Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 53

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

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Charles Henry Stevens was educated in the public schools of York. When he was thir- teen years old, his father removed to Wil- mington, and he secured a position as clerk in a grocery store. A year later he was em- ployed in the round-house of the Wilmington & Northern railroad. In 1874 his parents removed to Baltimore, and he became an as- sistant in the P., W. & B. round-house in that city. On May 25, 1876, he was made a fireman, and on July 17, 1883, was promoted to engineer. He is now one of the engineers on the New York and Washington Express between Philadelphia and Washington. In

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the fall of 1890, Mr. Stevens removed to Wil- mington and purchased the dwelling which he how occupies. He is a member of Division 342, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers; of Oriental Lodge, I. O. M., of Baltimore; of Blue Rock Council, No. 737, R. A., and of the P. R. R. Relief Association.

On January 22, 1880, Charles Henry Ste- vens was married to Annie M., daughter of George J. and Mary Rogers, of Baltimore. Their children are: I. Adeline E., born No- vember 9, 1880, died May 10, 1896: II. George J., born May 3, 1882. Mr. Stevens and family are members of St. Paul's M. E. church.

WILLIAM LOTT, Wilmington, Del., son of the late Enoch and Sarah (Toppin) Lott, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., September 1, 1839

ITis father was a native of Pennsylvania, and of German descent. IIe was a carpenter, and is now deceased. Mrs. Lott was born in Delaware, and is of Irish extraction. She re- sides in Wilmington with her son William.

William Lott, when a youth, went to New Castle hundred, New Castle county, Del .. and resided with his uncle, George Bowl. There he received his early education and worked at times on the farm. In November, 1872, he obtained a position as fireman on the P., W. & B. R. R., and in August, 1880, was promot- ed to engineer. He is now running passenger trains between Washington and Philadelphia, and is a capable, trusted employee. Mr. Lott owns a well-appointed house at No. 415 East Third street, Wilmington, and a farm in New Castle hundred, New Castle county, Del. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

On March 12, 1874, William Lott married Anna, daughter of William and Mary Pen- · nell, who was born in Delaware, September 23, 1856. They have children: I. William, Jr., born November 8, 1876, resident of Wil- mington and an employee at the glass-works; II. George E., born January 26, 1879, resides at home, and is employed in the P., W. & B. round-house; IIT. Harry P., born January 26, 1881; IV. Mary V., born December 4, 1883; V. Charles C., born March 7, 1886, died October 16, 1887; VI. Oscar C., born February 15, 1892. Mrs. Lott is a member of the M. E. church.

WILLIAM HENRY HICKMAN, Wil- mington, Del., son of the late John II. and Sarepta (Scott) Hickman, was born in Mil- ford, Del., April 18, 1856.

His parents were natives of Delaware; both are deceased. They had twelve children, of whom but two are living: I. William Henry; II. Elizabeth (Mrs. James II. Richards), of Wilmington.

William Henry Hickman went to school in Milford, and was afterwards engaged in farm labor until June 17, 1877. On that date he entered the employ of the P., W. & B. R. R. Co. as engine wiper. He was attentive to his duties and skilful in his work, and in 1880 was made a fireman. On May 28, 1884, he was promoted to engineer, and since then has had a regular "run" on the Delaware branch of that road. He is a member of the Brother- hood of Locomotive Engineers, of the Penn- sylvania Railroad Relief Association, and of the A. O. U. W.

On December 10, 1882, William Henry Iliekman married Mary E., daughter of Rob- ert Philips, of Farmington, Kent county Del. They have children: I. Edith E., born No- vember 8, 1883; II. Warren R., born Febru- ary 7, 1886; III. William Henry, Jr., born January 22, 1890; IV. Harvey B., born June 22, 1894.

ALBERT JEFFERS BECKLEY, No. 319 East Third street, Wilmington, Del., son of the late Orrin J. and Ann M. (Zimmerman) Beckley, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., October 14, 1842.

ITis father was a native of Delaware, and a shoemaker. He went to Pittsburg when a young man, and returned to Delaware, set- tling in Wilmington, in 1844. He married Ann M. Zimmerman, of Pennsylvania. Their children are: I. Andrew J., deceased; II. Al- bert J .; III. Francis A., engineer on the P., W. & B. R. R .; IV. Cordelia, deceased; V. Heury C., of Wilmington, employed in the P., W. & B. R. R. car shops; VI. George, deceased. Orrin J. Beckley died in Wilming- ton, July 2, 1862, aged forty-six years. Ilis widow now resides in Wilmington.

Albert J. Beckley received a good public school education in Wilmington, and when seventeen years old apprenticed himself to a carpenter. He became a ship joiner, and worked at his trade in many of the seaport

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

towns in the eastern part of the United States. In 1864 he shipped before the mast on a whaling vessel and for two years cruised in the North Atlantic ocean. Then he returned to Wilmington, and secured a position as fire- man on the P., W. & B. R. R. In 1869, Mr. Beckley was advanced to engineer, and now runs in the passenger service between Phila- delphia and Washington. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and of the I. O. O. F., of Wilmington.

Albert Jeffers Beckley was married, May 7, 1576, to Mary A., daughter of Je-se Grif- tin.

GEORGE HENRY LARIMORE, Wil- mington, Del., son of George and Annie (Hitch) Larimore, was born in Bridgeville, Del., January 4, 1862.

Ilis father's ancestors were Irish, his mother's Scotch. His grandfather was Cap- tain Jacob Larimore, a well-known mariner, who was lost at sea. Captain Larimore had children: I. Joel, farmer, of Delaware; II. George, blacksmith, of Bridgeville, Del .; III. Jacob, umsie teacher, deceased; IV. Matilda.

George Larimore was born in Maryland but has lived for a number of years in Bridgeville, Del., where he is a prosperous blacksmith. He married Annie Hitch, of Delaware. They had twelve children, of whom the following are living: I. Margaret, at home; II. George HI .; III. Alfred, flagman on the P., W. & B. R. R .; IV. Fannie, at home; V. Frederick, farmer, of Bridgeville; VI. Charles S., at home.

George Henry Larimore received a com- mon school education, and when seventeen years old secured a position with Jacob Reed's Sons in Philadelphia. A year and a half later he established himself in the commission busi- ness at No. 252 North Water street, Philadel- phia, and was engaged in the same for three years. Then he was a fireman on the West Jersey railroad for two years and eight months, and left this road for a similar posi- tion on the Delaware branch of the P., W. & B. R. R. On July 1, 1891, he was pro- moted to engineer on the latter road, and has since continued in that position. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, of the Knights of St. John and Malta, and of the A. O. U. W.

On January 17, 1888, George Henry Lari- more married Margaret G., daughter of Al- fred Cahill, of Kent county, Del. They have children: 1. Elma Ruth, died September 1, 1890; II. Marguerite, born August 29, 1891; III. Edith, born July 31, 1893; IV. Irma G., born February 26, 1895. Mrs. Larimore is a member of the M. E. church.

WILLIAM FRANKLIN HOFFMAN, No. 1326 West Fourth street, Wilmington, Del., son of George W. and Catherine ( Ram- sey) Hoffman, was born in Chester county, Pa., August 29, 1846.

Ilis ancestry on his father's side was Ger- man, on his mother's Irish. Both his parents were born in Pennsylvania. They had chil- dren: I. William Franklin; II. John, farm- er, of Chester county, Pa .; III. Katharine; IV. Mary.

William Franklin Hoffman was educated in the schools of his native county until he was sixteen years old. Then he threw aside his school books for the more arduous work of helping to preserve the Union. Boy though he was, he enlisted in 1862 in the army, and made a most creditable record. He was a member of Company F, Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, and served gallantly in many hard-fought battles. When the Civil War was ended, he had acquired a love for the life of a soldier, and re-enlisted in F Troop United States Regular Cavalry, and was en- gaged in frontier service until 1869. The ex- perience of the troopers during his term in the west was filled with hard and dangerous work, with novel scenes and strange incidents, and Mr. Hoffman saw frontier life in the many phases permitted ouly to the soldier of the United States. In 1869 his term of enlist- ment expired, and he returned to the cast and went to work as a laborer on the old West Chester & Philadelphia railroad. Soon after. he obtained similar employment on the Wil- mington & Northern railroad, and when six months had expired secured a position as fire- man. Three years later, in 1873, he was pro- noted to engineer. Since that year he has been constantly in the employ of the W. & N. R. R., and is esteemed one of its most skilled engineers. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and of the O. U. A. M.

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On May 20, 1875, William Franklin Hoff- man was married to Mattie J., daughter of Peter Shoemaker, of Chester county, l'a. They have one son, W. Brandt, born August 26, 1876, a clerk in the P., W. & B. R. R. offices. Mr. Hoffman purchased his present handsome residence in 1892.

HOWARD PUSEY, Philadelphia, Pa., son of Joseph Mendenhall and Elizabeth (Phillips) Pusey, was born at Auburn, now Yorklyn, near Hockessin, New Castle county, Del., February 27, 1850.

Mr. Pusey represents the sixth American generation of the well known family of that name, who wore English Friends, and for nearly two centuries have maintained their place among the most substantial and honored members of the society in Delaware and Peun- sylvania. Their forefather, William Pusey, reached America in September, 1707. Ile married Elizabeth Bowater. Joshua Pusey, son of William and Elizabeth (Bowater) Pusey, was born November 19, 1714, and died August 16, 1760; his wife, Mary (Lewis) Pusey, was born January 6, 1715, and died August 22, 1760. Joshua Pusey, 2, son of Joshua and Mary (Lewis) Pusey, was born September 19, 1738, and died March 16, 1804; he married Hannah Lea. Jacob Pusey, son of Joshua and Hannah (Lea) Pusey, born September 10, 1792, date of death not known, married Hannah Mendon- hall.

Joseph Mendenhall Pusey, son of Jacob and Hannah (Mendenhall) Pusey, was born August 24, 1822, and died April 15, 1889. He was married, September 9, 1846, to Eliza- beth, daughter of John C. and Albina (Gregg) Phillips. Joseph M. Pusey was a member of the firm of Pusey Brothers, cotton manufac- turers, of Thirteenth and Lombard streets, Wilmington, Del.

Howard Pusey received his education in the public schools of his native place, and at T. Clarkson Taylor's academy, Wilmington, Del. In 1866, upon the completion of his scholastic course, he entered the counting- house of Pusey Brothers, in order to make himself acquainted with the business of cot- ton manufacturing. After nine years of ex- perience in that establishment, Mr. Puscy be- came a clerk in the office of the International

Navigation Company of Philadelphia, con- trolling the American and Red Star lines of steamers. His efficiency and faithfulness have been well tested by his long period of service to this company. Mr. Pusey is now private secretary to the president of the company. In polities, he adheres to the Republican party.

On January 8, 1889, at Kennett Square, Chester county, Pa., Howard Pusey was mar- ried to Rosalie, daughter of Theophilus E. and Lydian T. Sickels. Their children are: I. Mary Sickels; II. Howard Carroll Pusey. Mr. Pusey and his family are members of the Society of Friends.

REV. NICHOLAS MAANLY BROWNE. From one end of the Delaware peninsula to the other, the name of Rev. Nicholas Manly Browne is a household word as an exponent of Methodism and an expounder of the Serip- ture. He was the third son of Hugh and Eliza Manly Browne, and was born at North East, Cecil county, Md., September 16, 1837. Ilis father, Hugh Browne, was born near Belfast, County Down, Ireland, in 1784, and came to America with his parents when but seven years old. They landed at New Castle, Del., and started for the West immediately, it being their purpose to settle in Ohio and make it their home. When they arrived at Battle Swamp, Cecil county, Maryland, one of the members of the family was seized with severe illness, which interrupted their journey to the West. But for this circumstance, the West, and not the Delaware Peninsula would doubtless have been the scene of the life work of Rev. Nicholas Manly Browne. This sick- ness detained them a week or two, and the character of the country was such that they were impelled to settle in Maryland instead of Ohio. Soon afterwards, the father died, and the care of the family devolved largely upon Hugh, as soon as he had reached an age which enabled him to relieve his mother of the ardu- ous duties of life in the New World. This carly responsibility had great influence in de- veloping traits of character which marked him through life, and endeared him to his family and his descendants.

At the age of twenty-one, Hugh Browne determined to follow a mechanical pursuit, and apprenticed himself for a period of three years. At the conclusion of this apprentice-

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

ship, he began business on his own account. lle conducted it with such intelligence and untiring industry, and with such regard for the proper economies of life, that in a few years he accumulated a competency, on the income from which he lived comfortably dur- ing the remainder of his life. He was fifty years old when he retired from active business. In the war of 1812, Hugh Browne was one of the defenders of Baltimore against the British aggression. In consequence of the fact that the captain of the company to which he be- longed failed to make a proper return of the roster of the company, his name, as well as those of his comrades in arms, is lost to the military records of that period. For many years he was a vestryman of the Protestant Episcopal church in the parish in which he lived. At the age of eighty-one years he died, and was buried by the Masons, with whom he had been affiliated since early manhood. Ilis son, Nicholas M. Browne, bears the name of his maternal parentage, the maiden name of his mother being Manly, and a member of her family, named Nicholas, being a clergyman of prominence in the early days of the coun- try's settlement.

Nicholas Manly Browne received the ad- vantages of the best schools in the neighbor- hood of his home, and a private tutor supplied to him whatever deficiencies existed in the ordinary school system of that time. At the conclusion of his preliminary educational course he evinced an inclination for mercan- tile pursuits, and for a short time was a clerk with the leading merchant of the town in which he resided. When sixteen years old he con- nected himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church, having become impressed with the truth that religion is the only real basis and groundwork of usefulness in life. Even at this early age he was marked for his just deal- ing, his inflexible adherence to truth, and pru- dence, and the correctness and courtesy of his deportment. His father desired him to be- come a physician, but discovering the bent of his inclinations, he acquiesced in his deter- mination to give himself to the work of the Christian Ministry.

In 1856, in company with Robert Laird Collier, afterwards an eminent minister of the Unitarian Church, he entered the only Theo- logical Seminary of his denomination in the

country at that time, it being situated at Con- cord, N. II., now the Boston University, and remained there three years. At the end of the second year he had completed the three years' course in Hebrew and this enabled him to devote his last year to general reading pre- paratory to his entrance into the ministry. In 1859, Mr. Browne graduated, having just at- tained his majority. He returned home, and was innnediately assigned to the charge of a church at Ilohnesburg, Pa. There he re- mained until the session of the Philadelphia Conference, of which body he became a mem- ber on trial. He was appointed pastor of a church at Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and con- tinued in that pastorate during the years 1860 and 1861. He was then assigned as junior pastor on Millington Circuit. In 1863 he was stationed at Easton, Maryland, in 1864 at Centreville, and in 1865 at Chestertown, all of them being important Eastern Shore ap- pointments. It was while stationed at Ches- tertown that he met and married Miss Clin- tonia C. Cooke, youngest daughter of Hon. Clinton Cooke, a prominent member of the Queen Anne's county Bar. The wedding took place February 8, 1866. During the three ensuing years Mr. Browne was pastor of the church on Kent Island. Then he was ap- pointed to a charge in Dorchester county, Md., and spent three years there in arduous and effective religious efforts. The Methodist Episcopal Church at Salisbury was also his charge.

At the session of the Wilmington Confer- ence in 1875, Bishop Janes, senior bishop of the church, recognizing the sterling worth of his labors in behalf of Methodism, appointed Mr. Browne Presiding Elder of Salisbury District. He received from Bishops Scott and Ames words of commendation for his first re- port of church work in the district.

At the opening of the Conference at Salis- bury, Md., in 1894, the Bishop assigned to preside failed to arrive in time, and it is a striking evidence of Mr. Browne's popularity with his brethren in the Conference that they umanimously elected him to act as Bishop pro tem. After serving as presiding elder of Salisbury district for four years he was ap- pointed to Port Deposit, Md., and remained there from 1879 to 1882. Then he went to New Castle for three years, relinquishing that

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pastorate in 1885. Scott Church, Wilmning- ton, received the benefit of his ministration from 1885 to 1888; while there in 1888, he was elected a delegate to the General Confer- ence held in New York. During the next three years Mr. Browne was in charge of the church at Newark, Del., relinquishing that pastorate in 1891 and going to Middletown, Del., where four years later, February 4, 1895, he died suddenly, mourned by his fam- ily and hosts of friends in all parts of Dela- ware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia.

Rev. Nicholas M. Browne was a careful and impartial student of human nature, and his power to judge of the fitness of men for the various positions of religious trust and effort within the district over which he had jurisdic- tion conserved, at all times, the best interests of the church. He judged men by their quali- fications, and secured for his district some of the best men in the Conference. Under his administration there was a marked improve- ment in the affairs of the district. In behalf of the Temperance cause Mr. Browne was al- ways an earnest and practical worker. He did not permit himself to be carried away by im- practical suggestions relative to the suppres- sion of the liquor traffic; while a radical ad- vocate of the eradication of what he regarded as the greatest curse of the age, he recognized existing conditions and environments, and be- lieved that only by a systematic course of edu- cation, covering a long period of years, could the full measure of the wishes of the friends of the temperance movement be realized.

While conservative in polities, he always voted with the Democratic party so far as he could consistently do so, without violating his convictions on the temperance que-tion. He would never give his suffrage to any man who encouraged or was addicted to the use of intoxicants. In the use of his private means, Mr. Browne was liberal and discriminating; his private worth and administrative ability were everywhere recognized; his talents as a preacher of the Gospel were of a high order, and his influence as an earnest and conscien- tious church officer inured to the lasting bene- fit of religious effort on the Delaware Penin- sula.

His widow, Mrs. Clintonia C. Cooke, and one child, Hugh C. Browne, E-q., a member

of the New Castle county Bar, survive him, both residing in the City of Wilmington, Del., where the memory of Rev. Nicholas Manly Browne is revered by everyone.

PETER LOWBER COOPER, JR., ESQ., Wilmington, Del., son of Peter L., 2, and Mary Elizabeth (Green) Cooper, was born on a farm near Willow Grove, Kent county, Del., July 7, 1864.

Mr. Cooper inherits the inclination and tal- ent for public affairs with his name, his grand- father, Peter Lowber Cooper, 1, having been well known in the political world, and one of the framers of the State Constitution now in force in Delaware, the product of the conven- tion of 1831. His father, Peter L. Cooper, 2, was also active in Kent county politics, and was elected to various offices of honor and re- sponsibility. Ile was born in Kent county in 1822, and became a farmer; politically, he adhered to the tenets of the Democratic party. Peter L. Cooper, 2, married Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Green, a planter. Their children are: I. William L., married to Louisa Jarrell; II. Margaret (Mrs. Thomas J. Stevenson); III. Jonathan G., married Fannie Gooden; IV. Ida; V. Lillie ( Mrs. John J. Rees); VI. Peter Lowber, 3; VII. Herbert. Both the Cooper and the Green families are adherents of the Methodist church.

The homestead near Willow Grove con- tinned to be the place of residence of Peter L. Cooper, Jr., until he was about seventeen years of age. He finished his school education at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pa., and be- came a student of law under Chancellor James L. Wolcott in 1887. For the ensuing two years, he taught a school at Oak Grove, near Dover, Del., at the same time diligently prosecuting his legal studies. From 1889 to 1891, he was county superintendent of the public schools of Kent county, Del., appoint- ed by Governor Biggs. In the fall of the former year, he was admitted to the Bar, and on the expiration of his term as county su- perintendent, began the practice of law in Wilmington. It was said of him that "he early impressed himself upon the bar and the com- munity by his sterling qualities and earnest- ness of manner." A celebrated murder case that oreurred in 1892 gave him an opportun-

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ity, as counsel for the defendants, of proving his ability as a jury lawyer; from that time, only a year after his commencing practice, his high professional standing was universally ac- knowledged. In 1895, Mr. Cooper was in of- fice for a short time as a member of the De- partment of Elections, his commission being tendered to him by Governor Reynolds. He, however, resigned the position soon after the election of that year. In November of the same year, he was chosen as Deputy Attorney- General of the State of Delaware, an appoint- ment which was hailed with pleasure and ap- proval throughout the state, and nowhere more cordially than in his native county, Kent. To this office he brought the same dili- gence and energy that had already secured to him a private practice of enviable extent. His reputation has spread beyond the limits of his native state; he is mentioned by the New York Financial Review as familiarly known in that state on account of his association with important legal matters having more than lo- cal interest, and as enjoying the reputation of "a well-trained and careful member of the bar." He is a member of the Masonic order.

Peter Lowber Cooper, Jr., was married in Germantown, Pa., June 13. 1893, to Kathe- rine E., daughter of General Louis Wagner, a well-known publie man of Philadelphia, and his wife Harriet (Slocum) Wagner. The only child of this marriage is Katherine R. Cooper, born July 18, 1894.

Louis Wagner is a native of Giessen, Ger- many, born in 1839; Mrs. Wagner was born in New York. Their children are: I. Lonis M., married Elizabeth Marsden; Il. Kathe- rine E. (Mrs. P. L. Cooper); III. Henry J .; IV. Elizabeth (Mrs. William C. Marshall); V. Sarah J.

EDWIN E. CULLEN, Philadelphia, Pa., son of John W. and Sarah E. (Wallace) Cul- len, was born in Dover, Del., January 23, 1561.

His parents were natives of Kent county, Del. His father is dead; his mother resides near Dover. The early life of Edwin E. Cul- len was spent in Kent county. His education was acquired in the public schools of that county, in Wilmington, and in the Conference Academy, at Dover. He was afterwards grad- nated from Peirce's Business College of Phil-

adelphia. He became a permanent resident of Philadelphia in 1579, and engaged in the leather business. In this he continued until 1888, when he began extensive real estate operations, and has been a successful dealer in land and houses for over ten years. Mr. Cullen is a charter member of the Sons of Delaware, belongs to the order of Foresters, to the I. O. R. M., and other organization -. In politics he is a Republican; he is a mem- ber of the City Council.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 53

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