USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume II > Part 11
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In the administration of the affairs which have come under his jurisprudence in his present capacity, he has shown the same marked ability for the performance of his duties as has distin- guished his entire career. A number of improvements in the official regulations and arrangements have been made under Cap- tain Delaney's supervision and he has proven himself a valuable officer. Socially he is highly popular in Harrisburg, and, in fact, he is one of the most respected and admired men in the commu- nity. This is the result not alone of his excellent public per- formance, but of his entire conduct through life. Admiration always follows in the wake of a self-made man who attains de- served and honorable prominence, and in the career of Captain Delaney a striking instance of this is found.
Meade D. Detweiler 4
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MEADE D. DETWEILER.
S OME of the brightest men in Pennsylvania are those who figure as leaders in what is generally known as the Junior Bar. While Meade D. Det- weiler, the subject of this biography, is anything but a Junior viewed from the standpoint of his progress and attainments, yet in point of years he might be so classed. But thirty-four years of age, he has for almost five years occupied the important office of District Attorney in Harrisburg, while in political and social life he is one of the most prominent figures in his section of Pennsylvania.
MEADE D. DETWEILER was born October 15, 1863, in Middle- town, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. His father is Samuel Det- weiler, a well known and wealthy citizen of that place, who retired from business in 1871, and his mother is Elizabeth Matter. The Civil War had closed and the consequent great business changes had been wrought before young Meade Detweiler had reached the age for school. In 1871 his parents moved to Harrisburg, where he attended school. After passing through the various grades, including the High School, he left to undertake a full classical course, through which he passed successfully. He graduated from the Pennsylvania College, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1884, being first honor man. During his entire school life Mr. Det- weiler's course was distinguished by a great determination and forceful energy which led him to take every advantage of the opportunities afforded for self-improvement. He decided that the profession of law offered the most favorable opportunities, and so devoted himself to the study of the statutes with Hall & Jordan, prominent corporation attorneys of Pennsylvania. He spent two
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years in this service, and, on October 13, 1886, was admitted to the Dauphin County Bar, having bright prospects for the future and already enjoying a reputation for soundness of judgment and conspicuous ability which augured well for his professional career. During the eleven years which have since passed Mr. Detweiler has amply fulfilled these promises, and is to-day numbered among the brightest members of the Pennsylvania Bar.
Immediately after his admission to the courts Mr. Detweiler opened offices in Harrisburg, where he began the active practice of his profession, in which he obtained wide recognition from the very outset. He became identified with a number of important interests, and in the practice of both branches of the law won much success. While Mr. Detweiler was making great progress in his profession he did not neglect such business interests as came under his direction, and through a long series of active operations he eventually became connected with a number of important corpora- tions in and around Dauphin County. He is now stockholder in several large institutions of this nature and has a practical knowl- edge of the details of finance, being generally recognized as a legal authority upon such important departments of corporate interests. Politically Mr. Detweiler's advancement ran on parallel lines. While he was yet a young man he became one of the most prominent members of the Dauphin County Republican organization. His prominence in the service of his party has been indicated a number of times. For several years he has been chairman of important committees and he has invariably been active in campaign work, speaking for National and State candidates numbers of times. Mr. Detweiler's fame as an orator and an expert in political economy is recognized not alone throughout the entire State, but in many sections of the country, where he has been heard in support of Republican doctrines and candidates.
Mr. Detweiler's prominence as a Republican attained its emi- nence in his home, in 1892, when he was enthusiastically nominated for the office of District Attorney, being elected by a round majority. When his term expired he was again made his party's choice, having added to his already excellent reputation by a splen-
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did administration of the affairs of the District Attorney's office. His second term does not expire until 1899, and it is generally acknowledged that he is one of the most efficient and progressive officials who have ever administered the legal affairs of Dauphin County. On December 3, 1891, Mr. Detweiler was married to Miss Bertha M. Hoffer, daughter of Colonel John Hoffer. They have had three children, one daughter and two sons; Mary Elizabeth Detweiler, Mcade D. Detweiler, Jr., and John Hoffer Detweiler. While Mr. Detweiler is a man of domestic habits, he leads an exceedingly active life, his many interests demanding his untiring energy. His chief interest, of course, is found in the practice of law, in which he has been entirely successful. His personal popu- larity, aside from any professional prominence, is best indicated in his position in the Order of Elks, in which he occupies the highest office, that of Grand Exalted Ruler of the National Order. He is the youngest executive officer who ever occupied this high posi- tion, and the only one to be re-elected, and that, too, unanimously.
PEMBERTON DUDLEY.
HE advance of science and the progress of the art of healing during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century has largely tended to point out the way for the general advancement of mankind at least from a purely physical point of view. The science of homeopathy, viewed as a latter-day development of medicine, reflects the general tendency of the age toward greater freedom of thought and action, and the fact that some of the brightest men of the country have participated in perfecting the doctrine of Hahnemann has amply evidenced that it has become a most important branch of scientific progress. Doctor Pemberton Dudley, who, in January, 1896, was chosen Dean of Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia, has been identified with the cause of homeopathy for a large number of years, and his deep interest in medical progression has been evinced in his participation in the management and promotion of such organizations and institu- tions as have been designed to promote the public usefulness of the divine art.
PEMBERTON DUDLEY was born near Torresdale, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1837, his parents being William Dudley and Ellenor Wood, the former of whom was the descendant of the well known New England family of that name, whose ancestors followed the fortunes of the "Mayflower" pilgrims. The family traces its lineage to a period antedating the Norman conquest, while the Wood family was first known in this country in 1699, when emi- grants of that family settled in Newtown, Long Island. Pember- ton Dudley obtained his early education in the public schools and at an academic institution, after which, in order to develop his
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knowledge and at the same time admit of his further progress, he taught school for two years. Meanwhile he was reading medi- cine under Doctor David James, after which he attended lectures at the Jefferson Medical College and later in the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. He graduated from the latter institution in the class of 1861, since which time he has practiced his profession in Philadelphia.
From the time of his first entrance into the field of medicine Doctor Dudley has been prominent. His nature was such as to impel him on to the most radical lines of action, and in every movement of a nature calculated to advance the interests of homœopathy he has been a prominent figure. He assisted in organizing the Philadelphia County Medical Society in 1866; he joined the State Medical Society in 1867, and has been President of both. He became a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy, the national society of homeopathic physicians, in 1869, has regularly participated in its general and scientific business, and, in 1887, was elected General Secretary of the society and Editor of its annual volume of "Transactions." During the several years of his secretaryship the membership and income of the society were nearly doubled, largely through his exertions. He was elected President for the year 1896.
At the session of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, in 1871, he initiated the movement which led to the holding of the World's Homoeopathic Convention in Philadelphia, in 1876, which originated a series of similar congresses in various parts of the world. He was Honorary Secretary of the Congress held in con- nection with the Columbian Exposition in 1893. As far back as 1868 Doctor Dudley was appointed Professor of Chemistry and Toxicology in his Alma Mater, and he gave his support to the measures which united the two rival homeopathic colleges then existing in Philadelphia. In 1876 the College called him to its chair of Physiology and Microscopic Anatomy, which he filled until 1890, when he was made Professor of Hygiene and Insti- tutes of Medicine, which, in fact, he still holds. In the adminis- tration of Hahnemann College business affairs he was just as
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zealous, and as a member of the Hahnemann Club he aided in organizing the Children's Homeopathic Hospital of Philadelphia, becoming a Trustee and member of its medical staff. When St. Luke's Homeopathic Hospital was opened in Philadelphia, Doctor Dudley was made a Trustee and one of the visiting staff. Upon the establishment of the State Board of Health in 1885, Governor Pattison appointed him one of its seven members. In 1891 he was re-appointed for a second term, and during the twelve years of his service he was Chairman of the Board's Committee on Food Adulterations, in July, 1895, being elected President of the Board, and serving as such for two years. In 1897 he was re- appointed by Governor Hastings to a third term as a member of the Board. Dr. Dudley's highest promotion was received in Jan- uary, 1896, when the faculty of Hahnemann College made him Dean, which post he now holds, in addition to his Professorship.
Dr. Dudley takes a great interest in literary work of a medi- cal character. In 1880 he became the Editor of the "Hahnemann Monthly," and for eight years did nearly the entire work pertain- ing to his position. During this period the journal ranked among the most influential homeopathic periodicals in the world. In addition to the work already mentioned, Dr. Dudley has contrib- uted numerous articles to medical and sanitary journals, besides a number that have appeared in the annual reports of the State Board of Health. One of his important works was the revision and editing of a new version of Hahnemann's treatise on "The Chronic Diseases."
Dr. Dudley, on December 25, 1867, was married to Sarah Keen, daughter of Rev. John Perry Hall, a well known Baptist clergyman of Philadelphia. They have two children, a son and a daughter, the former, Doctor Perry Hall Dudley, being a graduate of the Class of '92 of Hahnemann College. Dean Dudley con- tinues to take a most absorbing interest in the affairs of the col- lege, and in addition to this work his efforts in behalf of the advancement of the science of medicine leaves him but little time for anything else, save now and then a small excursion into the field of literary labor.
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Frece & Dryer.
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FRED. J. DYER.
ROGRESSIVE Clearfield County has few public- spirited citizens who have been more conspicuous in bringing about the development of its resources than has Fred. J. Dyer, of Curwinsville. While he is a native of the State of Maine, having been born in Portland, on the 2d day of July, 1858, the most of his active life has been spent in Pennsylvania. His father was Willis N. Dyer, whose grandfather was one of those courageous Irishmen who, seeing no prospect of success in the land of their nativity, crossed the Atlantic to find homes in the young Republic and to enter the battle of life unhandicapped by the almost insuper- able obstacles of class prejudice. The mother of the subject of this sketch was formerly Miss Caroline W. Lovitt, of an old American family whose origin is lost in the imperfectly kept records of early colonial days. From this sterling stock Mr. Dyer has inherited the eminent talents for mercantile life and daring enterprise that have characterized his commercial career.
His parents removed from their northern home and came to Pennsylvania while the son was but a small boy. They first set- tled in Somerset County, but later removed to Blair County. From here they went to Curwensville in 1872, where the subse- quent years of the life of Fred. J. Dyer have been spent. Before he left Somerset County, however, he had entered the public schools and made good progress in his studies. Four years after the family went to Clearfield County he finished a complete course in the Portland Business College, in which institution, as in the public schools, he showed himself to be the possessor of more than ordinary ability, coupled with an ample stock of
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energy and industry, a reputation which he has retained undi- ininished in the years which have followed. He graduated from this excellent institution in 1876, with a record as a student that secured for him the respect and esteem of all who were familiar with his attainments. Mr. Dyer's first entrance into the cominercial world was as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of Nutter, Dyer & Company, in whose employ he made the first display of those qualities which have since continued with una- bated vigor and brought him such merited prosperity. With this establishment he remained for four years. In 1878 he began an apprenticeship at the tanning trade, entering the tannery of John B. Alley & Company, at Curwensville. Here energy and perse- verance, characteristics conspicuously combined in Mr. Dyer, soon won for him a high place in the esteem of his employers. So assiduously did he apply himself to the work that in the short space of eighteen months he had so thoroughly mastered the details of the business that his capabilities were substantially recognized by the proprietors, who tendered him the superintend- ency of their works. In this capacity he remained for a number of years. During this time the tannery changed hands several times, finally becoming merged into the United States Leather Company, but through all these successive changes Mr. Dyer remained in charge of the practical part of the business. For a year after the latter corporation assumed control of the establish- ment he remained in his old place of Superintendent, but finally his ambition demanded a wider and more independent sphere of action, and he resigned to enter into a co-partnership with his former employers, Alley Brothers & Company. This latter
concern has now a large tannery and currying shop at Curwens- ville, besides large stores and warehouses in Boston. They are among the largest independent dealers in finished leather in the country, and have been very successful. In 1883 he and Colonel E. A. Irvin formed a partnership to conduct a general store in Curwensville, and to also engage in the lumber, log and bark business. Mr. Dyer is also interested in the Whittaker Stone Company and the Curwensville Lumber Company. The former of
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these has a large trade in building, bridge and railroad stone, curb and house trimming. He was Secretary and Treasurer of the lumber company for several years, but resigned when he went into the firm of Alley Brothers & Company. While Mr. Dyer has never taken an active part in politics his prominence in the community compelled his acceptance of the duties brought by the posts of Councilmen, in which he served two terms, and of School Director, to the duties of which he was devoted for a like period. Mr. Dyer was married in 1879 to Miss Henrietta G. Thompson. They have two sons and three daughters.
Since early manhood Mr. Dyer has displayed a sturdy inde- pendence of character, balanced by a reflective mind, that has been the keystone in the arch of his career. Indefatigable in applica- tion and tireless energy, he has steadily kept before him the great object of preserving the respect and winning the confidence of all with whom he has had dealings, realizing that thus only could he have a perfectly balanced and successful business life, crowned with success. £ His rise has been in no sense a mete- oric one, but the result of carefully laid plans, intelligently car- ried out. As he is still a comparatively young man, there is every prospect that the future will bring Mr. Dyer even greater rewards.
GEORGE EASTBURN.
ONSERVATORS of educational interests, who have in their care so important a branch of public wel- fare as the education and development of the rising generation, are indeed honored with re- sponsibilities which but few men are capable of assuming. Dr. George Eastburn, who holds degrees from several of the leading colleges of the United States, can point to a record achieved by few inen. After a long course of preparatory school- ing, he entered various schools as a teacher, and when fitted, both by learning and the practical knowledge born of experience, he established what is to-day one of the best known institutions of the kind in the country, the Eastburn Academy of Philadelphia.
GEORGE EASTBURN was born in Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1838. His parents were Jacob and Elizabeth K. Eastburn, his mother's maiden name being Taylor. The Eastburn family were of English descent, the paternal ancestor, Robert Eastburn, coming from Brigham, York- shire, England, in 1713. His mother was descended in the fourth generation from John Satcher, the trusted friend of William Penn. From his youngest days he had a yearning for knowledge, and as soon as he was entered in the schools he began to display such marked ability that his teachers prophesied for him a future of usefulness to his race. After a course in the public schools he attended the Friends' Central School, of Philadelphia, for a term of two winters. At the conclusion of his studies here he decided to adopt the profession of teaching as a means of liveli- hood as well as for the purpose of increasing his own store of knowledge. During August, September and October, 1856, he
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taught at the Lumberville School of his native township and then at Edge Hill School, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, from April, 1857, to July, 1858. He then became assistant to Aaron B. Ivins at the Friends' Central School, teaching there in this capacity for five years. After this series of engagements as a teacher he entered Yale College, imbued with the determination to pass through the full course and leave with a degree. In 1868 he graduated, Bachelor of Arts. In 1871 Yale College conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts, and, in 1890, after nine- teen years of unremitting zeal, he was further honored with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, conferred on him by Princeton College. Within the past twenty years or so Dr. Eastburn has been recognized as one of the brightest educators and most thor- ough students in the country.
In 1880 he was earnestly solicited, both by the late President Allen and by members of the Board of City Trusts, to accept the Vice-Presidency of Girard College, with the view of being trained for the duties of the Presidency, but as he had just then realized the great object of his life, he preferred to conduct a school of his own, and hence declined the proffered post. Throughout the country Dr. Eastburn's name became synonymous with ability and progress of thought. In February, 1889, he delivered before the annual meeting of the National Association of Builders, held in Philadelphia, an address on the metric system. His lecture on the same subject before the School Masters' Association was pub- lished by the American Metrological Association. He is now a member of the council of the American Metrological Society, and has other affiliations of a similar nature.
While Dr. Eastburn is known throughout the country as an instructor and educational leader, he is probably best recognized as the inceptor, manager and principal of the Eastburn Academy for young men and boys, which, located at 700 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, is one of the leading institutions of its kind in the country, and has educated some of the most successful pro- fessional and business men of the generation. Dr. Eastburn's greatest ambition is to bring his academy as near perfection as
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possible, and associated with him in its management are some of the brightest educators in the country. He has inaugurated important improvements, one of the latest of which is the intro- duction of a specially arranged business course. The courses of study in the Academy are designed so as to take up the educa- tion of a boy as soon as he can read intelligently, write legibly, and cipher, and to give him, in the lower school, the best kind of a foundation in the elementary principles and practices of a good English education, and then, in the higher schools, to offer facilities for the study, in systematized courses, of English, Ger- man, Spanish, French, Latin, Greek, History, Mathematics, Book- keeping and the Sciences; thus affording to each student an opportunity to obtain a complete and thorough preparation for business or for admission to any college or scientific school.
On September 8, 1870, Dr. Eastburn was married to Mary Olden Davis, of Princeton, New Jersey, who died on May 8, 1873, leaving one child, Holmes Davis, who was born, May 15, 1872. On July 12, 1876, Dr. Eastburn was married to Elizabeth M. Beale, of Philadelphia, who is the mother of two children, George, Jr., born August 31, 1877, and Agnes Grant, born October 16, 1878. Dr. Eastburn's chief interests at present are centered in his Academy and the American Metrological Society. He has devoted most of his time to securing and maintaining the reputa- tion of his Academy as a first-class educational institution, and he is interested to a considerable extent in church work, being a Trustee and an Elder in the Central Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. Dr. Eastburn is also active in the proposed agita- tion for the compulsory use of the metric system of weights and measures.
FORT
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MG. Elliot
WILLIAM G. ELLIOTT.
NOWLEDGE of commerce and finance, gained by K many years of active experience amidst the hurly- burly of an industrial centre, stamps William G. Elliott, the subject of this biography, as a man of great ability, and the history of his career in the thriving city of Williamsport bears witness to the fact that he possesses unusually progressive tendencies and a generous public spirit. The tillers of the soil, for several generations, have fur- nished Pennsylvania many of its best men, and when these have left the rural homestead for the bustling city, they have frequently contributed so much to the advance of their communities that they have attained positions of the highest honor and trust.
WILLIAM G. ELLIOTT was born in Williamsport, July 19, 1840, his parents being the late Ralph Elliott and Mary Gibson Elliott. He came of good old Irish stock which was transplanted to Pennsylvania's soil early in the century. His father, Ralph Elliott, was born November 22, 1789, at Fritlick, County Tyrone, Ireland, and came to America with his parents on board the sail- ing ship "Redies" in 1812. On arriving in New York, the Elliotts went to Philadelphia and settled in Kensington, where young Ralph went to work in a cotton factory, schooling himself when not engaged in his work. In 1820 he went to Newbury, Lycoming County, where he carried on a store for two years with such success that he removed to Williamsport and built a hand- some brick structure wherein he continued a mercantile business until 1841. In the meantime, May 22, 1832, he married Mary, daughter of William Gibson, and the union resulted in six chil- dren, one of whom is the subject of this biography.
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In 1841 the Elliotts removed to their farm in Armstrong Township, where the wife died March 1, 1855, and, in 1864, Mr. Elliott removed to Williamsport and, two years later, purchased what is now the family homestead, where he died April 1, 1889. Mr. Elliott was one of the promoters of the Market Street Bridge across the Susquehanna River, was a director and a large stock- holder in the same at the time of his death, and at one time was a director in the West Branch Bank. William G. Elliott inherited all the qualities which made his father a successful man. Early in his boyhood days, under the latter's direction, he went to the schools of Armstrong Township, and later in life became a student at Dickinson Seminary. After a course there he entered the Philadelphia High School, of the advantages of which he fully availed himself.
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