Centre County Government

7. A Corner on Governors

William Bigler was the first of seven Centre County men who became governors in the 1800s, two of them governors of other states. William's brother John was elected governor of California in 1852, the same year William was elected in Pennsylvania. From 1852 to 1899, half of Pennsylvania's governors came from Centre County. Was it something in the waters of the Beautiful Spring during those years?

Democrat William Packer polled more votes than the upstart Republicans and languishing Know-Nothings combined in October, 1857 to become Pennsylvania's governor immediately before Andrew Curtin. Like the Bigler brothers, he took the newspaper path to the state house. A fourth countian, Robert J. Walker, son of Judge Jonathan Walker, grew up in Bellefonte and attended Bellefonte Academy before pursuing a political career that led to territorial governorship of Kansas in 1857.

Andrew Gregg Curtin (1819-1894) wrote not newspaper columns but speeches. An ironmaster's son, namesake of his U.S. Senator grandfather, Curtin entered politics as a Whig at 21, stumping for William Henry Harrison. Named Secretary of the Commonwealth in 1855, he introduced two landmark actions to improve public schools in the state-County Superintendency to certify teachers, and Normal Schools to standardize teacher education. Work for the Republican Party (he gave the nominating speech for Lincoln), won him election as governor. He kept the national stage, stiffening the Union army with the PA Reserves, pushing Lincoln toward proclaiming emancipation at the War Governors Conference he hosted at Altoona, and tirelessly advocating for war widows and orphans. Exhausted by his exertions, he refused nomination for U.S. Vice President, but late in life ran for Congress as Democrat-and won.

James A. Beaver (1837-1914), gallant colonel of Centre Co.'s 148'h Regiment during the Civil War, saw his military career vanish when he lost his leg in battle in 1864, just as he was named Brigadier General. In his first run for public office the one-legged hero suffered a stunning defeat, losing to Democratic editor Fred Kurtz for the State Assembly in 1866. Statewide activity brought him nomination for governor in 1880, but a party split caused all Republican candidates to lose. He won easily in 1886. After his term as governor, he served as trustee for three colleges including Penn State, where he also acted as interim president after the death of George Atherton. Elected to the Superior Court late in life, he was asked which title he preferred, governor, general or judge. "General," he replied, "because that is the one that cost the most."

Daniel H. Hastings (1849-1903) became principal of the Bellefonte Academy at 18. A stint on the Bellefonte Republican pointed him toward politics. He rose to statewide fame in the National Guard, directing recovery efforts after the Johns-town flood, and was catapulted him into the statehouse in 1894. When he returned to Bellefonte after his term, no fewer than three ex-governors lived in the town of 4,000.

Among these governors were men, notably Curtin, whose vision and ability to move events made them national figures. How did such breadth and political savvy start life- and in some cases grow to maturity-in a rural village of fewer than 3,000 souls? An early aristocracy helped. Families of state vice president James Potter, Philadelphia mayor Samuel Miles, and U.S. senator Andrew Gregg arrived early and stayed, drawing energetic friends in their wake. Iron fortunes and large plantations fostered lively rivalries and liaisons on the one hand, and vigorous agitation to overcome the county's isolation on the other. Zeal for education, ambition to be recognized, pleasure in good talk and ceremony, match-making alliances and commercial intrigue-are there any ingredients for outstanding politicians that one doesn't find in our 19^th century families?