USA > Delaware > Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I > Part 35
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William P. Short was married in George- town, Sussex county, Del., December 2, 1869, to Catherine J., daughter of William and Re- becca (Jones) Short, of Sussex county, who was born in Broadkiln hundred, Sussex coun- ty, March 21, 1850. Their children are: T. Mary L., born in Philadelphia, August 13,
1873; II. Oscar, died in infancy; IL. Laura G., born in Philadelphia, February 21, 1880. Mr. Short, his wife and family are members of the Eighteenth Street ML. E. church. For nine years he has been a member of the board of trustees. He is an active effi- vient worker in the church and in the Sunday- school, in which he and his daughter, Laura, are teachers.
John W. Day, Philadelphia, Pa., son of William P. and Hester J. (Short) Day, was born in Nanticoke hundred, Sussex county, Del., August 21, 1853.
John W. Day's boyhood was spent in Sus- sex county, where he was educated in the pub- lic schools of the district. Both his parents are dead. In 1874 Mr. Day removed to Phil- adelphia, Pa., where he now resides. In Jan- uary, 1886, he became a partner with his cousin, William P. Short, a wholesale con- mission merchant, Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. Day is a member of the Republican party, actively interested in local affairs.
John W. Day was married in Philadelphia, December 6, 1888, to Mary E., daughter of Richard and Rebecca Andrews, of Caroline county, Ind. Mr. Day attends the M. E. Church.
THOMAS FAGAN, Wilmington, Del., was born in Ballynakill, County Meath, Ire- land.
Hle emigrated to America when he was a very young man and settled in Wilmington, where he obtained employment as hostler at the Black Horse tavern, one of the most ex- tensively patronized hostelries of that day. He remained there a few years, attentive to his duties and economical with his money, and then became proprietor of the Sorrel Horse tavern, establishing and conducting, in connec- tion with it, a livery business. He remained at this tavern for some time, and left it to take possession of the White Horse Hotel, which he managed for five years. ITe then re- tired from the hotel business and gave his at- tention to his livery stable and to the numerous building contracts he was receiving. He still conducts the livery business, and is an exten- sive contractor and builder, besides superin- tending the cultivation of his farm near Wil- mington. He is an independent Democrat.
Thomas Fagan married, in 1858, Susan Harkins, a native of Letterkenny, County
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Donegal, Ireland, who came to America in early girlhood and made her home in Wil- mington. Their children are: I. Peter, born 1858; II. Mary, born 1860; III. William, born 1862; IV. Catharine, born 1864, de- ceased; V. John, born 1866, deceased; VI. Catharine, born 1868, deceased; VII. John, born 1870, deceased; VIII. Ann, born 1872, deceased; IX. James, born 1878.
Mr. Fagan is a Roman Catholic; he and his family attend St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church.
Peter Fagan, son of Thomas Fagan, is a resident of Wilmington and conducts a hotel. HIe has served a term in City Council, was a member of the Board of Education, and is a member of the National Drivers'. Association. Peter Fagan married Sarah Dougherty. They have three children: I. Thomas, born March, 1892; II. James, born March, 1893; III. Alice, born October, 1897. One child died in infancy. Mary Fagan, daughter of Thomas and Susan (Harkins) Fagan, married Alexan- der Casey. They conduct a grocery store in Wilmington. Their children are: I. George, born 1891; II. Marion, born in 1893; III. William, born in 1897. William and James Fagan are unmarried and reside with their father. They are engaged in the livery busi- ness.
JAMES WILSON, Wilmington, Del., son of William Wilson, Jr., and Margaret (Green) Wilson, was born at Breck Lane, along Bran- dywine Creek, in Christiana hundred, New Castle county, Del., November 19, 1858.
Ilis ancestors on the paternal side were Scotch-Irish. Ilis great-grandfather and grandfather were born in County Down, and his father in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland. His grandfather, William Wilson, Sr., worked as a linen weaver in his native country, and when he came to America in 1838, accom- panied by his entire family, he went from the landing place at Philadelphia to Manayunk, the cotton mill district, where he could find employment as near as possible to his occupa- tion in Treland. He remained there two years and then moved to Greenvilles Del. There he was engaged for more than thirty years in the cotton mills on the banks of the Brandy- wine. William Wilson, Sr., married, in Ire- land, Susan, daughter of Samuel and Marv (Me Ali-ter) Hope. They had children: 1
Jennie; II. James; III. Susan; IV. William, Jr., and two others who died in infancy. Mr. Wilson died in Greenville, aged seventy-seven years. His remains were buried in the Lower Brandywine Presbyterian graveyard.
William Wilson, Jr., father of James Wil- son, and the only surviving child of William Wilson, Sr., was born in Belfast, Ireland, and came to America with his parents in 1838. He was employed with his father in the cotton mills for about three years, but did not like this occupation and apprenticed himself to his brother James to learn tinsmithing. When he had acquired his trade he entered into part- nership with his brother and Charles Green, under the firm name of Wilson, Green & Wilson, tinsmiths. In 1862 these business re- lations were dissolved by the withdrawal of James Wilson, who went to Mckeesport, Pa., remained a short time, then returned to Dela- ware and engaged in business in Wihnington, afterwards going west to Ohio, where he died. Charles Green and William Wilson, Jr., con- tinued in business together under the firm name of Green & Wilson, manufacturing, principally, metal packages, of which they were the patentees, for the DuPont Powder Company. In 1885 Mr. Wilson retired and went to live on Prospect farm, one of the large tracts of land he had purchased near Green- ville; the other farm received the name of Sunset. Hle wearied of inactivity, however, and in 1896 engaged in the iron and carriage- furnishings business, which he still conducts.
On October 12, 1834, William Wilson, Jr., was married to Margaret, daughter of William and Maria ( Baker) Green. Her ancestry was Trish on the paternal side, and German on that of her mother. Her grandfather and father were born in Ireland and emigrated to Amer- ica, where the grandfather taught school. Her mother was born in Lancaster, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson had children: I. Maria, de- ceased; II. Samuel Hope, married Emma Jef- ferson, of Smyrna, Del., had four children, i. Samuel Hope, ii. Frazier J., iii. Jeannette, iv. Paul: III. James: IV. Susan, deceased; V. William 3; VI. Margaret; VII. Irenaeus, de- ceased ; Frederick, accidentally drowned when a boy at Cape May Point, N. J .: TX. Charles G., deceased; X. Martha B ; XT. Henry; XII. Mary E.
James Wilson received his primary educa- tion in the schools of Christiana hundred, New
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Castle county, and afterward entered the academy of T. Clarkson Taylor, where he pre- pared for admission to Lafayette College, Easton, Pa, He was graduated from the lat- ter institution in the class of '81 as a civil en- gineer. The same year he secured a position with General Cisneros, of Cuban fame, and, on short notice, accompanied him to London, " England, as private secretary, when the gen- eral went there to purchase material for the construction of the Jorandat Railway in the I'nited States of Columbia in South America. Mr. Wilson was appointed chief engineer and constructor of this railway, and held that po- sition until 1886, when he was made chief en- gineer for the completion of the road by the government of the republic, a revolution hav- ing occurred before the road was built, and the successful revolutionary party having taken possession of the line. He continued in the employ of the government until 1891, when he returned to Delaware. In 1892 he was en- gaged to make surveys for the Pennsylvania Railroad for the extension of the Bell's Gap road and afterward was appointed assistant engineer in the surveying department of Wil- mington. In March, 1894, the City Council elected him chief of the surveying bureau, which position he held until May 11, 1898. At that time, owing to a political change he was superseded, at the same time receiving the unanimous vote of the City Council for the po- sition of first assistant, which he declined. Mr. Wilson is a Republican and pronounced in his views. He is unmarried, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
JOHN F. DOLAN, chief of police, Wil- mington, Del., son of James and Margaret (Terrell) Dolan, was born in West Chester, Chester county, Pa., January 7, 1855.
His father and mother were born in County Galway, Ireland, in which county their ances- tors had lived for many generations. James Dolan came to America in 1845, landed in Philadelphia and went immediately to Ches- ter county, Pa., settling near Kennett Square. Hle afterwards moved to West Chester. Soon after his arrival he loaded a farm close by and tilled it for several years, after which he en- gaged in railroad contracting and constructed the section of railroad from Brandywine Sum- mit to Fairville, in Chester county. ITard labor and exposure undermined his health and
he returned to West Chester. By advice of his physician he remined there but a short time, removing, in 1859, to Wilmington, where he purchased the then well-known and popular Temperance Hotel and took possession of it in March, 1860. Hle conducted this hos- telry until his death, November 16, 1862. Hlis widow continued the business for two years, and then disposed of the property to the Delaware Avenue Improvement Com- pany, and retired to private life. The Tem- perance Hotel was long ago demolished to make room for a larger and more ornate build- ing, in line with the extensive improvements being made in that section of the city. Its site, however, is still indicated by a memorial foun- tain, erected at the intersection of Pennsylva- nia and Delaware avenues, by the fountain so- ciety of Wilmington, in commemoration of its first president, the late Ferris Bringhurst. James Dolan married, in 1852, Margaret Ter- rell, of West Chester, who had come from his old home in Ireland a few years before. They had these children; I. Ann Mar- (Mrs. Henry Carr); II. Esther; III. John F .; IV. Mar- garet; V. Catharine; VI. James; the last two are deceased. Mrs. Dolan died in 1881.
John F. Dolan was educated in the paro- chial and public schools of Wilmington. When he was twelve years old he began to work for himself, and at the age of fifteen, an- prenticed himself to a house-painter, John W. Gibson, with whom he served for three years; for one year he worked as a master-painter, and was then appointed, in 1875, by Mayor Joshua L. Simms, a special detective to ferret out the incendiarists who were at the time de- stroying much property in Wilmington and its suburbs. Mr. Dolan went about his new duties with discretion and energy, and in a short time discovered the principals of the dan- gerous band and secured their conviction in the courts. When he had accomplished this work, and his services were no longed needed, he went to Philadelphia, and was employed on the C'entennial buildings, which were then nearing completion. Afterward he journeyed to the west and secured a position in the Pull- man palace car shops. He remained there only a few months, and re- turned to Wilmington in 1877. Here he on- gaged in the saloon business at No. 404 West Front street and continued in it for about eighteen months. In 1879, Mr. Dolan was ap-
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pointed on the Wilmington police force by Mayor John P. Almond. When his term ex- pired, July 1, 1882, he returned to his trade for six months, and then established a restau- rant and saloon at No. 6 West Third street, which he conducted for ten years and three months, and finally disposed of it to accept the position of chief of police. Mr. Dolan received his appointment April 23, 1893, from the po- lice commission, which was created by an act of the Legislature April 14, 1893, to further increase the efficiency of the police force. Mr. Dolan was chosen head of the department be- cause of his well-known executive ability and his genius for organization. His attention to detail, his thoroughness of method, his strict discipline, have all contributed to advance the force greatly in usefulness and in the confi- dence of the citizens. After his appointment as chief of police, which was entirely unsolici- ted, he sold out his business and purchased a residence at 231 Brown street, which he now occupies. Mr. Dolan is a Democrat of strong convictions, and believes that the principles of his party are best calculated to advance the material interests of the country.
John F. Dolan married, on May 9, 1878, Mary A., daughter of Patrick and Margaret Burke, of Ireland. They had twelve children, six of whom died in infancy ; the survivors are; I. John B .: II. James F .; III. Mary A .; IV. Margaret; V. Arthur G .; VI. Esther.
Mr. Dolan and family are members of St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church.
WILLIAM W. BULLOCK, Wilmington, Delaware, son of the late John M. and Violet (Smith) Bullock, was born in New Castle county, July 26, 1844.
The Bullock family is of English lineage, and emigrated to America in carly colonial times.
Mr. Bullock's father, John M. Bullock, son of Moses and Mary (MeCall) Bullock, was born in Delaware county, Pa., in November, 1811. Hle attended the schools of his native county, and served an apprenticeship as a stone mason. At this trade he worked until the in- firmities of age obliged him to retire from active life. In 1838 Mr. Bullock removed to Delaware and settled in Brandywine hundred, New Castle county, on a farm owned by his wife. Besides managing the affairs of this farm, he continued to work at his trade and
for some time occupied the position of foreman for the DuPont Powder Company. Mr. Bul- lock afterwards engaged in business for him- self. Throughout the State many beautiful homes bear witness to his skill as an artisan. Mr. Bullock was a Whig, but afterwards iden- tified himself with the Republican party; he was an active worker, but never sought office. John M. Bullock was married to Violet, daughter of James and Ann (-) Smith, a native of Brandywine hundred, New Castle county, Del. Their children are: I. Marietta (Mrs. William M. Taylor), deceased; II. Re- becca, widow of Joseph Guy; III. Moses, mar- ried Charlotte Friel, who is deceased; IV. Sarah Jane, widow of William Ilanby; V. James S., married Rachel Brown; VI. Wil- liam W .; VII. Hannah, deceased; VIII. Ra- vana Caroline (Mrs. George Hobson); IX. John W., married Margaret Graham. Mr. Bullock was a member of the Protestant Epis- copal Church. He and his wife died in Wil- mington, Del., at the home of their son, Wil- liam W. Bullock. Mrs. Bullock was seventy- six; her husband reached his eighty-third year.
William W. Bullock, third son of John M. and Violet (Smith) Bullock, attended the pub- lie schools of Delaware county, Pa., and of Brandywine hundred, New Castle county. Del. Mr. Bullock had just completed his scholastic course when the war of the Re- bellion broke out, and in response to his coun- try's call, he enlisted, in September, 1861, in Company D, Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers. For more than three years Mr. Bullock fought bravely in defense of the Union. IIe took part in twenty-six of the most hotly-contested battles of the war, and al- though thrice wounded never failed in the discharge of his duty. He was mustered out at Petersburg, Va., leaving a record of which his children are justly proud. After his dis- charge, Mr. Bullock returned to his home in Delaware and learned carpentry, serving the usual term of apprenticeship. He became a skillful mechanic and after working as a jour- neyman for two years secured a position with the Jessup & Moore Paper Company, and serv- ed that firm as master mechanic for fourteen vears. In 1880 Mr. Bullock established a plan- ing mill which was destroyed by fire in 1882. Undaunted by this heavy loss, Mr. Bullock re- built the mill and by September of the same year was again ready for business. In 1884,
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in addition to the management of his mill, he began dealing in wood and coal, and in the spring of 1891 purchased his present plant. This property, which is situated at No. 116-118 Monroe street, Wilmington, Del., is large and finely equipped. Mr. Bullock's mill is largely engaged in the manufacture of pack- ing boxes; his trade in wood and coal is very extensive. He is an enterprising business man and was one of the first manufacturers to sub- stitute electricity for steam. Independent and manly, self-reliant and judicious, Mr. Bullock cares little for most of the side issues which usually attract the mind; his business and his family engross his time and attention. He is universally respected as an honored and sue- cessful business man, and a good citizen. He is a member of the Union Veteran Legion; he is actively interested in politics and is a strong Prohibitionist.
In July, 1866, William W. Bullock was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Lee and Mary Weldin, a native of New Castle county, Del. Their children are: I. Emily W .; II. Kate E .; III. Arthur, died in infancy; IV. Edna May; V. William, died in childhood; VI. Edgar Quinby; VII. Elizabeth M. Mr. Bullock is a member of the Methodist Church, and holds the office of steward in the Harrison Street congregation.
HON. THOMAS FRANCIS BAYARD, LL. D., of Wilmington, Del., deceased; law- yer, orator, statesman and diplomatist.
It is impossible within the brief sketch re- quired by the limited scope of this work, to truly portray the character, or adequately de- seribe the achievements and career of this emi- nent American. Considered in all respects, he is not only the most distinguished Dela- warean his native state has produced, but also one of the most commanding figures, national or international, among American public men of his generation.
ITis was a unique and captivating person- ality, for in him were conspicuously blended the earnest purpose and strenuous force of ro- bust manhood with the buoyant spirits and generous emotions of sanguine youth. Like his father and grandfather, James Asheton Bay- ard, Jr., and Sr., he was lavishly gifted by nature with rare physical, mental and moral endowments, which he constantly im- proved and developed by unflagging industry
and tireless activity. His towering stature, stalwart frame, superb head and expressive features, combined with his knightly bearing, gracious courtesy, and tender sympathy, everywhere won for him both profound re- spect and affectionate regard. With his intel- lectual power were united a moral strength and spiritual grace which made his career a potent and wholesome influence throughout his long and useful life.
Ilis mind was broad, versatile and vigorous, improved by social culture, travel and reading, and thoroughly stored with information of the most varied character. He was innately a so- cial being and a genial, charming and instrue- tive companion. His marvelous vitality im- parted a buoyancy of feeling and a genuine enjoyment of life which kept him thoroughly in sympathy with his environment, and in the van of modern progress.
Within his allotted span of life he had be- come preeminently the head of the bar of his state, the soundest, safest and most esteemed national leader of his party, the Democratic leader of the Senate, thrice the next highest Democratic candidate for the Presidential nomination, Secretary of State of the United States, and the first American Ambassador to Great Britain. In all these eminent and re- sponsible stations, he, by sheer force of his ability and worth, achieved a success and com- manded a popular confidence in his patriotism, integrity and capability, which are as rare as they were, in the public estimation, signally merited by him.
That the uncommon physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual characteristics which achieved so exceptional a carcer were, in his case, inherited from a remarkable ancestry seems unquestionable when his genealogy is considered. Beginning with his American an- cestors, it appears that, including his maternal great-grandfather, Richard Bassett, five of his family within four successive generations, and four of the Bayard name-himself, his father, uncle and grandfather-have been United States Senators. Others of his paternal and maternal lines have also been distinguished in various ways. Referring to his European genealogy, it will be seen that, through his maternal lines, he derives his lineage from the dauntless English squires and sturdy Saxon yeomanry who executed one, and exiled another tyrant King in the maintenance of
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English rights and liberties, and that, on the other hand, through his paternal line, he de- scends, and derives his name from that an- cient and knightly race of France which pro- duced the renowned "Chevalier sans peur et sans reproche," who gave his life to defend his sovereign and serve his country.
Respecting the latter, Thomas F. Bayard's biographer, Edward Spencer, writing in 1880, says: "The family to which Mr. Bayard be- longs is a numerous one, and its members are widely distributed in both the Old World and the New. Those who take an interest in antiquarian investigations have traced back its origin to the province of Dauphine, now the department of the Isere, in the southeast of France, where, about six leagues from Grenoble, the ruins of the Chateau Bayard, crowning a hill which commands one of the noblest prospects in that romantic region, mark what is regarded as the cradle of the race. From the carliest times the Bavards were distinguished for courage in war and fidelity to their sovereign. A Seigneur de Bayard, the head of the house, was slain at the battle of Poitiers in the vain attempt to prevent the capture of King John the Good by the English. His son fell in combat with the same enemy at Azincourt, and his grand- son at Montlhery. But the second in descent from this last was more widely known than either, and, joining to the hereditary prow- ess and constancy of his race a purity and no- bility of character peculiarly his own, has fur- nished to history and romance the ideal of a perfect knight. Pierre du Terrail, Seigneur de Bayard, 'the knight without fear and with- out reproach,' was the famous captain of Charles VIII, Louis XII, and Francis I, the latter of whom, after the battle of Marignano, would receive the honor of knighthood from no hand but that of Bayard. In 1505, single-handed, he kept the bridge of the Gari- gliano against the Spaniards, and sayed the whole French army. In the wars between Francis and the Emperor Charles V, he was the most trusted French leader, and fell by an arquebuse-shot while conducting the re- treat at the passage of the Sesia, April 30, 1524. As he left no heirs, his estates and rank descended to the next of kin, and the family name, Du Terrail, was merged in the territorial name Bavard.
"Among the descendants of these Bavards
were three brothers, Jacques, Thomas, and Philippe, who had embraced the Reformed or Iluguenot faith. During the persecutions which followed the massacre of St. Bartholo- mew, they, with thousands of their fellow- believers, ted from France, and took refuge in Holland, where their descendants still exist."
Samuel Bayard, a supposed descendant of one of them, is the authentically known pa- ternal ancestor of the Delaware family of the name. He was a merchant of Amsterdam, Holland. The names of his parents and the place and date of his birth are now unknown. lle married Anna Stuyvesant, born about 1600, sister of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Amsterdam (now New York), and the daughter of Rev. Baltha- zar Stuyvesant, of Friesland, in the Nether- lands, and his wife Margaret Hardenstein. Samuel Bayard died previous to 1647, for, on May 11th of that year, his widow Anna and her daughter Catharine, and their three sons, Petrus, Balthazar, and Nicholas Bayard, landed in New Amsterdam with Governor Peter Stuyvesant and his wife Judith, the only sister of said Samuel Bayard.
Since then these children of Samuel and their descendants have intermarried with the Jays, Livingstones, Van Renssellaers, Schuy- lers, Winthrops, Shippens, Willings, Chews, Stocktons, Bassetts, Carrolls, Howards, Lees, Wirts, Washingtons and other distinguished families in this country. So far as known, there are no male descend- ants of his sons Balthazar and Nich- olas. It is therefore probable that not only the Delaware Bayards, but also those of the name in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and their connections elsewhere in the United States, are all descended from Samuel's eldest son Petrus Bavard.
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