Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 29

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

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Bank. In November, 1882, he had been elected on the Democratic ticket to the State Legislature, and in the fall of 1884 he was re-elected; being chosen speaker of the House of Representatives during this session; he resigned his position in the National Bank, January 1, 1885, in order to give his attention more fully to his legislative duties. In De- cember, 1885, Mr. Comegys was appointed Chief Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, with office at Wilmington, Del .; the duties of this office he performed efficiently until June 1, 1888, at which date he resigned. During the spring of 1891 he again embarked in the grain business at Middletown, and con- tinued in this business until February, 1894, when he received his appointment to his pres- ent position, that of Special Deputy Collector of Customs. In 1879 Mr. Comegys, who takes a warm and intelligent interest in the affairs of the borough in which he resides, was elected treasurer of Middletown; in 1892 he was elected a light and water commissioner for four years, and re-elected for a further period of five years, in 1896. He supports the Democratic party, and is a member of Union Lodge, No. 6. A. O. U. W.

William Alexander Comegys was married in Middletown, Del., April 30, 1872, to Frances E., daughter of Robert A. and Mary (Rouse) Cochran; Mr. Cochran is a native of New Castle, Del., and his wife of Harford county, Md. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Comegys are: I. Robert A., born July 8, 1873, now studying medicine at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania; II. Joseph P., born November 1, 1883; and two sons, Birkhead and Harry, who died in infancy. Mr. Co- megys is a member of the Protestant Episco- pal Church, and served from 1875 to 1896 as vestryman of St. Ann's church, at Middle- town.

ALLEN VOORHEES LESLEY, M. D., By Henry Voorhees Stilwell, Philadelphia. -Practiced medicine at New Castle, Dela- ware. He was born in Philadelphia June 17, 1822, died at New Castle November 7, 1881, and was buried at North Laurel Hill Ceme- tery, Philadelphia. Dr. Lesley was a gradu- ate of the University of Pennsylvania, grand master of the M. W. Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Dela-

ware, and a member of the State Legislature. HIe was married June 10, 1844, to Jane Les- ley Voorhees, born April 7, 1816, died in New Castle, Del., July 31, 1874. She was the daughter of Henry P. Voorhees, mer- chant of Fultonville, Montgomery county, New York, and Jane Cowenhoven, his wife, born March 12, 1792, died May 7, 1874.

Dr. Lesley was the son of Peter Lesley, born in Philadelphia June 19, 1793; died in Phila- delphia March 6, 1855, married Eliza- beth Oswald Allen, born in Philadelphia May 20, 1793, died in Philadelphia August 17, 1832, daughter of John Wineull Allen and Sarah Rand, his wife.

The said Peter Lesley was the son of Peter Lesley, born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 1738, and died in Philadelphia March 31, 1816; married Catharine Kitler, born 1757, died in Philadelphia December 25, 1832.

The cout of arms of the Lesley family-(a demi-griffin, rampant, motto "grip fast") was granted Bartholomew Lesley by Queen Mar- garet of Scotland on account of his rescuing her from drowning, while they were crossing a swollen stream; he seized her by the girdle, while she frequently told him to "grip fast;" this was the origin of the motto.

JOSHUA PUSEY, EsQ., Philadelphia, Pa., son of the late Jacob and Louisa (Web- ster) Pusey, of Wilmington, Delaware, was born March 27, 1842, at Auburn, now York- lyn, New Castle county, Del., where his father established one of the early cotton mills of this country.

Mr. Pusey's early life was full of change and adventure. He received a liberal educa- tion in private schools, and at the age of eighteen, when with a publishing house in Philadelphia, having an intense desire to see the Old World, he took steerage passage on an Irish packet ship for Londonderry, Ireland. IIe traveled through parts of Ireland, Scotland, and England, thence to the continent, through Holland, Germany, parts of France, Switzer- land, Italy and Austria. He also traveled through Illyria, Styria, Croatia and Hungary; having in the year and a half of his interest- ing and eventful wanderings walked several thousand miles without a companion, and learned several languages on the way. Some time after his arrival at Buda-Pesth, the capi-

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tal of Hungary, he learned of the battle of Bull Run. The next evening he was home- ward bound, determined to enlist in the war for the Union. When he arrived at Liver- pool, he had not sufficient money to pay his passage across the Atlantic (not having waited for an expected draft at Buda-Pesth). He therefore obtained a position on a steamer, ' and on arriving at New York went imme- diately to Washington, with the view of en- listing in a cavalry regiment. Mr. Pusey, however, returned home, and after spending a part of the succeeding summer at the farm of the late Milton Conrad, at West Grove, Chester county, Pa., he enlisted in the First Pennsylvania Rifles-the celebrated "Buck- tails"-with Alexander McClurg, a school teacher at West Grove, who was killed near Mr. Pusey at the terible battle of Fredericks- burg, in December, 1862.

Mr. Pusey was severely wounded in the same battle, in the thick of the fight; a ball en- tering his neck, just escaping the carotid ar- tery, and, passing through the root of the tongue, it shattered the jaw on one side into fragments and broke it squarely off on the other side. His jaw and chin hung down in that condition for some three weeks, before being brought up into proper place. The shot rendered him unconscious for a time, but when he returned to consciousness he found himself between the Union and Confederate forces in the midst of a fierce artillery duel, a pandemonium of shrieking and hissing shells and other missiles. As he was in dan- ger of being hit at any moment, he crawled into a ditch, and there remained for a while, until, afraid of being captured by the enemy, he walked towards the Union lines, and was finally picked up by an ambulance and taken to an improvised field hospital not far from Rappahannock River. Here he saw Captain Frederick Taylor, then commanding the regi- ment who had been slightly wounded in the battle. Captain Taylor seeing Mr. Pusey's terrible condition, and supposing that his wound was probably fatal, took Mr. Pusey by the hand, and with tears in his eyes simply said "My dear fellow."

Mr. Pusey, after further experiences in hos- pitals adjacent to Fredericksburg, finally wrote home that he had been severely wound- ed. His brother after some time discovered his whereabouts, and he was taken to Wil-

mington, where he was successfully treated by seven surgeons and physicians, among them Dr. Kane, a brother of the former colonel of the Buektails; but it was many months before he could talk.

After spending part of the summer of 1863 with Milton Conrad, to recuperate his strength, Mr. Pusey enlisted in an emergency artillery company, that was stationed at Bush River, Md., about the time of the battle of Gettysburg. Subsequently, in the spring of 1864, he went to Washington and there en- gaged extensively in the manufacture of bricks, which business he carried on for sev- eral years, until he sold out his interest. He then removed to Philadelphia, and after- wards studied law, finishing his studies in the office of the well-known lawyers George H. Earle and Richard P. White, and was ad- mitted to the bar in the latter part of 1873.

Mr. Pusey is a member of the bar of various circuit courts of the United States and has been a counsellor of the Supreme Court of the United States for twenty years past. He has made a specialty of patent, trade-mark and copyright cases; in fact his practice, which is an extensive one, has been exclusive- ly in that line for many years. Mr. Pusey has, in the course of his practice, had occasion to travel in almost every State and territory of the Union.

Hle is a member of Post 2, of Philadelphia, of the Grand Army of the Republic; of the Franklin Institute; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Bucktail Association, and other societies, including the Sons of Dela- ware, of whose "club song"-which is always sung standing at the meetings of the society -he is the composer.

Mr. Pusey resides in a charming country- seat, "Mapelinden," in the hills of Delaware county.

Joshua Pusey was married November 15, 1866, to Rebecca K., daughter of Joseph R. and Sarah W. Kenderdine, of Philadelphia. Their children are: I. Albert Raymond; II. Grace Edna: III. Josephine Gertrude, de- ceased; IV. Frederick Taylor; V. Walter Car- roll; and one that died in infancy. Mrs. Re- becca Pusey died December 6, 1876. Joshma Pusey was again married November 18, 1579, to Caroline F. C. S., daughter of the late Abraham Z. and Sarah C. Shreve, formerly of Salem, N. J. The children of this mar-

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riage are: I. Arthur Warren; II. Clarence Carton, died young; III. Ilda B. The family, although not all members of the Society of Friends, lean that way.

FREDERICK TAYLOR PUSEY, Esq., P. O. Lansdowne, Delaware county, Pa., son of Joshua and Rebecca ( Kenderdine) Pusey, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., June 3, 1872.

Ilis primary education was obtained in the public schools of Chester county, Pa., near Avondale. Subsequently he attended the Friends' School of Philadelphia and was graduated from the Friends' Central High School of that city, in 1889. After completing his studies there he went to his father's country-seat near Lima, Delaware county, Pa. He was afterwards chosen as- sistant manager of a hosiery mill in Kensing- ton, Philadelphia county, and held that posi- tion for one year. During that time he began the study of law. In January, 1892, he en- tered the office of Colonel Wendell Phillips Bowman, in Philadelphia, and there com- pleted his legal studies. On February 1, 1894, Mr. Pusey was admitted to the bar of Phila- delphia county, and since that time has been in active practice and associated with Colonel Bowman. He is also a member of the bar of Delaware county, Pa.

Mr. Pusey is conspicuous in the service of the National Guard of Pennsylvania. En- listing as a private in Company C, First Regi- ment, in June 1892, at the time of the Home- stead riots, he has risen rapidly until he is now a member of the colonel's staff. He held all the non-commissioned offices, was battalion ser- geant major of staff, was afterward, in Febru- ary, 1896, promoted to battalion adjutant, and in the same year was appointed regimental adjutant under Colonel Bowman. He dis- charged the duties of his office with marked ability during the Hazleton riots in 1897, and was among the first to volunteer at Mt. Gretna in May, 1898, when the soldiers of Pennsylvania's National Guard were asked to enlist in the army of the United States in the war against Spain.

Mr. Pusey has taken a deep interest in the Law Academy of Philadelphia, which was founded in 1783, has served as assistant secretary, secretary and vice-president, and is now president of that institution. His home

is at Lansdowne, Delaware county, Pa., and he is a member of several clubs there.

On December 3, 1895, in Brooklyn, N. Y., Frederick Taylor Pusey was married to Nellie, daughter of John S. and Charlotte (Purchase) Ogilvie. They have one child, John Stuart Ogilvie, born March 10, 1898. Mr. Pusey is a member of the Society of Friends; the mom- bers of Mrs. Pusey's family are connected with the Congregational Church.

WALTER CARROLL PUSEY, Esq., son of Joshua and Rebecca K. Pusey, was born in Philadelphia August 9, 1874. Hc was educated and graduated at the Friends' Central High School, Philadelphia, and is en- gaged with his father in the patent practice. Walter C. Pusey married Edith L., daughter of Pusey P. and Caroline S. Bye, September 27, 1898.

HON. WILLARD HALL, late of Wil- mington, Del., son of Willis and Mehitable (Pool) Hall, was born in Westford, Mass., De- cember 24, 1780.

Judge Hall's Christian name was the fam- ily name of his great-great-grandmother, Mar- garet Willard, an English lady, who with her brother, Major Simon Willard, left their an- cestral home in the county of Kent, England, crossed the ocean, and settled in Cambridge, Mass. Major Willard, who became the an- cestor of a large and widely extended family of that name, and of many allied names, in this country, served the colony of, Massachu- setts as legislator and judge, and held a com- mand in the early Indian wars. He died in Charlestown, Mass., leaving seventeen chil- dren. Margaret Willard married Captain Dolour Davis; they had one daughter, who became Mrs. Stephen Hall, and whose son, Hall, was the father of Rev. Willard HIall, grandfather of the judge.

Rev. Willard Hall was noted for his piety and his intellectual gifts. He resided in West- ford, Mass., where his son, Willis Hall, was born and died. Mehitable (Pool), wife of Willis Hall, was a member of the family of high standing and influence in Hollis, N. HI .; a brother of Mrs. Hall's was a noted leader in politics. It may readily be inferred from this scanty outline that the ancestors of Hon.

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Willard Hall were people of strong character, and of fine mental powers, developed and strengthened by culture; to these may be added a sound physical constitution, the out- come of generations of temperate and whole- some living.

To his grandfather, whose namesake he was, Judge Hall owed much of the training re- · ceived at the most susceptible period of life, that of early youth. For three years he at- tended the academy at Westford, Mass., be- came a student of Harvard at the early age of fifteen, and was graduated four years later, in 1799. The president of Harvard College at that time was a relative of the youth, the Rev. Joseph Willard. In 1803, young Wil- Jard Hall was admitted to the bar of Hills- borough county, N. H. The course of his life, so far as regards the scene in which it was to be laid, was determined at this time by an ap- parently fortuitous circumstance. Happen- ing to read a speech made by Hon. James A. Bayard, he found himself so powerfully im- pressed and attracted by it that he wrote to Mr. Bayard, and receiving from that gentle- man a courteous and encouraging reply, de- cided to seek a home in Delaware. Leaving his father's house on horseback, April 7, 1803, he reached Wilmington April 16, was exam- ined by Hon. James A. Bayard and James P. Wilson, Esq., and admitted to the bar of New Castle county. He soon became distin- guished not only for his legal acumen, learn- ing and sound judgment, but for those still higher qualities which inspire confidence and esteem. He was in consequence chosen to perform many important public services. In 1812 he was appointed secretary of State by Governor Haslet, and again in 1821, by Governor Collins, serving under each appoint- ment for a term of three years. Ile was elect- ed to the National House of Representatives in 1816 and in 1818, but preferring to re- main at home, declined re-election. He was elected to the State Senate in 1822.

Upon the death of Hon. John Fisher, Wil- lard Hall received from President Monroe, May 6, 1823, the appointment of district judge of the United States for the District of Delaware, and soon after removed from Georgetown to Wilmington, which was hi; residence during the remainder of his life. Retiring thus from a profession which he had adorned by his exemplary purity of life, no

less than by his ability, and his fidelity and promptness in the discharge of every duty, he continued to display upon the judicial bench the same sagacity and impartiality, the same single-minded devotion to the constitution and legal system of the country which had fur- nished the reason for his elevation. During his incumbeney of almost a half century, but one decision of Judge Hall's ever incurred un- favorable criticism; and that criticism became hushed as the waves of excited feeling sub- sided, and the principle that underlay his de- cision was more clearly apprehended. The case grew out of the detention of certain pris- oners, civilians, charged with the murder of soldiers during the War of the Rebellion, the accused being citizens of South Carolina and Georgia. They were held by the War Department, at Fort Delaware, and relief was sought for them by means of a writ of habeas corpus, which Judge Hall granted. His rea- soning in the case was acute and profound, and the Executive Department endorsed his action by its acquiescence; but the decision, conscientiously upholding the majesty of the Constitution and rights of the citizen, in op- position to the turbulent currents of popular feeling, at that time (1866) still in a state of general upheaval, required no small degree of courage. Ilis impartiality was the more mani- fest on account of his own devotion to the cause of the Union, to which he had given his support throughout the whole struggle.

Mr. Hall's duties as U. S. district judge, while they were important, were not engross- ing, and left him leisure for attending to other departments of public service. He was a delegate from New Castle county in 1831 to the convention for framing a new constitu- tion for the state of Delaware, and was one of the leaders in that convention; among his colleagues were John M. Clayton, James Rodgers and George Reed, Jr. From the time when he was Secretary of State, in 1822, he was an active and earnest promoter of the pub- lic school system. The school board of Wil- mington was organized in 1852, and from that time until 1870, Judge Hall was its president. Throughout his life, he was constant in sup- porting the cause of temperance. At the time when "colonization" was looked to with hope as the solution of many perplexing difficulties, Judge ITall gave the scheme his best efforts; for many years he was president of the State

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Colonization Society of Delaware. At a later period, he became an active member of the Society for the Education of the Colored Peo- ple. Hle was president of the Wilmington Savings Fund Society from its organization until the infirmities of advancing age made his retirement necessary. He rendered active and zealous service to the Delaware State Bible Society for nearly fifty years; during thirty years of that time he was president of the or- ganization, and was absent from a meeting of the society but once, when detained at home by illness. In his eighty-fourth year he be- came a member of the Delaware Historical Society, and as long as he was able, he af- forded to the society the aid of his influence and counsel, attending its meetings as regular- ly as his declining strength permitted.

Willard Hall was married not long after his admission to the bar, to a daughter of the late Chancellor Killen. They had one daughter, Lucinda II. (Mrs. Porter), who died in 1869. Mrs. Hall died in 1824; in 1826 Judge Hall married- Ile was a member of the Hanover Street Presbyterian Church, with which he connected himself March 8, 1827. On September 23, 1829, he was elected a rul- ing elder, and continued in this office until his death. For more than forty years, he taught the Bible elass connected with the Sunday- school; at least once, he represented his con- gregation in the General Assembly. Judge ITall was the author of a pamphlet entitled " 1 Plea for the Sabbath, Addressed to the Legal Profession," and of an address on the same subject, delivered in Baltimore in 1844. The whole of Judge Hall's life and career form a "living epistle," written in unmistakable chat- acters. It was not until his ninetieth winter that the venerable jurist retired from active duties; and a tranquil passage from time into eternity, May 10, 1875, was the fitting con- clusion of his vigorous and useful life.

ELEUTHIERE IRENEE DUPONT, Youngest son of Pierre Sammel DuPont de Nemours and Nicole Charlotte Marie Louise Le Dee de Rencourt, was born in Paris, France, June 24, 1771. The celebrated statesman, Turgot, his father's intimate friend, stood his sponsor, and chose his bap- tismal names on account of their meaning; a selection in every way highly significant.

His early education was carried on at home, upon his father's estate of Bois des Fosses, near the vilage of Chevennes, in what is now the Department of Seine and Marne. He was a diligent student, besides being active and courageous, taking pleasure in rural sports. Ilis favorite sciences were botany and chemis- try. In his father and the men who were his associates, young DuPont happily found the incentive to moral and intellectual exertion which springs from constant intercourse with worthy exemplars; nor was he deficient in the power to appreciate or the ambition to emu- late their superiority. Ilis controlling motive seemed to be a desire to become worthy and useful. During his earliest years, he enjoyed the care of an excellent and tender mother; but she died when he was thirteen years of age, in 1784. When, in the ensuing year, the navigator La Perouse was fitting out his vessels for cireumnavigating the globe, young DuPont was eager to join the expedition; but he submitted cheerfully to the decision of his father, who was not willing to let him leave home at so early an age.

It was not long after this that the chemist Lavoisier, whom M. Turgot had placed as su- perintendent in the government powder mills, and who was also a friend of the elder DuPont, and had conceived a warm affection for his son, asked to have the youth placed under his charge and tuition, promising to se- cure for him the reversion of his own office. To this the father consented, and Irenee DuPont was placed first in the government mills at Essonne, there to acquire a practical knowledge of the manufacture of gunpowder. Ile was still engaged with his characteristic energy and application in this pursuit, when the Revolution broke out, and new cireum- stances called him to far different scenes and activities. He had barely attained his ma- jority when his father placed him at the head of a printing and publishing establishment in Paris, in which the latter had invested very largely, and which was to be conducted in the interest of the constitutional party. After the terrible scenes of August 10, 1792, when father and son undauntedly placed them- selves among the defenders of the King, at the Tuileries, and when Irenee DuPont saved both his father and himself from falling vic- tims to the ferocity of the mob, they were obliged to separate, and for a short time, the

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young man found shelter at Essonne; but only too soon they found themselves re-united, in the gloom of La Force. Here their suffer- ings were to some extent mitigated by the visits of the young wife of Irenee, Sophie Madeline (Dalmas) DuPont, whose grief and devotion had wrought upon the feelings of one of the more humane jailers, so that he per- mitted her to come in the disguise of a peas- ant, and minister to their wants. Daily they awaited the order for their execution, when the fall of Robespierre brought them sudden release.

They were free, but as may be supposed, their fortunes were almost entirely wrecked, and this fact, together with the uncertain con- dition of affairs which prevailed for years after the Revolution, led to the emigration of the entire family to America. The elder son, Victor DuPont, who had been for several years in consular positions in America, and had lately returned to his native land, crossed the ocean once more with his father and brother, and they arrived with their families at Newport, R. I., January 1, 1800. It was but a few months later that the idea of undertaking the manufacture of gunpowder presented itself to the mind of Eleuthere Irenee DuPont. The powder made in this country at that time was of very in- ferior quality; that imported from Eng- land was greatly esteemed, but Mr. Du- Pont believed, correctly, that the way was open for successful competition with the Brit- ish powder-makers, by bringing domestic manufacture up to the standard of the latest improvements. He therefore returned to France, and at his former place of employ- n.ent, the mills of Essonne, studied the actual condition. of the industry, after which he brought to America, in August, 1801, a sup- ply of plans, models and machinery for his projected enterprise. After months of exami- nation and discussion of proposed sites for his factory, he selected a tract of land about four miles from Wilmington, Del., on the Brandy- wine River, which enjoyed the advantage of abundant water power, and which he pur- chased in June, 1802, removing thither with his family in July. To the perfecting of the manufacture of powder, to the improve- ment of the facilities and the safeguards re- quisite for work of that nature, M. DuPont de- voted the remainder of his life. Disappoint-

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 29

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