Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 31

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 31

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

member of Encampment No. 34, of Wilming- ton. At the National Encampment of the Legion, held in Newark, N. J., he was unani- mously elected junior vice national chancel- lor. He is a member of General Phil. Sheri- dan Post, No. 23, G. A. R., Department of Delaware. Mr. Donahoe belongs also to St. Vincent De Paul's Society, has served as State delegate of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, is Chief Knight of the Knights of St. Law- renee, vice-president of the Irish-American National Ilistorical Society for Delaware, and prominent in many other organizations.

Mr. Donahoe has been engaged in business in Wilmington for about thirty years, and has been as successful as a business man as he was brave as a soldier and patriotic as a statesman. He is president and general manager of the Enterprise Manufacturing and Supply Co., of Wilmington.

John P. Donahoe was married, on Novem- ber 8, 1870, to Mary, daughter of Edward and Catharine Colton, of Sandwich, Mass. Their children are: I. Catherine, deceased; 11. Mary; III. John; IV. Cecilia; V. Agnes; . VI. Lillian; VII. Edward; VIII. Benjamin; IX. Helen; X. Pauline; XI. Thomas, de- ceased; XII. George; XIII. Martina. Mr. Donahoe and family all attend St. Patrick's R. C. Church.

PHILIP R. CLARK, Wilmington, Del., son of John C. and Elizabeth (Reybold) Clark, was born on the homestead of his father, near Delaware City, March 4, 1832.

John C. Clark was born March 6, 1799, and married in 1826, Elizabeth, eldest daugh- ter of Major Philip Reybold, whose biography will be found in the history of Delaware (1888), page 964. In 1827 he purchased a large landed estate of 1,000 acres adjoining the place of his birth, upon which he after- wards lived until his death, July 29, 1869. On part of this tract and on the adjoining farms of Major Philip Reybold and his six sons, Philip, William, John, Barney, An- thony and Clayton, were the famous Rey- bold and Clark peach orchards, noted for their productiveness and pecuniary value. Mr. Clarke was a rare Christian character; before he was twenty years of age he was chosen ruling elder in St. George's Presbyterian Church, and held that office for over fifty years. He was a director in the State Bank

in Delaware City from its establishment in 1849 until his death; was trustee of Delaware College at Newark, and for many years trus- tec of the poor, an office which he said he would rather hold than any in the gift of the State. Mr. Clark was president of the con- vention that nominated Lincoln for the Presi- deney in 1860. Few men in the State have maintained the relations of life, whether pub- lic, official or domestic, with such singular purity, carnestness and fidelity as John C. Clark.

Philip R. Clark, who was his second son, attended the public schools of the neighbor- hood and also Delaware College. When twenty-two years of age he settled at Wood- land Farm near Christiana, Delaware, and soon afterwards married Emma A., daughter of David and Elizabeth Compton, of Maurice- town, N. J. Their children are: I. J. Curtis; II. George W .; III. Marion; IV. Edwin C .; V. May; VI. Bessie; VII. Clara. In 1880, Mr. Clark was elected sheriff of New Castle county. Two years previous he was nominated for that office, but the Republican party be- ing confident of defeat no effort was made, and no candidates were nominated for Con- gress or forthe Legislature, yet by his own en- ergy and perseverance, as expressed by the op- position papers, "he came within an ace of be- ing elected sheriff." He proved a faithful and popular officer, discharging his varied du- ties in a manner reflecting credit upon himself and the position. Upon the expiration of his term of office he removed to Wilmington, where he has since resided, conducting a real estate and brokerage business.

FRANKLIN MENDENHALL HARRIS, Philadelphia, Pa., son of Franklin Menden- hall and Anna Maria (Atkinson) Harris, was born in Philadelphia, December 25, 1839.

His great-grandfather, Samuel Harris, was born in Delaware in 1743; of the date of his death no record is extant. Ile was a soldier in the patriot army, in the Revolutionary war. Joseph Harris, son of Samuel Harris, was also a native of Delaware, born in 1795, died May 16, 1868. He fought for his country in the war of 1812. In 1817 he married Jane Jaquette. Franklin Mendenhall Harris, the elder, their son, was born in Delaware, July 1, 1818; he died November 27, 1839, at Gelves- ton, Tex., at the early age of twenty-one, leav-

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ing a young wife, Anna Maria Atkinson, to v hom he was married October 21, 1838. Ilis son and namesake was born nearly a month after his untimely death.

Franklin M. Harris, 2, was educated in the public schools of his native city, so justly ad- mired for the thorough and practical training they afford. He evinced carly in life a decided talent, as well as a strong inclination, for business, and while scarcely beyond boyhood, became interested in building, and began to take part in the rapidly advancing improvements (f the city. Apt in affairs, honest and perse- vering, Mr. Harris's success appeared from the first to be a foregone conclusion. Ilis career was, however, interrupted at an early stage by the war of the Rebellion; patriotism impelled him to volunteer for the defense of his coun- try's flag, and at the very beginning of the conflict, he enlisted in the Eighteenth Penn- sylvania Volunteers, for the three months' service, and was mustered in as corporal, April §4, 1861. His term expired in August of the same year, after which he re-enlisted in the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was mustered in as sergeant of Company A; on May 5, 1862, he was promoted to first ser- geant, and in October of the same year, re- ccived his commission as second lieutenant. His next promotion, November 14, 1862, was tc a first lientenancy; and this rank he held until honorably discharged on account of dis- abilities contracted in the service. Lieutenant Harris returned to his home with an enviable record as a brave and faithful soldier, after having taken part in the engagements at West I'oint, Gaines' Mill, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Charles City Cross Roads, Mal- vern Hill, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, Fred- ericksburg, Franklin's Crossing, Chancellors- ville, Mary's Heights, Salem Heights, Gettys- burg, Rappahannock Station and Mine Run.

At the close of this memorable period of service, Mr. Harris resumed his activities in the building business, and set vigorously to work to recover his lost ground. He under- took some of the most extensive building oper- ations in the city, and his business increasing in a short time to very large proportions, he established the present firm of Franklin M. TIarris & Co., of which he is senior partner. Since he first engaged in business, Mr. Harris has had no strikes, nor any difficulties with his employees, because he has always been careful

to give them their just dues. He has at times employed thousands of mechanics of all trades; and the confidence with which he is regarded is proved by the fact that many of the men now in his employ have worked for him for more than thirty-five years. Since 1889, the year in which the firm of Franklin M. Harris & Co. was organized, the business has made rapid advances, the operations of the fim reaching into the surrounding country, many miles from Philadelphia; the firm has been entrusted with some of the largest con- tracts in this and neighboring cities.

Mr. Harris has for nine years been a mem- ber of the City Council, Select branch, hav- ing been elected first in 1889. He represents the Thirty-second ward, a fine up-town sec- tion of the city, whose many elegant and healthful neighborhoods bear testimony to his vigilant and judicious care for the interests of his constituents. For his perseverance and success in obtaining for his ward its full share of appropriations for improvements, Mr. Har- ris has been jocosely styled "the watch-dog of the departments." Nor has his interest been confined within the narrow limits of his own ward; he has eagerly promoted the advance- ment of Philadelphia by all material improve- ments, his will and ability to do so having been recognized by his appointment as a member of many important committees, especially such as were appointed to make investigations, o1 to take charge of improvements requiring mechanical skill for their execution. His en- thusiasin for public works, his experience in building on a large scale, and his thorough knowledge of mechanics have made him an important and useful member of the Public Buildings Commission. He is also chairman of Council's Committee on Railroads, and a member of the committees on finance, schools, electrical boilers, inspection, Fairmount Park and Soldiers' Monuments. He is president of the Master Bricklayers' Company, the second organization of its kind, in point of age, in the United States; ex-president of the Master Builders' Exchange; and a member of many fraternal organizations.

Franklin M. Harris was married in Phila- delhia, Pa., on September 1, 1861, to Mary S., daughter of Frederick W. and Rosanna P. Young, of Philadelphia. Their children are: 1. Franklin M. Harris, Jr .; II. Mary Howard Harris (Mrs. Lewis A. Smith).

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JAMES WALTER LATTOMUS, Esq., Wilmington, Del., son of Alexander Craw- ford and Temperance Ann (Harris) Lattomus, was born on the place known as the Eliason Farm, adjoining Blackbird Station, New Cas- tle county, Del., January 5, 1869.

The Lattomus family is of Huguenot ori- gin; the branch residing in Delaware is de- seended from James Lattomus, who settled in Appoquinimink hundred. His first purchase of land was in 1767; in 1770 he bought the property near Odessa, known as the Bishop Scott Farm, and now owned by George L. Townsend. On May 26, 1766, James Latto- mus was married to Susanna Gooding. In a deed recorded at Wilmington, in Deed Record S, vol. 2, page 290, it is stated that Susanna Gooding was a granddaughter of John Good- ing, a prominent man in the early history of Red Lion hundred. James Lattomus dicd May 17, 1777, leaving three children: I. Diana; II. John; III. James. John Lattomus became a farmer and cabinet-maker. From him has descended that branch of the family now living at Townsend.

James Lattomus, 2, became a noted minis- ter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He spent much of his itinerant life in Virginia. In 1800, he was a member of the General Con- forence, and offered the following resolution, which shows that he was a man of advanced ideas: "That every member of the Methodist Episcopal Church holding slaves shall, within the term of one year from the date hereof, give an instrument of emancipation for all his slaves; and the Quarterly Meeting Con- ference shall determine on the time the slaves shall serve, if the laws of the State do not ex- pressly prohibit their emancipation." Nega- tived .- Journal of General Conference, 1800. Mr. Lattomus returned to Delaware in 1801, and was assigned to a charge on the Smyrna circuit, but in a very few years was obliged by failing health to retire from the work of the ministry. Rev. James Lattomus was married, January 1, 1801, to Rachel, daughter of Cor- nelius Naudain, who was like himself, of French descent, and a native of Delaware. Their children were: I. James Cornelius; IL. Benjamin Allfree; III. Robert M. Combs. Rev. Mr. Lattomus died March 4, 1807, and was interred in the graveyard of St. Anne's M. E. Church, at Middletown, Del.

James Cornelius Lattomus became a farm-

cr, and resided nearly all his life in Appoquin- imink hundred, New Castle county, Del. Ilis political views were those of the Whig party. Ilc married Mrs. Ann (Mildrum) Corrie, widow of George Corrie; she was born in Ap- poquinimink hundred in 1800. Their chil- dren were: I. John; II. Diana; III. Rachel; IV. James; V. Robert; VI. Alexander Craw- ford; VII. Amanda; VIII. Joseph; IX. Ben- jamin. James C. Lattomus died in Kenton hundred in 1849, and was buried in the Union cemetery in Appoquinimink hundred; he was a member of the Union M. E. Church. Mrs. J. (. Lattomus died in 1877, at the residence of her son, Alexander C. Lattomus; she was buried by the side of her husband.

His father's death having left this large family in very straitened circunstaners, Alex- ander Crawford Lattomus began making his own living at the age of fourteen. Before he was of age, he and his brother, James Latto- mus, rented a farm. They farmed together until they were able to cultivate two farms, when they separated. Mr. A. C. Lattomus is now a prominent and well-to-do farmer of Blackbird hundred, owning several highly im- proved and thriving farms in different parts of the State. In his political views he is liber- al, He has been elected twice to the board of school commissioners. Alexander Craw- ford Lattomus was married, December 24, 1861, to Temperance Ann, youngest daughter of James and Mary (Brockson) Harris; Mr. Harris was a prosperous farmer, and a Demo- cratic leader in Appoquinimink hundred. He was a descendant of Sapiens Harris, one of the carly settlers of the State, and a large land owner in lower New Castle county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Lattomus are: I. Mildred, born October 15, 1862, died in in- fancy; II. Mary Amanda, born April 17, 1864, died in childhood; III. James W., Esq., of Wilmington; IV. Amanda Florence (Mrs. Samuel J. Broekson), of Kenton, born Au- gust 8, 1870; V. Joseph E., born March 16, 1874, married Emma Brockson. Soon after the birth of his son James W., Mr. Lattomus removed to the farm he had purchased near Green Spring, where he has since resided. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Salem Methodist Protestant Church in Black- bird hundred.

Their third, but now eldest living child, James Walter Lattomus, attended the district

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school until he was about fifteen years old, when he was sent to the Smyrna High School for one year. He then assisted his father on the farm, attending Prof. Roe's private school during the winter months. In 1888, he began teaching at Van Dyke's school; after filling this engagement for one year, he resigned, in order to enter Delaware College, which he did in September, 1889. By earnest and diligent study, Mr. Lattomus completed the four years' course in three years, graduating third in his class in 1892. Soon after his graduation, he was elected principal of Saint George's pub- lie school, which position he resigned in July, 1893, in order to accept the principalship of the Felton public schools to which he had been elected. The last-named position also he resigned, in 1895, and in September of that vear, entered the Law Department of Wash- ington and Lee University, from which he was graduated in June, 1896. In the same month, Mr. Lattomus was admitted to the bar of Virginia, but returned at once to his native state, and opened an office in Wilmington in February, 1897, where he has since been prac- ticing. Hle is a Past Councillor of Felton Council, Junior O. U. A. M., and a first lieu- tenant of the Delaware College Cadet Corps. Mr. Lattomus holds membership in Grace M. E. church, Wilmington, Del.

HON. JAMES PONDER, late of Milton, Del., was the son of Hon. John and Hester (Milby) Ponder, and was born in Milton, Oeto- ber 31, 1819.

The great grandfather of Gov. Ponder, a gentleman of English descent, named John Ponder, was the first of the family who re- sided in Delaware. He came to this state from Virginia, and took out a patent for the land which is still the heritage of the family. Ilis son, James Ponder, was a farmer, culti- vating his extensive patrimony, which is in Broadkiln hundred, Sussex county. James Ponder was married to Sarah Warren, of Ce- dar Creek hundred; their children were: I. John; IT. Eleanor, wife of John Rowland, a farmer of Sussex county, whose sister was married to Governor Paynter; III. Elizabeth, wife of Rev. S. Ferry, a Presbyterian minis- ter; IV. Mary, wife of John Gray, removed to Towa in 1842.

The only son of this family, John Ponder, 2, was born on the homestead in August, 1791.

After attending in his youth the schools of his neighborhood, receiving a good plain educa- tion, he left his father's farm in 1809, at the age of eighteen, to become a clerk in the store of Major Hazzard, father of the late Gov. Hazzard, at Milton. A few years later, during the war of 1812, he served in the ranks of his country's defenders; this service was re- warded by the government with certain land warrants. After the war, Mr. Ponder formed a patnership with Arthur Milby, styling the firm Milby & Ponder, in a business including general merchandise, and the purchase and shipment of Sussex county iron. Thousands of tons were annually shipped to points in New Jersey, principally in vessels owned by the firm. Milby & Ponder also dealt in lumber, grain, wood and quercitron bark. This part- nership continued until 1830, from which time until 1843, John Ponder conducted the business in his own name; his son James, after- wards Gov. Ponder, then became his partner, and the firm of John Ponder & Son held on in its steady and successful course until the partnership was dissolved by the death of its senior member. John Ponder, 2, was a suc- cessful man in his business affairs, and was also generally popular. He was a Democrat, and 4 warm admirer of Gen. Jackson, both person- ally and as President of the United States. Mr. Ponder served repeatedly as Commis- sioner of the Levy Court of Sussex county. He served four years as state senator for that county, having been elected in 1852.

John Ponder was married in 1816 to Hes- ter, daughter of Capt. Nathaniel Milby, and niece of his partner, Arthur Milby. Mrs. Ponder's father was the master of a coasting vessel; he died of yellow fever at Portsmouth, Va., and was buried there. The children of this marriage are: I. James; II. Anna, wife of the late Chancellor Sanlsbury; III. an in- fant, died very young. Mrs. Ponder died in 1827. Mr. Ponder died in 1863, of paralysis.

After a thorough course of studies in the Milton, Lowes and Georgetown academies, James Ponder, in 1838, entered his father's store as clerk, and continued in that position until, as has been said, he was admitted to an interest in the business, January 1, 1843. During the twenty years of partnership, the firm was very largely engaged in the building, purchase and sale of trading vessels, which James Ponder continued after the decease of

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his father, having at that time relinquished the store which had been carried on from the foundation of the business. In 1860, he erect- ed a steam saw-mill for the manufacture of lumber, ship-timber and quercitron bark, be- low the bridge across the Broadkiln Creek, and on the south bank; at this mill a very exten- sive and flourishing business was carried on;

the stock of bark alone at one time was valued at forty thousand dollars. By purchases, James Ponder added extensive tracts to the original estate, patented by the first John Ponder, and became the largest land-owner in Sussex county. His estate was divided into farms, kept in productive condition by care- ful cultivation; a considerable portion of the land was devoted to peach culture.

From the time when he attained his ma- jority, James Ponder was a supporter of the Democratic party. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1856. During the ses- sion of 1857, he assisted in the election of James A. Bayard and Martin W. Bates to the U. S. Senate, and introduced the bill for the incorporation of the Junction and Breakwater Railroad, now the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Railroad, and operated as a part of the great P. R. R. system. He was elected to the State Senate in 1864, and was speaker of that body in 1867. In 1870, he was elected on the Democratic ticket, by a large majority, to the highest office in the gift of the State, that of governor. In every official position, James Ponder was distinguished by the same faithfulness to the trust imposed upon him, and the same dignity of demeanor. He was inaugurated as governor January 17, 1871, and administered the State Executive Depart- ment for four years most honorably and satis- factorily. Gov. Ponder was connected with the Kent County Mutual Insurance Company from its organization in 1847, and was for many years one of its directors and for several years before his death was its president. He was for many years also on the board of direc- tors of the Farmers' Bank of Delaware, was president of the Georgetown branch, and after his removal to Wilmington, in 1875, a direc- tor of the Wilmington branch.

Hon. James Ponder was married, in July, 1851, to Sarah, daughter of Gideon and Sarah Waples, of Milton. Their children are: I. Ida; II. John, who resides at the old home- stead near Milton; III. James, who died in his

seventh year; IV. James W. Ponder, who is practicing law in Wilmington. For many generations, the Ponder family have been members of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Both the Governor and his father were office- bearers in that communion, the latter having been vestryman and warden of St. Matthew's P. E. Church, in Cedar Creek hundred, and the former a warden of the Church of St. John the Baptist, at Milton. Ex-Governor Ponder died at his residence in Milton, Del., November 5, 1897.

MERRIS TAYLOR, Wilmington, Del., editor of Erery Erening, was born in Wil- mington, December 19, 1851. He is a son of Benjamin Taylor, who during the war of the Rebellion was first assistant engineer of the U. S. Steamship Alabama, and died of yellow fever in quarantine at New York, in August, 1863. The family in this country descended from Peter Taylor, a worthy fol- lower of William Penn, who came over with the Proprietor's earliest expedition, and set- tled in what is now Chester county, Pa. His descendants are numerously represented in the Taylor families of Chester and Delaware counties, Pennsylvania, and of Cecil county, Maryland.

Merris Taylor attended Public School No. 4, on Washington street above Second, which was at that time the high school of the city. He passed through all the grades of the in- stitution, his class during the last year includ- ing a number of boys who subsequently be- came noted in various walks of life. Among them were ex-Postmaster William F. Harrity, of Philadelphia, Secretary of the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania; A. S. L. Shields, Esq., a leading attorney of the same city; Henry C. Conrad, Esq., ex-President of the City Council; and ex-City Solicitor Henry C. Turner.

Early in 1864, Mr. Taylor entered the of- fice of the old Delaware Gazette, where he learned the printer's trade. He afterwards worked in the office of the Journal and Statesman, and in June, 1870, went to Smyrna, Delaware, to work on the Smyrna Herald, then owned by James W. Spruance. The retirement of the editor of this paper a month later, was the occasion of Mr. Taylor's introduction into the ranks of journalism; and during the ensuing twelve

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months he acted as editor, publisher, com- positor, pressman and general manager of the paper, though the financial results of his la- bors were not such as to convince him that the lot of a journalist was either a happy or a prosperous one.

In August, 1871, Mr. Taylor went to Phil- adelphia, and for about a month worked as a "sub" in the various offices of that city. He then returned to Wilmington and took a po- sition in the composing room of Erery Eren- ing. Subsequently, he held a case in the composing room of the old Commercial. On April 1, 1872, C. P. Johnson, then proprio- tor of the Delaware Gazette, began to issue a daily edition of his paper, on which Mr. Tay- lor was employed as city editor. He held this position until February, 1882, when he resigned, to assume the city editorship of the Sunday Star. In May of the same year, he and Jerome B. Bell formed a partnership, and purchased the Gazette of Mr. Johnson, the publication of which they continued until December 10, 1883, when they sold it to the proprietors of Every Evening. In April, 1884, Mr. Taylor became a member of the editorial staff of Every Evening, having spe- cial charge of the political department. Ile represented that journal at Dover during the legislative session of 1885. He afterwards became managing editor, and since Septem- ber, 1894, has been editor-in-chief.

Not only was Mr. Taylor brought into con- nection with political affairs as a journalist, but he also took an active personal interest in politics, and was locally prominent in the Democratic party almost from the time when he cast his first vote. At the legislative ses- sion of 1877 he was elected clerk of the State Senate, and performed the duties of the office with great credit. In April, 1879, he was elected a member of the Board of Education from the First ward, but resigned in the Sep- tember following, having been nominated for member of the City Council, to which po- sition he was elected by a large majority. He served until the expiration of his term, in June, 1882, during which time he was chair- man of the finance and legislative commit- tees, and took a prominent part in all the pro- ceedings of Council. In June, 1884, he was again elected, this time from the Third ward, defeating the retiring member, Thomas John- son, Republican, by a majority of thirteen.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 31

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