Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 22

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 22

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).

Mary (Boone) Johnson was a member of the Society of Friends; her remains were interred in the burying ground at Fifth and West streets, Wilmington, by the side of her son, Governor Caleb P. Bennett. She is repre- sented as being one of the most talented women of her day, well read in law, one of the most independent women of the age. She frequent- ly attended courts and read or imbibed law, which her capacious mind drank in like rivers

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of water. The technical terms were studied, and she was familiar with all the quirks and quibbles of attorneys. With her it was a per- fect mania to be involved in lawsuits. As a landholder, she was often qualified and would enter the office of any noted lawyer and tell her story, but never to offer a fec. When the · courts were in session at New Castle, she fre- quently attended them and with papers in hand would enter the court house with the confidence of a chief justice, and plead her own cause. And this she did in the day of our most prominent lawyers of Pennsylvania and Delaware. She was long remembered in Wit mington for her ability and knowledge of the law.

Caleb Prew Bennett was about three years of age when the family removed from Chester county, Pa., to Wilmington, which was in 1761. His father, Capt. Joseph Bennett, was so impressed with the importance of the ques- tions which resulted in the war of the Revolu- tion, and was so patriotically inclined, that he induced his son to enter the ranks when he wasscarcely seventeen years of age, tofight for liberty. At the commencement of hostilities, he joined one of the companies forming Colo- nel Hlaslet's regiment of Delaware State troops and served one year in the ranks as private and as first sergeant, and joined the main army in New York in 1777. He was commissioned ensign in Capt. Thomas Hol- land's company (Haslet's regiment), Conti- nental Establishment, April 5, 1777. He was with his company in the detachment under General Sullivan in the attack on Staten Is- land. On the 11th of September following he took part in the battle of Brandywine, which was fought within a few miles of his birthplace; the sound of the cannon could be heard at the home of his father in Wilming- ton. He was present with his company at the battle of Germantown in the capacity of ser- geant and was slightly wounded. This en- gagement occurred October 4, 1777; the Delaware regiment suffered severely, losing in killed and wounded seven out of thirteen officers, and about one-third of the privates. Captain Holland, his captain, was among the killed.

Sergeant Bennett proved himself so brave and capable a soldier that on August 16, 1778, he was commissioned second lieutenant, and in April, 1780, was promoted to the rank of

first lieutenant, and served in the companies of Captains John Rhodes and William Mc- Kennan to the close of the war. In May, 1778, Lieutenant Bennett joined General Washing- ton at Valley Forge, and spent the winter there. It was while stationed here that he was witness to a strange, yet impressive, ceremony in the life of the great commander. One Sunday the Rev. John Gano, a Baptist minis- ter and chaplain to one of the regiments, preached a very powerful sermon. General Washington was among his hearers. On Mon- day, when he met the chaplain, Washington demanded baptism by immersion at his hands. A few days afterwards they went to the Forge, when Washington remarked: "Here is water, what doth hinder me from being baptized !" The ceremony was performed in the presence of about forty persons, Lieutenant Bennett being one of the number. Knowing that Washington was an Episcopalian, this inci- dent made a deep impression on the mind of the young soldier.

Lieutenant Bennett was present at the bat- tle of Momnouth, as well as at other engage- ments in New Jersey. In April, 1780, his company was assigned to the detachment com- manded by Baron DeKalb, and ordered south.

Having arrived in South Carolina, active operations were immediately commenced, and on the 11th of August was fought the memor- able battle of Camden, where we find Lieu- tenant Bennett, with his company, in the warmest part of the engagement. The brave Baron DeKalb, after being mortally wounded, dictated a letter expressive of the gallant con- duet of the troops immediately under his com- mand, and particularly the Delaware regiment, which was in the thickest of the fight, and en- tirely eut to pieces, losing nine officers and seven companies out of the nine of which it was composed.

After this disastrous affair Lieutenant Ben- nett was sent home to Delaware to raise re- cruits, and in 1781, with one hundred and twenty men, he joined the French troops at Annapolis, and proceeded to Yorktown, which was besieged. In the last crowning success of the American army at this point, Lieutenant Bennett bore a conspicuous part, commanding the left battery of the American force on the day when Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army to Washington.

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After this brilliant achievement of the American arms, Lieutenant Bennett joined General Greene in South Carolina, and re- mained in the active service of his country till peace was declared and the army disbanded. They left the southern field in October, 1783. for home. When the war ended and indepen- dence had been secured, Lieutnant Bennett was only twenty-five years of age and had de- voted eight years to the service of his country, enduring the severest hardships, with a com- pensation hardly sufficient to meet his ex- penses.

When Lieutenant Bennett returned to his home in Wilmington he settled down to the quiet vocations of life and went to work with a will to cultivate the arts of peace. He was active, industrious and enterprising, and took much interest in the politics of the times. In the meantime he married, but the name of his wife has not been preserved. In 1807 he was appointed treasurer of New Castle county, the duties of which office he discharged with promptness and fidelity till the fall of 1832, a period of twenty-five years; he finally re- linquished the office on being nominated for Governor of Delaware. On November 13, 1832, he was triumphantly elected the first Jackson governor of the State. This import- ant office he continued to fill with honor to himself and credit to the State till the day of his death, June 11, 1836. Dying before the expiration of his term, the acting governor- ship devolved on ex-Governor Charles Polk, then president of the Senate.

When the war or 1812 broke out, the mar- tial spirit of the old soldier was at once aroused, and we find him again in the military service of his country. Promoted to the rank of Ma- jor, he was appointed to the command of the forees stationed at New Castle, and remained in the service until peace was declared. Few of the veterans of the Revolution saw longer and harder service. He participated in all the important battles of the Revolution and was thrice wounded. When he died he was the last surviving officer of the Delaware Line. He became a member of the Society of the Cincin- nati, and served as assistant treasurer of the Delaware State Society in 1799. ITis certifi- cate of membership in the Cincinnati is now in the possession of his grandson, Calvin Smith Bennett, residing near Natchez, Mississippi.

As might have been expected, the death of the ex-governor and veteran soldier, although at the ripe age of seventy-eight years, caused a profound sensation; and especially in his own city were the expressions of sorrow most mark- ed. Ile was a kind and affectionate husband, a tender and indulgent parent, an active and useful citizen, and above all a patriot whose devotion to the welfare, prosperity and inde- pendence of his country knew no bounds and felt no sacrifice too great in its behalf.

THE ADAMS FAMILY.

Daniel Jenifer Adams was born at Port To- bacco, Md., in 1750, and died in 1796. Ac- cording to Captain Bellas, the genealogist, the father of Daniel was Josias Adams, born in 1709, son of Francis Adams, who was born in Charles county, Md., in 1680. Francis Adams married Mary, daughter of George Godfrey, and besides Josias, they had five sons, George, Abednego, Sammel, Francis, and Ignatius. Josias, the eklest of these six sons, married Ann Jenifer; their children were: i. Daniel Jenifer, as stated above, born in 1750; ii. Elizabeth Mason; iii. Anna Adams.

Daniel Jenifer Adams, at the commence- ment of the Revolution, was commissioned a first lieutenant in Captain Rezin Beall's In- dependent Company of Maryland militia (Jan. 14, 1776); and afterwards appointed brigade-major to General Beall of the Mary- land "Flying Camp;" August 27 to December 1, 1776; commissioned Major of Seventh Maryland Regiment of the Continental Es- tablishment, April 1, 1777, and resigned June 8, 1779. He served after the war as brigadier general of Delaware militia and as sheriff of New Castle county, Delaware, where he then resided till his death, Novem- ber 29, 1796. HTe is buried in Old Swedes' churchyard in Wilmington, where a large tombstone is placed over his remains. He was an original member of the Delaware State Cincinnati Society.

Major Adams married Nancy Hanson, of Kent county, Delaware, sister of Lydia Han- son, who married Colonel Nehemiah Tilton, brother of Surgeon James Tilton, and had is- sue (surname Adams) :

I. Daniel Jenifer, Jr., born

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

dence Moore, of Philadelphia, December 10, Adams is buried in the Old Swedes' church- 1802, and had one son. Both of his children yard, Wilmington. died unmarried.

II. Josias Hanson, born -; mar- ried Hannah Moore, of Clarksburg, West Vir- ginia, and had issue: i. Daniel, ii. Jenifer, who left no issue, ii. Preston, who left three daugh- ters, iii. Alexander Hanson, who died unmar- · ried.

III. Elizabeth, of whom no record has been found.

IV. Alexander Hanson, died ummarried.

V. Susannah Hanson, of whom no record has been found.

VI. Maria, no record.

VII. Thomas Jenifer, Jr., born February 11, 1796, died in 1868; was married twice. First, to Isabella, daughter of James and Ja- net Kilgore Bogie, of Scotland, who was born in 1802, and died in 1857; they had issue: i. Janet, died in infancy, 1822; ii. Isabella Hanson, married General James Tilton, of Delaware, her second cousin, who was the grandson of Colonel Nehemiah Tilton, of Delaware. They had issue: 1. Francis, 2. Edward Gibson, 3. Bayard, and 4. Howard Tilton; iii. Alexander Hanson, married IIes- ter Tiebout, and died in 1880, they had issue: 1. Mary Jenifer, who married - Ed- wards, and died without issue, 2. Charles Breck, born 1859, and married (1885) Jennie Andrews and has issue: Robert Andrews, Ifelen M., Charles Breck, Jr., and an infant daughter; iv. Charles Jenifer, married Sarah Jennings and had issue: Adele, who married Lieut. H. M. Witzel, U. S. N .; v. Janet Kilgore, married Thomas L. Moore and had issue: 1. Isabella, 2. Harriet, 3. Richard; vi. Howard Jenifer, married Eli- zabeth Flint and had children: 1. Elizabeth and 2. Charles Jenifer; vii. Harriet Buchanan married Robert Andrews and had issue: 1. Jane, 2. Ella; viii. Thomas Jenifer, died in 1842 and is buried in Old Swedes' church- yard.

Thomas Jenifer Adams married second, Mary A. Jennent. She was born in 1815, and died in 1887. She was the widow of Henry Waples, son of William and grandson of Capt. Samuel Waples of Accomac county, Virginia, and of the Ninth Virginia Continental Line, who died in 1834. There was no issue by the second marriage. Mrs. M. A. (Tennent)

HENRY LATIMER.

Henry Latimer, an early and prominent citizen of Delaware, was born at Newport, New Castle county, in 1752, son of IIon. James and Sarah (Geddes) Latimer. After receiving a primary education he com- menced the study of medicine in Philadelphia and completed the course by graduating at the Medical College of Edinburg, Scotland. Re- turning home, he practiced his profession in Wilmington, until the breaking out of the Revolution. After seeing some field service he was, in 1777, commissioned surgeon in the Continental army, and attached to what was called the Flying Hospital. Dr. Latimer's services were in constant demand; he was with the army in all the battles in the northern department from Brandywine to Yorktown. When the war ended in 1783, he returned to the practice of medicine in Wilmington. He was elected a member of the State Legisla- ture; also to Congress from 1793 to 1795; but before closing his last term as a member of the House of Representatives, he was, in 1794, elected United States Senator from Delaware for one term. After a long and honorable life, he died December 19, 1819, and was buried in the graveyard of the First Presbyterian church, Wilmington, where his tombstone may be seen. He left descendants. His son, John R. Latimer, succeeded him as a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, in Pennsyl- vania, in 1821, and after filling a number of minor offices became vice-president of the society in 1854-55, and president in 1855, which position he held until his death in 1865.

WILLIAM MCKENNAN.

William MeKennan was born in Christiana hundred, New Castle county. His father was a clergyman, and preached at what is still known as MeKennan's Meeting House. Soon after the beginning of the Revolution, William MeKennan was commissioned second lieutenant in Capt. Thomas Kean's company, Col. Samuel Patterson's Delaware Batallion of the Flying Camp, June or July, 1776; second lieutenant, Colonel Hall's Delaware regiment,

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Continental Establishment, November 29, 1776; first lieutenant, Captain Lear month's and l'atten's companies, same regiment April 5, 1777, and February, 1780; captain in 1751 and served to the close of the war. Hle way present at the siege and surrender of York- town, and was in command of the Delaware detachment on its return to his native state in January, 1783. The march was a long and weary one. Leaving its headquarters on the Ashley River, where it then lay encamped and taking up its march via Camden, Salis- bury, and Petersburg, the detachment crossed the James River at Carter's Ferry, pushed on through Maryland, and in exactly two months after the date of its departure from the main Southern army, finally arrived-and with what feelings can be only imagined, not described-at Christiana Creek, near New Castle. Here the battalion was encamped until October of the same year, when it was permanently disbanded; Captain MeKennan, then in command, being appointed to settle and adjust the accounts of the officers and men .of the battalion with the United States Auditor, as also "to issue both certificates for past services as well as land warrants to the individuals claiming, or their attorneys for them, which duty he performed to the general satisfaction."

Captain MeKennan was the first secretary of the Delaware State Society of the Cincin- nati, and served from 1784 to 1795. This distinguished and faithful officer died in New Castle county, in February, 1803. He left descendants, among whom is Dr. Thomas MeKonan, of Washington, Pa., a grandson.

MAJOR JOHN PATTEN.

Jolin Patten, born near Dover, Kent- county, Delaware, April 26, 1746, son of William and Ann Patten, was of Scotch-Irish origin. He was brought up to the vocation of a farmer, and was engaged in that pursuit when the Revolution began. Imbued with the spirit of independence, he at once took an active position in the army. On the forma- tion of Capt. Jonathan Caldwell's company, Colonel Haslet's regiment of Delaware State troops in Continental service, January 15, 1776, he was commissioned first lieutenant ; senior captain in Colonel Hall's Delaware

regiment, November 30, 1776; and major, December 14, 1779. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Camden, S. C., August 16, 1780, and was on parole to the close of the war. Major Patten returned to Delaware after being paroled, but as he had not been ex- changed, he did not rejoin his regiment. Ma- jor Patten was elected to Congress in 1785 and served two years. Upon the adoption of the United States Constitution, he was elected a member of the Third Congress from Dela- ware, and served in 1798-94. Subsequently he was elected to the Fourth Congress, and served till 1797. He was diligent and faith- ful in the discharge of his duties and was hon- ored by his constituents. Major Patten died December 26, 1800, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and his ashes rest in the Presby- terian Churchyard at Dover. Major Patten was the first vice-president of the Delaware State Society of the Cincinnati, and so con- tinned until elected President in 1799. Ile was also a delegate to the general meetings of the Society in 1788, 1790, 1791 and 1793, and took a deep interest in the proceedings. Little is known of his family; but he left descendants who have kept bright the lustre of his name.

GOVERNOR POLK. .

Charles Polk, son of Charles Polk, and the fourth of the name in the line of descent, was born near Bridgeville, Nanticoke hundred, in 1788, and died in 1857. The family was originally from Scotland, and the name in early times was written Pollock. The ances- tor of the family in America settled first in Maryland, but on the termination of the dis- pute between Penn and Lord Baltimore, he was thrown on the Delaware side of the bound- ary line, in Little Creek hundred. Charles Polk had three sons, Charles, John and Jo- seph. The oldest of these, Charles, became the father of Governor Charles Polk. He was a man of means, owning more than one thou- sand acres of land. In 1791 he was sent as a delegate to the convention called for the pur- pose of forming a constitution for the State of Delaware, and was choses president. During the sittings of the convention he was taken ill and was compelled to retire to his home, where he soon after died. At the time of his death

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his son, Charles, was scarcely eight years of age. This son, destined to become one of the representative men of Delaware, was ten- derly reared by his mother, and carly in life evinced talents of no mean order. When of sufficient age, he read law under the direction of the celebrated Kensey Johns, Sr., and was admitted to practice, but for some reason never followed the profession he had chosen. Ile went back to the home where he was born, and where his father had lived and died.

In 1816 he went to Milford hundred, Kent county, where he purchased a tract of eleven hundred acres of land, which is still in the possession of his descendants. Before this time Mr. Polk (as early as 1813) had served as a member of the Legislature from Sussex county, and in 1815 he was re-elected. In 1816 or 1817 he was sent to the Legislature from Kent county, and in 1819 he became a member of the Levy Court. After discharg- ing the duties of this office to the satisfaction of the people, he was anxious to retire to pri- vate life, but his friends would not consent, as they had further honors in store for him. Consequently, in 1824, he was sent to the State Senate, and chosen speaker.

Mr. Polk's political course was still onward and upward. In 1826 he was the choice of the people for governor, and served three years. When the convention of 1831 to revise the State Constitution was called, he was chosen its president. Soon after the close of the Constitutional Convention he was, in 1834, again elected to the State Senate, and on the assembling of the body was chosen speaker. On the death of Governor Bennett, which occurred in June, 1836, IIon. Charles Polk became, by virtue of his position as speaker of the Senate, acting governor, and filled out the term with credit to himself and the people. But his career of usefulness as a public servant did not close with his retire- ment from the chair of state, for in 1838 he was again elected a state senator and chosen speaker, on account of his peculiar fitness for the office. At the expiration of his last sena- torial term, he was appointed register of wills for Kent county, by Governor William B. Cooper, in 1843, and served four years. In 1850 he was appointed collector of the port of Wilmington, but resigned in 1853, and died October 27, 1857.

It is seldom that we find a man who is called upon to serve his fellow citizens in more po- sitions of honor and trust than Governor Polk. Hle died at his home in Milford hun- dred and was buried in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church at Dover.

Governor Polk married Mary Elizabeth Purnell, of Berlin, Md., and the union was blessed with sixteen children, of whom only nine survived him, the rest dying young. Of the nine, four are yet living. One son, William Alexander Polk, ex-register of wills for Sussex county, was a member of the Leg- islature in 1867, and speaker of the House.

DR. JAMES TILTON.

Dr. James Tilton was a native of Kent county, Delaware, where he was born June 1, 1745. All that is known of his parentage is that he was the son of Thomas Tilton; the name of the mother has not been handed down to us. After securing the best education af- forded in the times in which he lived, he en- tered upon the study of medicine and gradu- ated from the medical department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, M. B., in 1768, and M. D., in 1771. He early took sides with the patriots who were preparing to throw off the British yoke, and when Colonel Haslet's regiment of Delaware state troops was organ- ized, young Dr. Tilton was commissioned sur- geon; he served with the regiment from January 16, 1776, to December of the same year. He was appointed hospital physician and surgeon, October 6, 1780, and served with the army to the close of the war. On June 11, 1813, Dr. Tilton was appointed Surgeon General, United States Army, and honorably discharged June 15, 1815, after the termination of the second war with Great Britain. Dr. Tilton was skilled and honored as a surgeon, had the confidence of the people and was regarded as one of the leading and. representative citizens. He possessed a high order of ability and was the author of several treatises on medical, sanitary, and other sub- jeets. Although a studions man, he loved society, and drew around him the refined and cultivated; he was noted for his hospitality and good cheer, and his friends were always delighted when in his presence. Dr. Tilton resided on his estate near Wilmington, and

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died there May 14, 1822, in the seventy- seventh year of his age. He was president of the Delaware State Society of the Cincinnati from its organization to 1795, and delegate to the general meetings of the Society of the Cincinnati from 1784 to 1793, when the State Society ceased to be represented. Ilis in- signia, presented by General Lafayette, are now the property of his grandnephew, Col. MeLane Tilton, United States Marine Corps.

THE ANDERSON FAMILY.

Joseph Anderson was born near Philadel- phia, November 5, 1757, but nothing is known of his parentage and ancestry. Ile studied law and was just beginning to prac- tice when the Revolutionary war broke out. He was commissioned an ensign in the Third New Jersey regiment, Continental Estab- lishment, May, 1776; second lieutenant, July 19, 1776; first lieutenant, November 29, 1776; captain, October 26, 1777; trans- ferred to First New Jersey regiment, Conti- mental Establishment, January 1, 1781. Captain Anderson was retained in the New Jersey battalion until April, 1783. He also served as regimental paymaster from October 26, 1777, to the close of the war, and Was brevetted major September 30, 1785. Major Anderson was a brave and gallant officer and saw much hard service. He was with General Sullivan in his famous expedition up the North Branch of the Susquehanna against the Iroquois Indians and participated in the bat- tle of "Horse Heads," near the present city of Elmira, where the Indians were defeated and their confederacy broken. He was present at the siege of Yorktown, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis. After the war he began the practice of law in Delaware; in 1791 was appointed by President Washington territorial judge of the region south of the Ohio River, and took part as delegate from Jefferson county in framing the constitution of Tennessee. He was United States Senator from that State from 1797 to 1815, and acted as president pro tempore. He was appointed the first comptroller of the United States Treasury in 1815, and served until his death, in Washington, April 17, 1837.

Enoch Anderson was born at New Castle, Delaware, but the date has not been preserved.

Ile was commissioned second lieutenant, Cap- tain Stidham's company, Colonel Haslet's regiment of Delaware state troops, January 13, 1776. At the battle of Long Island he was wounded. On December 3, 1776, he was appointed captain; transferred to Colonel Hall's Delaware regiment, April 3, 1777, and retired from service in September, 1778. Ile died March 4, 1820.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 22

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