The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 46

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 894

USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 46

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RENSHAW, EDMUND AUSTIN, Chemist, was born in Richmond, Virginia, February 4th, 1827. Ilis parents were Nathaniel Chapman Crenshaw and Mary Y. (Couch) Crenshaw. The family is descended in a direct line from a brother of Sir Francis Bacon, commonly called Lord Bacon, the celebrated English Chancellor, who emigrated to Vir- ginia early in the seventeenth century, and there founded the family of Bacon, which has been prominent throughout the history of the State. Ile graduated at Haverford Col- lege, Pennsylvania, in Delaware county, in 1845, and in the following year entered the establishment of Smith & Ilodgson, a well-known firm of chemists, to learn the busi- ness. Ilere he remained until 1849, when the old firm re- tired and E. A. Crenshaw entered into partnership with Charles Bullock, the two succeeding to the firm of Smith & Hodgson, with the style of Bullock & Crenshaw, under which the business is still (1874) continued. Ile was married, in 1852, to Mary C., daughter of Anthony and Rebecca Robinson, of Richmond, Virginia, which family is, like his own, of English descent. lle is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in which, and its affairs, he has always taken great interest.

DENHEIMER, WILLIAM HENRY, D. D., Bishop of New Jersey, was born in Philadelphia, August 11th, 1817. lle graduated at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1835, and at the General Theological Seminary of the l'rotestant Episcopal Church, in New York, in 1838. In the same year he entered Holy Orders, being ordained deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church. In 1841, he received Priest's orders, and was elected Rector of St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia. He subsequently became, in 1859, Bishop of New Jersey. He is the author of nu- merous works, of which the following are chief: The Origin and Compilation of the Prayer- Book, 1841; The Devout Churchman's Companion, IS41; The True Catholic no Romanist, 1842 ; Thoughts on Immersion, 1843; The

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Young Churchman's Catechism, 1844; Ringelburgius on Study ; Bishop White's Opinions, 1846; Essay on Canon Law, 1847; The Clergyman's Assistant in Reading the Liturgy, 1847 ; The Private Prayer-Book, IS51; Jerusa- lem and its Vicinity ; a series of Familiar Lectures (eight) on the Sacred Localities connected with the Week before the Resurrection, 1855. In this last work he gives the re- sults of his meditations among the holy places during a visit to Jerusalem in 1851-'52. It is a most valuable book, and deeply interesting to the devout Christian. Bishop Odenheimer has confirmed, during the fourteen years since his consecration, 15,828 persons, of whom 14,870 were in the Diocese of New Jersey.

ESSNA, IION. JOHN, Lawyer and Congressman, was born in Bedford county, June 29th, 1821. After receiving a preparatory education in the common schools of his native county, where his father followed the occupation of a farmer, he for two years attended the Military Academy of Rev. B. K. llall, in Bedford. February Ist, IS39, he en- tered the Freshman class of Marshall College, and graduated from that institution, September 28th, 1842. Ile then en- gaged in teaching, at first in a public school and afterwards in a private academy, devoting all his leisure to the study of law, his name having been entered with IIon, Samuel M. Barclay, of Bedford, Pennsylvania. Ile also filled the post of Tutor of Latin in Marshall College, from 1843 to the fall of 1844, at which time he married a daughter of Daniel Shaffer, of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Entering the office of Mr. Barclay for the purpose of completing his legal stu- dies, he was examined and admitted to the bar of Bedford county, in June, 1845, where he immediately began practice and still resides. The vigor and ability displayed by him in the prosecution of all matters intrusted to his professional care quickly gained him prominence, and an extended and lucrative practice in his native and adjoining counties. Ile has always taken an active part in political questions. Ile was in early life a Democrat, and his usual energy, exerted in behalf of his party, soon caused him to be re- cognized as a leader therein, and he was elected to many honorable positions. In 1849, he was sent as a Represen- tative to the State Legislature, and so highly were his ser- vices appreciated that, in 1850, he was re-elected by the same constituency and was also raised to the honorable position of Speaker of the Ilouse. He was a most prompt, capable and impartial presiding officer, In 1856, he was a Delegate to the Cincinnati National Convention, which nominated James Buchanan for President. Again, in 1860, he was a Delegate to the National Convention at Charles- ton, South Carolina, and, as Chairman of the Committee on Organization, was the author of the Anti Unit Rule for the benefit of minorities. Ile was elected and served in the

State Legislature during the sessions of 1862-'63, being Speaker of that body during the latter year, But the action of the political party with which he had heretofore affiliated not meeting his views in connection with the questions raised by the Civil War, he severed his connection there- with and joined the Republican organization. Ilis exer- tions in behalf of the party with which he had enlisted were soon rewarded. In 1865, he was a member of the Repub- lican State Convention, and Chairman of the State Central Committee. In 18GS, he was elected a member of the Forty-first Congress from the Sixteenth District of Pennsyl- vania. In 1870, he was again nominated and claimed the election, but his seat was awarded to his opponent ; how- ever, in 1872, he was once more nominated in the same district and returned by a majority of over 1300 against his former successful competitor. He has served with great credit on the Committees on the Judiciary, on Expenditures and Public Buildings, and on Elections, and has earned a well-deserved reputation as an efficient, industrious and patriotic member of Congress. In 1865, he was chosen President of the Board of Directors of Franklin and Mar- shall College, to succeed Ilon, James Buchanan, and still fills the position. In August, 1870, at the organization of the Bedford & Bridgeport Railroad Company, he was elected its President, and has been unanimously re-elected every year since. Ile is a man of marked ability, and a hard worker. Though strongly partisan in his feelings and preju- dices, he never allows his judgment to be unduly influenced by any motives of political policy. Ile is connected, reli- giously, with the German Reformed Church, and has al- ways been a most active member of that denomination and a liberal contributor to its support.

'ARMER, ALFRED C., Merchant and Congress- man, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, August 8th, 1825. Ile is one of the great army of self-made men, and, like all who belong to that most worthy and honorable class, has carved his own way to fortune and eminence by the force of the old-fashioned virtues of industry and self-reliance, indomitable perseverance and energy. Before attaining the age of twenty years he commenced business on his own ac- count, and within a few years had established a flourishing wholesale shoe trade in Philadelphia. In his twenty-first year he became a Director of the public schools of Phila- delphia, and, after a short term of service in that office, was elected by a popular vote to the Councils of the borough of Germantown, then but just incorporated. In 1855, the city and county of Philadelphia were consolidated, and in the year following he was selected to represent, in the City Councils, the Twenty-second Ward, which was his birth- place. In the discussion of the important questions brought before the Councils as the result of consolidation, he ap-

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pearcd an able and faithful champion of the interests of this large municipality, and his energy, tact, penetration, and superior judgment, the result of his business experience, eminently qualified him for the consideration of these weighty matters. As a member of the Councils he took an active interest in the development of the city passenger railway system, and for three years occupied the position of President of the Thirteenth & Fifteenth Streets Road. Ile was thrice elceted by the Councils a Director of the North Pennsylvania Railroad Company, to represent in that corporation the interests of the city, which amounts in value to $1,400,000. In 1860, during a period of great political excitement, and with three sets of candidates in the field, he was nominated by the People's party (including some of all the broken political organizations, but being princi- pally composed of the elements of the old Whig party ) for Recorder of Decds for the City and County of Philadelphia, and was triumphantly elected by a majority of 2783 over both competitors, although the Democratic State ticket re- ceived in the city a majority of 1886. IIe discharged the duties of this office with great fidelity, and used the power thus conferred upon him for the highest good of his country. About this time he was appointed by the general com- mittee of the city to collect funds in his own ward for the purpose of riising troops for the army. For this end he organized a special committee, and contributed most libe- rally to the fund of his own means and influence. Ile was also sent as a Delegate to the last National Republican Convention which assembled at Chicago. His official term being closed, he returned to private life, and devoted his time and cnergies to the interests of his own business, un. til, in the summer of 1870, he was called to become the standard-bearer of the Republican party in the Congressional struggle in the Fifth Pennsylvania District. In the Con- vention of sixty-nine delegates he received sixty-one votes on the first ballot, and his nomination having been made with such rare unanimity, he entered upon the spirited cam- paign which followed. Although his defeat had been most confidently predicted on account of the closeness of the di- vision of the two parties and the local dissensions in his own party, he carried the district by a larger majority than had been accorded to any of his predecessors for many years, thus proving his personal popularity, especially among the laboring classes. He was unanimously re-nominated in 1872, and re-elected by an increased majority. Ile was known as a hard-working member, and completely devoted to the interests of his constituents and of the country at large. ITis kindness and courtesy towards all with whom he has to do, whether opponents or friends, are marked traits in his character, and evidences of the worthy animus by which his life is governed. Ile has been twice married ; firstly, in 1845, to Emily Jane, daughter of George II. Wil- son, of Germantown; and, secondly, in 1854, to Sarah E., daughter of Conrad Miller, of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania. Ile has a family of nine sons and two daughters.

TTO, CHIARLES WITMAN, Cashier of the National Bank of Germantown, was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on the 27th of February, 18=3, his parents being Damniel HI. Otto and Sarah (Witman) Otto. His grandfather, John A. Otto, . a physician, emigrated from Germany to America about the year 1765, and settled in Reading, and served as a surgeon in the War of Independence. Charles Witman Otto received his education at the common schools of Potts- ville, Pennsylvania, and when about sixteen years of age entered a dry goods establishment in that town, where he remained but a few months. On leaving this employment he removed to Philadelphia, and was engaged by Bing- ham, Kintzle & Co., dry goods merchants of that city, with whom he continued until 1847, when he began business in the dry goods trade on his own account, in Market street, Philadelphia, an undertaking he relinquished in 1850, in order. to accept a position as Bookkeeper in the Bank of Germantown, which was reorganized, in 1864, as the Na- tional Bank of Germantown, Philadelphia. Ilaving passed through the subordinate positions of Bookkeeper and Teller, he became the Cashier of the bank in IS60, a position he at present occupies. IIe is intimately connected with all the more important local associations and institutions. He was married, in 1856, to Mary, daughter of Louis Leete, of Hartford, Connecticut.

UMMA, IION. DAVID, Lawyer and Banker, was born in Dauphin county, near Harrisburg, July 28th, 1816. Ilis parents were David and Esther Mumma, of German descent. His early cduca- tion he secured in the county school of his native place, and when but thirteen years of age was set to work upon his father's farm. In this occupation he was engaged until his twenty-sixth year, when he pursued the business of farming and general agriculture on his own ac- count. After a successful trial of this occupation, he turned his attention to the lumber business, occupying himself in this manner with energy and profit until 1853. In this year he removed to Harrisburg and began the study of the law. Upon the completion of his legal course, he was admitted to the bar of that city, and immediately engaged in the active practice of his profession, in which he has since ac- quired such creditable renown. In 1840, he was Demo- cratic candidate for the Legislature, but met with failure, this political party being then greatly in the minority. From 1840 to 1846, he was a Delegate to nearly every State Democratic Convention, and, upon all occasions, was noted for his enterprise, sagacity and shrewd counsel. In 1846, he separated from the Democratic party and took sides with the Whigs on the tariff question, and, in 1856-'57, was elected to the Legislature of this State as Whig candidate. Until 1860, he was identified with the American party, when he connected himself with the Republican party, to

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whose principles he has since firmly held. In the latter year, he was appointed a Delegate to the State Republican Convention, and in this capacity has since served repeatedly, and with profit and honor to his party and himself. In 1867, he was elected to the State Senate, and served for three years. In addition to his professional and legal pur- suits, he has been identified with many important enterprises of a financial nature, and in all such has evinced unusual administrative qualities and acute foresight. He was actively interested in the affairs of the State Capitol Bank, and also the State Bank; while, at the present time, he is President of the Real Estate Bank, and also President of the Ilarrisburg Market Company, the duties of which position require elose attention and shrewd management. He was married, in 1841, to Lydia Detweiler, of Middletown, Pennsylvania.

AWSON, MORDECAI LEWIS, Brewer and Philanthropist, was born in Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, April 3d, 1799. IIe lost his father when quite young, and was principally bronglit up under the care of his paternal grandfather, to whose business he succeeded. By his intelli- gence, his enterprise, industry, and integrity, he soon won the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens, which he continued to enjoy during his entire life. Having acquired a considerable fortune, he retired from business, and the balance of his prolonged life was devoted to philanthropic pursuits and the management of the charitable and benevo- lent institutions of his native city, with nearly all of which he was, at some time connected, and most of which he benefited by pecuniary aid. For upwards of thirty years he was a manager of the Magdalen Society ; for twenty- eight years he devoted his time and talents to the further- ing of the benevolent objects of the Pennsylvania Hospital ; and for sixteen years occupied the position of President of the Board of Managers of that institution. In 1838, he was elected a member of the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Publie Prisons, and was sub- sequently appointed a member of the Acting Committee, and a Secretary of the Society. In 1842, he was chosen a Director of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb; and, in 1869, a Vice-President of the same. Ile became a Director of the Public Schools in 1833, and devoted much of his time to them. In 1846, he resigned his Directorship on his appointment as a Trustee of Girard College and a Manager of the House of Refuge. In these fields he labored with his accustomed energy and usefulness for over ten years. As a Manager of the Friends' Asylum for the Insane, near Frankford, and other benevolent institutions, his services were most valuable and highly appreciated. Ilis bounty to public charities was very large, but his private beneficence was as great ; the deserving poor, and many others not known as such, ever found in him

a warm-hearted friend to whom they could confide their troubles, in time of need, with the surety that their wants would be liberally supplied. In connection with William Biddle, he purchased a lot in the Monument Cemetery, for the interment of teachers dying in limited circumstances, thus extending his charity, even to the dead. December 9th, 1872, he died. A member of the Society of Friends, he was entirely catholic in spirit and ever willing to cooperate with men of every sect in doing good. He is entitled to a conspicuous place in the ranks of philanthropists.

EPPER, WILLIAM, Physician, was born January 2Ist, ISto. lle received a classical education in Princeton College, after leaving which he became the private pupil of Dr. Thomas Ilewson of Philadelphia, then an eminent practitioner. Ile graduated in medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1832, and shortly after- wards visited Europe, in order to prosecute his studies still further. On his return, in 1834, he commenced to practice in his own native city, where one of the divisions of the Philadelphia Dispensary was placed under his care. In 1839, lie was chosen one of the Physicians of Wills' Hospital, and two years later, one of the Physicians to the Pennsylvania Institute for the Instruction of the Blind. The year subsequent, he was elected one of the Visiting Physicians to the Pennsylvania Hospital; which position he held for nearly seventeen years, with great advantage to the institution and honor to himself, In June, 1860, he succeeded the eminent Professor Wood, as Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, in the University of Pennsylvania. This chair be filled with rare ability, till the spring of 1866, when increasing feebleness of health obliged him to tender his resignation. A tendency to disease of the lungs, from which he had long suffered, in- creased visibly at this period, and in spite of every care, led to his death, on October 15th, 1866. He married Sarah Platt, of Philadelphia, in 1840. The large practice he enjoyed prevented him ficm becoming a voluminous anthor. lle contributed, however, numerous short articles to medical journals, which were distinguished by their clearness of expression and practical character. Among these may be mentioned, Reports of Cases noted in the Pennsylvania Hospital, On Chronic Hydrocephalus, Ou Scrofulous Inflammation of the Lungs and Pulmonary Consumption, On Hepatic Abscess, The Use of the Spir- ometer in Diseases of the Lungs, Cases of Diseased Gall Bladder, all in various issues of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences ; On Tubercle of the Brain, on the Treatment of Intermittent Fever by Quinoidine, on certain Poisonous Effects Produced by Pork, in different numbers of The Medical Examiner ; besides numerous contributions published in the Transactions of the College

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of Physicians and in the Proceedings of the Pathological Society, of Philadelphia. Ilis private character was most estimable. An intimate friend, himself a medical prac- titioner of distinguished eminence-Dr. Thomas S. Kirk- bride-has said of him in a Memoir published in 1866: " Without the privilege of personal friendship and con- fidential professional intercourse, no one could thoroughly appreciate all his excellent traits of character as a Chris- tian man, a good citizen, an able physician, a devoted husband and father, and a true friend; nor understand what tended to raise him highest in the estimation of those who knew him best, as one of the justly honored and deservedly successful in the ranks of his profession, and who, in passing away, left a void which to many can never be filled, and feelings of sorrow that can find no fitting expre sion in words."

ITCAIRN, IIUGH, Superintendent of the Pitts- burgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway Company, was born in Johnstone, Scotland, in August, 1845. ) While in his infancy, his parents came to the United States and settled in Allegheny City, Penn- sylvania. Ilis early education was acquired in the common schools of that city, where he evinced unusual sagacity and perseverance. Upon the completion of his studies, in 1859, he entered the office of the Pennsylvania Railroad, in Pittsburgh, to learn telegraphy. In this essay he manifested such insight and ability, that, in less than six months, he was appointed to take charge of the telegraph office situated at the end of the double track, at Mill Creek, IIuntingdon county. In this employment he continued for one year, and was then appointed to operate in the general office at Altoona. In this place he fulfilled the duties of clerk and operator until 1865, when he was called to Ilarrisburg as Assistant Train-Master of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Subsequently, he was promoted to the position of Train- Master, and two months later, owing to the decease of the Assistant Superintendent, William D. Hayes, received the appointment of Acting Assistant Super- intendent, and Superintendent of the Susquehanna Division. Appreciating fully his talents and administrative ability, the directory, at the ensuing meeting, confirmed him as Assis- tant Superintendent, and in this capacity he served credit- ably for two years. At the expiration of this time, he was offered the position of Superintendent of the Ichigh Coal & Navigation Company Railroad, with the office at Mauch Chunk, Carbon county, Pennsylvania, now known as the Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad, leased by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Later, he was sent by the late John Edgar Thomson, and also Colonel Scott, to Kentucky, for the purpose of completing and taking charge of the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville Railroad. After the completion of the road, he was appointed General Superin- fall of 1870, he was unanimously nominated by the Repub-

tendent, and assisted in the purchase of the Edgefield & Kentucky Railroad, thus making a through line from Nash- ville, Tennessee, to Evansville, Florida. Ile continued in charge of this road until its sale to the St. Louis & South- eastern Railroad, when, being harassed by failing health, he moved to the sea-shore, remaining there for nearly a year. In July, 1862, he left Kentucky, and in January, 1873, ac- cepted the proffered position of Superintendent of the Pitts- burgh Division of the Pan Handle Line, and since that time has been connected with that company. He is the youngest of three brothers who fill prominent positions in various railway companies, and is noted for many admirable qualities of mind and heart. Ile was married, in 1866, to Frances Sherfy, daughter of Solomon Sherfy, of Altoona, Pennsylvania.

ARDING, IION. GARRICK MALLERY, Presi- dent Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, Penn- sylvania, was born at Exeter, in Luzerne county, on the 12th day of July, 1830. Ile is of that strong New England stock, which, in the early days of the Republic, was transplanted from the rugged shores of Massachusetts Bay to the more congenial soil of Pennsylvania. Exeter bears the same relation to Wyoming that Concord, in Massachusetts, bears to Bunker's IIill. Bunker's Hill became classical ground through the early struggles of the colonists, which began at Concord; and Wyoming's classical history dates from the massacre which had its beginning at Exeter, wherein two of Mr. Harding's ancestors were slaughtered, and whereof John Harding, the grandfather of Garrick M. Harding, was the only survivor. The latter graduated at Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1848, in the class with John A. J. Creswell, now Postmaster-General. Ile was admitted to the bar in Wilkesbarre, in 1850, when the bar of Luzerne county was conspicuous for the strength and ability of its members, among whom were the Hon. George W. Wood- ward, Ilon. Luther Kidder, and IIon. Oristus Collins, ex- Judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Common Pleas, and IIon. Hendrick B. Wright, Hon. Henry M. Fuller, Harrison Wright, and II. W. Nicholson, men of great acquirements and marked ability. Ilis tastes and temperament naturally led him into the active practice of the courts; he speedily attained great success in jury trials, and as an advocate soon came to be without an equal at the Luzerne 'bar. In 1858, he was elected District Attorney of Luzerne county, on the Republican ticket, by more than 1700 majority, though the county was largely Democratic. On the 12th of July, 1870, at the exact age of forty years, he was appointed by Governor Geary, I'resident Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District (excepting Philadelphia and Allegheny, the largest in the State). to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of the IIon. John N. Conyngham. In the

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The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2, Part 46

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 894

Author: Robson, Charles. 4n; Galaxy Publishing Company. 4n
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Philadelphia : Galaxy Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 894