256 
William  Procter,  Jr. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1900. 
city.  The  passengers  were  landed  at  Gloucester,  N.  J.,  and  the  ship 
then  proceeded  to  New  York  to  discharge  her  cargo.  Isaac  Proc- 
ter, with  two  companions,  was  compelled  to  walk  to  New  York, 
stopping  at  various  Friends'  houses  on  the  way.  He  was  fortunately 
not  quarantined,  and  at  last  arrived  safely  in  New  York,  but  the 
fever  soon  broke  out  in  that  city,  prostrating  business  and  compel, 
ling  all  who  could  to  leave  the  city.  Isaac  Procter,  therefore, 
sought  employment  in  the  country.  Upon  his  return  to  the  city 
later  on,  some  of  his  friends,  of  whom  he  had  already  won  many  by 
his  manly  conduct  and  high  religious  character,  advised  him  to 
engage  in  the  hardware  business  in  Baltimore.  He  decided  to  do 
so,  and  opened  a  store  at  the  corner  of  Market  and  Hanover  Streets, 
which  he  succeeded  in  making  one  of  the  best  known  of  its  kind  in 
the  country. 
On  November  3,  1799,  he  was  married  at  the  Meeting  House  at 
Fallsington,  Pa.,  to  Rebecca  Farquhar,  whom  he  had  met  seven 
years  before  while  on  his  way  from  the  vessel  in  which  he  had 
landed  to  New  York.  She  was  a  woman  of  rare  moral  and  religious 
character,  refined  and  dignified  in  manner  and  well  fitted  for  a  life 
companion  for  such  a  strong  and  good  man. 
William  Procter,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  their  ninth  and 
youngest  child.  Three  years  after  William's  birth,  Isaac  Procter, 
the  father,  died,  and  it  is  remarkable  that,  having  escaped  death 
from  yellow  fever  a  number  of  times,  he  should  at  last  have  suc- 
cumbed to  the  disease  on  the  7th  of  July,  1820.  His  courage  is 
attested  by  the  fact  that  he  lost  his  life  whilst  devoting  his  time  and 
attention  to  caring  for  the  suffering  during  the  epidemic  of  1820. 
After  the  father's  death  unexpected  claims  were  made  upon  the 
estate,  which,  although  considered  by  the  family  unjust,  were  not 
resisted,  and  William  Procter  was  deprived  of  the  liberal  education 
that  would  have  been  so  enjoyable  and  advantageous  to  one  of  his 
natural  abilities.  A  companion  of  his  boyhood  writes :  "  We  were 
boys  together  from  six  to  ten  years  of  age  at  a  Friends'  school  in 
Baltimore,  taught  by  a  lady  of  rare  gifts  and  attainments.  He  was 
studious,  gentle  and  companionable,  and  greatly  beloved  by  his 
teachers  and  classmates.  His  powers  of  observation  were  very 
early  developed,  and,  as  a  child,  nothing  escaped  his  notice ;  he 
would  interest  boys  in  stones  that  he  would  pick  up  in  the  streets, 
or  in  general  subjects  that  would  arrest  his  own  mind.  Mineralogy 
