History of Dauphin County Pennsylvania United States of America

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Josiah Gorgas, educator, was born in Dauphin county, Pa., July 1, 1818. He was graduated at the U.S. military academy in 1841, served in the Mexican war, was promoted 2d and 1st lieutenant in the ordnance corps, and in 1855 reached the rank of captain. In 1861 he resigned from the U.S. army and was made brigadier-general and chief of the ordnance department of the Confederate army. He engaged in business after the war and in 1872 was elected vice-chancellor of the University of the South, Sewnnee, Tenn., holding the office till 1878, when he was elected president of the University of Alabama remaining at the head of that institution two years, when he was succeeded by Burwell B. Lewis. He died at Tuscaloosa, Ale., May 15, 1883.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

William Clark, representative, was born in Dauphin county, Pa., Feb. 18, 1774; son of William Clark and grandson of William Clark. He was married in 1802 to Sarah Patterson of Meadville, Pa., and had eleven children. He was associate judge of Crawford county, Pa., 1803-18; and brigade inspector of the western district of Pennsylvania during the war of 1812-14, being on board the flagship St. Lawrence in her first engagement with the British fleet. He was secretary of the land office from May 11, 1818, to May 11, 1821; state treasurer, 1821-27; treasurer of the United States, 1828-29; and a Whig representative in the 23rd and 24th congresses, 1833-37. He died in Dauphin, Pa., March 28, 1851.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Kremer, representative, was born in Dauphin county, Pa., in 1775. He practised law in Lewisburg. He was a representative from Pennsylvania in the 18th, 19th and 20th congresses, 1823-29. On Jan. 28, 1825, in the midst of the excitement attending the decision of the presidential election, an anonymous letter appeared in the Columbian Observer, Lewisburg, in which "a member of the Pennsylvania delegation" charged a bargain in the house of representatives to secure the election of John Quincy Adams, by which Henry Clay, for his support, was promised the portfolio of state. Mr. Clay, on receiving the paper, pronounced "the member, whosoever he may be, a base and infamous calumniator, a dastard and liar; and if he dare unveil himself and avow his name, I will hold him responsible, as I here admit myself to be, to all the laws which govern and regulate men of honor.". Mr. Clay caused the letter to be read before the house, Feb. 3, 1825, and demanded an investigation. A committee with Mr. Webster as chairman was appointed to investigate "who wrote the letter" hoping to implicate Representative Ingham, an enemy of Mr. Adams but the authorship was acknowledged by Mr. Kremer, who avowed himself ready to prove the accuracy of his statements and his readiness to meet the inquiry and abide the result, but the committee dropped the subject. Mr. Kremer was renominated and re-elected, and Mr. Adams and his secretary of state were defeated in 1828. Mr. Kremer died in Union county, Pa., Sept. 11, 1854.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Dauphin County Pennsylvania

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