George Wolf (August 12, 1777March 11, 1840) was the seventh governor of Pennsylvania from 1829 to 1835. On June 29, 1888, he was recognized as the "father of the public-school system" in Pennsylvania by the erection of a memorial gateway at Easton.

Biography

Early years

Wolf was born in Allen Township, Pennsylvania. His parents, George and Mary Wolf, had immigrated from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, then a province of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, in 1751. George Wolf was educated at a classical school, taught for some time, and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1799 and commenced practice in

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware R ...

. He became a member of the Democratic Republican Party at the start of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

's administration, and was appointed postmaster of Easton, which office he filled in 1802 and 1803. He was a clerk of the orphans' court of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, from 1803 to 1809. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1814. Wolf married Mary Erb (1781–1833) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on June 5, 1798. The couple had eight sons and one daughter.

U.S. House of Representatives

Wolf was elected without opposition to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1824 to the Eighteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Thomas J. Rogers. He was reelected to the Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first Congresses. He took the

protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

side in debates on the

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...

Governor of Pennsylvania

As member of the Jacksonian Democratic Party, Wolf defeated

Joseph Ritner Joseph Ritner (March 25, 1780 – October 16, 1869) was the eighth Governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was a member of the Anti-Masonic Party. Elected Governor of Pennsylvania during the 1835 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, h ...

in both

1829 Events January–March * January 19 – August Klingemann's adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's '' Faust'' premieres in Braunschweig. * February 27 – Battle of Tarqui: Troops of Gran Colombia and Peru battle to a draw. * Marc ...

and

1832 Events January–March * January 6 – Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison founds the New-England Anti-Slavery Society. * January 13 – The Christmas Rebellion of slaves is brought to an end in Jamaica, after the island's white plant ...

to become the Governor of Pennsylvania. A large crowd attended his inaugural ceremonies on December 15, 1829. He lost the governor's seat to the Anti-Mason candidate Ritner in

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

, owing to the defection of a part of the Democrats, who voted for Henry A. Muhlenberg. As governor, Wolf persuaded the legislature to construct canals and impose new taxes for the liquidation of debts that had already been incurred on account of internal improvements. Wolf advocated the establishment of a general system of common schools, and by strenuous efforts accomplished this reform where former governors had failed. In the wake of the hanging of Charles Getter in Easton, which was viewed by up to 20,000 people, Wolf signed a law on April 10, 1834, to ban public executions.

Later years

From 1827 to 1840, Wolf was a trustee of

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...

. In 1836

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

appointed him as First Comptroller of the Treasury. Two years later President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

appointed him as Collector of Customs for the District of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

in a job swap with

James Nelson Barker James Nelson Barker (June 17, 1784 – March 9, 1858) was an American soldier, playwright and politician. He rose to the rank of major in the Army during the War of 1812, wrote ten plays, and was mayor of Philadelphia. Early life Barker was bo ...

. He held this office until his death.

Legacy

Wolf Hall on the campus of Penn State University is named for George Wolf. Wolf Township in

Lycoming County Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. ...

is also named for him, as is Wolf Street in

. The Governor Wolf Building, built in 1893 as the first

Easton High School Easton High School (EHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland, United States. It is one of two public high schools in Talbot County along with St. Michaels Middle/High School. Overview The school ...

in Easton, the George Wolf Elementary School in Bath, and the Governor Wolf Elementary School in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

are also named for Governor Wolf. The Governor Wolf Historical Society in East Allen Township is named for George Wolf and is the historic site of Wolf Academy where young George received a classical education and went on to become a teacher there.

References

Sources

*
The Political Graveyard

External links

* *Th

containing much of Wolf's correspondence from his time in office, are available for research use at the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, George 1777 births 1840 deaths Burials at Harrisburg Cemetery Democratic Party governors of Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania lawyers American people of German descent Pennsylvania Dutch people Comptrollers of the United States Treasury Pennsylvania postmasters Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania 19th-century American politicians Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Lafayette College trustees