Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker

     Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker was born on 9 April 1843 at Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania.¹ He was the son of Isaac Anderson Pennypacker Dr. and Anna Maria Whitaker. Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker married, at age 27, Virginia Earle Broomall, age 25, daughter of Nathan B. Broomall and Eliza L. Knerr, on Thursday, 20 October 1870.¹ Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker died on 2 September 1916 at Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, at age 73 years, 4 months and 24 days.¹ He was buried in the Morris Cemetery, located in Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania.¹
     He Samuel received his education at the Grovemont Seminary, Phoenixville, PA and the West Philadelphia Institute. He was a member of the 26th Emergency Pennsylvania Regiment and participated in the first engagement of the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War in 1863. He studied law at the University of Pennsylvania, after admission to the Bar, he was elected as the President of the Law Academy, Philadelphia, PA in 1868. In 1889 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas No. 2 and was elected for two terms of ten years each, acting for five years as presiding judge of the court. In 1902 he was elected governor of Pennsylvania, his session was quite stormy. He repudiated his party which opened his adminastration to violent critism and led a war on the easy divorce system of Pennsylvania. He was later President of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and held positions of honor in various German and Netherland societies. He authored several books. In 1915 he was appointed chairman of the Public Service Commision of Pennsylvania, which he held until his death. He was Governor of PA.