Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 106

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1482

USA > Delaware > Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I > Part 106

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Dr. Eri W. Haines married, in Otsego county, N. Y., September 10, 1846, Sarah E. MeKown, daughter of William MeKown, and a native of South Hadley, Mass. They had children: I. Eva Eriella, died when three years, one month, nineteen days old; II. Harry Harwood, dentist, of West Grove, Chester county, Pa. Mrs. Haines died at her home in Newark, in 1890, and was buried in the M. E. graveyard. She was a member of the P. E. church. Dr. Haines married again, his wife being Jennie, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Corbett) Weir, and widow of Rich- ard M. Griffith, a Philadelphia merchant of Welsh descent. Mrs. Haines was born in County Down, Ireland. Her parents were of Scotch-Irish ancestry. She is a member of the M. E. church.

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nell, was born in Montgomery, Ala., April 30, 1850.

Andrew Donnell was born in County Ty- rone, Ireland, and there received a liberal education. When a youth he came to Amer- ica, and spent a short time in Newbern, N. C., with his half-brother, Judge John Don- nell, at that time a noted lawyer. The eli- mate proving unhealthful for him, he re- turned to his home in Ireland, but did not re- main there long. Coming back to the United States, Mr. Donnell settled in Montgomery, Ala., where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and dealt extensively in real estate. He prospered rapidly, but the health of his fam- ily suffered, and he sought a home where the climatic conditions were more favorable. In 1852 he removed with his family to Cecil county, Md., and a year later went to Wil- mington, Del .; in 1856, he purchased a farm in White Clay Creek hundred, which he oc- cupied for several years, and then bought a home in Newark and resided there until his death. Andrew Donnell was a successful business man and an esteemed citizen. IIe was a Democrat, and loyally supported his party, but never desired public office.

Andrew Donnell married, in Montreal, Canada, in 1843, Rosa, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Adams) Matthewson, born in County Tyrone, Ireland. They had children: I. Elizabeth, died in infancy; II. James, died young; III. Samuel M .; IV. Ernest, died young; V. Mary L. (Mrs. Dr. Geo. W. Marshall), of Milford, Del .; VI. Alice (Mrs. Manly Drennen), of Elkton, Md. Andrew Donnell died in Newark in 1880, and was buried in White Clay Creek graveyard. He attended the P. E. church. Mrs. Donnell resides in Newark. A good wife and a kind mother, she is highly respected. She attends the P. E. church.

Samuel Mathewson, father of Mrs. Don- nell, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland. He emigrated to Montreal, Canada, with his family and successfully engaged in the whole- sale grocery business. Mrs. Mathewson was born in Lancaster county, Pa. While on a visit to Ireland, she married Mr. Mathewson, and spent the remainder of her life in Canada.

Samuel M. Donnell was fitted for a busi- ness career by a careful education. He was instructed at home by private tutors, and was a student at the Newark Academy, Prof. E.

D. Porter, principal, for several terms. Afterward he took a business course in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College, of Philadelphia. Then he returned home and managed the farm of 160 acres until 1883, when he came to Newark and established himself in business, first as a real estate broker, and a few years later as a general collecting broker, insurance agent, and con- veyancer, in which lines he has been very profitably employed for the past fifteen years. In 1884 Mr. Donnell was appointed notary public for seven years by Governor Stockley, and in 1891 was re-commissioned by Gover- nor Reynolds. He is also the agent of several large estates in New Castle county. He has been a trustee of Newark Academy, and for twelve years a member of the town council, beginning with its organization under its pres- ent charter; he is a director of the National Bank, of Newark. Mr. Donnell is a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 25, A. F. and A. M., of Newark; Delta Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M. and St. John's Commandery, No. 1, Knights Templar, of Wilmington; and of the Masonic grand lodge of Delaware, in which he is a past Junior Grand Warden. He is a Demo- erat, but has never sought office.

On October 8, 1873, Samuel M. Donnell was married to Mary B., daughter of Levi and Sarah C. Cooch, born at Cooch's Bridge, New Castle county, Del. Mrs. Donnell is a lady of culture, and she and her husband are very popular. They are members of the Presbyterian church; Mr. Donnell is a trus- tee of the congregation.

The Cooch family is one of the oldest in the state. Its pioneer settler in Delaware, Thomas Cooch, was a native of the southern part of England, who came to Delaware in 1746, and settled in Pencader hundred on the farm now known as Cooch's Bridge, and built the stone dwelling now occupied by J. Wil- kins Cooch. Thomas Cooch was a farmer and miller; he was an officer in the French and Indian War, and one of the commissioners to raise troops and supplies for that war. He was also a member of the Lay Judiciary of New Castle county, which held its meetings at New Castle. Thomas Cooch was elected to a coloneley in the Continental army, for the Revolutionary War, but was then too far advanced in years for active service; he died in 1788. Thomas Cooch was married in

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England to Sarah Lowen, a native of Middle- sex, England; she died in Pencader hundred. They had a son, Thomas, 2, who mar- ried, first, Sarah Griffith, and had children, William and Elizabeth, and secondly Sarah Welch, by whom he had two sons, i. Thomas, ii. Francis L. The family were connected with the Welsh Tract Baptist church, of New Castle county, Del.

William Cooch, son of Thomas 2, and Sarah (Griffith) Cooch, resided at Cooch's Bridge, and was a farmer and miller. He was nine- teen years old at the beginning of the Revolu- tion. Ile was obliged, with his family, to leave their home during the battle of Cooch's Bridge, and took refuge on a privateer, which was captured and taken to England. There he was held as a prisoner during the war, and after its close returned to his home, and re- sumed work at the mill and on the farm. He was a member of the State Legislature, and one of the incorporators of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal, also of Delaware Col- lege. Ile died in 1834. William Cooch mar- ried Margaret Hollingsworth, of Elkton, Md., and had children: I. Zebulon; II. Levi G .; III. William, 2.

Levi Griffith Cooch, second son of William and Margaret (Hollingsworth) Cooch, was born on the homestead, and was all his life a farmer. He was for many years a member of the State Legislature; his polities were Democratic. He died on the farm. Levi G. Cooch married Sarah C. Wilkins, who now resides at Newark, Del. Their children are: I. J. Wilkins; II. Helen C., widow of Rev. George Porter; III. William Stockman; IV. Zebulon Hollingsworth, of Boston, Mass .; V. Mary B. (Mrs. Samuel M. Donnell).

J. Wilkins Cooch, Mrs. Donnell's eldest brother, is one of the best known and most respected citizens of the county. He oc- cupies the homestead, which he has cultivated all his life. He is prominent as a Democrat; was elected in 1878 to the State Legislature, and was register of wills for New Castle county for five years. He is a member of the F. and A. M. J. Wilkins Cooch married Mary E. Webb; their children are: I. Caro- line (Mrs. William S. Schulfield); II. Fran- cis A .; III. Edward W .; IV. Levi II. Mr. J. W. Cooch is a member of the Glasgow Presbyterian church.

ALBERT N. RAUB, Ph. D., LL. D., Del., late president of Delaware College, was born in the village of Leesburg, now Mar- tinsville, Lancaster county, Pa., March 28, 1840. Ilis carly educational advantages were such only as were afforded by the rural pub- lic schools; but at the age of sixteen, he started out in life for himself, entering the Normal School at Millersville, Pa., as a stud- ent. That institution was then a local normal school, under the principalship of the IIon. James P. Wickersham, later State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Pennsylvania; it became a state institution on December 2, 1859. Mr. Raub graduated in the scientific course as one of the leading members of the first class of the State Normal School in the summer of 1860, receiving his first degree, that of B. S., at the age of twenty.

Soon after his graduation, he was made principal of the Bedford, Pa., Union School, from which position he was called a year later, to act as principal of the public schools of Cressona, Schuylkill County, Pa. He re- mained in this position three years, and was then called to the borough of Ashland, in the same county, to re-organize the schools, and act as town superintendent. Here he systematized the whole work of the public schools, and put them upon a working basis so efficient as continually to produce excel- lent results. In addition to his school work at Ashland, Mr. Raub acted as educational editor of the Pottsville Standard for several years. On the first of April, 1866, he be- came Professor of English literature, Rhe- torie and English Grammar in the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown, Pa., and held the position until the fall of 1868, when he accepted the principalship of the Lock Ilaven, Pa., high school, with the view of establishing a state normal school at that point. In 1869, having been made local superintendent, Mr. Raub re-organized the public schools of Lock Haven, and was made city superintendent. In the summer of 1870, he was elected president of the Pennsylvania State Teachers' Association, and presided over the sessions of that body at its annual con- vention, held in Williamsport in July, 1871. In the summer of that year, Prof. Raub was appointed county superintendent of schools for Clinton county, by State Superintendent

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Wickersham; but in the spring of 1872, he was recalled to act as city superintendent of Lock Haven for a term of three years. When the State Normal School at Lock Haven, Pa., was established in 1877, Prof. Raub, who had been chiefly instrumental in founding the school, was made its first principal. He held the position for seven years, during which time he built the school up from nothing to one of the most prosperous institutions of its kind in the country. During those seven years, three hundred and sixteen students were graduated, a numerical result higher than had ever been attained by any similar school in the state.

In 1884, Dr. Raub severed his connection with the State Normal School at Lock Haven, and spent a year in revising his many text- books, and in writing others. At the end of the year, he was called to the principalship of the Academy of Newark, Del., an insti- tution chartered by the Peuns in 1767, and one of the oldest educational institutions in the country. His work and his success in the academy were so satisfactory that in 1889 he was elected to the presidency of Delaware College, in the same town, a position which he held until July, 1896. During his in- cumbency the number of college buildings was increased from one to six, and the number of students from sixteen to ninety. One of his first efforts as president was to have the courses of study so re- modeled as to afford a greater variety to the student in the selection of subjects. The college was also fully equipped with modern apparatus, and improved in the scientific de- partments; and these advantages, together with the wider choice in elective studies, were no doubt largely instrumental in securing an increased number of students. On President Raub's recommendation also, in the early part of his administration, the trustees adopted the policy of granting free tuition to all students from Delaware; a policy which has contri- buted materially to the success of the college. Dr. Raub resigned the presidency of Delaware College, July 1, 1896, and has since devoted his time to authorship and the publication of books. Beginning with 1865, Dr. Raub was for thirty years continuously a teacher of teachers. During this time, he attended county teachers' institutes as lecturer and in- structor in Pennsylvania and other states, giv-

ing annually from five to eight weeks of his time to this work, and delivering each session from thirty to fifty lectures.

Dr. Raub began his work as an author in 1864, when he published a primary and an ad- vanced speller. In 1869, he added a work entitled Plain Educational Talks with Teachers and Parents. In 1877, he published a series of Arithmeties; in 1878, a series of Readers; and in 1880, two works on the English language, entitled respectively Les- sons in English and A Practical English Grammar. All of these books have been regularly issued by book publishers. Later, Dr. Raub wrote and published on his own responsibility, under the firm name of Raub & Co., the following: School Management; and Studies in English and American Litera- ture in 1882; Methods of Teaching in 1883; Grammatical Analysis by Diagram in 1885; Practical Rhetoric, and Punctuation and Letter-writing, in 1887; Hints and Helps on English Grammar in 1889; Practical Lan- guage Work for Beginners in 1895, and Helps in the Use of Good English in 1897. All of these books have had an extensive and profit- able sale, the number of copies disposed of up to the present time being over two millions. A prominent teacher who has used Dr. Raub's books extensively says: "In comparing the text-books written by Dr. Raub with the ma- jority of those of the present day, the harsh critic as well as the unbiased mind will ac- knowledge that in two respects at least these books defy competition: First, in their sys- tematic arrangement; and secondly, for their clearness of rhetorical construction and the purity of grammatical expression employed in their treatment of the various subjects."

Dr. Raub was an active teacher from 1857 to 1896, a period of thirty-nine years, and in that profession his success has never been questioned. A teacher who was for years associated with him in his work writes as fol- lows: "As a teacher in the class-room, Dr. Raub's manner and methods compare favor- ably with those of Agassiz. A prominent point of similarity, and one often commented upon, is his lack of egotism. The modesty which prompted Agassiz' request that the word Teacher should be the only inscription on his tombstone is equally characteristic of Dr. Raub in his daily intercourse with his pupils; and so apparent is its influence that

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they not only delight to speak of it as an estimable quality, but they also endeavor constantly to emulate his worthy example. "Dr. Raub always descends to the level of his pupils' ability, and leads them up the educational ladder, round by round, until they are able for themselves to enjoy the heights he has already sealed. It is difficult to put into words the peculiar power exerted by Dr. Raub in the matter of discipline. It might be considered paradoxical to say that his dis- cipline is the absence of discipline. But, for a solution of this apparent inconsistency, we have but to add that he makes no display of governing, offers no threat, imposes no un- necessary penalties; his presence alone is sufficient to insure order and attention. Principles of manly self-respect are instilled, habits of order and industry are acquired, and the student reaches that perfection of disci- pline where he unconsciously disciplines him- self. Dr. Raub's theories of discipline are based on the gratifying results of daily ex- perience."

Dr. Raub has been highly honored by a number of colleges. In addition to the degrees of B. S. and M. S., conferred in course by his Alma Mater, Princeton College con- ferred on him the degree of A. M. in 1866; Lafayette College the degree of Ph. D. in 1879, and Ursinus College the degree of LL. D. in 1895.

Since Dr. Raub's resignation from the presidency of Delaware College, the most of his time has been devoted to the writing of books, many of them yet in manuscript form, and to the work of editing and publishing the Educational News, a weekly educational journal which he established in January, 1885, and whose circulation extends through- out the United States.

Dr. Albert N. Raub was married in 1861 to Miss M. Jennie Lovett, who died in 1875. Of their children, Edgar L. Raub, M. S., is a teacher in the city of Boston; Albert HI. Raub, A. M., is principal of a school in Phila- delphia; Mary M. is the wife of Charles B. Evans, Esq., an attorney living in Newark, Del .; and Laura J. Raub and M. Jennie Raub are members of the home family at Newark. After the death of his first wife, Dr. Raub married Mrs. Lydia M. (Chamberlin) Bridg- man, whose daughter, Gertrude M. Bridg- man, is also a member of the home family.

GEORGE ABRAM HARTER, M. A., Ph. D., Newark, New Castle county, Del., son of Peter K. and Mary (Poe) Harter, was born at Leitersburg, Washington county, Md., November 7, 1853.

The Harter family, one of the oldest of Washington county, Md., is of German des- cent. Peter K. Harter, father of George A. IFarter, was born in Washington county, Md., where he was a successful farmer, and an ex- tensive land owner. Peter Harter was mar- ried, in 1851, to Mary Poe, who was a descendant of one of the old English families of Washington county, Md. Of their six children, three died in childhood; those surviving are: I. George A .; II. James P., ex-postmaster of Hagerstown, Md., now sec- retary and general manager of the National Building and Loan Association of Washington county, Md., resides at Hagerstown, Md., married to Alice, daughter of Jacob and Amelia C. (Smith) Heyser, of Chambersburg, Pa., has three children, i. Mary Amelia, i. James Poe, iii. Alice Heyser; III. Kathe- rine, married Edward White, a farmer near Leitersburg, Washington county, Md. Mr. Harter and his wife were members of the Lutheran church. Mrs. Harter died at the homestead May 3, 1890, aged seventy. Mr. Harter died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Edward. White, December 30, 1894, aged sixty-nine.

George A. Harter attended the public schools of Washington county, Md., and pre- pared for college at the National Normal School, Lebanon, Olio, under Prof. Holbrook. In 1873 he entered St. John's College, Annap- olis, Md., graduating in 1877 with the degree of B. A. In 1879, after two years' postgraduate course, he received the degree of M. A., and was appointed teacher of Latin and mathema- ties in his Alma Mater. In 1881 he resigned his position to accept the principalship of the high school at Hagerstown, Md. In 1885 Dr. Harter was appointed professor of mathe- maties and modern languages in Delaware College, a position which he held until 1888, when he accepted the chair of mathematics and physics. In 1896, Dr. Harter was elect- ed president of Delaware College, to succeed Dr. A. N. Raub. He is ex-officio a member of the State Board of Education, which was organized in 1898. Dr. Harter was from boyhood a close student, and an omnivorous

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

reader. His mind is clear, strong, active, and peculiarly well proportioned. Ile is not only a thorough mathematician, and a constant student of the foremost mathematical journals of his own and foreign countries, but an effi- cient instructor in Latin, Greek, German, Old English, and literature. Dr. Harter has not identified himself with any political party but is liberal in his views, esteeming men and measures above party considerations. He is a man of culture and fine scholarship, a mem- ber of the University Club of Philadelphia, Pa.

George A. Harter was married at Anna- polis, Md., in 1882, to Ellen S., daughter of the Rev. J. J. Graff, a minister of the Pres- byterian church, then librarian of the Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Md., since deceased. Their only child, Elinor T. is under her mother's instruction. Dr. Harter is a member and a vestryman of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is also a member of the Church Club, of Delaware. Dr. Harter and his wife are favorites among the students of the col- lege and in the social circles of Newark.

WILLIAM HENRY SMITH, Newark, Del., was born near Chesterville, Chester county, Pa., son of William and Mary (De- Haven) Smith.

His paternal grandfather, John Smith, a farmer and weaver, was born in Ireland in 1769, died in 1854; he married Isabella born in Ireland, 1769, died in 1843; John Smith was a Presbyterian, and afterwards a member of the M. E. church; he and his wife emigrated to America. Their son, William Smith, was born in Chester county, Pa., in 1797, died suddenly, of heart failure, September 23, 1863; he was a farmer, a Democrat in politics, and a mem- ber of the Methodist church. William Smith married Mary DeHaven, born in May, 1800, in Chester county, Pa .; also a Methodist. Their children are: I. John D., married Anna E. Garrett; II. Sarah A. (Mrs. Robert Montgomery); III. George I., married Annie F. Reddel; IV. Mary J. (Mrs. William Armstrong); V. William Henry; VI. Jacob R., married Emma Rateliff; VII. James P., married Emily Henderson; VIII. Samuel D., married Mattie J. Singles; IX. Lizzie (Mrs. J. Westly Kennedy).

William Henry Smith, teacher and farmer,

had served the public as justice of the peace, postmaster, notary public and census enumera- tor, as inspector of elections and school com- missioner. When drafted for army service in 1863, he provided as substitute John E. Elliott, a Canadian, at a cost of $325. Ile is a Free Mason. William Henry Smith was married in Philadelphia, February 15, 1871, to Mary Emma, daughter of Ezra and Mary Thompson, of Chester county, Pa., where she was born in 1845; originally a Friend, Mrs. Smith has become a member of the Methodist church. Their children are: I. Willard Thompson, appointed superintendent of public schools for New Castle county, Del., by Governor Watson, re-appointed the third time by Governor Tunnell, serving his fourth year; II. Lawrence De Haven; III. Mary Miller; IV. William Henry, Jr .; V. Aman- da M.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ezra Thomp- son are: I. Miller; II. Eli; III. Sarah Jane; IV. Lewis, married Amanda Beason; V. Rachel A .; VI. Mary E. (Mrs. William H. Smith); VII. Lizzie; VIII. Ezra, married Lizzie Blackwell.

To these brief particulars we subjoin an in- teresting sketch, furnished by Mr. William HI. Smith.

In the latter part of last century, and the closing days of September, an emigrant ship sailed up the Delaware river and cast anchor at New Castle, then the "Castle Garden" of the country. The town beautiful for situation, on the western shore, nestled in the outskirts of the then widespread forest, was inhabited by a thrifty people, many of whom gathered at the landing to welcome the newly arrived, who, following the western in- stinet of emigration, had come to seek a new home on the American shore. Among them was a newly wedded pair, John and Isabella Smith, the grandparents of William II. Smith. The husband of brawny arm, steady step and honest face; the wife, slight in form, sprightly in movement and intellectual in fea- ture. There were traces of sorrow in their anxious faces, for not only had they severed the ties of the fatherland, but also, during the tedious voyage, had committed to the sea their child, a bright baby boy, and now, friendless, homeless and bereaved, they went they knew not where. A kindly farmer and justice of the peace, Davis Whitten, who lived some

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STATE OF DELAWARE

twenty miles inland in Pennsylvania, offered them a home and employment, and being in- dustrious and frugal, they became possessed of a small farm, on which they reared a nu- merous family, whose labor was divided be- tween the loom and the plow. Prosperity smiled on the home, and William, the eldest, father of the subject of this sketch, a robust, active lad, was apprenticed to a mason, Robert Christy, of Cecil county, Md., and on com- pleting the trade, began business for himself, which rapidly increased and gave employment to many workmen and apprentices; numer- ous large buildings were erected, and public contracts were taken for work on the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad and the Del- aware and Chesapeake Canal.

Of fine athletic physique, vivacious and aggressive, William Smith soon became a leader in sport as well as in business. On February 10, 1830, he was appointed adju- tant of the Chester County Union Volunteer Battalion, by Governor George Wolf, of Pennsylvania; the commission is still in the family. In 1832, in company with a friend, he visited Ohio to see relatives, and, perhaps, purchase a new home, but not being pleased with the "back woods," as the West was then called, he returned and bought a farm in Del- aware, near the "Mason and Dixon" line, known as the Summit or Street farm, to which he removed his family in October of the same year, and on which he resided until his de- mise in 1863, increasing the extent of the farm from 125 to 300 acres. William Smith, or as he was more generally called in his own community, "Billy Smith," was in some re- spects a remarkable man, and left his impress on whatever of dealing or enterprise he under- took. Quitting the trade after moving to Delaware, he, with his brother George, se- cured the right to make and sell threshing machines, clover hullers and corn shellers throughout the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and continued in the business through the thirties. But his delight was the farm and he was in the van of the most progressive farmers of his community. In the latter "forties" and early "fifties" he was elected, first as a representative and afterward as a senator to the Delaware Legislature, serving three terms, and was appointed by Governor W. HI. Ross as one of his aides, thus acquir- ing the honorary title of Colonel.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 106

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa. Number of Pages: 1482

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1482