USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 62
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Kuper J. Merck
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in each session that he served, ranked high as a debater. The last session, that of 1850, was notable for the number of very able men acting as members, among whom were Ilon. James M. Porter, Judges Conyngham and Beaumont, D). M. Smyser, A. K. Cornyn, R. Rundle Smith, Craig Biddle, Jesse R. Borden, and John S. Bowen. Ilis most admired speeches were that in vindication of the. Pennsyl- vania Railroad, which was fiercely assailed at the session of 1847, when an applicant for a supplement to its charter considered essential to its success ; and that delivered at the 'session of 1850, in favor of an elective judiciary. At that period he was an advanced Anti-Slavery Whig and member of a Committee appointed to consider the Federal Relations of the State; associated with him were Judge Beaumont, G. W. Scofield, Souder and John S. Bowen. The com- promise measures of 1850 were then before Congress, and excitement ran high throughout the country. Judge Beaumont submitted the majority report advocating strong I'ro-Slavery Doctrines in regard to slavery in the Territories ; John Allison submitted a report signed by him and John S. Bowen, asserting substantially the doctrines afterward adopted by the Republican party. This report greatly · increased his popularity with his constituents, and in the fall of 1850 he was elected to Congress. In 1852, he was again nominated, at the time when General Scott was nominated by the Whig party for the Presidency, and placed upon a Pro-Slavery platform-a measure which greatly damaged that party-but was defeated by less than forty votes. In 1854, he was again nominated, and elected by a large majority over the candidate who had formerly defeated him in 1852. Ile was known in Congress as a determined opponent to the spread of slavery into our Territories, and, in 1856, delivered an admirable and eloquent speech upon that subject, which, with Colfax's speech upon the Kansas Laws, were ordered to be printed for distribution in the ensuing campaign. Seeing the urgent necessity for the organization of a party based upon Republican principles, he signed the first call for a convention to assemble in Pennsylvania for that purpose. He was a member of the First National Convention, which was convened at Pitts- burgh, February 22d, 1856, to organize a National party, and represented Pennsylvania in the Committee on Platforms and Resolutions. In May, 1856, he was President of the First State Republican Convention that assembled after the National organization ; was a Delegate from Pennsylvania to the National Republican Convention which assembled at Philadelphia two days after the State Convention ; was Chairman of the State Delegation in that Convention ; and, at the request of the Illinois Delegation, nominated Abraham Lincoln as a candidate for Vice- President. In 1860, he was elected a Delegate to the National Republican Convention which met at Chicago, and was instructed to vote for the late W. Il. Seward. In 1857, he entered into the lumber business, at Keokuk, Iowa, but the financial collapse of that year greatly depressed Western activity, and lumbering
proved to be an unprofitable enterprise. Before the break- ing out of the war he returned to Pennsylvania, and November Ist, 1861, entered the United States service as a Paymaster, serving with fidelity and acceptability until the close of the Rebellion. During that time he received and paid out some millions of dollars, and was among the first paymasters who settled and closed their accounts, thereby relieving their bondsmen from all accountability. After leaving the army he resided for a time upon a farm in Mercer county, Pennsylvania; and, during the campaign of 1868, was noted as an energetic and talented leader, addressing a great number of Republican meetings and conventions, and laboring earnestly for the public welfare. On April Ist, 1869, he was appointed by President Grant, Register of the United States Treasury, and still continues to discharge the duties of that honorable and responsible office. IIe is possessed of many and varied scholarly attain- ments ; is a fluent and forcible speaker; and is one of the most valued supporters of that party in whose origination and successful establishment he was a prime and indefatig- able mover. IIe was married, in March, 1836, to L. A. Adams, eldest daughter of the late Dr. Milo Adams,
ELSII, CAPTAIN JOHN II., was born in the county Tipperary, Ireland, December, 1839. Ile came to America with his parents, in 1848, and settled in Erie, Pennsylvania. After obtaining an education in the public schools of that city, he entered the Commercial Marine of the Lakes, serving in almost every capacity from cabin-boy to com- mander. When the war of the Rebellion broke out in 1861, he enlisted as a sailor in the United States Navy, but his perfect knowledge of seamanship soon engaged the attention of his superiors, and insured him rapid promotion. IIe served principally in the Mississippi squadron, participating in many of the hardest-fought naval battles of the war. In the summer of 1864, the United States gunboat " Undine " was sunk at Clifton, Tennessee, and although the vessel was surrounded by a force of rebels outnumbering her crew six to one, through his untiring energy and skill she was saved from being a total loss. For this gallant service he was immediately promoted from Acting Ensign to Master. After the loss of the " Undine," at Paris Landing, in one of the most desperate naval engagements of the war, he was ordered to the iron-clad " Cincinnati," and from that vessel to the flag ship " Lafayette," and forced to part from a crew with whom he had seen the hardest service for two years, and by whom he was greatly beloved. When the gunboat " Mist " was commissioned, he was ordered to command her, which position he held until the close of the war, and was discharged December 10th, 1865. After the war he was mainly instrumental in organizing the United States Naval Union, a league something similar to the Grand
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Army of the Republic. He engaged for a while in business | and of the Erie Transfer Company. IIe has performed a in the Oil Region, and then again returned to Erie and established himself in the wholesale liquor trade, dealing largely in the native wines of the Lake Shore. He is a self- made man in the best sense of the word, having pursued his studies when a boy under the discouraging restraints of poverty, and having since advanced upon his merits. In I874, he was elected School Director, receiving 557 of the 569 votes cast, there being two other candidates in the field. In the same year he was independent candidate for Assem- bly. In 1860, he married Mary Sheahan, of Rochester, New York.
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ACK, LOUIS, D. D. S., Dentist, was born in Germantown, March 26th, 1832, his parents being Josiah Jack and Elizabeth (Foster) Jack. When five years old he was taken by his parents to Beaver, Pennsylvania, where he received his pre- liminary education, consisting of the ordinary elementary instruction of the public schools, and a mathe- matical course in the county academy. At the age of nine- teen he removed to Philadelphia, in order to study dental surgery. IIere he became one of the first matriculants of the old Philadelphia. College of Dental Surgery at its first session in 1852, graduating from thence in 1854, and was appointed Demonstrator of Operative Dental Surgery in the college in 1855, which position he resigned in 1858. Ile has, during the course of his experience, contributed a number of essays to the Dental News Letter, and Dental Cosmos, and has invented a number of useful instruments and appliances. Ilis most important essay is, The Conserv- ative Treatment of the Dental Pulp.
TEWART, JAMES L., Physician and Surgeon, son of William Stewart and Mary Reid, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, August Ist, 1825. Ile received his preparatory education at a private school in Pittsburgh, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1848, immediately thereafter commencing the practice of his profession at Waterford, Erie county. In 1850, he removed to the city of Erie, where he has had a very successful career. During the war he was Surgeon to the 3d Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, and in general service. IIe has been several times President of the Erie County Medical Society, and, in 1868, was Vice-President of the State Medical Society. Ile has been for several years, during his residence in Erie, a member of the Board of School Directors, and for over eighteen years Physician to the County Jail. He has been President of the Board of Pensions for the Department of Erie, and Examining Surgeon ; also President of the Erie County Savings Bank,
number of surgical operations that render him prominent in that department of science. In the year 1849, he married Anna D. Bartholomew, of Philadelphia. Their only son, Lieutenant Reid T. Stewart, was born in Erie, April 20th, 1850. In June, 1867, he graduated from the Philadelphia Iligh School, at the head of a class of seventeen, taking the degree of A. B. Appointed to the United States Military Academy from the district of Erie, he stood number eight in a class of forty-three, graduating in 1871, and was assigned to Company 1, 5th Regiment, United States" Cavalry, stationed in Arizona Territory. On the 27th of August, 1872, while on his way from his station at Camp Crittenden to the military post at Tucson, to attend a court- martial of which he had been appointed Judge-Advocate, he was waylaid by a band of Apache Indians, and, together with the United States Mail Agent who accompanied him, murdered in Davidson's Canon. Ilis body was recovered and buried on the following day at Fort Tucson. The remains were subsequently removed under escort to the house of his parents, at Erie, and interred with great honors. Ile was a young man of unusual promise. A true Christian, a modest scholar and a brave soldier, he seemed destined to realize every noble ambition. The June previous to his death, the Philadelphia High School conferred upon him the additional degree of A. M.
AWLE, IION. IHENRY, Mayor of Erie, was born at Freedom Iron-Works, Mifflin county, Pennsyl- vania, August 21st, 1833. Ile is a descendant of the honorable old family of his name who settled in Philadelphia in 1686, and from which have sprung several of the most eminent jurists who have graced the bar of that city. ITis grandfather, William Rawle, was United States Attorney for the District of Pennsylvania, under the administration of President Washington, and the author of A Treatise on the Constitu- tion of the United States, and other works. His uncle, William Rawle, Jr., was also a lawyer of eminent attain- ments, and the author of Rawle's Reports. Ilis father, Francis W. Rawle, was in early life one of the Associate Judges for Clearfield county. His mother was Louisa Ilall, daughter of Charles Hall, of Northumberland county, an attorney-at-law, and a granddaughter of Robert Coleman, of Lancaster. Ile finished his education at Professor Balmar's school, in West Chester, and at the age of seven- teen joined the Engineer Corps in the construction of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. Afterwards he became Principal Assistant Engineer on the western division of the Philadelphia and Erie Railway, and after its completion from Erie to Warren, in IS59, embarked in the production of pig-iron, at Sharon, in Mercer county, from Lake Superior ore. In ISGo, he married Harriet G., daughter
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of General Charles M. Reed, of Erie, and in 1862 took up his residence in that city, where he engaged largely in the shipment of coal, still continuing the iron business in Mercer county. Since his residence in Erie he has been a leader in establishing several of her most flourishing and important branches of industry. In 1869, the firm of Rawle, Noble & Co. started the Erie Blast Furnace, which possesses great advantages for the production of pig-iron from Lake Superior ore; and in 1872 procured the associa- tion of capital in starting the Erie Rolling Mill Company, of which its senior member is President. In municipal affairs he has necessarily been somewhat prominent; though generally eschewing politics, he consented, in 1874, to stand for the office of Mayor, and was elected by an overwhelm- ing majority. Ilis wife died in 1869, leaving him two daughters.
operations of his regiment, commanding as Brevet Brigadier- General the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps. Ile was afterward assigned to the command of the First Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps, consisting of troops from the States of Pennsylvania and New York. The latter detachment he commanded until mustered out, at the ter- mination of the conflict, and in no instance was absent in any of the numerous engagements in which it was a par- ticipant. After deporting himself as an efficient, zealous and intrepid soldier until the final cessation of hostilities, he was mustered out of the United States service, June 2d, 1865, leaving an honorable record. About five years later, on March 29th, 1870, he was appointed Major-General of the Pennsylvania State Guards, in command of the Sixth Division (formerly the Eighteenth Division), and received his commission at the same date. Prior to this event he had served in Pittsburgh for three years as District At- torney, having been elected in October, 1868; to the many requirements of this position he brought the same devotion and ability which had marked his conduct in the field, and throughout the term gave entire satisfaction to all interested in his administration. In October, 1871, he was elected from the Fifteenth Ward to the Select Council for two years, and during his tenure of office labored wisely and effectively for the welfare of his constituents and fellow- citizens.
EARSON, GENERAL ALFRED L., Lawyer, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, December 28th, 1836. Ilis family was among the earliest of those who first settled in the county of Al- legheny, Pennsylvania, and its members were ranked with the most prominent and influential citizens of that region; his father, John Pearson, was a talented and estimable man, and one who possessed the entire respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. After acquiring a preliminary school edu- eation, the tastes and inclination of Alfred L. led him to ROWN, HON. RASSELAS, Lawyer and Judge, was born in Brownville, Jefferson county, New York, September 10th, 1812. His father, George Brown, who served in the War of 1812, was a native of Pennsylvania ; his mother, Temperance, was a native of Connecticut. His early educa- tion he received at the common schools of his neighbor- hood; the cultivation of his riper years was acquired at the academies in Belleville, Jefferson county, and in Waterford. lle entered Union College in 1834, and graduated with honor from that institution in 1836. After having com- pleted his education he removed to Warren, Pennsylvania, where he assumed charge of the Warren Academy, and held the position of Principal for nearly three years. While engaged in teaching he industriously employed his leisure time in the study of law : at first under the able tuition of the Ion. Lansing Wetmore, and afterwards with Struthers & Johnson. Having completed the prescribed course, he passed a most creditable examination and was admitted to the bar in June, 1840. ITe immediately commenced the practice of his profession, and in his attention to business has ever since been unremitting. ITis superior education, added to great natural ability, with a reputation for industry and integrity which early in life distinguished him, caused his services to be in demand, and in a short time he built up a large and hicrative practice which has been steadily select the law as his profession ; accordingly he pursued the usual course of legal studies under the able instruction of E. R. Jones, and upon its completion was admitted to the bar, in 1861. The subsequent outbreak of the Rebel- lion, however, interfered materially with his original projects and intentions, and, actuated by an ardent desire to aid in sustaining the integrity of the Union, he decided to abandon temporarily the practice of his profession and proffer his services to the Government as a volunteer. The first po- sition of note which was subsequently held by him was that of Captain in Company A of the 155th Pennsylvania Volunteers; to this he was appointed August 22d, 1862. Thenceforward his continuous and rapid progress upward testifies abundantly to his merits and abilities as a soklier and leader. December 31st of the same year he assumed a still higher grade, that of Major, and on the 22d of July, 1863, received his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel. On the 3ist of the following month he was again promoted, on this occasion to the position of Colonel. In that capacity he served for a period of thirteen months, when, September 30th, 1864, he was appointed Brigadier-General by brevet. Six months subsequently, on the Ist of March, 1865, in consideration of gallant and meritorious services performed at Lewis's Farm in Virginia, he received an appointment as Brevet Major-General. Throughout the war he partici- pated personally and actively in all the movements and increasing during fifteen years, until his connections are
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extended over the entire State. In 1845, he was elected to | States. IIe was re-elected to the same office in 1860, his represent his fellow-citizens of Warren county in the State Legislature. In 1857, he was appointed a member of the Board of Revenue Commissioners from his district. In 18Go, he was honored by the commission of President Judge of the Sixth Judicial District. In 1872, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania. In all these positions he gave evidence of pure patriotismn, great mental ability and wise practical qualifications. In 1858, he was commissioned as a Brigadier-General of Militia, and served in that capacity for several years. IIe is connected with the Dunkirk & Warren and Warren & Venango Railroads as stockholder and Director ; is a stock- hokler and Director of the First National Bank and a stockholder and Counsel for the Warren Savings Bank. Ile has been employed for many years as Counsel for the Borough of Warren and also for many of the leading cor- porations throughout the State. He was married in Janu- ary, 1841, to Elizabeth Sill, of Warren. Ilis record as a judge, a lawyer, a politician or a citizen is unassailable.
ABBITT, IION. ELIJAII, Lawyer and Legis- lator, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1795. Ilis father, before the Revolutionary War, was engaged in the command of merchant vessels mainly in the West India trade. After the commencement of that war, which for a time destroyed his business, he served as a Lieutenant in the Continental Army, and at its close resumed his former ocenpation. Some time afterwards he removed to the State of New York, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits till his decease, in 1809. His son, Elijah Babbitt, became a resident of Pennsylvania in 1816; and in 1822, with a good academic education,, entered upon the study of the law at Milton, in Northumberland county, in the office of Samuel Hepburn, then a distinguished lawyer in large practice in that part of the State. He was admitted to the bar in Northumberland county in 1824, and com- menced practice there. Ile removed to Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1826, where he has ever since been laboring in his pro- fession, having thus been through half a century engaged in legal practice. On November 28th, 1827, he was married to Caroline Elizabeth Kelso, daughter of John Kelso (deceased), one of Erie's first and most esteemed pioneers. She is still living. He was during many years a Trustee of the Erie Academy and Attorney for the Borough and City of Erie; and in 1834-'35 Deputy Attor- ney-General for the Commonwealth. Ile was a member of the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania in 1836- '37, and a member of the Senate from 1843 to 1846. In 1858, he was elected to represent the Twenty-fifth Con- gressional District of Pennsylvania, composed of the coun- ties of Erie and Crawford, in the Congress of the United
last term, ending March 4th, 1863. During his Congres- sional terms he served on the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions, the Committee on Revision and Unfinished Business, the Committee on Commerce, and the Special Committee on Defences and Fortification of the Great Lakes and Rivers. It was his fortune to have been a member of Congress at the commencement and during the most critical period of our great war for national existence; and his record shows him constant in support of all measures and expenditures designed for the replenishing and supporting of our armies and crushing the great Rebel- lion. He was among the first to advocate on the floor of the Ilouse of Representatives the immediate emancipation of slaves and their employment as soldiers in the army of the United States. In all things outside of measures for suppressing the Rebellion he appears to have been a strict economist, voting for the abolition of the Franking Privi- lege, against the increase of any civil expenditures, and favoring a strict accountability by all public officers. In 1874, he still lives in the enjoyment of good health and conducts a considerable legal practice for old clients whose business has long been in his hands and who refuse to engage other counsel.
ILGORE, COLONEL SAMUEL, Treasurer of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 15th, 1842, and on both the paternal and maternal sides is of. Irish extraction. His education was acquired in the common schools of his native city, and in 1855 he removed thence to Athens county, Ohio. He re- mained there for three years, and at the expiration of that time returned, in 1858, to Pittsburgh. He was then em- ployed at the City Water Works until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he abandoned his occupation to assist his country. After raising and organizing a company of volunteers in August, 1862, he was mustered into service as .First Lieutenant, Company D, of the 155th Regiment) Pennsylvania Volunteers. December 15th, 1862, he was promoted to a Captaincy; and, March 13th, 1865, for gal- lant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Peeble's Farm, Virginia, was appointed Major by brevet. During the progress of the war he participated actively in the following engagements, and upon all occasions evinced commendable prudence, bravery and ability: Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristow Station, Rappahan- nock Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomy, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Grove Church and Peeble's Farm; taking part, moreover, in various other forays and skirmishes. March 14th, 1865, he was dis- charged from the service on account of disability, arising from severe wounds received during the action at Peeble's
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Farm, Virginia. From January, 1866, until the termination | his own request, the war being then over, he was honorably of 1871, he was by consecutive elections Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Markets. February 22d, 1870, he was appointed Captain of Company B, of the 14th Regiment of National Guards of Pennsylvania (Zouaves) ; August 15th, 1870, he was promoted to the vacant position of Major; and, January 3d, 1871, was promoted to a Colonelcy, re- ceiving his commission at the same date. In October, 1871, he was elected Treasurer of Allegheny county, and in October, 1873, was again elected. April 20th, 1872, he resigned his Colonel's commission, desiring to devote him- self entirely to the cares and responsibilities attached to the official position which he now holds with such marked acceptance. Ile was married, March 14th, 1868, to Sarah M. Giles, daughter of Dr. W. P. Giles, a well-known and highly respected practitioner of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ARPER, MAJOR ALBERT METCALF, was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 22d, 1843. lle was the second son of John Harper, President of the Bank of Pittsburgh, and Lydia (Electa) Metcalf, of Pittsburgh. Having received a liberal education in his native city, he went to pursue his scientific studies at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, in 1861-'62. Here he made rapid progress and attained a high position in his class. Ile re- ceived many marks of respect and popular favor from his fellow-students, and was the first elected to the office of Grand Marshal, the duties of which position he performed with acceptance to all and credit to himself. When the war broke out, he was among the first to volunteer his services; and on August 25th, 1862, was appointed by the Governor first Adjutant of the 139th Regiment of Pennsylvania Vol- unteers. A modest, boyish young fellow, he seemed to some of the rude men that surrounded him almost too cor- rect in his deportment, too abstemious in his habits, and too delicately nurtured to endure the roughness and brave the dangers of a soldier's life. But when the trial came, no one was more prompt to the call of duty; no one showed more endurance on the long march, or in the shivering bivouac than he; no one more freely exposed his breast to the rebel bullets ; and the ringing echoes of his cheerful young voice, as he led his men to the front, will long linger in the LARK, THOMAS, Author and Editor, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, September 28th, 1787. Educated for the priesthood at the Catho- lie College in Baltimore, but declining to take orders, he entered the army in 1813, as Captain of United States Engineers. Ile was engaged during the last war with Great Britain in constructing the defences on the Delaware river. On leaving the army, at the close of the war, he devoted himself to literature and mathematics. His History of the Navy of the United States, memories of his comrades. Through many encounters he passed scathless; but in the battle of the Wilderness, May 5th, 1864, he was severely wounded, and in September of the same year was honorably discharged. Ilis military ardor, however, not being cooled, he was appointed by the President Assistant Adjutant-General of the United States Volunteers, with the rank of Captain, by and with the ad- vice and consent of the Senate, August 17th, 1864. In May, 1865, the President conferred upon him the rank of Major by brevet, for faithful and meritorious services. At La work highly commended by the elder Adams and Jefferson,
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