USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
ATTS, FREDERICK, JR., Civil Engineer, was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, January 9th, 1843. Ilis father was Frederick Watts, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, formerly President Judge of the Ninth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, and now Commissioner of Agriculture, a man of culture, talent and ability. Ile was educated at Dick- inson College, Pennsylvania, Agricultural College, Pennsyl- vania, and Eastman College, New York. In May, 1864, he joined the 195th Pennsylvania Volunteers, attached to the Army of the Shenandoah, where he was engaged in arduous and dangerous service until November, 1864. In 1866, he engaged in the grain and commission business at Newville, Pennsylvania, and continued these pursuits until 1869. Ile then followed the profession of civil en- gineering until December, 1871, when he was appointed as a fourth-class clerk in the Department of Agriculture at
509
BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
Washington. January 8th, 1$73, he was appointed Chief Clerk of that department, a position which he still holds, and whose numerous duties he fulfils with admirable exacti- tude and ability. Ile has proved himself to be a capable and efficient second to the Commissioner, and has assisted very materially in carrying out the many important reforms of that department. He was married, November 29th, 1872, to Miss Bayly, of Cambridge, Maryland.
TEVENS, HON. THADDEUS, Lawyer and Statesman, was born at Danville, Caledonia county, Vermont, on the 4th of April, 1792. His parents being in indigent circumstances, he was, in consequence, thrown early in life upon his own resources, and thus acquired a habit of self-reliance which in after life proved invaluable both to himself and to the country. Ile obtained his preliminary education in the common schools of the neighborhood, and then entered the Academy of Peacham, where, by teaching during the vacations of school, he procured the means by which he was enabled to pursue subsequently a collegiate course of study. Ile first entered the University of Ver- mont, and remained there about two years, but the college suspending operations on account of the War of 1812, he proceeded to Dartmouth College, and graduated with dis- tinction at that institution in 1814. After reading law at Peacham, in the office of Judge Mattocks, for some months, he left his native State and settled in Pennsylvania in IS15, first in the town of York, where he taught an academy and at the same time pursued his legal studies. Ile then went to Belair, Harford county, Maryland, and was admitted to practice there in August, 1816. Immediately after this he returned to Pennsylvania and opened a law office at Gettys- burg, in Adams county. Ile soon obtained an extensive and lucrative business, to which he gave his entire atten- tion for some sixteen years, and acquired a reputation in the State as one of its ablest lawyers. He became first actively engaged in politics with the rise of the Anti-Masonic party in 1828, which party he joined in their opposition to secret societies. Ile was elected to the popular branch of the Legislature of his State in 1833, as a Representative from the county of Adams, and continued to serve in that body almost without interruption until IS40. During this service he championed many measures of improvement, among others, the common school system of Pennsylvania, which at a critical moment he saved from overthrow by a speech which he always asserted to have been the most effective hc ever inade. In 1837-'38, he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania. This Con- vention, notwithstanding the strenuous opposition of a strong minority, led by him, inserted the word " white " as a quali- fication for suffrage, thus di-franchising a whole race. On this account he refused to append his name to the com-
pleted instrument, and opposed, though unsuccessfully, its ratification by the people. In 1842, he removed to Lan- caster county, and resumed the practice of the law there. llis reputation had preceded him, and his practice in this county soon became one of the largest. In 1848 and 1850, he was elected to Congress from Lancaster county, after which he declined to be again a candidate, and returned to his profession until I858, when he was again elected, and continued to hold the seat without interruption until his death, which event occurred in Washington, at mid- night, on the ttth of August, IS68. Ilis name has become pre-eminent among the statesmen of America, and his pub- lic life has passed into history. He was especially the lead- ing figure in two most important national measures : the abolition of slavery, of which he was from his earliest days the most fearless advocate, and the establishment of the system of common schools, particularly in his adopted State of Pennsylvania. ITis death drew forth numerous memorial addresses from the members of the House, and the greatest tributes of respect were paid to his memory by Congress.
ERN, HENRY CLAY, Journalist, was born in Carroll county, Maryland, March 9th, 1830. Ilis father, Isaac Dern, was born in the same section of Maryland, was a prominent citizen, and died in the neighborhood of his birth, March 9th, 1864. Ile received his education in the schools of his native county, and, in 1846, at the early age of sixteen, was apprenticed to learn the business of printing, at West- minster, Maryland. In 1850, at the expiration of his ap- prenticeship, hie located at New Bloomfield, Perry county, Pennsylvania, as a journeyman printer. In this capacity he remained in Bloomfield for some time, but being active and energetic in his disposition, and this field of operations being too circumscribed for him, he subsequently became em- ployed in different first-class printing establishments through- out the country, and thus soon acquired the reputation of being an excellent work. an. In 1858, he became asso- ciated in copartnership with E. B. McCrum in the publica- tion of the Weekly Tribune, at Altoona, Pennsylvania, which they continued until April, 1873, when they estab- lished the Daily Tribune in connection with the weekly. These papers have a widely-extended circulation through- out the coal, iron and lumber districts, and have much in- fluence therein, being good authority on all points apper- taining to these interests. In addition to the publication of these two papers, they have made the job printing de- partment a specialty, of which Mr. Dern is the principal manager. Through his management it has become known as a first-class jobbing establishment, and hence it now has a large run of patronage. He was a member of the first City Council, and for several years a School Director. Ilis attention, however, is almost wholly given to his business,
510
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
and for this reason he has frequently declined to hold pub- lie position. Ile is a steady, active, energetic citizen, and has done much to advance the material interests of his atlopted city, but does not aspire to office or identify him- self especially as a participant in politics.
ENNEDY, JOSEPHI CAMP GRIFFITHI, Super- intendent of the Census of 1350 and of 1360, was born at Meadville, Pennsylvania, April ist, 1313. Ilis father, Dr. Thomas R. Kennedy, was a surgeon in the army, and was himself a son of Dr. Samuel Kennedy, who was a surgeon on the staff of General Washington during the Revolutionary War. Ilis mother was a daughter of the eminent engineer An- drew Ellicott, who laid out the City of Washington, and who was the founder of the city of Ellicott's Mills, Mary- land. Ile was educated at the Meadville Academy and at Allegheny College, from which he graduated with the de- gree of A. B., and which in later years conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. Before he was of age he edited the Crawford Messenger, and soon afterward estab- lished the Venanto Intelligencer, at Franklin, Pennsylvania, both of which papers he owned. Ile early identified him- self strongly with the Whig party, but becoming wearied of politics after several years, left his papers and retired to a farm near Meadville. In 1849, he was appointed by President Taylor Secretary of a Board to prepare a plan for taking the seventh and future censuses, and drafted the law which was adopted. In 1850, he was appointed by General Taylor Superintendent of the Seventh Census, and retained that position until the accession of President Pierce, when he was removed for political reasons. In 1857, he was re-appointed by President Buchanan to complete the volume on manufactures, and, in 1859, he was made Super- intendent of the Eighth Census, and continued the work until the failure of the appropriations in 1865. In 1865 and 1866, he was engaged, under direction of the Comp- troller of the Currency, in examining all the national banks in the State of Pennsylvania. After his retirement from this position he became the Agent at Washington for a large number of banks, and now represents over two hun- dred. In the winter of 1866, he was nominated by President Johnson as Commissioner of Agriculture, but was not con- firmed by the Senate. Since that time he has held no official position. In 1850, he visited Enrope on business connected with the census, and became an active promoter, with Guizot, M. Michael Chevalier, Dr. Farr and Quitelet, ' the late Prussian Astronomer Royal, of the first Statistical Congress, which met at Berlin in 1853. In 1856, he was Secretary to the United States Commissioners to the World's Fair at London ; was a member of the Statistical Congress at Paris in 1855, and at London in 1860 ; and was a Com- missioner to the London Exposition of 1860. He was for
some years Corresponding Secretary of the National Insti- tute (now merged into the Smithsonian Institution) ; was Corresponding Secretary of the United States Agricultural Society, and edited the quarterly journal of that society; is a Corresponding Member of the American Geographical and Statistical Society, and of several European geogra- phical societies ; and is a member of the Pennsylvania IIistorical Society. IIe has also received a medal from King Christian IX. of Denmark in appreciation of his census labors. Ile is a fine classical scholar, and is the author of a translation of the Pythagoras Aurea Sacra. Ile has long been known as a public writer, and is one of the contribu- tors for the American Encyclopedia. He still retains his residence at Meadville, but remains most of the time at Washington, District of Columbia. During the late Rebel- lion, he endowed four perpetual scholarships at Allegheny College for the benefit of disabled young soldiers, or the orphans of soldiers.
OLLISTER, HORACE, M. D., Physician and Author, was born in Salem, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, in November, 1822. His father, a well-to-do farmer, gave him a fair connnon school and academic education before he had attained his majority. He read medicine suc- cessively with Dr. Burr of his native village, Dr. Losey of Ilonesdale, and the well-known Dr. B. II. Throop, then of Providence (now Scranton ), and graduated at the University of the City of New York, in March, 1846. Ile began profes- sional life in Providence the following April, where he has remained ever since, enjoying a wide field of practice and achieving great reputation, especially in the treatment of lung and female diseases. Eschewing politics and specu- lations as foreign to a profession he has wrought faithfully to elevate, he has turned much attention to archeological and literary matters, and he is now recognized as the his- torian of the Lackawanna Valley. Ilis long residence in the valley naturally made him familiar with its local and traditional history, its wonderful development, and threw him in contact with its representative men. Ilis familiarity with the subject and his fine literary qualifications eminently fitted him to write the History of the Lackawanna Valley, of which two editions have already appeared, while a third one is being prepared by his fertile pen. While he is not ranked among the masters of historical composition, he has given such an attractive and even elegant description of a valley famed for its rich mountains of anthracite coal as to make it an invaluable historical work. Ile is also the author of Coal Notes, and Recollections of our Physicians ; is also a constant contributor of the Scranton Daily Repub. lican, of which he forms one of the staff. For the last quarter of a century he has been engaged in gathering the stone relies of the departed red men from the Lackawanna Valley, until to-day he has the largest collection of the
51I
BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
kind to be found in the world, embracing over twenty thousand pieces. They have been gathered, not as a mere collection, but to represent the customs, the habits and the religion of the Aborigines with as much truthfulness as if the idiom of the wild men still came from the forest. IIu- morous, shrewd, eccentric and blunt in speech, he is acknow- ledged to be a gentleman of talent and culture.
.
ILES, COLONEL DAVID, Soldier and ex- Register of Wills, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Novem- ber 26th, 1831. On the paternal side, he is of Irish, and on the maternal, of German descent. Ile commenced his education in the common schools of his native city, but, owing to his parents being in humble circumstances, he was unable to pursue a regular and systematic course of studies. When but thirteen years of age, he was hired out as a farm hand, and two years later, was apprenticed to learn the tinsmithing trade. When in his nineteenth year, he removed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and worked at his trade as a journeyman, continuing this business until the outbreak of the war. In 1861, he entered the United States service as Orderly Sergeant in the Ist Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served out the term for which this regiment had been enlisted. Subse- quently, he re-entered the service as Captain of Company B, of the 79th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and participated actively in various fights and skirmishes. Oc- tober 8th, 1862, at the battle of Perryville, he was promoted, for gallant and meritorious service on the field, to the posi- tion of Lieutenant-Colonel. He took an active part in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga, and at the latter, was captured and incarcerated in Libby Prison at Richmond. Ile was one of the one hundred and ten who escaped thence by tunneling for a distance of fifty-seven feet under ground, but owing to his crippled condition-resulting from a fall of his horse previous to the battle in which he was captured -he was re-captured and taken back to prison. After- ward, he was transferred to Macon, Georgia, and thence to the jail in Charleston, South Carolina. From this place he was exchanged, and at once returned to his regiment. Through the entire campaign of General Sherman, he was constantly engaged in perilous and important military duty ; and until the close of the war, participated actively in all the operations of his regiment. At the battle of Bentonville, South Carolina, he was severely wounded, and, on this occasion, was highly commended for his energy and valor. Previous to the termination of the Rebellion, he was brevetted Colonel of his regiment. In July, 1865, he was mustered out of the service, and returned to work at his trade in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In 1866, he was elected Register of Wills for Lancaster county, and hell this position for three years, during which time he entered into business as
a tinsmith, and since has continued to meet with much- deserved success. He has been a member of the Common Branch of the Lancaster Councils, and in this position evinced con mendable probity and ability. While incar- cerated in Libby Prison, he endured many hardships and much suffering, but, possessing a robust constitution and a dauntless spirit, he preserved his health intact through the ten months passed in a jail notorious for its enfeebling site and regime. He is one of three brothers, all of whom served through the war, and are worthy of commendation for their courage and patriotism. Even when a lad, he was strongly inclined to lead a soldier's life, and, during the Mexican war, ran away from home to enlist in the army ; upon reaching Pittsburgh, however, prompted by filial motives, he returned and again applied himself to his trade. Ile is a member of the Odd Fellows' Association, of the American Mechanics' Association, and Knights of Pythias of Lancaster. IIe was married, November 25th, 1851, to a daughter of George Huffnagle, a well-known citizen of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
TEWART, CHARLES, Rear Admiral United States Navy, one of the most celebrated of American Admirals, was born in Philadelphia, July 28th, 1778. He entered the navy as Lieu- tenant, March 17th, 1798. In ISoo, he was in command of the schooner " Experiment," twelve guns, on the West India Station, and captured the two French schooners " Deux Amis," eight guns, and " Diane," fourteen guns. In ISo1, he was First Lieutenant of the " Constitutio 1" in the blockade of Tripoli, and afterwards commanded the brig " Siren " in the operations against the same place. In 1806, he received his commission as Cap- tain ; and in 1812, was in command of the frigate " Con- stellation," from which he was transferred, in IS13, to the frigate " Constitution," which was captured by the war schooner " Picton," fourteen guns. On February 20th, 1814, he fought the two British ships " Cyane," commanded by Captain Falcon, of thirty-four guns and 185 men, and the " Levant," commanded by Captain Douglass, of twenty- one guns and 156 men, and captured both vessels, the loss on the American side being but three killed and twelve wounded. The prizes were taken to Port Praya, Capc de Verde Islands. While there, being refitted, a British squadron appeared, composed of two ships of the line and a heavy frigate. Captain Stewart determined to try the chances of flight, cut his cable and put to sea with his prizes. Ile was forced, however, into an engagement in which, though the " Levant " was re-captured, the " Con- stitution " succeeded in making good her escape and reached home safely, attended by her prize, the " Cyane." For his gallant action in this affair, he was honored by the public thanks of Congress and a gold medal ; his native
512
BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
State of Pennsylvania also acknowledged the success of her sailor son by presenting him with a sword of honor. Ile subsequently received his commission as Admiral; from 1816 to IS20 commanded the Mediterranean Squadron, and from 1820 to 1824 the Pacific Squadron, after which he became Navy Commissioner. His next appointment was to the command of the home squadron, and lastly to that of the United States Navy Yard, Philadelphia. In 1857, he was placed on the reserve list; but in March, 1859, was again restored to active service as Senior Flag Officer, which position he retained until his death, which occurred at Bordentown, New Jersey, November 6th, 1367, he being then in his ninety-second year. He was buried at .Ronald- son's Cemetery in Philadelphia, his obsequies being the most splendid and imposing ever given to a citizen of the United States ; all the Government troops from New York, Baltimore and Washington being massed with those of Philadelphia, and with the five brigades of the volunteers of Philadelphia, to do honor to the memory of Pennsyl- vania's veteran Admiral.
EIRCE, CYRUS NEWLIN, D. D. S., Dentist, was born in Philadelphia ( Byberry), March 5th, IS29, his parents being Cyrus Peirce, formerly of Chester county, and Ruth' S. (Peirce) Peirce, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The family is descended from the Percys of England, and is noted for great longevity, including more than one centena- rian among it, members. Ile received his preliminary edu- cation at the common school of Byberry, and on leaving school worked on his father's farm until attaining his majority. At this time, being now at liberty to shape his own course, he determined to put in practice his intention, long before formed, of obtaining a more liberal education. To this end, he entered the New York Central College, in Cortland county, New York, which was one of the first experiments in the manual labor school system, by which an opportunity was afforded to poor students to acquire a collegiate education, while at the same time giving them the means of supporting themselves by their own labor, a farm being attached to the institution for the purpose. Here he continued to study and work for about fourteen months, when a severe attack of typhoid fever prevented for a time the pursuance of his studies. Ile returned to his parents in Philadelphia, and, on becoming convalescent, commenced the study of dentistry, associating with it that of medicine. Ile entered the office of F. M. Dixon as a student, and con- tinued as his assistant for two years, during which time he also attended lectures at the Pennsylvania Dental College, graduating thence in 1854, when he forthwith began the independent practice of his profession. His career has been most successful, and he now occupies an eminent position ai one of the foremost dentists of the city of Philadelphia.
I.Ie was elected, in 1858, to the chair of Operative Dentistry and Dental Physiology in the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, and performed the duties of the professor- ship until 1865. Ile was also elected to the position of Dean of the college in 1860, and retained the office until his resignation in 1865, when his connection with the college entirely ceased, since which time he has held no official position, with the exception of that of lecturer on Dental Physiology at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the lectures having been established as a part of the general medical course of the institution. Ile was married, in 1857, to Charlotte, daughter of William Wood- ward, of Auburn, New York, to whose kind care and watchful help he attributes no little share of his success in life.
EARNS, WILLIAM DICKEY, A. M., M. D., Physician, was born on Coal Hill, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, January 8th, 1831. Ilis father was born at the same place, and his mother was of Irish parentage. In early y uth he pur- sued a course of studies at the Academy on the Hill, and graduated at Jefferson College in the class of 1851 -contemporary with Secretary Bristow and Dr. McClaren. Subsequently, he removed to Kentucky, and at the age of nineteen, taught in an academy at Versailles, Woodford county ; at this time he was engaged as a tutor for the son of Major Gray, with whose family he resided. Ile was then educated for the ministry, but feeling no strong inclination for this calling, he decided to enter upon a course of medical studies. ' In 1854, therefore, he commenced the study of medicine under the tuition of William Dickson, of Pitts- burgh. Upon the completion of his course, he graduated at the University of New York in the class of 1856-'57. During the ensning six months, he practised in New York, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he has since chicfly resided. During the war, he was appointed Contract Surgeon in Mcclellan's army before Richmond, and also officiated as a Volunteer Surgeon when calls were made from Pittsburgh. Ile has since, for a time, held the position of Physician to the Pennsylvania Railroad, and fulfilled its duties in a most satisfactory manner. At present, he is actively engaged in the pursuit of his profession, and is noted for his ability and courteous demeanor.
IIRISTY, HON. BUTLER CASE, Lawyer, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 15th, IS42. Ilis family were among the earliest settlers of his native county. While pur- suing his education at Mount Union College in Ohio, he entered the Union Army, August 7th, 1862, as a private of the 123d Regiment Pennsylvania Vol- unteers, and served with them until he was severely
Ar. S. Kearal M. D .
513
BIOGRAPIIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
wounded in the battle of Chancellorsville, May 3d, 1863, and was disabled from further active service As soon as he had sufficiently recovered, he was discharged, July 7th, 1863, and returned home. Ile engaged in the study of the law with C. Hasbrouck, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber Ist, 1863, and afte: pursuing the regular course, was admitted to the bar, March 3d, 1866. IIe then began practice in Pittsburgh, where he has been since actively occupied in his profession, save during the periods of absence upon official duty. Ile entered early into the political arena, and has taken a leading part in all the movements of the Republican party. He was for three years Secretary of the Republican County Executive Committee, and having been nominated for the Legislature by the Republicans of the district of Allegheny county, in 1873, was triumphantly elected in October following. Having taken his seat at the beginning of the session, he was appointed a member of the Judiciary General, Constitutional Reform and other com- mittees ; and so acceptably did he represent his constituency, that in 1874 he was re-nominated by both the Republican' and Temperance parties. Ile was one of the projectors of the Allegheny County Prison Association, of which he is an active member and solicitor.
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.