USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 40
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August 17th, 1861. Commissioned Colonel of Fifty-third Regi- ment Pennsylvania Volunteers, at Harrisburg, and mustered into the service of the United States, at Washington, on the 7th of Novem- ber following.
May 12th, 1864. Promoted Brigadier General of United States Volunteers.
August Ist, 1864. Promoted Major General of United States Volunteers.
425
GENERAL JOHN R. BROOKE.
Since the war his record stands :
February 28th, 1866. Appointed Lieutenant Colonel of Thirty- seventh United States Infantry.
March 2d, 1869. £ Promoted to brevet Colonel and Brigadier General in the United States army.
March 15th, 1869. Transferred to the Third United States In - fantry.
General J. R. Brooke, with his division, was mustered out, and resigned his commission at the end of the war, on the Ist of February, 1866, returning to civil life again.
At the time of resigning, or shortly after, General Brooke was tendered a command in the regular army, which he then declined. He returned home, and for a very brief period en- gaged again in the iron business, at Thorndale, Chester county. While there, and unsolicited on his part, the War department again tendered him a Lieutenant Colonel's commission in the Thirty-seventh United States Infantry. The offer of the com- mand at the time was a surprise to General B., but as he had a taste for the profession of arms he concluded to accept. His commission, as before stated, is dated February 28th, 1866. On taking this command Colonel Brooke was first stationed at Fort Union, New Mexico, and afterwards at Fort Stanton, in the same territory. On the 2d of March, 1867, about a year afterwards, he was breveted Colonel and Brigadier General in the United States army, which position he now holds .* On the 15th of March, 1869, he was transferred to the Third United States Infantry. General Brooke is now in command of the regiment just stated, at Fort Shaw, in the middle district of Montana Territory.
In concluding, it is impossible in the space afforded us to do full justice to so meritorious an officer as General John R. Brooke. The fact that the Secretary of War, on the recom- mendation of the General in chief, or a board of officers, nomi- nated him for appointment in the regular army at a time when there was such a superfluity of volunteer officers waiting for like positions, is the very highest commendation, placing him on the roll of merit beside the most distinguished Generals of the army. He seems never to have been engaged in a battle
*He was one of the youngest officers in the army holding the rank he did.
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426
PETER F. ROTHERMEL.
in which his courage or gallantry did not attract the special notice of his commanding officer. In that desperate field day at Gettysburg, where he was wounded in repelling the enemy from a key-position, General Meade said to a gentleman of that place, when conversing of this part of the great battle: "Penn- sylvanians do not know what a debt of gratitude they owe this youthful and gallant officer."
The fact also that he was twice seriously wounded is the best of proof that he did not send his men where he was not willing to lead. It is plain, therefore, that General Brooke has a born aptitude for the profession of arms, and it is highly probable that if his country should ever again be engaged in another war, which heaven forbid, he will doubtless still fur- ther distinguish himself.
PETER F. ROTHERMEL.
The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear withi hearing .- Dick's Future State.
The distinguished artist and painter of the "Battle of Get- tysburg," now residing in Limerick township, Montgomery county, was born July 8th, 1817, near the Susquehanna, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. His father gave him a good education, with a view of his following surveying as a busi- ness, but taste and inclination soon attracted his mind to draw- ing and portrait painting. He took lessons with Mr. Otis, a famous name in art, and soon gained such a proficiency in sketching and color that he opened a studio in Philadelphia and began to use the pencil so successfully that public atten- tion was very soon drawn to him as a promising artist. After working a time at portraits and small pieces, he was encour- aged to undertake historical subjects. His first attempt at a large painting was "Columbus Before the Queen," and after- wards "De Soto Crossing the Mississippi." Still confining his pencil to Spanish-American subjects, he brought out "Cortez Haranguing His Troops in Sight of Mexico." In all these
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PETER F. ROTHERMEL.
works he seems to have conceived the grandeur of high civili- zation as contrasted with barbarism and the passions that the finding of a new world was calculated to inspire in the minds of the discoverers.
These paintings laid the foundation of his present high repu- tation, and he soon commenced other historical subjects, among them being "Cromwell Ordering Hitch out of the Pulpit," "Ruth and Naomi," "Shylock and Portia," "Labor's Vision of the Future." By these works he has proved himself a his- torical painter only second to Benjamin West, another Penn- sylvania artist, whom he resembles more than any other limner of America. The fame of these productions had so well es- tablished his reputation that when the State Legislature re- solved to commemorate the greatest victory of the late rebel- lion by a painting of national importance, it had no hesitation in employing Rothermel, a Pennsylvania artist, to represent the battle of Gettysburg (won by a Pennsylvania General) on canvas for the admiration of all time. It is said to be the largest battle picture in the world with one exception, show- ing some of the combatants as large as life, and many of them remarkably good likenesses of those who figured in the scene that memorable day-the third of the fight. Those acquainted with the locality say also that the landscape part of it is cor- rectly drawn.
For this picture, which is sixteen by thirty-two feet, the State paid him twenty-five thousand dollars, certainly a munifi- cent price, and nearly enough to expunge the famous proverb that "Republics are ungrateful." The department of art to which Mr. Rothermel has devoted his life requires the highest class of talent, as each picture is a tragedy and epic combined for the scene-at least the visual part of it-must be purely the ideal conception of the author. In this respect his work is exactly like those of Milton and Dante in describing the won- ders of heaven and hell, which they had never seen.
428
MAJOR JAMES G. M'QUAIDE.
MAJOR JAMES G. McQUAIDE.
The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; Take every man's censure, but reserve thy judgment .- Shakspeare ...
Major James G. McQuaide was born in Westmoreland county,. Pennsylvania, on the 3d of January, 1819. His ancestry were- Scotch Irish on the father's side, and English on the mother's. When eight years old he lost his father by death, but received a. good commercial school education, having for his tutor Professor Geary, father of the late Governor Geary, of Pennsylvania, and was- able to engage in mercantile pursuits at the early age of sixteen. He: soon became the principal owner of a large forwarding and com- mission business at Saltsburg, on the line of the Pennsylvania canal, about forty miles east of Pittsburg. Although only twenty-one- years old when the famous "log cabin and hard cider" Presidential campaign of 1840 began, he took a warm interest in politics and' was an active supporter of Harrison, the Whig candidate. In the. following year the Whig convention of Indiana county gave him a. unanimous nomination for the Legislature ; but, although the county gave a large majority for his party, he declined the honor, prefer- ring a prosperous business to any political office.
When twenty-eight years of age he married the daughter of a. wealthy merchant. She died two years later, and soon after her death he closed out his business at Saltsburg and removed to Phil- adelphia, where he became a wholesale dry goods merchant. After continuing the latter business until 1854 or 1855, he entered the- wholesale grocery trade, and soon afterwards established a wholesale: and retail trade in every mercantile branch at Indiana, Pennsylva- nia, which proved a great success.
In 1861 he was appointed, at a Cabinet meeting in Washington,- First Assistant Appraiser of the port of Philadelphia, a position which he resigned in 1863. During the exciting period of the civil' war he was commissioned to organize the Union sentiment of the State under the title of the "Union League of America." The. late Hon. Morton McMichael became President of the organization in this State, while Major McQuaide was Treasurer, and the ex- penses were in a great part paid out of his private funds. Within six months from the date of appointment every considerable town, and almost every township in the State, had been visited and en- rolled by him in the organization, which embraced over one hun-
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429
MAJOR JAMES G. M'QUAIDE.
dred and seventy thousand citizens. The number of troops which the League contributed from its ranks to the Union army was more than one hundred thousand.
In May, 1867, Major McQuaide removed from Philadelphia to Upper Merion township, Montgomery county. His antecedents .as a worker in the Republican party became known, and, in 1871, -a Republican convention nominated him, by a nearly unanimous vote, as a candidate for the Legislature. He had but two weeks in which to canvass the county, but the usual Democratic majority was reduced about six hundred. In 1872 the Republicans of the county gave him charge of their campaign. An established Dem- ocratic majority varying from six hundred to fifteen hundred was .swept away and all the Republican candidates but one elected. From that time until now (1879) Major McQuaide has been chair- man of the Republican county committee, except during two years. .In each campaign he has secured the election of some part of the ticket, and in every close contest has snatched victory from his Democratic opponents.
When quite young, Major McQuaide was made a member of the staff of Governor William F. Johnston with the rank of Colonel. In 1871 he was appointed by Governor Geary Master Warden of the port of Philadelphia, and was re-appointed by Governor Hart- tranft. He has been President of various corporations and mining .companies, and has repeatedly held the office of bank director and : similar positions. He is now President of the Norristown school board, and the schools of the borough have greatly improved under this management.
The Greensburg Tribune and Herald, of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, bearing date July 30th, 1878, says : "Major James G. McQuaide, a Westmorelander, has made his mark as a business man in Philadelphia, and has also established his reputation all cover the State as a prominent and active Republican politician."
He is the oldest member of the State Central Committee in con- · secutive service, and has been consulted as to the management and ·details of Republican campaigns by every Republican chairman :since 1860.
Major McQuaide had one daughter by his first wife, Isabella R., who married William H. Lehman, of Norristown. The latter died recently, leaving one child. In 1858 Major McQuaide married this second wife, Elizabeth H. Sparks, of New Jersey. Their child- ren are Quindora, James P., Earl G., Walter S., and J. Halsey.
430
ISAIAH B. HOUPT.
ISAIAH B. HOUPT. A span is all that we can boast, An inch or two of time .- Watts.
The "Haupt" family, as the name was originally spelled, is un- doubtedly of German origin, the earliest known progenitor being Henry Haupt, who settled near Jarrettown, in Upper Dublin town- ship, Montgomery county, sometime late in the past century. The father of Isaiah B. was John, the son of Henry just named, and his mother's name was Rebecca, daughter of John Brandt, of Plymouth township. Isaiah B. was born in the locality first above named on the 12th of June, 1817, and received in his youth an ordinary com- mon school education, till old enough to learn a trade. His father, as his uncles, Samuel and Henry, were stone masons by trade, and at the proper age Isaiah was placed with his uncle Henry to learn what had become the family calling, as his older brother, Ezekiel, had already acquired the same handicraft.
About 1838, as soon as out of his apprenticeship, he took an en- gagement with Thomas M. Jolly, Esq., Patrick Flynn and James Webb, who had just contracted to build a section of the Georgia State railroad, in the Empire State of the South, where he remained about a year. Then coming North, he found work in building locks at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Baltimore and Ohio canal, where he stopped six months. From thence he went to Hollidays- burg, in (now) Blair county, where he assisted to set two of the: heavy stationary lifting engines of the inclined plane on the top of the Allegheny mountains.
He also worked at or built an aqueduct at Huntington and another at Newton-Hamilton. Finishing there he went to Pitts- burg, and taking a flat-boat descended the river to New Orleans, where he got work at erecting a prison for the confinement of the: chain-gang of that city. Here he stayed one year and six months, and shifted his job to the repairs of Fort Wood, some distance from the city, where he remained eleven months; after which he took passage on the ship Gaskill, for New York, where he arrived after a twenty-seven days voyage, the ship having bad weather and sail- ing over the outside passage.
Soon after arrival at home, he commenced work again at his trade, and very soon in 1843 was married to Elizabeth Nyket, of Unionville, Berks county. Not long after, in connection with his brother Ezekiel, he began to contract to do mason work, handling
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ISAIAH B. HOUPT.
some very heavy contracts. They took the building of the Crane Iron Works near Allentown, in Lehigh county; the two furnaces at Spring Mill, and two at Conshohocken, besides a large number of bridges, including one over Perkiomen, at Tyson's Ford, and another at Alderfer's mill, as also other smaller contracts in differ- ent parts of the county. Previous to these, however, he served an appointment as wood-inspector on the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad, when that great avenue was under State management ; and shortly after was appointed Supervisor of the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, residing at Harrisburg three years while holding that position.
In 1863 his claims as a life-long Democrat were recognized by a nomination for Register of Wills, which office he held for the term of three years. In 1870 he was appointed by the Court Prison Inspector, which position he filled eight years. He also served in the borough Council six years.
Having a claim against the Norristown Register establishment for money loaned to the proprietor, Mr. Houpt, in July, 1877, bought the concern at public sale to secure his claim. This journal he published one year, and in connection with it a daily penny paper, called the Watchman, nearly as long. While he con- tinued these publications he procured large additions to their patron- age, both papers being edited with considerable ability by his son - in-law, H. U. Brunner, Esq. About one year after making this purchase he sold the paper and good-will to A. Kneule, Esq., of the Pennsburg Bauern Freund, and retired from journalism. Mr. Houpt is a man of pleasant and courteous demeanor, and is generally held in high regard by his friends.
Isaiah B. and Elizabeth Houpt have two children, Mary Ann, intermarried with H. U. Brunner, Esq., attorney-at-law, late Dis- trict Attorney, and Dr. Charles N. Houpt, whose wife is Laura, daughter of Gabriel Kohn, of Norristown. Isaiah B. and Elizabeth Houpt have three grandchildren, Gabriella, daughter of Dr. Charles N. and Laura Houpt; Blanche and Charles, children of H. U. and Mary A. Brunner.
In friendly, social qualities, Mr. Houpt stands in great personal estimation with his fellow citizens; and after a life of industry and care, has accumulated a comfortable sufficiency for the down hill of life.
432
HON. GEORGE N. CORSON.
HON. GEORGE N. CORSON.
Abou Ben Adhem-may his tribe increase .- Leigh Hunt.
George Norman Corson, attorney-at-law and member of the late Constitutional convention of Pennsylvania, is the third son of Charles and Sarah Corson, of Lower Providence township, Montgomery county. The maiden name of his maternal grand- mother was Norman, and she became the wife of Laurence Egbert. Mr. C.'s mother was a sister to the wife of his uncle, Alan W. Corson, elsewhere commemorated in this book. His father, Charles Corson, an elder son of Joseph Corson (the first of the name in Montgomery county), was a farmer, and located, soon after his marriage, in Lower Providence, where he raised a large family, dying there in May, 1878, aged seventy-eight years. He was a man of great moral and mental force. The brothers and sisters of the subject of our notice are the following: Rich- ard R., long known as a real estate broker in Norristown, who is intermarried with Louisa C. Williams; William E., intermar- ried with Hannah Highley, the latter of whom is deceased ; John J., also in the scrivening and real estate line, who is mar- ried to Rebecca, daughter of Henry Freedley, Esq .; Laurence E., who lives in Lower Providence; Adelaide, the wife of Al- bert Crawford, also of that township; Susan R., married to Felix Highley, of Norriton; and Mary.
George N. Corson was born March 1Ith, 1834, and his early years were spent at the farm on the banks of the beautiful Per- kiomen, a name sufficiently musical and romantic to turn our subject's young mind to smooth-sounding numbers, as shall be narrated hereafter. His youthful foster-mother was a country school-house on the hills, between the Ridge turnpike road and the Perkiomen. Here he obtained the rudiments which inspired him with a desire to secure a better education. This he soon attained, first at Treemount Seminary, Norristown, then under the care of Rev. Samuel Aaron, and afterwards at Freeland Seminary, conducted by Rev. H. A. Hunsicker. Be- ing an apt scholar he soon acquired good academic training,
433
HON. GEORGE N. CORSON.
and like thousands of the now distinguished of our country, commenced instructing others, thereby teaching himself, or further perfecting his own education. He began teaching when seventeen years of age, and in 1853, by the time he had at- tained his nineteenth year, was enabled to begin the study of law in the office of James Boyd, Esq., of the Norristown bar. In 1856, in his twenty-second year, he was admitted, and at once secured a considerable practice. He very early brought himself into notice by the ingenuity with which he managed criminal cases. One instance occurs to the writer, which is this: A weak-minded culprit was arraigned for some petty crime, and Mr. Corson so adroitly handled the witnesses on his behalf as to befog both jury and court as to the sanity or amenability of the defendant, who was thus acquitted of the charge in the indictment. The client thereupon seemed bound for the lunatic asylum, when his counsel again came to the rescue by getting such modifying testimony introduced, or so practicing on his Honor's good nature, as to convince him that this was not a case that required the man's detention, who was therefore permitted to go free. He handles a strong case with such preparation and bold assurance as to take the inside track from the start, and in managing weak causes is an adept at filibustering and befogging a jury, which may be regarded as the refined strategy of the profession. Mr. Corson is a fluent speaker, with a full, manly voice. His practice has grown to be quite large. His most noted and latest achievements in the line of his profession were the able assistance he rendered the District Attorney in the prosecution of Joseph Haddop, a Ger- man, for the murder of Julius Wochele, a Jew peddler, and his defence, in 1877, of Heinrich Wahlen, the murderer of Max Hugo Hoehne. These cases were striking parallels in nearly all their circumstances. In the first instance a conviction was reached and the man hanged, and in the latter the man hung himself to escape the gallows.
Belonging to a notoriously anti-slavery family, Mr. C. en- tered with great spirit into the issues characterizing politics since 1856, the time of his entrance into public life, and he was prepared to argue them with great earnestness. Being thus an
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HON. GEORGE N. CORSON.
active, ingrain Republican, he obtained an appointment as No- tary Public from Governor Curtin in 1862, and shortly after, through the favor of Hon. Simon Cameron, and by recom- mendation of Judge Chapman, was appointed Register in Bank- ruptcy, an office of considerable emoluments. Previous to this, however, on the breaking out of the rebellion, he enlisted in Colonel Hartranft's Fourth Regiment, and served as a private for three months, till discharged by the terms of enlistment.
In 1870 Mr. Corson made a hasty voyage to Europe, tour- ing rapidly through Scotland, England, and Ireland. His let- ters in the meantime were published in the Norristown Herald, and attracted much attention. In 1872 he was on the Repub- lican ticket as delegate to the Constitutional convention and was elected. For a young man, he took a very active part in the doings of that body, being on several important committees.
The following curious coincidence in history may be re- corded in this connection: It is well known that Hon. John B. Sterigere, who was an active member of the previous conven- tion, held in 1838, was mainly instrumental in procuring the insertion of the word "white" in our then State Constitution, thus disfranchising all men of African descent. Mr. Corson, a delegate from the same county, and occupying the same law office vacated at death by Mr. Sterigere, was the first to move the committee to expunge the obnoxious word from the fun- damental law, which, of course, was done. This is a marked case of historical retribution and justice after remaining nearly half a century a stigma and blot on the fair fame of the Com- monwealth.
During the sittings of the convention Mr. C. wrote anony- mously for the Philadelphia Press numerous pen-portraits of its members, which were extensively copied by the newspapers of the State. He has been for a long time a frequent contributor to the press of Norristown and elsewhere, including papers in Appleton's American Cyclopedia. He was largely instrumental in establishing the Norristown Independent, which he edited for some time after it started. His writings are characterized by piquancy and ideality, even to the point of being sensational. His poetic compositions, however, have secured him the most
*
435
HON. GEORGE N. CORSON.
lasting reputation as a writer. His skill and talent as a poet are acknowledged, his forte lying in the direction of comic and descriptive delineations, such as his " Great Tangleation," which is a satirical description of the follies and monstrosities of real life. He began versifying very early. In illustration of his gifts in this line the author recalls a literary squabble in verse, which appeared in the Norristown Republican in January, 1860 .* Mr. Corson's "Great Tangleation," which is a poem of con- siderable length and much merit as an extravaganza, has been frequently read before literary bodies and always received with favor for its ingenious versification and humor.
Shortly after commencing practice Mr. C. purchased the ancient brick dwelling and office, originally built by General Francis Swayne, but more recently owned by the late Hon. John B. Sterigere, at Main and Cherry streets, where he lived a number of years. In September, 1859, he married Maria S., daughter of Alfred Hurst, of Norristown. There have been born to them the following children: Georgine, Cameron, Ro- salie, Harold, and Chalfred, three sons and two daughters. Two or three others died in infancy.
In 1875 Mr. Corson sold his property on Main street and erected a palatial stone mansion at the intersection of Swede and Powell streets, to which he removed on the Ist of January, 1876. This location is finely selected for its perspective, as on ascending Swede street it bounds the view for several squares.
*The Norris Institute, a lyceum and debating society to which Mr. Corson and most of the young attorneys and literateurs of the town belonged, met weekly in Meeh's Hall, and was largely attended by ladies and the public. One of these gatherings was visited by Carroll S. Tyson, Esq., a talented young lawyer, who shortly after sent to the Repub- lican a burlesque description of the debate in very personal, Hudibrastie verse. The portraiture or caricature, of some of the speakers, was graphic and amusing to the last degree, and, as may be supposed, the effort struck all around. The effusion gave con- siderable offence, and in a weck or two the author attempted to extract the gall or pun- geney of his grand hit, which attempt, like the original, was interlarded every few verses with Latin and French quotations. But he did not mend the matter much, for the fol- towing week Mr. Corson appeared in the Republican (anonymously, of course, ns was the attack) in a poem of considerable length, headed "Rara Avis." This production, which was as sharp as a razor, and fully as well written as Mr. Tyson's first, said in the opening that a bird must be known by its "carol," and then went on comparing the bird in question to all of the feathered tribes, each of them in turn on being interrogated rejecting the relationship, till the macaw or parrot, which "mouths strange words and sentences," was introduced, when the author located the rara avis. It was a play of sharp wit on both sides, quite ereditable to each as young authors, but it must be admit- ted that Mr. Corson here seored his first triumph in that line. Mr. Tyson aceused the publisher of revealing his name, but he was in error, as it was discovered through other channels. The following are a few of the opening lines of "Rara Avis":
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