Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 65

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

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sex. In 1818 Eli and Samuel Hilles erected a large building, surrounded by beautiful grounds, with a delightful view of the Dela- ware River, at the northeast corner of Tenth and King streets. Here, with extended school accommodation and increased facilities, they enlarged the scope of their institution. Young ladies from nearly all the States of the Union and from the West Indies were pupils. The school became so favorably known for its ex- cellent management, the ennobling influence it exerted on the manners and character of its pupils, and the practical and useful instruc- tion given, that applications were constantly being made for admission to it. The two brothers conducted the school very prosper- ously together until 1828, when Eli Ililles, in- tending to retire from the educational work, withdrew from the partnership, and removed into the mansion previously built and occu- pied by his brother, and owned by his daugh- ter, Miss Elizabeth B. Hilles, later at the southeast corner of Tenth and King street, where he continued to reside during the re- mainder of his life. Being deeply interested in the cause of education, and naturally qual- ified for teaching, the next year (1829) Eli Hilles was persuaded to open a day-school for young ladies, to which a few boarding pupils were admitted. For this purpose he erected a building a few doors below his residence on the same side of the street, and successfully conducted a school there from 1829 to 1838. Ile then retired with a competence as the re- sult of his school work.

Samuel Hilles in 1828 exchanged homes with his brother, moved into the building at the northeast corner of Tenth and King streets, took charge of the Boarding School for Young Ladies, and continued its popular- ity and success until 1882, when he was in- vited to take a position at Haverford College, then being founded. The Boarding School Was subsequently taught by John M. Smith and Dubree Knight.

Eli Hilles was a son of William and Re- becca Ifilles, and was born in Chester county, Pa., in 1783. His ancestors were of Welsh descent. When he was quite young his par- ents removed to the western part of Pennsyl- vania; that region then contained but few in- habitants, As a young man, he was a dili- gent student of the books that came within his reach, and for a short time taught school.

Soon after he reached the age of twenty-one years, he came to the well-known Westtown Boarding School in Chester county, and was the librarian of that institution several years previous to his removal to Wilmington in 1809-a young man of twenty-six years. It connection with his school interest he took an active part in the growth and prosperity of Wilmington, and during his long life was identified with a mumber of institutions. As early as 1826 he was elected a director of the Bank of Delaware, and for more than a third of a century continued a member of the board of directors. He was one of the founders of the Savings Fund Society, and for thirty years a director in it. He was also one of the com- missioners who secured the establishment of the Union Bank of Delaware. When the city of Wilmington, in 1851, accepted the pro- visions of the act establishing the public schools he was chosen one of the first members of the Board of School Directors in the city, and was elected its first president, serving but a few weeks when he retired from the position in favor of Judge Willard HIall, and in asso- ciation with him and others was instrumental in putting into successful operation the excel- lent school system of which Wilmington now is justly proud. He continued in the School Board about ten years. Ile was a member of the Society of Friends, and for many years an elder in the meeting at Wilmington. In the days of slavery he was a stanch abolition- ist, at a time when it required a brave man, residing in a slave State, to favor the freedom of the colored race. As an enterprising and publie-spirited citizen of Wilmington he was highly esteemed by every one who knew him. A man of upright, irreproachable character and sterling integrity, he lived for the benefit of mankind.

Eli Hilles was married in 1809 to Martha Barker, of Burlington, N. J., and the same year came to Wilmington. His wife died in 1849. During the last year of his life he was an invalid, and died in 1863, at the advanced age of eighty years, leaving but one child, Elizabeth B. Hilles.

Samuel Hilles, son of William and Rebecca Ililles, was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, November 20, 1788, and died in Wil- mington August 4, 1573, aged eighty-tive Years. When a small boy, his parents re- moved to the western part of the State, where

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he obtained the rudiments of his education. When he grew to be a young man he went to the Westtown Boarding School. Owing to rapid advancement in his studies he was soon invited to become a teacher. He remained in that famous institution as an instructor for a few years and then came to Wilmington and entered upon his prosperous career as an edu- cator. After his retirement from school work in Wilmington in 1832, he spent nearly two years in Haverford College, being invited there to become its general superintendent, and gave his valuable services to that young institution without charge. He then returned to Wilmington and built a house, in which he resided until the Boarding School closed, when he removed into that building. By in- dustry and perseverance he had accumulated a handsome fortune, which was increased by his careful business transactions, and he spent the remainder of his years in looking after his private affairs and in attendance upon the in- terests of the institutions of Wilmington with which he was connected. In 1841 he was elected a director in the Bank of Delaware, continued a member for thirty-five years, and was one of the board of directors that con- verted that institution into a National Bank. For a long time he was a director in the Wil- mington Savings Fund Society. He Was a prominent member of the Society of Friends. Early in life he became interested in the ques- tion of the freedom of slaves, was an avowed abolitionist, and at the end of the war was one of the first persons in the state of Delaware to propose means and methods for the educa- tion of the children of the colored race. The Howard School in Wilmington was organized largely through his instrumentality. When he was engaged in teaching, and during his whole life, Samuel Hilles was a diligent tu- dent of the science of botany. He was one of the founders of the Wilmington Botanical Society, which existed for several years. To- gether with his brother and others, he was one of the first members of the Board of Educa- tion in Wilmington. Hle served as secretary of the board for a time, and was devotedly in- terested in the cause of public education. He was a man of excellent judgment, fine intelli- gence, and most exemplary character, con- stantly using his best effort for the good of the community in which he lived.

Sammuel Hilles was married October 31, 1821, to Margaret Ilill Smith, on her paternal side a great-granddaughter of James Logan, Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania under Wil- liam Pen. On her maternal side she was a great-granddaughter of Governor Lloyd, of Pennsylvania. The children of this marriage were Gulielma Maria, William S. and John S. Ililles. William S. Hilles, the ekler son, was a prominent and influential citizen of Wil- mington. In 1861 he was chosen a director in the Bank of Delaware. Subsequently he was one of the founders of the Artisans' Savings Bank and served as its first president. Guliel- ma Maria Hilles was married September 7, 1843, to Charles W. Howland, of Cayuga county, New York; their children are: Sam- uel Hilles Howland; William H. Howland; Margaret Smith Howland; Charles Samuel Ilowland; Susan Howland; Rachel Smith Howland. William S. Hilles married Sarah L. Allen, May 17, 1849; their children are: Susannah W. Hilles; Thomas Allen Hilles; Samuel Eli Hilles; Margaret S. Hilles.

John S. Hilles married Sarah C. Tatum, July 21, 1832. Their children are: Anna Cooper Hilles; William S. Hilles; Joseph T. Ililles; Margaret 11. ITilles.

WILLIAM DEAN, late woolen manufac- turer, at Deandale, on White Clay Creek, at Newark, was born in Blockley township, Philadelphia county, Pa., May 10, 1820, son of Joseph and Esther (Hansell) Dean. His father was an Englishman by birth, while his mother, who died in 1821, came from a Penn- sylvania family.

Most of Mr. Dean's early days were spent in the mills of his father, and consequently his education was limited. On January 1, 1536, He became permanently employed in his fa- ther's mills, at Fifty-second street and Torr avenue, now Master street, Philadelphia. The mills were near Oll Nancy's Dam, at Fifty- second and Girard avenne. In 1840, he mar- ried Margaret, daughter of Thomas Aspden, and his father then allowed him $4,50 a week, which was increased fifty cents each year until it reached six dollars. In order to secure ad- ditional water-power, Joseph Dean, in 1845, bought the old grist-mill, on White Clay Creek, at Newark, converted it into a woolen- will, and moved there with his family. Wil-

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liam was admitted to partnership, in Febru- ary, 1847, and the firm became Joseph Dean & Son. Each partner agreed to take out five dollars per week, and, though William Dean then had three children, they ended the year without a dollar of debt, and each partner re- ceived one hundred and twenty-one dollars as his share of the net profits. For ten years bus- iness prospered, and the firm accumulated con- siderable capital, but the panic of 1557 swept away all the gains of a decade. Joseph Dean never fully recovered from the shock, but William soon rallied, took the old mill, ma- chinery and stock left, and entered upon an- other successful career. The father died in 1861, and John Pilling, who had been many years with the firm of Joseph Dean & Son, was admitted to partnership under the old firm name. In 1882, the Dean Woolen Company was organized, with Mr. Dean as secretary and treasurer, in which office he continued until his death, April 12, 1887, though the mills were totally destroyed by fire, December 25, 1886, and were not rebuilt. He had also been one of the stockholders, and secretary and treasurer of the Kiamensi Woolen Company, but withdrew from that concern when the Dean Woolen Company was organized.

Mr. Dean was one of the promoters of the Pennsylvania and Delaware Railroad, and one of its directors. He founded the Patrons of Husbandry, in Delaware, and was Master of the Newark Grange, and Chairman of the State Executive Committee for many years. In addition he served as Trustee of Delaware College, Trustee of the Poor of New Castle county, Public School Director, etc. In poli- ties he was a Democrat and a free-trader, and served in the State Legislatures of 1569 and 1879. At the former session he was chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and within a year after the passage of his revenue law, of that session, the State bonds rose from seventy-five per cent. to par. Upon the nom- ination of Horace Greeley for president of the United States, in 1872, he promptly resigned the chairmanship of the Democratie State Executive Committee, joined the straight-out Democrats, and was a delegate to the Louis- ville Convention that nominated Charles O'Connor and Charles F. Adams. To his ef- forts is accredited the success of his party in securing a majority of the State Legislature

in that year. In 1886, having become dis- gusted with the Democratic party, he was a strong advocate of the Temperance ticket.

Mr. Dean was a man of sterling integrity and great determination of character. lle was a vigorous and logical writer, as attested by his newspaper correspondence during hi- European tour, of 1581, and his frequent con- tributions to the local newspapers on various public issues. Mrs. Dean died March 31, 1881. She was survived by two sons and three daughters: Joseph, president of the Dean Woolen Company: Su-an, widowof John II. Hill, of Newark; William Kershaw, of Newark; S. D. Hill, Florence J., and Harriet L. Anna Bella, who married Joseph S. Law- son, a solicitor of Leeds, England, died in No- vember, 1882. Mr. Dean's funeral, in 1887, was attended by a large number of the most distinguished men of the state and nation. His remains were interred in the Newark M. E. Cemetery.

CHARLES TATMAN, of Odessa, Del., son of Purnell and Bathsheba (Griffith) Tat- man, was born near Greenwood Station, Su- sex county, May 5, 1792.

Purnell Tanman was a farmer of superior intelligence and character, who was born July 1, 1766, on the farm on which he spent hi- life, and where he died September 1, 1526. The mother of Charles Tatman was Bath- sheba, daughter of John Griffith, of Sussex county. Purnell Tatman had nine children, six of whom-Cyrus, Eliza, Charles, Purnell, Bathsheba and Eunice-lived to have families of their own.

The grandfather of Charles Tatman, Mitchell Tatman, was also a farmer, and passed his days on the old homestead, which had probably been in the possession of the family from early colonial times. His wife was Mary, daughter of John Collins, of Su -- sex county, and cousin of Governor. Collins, of Delaware. Charles Tatman at five years of age was sent to a private school kept in a neighboring dwelling; but the greater part of his school education was obtained in a school house in the neighborhood which had neither floor, windows nor chimney. Mr. Tatman in later life told how the children suffered on winter days, when the ground, even in the school house, would be soaked with water, and

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was often frozen solid in the morning. To protect their feet from the ice, the children brought in pieces of wood or anything con- venient for foot-rests. The fire of logs was luilt at one end of the room, on the ground, pad the smoke escaped through a hole in the roof. At fifteen he left school to work on the farm, doing what he could for the family sup- port until he was twenty-four years old. He then became a clerk in the store of William Polk, the husband of his eldest sister, at Cant- well's Bridge. Here he made his home through three or four years of faithful service to his brother-in-law, after which he engaged in mercantile business with Mr. Manlove Hayes, of that town, under the fim-name of Tatman & Hayes. This partnership contin- ued until 1825, when the partners separated, and divided their goods. During the next tive years Mr. Tatian conducted business by him- self, enjoying an unusual degree of prosperity. About 1827 he enlarged his business opera- tions, and began to purchase grain, wood, staves and every kind of country produce, shipping his goods in his own vessels to Phila- delphia, New York and elsewhere. In all his efforts he displayed uncommon zeal, enter- prise and judgment, and in 1834 his business I:ad attained such proportions that he found it necessary to take a partner. He was hap- pily associated with Daniel B. MeKee for nine years, after which the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Tatman retired from active business. He was then but fifty-one years of age, but had accumulated a fortune sufficient to insure lim comfort and abundance for the remainder of his life. For several years following he was largely interested in real estate, and owned considerable property in Odessa, besides nu- merous farms in the vicinity which he event- ually sold. Ile kept all his business affair- in perfect order. From 1851 to 1877 Mr. Tat- man was secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company ; in 1854, at the first meet- ing of the directors, he was elected president of the New Castle County Bank of Odessa, inst incorporated. This office he heldl until his death. In political life, Mr. Tatman was originally a Federalist, afterwards a Whig, and on that ticket was a candidate for the State Legislature in 1842, but was not elected. In 1561 he took strong ground for the Union, and used his means and influence freely to sus- tain the government throughout the war. Al-

though never seeking political preferment, he was always an efficient and disinterested worker for the welfare of his country and State. From the time of its organization he was an active and useful member of the Re- publican party. For a hundred years, the Tatman family has been conspicuous in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He united with it as a member in 1867, and was long a trustee. Mr. Tatman was married, March 30, 1847, to Mrs. Harriet Brinton Corbit, widow of John C. Corbit, and daughter of Joseph Trimble, late of Concord, Pa., all of the Society of Friends. She had no children, and died March 23, 1873, aged seventy-one.

Mr. Tatman retained his sight and hearing to a remarkable degree. After he had reached ninety years he appeared to be a man of much fewer years. The weight of nearly a century of life did not prevent his attendance upon his duties at the bank. He retained his interest in the young, and to such his home was always attractive. For the last forty years he resided in the simple, unostentations dwelling in Odessa, where he died. He lived under the administration of the Presidents from Wash- ington to Cleveland, inclusive. He died Octo ber 21, 1887, leaving behind him an untary- ished name. Ile will always be remembered as one of the most upright and useful citizens of the country. Ilis funeral was largely at- tended, and his remains lie buried in the same grave with those of his mother in the cemetery of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Odessa. In person, Mr. Tatman was considerably above the average in both height and weight. Ile measured about six feet in stature, and his average weight was about two hundred pounds. He was regular and temperate in his habits, and indulged in no vicious prac- tives. To this prudence is largely due his long and healthful life.

WILLIAM D. CLARK, farmer and banker, was born in Red Lion hundred, New Castle county, September 9, 1812. He was the youngest child but one of George and Esther ( Bryan) Clark.

The sterling qualities of a long line of hon- ored ancestry had descended to him, as the foundation of a character, in which the most positive elements were hap- pily blended d with peculiar modesty and unaffected gentleness. Until he became

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of age he united to the studies of his youth the practical duties of a farmer's life. With his father and brothers at the paternal home- stead, he devoted his intelligence and energy to the development of the fine estate, which had been in the possession of the family for generations. The habits of industry thus carly and effectually formed, and the thor- ough knowledge acquired, together with the more general culture of an inquiring and en- ergetie mind, laid the solid basis of an active and most useful life, whose interests, while never detached from their original channels, broadened out into a much wider sphere.

For a time, however, Mr. Clark had ar- dently cherished a different purpose. Ilis studious disposition and earnest piety had led him to think seriously of the high office of the Christian ministry. With the consent of his parents, and especially with the warm sympa- thy and encouragement of an excellent mother, to whom he opened his heart most freely, he entered upon a course of study. In May, 1834, he became a student in the prepar- atory department of Lafayette College, at Eas- ton, Pa., but remained there for only a single term, and then transferred his relations to a more convenient institution, Delaware Col- lege, at Newark, which had recently been or- ganized, and whose preparatory department he entered in the autunm of the same year, combining with the regular course some of the studies of the college proper. The labors of two studious years, however, told severely upon a constitution which was never robust. On his reaching the Freshman class in the fall of 1836, it became evident that he could not continue his exacting mental work without serious risk to health, and even to life. He consulted anxiously with skilful physi- cians and judicious friends, and as a result felt himself constrained, with sorrowful relue- tance, to abandon his dearly cherished project, and return to the active duties of his original vocation. In 1837 Mr. Clark purchased the beautiful farm, near Delaware City, which continued to be his home until his death, and which he not only enriched by the science of a trained agriculturist, but adorned with the attractions of a refined and happy domestic life.

In February, 1844, William D. Clark was united in marriage to Mary Frances, daughter

of William J. and Wilhelmina Stuart Hur- lock, with whom he lived a life of enviable happiness until her lamented death, May 29. 1886. His household was a reproduction of the delightful experience of his youthful home. The finest family affection, combined with a munificent and warm-hearted hospital- ity, distinguished both alike, and rendered these homes perpetually charming to the in- mates, and unceasingly attractive to a wide circle of friends. Mr. Clark's cup of domestic happiness was full. The peace of God, wait- ing upon and sanctifying the natural affection of a united and devoted family, beautified and blessed the lives of all. Sincere and unosten- tatious piety was a marked feature of Mr. Clark's character. Beyond the limits of his private life this was especially evinced by his untiring consecration to the interests of the Presbyterian Church of Delaware City, in which, for half a century, he was a ruling el- der and the superintendent of the Sunday- school.

In 1853 Mr. Clark was elected a member of the Levy Court of New Castle county, in which he served for twelve years, acting as its president during the greater part of this time. It was by his own wish alone that he relin- quished the duties of the position.

In polities he was originally a Whig, and subsequently a Republican, cherishing a rev- erent regard for the principles of the National Constitution, and a loyal devotion to the wel- fare of his country. He took a broad and deep interest in public questions, and had a high sense of his duties as a citizen, but had no ambition for office, and declined to hold any official trusts beyond those of a local charac- ter.

In 1873, Mr. Clark was elected viee-presi- dent of the Bank of Delaware City, of which he became the president in 1876, on the death of his predecessor and beloved friend, Captain George Maxwell. It is needless to say that his wise administration contributed to the pros- perity of the institution. The bank, the well- cultivated farm, the hospitable home, the in- terests of the town near which he lived, and the county of which he was a citizen, the church he loved so dearly and for which he Jabored with untiring perseverance, furnish abiding monuments to his sagacity, his enter- prise, and self-sacrificing devoson. While he

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courted no publicity, his life was in reality one of generous breadth, widely comprehen- sive of important interests, and it has left be- hind it enduring impressions of a cultivated and well-rounded character.

In person, Mr. Clark was tall and slightly built, with a physique never vigorous, yet -in- gularly capable of endurance, and always pre- pared to respond to the claims of duty. His face indicated great strength of character, while his gentle temper saved his strong con- victions and resolute purposes from any ap- pearance of arbitrariness or severity. He was one to be respected for his manliness, and loved for his winning graces.

Two children, Emma and Julia Newton Clark, survived their father. A beloved son, W'm. Hmlock Clark, passed away in early life, July 18, 1856. Wm. D. Clark died at his home February 9, 1887, leaving a name, whose untarnished honor is the richest herit- age of his children, and the pride of the com- munity which loved him in life, and tenderly lamented his death. "The memory of the just is blessed."

JOIIN CUMMINS, of Smyrna, Del., son of Daniel and Frances Cummins, was born in Smyrna AApril 7, 1777, and died July 29, 1833.

The Cummins family traces its origin to John Cummins, Lord of Badenoch, who was Regent of Scotland about the time of Edward I. Daniel Cummins was the son of Timothy Cummins, who was born in Scotland about 1659, was a member of the Church of Eng- land, and emigrated to America in the early part of the eighteenth century. settling at Ox- ford, Maryland, under the Lord Baltimore patent. Daniel Cummins lived at the corner of Mount Vernon and Main streets, Smyrna, in a large double brick dwelling- house, built during early colonial times. He was one of the signers from Kent county of the ratification of the Constitution of the United States, and the chief founder of the Episcopal Church, which for a century or more stood at Duck Creek.

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Biographical and genealogical history of the state of Delaware, Vol. II, Part 65

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