USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume I > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
EUGENE P. BERNARDY.
HE profession which exploits the science of medicine has always been conspicuous for its progress in this State, and has contributed more celebrated men to the ranks of medical practice than any other of the Union. Pennsylvania, too, is always in advance in those discoveries which have given so much to hu- manity. Among the physicians of Philadelphia whose work has reflected credit not only upon the city, but upon the State, there comes into assertion the name of Dr. Eugene P. Bernardy, whose individual success has been of an uncommonly brilliant kind.
EUGENE P. BERNARDY comes of an old French family, every generation of which has had occasion to boast of a member hold- ing a medical diploma. He was born at St. Thomas, West Indies, December 1I, 1846. His father was Peter Matthew Bernardy, who had sought the West Indies after having left France on ac- count of the political troubles of the early "forties." His mother was Mary Ann Yamfree, who was of French-German descent. His father soon left St. Thomas and began practice in New York City, where, in 1852, he became a citizen of the country. The elder Ber- nardy was a man of remarkable education, skill and ability, and was a graduate of the medical department of the Royal Academy of Montpellier, France. Young Eugene received his education in the public schools of New York and was promoted to the High School of that city, where he remained for about two years. When only sixteen years old he became fired with patriotic enthusiasm for the cause of his adopted country and was eager to fight in its defence. Although nothing more than a stripling when the war broke out he became the bugler of the Zouave company of the
IO2
-AE Francis & Co-
Eigene P. Bernardy
IO3
EUGENE P. BERNARDY.
Fifty-fifth New York Regiment, and was in service for fifteen months. He contracted pneumonia, which left his constitution in a very weakened condition. In consequence, he made quite a tour of various places for the purpose of finding the locality best suited to his condition of health. He finally decided to settle in Phila- delphia. He entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania and was also a private student in the office of the late Dr. J. J. Levick. In 1868 he graduated with high honors and became assistant demonstrator of anatomy and served for five years under the late Dr. L. Hodge. He was for two years assist- ant in the surgical rooms under the late Prof. H. H. Smith, and also served for two years as one of the physicians of the Philadel- phia Dispensary. The Philadelphia Hospital also had the benefit of his services as an obstetrician. Through his efforts and sug- gestions a number of very notable improvements were made in his department, and in many other ways young Doctor Bernardy displayed early in his professional career the possession of creative and progressive ideas.
In 1869 he was elected physician to the Société Française de Bienfaisance de Philadelphie, and he has been in that capacity with the noble organization for twenty-eight years. His record there is one of unselfish philanthropy. He has performed some very important and successful operations, and was never known to refuse medical attention to any one referred to him, no matter what the patient's financial condition or social circumstances might be. In 1869 he was the first to introduce hydrate of chloral as an important aid in the treatment of puerperal convulsions. This innovation was the cause of much discussion at the time, but in the end found universal acceptance. Thousands upon thousands of cases have been successfully carried through owing to its judicious use. In 1883 Doctor Bernardy called the attention of the medical profession to a new antiseptic-the biniodide of mercury. He has been a valuable contributor to medical litera- ture and has written a number of important papers. He is a member of a large number of medical societies, in all of which he takes an active interest, and he has been frequently honored I .- 8.
104
EUGENE P. BERNARDY.
by election to important offices in them. He is connected with the County Medical Society of Philadelphia and with the Patholo- gical Society of Philadelphia. Among other organizations with which he is identified are the American Obstetrician and Gyneco- logical Society, the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia, the Ameri- can Climatological Society and several others. It has been semi- officially announced-and this report will soon be confirmed-that Doctor Bernardy is to receive the Order of "The Palms," which distinction will come from the celebrated French Academy, and is bestowed only upon those who have made noteworthy achievement in scientific and original investigation. In addition to many other offices, Doctor Bernardy served for two years as Vice-President of the Philadelphia Obstetrical Society.
Doctor Bernardy is a quiet man of retiring disposition, and is so thoroughly interested in his profession and its scientific development that little leisure is afforded him for any other occu- pation. He is a specialist in Obstetrics, and is said to have one of the largest practices in the State, being known throughout the United States as an authority in this branch of medicine. He married Miss Marie Louise Jacquin, of New York, and they have two children, a daughter and a son. The daughter recently graduated from the Philadelphia Dental College, while the son, after having received his literary degree at the University of Pennsylvania, entered the Medical Department, where he is at present pursuing his studies. Doctor Bernardy is a Mason, having been admitted to the Garibaldi Lodge of New York in 1865. He is now a mem- ber of the Potter Lodge, and was formerly connected with the Corinthian Chapter and Corinthian Chasseur.
Aquitable
The Rembrandt Eng Co Phila
ALEXANDER BIDDLE.
INANCIAL and transportation interests have claimed the greater portion of the time and attention of the subject of this biography, Alexander Biddle, of Philadelphia, in which city he has spent practi- cally the whole of his almost four score years of eventful and useful life.
ALEXANDER BIDDLE was born in the city of Philadelphia on the 19th day of April, 1819. He was one of the five sons of Thomas Biddle, a well known financier and the head of the firm of Thomas Biddle & Company, which conducted one of the oldest banking houses in the Commonwealth. The mother of the sub- ject of this review was Christina Williams, who was the daughter of Brigadier-General Jonathan Williams, a relative of Benjamin Franklin and the organizer and first Superintendent of the West Point Military Academy. He was Congressman-elect from Phila- delphia at the time of his death. The Biddle family was one of the earliest English families to settle in America, and in all its branches has been illustrious and patriotic, serving its adopted country with distinguished honor. It originated in America from Judge William Biddle, who, about the year 1681, emigrated from England and settled in west Jersey, where he became a member of the Council of Proprietors and of the General Assembly. Among his descendants have been many men who have attained marked distinction during the past two centuries. Among the better known ancestors of Alexander Biddle were Owen Biddle (born 1738, died 1799), who was a member of the Committee of Safety and member of the Constitutional Convention; Clement Biddle (born 1740, died 1814), Colonel and Quartermaster-General in the
IO5
IO6
ALEXANDER BIDDLE.
Continental Army, etc .; Colonel Clement C. Biddle (born 1784, died 1855), Commandant of the Pennsylvania Regiment, Light Infantry (volunteers) during the War of 1812, first President of the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, and a writer on political economy ; John Cadwalader (born 1805, died 1879), member of Congress from Pennsylvania and Judge of United States District Court at Philadelphia; George Cadwalader (born 1806, died 1879), Brigadier-General United States of America; Henry Jonathan Biddle (born 1817, died 1862), Adjutant-General Pennsylvania Reserves, United States of America; Colonel Chapman Biddle (born 1822, died 1880), Commandant of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Pennsylvania Regiment in the Civil War, and Thomas Biddle (born 1827, died 1875), United States Minister to Ecuador. Alexander Biddle is one of the sixth generation from William Biddle and the grandson of Colonel Clement Biddle, who was the Quartermaster-General under General Washington.
Alexander Biddle received a thorough education at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, of which institution he is a graduate. After completing his course at the University Mr. Biddle entered the counting-house of Bevan & Humphreys, the largest shipping firm in Philadelphia at that time and one whose fame was world- wide. After four years' service in their counting-house he was sent as supercargo to Australia, China and Manila. He spent two years in this service, and, returning home, was engaged for four years in various pursuits. He then entered the firm of which his father was the head, remaining with Thomas Biddle & Company until the breaking out of the Civil War. He then entered the One Hundred and Twenty-first Pennsylvania Volun- teers, which was commanded by his cousin, Colonel Chapman Biddle, and was chosen as Major of the Regiment, with it partici- pating in all the engagements in the Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville and Gettysburg campaigns, and being promoted first to Lieutenant-Colonel and afterwards to Colonel. At Gettysburg he commanded the regiment with great credit to himself and the State he represented. After eighteen months of active service at the front he resigned his commission to return to Philadelphia,
107
ALEXANDER BIDDLE.
also retiring from business pursuits and enlarging his field of usefulness by devoting his time to business of a public and semi- public character. He was chosen a Director of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1874, and is still among the most active and influential members of the Directorate of that celebrated or- ganization. He is also a Director in the Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Company, the Lehigh Navigation Company, the Contributionship Insurance Company, and quite a number of other similar institutions of the highest repute. Upon the organization of the Board of Directors of City Trusts, in September, 1869, he was elected a member, and, in January, 1882, was chosen as its President, being the third in succession. He is a Director of the Pennsylvania Hospital. By the will of the late Dr. James Rush, Mr. Biddle was named as an executor to succeed Henry J. Wil- liams, his uncle, in the erection of the Ridgway Library, on Broad Street, between Christian and Carpenter streets, a monument creditable to the taste of its founder. On the IIth day of October, 1855, Mr. Biddle was married to Julia Williams Rush, daughter of Samuel Rush, late resident of the city of Philadelphia, and granddaughter of Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and of Revolutionary fame. He has six children living, four sons and two daughters.
WILLIAM D. BIGLER.
T HE interests of the law, commerce and politics all claim the attention of William Dock Bigler, who has served as Assistant United States Treasurer at Philadelphia and who has from time to time occu- pied important offices in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, both in financial institutions and as a business man. His connection with the legal profession has also given him con- siderable prominence, and throughout his entire career he has exhibited the possession of qualities which cannot fail to bring an ambitious man success and recognition as a progressive citizen.
WILLIAM DOCK BIGLER was born in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1841. His father was William Bigler, a distin- guished Governor of the State and a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. His mother was Maria Jane Reed, whose ancestors were among the first settlers of Clearfield County, and were members of the Reed family from Delaware and Maryland. Her grandfather, Alexander Reed, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Thus, William D. Bigler can trace his ancestry back to very distinguished American predecessors, and he is a thoroughly representative type of the Pennsylvanian, who, reared amidst refin- ing influences, has had his character moulded along the broadest lines. He received his first school instruction at the Clearfield Academy. He decided to go to college and obtain a thorough course, and prepared for this at the West Jersey Academy of Bridgeton, New Jersey. In September, 1859, he entered the Soph- omore Class at Princeton and graduated as a member of the class of 1862. His first essay into the professional world was when he began to read law with the late Hon. William A. Wal-
IO8
No Biglen
109
WILLIAM D. BIGLER.
lace, under whom he studied until, in 1867, he was admitted to the Bar. In that year he formed a partnership with Senator Wallace under the firm name of Wallace, Bigler & Fielding, and he was afterwards a member of the legal firm of Fielding, Bigler & Wilson, and then of Fielding & Bigler. As a member of these legal firms he was connected with some of the most notable cases in his district, and, at the same time, he took a wide inter- est in the business affairs of his community to the end that he became identified with many enterprises. Eventually he became engaged in wider business connections and in the political life of his community. He did not follow closely the practice of his pro- fession, but, at the same time, his advice and counsel were sought in many important cases. In 1893 he was earnestly solicited by a number of his fellow citizens in both political parties to be a candidate for President Judge, so wide and comprehensive was considered to be his knowledge of legal affairs.
Politically, Mr. Bigler is a prominent man in his section of the State, and he has held all the various offices of local influence incident to good citizenship and has also always taken a great interest in educational matters. He was School Director for many years. He was elected by his district a member of the Constitu- tional Convention in 1891, but this Convention, as a matter of history, was never held. He has repeatedly declined to be a can- didate for the Legislature and for Congress, but at the same time, he continues to take a warm interest in the political affairs of Pennsylvania while not participating in a practical sense. In July, 1894, Mr. Bigler was appointed Assistant Treasurer of the United States at Philadelphia by President Cleveland. The tele- gram announcing his appointment was the first intimation that his name had been used in connection with that position. He entered upon the duties thereof, however, August 20, 1894, deter- mined to give the office every care and attention possible. He brought into the discharge of his official duties the same high principles that governed him in the management of his private affairs, and his administration during his term was in every way successful and satisfactory. His chief interests are still found in
IIO
WILLIAM D. BIGLER.
this office, and he also continues his connection with his profession and his many business enterprises.
In the business world Mr. Bigler has a number of important connections. He conducts a large lumber trade under the firm name of William D. Bigler & Company, and Bigler, Powell & Carden. He is President of the well known Walnut Run Coal Company, he is President of the West Branch Coal Company, operating in Cambria County, and he is a Director in the Clear- field Fire-Brick Company. He is also a Director in the Clearfield Gas Company and President of the Clearfield Cemetery Company. He is connected with the Clearfield Manufacturing Company, the Clearfield Machine Shops and Water Company of that city as well. Mr. Bigler is, in a word, one of the most active men of his section of the State, and he is untiring in his energy. He has two brothers, both of whom are associated with him in all his business enterprises, E. A. Bigler, who has been Internal Revenue Collector under both Cleveland administrations at Pittsburg, and H. F. Bigler, who is chairman of the Clearfield Fire-Brick Company.
On August 8, 1869, Mr. Bigler was married to Alice Barrett, daughter of G. R. Barrett, a leading lawyer and jurist of Penn- sylvania. They have had five children, three sons and two daughters. Mr. Bigler is a member of the Episcopal Church of Clearfield and a Vestryman of that body. In all affairs of a public and philanthropic nature he takes an active interest and is to-day numbered among those earnest and energetic citizens who have added fame to the Commonwealth in which they live.
GEORGE W. BLABON.
UCH of Pennsylvania's strength of citizenship is comprised in that splendid body of men who are really " self-made ;" men who have risen in life from humble positions, and in many cases dis- couraging circumstances, and who now occupy positions in the community which stamp them as both ambitious and able. Having many difficulties and obstacles to overcome in early life, George W. Blabon, the subject of this biography, man- fully struggled to reach recognition in the marts of commerce, and succeeded so well that his name is now synonymous with enterprise and progress.
GEORGE WASHINGTON BLABON was born in Wells, York County, Maine, September 28, 1824, his parents being Otis and Mary Blabon. His father was of pure English extraction, while his mother combined in her ancestry the traits of the English and Irish peoples. At the age of five years, he was taken by his parents to Chesterville, then in Kennebec County, Maine. Here his father purchased one hundred acres of land and erected a log- house, and thus laid a foundation for their future home. Under such circumstances the .son, George, encountered every difficulty in obtaining an education, and, as he was the eldest, he was not allowed much time to attend school, being compelled to help make a living for the family. He worked on the farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he left home to seek his fortune. He went to Boston first, but, being unable to obtain a situation there, went to work on a farm, and from there to a small carpet factory in Southboro, Massachusetts, where he remained about one year. Although his wages were small, he saved enough to enable
III
II2
GEORGE W. BLABON.
him to visit his parents at the end of the year, and, upon arriv- ing at his home in Maine, he gave his father more than half of his savings, a self-sacrificing practice which he continued for some years. He next went to Baltimore, Maryland, and was made a salesman by a well known oil-cloth manufacturing firm there. He traveled through the Middle States many years for this firm, and finally decided to settle permanently in Philadelphia, and com- mence business on his own account.
In the spring of 1852, he rented a small store-room on Third Street above Arch, and began the sale of oil-cloth to retail dealers, afterwards forming a partnership with J. W. Carson. At the end of three years Mr. Blabon entered into partnership with S. C. Smith, but, in 1857, the great commercial panic came, and found them with a small capital and notes to pay every few days. Mr. Blabon here showed the stuff of which he was made, when he resolved neither to fail nor ask favors. With the same enterprise and determination that has since marked his career so strongly, Mr. Blabon succeeded in weathering the storm, and established a credit that has ever since been a lasting monument to his worth and business integrity. In 1861 the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Blabon continued the business as George W. Blabon & Company, having the sole interest, however. In 1864 he commenced the manufacture of oil-cloth, and, in 1875, his business had so greatly increased that he erected a large plant on the line of the Phila- delphia and Reading Railroad at Nicetown, which covers thirteen acres of ground. In 1885 he concluded to add to his business the manufacture of linoleum, securing his machinery for this purpose from England, as it was then impossible to obtain it in the United States. It required two years to complete his facilities, but to-day the linoleum department of his works is considered perfect, and the output of the establishment is among the largest in the world. Oil-cloths and linoleums of all descriptions and sizes are turned out by Mr. Blabon's establishment in immense quantities. A number of years ago, he took his son, George C. Blabon, and with him John C. S. Davis, into the firm, which is now known as the George W. Blabon Company, manufacturers of
II3
GEORGE W. BLABON.
oil-cloths and linoleums and linseed oil. In the magnificent man- ufactory of this concern, the progress of its founder is thoroughly outlined, but Mr. Blabon has been so energetic a business man all his life that when an opportunity offered itself for develop- ment in other fields, he became a factor therein.
He has been largely interested in street railroads in Philadel- phia, and in banks and other financial and industrial corporations. He is now Vice-President of the Independence National Bank of Philadelphia. He is President of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Street Railway Company, and is President of the Oak Cliff Land Com- pany of Dallas, Texas. Mr. Blabon is Vice-President of the Employers' Indemnity Insurance Company, is a Director of the American Surety Company of New York, and is interested in the progress of Atlanta, Georgia, through his Directorship in the Fourth National Bank of that city, and the America Trust and Banking Company there. However, his chief interests are centred in the further progress and prosperity of the George W. Blabon Company, of which he is President, and in Philadelphia he is numbered among the most progressive manufacturers of the State.
In January, 1854, Mr. Blabon was married to Rosanna, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Underwood, of York, Penn- sylvania, who died at the birth of his son, George, in February, 1855. On July 20, 1871, he was again married, this time to Rebecca H., daughter of Jacob W. Souder, of Philadelphia. This union was blessed with two children, Edwin L. and Walter D.
GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN.
HE religious world has no more active worker nor more earnest man than the subject of this biography, who is a Pennsylvanian by right of long residence and many good deeds performed on Pennsylvania soil. GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN, D.D., LL.D., is one of the brightest men of his time; he is the descendant of a stock which has given to America some of its best sons and daughters, and in his chosen field he has reared his own lasting monument of worth. His parents were both American mission- aries to the East, Rev. and Mrs. George Dana Boardman, and he was a stepson of Dr. Adoniram Judson, the pioneer missionary. Dr. Boardman was born at Tavoy, Burma, August 18, 1828, and when but six years old embarked alone in an East India mer- chantman for America. He was a courageous youth and, in spite of ill health, he stood in the front rank. He studied medicine in Massachusetts and read law in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. He graduated from Brown University in 1852, and from Newton Theological Institution in 1855. He married Miss Ella W. Covell, of Albany, New York, and was ordained at Barnwell Court House, South Carolina, serving as pastor five months. In 1856 he became Pastor of the Second Baptist Church, Rochester, New York, where he ministered nearly eight years, and became known as the Univer- sity Preacher through his splendid sermons and earnest work. In May, 1864, he assumed pastorate of the historic First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, in which he served thirty years, and of which he is still Honorary Pastor. Perhaps the most characteristic feature of his ministry was his extraordinary series of Wednesday evening lectures on the Bible, continuing from October 5, 1864, to
II4
-
George Dana Bordman
II5
GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN.
December 29, 1889, traversing the Bible from Genesis to Revela- tion in a truly remarkable manner. Were these 931 expositions to be published, they would make some sixty-four duodecimo volumes of 350 pages each.
In 1879 Dr. Boardman received the highest honor in the gift of his denomination, being unanimously elected President of the American Baptist Missionary Union, serving four years and declining in advance a fifth nomination; he also preached the centennial sermon before the same body in 1892. He has received many marks of distinction from bodies outside his denomination, as, for instance, the Presidency of the New England Society. Dr. Boardman is a public-spirited citizen as well as an earnest clergy- man. On April 14, 1865, he held a special noon-day service in his church at the precise hour that the National Flag was re-uplifted on Fort Sumter, and, in 1896, he traveled nearly a thousand miles to vote in a State where his ballot was not specially needed. Dr. Boardman has published many patriotic pamphlets, among them such well known essays as "Loyalty to Law," "Divine Origin of Civil Government," " Abraham Lincoln," "Church and State," "William Penn," and others. In 1878, on fourteen consecutive Tuesday noons, he delivered in one of the halls of Philadelphia a course of free lectures on "The Creative Week," and, in 1880, another free course on "The Mountain Instruction." He is a strenuous advocate of peace, having served as President of the Christian Arbitration and Peace Society, and, in connection therewith, delivered in Washington, D. C., and in Toronto, Ontario, addresses on national disarmament. He served as a delegate to the World's Peace Congress, at London, and, at the World's Fair, in Chicago, read a paper on "Nationalism and Internationalism " before the Peace Congress. He is an enthusiastic champion of the Unification of Christendom; having read, in 1887, before the Baptist Congress, at Indianapolis, a paper on the " Problem of Ecclesiastical Unity; " and, in 1891, before the Con- ference of the Evangelical Alliance, held at Florence, Italy, a paper on "The Coming Ideal Church," in which he offered his own irenicon to Christendom. Dr. Boardman also read the closing
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.