USA > Pennsylvania > Prominent and progressive Pennsylvanians of the nineteenth century. Volume III > Part 6
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ROBERT S. CLYMER was born in Philadelphia, August 23, 1855. His parents were David M. Clymer and Abigail A. Clymer. He traces his ancestry back through many generations to the Clymers who, in the middle of the Seventeenth Century, immigrated to this country. He is a lineal descendant of George Clymer, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and other relations of his fought in the American Army during the Revolution. Mr. Clymer was, prior to his entrance into professional life, for nearly a decade engaged in commercial pursuits, and the experience he thus obtained
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doubtless assisted him to no small degree in the practice of the law. Mr. Clymer was sent to the public schools of Philadelphia, passing through the elementary and grammar grades, and spending two years at the Central High School. As a boy he was bright and quick of perception, but not more inclined to study than he was to engage in sports and games. Very soon after leaving school Mr. Clymer entered commercial life, but, withal, he had a desire to study law. Indeed, he was reading law even while attending to his duties as a clerk, and, when the first opportunity presented itself, he was regis- tered as a law student. After thorough and careful study, he was admitted to the Bar, in 1882, and immediately began the practice of his profession. From early youth Mr. Clymer was inclined toward politics and took a great interest in the national affairs, but more particularly in the local contests of Gloucester County, New Jersey. His vigor and recognized ability quickly made him prominent in the affairs of his party, and his services were early rewarded with a call to office. In 1877 he was elected Clerk of the city of Woodbury, New Jersey, and filled that position with ability and credit, and to the entire satisfaction of the community, for four years. He was then elected to the office of Chosen Freeholder for one year. In each case he could have secured a re-election, had he so wished, but refused to again be a candidate. His ambition was higher and in the direction of the practice of the law.
Mr. Clymer made his mark as a lawyer when he was City Solicitor of Woodbury, New Jersey. During the four years of his incumbency in this office he displayed such ability as the legal advisor of the city that he made his mark. Several important suits were conducted by him during his term. Four years of the City Solicitor- ship, however, was sufficient for Mr. Clymer and he refused re-elec- tion, for his private practice, both in the courts of Gloucester County and in Philadelphia, had steadily increased and his time was fully occupied in attending strictly to his professional affairs. A most important case in Philadelphia in which he was concerned was that which involved the question of the constitutionality of the city ordi- nance imposing a tax on non-residents. This was the case of Common- wealth vs. Simons, reported in the Legal Intelligencer, Vol. 41, p. 448.
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The ordinance was declared unconstitutional. The ability he had displayed in the practice of his profession and his recognized knowl- edge of the law led to his appointment, in 1891, to President Law Judge of Gloucester County. The appointment was made in Decem- ber, 1891, and he accepted and honorably filled that position until April 1, 1897. No case decided by him was ever reversed by the higher courts.
Judge Clymer is still a student, not only of the higher branches of the law, but of the classics, and is a wide reader and an admirer of the fine arts as well. Personally genial and entertaining, he is exceedingly popular in the circles in which he moves. His law practice is almost exclusively in the civil courts and he has a large clientele in these, both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as in the district and higher courts of the United States. Mr. Clymer's Philadelphia office is at 719 Walnut Street. He is unmarried.
The Phil GRAT ERg
KENNEDY CROSSAN.
F it be true that the rolling stone gathers no moss, it must be admitted that the wandering young man at least gains experience. Even the familiar aphorism of the rolling stone, as applied to man, has exceptions which possibly prove the rule, and one of these excep- tions is Kennedy Crossan, the subject of this sketch. He was a rov- ing young man. In his seventeenth year he started on his travels through the West, South and Southwest, and wherever he went he made his way with work, sometimes of the hardest kind. But the experience he gained prepared him for the position he occupied in after life. The schooling he received was very limited, indeed, but he picked up a good, practical education in his days of hard work and roaming, which he has since rounded out and smoothed by reading. He is essentially a self-made man and, having carved out his own success, is justly entitled to the full credit thereof.
KENNEDY CROSSAN was born in Britton Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1851, his parents being Kennedy Crossan and Mar- garet Nichols. His paternal ancestors were Irish and his maternal ancestors English. Both families lived for several generations in Chester County, Mr. Crossan's grandfather having gone from that sec- tion to serve in the Mexican War. His father was a farmer and it was on the paternal estate that Mr. Crossan was born. He attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, when he was put to work with a blacksmith with a view to learning the trade. He remained at the work until he was seventeen years of age, when, moved by his ambitious tendencies, and desirous of improving his condition in life, he began his travels. He went first to Aledo, Illinois, where he secured work as a laborer. Four months from that he went to Humboldt,
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Kansas, in wagon trains, and obtained employment in a saw-mill. At that time Kansas was but sparsely settled, and in the comparatively new country, among enterprising and energetic men, Mr. Crossan found little difficulty in making headway. Tiring of the saw-mill, Mr. Crossan found work on a railroad, where he was employed for five months, when he went to Independence, Kansas, securing employment there in a hardware store. But he soon decided to seek opportunities elsewhere, and located in Leavenworth, Kansas. Here he again found work on a railroad; but, there being an opening for a driver of the stage coach between Leavenworth and Lawrence City, he took that position and wielded the whip for several months. He then went to Texas with a cattle drover, but, tiring of that work, he went to Denver, again working on a railroad. A few months later he was in Rockland, Illinois, and shortly afterward Chicago was his home. He remained there for a short time and then came to Philadelphia. He was in his twenty-first year and ready to settle down. He went to work as a laborer with Bush & Keller, a railroad contracting company, and soon became a foreman for them, and then was put in general charge of their construction work. Among the operations he had in his care for that firm was work in connection with the erection of the Machinery Building in the Centennial grounds.
Mr. Crossan's entrance into the business field as a contractor on an independent basis was in connection with the building of the Schuylkill Valley Railroad between Monocacy and Birdsboro. He was successful in his first venture and continued the work with vigor. He held and executed contracts on the construction of roads at Annapolis and Cumberland, Maryland, and, in 1886, formed a partnership with John Keller. They secured contracts for the building of a portion of the Western Maryland Railroad, and also did considerable work for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Cambria County. Mr. Crossan and Thomas Nolan, of Reading, built the road from Meriden to Waterbury, Connecticut, and were also active in keeping in good condition the main line for the company. Together with Filbert & Porter, the firm executed the work of lowering the North Penn Junction, successfully completing that difficult operation. The concern does not confine itself to railroad contracts, but is engaged in general construction, including bridges, sewers and similar operations.
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Mr. Crossan was one of the originators of the new pier at Atlantic City, and is President of the Atlantic City Steel Pier Company. He was President of the City Street Railway Company of Indianapolis, but, because of his other important interests, was compelled to resign. He is a Director of the Fox Chase National Bank and is also a mem- ber of the Turf Club. His time is largely occupied with his great business interests, but the major portion of his spare time is spent with his family at his home in Fox Chase, and at his cottage at Atlantic City during the summer season.
Mr. Crossan accords a large share of his success in life to the faithfulness and generous assistance of his wife, who proved a help- meet in every sense of the word during their dark days of adversity, as well as in the brightness of their present prosperity. He is a Republican in politics, but has never permitted the use of his name for office.
On July 4, 1875, Mr. Crossan and Martha A. Maxton, of Birds- boro, were married, and four months later they moved to Fox Chase, where they established a permanent home, Mr. Crossan being a firm believer in the future progress of that place. They have six children, three sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Clarence K., is a student of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, in the class of 1898.
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SAMUEL A. CROZER.
ORE than four-score years of energy and effort com- prise the contribution that the subject of this review has made to the progress of the times. Descended from forefathers who were numbered with the earliest settlers of the country, and whose sons were among the fathers of the Republic, Samuel A. Crozer has proven himself a worthy descendant of an honorable ancestry. Full of energetic enterprise, his name has become a familiar one, not only in the State that gave him birth, but through all the great industrial centers of the East, for whose prosperity he has labored and whose develop- ment he has aided in a degree scarcely second to his efforts in behalf of the Keystone State. As a philanthropist and a Christian gentleman of the old school, the highest place is accorded him in religious and charitable circles, and many of the best known insti- tutions for the betterment of the conditions of the poor and needy have profited by his generosity.
SAMUEL A. CROZER was born on the 24th day of December, 1825, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The Crozer family is one of the earliest in the eastern section of the Keystone State, the original American ancestor having settled in Delaware County in or about the year 1725. The family were originally Huguenots who had been driven from their native France by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. At first they took refuge in the north of Ireland, whence, after a number of years, they embarked for America, to whose pros- perity and advancement they contributed many of the most active pioneers who built a nation in the midst of a wilderness. One of the descendants of this sterling stock was John P. Crozer, the father of the subject of this review. His wife was Sarah L. Crozer, whose name
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before her marriage had been Knowles. Her ancestry was distinctly English. Her forefathers settled in the New World in the early days of the colonies, and, being people of the strictest integrity, rapidly won high places in the esteem of their fellow-citizens. Mrs. Crozer's great-grandfather was George Gray, Speaker of the Assembly of Pennsylvania and Chairman of the War Committee during the colo- nists' struggle to throw off the yoke of the mother country.
The substantial education acquired by Mr. Crozer was obtained at various schools in Delaware County, Wilmington and Philadelphia, and under the guidance of private tutors. Upon leaving school he entered the factory of his father, who was a manufacturer of cotton goods. Under these favorable auspices he set about to gain a thorough knowledge of the business, devoting himself to it with a persistency of purpose that could have none but a satisfactory termi- nation. He made a thorough study of all the minute details of the manufacture of cotton cloths, and acquired such a thorough knowledge of everything connected with the conduct of the establishment, that on the Ist day of January, 1847, a week after he had attained his majority, his father admitted him to partnership in the Upland factories, under the firm name of John P. Crozer & Son. Besides his interests in this great industrial establishment, Mr. Crozer participated, to no inconsiderable extent, in the development of the resources of the neighboring States of Virginia and West Virginia. In the former he has extensive interests in iron furnaces. In West Virginia Mr. Crozer is a large owner of coal lands and mines.
Public life has never presented the glamour of attraction to Samuel A. Crozer, and although he has taken a deep interest in all that would tend to good government and has frequently served the people in local offices, he has never consented to enter upon a wider range of administrative or legislative duties, although, had he chosen to do so, the prominent place accorded him because of his ability, his personal popularity and his high standing in commercial, manufactur- ing, social, religious and philanthropic circles would certainly have placed many honors within his grasp. Mr. Crozer is a Deacon in Upland Baptist Church and, for thirty-two years, has been Superin- tendent of its Sunday-school. The prominent place which he holds
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in religious circles is evidenced by the fact that he is President of the Baptist Publication Society, 1420 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and is President of the Training School for the Feeble-Minded at Elwyn, and of numerous other institutions, which profit much by his generous and charitable nature.
Mr. Crozer was married in 1854 to Miss Cheney, a member of one of the best known families in New Hampshire. They have six children, three sons and three daughters.
A E-Francis & Lo
ROBERT B. CRUICE.
HE history of medicine abounds with striking instances T of the advancement of that science through the indi- vidual efforts of men enthusiastic enough for their profession to devote their entire life and talent to it. Dr. Robert B. Cruice, the subject of this biography, served with distinction throughout the Civil War, and not only occu- pied the honorable post of a patriotic soldier, but was distinguished as well for his medical services in the cause of the Union.
ROBERT B. CRUICE is the younger son of James P. Cruice, of Lis- royan Lodge, County Roscommon, Ireland, and his wife, Mary Emily Blake, eldest daughter of Robert I. Blake, of Carakellin House, near Dunmore, County Galway, where the subject of this sketch was born, September 29, 1838. His father, James P. Cruice, was the youngest son of John Cruice, of Cluncagh Cruice, in the County of Roscommon, and his wife, Mary Hussey, eldest daughter of John Hussey, of Mount Hussey, and Letitia Burke, daughter of Sir Lionel Burke, Baronet of Glensk Castle, in the County Galway, Ireland. The Cruices were of Norman descent, and, coming to Ireland in the Twelfth Century with Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, surnamed "Strong Bow," received grants of land in Dublin County. In 1610, Christopher Cruice, of the Naul, died and was succeeded in his estate by Peter Cruice, who, having espoused the Stuart cause, had his estate confiscated and was exiled to the west of Ireland by Oliver Cromwell. From this Peter Cruice are descended the Cruice families of Galway and Roscom- mon. In the summer of 1850 James P. Cruice and his family came to America and settled in Philadelphia. Dr. Robert Cruice, having received his earlier and preparatory education from private tutors, matriculated in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsyl-
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vania in 1856, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from that institution in 1859. His brother, John, graduated from the same department of the University, receiving his degree in 1861.
On the breaking out of the Rebellion, Dr. Robert B. Cruice offered his services to the Government at Washington, and in July, 1861, was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. After the battle of Winchester, March, 1862, the only battle in which Stonewall Jackson was defeated, Gov- ernor Curtin and Surgeon-General Smith ordered the Pennsylvania wounded to be sent to St. Joseph's Hospital, where Dr. John J. Cruice was then Resident Physician. Having received the appointment of acting Assistant Surgeon, United States Army, Dr. John J. Cruice was ordered to the Jefferson Barracks Hospital, on the Mississippi below St. Louis, in the spring of 1863, where he contracted malarial poison- ing and died the following summer in Philadelphia. He well repre- sented the high spirit and noble traits of the family. In the consolida- tion of the Thirty-eighth Regiment with the One-hundred-and-tenth Regiment, Dr. R. B. Cruice, having previously received his commission as Assistant Surgeon from Governor Curtin on October 15, 1861, was sent to the One-hundred-and-thirteenth Regiment, which was then the Twelfth Cavalry. In June, 1862, having received his commission as Assistant Surgeon of the United States Army, he was ordered to report to Major-General McClellan on the Peninsula. He served in Battery C, Fourth United States Artillery. When in action it was supported by General Meagher's Irish Brigade. In May, 1863, at the battle of Chancellorsville, Doctor Cruice was left a prisoner at a Chancellorsville house which was on fire. After caring for the wounded, he followed the footsteps of the retreating army. But in the meantime he had himself received a serious injury by his horse falling with him, and his resignation was accepted on August 17, 1863. In September of that year he was appointed, by the Sisters of Charity, House Surgeon of St. Joseph's Hospital, and, in 1867, Physician and Surgeon in charge. In 1875 he was elected one of the attending surgeons. On the death of Dr. William V. Keating, President of the Medical Staff, in 1894, Doctor Cruice was elected to succeed him. After the close of the Civil War all his time and attention were
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devoted to the study of medicine and surgery, with the intention of per- fecting himself and keeping strides with the immense progress which the science was making at that time. As far back as 1866 Doctor Cruice was elected a Fellow of the College of Physicians, one of the oldest and most exclusive bodies of physicians in the United States. He is, and has been for many years, a member of the County Medical Society, of the State Medical Society and the American Medical Society. As he has taken a great interest in the historical affairs of the country, he some time ago identified himself with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; he is also a member of the Society of Hospital Sur- geons, of the Medical Club, and of the Art Club of Philadelphia.
On March 19, 1868, he was elected by the corporators of St. Joseph's Hospital to the important post of Secretary of the Board of Managers ; in 1869 he was elected one of the Board of Managers of the Beneficial Savings Fund, and in January, 1882, he was elected a Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. On October 7, 1868, Doctor Cruice married his cousin, Alice Mulchinock, in St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church of New York City. Miss Mulchinock was the daughter of William Pembroke Mulchinock, of Ballyard House, near Tralee, County of Kerry, Ireland, and his wife, Alice Cruice Keogh, sister of Dennis Cruice Keogh, M.P., of Mel- bourne, Australia. Of this marriage there resulted issue in one son and four daughters.
PATRICK CURREN.
0 NE of the most noteworthy features of the growth of the New World, as exemplified in the development of American interests, is the opportunities afforded to the young men, not only of native birth, but of all countries and kinds. Energy, determination and persistency are qualities which have lifted many young men in this country to positions of honor, and when these distinguishing traits are backed by alertness and good judgment, success seems bound to follow in their wake. This is a young country, and it is certain that many scores of years will elapse before its possibilities are even anything like fully recognized by those who are best fitted for labor and honor. The fact that in the growth of the country there are numerous open- ings offered to men of ambition and worth is aptly exemplified in the career of Patrick Curren, of Norristown, the subject of this biography. Beginning life with but a meager education and starting out at an early age to win his way in the world, he has succeeded in demon- strating his possession of qualities which entitle him to rank among the most progressive men of the Commonwealth. To his industry, energy and ability many important industries and large corporations are indebted for their success to a large degree, and in the city of Norristown he is one of the most notable figures.
PATRICK CURREN, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, is the son of Patrick and Bridget (Kell) Curren, and was born, November 19, 1833, at Girardville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. His father, born in County Cavan, Ireland, immigrated to this country in February, 1827. For a time he lived in New York City, and later went into Schuylkill County and was engaged in business in that and Berks and Montgom- ery counties. His children were four in number, three sons and one
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daughter. Until he was ten years of age, Patrick Curren attended the public schools, where he enjoyed to the fullest extent the advantages afforded by these admirable educational institutions, which had then, however, scarcely reached their proper growth. Leaving school, he determined to enter the industrial field as a wage-earner, and secured work in a cotton mill, where he remained in active employment for seven years. Leaving the mill, he worked in a brickyard for a short time and then determined to embark in a more remunerative employment, and accordingly obtained a situation as boatman on the Schuylkill Canal. For nineteen years he followed boating, and, having saved a tidy sum, he engaged in the distilling business in Philadelphia. Here success began to smile upon him, and, soon after the close of the Civil War, he determined to take up his residence in Norristown and begin business there. Ever since then he has been one of the largest wholesale liquor dealers in that section of the State, but he by no means con- fines his operations to this line of business. On the other hand, his energy and progressiveness are built upon too broad lines to admit of such a business course, and he is noted throughout Montgomery County for his farsightedness and rare judgment as a developer and promoter of prosperous enterprises. In the city of Norristown he is interested in some of the most successful business ventures which have helped to develop that thriving community. Among them are the Norristown Woolen Mill ; the Norristown Water Company ; the Norristown Gas Company, and the Adam Scheidt Brewing Company. He is also an active stockholder in the Albertson Trust and Safe Deposit Company, the Citizens' Street Railway Company and the American Steel Plant. Further, Mr. Curren is interested in a dis- tillery at Louisville, Kentucky, and also owns a fine farm of fifty-six acres outside the limits of Norristown. His special delight is in the breeding and raising of fancy stock, and he has come to be recog- nized as one of the most successful breeders in the State, while he also has a thorough knowledge of farming and agriculture. He is a member of the firm of Bunting & Company, wholesale liquors, 114 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, and owner of two buildings containing eight fine stores in the principal business portion of Norristown, also the Hotel Hartranft, one of the finest and largest in that section.
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Mr. Curren takes considerable interest in politics and is a Demo- crat of the most active type. He is a Councilman from the Fifth Ward of Norristown, and in the direction of his party's welfare he plays an important part. Notwithstanding Mr. Curren's active busi- ness life and his participation in the direction and management of so many enterprises, he is a man of great home tendencies and has raised an interesting family.
In 1860 he married Rose, a daughter of James Sheridan, a native of Ireland, the latter living to be ninety-six years of age. The children who have blessed this union were Mary, deceased ; Annie, wife of Frank Boyer, of Norristown; Julia, Francis, Edward F., Sarah, deceased ; Jane and Joseph. Of these children, Edward F. has become one of the most worthy followers in the footsteps of his progressive sire. He was born, January 28, 1870, at Norristown, and has had an interesting career so far. He was graduated, in 1886, from the parochial schools of Norristown, and later from Tremont Seminary. Leaving school, he was engaged with his father until 1893, when he was made Secretary of the Adam Scheidt Brewing Company, a position which he still holds. He is interested in the Schuylkill Valley Traction Company and also in the Consumers' Ice Company of Norristown. Edward F. Curren is largely a self-made man. He is noted for his honesty, fair dealing and absolute reliability. On November 28, 1893, he married Louisa Emers, a daughter of Albert Emers, of Philadelphia. They have one child, Pauline.
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