USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 34
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Lawrence, and reelected in 1866, serving on important committees in all the deliberative bodies of which he was a member. In October, 1872, he was elected as one of the delegates at large to the Convention to amend the Consti- tution of the State, and was Chairman of the Committee on Counties, Boroughs and Townships. This year completed his fifteenth of public service. He was a Whig, and then a Republican ; has attended many State conventions, and was the President of two Republican Conventions of the State of Pennsylvania. He married, in 1839, Elizabeth Welsh, daughter of William Welsh, a prominent citizen of Washington. This lady dying, he married a second time, in 1857, Mary Reed, daughter of Rev. John Reed, an emi- nent minister of the Presbyterian Clurch. That he comes of a thoroughly Presbyterian stock is evinced by the fact that there are connected with him by blood and marriage seventeen ministers and twenty-four elders of that denomi- nation.
OLLOCK, JAMES, Lawyer, Ex-Governor of Penn- sylvania, was born in Milton, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, on September 11th, 1810, of American parents. When he was seven years of age, his father (William) died, leaving his education to the care of his mother (Sarah), whose strong intellect and sincere piety left a marked impress on the character of her child. IIe enjoyed the advantage of a liberal education, which was terminated at the college at Princeton, New Jersey, where he graduated in September, 1831, with the highest honors of his class and the degree of A. B. IIe also obtained from the same institution the degrees of A. M. and LL. D., and, in 1857, the last honor was again conferred on him by the Jefferson College, Pennsylvania. After pursuing a course of legal studies under Samuel Hepburn, of Milton, he was admitted to the bar of Northumberland county in November, 1833, and, in April of the following year, he opened an office in the same town, practising his profession till 1835, when he was appointed District Attorney for his county, and served as such for three years. During his tenure of this office, he was married, on December 19th, 1837, to Sarah Ann, daughter of Samuel Hepburn. Though a Whig in politics, he was elected, in 1844, to Congress from the then strongly Democratic Thirteenth District, and was twice reelected. Ilis career in Congress, both in the House and in com- mittee, left him an honorable record for warmly advocating all the great commercial and industrial movements of the day. He took a prominent part in the discussions upon the bills relative to the organization of new Territories and the question of slavery involved therein, displaying, in his speeches on those subjects, broad and national views. In the Thirtieth Congress, he offered a resolution for the ap- pointment of a committee to inquire into the feasibility of constructing a railroad to the Pacific coast. The committee
being appointed, he was chosen its Chairman, and in June, 1848, submitted a report recommending the building of the road; this being the first favorable official act, on the part of the United States Congress, on this subject. In the same year, he predicted, in a public lecture, that in less than twenty five years a railroad would run from New York to San Francisco, and a line of steamers ply between the latter port and China and Japan. His prediction has been verified within the given time. In 1850, he was appointed President Judge of the Eighth Judicial District, and held that office till, by an amendment to the Constitution, it was required that the judges should be elected by the people. Hle refused to become a candidate, and retired from the bench to resume his practice of the law. In 1854, he was nominated for Governor of l'ennsylvania, and elected by a large majority, being inaugurated in January of the follow- ing year. He, however, served but one term, declining to become a candidate for reelection. His administration was marked by the passage of many important acts. A plan was adopted for the reduction of the State debt, and nearly $2,000,000 were applied thereto, as well as $7,500,000, a sum received from the Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company for the purchase of the " public works." Acts, increasing the efficiency of the common schools and providing for retrenchment and reform in the various de- partments, were also passed. On the expiration of his term, he again resumed his practice at the bar, and, in 1860, was appointed as representative from Pennsylvania to a conference held between delegates from the Northern and Southern States, to endeavor to settle political diffi- culties and avoid an appeal to arms; and, in the subsequent discussions of that body, he bore a conspicuous part. He held the office of Director of the United States Mint, at Philadelphia, from May, 1861, to October, 1866, when he resigned ; but resumed the position, by commission from the President, in 1869, with its present title of Superintend- ent. It was by his suggestion that the motto, " In God we Trust," was placed on certain of the national coins. As a politician, his course has been most prosperous and philan- thropic. He has been a constant advocate of popular edu- cation, temperance, improvements in prison discipline and the diffusion of the Bible, and enjoys a well merited popu- larity, which, though undemonstrative, is warm and general.
RETZ, CHRISTIAN, Merchant, was born in Heidelberg township, Northampton (now Le- high) county, Pennsylvania, April 29th, 1801. Philip Pretz, his father, emigrated to this country from Windesheim, near Kreutznach, on the Rhine, about the year 1785. A careful education at various academies, at Easton, Morristown and Phila- delphia, was given him, and he was then placed with a firm in the whole ale dry goods business in Philadelphia,
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as salesman. Having remained there two years, he engaged | hoarding up his leisure moments and devoting them to as clerk with White, Hants & Hazard, of Maunch Chunk, and a year later as salesman again with David R. King & Co., at Allentown. This firm he and his brother subse- quently bought out, and there he has continued uninter- ruptedly for thirty-seven years, with various changes in partners, but with a generally constant prosperity which has brought wealth and influence. In 1830, he served a year in the Legislature of the State, having been sent there on the Anti-Mason ticket. Since then, he has been elected as Member of Councils, School Director, and has also been Treasurer and Secretary of the Allentown Rolling Mill Company for several years. His marriage occurred in 1821, and he has five sons and one daughter.
HARPLESS, TOWNSEND, Merchant, was born in Philadelphia, in 1793, his parents, Jesse and Joanna Sharpless, being both members of the Society of Friends. He was educated in the city of his birth, where he started the dry goods busi- ness, on his own account, in 1814, with a capital of $1000. By strict attention to business, he gradually en- larged his operations until, at the time of his retirement, in 1848, they had reached $325,000 per annum. At this date the business was transacted under the firm name of T. Sharpless & Sons. They were succeeded by Sharpless Brothers, whose business amounted, in 1863, to $1,500,000 per annum. From 1864 to 1872, the house was managed by C. L. Sharpless alone, but in 1872 the latter took his two sons into partnership with him, as Sharpless & Sons, their business at that date reaching $2,250,000 per annum. He was an Old Line Whig in politics, and since the break- ing up of that party he has been in hearty sympathy with the Republican organization. He has been associated in the management of many of the benevolent institutions of Philadelphia.
EIRCE, WILLIAM S., Jurist, was born at New. Castle, Delaware, September 3d, 1815. Ile be- longs to one of the oldest families in that State, his ancestors having settled there about 16So, at which early day they removed from New Eng- land, where the family names are found among the promoters of the Plymouth settlement, and patentees of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in the years 1620-23. Ile received his preliminary education in New Castle, where, besides the ordinary branches of an English education, he commenced the study of Latin and Greek. When he came to Philadelphia he entered the High School of the Franklin Institute, where he completed his educational course. On its completion, he engaged at once in mercantile pursuits, but found time to gratify an ardent taste for books, by
reading and self-culture. His vigorous and adaptable mind became stored with information on literature, arts and sciences, subjects which a subsequent laborious professional life has never induced him to neglect. After an honorable mercantile career of a few years, he concluded to enter upon a line of life more congenial to his tastes, and con- menced the study of the law with Hon. Charles Chauncy and Henry Chester, of Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar in 1845, and from his first entrance upon the prac- tice of his profession he evinced more than ordinary ability, energy and perseverance. He was an early and earnest advocate of the emancipation of the slaves, and was the counsel for the slave in nearly every fugitive slave case which occurred after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. In February, 1866, he was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the city and county of Philadelphia, by Governor Curtin, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the re- signation of Hon. Joseph Allison. In October, 1866, he was elected by the people to fill the same office for a term of ten years, from the first Monday of December, 1866. He has now labored steadily at his profession for twenty-eight years ; of sound and vigorous health, he is at the present day able to endure as much mental and physical labor as the youngest of his professional brethren. In the midst of the multitude of engagements which naturally crowd upon him in the line of his duties, he ands leisure to devote to strangers, whom he receives with unvarying politeness and affability. The refinement of his tastes and the culture of his mind are attested in his home surround- ings, especially by the many copies of the old masters which adorn his walls.
IGLER, WILLIAM, Ex-Governor of Pennsyl- vania, was born at Shermansburg, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in December, 1813. His parents were of German extraction, and whilst he was very young removed to Mercer county, having purchased a large tract of land there. The title of this territory, however, proved defective, and they lost all but a small farm. This reverse so affected his father that he died from grief, leaving his wife to bring up a family of nine children, a duty which she nobly accom- plished. In 1830, after receiving a common school educa- tion, he entered the printing office of his brother, John, at Bellefonte. From this office was issued the Central Demo- crat newspaper, and he remained in it till 1833, when, by the advice of many of his friends, he removed to Clearfield. There he commenced the publication of the Clearfield Democrat, which he continued to manage with great suc- cess till a short time after his marriage with Maria J., daughter of Alexander B. Reed, which occurred in 1836, and by which he became the father of five sons, three of whom are still living. After disposing of his jour-
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been invaluable, from his executive ability and his intimate knowledge of men from all parts of the country. As a pub- lic man, his policy has always been honest and straightfor- ward, and he is universally popular, even among his political opponents.
nal, he entered into the lumber business, in connection with his father-in-law, and was so successful in that enterprise that he soon took a high rank amongst the lumber dealers of that district, and later, that is from 1845 to 1850, was the largest producer of lumber on the west bank of the Sus- quehanna. Previously to this, however, in 1841, he was nominated to the State Senate, and, though much to his pecuniary disadvantage, accepted the nomination and was OOPER, CHARLES W., Lawyer and Banker, was born in Lehigh county, April 21st, 1826. His father, Peter Cooper, was a prominent con- veyancer in the same county, and a much-respected citizen. The elements of a sound education were given him at the Pennsylvania College, and by private instructors, after which he selected the legal profes- sion, and for that purpose visited Philadelphia, where he entered at the Law School, and read in the office of the Hon. George M. Stroud. Having passed the usual exami- nation and received admittance to the bar, he returned to Cooperstown, in his native county, and passed his time in the practice of his profession and in farming. In his various transactions he soon acquired such a reputation for finan- cial ability, and thorough acquaintance with monetary affairs, that when, in 1855, the Allentown State Bank was orga- nized, he was at once offered the post of Cashier. He ac- cepted it, and removed to Allentown, where he has since remained, giving his attention to the cashiership, and rapidly gaining the reputation throughout the State of pos- sessing unusual powers as a financier. Educational topics have always had for him a strong attraction, and though generally eschewing politics, he has been Superintendent of Public Schools, Trustee of the College, School Director and Controller. IIe married, in 1857, the eldest daughter of Hon. Jacob Erdman, of Lehigh county. In religion, he is a prominent member of the Reformed church. elected, by a majority of over 3000, having received every vote but one in Clearfield county. In 1843, he was elected Speaker of the Senate; was re-elected in the session of 1844, and, in the following October, returned for a second term, although he had repeatedly declined the nomination. In 1848, he was brought forward as one of the Democratic nominees for the Governorship; but, though receiving a large vote, his rival, Morris Longstreth, was successful. The latter, however, was defeated at the polls by William F. Johnson. In the next year he was appointed one of the Revenue Commissioners, whose duty it was to adjust the amount of taxation to be raised in the different sections and counties of the State. In 1851, he was nominated for Governor, by acclamation, and, after a warmly. contested canvass, elected by a large majority. It is worthy of note that his eldest brother, John, was simultaneously elected Governor of the State of California. He entertained rigid views of his responsibility as chief magistrate of the State, and his administration of that office was marked by the strictest integrity and economy, and by the careful watch he kept on all bills presented to him for signature. He was specially opposed to the wholesale chartering of banks; on one occasion he vetoed eleven such acts in a single message, and sent to the Senate thirty messages containing similar vetoes in one session. IIe was again unanimously nomi- nated for Governor, in March, 1854, but this time was de- feated by the so-called Native American party, by a large majority. In January, 1855, a few days after the expiration of his term of Governorship, he was elected President of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Company, and, at the same SIIMEAD, ISAAC, Printer, was born in Ger- mantown, December 22d, 1790. He was descended from a highly patriotic family, whose early history was closely identified with the settle- ment of Philadelphia. His father was an officer under Washington during the Revolutionary war; and he himself served in the war of 1812. His mother was a woman possessed of many remarkable qualities, and exercised a lasting influence in the formation of the character of her son. After the usual course of education customary in those days, he was apprenticed to Bradford, of Philadel- phiia, to learn the trade of printer. Whilst learning his trade, he enjoyed many facilities for the study of classic literature, and being endowed with a good memory, ready wit and quick perception, he soon became a well-read man. About the year 1821, he established himself in that business, which he carried on till his death, founding what is now time, was elected to the United States Senate, in which body he served for six years. During this period, he was placed in a position of much delicacy and difficulty as he was sup- posed to have a great amount of influence with President Buchanan, and a large share of the responsibility of the latter's appointments was charged to him, causing the im- portunities of office-seekers to become exceedingly harassing. At this time there was a division in the Democratic party, brought about by the serious troubles in Kansas, and he found himself pitted against a formidable rival, in the per- son of Judge Douglass. He was a member of the Com- mittee of Thirteen, to which were referred the compromise measures of Senator Crittenden, and he uniformly sustained their adoption. In 1872-73, he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for remodelling the laws of the State, and, at the same time, became a member of the Centennial Commission, to which body his services have | the oldest printing establishment in Philadelphia. When
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about twenty years of age, he became a member of the Second Presbyterian church, subsequently joining the Fifth Presbyterian church, where he was respected as a consistent Christian. IIe was also for many years an elder in the Coates street church, and afterwards was connected with the Greenhill Presbyterian church, of which he was a mem- ber until the day of his death. He was one of the origina- tors of the movement which resulted in the formation of the American Sunday School Union, and evinced his zeal in behalf of his fellow citizens by many other good works. Amongst these may be mentioned, the Auxiliary Evangelical Society, and the Institute for the Improvement of Appren- tices, which, in connection with others, he established. As a business man he was intelligent and enterprising, and many important improvements in press-work are due to his energy. He set up the first power presses ever used in Philadelphia, and introduced the composition roller. IIe was also the first to make use of the hydraulic press for pressing printed sheets, and was generally deeply interested in all mechanical contrivances tending to lessen the neces- sity of employing manual labor. Although during his busi- ness career he suffered under more than one crisis of financial embarrassment and loss, he bore his misfortunes in a manly and uncomplaining spirit, and passed through his troubles without a stain upon his character. Of a generous disposi- tion, he was yet scrupulously exact in his dealings. He died March Ist, 1870.
WAIN, WILLIAM M., Journalist, was born at Manlius, Onondaga county, New York, May 12th, 1809, his parents being natives of the same State. His father was a soldier, and died during the war of 1812. His education was partially obtained at Albany, New York, and subsequently completed in New York city. After leaving school, he supported himself for a while as a teacher in New York State; but subsequently he determined to learn the printing trade, and, for that purpose, entered as an apprentice a printing establishment in Utica, New York. Here he re- mained until he became sufficiently acquainted with the art of printing, when he purchased the balance of his time and went to New York city, where he was employed on the New York Sun as a journeyman. After a while he was induced to remove to Philadelphia, in company with two of his fellow workmen. On the 25th of March, 1836, he commenced the publication of the Public Ledger, in a building on the southwest corner of Third and Chestnut streets, laying the foundation of that powerful journal which 'has since grown to be a national feature, and over- shadowed by its success, justly due to the liberality and ability with which he always conducted it, every other journalistic enterprise outside of the State of New York. Under his management the Public Ledger became almost a household necessity. He was the first to employ straw in
the manufacture of the paper used in printing the Ledger, and, with his usual enterprise, was the first in the city to print a newspaper by means of the Hoe Rotary Press. He was the first President of the Magnetic Telegraph Com- pany, and continued to hold that office for a period of twelve years. Ile disposed of his interest in the Ledger on December 4th, 1863. His eldest son, William James Swain, a few years ago, commenced the publication of the Public Record in the old building formerly occupied by the Ledger. Great enterprise, energy and liberality have been manifested in the conduct of this journal, and it is fast winning its way in public estimation. In the origination of a newspaper' and obtaining for it a large circulation, more difficulties must be encountered than appear on the surface. To succeed in doing this, in the teeth of the hot competition which now exists, requires more than ordinary business qualities. These were possessed by the father, and have been inherited by the son. The former died, February 16th, 1868.
JEARY, GENERAL JOHN W., Soldier and Ex-Governor of Pennsylvania, was born in West- moreland county, in that State, in the year 1819. He was of Scotch-Irish extraction, though both his parents were natives of this country. His father's affairs being much embarrassed, he was, at an early age, compelled to seek his own livelihood, and on the death of that parent, it became incumbent on him to provide for the support of the family. His education fitting him to become a teacher, he was for some time master of a village school; but, subsequently, engaged as clerk in a wholesale house in Pittsburgh. By using strict economy, he was able to enter Jefferson College, where he acquired a thorough knowledge of civil engineering, and practised that profession with great success in Pennsylvania and other States. Ile was appointed Assistant Superintendent of the old Portage Railroad, Cambria county, a position which he held at the outbreak of the war with Mexico. His popularity enabled him to organize a volunteer company, which he called the American Highlanders, and he was elected its captain. The company was afterwards mustered into the Second Pennsylvania Regiment, when he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel. With his regiment he joined General Scott at Vera Cruz; and subsequently distinguished himself at the battles of La Hoja, Cerro Gordo, Chapultepec and Garita de Belen. On the death of Colonel Roberts, he was appointed to the command of the regiment, and after the conquest of the city of Mexico was placed in command of the citadel. At the close of the war he returned home, and was appointed, by President Polk, Postmaster of San Francisco, a position he retained till the accession of General Taylor to the Presidency, when, for political reasons, he was relieved. About this time, he was appointed First Al- calde of New Mexico, by General Riley, who was then or-
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ganizing a territorial government, and fulfilled the multifa- rious duties of that office so satisfactorily that, at the close of the first year, he was unanimously re-elected, and re- tained the position till the office was abolished. In May, 1850, he was elected the first Mayor of San Francisco, and during his residence in that city California was admitted into the Union ; he largely aiding in framing the Constitu- tion under which this was effected. He left California, in 1852, and, in 1856, was appointed territorial Governor of Kansas, where he exerted himself beneficially in restoring peace. On the outbreak of the war of the Rehellion, he was at his home, in Westmoreland county. Being com- missioned by President Lincoln to organize a regiment, he proceeded to Philadelphia, where he received applications from sixty-six companies desirous of joining his command, and in view of this popularity, was permitted to raise his regiment to the standard of sixteen companies, with a bat- tery of six guns, known as " Knapp's Battery." He was ordered to proceed to Harper's Ferry and report to General Banks, who assigned him the command of the Maryland Heights, where he fought the battle of Bolivar, on October 16th, 1861. During the engagement he was wounded in the knee and his command much cut up, but they were victorious. At the hattle of Leesburg he held the advance and earned the appointment of Brigadier-General. He participated gallantly in the battles of Antietam, Cedar Mountain, and Chancellorsville, being dangerously wounded in the latter. He also distinguished himself at the battle of Gettysburg, gained a victory at Wauhatchie, and, after re- ceiving the surrender of Savannah, was appointed its mili- tary Governor, by General Sherman. During the Rebellion he was engaged in sixty-four battles, was four times wounded, and before its close was appointed Major-General. In 1866, he was elected Governor of Pennsylvania, and was re-elected in 1869. During his tenure of office he acquitted himself with marked ability and patriotism, ever keeping in view the interest of his native State. In per- sonal appearance, courteousness of manners and antecedents, he was well fitted for the post, and few men have filled that position with a larger share of popularity.
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