Hon. Thomas Grubb McCulloh and Margaret Purviance

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Husband Hon. Thomas Grubb McCulloh ^{1 2}

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           Born: 20 Apr 1785 - Greencastle, Franklin Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 10 Sep 1848 - Chambersburg, Franklin Co, PA
         Buried: 

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         Father: Robert McCulloh (1750-      ) 1
         Mother: Prudence Grubb (      -      ) 1

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       Marriage: 1 Sep 1808 1

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Wife Margaret Purviance ^{1 2}

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 26 Feb 1821 1
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 F Nancy C. McCulloh ²

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Dr. William Culbertson (1814-1857) 2 3
           Marr: 11 Apr 1837 2

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2 M A. H. McCulloh ⁴

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           Born: 23 Apr 1816 - Chambersburg, Franklin Co, PA 4
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1887
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Elizabeth Brown (      -1884) 4
           Marr: 1837 4

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General Notes: Husband - Hon. Thomas Grubb McCulloh

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He was educated in Greencastle, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, under the tuition of Mr. Borland, who afterward became a very prominent professor in a literary institution in the state of New York. He studied law in Chambersburg, under Andrew Dunlop, one of the most distinguished lawyers of Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar in 1804 or 1805. He practiced law in Chambersburg about forty-three years, during part of which period he attended the courts of Bedford County, and was frequently called upon to try causes in other parts of the state, going as far as Pittsburgh even, being retained as counsel in important land suits, in which class of cases he had great celebrity. The reports of the supreme court of Pennsylvania furnish ample evidence of his immense practice, and bear convincing proof of his renown as a lawyer. In 1821 he was elected to Congress, and during his service there his wife died suddenly. For five or six terms, he represented his county in the House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, and was mainly instrumental, with his colleague, James Dunlop, Esq., son of his preceptor, Andrew Dunlop, in having the Cumberland Valley Railroad extended to Chambersburg. He was the first president of this road, but resigned a few years before his death. At the time of his decease, he was president of the Bank of Chambersburg.
Thomas G. McCulloh was not only prominent as a lawyer, but was a man of varied information, capable of discussing almost any subject brought before him. He was well versed in agricultural pursuits, and very attentive to the improvement of his farms, of which he had, at times, two or three. A man of public spirit and enterprise, he was always willing to lend a helping hand to all public improvements in his county or town. To the day of his death, he was a close student, reading works upon all subjects, particularly those of a legal character. He had a large, well-selected library, miscellaneous and professional, and was constantly adding to its volume. When the first drum beat for volunteers to repel the British invasion of Baltimore, he stepped from his office into the ranks of the recruiting party, and marched with the company to the threatened city. When the regiment was formed he was appointed its quartermaster. He took charge of the Franklin Repository and edited it while its celebrated editor, Geo. K. Harper, was absent with the army on the northern frontiers.
Mr. McCulloh was always popular with the members of the bar, not only on account of his unusual legal attainments, but for his professional courtesy, which was especially extended to its junior members. As a public speaker he was not fluent, but was clear and logical, and his manner of speaking was of a conversational character, carrying great weight with juries. He wrote with skill and force. It is traditional that he was singularly independent of the stereotyped formulas of legal documents, and that his brief papers were remarkably pointed and unassailable. Judge Jerry Black said of him: "He could say more and say it better in ten minutes than any man I ever saw." He left behind him the reputation of being one of the ablest jurists of his day. His manners were exceedingly plain and popular, and he was always a favorite of his fellow citizens.

1 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 664.

2 —, Biographical Annals of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 130.

3 Lewis R. Culbertson, M.D., Genealogy of the Culbertson and Culberson Families (Zanesville, OH: The Courier Co., 1923), Pg 268.

4 —, History of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1887), Pg 665.