USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 77
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clergyman, and for more than thirty years has been Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Meadville, Pennsyl. vania. He was married, in 1838, to Evelina Gaston, and again, in 1851, to Catharine Bell, of Allegheny City. William was born in 1820, and was a graduate of Allegheny College, in the class of 1837; he afterward studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1841 ; he mar- ried Julia Thorp, of New York city. Jane M. was born in 1817, and was married to Dr. A. Sergeant, of New Jersey. Lydia L., born in 1818, was married to the Rev. Richard Craighead, a native of Cumberland county, who has been for thirty years Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church at Meadville, Pennsylvania.
AISHI, LEVI, Lawyer, was born in Conewago township, York county, Pennsylvania, November 22d, 1837. Ilis father, David Maish, is now deceased : his mother was Salome (Nieman) Maish ; his earlier ancestors were among the ori- ginal settlers of the county of York, and came from Chester county with the Quakers, who were the pioneers in the red lands in the northern section of the above-men- tioned county. Ilis preliminary education was acquired in the common schools of his native place; and when pro- perly fitted, he entered upon a course of studies in the York County Academy, situated in the borough of the same name. Upon abandoning school life, he was ap- prenticed, in April, 1855, to learn the trade of machinist, but in the summer of 1857, resumed his former studies, and attended one session of the York County Normal School. During the two following winters he was en- gaged in teaching school in Manchester township, York county, and during the succeeding winter, in the borough. In 1861, he commenced the study of the law under D. J. Williams, well known as an able and learned jurist. In July, 1862, he raised and organized a company of volun- teers for service under the call of the President, to assist in strengthening the Union forces. After the failure of the Peninsular campaign, his company was consolidated with three other companies from York county, and six also from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to form the 130th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. At the organization of that force, he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel, and August 17th, 1862, was sent to Washington, District of Columbia. Shortly after he was attached to the Army of the Potomac, and, after Pope's disaster, participated ac- tively in MeClellan's pursuit of the Confederate General Lee. While taking a prominent part in the action at the battle of Antietam, he was severely wounded, receiving in the right lung a ball which was never extracted; a second time, during the engagement at Chancellors ville, he was dangerously wounded, receiving a Minie ball in the right hip. Upon the death of Colonel II. I. Zinn, at the
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battle of Fredericksburg, December 14th, 1862, he was pro- moted to the Coloneley of his regiment. On May 21st, 1863, he was mustered out of service at Harrisburg. Sub- sequently, resuming the study of the law, he attended lectures in the Law Department of the University of Penn- sylvania, in 1864, passed his examination, and was admitted to the bar. Rapidly attracting favorable notice by his energy and talents, he was elected, in October, 1866, to represent the county of York in the lower House of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, and in 1867 was re-elected. During the second term he was a member of the Committee of Ways and Means, and that on Local Judiciary; he served also on the Special Committee to present the Hancock Chair to the city of Philadelphia. As early as 1871, he took an active interest in promoting the Reform movement, which ultimately resulted in the adoption of the new Con- stitution of Pennsylvania, and in the discussion that agitated the State thereupon bore a prominent and efficient part. In August, 1874, he was nominated by the Democratic party of the Nineteenth Congressional District as its candi- date for Congress, that district being composed of York, Cumberland and Adams counties. Prior to this, in March, 1872, he, in connection with Ilon. Thomas E. Cochran and C. B. Wallace, had been appointed by the Legislature of Pennsylvania to re-audit the accounts of various officers of York county, and while acting in that capacity displayed admirable judgment and moderation.
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TERRETT, JAMES P., Lawyer, President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the Fifth Judicial District, composed of the county of Alle- gheny, Pennsylvania, was born in Tuscarora Valley, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, November 7th, 1822. Ilis parents were descended from Scotch-Irish ancestors, who settled in Lancaster and Cum- berland counties at an early day. He received his prelimi- nary education at the Tuscarora Academy, and entered Jefferson College in the fall of 1842, graduating from that institution in 1845, after which he was connected with it for one year as Principal of the Preparatory Department. Ilaving read law at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and completed his course at the University of Virginia, he-was admitted to the bar of that State in 1848. In the spring of 1849, in partnership with the late Judge Baird, he began the practice of his profession in Pittsburgh. On the retirement of his partner, in 1850, he connected himself with Hon. John P. Peuney, and remained in partnership with him until ele- vated to the bench. In 1861, he was appointed on a commission, authorized by the Legislature, to revise the Revenue Laws of the Commonwealth, but after acting for a short time resigned. January 4th, 1862, he was appointed President Judge of the Court of the Common Pleas, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Hon. William B.
McClure. In 1862, he was unanimously nominated by the Republican party and elected to fill the President Judgeship for a term of ten years; in 1872, he was again unanimously nominated, and, receiving the vote of both political parties, was re-elected for a term of ten years. Ile has always been prominently identified with educational and progres- sive movements, and during the existence of the Whig party was one of its ablest supporters; since its dissolution he has espoused the cause of the Republican party.
ARSHIALL, THOMAS MERCER, Lawyer, was born in Newtown, Coumy Derry, Ireland, No- vember 20th, 1819. Ilis parents, James Marshall and Jean Peebles, were of Scotch extraction. Ile was brought to the United States by his parents in 1821 ; they settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until 1824, when they removed to Butler county, l'enn- sylvania, where he lived until in his sixth year, when he was sent to reside with his brother, James Marshall, in Pittsburgh. After receiving a fair education in various private schools in that city, he became bookkeeper in the mercantile house of his brother, and when eighteen years of age was admitted to partnership with him, continuing thus until he had attained his twenty- third year. Ile then engaged in the study of law under Ilon, Charles Shaler, at that time a Judge of the District Court of Allegheny county, with whom he remained until his admission to the bar, in the fall of 1846. Beginning practice at once, he speedily acquired an extensive clientage. Warmly interested in politics, he allied himself with the Whig and Republican parties, and early became noted as a powerful speaker and influential politician. Sternly opposed to slavery, he never faltered in expressing aloud and earnestly his views and convictions upon that subject. During his absence from Pittsburgh, in 1851, he was elected to the City Councils, and subsequently acted as a member and also as President of that body during four or five years. Ile afterward repeatedly declined nominations as a Congressional candi- date; but, in 1868, his friends, notwithstanding bis constant protests, submitted his name to the consideration of the party for the United States Senate. Immediately a popular call was organized, and he was solicited to accept that position in the most cordial and enthusiastic terms. In the Presidential contest of 1872, he espoused the cause of For- ace Greeley, firmly believing in the advisability of adopting a liberal policy toward the South. While the war was in progress, however, he advocated extreme and summary measures, and it was not until the Rebellion was com- pletely extinguished that he pleaded for ample and complete forgiveness. ITe was a warm personal friend of Horace Greeley, and agreed entirely with his policy of impartial suffrage and universal amnesty. Ile was married, in 1847, to Ellen Algoe, who died in 1856; they had two children,
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who died before their mother. He was married again, in | Episcopal Missions, and from 1865 was Dean of the Erie the summer of 1858, to Mary M. Patterson, daughter of Rody Patterson, Sheriff of Allegheny county, and has a family consisting of three boys and one girl.
RITTINGER, ADAM, Conveyancer, was born in Londonderry township, Lebanon county, Penn- sylvania, January 151, 1800. His educational advantages were limited, for he was compelled by adverse circumstances to provide for him- self from an early age. After some years' at- tendance at the public schools he was apprenticed to a carpenter. An ambitious lad, and eager to acquire knowl- edge, he devoted his leisure hours to study; naturally intelligent and quick, he secured in this manner' much solid information. As he grew up he became a school teacher, passing a year or two so employed in Ilummels- town. About 1830, he moved to Lebanon, and for two years was engaged in the mercantile business, then return- ing to teaching. Some years later he became a conveyancer and surveyor, and so continued until his death, securing a large connection and gaining a very high reputation in the profession. Indeed, he is considered to have had few equals as a scrivener and conveyancer. Latterly he did not take any active part in politics, preferring to pursue his profession uninterruptedly, but some thirty-five years ago he was elected Clerk of the Orphans" Court of Lebanon county, and in the winters of 1847-'48. he represented the same county in the Legislature, wielding by his ability and industry no little influence in the Assembly. Aman of high integrity and sterling qualities of head and heart, he was greatly respected in the community where he re. sided. Ile died September 16th, 1874.
PAULDING, JOIN FRANKLIN, D. D., Bishop of Colorado, was born at Belgrade, Maine, August 25th, 1828. Ile graduated from Bowdoin College in IS53, and, after teaching for a year, entered the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in New York city, and from there graduated in 1857. Ordained by Bishop Burgess of Maine, he became Rector of St. George's Church, Lee, Massachusetts, in August, IS59. Appointed Assistant Minister of Grace Church, Providence, Rhode Island, in November, 1860, he there remained one year, and after- wards officiated for a few months in St. John's Church of the same city. April, 1862, he assumed charge of St. Paul's Church, Erie. In October, 1873, he was unanimously elected Bishop of Colorado-to succeed Bishop Randal, de- ceased-by the House of Bishops assembled in New York city. While in Erie, he was a member of the Board of
Convocation. By his personal zeal and influence he snc- ceeded in erecting, in Erie, Trinity Chapel, the Church of the Cross and Crown and St. John's Church, besides a new edifice for St. Paul's, which is the most creditable specimen of architecture in the city. Shortly after his election as Bishop, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by Trinity College, Hartford. In June, 1864, he was married to Lavinia Spencer, of Erie, and five children are the fruits of their union.
EGLEY, JACOB, Capitalist, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, August 28th, 1766. ITis ancestors were originally from Frankfort, Ger- many, his grandfather, Jacob, with Elizabeth his wife, emigrating thence in 1739. The father died during the voyage, leaving the poor mother to complete it with three children, Alexander, Caspar and Elizabeth. Safely arrived, they settled in Bucks county; and here Alexander, born at Frankfort in 1735, lived to manhood and married, in 1762, Mary Ann Berkstresser. In the spring of 1778, he migrated to Allegheny county and located a farm on the banks of the Allegheny river, which spot is now the site of the new Water Works of Pittsburgh. Here he died, November 3d, ISog. He was the father of many children, among them Jacob Negley, who remained with . his father until attaining his majority, when he pur- . chased large tracts of land adjoining the home farm. On a portion of his property he laid out a town which be named East Liberty, but which was popularly known as Negleys- lown. Ile married, June 19th, 1795, Barbara Ann Wine- biddle, and died March 18th, 1827, leaving a large family of children, some of whom are now living, and great wealth, the result of his energy, industry and enterprise.
ATIIFON, GILBERT BROWN, Soldier and As- sistant General Freight Agent of the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad Company, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was born in Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, October 23d, 1846. ITis ancestors were Germans. Educated at the public schools of his native city, he left the High School January Ist, 1861, and entered the employ of Hager & Brothers at a salary of fifty dollars per year. At the age of sixteen, he entered the army of the Union, as a private in Company E of the 50th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and afterwards enlisted for two years in Company C, 195th Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was honorably discharged June 27th, 1865, by reason of the close of the war. August 30th, 1865, he engaged with the Northern Central Railway Company of Baltimore, which connection he resigned November Ist,
Adam puttingere
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1869, and took service with the Empire Transportation Company at Baltimore, where he remained until April 30.1, 1872. May Ist of that year, he entered the office of G. R. Blanchard, then General Freight Agent of the Balti- more & Ohio Railroad at Baltimore, and on August Ist, 1872, he was sent to assume the chief elerkship of Locust Point Station. September Ist, 1873, he was appointed to the position which he now holds, as Assistant General Freight Agent of the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad, with his office in Pittsburgh. Politically, he contents him- self with a private's position in the ranks of the Republican party.
ALTON, IION. JOSEPHI, Merehant and Capital- ist, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, March 24th, 1826. ITis grandfather, George Walton, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; his father was a millwright and bridge-builder of Philadelphia, and built the first bridge over the Allegheny river, also the structure known as Hill's Mill, and the two bridges over the Tuscarora and Muskingum rivers. When in his four- teenth year, he moved to Cineinnati, and, until nineteen years of age, worked at the trade of carpenter. Ife then engaged himself as a millwright, and met with much sue- cess; subsequently associating himself with a German builder, he erected several houses and saw mills, a business which he afterward prosecuted successfully in Pittsburgh. Later, he abandoned his position as millwright under James Wood in Temperanceville, and entered the employ of Judge Ileath, whose partner he ultimately became, taking sole charge of his extensive rolling mill. In 1858, he engaged in the coal business, and filled large contracts with the Government, seeuring highly remunerative returns. In IS70, he was elected to the Legislature on the Repub- lican ticket, and served one term. After returning to Pittsburgh, he devoted himself to the coal and lumber business, which he has since prosecuted with marked ability and suecess. Ile has been a member of the School Board for seventeen years, and is a prominent member of the Masonie order; he is President also of the Keystone Glass Company, is a large stockholder in the glass business of Stewart, Estep & Co., and was, for four years, a principal member of the firm of Chess, Smythe & Co., rolling mill owners, nail and tack manufacturers. Ile was one of the ori- ginal organizers of the First National Bank of Birmingham, and is director of several banks and insurance companies in Pittsburgh and Allegheny. Ile was one of the organizers of the Pittsburgh, Virginia & Charleston Railroad Company, and is now one of its directors. At the Centenary Method- ism he made a liberal donation to erect a church in Bir- mingham, and it was named after him : " The Walton Methodist Episcopal Church." About the year 1856, he opened a Sunday-school in Birmingham, taking upon him-
self the duties of its superintendence. Ile was married, August 8th, 1858, to Annie, daughter of James Fawcett, President of the First National Bank of Birmingham, and has a family consisting of two boys and three girls.
INGHAM, GEORGE, General Superintendent of the Union Express Company, Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, was born in the town of Annville, Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, September 14th, 1823. His father, Thomas Bingham, emigrated from County Antrim, Ireland, to the United States in 1793; his mother Margaret (daughter of Colin Cameron) was of Seotch descent. Ile was the youngest of seven children, six of whom were boys. On his mother's death, in 1832, he was placed in the care of his brother John, residing with him in Martinsburg, Bedford county. In Hollidaysburg, Blair county, he attended school until 1839. Ile then received a clerkship in the canal ware- house of " Bingham's Line," holding it till 1843, when the business at that point was given into his charge. In eon- neetion with his official duties, he engaged in the mining and shipping of coal from the Allegheny mountain (bitu- minous) region to the Eastern States, and was also largely interested in mercantile business, until 1851, when he left llollidaysburg and removed to Pittsburgh. Here he entered into the transportation trade over the State works and the steamboat business, forming a partnership with his brother William, previously so established. They re- mained in these lines, until the purchase of the State canals and railroads by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company eom- pelled them to abandon their enterprises. July Ist, 1858, he engaged with the Adams Express Company, as their General Agent at Pittsburgh. In March, 1870, he accepted the superintendence of the Union Express ( Adams and American). IIe has been connected with the Mansfield Coal and Coke Company since its organization, and has served as a director in the Citizens' Insurance Company for fifteen years; is also a director in the Central and the Pennsylvania banks. He was married, in 1856, to a daughter of James Mitchell, of Franklin county, Pennsyl- vania.
6 BRIGGS, JOSEPH FRANKLIN, Professor of the Greek Language and Literature in the Western University of Pennsylvania, was born in Sutton, Massachusetts, April 24th, 1822. ITis father, John, was a blacksmith, son of Thomas Griggs, of the same trade, who was a member of a Brookline family. ITis mother, Mary (Thurston), was the great-gran daughter of Rev. John Campbell, the first min- ister at Oxford. He was one of eleven children, all of whom arrived at maturity. After a sound primary educa-
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tion, he prepared for college at Leicester Academy, teach- ing a publie school in Sutton during some of the winters. In 1842, he entered the Freshman Class of Vale College, and graduated in 1846. From Yale he went to Andover, and took up the studies of the Junior Class in the Theolo- gical Seminary, but, after one interruption, was forced by sickness to discontinue. In 1847, he taught a private school in Holden and the mechanics' public school in Worcester, and in 1848 a private school in Sutton. In 1849, he removed to Allegheny by invitation, and for two years presided over a private institution for boys; in 1852, he entered into partnership with N. Veeder, in school man- agement in Pittsburgh, and the next year formed a new connection with W. T. McDonald, removing to a more central location. On August 22d, 1855, he was elected to his present Professorship, and entered upon his duties Octo- ber 6th, 1$55. He was married, April 16th, 1863, to Eliza, daughter of Dr. Jeremiah Brooks, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has had five children.
cNEILL, HIUGII, Merchant and Capitalist, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, September 21st, 1822. Ilis father, William McNeill, was a farmer and lime manufacturer; his grandfather, James McNeill, was an extensive manufacturer of linen. Ile wis educated in Ballycastle, in his native county ; became engaged in agricultural pursuits, and later in the lime manufacturing establishment owned by his father. In 1845, he embarked for the United States, and settled in New York city, where he secured employment in a dry goods store, acting as clerk, bookkeeper and salesman. Three successive winters he spent in New Orleans, being employed as time-keeper on the wharves. Leaving New York in the autumn of 1849, he removed to Pittsburgh, where, in the fall of the following year, he entered the lumber trade. In 1850, he was employed as a clerk in the lumber office of Hon. G. E. Warner, and, in 1855, became a member of the firm of A. H. Harvey & Co., AMERON, HON. SIMON, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 8th, 1799, his parents dying when he was nine years old. Very early in life, he began to work as a printer, and while thus employed used all the spare time at his disposal in self-education. Ilis arst ventures on his own account were in connection with the press, becoming, while at Doylestown, editor and publisher of a paper called the Pennsylvania Intelligencer, and subsequently, when about twenty-two years of age, editing another newspaper at Har- risburg. In 1832, be established the Middletown Bank, and also became prominent in the railroad interest of the State. When about thirty years of age, he was appointed by Governor Shulze Adjutant. General of Pennsylvania, and successors of llon. G. E. Warner. In 1866, the establish- ment and its attendant interests were sold by Harvey and Warner, and, in connection with John Dean, he organized the firm of MeNeill & Dean, since which time others have received an interest in the enterprise. In 1861, he inter- ested himself in the coal business, and, until 1868, was constantly employed in building barges, and supervising the various details connected with that industry. He has been extensively interested in many steamboat enterprises; is the Manager of the Allegheny County Workhouse; Director of the German Savings Bank, and of the Real Estate Bank ; Director in the Allegheny Gas Company, and in the Union- dale Cemetery Company; and Secretary of the Northern Liberties Bridge Company. In 1874, he was nominated by the Republicans of the Forty-second Senatorial District, Tin 1845 was elected United States Senator, for four years.
and during the last ten years has been an able and valued member of City Councils. Throughout the last Presiden- tial campaign, he was noted for his zealous and efficient support of the Republican party and its principles, Ile was married, December 24th, 1850, to Mary A. Awl, daughter of James Awl, of Pittsburgh.
RAHAM, H. M., Manufacturer, was born in Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, February 30, 1842. His parents, Ilugh and Mary ( Keer), were of Scotch- Irish descent. They afforded their son all facili- ties for the acquirement of knowledge, and he finished his scholastic education at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. In 1857, he entered, as a clerk, the establishment of Jas, Caldwell in Allegheny City, and here remained for three years. In 1860, he en- gaged in mercantile business on his own account, in Frank- lin, Pennsylvania, where for several years he met with the success ever attendant upon energy, capability and honesty. Removing to Chicago, Illinois, he commenced trade in the dry goods business, and was as successful in this as in his former commercial ventures. But the manufacture of oils, especially those for lubricating purposes, had long claimed his attention, and to their proper preparation he had given much time and close study. Believing that in the oil trade was to be found his means of reaching fortune, he removed from Chicago to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1865. Here he connected himself with the firm of W. A. Howard & Co., and engaged actively in the manufacture of the articles for the production of which he seems to possess a peculiar capability. Upon January Ist, 1874, he established the fac- tory bearing his own name, and has prosecuted the business thereof with such energy and ability as to render its pros- perity a certainty, and its yearly increase a fixed fact.
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