James Addams Beaver

Born in Millerstown, Pennsylvania, James was educated by his mother (his father having died in 1840) until 1846, when the family removed to Belleville, and he was sent to school. In 1852 he entered Pine Grove Academy, and in 1854 joined the junior class in Jefferson College. Beaver graduated from Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (now Washington & Jefferson College), in 1856.

After graduation, he read law in the office of H.N. McAllister, at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and was taken into partnership by him almost as soon as he was of age. During this period of his life, he joined a local military company — the "Bellefonte Fencibles," under Capt. Andrew G. Curtin, afterward war governor of Pennsylvania. He made a thorough study of tactics, and, when President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers to suppress the rebellion in 1861, he was second lieutenant of the company which promptly marched for the defence of the national capital.

Following the war, Beaver pursued his law career. He was elected a member of the board of trustees of the Pennsylvania State College in 1873, and took active part as a speaker in the campaigns of the Republican Party. He declined offers to run for public office until 1881 (including a spot as vice president on James Garfield's Republican ticket). He lost to Robert Pattison, but, because the new state constitution of 1874 prohibited governors from serving multiple consecutive terms, Beaver ran again and served as governor for the four years between Pattison's two non-consecutive terms. In 1895, he was appointed as one of the judges of the first state Superior Court, an office he held until his death in 1914. He was buried in Union Cemetery in Bellefonte. He was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Beaver Stadium and Beaver Hall, located on the University Park campus of Pennsylvania State University, as well as Beaver Avenue in State College are all named in his honor.