Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 107

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 107

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While in the State Senate, Mr. Smith was frequently alluded to as "the gentleman from Pennsylvania," from the 'fact that his resi- dence and a large part of his farm were em- braced in the triangular tract of land between the states as shown by the survey of 1849, the dispute concerning which has been agitated in later years, leading to the appointment by the legislatures of both states, of commis- sioners, who met in joint commission and re- surveyed the circular boundary, planting stones thereon. This survey and the line marked have been severely criticised as to their correctness, and John I. Johnston, whose farm is situated near the western initial stone, and whose property had been in Delaware ever since it was a state, but was put into Pennsylvania by this survey, refusing to ac- cept the transfer, was compelled to apply to the courts of Pennsylvania for protection; he still maintains his citizenship in Delaware, and the troublesome line is apparently still un- settled.

William Smith married Mary DeHaven May 10, 1821, and ten children were the off- spring of the union, seven boys and three girls, all of whom married, and all lived to see their fiftieth birthday, leaving forty grandchildren. The DeHavens are of French extraction; one, Peter De Haven, and two brothers, Samuel and Jacob, came to this country in 1690, and settled in Montgomery county, Pa., at the Gulph, in Upper Merion township. They were engaged in vine cul- ture in France, and brought considerable wealth, and in the Revolutionary times when Washington and his army were suffering at Valley Forge, and provisions, money and credit were alike seanty, Jacob DeHaven and others were appealed to by Washington and Robert Morris, the financier, in an hour of dire extremity, and tradition and records alike attest that Jacob DeHaven nobly loaned the Continental government $450,000 in gold and landed securities, besides cattle, provi- sions and grain. Samuel, his brother, an offi- cer in the army, also gave financial assistance. The latter was grandfather of Mary DeHaven Smith, whose father, Jesse DeHaven, re- moved from Montgomery to Chester county in 1800, and purchased, in partnership with his father Samuel DeHaven, the Wright farm, known in after years as the DeHaven Homestead, which was near the John Smith

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

family farm. Mary DeHaven Smith survived her husband some twenty years, and they now lie side by side in a beautiful enclosed family burial lot in Wesley cemetery, in South Side, Chester county, and a monument stands a white sentinel keeping vigils over their resting place, as well as that of John and Isabella Smith.

. William Henry Smith, fifth in the family roll, was the third son of William and Mary Smith, and like those that went before, as well as those that followed, was well drilled in the family school of obedience and indus- try, from which no one graduated until a score of years were fulfilled. The district school, with its winter term, was but an ad- junct; but by these schools and schoolmas- ters his stock of knowledge was increased. Professor Alexander Terrell, an eminent scholar and mathematician, kept a select school in his own house for a score of years; in him, William H. Smith found a proficient instructor in the natural sciences and higher mathematics. The pupil, before he reached his majority, became a teacher, being employ- ed at Rose Hill, a district school midway be- tween Wilmington and New Castle. Here he continued for six years, in the fifties. His attention was divided between the farm and the school-room until the death of his father, in 1863, when he settled permanently on the Smith homestead. William Henry Smith married Mary E. Thompson of Chester county of the Friend or Quaker persuasion. His eld- est boy, Willard Thompson, graduated at Delaware College with first honor, in the class of '92, and is now serving the fourth year as county superintendent of free schools of New Castle county with acceptance; Lawrence De- Haven and Wm. HI., Jr., are at this writing students in Delaware College. In 1888 W. II. Smith was appointed by Governor Biggs justice of the peace at Newark, he removed to that place and served a full term of seven years. In the fall of 1896 he was appointed postmaster in the same town by President Cleveland.

A younger brother graduated at the Medi- cal University at Philadelphia in the early sixties, and taking the advice of Greeley, went west and settled in Pequa, Ohio. He ac- quired a large and lucrative practice, became eminent as a physician and surgeon, and as a local minister in the M. E. church; he died

in his fifty-eighth year, much lamented in the community. His son, Ernest Smith, graduated at Delaware College, Ohio, recent- ly took a course at Johns Hopkins, and is now professor in the College at Meadville, Pa. There are two other collegiate graduates in the Smith family, William, of Jacob R. Smith, and William, of James P. Smith. The Smith family are Democrats in politics without an exception, and generally Metho- dist in religious preference. The family standard had for its ideal, "Neither riches nor poverty," avoiding the snares of the one, the temptations of the other, they rather seek a competency and a good name, which are preferable to great riches and empty honors. The homestead has always been the scene and center of domestic enjoyment; farm activities, obedience and industry, the cardinal rules, and good brains and pure blood and healthy bodies, in a measure, some of the products of the farm; these are legacies of more value than gold or bonds, or stock. Another distinctive feature and tract in the family is its frequent family gatherings. There have been ten weddings; then followed the tin, the silver and the gold weddings; they have had them all. The whole course of fam- ily life has been conducive to keeping the head cool and the heart warm.

GEORGE GILLESPIE EVANS, New- ark, Del., son of John and Agnes (Gillespie) Evans, was born at Newark, June 1, 1815.

His paternal ancestors emigrated to this country from Wales in the early part of the eighteenth century. The family name is dis- tinctively Welsh; when found among the rames of other peoples, it is almost invariably traceable to Cimbrian ancestry. The first Welsh colonists, who arrived in this country in 1682, were Friends, who had bought from William Penn 5,000 acres of unsurveyed land, and had been promised a larger tract, ex- clusively for Welsh settlers. In a short time, they had the first part surveyed of what be- came known as the "Welsh Barons," lying on the west side of the Schuylkill, north of Philadelphia. The warrant for surveying the entire traet, which contained 40,000 acres, was not issued until 1684. There is not the least doubt that the large proprietary grant above described gave an impetus to emigra- tion from Wales, thus tending to enrich the

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colonies of Pennsylvania and Delaware by the infusion of the blood of an ancient and hardy race, noted for the most honorable characteristics, Penn having acquired from the Duke of York in 1682 the territory now constituting the state of Delaware, the upper part of the state was, colonized before the year 1710, by many Welsh immigrants, both Presbyterians and Baptists. The Welsh are peculiarly an agricultural people, and these settlers, having left their own country in order to better their condition, were induced to take up their residence in Delaware by the fact that the lands there were at that time bet- ter adapted to agriculture, being better cleared and more fertile, than the Welsh Barons. The difference in religious persua- sion between the latter arrivals and the set- tlers on the tract above Philadelphia no doubt also had its influence in determining the loca- tion of the former. The tract of land on which they settled has always been and is still known as the "Welsh tract," and embraces all of Pencader hundred. It may well be supposed that with a people of religious prin- ciples so strong and deeply-rooted as are those of the Welsh, the organization of congrega- tions would be one of the first matters to be attended to after their arrival in their new home. Accordingly, we find that the Pen- cader Presbyterian church, at Glasgow, Del., was organized in 1710, and at about the same time, the Welsh Tract Baptist church, some two miles distant. Of the former congrega- tion, the ancestors of George G. Evans were among the earliest members.

On the maternal side, Mr. Evans is de- scended from the Rev. George Gillespie, a prominent member of the Westminster As- sembly, whose grandson, also known as the Rev. George Gillespie, and also a minister of the Scotch Presbyterian church, came to America in 1712. In the following year, he aided in the organization of Ilead of Chris- tiana church, of which he was the first or- dained pastor. This congregation, and the New Castle Presbytery, enjoyed the presence and the happy influence of the learned and pious Mr. Gillespie for almost a half century, his connection with them remaining unbroken until his death in 1760. Ilis grandson, a third George Gillespie, was born in 1753 and died in 1831, leaving eleven children; Agnes, the third of the family, became the wife of

John Evans, a descendant of the early Welsh immigrants above referred to; and these were the parents of George Gillespie Evans.

For thirty-seven years, Mr. Evans, who is now in the eighty-fourth year of his age, was engaged as a dealer in general merchandise in Newark, always taking an active and lead- ing part in all that related to the improvement of his native town, as well as that of Delaware College, of which institution he was secretary and treasurer for forty years. In 1856, he married Mary Jane, daughter of Dr. Samuel II. Black, Sr., of Glasgow, Del., of which mar- riage five daughters and one son, Charles B. Evans, now survive.

JOHN E. LEWIS, Newark, Del., son of Evan and Mary Ann (Esray) Lewis, was born near Haddington, Blockley township, Phila- delphia county, Pa., August 23, 1823.

The Lewis family is of Welsh ancestry, and its members were early settlers in this coun- try. The first to seek homes here were three brothers, who came from Wales nearly two hundred years ago. One selected Delaware for his habitation, another Delaware county, Pa .; and the third went as far west as York county, Pa., where William Lewis, grand- father of John E. Lewis, was born. When he had acquired a trade he removed to Block- ley township, Philadelphia county, and en- gaged in business as a tanner and currier. Thus occupied, he remained there until his death, which occurred by violence, near bis tannery, when he was a comparatively young man. He was a Federalist in politics. Wil- liam Lewis married Elizabeth Bailer, a na- tive of Philadephia county. They had chil- dren: I. James J .; II. Lydia (Mrs. John Twaddell); III. Evan; IV. Thomas. All are dead. Mrs. Lewis died in Blockley township, and was buried there by the side of her hus- band.

Evan Lewis, father of John E. Lewis, was born in York, Pa., August 19, 1798, and re- ceived a liberal education in subscription schools. When only eight years old he was "bound out" to Joseph George, a tanner and farmer at Overbrook, Pa. There he worked eight years, receiving for his labor only his clothing and boarding. When he was six- teen he apprenticed himself to Samuel Jones, on the Lancaster Turnpike, Philadelphia county, to learn carpentry, and remained with

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

him for five years, after which he worked as

a journeyman for some time. Ile was a skilled carpenter, and thrifty, and was soon able to establish himself as a contractor and builder in Blockley township. He erected many buildings, and was a successful business man. In 1854 he removed to Cecil county, Md., purchased two hundred acres of land, known as the Ford tract, on Sassafras Neck, which he cultivated until 1875; he then dis- posed of his farm, and went to Newark to re- side with his son, John E. Mr. Lewis was widely known and respected. He was origi- nally a Whig, but after the passing away of that party, voted with the Republicans. IIc was never in any sense an office-seeker. On October 30, 1820, in Blockley township, Evan Lewis married Mary Ann, daughter of John and Rebecca Esray, born in 1801 in Block- ley township. They had children: I. John E., born August 23, 1823; II. James J., re- tired, of Philadelphia, born March 4, 1826; III. Elizabeth A. (Mrs. Richard Aiken), widow, born August 31, 18 -; IV. Rebecca, born October 18, 1829, died May 9, 1831; V. William Wesley, born May 9, 1835, died in infancy; VI. Hannah A. (Mrs. James J. Robinson), of New Castle hundred, Del., born March 14, 1840; VII. Emma (Mrs. Wil- liam Morgan), of Wilmington, Del., Lorn July 26, 1847. Mr. Lewis died in Newark, November 28, 1892; his wife died at Sassa- fras Neck, in June, 1865. Both were mem- bers of the M. E. church and were interred in the M. E. burial ground at Newark.

John E. Lewis had very limited opportuni- ties to acquire an education. He attended subscription schools at Blockley township for a few years, but when only nine years old, he began to assist his father in driving teams, and until 1854, was chiefly engaged in pilot- ing heavy wagons in Pennsylvania, New Jer- sey and Delaware. For a few years Mr. Lewis, besides teaming, was engaged in farming. First, in 1850, on the farm of Abraham G. Hunt, Kingsessing, Philadelphia county, Pa., where he unfortunately lost all of his earthly possessions in a heavy flood. The three years following, he superintended a farm near Frankford, belonging to Cornelius Baker & Co. When the railroads had made teaming unprofitable, he devoted his entire attention

to farming. In 1854 he took charge of his father's farm on Sassafras Neck, First Dis- triet, Cecil county, Md. In 1856 he removed to Kent county, Md., and in 1861 returned to his father's farm, where he remained until 1868. In that year he leased from William Dean a tract in White Clay Creek hundred, New Castle county, and was there engaged in farming and the dairy business until 1873. Ill health made it necessary for him to relin- quish the farm, and he removed to Newark, where he lived for a year without any occu- pation. In 1874 he leased the Deer Park Hotel from Colonel Joshua Clayton, and sev- eral years later purchased it. For twenty- two years he conducted that hostelry with sue- cess, and then sold the place to Mil- ton Steele. Since 1896 he has lived retired in Newark, undisturbed by any business cares except the management of a farm in White Clay Creek hundred. Mr. Lewis was a genial and popular landlord. He has always been exceedingly temperate in his habits, never touching tobacco in any form, nor tasting in- toxicating liquors. He was formerly a mem- ber of the I. O. O. F., but is not now con- nected with any secret society. Mr. Lewis was in early days a Whig, but has been a Democrat since 1860, giving that party his warm support. While active in politics, he never aspired to an office.

On October 30, 1845, in Delaware county, Pa., John E. Lewis married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John and Rebecca (Reid) Ruth- ven, of the vicinity of Darby, Pa. They had children: I. Evan W., hotel proprietor at Kimbleville, Pa., born September 2, 1846, married Annie Brown, had five children, four of whom are living; II. Charles R. E., farmer of Pencader hundred, born January 14, 1849, married Katherine Moore; III. Re- becca Jay (Mrs. Howard Gilpin), of Wilming- ton, born April 17, 1851; IV. Mary E., born November 19, 1853, died January 7, 1855; V. Kate Adela (Mrs. Hugh B. Wright), of Newark, born April 20, 1857; VI. John C. Sutton, born February 17, 1861, died May 27, 1861; VII. Ella M. (Mrs. George Ben- nett), of Elkton, Md., born October 9, 1864; VIII. Mand L., born July 8, 1871, died Jan- uary 31, 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis attend the M. E. church.

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John Ruthven, father of Mrs. John E. Lewis, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and a na- tive of Delaware county, Pa. He married Rebecca Reid, of New Jersey. They had eleven children.

HON. JOHN PILLING, Newark, Del., son of Richard and Susan (Bradshaw) Pilling, was born at Atherton, Lancashire, England. March 6, 1830.

Richard Pilling was a native of England, and there learned to weave silk by hand. He followed that occupation until 1841, when, with his wife and children, he sailed from Liv- erpool on the Sheffield for America. In twen- ty-eight days the passage across the Atlan- tic was made, and Mr. Pilling and his family landed in New York City. They went from that port to Philadelphia and soon afterward to Delaware county, Pa., where he secured employment as a weaver. In 1848 he came to Newark, Del., and worked for many years in the woolen mill of Joseph Dean & Son. In the latter part of his life, he retired from active labor, but continued to reside in New- ark. He was a Democrat until the Civil War, when he became a member of the Republican party, but never was an office seeker. Rich- ard Pilling married, in England, Susan Brad- shaw, a native of Lancashire. Those of their children who lived to mature age are: I. Mary (Mrs. Ezekiel Barber), of Philadelphia, widow; II. John; III. Thomas, wool manu- facturer, of Mill Creek hundred, New Cas- tle county, Del .; IV. Ann (Mrs. Enos Wood), deceased; V. William, deceased. Richard Pilling died in Newark, April 28, 1889; Mrs. Pilling died in Newark, January 1, 1892; both were buried in the M. E. church- yard in Newark.

John Pilling attended school in Lancashire, England, until he was seven years old. Then he was compelled to leave the school-room and begin manual labor, forced to such action by the stern necessity of helping to pro- vide for the family's wants. When he was eleven years old he came to America with his parents. Ile procured employment in Phila- delphia and Delaware county mills, for which he received two dollars per week. In 1848 he came to Delaware, and was engaged in Dean's woolen mill for twelve years. His first remuneration there was four dollars per week.

In 1861 he became asociated with William Dean as a partner in his woolen mill and con- tinued as such until 1883. During much of this time two hundred and fifty persons were employed in the mill. In 1883 he retired from the firm and operated the Kiamensi mills, in Mill Creek hundred. In 1895 Mr. Pilling was forced to relinquish business be- cause of ill health, and he sold his mills to his brother, Thomas Pilling, who is still in control of them. Since then, Mr. Pil- ling has lived retired, in one of the hand- somest mansions in Newark.

John Pilling has been very active, and has held responsible offices in the domains of finance and politics. In 1871 he was elected a director of the National Bank of New- ark, and after serving twenty years as such, was chosen president. This high trust he has fulfilled to the satisfaction of both stockhold- ers and depositors. His political career has been notable. In 1866 he was elected as a Republican, by a good majority, to the lower house of the state legislature, being again re- turned in 1880, and served on several import- ant committees in that body. In 1890 he was elected to the state senate, of which he was a member for four years. During his term, he originated and introduced the bill provid- ing for the revision of the State Constitution. Laboring zealously for the success of his bill, he won supporters for it from both branches of the legislature. In consequence of his ef- forts, the bill was adopted by a fair majority, and Delaware has been appreciably benefited.

John Pilling is a self made man, in the strictest interpretation of the term. By hard study he acquired the knowledge that was denied him in his early youth. By long association with workingmen as one of their number, he became a quick and accurate judge of character and this stood him in good stead when he became an employer of labor. There never was a "strike" in his mills, and every position was filled by the best man for its duties. He is, in addition, genial and courte- ous, and is universally respected, as well as popular. Mr. Pilling is a member and past master of Hiram Lodge, No. 25, A. F. and A. M., of Newark. Until the Civil War he was a Democrat. Since then he has been an earn- est Republican.

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John Pilling was married to Elizabeth B. Kelley, of Chester county, Pa. They had children: I. Isabelle (Mrs. S. J. Wright), of Newark; II. Susanna E. (Mrs. John Spen- cer), of Newark; III. John, Jr. Two others are deceased, William, who died in infancy, and Kate, who died aged seventeen. Mrs. Elizabeth B. Pilling died in Newark, Decem- ber 21, 1873, and was buried in the M. E. graveyard of that place.

John Pilling married, as his second wife, October 4, 1877, Ellen (Bayne) Glenn, born in Philadelphia, daughter of Nathan Bayne and widow of William Glenn. Mrs. Pilling had one child by her first marriage, William Glenn, deceased. Mrs. Ellen Pilling died Au- gust 30, 1896. She was buried in the Head of Christiana churchyard, of New Castle county, Del.

John Pilling, Jr., was born in Newark, Sep- tember 11, 1865. He attended a select school there under Miss Chamberlain, and also New- ark Academy under Rev. J. L. Polk. In 1880 he entered Delaware College and com- pleted a three years' course there. Then he went into his father's woolen mills and worked there until 1895, when he purchased the coal and lumber yards of S. J. Wright, and has . since conducted the business. He is a Re- publican. On December 17, 1891, John Pil- ling, Jr., married Hannah II., daughter of Joel Thompson, ex-president of the National Bank of Newark. Mrs. Pilling was born in Whte Clay Creek hundred, New Castle coun- ty. They have children: I. Cornelia Gilles- pie; II. Ellen Bayne. Mr. and Mrs. Pilling are members of the Society of Friends.

JAMES DAVID JAQUETTE, Newark, New Castle county, Del., son of James and Catherine (Douglass) Jaquette, was born in Mill Creek hundred, New Castle county, Del., in 1866.

The Jaquette family, one of the oldest and most respected of New Castle county, is of French lineage. James Jaquette, farmer, grandfather of James D. Jaquette, was born in 1777, in New Castle county, Del., where his whole life was spent in the cultivation of the soil. He was married to Catherine Kennett. He was a member of the Presby- terian church, a good citizen, respected and esteemed in the county. Mr. Jaquette died at his home in Mill Creek hundred, in 1843. His

son, James Jaquette, 2, born in January, 1811, was a farmer of Mill Creek hundred. Ile was a man of education and of business ability, interested in public affairs, and an active worker in the Republican party. James Jaquette was married to Catherine, daughter of David and Catherine Douglass, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1825. Mr. Jaquette and his wife were consistent mem- bers of the Presbyterian church. He died at his home in Mill Creek hundred, July 7, 1885; his widow died in 1890.

James David Jaquette attended private pre- paratory schools, and after his graduation from Delaware College, devoted his life to teaching. Thorough preparation and an en- thusiastie love for his profession have com- bined to make him a successful instructor. He was for some time principal of the public schools of Rockland, New Castle county, Del., and afterwards occupied a similar position in Newport, in the same county. In 1896, Mr. Jaquette was elected principal of the Newark Academy. Under his wise and lib- eral management the academy has grown in

every respect. The attendance has increased one hundred per cent .; his scholarship and ex- perience have enabled him to elevate the lit- erary standing of the institution, and his cour- tesy and attractive personality have won many friends for it and for himself. Mr. Jaquette is interested in the public affairs of the coun- ty; and is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of Newark. ITis church membership is in the M. E. church.

SAMUEL J. WRIGHT, Newark, New Castle county, Del., son of Samuel B. and Mary Eliza (Jervis) Wright, was born in Newark, Del., October 29, 1851.

Among the names of old and honorable families who settled the Eastern Shores of Maryland, is found that of Wright. Mr. Wright's great-grandfather, the founder of the American branch of the family, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born and edu- cated in Ireland. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Wright emigrated to America and settled on a farm in Cecil county, Md., where he spent the remainder of his life, devoting his time to the cultivation of the soil. He was interested in public affairs, and was a member of the Democratic party. Mr. Wright died at his home in Cecil county, Md., and is

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 107

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