USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 6
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Lincoln's request, he has consistently refused any political | he realized a handsome profit. In 1870, he disposed of preferment. By appointment of Governor Hartranft he is a member of the Board of Public Charities for five years. He married, in October, 1851, Josephine, the daughter of Samuel Wright, of the firm of Wright, Bros., & Co., Philadelphia. As a thoroughly successful man, whose success has been won by energy and enterprise, whose career has been wholly honorable, as a citizen of public spirit and eminent usefulness, and as a gentleman of high and generous impulses, Mr. Bullock is especially deserving of the respect and esteem in which he is held in both mercantile and social circles.
ILNES, JOHN, Coal Merchant, was born in Potts- ville, Pennsylvania, on the Ist day of December, A. D. 1832. Ilis parents were natives of Eng. land, and came to America in 1829. Upon their arrival here his father was compelled to seek employment in the coal mines, and for that pur- pose walked all the way to Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The same energy that had characterized him in this matter con- stituted a power that impelled him onward and upward, until he was enabled to engage in business on his own account, when he formed a co-partnership with a man named Haywood, of Pottsville. His industry and in- domitable energy guaranteed to this enterprising firm a signal and marked success. Naturally, such a man appre- ciated the value of our American educational institutions, and gave to his son abundant opportunities to lay up a store of intellectual wealth, that should yield the highest rates of interest in after life. Therefore, after attending the schools of his native place, and there receiving the necessary preparation, the subject of this sketch entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Immediately after leaving college the coal trade attracted his attention ; accordingly, he sought and obtained employment with the firm of Snyder & Milnes. Ile remained with them but one year, when he engaged as a clerk with Richard Jones, and here continued until 1854. He then became the head salesman with William II. Johns. In every instance he displayed not only the greatest fidelity and the strictest integrity, but a high degree of business capacity and executive ability. It naturally followed that each employer appreciated and highly valued such service. But as an employee he failed to find full scope for the exercise of his talents, and he determined to engage in business for himself. Accordingly, in 1855, he invested his earn- ings in a company composed of his father, brother, James Neill, and himself, who were all well-known to the coal trade. The firm controlled and successfully operated the Hickory and Diamond Collieries. In 1865, he disposed of his interest in that company, and invested in an Iron property in Virginia, from the results of which speculation
his iron interest, and again engaged in the coal trade, which he still continues with his usual business tact and successful results. The educational interests of Philadel- phia find in him a warm friend and advocate, and his views upon all such subjects are advanced and liberal. As a School Director he has rendered efficient service to advance the interests of the cause. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a liberal contributor to its support, as well as to every benevolent object that commends itself to his judgment. He is the Treasurer of the Missionary Society of the Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Though his skill in business matters makes him a valuable conn- sellor in all that pertains to the temporal prosperity of the church, he is so unassuming and modest that it is some- times difficult to enlist him in the enterprises which would necessarily bring him into public notice, and give to him that prominence from which he shrinks. Affable and courteous, his presence brings sunshine into the social circle; frank and generous, he enjoys the esteem and the admiration of his associates.
MERSON, GOUVERNEUR, M. D., Physician and Author, was born in Kent county, Dela- ware. ; He received an excellent education, and, making choice of the medical profession, he studied at the University of Pennsylvania. From that institution he graduated with distinc- tion, and settled down to the practice of medicine in Philadelphia, in the year 1820. While he continued in the active duties of his profession, he enjoyed a large share of the public confidence, his judgment and skill as a prac- titioner being acknowledged on all hands. For some years, however, he has been living in comparative retire- ment, giving much attention to farming, availing himself of all modern improvements. All through his career he has manifested decided literary tastes, and many valuable contributions have been made by him to the literature of the period. His writings have been principally upon scientific, statistical, and agricultural subjects. To medical literature he has added largely, chiefly through the medium of the professional journals, and the American Journal of the Medical Sciences in particular. Of these literary and scientific labors the most remarkable were a series of tables exhibiting the rates of mortality in Philadelphia, from each and all canses, and of the sexes at all ages, during thirty years, from 1807, when the first official bill of mortality was issued. Among the results developed by his investigations were the following :- the great healthful- ness of the city proper, in which the annual proportion of deaths to the population was only I in every 56; the excessive mortality in the colored population, and the
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subsequent improvement in their condition as indicated by a reduction of mortality; the excessive mortality of chil- dren in the warm months, and demonstration of the fact that the deleterions operations of heat are almost entirely confined to the first months of life, the influence of the seasons upon infantile mortality being scarcely perceptible after the first year of life has passed; the excessive mortal- ity of male over that of female children in the first stages of infancy, and demonstration that this is not owing, as commonly supposed, to greater exposure of male children to accidents, but to diseases and physiological causes peculiar to each sex; the seasons when most births take place, and the influence exerted through epidemic cholera and other depressing agencies, tending to reduce the pre- ponderance of male birthis. These tables have always been recognized as possessing great value ; and as late as 1869, they were referred to during the proceedings of the Amer- ican Philosophical Society. They were originally pub- lished in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, at intervals from 1827 until 1848. Among his contribu- tions to the literature of Agriculture, the most important is the Farmers' and Planters' Encyclopedia of Rural Affairs, an octavo of thirteen hundred pages. The volume is replete with information of the greatest value to the rural classes, for whose use it was designed, and long since has attained the rank of a standard work. Dr. Emerson has not simply theorized upon the subject of agriculture, but he has followed it out practically, and on an extensive scale, demonstrating the truths promulgated through the scientific investigations of Baron Liebig, and many other eminent scientists, who have been engaged in the rapid develop- ment of agricultural knowledge. He was the first to intro- duce the use of Peruvian guano into the Atlantic States, and to recognize the great advantages of the phosphatic and other concentrated fertilizers, by their effects upon his extensive farms in the State of Delaware. His latest literary work is a translation from the French of Le Play's remarkable treatise on The Organization of Labor, a pro- duction of profound interest. The translation is preceded by a highly appreciative preface, in which a critical esti- mate is afforded of the author, while a rapid and brilliant sketch is drawn of the position he assumes, accompanied by explanations and comments, greatly enhancing the value of the work itself. Dr. Emerson is a very clear, easy, elegant, and impressive writer, who succeeds in rendering interesting every subject that he handles. Although now somewhat advanced in years, he preserves wonderful vigor of mind and body. The translation just alluded to furnishes ample evidence that he has lost none of his power and fascination as an author. He is a mem- ber of many literary and scientific societies, among which are the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the United States Agricultural Society, the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, the United States Pomological Society, the Franklin Institute, the Pennsyl-
vania Agricultural Society, and several other less promi- nent associations.
HERRERD, WILLIAM D., Insurance Broker and Average Stater, was born in Philadelphia, April 11th, 1816. He received a good scholastic education, and at the age of sixteen entered the counting house of the late Stephen Baldwin. His first connection with the insurance business commenced in 1837, with occasional employment by the old Atlantic Insurance Company, of which his brother, Henry D. Sherrerd, was Secretary. In June, 1838, he entered regularly into the business as book-keeper and general clerk for the Agency of the Delaware County In- surance Company, now the Delaware Mutual Safety Insurance Company. He continued in the employment of this company until after the removal of their main office to Philadelphia; and upon the reorganization of the insti- tution, under the supplement to its charter in 1843, was elected Secretary. This position hie occupied until Janu- ary, 1846, when he resigned, and commenced business as a commercial agent and insurance broker. While engaged in this occupation, he acted for one year, that of 1850, as Secretary of the late Mercantile Mutual Insurance Com- pany, and later was for a year and a half, in 1852 and 1853, Secretary and Vice-President of the late Philadelphia Insurance Company. He was specially employed by the last mentioned company as an expert to methodize its business. Upon accomplishing this difficult and responsi- ble task, lie resigned. During the year 1840, he com- menced the adjustment of averages and the settlement of difficult cases of marine insurance. So careful and so invariably accurate did he prove himself in the conduct of this very intricate and irksome business, that he soon established a high reputation ; and for many years hardly a troublesome case in either department was settled without the assistance of his valuable services. He took a deep interest in the insurance business, and was thoroughly informed in all its branches. And he did not limit his attention to the mere routine of any, or even all of these branches. He sought to place insurance upon a broader aud sounder foundation than he found it, and his efforts tended very materially in that direction. Among his other public spirited labors may be mentioned those in connec- tion with the introduction of the steam fire engine into Philadelphia. He may, in fact, be truly said to have been its introducer, inasmuch as le devoted his most strenuous exertions towards accomplishing the reform. At the time prejudice was very great against the apparatus; but he felt confident of its success, and gave practical proof of his confidence by advancing money to pay the contract entered into. These advances he reimbursed to himself out of collections undertaken by him, and which afforded him facilities in the division of risks. He died June 13th, 1869.
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During his lifetime, he rendered many services to the public, and among them will always be remembered grate- fully his efforts for the introduction of the steam fire engine into Philadelphia.
CCLURE, COLONEL ALEXANDER KELLY, Lawyer and Politician, born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, January 9th, 1828, of Scotch-Irish descent. He is emphatically self-educated. When fifteen years of age, he was apprenticed to the tanning trade; in three years, his term of indenture having expired, he commenced life as a journeyman, and, in the pursuit of his calling, during the year 1846, he travelled through Pennsylvania, New York and New England, adding to his store of learning. The world was his teacher, and so apt was he to receive its lessons, that in the fall of the same year he returned to his native county, and boldly embarked in the avocation of newspaper publisher. He established, at Mifflin, . the Juniata Sentinel, and, while devoting his mental abilities to its editorial management, he also practised and mastered the mysteries of the printer's art, and in one year became so conversant with the practical working of the composing room, as to be able to turn out a paper -- the work of his own brains and hands. Thus, before reaching his twentieth year, he had learned two practical trades, and was an editor well versed in local politics. Upon his twenty-first birthday, he received a commission as Aid, from the then Governor Wm. F. Johnston, with the rank and title of Colonel. He was appointed, in 1850, Deputy . United States Marshal for Juniata county. In 1852, he became the proprietor and publisher of the Chambersburg Reposi- tory, which he enlarged and improved, greatly increasing its circulation, and making it one of the most influential journals in the State. In 1853, being then but twenty-five years of age, he was nominated by the Whig party for the office of Auditor-General, but was defeated. By Governor Pollock, in 1855, he was appointed Superintendent of Public Printing; but, after holding the position for eight months, he resigned, and the same year was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law in Chambers- burg, entering into partnership with his former preceptor, William McLellan. In 1856, he received, from Governor Pollock, the appointment of Superintendent of the Erie & Northeast Railroad, troubles in connection with this road having caused several riots and much mischief for a year previous, in the city of Erie. He directed his energies to the settlement of these difficulties, and finally succeeded in adjusting affairs to the satisfaction of all concerned. The same year he served as a Delegate to the National Republican Convention, and canvassed the State in behalf of. its nominees, Fremont and Dayton. He was one of the few Republicans elected to the Legislature in 1857; the district which he represented had previously invariably
given a majority against his party. As a representative, he was prominent, and exerted his influence in favor of the sale of the public works, and in aiding the construction of the Erie Railroad. He was re-elected in 1858, and in 1859, after a most exciting contest, he succeeded, as State Senator, an opponent who was deemed invulnerable. In 1860, he was appointed Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, and arranged a complete organization in every county, township and precinct in the State. At that time, he was prominently mentioned for United States Senator, but declined to be a candidate. During the war, as Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, while in the State Senate, he was most earnest in his support to the National and State Governments. From his place in the Senate House, he introduced war measures of substan- tial importance. In 1862, he was commissioned an Assist- ant Adjutant-General of the United States Army, in order to qualify him for the military duty of enforcing the draft in Pennsylvania. After making the draft, thereby placing seventeen regiments in the field, he resigned his commis- sion. This service he performed at the special request of President Lincoln and Secretary of War, Stanton. He declined, in 1863, the Chairmanship of the Republican State Central Committee, but exerted his best efforts during the campaign 'to secure the re-election of Governor Curtin. A delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1864, he was formally tendered, by three-fourths of the delegates, the Chairmanship of the State Committee; but this he de- clined, in order to accept the nomination for the Legisla- ture from a new, and strongly Democratic, district. He was elected by four hundred majority. In October of the same year, at the request of President Lincoln, he actively engaged in perfecting the political organization of the State for the following November's Presidential election. The July previous, the Southern army under Lee, in its inva- sion of Pennsylvania, had entirely destroyed all his property near Chambersburg, inflicting a loss of $75,000. The summer of 1867, for the benefit of the health of his wife and son, he spent in the Rocky Mountains. Upon his return he published, in book form, his impressions of the new Territories. Ile then decided to reside perma- nently in Philadelphia, and resumed the practice of the law. Ile was Chairman of the Pennsylvania Delegation in the National Republican Convention that nominated General Grant for President, and strongly pressed the claims of- Governor Curtin for the Vice-Presidency. His labors in behalf of the Republican nominees were exten- sive and valuable during that campaign ; he thoroughly canvassed the States of Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. After the Presidential contest of 1868, in order to recruit both his health and finances, which had suffered much during his ten years of incessant political labor, he decided to withdraw from active partici- pation in party affairs, and to devote his attention to his profession. In 1872, however, he was again called to the
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front, and as the candidate of the Independent Reform party was elected to the State Senate from the Fourth Dis- trict of Philadelphia. He was excluded from his seat by false returns, but he contested the matter with his usual energy and success, obtaining on March 27th a decision in his favor. He was Chairman of the Pennsylvania Delegation at the Cincinnati Convention, which nominated Greeley and Brown, and was also Chairman of the Liberal Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania during the Presidential contest of 1872. He was married February Ioth, 1852, to Miss Matilda S. Grey. His record is indeed that of a busy life, in which the characteristics of the Scotch-Irish blood may be readily traced. Hard work, hard words or self-sacrifices have never daunted him. An acknowledged leader, he has ever been found at the front. As a public speaker, lecturer, or legal advocate, he can at all times command the attention of an audience, and he is strong in his power to convince. His prepared speeches, carefully digested, have always been remarkable for the soundness of their arguments, and the power of eloquence and earnestness with which they have been delivered. He is a ready and able debater, never failing to impress his hearers. Intimate with, and his valuable services acknow- ledged by, men high in power, he could have held many offices of great emolument had he sought them ; but he has never permitted his name to be used in connection with any such position, his only desire in obtaining and retaining office seeming to be to secure the "greatest good for the greatest number."
INDRIM, JAMES HAMILTON, Architect, was born in Philadelphia, July 4th, 1840. He comes of Scotch-Irish parentage. He received his edu- cation in the Girard College, from which he graduated in 1856. Having always manifested a great taste for drawing, and a great desire to become an architect, he was placed in the office of John Notman, architect, with whom he studied for three years. Enfcebled health then necessitated a change from office duties to out-door employment. Seeking a business akin to his profession, he engaged with Thomas Bateman, a car- penter and builder in West Chester, Chester county, Penn- sylvania. On his return to Philadelphia, he entered into another engagement with Mr. Notman, in the shop of Archibald Catanach, builder, then erecting the Church of the Holy Trinity, of which Mr. Notman was the architect. In these two last mentioned positions, he acquired a know- ledge of the details of the building business, that has very materially assisted him in his profession, and that has enabled him to efficiently guard the interests of his clients. Upon leaving Mr. Notman, he obtained charge of the erection of the Hospital of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, as superintending architect. Then his ser- vices were secured by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
and he was stationed at Pittsburgh as their architect. Eventually he surrendered this position, in order to com- mence the private practice of his profession. This was inaugurated by an engagement as architect of the country seat of Jay Cooke, at Chelton Hills. Since then his ser- vices have been in constant requisition, and he now enjoys a reputation second to that of no architect in Philadelphia. Among the more important buildings in Philadelphia for which he furnished the designs, may be mentioned the following : The College of Physicians; the banking houses of the Fidelity Safe Deposit Company; the National Bank of the Northern Liberties, and the Tradesmen's National Bank; the new offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany; the new Masonic Temple; the Messchert stores ; the dry goods house of Hood, Bonbright & Co .; also, the residences of John Rice, John Baird, and E. C. Knight. These structures are among the noblest and most imposing specimens of architecture that the city can boast. Hle pos sesses large artistic taste, and manifests no little originality in his designs. Personally, he is a cultivated and genial gentleman. For so young a man, he has attained a remarkable position.
TETSON, D. S., Sea Captain and Merchant, was born in Bath, Maine, in the year 1819. In 1833, being then but fourteen years of age, and having determined to adopt a sea-faring life, he went as cabin boy in the ship " New England," bound from Bath for New Orleans, thence to Havre, France. In 1837, at the age of eighteen, he was made first officer of the ship " Manco," of Bath, and this same year visited Philadelphia for the first time. He continued with this vessel for three years, and during that time traded principally between the South Atlantic and Gulf ports of the United States and Europe. In 1840, when but little over twenty-one years of age, he was given command of the brig " Maria," of Philadelphia, engaged in the West India trade, and retained the position for four years. In 1844, he built the brig " Jas. A. Marple," which soon after was wrecked on the Bahama Islands. He immediately built the brig " Ida," and continued the West India trade until 1847, when, having married a Philadelphia lady the previ- ous year, he concluded to retire from sea life, and accord- ingly resigned command of the vessel. He then engaged in the ship chandlery business, in company with J. Baker, under the firm name of Baker & Stetson, the business place being on Delaware avenue above Arch street. In 1856, Mr. Baker withdrew from the firm, and Mr. Stetson formed another co-partnership, changing the character of the business to that of shipping and commission, which was conducted under the title of D. S. Stetson & Co. Soon after the establishment of this house, the panic of 1857 burst upon the financial world, carrying in its train wide- |spread ruin and disaster. At one time the existence of the
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new house of D. S. Stetson & Co. was seriously threatened, but by judicious management it was enabled to weather the storm. Every obligation was met as it matured, though with the loss of a considerable portion of its capital, as was the case with all houses that boldly faced the tempest, Mr. Stetson has since continued in the uninterrupted prosecu- tion of the shipping and commission business, building, owning, and managing a large number of vessels, engaged in the Southern, West Indies, South American, Pacific and European trades. He is a man of fine, commanding appearance, and with a manner the most affable and polite. The deep, hearty tones of his voice indicate a soul actuated by the most generous impulses, and his success in life, and the esteem in which he is held, is undoubtedly due as much to his liberal spirit as to his earnest devotion to busi- ness, and skilful management of his affairs.
IDGWAY, JOHN J., Jr., Lawyer, was born in Philadelphia, on the 22d of October, 1843. His father, Thomas Ridgway, whose career is sketched elsewhere in this volume, is a well- known Philadelphia merchant, and has been President of the Girard Life Insurance, Annuity and Trust Company since 1850. Ilis mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Pancoast, was a sister of the emi- nent surgeon, Professor Pancoast, of the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. After receiving an excellent preparatory education, the subject of this sketch studied law in the office of Morton P. Henry, and was admitted to the bar on May 29th, 1865. After devoting a year to European travel, he entered upon the practice of his pro- fession. In 1871, having in the meantime achieved an honorable standing at the bar, he was brought prominently before the public, in connection with the prosecutions of certain city and court officials of Philadelphia for the exac- tion of illegal fees. The great abuses of the system of extortion in vogue. had assumed such alarming and harass- ing proportions, that the Philadelphia Bar Association determined to put an end to them, and with that object in view employed a Solicitor, whose duty it was made to prosecute in the courts every case of the kind brought before him, free of charge to the complainant. He was selected for this delicate and responsible position ; and, despite the manifold difficulties in the way, the threats that were resorted to for the purpose of intimidating him, and the general prophecy of ultimate failure, he entered upon his task with great determination. He began by notifying all the public officials of the city of his appoint- ment, and of his purpose to secure the enforcement of the laws which they had so long defied. With much labor, he prepared and published in pamphlet form: a list of the legal fees, arranged alphabetically, and under proper headings. Previously to this publication, it had been impossible for
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