Prominent Men.
It is a source of deep regret that no reliable record can be obtained of such prominent men in the past history of Danville, as Reverend John B. Patterson, Doctor Alexander C. Donaldson, Rudolph Sechler, William G. Hurly, and many others. Moreover, what record we have of others is meager and unsatisfactory. From a few notes made by Mr. F., and what could be gathered from other sources, the following brief notes are presented:
ALEM MARR graduated at Princeton in 1807, and was admitted to the bar in 18og. He represented this district in Congress from 1829 to 1831, and spent his whole professional life in Danville.
SAMUEL KIRKHAM, the grammarian, succeeded D. C. Barrett in the Danville school, about 1819 to 1821. He was a competent teacher, but not so successful as Mr. Barrett. His “Lectures on English Grammar ” was one of the most popular school-books of the day, and almost as generally used as Webster’s spelling-book.
It went through one hundred and twenty-nine editions. His “Essay on Elocution” was a valuable treatise, but never attained a tithe of the popularity of his grammer. President Lincoln obtained his grammatical knowledge from the latter treatise, and there is yet in the hands of one of his admirers in Iowa, the identical volume in which the great emancipator studied. His signature is on a fly-leaf, with the homely caution, “Steal not this book, &c.”
Dr. DAVID PETRIKIN was a native of Bellefonte. He studied medicine and practiced his profession in Danville. He represented this district in Congress two terms, from 1837 to 1841, and died on the 3d of January, 1849.
DANIEL FRAZER was born May 2, 1755, and married Sarah Wilson in 1772. She died in 1775. He was again married. His second wife was Isabella Watson, whom he married on the 6th day of February, 1777. He died in Danville on the 26th of March, 1828. His children were Charles, Emma, Margaret, James, Alexander, Sarah, Jane, William, Christiana M., Agnes, Daniel, and Thomas; all of whom are dead, except Christiana, who married Enos Miller, who died in r87o. All deceased except Mrs. Miller. His descendants reside in Montour county, New York, and Michigan. He came to this place about 1790, and purchased of John Frazer one hundred acres of land in the south-west part of his two hundred and eighty-four acre tract. On this land he resided thirty-eight years, until his death, in the seventy-third year of his age. He was an honest and industrious farmer, enjoying the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens. For a long time he resided at the base of the hill, near the site of an old Indian trading post, and a very short distance north of the spring. In 1824, he built the substantial stone residence which is still standing. All the southern portion of his farm is now within the corporate limits of Danville.
ELLIS HUGHES came to this place from Catawissa, about 1820. He was a school teacher and surveyor. He was also appointed register and recorder by the Governor, and served with great satisfaction to the people. He taught school for some years in a school-house that stood near where the Record office now stands. He was a good teacher, and was universally respected by the community. He also took care to see that his children were all well educated. Ellis Hughes was a faithful member and an efficient officer in the Methodist church, and died in the faith of the christian, in the year 1850.
DANIEL MONTGOMERY, a brother to Gen. William Montgomery, lived in the old frame house now occupied by Mr. Bentzbach, near the river. He kept a store, but was chiefly known as a painter-in fact, an artist of no mean pretensions. He was the father of Judge Montgomery.
WILLIAM HARTMAN was one of the old-time citizens of Danville. He was a chairmaker, and resided on the premises now occupied by his son, Joseph Hartman, on Mill street. William Hartman came to Danville in 1814. He was a class-leader in the Methodist church, and was one of the six members formed into the first class in this place in 1815. He was an honest, industrious citizen, and a true christian. He died in 1851.
SOURCE: Page(s) 23-25; Danville, Montour County Pennsylvania; D.H.B. Brower, Harrisburg; 1881
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