Husband William Carlile Arnold 1 2
Born: 15 Jul 1851 - Luthersburg, Clearfield Co, PA 3
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Father: Samuel Arnold (1822- ) 4
Mother: Mary A. Carlile (1825- ) 1
Marriage: 22 Sep 1874 5
Wife Jane Patton Irvin 2 5
Born: 8 May 1851 5
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Died: 14 Jul 1897 5
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Father: William Irvin ( -Bef 1898) 5
Mother: Jane P. [Unk] ( - ) 5
Children
1 M William D. Irvin Arnold 5
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2 F Ellen Irvin Arnold 5
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3 M Phillip Allen Arnold 5
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4 M John Carlile Arnold 2 5
Born: 10 Mar 1887 - Curwensville, Clearfield Co, PA 2
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Spouse: Clare E. Platt ( - ) 6
Marr: 17 Sep 1913 6
General Notes: Husband - William Carlile Arnold
He was educated in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and in 1872 began the study of law with Judge J. B. McEnally, of Clearfield, Pennsylvania. At this time-between 1871 and 1874-he was connected with the bank at Curwensville, of which his father was the cashier, and the Hon. John Patton was president. In June, 1875, he was admitted to practice at the Bar of Clearfield county, and he quickly became one of the most prominent lawyers at the Pennsylvania Bar. For thirteen years he practiced in Curwensville, and in 1888 he moved to Huron, South Dakota, where for four years he did an extensive business. During his residence there he was chosen as assistant to the Attorney-General of the United States to defend the interests of the government in Indian depredations. In December, 1892, he returned to his native county and located in Du Bois. Here he opened an office in January, 1893. He conducted many of the most important civil suits and homicide cases in that vicinity. In the latter, however, he displayed a great peculiarity for a lawyer; he always defended, never consenting to prosecute where there was any shadow of a chance of conviction of murder in the first degree.
His ability as a lawyer, his fidelity to the Republican party, and his integrity as a man soon gave him the position of a leader in political circles, and in 1894 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Twenty-eighth Congressional District for representative in Congress. His predecessor, a Democrat, had carried the district by a majority of over four thousand, and the district was considered one of the finest Democratic strongholds in Pennsylvania. Mr. Arnold's ability and popularity won the day, and he reversed the political status of the district by carrying it for his party by over one thousand majority. In commenting on this the Du Bois Courier (Rep.), of Du Bois, said:
He is universally recognized as one of the most forcible and eloquent public speakers of Western Pennsylvania, and chosen as the party's candidate, he will take the stump and make the hottest fight seen in the District since Governor Pattison's election. He is a lawyer of admitted ability. He is in the full vigor of mature manhood, and in every respect one of the most brilliant men of his profession that ever belonged to the Clearfield County Bar, and McKinley himself is not more loyal to the principles of his party, including the tariff, and he is as sound as a gold dollar on the money question.
The Bellefonte Gazette, August 20, 1894, said:
Mr. Arnold is a native of Curwensville, but for several years he has lived at Du Bois. He is an active, keen politician. He has always been an ardent Republican and an enthusiastic advocate of a protective tariff. He is universally recognized as one of the most forcible and eloquent public speakers of Western Pennsylvania.
That Mr. Arnold in no way betrayed the trust of his constituents by inaction in Congress is abundantly testified to by the various measures in connection with which his name prominently appears on the Congressional Record. There we find that on December 26, 1895, he ably discussed the Revenue question; on January 14, 1896, spoke forcibly on the Pension Appropriation bill; on February 6, 1896, he made a telling speech on "Silver Coinage;" and March 2, 1896, he spoke on the Cuban question. His work for his district was so highly appreciated that in the fall of 1896 he was unanimously renominated by his party, and in the election following carried his district by over twelve hundred majority. His home county-Clearfield-which had for so many years gone Democratic, gave him a majority of over thirteen hundred.
It would not, perhaps, be amiss to state here that, although Clearfield county had been strongly Democratic, it never had but one Democratic congressman, while the opposition had several terms; and, singular as it may seem, the Republican representatives were all from one family connection. They are as follows: In 1846, Alexander Irvin (a Whig), uncle of the late Mrs. W. C. Arnold, was elected to Congress from Clearfield county. In 1860, Gen. John Patton, of Curwensville (an uncle of Mrs. W. C. Arnold), was elected on the Republican ticket; he was re-elected in 1886; and in 1894 and 1896 William C. Arnold was elected to the same responsible position. His constituents were devoted to him, because, as many of them say: "Mr. Arnold never makes a promise to us which he does not fulfill, and we always know where to find him on any public question. When he sees his duty, strong in his intellectual strength, he fearlessly and aggressively performs it."
Congressman Arnold was not only an able lawyer and politician, but his knowledge of general literature was recognized by all his acquaintances, and his large and well-selected library bore witness of this fact to the "stranger that is within his gates." He acquired an enviable reputation as a lawyer, a politician, and as a lecturer. He was called upon on all public occasions where a spirited address was desired, and his lecture on the "Trial and Execution of Christ" received the highest commendation of the press, not only for its exposition of literary ability, but for its logical reasoning, and for the dignified and reverential treatment of so sacred a theme.