Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 62

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

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Presley Spruance was the great-great- grandfather of Henry Roche Spruance. Ile was twice married; the name of his first wife is unknown; his second wife was Mary Jones. By his first marriage he had two children, Daniel and John, by the second, four, as fol- lows: I. Presley; II. Enoch; III. Mary; IV. Lydia. Presley Spruance was U. S. Senator from Delaware. . Enoch Spruance was largely interested in farming and mercantile business. Mary Spruance married Simon Speakman, one of the first peach-growers in the state. Lydia Spruance remained single.

Enoch Spruance married Anne Wakeman; they had ten children: I. Mary (Mrs. William (. Ellison); II. Presley; III. Enoch; IV. James W .; Y. David L .; VI. Henry Clay; VII. Alexander P .; VIII. William Edwin; and two daughters, whose names are unknown.

Henry Clay Spruance was born at Smyrna, May 10, 1835; he has spent his entire life in that city, and is a prosperous merchant. The children of Henry Clay and Hannah (Wood- all) Spruance are: I. Edgar, residing in Smyrna; HI. Mary E .; III. Henry R .; IV. Emily W .: V. Alfred S.

Henry Roche Spruance received his prim- ary education in the public schools of Smyrna, and from private tutors in Philadelphia. In the month of October, 1889, he entered Jef- ferson Medical College, was graduated April 27, 1892, and immediately entered upon practice in Wilmington, Del. He is a mom- ber of the Delaware State Medical Society, and American Medical Association; of Eureka Lodge, No. 23, F. and A. M .; Delta Chapter, No. 26, R. A. M .; and of the A. O. U. W. In polities he is a Democrat. The family at- tend the Episcopal church.

HENRY C. M.LEAR, Mayor of the city of Wilmington, Del., was born in that city,

November 20, 1838, son of John and Eliza- beth (Bush) MeLear.

Ilis paternal and maternal ancestry were Irish and Scotch, respectively. His grand- father and grandmother, Susanna ( Patterson) MeLear, with their two children, John Mc- Lear and Mary, both of whom are now de- ceased, emigrated to this country about the year 1780, and settled in Delaware where they spent the remainder of their lives.

John MeLear was born in County Ty- rone, Ireland, and as stated, came to this country when a child. After the death of his father, he continued to reside in Delaware un- til his death. Hle was during most of his life engaged in mercantile pursuits. He died at Wilmington in 1874. John MeLear married Elizabeth Bu-h, and had children, as follows: I. J. Anna B., deceased; II. John P., de- ceased; III. Samuel B., residing in Philadel- phia; IV. Henry C .; V. Elizabeth B., re- siding in Wilmington, Del.

Henry C. MeLear was educated at Hyatt's Educational Institute and was for some time employed in carriage-making. In 1863. in company with Casper Kendall, he engaged extensively in the manufacture of carriages, and still carries on the same business. Mr. MeLear was elected mayor of his native city, Jume 30, 1897. Hle is a member of Temple Lodge, No. 11, F. and A. M .; of Delta Chap- ter, R. A. M .; and St. Jolm's Commandery, K. T. In polities Mr. MeLear is a stanch Re- publican.

Henry C. MeLear was married to Miss Martha Yates, of Wilmington. Of their five children, one died from an injury. Those liv- ing are: I. Walter, and IT. Malcolm, residing in Newark, N. J .; III. Anna B., and IV. Martha, residing in Wilmington. Mr. Me- Lear attends the West Presbyterian church.

THOMAS BLANKIN, Wilmington, Del., son of William and Mary (Atkins) Blankin, was born in Philadelphia, October 8, 1820.

The origin of the name was German. Wil- liam Blankin was born in England. He emi- grated to America and for some time resided in Massachusetts. He afterward removed to Philadelphia, and there spent the remainder of his life. Ile was a dyer and was acciden- tally scalded to death by falling into a vat filled with boiling dye. William and Mary

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(Atkins) Blankin had eleven children, tive of whom are still living: 1. Mary, widow of James Buchanan; II. Elizabeth; III. Thomas; IV. Sarah, widow of Jacob Stout; V. Phebe, widow of Daniel Willy; VI. Robert.

The early life of Thomas Blankin was spent in Philadelphia, where he became a machinist; at the age of twenty-one he removed to Wil- mington, Del., and worked at his trade for a number of years, after which he became a steamboat engineer. During the war, he was engineer on a government tran-port, and for the past thirteen years, has filled his pres- ent position, that of engineer of the city water works. Mr. Blankin is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 1, F. and A. M. In polities he is independent. Thomas Blankin was married in Wilmington, Del., to Ellen, daughter of Edward and Sarah Coxe. They have had six children, two of whom died in childhood. Those living are: I. William, who resides in Muncy, Ind .; II. Mary ( Mrs. Wil- liam Williams), residing in West Chester, Pa .; III. Martha (Mrs. E. P. Moody), resid- ing in Wilmington; IV. Ellen, The family attend the Baptist church.

WILLIAM D. WILSON, of Sussex coun- ty, Del., son of Thomas and Letitia (King) Wilson, was born on the Wilson home- stead, in Lewes and Rehoboth hundred, Sus- sex county, Del., August 21, 1851.

Thomas Wilson, farmer, was born on the homestead in the old house opposite the modern dwelling in which his son, William D. Wilson, resides. His parents were poor and while still a boy, Thomas began cropping for the neighboring farm- ers. At his father's death he inherited a small tract which was the original home- stead; to this he added gradually as his means permitted, and at the time of his death owned a large farm. Thomas Wilson's first wife was Mary Waples. Their children were: I. James T., died in boyhood; II. Mary .A. ( Mrs. Joseph Fletcher), deceased, had three children, i. Thomas W., ii. John M., ii. Ella. Mrs. Mary Wilson died in Lewes and Reho- both hundred. Mr. Wilson's second wife was Letitia, daughter of Hugh King, of Broad- lilu hundred, Sussex county, Del. Their children are: I. John C., of Lewes and Re- hoboth hundred, married Margaret Pretty-

man; II. William D) .; III. Eliza C., of Phila- delphia, Pa .; IV. Lydia E. ( Mrs. David Sad- dler), died in Philadelphia, Pa. Thomas Wilson died at his homestead in 1864, aged seventy-six; his widow died in 1866, aged fifty-one.

For four months each winter, William D). Wilson attended the public schools of Lewes and Rehoboth hundred; the remaining ciglu months were spent in assisting in the work of the farm. At eighteen he went to Philadel- phia, Pa., and lived with relatives while at- tending school there. Becoming discouraged, he went to Wilmington, Del., and in com- pany with some of his young friends, hired as a deck hand on the steamboat Vesper, owned by the Charles T. Warner Steamboat Com- pany. He rose rapidly and soon became a pilot, in which position he served for three years, receiving his board and forty-two dol- lars per month. His health failing, and the doctor having advised a change of occupation, Mr. Wilson opened a store on the corner of Third and Walnut streets, Wilmington. Ilis old friends, the boatmen, gave him their pat- ronage; men employed under a contract from the government for the removal of Cherry Island shoals, also spent their wages in his store. The business was a financial success, but after a six years' trial, finding that his health was not improving, Mr. Wilson soll his establishment, and returning to the home- stead, purchased a portion of it from his brother, John C. Wilson. This, with the share which he had inherited, gave him a farm of 219 acres. For some years he devoted himself entirely to the care of this property. In 1885 he opened a dairy, the product of which increased rapidly from year to year. He has paid great attention to improving his cattle and has a large herd of Alderney cows. Ilis principal market is Lewes, Del. Since his marriage Mr. Wilson has devoted much of his time to the study of the Bible; he is par- tielarly interested in its doctrinal teaching -. He is a life-long Republican and served as a member of the Levy Court from ISST to 1891.

On August 17, 1874, William D. Wilson was married to Emma J., daughter of Conl and Jane II. (King) Warrington, who was born in Broadkiln, Sussex county, Del .. July 24, 1850. Their children are: I. Letitia J.

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(Mrs. William W. Warrington), of Lewes and Rehoboth hundred, born June 21, 1876; II. Thomas C., born November 7, 1877; III. William F., born December 14, 1881; IV. Charles W., born March 13, 1881; V. Helean E., born April 28, 1887; VI. Henry T., born July 12, 1891; VII. Wallace C., born April 23, 1893.

OLIVER EVANS, one of the greatest in- ventors of the early days of this century, who was born in Newport, Delaware, in 1755, was a descendant of Rev. Dr. Evan Evans, the first Episcopal minister of Philadelphia. Hle was apprenticed to a wheelwright, and at the age of twenty-one years, invented a machine for making card-teeth, which superseded the ol.l system of hand manufacture. Two years later He joined his brothers in the milling business in Philadelphia, and in 1787 obtained the ex- elusive right to use his improvement in nearly all the flour-mills of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. In 1799 he began the con- struction of a steam-carriage, which he after- ward applied successfully to mills. In 1804 he constructed the first steam dredging-ma- chine made in America. Speaking of this in- vention, Evans said afterwards:

"In the year 1804 I constructed at Phila- delphia a machine, of my own invention, for cleaning docks-a heavy mud flat, with a steam-engine of the power of five horses in it to work the machinery. And, to show that both steam carriage and steam-boats were practicable (with my steam-engines), I first put wheels to it and propelled it by the engine a mile and a half and then into the Schuylkill, although its weight was equal to that of two hundred barrels of flour. I then fixed a pad- dle-wheel at the stern, and propelled it by the engine down the Schuylkill and up the Dela- ware-sixteen miles-leaving all the vessels that were under sail full half-way behind me (the wind being ahead), although the appli- ance was so temporary as to produce great friction, and the flat was most illy formed for sailing; done in the presence of thousands."

Before the boat was taken to the water the inventor exhibited it upon the circular road at Centre Square, Philadelphia, and being ad- vertised in the newspapers of the day, it drew crowds of citizens to the spot to wonder at and admire the product of genius. . Centre Square

-really a circle-ocenpied the space on which the Public Buildings now stand, at the intersection of Broad and Market streets, Phil- adelphia, in carly times the location of the city water-works.

Even before this experiment was made Evans had proposed to construct a road-car- riage for freight. He calculated the cost of the engine to be fifteen hundred dollars, and the carriage five hundred, and that his carriage could convey one hundred barrels of flour at an average speed of two miles per hour, thus doing in two days (on the trip from Philadelphia to Columbia) the work of twenty-five horses and five wagons for three days at a cost of three thousand three hundred and four dollars. The turnpike company refused to enter into a con- tract with him. Evans wagered that he "could make a carriage go by steam faster than any horse," and announced that he could build carriages to "run on a railway" at the rate of fifteen miles an hour.

Oliver Evans' prophecy in the New York Commercial Advertiser is of interest, as illus- trated by the facilities of the present day:

"The time will come when people will travel in stages moved by steam engines at fif- teen to twenty miles an hour. A carriage will leave Washington in the morning, breakfast at Baltimore, dine at Philadelphia and sup at New York on the same day. Railways will he laid of wood or iron, or on smooth paths of broken stone or gravel, to travel as well by night as by day. A steam-engine will drive a carriage one hundred and eighty miles in twelve hours, or engines will drive boats teu or twelve miles an hour, and hundreds of boats will so run on the Mississippi and other waters, as was prophesied thirty years ago (by Fitch), but the velocity of boats can never be made equal to that of carriages upon rails, because the resistance in water is eight hundred times more than that in the air. Posterity will not be able to discover why the Legislature or Congress did not grant the inventor such pro- tection as might have enabled him to put in operation these great improvements sooner, he having neither asked money nor a mno- hopoly of any existing thing."

The novel launching of Oliver Evans' dredging-machine was the first instance in this country of the application of steam power to land carriages. He was enthusiastic in his

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scheme for a steam railway and endeavored to secure the construction of one between Phila- delphia and New York, but without success. While firm in his faith in the principle of land · transportation by steam power, he does not ap- pear to have had any comprehensive concep- tion of the possibilities attending its applica- tion in the operation of railways. In Decem- ber, 1813, he published an address on the sub- jeet which demonstrated theories peculiarly primitive in view of his courage, industry and knowledge of a science at that time compara- tively unknown and unattainable. In this document the ascent of an altitude of more than two or three degrees was not considered feasible. He suggested that the locomotive could be sent to the top of a hill and the cars drawn up by windlass and rope, and, "to ob- viate the danger in making a descent," the en- gine could be sent ahead and the cars be let down by ropes.

Oliver Evans wrote the "Young Mill- wright's Guide" and the "Young Sicam En- gineer's Guide." He died in New York, April 21, 1819, without having seen his "life- dream" of steam railways realized. His limi- ted financial resources proved the main obsta- cle to the success of his mechanical experi- ments. While he received large sums of roy- alties from his milling inventions, he was compelled also to expend a great deal of money to protect them, and was for several years almost constantly in the court- and be- fore the legislative bodies, including Congress, as defender of his patents.

THE READ FAMILY. - To the chapter devoted to Hon. George Read, signer of the Declaration of Independence, in Vol. I, we add the following brief genealogical sketch of the family, with some notes on its more distinguished members.

The first ancestor in this country, Colonel John Read, born 1688, died 1756, was a na- tive of Dublin, Ireland. His mother was de- svended from an old Oxfordshire family, and his father, an English gentleman of large fortune, then residing in Dublin, wa- fifth in descent from Thomas Read, lord of the manors of Barton Court and Beedon, in Berk- shire, and high sheriff of Berks in 1581, and tenth in descent from Edward Road, lord of the manor of Beedon, and high heriff of

Berks in 1439 and again in 1451. William Read, brother of said Edward Read, was six times mayor of Reading, and four times mem- ber of Parliament for Reading. An older brother, Sir Thomas Read, accompanied King Henry VI. when he held his Parliament at Reading in 1439; they were all sons of Thomas Read, lord of various manors in Northumberland.

In the civil wars of the seventeenth con- tury, the family declared for the crown, and its chief, Sir Compton Read, was for his ser- vices one of the first baronets created by Charles Il. after the Restoration. A younger son of the family went over to Ireland during the same troubles, and his son was the pro- genitor of the American house.

John Read fell in love at an early age in the old country with his cousin, a beautiful and accomplished English girl, who died sud- denly before their engagement ended in marriage. This shock so overcame the lover that, after struggling in vain against his mel- ancholy amidst familiar scenes, he determined. in spite of the earnest opposition of his par- onts, to seek relief in entire change. Crossing the ocean to Maryland, he purchased land- in several counties in that province, to which he added others in Delaware. On his plantation in Cecil county, Maryland, he possessed a spacious brick mansion, subsequently de- stroved by five, with out-buildings, offices. and comfortable quarters for his slaves, whom he treated with an unvarying humanity which became hereditary in his family. Groves of oak grew near the house, and tulips of great rarity in the gardens.

The produce of his wheat and tobacco plan- tations was disposed of in Philadelphia and in England.

Colonel Read was fond of field sports, and was both hospitable and generous. He gave the land to endow the church in his vicinity. His life was honorable in all its relations. He joined a few other gentlemen in founding the city of Charlestown, at the head-waters of the Chesapeake Bay, twelve years after Bahi- more was begun, hoping to make it a great commercial mart to absorb northern trade, to develop northern Maryland, and to give a suitable impetus and outlet to the adjoining forges and furnaces of the Principio Com- pany, in which his friends, the older genera- tions of the Washington family, and eventu-

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ally General Washington himself, were deep- ly interested. It is said that towards the close of his life Col. Read received a visit on his estate from George Washington, then a young officer of the British troops in America.

As one of the original proprietors of Charlestown, John Read was appointed by the Colonial Legislature one of the commis- sjoners to lay out and govern the new town, and was assiduous in his attentions to these duties.

After a long period of single life, Colonel Read married Mary Howell, a charming Welsh gentlewoman, many years his junior, who was as energetic and spirited as she was attractive and handsome. Sprung from the Hlowells, of Caerleon, Monmouthshire, her immediate ancestors were of the neighborhood of Caerphilly, Glamorganshire, Wales, where she was born in 1711, and whence, at a tender age, she removed with her parents to Dela- ware; in that state her father became a large planter.

Colonel John and Mary (Howell ) Read had children as follows: I. Hon. George Read, born September 17, 1733, died in 1783, mar- ried January 11, 1763, to Gertrude, daughter of Rev. George Ross, who was rector of Enum- uel P. E. church of New Castle, Del., for nearly a half-century; II. Commodore Thomas Read, born in 1740, died in 1788, was mar- Ried, September 7, 1779, to Mrs. Mary (Peale) Field, by Rev. William White, then chaplain of the Continental Congress, after- ward the first bishop of the Protestant Episco- Fal Diocese of Pennsylvania; III. Colonel James Read, born in 1743, died in Philadel- phia, December 31, 1822, married July 9, 1770, to Susanne Correy, of Chester comity, P'a .; IV. Mary, born -, died married Gunning Benford, Sr., who was a lieutenant in the war against the French in 1755, and took an active part in the Revolu- tionary struggle; was commissioned major March 20, 1775; became lieutenant-colonel of the Delaware Regiment January 19, 1776; was wounded at the battle of White Plains while leading his men to the attack ; was mus- ter-master general, member of the Continen- tal Congress and .Governor of Delaware.

I. Of Hon. George Read, we have but lit- tle to add to what has been said in Vol. I. Ile was one of the only two men who signed

all three of the most important historie papers of Revolutionary times: the petition of the Continental Congress to the King, 1774; the Declaration of Independence, 1776; and the Constitution of the United States, 17ST. Ilis opposition to the second of these papers, pre- vious to its adoption, arose from his having not yet abandoned the hope of reconciliation with the mother country. He was a man of fine appearance and of dignified, yet courte- ous and winning manners. The children of Hon George and Gertrude ( Ross) Read were: i. John, died in infancy; ii. George Read, 2, for thirty years United States district attor- ney of Delaware; iii. William Read, consul- general of the kingdom of Naples, iv. John - Read, Senator of Pennsylvania; v. Mary Read, who married Colonel Matthew Pearce, of Pop- lar Neck, Cecil county, Maryland. George Read, the signer, was an ardent member of the Church of England and afterwards of the Protestant Episcopal church in America, and for many years one of the wardens of Em- manuel church, New Castle; and he lies in that beautiful and quiet church-yard, where seven generations of the Read family repose.

II. On October 23, 1775, at the age of thirty-five years, Thomas Read, second son of Col. John and Mary (Howell) Read, was made commodore of the Pennsylvania navy, and had as his fleet surgeon Dr. Benjamin Rush, subsequently one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. In the follow- ing year he made a successful defense of the Delaware, and at that time Captains Sonder, Jackson, Potts and Charles Biddle gallantly volunteered under him as seamen before the mast.

On the 7th of June, 1776, he was appointed to the highest grade in the Continental navy, and was assigned to one of the four largest ships, the 82-gun frigate George Washington, then being Imilt in the Delaware. In October of the same year Congress regulated the rank of the officers of the navy, and he stood sixth on the list. His ship being still on the stocks, he volunteered for land service, and on Devem- ber 2, 1776, the Committee of Safety directed him, with his officers, to join General Wash- ington. Hle gave valuable assistance in the celebrated crossing of the Delaware by Wash- ington's army, and at the battle of Trenton commanded a battery composed of guns taken

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from his own frigate, which raked the stone Fridge across the Assunpink. For this import- ant service he received the thanks of all the general officers.

After much active service by land and by sea Commodore Read resigned, and retired to his seat, White Hill, near Bordentown, N. J., where he dispensed a constant hospitality, es- pecially to his old associates in the Order of the Cincinnati, of which he was one of the original members. Ilis friend, Robert Morris, the financier, purchased Commodore Read's old frigate, Alliance, and induced him to take command of her, for one adventurous voyage to China. The first officer selected by Com- modore Read for the expedition was Richard Dale, afterwards Commodore Dale; his super- cargo was George Harrison, of Philadelphia. Embarking June 7, 1787, the voyagers reached Canton on December 22, of the same year. Their track was one which was as yet untried by any navigator; the season at which the voyage was made was equally experimen- tal. On the way, Commodore Read discovered two of the Caroline islands, to which he gave the names of Morris and Alliance, and thus se- cured the United States rights under the laws of nations which have never been effectually asserted. Commodore Read reached Philadel- phia on his return voyage on September 17, 1788, and on the 26th of October following died at his home in New Jersey, in the forty- ninth year of his age. Robert Morris thus eudlogized him: "While integrity, benevo- lence, patriotism and courage, united with the most gentle manners, are respected and ad- mired among men, the name of this valuable citizen and soldier will be revered and beloved. Ile was in the noblest import of the word, a man." Commodore Read left no descendant :.

III. James Read, third son of Col. JJohn and Mary ( Howell) Read, was regularly pro- moted from first lieutenant to colonel for gal- Jant and distinguished services at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine and Gor- mantown. He was appointed by Congress, November 4, 1778, one of the three commis- sioners of the navy for the Middle States; and on January 11, 1781, Congress invested him with sole power to conduct the Navy Board. When his friend, Robert Morris, he- came agent, he was elected secretary, and was the virtual head of the marine department,

while Robert Morris managed the finance de- partment of the American Confederacy.

The children of Colonel James and Susanne (Correy) Read were: James, born in 1753, in Philadelphia, died unmarried in the same city, October 29, 1853; Susamne, born , died in Philadelphia, December 3, 1861, married March 27, 1803, to Joachim Frederie Eckard, Danish consul at the port of Philadelphia, brother of His Excellency Christian Eckard, Knight of the Dannebrog and honorary counsellor to the King of Den- mark. Consul-General Eckard died in Vene- zuela, September 14, 1837.

James Read, 2, son of Col. James Read, traveled extensively in Europe and Oriental countries. During a visit to Sweden, made in company with Sir Robert Ker Porter in 1815, he received from the Queen of Sweden the honor of Knighthood of the Order of the Amaranth. He was a botanist of no mean attainments. His sister, Mrs. Susanne Read Eckard, was possessed of brilliant wit and unusual accomplishments, and was a dis- tinguished ornament of the best society of Philadelphia. Her charming manners and in- tellectual conversation were equaled by that nobility and benevolence of her character. She was the author of an historical account of "Washington Delivering His Farewell Ad- dress." Her sons were: I. Dr. Frederick Eckard; II. Rev. James Read Eckard, D. D., born in Philadelphia, November 22, 1805, died March 12, 1857, after a long and useful life. He graduated with honor at the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, studied law with Chief Justice John Meredith Read, was calle.l to the bar; afterward studied theology, gradu- ated at Princeton Divinity School; was a missionary to India and China, published in 1845 a volume on the island of Ces- lon. Rev. Dr. Eckard married Margaret Esther, daughter of Dr. Nicholas Bavard, of Philadelphia, and left one son, a celebrated clergyman, Rev. Leighton W. Eckard, born September 23, 1845, graduated at Lafayette College and the Divinity School at Prince- ton.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 62

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