old age of 85 years.
His son, Mark H. Richards, Esq., of Pottstown, who is one of the most public spirited citizens of that borough, was some
41
BERNARD M'CREDY.
years ago elected a Justice of the Peace, and is a very active, capable business man, doing a general scrivening business. He is besides a very warm and active Republican, often taking a leading part in the conventions of that side.
BERNARD McCREDY.
Though not at any time a resident of Montgomery county, Bernard McCredy deserves a place among our eminent men, because for a period of nearly thirty years he was the head of one of the largest cotton manufactories within our bounds. He was born of a reputable family in county Derry, Ireland, in 1775; studied six years in the University of Dublin, where he graduated in his twenty-first year, and very soon afterwards came to the United States to seek his fortune. He opened a private school in Philadelphia, where he taught three years. About 1824, in connection with Samuel R. Wood, he bought the site and valuable water power at the foot of Swede street, and immediately below the great dam that crosses the river at Norristown. Here they erected what was known as the first and largest structure of the kind built near the borough pre- vious to 1840. The concern and its manufactures were booked in Philadelphia and New York as "The Wyoming Mills," but only known here as " McCredy's cotton factory."
Bernard McCredy died at the age of 71. In person he was below the average height, stoutly built, comely in features, and with light hair and complexion. He lived and died in con- nection with the Catholic church.
42
SAMUEL GARTLEY, M. D.
SAMUEL GARTLEY, M. D.
Was born in the city of Philadelphia in the year 1779. He was the. son of John and Elizabeth Gartley, the former of whom was born in. Ireland and the latter a daughter of John S. Hutten, of Philadelphia. John Gartley was a classical scholar, having been a graduate of the- University of Edinburgh. For many years he taught school in: Philadelphia, and during the Revolutionary war was in the Com- missary department of the army. While residing there his son Samuel, the subject of this biography, was born, who in due time- studied medicine and graduated from the University of Pennsylva- nia in 1801. Soon after receiving his diploma Dr. Samuel Gartley- was appointed Surgeon on the ship Ganges, an East Indiaman,. which at that time, in consequence of the constant war in Europe,. shipped what was called "a fighting crew." Dr. Gartley returned. from China in 1803, and located in Norristown: In 1807 he mar -. ried Sarah Potts, who was the daughter of Thomas and Abigail* Potts, he holding at that time the office of Register and Recorder- at Norristown under the appointment of Governor Mckean. Dr. Samuel and Sarah Gartley had one son, William H. Gartley, who still lives in Norristown, intermarried with Harriet, daughter of Valentine and Elizabeth Saylor, of Upper Providence.
In 1809, two years after her marriage, Sarah Gartley, the wife of Dr. Gartley, died, leaving her son William an infant. Some time afterwards Dr. Gartley married Catharine M. Potts, a sister of his. first wife, and he continued to reside here, having a widely ex- tended practice for many miles around Norristown, till 1824, when he died, in his 45th year. The children of this second union were: John H., living in Philadelphia; Elizabeth H., deceased at Potts- town in 1848; Thomas P., who died in Clearfield county in 1876 ;: and Samuel, who lives in Coventry, Chester county.
Having had two years experience on shipboard and abroad, Dr .. Gartley was esteemed a very skillful physician, and was often called into consultation by other practitioners in Montgomery, Bucks and Chester counties. He was besides, during the war of 1812, appointed a local examiner of soldiers as to their fitness for service in the army. Dr. Samuel Gartley was a member of the Episcopal church, and is buried at Swedes' Ford Cemetery. His. second wife, Catharine M. Gartley, still remains his widow, and.
*The daughter of Colonel Samuel Miles, of the Continental army ..
43
HON. N. B. BOILEAU.
lives in Pottstown, a sprightly old woman of 92, having survived him fifty-four years.
The son of Dr. Gartley, William H., and Harriet his wife, were married in 1830. Their children who survived infancy were Fer- dinand Potts, intermarried with Mary Ann Wilson. He died in 1874 at 43, leaving four children, to wit: Samuel F., William H., Clara, married to Edward Moore, and Adeline Gartley. William H. and Harriet Gartley's second son was Samuel Gartley, who died in 1852, in his 20th year. Their third child is Sarah Ann, the wife of Martin Molony, of Norristown. The children of the latter, being of the fourth generation from Dr. Samuel Gartley, are Joshua, Adele M., Anna B., Martin, and Sarah Molony.
HON. N. B. BOILEAU .*
This is the state of man : To-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow, blossoms,
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him.
The third day comes a frost, a killing rost,!
And, when he thinks, good, easy man, full surely
His greatness is aripening, nips his root,
And then he falls .- Shakspeare.
And now, behold, my witness is in heaven and my record on high .- Job xvi, 19.
Nathaniel Brittan Boileau, who was eight sessions a member of the lower house of Assembly, elected Speaker of that body, and thence made Secretary of the Commonwealth for three terms by Governor Snyder, was in many respects the greatest man Mont- gomery county ever produced. His equal and compeer at the time was Hon. Jonathan Roberts, who, with him, were the ruling spirits of young Montgomery during the first twenty years of the present century.
He was the son of Isaac and Rachel Brittan Boileau. The father of Isaac Boileau was a Frenchman, driven from France among other Huguenots, and exiled on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which gave toleration to Protestants. Along with a shipload 01 other refugees he landed on Staten Island about 1675. After re- maining there some time, during which Isaac Boileau was born, many of them, he of the number, emigrated to Bucks county and
*For the particulars of the private and personal history of N. B. Boileau we are in- debted to Mr. William Sprogel and Mrs. Hannalı D. Yerkes, of Hatboro.
44
HON. N. B. BOILEAU.
to the neighborhood of Philadelphia. The father of Nathaniel B. came to Mooreland township and purchased a farm of eighty acres land now owned by Mr. Lewis R. Willard, about two miles north- east of the present borough of Hatboro. Here Nathaniel B. Boileau was born in 1763, and also two sisters. When Nathaniel B. was 33 years old, in 1796, his father sold to him his farm just referred to, and at the same time a tract of twenty acres in Bucks county, for £550, the deed for both being certified "before Robert Loller, one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas." This property, or the first part of it, he exchanged some time after for a farm of two hundred acres on the southern limit of the borough, land now owned by Judge W. H. Yerkes and the Bates family.
Isaac Boileau was a well to-do farmer, and gave his only son the best education possible, sending him to Princeton College, where he graduated. His mother must have been advanced in life at his birth, for persons still living remember her residing at Hatboro as late as 1812, when she was well nigh a hundred years old. We do not know when Mr. Boileau graduated at college, but it must have been previous to 1788, when he was 25 years of age; for he had married Hester Leech in 1795, who bore him one son, Thomas Leech Boileau, she dying in her 30th year, in 1797. Of the events of his life from the time he graduated till he began to figure as a politician in 1797, we have no record beyond the fact that he was interested in Fitch's efforts to perfect his boat to run by steam. Mr. Boileau himself was an ingenious man, accustomed to the use of tools, though but a farmer, and constructed one of Fitch's model steamboats. During college vacations, as he related in after life, he made the paddle-wheels of said boat, and assisted the inventor in testing its capacity on some of the ponds near his father's resi- dence. In this period of eight or ten years it is presumed he was dividing his time between farm labor and studies, preparatory to the active public life he afterwards led. He was undoubtedly con- versant with all the writings of the political fathers of our young Republic, and it is safe to say that few men of his time more heartily drank in the spirit of Seventy-six than Nathaniel B. Boileau. Pub- lic documents and political papers from his pen, found in the news- paper files of the first quarter of the present century, abundantly show this.
Some time after he made the exchange of properties he divided (in 1801) the large farm on the York road, and built a very fine mansion on one part of it for his own use, which at that time was
45
HON. N. B. BOILEAU.
one of the finest residences in the county. The remainder of the property, with the old homestead, about thirty-five years after, he sold to Joseph B. Yerkes, Esq .* The stone for building his fine house was quarried with his own hands, and he also dug the cellar. This dwelling, adjoining Loller Academy, he occupied many years, till compelled by losses in his old age to part with it also.
Nathaniel B. Boileau's family history is one of the most curious and unfortunate in private annals. He was born rich, married twice to wealthy sisters; was sober, industrious, frugal, and yet died poor. He was one of the few eminent men who lived a use- ful life, and departed with the world greatly his debtor. But he was in a sense unfortunate in all his domestic relations. He first courted and was engaged to Charlotte Leech, but just before their nuptials were to be celebrated she took sick and died. After a time he offered his hand to Hester, the sister of his affianced but de- ceased bride, was accepted, and they were married in June, 1795. She died on September 13th, 1797. After remaining a widower about seven years he married still another sister, Ann Leech, who lived till March, 1834, but they never had any children. Thus, at 71, Mr. Boileau was left alone again, with the one only son of his: first wife, to whom he gave the best education, he being, as him- self, a graduate of Princeton College. The latter, after completing his studies, had graduated as a lawyer, and practiced for some time in Philadelphia. But after marrying a very nice woman, named Maria Kline, sister of Dr. William Kline, of Philadelphia, he fell into irregular habits, separated from his wife, and died at Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania, without children, in 1855. His father fol- lowed him in offices of mercy and paternal love for many years, hoping he might be reclaimed, and wasted large amounts of money to make him comfortable, only to be disappointed in the end. With the exception of the children of two sisters of N. B. Boileau, there is none of his family living to-day.
We turn now from this melancholy record to the public life of N. B. Boileau, which in the main was grand and useful to his coun- try, but, measured by the disappointments at its close, unfortunate, as his domestic relations had been.
As before stated, Mr. Boileau was elected to the General Assem- bly in 1797, at the bottom of the legislative ticket, along with Cad-
*The following anecdote illustrates the attachment of the kind old gentleman to the home of his youth. Mr. Yerkes, on purchasing the homestead, consulted him about re- moving some of the timber. "Cut it all down as you like, but spare that dear old chest- nut tree while I live," said Mr. Boileau.
46
HON. N. B. BOILEAU.
wallader Evans, Benjamin Brooke and Peter Muhlenberg. This was before the division of voters into Federals and Republicans, for all the others were afterwards Federals, as Boileau was subsequently known as an active Republican. Mr. B. was thus returned three times, making four sessions he attended continuously. In 1802 he was left at home, but the session of 1803-4 he was sent back again, as also the sessions of 1806-7-8. He stands alone on the records of the county as having represented it in the lower house for eight years. During his last session, in 1808, he was elected Speaker on the 19th of January. But we must go back and detail his legisla- tive acts in their order, as they are recorded in the newspaper files consulted.
During the years 1803-4-5-6 he was paymaster of the county , volunteer militia. On December 17th, 1804, Mr. Boileau obtained by appropriation $2000 for the endowment of the Norristown Academy, and in 1805 had charge of the articles of impeachment against Judges Edward Shippen, Jasper Yates and Thomas Smith. He made a very able and elaborate report and argument against them before the Senate on behalf of the House, but the former body acquitted the accused by 13 to 11-not a two-third vote. At this time party spirit began to run very high, Republicans charging Federalists with sympathy for England, and the latter stigmatizing their opponents with the name of Jacobins, and with being in favor of "French atheists." In 1806 Mr. Boileau, as the leader of the House of Representatives, moved a committee to draw up an ad- dress to President Jefferson, urging him to suffer his name to be used as a candidate for a third term. The House adopted the mo- tion, and Mr. B. presented a very able paper, which was passed by both houses (in the House by 56 to 19), and sent to Washington. During this year politics were fiercely contested, and a Democratic- Republican association formed, of which Mr. Boileau was Presi- dent, Dr. William Smith Vice President, Jonathan Roberts, Jr., Secretary, and Stephen Porter Treasurer.
The year 1807 was a busy one for Mr. B., and his name appears as connected with almost every public movement. On January Ist he presented a petition from members of the German Lutheran church of Barren Hill asking for " permission to raise $3000 by a lottery for its benefit." He also framed the law for the establish- ment of the Montgomery county poor-house, and got it passed. This year also a bill, adopted by his agency, authorized the raising of $1400 by lottery to build an English school at Sumneytown, and
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HON. N. B. BOILEAU.
.on February 25th, being chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, he made a report on State finances, exhibiting the revenue in a healthy condition.
This year the outrage of the British frigate Leopard firing on the Chesapeake in time of peace, and taking out of the latter some al- leged British seamen, produced a profound feeling of exasperation all over the country. Public meetings were held in different States to take action upon it, and prepare the public mind for a becoming vindication of the outrage or a declaration of war. Such a meet- ing of enrolled militia was held in our county, and Mr. Boileau was appointed chairman of a committee of correspondence to confer with other such meetings or bodies, with a view of bringing public sentiment up to the point of resistance.
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