The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 25

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

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ARRY, EDWARD OWEN, Attorney at Law, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the 3d of July, 1807. He is the eldest son of Edward Parry, who emigrated to this country from his birth-place, Anglesea, North Wales, in the latter part of the last century. Through his mother, a daughter of the Hon. Benaiah Collins, of Massa- chusetts, he claims descent from those early Pilgrim Fathers who came over in the " May Flower." Edward Parry,

the elder, was a well-known and highly respected merchant of New England for a number of years, but failing in business during the financial crash of 1817, he moved to Baltimore. From Baltimore, in 1821, he moved to New York, and from there, in 1822, to Philadelphia. Edward Owen Parry was educated at the best schools of Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, and in the grammar school attached to the University of Pennsylvania. Ilis father desired him to study law ; but, wishing to earn his own living, he went to sea for one year, before the mast, in the hope and expectation of receiving the appointment of Midshipman in the navy. Failing in this, he yielded to his father's continued wish, and studied law in the office of Ilenry Chester, in Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar, February, 1829, and moved to Pottsville, August, 1829, where he has lived ever since in the practice of his profession, highly respected and uni- versally esteemed. In 1830, he was appointed Solicitor for the Borough, which position he has filled, execpt for short intervals, until within a short time, when he declined a re-election. Ile drew up the borough charter of 1831, most of the ordinances for the government of the borough were passed at his instance, and he has been identified in a marked degree with all borough improvements. In July, 1831, he married a daughter of the late Judge Witman, of Reading. Since 1833, he has been a vestryman of Trinity Church, and, since 1838, he has represented that church in the Diocesan Convention, in which body he has always occupied a very prominent position. Ile is now and has bcen for years a leading member of the Schuylkill county bar. After the death of Judge Ilequis, in 1862, he received the appointment of President Judge of this district. Ile has been mentioned prominently in connection with the nomination for Judge of the Supreme Court. Without solicitation on his part, most of the leading members of the coal trade in Schuylkill county and in Philadelphia, united in recommending him as Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States. Governor Curtin, without Judge Parry's knowledge, was on the point of recommending him for the appointment of Brigadier General, but refrained for the reason, as he expressed it, of the great service he was ren- dering at home. IIe was an earnest supporter of the war policy of the administration during the Rebellion, and has been a member of the Republican party since its organiza- tion. Both his sons, as well as his son-in-law, were in the regular army. Ile is at present in full practice of his pro- fession, and has earned reputation in the argument of a large number of important cases before the Supreme Court;

he also acts as counsel for the Schuylkill and Columbia county portions of the Girard estate, a position of im- portance and dignity. He is a Christian gentleman of ripe and extensive legal learning, and of high literary attainment. He came to the country withont means and friends, and at once took a high position, a position which he has always sustained and increased.

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INDERMAN, HENRY RICHARD, M. D., Di- rector of the United States Mint, was born in Lehman township, Pike county, Pennsylvania, on December 26th, 1825. His father, Dr. John J. Linderman, practised medicine in the valley of the Delaware for nearly half a century, and married a sister of the late Senator Richard Brodhead. After receiving a thorough academic education, he engaged in the study of medicine with his father, and completed his course at the Medical Department of the University of New York, and the New York Hospital. He commenced the practice of his profession with his father, in 1845, and in the early part of 1851, removed to Nesquehoning, Carbon county, Pennsylvania, where he continued in practice until September, 1853, when he was appointed principal clerk in the office of the Director of the Mint, at Philadelphia; he continued in that position until 1865, when he resigned to engage in private business. He was appointed Director of the Mint by President Johnson, in 1867, and held that office until he was succeeded hy Ex-Governor James Pol- lock, in May, 1869. In July following, he was selected by lIon. George S. Boutwell, Secretary of the Treasury, to examine the Western mints and adjust some intricate bullion questions. These investigations were continued until 1872, when he was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury a commissioner, with Professor R. E. Rogers, of the University of Pennsylvania, to examine the subject of wastage in operating on gold and silver bullion, and was also a member of the commission for fitting up the new mint at San Francisco. In 1872, he made an elaborate report upon the condition of the market for silver, and pre- dicted the decline in its relative value to gold, which has since taken place. With a view to obtaining an advan- tageous market for the large and increasing production of that metal in the United States, he projected the coinage of the Trade Dollar, which was subsequently authorized by law, and successfully introduced into the Oriental markets with marked advantages to American commerce. In the same report he called attention to the disadvantages arising from the computation and quotation of exchange with Great Britain on the old and complicated colonial basis, and from the undervaluation of foreign coins, in computing the value of foreign invoices and in levying and collecting duties on foreign merchandise at the United States Custom Houses; he was the author of the Act of March 3d, 1873, which corrected the defective laws referred to. In 1869 and 1870, he assisted John Jay Knox, then Deputy Comp- troller of the Currency, in the preparation of the Coinage Act of 1873, which established the mints and assay offices of the United States as a Bureau of the Treasury Depart- ment at Washington. When this Act took effect, April Ist, 1873, he was appointed Director of the Mint, organ- ized the Mint Bureau, and in this capacity exercises a general supervision and management of all the mints and assay offices in the United States,

URNS, ROBERT, Physician, was born in Glas- gow, Scotland, November 7th, 1809. ITis father was an Irishman, of good family, and his mother a Scotch lady; they were married in Scotland, but shortly afterwards removed to Ireland, where they continued to reside until 1830, in which year they emigrated to the United States. Robert Burns received his early education in Newtownards, county of Down, Ireland, removed subsequently to Dublin, where he passed successfully a preliminary examination, and then entered the office of Dr. William Strane, who at that time held the leading position among the physicians and sur- geons of the city. . In November, 1828, he commenced a course of study in the University of Glasgow, which he continued until November, 1829, and the following year he returned home. His father, who had for some time contemplated emigrating to the United States, had now finally determined on that course, and in Angust, 1830, the family arrived in Philadelphia, after a passage of seven weeks, Robert Burns having filled the position of Surgeon on board the vessel in which they crossed the Atlantic. In March, 1831, he commenced the business of Pharmacy, in Frankford, and, in 1839, received his M. D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. IIe then entered upon practice as a physician, and has continued the same until the present time (1874). ITis career has been a most successful one, and his practice is one of the most extensive in the neighborhood. Ile has, for many years, held the position of Assistant Surgeon to the United States Arsenal at Frankford. Ile has a family of seven daughters and two sons; one of whom, Robert, died in 1863, and the other is Dr. R. Bruce Burns, a surgeon of great promise.

AND, THOMAS C., President of the Delaware Mutual Safety Insurance Company, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 10th, 1811. Ilis father, Caleb Iland, was a prominent ship- owner of that city and the founder of various lines to the South, among them IIand's Line of Packets to Alexandria, Portsmouth, and Norfolk, Vir- ginia; since extended to New Orleans, Louisiana. Lis mother was of Swedish descent, and was the daughter of John Kcen, a very noted builder and architect. Hle re- ceived his education in the schools of his native city, and though he left these at the age of fifteen, such was his dili- gence and assiduity that he obtained a thorough English education. At first, after leaving school, he entered the book business, in Bradford's establishment, but shortly afterwards passed into the employ of John B. Grant, auc- tioneer, and here his steady habits and sound judgment soon led his employer to place much confidence in him; and though but eighteen years of age, he had the entire charge of the financial affairs, while his principal was

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prostrated by disease, which eventually terminated fatally. Hle next became engaged with the firm of Weber & Ken- dill, wholesale dry goods merchants; and from the very commencement of his entrance into their establishment, although not then nineteen years of age, was given the en- tire charge of their counting room. From the position of head clerk he became junior, and eventually senior partner of the firm. In 1846, the firm of Miller, Iland & Eagle- owing to its many debtors having already availed them- selves of the provisions of the National Bankrupt Act of IS42-were compelled to suspend operations. They im- mediately called a meeting of all creditors, who at once agreed to accept seventy-five per cent. of thei. claims; and this w.is paid to the last dollar. Throughout the entire period, when the firm was thus occupied in settling up their affairs, they were the recipients of a large amount of sympathy from not only their creditors, but from all the business community to whom they were known : such was the high standing of the firm for integrity and fair dealing. Owing to the illness of the senior partner, Mr. Miller, the firm decided to relinquish further business operations, and in October, 1849, Thomas C. Hand proceeded to New Orleans, as a co-agent with Samuel F. Ashton, for the Delaware Mutual Safety Insurance Company. Having found that the business was not. sufficiently remunerative to justify the removal of himself and family to a climate so notoriously unhealthy, he returned to Philadelphia, and, in the autumn of 1850, was elected Vice- President of the company. He held this position uninterruptedly until the decease of the President, in 1862, when he was unani- mously elected to that office, which he has held until the date of the present writing ( July, 1874). Believing, as he does, that his first duty in life is to his family and to the corporation over which he presides, he has steadily refused to allow his name to be brought before his fellow citizens as a candidate for any office in their gift. Although his age prevented him from taking any active part in the late war of the Rebellion, yet his influence and private means were at the disposal of the Government, and he did not hesitate to use them. During the entire period of the four years' strife, the Board over which he presided never met without taking some action whereby the sinews of the Union cause were strengthened, and the treasury repeatedly sympathized in donations to the various voluntary organi- zations created and operated during this period. Ile is one of the original members of the Union League; a mem- ber of the Philadelphia Board of Trade, and President of the Board of Fire Underwriters of Philadelphia ; also a man- ager of that noble charity, The Merchants' Fund. Though occupying so elevated a position in the business commu- nity, he is one of the most retiring of men, and yet active, industrious, and indefatigable in all that relates to his official position. Ile is possessed of a true sympathy for those deserving it, and his private donations are those which are described as being effected by the right hand,

while the left is ignorant of the gift. His religious faith is that of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and for a time he was a vestryman of old Christ Church; in later years, however, he has been an active and leading member of the Church of the Atonement. Ile was married, in 1840, to Maria Flanagan, daughter of a prominent wholesale grocer of Philadelphia.

VANS, IION. IIENRY S., Journalist and Legis- lator, was born in Doylestown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, April Ist, 1813. At the age of fourteen, he was apprenticed to the Ilon. Henry A. Miner, editor and publisher of the Village Record, published at West Chester, Chester county, Pennsylvania, then a small sheet with a limited circulation. On completing his apprenticeship, he visited Germantown and Philadelphia, and worked as a journey- man in various printing offices in those places. Returning to West Chester, in 1835, he purchased the entire interest of the Village Record, and assumed its editorship. Since that time the paper has constantly increased in circulation and public favor, until it now ranks among the very best rural weekly papers of the State. Necessarily in this position he took an active interest in the political questions of the day, throwing his influence and that of his paper on the side of the Whig, and later the Republican party. In 1846, he was elected a member of the State Legisla- lature for three years, and, in 1850, was chosen State Senator, an office for which he had been a candidate also in 1845, and had lost by only one vote in the nominating convention. Symptoms of failing health having mani- fested themselves in 1869, he spent several months in Europe, whence he returned with invigorated powers, and the following year was again elected State Senator by his fellow citizens. In the midst of his term of service, how- ever, in February, 1872, he was seized with a violent attack of pneumonia, which terminated fatally on the 9th of that month. Ilis legislative services were numerous and important. Ile was member of several of the most prominent committees in the Ilouse and Senate, and was Chairman of the House Committee on Printing and Education, While in this latter position, he originated and framed the Act which was passed by both Houses for the Regulation of Common Schools in Pennsylvania. For many years before his death he had been a member of the Episcopal Church, and held posts of trust in the Masons and Odd Fellows Lodges of his town. Among the youths who from time to time learned the printing trade in his office were Bayard Taylor, Judge Butler, Judge Pas- son, and IIenry T. Darlington, Editor of the Bucks county Intelligencer. He married, in 1842, Jane, daughter of the eminent botanist, Dr. William Darlington, of West Chester, and left, at his death, the paper he had so

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successfully built up to his two sons, Barton D. and | Ile has been twice a member of the Electoral College of William D., who have continued to carry it on with similar tact and energy.

ROOMALL, JOHN M., Lawyer and Statesman, was born in the township of Upper Chichester, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and is the son of John and Sarah ( Martin) Broomall, of that locality. Ilis ancestors, prior to the commence- ment of the eighteenth century, were English, and of the religious faith of the Society of Friends. IIe received his education in the Friends' School in his native county, and also in Wilmington, Delaware, at. Smith's Quaker Academy; in both of which institutes of learning he betrayed a remarkable fondness for mathematics, and made great progress in that branch of study. In the interim between his attendance at school, and while 'yet a pupil, he took upon himself the role of a teacher,' and for a brief space pursued that avocation with success in the Friend,' Academy. In 1837, he commenced the study of law in the office of the late Judge Bouvier, of Philadelphia, and in the month of May, 1840, was admitted to the bar. Although his predilections were in' favor . of a 'home' life, devoting especial attention to agriculture, yet . he allowed himself to be drawn into the practice of his professioni, and, by 1848, he had attained a very respectable number of clients, to whose interests he devoted 'himself. He was elected to the lower branch of the Legislature, and served during the sessions of 1851 and 1852, with acceptability to his constituents. During 1854, he was a member of the State Revenue Board. In 1862, he was elected a Repre- sentative of his district in Congress, and was continuously returned at three separate elections, his service in the House terminating in 1869; though again nominated, he refused to accept the office. During his career in Washington, he acted as Chairman of several important Investigating Com- mittees, was a member of the Committee on Expenditures, and for two years was Chairman of the Committee on Ac- counts. During his term, he also served as a member of the Committee appointed to investigate-the. Massacre at Memphis. He was also a zealous advocate for the several Amendments to the Constitution which pointed towards the consequences of Emancipation, and the bestowment of Universal Suffrage. In 1872, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania, and, during several sessions of that body, served as Chairman of the Committee on Taxation, etc. He earnestly labored in the Convention for the Abolition of Capital Punishment, and also in behalf of Female Suffrage. During the War of the Rebellion, in 1862 and 1863, when the State was invaded by the armed insurgents, he volunteered, and served as Captain of a Company of " Emergency Men," and was in the field for two months defending the border.

Pennsylvania, first, in 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was chosen President for his first term ; and again, in 1872, when General Grant was re-elected. In 1874, he was ap- pointed President Judge of the District, which position he still retains. He was much interested in the extension of the city of Chester, and is the principal owner of the South Ward, which he laid out. With other parties embarked in the improvement, he purchased and projected most of the ground now occupied as South Chester ; and to both of these enterprises he gives much attention. Of late years, he has manifested considerable interest in the extension, welfare, and prosperity of Media, the shire town of Dela- ware county. Ile was married, in 1841, to Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Martha Booth, of Delaware county, who died, in 1848, leaving two children, one of whom, a son, is at present practising law in Chester; and the other, a daughter, has graduated in medicine, at Philadelphia, and is now continuing her studies in Vienna. He was married a.second time, in 1853, to Caroline L., daughter of John and Charlotte Larkin, of Chester.

ATTS, IION. FREDERICK, Commissioner of Agriculture, was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, May 9th, 1801. Ile is a son of the late David Watts, who was one of the most distinguished lawyers of Pennsylvania, and practised exten-

... sively through all the middle counties. His mother was a daughter of General Henry Miller, of Re- volutionary fame, who commanded the United States troops at Baltimore, during the War of 1812. His grandfather, Frederick Watts, was a member of the Executive Council, of Pennsylvania, before the Revolution, and one of the most prominent men of the Province and subsequent State. Having been duly prepared, he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle, whence he graduated in 1819. Led by an early acquired taste for agricultural pursuits, he then went to Erie county, Pennsylvania, where he spent two years upon the farm of his uncle, William Miles, during which time he was engaged 'in all the operations of the farm and mills erected thereon. He returned to Carlisle in 1821, and en- tered the office of Andrew Carothers, as a student at law. Having been admitted to practice in August, 1824, he be- came a partner with his preceptor, and soon acquired a large and lucrative practice. In 1831, he was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the Reporter of their De- cisions, and during the fourteen years in which he held that position he published twenty volumes of law reports. The pressure of professional duties compelled him to withdraw in 1845. In the same year, he was elected President of the Cumberland Valley Railroad Company, which was then suffering great pecuniary embarrassment, and was likewise out of repair and dilapidated. He devoted his energies to

vall

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its recuperation ; and during his long Presidential career it | schools, after which time he began the study of medicine was renewed and brought up under his energetic and able under the preceptorship of Professor Robert M. Huston, of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, at which institution he graduated in the spring of 1846. The location he se- lected for practice was Downingtown, Chester county, Penn- sylvania, at which point he has been engaged ever since in the active duties of his profession. ITis skill and care have secured for him a just eminence among the prac- titioners of the county; and his strict observance of the ethics of his profession have won for him the esteem of its members. For more than twenty years he has been a member of the Chester County Medical Society, and twice has been elected its President. He has always taken a deep interest in the social and political questions of the day, and has frequently been present as Delegate in the County and State Conventions of the Republican party, to which he has always been attached. Ile was one of the pioneers of the " free soil " movement in the United States ; and has always been a zealous participant in the various Anti-Slavery organizations. Though often requested to become a candidate for office, he has uniformly declined; believing that his duty rather lies in his professional carcer. management to a high state of prosperity, paying all its indebtedness and yielding handsome returns to the stock- holders. In 1349, he was appointed President Judge of the Ninth Judici .. ] District, of Pennsylvania, comprising the counties of Cumberland, Perry, and Juniata. Under the amended constitution the Judiciary became elective, in 1852, and Judge Watts then resumed the practice of his profession, devoting his time to it and the management of his farms, in which he yearly grew more deeply interested. In 1854, he became one of the projectors of the Agricul- tural College of Pennsylvania, and upon its organization was elected the President of its Board of Trustees, in which capacity he still acts. In the same year ( 1854) he projected the erection of Gas and Water Works in his native place, and having formed a company was elected its President, and under his effective management it speedily developed into a substantial and paying enterprise. IIe remained its President for many years after its success was permanently assured, and finally withdrew to give his attention to other important works. Ile removed to his farms in ISGo, and as soon as possible retired from all practice at the bar, designing to devote his whole energies to the improvement and advancement of agriculture. ITis valuable experi- ments and practical demonstrations attracted such attention that, in May, IS71, he was tendered the appointment of Commissioner of Agriculture, but he declined, having determined to give his whole attention to his own farms. But he was finally induced to accept the appointment, and entered upon the duties, August Ist, IS71. After his re- moval to Washington, he declined a re-election to the Presidency of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, over which he had presided with so much ability and acceptability for twenty-seven years, and has since devoted himself assidu- ously to the practical development of the agricultural re- sources of the country. An admirable system pervades his department, and the three divisions are so excellently ar- ranged that the most detailed and accurate information can be obtained with the greatest facility. He was married, 24th of March, 1835, to Ilenrictta Ege, daughter of Michael Ege, of the Carlisle Iron Works, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania.

LLEN, SAMUEL T., Lawyer and Brevet Colonel United States Volunteers, was born in the town of Russellburg, Warren county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1837, and is a son of Samuel P. and Mary (Thompson) Allen. His father was of Scotch-Irish descent, his grandfather, a nephew of General Anthony Wayne; on his mother's side he is partly of German extraction. He was reared on a farm, and attended the district school during the winter months. In 1857, he proceeded with his brother, General Harrison Allen, and became a student in the Academy at Randolph, New York; and during the winter months following taught school with great success. During 1859, and the follow- ing year, he attended the Academy at Jamestown, New York. Ile commenced the study of law, in 18Co, in the office of B. W. Lacy, at Warren, Pennsylvania, where he remained until he entered the military service, in 1862, and was appointed Adjutant of the 15 Ist Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteers, commanded by his brother, (then) Colonel Ilarrison Allen ; he was also made aide-de-camp to General Rowley, of the First Corps, Army of the Poto- mac. IIe participated in several engagements, among these the great battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, in both of which he displayed great coolness and bravery, and was especially complimented. During the first day's fight, on the latter field, when the color-bearer of the 151st was shot down, and the men were breaking, he seized the flag, rallied the men, but was compelled to fall back to Cemetery Hill, where the line was again formed. On the

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The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 25

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