USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 74
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OWARD, REV. WILLIAM D., was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 28th, 1814. His parents were both natives of the United States, and from his early youth devoted him to the ministry. He pursned his studies with that intention, and, after receiving . his education at the Manuel Latin Academy of Germantown, and his theo- logical training under the Rev. William Neill, he was licensed to preach, in Philadelphia, October, 1837, and ordained in March, 1838, when he was installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Pennsylvania. In 1849, he accepted a call from and became pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, where he still remains, . Was made S. T. D. by Washington College, Pennsylvania, in 1853, of which he was long a Trustee. Is President of the Board of Trustees of the Western Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and a Director of the Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, Is also a member of the Board of Foreign and Domestic Missions of the Presbyterian Church, and of the General Assembly's Committee on Freedmen. Ilis sermons are remarkable for their eloquence and learning, and a number of them have, by request, been published.
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OSS, JAMES, Lawyer, United States Senator, etc., | the second battle of Bull Run, and when the Confederate 6. was born in York county, Pennsylvania, of Scotch- General Lee was advancing northward through Maryland, he, with his friends, raised and organized the 139th Pen- sylvania Regiment of Volunteers; of this force he was chosen to fill the Coloneley, and, entering at once into active service, he participated in the battle of Antietam. Ile remained in the service of the United States until the termination of the conflict, conducting himself bravely throughout, and, subsequently, was made Brigadier-General by brevet, for " gallant and meritorious services during the war." Resuming the practice of his profession, in 1869, he was elected Assistant Judge of the Court of Common l'leas of Allegheny county, a position he still fills with recognized dignity and capability. Ile was married, in 1849, to Kate King, daughter of William King, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Georgetown, District of Columbia, and sister of James King of William, editor of the Evening Bulletin of San Francisco, who was killed in the great contest to purify the State, and to whom a monument was erected in Lone Mountain Cemetery by the people of California. Irish parents. Ilis education was conducted by the Rev. Dr. McMillan, of Washington county, and he was designed by those having him in charge for the Presbyterian Church. A change in his profession is traditionally ascribed to the fact that one day during his course of theological study under the Rev. Dr. McMillan, having been instructed to prepare and deliver a sermon, hc committed, rehearsed it alond from an elevated position on a stump behind a haystack, and having delivered it to his own entire satisfaction, jumped down from the stump, exclaiming : " There, by G-d! Old McMillan can't beat that !" " I'm afraid, James," said the doctor, who unseen had been an attentive auditor to the whole, " that you won't answer for the ministry ; you had better study law." Ile took the advice, went to Philadel- phia, studied, and was there admitted to the bar; he was also admitted in Washington county and likewise in Pitts- burgh on the organization of the Allegheny courts, about the year 1788. Ile soon worked his way into prominence, professionally and politically. Ile was elected to the United States Senate; was famous as the greatest land lawyer in western Pennsylvania, and was the recognized leader of the Federal party in his section in the early politics of the country. In 1799, 1802 and IS05 he was a candidate for Governor under the Federal banner, but failed to gain his election. ile died about 1842.
AYER, JOIN L., Lawyer, was born at Shepherds- town, Virginia, in August, ISIO. Ilis father was Rev. Dr. Lewis Mayer, a most talented and prominent minister of the Reformed Church. Ilis education was conducted with great care ; after due preparation he entered Yale College, and graduated therefrom with high honors, excelling espc- cially as a linguist. Selecting the profession of law imme- diately after quitting college, he located for practice in York. His success was quickly assured, and an catensive, lucrative and influential connection became his. Ile was neither a politician nor speculator, his heart and m'n I being in his professional work, and that on'y. He occupied the position of counsel for a large number of banking, railroad and other corporations in the section in which he resided, and his practice extended to and beyond the counties adjoining York, while his services were very frequently employed in cases pending before the Supreme Court of the State. Ile was married to Julia L. Line, a native of Vir- ginia. Ile dicd, August 16th, 1874, of disease of the heart.
OLLIER, FREDERICK IIILL, Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny county, was born in Lancaster county, February 25th, IS26. His father, Rev. William Collier, I). D., was an eminent divine of the Methodist Church, distinguished for his learning and Christian deportment. His ancestors on the maternal side were Pennsylvania German, on the paternal, English and French; and the male ancestors on both sides were active participants in the Revolutionary struggle, and in the War of IS12. After a preparatory course at the Brookville Aca- demy, situated near Washington, District of Columbia, he taught school until means had been saved for college life. Then he entered the Columbia College, and, in 1849, graduated with high honors. Adopting law as his profes- sion, he studied, was examined and admitted to the bar of INCENT, JOHN P., President Judge of Erie county, was born in Waterford, Erie county, Pennsylvania, December 2d, 1817. On the paternal side he is of French, and on the mater- nal of Scotch-Irish extraction, both parents being natives of Pennsylvania. He was educated at Waterford Academy, also, in addition to other branches of knowledge, acquired a fair acquaintance with Greek, Latin Washington, District of Columbia. Returning to his native State he began practice in Pittsburgh, and soon made his mark. In 1856, he was elected District Attorney, and his ! terin proved to be one of the most important in the history of the State: no less than eighteen homicides having been tried, all, with the exception of three, being convicted and punished. Ilis administration was distinguished by its ability, firmness, integrity and impartiality. In 1862, after land the higher mathematics. After abandoning school-life
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he was engaged for a period of two years in working on a farm, and subsequently devoted his attention to a thorough course of legal study and research, being admitted to the bar in 1841. In 1849, he associated himself in partnership with J. C. Marshall, sustaining these relations until 1854. In 1860, he became the candidate of Erie county for the President Judgeship of the Sixth Judicial District, then composed of Erie, Crawford and Warren counties. In 1862, he was elected to the House of Representatives, and re-elected in 1863; in the latter year he was the candidate of the Republican party of the House for Speaker, and took a leading part in the prevailing legislation. In 1866, he was elected additional Law Judge of the Sixth District for ten years; and, in 1874, under the provisions of the Con- stitution of that year, became President Judge of the Sixth District, a position he still fills. Ile was married, in 1845, to IIarriet S. Shadouck, of Erie.
FORWARD, HON. WALTER, Lawyer and States- man, was born in Hartford county, Connecticut, about 1785; and, while quite young, removed to Pittsburgh, where he studied law with IIon. Ilenry Baldwin. His remarkable native talent secured for him a surprisingly rapid progress in classical and professional studies, and, according to data furnished by the court records, he was admitted to practice in Allegheny county, November 12th, 1806. Ile served one or two terms in Congress, and was noted for his strong and able advocacy of high tariff measures. Ile was a member of the Constitutional Convention of IS37-'38, and took a prominent and influential position among his col- leagues in that body. Ile was a member of the congres- sional caucus that nominated William II. Crawford for the Presidency, but, wishing to show his dislike to the con- gressional caucus system, strongly supported Jackson. Upon the accession of the Whig party to power in I841, President Harrison appointed him Secretary of the Treasury. After the death of that President, his political views not being in accord with those of the administration of Tyler, he resigned his office, although his resignation, through the advice and persuasion of Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, was delayed for a considerable length of time. In 1849, he was appointed Minister to Denmark, and, after a residence of two years in Copenhagen, resigned in order to accept the position of President Judge of the District Court of Allegheny county, an office to which he had been elected during his absence abroad ; it is noteworthy that he was the first President Judge of Allegheny county elected by the people, and at this time was in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Firm in his devotion to principle, and staunch in his advocacy of his conceptions of right, he was nevertheless courteous to his opponents and calmly just in his judgments. " HIis eloquence was of that stirring and carnest cast which
bore down all opposition and convinced the hearer that the speaker himself felt the truth of every word he uttered." The older members of the bar of Allegheny county unite, without a single dissentient voice, in pronouncing him the ablest lawyer of his time in western Pennsylvania ; and at his decease, November 25th, 1852, a universal regret was manifested in that section of the country where he was known and admired.
EAVER, HENRY A., Merchant, was born in I'reeport, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, April Ist, 1820. His parents, Benjamin and Nancy Weaver, of Dutch and German descent, were born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, but removed to Allegheny, of which county his father was Sheriff from 1840-'43. IIis early education he received at the hands of the father of the late Governor Geary, and his later at the schools of Pittsburgh. At twenty he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In January, 1857, he was elected Mayor of Pittsburgh for one year, and was re-elected in 1858, by a large majority, for two years. In 1861, during the Civil War, he was appointed Commissary of Subsistence, with the rank of Major, a position he held until 1862. Ile was next appointed, by President Lincoln, United States Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Twenty-second District of Pennsylvania, in which office he served until 1869, when he engaged in the banking business. Ile is now President of the Monongahela Savings Bank, and Director and Manager in a large number of other corpora. tions. Ile was married, in 1843, to Eliza, daughter of Colonel William Arthurs, of Minersville, which is now a portion of the city of Pittsburgh.
OVD, STEPHIEN G., President of the Peach Bottom Railway Company, was born in Peach Bottom township, York county; Pennsylvania, December 6th, 1830. Ilis father, John C. Boyd, was a native of the same place; his mother, Martha ( Farmer) Boyd, was of English extrac- tion. IIis preliminary education was attained in the neigh- boring schools of the county, whence he was transferred to the Millersville Normal School, in Lancaster county, Penn- sylvania. Falling into possession of his father's farm he then interested himself in agricultural pursuits, laboring on the farm during the summer months, and teaching school in his native township during the winter. He was employed in this manner until 1859, when he located in Millersville for nearly three years; returning in 1862, he took charge of the Wrightsville High School, and acted as its head and director for two years and more. In 1866, he moved to York, Pennsylvania, and, in connection with Professor Ileiges, established a normal school. In the fall of 1866,
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he was elected to the Legislature on the Democratic ticket, and served through the winters of 1867 and 1868. In 1869, he was elected County Superintendent of Public Schools for a term of three years. While serving his constituents in the Legislature he devoted himself assiduously to secure for his county extensive and greatly needed internal improvements. During his first session he passed a bill incorporating the York & Chanceford Turnpike Company, and, upon its organization, was elected a Director of the Board. The second winter he secured the passage of a bill incorporating the Peach Bottom Railway Company, a road extending from Oxford, in Chester county, to York, Pennsylvania, a distance exceeding sixty miles ; such a road was greatly needed by the inhabitants of the section through which it passed, and, in the organization of its company he was elected, and still continues, President.
ING, JOSIAHI, Merchant and Newspaper Pro- prietor, was born in Waterford, Erie county, Pennsylvania, October 3d, 1807. On the paternal side he is of English and Irish extraction, on the maternal of Scotch and Irish. Ile was educated at Waterford Academy, in his native place, and at twelve years of age was apprenticed to a storekeeper for seven years. When in his twentieth year he moved to Pittsburgh, and was employed in a dry goods jobbing house. He was the first agent at Pittsburgh of the first line of canal freight and passenger boats, and in 1831 became associated with John Dalzell in the wholesale grocery and produce business. This connection lasted for five years, when the firm of King & Holmes, shipping and forwarding merchants, was formed, which continued in existence for ten years. Ile then purchased an interest in the Eagle Cotton Works, forming the firm of King, Pennock & Co., which was dis- solved in 1865. In 1866, he became part owner of the Pittsburgh Gazette, under the firm-name of King, Reid & Co., in which business he is at present engaged. The Gazette was established in 1786, by John Seull, and is the oldest journal west of the Alleghenies, In 1828, he voted for Jackson, and from that date uniformly supported the Democratic party and its principles in State and convention until 1836-'38, when, losing confidence in the Van Buren administration, he became Whig or Republican. In IS37, he was a member of the Common Councils of Pittsburgh. In 1844, he was Chairman of Allegheny County Clay Club, and presided at several of the annual nomination conven- tions of the Republican party, and in this year also, was elected to the Select Councils, a position which he resigned in the following year. lle has been a School Director, Trustee of the Western University, and Manager of the Pennsylvania Reform School or House of Refuge; for many years he was an active member of the Board of Trade.
ODGE, REV. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, D. D., the eldest son of Dr. Charles Hlodge, was born at Princeton, New Jersey, in July, IS23. Ile graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1843, and after acting for one year as Tutor, entered the Princeton Theological Seminary ; on leaving this institution he was ordained as a Missionary, and sailed for India in August, 1847. For two years he was stationed at Allahabad, when, in order to save the life of his wife, he returned to the United States in May, 1850, and the next year accepted the charge of a church at Lower West Nottingham, Maryland. In the fall of 1855 he resigned from his first charge to accept a call to Fredericks- burg, Virginia. While there he composed his Outlines of Theology, which were published in 1860. On the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861, he returned to the North and became the pastor of the church at Wilkesbarre, Pennsyl- vania. In May, 1864, he was elected by the General Assembly to the chair of Didactic, Historical and Polemical Theology in the Western Theological Seminary, and re- moved to Allegheny City. In the fall of 1857, he published his views on the Atonement, and in 1869 his Commentary on the Confession of Faith. In 1862, the College of New Jersey conferred on him the degree of D. D. Ilis Outlines of Theology has long been a text book in England and Scotland, and has been translated into the Welsh and. Spanish languages, while The Commentary on the Confession of Faith, was translated into Ilindoostanee.
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GROSS, HON. A. II., M. D., President of Select Council for the city of Pittsburgh, was born in Germany, Jannary 9th, 1821. In 1831, he came with his parents to the United States, and located in Pittsburgh with them in 1833. Ilere he studied medicine under Dr. Herman Gross; was a matrienlate of Jefferson College, in Philadelphia, in 1838, and, in 1840, received from Marburg, Germany, the honor- ary degree of M. D. In 1841, he commenced the practice of his profession in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, and remained there until 1849, when he removed to East Liberty, where he has since been engaged professionally, except when interrupted by the calls of official duty. Ile has been twice elected to the Presidency of the Allegheny County Medical Association, and is widely known as a skilled physician and learned scientist. He early identified him- self with the Democratic party, and, in 1861, was elected as a Union Democrat to the State Legislature. Subse- quently, his industry and ability rendered his services of such value to his constituency that the Republican party supported him warmly, and he was re- elected until 1864, when he declined a re-nomination. When Governor Curtin, by anthority of the Legislature, organized a corps of surgeons for the special relief of the Pennsylvania
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Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac, he was among the j to establish a branch store, and was the first person to trans- first to tender his services, and to receive his commission. He was assigned to duty under Surgeon-General Smith, and rendered valuable service at the battles at Yorktown, and Williamsburg. Since the consolidation of East Liberty with the city of Pittsburgh he has taken an active interest in municipal affairs, and since 1868, has been a member of Select Council. During the illness of the late James MeAuley, his predecessor as President of that body, he was frequently called upon to preside, and when the chair be- came vacant, was elected to the position by acclamation. Having entered with zest into military affairs in early man- hood, he raised in 1837-'38, the First German Cavalry Com- pany of Pittsburgh, and also during his residence in Indiana county, received from General Porter in 1842 his commission as captain, and from Governor Shunk in 1845, his commis- sion as major. When in 1862, General Lee was threatening Pennsylvania, his company from East Liberty was the first to respond to the call of the Governor, and start for IIagers- town, Maryland.
WEITZER, GENERAL JACOB BOWMAN, Lawyer and Soldier, was born at Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 4th, 1821. Ilis great-grandfather, Ludwig Sweitzer, a native of Switzerland, came to the United States in 1725, and settled in Philadelphia, where his grandfather was born, who, after arriving at maturity, engaged in farm- ing at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and became a Mennonite prencher; his father, born in Doylestown, went early to Hagerstown, Maryland, and became a clerk for Colonel Rochester, until that gentleman removed to western New York, where he founded the present city of Rochester. IIe and Mr. Perrine then purchased the business at Ilagerstown, and prosecuted it for several years. In ISIo, they disposed of their interest in the establishment, and shortly after, he, though under thirty years of age, was elected Sheriff of Washington county, Maryland, by a hitherto unparalleled majority ; after the expiration of his official term, he trav- elled through the South, with a view to settlement in that region, but finding the climate uncongenial, returned to Ilagerstown, having been during his absence nominated and elected to the Maryland Legislature, where he served one term. While in this place, he purchased some 3000 or 4000 acres of land in western Pennsylvania, of the firm of Turnbull, Marmie & Company, of which Robert Morris was a member, and which had established the first iron works west of the Alleghenies, on Jacob's creek, that stream forming a portion of the boundary line between Fayette and Westmoreland counties. Jacob Bowman, a native of Ilagerstown, Maryland, whose ancestors had came from Ilolland, had been trained for business in the store of Col- oncl William Elliott, and having married the niece of his employer, was sent to Brownsville, Pennsylvania, in 1784,
port a wagon-load of store goods over the Alleghenies. lle established also a nail manufactory in that place, and made the first cut nails west of the mountains. After a long and honorable career, he died in 1849, at the age of eighty- four years, having been the first President of the Mononga- hela Bank, founded about 1812, at Brownsville, until his decease, when he was succeeded by his ekdlest son, who, at his death, was succeeded by another son, who retained the Presidency until his decease in 1873. Henry Sweitzer was married to the daughter of Jacob Bowman about 1817, and subsequently settled at Brownsville, where he became largely interested in the leading manufacturing establish- ments of that section of Pennsylvania, also in various steamboat enterprises, and in the improvement of river navigation ; his death occurred in 1852, while in the sev- enty-third year of his age. Ann Elliott Sweitzer, second child of Jacob Bowman, still lives, at the age of eighty-four years, and retains in a remarkable degree her physical and intellectual powers. Jacob Bowman Sweitzer graduated from Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, in" 1843, and entered upon the study of the law with Hon. T. M. T. McKennan, of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and, having been admitted to the bar, November 1 1th, 1845, removed to Pittsburgh in 1846, and engaged in the practice of his profession. During the administration of General Taylor, he was appointed United States District Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and discharged the duties of that office with fidelity and ability. IIe con- tinued his practice until 1861, when he entered the Union army as Major of the 33d Independent Regiment of Penn- sylvania, commanded by Colonel Samuel W. Black, con- taining twelve companies, and raised by direct authority of the Secretary of War, but later, in November 1861, num- bered the 62d Pennsylvania regiment. His major's com- mission bore date July 4th, 1861. Early in August, this force proceeded to Harrisburg, whence, after an encamp- ment of twelve days, it moved via Baltimore to Washing- ton, and shortly after was ordered across the river, and as- signed to the defence of Fort Cochran, opposite George- town; it was there placed in the Second Brigade of Fitz John Porter's Division, after, the First Division, Fifth Corps; that brigade consisted of the 14th New York, the 4th Michigan, the 9th Massachusetts, and the 62d Penn- sylvania regiments, and was kept together during their whole term of service. November 19th, 1861, he was com- missioned Lieutenant-Colonel, and continued with his com- mand on the front line until the opening of the spring cam- paign, when he participated in all the movements in the Peninsula. Having succeeded to the command upon the death of Colonel Black at the Seven Days' Fight, he was taken prisoner June 27th, 1872, and confined in Libby Prison until the following August 14th, when he was ex- changed, and resumed his command at Harrison's Landing, where he found awaiting him his commission as colonel,
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bearing date August 9th, 1862, conferred for " gallant and meritorious conduct on the field of battle." His command having been transported by water from Newport News to Acquin creek, joined the army of Pope at Falmouth, and after an active participation in the disastrous campaign which followed, entered with MeClellan upon the Maryland campaign. When the latter was succeeded by General Burnside, at Warrenton, Virginia, various changes and pro- motions left a vacancy in the command of his brigade which fell to him as senior Colonel, and he continued in command until mustered out of service July 13th, 1864, having parti- cipated in the battle and siege of Yorktown, and in the actions at Hanover Court House, Mechanicsville, Chicka- hominy, Gaines' Mill, Malvern Ilill, Harrison's Landing, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Blackford's Ford, Kearnys- ville, Fredericksburg-where he won especial distinction and was severely wounded-Mud March, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Frankstown, Rappahannock Station, New Hope Church, Mine Run, Wilderness, Laurel Ilill, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Little River, Shady Grove Church, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Jerusalem Road, in . many of which he won fluttering recognition of his distin- guished gallantry, notably, his brevet commission as Briga- dier-General, March 13th, 1865. After being mustercd out, he returned to Pittsburgh, and lived in retirement until his appointment by General Grant in 1869, as Supervisor of Internal Revenue for the Western District of Pennsyl- vania, which position he retained until the district was consolidated with others in 1873. In November of this year, he was appointed Prothonotary of the Supreme Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, an office he still fills. Ile has been a member of Councils, and is now President of the Young Men's Mercantile Library Associa- tion, also a member of the Board of Guardians of the Poor, and Director of Dixmont Hospital, and of the Pennsylvania Reform School. He was married June 15th, 1852, to Mary Holmes, daughter of Dr. Henry Stevenson, and grand- daughter of Dr. George Stevenson and John Darragh, old and prominent citizens of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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