USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
1
ale.by Pub . C'h. Pintada
Bord.
185
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
economy, in the employment of the most approved labor- saving machinery, is everywhere visible. The street rail mill is one of the best constructed and most perfect in the country, and the blast furnace is generally admitted, by ex- perts, to be the best in the State. It was erected under the immediate superintendence of the proprietor, and there has never been a single interruption in the casting. Besides having the burden of this immense concern on his mind, he is also one of the proprietors of the Ringgold Iron and Coal Company, now erecting works and a blast furnace, at Ringgold, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. Ile is a warm supporter of the church, contributing regularly and liberally to its needs, and an esteemed and valued member of the congregation. Still young and active, he is remark- able for his dashing and energetic character, his clear head and foresight in matters of business, and the determined will and persevering industry that marked him, from the commencement of his career, as a man destined to succeed. It cannot fail to be a matter of gratification to him to look back to his youthful days, when undergoing all the trials and hard knocks of poverty, and from them to turn his eyes on his present prosperity, with the reflection that to himself and his own exertions he owes it all.
TROUD, GEORGE M., Lawyer and Ex-Judge of the District Court for the City and : County of Philadelphia, was born October 12th, 1795, at Stroudsburgh ; then in Northampton county, but since 1836 in Munroe county, Pennsylvania. Originally his name was Macdowel Stroud, his paternal grandmother having been a daughter of John Mac- dowel, who emigrated from the North of Ireland. This lady, Elizabeth Macdowel, married Colonel Jacob Stroud, whose parents were English. He was the founder of Stroudsburgh, and took an active part in the French and English war of 1756-61. He participated in the memor- able events of the time : the siege of Fort William Henry, capture of Louisburg, the taking of Quebec, etc. Ile had been brought up as a farmer and, at the close of the French war, was possessed of no other property than a pair of horses and a wagon ; but, eventually, by strict economy, untiring industry, excellent judgment, temperate habits and the hearty co-operation of his wife, succeeded in amassing an immense fortune, and attaining so high a social position that he was chosen a member of the Convention which formed the first Constitution of Pennsylvania, in 1776: Ile was elected to the House of Representatives, in the fall of 1781, and in three successive years. George M. Stroud, whose ancestors were, as already shown, intimately identified with the exciting events of our early history, entered the College of Princeton, New Jersey, where he graduated, and then commenced the study of law, in the office of John Hallo-
well-afterwards President of the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of Philadelphia. In March, 1835, he was appointed, by Governor Wolf, one of the Judges of the District Court for the City and County of Philadelphia; to which office he was subsequently elected on two occa- sions, retiring at the expiration of his second term, on De- cember Ist, 1871, being then more than seventy-six years of age. Ile was married to Eleanor, daughter of Judge Hallowell, his preceptor in the study of the law. He is the oldest living judge in the State, and for more than a third of a century presided over the same court with marked ability and admitted impartiality. In public life he has been a man of sterling integrity, the strictest justice and re- markable decision of character. In his social relations, he is distinguished by an eminently sympathetic, kind and benevolent nature, and, being a man of profound learning, is equally entertaining to young and old. He is now in his seventy-eighth year and lives in quiet retirement, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, enjoying the happiness earned in a well-spent life.
AIRD, WILLIAM, Manufacturer, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in the month of April, 1816. llis parents were poor but reputable members of the : Presbyterian Church, and. had removed, about 1812, from the North of Ireland to Scot- land, where they continued to reside until their death .. As his parents were poor, his educational advan- tages were very limited. Ile attended for a short time the day schools of Glasgow, but received the principal part of his elementary training in the Sunday-schools. He lost his mother at the early age of six years, and at ten was put to work in the mills of Glasgow, where he learned the trade of a hand-loom weaver. When he was twelve years of age his father died, and he was thrown entirely upon his own resources. In IS34, he joined an expedition fitting out in Glasgow for Portugal, during the civil war of Don Pedro, whose daughter, Donna Maria, was heir to the throne which had been usurped by her uncle, Don Miguel, the brother of Don Pedro. When Don Miguel was finally driven from the throne, he left Portugal for England, and found his uncle at Bolton, Lancashire, where he remained for about twelve years. In 1838, he married Miss Kershaw, a native of that place. In the following year he came to the United States, but after remaining a short time in Phila- delphia returned to England, and remained there about seven years. Ile returned to the United States in 1848, . and settled in Philadelphia, where he was for about seven years the foreman of James P. Smyth & Co., at the Wash- ington Mills, Twenty-first and Hamilton streets. In 1856, he remov. d to Frankford and engaged in business for him- self in the Aramingo Mills, which he operated until 1864, when having built the Lanark Mills, he removed thither
24
186
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
In 1861, he was elected a member of the Select Council from the Twenty-third Ward, and served three years. In 1868, he erected a handsome structure four stories in height and surmounted by a French roof, fronting on Frankford avenue. This entire building, except a portion of the lower floor used for his offices, is devoted, as his free gift, to the use of various benevolent associations. In 1869, he erected a large hall, with front on Green street, which con- tains saloons, bath-rooms, dressing-rooms, a spacious audi- ence room, etc. All these buildings are fitted out in mu- nificent style, the noble generosity of the owner regarding the mere item of expense as no barrier to the accomplish- ment of his philanthropic designs. In the spring of 1872, he rented his mills to M. R. Stroud & Son, and retired to his elegant residence, on Nicetown Lane, but almost every day finds him at the mills and in the buildings as of old. In 1871, he was elected to the Common Council from the Twenty-fifth Ward, and continues to hold that office. He is ever ready to extend the helping hand to the needy, and every benevolent enterprise is sure to find in him a warm and true friend.
USII, BENJAMIN, M. D., Physician, Philanthro- pist, and Author, was born" at" Byberry, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 24th, 1745. He was of English descent, his' ancestors having emi- grated from Great Britain : at an early period. Hle acquired his education in the academy of his maternal uncle, Dr. Finley, in Nottingham, Maryland, where he remained eight years. He graduated at Prince- ton, in 1760, and studied medicine with Doctors Redman and Shippen, of Philadelphia, and afterwards at Edinburgh, where he passed two years in attendance on the lectures. He returned to Philadelphia, in 1769, and was elected Pro- fessor of Chemistry in the College. At the commence- ment of the difficulties with the mother country, he espoused the patriotic cause, and was chosen a member of the Con- tinental Congress. Ilis signature is affixed to the Declara- tion of Independence, as one of the delegates from Penn- sylvania. In 1777, he was appointed Physician-general of the Hospital in the Middle Military Department. In 1787, he was a member of the Convention that framed the . Fe- deral Constitution. In 1791, he was appointed a Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania. In the yellow fever of 1793, when over 4000 persons perished from this scourge, he successfully resorted to his favorite practice, the free use of the lancet and powerful cathartics. In 1799, he was made Treasurer of the United States Mint-which office he retained till the close of his life. He died April 19th, 1813, after an illness of but five days. IIe married Julia, daughter of Richard Stockton, also one of the Signers. Ilis son, Richard, was Secretary of the Treasury during John Quincy Adams'
administration ; also United States Minister to England and France. Dr. Rush was President of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery ; a Vice-President of the Philadelphia Bible Society ; and was connected with numerous charit- able and literary societies. IIe wrote forcibly against the use of ardent spirits as a beverage, and was thus one of the earliest advocates of temperance ; he also was the author of an essay against the use of tobacco. He was one of the founders of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and was an eloquent advocate for the introduction of free schools. Ile was one of the most eminent physicians of the day, and a voluminous author. His abilities were of the most unquestioned character, and his intimate know- ledge on these topics was universally recognized at home and abroad.
PANIEL, CHARLES B., the Pioneer of the Northampton county slate business, is a son of Adam Daniel, surveyor and member of the Le- gislature, who resided near Bath, Pennsylvania. Ilis paternal grandfather emigrated from England and became a farmer. He himself was born on 'his father's farm, September 2d, 1819, and attended the common schools of the neighborhood. When but nineteen years of age, he commenced as teacher during the winter months, while he labored in the summer season in a quarry, of which he is. at the present time the proprietor. He was the first individual in the county to engage in the busi- ness of slate quarrying, learning the same from a Welshman, one of his employés. He then visited England and Wales in order to become acquainted with all the minutiæe of the business, so that on his return to the United States he was enabled to prosecute it thoroughly and scientifically. He was a prominent leader in the movement which led to the formation of the Bethlehem Iron Company, and was a Di- rector of the same and its Treasurer for several years. He was the founder, and, since 1867, the President of the Bethle- hem Dime Savings Bank. He was also instrumental in orga- nizing the Saucon Iron Company, of Hellertown, and building the New Street Bridge, at Bethlehem ; was also one of the projectors of the new "Christ's Reformed Church," of Bethlehem, to which he has largely contributed. With all these honorable and incontestable proofs of merit, his lead- ing characteristic is a total absence of ostentation. Though he is the constant associate of men of wealth, he feels no degradation in the manual labor in which he is constantly engaged. For a long time he has had the oversight of two farms, and with his own hands each year has sowed twenty acres or more, without abandoning, or in any degree ne- glecting, his other avocations. His manner of conducting his own affairs, coupled with the fact of his sympathy with the poor laborer (many of whom he has furnished with homes free of rent), has endeared him to the people with
-
.
187
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
. whom he lives, and has caused him to be everywhere res- pected. He has been a member of the Town Council and School Director for six years past. He married, in 1848, Eliza, daughter of John Riegel, of Northampton county. They have one child, a daughter. Modest, humane, and honorable, while at the same time he is carnest, resolute and determined, his success is the fair fruit of his own industry and capacity.
ODGE, HIUGII L., M. D., LL. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born, June 27th, 1796, at his father's house in Water street, Philadelphia. Ile was of Scotch-Irish-Presbyterian lineage. His grandfather, Andrew Hodge, emigrated to this country in 1730, and became a well known and successful merchant in Philadelphia; while his father, Dr. Ilugh fiodge, was identified with our national history, having served in the continental army during the War of Independence. At an early age he was sent to the gram- mar school connected with the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1812, entered the sophomore class of Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey, where he graduated at the head of his class with honors, in 1814. On leaving college he im- mediately began the study of medicine, becoming the private pupil of Dr. Caspar Wistar, and matriculated at the Medi- cal Department of the University of Pennsylvania; at the same time following the practice of the Pennsylvania Hos- pital, and the Philadelphia Alms House. In 1818, he re- ceived the degree of M. D. and, soon after that, resolved to go to India as surgeon of a vessel. While in that country, he had many opportunities of witnessing and investigating cases of malignant cholera-a disease at that time totally unknown either in Europe or America-and from his ex- perience there, he acquired a knowledge of its symptoms and proper treatment which subsequently proved invaluable when that disease became an epidemic in this country, in 1832. During that great pestilence, he rendered incalcula- ble service by his activity in the cholera hospitals, for which he received a vote of thanks from the city and was presented, by the anthorities, with a silver pitcher as a testimonial. After his return from India, he began the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, was elected one of the physicians to the Southern Dispensary and, after- wards, to the Philadelphia Dispensary. In 1821, he com- menced teaching his profession, by taking charge of Dr. Horner's anatomical class, during the absence of the latter in Europe. He became Lecturer (1823) on the Principles of Surgery, having for his colleagues Drs. Chapman, Dewees, Horner, Bills, Mitchell, Jackson, and Harris. He was appointed (1830) Obstetrical Physician to the Pennsylvania Hospital. He made some important contributions to medi- cal literature, among which are his work on Diseases Pecu- liar to Women, Including Displacement of the Uterus, pub-
[ lished in 1860, and his work on Obstetrics, published in 1864, which was dedicated to the memory of Drs. T. C. James and Wm. P. Dewees, who were the first and second professors of Obstetrics in the University of Pennsylvania. Both of these are standard works in that class of literature. In 1872, the authorities of the Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey, conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. On February 24th, 1873, he died, in his seventy-seventh year, ending a long and useful professional career, embracing a period of over half a century.
HITE, RIGIIT REVEREND WILLIAM, D. D., the first Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Pennsyl- vania, was born in Philadelphia, April 4th, 1748. He was educated at the University of Pennsyl- vania, whence he graduated, A. B., in the class of 1765. In 1770 he sailed for England, and there received at the hands of the Bishop of Norwich, Dr. Young, the sacred order of deacon and afterwards of priest in the Church of England. On his return to his native city, he was appointed an assistant minister of the parisli of Christ Church and Saint Peter's, to which was added at a later day the additional chapel of Saint James. During the war of the Revolution, having embraced the patriotic side, he was made Chaplain to the Continental Congress. In 1782, his alma mater, honored him with the degree of D. D. When the independence of the States had been effected, and the United States constituted a nation, it be- came apparent that the Church of England as the State Church must cease to exist; but its constitution and order were altered to suit the circumstances of the great political change that had been inaugurated. An independent church was the result, and Dr. White with others were elected Bishops by the clergy of their respective Dioceses. It was in 1786, when he was but thirty-eight years of age, that he was chosen for this high office, and having sailed for Eng- land he was, in company with Dr. Provoost, of New York, consecrated by the Most Rev. Dr. Moore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the chapel of the arch-Episcopal palace, at Lambeth, on February 4th, 1787. For nearly fifty years thereafter he performed the duties of chief-pastor and Bishop with ability, prudence and zeal, and was held by his fellow citizens-of all denominations-in the highest esteem. For many years he was the Senior and Presiding Bishop of the Church, and he laid his hands on over thirty persons who were elevated to the Episcopacy. Some ten years before his decease, when the infirmities of age were pressing upon him, he gave his canonical consent to the appointment of a co-adjutor or assistant Bishop, who relieved him of the increasing duties to which his office now rendered him liable, and he thenceforward confined his visitations to the churches of Philadelphia and vicinity. He died in his native city,
=
IS8
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
July 17th, 1836, and was buried in the shadow of the church of which he had been Assistant Minister, and subsequently Rector for so many years. A few years since, his remains were removed and reinterred under the chancel of Christ Church. It is a somewhat singular coincidence that at the very time of his decease the interior of the edifice was being altered to its present style ; and that as the old-time orna- ments and antique pews were being destroyed, the soul of its venerated Rector should have taken its flight.
LCORN, SAMUEL, Merchant, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was born at Omah, County Tyrone, Ireland. His parents, William and Sarah Alcorn, were also natives of that country. IIe emigrated to the United States in 1839, land- ing in New York city on September 24th of that year. There he learned the trade which was to be the foundation of his fortune; namely, that of bread and'cake baking. After remaining in New York some thirteen years; he moved to Philadelphia, in 1852, and commeneed busi- ness on his own account, at the corner of ,Thirteenth and Ogden streets, premises which he occupied-for three years. IIe then removed to No. 1709 Lombard street, where he stayed for fourteen years, and during that time acquired a comfortable competency. Ile has, since giving up his busi- ness, limited his commercial operations to the management of his property. The IIon. James. L. Alcorn, Ex-Governor of Mississippi and present Senator from that State, is a mem- ber of his family. He is a valued member of the Metho- dist Church, and, notwithstanding the engrossing oceupa- tions of his business life, has always manifested a deep in- terest in its prosperity, as also in the dissemination and triumph of the Gospel universally. In this respect he has followed in the footsteps of his ancestors, his grand-parents having been active workers in the same cause.
LLIS, MAJOR JAMES, Soldier, Lawyer, and Politician, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, June 2d, 1835. When but two years of age, he accompanied his family to this country, where he received his education, at the Central Academy, Tuscarora Valley, Pennsylvania. IIe afterwards studied law, under F. W. Hughes, and was admitted to the bar, in 1858. He practised till 1861, when he entered the army as a private, but was elected First Lientenant of the 6th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and afterwards First Lieu- tenant and Regimental Quartermaster of the 48th Pennsyl- vania Volunteers. He served on General Burnside's staff, and formed part of the expedition to Hatteras Inlet under that General. On December 20th, 1862, subsequently to the battle of Fredericksburg, he resigned, owing to ill | to professional and general literature, among which should
health, after doing signally good service and bearing with him an honorable record. Ile then returned home to Pottsville ; but, on the invasion of Pennsylvania by Lee, he once more entered the army for a three months' service. Having been mainly instrumental in raising and organizing the 53rd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, he became its Major, and went to the front, remaining in his command till after the battle of Gettysburg. Then again returning home he resumed his practice, and, in 1864, entered upon the field of politics with success, as in 1865 he was elected District Attorney of Schuylkill county. He served the State in the Legislative session of IS70-'71, and, in 1873, was elected Delegate-at-large to the Constitutional Con- vention held in Philadelphia in that year. He had been previously appointed (1872) counsel to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and also to the Philadelphia & Reading Iron & Coal Company. He was married, in 1863, to Emily M. Meyers, of Audenreid, Pennsylvania, by whom he has a family of three children. In his several careers, of lawyer, soldier, and politician, he has uniformly been successful and gained the confidence and esteem of those with whom he has been connected.
INKERD, ADAM D., Physician, was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, March 29th, 1831, of Franco-German lineage. His early life was spent on his father's farm, but his tastes leading him to scientific pursuits, he devoted his leisure to reading and study, attending, at inter- vals, the Glade Run Academy, in his native county. Two years passed in Kansas satisfied his thirst for frontier life, and he returned eastward, where for several years he taught school, and studied by turns in Ohio and Kentucky. lle was teaching in Bourbon county, in the latter State, when the Rebellion commenced. Necessarily this disturbed his relations, and he took the first opportunity to remove to Philadelphia, and give his whole time to the study of medi- cine at the Jefferson Medical College. In 1865, he re- ceived his diploma from the Long Island College Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, and immediately applied for admis- sion to the Medical Staff of the United States Army. The required examination successfully passed, he was commis- sioned -Assistant-Surgeon, and assigned to the 3d Regi- ment United States Colored Artillery, United States Army. With this he was on duty at Nashville and Memphis, Ten- nessee, and subsequently was placed in charge of the Post Hospital at the latter city. At the expiration of the war, he was mustered out of service with his regiment. For a year or two he gave his principal attention to perfecting himself in his professional studies, at Philadelphia and Cincinnati, and in contributing various articles of interest
James. Ell's
TO4 PCT 12
Galaxy Pub 00 Philado.
A . D.Binkerd U.S.
189
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
be especially mentioned an interesting little work descrip- tive of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky (1868). In 1866, he married Sarah E. Criswell, daughter of Robert Cris- well, of Aurora, Indiana, and, in 1870, removed with his family to Parker's Landing, Pennsylvania, near the old homestead. Here he soon entered upon a large and luera- tive practice, the legitimate fruit of his earnest study of his profession, and of the confidenee with which his abilities inspired the residents of his loeality.
ALLAS, ALEXANDER JAMES, Secretary of the United States Treasury, was born in the Island of Jamaica, in 1759. IIe was of Scoteh aneestry, and was educated at Edinburgh and Westminster. After the death of his father, he eame to America, and commenced the study of law in Philadelphia. Ile was also engaged in various literary enterprises, and was for some time editor of the Columbian Magazine. In January, 1791, he was appointed, by President Washing- ton, Seeretary of State, and again in 1793 and 1797. 'In 1801, he was named Attorney of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, by President Jefferson. In October, 1814, he was nominated by President Madison Secretary of the Treasury, and in March, 1815, he was also intrusted with the portfolio of the War Department, and on the return of peace with Great Britain was instrumental in the reduction of the army. Soon after this latter task had been effected he resigned his position, intending to devote himself thenceforth to the practice of his profession. But shortly after his return to Philadelphia he was attacked by a sickness which resulted fatally, on January 16th, 1817. Ile was a most eminent lawyer and accomplished states- man. While in office, he promoted the establishment of a tariff, and of the National Bank. He was the father of the late George Mifflin Dallas, at one time Vice-President of the United States ( 1845 to 1849) ; also of Commodore A. J. Dallas, United States Navy.
-
ILLYMAN, SAMUEL, Coal Operator, was born in Hamburg, Berks county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1796. His family is of Seotch-Irish extraction, and assisted in the settlement of the colony. ITis father was born and reared in Northampton county,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.