My Genealogy Hound

DR. ADAM H. FETTEROLF, president of Girard College for Orphans at Philadelphia, is descended from a long line of Swiss and Dutch ancestry. He is a son of Gideon and Elizabeth (Hunsicker) Fetterolf, for many years residents of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and grandson of Adam Fetterolf. The members of the Fetterolf family were originally Mennonites. The members of the Hunsicker family are descendants of Valentine Hunsicker, who emigrated from Switzerland to America in 1717, settling in Skippack township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. His son Henry and grandson John were bishops of the Mennonite church, and were noted for their intelligence and piety.

Gideon Fetterolf (father) was a farmer, and later a merchant, having been the proprietor of a store at Royersford for a number of years. He was an elder in the Mennonite church, prominent in its councils, and joined the progressive movement which eventually merged those engaged in it with the Reformed church. His first wife was Elizabeth Hunsicker, daughter of Bishop John Hunsicker, and the issue of this marriage was the following named children: Adam H., mentioned hereinafter; Henry H., who served as captain in the Union army during the Rebellion, and is an ex-member of the Pennsylvania legislature; Sarah, wife of Abraham Grimley; and Susan, wife of Abraham Tyson. His second wife was Mrs. Esther Detwiler, widow of Christian Detwiler, by whom she had one child, Christian. She was the daughter of Bishop Abram Hunsicker, the founder of Freeland Seminary, which later became Ursinus College. Three children were the issue of the second marriage: Abraham D., a well known business man of Collegeville, who was at one time resident clerk of the house of representatives at Harrisburg; Andrew Curtin, a resident of New York, prominently connected with the steamship trust; and Horace G., a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Gideon Fetterolf (father) died at his home in Collegeville, in 1894, at the age of eighty-seven years. He was survived by his wife, who is still a resident of Collegeville.

Adam H. Fetterolf was born at Perkiomen, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, November 24, 1841. The early years of his life were spent upon his father’s farm, and there was nothing either in the circumstances of his birth or his surroundings to indicate that he was destined for a remarkable work. From his father he inherited those elements of a vigorous but modest character, which he has manifested throughout his career. He began attending school about the time when Pennsylvania adopted a free educational system. When he was fourteen years of age his father removed to Collegeville, where he had the advantages of a good schooling at the Freeland Seminary. By alternately teaching and studying he made himself master of mathematics, Latin and Greek, and at the age of twenty was appointed professor of mathematics in Freeland Seminary, a position which he filled with great credit. He was a progressive teacher, keeping himself informed in all the latest methods, and creating a marvelous spirit of enthusiasm and interest among the pupils. He subsequently became principal of the Seminary, and conducted it successfully for five years, when the buildings and grounds were purchased for Ursinus College.

Later, on leaving Collegeville, Dr. Fetterolf associated himself with the Rev. Dr. Wells in the ownership and management of Andalusia College, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. After the death of Dr. Wells in 1871, he assumed full charge and continued at the head of the academy until 1880, when he was elected by the board of city trusts of Philadelphia to fill the chair of vice-president of Girard College. Two years later, upon the death of President William H. Allen, he was chosen to succeed him, and has held the position ever since, discharging the manifold duties with the utmost confidence of the board and the full approbation of the public. Girard College was founded by Sephen Girard, who had amassed an immense fortune as a shipping merchant and banker in Philadelphia, where he arrived from France to begin life in an humble way. At his death Mr. Girard bequeathed two million dollars and the residue of his estate, after paying certain legacies, for the erection and support of the college for orphans, in which there are admitted as many poor white male orphans between the ages of six and ten years who are residents of Pennsylvania, as the endowment can support.

Dr. Fetterolf has been twice married. His first wife was Annie, daughter of George Hergesheimir, of Germantown. In 1883 he married Laura M., daughter of William D. Mangam, a prominent New York merchant. He has two sons, Dr. George and Edwin H. Fetterolf, both graduates of the University of Pennsylvania.