USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume III > Part 5
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During his fifth of a century in the United States Senate, Mr.
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J. DONALD CAMERON.
Cameron was always well to the front in affairs of public moment. In the Fifty-second Congress he was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, serving also on the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, on the Committee on Military Affairs and on several others of great importance from both an official and public standpoint. To dilate upon the almost innumerable services which J. Donald Cameron rendered his community during the long and useful term of his tenure in the Senatorial office would require a work of much larger scope than this; it may best be summed up in the former statement that he proved a worthy son of a distinguished father. At present, Mr. Cameron adheres to his retirement from politics and is devoting his entire time to his extensive coal, iron manufacturing and agricultural interests, in all of which he has developed large financial emoluments. In many of his per- sonal characteristics Senator Cameron is much like his celebrated father, Simon Cameron. He is faithful in his friendships, conservative in his methods, and loyal-with a loyalty that amounts to reverence- to old family traditions and customs. He is unostentatious and liberal both in public and private affairs, while, as a financier, from the busi- ness standpoint he is both shrewd and cautious. If one were to endeavor to express in the career of any certain public man the spirit of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania ancestry, one might, quite naturally, turn to J. Donald Cameron.
Senator Cameron's first wife was Eliza McCormick, of Harrisburg, and his second wife, Elizabeth Sherman, of Cleveland, Ohio. By the first marriage he had five children : Eliza, who married W. H. Bradley, of New Jersey ; James; Mary; Virginia, who married Lieutenant Rogers, United States Army; and Margaretta, who married W. C. Clarke, of New Jersey. By the second marriage he had one child, Rachel. Although Senator Cameron, in pursuance of his personal desire, does not take part in any of the political movements of the State at the present time, yet he still remains a prominent figure in Pennsylvania, both by reason of his long record at Washington and because of his present participation in the management and direction of various commercial and financial operations of great note.
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SIMON CAMERON.
HE heroic history of medieval Scotland and the world- important story of England's early wars are welded with the development and rise of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth by the Cameron family, a connection which extends through many generations.
SIMON CAMERON was born at Maytown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1799. His parents were Charles and Martha Pfoutz Cameron, and on the paternal side he is descended from the Clan Cameron of Scotland, who cast their lot with the unfortunate Charles Edward, the Pretender. Donald Cameron, his great-grand- father, participated in the battle of Culloden, and, escaping death, came to America in about 1745. Here he fought under the gallant Wolfe. Simon Cameron, his son, participated in the War of the Revolution, and his brother, John, was the great-grandfather of Gen. Henry H. Bing- ham, of Philadelphia. On the paternal side, one of Simon Cameron's ancestors was Conrad Pfoutz, an emigrant from the Palatinate, Germany, who settled in Lancaster County, where Pfoutz Valley perpetuates the name. Charles Cameron married Martha Pfoutz, and their descendants have gained fame in Pennsylvania.
When Simon Cameron was nine years old his parents removed to Northumberland County, where, his father dying, he was thrown upon his own resources. He obtained employment in a printing office, where his fondness for study was given an opportunity for development, and he was enabled to earn his living. Andrew Kennedy, editor of the Northumberland County Gazette, was his employer until, owing to financial reverses, the establishment was closed. He then went to the office of James Peacock, editor of the Harrisburg Republican, where he remained until he reached his
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SIMON CAMERON.
majority. In 1821 he went to Doylestown at the solicitation of Samuel D. Ingham, publisher of the Bucks County Messenger, and Secretary of the State. In March of the same year Mr. Cameron entered into partnership with the publisher of the Doylestown Democrat, afterwards the Bucks County Democrat, which connection continued until the end of 1821.
For several years he was widely known as a printer and editor, holding several important positions in the newspaper world, and was later elected one of the printers of the State. Upon giving up this office he was made Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania by Governor Shaltz, who was his warm friend. General Cameron took a deep interest in the development of the internal improvements, receiving extensive contracts for work on the Pennsylvania Canal. He after- wards built a canal in Louisiana, employing twelve hundred men from Philadelphia and spending nearly half a year in the undertaking. In the interest of Martin Van Buren for the Vice-Presidency he returned to Pennsylvania and organized a delegation for the National Conven- tion at Baltimore, the first national convention ever held in the United States. General Cameron was requested to accept the permanent chairmanship, but declined. He was afterwards appointed a Visitor to West Point by General Jackson. The Legislature, in 1832, chartered a bank at Middletown and General Cameron became its Cashier. He remained there for twenty-five years, although he had other fields of labor at the same time. He projected and created a number of important railroads in the State and was at one time President of four railroad corporations.
In 1838 President Van Buren tendered General Cameron the appointment of Commissioner with James Murray, under a treaty with the Winnebago Indians, to settle and adjust the claims made against them by the traders. In 1845, when James K. Polk tendered the office of Secretary of State to James Buchanan, and the latter resigned his seat in the United States Senate, an election to supply the vacancy became necessary, and although George W. Woodward was the regular nominee of the Democracy, Simon Cameron was elected for the term ending March 4, 1849, upon the new issue of protection. He served his State faithfully and, in 1857, was again nominated,
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SIMON CAMERON.
Col. John W. Forney being nominated by the regular Democratic caucus. Simon Cameron was elected, and in the movements which preceded the campaign of 1860 he was named as the choice of Penn- sylvania for the Presidency, his name also being associated with that of Mr. Lincoln in connection with the Republican national ticket. General Cameron's national career began at the Chicago Convention in 1860, when the Republican party crystallized into a national organ- ization and declared antagonism to slavery. When Mr. Lincoln was nominated, Senator Cameron made himself felt in such a manner as to win the confidence of that illustrious patriot and he was the first to whom Mr. Lincoln turned for counsel. The latter's offer of a Cabinet position was a voluntary act, and would have been carried out had it not been for intrigue. However, Mr. Lincoln looked upon Senator Cameron both as a political adviser and warm personal friend. General Cameron was afterwards made Secretary of War, as is well known, and although he had much opposition in the Cabinet, he carried out his own ideas in full, and it was owing largely to his energetic administration that, when the War came, the North was prepared for the struggle.
On the 11th day of January, 1862, to relieve President Lincoln from embarrassment, General Cameron retired and was made Minister to Russia by the President, who also insisted that he should name his own successor, which he did in Edwin M. Stanton. General Cameron handled the relations of the United States with the Czar's government so diplomatically that Russia was one of the North's most potent allies in Europe.
In 1867 he was again elected to the United States Senate, a position that he filled for a greater number of years than any other man ever sent to that body from the State of Pennsylvania. His influence in National Legislation was great, and on the floor of the Senate he was noted for terse, solid common sense. Always he was for the promotion of American industries, and lost no opportunity to further the organization of new States, sixty-five years of active political power being his remarkable record, which can scarcely be equaled by the son of any other State.
Simon Cameron's career was not confined to one generation, but
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his control extended through two, and he never dropped out of public view. His son, J. Donald Cameron, succeeded him in the United States Senate, and it can be set down to his credit that most of the father's admirable qualities descended to the son.
General Cameron married Margaret Brua, of Harrisburg. Their children were Rachel, who married Judge Burnside, of Bellefonte ; Brua ; Margaret, who married Richard J. Haldeman ; James Donald; and Virginia, wife of Wayne MacVeagh. General Cameron died June, 1889, his faculties being perfect to the last.
Marie Campbell
JOHN MARIE CAMPBELL:
E DUCATIONAL matters and other affairs of municipal interest have occupied much of the time and attention of John Marie Campbell, one of Philadelphia's most noted lawyers and justly esteemed citizens. Pecu- liarly qualified by his legal training to protect the interests of the public, he has done much to deserve the com- mendation of his fellow-citizens in the public positions in which he has consented to figure. As a member of the city's boards of Public Education and of City Trusts, he has been foremost in advocacy of all measures calculated to be of value to the com- munity. As a member of the Bar, too, he has achieved noteworthy eminence, being particularly well known in connection with Orphans' Court practice, for which he is especially well qualified, not only by natural talents and inclinations, but by long experience and careful study. Being, as he has proven himself, a man of more than ordinary mould, he is fortunate enough to have had the additional advantage of family connections of the highest order, his father having filled, with distinguished honor to himself and to his State, the positions of Post- master-General of the United States in the Cabinet of President Franklin Pierce, Attorney-General of Pennsylvania and Judge on the Bench, besides being accorded many other evidences of the esteem of the people.
JOHN MARIE CAMPBELL was born in the city of Philadelphia on the 30th day of May, 1851. He was the son of James Campbell, one of the most noted jurists Pennsylvania has ever produced, having filled with noteworthy distinction the honorable positions of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and Orphans' Court of Philadelphia, Attorney-General of the State of Pennsylvania and Postmaster-General
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of the United States in the Cabinet of President Franklin Pierce. His mother was Emilie S. Chapron. Mr. Campbell received his early education in the excellent private schools presided over by Samuel Allen and John W. Fairies, in which he laid the foundation for a collegiate education. After preparation in these splendid institutions he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania. Here he pursued his studies with commendable assiduity and graduated in 1870 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, the degree of Master of Arts being afterwards added by his Alma Mater. Upon the com- pletion of his education on scientific and classical lines he entered the law office of his father, where he spent three years in study, and was admitted to the Bar in Philadelphia on the 30th day of May, 1873. He followed in the footsteps of his distinguished father, who, for many years, was actively concerned in the cause of education in the city, being the first to propose the establishment of a Normal School for girls and, whenever occasion offered, nobly championed the rights of women teachers. John M. Campbell was appointed in 1875 on the Board of Education to succeed Lewis C. Cassidy, also serving as President on the Fifth Section School Board. Between the years 1884 and 1889 Mr. Campbell was Surveyor of the Port of Philadelphia and, in 1895, the Judges showed their appreciation of his eminent services while a member of the Board of Public Education, as well as of the other fields in which his thoroughly patriotic citizenship had evidenced itself, by appointing him to succeed Richard Vaux, deceased, as a member of the Board of City Trusts, a body in which his father, for a quarter of a century, was one of the most energetic, sagacious and influential members. During his many years of service in connection with the public educational institutions of his native city Mr. Campbell has served on almost all the important committees. He was President of the Board of Education in 1890.
In social circles Mr. Campbell has many devoted friends and is extremely popular with the members of the organizations to which he belongs, among which may be noted the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Art Club, the Lawyers' Club, the Catholic Club, the University Club and the Philopatrian Institute. He is also active in the manage- ment of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, the oldest remaining Catholic
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institution of this character in the United States, having been origin- ally chartered on the last day of the year 1807. Judge Campbell, the father of the subject of this sketch, for forty-five years was the Manager of this asylum, and Mr. Campbell, for many years, was Secretary of its Board of Directors. John M. Campbell was a member of the Catholic Congress at Chicago in 1893. Thoroughly interested in the progress of the community and in all affairs which concern the municipality, State and Nation, Mr. Campbell has naturally taken an intense interest in politics, and was, in 1880, an Elector on the Presi- dential ticket of the Democratic Party, with which he has long been allied. He was a Delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1884, 1888 and 1892, and a Delegate to nearly every Democratic State Convention since 1874. He was Chairman of three Judicial Conven- tions, of the Mayoralty Convention in 1881 and of the Receiver of Taxes Convention in 1884.
MICHAEL J. CASSIDY.
OCIOLOGISTS, the world over, point with pride to the Eastern Penitentiary, situated in Philadelphia, as a model penal institution in method and man- agement. This splendid result has been largely achieved through the efforts of the subject of this sketch, Michael J. Cassidy, who is an acknowledged leader among the superintendents of prison establishments in the United States. For over thirty years he has been connected, in various official capacities, with the Eastern Penitentiary, and for nearly two decades has been the Warden of that institution. Mr. Cassidy is singularly fitted for his sphere in life, being a man who possesses a remark- able combination of gentleness and firmness. He exercises a won- derful power over the hundreds of men in his charge, and it is recorded of him that, since he became Warden, he has preserved order with fewer severe punishments than can be shown in the annals of any other prison. From both the practical and the theo- retical standpoint Mr. Cassidy is an expert in the science and philosophy of criminology, and his services to the good of the State are invaluable.
MICHAEL J. CASSIDY is a native of Philadelphia, having been born in the old District of Moyamensing on the 14th day of March, 1829. He received his education in the public schools of Phila- delphia, and when fifteen years of age he became apprenticed to a carpenter, mastering, in due time, the trade of building in all its details. He spent some time in the building line, and, at the expir- ation of five years, he entered the employ of James Heron, one of the ablest civil engineers of his day in America. In the service of the latter, who held a government contract for building a sea-wall
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at the Pensacola Navy Yard, Mr. Cassidy successfully accomplished the very difficult task attending the details of that work, covering a period of five years. Later, while plying his trade as a carpenter in Philadelphia, he was selected to supervise sundry repairs in the Eastern Penitentiary, and was entrusted with the secrets of the ramifications of that institution. He discovered that the system of locking the cells was rather deficient, and, at his suggestion, he perfected a far better arrangement for the safe confinement of prisoners. Thus he commenced a worthy career in connection with the Penitentiary, which has lasted up- to the present time. His faithfulness in attending to the fragmentary carpentry, during the first year he was employed at the famous penal institution, called forth the commendation of his superiors. Later, when a vacancy occurred in the overseership of chair-making, he was appointed to that position. On July 1, 1862, he was made Over- seer of the Wood-working Department, fulfilling his duties with great credit to himself for a period of six years. For six months after the death of Warden Halloway he discharged the duties of Warden pro tempore of the institution, and on May 7, 1870, he was detailed as Principal Overseer in charge of the internal man- agement of the Eastern Penitentiary. On April 1, 1881, after the resignation of Edward Townsend, he was unanimously elected Warden by the Board of Inspectors, which then consisted of Richard Vaux, President; John M. Maris, Treasurer; Charles Thomson Jones, Secretary; Alexander Henry and George L. Harrison.
Mr. Cassidy's ability and earnestness in his work are well illustrated by the fact that, since 1861, all the mechanical additions and improvements in the Eastern Penitentiary have been con- structed by him, without the aid of architects or contractors. During this period four new blocks have been erected, making an additional two hundred rooms to the accommodations of the estab- lishment, and these are admitted by inspectors to be the very best adaptable for the purposes. Then, too, they did not cost the State one penny except for material. This comprises, beyond a doubt, a most remarkable record, and one which entitles Mr. Cassidy to
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the high esteem of the community. In order to enlarge his knowl- edge of the treatment of convicts and the conduct of a prison, Mr. Cassidy went to Europe in 1890, visiting all the principal places of penal confinement in Ireland, England, France and Belgium. As a result of this journey, which covered a period of three months, he issued, in 1894, a book on "Prisons and Convicts," which is to-day a text-book among those who give attention to the management of penal institutions.
Mr. Cassidy was married in 1861 to Margaret Keilt. They have no children.
Louis In Childs
LOUIS M. CHILDS.
HILE among the younger and less sophisticated mem- bers of the Bars of great cities there is a feeling and an air of superiority over their country associates, it is not unusual for even the far-famed Philadelphia lawyer to be brought to a realization of the fact that brilliant knowledge of the law and the thorough understanding of how to properly practice the profession is not by any means confined to the larger cities. Of the many sound, able attorneys and counsellors who have won distinction for themselves in the courts of Pennsylvania, and principally outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburg, is Louis M. Childs, whose biography is here given. With little more than a score of years of practice, Mr. Childs has forged to the front and now occupies a position of honor and credit in his profession. Coming from an old Quaker family, he has the careful, cautious and yet vigor- ous characteristics of those people. With determination as a dominant element in his nature, and with courage and ambition as impelling forces, Mr. Childs has kept steadily at it and his reward has been com- mensurate with his work.
LOUIS M. CHILDS was born, August 19, 1852, at Norristown, Penn- sylvania. His parents were Jacob Childs and Lydia Foss, both of whom were descended from old Quaker families. In fact, they traced their ancestry back to the very early arrivals after William Penn, and at least one of them received from him original grants of land. They settled in what might be called the first three counties of Pennsyl- vania, which include what is now Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Bucks and Montgomery counties. They were non-combatants dur- ing the War of the Revolution, but their property was in a measure taken from them by the English, and the armies of King George
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marched over their lands time and again. Though opposed to war and always pronounced for peace, the sturdy Quakers at the latter end of the Eighteenth Century were the warmest friends of the Continental soldiers, and in every way possible assisted them, without apparently doing so. Mr. Childs received his early education in the public schools of Norristown, and afterwards attended the University of Pennsyl- vania, graduating from that institution in 1872 as Bachelor of Science. After his graduation, for a few months, he was his father's assistant in the iron business in Adams County, Pennsylvania. It was the inten- tion of his father that he should make the iron and steel business his life's pursuit, but his personal inclination was in the direction of the law as a profession. He secured law books and read them with avid- ity, thoroughly determined to make the legal profession his regular occupation. He was registered as a student in the office of G. R. Fox, at Norristown, and under his preceptorship rapidly advanced in his study. All of the possible instruction in the law that could be imparted by Mr. Fox was willingly accorded to Mr. Childs, and his progress was regular and steady. In March, 1876, he was, upon pass- ing a creditable examination, admitted to the practice of the law in the courts of Montgomery County. His success as a counsellor and attorney was early assured, and, in 1878, he determined to make Philadelphia his home. But about two years' experience in this city was sufficient to show to him that he could do better in a less crowded field ; that he could rise quicker, and make a more pronounced success in his native city than he could in Philadelphia. He then selected Norristown as his home, and there he has since remained, his practice rapidly increasing and his reputation, both as a lawyer and as a citizen, steadily enhancing. His practice at the beginning was of a general nature ; but the ability he displayed in the handling of cases entrusted to his care quickly brought him clients who had important civil suits, and to-day Mr. Childs has one of the largest and most lucrative clien- teles in Pennsylvania. He is a careful analyzer of evidence and believes more in the proper preparation of cases than in the personal resources and individual brilliancy of attorneys. A lawyer of profun- dity and a speaker of more than ordinary force and ability, Mr. Childs is as effective before learned judges as he is in the presence of juries.
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Many important suits have been confided to his care, and several very large interests are under his direction. In real estate, criminal and orphans' court law, Mr. Childs has been continuously engaged and is eminently successful. Mr. Childs is a Republican, but he has never permitted the use of his name in connection with office. His promi- nence in Norristown as a lawyer necessarily makes him an important and powerful factor in the politics of Montgomery County, and though independently inclined, his services as a speaker are usually at the com- mand of the leaders of his party. Strong, straightforward and averse to deceit, it is never a question as to where he stands upon any political issue, and neither his friends nor his enemies are in doubt.
Mr. Childs and Alice G. Hibberd, of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, were married September 26, 1889. They have two children.
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ROBERT S. CLYMER.
LOSE and intelligent application to business, no matter C what the character of this may be, is almost certain to bring success. Whether in professional, manu- facturing or commercial life, continuous effort is the key to eminence. Fortune does for a time favor some in the struggles for fame, honor or worth, but in the end it is the persistent, energetic and honest man who reaches the height of his ambition. This is particularly true in the practice of the legal pro- fession. Great brilliancy of intellect, unless backed up by a profound knowledge of the law, will not earn for the lawyer lasting success or eminence. A member of the Bar who is possessed of a bright mind, stored with well-grounded information and backed by courage and determination, is sure of winning a place in the profession and the esteem of the people. Robert S. Clymer, the subject of this biog- raphy, while not particularly well favored by fortune, forged to the front and reached the Bench in less than ten years after his admission to the practice of the law. Possessed of a judicial mind to more than an ordinary degree, he occupied the high office of principal Judge of the courts of his county with ability as well as dignity.
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