USA > Delaware > Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 1 > Part 42
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Mr. McCaulley is one of the directors of the Wilmington Navigation Company, and is con- nected with several benevolent institutions. He is widely and favorably known for his be- nevolence, and is a supporter of every charita- ble and moral enterprise in the city of Wil- mington. He is highly respected and enjoys the confidence of the people. Although past four-score years, his age has not incapacitated him in the least; he is as vigorous and as active, mentally and physically, as most men in the prime of life. He is a man of fine busi- ness tact, and has been very successful in acquiring an enviable competency for himself and family.
Mr. McCaulley was married, first, in 1827, to Miss Sarah L. Sinclair, of New Garden, Pennsylvania; she died in 1852. Six children were born to them of whom four are yet living. The living are, Mary, now widow of Joseph R. Jefferis, and mother of Rev. Prof. William Jef- feris, of Delaware College, and Joseph R., largely engaged in manufactures in Philadel- phia. Samuel S., a resident of Philadelphia, and Elizabeth, wife of Rev. P. Coombe, of the Philadelphia Conference of the M. E. Church ; William S., deceased, of whom see sketch and plate in this volume, and Annie McCaulley, who died in her eleventh year. He was mar- ried a second time, in 1854, to Miss Hannah B. Brinton of Chester county Pa., who died in 1864. He was again married to Mrs. Sybilla Chambers of Brooklyn, New York, who is still living.
IDDLE, HON. GEORGE READ, of New Castle, was born in that town in 1817. He was a graduate of Delaware College, Newark, and studied engineer- ing in which he was engaged for many years, locating and constructing railroads and canals in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, the last of which was the great work at Harper's Ferry. He afterward studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1848. He was appointed Deputy Attorney General for New Castle county, and served in that position with credit for two years. In 1850 Mr. Riddle was elected to the 32d Congress, and. re-elected to the 33d Congress, serving on the. com- mittee on Roads and Canals. He was made chairman of the committee on Engraving, and served in the same position upon a special committee on the Peruvian guano question. In 1849 he was appointed by the Governor of the State a commissioner on the part of Delaware, to retrace the celebrated "Mason and Dixon's line, the report of which was printed by the Legislatures of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, in 1850. He was also a Delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1844, 1848, and 1856. In 1864 he was elected United States Senator from Delaware and served in Congress for the term ending in 1869. He was a member of the Committees on the District of Columbia, Private Land Claims, Manufactories, and Printing.
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ANCROFT, JOSEPH, late of Wilming- ton, was born April 7, 1803, at Man- chester, England, his parents being John and Elizabeth (Wood) Bancroft. They were members of the Society of Friends. The mother, some years before her marriage, accompanied a minister of the Society who came to this country on a religious visit. Joseph Bancroft received his education at Ackworth (Friends) School, which he left at fourteen, and was apprenticed to his uncle, Jacob Bright, father of the celebrated States- man, John Bright, of England. During his ap- prenticeship, which lasted seven years, his family removed to this country and settled in Wilmington, where he joined them in the spring of 1824. Though he was the second of thirteen children, the night he arrived was the first time they had all been gathered under one roof. He found his father and brothers engaged in the manufacture of flannel, in which he assisted them for a year or two, and then took charge of the cotton mills of the Young family, at Rockland. In the spring of 1831 he bought the property where the Rock- ford mills and village, (frequently called Ban- croft's Banks,) near Wilmington, now stand. There were then on the place only two small houses, the third his own residence, while now there are about eighty, besides extensive mill buildings, library, etc. His upward struggle from small beginnings was not easy, but he met every difficulty with courage and faith. The flood of 1839 carried away his dam, and seriously damaged his stock. Then he felt overwhelmed and offered to surrender the whole property to the late Thomas Janvier, who had furnished him largely with the means for starting the business, but that gentleman refused to permit any such sacrifice, and assisted him to a new start. In his business Mr. Ban- croft was enterprising, and always seeking improvements. He introduced in his mills some of the first "self-acting mules;" and some of the first fly-frames made in America, were built under his direction. In his mills, also, the finishing process for some descriptions of goods was first brought up to the English standard of excellence, after many years of experiment and study on his part, involving a journey to England in 1854 for the purpose of
inspecting the mills there. His relations with those in his employ were peculiarly honorable and christian. He had seen the evils of store pay, and immediately on starting his mills commenced the practice of paying his hands, himself, in cash, which he kept up throughout his business career. At the same time he encouraged the men to leave as much of their wages as possible in his hands, allowing them interest on their balances. Many of the men who came to the mills with nothing but the clothes they wore, went West with sufficient of their earnings to buy and stock a farm. The utmost care for the comfort and welfare of his men always marked his dealings with them, and a library was established for their use. The result was the establishment of most kindly relations between the employer and the em- ployed, and during the whole forty-three years of his ownership of the mills there were very few strikes, and they were so rarely stop- ped in either good times or bad, that it came to be a saying, "Bancroft never stops." In 1829 Mr. Bancroft married Sarah, daughter of William and Sarah Poole, of Wilmington, by whom he had two sons, Wm. P., and Samuel, who became his partners in 1865, forming the firm of Joseph Bancroft & Sons, and who, since his decease, continue the business under the same name. He always maintained his connection with the religious society of which he was a birthright member, and adorned his profession of its doctrine of peace on earth, good will toward men, by an earnest and con- sistent life. At the time of the division of the society he went with the branch commonly called "Hicksites," but he never approved of the separation, which he deplored as a griev- ous mistake, and in the latter part of his life, devoted a great part of his time to indefatiga- ble efforts to effect a reconciliation and reunion. He published a book on the subject entitled, "A Persuasive to Unity." He was also the author of many religious tracts. His labors to restore unity to the society were so great as to hasten, it is believed, the disease which finally caused his death, on the 8th of Decem- ber, 1874. The press and the public hastened to pay just tribute to his noble life and char- acter. Says one who knew him, "He stands in our mind as the best realization of manliness and sweetness, strength and tenderness, it has ever been our privilege to know, and whose
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benignant face and commanding form will | he would bring his frigate alongside the Siren ever stand fixed indelibly in our memory as those of one who realized, and typified in his person and life, the character of a true chris- tian gentleman."
ACDONOUGH, COMMODORE THOMAS. was born in the county of New Castle, in December, 1783. His father, Thomas Sr., was a physician, but inspired with a love of liberty, he entered
the army of the revolution as a major. He did not, however, remain long in the service, but returned to private life. After the war he was made a Judge, in which office he remained till his death in 1795. He left three sons: the eldest, James, was a midshipman under Huxton, when he took the Insurgent. In that battle he was so severely wounded that it was necessary to amputate his leg. He soon after left the navy with the reputation of a brave officer. In 1798 the subject of this memoir obtained a warrant as a midshipman, and commenced his career as a naval officer. He was soon recognized by his superiors as a young officer of great promise, and was selected by the gallant Decatur to accom- pany him in his hazardous expedition when he undertook the burning of the frigate Philadel- phia. When Macdonough was first lieutenant of the Siren, under the command of Captain Smith, a circumstance occurred in the harbor of Gibraltar, sufficiently indicative of the firm- ness and decision of his character. An Ameri- can merchant brig came to anchor near the United States vessel. Macdonough, in the absence of Captain Smith, who had gone on shore, saw a boat from a British frigate board the brig and take from her a man. He instantly manned and armed his gig and pursued the British boat, which he overtook just as it reached the frigate, and without ceremony took the imprisoned man into his own boat. The frigate's boat was twice the force of his own, but the act was so bold as to astound the lieutenant who commanded the press- gang, and no resistance was offered. When the affair was made known to the British cap- tain he came on board the Siren in a great rage, and inquired how he dared to take a a man from on board his boat, and swore that
and sink her. "This you may do," said Mac- donough, "but while she swims, the man you will not have." "Would you venture to in- terfere, sir," demanded the English captain, if I were to impress men from that brig?" "You have only to try it, sir," was the pithy answer. The English officer returned to his ship, manned his boat and made his way towards the brig ; Macdonough did the same ; the English officer saw that he had to deal with no ordinary man, and taking a circuitous route returned to the ship. With his great firm- ness of character. Macdonough united the christian virtues. He was reserved, temperate, and circumspect, and his moral worth was as conspicuous as his professional ability. In the latter part of his life he suffered much from ill- health, but at the same time he was one of the most active and athletic officers of the navy, and was dexterous in the use of his sword.
After the declaration of war with England in 1812, he was ordered to Lake Champlain. This was an important station, for through this lake a communication could most readily be had with the most powerful portion of the Canadas. For the first two years of the war the armies on both sides were busy in other directions, but towards the close of the sum- mer of 1814 the warlike preparations on Lake Champlain and its vicinity, indicated the ap- proaching attack, and the fleet of Macdonough was put in readiness. He had only four ships, such as they were, and ten gallies; in all eighty-six guns. The British force was larger; they had four ships and thirteen gallies, mak- ing a total of ninety-five guns, and their com- plement of men was much greater. The American fleet was commanded only by a young lieutenant, and the British by an expe- rienced officer. On the land, too, the British had gathered large bodies of troops, the veter- ans of Wellington's army, and were confident of a signal victory. The battle commenced at eight o'clock on the morning of September II, and lasted two hours and twenty minutes. The British ships surrendered, three of the gallies sunk, and the rest pulled off; all in a very shattered condition. On the land, the loss of the Americans was fifty-two killed and fifty-eight wounded, while the British had eighty-four killed and one hundred and ten
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wounded. The prisoners taken exceeded the whole number of the Americans in action. The victory was hailed by the whole nation with great joy. The State of New York in justice and gratitude, gave the gallant com- modore a thousand acres of valuable land ; and Vermont gave him two hundred acres, deliglit- fully situated within a short distance of the battle ground, and commanding a fine view of the lake. Also, the city of New York gave him a valuable lot of land, and Albany followed the example. Festive honors were offered him in all places he chanced to pass throughi, but they were not often accepted. For this victory he was promoted to the rank of post- captain. To the time of his decease he shared the honors of the home and foreign service with his compeers. He was an excellent member of courts-martial, for he brought to these tribunals a candid mind, ever ready to see what was in favor of the accused as well as against him. For several years before his death he resided in Middletown, Connecticut, where he married Miss Shaler, a lady of highly respectable family in that place. He died of consumption, November 10, 1825. His wife had died a few months previous. In person he was tall, dignified and commanding, with light complexion, hair and eyes, and pleasing features. His look was firm and steadfast, and his manner, even when talking with an excited opponent, was calm and polite. His taste was refined, his principles pure, and his religion sincere.
OWNSEND, SOLOMON, son of Solo- mon and Margaret (Parker) Townsend, was born near Dover, September 6, 1808. He was left an orphan at seven years of age and lived with an uncle who had been appointed his guardian. On attaining his majority he became a partner with his brother Job Townsend who was engaged in mercantile business in Frederica. In 1840 he removed to Philadelphia, where he was one of its prominent merchants for over a quarter of a century. He retired from business about ten years before. his death, which occurred June 28, 1877, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He was greatly esteemed for his integrity and exemplary christian character.
EDFORD, GUNNING, was a Revolu- tionary Patriot, and a delegate from Delaware to the Continental Congress from 1783 to 1787. He was a member of the convention that formed the U. S. Con- stitution and signed that instrument. He was elected Governor of Delaware in 1796, and was afterwards appointed District Judge of the United States Court, in all of which posi- tions he served with great distinction. He was a graduate of Princeton College in 1771, and died in 1797. Additional particulars of the patriot will be found in the historical de- partment, also of his cousin Col. Gunning Bedford, of the Revolutionary Army. His tomb is to be seen in the grave-yard of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington.
ICKINSON, JOHN, a distinguished Revolutionary Patriot and Statesman. was born in Maryland in 1732, his parents soon after removing to Dover, Delaware. He began the study of Law in Philadelphia, but spent three years at the Temple in London, England, and upon his return entered upon the pratice of his profes- sion in the city of Philadelphia. In 1764 he was elected a member of the Assembly, and in 1765, of the General Congress. He was a Delegate to the Continental Congress from Delaware from 1774 to 1776, and opposed the Declaration of Independence, fearing the strength of the country insufficient to take so importaut a stand, but was the only member of Congress to face the enemy a few days after the publication of the Declaration. He was again elected to Congress and served from 1776 to 1777 and again from 1779 to 1780, and signed the Articles of Confederation, as well as the Constitution in 1787. In 1781 he was made President of Delaware, and filled that position for one year. In 1782 he was chosen to the same position for the state of Pennsyl- vania, and continued in that office until 1785. In 1767 he began to publish his celebrated "Farmers Letters" against taxation, and wrote the greater portion of the State papers of the first Congress. His collected writings were published in 1801. He died in IS08 at the age of seventy-five years.
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE.
ALL, HON. WILLARD, lawyer, legis- lator, Judge, and philanthopist, was born in the town of Westford, Middle- sex Co., Mass., December 24, 1780. His father, Willis Hall, was born and died in that town. His mother, Mehitable (Pool.) Hall, was of Hollis, N. H.
He inherited from his ancestry a constitu- tion singularly sound in all its parts, physical intellectual and moral. It is not surprising to find that his progenitors, in all lines of descent which can be traced, were of strong mental and moral characteristics, and kept even pace with the culture of the age in which they lived, many of them leaders in the thought and en- terprise of their day. His mother was of a highly respected and influential family of Hollis, N. H One of her brothers was a dis- tinguished political leader. On his father's side, Judge Hall was connected with the Wil- lards, from whom he derived his christian name, ยท and probably the controling elements of his character. They were an ancient English family, seated originally in the county of Kent, England.
The progenitor of the Willard family in this country, was Major Simon Willard, who, with his sister, Margaret Willard, emigrated to America and settled in Cambridge, Mass., in 1634. He was a military leader in the Indian wars, a legislator, and Judge. He died in Charlestown, 1676, leaving a family of seven- teen children whose descendants now count by thousands. Our subject is the fifth in descent, from Margaret Willard, who became the wife of Captain Dolour Davis, whose only daughter married Stephen Hall.
Judge Hall received his early mental train- ing in some directions from his grandfather, Rev. Willard Hall, an eminently pious and distinguished divine of that day. He after- feelings of all with whom his duties brought ward attended the Academy of Westford, him in contact.
where he remained three years. He entered
On the 7th of April, 1803, he left his father's house on horseback, and arrived at Wilming- ton on the 16th of the same month. He was examined by Mr. Bayard and James P. Wilson, then at the Georgetown bar, and admitted an attorney and counselor of that court. James A. Bayard, George Reed, C. A. Rodney, Nicholas VanDyke and James P. Wilson, (after- ward a distinguished clergyman of Philadel- phia,) were then the leaders of the Delaware bar.
As a counselor Mr. Hall became distin- guished for his legal learning, sound judgment and fidelity to his clients. In 1812 he was ap- pointed Secretary of State by Gov. Haslet, and served for a term of three years. In 1816 he was elected a Representative to Congress, and was re-elected in 1818, but Congressional life was distasteful to him, and he declined further service. In 1821 he was again ap- pointed Secretary of State under Gov. Collins. In 1822 he was elected a member of the State Senate. May 6, 1823, on the decease of Judge Fisher,he was appointed by President Monroe, District Judge of the United States for the District of Delaware. Soon after his appoint- ment he removed to Wilmington, where he resided until his decease, and retired from pro- fessional labors after twenty years toil, having won a record such as few may attain.
This appointment brought congenial em- ployment, and much leisure for maturing those plans of larger usefulness which he had already begun to meditate. He held the office for the long term of forty-eight years, retiring from it in 1871, when in his ninety-first year, having combined in the office all the requisites of learning, exalted purity, dignity and the pub- lic confidence. He discharged the duties of his high station with promptness, impartiality and a peculiarly sensitive consideration for the
The only decision of Judge Hall which Harvard College in 1795 and graduated in 1799. was ever criticised was his discharge of the Harvard was then under the presidency of prisoners held by the military in Delaware in Rev. Jos. Willard, his kinsman. He was ad- 1866, and that after the partisan excitement of mitted to the bar in March, 1803, in Hills- the time had died away was very generally borough county, N. H. A speech of the elder approved. In 1831 he was elected a delegate James A. Bayard at that time attracting his for New Castle county to frame a new Consti- attention, he wrote to Mr. Bayard, whose tution for the State. In the Convention he, with courteous and favorable answer induced him to John M. Clayton, James Rodgers and George make choice of Delaware as his future home.
Reed, Jr., were the master spirits. Judge Hall
Willard Hall
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BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT.
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was the organizer and maturer of the present [ of the first Lord Baltimore, whose daughter, school system of the city of Wilmington. It was said of him that his life and the life of the school system in the state, its growth and prosperity, were so interwoven that neither could be mentioned without the other. He presided over the Wilmington school board from its first organization in 1852, till 1870. His actual service in the cause of education commenced in 1822, when he was Secretary of State. To the Delaware State Bible Society Judge Hall gave nearly half a century of ser- vice. He was thirty years its president, and in all these thirty years the society never met without him but once, when he was detained at home by sickness. He was President of the Wilmington Savings Fund Society from its organization in 1832 until disabled by his great age. The Delaware Historical Society was probably the latest social institution with which he connected himself, then in his eighty-fourth year. Judge Hall united with the Hanover Street Presbyterian Church. March 8, 1827, and was elected a ruling elder September 23, 1829, which office he held until his death. He taught the Bible class connected with the Sunday school, over forty years. A pamphlet from his pen, entitled " A plea for the Sabbath, ad- dressed to the legal profession," and his address on the same subject, before a convention held in Baltimore, in 1844, are regarded as among the ablest papers on the subject. He was, during his whole life, an earnest supporter of the cause of temperance, and was for many years President of the Delaware State Coloni- zation Society.
Soon after his admission to the bar in Kent county, he was married to a daughter of the late Chancellor Killen. She died in 1824, leaving one daughter, the late Mrs. Lucinda H. Porter, who died in 1869, and from this be- reavement in his old age, he never fully re- covered. In 1826 he was married to his second wile. In the winter of his ninetieth year he withdrew from all active duties, and on the evening of the 10th of May, 1875, passed to his great reward.
REEN, GENERAL JESSE. The his- tory of General Jesse Green belongs to Delaware, that of his ancestors to Maryland. He was a lineal descendant
Helen Calvert, married Thomas Green. Their son, Thomas Green, came with his uncle, Leon- ard Calvert, to Maryland in 1634, and after- wards married Winifred, daughter of Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore. Thomas Green, who was Lieutenant-Governor of Mary- land in 1647, had three sons ; one of these, Leonard, had one son, Thomas. In the early colonial history this Thomas Green is spoken of as "a great and good man." His son, Thomas Dudley Green, married Mary Simms, and their eldest son, Jesse, the subject of this sketch, was born June 12, 1766. The family estates lay mostly in Charles and St. Mary's counties, Md., where large tracts of land had been granted them by patents from Lord Bal- timore; there they lived and preserved the religion and the virtues of their illustrious an- cestors. In June, 1790, General Jesse Green removed from the District of Columbia to Sussex county, Delaware ; here he married, his first wife being a widow, Mrs. Sarah Buch- anan. This lady lived but a short time,and in 1797 he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza- beth Gunby, a granddaughter of Col. Gunby of Revolutionary fame. Miss Gunby was de- scribed by her contemporaries as "a beauty, an heiress and a belle," and seems to have been a worthy companion to this honored gentleman. During the war of 1812, General Green was in active service and was present with his troops at the bombardment of Lewes. He filled many offices of public trust, was for thirty ses- sions a member of the Delaware Legislature, and was once a candidate for Governor, ran but was defeated. Like all of his ancestors, General Green was a devoted Catholic, and during his long and useful life, never neglected the duties of his religion. General Green died at Concord, in August, 1834, and is inter- red in the family burying ground at that place. He had twelve children ; of these, five now sur- vive-Mrs. Henry Long of Oakland, California, Col. George W. Green, Mrs. Charles Ross and Mrs. Joseph Ford, all of Baltimore, and Mrs. Benjamin Burton of Georgetown, Delaware. General Green was of a retiring and studious disposition, and spent much of his time with his books, his library being the finest at that time in Sussex county. He was a kind and humane master to a large number of slaves, a friend to the poor, and it was ever his delight
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