John Fries Frazer, PhD

http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/frazerfam.html

John Fries Frazer, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Fries Frazer, was born on July 8, 1812 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania He received his early education at Parrott's Military and Classical Institute. As a result, Frazer retained a love for the military throughout his life, and later served in the Philadelphia riots of 1844 with the First City Troop. He entered the University of Pennsylvania's Junior Class in 1828 and received his A.B. in 1830 and semi-honorary A.M. in 1833. Frazer studied under Alexander Dallas Bache, and after graduating, acted as lab assistant to Bache and Robert Hare, M.D. He was appointed Assistant in the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania under Henry D. Rogers in 1836. In 1837 Frazer resigned from survey work to study law under William M. Meredith, although in later years he never practiced law. From 1836 to 1844, Frazer held the position of Professor in the High School of Philadelphia (now Central High School). When Alexander D. Bache resigned from the University of Pennsylvania in 1844, it was Frazer who was chosen to fill his seat. Frazer was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry at the University and was the first person specifically appointed to teach chemistry. He received an honorary Ph.D. in 1854 from the University of Lewisburg, now Bucknell, and in 1857 was awarded an LL.D. from Harvard University. From 1855 until 1868, Frazer served as the Vice-Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and from 1859 to 1860 as acting Provost.

In addition to his long service with the University of Pennsylvania, Frazer was very active in the American Philosophical Society, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the National Academy of Science, and the Franklin Institute, editing the Journal of the Franklin Institute from 1850 to 1866. Ill health in 1856 forced a restorative sabbatical in Europe for four months and again in 1866 for eighteen months. Frazer married Charlotte Jeffers Cave (1815-1881), the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Hollingsworth Cave in 1838.

They had three children: Anne (b. 1839), who married Rev. Thomas Kittera Conrad; Sarah (b. 1841), who married Richard Lewis Ashhurst; Persifor (1844-1909), who was also known as Persifor, Jr. John Fries died suddenly on October 12, 1872 while giving a tour of the physical laboratory of the University on the day the new buildings in West Philadelphia were first opened to public inspection.