USA > Delaware > Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 1 > Part 48
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of sunshine into the chambers of sickness and suffering. His practice was extensive and suc- cessful ; his skill and experience were at the command of all, rich and poor, white and black, the exalted and the lowly, who re- ceived alike his faithful and unremitting ser- vice, and many a tear bedimmed eye and aching heart attested the high regard felt for him when the Great Arbiter of the universe called him to his home.
RIFFITH, IRVING GALBRAITH, farmer of Bohemia Manor, was born near Newark, March 13, 1833. He is the son of Joseph (of whom see plate and sketch in this volume) and Agnes (Adams) Griffith. He was reared upon the home farm, attending school at Jones' School house near his home, until fourteen years of age, when for two years he was sent to Newark Academy, then under the direction of Prof. William Meigs. After leaving school he assisted upon the farm for three years. At the age of twenty- one he went to Baltimore county, Maryland, and engaged in farming upon hisown account, which he continued for three years, when he returned to Delaware. In 1857 he purchased the farm known as "Bacon Hall," formerly the property of John M. Clayton, near the village of St. Augustine, Maryland, where he now resides. This farm contains three hundred and ten acres of valuable land, and this year(1881) over one hundred acres are devoted to wheat. Mr. Griffith has been engaged in rearing sheep for several years and has found them a good investment. At one time he had some three thousand peach trees in bearing,but now cul- tivates but nine hundred, which have paid him well. His attention has been devoted more especially to stock and grain, and he has been eminently successful as an agriculturist. Mr. Griffith has been decidedly opposed to en- trance upon political life and, though a Dem- ocrat, is not a partizan. He is a member of the M. E. Church, having joined that commu- nion some years since, and has served as a steward for two years past. He was married December 15, 1858, to Miss Araminta Maria, daughter of John and Caroline (Seamans) Frazier, of Kent county, Maryland. Five children survive of this marriage, viz : Caro-
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line S., now wife . of Clayton E. Ellison, a [ of the marauders ; all these military services farmer of Cecil county, Maryland ; Joseph S .; Irving G. Jr. ; Harry M., and Elva S. Griffith.
OLLINS, GOV. THOMAS, President, Captain General, Governor and Com- mander-in-chief of the State of Dela- ware, Sheriff of Kent county, four years a member of the Council, Brigadier General of Militia from 1776 to 1783, member of the Assembly and Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, was of English lineage, his ancestors having settled early in this country. He received the best education his locality afforded in his youth. His thirst for knowledge was intense and his mind su- perior, while his great benevolence and amiable disposition, won him the affections of the majority of his fellow-citizens, by whose suf- frages he was elected to the office of High Sheriff of Kent county, a post, at that early period, of considerable honor and advantage. After the expiration of his term of four years he was successively delegated to the important trust of a legislator till the Revolutionary war. It was while thus serving his State, in 1773, that he erected Belmont Hall, near Smyrna, in which he resided the remainder of his life. In 1776 Mr. Collins was appointed one of the Council of Safety for the Delaware State, the only executive power then in being, and after- wards was chosen a member of the conven- tion for the purpose of framing a new constitu- tion, under the authority and auspices of Congress. His next appointments were to the chief command of one of the first regi- ments of militia, and military treasurer for the State. In the beginning of 1777, having succeeded to the command of the county brigade, General Collins led his native Militia to the camp and head-quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, and endured, in common with his fellow-soldiers, all the fatigue and hard- ship of that memorable campaign. During the same year when the troops, under Sir William Howe, passed through the upper part of New Castle county, he commanded a small army of observation and picket on the lines of Maryland and Delaware, and so hung upon the flank and rear of the enemy as to effectually protect the country below from the ravages
being at his own private cost. He was succes- sively elected to the House of General As- sembly and the Legislative Council, of which last he was chosen speaker, continuing as such until removed to the office of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas ; and from thence was, by the unanimous voice of both Houses of Assembly, exalted to the presidency and supreme command of the State. In this emi- nent position he lived, without pride, governed with ability, and died beloved and lamented, March 29, 1789, at the age of fifty-seven. He was a member of the P. E. church and the principal contributor towards the building of St Peter's church at Duck Creek. Though his salary as Commander-in-chief was not large, yet he resigned the emoluments arising from marriage and tavern licenses (being part of that salary equal to the yearly interest of nine or ten thousand pounds,) to the use of the State, to be applied to public and benevo- lent purposes. He left a widow, a son and three daughters to mourn his loss.
cMULLEN, HENRY H., United States Marshal for the District of Dela- ware, was born in New Castle county, September 25, 1831. His great grand- father, Samuel McMullen, emigrated from Scot- land about the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury and settled near Glasgow in the province of Delaware which was then attached to Penn- sylvania and known as the three lower coun- ties on the Delaware. The grandfather of our subject, Robert McMullen, an only son, lived and died in New Castle county, as did his only son, Samuel McMullen, the father of Marshal McMullen. The family have been chiefly de- voted to agricultural pursuits, and greatly respected in the community, never aspiring to, and rarely accepting, public office. Mr. Mc- Mullen was educated in the common schools of his native county. His father died in 1845, when he was only in his fifteenth year, and he was obliged to take upon himself the respon- sibility of assisting his mother in managing the affairs of the farm. He however continued to attend school during the winter months, until he reached his nineteenth year, when he turned his entire attention to the farm of which
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he took sole charge upon attaining his major- | several times a member of the Legislature, ity. At the death of his mother, Mary (Hugg) and served also two terms as Justice of the McMullen, in 1760, he and a younger brother Peace, and was twice a member of the Levy inherited the paternal estate. That part which fell to his share, still remains in his possession, and he there resided until after his appoint- ment as United States Marshal. He was married, May 22, 1861, to Eliza W., daughter of Joseph S. Atkinson, Esq., of Philadelphia. He has from his youth taken an active inter- est in public affairs, and upon attaining his majority was elected Road Commissioner of his hundred, which position he held for four years. In 1869, he was appointed Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue, by President Grant, and continued to exercise the functions of that office until it was abolished in 1871. He was the Republican nominee for Sheriff of New Castle county, in 1876, but shared the general defeat of the ticket. April 27, 1878, he was appointed United States Marshal, and in 1882, was re-appointed by President Arthur. He has discharged the duties devolving upon him with rare fidelity, and without fear or favor, securing the just commendation of the entire community. Always a Whig and Republican he has been an active and zealous partisan, but has never failed in gentlemanly courtesy towards his opponents. He ranks as one of the leaders of his party in the state, and his keen foresight and superior judgment are fully recognized by all.
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HILLIPS, WILLIAM SHARP, farmer, mill-owner and ex-legislator, was born in Dagsborough hundred, Sussex county, July 27, 1836, being the eldest son of Joshua Phillips, who was occupied through life as a farmer, mill-owner and manufacturer of lumber, accumulating considerable property. He died September 17, 1857, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. His wife was Betsey, daugh- ter of Wingate and Nancy Short. They had six children who grew to maturity ; William S .; Elizabeth S., who died in 1877, in her fifty- fourth year ; Joshua, a farmer ; Spencer A., a farmer and miller ; Louisa, wife of Minos G. Truitt, and John W. Phillips, a farmer and miller. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was Spencer Phillips, a farmer, and a- leading citizen of Sussex county. He was
Court of his county. He possessed an estate of seven hundred acres of land. He died December 27, 1851, when in his seventy-ninth year. His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of William and Betsy Sharp, of Dagsborough hundred. They had four children, who grew to maturity ; Joshua, mentioned above ; Nathaniel, a farmer, who died in 1880, on his. seventy-seventh birthday, leaving issue ; Elizabeth, who mar- ried Philip Truitt, and is now deceased ; and Spencer, a farmer and merchant of Phillips Hill, Dagsborough, who died in 1845 at the age of thirty-eight. Spencer Phillips married, sec- ondly,-Eunice Givens, who is still living in her ninety-fourth year. By her he had two sons and four daughters. His father was John Phillips, a farmer, also born in Sussex county. According to the family tradition two brothers came from England and settled in North Carolina, but one of them afterwards removed to Sussex county, Delaware, and from him are descended the families there who bear his name. John Phillips, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch is believed to be the son of the original emigrant to Delaware. Mr. Phillips received a good English education in the excellent public schools of his neigh- borhood, which he attended regularly till he was twenty years of age. He afterwards studied surveying under William B. Ewing, at Georgetown, and followed this vocation for several years. He was also at the same time, from 1847, engaged in teaching. In 1855 he entered the store of Levin and Samuel B. Hitch, at Laurel, with whom he remained till the death of his father. He then returned home and took charge of the estate, remaining till 1867. In 1863 he opened a store for general merchandise at Phillips' Hill, half a mile from the old homestead, in which he did a prosperous business till 1869, when he sold it out. At the same time he was largely engaged in the manufacture and sale of lum- ber, having a mill on his land. The estate left by his father comprised twenty-five hun- dred acres of land, which at the time of his death was a forest. Mr. Phillips and his brothers cleared, drained and improved this land and now have it in a good state of culti- vation. Mr. Phillips is an enterprising and
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leading agriculturist of Sussex county. He owns six farms,aggregating eight hundred and eighty-twoacres of land, in Dagsborough hur- dred, which he keeps well improved, devoting them mostly to wheat and corn. He is a gen- tleman of intelligence and culture and is widely respected. He was reared an old time Whig and has been a republican since the organiza- tion of that party in Delaware. He strongly supported the government during the war and has been active and influential in public mat- ters for many years. He was elected to the Legislature in 1860, and served during the reg- ular session of 1861, and the called session of 1862, with great credit to himself and satisfac- tion to his constituents. In 1863 he served as enrolling officer of Dagsborough hundred. Mr. Phillips was elected a director of the Break- water and Frankford railroad in 1872, and has held that position to the present time. The family are attached to the P. E. church.
owned, conjointly with his brother, two stores one at Peckville, and one at Oliphant, Pennsyl- vania. He was very enterprising, a man of large business views, and conducted his affairs with so much judgment as to make them all successful. In 1866 he sold out his interest in his various lines of business, re- taining his landed property, and moved to the vicinity of Felton, Del. There he pur- chased a farm of four hundred acres, on which he has since resided. It was then worn out land, a desert sand forest. He at once com- menced to enrich and improve it, and it is now in a good state of cultivation : more can be raised on one acre than formerly on ten. He has had ten thousand peach trees at one time, but now has only four thousand. He has six acres in grapes and berries, but devotes his farm principally to raising wheat and corn. He has sixty head of stock. Mr. Peck has never been very active in political matters. He came of a Whig family, and has been a Repub- lican since the organization of that party, and a strong Union man. He is master of the County Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry ; is one of the leading farmers of his county, and active and influential in all measures to advance the agricultural interests of the state. He united with the Presbyterian church in 1833, but his parents were Congregationalists. He was ordained a ruling Elder in 1849. He has been a Trustee of the Presbyterian church in Felton for ten years. Mr. Peck was married in 1848, to Miss Harriet Wilson, of Colerain, Massachusetts.
ECK, SAMUEL LYMAN, farmer, near Felton, was born in Colerain, Frank- lin county. Massachusetts, November 28, 1817; being the eldest child of Samuel and Sarah (Wilson) Peck. His father was brought up on a farm, but was a natural mechanical genius, an inventor, and was the originator of many ingenious devices and pat- ents that came into general use. He was a Lieutenant in the war of 1812, and was three times married. By his first wife, Sarah Wilson, Of her three children, only one, Charles Wilson Peck, survives. She died January 1, 1865. Mr. Peck was married again, March 22, 1866, to Miss Hester A., daughter of Joshua and Theresa (Tilberry) Pugh. Mr. Pugh was from Connecticut, and in his daugh- ter are conspicuous, the mind, character and ex- ecutive ability, for which the women of New England have so long been famed. There are three children living of this marriage ; John Lyman, Robert and Mary Lillian. he had four sons and five daughters, by his second wife one son ; also by his third wife one son. His father was Abraham Peck, born in Coleraine, and also died there at the age of sixty-four. His wife was Arathusa Bullard, of English origin. The father of Abraham Peck lived to be over ninety years of age. He was one of three brothers who came from England early in the eighteenth century, and settled, one in Massachussetts, one in Vermont, and one in New Hampshire. Mr. Peck had in his child- hood the advantages of the good common schools of his native State, but the family removing when he was eleven years old, to REEN, REV. DANIEL, Teller of New- port National Bank, was born in Kent county, December 5, 1838. His father was James P. Green, a farmer of that Luzerne, Pennsylvania, his opportunities after that were few. On reaching manhood he en- gaged in the flouring-mill business. He was also interested in a sash factory, and later county ; he died January 7, 1855. His mother,
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before marriage, was Hester Ann, daughter of | Delaware has sent many of her sons to other Tilghman Conley, of the same county. The family on both sides were among the early settlers of the State, and both grandfathers were leading and official members of the M. E. Church. The subject of this sketch received his early education at the common schools of his vicinity. In the spring of 1857 he entered the Fairfield Seminary, Herkimer county, New York, where he continued for three years. After leaving school in 1861, he engaged in teaching at Moorton. In June of 1862, he en- listed in the Fourth Regiment, Delaware Volunteers, under command of Colonel A. H. Grimshaw. He was known as a brave man and an excellent soldier. He was in the battles of Chickahominy in 1863, at Bethesda Church, and Cold Harbor, and was severely wounded by the loss of a limb in the action before Petersburg, June 19, 1864. He was mustered into the service as sergeant of Company G., Captain W. H. McGarey, commanding, who was killed in action about the close of the war. Sergeant Green was taken to the hos- pital where he remained for one year, and was urged to become chaplain of his regiment after his discharge from the hospital. Mr. Green has been a member of the M. E. Church since his eighteenth year, and has been an office- bearer a greater portion of the time. He was ordained a Local Minister and Deacon of the M. E. Church by Bishop Scott, at the Confer- ence at Dover, March 18, 1871. He was ap- pointed Teller of the Newport National Bank, August 28, 1865, and has acted in that capa- city with much credit and success, up to the present time. Mr. Green is a faithful and ex- perienced officer, a christain gentleman, and enjoys the respect and confidence of all who know him. His services are greatly sought after as a preacher, and his life is one of marked usefulness in the community. He was married, September 13, 1870, to Miss Mary Drusilla, daughter of Joseph Kilgore, Esq., and a sister of Rev. Dr. Kilgore, of the M. P. Church. Two children have been born of this marriage, only one of whom is living, Mary Watson Green.
States, and the story of their lives, were they written, would show a record of which the State would be justly proud. The subject of this sketch is one among a multitude of such now beyond her limits, reflecting credit on the the State in which they were born. His father was Rev. Daniel Godwin, a local preacher of the Methodist church for over half a century. He died in Milford, in the ninety-second year of his age. He was a man of genial, christian character, and widely known and respected, having, during a long life, won and retained the high appreciation of a large circle of friends. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Nehemiah and Rachel Davis of Prime Hook. They were among the early Metho- dists of Delaware. She died in the 80th year of her age. The grandfather of Samuel P. Godwin, was a Marylander by birth and came from Talbot county to Delaware in early life. Mr. Godwin's early education was received at the old Masonic Academy in Mil- ford, under the direction of Rev. Orin R. Howard and Alfred Emerson, but his atten- dance was discontinued at twelve years of age. Early inclined to mercantile pursuits, he at that early period came to Philadelphia and entered the store of Messrs. McNeil & Moore, No. 23, North 3d street, and continued with this firm four years, until their retirement from the business. He, at the age of sixteen years, was employed by the firm of Vogel & Virden as book-keeper, continuing with them until 1848, when he returned to Milford, Delaware, and entered into business with his father and brother Daniel : the firm name being Godwin & Co. Mr. Godwin here joined the order of Odd Fellows, and the organization, conscious of his worth and abilities, successively elected him to high positions of honor and trust until he filled the position of Deputy Grand Master of the State of Delaware. He also attached himself to the order of masons, and was made a member of Temple Lodge A. Y. M., Milford. In the spring of 1851, releasing himself from business in his native town, he returned to Philadelphia, and connected himself with the firm of Hamman, Snyder and Co., where he
ODWIN, SAMUEL PAYNTER, of the remained until 1857, when he entered the old firm of Wood, Marsh & Co., Market and well known house of Atwood & Co., and street, Philadelphia, was born in Milford in the autumn of 1861, became connected with on the 16th day of October, 1828. the oldest wholesale dry goods house in Phila-
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delphia. It was then known as Wood, Marsh | Fourth street. In 1859, he felt it his duty to and Hayward, and since then, as Wood, connect himself with St. Andrew's Protestant Marsh & Co. In this firm he has been ever Episcopal Chuch, and was a member of its since. Mr. Godwin, though known as a lead- Vestry for many years, as well as teacher of a young man's Bible class numbering at one time as many as 240 members. He has taken great pleasure in serving as a vestryman in many of the humbler churches of Philadelphia, among the colored people as well as those of the whites. He is now a member of St. Luke's Church, (Rev. Dr. Currie, Rector,) and to its services himself and family are greatly attached; he being what is known as a Lay-reader in that communion. In politics, though possessed of positive opinions, he has been conservative, never either being a strong partisan or desir- ing political office. Mr. Godwin was united in marriage with Miss Emma G., daughter of the late John Eisenbry, Esq., of Philadelphia, December 16, 1857, the ceremony being per- formed in Grace P. E. Church, Philadelphia. Two children have been born to them of this marriage, Annie E. and W. Harrison Godwin. ing business man, is still more widely known for his philanthropy. He is a man of wide, christian and humanitarian sympathies, and his readiness to afford counsel and substantial help to the inebriate, the poor, and even the out- cast, have occasioned his being prominent in many of the eleemosynary institutions for which Philadelphia is famed. In the cause of temperance, as identified with christianity, he has been an able, eloquent and successful worker. By addresses delivered on this sub- ject in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, as well as in Pennsylvania, he has become very widely known. In 1872, being deeply impressed with the thought that a home for those who wished to reform and abandon intoxicating drinks, would greatly as- sist these unfortunates, he joined with others in providing the Franklin Reformatory Home, of Philadelphia. It is located at gri-13 and 15 Locust street, houses which were formerly quite aristocratic private residences. This institution, of which Mr. Godwin has been President from its foundation, has up to this time (1882) cared for more than 1,600 unfortu- nate ones and their families. The property is owned by this society, and the home is capa- ble of caring for seventy persons at a time, within its walls. It has been not only a suc- cess in financial management, but its influence in permanently reforming the man given to his cups, is well known to-day on both sides of the Atlantic. Beside these, Mr. Godwin holds official position in many other societies and churches. He is one of the Vice Presidents of the Bedford Street Mission, of Philadelphia, whose work is among the miserable outcasts of the city, and is also Vice President of the Philadelphia Society for the suppression of the Sunday liquor traffic, and Vice President of the society to prevent cruelty to children. The motto of the Franklin Reformatory Home, "By the Grace of God I am what I am," seems not less the sentiment of Mr. Godwin's exper- ience than that of his personal history. At twelve years of age he joined tlie M. E. Church in his native town, and on coming to Philadel- phia, became a member of the class led by Solomon Townsend, in the Union M. E. Church,
ARSHALL, AARON, born at Lewes, December 30, 1790, was a merchant in the village of Milton, Sussex county. He was also extensively engaged in shipping, principaly grain and iron ore to Philadelphia and New York. The bog ore of Sussex county is the best found in the United States, the mining of which from the early settlements to the first part of the nineteenth century constituted a large and important industry. Mr. Marshall was a light horse- man, in the war of 1812, and assisted in the defense of Lewes. In politics he was an Old Line Whig. During the Reform movement, in 1838, he was a member of the Legislature. Later in life he joined the Republican party, and voted for Mr. Lincoln. He owned slaves but manumitted them at the commencement of the troubles in 1861, making the sacrifice freely from love to his country. Mr. Lincoln appointed him Collector of Customs at Lewes, in 1862. Mr. Marshall was brought up among the Meth- odists, but became a Presbyterian and was an Elder in that church. He was a true christian, an honorable man and universally respected. He married Jane Paynter. He died February 28, 1865, at the age of seventy-five.
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KINNER, ROBERT H, A. M., Prin- [ and remained till he was eighteen, when he
23, 1837, in Queen Anne's county, Md. Academy at Dover, was born October, cipal of the Wilmington Conference
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