City of Easton Pennsylvania
Facts&Info
Founded 1752
James Madison Porter
Birth: Jan. 6, 1793
Death: Nov. 11, 1862
Founder of Lafayette College. He was a Colonel in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. U.S. Secretary of War 1843-1844. (bio by: Rich H.)
Joseph Fitz Randolph
Birth: Mar. 14, 1803
New York
New York County (Manhattan)
New York, USA
Death: Mar. 19, 1873
Jersey City
Hudson County
New Jersey, USA
US Congressman. He was elected as a Whig to represent New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives, taking part in the the Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, and Twenty-seventh Congresses, and serving from March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1843. (bio by: Rich H.)
Andrew Horatio Reeder
Birth: Jul. 12, 1807
Easton
Northampton County
Pennsylvania, USA
Death: Jul. 5, 1864
Easton
Northampton County
Pennsylvania, USA
The first Governor of the Territory of Kansas. President Franklin Pierce appointed him governor on June 29th, 1854, and he was removed for his refusal to use his position to aid in making Kansas a slave state. He was elected the first delegate to congress from the territory, and first United States senator after its admission to the Union. He was appointed brigadier-general in the regular army, by President Lincoln, at the outbreak of the Civil War. (bio by: Rich H.)
Theophilus Francis Rodenbough
(Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Captain of the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry.)
Birth: Nov. 5, 1838
Easton
Northampton County
Pennsylvania, USA
Death: Dec. 19, 1912
New York
New York County (Manhattan)
New York, USA
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. At the outbreak of the Civil War, President Lincoln appointed Rodenbough a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons in March 1861, at the request of Andrew H. Reeder a prominent in the Republican Party. When he finally joined the regiment in January 1862, he was appointed a Captain in the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry. He commanded cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign and for his actions in the Battle of Trevalion Station, Virginia, June 11, 1864, where he was severely wounded, for gallantry he was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1893. After he recovered, he was a Major back in command of his regiment and at the Battle of Third Winchester on September 19, 1864, he lost his right arm. Following the battle, he was promoted Colonel and served on recruiting service in Philadelphia until recuperating from his wounds. For meritorious service, he was brevetted Brigadier General of US Volunteers on April 13, 1865. (bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)
Samuel Sitgreaves
Birth: Mar. 16, 1764
Philadelphia
Philadelphia County
Pennsylvania, USA
Death: Apr. 4, 1827
Easton
Northampton County
Pennsylvania, USA
US Congressman. He was admitted to the bar in 1783 and began law practice in Easton. In 1790 he was a Delegate to Pennsylvania's constitutional convention. He was elected to the US House of Representatives as a Federalist in 1794. He was reelected in 1796 and served from March, 1795 until his resignation in 1798. While in Congress Sitgreaves was the primary manager of impeachment against Senator William Blount, the first federal official to be removed for misconduct. Sitgreaves resigned to accept appointment as a US Commissioner to settle claims with Great Britain under the terms of the Jay Treaty. He served as a Burgess of Easton Township from 1804 to 1807 and was Treasurer of Northampton County from 1816 to 1819. Sitgreaves also served as President of the Easton Bank from 1815 until his death. His descendants donated his collection of rare books on religion to the Washington National Cathedral, and they are included in the cathedral's rare book collection. (bio by: Bill McKern)
Henry Joseph Steele
Birth: May 10, 1860
Easton
Northampton County
Pennsylvania, USA
Death: Mar. 19, 1933
Easton
Northampton County
Pennsylvania, USA
US Congressman. He graduated from Stevens Business College in 1875, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began a practice in 1881. Steele was a member of Eastons's Board of Education from 1889 to 1893 and was City Solicitor from 1889 to 1895. In 1891 he was a Delegate to the state constitutional convention. Active in the state and national bar associations, in 1914 Steele served as President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. In 1914 he was elected as a Democrat to the US House of Representatives, succeeding A. Mitchell Palmer, who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate, and later served as US Attorney General. Steele served three terms, 1915 to 1921, and did not run for reelection in 1920. He then returned to practicing law and was involved in several businesses, including serving as President of the Northampton Trust Company and a Director of the Lehigh Valley Transit and Pennsylvania Motor Companies. In 1917 he was one of the organizers of the Easton Publishing Company, which merged the Express and Argus newspapers into the Express-Times, of which Steele was Editorial Page Editor. He was also active in the Northampton County Historical Society, serving as President in 1928 and presenting several papers on the history of the county bar and courts. (bio by: Bill McKern)
George Taylor
Birth: 1716
Death: Feb. 23, 1781
Signer of the Declaration of Independence from Pennsylvania. Born in Ireland, the son of a Protestant minister. As a young man, he wanted to come to America, but couldn’t pay for his passage, so he became an indentured servant. Indentured servants were people whose passage was paid by the colonists already living in America, and in exchange for the passage, they had to agree to work for free for five to seven years for the people who paid their way. While some indentured servants were treated as poorly as slaves, most were treated like members of the family, and were taught a useful trade. Mr. Savage, who ran an iron foundry outside Philadelphia, paid for young George to come over, in 1736. When Mr. Savage found that George could read and write, he made him a clerk in his foundry. A few years later, Mr. Savage died, and George then married his widow, Anne Savage, and took over the iron business. He and Anne would have two children. Now in charge, George had servants of his own. For years, he would carry on an affair with his housekeeper, Naomi Smith, and would have five children with her. He served in the provincial assembly from 1764 to 1769, and in 1775. When problems with Britain surfaced, he immediately spoke out in favor of independence. He became a Colonel in the Pennsylvania militia in 1775, and after signing the Declaration of Independence, he went to Easton, Pennsylvania, to negotiate a peace treaty with the local Indians. Elected a member of the First Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania in 1777, he soon retired due to illness. He died in February 1781, at the age of sixty-five. (bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson)
