USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 37
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EET, JONATHAN D., Lawyer, and Justice of the Peace, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, July . 31st, 1815. The major por- tion of his education he received at Washington College, Pennsylvania. His father was a well- known and worthy Virginian, and was one of the earliest settlers in the county where Jonathan first saw the light. Ilis brother, Hon. Isaac Lect, was elected a member of the Twenty-fourth Congress, and, by his ability and energy, secured the admiration of all partics. Under the administration of Polk, Jonathan was the first Postmaster appointed in Washington county, Pennsylvania. After the expiration of his commission as Postmaster, he was elected to the Legislature, and served creditably dur- ing the sessions of 1850-'51. In 1852, he was appointed to supervise certain State improvements at Hollidaysburg, whither he removed in the same year. The onerous duties of this position he fulfilled admirably until 1855, when other affairs called him into other fields. Since this period, he has been noted as a prominent and influential member of the bar ; has served as a Town Councilman ; has, during seventeen years, been an indefatigable Director of Schools; and, in 1865, was elected Justice of the Peace, a post for which he was again chosen, in 1870. At the present time, he is Secretary of the School Board, and a legal practi- tioner in whom is placed great trust and reliance by his friends and townsmen. During 1843-'44-'45, he was ap- pointed Major of a battalion in Washington county, Penn-
themselves by their loyalty and courage, he commanding meanwhile in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, in order to protect the town. In 1841, he was married to Mary A. Callahan, daughter of Captain Daniel Callahan, of Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, a descendant of a family noted for patriotism. In 1852, he was married a second time, to Mary J. Sanders, daughter of Major Jacob San- ders, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
LARKE, ROBERT DUNLAP, Major, and Pay- master United States Army, was born at Browns- ville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, April 29th, IS16. Ilis father, Robert Clarke, who settled in F'a, ette county, in the beginning of the century, had been for many years previously engaged at Washington, Pennsylvania, in partnership with Neil Gil- lespie, the grandfather of Hon. James G. Blaine, of Maine, in manufacturing and forwarding flour to Pittsburgh, for shipment to New Orleans. Ile was also a Captain in the Pennsylvania militia during the celebrated " Whiskey In- surrection." Robert is one of ten children. His brother, General Ilenry T. Clarke, is Assistant Commissary . General of the Army. When fourteen years of age, he entered Kenyon College, near Mount Vernon, Ohio, where, among others, he studied with Professor Torshey of Louisiana, Ilon. John L. Dawson of Pennsylvania, Henry Winter Davis of Maryland, and Edwin M. Stanton, the latter being his room-mate, and with whom he formed a friend- ship that proved life-long. Close application to his studies beginning to tell upon his health, he was obliged, at the expiration of three years, to leave Kenyon ; after a season of rest, he entered Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Penn- sylvania, and graduated from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, subsequently receiving that of Master of Arts. For the year following, he was engaged as Professor of Ancient Languages at Madison College, and then entering the office of John Dawson, of Union- town, Pennsylvania, he pursued the study of law until he was admitted to the bar of that place, in 1841. He then formed a law partnership with his preceptor, and this con- nection continued until 1848, during which time he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the United States District and Circuit Courts. In 1848, he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained practising his profession until 1851, when he emigrated to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Here he paid no attention to the law, being deeply interested in real estate operations and in developing the copper-bearing regions bordering on Lake Superior; he published an interesting paper on this subject in Harper's Monthly. In , 1853, during Pierce's administration, he was appointed to a clerkship in the United States Treasury Department, and removed to
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Washington, where he remained in various clerical capaci- ties in the Treasury, the Pension Bureau, and Patent Office until 1861. In this year he was Principal Examiner in the Patent Office, and had charge of the department of patents relating to land carriages, and calorifies, discharging the onerous and exacting duties of the position with distin- guished zeal, ability, and fidelity. Originally a Whig in polities, he had later identified himself with the Demo- cratie party, but at the outbreak of the Civil War he became a Republican. In 1863, he was tendered by Edwin M. Stanton, his former college-mate, the appoint- ment of Additional Paymaster of Volunteers with the rank of Major of Cavalry. Accepting the commission, he was assigned to duty in Washington, where he remained until September, 1865, when he was ordered to New Orleans; in December following, he was assigned to duty as Post Pay- master at Galveston, Texas. At the close of the war he was brevetted Lieutenant- Colonel .of Volunteers, for faith- ful and meritorious services. In December, 1866, he was ordered to Washington, and on January 17th, 1867, was nominated and confirmed by the Senate as Major and Pay- master, United States Army; he was detailed for duty in the Bureau of Bounties and Back Pay due Volunteers, known as the Bureau of Preferred Claims. In March, 1867, he was ordered to Omaha, Nebraska, and was em- ployed in paying the troops serving in the Department of the Platte. While in this department, and upon duty near Fort Reno, Wyoming Territory, he participated in an en- gagement of over two hours' duration, between his escort and a band of Sioux Indians. In August, IS72, he was again ordered to Washington as Post-Paymaster, and has been stationed there since that date. Ile was married in 1847, to a daughter of Alpheus Wilson, at Morgantown, West Virginia. Mrs. Clarke is a granddaughter of Ilon. Thomas Wilson, a Representative in Congress fron Penn- sylvania during Madison's administration. A sister of Mrs. Clarke married Hon. John R. Ewing, some time Congress- man from Pennsylvania ; her uncle, Hon. Edgar Wilson, and her cousin, Hon. Eugene Wilson, also served in Con- gress. A sister of Colonel Clarke married Ilon. Henry W. Beeson, and another, Hon. John L. Dawson, both of whom represented Pennsylvania Districts in Congress ; a brother, G. W. Clarke, became an extensive operator in real estate, and for him were named " Clarke's Point," in South Chicago, and " Clarke's Station," on the Pitts- bargh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad. Ile has three children, a son, Colonel A. E. Clarke, who was a Com- missary of Subsistence during the late war, and two daughters. Ilis tastes are of a decidedly literary character,
WARR, HIRAM B., Lawyer, was born in London- derry township, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, March 9th, 1821. His father, Jacob Swarr, was a prominent manufacturer of Lebanon county, and a very able business man. Ile was also President of the Downingtown and Harrisburg Turnpike Company at the time of the construction of this road; and but for his early decease, which occurred in his thirty-seventh year, he would undoubtedly have attained high position and renown. His mother, who is still living, is a member of the well-known Behn family, of Lancaster, and, as the names indicate, he is on both sides of the family, of German descent. . Ilis paternal ancestors came to this country with the Huguenots, from the province of Straus- burg; his maternal ancestors also were among the earliest settlers in this thriving region. After leaving the common schools of the county, Hiram was further educated at Leba- non Academy, also at Beck's Academy, near Litiz, in the School House Lane Academy, at Germantown, and finally pursued a course of studies in the Abbeville Institute, situated near Lancaster. When in his sixteenth year, he entered the commission house of Day & Gerrish, in Philadelphia, and subsequently became a member of the firm. Finding that his tastes inclined him to prefer a professional life to mer- cantile pursuits, he disposed of his interest in the business, and, January Ist, 1845, entered the law office of George W. & Levi Kline, the principal legal firm of Lebanon county. Ile was admitted to the bar, April Ist, 1847, and, removing to Lancaster, began immediately the practice of his profes- sion. Being a man of an active and energetie temperament, and identifying himself with the Democratic party, he became one of the foremost political workers of the county. For upward of twelve years, he retained the position of Chair- man of the Democratic County Committee. In 1856, he was appointed by President Pierce, Postmaster of Lancaster county ; in 1857, was re-appointed to the same position by President Buchanan, and continued to fulfil its duties until the spring of 1861. Ile was also a Delegate from his Con- gressional District to the National Democratic Convention in Cincinnati, in 1856, which nominated James Buchanan for the Presidency; also to the National Democratic Con- vention which met at Charleston. In ISGS, he was the Democratic candidate for Congress from his district ; and such was his personal popularity in his county, that he received several hundred votes more than the " ticket," although the ascendancy of the Republican party prevented his election. In 1372, he was a member of the Electoral College, and during ten years was an honored member of the Lancaster School Board. Although so busily engaged profession the major portion of his time and unremitting at- tention, and has been engaged repeatedly on many cases of much local interest and vital importance. Throughout the life of that statesman, he was one of the most admired and most trusted friends of James Buchanan, who placed
and he delights to refresh himself by communion with in the political arena, he has never ceased to devote to his the best classical authors. He is' a finished linguist, speaking and writing the French, German, Spanish, and Italian languages, with each of which, as well as with Greek and Latin, he is as familiar as with his mother tongue.
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implicit reliance on his sagacity and honor; by him he was appointed his solicitor, while for several years previous to the death of Mr. Buchanan, he was entrusted with the entire management of his general affairs and his investments. Ile was also named as this gentleman's resident executor. During the late war, he was Secretary of the Committee of Safety, organized by the citizens of Lancaster, of which Dr. J. L. Atlee was chairman, and in this position he gleaned fresh laurels for his untiring promptitude upon all occasions, his affability, and his marked exactitude and accuracy. In December, 1847, he was married to a daughter of Simon Toby, for many years President of the Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania. He has three children living ; one son and two daughters, His son is connected with the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, and one of his daughters is married to the Rev. Ellis N. Kremer, of Bedford, Pennsylvania.
AUNDERS, WILLIAM, Superintendent of the Experimental Gardens at Washington, District of Columbia, and father of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, was born at St. Andrews, Fifeshire, Scotland, in December, 1822, and received his education in one of the well-known institutions of that city of universities. While in his sixteenth year, he was articled as an apprentice to a capable and efficient horticulturist, and early became an ardent gardener. In 1848, he left England for this country, making his home first in New York, afterward in Maryland, and subsequently in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Shortly after the battle of Gettysburg, he was appointed to lay out and arrange the Soldier's National Cemetery at that place, and this commis- sion he effected in a highly creditable manner. When the organization of the Department of Agriculture, at Washing- ton, was completed, he undertook, temporarily, the entire superintendence of the gardens of this department. In that trust he evinced such energy and ability, that in the autumn of 1862, he received a permanent appointment as Superin- tendent, a position which he has held to the present time. Ile has also devoted considerable time and attention to literary pursuits, and in 1850, was a contributor to Hovey's Magazine. In this magazine, he published an article illus- trating the principles governing plant-growth in propagating from cuttings ; that of keeping the bottoms of the cuttings from thirty to forty degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the buds exposed above the surface, in this manner exciting the root forming process, while bud-growth was retarded. This essay was widely copied in European horticultural journals. For several years he cdited the Farmer and Gardener, of Philadelphia, and fulfilled the numerous duties of its editor in the most satisfactory manner. He was the writer of the Preamble to the Constitution of the National Grange, and forcibly enunciated the principles upon which the organiza- tion is based.
OWNSEND, WASHINGTON, Lawyer and Con- gressman, was born in Westchester, Pennsyl- vania, January 20th, 1813. Ile received a thorough academic education, and in 1832 ac- cepted a position as Teller in the Bank of Chester County. While employed in that capacity, he also studied law under the direction of William Darlington, of Westchester, and was admitted to the bar in 1844, when he commenced practice. Ile served as Deputy Attorney-General under the administration of Attorneys- General Darragh and Cooper. In 1849, he was elected Cashier of the Bank of Chester County, and filled that' office with great acceptability and efficiency until 1857, when he resigned and resumed the practice of the law, in which he has since continued. Ile was a Delegate to the National Whig Convention at Baltimore, in 1852, and to the National Republican Convention at Chicago, in 1860. In 1868, he received the Republican nomination for the Forty-first Congress, in the Seventh District, and, having been elected, served with such zeal and ability that he has been successively returned to the Forty-second and Forty- third Congresses by large and overwhelming majorities. In addition to his general activity in all the leading measures in Congress, he is the Chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, and a member of the Committee on Freedmen's Affairs. In the Forty-first and Forty-second Congresses, he was also a member of the Committee on Education. Ile has taken a most active part in the improvement of the Homestead Law.
ILER, GEORGE, Miner and Engineer, was born in Somersetshire, England, August 5th, 1821. He was one of a family of ten, whose parents were George and Ann Filer, of the same town. Ilis father dying while George was very young, the lad was enabled to acquire but a slender share of education. In 1846, he came to the United States, and having been engaged in coal mining in his native country, he entered into the same business on his arrival here, obtaining employment in the Schuylkill coal regions. A year later, he removed to Tuscarora, and was employed in the mines of the Reading Railroad Company at that place. At the expiration of two years and more, he settled in Scranton, and in 1849, engaged with the Pennsylvania Coal Company, at that time the largest coal operators in the Lackawanna valley. His position with this company entailed upon him duties that were onerous and important- consisting chiefly in the sinking of shafts, the driving of tunnels, and in the general development of the mines. In 1854, he left the employ of the Pennsylvania Coal Company, and, leasing from S. Spencer and others some coal lands, began to mine for himself, a pursuit in which he was highly successful. Ilis lease expiring in 1862, he renewed it and associated with him J. R. Davis and J. F. Hunt; this
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partnership continued until 1867, when he sold out his in- terest in the mine-known as the " Roaring Brook Mine." Ilis next essay was at Green Ridge, where he operated for more than five years the " Oak Hill Colliery ; " and, in 1870, he also sunk a shaft at Carbon Hill, a colliery which, in July, 1872, was sold to the Erie Railroad Company. In 1871, he superintended the building of the Spring Brook Colliery, now owned also by the Erie Railroad Company, and known as the " Moosic Colliery." In the fall of 1873, he opened in Blakely township, about eight miles from Scranton, one of the largest collieries in this section of the State; this he is now operating; it is known as the " Win- ton Colliery," and is considered the largest " breaker " in this region; its capacity is 200,000 tons per annum. In connection with the Winton Mine, he has constructed and is at present completing another enterprise, to be called the " Filer Mine." From these two last-named collieries he and his partner, Thomas Levey, have contracts to deliver 300,000 tons per annum, with rights and privileges en ad- joining tracts which enable them to increase the volume to a half million within the next five years. As a developer of coal lands, he has no superiors and few equals ; his un- equaled judgment, displayed so often in locating happily numerous veins of coal, has won him unbounded admiration and esteem; while his advice and services are anxiously sought after by parties developing land in this section of our State. Repeatedly, when various mining enterprises have been abandoned as hopelessly unprofitable, he has turned his attention to them, and in many cases has trans- formed apparently profitless mines into the most productive collieries in the county. In fact, the greater portion of the developments mentioned herein, and attributed to him, are on tracts which had been abandoned by others as worthless ; and throughout the county there are many operators who are greatly indebted to his benevolent shrewdness in assist- ing them in the hour of need, in directing them where to strike their veins, and in proffering nseful and valuable counsel. Forty-five years of his life have been spent in mining, and during this time his wisdom, energy and per- severance have benefited in an incalculable degree his adopted State and country. In 1844, he was married to Martha Alsby, of England.
| himself was through humble circumstances debarred from the educational privileges in these days accorded to all so freely and fully. Ilis father being a stationary engineer receiving but a meagre salary, he was at an early date com- pelled to take part in the struggle for life. During nine months, however, he was a constant attendant at a free school; and for two years was a pupil in a night-school situated near his home. When but ten years of age, he was engaged in bottling root beer and setting up nine pins, and while busied with these humble occupations managed to save a trifling sum of money. Three years later, he was hired to work in a brick-yard near Harrisburg, where he remained until he had attained his seventeenth year. Ile was then indentured as an apprentice to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to learn car-building in the works at Altoona, Pennsylvania. And it is noteworthy that he was the first hoy taken as an apprentice by this company. After serving in this capacity for six years he was employed as a journeyman, when his remarkable mechanical ability, his industry, and his reliability procured him rapid advance- ment. At the present time, he is general foreman of the Car Department of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Ahoona. It was not until he attained his majority that he applied himself to study with any earnestness or persistence ; when, by diligent perseverance and commendable industry, he rapidly acquired a general knowledge of those things most useful to mechanics and artisans. In 1864, he was drafted to serve three years in the United States Army ; but his employers, who valned him highly as a capable and efficient workman, held a consultation, and freed him by paying the " redemption." In 1857, he was married to Isabella, daughter of Joshua and Christiana Reifsneider, who were among the first settlers in Altoona, and whose household effects were conveyed thither over the canal. In appearance, he exhibits the traits of a thoughtful and earnest character, and is modest and courteous in his mien and actions. He has never participated in the political dis- putes and movements of his time, and is known as a quiet and moral citizen. When but nine years of age, his career was very nearly cut short by an accident that precipitated him into a deep canal ; from this perilous situation he was rescued only after great exertion,
E VAN, JOIIN P., Master Mechanic, was born PEER, IION. ROBERT MILTON,, Lawyer and Congressman, was born in Cassville, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, September 8th, 1838. He is of Irish descent ; his parents, Robert and Agnes Speer, having emigrated from near Bel- fast, Ireland, to America, and settled in Hunting- don county, Pennsylvania, about 1820. He was the youngest child, and was left an orphan when quite young, his mother having died in 1851, and his father in 1852. in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, November 17th, 1834. Ilis ancestors emigrated to this country in 1699, and consisted of three brothers, who being embroiled politically with the Hugue- nots, and French Huguenots themselves, came to the United States to seek safety, tranquillity and fortune. Ilis father, John Le Van, was born in Kutztown, Berks county ; his mother, Johan Stonsh, was the daughter of worthy parents, and was born in Lebanon county. He He received his education in the Cassville Seminary, and 61
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afterwards engaged in the study of the law in the office of Wilson & Petrikin of Huntingdon. Ile was admitted to the bar in November, 1859, and forthwith commenced the practice of his profession in Huntingdon, where he has since continued it. IIe was Assistant Clerk of the House in the Pennsylvania Legislature during the session of 1863, and, in 1872, was a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Baltimore. Ile received the nomination for the 42d Congress from the Democrats of the 17th Con- gressional District, in 1870, was duly elected, and, having acquitted himself to the complete satisfaction of his consti- tuents, was re-elected to the 43d Congress. He has taken an active part in all the proceedings of the House; and ren-, dered acceptable and valuable service in the Committees on Elections, and on Expenditures in the Department of Justice. On both occasions of his election it was from a Republican district, and he ran from 1000 to 1500 ahead of his ticket.
ITCHIELL, IION. JOIIN II., Lawyer, and United States Senator, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, June 22d, 1835. After acquiring the rudiments of an English education at the pub- lie schools of his native county, he attended for some time the Washington Institute of Butler, and finished his scholastic course. under a private instructor. lle then entered the law office of Hon, "Samuel . A. Purvi- ance (of the firm of Purviance & .Thompson), in Butler, Pennsylvania, under whose instructions he remained for two years. After passing a most satisfactory examination, he was admitted to the bar of Butler county, in 1858. IIere he immediately commenced the practice of his profession, but remained only for a short time. The love of adventure and the inducement, which California seemed to offer to young and energetie men decided him upon venturing into a new field. Ile removed to San Francisco, and from thence to San Lui, Obi-per, California. Soon, however, he returned to San Francisco, and, in July, 1860, journeyed to Portland, Oregon, Finding here the haven which he had so long been seeking, he brought his " undetermined roving " to a close. IIe at once turned his attention to the builling up of a legal practice, and at the same time en- gaged actively in local politics. So quickly did he make his influence felt that in the following year, 1861, he was clected Corporation Attorney of Portland. The succeed- ing year, 1862, he was nominated and clected by the Re- publican party to the Oregon State Senate, in which body he served most faithfully and efficiently four years. During the first two years of his term he was Chairman of the Committee of the Judiciary, and the last two years he held the honorable position of President of the Senate. At the close of the first era of his official life so satisfactory was his record to his constituents, that they carne tly desired to further honor him with still higher proofs of their esteem
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