USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 38
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ENKS, HON. MICHAEL HUTCHINSON, Con- veyancer and Congressman, was born at Bridge- town Mills, near Attleborough, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, May 21st, 1795. Thomas Jenks, his great grandfather, was born in England, in the latter part of December, 1699, and came to the United States when a child, with his widowed mother, Susan Jenks. They settled in Wrightstown Township, Bucks county, and, in 1708, she married Benjamin Wiggins, of Buckingham, where their descendants still reside. Thomas, upon attaining his majority, purchased a tract of land in Middletown Township, two miles northeast of At- tleborough, and named it " Pomona Farm." He married Mercy Wildman, in 1731, and died May 4th, 1797, leaving three sons, Thomas, John, and Joseph, and three daughters. Joseph Jenks was born December 22d, 1743, and, having married Elizabeth Pearson, resided on a part of the home- stead estate until his death, in 1820. He left one son, William, and two daughters. William Jenks was born August 12th, 1766, and died in 1818, leaving a number of children, of whom Michael Hutchinson was the second
son. After attending the district schools in and near Attle- borough, he was placed under the care of John Comly, an eminent minister of the Society of Friends, at " Pleasant Ilill " Boarding School, in Byberry Township, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania. There his character was moulded, and a resolution formed to refrain from all common human excesses. Ile says in his memoirs : " I have often thanked a kind Providence for preserving me and enabling me to keep a resolve of my youth, that I would never smoke or chew tobacco, get intoxicated, or play at cards, and thus . far, at the age of sixty-three, I have withstood the tempta- tion of all." After leaving school he procured a surveyor's chain and compass to practise the theories he had learned. During the succeeding period of forty-six years, he surveyed and wrote the conveyances of a large portion of the lower end of Bucks county. In 1816, he took charge of the farm of his aged grandfather, upon whose death, in 1820, he succeeded to the estate. He married Mary Ridgway Earl, of Springfield, Burlington county, New Jersey, March 14th, 1821. He continued to farm, in conjunction . with the practice of his profession, until 1827, when other matters claimed #so much 'of his attention that, to the great regret of his children, he sold. the estate that had been in the family for over one hundred years. He at once removed to Newtown; where he- engaged in the purchase and sale of real estate in connection with his duties as surveyor and conveyancer, and for the succeeding twenty-nine years con- tinued the's chief. reliance in that line of his neighborhood. He was elected, in autumn, 1830, Commissioner of Bucks county, for three years, at the expiration of which time he was, in appreciation of his service, unanimously elected Treasurer of the county, and so continued until 1835. He was appointed, by Governor Ritner, Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks county, in September, 1838, and during the succeeding five years filled the position with such dignity and credit that upon his retirement very complimentary resolutions were unanimously passed by the Bucks county bar. In the fall of 1842, he was elected by the Whigs of Bucks and Lehigh counties a member of the Forty-eighth Congress, by a large majority, as an advocate of protection to American in 'ustry-a question then pro- minently before the people. Ile was Chairman of the Com- mittee on Post offices and Post-roads, and his services were so acceptable to his constituents that he was renominated, but that being the memorable Clay campaign the Demo- cracy carried everything in his district. He at once re- turned to his business, and continued it in connection with the office of Chief Burgess of Newtown until within a few years of his death. He was a man of the strictest integrity, methodical, punctual and just. As Justice of the Peace he usually effected an arrangement of disputes without an entry upon his docket. He took a deep and lively interest in the war of the Rebellion, and heartily rejoiced over the death knell of slavery and the triumph of the Union arms. He died October 16th, 1867, leaving three sons and two
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danghters. ITis remains rest in the " Friends'" Burying| but this being disputed, a contest was entered upon by the Ground at Newtown, of which society he and all his ances- tors had been members.
URVIANCE, SAMUEL ANDERSON, Lawyer and ex-Congressman, was born January 10th, ISog. in Butler, Pennsylvania. He is partly of French and partly of Scotch and American descent, hi- ancestors on his father's side having been among the early settlers of western Pennsylvania. After receiving a preliminary education, he entered college, and. after pursuing a partial course, applied himself to the study of law. In this he made such rapid progress that, when but eighteen years of age, he was admitted to the bar. He served for two years as Prosecuting Attorney for Warren county, earning such a reputation as a lawyer that he was elected to the Constitutional Convention from Butler county in 1836, and, in 1838, was returned to the Legisla- ture. In 1854, he was elected to the United States Con- gress, and ree.ected to the same in 1856. He was a mem- ber of the following nominating conventions : In 1844, that which nominated Henry Clay; in 1856, that which nomi- nated Fremont ; in 1860 and 1864, those which nominated Lincoln ; and finally, in 1868, that which nominated Grant. He was also an elector, in 1848, when Taylor was a candi- date for the Presidency, and, in 1852, when General Scott was secking the same office. He was appointed Attorney- General of the State of Pennsylvania in 1861, but resigned that office, greatly to the disappointment of his party. It will be gathered from the foregoing that he was a Whig in politics ; in fact, he was a firm supporter of that party as long as it had a separate existence, and followed it, on its dissolution, into the ranks of the Republicans, with whom he has since cordially ccoperated. He was elected a mem- ber of the Constitutional Convention, assembled in 1872. He was married, in 1839, to Caroline M. Irwin, of Cum- berland county, Pennsylvania, and has three children.
Republicans, and the matter went before the courts. In the first instance, a decision was rendered, confirming the election of D. M. Fox as Mayor, but annulling that of the District Attorney, the Receiver of Taxes, and some others. An appeal from this decision was made, and the case car- ried before the Supreme Court, where, on review, the judg- ment of the inferior court was reversed in his case, and an order made upon his opponent, Charles Gibbons,-who, pending the result of the appeal, had occupied the office,- to account to its rightful possessor. He then entered upon the duties of his office, which he discharged till the expira- tion of his term, his administration being marked through- out by energy and a high sense of responsibility. He is the author of an educational work on the Constitution of the United States, entitled, The Constitutional Text Book, which has met with much favor, and been very extensively used in colleges and schools in various parts of the country.
ROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN, Author, was born in Philadelphia, in 1771. He was one of the first American romance writers to win distinction and to obtain the commendation of trans-Atlantic critics. He appears to have been greatly fascinated by the writings of William Godwin, the author of Caleb Williams, and they undoubt- edly exerted a decided influence on his style, a fact which will perhaps account for the partial non-success of his novels; for, in spite of their many remarkable qualities, they have not obtained that rank among the standard works of fiction that their undoubted merits seem to entitle them to. Ifis first novel was Wieland; or, The Transformation, and was published in 1798. It made a marked impression on the reading public, and is to-day considered by compe- tent critics as one of the best, if not the very best, of its author's works of fiction. Wieland was issued in London, in 1811, and was received with much cordiality by the literary coterie of which Godwin and his wife were the leaders, It was looked upon as the beginning of a school of American fiction which would rapidly rival that of the old world in its claims upon the regards of cultivated read- ers. Wieland was followed by Ormond; or, The Secret Witness, which did not create the same sensation as its predecessor; and by Arthur Mervyn, which is chiefly re- markable for the powerful description it gives of the devas- tations caused by the yellow fever in Philadelphia, in 1793. His other novels were, Edgar Huntly ; or, The Memoirs of a Sleep Walker ; Clara Howard, and Jane Talbot. An un- finished story, entitled, Memoir of Carwin the Biloquist, is also to be included in the list, although the leading idea was worked up in a somewhat different shape in Wieland. In addition to his novels, he wrote a number of very able
HEPPARD, FURMAN, Lawyer and Politician, was born at Bridgeton, Cumberland county, New Jersey. He was educated at the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, and graduated in that in- stitution, in 1845, with honors, being selected to deliver the valedictory address at the college commencement of that year. On leaving college, he en- tered upon the study of law under the direction of . Ex-Judge Garrick Mallery, and was admitted to the bar September 7th, 1848. He was nominated Democratic candidate for the office of District Attorney for the city and county of Philadelphia, and in October, 1868, was elected to that office for a term of three years. In that year the entire city ticket was claimed to have been elected by the Democrats; political pamphlets, and contributed frequently to the dif-
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ferent magazines. In 1799, he started a serial publication of his own, under the title of The Monthly Magazine and American Review. The venture, however, was not a suc- cess. About four years afterwards, he issued the first number of The Literary Magazine and American Register, which lived for five years. To this magazine he himself contributed most of the matter. In 1803, he made a third attempt to establish a magazine. This was called The American Register, and was published until his death. IIe made several translations, and was the author of a number of memoirs. His novels are remarkable for the invention they display, for the ingenious manner in which the narra- tive is managed so as to engage the attention of the reader, for their imagination, and for their subtle psychological insight.
RINCE, SAMUEL F., Merchant, was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1821. Left fatherless at the age of eight years, he was obliged, when only twelve years old, to rely
for support on his own exertions.
The first
situation he obtained was that of " Post Boy," at Norristown. His duty was to deliver the mails and the papers of two weekly publications, printed in Norristown, which required him to make a journey on horseback em- bracing a circuit of fifty to sixty miles, and to traverse the entire route winter and summer, without regard to weather, three times a week. For two years he served in this exposed and laborious capacity, and afterwards atten- ded a country school for one year. He then removed to Philadelphia, where he served a full apprenticeship at cabinet making-working at the business about a year after he was free. At this period occurred the commercial dis- asters of 1841, sweeping away many old established and theretofore rich and prosperous firms, and rendering em- ployment scarce and difficult to obtain. At the request of an uncle, who, in addition to his legal profession, was en- gaged in the production and sale of marble, he accepted a position under him in his business. In 1846, his uncle, being elected to Congress, relinquished his marble interest, and he commenced the business on his own account, struggling with competitors, old in the trade, but deter- mined, by close application and careful management, to succeed. As his business prospered, he extended his ope- rations by purchasing quarries in Vermont, and erecting improved mills and machinery for preparing marble to suit the wants of the trade. His enterprise was crowned with success, and his business became widely extended, so that now he is shipping the products of his quarries and mills in Vermont to all parts of the United States. He also owns and, operates a large farm on the margin of the river Schuylkill, nine miles from the heart of the city, on which is located a large soapstone quarry, which he works exten- sively in producing soapstone for the lining of puddling
furnaces used in the manufacture of iron. This quarry is one of the old landmarks of Philadelphia, and has been in operation for more than a century. Before the introduction of marble, the products of this quarry were used for general building purposes, as the old State House in Philadelphia shows; and it is said that the steps from which the Deela- ration of Independence was first read, and the quoins in the building, which are soapstone, but now painted white, were the products of this quarry. When the iron interest in this State was in its infancy, he foresaw that soapstone would be a valuable acquisition to that trade. This idea led to his purchasing the soapstone property, adding to the original purchase as opportunity offered, until now he owns in the one tract about one hundred and seventy acres, the majority being within the city limits. At the time of pur- chase, the property was unimproved and unproductive; but, under his careful supervision, it has been cleared, culti- vated and otherwise improved with buildings, etc., so that at the present time it is one of the most productive and desirable locations in the vicinity of Philadelphia.
UIIRING, LOUIS A., Physician, was born in Philadelphia, on the 23d of December, 1845. His father, Henry Duhring, came to this country in 1818, from Mecklenburg, Germany, and be- came one among the most successful merchants in Philadelphia. His mother was a native of St. Gall, in Switzerland. HIe pursued his studies at the University of Pennsylvania, graduated from the Medical Department in 1867, and was shortly after elected one of the resident physicians to the Philadelphia Hospital. In this position he remained fifteen months, during which time he commenced the study of cutaneous diseases, a branch of medicine for which he already showed marked aptitude and taste. On the expiration of his term as resi- dent Physician, he sailed for Europe, and spent two years in acquiring a thorough knowledge of Dermatology in the hospitals of Paris, London and Vienna, the greater part of his time being passed in the latter city, under the tuition of the celebrated Hebra. While abroad, he wrote several papers on affections of the skin, for the medical journals, all of which gave evidence of careful study and practical ability. He returned home, and, in the latter part of IS70, founded and opened the Philadelphia Dispensary for Skin Diseases, a branch of medicine theretofore sadly neglected in the United States. About this time he also became one of the editors of the Photographic Review of Medicine and Surgery. In the spring of 1871, he was elected Clinical Lecturer upon Diseases of the Skin in the University of Pennsylvania. Ile had, prior to this, been elected a member of the College of Physicians, also of the Philadelphia Pathological Society, and a corresponding member of the New York Dermatological Society. He
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is a close and careful student, an acute and intelligent observer, and possesses great clearness and force in his logical deductions.
INEY, IION. WILLIAM H., Lawyer, was born in the village of Dimock, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, November 30th, 1833. He had the usual advantages of education presented by our public schools, together with a preparatory course at Dimock Academy, in 1849 and 1850. After which, at the age of seventeen, he entered Hartford Uni- versity at Hartford, Pennsylvania, then an institution of learning of high standing in that section. He continued there during the next three years, viz : 1851-'52 and 1853, which completed his educational training. After the death of his father, early in 1854, he commenced the study of the law, under Hon. E. B. Chase, of Montrose, Pennsylvania, being then about twenty years old. During this and a portion of 1855, he was also engaged in teaching in the academy in his native village. Subsequently he removed to Lehigh county, where he was also engaged a portion of the time in teaching, while pursuing his legal studies. These he completed in the office of IIon. Robert E. Wright, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1856, and was admitted to the bar, January 6th, 1857. He entered immediately upon the practice of his profession in that city, and by his talents and energy soon secured a large clientele. In politics a thorough Republican, in 1859 he was nominated by that party for the office. of District Attorney, but as the county was then strongly Democratic, he was defeated by a small majority. He now began to develop a talent for finance, and, in the winter of 1859 and 1860, projected and organ- ized the Allentown Savings Institution. He was chosen its President, and still holds the position. Under his man- agement the institution has grown to importance, and is now a monetary concern of high standing. In 1862, he pur- chased the Lehigh Register, the Republican journal of that county, and conducted its editorial columns in connection with law practice until the latter part of 1863. In the following year he was chosen .Senatorial Delegate to the Republican State Convention, and was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Contested Seats. Ile also served as member of the State Central Committee, and was appointed one of a sub or executive committee of nine; authorized to conduct the campaign of 1863. In 1864, he entered another moneyed enterprize. This was the projection and organization of the Second National Bank of Allentown. It proved a success, and he was chosen and still remains its President. He also projected and set afloat the Lehigh Valley Fire Insurance Company, of Allentown, and was elected Vice President after having declined to serve as Président. The Lehigh Iron Company (blast furnaces) also owes its origin and successful establishment to him, and he is its President. The company has a capital of
$500,000, and its pay-rolls amount to about $60,000 per month for labor at the works, mines and quarries, including coal and ore. He naturally feels a pride in this great in- dustrial enterprise, and looks forward with confidence to its further enlargement, until it shall be second in magnitude to few, if any, iron manufacturing establishments in the country. He was again chosen by the Republicans as Senatorial Delegate to the State Convention of 1869, which renominated the late Governor Geary. In 1870, he was elected a member of the Select Council of the city of Allen- town, and served as President until the spring of 1873. In 1870, there being no State officers to elect, he, with a few friends, deemed it a fit time to urge the calling of a Con- vention to revise our State Constitution, and especially to agitate reform in legislation and legislative representation. Accordingly, an informal meeting for consultation was held at the Girard House, Philadelphia, July 4th, 1870, and sub- sequently the Reading Convention of August 31st, 1870. The Reading assembly took strong ground in favor of a Constitutional Convention, and appointed a committee, of which he was a member, to urge it upon the Governor and Legislature. This committee procured favorable recommendation by the Governor, and the desired action on the part of the Legislature followed. In 1872, he was nominated and elected one of the fourteen State Delegates at Large, on the Republican State ticket, to the Constitutional Convention, in which he served on the committees on Suffrage, Election and Representa- tion, and on Public and Municipal Debts and Sinking Fund. He was married, June 5th, 1860, to Miss Anna C. Unger, of Allentown, and has three daughters, Carrie, May and Kate. He resides at Allentown, where he has identified himself with its local interests and growth.
ILLMEYER, PHILIP, Lumber Merchant and Canal Boat Builder, was born in Liberty town- ship, Montour (then Columbia) county, Pennsyl- vania, October 10th, 1814. He is the son of George and Anna Billmeyer, and lived on his father's farm until about twenty-seven years of age. ITis father owned a saw mill in connection with his farm, and the young man occupied a portion of his time in that establishment, where he took his first lessons in that business, which he afterwards so extensively carried on. Ile exhibited in early life manifestations of that force of character and industry which distinguished his after career. He was appointed by Governor Porter, in 1837, Registrar and Recorder of Deeds for Columbia county, a position which he held until a subsequent change in the Constitu- tion rendered that office elective. In IS40, he was married to Susan Follman, daughter of Daniel Follman, of Lime- stone township. During the ensuing ten years he was
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engaged in the lumber and saw-mill business, in the neigh- borhood of Milton, Pennsylvania. He remained there till 1853, when he moved to Lewisburg, and became a partner in the firm of Frick, Slifer & Co., in the same business ; but he subsequently purchased the interest of his partners and organized the firm of Billmeyer, Dill & Co., a name which it still bears. This firm is one of the most extensive in the lumber business in Central Pennsylvania, manufac- turing five million feet of lumber and building one hundred canal boats annually, giving employment to upwards of one hundred men. A considerable portion of the timber used in these works is cut on lands belonging to the firm, which operation also affords employment to many hands during the winter. The senior partner is one of the oldest lumber merchants on the west branch of the Susquehanna. Be- sides his regular business, he is a large stockholder in one of the principal banks of the county, and has been for many years a director in that institution, contributing largely by his energy and judgment to its success.
UCIIER, JOSEPII C., Lawyer and Judge, was born in Middletown, Frederick county, Mary- land, January 28th, 1836. Ilis father, the Rev. J. C. Bucher, D. D., was a prominent clergyman of the German Reformed Church. In 1842, he moved, with his family, to Reading, Pennsyl- vania, to fill the position of pastor to a church in that 'town, where he continued to reside until its removal to Mercers- burg, Pennsylvania, a few years later. Whilst at Reading, his son was a pupil of Father Kelley, a Roman Catholic priest, then enjoying considerable reputation as a teacher. In 1852, he entered Marshall's College, at Mercersburg, after having previously passed through its preparatory de- partment. In 1854, this college was consolidated with that of Franklin, at Lancaster, and in that year the young student graduated with the highest honors of his class, being chosen, on that occasion, to pronounce the valedic- tory address. After this event, he became principal of an academy in Maryland, which position he occupied for a year, and, in 1856, began the study of law at New Berlin, Union county, under the instruction of the Hon. Isaac Slender, a distinguished lawyer. In 1858, he was admitted to the bar of Union county, and immediately formed a partnership with his late preceptor, successfully engaging in the practice of his profession. In 1859, he was elected District Attorney of Union county, an office which he held until the completion of his term. His partnership with Mr. Slender was dissolved in 1862, upon the election of the latter to the office of Auditor General of the State, and he removed to Lewisburg, where he continned the practice of law till 1871, when he was raised to the bench as President Judge of the Twentieth District of Pennsylvania, a position which he now occupies. His district, especially Snyder
county, contains many Germans, and the Legal Intelligencer, in noticing his election, laid especial stress upon the great advantage the public would derive from his familiarity with the German language whilst acting in his official capacity. Ile is one of the youngest, if not quite the youngest, of the judges of Pennsylvania. In 1861, he was married to Mary Ellen, daughter of the Hon. John Walls, of Lewisburg, and has, by this marriage, a family of two children.
CHOMACKER, J. H., Manufacturer, was born in the province of Ilolstein, Germany, January Ist, ISOo. Ile was educated in the best schools of his native country, and then, in accordance with the universal custom, was apprenticed to a me- chanical trade. He finished his apprenticeship to a cabinet-maker in 1818, and continued to work as a jour- neyman until 1825, when his attention was first called to the construction of pianos. After investigation and labor in the leading piano manufactories of Germany, he fully mastered his art at Vienna, and engaged in business for himself. He emigrated to the United States in 1837, set- tled in Philadelphia, and, after years of energetic labor, made the manufacturing of pianos one of the leading in- dustries of that city, becoming himself the head of the largest establishment of the kind in the State. In 1855, he erected a large factory at Eleventh and Catharine streets, still occupied by the " Schomacker Piano-Forte Manufac- turing Company," which was organized in 1864. Many prizes and medals from leading institutes and expositions attest the superior excellence of his instruments. He is a life-member of the German Hospital of the city of Phila- delphia, and was for four years a director. Ile was also a director for two years in the German Benevolent Society of Philadelphia, of which he has been for many years a member. Prominent in the Masonic fraternity, he is also an active promoter of other charitable and benevolent asso- ciations. An orphan boy, he has achieved his own destiny, and illustrated the truth of the maxim, that success surely attends well directed industry and perseverance. Though advanced in years, he maintains great physical and mental vigor. Publie spirited, liberal, affable and kind, he has won the esteem and regard of his associates.
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