USA > Pennsylvania > The Biographical encyclopedia of Pennsylvania of the nineteenth century. Pt. 2 > Part 9
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ance of the medical fraternity, he diagnosed an inflammatory action of the liver, and succeeded in combating the disorder by his high system of treatment. Where others failed, he succeeded; and though a recovery was rare under the old system, fifty cases having terminated fatally, he had the good fortune to restore every one who came under his ministrations. During his residence in Philadelphia his success has been unbounded, and he has in the cure of chronie diseases been most successful. The case of Judge J. G. Knox, involving softening of the brain, is noteworthy ; after two months' treatment, he was pronounced cured. Ilis scientific attainments are recognized by the leading physicians of the various schools, one of whom, the late Dr. Jackson, was urgent in inducing him to remain in this medical centre. Professors Hering and Cleveland, Drs. Sharpless, Evans, Yardley and others, desired him to open the institute at Willow Grove, and have sent him cases pronounced heretofore " incurable." Ile is justly entitled to the credit of being the pioncer of his specialties in the State of Pennsylvania. With a desire to bestow his know- ledge for the relief of human suffering over the greatest possible field, he has labored to create a hydropathie pro- fessorship in the University of Pennsylvania, similar to that in Vienna.'
TLEE, JOIIN LIGHT, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, eldest son of Colonel William Pitt Atlee, and grandson of lIon. William Augustus " Atlee, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, November 2d, 1799. After receiving his pre- liminary education in the schools of Lancaster, he attended one year (1813-14) at Grey and Wiley's Academy, in Philadelphia. Ile engaged in the study of medicine with Samuel Humes, M. D., in 1815, and in April, 1820, graduated M. D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Ile then engaged in practice in Lancaster, where he is in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative patronage. He was active in the organization of the Lancaster City and County Medical Society, of which he was twice elected President. Hle was one of the originators of the State Medical Society in 1848, became its President in 1857, and was elected one of the Vice- Presidents of the American Medical Association in 1868. At the union of Franklin and Marshall Colleges, he became Professor of Anatomy and Physiology, and so continued until 1869. Ile has always taken a lively interest in the cause of education, and having been appointed a School Director, in 1822, was for more than forty years an active and useful member of the board. He is a Trustee of Franklin & Marshall College, as well as of the Bishop Bowman Church Home, of Lancaster. IIe is President of the Board of Trustees of the Home for Friendless Children of the City and County of Lancaster, and sustains the same relation to the State Lunatic Hospital at Ilarris- burg. He has been a contributor to the American Medical
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Journal, and other periodicals. Ile revived the operation of Ovariotomy, in 1843, and was the first to successfully remove both at one operation. His great medical and surgical skill is widely known and appreciated, while his dignified courtesy and intrinsic worth endear him to a large circle of friends. He was married, March 12th, 1822, to Sarah II., eldest daughter of the late IIon. Walter Frank- lin, President Judge of the Courts of Lancaster and York counties ; and two of his sons are eminent young physicians, following in his footsteps, while another is among the ablest lawyers at the Lancaster county bar.
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EIM, NICIIOLAS, Hardware Merchant, was born in Oley, now in Berks county, Pennsylvania, April 2d, 1719; and was the son of John Keim, who emigrated from the province of Alsace, on the Rhine, to America, in 1707, locating in the fair valley of Oley, a French Iluguenot settlement " remarkable in the annals of Pennsylvania." Ilere he took up land, lived a quiet and godly life, and died, beloved by the whole settlement, in 1732. Ilis son, Nicholas, with his wife Barbara and their only son John, then in his sixth year, moved to Reading during the November term of court, 1755. Berks county was separated from Philadelphia county in 1752; the town of Reading had been previously (1748) laid out by Thomas and Richard Penn. . It had now been made the shire town of the new county, and many people of means, in the neighboring townships, took up their residence there. Nicholas Keim established himself there in the business of a hardware merchant, or as was termed it those days, of an iron-monger, which he carried on successfully, and then was succeeded by his son. 1Ie was a man who practised a rigid morality, and was a con- stant student of everything relative to the temporal and spiritual welfare of those around him. lle died, August 23d, 1802.
ROWNE, IION. NATHANIEL BORRODAIL, Lawyer and Bank President, was born in Phila- delphia, July 21st, IS19, and received his aca- demic education in Reading. Leaving school in his sixteenth year, he joined the Sophomore class of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated in the class of 1839, with distinction, being honored with the delivery of an address at the commencement. Ile subsequently entered the office of the late Charles Chauncey, for the study of the law ; and after passing one year, with the approval of his preceptor, he became connected with a large mercantile establishment for the purpose of gaining a knowledge of business, which was essential to his thorough competency in the practice of mercantile law. Ile was ad- mitted as an attorney-at-law, in IS41, and continued in
active practice for some years with success as a com- mercial lawyer. In 1850, he took up his residence in West Philadelphia, and, with others, became the owner of what is now the largest and tinest part of that section of the city. IIe was prominently identified with the development of that suburb, and aimed to introduce a better style of building. He erected some of its finest edifices, and was instrumental in having others built. In 1853, he was elected President of the Board of Commissioners of the District, and continued as such until the consolidation of the city. . In that capacity, and as a large owner of real estate, he secured many early improvements, and a liberal plan of survey, giving to the district its wide streets and avenues. In the preparation and passage of that Act of Consolidation, he took an active and influential part. In 1854, as the Democratic candidate for the Fourth Senatorial District, he was elected to the State Senate, being the only successful candidate of his party in the city (with one other in the lower branch), the " Native Americans " having swept the field. llis district embraced that portion of the city lying to the south of the old city proper, and the whole of West Philadelphia. In the Legislature, he took an active part. llaving been elected partly by the " Temperance Vote," he was identified with the Temperance Act of 1855, having mainly prepared and secured its passage; being in fact the only Democrat to advocate it. It was as nearly prohibitory a law as any ever before or since enacted. The clections of the following year having brought into power a majority opposed to this statute, and as an attempt was made to repeal it, a compromise,was effected upon the stringent license act, which he also mainly prepared, and which remained in force for two years thereafter. During that period he pre- pared and secured the passage of many of the general laws regulating the incorporation of domestic insurance com- panies, and the control of the agencies of foreign insurance companies ; also of gas, water, and bridge companies, and other general laws of a similar character. He also drafted and introduced various bills intended to regulate and control the State finances and the system of State banking ; espe- cially supporting those Amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 1857, which were the most important since the revision of 1838 .. These comprised the provisions for limit- ing the State debt, and establishing the sinking fund for its final extinguishment, placing in the latter the proceeds arising from the sale of the State canals, railroads, etc .; and also that reserving to the Legislature the right to alter, amend, or annul the charters of corporations thereafter granted. At the close of the session of 1856, he was elected Speaker of the Senate, ad interim. Declining a re-nomi- nation, in 1857, he resumed the practice of the law, and in IS59, was appointed by President Buchanan, Postmaster of the city of Philadelphia, which office he held until the close of that administration. At the outbreak of the rebellion, he in common with many others of the time, as Union Demo- crats, found themselves in sympathy with the Republican
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party, with which he has since continued. He became an active member of the Union League, one of its Directors, and served on several of its most prominent committees, especially that on publications. IIe was also a member of the Executive Committee for the enlistment of colored troops, originating in the League. At the close of the war, in 1865, he was appointed Treasurer of the United States Mint, and Assistant Treasurer of the United States at Philadelphia, in which position he continued until he resigned to accept the office of President of the Fidelity In- surance, Trust and Safe Deposit Company, which he still retains. This was the first institution of the kind estab- lished in the State, and the second one in the country, the one in New York having preceded it but a few months. It has proved most successful in all its departments, espe- cially in its being in reality a safe " saving fund," having withstood the immense run made upon it during the ex- traordinary panic of September, 1873, when it paid all de- mands on presentation-waiving in many instances the ten days' notice-and keeping its doors open for hours after the usual time of closing. Its ability to withstand the pressure was in faet the turning point in the history of the panie. In 1867, he was appointed one of the first" Board of Com- missioners of Fairmount Park, having been one of the early and zealous promoters of that great public work.""Ile was active in the early organization of the Commission, and in the acquisition of the land, and adoption of the plan ; but resigned before the end of his term, in consequence of the. pressure of other duties. He has been twice married : in 1846, to Mary J., only daughter of William Kendall, a" mer- chant of Philadelphia, and who died in 1856; in 1859, to Emily V. Taliaferro, of Reading, Pennsylvania.
RCHIBOLD, SAMUEL, Engineer, was born in Belfast, Ircland, July 15th, 1815. Having come to the United States at the age of six years, and being early left an orphan, he was partially edu- eated in the private schools of Baltimore, Mary- land, and afterwards pursued a thorough system of self-culture. He became an apprentice with Watchman & Brant in Baltimore, at the age of sixteen, and remained with his preceptors until he was twenty-two, when he went to Wheeling, West Virginia, to set up the first planing ma- chine west of the Alleghenies. IIe took English drawings, made the patterns and fitted up the machine with his own hands. Ile built a low-pressure boat for the Mississippi river, and various kinds of machinery, and after superin- tending several establishments, the last in Balt more, he entered the United States Navy as Third Assistant Engi- neer, in 1843. Ile went at once into active service, and was on board the steam frigate "Missouri" when it was burned in the harbor of Gibraltar, in October, 18.43. IIe served with Commodore Perry in the Mexican War, participating
in the siege of Vera Cruz, and the bombardment of Tobasco Alvarado, and accompanied the same officer as an attaché of the flag-ship in the Japan Expedition. He served at sea for eleven years, rising by merit through all the grades to Chief Engineer, whence, in recognition of his skill and efficiency, he was elevated by President James Buchanan to the position of Engineer-in-Chief United States Navy. He was Chief Engineer of the steam frigate "Susquehanna " that in a four years' cruise made the first circuit of the globe. Having associated in partnership with William B. Reany & Son, as Reany, Son & Archbold, in November, 1860, he resigned as Engineer-in-Chief United States Navy, Mareh 4th, 1861, to devote himself to the marine engine and ship building at the Pennsylvania Iron Works. He gave his large experience and mechanical skill to that en- terprise until they passed into the hands of John Roach, in April, 1871. He then organized the MelIaffie Direct Steel Castings Company, of which he is still President; went to Europe to complete his arrangements, and got the works into operation in September of the same year. He became Marine Consulting Engineer of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, in May, 1872, which position he still oeeupies. Drawings and specifications were prepared by him for the two colliers built for the company at Roach's ship yards, as well as for the six of 1500 tons each constructed at Cramp's ship yards and the works of the company at Port Rich- mond, all of the work being done under his direction. IIe was one of the originators of the Lamokin Improvement "Company, as well as of the First National Bank of Chester, of which he was for many years a Director. He mani- fests a warm sympathy with all schemes for public improve- ment and worthy enterprises.
OORHEAD, WILLIAM GARRAWAY, Banker and Financier, was born on the banks of the Sus- quehanna river, at Moorhead's Ferry, twenty- two miles above Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 11th, 1811. His father, on being appointed Re- venue Officer for the Eastern District of Pennsyl- vania, removed to Harrisburg, where he resided until his death, when his son was about seven years old. The family then returned to the old homestead. William, while still a mere boy, became connected with the public works of Pennsylvania ; and at seventeen years of age was appointed Supervisor of a Division of the Juniata Canal, into which he let the first water. He subsequently went to Sandusky, Ohio, and engaged in mercantile pursuits, which not being congenial, he relinquished after two years and returned to Pennsylvania, where he was again engaged on the public works, and subsequently upon other internal improvements in Maryland, Indiana, etc. In 1840, he was appointed by Governor David R. Porter Supervisor of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, extending from Hollidaysburg to Johns-
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town, and in this position his abilities as an executive | loans of the United States Government, is a matter of his- officer and Manager of Public Works was acknowledged. tory. Through their London house they had the manage- ment of the Syndicate for the exchange of bonds at a lower rate of interest. IIe crossed the Atlantic six times during the progress of these negotiations, and during his sojourn abroad travelled extensively, visiting not only various coun- tries of Europe, but the Iloly Land and Egypt. In re- ligious belief, he is a Presbyterian. In IS46, he was named by President Polk United States Consul at Valparaiso, and the following year the then Se- cretary of the Navy, John Y. Mason, gave him the addi- tional appointment of Purchasing Agent for the United States Squadron of the Pacific Ocean. In the same year the United States Legation to the Republic of Chili was placed in his hands by the retiring Minister, Dr. William Crump of Virginia, who was succeeded by IIon. Seth Barton of New Orleans; and the latter on relinquishing his post also left the Legation in the Consul's hands. IIc served in the Consulate not only till the end of President Polk's term of office, but was retained in office for nearly two years by the Taylor administration. It was during this period that gold was discovered in California, and at his suggestion the millers of Chili were contracted with for all the flour they could manufacture for one year, and a company was formed, combining the firms of Waddington, Templeman & Co., James Whitehead & Co. and himself, under the name of Moorehead, Whitehead & Waddington, to supply the Californian market with flour. This project developed into one of the largest commercial operations ever known on the Pacific coast. The amount of flour re- ceived and disposed of during the year exceeded 500,000 barrels, the larger portion of which enormous supply was disposed of in California. Three hundred vessels were chartered at different periods by the Company, and as many as thirty were anchored at one time in the harbor of San Francisco. Opposition was commenced, but soon abandoned. The gold dust received in exchange for the commodity was sent to Valparaiso, and thence shipped to New York and London. In fifteen months the business was closed and, as proceeds of sales, over $5,000,000 realised. On his re- turn to the United States, he re-embarked in the construc- tion of publie works, and declined the Presidency of several Western roads, preferring to operate in his native State. The Sunbury & Erie Railroad was about to be commenced, with which he became connected, and continued therewith for many years, from its initial point at Sunbury to its ter- minus at Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1857, he was elected President, when but forty miles was in operation and its treasury empty. Ile conceived the idea of purchasing the State canals for the company, but many deemed this course preposterous. However, Legislative aid was sought, the purchase effected and the completion of the road secured. Having embarked with his brother-in-law, Jay Cooke, un- der the firm of Jay Cooke & Co., in the banking business, he resigned the Presidency of the Sunbury & Erie Railroad, and was presented by that Corporation with a service of plate valued at $12,000. In his new sphere of labor he was a most able adjunct, and the operations of the house of Jay Cooke & Co., with its branches in Washington, New York and London, from its incipiency until long after the close of the war, in the successful placing of the enormous
ORIE, ADOLPII E., Merchant, and ex-Secretary of the Navy, was born in Philadelphia, Novem- ber 25th, 18og, and is a son of the late John Joseph Borie, a native of France, who was for many years a prosperous merchant of Philadel- phia, and able to give his son the best educa- tional advantages. Before he had completed his sixteenth year he graduated from the Collegiate Department of the University of Pennsylvania, in the class of IS25; was then sent to France to continue his studies in one of the best schools of Paris, and after remaining abroad a little over two years returned to the United States, in 1828. Ilis father had intended him for the profession of the law, but owing to his peculiar organization it was deemed best to relinquish a study involving severe mental application, and he entered upon commercial life in his father's house. In this business, which included that of the Mexican and China trade, he remained for many years, and on his father's death became the head of the firm, managing its affairs in a manner that fully sustained the record of the firm in the annals of American commerce. In 1848, he was elected President of the Bank of Commerce, in which position he remained until 1860. On the breaking out of the Civil War in the following year, he took at once a leading posi- tion among the patriotic citizens of Philadelphia, and was particularly active among those who rendered to the Govern- ment services at home not less important nor less con- ducive to success than those rendered in the field. The Union Club was the germ of the Union League, and was founded at a time when the political horizon was overcast by clouds and darkness. The position of the members of the Club enabled them to exert a great and powerful in- fluence. " Military torpor and financial paralysis were weighing upon the whole land," and amidst the universal stagnation no man had a scheme for resuscitating anything. It was sad to be with the army and equally sad at home. There was no confidence anywhere. It was apparent that something must be done, and the most urgent need that men of the highest commercial, professional and social standing should combine to turn the current of despondency ; and in so doing the few who instituted the " Union Club "- among them Adolph E. Borie-" builded better than they knew." In 1862, the club developed into the " Union League," of which he became first Vice-President; the
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services that he rendered in this capacity were of marked character, and were duly appreciated by the Government, also by its general officers, whose services in the field he contributed to sustain. In March, 1869, he was selected by President Grant as a member of his Cabinet, with the portfolio of the Navy Department, and took the oath of office on the 8th of that month. Ile remained in this high position but a few months, as his private affairs claimed his attention ; and feeling that he alone could give them due care, while the country could be better served in the office he held, he tendered his resignation. The President warmly remonstrated against his resolution to retire into private life, but at length yiekled when assured that he must with- draw. lle resigned June 25th, 1869, and returned to Philadelphia, where he has since resided.
TAUFFER, WILLIAM D., Soldier and Politi- cian, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- vania, March 20th, 1840. Ilis father, John Stauffer, a well-known farmer of that county, was of German extraction, his forefathers having emigrated from Europe early in the eighteenth century, in order to eseape religious persecution. Such educational advantages as were offered by the common schools of his native section, he enjoyed until he attained his fifteenth year. At that age he was placed in the hard- ware store of Russell & Barr, in Lancaster city, for the purpose of learning the business. In this establishment he remained for six years, and was acting in the capacity of Clerk at the commencement of the late Civil War. In the first hour of his country's need he responded to the call for help. Needless of private business, he at once enlisted as a private, in April, 1861, in the Ist Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves, for three years. Through the dis- astrous " seven days' fight," Antietam, South Mountain, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Grant's campaign in front of Richmond, and numerous other battles and smaller engagements he bore himself right valiantly, lle re- ceived the reward of his bravery and faithfulness in his promotion, through every grade, to the rank of a com- missioned officer. At the expiration of the three years of service of his regiment, he re-entered the army as First Lieutenant of Company C, 195th Regiment Penn- sylvania Volunteers; and in this organization he continued to exhibit the same gallantry which had previously dis- tinguished him. He served, for some time, as Aide-de- camp upon the staff of Brigadier-General W. Il. Seward, and, on January 31st, 1866, was finally mustered out of, the service, at Washington, District of Columbia. Returning to Lancaster, he accepted a clerical position in the office of the Prothonotary of that city, and here discharged the duties in a manner so satisfactory to all with whom he came in con- l.ict, that, in IS69, he was elected Prothonotary of Lancaster | he received, in Lancaster city, a majority of 444 votes, run-
county, and held that post for three years. During two years of this time he was a member of the State Central Republican Committee. He was married, November 9th, 1869, to a daughter of Cyrus Strickler, of Columbia, Penn- sylvania. In 1873, he was honored by his fellow-citizens with the election to the Mayoralty of Lancaster, a position which he now fills. Ile is the youngest man ever elected to this post, as was also the case in his election to the Pro- thonotaryship. But he fully justifies the confidence reposed in him; with the enterprise of youth he unites the careful consideration of age.
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EYNOLDS, SAMUEL II., Lawyer, was born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, November 20th, IS31. Ilis father, Thomas Reynolds, was a leading merchant of that county, and highly esteemed in private and business circles. ITis mother was a daughter of William Roger, a well- known agriculturist of Northampton county, and a man of high culture. On the paternal side, he is of English and Irish extraction, and on the maternal, of German descent. Ile was educated at Dickinson College, from which he graduated with honors with the class of 1850, when but eighteen years of age. Ile subsequently resided with his brother, William F. Reynolds, in Centre county ; here he pursued a course of legal studies under the direction of the HIon. James T. Ilale, and, upon its completion, was ad- mitted to the bar in the autumn of 1854. Ile then spent one year in travelling through the West, purposing to establish himself in one of the thriving Western towns or cities; but finding no location sufficiently desirable and promising, he returned to Pennsylvania. Later, he moved to Lancaster, and opening an office there, commenced the practice of his profession, and rapidly acquired a very large and lucrative clientage. Soon after establishing himself in this town, he entered the political arena; and, being an ardent Democrat, he " took the stump" for James Buchanan in the campaign of 1856; possessing much oratorical power, and a fluent and forcible delivery, he soon became extremely popular with his party, who saw in him an able and energetic partisan. 'In February, 1857, when in his twenty-fourth year, he was elected City Solicitor, and held that position until his private practice became so large that he was com- pelled to decline a re-election. Ile was appointed Notary Public by Governor Packard, and acted in this capacity for three years. He was a member of the School Board for nine years, and at the expiration of that time declined a re- election. He has been a Delegate to several State Demo- cratic Conventions, and was a Delegate to the Convention hekl in Harrisburg immediately prior to the outbreak of the Rebellion, this organization being known as the " Peace Convention." In IS68, he was the Democratic nominee for Congress against the late Thaddeus Stevens, over whom
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