USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 25
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OX, HON. DANIEL M., Conveyancer and Ex- Mayor of Philadelphia, was born in that city, June 16th, 1809, as were also his forefathers for several generations previous. Ilis maternal grandfather figured conspicuously in the War of the Revolution, having been present with General Washington at Germantown, Pennsylvania, New Brunswick, New Jersey, the Highlands, New York, and shared the sufferings during the memorable winter at Val- ley Forge. He was also at the siege of Yorktown, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. While campaigning in the Jerseys, he was captured by the British as a spy, taken to Philadelphia, where he managed to effect his escape and rejoin his comrades. At the close of the war, he settled in the old Northern Liberties of Philadelphia, where the paternal grandfather of the present subject also resided. Here the parents of Daniel M. Fox, namely, John and Margaret Fox, were born, and here he was reared, educated, and still continues to reside. Though his parents were of limited means, still they provided a liberal education for their son, which he improved by self- culture. After leaving school, he entered a store as sales- man, and remained there for several years. He then turned his attention to conveyancing, the study of which he pursued closely for five years in the office of one of the most successful practitioners in the city, and graduating thence with credit, commenced business for himself. At the age of twenty-one, he was elected a School Director of the Northern Liberties, and for many years prior to 1854 was President of the Board; he also represented the district
in the Board of Health, and was chosen by City Councils a Director of Girard College. For three years he repre- sented the Twelfth Ward of the city in Select Councils, commanding the respect of all parties, his influence being especially felt on all subjects of economy and retrench- ment, which he advocated with the most careful regard for the public weal. In 1861, he retired from Councils, and in the following year, as well as in 1865, was nominated for the mayoralty by the Democrats, but was unsuccessful at the election. Receiving the nomination a third time, in 1868, he was elected by a small majority. In all these campaigns he was treated with the greatest respect and consideration by his political opponents. On January Ist, 1869, he was inaugurated, and his first official duty as Mayor was to formally receive, on behalf of the city authorities, General Grant, the President elect. The re- ception took place in Independence Hall, in the presence of Councils and a large number of other citizens, and was conducted, on the part of the new Mayor, with grace and elegance. Ilis municipal administration was marked by many reformatory and sanitary improvements, especially in those portions of the city where the impurity of the deni- zens hazarded the health of more respectable neighbor- hoods. . It was during his official term that the Volunteer Fire Department ceased to exist. It had been his practice, during its closing life, to attend all conflagrations for the double purpose of holding a moral check on the lawless, and to stimulate the police in their duties of keeping the streets clear for the free exercise of those who desired to extinguish the flames. The passage by Councils of the ordinance establishing a Paid Fire Department created a profound sensation in the city, arousing the feelings of many of the volunteer firemen to an ardent degree, and kindling an intense anxiety on the part of the people gene- rally as to the fate of the bill, when it reached the hands of the Mayor. He retained it for a fortnight unsigned, evidently desiring to soften the feeling engendered by its passage, and also to perfect such arrangements as would be necessary to meet any emergency : the latter being accom- plished, he formally approved the ordinance, and it became a law. This course was very unpalatable to the riotous element of the volunteers, who manifested their feelings by suspending the effigy of the Mayor in several engine houses ; but no other violent demonstration of any moment occurred, as the steps taken by the police department proved effective and vigorous : these, coupled with the cooperation of many of the discreet firemen, enabled the new " Paid Department " to go into operation without any disturbance whatever, and the city has ever since rejoiced in an efficient system, without any of the former accompaniments of noise, riot and public disturbance. Indeed, its workings at this time are so effective that it is but seldom one learns of the occurrence of a fire-unless in the immediate neighborhood of the accident-until it is read in the next morning's papers. A startling attempt at assassination occurred during
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his incumbency, in the shooting of United States Revenue Detective, James Brooks, in open day, in a Front street store, by certain miscreants, at the time unknown, supposed to have been instigated by seizures of liquors made by the officer in the course of his duty. The case was at once taken in hand by the Mayor, who, by stimulating the police and offering heavy rewards, caused the arrest of the parties; their conviction soon followed, to the great satisfaction of the public and the prompt vindication of outraged law. The great fire at Chicago, the destruction of the State Govern- ment house at Richmond, with loss of life, and the misery of the sick and wounded in the Franco-Prussian war, were, with others of like character, distinguished occasions, show- ing the power and influence of the Mayor with the people of Philadelphia on appeals to the benevolent. Indeed, during his term of office, there was never a call made that did not meet with a generous response. Whenever any question of grave public importance presented itself, it was his practice to invite conferences with the most prominent citizens, at his office, as to the best course to be pursued : thus, while showing a true devotion to the public interests, and enabled to act with great sagacity, he also brought to his support a strong moral power which added much to his popularity. He did not hesitate to exercise the veto power whenever he differed with Councils, and during his term he transmitted to those bodies thirty-two messages of this char- acter, the majority of which were sustained by the Chan- bers. His official term ended in a most gratifying manner, both the Select and Common Councils passing unanimously resolutions of thanks for liis able and energetic administra- tion of the city affairs. This was followed by a grand ban- quet at the Academy of Music, tendered him by a large number of his prominent fellow citizens of both political parties. Within the past two years he has been called upon to take a leading part in the great movement to celebrate the Centennial of American Independence, to which he has cheerfully responded. In two successive State conventions of his party, he has received complimentary votes for nomi- nation of Governor of Pennsylvania. Personally, he is courteous, affable, kind and benevolent. He is dignified, and of a presence that commands the respect of his fellow men. Not only in the secular, but in the Sunday school, he manifests the deepest interest, and devotes a large portion of his time in contributing to the welfare of the young.
ULLITT, JOIIN C., Lawyer, was born in Jeffer- son county, Kentucky, February 10th, 1824. He is the son of William C. and Mildred Bul- lit, being on his father's side of Huguenot descent, and on his mother's of English blood.' The latter counted among her ancestors Joshua Fry, who had emigrated from England prior to the Revo- lution, and held. a prominent position in the Colonial
history of Virginia. At the time of his death, he was in command of the Colonial troops, and was succeeded by General Washington, who was then a Lieutenant-Colonel. His paternal grandfather, Alexander S. Bullitt, removed to Kentucky about 1783, and was President of the convention which framed the first Constitution of that State; his father was a member of the last Constitutional Convention, and has always taken an active and prominent position in its affairs. The Bullitt family has been among its most dis- tinguished citizens, and Joshua Fry Bullitt, a brother of the present subject, was at one time Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the State. He himself received a liberal education in the best private schools, and having matricu- lated at Centre College, in Danville, Kentucky, passed through the regular curriculum, and graduated in a most creditable manner to himself and the institution. He chose the legal profession, and having given close attention to all its intricacies, especially that portion known as commercial law, was admitted to practice at the bar in Louisville, Ken- tucky. In the spring of 1849, he removed to Philadelphia, where he almost immediately became a member of the bar, and has ever since continued in the active pursuit of his profession. At the very commencement of his career, he was entrusted by the Bank of Kentucky with the charge of all the assets derived by them from the Schuylkill Bank, by whose failure while acting as their agent they were em- barrassed. These amounted in value to nearly a million of dollars. The trust was wound up to the satisfaction of his clients, and proved his faithfulness and astuteness as a practitioner. Like other young men of his native State, he was educated in the political faith of the Whig party, as promulgated by Henry Clay, and to believe that the doc- trines he promulgated were the only true principles for the construction of the Federal Constitution and the adminis- tration of national affairs. But after examining the matter critically, aided by the perusal of the contemporaneous de- bates and discussions of the body which framed the Con- stitution, he was led to abandon the faith he once held and attach himself to the Democratic party. This change was an unpopular one in Philadelphia, and during the late war, in common with many others who held similar views, he was made to feel the force of that public opinion which ostracised all those who were sincere and bold enough to acknowledge such sentiments. He believed, however, that he was right, though he neither approved of Secession nor of the extreme views held by the Republican party. He was convinced that the war was precipitated by the madness of contending factions, and united with the Democrats of Pennsylvania in the effort to restrain the dominant party within legitimate and conservative bounds: but when he found that war was inevitable, he felt that his first obligation was to Pennsylvania, and he carefully en- deavored to do his duty as a citizen of that State. Though he has eschewed politics, he has not shown himself indif- ferent to literature, and is widely known as the author of
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the most powerful answer to the Monograph of Horace Binney during the Habeas Corpus controversy of 1862. Ile stands to-day in the foremost rank at the Philadelphia bar, and is the leader on commercial law. His distinctive characteristics are a sound judgment, a clear head, a thor- ough knowledge of the law, indomitable energy and a spotless integrity. These qualities have placed him high in the confidence and estimation of the community. For many years he has been the principal of the legal firm of Bullitt & Fairthorne, so favorably known throughout the United States and in Europe. He is also counsel for the most prominent business houses, as well as for many bank- ing and insurance offices in Philadelphia. Though always avoiding public office, he consented to serve as a delegate to the Convention to revise the Constitution : a body which posterity will regard as having been called from the best men of the country. He is married and has seven chil cren, four sons and three daughters.
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ARGENT, RUFUS, M. D., Physician, was born in Essex county, Massachusetts, on April 16th, 1824. Ilis ancestors came from England, and took up a large tract of territory in what is now' the town of Amesbury. A portion of said tract of land came to his father as a farm, and was the birthplace of the subject of this sketch. Being left an orphan at an early age, he was placed under the care of friends in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and commenced his education in the public schools of that place; continued it at Benjamin Greenleaf's celebrated seminary, and finished his academic course at the Worcester Classical High School. He next taught an academy for one year in Barn- stable county, after which he selected the profession of medicine, and entered upon its study with Dr. George Coggswell, of Bradford, Massachusetts, a surgeon of great reputation, who had travelled extensively and devoted some time to the study of his profession in Paris. The doc- tor was one of those kind-hearted, genial men, which char- acterized the old school of gentlemen. With the kindness of a father, and the thoroughness of a scholar, he led his pupil through his medical studies. After attending a course of lectures and spending some time at the Tremont Medical School and General Hospital, in Boston, he visited Phila- delphia for the purpose of finishing his medical studies, and there attended a course of lectures, and graduated in 1851. It was during this year that he had his attention called to the homeopathie system of practice, and com- menced its investigation and study. In 1852, he graduated from the Philadelphia Homoeopathic College. Ile re- moved to Bordentown, New Jersey, where he soon estab- lished a large practice. He was invited to Philadel- phia, in 1857, by Professor A. E. Small, and introduced to his practice, which he was about to relinquish for a more side, adjoining his father's estate, where he erected a mag-
desirable field in Chicago. During this year he married Anna R., youngest daughter of Hon. Nathaniel Bullock, of Bristol, Rhode Island. She died about two years after. Soon after the commencement of the late civil war, he entered the army as Surgeon. He was with the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula campaign; and after the evacuation of the Peninsula, he was detailed to take charge of a General Hospital at Yorktown, Virginia, where he received many flattering testimonials from his superior officers. He was next ordered to Charleston Harbor, and participated in most of the military operations at that place, when his health yielding under the heavy pressure of duties, he asked to be relieved, and was placed on duty at Point Lookout Hospital, and also at Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington. He was afterwards ordered to Camp Reynolds, near Pittsburgh, and, having discharged the duties of that post for a few months, was ordered to the city of Pittsburgh as Post Surgeon, where he remained until the close of the war. On leaving the United States service, he spent a few months in recruiting his health, after which he resumed the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, where he found his former friends and patrons ready to receive him. He married in 1872, Esther R., daughter of John Abbott, a highly esteemed citizen of Philadelphia. He is a man of acknowledged worth and ability, a pro- found thinker and of clear judgment, always discharging the duties of his profession in a thoroughly conscientious manner.
WANN, WILSON C., M. D., Physician and Phil. anthropist, was born in the city of Alexandria, (at that time) District of Columbia. He is a son of Thomas Swann, a distinguished lawyer, who was United States Attorney for the District, having been appointed thereto by President Mon- roe, which office he held until the close of General Jackson's administration, when he retired to his estates in Loudon county, Virginia, where he ended his days. He himself is the only survivor of a large family, with the exception of his distinguished brother, Governor Swann, of Maryland. At an early period he entered the University of Virginia, and there completed his education. The institution had, at that time, been opened under the auspices of President Jef- ferson, and was considered one of the best colleges in the United States. He thence proceeded to Philadelphia, and matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, where he pursued his studies in medicine, and, these completed, graduated with the degree of M. D. He returned to Vir- ginia, and his father having conveyed to him a rich and beautiful island in the Potomac river, completely stocked, together with a large number of valuable negroes, he settled down, and for many years cultivated the estate ; but finding it unhealthy, he purchased a tract of land on the Virginia
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nificent mansion. In 1847, he visited Philadelphia, and having made the acquaintance of one of the greatest belles at that day, was, in October of that year, united to her. For some time thereafter he was in the habit of dividing his time between Philadelphia and Virginia; but finding his estates suffering from his repeated absence, and his wife's health too precarious for travelling, he disposed of his landed property, and, being unwilling to sell his negroes, emancipated them all, forty in number, bringing the women and children, together with the old men, to Philadelphia. The children he provided for in one of the public institu- tions, colonizing the rest in the State of New Jersey, where he rented a house for their reception. He was now a gentleman at large, with ample fortune; but the active character of his mind would not permit him to remain pas- sive; and it was not long before he was sought after by the members of charitable and public institutions, and was elected a member of nearly all that were worthy of his support in his adopted city. He brought to their aid not only the assistance of generous liberality, but the resources of an enlarged mind and the highest culture. But while his services have thus been of the greatest value, in many respects, so quiet, retiring and unobtrusive is his dispo- sition that he has discouraged the frequent attempts of his · friends to place him in positions of prominence before the public. Some of his works of benevolence and usefulness have been distinguished by their originality. His first ef- fort was to endeavor to reform the late hours of Phila- delphia society, and bring its evening entertainments within the limits of propriety and common sense. He has always adhered to this course himself, and in his receptions has ever strictly observed an early closing. He next turned his attention to the establishment of a society to benefit art ; especially for its development and proper support. He succeeded in enlisting a number of gentlemen favorable to the cause ; but the effort failed, owing to the lukewarm- ness of the artists themselves. And it may be added, that no one has done more than he to develop a taste for art, and he has always been ready to afford assistance, having particularly in view the fostering and nurturing of native talent, This latter inclination, however, has not prevented his being the generous patron of artistic importations. Indeed, so familiar are the leading merchants with his asthetie inclinations, that they are wont to advise him carly of the expected reception of anything particularly beautiful. In this way, as well as by special agents in Europe, he has secured a unique collection of objects of art and vertu. Ile was elected the first President of the Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Animals, and has ever proved a warm advocate of the association, to which he has contributed with his purse and pen. From the latter has flowed a stream of literature, particularly in the shape of little stories for the young, designed to inculcate in their minds a tender regard for the brute creation. Some of these are especially excellent, and have been introduced into Sunday school
| libraries. Ilis essays and addresses, of course, take a higher rank in the field of letters, but it is doubtful if they command more real influence than his touching appeals to the youthful heart in these stories, and to adults in his opening address at the first meeting of the society. After or- ganizing this association, and putting it into proper working order, he retired, leaving to others the completion of the work he had commenced. Following upon his labors in this direction came his noble conception of providing for the wants of man and beast in our crowded streets, embodied in the Philadelphia Fountain Society, which is the work of his own hands, and sustained by his indefatigable labors and enlarged liberality. It is less than four years since this idea took proper form and shape, and over fifty fountains have been erected in different parts of the city, affording refreshment for the weary animal during the sultry days of summer, beside being a powerful and silent advocate to the citizen in behalf of temperance and cleanliness. In one section of the city, the low malarial fever, supposed to be inseparable from that locality, has, since the establishment of fountains, entirely disappeared. On the outbreak of the Rebellion, he was among the first to join the Union League, and contributed towards the erection of their magnificent club-house on Broad street. For some time he was Chair- man of the Committees on Reception and Election. After the surrender of General Lee, he advocated a different policy, declaring himself in favor of peace and the kindest treatment of the Southern people. Personally, he is of manly form, with a fine intellectual face, in which the re- flective faculties predominate. Ilis aesthetic tastes have found large expression in his house. A prominent feature is a gallery of art, in which many of the great names of antiquity, Rubens, Titian, Paul de Veronese, Leonardo da Vinci, Murillo, Angelica Kauffman, Vandyke, with many of modern dates, Ilamilton, Leutze, etc., are represented. Bas-reliefs, bronzes and entire scenes of delicate carvings fill all available spaces, while the ceilings are adorned with the finest frescoes. The sumptuous upholstery is in har- mony with the Greek ideal, and, with the elegant furniture, is the product of Philadelphia industry, the designs being furnished by the owner.
ACKENZIE, R. SHELTON, M. D., D. C. L .. Author and Literateur, was born in the county of Limerick, Ireland, in 1808. IIe is the second son of Captain Kenneth Mackenzie, the author of a volume of Gaelic poetry, published in Glas- gow in 1796. When his primary education was completed, he entered the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Dublin, where, after pursuing the usual course of study, he graduated with distinction, receiving the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. The technicalities of the pro- fession, however, interested him little, and he never
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attempted to practise it. A life devoted to literature was more consonant with his tastes, and. as early as his eighteenth year he had undertaken the editorship of a newspaper in England. In this capacity he was engaged in various localities until 1845, when he became the Lon- don secretary of a railroad company, and held this position until 1851, when the company broke up Meanwhile his leisure time was employed in contributing largely to lead- ing periodicals in England and America. From 1834 until the cessation of the paper, he was the regular European correspondent of the New York Evening Star, and in this connection was the first salaried European correspondent of the American press. His abilities and the value of his literary productions were soon recognized by his contem- poraries, and as a testimony of this general appreciation, the University of Glasgow conferred upon him, in 1834, the degree of Doctor of Laws, and by the University of Oxford, in 1844, he was created Doctor of Civil Law. An enumeration of his principal works will amply justify the conferring of these distinctions. In 1828, he published Lays of Palestine, and wrote a considerable portion of the Georgian Era, in 1832-34. He subsequently produced Titian, a Venetian Art Novel, three volumes, in 1843; a Life of Guizot, prefix to a translation of Democracy and its Mission, in 1846; Partnership " en Commandite," a legal commercial work, in 1847; and Mornings at Matlock, a collection of stories, three volumes, in 1850. Anxious to find a more extended field for his literary labors, he came, in 1852, to the United States, and settled in New York city. There he immediately became connected with the newspaper press, and also edited, in 1854, with very copious notes and original biographies of the authors, Sheil's Sketches of the Irish Bar, two volumes, and the Noctes Ambrosiana, of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, five volumes ; De Quincey's Klosterheim, and the Life of Cur- ran, in 1855; Lady Morgan's O' Briens and O' Flaherties, two volumes, in 1857 ; Dr. Maginn's Miscellaneous Works, five volumes, in 1855-57. Besides this extraordinary amount of labor, he has also published, since his arrival in the United States, several original works : Bits of Blarney, in 1855; Tressilian and His Friends, in 1857; and new editions of several of his former works. In August, 1857, he removed to Philadelphia, and assumed .the duties con- nected with the foreign and literary editorship of The Press newspaper, then just started by Colonel John W. Forney. This connection is still maintained, and the sustained repu- tation of that journal is due in no small measure to his intimate acquaintance with foreign affairs, political and otherwise, the critical accuracy and wide erudition that have always characterized his conduct of the literary de- partment, and his generally pleasing and attractive qualities as a writer. Much of his life has been passed in corres- pondence and personal intimacy with the leading literary and public men of this and the last generation, and the reminiscences and living traits that he is thus enabled to
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