Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 15

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 15

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Gouvert Loockermans was also a successful merchant and politician. He headed the popular party of New Amsterdam, known as the "Country party," and resisted the dicta- torial assumption of Stuyvesant, the hard- headed leader of the court or administration party, by wresting from him for the people the right of representation in the council called the "Sehnepens," of which he was a

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member in 1657 and 1661. This bridled the prerogative claimed by Stuyvesant, and made the government of the Manhattans in a meas- ure republican. Loockermans was three times banished by Stuyvesant, and was as often re- called on account of his public services. The feud between Stuyvesant and him was subse- quentty terminated by the marriage of his granddaughter with the grandson of Stuyve- sant. After a career of honored usefulness, Gouvert Loockermans died in 1670, reputed the richest individual in North America. He was worth 520,000 Dutch guilders, an im- mense sum for the period in which he lived. Ilis public influence and position devolved after his decease on his son-in-law, Jacob Leis- ler, who became by a civil revolution the first governor of the people of the colony of New Amsterdam.

Gouvert Loockermans left five children, viz: Elsie, Cornelis, Jacob, Johannes, and Maritje. Elsie married Cornelis P. Van-der- Veen. Their children were: Cornelius, Timo- thy and Margaret. She next married Jacob Leisler, who subsequently acted so prominent a part in the early colonial history of New York.

Maritje, second daughter of Gouvert Lockermans, married Balthazar Bayard, step- son to Governor Stuyvesant, and of this mar- riage was born: (1) Anna Maria, who married Augustus Jay, grandfather of Governor Jay; (2) Arietta, who married Samuel Verplanck; (3) Jacobus, who married Hellegonda De Kay; (4) Judith, who married Gerardus Stuy- vesant, grandson of the last Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant.

Joannes or Jannetje Loockermans was the second wife of Surgeon Hans Kiersted, and her children were Areantje, Cornelis, Jaco- bus, and Maritje.

Cornelis, the eldest son, died, it is believed, childless, in early life. Jacob, the second son of Gouvert Loockermans and Maria, his wife, was born in 1650, in New Amsterdam. He was a regular graduated physician and prac- ticed his profession; but he became a planter in 1682. On the 29th of January, 1677, he married Helena Ketin. Being involved in the political troubles, which culminated in the overthrow of his brother-in-law, Jacob Leis- ler, who was deposed and brought to the scaf- fold by the royal governor of William TIT of England, about the year 1681, he emigrated

to Easton, Maryland, where he became a plan- ter. He was a man of wealth, and left a great deal of real estate in the city of New York undisposed of. He died August 17, 1730, leaving a son, Nicholas Loockermans, who was born November 10, 1697. He married Sally Emerson, daughter of Vincent Emerson, of the Grange near Dover, in 1721. He died March 6, 1769, aged over seventy-one years. Ilis tombstone remains at the Grange to this day.

Vincent Loockermans, only child of the above named Nicholas Loockermans, was born at the Grange before mentioned, in 1722. He married as his second wife Elizabeth Pryor, daughter of John Pryor, merchant, of Dover, in February, 1974. By his first wife Susan- nah, he had one child, Vincent Loockermans, the younger. By his second wife, Elizabeth Pryor, he had two children, viz: Elizabeth and Nicholas. Vincent Loockermans, the elder, sat in the Legislature. He was a promi- nent Whig during the Revolution. He died at his residence, in Dover, August 26, 1785, in his sixty-third year, leaving a large landed estate in and around Dover.

Nicholas, son of Vincent and Elizabeth (Pryor) Loockermans, was born November 27, 1783. He sat in the Legislature, and died March 20, 1850. He was never married.

Elizabeth Lovekermans, the only daughter of Vincent and Elizabeth (Pryor) Loocker- mans, was born December 23, 1779. She mar- ried Thomas Bradford, LL. D., of the city of Philadelphia, counsellor-at-law, May 8, 1805. She died in Philadelphia April 12, 1842, her husband survived her, and five children: I. Vincent Looekermans; II. Elizabeth Loocker- mans; III. Benjamin Rush; IV. William; V. Thomas Budd.

Vincent Loockermans Bradford, eldest sur- viving child of Thomas and Elizabeth (Loockermans) Bradford, was born Septem- ber 24, 1808. ITe adopted the legal profes- sion and was admitted to practice in Philadel- phia, in April, 1829. Hle removed to the State of Michigan in 1835, and was elected in 1837 to the State Senate. He resumed the practice of his profession in Philadelphia in 1843, and was elected president of the Phila- delphia and Trenton Railroad Company in 1859, being subsequently re-elected until 1871, inclusive. He married, July 21. 1831, Juliet S. Ray, daughter of Emanuel Ray,

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Esq., planter of the Island of St. Martin, West Indies.

Elizabeth Loockermans Bradford, eldest daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth ( Loocker- mans) Bradford, married the Rev. William T. Dwight, D. D., of Portland, Maine, son of Timothy Dwight, D. D., the distinguished - president of Yale College. She died in 1863. Hler husband died in 1865. She left surviv- ing four children, the Rev. Henry E. Dwight, M. D .; Thomas Bradford Dwight, counsellor- at-law, of Philadelphia; Elizabeth Bradford Dwight, and Mary W. Dwight.

Benjamin Rush Bradford, of New Brigh- ton, Beaver county, Pennsylvania, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Loockermans) Brad- ford, married in 1860 Margaret Campbell, of Butler county, Pennsylvania. They have four children, viz: Juliet S., Thomas, Eleanor (., and William C.

William Bradford, of Philadelphia, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Loockermans) Brad- ford, was born in 1815.

Thomas Budd Bradford, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Loockermans) Bradford, was born in 1816. He was a minister of the gos- pel, and resided for a long time in the ances- tral mansion of the Lockermans at Dover, which has sheltered those of his blood for more than a century. He farmed as proprietor much of the old Loockermans land contiguous to Dover. By his first wife he had no issue. He married as his second wife Miss Lucy H. Porter, daughter of Dr. Robert R. Porter, an esteemed and influential citizen of Wilming- ton, granddaughter of the Hon. Willard Hall, District Judge of the United States District Court of Delaware, and great-granddaughter of Chancellor Killen, of Delaware. His issue by this last marriage was four sons and one daughter. He died at Dover, March 25, 1871.

A granddaughter of Vincent Loockermans, the elder, by his first marriage-being a daughter of Vincent Loockermans, the younger-Elizabeth Loockermans, married Thomas Davy, of Philadelphia. She and her husband both died years ago, leaving an only child, Mary S. Davy. Another grandchild of Vincent Loockermans, the elder, by his first marriage, and daughter of Vincent Loocker- mans, the younger, married the Hon. Nicho- las G. Williamson, for many years postmaster and mayor of Wilmington, by whom she had

issue: (1) Mary Ann, married Rev. Corry Chambers; (2) Harriet, married Hon. Wil- liam D. Baker; (3) Sallie E., married Hon. Horn R. Kneass; (4) Evelina, married Court- landt Howell, Esq .; (5 and 6) Helena and Elba, married Leonard Phleger, Esq.

Although the family for a century past have signed themselves and been called "Lockerman," the true spelling of the name originally, as derived from the early records of the family, is "Loockermans."

It will be seen by this history of the de- scendants of Gouvert Loockermans how the blood of the Knickerbocker patriarchs is mingled and scattered over all the states, how the families maintain their position, and that seven generations of the descendants of the Loockermans and eight of the Hermans-for some of the last named descendants of both families have living children-have existed since the first settlement of Delaware.

WILLIAM SHIPLEY.

William Shipley was born in Leicestershire, England, in 1693. His wife was Mary Ann, daughter of Robert and Ann Tatnall, from whom are descended all the families of the Tatnalls, the Leaks, the Canbys, the Ship- leys, and Prices, in the neighborhood of the Brandywine Mills; and all the Richardsons and Latimers, near Mill Creek.

William Shipley and family embarked at Bristol, in England, in the spring of 1725, on board a ship bound for Philadelphia. The vessel was crowded with passengers, having more than eighty persons on board, several of whom afterwards became conspicuous and valuable citizens of Wilmington. Among these may be mentioned Edward Tatnall, father of Joseph Tatnall; Elizabeth Canby, who was the mother of the late William and Samuel Canby, and afterwards, by a second marriage, of William Poole; Thomas Ship- ley, who was the father of Joseph Shipley, of Brandywine Mills, and Sarah Newlin, wife of Cyrus Newlin; and Jane Elwall, after- wards Jane Fearson, who lived to a great age.

In the same ship came William Taylor. He settled at Darby, and made the first Smith's bellows ever manufactured in Pennsylvania. Also George Warner, who lived to the great age of ninety-nine years, and retained his men- tal faculties to his death, which took place in

STATE OF DELAWARE

1810. Also Thomas Tatnall, who settled be- tween Darby and Chester, and from whom are descended the Knowles and Shalleross fami- lies.

The ship arrived at Philadelphia in the month of July, after a passage of two months. During the voyage the smallpox appeared on board, and several of the passengers died. This circumstance so alarmed the inhabitants of Philadelphia that they assembled in crowds and ordered the ship to leave the place. She dropped down the river and anchored off the Swedes' Church, near which the passengers landed and were kindly received by a person named Barnes, who conducted them through a dense forest to a house near South street, called "the Blue House Tavern." After the passengers had recovered from the smallpox, and their quarantine had expired, they were permitted to enter the town.

Very soon after his arrival, William Ship- ley purchased a tract of land in Ridley town- ship, about ten or twelve miles southwest of Philadelphia, and there settled with his fant- ily. In the early part of 1727 his wife died, after a short illness. In about two years he married Elizabeth Levis, daughter of Samuel Levis, of Chester county. She was a distin- guished minister in the Society of Friends, and in many respects a very extraordinary woman.

The settlement of Mr. Shipley at Wilming- ton was the result of a dream of his wife's. In this dream she saw a beautiful place, which made so deep an impression on her mind that, when traveling through the country, she im- mediately recognized the spot and decided that they should settle there. Mr. Shipley yielded to her wishes, and they soon after took up their residence in what is now Wil- mington. Ile purchased several lots, pro- ceeded to make improvements, and prospered.

In 1743, Elizabeth Shipley, in company with Esther White, another distinguished minister of the Society of Friends, residing in Wilmington, made a journey to North Caro- lina on a religious mission, from whence they sailed for England, and traveled over Great Britain and Ireland. They returned in 1745. She was at that time considered on of the greatest ministers of her profession on the con- tinent of America. She lived to see Wilming- ton grow to be the largest town in the State

of Delaware, and departed this life in the fall of 1777, at the advanced age of eighty- seven years, having retained the full posses- sion of her mental faculties to the end of her days. When the battle of Brandywine was fought and lost, and Philadelphia was in the hands of the enemy, she was on her death bed. Some of her friends called to see her and con- dole with her on the distressed condition of the country. Requesting to be propped up in bed, she addressed the company in rela- tion to the existing state of public offairs, and closed with these impressive words: "But I have seen, in the light of the Lord, that the invader of our land should be driven back; for the arm that is mighty to save and able to deliver from the hands of the oppressor, is stretched forth for the deliverance of this na- tion, which, I am firm in the faith, will secure its independence."

Her sublime words made a deep impression on those sitting by her bedside, and became a subject of interesting conversation among her friends in the neighborhood. The solemnity of the occasion, the character of the speaker, and the circumstances under which the address was made, greatly increased the interest it was otherwise well calculated to excite. It was a voice from the borders of the grave, uttered by one who had long been considered an ex- traordinary person, and who was now just en- tering the portal of an eternal state. The pre- diction, as we all know, was fulfilled to the letter.

In 1735 Mr. Shipley built a large three- story brick house at what is now the southwest corner of Fourth and Shipley streets, Wil- mington. In this house he lived until his death in 1768, at the age of seventy-six.

William Shipley had issue by his first wife, Mary Ann Tatnall, Thomas, Ann, and Eliza- beth, as follows:

I. Thomas, b. 1718, in England, came to this country with his parents, settled with them in Wilmington, and afterwards pur- chased part of the water power of the Brandy- wine, which became a source of wealth to him- self and family. He married Mary Marriott, and they had nine children. Those who grew to adult age were:

i. William, b. 1746; d. 1816.

ii. Mary, (Mrs. Phineas Buckley), born 1750: died in New York in 1795.

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iii. Joseph, b. 1752; d. 1832; married Mary Levis, of Springfield, Delaware county, l'a .; inherited the large mill property on the Brandywine, was successful in business and left an honorable name. His wife survived him eleven years, dying in 1843. They had issue:

1. Samuel, born in 1777, married Eliza- beth, daughter of Capt. James Jefferis. Hle engaged in the milling business with his father until his health failed and he died in 1814, leaving two children, Thomas and Sarah. 2. Mary, (Mrs. John Dixon), of Wilmington, died in 1844. 3. Thomas, born in 1780, en- gaged in the shipping business in Philadel- phia, and was remarkably successful; was prostrated with sunstroke while visiting in the south of France, and died soon afterwards, at the early age of thirty-two. 4. John, born in 1782, was for many years engaged in the mill- ing business, and died in 1863. 5. Rebecca. 6. Anna. 7. Elizabeth. 8. Sarah. 9. Mar- garet. 10. Joseph, born December 4, 1795; entered the counting house of Samuel Canby, in Philadelphia, at the age of eighteen; went to England in 1819, and became a member of the great banking house of Brown, Ship- ley & Co. Their business became extensive and the reputation of the house was wide- spread. His business venture yielded him a fortune. Thirty years after he went abroad he returned to Delaware, his native state, and purchased a fine property in Brandywine IIundred, where he erected a beautiful resi- denee, and called the place "Rockwood." IIere he resided until his death, which oc- curred on the 9th of May, 1867, in the seven- ty-second year of his age. His remains were interred in the Friends' burying ground in

1 Wilmington. Referring to his honorable career as a business man and citizen, a writer observes: "Ile passed from earth at a ripe age, his life being one of honor and usefulness, and we doubt whether the soil of Delaware covers the remains of a more trusty merchant, a more worthy citizen or a better man than Joseph Shipley." 11. Hannah was the youngest of the eleven children of Joseph and Mary (Levis) Shipley.

iv. Sarah, b. 1755; married Cyrus New- lin, of Wilmington, and died in 1-34, leaving two children, Mary and Thomas.

v. Ann, b. in 1758; married John Jones, and died in 1808, leaving two children, Cyrus and Lydia.

vi. Anna, b. 1760; married William Byrnes, and died in 1808, leaving one son, Thomas.

Il. Anna, b. circa 1720.

III. Elizabeth, b. circa 1723. In 1744 she married Oliver, son of Thomas Canby. Hle was engaged in the milling business, and died in 1754. William, the eldest of their five children, in 1774, married Martha, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Marriott, of Bristol, Pa. They settled in Wilmington the same year. She died in 1826, and he survived her until 1830, when he died at the age of eighty-two.

Samuel Canby, second son of Oliver and Elizabeth (Shipley) Canby, was born in Wil- mington in 1751. Ilis father died when he was three years old. He learned the business of a carpenter and cabinet maker with Ziba Ferris. When his term of service expired in 1771, he removed to Brandywine and engaged in the milling business. In 1775 he married Frances Lea, daughter of James and Margaret Lea, of Wilmington, and removed to the house formerly owned by his father on the banks of the Brandywine. Later in life he built a large residence at the corner of Fourteenth and Market streets, in which his son, James, afterwards lived. In this mansion he lived forty-one years, until 1832, when he died at the age of eighty-one years.

James Canby, son of Samuel Canby, was born January 30, 1781, and for most of his adult life continued the flour mills owned by his father. He was one of the originators of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad and became the first president of the company. He died May 24, 1858.

Merrit Canby, son of William Canby, was born in Wilmington, November 19, 1783. From 1815 to 1836, he was engaged in the sugar refining business in Philadelphia. In 1836 he removed to Wilmington and was con- neeted with various financial institutions and other corporations until his death, December 10, 1866.

It may be said of William Shipley, the immigrant, that he was the founder of the flourishing commercial city of Wilmington,

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with its seventy thousand inhabitants. When he came here before 1735, it was a small town of less than thirty-three houses. But through the enterprise of Mr. Shipley the town began to grow rapidly. The first mar- ket house in Wilmington was built by him in the spring of 1736, at his own expense, and on his own . land. The first meeting of the Friends was held in his one-story brick house, and later meetings in his new house, until the first meeting-house was completed in the fall of 1738. The name of Mr. Shipley is perpet- uated by a street, and Tatnall street represents the maiden name of his first wife.

HON, CAESAR RODNEY.

Caesar Rodney, the first of the Congres- sional delegation from Delaware, was a native of that State, and was born about the year 1730. His place of birth was Dover. The family from which he descended was of an- cient date, and is honorably spoken of in the history of early times. We read of Sir Wal- ter De Rodeny, of Sir George De Rodeny, and Sir Henry De Rodeny, with several others of the same name, even earlier than the year 1234. Sir Richard De Rodeny accompanied the gallant Richard Coeur de Lion in his cru- sade to the Holy Land, where he fell while fighting at the siege of Acre.

In subsequent years the wealth and power of the family continued to be great. Inter- marriages took place between some of the members of it and several illustrious and noble families of England. During the civil wars, about the time of the Commonwealth, those families became considerably reduced, and their members were obliged to seek their for- tunes in new employments, and in distant countries. Soon after the settlement of Penn- sylvania by William Penn, William Rodney, one of the descendants of this illustrious fam- ily, removed to that province and after a short residence in Philadelphia, settled in Kent county, Delaware. This gentleman died in 1708, leaving a considerable fortune and eight children, the eldest of whom, is the sub- ject of this sketch. Mr. Rodney inherited from his father a large landed estate, which was entailed upon him according to the usages of distinguished families at that day. Such

was his popularity that at the early age of twenty-eight years he was appointed high sheriff of Kent county, and on the expiration of his term of service was created a justice of the peace and a judge of the lower courts. In 1762, and perhaps at a still earlier date, he represented the county of Kent in the provin- cial legislature. In this station he entered with great zeal and activity into the promi- nent measures of the day. In the year 1765 the first general Congress was assembled at New York to consult upon the measures to be adopted in consequence of the Stamp Act and other oppressive procedures of the British Government. Mr. Rodney, Mr. MeKean, and Mr. Kollock were unanimously appointed by the Provincial Assembly of Delaware to rep- resent that province in this Congress. For the faithful and judicious discharge of the trust reposed in them the Assembly unani- mously tendered its thanks and voted them a liberal compensation.

Soon after this Mr. Rodney, in consequence of ill health, was obliged to relinquish his pub- lic duties and seek medical advice. A can- cerous affection had some time previously made its appearance on his nose and was fast spreading itself over one side of his face. Fortunately the skill of the physician afforded him relief and he returned home greatly en- couraged.

Mr. Rodney was a member of the Congress of 1774, having for his colleagues Thomas MeKean and George Read. On the meeting of this Congress September 5, 1774, Mr. Rod- ney appeared and took his seat. He was ap- pointed on several important committees, ex- hibited great fidelity in the discharge of his duties, and as a reward for his services, re- ceived the thanks of the Provincial Assembly, together with a re-appointment to the same high station the following year. He was also appointed to the office of brigadier general in the province. At the time that the import- ant question of independence came before Congress, Mr. Rodney was absent on a tour in the southern part of Delaware, having for his object to quiet the discontent which pre- vailed in that section of the country, and to prepare the minds of the people for a change of government. On the question of independ- ence his colleagues, who were at this time in attendance upon Congress, were divided.

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Aware of the importance of a unanimous vote of the states in favor of a declaration of in- dependence, and acquainted with the views of Mr. Rodney, Mr. MeKean dispatched a spe- cial messenger to summon him to be present in his seat when the trying question should come before the body. With great effort Mr. Rodney reached Philadelphia just in time to give his vote and thus to secure entire unani- mity in passing what was termed by the loy- alists, "that act of treason."

In the autumn of 1776 a convention was called in Delaware for the purpose of framing a new Constitution, and of appointing dele- gates to the succeeding Congress. In this convention there was a majority opposed to Mir. Rodney, who was recalled from Congress and superseded by another person. Such in- gratitude on the part of the people was not common during the Revolutionary struggle. In the present instance the removal of this gentleman was principally attributable to the friends of the English Government, who were quite numerous, especially in the lower coun- ties, and who contrived to enlist the prejudices of some true republicans in accomplishing their object.

Although thus removed from Congress, Mr. Rodney still continued a member of the Council of Safety and of the committee of in- spection, in both of which offices he employed himself with great diligence, especially in col- lecting supplies for the troops of the State, which were at that time with Washington. In 1777 he repaired in person to the camp near Princeton, where he remained for nearly two months in the most active and laborious ser- vices.

In the autumn of 1777, Mr. Rodney was again appointed as a delegate to Congress from Delaware, but before taking his seat he was elected President of the State. (See sketches of the governors.) This was an of- fice of great responsibility, demanding energy and promptness, especially as the legislature of the state was tardy in its movements, and the loyalists not unfrequently excited troublesome insurrections. Mr. Rodney con- tinned in the office of President of the State for about three years. During this period he had frequent communications from Washing- ton in relation to the distressed condition of the army. In every emergency he was ready

to assist to the extent of his power; and by his energy and influence he succeeded in af- fording the most prompt and efficient aid. The honorable course which he pursued, his firm and yet liberal conduct in circumstances the most difficult and trying, greatly endeared him to the people of Delaware, who univer- sally expressed their regret when, in the year 1782, he felt obliged, on account of the ardu- ous nature of his duties, and the delicate state of his health, to decline a re-election.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 15

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