BIO: HON. CHARLES B. PENROSE, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson OCRed by Judy Banja Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ _____________________________________________________________ >From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 802-804 _____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/zeamer/ HON. CHARLES B. PENROSE. Charles Bingham Penrose is admitted under Reed. He was born near Philadelphia, Oct. 6, 1798. After reading law with Samuel Ewing, Esq., in Philadelphia, he immediately removed to Carlisle, and was admitted to our Bar, August term, 1821, at which he soon acquired a prominent position. In 1833 he was elected to the State Senate, and at the expiration of his term was re-elected. In this capacity he achieved distinction even among the men of ability who were then chosen to fill this office. In 1841 he was appointed, by President Harrison, Solicitor of the Treasury, which position he held until the close of President Tyler's administration. He settled afterward in Lancaster, then in Philadelphia, in both places successfully pursuing his profession. In 1856 he was again elected (as Reform candidate) to the State Senate, during which term he died after a short illness of pneumonia, at Harrisburg, April 6, 1857. In appearance Mr. Penrose was slightly above the medium height, with white hair, and fine intellectual, but determined, expression of countenance. In his character he was unselfish, benevolent, self-reliant and earnest in whatever he undertook to accomplish; his manners were polished, gentle, courteous and genial, and his whole demeanor, in short, that of a Christian gentleman. Mr. Penrose was married to Valeria Fullerton Biddle. Their oldest son, William M. CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 803 Penrose, was a prominent member of our Bar; the second, R. A. Penrose, is a distinguished practitioner of medicine in Philadelphia, while their third son, Clement Biddle Penrose, Esq., holds a high position at the Bar of that city. [Wing's History of Cumberland County.] COL. WILLIAM M. PENROSE. Col. William McFunn Penrose is admitted under Hepburn. He was born in Carlisle, on the 29th day of March, 1825; he graduated with honor at Dickinson College, in 1844, and seems even then to have been known as a diligent student, and as possessed of extraordinary powers of application. This seems to have been the reason of his great success in after life, in the chosen field of his profession. He was admitted to the Bar of Cumberland county on the 10th of November, 1846. His committee of examination consisted of the Hon. John Reed, Hugh Gaullagher, Esqrs., and Hon. James H. Graham, before the Hon. John Stuart, then an Associate Judge of the court of this county. Col. Penrose was the oldest son of the Hon. Charles B. Penrose. "He came by inheritance to the high position which he held. His easy and classical education was of the highest type. His father and uncle were both ornaments to the Bar of our county and state. He entered the arena when Reed and Biddle and Gaullagher were leaders of the Bar - when Adair and Bonham were brilliant young men." Mr. Penrose was a man of refined, gentlemanly feelings, of a kindly disposition, and of courteous professional deportment toward all - to the court, but more particularly was he generous and kind toward his younger brethren at the Bar, a quality the value of which only those educated in the profession can rightly appreciate. He needed to found no distinction on the deprecation of his inferiors. He was too noble for this. He affected no importance from the miserable accident of seniority or station, and laughed to scorn the pretentionless stupidity that seeks, like the cynic, enforced reverence to its rage and its dotage. Generous to a fault, and careless in regard to his own monetary affairs, but with a heart full of sympathy for the sufferings of others, his aid and counsel were sought by great numbers of people who were totally unable ever to remunerate him for his professional services. At the breaking out of the Rebellion Mr. Penrose was elected and served for some time as colonel of the 6th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves. But such a life was ill-suited to a constitution naturally delicate. He paid dearly for his patriotism afterward in continuous ill-health, for in the exposure of camp life he probably laid the foundation of disease which ended eventually with his death. During life Mr. Penrose was a hard student, and was devoted exclusively to his profession. The law, as it is said, is a jealous mistress, and he was constant in his affection, and content to woo no other. To the study and practice of his profession he threw all the energies of his intellect. As a lawyer he was eminently successful - learned, quick and accurate in his perceptions, cogent in argument, and fluent as a speaker, he seldom failed to convince a jury. In all questions of practice he seemed particularly at home. Expert to take advantage of every point, he was a merciless antagonist, and woe to the unwary adversary, who, but for a moment, should drop his shield. Nor was he less successful in his arguments In Banc. "His comprehensive mind was familiar with all the distinctions in the books, and his 804 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. astuteness was so great that he marked out with wonderful quickness the almost evanescent boundaries which sometimes separate the principles which govern cases." Benjamin Junkin, then President Judge, said, on the occasion of Mr. Penrose's death: "His astuteness, vigor of thought, and keenness of perception in grasping the result of a principle and wielding it with a steady hand, I have never seen surpassed. He stripped all questions down to the bones, and then handed over to the jury the issue in this clarified condition. In his manner he was terse, sententious and precise. He continued all contests until the bellows were burned, and the lead was consumed of the fire, then, and then only, did he yield." In appearance Col. Penrose was tall and slender in form, with an intelligent, emaciated face, and was possessed of an active and nervous temperament. He was quick in his motions as in his thoughts. He was careless in his dress and walked our streets often in slippers, with a careworn and pre-occupied look, as if his attention was always upon the important responsibilities which were committed to his care. He died Sept. 2, 1872, in the prime of life, in the midst of his usefulness and in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative practice, well merited by a life of untiring devotion to the duties of his profession. [Wing's History of Cumberland County.]