History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



McCormick Family - HORACE GREELEY McCORMICK, M. D Biography

The medical profession of Lycoming county numbers among its ablest representatives Dr. Horace Greeley McCormick, of Williamsport. The long and honorable line from which Dr. McCormick is descended traces its origin to Ireland, where, no doubt, it was planted by an ancestor of Scottish blood, forced, by the stress of some political crisis, to fly from his native land.

James McCormick (1), the first progenitor whose name appears on the family record, was a resident of Londonderry, Ireland, and among his other children were two sons : Hugh, mentioned at length hereinafter; and Thomas. It is from these two sons that the Pennsylvania McCormicks trace their descent.

Hugh McCormick (2), son of James McCormick (1), was born about 1695, in the province of Ulster, Ireland. He married and had four children : John; James; Samuel; and Hugh, mentioned at length hereinafter. About 1735, Hugh and Thomas McCormick, with their families, emigrated to the American colonies and settled in Lancaster (now Dauphin) county, Pennsylvania.

Hugh McCormick (3), youngest son of Hugh McCormick (2), was born in 1725, in Ireland, and was ten years of age when his parents sought a home in the New World. About 1770 he purchased thirteen hundred acres of land in White Deer Valley. His wife was Sarah, daughter of James and Mary Alcorn, of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of nine children, among whom was a son, Seth, mentioned at length hereinafter. Hugh McCormick, the father, appears to have been, for the times, a prosperous and wealthy man.

Seth McCormick (4), son of Hugh (3) and Sarah (Alcorn) McCormick, was born in 1756, in Paxtang township, in what was then Lancaster county, and settled upon a portion of the land in White Deer Valley which had been purchased by his father, the remainder becoming the homestead of Thomas, another son of Hugh McCormick. Seth McCormick married Margaret, daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Plunkett) Simmons, of Buffalo Valley, and niece of Dr. Plunkett whose name is prominent in the early history of Northumberland county. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick were the parents of the following children: 1. Robert, who was born in 1782, married Nancy Foresman, and died in 1874. 2. Hugh, who was born in 1784 and died in 1826. 3. Samuel, who was born in 1787, married Elizabeth Piatt, and died in 1864. 4. Seth, mentioned at length hereinafter. 5. Thomas, who was born in 1791, married Maria Hammond, and died in 1818. 6. Sarah, who was horn in 1793, married Robert J. Foresman, and died in 1874. 7. John, who was born in 1797, and was thrice married, his first wife being Hester Coryell, his second Sarah Bush, and his third Sarah Brown. He died in 1871. 8. Cynthia, who was born in 1800, married Samuel Eason, and died in 1880. 9. Susan, who was born in 1802, married Matthew B. Hammond, and died in 1883. 10. Joseph, who was born in 1805, married Margaret Schooley, and died in 1876.

Seth McCormick (5), fourth child of Seth (4) and Margaret (Simmons) McCormick, was born in 1789, and married Hannah Hammond. Among their children was a son, Seth Thomas, mentioned at length hereinafter. Mr. McCormick died while still a young man, being but thirty-two years of age at the time of his decease, which occurred in 1821.

Seth Thomas McCormick (6), second son of Seth (5) and Hannah (Hammond) McCormick, was born January 27, 1817, in Washington township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. His early life was spent in the work of a farmer and lumberman, and in 1861, being then forty four years of age, he determined to study law, and therefore removed his family to Williamsport, where he entered the office of W. W. Willard, Esq., then a well-known attorney of that place. With such diligence and assiduity did he apply himself to his legal studies that in 1863, after passing a creditable examination, he was admitted to practice in the various courts of Lycoming county. By dint of his indomitable perseverance and energy, joined to a close application to business, he soon built up a large and profitable practice, and after a few years took his son, Henry Clay McCormick, into partnership with him, thus founding the well-known law firm of S. T. & H. C. McCormick, which stood in the foremost ranks of the legal profession. He was the compiler of the book of the charter, laws and ordinances of the city of Williamsport, and nearly every ordinance of the city was drafted by his hand.

Mr. McCormick took an active interest in the development of every legitimate enterprise which tended to advance the interests of his chosen home. He was repeatedly elected a member of the common council, and during the period of his service constantly contended for honest municipal government. Through his watchfulness, care and courage the city was saved many thousands of dollars. In 1871 he received the Democratic nomination for the office of city recorder, but owing to the fact that the city was strongly Republican, he was defeated, although by a. small majority.

Mr. McCormick married, in 1837, Eleanor Miller, of White Deer Valley, the Reverend Isaac Grier performing the ceremony. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McCormick: 1. Sarah Elizabeth, who was born in 1839, and married William D. Oakes. 2. Hannah Hammond, who was born in 1841 and died in 1847. 3. Henry Clay, who was born in 1844, married Ida Hays, and died on May 26, 1902. 4. William Miller, who was born in 1846, and was twice married, his first wife being Sarah R. Rothrock and his second Josephine Lawrence. 5. Horace Greeley, mentioned at length hereinafter. 6. Hannah Hammond, who was born in 1853, and married Thomas L. Painter. 7. Frank Hammond, who was born in 1857, and married Marietta Culver. 8. Seth Thomas, who was born in 1860, and married Belle Herdic.

The death of Mr. McCormick occurred December 1, 1878. His career affords the exceptional example of a man capable in middle life of diverting his energies and purposes into new channels and thereby achieving the most successful results. Mr. McCormick's widow passed away May 27, 1897.

Horace Greeley McCormick (7), third son of Seth Thomas (6) and Eleanor (Miller) McCormick, was born May 16, 1850, in Washington township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and attended the schools of his native place and of Williamsport, whither his parents moved when the boy was eleven years of age. Subsequently he became a student at Dickinson Seminary. For two years he took charge of a school in his native county, and at the same time read medicine with Drs. Pollock and McVicker. He attended lectures at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and on March 11, 1874, received from that institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In April of that year he began the practice of his profession at Montoursville, where he remained until December, 1886. He then went to Philadelphia, where he took a special course in medicine, and in April, 1887, settled in Williamsport, where he has since remained, devoting himself to the active practice of his profession. From January, 1876, to January, 1879, he served as coroner of Lycoming county, and during the administration of President Cleveland held the position of examining surgeon of pensions in that district. On the formation of the State Board of Medical Examiners he was appointed by Governor Pattison a member of the board, and on its organization he was elected president, a position which he held for four consecutive terms.

Dr. McCormick is a member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and in April, 1891, was made chairman of the committee on legislation, a position which he held until the passage of the Medical Act in 1893, in which year he was elected president of the society. He belongs to the Lycoming County Medical Society, of which he was president in 189o-91 and 1891-9a, and is connected with the Lycoming County Anatomical Society. He has always taken an active interest in the progress of education, and during his residence in Montoursville served three years as school director. In 1891 he was elected a member of the Williamsport school board, and in 1895 was elected president, being re-elected in 1896, 1897 and 1899. He and his wife are members of the First Presbyterian church of Williamsport.

Dr. McCormick married, December 15, 1875, Margaretta Hill, and they are the parents of three children : Martha Brown, who was born May 17, 1877; Seth Thomas, who was born September 14, 1880 and Dorothy, who was born May 8, 1890.

Mrs. McCormick is the granddaughter of John and Margaretta Hill, who lived near Milton, Northumberland county, where their son George was born January 13, 1816. The early life of George Hill was spent on the homestead, where he nobly assisted his widowed mother by assuming many of the burdens involved in the management and cultivation of the farm. In 1835, his mother, with her children, moved to White Deer Valley, whence Mr. Hill migrated in 1848 to Three Rivers, Michigan. He remained there but three years, and in 1851 returned to Pennsylvania and purchased a farm which was originally part of the estate of Matthew Brown. In the spring of 1869 he sold this property and removed to a farm near Williamsport which he had recently purchased. In 1880 he settled at Taberville, Missouri.

Mr. Hill married, February 6, 1840, in Lycoming county, Martha, born February 24, 1816, in Washington township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, tenth daughter of William and Jean Brown. They were the parents of ten children : 1. Robert Brown, who was born in 1841. and married Martha Schooley. 2. John, who was born in 1842 and married Mary A. Coulthaird. 3. William Brown, who was born in 1844 and married Josie H. Good. 4. Jane Brown, who was born in 184O and married G. N. Wagner. 5. George, who was born in 1848 and married Rose Etta Hays. 6. Samuel, who was born September 16, 1850, and died December 1, 1851. 7. Margaretta, who was born April 30. 1854, and became the wife of Horace Greeley McCormick, as mentioned above. 8. Martha Belle, who was born in 1856 and married Levi B. Wagner. 9. Charles, who was born in 1858 and married Josephine Moore. 10. Susan Lamont, who was born October 13, 1862, married S. W. Sherman, and died at Grand Rapids, Michigan, February 9, 1892. Mrs. Hill, the exemplary mother of this large family, died February 4, 1900, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. McCormick, in Williamsport, and is buried at Grand Rapids, Michigan.


Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Lycoming County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1906.










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