Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 97

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 97

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JOHN W. DAVIDSON, deceased, son of John and Jane (Hutchinson) Davidson, was born near Elkton, Cecil county, Md., June 11, 1821.

John Davidson, his father, was born in Cecil county, Md., in June, 1787. He wis of Scotch descent and made farming his life occupation. He acquired much property. Politically, he was a follower of Jefferson and his doctrines. He married Jane Hutchinson, of Maryland. She was likewise of Scotch de- scent. They had children: I. Mary (Mrs. John Egle); II. William, deceased; III. Al- exander, farmer, of New Castle county, Del .; IV. John W .; V. Amos E., butcher, of New Castle; VI. George A., died when young. Mr. Davidson died in Newark, Del., in 1831, and was buried in the Christiana Presbyterian graveyard; Mrs. Davidson died and was buried in Delaware City. Mr. Davidson and

his family were members of the Christiana Presbyterian church.

John W. Davidson was given the oppor- tunity of obtaining a good education when a youth, and he did not neglect it. When his school duties permitted he assisted his father on the farm and when he was eighteen years old he learned carpentry. For about fifteen years he was busily employed at his trade and then he turned his attention to farm- ing. He leased these farms for the periods mentioned: The W. D. Clark farm, near Delaware City, Red Lion hundred, one year; a farın near Port Penn, St. George's hundred, one year; a farm in Cecil county, Md., the county of his birth, four years; the A. E. Da- vidson farm in Red Lion hundred, seven years; the Reybold farm in Red Lion hun- dred, two years; and another farm in the same hundred, five years; a farm near Christiana, New Castle hundred, five years. After these years of hard work he retired for a short time, but in 1882 he returned to his old life and purchased the Lloyd farm of 210 acres in St. George's hundred, where he remained until his death. On this tract he made numerous im- provements, planted and harvested abundant crops of grain, fed scores of live stock and operated a dairy. He was a farmer of more than ordinary ability and a student of all the conditions which go to make up profitable husbandry. Schools, roads and crops were equally important in his estimation and re- ceived like attention. His neighbors appre- ciated his fitness for their local offices and he was chosen school commissioner and road com- missioner of Red Lion hundred, in both of which positions he was of valued service to his community. He was a good neighbor, a kind husband and father and his death was sincere- ly regretted. He was a Democrat.

John Davidson married, in Salem, N. J., April 8, 1846, Hannah, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Acton) Hall. Mrs. Davidson was born in Salem. Her father was of English deseent and a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. David- son had children: I. Amos, farmer, of C'ecil county, Md .; II. Clement, at home; III. Susanna, at home; IV. Helen J. (Mrs. Albert G. Brown), of Bear Station, New Castle hundred; V. Harriet, died when young; VI. Infant, deceased. Mr. Davidson died in St. George's hundred, March 29, 1897, and was buried in Delaware City. He was a member

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of the M. E. church. Mrs. Davidson resides on the farm with her son Clement and daugh- ter Susanna. She is a woman of excellent traits of character. Some time ago she was stricken with paralysis and suffers much from it. She and her children belong to the M. E. church.

Clement Davidson was born in New Cas- tle hundred, Del., March 12, 1849. He at- tended the public schools of New Castle coun- ty and completed his educational training in Delaware City Academy. Then he returned to the farm and has devoted all his energies to the cultivation of the many acres that were given into his charge. He is a genial and popular resident of his hundred. Clement Davidson is a Democrat and was elected a school commissioner on his party's ticket. He has never married and resides with his mother and a sister.

WILLIAM M. CLENDANIEL, P. O. Middletown, Del., son of John and Mary Elizabeth (Higman) Clendaniel, was born in Cedar Creek hundred, Sussex county, Del., October 14, 1862.

The paternal ancestors of Mr. Clendaniel were Scotch. His grandfather, Capt. William Clendaniel, was a native of Sussex county and always had his home there. For several years he was captain of vessels on the Delaware Bay and river, but devoted nearly all his lifetime to farming. He was a Democrat of the old school. He has children: I. John; II. Henry; III. Thomas; IV. Pernel; V. Eliza- beth; and one whose name is not remembered. Captain Clendaniel died in Sussex county in 1884, and was buried in the M. E. graveyard.

John Clendaniel, father of William M. Clendaniel, was born in Cedar Creek hundred, Sussex county. He was educated there and worked on the farm with his father until he was twenty-seven years old, when he removed to New Castle county and rented a farm in Appoquinimink hundred. There he spent four years. In 1869 he removed to Kent county, Md., and began the cultivation of a tract of land owned by ex-Governor J. P. Cochran. There he remained twenty-eight years. He was a successful farmer and stock- raiser, well-known and esteemed and a strong advocate of a good education for the youth of the state. He was always a Democrat and labored for party victories but never accepted an office. John Clendaniel married Mary

Elizabeth, daughter of Manlove Higman, who was born in Cedar Creek hundred. They had children: I. Elizabeth; II. George, died in infancy; III. William M .; IV. John H., farmer, of Second district of Kent county, Md .; V. Clara (Mrs. Cornelius Rollison), of Kent county, Md .; VI. Emma; VII. Anna (Mrs. Thomas Hurlock), of New Castle coun- ty, Del .; VIII. Mary; IX. Howard, farmer of Kent county, Md. Mr. Clendaniel died in Kent county, February 22, 1897; his widow died December 15, 1897; both were buried in the Chestertown cemetery, Kent county, Md. Mrs. Clendaniel was a consistent mem- ber of the M. P. church.

William M. Clendaniel was but a young boy when his father removed from Sussex county, Del., to Maryland, and his first educa- tional training was obtained in the schools of the Second district of Kent county. He re- mained on the farm with his father, acquiring a knowledge of agriculture, until he was twen- ty-one years old, when he leased a farm in Cecil county, and cultivated it for four years. In 1888 he removed to St. George's hundred, New Castle county, Del., and rented a tract of land from ex-Governor J. P. Cochran. There he has spent the past ten years in the successful cultivation of grain and raising of live-stock, and the management of a dairy. In 1893 he purchased a grain threshing outfit at a cost of $1,500 and has operated it very profitably in his neighborhood. He is a Demo- crat but has never yet been persuaded to ac- cept an office, and says that he will never change his mind. Mr. Clendaniel is a genial and highly respected man.

In March, 1891, William M. Clendaniel married, at Chestertown, Md., Laura E., daughter of Charles and Mary E. (Bryan) Watts. Mrs. Clendaniel was born in the Sec- ond district of Kent county, Md. Her father, who is now deceased, was a farmer; her mother resides in Chestertown. Mr. and Mrs. Clen- daniel have children: I. William Watts; II. Charles Elwood; III. George Watson. Mr. and Mrs. Cledaniel are communicants of the M. E. church.

JAMES JACKSON BROWN, P. O. Mount Pleasant, New Castle county, Del., son of James and Jane (Boyd) Brown, was born in St. George's hundred, New Castle county, Del., March 16, 1830.

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When Delaware was but sparsely settled a portion of the Brown family emigrated from England and found a

home on its fertile lands. Descendants of this branch of the Brown kindred have lived in Delaware ever since and have been honored and useful citizens. James Brown, father of James Jackson Brown, was born near Camden, Kent county, in 1789. There he went to school as a lad, but, his mother dying when he was very young, the family was separated. When he was nine years old James Brown went a short distance north, into New Castle county, and was reared on a farm there. His early training served him throughout his life, for he con- tinued the cultivation of the soil until he be- came physically incapacitated for work. Af- ter his marriage he rented a farm in St. George's hundred and resided there a long time. A few years were spent in Pencader hundred, New Castle county. The final years of his life were passed with his son, James Jackson. Mr. Brown was a Democrat of the Jackson school. After he became of age he voted for every Democratic candidate for President, except Horace Greeley; he did not believe in that aspirant's Democracy; it was not of the Jackson kind. He never sought an office but always supported his party and did his political duty as a good citizen. James Brown married, in St. George's hundred, Jane, daughter of Jacob Boyd. She was born in St. George's hundred and her father was an old settler and land-owner in New Cas- tle county. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had chil- dren: I. Elizabeth (Mrs. Joseph Belville), deceased; II. Mary (Mrs. John Brown), de- ceased; III. William, died when young; IV. Sarah J., died when young; V. Annie, de- ceased; VI. Lydia, deceased; VII. Rebecca, died at age of eighteen; VIII. James Jackson; IX. Martha J. ( Mrs. James M. Vandyke), widow. Mr. Brown died at the home of his son, James Jackson, in 1874, and was buried in the Middletown M. E. church graveyard. Mrs. Brown died in 1836, at Mount Pleas- ant. She was buried at Asbury chapel grave- vard, at Boyd's Corner, St. George's hundred. She was a member of the M. E. church and a most estimable woman.

James Jackson Brown attended the public schools in St. George's hundred and has since spent his days on a farm. He remained with his father until the latter was no longer

able to care for himself, and then he took him to his home and gave him loving attention until death claimed him. In 1851 Mr. Brown rented a farm in St. George's hun- dred and cultivated it for five years. In 1856 he leased ex-Governor J. P. Cochran's farm near Mount Pleasant and has been tenant there for more than forty-two years. He is next to the oldest tenant ex-Governor Coch- ran has on his rolls and has been on one farm longer than any of his associates. This fact proves him a capable husbandman and an honorable man. Mr. Brown cultivates 196 acres of land and raises general farm produce and live stock; in connection with the farm he has a dairy. He is a stanch Democrat, as was to be expected of his father's son, but has never been a seeker after office.

On April 13, 1865, in St. George's hun- dred, James Jackson Brown married Eliza- beth, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Dennis) Newnum, who was born in Kent county, Del. They have one child, James Jackson, 2, who is now attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are genial, hospitable and well-liked. Mrs. VanDyke, Mr. Brown's sis- ter, makes her home with them. They are members of the Middletown M. E. church.

JAMES L. WARREN, P. O. Middletown, Del., son of David and Sarah J. (LeCompte) Warren, was born in St. George's hundred, New Castle county, Del., April 9, 1865. His paternal ancestors were English. His father, David Warren, was born in Sussex county, Del., in 1836. During a comparatively short period after he engaged in farming, he ac- cumulated sufficient money to purchase a farm of 230 acres near Mount Pleasant, St. George's hundred, where his widow now has her home. He was temperate in his habits and very fond of his home, a good father and hus- band. In his early days he was a Whig and afterward joined the Republican party. David Warren married, in Pencader hundred, Sarah J., daughter of Charles and Mary J. (Casperson) LeCompte. Mrs. Warren was born near Wilmington. Her family is of French extraction and has long had a home in Delaware. Mr. and Mrs. Warren had two children: I. Child, died in infancy; II. James I. Mr. Warren died in St. George's hundred in 1885, and was buried in the M. E. church graveyard in that hundred.

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James L. Warren assisted his father on his farm until the death of the latter, and after- ward remained with his mother until 1889. He cultivates general farm produce, and gives much attention to fine live stock; is exceed -- ingly fond of good horses and well-bred cat- tle and his farm is noted particularly for the superiority of the stock bred there.

Mr. Warren is temperate in his habits, popular and esteemed. He is a Democrat who gives his party hearty support but never looks forward to, nor would accept, a political of- fice.

On April 9, 1889, in St. George's hundred, James L. Warren married Oka C., daughter of Thomas Cochran, granddaughter of R. T. Cochran. Mrs. Warren was born in St. George's hundred, February 17, 1869. She and her husband are members of the Presby- terian church.

RICHARD CLAYTON, Middletown, Del., deceased son of Joshua and Lydia A. (Clayton) Clayton, was born near Mount Pleasant, St. George's hundred, New Castle county, Del., September 13, 1842.

The Clayton family is one of the oldest and most prominent, socially and politically, in Delaware. Joshua Clayton, the first gov- ernor of the state under the constitution of 1792, was great-grandfather of Richard Clay- ton, and his son, Thomas Clayton, the grandfather of Richard, was chief justice of the commonwealth which has given so many eminent men to the service of this country. Chief Justice Thomas Clayton married Jean- nette McComb, daughter of Eleazer McComb. They had four children: I. Joshua; II. Elizabeth (Mrs. Young); III. Jeannette (Mrs. Robert Frame); IV. died when young.

Joshua Clayton, father of Richard Clay- ton, was born in Dover, Del., in 1802. He was partially educated at Newark Academy and was graduated from Princeton College, N. J. He read law with his father, Chief Justice Clayton, and was admitted to the bar of New Castle county. For several years he practiced his profession but it was not con- genial to him; he therefore abandoned it, and purchased a tract of 3,000 acres of land in the vicinity of Mount Pleasant, St. George's hundred, New Castle county. This land belonged to what was known as Bohemia

Manor, two thousand acres of which were in New Castle county, Del., and the remainder in Cecil and Kent counties, Md. Eight hun- dred acres were farmed under Mr. Clayton's immediate supervision. Ile made many im- provements to the land and the buildings, raised large quantities of grain, raised live stock on a large scale and became one of the most extensive cultivators of peaches in the county of New Castle. In 1878, he removed from the farm to a handsome home which he had erected near Middletown. There he spent the last ten years of his life. Colonel Clayton (as he was generally called) was secretary, when he was a young man, to Caesar A. Rod- ney, United States Minister to the United States of LaPlata, South America, resident at Buenos Ayres, and accompanied him on his southern mission. He was endowed with fine literary taste and much ability, and was the author of a number of volumes which were very favorably received by the critics and the reading public. He owned a large number of slaves before the Civil War. He was originally a Whig, but after the war gave his allegiance to the Democratic party.

Joshua Clayton married, on Bohemia Manor, Lydia A., daughter of Richard Clay- ton and granddaughter of ex-Governor Clay- ton. They had these children: I. Thomas, died in 1897; II. Henry, died in 1896; III. Richard. Mrs. Clayton died in 1849 and was buried in St. Anne's P. E. graveyard near Middletown. Colonel Clayton's second wife was Martha, daughter of Richard Lockwood, merchant, of Middletown. Mrs. Clayton was born in Middletown. Their children were: I. Adelaide (Mrs. Charles S. Ellison), of Cecil county Md .; II. McComb, of Phila- delphia; III. Mary (Mrs. J. F. Price), widow; IV. Joshua, 2, M. D., of Modena, Chester county, Pa .; V. Elizabeth (Mrs. Thomas Williams), of New York City, widow; VI. Eugene, deceased; VII. Fannie (Mrs. N. J. Williams), of New York. Mrs. Clayton died in 1887, and was buried in St. Anne's grave- vard. She as a member of the P. E. church. Colonel Clayton died in 1888, and was buried in St. Anne's graveyard.

Richard Clayton attended the public schools of St. George's hundred and conclud- ed his school years at Middletown and Newark Academics. He remained on the home farm until he was twenty-two years old and then

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became a husbandman on his own account on one of his father's farms, a tract of 205 acres near Mount Pleasant. He remained there until 1884, when he retired after a very suc- cessful carcer as peach-grower, stock-raiser and general farmer. He leased his land and made his home during the last fourteen years of his life in Middletown, where he erected a large residence. In connection with his house in that city there is a well-filled con- servatory to which he gave much attention. Mr. Clayton was a popular man and a useful citizen. He was a Democrat but never sought office. He was clerk of the Mount Pleasant school board for fifteen years, and was always deeply interested in the education of the young.

On April 20, 1864, in Kirkwood, Richard Clayton married Clara L., daughter of Richard T. Cann, of Kirkwood. They have children: I. Lydia May, at home; II. Adella C. (Mrs. Thomas Clayton Frame, Jr.), of Dover; III. Clarence R., educated at Mid- dletown Academy and was graduated from a Business College, Wilmington, now clerk in the county recorder's office at Wilmington; IV. Lillie, at home. Mr. Clayton and family are members of the P. E. church. Richard Clayton died suddenly of heart trouble, on Sunday, January 30, 1898.

ROBERT THOMAS COCHRAN, P. O. Middletown, Del., was born on the Thomas farm, in Appoquinimink hundred, Septem- ber 29, 1814, and is the second son of Robert and - Rebecca (Ryland) Cochran. His elder brother is Hon. John P. Cochran, ex-gover- nor of Delaware.

The first school which Robert T. Cochran attended was taught by an Irish schoolmaster named Dean, in an old log schoolhouse at Cantwell's Bridge, now Odessa. He went to school afterwards in Middletown, and com- pleted his course at Newark Academy, then under the care of Rev. Alexander K. Russell, a Presbyterian minister. He then assisted in the cultivation of his father's farm until he was nearly twenty years old, when his father gave him a farm of 400 acres, the same now occupied by Richard R. Cochran. Here Rob- ert T. Cochran passed thirty-one years, en- gaged in raising grain, peaches, etc., and in rearing live stock. In 1866, he removed with his family to his present home, built in that

year upon a tract of 120 acres known as the W. H. Morton farm. Mr. Cochran was among the first in Delaware to pay special at- tention to the cultivation of peaches, in which he was very successful, and became one of the largest shippers. His diligence and thrift made him one of the most extensive land- holders of the hundred; he owns 1,000 acres in New Castle county, Del., and the same in Kent county, Md. Since 1887, he has been largely interested in the creamery industry, in which he has invested $12,000; he owns the first creamery in Middletown, one in Cecil- ton, Cecil county, Md., three separate in- terests at Earlville and one at Churchtown, Cecil county, and one at Massey, Kent county, Md. Although an octogenarian, Mr. Coch- ran, who was endowed with a sound and vig- orous constitution, full of vitality, and with corresponding energy and decision, is still as active as a man in the prime of life, and at- tends to all of his own business. Besides this, he is interested in all current topics, at home and abroad, and by reading keeps himself abreast with the progress of the world's affairs. His memory, which is remarkably clear and retentive, is a rich storehouse for the fruits of time; he can readily refer to any event of which he has ever had cog- nizance, giving place, time and circum- stances so accurately as to make his re- collections serviceable as well as interesting. Cordial and companionable with every one, old and young, no man is more widely known in Middletown than Mr. Cochran; every afternoon, let the weather be what it may, his tall, imposing figure may be seen and his sonorous voice heard in the streets. Candid in his utterances, sincere in his professions, he takes a generous pleasure in befriending all who need his kind offices, and in dispens- ing the hospitalities of his home. Bred in the political school of "Old Hickory," Mr. Coch- ran has been all his life a stanch Democrat; but, although repeatedly solicited, he has never been prevailed upon to accept any pub- lie office. He is heartily opposed to "ring" rule, or partisan trickery. His first presiden- tial vote was cast in 1836, for Martin Van Buren, and he has voted at every election for the national chief magistrate since that time, except when Horace Greeley was the candi- date of his party; Mr. Cochran then declined to cast any vote at all. Before the war of the

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Rebellion, he owned several slaves; he was opposed to the war, but not on that account; it was because, while condemning secession, he firmly believed it possible to maintain the Union without bloodshed. For about twenty years, he was inspector of elections, but de- clined to serve after the passage of the Fif- teenth Amendment.

. Robert Thomas Cochran was first married in October, 1835, at the Red Lion hotel, in Red Lion hundred, to Elizabeth R., daugh- ter of Alexander and Maria (Naudain) Moody. Mrs. Cochran was born in Saint George's hundred; her father, who was of English descent, was a farmer of that hun- dred; her mother's family is of French ori- gin, and was known among the earliest set- tlers of the state. The children of that mar- riage are: I. Robert A., farmer, of Appoquin- imink hundred; II. Alice R., wife of Ed- ward F. Nowland, M. D., one of the oldest physicians of Middletown; III. Mary F., wife of Samuel A. Reynolds, commission mer- chant, of Middletown; IV. Richard R., re- siding on the old home farm; V. Elizabeth R., died young; VI. Thomas, commission mer- chant, of Jersey City. N. J .; besides four, who died in early infancy. Mrs. Elizabeth R. Cochran died January 31, 1848, and is in- terred in the cemetery of Forest Presbyterian church, of which she was a faithful member. To her sister, Sophia A. Moody, Mr. Cochran was married on April 17, 1849; their chil- dren are: I. Dan M., farmer on one of his father's farms; II. Elizabeth, died in infancy. Mrs. Sophia Cochran died October 21, 1851; her remains also repose in the burying ground of the Forest Presbyterian church, her spirit- ual home during her life. Robert T. Cochran was again married, September 1, 1853, at Newark, Del., to Mary Francina, daughter of James and Cini Patton, of that place. She died August 12, 1888, and is buried in the cemetery of the Forest church; she was, how- ever, a member of the Episcopal church. Mr. Cochran is liberal in his religious views.

Richard R. Cochran, son of Robert Thomas and Elizabeth R. (Moody) Cochran, was born on the farm which he now occupies, Febru- ary 9, 1840. He was educated in the public schools of Saint George's hundred, at the semi- nary at Pennington, N. J., and at the aca- demies of West Chester and Chester. He has been all his life a farmer. Fifteen years

of his work were given to a farm of his father's in Kent county, Md., which contains 336 acres; since 1890, he has been successfully engaged in the cultivation of the land upon which his father made his first start in busi- ness life; this farm comprises 400 acres, and is devoted to the production of grain, the rear- ing of stock, and the business of a dairy. Like his father, Mr. R. R. Cochran is a Demo- crat, but not an aspirant to office. Richard R. Cochran was married in 1865, in old Saint Anne's church, near Middletown, to Clara, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Beaston) Lum; she was born in Pencader hundred, and was of Scotch descent. Their children were: I. Alderman R., deceased; II. Clara. Mrs. Clara Cochran died in June, 1867. In 1869, R. R. Cochran married Fanny, daughter of William A. and Sarah O. (Shalleross) Cochran, his cousin. Four of their children died in in- fancy; those surviving are: I. Fanny (Mrs. W. O. Shalleross); II. Robert T., of Kent county, Md .; III. Sarah V .; IV. Agnes L .; V. Bessie; VI. Mary P.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. I, Part 97

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