USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume III > Part 24
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CALVIN B. NORTH.
IN every community and in every section of the country there are certain duties, trusts and responsibilities of so high a nature that they constitute honors which many would willingly assume, but which, in the very nature of affairs, comparatively few are fitted to hold. The progress of financial and commercial organizations in the State of Pennsylvania has demonstrated that only picked men can conduct such trusts with credit to themselves and profit and satisfac- tion to others associated with them. The town of Selins Grove and the adjacent country owe a large amount of their present prosperity to the fact that in their affairs men of the highest calibre have for many years been prominent ; and this district has been most fortunate in having numbered among its citizens Calvin B. North, the subject of this biography. Mr. North, for the past generation, has been closely identified with the financial interests of the locality and has been one of the leading men of the community, viewed from any standpoint.
CALVIN BLYTHE NORTH was born, March 28, 1824, at M'Alister- ville, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, which town was laid out by and named after his great-grandfather, Major Hugh M'Alister, who served in the Revolutionary War. Mr. North is the descendant of a long line of Scotch-Irish ancestors, and on both his paternal and maternal sides can point not only to a most desirable racial pride, but to the fact that, as his country's needs demanded, his forefathers were not wanting in patriotism, many of them rendering excellent military service in both provincial and revolutionary times, and their names being enrolled upon the nation's honored list of self-sacrificing defenders. Mr. North's father, John North, married Jane Houston M'Alister, whose mother was Catharine Elliott, daughter of Major John Elliott, who
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served in the Revolution. John North was the son of Joshua North, whose father was Lieutenant Roger North, who was in the provincial service in 1748. The latter was the son of Caleb North, who came with his family from Ireland in the year 1729.
A few years ago the original receipt for thirty-eight guineas for passage of Caleb North and family was still retained in a branch of the family, dated Cork, Ireland, May 1, 1729, with a memorandum on it of landing at Philadelphia on the 20th day of July following. The family settled near Philadelphia, from which point they have since scattered widely. Mr. North was the oldest of a large family, and enjoyed the advantage of the public and private schools of that day, at the early age of sixteen entering a country store in the village of Thompsontown, on trial, to learn the mercantile business. After remaining more than five years at this place he went into a wholesale dry-goods house in Philadelphia for part of a year, as sales- man, and then returned to his native village, where he engaged in the mercantile business with his father until 1855. Having a desire to travel and extend his knowledge, he then spent a year in the Western States, after which, in 1857, he received an appointment to a clerkship in the Department of the Interior at Washington, where he remained until the fall of 1861. In February, 1862, he was appointed Teller in the Mifflin County Bank, at Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and held this position till March, 1864, when he resigned to take charge of the First National Bank, at Selins Grove, in which capacity he has won honor and reputation.
Mr. North went to Selins Grove in 1864, fully confident of being able to participate in the advancement of that place, both to his own and the community's advantage. The same year in which he went to that rising town he assisted in organizing the First National Bank of the place, and since that time has been continuously the Cash- ier of the institution. During the intervening years this bank has enjoyed the highest credit for careful and conservative management, passing successfully through various stages of advancement and all the numerous trials incident to changes in conditions, from the close of the Civil War to the present day. During all this time it has never passed its semi-annual dividend period without making a
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fair return to the stockholders, and these notable facts are as largely attributable to the admirable work of Mr. North, and his far-seeing judgment and strict integrity as Cashier, as to any other cause. The First National Bank of Selins Grove is to-day numbered among the staunchest and best conducted financial institutions in the Keystone State.
Mr. North's political proclivities have always been Democratic, and in early manhood he took somewhat of an active part in numer- ous county and State conventions of the party. However, he became less active in later years, when other duties claimed the larger part of his time. His wife, before marriage, was Annie Richter, a native of Selins Grove, daughter of Peter Richter and Elizabeth Holstein Rich- ter. Mr. Richter was one of the early pioneers of the county and one of its most prominent men, and his wife was a lineal descendant of Conrad Weiser, the official Indian interpreter of the Province of Pennsylvania, who was held in high esteem. Their son, Roscoe Calvin North, the only surviving child, has for some years been con- nected with the bank as Assistant Cashier.
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H. MCALISTER NORTH.
L ANCASTER County and the city of Columbia have just cause to be proud of the members of the legal profession who make their homes in that thriving section; and of the eminent lawyers who have done so much to create and maintain the high reputation enjoyed by the County's Bar, few are better known or more highly regarded by the community at large than Hugh McAlister North, LL.D., the subject of this biographical sketch.
HUGH MCALISTER NORTH was born, May 7, 1826, in what is now Juniata County, Pennsylvania. His parents were John and Jane McAlister North, the latter the daughter of Hugh McAlister, who was one of the original settlers in that section. His father, Major Hugh McAlister, was the founder and proprietor of McAlisterville, Juniata County, and was an officer in the Revolutionary Army. The North family can be traced backward for about five centuries to their home in the British Isles. A member of the family accompanied Cromwell to Ireland, and, having been given land in Westmeath County, settled there. One of his descendants is Hugh McAlister North, whose boyhood was spent in McAlisterville, where, in the public and private schools he received his early education, afterwards attending the Mifflinburg Academy. Upon the completion of a course at this institution, which at that time had a very high reputation, and which is now claimed as the Alma Mater of many prominent Pennsylvanians, he decided to embrace the legal profession, and accordingly, as a student, entered the offices of Edmund S. Doty, of Mifflintown, and of Joseph Casey, New Berlin, Union County. The latter was afterwards the author of "Casey's Reports" and Chief Justice of the Court of Claims at Washington. Mr. North progressed
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rapidly under such favorable auspices, and was admitted to the Bar in May, 1849, two months later removing to Columbia, Lancaster County, where he has since continuously practiced his profession. During the first twenty years of his practice Mr. North did his own clerical work, thus acquiring a thorough familiarity with all business forms. Hardly an important case has come before the Lancaster County courts during the almost half a century which has passed since his admission, that has not had his services on one side or the other.
Mr. North has always been an ardent advocate of the principles of Democracy and, as early as 1854, was elected to the Legislature of the State. In 1860 he was a Delegate to the Democratic Conventions at Charleston and at Baltimore, at both times holding membership on the most important committee, that of credentials, which, because of the strained condition of politics at that time, called for the keenest judgment and discretion. Twice has Mr. North been the candidate of his party for the Congress of the United States. The first time he was nominated in opposition to Thaddeus Stevens, in 1864, running far ahead of his ticket, quite a notable achievement for a Democrat in those closing days of the Civil War. He was again a candidate, in 1872, against A. Herr Smith.
Mr. North has been solicitor for the Philadelphia and Reading Railway in Lancaster County since 1863, and for the Pennsylvania Railroad since 1869. For thirty-five years he has been Attorney for the Columbia National Bank, and for a third of a century for the First National Bank of that place ; also holding the post of President of the latter institution for a quarter of a century. In 1874 he received a large vote for the nomination of Lieutenant-Governor and, in 1875, a flattering support for the Gubernatorial nomination. In 1876 he was a Delegate-at-Large to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis, and was a Presidential Elector in 1884. In 1891 his talents were recognized by his party in his nomination for the office of President Judge of Lancaster County and, in 1892, on the death of the President Judge, the Governor tendered him the place, Mr. North declining the honor. He has been President of the Lancaster Bar Association since its organization, and a member of the Pennsylvania State Association since its foundation. Almost from their inception,
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he has been a member of both the American and National Bar associations. Mr. North is a member of the Pennsylvania Scotch- Irish Society, in whose affairs he takes a deep interest. Franklin and Marshall College, in 1887, recognized his talents by conferring upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
Mr. North is a Vestryman in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, at Columbia, and is its Senior Warden. He has frequently been a Delegate to the Diocesan Conventions, and has been a Delegate to the Missionary Council. In 1895 he was a Delegate to the General Convention of the Church. His wife, before her marriage, was Serena Mayer Franklin, daughter of Thomas Emlen Franklin, LL.D., well known in the legal circles of the State, and ex-Attorney-General of Pennsylvania under Governors Johnson and Pollock. Their daughter, Serena Mayer North, resides with her parents. Their son, Hugh McAlister North, Jr., was graduated from Yale University in June, 1897.
HENRY NUNEZ.
P ROMINENT among the capable gentlemen who make up the membership of the Philadelphia Bar, and who enjoy excellent reputations as barristers in New York and other important cities, as well as in the courts of Pennsylvania, is Henry Nunez. Of deep learning, quick perception and keen wit, Mr. Nunez is as popular socially as he is capable professionally. With an unusually large fund of anecdote, and possessing the ability of reciting well, he is always a welcome and entertaining member of any gathering. As a lawyer he is alert, direct and incisive. Careful in preparing cases, and cautious in giving advice to clients, he is uniformly successful in his practice, and the interests of those who place their confidence in him are well protected. He believes in keeping bad cases out of the courts and in settling them at once, without litigation, if possible. Mr. Nunez traveled extensively before finally settling down to a life of professional activity in Philadelphia. He practiced law in Kentucky, Ohio and Louisiana for several years, and earned a reputation in the courts of those States for high integrity and commendable activity.
HENRY NUNEZ was born in Philadelphia, September 5, 1840. His parents were A. J. Nunez and Hester (Bennam) Nunez. His ances- tors on both paternal and maternal sides were Spanish. They came to this country in the early part of the century. His paternal grand- father, A. J. Nunez, was an artist of prominence and one of the earliest members of the Academy of the Fine Arts ; he was, in fact, a member when that society was organized. Mr. Nunez's father was a physician and practiced his profession in Philadelphia for a few years, but went to Cuba about 1847 and invested a very large sum (a half-million dollars) in copper mines and sugar and coffee plantations. He remained in
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the "Gem of the Antilles" until 1861, when, upon the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, he retired from active business and returned to Philadelphia, dying six years later in this city. Mr. Nunez attended private schools in Philadelphia until his eighth year, when he joined his father in Cuba. There he had private tutors and was later gradu- ated from the College of Santiago de Cuba in his sixteenth year. He then came back to the United States, having a very imperfect knowl- edge of the English language. He attended the Academy at Strouds- burg, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of acquiring a fluency in English. He determined to study law, and, returning to Philadelphia, entered the office of Joseph P. Loughead, with whom he registered. A close student and hard worker, he quickly acquired a knowledge of the law, and was admitted to practice, after having passed a very creditable examination, in 1860. At the outbreak of the Civil War a few months later, he assisted in the recruiting of Company F, Eighty-first Regi- ment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. He joined the company at Camp Good Hope, near Alexandria, Virginia, but was not mustered into service as he was stricken with a very serious illness and was ordered to return North by orders of the Medical Department officials. This was a grievous disappointment to Mr. Nunez, and, upon his recovery, he at once entered into the service of the United States Paymasters' Department, actively serving in the capacity of Assistant Paymaster, paying troops in the fields and hospital until the closing of the great conflict. In 1866 he opened a law office in Louisville, Kentucky ; but his father dying in 1867, he returned to Philadelphia and resumed the practice of law there until 1871, when he moved to Cincinnati, remain- ing in that city as an active member of the Bar for six years. The next four succeeding years he practiced his profession in New Orleans. He again returned to Philadelphia in 1887, and re-opened offices, hav- ing since continued in this city in the practice of the law. Mr. Nunez, while not by any means a partisan in politics, is a Republican and usually supports the nominees of that party. He has never permitted his name to be used in connection with any office, although he has been ever ready to respond to the call for his services, from those in charge of important campaigns. Mr. Nunez is a member of the Lawyers' Club and of the Clover Club. He is one of the earliest
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members of the latter organization and has for the past six or seven years been the Treasurer. In 1859 Mr. Nunez and Adeline Bratton, of Philadelphia, were married in this city. Mr. Nunez has bene- fited not only himself, through his years of activity, but his fellow- man has been largely the gainer. In social and legal circles, and as a man whose instincts were based on a firm intellectual foundation, he has reached a high round in the ladder of fame. Just a few years past the half-century mark of life, his career has been worthy and creditable to a marked degree, and his legion of friends accentuate the prophecy of a glowing future for him.
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M. J. O'CALLAGHAN.
F EW of the members of the legal profession in the Quaker City have made more creditable records at the Bar than M. J. O'Callaghan, widely known as one of Philadel- phia's most successful attorneys.
MICHAEL JOSEPH O'CALLAGHAN was born in Cork, Ireland, October 24, 1857. He is the son of Patrick O'Callaghan and Margaret Duggan. He was educated in the national and public schools of Ireland and England, receiving the finishing touches of his classical course under the guidance of private tutors. He came to America in 1875, and settled in Philadelphia, where he has since resided. He entered the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1882, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in June, 1885, and was admitted to the Bar on the twentieth of the same month. Entering upon practice, his success was almost immediate, and he has steadily acquired an extensive and lucrative practice. His forensic power and ability as a nisi prius lawyer were quickly recognized. Shortly after he was admitted he was retained as one of the counsel for the officials of the Shackamaxon Bank, charged with conspiracy, and has since appeared in a number of homicide cases, saving his clients in every instance. A notable effort as a criminal lawyer was his defense of the Third Ward election officers, while as a civil lawyer he has distinguished himself by taking part in many noted arguments before courts in banc. His aggressiveness as an advocate is illustrated in the case of Demenstein vs. Richelson (2 Pa. Distr. Rep., 825), in which he represented the defendant in an action for personal injuries, where the plaintiff refused to submit to a physical examination to ascertain the exact nature of those injuries. The question had been previously ruled by the courts of Philadelphia in favor of this right until the Supreme Court of the
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United States had decided a case the other way, which latter ruling had been applied by the local courts. Mr. O'Callaghan was not satisfied with the reasons upon which this case rested, and argued it anew before Judge Biddle, who adopted Mr. O'Callaghan's view and ordered the examination. This ruling, which has since been adopted in the Phila- delphia courts, is of great value and importance. Mr. O'Callaghan has displayed a special aptitude in mechanics' lien cases, and has among his clients some of the best known builders of Philadelphia. He has never lost such a case. In McFarland vs. Schultz (168 Pa., 634), he contended that an amendment to a mechanic's lien should not be allowed after the expiration of the six months allowed by the Act of Assembly within which a lien could be filed, although the courts of the county had for years allowed such amendments. The Court below being against his contention in this particular, he took an appeal to the Supreme Court, which sustained his contention, although they had apparently ruled the other way in Snyder Chapel vs. Bear. In 1895 he represented William J. Roney, who succeeded John Taylor as Receiver of Taxes of Philadelphia. In the contention concerning Mr. Roney's election Mr. O'Callaghan made a conspicuous success in the difficult field of constitutional law. Briefly, the case was this : John Taylor was elected Receiver of Taxes for three years from the first Monday of April, 1893. He died in January, 1895, and Councils elected Mr. Roney to fill the unexpired term, that is, until the first Monday of April, 1896. Mr. Roney took the oath of office and entered upon his duties as Receiver of Taxes under the election by Councils. The following month Mr. Roney was elected by the people for the full term of three years, beginning the first Monday of April, 1895. Mayor Stuart and his successor, Mayor Warwick, both refused to administer the oath of office to Mr. Roney on the ground that the term for which he had been elected by Councils had not expired, and that there was no vacancy which the people could have filled at the election in Feb- ruary, 1895. This refusal was based upon an Act of Assembly of April 18, 1867, which declared that the words "the next city election," in the Act of February 2, 1854, shall be construed to mean " the election at which the qualified electors would, in accordance with existing laws, elect a successor in office had no vacancy occurred therein." Mr.
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Roney, holding an election from Councils for a short time and by the people for three years, was, of course, desirous of holding for the longer term. A serious question arose, there being no contestant, how he was to determine the validity of his election by the people. Mr. O'Callaghan petitioned the Court for a writ of alternative man- damus, directing the Mayor to administer the oath to Mr. Roney and the Councils to approve his bond as Receiver of Taxes. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court and, after an exhaustive argument, Mr. O'Callaghan's contention in favor of the longer term was sustained. In this case he won distinction for his scholarly argument and for the great skill and originality which he displayed in bringing the issue before the Court in such a form that it could not be dismissed upon a technicality.
Always a student, Mr. O'Callaghan has taken a deep interest in governmental affairs, national and local, having identified himself with the Republican party. This party has often selected him for public office, but, while invariably declining, he has always been active in the discharge of his civic duties. Possessing many of the gifts of a born orator, he has been prominent on the stump for years and has pre- sented many candidates in nominating conventions, not one of whom has ever failed of nomination or election. Mr. O'Callaghan is a thor- ough Philadelphian and a member of nearly every organization which has for its purpose the advancement of his adopted city. While meeting with eminent success in years crowded with professional work, he has been able also to cultivate literary pursuits, especially in the line of historical and political subjects, and has accumulated a large library, representing a wide range of scholarly study.
EDWIN S. OSBORNE.
C ONCERNED in the development of the military re- sources of the State are a number of the most promi- nent men of the Commonwealth, prominent not only through their connection with the soldiery, but in other fields, professional and business. Gen. Edwin Sylvanus Osborne, the subject of this biography, has served his country both as a Member of Congress for three terms and as a gallant soldier during the War of the Rebellion. In law he is a recognized light, and in the National Guard he is one of the most honored com- manders.
EDWIN SYLVANUS OSBORNE was born, August 7, 1839, in Bethany, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. His father was Sylvanus Osborne and his mother Lucy Messenger, both of whom were well-known Penn- sylvanians, being lineal descendants of the early settlers of the country. One of General Osborne's forefathers was John Osborne, who came from England and settled in East Windsor prior to May, 1645, and his great-grandfather, Thomas Osborne, was a soldier in the Conti- nental Army, being killed at the battle of Monmouth. All through the history of the Osborne family there are records of public service rendered and gallant deeds performed, which make it one of the most prominent and representative in the chronicles of the country. The son, Edwin, was sent in his early youth to the common schools and then entered the University of Northern Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He decided to adopt a profession, and to the end of securing the necessary education there- for entered the Poughkeepsie Law School, from which he graduated in 1860 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the Bar of Luzerne County on February 26, 1861, and for more than
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thirty years has been closely identified with the chief movements of the legal profession in Pennsylvania.
Many years ago General Osborne was active in the political affairs of the State, and in the Forty-ninth Congress he served as Congress- man-at-large from Pennsylvania. His term of office was so marked by splendid work that he was re-elected by his constituents to the Fiftieth Congress, and was again returned to the Fifty-first Congress, being the member from the Twelfth Congressional District, comprising Luzerne County. When he was elected a Representative-at-large from Pennsylvania in 1884, it was by the largest vote ever polled in the State, exceeding the vote for Blaine and Logan two thousand three hundred and thirty-six. His total vote was four hundred and seventy- six thousand two hundred and forty. He was re-elected in 1886 by a majority that exceeded that of Governor Beaver by five thousand nine hundred and sixty-four. He has always been a Republican. In Con- gress he advocated with force the doctrine of protection to American labor. One of the most important measures considered in the Forty- ninth Congress was the Presidential Succession Bill. This subject attracted general attention, and public judgment appeared to demand that something should be done by Congress to avoid entanglements such as confronted the country in the Presidential election of 1876. The Senate, early in December of 1885, passed what is known as the Presidential Succession Bill. General Osborne opposed the bill in the House in a speech in which he took strong grounds against the consti- tutionality of the measure and questioned the authority of Congress to act in the premises.
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