Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 50

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1500

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David William Maull, M. D., was married, April 28, 1870, to Mary K., daughter of the late Jeremiah Bush. Her unele, L. P. Bush, M. D., is a prominent physician of Wilming- ton. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Maull are: I. Julia Frances; II. Mary B. The doctor and his wife are members of the Central Pres- byterian church.

TIENRY CLAY MeLEAR, Wilmington, Del., son of John and Elizabeth (Bush) Me- Lear, was born in Wilmington, November 20, 1838.

John MeLear was for many years a dry goods merchant of Wilmington, but late in life turned his attention to the business of banking and brokerage. He was a Whig of decided convictions, and labored with much zeal and success for the advancement of that party. Mr. MeLear was influential, both po- litically and socially, being honorable, intelli- gent, and of clear and positive views on any subject in which he was interested. He at-

tended the Presbyterian church regularly, and contributed to its financial support. The children of John and Elizabeth ( Bush) Me- Lear were as follows: 1. Anna Bush, died in 1572, aged forty-three; Il. John Patterson, of the Wilmington Mills Manufacturing Co .; 111. Samuel Bush, of the D. K. Miller Lock Co., Philadelphia; IV. Hemy Clay; V. Eliza- beth Bush; VI. A son, who died in infancy. Mrs. MeLear died at the age of forty-five; her husband survived her until 1874, when he also died, aged seventy-four.

After receiving hi- education at the Insti- tute under the care of Col. Theodore Hyatt, Henry C. MeLear chose the carriage trim- ming business as his occupation, and began an apprenticeship of four years, at the age of fourteen, with Henry Pretzchner. For seven years after the expiration of his indenture, he worked as a journeyman, and then, in 1863, became a partner of P. L. Allen, in the firm of Allen & MeLear, carriage manufac- turers. Upon the dissolution of this partner- ship, one year later, he became connected with Casper Kendall, in the same business, under the firm name of MeLear & Kendall. They first purchased the factory of John Merrick, at the corner of Second and French streets; two years later, they bought the works erect- ed in 1865, by Mr. Merrick, at the corner of Ninth and King streets, at that time the larg- est carriage factory in the United States. Their works were consumed by fire in May, 1882, occasioning a loss, in finished products, materials, machinery, &c., of about $65,000. The factory was speedily rebuilt, having an added story, with a mansard roof, also new and improved machinery and other appli- ances, and in less than four months from the time of the fire, this energetic firm had re- sumed work, with an increased number of skilled artisans, and in every way better pre- pared for business than before.

Although Mr MeLear's stanch support of the Republican party, and his well-known ability as a political leader, have made him a power in public affairs, yet he has never so- licited, nor would accept public office. He has, however, worked faithfully as chairman of the Republican city connuittec, and is said to have secured for President Garfield the majority given him in Wilmington. Mr. MeLear has been a member of the Masonie brotherhood

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since 1863, is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight Templar.

Henry Clay MeLear was married in 1865 to Martha J., daughter of John G. and Mary (. (Culbert) Yates, of Wilmington. Their children are: 1. Walter; II. Malcolm; III. Anna Bush; IV. Martha. Mr. MeLear is a member of the West Presbyterian church, and since the organization of the congregation, in 1868, has been chairman of the Board of Trustees.

COL. HENRY McCOMB, late of Wil- mington, Del., was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in Wilmington, July 28, 1525.

By the early death of his father, who was a blacksmith, a family of five children were left to depend for support and training upon their widowed mother. They were still quite young, and naturally unable to give her much assistance; but she addressed herself to the task which lay before her with a cheerful faith, patience and resolution which, com- bined with her intelligence and maternal wis- dom, obtained for her ample success. She lived to an advanced age, enjoying the reward of her labors in the usefulness and distinction of her second child, Henry McComb, as well as in his filial love and care. At the time of his father's death, the boy had attended school but a few years, but he was obliged to give up his course of studies, in order to contribute to the support of the family; and from that time he took, so far as he was able, the place of a father to its younger members. He first became an errand boy, and afterwards roller boy, in the office of the Delaware Journal; a vear or two later, he was apprenticed to 1-rael Pusey, currier. Throughout the years of his apprenticeship, Henry had two kindred pur- poses, clearly defined and followed with a self- denial and persistence worthy of mature years. The one was, to compensate as fully as possi- ble by private study for his lack of school op- portunities; the other, to buy from his em- ployer as many years of his indenture as he could. A steady course of carly rising and of economy, together with consistent appli- cation to his studies in such ways and at such times as his work permitted, enabled him to accomplish both designs; he redeemed two years of his apprenticeship, being free and ready to assume the position of a journey-

man at eighteen; and the benefit of his early, independent studies became fully manifest in later years, when, almost to the surprise of thoseacquainted with the circumstances of his youth, he was found to be equipped with the knowledge requisite for every position of re- sponsibility to which he was called. His course of conduct had won for him many friends whose counsel and assistance were no small advantage to him; among these, perhaps the foremost was the late Hon. Willard Hall, whose Bible class at the Hanover Presbyterian church Mr. McComb had attended for several years.

But that which was his best endowment, and contributed most to his success in his subsequent undertakings was the mental and moral discipline he had voluntarily under- gone, and the habits of concentration and of perseverance which he had formed. He en- tered upon business life as journeyman in the establishment of James Webb, leather worker, at the corner of Third and Tatnall streets, Wilmington. From that time on, his success was phenomenal. At about the time when he attained his majority, he had saved enough of his earnings to buy Mr. Webb's stock and in- terest, and begin business on his own account. IIe was but twenty-five when he was counted among the foremost business men of the city; he speedily distanced nearly all his competi- tors, and stood in the highest ranks of trade. At the age of forty, he had obtained a national reputation as one of the originators and pro- moters of great public enterprises. In his own line of business, he became one of the most extensive and prosperous manufacturers in the country There was a kind of wholesome contagion in his energy and activity; it sup- plied a stimulus to trade and manufacture in Wilmington, and greatly aided in increas- ing the Imsiness of the city.

During the war of the Rebellion Mr. Mo- Comb held many large contracts from the U. S. goverment for the manufacture of tents, knapsacks, etc. These were so promptly and satisfactorily filled as to win for him the es- teem and respect of President Lincoln, Secre- tary Stanton, and other members of the Cabi- net. When the appointment of a military governor for Delaware was proposed, the com- mission was made out for Mr. McComb, but he declined it and succeeded in dissuading

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the authorities from making any such ap- pointment. He raised the Fifth Delaware Regiment, equipped it at his own expense, and served gratuitously as its colonel. After the war, he turned his attention to railroads, in which his usual success attended his enter- prises. He was among the originators of the Union Pacific R. R., and was active in bring- ing that great route to completion. Col. Me- Comb obtained control of the Mississippi Cen- tral R. R. in 1868, and in pursuance of a scheme for creating a trunk line between New Orleans and Cairo, Ill., sought, and after en- countering much opposition, obtained control also of the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern R. R .; the consolidation of the roads was fully consummated July 4, 1878. Mean- while, the far-seeing "Railroad King," as he was subsequently styled in the South, pur- chased 6,000 acres of land at one of the most desirable points on this route, about 105 miles from New Orleans, and there, upon a healthy, elevated location, at that time covered with pine timber, is now the town popularly called "McComb City," a town of between two and three thousand inhabitants.

This was not Col. MeComb's only railroad interest; other roads in the south, and indeed in various parts of the country, enjoyed the benefit of his investments and of his counsel in their management. It became proverbial that his "taking hold" of a road ensured its snecess. In order fully to devote his attention to his railroad interests, especially in the South, he resigned the presidency of the Nar- ragansett Steamship Company, running a line between New York and Boston, in which he was largely interested. He was president of the Southern Railroad Association, as well as of the trunk line above described. This road he had developed from a condition of al- most disorganization as to repair and manage- ment, and little better than bankruptcy as to finances, into an orderly, well-equipped and profitable route of over five hundred and fifty miles: the investment made by Col. McComb and his associates for the accomplishment of this "evolution" being seven million- of dol- lars. A memorial, signed by "corporations and merchants, capitalists and citizens of all classes" of Louisiana and Mississippi, and ad- dressed to Col. MeComb, testified to the warm appreciation of the people of that section for

his labors, and their gratitude for the enter- prise which had so grandly promoted their interests by opening for them uninterrupted railroad communication between New Orleans and Chicago. In 1880, he bought a control- ing interest in the Delaware & Western R. R., and secured for it from the legislature an amended charter, making it necessary to the projected through-line of the B. & O. system, to New York.

The exposure of the Credit Mobilier fraud-, and the consequent purification of congression- al affairs, were largely effected through the in- strumentality of Col. McComb. His own ir- reproachable character and spotless record made him a most suitable person to undertake a duty of this nature, and one most likely to carry it through effectually. His own affairs, both public and private, were always conduct- el upon strictly honorable principles; nor was his personal character tarnished by any dissi- pated or otherwise degrading habits. From early manhood he was an active member of the Central Presbyterian church; and while he was naturally most solicitous for the advance- ment of his own denomination, was also warnt- ly interested in all others and contributed to their enterprises, and to benevolent objects in general, with unfailing liberality. His in- Huence as a capitalist and leader in public en- terprises was loyally used, as far as possible, to advance the industrial interests of his na- tive city, and perhaps none are fully aware of the debt owed to him by Wilmington for this thoughtful consideration for her welfare. C'ol. McComb was of a cheerful and amiable disposition, courteous and affable in conver-a- tion, possessing in a high degree that mag- netie power which at once carries conviction to the mind and wins friendly regard.

Henry S. McComb was married, June 16, 1853, to Elizabeth MeKane, daughter of Charles Bush, of the firm of Bush & Lobdell, car wheel manufacturers. Their children are: I. Charles Bush, died when he was five years old; II. Ellen Bush: III. James Craig: IV. Jane Elizabeth: V. Martha.

Col. MeComb, apparently in the full en- joyment of health, left his home on December 30, 1881, in the morning, to attend a banquet to be given in honor of Secretary of State Frelinghuysen, at Newark, N. J. Having made a stop in Philadelphia, he was suddenly

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taken ill, and died at noon. His death was not only a distressing blow to his family, but a painful shock to all the citizens of Wilming- ton.

HON. WILLIAM McCAULLEY, late of Wilmington, Del., son of Alexander McCaul- ley, was born February 7, 1797, in Civil county, Md. His father removed from Kent county, Md., where he was a prominent citi- zen, to New Castle county, Del., early in this century.

Having attended the schools of New Castle county until he was fourteen years of age, William MeCanlley was from that time until he attained his majority clerk in a general store at Odessa. In 1818, he was employed in the same capacity by the late Thomas Lea, Esq., an extensive Hour manufacturer of Wil- mington, Del. Two years later, Mr. McCaul- ley became his employer's partner in a general mercantile business at Brandywine Village, How incorporated with the city of Wilming- ton. This enterprise proving successful, Mr. McCaulley continued his connection with it for nine years. AAbout 1831, he was appointed to the office of magistrate, and was re-ap- pointed in 1838, serving until 1842, when he resigned the magistracy. Elected in 1831 to the legislature of Delaware, he served the state and his constituency with ability and faithfulness. In 1842, Mr. MeCauley be- came interested in the real estate business in Wilmington, in which he made large invest- ments, becoming one of the largest property- holders in the city. He was also a director of the Wilmington Navigation Company.

Hon. William McCaulley was married in 1827 to Sarah L. Sinelair, of New Garden, Pa. Of their six children, the survivors are: I. Mary, widow of Joseph R. Jefferis, one of where sons is Rev. Prof. William Jefferis, of Delaware College, and the other Joseph R. Jefferis, Jr., extensively engaged in manufac- turing, in Philadelphia; HI. Samuel S., of Philadelphia; III. Elizabeth, wife of Rev. Pennell Coombe, of the Philadelphia M. E. Conference; IV. William S., deceased: V. Annie, died at the age of ten. Mrs. Sarah I .. McCaulley died in 1852; Mr. McCaulley was again married, in 1854, to Hannah B. Brinton, of Chester county, Pa. His second wife dying in 1864, William McCaulley af-

terwards married Mrs. Sybilla Chambers, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. McCaulley's well- earned success in business did not cause him to forget the needs of those less fortunate, for whose relief his charitable disposition made lim take pleasure in giving liberally. He contributed his time, his counsel and his means for the maintenance of the various pub- lie charities of Wilmington; and his public and private beneficence won for him the kind and grateful regard of his fellow citizens. Mr. MeCauley retained the vigor of his con- stitution and the active exercise of both physi- cal and mental faculties to a very advanced age.

HON. CHARLES BROWN LORE, Wil- mington, Del., son of Eldad and Priscilla C. ( Henderson) Lore, was born at Cantwell's Bridge, now Odessa, Del., March 16, 1831.

Chief Justice Lore's ancestors, both pater- nal and maternal, were among the pioneer set- tlers of New Jersey, having ranked in Cun- berland county, since the immigration of the first Lores and Hendersons, in the seventeenth century, among that substantial and intelli- gent class which gives tone and influence to a community. Eldad Lore, at the time of his son's birth, was a resident of New Castle county. He was a farmer, and became en- gaged also in the wood and lumber business. Dying in 1850, in the early prime of man- hood-his age being only fifty-three-his memory is cherished as that of a man of noble and thoroughly honorable character, and of sympathetic and generous liberality towards the unfortunate.

Having in his early years attended the com- mon schools of Odessa, Charles B. Lore re- ceived his preparation for college at the acad- omy of Middletown, Del., and in 1848, he- came a student at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. In 1852, he was graduated with the do- gree of 1. B., taking first honors as the vale- dictorian of his class. His legal studies were pursued under the preceptor-hip first of Hon. John K. Findlay, of Philadelphia, and later under that of Hon. Daniel M. Bates, late chancellor of Delaware. In the interim le- tween these two periods of study, Mr. Lore was clerk of the Delaware House of Represen- tatives, during the session of 1856-57, and af- terwards, proposing to devote his talents to

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the work of the Christian ministry, was for one year engaged in preaching, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Confer- ence, in the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Re- suming and completing his studies in jurispru- dence, Mr. Lore was admitted to the bar in 1861. In the same year, he was nominated on the Democratie ticket for the state legislature, but was unsuccessful, the whole ticket being defeated. Governor Burton, in 1862, ap- pointed him commissioner of the draft for New Castle county, for the purpose of raising troops for the Union army, and in this ca- pacity Mr. Lore canvassed the county. On September 29, 1869, he received from Gover- nor Saulsbury his appointment to the office of attorney-general of Delaware, for a term of five years. During that term, Mr. Lore con- dueted on behalf of the commonwealth the prosecution of several very noted cases. One of these was the trial of Goldsborough, ac- cused of the murder of Charles Marsh; the trial resulted in conviction, and Goldsborough was sentenced to be hanged, but made his es- cape, and fled to the south. Another was that of Dr. I. C. West, indicted for the unique crime of murdering and Hlaying a negro, and attempting to burn his body, with the inten- tion of making it appear that it was his own, and thus securing a large amount of life-in- surance to his wife. A third case was the trial of five, and conviction of four burglars for robbing the Delaware Bank. The most eminent lawyers of the state being employed for the defence in all these cases, the success of the district attorney in procuring a ver- diet of conviction was the more remarkable, and for this reason, as well as for the striking circumstances that attended them, the trials received universal attention. An experience in civil practice which is as extensive as that which he has gained in criminal cases, or per- haps more so, has rendered Judge Lore's legal equipment wide and thorough, making his acquaintance with all branches of jurispru- dence profound and practical, and strengthen- ing his logical powers so as to make him a most forcible and effective forensic orator. Hle is remembered as having acted success- fully as counsel in the cases arising between the states of Delaware and New Jersey, from disputed water boundaries and fishing rights. Judge Lore's practice has always been very

large, but owing to his excellent memory, and his systematic and painstaking methods of conducting his business, it has not suffered from want of attention in any detail.

A stanch supporter of the Democratic party, he has labored faithfully to maintain its principles and secure its successes. He was deeted on the ticket of that party to the Forty-eighth Congress, in November, 1852, by a majority of nearly two thousand; in that Congress, he served on the Committee on Claims, and on the special committee on American Ship-building and Ship-owning In- terests. To the next Congress, he was elected by the unusually large majority of over four thousand, and his special work in the latter Congress was done as a member of the Com- mittees on Expenditures of the Department of State and Naval Affairs. As a member of congress, Judge Lore's thoughtful and con- scientious manner of weighing every subject under discussion, as well as his clear insight into the legal and equitable bearings of the matter, made him influential. Among his most effective speeches were one on Consular and Diplomatie Appropriations, one advocating the dual standard, gold and silver, one urging the reclamation of certain lands granted by the government in order to aid the construe- tion of the Oregon Central Railroad, and one of great importance on the plan of Secretary Whitney for consolidating the naval bureaus, which Mr. Lore opposed so convincingly as to secure the retention of the old system. When in 1885, Hon. T. F. Bayard resigned his seat in the U. S. Senate in order to become Secre- tary of State, under President Cleveland, the friends of Mr. Lore urged his election to fill the vacancy; he had a majority of one in the legislature, but owing to an unexpected defer- tion in the legislative cauens of the party, his opponent, Mr. Gray, received the nomination by a majority of one vote. In the following year, Mr. Gray's term having expired, Mr. Lore's name was again put forward, and the nomination hotly contested, until at length Mr. Lore withdrew from it, in order to restore harmony to the ranks of his party.

During the days of his othee practice, Judge Lore was a popular preceptor; nearly thirty students, of whom many now stand high in their profession, obtained their first knowledge of law under his guidance. After

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lis election to congress, he admitted to part- nership Henry Emmons, Esq. Amid all his professional and political engagements, Judge Lore has found time and interest to spare for services of a philanthropie nature. He was one of the incorporators of the Home for Friendless Children, in Wilmington, and is one of its board of trustees. In 1867, he he- came a trustee of Delaware College.

Ilon. Charles Brown Lore was married, in 1862, to Rebecca 1., daughter of Josiah Bates, a Friend, of Mount Holly, N. J. The have one child, Emma Lore.

CHARLES HENRY LAWTON, M. D., late of Wilmington, Del., was born February 15, 1832, in Newport, Rhode Island, son of Job and Rebecca (Cranston) Lawton.

Four brothers, bearing the name of Law- ton, and of English birth, settled in America before the Revolutionary war; three pushed their way westward, and one, Jonathan Law- ten, made the state of Rhode Island his place of abode. These brothers were Friends, and many of their descendants still adhere to the Society. Job Lawton, son of Jonathan Law- ton, married Mary Rathburn; their children were: I. Mary; II. Sarah; III. Hannah; IV. Charles; V. Abigail; VI. Roger Boon; VII. Job, 2. Job Lawton, Jr., in 1823, married Rebecca Cranston, and had children as fol- lows: I. William; II. Charles Henry, M. D .; III. Rebecca; IV. Elizabeth. Job Law- ton, Jr., was during a great part of his life a scaman, on a whaler in the North Pacific.

Dr. Lawton's maternal relatives, the Crans- tons, are descended from William, first Lord Cranston, of Scotland, whose son, James Cranston, was clerk and chaplain to King Charles I. John Cranston, grandson of James Cranston, was at the time of his death, in 1680, governor of the state of Rhode Island; his son, Samuel Cranston, occupied later the same gubernatorial chair, and died in 1727, at the age of sixty-eight. Mrs. Re- becca (Cranston) Lawton was his lineal de- svendant.

At the age of fourteen, after receiving a thorough English education, Charles Lawton began learning the plumbing business as ap- prentice to his brother, William Lawton. The brothers afterwards became partners in the business, but after the great "panie" of

1857, in which the firm suffered serious losses, Charles H. Lawton withdrew from it, and de- voted himself to the study of electricity as ap- plied to therapeutics, under 1. Page, M. D., of Boston, Mass. From 1859 to 1865, Dr. Lawton practiced and lectured in New York city; during the latter year, he decided to re- move to Wilmington, and that city continued to be his home throughout the remainder of his life. After his removal, he applied him- self to the study of homoeopathy, attended a full course of lectures at the Hahnemann Col- lege, of Philadelphia, and received his di- ploma in 1870. Dr. Lawton was a thoughtful and intelligent man, who won for himself many appreciative friends and a large number of patients in Wilmington. He continued to use electricity as a curative in special cases, but his general practice was in full accord with the principles of homoeopathy, and he ranked high among practitioners of that pro- gressive school. Hle was president of the Del- aware Homocopathie Society, and was a mem- ber of the American Institute of Home- opathy, the sessions of which he attended one or more times as a delegate. ITis articles for medical journals have received much praise from good judges among his professional brethren. Among these valuable contribu- tions, one, which was published in pamphlet form, was a paper read by appointment be- fore the American Institute of Homoeopathy at Milwaukee, Wis., entitled "Therapeutic Force, or Proofs of Medicinal Power beyond the Limits of Drug Attenuation."

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 50

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa. Number of Pages: 1500

Author: Runk, J.M. & Co
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chambersburg, Pa.
Number of Pages: 1500