USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 36
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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
dent Judge of that court. He is President of the Ilyde pointed Colonel, and afterwards Brigadier-General, his services have become a matter of history. He enjoyed the high esteem and confidence of General Washington, and1 was by him assigned to many important commands and positions. John Maxwell, the grandfather of Henry D., was also one of those who fully met the claims which his country had upon him. Ile joined the Revolutionary army, and was raised to the rank of Captain. Participating in numerous battles, he long lived to enjoy the fruits of the independence he had fought to win, dying at Flemington in 1828, aged eighty-nine years. His wife was a Miss Clif- ford, a descendant of one of the " Mayflower" Pilgrims, and a lady of remarkable strength of character. Their eldest son, George C. Maxwell, became one of the leading lawyers of New Jersey, and represented his district in Con- gress, in 1812. Their youngest son, William, who was the father of Henry D., was a man of remarkable attainments, - acquired under the tuition of some of the most accom- plished teachers of his day and locality ; he graduated with high -honor at Princeton, in 1804. Ile studied law, and was admitted to the Bar in New Jersey, November 10th, 1808, and continued to practise in Flemington until his death, in 1828. Henry D. Maxwell resembles his father in his thirst for knowledge and the avidity with which he acquires it. In his fifteenth year, he had completed his preparatory: studies, and was qualified to enter Princeton College. . The death of his father required him to abandon his cherishedsobject, and use his energies in aid of a widowed mother and her six children. At this early age, he 'commenced, single-handed, the battle of life. Obtain . Park Bank, and is connected with several other financial institutions. Ile was one of the owners of 500 acres of land on which the city of Scranton now stands, and which was sold by him and his partners to the Scrantons and their associates, in 1846. This city, which was located subsequently to 1846, now contains a population of about 30,000 inhabitants, Ile has always been greatly inter- ested in all such public improvements as would develop that portion of the State with which he was imme- diately connected. Ile was an untiring advocate of slack water navigation of the Susquehanna, though neither he nor any other advocate of that project has ever been able to induce the State to undertake the enterprise. Ile was also an earnest advocate of the extension of the canal to the State line of New York, and furnished many articles to the public press in the interest of this work, which was finally accomplished. Thus, it will be seen that, both as an individual and a public officer, he has always taken an . active part in the affairs of his adopted State. Ile was married, in 1831, to Almira Swetland, of Wyoming, Penn- sylvania. There are few men who possess more fully the . entire confidence of his acquaintances, his chief character- istics being those of honesty and integrity, and a conscien -? tious discharge of all duties entrusted to him. + Having, acquired, mainly by his own industry and perseverance, a good English education, he is versed not only In the con- mon topics of the day, but may also be regarded as well! read in history, politics, and philosophy. Ile has had.con- ferred upon him, withont solicitation AXWELL, HON. HENRY D., Lawyer, and Judge, was born in the village of Flemington, Hunterdon county, New Jersey, December 5th, 1812. His great grandfather, John Maxweil, was of Scottish extraction, and emigrated to this country from the north of Ireland, with his four fand New Hampton, New Jersey, having about that time sons and two daughters, in 1747. Purchasing a fine' tract, of land in Greenwich township (now Warren county), New. Jersey, about three miles from" Easton, he resumed his business as a farmer. Ilis ellest son, William, after com- ing to this country, attached himself to the English army, and served with it in the French war; was with Braddock, and also at Quebec when Wolfe fell. At the breaking out of the Revolution, he was in the Commissary Departn.ent of the British army, and stationed at Mackinaw. He at once resigned his commission, made his way on foot through the then wilderness to Trenton, and tendered his services to the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. Ap. them his seniors, for that college life which he was required to forego. Returning to his home in Flemington, he com- meneed the study of law under the late Nathaniel Sexton, continuing it in the office of Thomas A. Hartwell, in Somerville, New Jersey, and completing his course under the tuition of his uncle, Hon. John P. B. Maxwell, at Bel- videre, New Jersey. He was admitted to the Bar, Septem- ber 4th, 1834. llis mother, a daughter of the late Major Henry Dusenberry, a successful merchant of Philadelphia removed to Easton,, Pennsylvania, he accompanied her, at ber request; and commenced the practice of law in Phillips- burg, residing with her in Easton. On November 7th, 1834, he was admitted to the Bar of Northampton county, Pennsylvania, and opened his office in Easton, in 1835. Ile was subsequently admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, December, 1836, and to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1841. Shortly after locating in Easton, he associated in partnership with the Hon. J. M. Porter. This connection continued for several years. In 1848, he was appointed Deputy Attorney-General for Northampton county, and again. in 1849, the same honor A. D. Maxwell 475 BIOGRAPIIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA. * was conferred upon him. In 1850, he was appointed by President Taylor Consul to Trieste, in Austria. Ilis health having been impaired by too close application to professional duties, he accepted the appointment, repaired to his post, and ably performed its requirements for about one year. Resigning, he returned to his home and resumed his profession. He continued his legal practice until July, I856, when he was appointed by Governor Pollock, Presi- dent Judge of the Third Judicial District of Pennsylvania, succeeding his brother-in-law, Hon. Washington McCart- ney, deceased. Ile was re-appointed in December, 1856, and continued to discharge the important duties of his post until December Ist, 1857. Upon his retirement, he was the recipient of the highest encomiums from the press, the bar, and the people. A public entertainment was tendered him by all of his fellow-citizens, irrespective of party, as a testimonial of their appreciation of his high character as a man and a jurist. It may be mentioned, as an example of his spirit of self-sacrifice at the call of duty, that when, in 1829, the then Secretary of the Navy, Samuel L. Southard, forwarded him a warrant as Midshipman in the Navy, he, finding his mother opposed to his acceptance of it, yielded to her wishes and resigned the tempting offer. In May, 1830, he gave his first vote in approval of the principles of the Whig party ; upon its dissolution, he warmly embraced Republicanism, and has continued unswervingly in that political faith. He was a Delegate to the National Con- vention at Baltimore, in 1844, when Clay and Frelinghuysen were nominated. In 1846, he was a candidate for Congress in the district called the " Tenth Legion of Democracy," opposed to the Ilon. Richard Brodhead, the nominee of the dominant party. In this contest, he reduced their usual majority of about 5000 to 1000, In 1853, he was elected to fill a vacancy in the Easton Town Council, and was im- mediately made its President. At the succeeding spring election, he received the highest vote of any candidate, and continued President of the Council until 1856, when he declined re-election. At an encampment held in Easton, in 1842, General George Cadwalader commanding, he was appointed Quartermaster-General. The title "General " was then accorded him by popular consent, until his subse- quent appointment as Judge. Ile has represented his party in numerous conventions, State and national, and served frequently on the State Central Committee. Through his instrumentality, in 1856, a Young Men's Christian Associa- tion was organized in Easton, of which he was made Presi- dent ; this position he still holds. He is also Secretary of the Fire Insurance Company of Northampton County, Sec- retary and Director of Easton Gas Company, member of the Board of Control of Public Schools, Chairman of the Committee on Grounds of Easton Cemetery, etc. Ile has alse been, for years, one of the Directors of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a Vice-President of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, and President of the Northampton County Bar Association. Ile received the honorary degree of A.M., from Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1844. By Governor Curtin, he was appointed, in 1861, Paymaster-General of the Pennsylvania Reserves, with the rank of Colonel ; with that celebrated corps he continued until they entered the field in the service of the United States, Was again appointed, by Governor Curtin, in 1862, President Judge of the Third Judicial District of Pennsyl- vania, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Findlay. Ile married, May 9th, 1854, Maria Louisa, daughter of John Iloneyman, a physician of prominence, of New Germantown, New Jersey. In the practice of the profession to which he has returned, he has been unusually successful. Frankness and cordiality, joined with quick business habits and untiring industry, have given him a strong hold on the confidence of the community as a practi- tioner. Ilis habit of thorough research and vigor of intel- lect, have made him prominent as a jurist, Generous to a fault, philanthropic in motive, with a high moral character and popular manners, having a kind word for every one, his commanding influence in society is easily understood. lle is still active and energetic, as when " stumping it " in '46, and is truly one of the representative, high-minded men of the United States. OSS, HION, SOBIESKI, Surveyor, Civil Engineer, and Congressman, was born at Coudersport, Pennsylvania, May 16th, 1828. He is of Scotch extraction, but his ancestors long since emigrated to this country, and may be considered as among its earliest settlers. Ilis grandfather, Thomas Ross, served with distinction during the Revolutionary War, and his father, David Ross, was an officer of the War of 1812, and has always been a prominent citizen in the section of the State where he resided. The early education of Sobieski was quite thorough, he having always evinced a disposition to acquire knowledge. Ile was especially fond of mathematics, and carly excelled in that branch of learning. After having acquired a sufficient elementary education, he adopted surveying and civil engineering as a profession ; he also engaged in the study of law, but its practice not being congenial to his tastes, he has never attempted or desired to follow it as a business. Always passionately attached to his profession, he has devoted much time and study to the duties and science appertaining to surveying and engineering. Ile has been for several years actively engaged in settling a large tract of land in th northern counties of the State of Pennsylvania. Ilis pur. suit as engineer affording him great facilities and advan. tages, he has operated largely in real estate, and in some of these operations has been very successful. Ile has done much to develop the country through the northern portions of the State, and being both patriotic and public spirited, 476 BIOGRAPIIICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA. has taken the lead in many enterprises which have proved most lucrative and advantageous. Besides being engaged in real estate operations, he is largely interested in mining. Ile has also given much attention to agricultural pursuits, and being the possessor of a fine farm, has contributed largely to the improvement of the scientific and practical methods of cultivation. He has never been considered a leading politician ; nevertheless, being widely and favorably known, and being considered, in a marked degree, as reliable and efficient, he was nominated by the Republican party of the Eighteenth District of Pennsylvania, in 1872, and elected as their representative to the Forty-third Con- gress. Since his advent into Congress, he has displayed fine business qualifications, great familiarity with the leading questions of the day, and is considered one of the working members of that body. Always alive to the best interests of his constituents, he is untiring in his earnest efforts to serve them. IIe is on the Committees of Agriculture and Militia, where his experience and learning render his services of importance. IIe is in the prime of life, and with his practical mind and scientific attainments, his posi- tion in Congress, as elsewhere, must ever be in the front rank. ILLIKEN, JAMES F., Lawyer, was born in Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, . July 19th, 1847. He is the son of Samuel Milliken, a prominent citizen and successful business .man of Central Pennsylvania, and grandson of IIon. James Milliken, late of Lewistown, a distinguished professional man and officer. He was educated at Tusca- rora Academy, Academia county, at the Pennsylvania Military Academy, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in various other well known educational establishments of the State. Throughout his school life, he was noted for his ap- plication, and a power of grasping the principle of an abstruse subject which is possessed by few. In 1864, he pursued a course of legal studies with IIon. S. S. Blair, of Hollidaysburg, and was admitted to the bar, July 26th, IS68. In this town he engaged in active practice, and was TRANG, HON. BUTLER B., Lawyer, Senator, and Speaker of the Senate of Pennsylvania, son of .the Rev. Francis Strang, a prominent minister of the Methodist Church, was born in Steuben county, New York, March 6th, 1829. His family remov- ing to Pennsylvania in the year 1839, he was enabled to enjoy the advantages of the classical and mathe- matical academies of this State. After completing his pre- liminary education, at the age of twenty he commenced the study of law, and was achnitted to the bar of Tioga county, Pennsylvania, when twenty-two years of age. Entering with the zeal and activity of youth on the prosecution of his profession, he at the same time exhibited a lively interest in political questions, and soon became a recognized leader in soon busied with the cares and responsibilities attendant upon a large and remunerative clientage. . As a criminal lawyer, he has attained a wide reputation, and to him is assigned the greater portion of the criminal cases tried in the eourts of his county. Repeatedly, he has been pitted in the legal arena against many and veteran antagonists ; but in almost every case, the embarrassing net of his impreg- nable arguments, and the keen trident of his eloquent philippies and harangues, have entitkel him to the wreath and award of the victorious combatant. At an early date, he participated actively in the prevalent politics of his time, and, before he had attained his majority, was a Delegate to the Republican County Convention. In every political campaign, he has been a prominent mover; he, at the | the Republican party of his section, and was early in life present time, is President of the Allegheny Hook and Lad .. der Company. He is a man of considerable literary ability ; a fluent writer ; and a ready, pleasing, and effective speaker. Ile is also Captain of the Juniata Riflemen, belonging to the 5th Regiment, Fifth Division, National Guards of Penn- sylvania ; and during many past years, has taken a leading part in all public affairs. LARK, JOIIN M., Brevet Major, United States Army, Treasurer of Blair county, Pennsylvania, was born in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, February 6th, 1839. His parents, Robert and Mary Clark, were born in America. IIe was educated in the common schools of Delaware county, where he manifested unusual insight and perseve- rance. Soon after abandoning school life, and when in his seventeenth year, he entered the service of the United States Army, and served as a private under General Scott in the Mexican War-in Company I, Second Dragoons. In September, 1848, he married and moved to Altoona, Blair county, Pennsylvania, where he connected himself with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in whose employ he remained until 1861. He then entered the United States' service with the commission of Captain, and during three years, served as a faithful officer in defence of the Government and the Union. At the close of the Rebellion, he was commissioned as Brevet Major for gallantry shown repeatedly during the war. In 1865, he was appointed Police officer for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in Altoona, Pennsylvania. In this position he has served up to the present time. In 1868, he was elected Treasurer of Blair county, and in this capacity has ever held himself upright and free from reproach or suspicion. IIe is noted for his ability, his shrewdness, and his gentlemanly demeanor at all times and under all circumstances. BB Shang 477 BIOGRAPHICAL, ENCYCLOPEDIA. honored by election to the office of District Attorney of Tioga county. In the fall of 1860, he was elected to the House of Representatives, and served two years; again, in the fall of 1867, he was chosen Representative of his county, and for the four years following ably served his constituents in the lower House. So satisfactory was his record as a public official during these years that, in 1872, he was elevated by his fellow citizens to the Senate of the State, and to the Speakership of that body he was elected, in 1874. During the unfortunate Civil War, his influence and best efforts were devoted to the preservation of the Union, and his means were freely contributed for its per- petuation. Deeply interested in every portion of the State of Pennsylvania, he is particularly zealous in advancing the welfare and developing the resources of the section which he represents. In the organization and construction of the Jersey Shore & Pine Creek Railroad, he was the chief in- strument of success; to insure the completion thereof, he consented, contrary to his personal inclinations, to enter the Legislature for the second time. During the last two or three years, he has been unremitting in his efforts to accom- plish, for the benefit of his county, as well as the State at large, the construction of a branch of the Ionellville & State Line Railroad (from that point to New York), to connect directly with the great coal fields of Tioga county. Of this branch road he is the projector as well as the Presi- dent. Fully alive to the necessity for such means of transportation, he has steadfastly persisted in urging and assisting its construction until success has, at last, crowned his efforts; the line will be completed during the coming season. Ile was the first to recognize this outlet as the natural channel, to the great markets, of the coal and pine lumber trade of Tioga county. The want of railroad com- munication to leading points having previously compelled the traffic from that county to pass across the border to New York State, was a great drawback upon the advance- ment and prosperity of that region. In the prosecution of this project to successful completion, he encountered many discouraging rebuffs and disheartening circumstances. While $120,000,000 had been appropriated by Legislative enactment for the benefit of other sections of the State, the veto of Governor Geary prevented him from obtaining the $4,000,000 which, through his influence, had been appro- priated for the internal improvement of the locality repre- sented by him. Nothing daunted by this unexpected blow from the Executive, he at once proceeded to enlist, in behalf of his great practical work, the aid of private capital, and to-day he enjoys the proud satisfaction of contemplat- ing his perfected enterprise and its beneficial results-the greatly increased and abiding prosperity and wealth of his country and its inhabitants. Ile was married, in early life, to the daughter of Charles T. Douglas, of Tioga, thereby still more fully identifying himself with the home of his adoption, where he is respected as a model citizen. As a legislator and an able, upright lawyer, he stands pre- eminent. Though quiet and unassuming in manner, as a presiding officer he exhibits the dignity and decision which ever command respect from opponents as well as from friends, while his knowledge of parliamentary law renders him peculiarly acceptable as President of a legislative body. OESER, HENRY, Architect and Civil Engineer, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, May 3d, 1821. Ilis father was a wealthy mill-owner and afforded him every means for the acquirement of a thorough education, and he finally graduated, one of the first pupils, at the Polytechnic School of Hesse-Darmstadt, when only seventeen years of age. HIe then entered into business as a mechanical and archi- tectural draftsman, and was connected with large works in his native country, and, for a number of years, was a promi- nent member of the Industrial Society. For about two years he was engaged as constructing engineer to the Main Neckar Railroad. In 1849, he emigrated to the United States, and, after remaining for one year with his brother, in Union county, chiefly for the purpose of perfecting him- self in the English language, he removed to Pittsburgh and commenced business as an architect and civil engineer. lle is the inventor and patentee of a printing press, and also of an apparatus for printing directions on newspapers. In 1852, he associated in partnership with John N. Barr, and they continued business as architects, and numerous public school buildings, the Allegheny County Work-house and Allegheny City Poor-house, several churches, and a large number of private dwellings attest their taste and skill. In 1865, Mr. Moeser was appointed Consul for western Pennsylvania and West Virginia by the govern- ment of Ilesse-Darmstadt, and, in July, 1871, the German Empire renewed the appointment. A man of great pub- lie spirit and estimable character, he is an energetic pro- moter and generous supporter of all schemes calculated to advance the material and moral prosperity of the commu- nity of which he has been so long a member. Ile was married, in 1852, to Augusta, daughter of A. Michaels, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. AY, HON. MALCOLM, Lawyer, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March Ist, 1842. Ilis preliminary education he attained in the Preparatory Department of the University of Pennsylvania, under the tuition of the eminent Dr. Samuel Crawford. After pursuing various courses of studies in various schools and academies, he journeyed westward, in his seventeenth year, and settled finally in Missouri. Here he engaged in mercantile pur- suits, continuing in them, however, but for a short time. 478 BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA. Three years later, he returned to Trenton, New Jersey, | sylvania; and, during the late war, his sons distinguished where he studied law under the tutorship of Chief Justice Mercer Beasley, and was admitted to the bar, February 22d, 1865. Removing to Pittsburgh, he engaged in active practice, and has since secured an extensive and honorable clientage. Ile has been an active member of the Demo- cratic party, and an influential member of several political conventions, where his acumen, ability, and inflexible de- termination have won high praise and esteem. He has always been a prime mover in every important measure, or action, concerning the Protestant Episcopal Church, and in many church bodies and associations has worked to render himself useful in any and every manner. Ile is President of the Mercantile Library of Pittsburgh. In 1572, he was elected a member of the Convention to Amend the Constitution of Pennsylvania, and sat with it through its sessions, extending to November 3d, IS73. Ile was also Chairman of the Committee on Accounts and Expenditures of the Convention, and on Militia. Ile is an able and very promising lawyer, and is far from seeking or aspiring to political honors. He is Trustee of the Dollar Savings Bank, an officer of various important local com- panies, and the solicitor of various corporate bodies. Peter Hay, of Philadelphia, was his grandsire. Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.