USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Warwick's Keystone commonwealth; a review of the history of the great state of Pennsylvania, and a brief record of the growth of its chief city, Philadelphia > Part 45
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JOSEPH W. CATHARINE.
elevated to the Bench. Since being ad mitted to the Bar, Mr. Catharine has been most active and has won a reputa- tion that places him among the leaders at the Bar. Ilis success in the City So- licitor's office was notable. Mr. Cathar- ine has been counsel in many impor- tant cases and his careful preparation and able presentation have brought most favorable comment. He has al- ways been interested in educational matters and for twenty-five years was a member and finally president of the Thirtieth Ward Sectional School Board. . In 1900 he was appointed to membership in the Board of Education and served three terms, a part of the time being chairman of the Committee on the Girls High School. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Order of Elks. Ilis clubs are the Union League, Penn and Young Re- publican. He is also a member of the Law Association.
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JOHN C. BELL.
John C. Bell, who has been honored by city and state with high offices, is one of the foremost and most popular mem- bers of the Bar of Philadelphia. He was born at Elder's Ridge, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1862, and after preliminary training in the public schools came to Philadelphia when fourteen years of age and entered the Central High School, from which he graduated with the A. B. degree in 1880. He had remained at the head of his class during the entire term of four years and later the institution honored him with the degree of A. M. He entered the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1882 and was the recipient of two honors which are rarely bestowed on one gradu- ate ; these were the Meredith Essay prize and his selection to deliver the law ora- tion on Commencement Day. During his course at the University he was popular in athletic sports and was half-back on the football team during the seasons of 1882, 1883 and 1884. He was afterwards elected a member of the Board of Direc- tors of the Athletic Association and re- tired after twenty years of service in that capacity. Upon his admission to the Bar he attained almost immediate prominence and his advancement since has been con- tinuous, especially along the line of cor- poration work, and in this line he has represented some of the largest concerns in the city and state. Although a Repub- lican in politics, Mr. Bell for years re- fused to accept office and declined the ap- pointment as first assistant District At- torney and a place on the Bench when Common Pleas Court No. 5 was estab- lished. After the election of November, 1902, however, he listened to the persis- tent demands of the public and the insis- tent request of fifteen hundred fellow- members of the Bar, and accepted the appointment to the unexpired term of District Attorney John Weaver, who had been elected Mayor. Mr. Bell conducted the affairs of the District Attorney's of- fice with great ability and in 1903 he was elected to a full term. As District Attor- ney his enforcement of the Pure Food laws attracted National attention and his masterly conduct of the famous Danz
poisoning case, in which he obtained a conviction that was sustained by the Su- preme Court, are two of the many nota- ble cases which he handled so ably. He retired from the District Attorney's office in 1907 and resumed private practice, but was again induced to accept office in 1911, when Governor John K. Tener
JOHN C. BELL.
proffered him the position of Attorney General of the State. Mr. Bell is a mem- ber of the Racquet, University, Country, Merion Cricket and Lawyers' Clubs of Philadelphia. le is also a member of the State and American Bar Associa- tions, and in 1911, was elected a trustee of the University of Pennsyl- vania. Mr. Bell's ability and popularity were shown in 1904, when he was elected to make the annual address before the Law Academy. He was but forty-two years of age at that time and was the youngest man upon whom the honor had been conferred. He selected as his sub- ject "The Several Modes of Instituting Criminal Proceedings in Pennsylvania"
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and won approbation by his masterly handling of the theme. He was married in 1800 to Miss Fleurette de Benneville Myers, daughter of the late Hon. Leon- ard Myers, and they have two child- ren, John Cromwell, Jr., and de Benne- ville Bell.
SAMUEL W. PENNYPACKER.
The only instance in the history of Pennsylvania when a judge was taken from the Bench to become a Governor of the State, was when Samuel W. Pen- nypacker was given that distinction, and the wisdom of his selection was shown by his able administration. Mr. Penny- packer was born in Phoenixville, Pa., April 9th, 1843, and is a direct descend- ant of Hendrick Pannebecker, one of the Dutch patroons of Pennsylvania and owner of Bebber's Township, a tract of ten square miles in the county of Phila- delphia. When twenty years of age he enlisted in the 26th Pennsylvania Emer- gency Regiment which was organized to repel the Confederate invasion of Pen- sylvania. Returning to Philadelphia he read law with Hon. Peter MeCall and at the University of Pennsylvania, being ad- mitted to the Bar in 1866. He was ap- pointed a Judge of Common Pleas Court No. 2, in 1880, and was twice elected to that position by both political parties, and was for several years presiding Judge of that Court. His decisions were seldom altered on appeals and for that reason his court was popular with litigants who were opposed to successive trials. He was elected Governor of the State in 1902 by the largest vote ever given a gubernator- ial candidate. While Mr. Pennypacker was Governor many measures for public good were enacted. The "Good Roads" system was inaugurated; the Forestry Reserve doubled ; the State was appor- tioned in Senatorial and Representative
districts, which had not been done for thirty years ; the State Constabulary was established ; a great coal strike was avert- ed; the most thorough system of health laws in the United States was enacted : "Greater Pittsburgh" was created; Val- ley Forge Park was made successful : the creation of corporations and their pow-
SAMUEL. W. PENNYPACKER.
ers of eminent domain were restricted ; the Capitol at Harrisburg erected and the State Treasury balance increased to $13,000,000.
Since quitting the Governorship. Mr. Pennypacker has resided on his property at Pennypacker's Mills, Pa. Ile is a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Philabiblon Club, and vice-president of the Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Revolution. He was president of the Law Academy in 1888.
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P. F. ROTHERMEL, JR.
P. F. Rothermel, Jr. was born in Phil- adelphia, September 27th, 1850, the son of the distinguished artist whose superb painting of the Battle of Gettysburg add- ed largely to the international reputation he had gained previous to its execution.
When eleven years of age Mr. Rother- mel was taken to Europe by his father and while abroad studied in educational institutions in France, Germany and Italy. Upon his return to Philadelphia he took a classical course at the Central High School from which he graduated in 1867.
Having determined to enter the le- gal profession he entered the law of- fice of the Ilon. James T. Mitchell, after- wards a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and upon admission to the bar at once commenced practice. At the commencement of his legal career, his practice was of a general character but he gradually drifted into civil work and at the present time devotes his entire time to corporation work, numbering many large concerns among his clients and is regarded as one of the most capa- ble and eminent corporation lawyers in the city.
Mr. Rothermel is of old Holland ancestry and the American branch of the family located in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania in 1743. He is a Republican in politics and has always been an ardent supporter of that party's principles. In 1884 he was prominently mentioned for the position of City So- licitor but he persistently refused to be a candidate and subsequently refused many tenders of nominations to elective offices. It was not until 1808 that he re-
luctantly consented to run for public office, accepting the nomination of Dis- trict Attorney at the carnest solicitation of many public men. He was elected by a large majority and served the city most acceptably. Among the celebrated cases
P. F. ROTHERMEL, JR.
that he conducted during his administra- tion was the trial of United States Sena- tor Matthew Stanley Quay and he was highly commended for his energetic and able efforts to secure a conviction. Sena- tor Quay, however, pleaded the statute of limitation and was acquitted.
Mr. Rothermel is a member of the Union League, the Bachelors' Barge and the Clover Clubs.
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RUBY R. VALE.
The reputation of Ruby R. Vale as a prominent and successful lawyer has been largely added to by his contributions to legal literature. Mr. Vale was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, October 19th, 1874, and his naturally logical mind is probably due to heredity, as his grand-
RUBY R. VALE.
father, father, uncle and several other rel- atives were members of the Bar. He was educated in the Carlisle public schools, at Dickinson preparatory school and Dick- inson College, graduating from the lat- ter in 1896. He was given the Master of Arts degree at graduation and Doctor of Laws in 1910. After leaving college he taught classics at the Milford Academy, Delaware. Ile then took up the study of law and being admitted to the Bar, enter- ed upon active practice in Philadelphia. He is the author of "Vale's Digest of
Pennsylvania Decisions," "Vale's Supple- ment to Brightly's Digest" and "Elemen- tary Principles of Pennsylvania Law." He also indexed and arranged the "Penn- sylvania Law of Negotiable Instruments" and was annotator of "Rules of the Su- perior Court of Pennsylvania." ITe is a member of the Masonic order, the Phi Kappa Psi and Theta Nu Epsilon fra- ternities, the Union League, Racquet and Pen and Pencil Clubs, the Law Associa- tion, Law Academy of Philadelphia, the American and Pennsylvania Bar Associa- tions, American Academy of Political and Social Science and the American Geo- graphical Society. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, held in Chicago in 1912 and during the recent deadlock in the Delaware Legisla- ture, received complimentary votes for United States Senator, although not a candidate for the position.
THOMAS KNIGHT FINLETTER.
The late Thomas K. Finletter, who died April ist, 1907, while filling the of- fice of Prothonotary, was conceded to be one of the ablest jurists of his time. He was born in Philadelphia, December 31, 1821, and after a preparatory education, entered Lafayette College in 1838, but after the Freshman year enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania from which be graduated in 1843 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He read law in the office of Judge William A. Porter and soon after his admission to the Bar in 1845, he was elected to the State Legisla- ture, drafting and introducing the Ten- hour Labor Bill which became a law. Ile afterwards served five years as a school director and from 1860 to 1865 as :AAssistant City Solicitor. He was elected a Common Pleas Judge in 1870 and was re-elected in 1880. Ile was
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made President Judge of Court No. 3 in 1886 and served continuously in that po- sition until the Board of Judges elected him Prothonotary, October 1, 1906. Judge Finletter was on the Bench con- tinuously for thirty-six years, and his ability and integrity were attested by his being, on three occasions, the unanimous
HON. THOMAS K. FINLETTER.
choice of both the Democratic and Re- publican parties.
As Prothonotary he used his wide ex- perience and training for the betterment of the work in that office and made a thorough revision of the laws governing Court costs. Judge Finletter was hon- ored by the degree of Doctor of Laws by the Jefferson College in 1871. Thomas D. Finletter, a member of the Philadel- phia Bar, is a son of Judge Finletter, under whose able tutelage he was care- fully trained.
WILLIAM S. PRICE.
William Sampson Price, who died De- cember 18, 1912, was the oldest member of the Philadelphia Bar, and although ninety-five years of age, he practiced his profession up to ten days of the time of his death. Mr. Price was born in Phila- delphia, August 19, 1817, and after a course in the public schools, entered the field of journalism. While thus engaged he studied law and was admitted to the Bar, May 11, 1842. He began practice in the old Mercantile Library Building on Fifth street, where he remained twen- ty-one years and in 1863 built the resi- dence No. 633 Walnut street, which he occupied and used for an office for forty-five years. He was always inter- ested in politics and was twice a Demo- cratic candidate for a judgeship. Dur- ing his years of successful practice, Mr. Price appeared in many famous cases. ITe was counsel for Singleton Mercer who shot and killed a man named He- berton on a ferry boat on the Delaware River. The trial took place at Wood- bury, N. J., in 1843, and Mercer was ac- quitted on the plea of emotional insanity, the first time such a plea was advanced in this country. Mr. Price numbered among his acquaintances and friends such notables as General Lafayette, Ste- phen Girard, Jenny Lind, Ben Butler, Benjamin H. Brewster and James Gor- don Bennett. He attended the funerals of President Madison and Bishop White, of Revolutionary fame, by whom he was confirmed. Mr. Price was a member of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church and was for many years chancel- lor of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. As such he represented the Church in many noted ecclesiastical trials. He was au- thor of a paper entitled "Matrimony and Divorce in the Protestant Episcopal Church."
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JOSEPH R. WILSON.
IHIS LIFE WORK.
"A CHAPEL IN EVERY HOME."
Few men are inspired with such en- thusiasm for a lofty ideal or pursue it with such zeal as Joseph R. Wilson, of the Philadelphia Bar, whose earnest plea for "A Chapel in Every Home" has aroused the sympathetic attention of the world.
The tremendous significance of this momentous movement is strikingly ex- pressed in a letter of the late Dr. George Dana Boardman, commending Mr. Wil- son's suggestion, in which he says: "If pagan Rome had domestic shrines for household gods, surely Christian mer- ica ought to have domestic shrines for one God."
The moral influence of such an ideal is incalculable. It may be realization of the dream which has filled the hearts and lives of reverent millions-the dream of Christianizing the world.
Mr. Wilson has published a book with the title conveying the full proposition : "A Chapel in Every Home." It is ad- dressed to all denominations. Here he has explained its beneficence and indi- cated how it may be made practicable. He is now planning a universal move- ment.
Letters of endorsement have been re- ceived by the author from three Cardi- nals, thirteen archbishops, 157 bishops, the presidents of twenty-eight of the lead- ing universities, colleges and seminaries of the United States, and from leading churchmen of all denominations through- out the world.
Mr. Wilson submits that a chapel in every house is intended to strengthen the love for religious worship by providing a link between home and church. It would institute a religious center in every home, around which the domestic life could revolve. It would distill an at- mosphere of incalculable purity and up- lift nnobtainable from any other source.
A room if only 6 feet long and 4 feet wide with a colored glass window at the end to suggest its sacred character would probably suffice for 90 per cent of the
homes in America. The larger the home, however, the larger the chapel.
The man who conceived and gave to the world this great thought cannot fail to be of public interest. He was born in Liv- erpool, England, September 6, 1866, the son of Joseph and Mary Amanda Vic- toria ( Hawkes) Wilson. His father was an extensive ship owner. He was educat- ed at Allsops Preparatory School, Hoy- lake, Cheshire, England ; Strathallan Hall, Douglas, Isle of Man, and at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania. Upon the death of his father in 1888, he came to America and located in Philadelphia, two years later marrying Miss Cora Irene Shaw, daughter of the late Thomas Shaw, of Shawmont, one of the foremost invent- ors and engineers of the age, with whom he became associated in business. Dur- ing this period Mr. Wilson was engaged in scientific research. In 1804, he was requested by the Committee on Ventila- tion and Acoustics of the National House of Representatives, to report on the ven- tilation of the Capitol, including the two chambers and the committee rooms. In 1895, he conducted a series of experi- ments at the Polyclinic Hospital, Phila- delphia, to demonstrate his theory that any stage of consumption could be deter- mined by analyzing the exhalations of the patient for C.O.2 or Carbonic Acid Gas. The same year he lectured to the stu- dents of the School of Mines, Columbia University, in New York City, on the "Detection of Fire Damp in Coal Mines," and at the Philadelphia College of Phar- macy on "The Effect of Noxious Gases on Animal Economy." based on his own experiments. In 1806, while a lawsuit, involving an engineering contract in which he was plaintiff, was pending, he became the Financial and Railroad Edi- tor of the Evening Bulletin. In 1808 he entered the office of the ex-Attorney General, Ilampton L. Carson, as a law student, and in 1809, the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL.B., being admitted to the Bar in 1002, since which time has has made a success of the chosen profession for which he was so well qualified by his wide experience.
While a student Mr. Wilson was elect-
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WARWICK'S KEYSTONE COMMONWEALTHI.
JOSEPHI R. WILSON.
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ed President of his law class in 1899- 1900, again for 1900-01, and in 1902 be- came senior class president of the Law School of the University of Pennsyl- vania, being the first student in one hun- dred and ten years upon whom was con- ferred the triple honor of being presi- dent of his class for three succeeding years. In 1901 he was elected President of the Miller Law Club of the University, and after his graduation was made Chairman of its Advisory Board to serve from 19og to 1911. He organized the Students' Legal Historical Society of the University and wrote its Constitution and By-Laws. He was Chairman of the Re- ception Committee of the Law Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania, when Mr. Justice Potter of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania was entertained on April 23d, 1909. He presided over the annual banquet of the Miller Law Club to the Judges of the Philadelphia County and the Federal District of Pennsylvania, April ist, 1910, and also at its twenty- ninth annual banquet, March Ist, 1911. In 1912 he was Chairman of the Recep- tion Committee of the Trustees and of the Society of the Law Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania, when Attor- ney General Wickersham was the guest of honor, and also presided over the dinner at the University Club which pre- ceded it.
lle was Chairman of the Committee of the Trans-Atlantic Society of America. which tendered a reception and farewell dinner to the Hon. James Bryce, the re- tiring British Ambassador to the United States.
Mr. Wilson was appointed by Provost Smith, of the University of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Citizens' Committee to welcome the Eighth International Con- gress of Students to Philadelphia in Sep- tember, 1013.
Mr. Wilson is a Thirty-second Degree Mason, being a member of the Univer- sity Lodge, No. 6io F. and A. M. and the Philadelphia Consistory. He has twice served as National President of the Acacia Fraternity, which draws its mem- bership exclusively, from among college men who are Master Masons. The Fra- ternity has chapters in all the large uni- versities of the United States.
In 1908 he was a delegate from the University of Pennsylvania Chapter to the Grand Conclave of the Acacia Fra- ternity held at the University of Illinois upon which occasion he was elected Na- tional President. In 1909 he received the high distinction of being re-elected at the Conclave held at the University of Pennsylvania. He is an honorary mem- ber of Harvard Chapter, of Harvard University, Yale Chapter of Yale Uni- versity, and Columbia Chapter of Colum- bia University of the Acacia Fraternity and for four years served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Franklin Chap- ter of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Wilson is a Trustee of the Ameri- can Oncologic Hospital, and Chairman of its Finance Committee ; director of the Philadelphia Rescue Home ; member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science; the Trans-Atlantic So- ciety of America of which he has been one of the Governors since 1900; the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses; the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association ; the Na- tional Municipal League ; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; the Public Ed- neation Association; the National Geo- graphical Society : the Geographical So- ciety of Philadelphia ; American Univer- sity Extension Society ; Pennsylvania Ar- bitration and Peace Society ; American Bar Association; Pennsylvania Bar As- sociation ; the Law Academy ; the Law Association ; Society of the Law Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania, of which he has been one of the Board of Managers since 1906. Ile is also a mem- ber of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity. As a member of the Atlantic Deeper Water- ways Association he was a delegate to the National Congress of Harbors and Rivers held in Washington in 1909, 1010. 1911 and 1912.
llis clubs are the University, Manufac- turers, City, Young Republicans, Hous- ton, Yachtman's, Delta Upsilon, Acacia, Overbrook Golf. Church and Scranton.
Mr. Wilson has four children, Mary Michelet, John Hawkes, Sydney Violet and Cora B. Il. He resides at Over- brook, Pa., and has a summer home at Sea Side Park, New Jersey.
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CHARLES E. MORGAN.
Charles E. Morgan ( formerly Charles E. Morgan, Jr.) was born in Philadel- phia, September 23, 1844. He was the eldest of six children of Charles E. Mor- gan and Jane Buck Morgan, now de- ceased. These are: Charles E. Morgan, John B. Morgan, Jane B. Morgan, Sarah E. Morgan, Randal Morgan, and William B. Morgan.
He was prepared for college at the school of Henry D. Gregory, and entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1860, becoming a member of the Class of '64. At the end of the four years' University course he graduated, receiving the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts, and subse- quently that of Master of Arts.
On June 24, 1863, he entered the United States Army and served as a member of Landis Battery, or First Phil- adelphia Battery, commanded by Cap- tain Landis in the summer of 1863, re- maining in service until the company was mustered out July 30, 1863, subse- quent to the Gettysburg campaign.
Hle studied law in the office of the late Hon. William A. Porter, and was ad- mitted to the Bar in Philadelphia in 1868. Several years after his admission, with Francis D. Lewis, he formed the firm of Morgan & Lewis, which has since been succeeded by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, and has been continuously and is now en- gaged in the general practice of law in the City of Philadelphia.
In 1878 he was appointed First Assis- tant City Solicitor, and held that office until 1884.
He was a member of the Board of Ed- ucation of Philadelphia for five years. He is now a member of the Board of City Trusts of Philadelphia.
On April 27, 1875, he married Lillie Merrick, daughter of the late Thomas B. Merrick, of Philadelphia.
CHARLES E. MORGAN.
Mr. Morgan resides in Germantown, in the City of Philadelphia, where he has lived for many years. He has three. children: Charles E. Morgan, 3d, Eliza- beth M. Morgan and Hallowell V. Mor- gan. One of them, the eldest, Charles E. Morgan, 3d, is associated with him in the practice of law and is a member of the present firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
S. D.WIS PAGE.
For nearly half a century, S. Davis Page has been a prominent figure at the Bar, and for over thirty years has been identified with the civic, political and financial history of Philadelphia, where he was born, September 22, 1840. Ilis early training was at the Gregory Latin School and the Classical Academy, con- ducted by Dr. Williams. Hle entered
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Yale University when only fifteen years of age and graduated with honors in the class of '59, with the B. A. degree, at the age of nineteen. He was commodore of the Yale Navy while in college and train- ed the first crew that ever won from Har- vard. In 1859 he took up the study of
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