Samuel Calvin
Encyclopedia
Samuel Calvin was a Whig
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
.
. He attended the common schools and Milton Academy
. He taught in Huntingdon Academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1836 and commenced practice in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
.
Calvin was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first
Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1850
. He resumed the practice of law and served as director of the Hollidaysburg School Board for thirty years. He was a member of the State revenue board and a member of the State constitutional convention in 1873. He died in Hollidaysburg in 1890 and was buried in Presbyterian Cemetery.
A Fall 1961 Bulletin of the Blair County Historical Society republished an article by Dr. Harry T. Coffey (written May 1, 1896) about the early days of the town and the leading men of Hollidaysburg:
"Among the young lawyers and business men who afterwards became prominent in public affairs were such men as David R. Porter, afterwards governor; James M. Bell, A. Porter Wilson and Samuel Calvin, (then a schoolteacher in Huntingdon).
"...I remember distinctly seeing as they came out in weekly parts, in green paper covers the first issues of Dicken's (then called "Boz") "Pickwick Papers." Lying on the counter and hearing Samuel Calvin reading aloud to some friends who might be with him, the doings of the immortal Pickwick... No man was ever born better fitted to interpret Dickens, (Himself scarcely excepted) than Samuel Calvin. Himself for many years an accomplished principal, well versed in rhetoric and elocution and an orator of no little ability: a man whose able speeches on the subject of the tariff made him prominent as the whig (sic) candidate for governor in after years; a man who had much of the gentleness, amiability and good nature, without any of the weakness of Pickwick.
"Mr. Calvin, who must have removed from Huntingdon very soon after my father, was a frequent visitor at our house. He had a wide knowledge of classical literature, was a fine conversationalist, and I am indebted to him for some of the finest quotations from them, I can now recall, and also in developing my taste in the matter of reading only the best authors, especially English, whom he seems to have at his fingerends."
Samuel Calvin married Rebecca Blodget in the early 1840s and produced a daughter, Eliza in 1845, and a son, Mathew, in 1847. Mathew followed his father's example and became a lawyer.
Descendents of Samuel Calvin live in several states; Virginia, Maryland, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Biography
Samuel Calvin was born in Washingtonville, PennsylvaniaWashingtonville, Pennsylvania
Washingtonville is a borough in Montour County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 201 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bloomsburg–Berwick Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. He attended the common schools and Milton Academy
Milton Academy
Milton Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory, boarding and day school in Milton, Massachusetts consisting of a grade 9–12 Upper School and a grade K–8 Lower School. Boarding is offered starting in 9th grade...
. He taught in Huntingdon Academy, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1836 and commenced practice in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Hollidaysburg is a borough in Blair County, Pennsylvania, on the Juniata River, south of Altoona. It is the county seat of Blair County. It is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is one of the communities that comprises the Altoona Urban Area...
.
Calvin was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first
31st United States Congress
The Thirty-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1851, during the last 17 months...
Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1850
United States House election, 1850
Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1850. The Democrats gained 14 seats, increasing their majority relative to the Whigs, who lost 23 seats....
. He resumed the practice of law and served as director of the Hollidaysburg School Board for thirty years. He was a member of the State revenue board and a member of the State constitutional convention in 1873. He died in Hollidaysburg in 1890 and was buried in Presbyterian Cemetery.
A Fall 1961 Bulletin of the Blair County Historical Society republished an article by Dr. Harry T. Coffey (written May 1, 1896) about the early days of the town and the leading men of Hollidaysburg:
"Among the young lawyers and business men who afterwards became prominent in public affairs were such men as David R. Porter, afterwards governor; James M. Bell, A. Porter Wilson and Samuel Calvin, (then a schoolteacher in Huntingdon).
"...I remember distinctly seeing as they came out in weekly parts, in green paper covers the first issues of Dicken's (then called "Boz") "Pickwick Papers." Lying on the counter and hearing Samuel Calvin reading aloud to some friends who might be with him, the doings of the immortal Pickwick... No man was ever born better fitted to interpret Dickens, (Himself scarcely excepted) than Samuel Calvin. Himself for many years an accomplished principal, well versed in rhetoric and elocution and an orator of no little ability: a man whose able speeches on the subject of the tariff made him prominent as the whig (sic) candidate for governor in after years; a man who had much of the gentleness, amiability and good nature, without any of the weakness of Pickwick.
"Mr. Calvin, who must have removed from Huntingdon very soon after my father, was a frequent visitor at our house. He had a wide knowledge of classical literature, was a fine conversationalist, and I am indebted to him for some of the finest quotations from them, I can now recall, and also in developing my taste in the matter of reading only the best authors, especially English, whom he seems to have at his fingerends."
Samuel Calvin married Rebecca Blodget in the early 1840s and produced a daughter, Eliza in 1845, and a son, Mathew, in 1847. Mathew followed his father's example and became a lawyer.
Descendents of Samuel Calvin live in several states; Virginia, Maryland, Florida, and Pennsylvania.