Biography

10/19/1842 - 06/25/1920

Judge Samuel John Milton McCarrell (R15) Dauphin County 1893-1900

Early Life:

Judge Samuel John Milton McCarrell, born October 19, 1842, Buffalo Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania; son of Reverend Alexander and Martha McClain McCarrell; common school education; Washington College, 1864; enlisted, Washington County Home Guard; assistant principal, Linsey Institute, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1864-1865; admitted, Dauphin County bar, 1866; attorney, Fleming and McCarrell 1870-1890; married, Rebecca A. Wallace, 1871, two children, died at four and nineteen; United States Commissioner, United States District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania, 1872-1881; Dauphin County district attorney, 1880-1887; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate 1892-1900;  United States Attorney, Middle District 1901-19 Dauphin County Judge, 1907-1920. Died, June 25, 1920, at home, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; interment, Harrisburg Cemetery (was known as Mount Kalmia Cemetery), Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.

Early Life:

Washington College, graduated first in his class, 1864. Studied law, firm of Richardson and McKinnan, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1864-1865. Moved to Harrisburg, August 1865, continuing his preparation for the bar under the Honorable David Fleming, a past Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate. Admitted, Dauphin County bar, 1866. Became law-partner, with David Fleming until his death, Fleming and McCarrell, 1870-1890. 

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Ruling elder, Market Square Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, superintendent Market Square Presbyterian Church Sunday School, twenty-eight years; Life member, president, member, building committee, Harrisburg Young Men's Christian Association; attained high rank, Masonic order, passed the chairs, Robert Burns Lodge, No. 464, chapter and commandery, thirty-second degree, Scottish Rite; past noble grand, Harrisburg Lodge, No. 68, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; member,  Pokoson Tribe, Improved Order Red Men; member, board of examiners, Dauphin County Bar; member, Harrisburg Club; director, Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Company; member, Harrisburg Benevolent Association; member, Union League of Philadelphia; member, Pennsylvania Civil Service Reform League. 

Pennsylvania Politics:

Dauphin County district attorney, 1880-1887.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate 15th district, Dauphin County, 1893-1900, president pro tem, 1895-1897; committee assignments, Constitutional Reform (Chairman), Corporations, Elections, Judiciary General, Judiciary Special (Chairman), Law and Order, Legislative Appointments, Railroads. 

Under the act of April 14, 1897, appointed, member, new Capitol Building Commission, through his efforts, the plan to construct a Capitol Park, consisting of several freestanding buildings, gave way to the construction of a single Capitol Building.   

Chairman, Republican State Convention, delegate-large, Republican National Convention, 1896, nominated Major William McKinley, presidency.

Dauphin County Judge, 1907-1920.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

United States Commissioner, United States District Court of Eastern Pennsylvania, 1872-1881. 

Appointed, the first United States Attorney, Middle District of Pennsylvania, President William McKinley, 1901, reappointed, President Theodore Roosevelt, 1905-1909.

Dauphin County Judge, 1907-1920.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members M". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1900). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1187, 1192-1195, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1161.

Samuel John Milton McCarrell (1842-1920) - Find a Grave Memorial