Henry S. Huidekoper

Henry Shippen Huidekoper (July 17, 1839 – November 9, 1918) was a Pennsylvania soldier, author, postmaster, and businessman.

Family and education

Huidekoper was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, the son of Edgar Huidekoper and Frances (Shippen) Huidekoper and the grandson of Harm Jan Huidekoper, the founder of Meadville Theological School.cite book |last = Huidekoper |first = Frederick W.|title = Huidekoper: American Branch |publisher = Privately published |year = 1904 |pages= p.4 |url = http://books.google.com/books?id=yWZvGQAACAAJ ] He received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1862, and received his A.M. from the same college in 1872.cite book |last = Brown |first = John Howard |title = The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans |publisher = The Biographical Society|year = 1904 |volume=5 |url =http://books.google.com/books?id=i1IDAAAAYAAJ ] In 1864, Huidekoper married his cousin, Emma Gertrude Evans, the daughter of Thomas Wallis Evans and Anne De Costa Yard Evans of Germantown, Philadelphia. They had one daughter, Gertrude, born in 1865, who later married Professor Munroe Smith of Columbia University, and one son, Thomas, born in 1870.

Civil War and National Guard

After graduating from Harvard, Huidekoper served in the American Civil War as captain, lieutenant-colonel and colonel with the 150th Pennsylvania Infantry. On July 1, 1863, while in command of his regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg, Huidekoper was wounded twice, losing his right arm. He would later be awarded the Medal of Honor as a result of the action that day as, according to the citation, "while engaged in repelling an attack of the enemy, [he] received a severe wound of the right arm, but instead of retiring remained at the front in command of the regiment." [cite web
title = Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients (A–L)
publisher = U.S. Army website
url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html
accessdate = 2008-08-21]

Huidekoper returned to service in September 1863 but because of the severity of his wounds, he was compelled to resign from the army in 1864. He was appointed major general in the Pennsylvania National Guard by Governor John W. Geary in 1870, and, was active in the suppression of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 under Governor John F. Hartranft, where he was involved in "solving at Scranton a question between the civil and military powers with such tact and firmness as to establish himself strongly in the confidence of the governor and the people."

Later career

Upon reorganization of the National Guard, with Governor Hartranft as the major general, Huidekoper was appointed the senior brigadier general in the guard. In 1879, he compiled and published a Manual of Service, which became an accepted authority on military matters. From 1880 to 1886, Huidekoper was postmaster of Philadelphia, where he was credited with having organized and carried through the ounce measure for letters, instead of the former half ounce. Afterward, he was employed by the Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1886 to 1887, and by the Bell Telephone Company from 1887 to 1913.cite news |title = General H.S. Huidekoper Dies |publisher= "New York Times" |date = 1918-08-10 |url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E07E3DD1239E13ABC4852DFB7678383609EDE |accessdate = 2008-08-21]

From 1898 to 1910, he served as one of the overseers of Harvard College. Huidekoper died in 1918 in a Philadelphia hospital.

Notes

Persondata
NAME = Huidekoper, Henry Shippen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States Army general in the Union Army
DATE OF BIRTH = July 17, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH = Meadville, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH = November 9, 1918
PLACE OF DEATH = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania