USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 40
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525
HARMAN YERKES.
imously re-nominated by the Democrats and endorsed by the Republican Convention, being re-elected by a substantial majority. In 1895 Judge Yerkes was nominated for the Superior Court, and at the election ran several thousand votes ahead of his ticket. During the last year, owing to the sickness of several of the Judges of the Courts of Philadelphia and the accumulation of business occurring because of the deaths of Judges Allison and Reed, he was called in to assist these courts. It was the first instance in the history of Philadelphia that any Judge had been called to such a task.
Since his occupation of the Bench, Judge Yerkes has abstained from activity in politics, but when the Convention at Chicago adopted what he believed to be a declaration of principles inimical to the Democratic tenets, he joined, with a number of others who met in Philadelphia, and created the organization which resulted in a State Convention to send delegates to Indianapolis for the purpose of nominating a straight Democratic ticket. On June 24, 1869, Judge Yerkes was married to Emma, daughter of Monroe Buckman.
JAMES RANKIN YOUNG.
HE profession of journalism as a path into the fields of political prominence is one that is not infrequently traveled, and during recent years there has been no more conspicuous example of the elevation of a newspaper worker into the ranks of national legislators than that furnished by the career of James Rankin Young, Representative in Congress from the Fourth Pennsylvania District. He is a thorough newspaper-man and one whose opinion is universally respected. As an earnest and energetic worker in his profession, he has won all that the field of letters has to offer, while as a writer and a man he has combatted corruption wherever his keen eye has discovered it. In his political and factional affiliations he has ever sought the side of honesty and the welfare of the people in general, in the conduct of public affairs.
JAMES RANKIN YOUNG was born in Philadelphia, March 10, 1847. He was the second son of George Rankin Young and Eliza Rankin, and a brother of John Russell Young, President of the Union League, a former minister from this government to China, and at present the Librarian of the National Library at Washington. The early education of the subject of this review was obtained while a pupil at the Livingston Grammar School, from which, after commendable progress, he was promoted to the Central High School. Shortly before the completion of his course the invasion of Pennsylvania by the Confederate Army occurred, and with a number of his fellow scholars he ran away and enlisted in the Thirty-second Pennsylvania Infantry, better known as the Gray Reserves. While they were on the march to resist the army of Lee at Gettysburg, the Governor directed the discharge of these
526
The Rembrandt Eng, Co, Phila,
527
JAMES RANKIN YOUNG.
ardent young patriots because of their being several years under the age at which they could legally enlist without the knowledge and consent of their parents. They were, accordingly, returned to their homes, but, a little later, the lad again attempted to join the army but was once more rejected because of his youth. His family finally permitted him, however, to accept a place as clerk to Colonel James B. Sheridan, an Army Paymaster. This took him to the front with the Army of the Potomac, where he remained until the conclusion of the strife, at Appomattox Court House.
In 1865, Mr. Young, under the tutelage of his brother, a veteran newspaper man, entered the field of journalism, serving first as a reporter, and later, in 1865 and 1866, making a tour of the South as the correspondent of the New York Tribune. Return- ing to his native city he assisted in founding the Philadelphia Evening Star, the first issue of which was published in April, 1866. Since its initial number Mr. Young has remained connected with the Star as one of its owners. In June of the same year, when he was only two months over twenty years of age, he suc- ceeded General Carl Schurz as the correspondent of the New York Tribune at the National Capital and for five years was in charge of the Washington office of that well known publication, then under the editorship and control of Horace Greeley. So eminently did he display the tact, discretion and ability which are the indispens- able qualifications of a successful correspondent that Horace Greeley once paid him the high compliment that he was "the only Washington correspondent of the Tribune who had never made a mistake." With the qualities by which he thus gained favor in the eyes of this veteran editor he has since won for himself as prominent a place in his profession as has ever been accorded to any newspaper-man of his generation. Meanwhile, the Evening Star had so grown in circulation and prominence that Mr. Young was at last compelled to devote all his time to his own journal, and, accordingly, withdrew from the Tribune. It was in 1871 that he began that series of letters which he has continued to the present time over the signature of "S. M." and which have gained for him a national reputation, indicating as they do an intimate
528
JAMES RANKIN YOUNG.
knowledge of political affairs and a close association with the most prominent statesmen of the time. An ardent Republican always, Mr. Young soon gained a position of prominence in the councils of his party and, as early as December, 1873, was elected Chief Executive Clerk of the Senate of the United States, a position which he filled with conspicuous fidelity until 1879. His eminent services in the legislative halls, however, had by this time attracted the attention of Attorney-General Brewster, and upon Mr. Young's retirement from the office as Chief Executive Clerk of the Senate he was tendered the position of Chief Clerk of the Department of Justice. This he held until 1883, when, his party having again gained ascendancy in the upper branch of the National Legislature, he was unanimously re-elected as Chief Executive Clerk, where he remained until 1892. In 1896 he was the nominee of his party in the Fourth Congressional District of Pennsylvania, which com- prises one of Philadelphia's best residential districts, and was triumphantly elected, his majority reaching the phenomenal figure of 42,611. He has been as successful a statesman as he had formerly been a journalist in the correspondent's gallery.
Mr. Young has attended every national convention since those of 1864. He was Vice-President of the commission to locate the positions of the Pennsylvania troops in the battles of Chattanooga, Chickamauga and Lookout Mountain. He has been a member of the Union League and now belongs to the Masonic Order, to the Pen and Pencil, the Stylus and the Clover clubs, and the Harrison Association. In 1874 he married Miss Mary Barclay, of Wash- ington, and has a family of two sons and two daughters.
The Rembrandt Eng Co. Phila.
JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG.
.
OHN RUSSELL YOUNG was born on a farm in Downingtown, November 30, 1841, but received his early education at the Harrison Grammar School, Philadelphia, his father having removed from Chester County to Kensington in 1843. The young man had an uncle in New Orleans, James Rankin Young, who took a great interest in him, and he subsequently went to live there for some years as the latter's ward. While in New Orleans he attended the High School. He returned to Phila- delphia at the age of fifteen, and obtained employment in the proof room of the Press, where, as a copy-holder, he entered upon that career of newspaperdom which was later to bring him many laurels. He evinced such an aptitude for the work that he was soon made a reporter, in which capacity success attended every newspaper venture he attempted, and he was rapidly advanced. Before he had attained his majority he had risen to the position of editorial writer on the paper. When Colonel John W. Forney was elected Secretary of the Senate in 1861, Mr. Young went to Washington with him as Private Secretary. He continued to write for the Press, however, and won his first spurs as war correspond- ent by his account of the battle of Bull Run, in 1861. Soon after the battle of Williamsburg he was stricken with typhoid fever and compelled to return to Philadelphia, where, after his recovery, in 1862, he was Managing Editor of the Press. Although a young man, he had by that time reached a high degree of prominence in Philadelphia, and when the Union League was projected he was one of the most active workers in establishing it. He became President of the League thirty years later.
529
530
JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG.
Mr. Young joined General Banks in New Orleans in April, 1864, as a member of his military staff, accompanying him through the Red River campaign. He began to write leading editorials for the New York Tribune meantime, and his fervid and energetic style soon attracted the attention of Horace Greeley with the result that, in 1866, Mr. Young succeeded to the position of Managing Editor of the Tribune. He was then but twenty-five years of age. In the meantime he was active in other directions, giving consid- erable time and study to the law. He was admitted to the Bar at New York in 1867. He established the Standard, a morning daily newspaper, in New York, early in 1870, but the same year was induced by G. S. Boutwell, then Secretary of the Treasury, to go abroad in the interest of the national finances. During his resi- dence in Europe at that time Mr. Young wrote an account of the rise and fall of the Paris Commune that ranks among the best examples of English descriptive writing. By this time Mr. Young had attained the distinction of being one of the foremost journalists of America, and, in 1872, took up his residence in Europe in the interests of the New York Herald, spending two years in London and Paris, and one in continental travel. During his residence in London, in 1877, General Grant invited him to accompany him on his tour around the world. Mr. Young accepted this opportunity, and became in consequence, practically a member of the great soldier's family for nearly two years, which resulted in a mutual affection and confidence that only ended with Grant's death at Mount McGregor. He subsequently compiled and published two large volumes with the title of " Around the World with General Grant."
It was not long after this that Mr. Young entered the higher political field as diplomatic representative to China through the persuasion of his friend, General Grant. During his stay in the Flowery Kingdom Mr. Young had acquired an exhaustive knowl- edge of the Chinese at home and of their manners and customs, and, when President Arthur tendered him the appointment of Minister to China, in 1882, he accepted. After several years of labor in the world of letters Mr. Young's ability was recognized,
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JOHN RUSSELL YOUNG.
early in 1897, by the appointment to the important post of Librarian of Congress, taking charge of the great library at Wash- ington. It is said that much of his interest is centered in an important literary work which he has now in hand, and with which he expects to crown his career in letters. Mr. Young has figured somewhat in the financial world also, particularly as the Fourth Vice-President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, to which office he was appointed in 1892. He resigned when the company went into the hands of the Receivers. In 1893 Mr. Young was chosen President of the Union League, of Phila- delphia, and, in 1894, was re-elected.
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES VOLUME I.
PAGE
PAGE
ACHESON, ERNEST F. .
72
ADAMS, JOSIAH R.
75
AFRICA, J. SIMPSON
78
AMERMAN, LEMUEL
81
ARMSTRONG, THEODORE
84
ARMSTRONG, WILLIAM H. .
87
ASHMAN, W. N.
90
BAILY, JOEL J. .
93
BARNETT, JAMES E.
96
BAUGH, DANIEL .
99
BEAVER, JAMES ADDAMS
55
BERNARDY, EUGENE P.
102
BIDDLE, ALEXANDER
105
BIGLER, WILLIAM D.
108
BLABON, GEORGE W.
III
BOARDMAN, GEORGE DANA
114
BOYER, HENRY K.
II7
BOYER, JEROME L.
120
BROMLEY, THOMAS, JR.
123
BROWN, CHARLES L.
I26
BUDD, HENRY .
129
BURCHFIELD, A. P.
132
BUTTERWORTH, JAMES
135
(
ARR, WILLIAM WILKINS.
138
CHAPIN, JOHN BASSETT
141
CLOTHIER, ISAAC H. .
144
COBURN, JAMES P. .
147
COMEGYS, BENJAMIN B.
150
CONNELL, WILLIAM
153
CONNELL, WILLIAM L.
156
CONWELL, RUSSELL H.
159
Cox, JUSTICE, JR.
162
CRAIG, SAMUEL S. .
165
CRAMP, WILLIAM
168
CRAWFORD, JOSEPH U.
171
D
AY, CONRAD B.
174
DEAN, JOHN
47
DECHERT, HENRY M.
177
DECHERT, HENRY T.
180
DORAN, JAMES S ..
183
E
DGE, THOMAS J. .
20
EDMUNDS, HENRY R.
186
ELKIN, JOHN P. .
189
ELKINS, WILLIAM L. .
192
ELVERSON, JAMES
195
ERDMAN, CONSTANTINE J.
198
F
AGAN, CHARLES A.
20I
FELL, D. NEWLIN .
50
FERGUSON, JOSEPH C. .
204
FISHER, ELLICOTT
207
FLEMING, GEORGE S. . .
210
FOEDERER, ROBERT H.
213
FORD, HENRY P.
216
FOULKROD, WILLIAM W.
219
FOUSE, LEVI G. .
222
FOX, ALEXANDER M.
225
FURST, AUSTIN O.
228
532
533
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES IN VOLUME I.
PAGE
PAGE
GARRETT, PHILIP C.
231
McC
LURE, ALEXANDER K. .
.
321
GAZZAM, JOSEPH M.
234
GEYER, CHARLES
237
GILL, WILLIAM B. .
240
GIVEN, WILLIAM B. .
243
GORDON, JAMES GAY
246
C
BDYKE, BENJAMIN P.
330
OELLERS, RICHARD G.
333
ORLADY, GEORGE B.
58
H ANCOCK, ELISHA ATHERTON . 252 HANCOCK, JAMES D. 255
HANNA, WILLIAM B.
258
HARRITY, WILLIAM F.
261
PENROSE, CLEMENT B.
342
HASTINGS, DANIEL H. .
I
HAYWOOD, BENJAMIN J.
8
HICKS, THOMAS L.
264
HILL, GEORGE B.
267
HUMES, EDWARD C. .
270
HUMES, WILLIAM P.
273
HUTCHINSON, JOSEPH B.
276
HYDE, WILLIAM H.
279
K
ARSNER, DANIEL
282
KEATOR, JOHN F.
285
KEEN, WILLIAM W. .
288
KULP, MONROE H.
29I
L
ANKENAU, JOHN D.
294
LAUTENBACH, LOUIS J.
297
LAWRENCE, CHARLES
300
LOWRY, HARVEY A.
303
REA, SAMUEL
357
READ, JOHN R.
360
REEDER, FRANK
363
REEDER, HOWARD J.
63
REEDER, WILBUR F.
14
REILLY, JAMES B. .
366
RHAWN, WILLIAM H.
369
RICE, CHARLES E.
53
RICHARDS, JOSEPH T.
372
RIEBENACK, MAX
375
RIGHTER, WASHINGTON
378
MESTREZAT, STEPHEN L.
309
MITCHELL, JAMES T.
44
MONTGOMERY, EDWARD E.
312
MORRIS, EFFINGHAM B.
315
ROBERTS, GEORGE B.
390
MORRISON, JOHN W.
23
ROBERTS, WILLIAM T. B.
393
MORWITZ, EDWARD
318
RORER, WILLIAM DROWN
396
MYLIN, AMOS H.
II
RORKE, ALLEN B. .
399
MCCORMICK, HENRY C. .
5
MCLAUGHLIN, FRANK
324
MCLEAN, WILLIAM S. .
327
GREEN, HENRY .
35
GRISCOM, CLEMENT A.
249
PAGE, S. DAVIS
336
PAXSON, EDWARD M.
339
PENROSE, BOIES .
29
PERKINS, SAMUEL C. .
345
PITCAIRN, ROBERT
348
PORTER, WILLIAM W.
69
PREVOST, SUTHERLAND M.
351
PUGH, CHARLES E.
354
UAY, MATTHEW STANLEY
26
M
EGARGEE, LOUIS N.
306
RILLING, JOHN S. .
381
RIPPLE, EZRA H.
384
ROACH, JOHN B. .
387
MCCOLLUM, J. BREWSTER
41
534
INDEX OF BIOGRAPHIES IN VOLUME I.
PAGE
ROTHERMEL, PETER F.
402
ROTHERMEL, P. F., JR.
405
WALKER, THOMAS H.
471
RYAN, PATRICK JOHN
408
WALTON, HENRY F.
474
WALTON, JOHN M.
477
WARWICK, CHARLES F.
480
WATRES, LOUIS ARTHUR
483
WATSON, JAMES V.
486
WELLS, LEVI .
I7
WERNWAG, THEODORE
489
WHITNEY, GEORGE I. .
493
WICKHAM, JOHN JERVIS
6
WIDENER, P. A. B. .
496
WILLARD, EDWARD N.
499
WILLIAMS, HENRY WARREN
38
WILLIAMS, MORGAN B.
502
STETSON, JOHN B. .
4.38
STINEMAN, JACOB C.
441
SULZBERGER, MAYER
444
T
THOMSON, FRANK
447
THOMSON, WILLIAM
450
THOMPSON, WILLIAM E.
453
THROOP, BENJAMIN H.
456
TOWER, CHARLEMAGNE .
459
TYNDALE, HECTOR
462
VERKES, HARMAN
523
YOUNG, JAMES RANKIN
526
YOUNG, JOHN RUSSELL
529 €
ANDLING, FRANK M.
465
PAGE
W
TAINWRIGHT, JOSEPH R. .
468
S
EARCH, THEODORE C.
41I
SHEPPARD, ISAAC A.
414
SHIELDS, A. S. L.
417
SHIELDS, WILLIAM S. P. .
420
SHIPPEN, EDWARD
423
SHORTRIDGE, N. PARKER
426
SINGERLY, WILLIAM M. .
429'
SMITH, PETER P.
66
SMITH, ROBERT W.
432
SMITHERS, ELIAS P. .
435
STERRETT, JAMES P.
32
WINDRIM, JAMES H.
505
WISTAR, ISAAC JONES
508
WITHEROW, WILLIAM
511
WOOD, GEORGE .
514
WOODS, DAVID F.
517
WOODSIDE, JOHN W.
520
2829
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