Biography

08/19/1824 - 05/06/1909

Jacob Elwood Ridgway (R1) Philadelphia County 1863-1864 (R2) Philadelphia (Part) County 1865-1868 

Early Life: 

Jacob Elwood Ridgeway, born, August 19, 1824, Salem, Salem County, New Jersey; son of Job and Rebecca Elbin Ridgway; attended, Quaker School; captain, Civil War, 1862; carpenter; master builder; engaged, shipping business, 1853-1880; elected, city council, Philadelphia, 1855-1857; elected,  Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1860-1861; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1863-1868; founder, vice president, Union Passenger Railway, 1864-1883; owner, various coal, gold and silver mines; president, Quaker City National Bank, 1892-1909, president, Atlantic City and Chelsea Improvement Company; director, vice president, Keystone Telephone Company; married Sarah Shreve, 1848 (d. 1881), children, Caleb Shreve Ridgway, Anna Ridgway Bishop, Martha Shreve Ridgway Bement; remarried, Barbara A. Kuhlmeyer, 1894; died, May 6, 1909 (aged 84), city of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; interment, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

 Early Career:

Captain, Company I, 119th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Civil War, 1862.  

Carpenter; master builder; engaged, shipping business, 1853-1880. 

Founder and vice president, Union Passenger Railway, 1864-1883.

Owner, various coal, gold and silver mines. 

President, Quaker City National Bank, 1892-1909.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, city council, Philadelphia, 1855-1857. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1860- 1861; not a candidate for reelection, 1862.  

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1st district, Philadelphia County, 1863-1864, Republican, 2nd district, Philadelphia (Part) County, 1865-1868; committee assignments, Public Printing and Railroad Committees. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us) 

Cited: 

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

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1867). Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 257, 261-264.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1868). Smull, J.A., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 276, 280-282.

Jacob Elwood Ridgway (1824-1909) - Find a Grave Memorial