Source: "Biographical Annals of Lancaster Co., PA", John F. Meginness, J. H. Beers & Co., 1903, pp. 469-471.

"DR. JAMES P. WICKERSHAM, one of the distinguished educators of Pennsylvania,
is worthy of special mention, for he has left his impress upon the times.  He
was born in Newlin Township, Chester County, Pa., March 5, 1825, and after a
long and useful life died in Lancaster, March 25, 1891.  He was a son of Caleb
and Abigail (Pyle) Wickersham, and was descended from a long line of honorable
ancestors, among the best of the Society of Friends, early settlers in eastern
Pennsylvania.  He was trained from childhood in the tenets of their belief, and
early learned the high appreciation of all that is good, and detestation of
evil.  His father, a farmer, was a man of strong convictions and intellect, and
his mother took delight in training her children to habits of industry and self-
reliance.  His primary education was obtained in country schools, after which
he entered Unionville Academy, and there among his fellow students were such
men as Bayard Taylor, Hon. J. Smith Futhey and others who became prominent in
after years.  When only fifteen years old, was induced to become Principal of
the Marietta Academy.  At the time it had been his intention to read law at
West Chester, but his parents, as members of the Society of Friends, opposed
his entering the legal profession, and urged his acceptance of the position in
the Marietta Academy, which he finally accepted.  This school, which had met
with great reverses, was held in a rented room, and comprised only twenty
pupils.  He succeeded so well that in 1852 there was a memberhsip of over one
hundred pupils, who pursued their studies in a fine building of which the
Principal was the owner, and which had a library comprising over five hundred
volumes.  December 25, 1847, Mr. Wickersham married Emerine I. Taylor, one of
his early schoolmates; she was a young woman highly gifted, a devoted Christian,
and a loving and faithful helpmate to her husband.  He remained Principal of
the academy until the spring of 1854, and while there was very active in organ-
izing the Lancaster County Educational Society, of which he became President.

"In 1854 Dr. Wickersham was one of the delegates from the last-mentioned
society to the American Association for the Advancement of Education at their
meeting in Newark, N. J.  He was on the committee for the first County Institute,
being one of its first Vice-Presidents.  When the Pennsylvania State Teachers'
Association convened in 1853, he was very earnest in his advocacy of a memorial
to the Legislature, praying for the appointment of a State Superintendent of
Public Schools, and to create the office of County Superintendent.  The following
year the Legislature passed the Act providing for a County Superintendent, and
the Doctor was elected to fill this position with a salary of $1,500.  Too much
cannot be said in praise of the pioneer work done by him for the best interests
of the schools of this county.  In Harrisburg, July 12, 1854, occurred the first
meeting of County Superintendents, and the Doctor was very active in the trans-
action of work done by this meeting.  During his entire occupancy of the post
of County Superintendent he was at the front of various educational institutes
and meetings, and in the spring of 1855 held a Normal Institute at Millersville,
of which he was Principal, and was later appointed to serve permanently as such
by the Trustees.  In order to take this position he resigned his office of County
Superintendent in the fall of 1856, and several times had conferred upon him in
the years which followed high positions, such as President of the State Teachers'
Association, etc.  During the summer of 1863 he raised a company of soldiers,
many of whom were students in the Normal, and he was elected Colonel of the
Forty-seventh Regiment.  In 1866 Gov. Andrew G. Curtin appointed the Doctor
State Superintendent of Schools of Pennsylvania, and he was re-appointed by
Governors Geary, Hartranft and Hoyt, serving his state for fourteen years and a
half in that capacity.

"Dr. Wickersham was the author of several very able works, among these being one
on 'School Economy' and another on 'Methods of Instruction'.  They were rapidly
introduced into the best institutions of learning in this country, and have
been translated into Spanish, French and Japanese.  He had the degree of Master
of Arts conferred upon him by Washington (Pa.) College, and his degree of Doctor
of Laws came from Lafayette College.  On account of his able service as Superin-
tendent of Public Schools he became very popular, and when his nomination came up
for confirmation in the Senate for a second term, it was unanimous, every one of
the Senators voting in his favor.  During the session of 1867 he was instrumental
in securing the passage of the Act, one section of which gives the Board of
Directors the right of 'Eminent Domain' in the selection of grounds for school
buildings, and another section provides that teachers' institutes shall be held
in every county, and the commonwealth is required to aid them financially.  Many
other important provisions regarding elections of superintendents, teachers'
certificates and other matters of great moment in the educational world were
introduced in this bill, the effect of which has been far-reaching and of incal-
culable good.  In every possible way the Doctor supervised and counseled, planned
and executed reforms and made many visits to every county in the state during his
term of office.  Great interest was aroused by his intelligent and earnest presen-
tation of topics under discussion in educational meetings at county institutes and
elsewhere.

"In 1870 Dr. Wickersham became joint owner of the 'Pennsylvania School Journal,'
with Prof. John P. McCasky, and its circulation and usefulness were greatly
increased.  By an Act of Legislature the Soldiers' Orphans' Schools were placed in
his hands and remained there until he retired from office.  In frequent conferences
with the President of the convention that framed the Consitution of 1874, Dr. Wick-
ersham appeared before their committees and in other ways advanced his views as to
the educational provisions which he thought the Constitution should contain.  Many
of these plans were subsequently carried into effect.  In 1876 at the Centennial
celebration at Philadelphia, the Keystone State made a creditable showing in the
Educational Department which was under his management, and for his labor much credit
was given to him both at home and abroad.  In 1867 the Minister from the Argentine
Republic spent some time in the state studying its methods of managing schools, and
endeavored to get the Doctor to resign his position and become Superintendent of the
public schools of his country.  After the Centennial the Doctor decided to visit
Europe in order to study systems of education, and was appointed Commissioner by the
Governor of the state, making his official report in 1878.  President Arthur
appointed him Minister to Denmark on account of his distinguished services and he at
once repaired thither, assuming the duties of the office, but on account of his
wife's poor health he resigned the charge.  In 1886 he issued from the press of the
Inquirer Printing and Publishing Company, of which he was President, 'A History of
Education in Pennsylvania,' a very valuable work of nearly seven hundred pages.

"While in no sense a politician, Dr. Wickersham was an earnest Republican.  After
the war he was a candidate for Congress from this district, and many of his friends
were anxious to see him serving as Governor of the state.  He was also interested
in Franklin and Marshall College, of which he was a Trustee, the Farmers' National
Bank, the State Insane Asylum at Harrisburg, and he was a member of the Lancaster
City School Board.  Fraternally he belonged to Lodge No. 43, F & A. M., and to
Post No. 84, G. A. R.  In every walk of life his chief aim was to do what he could
to benefit humanity, and he was conscientious and intelligent in carrying out his
convictions of duty."