USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 1 > Part 61
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degree of LL. D. In 1861, he became the president of | conduct, he received a letter of thanks from General Wash- the American Baptist Historical Society, of which he was virtually the originator ; and in which he continues to labor without salary, giving time and money to promote its ob- jects. In addition to his other labors, he has produced some valuable works. In 1828, he published a Dictionary of the Bible, of which there were sold in the first twelve months twenty thousand copies. It has passed through one hundred and forty editions in America and several in London, reaching an aggregate of about two hundred thousand copies. In 1829, he issued The Nature and Extent of the Atonement, in which he maintains the Cal- vinistic view. It was followed, in 1830, by The Christian Rule of Marriage, which, by 1857, had reached a sale of fourteen thousand copies ; subsequently by a memoir of his wife, Lydia Malcom, and an interesting account of his travels in south-eastern Asia. His Theological Index con- tains seventy thousand citations, alphabetically arranged under two thousand heads, with references to the principal works in every department of religious literature, forming a concordance of religious literature, the value of which can- not be over estimated. He has also edited Baxter's Saints' Rest, Imitation of Christ, Keach's Travels of True Godli- ness, Robert Hall's Helps to Zion's Travellers, Henry's Communicants' Companion, Law's Serious Call, and But- ler's Analogy of Religion and Nature, which is steadily in- creasing in circulation in the colleges and high schools of our land. His Baccalaureate Address to the graduating class at Lewisburg, in July, 1857, excited favorable com- ment ; a celebrated author wished every young man in the country could read it. IIe has also been a constant con- tributor to the current religious periodicals of his day. IIe was one of the founders of the American Tract Society, of which he was made vice-president at the beginning, and is now the oldest director. IIe is also president of the American Peace Society.
ington. Robert, one of nine children of Persifor Frazer and Mary Taylor, was born in Philadelphia in 1768, gradu- ated at Princeton, and studied law in the office of Jared Ingersoll. Ilis specialty was land law, on which branch he was generally regarded as high authority. He practised in Philadelphia, and afterwards in Norristown, Chester, and West Chester. His first wife was Mary Ball, by whom he left no issue. By his second wife, Elizabeth Fries, he had five children, the youngest of whom was John Fries Frazer. Elizabeth Frazer died about two years after her youngest was born, leaving John, and one brother and one sister, the only surviving children, in charge of a nurse. Their father, Robert, died in 1820, when they were left in the custody of their maternal grandfather, John Fries. The two boys were soon after sent to school in Germantown for a short time, when John entered Captain Partridge's Military Academy, in Connecticut, where he remained but one year. He was finally committed to the charge of the Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Wylie, D. D., in Philadelphia, who received him into his family, and not only took care of his instruction from this time, bu: treated him in every respect like his own son. Ile returned the Doctor's kindness with a filial affection, and devoted himself to his studies with enthusiasm. Hle stood first at school, and maintained this position subse- quently among his classmates at college, after, in 1828, pass- ing a creditable examination for admission to the junior class of the University of Pennsylvania at the age of sixteen. HIere he excelled in the classics and mathematics, and was so pre-eminent in physical science as to win the warmest regard of Professor A. D. Bache, who made him his trusted assistant. It is somewhat singular that Professor Bache and Dr. Wylie, the two men who exercised the most important influence on the career of John F. Frazer, should have been elected to their chairs at the same time that he entered col- lege. Ile graduated in 1830, sharing the first honor with Mr. Clark. At this time Professor Alexander D. Bache was in charge of the Department of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, and was so much impressed with his ability and industry, as well as his other traits of character, that he formed an attachment for him which brought them into most intimate relations till Professor Bache's death. The influence of this, one of America's greatest scientific men, on the intellectual development of his earnest scholar, was necessarily very great, and his example determined the latter's inclination to science. After completing the academic course, he entered his name in the office of John M. Scott as a student of law, and about the year 1833 passed " one of the best examinations in the memory of the ex- aminers." After this he studied medicine, and would have received the medical diploma also, had not an enforced ab- sence from the city prevented. During this period (from his graduation in the Department of Arts until 1836) he was much in society, of which he was very fond, and which he
RAZER, JOIIN FRIES, A. M., LL. D., Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, from 1844 till 1872, was born in Philadelphia, July Sth, 1812. His great-grandfather, John Frazer, originally from Scotland, had emigrated to this country from county Antrim, Ireland, in the early part of the eighteenth century, and established himself as a merchant in Philadel- phia. Persifor, the son of this ancestor, was a shipping merchant in Philadelphia, a signer of the non-importation resolutions, and, at the breaking out of the Revolution, raised a company of soldiers from his neighborhood in Chester county, to which he had removed, and attached himself to the regiment of General Wayne. He was present at the battle of Brandywine, and commanded the regiment of Colonel Jackson at Momouth, where, for his gallant I was eminently fitted to adom, but he never allowed his pas-
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times to divert him from reading and study ; and while an RAZER, PERSIFOR, JR., A. M., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania, son of Professor John F. Frazer and Charlotte Cave, was born in Philadelphia on July 24th, 1844. He was instructed, while very young, at home, and at seven years was sent to Miss Learned's school in St. Luke's church, where he remained until he entered Mr. Arthur's school. In September, 1855, he was trans- ferred to Mr. Faires's school, from which he entered the University of Pennsylvania, in September, 1858. He graduated thence in July, 1862; and at the same time re- ceived an appointment as Aid in the United States Coast Survey, and was assigned to the party of Assistant Henry Mitchell, then engaged in the hydrographic survey of Narra- gansett Bay. Here he remained until the party broke up, when, on application to the Superintendent of the Coast Survey, he was transferred to the United States Steamer " Bibb," then about to sail for the headquarters of the South Atlantic squadron, at Port Royal, South Carolina. Ile was relieved from the " Bibb " in the spring of 1863, and ordered to report for duty to Assistant Henry Mitchell, whose party was engaged in the survey of Sandy Hook. While here, the Southern army crossed the Potomac, and an earnest appeal was made by the Governor of Pennsylva- nia for " emergency men " to repel the invasion. Proceed- ing to Philadelphia, he joined the First City Troop, and re- mained with them during their brief campaign at Gettys- burg. He resigned from the Coast Survey in December, 1863, and in September, 1864, was appointed an ensign in the United States Navy, and was ordered to the Fifth Division of the Mississippi Squadron, where he remained, taking part in the second Red River expedition, just before the close of the war. In November, 1865, he received an hono- rable discharge, and in May, 1866, went to Germany, where he passed three years in the Mining Academy in Saxony, and in travels in France, Switzerland, and Bohemia. Returning in May, 1869, he joined the geological survey of Colorado and New Mexico, under the charge of Dr. F. V. Hayden, as Mineralogist, and made a report to Dr. Ilayden of the mineralogy of those territories. After visiting Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, California, and Nevada, he returned to . Philadelphia and opened an office as Geologist and Mining Engineer. On the resignation of Professor Morton from the professorship of chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania in September, 1870, Professor Jolin F. Frazer appointed his son an instructor in chemistry. In 1871, the trustees elected Persifor Frazer, Jr., "Assistant Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry," and after the death of Professor J. F. Frazer, on the separation of the chair of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry into two chairs, the professorship of chemistry was tendered to, and is still held active member of the First City Troop, the United Bow- men (an archery club), etc., he was fully alive to all that was transpiring in the world of letters and of science, and was an equally active member of the Academy of Natural Sciences (from September, 1835), and the Franklin Insti- tute (from November 18th, 1835). In 1836, he spent a year in the field, as assistant to Professor H. D. Rogers, in the geological survey of Pennsylvania. In 1838, he married Charlotte Cave, and shortly thereafter accepted a professor- ship in the High School, where he assisted Professor Bache in a series of magnetic observations from 1840 to 1845, contributing with nine other gentlemen to bear, " at first nearly all, and afterwards a considerable part of the ex- penses of the observatory." (Preface to Bache's report.) The immediate direction of the observations from Decem- ber, 1843, was in the hands of Professor J. F. Frazer, and the duties were performed gratuitously. On the resigna- tion of Professor Bache from his chair in the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Frazer was selected to occupy it, and continued to perform its duties, with the exception of one year (1867), which his physician compelled him to pass abroad, until the day of his death. In 1842, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society, and shortly afterwards (1845) one of its secretaries, which position he held till 1855, when he was elected one of the vice-presidents. He was editor of the Franklin Institute Journal from 1850 till 1866, and Vice-Provost of the Uni- versity from 1856 till 1868 (during one year of which time (1859-60) he was acting provost), when he resigned, and the office remained vacant till after his death. In 1863, he was one of the fifty scientific men who were constituted by act of Congress a National Academy of Science, intended to be similar to the National Academy of France. His carnest- ness in the cause of science, together with his thorough ac- quaintance with the laws of the physical universe so far as yet understood, and the charm of his conversation, en- deared him to the first men of science and culture in this country. Professor Felton and the lamented Agassiz (who spoke of him as the first physicist in America), Professors Pearce, Benjamin Gould, Henry, Bache, Wolcott Gibbs, Lesley, Ilaldeman, Leconte, and Genth, were his intimate friends, and all prized his straightforwardness, his wit, and his scientific judgment. His personal qualities made him popular in every circle. The day after the inauguration of the New University building, October 12th, 1872, he was engaged in placing the books of his private library on their shelves; when, it is thought, feeling faint, and knowing that no assistance was at hand on the lower floor where he was at work, he ascended the circular staircase to his ap- paratus room, but, on opening the door, fell to the floor and expired instantly. A memorial window from the class of ! by, him. He is an active and energetic member of the '72, and his portrait placed in the chapel gallery by the Alumni, are enduring tributes of respect from those for whom his life's work was given. Academy of Natural Science, the Philosophical Society, the Franklin Institute, and the American Institute of Mining Engineers.
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ANCOAST, CHIARLES STACEY, Lawyer, is the | harbors of Lake Champlain, for a road in the valley of the son of Stacey and Eliza ( Hatton) Pancoast, and was born in the city of New York, October 29th, 1823. The father was a native of Virginia, and had left there to engage in business in New York. Charles was educated in that city, and afterwards removed to Philadelphia, where he entered the conveyanc- ing office of Jolin Bonsall. After perfecting himself in that study, he read law in the office of James HI. Castle, and was admitted to practice May 7th, 18.45. In 1846, he mar- ried Mary, daughter of Edward Shelmerdine, who, in the early part of the present century, had the then well-known hat store on Chestnut street, next to the Farmers and Me- chanics Bank. By close application to his profession, and fidelity to the interests of his clients, he enjoys a fine prac- tice, with the reputation also of being a conscientious and upright advocate. A Republican in politics, he was one of the earliest members of the Union League, joining it before its organization was completed. He was the president of the Germantown Union League, and during the war gave an unfaltering support to the Government.
ACHE, HARTMAN, GENERAL, Topographi- cal Engineer, was born in Philadelphia in 1798. He was a son of Benjamin Franklin and Mar- garet (Markoe) Bache, and a great grandson of Dr. Benjamin Franklin. His preliminary edu- cation was attended to in his native city, and at the age of sixteen years he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, as a cadet, whence he graduated, with the highest honors and standing, July 24th, 1818. ITis first commission bears that date as Brevet Captain Staff, Assistant Topographical Engineers. He was assigned to duty at once on the survey of Chesapeake Bay and vicinity for a naval depot, and the subsequent year to New York harbor. From that time until 1828, he was variously en- gaged on surveys for the defences of Portland, Maine; Georgetown and Charleston, South Carolina; the Narrows of the Penobscot river, and the Naval Rendezvous of Mount Desert Island, Maine; also for a canal from Cone- wago Falls, Pennsylvania, to Port Deposit, Maryland ; harbor improvements at Marblehead, Holmes' Hole, and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts ; and also of other works of public utility in Virginia, the two Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee. He was promoted to the brevet rank of Major, July 24th, 1828, " for ten years' faithful service in one grade." From that year until 1832, he was. mainly employed in surveys for harbor improvements of Long Island Sound, Sandy Bay, Massachusetts, the Delaware and Raritan rivers, and also for a railroad from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to Elmira, New York. He was advanced, August Ist, 1832, to the grade of brevet major on the staff of topographical engineers. He next made surveys of the
Kennebec river, Maine, a light-house on Brandywine Shoals, and a roadstead at Cape May, New Jersey. Ile was the superintending topographical engineer of the light-house on the above-named shoals from 1835 to 1847, and of harbor improvements, etc., in Delaware Bay from 1839 to 1852. On July 7th, 1858, he became full major in the same corps. From 1842 to 1851, he served on surveys for defences at various points, light-houses, beacons, includ- ing two years on the Florida Reefs. He was appointed a member of the Board of Topographical Engineers for the Lake harbors and the western rivers, September 16th, 1855, and served thereon till November 20th, 1855. He was also light house engineer for Delaware and Chesapeake bays during the same period ; and afterwards filled the same office on the Pacific division until March 21st, 1859; and was the Inspector of Light-houses on the Pacific coast during his three years' stay in California and Oregon. From 1855 to 1858, he was in charge of the military roads on the Pacific coast. From June 16th, 1859, to April 11th, 1861, he was light-house engineer for the fourth, fifth, and seventh light-house districts. At the outbreak of the Re- bellion he was in charge of the Bureau of Topographical Engineers at Washington, and was created lieutenant- colonel in that corps August 6th, 1861 ; he was made assis- tant in the same bureau December 1 1th, 1861, and remained there until June 16th, 1862, when he became a member of the Light-house Board. He was promoted to the colonelcy of topographical engineers, March 3d, 1863, and was appointed superintending engineer of Forts Mifflin and Delaware, and of the ten-gun battery opposite the latter, where he remained until November, 1865. He was com- missioned Brevet Brigadier-General United States Army, March 13th, 1865, for " long, faithful, and meritorious ser- vices," and was retired from active service March 7th, 1867, having been borne on the army register for forty-five years. Ile married Maria, a sister of the late Major-General Meade. Ile died in Philadelphia, October 8th, 1872.
EWIS, ABRAHAM JARRETT, Merchant, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, January 12th, 1791. IIe is the son of Captain Joseph Lewis, of Fair- fax county, Virginia, an officer of the Revolu- tionary army, and a grandson of Joseph Lewis, Barrister, originally from Monmouthshire, Wales. Ile was educated in Baltimore, and when quite young entered the counting-house of Samuel W. Lewis, dry-goods mer- chant of that city. Here he received a thorough business training, and soon established a reputation for fidelity, ability, shrewdness, and integrity, which has never forsaken him through a long and eventful mercantile career. In January, 1812, he formed a partnership with a younger brother, who had also gained the confidence and good will
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of the mercantile community, and commenced the commis- sion and dry-goods business on his own account. This brother, the Ion. Elisha Lewis, retired long since with an ample fortune, and took up his residence on an estate in Maryland. The partnership endured, however, for many years. At a very early date, they established a branch house in Manchester, England, presided over by the younger of the two brothers, and subsequently opened a house in New York. It is safe to assert, that no American firm for so long a period ever enjoyed to such an unlimited extent the confidence and esteem of the British mercantile com- munity. Even at the present writing, the firm have accounts on their books which are still active after a lapse of forty years, during which time the parties have never ceased shipping various fabrics at their own risk and for their own · account, under judicious recommendations from this side, and in most instances without having had occasion to write a letter of reproof, or even to find fault with the manage- ment of their interests. In the spring of 1814, during the War with Great Britain, the city of Baltimore was threatened, and the senior partner resolved to remove their entire stock of goods to Pittsburgh, which was effected by wagons over the mountains, requiring a fortnight of continuous travel. During the summer he was engaged in disposing of the same, which was to great advantage, and he returned to Baltimore with the proceeds of the venture, just in time to witness, from Homestead Hill, the vigorous bombardment of Fort McHenry, on the day and evening previous to the demonstration on Baltimore, in the landing of the British forces at North Point. He was at the battle of North Point, and was near the spot where the British commander, General Ross, fell. His brother, who had been a commis- sioned officer in one of the Baltimore artillery companies, was serving in this engagement as a non-commissioned officer. Here he displayed great gallantry, and was pro- moted on the battlefield. The firm remained in Baltimore until 1829, by which time their business had so increased that it was deemed advisable to seek a more extended market. It was with great reulctance that they left Balti- more for Philadelphia, but were convinced that the step was judicious. The house became at once a favorite, and has ever since so remained, taking the front rank among many similar establishments. Abraham J. Lewis has continued ever since the senior active partner of the firm, covering a period of over sixty years. By his great foresight, long experience and careful management, the house has success't fully weathered all the great financial storms which have swept over the country at various times. Its credit has ever been unimpaired, and it has stood as firm as a rock, while so many have been irretrievably ruined. In politics, he was in early life a decided Federalist of the old school, and subsequently a Henry Clay Whig. Ile became a pro- minent member of S.lect Councils shortly after his removal to Philadelphia, when that body was composed of the leading citizens of the municipality, and he took an active | in the deliberations of the House, speaking upon most of
part in the politics of the day. Although accustomed to slavery, and even a slaveholder himself, yet on his removal to Philadelphia he manumitted his few black retainers. He was among the first to be enrolled on the Committee of Safety at the commencement of the Rebellion in IS61; was one of the original founders of the Union League, and gave both a moral and pecuniary support to the Federal Govern- ment during its hour of trial. Before leaving Baltimore he served as Director and Manager of several leading financial institutions, and for more than thirty years has been an active Director of the Bank of North America, beside serving on the boards of many other institutions both of a mercantile and benevolent character. He has been a prominent vestry- man of St. Andrew's Protestant Episcopal Church for over thirty years, and has contributed much of his time and means to achieve its present prosperous condition. He was married in ISIS.
IIAYER, MARTIN RUSSELL, Lawyer and Judge, was born at Petersburg, Virginia, January 27th, 1819. His parents were Martin Thayer and Mary Call Russell, the former being a lineal descendant in the sixth generation from Richard Thayer, who came to Boston with Winthrop, Dudley and other founders of that city, in 1630. The family came from the county of Essex, in England. Martin Thayer removed to Petersburg, Virginia, at the age of twenty. Martin Russell Thayer was his third son. Losing his mother when hardly two years old, his nurture and early education were entrusted to a maiden aunt, Martha Russell, a woman of very thorough education, of many ac- complishments, of strong religious sentiments, who bestowed upon him exemplary care. When nine years oldl he was sent to Mount Pleasant Classical Institution, Amherst, Massa- chusetts ; subsequently he studied at Amherst College for a year. His father having in the meantime taken up his residence at Philadelphia, he removed thither, and entered the Sophomore class in the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1840, delivering the Valedictory Address. Having adopted the law as his profession, he became a student of the late Hon. Garrick Mallery, and was admitted to the bar September 5th, 1842. Ile pursued his profession with success in Philadelphia until the autumn of 1862, when he was elected a member of Congress from the Fifth District of Pennsylvania; in 1864 he was re- elected, but at the expiration of his second term declined re-nomination and returned to his profession. In 1857, he was appointed a Judge of the District Court for the City and County of Philadelphia to fill a vacancy, and, in IS68, was elected a Judge of the same court for a period of ten years-a position which he still holds. In 1862, he was ap- pointed one of the Commissioners to revise the revenue laws of Pennsylvania. While in Congress he took an active part
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the important topics which at that eventful period agitated the nation. He was a strenuous supporter of the Govern- ment during the war, and an advocate of the reconstruction measures adopted at its conclusion. He was also Chair- man of the Committee on Land Claims; a member of the special committee which reported the bankrupt law, and of several other committees. He took an active part also in the discussion of the various army bills, and tariff and internal revenue bills. He is the author of various publi- cations, among which may be mentioned : A Reply to a Letter to a Friend in a Slave State, The Duties of Citizenship, The Great Victory, its Cost and Value, An Address at. Gettysburg College, On Libraries, On the Law considered as a Progressive Science, The Life, Character and Writings of Francis Lieber. In 1873, he was appointed a member, and elected President, of the Board of Visitors to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and wrote the Report which was made during that year to the Secretary of War.
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