Husband Gen. John Nelson Purviance 1 2
Born: 27 Sep 1810 - Butler, Butler Co, PA 1 2
Christened:
Died: 5 Apr 1885 2
Buried: - North Cemetery, Butler, Butler Co, PA
Father: Col. John N. Purviance, Esq. (1781-1820) 3 4 5 6
Mother: Annalana Anderson (1780-1858) 7 8
Marriage: 3 Sep 1833 9
Wife Eliza Jane Potts 2 9
Born: Abt May 1816
Christened:
Died: 3 Nov 1886 2
Buried: - North Cemetery, Butler, Butler Co, PA
Father: Robert Potts ( - ) 9
Mother: Ann [Unk] ( - ) 9
Children
1 F Annalana Purviance 9
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Spouse: Eugene Ferrero ( - ) 10 11
2 M John Purviance 9
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3 F Emeline Purviance 9 12
AKA: Emma Purviance
Born: Abt Nov 1838
Christened:
Died: 22 Dec or 31 Dec 1887 12
Buried: - North Cemetery, Butler, Butler Co, PA
Spouse: Dr. A. M. Neyman (1826-1911) 9 12 13
Marr: 12 Nov 1861 14
4 M George Purviance 9
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5 M Francis Shunk "Frank" Purviance 9
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General Notes: Husband - Gen. John Nelson Purviance
His youth was divided between a Washington County, PA, home and the place which he was destined to make his life residence, Butler. He obtained a good education in the common subscription schools and in the old Butler Academy, studying both the English branches and Latin in the latter, under Messrs. Scott and Sharon, who were fine classical scholars. When about sixteen years of age, he clerked for a short period in the store of Joseph M. Fox, Esq., on the Clarion River, within a few miles of Parkers Landing. When seventeen or eighteen years of age, he began clerking for the County Commissioners, and he labored in that capacity for about three years. During the same time, he read law with Judge John Bradin [Bredin?], beginning in 1829. He was admitted to practice in the spring term of the Court of Quarter Sessions in 1832. Soon after he was appointed by Chief Justice Ellis Lewis as Deputy Attorney General for Butler County, an office equivalent to that of the present District Attorney. On the expiration of his first term, he was reappointed by George M. Dallas, and he held the office altogether about five years. Subsequently he followed the practice of his profession with his brother, Samuel A. Purviance, and also with Judge Samuel A. Gilmore. About the same time, he served several years as School Director.
When he was a young man, great interest was taken in military matters. He was a member of the Butler Blues, and, as early as 1831, elected their Captain. Three or four years later, he was chosen as Major of the battalion, and, in 1843, elected Major General of the Military Division of Militia and Volunteers, composed of the counties of Butler, Beaver and Mercer. The title thus gained clung to him through his life. In the spring of 1845, Gov. Francis B. Shunk appointed him Auditor General of the State, which office he held until May, 1851. He was also Escheator General of the State, Commissioner of the Sinking Fund, and member of the Board of Property. The esteem in which Gen. Purviance was held at this time is well illustrated, and the ability with which his office was administered set forth by a communication which appeared in the Lancasterian shortly after his term as Auditor General expired:
We cannot permit so good and true a public officer to leave the service of the commonwealth without doing some justice to his conduct and character, officially and private. Gen. Purviance was called by Gov. Shunk, six years since, to fill this important and laborious station, which requires, it is well known, industry, talent and purity of the highest order. Claims against and for the commonwealth, to hundreds of thousands of dollars, annually came before him for adjustment and settlement, whilst the finances of the State were peculiarly under the supervision of his department. We can truly say that he was active, industrious, talented, untiring and indefatigable; that no public officer in the State or nation performed the same amount of labor, bore the fatigue or surmounted the same difficulties. Always at his post, mild, courteous, yet firm and determined, he adjudicated the various claims for and against the State with a fairness, honesty, talent and impartiality that commanded universal respect. Through him, thousands of dollars due the commonwealth for years before have been collected and paid into the treasury; and throughout his whole public service he has displayed talents of a high order, purity of the noblest kind, and a devotion to the public welfare and the duties of his station seldom attained or equaled.
In 1851, Mr. Purviance was a candidate for the office of President Judge of the Seventeenth Judicial District, composed of the counties of Beaver, Butler and Mercer. He received his party vote, but was defeated by Hon. Daniel Agnew. From this time until 1861, he was principally engrossed by the practice of his profession, his son John being associated with him in a partnership for several years. Very soon after coming home from Harrisburg, he was elected President of the Butler & Allegheny Plank Road Company, and held that responsible position during nearly the entire period occupied in constructing the road, which was the first of the kind in Butler County. When the war of the rebellion broke out, he raised a company of about one hundred men, of which he was elected Captain. The company was mustered into the service in April, 1861, as Company H of the Thirteenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, of which Mr. Purviance was duly elected Lieutenant Colonel. He served with the company and regiment until they were mustered out. In 1867, he was again called from the practice of law to official life, being nominated by Chief Justice Chase for Register in Bankruptcy for the Congressional District composed of Armstrong and Butler Counties, and that part of Allegheny County which embraces the city of the same name. He was commissioned by the late Hon. Wilson McCandless United States District Judge. In 1872, Mr. Purviance was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention which framed the constitution of 1874. He represented the district composed of Beaver, Butler and Washington Counties. He was on the committee on executive department, and, on returning from the constitutional convention, he resumed his law practice, which he followed, uninterrupted by other duties of importance, until the 1st of February, 1880, when he began his labors as Receiver of the First National Bank of Butler, to which position he had been appointed on the 13th of January preceding by the Comptroller of the Currency.
He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and for forty years or more was one of its vestrymen and its secretary, and also for several years was a warden. Politically, he was originally a Democrat, but became a Republican at the time of the Kansas and Nebraska slave law controversy. [HBC 1883, 57]
Notes: Marriage
They were married by Rev. Isaiah Niblock.