USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 39
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CSHIERRY, IION. WILLIAM, Lawyer, was born in Littlestown, Adams county, Pennsylvania, April 14th, 1821. His father was Ilon. James McSherry, of the same place, who for many years represented Adams county in both branches . of the State Legislature, was a member of the Convention to Revise the Constitution of Pennsylvania, in IS38, and also represented his Congressional district in the House of Representatives in Congress. He died, Febru- I the session of the Pennsylvania Legislature of 1874 will
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close his political life. He was married, October 15th, 1844, to Eliza T. MeSherry, daughter of Dr. Richard Mc- Sherry, of Martinsburg, Virginia.
OOD, WILLIAM WILLIS WYLIE, Engineer- in-Chief, United States Navy, ranking as Com- modore, was born near Raleigh, Wake county, North Carolina, May 30th, 1818, and is of English descent. His father was a large planter, and his mother was the daughter of Michael Rogers, one of the early settlers of Central North Carolina, who was prominent in public affairs during Colonial times. Ile was instructed by a private tutor, an English gentleman named Wolstenholme, until twelve years of age, when, at the death of his father, he was sent by his guardian to the college at Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, which was conducted by an ex-officer of the British Army. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was then in course of construction, and here young Wood first saw a locomotive, and it was this that developed his natural love for mechanics, and induced him, when nearly fifteen (after completing his collegiate course), to proceed to Baltimore, where, through the kind offices of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton,: son of the signer of the Declaration, and of William Gwinn, the famous editor of the Baltimore Gazette, he was permitted to enter the great establishment of Charles Reeder-machine shops and foundries. The boy carly saw . the 'necessity of a thorough knowledge of the higher branches of mathe-' matics, and, during his stay of little more than two years at Baltimore, he mastered the science in all its. branches. With the view of further improvement in the trade he had selected, he left Baltimore in 1835, and went to New York, where he entered the West Point Foundry, at that date the most extensive works in the United States. Com- pleting his apprenticeship here, he became wholly identified with the works, and was placed in charge of the most im- portant labor. He superintended the erection and fitting of the engines for the steam frigate " Missouri," the first naval vessel, having sca-going qualities, on which machin- ery was really successfully employed, and previous to that time had worked on the machincry of the naval vessel known as the " Fulton," No. 2, the first which ever actu- ally left port and went to sea. In 1841, he went to Ala: bama, bought a large plantation on the Warrior river, re- moved thither the slaves inherited from his father, and settled down as a planter. In a couple of years, however, he fell a victim to malaria, and, acting under the advice of his physicians, sold his property and went to Pennsylvania, which State he has ever since claimed as his residence. Ile had charge, first, of the steamers " Spitfire " and " Vixen," building for the Mexican navy; and was next sent to the West Point Foundry, by Secretary of the Treas- ury Spencer, to superintend building the first iron revenue
eutter. This work brought him into close intercourse with the Government officials, and when Secretary of the Navy Bancroft, in 1844, reorganized the Engineer Corps of the Navy, he was invited to appear for competitive examina- tion, which resulted in his being commissioned Chief Engi- neer, to date March 15th, 1845: this being the only instance where such high rank was attained by a civilian on enter- ing the service. Ilis first duty was at the Pensacola Navy Yard, and during the Mexican War he served on board the frigate " Mississippi " (flag-ship), under Commodores Con- nor and Perry, participating in the capture of Tobasco, and other minor ports along the Gulf of Mexico. Returning to the United States at the close of the war, he was ordered to Boston, superintending the building of engines for the frigate " Saranac," on board of which, after its completion, he served until 1853, in the West India and Brazil Squad- rous. In 1854-'57, he was at the Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond, Virginia, superintending the engines building for the frigates " Roanoke " and " Colorado." Before the latter was completed, he served temporarily on board the " Roanoke," when that vessel was sent, under command of Captain (afterwards Admiral) Montgomery, to Nicara- gua, to bring home the survivors of Walker's ill-fated expedition. In 1858-'59, he superintended the construc- tion of the engines of the frigate " Lancaster," at Phila- delphia, and served on board of that vessel from 1859 to ISGI, in the Pacific . Squadron. He was ordered to return home at the outbreak of the Rebellion, and again stationed at Philadelphia, where he superintended the building of the iron clad frigate " New Ironsides," which was completed in the spring of 1863. During this period, he was also employed on part of the fleet known as the " Thirty-day Gunboats," they having been built in thirty days from the time the keels were laid. In 1863, he was ordered to duty at New York, as Inspector of Machinery Afloat, which duty embraced the supervision of all machinery under con- tract, changing captured blockade-runners into gunboats, and the completion of the Monitors at that point. While here, he suggested the employment and use of torpedoes, and made an extensive series of experiments, demonstrating the practicability of using them from the bows of launches, and designed and supervised the construction of the torpedo vessel " Spuyten Duyvel." One of his torpedo shells de- stroying a vessel at the Chatham Dockyard, England, resulted in their adoption by the British Navy. After the war, he was ordered, to the Naval Academy, as a member of the Academic Board, and was placed in charge of, and organized the branch of instruction in Steam Engineering at that institution, which gives all midshipmen a course of instruction in the theory and practice of managing marine engines. During his service in this capacity, he visited Europe, where he inspected the most prominent polytechnic institutions, naval dockyards, and the great ship-building establishments, foundries, and iron works. From July, 1868, when he was relieved from the Naval Academy, until
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March, 1873, he was on special duty at New York, as [ sesses an appreciative and well-stocked mind, and is noted Inspector of Machinery Afloat, and Chief Engineer of the for his ability in reading character at a glance, for his courteous deportment, and his energy. He may justly be ranked with those representative men who, starting in life poorly and obscurely, have, by their shrewdness, energy, and application, become wealthy and honored citizens, and models meet for imitation by the rising generation. Navy Yard. April Ist, 1873, he was appointed by Presi- dent Grant to be Chief of the Engineering Bureau, Navy Department, and succeeded Commodore J. W. King, whose term of office had expired. During his service in the navy, he has been actively employed for over twenty- six years. His wife was formerly Miss Gillespie, of Ala- bama, and was the adopted daughter of General Crabb, a former Representative in Congress. They have several children, one of whom entered the navy as Cadet Midship- man, in 1871, and two daughters, the wives of Lieutenants Arnold and lleald, United States Navy.
OUNG, COE F., General Superintendent of the Delaware & IIudson Canal Company, was born near Mount Ilope, Orange county, New York, May 15th, IS24. Ilis parents, natives of the vicinity, are lineal descendants of an honorable family who, at an early date, emigrated from England and settled in this country. Upon losing his parents, while in his sixth year, he was sent to live under the guardianship of a brother residing in Monroe county, Pennsylvania. By this relative he was employed to drive the horse attached to his boat, running to and fro on a neighboring canal. After being thus engaged for four years, during which time he had acquired a slight and su- perficial education, he became engaged as a clerk in Orange county. Subsequently, he abandoned this position, and, removing to Ulster county, connected himself there with an establishment as clerk and general assistant. After securing an extensive practical mercantile knowledge, and an insight into the workings of commerce and traffic, he entered into business for himself at Perryville. His venture proving unexpectedly successful, he determined to extend his sphere of operations, and launch himself boldly into more extensive speculations. Removing to Ionesdale, Pennsylvania, he purchased an interest in the freighting line running out from that place. Later, the entire control of this establishment passed into his hands, and he became sole and entire owner and director. In this position he gained much of that valuable and technical knowledge which fitted him so admirably for the important post to which he was afterward assigned. In 1854, he entered the service of the Delaware & IIndson Canal Company, as Superintendent of the Canal Department. It was here that his recently acquired experience became eminently useful to him, enabling him to accomplish satisfactorily the various duties connected with the situation. At the expiration of five years, he was promoted to the position of General Superintendent, one which he still holds, and whose duties he fulfils with profit and honor to himself and his em- ployers. He is of a genial and benevolent nature ; pos-
LBRIGIIT, JOSEPHI J., Banker, Machinist, and Merchant, was born at Warwick, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, September 23d, ISI1. Ilis ancestors were of German origin, while his parents were in humble but comfortable circum - stances. In his fifth year, he was placed in the educational establishment known as Nazareth Hall, in Nazareth, Northampton county, and, upon the expiration of his course of studies, learned the trade of tinsmith. Three months later, he engaged in business in this Mora- vian village, and in a short time secured a remunerative and thriving trade. He continued to carry on this business until he had attained his mejority, when he became con- nected with the Oxford Furnace, in New Jersey, as assist- ant manager, with Henry Jordan & Co. Subsequently, he was appointed by several of his Moravian brethren to su- perintend the entire management of an extensive manufac- turing establishment known as the Catharine Furnace and Forge, situated near Nazareth. At this date it was in great financial embarrassment, and to him must be given the credit of restoring it to a prosperous and flourishing con- dition. At this period, and in this institution, he introduced the first hot blast applied to the manufacture of iron in the United States, and brought the first magnetic ore from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. This ore, purchased from Gover- nor Mahlon Dickinson, was obtained from the Succasunna mines, and sent through the Morris canal. Three years later, he purchased at sheriff's sale the Clarissa Iron Works, Heinbock's Forge and Furnaces, all on Acquin- chicola creek, near the Lehigh Water Gap, Carbon county, Pennsylvania. He then engaged actively in the manufac- ture of iron, but in 1841, when the flood of the Lehigh and its tributaries destroyed the works of the Lchigh Coal & Navigation Company, his works al o were completely shat- tered and devastated. A year subsequently, however, the forge was entirely re-established, and he again resumed business. A second time his works were demolished, on this occasion by fire, and a second time were rebuilt. When these were completed, he named them the Ashland Iron Works. In 1844, in connection with Samuel Sherrard and IIon. H. D. Maxwell, he purchased an extensive tract of land and furnaces situated near the Natural Bridge, Virginia. The oppressive tariff then in vogue preventing him from realizing any profit on iron, and having been obliged to sell pig-iron at ten dollars per ton, he abandoned
Augustus Wolle
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the Virginia business, and, in IS49, returned to the Ash- | owing to the preponderance of Democratie votes in that lind Iron Works. In IS51, he was solicited by the Seran- tons to accept an important position in the service of the Delaware, Lackawanna & W. Railroad Company. Ac- ceding to their offer, he removed to Scranton, and as- samed the entire control of this company's coal mines and sales of coal. In this capacity he continued to act for fifteen years, and ably fulfilled the arduous duties of his office. In 1866, he became connected with the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, and since that time has been regarded by his employers as a trusty and invaluable agent and assistant. The Dickson Manufacturing Company, of Seranton, established by Thomas Dickson, President of the Canal Company, owes its existence to the pressing sugges- tions made by J. J. Albright, in 1856, to the man whose name it bears. While in Scranton, he has assisted materially in the furtherance of public improvements and developments, and at the present time is President of the First National Bank, and also President of the Scranton Gas and Water Company. As a religious man, he is con- nected with the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a zealous and influential member. Ile had four brothers, one only of whom is living, the IIon. Thomas J. Albright, of St. Louis, Missouri. While connected with the Catha- rine Furnace, he met with David Thomas, of Catasauqua, who may be called the first successful manufacturer of pig- iron made with anthracite coal in the United States.
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YER, E. REED, Representative in the State Legis- lature from Bradford county, was born at Myers- burg, in the same county, Pennsylvania, July 25th, 13IS. Ile is a son of William Myer, a prominent eitizen of that section, who, with his father, Jacob Myer, left Massachusetts in 1798, and two years later settled on the spot where his son still resides. Ile was one of the earliest to locate in the county, and, at the time of its organization, in 1812, became one of its first Commissioners. At a subsequent period he served in the Legislature for one term, and was a man widely known for his public spiritedness and intrinsic worth. The son was educated primarily in the common school of the district, but when sixteen years of age was sent to the academy at Harford, in Susquehanna county, and he completed his studies at Armenia Seminary, Dutchess county, New York, in IS40, and then returned home. In 1842, his father died, and he thereupon became administrator of the estate, and subsequently owner of the homestead which still continues in his possession. He has always manifested a deep in- terest in the political questions of the day, and was from the first a warm advocate of the doctrines of the old Whig puty, as enunciated by Henry Clay. In both 1845 and 1846, he was the candidate of that party for the State Legis- lature ; but although he ran far ahead of his ticket, yet
district, he failed to be elected. In 1855, he was Chairman of the Whig County Committee, which passed resolutions of such a character as foreshadowed the formation of the Republican party. Ile was a delegate to the First National Republican Convention, which assembled in Pittsburgh, February 22d, 1356, and has ever since steadfastly adhered to the principles of that political organization. In the same year, he was elected to the Senate of the State, and served for the three years' term ending in IS59. Ilis re- cord shows him to have been a faithful and devoted public servant, always attentive both to the interests of his consti- tuents and to the Commonwealth. During the War of the Rebellion he was an ardent supporter of the Union, and contributed much by his example and influence to further the cause of the National Government. He was appointed Surveyor of the Customs for the Port and District of Philadelphia, April 19th, ISGI, by President Lincoln, con- tinuing therein throughout the whole of his administration. Ile was re-commissioned by President Johnson, and served in that office until 1867, when disapproving of the policy of the President, he resigned the position, and thereafter lived in retirement until 1872, when he was elected a Represen- tative in the lower branch of the State Legislature, and took his seat therein, in January, 1873. He served as a mem- ber of the Committee on Ways and Means, Counties and Townships, Corporations, Banks, and on Manufactures. Ile was re-elected a member of the House in the fall of 1873; he served during the session of 1874 as Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, besides being a member of various other important committees. He proved himself an efficient and industrious legislator, taking part in the various debates in the House during the session, that he deemed were important ; not for the mere purpose of display, but where he thought a word in season would benefit the pub- lic weal. He opposed, with much force, the Bill to " Re- peal the Usury Laws and to increase the Legal Rate of Interest," and his remarks on that question, delivered Feb- ruary 11th, IS74, which contributed not a little to defeat the measure, have been printed in pamphlet form for circulation. Ile was married, June 9th, IS47, to Mary Frances, daughter of Richard E. Cochran, M. D., of Columbia, Pennsylvania.
OLLE, AUGUSTUS, Merchant, was born at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, September 8th, 1821. Ilis ancestors for two generations have been conspicuously associated with the history of the Moravian Society at Bethlehem. Peter Wolle, born November 6th, 1745, was a Moravian mis- sionary from Herrnhut, Saxony, in Germany, who was stationed at the Islands of St. Thomas, St. John's, and St. Croix, in the West Indies. His surviving children, who all ultimately emigrated to the United States and settled in
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Bethlehem, are men of prominence. The Right Rev. Peter | pany, locating it on the south side of the Lehigh, at Bethle- Wolle was for a long time senior Bishop of the society in hem. Ile bought land in what i, now known as Sonth Bethlehem, and by his individual efforts, succeeded in pro- curing capital in Philadelphia and at home. The money was raised with great difficulty, and seemingly dangerous risks were taken in venturing upon the enterprise with com- paratively insufficient capital. He was finally enabled, in 1860, to establish the Bethlehem Iron Company, already the largest works of the kind in America, and promising to become the most extensive and complete in the world. The consummation of his plans in regard to the iron company attained, his enterprising spirit prompted him to other great operations. In 1864, his attention was attracted to the slate interests of Northampton county. ITis first move in this new field was the organization of the Chapman Slate Company; this proved a decided financial success. The same year, he founded the Penn Slate Company, pledging his personal responsibility for its success. This venture nearly proved his Waterloo; the company encountered such severe financial difficulties and losses, that it was obliged to succumb. Unwilling, however, to acknowledge defeat, its captain rallied his forces, reorganized his company, and it is now in full and successful operation. In 1845, he was married to C. E. Leinbach, of Salem, North Carolina, He has ten children living, of whom two, Clarence A. and Francis L., are in their father's office. He is a man worthy to be called remarkable. With a wonderfully shrewd power to anticipate the wants and developments of the future, he unites a sanguine temperament which makes him seemingly blind to difficulties that would dishearten the majority of men. With all this, he possesses a tenacity of purpose that is confident, however often baffled on the way, of ultimately reaching the position desired. In person he is tall, slender, and of active nervous manner ; a true type of the enter- prising, indomitable American. America ; Jacob was for many years Justice of the Peace, Chief Burgess, and a leading member of the Philharmonic Society ; John Frederick became a merchant, and for twenty years conducted the business of the society store at the corner of Main and Market streets, Bethlehem. The last named married Sabina, daughter of Judge William Henry, of Northampton county, and was the father of Sylvester Wo'le, Treasurer of the Moravian Society of the Northern Diocese ; the Rev. Francis Wolle, Principal of the Young Ladies' Seminary ; Elizabeth, wife of Bishop II. A. Shultz, and Augustus Wolle, who with his brothers received a thorough education at the schools of the society. In 1835, Augustus entered the co-operative store, superintended by his father, and continued therein as a clerk for ten years. In 1845, he purchased the establishment from the society, and remained its sole proprietor until 1853. IIe then asso- ciated in partnership with Robert P. Krause, since deceased, and James II. Wolle, subsequently admitting also Ambrosc J. Erwin. The business was conducted under the name of A. Wolle & Co. until 1863, when the name of the firm was changed to Wolle, Krause & Erwin. Under this title the trade of the house was continued up to 1870, when the senior partner retired. During the thirty five years of his active management, the business of the store increased with great rapidity, and its ancient rank as one of the principal trading houses of that region was fully sustained. In the midst of his busy career as a merchant, Augustus Wolle found time to conceive and develop other enterprises of magnitude. Ilis ventures in the field of what might be called speculation, were attended with unusual success. As early as 1837, Francis Wolle, when a clerk with his father, invented a machine for the manufacture of paper bags, which was secured by letters patent in 1852. To properly place this invention in the channels which would render it pecuniarily profitable, a vast deal of energy and a lavish expenditure of money were required. The necessary means Augustus Wolle supplied ; and after an outlay of $75,000 in money, much of it being spent in litigating in- fringements on the patent, the right was disposed of for about $200,000. Eighteen years of labor and anxiety, the visiting of Paris and other European cities for the purpose of introducing the invention, were needed to effect this result. S. E. Petit, the inventor of the most important im- provement on the machine, contributed cqually, in his sphere, with the brothers Wolle, to its ultimate practical utilization and satisfactory success. Freed from the vexa- tions attendant upon the patent business, the retired mer- chant next interested himself in the manufacture of iron. Ilaving been a stockholder in the Thomas Iron Company of Hoskendaugua, he had conceived certain original ideas upon the subject. These he procceded, in 1857, to practi- cally work out. In 1860, he, in co-operation with Charles B. Daniel and others, founded and organized an iron com-
OUGAL, JAMES S., M. D., Physician, was born in Cookstown, Ireland, October 5th, 1794. While this country was a colony of England, his grand- father settled here, and invested largely in lands; owing to disturbances created by the Revolution, he shortly after returned to the mother country. Ilis son, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and a physician-the father of the present Dr. James S. Dougal -- sailed for America to recover possession of the lands referred to above; but during a violent storm at sea the titles and papers were lost, and thereby the object of the journey was frustrated, and he returned to his native country. Again returning to America, the reputation of Dr. Priestley, who had fled from persecution in England, and settled in Northumberland county, attracted him thither ; and, through the influence of this eminent man, he was induced to reside in a neighboring region. His wife
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and two children, including James S., soon after came from Ireland and joined him at that place. James was, for a time, placed under the tuition of Rev. Thomas Hood, of Buffalo Valley, Pennsylvania. He studied also in the Preparatory Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and, in 1817, received from this institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While pursuing his studies, the war of 1812 occurred. The British had already conquered and burnt Washington, and made an attack upon Baltimore, and it was believed that they purposed a descent upon Philadelphia. At this juncture, he abandoned his books and experiments, and joined a volunteer company enlisted for the service of the United States. At the expiration of three months, the emergency was past, and he returned to the University. Ile then began the practice of medicine in connection with his father, at Milton, Pennsylvania; and, with the exception of the retirement forced upon him by the growing infirmities of age, has been actively engaged in it from that time forward to the present year. At the beginning of his professional life the country, in comparison with what it is now, was wild, uncultured, and but thinly settled and populated. No railroads then traversed the country ; and, when large, a physician's practice brought with it arduous labor and great responsibility. ITis was one of the most extensive in that part of the State, and em- braced a circuit of more than fifty miles ; while within that arca he was placed by all in the foremost rank of his pro- fession. Frequent /applications came to him for consulta- tion with other physicians, and he became the preceptor to a large number of students of medicine. Among the latter may be mentioned Dr. Pollock, of Williamsport, Dr. Priestley, of Northumberland, and Dr. Thomas Lyon, of Williamsport. He was married, July 3d, ISIS, to Sarah Pollock, a sister of Governor Pollock, and has a family consisting of eight children. One of his sons is a member of the firm of Murray, Dougal & Company, extensive car manufacturers at Milton ; another is a physician in success- ful practice, and is everywhere admired and esteemed as a learned and honorable practitioner.
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