USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 48
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
it came up in the Senate the friends of the law had become greatly in earnest, and the bar of that house was besieged by imploring men and women, whose pleadings were intensified by the then Western crusade. That body, although also containing a majority of pledged repealers, resisted the intentions of the liquor men, and adjourned, leaving the law intact. The political consequence was that the Re- publican party, who ruled the Senate, and had foiled the license men, was defeated at the next election all over the State. This was accomplished by the enemies of local option everywhere crossing party lines to make themselves felt. The result of this was a very strong Democratic Legislature, which did not halt a moment at the repeal, but passed it on the "double quick," and sent it to Gover- nor Hartranft for his signature at the very time he was in the hands of his friends for renomination to the customary second term. Now Governor Hartranft, as the poet says, "was not made of stone, but penetrable" to the motives that govern public men. The license men, by their unity of action, had demonstrated their tremendous power, while their opponents, by voting on other issues with both parties, had shown that in that regard at least they had no power at all. . What could he then do? He might have vetoed the repeal, but it would have only postponed the inevitable result for a single year, and been also his political grave. He had first been elected without reference to the question. He therefore signed the repeal, and thus his party made peace with the imperial power that usually, unseen, but none the less real, rules the State. In signing that bill in obedience to the popular will, legitimately indicated, it cannot be doubted that Governor Hartranft performed a disagreeable task. It was in accordance, however, with American ideas, to obey the wish of the people as expressed through the ballot-box. The dis- posal of this exciting question left the way open for Governor Hart- ranft's popularity on other subjects to secure his re-election by about the largest Republican majority ever cast in the State, notwithstand- ing thousands of local optionists who had previously been his friends voted against him.
The Governor opens his annual communication in 1875 by a con- fession that early hopes of better times had failed, and urges legis- lative economy as a partial cure. He returns with great earnestness to previous recommendations of industrial schools and compulsory education, as also maritime schools in which to train idle boys into seamen. The subjects of municipal abuses, excessive city taxation, and the like, are then taken up, but hardly reaches the seat of the
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
disorder-vice and idleness among the people. "It is the idle neck: that feels the burden." His urgent appeals in behalf of the insane were seconded by the Legislature, and the grand hospitals erected at Norristown and Warren are the result. Again the Governor ad- vises an abolition of the right of waiver.
In his annual message of 1876 he renews the recommendations of previous years in favor of compulsory education, soldiers' orphans, and the benefits of normal schools. The momentous question of municipal debts, which had begun to alarm thoughtful people, is next taken up, and he argues with very great sagacity and judgment in favor of some mode of limiting the extravagance of municipal. councils in contracting debts for the next generation to pay. The- closer limitation of the power conveyed by the State to city corpo- rations is urged. Notwithstanding the profound manner in which the whole topic is discussed, in closing he thus refers to the alleged fact that those who vote the money do not pay it: "The mass of citizens, forgetful of that cardinal principle of our institutions, 'That those must vote the tax who pay it.'" The Governor here seems to overlook the fact that while in the first instance the few may seem to pay the taxes, in the end they are always paid by the many who- do the chief labor and wield the main political power. The clos- ing recommendation of this message is the Centennial, which al- ways had his favorable consideration.
In the message of 1877 he enlarges upon the generous growth of our public school system, commending the same, and pleading earn- estly for the poor outcast children of the State who, in spite of our laws, grow up in ignorance to be criminals or paupers .* His pater- nal reference to the soldiers' orphans' schools, and the thousands who have enjoyed their benefits, is worthy of him and them. He also urged the establishment of industrial schools to utilize the wasted forces of the rising generation. He tells us that the posse comitatus is a very unsafe reliance in time of public disorder, and suggests additional police to be organized under the guidance and control of the sheriffs of the State, which is a very wise recommend -. ation.
After discussing the finances, and showing a large diminution of the public debt during his administration, he takes up the subject of"
*We cannot help here expressing the regret that the long-continued policy of the- State in favor of the licensed sale of intoxicating drinks, which produces nearly all this misery, and of the persistent adherence of our great parties to that policy, should have led him to ignore it as the cause. This sorrowful reflection forces itself upon our atten- tion whenever and wherever we review the course of our public men who discuss the causes of crime and pauperism among us.
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
savings banks and trust companies, of the former of which several had failed during the year. He wisely contends that savings insti- tutions are not safe depositories when used as banks of discount, and urges that they be separated by law. He endorses the postal saving scheme as follows: "A movement is on foot to organize a national postal savings fund. Such a scheme is a subject for serious reflec- tion. It involves not alone questions of a pecuniary nature, but those of a profound political character. It invests the Federal government with a vast trust, and clothes it with corresponding in- fluence. It would add intense interest to our elections, and give the dominant party the weight of the conservatism of a great vested interest. On the other hand it offers the people the securest de- pository for their savings, and excites an abiding interest in the per- petuity and integrity of the national government. Upon the whole, it seems to me to promise enduring benefits to the people individ- ually and to the nation, and to be worthy of support and co-opera- tion."
During this administrative year Governor Hartranft was put to the severest test of his whole military and civil career in the task of quelling the terrible railroad riots that, like an electrical tempest, swept all over the country, showing a common and deep-seated cause. This popular commotion found the Governor on the way to the Pacific in company with some friends. Having, however, effi- cient subordinates in Secretary Quay and Adjutant General Latta, he was able to direct movements immediately on being apprised of the outbreak. In ordering out the whole military power of the State at once, and appealing to the Federal government also for help (the latter probably unnecessary), he met the trouble as Washington did the whiskey insurrection-frightened the rioters at the outstart. The result proved the wisdom of the measures adopted, and it is worthy of remark that after the Governor arrived on the scene of disorder scarcely a life was sacrificed either on the part of the mili- tary or of the people. But it is only when Hartranft came to dis- cuss the outbreak in his succeeding message that the true statesman- ship of the man, and not his partisanship, appears.
Of the causes and results he says in summing up: "Thus ended the great railway strike of 1877 in Pennsylvania, which resulted in violence, murder, and arson; which caused the death of over fifty civilians and five soldiers and the wounding and maiming of a hun- dred or more; and the destruction of millions of dollars worth of property. While it is true that the workingmen who began it con-
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
templated no such terrible results, it cannot be denied that the man- ner in which they proceeded to enforce their demands, by stopping inland commerce and seizing the property of corporations and indi- viduals, and driving citizens from their occupations, in defiance of law, made the breach through which the lawless elements of society poured to plunder and destroy. By thus inconsiderately inviting the co-operation of the criminal classes, labor did itself a great and grievous injury, and it will be long before it can remove the suspi- cion and distrust with which the people will view its strikes and or- ganizations."
The foregoing observations are timely and just. But the Gover- nor does not fully recognize the fact that the workmen would never have undertaken so revolutionary a proceeding had there not been deep and widespread sympathy felt among the people at large in behalf of their alleged grievances and wrongs. This outbreak was like the John Brown rebellion at Harper's Ferry-foolish as a rem- edy, but not such when viewed as a sign of a deep-seated wrong de- manding redress.
Farther on Governor Hartranft partially recognizes this view, when he says: "These corporations (the railroads), from the char- acter of the enterprises, are of necessity in most cases monopolies. As such, the people have a right to demand that while the profits may accrue to private individuals, their management shall rise above mere selfish aims and consult also the public utility and welfare. It has come to pass that in the conflict between capital and labor, the former is almost wholly represented by corporations and the latter by various organizations. The attitude of the people towards these two forces during the great strike has also deep significance. In the general sympathy for the strikers, dulled only by their unlawful acts, the workmen have assurance that in all right and lawful efforts to better their condition they will have the aid of nearly all classes of their fellow-citizens. And in the prejudices against corporations, those who control them may realize that the possession of great wealth and the control of great enterprises impose obligations to the public which they cannot afford to ignore."
These were wise and statesmanlike views, showing that the Gov- ernor was not a narrow partisan, but a friend to the whole people.
Again, when he comes to discuss possible remedies, he shows his foresight as well as his just conservatism when he says: "Millions of dollars have been collected from workingmen and squandered in profitless strikes, during which other millions have been lost through
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
enforced idleness, without even a transient effect upon the natural fluctuations of wages." These reflections are very true and timely, except the closing implication that the fluctuations are natural .*
With paternal regard for the people, Governor Hartranft takes leave of the subject by the following just recommendation : "If it is the interest of the Republic that litigation should cease, it is still more to the interests of the people that the conflicts between differ- ent classes should be brought to a close. As it is becoming the pub- lic opinion of the civilized world that the nations cannot afford to submit their differences to the costly arbitrament of the sword, so it is becoming the settled conviction that nothing can be gained by a war of classes to compensate for the loss caused by the disturbance of all industrial relations and the dangers threatened to individual independence and free institutions. And in many places the same idea is gaining ground among the trading classes for adjusting the conflicting claims of individuals. Since, therefore, arbitration has been successfully used to settle international questions, and even the petty disputes of individuals, why cannot the same peaceful agency be invoked to adjust the relations of capital and labor?"
The message of 1877 closes with the following wise and senten- tious sentence: "The divine government that designs the salvation of the meanest of men should be our model, and we should earnest- ly strive to enlarge the circle of intelligence and prosperity until it embraces all classes of the people."
The legislative session of 1877-78, with very questionable pro- priety, enacted a law enlarging the authority of Recorder of Phila- delphia, into which office, in the spring of the latter year, the Gov- ernor placed his Secretary, Mr. Quay. This legislative and admin- istrative act has been widely and invidiously criticised, and even the existence of the office censured as unnecessary. If such cen- sure be just and the act unwarranted, Hartranft only shares equal responsibility with the legislature which enacted it. On the with- drawal of Quay to fill the office of Recorder, the deputy, John B. Linn, Esq., of Centre county, took his place, and on the death of Attorney General Samuel E. Dimmick, George Lear, Esq., of Bucks county, was selected for the vacancy, and held it till the close of the Governor's term.
When the legislature met in January, 1879, Governor Hartranft
*The author cannot forbear here to remark that the causes of fluctuations in wages are not "natural" at all, and not so much social or commercial as political, having their source in governmental polley, which affects production, distribution, and consumption. This is mainly a question of finance, for all men under given circumstances act alike. The remedy is not strikes or violent repression, but political and economical justice and equality before the law.
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. GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
sent in his message covering mainly the topics he had previously urged upon its attention. While admitting a deficit in the reve- nue, he congratulates the representatives upon the prospect of soon resuming the former rate of extinguishment of the State debt, which, during his whole service, aggregated twelve millions of dollars. He renews his recommendation of a bank department, and a super- visor of savings and trust companies. Again he urges municipal reforms and the limiting of the power of cities to create debts. Of his previous suggestion of "the industrial and technical training of the young under State patronage," he urges that such assistance would be cheaper than, as heretofore, spending a hundred thousand dollars a year to suppress labor troubles and punish "class mur- derers."
On the subject of arbitration of differences between employers and employed, he commends the report of an agent he had com- missioned within the year to examine the system as recently estab- lished in Great Britain, with the happiest results.
After characterizing the Mollie Maguire killings as class mur- ders, he adds: "If some of the leading spirits of that class had been members of a board of arbitration, as representatives of labor with some of the employers, or their agents, as representatives of capital, it is not unreasonable to suppose that most of the disagree- ments that have kept the coal regions in a state of turmoil, might have been amicably adjusted, and many of those who were assassi- nated and those who have been hanged living to-day, if spared in the ordinary course of nature, the life of the average citizen with all its undeveloped possibilities of good and evil. Under these circumstances it becomes a highly important question, whether the policy of repression is the best remedy that the wisdom and human- ity of the age can devise. It must eventually prove a failure in the United States. Under our political institutions, the best way to promote the spread of communistic ideas, is to hedge property with bayonets. In the long run the policy of elevation is safe and cheaper than the policy of repression." These are wise and states- manlike observations.
In closing his review, the Governor briefly refers to another far reaching question thus: "I have long been convinced that the question of general governmental supervision of inter-State and overland commerce is pressing upon us; I have not hesitated to promptly take advantage of the first appeal to the executive to se- cure, if possible, an authoritative and binding declaration by the
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
highest judicial tribunal of the State, of the duties and obligations of corporations under the provisions of the Constitution."
We have quoted passages and referred to recommendations to show that the Governor fully apprehended the high responsibil- ities of a chief magistrate of the State, and that on domestic and social questions, "his heart is in the right place;" and that by whomsoever a design may be entertained to subvert the free insti- tutions of our country, John F. Hartranft cannot be reckoned a co- adjutor in the attempt.
On the 21st of January, 1879, he surrendered his trust to General Hoyt, and within the week vacated the Executive Mansion, remov- ing to Philadelphia. A few days after the new Governor nomi- nated. him to the Senate to fill the vacant post of Major General, and he was unanimously confirmed by that body, a handsome com- pliment to his fidelity to the trust he had just rendered up to the people.
John F. Hartranft's successful career thus far has been enigmati- cal to many, he never having shown those brilliant parts which fix the popular attention and command unthinking admiration. As we are a christian people, not believing in "luck," or "chance," we trace his success to those solid qualities which have doubtless been inherited from a religious ancestry. That he has made mis- takes in both departments of service, is not doubted or denied, but they have been the exception to a wise and faithful discharge of high public duties; and it can hardly be doubted that his name will go down on the annals of the State beside those of Simon Snyder and Francis R. Shunk, of the same honest Teutonic blood.
On retiring from the executive chair, after a very successful ad- ministration, but with no reputed increase of private fortune, his friends urged his claims upon President Hayes, as the suitable suc- cessor of Bayard Taylor, to fill the Berlin Mission. The Governor had strong qualifications for the place, though it is not known if he desired it. Still it is supposed political consideration prevented the selection. A shifting among high officials, however, made a vacancy in the Philadelphia post office, which position, having considerable emoluments, was tendered to him, doubtless as a testimonial of his efficient services as Governor, and promptly ratified by the Senate. After some hesitation he concluded to accept, notwithstanding he was in the regular and legitimate line of promotion to the Presi- dency, and has very many well grounded claims to that high office ; the more so, as through a long career he has never disappointed the
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
expectations of his friends and proved a "lucky" competitor in every race.
It only remains to complete the record by giving the lineal de- scent and blood connections of our late Governor. The name and family descend from Tobias Hartranft, who is recorded in Germany among the people called Schwenkfelders, and who emigrated with them in 1734, of course religious refugees from intolerance in the fatherland. On the records of this sect in Germany the name of Melchior Hartranft, probably the father of Tobias, is inscribed as early as 1669, and spelled just as at present. The orthography as analyzed in the German tongue is supposed to be thus derived : Hart Ragenfrid, the former being the given name and the latter the- family name. This, by a common usage, was abbreviated or com- bined with the christian name, as Rauft, Ranft, Ramph, united to Hart. The meaning of Hart was bold and Ragenfrid powerful in peace and wise in judgment. These are the interpretations given in a German book on names.
We have before us the recorded generations of the Hartranft family, starting with Tobias, who emigrated to this country in 1725, married Barbara Yeakle, and had the following offspring, children of the second generation :
Maria, the second wife of Melchior Schultz, who died in 1799 without issue. George was married, but had no male issue; he died in 1759. Abraham married Susanna Schubert, who came over in the same ship, being also a Schwenkfelder; he died in December, 1766, and his widow married Michael Seidle in Philadelphia. Melchior was married, and died in 1760, aged thirty-four years, without male offspring. Rosina, whose record is unknown. Tobias Hartranft died in 1758, aged seventy-four, and his wife Barbara in 1764.
The descent is now traced through Abraham, the second son, who, as before stated, was married to Susanna Schubert. Their children, who compose the third generation, are as follows:
Christopher, born in Philadelphia on the 5th of October, 1748 ;. married, and had five children. Abraham, born in April, 1750, was married, and lived in Montgomery county; had twelve child- ren. Barbara, born in December, 1751, married a man named Ham- led; she lived in Philadelphia, and had four children. John, born. in April, 1753, married three times, and had thirteen children ; one of them, Barbara Wister, is still living in Philadelphia at extreme- old age. Leonard, born in 1757, died in infancy. Leonard, the second, born November 6th, 1759, married Christiana Mayer, lived
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GOVERNOR JOHN F. HARTRANFT.
in Montgomery county, had fifteen children, and died at Tamaqua on the 28th of August, 1841, aged eighty-two years; this Leonard was the great-grandfather of Governor John F. Hartranft, and was born in 1764. Maria married Conrad Mayer, a brother of the wives of Leonard and William; she lived in Philadelphia, and had five children. William died in infancy. William, again, married Bar- bara Mayer, a sister of Leonard's wife; he had four children, and resided in Berks county.
The descent is continued through Leonard, the sixth child, who married Christiana Mayer, as already stated. Their children, of the fourth generation, are as follows :
Jacob, born in May, 1780, married Maria Geiger; he lived in Ohio, and died in 1862; Ephraim and Jacob Hartranft, of Potts- town, are his grandsons. Rebecca was married to John Beideman, and had three children. Leonard, the grandfather of our subject, married Elizabeth Engle; he had eight children, and lived in North- umberland county, where he died about 1842. Maria, born in 1784, married John Fox, and resided in Berks and Lebanon counties; she had children. Susanna, born in 1786, married Andrew Maurer, and lived at Boyertown, Berks county; she had eight children, and died in 186z. John, born in 1788, married Miss Bucher. David, born in 1789, married Miss Bickel, and had five children ; he married again, and had five other children. Anthony, born in 1791, died in childhood. Margaretta, born in 1793, was married to Conrad Rhodes. Henry, born in 1795, intermarried with Mary Ann Gresh, who is still living in Philadelphia; they also lived in Berks county and Philadelphia, and had twelve children. Catharine was the wife of James Coates. Amos, born in 1799, married Mary Haberstein, lived in Schuylkill county, and had three children. Sarah, born in ISO1, married Jacob Gilbert, and had three children. Of William, born in 1801, there is no record. Christiana, born in 1807, was the wife of Jacob Lutz, and had seven children; Mr. Lutz is still living.
The descent is continued through Leonard, the second son and third child of Leonard of the fourth generation. His children, of the fifth generation, are as follows:
Henry, born in 1804, who always lived in Northumberland county, and had a large family of children; he is still living. Samuel En- gle, before recorded in the opening of this sketch as the father of John F. Hartranft. John, who is married, and has a family, lives in Michigan. Susan, the wife of Mr. Weinberg, also lives in Michi-
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HON. JAMES BOYD.
gan; both are deceased. Eliza, married to Mr. Hiles, likewise dived in Michigan, but is now deceased. Abraham is married, has a family, and resides in Lycoming county. William, who is dead, vas married, and had children in Clinton county. David was mar- ried, and lived in Michigan, but is now deceased.
We have now reached John F. Hartranft, of the sixth generation, the subject of this biographical sketch. He was married on the 26th of January, 1854, to Miss Sallie D., daughter of William L. and Ann -Sebring, and there have been born to them the following children, of the seventh generation :
Samuel Sebring, born October 30th, 1855; Ada, born March -4th, 1857; Wilson, born December Ist, 1859; Linn, born June 28th, 1862; Marion, born September 19th, 1865; Annie, born February 7th, 1867. Ada died March 17th, 1862, and Wilson on the 22d of the same month, while the father was in the army.
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