History of Strasburg, (Lancaster County) Pennsylvania United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Strasburg, (Lancaster County) Pennsylvania, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Biographies:

George Duffield, clergyman, was born at Strasburg, Pa., July 4, 1794; son of George Duffield, a Philadelphia merchant, and state registrar and comptroller; and grandson of the Rev. George Duffield, 1732-90. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1811 and in 1815 was ordained a Presbyterian clergyman. He held pastorates in Carlisle, Pa., Philadelphia, Pa., New York city, and Detroit, Mich. He was a regent of the University of Michigan, 1840-48. He was married to Isabella Graham Bethune, sister of Dr. George W. Bethune and granddaughter of Isabella Graham, the philanthropist. Their son, Divie Bethune, born in Carlisle, Pa., Aug. 29, 1821, studied at Dickinson and Yale, was admitted to the bar in 1843, practised in Detroit, Mich., was a member of the state board of education and inspector of the Michigan military academy, and died in Detroit in March, 1891. Doctor Duffield received the degree of D.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1841. He published: Regeneration (1832); Claims of Episcopal Bishops Examined (1842); and Travels. He died in Detroit, Mich., June 26, 1868.

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

Thomas H. Burrowes, educator, was born at Strasburg, Lancaster county, Pa., Nov. 16, 1805. He was educated at Quebec, Canada, and at Trinity college, Dublin, Ireland. In 1831 and 1832 he was elected to the house of representatives of the Pennsylvania legislature, and in 1835 Governor Ritner appointed him secretary of the commonwealth, in which office he may be said to have initiated the free-school system of education in Pennsylvania. In 1851 he began the publication of the Pennsylvania School Journal, which, by act of the legislature, was, in 1855, made the organ of the school department of the state. In 1854 he prepared for the state the descriptive matter for "Pennsylvania School Architecture," and after 1856 he drafted most of the important school laws passed by the Pennsylvania legislature, including the normal school law. In 1858 he was elected mayor of Lancaster, and in 1860 was appointed state superintendent of common schools of Pennsylvania. In 1864 he was made superintendent of the soldier's orphan schools of Pennsylvania, and established similar institutions throughout the state. Five years later he was elected president of the Pennsylvania agricultural college. He died at State College, March 25, 1871.

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