USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 39
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WILLIAM WITHEROW was born November 7, 1843, in the City of Londonderry, Ireland. He is the son of James and Esther P. Witherow, who were highly respected members of their commun- ity. After a preparatory home training, which tended greatly to shape the course of his conduct in later years, he was sent to the common schools of Allegheny, where he received the ordinary edu- cation. At the age of fourteen years he began to earn his living, determined to take advantage of every opportunity which might be afforded him, and with both the ambition to rise in life and the necessary ability born in him to accomplish such progress, started out to attain the desired end. His first position was that of a clerk, from which, through various employments, public and private, he has risen, by his own efforts, to his present position of influence and wealth. In early life he was employed in the Penn-
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sylvania Railroad Company's office, from which he went to the United States Depository as bookkeeper, and from that place he was appointed to a clerkship in the Sheriff's office of Allegheny County. Each of these he filled with a fidelity and force that brought him into the favorable notice of the leading people of his community. His natural aptitude for the management of important affairs and his knowledge of business methods led him to early take an active interest in the affairs of his section of the State and to participate therein in a manner which left no room for doubt as to his ability to figure in the political life of his city and county. In 1881, therefore, he became a candidate for the position of County Treasurer of Allegheny County, and was nom- inated by the Republican Party against great political odds, which were exerted for the benefit of the opposing candidates. In spite of the factional opposition which he found necessary to overcome, he was triumphantly elected by an overwhelming majority. He filled the office of Treasurer with credit during the three succes- sive years 1882, 1883, and 1884. Since that time, Mr. Witherow has held many public offices of honor and trust, in all of which he has demonstrated the same capacity for earnest work, and has given to the trusts imposed in him the same careful and con- scientious supervision. His interest in the affairs of his county by no means ceased when he had served his term as County Treasurer, and he continued one of the most active men in the Republican Party. In 1892 he was unanimously chosen as a rep- resentative to the Republican National Convention, which met at Minneapolis, and, in 1896, he was chosen an Elector-at-Large on the Republican ticket. When, in January, 1897, the Electoral Col- lege met, Mr. Witherow was honored with a position as Messenger to deliver the vote of the College to the Vice-President, at Wash- ington, an office which, in the minds of the people of western Pennsylvania, was one of much honor.
In the public affairs of Allegheny Mr. Witherow has always played an important part. He is at present a member of the Board of Managers of the Allegheny General Hospital, one of the most admirably managed institutions in the Keystone State. He
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is a Director of the Pleasant Valley Railroad Company and a Director in the United States National Bank of Pittsburg. In these offices he has demonstrated rare capabilities and an acquaint- ance with the requirements of financial affairs which has greatly added to his reputation. Mr. Witherow's leading interests at pres- ent are found in his proprietorship and active management of what is generally known as the leading European hotel in western Pennsylvania, the Hotel Duquesne, and in the control of his vari- ous investments, particularly those in real estate, whereof he is a large holder. In view of this latter capacity, Mr. Witherow is very actively identified with the march of progress in Allegheny County and the contiguous districts, and his judgment is generally con- sulted in all great enterprises affecting the city of Allegheny and the surrounding county.
On March 22, 1882, Mr. Witherow married Alice M. Douglass. They have three children, David M., Helen D. and William P. Witherow. Mr. Witherow's manner is genial, and he is possessed of great force of character, which, added to his unbroken record of probity and honor, has given him in both public and business affairs a widespread influence.
GEORGE WOOD.
OT alone in Pennsylvania, but throughout the United States, and especially in the neighboring Commonwealth of New Jersey, the name of George Wood stands for such material progressiveness and such integrity of purpose as to make him a leader in the business world. Mr. Wood is one of the men to whom the Pennsylvania Railroad organization owes much of its success, for as a Director in the company he has supported and advocated many measures in the management of its affairs which have greatly added to its prosperity and popularity.
GEORGE WOOD was born July 1, 1842, at 1121 Arch Street, Philadelphia, which is now a part of the Reading Terminal site, his parents being the late Richard D. and Juliana Randolph Wood. In his early youth he attended school in Philadelphia, spending his vacations on a large farm, owned by his father, near Lionville, in Chester County, where he acquired considerable interest in agricultural pursuits and a love of country life which is still one of his characteristics. After two years at Westtown Boarding School, he completed his education at Haverford College in 1859, whereupon he entered the counting house of Wood & Garret, manufacturers of cotton goods, and, on coming of age, in 1863, was admitted to partnership. In 1864 Mr. Wood removed to Millville, New Jersey, and, as managing partner of the business of his own firm, established industries in that place which tended to not only largely increase the prosperity of the town, but which resulted in the development of one of the largest cotton manufac- turing plants in the country. Mr. Wood organized and erected an establishment for bleaching, dyeing and finishing cotton cloths
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which has been so successful as to draw large quantities of goods from New England to be prepared for the market. He further supervised the industries commenced by his father, including a large perforated iron manufacturing plant, and also represented him in the development of the town of Vineland, the site of which, with the surrounding country embracing an area of twenty thousand acres, Richard D. Wood had sold to Charles K. Landis, the founder of the place. At the same time he was also engaged in making available the water power afforded by the Great Egg Harbor at Mays Landing, and constructing a cotton mill at that place, which has grown to be an important manufacturing point.
In connection with the establishment of these industries and the increase of their facilities, Mr. Wood interested himself in other directions. He incorporated the small gas works at Mill- ville into a stock company, built a water works, an electric light plant and a trolley road through Millville and into Bridgeton, the county seat, ten miles distant. When he went to reside in New Jersey he became a Director of the Millville and Glassboro Rail- road Company, and his first railroad experience was with this line. When it was merged into the West Jersey Railroad Com- pany, he was elected a Director in the latter, and has ever since continued to serve in the Board. He has, for many years, been Chairman of the Finance Committee, and was also Chairman of the Trustees of the Sinking Fund for the redemption of the mil- lion dollar mortgage bonds, which have been paid off. In 1871 Mr. Wood returned to Philadelphia, taking up again the commer- cial end of the business with the same energetic attention which he gave to the producing plant. In addition to his other business interests, Mr. Wood is President of the Millville Manufacturing Company, the Mays Landing Water Power Company and of the Philadelphia Manufacturers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and a Director of the Philadelphia National Bank and other corpora- tions.
But Mr. Wood is probably even better known as a railroad man. He was elected a Director of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1891 to succeed the late Wistar Morris, who was so
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long and actively connected with the Board. In 1880 he was elected President of the West Jersey and Atlantic Railroad Com- pany, which he was largely instrumental in organizing for the purpose of giving the West Jersey Railroad access to Atlantic City. In 1882 he negotiated the purchase of the Pleasantville and Ocean City line, which was subsequently merged into the West Jersey and Atlantic Railroad Company, and which is now, with its allied interests, known as the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad Company.
The family of which George Wood is so distinguished a rep- resentative is one of the best known in Philadelphia. Mr. Wood traces his ancestry, on the side of his father, to Richard Wood, of Bristol, England, who emigrated with his son, James, in 1682, and came to Philadelphia with William Penn. Richard Wood's name appears as a member of the first Grand Jury summoned in Pennsylvania. His grandson, also named Richard, married the daughter of Benjamin Bacon, who lived at Greenwich, in Salem County, New Jersey. When Cumberland County was organized from this portion of Salem County, Richard Wood was appointed by the Governor as one of the three judges of the new district. His great-grandson, Richard D. Wood, was the father of George Wood and the fifth in direct descent in America to bear that name. His maternal ancestry, too, is excellent, and Mr. Wood combines all the good qualities which spring from such an emi- nent line. R. A. F.
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DAVID F. WOODS.
0 NE of the most markedly successful careers ever enjoyed by a Philadelphia physician is pictured in the resume of the life of Dr. David F. Woods, well known in the professional and social circles of Philadelphia.
DAVID FLAVEL WOODS was born in Dickinson Township, near Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Richard Woods and Mary Jane Sterrett. His father was prominent in Cumberland County and was the descendant of a long line of well known Pennsylvanians. Dr. Woods is related by marriage to John Witherspoon, one of the Presidents of Princeton College and the only clergyman who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It is after this eminent divine that the Witherspoon Building, recently erected in Philadelphia, was named. Dr. Woods is the lineal descendant of John Knox, the eminent Scottish reformer. When twelve years old he was sent to his uncle, Rev. David Sterrett, at McVeytown, Pennsyl- vania, who prepared him for Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania, where he was admitted to the Sophomore Class. He received his degree of A. B. from this college in 1859. After leaving college he entered the employ of Bell, Garrettson & Com- pany, bankers, of Huntingdon. Finding this employment antag- onistic to his tastes, he came to Philadelphia, and at the earnest solicitation of his father began the study of medicine under Doctors Levick, Hunt and Penrose, under whom he developed a remarkable ability. He studied for three years and meanwhile finished a course of lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated in 1863. Dr. R. A. F.
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Penrose, who was his instructor and in later life his personal friend, in after life paid Dr. Woods the following deserved tribute: "Dr. Woods possesses to a marked degree the peculiar qualities of the Scotch-Irish race, energy, self-reliance and intelligence, con- trolled, as in him, by a religious conscientiousness as beautiful as it is rare. All the traits enter into and make his professional character, and the result has been that no man in Philadelphia has risen more rapidly to professional eminence than he. An enthusiastic worker and learner in the arduous and ever-advancing science of medicine, he brings to his patients not only knowledge and experience, but an unselfish devotion to their welfare. Firm in his convictions, he holds them tenaciously and defends them with force and marked ability. In fine, we have in the character of Dr. Woods, honesty with reliability. As a man, he is thoroughly manly; as a physician, learned, popular, successful; as a Christian, one who tries to resemble his Divine Master."
So favorable an impression had he made upon the medical fraternity by his course while a student that immediately upon his graduation he was elected Resident Physician at Blockley Hospital, which position he filled for a year, when the Board of Managers at the Episcopal Hospital tendered him a similar position, which he filled for one year and a half. In April of 1865 Dr. Woods, having decided to enter upon the active practice of his profession, opened an office in Philadelphia. Soon after, in association with Doctors Boardman and Black, he commenced the instruction of medical students in connection with their courses at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania. As an instructor Dr. Woods was remarka- bly successful. In 1872 his private practice had grown so large as to demand the whole of his time and he was compelled to give up instructing students. He was Surgeon to the Dispensary Staff of the Episcopal Hospital, and was afterwards elected at the estab- lishment of the Presbyterian Hospital as attending physician, which position he has held ever since.
Inheriting from his father the traits of his Scotch-Irish ancestry, energy, integrity and moral culture, the Doctor was trained from early infancy with special care by a father who was
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noted for his reliability, courage and piety. He has always been a man of plain speech and with the courage of his convictions. Endowed with a strong constitution, he has combined the staunchness of his father with the gentle, affectionate disposition of his mother. In early life Dr. Woods connected himself with the Presbyterian Church and has ever since been a faithful and consistent member. He was married to Helen R. Stewart, daughter of B. D. Stewart, of Philadelphia. The loss of his wife, who died suddenly in May 1889, was a heavy blow to Dr. Woods and almost changed the current of his life. He has four children, one of whom, a son, Richard F., is a graduate of Princeton College and the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a physician of honorable standing and holds a position on the staff of the Pennsylvania Hospital. Dr. Richard Woods bids fair to follow in the footsteps of his distinguished father and has already demon- strated his possession of rare mental attainments.
Dr. Woods is a member of the Union League, with which notable organization he has been connected for many years. He is also a member of the College of Physicians; and of the County Medical Society of Philadelphia, along with a number of associa- tions which have had their origin and growth in this well known professional organization. For a number of years Dr. Woods was widely known in insurance circles as a medical examiner of remarkable judgment and thorough skill, and was identified in that capacity with many of the leading insurance companies. At present his attention is entirely taken up by his practice and in the preparation of occasional contributions to the literature of the profession of which he is so progressive and notable a member.
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JOHN W. WOODSIDE.
OR twenty years or more John W. Woodside, one F of Philadelphia's best known business men, has been connected with almost every patriotic enter- prise; and his participation in the affairs of the State and Union have been of great benefit in furthering the success of many of the most notable celebrations ever given in this country.
JOHN W. WOODSIDE was born in Penn Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1838, his father being Wil- liam Stewart Woodside, and his mother Caroline T. Crosby. Mr. Woodside is a descendant in a direct line of Archibald Woodside, who emigrated from Ballymena, Ireland, to America in 1728, set- tling in southern Chester County. Mr. Woodside's lineage is entirely Scotch-Irish, his earliest paternal ancestry beginning with Archibald Woodside, who was a soldier of the Pennsylvania line in the War of the Revolution. A brother, James Woodside, was the first white settler in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and the centennial of this event was celebrated at Lewisburg, Pennsyl- vania, in August, 1886, when a monument was dedicated to his memory. Another brother, John Woodside, was the first settler in Northumberland County, on the site where Danville now stands. He was scalped by the Indians and left for dead, but recovered and lived to a venerable old age. John W. Woodside was edu- cated at New London Academy in Chester County, where the foundations for a thorough practical knowledge were laid, and this was broadened by three years' teaching in the schools of the vicinity. He turned his attention to a business career, and, in 1865, became one of the organizers of the firm of A. Ralph &
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Company, afterwards Stewart, Ralph & Company, which firm was dissolved by the death of Robert Stewart in 1896, and, on Febru- ary 1, 1897, the Stewart, Ralph Snuff Company was organized with Mr. Woodside as Vice-President.
While Mr. Woodside has chiefly attained his success through his own line of business, yet he has personally wielded an influ- ence that has affected other circles. He is a citizen of public spirit and is largely interested in the history of the development of the State, while the municipal institutions of Philadelphia have also occupied his attention. He was an intimate friend and an earnest co-worker with the late Col. Jesse E. Peyton, of New Jersey, and did much to promote the success of those great civic gatherings which have made Philadelphia famous for hospitality and patriotism. Mr. Woodside is a student of history and litera- ture ; possesses the pen of a ready writer, and upon a number of occasions his poems have been read to admiring audiences. He was Secretary for a short time of the Committee of Citizens of Philadelphia who organized the Centennial Celebration of the Con- stitution of the United States in 1887; and he was a member of the Executive Committee and Chairman of the Committee on Reception of Governors. At this renowned celebration the Gov- ernors of the thirteen original States formed an association for the purpose of erecting in Philadelphia a great memorial to com- memorate the events of our early history, and Mr. Woodside acted as Chairman of its Executive Committee and prepared the memorial to Congress. In 1888 he was appointed a Commissioner from Pennsylvania to attend the Centennial Celebration of the Inaugu- ration of Washington in New York in 1889, and the success of this celebration was largely due to the experience and active par- ticipation in its affairs by Mr. Woodside. In 1890 he was appointed by President Harrison one of the members of the World's Columbian Exposition Commission for a term of six years. He served in the Commission as Chairman of the Com- mittee on "World's Congresses," and from September, 1893, he was in entire charge of preparing diplomas and medals of award. His special abilities were recognized by President Cleveland in
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1894, and he was appointed on the Assay Commission of the Mints for that year. In addition to these positions Mr. Woodside has held a number of others of a patriotic and public nature.
In business he occupies an equally important standing. He was for years Secretary and Treasurer of the National Tobacco Association. Besides his duties as Vice-President of the Stewart, Ralph Snuff Company, he is also President of the Woodside Man- ufacturing Company, at Oxford, Pennsylvania, and he is President also of the American Chemical Company, one of the most impor- tant corporations of its kind in the country. Mr. Woodside is President of the Carroll Chainless Cycle Company. His interest in the affairs of Philadelphia's social and club life is equally great, and for a number of years he was one of the leading members of the Union League. Mr. Woodside is a member of the Tennessee Centennial Commission of Pennsylvania, and is Secretary of the Tennessee Centennial Commission of the city of Philadelphia. It was largely through his efforts that the oil paintings of the his- torical buildings of Philadelphia were presented to Tennessee on the Centennial of its admission into the Union, June 1, 1796. Mr. Woodside's position in the Commonwealth is that at once of a representative business man and a leader in patriotic thought and activity.
In 1863 Mr. Woodside was married to Annie M., daughter of Dr. George T. Dare, of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, by whom he has one son living, George Dare Woodside, a graduate of Lafayette College in 1884. Mrs. Woodside died June 6, 1869. The family of Dares, of whom she was the seventh in line of descent, dates back to Captain William Dare, who built the Blue Anchor Tavern in Philadelphia in 1682, which was the first house occu- pied by William Penn in America. In an almanac published by Daniel Leeds and printed by William Bradford in 1706, which is now in possession of the New York Historical Society, the fact is recited that the first house in Philadelphia was built by Captain William Dare in 1682. Mr. Woodside was married, November 21, 1871, to Josephine, daughter of Emner B. Jefferis, of Londonderry, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
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HARMAN YERKES.
A RECORD of fifteen years' continuous service on the Bench has gained Judge Harman Yerkes a reputation second to no other judicial authority in the State, and years of service to his party rendered in the truest sense of integrity, has endeared him to the rank and file of Democracy.
HARMAN YERKES was born at Warminster, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, October 8, 1843. His father, Stephen Yerkes, descended through three Harmans, in the fourth generation from Anthony Yerkes. Anthony and the first Harman, his son, came to Germantown from Germany prior to 1700. Anthony was Bur- gess of Germantown in 1703 and 1704, and his son, Harman, married Elizabeth Watts, daughter of Rev. John Watts, pastor of Upper Dublin Baptist Church, and settled on Pennypack Creek. From this marriage, through three generations, descends the sub- ject of this biography, his mother being Amy Hart, daughter of Rev. Thomas B. Montanye, the grandson of a prominent French Huguenot. Harman Yerkes was educated in the common schools, at Tennet School, Hartsville, and at Easthampton, Massachusetts, graduating there in the class of 1862. He immediately began to teach school. He read law under Thomas Ross and the late Judge Henry P. Ross, of Doylestown, and was a student with the late Senator George Ross and Judge Edward Harvey, of Allen- town, and Judge Henry W. Scott, of Easton. In November, 1865, he was admitted to the Bar and practiced law with great success until elected to the Bench. Mr. Yerkes was the author of the law creating the State Hospital for the Insane at Norristown and he aided in passing it through the Legislature. He was a Man-
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ager of the hospital until he became Judge. He is a Director of the Doylestown Cemetery Company, a member of the Vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and Rector's Warden, and is also a member of the Society of Sons of the Revolution, of the Histori- cal societies of Pennsylvania and Bucks County, and a Past Master of Doylestown Lodge of Masons.
The story of Judge Yerkes' advancement is an interesting one, marked as it is by rapidly following promotions and by an ever increasing personal popularity. For several years he was an active member of the Democratic State Committee, and, in 1872 and 1873, was Chairman of the Judicial Committee of Conference of the Seventh District, Bucks and Montgomery counties, and Delegate to the Judicial Conventions for that district in the years 1869, 1871 and 1872. He was, in 1872, a Delegate, with Lewis C. Cassidy as colleague, from the Fifth Congressional District to the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore. In 1880 he was elected Delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati, being selected by the friends of General W. S Han- cock to make the nominating speech, but yielded that honor to Daniel Dougherty. He was a Delegate to the Democratic State Convention in 1874, 1875, 1877 and in 1878. He was elected District Attorney of Bucks County in 1868, serving three years, and, in 1873, was elected State Senator to represent Northampton and Bucks counties, and again, in 1876, to represent Bucks County alone. He served in that office until 1879, declining another election. He was caucus nominee for Speaker of the Senate ; was Chairman of Legislative caucus and also served upon Judiciary General, Constitutional Reform and other important com- mittees. In 1873 he was unanimously nominated by the Demo- cratic Judiciary Convention for President Judge of the Seventh District and was elected by a majority of a thousand votes, run- ning six hundred ahead of his party ticket. During the following ten years he gave his exclusive attention to bringing up the business of his district, and near the end of the term all the members of the Bar, irrespective of party, addressed a letter to him requesting the use of his name for re-election. He was unan-
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