Samuel W. Pennypacker

Infobox Governor
name= Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker


caption= Samuel Pennypacker in his office
order= 24th
office= Governor of Pennsylvania
term_start= January 20, 1903
term_end= January 15, 1907
lieutenant=
predecessor= William A. Stone
successor= Edwin S. Stuart
birth_date= birth date|1843|4|9|mf=y
birth_place= Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
death_date= death date and age|1916|9|2|1843|4|9|mf=y
death_place= Schwenksville, Pennsylvania
party= Republican
profession=
spouse=
religion =
footnotes=

Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker (9 April 1843ndash 2 September 1916) was Governor of Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1907.

Gov. Pennypacker was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, April 9, 1843; son of Dr. Isaac A. Pennypacker and Anna Maria Whitaker; grandson of Bishop Matthias and Sarah Anderson (daughter of Isaac Anderson), and of Joseph and Grace Whitaker. He and his grandfather witnessed Abraham Lincoln's speech outside Independence Hall in February 1861, standing convert|20|ft|m away. Pennypacker's early education was interrupted several times before he answered a call to arms by Governor Andrew Curtin during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. He enlisted as a private in Company F of the 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia and trained at Camp Curtin.

He fought in the skirmish at Witmer Farm, north of Gettysburg on June 26 1863, an action that saw his newly recruited regiment retreat to Harrisburg when confronted by veteran Virginia cavalry. He left the emergency militia in late July 1863 and resumed his education.

Pennypacker studied law at the University of Pennsylvania and opened his own law practice in 1866. His public life began in the 1880s with several judgeships; Pennypacker also wrote extensively as president of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. In 1902, he soundly defeated Robert Pattison, who was seeking a third nonconsecutive term as governor.

During his term in office, Pennypacker signed into law the Child Labor Act of 1905, setting a minimum age and standard for young workers. He created the Pennsylvania State Police and the State Museum, and oversaw the completion of the new state capitol building.

In 1906 he vetoed what would have been the first compulsory sterilization law in the United States. [ [http://hnn.us/readcomment.php?id=27475 History News Network ] at hnn.us] During his time in office, Pennypacker made his home at Pennypacker Mills, a convert|170|acre|km2|sing=on farm and mansion that eight generations of Pennypackers lived in before it eventually became a National Historic Site.

Pennypacker died at his home in Schwenksville, aged 73, and was buried in Morris Cemetery, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

Pennypacker Hall at the Penn State University Park campus is named for him.

References and links

* [http://www.umstead.org/govswp.html Collection of Samuel Pennypacker biographies]
* [http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/governors/pennypacker.asp?secid=31 Pennsylvania State Archives biography of Samuel Pennypacker]
* [http://virtualology.com/apsamuelwhitakerpennypacker/ Brief biography]

Notes