USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 20
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October, 1873, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the same. Although no politician whatever, he was nominated, in 1872, and elected in the fall of that year a member of the Legislature, and re-elected in 1873. Ile served during both sessions of 1873 and 1874 as a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, and also on other important committees, and was Chairman of that on Coal and Iron, During the latter session he did good service to the State as a member of the Committee on Constitu- tional Reform, always supporting in the most earnest man- ner all propositions calculated to secure to the people the full benefits of all that was good in the New Constitution. Ile was also selected as Senatorial Delegate to the State Convention of 1872, which nominated General Ilartranft as Governor. As may be inferred, he is of the Republican school in political faith, and the compliment paid him by his constituents in his re-election, both nominations being en- tirely unsolicited on his-part, is a sure criterion of his being the right man in the right place, and of liis fidelity to their interests.
ILSON, CHARLES II., Manufacturer, was born at Eastport, Maine, May 2d, 1814, his parents being Thomas J. and Jeannette (Fairbairn) Wil- son. Ilis father was at this time a surgeon in a British regiment, the 64th Highlanders, then stationed at Ilalifax, but shortly afterwards he re- signed his commission in the English service, and removed to the United States, settling in Philadelphia, in which city Charles Il. Wilson passed his early youth and received his education. When about eighteen years of age, he was ap- prenticed to the hat-making trade, remaining at that occupa- tion about three years. On attaining his majority he went to Zanesville, Ohio, and worked at his trade there for some little time, but soon returned to Philadelphia and entered (in 1835) the employment of John Large, who carried on an extensive dyeing business. lle continued thus until IS51, in which year Mr. Large retired from the business and Charles Il. Wilson succeeded him, and has conducted the establishment successfully up to the present time (1874). In I851, the productions of the house were about 6000 yards of finished goods (principally chintzes) per day, and the number of hands employed was about thirty. The trade has grown continuously ; the house now turns out daily about 36,000 yards of goods, employs about 120 hands, and, under the enterprising management of its proprietor and his son, is still largely increasing its production. Charles 11. Wil- son was married, in 1840, to Margaret T. English, of Frank- ford, whose ancestors came to America with William Penn, and settled in Burlington county, New Jersey. In politics, he is a Republican. Ile is President of the Young Men's Christian Association of Frankford, in the establishment of which institution he was intimately concerned, He is also widely known for his active benevolence.
AMEY, ANDREW, Bridge and House Builder and Contractor, was born in the northern part of Indiana county, Pennsylvania, September 30th, 1834, and is the third son of Conrad and Sarah (Noble) Ramey; his father was a farmer of humble means, but of good record, who died when Andrew was eight years old, leaving him mostly de- pendent upon his future exertions. His education was only that of the common school of the district, which he attended both as pupil and teacher during the winter months, devot- ing all other time to labor on the farm, where he remained until he attained his majority. He taught school for nine years, and was very successful. In 1860, having previously acquired a complete knowledge of the business, he com- menced, on his own account, as a builder of houses and bridges, employing at first five hands, and has continued in that occupation ever since; the present condition of the same is exceedingly prosperous. Ilad he followed the bent of his inclinations, he would have selected the profession of the law as his ealling. This, however, would have ne- cessitated his attendance on a collegiate course, involving expense which he could ill afford, as he considered his first duty was to assist in providing for his mother's welfare and happiness. He has, however, a natural talent for that profession, and is often supposed to be an attorney by those ignorant of his true vocation. Ile was ever a strong advo- cate of Republican principles and those of the old " Liberty party." During the War. of the Rebellion he was recruited and mustered into the service as a private, but was speedily elected and promoted to First Lieutenant, and served with honor to himself and the country, gaining the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens in the county. IIe has ever been a prominent man in his district, was elected a member of the lower branch of the State Legislature, in 1872, and re-elected in 1873, serving with great acceptabi- lity to his constituents, besides obtaining complimentary no- tices from those opposed to his political creed. These tri- butes were accorded to his unswerving devotion to the fixed principles of right, his greatest object being to accomplish the largest amount of good without stopping to inquire if it will " pay financially." He is fully acquainted with the wants and necessities of the masses ; he has grown up among the people, and understands fully what is needed to render them happy and contented. Not only the farmer and me- chanic, but the professional man has his rights, and these he seeks to assure. Ile is fully alive to the Labor Question, which is the great question of the day. Ile thinks that labor and capital must understand each other, and that the former, including the cause of the operative, must be res- pected. Ile is also an earnest advocate of the temperance cause, and is outspoken, at all times, on the debaring effects of inebriation and the liquor traffic. He is a most success- ful man, and is emphatically a self-made one. Ile attri- butes his success in life to being as true to all as it is pos- sible to be; never making a promise that he cannot per-
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form, and always keeping his word if once given. So faithfully has he attended to the interests of his constituents during the sessions of 1873 and 1874 in the Legislature, that he has been proposed with great unanimity as candidate for the Senate in 1875 and thereafter. He was married, in IS59, to Eliza Jane Cressman, and has a family of three young and promising sons.
"BY, JACOB RUPLEY, Merchant, was born near Columbia, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 18th, 1816, and is the second son of Ephraim C. and Susanna Eby, his parents being members of the Mennonist faith. Up to the age of fifteen years he occasionally attended school, and acquired all the education possible to be obtained in the ordinary common schools of the day and location. About the commencement of 1832, he was placed in Strick- ler's store, at Columbia, where he remained eighteen months; bat being constantly impressed with the usefulness of a trade-to be relied on in case of emergency in after life- he became an apprentice to the carpenter business, serving three years, working at the rate of $So'per annum." Ile now determined to see something of the world, and accord- ingly started for the South, working his way down the val- leys of the Ohio and Mississippi, reaching-Vicksburg in the full of 1836. He remained there eight months; laboring at his trade and saving some $225. With this sum he returned home, and on being tendered a clerkship in a store ac- cupted it and abandoned his trade. While thus engaged he was offered the clerkship of a board, consisting of Messrs. Cameron Lauman & Clark, occupied in the construction of a dam at Columbia, a part of the improvement known as the Tide- water Canal, and he concluded to accept it. This position afforded him an insight into the building of public works, and added to his practical knowledge of public men and things. When this great work was about being completed, his evident industry, integrity and capacity attracted the favorabie notice of a prominent lumber merchant in Middle- town, who gave him an interest in his business by reason of his superior qualifications, and without requiring the in- vestment of capital. He retained this valuable position for six years, when he disposed of it to great advantage ; and with his brother, E. C. Eby, purchased the stock and good- will of the grocery and shipping business of John HI. Brant, on one of the best sites in Harrisburg. This last change laid the foundation of his present large and still accumulating fortune, extended influence and usefulness. A vigorous, energetic application to business, coupled with fair dealing, frngality, strong self-reliance, and an approximate practical rendering of the greatest of all Scriptural injunctions- " Love thy neighbor as thyself "-soon led, by gradual stages, from a flourishing business to an eminently pros- perous and overshadowing one. A fixed, indestructible pur.
pose, a determination to excel, were the living, active ele- ments and agencies which led to this prosperous life. IIe is eminently the architect of his own fortunes, a self-made man ; and he enjoys the reward of that diligence in business which he has ever bestowed upon it. His establishment is the largest wholesale and retail grocery and pork-packing warehouse in Harrisburg, and has been in active operation, under his direction, since 1845. ITis original capital at that date was $4500; and from that time to the present, over a quarter of a century, the business has ever increased. In 1859, he erected at the corner of Market and Fifth streets, Harrisburg, a spacious and substantial building, 52 feet by 150 feet, with extensive floors above, and basement below the main salesroom for the storage and sale of heavier goods. In this large establishment are transacted the va- rions specialties of a first-class business, including not only the usual items of a grocery store, but also pork-packing, curing, and smoking. Each department is arranged syste- matically, and everywhere can be seen the neatness and perfect order so essential to every well-regulated business. One part of the room is devoted exclusively to the manu- facture of tobacco and cigars, domestic and imported. The firm are also extensive dealers in leaf tobacco, and yearly pack at least 600 cases of Pennsylvania leaf, buying con- stantly from the farmers of our State. The senior partner is largely interested in many of the industrial establishments of the city, being a stockholder and Director of the Harrisburg Car and Machine works; the Lochiel Iron Works ; the Harrisburg Stove Works; and the Manu- facturers' Railroad. Ile is President of the First Na- tional Bank of Harrisburg, and likewise of the State Agricultural Society. Ile has been warmly devoted to the interests of the young, and has been connected with the Sunday school for over thirty years, either as teacher or Superintendent ; and during all these years his walk in life has been eminently consistent, and no man has ever heard him utter a profane word. He has been a great traveller; has visited every section of the United States ; and abroad, has sojourned in the three divisions of Great Britain, besides journeying through the various countries on the Continent of Europe. Ile was married, in 1843, to Elizabeth Gross, and has one daughter and two sons; both the latter being in business with him, the name of the firm being constituted, in 1869, as Eby & Sons.
OUNG, ANDREW B., Member of the Pennsyl- vania Legislature, was born in the city of Pitts- burgh in that State, June 5th, IS39; is one of two sons of Joseph and Mary L. (Cracraft) Young, and a descendant of one of the earliest settlers in that part of the Commonwealth, his grandfather, Alexander Young, having originally entered the land on which the family homestead is erected. His father died
Suloxy Fuera. Philadelphia.
A. R. Elf
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when he was but two years of age, and his mother by her personal efforts supported the little family, renting the homestead to obtain the necessary means whereby the education of her two sons was secured. llis brother, J. C. Young, is now engaged in the practice of the law in Chicago, and has been most successful in that profession. Andrew has proved himself a most devoted son, being gifted with uncommon energy, industry, and perseverance. Having received a fair education, he commenced, at the age of eighteen years, to teach school, and continued in this vocation for two years. Most of his preliminary edu- cation, however, was self-acquired, and he has been known to study during the spare moments, while engaged at the plough, or in the fields. Ile enjoyed the benefit of a partial course (two years) in a college, and was noted for his fond- ness for the sciences. He has been elected and re-elected a member of the School Board, and is now serving his eleventh year in that body, having been chosen six times the President of the Board. For seven years he served as Bookkeeper to the firm of Samuel Kier & Co .; was also with Samuel lIar & Son for two years, and while so occu- pied acquired a complete knowledge of the Plumbing and Gas Fitting business. Ile subsequently became a member of the firm of Young & Murphy ; and has had many offers from business men to become interested in other mercan- tile operations. Ile deeply sympathizes with the Labor Reformers, and advocates all measures which have a ten- dency to elevate the character and well-being of the oper- ative. He was elected a member of the lower branch of the Legislature in IS72, and re-elected in IS73, serving through the terms of 1873 and IS744 with perfect satisfac- tion and honor both to his constituents and to the Com- monwealth. Ilis election in his own district was on both occasions nearly unanimous, receiving, in IS72, IS3 out of 186 votes polled; while at the next election he had but a solitary vote cast against him. Ile has been connected with the church for many years, and is an active and zeal- ous laborer in the Sunday school. He married Agnes M., a daughter of Thomas P. McFadden, and has a family of six happy children.
ARRISON, GEORGE LEIB, Merchant, and Presi- dent of the Board of Public Charities, was born in . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 23th, 1311, and is a son of John and Lydia (Leib) Harrison. Ilis grandfather, Thomas Harrison, was an Eng- lish Friend, who left Carlisle, England, about the . middle of the last century, and settled in Pennsylvania, where he married Sarah Richards, of Delaware county. The latter was a distinguished member of the Society of Friends, and an eloquent preacher. The meeting to which she belonged published the story of her eminently pious, helpful life. In 1792, she was sent to Europe on a seven years' mission, and, while sojourning in England, a special
audience was granted to her by the sovereign, George III. Her husband was an ardent friend of the negro slaves, and with singular earnestness, ever labored for their freedom and elevation, and he was an honored member of the Penn- sylvania Colonization Society. John Harrison, father of George Leib, was a merchant of Philadelphia, whose taste for chemistry was so strong, that he determined to acquaint himself with all matters pertaining to that science, and pro- ceeded to England for that purpose. This was about 1798, and while his mother was in that country. Ile entered a laboratory there, and by earnest application and study, learned the then discovered secrets of the business. Re- turning to Philadelphia, the following year, with his mother, he established chemical works on the present site of Rud- man's Brewery, Green street west of Third, and his success there led to the erection of an extensive establishment for the manufacture of chemicals and white lead-on Harrison street, in the old district of Kensington-which is still owned and conducted by his sons and grandsons, as llarri- son Brothers & Co. He was the acknowledged pioneer in America, in the varied products of the laboratory, and the public archives at Washington bear witness to his zeal in his endeavors to induce the National Government to foster this valuable branch of industrial science he had intro- duced into the Union. The maternal ancestors of George Leib Harrison were natives of Strasburg, and Lutherans in religious belief. George and Dorothea Leib arrived in America in 1753, and settled in Philadelphia, and their tomb is yet to be seen in the graveyard of St. Michael's Church, at Fifth and Cherry streets. Michael Leib, their son, was twice a member of the House between 1790 and IS00; and from ISOS to 1814 served as United States Senator from Pennsylvania with distinguished credit. George Leib Harrison, nephew of the last named, was educated chiefly in the Academies of Benjamin Tucker and Rev. Dr. Wylie, the latter of whom prepared him for col- lege, and he entered the Freshman class of Harvard Uni- versity in IS2S; but at the close of a year his health was so poor as to forbid his return, and his physicians advised him to try a year's residence in the West. He became an inmate of his uncle's family, near Detroit. This was Judge Leib of the United States Court, and formerly a member of the Philadelphia bar. On his return to Philadelphia, in IS30, he commenced the study of law with the late Joseph R. Ingersoll, and after three years was admitted to the bar, almost at the very hour of his father's death. This bereave- ment changed his plans of life, and he entered his father's business; to him it was a new study, but he gave it his undivided attention. In 1849, he entered into partnership with Powers & Weightman, in the new chemical enterprise commenced by them at the Falls of Schuylkill, and under him it was enlarged. Later in life he engaged largely in sugar refining. Ile has ever devoted much time to philan- thropie pursuits, beginning with labors in the various organi- zations of the Episcopal Church. Ile has been a zealous
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member of St. Luke's since 1842, and Warden for most of | the intervening time. He has served as a member of the General Board of Missions, and Treasurer of the Hospital of the Protestant Episcopal Church, for twenty years; since 1868, as a Delegate to the General Convention; as a Trus- tee of the Divinity School since its establishment. He has been a Director of the North American Insurance Company since 1854, and for a considerable time an active and effi- cient Manager of the House of Refuge. He resigned the latter position in 1869, the Legislature having created, in that year, the Board of Public Charities; and though per- sonally unknown to Governor Geary, he was asked by the latter to be one of the five commissioners, and accepted the responsible position. In this capacity, he has wrought many and great reforms, and has been, almost from its inception, the President of the Board. Four annual reports show something of what he has done; and his election as President over the First General Convention of the Boards of Public Charities in the United States, held in New York, May, 1874, though he represented the youngest commission, will tend to show the estimation in which he is held throughout the country. He has also received the thanks of the British Government for voluminous information fur- nished them by special request. The Board has effected great changes in the Legislative appropriations, and has materially changed for the better the treatment of the insane poor in the almshouses and prisons of the Common- wealth, which had been, until this time, a disgrace to the State-while the superintendents of these institutions were growing rich upon the spoils. To secure these reforms, he urged the Legislature to pass-which was accordingly done -two comprehensive acts, which opened the hospitals of the State to the insane poor, and to criminals of unsound mind. This change was brought about in the spring of 1874. The Penitentiaries have also been changed, by the Board, to veritable places of reformation.
AROCHIE, RENÉ, M. D., Physician, was born in Philadelphia, September 23d, 1795, and was the only son of Dr. Rene and Marie Jeanne (de la Condemine) LaRoche. Ilis father was a native of Montpelier, France, where he also received his education, and graduated, in 1784, from the celebrated university of that city. He afterwards left his native country for the island of Saint Domingo, where he subsequently became a planter, but was forced, in 1793, to make his escape, with many other of his compatriots during the terrihle revolution and insurrection of the colored race. On his arrival in Philadelphia he commenced the practice of medicine, which he continued until his death, in 1820, a period of over a quarter of a century, and his success and patronage was extensive-having an average of twenty. five patients each day. Dr. Rene LaRoche, the younger,
was educated at a large private school at which many of the most prominent men of after years were attendants. In IS11, he was placed by his father in the counting house of an extensive shipping merchant, where he remained for three years. In 1814, during the war with Great Britain, he was assigned to the command of a Company attached to the Regiment of Colonel C. Biddle. In 1817, he matriculated at the University of Pennsylvania, and after pursuing the three years' course received his degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1820, and at once commenced the practice of his profession in Philadelphia. His health becoming poor, he went abroad in 1827, and remained in Europe for two years. He was a voluminous writer, being a regular contributor to Walsh's National Gasette, furnish- ing that journal with a series of articles on French political movements. He was also a contributor to all the medical magazines and papers of the day, and his articles attracted considerable and favorable notice both at home and abroad. One of these on Fevers, and another On the Action and Effect of Music on Human Beings and Animals-and its Use Medically, especially in Nervous Diseases, gave him much celebrity. He also wrote a work on Yellow Fever, and also others on Pneumonia and Malarial Fevers, all of which were published. Ile was a member of the Board of Health for thirteen years; a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania for twenty years; President of the Phila- delphia Medical Society for several years; President of the Philadelphia County Medical Society for some years; and President of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society for one year. Ile was a member of the Imperial Academy of Medicine of Paris; member of the Rhode Island Medical Society, and was the first honorary member ever elected by the New York Academy of Medicine. IIe always took an active part in the proceedings of the American Medical Association, and was well-known to the profession generally throughout the country. Ile was also a mem- ber of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Phila- delphia, and also a member of the Pathological Society, and of the American Philosophical Society. IIe was for many years one of the Board of Directors of the Musical Fund Hall. Ile was married, in 1824, to Mary Jane, daughter of Colonel John Ellis, of Natchez, Mississippi. lle died December 9th, 1872.
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OLTZ, JONATHAN M., A. M., M. D., Ex-Sur- geon General, United States Navy, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 25th, 1810. IIe is of Prussian descent, his ancestors having emi- grated from that country in 1755, and settled in Lancaster county. After receiving a thorough academical education, he studied medicine, and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1830, and the following year was commissioned an Assistant
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Surgeon in the Navy. During his first cruise, which was performed on the frigate " Potomac," Conimodore John Downes, he was present at the bombardment of Qualah Battoo, Sumatra, and " was active and zealous in the dis- charge of his duties, binding up and dressing the wounded under the fire of the enemy." (Captain Shubrick's Report.) In June, IS34, the " Potomac" returned to Boston, and during the following year, he published a paper on The Medical Statistics and Observations during a Voyage around the World, on board the United States Frigate " Potomac," in the years 1831-4. From August, 1834, until December Sth, 1838, he was stationed at the Washington Navy Yard, during which period he was present, and endeavoring to act the peacemaker, at the memorable duel between Wm. C. Graves, of Kentucky, and Jonathan Cilley, of Maine, when the latter was slain. At the last-named date he had passed his examination, and was commissioned Passed As- sistant Surgeon in the Navy, and the following year was appointed Surgeon of the Naval Hospital at Port Mahon. While en route to his post he visited Algiers, where he mct with the expedition under the Duke of Orleans moving against Abdel-Kader, with Colonel Pelissier and Captain MacMahon-the present Ruler of France-then on their way to " win their spurs." The military hospitals at Algiers were crowded with cases of the Pernicious Fever of Africa, on which he published a Report in the New York Medical Journal. After a two years' residence at Mahon, he returned to New York in the frigate " Brandy- wine," and, in 1843, published an essay On the Endemic Influence of Evil Government, as illustrated in the Island of Minorca, with Notes on the Climate, Topography, and Diseases of the Island, together with accounts of the Medical Faculty, the French Military Hospital, and the United States Naval Hospital there. He next served on the Frigate " Raritan," coast of Brazil, as Fleet Surgeon, from which station that vessel was ordered to the Gulf of Mexico on the breaking out of the Mexican war. lle was present while the battle of Palo Alto was being fought, and assisted in the treatment of the wounded on that ocea- sion, and also of the battle of Resaca de la Palma, the gallant Major Ringgold being under his care after receiv- ing his mortal wound. lle also served at the blockade of Vera Cruz, and at the battles of Alverado and Tobasco. After the termination of the war, he published A Report on Scorbutus, as it occurred on board the United States Fleet in the Gulf of Mexico during the War. He subsequently served at the Navy Yard and Naval Hospital, Washington ; three years on board the corvette " Jamestown," on the Brazil const; at the Philadelphia station, Naval Asylum, and as a member of the Naval Medical Board of Ex- aminers. In 1842, he published a series of articles in the Baltimore American, On the Employment of Steamships of War in the United States Navy, a portion of which was embodied in the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, upon whose urgent representation Congress made
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