Hon. John Pratt Elkin and Adda P. Prothero
Husband Hon. John Pratt Elkin 1 2 3
Born: 11 Jan 1860 - West Mahoning Twp, Indiana Co, PA Christened: Died: 3 Oct 1915 4 Buried:
Father: Francis Elkin (1830-1882) 1 5 Mother: Elizabeth Pratt (1833-1913) 1 5
Marriage: 17 Jun 1884 6
Wife Adda P. Prothero 2 7 8
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:
Father: John Prothero (1813-1886) 9 10 Mother: Sarah Clark ( -1888) 9 10 11
Children
1 F Helen Prothero Elkin 6
Born: 27 Jul 1886 6 Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: W. M. Armstrong ( - ) 6
2 F Laura Louise Elkin 6
Born: 10 Jun 1892 6 Christened: Died: Buried:
3 M Stanley Elkin 6
Born: 15 Jul 1898 6 Christened: Died: Buried:
General Notes: Husband - Hon. John Pratt Elkin
Born in a log house on a farm in West Mahoning township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, in the early sixties, he obtained his elementary education under many difficulties, the district school being more than a mile from his home and open only four months of the year, in the winter season. The methods of teaching were simple in the extreme, but effective in making the pupils learn to "spell and figure," and such was the foundation upon which his future was built. In his ninth year the family moved to the little village of Smicksburg, where his father engaged in the store and foundry business. Here the school was more accessible, but the terms were also short, never exceeding four months a year. In 1872 his father, in association with several friends organized a company for the manufacture of tin plate in this country. It was the first enterprise of the kind tried in America. The plant was built at Wellsville, Ohio, whither the Elkin family moved in 1873, and although not yet fourteen years old young Elkin was given employment in the mill, first as "hammer boy," then as "heaver-up-at-the-muck-rolls," and finally as a finisher in the tin house. He continued in this employment until the mill, shut down at the end of 1874. The secrets of manufacturing tin plate were at that time carefully guarded by the Welsh and unknown to Americans, and the new industry failed because it was twenty-five years ahead of the times in this country, bringing total loss to the investors. The Elkins had to start life over again. John P. Elkin then decided to educate himself for a professional career, and resumed his studies in the high school at Wellsville, where he made such rapid progress that he had practically finished the course at the end of the school year. In the autumn of 1875 the family returned to Smicksburg, Pennsylvania, and he applied for a vacancy in the borough school, securing the position of teacher with the assistance of some old friends who considered him worthy, finishing the term to their entire satisfaction, though he was but fifteen and a half years old, and had pupils of his own age or older. From 1876 to 1880 he went to school in the summer and taught in the winter, going to the normal school at Indiana one term each year until 1879, when he borrowed enough from a friend to keep him in school the entire year. Graduating in 1880, he resumed teaching, and in the autumn of 1881 began the study of law in the University of Michigan, graduating in 1884, and having the honor of being selected as orator of his class.
John P. Elkin had a remarkable public career. His father, who died in December, 1882, had been mentioned as a possible candidate for the State Legislature, and some of his friends conceived the idea of having the son selected instead, although the latter was away studying at Ann Arbor. But absence proved no obstacle, for he conducted his campaign by correspondence and won at the primaries, was elected, and served two terms in succession, in 1887 being chairman of the committee on Constitutional Reform and having charge of the proposed Constitutional amendment submitting to a vote of the people the question of prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in the Commonwealth. He also served on the Judiciary General, Retrenchment and Reform, and Library committees. Meantime, in 1885, he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in his native county. He continued his interest in politics, frequently representing his county in State and national conventions, being a delegate to the State convention of 1890; permanent chairman of the State convention in 1891; 1896 elected by his Congressional district as delegate to the National convention at St. Louis as a sound money man; upon his return from that convention elected chairman of the Republican State committee of Pennsylvania; chairman of the State committee five years; and in 1898 conducted a successful campaign for Gov. William A. Stone.
Meanwhile he was active also in his home community, at all times taking special interest in educational matters, having been connected as pupil, teacher, director or trustee with the public and normal schools from boyhood. For several years he was president of the school board of Indiana, and for a quarter of a century was a trustee of the Indiana Normal School. In 1893 he was elected president of the Farmers' Bank, and occupied the position until 1895, when he moved to Harrisburg in order to better perform the duties of deputy attorney general, to which position he had been appointed under the Hastings administration. He resigned it in 1897 because of political differences with that administration. In 1899 he was appointed attorney general, serving four years. The Legislature of 1899 having failed to elect a senator to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate, Governor Stone appointed Senator Quay, this action raising the constitutional question as to his power to make such appointment. Quay's opponents challenged this power, and the question was referred to the committee on Privileges and Elections. Mr. Elkin was chosen to make the argument before the committee, representing the Commonwealth, and as the matter was one of national importance, involving the rights of every State to full representation, interest was widespread. The committee reported in favor of seating Senator Quay, but the Senate after prolonged discussion rejected the report by a majority of one vote, so that he was not permitted to take his seat. However, he was elected for the full term in 1901.
In 1902 Mr. Elkin announced his name as a candidate for governor, and owing to Senator Quay's opposition a spirited contest resulted, Mr. Elkin making a direct appeal to the people which caused many delegates to the convention to be instructed for him, though owing to their vacillation at the last moment he was defeated. When his term as attorney general expired he resumed private practice, in 1903 and 1904. In April, 1904, the convention met at Harrisburg for the purpose of nominating a candidate to fill a vacancy in the Supreme court, and though it was generally thought that Governor Pennypacker would be the choice, when the latter announced his determination to complete his term as governor the convention unanimously offered the nomination to Mr. Elkin. At the election in November he won by a vote of 737,978, the largest Republican vote ever given to a candidate for state office in Pennsylvania, with the largest plurality ever received by a candidate for State office up to that time. Mr. Elkin assumed his judicial duties the first of January, 1905, and devoted all of his time and energy to them until his untimely death, Oct. 3, 1915. He was greatly attached to his work, and in the spring of 1912 was favorably considered for appointment to a vacancy in the Supreme court of the United States.
In religion Mr. Elkin followed his forefathers, who for centuries were devout members of the Church of England and in America of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In Indiana the parish was weak, but he contributed freely of his means to support the little church he attended.
Soon after his admission to the bar he began to take an interest in the development of coal fields in Indiana County, and may properly be regarded as a pioneer of the industry there. In connection with Henry and George Prothero he initiated the opening of the Cush Creek mines in 1887 and always retained his interests in that section. Through their efforts the Cush Creek branch of the railroad was built from Mahaffey to Glen Campbell. They sold the lands operated by them near Glen Campbell to the Glenwood Coal Company, thus starting operations which were afterward extended in every direction in that section. Mr. Elkin was as successful in business as he was in professional life. He was a member of the Union League of Philadelphia, of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, of the Clover Club, and of other fraternal and social organizations.
Mr. Elkin was not yet nineteen years old when he made his first appearance as a public speaker, in the campaign of 1878. Then, as later, he was a sound money advocate, preaching against the Greenback policies. In 1880 he stumped the country for Garfield, and from that time until he withdrew from politics, in 1904, took part in every State and national campaign. In his teaching days he always made use of the literary society and the debating club as the most available means of creating popular interest in the cause of education in the rural districts.
During a visit to Ireland he caused a monument to be erected in the churchyard at Rathdowney in memory of John Pratt, who was buried there. He also caused another monument to be erected in the graveyard at Skirk, in memory of his grandmother, Elizabeth (Carden) Pratt, who survived her husband many years and died at eighty-nine.
In 1905 Justice Elkin, while on a visit to Ireland, had a monument erected in the cemetery at Langfield to the memory of Francis Elkin, his great-grandfather, and of his grandmother, Martha (Beattie) Elkin, who was buried at Cappah in 1849.
1 —, History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Newark, OH: J. A. Caldwell, 1880), Pg 416.
2 J. T. Stewart, Indiana County, Pennsylvania - Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1913), Pg 1201.
3 —, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Company, 1917), Pg 165.
4 —, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Company, 1917), Pg 167.
5 —, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Company, 1917), Pg 162.
6 —, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Company, 1917), Pg 166.
7 —, History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Newark, OH: J. A. Caldwell, 1880), Pg 526.
8 —, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Company, 1917), Pg 163.
9 J. T. Stewart, Indiana County, Pennsylvania - Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1913), Pg 1200.
10 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania (New York, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1911), Pg 1557.
11
—, History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Newark, OH: J. A. Caldwell, 1880), Pg 413, 526.
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