John Piersol McCaskey

John Piersol McCaskey, known as J. P. McCaskey, (October 9, 1837 – September 19, 1937) was an American politician and educator. He served as the 23rd Mayor of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1907 to 1911.^[1][2] McCaskey was a member of the Republican Party.

McCaskey is most remembered in the field of education and J. P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster is named in his honor. McCaskey began teaching in the Boys' High School in 1855, with the exception of one year 1857-1858, most of which he spent in the old Evening Express printing office, studying the printing process. He was a high school principal for fifty years.

McCaskey was born on a farm near Gordonville, Pennsylvania, on October 9, 1837. His father's family belonged to the Presbyterian Church, while his mother's family were members of the Episcopal Church. They attended services regularly at both churches.He learned to read at an early age before going to the old Zook schoolhouse, and was required to read daily and often aloud from the Bible. By the time he was ten or eleven, he left home for the Oak Hill Academy, and later attended school in Lancaster. In May 1849, McCaskey moved to Lancaster, where he studied at a secondary school on Duke Street under a noted teacher, Howard Worcester Gilbert. He enrolled at the Boys' High School in 1850.

In 1860, McCaskey was married to Ellen Margaret Chase in Bath, New York. The couple had seven children. McCaskey is a published song writer and introduced Arbor Day to Pennsylvania.

J. P. McCaskey died on September 19, 1937, aged 99.^[1] He is interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

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