Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/96

Rh sioner. He was made brigadier-general of Penn- sylvania militia in 1801, was subsequently major- general, and in 1809 appointed surveyor-general, and held Iliis post until his death. Owing to the" infirmities of age he declined the offices of briga- dier-general in the U. S. army and secretary of war in President Monroe's cabinet, which were offered him in 1812-'13. His son. David Kitten- house, governor of Pennsylvania, b. near Norris- tiiwn. Montgomery co., Pa., 31 Oct., 1788; d. in llarrislmrg. Pa., ii Aug., 1867, was educated at Norristown academy, and, when his father was ap- pointed surveyor-general, became the latter's sec- retary. lie studied law, but abandoned it. owing tn impaired health, and removed to Huntingdon county, where he engaged in the manufacture of iron, was interested in agriculture, and introduced a fine stock of cattle and horses into the country. He served in the legislature in 1S1!(, was made prothonotary in 1821, state senator in 1836, and governor of Pennsylvania in 1838, under the new organization that went into effect in that year, and held this office until 1845. During his term the first great discussion upon the introduction of railroads took place in the state. He was active in suppressing riots in Philadelphia in 1844, anil received a resolution of thanks from the city. Afterward he engaged in the manufacture of iron, and erected in Harrisburg the first anthracite fur- nace in that part of the state. Another son, George Bryan, governor of Michigan, b. in Nor- ristown, Pa., 9 Feb., 1791 ; d. in Detroit, Mich., 18 July, is:;4. was graduated at the Litchfield law- school, Conn, practised law in Lancaster. Pa., served in the legislature, and was appointed in 1 *:;.' governor of Michigan territory, which office he held until his death. Another son, James Madison, jurist, b. in Selma, Pa., 6 Jan., 1793; d. in Eastun. Pa., 11 Nov., 1862, served as a volunteer in the war of 1812, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1813. and settled in Easton, where he practised with success. He was a member of the Constitutional convention of Pennsylvania in is:is, and took an active part in its proceedings. He was appointed secretary of war in 184:1. but was rejected by the senate, and returned to the practice of law in Easton. Mr. Porter was a founder of Lafayette college, Easton, in 1826, president of its board of trustees for twenty-five years, and lectured there on jurisprudence and political economy. He served as president judge of the judicial districts in his county. David Rittenhouse's son, William Augustus, jurist, b. in Huntingdon county. Pa., 24 May, 1821 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 28 June. 1886, was graduated at Lafayette college in 1839, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1842, and became district attorney of Philadelphia. He was sheriff of that city in 1843, and solicitor in 1856. In 1858 he was appointed judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, and in 1874 he became a judge of the court of Alabama claims in Washington, D. C. Jefferson college gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1871. He was a contributor to the " American Law Magazine " and " Law Journal." and published an "Essay on the Law pertaining to the Sheriff's Office " (1849) ; and the " Life of Chief-Justice .Mm B. Gibson " (Philadelphia, 1855). Another son of David Rittenhouse, Horace, soldier b. in Hunting- don, Pa., 15 April, 1837. was educated in his native state, and afterward entered the Lawrence scien- tific school of Harvard, and while there was ap- pointed to the U. S. military academy, and gradu- ated in IsiiO. He was several months instructor of artillery at West Point, and was ordered to duty in the south at the beginning of the civil war. He was chief of artillery, and had charge of the batteries at the capture of Fort Pulaski, and par- ticipated in the assault on Seressionville, where he- received a slight wound in the first attempt to take ( 'harleston. He was on the staff of Gen. Mc- Clellan in July, 1802, and served with the Army of the Potomac until after the engagement at An'tie- tam. In the beginning of the next year he was rhief of ordnance on Gen Roseerans's staff, and went through the Chickamauga campaign with the Army of the Cumberland. When Grant luul taken command in the east, Porter became aide- de-camp on his staff, with the rank of lieutenant- eolimel.and later as colonel. He accompanied him through the Wilderness campaign and the siege of Richmond and Petersburg, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox. Afterward he made a series of tours of inspection, by Grant's direct inn, in the south and on the Pacific coast. He was brevetted captain, major, and lieutenant-colonel for gallant and meritorious services at the siege of Fort Pulaski, the Wilderness, and Newmarket Heights respectively, and colonel and brigadier- general. U. S. army, for gallant and meritorious services during the war. He was assistant secre- tary of war while Grant was secretary ad interim, sen ed as secretary to Grant during his first presi- dential term, and continued to be his intimate friend till the latter's death. He resigned from the army in 1873, and has since been interested in railroad affairs, acting as manager of the Pull- man palace-car company and as president and director of several corporations. He was largely interested in building the West Shore railroad, of which he was the first president. Gen. Porter is the inventor of a water-gauge for steam-boilers and nl' the ticket-cancelling boxes that are used on the elevated railways in New York city. He has been president of the Union League club and was appointed in 1897 American ambassador to France. . uthor of "West Point Life" (New York. I860) and "Campaigning with Grant " (1898). George Bryan's son, Andrew, soldier, b. in Lancaster, Pa., 10 July, 1820; d. in Paris, France, 3 Jan., 1872, entered the U. S. military academy in ls:lli. but left in the following year, lie was appointed 1st lieutenant of mounted rifles on 27 May, 1846, and served in the Mexican war, becoming captain on 15 May, 1847, and receiv- ing the brevet of major for gallant and merito- rious conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, and that of lieutenant - colonel for Chapultepec, 13 Sept., 1847. Afterward he served in Texas and in the southwest, and in 1860 was in command of Fort Craig, Va. At the opening of the civil war he was ordered to Washington, and promoted to cummand the 16th infantry. He had charge (if a brigade at Bull Run, and. when Col. David Hun- ter was wounded, succeeded him in the command of the 2d division. On 17 May, 18(11. he was ap- pointed brigadier-general of volunteers. Subse- quently he was provost-marshal-general for the Army of the Potomac, but after Gen. (icm-^c I!. McC'lellan's retreat from the Chickahominy tn James river he was relieved from duty with this army. In the autumn of 1862 he was ordered in Harrisburg, Pa., to assist in organizing and for- warding troops, ami in November of that year he was assigned to command in Pennsylvania, and charged with the duties nf provost-marshal-gen- eral of Washington, where he was active in re-tnr- ing order in the city and surrounding district. Me was mustered out on 4 April, 1SC>4. and, owing to impaired health, resigned his commis-ion n 2(1 April, alter which he travelled in Europe.