The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 24

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 894

USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 24

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20th, 1864, he returned to the command of the 9th Army Corps, and during January and February, 1864, operated against General Longstreet. He continued in command of that corps during its removal to Virginia, March 17th to May 3d, 1864, and then resumed his place as Chief of Staff to General Burnside. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness and around Spottsylvania, the passage of the James river, and the march to Petersburg, iu June, 1864. He was commissioned Major, Corps of Engineers, June 17th, 1864. Ile had command of the 9th Army Corps at the siege of Petersburg, from August 13th, 1864, to April 3d, 1865, when the rebel entrenchments before Petersburg were captured, and then joined in the pursuit of Lee, until his surrender, April 9th, 1865, remaining in command until the corps was disbanded. He had partici- pated in the engagements at Preble's Farm, October 2d, 1864, Hatcher's Run, October 27th, 1864, and the gallant repulse of the assault on Fort Steadman, March 25th, 1865. For his gallantry at Knoxville he was made a Brevet Brigadier General United States Army, while his heroism at Fort Steadman won for him the appointment of Brevet Major General United States Army, both commissions to date from March 13th, 1865. In May, 1865, he was placed in command of the District of Alexandria, which he held until July 28th, 1865, when he was assigned to the com- mand of the Southern District of New York, in which he continued until mustered out of the volunteer service, Janu- ary 15th, 1866. He was a member of the Board to recom- mend for Brevet appointments from March Ioth to June 22d, 1836, after which he awaited orders until September 26th following. He resumed his duty as Chief Astronomer and Surveyor for determining the Northwest Boundary, September 28th, 1866, and so continued until its comple- tion. Since then he has been an assistant to General Humphreys, Chief of Engineers.

EYNOLDS, WILLIAM F., Merchant and Banker, was born in Mifflinville, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, June 9th, IS13. Ilis father, Thomas Reynolds, was a prominent citi- zen of his day and section ; but his means being , moderate, he was able to secure for his son only such an education as could be obtained at the common schools of that period and locality. At the age of thirteen, he was placed in the store of Stephen Baldy, then a leading merchant in the town of Catawissa. Here he remained one year, receiving no other compensation for his services than his board. While in this position, his industry, busi- ness tact, and quick perceptions, with his excellent moral character, attracted the attention of Matthew McDowell, conducting a large mercantile business at Berwick, in the same county, who offered him five dollars per month. This offer, having obtained his employer's permission, he ac-

cepted, and remained in that store two years. Mr. Mc- Dowell then retired from business, and proposed to his assistant, who was but sixteen years of age, to become his successor. Ile agreed, and, with a small capital furnished by his father and his own good credit, the young merchant embarked in business, Ile remained in Berwick for three years, when, in 1832, he removed to the larger and more progressive town of Danville. He continued to reside there until 1841, when he transferred his business to Belle- fonte, Centre county, where he has ever since made his home. He inaugurated a new era in the mercantile busi- ness of this place, and soon became the acknowledged leader of his branch of trade. He also engaged in iron manufacturing, in which he was for a time successful. Ilis surplus capital having been judiciously invested in real estate, the rise in value of the latter enabled him to retire from business with a handsome fortune. Inaction soon becoming irksome to his aetive disposition, after a year or two of leisure, he engaged in the private banking business, his house, which was opened in the spring of 1859, being known as that of W. F. Reynolds & Co. To this he has given his personal attention, and under his management it has become one of the leading financial institutions of that section of the State. Though frequently solicited to permit his name to be placed on the ticket of his party as the nominee for Congress, he has steadily declined, preferring eminence in his chosen walk of life to the cares of a politi- cal career. IIe is popular with the masses of the people, among whom he has an enviable reputation for uprightness, fair dealing, and liberality.

cJUNKIN, HON. EBENEZER, Lawyer and Legislator, was born in Butler county, Pennsyl- vania, March 28th, 1819. Having been duly prepared at the preparatory school of Jefferson College, he entered the Freshman class at Jeffer- son College, Washington county, Pennsylvania, in IS37, and graduated in 1841. He then engaged in the study of the law with Charles C. Sullivan, of Butler, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar on the second Monday of September, 1843. He commenced practice at Butler, Pennsylvania, where he has continued until the present time. Ile was appointed Deputy Attorney General for Butler county, in 1849, by Cornelius Darragh, Attorney General of Pennsylvania, and held the position during the following year. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago, in 1860, and his name appeared on the Republican electoral ticket in Pennsyl- vania, in 1864. After retiring from his public office, he resumed private practice, and continued it uninterruptedly until 1872. In that year, he was nominated and elected to the Forty-third Congress from the Twenty-third District by a large majority. He has made an excellent record,

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and has rendered efficient service as Chairman of the | served throughout the Peninsular Campaign. He was dis- Committee on Expenditures in the Navy Department, as well as a member of the Committee on Invalid Pensions. IIe was nominated by the Republicans of the Seventeenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, in 1874, as their candi- clate for Judge.

DGE JACOB, Bank President, was the son of Thomas and Edith Edge, of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, where he was born, December 21st, 1808. Ilis father's grandfather, George Edge, emigrated from Wales about the com- mencement of the eighteenth century. IIis mother's grandfather, Caleb Pusey, came from England with William Penn, and is mentioned in the early history of our Commonwealth as the first person who erected a water-power mill in Pennsylvania. His father being a farmer, he worked with him until 1825, when he learned tanning, and, in 1829, commenced that trade for himself, continuing in it until 1831. From that time until. 1852, he carried on a general mercantile business with satisfactory" success. Ile then purchased a fine property in Chester county, consisting of a mill, store, and farm, in the manage- ment of which he was engaged until 1862, when he retired and gave place to his son, Jacob T. Edge. The following year he was elected President of the Downingtown National Bank, and has been annually re-elected to the same position. By birthright and conviction he is a member of the Society of Friends, and for many years has been Elder and Overseer in the Meeting. He has also been a member of the Indian Committee, and has occupied other official positions, always performing the duties devolving upon him with credit to himself and advantage to others. ITe was married, in 1837, to Annie Valentine, of Downing- town, Chester county, Pennsylvania, also a member of the Society of Friends.

UTAN, JAMES SMITH, Lawyer and State Sena- tor, was born in Carroll county, Ohio, May 29th, 1838, and is a son of Alexander A. Rutan, a farmer of long experience, of abundant means, and an influential and public-spirited citizen. Ile received an excellent education, having at- tended Richmond College, Ohio, and the Beaver Academy, at Beaver, Pennsylvania. After completing his studies at the latter institution, he taught school for a year, and then began to prepare himself for the profession of the law, prosecuting his studies under Colonel Richard P. Roberts, who afterwards fell on the battle field of Gettysburg. Being admitted to the bar, he commenced the practice of law at Beaver, Pennsylvania, where he remained until September, 1851, and then entered the army as a Lieutenant of a com- pany of the IOIst Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and i under his command as Colonel ; first, the 23d Regiment

charged from the service in August, 1862, at Harrison's Landing, owing to ill health, and, on his return home, was elected District Attorney of Beaver county, having been nominated to that office while still in the field. In this position he served altogether six years, having been re- nominated and re-elected without opposition. He con- tinued in the practice of his profession until the Presidential election of 1868, and was selected by the Electoral College of Pennsylvania as their Messenger, or Bearer of their returns to the National Capital. In 1869, he was elected to the Senate of Pennsylvania from the Twenty-sixth Dis- trict, consisting of the counties of Beaver, Butler, and Washington, and was re-elected, in 1872, by a largely increased majority. He was twice Chairman of the Com- mittee on Congressional Apportionment, and was Speaker of the Senate during the session of 1872. IIe has also served as a member of the Committees on Federal Rela- tions, Finance, Railroads, and others of an important character. During the session of 1874, he did good service as Chairman of the Committee on Apportionment. Ile has a controlling interest and is the principal of the Beaver Radical, and is a Director of the Beaver National Bank. He was married, May 2d, 1865, to a daughter of Rev. Dr. Cox, of Beaver county, Pennsylvania.

IESTLING, GEORGE BERRYHILL, Civil and Mining Engineer, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, January 25th, 1835. His grand- father, a Saxon by birth, was a surgeon in the German navy, and emigrated to this country shortly before the Revolution; while, on his mother's side, his ancestry is Scotch-Irish. The problems of engineering having early attracted his attention, he gave much study to mathematics and mechanics, aided by an unusually inventive and perceptive mind. The first public works in which he was engaged were the Philadelphia & Erie, the Sunbury & Erie, and the Lancaster, Lebanon & Pennsgrove Railroads, on which he did much practical field labor, and assisted in the computation of most of the surveys. Later, he became an active member of the firm of McAllister & Wiestling, railroad contractors, and under. took some extensive operations in this capacity. Among these may be specified the Oxford tunnel, in Warren county, New Jersey, and some heavy grades on the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western, and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroads. This last-mentioned contract was occupying his time when the outbreak of the Rebellion put a summary close to the operations in that quarter. When the Southern forces invaded the Cumberland Valley, he had charge, under the State government, of shipping troops from Har- risburg to the front. Several regiments were placed

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Pennsylvania Emergency Men, then the drafted men of the | also participated in the capture of Little Rock, Arkansas, Sixteenth District, at Camp McClurc, and lastly the 177th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he participated in the engagements at Black Water and Suf- folk, Virginia. The fatigues of the campaign so severely injured his health that, in 1863, he was compelled to resign his command and return to civil life. The Mont Alto Iron Company, in which he owned an interest, offered him the Superintendency of their extensive works, which he accepted and still retains, together with that of Engineer and Superintendent of the Mont Alto Railroad Company. Ilis inventive skill has been most advantageously displayed. Ile has devised an improved ore-washer, a rinsing and screw attachment, and an ore calciner. The only success- ful charcoal kilns in Pennsylvania are those under his management, and the blast furnace of the works has made the longest blast on record without " blowing out," which, in the opinion of mining authorities, is the highest proof of the skill of a manager. In politics, his views are those of the Radical Republican party, but never so strong as to induce him to vote for worthless men merely because they are party candidates. He has been a frequent delegate to conventions, but has declined holding office.

LAYTON, IION. POWELL, United States Sena- tor from Arkansas, was born in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, Angust 7th, 1833. When William Penn came from England to Pennsylvania in 1681, he was accompanied by one William Clay- ton, who settled in what is now Delaware county, Pennsylvania. Sixth in descent from him came Powell's father, John Clayton, who wedded Ann, daughter of Cap- tain George Clark, of the British army. After a common school education, at the age of twenty, he entered Captain Alden Partridges's Military Academy at Bristol, Pennsylva- nia. He studied civil engineering with Professor Sudler at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1854, and after due preparation began practice. Ile took such high rank in this field of labor that, in 1859, he was made Engineer and Surveyor of Leavenworth, Kansas. At the outbreak of the war, as captain of a company of militia, he was, immediately after the firing upon Fort Sumter, ordered by the Governor into camp near Leavenworth. He was mustered into the ser- vice of the United States May 29th, 1861, as Captain in Ist Kansas Infantry, and participated with the command of General Lyon in the battle of Wilson's Creek, his company losing forty-nine cut of seventy-four men. This action gained him the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel of the 5th Kansas Cavalry in February, 1862, and the next month (March) he became their Colonel. In the gallant repulse of the Confederates under General Holmes in their attack upon Helena, the cavalry brigade, under the command of Colonel Clayton, took a prominent and honorable part. He but fourteen votes. Being under a pledge to his friends not

by General Steele, and was shortly afterward assigned to the command of the military post at Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The rebel General Marmaduke having demanded his sur- render, October 25th, 1863, he replied : " If General Mar- maduke desires Pine Bluff, he is at liberty to attempt its capture." A terrible onslaught was then made upon the town, defended by but Goo men and 9 pieces of artillery, the attacking force being 4000 men and 12 cannon. With the aid of the freedmen who had flocked to him for protec- tion, he barricaded the streets, and having stationed his guns in such a manner as to command every approach, massed his men, stationed his sharp-shooters at every avail- able point, and endured the furious attack against such odds for five hours, when the enemy retired in confusion, leaving his dead and wounded on the field. Soon after this victory he moved on Monticello simultaneously with the advance of General Steele upon Camden, and having met the rebel division of General Dockery at Mount Elba, on the Saline River, routed him, and returned to Pine Bluff with 300 prisoners, 300 horses, 60 wagons, and a paymaster's chest containing $60,000, as trophics of his success. President Lincoln, in recognition of his distinguished gallantry, ap- pointed him a Brigadier-General in August, 1864, and he continued in command at Pine Bluff until he was mustered out, August, 1865. Having married B. A. McGraw, daugh- ter of an old and prominent citizen of Ilelena, Arkansas, he settled on a plantation in Jefferson county near Pine Bluff. Upon the organization of the Republican party in that State, in 1867, he made the first canvass in its interest in favor of the Constitutional Convention. In February, 1868, he was nominated for Governor, and the election resulted in the adoption of the new constitution and the election of General Clayton. Ile entered upon the discharge of his official duties with a vigor and a determination rarely manifested. The presidential campaign having opened immediately after the adjournment of the Legislature, there commenced the Ku Klux Klan and Order of the White Camelia outrages. The Governor met the issue promptly and firmly, and ou the day succeeding the election proclaimed martial law in the disturbed sections, and called for three brigades of State militia. The troops were speedily forthcoming, and several encounters ensned. After a service of four months, during which time a large number of " Ku Klux " were arrested, convicted and executed, the militia was mustered out at Little Rock. The course of the Governor had, mean- while, been endorsed by the reassembled Legislature, as well as in special reports to the General-in-chief. Law and order thus reinstated, a tide of immigration flowed into the State, and the Republican party gained such prestige as to sweep the State in 1870. Upon the assembling of the Legislature in January, 1871, Governor Clayton was unani- mously nominated by the Republican caucus for United States Senator, and was elected January roth, receiving all

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to vacate the executive chair if the quo warranto pending against Lieutenant-Governor James M. Johnson was de- cided in his favor, he continued in the office of Governor. Meanwhile, personal enemies, with the Democracy, hoping to secure the suspension of the Governor from the guber- natorial office, presented articles of impeachment in the Lower Ilone and secured their adoption. The managers having obeyed the instructions of the House, and presented the articles at the bar of the Senate, resigned, Other mana- gers, all Democrats, having been selected, reported to the Ilouse their inability to secure any testimony in their sup- port, and moved that the articles be dismissed and previous action in the cave rescinded. This report having been adopted by a large majority, the Governor, who had stend- fa tly refused to surrender his office despite the threats of violence, the same day resigned his Senatorship, as the Lientenant-Governor had, a few days previously, been de- clared entitled to his seat. This act was received with so much enthusiasm that the people demanded such an adjust- ment as would render Governor Clayton free to accept the Senatorship. Finally, March 13th, IS71, Ilon. R .. . J. T. White, Secretary of State, and the Lieutenant-Governor both resigned, the latter being immediately appointed Secre- tary of State, and the Senate elected IIon. O. A. Hadley, a staunch and earnest Republican, Speaker of the Senate. The Legislature n.et the next day to elect the United States Senator, and each House re-elected Goyernor Clayton on the first ballot. Ile immediately resigned .his Governorship, and took his seat in the U. S. Senate, March 25th, IS71. In the Forty-Third Congress he was Chairman of the Joint Committee on Enrolled Bills, as well as a member of the Committees on Military Affairs, on Territories, and the Select Committee on the Levees of the Mississippi river,

party, when he became and still continues one of its most active members. In 1872, he was elected by the Republi- cans of the Twentieth District as their Representative to the Forty-third Congress, and has there proved himself a faithful, zealous and effective member. He has served on the Committees on Public Expenditure and Indian Affairs. llis sympathies for the down-trodden aboriginal race are well known, and were forcibly expressed by him in a speech delivered in the House, May Ist, 1874, on the " Indian Appropriation Bill," urging a continuance of the " Peace Policy " inaugurated during the administration of President Grant imder the auspices of the Society of Friends, and opposing the gunpowder system as advocated by those who believed in the principles of the old regime. lle is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for twenty years has been a member of the Centenary Board of the Erie Conference. He has also been for thirty years a Trustee of Allegheny College.

IIOEMAKER, LAZARUS DENISON, Lawyer and Legislator, was born in Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, November 5th, IS19, and is the youngest son of Colonel Elijah S. and Eliz- abeth (Denison) Shoemaker, who was the posses- sor of a large landed estate in the Wyoming Valley. Ilis paternal ancestors were natives of Holland, who left their country first for England, and afterwards emigated to America, locating on the banks of the Dela- ware. Ilis great grandfather, Benjamin S. Shoemaker, was one of the first white settlers of the Wyoming Valley in 1763, but after the first massacre, returned to the Dela- ware, where, subsequently uniting with emigrants from Connectient, he finally made a permanent settlement on the banks of the Susquehanna river, under the auspices of the " Connecticut and Susquehanna Land Company." Ilis son, Lieutenant Elijah S. Shoemaker, was killed at the second massacre of Wyoming, July 3d, 1778, his son, Elijah S., Jr., being only six weeks old. The maternal grand- father of. Lazarus. D. Shoemaker was Colonel Nathan Deni- son, a native of New England, who married Elizabeth Sill in 1769, in a log cabin situated within the present limits of the city of Wilkesbarre, being the first marriage of whites which ever took place in the Wyoming Valley; and Lazarus Denison, father of the late Charles Denison-who served in Congress from 1861 to 1867-was the first white child born in that section. Lazarus D. Shoemaker was first placed in

ICHMOND, HIRAM L., Lawyer and Legislator, was born in Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, May 17th, 1810, and is a son of Doctor Lawton Richmond, the family being of Norman descent. After receiving a thorough education in the academy of his native town, he engaged in the study of medicine under his father, and so continued for two years. Ile subsequently matriculated at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, and passed two years in that institution. Ilis early inclinations having tended in the direction of the law, he entered upon the requisite course of study to qualify himself for that profession under the preceptorship of Hon. David Derrickson of Meadville, ; the celebrated Moravian school, " Nazareth Ilall," for his and was admitted to the Bar in February, 1838. In the preliminary education, whence he was sent to the Gambier Grammar School in Ohio. He entered the Freshman class of Vale College, New Haven, in 1836, and graduated with honors in 1840. Ile subsequently engaged in the study of law with General Sturdevant of Wiikesbarre, and was ad- following April he commenced to practise as an Attorney at- Law at Meadville, where he has ever since been profession- ally engaged. Ile early manifested a deep interest in the political affairs of the country, being identified with the Whigs until the organization of the National Republican Imitted to the Bar in August, 1842, and has ever since prac-

1'al.

S. L. Richmond

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tised his profession in that city until the present time, except when interrupted by official duties. In 1866, he was nomi- nated by the Republican party as their candidate for the State Senate, and notwithstanding the district was strongly Democratie, his personal popularity was so great as to over- come all opposition, and he was returned by over two hun- dred majority. During his entire term of three years, he served with great honor to the Commonwealth; his con- stituents and himself laboring indefatigably for their inte- rests and the public weal. le served during his term as a member of the General Judiciary Committee, for the sec- ond and third years as its Chairman, beside being also con- nected with other important committees: Among the mea- sures he introduced and advocated was an "Act for the better and more impartial selection of persons to serve as jurors in each of the counties of the Commonwealth." This law secures from each county a commissioner for each of the two great political parties, who, with the Judge of the District, select all the jurors. Under this law, the character of jurors has greatly improved, it being the aim of each Commissioner to bring out the most respectable and judicious members of his own party. Another Aet which he supported is entitled the " Registry Law," for the prc- vention of illegal voting, and it is sustained by the honcst men of all parties. At the close of his term of service, he had given such satisfaction to his constituents that he was deemed worthy of advancement, and received the nomina- tion as Representative of the Twelfth District for Congress, and was elected, in 1870, by a majority of 1220 votes over his competitor ; he was re-elected, in 1872, by a handsome majority. In this new and more important sphere of duty he has likewise proved an indefatigable worker, not merely devoting himself to the interests of his constituents, but also to the whole country. Ile has rendered efficient ser- vice as Chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims and War of 1812; he is also a member of the Com- mittee on Claims. At home he is a public-spirited and enterprising citizen, being quite prominent in various cor- porations, among which are the Wyoming Insurance Com- pany, of which he is a director; he is President of the Wyoming Valley Manufacturing Company, and also of the Second National Bank of Wilkesbarre.

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The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 24

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 894

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 894