Biography

08/19/1824 - 05/06/1909

RIDGWAY, Jacob Elwood, a Representative from Philadelphia County; born, August 19, 1824 in Salem, Salem County, NJ; attended, Quaker School; captain, Company I, 119th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (1862, Civil War); carpenter; master builder; engaged, shipping business (1853-1880); elected, city council, Philadelphia (1855-1857); elected as a Republican to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1860 and 1861 terms; not a candidate for reelection to the House for the 1862 term; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate (1863-1868); founder and 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 and vice president, Keystone Telephone Company; died, May 6, 1909 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; interred, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.