Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/173

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McKEAN


McKEAN


Spa, and previously to 1853 removed to Saratoga Springs, where lie was married to Catherine, daughter of Judge William Hay ; she died at Salt Lake, Utah, Jan. 24, 1879. He was colonel in the state militia ; county judge for Saratoga county, 1855-59, and a Republican representative from New York in the 36th and 37tli congresses, 1859-61, serving as chairman of the committee on expenditures in the state department and of the committee on elections. He left his seat in congress in 1861, organized the 77th New York volunteers, and commanded his regiment in the 3d brigade, 2d division, 6th army corps, in the seven days' battle before Richmond, and soon after was forced to leave his command owing to ill-health. He was appointed chief justice of Utah Territory by President Grant in 1873, but incurred the displeasure of the Mormons and was removed in 1875. He practised law at Salt Lake City, Utah, and died there Jan. 5, 1879.

McKEAN, Joseph, educator, was born in Ips- wicli, Mass., April 19, 1776 ; son of William and Sarah (Manning) McKean and grandson of Dr. Joseph and Eliza (Boardman) Manning, of Ips- wich. His father, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, settled in Boston, Mass., as a tobacconist in 1763, removed to Ipswich in 1775, but after the Rev- olution returned to Boston. Joseph attended Phillips Andover academy, 1787-90, and was graduated from Harvard, A.B., 1794. He taught school in Ipswich, Mass., and studied theology under the Rev. Dr. Joseph Dana, 1794-96, the Rev. John Thompson, 1796-97, and the Rev. John Elliott, of Boston, 1797. He was also principal of the academy at Berwick, 1796-97. He was ordained to the Congregational ministry, Nov. 1, 1797. He was married in September, 1799, to Amy, daughter of Maj. Joseph Swasey, of Ips- wich, a soldier at Bunker Hill, and his wife, Susanna, daughter of Henry Wise (Harvard, 1717) and granddaughter of John Wise (Har- vard, 1673). He was pastor of the church at Milton, Mass., 1797-1803, and on account of pulmonaiy trouble, he was obliged to pass the following winter in the Barbadoes, and the tw^o succeeding winters in North and South Carolina. He formally resigned his pastorate, Oct. 3, 1804, and when his health improved engaged in teach- ing in Boston. He was appointed Hersey pro- fessor of mathematics and natural philosophy in Harvard in 1806, but declined, having taken up the study of law. He was chosen about this time to represent Boston in the general court, and was re-elected for a second term. He was Boylston professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard, 1809-18, when pulmonary troubles again forced him to retire. He spent a short time in South Carolina, and from there went to Havana, Cuba. He was secretary of the Massa-


chusetts Congregational society ; a member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel ; corresponding secretary of the Society for the Suppression of Intemi)erance, and of the Massa- chusetts Historical society ; and an honorary member of the New York. Historical Society He received the degree of LL.D. from the College of New Jersey in 1844, and that of S.T.D. from Allegheny college. Pa., in 1817. He was the founder of the Porcellian club of Harvard college, and the McKean Gate, inscribed in his honor, was erected by the club in 1901. He contributed additional matter to Wood's continuation of Goldsmith's History of England ; published a memoir on the Rev. John Eliot, S.T.D. , in the Historical Collections of the Massachusetts His- torical society, and occasional sermons. He died in Havana, Cuba, March 17, 1818.

McKEAN, Samuel, senator, was born in Hunt- ingdon county. Pa., Sept. 19, 1790 ; son of James McKean, a native of Cecil county, Md., who re- moved to Huntingdon county. Pa., in 1783, and to Burlington, Bradford county. Pa., in 1791, where he was the first white settler. Samuel at- tended the public schools, studied law and repre- sented Bradford and Tioga counties in the state legislature, 1815-19. He was a Democratic repre- sentative from the 19th Pennsylvania district, in the 18th, 19th and 20th congresses, 1823-29 ; and a member of the state senate in 1829, resigning in December, 1829, to accept the office of secretary of the commonwealth under Governor Shulze, and was U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, 1833- 39. He died in Burlington, Pa., June 28, 1840.

McKEAN, Thomas, signer, was born in Lon- donderry, Pa., March 19, 1734; son of William and Lsetitia (Finney) McKean, both natives of Ireland. He was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Francis Allison, at Newcastle, Del. ; where he also studied law in office of his kinsman David Fin- ney ; was engaged as clerk to the pro- thonotary of the court of common pleas ; was deputy protho- notary and register for the probate of wills,' for Newcastle county, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1754. He was deputy attorney-gen- eral of Sussex county, 1756-58 ; clerk of the assembly, 1757-58 : was appointed by the as- sembly, in connection with Caesar Rodney, to codify and print tlie laws of the state passed


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