USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 72
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CCRUM, EPIIRAIM B., Journalist, was born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, October 7th, 1833. Ile was educated in his native county, and while in his fifteenth year was apprenticed to learn the printing business with Hon. A. K. McClure, pro- prietor of the Juniata Sentinel. Hle remained in the office as journeyman even after the purchase of the Sentinel by Colonel John J. Patterson, now United States Senator, in the spring of 1852. In the commencement of 1852, he, in conjunction with A. J. Greer, bought the journal, and it was published by Greer & McCrum until November, 1855, when, disposing of his interest in its management to his partner, E. B. McCrum removed to Altoona, Pennsylvania. Ilere, in conjunction with William
WING, NATIIANIEL, Lawyer and Judge, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 19th, 1794. Ilis father, William Ewing, of Cecil county, Maryland, was a brother of the Rev. 6 John Ewing, D. D., of Philadelphia. Ilis edu- cation he received at Washington College, Penn- sylvania, where he graduated with first honors in 1812. For about a year he taught a classical school in Newark, Delaware; then studied law under Thomas McGiffin, of Washington, Pennsylvania, and was there admitted to the bar in 1816. In 1817, he settled as a lawyer in Union- town, Fayette county, where he spent the remainder of his life. From 1838 to 1848 he was Judge of the Fourteenth Judicial District, composed of Washington, Fayette and Greene counties, and was considered by Judges of the Supreme Court the best Common Pleas Judge in the State. Ile was for many years an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and was several times a member of the General Assembly of that denomination. Mainly by his energy and personal influence the Fayette County Railroad (from Connellsville to Uniontown) was built. In 1822, he married Jane, daughter of the late Judge Kennedy, of the Supreme Court of Penn- sylvania; she died in 1827, and in 1830 he was united to Anne, daughter of the Rev. David Denny, of Chambers- burg, Pennsylvania. Ile died of chronic asthma, February Sth, 1874.
SOTTIIOLD, ISAAC NEWTON, Actor, Author G and Manager, was born in Richmond, Virginia, February 12th, 1840, and is of German extrac- tion. When eleven years of age, he was sent to New York city, where he received an ordinary but useful education. At thirteen, he entered mercantile pursuits, and from 1858 to 1860 prosecuted business on his own responsibility. In May, 1861, he
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enlisted as a private in the famous Tammany (42d Now York) Regiment, and, July 22d of the same year, was commissioned Captain of Company D, commanding until after the actions at Yorktown and West Point, in May, 1862; subsequently, he was greatly enfeebled by' ill health, and, on the expiring of a sick-leave, was, in the following July, appointed Adjutant of the Convalescent Corps on the Staff of Brigadier General Morris, commanding the post. Early in 1862, he resigned and returned to New York city, where, in the spring of 1864, he studied for the stage with Professor Iloss, the celebrated elocutionist, until the fall. Ile then visited London, England, where he continued his studies, and, May 19th, 1865, made his debut as Romeo on the boards of the Drury Lane Theatre. On his return to New York, in 1866, he was engaged at the Winter Garden Theatre, with Edwin Booth, whose chief support he was until the destruction of the house by fire, on March 23d, 1867. Ile then travelled professionally through the South, playing starring engagements; January, 1868, he settled in Cincinnati, as leading man at Wood's Theatre, until 1870, when he joined the old Opera House in Pittsburgh, in the same capacity; in 1872, in connection with John A. Ellsler, he became Assistant Manager, and so remains, His early inclination for the stage owed its origin to his attendance at the theatre one evening while Forrest was enacting the role of Damon. He has written several original dramas and comedies, and skilfully adapted many others from the French and German.
EECII, JAMES, Lawyer, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, September 18th, ISOS. His father was a native of the same county; his grandfather was one of three brothers who emi- grated from Ireland, two settling in the Western States. He was educated at Jefferson College, graduating therefrom in 1828; studied law in Uniontown under the late Judge James Todd, and was admitted to the bar in October, 1831. Locating in Pittsburgh, in 1834, he commenced practice, but after four years was obliged to return to Fayette county, where he combined farming with the law until 1862, when he returned to Pittsburgh and continued his professional pursuits for ten years. He then retired to his farm at Elmsworth, near Allegheny City, where he now lives. Ile was appointed by Governor Cur- tin, at the beginning of the Civil War, Paymaster of the Pennsylvania Reserves, and held the position for about four months. Nominated for Judge of the Supreme Court in 1857, he was defeated by the Democratic nominees, Judges Strong and Thompson. He is an author of con- siderable reputation, his work, A History of Mason and Dixon's Line, gaining him prominence; it evinces great labor and research, and has been quoted in argument in Supreme Court on account of its accuracy. Since his re- tirement from practice he has devoted his time to literary
| labors, publishing various valuable, interesting and exten- sively-copied articles on points in the early history of the country. A history, entitled Gist Settlements, embracing an account of Washington's and Braddock's expedition to western Pennsylvania in 1753-'54-'55, attracted great at- tention. He has many valuable manuscripts relating to western Pennsylvania and its contiguities, the compilation of many years.
ALINESTOCK, B. L., Manufacturing Druggist, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, December 16th, 1810. Ilis father, Henry Fahnestock, and his grandfather, Benjamin Fahnestock, were born in this State, where the name is familiar; it is also known more or less all over the Union. Ile received but little early education, but has been an earnest student in the great school of business experience. Ile is in fact one of the self-made men of the State. At nineteen, he entered the employ of his cousin, B. A. Fahnestock, who was about to engage in the wholesale drug business at Pittsburgh, and remained with him as a clerk for about five years, when his business qualifications were acknowl- edged by his admission into partnership, and the firm-name of B. A. Fahnestock & Co. became known to western Penn- sylvania. Their establishment was destroyed by fire in 1847, but their enterprise caused it to be rebuilt almost in the same year. Ten years later, the firm of B. A. Fahne- stock & Co. was dissolved, and the junior partner bought the interest of Fleming Brothers, engaged in the same busi- ness. Ile continued in this for a short time, and then admitted his son, Benjamin S. Fahnestock, as a partner. Thus the business prospered until, in the spring of 1867, Benjamin F. Vandevort, a son-in-law, was admitted into the firm. They erected the white lead works on Liberty street, known as the Iron City White Lead Works, which were destroyed by fire May 12th, 1872, and which were rebuilt at Dallas Station, on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The business is now one of the largest and most prosperous of the kind in the country.
LINE, GEORGE M., Lawyer, was born in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, October 20th, IS19. Ile is the son of J. Peter Kline and his wife Susanna ( Messersmith), and of German stock on both sides. His ancestors were among the carly settlers of Lancaster. Educated in Lancaster, after leaving school he remained for several years in the store of his uncles, Kline & McClure. Ile then entered the law office of the late Real Frazer, and was admitted to practice in the different courts of Lancaster county in 1842. During the administration of Governor Shunk, he was appointed to prosecute the pleas in the Mayor's Court,
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receiving his several commissions from Attorneys-General Ilon. John K. Kane and Ilon. John M. Read. Ile has held no other public position, preferring to keep strictly within the line of his practice, which is very extensive. Ilis great abilities, profound knowledge of the law, and high character render him a leader at the Lancaster bar.
ALKER, IION. JOIIN HI., Lawyer and Senator, was born in East Pennsboro' township, Cumber- land county, Pennsylvania, February 9th, 1800. Hlis education was thorough, and after prelimi- nary instruction received from the best sources of the time and neighborhood, he entered Washing- ton College and completing the full course graduated with honor in the class of 1822. Hle then studied law and was admitted to the bar November 5th, 1823, at once com- mencing practice and soon acquiring a large connection. In politics he early rose into prominence and gained pre- ferment. He represented Erie county in the Ilouse of Representatives of Pennsylvania from 1832 to 1836; and was a State Senator from the same district for the sessions of 1850-'51 and 1852. In 1872, he was elected, as Repub- lican Delegate at Large, to the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania, held in Philadelphia during 1872-73, and was a most useful and influential member of that body, in which he was Chairman of the Committee on " Cities and City Charters," and also a member of the Committee on " Executive Departments." On the death of the President, Ilon. William M. Meredith, he was unanimously chosen his successor, at an election held on September 16th, 1873.
ENNY, MAJOR EBENEZER, first Mayor of Pittsburgh, was born in Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, March 11th, 1761, and was the eldest child of William and Agnes (Parker) Denny. Ilis father and uncle, Walter Denny, removed from Chester county to Cumberland county in 1745, the latter settling near Carlisle, where he was the possessor of a large tract of land; subsequently, he raised a company of volunteers for the Revolutionary con- flict, and was killed at Crooked Billet; at this place also his son was taken prisoner ; another son, Rev. David Denny, was for many years Pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Chambersburg. William Denny resided in Carlisle, and was the first Coroner west of the Susquehanna, also a Com- missary in the Revolutionary Army. His mother, a woman of unusual intelligence and energy, was the daughter of John Parker, and the granddaughter of Richard Parker, who, as early as 1730, owned lands on the Cannadagwinnet, near Carlisle, which have remained in the possession of the family for three generations; nearly all the male Parkers
were participants in the struggle against the mother country, and throughout its progress were noted for their loyalty and heroism. At the age of thirteen, Ebenezer was employed as a bearer of despatches to the commandant at Fort Pitt, and, though a mere lad, safely accomplished his journey over the Alleghenies, through a wilderness teeming with savage foes. Ile was afterward employed in his father's store in Carlisle until he moved to Philadelphia, where he shipped as a volunteer in a vessel bearing a letter of marque and reprisal and bound for the West Indies. While acting in this capacity, for fidelity and valor he was pro- moted to the command of the quarter-deck. Being ten- dered the position of Supercargo for a second voyage, he decided to accept the offer, but, after crossing the Snsque- hanna en route to Philadelphia, received and accepted a commission of Ensign in the Ist Pennsylvania Regiment. Ile participated in the action near Williamsburg, Virginia, where, his Captain and Lieutenant having been disabled at the first fire, the command devolved upon him. On the night of October 14th, he was in the advance at the siege of York, and won such merited distinction that he was se- lected to piant the first American flag on the British parapet. IIc afterward served in the Carolinas, under General St. Clair, and at Charleston during its investment, and also after its evacuation. Later he became Adjutant to Ilarmer, and Aide-de. Camp to St. Clair, and was repeatedly selected as the bearer of important despatches where courage, shrewd- ness and daring were required. After his resignation, he resided in Bedford county, which he represented in the Convention of 1777, which formed the first constitution of Pennsylvania. In 1794, he was commissioned Captain, and commanded the expedition to Le Boeuf. In 1795-'96, he resided at his farm and mill near Pittsburgh, and was there nominated for the State Legislature and defeated, but in the following year, and by an almost unanimous vote, was elected Commissioner of the county. In 1803, he was Treasurer of Allegheny County, his name appearing first on the list of County Treasurers, and again, in 1808, filled that position. In 1804, he was appointed a Director of the Branch of the Bank of Pennsylvania, established in that year at Pittsburgh, and which was the first institution of that nature west of the mountains. When this was merged into the office of the Bank of the United States he retained his Directorship, and was one of the few solvent men during the panic of 1819. For several successive years he obtained from the War Department the contracts for the supply of rations for the troops at Fort Fayette and Presque Isle, and filled them satisfactorily while prosecuting also his mercantile and commission business in Philadelphia, on Market street. During the War of 1812, he successfully met the extraordinary demands upon him, and was ap- pointed to furnish supplies to the North Western Army in addition to his own posts in Pennsylvania. At the close of the war he received a complimentary letter from General Harrison, in which he was cordially thanked for his valu-
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able promptness, energy and ability. When Pittsburgh was incorporated by act of Legislature, March 18th, IS16, he was elected the first Mayor, and, at the expiration of his first term, declined a re-election. He was Director in the Branch of the Bank of the United States, and afterward of the Bank of Pittsburgh, in which he was a large stock- holder. While visiting Niagara Falls, in the summer of IS22, he was attacked by a sudden illness, and with diffi- culty reached his home, where he died July 21st, in the sixty-first year of his age. IIe was married, July Ist, 1793, to Nancy Wilkins, daughter of John Wilkins, Sr., formerly of Carlisle, who participated as a Captain in the battle of the Brandywine, sister of Quartermaster-General John Wil- kins, Jr., Charles Wilkins, of Lexington, Kentucky, and Hon. William Wilkins, late of Homewood ; she died May Ist, 1806, leaving three sons, Harmer, William and St. Clair, and also two daughters.
DDISON, WILLIAM, Physician and Lawyer, was born at Washington, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 28th, 1801. After receiving a thorough English and classical education in the best schools of the country, he studied law in the town of his nativity, and attained to a full knowledge of the theory and practice of his profession. He then vis- ited Europe, and, while in Paris, pursued a course of medical studies under the most celebrated authorities of that city. IIe returned to the United States a highly edu- cated Physician as well as a Lawyer of rare ability. IIe died March 26th, 1862.
URGWIN, IHILL, Lawyer, was born at the Iler- mitage, the country seat of the Burgwin family, near Wilmington, North Carolina, February 21st, 1825. The Hermitage was built at a period con- siderably anterior to the Revolution, and during many generations was the home of the Burgwins. Ilis father, George Burgwin, was a Southern planter, and the family is of honorable English descent. He received his education at the University of North Carolina, but through ill health did not graduate from that institution. Subsequently, he entered upon a course of legal studies under the able guidance of Hon. Thomas S. Ash, Repre . sentative from his native State, and remained with him for a period of five years. Later, under the instruction of Hon. Frederick Nash, late Chief Justice of North Carolina, he finished his studies, and, in IS.47, was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court. Having married a lady of Pitts- burgh, in 1849, he removed to that city in 1851, and in the following year was admitted to practice at its bar. Since that date, he has secured a very remunerative clientage, and has won an enviable reputation. Although disinclined
to mingle in political warfare, he is warmly interested in all public measures touching the welfare of his adopted State, and is a valued member of City Councils, having been elected as a Conservative from a Republican con- stituency.
cCANDLESS, HION. WILSON, Lawyer, Judge, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 19th, 1810. Ile was of Scotch-Irish descent, though his parents were natives of the United States; was educated at the Western University of Penn- sylvania ; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1831. Ile gained great reputation and was appointed, in 1859, United States Judge for Western Pennsylvania, in which position his record has been most honorable and his decisions in very important cases have been widely quoted. In early life he was a prominent Democrat, and was three times a Senatorial Elector for President and Vice- President of the United States ; twice he was President of the Elec- toral College of Pennsylvania, and was Chairman of the Pennsylvania Delegation to the Baltimore Cass and Butler Convention of 1848; twice also he was a candidate for Con- gress. He received the degree of LL.I). from Union Col- lege, New York. He was long President of the Board of Inspectors of the Western Penitentiary; Director of the old M. and M. Bank ; Trustee of the Gas Works and of his alma mater, and an officer in numerous other institutions and organizations. He was married, December, IS34, to Sarah, daughter of Thomas Collin, of Pittsburgh.
OWRIE, REV. SAMUEL T., Clergyman and Professor, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 8th, 1835. He is the son of llon. W. Il. Lowrie, ex-Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. Ilis preliminary education was received at the Western University of Pennsylvania, and he graduated from Miami University, Ohio, in 1852. The four years following he spent as a student at the Western Theological Seminary of Pennsylvania; during 1857, he visited Europe and for some time pursued his studies at Ileidelburg. Upon his return to the United States he was ordained as Pastor at Alexandria, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, and was installed in charge of the Bethany Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, where he remained until 1869. Ile then removed to Abington, Montgomery I county, and officiated as Pastor of the Presbyterian Church at that place until 1874, when he was elected to the posi- tion, and accepted the Chair, of Professor of "New Testa- ment Exegesis and Literature" in the Western Theological Seminary of Allegheny City. He is a ripe scholar, an able minister and a devout man.
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DDISON, ALEXANDER, Minister, Lawyer, Judge, Author, was born in Scotland, and re- ceived a thorough English and classical educa- tion in the College of Aberdeen, in his native land. Ile first adopted the ministerial profession and emigrated to America in 1758, bearing the commission of a Preacher in the Presbyterian Church. Ile officiated in that capacity for some time at Washington, Pennsylvania, when he turned his attention to the law, and, after pursuing the required course of study, commenced practice and was eminently successful, attaining to wealth and honor. He was the first person to receive an appoint- ment as President Law Judge in western Pennsylvania, his commission to that office dating 1791. Ile remained in this position until 1802, and died in Pittsburgh in 1807. Hle was the Author of Addison's Reports, at one time a high authority.
OBERTS, HON. ANTIIONY E., Merchant, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, October 29th, 1803, and is of Welsh and German ex- traction. Ilis father, John Roberts, was a hotel keeper and extensive farmer of Chester county. Ile received his "education in the common schools of Lancaster, and at fourteen years of age became Clerk and Assistant in a country store, where he remained until he had attained his majority, when he purchased an interest in the business, and continued in its successful pro- secution until 1850. In 1839, he was elected Sheriff of Lancaster County, and served in that capacity for one term of three years. In 1849, he received from President Z. Taylor the appointment of Marshal of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and ably discharged the duties of that office during the continuance of the administration which had conunissioned him. In 1854, he was elected to Con- gress, and, in 1856, re-elected. For many years he has been a member of the Lancaster City Councils, a member of the Board of School Directors, and one of the Board of Directors for the City Poor. Ilc also occupies the position of Director of the Lancaster Bank, and County Fire In- surance Company, and for a long period held a similar post in the Board of the State Normal School at Millerville, Pennsylvania. During the lite war his influence and means were freely exerted for the preservation of the Union, and his eldest son served gallantly in the cavalry in defence of the Government. Ile enjoyed the intimate friendship of the late Ilon. Thaddeus Stevens, and was named as one of his Executors by that eminent statesman. Ile is an active member of the Episcopal Church, and is ever prom- inent in all movements tending to the advancement of public morality. He was married, June 14th, 1840, to a daughter of Andrew Bushong, of Lancaster, and from that union sprang twelve children, eleven of whom are now living.
IIICKSTUN, LEWIS W., Journalist, was born in Cussewago, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, March 24th, 1823. His parents were both na- tives of the State of New Jersey. Ile received an academic education at Kingsville, Ohio, after- wards engaged in mercantile pursuits, and subse- quently in the oil business. Still later, he was engaged by Hollister & Metcalf in the editorial department of the Crawford Journal of Meadville, and three years after he became the owner of that paper. In January, 1872, he was elected Transcribing Clerk of the State Senate, and was re- elected to the same office in 1873. Since leaving Harris. burg he has been editorially occupied upon the Daily and Weekly Republican of Meadville. Of his political record he has reason to be proud, having, in 1844, been the only voter in Cussewago township to deposit a ballot of the Liberty party. Ile has since voted for Van Buren, Hale, Fremont, Lincoln and Grant. Ile married Lizzie Thomas, of New Jersey.
ERRICKSON, HON. DAVID, Lawyer and Judge, was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, August 28th, 1799. Ilis parents were David and Mary (Wood) Derrickson. He was educated at Al- legheny College and graduated in 1821, one of four in his class who received the degree of A. B. and A. M. He then engaged in the study of law under George Selden and John B. Wallace, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1823. Ile began practice in Mead- ville and quickly attained distinction, being appointed Deputy Attorney-General for Crawford, Venango and War- ren counties within three months after his admission. In 1856, he was elected additional Law Judge of the Sixth District, a position he held for ten years, when he again resumed practice. lle was a member of a Commission appointed to Revise the Statute Laws of the State. Ile married Harriet, daughter of Richard Patch, one of the early settlers of Meadville, and twelve children have been born to him, eight of whom are still living.
ABERMAN, PETER, Merchant, was born near Nuremberg, in Bavaria, April 1st, 1819. Ilis father, Conrad Ilaberman, was a farmer. After gaining a good practical education in the schools of his native place, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until he had attained his majority, when he was conscripted as a soldier by the King of Bavaria and served for three months. Two years later he emigrated to this country and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 5th, 1845. There he was employed as a farm hand for one year, at a salary of $84 per annum. Subsequently, he entered the service of Joseph Ritter, proprietor of cxten-
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sive dairies, and ultimately, in connection with Joseph [ outbreak of the Rebellion, his Union sentiments being Ritter, Jr., secured possession of his business, which he prosecuted until 1855, when he became sole owner. In 1860, he interested himself in the coal business, dealing with Keeling & Bantz, buying coal and floating it to Southern markets. In 1860, he associated himself with Walton, Philip & Co., in the Eagle Coal Company, re- maining with it during its existence. In 1863, he formed a copartnership with Walton & Keeling, and purchased a coal works six miles from Pittsburgh, known as Ilaber- min & Co's. In 1865, he entered the firm of Joseph Walton & Co., with which he is still associated. Ile is a Director of the German National Bank of Pittsburgh, and of the First National Bank of Birmingham ; has served as a Councilman for several years, and also held the posi- tion of Treasurer of the Borough of Birmingham for a long period. IIe is a prominent church member, and was married, June 19th, 1849, to Mary Ann Ritter, of Pittsburgh, by whom he has had thirteen children, seven of whom are still living.
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