USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 38
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and confidence. In 1866, strenuous efforts were made by his political friends to secure him a seat in the Senate of the United States. They only failed to elevate him to this proud position through lack of one vote in the caucus. In 1865, he was commissioned, by the Governor of the State, Lieutenant Colonel in the State Militia. In 1867, he was elected Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in Williamite University, at Salem, Oregon, and occupied that Chair for nearly four years. In 1872, he gained the prize which six years before had so narrowly escaped his grasp. Ile was elected to the United States Senate, and took his seat as the successor of the Ilon. Ilenry W. Corbett, on March '4th, 1873. In this body he is an active member of the Committee on Privileges, Elections and Claims, and is one of the Select Committee on Transportation Routes to the Sea-board. As in the Senate of the State of his adoption, he occupies a prominent and influential position in the great Upper House of the Nation. He is possessed of remark- able energy and rare abilities, with the peculiar faculty of exerting the one and asserting the other, traits which caused him so quickly to be recognized as a natural leader by the citizens of Portland. From the year 1868 until January Ist, 1873, when he resigned all other engagements to enter upon his duties as United States Senator, he was constantly employed in positions of high trust and honor. For five years he was the attorney for " The Oregon and California Railroad Company," of Oregon, and " The North Pacific Steamship Transportation Company," of San Francisco, California, at an annual salary of ten thousand dollars, in gold coin. . Throughout his public career he has been dis- tinguished by enlarged views of statesmanship, unswerving ,adherence to the principles of the Republican party, to which he is devoted, and untiring energy in advancing any pro- ject to which he has pledged his support. A quick per- ception and sound judgment, united with business tact, have secured to him rapid and great success, and he carries with him an influence rarely in the possession of a man so young in years.
GRIFFIN, HENRY, Merchant and Agriculturist, was born in Ancram, Columbia county, Penn- sylvania, May 23d, ISI1. He was the son of Joseph Griffin and Elizabeth (Hoyradt) Griffin, SC and was of Welsh and German descent. Ilis father was a native of Westchester county, New York, but emigrated to what was then called Providence township, now known as Hyde Park. This occurred when Henry was in his fifth year, and thereafter during many years his parent was familiarly known throughout an ex- tensive circuit of the region as "Old Uncle Joe." Ilis education was necessarily meagre and limited, and when not in the school-room he was busily engaged in laboring on a farm. During the greater portion of his life, in fact, agricultural pursuits have engrossed his attention almost ex-
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clusively. In 1856, he participated actively in the specu- lative agitation then possessing this region, and invested very largely in coal lands, which he leased to corporations for mining purposes. By this means, he rapidly acquired an immense amount of property and vast wealth. During his lifetime he hekl many prominent positions, and in each and every one discharged the functions of his office in a satisfactory and honorable manner. He was President of the Poor Board during many years, and held this office up to the date of his decease; an influential Director in the Second National Bank of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and one of its largest stockholders ; President of the Providence and Abington Turnpike Company ; a Director in the Lacka- wanna Hospital, where his indefatigable efforts won him high encomiums in all quarters ; one of the foremost stock- holders of the Trust Company and Savings Bank of Seran- ton; Assessor of the Third Ward of Scranton, and Presi- dent of the School Board in the same place. In addition to these, he held numerous other positions of note and im- portance, and at all times was commended for his exacti- tude, his energy, and his shrewd and unerring judgment. Ile was also one of the charter members of the Hyde Park Lodge Free and Associated Masons, an institution in which he ever took a lively and generous interest. His religious inclinations led him to join the Society of Friends, while the Griffin family in general was likewise inclined from an early period to the present time. Ilis first wife was separated from him by death ; his second wife, and present widow, was, at the time of her marriage to him, in April, 1855, Mrs. Allis, then a resident of this vicinity, and formerly a Miss Briggs, of Dutchess county, New York. He died June 26th, 1874, and was buried with Masonic honors in Forest Cemetery, near Dunmore, on the outskirts of Scranton, Pennsylvania. As a man, he was beloved by all, and the citizens generally paid him the greatest respect, not only during his lifetime, but also at the time of his death, an event which called forth many eulogies from the press of this region. Though blunt in speech, he sympathized strongly with the failings and misfortunes of all, and was ever a prime mover in benevolent and charitable efforts.
ETZ, IION. J. LAURENCE, Journalist, and ex- Congressman, was born at Reading, Pennsylva- nia, September 14th, 1821. His father was an officer in the navy, and fought under Captain Laurence in the War of 1812. Ilis grandfather, on the maternal side, was a soldier of the Revo- lution. After receiving a thorough academic education, he pursued a course of law studies in the office of the llon. William Strong, of the Supreme Bench, and, in 1846, was admitted to practice. Subsequently he became connected with the press, and, from 1846 until December 5th, 1868, edited the Reading Gazette and Democrat, the Enghsh
organ of the Democracy of Berks county. During 1856- '57, he was a member of the State Legislature of Pennsyl- vania. In the first year, he was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Education, and Secretary to the Com- mittee of Ways and Means; in the last he was made Speaker of the House, and as such was noted for his strict impartiality, his quickness of perception, and his readiness in rendering decisions. From March 4th, 1867, until March 4th, 1873, he served in Congress, and during that period was a member of the Committees on Soldiers' and Sailors' Bounties, Public Expenditures, Public Buildings and Grounds, and the Mississippi Levees. Upon being re- elected to the Forty-second Congress as a Democrat, he re- ecived 10,411 votes against 5045 votes for N. Ilunter, Re- publican. While acting as a Congressman, he delivered few speeches, but these stamped him beyond question or doubt as a fluent and able orator ; one was in opposition to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson ; another in favor of the Repeal of the Income Tax and a general reduction of Internal Taxation ; another was a Eulogy upon the late IIon. John Covode, which was commended for the rare merit, in funcral oratory, of truth. Since his retirement from public life, he has contributed many articles of a political and literary nature to various newspapers and magazines; while at present he is meditating an early resumption of his former profession as a legal practitioner. As an upholder and de- fender of the sentiments of his constituents, and the brave and faithful chief of an influential party organ, he has merited and won high encomiums in every quarter; exhi- biting under all circumstances energy, loyalty, learning and perseverance. As a lawyer, he is highly esteemed by those sufficiently familiar with him to discern his merits, for his powers of analysis and judgment, his thorough course of reading, and his quick appreciation of the flaws, points and difficulties of an involved and vexatious case. Ile was married, in October, 1847, to Anna, eldest daughter of Rev. R. U. Morgan, D. D., a presbyter of the Protestant Episco- pal Church. She died in March, 1873, leaving two chil- dren, a son and a daughter.
LEXANDER, MILTON, Lawyer, was born in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, and his parents were Robert and Mary Alexander. His education he obtained first at Jefferson College, Cannons- burg, and finally at the University of Albany, New York. In 1867, he pursued a course of legal studies in Clarion, Pennsylvania, making himself ac- quainted with the preliminary formalities in law, in order to fit himself for more thorough study at a later period. Subsequently, he entered the Law Department of the Uni- versity of Albany, and graduated in April, 1869. May 5th, 1869, he was admitted to the Supreme Court at Al. bany. June 26th, 1869, he removed to Altoona, Pennsyl
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vania, where he soon became noted as a learned and able practitioner. In October, 1871, he was elected District Attorney of Blair county, Pennsylvania, and in this posi- tion won high praises and encomiums for his judgment and sagacity. In February, 1874, he was elected City Solicitor of Altoona, under the firm name of Alexander & Herr. IIc was married, September 10th, 1874, to Katy F. Morton, of 'Lancaster.
ACOE, RALPHI DUPUY, Merchant, was born in Pittston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 14th, 1S24. Ilis father, Anthony D. Lacoe, was born near Havre, France, in 1780, and at the time of the French Revolution was sent out of the country by his parents, and came to the United States, landing at Philadelphia, in charge of a friend of the family who was engaged in mercantile pur- suits. IIis mother was Amelia M. Dupuy, of Hayti, whose father was one of the few refugees that escaped from that island at the time of the insurrection. Ilis elder brothers served actively in the French Republican army of that eventful period. Finally, his father, after passing through the yellow fever scourge in Philadelphia, and losing every friend and acquaintance he possessed in the country, left this city, and settling near Pittston became one of the carly pioneers of the valley. IIere Ralph was born, and, after receiving the crude education obtainable in a country school of those days, learned under his father the trade of car- penter and builder. This business he followed for a few years, then engaged in the lumber trade, which was in turn abandoned for the purpose of entering into real estate trans- actions. To this business he has since devoted the greater portion of his time and attention. In 1860, he was chosen Cashier of the Pittston Bank, and continued to serve in this capacity until the consolidation of the institution, in 1864, into the First National Bank of Pittston. Previous to the consolidation, and at the organization of the First National Bank, he was chosen Vice-President, and continued to dis- charge the duties connected with both banks. This oc- curred during the war times, when the values of bonds and collaterals were constantly fluctuating, and when the posi- tion of financial manager was one beset with perils and endless difficulties ; under his administration these institu- tions invariably lent their hearty support to the Govern- ment, and invested in all the bonds they were able to man- age. These arduous duties undermined his health, and he was obliged to sever his official connection with the bank, and travel in the South in order to re-invigorate his shat- tered system. Returning to Pittston at the expiration of three years, he resumed his operations in real estate, and was soon actively and successfully occupied. The Gas Works of Pittston were built by him in connection with an- other enterprising capitalist, and he was one of the origi- nators of the Pittston Water Company, being at the present
time one of its most influential directors. Also, he is one of the organizers and incorporators of the Wyoming Insurance Company, a reliable and successful institution whose main office is at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. In 1856, at the solicitation of numerous friends, he was nominated Sheriff on the Republican ticket, but the county being largely Democratic he failed to secure an election. Ile was the first agent of the celebrated Dupont Powder Company in this section of the State, and worked successfully to insure its introduction and use here for mining and other purposes. In 1850, he was married to a member of the Clary family of Pittston. ITis success in life he attributes to his industry, economy and perseverance ; he is enterprising but cautious, and averse to entering into wild speculations.
ITNER, JOHN R., Capitalist, was born in Lan- caster, Pennsylvania, August 7th, 1826. IIis father, Abraham Bitner, was a well-known and influential citizen of this place, and was of Ger- man extraction, his ancestors being among the very earliest settlers in the State of Pennsylvania. Ilis mother, a member of the Porter family, was also of German descent. Until in his thirteenth year, John at- tended the common schools of his native city, obtaining an ordinary English education. IIe was then placed in a shop to learn the trade of cabinet maker, continuing here until he was twenty years of age, when he entered the employ of the State Railroad, since purchased and managed by the P. C. R. R. Company. In 1848, in connection with his brother, C. A. Bitner, he purchased a few freight cars, and commenced the transportation business over the different railroads of the State, but principally on that upon which he had been employed. At this time, the major portion of their business lay on the line running between Philadelphia and Lancaster. There were then several individuals and firms engaged in the same business, but owing to the su- perior tact and energy of the Brothers Bitner, theirs soon became the leading firm, and, since 1857, they have been the only parties engaged in that branch of business. At the same date, 1848, they also became engaged, in connection with their freighting business, in grain operations, and in the shipping of cereals to different points in the East. This has since developed itself into a prosperous and extensive trade. In 1854, they, with other interested parties, built up the Eden Paper Mills, and were half owners in the same. Soon after the establishment of this enterprise, and while it was in successful operation, they disposed of their interest in it, and, in 1855, built a steam flouring mill in Lancaster, which had a working capacity of one hundred and fifty barrels of flour per diem. This mill they continned to operate until 1863, when, owing to the pressure attend- ant upon furnishing large supplies to the Union Army, they took down the mill to make room for an extensive ware-
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house, which they built on its site. They were among the heaviest contractors with the Government for furnishing army supplies during the war, and so satisfactorily was their business conducted that, at the close of the conflict, the Government applied to them for supplies for the old army stock until it could be disposed of. In 1865, they were members of the firm which built the Fulton Cotton Mills, but sold their interest in it, in 1869. They were also members of the firm which, in the same year, built the Printers' Paper Mills; and J. R. Bitner having purchased his brother's interest, is now one of the managers, and owns one-third interest in the business, which is being prosecuted very successfully. IIe is a stockholder and director in an association which purchased a tract of land upon the coast of New Jersey, and founded Ocean Beach, a village fast growing into public favor as a summer resort and watering place. He is also a director of the New Egypt, Farmingdale & Long Branch Railroad, of New Jer- sey. . In 1865, he, in connection with others, founded a forwarding and commission house, at 811 Market street, Philadelphia, and in this establishment remained a partner until 1870. Ile has been a member of both hranches of the Lancaster City Councils for several terms. Recently, lie has purchased his brother's entire interest in the transporta- tion and grain business, and is now sole proprietor. Ile was married, April 26th, 1852, to a daughter of David Wiedler, a well-known and wealthy farmer of Lancaster county ; and he has seven promising children, one of whom, the eldest son, is with him as Superintendent of his large warehouse.
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MITII, PERSIFOR FRAZER, Lawyer, and Re- porter of the Supreme Court, was born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, January 3d, 18OS. ITis ancestry is Scotch-Irish. ITis paternal grand- father, Robert Smith, was Lieutenant, or Sheriff, of Chester county during the Revolutionary War, while his maternal grandfather, Persifor Frazer, was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Continental Army. IIc en- joyed the advantages of a classical education at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and pursued a course of law studies under the tuition of William II. Dillingham, of Westchester. In November, 1829, he was admitted to the bar, and immediately engaged in active practice. A quick intellect, and a close attention to the pursuit of his choice, soon assured him a leading position at the bar of his county, and an extensive and remunerative clientage. In 1862, he was elected to the State Legislature; in Novem- ber, 1866, was appointed, by Governor Curtin, State Re- porter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ; and, July Ist, 1870, was re-appointed by Governor Geary. This position he still occupies, having fulfilled the duties of his office to the entire satisfaction of the court and the general public. Ile is an active and zealous member of
the Presbyterian Church, and on the roth of January, 1834, was elected a ruling elder of that religious body. He was one of the original promoters of the First Presbyterian Church of Westchester, and has been a member of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States upon three different occasions, viz .: at Philadelphia, in 1838; at Detroit, in 1850; and at Pittsburgh, in 1868. Of the lower judicatories of the church (the Synod and the Presbytery), he has frequently been an influential member. Ile has served upon several important committees, and, owing to his perfect knowledge of both church and state jurisprudence, has rendered most valuable aid in the set- tlement of vexed and perplexing questions. IIe is a man of commanding presence and dignified bearing, and is widely esteemed for his firmness and probity.
IERY, HON. JAMES S., Lawyer, and Congress- man, was born in Venango county, Pennsyl- vania, March 2d, 1839. Ile received a liberal education, and was afterwards engaged for seve- ral years in teaching. In 1861, he removed to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and commenced the study of theology, which he continued during two years and a half. Subsequently he engaged in the study of the law, in the office of Edwin Albright, of Allentown, and was admitted to the bar, September 8th, 1868. IIe then began to practise the profession in Allentown, which he has since continued. Ile was the Republican candidate of Lehigh county for the State Legislature in 1869, and ran 235 votes ahead of his ticket. In 1872, he became the nominee of the Republican party for Congress from the Sixth District, and was elected to the Forty.third Congress. Ile has given zealous and able service to his constituents and the country, and has been a member of the Committees on Manufactures and Mileage.
ORNEY, DANIEL CARPENTER, Journalist, was born in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, De- cemher 23d, 1827. Ilis ancestors were Swiss Huguenots, who were among the number of those who fled to this country in order to escape reli- gious and political persecution. ITis education he acquired at Lancaster, in the common schools, then the first ones in the State, and adapted to afford but few edu- cational privileges. Very early in life he was compelled to depend upon his own resources, and, in the year 1836, he started in life as a vender of newspapers. Ile served the first copy of the Philadelphia Public Ledger in Lancas- ter, and was its first agent. Ile was also agent for the then noted publication, Dusolle's Daily Times, of Philadelphia. At an early date, he formed an attachment for journalism,
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and, during the journalistic experience of Colonel John W. [ary 3d, 1849, honored, loved, and regretted by all who Forney in Lancaster, was often connected with him. Ilis acquaintance with this distinguished journalist soon brought him into contact with the foremost politicians of the day, and he gained the good will and esteem of James Bu- chanan and many other publie men, famous then or at a subsequent period. After serving an apprenticeship in the iron business, he went to Lebanon county, l'ennsylvania, and, in his eighteenth year, was engaged as book-keeper at the Coleman Iron Works, one of the oldlest and most suc- cessful iron manufactories in the State. He remained with the family of his employer for more than twelve years, and to this patron he is largely indebted for the foundation of his education and business knowledge. Subsequently, he was engaged in the anthracite coal region, and, at the , breaking out of the war, moved to Washington, where he held for six months a remunerative position in the Land Office. Later, he became the publisher of the Daily and Sunday Morning Chronicle, under the ownership and edi- torial charge o: Colonel John W. Forney. This position he held until 1871, when the daily portion was sold, he retaining the ownership and control of the Sunday edition. This latter is still in his possession, and is very ably man- aged, being conducted upon an Independent Republican basis. During his journalistie career, he has enjoyed the entire confidence of all the leading actors in State matters, notably, Abraham Lincoln and his Cabinet, and the prime movers in the great conflict. He took an active part as an advocate of Andrew Johnson's impeachment, and urged that a special session of Congress should be called for that purpose. Ile was highly esteemed as a friend and journal- ist by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, and their friendly relations were annulled only by death. During the term of President Grant, he has devoted his time and attention to journalism, and has been bold and fearless in exposing and denouncing disloyalty and corruption of every kind. Ile has inherited a natural hatred for monopolies of every description, and makes them the subject of the greater portion of his writings. His style is clear, erisp, and decided, and his handling of a subject terse, logical, and pointed. Ile was married, in 1850, to Catharine Reinhart, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
knew him, leaving two sons: James MeSherry, a member of the bar of Frederick county, Maryland, favorably known as the author of MeSherry's History of Maryland, and William MeSherry, who was edueated at St. Mary's Col- lege, in Maryland, where he graduated in June, 1840. In the following fall, he commenced his law studies in the office of General James M. Conla, of Frederick City, Mary land, and in October, 1842, was admitted to the bar. Entering immediately upon the active practice of law in Gettysburg, Adams county, he met with fair success. In 1844, he entered into law partnership with Hon. James Cooper, who subsequently was nominated and elected United States Senator from Pennsylvania. This partner- ship continued for two years, when he returned to his birthplace, a step to which he was prompted by the declin- ing health of his father. For a few years he continued the pursuit of his profession, but finally abandoned it, in a great measure, and hestowed his time and attention upon agriculture. Since that period he has continued to reside on his farm, near Littlestown, Adams county, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1847, he was elected by the Whig party to the Ilouse of Representatives; and, in 1849, his former partner, Hon. James Cooper, having, upon being elected to the Senate of the United States, resigned his seat as a mem- ber of the Legislature, he was elected without opposition to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation. In the fall of 1850, he was also elected to the House of Representa- tives; and, in 1856, was elected President of the Littles- town Railroad Company, completed the road in July, 1857, and for many years managed the affairs of this company in the most satisfactory manner. During the ten years elapsing between 1851 and 1861, though frequently importuned by both parties of those times to become a candidate for the Legislature, he persistently declined. In the fall of 1862, however, the Democrats of Adams county placed him in nomination as a candidate for State Senator, and this nomi- nation was eoncurred in by the Conferences of Franklin and Fulton counties, which, with Adams county, formed the Senatorial District. Ile was elected by a district majority of 780, while in Adams county he received a majority of 540. In April, 1867, he was appointed by the President of the United States, Assessor of Internal Reve- nues for the Sixteenth District of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Adams, Franklin, Fulton, Bedford, and Somerset ; this position he resigned in May, 1869. In the fall of 1871, he was elected to the State Senate from the District composed of the counties of York and Adams, for three years. At the close of the session of the Senate of IS73, he was honored by receiving the votes of the Demo- cratie Senators for Speaker; and at the opening of the session of 1874, he was again honored in the same man- ner. Caring little for political life, and with little am- bition for public preferment, it is more than probable that
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