Samuel W. Pennypacker
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Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker (April 9, 1843 – September 2, 1916) was an American politician serving as the 23rd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1907. He also served Pennsylvania as a judge and wrote about aspects of Pennsylvania history.


Biography

Gov. Pennypacker was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania on April 9, 1843. He was the son of Dr. Isaac A. Pennypacker and Anna Maria Whitaker, and the grandson of Matthias and Sarah Anderson (daughter of Isaac Anderson), and of
Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
and Grace Whitaker. He was a cousin of Galusha Pennypacker. He and his grandfather Whitaker witnessed
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
's speech outside Independence Hall in February 1861, standing away. He received his education at the Grovemont Seminary at Phoenixville and at the West Philadelphia Institute. He was the fourth great-grandson of
Abraham op den Graeff Abraham Isacks op den Graeff (c. 1646 – c. 1731) was an original founder of Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Germantown, Pennsylvania, as well as a civic leader, award-winning weaver, and signer of the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Agai ...
. His great great great grandfather Hendrick Pannebecker emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1699. Pennypacker's early education was interrupted several times. In 1863, he answered a call to arms by Governor Andrew Curtin during the Gettysburg Campaign of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. He enlisted as a private in Company F of the 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia and trained at Camp Curtin. He fought in the skirmish at Witmer Farm, north of Gettysburg on June 26, 1863, an action that saw his newly recruited regiment retreat to
Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
when confronted by veteran
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
. He left the emergency
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
in late July 1863 and resumed his education. Pennypacker studied law at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and opened his own law practice in 1866. In 1868, he was elected president of the Law Academy of Philadelphia. He was elected as a member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1886. From 1876 to 1888, he was reporter-in-chief for the Court of Common Pleas No. 3. In 1889, he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas No. 2 and was elected for two terms of 10 years each, acting for several years (1896-1902) as president judge of that court. In
1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...
, he soundly defeated Robert Pattison, who was seeking a third nonconsecutive term as governor. During his term in office, Pennypacker signed into law the Child Labor Act of 1905; setting a minimum age and standard for young workers. He created the
Pennsylvania State Police The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police is a full service law enforcement agency which handles both traffic and cr ...
and the State Museum, and oversaw the completion of the new state capitol building. He led a war on the easy divorce system of Pennsylvania. He also signed the Salus-Grady libel law, requiring newspapers to print the names of their owners and editors and making them responsible for negligence. The Salus-Grady law also banned "any cartoon or caricature or picture portraying, describing or representing any person, either by distortion, innuendo or otherwise, in the form or likeness of beast, bird, fish, insect, or other unhuman animal, thereby tending to expose such person to public hatred, contempt, or ridicule." Pennypacker had been insultingly caricatured as a parrot during his campaign, mindlessly mimicking the words of his political bosses. The passage of this law was widely criticized, not least by Pennsylvania cartoonists who immediately began depicting political figures as inanimate objects and vegetables. The furor was observed nationwide, and the law was never enforced. In 1906, Pennypacker
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
ed what would have been the first compulsory sterilization law in the United States. At the time of the veto, Pennypacker stated:
It is plain that the safest and most effective method of preventing procreation would be to cut the heads off the inmates, and such authority is given by the bill to this staff of scientific experts...Scientists like all men whose experiences have been limited to one pursuit...sometimes need to be restrained. Men of high scientific attainments are prone...to lose sight of broad principles outside of their domain...To permit such an operation would be to inflict cruelty upon a helpless class...which the state has undertaken to protect..."Cited in Black, Edwin (2004). War against the weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race. Thunder's Mouth Press.
During his time in office, Pennypacker made his home in Schwenksville at
Pennypacker Mills Pennypacker Mills is a Colonial Revival mansion surrounded by of farmland located in Perkiomen Township near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania on the shore of the Perkiomen Creek, approximately northwest of Philadelphia. Originally built around 1720 ...
, a farm and
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...
that eight generations of Pennypackers lived in before it was eventually donated to Montgomery County and is now a historic park. He also used Moore Hall as a summer home. ''Note:'' This includes Pennypacker was later president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and held positions of honor in various German and Netherlandish societies. As president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, he wrote extensively. Amongst his publications was a history of the Phoenixville area,
Annals of Phoenixville and Its Vicinity: From the Settlement to the Year 1871
'. He had a collection of over 10,000 items pertaining to Pennsylvania history. In 1915, he was appointed chairman of the Public Service Commission of Pennsylvania, which office he held until his death. He married Virginia Earl Broomall in 1870. They had four children. He died at
Pennypacker Mills Pennypacker Mills is a Colonial Revival mansion surrounded by of farmland located in Perkiomen Township near Schwenksville, Pennsylvania on the shore of the Perkiomen Creek, approximately northwest of Philadelphia. Originally built around 1720 ...
, aged 73, and was buried in Morris Cemetery, Phoenixville. Pennypacker Hall at the
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
University Park campus is named for him, as is the Samuel W. Pennypacker School at Philadelphia.


Works


''Historical and biographical sketches''
(1883)
''The settlement of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and the beginning of German emigration to North America''
(1899)
''Pennsylvania in American History''
(1910)
''Desecration and Profanation of the Pennsylvania State Capitol''
(1911)
''The Autobiography of a Pennsylvanian''
(1918)


Notes


References


Pennsylvania State Archives biography of Samuel PennypackerBrief biographyPennypacker Mills
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pennypacker, Samuel W. 1843 births 1916 deaths Republican Party governors of Pennsylvania Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Pennsylvania lawyers Union Army soldiers University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni People from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers American Lutherans American people of German descent Historians from Pennsylvania 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century Lutherans Whitaker iron family Members of the American Philosophical Society 19th-century American businesspeople American male non-fiction writers