History of Harrisburg, (Dauphin County) Pennsylvania United States of America

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Biographies:

William High Keim, soldier, was born near Reading, Pa., June 25, 1813. He attended the Mr. Airy Military school, and attained the rank of major-general in the state militia. He was mayor of Reading, Pa., in 1848; and was elected Democratic representative from Pennsylvania in the 35th congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of J. Glancy Jones, appointed U.S. minister to Austria, serving from Dec. 6, 1858, to March 3, 1859. He was surveyor-general of the state of Pennsylvania, 1860-62, and at the outbreak of the civil war commanded the Pennsylvania militia, being second in command to General Patterson, and with that general marched the militia into Virginia in 1861, where they served for three months. In the fall of 1861 he was commissioned brigadier-general of volunteers by President Lincoln, and served as commander of the 2d brigade, 3d division, 4th army corps in the advance upon Richmond under McClellan. He contracted typhoid fever on the peninsula and died at Harrisburg, Pa., May 18, 1862.

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

James Milnor Coit, educator, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., Jan. 31, 1845; son of Joseph Howland and Harriet Jane (Hard) Coit, and brother of Henry Augustus Coit. He was educated at St. Paul's school, Concord, N. H., where his brother, Henry Augustus, was rector, and was graduated at Hobart college, Geneva, N.Y., in 1865. He went to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1865, where he engaged in business and became in 1874 general manager of the Cleveland tube works. He returned to Concord in 1876 and was chosen professor of chemistry and natural sciences at St. Paul's school. He was elected a member of the American association for the advancement of science, the American chemical society, the Society of the sons of the Revolution, and the Society of colonial wars. Dartmouth conferred upon him the honorary degree of Ph.D. in 1881. He published A Short Manual of Qualitative Analysis (1883); The Elements of Chemical Arithmetic (1886); History of the X-Rays and their Application to Medical and Surgical Diagnosis (1896).

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

John De witt, clergyman, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., Oct. 10, 1842; son of William Radcliffe and Mary (Wallace) De Witt. He was graduated at the College of New Jersey, A.B. in 1861, and A.M. in 1864, studied at Princeton theological seminary, 1861-64, and was graduated at Union theological seminary in 1865. He was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry, June 9, 1865, and was pastor at Irvington, N.Y., 1865-69, of the Central Congregational church, Boston, Mass., 1869-76, and of the Tenth Presbyterian church, Philadelphia, Pa., 1876-82. He held the chair of church history in Lane theological seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1882-88; that of apologetics and missions in McCormick theological seminary, Chicago, 1888-92, and in 1892 assumed the Archibald Alexander chair of church history in Princeton theological seminary. He received the degree of D.D. from the College of New Jersey in 1877 and that of LL.D. from Lafayette in 1886. He is the author of Sermons on the Christian Life (1885).

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

William Henry Egle, historian, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 17, 1830; son of John and Elizabeth (von Treupel) Egle. His ancestors settled in Pennsylvania prior to 1740. He was educated in the public schools of his native place and in the Harrisburg military institute, afterward entering the employ of the Pennsylvania telegraph company. In 1853 he was editor of the Literary Companion and the Daily Times, and in 1854 was an assistant teacher in the boys' high school. He was graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1859, settling in practice in his native city. In 1862 he went to Washington, D.C., to assist in the care of the wounded, and in September, 1862, was commissioned assistant surgeon, and surgeon in 1863. He was commissioned by President Lincoln surgeon of volunteers in 1864, and at the close of the war resumed the practice of his profession. He was an examiner for pensions, 1867-73, and physician to the Dauphin county prison, 1867-87, resigning in the latter year to accept his appointment as state librarian, which position he filled twelve years. On the organization of the National guard in 1870 he was appointed surgeon-in-chief of the 5th division, and upon the reorganization of the militia was transferred to the 8th regiment. In 1885 he became surgeon-in chief of the 3d brigade, serving until 1898. He devoted much time to historical research and was coeditor of the Pennsylvania archives, second series, volumes 1-19, and also editor of the third series, volumes 1-26, and of "Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," 2 volumes. He was elected corresponding member of the numerous historical and scientific societies of the United States and Europe, and was one of the founders and the first presiding officer of the Pennsylvania-German society. He was married in 1860 to Eliza White, daughter of George Beatty. Lafayette college conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. in 1878. Among his published works are: History of Pennsylvania (1876, 2d ed., 1883); The Historical Register (2 vols., 1883-84); History of the County of Dauphin (1883); History of the County of Lebanon (1883); Centennial County of Dauphin and City of Harrisburg (1886); Pennsylvania Genealogies, chiefly Scotch-Irish and German (1886); Harrisburg and the Susquehanna (1892); Notes and Queries, Historical, Biographical and Genealogical, relating to the Interior of Pennsylvania (11 vols., 1878-99); The Arms of Pennsylvania and the Great Seal of the Commonwealth (1895); Historical Review of Dauphin County (1896); Life of Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin ; Some Pennsylvania Women in the Revolution; and editions with notes of Marshe's Journal of the Lancaster Indian Treaty of 1744, and Loudon's Indian Narratives. He died in Harrisburg, Feb. 19, 1901.

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